Chapter 20: Guild members

Beta read by Shigiya

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Fairy Tail Guild-

Stomp!

"WHAT IS ALL OF THIS FUSS GOING ON HERE!?" A large figure whose size reached the ceiling stomped Natsu beneath its boot in a single move. "Cut it out, you brats!" it shouted, making everyone gathered around the bar to disperse and return to their tables.

"Tsk!" Gray calmed down and finally found his boxers to cover himself.

Elfman followed suit and just released a quiet, "Humph!" as he sat on one of the many benches in the guild. Others soon joined him, wizards, who were shouting and cheering a few seconds while getting shitfaced drunk, were now all sober and calm.

A low hush spread throughout the guild hall, a silence so foreign and weird that it made both Broly and Lucy who just came inside the building double take as both now felt like they were somewhere else completely. The Saiyan was far more concerned about the crushed dragon slayer whose hands were sticking out of the wooden floor, twitching in probable pain.

Loke was one of the few who became loud as he went back to flirt with his girls, completely disregarding the appearance of the large shadow that had silenced the entire room.

'Hm, no one is scared of him.' Broly noted as he saw everyone's reaction to his arrival, some became quiet while others just returned to their own area and continued drinking in peace. So that probably meant that this giant man was probably the master of the guild or a powerful member of the guild—seeing how he easily defeated Natsu with just a single attack.

Lucy meanwhile was sweating bullets, her eyes widened as she shook like a leaf while staring at the imposing figure.

"Hm?" It looked towards them, especially at Broly who was still carrying an unconscious Cana. "New faces?"

"Hello!" Broly answered with a smile, making Lucy have a heart attack at how casually he was talking to the giant in front. "Uh… can you show me the way to the back rooms where I can drop her off?"

The complete lack of fear and hesitation threw the giant off for a second, he hoped to have at least spooked the new guests a bit before revealing his true form.

'Oh well, next time.'

Gurururururururu!

Vapour started to escape from his body as it shook like a volcano about to burst. A loud grunt escaped his mouth, further terrifying Lucy who hid behind Broly as she waited for an attack on them. The giant began shrinking, turning into a short and less intimidating form. Becoming smaller than Broly and Lucy, until he shrunk to the size of a child.

"Huh!?" Lucy exclaimed in disbelief as she stared at what looked like a child-sized elderly man wearing a goofy clown hat.

"Nice to meet ya! You can take the third door to the left and go up the stairs, you'll see a door marked with a red cross and that's where our beds are for emergencies. Drop Cana there, you'll recognise which bed she regularly ends up on with the smell of alcohol."

Mirajane came over carrying a tray with a single beer mug, "Don't say that, master, I regularly change the sheets. You're making me look bad in front of the newcomers."

"Master!? This little thing?"

His previous form fitted his image of the master of Fairy Tail far better than his current form! And wasn't this guy also supposed to be a Wizard Saint as well!? The grandiose image she had of a terrifying and powerful, battle-hardened wizard with scars all over their body and a body which rivalled Broly's got utterly crushed to dust and replaced by a small clown who wore pointed boots!

"I see, I'll be back in a second."

'Why are you acting so normally!?' she screamed in her head at Broly, who wasn't the least bit phased by what they just witnessed.

"Eto… what exactly happened, Mira-chan?" The guild master, also known as Makarov, asked the barmaid.

"Oh, nothing. Natsu showed up from his latest search for Igneel and brought back some friends he made on the way. The big guy you just saw, Broly, somehow got into a drinking match with Cana and they both made a bet that the loser would pay for the winner's expense on food and drinks for the next month."

"What!?" Makarov shouted in anger, making Lucy nervous as she didn't want the master of the guild she wanted to join to get angered and deny them becoming members. And it was just a small bet, it wasn't like they were gambling, or else he would have probably called the Rune Knights.

"Why didn't you call me!? I would have bet a shiny jewel over Cana and won a fat load of money!"

Bam!

Lucy face planted on the floor.

It turned out that her image of the master really was different from what she expected. In fact, aside from Mirajane, everyone was far different than the image she had in her head. Lucy read a lot about the strongest guild across Fiore. Blue Pegasus, Phantom Lord, and Mermaid Heel all had their theme.

