//------------------------------// // Before the Act // Story: Spike the Fairy // by PonyJoel //------------------------------// It's been a week since Spike had his family moment. Rabian started selling tickets for an all-wizards act. Tickets are sold left and right after people see who's participating in the play from passing by the outdoor theatre. It's 12:30 in the afternoon. Spike and Fairy Rage are having lunch with their friends at a restaurant. "I can't believe tomorrow is the show." Fairy Rage eats a sandwich. He's no longer fat from all the food he devoured weeks ago. "We've been working hard to improve our placement and dialogs for nearly two weeks," Carla said. She's eating a bowl of salad. "All I hope for is a successful show and not a bombshell," Wendy still remembers the train wreck from the last show she performed with Erza and Carla. It was so bad it caused a violent uproar from the audience. "Well, be glad I'm wearing a blindfold," Erza said. During her practice run, Erza practiced her lines blindly while using her other senses. "Being a blind hero does have its challenges. However, I find it a great practice. Just in case a likely scenario comes into play," Spike admits. He's thinking about training his other senses. "Being a King was made for us," The Trimen says in unison. They pose in posture while eating their fill. "Queen for me," Jenny relishes her role as Queen. "I'm an angel," Frosch smiles. He's wearing a halo. "That you are, Frosch," Rogue pats Frosch's head. Frosch smiles. "I can't wait to show off my moves during the act," Orga said while flexing his muscles. "My character is going to kick it." "Likewise, Orga," Rufus concurs while eating ramen. "I wonder if our guilds will watch the show." "I know Sting and Lector are coming," Yukino said while having her soup. "I see everyone in Fairy Tail coming," Wendy said. "I want to say that Natsu may blur and shout from the stands if we mess up by accident." "I doubt that, Rage. However, I believe Natsu will show up for laughs knowing Erza's stage fright," Carla responds. "What was that?" Erza fixes her gaze at Carla, scaring her a bit. "Nothing, Ma'am!" Carla frantically replies, not wanting to upset Erza. "Relax, Erza," Irene puts her hand on Erza's shoulder while drinking her coffee. "No need to fret about any peer possibly mocking you." Erza sighs in defeat. "Okay, mom." "They'll be amazed by our spectacular performance; it'll melt their hearts," The Trimen said while posing like Kings. "They'll see elegance, beauty, emotion, and love each of us put into the extravaganza," Jenny said, drinking her strawberry banana smoothie. "Meow, I can't wait to show off my kitty character!" Millianna's excitement gets the better of her. "All of our roles will be vital. Even the climactic battle between Rage and Spike," Kagura said. Fairy Rage exhales. "That's the hard part of the play, still. The final confrontation." "I'm excited. I mean, all of it is for fun. It's not like we're going all out." "I admire your optimism, Spike." "Thanks," Spike smiles. Everyone continues to talk more about the play and the possibility that the crowd may want an encore. After an hour at the restaurant, everyone leaves and goes to the hotel for relaxation. Spike is sharing a room with Wendy, Carla, and Fairy Rage. Fairy Rage and Carla are snuggled on their bed while Spike is out on the balcony, looking at the sky. "Something troubling you, Spike?" Wendy approaches Spike. "Well, I don't know what's next after this," Spike admits, unsure of what the future has in store for him and Fairy Tail. "What do you mean by that?" Wendy is confused by Spike's sudden demeanor. She holds his claw. "Well, it may sound corny, but we've defeated our toughest opponent, Acnologia. We've won the war against the Alvarez Empire and their strongest force." "And?" Wendy presses on. She knows Spike is hiding other facts in his heart. "I don't know what's next for us, the guild. What's next after our job at the theatre?" "I'm not sure what the future has for us. I know a few things, though," Wendy snuggles Spike's arm. "You and I get to live happily ever after. We'll bring a new age of Dragons into the world. We may encounter newer threats from other continents that could rival or be more resilient than the Alvarez Empire." Spike chuckles. "Well, you got me there. I forgot about those possibilities and us creating a family down the line." Wendy kisses Spike. "Enjoy the moments we have now, silly. Tomorrow can wait." "Spike!" Natsu shouts from down below. "Wendy! Hi!" Lucy shouts and waves at the two. "Are you practicing for the big show tomorrow?" Happy asks. He flies up to them. Spike and Wendy chuckle. "More or less," They say in unison. "We wanted to surprise you, but Natsu sped on, and we had to play catchup," Gray said, standing next to Natsu and Lucy. "The guild is here to watch your performance tomorrow." "Hey! You guys want to hang out?!" Natsu asks, eager to be with his friends again. "I'm coming. Wendy, want to come with me?" Spike offers his claw. "Sure! Carla, Fairy Rage, you guys want to-" Wendy sees Carla getting dressed while Fairy Rage is stretching. "Of course, we're coming, child," Carla puts on her brown shoes. "You ain't leaving me behind." Fairy Rage smirks. "We're