Chapter 4: Ch4: Crime and Punishment

AN:

Ok! Here we go with the Everlue job! But before we do that, reviewer replies! I'm going to try to do these at the beginning of every chapter if I get a review on the previous chapter before the next one comes out, other comments I'll try to reply to via PM. :D

Reptil: Thank you so much for your kind words! :D Yes Jerry is a rather tough and extremely talented wizard, and it's really going to show in this chapter, but I guarantee that there is an INCREDIBLY good reason for it, which I'm saving for a pretty big reveal down the road. There'll be periodic hints leading up to it, but I'm expecting it to hit somewhere around Chapter 30 or so, maybe a little later since I haven't written it yet, but the reason IS there and I promise it'll explain his strength and magical aptitude perfectly (at least I think it does). Again, thank you for your kind words, I hope you continue to enjoy!

AND NOW ON WITH THE SHOW! :D

Chapter 4 – Crime and Punishment

I was caught at the request board by a cute girl who was barely jaw high on me with blue hair and her two lanky guy friends. "Hey did I really just see you turn invisible?" she asked excitedly, "That's so cool! You said you were taking the book stealing gig right?"

I nodded, "That's right. Were you going after it?" The girl nodded, "Yeah, but we'd be willing to share if you want to join us! I'm Levy, this is Jet and this is Droy. We're Team Shadow Gear. That invisibility of yours would be perfect for this job, so we'd be delighted to have you along!"

I smiled, "Well that sounds quite agreeable. Being my first job like this, I was thinking of finding a more experienced member to join me anyway. Best way to keep the muck ups to a minimum yeah?"

"Definitely!" Levy agreed, then she leaned around me and waved a piece of paper, "Hey Master! We're taking the book stealing gig in Shirotsume! Jerry's coming with us!"

"Good luck and take care! Show him the ropes and try not to go overboard!" Master called back, "I've heard enough out of the council for one month!"

"You got it!" Levy called as she led us towards the door, "See you in a few days!"

As soon as we were out the door, I pulled my deck of cards from my pocket and drew the top card before tossing it. It grew midair to the size of a large carpet and hovered. I stepped on and walked to the front before sitting down. I looked over my shoulder at Team Shadow Gear who were all gaping at me, "You guys gonna get on or what?"

"YES!" Levy exclaimed excitedly. Then she seemed to teleport and I suddenly had a pair of small thin arms wrapped around my shoulders. I also had two jealous male wizards glaring at me as Levy set her chin on my shoulder. "It's just like a magic carpet!" she gushed.

I smiled, "Sort of. It's not as soft, but I should be able to carry all four of us no problem." I felt the weight as Jet and Droy climbed on and Jet asked, "How fast does this go?"

I looked over my shoulder, "With passengers I'm not going faster than about thirty miles per hour, which is about an extremely fast horse's gallop, but since we'll be doing that at flying altitude, we should get there fairly quickly. Actually…" I flicked off a few more cards from the top of my deck and turned them into seat backs and arm rests, two more to make side walls and then I frowned, "I still can't go too fast or we risk one of you getting blown off, but we should be able to go faster now."

"I could still get us there fastAH!" Jet's ungrateful grumbling was cut off by me slamming another card down on his head, effectively putting a lid on his seat and shoving it to the back to turn it into a trunk compartment. I glared at Droy, "Any further complaints?"

Droy sat back with a grin as he reclined on the box his friend was stuffed in, "Nah. I'm good. Do your thing man!"

I looked at Levy, "He is officially the better of your minions." If Levy hadn't had the "armrests" I'd made, she would've fallen off the card laughing at Jet and Droy being referred to as "minions".

I lifted the card up smoothly. Thanks to the size of it, our combined weight had been effectively reduced to less than a thirtieth of what it normally was, so I was able to easily lift all three of us high into the air over Magnolia. I looked at Levy, "Okeydokey Miss Levy, where we headed?"

Levy looked around and pointed, "Shirotsume is that way. Let's see what this baby can do!"

I turned us to face the direction she had pointed, put cards across the armrests to act as seatbelts, put a hand on my hat and mentally floored it. Turns out, my magic car-d has an acceleration speed of zero to fifty-two miles per hour in four seconds (my magic told me). I slowed us to a stop after a few minutes because I was pretty sure I wasn't the only one running short on breath, and holding onto my hat with one hand and the other over my mouth and nose so that I could breathe was a pain. We were zipping through the air so fast that we couldn't draw a breath because the air was zipping by too quickly.