So obviously the strongest of them all must have members who've been through the most arduous of quests, facing armies of dark mages and monsters all across the continent, and exude such an air from their presence alone.

'I really should stop having unrealistic expectations…'

"Fufufufu," Mira laughed. "Then you would have lost all of your jewels, Cana lost and made a last attempt to change the bet by offering these two to stay at her house temporarily."

"So lucky—ouch!" Mirajane swiftly slapped him behind the head and gave him a stern look.

"Master, please act appropriately, that's not a way a master should react." she said, making the master tear up in pain.

'Mi-Mi-Mirajane just slapped the MASTER of the guild…'

At this point, Lucy became numb to these unexpected surprises. Fairy Tail members really were an odd bunch as a whole, and yes, that included Natsu as well. Only the beautiful model Mirajane gave her the impression of being the only normal person in the entire guild.

"I'm back!" Broly returned with his hands empty of the tan lush.

"Oh, there you are you lucky bas—"

"Master!"

A dark fog loomed over him making Makarov fear for his life.

"—blessed man!"

"That's better!"

With that said, Mirajane returned to her duties, making the old man sigh in relief.

Lucy wondered if this was a good time to introduce themselves and ask if they had the requirement to join the guild. No matter what challenges they were going to face, Lucy was confident that she and Broly would pass with flying colours.

Speaking of Broly, he had returned from dropping off Cana, the man was now crouching near the hold where Natsu was stomped in, seeing how Happy tried to pull him out, unsuccessfully. So he decided to help the cat and grabbed Natsu's leg and yanked him out of the ground with relative ease.

"Wha…what happensh? I feel weirsh…" he said, his eyes spinning around, Broly still holding him by the leg.

"You got crushed by a foot." Broly said, wondering if he was really okay.

"Hehehe, weak." Happy came to tease his partner, giving several pokes to his face.

Makarov brought out a stack of paper, he jumped off the group towards the wooden posts on the second floor, before accidently banging his head against it—making Broly sweatdrop at the old man's comedic timing.

"So, you kids have done it again, just this morning I've received a box filled with hundreds of letters from the Council!" bellowed out Makarov, shrugging off his mistake.

Hmm, Broly didn't have an opinion on the council. He learned that they were composed of influential people and one of the strongest wizards in the world. There were some who took the title of gods and were part of the four Gods of Ishgar.

Makarov continued to speak, taking a single paper amongst the stack and screaming, "Gray! It's good that you rounded up that ring of smugglers, but afterward you pranced around town completely naked and had then proceeded to steal someone's underwear… while they were still wearing it!?"

Broly nearly laughed after hearing that story. Finding the scene to be humorous and funny.

Meanwhile, Lucy's opinion about the guy further went down the drain. With a disgusted and perturbed look, she couldn't help but label him as a, "Disgusting Perverted Exhibitionist."

"No I'm not!" he shouted. "I-I j–just could keep running across town without any clothes!"

"Then why do you keep losing them in the first place?" Elfman asked, grinning at the Ice mages frequent streaking, "It's unmanly to take off your clothes in public."

"I can't help it! It's an old habit of mine."

"I can relate with him." Broly came to his side and gave Gray a shoulder pat, which nearly threw him on the floor from the strength. "I myself take off my clothes without realising it and walk around naked. Though Aquarius never seemed to complain about it when it happened."

"..." Lucy decided to not comment.

"E-Eh… thanks?"

Makarov took another letter.

"Elfman! You were supposed to act as a bodyguard for the VIP customer, but you ended up beating him senseless instead!" He waved a small pack of paper being nothing but medical bills and a letter written completely in red. "And who do you think will have to pay the medical fees!? There is even a section with emotional damage in the bill!"

The man tried to defend himself, stating how his client started to badmouth him and saying that he wasn't a man without a proper education level. The guild members laughed at that man's audacity, he was basically asking for a beating.

He took another paper but didn't shout out a name, merely grumbling something about Cana and sending a bill to the council.

