The Battle Begins

A/N: After so much tragedy and hard worked recovery, Fairy Tail members are ready to enjoy the preparations for the upcoming Harvest Festival. Everyone is looking forward to the fun festivities, but a thunderstorm is brewing, and Fairy Tail is at the center of the storm.

Make sure to comment your thoughts, I love hearing reactions to my ideas, both positive and negative.

Gajeel just wanted to go about his day like he had for the past seven years. Get up, grab a job, punch some guys in the face, and then stuff his face with metal before going to bed. Maybe he would talk to Juvia for a bit, and deal with her rainy attitude, or hang out with Rogue if the kid actually wanted to do something.

Unfortunately, it seemed that would no longer happen.

"Hey, it's time for your initiation." Magna said.

"No."

"Hey, I heard you're pretty strong? Fight me." Luck demanded.

"No."

"Hey, wanna share a drink with me?" asked Vanessa.

"No."

"Look, at my precious Marie, isn't she the most beautiful girl you've ever seen?" Gauche asked.

"No!"

"Please don't eat me!" Grey squeaked.

"N- wait, what?!"

"Do you want some food from my sheep, La?" Charmy asked.

"…Yes."

That was what Gajeel had to deal with, waking up in the Black Bull hideout. Today, they were all having breakfast before going to the guild, and he was sitting between Rogue and Yuno in front of Asta, Noelle, and Mimosa. One would expect the mood to be rather tense, but it was actually rather cheery thanks to one person.

"Wow, so your own body turns into iron?" Asta had his signature starry face when he asked Gajeel how his powers work. "That sounds awesome! Imagine if I could turn my arm into a sword! I could slice and punch people at the same time!"

"Hey, stop talking so much, otherwise it's hard to feed you!" Noelle and Mimosa were doing their best to feed him, though it was hard both because of Asta's excitement and the fact that both girls were nervous from feeding their crush.

Gajeel stared at the group of them with an eye raised before turning to Yuno, who just shrugged as if to say, 'they're just like this.' "Why do I have to be here?"

"Because eating together is nice and builds camaraderie!" explains Asta.

"That sounds like bullshit."

"Only if you keep being such a grouch," Yuno remarked.

Gajeel really regretted listening to Jose at that moment. "You guys are weird. Most of the others look at me like I kicked their dog," Which he kind of did, the bluenette was cute and small enough, "But you all don't seem to care that much? What gives?"

Finral took the time to explain. "Well, Luck just wants to fight you because you're strong, Gauche barely pays attention to anything around him that doesn't look like his sister, Magna yells at everyone, Vanessa is probably too drunk to care, Charmy pretty much only pays attention to food, Gordon actually appreciates you because you're one of the only people who can understand him, Grey is Grey, and I – actually don't like you all that much. Although, none of that matters too much because Yami said you're one of us, so we all accept it."

Gajeel looked at them like they were insane. "Wait, so you all just listen to what he says? Well, he is pretty strong, so I understand."

Asta shakes his head. "No, that's not it. Well, he is kind of scary, and that does matter, but it's not the real reason we all listen to him. It's because he gave us all a home."

Gajeel realized arguing with him would get him nowhere, so he moved on. "What about you three? Hawkeye already told me why he's nice to me so what about you three?"

"Hawkeye?" Asta looked confused at the nickname.

"Your brother or whatever." Gajeel explains. "He uses wind magic, and his eyes are gold like a hawk's. I'd call him Windy, but that's too similar to someone else I know."

"Gajeel doesn't bother calling people by names often," Rogue interjects. "He comes up with nicknames for everyone or calls them by last name if he can't think of a clever one."

Noelle wasn't enthusiastic in her response. "Well, I'm not a big fan of you either, however Mimosa decided to heal you, so I guess it'd be rude of me to disparage her opinion."

Mimosa blushed at Noelle's praise. "It wasn't that big a deal. I don't really need a reason to heal people, I just don't want to see anyone die."

Asta shrugged. "Ok. Well, I get why everyone is mad at you, but it's pretty simple for me. You're not our enemy anymore, so that makes you my friend."

"And what if I decided to nail one of your friends up to a tree tomorrow? Like Grass Girl right next to you?" Gajeel was just trying what usually worked in Phantom Lord, upsetting people before establishing himself as the biggest man in the room so one could look down on him.

The plan backfired immediately.

An intense pressure suddenly pushed down on Gajeel, and everyone else at the table could feel it being directed at him from the Anti mage. His face was one that none had ever seen or could describe the emotion on his face, and his grimoire was floating next to him, Anti-Magic pouring out of it. Gajeel could have sworn he saw Asta's eyes turn red and the image of a black devil with horns appear behind him.

"You don't wanna know."

If anyone told you Gajeel almost shat himself, he wouldn't deny it.

Despite the fact that Asta had no magic and two broken arms, all of Gajeel's instincts were blaring at him that this was a fight he wouldn't win. He knew that size wasn't everything in figuring out a fighter's skills, but at that moment, Asta seemed larger than he could imagine.

"But I know you won't do that." The bloodlust dies down as quickly as it arrived, everyone taking a breath that they didn't know they were holding in. "I'm still new at it, but I read your Ki right, you were just trying to aggravate me. Good job though, even though I knew you were lying, you managed to make me really mad. I bet that would work great on jobs."

Yuno patted Gajeel on the shoulder, making him realize that he was shaking the whole time. "Don't mess with Asta. If he ever gets truly angry at you, then not even Mimosa will be able to heal that."

Gajeel was starting to understand why people thought the Black Bulls were insane.

At the guildhall, there was something of great importance that everyone was focusing on 100%. It was a contest that had been long in the making, and none could predict who the winner of this clash of titans would be.

