I would like to thank everyone who reviewed, favorited or followed this story since I updated it.
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"In a land far far away lies the Kingdom of Fiore, a small and peaceful nation of 17 million, and a place filled with magic. Found in every home, bought and sold in every marketplace. For most people, magic is merely a tool, a mundane part of everyday life. For some however, magic is an art, and they've devoted their lives to its practice. These are the wizards and mages, and banded together into magical guilds, they ply their skills in search of fame and fortune. Many such guilds dot the landscape of Fiore, but there is a certain guild in a certain town that stands high above the rest of them, one from which countless legends have been born, a guild that will no doubt continue to create legends well into the future. This guild is known as Fairy Tail."
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A few days had passed since the incident in the Tower of Heaven, and another day had come in the city of Magnolia, but contrary to the sun shining brightly in the skies above, the mood was rather bitter.
Gajeel found himself meeting up with Levy, Jet and Droy of Team Shadow Gear in the South Gate Park "So what's the deal, why the hell did you guys ask me to meet up with you out here like this? Make it fast, I have a client I have to meet up with."
Jet and Droy wasted no time in rounding on Gajeel "We've got a bone to pick with you, after what you did to us there's no way in hell we're letting you join our guild!"
"Oh great, now we're doing this. For fuck's sake guys, would it kill you to just forgive and forget already?"
"Maybe he's right." Levy piped up from where she was hiding behind a tree "I mean he only did it because Phantom Lord's mastered ordered him to, and now that he's in the guild it's not like he's gonna do it again."
"Yeah you heard the half pint hiding behind the tree, but if you have to do this then just get this crap over with."
"The hell with getting it over with, punks like you have to know that you can't just walk all over us." Jet cracked his knuckles.
"And now we're doing this apparently."
"That's right, go ahead and act tough while you still can!" Jet burst forward and dealt Gajeel a swift headbutt.
"Secret Seeds: Knuckle Plant!" Droy threw some seeds into the ground, which then sprouted vine fists and proceeded to pummel Gajeel further.
"Falcon Heaven Sword!" Jet blitzed in front of Gajeel and kicked him in the face, sending him skidding backwards while gritting his teeth "Don't tell us you've had enough yet, what happened to the tough guy act?"
"And here I thought wizards of the Fairy Tail guild were better than picking on their new members." this was when a new figure appeared on the scene, clad in a cloak that covered his entire body with a bag slung over his back, and he looked down at Gajeel, his expression unreadable "But seeing how this is the one who damaged your guild hall, not to mention he worked for the guy who actually destroyed it, I understand how you feel. And I know that wizards from Fairy Tail usually like to express emotions through beating the ever loving shit out of people, but beating on a new member for stuff he did in the past won't change it, so you're just wasting your energy. And you wonder why your guild has become the laughing stock of the magic community."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"You work as a wandering wizard and you tend to learn a few things, stop at a few pubs to gather information, and hear a few things that can either make you laugh or piss you off. Everyone is talking right now about how weak and pathetic the Fairy Tail guild has become, you wouldn't think they would have the guts to say that kind of stuff out loud. But now that I see a few punks like you in action, maybe they weren't that far off. If this is what Fairy Tail wizards like to do to get their shits and giggles then maybe the guild is taking a nosedive in quality. Besides, didn't either of you two even notice?"
"Notice what?"
"Sure you guys might have some level of skill in the magic you use but something definitely wasn't right, the guy's a Dragon Slayer and he went down way too easily."
"...You mean-"
"Yeah you got that right, when you two idiots were attacking him he wasn't fighting back against either of you."
This was when Levy finally spoke for the first time in awhile "He was letting them get their anger out on him… I think he's trying to gain our acceptance."
"That I can't say for certain, if you wanna know that then you'll have to ask him, but I doubt he'd willingly tell you if he was doing something like that."
"I think I've listened to you idiots rambling on long enough." Gajeel pulled himself to his feet and promptly spat out some dirt "If you guys don't have anything else to say to me then I have work to do."
Levy tried to call out to him "Hey Gajeel I-"
"Forget it, just leave me alone." and he promptly walked away.
"Gajeel…"
Seeing that he had no other business here, the cloaked figure promptly turned and walked away, leaving him alone with nothing but his thoughts 'People can say all they want about how weak and pathetic Fairy Tail is, how it's nothing like it used to be, but they're wrong. They're probably all just so blind and ignorant that they can't see that things are fine just the way they are… For all I know they're as pathetic as I used to be…'
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Meanwhile, with our own Iron Dragon Slayer…
Gajeel cracked his neck and gave a sinister smirk aimed in the direction of a small paper doll floating next to him "Well that was fun I guess, I figured why not let those idiots get a boost to their egos before I tear them back down to size when the time comes. Still I can't tell you how bad I want to settle the score with Salamander, but I can wait for my rematch with him until the time is right. But with that being said, I do plan to have some fun with these guys while I still can, if that's okay with you Master Ivan."
"Of course my boy, earning the trust of Makarov and the others your highest priority at the moment. We must not allow suspicion to creep into their feeble little minds, and you must remember to always act as though your heart and soul belong to Fairy Tail."
"As far as these guys know I'm as much of a team player as they come."
"We have an ample amount of time before the hammer finally drops on that sorry excuse for a guild, so tred your steps carefully until then." and then the paper doll suddenly evaporated into thin air.
"I'll be sure to keep that in mind." Gajeel let out a scoff "Yeah as if, I've only been dealing with this guy for about a week and he's already giving me a migraine."
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The sun was setting over the skies of Magnolia.
Lucy was sitting on a bridge overlooking the river running through Magnolia, dealing with the same problem as usual "I haven't been able to find a decent job since before we left for our vacation, and that was at least a week ago. If I can't find a decent job then I won't be able to pay rent and I'll get kicked out of my apartment." she glanced down at Plue and somehow seemed to understand what he was trying to tell her "What, you think it will all work out? Well that's quite the positive attitude if I've ever seen one."
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The moon was shining over the night skies above Magnolia.
Luke poked her head throughout every crack and crevice in her apartment "Okay good, it looks like I'm alone. At least I don't have to come home and search the place for a bunch of freaks every single time I leave the apartment. You know I've been through an awful lot lately, I think I've earned myself a nice long bath." she pulled aside the curtains to her bathroom, and almost immediately let out a shriek of terror "What the-?!"
As it turns out, Cana was already bathing in her tub, complete with a bottle of wine "Yep back from the dead, I guess you weren't kidding when you said this thing works wonders on a hangover."
"When the hell did I say that, and more importantly, why the hell are you in my tub?!"
"Like I said, apparently this tub works wonders on hangovers so I just came to see if it's actually true or not. That, and I wanted a place I could drink without having to worry about Erza tearing into me for being drunk."
"You don't go anywhere sober do you?"
"Hey I'll have you know that these days I'm sober a good 40% of the time."
"Uh huh, and that's a good thing because?"
"I never said it was a good thing, me being sober is like Luke not carrying around that dragon scale sword of his, or Natsu not wearing his scarf."
