The Determination to Do Something Stupid

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.

July, x784.

Early in the morning the day after Alfonzo, Elicia, Ultear, and Erza left for their quest on Galuna Island, a small blue blur snuck into the Fairy Tail guild hall. Although there were a few wizards still drinking and having fun on the first floor, no one seemed to notice it.

Remaining unseen, the blue blur, Happy, made his way up to the second floor of the guild and looked around cautiously. After a few moments, he did not notice any other people on the floor. So, he made his way over to the S-Class quest board. Then, after a brief glance, he pulled a quest sheet from the board and made his way out of the guild just as quietly as he entered.

Unfortunately, Happy did not notice the tall, well-built blond man resting on a couch in a corner of the floor.

"Hmph!" What a small fry." The blond man, Laxus, snorted disdainfully. "If he can't even handle a little mockery then he really is nothing special. That's why trash like him will be the first to go when I'm declared the guild master."

This entire chain of events was started the day before when Laxus mocked Natsu for being weak. Unable to handle the provocation, Natsu, after leaving the guild for the evening, hatched this plan to have Happy steal an S-Class quest just to show Laxus he was wrong and make him take back his insults.

A few minutes after taking the quest sheet, Happy met up with Natsu outside of a certain apartment building.

"Happy, over here." Natsu said in a hushed tone.

"Natsu." Happy replied. Then, he held the quest sheet he stole from the guild hall's second floor out in front of Natsu. "Look, I got it."

"Good job, Little Buddy." Natsu said, receiving the quest sheet from Happy. "Now, let's see what we have here. Hmm… Kill an Inferno Bear that is wreaking havoc around Lupinus Town? Sounds pretty easy."

"I wouldn't be so sure, Natsu." Happy said while shaking his head. "From what I've heard, Inferno Bears are immune to fire under a certain temperature. So, fighting it with fire might be difficult. It is weak to ice and water, though."

"Then, it was a good idea to decide on bringing Lucy, wasn't it?" Natsu replied with a smile. "One of her spirits can control water."

"Aye!" Happy replied happily.

"Well then, let's go." Natsu said with a smile as he and happy entered the apartment building.

An hour later, around the time most of the Fairy Tail wizards showed up for breakfast, Mirajane rushed down the stairs after updating the S-Class quest board.

"Master, we've got a problem." Mirajane said in a worried tone.

"What's wrong, Mira?" Makarov asked, drinking ale first thing in the morning.

"The quest to subjugate the Inferno Bear is missing." Mira replied.

"Hmm… I guess Laxus or Ur took it." Makarov said nonchalantly. "What's the problem"

"The problem is that Laxus is upstairs right now and Ur is still out on her quest." Mirajane explained. "And with Alfonzo, Elicia, Ultear, and Erza out on another quest, there's no one that could have taken it."

*Spew!*

*Cough!* *Cough!*

Unfortunately, Makarov made the mistake of taking another swig from his mug of ale after asking his question. So, when he heard Mirajane's response, he spat his drink all over the bar top."

"Damn it!" Makarov growled. "Which one of those brats is doing something so reckless?"

The first floor of the guild hall fell silent as Makarov's magic power put pressure on the whole floor. Eventually, the silence was broken when a deep male voice spoke from above.

"I know who stole the quest." Laxus said with a grin as he looked down at his grandfather from the second floor. "I watched them do it, in fact."

"Who was it, Laxus." Makarov asked in an angry tone. "And why didn't you stop them."

"Hmph!" Laxus snorted disdainfully at Makarov's second question. "Because it's not my job to babysit the weaklings of the guild."

"Laxus~~~~!" Makarov growled angrily.

"As for who did it…" Laxus continued, ignoring Makarov's anger. "It was that stupid blue cat. He didn't even notice me sitting in the corner when he tried to sneak up here. How stupid can you get? I wasn't even hiding. Anyway, I've got a quest to take with the Thunder God Tribe. We'll be destroying Dark Guilds for a while. So, don't look for us."

With that, Laxus transformed into a bolt of yellow lightning before appearing in front of the guild hall's main entrance. The, he pushed the door open and walked away without another word.

"That boy…" Makarov said in a tone mixed with anger and lament. Then, he let his eyes scan the guild hall for a moment before he spoke once again. "Gray! You and Natsu are about equal in strength. Go bring him back."

"Whatever you say, Gramps." Gray replied as he stood up. "But I'll show you that me and that pyro are not equals."

Like that, Gray also left the guild hall, getting dressed as he went.