"Okay, everyone." Mira was at the center of the big circle everyone had made inside the guild as the official commentator. "It's finally time to see who has the biggest stomach in Fairy Tail!"

"In this corner, we have the long raining champion ever since this competition as first made, the Tiny Terror, the Gluttonous Dwarf, the Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, the Black Bull, Charmy Pappitson!" Charmy summoned her sheep to lift her above their heads, letting her look down at everyone else.

"In this corner, we have everyone's favorite fire breather, resident troublemaker, member of team…" Mira stopped as she realized she didn't know what to call Natsu's group. "Um, what is your team name again?"

"Team Natsu!"

"We never agreed to that name, it's still in discussion!"

Lucy's outcry was ignored, and Mira moved on. "Member of Team Natsu! He's all fired up, the Salamander, Natsu Dragneel!" Natsu jumped on top of a table and roared, cheers from the audience coming to support the Dragon Slayer.

"And finally, a newcomer who has come to try and take the throne. He may be small, he may not have magic, hell he doesn't even have the use of his arms at the moment, but that won't stop him! His magic is never giving up, so don't give up on his chances of victory! It's Fairy Tail's Little Giant, the Dark Knight who toppled the Fairy Queen, and whose eyes are set on the throne of the Wizard King, the co-founder of Fairy Tail's newest (and strongest) team Black Clover, Asta!"

Asta yelled in his normally excited tone, having heard about the contest and decided to join because he got to eat good food.

"Asta's arms are currently broken, so we will have a special rule this time around!" She then pointed to a humungous plate of chicken, hot dogs, burgers, noodles, pancakes, and waffles, and much more food being made by Charmy's sheep for when the pile eventually started shrinking. "This time, our contestants aren't allowed to use their hands, to eat! It's a battle of who has the biggest mouth between our guild's biggest eaters!"

Natsu was ready to go as soon as possible. "It doesn't matter how it's going down, this time I'm gonna finally gonna outeat you Charmy!"

"La, you are 100 years to young to have a chance in hell at defeating me. I have mastered the art of eating in all manners, and I won't hold back against you Asta, just because you're injured!" Charmy's attitude had completely changed, as this was a matter of the greatest importance (besides Yuno): Food.

"I wouldn't have it any other way! it's time to show everyone what I'm really made of!" Asta was just as passionate about this as he was about everything else.

A minute later, and they were off, all three of them facedown and eating as much food as possible. While most of the others were cheering on the eaters, the reasonable members of the guild were doing other things.

Yuno was sitting at a table alongside Noelle, Erza, Lucy, and a reluctant Gajeel that Yuno had dragged along for the purpose of trying to get him to socialize. "Ashy there sure gets hyped up over anything. He's like a smaller Salamander."

Lucy sighed, still bothered by Natsu's comment earlier. "I've been trying to come up with a name for our team, but it's kind of hard because I can't think of a unifying theme between us."

"I still think that Justice Force would be a great name," Erza says in between bites of her strawberry cake.

"That doesn't really jive with our group dynamic. Gray has demon powers and Natsu destroys property like no one's business," Lucy then turns to Yuno. "How did you guys come up with your team name?"

"Asta came up with the name on his own and came up with it because of his own grimoire and our arrival at Fairy Tail. Noelle and Mimosa didn't argue with him for obvious reasons." Yuno answers.

"W-what's that supposed to mean!?" Noelle shrieks.

Lucy puts her hand on Noelle's shoulder. "Noelle, it's super obvious that you're crushing super hard on Asta."

"W-well, I mean," Noelle struggled to respond as she had figured out her feelings, but still felt nervous about making them known. "Why don't you just name it after yourself, since you're the leader of that team."

Noelle's deflection managed to succeed as Lucy looked at her confusedly. "What are you talking about? Obviously, Erza's the leader of our team."

Erza shakes her head. "I would disagree with you immensely, Lucy. Often on jobs, Natsu will refer to your opinion more often than anyone else, and the rest of us have started to do so as well. Not to mention your actions at the Tower of Heaven."

Lucy looked flattered to receive kudos from Erza of all people. "Really? I didn't think too much of it at the time, but I guess you're kind of right." Lucy's face then gets incredibly smug. "I'm the leader of Fairy Tail's strongest team, oh man, that sounds so awesome! I bet that'll go great in my autobiography!"

"Your what?" Yuno looked at her puzzled.

"My autobiography for when I become Wizard Queen." Lucy explained. "I always wanted to write a novel, but I figured our lives are crazy enough that I can just write about my adventures in Fairy Tail, and it would sell like hotcakes."

"Now I definitely need to be Wizard King, otherwise your ego will get bigger than a star." Gajeel snorts loudly at Yuno's joke while Lucy deflated comedically.

"Hah! Man, Hawkeye, I didn't know you were a triple threat: Strong, the ladies love you, and you're actually hilarious!"

Before Yuno could ask him what he meant, Cana walked by. "Hey, guys. Any last-minute bets on who's gonna win the eating competition? Looking at you, Goldie. I'm sure that you wanna bet on your brother again."

While all of the other girl's stared at Yuno when Cana used his nickname, Yuno's response was actually more shocking. "I actually think Charmy's going to win this one."

"Oh, really," Cana then pulled out a box of betting money. "Care to put your money where your mouth is."

Yuno decides to put 100 jewels in the pot and Cana then starts yelling toward the ongoing contest. "Hey, good news Charmy! Yuno put 100 jewels on you, so you better give it your all!"

"La!" Charmy takes a moment to breathe after hearing that. "I won't let you down my Meal Prince!" Charmy then redoubles her efforts, causing Natsu and Asta to start trying even harder to catch up with her.

