Well, we're back with another chapter, far sooner than I or any of you likely expected. Well, turns out my writer for this chapter, Draconichero21 was really excited to work on this and I think it really shows.
He put in a lot of effort into this, and im really excited to see what you all think of what he came up with. Everything regarding Candice in this chapter was entirely his idea, and im rather happy with it. Speaking of which, he has some words for all of you.
"Of all four of the chapters Goshinzilla asked me to write for this fanfic, this is by far the one I was most passionate and excited about, which is why it was finished so close to the chapter that came before it. In hindsight, especially for the work I did on Bambi's relationship issues and Meninas' backstory, if, after reading this chapter, any diehard Liltotto fans feel I haven't given her a fair shake yet. Let Goshinzilla know, I'll take another crack at it. Feel free to message me directly if you want and be sure to check out my work as well if you've liked the chapters I've worked on."
Well said my friend. I also have some words from Ankoholic.
"I just wish to thank our readers for continuing to follow this crossover, in particular wolfdude16 and Crossovernaru. For the last month I've been... well... a mess. To put it lightly. But your words of encouragement in regards to CFYOW have helped me. So again, from the bottom of my heart, thank you."
Seriously, your reviews help us out a lot more than you guys may think. A bad day can be made into a really positive one thanks to them, so please, do let us know what you think in a review. We would really love any feedback on this chapter, especially since it'll be about a new and very important member to the cast.
Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo and Shounen jump. Fairy tail is owned by Hiro Mashima and weekly shounen magazine. I own NOTHING. This is all just for fun.
The year was 1978. The season was summer. A young girl from New York sat in a movie theater watching a bunch of actors and actresses too old to be in high school portraying high schoolers singing a song called "Summer Nights".
The girl, with her big round eyeglasses, blonde hair and pristine school uniform watched the movie with enthusiasm all the way to its conclusion. In the final scene, the lead heroine dressed up in leather, looking like a total badass with curly hair, smoking a cigarette. The young girl, barely 11, watched her as she clutched at the empty bag of popcorn to her chest with eyes of wonder. Only one thought crossed her mind.
I want to be just like that when I grow up.
The sound of glass shattering on the nearby wall, drove an otherwise calm Candice Catnipp out of her daydreaming.
"Hey!" she shouted as the orange juice from a screwdriver dripped down the wall. "Can't a girl relax at a bar in peace?"
The man at the other side of the bar gave a silent apology by bowing and holding up his hand sideways. He then scolded his buddies for throwing drinks and breaking glasses.
"Tch," Candice said, curling her lip. "Idiotic men are all the same." She then downed the whisky on the rocks sitting on the table of the curved booth she was sitting at. "What the fuck is taking our ribs so damn long?"
"It's only been like a few minutes," Jade told her. "You know, we could just…talk like normal people."
Candice glanced at Jade in utter disbelief. Oh, if looks could kill.
Jade shrank to the other side of the booth. "N-Never mind."
Candice then went back to gnawing on a toothpick as she drummed her nails on the table. She'd sworn off cigarettes ever since joining the Vandenreich. Besides, the toothpick was always more badass looking in her opinion. You could even spit one out without causing a fire hazard and, in an emergency, she could spit someone's eye out.
Jade watched her thinking about the relationship she had with the green haired quincy. It had been one whole month since they started traveling together and, while Candice was distant and seemingly uninterested in Jade as a person, Jade felt…close to her in a weird way. If Candice really didn't like her, Jade knew Candice could rob their tent, what little money they had and the clothes off Jade's back in her sleep. She was abrasive and foul mouthed, but no more irritating than the worst of anyone from Chicken Fangs.
The ribs still hadn't arrived when Candice took another look around the bar. While she'd been daydreaming, new people had arrived and one of them caught her attention enough that she gasped.
"Huh?" The toothpick dangled out of her lip and she shuffled closer to Jade. "Yo, Jade, who's the cutie?"
Jade did her best to narrow in on Candice's line of sight, happening upon three men that were new to the bar scene in the last few minutes: two older men and one younger man, probably a teenager. One of the older men had purple hair and the other had light brown hair styled in a pompadour. She couldn't get a good look at the younger guy between them so she assumed Candice meant one of the older men.
"Which one? The one with the pompadour or the one with purple hair," Jade asked curiously.
"What? EW! Screw those old farts!" She grabbed Jade by the back of the head and jammed it in the direction of the younger man. "I'm talking about the guy with the skunk hair and the ponytail."
Said guy was slumped over the bar looking like he'd rather be anywhere else, while the two men on either side of him looked like they didn't want to be anywhere else.
"Dunno," Jade said. "Lemme guess, you're trying to get some action."
"Damn straight!" Candice exclaimed shamelessly.
Jade sighed. It wouldn't be the first time Candice tried to drag a guy to a no-tell motel and made Jade stay out of town in the tent for a night to conserve money. The sad part was that her success rate wasn't just above 0%, it was above 50%. Jade, being a virgin—and yes that came with no fair shortage of teasing from Candice—resented the situation every time.
"Really? Don't you have standards?" Jade asked.
"Look, he's cute. And judging by his expression, he probably got dragged here. Hell, he might be a newbie." Candice licked her lips and bopped the front of her hat with the back of her hand. "And I love me some cherry pie."
Jade was about to object when the waiter came by with the ribs. "Fresh off the grill, ladies."
"Aw, sweet, food!" Candice exclaimed, neatly taking off her gloves and folding them to the side.
Jade sighed in relief, only to growl in frustration when she noticed Candice keeping a sharp eye on her "mark" as she referred to it while eating.
Candice swallowed the meat in her mouth. "What's the matter?" she asked, licking the sauce off the now picked clean rib.
"Nothing," Jade said, picking up a rib with a glum expression. "Absolutely nothing."
As Jade and Candice had their dinner, Totomaru, the guy Candice had been eyeing up, was being celebrated by his fellow Fairy Tail wizards, Macao and Wakaba, on a job well done. The young man had just completed a very difficult A-class mission and Wakaba decided he and Macao would take the boy out for some drinks and a free dinner. They knew the place well, so despite Totomaru's age, they could get the bartender to stay quiet as long as word didn't get out.
Totomaru, for his part, was happy to be treated out. He was trying to get to know Fairy Tail better little by little. He'd come to know Natsu quite well and Elfman was almost like a regular best friend he could count on. He figured maybe Wakaba and Macao could be good for surrogate parenting.
He was quickly realizing this was the worst decision he ever made. The two were getting drunk fast and they were already talking about how Totomaru could get any woman he wanted in this bar and "maybe they could all get a little lucky."
It became increasingly clear to Totomaru that this whole thing was an excuse for Wakaba and Macao to get drunk and try and get laid. And he was having none of it.
"This is why you two are divorced," Totomaru said grumpily without thinking. His companions were too drunk to take his insult seriously. Well, Macao was. Wakaba instead cried into his beer mug for his wife to come back, prompting Macao to order him another beer.
This is stupid, Totomaru thought.
However, before he could get up, Wakaba, after getting a bit more booze in him, tapped him on the shoulder. "Yo, fire boy, check it out."
"What?" Totomaru asked in irritation as Wakaba nudged his shoulder. He then caught Candice's eye. No sooner had he that Candice sucked off the remaining meat from the rib she was eating and then pulled the bone out of her mouth sloooowly, resulting in what would've been an audible popping sound if the bar wasn't so noisy.
Wakaba pat Totomaru's shoulder. "She is totally checking you out."
"Don't be absurd," Totomaru said, freeing his shoulder.
"Nonsense, go over and say hello," Macao said, flush with drunkenness. "And hey, if it's not you she's staring at, tell her she doesn't have to be shy and can sit in my lap." He then broke out into a fit of laughter.
Having reached his breaking point, Totomaru simply chugged his glass and slammed it on the table. He then promptly marched outside. He wasn't going to skip town—Erza would have his head for abandoning fellow guild members—but he wasn't going to be stuck in that situation for one more goddamn second.
Inside the bar, Jade said to Candice, "Aren't you gonna follow him?"
"Nah, he clearly knows those two farts," she replied. "He won't go too far so I can always follow them later to get to him. Hunting is all about patience. Oh, right, you wouldn't know that, would you my Chocolate Cherry Girl?"
"Stop calling me that," Jade said. She hated that nickname. Ever since Candice found out she was a virgin, the green-haired quincy would always call her that when the subject came up.
"I will when you goddamn grow a pair and let a guy pound your—"
"DON'T!" Jade exclaimed, flush in the face. She took a deep breath. "Don't…finish that sentence," she said with gritted teeth.
"Then the nickname stays," Candice said and downed another glass of whisky. "Bartender! Nother round!" she exclaimed, holding up her empty glass.
"How do you not get drunk?" Jade asked. "You have like then drinks every time we go out and you're always fine."
"Fuck if I know," Candice said. "Jealous?"
"As if! And you know damn well why!" Jade exclaimed, flustered.
Candice laughed. "Awwwww, does widdle Jadey Wadey want me to save her from the evil garden hose again? Maybe next time he'll bring his friends the Trowel of Doom and the Garden Rake of Misfortune."
"It's not funny!" Jade shouted, rising to her feet.
"I beg to differ," Candice chuckled. She recalled, briefly, how she and Jade first met. Both were loners and staying at the same hotel. They were getting separate rooms, checking in at the same time. They saw each other at the bar, but hadn't talked. At least, not until Jade was clearly acting like a total nanny goose.
On the other side of the bar, Candice watched this dark skinned, green-haired girl making a fool of herself after her third drink, swaying like windshield wipers and singing a song only she seemed to be able to hear the melody of.
Candice found it amusing, but she knew drinking like that when she saw it. Someone's life had come crashing down around them and booze was the only way to nurse it. She ordered herself another drink and took a seat closer to the action. She didn't want to miss this.
The dark-skinned girl got another drink and then began dancing like she was the only person in the whole bar, liquid going everywhere. It was funny at first, but then the bozos at the bar started acting as if the words "Fresh Meat" were printed like a tramp stamp on the girl's backside.
At the time, Jade was completely oblivious to Candice's interference, dancing and singing with her eyes closed as the quincy fought like a master martial artist to fend off anyone and everyone who thought Jade and, eventually, Candice looked like a good 30 minutes of heaven.
By the time the rowdy patrons of the bar had been knocked clean out, Jade had twirled herself out into the hall of the hotel, still acting like she hadn't a care in the world. Candice, now somewhat invested, followed her…and then watched the girl trip into the outdoor pool and drag the whole garden hose into the pool with her, getting tangled by it.
Candice began laughing her ass off, especially since Jade was flailing around, clearly having sobered up from the sudden plunge.
"Help! Someone help! There's a snake in the water!" Jade exclaimed. "I'm stuck! It's got me strangled!"
Candice, barely able to contain her laughter, grabbed part of the hose that was within reach from the edge and pulled Jade to the shallow end.
"This what you're so freaked out about?" she asked Jade, holding up one end of the hose, wagging it back and forth.
Eyes adjusting to the darkness, Jade saw that she was soaking wet and entangled by a garden hose. She turned bright red, the color of her cheeks matching her eyes.
"You got spare clothes or will we have to get those laundered and send you around in your birthday suit?" Candice chuckled.
"I'll be fine!" Jade said, trying to get untangled, but quickly realizing how badly she'd screwed herself up.
"Here, let me," Candice said, helping get it off.
"Why are you helping me?" Jade asked. "Did you push me in?"
"Wow, were you blackout drunk or something? You tripped cause you were so drunk you couldn't tell your ass from your head," Candice said. "As for why…I dunno. I just wanna."
"You just…want to?" Jade asked.
"What? You got a fucking problem with that," Candice said, down at the girl's ankles, finishing getting the hose untangled. She got to her feet. "I'm Candice. Don't tell me your name, don't particularly care. But, I'll tell you what, you pay for my food and lodging and we can travel together."
"Um, why?"
"I know when someone's reached rock bottom. You don't have to tell me about it, but you watch my back, I watch yours till we get bored of each other." Candice gave her hand for Jade to shake. "Deal?"
Jade's gaze narrowed. She thought to swat Candice's hand away and tell her where to go, but Candice had helped her out and she didn't seem to want much in return. "Fine, deal," Jade said, shaking her hand.
Candice laughed again as she downed more whiskey. "We should really find you a drink you can handle. Otherwise, next time you might think the pizza oven is a toasty place to sleep."
"You're not funny," Jade said, irritated.
"I beg to differ," Candice repeated, chuckling.
The two continued to eat until the situation in the bar started to get rowdy. Like a professional bar crawler, Candice knew the safest option was to tuck your head in and try not to get involved. It worked for a bit…then a beer bottle shattered against her head, the liquid and glass dripping down her face.
Jade immediately got as far away from Candice as the booth would allow. "N-Now…Candice. Candi…gal pal, sweetie. Deeeeeeep breath."
"My hair…" Candice said, stunned.
"Candiiiiice…deeeeep breath," Jade said, clenching her eyes.
"He ruined my hair…"
Sighing, Jade swiped the plate of ribs off the table as Candice literally flipped it. "WHO WANTS TO GO, HUH? I'LL TURN YOU INTO A CORPSE SO CHARRED THEY WON'T BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY YOU EXCEPT FOR YOUR DENTAL RECORDS!"
Jade sighed. "Candice, please."
"'Please' nothing!" Candice exclaimed, rolling up her sleeve. "Do you know how hard booze is to wash out of your hair?"
"No, and I don't particularly care," Jade said with a dull expression. "Please fix the table."
Wakaba then got flung by the booth and landed face-up near Jade on his back. "Hey there, cutie. You single? Love the look. That natural," he said interrogatively, stroking her leg, "or just a sun tan?"
Jade stomped on his face, breaking his nose. "I take it back," she said, twitching. "Make. Them. Bleed."
Totomaru had been outside on top of a building opposite the bar, stargazing, when lightning exploded up from within the bar like an upside-down lollipop. The roof had been completely blown off and all the windows had been shattered. Totomaru had even been blown off his butt and almost off the roof from the shockwave.
Quickly getting his bearings, he jumped off the roof and ran into the dust to see what the hell was going on. "Macao! Wakaba!" He exclaimed. "You okay?" He coughed, getting a breath full of dust.
Unbeknownst to him, the bar had been completely wrecked and Jade was already stuffing her wallet full of money from the cash register. She and Candice had already gone this far over the line. Petty thievery couldn't really be much worse at this point. "Happy now?" she asked, zipping up her wallet. "You wrecked the bar and dinner is inedible!"
"I feel great," Candice said with a sigh. "I'll need a shower in the next town over in the morning, but man that felt cathartic."
"Hey!" Totomaru barked, the dust completely settling.
Jade, thinking that she and Candice should duck out and fast began to cast an illusion, but Candice put her hand, fingers spread, down and to the side.
"Hold it," she said, her ability to sense spikes in reiatsu uncanny as ever. "What up, hot stuff?" she asked, putting her hands behind her back and shaking her hips, puffing out her chest, trying to look sexy. "I don't suppose you could look the other way over this."
"You? This is your doing?"
"Awwww, baby, don't be like that. Come on, I can be your thirty minutes of heaven for one night only. Don't you just wanna squeeze these perky tits of mine and plow my tight ass. Or heck, you can have the front door if you want."
Jade gazed at Candice with a glazed look. Her tent mate truly had no shame. Oh my god, are you serious? Time and place, Candi. Time and place.
Totomaru blushed, starting and stopping his sentence again, multiple times. "W-well…I-I'm flattered…r-really…I…" he mentally slapped his cheeks. "Th-that's beside the point," he said, bending his knees, throwing one arm out and up, fist clenched, holding the other out in front of him, palm towards the ground, ready to cast a fire spell at a moment's notice. With a deep breath, he then bellowed, "I am Totomaru, A-class member of Fairy Tail and former S-class member of Phantom Lord! Surrender now, or prepare to feel the wrath of my flames!"
Jade swallowed. Fairy Tail and former Phantom Lord? "C-Candi, maybe we should back off."