"*Sigh* These brats are gonna give me a heart attack one of these days." Makarov said in a tired tone.

Earth land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Galuna Island.

Around the same time Gray left to chase after Natsu, Alfonzo slowly opened his eyes. Feeling the familiar sensation of having soft bodies pressed into him, he could not help but smile.

'*Sigh* Even though I was more or less against having a harem when Lici first brought it up, Waking up like this is pretty fucking nice.' Alfonzo thought to himself as he glanced at the head of short black hair resting on his chest.

Turning his head to the left, Alfonzo saw a head of long black hair resting on his shoulder. The sight on his right was pretty much the same as well. However, the hair color was scarlet red. Although they did not engage in their usual night activities, the three women were sleeping peacefully.

Last night, after the centipedes were forced to retreat, Alfonzo returned to the spot in the forest where he buried the magical beasts. Then, after returning to the village, he prepared a feast. The four magical beasts along with some vegetables that the villagers had picked was more than enough to feed the village for the night. After that, the four Fairy Tail wizards joined the second night watch shift before finally going to sleep in a house prepared for them after four hours passed.

Slipping out of bed, doing his best not to wake the others, Alfonzo failed miserably. With the bed not being as comfortable as his bed in Magnolia, coupled with the fact that they were on a quest where giant centipedes could attack at any time, Ultear and Erza were sleeping much lighter than they usually would.

"Mmm~ What time is it?" Ultear asked in a groggy tone when she felt Alfonzo starting to move.

"Good morning, Alfonzo." Erza said simultaneously. "Oh, and a good morning to you as well, Ultear."

"Good morning, you two." Alfonzo said with a smile. Then, he turned his head to either side and gave both Ultear and Erza a kiss on the forehead, gaining a couple of smiles in return. "From what my stomach is telling me, it should be around breakfast time."

*Growl!* x 3

With that statement, Elicia, Ultear, and Erza's stomach's all growled in unison.

"Fonzie…" Elicia said in a tired tone. "You can't have breakfast without me."

"If I hadn't said anything about food, you would have kept sleeping." Alfonzo replied with a wry smile. "Either way, you'll have to get off of me if you want me to make breakfast."

With that, Ultear and Erza reluctantly rolled off of Alfonzo's shoulders and sat up, revealing their perfect bodies clad in nothing but Alfonzo's t-shirts and a pair of panties. Considering Alfonzo's size, the shirts served as perfectly sized night dresses for the girls.

Elicia, instead of getting up, nuzzled her face on Alfonzo's chest.

"Can't you hold me and cook?" Elicia asked in a spoiled tone. "Then, I can sleep a little longer."

"Come on, Elicia." Ultear said while rolling her eyes. Then, she grabbed the back of Elicia's collar and dragged her off of Alfonzo. "We're going to wash up now. Alfonzo will be able to prepare breakfast faster that way."

With a pout on her face, Elicia clearly wanted to protest. However, when Ultear mentioned that breakfast would be ready faster, she kept her mouth shut. Though it was clear that she still wanted to sleep in Alfonzo's embrace for a bit longer.

Meanwhile, Erza only smiled at the interaction between the three. Alfonzo, on the other hand, just looked at Elicia incredulously.

A few minutes later, the four headed off to get washed up. Then, Alfonzo, using some of the stored food from the village made breakfast for his group.

Earth land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.

Around the time Alfonzo, Elicia, Ultear, and Erza sat down for breakfast, Natsu, Happy, and Lucy were walking toward the town gates.

"I don't understand why we're walking." Lucy complained as she walked next to Natsu. "Lupinus isn't even that close to Magnolia."

"Because the train is an object of pure evil." Natsu replied with his eyes shaking in fear. "Besides, if we run the whole way, it will only take us a few days to get there."

"Aye!" Happy said with a nod. "And it looks like you could use the exercise, Lucy."

"What are you trying to say, Cat?" Lucy growled angrily.

"Now, now, don't get angry, Lucy." Natsu said, trying to defuse the situation. "Happy is only thinking about your well-being. You've got quite a few round parts, ya know."

"Are you calling me fat?" Lucy shouted in both anger and disbelief. Then, she stomped her foot angrily and looked away from the couple of idiots. "Why did I even agree to come with you on this quest. We're clearly breaking the guild rules."

Originally, Lucy was completely against following Natsu and Happy on this stolen S-Class quest. However, when she saw the reward, she had to reconsider.