"Well, I think that you're gonna make that money back in spades," Cana laughs, "Now then, I seem to remember Mira dragging you off yesterday in the middle of our conversation. What did you two get up to while we weren't looking."

"Oh, we just went shopping, that's all." Yuno's response disappoints Cana. "Aw, you're telling me that you two didn't do anything, risqué?"

Yuno opens his mouth, but then thinks back to Mira's kiss on the cheek last night. He shuts his mouth immediately, and then blushes a bit, making the whole table's jaws fall out of their mouths.

"You keep getting more and interesting Goldie. Sorry guys, but I'm gonna have to take him away from y'all and figure out what makes him so intriguing." Cana then grabs Yuno by the arms and drags him away, leaving the table gob smacked.

"So, come on Goldie, tell me about yourself." Cana had dragged Yuno to another restaurant that was much more peaceful and private than the guildhall.

"Well, I want to be the Wizard King." Cana groans at Yuno's answer. "What's wrong?"

"That's not what I meant. Everyone who's spent five minutes with you or your brother knows about that," Cana took a big gulp of beer. "Gah. What I want to know is about you, Yuno. What are your hobbies, what makes you happy, sad, annoyed, your favorite color."

Yuno thinks about how to answer her. "Well, ever since I've joined Fairy Tail, I've been reading more about magic and learning about the things that I never knew about in Hage. Levy's been quite helpful in lending me books."

"Hmm, Levy's probably too much of a bookworm to be crushing on him," Cana mumbles. Yuno looks at her confusion before Cana motions him to continue. "Come on, what else you got?"

"I've really come to enjoy my time with the Black Bulls. Magna and Luck are a lot like Asta, loud and hyperactive, but I've had 18 years to learn how to deal with that. Charmy cooks a lot of food for me for some reason, but it's all really good. It's clear she's passionate about it, and I'm glad she was able to do something that clearly means so much to her," while talking, Yuno completely missed Cana's face of annoyance when talking about Charmy.

"Vanessa's a lot like you actually, but she mostly hangs out with Noelle or Mimosa for 'girl talks,' whatever those are. Finral spends a bit too much time hitting on girls, but he's a rather nice guy. And Gauche, Gordon, and Grey are… themselves." Even Yuno didn't know what to say about them, as they interacted with everyone else very infrequently.

"What about Natsu and Sting's evil twins?" Cana asks, referring to Gajeel and Rogue.

"Rogue's a good kid. He's a quiet one, but he actually seems pretty smart for his age. The only thing you should know is not to mess with Frosch whenever he's around. Magna asked Frosch why they dressed like a frog, only for them to start crying and Rogue put the fear of god into him."

Cana burped after a long sip of alcohol. "Geez, I bet Gajeel's a nightmare though if he's anything like Natsu."

Yuno shook his head. "While I wouldn't say he's a great guy or anything, I don't think he's actually a terrible person. I get that he destroyed the guildhall, and especially for what he did to Levy and Lucy, but I think he's actually trying to make amends."

Yuno told Cana about Gajeel's encounter with Team Shadowgear and Laxus. "Huh, Laxus is back, and he didn't storm into the guildhall to lord it over us? Maybe he's just being extra pissy today."

"Cana, you've been a member of the guild for a long time, right?" Yuno asked.

Cana nodded. "Yeah. In fact, excluding Laxus who was born here, I'm the member of this generation who's been here the longest."

"Do you know why Laxus is so… so-" Yuno struggled to think of the words.

"Why is he a Grade-A douchebag?" Cana provided.

Yuno snapped his fingers. "Yes, that."

Cana stared down into her drink. "I don't really know the details, but years ago, Laxus's dad, Ivan, got kicked out of the guild."

Yuno looked shocked at this news. "Wait, really?"

"Yeah," Cana confirmed, "Apparently, he was endangering other guild member's lives, so Master had no choice but to expel his own son. As you could guess, Laxus wasn't happy about his dad being kicked out, and their relationship already wasn't the best, so ever since then, he's been the jackass you know today."

Yuno still didn't understand. "Wasn't his dad the one in the wrong? Why is he upset about that?"

Cana shrugged. "Well, it's still his dad. I guess he didn't want to believe that he did anything wrong. Kids really respect their dad, you know?"

"No, I don't know," Yuno dryly responded, "Me and Asta are orphans, remember?"

Cana almost drops her beer, "Damn, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you upset."

Yuno chuckles. "I was just messing with you. I don't really mind not having parents. I may not know my blood relatives, but I still have a family that loves me. Though what you just said, does that mean you at least know your father?"

Cana's expression becomes much tighter at the mention of a father. "Well, it's kind of complicated. I don't like talking about it that much."

"Okay, then. I won't pry if you don't feel comfortable about sharing," Yuno understood that people had their own problem's, so he figured that he could just wait for her to tell him. "In that case, how about a different question. Why do you use Card Magic? From what I understand, people use holder magic mostly because their own magic isn't suitable for what they want to do, or as a way to focus their own magic, like Noelle's wand."

Cana stayed silent for a minute, and for a moment Yuno thought he might've stepped on a landmine and almost missed when she spoke. "It was the last gift my mom gave to me when she died, so I just started learning how to use them. I was pretty good at it too, so I kind of ended up sticking with it. It's also pretty cool and lets me predict the near future a bit."

Yuno looked interested at Cana's explanation, "Oh, really? How does that work?"

Cana's mood picked up and she pulled out several of her cards. "Normally I'd charge for this kind of thing, but I'll gladly give you a hands-on demonstration since you asked nicely."

Cana then lays a bunch of cards across the table and instructs Yuno to pick three cards. "Each one tells you about something that will happen in your near future. Fair warning, I've never been wrong about them for better or worse."

