Hargeon: x784
The port town of Hargeon, a bustling center of activity with a market centered on fishing. It's a beautiful town that many pass through on their way to other destinations. A familiar Fairy Tail mage had arrived aboard a boat and sighed.
"Finally made it to Hargeon." Law disembarked and stretched.
The master had sent him on the highest paying S-class request Fairy Tail had solo, reminding him of that request the master had made him take solo prior to the x776 S-class trials. That's not to say the master was prepping him for something, but everything was there.
If it was to prepare him for anything, he supposed it'd be to take on SS-class request. "If that is the case, I should still be able to bring Erza, Natsu, and Happy. Gray to…whenever he does accompany Team Advent."
After what happened in x782, Mira's team disbanded. She became an inactive mage, Elfman tended to roll with Cana, and Gray went about taking solo requests while occasionally working with the people he knew before Mira. In essence, he was an honorary member of Team Advent.
On his way out of the port, Law caught sight of a rather fancy yacht. "Hm, Hargeon isn't the first place I'd think of when it comes to docking your expensive yacht."
"Like what you see?" A pompous, male voice asked.
Law turned to see a man he recognized, though not for any good reason. He was a relatively tall, slim man with dark blue mildly short hair jutting outwards. He wore a dark, high-collar cape and was dressed to impress. The S-class also noted two rings on his fingers to boot.
"Can't say I'm surprised you're impressed." The man smirked. "After all, it belongs to none other than I, the great…"
He didn't get to finish his sentence as Law palmed the man in the face and pushed him into the stone. Keeping his hand over the man's face, Law crouched down and utilized his free hand to remove the rings from his finger.
"I'm only going to say this once, Bora." Law showed the rings he took, sleep & charm. "These are illegal, but since illegal activity is why you were kicked out of your guild for, that's probably not news to you. Now, I don't have proof you utilized these, so I'll cut you a break.
I'll merely confiscate them and let you be on your way; however, you're on my radar now." Bora glared daggers at him. "If I hear you've been up to no good…" He showed his guild stamp. "…Fairy Tail's Joker will pay you a visit."
Bora had been angry upon being sneak attacked like this, but the fact of who did it added a level of assurance that he wasn't about to try attacking this figure directly. At least, he wouldn't do so blatantly. Law cautiously rose, keeping an eye on Bora, before walking away.
"This isn't over." Bora rose to his feet, his glare hardening. "He will not get away with making a fool of me!"
He immediately began tailing Law, from as great a distance as possible, while running through how to deal with this interference to his endeavors. His men couldn't take on an S-class, and his strength alone wasn't a match. What he needed was an opportunity.
Train Station
A train pulled into Hargeon, and among its passengers were Natsu, Erza, and Happy.
"Natsu, we made it to Hargeon!" Happy declared. "C'mon, get up already!"
Said Dragon Slayer was currently laid out on the floor feeling terribly queasy. As per tradition, Natsu had passed much of the train ride knocked out and lain on Erza Scarlet's lap, but towards the end he'd been jostled awake.
Given there was no reason to knock him out at that point, just to wake him up shortly, he had to endure it. Erza was always so torn over Natsu potentially working up his resistance to this or never actually achieving as such. To her, she enjoyed having her boyfriend conked out on her lap.
Of course, Erza could always count on Natsu to not try something funny. All that said, the train was about to leave, and she was not about to leave him stranded on a train. She took his body and slung it over her shoulders before proceeding out with Happy.
"Th-Thanks, Erza!" Natsu grinned shakily. "Finally, off that deathtrap!"
Erza sighed. "You know we'll just have to ride it back." She already knew he was opening his mouth to protest. "As always, we will not be walking."
As Erza set her boyfriend down, he pouted. The Dragon Slayer was never going to get use to transportation, even if they were quick ways get around.
"If our information is correct, Salamander should be somewhere in this town!" Happy declared, taking a cursory glance around the place.
"I still have doubts about Igneel being here." Erza frowned. "I'm fairly certain we'd have known, long before now, if a giant red dragon was here."