I inhaled and exhaled, "Okay, I'm gonna put up a windshield right quick." I threw up a card across the front and sloped it back towards us to reduce the drag and wind resistance. I looked over at Levy, "Before we start going again, how far are we going? That's fifty two miles an hour we just did, but with the windshield up we won't be able to-"

"Holy crap there's Shirotsume!" Droy exclaimed as he leaned to look over the side and point.

I shrank the windshield in surprise, "Really?" Levy nodded and confirmed that it was only twelve miles from Magnolia. She then also confirmed that it was indeed Shirotsume a little ways away and congratulated Droy on spotting it. I smiled, "Oh, well that makes things simple doesn't it?"

…

==About Three Hours Later==

…

I sighed as Jet and Droy leapt to attack the short fat obnoxious…slime that went by Duke Everlue as said slime stain called Levy ugly. Everlue's massive gorilla of a head maid snatched them both out of the air and smashed them into each other and then the ground effortlessly. Everlue's other rather hideous caricatures of maids proceeded to stomp on and kick them while they were down and Levy looked like she was almost in tears. I sighed as I walked out of the trees, "Well, so much for plan A."

All present turned to look at me and I smiled, "Good day to you, Duke Everlue I presume? We have come to arrange a deal on behalf of our client. I do apologize for our logical deception, but we had to make sure you actually had what we were looking for. Also, please pardon my idiotic associates for their most egregious assault upon your person. Rest assured they will be punished thoroughly later and I do hope that their brash behavior does not cast a pall on our negotiations."

Everlue's eyes narrowed, "Hmm…negotiations you say? I suppose I could forgive these louts' behavior if what you are offering is sufficiently enticing."

"Two million jewels for the book called Daybreak," I declared bluntly, "Our client is a huge fan of the author and heard rumor of a book that nobody except one person had ever gotten to read. He is willing to spend quite a considerable amount of money for a chance to read it."

Everlue frowned, "Hmm…you do make a tempting offer…but no. That book is mine and mine alone! No amount of money will be enough to buy it from me."

I nodded, "I see. So it does exist, and it is in your possession?"

"Yes now go away!" Everlue snapped, "Leave my property at once or I shall have you removed by force."

I smiled as I imagined the little sleaze ball's head bouncing on the ground, "Very well. Good day to you sir." I picked up Jet and Droy by the collars and dragged them along, "Come along Levy. We'll just have to tell the client that it's no deal on Daybreak."

Levy looked at me in confusion and then ran slightly to catch up with me. I waited until we were out of sight of Everlue's manor, "And now, we know he's got it. Also, you make a terribly cute blonde, so ignore the sleaze bag with no taste in women." Levy blushed slightly, I guess she heard how amazing she was from Jet and Droy so often that it had rather lost its effect when it came from them, but she really did look extremely cute in that maid outfit with her hair magically dyed blonde.

An hour later the four of us snuck back under the cover of my invisibility. I used my cards to cut the latch on one of the windows and force it open and in we slipped. We strode through the mansion until we found the library. When we did, we found Everlue waiting for us, the book clutched in his grubby little paws with his giant maid behind him and two imposing looking fellows flanking them. One was armed with a great big frying pan and I raised an eyebrow as Everlue cackled, "Go ahead and show yourselves wizards! Now that I know what you're after it was easy to set up my security here! Even if you can turn invisible, you still can't hide the fact that you have to open the door!"

I dropped my invisibility spell and shrugged, "Oh dear, you got us." "VANISH BROTHERS!" The two imposing guys charged us. "Jet! Droy!" Levy barked. The two male members of Team Shadow Gear leapt into action and were immediately flattened by a flying sidekick and a frying pan. Then the "Vanish Brother" that had kicked Jet in the face landed on Levy's Oil Slick spell and fell down, cracking his head in the process, and then the other fell victim to the Anvil that fell on his head and knocked him soundly unconscious before bouncing off and making sure the other one didn't wake up for a while.

Everlue gaped and I grinned at Levy, "Very nice." Levy grinned and curtsied. Why she was still wearing her maid uniform I have no idea, although she had changed her hair back to blue.

"V-Virgo! Stop them!" Everlue exclaimed. The giant maid leapt clear over his head and attempted to body slam us, "Flying Virgo Attack!" I replied with a laser beam that knocked her from the air and sent her flying. She slammed into the ceiling and then fell to the floor before dissolving in golden light.