Yuno picked the first card and Cana looked at it. "This one signifies a great challenge; one you may not be able to overcome the way you are know."

"A challenge I can't overcome as I am now? Well, that's easy, I'll just have to be stronger than I am today." Yuno then picks another card and Cana reads it.

"Okay, this one symbolizes competition, and that you will see victory over those who believe themselves to be superior to you."

"Hmm, are they talking about royals?" Yuno ponders what this fate means before picking his final card.

"Oh my," Cana's eyebrows raise, and she gains a cheshire grin, "Well I guess you're a lucky one."

Yuno looks perplexed as Cana explains, "This last card represents that you will find love, so much in fact, that you may not be able to handle all of it."

"Love I can't handle? What the hell does that even mean?" Cana looks at him deadpan. "What, is there something on my face?"

Cana sighs, "You've got a lot to learn about girls Goldie, but I guess that's just one of your many mysteries."

The two of them enjoy their time at the restaurant and discuss their lives more. Having never talked about himself so much before, Yuno found it surprisingly enjoyable, and noticed a warm feeling inside his chest, one that he remembered when he talked to Mira sometimes.

Ur was walking back home alongside Gray after a long day at the guild. "So, there's a beauty contest that all the girls are taking part in tomorrow? Sounds like a good time."

Gray shrugs, "Yeah, most of the guys usually get super excited about it, but I grew up with most of these girls and they're like sisters to me."

"Oh, yeah?" Ur gains a sly smile, "Well what about the new girl, Juvia?"

"What about her?" Gray asked.

Ur frowns but decides not to push the issue, "Well, if you ever wanna talk about your feelings, I would be glad to listen."

Gray stopped walking, causing Ur to look perplexed. "What's wrong Gray? You gonna take up my offer so soon?"

"What happened at Akane Resort?"

Ur freezes and tries to deflect away from her reaction immediately. "What do you mean? I just got caught off guard by Erza's friends. I wasn't expecting an attack, so I was sloppy, that's all."

Gray looks at her and notices her hand twitching, "I know how strong you are Master, and there's no way those guys could have handled you even if you were wasted. You were clearly upset about something, and you've been trying to hide it ever since." Ur remains silent. "How am I supposed to tell you about my feelings when you won't tell me about your own?"

Ur doesn't speak for a few minutes, student and master standing in silence. Gray waits patiently for her to react, and when it does, it's violent.

CRASH

Ur's fist imbeds itself into the wall next to her, causing it to crack from the icy aura around her hand. Ur leaves it there before letting out a loud scream, trying to let out all of her pain and anger that had she had bottled up for a while.

Once she's done, Ur calmly removes her hand from the wall and turns to Gray, "Sorry, I keep forgetting you're not the small boy I taught all those years ago. You're an adult now, so I'll tell you. It's about my daughter."

Ur tells Gray about her reunion with Ultear, as well as her fight with Skald, leaving Gray shocked to his core. "I remember you talking about Ultear once, when I said you just wanted me and Lyon to replace her. I never knew you had a spirt partner as well. I also didn't know about your connection to Lucy and Noelle's moms until you told us about it."

Ur bashfully rubs her head, "Yeah, I guess I never told you much about my past. If it makes you feel any better, I planned to tell you and Lyon about it when you were old enough to care about that stuff."

"I guess," Gray scoffs before looking intently at his teacher, "So what now? Aren't you gonna go look for her?"

Ur looks despondent as she answers, "I don't know. Based on our last encounter, she's obviously involved in some shady organization. Not to mention her last words, I can only assume that she's planned out our next meeting in it's entirety. As much as I want to drop everything and go find her, she just doesn't want to be found. If only I had the same connections that I did when Layla and Acier were alive."

"I may be able to help with that."

The two Ice-Make wizards turn to discover a man walking out of the darkness and discover the person who spoke to them. "Yami?"

After the greatest eating competition known to man (Charmy had won thanks to Yuno's support), Asta had been sent to visit Porlyusica to have his arms checked out by an actual doctor. Finral had been sent to pick him back up because Yami had him do menial chores. If that wasn't annoying enough, he couldn't make a portal there because the last time he made one in her home, she threatened to stuff him full of needles.

He had finally arrived to check on how Asta's checkup was going until he heard voices coming from inside. 'She must be telling Asta about his diagnosis. If I interrupt her now, then I'm sure she'll just get mad.'

Finral then leaned in and listened closely to the conversation the two were having, his eyes widening more and more as it continued.

"No… that-that can't be true…"

The next day, Gajeel was getting ready to go to the guildhall when Yuno walked next to him. "What's the new look for, Hawkeye? Trying to impress a chick?"

Yuno was wearing an open black jacket that had gold on the edges of it as well as on his zippers. His shirt was dark green, and he was wearing dark blue jeans. The only accessories were his signature gold cloak and necklace with the blue stone, as well as a new black choker around his neck with a green gem on the front.

The two of them then started walking to the guild and talking. "No, I just went shopping with Mirajane for this. I'd feel bad if I didn't wear this after she went through the effort of buying it for me." Gajeel raised his eyebrow. "What? Did I say something weird?"

"Are you talking about the barmaid with the big tits, the drunkard in a bikini, or the tiny one that outate Salamander?" Yuno looked pissed at Gajeel's question. "Did I say something weird?"

"The one with brown hair is called Cana, and the short one is Charmy who lives with us." Yuno sighed. "And I guess you don't read magazines much because she's a popular model, but the barmaid's name is Mirajane, or Mira since everyone calls her that."

Gajeel looks shocked. "Wait? She's the She-Devil? I heard that she fought Jose, but I thought she would look more badass than that?"

"She is a badass. Especially on jobs where she uses Satan Soul." Gajeel looks at him in surprise. "You go on jobs with her?"