Natsu propped his arms behind his head and started strolling along with her. "It can't hurt to check, right? Even if it's not him, it still means someone's been using my name."
If someone is posing as you, without being Igneel, it reflects poorly on Fairy Tail." Erza's gaze turned stern. "We will not let that slide, am I clear?"
"AYE!" man and cat chorused immediately.
Magic Shop
A teenage blonde girl was perusing a magic shop when she approached the clerk. "Is this really the only Magic shop in Hargeon?"
The elderly man who ran the store nodded his head in confirmation. "I'm afraid so. About only ten percent of Hargeon's population are Wizards, so my typical clientele are Wizards just passing through."
The girl sagged in defeat. "This was a complete waste of time…"
"Aw, don't say that." The old shopkeeper tried to entice her with some merchandise. "I've got the latest goods. Here, allow me to show you a few. This color changer can change the color of your clothes any time you want."
"Yeah, I've already got one." The girl muttered while looking around to see what else was there. "What I really want are some super rare Gate Keys!"
"A Celestial Wizard, eh?" The shopkeeper pulled out a small box which contained a silver Gate Key. "That's a rare request."
A young man with black hair and brown eyes entered the shop. He sported a navy-blue shirt, blue jeans, a brown leather jacket, and a silver DiaDhank on his left arm. Upon seeing the clerk was busy, he stood back to wait his turn.
"A Little Doggy!" Upon seeing the silver gate key, the girl squealed. "I've always wanted one!"
"It's not very powerful…" The shopkeeper pointed out.
"I don't care!" The girl leaned over the counter. "How much!?"
"Act like that, and stores like this are liable to squeeze every last jewel out of you." The young man thought.
"Twenty thousand jewels!"
"Called it." The young man thought.
"C-Could you repeat that?"
"Twenty thousand jewels."
The young man approached, drawing both their attention, as he put a duel monster card on the counter. "You and I know what that key is really worth." He slid the card over to the man. "What's say you take this as a trade and give the key her?"
The shopkeeper marveled at the fusion monster, Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon. "You got a deal!" He took the card and passed the key to the girl, without a moment's hesitation, before then looking hungrily towards the young man. "Got anything else you might want to…"
"Sorry, I'm not seeing anything that particularly interest me." He walked out the door. "Good day."
Anyone interested in that card surely didn't have anything useful for his deck or him.
Hargeon Streets
The girl ended up running out after the guy. "Wait!" He turned to face her. "I know you got this for me, but you're the one who bought it." She held the Gate Key out to him. "Even if you can't use this, it's still yours."
"As you correctly assumed, I really can't use that." The guy retorted. "Keep it. It's not like that card was a loss on my part anyways. I picked it up years ago and haven't found anyone willing to take it since they knew it wasn't as impressive."
He chuckled. "Shopkeeper saw a fancy purple card and assumed it was an important fusion. All I essentially did was return his energy. He went about inflating the price of that key, so when he did the same for the card I had, I didn't correct him."
"Well, at least let me thank you by buying lunch." The girl voiced.
"That's actually speaking my language." The guy grinned. "By the way, I'm Haruki Kurenai."
"Lucy Heartfilia, nice to meet you." Lucy returned.
Park
Law took a seat on a bench before leaning back and sighing. "Can't believe Bora one got booted from his guild for his thievery." He wasn't dumb enough to go pulling out those rings in public, but his mind sure turned to them. "Clearly he's still involved in some shady business."
While those specific rings Bora had were illegal, they weren't nearly as punished as they should be. At worst, even with Bora's past, the guy would likely get a slap on the wrists. It'd been better to put some fear in him while hoping he cleaned up his act.
"Hey, are you alright?" Lucy asked.
Law looked up to see a blond-haired girl walking with a black-haired guy. His attention was immediately drawn to the silver DiaDhank on the guy's arm since that's like the one Mia had used. He wasn't obtuse enough to think this guy was involved with her, without proof.