coming!" Spike, Wendy, Carla, and Fairy Rage hop down from the balcony of their room. "So, I'm guessing everyone else is at a different hotel?" Carla asks her friends. "Yea, not far from you guys. Sabertooth, Blue Pegasus, Mermaid Heel, and Lamia Scale came as well," Gray answers. "So, the gang is reunited?" Erza steps into the fray. "Erza!" Happy chuckles. "Great to see you again after all this time," Lucy admits. She misses being with the team after two weeks of separation. "Likewise, my friends," Erza puts her arms on Natsu and Gray. "So, what are we doing?" "Oh, you know," Natsu laughs a bit. "Catching up and-" Loud explosions catch everyone's attention. Civilians are screaming for their lives while the authority nearby gets overrun by a new guild. "Stopping bad guys," Natsu pounds his fist. He's excited to work as a team once more. "Who would be stupid enough to cause a scene here?" Gray wonders who the vigilantes are. "Take it! It's all yours!" A suffering seller says while showing some bruising. "Pleasure doing business with you," He smiles in delight while taking precious artifacts that haven't been used in centuries. "Hey, I got the book we need," Another wizard holds a forbidden magic book. "Hold it right there!" Natsu runs to the shop, leading the charge with his friends. He sees two wizards; One that looks like a chicken man, the other a samurai goat. "Hey, it's those..." "Wow. Eight years since we last saw Fairy Tail." "Who the hell are you, chumps?!" Natsu demands to know what purpose the two wizards have. "Wait, I remember the two of you," Erza remembers seeing the two at Tenrou Island. "You do, Sis?" Spike doesn't know who those two are. "Yes, Gajeel fought them and defeated the two during the S-Class Trials. The one on the left is Yomazu. The one on the right is Kawazu. They are former members of Grimoire Hearts." Everyone around Erza gasps. They thought dealing with Kain Hikaru of the Seven Deadly Sins marked the end of any former member of Grimoire Hearts. With most of the Seven Kin of Purgatory either defeated or changed sides. Kawazu is an anthropomorphic chicken with human-like arms alongside chicken wings. His attire consists of an eastern-looking orange apron adorned with a golden diamond-shaped crest in the front, partly covered by the simple cloth belt he wears over the lower part. On his legs, Kawazu dons dark pants reaching down below his knees where his chicken feet begin, with a large stripe descending each side of the leg. "We have a new guild rising from the ashes of defeat!" "Ain't no way you Fairies are taking us down!" Yomazu is a humanoid goat, with a prominent flat nose and a goat’s beard. His fur is brown. Yomazu's attire consists of a traditional samurai helmet, and red samurai-like armor with golden edges, consisting of a traditional breastplate bearing a different guild's emblem. Underneath the armor, Yomazu wears a long, pale gray shirt, loose dark pants with lower leg parts wrapped in bandages, and traditional Japanese sandals with socks. "There's two of you and more of us!" Happy proclaims. "You got nothing to stop us while we have two powerful Dragons and two powerful Dragon Slayers!" "Two measly Dragons don't frighten us!" Kawazu leaps in the air and disperses his Heavy Egg Rain. The eggs he spits out cause explosions. "Age!" Yomazu uses his dark sword to write solid script. Due to Yomazu's aging spell, Kawazu's Heavy Egg Rain becomes more powerful. Spike and Fairy Rage conjure metallic shields, but they explode on contact while their friends split up. "That's new!" Spike is surprised to see how quickly his shield got destroyed. He and Fairy Rage sustained some bruises from the impact. "Someone else is here, operating in the shadows!" Fairy Rage senses another wizard amid the confrontation. "Fire Dragon King Destruction Fist!" Natsu's hand is ablaze in an immense fire. He leaps at Yomazu for leaving himself wide open for an attack. "This is where your luck runs out," A wizard with purple white hair, wearing purplish-black warlock clothing, swipes her finger at Natsu, causing Natsu to turn and punches Spike's face. Spike crashes into a building nearby. "Spike!" Lucy and Wendy shout in horror. "You're going to regret that!" Wendy taps into her Dragon Force and goes after the woman. "Sky Dragon Crushing Fang!" Wendy intends on unleashing a terror of winds. However, the woman swipes her finger, directing the attack at Carla and Fairy Rage. The impact causes the two to hurl and crash into the ground hard. "Sorry!" "Man, that hurt." Fairy Rage gets up from the impact. He helps Carla up. "Thanks," Carla is ready to give the three a beating they deserve. "Silly, little girl. Your magic is obsolete against mine," She laughs and notices Lucy grabbing her gate key. "Now, you're going to rue it! Open Gate of the Goat! Capricorn!" Lucy summons her Zodiac Spirit. Capricorn stands next to Lucy, ready to fight on her behalf. "How may I help you, Milady?" "Hey, wait!" Yomazu remembers Capricorn being a member of the Seven Kin of Purgatory. "What are you doing with her?" Kawazu is confused. He does his signature chirp. "You're thinking of someone else that possessed me. I am Capricorn, Lucy's Zodiac Spirit. Any relations with the two of you are voided. Since Lucy