Yuno nods his head. "Yeah, she's part of my team, Black Clover, along with Asta, Noelle, and Mimosa."

"Wait. You mean Ashy is actually a wizard? Why couldn't I sense any magic from him?" Yuno explained Asta's power along with Liebe. "I didn't even know something like that was possible."

Yuno laughed. "Well, it's Asta, everything about him is impossible."

"Well, back to girl talk, are you banging any of those girls? They seem to be fawning over you all the time, although I would think less of you if you told me you were in bed with the tiny one."

Yuno rolled his eyes. "For one thing Charmy is 19, ("Bullshit!") and for another, there's nothing going on between any of us. They're all just really good friends, and I appreciate their company."

Gajeel looked at him like he was the dumbest man alive, which Yuno took great offense to because that was a competition between Asta and Natsu. "You've gotta be shitting me. Those three look at you the way Salamander looks at fire and Bunny Girl."

Figuring out Bunny Girl was Lucy, Yuno reminisced to his interactions with them. "No, they're just trying to be nice. Well, I mean, there was that time Mira saved me from Jose when I was about to die, and the three of them seemed kind of angry at each other when we talked afterwards, and Charmy always wants to make me more food than anyone else, and Cana did call me Goldie in a weird way… and Charmy seems really happy when I bet on her… and Cana talked to me personally when she never really does that with anyone else… and Mira did kiss me on the cheek a few nights ago…"

…

"Oh my god."

Gajeel started rolling on the floor and howling in laughter as Yuno realized what a monumental moron he was. "I keep calling Asta an idiot, but I really am as dumb as him. This explains why they always give each other intense looks, even on jobs that they take with me."

Gajeel wiped tears from his eyes once he stopped laughing so much. "I can't believe you really didn't notice! Even Salamander was able to notice when a chick had the hots for him, but you had three girls head over heels for you, and you didn't realize?!"

"How was I supposed to know that they were attracted to me?! This the first time I've met girls my age outside of my village!" Yuno had his head in his hands, unable to face his new reality. "What the hell am I supposed to do now?"

"I'm flattered that you think I'm such a lady's man, but I'm not the kind of guy that can just get laid whenever I want," Gajeel snarked, "You're on your own buddy."

Yuno groaned as he suddenly remembered Cana's prediction from yesterday. 'I may not be able to see the future, but I have a bad feeling that this day is going to suck.'

Today was a special day for Fairy Tail, as all of the girls were participating in the legendary Miss Fairy Tail contest. With so many young, powerful, and dazzling women in the guild, people came from all over for this precursor to the Fantasia Parade later that night, a celebration almost as well known as the Star Festival held in the capital. The Fairy Tail guildhall was full of spectators excited to ogle – ahem – admire all of the beautiful women that will be on display in a few minutes.

The only girl's not participating in the contest were Mimosa Vermillion and Noelle Silva, as they did not feel comfortable showing off their bodies to random men (even though the only person they did want to see them in attractive outfits would also be there).

Lucy, on the other hand, would swallow her pride as she was low on rent money, and there was a cash prize of 500,000 jewels to the winner. Natsu was not happy about his girlfriend having so many eyes staring at her, but after Lucy whispered a few things in his ear, he reluctantly changed his mind, however after he whispered in her ear, her face was completely red.

The beauty contest was well underway, and to say it would be imbedded in the minds of the men (and some women, they were not discriminatory) that were watching this would not be an understatement. Cana got to start things off, using her cards to obscure her form before revealing herself in a swimsuit while making sure to show off a bit in the direction Yuno is sitting, but unlike every other attempt to arouse him, this time Yuno actually blushes red and turns his head, making Cana smile as she realizes that she's finally breaking through his thickheadedness.

Later on, Mirajane walked onstage, the front runner to win the whole thing as an experienced model, so everyone had their eye's glued on her to see what she would do.

They were all massively disappointed.

Mira instead, just turned her head into Happy, shocking most of the spectators, but making the talking cat laugh his head off. As she was walking offstage, however, Natsu suddenly remembered something and turned to Yuno, as they were sitting at the same table as Gray and Asta.

"Oh, yeah, Mira told me to give you this after she went on stage. She said something about not wanting anyone else to see your reward." Natsu handed Yuno a photo. Intrigued, Yuno looked at it and immediately blood squirted out of his nose.

"Woah! Yuno, are you okay? What's on it?" Asta was worried for his brother's wellbeing, but Yuno refused to show them the picture, claiming it was a private joke.

"Hey, Gray, where is Ur?" He immediately tried to derail everyone's attention from the photo, as it was something he was sure was meant for his eye's only.

"Oh, she went off with Yami. There was apparently some super important business in the capital, and he had to take her with him." Gray explained. "They both complained about it, Yami because he had to work, and Ur because she wanted to show off as well."

"Oh yeah, now that you mention it, I'm pretty sure Gauche isn't here either, something about not wanting to see a bunch of bimbos in bikinis when he could visit his sister instead." No one was shocked by Asta's explanation, expecting nothing less of the sister obsessed mage. "I also think that Magna and Luck decided to go on a job instead, they wanted to make sure no one got it before them."

Then the rest of the girls went on stage one after another, the audience cheering the whole time as they showed off their magic and their bodies. Finally, it was Lucy's turn, but just as she was about to get onstage, she was interrupted.

"Having a Miss Fairy contest, and I'm not included? What a farce."

The voice was revealed to be a woman wearing glasses holding a fan, with brown hair and a green dress that also covered her arms. "Now that the lovely Evergreen has taken center stage, the winner of this contest has been made clear. It's me!"