That didn't mean this guy didn't potentially have something on Mia. Given his attention was on the pair, Law hadn't noticed as a shimmer washed over the back of his hand which seemingly resulted in his guild mark vanishing.
Before Law could speak, Bora lept out of the brush. "There you are!"
Law lept to his feet before jumping back and taking up a defensive stance. He also activated his DiaDhank which had acquired five slots years ago now.
"Do you know this guy?" Haruki asked, confused by these two's reactions.
"I know enough about him." Law declared firmly.
"Pardon me you two…" Bora addressed Lucy and Haruki. "…is this guy a friend of yours?"
"Not really." Lucy answered.
"He seemed kind of exasperated by something, so we were checking on him." Haruki added.
"Good thing I showed up then." Bora declared. "You two would have been in danger if I didn't."
"Why would we be in danger?" Lucy asked.
"This one here has quite the reputation." Bora responded. "He pretends to be all exasperated to draw people in before rendering them unconscious. "Then, he carries them away to his yacht and sells them as slaves."
"Yacht…" Law glared as he just knew Bora was utilizing his own crimes to paint him as the bad guy here. "He went far lower than thievery!"
"Are you serious?" Haruki asked.
He and Lucy were stunned as they backed up.
"Quite serious." Bora glanced at Law. "In fact, I've been after him for quite some time, but he's always slipped away." He let out a dramatic sigh while running a hand through his hair. "It truly a shame, yet he always seem to get away from me, Fairy Tail's Salamander."
"How awful." Lucy eyes widened when she processed the rest of what Bora said and looked to him in surprise. "Wait, did you say Fairy Tail?"
"I did." Bora faked a surprised look on his face. "I take it you know Fairy Tail?"
"Of course, I know Fairy Tail!" Lucy gave an excited smile as she clasped her hands together. "Fairy Tail is the top of my list for guilds I want to join!"
"Is that so?" A gleam entered Bora's eyes. "How about this? If you two help me catch him, I'll put in a good word for you at the guild."
"Hold on, that guy isn't a member of Fairy Tail!" Law showed the back of his hand. "I'm Fairy Tail's Joker, S-class mage Law Pharos."
"If you're trying to show us your guild mark, there's nothing on that hand." Haruki noted.
"Wait, what?" Law looked at the back of his hand as his eyes widened. "Bora must have picked up the ability to use some form of illusions!"
"Now he is besmirching the name of my guild!" Bora feigned hurt at such a 'sleight'. "Are there no lows you won't stoop to?" He looked at the two mages. "Please, help me apprehend him, and I promise to give you two all the praise when bringing you back to my guild."
"You got yourself a deal!" Lucy declared.
"I'm in as well." Haruki voiced.
Lucy took her whip off her waist while Haruki activated his DiaDhank, which also have five slots.
"That guy is misleading you!" Law exclaimed.
His words were ignored as Lucy cracked her whip, but Law deftly moved out of the way with practiced ease. He then slammed his foot down on it before she could retract it.
"I activate Ancient Gear Explosion!" Haruki called out as he slotted a spell into his back row.
A green gear bomb appeared before Law, whose eyes widened. He lept clear of what would be the blast radius while Lucy retracted her whip.
"Prominence Whip!" Bora declared.
He made an arched movement with his arm, creating a red magical circle that released several fiery, curved purple beams at Law. He wove through the beam fluidly, avoiding a couple by mere centimeters.
"He's quite nimble." Lucy muttered as she holstered her whip. "I don't think I have a spirit…" She heard running water behind her and turned to see the fountain. "That's it!"
Law had weathered the prior magic before noticing Lucy turn to face the fountain and pull out a gold key. "A golden Gate Key!?"
He didn't know the Celestial Spirits, but he knew the difference between the two types of keys. A golden key meant something strong, so he proceeded to pull three cards from his deck before holding two cards aloft.
"I overlay Dododo Witch & Dododo Bot to build the overlay network." Law declared as only slot on his DiaDhank folded, leaving him with four, and a wormhole opened to permit his monsters inside. "Now, I Xyz Summon Number 39: Utopia."