"Well that's quite a comfort. Speaking of which I don't think I've ever seen Luke without his sword or Natsu without his scarf? They never get rid of those things do they?"
"Nope, Luke's sword is made from Kaminari's dragon scales and Natsu actually got that scarf from Igneel, so those things mean a lot to both of them. Where is Luke anyway? I haven't seen him around in a few days."
"He's just out on another S class quest, trying to stock up on rent money. Either that or he's taking one of his week long power naps, maybe swallowing some of the Ethernano did some weird stuff to his stomach."
"Why, is that bad for him?"
"Oh yeah big time, one time for example Natsu ate some of Laxus's lightning and then he ended up spewing all over the place afterwards."
"So eating anything other than fire makes Natsu sick, does that mean that eating anything other than lightning makes Luke sick?"
"That's how it works for Dragon Slayers, eating anything other than their element makes them spew all over the place."
"But why the heck would Natsu even wanna eat any of Laxus's lightning in the first place?"
"He didn't really want to eat it, but one time they fought and Natsu ended up getting his ass handed to him big time."
"Eesh, this Laxus guy must be seriously tough isn't he?"
"No doubt about it, why do you think Luke was always challenging him to fights when he was younger?"
"He did? I didn't really think Luke was that type of guy."
"He was basically another version of Natsu when they were younger, but he was still a lot smarter and stronger, not that Natsu would ever admit that. Before he left to train for about 2 years he was about on par with Erza, they'd go at it once in awhile, but now I'd say that the only person in the guild who could beat him in a fight is the Master. Well him and Gildarts anyway, but you get the idea. Or Mystogan, but that's a pretty big maybe. Looking back there's a hell of a lot of unanswered questions people have about the guy, not that he would ever stick around long enough to answer. What about you though, where do you think you stand?"
"I'm honestly just fine not knowing, mainly because I don't like the idea of being ranked against any of my friends like that. That and the fact that all of you are freaking beasts on at least one level."
"It's not that hard to think about, I mean Luke and the S class mages are all pretty high up there but now there's Gajeel and Juvia to take into consideration."
"Yeah yeah I get it, everyone is great but me."
"No one said anything like that, don't get your panties in a bunch blondie. Anyway that's not what I came here for."
"I know I know, to hide from Erza so you could drink in peace."
"Well yeah there's that, and the fact that Lisanna wanted me to show you this." she pulled a flier out of her bikini top "You need money to pay your rent don't you? Every year Fairy Tail is part of the Magnolia Harvest Festival."
"How is that supposed to help me?"
"Just take a look at the bottom of the thing."
"What, you mean about the Miss Fairy Tail contest- Holy crap the woman who wins gets a grand prize of 500,000 Jewel?!"
"Yep you got it."
"That's amazing, if I win the contest then I could cover my rent for the next 7 months."
"Good luck with that though, pretty much every girl in the guild enters that contest. Well I'll leave you to decide if you're gonna do it or not, later." and so Cana promptly left the apartment by leaping out the window.
Lucy's face fell as she repeatedly studied the flier 'If Cana's competing then I don't stand a chance against her, I mean she used to be a bikini model for Sorcerer Weekly.' then her face suddenly lit up 'But wait a second, I'm younger than she is and I'm still relatively new to the guild, and that makes me the exciting new model! I can do this! Yeah bring it on, that prize money is as good as mine!"
"Shut the hell up, we're trying to sleep here!" a random voice barked from outside her window, much to her annoyance.
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The next day came, and the sun was shining over the skies of Magnolia, and preparations for the Harvest Festival were well underway.
Luke walked through the streets with Makarov carrying a bag of groceries, and he took in the preparations going on all around them "Looks like the entire town is getting into the spirit of the Harvest Festival."
Makarov nodded "Yep no doubt about it, and everyone back at the guild is getting ready for the Fantasia parade. People are coming from all over the kingdom to see the parade, and we can't let our fans down now can we?"
"Yeah the guild has definitely been coming up in the world lately, I mean I'm gone for a year and a half and not only has shit almost hit the fan at least half a dozen times since I've been back but apparently the Thunder Legion actually started socializing with the rest of the guild. Now if only we could get the same reaction out of Laxus and deal with his attitude problems, then all would be right with the world."
"I'd rather not talk about that bum, the less said about him the better."
"Yeah I don't blame you, he's definitely gotten more bitter as the years went on, which says a lot since he's always been kind of a prick. Speaking of Laxus, what's his deal? I haven't seen the guy once since I came back to the guild."
"...Let's just say that the Harvest Festival got quite exciting last year, but not in the way any of us would've wanted. It's a damn shame too, I remember the days back when Laxus was around my height. He used to hold so much love and respect in his heart for the guild."
"Are we still talking about Laxus?"
"Not anymore." Makarov promptly snatched Luke's bag from him "I can take care of the preparations myself, thank you for the help but I can take it from here." and so he disappeared through teleportation magic, leaving Luke alone in the streets.
"And suddenly I feel like I pushed the worst button possible with him."
"It's not your fault." the cloaked figure suddenly popped up next to him "The fact that you weren't here during all of the crap the old man had to go through last year is why you don't know what he's feeling."
"Okay first of all, where the hell did you come from? Nevermind, I don't want to know. Second of all, what do you mean? What happened during the festival last year?"
"It's no surprise no one told you yet, I doubt anyone would actually want to think about what went down last year." the cloaked breathed a sigh "You might as well hear it now, the whole deal of what happened during the Harvest Festival last year… and how it led to a certain member being expelled from the guild."
"Wait, what?"
"It all started when Erza was with Lisanna searching for Natsu and Gray after they had gone on a job together."
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(Flashback spanning over multiple chapters- 1 year ago, year X783)
Erza followed Lisanna through a thick forest "So you mean that while I was gone on my S class mission, Natsu and Gray went on a job together? Good for them, it's nice to see the two of them getting along well enough to the point where they're trying to work together."
"Actually it was my idea." Lisanna let out a nervous chuckle "But that was 3 days ago and they still haven't come back, and I started to get worried so I thought maybe we should go and check on them to make sure they're okay."
"You were right to be cautious and bring me with you, given how skilled the two of them are one can't help but be alarmed that they would take as long as this to get back."
"I just hope they haven't run into trouble or anything, knowing how hot headed they can be."
"They might be reckless but they're not foolish enough to do something that would actually risk their lives like that." Erza stopped and stared long and hard at what was lying in front of the two of them "One prime example is lying in front of us. Tell me Lisanna, is this the monster from the flier for the job request they went on?"
"Yeah that's it, and judging by the look of it, it seems like it's been here for days."
"But they finished the job, so what happened to them?"
"Hold on a second. Animal Soul: Dog!" Lisanna flashed into one of her Animal Soul forms, this one having dog ears and a tail, and she started sniffing around "I can't pick up either of their scents in the forest, all I can smell is damp soil and this guy. Or what's left of him, and- Wait a second." she whipped around and let out a gasp.
