"So anybody up for the monster juice?" said Twilight Prankster holding up a bottle of questionable contents. "Don't be shy, it's all on me!"1
Mikoto and Lucy just stared at the Edolas version of Night Reveler.
"Yeesh, I've seen more cheer in dead people!" said Twilight Prankster. "Isn't that right Bobby?"
Sitting next to Twighlight Prankster, a seemingly motionless skeleton made a gesture as if to say. "You don't have to tell me twice."
"Oh that Bobby!" Twilight Prankster laughed. "What a card! Always making jokes that one even if he is just a hollow skeleton of his former self!"
The skeleton waved his hand as if to say. "Oh stop it, you're too kind."
"Lucy.." Mikoto whispered. "This guy seems as psycho as his Earthland self..."
"Yeah." said Lucy. "But he did save us...let's just see where this goes first."
"Well I'm having a drink anyways!" said Twighlight Prankster as he uncorked the bottle and poured it onto his mask. Because the mask's 'mouth' was painted on and not actually a mouth hole of any sort, the liquid just splashed off the mask and dribbled all over his clothes.
"Again!" said Twighlight Prankster. "It's absolutely tasteless!"
Twighlight Prankster threw the now empty bottle over his head where it clattered into a pile of similar dusty cobweb covered bottles. "It's just hopeless, I've been doing the same ol' jokes for ages and I never get any better..."
Mikoto blinked in surprise. This Night Reveler...actually seemed a little sane that time. "Er...Night Reveler?"
"Twighlight Prankster! I told you that already!" said Twighlight Prankster irritably.
"Uh, right, that." said Mikoto. "Why did you save us back there?"
"Well I thought it would be obvious to those from the other Edolas.." said the harlequin pointing at Lucy. "Whether Hydra Head is retired or not, we'll never stop helping you innocents...even if helping is something as silly as letting some first rate clumsys spend some time in your living hole!"
"Hydra Head...good?" said Lucy. "Sorry...but where we come from, Hydra Head is a dark guild that murders and practices dark magic of a horrific nature!"
"WHAT!?" said Twighlight Prankster. "Wait a sec...don't tell me you're from Earthland! Hmph, I guess that explains the more colorful clothing on Lucy here..."
"You know Edo Lucy?" asked Mikoto.
"Of course!" said Twighlight Prankster. "Before King Faust had his way when my Edolas was losing magic, Hydra Head and Fairy Tail were the last two guilds up and fighting against the tyrannical rule of the Exceeds and the king! Hydra Head was legendary! We were the only guild to be able to generate magic within our very bodies thanks to our invention of the X balls. Highly nutritious, they unleash the hidden potential magic regeneration capabilities of Earthlanders! Of course Diablo didn't need it...he was practically a god where magic was concerned."
"But when I first came to Edolas, Fairy Tail was supposed to be the only guild left!" said Lucy.
"I was getting to that!" said Twighlight Prankster. "Anyways, it was a pretty good resistance, especially since Diablo Roterra kept on kicking that Erza Nightwalker's tail to the curb like it was nothing! Our other two strongest members, Marinus (Edo- Aqualas) and Noiress Darkblade fought like demons, none of the commanders stood a chance. They say that guy named Sugarboy now has a permenant fear of Noiress."
Edo-Night Reveler sighed. "But then he came! Faust, with his ultimate weapon Dorma Anim. Back then, magic in Edolas was still relatively high, so he was able bring that robotic dragon to much higher power levels then when he fought those three Dragon Slayers from your Earthland guild. At that moment he was able to play the battle field as an equal with Diablo, and defeat him. Once Diablo was defeated, it was an easy matter for him to decimate our guild...I'm not even sure how many of the original 50 survived, whether our leader Diablo is still alive, I can't even guess! Of course after Hydra Head was gone, and the still weakening Fairy Tail was the only guild left fighting, Faust put Dorma Anim away for a time...till your Fairy Tail arrived. Of course that blatant use of that ultimate weapon left half the world's magic supply gone!"