Candice, however, only cracked her knuckles, smiling wide. "You sure you wanna do this, buddy? I make a better lover than a fighter for guys like you. Come on, you can tell your guild it was like this when you got here."
"As much as I really didn't have a good time here, I can't let you get away with hurting the good people of this bar."
"Good is pushing it, but I get your point," Candice said, licking her upper teeth bewitchingly, winking. "Gonna be honest, I don't like to tussle with cute guys unless it's a roll in the hay, but a fight's a fight. I won't show mercy if you really want to go there. Last chance," she said as she drew a finger from in between her legs over her shorts and up towards her breasts. "This could all be yours for one night. You sure you want to turn me down, baby?" she asked, cupping her breasts and leaning forward.
Don't drop your guard, Candi. You don't know what you're up against, Jade thought.
Totomaru, having made his point clear and more than willing to take on a seemingly off-guard Candice, got behind her as quickly as possible and swung at her with his katana, the blade aflame.
However, just before he took his outward swing, he was startled by Candice's head and gaze following his movement as she turned and blocked his swing with…her bare arm? There were red lines running up her arm as his blade couldn't penetrate even the first layer of skin.
Totomaru's eyes widened in surprise. That technique…her clothes…
Turning her body, Candice went to backhand Totomaru in the cheek, but he ducked under it and pelted her with fireballs, but he completely missed as Candice disappeared from view.
"You call that speed?" Candice asked out in the middle of town by the building Totomaru had previously been on top of. "Let me show you speed."
Disappearing and reappearing like a flash of lightning, Candice began firing arrow after arrow at Totomaru all around in a circle. He was just barely able to keep up with the attacks, deflecting them all with his fiery sword.
That's not even half her top speed, Jade thought. You can't afford to toy around with this one, Candi. Get serious!
Jade, however, was just as surprised as Totomaru when Candice got right in Totomaru's guard and delivered a high kick to his chin and then drove her elbow into his chest with barely a spark of her electrifying power.
"Come on, buddy," Candice said, bouncing on her feet, fists raised. "I really don't like roughing up the cute ones, plus I'm all dusty and dirty. Wouldn't you rather come with me to a hotel? We could have a nice steamy shower and—"
Candice dodged to one side as a fireball was launched her way. She sighed, shaking her head. "Let me guess, you're a virgin."
Totomaru froze, blushing. "Wh-what concern is that of yours?"
"HA!" Candice laughed briefly, clutching her chest. "You cherry boys are all the same. Never can tell when there's plenty of fun right in front of you. Don't worry, handsome. I ain't gonna hold it against ya, but I can tell when I've gone up to bat and struck out."
Candice crouched low into a three-point stance, hand behind her, fingers clutching like a professional pitcher about to throw his fastest ball. Hand on the ground and feet sparking with lightning. "Time to switch sides. And I'm gonna strike you out. Ain't nothin' personal, but you started this fight."
Totomaru was barely prepared when a baseball sized bolt of lightning nearly pelted him in the chest. He just narrowly got out of the way and by that point, Candice was already behind him. Grabbing him by the shoulder, she got a firm grip on his shirt and flung him down the road side, causing him to crash hard on his arm. Totomaru rolled over and prepared to get to his feet, but there was already a lightning bolt raining down from above.
He hadn't the time nor the energy to get entirely out of the way and got hit just as he was getting to his knees. Stunned from the electricity, Totomaru's legs refused to get him to his feet in time for Candice to drive forward and drive a big ball of electricity, the size of her body into his chest and sent him flying down the road. Between the force and the electrical current, he was totally knocked out.
"Hoo," Candice said, dusting her hands off. "Definitely worked up a sweat that time."
Jade stared. She gazed over at Totomaru. He definitely looked like he was out cold. Sure, Candice had taken out some tough nuts to crack in the last month, but a Fairy Tail Wizard?
Candice stretched her hands above her head. "Ugh, yo, Jade. Let's get a move on. If we get to the bike quick enough, we can get to the next town over before the sweat stench settles in."
"R-right," Jade said as she and Candice headed for the latter's motorbike with attached side car for Jade. Jade glanced back at Totomaru one last time. "H-hey…is he…?"
"Pretty sure he's not dead," Candice said, turning on her ride as it vibrated. "Trust me, if I wanted to, I could've vaporized him like that vampire from the other night. But I wasn't known as one of the fastest quincies in all of the Vandenreich for nothing."
Candice sat on the bike and tossed Jade her helmet as she strapped on her lacrima infused goggles and switched them to night vision mode. "Let's ride!" The duo and their bike then tore off into the moonlight.
It was late August, 1978, a week before 6th grade began. A young blonde girl sat in front of her vanity table, staring at her thick, round glasses, perfectly straight hair and the crucified Jesus necklace dangling from her neck in the mirror. She was never one for makeup except for Church on Sundays, but she needed a new look. Her braces would be coming off in a couple of months, not to mention puberty would be reaching soon. Her nipples had already started to itch once or twice a week.
Taking off her eyeglasses, the girl reached for the shiniest pink lip gloss she could find and took off the cap. This year would be the mark of a brand new her. And no one would tell her how to behave. She would be her own woman.
Candice woke up in the bed of a 5-star hotel with a jolt, Jade snoring in the nearby bed, but not too loud. The sun was barely up, but Candice knew she had rise. She stripped, went into the bathroom and began showering, feeling the beloved curves of her body, making sure the suds got everywhere throughout her green hair. She double checked the mirror and made sure that, aside from her head, she was clean shaven everywhere else as smooth as a baby's bottom. Her hair took extra special attention, as it always did, making sure it had that edgy flair to it. Then, applying eyeliner and lipstick, Candice then blew a kiss at the mirror before packing up her makeup bag.
She headed down the stairs to the dining hall to get some breakfast, met by Jade as she lazily munched on some cereal with milk, daydreaming as usual.
"Hey, morning roomie," Jade said.
"Mmm," Candice said.
"You okay?" Jade asked.
"Had a weird dream," Candice said. "I'll be fine once we hit the road."
"Er, okay," Jade knew better by now than to inquire further. Candice didn't like to talk about herself. "Um, mind if I ask something?"
"Just don't be surprised if I don't answer," Candice replied.
"U-um," Jade stuttered. "How…strong are you exactly?"
Candice looked at Jade in slight surprise, raising an eyebrow.
"It's just…that guy was from Fairy Tail. They're supposed to be the best guild out there and he used to be part of Phantom Lord, the other best guild. And…and you treated him like he was just a nuisance and you said you were holding back."
Candice grinned, coming out of her doldrums. "Course I fuckin' did. No one tells me what to do or how to behave. I'm my own boss. I don't care if he was one of those Wizard Saints you keep yammering about. I'll fight anyone that tries to push me around. Now get some food in ya and let's hit the road. We're headed southwest, right?"
"Ah, yes," Jade nodded.
"Works for me," Candice said. "Go and help yourself."
Jade nodded and then made for the pastries.
"Oh, and Jade."
"Yeah?"
"Don't change who you are for anyone else but yourself. Free life advice."
Jade turned. "Are you…feeling okay?"
Candice shrugged. "I told you I'd be fine in a bit. Just having a weird morning."
Jade sighed. "Whatever, Candi."
"Lucy!" Bambietta exclaimed, bursting into the Fairy Tail guild hall. "Great! You haven't left on a job yet!"
"Bambi, what's this about so early?" Lucy asked.
Bambietta held up two tickets. "You know that mail-in contest you said I was crazy for entering?"
"You mean the one that the grand prize was a weekend getaway to the most tropical resort in Caelum?"
Bambietta nodded. "Yeah, well, I mean, I didn't win the grand prize, but look what I did win!" She held up two theater tickets a little bit higher.
Lucy saw the logo and nearly freaked out. "OH MY GOD! Those tickets are impossible to get! First place?!"
Bambietta laughed. "Told you it was worth it!"
Lucy snatched a ticket from Bambietta's hand. "And these are front row seats! Oh my gosh! I haven't been to a musical in ages!"
"Okay, I'll bite," Levy said with a glazed look, subbing for the currently out of town Liltotto, "Who did you beat up to get those?"
Bambietta gasped in mock offense. "Levy, I'm wounded that you think I would dare rob someone of their hard-earned raffle prize just to impress my girlfriend."
Levy raised her eyebrow and folded her arms, not buying it.
Bambietta laughed while Lucy showed off to Mirajane behind her. "I'm just messing with you. Honest to the gods, I got this fair and square."
Levy dropped the suspicious act and smiled. "Well, I'm really happy for you two. Oil Groove is supposed to be an amazing show."
"Yeah! Wait…what's it called? I just saw the words big, professional theater and knew Lucy would like it."
Levy gasped. "You've never heard of it? It's a classic running for thirty years now. It's about a summer romance between a boy and a girl and the boy thinks he's going to never see her again cause her dad's moving to a different guild, but then it turns out—"
"Wait, wait, wait," Bambietta said, stopping Levy. "It's called Oil Groove, you're sure? Cause the story sounds awfully a lot like—"
Bambietta was cut off by Lucy hugging her from behind, head squarely against the back of her shoulder. Bambeitta was placated by the soft sensation of Lucy's boobs in her back. "Thanks, Bambi, really. I'm happy we get to go see it."
Oh hell, I can't make the joke like this, Bambietta thought.
Bambietta was about to turn around and continue bathing in Lucy's clear exuberance over the situation when the front door was thrown open by Erza Scarlet. She was dragging a flatbed of an injured Macao and Wakaba. And, with her free arm, helping an unsteady Totomaru stumble into the guild.
"Oh my gosh, are you guys okay?" Levy asked.
"Well, shhhhhh," Bambietta noticed Wendy looking at the job board, "Shut the front door. There goes my morning. So," she said as Lucy let go of her and the two stood side by side, "Got any other rival guilds I should know about? Who was it this time? Ghost King? Boggart Prince? Poltergeist Dukes?"
Lucy sighed.
Totomaru sat down while Erza dragged Macao and Wakaba up the stairs by their coats.
"What happened to them?" Lucy asked.
"They started it," Totomaru said, rubbing his sore neck. "They're being punished." Levy, being courteous, scribbled the word "RELIEF" on the back of his neck. "Thanks."
"No problem. Mind telling us what happened?" Levy asked as she, Bambietta, and Lucy sat down. Natsu, sensing something interesting happening, sat on his knees on the floor and poked his head above the table from the nose up. Happy lay on his stomach on Natsu's head, also listening intently.
"So, the old geezers thought they could use me to get drunk and try and play hide the sausage."
"Why would you want to hide a sausage?" Natsu asked. "I'd rather eat one."
The others looked at him and decided it was best not to comment.
So many jokes I could make, Bambietta thought, but it's hardly appropriate right now.
"I walked out cause I wasn't feeling the bar scene and the next thing I know the whole place goes sky high with an explosion."
"It wasn't me!" Bambietta exclaimed, getting defensive.
"No, I know," Totomaru said. "But I think you might know the person that it was."
"How do you figure?" Bambietta asked.
"White clothes," he said. "Very similar outfit. Reminded me a bit of you too."
"Not a whole lot to go on."
"What about her other features?" Lucy asked.
"It was dark. Couldn't really make much out. But she soundly kicked my ass. She was flirting with me the whole time too."
"Did she have lightning magic?" Bambietta suddenly asked.
"Huh?"
"Did she have lightning magic?" Bambietta asked again, slower.
"I…think that's what she was using," Totomaru asked. "Why?"
Bambietta bit her lower lip.
"Someone from your old guild, Bambi?" Lucy asked.
"I need to go back home for a bit," Bambietta said, slowly getting up from the table. "I have a pillow I need to scream and angst into."
"Bambi?" Levy asked in concern, but Bambietta was already walking out of the guild.
Lucy followed her. "Bambi, please. What's wrong?" she threw her arms out. "If you know something, please talk to us, or at least to me."
"Do you remember how I said I was betrayed by my friends from my old guild?" Bambietta asked.
Lucy recoiled, holding her hands by her chin, arms pressed against her chest. "Don't tell me…"
"I can't be certain, but it might be Candice. If it is…tell me Lucy…have you ever had a best friend? Like, a real, long time best friend you still talk to today?"
"No, I…can't say that I have."
Bambietta took a deep breath. "Candice and I are…were…what you would call best friends. You know, photo ops, mall crawls, stealing each other's food, the works. She's also one of the few girls I…was with…before you."
"O-oh…"
"It's not what you think. It wasn't a…deep relationship, not in bed anyway, but…of all people…" Bambietta clenched her fists and grinded her teeth. "Of all the people I knew, I always thought she would be the last one to betray me!" Tears started to fall from Bambietta's face. "I mean…I never thought any of them would, but Candice was the one I trusted the most. She knew more about me than any of the others. We were almost like sisters. We were the type of close where we could make fun of each other and we'd both know it was just a joke. We even used to fool the others with it by making them think we were having a fight."
Lucy gave Bambietta a hug from behind, tenderly. "You know that none of us would ever betray you, right?"
"I know…" Bambietta said, choked up. "But…I just…I patched things up with Lil. What if…what if it's all just some…big misunderstanding? What if Candice regrets it too? Dammit, Lucy! Ever since I came to Fairy Tail everything I thought I knew has been turned on its head and challenged!" Bambietta put her hands over her eyes. "Because…after everything with Lil," she sniffed. "I know…somewhere deep inside me…that if Candi is really sorry…" She sank to her knees, Lucy going with her, arms around Bambietta's stomach. "Goddammit, I want my friend back."
"Do you want to go see her?" Lucy asked.
Bambietta put her hands on the hems of her skirt. "I can't…and that's the worst part of it. If I saw her, I'd probably yell at her, accuse her of all kinds of things." Bambietta swallowed. "And what if I open up my heart to her and she acts like it was all just some big prank and thinks it's funny?"
"That's sick!"
"You don't know Candi's humor like I do. We could really hit each other where it hurts, and if that was a joke to her, that's too far…" Despite dripping with tears, Bambietta's eyes reflected rage. "And I'll never ever forgive her for that."
"Bambi?"
Bambietta looked over her shoulder, hoping her tears were dry as she saw Wendy behind her. And she wasn't alone. Erza was standing nearby.
"Everything all right?" Erza asked her.
"I…" Bambietta looked at all three wizard girls. No, it's okay. I have them now. "Yeah, yeah I think I'm gonna be fine."
"Are you sure? You looked like you were crying," Wendy said.
Bambietta deflected Wendy's concern with a big smile and a firm head pat. "Don't worry your silly little head over it. I'm made of sterner stuff than a Decepticon." She made her free hand into a fist and smacked the side of it into her chest.
"I'll take care of it if she's not," Lucy said, jumping to Bambietta's defense. She then noticed the scroll in Erza's hand. "Are you two going somewhere?"
"A small bandit raid," Erza said with a faint smile. "They're a weak group so Wendy wanted to do it herself, but asked me to help her out if it gets too hard."
"I don't want you to worry about me, okay?" Wendy asked, smiling at Bambietta. "You and Lucy have that show you're going to tomorrow, right? Just leave today's earnings to me and just have some fun. You deserve it. You're always working so hard."
Bambietta sighed and wiped a real tear from her eye, but only because it was lingering from earlier. "Lucy, our little girl is growing up. Soon we'll be planning her sweet sixteen."
Lucy sighed, rolling her eyes, smiling. "You two have fun now. I'd say "be sure to bring her back safe", but I know you'd never let anything happen to her, Erza."
Erza nodded. "We'll be back by dark." And with that, Lucy and Bambietta went one way and Erza and Wendy went another. Today looked like it was just going to be yet another ordinary day in Fairy Tail.
The year was 1981, a blonde teenager walked into school dressed with long, wavy, far from straight hair. She had sunglasses pulled down ever so slightly as she pushed open both of the front doors with full force, striding in her black high heels, leather jacket and dark violet top hugging to her curves. A few juniors saw her, staring at her mouths agape. The girl winked at them, tugging on her sunglasses as she strode forward into the school. Despite high school being brand new to her and the title of "Queen of the Castle" far beyond her reach, this newbie to the last school of primary education walked through the halls to her locker with zero fucks given, striding with her newly bloomed sex appeal, fresh contact lenses in her eyes.