A larger, gold and white warrior appeared with two spheres orbiting around him.
"Hm, that's some monster…" Haruki noted in awe.
"Er, there's one of his absolute best!" Bora yelled internally.
Lucy was undeterred as she dipped the tip of the key into the water and twisted it to the left causing a blue magic circle to form beneath her. "Open, Gate of the Water Bearer: Aquarius!"
There was the sound of a doorbell ringing before a woman resembling a royal blue mermaid appeared in a flash of light. She had a long, blue fish-tail, light blue hair, and a large bust. She has blue eyes that seem to have no pupils.
The mermaid was wearing a revealing dark blue bikini top while on each arm she were golden armlet and bracelet. She also has a headband, three piercings on her tail, and a golden belt at her waist. In her hands was a light blue urn.
"She's Celestial Wizard?" Bora questioned in shock. "I managed to get one of them and a Duel Monster user to help me?"
"Alright, Aquarius." Lucy pointed at Law. "I need you to use your powers to capture him." The mermaid spirit just clicked her tongue, which made the girl look at her with a tic mark on her head. "What's with the attitude!?"
"You're still as noisy as ever." Aquarius rested her urn on her waist. "So, do you have a boyfriend yet?"
"That's none of your business!" Lucy turned and pointed towards Law again. "Just catch that guy! He was going to kidnap and sell people as slaves!"
"Is that so?" Aquarius scowled as water rose from the fountain and entered her urn.
"Now three of you over there have it all wrong!" Law exclaimed. "The real culprit is that phony Salamander!"
"Save your excuses for when you're in hell!" Aquarius yelled.
She swung her urn to release giant waves of water that towered over all the humans. Lucy, Bora, and Haruki could do nothing but scream as the waves crashed down and washed them all away.
Law slotted the last card he pulled into his back row. "I equip Magnum Shield to Utopia!"
Utopia grabbed the shield that appeared before him and immediately kneeled in front of Law, shielding him from being washed away.
"Gah, what is the deal with this!" Haruki yelled, just managing to swim with the water.
"I'm sorry!" Lucy shouted, trying to keep her head above water. "She was supposed to get him, not us!"
The water levels began to lower as Law was now left facing Aquarius, and she wasn't happy to see him having weathered that
"You're still alive?" The ill-tempered spirit raised her urn over her head again and began to suck in water. "This time I'll drown you for sure!"
"Not happening." Law declared. "I detach one overlay unit from Utopia to halt your attack!" Number 39 was already standing and rushing Aquarius as one of his overlay units entered his body and forced Aquarius to cease her attack. "Now, Rising Sun Slash!"
As Aquarius was stunned to see her magic cease, Utopia drew a blade and used it to slash the spirit. Lucy, Haruki, and Bora watched on in shock as the, spirit which sent them away with a wave, poofed due to the damage. She'd been forced back to the Celestial Spirit Realm.
At this exact moment, Natsu, Happy, and Erza arrived on the scene with the latter ahead of the former two. "See, I would know my brother's Utopia anywhere!"
"You were right Erza." Natsu surveyed the scene. "Though I got to ask, just what is going on here Law? Is this the request gramps had you take on alone?"
Happy noticed Law's missing stamp. "Ahhh, Law doesn't have his stamp!" Erza and Natsu both looked at his barren hand in shock…until the shimmer reappeared to reveal his stamp was back. "Now it's back!"
"Oh no, they broke my illusion!" Bora exclaimed.
"They broke…" Law looked at his mark. "So, it takes multiple people knowing the inconsistency to break it." He looked to his guildmates. "Long story short, Bora the Prominence over there has been using illegal ring magic to acquire and sell slaves.
I didn't know that last part until just recently, so I confiscated his rings before letting him go with a warning. He trailed me, obscured my stamp with illusion magic, and lied to those two Wizards that I was the one acquiring slaves. He's also been going by the name Salamander to boot."
"We messed up big time…" Haruki felt so bad about this.