"I think I get it.." said Mikoto. "Natsu told me about Dorma Anim...it absorbs magic power from the world around it to give it strength...and if your Edolas still had a lot of magic back then...I guess that would have made it powerful enough to face Edo-Diablo."
"Yes, but that's all in the past, your Fairy Tail pretty much put an end to all that war mongering 7 years ago!" said Twighlight Prankster. "So I used my magic to hop through dimensions to a pleasant looking area and settled down."
"Pleasent?" said Lucy. "You're in a forest full of mutant plants under a city that's seeking to take over other worlds with military strength."
"Don't question my tastes!" said Twighlight Prankster. "I call it pleasent because the plants here allow me to continue my hobby of making a variety of unique potions and medicines. Who knows? I might just figure out how to bring back the dead! Hahahahaha!! Like that would ever happen!"
Mikoto and Lucy looked at each other. Night Reveler had actually been particularly famous for ressurection magic.
"Trust me..." said Mikoto. "You probably shouldn't mess with magic like that."
"Just joking!" said Twighlight Prankster holding up his hands. "I don't know if you guessed from my name, but it's kind of what I do."
"Wait!" said Lucy. "If you're good in medicine, maybe you could help our friends, they ate some berries which are making them act super strange!"
Mikoto and Lucy dragged Natsu and Happy over who were both still unconscious.
"Hey wait a minute..." said Mikoto. "Where's Elli!?"
"Elli...hmmm...do you mean this pleasent throw cushion I found?" said Twighlight Prankster pulling Elli from under his backside.
"*Gasp* I could still breathe...but it stank like crazy!" said Elli with tears in her eyes. "Ewww.."
Elli flew into Mikoto's arms and Mikoto began stroking Elli comfortingly as Twighlight Prankster examined Natsu and Happy.
"Ooooh they ate the mutant razzberry experiments that the Science Bureau left down here years ago...hmm they were trying to see if they could create fruit that exploded into knockout gas if you got near, and maybe use it as a military weapon...instead they just came up with another highly powerful hallucinigenic. Hmm...were these two knocked out properly, or are they just sleeping?"
"Knocked out." said Lucy.
"Wow! How did that happen!?" said Twighlight Prankster pulling on Natsu's eyelid and examining the eye underneath. "These guys are really out cold!"
"I did." said Mikoto. "They erm..did something that really...erm...I'd rather not say."
"Nice hit!" said Twighlight Prankster giving Mikoto a thumbs up. "Anyways, a nice forcement into unconsciousness is actually what takes away the hallucinating effects. That's actually why the Science Bureau didn't use them for alternative uses even with the high potency. While the brain is in a low point in activity, the toxin has nothing to do with the nerves and simply vanishes."1
"So they'll be normal when they wake up?" said Lucy.
"Yep, and they'll remember every single thing they did while under the fruit's influence!" said Twighlight Prankster. "It's the best part to watch the looks on their faces when they first wake up! Take a look!"
Twighlight Prankster reached behind him and waved some strangely scented leaves over Natsu and Happy's noses.
Immediately, Natsu and Happy opened their eyes and sat up going. "Huh?"
Then...their expressions changed, from slight thoughtfulness, to sudden revelation, to silent jawdropping horror.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Twighlight Prankster rolled onto to his back laughing. "That part always gets me!!!"
"Natsu? Happy?" said Mikoto putting a gentle hand on Natsu's shoulder. "Are you two okay?"
"I...I..." Natsu's mouth gulped air like a fish in water, opening and closing silently. "I...smelled Gray...like I was...urp.."
"I....tried to eat Elli's ear..." said Happy. "Then, I rubbed my butt against a pinecone and called it dad...."3
"Uh..yeah, you didn't do that until about an hour later...but yeah." said Lucy rubbing the back of her head.
"I actually hugged that stupid Gray...like a lover.." said Natsu as he began wiping his hands on the floor of the pit in an attempt to wipe off the metaphorical filthiness. "And then..."
