Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
October, x785.
Shortly before nightfall on the day Alfonzo, Elicia, and the others left Takanosu Town, the fairy Tail guild hall was as rowdy as ever.
*Bang!*
"I can't believe Fonzie and Lici didn't bring any of us along for a zombie apocalypse." Cana said in an annoyed tone after chugging down a mug of ale while slamming thempy mug onto the table where she and her friends sat.
"And how would you have wanted to deal with it if they had brought you along with them?" Levy asked curiously.
"I would have just found the center of the town and cast the biggest [Super Nova] I could manage." Cana said proudly. "That would have destroyed most of the zombies in one shot. Then, taking care of the rest wouldn't have been too hard."
"And Fairy Tail would have been labeled a Dark Guild." Ultear said in an exasperated tone.
["That's a gamble we're willing to take, right, Cana?"] The feminine voice of Cana's [Armament Spirit] asked her from her inner world. ["Without a bit of uncertainty, life ain't worth living, is it?']
'Hell no!' Cana replied internally. 'You know risking the guild is never an acceptable gamble.'
["Calm down, calm down, I was just kidding."] Cana's [Armament Spirit] replied while holding her arms up disarmingly. ["Besides, if we did that, Fonzie would never cook for us or let us drink alcohol ever again."]
Just the thought of a punishment like that cause Cana to shudder. The thought of never drinking again or never having Alfonzo's food again, while everyone else got to eat it, was worse than death for her.
"Anyway, when do you think Alfonzo and Lici will be back?" Sun asked curiously. "I miss them."
"Don't worry, they should be back soon, Sun." Ur, who just left the elevator, said as she approached the table where Alfonzo and Elicia's group of friends usually sat.
"Really?" Sun asked, her eyes sparkling in anticipation.
"Yeah, I got a message from them this morning." Ur replied with a nod. "Apparently, things were much worse than they originally thought. Junko Enoshima was involved in whatever happened. But I'll have to wait until they return to get all the details."
"Damn, now I really wish they had taken me with them." Cana said while clenching her fists. "Lici told us what that bitch said she would do to Alfonzo to bring Lici despair. And she needs to pay for that."
"Do you really wanna get in the way of that?" Marin asked while smiling wryly. "I mean, she's already been marked by Lici, right?"
"Indeed." Laki added with a nod. "If you wanna get in the way of Lici's hunt, your head is more broken than I thought."
"Wait, did you just call me crazy?" Cana asked as she narrowed her eyes at Laki.
In response, Laki only smiled while adjusting her glasses.
"Anyway, I have a question for the rest of you." Ur said with genuine curiosity in her tone.
Hearing that, everyone at the table looked at her with curiosity.
"Other than Erza, we all call Elicia, Lici, right?" Ur asked.
Receiving nods in response, Ur continued.
"But none of us, other than Cana and Marin, call Alfonzo, Fonzie." Ur said. "But why is that?"
"Because Alfonzo does not like it." Laki replied.
Hearing that, everyone, other than Cana and Marin, nodded their heads. Meanwhile, Ur thought about Laki's response. Cana and Marin, on the other hand, were completely gob smacked.
"Seriously, he doesn't like it?" Cana asked.
"Then why didn't he tell us to stop?" Marin asked at the same time.
"I'm surprised you didn't notice, Cana." Alzack said. "For as long as I can remember, even when Lici says it, his eyebrows twitch. Though, it's gotten less and less noticeable over the years. And considering how much and how hard you used to watch him, I can't believe you never saw that."
Hearing that, Cana looked completely dumbfounded.
"Yeah, but if he doesn't like it, why didn't he tell us to stop?" Marin asked again after letting Alzack's explanation sink in.
"Would you have stopped if he did?" Lisanna asked.
Stopping to think about it, Marin eventually smiled wryly.
"Probably not." Marin replied. "It's such a cute nickname."
"Yeah, me neither." Cana added.
"Yup, and that's why I say you're the most selfish among us." Ultear said with a shrug. "Now, I guess we can add Marin to that list, too."
"What was that?" Cana asked in a threatening tone. "You asking for a fight?"
"Anytime." Ultear replied with a dangerous smile on her face.
"Hey, Master." Gray said with a smile. "Remember when Ultear used to say the guild was rubbing off on us and how it was making us more prone to acts of violence."
"I'll answer that question after you put your clothes on, Gray." Ur replied with a twitching smile.
"Huh? Ah! Damn it." Gray said as he scrambled to gather his clothes.