I raised an eyebrow, "A Celestial Spirit?" then I noticed something else, "CRAP! Where'd he go?!" Levy and I ran over and quickly found the hole. Levy stared at the tunnel for a second and then a wicked little grin crossed her face. "Oh Droo-oy…" She sing-songed.

Droy was immediately wide awake despite the giant frying pan in the face a moment earlier and standing at our side like an obedient puppy, "You called Levy?"

"Everlue went down this hole," Levy explained, "Send some of your plants down there and pull him out by his feet. If he's not still in there then find out where he went."

"You got it Levy!" Droy exclaimed excitedly as he pulled some seeds from the yellow bandolier he wore and threw them down into the hole, "Knuckle Plant!"

The hole immediately erupted in foliage and Droy frowned in concentration, "He's not in there anymore, but I can tell where he went. Come on, this way!" We turned to take off and were greeted with the sight of the Vanish Brothers getting back up. I growled, "Levy, Droy, take Jet and go after Everlue. I'll handle these two."

So saying I launched one of my instantly billboard sized cards like a cannonball and blew them both back through the wall and out into the massive entry hall that dominated the center of the mansion. I charged through after them, shooting my steel hard cards like bullets. I had to give the Vanish Brothers credit, the one with the frying pan almost immediately started deflecting my bullet cards and doing a fine job of it. Even after I started manipulating them like a swarm of lightning quick hornets, he was still managing to block most of them.

I raised an eyebrow with a grin, Well if physical attacks won't work, then let's see how they do against OWWW. I was driven to a knee as a very large foot collided with the top of my head. An instant later another foot slammed into my face with enough force to send me flying. I rolled a landing and my eyes narrowed into a glare as the taller of the Vanish brothers skipped back to stand on the shorter brother's frying pan.

"Heaven and Earth Annihilation," The shorter one declared, "The true power of the Vanish Brothers. You look to the earth, we strike from above." Then the taller one added, "And when you look to the heavens, we strike from the earth. Few have seen this combination and lived to tell of it." "Tell us," the short one asked, "Do you know the wizards' weakness?"

"If they focus on their mind at the expense of physical training then their weakness is their body," I declared, "Do you know the warrior's weakness?"

The two brothers tilted their heads in unison, "Eh?" I guess they'd never had their question turned back on them before.

"Overconfidence," I declared bluntly. Then I dropped a massive, iron hard card half as wide as the ceiling on them with the force of a car crash. Then I picked it up and smashed them a few more times for good measure. I shrank my card back and recalled it before firing a bomb shot at them. The Vanish Brothers were sent flying away from each other and I started unloading on them. Explosion after explosion went off until I was certain they'd stay down. I raised my finger guns and glanced from one to the other. Then my eyes went wide in horror as I saw a glow coming from one of them.

"FLAME COOKING!" The shorter one shouted as he aimed his frying pan at me and sent the full power of my explosions back at me as a massive fire bolt. I got one card up to block the worst of the flames. When they faded, I noticed something immensely annoying. I pulled my card aside to peek out and saw that the smaller brother had abandoned the fight to run and go check on the larger, who hadn't had a magic frying pan for protection.

I frowned as I saw the horrific burns the larger Vanish Brother was covered in and shook my head. The words on the card that had welcomed me to this world echoed in my head, it's never too late to forgive and make a friend.

"Oy, Vanish Brothers," I called. The smaller one glared over his shoulder at me, and I gave him a level grim look, "One of you is injured, and judging by the looks of him he's in no shape to finish this battle. If you attempt to fight me now, then I will target him mercilessly and without remorse. Leave this place and get your brother to a doctor. I won't stop you." I reached into my wallet, pulled out three of the 50000 jewel notes and set them on one of my cards. I gently pushed the card and money over to them, "I don't know how much Everlue was paying you, but maybe that'll be enough to get your brother some medical attention."

The smaller Vanish Brother looked at the money warily, "Is this some kind of trick?"

I snorted, "If I wanted you dead, you would be. These cards of mine can move at speeds faster than sound itself. I could've had your heads off in an instant. Now take that money, take your brother, and go get him a doctor. You fought well Vanish Brothers, most people wouldn't have been able to stand after that smashing I gave you," I declared with a grin, "We'll call this fight an undecided draw for now and look forward to a rematch somewhere down the road. What do you say?"

The smaller Vanish Brother was quiet for a moment and then he looked at his brother and sighed. He took the money and hefted his brother's arm over his shoulder before drawing himself to his feet. He nodded to me, "Thank you wizard. We shall train relentlessly in preparation for our rematch with you. May I know your name?"

