Chapter Twenty Five - The Battle of Fairy Tail Begins!

Erza stood firmly as Laxus lounged in the chair. Her entire body was tense as Makarov paced before his grandson, who was currently still unconscious. "He attacked you?"

"Yes. Lee and I were in the middle of something. It was very unpleasant to be interrupted."

"I'm sorry to hear that." There was a brief silence, Master Makarov's gaze going to Laxus for a moment. "What were you in the middle of?"

"We were just making love with Ikaruga," she explained mildly, not seeing any reason to lie about it. Makarov suddenly shifted his weight, his eyes wide as he looked up at her expectantly. "That is what we were doing."

"Come on, you can tell me the details," Makarov said, grinning brightly. "Ha, that Lee boy, he takes after the Guild Master, you know, I'm quite the ladykiller."

Laxus groaned loudly, finally lolling his head forward and blinking, interrupting their conversation. "You really are just turning this whole guild into a laughingstock, old man," he said, the sneer audible in his voice.

His glare over at Erza was undeniable, full of quiet anger even if he did not launch into a fight again. As if he had anything to be mad at her about. He had been the one to interrupt her masturbating Lee with their masturbation maid! She was the one to be angry at him! "Fighting among guild members that destroys our own homes, for no reason other than some incomprehensible grudge you hold-" he actually sputtered at those words, though she couldn't know why, "-is far more embarrassing to the guild than talking about one's sex lives."

"Hmm, yes, I agree, Erza," Master Makarov said, nodding along, stroking his chin mildly. "Once I'm done with my grandson, perhaps we could continue discussing your sex life."

"I don't see why," Erza said, a faint frown on her lips. "There are far more interesting topics of conversation to have, if you do want to talk."

Master Makarov frowned for a second, then decided to focus in on his son. "Now, look. I understand that Erza may have a... wild, personality, and may have said... various things, to a reporter, that may have been... extremely sexy," he said, so quiet that Erza just barely picked it up.

"What was that?" Laxus asked, raising one hand to his ear.

He clearly hadn't heard the Master. Erza could just provide the words for him. "He said that the things I discussed may have been extremely sexy," she explained. "Continue, Master."

"Thank you, Erza," Makarov said, with a brisk nod. "But she is a member of this guild. If you had an issue with her, you could have tried to discuss it with her first."

"Have you tried discussing it with her?" Laxus asked. "She didn't even understand what I was mad about when I explained to her face!"

"That may well be, but I doubt you tried talking to her at all, rather than rushing in to a fight." Master Makavor crossed his arms, staring down his grandson. "At the very least, you could have mentioned it to me."

"It's your fault the Guild's in this condition anyway!"

"Thriving? With many members? One of the most powerful girls in Fiore? If not the most," he added, a quiet mumble more to himself than either of the other two.

"The Phantom Lords humiliated us with an attack that left three of our members injured!"

"And that saw their guild defeated and dissolved, their former members forced to join us if they wanted membership."

"Including the ones who attacked us in the first place!" Laxus snapped to his feet. "The very same man who tortured three of your guild members is now a member himself!"

"His character was vouched for by another member-" Laxus scoffed. Erza imagined the other member was Juvia. She seemed a good judge of character by Erza's reckoning, so she didn't understand quite what it was that had Laxus scoffing, "-and I spoke with his victims about his application. None were strongly opposed, or I would have delayed it, at the very least."

"You can't even pretend like you'd keep some jackass out if your own guild members didn't want him here, and you're pretending that this guild isn't becoming a laughingstock?" Laxus almost spat the words out, they were so thick with contempt. "Whatever, old man," he said, rising to his feet. "I'm going out."

"Laxus..." Makarov's voice was gentle, but Erza couldn't imagine it would reach his grandson. "This guild isn't a laughingstock because of some pervy articles."

"You're right," Laxus agreed. "It's for a hell of a lot of other reasons too." At that, he left. Erza felt a sense of unease about parting on such terms, but there wasn't much more to be done. Laxus had thrown a fit and destroyed Lee's home, but the damage had been entirely temporary. The interrupted sex was of course a deep annoyance, but, it wasn't as if it had been his intention. Whatever his grudge was, she hoped he had settled it in his heart... but she doubted it.