No more glasses. No more long flowing locks, she thought as she gathered her belongings from the locker, slamming it shut and kicking it as she turned away, walking with her head held high like a brand-new woman. She wasn't a mousy little girl anymore. She'd grown up and in. Gone was her grade school pudge, replaced with a flat stomach, killer curves and an ass that would not quit. Hello to all the looks from jocks.
As she strode in the bathroom, she reapplied lipstick and smacked her lips. "Look at me," she said, taking her lipstick and graffitiing the mirror with it, making the shape of a heart. "I'm fantasy. Goodbye," she said, taking the stick and placing it in her pocket. "Miss Sandra," she then took her old eyeglasses and dropped them on the ground deliberately before stomping on the lens with her heels, completely breaking her glasses. "Dee!"
"That's it," Candice said, tugging on her glove as she stood among a gaggle of groaning bodies. "Bag 'em and tag 'em." She swayed her hips to one side and put her knuckles on them. "Okay, well, not really, but check 'em for valuables and let's blow it."
"You got it, Candi," Jade said, going through everyone's pockets.
Candice laughed. "Man, no matter how many times I do this, it never gets old."
"What do you mean?" Jade asked. "This is the first time we've raided bandits."
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I guess it is. Just…something from when I was younger." The sound of screeching tires and the sound of metal crashing into metal inside Candice's head soon found the quincy violently shaking it. "Never you mind that. Get what they got and let's go."
"Right," Jade said, looting the bandits.
"Hold it right there!"
Candice turned to see a red head dressed like a knight with a small pre-teen blue haired girl walking up the road. "In the name of Fairy Tail…." The red head started to say, only to take a look at the situation.
"I think we're too late, Erza. Those two girls must've taken the bandits out already," Wendy said.
Fairy Tail again? Candice thought.
The red head, Erza, sized up Candice and Jade. White clothes, peaked cap…is this the girl Totomaru fought the night before? "You there!" Erza barked at her.
"Huh? Yeah, whatdya want?" Candice asked.
"We were sent here to defeat these bandits as per a job request. What guild do you hail from?"
"Guild?" Candice asked. "I'm my own person. Jade here's kind of like a hanger's on. Look, if you ain't with the Rune Knights," Candice said, scratching her head. "I didn't see you, you didn't see me? Deal?"
Erza noticed how Jade was pickpocketing the unconscious bandits, stuffing the gold and jewelry into what seemed like a very fat purse. "Stealing stolen goods doesn't make them yours," Erza stated.
"Pfft, screw that. Finders keepers. What? You expect me to track down the original owners? Haven't you ever played a video game before?" Candice asked only to swear under her breath. "Shit. Right. Different time and place."
"If you hand over the gold and valuables to me, I can at least turn them over to the authorities."
"Yeah, how about no? I play by my own rules. If you got a problem with that, you can suck my bright, pink…well, you know how that sentence ends," Candice said with a wicked grin.
Erza gave a stern, scary glare at Candice.
Wait a sec, red hair…and her name is Erza… Jade swallowed and then pulled on Candice's arm. "Candi, we should go."
"Again with this?" Candice sighed.
"No, you don't understand. That's Erza Scarlet. She's the strongest woman in all of Fairy Tail," Jade stated.
"Strongest woman, huh?" Candice asked, pushing Jade back by the shoulder. "You don't say."
"Candice!"
"Bite me, Jade," Candice said. "Listen, Miss too twizzler colored to be a proper ginger, I already clapped one of your boys the night before. Unless you want to meet the same fate as him, I suggest you back off if you know what's good for you."
Jade's dark skin almost turned pale. That's it. We are dead. We are both dead. Dead women be we. A cornucopia of pain and despair is coming our way to ensure our demise. We are so many levels of dead. Why? Why in all the world did I get paired off with the most obstinate and thick-headed bimbo in all of wizardry?
Erza glared harder. So it was the same woman. "Wendy, take a few steps back."
Wendy backed up about five steps.
"There's fine."
Erza threw her arm out wide and manifested a sword. She then swung it out in front of her. Then, pushing off with her back foot, she charged at Candice without another word.
Bring it on, bitch, Candice thought and the fight began.
Candice dodged the attack easily, sliding along Erza's right side.
She's fast! Erza gasped. She barely had time to react to Candice's next attack as the quincy brought her foot up and planted it towards Erza's hip. Erza was able to turn and block with the flat side of her blade, but she got pushed back, the electrical energy from Candice's strike launching her across the plain.
"Don't blink!" Candice exclaimed and pitched a blast of lightning the size of a beachball at Erza.
Gasping, Erza dropped flat to the ground, fighting against the wind current. Instinctively, she rolled out of the way. Good thing too. Candice was launching arrow after arrow after arrow at Erza from afar and the blasts were curving into the ground and causing it to rupture. Erza eventually gained enough momentum that she was able to get to her feet and switched to her non-indicatively named Flight Armor. With her cheetah print armor, Erza now had two swords and was charging towards Candice at blinding speed.
Whoa! Candice thought as she leapt out of the way of Erza's incoming strike. Erza swung with two blades out wide, first crossing them in front of her body and then swinging her arms as wide out as she could. Candice barely avoided the pressure from the swing as she dodged to one side. She could feel Erza's swing cut through her reiatsu temporarily as the spiritual barrier around her body reformed.
Fast and strong. I guess I really can't underestimate her, Candice thought. Let's kick it into high gear! Lightning bursting out from her center of mass, Candice's eyes sparked as her feet and hands glowed with lightning.
I've never seen her use that technique before! Jade gasped.
With furious speed, Candice began delivering punches and kicks too fast for Wendy or Jade to follow.
Erza could follow them though. Her reflexes were just sharp enough to block the incoming strikes, but the blows were putting burns into the metal of her sword.
"Take this!" Candice exclaimed and brought her fists down like a hammer. Erza blocked with both blades in an X pattern, but the damaged weapons shattered under the force of the blow. Fortunately, Erza was able to move with the momentum of Candice's swing and get some distance. Changing armors on a dime, Erza put on her Heaven's Wheel armor and sent multiple weapons flying at Candice from multiple angles.
"Blut Vene!" Candice exclaimed, covering her entire body with the technique, blades snapping and shattering on impact as she swat the ground and let out a burst of lightning that spread out in multiple bolts in a circle.
Impressive, she might be near the same level as Bambietta, Erza thought.
Drawing her bow, Candice doubled the nocked arrow in size, imbuing it with her Schrift. "Take this!" She shouted, feeding the reiatsu she was using to conjure her shrift into the arrow. The explosion consumed Erza's entire body.
"How's that?" Candice asked with a grin, giving Erza a thumb's down. However, her grin faded when she saw a spear tip poking through the dust, sparking with lightning. Erza was now garbed in a golden and baby blue armor, wielding an impressive looking spear.
"I must say, I'm impressed by your power. Your lightning abilities would certainly be impressive if put to the right use."
"Eh, what can I say? I'm a natural," Candice said.
"However, your power has a crippling weakness. You may be able to conjure lightning, but you are not resistant to it."
"Say what now?" Candice blinked, eyes shrinking in.
"Lucky for me," Erza said, twirling the spear under her arm as the ribbons on it waved in the wind. "My Lightning Empress Armor provides me both!"
A powerful bolt of lightning burst forth from the spear and blazed its way towards Candice. Using Blut Vene, Candice was able to protect herself, but Erza was already on top of her, having anticipated her actions. With a series of swift jabs, she jammed her weapon as Candice's skin, forcing the girl to use more and more reiatsu to keep Blut Vene protecting her under such a flurry of attacks. Eventually, Erza broke through Candice's guard hard enough to send her flying, but not enough to injure her.
Turning her body like an acrobat, Candice palmed the ground and righted herself, firing an arrow at Erza, but the red head was already flanking Candice's right. Is she anticipating my movements? It has to be. She's slower than before.
Erza approached Candice in close quarters and began to thrust the spear as Candice used Hirenkyaku to get behind her, only to watch the spear turn and a beam of lightning fired from the tip behind Erza. Candice had to use Hirenkyaku to put a massive amount of distance between her and Erza.
"Surprised?" Erza asked. "I've seen your techniques before. Not from you, but from a friend. Hirenkyaku, Heiling Pfeil, Blut Vene, Blut Arterie, I've seen them all and studied them." Erza turned and aimed her spear in Candice's direction, both hands on the weapon's handle. "If lightning is your specialty, then my Lightning Empress Armor will counter it! I will take you down!" Erza declared.
Candice grimaced. Shit, if I still could use my Vollstandig, I could wipe that self-assured glare right off her stupid face. Jade was right. Retreat was probably the best option for now. "Tell me one thing, Twizzler. That friend of yours, what's their name?"
"What use is that knowledge to you?" Erza inquired.
Candice let out a growling sigh. "Jeez, you are one stubborn bitch. Look, I know some people, okay? Gotta keep my head outta my ass by knowing who's where and what's what. You get me?"
"Um, Miss Quincy?" Wendy asked, since Candice hadn't given her proper name. "Do you know Bambi?"
"Wendy," Erza gasped, slightly alarmed at Wendy's innocent naivete.
"Ah! Sorry, was that wrong?" Wendy gasped, covering her mouth.
"For pity's sake, child," Carla said. "You know how Bambietta was earlier. What if this is one of her—?"
"Hold the fucking phone, you two know Bambi? She's here?" Candice asked, eyes wide with surprise.
Erza sighed. "We know Bambietta, yes. She's a member of our guild."
"I see. Is she doing well? Last time I saw her…well…you'd know if she was okay or not."
"She's fine," Erza responded, staring. "Apparently no thanks to you from what I gathered."
"Um, context?" Jade asked.
Candice sighed, ignoring Jade's outburst. "Damn, so that's what she's been thinking. Fuck. Well, I can't exactly go and beat up one of her friends, but I don't exactly wanna come with you either sooooo…" Candice gave a peace sign to Erza with a shit-eating grin. "Bye."
Then, with a thunderclap, accompanied by a bolt of lightning, Candice was just gone.
"Eh?" Jade asked. Wait, did she just…?
"Where'd she go?" Wendy asked.
"Not sure," Erza said. "But, we can still take her accomplice with us."
Yeah, no, that's not happening. Jade thought. She cast an illusion doppelganger of herself that was backing away slowly while she herself was running back towards the nearest town. Candice and her had a system in place. If the two got separated and couldn't find each other: meet by the bike.
Unfortunately, Erza pounced on the unsuspecting Jade while her back was turned, pinning her to the ground. What?
"You should know better than to turn your back on an enemy," Erza said.
"Wha…but I cast an illusion! How did you…?"
"Oh? Did you? Illusions don't work on me," Erza said, switching back to her Heart Kreuz armor, pinning Jade down by her back and then got out some rope. "You're coming with us," she said, glaring.
"Oh like hell!" Jade yelled out as she pulled out her pistols. She knew that she likely stood no chance against Erza, but she wouldn't go down without a fight! She began to fire her shots at Erza, but her eyes widened in shock as Erza casually deflected them away.
Erza rushed forward and as she did, Jade began to change the appearance of her weapon from pistols to Karma. She began to swing them at Erza as she wielded her blades, her body moving as if it was in some sort of Dance. Erza began to dodge and weave, and one of her attacks managed to graze Erza's face, giving it a small cut.
I hurt her! I can do this, I can win! Jade thought to herself as she continued to wield her blades in rapid succession. Most of her attacks were dodged, but Jade occasionally still found herself landing blows.
Come on, fall damn you! Jade thought to herself.
Erza however, now getting a read on her opponents fighting style began to start deflecting Jades attacks more and more, slowly closing the gape between them. Shes rather skilled. Erza thought as she continued to block and evade Jade's wild strikes. Almost good enough to be one of our A class mages...But its about time I finished this!
Erza then rushed forward and disappeared before Jades eyes. Wondering where she went, Jade soon found herself on the ground as she felt a powerful blow to her head. She turned around to see none other than Erza Scarlet looking down at her, her sword pointing at Jade's head.
"Now...You're coming with me."
Jade screamed as Erza promptly subdued her.
The year was 1983, the middle of spring. A blonde girl with streaks of green dye in her hair, stood leaned against the banister of her house's main staircase, lollipop dangling from her mouth. She was dressed in her leather jacket, a black, cotton tube top and tight spandex.
Her parents were dressed in their Sunday best, ready for church. "What do you mean you're not going to church?" her mother asked.
"I mean, I'm not going to fuckin' church," the girl stated.
"Honey, today's Easter," her father said. "Please, of all days."
"I said I'm not fucking going!" The girl shouted, flipping her father off. She leaned back. "Chuck's taking me uptown to a rad party with some college students. I'm gonna dip my face in a chocolate fountain and have a blast. And you can't stop me!"
"Cassandra, as long as you live under this house, you will live by our rules!" her mother shouted.
"No!" Cassandra shouted. "Because your rules said I had to wear stupid, thick glasses and keep my hair nice and straight! I'm tired of being picked on and I'm tired of listening to you two telling me what's best for me! You fail as quincies! You fail as parents and just fuck both of you!"
"Young lady!"
"Talk to the hand, pop, cause the ears ain't listening," Cassandra said and marched up the stairs.
Her mother was in tears, crying against her husband's shoulder. Cassandra's father pat her hands. "Easy, Betty. It's just a phase. She'll regret it. I have faith in her."
But it wasn't a phase. Cassandra went to that party and she had a blast. She left with chocolate staining her jacket and hair and one of the guys laundered it for her in exchange for being able to give her a smack on the bottom. From there, she only became more degenerate, including skipping classes and smoking cigarettes on school grounds.
The year was 1984, summer was almost on the horizon. Prom was nearing for the seniors as Cassandra stood in front of the schoolyard, smoking and reapplying nail polish.
"H-Hey…um…Candi…"
It was a nickname she'd started to get called because the boys thought she looked sweet like candy. Cassandra stuck with it. She turned her green and blonde hair towards the boy approaching her. He looked nervous, wearing a polo shirt and knee length shorts with thick glasses and lotion covering up some acne. He looked barely 140lbs of pure scrawniness.
Candi inhaled her cigarette and gave his body her full attention with her eyes and head, but said nothing.
"U-um, I don't know if you remember me. We went to elementary school together. I skipped a grade in the fourth grade."
Candi smoked more, turning her head a little, losing interest fast. "You got a point, poindexter?"
"U-um, w-well, senior prom is coming up and—"
"Fuck off," Candi said before he'd finished his sentence.
"Huh?"
"You're thinking of asking me to come with you, right?" she asked and then gave him the finger. "Not interested. Gain maybe twenty pounds of muscle, then we'll talk."
"B-but…"
"Look buddy, I don't need a boy in my life, I need a man."
"Cassandra," he said, calling her by her full name. "What's happened to you? I always thought you were so cute when we were kids."
"I got sexy," Candi responded. "You got a fuck to give with that?"
"You call this sexy?!" he asked, getting angry. "Every other word out of your mouth is a sacrilege against the bible and you reek of smoke. The only reason you haven't been thrown out of school yet is because the football team always goes to bat for you! And that's not all, I've heard your grades have been slipping too. You used to be a B student and now you're getting Cs. Not to mention the rumors!"
"Nine guys," Candi responded, smirking. "It feels fuckin' great." She took another whiff of her cigarette and blew it in her nuisance's face.
"B-but…" he stuttered again. "Don't you…care about yourself anymore?"
"Course I do. That's why I'm doing this. I live for me. I don't need anyone," Candi answered, taking another puff. "Least of all my cuckold folks."
The boy was about to respond when he got pushed aside by two bigger guys. "One side, shrimp." They were members of the football team and they stood on either side of Candi. "Looking good, sexy," one of them said, reaching for the cigarette in her hand.
"You want it? Take it. It's half gone anyway," Candi responded, handing it to him.
"Yo, word is Jack's gonna ask you to prom. When he asks, try to act surprised."
Candi laughed. "If he actually has the stones to say it to my face, we'll see what happens."
The glasses wearing boy ran away crying, the metaphorical glass shattering before his eyes. The girl he knew growing up was gone.