summoned me, I must vanquish the two of you," Capricorn formally says while preparing for combat. "Jinx! Got something up in your sleeve for battle Zodiac Spirits?" Yomazu asks his fellow comrade. "Ice-Make Lance!" Gray extends his arms forward, creating long, curved ice lances. He directs them at the trio. Erza requips into her Flame Empress Armor and slashes flame sword slices at the trio. Lucy commands Capricorn to defeat the three. Natsu and Wendy unleash their Dragon breath attack on them; Fairy Rage, Spike, and Carla read the body language of their foes. Happy flies away to keep himself safe from the carnage in case it reflects onto him. "I do!" Jinx steps up and claps her hands in a prayer stance. The wave of attacks gets repelled and pushed back from the shield, causing Natsu, Wendy, Lucy, Erza, and Gray to feel their attacks come back like a boomerang. Capricorn apologizes to Lucy for striking her in hand-to-hand combat. Wendy's breath attack hits Natsu, while his breath attack hits Wendy. Erza felt the flames hitting her slightly due to her armor's effect. A number thirteen appears in purplish flames engulfs Kawazu, Yomazu, and Jinx. "You haven't seen the last of the Preying Mantis Guild!" She laughs, and all that's left is purplish flames and destroyed relics from the store they robbed. "Preying Mantis, huh?" Fairy Rage heard the new name of the guild. A guild that hunts for what? Spike and Carla check on their friends after they witness their attacks repelled and used on them. "Wendy, you've gotten stronger," Natsu said while wiping the dirt off his face. "Old enemies, new alliances," Lucy said. Capricorn helps her out. "My apologies, Ms.Lucy. It won't happen again," Capricorn bows, feeling disgrace for striking his friend. "Don't worry about it. It's an accident. I know you'll never intend on personally harming me." "Thank you for understanding. Call me when you need me," Capricorn says as Lucy closes his gate. Lucy sighs. "Do any of you know who that girl was?" Lucy asks her friends. "I have never seen her before," Erza claims. When working with Gajeel and Panther Lily with the Rune Knights, traveling around Fiore, she never came across a woman like Jinx. "I have never seen her around Margaret Town when Carla and I were with Lamia Scale," Wendy said. "I traveled around but never encountered her until today," Spike said. "Rage, you've been with Death and everywhere. Surely, you know who that wizard was," Gray turns to Fairy Rage. The others do so as well. "Sorry. While I did go with Death around in the realm he and I were in, I didn't take account of learning everyone's business when I was focused on Spike and Carla. She's new to me." "What kind of magic did she use?" Happy asks his friends after seeing what she can do. "Judging from where I was standing, it appears Jinx uses cursed magic," Spike said. "What kind of curse magic are we talking about?" Carla asks Spike. "It's not demonic curses. When I'm thinking about curse magic, I believe it's actual bad luck. She manipulates the space around her creating a good luck field and unleashes a wave of bad luck upon her opponents. That is how she took most of us down." "I wonder if there are more members of the Preying Mantis Guild," Happy ponders on the subject. "I believe we may encounter another battle down the road with that guild. We got a sample of their magic power," Wendy said. "All we need is Gajeel to beat those two chumps again," Happy boldly states, disregarding Jinx's involvement. "Gajeel never fought Jinx. We don't know the outcomes based on previous encounters, Happy," Spike said. "When they strike, I'll be ready for them!" Natsu shouts. Erza and Lucy help the seller since his store is in ruins. He mentions a magic book about cata- before passing out. Ten minutes later, medics arrive to take the injured to the hospital. Master Makarov approaches his children at Onibus Park. They explain what they saw and endured during the conflict. "So, former members from Dark Guilds are coming together to forge a new one," Master Makarov ponders on the possibilities Fairy Tail has come across as potential threats. "Indeed. Two from Grimoire Hearts and one that is new. She goes by the name Jinx," Erza informs her Master. "I have never heard a wizard addressed as Jinx. She must be new," Makarov said. "Do you think she's from the Alaverz Empire, Gramps?" Gray asks Master Makarov. "Possibly. Jinx could have come from anywhere outside of Fiore. If there's more like her, we need to keep our guard up." "Understood, Master," Erza takes Makarov's decree seriously. She'll make it clear to her fellow guildmates. "Right now, we must leave our stars alone. They'll be performing tomorrow. I doubt we'll see the Preying Mantis crashing the party tomorrow." "I wholeheartedly agree with you, Makarov. I believe they're in search of new power since Zeref is no longer around." "Indeed. Let's go, my children," Makarov walks towards one of the hotels Fairy Tail is renting. "See you tomorrow!" Natsu and Happy say. They follow Master Makarov. "Break a leg," Gray said, following Makarov to the hotel. "We'll see you tomorrow," Lucy is last to say her byes and follows her friends. Spike and Fairy Rage use their fire breath to teleport their friends back to their hotel.