Everyone was bewildered by this surprise interruption, although Lucy was more angry than questioning at the moment. "Why don't you wait your turn like the rest of us! Or better yet, go find some other contest to blow up someone's entrance! I swear if I can't pay my rent, you will have hell to pay!"

When thing's got between Lucy and her rent, she had very little patience for anything or anyone, even Natsu.

Especially Natsu.

"Lucy, wait! Don't look her in the eye!" Before Lucy can register Gray's warning, Evergreen takes off her glasses and makes eye contact with her, turning the celestial wizard into stone.

The crowd scattered in terror as the rest of the guild was shocked by Evergreen's actions. Makarov was quick in interrogating her. "What do you think you're doing Evergreen! You're running the festival!"

"Oh, on the contrary. Things just got interesting." The curtain behind her then moves to reveal the forms of every other girl in Fairy Tail as stone statues.

"Turn them back right now!" As Makarov prepared to action, a blinding bolt of lightning shot down from the sky and onto the stage. When the light died down, it revealed Laxus alongside two men that Gray identified as Freed and Bickslow, the three new wizards all part of a group called the Thunder Legion.

(A/N: Thunder Legion is a way better name than Thunder God Tribe. Sue me.)

"Come on old man, the party's just getting started. Why don't we have some fun!" Before Makarov can form a retort, Natsu rushes right past him and towards Laxus, his face one of fury.

"TURN HER BACK RIGHT NOW!" Despite his current lack of magic, Natsu refused just sit back and watch as Lucy was stuck as a statue. Every part of him screamed to stop him, and the promise he made to keep Lucy safe only made those screams louder, drowning out everyone else's warnings.

Unfortunately, it went exactly as one would expect, with Natsu leaping up at Laxus, only to get knocked out in a single blow and thrown to the other side of the room.

"Natsu!"

Laxus laughed as he began to gloat. "I've been hearing a lot of news lately about our favorite Dragon Slayer. Apparently, he can't use any magic right now, is that right? Well too bad, I guess that means he doesn't get to participate in the festivities, not that he would be able to change anything."

WHOOSH

In an instant, Laxus is suddenly surrounded by a plethora of blades made out of gray wind, though none of them actually puncture his skin. Everyone turns to the culprit, Yuno, who's grimoire is floating in front of him and growing green with mana. "Turn them back now Laxus. My wind blades have you surrounded, so unless you wanna see how sharp they are, I'd recommend calling off your lapdogs before you feel mine bite."

Instead of being intimidated, Laxus chuckled. "Man, could you be any more of a try-hard? Why are you so upset, are you mad that I turned your girlfriend into a sculpture? Who is it?"

Even though he knew he was being goaded, his eyes drifted towards the stone form of Charmy, her face making it clear Evergreen got to her while she was eating. It was only for a split second, but that brief moment was enough for Laxus to catch on. "Oh, it's the pipsqueak? Well, I guess since you hang out with that waste of space you call a rival you have an affinity with midgets. You've shown your hand, how about I show mine?"

Yuno immediately realizes his plan, but is unable to cry out in time as a lightning bolt strikes down once more, but this time a few inches away from Charmy. "Now then if you wanna see what's faster between your wind and my lightning feel free. If you get me in time, my lighting will stop short, and she'll be fine. Although if you're even a fraction of a second late, I might knock of a finger, or a foot, maybe even a head. Fortunately, since she's so small, you won't have to look too hard for all the pieces. But by all means, go ahead. Flip that coin."

Yuno grits his teeth for a bit, realizing that he can't risk Laxus hurting any of the girls while they're statues. He relents and disengages his blades glaring at Laxus the whole time, but the lighting user ignores him.

"Now that everyone's gotten their temper tantrums out of the way, I think I've made some things clear. If anyone else disobeys the rules, then everyone of these chicks gets shattered one by one. Or maybe all at once, depending on my mood. We're gonna have ourselves a Fairy Tail battle royale, last man standing is the winner. If you want the girl's back, then you're gonna have to defeat Evergreen first, but you'll only have three hours before she gets bored and then who knows what might happen to them. Don't worry, things are in your favor since there are only four of us and about a hundred of you. We'll use the whole city of Magnolia as our battleground, but only when and if you can find us."

Laxus then began to glow blindingly bright as his laughter echoed throughout the guildhall. "Let the Battle of Fairy Tail begin!"

With those words, he then glowed bright and the four of them were gone. The men were quick to respond, however, and rushed out of the guildhall en masse, charging recklessly to save their guildmates. The ones who stayed were Yuno, Gray, Natsu, Asta, Noelle, Happy, and Mimosa.

"You insolent brat!" Makarov was fuming with rage as he raced after the rest of the guild. "Just wait until I get my hands on you!"

THUD

However, once he tried to step outside the guildhall, he was instantly bounced back as if he hit an invisible wall. "What the-?" He then looked up and saw purple runes floating in midair. "Curses, Freed must've placed an enchantment."

"Enchantment? What's that?" Asked Gray, who decided not to leave as he still couldn't use magic.

"It's a barrier formed by magic runes applied to the space the user casts it on." Makarov explains. "Once the barriers are activated, everyone inside is forced to follow their rules, no matter how powerful they are. These ones say that for three hours, stone statues, people over 80, and…" the guild master's eyes widen as he turns toward Yuno. "…Anyone connected to a Spirit cannot pass."

"Damn it!" Yuno punches a wall in anger. "He must've gotten pissed after I talked back to him, so now he wants me to watch everyone suffer! Is there anyway to get past them?"

"It's possible to rewrite them, but I'm afraid the only one in the guild besides Freed that knows how to is Levy."

"And that's obviously not an option," Gray gestures to Levy's stone form, "So how do we stop them now? You can't escape, me, Noelle, and Natsu can't fight because our magic is unusable right now, Asta's arms are broken, plus our two S-Class fighters are both statues right now."