I smiled, "I am Jerry Granger of Fairy Tail." The smaller Vanish Brother nodded, "I am Yu Pan, and this is my brother Mi Shu. We the Vanish Brothers shall do battle with you again one day Jerry Granger of Fairy Tail. Until then though, farewell." And with that, they vanished in a puff of smoke.

I waited for a moment to make sure they were gone and not about to sucker punch me with that frying pan, and then I heard the screaming and had to run.

An instant of trying to figure out where the screams were coming from later and I decided screw it. I just went ahead and started blasting holes through walls. Going that way, it only took a few minutes to find them, and it was a good thing I found them when I did.

Jet and Droy were both unconscious with nasty head wounds and Everlue was watching with sadistic glee as the mountainous maid held Levy in the air by the outstretched arms and pulled with the sort of slow steady force that would have her shoulders out of their sockets in a few minutes at most. Everlue jumped when I blasted through the wall and that was the last he knew about it for a few minutes because I slammed one of my bullet cards into his jaw like a steel clad uppercut. Everlue went flying and I turned a vicious glare on the mountain maid, "Put. Her. Down."

The mountainous maid dropped her, "Okay." Then she charged me and got an explosion in the face for her troubles. To my surprise and mild horror, she plowed right on through it, scorched but otherwise unscathed with a massive punch ready to deck me.

I dodged and slammed the most massive punch I could into her stomach. It was like punching a boulder and then she just fell on top of me. It was then, as I was laying there suffocating and being crushed under her massive bulk that I realized something. "This isn't your real form is it?! DISPERSE!"

I'm not sure quite how I did it, but somehow the solid light she had used to hide her true form was blown away in the eruption of light that I cut loose and I was left with a considerably smaller body on top of me. I didn't even think about it, the instant that massive weight turned small, I did the punch and roll. In an instant I was on my knees, she was on her back, and she was kicking her legs up and wrapping my head in a scissor hold. Once again, I was getting smothered, although this time it was muscle, not fat. Cue the kidney punch! One two jabs in the kidneys and slam with the head. Her grip with her legs broke and before she could recover I drove an elbow into the inside of her knee, hooked my right arm under her left leg and flipped her. I surged upwards and caught her wrist, forcing it up behind her back as I grabbed the back of her head and shoved it into the floor.

It was then that I noticed two things. Number one, she was beautiful. Number two, she looked… shockingly aroused. Then she let out an excited little pant and I was so flustered that my grip loosened up enough for her to break free and roll me off of her. Before I knew what had happened, she was straddling me, had my hands pinned over my head with a pair of handcuffs that I had no idea where she'd pulled them from, and was giving me the sultriest damn look I had ever been on the receiving end of with eyes nearly as blue and intoxicating as Mirajane's. "Is that all you've got?" she purred a few scant inches from my face, "Come on…punish me some more…"

I blinked, masochist. I headbutted her, forced myself to sit up and stopped because I suddenly found myself with a very pretty spirit in my lap looking like she was about to juice herself. She moaned and just as my brain was in danger of putting my body on autopilot, Everlue started flipping out.

Apparently, he did not approve of her form (which was gorgeous and infinitely better than that form she'd been wearing for him), did not approve of the way she was fighting, and also did not approve of her cooking, her housekeeping or her general attitude. That was all declared at the top of his lungs and in very rude phrasing which to keep my blood pressure down I'm not even going to try to remember, and to top it off, those last three I could tell actually very much hurt her… and then he threw her key on the ground and declared that he was going to get another spirit.

The pretty spirit in my lap looked horribly shocked and utterly heartbroken, and was just about to dissolve into golden light with tears forming in her eyes when I caught her and turned her to face me, "You're Virgo right? As soon as I'm done dealing with that son of a bitch over there that just broke his contract with you, I want to make one. Are you okay with that?"

Virgo looked stunned and then nodded slightly with a little blush and smile rising to her cheeks. A second later she disappeared in a little burst of light along with the handcuffs she had managed to slap on me, and then I turned a murderous glare on Everlue.

A few minutes later, Levy was looking at me in mild horror at the state I'd left the little shit stain in as I gently picked up Virgo's key. I won't go into detail, but let's just say that fifty two rapid fire sledge hammer blows really leaves a mark. The only reason I hadn't reduced him the rest of the way to an actual stain on the floor was because a quick death would've been far FAR too merciful. "Umm…I think you might have gone a little overboard," Levy declared nervously.