"But yeah, I remember those days." Ur said with a nostalgic smile. "That was something she always used to say for the first few months after we joined the guild. So much has changed since then."
*Crash!*
Just as Ur finished speaking, a mug of ale flew from the other side of the guild hall and broke on the back of her head, drenching her back in ale.
A moment later, Ur's magic power exploded out of her, lowering the temperature in the guild hall and causing the newly started brawl to come to a screeching halt.
"But some things never change." Ur said menacingly. Then, she spun around on her heels as she shouted at the brawlers. "Alright, who threw it?"
Immediately, all those participating in the brawl pointed at a pair of men who were pointing at each other.
"So, Macao and Wakaba, huh?" Ur said as she slowly started walking forward while cracking her knuckles. "It seems you miss the days when you were still participating in the S-Class exam, huh? You guys must really miss sparring with me, right?"
"No, Ur… I mean, Master, it's not what you think." Macao said while stepping back in fear.
"Yeah, it was an accident, Master." Wakaba added while stepping back with Macao.
"Oh, it was an accident." Ur said while letting her hands fall to her sides while her face bloomed into a forgiving smile. "If it was just an accident, there's no point in going too far."
Hearing that, Macao and Wakaba exhaled sighs of relief. Meanwhile, everyone else in the guild hall was shivering in terror while looking at the two senior wizards with pity in their gazes.
"Still, I think you should come with me for training." Ur said, her smile widening. "We can't have accidents like that happening, right? I mean, this time it was just a cup. But what if you had an accident on a quest? You wouldn't get any points, right? Then you wouldn't be able to trade those points in for Alfonzo's cooking, right?"
By now, Macao and Wakaba had finally realized they were relieved way too soon. Unfortunately, because of their fear, when they saw Ur's friendly smile, they let themselves think she had forgiven them to escape reality, if only for a moment.
A moment later, while Ur was still slowly approaching, Macao and Wakaba exchanged glances. Then, without hesitation, they took off running in different directions. And in response to their actions, everyone's gazes of pity were replaced with shaking heads.
"*Sigh* They let their fear and panic cloud their judgement." Gildarts said before picking up his mug from the bar top. Then, he raised his drink high, toasting to Macao and Wakaba's fates as he continued. "Running… Or trying to run will only make this even worse for them."
In response, Gozaburo, Ren, and Maes also raised their drinks before taking a swig in remembrance.
And just as Gildarts said, not even ten steps later, both Macao and Wakaba's feet were frozen to the floor. Then, Ur calmly approached them in turn, grabbed them by their collars, and started walking towards the elevator.
"Now, let's work on getting you in full control of your bodies and magic." Ur said, still using that friendly tone with a friendly smile on her face. "We can't have you two having accidents on your quests, right?"
Hearing that, Macao and Wakaba could only hang their heads while they were dragged along by a smiling, yet clearly pissed off, Ur. However, at that moment, the doors to the guild slid open.
With the doors opening, everyone in the guild turned their heads towards the guild hall's entrance. And when they did, they found a group of seven standing in the doorway.
While Alfonzo and Elicia, the leaders of the group of new arrivals understood almost exactly what was happening after scanning the guild hall, Saeko, Saya, Shizuka, Kohta, and Rika looked around with curiosity.
Deciding that he would break the awkward atmosphere in the guild hall, Alfonzo stepped forward into the main hall, spread his arms, raised his head, and shouted at the top of his lungs without the use of his magic power.
"Fairy Tail! We're back!"
Immediately, the whole guild began to cheer while many drinks were raised in celebration.
"Ha! Not bad." Rika said with a smile. "I think I'll like it here."
"It certainly is lively here." Saeko said as her eyes scanned the room before stopping at the table where Alfonzo, Elicia, and their friends usually sat after feeling the aura of two strong swordsman. "I think joining this guild was a great idea."
"Hmph!" Saya snorted. "There just a bunch of brutes. I bet if you added the I.Q. of everyone in this room, it would barely reach three digits."
"That's kind of rude, isn't it, Miss Takagi?" Kohta said while smiling wryly.
"I already told you, you can call me Saya." Saya said disdainfully. "Since we're gonna be in the same guild, there's no need to be so formal, fat ass."
"Uh… Right…" Kohta replied. "Then, uh… Do you think you could stop calling me fat ass? It's okay to call me Kohta, you know."
"Hmph!" Saya snorted while looking away. "Just think of it as a term of endearment."