"Loke…, Alzack…, Levy…, Reedus…, Bisca…, Warren…, Krov…"

One by one, Makarov called out names from many famous and not-so-famous wizards of the guild, stating the damage they had caused in their quest and the Council's reaction. Some of the damages were minor and negligible—like a few broken windows and problematic behaviour. While the most outrageous of letters stated entire buildings being destroyed, having a part of a town reduced to rubbles, and even a case of one of the wizards having somehow caused the Ocean to catch fire and burn for a week!

"And finally Natsu…"

Another wave of silence washed over the guild, as people waited for Natsu's turn. Out of everyone in the room, aside from the missing Gildarts, the dragons slayer was the one who caused more damage than all of them combined, second to Gildarts 'accidents'.

"By capturing the Devon Bandit Clan, you burned down seven homes! You brought down Tuly Village's historic clock tower, destroyed a church in Freesia, damaged Lapinus castle, and destroyed Nazuna Rive's observation station!" The master cried tears of blood with how quickly these kids were burning through the guild's savings in a single year. He began contemplating adding a tax system for the bar to recuperate some of the losses.

"Wait, you forgot about Hargeon Port! I didn't burn the place down, so that should remove all of my past accidents!"

Crash!

"Natsu!"

The pink haired boy got sent through the wall by an enlarged fist by Makarov, knocking him out of Broly's grasp.

"No, it doesn't, you dolt! You probably got lucky when someone helped on the way or Bora handed himself to the army when seeing you!"

Makarov also got the news that the ship the criminal was travelling on, along with the man himself, exploded in the middle of the night. Since it happened quite recently, the council couldn't pinpoint the exact source of the explosion nor the one responsible behind such a thing. It couldn't have been one of the prisoners as they had all been restricted by special magical chains which blocked their magic. Fortunately, the Council didn't put any blame on Fairy Tail or Natsu, as they were aware of the guild's number one taboo.

He wasn't planning on revealing that piece of information to the boy yet, knowing Natsu would go outside and get himself into trouble by trying to find the culprit. Whoever did such a thing was a powerful fiend that he would only allow an S-class wizard to search for them.

Ah well, this wasn't something he wanted his children to meddle in the first place.

"You kids have done nothing but bring more trouble to the guild and have the Council hound my ass all the time."

Fwish!

The letters in his hands combusted into fire.

"But I don't give a crap about them."

He threw the stacks of burning papers away, only for them to be eaten by Natsu.

"Listen," he got everyone's attention, including Broly's. "Our magic is a power that goes beyond the bounds of reason, we wizards wield destructive power that can annihilate everything if we are not careful. But it is born out of reason itself, the sole need to use it for good, to help those who need our help."

Broly felt those words resonate with him. For years, ever since he was born, he suffered from the inability to control his powers and allowed the power to control him. After the death of his father and the incident at the tower, he asked himself—what use were these powers in the first place? Why did he have them? Couldn't he just get rid of them?

So many questions, yet he didn't have an answer for them.

He reflected on his past, and the day he fought the man known as Goku. The man used his powers to protect his home, he used them to have fun and challenge himself. It made him wonder how life would have turned out if he hadn't come here.

But then, he met Lucy, Gretel, Aquarius, Erza, Simon, Rob and so many more people who all made him feel… happy. He couldn't protect Erza and the rest, but he vowed to protect Lucy against all threats, including himself.

But now, the idea of using it to help others also intrigued him.

"Magic isn't some miracle, true Magic is achieved through hard work and sacrifice. What we do is match the energy that flows between us, with the wavelength of the world's natural energy. And take what is embodied in that union using our force of will and concentration... More than that, we pour our entire soul into it to make what we call Magic. If you spend time worrying about what those in authority think of you, your magic will never advance! So don't let those idiots on the Council intimidate you."

Makarov took a deep breath and shouted.

"Follow what you believe in! That's what it means to be a true Fairy Tail Wizard!"

The entire crowd erupted into waves of loud cheers, many screaming proudly their guild's name.

Broly just looked at them at the side. He saw them smiling, laughing in groups of friends. Some of them were powerful beings who could probably destroy this town, yet no one here feared them. They danced with each other, not caring of their strength, their past, or history. At this moment, everyone here was just a Fairy Tail member…

And he wanted to experience that joy as well.

For he felt happy yet sad, Broly wished that the two people he met in the past were here with him.