I snorted, "Anyone who would hurt someone that loyal to them that badly deserves to be beaten three quarters of the way to death and then left to suffer through the last quarter slowly. Did you get the book?" Levy flinched as she remembered why we were there and then started looking around, "Ah! There it is!"

With a little cajolery and reasoning, Levy used her Gale Force Reading Glasses to help me sort through all the documents in Everlue's manor for something to get him locked up (and thereby shift the eyes of the law away from our little B&E as well as ensure that Everlue's punishment did not end with my pulverizing him). In less than an hour we were toting a hogtied Everlue and a pile of paperwork down to the nearest police station. The local sheriff started looking through the documents and evidence we'd brought him, thanked us, and declared that Everlue was probably never going to set foot outside of a prison again.

Levy read Daybreak on the way back to the client's house and realized it was an enchanted book. Upon entering the presence of the client (one Kaby Melon) the book's words and letters unscrambled themselves to reveal the real nature of the book, which was the author's final masterpiece for his son, who was in fact the client. Knowing what we did about the circumstances which led to the book's writing, it was a very sweet ending.

Levy declared that we wouldn't accept the reward because we technically hadn't completed the job of burning the book. I nodded in approval. Jet and Droy kept quiet but moaned in disappointment as soon as we were out the door. I slapped them both in the heads with 50000 jewel notes (it required a little jumping since they were both taller than me) and told them to be quiet. The members of Team Shadowgear stared at me as I explained that I actually hadn't needed the money for this job and just wanted the experience…and an excuse to not be in the guild hall getting laughed at for getting so googly eyed over Mirajane.

Levy giggled slightly at the reminder and then swatted Jet and Droy when they started laughing at me. "You two have no room to laugh at him," Levy declared bluntly, "Especially since I can get the same reaction out of both of you at the same time, despite the fact that we've all known each other since we were kids and you should be used to it by now." Then she shot them the same sort of wink and smile that Mirajane had shot me, "Right?"

Jet and Droy both immediately collapsed like Yu Pan Vanish had introduced them to the business end of his frying pan with hearts in their eyes. Levy waved their antics off with a sigh, "Forgive them, they're hopeless goofballs." Then she smiled, "But they're my hopeless goofballs, so I don't mind." Then she looked at me, "Didn't you say you were going to make a contract with that Celestial Spirit girl as soon as you were done with Everlue?"

I flinched slightly as I remembered and then nodded, "Yeah, thanks for reminding me." I drew the key from my pocket and realized something. I pointed the key like I had seen Lucy do, "Virgo, I don't know if you can hear me, and I'm sorry if there's an incantation for this that I don't know, but I would like to make our contract now if you're not busy. Open Gate of the Maiden, Virgo!"

Apparently she could hear me, because she popped from the ground in a burst of golden light with a sound like a clock's chime. She was every bit as beautiful as she had been when we fought, only now, rather than a maid's uniform, she was dressed in a tight black and gold militaristic jacket open quite revealingly at the chest, spotless white pants and gloves, and thigh high black boots with a pair of handcuffs and a whip at her belt. She looked dangerous, powerful and intoxicatingly sexy.

I smiled, "Ah good, it worked!" Virgo smiled back playfully, "Never had any training as a Celestial Wizard huh Master? Don't worry, everyone has to start somewhere."

I may have blushed slightly with embarrassment, "Heh, yeah. Aright, you got me. I've never had any training as a Celestial Wizard, or a wizard at all really, so how's this contract business work? My friend Lucy's a Celestial Wizard and I've heard her mention them, but I've never actually seen or read one."

Virgo smiled, "It's really simple actually. I tell you the days I'm free to be summoned, which is every day except Sunday, and you agree to not summon me on Sundays."

I then realized something very important, "Alright, but first I must ask one question." "Go ahead," Virgo asked with the faintest wariness in her eyes.

"What day is today?" I asked with an embarrassed grin, "Sorry, I just got yanked here from a different dimension a few days ago, I have no idea what day, month, or even year it is."

Virgo blinked and then started laughing as she told me that it was Thursday July 4th, year X784. I blinked, "Today's the fourth of July? Holy crap, Happy Fourth of July!"

Virgo, Levy and the recently recovered from their fainting Jet and Droy looked at me curiously. "Is the fourth of July important?" Virgo asked.

I tilted my head as I thought about it, "Ehhh…in this dimension I doubt it, but back home it's pretty much my home nation's birthday. It's one of our big holidays where most everyone gets a day off. That's all rather beside the point though, so let's continue. I can summon you any day except Sunday, is there anything I cannot or should not ask you to do, either because you can't or because you just don't want to?"