They all then hear the clattering of metal from behind the bar. "Wait a minute." Yuno looks toward the noise. "I forgot that he was here too. Get out here you lug nut!"

"Hey! Don't tell me what to do Hawkeye!" Gajeel reveals himself, having been eating silverware the whole time. "I thought since the babes would be on stage, no one would notice if I had a snack or too, but then that Laxus guy showed up and started shit."

"Well, are you gonna just sit there, or are you gonna try and help us."

"Sure, why not." Gajeel hopped from behind the bar and strode toward the open doors. "Besides, I got a score to settle with that son of a bitch."

THUD

Everyone's jaw's dropped as the same thing happened to Gajeel, the runes rejecting his escape. "What the hell?! I'm only 20, and if this thing can't tell the difference between iron and stone, then I'm highly offended!"

Once turned his back on the wall, something odd started happening to his shadow when it hit it. It started shaking and moving independently of him, until it eventually spat out several small figures from inside.

"Gah!"

"What is going on today?" Gajeel turned back to observe the occurrence, everyone's mouths agape at the reveal. "What the hell were you doing in my shadow, Rogue!"

From the shadow emerged the bodies of the guilty party, Romeo, Sting, Frosch, Lector, and of course, Rogue, who was quick on the draw and immediately pointed to the other boys next to him. "It was their idea. ("Hey!") Kids weren't allowed inside during the contest, so they begged me to sneak them in, but complained the whole time because they couldn't actually see anything."

"Yeah, but we could hear everything!" Sting exclaimed before grabbing Rogue by the arm and began dragging him outside. "Come on, let's go kick some butt!"

THUD

Once more, Fairy Tail members were rejected, as both Sting and Rogue were unable to pass. "Why?" moans Sting while Rogue just glares at him.

Natsu then wakes up after being unconscious for a while. "ARGGH! I'LL TURN YOU TO ASHES! Wait, what's going on? Where the hell is everyone else?"

Happy explains what has been happening while Natsu was asleep. "Are you serious? Everyone went off to have a big fight, and I can't even get watch! Major bummer!"

THUD

This time the sound came from most of them falling over exasperated. Yuno was flabbergasted by Natsu's casual attitude. "What the hell do you mean, 'major bummer'?! Weren't you the one screaming at Laxus to turn Lucy back a few minutes ago?"

Natsu leans back with his arms behind his head. "Well, yeah. I'm super pissed that he did that without her permission, but it's fine. It's just a tournament to see who's strongest, I can understand that. Doing it during Luce's big moment is a dick move, but I can get over it."

SLAM

Everyone eyes are glued to the sight of Yuno grabbing Natsu by the shirt and pinning him against a wall. "Well, if we don't win, then they're gonna turn all of the girls on stage to dust, including your girlfriend!"

Natsu, however, did not appear phased in the slightest. "Oh please, don't tell me you actually think he's serious, do you? I get that you're new and all, but I thought you would have learned by now."

"Learned what?" Yuno says through gritted teeth

"He's a member of Fairy Tail. He wouldn't do anything to seriously hurt any of us. He was just bluffing you earlier because he didn't want to risk a big fight so soon."

Yuno couldn't fathom Natsu's words. "You're telling me you still think of him as a guild member?" He didn't understand how someone could so easily look over his actions just because he was part of the same guild. "Mirajane, Cana, Charmy, all of the girls are stone right now, and they're completely helpless and subject to Laxus's whims. And you just want me to say that's okay because it's a game?"

Natsu was getting visibly nervous now as Yuno's anger became much more apparent. Thankfully, before Yuno decided to take any drastic actions, someone who had been mysteriously quiet this whole time spoke up.

"He's right."

Yuno let Natsu down with an "Oomph" as he turns to his sworn rival. "Say that again, Asta?"

"I said Natsu's right." Asta did not back down from his position and continued speaking. "I got a read on Laxus's Ki earlier when he was talking. He never meant to actually hit anyone with that lightning bolt. He was actually really nervous when you had him cornered, he just wanted you to back off so he could keep talking. I'll admit I'm new at this, but I know what the intent to kill is, and it definitely wasn't that."

The two brothers stared at each other, neither one giving an each and leaving everyone else on edge. They had never seen the two of them get this emotional over a disagreement before, every other time having the energy of siblings play fighting, but this time it was clearly much more serious than before.

Everyone watches with bated breath, until Yuno finally lets out a big sigh. "Fine, I guess you win. He's not trying to grievously wound any of us."

"Yes!" Asta cheers, having won an argument with his brother as a rare occurrence.

"I'm still really pissed at him, and I won't hesitate to kick his ass once I'm out of here."

"Go ahead," Asta replies, "He may not have killed anyone, but I'd be right there with you if I had my arms available. Turning people to stone isn't very cool."

"If you have anything you wanna say to me, say it to my face midget." Everyone turns to face Laxus, who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, though his form was strangely blurry. "Don't bother hitting me, I'm just a Thought Projection right now. I just came to show you guys what's been going on outside."

More runes then appear before them, rearranging into the names of several different guild members, the words saying 'victory' or 'defeat'. "What are you showing us?" Noelle asked.

"Well, since I was asked by one of the distinguished Silvas, as a commoner, I have no choice but to obey your command." Laxus's sarcasm was not lost on anyone, but he continued, nonetheless. "While you've all been sitting here with your heads up your asses, the rest of the guild has been fighting each other."

"What, why would they do that?" Mimosa asks.

"It's the enchantments, isn't it?" Yuno asks rhetorically. "You set up runes all around the city to force guild members to fight each other, didn't you?"