Happy was crawling out of the bushes practically gasping for air "Lisanna… Erza… help…" he promptly fell over.
"Happy, oh my gosh are you okay?" Lisanna rushed over to him and pulled him into her lap, where she checked him over "It doesn't look like he's injured but he's heavily fatigued and exhausted.
"Please help me… I don't want to die out here…"
"It's okay Happy, you're not going to die. Can you tell me where Natsu and Gray are right now, or how you guys got split up?"
"It was terrible… Natsu and Gray… they…"
"What is it, what happened to them?" asked Erza.
"It's exactly what you would think… you have to hurry…"
"Lisanna stay with Happy, I'll go find Natsu and Gray and bring them back. Requip!" without missing a beat, Erza flashed into her Black Wing Armor and soared off into the skies in search of the two in question.
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Meanwhile, with the two in question…
Natsu pulled himself back to his feet and spat out some rubble "Well well, are you finally admitting defeat? I knew you wouldn't last, ever since we've started I've been melting your ass like an ice cream cone."
"Shut the hell up!" Gray spat out some rubble and wiped the blood from his lip "Now get the hell over here so I can kick your flaming ass all the way back to the guild!"
"How about you put some clothes on you icy prick!" and so they then proceeded to start punching and kicking the crap out of each other. You know, nothing out of the ordinary for these two idiots.
This was the scene that Erza found when she finally tracked them down 'Well at least this makes sense, and to think we were actually worried about them. But still, the fact that they've been fighting for three days straight means that something has to be done. Alright you two I think that's enough of that, let's just call it a draw for today. Stand down and come back home, then we talk this out over some sweets."
"KEEP YOUR SWEETS TO YOURSELF!" Natsu and Gray both ended up punching Erza in the face simultaneously, sending her crashing to the ground, only to realize their mistake too late and share a look "Uh…"
"...And just like that I'm done being nice." Erza bolted upright, her gaze more than enough to scare them into submission, but knowing this anime that's nowhere near enough for her "Now you both die."
Natsu and Gray could only hug each other in fear and scream in terror as Erza loomed ever closer, followed by a comical explosion.
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Later, back at the guild hall…
Natsu and Gray found themselves sitting on the same bench in the guild hall, battered and beaten with a furious Erza (with a black eye) looming over them "I'm just gonna say it now, there's no way in hell I'm ever doing a job with that idiot again."
"Yeah right." Gray let out a scoff "I'm obviously never doing a job with you again."
"Now you're just copying me, I said it first!"
"Well I thought it first, and who gives a crap because we're never doing a job together again you son of a-"
"That's enough!" Erza promptly slapped their skulls together to shut them up "The two of you have been fighting non-stop lately, all of your talent and magic power and you can't handle a simple monster slaying without trying to kill each other for days on end!"
"He started it!" they both pointed at each other.
"I don't care who starts it, it has to end and it has to end now!"
"Erza hold on a second." Lisanna held out a hand in front of her "I think I have a better solution than just hitting them. I just need you to hold them still."
"...Alright then." so Erza grabbed both of them by the skulls.
Lisanna took this chance to handcuff the two of them together, using heavy metal handcuffs to bind Natsu's right wrist to Gray's left "There, that should do it."
Needless to say, neither Natsu or Gray were happy about this "Uh, Lisanna what the hell are you doing?"
"This is for your own good you two. Erza's right, you've been fighting a lot more than usual lately so this is my solution. You're going to stay like this until you can learn to get along with each other."
"What the hell, no way that's happening!"
"I don't wanna hear it, until you guys learn to get along I'm not releasing these handcuffs. And don't try to burn or freeze them off either, these things are completely magic proof and they're keyed to my magic power, so they're not coming off until I say so."
"Okay you know what, I've got this." Natsu shot a charming grin (charming to him, in reality it just looked stupid) in her direction "Come on Lisanna, I'm the dad remember? I've gotta have my hands free in order to protect the mom and our kid, right?" they locked eyes.
"Nice try Natsu, dad or no dad you're staying like this until you and Gray can be friends without wanting to hurt each other." Lisanna's smile looked sweet, but at the same time it looked incredibly menacing, an ominous dark shadow covering her face "Understand?"
"...Yes ma'am."
"Good. Now then, I'll see you later." she pecked him on the forehead, shot a smile in Erza's direction, and then she promptly walked out of the guild hall with a smile on her face.
"Well then, FUCK!"
"Your so called wife is way scarier than I thought." Gray noted dryly.
"That's her on a good day, you should've seen what she did to that one Vulcan that cursed in front of Happy."
"...So what the hell do we do now?"
"I'll tell you what we do, don't look at me!"
"How about you don't look at me!" they both looked away from each other indignantly 'Well this is just great, why do I have to be stuck with the one guy that pisses me off more than anyone else in the guild?'
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"Now we move onto the town of Shirotsume, in its northern corner lies a dark guild that goes by the name of Ghoul Spirit."
One member of the dark guild in question was sent flying, courtesy of Freed and the other two members of the Thunder Legion "You laughed at us, a mistake you won't be allowed to make again."
"Who the hell do you punks think you are?!" a few nameless thugs charged at them in a blind rage.
Evergreen promptly let out a sigh "Honestly, to think that a pack of rats would have the audacity to mock the members of a proper guild, what is the world coming too?" so she then proceeded to use her Stone Eyes on them, turning several of them to stone in an instant.
"What the hell happened, did they just turn to stone? You're gonna pay for that!" several more men charged in a rage.
"Come on then babies, I say we party like it's hot!" Bickslow promptly used several of his dolls, controlling them with his Human Possession Magic, and used them to fire a swift barrage of blasts of magic energy, blowing all of the thugs all over the place, but even despite that they kept on blasting them.
That is, until Freed got involved "That's enough Bickslow, I think we've done our job."
"What the hell man, you mean we're done already?"
"Let's not waste anymore time than we have to with weaklings such as these, I don't know why they even bothered to form a guild."
"But we can't leave just yet, my little babies are looking to have more fun!"
"You just need to be patient, I assure you that you and they will see plenty of action soon enough."
"So we're going through with Laxus' plan then?" asked Evergreen "I suppose it's about time that we did."
"Indeed, he's been planning this for some time and now he's finally going to make his move on the guild."
"You better not be screwing with me." Bickslow gave him a maniacal grin "I've been waiting for this, my babies have been too."
"Yes I'm aware, you speak of them nonstop. In all honestly it actually does get to be rather irritating." Freed looked down on the downed Ghoul Spirit thugs with disdain "I am aware that there are only three of us, but numbers mean nothing when faced with us. Remember us, for we are the Thunder Legion, some of the best that the Fairy Tail guild has to offer, as well as the personal guards of Laxus Dreyar, the next master of the guild."