"What have we done!?" Lucy felt just as bad about her hand in this.
Erza was livid because Bora was besmirching her guild, using her boyfriend's moniker to commit misdeeds, and actively accused her brother of such heinous crimes. Natsu cringed as Erza blitzed Bora, grabbed him by the collar, and hurled him into the ground.
The force behind that was enough to make a crater before she then picked him back up. The cold, unforgiving eyes Erza shot his way petrified Bora before she grabbed him by the face and slammed his head into the ground with enough force to render him unconscious.
"Hey mister?" Lucy tentatively stated.
Law turned to see the two Wizards had approached with remorseful expressions on their faces.
"I'm so sorry!" Lucy/Haruki profusely apologized with low bows.
"For a moment, I thought you were the worst mage alive." Lucy voiced. "It was misplaced thinking."
"Not to mention we attacked you." Haruki added. "Even though we didn't hurt you, it doesn't excuse a thing."
"Don't worry about it." Law waved it off, genuinely glad these two saw the truth. "Despite the misunderstanding, your hearts were in the right place. Like you said, I came out the other side uninjured, so no harm done."
"Still, you and your sister are…impressive." Haruki commented hesitatingly.
"Yeah…amazing." Lucy added uncertain.
Law smiled at their shared hesitation as Erza intimidated everyone, with only him being immune given their shared history.
"Erza was already intent of bringing that guy to justice." Natsu joined the conversation. "The fact he did all that other stuff only compounded that." He looked at the pair. "Anyways, who are these two Law?"
"Heck if I know." Law shrugged. "Bora fabricating this whole situation didn't leave room for introductions."
"Well, I'm Haruki Kurenai." Haruki introduced.
"My name is Lucy Heartfilia." Lucy added.
"I'm Law Pharos and the woman currently binding Bora with rope is my sister Erza Scarlet." Law informed.
"Natsu Dragneel." Natsu declared.
"I'm Happy!" Happy declared.
"Considering all the trouble we caused, why don't I treat you all to lunch?" Lucy offered. "I was already doing it for Haruki here, after we met in a magic shop not far from here. It feels like the least I can do after what happened."
"I'll pay for half the meal." Haruki added.
"Lunch sounds great right about now, but it'll have to be a place with strawberry cake." Natsu informed.
"Erza did finish this, so I suppose she can have the treat." Law agreed.
Happy looked pointedly at Lucy. "You're also going to want it for when Erza interrogates you."
"M-ME!?" Lucy was stunned. "Why would she interrogate me!?"
"You offering to pay is almost like taking Natsu on a date." Law explained. "Even if she'll be there watching your every move while two others are also at the table." He sighed. "She's overprotective of Natsu."
It's because she loooves him!" Happy chirped.
Erza had approached as the blue cat said this, with Bora's unconscious, bound body over her shoulder, and knew exactly who Happy was referring to. "Indeed, I do love my Natsu." She then looked at everyone. "Now, what's going on here?"
"To apologize for their unknowing hands in this, these two want to take us out for lunch." Law voiced, causing Erza to stare pointedly at the two of them. "I think it'd be fine compensation." He smiled as he rested a hand on his sister's head. "After all, they didn't know."
Erza was placated by her brother's acceptance, but she'd still be keeping an eye on the blonde…it was exactly for the reason outlined prior.
"Before we head off to do that, Bora the Prominence has a yacht on the docks." Law voiced. "Given the specific crime he tried blaming on me, I'm betting that's his slave ship."
"I see." Erza nodded. "We must find and free anyone he may have captured already, as well as apprehend his lackeys."
"Natsu and I can handle that will you drag Bora's sorry hide to the Rune Knights." Law took out the rings and gave them to her. "Here, these compounded with his crimes should see him going away for a long time."
Natsu grinned. "Can I sink the ship!?"
"Only after we've made sure there are no innocents aboard." Law declared.
"I'm coming along to help finish this." Haruki declared firmly.
"I can help too!" Lucy volunteered.