* * *

Erza sat next to Lee, wearing sunglasses and a face-covering piece of fabric. She had wanted to participate so very badly in the Miss Fairy Tail contest, but Lee had told her that he was worried something might happen, and that he wanted her at his side in case it did. He even suggested that Ikaruga could go in her place. Of course, Ikaruga going in her place didn't help calm her heart at all! She was watching her fellow guildmates engage in a fierce competition, putting it all on the line, and yet she couldn't participate herself! It was an agonizing torture, but she had to trust Lee. Konata had agreed with his appraisal.

One by one her female guildmates came out, flaunting their own feminine charms. She couldn't even tell herself that she could defeat them - after all, she would never know! It was a fool's thing to brag of victory in a battle one never fought! There was Cana, then Juvia, then Mirajane, who did an incredibly hilarious thing changing out her face with that of Happy and Gajeel, earning raucous laughter from Erza and seemingly no one else. Then...

"...we present the wizard with not only beauty and charm, but also some of the greatest power in the guild! Titania herself, the Erza Scarlet!" The shout resounded through the guild hall, and Erza tightened a fist close to her chest. That should have been her on the stage, showing herself to the entire guild, entrenching in their minds that here! Here was a beautiful woman!

"Huh. Doesn't Erza look a bit different?" She heard someone mumble from near her. "I didn't know that she had beauty marks like that..." "Her hair looks strange." "Maybe she washed it differently?" "I kind of like the alternate look!"

That should have been her with the different look! Instead, it was Ikaruga, wearing a red wig and a copy of her armor! She stepped onto the stage with clipped motions, waving her hand vaguely at the air, drawing the attention of the whole crowd. That was her place! Relishing the adoration of the whole guild! Her whole body trembled at the injustice of it all!

Then Lee put his hand gently on her shoulder, softly brushing it back and forth in a gentle, reassuring motion, and she felt those emotions swiftly drain out of her. If something terrible did happen, as he had said it might, then perhaps they would redo the contest, and she could win in a rematch!

"Hello. I am Erza Scarlet," Ikaruga said in a clipped, monotone voice from on stage, woodenly waving at the crowd. Yes, Erza would say that, but that would by no means be all she said! And she wouldn't say it like that! It would be more flirtatious, to drive the men wild and ensure her victory! And where was her swimsuit?! Juvia and Cana had both used swimsuits! "Please vote for me." Ikaruga had her voice down, she would admit, but there was none of the spirit to win that should have been in there. She didn't even use any magic - when the judge prompted her, she just said, "I don't want to use any magic."

Her chances were miserable! It would have been a hollow victory to win by an understudy, but still...

One by one, the other women of Fairy Tail came out. Bisca. Levy. Lucy. Nothing terrible happened, as each one put on a show in turn, doing some brisk magic. Had she stayed out of it for no reason? No, she had to trust Lee and Konata. Perhaps her absence in the competition had been noted, and the situation changed? Or perhaps - "There you are," came a female voice from behind her. "I finally found you." Had she been discovered? She could understand someone recognizing that Ikaruga didn't look quite right. She turned to look, and there Evergreen stood. Was she the one that Lee had worried about? Evergreen's eyes briefly widened as she realized Erza had turned to face her - she had been looking at the back of Lee's head before then, after all-

-the whole world twisted around in a moment, everything moving as if she had skipped forward a few seconds. She recognized her foe: Evergreen. She clenched her eyes shut immediately, not wanting to provide her with the chance to use her stone eyes on her. "Lee! It's Evergreen!" She declared, knowing that this must have been what Lee had gotten her involved for. She instantly Requipped into her armor, kicking her chair in the general direction of the woman, drawing her blade in a sharp movement.

"Whoa, what the heck?" "How did Erza get in the crowd?" "She was just on stage, wasn't she?" Yes, it was quite the magic trick, wasn't it? Lee's misdirection seemed truly wise, now that her opponent was before her: Evergreen could be incredibly dangerous if one didn't know she was there.

"So, it was you," Erza said, wheeling around to face her foe. "You're the one responsible for me not being able to go out and be in the competition! You fiend! Trying to use your stone eyes on a fellow guild member?"