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Meanwhile, with the bad guy for this arc…
A certain tall young man with blond hair, a lightning bolt scar running over his right eye, a set of magic headphones over his ears, clad in a purple collared shirt and black pants, sat on a cliffside outside of the city of Magnolia, overlooking the city with a malice filled grin plastered across his face "The Thunder Legion will be back soon, and that means my time has finally come. I'm gonna make sure that you Fairies are gonna eat each other alive. I hope you're ready for what's about to happen old man, because your era is about to come to an end!"
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The next day came, and the sun was shining over Magnolia as preparations for the Harvest Festival continued getting underway, with a great deal of excitement in the air.
"JUST ADMIT YOU ATE THE JERKY I KEEP STASHED UNDER MY HAMMOCK!"
"AS IF I WOULD EVER EAT ANYTHING YOU LAID YOUR GRUBBY HANDS ON!"
"SHUT YOUR TRAP AND PUT A SHIRT ON!"
"HEY IF YOU DON'T WANNA LAY YOUR EYES ON THE MERCHANDISE THEN JUST QUIT LOOKING!"
And when I say excitement, I mean the excitement of Natsu and Gray (still handcuffed together a full 24 hours later) trying to kill each other.
Of course, Alzack and Bisca (two of the less important characters) were watching them from afar in clear amusement "Well from the looks of things I think it's safe to say this is gonna go on for awhile."
"Are they always fighting like that?" asked Bisca.
"Oh yeah big time, but the handcuffs are new."
"You know something Alzack, you haven't changed a bit." this was when a third figure joined their conversation.
"Hey Warren it's been awhile, I was starting to think you weren't going to show up."
"I was pretty worried myself that I wouldn't make it back in time for the Harvest Festival, and yet here I am."
"Good thing too, you're always on so many jobs I can't remember the last time I saw you around town. Oh yeah this is Bisca, she joined the guild a few weeks back." his statement was followed by a wave from Bisca and a tip of her hat "And Bisca this is Warren Rocko, he's a master of telepathy magic and also sort of a workaholic."
"What can I say, I have a lot of energy to burn."
"The festival is quite the sight isn't it?" Bisca noted "I mean just take a look at the crowd around here."
"Yeah it's a pretty big deal for our town, people come from all over the kingdom to see the show we put on in the Fantasia Parade."
"I can't wait to see what they can pull off."
"Not likely, you're in the parade after all." Alzack pointed out "And that reminds me, you gonna be in the Miss Fairy Tail Contest?"
"The what now?"
"Oh it's just this beauty pageant thing they do every year. You should give it a try, you're still new to the guild but I bet you'll blow the competition away."
"Huh, sounds like a blast. Alright why not, I'll see how I do. Later." and so she made her way off to sign up for the contest.
'Bisca in a beauty pageant. This is officially the greatest day of my life! But chances are some of the other guys in the guild will start lusting after her… I can't let that happen!'
"Hey Alzack, you do know that I can hear your thoughts right?" Warren pointed out.
"...Shit!"
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Soon enough, the Miss Fairy Tail contest was about to begin.
Max was acting as the host of the beauty pageant "The long wait is finally over ladies and gentlemen, and your patience is about to be rewarded! Welcome to the one and only Miss Fairy Tail contest, where your favorite female fairies duke it out in a battle of beauty! I'm Max Alors, the sand wizard extraordinaire, and I'll be your host for this exciting event!"
Gray glanced over at where Natsu was stuffing his face "Okay I get why Elfman is here, I expected to see him, but why the hell are we here?"
"I'll give you one guess." Natsu held up the pamphlet for the pageant "Who the hell do you think is entering this contest?"
"And Elfman hasn't tried to kill you because…?"
"Probably because you're here too."
"As in…?"
"A real man doesn't drag innocents into a quarrel they have nothing to do with." Elfman stated flatly.
"...Yeah okay, works for me."
"A real man would be fine with that."
"Okay this is gonna get old fast."
"Now let's start things off with the first entry in this contest! First we have the exotic beauty who can and will drink and of you under the table any day of the week, the famous newfound centerfold of the Fairy Tail guild, with beauty that's stolen the hearts of all men and even some women from all over the land, Cana Alberona!"
"What's up guys?" Cana did a pose for them, earning cheers and even a few posters from various fanboys in the audience "Yeah hate to break it to you guys, but you're not getting anywhere near any of this."
"Now bust out some magic and show us your stuff!"
"Way ahead of you." with a wave of her hand, Cana sent her cards spinning around her, concealing her from the audience.
"She's sent her deck of magic cards spinning, what could she be doing behind those cards of hers?"
"Take a look and find out." when the cards disappeared, it revealed Cana in a revealing two piece bikini "The prize money will cover my tab, but I figured why not let some of the boys out there take a look at what they want but can't have."
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Levy poked her head out from behind the stage "A bikini? That can't be legal!"
"A swimsuit, such a strategy was unexpected but it does hold merit." Erza was met with a look of disbelief "What?"
"You mean you're in this too?"
"Of course I am, whenever I hear of any sort of competition it rekindles a burning flame of passion in my heart."
"...Why am I not surprised?"
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"Next up we have our second entry, one of the most famous and loveable entries the guild has to offer! Petite and cute, as sweet as she is kind, let's give it up for Lisanna!"
"Hi everybody!" Lisanna waved at them "I could show all of you some of my Animal Soul forms, but I thought you would find transformation magic more appealing."
"HELL YEAH LISANNA, SHOW US WHAT YOU GOT!" by now Natsu had somehow pulled a foam finger out of thin air, as well as a t shirt with Lisanna's face on it, much to the confusion of everyone else "What?"
With a flash, Lisanna revealed a transformation spell affecting only her face "First up, this one is my Happy face. Aye!" that was more than enough to disappoint a good number of the men in the audience, but then it got worse for them as she did another one "And this is my Natsu face. I'm all fired up now!" and that just made it worse for them.
Gray looked over and noticed Natsu with his jaw dropped all the way to the ground "Yeah who could blame you after seeing something like that."
"Fuck off." was all Natsu said without even looking at him.
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Levy cringed at what she was seeing "Well that was… interesting to say the least."
"Well less competition for the rest of us." Cana gave a shrug, with Erza silently nodding in agreement.
"I guess."
"And next is our third entry, the Queen of the Fairies who doesn't need any introduction."
"And that would be my cue!" Erza bolted out and leapt onto the stage, earning cheers from a significant number of men in the audience.
"The Queen of the Fairies, Erza Scarlet!"
"Thank you for taking the time to come see me here, as a reward I'll show all of you a Requip you don't get to see every day." with a burst of magic power, she flashed into a rather… unusual outfit.
"Holy crap, she's busted out a Gothic Lolita! I think I speak for everyone when I say this was quite unexpected, but the queen herself is just full of surprises!"
"I think it's safe to say I hold the lead at the moment." Erza promptly made her way backstage amidst the cheers, leaving the next entry to make her way out.
"And now we have our fourth entry! Petite and cute, this fairy is as smart as she is charming, let's give it up for Levy McGarden!"
"YEAH LEVY!" of course the biggest cheers were coming from Jet and Droy, her fellow members of Team Shadow Gear.