Later that summer, Candi got her license, but rather than get a car like everyone else, she had the boys that admire her pony up the cash so she could get her dream ride: a smooth, sleek, black motorbike. The engine purred like a cougar and roared like a lion as the vibrations hummed between her legs.
However, as the boys clamored to try and get on the bike with her Candi leaked out her reiatsu. "Sorry, boys, but this kitty cat rides solo. See you later, losers! Woohoo!" Like a chariot racing out of hell down a straight path, Candi blazed out of the parking lot and onto the streets.
Helmet secured, sunglasses on underneath, Candi zoomed out onto the highway, headed west. Cause she was on her way out of New York and she wasn't ever coming back.
As Candice slowed her pace into town, she found her bike at the edge, sidecar still attached. It wasn't her original ride, but it got the job done. The engine didn't purr or roar like her old bike, but it was far more monstrous looking and far more stylish.
Kinda wish I had the money to upgrade the thing, Candice thought. She sighed and then got some tools out of the sidecar, making sure the bike was in tip top shape, careful not to get her hair dirty.
When she was done, she wiped her brow. She looked around. When she didn't spot Jade or Erza, she used Hirenkyaku to get to the top of the tallest building in the town. Still no sign of them. Jade's reiatsu was also pretty far, too far to even pinpoint.
Candice sighed. Really? She got captured? She thought. Well, fuck her. Not like I need her. I've always been the lone wolf. Don't need no one. Screw her and screw Bambi! I'll be fine, Candice thought, powering up the bike as she detached the sidecar, by myself! She then took off into the sunset.
But, no matter what she forced herself to think, or how angry she was, and no matter how far she rode, one thing a person could never escape from was the truth.
The sun had almost completely set when Erza and Wendy arrived back in Magnolia with Jade being dragged behind them like a corpse.
"Okay! Could we please stop with the dragging?" Jade snapped. "I'm pretty sure I have at least three rocks up my ass and one somewhere else uncomfortable!"
"I'll let you get to your feet, but if you try anything," Erza said, glaring. "You'll regret it. Wendy, help her up."
Wendy helped Jade stand upright, but the rope stayed bound tight. "So, what do you plan to do with me now, hand me over to the Rune Knights?" Jade asked her captor.
"Not just yet," Erza said. "You'll be much more useful to us trying to track down your partner in crime."
Jade's blood ran cold. She was going to be bait for Candice. "Wh-what do you plan to do to Candice?" she asked, spooked.
Wendy looked up at Erza, just as curious.
"A close friend of mine seems to have been rather hurt by your friend's actions. I think it's about time we put an end to this before it leads to something rather…tragic."
"Tragic?" Jade asked.
"I can't really give specifics," Erza said. "But as long as you behave yourself, I'll give you food and water and lodging."
"I suppose I'll have to be spoon fed. I doubt you plan to loosen the ropes."
"You catch on quick," Erza responded.
Jade sighed. "Fine. But mark my words, you will regret this. Candice will come back for me."
"We'll see about that," Erza said and led Jade away.
Off the side of the interstate in 1985, a loud motorbike pulled into a parking lot and was promptly chained to the bike rack of a nearby dive restaurant. A young woman with green hair strolled into a bar with cuts and bruises on her arms, but otherwise no worse for wear. She sat down at the bar and looked surly, tilting down her sunglasses.
"What'll it be, sweet cheeks?"
"Get me a screwdriver, Virgin," she answered.
"Comin' right up," the bartender said.
As he fixed the girl a drink, a scruffy college student wearing a biker jacket sat down next to the leather-bound lime haired girl. "Virgin? Your stomach not hard enough for the real thing?" he asked.
"Fuck you, I'm underage and I need to tuck my head in from the cops," the woman responded, punching his arm, but not too hard.
"Oooh, you're a feisty one. I like that. Name's Camron, Camron King, you?"
"Candice," the woman responded. "Candice Catnipp." She smiled at him, winking. "But the cute ones call me, Candi."
"Aha, I see," he said, nodding his head. "Candi, I like it. Where ya from, Candi?"
"New York. I split the moment I got my bike. She's out front."
"Nice. I walked here. College is about a half an hour trek from here."
"Ah, a university boy, huh?" Candice asked. "You a sports guy? You look like one."
"Yup, Center for the Cougars. How'd you know?"
Candice swayed in her chair, smiling. "I've been with enough football players to know them at a glance," she said and ran her hand up Camron's arm, clasping her hand on his shoulder and she smacked the side of her head against it. "Buy my drink for me, handsome?"
"Yo, Sammy, gimme one of what she's having. I'll pay for both."
"Your parents are gonna kill me, Camron," Sammy said, sliding down the glasses.
"Hey, I'm a responsible drinker," Camron said, holding up the drink he knew wasn't the virgin one. "Bottom's up." He threw back his head and downed half the glass. Candice then sipped her drink slowly.
"Ahhhh," she said, feeling refreshed. "Can't wait till I'm 21. I've had alcohol before when its been snuck to me."
"You been drunk before?"
"A few times," Candice responded. She moaned seductively. "I just love alcohol." She unzipped her jacket. "Makes me hooooooot."
Candice's new "mark" as she called them, was already with wood in his pants and she knew it. Leaning back onto his shoulder she spread her hand on his chest. "How about after this we go back to your place for a gooooood time."
Camron gave a thumbs up to his buddies at another part of the bar with a wink.
Candice saw this and purred. Oh, I'm in for a goooooood night.
The chirping of birds woke Candice up that morning as she disassembled the tent and loaded it into the big, clunky, metal crate she had secured to the back of her bike, which carried all the supplies.
Man, it has been too long since I had sex, she thought as she turned her bike on. She shook her head and let the wind carry her hair. Okay, next stop, a hotel. Gotta clean my hair out. After that, she shrugged. Eh. She then rode off with her back to the sunrise.
When Bambietta got to Fairy Tail that morning, she noticed Erza coming up from the basement with a used bowl, a tray, and a spoon. Curious, but not wanting to make Erza aware of her interest, Bambietta stole into the basement when Erza wasn't watching the entrance and trekked down the stairs to find Jade tied up on the far wall, leaned over to one side.
"Ohhhhh my," Bambietta said upon seeing her. She then turned her head and thought. Wow, I knew Erza was into some kinky stuff, but…then I'm not one to judge, I'm into the same thing, but…questions for later.
"Hey, are you that Bambietta person that Erza and Wendy were talking about?" Jade asked.
"Oh, she speaks. I half assumed Erza was breaking the Geneva convention. But that's me though. Bambietta's the name, kicking ass is my game. Soooo, are you like…Erza's new pet gimp or something? Or is some weird initiation ritual to the guild I was never made privy to?"
"Wow, even your brand of humor is the same," Jade said with a glazed look.
Bambietta knew that Erza and Wendy's sense of humor didn't match hers, which only begged the question, who was this chick talking about? "Matches…who exactly?"
"I don't suppose the name Candice means anything to you?" Jade asked.
Bambietta's eyes narrowed as she frowned extremely hard. "Yeah. It rings a bell. You know the bitch?"
"Traveled with her until just yesterday when she ran off and left me at Erza's mercy. Suppose she wasn't kidding when she said 'travel until we get tired of each other.' Really hope that's not the case though. I kind of—"
Jade was cut off by the sound of creepy laughter and it was coming from Bambietta. She sounded like an asylum patient as she threw her head back and slapped her hand over her forehead.
"She didn't learn. She doesn't give a flying fuck about me." Bambietta laughed harder. "She went and abandoned someone again. Why am I not surprised? That's just who you are, isn't it, Candice? All you do is lie, steal, cheat and fuck people to get your way, both in bed and in the back."
"Ummmm," Jade wanted to draw question to Bambietta's sanity, but thought anything further might just mean the death of her.
"Oh, well, when I see her," Bambietta chuckled. "When I see her, I'm going to make sure that she never does this to anyone ever again!" Bambietta's reiatsu surged as empty boxes started to burst. "I'm gonna beat her black and blue, I'm gonna drag her by that hair she's so goddamn proud of and then I'm gonna choke the life out of—"
"You're wrong!"
"Fuck you! You barely knew her a month!" Bambietta exclaimed, flipping Jade off. "I knew her for years. She was almost like a sister to me! But she was just laughing at my back the whole time! Always jealous that I was the leader! That I got to call the shots! And when I needed her the most, all she did was stab me in the back!"
Jade stared at Bambietta and said calmly. "Look, I don't know what she did to you, but let me tell you something. About three months ago, I lost someone very important to me and I wandered this country with nowhere to go. When she found me, I had practically hit rock bottom. I was being a stupid, drunken, bimbo at a bar. And some guys were going to take advantage of me. She didn't have to help me. She didn't have to do anything. And when I asked her why, she just said she did it cause she wanted to! Sure, she's crass, sure she's rude, sure she can be extremely annoying at times, but she's had my back more times than I can count on my own two hands and I know I've done the same."
"Same, and yet, look where we both ended up, betrayed and sold out to the enemy."
"She'll come back for me, I know she will!" Jade shouted and then looked desperate. "She cares about me! I know she cares about me! Someone has to care about—"
Bambietta gave Jade a slow clap. "Brilliant defense. You're a regular Perry Mayson. But you want to know something, Mint Chocolate? I know Candice is a lying, thieving backstabber. Because there I was, lying in a pool of my own blood after getting my ass kicked what was the most humiliating defeat in my career. And she just stood by and watched as one of my other friends murdered me right in front of her! And she just stood there watching. Her and all the others!"
Jade was shocked at this. Candice didn't seem the type. "Y-yeah, w-well…" she stuttered, trying to rationalize what Bambietta was saying and her own memories. "I,,,I don't believe you!"
"You think I'd lie about something like this?!" Bambietta shouted back. "I know what I went through! She dosen't care about me and she sure as hell dosen't care about you!"
"You're wrong!" Jade shouted back, tears in her eyes. "She'll save me, I know she will!"
Bambietta clenched her fists. "Save you huh? Well then let's see her stop you from getting a fucking black eye!" Bambietta reigned her fist back, about to pelt Jade across the face but something froze her body with tremendous effort. A glowing emblem appeared on the back of her hand. The hell!? What is this!? Try as she might, her desire to give the thief a beating for her stubbornness was vanishing, Bambietta slowly lowering her hand then as she shook. Wait a minute…what the hell was I even thinking!? I…I…
"Bambietta Basterbine, we need to talk. Now."
Bambietta quickly turned around, only to see Erza Scarlet slowly walking down the stairs. She was frowning, and Bambietta felt herself break into a nervous sweat. "Erza, I-"
"Follow me." Erza's words were blunt and to the point, the quincy gulping as she got up to her feet. Erza's tone made one thing very clear. She was not happy with Bambietta's current course of action.
Holding her breath, Bambietta followed Erza upstairs and into the guild, the quincy remained quiet the entire way until the pair was outside, before she finally spoke up. "Erza look, I know I was about to do something really bad, so if you want to belt me for what I was about to do then-"
Erza raised up a hand, Bambietta ceasing her chatter almost immediately. "I won't pretend that I condone what you were about to do, Bambietta. You were about to hurt someone who couldn't even defend themselves. That's not the Fairy Tail way. You should know that."
Bambietta looked away in shame, before Erza placed a caring hand on Bambietta's shoulder, surprising her. "Erza?"
Erza gave her a comforting smile. "That said…I've seen you grown from the person you where when you first joined the guild. What you need right now isn't condemnation, but support. For now I think it's best that you stay out of the guild until you've managed to work things out. Go find a job request that'll keep you busy for a day or two, take your friends, and then we'll see how you're doing from there. Understood?"
Bambietta stared at Erza, having expected to have been chewed out and beaten, akin to how she would have treated Natsu and Gray after a terrible mess up. But instead, she was being met with the kindness and compassion she had come to expect from the guild. Tears dropped from her eyes before she gave Erza a small smile. "Thanks, Erza."
Erza nodded in kind. "Not a problem. Now, stay out here. I'll pick out a job for you. In the meantime… try to think about what you need to do from here on out." Erza matched back into the guild, Bambietta letting out a sigh of relief as she dropped to her knees.
Bambietta looked down at her hands, as her thoughts went inward. Still, she's right. Why the hell did I think that was going to end well!? I…I really messed up, huh?
"Bambi, is everything alright?"
Bambietta promptly turned around, Levy looking down at her with some worry. "You…seem a little stressed. Do you want to talk about it?"
Bambietta slowly got up to her feet before she gave Levy a small smile. "Yeah…I would. Thanks Levy."
When Candice met Camron, she had no idea he was part of a gang outside of school activities. She became one of the gang as a result. She smoked, drank, and hung out with the boys like she was one of them.
"Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!" They were chanting at her as she downed a whole bottle of brandy. Then, she put the empty bottle on the ground and took a bow. They cheered.
"How ya feelin' sexy?" Camron asked.
"Ugh, tipsy. You guys got rubbers? I'm already lubricated."
Her life had devolved into one of debauchery, drugs, alcohol, and reckless abandon. And she loved every minute of it because it was her choice. It was to the point that it was often joked that Candice couldn't lie on her back without putting her legs up over her head. It wasn't true, but it spoke volumes about her behavior. She didn't care of course. She felt like a queen, like she was on top of the world.
Camron would eventually graduate and then fail to get drafted into the Chicago Bears. Then, unemployed, he and Candice, along with others from the gang, evolved their activities.
"Oof!" A big burly guy exclaimed as Candice punched him in the face hard. She pulled on her bloodied glove, looking at the damage she and the other boys had done.
Putting one foot on a crate, Candice declared. "You fuckers got it? This area's now the property of the Royal Thunder! Now get your asses out of here before we pop caps in 'em!"
By day, she and the others would steal, assault, eat and ride. By night, she'd let Camron slam her harder than the bars on a closing cell door.
After their latest romp, each one smoking a cigarette, naked under the covers of a cheap motel, Candice looked at him. She wondered, was she in love? "You know, baby," she said, "My birthday's coming up. We doin' anything special?"
"Maybe," Camron answered. "But for today, I got you something special."
"Awww, baby you know how to spoil me. Whatcha get me?"
Camron reached for his pants on the floor and put something in Candice's hand. It was a silver ring with tiny rhinestones in it. "I stole this the other day when you weren't looking."
"C-Camron," Candice blushed. "Is…is this?"
"Will you be my woman forever, Candi?"
Candice made out with her lover. Her answer was as crystal clear as those rhinestones.
The sound of a truck horn woke Candice up with a jolt, but the sound was only in her mind. She panted like she'd run a marathon and clutched at herself.
A dream…just a dream… she panted. She then clutched her head, the sore feeling settling in. Ugh, hangover. Fuck. She slipped out of bed and into the shower, sitting down with her legs outstretched as much as she could, head tilted down as she turned the water on. She did not making it warm until she felt relieved from the cold liquid splashing her naked body.
She looked at her left hand. Like an amputated limb, the wind around her barren ring finger was like a constant reminder of something she lost.
"Camron," she mumbled.
When it came to Bambietta's recent, Lucy took it well and assured Bambietta that they could go on the job that Erza had picked out as soon as she was ready. Thankful for her understanding, Bambietta promised to do the chores for the next two days.
At the moment, Bambietta was enjoying a graphic novel she had bought earlier, the quincy happening upon a quaint little comic shop she'd never seen before after she went to clear her head. The book in question was about the Ishgar fictional heroine Colonel Knightly. The novel was about her finding a kitty cat from outer space. Its name was Porg. Bambietta thought it would be a cat like Happy, but the cat in the comic was a plain orange tabby cat, with the exception that it was also part Cthulhu monster.
I feel like I've read this before, have I read this before? Bambietta had wondered.
She, of course, had to put the novel down when reading it reminded her too much of Meninas. Great. As if she needed to be reminded of another backstabber.
Absentmindedly, she'd left the comic on the coffee table and Wendy had snatched it up after dinner. Bambi would later her find herself reading the comic to Wendy and tucking the blue haired dragon slayer into bed for the night.
Lucy spotted her tiptoeing out of Wendy's room towards the couch, smiling.