"A round of applause for the genius over here everyone, if only he could figure out how to escape from here and save the day. Unfortunately, I don't think he's gonna get to save the day this time. Hahahaha!"

Yuno was sick of hearing Laxus gloat, but before he could give him a piece of his mind, someone beat him to the punch.

"Why are you doing this?" Mimosa probed desperately. "Why would you want your friends to fight each other for no reason?"

Laxus scoffs. "Friends? You're making a lot of assumptions there, missy. I couldn't care less about all of these weaklings. The point of this is to weed out the weakest members of Fairy Tail from anyone who's actually strong."

"Fine." Everyone turns to a despondent Makarov. "You win. The suffering of my children is not worth my pride, so you go ahead and take control of the guild. You've had your fun, so please just stop."

For a brief moment, it seems as if Laxus is shocked by his grandfather's surrender, but before anyone can take note of it he returns to being arrogant. "Oh, so the great Makarov Dreyar gives up just like that? Well then, let's see what else you're willing to let go of? Oh, I know. How about your title of guild master."

Everyone gasps at Laxus's offer. "So that's what all of this was for?! This is why you're making everyone fight each other!?" Yuno was incensed, and desperately wished that he was speaking to the real Laxus so he could deck him across the face.

"Well, it shouldn't be such a big deal. He's always talking about how much he values his children so much. Now I'm putting it to the test, what matters more to you: your children, or the guild? You've only got an hour and a half until the girlies crumble. Go on the guild's loud speaker and announce your retirement to the entire town that you're relinquishing Fairy Tail over to me."

"That's it!" Natsu tries to attack Laxus again, but fails this time due to him disappearing and flies into a pillar for his troubles. "If he's so hung up on being guild master, then why won't he just fight us in person!"

"You're not seriously gonna give Laxus control of the guild, are you Gramps?" Gray asks Makarov.

"I would never want to hand over the guild someone so self-centered. It takes more than just being a strong wizard to be the master of a guild, and someone as egotistical as Laxus could never do so without the conviction or the heart."

As they discuss their options, they desperately watch as more and more names appear on the scoreboard, every single one of them marking another victory by a member of the Thunder Legion, until eventually the name's stop. The number of available fighters being numbered at 6. After taking stock of the people in the room who were unable to fight, it became clear. The only ones left standing on their sider were Yuno, Mimosa, Gajeel, Sting, Rogue, and Romeo.

"Damn it!"

"Everyone else lost!"

"What do we do now?"

"We have to figure out how to get out of here!"

"No, we should focus on freeing the girls!"

While they were all arguing, Noelle noticed that someone had been strangely quiet for a while. She turned to Mimosa, and what she was a face that she never expected to see on her best friend's face.

Pure rage.

"He thinks everyone else in the guild is weak?" Mimosa's body trembles in anger as she speaks. "I've seen what these people are like, and I couldn't disagree with him more. I've talked with countless nobles who have more magic than most people can even dream of having, but none of them have ever shown anything close to the amount of heart that Fairy Tail has. If Laxus wants to call them weak, then I'll show him what makes them truly strong!"

"Mimosa, wait." Noelle warns. "Are you really going out there? I thought you didn't go with the rest because you didn't want to hurt anyone?"

Mimosa shakes her head. "I didn't want to go because I was afraid of hurting my friends. I'd much rather be healing them than fighting them, but I can't just sit by any longer while they all suffer."

The royal then puts her hand to her chest and puts out three fingers, the symbol of Fioran salute. "I am a proud member of House Vermillion, and a Vermillion never backs down from a challenge!"

Mimosa then runs out the door, passing through the runes with no problem. While she's running away though, Asta mentions something that no one else had noticed.

"Hey, where did Romeo and Frosch go?"

Everyone blinks for a moment before looking where Romeo was last seen, and realizing he had disappeared. They then look toward Rogue and realize that his precious companion was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh geez, that kid's gonna get himself killed." Gajeel sighs.

"You're right, the Thunder Legion is no joke. Macao's gonna flip when he hears about this." Gray comments.

"Hmm? Oh no, not that. I meant him taking Frosch." Gajeel clarifies. "Rogue never lets that cat out of his sight without permission, and he never brings him in a fight either. If he doesn't die out there, then he'll wish he did when he came back."

As if to prove Gajeel right, a shadowy aura poured out of Rogue, his face hidden in shadows. No voice came out, but anyone could tell, even without Ki, that the only thing on his mind was vengeance.

"…Maybe he's safer outside right now."

Things sure are heating up fast, and they're not slowing down anytime soon.

I was kind of nervous about writing this arc at first because I didn't know who I wanted the main character of it to be at first. If it wasn't clear from this chapter alone, Yuno's taking the center stage right now, as tensions between him and Laxus heat up. It's only a matter of time until these emotions reach a fever pitch however, and who knows what'll happen once they clash.

I'll be honest, Gajeel and Yuno being bros was not planned, but the more I wrote it, the more they just clicked. As we can see, Yuno has already helped in making Gajeel more of a part of the guild than he was in canon, but he still has a way to go until he feels comfortable.

Yuno has also finally developed more of his relationship with Cana, changing it from simple attraction to genuine interest. And he finally realized what all of the attention from so many girls came from. Will he come to grips with what his feelings are for them, or will I keep blue balling you for a few more arcs. ;)

The last thing for this chapter is the bit about Ur. It won't come up for a bit but try and keep it in mind for the next arc or two. It'll actually be kind of important, and not just an excuse to get her and Yami out of the way so they don't steamroll this arc. Got to let everyone else shine a bit. (I'll let Yami be cool eventually, don't worry. He's awesome enough in canon, I don't need to hype him up anymore.)

Next Time: The Clash of Fairies