"Hi everyone, thanks for coming! Let me show you my Solid Script magic!" and so with a wave of her hand, Levy used her Solid Script to summon several large words in mid air, earning even louder cheers from Jet and Droy, before making her way backstage again.
"And next we have our fifth entry into the contest, at the moment the newest addition to the Fairy Tail guild, the sniper that has the sights on our hearts, the one and only Bisca Mulan!"
"How ya doing guys, let me show you what I've got." Bisca promptly threw a few gold coins into the air "And now it's time for Requip: the Gunner!" she promptly summoned a rifle and fired a single shot, blasting clear through all of them at once.
Alzack pretty much had hearts in his eyes "Holy crap, that's so hot!"
"You like what you see guys?"
"Entry #8." a new voice called out, earning the attention of everyone present, revealing it to be belong to none other than Evergreen "I am the very definition of Fairy, not to mention the very definition of beauty. I am the only woman present who currently embodies everything that is desired by men, and because of that the winner shall be me, the lovely Evergreen. And now that the true winner has revealed herself, this pathetic excuse for a contest can end."
"Oh crap, she's back." Alzack muttered "That must mean that Laxus is gonna show his face here too. Bisca look out, don't look her in the eyes!"
"What are you talking about? She's another member of the guild isn't she, if she wants to be part of the contest then I say bring on the challenge." Bisca locked and loaded a rifle.
"Oh I'm sorry, what did you say your name was again?" Evergreen's eyes flashed, and in an instant Bisca had suddenly been turned to stone.
"Oh great, Evergreen is using her Stone Eyes magic. This is really bad, everyone needs to get out of here right now!" and that was more than enough to send all of the spectators running for their lives.
Once the civilians were cleared out, Makarov rounded on Evergreen in his rage "What do you think you're doing Evergreen? Your antics are going to ruin the festival for everyone!"
"On the contrary Master, I think things are just getting interesting." Evergreen let out a chuckle as the curtain rose behind her, revealing all of the other female contestants, having been turned to stone by her as well.
"Lisanna no!" Natsu bolted to his feet "Dammit!"
"They got Erza and the others too." Gray muttered "Probably ambushed them while they were preoccupied with the contest."
"Listen up Fairy Bitch, change Lisanna back or I'll light a fire under your ass!" he was met with only a chuckle.
"Don't be a fool!" Makarov let out a snarl "Return all of them to normal this instant!"
But then a flash of lightning descended onto the stage, and when it subsided it revealed none other than Laxus standing before them with a maniacal grin plastered across his face "Well what the hell do you know, it looks like all of your so called fans decided to head home. That's just too fucking bad, the party is about to start."
"Laxus, I should've known."
Natsu and Gray looked around the guild hall "Freed and Bickslow too, they've got the entire Thunder Legion for this one. What the fuck are you guys trying to pull?"
"Come on you guys, let's just have some good old fashioned fun for once!"
Makarov wasn't having any of it "I've had about enough of this nonsense from you Laxus, turn them back right now or else!"
"Don't be like that old man, you're gonna have to play nice if you want any of these ladies to join the parade." he summoned a ball of lightning over Cana.
"No don't!"
"Too late." the bolt of lightning rained down, but it missed Cana by a few centimeters "Let me put it in a way even the two idiots in the handcuffs could understand, I'm taking all of these chicks hostage. Break the rules and I'll shatter all of these chicks one by one, or I could just smash them all right now.
"I'm not amused with your antics Laxus, now stop screwing around!"
"I'm not screwing around old man, it's always been a question of who's the strongest in the guild and now it's time for us to find out, and the rest of the Thunder Legion and all of you guys get join in on the fun. There's only one rule, whoever is left standing in the end is the winner. It's a battle royale for all of the Fairy Tail guild!"
"Stop fucking around." Natsu let out a snarl "I'm not fucking with you on this one, let them go and I'll burn your ass into the ground!"
"I'm pretty sure it's or, not and."
"I know what I said. Gray our rivalry be damned, we kick this guy's ass and then we focus on beating the shit out of each other."
"Sounds good to me." Gray cracked his knuckles.
"Come at us jackass."
Laxus let out a chuckle "Too bad you guys don't see things my way, but still I've gotta give you both props for having some spirit if nothing else."
"Battle royal or not it's still a festival, let's party. I'll bring in the fireworks."
"Seriously bad idea guys." Macao tried to call them off "Natsu have you already forgotten how badly Laxus beat you the last time you guys went at it?"
"Think about it, Luke was trying to take this assclown down for years so if I can beat him now then I can hold this over his head forever! Besides, I was just a kid when he beat me down."
"That was 2 weeks ago." Gray pointed out.
"Two weeks can go and suck it, he tried to screw with my wife and that's when a man has to start kicking some ass!" Natsu charged at Laxus, dragging Gray with him.
"On the other hand, I think that attitude of yours is going to lead to you asking for a hell of a lot of pain. Take my advice and just sit your ass back down!" Laxus promptly struck Natsu with a bolt of lightning, frying Natsu on the spot, as well as Gray by extension due to the metal alloy of the handcuffs that bound them together "Okay who said he was gonna fire the first shot? Anyone who didn't, go ahead and pay up." he was promptly handed some money by Bickslow and each one of his dolls "I told you you shouldn't have put your money on the stripper."
"Hey!" Gray barked at him "You think I wanted to get blasted because of this idiot?!"
"Wait a second, how the hell did you get naked if you're in handcuffs?"
"...FUCK!"
"Anyway if you want Evergreen to turn the girls back to normal then that means you're gonna have to defeat her, not to mention myself and the rest of the Thunder Legion. But those odds could be worse when you think about it, there's four of us and dozens of you guys. You've got three and not a second more, when the timer hits zero these pretty little statues so many of you like to masturbatte to will be turned to dust in the wind. All of Magnolia is going to serve as the battlefield for this tournament, the fight will begin when and if you can track us down."
"Laxus, how could you?" Makarov activated his giant form in his rage "I absolutely refuse to stand for this!"
"Now now, simmer the fuck down old man. It's all part of the festival isn't it?" Laxus' body started glowing and crackling with electricity as he started laughing maniacally "Come on you guys, it'll be fun! Now I say, let the battle of Fairy Tail BEGIN!" and when the light finally subsided, Laxus and the Thunder Legion had all disappeared.
"He disappeared." Macao noted "So he's turning this into a high stakes game of hide and seek then is it?"
"LET'S GO!" Elfman roared at the top of his lungs "WE'VE GOTTA MAN UP AND SAVE OUR GIRLS!" and that was all the incentive the other men (and the few women who didn't enter the contest) needed to take off running.
It took Makarov a minute to let his rage build until he finally lost patience "You insolent brat, JUST WAIT AND I'LL STOP YOU WITH MY OWN TWO HANDS!" he charged towards the exit of the guild hall, only to end up slamming face first into an invisible wall.
Natsu looked up at the stone form of Lisanna "Just hang in there, I'll rip Laxus apart if that's what it takes to save you."