"She successfully used them on you," she heard Lee's voice call out, but she focused herself on the battle before her. She heard the whipping of footsteps, Ikaruga's, rushing forward to join her Master at his side.

"Two Erzas!" "Wow!" "Two Erzas!" "Damn, I would have settled for one!" "It's not fair! Why did Erza have to become Lee's girlfriend!" "Erza, can one of you break up with Lee?"

Fighting blind was difficult, she had to admit, as she swept forward to take down Evergreen. Her opponent could dance around her blows far easier than if she wasn't forced to rely only on sound and touch to detect her. "Protect your eyes," she said to Ikaruga.

"Master already explained as much to me," Ikaruga's voice replied, and she heard the sharp slice as her sword cut through air.

"Dammit!" Evergreen cursed. "Laxus!" She called out, then started running away. Ikaruga flowed after her like a lightning bolt.

Erza didn't follow her. Laxus? This was his doing, then? If it was his plan, then Fried and Bickslow might be involved as well. Why had he arranged for Lee to be attacked? Or had she been looking for Erza? Had she realized that Erza had not been the one up on stage? No, that was impossible - Ikaruga's disguise was utterly impenetrable, Erza had seen to that.

"Well, then," she heard Laxus say. She still couldn't open her eyes and risk being affected by stone eyes - no, she could.

"Lee, close your eyes."

"We both closed our eyes the second that you turned to stone," Konata said. "I'm just going to sit here. Might turn into a sword if it gets tough. Have fun."

"In that case - Lee, I'll whistle. Turn me back if I stop whistling," Erza said, then flicked her eyes open, blinking a few times as she was forced to adapt to light again. She was immediately struck with a lightning bolt by Laxus, causing her entire body to hiss in agonizing pain. Her breath was knocked out of her before she could even start whistling - but she was reverted back anyway, the pain vanishing in a heartbeat. Lee had become quite a hand with that time magic of his. She began to whistle, a low, piercing tone-

"Agh!" "My ears!" "She's as bad as Gajeel!"

She had thought Gajeel had been pretty good, herself. She stared Laxus down. What was his plan? Why had he done this? Anger at Lee, for defeating and humiliating him? Or whatever strange grudge he had against her for the magazine article, which she still didn't understand?

"We'll have to change up the rules a little bit," Laxus said, then proceeded into a blathering explanation of how, exactly, this little 'fight' would proceed. She moved with all swiftness to take him down, her strikes stabbing at the air mere moments before he could dodge. He huffed in surprise, unable to continue his meandering words - and then Fried came into things, his blade crossing with Erza's own, creating the space for Laxus to begin to speak again.

"As I was saying, we'll be fighting-" Laxus began, before being interrupted by Natsu.

"I'm not sure what's going on, but I'll fight on Erza's team! Come on, Erza, let's take down Laxus!"

That prompted Gray to join in as well. "I think this is serious, you idiot."

"Yeah, a serious fight!" Natsu agreed.

Juvia suddenly appeared at her side, declaring, "I'll protect you, Erza! My beloved Lee would never forgive me if I allowed you to be hurt!" Erza was truly touched. Her friends were here to support her.

"Open, Gate of the Maiden! Virgo!" "I'm all fired up!" Erza couldn't keep the smile from appearing on her lips. Even Millianna had joined in, and was currently firing her antimagic bindings at Laxus, who had to quickly dodge and step back from the attack.

"Fine! I won't tell you the rules!" Laxus said petulantly, but the only person who actually seemed to care was Natsu. "Let's go! Fail to beat us, and the town's forfeit, and I'll be guildmaster!"

"That won't happen!" Natsu said, pointing a finger at Laxus.

The battle proceeded.

* * *

Konata listened to the sounds of battle. She kind of wanted to look, but for all she knew, Ikaruga had been beaten by Evergreen, and she didn't want to get turned to stone. There was a constant, persistent, ear-piercing whistling that made her wince as it went up and down in its volume and intensity. She could hear fire, lightning, and- oh, it sounded like the so-called "Thunder God Tribe" was running away like a bunch of cowards. "Huh? I must be hearing things!" She yelled out. "It sounds like the so-called 'Thunder God Tribe' is running away like a bunch of cowards!"