While Erza did not pay Haruki's offer much mind, the blonde speaking up drew an intense stare from the knight.
After a while, the red head begrudgingly spoke. "F-Fine, you can help."
She made a mental note to be as swift as possible though.
Magnolia: Restaurant, Later…
About an hour later, the five humans and one cat were all sitting in a restaurant as they enjoyed a meal courtesy of Lucy and Haruki. The pair's former plans discarded in favor of making up for their blunder. As for what happened at the port, the criminals were overwhelmed.
Law or Natsu alone would have been overkill for that lot. With the two of them together, Haruki's Ancient Gear monsters, and Lucy's spirit, the matter was sorted in minutes. Through this concluded the golden gate keys were strong, yet the spirits were downright weird.
There was Aquarius' whole thing with Lucy, and she ended up summoning Taurus at the docks. The bipedal cow spirit looked cool enough, but he was a huge pervert. Regardless, he at least listened to Lucy and was strong in his own right. Soon after, every criminal was rounded up.
What this group had achieved wasn't enough to quell the Rune Knight's ire. Lucy's earlier summoning of Aquarius had effectively devastated that park. As they showed up with Erza, everyone ran. In short, that is how they wound up at a restaurant back in Magnolia.
"Anyways, after lunch are you two coming with us to Fairy Tail?" Natsu asked.
"Are you saying we can join?" Lucy asked, shocked.
She had thought that as off the table given their terrible first impression.
"Considering what I've seen from you two, you certainly would be welcome." Law nodded. "I can't deny I'd personally like to have another Duel Monster Magic user around."
"I have been thinking lately it's time to settle somewhere." Haruki voiced. "In a way, guild life would still allow me to travel quite often."
"Despite the misunderstanding you two fell into, you guys seem nice." Natsu shrugged. "If you want to join, come with us when we're done here."
Erza stared pointedly at Lucy. "If you're going to join Fairy Tail, you must understand one thing." The red headed knight possessively wrapped her arms around the dragon slayer. "Natsu. Is. Mine."
Lucy sweat dropped at the display before nodding rapidly in acceptance. "Natsu's yours! Got it!"
Haruki looked at the red head. "Between that beating she gave Bora and this, it's clear no one should be messing with Natsu or Law."
"Don't worry, Erza just takes a moment to settle down around any new girls who join the guild." Law waved it off as an assurance for Lucy. "In no time at all, she'll come to see you as anyone else in the guild."
You'd think his nonchalant attitude would assure Lucy and Haruki, but if anything, his almost non-reaction to things only seemed stranger to the pair. Still, it didn't change the fact the pair of them would go with these three to their guild.
Haruki Kurenai is the OC from alwynonlinereading. He actually gave me his before berrus, though asked for him to appear here rather than at any point prior.
Now, I know Bora didn't have any illusion magic in Fairy Tail proper, but I don't think it's outside the realm of possibility considering the things he was up to. It also ends up getting him a far more severe punishment than what he got in canon. You can be sure Erza did not leave out a detail of the things he did when bringing him to the Rune Knights. In short, Bora is in deep trouble here. As for Law having the moniker Joker, I wanted him to have one like how Erza and Natsu do.
kuroshiragami0: Yep, all the set up is done. It's time to transition into the proper arcs and episodes rather than me taking from the past snippets we tended to get throughout the series. That's not to say there still won't be flashbacks, I didn't cover every past event we saw. Still, it's onward from here.
alwynonlinereading: Like I said, Lucy doesn't join until x784. I simply saw what happened as a natural conclusion. While Erza is still Erza here, she's a tad softer due to Law's prescence. When it came to their battle with Laxus, here Natsu is stronger than he would be at canon due to Erza snatching Natsu into their team and trainingh with him.
Given Natsu's tendancy for emotion based power ups, he garners Lightning Fire Dragon Mode earlier. That then brings him closer to this Laxus in terms of power. Given Erza and him had made Laxus use up magic prior, plus the red head getting in that one good blow before going down, it was just enough to see Natsu tie the battle with Laxus.