"Come on, we've gotta get moving if we're gonna save them." Gray told him.
"Fine, but just to be clear that doesn't mean we're fighting as a team or anything. We take them down, then I take you down." they took off running.
"As if, I'm gonna be taking you down!"
"In your dreams stripper, I'm gonna melt you like an ice cream cone-" Natsu suddenly found himself slammed face first into the invisible wall.
"What the fuck are you doing?"
"What do you think, slamming into a goddamn wall!"
"Pull your head out of your ass, there's nothing here!" Gray tried to yank Natsu through the so called, wall, only for him to slam face first into it over and over again "I don't get it, what the fuck gives?"
"My suspicion is that it has something to do with that." Makarov looked above to see the writing floating above them.
"What is that, some kind of writing?"
"That must be the work of one of Freed's enchantments."
"What the hell do you mean enchantment?" asked Natsu.
"It's a barrier formed by Magic Runes, anyone who steps within its range is bound by its rules and the only way to escape is to follow them."
"Any idea what it says?" asked Gray.
"To my understanding, stone statues and anyone over the age of 80 years shall not pass beyond this barrier."
"So whoever writes the rules wins the fight?"
"Perhaps, but enchantments like these take time to write and as such they would be useless in a one on one battle. Still though, as you can see they're quite effective if they're set up as traps for an enemy."
"So you're really stuck and you can't get through?" asked Natsu.
"I'm afraid the rules of the enchantment are absolute."
"Well then that settles it." Gray noted "Sorry gramps, but it looks like we're gonna have to go into this fight without you."
"I'm sorry."
"Forget it, Laxus is playing dirty." Natsu's body started lighting up with flames "Grandson or not I'm not showing Laxus any mercy, he's gonna get his ass driven into the ground for the crap he's pulled."
'The problem is that I fear that neither of these two is strong enough to defeat him, Erza may be able to, or Luke if he were still here, but Erza is out of commission for certain.'
"Just wait, he'll go down and I'll get the girls back to normal."
"Hey flame brain, there's something you're not thinking about." Gray pointed out.
"Yeah, what's that?"
"For whatever reason, you're trapped in Freed's barrier, which means you can't get out of the guild hall to fight them to begin with."
"...FUCK!"
"Yeah that's right, I've got this one in the bag."
"About that dude, you're still stuck to me, so you can't fight them either."
"...FUCK!"
Makarov glanced over to see Reedus hiding behind a pole, or rather trying to and failing miserably at it "I see you over there Reedus, what's the matter?"
Reedus cowared back even further "Well, I'm afraid Laxus is going to hurt me."
"It's alright, I'm not forcing you to fight. Why don't you go visit Porlyusica in the East Forest, she may have a potion that can reverse petrification."
"Oui." and so Reedus promptly rushed off.
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Meanwhile, in Magnolia…
Jet and Droy rendezvoused in random street "Did you find anything man?"
Droy shook his head "No I haven't had any luck, what about you?"
"Sorry man, I don't have anything."
"Well that's just great."
"Dammit, they've got a lot of nerve doing this to Levy!"
"Hey come on man, we just have to take it easy a little bit."
"What the hell do you mean take it easy? We only have three hours!" this was when a magic barrier suddenly surrounded the two of them "What the hell, some kind of trap?"
"It's an enchantment."
"You mean they put these things all over town?"
"If I had to guess, then I would say that this is Freed's work." they looked up at the writing in the invisible wall.
"It says that only the wizard who proves himself to be the strongest is allowed to leave this barrier, but what the hell does that mean?"
"If I had to guess I'd say he's trying to make us fight each other. Dammit Freed, that's a dirty trick!"
"...Fine, if that's the way that it has to be then so be it."
"Wait what?"
"Sorry about this man, but if this is what we have to do to save Levy then I'll do it."
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Makarov and the others glanced up at the writing on the barrier "Battle of Fairy Tail status update- What in the world? It says Jet vs Droy, is this some sort of sick joke?"
"That doesn't make any sense." Natsu muttered "Why the hell would those two be fighting each other? Their personalities are basically carbon copies of each other."
Gray pondered this for a moment "If I had to guess I would say that Freed forced them into some kind of trap to make them fight each other."
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"Knuckle Plant!" Droy summoned a barrage of magic plants from within the ground.
"Falcon Heaven Soar!" Jet blitzed through every single Knuckle Plant and dealt Droy a swift kick to the torso, sending him tumbling backwards and knocking him out cold "Sorry about this man, but someone has to save Levy and the others."
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Gray glanced up at the update in the barrier "The winner is Jet, Droy has been KO'ed."
"Dammit!" Natsu launched a Fire Dragon Iron Fist into the barrier, to no avail "Stop it with this stupid game right now! LAXUS!"
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Meanwhile, with the asshole in question…
Laxus stood waiting in the halls of the Kardea Cathedral, witnessing the chaos occurring throughout the city with a malicious grin "Alright you old geezer, let's see just how long you can endure this game of Fairy-eat-Fairy."
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By this point, the townspeople of Magnolia were beginning to notice that the Fairy Tail members were fighting against each other, and as they spoke Vijeeter was sent flying through a nearby wall while he was facing off against Nab.
At the same time, other battles were taking place, among them being Warren vs Max and Macao vs Wakaba, and Laki (the girl with purple hair who uses Wood Make magic) vs a few other nameless girls.
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Happy looked up at the results of each battle coming through "Max vs Warren, Max is KO'ed and the winner is Warren. Vijeeter vs Nab, Vijeeter is KO'ed and the winner is Nab. Laki defeats four others. Macao vs Wakaba, in progress."
"Dammit…" Makarov gritted his teeth "Those foolish children, what the hell do they think they're doing?"
"They really don't have any choice but to fight each other, Freed must have hidden those enchantments all over town so they're impossible to avoid. It's just like Laxus said, this is the Battle of Fairy Tail."
"But why, it doesn't make any sense?" Natsu gritted his teeth and slammed another flaming fist into the wall "Why the hell did I get shafted at a time like this?!"
"How the fuck do you think I feel?!" Gray yanked on the handcuffs and ended up making Natsu slam into the invisible wall "I wanna take down Laxus just as much as you do, but I'm stuck to you and you're stuck in there so we're both getting shafted on fighting them!"
"Hey fighting can go fuck itself right now, I'm trying to save my wife! Once I know she's safe, then I'll focus on beating the shit out of Laxus and the others and lording this over their heads for like a year!"
"Will both of you shut up!" Makarov used his extending arms to smack Natsu upside the head, then yanked him backwards to pull Gray back within the limits of the barrier and smacked him upside the head as well "This is not a game, Laxus is playing the two of you and everyone else like a bunch of pawns. If we can't beat the Thunder Legion in time then the girls are going to be smashed to pieces, I know that everyone is trying to keep that from happening but they're going about it the wrong way. If we keep fighting amongst themselves like this then the girls are as good as finished, we can't let Laxus win."