There was some minced, angry oath as Laxus cursed her for her genius insult, proceeded by a sudden yell as Natsu hit the barrier that he had put up around the guild. Konata just let out a breath. Well, they hadn't been able to short-circuit the fight, just remove the leverage they'd used canonically. Oh well. The Fairy Tail crew had managed to beat them in canon, they'd probably manage the same here.

* * *

Evergreen panted with exertion, the blindfold in her hand. Her dress was torn to ribbons, but she had done it. She had managed to defeat Erza Scarlet. Even now, the woman was wearing her armor, a face like a sneer as she tried and failed to finish a cut that might have disabled her. She didn't understand why there were two Erzas, but, this had to be the real one - she had fought like a devil, even blind. If Evergreen hadn't had her stone eyes, she surely would have been beaten.

Lee. Should she go back for Lee? Her mission had been to take him out, to make him unable to use his time magic to fix the various members of the Fairy Tail Guild as their divide and conquer strategy played out. Laxus might have managed to render him unconscious already. No, she shouldn't risk it. She should go back and take care of him.

But first...

She took out a marker and slid it across Erza's features, adding a ridiculous curly mustache to her face. "Hahaha. Take that, Erza! You think you're so hot, don't you?! Well, you're not!" She even stuck out her tongue and lowered one eyebrow to emphasize the point. She laughed. Ha. That fake Erza sitting next to Lee had given her quite the shock, but she had still won!

She headed back to the guild hall with a spring in her step. It was a mess, visible even from a distance, so she slowed her pace as she approached, taking a careful look to see who was there. Master Makarov was - of course. She could simply use her stone eyes on him and put him back to normal once she was safely on the other side of the threshold. He was staring out the guild door with a stoic expression, worried about the future of the guild. He needn't have - Laxus would take very good care of it, once he was the guild master. Better care of it than the old man had.

She managed to slip around the corner without coming into sight of Makarov, then leapt out of her hiding place, meeting his gaze and petrifying him. She let out a small laugh to herself, then strode easily inside.

For some reason, Natsu was still there - but he got frozen in a moment before he could stop her. Lee turned to look her way, surprise written on his features, and he got petrified too for good measure. She smiled as she saw him, approaching to admire his handsome body, now done in a lovely white, almost like marble. The curve of his cheek, the sharp line of his chin... she couldn't help herself, her fingers began to trail across the bare flesh, cold to the touch, that same smooth roughness all her stone images wore. She wished she had gotten him in a better pose, but she hadn't been willing to risk it. She hummed as she got ever closer to him, staring at those lips, partly opened just a little bit.

What if she kissed him? It would be so delicious... her lips stretched towards his.

A loud clonking noise filled the air as she tumbled down towards the ground. Erza Scarlet stood before her, wearing a blindfold and wielding a gargantuan sword. "Oh? I suppose that is amusing, but if she wished to kiss him, she should have done it while he was conscious. Now turn him back."

There was a brief pause. Then Evergreen's lips split into a grin. "No. I won't. In fact, if you don't prostrate yourself before me naked, I'll-" she was suddenly struck by that same gargantuan sword, tossing her to one side almost effortlessly. Erza was upon her again, as if no time at all had passed.

"I don't wish to repeat myself. Turn him back."

"I can destroy him," Evergreen hissed the words out.

"If you do, then I will have to take vengeance for my dead lover. It will be a tragedy, but I will not yield to your demands. Now choose death or surrender."

Evergreen swallowed. Erza seemed very, very serious.

* * *

Ikaruga spun her sword forward, a last desperate strike intended to take down Evergreen - but she was nowhere to be seen. She must have lost. She had clearly failed her Master. Was he here? Had he been the one to save her? She quickly spun around, looking for any sign of him, but he was entirely absent from the area. How had she gotten free? She supposed it was just a mystery... she would go back to the guild hall to check in on her Master and Scarlet.

As she walked, she noticed a strange feeling on her face, and her hand went up to her cheeks, coming away with a smudge of ink on her fingertips. She idly rubbed her hand. Strange.