"Hey there," he heard someone call him from behind. It was Mirajane, holding some sort of stamp with the emblem of the guild. "So, where do you want me to add it and what colour would you like it to be?"

{Break}

Late in the night, the guild was still bustling with a loud ambiance. People still continued to drink and party hard.

Natsu was having his meal which consisted of literally food being on fire. Apparently, each flame tasted different and even had a different texture. People had long since given up trying to figure out how someone could fill up an empty stomach with nothing but fire.

Happy was next to him, eating a plate full of fish while retelling the story with Bora and how "scary Luigi" summoned a tasty looking fish lady to throw Natsu away with a pillar of water. People gathered around the table, hearing what felt like a fairy tale.

Natsu, not destroying anything in one of his missions… Was the world ending?

No, but it certainly felt that way.

While in the background, both Lucy and Mirajane were discussing the guild mark and what colour the former wanted to have it stamped.

"Are you sure you want this colour?" The white haired barmaid asked, wanting to confirm her decision again.

"Absolutely, I think it'll go perfectly!"

Stamp!

"There, now you are an official member of our guild, congratulations!" Mirajane said cheerfully as she removed the marked stamp from Lucy's backhand, showing a bright green Fairy Tail Guild mark.

"Wow!" Stars twinkled from her eyes, with this, her dream of becoming a Fairy Tail Wizard finally came true!

She wanted to show it off.

"Hey, Broly! Look! I got my mark!" She ran to the Saiyan who was quietly sitting near the bar, lost in his thoughts.

He raised his eyebrow at Lucy's colour choice, finding it a bit weird why she had chosen that specific colour. "Didn't think you would go for Green, I thought your favourite colour was pink?"

Lucy smiled, "Well, it's because I find this colour quite beautiful and pretty. Like emeralds, you know?"

Broly snorted, not believing for a second, Lucy was a bad liar, and she tended to sweat and avoid eye contact when she wasn't being honest. He wouldn't know about her lying in the beginning, but Aquarius would teach him on how to spot it and he got used to it.

"Forget about my mark!" Lucy said, wanting to move the conversation. "What about yours? You haven't shown it to me, yet! Did you even get it? We can match as well!" That idea excited her, having matching guild marks.

"Ah," a sad smile emerged from Broly's face, crushing Lucy's hope completely. "I'm afraid that I already got mine somewhere else."

"Oh…" her eyes dropped, sad that they had missed the opportunity. But it wasn't that big of de—

"Just kidding!" Broly shouted as he brought his right hand and showed a crimson Fairy Tail sigil on the back of his hand as well. "I know you would have it out there, you never stopped talking about it." He grinned watching the surprised look on Lucy's face which soon turned into a giant smile.

"Hell yeah! Go Fairy Tail!"

They laughed, bumping fists—a scene which made Makarov, who was sitting on the bar table nearby, smirk proudly as he cheered the addition of two more children to the family.

But unfortunately, that smile didn't stay on his face for long when he saw a young blue-haired boy walk inside the guild.

Broly also noticed Makarov's shift in emotion and paid attention to the boy as well.

"When… when is my dad coming back home?"

{Break}

-???-

Deep within a large ravine going for thousands of metres underground, in pitch black darkness where the sunlight couldn't even penetrate due to the thick fog hiding everything within—was a small source of light.

A campfire someone had lit, with a small tent large enough for a single person, pieces of books, swords, a map, and posters showcasing a terrifying monster similar to that of a dragon. With its main recognizable trait being its large horns.

The ravine itself was situated near a small village with barely a few hundreds of people living there. They thrived due to a special kind of fruit which only grew deep within the ravine and could sell for a couple hundred of thousands of jewels per piece. Unfortunately, these last few months didn't bear any harvest as most of the fruits were eaten by a mysterious creature… and when sent to hunt it down. No one would return.

Some said it was an ancient rock dragon woken up from its slumber, others said it was bandits setting up glass clues of a monster to fool the locals. With more expeditions, they managed to catch a glimpse of the beast, and sure enough, it was a giant mountain Goliath Lizard eating their harvest. No matter the case, they needed to solve the issue as soon as possible and requested for a strong mage to come and kill the monster as soon as possible.

Due to their previously prosperous business, they managed to send out an S-Class quest with the approval of the Council.