"What?" Bambietta asked her.
"Just admiring that you haven't lost your soft spot," Lucy said with a smile.
"Yeah, well…maybe I need to get more in touch with that side," Bambietta responded, blushing.
Lucy kissed her on the cheek. "You're plenty in touch with that side. You just need to show it more."
Bambietta bristled across her whole body.
"Get some sleep, Bambi. Tomorrow's a new day and we can go on that job together," Lucy reminded her.
"Yeah, I guess that's true," Bambietta said with a smile. "Oh, and Lucy."
"Hmm?"
Bambietta smacked Lucy swiftly and sexually on the butt. "Thanks."
Lucy blushed. "H-hey now, let's not get carried away."
"Not apologizing for that one," Bambietta snickered.
Lucy pouted.
"Oh come on, it was just as slap!"
Lucy gave Bambietta a wry smile. "Gotcha."
"…Clever girl."
"But that's all you're getting for now. Just don't press your luck any other time."
"Got it," Bambietta said, hands behind her back, "Hands to myself. Night, Lucy."
"Night!" Lucy then went into her room and shut the door.
Before going to the couch, Bambietta took one last peek into Wendy's room, looking at the girl curled up with the comic book like it was a teddy bear. The quincy smiled, then she shut the door again and flopped onto the couch, quickly falling asleep.
"Come on, slowpoke, are you a King or a pauper?" Candice shouted back at Camron. The two were biking on a bridge in the middle of a massive thunderstorm.
"Candi, slow down! I can barely see straight!" Camron called to her.
"Don't be a pussy! This was your idea! I'm having a blast!" Candice exclaimed. "Chickening out? That means I win and you know what that means!"
Camron sped up to match Candice's pace. "Candi, really, maybe we should call the whole thing off."
The two suddenly parted from each other as a lightning bolt struck the bridge.
"Hey, are you my fiancé or a limp dick?" Candice asked. "Cause I'm calling it off if you go soft on me, and I ain't talkin' about making the bed rock." Candice then sped up, going 80 on the bridge into oncoming traffic. The two had made the bet to cross the entire bridge going the wrong way in the middle of the storm. Whoever made it over the bridge first to the awning at the dollar store on the other side, past the entrance—exit for them—had to buy the beer for the ride back for restocking.
Candice felt in her element. The rain upon her face, the tumultuous wind in her hair, no cars or cops on the road due to the weather. It was entertaining. It was empowering. It was liberating.
"YEEEHAAAAAH!" Candice shouted at the top of her lungs, charging through the rain like a madwoman as she vaulted over a construction ramp.
Camron figured he'd hang back and let Candice win. Happy wife. Happy life. Wasn't that how the saying went? Sure, they weren't married, yet, but still…if she fell off her bike for being reckless, he'd win by default.
That was when he saw it, a pair of headlights in the distance and they were getting bigger and brighter.
Screeching his tires as he pulled over, he shouted as loud as he could, "CANDI, WATCH OUT!"
A thunderclap drowned him out. Candice looked behind her rather than looking ahead and by the time she looked the right way, her entire vision was engulfed by the truck's headlights and her ear drums by its very loud horn.
"CANDI!"
When Candice came to, she was on the bridge. The storm wasn't coming down as hard, but it was still pouring out. She sat up, quickly finding herself dressed in all white, lying on the cold wet ground, which for some reason she could barely feel.
"Ugh, what happened?" she groaned, rubbing her head. She looked over and saw Camron hunched over. Flashing cop lights were all around. "Wh-what?"
There was a body in Cameron's arms. Candice didn't know what was going on at first, but then she saw a familiar head of green hair…and it was wearing her clothes.
"No…that's not me," Candice hyperventilated. "That's not me! I'm not dead! THAT'S NOT ME! Cameron! Cameron over here!" Candice waved her arms excessively back and forth trying to catch his attention, but he couldn't see her. No one on that bridge could, not anymore. Of course, Candice didn't know that or care.
She saw Cameron get to his feet and saw her bloodied face in the darkness as her body hung loosely in his arms. She saw an ambulance wheel out the gurney to put her on.
"Cameron, you stupid sack of shit!" Darting over to her boyfriend, Candice pushed his shoulder, tears streaming down her face. "I'm right here, you dumbass!"
As if the impact with the truck, which hadn't settled in her brain yet, hadn't been enough, her impulsiveness caused an even greater tragedy. The force of her push, combined with Camron's weak knees caused him to lose his balance.
Not realizing he'd been pushed, since no one could see Candice at all, cops and even the paramedics tried to grab him, but Camron dropped Candice's live body, the other men and brave women tripping over it and the spirit Candice's ankles as Camron pivoted and tumbled off the bridge.
"CAMRON!" Candice screamed, watching her boyfriend fall into the river below, lost forever.
I want to wake up, Candice thought, the urge to vomit rising. I want to wake up in my nice warm bed and be okay. It's not real! She thought, panicking, backing up. It's not real. She stumbled towards the other end of the bridge. It's not… she tripped over the other side, real?
The second time Candice woke up it was to heaving seawater out of her lungs on a sandy shore too small to be considered a beach. She could still see the bridge she fell off of and see the flashing lights and it was still the dead of night.
Grinding her fists into the sand, Candice pounded her right hand on the shore and howled, loudly. She'd been on top of the world. She'd had everything. She'd had the high life in her eyes. Shit, she was about to be married. And now…
Even though the storm was letting up, the ground beneath Candice's eyes was wetting with her tears.
Now it's all gone.
Candice hunched over onto the ground and just started weeping into it. She was dead. Her mortality had finally caught up to her brain.
Mom…dad…
No high school diploma. No big acting career. She would never get to meet Olivia Newton-John. She wouldn't be the housewife to a big football player. The big road of life she rode that once stretched out in a million directions had incinerated to a crisp.
Candice eventually stopped crying and remained on all fours. What do I do now? She thought. What's life after death…for someone like me?
"My, how tragic. For one so young to have met her end so early on in her life."
Candice turned around, pivoting on her hands and knees, spotting a man in a tattered black cloak with a mustache so bushy he could, in her mind, make the best porn star. Wait, hold on a sec…
"You can see me?" Candice asked, surprised, still on all fours.
"Can I see you?" Yhwach chuckled. "Why my dear, Cassandra Catnip, oh, I'm sorry, you go by Candice now. Of course I can see you."
Candice's eyes shook. "Who…are you?"
"I'm not surprised you weren't aware. Your parents were such failures they likely never told you anything about me, or maybe they did and you were just too stubborn to listen."
Candice winced at the too stubborn to listen part. Every dumb decision she'd ever made in her life was now coming back to really bite her.
"I am the father of all quincies. The prognosticator of all my children. I am Yhwach. And this…is the end of your road it seems."
"I don't want to be dead," Candice said miserably. "Please, can't I be alive? You're like some magical sorcerer or god or something, aren't you? Make me alive again!" she pleaded. "Make it so tonight never happened! Please! I'll do anything!"
Yhwach reached out and ruffled Candice's perfect hair. "My dear Candice, while I am indeed very powerful, reversing time is an ability that even I do not have. I am sorry, but the life you once had, that with your parents and that with your former lover, are over."
Candice rubbed her nose in the sand, crying more. It…really was over, wasn't it?
"It unfortunately seems to be a trend these last 200 years. The quincy race has been dealing with many misfortunes, either due to being cast out by humanity for their strange powers, being persecuted by Soul Reapers, or hunted down by hollows. I will give you something to bring you peace, child. Despite your reckless behavior, you extended your life by a fair few years. Your parents…have already met their gruesome end."
Candice gasped. "What?"
"It was the Soul Reapers, like many. And you went so far away from them, you escaped their wrath, but you ended up causing your own tragedy. I always thought you would be one of the many that was hardly worth my attention, but you were fated to die with them, yet you defied your fate through your own pride and will. A true shame to see your life end so miserably."
"What do I do now?" Candice asked.
"Before you lie three paths. If you stay in the world of the living, you will undoubtedly be eaten by a hollow, truly the most miserable end. The second, though hardly any better, would be being found by the Soul Reapers, or, worse, being taken to their research lab and become their lab rat. You would meet a much more slow and painful end. The third," he said with a smile. "Is one I think you'll find quite more to your liking. I have created a society where quincies can come together, an army that will one day overtake the Soul Society and overthrow the Soul King."
"And what's in it for me?"
"Hmm?"
"I either die to the hollows, die to the soul reapers in a lab, or die to them fighting for you and your stupid holy war. I know I made some dumb decisions," she said, getting snappy, "But one thing I'll never ever regret is taking life by the horns and putting my fate in my own two hands! So tell me, mutton chops, why should I give two flying fucks about your offer?"
Yhwach looked at Candice oddly. He started to snicker and then it graduated into full-blown laughter. No quincy before, and, from his visions, in the years to come either, ever dared talk back to him with that kind of vulgarity. He knew Candice was feisty, but this went beyond his wildest expectations. It amused him greatly. Fire like that was useful to him. No, not fire, more like the reckless power of lightning.
"Well, Miss Catnipp, allow me to make this clear. You must be thinking that under my care, you'd have to follow a strict set of rules. But our goals align. I want nothing more than the liberation for quincies to use their powers without fear of oppression. In life, you fought against the system and lived your life to the fullest. In death, not much will change. But, instead of breaking bottles over heads and punching out jaws with your fists, you will explode the bodies of hollows with your bow and protect those too weak to fend off that which means harm to you and your fellow neighbor."
"So, what, do you hand me some kind of contract and I just sign on the dotted line with the blood pouring out of my thumb or something?"
Yhwach chuckled. "Hardly. Now hold still…"
Candice felt a rush of power go through her body as Yhwach's hand pressed firmly onto her head. The rush was so intense that it was actually painful. Her body tensed with vibration so forcefully that Candice screamed in pain, but, when the pain subsided, she felt so strong that she felt being on her hands and knees for a second longer would be an insult to her strength. When she stood, she looked at her reflection in the water. Open shirt, tight shorts and one stylish looking peaked cap, complete with knee high boots.
"Welcome to the Vandenreich, Miss Catnipp. I hope you will enjoy your stay."
Candice snapped back to reality, remembering it all as she rode her bike slowly as she came upon the next town. She recalled how she lost her life, how she met Yhwach and became a true quincy. Cassandra Catnip died ages ago and she was proud of that fact. What she wasn't proud of was that she let her freedom go to her head, she'd learned that lesson well. And Haschwalth had drilled into her just how dangerous her drinking and drug abuse had been.
But she was proud of who she was, and though she never saw Camron again, those years would be the most precious to her. She'd had flings in the Vandenreich of course. Heck, she even learned she was bisexual through it. And who could forget that one time she bit off Bazz-B's zipper during their first 69 and put it out in Giselle's eye when the dumbass interrupted them? Good times. However, in her heart, she knew that was all pain clouding. In her heart, she knew she was just really looking for that right guy, just like her Camron.
As the motorbike stalled, a big "Welcome to Magnolia" sign was filling Candice's vision.
This is the place, she thought. She parked the bike next to the side of a building and strolled in casually like the world's most nonchalant tourist. She looked around. So, this is where Bambi calls home, huh? She could sense Bambietta's reiatsu scattered throughout the city. More importantly, she could sense Jade's.
Okay, long as the redhead and the twerp don't spot me, if I tuck my reiatsu in, I should be able to grab her and go.
She sighed as she strolled into the town, getting looks from guys. Normally she'd wink and give a smile, but she was in a mood.
Why the hell am I even doing this? She thought. No, no, I'm not bailing on her. I'm not going to make that mistake, not again. She sighed. Let's just hope Bambi doesn't see me… or this is going to get ugly.
Now, while suppressing one's spiritual pressure was a very useful tactic, it could never stop anyone from actually directly seeing the person. And, as Candice strolled into the residential district of Magnolia, she strolled in right into Bambietta's line of sight as the brunette was coming out of her apartment, along with the blue-haired twerp, a busty blonde, and… what the fuck was that shinigami bitch doing here?
Well, fuck, Candice thought. Her body shivered as she reunited with her former friend. Well, this wasn't going to end well, one way or another.
Bambietta balled her fist. "Candice," she said with gritted teeth.
Candice gave Bambietta a dull stare, trying to not look intimidated. "Bambietta."
"So, what do you want?" Bambietta asked as she approached her old friend. "Here to steal from our pub?"
Candice shook her head. "No, I just want my friend back."
Bambietta scoffed. "You do, huh? You think I'll just welcome you back, just like that, after what you did? After what you let happen to me?"
"I wasn't talking about you," Candice replied, nervously tapping a finger against her thigh.
Lucy looked between the two quincies, her eyes widening as she grabbed for her keys, but Rukia promptly placed her hand on Lucy's before she shook her head. If she was able to evade Erza…
"Why don't we take this out of town?" Bambietta said, feigning calmness.
Candice crossed her arms. "Never stopped you before."
"I live here," Bambietta responded. "And… I've changed, but I can see you clearly haven't. You're still the same vulgar biiiii…" she remembered Wendy was behind her. "Big piece of trash you've always been."
Candice decided to test the waters a bit. Maybe, just maybe, she could show her that things could go back to the way they were. "Awwww, is Bambi going soft that she's watching her language around four-year-olds?"
"I'm twelve," Wendy whined.
"Ask me if I fucking care," Candice said.
"Bambi, what does fucking mean?" Wendy asked.
Bambietta leaned forward, the sound of a creaking hinge playing in her mind, followed by the pin of a grenade being pulled, followed by the explosion to end all explosions. All her hard work to set a good example in front of Wendy and not have her learn bad words, gone up the road to fair middling FUBAR!
"Well, you see, the thing is," Bambietta stuttered, sweating as she turned towards Wendy. "Wh-when a male soul reaper and a female quincy love each other very much…" Bambietta trailed off and then shook her head. "You know what, Candice?" She asked, turning towards Candice and sucker punched the lime haired girl in the stomach, sending her flying over the event horizon. She then turned towards Lucy, Rukia, and Carla, smiling in a way that, unknowingly to her, that matched the soul reaper captain Unohana. "Lucy, Rukia, Carla, you guys got this right?" She clapped her hands. "I'm going jogging. Bye." She then vanished with Hirenkyaku.
Carla sighed. "I swear. That woman is incorrigible."
"Well, Rukia, I guess…" Lucy started, only to notice Rukia had also vanished from sight. Lucy sighed. Why me? "Wendy, let's go back inside. I'm going to give you a speech Bambi was going to save for when you get to be my age."
"Um… Okay," Wendy said awkwardly as Lucy shuffled her inside.
As she got Wendy in the door, Lucy looked out at the horizon. Please don't do anything stupid, Bambi.
When Candice finally landed it was on her feet, tearing up the terra firma with the soles of her shoes. Bambietta caught up with her with Hirenkyaku.
"What? You didn't want to repeat what Ichigo did to Aizen?" Candice asked.
"What little respect I have left for you stopped me," Bambietta stated. "Because if I fuck up your hair by making a crater, you will not be rational."
"Riiiiight, cause you're totally being rational right now." Candice muttered. "I know that look, you're furious. You want to kick my ass no matter what, you're just looking for an excuse!"
"Candice, you have no idea how hard I've worked to preserve Wendy's innocence!"
Candice blew a raspberry. "Man, fuck innocence," she said, giving a thumb's down. "Take the girl to a pub-"
"Nope, nope, nope! The land of ten thousand nopes!" Bambietta said, not wanting to have any idea what she would suggest. "Not everyone needs to turn out like you!" Bambietta exclaimed.
"So, is this about me or is this about what happened with Giselle? Because if it is, look, we didn't think thing's would get so bad, so how's about you don't throw a hissy fit and-"
An arrow went flying by Candice's face, deliberately missing her hair, blowing up the nearest tree behind her…as well as the trees surrounding it.
"A hissy fit? That's how you see this? Listen Candi, I'm livid. I'm going to pound you and that hair you love so much into next week."
"Do I get even a chance to explain myself?" Candice asked. "We didn't have any better options for you-"
"I don't want to hear your excuses!" Bambietta shouted.