On top of the quest's monetary reward being a whopping 3,500,000 Jewels, there was also a map that would lead them to one of the Zodiac Celestial Gate Keys. So, there was no way Lucy could pass it up.

'Seriously, if it wasn't for that reward, there's no way I'd go on this quest with these two who don't know how to treat a lady.' Lucy thought to herself. '*Sigh* What is wrong with the men in this guild. First, there's Natsu. I'm not even sure he knows the difference between a man and a woman. Then, there's Gray, the eternal streaker. Next is Elfman, who is so obsessed with being a "real man" that I don't even know what to say. The rest are old perverts. *Sigh* The only two that treat women normally are either already taken or have the hots for someone else. *Sigh* I should just join Alfonzo's harem and call it a day. At least I know I'll get to eat good food every day.'

While Lucy was lost in thought, thinking about the shortcomings of the men in the guild and getting her hands on another Golden Zodiac Key, she, Natsu, and Happy passed the town gate and set foot on the road leading to Lupinus.

"Alright, Natsu, the jig is up." A familiar male voice said from just beside the gate. "You even managed to drag Lucy into your stupidity, huh? Well, it doesn't matter. Gramps knows you stole the S-Class quest. So, do us both a favor and come back to face the music."

"Kya~~~~~!" Lucy screamed and jumped after hearing the voice speaking to them.

"Damn… How did he find out so quick?" Natsu asked in an annoyed tone.

"I don't know." Happy replied. "I made sure there was no one on the second floor when I went up there."

"Laxus said he saw you from the corner he was sitting in." Gray replied, answering Natsu and Happy's doubts.

"The corner?" Happy exclaimed in surprise. "That Laxus sure is sneaky."

"I guess we really can't underestimate any of the S-Class wizards in the guild, huh?" Natsu said in an impressed tone. "I guess we can learn something from everyone, right, Happy?"

"Aye!" Happy replied energetically.

Meanwhile, Gray and Lucy looked on with deadpan expressions.

"I would bet a thousand jewels that happy didn't even really look around when he went up to the second floor." Gray said in a dry tone. "He probably just made the motions to look sneaky."

"I'd take that bet if I had a thousand jewels to waste." Lucy replied. "But since I don't, I'll pass."

"Anyway, it looks like you caught us, Gray." Natsu said, walking toward Gray. "There's no point in trying to sneak off now."

"Wow, that's the most responsible thing I've ever heard you say, Natsu." Lucy said in a tone filled with disbelief. "Did you hit your head on the way to the gate?"

"Good." Gray replied with a nod. Then, he turned around and started walking back toward Fairy Tail. "If we come back now, your punishment shouldn't be---"

*Bang!*

As soon as Gray turned around, Natsu's eyes flashed. Then, he channeled his magic power through his body and quickly approached the ice wizard and punched him in the back of the head with all his strength. As a result, Gray flew forward and crashed into the ground, unconscious, just inside the town limits.

"Wha? You knocked him out?" Lucy asked in a surprised tone.

"There's no time to talk, Lucy." Natsu said as he rushed to Gray's unconscious body and picked him up and threw him over his shoulder. "Go and book us a carriage to the next town. Then, we'll take the train to Lupinus."

"Huh?" Lucy asked in confusion, stunned into inactivity by Natsu's actions.

"Hurry up, Lucy!" Happy shouted. "We have to get out of here as fast as we can. If we get caught again, the punishment will be even worse."

Frightened by the thought of getting punished, Lucy ran over to the travel services shop by the gates and booked a carriage for three to the next town.

"No, you gotta book it for four, we're bringing Gray with us." Natsu shouted after hearing Lucy's reservation.

"I figured that." Lucy replied. "That's why I booked it for three."

"So, you're not coming with us, Lucy?" Happy asked with tears in his eyes. "Such a noble sacrifice to let us get away."

"Shut up, Cat!" Lucy shouted in return. "There are only three people going to the next town, me,. Natsu, and Gray. We don't need to book for more than that."

"Are you trying to sacrifice Happy?" Natsu asked with his eyes wide open in disbelief. "I never thought you could be so heartless."

Looking at Natsu and happy as if they were morons, Lucy turned around and entered the carriage they would be taking to the next town.

"Happy's not a person, he's a cat." Lucy said just before sitting down in the carriage.

Happy looked as if his world view had been shattered after hearing Lucy's words. Meanwhile, Natsu carried him and Gray into the carriage before closing the door and quickly falling ill after the carriage started moving.