Natsu and Happy both looked at Mikoto with utter looks of horror. "We kissed you..."1
"Wait...like on the lips!?" said Twighlight Prankster. "OH MAN!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! No wonder they went out cold!! HAHAHAHA! Let me guess, you two thought she was somebody else right!!? That's how it always happens!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!"
"I think I need to go gargle some cold water." said Natsu.
"I think I need 200 fish to keep me company." muttered Happy.
"Look, we'll have time to find you two therapists later." said Mikoto. "Right now there's something more serious we need solved."
Mikoto turned to look at Twighlight Prankster. "We'll need your help."
"Hmmm..." said Twighlight Prankster. "I'll admit, I'm getting bored of drinking monster juice down here... What do ya need?"
"You know how to get around this forest right?" asked Mikoto.
"Of course, like the back of my hand!" said the harlequin who was now looking at the back of his gloved hand. "Funny though, I haven't taken these gloves off for years...I wonder, do I have freckles?"
Hoping that was a joke, Mikoto continued. "We need you to help us find our friends and guide us back to the surface before Edo-Accelerator finds us."
"Domus Accelerator!?" said Twighlight Prankster. "Of course, I hate that guy like rabies!! Leave it to me folks...I've got a spectacular way to gather your friends up!!"
Meanwhile, Gray Fulbuster was running through the forest with Wendy and Charle. They could hear Domus getting closer, the footsteps of his large lizard monster moving faster and faster.
"Come on!" said Gray as he pulled Wendy's hand and Charle flew overhead. "We have to keep running!"
"I don't understand why I can't just fly up with Charle and distract it from you!" said Wendy.
"Won't work, I've seen our Accelerator smack down plenty of flying guys!" said Gray. "It'll be cinch for him to take you if you go out in the open air like that!"
"But how long can we keep running?!" asked Charle. "Wendy is already looking out of breath, and you don't look too energetic either right now!"
"We just need to find some way to lose him!" growled Gray.
Suddenly, in a burst of smoke and confetti, a massive Jack in The Box box appeared in front of Gray, causing him to stop abruptly. The handle on the box turned as it's music played...and right when it reached the "pop goes the weasel" part, the box opened, and a ginormous gloved hand on a spring jumped into the air.
The hand swooped down and grabbed the surprised Gray, Wendy and Charle all at once then pulled itself back into the box which dissapeared in another puff of smoke and confetti.
several miles away, Erza was using her sword to chop through the heavy undergrowth. "Where are they? I hope Edo-Accelerator didn't find them...curse this forest, it's humidity is making my thoughts less coherant."
Suddenly, Erza chopped aside some leaves to reveal a large walrus wearing a top hat and a clown nose.
"Hyuk!" said the Walrus grabbing Erza's face with his flipper. "Got your nose!" Erza dissapeared in a puff of smoke and confetti.
Moments later, back in Twilight Prankster's cave, Erza, Gray, Wendy, and Charle appeared in a puff of smoke of confetti.
"Wh-What!?" said Erza. "What just happened!?"
"See?" said the harlequin dancing in joy. "I told you, I know this forest better then anyone!! Hahahahaha!! But guiding you out won't be as easy you see!"
"Night Reveler!?" said Gray jumping back. "You're supposed to be dead!"
"Really, is my Earthland self really that-...wait...dead!? You got to be kidding me! Is Earthland me really that lame!?"
"Actually, it took a Wizard Saint just to kill you." said Mikoto.
"Oh, did I die laughing? That's actually how I want to go out." said the harlequin."
"You made a stupid joke about checking the plate number on a meteor, said something about Harrison Ford being trapped in carbonite...then you died chuckling...yeah."
"Ohhh...I like that.." said Twighlight Prankster. "Whose Harrison Ford anyways?"
"Not important right now." said Lucy. "Can you get us out of here?"
"Lady..." said the harlequin as his eye holes gleamed mischieviously. "Just tell me where in the city you need to go...and I'll do it in the most ridiculous and over cartoony method possible..."