"Here's the thing about that Master." Happyspoke up "I'm not so sure that he's actually gonna hurt hurt them do you? I mean yeah he's a gigantic jerkface, but he's still one of us, so if I had to guess I think he might be bluffing."
"You really think that?"
"Look at Natsu and Gray for example, sure they try to strangle each other a lot in ways that are pretty funny but they're still willing to put it aside for the sake of taking Laxus down."
"...You really do believe that don't you?"
"Yeah."
"Screw that, he's got my wife as a fucking statue!" Natsu slammed another fire fist into the barrier, to no avail "Does this mean I'm over 80 and no one ever told me, cause I'd know if I was a stone statue right?!"
"And here I thought we knew each other Natsu."
Gray was still rather skeptical "You seriously think Laxus is part of the guild, even after all of this you think he wouldn't hurt any of us? You know what, deal with it later. How much time is left?"
"From the look it, about 2 hours and 18 minutes."
"And there are 42 participants remaining."
Makarov froze at what he heard "That can't be all that's left, that means more than half the guild has wiped itself out in less than an hour."
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At the same time, Reedus was trying to get out of Magnolia and reach Porlyusica in order to find an antidote for Evergreen's petrification, only to find that he was prohibited from doing so by a barrier set up by Freed, and soon found himself engaging in combat against Freed himself.
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Amidst all of the chaos in the battle royale, Alzack found himself confronted by Bickslow and his dolls, but he wasn't the only one who had managed to track down a member of the Thunder Legion.
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Elfman found himself confronting Evergreen, and he promptly charged at her "You know a real man would never need to take a hostage in a fight, if you have any pride then you'll turn my little sister back right now!"
Evergreen let out a chuckle "Well you should already be aware that I'm not a man." she attempted to petrify him with her Stone Eyes.
Elfman shut his eyes in order to avoid being turned to stone, only to be sent flying by a wave of her fan, sending him crashing into a nearby flower shop.
"Oh my, are those beautiful flowers for me? How kind of you, they suit me so well."
"Beast Arm: Iron Bull!" Elfman activated one of his Beast Arm spells and burst out from beneath the rubble, now wearing a blindfold.
"It's a shame that the only thing about you I could find cute is your name, Elfman."
"A real man doesn't screw around when the stakes are this high, now you'd better turn my sister back or else!"
"Do you really think you can defeat me while you're blindfolded?" she easily dodged an attempted swipe from his Beast Arm.
"A real man relies on more than just his eyes!" Elfman aimed another fist.
Evergreen dodged that attack as well, releasing a spray of gold dust as she did "How resourceful of you, so you can tell where I am by following the sound of my voice and my scent. But it's too late for you unfortunately, you're already covered in my fairy dust. Fairy Bomb Attack: Gremlin!" the dust particles around him started setting off a chain of miniature explosions that eventually ignited into one larger one, which resulted in Elfman crashing to the ground with a loud thud "Statues are wonderful are they not? No matter how ugly a beast may be, once he is captured in stone he becomes a beautiful work of art, now gaze into my eyes and submit to the eternal beauty of stone." she then proceeded to use her Stone Eyes magic to turn him into a statue like all of the others.
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Gray glanced up at the scorekeeper on the barrier "Elfman vs Evergreen, Elfman has been KO'ed and the winner is Evergreen."
"Well that's fucked up." Natsu muttered "I would've thought he'd have no problem taking her down."
"Plus it says down here that Alzack and Bickslow are fighting it out."
"And I think it says here that Reedus and Freed are going at it. You think either of them can win?"
"For the sake of Erza and the others they have to try at least."
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Reedus found himself being cornered by Freed and tried to use his Pict Magic in an attempt to catch him off guard, only for it to fail and for him to be defeated.
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Happy looked up at the scoreboard "This is bad, Freed took out Reedus!"
"Dammit!" Natsu slammed a fist into the wall "Why the hell did he have to get stuck with Freed of all people, that dude's a fucking powerhouse!"
"Yeah he's cool, but now isn't the time for praising the enemy."
"This coming from the flying cat who said that Laxus was bluffing about turning the girls to dust just a few minutes ago."
"Is that so?" this was when a Thought Projection of Laxus appeared before them "So you really think I'm bluffing, you really wanna roll with that one?"
"Where the hell did you come from?"
"It's not really him." Gray told him "It's just a Thought Projection."
"So tell me something you two, what the hell are you guys doing holed up in a piece of shit like this? You guys aren't scared are you?"
"We're not scared you idiot, but Natsu is stuck inside Freed's barrier and I'm stuck to him, to my obvious disgust, so I can't fight either."
"Huh. Well makes things easier for me, not that either of you stood a chance against me either way."
"Just tell me what you want." Makarov gritted his teeth.
"So how does it feel old man, you think of the members of the guild as your children right? It must be pretty tough to watch your so called kids tear each other apart like a bunch of pieces of wet paper. It's too bad these assclowns and Erza can't join the game, you guys don't have anyone else strong enough to take on the Thunder Legion. And it's too bad the only one with the spunk to take us on isn't even here right now, because he ran away like a coward."
"Don't talk shit about Luke like that!" Natsu let out an outright snarl "He left to get stronger so he could beat the crap out of assholes like you, he's more of a man and a lightning magic wizard than you'll ever be!"
"You just keep thinking that you cocky little bastard. So what do you say old man, you ready to throw in the towel?"
"I wouldn't underestimate their power if I were in your position. Makarov warned him "These children have the one thing you lack: Spirit."
"Spirit isn't gonna do much good against any of my guys. See for yourselves." Laxus jerked a thumb at the scoreboard "Likes Bickslow just did in that guy with the guns (Alzack), so now less than 30 competitors are left." he promptly barked out a laugh "And those ass clowns were supposed to save you?"
"You cheater!" Happy promptly rounded on him "I know you and your pals used some dirty trick to make them fight each other!"
"So tell me something old man, which one of those chumps was supposed to beat the Thunder Legion again?"
"We will." Gray and Natsu shared a glance with each other.
"Yeah like that's gonna happen? You said it yourself, he's stuck in here for whatever reason and you're stuck to him, so you might as well not even be here."
"I'll figure something out." Natsu summoned some flames in his hand "And when I do your ass is grass and I'm the guy mowing it-"
"Enough, this isn't worth it." Makarov finally cut into the conversation "I surrender, is that what you want?"
"What the fuck Gramps?!"
"You've had your fun Laxus, now stop this."
"What the hell has gotten into you? I thought you were the master of the almighty Fairy Tail guild, you can't just give up at the drop of a hat. But still, if you insist on quitting then by all means just hand the guild over to me and take an early retirement."
"What…?"
"So that's what you want." Gray let out a snarl "Why the hell are you playing dirty like this, why not just come here and face us like a man?"
"I should've known, this was your goal all along wasn't it?"
"You've only got about an hour and a half until the statues up and crumble, if you really wanna put and end to this then just announce your retirement to the entire town over the guild's loudspeaker. I want you to tell everyone you're relinquishing Fairy Tail over to me. What means more to you, your children or your title?" and then he disappeared.