"Yup, same old Bambi," Candice muttered. "You haven't changed at all. At this point you're going to kill yourself from all that built up stress.
"Nyeh nyeh nyehnyehnyeh! Fuck you too," Bambietta stated.
She and Candice both drew their bows on each other, the green-haired beauty couldn't help but give a small smile. "Well, this sure brings back memories, huh?"
"Yeah… It does." Bambietta hesitantly agreed.
Locked in stalemate, both girls shared a trip down memory lane to the day they first met.
Through the halls of Silbern, Bambietta Basterbine walked with her head held high, feeling super important and like nothing could get her down today.
"Ah, Miss Basterbine. I was looking for you."
And there went her smile. Oh sweet merciful heaven, what did I do or not do now? Bambietta thought, massaging her brow. She turned to face Haschwalth. "Whatever it was, I swear I'm not guilty!"
Haschwalth shook his head slightly. "Ever with the guilty conscience, but no, you're not in trouble."
Oh thank god. "So, what is it?" Bambietta asked, folding her arms. "A mission? Rare for you to come straight to me. Usually I get my debriefings from Robert."
"This is a special case. Robert is off with far more important matters." He handed Bambietta a whistle. "Congratulations. You're being promoted to drill sergeant duty."
"…excuse you?" Bambietta asked flatly, flabbergasted.
"There's a troublesome squadron in our ranks with the new recruits. I need you to make them or break them."
"Um, I'm going to break them. You didn't just wake up this morning and pop stupid pills, right? I don't know the meaning of the word restraint." Bambietta stated.
Haschwalth didn't dignify Bambietta's insult with a response. Instead, he turned around and said, "Follow me."
Bambietta sighed. "Sir, yes, sir." However, as she followed him, hanging the whistle around her neck, she said "But, why me?"
"Because, I've lost three drill sergeants already to this group. One of the recruits seems to be taking the "If they're not fit for boot camp they're not fit to live" motto that his majesty set a bit too far."
"Oh, so we got a smart ass in the group with a trigger finger, neat. Again, why me, though? Why not Meninas if you need to punish one greenhorn whose head's too big for their hat?"
"Because you don't pull your punches when someone stands up to you," Haschwalth said.
"I don't know whether to feel complimented, or insulted," Bambietta said.
"Feel however," Haschwalth said as the two finally made it to the training ground where a lime haired well-endowed quincy girl was standing atop a mass of groaning quincy recruits.
"Come on, you fuckwads, get up!" she shouted. "If you don't, you're gonna end up like our last three drill sergeants! If you ain't fit for boot camp, you ain't fit to live!"
"Oh," Bambietta's eyes lit up. "It's a she. I can see why you want me to take care of it," Bambietta said.
The quincy girl looked up at the battlements where Bambietta and Haschwalth had entered. "Hey up there, sorry about the mess, it's just I got so bored waiting for training to start, had to flex some muscle."
Oh god she's like me, Bambietta thought, sweating slightly.
"Miss Catnipp, this is your new drill sergeant, Bambietta Basterbine," Haschwalth said.
"Oh, another one, huh? Well, hopefully the females of your ranks have pussies smaller than your men."
Bambietta suddenly found herself laughing. "Oh I like her. You sure we can't just let her graduate?"
Haschwalth gave her a stern look.
"Fiiiine," she said, handing him her cape and her hat. "Hold my things and watch this."
She began for the battlements to jump off.
"Ah, Miss Basterbine," Haschwalth called out to her.
"What now?" Bambietta asked, one foot already up on the ledge.
"No Volstandig. No Schrift."
"Awwww, but why?" Bambietta complained.
"I want her broken, not disintegrated. Come down to her level and teach her a lesson. You can do that, right?"
"Heh, leave it to me boss," Bambietta said with a smirk and then leapt down and used Hirenkyaku to reach the ground as the rowdy recruit slid down her mountain of KOed classmates.
"So, we gonna fight or—"
"Training begins now!" Bambietta exclaimed as she swatted the lime haired quincy in the cheek with the back of the flat of her hand, sending her flying into the wall. "You weren't ready."
"You think so?" the trainee asked. As the dust settled, there was indeed a crater in the wall, but her subordinate was completely fine. Bambietta then saw the red lines running up her arms all the way to her shoulders. "I'd say I'm more than ready."
Blut Vene? "How long have you been in boot camp?"
"Eh, two out of the six years," The green haired quincy responded. "It's getting pretty boring."
"Yeah, boot camp sucks, but everyone's gotta take their lumps like a champion."
"Pfft, fuck that. I want in on the hollow stomping action. I'm stronger now than I ever was when I was alive and boy do I feel alive when I'm on a rush of adrenaline. I'm like the lightning, reckless and powerful."
Bambietta laughed. "You know what? I like you. Name's Bambietta Basterbine." She got out her Heilig Bogen and nocked and arrow. "What's your name, soldier?"
"Name's Candice Catnipp, but you can call me Mistress when this is over," Candice replied doing the same.
Bambietta chuckled. "Oh, I am going to have fun kicking your ass."
"That was my line, shorty," Candice said, being several inches taller than the brunette. Her arrow grew in size. "And what makes you think you can?"
"Me, cause I'm the boss!" Bambietta stated and, surprisingly, so did Candice.
"How did you know I was going to say that?" Bambietta asked, surprised.
"Lucky guess. I guess you kinda remind me of me," Candice chuckled.
"You know, I was just thinking that," Bambietta said. "All right, no more talk. Mommy's here," Bambietta said, flaring her reiatsu, "And it's time for your spanking."
"It's just like back then, twenty feet apart, bows drawn and you want to teach me a lesson about something," Candice chuckled. "I miss those days."
"Yeah, but the difference is that at the time I actually thought you were kind of neat," Bambietta responded. "Now? I utterly hate you."
"Don't hate me cause I'm beautiful," Candice retorted. "Look, we can talk this out. Let's just calm down, forget the past and–"
Screaming angrily, Bambietta began launching arrow after arrow after arrow at the lime haired quincy. Candice responded in kind, shooting Bambietta's arrows out of the air.
"Come on, Bambi, you know better than anyone you can't outfire me," Candice spoke. "I can do this all day. Look I'm sorry about–"
"I don't fucking care!" Bambietta shouted, eyes filled with rage. "What you did to me!" she exclaimed, arrows becoming bigger as she fed more reiatsu into them. "What you let Giselle do to me! I'll never ever forgive you!"
Bambietta and Candice began pelting arrows at each other from their bows, the attacking colliding with impunity. The two began to run sideways, shooting arrows, never really gaining ground until Candice used Hirenkyaku to get to Bambietta's left. Bambietta turned and fired an arrow back, but Candice suddenly charged on her, forcing Bambietta to draw her sword. Candice fired an arrow at point blank range, dodging when Bambi swung vertically and down at her charge. The arrow hit Bambietta in the shoulder, doing minimal damage thanks to her reiatsu. She lurched forward a little as Candice hit her in the back, needling her with small attacks as she Hirenkyakued around Bambietta in a circle too fast to deflect and too close to shoot back. Candice's speed advantage was clear.
"You can't hit me, you should know that!" Candice shouted.
"Fuck off!" Bambietta exclaimed, flaring her reiatsu and destroying the ground beneath her feet. Swatting at the ground, she used her schrift to blow up the ground in a massive upheaval. Candice jumped back to avoid the immediate blast zone and then put up Blut Vene to guard the rest.
That was just what Bambietta needed. With Blut Vene activated, Candice's tremendous speed would be cut, allowing her to go on the offensive. She began swinging wildly at Candice, the lime haired lightning girl doing her best to block against Bambietta's ferocious swings, but she was getting small cuts up and down her arms, Bambietta's reiatsu was incredible, even against Candice's Blut Vene. However, there was one small flaw in Bambietta's strategy.
You're always like this, Candice thought. You go all out right at the beginning and that makes it easy for you to burn out, she thought as she switched off Blut Vene, correctly predicting the angle of the swing of Bambietta's next attack. She then switched to Blut Arterie on a dime. Leaving you open to counterattack.
KAPOW!
Bambietta had been smacked hard into the dirt by a fearsome Blut Arterie powered punch from Candice.
Hmm, impressive, Haschwalth thought. To think Miss Catnipp was this strong already.
"Haschwalth!"
Haschwalth turned his head right to see Meninas bounding down the battlement perch. "Oh, Miss McAllon. I see you're as chipper as always."
She saluted to him. "Good to see you, sir. What's the occasion?"
Haschwalth lowered his palm toward the ground, indicating for Meninas to cease her salute. He then took a step towards the ledge and peered down. Bambietta had already gotten up and she and Candice were now engaged in steel to steel combat. Bambietta's Dao blade was colliding with Candice's twin short swords. Bambietta, currently had her blade positioned just right to block both of Candice's strikes.
"Oh, is that the recruit everyone keeps talking about?" Meninas asked.
"Yes, Candice Catnipp. Supposedly she was recruited directly by his majesty."
Candice swung down with both swords as Bambietta leapt back. Then she swung her blades out wide in an arc, but Bambietta also dodged that as well, leaping back further.
"Why are she and Bambi fighting?" Meninas wanted to know.
"Discipline," Haschwalth said. "Even if his majesty thinks well of her, I can't have that one getting her head too big."
"But her head seems normal sized," Meninas said, not understanding the metaphor.
"She's too arrogant," Haschwalth said.
"Ohhhhhh," Meninas said, understanding.
Haschwalth took a step closer to the edge. "This is a lesson in humility."
Bambietta dodged a few of Candice's attacks and then let loose an arrow, which the trainee swatted away with her spirit weapon.
"Bambi looks like she's struggling," Meninas said.
"I specifically told her not to use her Schrift or her Volstanding. Not only do I want Miss Catnipp alive, but this is a test for Miss Basterbine as well."
"A test? What kind of test?" Meninas asked. She gasped. "Is it a secret test of friendship?"
"Something like that," Haschwalth said and kept watching them. He knew just how potent Candice could be if she learned the right way and sometimes when you mixed two volatile substances together, they canceled each other out. If the two learned comradery through battle, they could form an amazing duo if they saw the potential he saw in them.
However, as they both fired enormous arrows at each other, blowing away the other unconscious recruits, Haschwalth sighed. This is getting out of hand. Heaven help me, I pray I don't have to stop them myself.
Just like in their first fight all those years ago, Bambietta and Candice were locked twin short swords to Dao broadsword. It had been Candice to make the attack, swinging her swords down on Bambietta's horizontally turned weapon.
Angry, and willing to gain any kind of advantage, Bambietta placed her schrift into her sword. She could always make another one.
The blast sent her and Candice flying, both using Blut Vene to minimize the damage. However, Candice's generally lower overall reiatsu made it more difficult for her to gain her footing and Bambietta was already rushing in with an angry fist to the face, powered by Blut Arterie and the momentum of Hirenkyaku.
Candice dodged to one side and blasted Bambietta in the shoulder with a bolt from her schrift. Bambietta stumbled back, a nasty burn now in her torso. "I trusted you!" She shouted, tempering her reiatsu as she swung furiously with a newly made sword. Every swing was like a small explosion of its own with the amount of power behind it. If the swing didn't hit Candice directly, the shockwave sure did. Candice had no choice but to put Blut Vene up and temper her own reiatsu. However, every mighty blow broke right through her guarded stance and, sometimes, even left damage. "I trusted you and you left me to die! You watched her kill me!" Bambietta shouted. "You abandoned me when I needed you the most!"
"I didn't want to!" Candice shouted as her blade crossed against Bambietta's. "But you know how his Majesty is! You would have died anyway! At Least that way we thought you'd still be with us!" She kicked Bambietta away then before Bambietta came rushing back at her, their blade's connecting once more. "I didn't think Giselle was going to do….to do….THAT!"
As Bambietta's blade collided into the ground, Candice was to her right. The faster quincy planted the sole of her foot into Bambietta's cheek and knocked her back. Keeping up Blut Vene as she swung, Candice watched Bambietta raise her sword to block as Candice switched to Blut Arterie at the last second and swung through her sword, shattering the blade, then she jammed her skull into Bambietta's chin, knocking her back. Candice then thrust forward with one sword and unleashed a beam of lightning into Bambietta's chest. Reiatsu minimized the damage as it chewed through Bambietta's clothes, but now there was a crippling burn mark along the inside edges of Bambietta's breasts.
With one bad arm and now fighting with a seared chest, Bambietta knew that Candice had just gained a huge advantage, the despite the differences in reiatsu. And yet still, Bambietta made another sword and did not let go of it, gripping it hard. She then saw Candice stand with her swords swung out at her side.
"You think a simple "I'm sorry" is going to cut it?!" Bambietta screamed back at her. "I TRUSTED YOU! Atleast Lil was wrecked with guilt when I saw her! You!? You're trying to break into my guild!"
"I JUST WANT MY FRIEND BACK!" Candice yelled back. "You think I wanted this? Any of it!? Of course not! If it were up to me, I'd never see you again so we could both just move on with our new lives!" Candice moved forwards then as Bambietta prepared herself. "BUT YOU'RE NOT GIVING ME A CHOICE!"
I know what's coming, Bambietta thought. First, she'll charge. Candice darted towards Bambietta at the front, swords out behind her.
She wants me to think she's going to swing so I'll crouch low, but in reality-
Bambietta crouched low and, at the opportune moment, pivoted to block Candice's double handed swing from behind, blocking both blades with her own.
"I know all your techniques and tricks," Bambietta spat. "You can't surprise me anymore, Candice."
"Don't talk to me like you're my Obi-Wan Kenobi or something. You were my equal for far longer than you were my instructor. And the student," Candice said as she swung her arms up, "Has long since surpassed the master!"
Jamming her swords into the ground, Candice blew Bambietta away with a massive blast of lightning concentrated around Candice and expanding outward rapidly. With so much reiatsu used up already, Candice knew even Blut Vene wouldn't be able to fully protect Bambietta in time.
While Bambietta was still twitchy from the lightning, Candice charged, one blade up to guard, the other out behind her. Swinging at Bambietta's bum shoulder, she left a gash from shoulder towards the center of her chest. Candice then began furiously swinging at Bambietta, putting her on the defensive as Bambietta used Blut Vene and her sword to stop her former friend's attacks.
"You know, Candice, you're a strong warrior, but…" Bambietta said, gripping her bad arm as she tempered it into a ball of pure reiatsu. "You've always been all stamina and no substance!" Bambietta blasted Candice with a huge burst of reiatsu right into her stomach. Even Blut Vene couldn't protect Candice that well as she went hurtling back. Bambietta then nocked a big, powerful arrow and aimed it at Candice, who was still hurtling through the air.
"This is for making Wendy curse, you bitch!" Bambietta exclaimed and let the arrow fly, scoring a direct hit.
Candice was blasted through the wall by Bambietta's arrow. "How's that? All tuckered out?" Bambietta asked, smirking.
Her response was a massive arrow that she was forced to dodge.
"YOU!" Candice exclaimed, eyes filled with rage. There was debris and dirt all over her gorgeous hair. "Do you know how early I get up in the morning to make sure my hair is perfect? And you've gone and covered my beautiful, wonderful hair in dirt and debris!"
"I'm gonna fucking kill you!" Candice shouted, temper triggered. Oh it was on now. If Bambietta, who definitely knew about how much she loved her hair, didn't give a damn about pissing her off, then Candice wasn't going to show any mercy.
Candice tensed up her body, trying to use her Vollstandig, but it was clear that there was something clearly forcing her not to use it, no matter how much she wanted to.
"Screw whatever it is you are! This is my life and I make my own rules! You know what I hate about you, Bambietta Basterbine?" Candice asked as her short swords transformed and took the appearance of bolts of lightning. She charged Bambietta way faster than the latter could react. "You're selfish! You're loud! You're annoying! You snore loud enough to wake up a parallel universe!" With each enunciation, Candice swung against Bambietta, each attack hitting home, Bambietta figuring she might even need to use ransotengai until she got Wendy to heal her later. "You have more reiatsu! You constantly make jokes before I can, and you had the nerve to ruin one of my best pranks in the history of our friendship!" Candice shouted, swinging with both blades. "And to top it all off…" she said as her lightning reiatsu surged. "YOU RUINED MY HAIR!"