No local wizard could do it as many would either get heavily injured or die before getting eaten as well. Sending any other regular wizard who wasn't even recognized as an S-Class was no different than suicide.

Fortunately, someone swiftly came to their rescue.

"Mmmm, morning already?" said a sleepy voice.

Within the tent, a young woman with long, luscious scarlet hair and brown eyes emerged. Wearing full armour that hugged her body quite well, with the name Heart Kreuz displayed lightly on the front and two swords hanging around her waist. With her arms not covered with any plates, showing off a green Fairy Tail mark.

It was none other than Erza Scarlet, one of Fairy Tail's strongest wizards and a famous S-class wizard.

"I can't stay here for long," she said, missing the sensation of the sun on her skin. She had been inside the ravine for days, trying to hunt down the Mountain Goliath Lizard. "I'll get sick if I don't hurry up."

Erza also ran out of water, so she really needed to leave.

Her fingers twitched, and instantly, all of her belongings began floating in the air. The tent packed itself up in a matter of seconds. Things like maps, small tables, spoons, and plates all were nearly arranged and stuffed into a large backpack. Throughout the years, her control over her own powers had gotten so precise that she even managed to baffle Makarov with how she could handle hundreds of components at the same time without breaking anything.

"And the worst part…I ran out of strawberry shortcakes…"

Now, this was another major dilemma as well, she made sure to pack three whole cakes just in case. But that stash quickly depleted in less than a week, and Erza couldn't get more without going out to the major towns.

'This thing is really pissing me off!'

It wasn't going to show up unless the latest back of ravine fruits didn't ripen and that would also take another two to three days!

"I'm not waiting that long, I'm going back to return to the guild tomorrow no matter what! And I'm going to push you out of your hiding hole even if I'll have to crush this entire place!"

Deciding to take a more drastic approach, Erza began focusing on her telekinetic powers. Having pushed her natural magic to its limit alongside Re-equip since day one.

Small pebbles on the ground floated above her hand, a slight tremor washing over the entire ravine.

"Hurgh!" She drew more of her magic, pumping a large part of her reserves in it. And it showed as the tremors grew in intensity each passing second— until they had turned into full blown earthquakes.

Erza couldn't collapse the place yet with her current strength, she knew that…

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… But the monster didn't.

Roar!

A loud beastly roar echoed across the ravine, making Erza stop using her telekinetic powers and get a few breaths of fresh air.

"Hn," she scoffed before smirking, the Mountain Goliath Lizard had fallen for it. She could feel it approaching with each of its steps causing a tremor of its own.

A few seconds later, it stopped walking and everything went all quiet.

She wasn't worried or even tried to go after the sound of footsteps as she had already found the beast, or it had found her.

There within the fog, a dozen metres above her head, two large red glowing eyes thrice the size of her head stared at her from the walls. She couldn't see the body as it was using the fog to hide itself, but now, it wouldn't escape her grasp anymore.

It growled at her, furious over what she was about to do just now.

"Oh, so you're angry aren't you? Want to eat me I bet. Humph, foolish creature!"

With a snap of her fingers, dozens of crimson red magic circles formed around her, with swords coming out of them and this was followed by another burst of light enveloping Erza.

Her figure danced in the past before a white silver set of armour covered her body, with wings and swords circling her being. Erza was ready to unleash the full might of the Heaven's Wheel on the beats and get out of here as soon as possible.

"I'm going to give that horn of yours to locals, that'll help them earn back some of the money lost."

The monster seemed to understand her as it roared once against her in fury, leaping from wall to wall and making its way towards her.

Still seeing nothing but the fast approaching eyes filled with nothing but bloodlust, Erza's smirk turned slightly savage.

"Let's have a proper fight, beast!"

With a loud battle cry of her own, she charged headfirst towards the beast both ready for a full on battle to the death.

Shame that Mira wasn't here, she would have loved the challenge.

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The next 5 chapters of Snafu, Harry Potter and my 3 other Fate fics (Fate Coiling Sword and To love a sword having 3 chapters) are already available on my P@treon. With 4 more Broly chapters at /NimtheWriter. Also, I post monthly commissioned arts on each story, already posted a few on an Archer's Promise, Broly and Snafu.