"God dammit man!" Natsu's body was radiating with fire from his rage "If you wanna be the master so mad then you should have the guts to come right here and face us yourself! Why the hell doesn't he just do that if he's acting so smug?"
Makarov's frown deepened "It was never the title that I valued."
"But you can't just give up Gramps!" Gray protested.
"I know that, Laxus may be powerful but he isn't trustworthy. By no means would I ever leave him in charge. It takes more than just physical strength or magic power to run a guild, he has neither the conviction nor the heart."
"Well we've gotta do something before he turns the girls into dust! There's gotta be something we can do, some way one of us can get the hell out of here and take Laxus and the Thunder Legion down!"
Natsu looked over at the stone form of Lisanna "You said that when bad things are happening, that's when you need to smile the most for the sake of those around you. I'll find a way to bust out of here so I can see your smile again."
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"Fairy Bomb Attack: Gremlin!" Evergreen promptly blew away several nameless Fairy Tail members in a series of explosions "My my, this is such a shame."
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Nab and Laki found themselves being chased around by Bickslow and his dolls "Hey come on and cut it out already Bickslow, we're all friends here right?"
"Friends?" Bickslow stuck out his tongue with a maniacal grin "You weaklins ain't no friends of mine, right babies?" and then he had his dolls blow them up.
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Freed wasted no time in snuffing out Jet, taking advantage of his clouded judgdment in his rage and defeating him easily, narrowing down the list of the remaining participants even further.
Time was running out, and the guild was running out of capable members.
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Makarov looked up at the barrier in horror "Only two left in the entire guild?"
"Dammit!" Natsu finally rounded on Gray "I've wanted to say this for more than a day, why the fuck can't you freeze this stupid thing off?!"
"Don't you think I've tried!" Gray rounded back on him as well "The same could be said for you trying to burn this thing off!"
"Now I'm hungry and it's all your fault you asshat!"
"Don't think you can blame everything on me!"
"No way, you mean to tell me…" Makarov slowly glanced back at Natsu and Gray "You mean you two are the only ones left?!"
"But what about me Master?" asked Happy "I'm a member too aren't I?"
"There's no one left who could take down Laxus, it's all over."
"Don't count us out yet Gramps." Natsu breathed a sigh "Now that I've got the pent up aggression towards Gray out of my system for the time being, I can go ahead and use my secret last resort option. Hang tight Gramps, I'll go ahead and bring Erza back."
"Wait you'll do what?!"
"Truth be told I have no idea if this is even going to work or not, but I don't think we have any other options."
"Now hold on a second, just what are you about to do?"
"What else, I'm gonna use my fire on her to melt the stone off of her."
"Wait what?!" Gray promptly rounded on him "She isn't covered in stone you idiot, her entire body is made of stone right now! It's not gonna melt off her!"
"Yeah well unless you have a better idea shove an icicle up your ass, besides we won't know until we try."
"This is madness, you're going to roast her alive!" Makarov protested.
"So what, it's toasty time." Natsu ignited his hands in flames "Someone take a picture, this is going to be so awesome."
"Just watch where you put those hands of yours." Gray warned him.
"That's what she said." but then a crack formed on Erza, causing him to scream in pure unholy terror "Oh crap oh crap oh crap, I didn't mean to break her! Don't just stand there you idiots, someone get me the glue!"
"Glue isn't gonna do anything to fix her you idiot, you've gotta use your fire to weld her back together and my ice to seal the deal before it's too late!" the cracks started forming even further along her body, which caused them to start praying out of pure comical terror.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Just please don't turn into a ghost and haunt me for the rest of my days!" Natsu promptly froze in the middle of his terrified praying as he witnessed what happened next.
The stone on Erza's body shattered and she appeared completely back to normal, including her usual pissed off look "I feel hot… it was you wasn't it? Were you trying to cook me?!" she then proceeded to punch Natsu as hard as she could, sending both him and Gray flying across the guild hall.
"Yep, she's back to normal alright… told you it would work… ow…"
"And even in a crisis you can't cease with your foolishness."
"Thank goodness." Makarov breathed a deep sigh of relief "But how was the spell broken on you?"
"Honestly I'm not quite sure, but if I had to guess then I would say it had something to do with my right eye."
'That's it, the properties of the artificial eye Porlyusica gave her must have weakened the effects of Evergreen's spell. Tell me Erza, do you know what's going on right now?"
"I think so, even when I was turned to stone I could still hear most of what was being said."
"Alright, the time has come for us to strike back."
"Right."
"Hey guys check it out!" Happy pointed to the scoreboard on the Runes "There's three of them now."
"So the Runes have already added me into the roster, that's actually quite impressive. It updates automatically, but there's still only three left."
"Actually it's just you right now, Natsu is stuck on here because of the enchantment on the guild hall and Gray is stuck to him because of those magic handcuffs of Lisanna's."
"And it's linked to Lisanna's magic power, but given that she's still turned to stone she can't release the two of them."
"Wait a second, now the roster says there's five."
"Which means two more have entered the fray then."
"But who the hell could it be?" asked Natsu "I mean Lisanna and the others are still stone so it can't be them."
"I believe that all of you are forgetting about a few people. There is Loke for starters, he was out of town on a long term job. As for the other, there's a certain someone who's frequently out of town."
Makarov studied Erza intently for a moment, until realization dawned on him "You mean him don't you, and he's back just when we need him the most."
"He's always been one to make a grand entrance, at least when he actually wants to make himself known. Yes, we're talking about a man who may very well be the strongest wizard in Fairy Tail, none other than Mystogan himself. It looks to me like the real battle is about to begin at last."
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Meanwhile, with the blonde prick…
Laxus looked up at the scoreboard on the Runes with a confident smirk "So not only has Erza recovered, but now Loke and Mystogan are joining us. Including me, that's three of the elites of Fairy Tail going head to head. You can't have a proper festival without a main event now can you?"
A/N:
And now we come to the Battle of Fairy Tail, which may be the most heavily redone arc in my entire series, at least for the moment. I know that in earlier chapters I've been making various references to an incident involving Laxus, and this is what it's been hyping up to, the big revelation in the form of a flashback arc to the Battle of Fairy Tail, which in this fic takes place one year earlier than it did in canon.
The biggest changes involved in this arc due to it being one year earlier is the noticeable lack of Lucy, Juvia and Gajeel being present, as well as Loke still being banned from the Celestial world and no one (except Bickslow) knowing about him being one of the 12 Zodiac spirits.
The idea of Natsu and Gray being handcuffed to each other was inspired by an episode of the anime Gintama, episode 166 to be exact. I've been trying to get into that anime recently, and I honestly think it would be hysterical to see those two handcuffed to each other. That, and it keeps Gray from getting his ass handed to him by Bickslow.
For those who noticed, I added in a few NaLi moments here and there just for the sake of solidifying the ship a little bit more. I'll be expanding on those in a later chapter.