Bambietta was blown back by a powerful lightning blast as Candice seemed to wobble on her feet, losing control of whatever power just awakened within her. But the damage was done, Bambietta lay on the ground, battered, bruised, clothes tattered. But, that's why she was saving her trump card. She activated Ranso Tengai, getting to her feet.
"And you know what I hate about you, Candice Catnipp?" Bambietta asked. With both of her arms working, Bambietta drew her bow and began firing arrow after arrow as fast as she could, making them just big enough so that Candice couldn't dodge effectively. Whatever that power was a second ago, it was clear it had taken a lot out of her. "You're impulsive! You never shut up! You fuck like a rabbit! And you never watch your goddamn fucking language!"
Candice now was activating Ranso Tengai herself, body just as beat up as Bambietta's from that assault.
"You betrayed me when I needed you the most. And I'll never forgive you!"
"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" Candice and Bambietta shouted at each other.
Candice combined her two short swords into one big Claymore and rushed down to meet Bambietta's blade, which she was currently preparing to swing with both hands.
"They're going to kill each other!" Meninas exclaimed, gasping, watching Bambietta and Candice charge at each other, reiatsu mostly depleted, eyes filled with rage and anger. "Haschwalth, what do we…?" Meninas then noticed that Haschwalth was no longer atop the battlements and already falling down to intercept the two attacks.
"ENOUGH!"
Bambietta and Candice let go of their rage momentarily when they saw a newcomer poised in between them. She was pushing against their weapons with her bare hands. At first, Bambietta thought it was Erza come to intervene, but it wasn't her, and it wasn't Wendy or Lucy either.
It was Liltotto, Blut Vene active.
"I'm not just going to stand by and watch this anymore!" Liltotto's eyes were shut tight, trying to fight tears. "I was always jealous of how close you two were! Hell, I've been jealous this whole time!" She shouted looking at Bambietta. "Because no matter how many times we hung out, I know you really missed her! And I know I could never compare to the bond you two share!"
Bambietta turned her head away, refusing to look at Liltotto or Candice.
"And you!" Liltotto shouted, staring at Candice. "Don't even get me started! If this was over your hair, I swear I'm going to take a bite out of it so big, it'll never grow back the right way!" She stood in front of Bambietta, throwing her arms out wide. "Bambi's hurt by what happened far worse than I think you realize, and you're fighting her like you're trying to kill her! I've always hated that about both of you!" She grew out one side of her mouth and smacked both Bambietta and Candice in the cheek with her cheek like it was some kind of mallet. "You get so blinded by rage and anger that you stop thinking rationally! Now, put down your weapons, or you're both going to have to deal with me and I just got back from a power nap on the train so I'm at full strength! And unlike either of you, I could use my Vollstandig!" She knew that if Candice had hers, she would've already used it and be winning so hard Bambietta may as well have been biting a cobble stone.
Bambietta let out a growling sigh. Liltotto was right. She sat down on the ground, letting go of Ranso Tengai. Candice did the same, but took a knee instead.
"Both of you wait here. I'm getting Wendy. You're not to move from that spot until I get back!"
Liltotto then left using Hirenkyaku. Bambietta and Candice then lay flat on the ground face-up.
"Well, that's the end of that I guess," Candice said, laying in spread eagle position.
"Mmm," Bambietta said.
"If that had kept going though, I totally would've won."
"Fuck you."
"Okay, that's enough. Both of you," Haschwalth said calmly. "Miss Catnipp, it's clear your skills far exceed that of a regular recruit."
"Finally, some goddamn recognition around here."
"Miss Basterbine, I want you to keep an eye on Miss Catnipp around here. Take her under your wing, show her what it means to be part of the Vandenreich, and in four months' time, report back to me." Haschwalth stood up from his knelt position and put his sword away. "I believe we might've found a new candidate for the Sternritter."
"I don't know," Bambietta said, putting her weapon away, smirking. "The dust bunnies in my room might have something to say about that."
"Your dust bunnies can go fuck themselves," Candice said dryly.
Bambietta laughed and laughed. "I like her. So, what did you say your name was, Candice, I think?"
"Yeah, but for you," she said, giving Bambietta her hand to shake. "Candi. All my friends call me it."
"Then, to you, it's Bambi." Bambietta said, shaking her hand.
On the battlements, Meninas sniffed. "I just love happy endings."
"And that should do it, you're all healed up," Wendy said, having finished patching both Bambietta and Candice as the two were now sitting up in the field they wrecked.
"Man, is this what the soul reapers always got? This fuckin rules!" Candice exclaimed, kissing her bicep.
"Okay, healthcare jokes aside, don't you have something to say to Bambi, Candice?" Liltotto asked.
Candice took a deep breath as she and Bambietta stood up. "I'm sorry, okay? Really. I…I mean it. What happened with Giselle…it's partly my fault."
"You!" Bambietta growled.
"Let her finish before you fly off the handle again," Liltotto said, holding Bambietta down.
"I thought it would be funny if we acted like we were sleeping or something when you were fighting the dog captain. You were like 'Oh, I can handle a captain. Lookit me, I'm Bambietta Basterbine. I fart rainbows so much that my feet don't touch the ground and light shines out of my vagina!'" Candice exclaimed in a mocking tone. She then dropped it and spoke normally. "I thought it would be hilarious. You'd finish your fight then you'd find us napping on the job. We'd play it off as a big joke, congratulate you on the big win and then go back to kicking soul reaper ass. I…" Candice looked guilty. "It never crossed my mind that you'd actually lose, that you'd be…" Candice clenched her teeth and gripped at her shirt. "I…I tried to think of a way to apologize, a way to maybe fix it without relying on Giselle. But…I…I couldn't come up with anything in time."
Tear's began to fall down her eyes as she shuddered. "I thought she could bring you back, you know? So you'd still be with us. I thought that you would still be….you. What she did to you…I wanted nothing more than to smash her fucking skull in for all the shit she did to you!" Candice screamed before she looked down. "But…I couldn't. His Majesty hates infighting, and you know it. If I tried anything like that, my life would have been over. All this time I just…I never wanted to see you again because I knew that I fucked up! I fucked up and there's nothing that words alone can do fix it!"
She covered her face with both of her hands as she began to weep profusely, Bambietta's eyes slowly widening. Candi… She had known her friend for years, but she'd never seen her cry. Not like this. This was an entirely new side to Candice, one she had never seen before.
"You get it now?" Liltotto asked. "None of us were happy about what happened. Meni too. She actually changed her wish to try and save you and I was considering the same."
"Yeah. That's why….That's why I wanted to do whatever it took for my to get his Majesty's approval." Candice muttered as she began to reign her emotions in.
Liltotto smirked, wanting to lighten the mood a bit. "If I kill Ichigo Kurosaki, his majesty will grant all of my wishes."
Candice blushed. "What the…fuck you! She doesn't need to know that part!"
"You said that?" Bambietta asked.
Candice was in the middle of pulling on Liltotto's cheeks for opening her mouth when she turned to look at Bambietta. She was going to answer, but…
There were tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "You…you actually cared. All this time, I…I just thought you wanted to take over as leader." Bambietta sniffed. "I thought none of you really liked me when that happened. I thought the only friends I ever had never really liked me and I just…I just…" Bambietta started to get choked up a bit.
Candice chose that moment to interrupt. "Of course I care. We fought together for over a decade. You think I'm gonna give you up for something shallow like leadership. Fuck that. I was mostly a loner before I got to the Vandenreich. Other than my ex, I never really felt close to anyone, even his dudebros. But you can't go through life by yourself. You gotta always have someone watching your back." Candice reached into her pocket and held up a metal bead necklace. Dangling from one end of it was half of a metal pin taking up half of the letter X, painted yellow. "You taught me that."
Bambietta gasped, thinking she was going to lose it. "You…kept that? You said it was stupid and dorky. I thought you threw it away when I wasn't looking."
"Course it's dorky, but the sentiment stands. You still have yours, right?"
Bambietta patted down her pockets. She hadn't even considered that items might've come with her from the war. And there, in one of her jacket pockets, there was a pendant on a chain, matching her friend's.
Bambietta wiped her eyes as the two put the two halves together, fusing them like magnets.
"What is that?" Wendy asked.
Bambietta was holding back tears too much for words, so Candice explained.
"Before I was the bombshell, lightning throwing beauty everyone knew and loved, I was Bambi's misbehaving sidekick. Got myself in over my head against thirty hollows and ran out of reiatsu to maintain my bow so I resorted to brute forcing it with my fists and Blut Arterie. Most dumbass idea I had at the time. I got clawed up and nearly got my head bitten off. Bambi saved my bacon."
Patched up with bandages and sitting on a rock, brooding, Candice sat with her back to Bambi. "I don't need you to baby me, I could handle that myself."
"Handle, huh? Would that have been before or after your head was digested?"
Candice only gave a silent middle finger to Bambietta without turning around to look at her.
Bambietta gave her a glazed look. "Look, you're not as strong as you think you are. And even if you were, you can't go through life by yourself. Meni's been watching my back for years. Maybe I should watch yours. And you watch hers."
"Tch."
Bambietta sighed and then dangled half of a yellow X on a chain in front of Candice. "Here."
"The fuck is this?"
"It's a friendship pendant. I hear it's the latest fad in the world of the living. Go on, take it."
"It looks broken," Candice said.
"It comes like that," Bambietta replied. She got in front of Candice and held up her half. "See? We match. It's supposed to be a testament of our friendship that we'll always be friends, even if we fight, argue or live thousands of miles from each other, or so the shopkeeper said."
"That sounds stupid and really dorky," Candice said, stuffing the keepsake into one of her pockets. "Even dorkier than your space opera."
Bambietta gasped in mock offense. "How dare you! George Lucas is a national treasure! How can you not like Star Wars?"
"Because I'm a woman of wealth and taste."
"Blasphemy!" Bambietta exclaimed. "And wrong! I could say the same about Top Gun and Indiana Jones!"
Candice stood up. "Fuck you! Harrison Ford and Tom Cruise are amazing and ten times better than Mark Hamill! Fight me!"
"Harrison Ford was in Star Wars! He played Han Solo!" Bambietta shouted.
"Proof that good actors can be in bad films," Candice smirked.
"Why you—"
Candice laughed and turned around. "Haha, you lose. I win. I got you mad. Let's get some food. Near-death experiences make a girl hungry."
"And…that was that. We headed back and had dinner and then we were friends like always."
Bambietta was fighting tears so hard, snot was starting to dribble.
"That's such a cute story," Wendy said, smiling.
"Candi…" Bambi hiccupped. Pure and utter relief, knowing that all the months of thinking that her friend never liked her at all was like a ten-ton weight off her shoulders. The fractured memories of her past with her friends were made whole again, like a shattered mirror put back together piece by piece. She'd been the one mistaken. She'd been the one with the chip on her shoulder. They'd tried to fix her. They regretted it. All of it. It was just another one of Candice's stupid pranks and she fucked up the punchline by losing because both of them didn't think she could lose. Candice had had faith in her.
No matter how many times they argued, no matter how many times they fought, no matter how many times they fucked up royally, they were always friends at the end of the day. They laughed it off like it was a botched mission, a food fight, property damage, or the hour after Haschwalth's latest lecture.
Bambietta didn't even realize she was hugging and crying into Candice until about five seconds later.
"You sound like a baby right now," Candice chuckled.
"Shut the fuck up and let me have this, you stupid bitch," Bambietta stated, clutching her more tightly.
Candice patted her shoulder. "Good to see you again, Bambi. I'm glad we're still friends."
After Bambietta calmed down, the four girls were headed back for Magnolia when Bambietta pierced the silence, "Soooo, now that we're on speaking terms and friends again, why did you come to Magnolia?"
Candice slapped her forehead. "Oh fuck! Jade!"
"First of all," Bambietta said, holding Wendy's ears, "Language! Don't make me start a swear jar. Second of all, what's the deal with you two?"
"Eh, she was kind of your substitute at first if she could manage it, but she's kinda neat. I'd like to have her back now that we've smoothed things over. She's kinda been paying for all my food lately."
"You really never change, do you?" Liltotto asked with a glazed look.
"Wow, you actually care about…oh…fudgesicles."
"What?" Candice asked Bambietta.
"I…might've…um…let's just say I…"
"Eh, I'll vouch for you. It was probably my fault anyway," Candice said, ruffling Bambietta's hair. "Mind lending a girl money for a hotel. I need a shower pronto. I'm all sweaty," she said, tugging on her shirt, looking at the sweat stains in front of her boobs.
"Bambi. Lil. There you two are."
Bambietta and Liltotto stopped in their tracks as Candice kept going a couple paces before she noticed Erza farther down the road.
"Yo, wassup, Twizzler?" Candice asked, raising a hand up in a friendly fashion.
"Do you have a death wish?!" Bambietta exclaimed, throwing her arms down and to the side towards Candice in an overdramatic fashion.
Lil pushed past Candice and Bambietta and saluted to Erza. "Situation under control," she said. "They're friends again."
"Are they now?" Erza asked.
Lil dropped her arm and nodded. "Yup. I smoothed things over."
Candice leaned on Bambi's shoulder, smiling. "Sorry about yesterday. Huge misunderstanding it turns out. It happens."
"Well, I'm glad you two managed to patch things up, but we still need to discuss the matter of what transpired the other day."
"Um, why?" Candice asked. "Money's gone. I used it on a hotel."
Bambietta slapped her own forehead at the sign of Candice digging her own grave. "Candice, you need to understand something. Say hello to my new Haschwalth. And I mean that in every sense of the comparison other than gender, appearance and hour long boring lectures."
"Normally I'd send you back to the magic council for punishment. No doubt they'd want to see you behind bars for your crimes."
Candice chuckled. "Haha, story of my life." She could sense a "but" coming. And, if she was wrong…well her bike was within mounting distance.
"But," Erza said before sighing, "Well, I have an offer to make you. Are you interested Candice?"
"I'm listening," Candice stated.
"If you continue to go down the road of vigilantism, no doubt the magic council will start to send bounty hunters after you, not the least of which may eventually be Bambietta or myself. If you don't want a life of running all over creation from the law—"
"No, I getcha. And I'm so fucking done with those days."
"Candice!"
"Bite me, Shorty," Candice said, knowing that was about the use of the f-word and started again, "So, if you want me around this neck of the woods, who am I to say no?" She put an arm around Bambietta's shoulders and pulled her in so that Bambietta's head was in collision with Candice's shoulder. "Got my best friend here after all. We're like sisters from different moms and dads. I just have two conditions."
"I'm listening," Erza said.
"First, I hear you got my new friend captured. Set her free, maybe let her join the guild."
"Done," Erza stated. "What else?"
No way! Bambietta exclaimed. Why did things always have to go so perfect for Candice? Even back in the Vandenreich, the Indie films at least only got one bad sequel and it would be nearly a decade after the last one.
"Second, you let the matter of my thievery and whatnot go and the next time I screw up you can punish me double."
There's no way that's going to…
"Done," Erza replied.
WHY?! Bambietta thought, crying comedically. So unfair.
"I'll speak with Master about making the arrangements. He got called to the capital for a sick friend in the hospital and won't be back until the day after tomorrow. If not, I have another contact in the Wizard Saints more than happy to file the paperwork and send it to him."
"Sweet! Sign my ass up! I'm a guild mage!" Candice exclaimed, grinning as she punched one hand into the other.
"However," Erza continued. "If you dare do anything that will sully Fairy Tail's reputation and turn to your old ways, you will be swiftly punished."
"Y-yeah…I get it. Buuuuut, pretty sure you don't have to worry about me on that front. Heh." The gears in Candice's head started to turn. "Ohhhhh, wait," she turned to Bambietta. "Did you tell them about what you did to the last guy that shared your—"
Bambietta slapped her hand over Candice's mouth. "Adadada! We do not speak of that. EVER!"