"Good to have you back, kids." Ur said with a smile as she released Macao and Wakaba. Then, as she continued, she started walking towards Alfonzo, Elicia, and the rest of the new arrivals. "And it looks like you've brought some new faces. New guild mates, yes?"
Meanwhile, after Ur released them, Macao and Wakaba both exhaled sighs of relief again. Then, they exchanged glances and smiled when they saw the same emotions, being saved brought, in each other's eyes. After that, they both tried to walk back to their table.
Unfortunately, they both realized they had relaxed way too soon again. When they tried to go back to their table, they both realized their feet were once again frozen to the floor. So, they just hung their heads while they waited for the inevitable ass kicking they would receive in the name of training.
"Yeah." Alfonzo replied with a nod and a smile of his own. "They were actually the first people we saved when we got to Takanosu. Well, most of them, anyway."
As he spoke, Alfonzo and Elicia glanced at Rika, who was animatedly talking to Shizuka about the guild hall.
"I wonder how they built this place." Rika said while scanning the main hall with curiosity. "I mean, it looks like almost everything is made of metal. It's got to be heavy as all hell."
"Yeah, and it's so big, too." Shizuka said with childlike wonder in her expression.
"That's what she said." Alfonzo said casually while walking forward to meet up with Ur.
Hearing that, Shizuka looked back with a confused expression on her face. Meanwhile, Rika grinned in amusement.
"I think me and him are gonna get along just fine." Rika said with her grin blooming into a full grown smile.
"Yeah, that is what I said." Shizuka said in a thoroughly confused tone. Then, she turned to look at Rika while tilting her head in confusion. "Do you know what he meant by that, Rika?"
Immediately, Rika burst into loud uproarious laughter while the everyone else who heard the conversation could not help but start laughing as well. Alfonzo, on the other hand, could only smile wryly.
"She's like Sun when she first got here." Alfonzo muttered. "But Sun was only fourteen. Shizuka's already a grown woman and still so innocent. I'm almost afraid of corrupting her."
"But you'd still do it, though." Elicia replied after getting her laughter under control. "And you'll enjoy it."
"Yeah, I will." Alfonzo replied with a smile. "Anyway, let's go give our report."
"Actually, that can wait for a while, Kid." Ur said as she reached the group. "I've got to help Macao and Wakaba train for a bit. It should only take an hour, though."
"Then, why did you come over here first?" Alfonzo asked in a confused tone.
"So I could talk to the newcomers." Ur replied. "If they're suitable, I'll let them join the guild. Meanwhile, you can get a lot of cooking done in an hour, right? That should be enough time to get their welcome party started, shouldn't it?"
"I should have known… Alfonzo muttered. "Because the fact that I've been fighting Zombies for a few days isn't enough to make you push their welcome party back to tomorrow, is it?"
"Of course not." Ur replied with a smile. "Better to strike the iron while it's hot, after all. Besides, I'll need you to fix all the floats your guild mates broke while you were gone tomorrow. So, I'm sure you wouldn't wanna do it then, either."
Hearing that, Alfonzo raised an eyebrow. Then, he scanned the faces of everyone in the guild hall. Noticing that a few people lowered their heads with guild and fear etched on their faces, Alfonzo decided he would have a few private training sessions with them in the next few days.
At the same time, he also noted that Cana, Erza, and Mirajane also lowered their heads guiltily. Then, he decided their punishments, as well. None of his private alcohol for Cana for a month. After this party, he wouldn't be cooking for Mirajane for twenty-four hours. And Erza wouldn't be having strawberry shortcake for a week. He wanted to make her punishment longer, but any longer and she might go into a strawberry shortcake withdrawal induced rampage.
"Fine, I'll get to it." Alfonzo said in an annoyed tone. A moment later, however, just as Ur had smiled triumphantly, he continued, causing Ur's expression to fall. "You know my usual rates. And since I just got back from a quest… An emergency S-Class one, I'll be charging two and a half times my normal rates."
"Just go!" Ur shouted angrily. "I already know the damn rates. Now let me talk to my new wizards!"
Hearing the frustration in Ur's shouts, Alfonzo smiled widely. Then, with a bit of extra pep in his step, he made his way towards the kitchen, causing the guild to start bubbling in excitement.
Unfortunately for Macao and Wakaba, they ended up being the outlet for Ur's extra frustration. And when they eventually joined the party, both middle-aged men were limping, shivering, and on the verge of crying. Meanwhile, Ur looked completely refreshed. She felt so good, in fact, she decided she could wait until tomorrow to talk to Alfonzo and Elicia about their most recent quest.