"Well," Erza smirked. "The past is the past. If you proved that you've changed, I expect good things from you. Having a lightning user that can get along with the rest of the guild might be a good change of pace."
"Yeah, be a nice change from dealing with that one jackass that's always like 'Oooooh, look at me. I'm S-class. I've got a weird looking lightning scar on my face!' Nyeeeeh."
"We talking Bazz-B type of jackass, or…" Candice trailed off.
"Worse. So, much worse," Bambietta said. "It's like Quilge with all the muscle of Gerard."
"Oh come on, he can't be that bad," Candice chuckled.
"Candi, no. Don't make me get a squirt bottle," Liltotto said with a glazed look.
"So he's hot," Candice chuckled.
Bambietta groaned. "Look what you've started."
Liltotto just sighed. "Whatever. Your womb to do with what you please."
"Candice wants to be a mommy?" Wendy asked, gasping.
Candice burst out laughing. Liltotto thought she was going to fall over from laughing so hard.
Bambietta looked thundershocked. "W-Wendy…where did you learn about that?"
"Lucy," she said. "She explained to me where babies come from."
Bambietta twitched more. "Oh….did she now? That's…that's wonderful. Heh heh." It was followed up with sarcastic, "Yay." Well, at least I didn't have to be the one to explain it. Small victories?
"Lucy…Lucy…" Candice scratched her head. "Oh! Is that that hot blonde you were with?"
"She is, why?"
"Sweet, she good in bed?"
"Oh No no no no nonono NO! That is MINE!" Bambietta exclaimed, turning around and wagging a finger in Candice's face. "I worked blood, sweat and tears into that relationship and I haven't even gotten any," she said, poking her palm with her finger.
"Damn, sounds like a waste of time. I'll help you relax if you're needy."
"Waste of…" Bambietta boiled over. She had a right might to rip her hat off her head and bite it. "Don't you get it? She's my girlfriend! Giiiiirlfriend," she repeated more exaggeratingly. "As in, my squeeze, my boo, my bosom girl, my exclusive shoulder pillow."
Candice snickered and then started to laugh her ass off. She eventually calmed down and said, panting, "Ahhh, wow. Oh wow. You got me good. Good joke," she said wiping a tear from her eye.
Bambietta glared at Candice, fists balled, blushing.
"Oh wait. You're serious. Let me laugh even harder. AHAHAHAHA!"
Erza, Wendy, and Liltotto had no idea what to do as Candice doubled over and laughed obnoxiously, snorting on occasion.
"Candice," Bambietta said. "I know you don't know what it means to have a relationship that isn't built on sex, but…it's nice. Hard as it is to believe, I know. You can make fun of me all you want, but let me tell you right now. With her, I'm happier than I've ever been."
"Awwwww," Wendy cooed.
"Well shit," Candice said.
"Twenty-five jewels," Bambietta frowned.
"Shut up," Candice retorted. "Like I was going to say, and here I thought Meninas would be the first one to settle down with someone special. You were the last person after me I figured would go for the stable relationship life. But, you know what?" She smacked her hand on Bambietta's hat. "I'm proud of you. Good for you!"
"Wait…what?"
"What? I know what we did was skin deep. I'm not gonna go cry into a tub of ice cream over this. Besides, that lightning guy you mentioned can't be the only hot guy around here. I'll find someone to make the bed creak and the walls shake."
Liltotto groaned and palmed her face.
"Okay, Twizzler, lead the way," Candice said, snapping her fingers into the air. "I wanna see Jade outta ropes and check out the sausage party!"
"Please…stop calling her that."
"What?" Candice said, violating Erza's personal space as she held up a lock of Erza's hair. "You both can't tell me her hair isn't the exact same color as a Twizzler."
"What is this…Twizzler?" Erza asked.
"Bambi, where's the nearest candy shop?"
"They don't have any, I checked," Bambietta said.
"Damn. Uhhhh, it's like a long piece of twisted licorice," Candice said, making a narrow, rectangle shape with her fingers.
"Hmmm, not the worst comparison I've heard. Certainly more creative than anything Evergreen's ever said."
"You can't possibly be okay with this," Bambietta complained.
"I've never really cared what other people called me. Besides, nicknames are a sign of friendship…right?"
"Damn straight!" Candice exclaimed, slapping her on the shoulder.
This is so not fair! Bambietta exclaimed.
"If you clean the dishes afterwards, I'll have Mira fix you a cake, on me," Erza said.
"Sweet! Make it two for me and Jade and I'll clean all the dishes for the day. Community service and shit like that."
Bambietta opened her mouth to speak, only to stop. Instead, she said. "Wendy, don't grow up to be like her."
"Okay," Wendy responded.
"Deal," Erza said.
"W-wait. I want cake!" Liltotto stuttered.
"400 jewels," Erza responded as she and Candice walked away. "She's strapped for cash. It's a one-time deal."
"But…but…sisters," Liltotto said.
Erza seemingly ignored her.
Wendy then noticed how angry Bambietta looked, eyes welled with tears of fury, face redder than a tomato. "Bambi?"
"AAAARRRRRRRRRGH! This is so unfair! Why does everything always go so perfect for her? Dammit, Candice! I am gonna mess you up one of these days!"
"Why is their screaming?" Lucy exclaimed, poking her head out of the bathroom window in a towel.
"Lucy!" Bambietta exclaimed bounding up to her. "I need to motorboat you!"
"Wh-wh-wh-what?" Lucy blushed, covering her towel covered chest. "Wh-what are you saying?"
"You're the only thing I have that Candice doesn't! Don't leave the bathroom!" Bambietta shouted.
"Bambi, no!"
The quincy was already inside. "Bambi, yes!"
Liltotto and Wendy both let out a sigh as Liltotto headed into the apartment to make sure Bambietta didn't do anything she would regret.
Jade was looking down to the floor, downtrodden as she contemplated what she should do. Escape was all but impossible. Even if she could somehow remove the seal stone cuffs sealing her magic, the chances of her being able to escape undetected were little to none. The only chance she had would be when Erza herself left the guild. Otherwise, any and all illusionary tricks she would pull to escape would be useless.
It had been over two days since she had been captured...and she was starting to lose hope.
How had it come to this?
Damn it all, this was all because she went on that long term A class back when she was a member of Chicken Fangs. When she had returned, Lady Emberella was long gone, her plan to take over the guild having totally failed. She was everything to Jade. If not for her...She was certain she would have perished long ago.
She had ran away from the dilapidated orphanage her parents had left her at when she was just nine years old. When she had run into some hungry wovles, more than eager to tear a young child like her apart, it had only been Lady Emberella's interference that had saved her life. With nowhere else to go, she was more than willing to do whatever it took to become useful to her savior. With her gone...She had nothing.
She left the Chicken Fangs guild, Jade was more than positive that they would have tossed her out for her attachment to Lady Emberella. With nowhere to call home, she wandered the wilderness and towns of Fiore with no goal other than finding her. But then...She found Candice.
I thought you were different,
Jade thought to herself regarding her green-haired traveling companion. Someone I could trust. Rely on. I honestly thought I found someone who really cared about me. First my parents when they left me for dead...Then Lady Emeberella when she left Chicken Fangs...Now you.Tears began to fall down her eyes as she gave into sorrow. What's the point of even going on anymore? All that's left is for me now is to rot awa-
"Yo, tent mate? You down there?" a voice called out to her from down below.
Instantly, Jade's eyes widened with hope. She knew that voice! "Candi!? Is that you!?"
"The one and only," Candice said as she casually walked down the stairs. "Sorry it took me so long. I had to get some things sorted out."
To say that Jade felt a sense of relief was an understatement, the green haired mage smiling wider than she could ever remember. Candi...You do care.
"It's fine now that you're here," Jade said before smirking. "Now come on, lets get out of here before that psycho brunette shows up. You wouldn't believe what she was saying about you." Jade looked at Candice as she approached. The green haired quincy looked oddly serious...an expression Jade had never seen on her before. "Candi?" she asked with concern.
Candice sighed as she knelt down and began to untie her friend. "Yeah, about that. Jade...we need to talk."
Bambietta looked at Jade and Candice both as they emerged from the basement, stopping in her tracks. "Oh, hello there."
Jade stared at Bambietta, unsure of what to say, or to do, when she felt Candice push her forward. Knowing what she did now, Jade looked uncomfortably at the quincy. "Um...…..Hey." She said, finding it hard to make eye contact with her.
Bambietta was no less comfortable. Right before her was a clear reminder that she had a long way to go. She had thought she had fought past her darker impulses during the Phantom Lord battles, but now it was clear that a sufficient prodding of what had happened to her at the hands of Giselle Gewelle was enough to rekindle the killer inside her. "Look I..."
Words failed Bambietta as they were prone to do.
"Im sorry." They both said at the same time. The two of them blinked as they looked at one another.
"Um...you first." Jade said, not sure how she should move forward at the moment. She hadn't expected the woman who had threatened to take her life a mere two days ago to start apologizing.
"Look, I..." Bambietta fidgeted, a hand reaching up so as to allow its index finger to play with her hair. Dark locks began to girl around the material of her glove, Bambietta unable to make eye contact. "C-Candice, I'm no good at this and you know it!"
Bambietta's voice had raised for a moment, the Quincy knowing that Erza was expecting better of her.
"I'm so sorry for what I almost did," Bambietta whispered as she finally forced herself to make proper eye contact with Jade. "Nothing I can say justifies how I acted. And I-"
"Hey, look...It's fine." Jade said, interrupting Bambietta. "Well, ok, saying it's fine is pushing it a bit, but...Candi filled me in on what happened. All of it." Jade said before she looked down. "You...went through something really terrible. I cant even begin to pretend to know what it feels like to be made into somebody's undead slave."
She then looked at Bambietta. "But being abandoned? Betrayed by people you trust?...No, I know that feeling all to well." She said as she got closer to Bambietta.
"I practically took the band aid on the wound of yours and just ripped it off without a care in the world. I cant say I'm really cushier with the potential beating...but I cant say I don't know how that all feels."
"I still... should have been the better person," Bambietta replied. "Even if all you did was... rip the band aid off, you didn't make it necessary in the first place. And I... I'm no better than I ever was."
"...….I wouldn't say that." Jade said before smiling. "It's not the first time someone's tried to kill me before. You tend to deal with a lot of shady types when you need to steal to survive like I did. Trust me, it's nothing new."
She then placed a hand on the Quincy's shoulder. "But let me tell you something. In all the year's I've spent out in the ghetto's, the bar's and all the other places I've gone through in life, I've learned to tell when someone's lying or just trying to sweeten me up for a favor or some crap. So trust me when I say this...I know you mean it."
Bambietta was quiet for a moment before tentatively bringing a hand up and placing it atop Jade's own. She spoke in a hushed whispered then, the corner of her lips faintly pulling up. "Thank you."
"Hey, think nothing of it. Yesterday's enemy can be the next day's friend back where I was from. Besides, Candice said if I shape up I can join you guys...and I don't think holding a grudge against one of it's stronger member's really isn't going to do me any favors. So-
She then smiled at Bambietta. "Friends?"
Bambietta nodded. "Yeah. Friends."
Being the type who always wore her emotions on her sleeves for good or for ill, Bambietta acted on impulse once again. This time not from a place of anger but from a place of comfort. She hugged Jade then and there.
"And I'll do everything I can to make it up to you."
"Works for me. For now, lets get those guild emblems on, I have an idea where I want mine." Jade said before she looked at Bambietta once more. "Oh hey, one more thing...What was with the weird red mark appearing on your hand?"
"That's...a good question actually." Bambietta said, the quincy not thinking about it at all with her mind so preoccupied with guilt. "Why do you ask?"
"Because, I noticed when you left...My hand had it too." Jade said. "I thought it was just some kind of security measure fairy tail used to keep things under control...but If you don't know what it is, then I guess not."
"Look, whatever the case is, we'll figure it out later." Candice said before she put a hand around Jade's waist. "Come on, lets stop wasting time and get this all over with."
Watching her old friend taking her newest one away, Bambietta couldn't help but smile. She was so glad that everything was going as smoothly as it was...But even so, now that she was thinking about it...That mark on her hand did seem a bit...familiar.
I can't be sure on this...But the energy I was feeling back then...It felt just like yours, Sylphiel.
After resolving the misunderstanding and letting Jade free, she and Candice put themselves up in a hotel for a single night, agreeing to make some good money the next day and find a place to stay. The goal was to get their own separate rooms at Fairy Hills. After a bit of boring paperwork and some questions, Candice and Jade were both given their guild tattoos.
Jade decided to have hers printed to the right side of her abdomen, nice and visible in green ink to match her hair. Anyone who saw her would instantly know where she was from and it might intimidate them.
Candice took a similar approach. She had her mark planted right above her chest, in between her neck and sternum. However, hers had the added benefit of being a distraction to perverts. "So, what pays the most around here, Twizzler?"
"Monster hunting typically," Erza said. "Bandit raids are also popular for more combat-oriented mages. Considering how we met, you already have experience." Erza then glared at Candice. "Just don't steal anything. Their ill-gotten gains are to be turned over to the Rune Knights."
"Y-yeah…you got it."
As Candice inspected the job board, swaying her hips as she held one hand over the side of her butt, Loke walked in, yawning.
"Up late last night with the ladies?" Wakaba joked at him.
"Not quite," Loke said, stretching. "Terrible night's sleep. Random fit of insomnia. Probably gonna take it easy to…" Loke's gaze traveled towards Candice's ass as saxophone music only he seemed to be able to hear, accompanied it. "Daaaaay? Hello!"
Bambietta pulled a recording scroll out of her pocket. "Oh intuition, I love you."
"Bambi…why do you have that?" Lucy asked, slightly afraid.
"Just watch, this could get us on Fiore's Funniest Recordings! We could win 17,000 jewels and a free t-shirt!"
"What's so funny about Candice getting hit on?" Jade asked, sitting down at the table. "She at least knows better than to do it in the middle of a busy area."
"Juuuuust watch," Bambietta snickered.
"I don't like the sound of that laugh," Lucy said nervously.
Jade watched on curiously, having no idea what was about to go down.
As Loke slid up along the wall by the job board, Liltotto noticed this and saw Bambietta with the recording scroll. She sighed deeply. I'll get Erza, she thought as she trudged up the stairs.
"Heyyyyy there, beautiful. I didn't realize I'd died last night cause there's an angel standing in front of me."
Candice rolled her eyes. "Oh my god. Okay, I know I'm pretty easy, but cheesy one-liners…" she trailed off as her eyes met Loke. "YOU!"
Loke started to sweat. "Ummmmmmmm…"
Lucy never thought she'd see a man cry so loud or jump so high as Candice tried to shoot him with her bow as she put a hole in the wall.
"HOLD STILL AND LET ME SHOOT YOU, ICHIGO KUROSAKI!" Candice shouted as she took target practice at Loke in a case of mistaken identity.
Liltotto guided her surrogate big sister by the hand across the hall and pointed at Candice's rampage. "Would you like me to stop her?"
"No," Erza said. "I think maybe this will teach him a valuable lesson not to hit on every woman he sees. However…" She took a deep breath and called. "CANDICE!"
"Yeah?" Candice looked up at Erza.
Erza pointed to the door. "Take it outside! And you'll be paying for the holes!"
Candice snickered. "HEAR THAT PUNK? NO MERCY!"
Candice chased Loke outside with her bow.
"Are you sure we should just let her do that?" Rukia asked from the breakfast table.
"Are you kidding me? This is way too funny," Bambietta chuckled.
Lucy sighed, and not in a good way. Sometimes Bambietta could be truly heartless.
From outside, most of the guild heard Loke shout, "Seriously, WHO THE HELL IS ICHIGO KUROSAKI?!"
And thus, we now have none other than Candice Catnipp as a member of Fairy tail herself. I'm really happy with how this chapter came out, and I hope that all of you guys are as well. Im really looking forward to your thoughts on this chapter. It really would mean a lot to me if you could leave a review for it.
MPFs.
Bambietta: 4000
Candice: 3823
Jade: 1000
Erza (Heart cruze): 2300
Erza (Lighting Empress):3925