Virgo thought about it for a moment, "Well, I am bound by Celestial law to not kill you through direct or indirect means, so I won't do that even if you ask me since it would lead to my own excruciatingly slow death by exile. That's about the only thing I can't do, aside from things I don't have the magic to do, such as revive the dead or things like that. I can fight though, and I'll be happy to do so, although I don't like killing so I'd be happy if you would refrain from asking me to do that."

"But slowly pulling my arms out of their sockets is okay?!" Levy exclaimed.

Virgo and I looked at her and Virgo blinked, "Well yes, putting shoulders back in isn't really a problem, it's simple first aid." Levy's expression was a bit priceless as Virgo turned back to me, "Anything else really is quite on the table aside from harming children. I feel certain you wouldn't, but just in case, I'd like it made clear that I would be really uncomfortable with that. I can't stay in this world for long stretches of time, being here too long is one of the only things that can actually kill a Celestial Spirit. Everything else pretty much goes away when we return to the Celestial Spirit World." Her expression turned grim and sad, "Poor brother Leo…"

My interest immediately piqued, Leo was my birth sign, "What happened to him?"

Virgo frowned, "He interceded on behalf of Aries. You see the wizard holding their keys was a very bad woman who was horrible to her spirits. When that woman was planning to torture Aries by making her stay here in the human world for a week, which could very well have killed her, Leo came and stayed here in the human world for months, something no other spirit could have done, to drain her power so that she couldn't summon Aries or any other spirits to abuse. Then that woman went and died because she couldn't summon any of the spirits she had keys for to help her in a fight. Unfortunately, the Celestial Spirit King saw that as violation of the law against killing our wizards, and Leo's been banished from the Celestial Spirit World for over three years now."

Nobody could have missed the tears welling in her eyes, "If brother Leo's still alive, then he must be in unimaginable agony right now, every second of every day."

"Because he stuck up for his little sister and the bitch that was hurting her had a terminal case of stupid?!" I barked, "That's BULLSHIT! Where is this king?! I demand a retrial! Any human court would find Leo totally in the right! Right?!" I turned to Levy because Levy seemed really smart, "Things aren't messed up enough here that he'd be wrong to protect his family, right?!"

"Definitely not!" Levy agreed, "And if that raging bitch (Jet and Droy actually visibly flinched at the sound of Levy cussing) went and got herself killed rather than stop abusing the spirits that are supposed to be her friends, then that's on her! You don't join a wizard guild and take a job that you know could be dangerous when you know you've got no magic power! That's just suicide! If all she had to do was be nicer to her spirits then she should've just done that! Leo did nothing wrong! All he did was try to protect his family!"

"The only thing I could even possibly see as being wrong with Leo's actions is that he didn't take a more active approach to getting rid of that wizard," Jet declared angrily. Droy nodded, "Even if he couldn't kill her like a human would for messing with their little sister, he should've tried to find a way to dissolve the contract. There are other ways to dissolve the contract besides death right?"

Virgo frowned in thought, "Only if the wizard gives up the key or is arrested…"

I pounced, "So if a wizard is so bad that even by human standards they're scum then the contract can be dissolved?!" Virgo blinked at me, "Um…I suppose that's right…"

"Then Aries's contract should've been dissolved long before that wizard's death!" Levy exclaimed, "If it's standard of human behavior and morality that determines where the line is, then that wizard had long since crossed it and was already in gross violation of the contract! You don't just abuse people like that! Don't you make me get my Wind Reader Glasses out!" She declared angrily as she spun and pointed an accusatory finger at the gigantic spirit that had appeared behind us in the oh-so-subtle time stop that had only been given away by the expression of shock on Virgo's face.

Jet and Droy actually looked mildly intimidated by that threat. "Don't make her do it!" Jet begged the titanic looking spirit.

"She'll bury you in such a mountain of evidence and case files to support her argument that it'll take a month to dig yourself out!" Droy added.

"Show us the contract and the evidence for both sides," I declared firmly, "We'll punch the accusation's arguments full of more holes than there are stars in the sky! If the clause for dissolving contracts when the keyholder steps across the line into immoral action is for the protection of Celestial Spirits, then the verdict itself is in direct violation of that clause as any human court would find Leo and Aries' deceased wizard in gross violation of numerous living rights laws! On those grounds alone the verdict should be overturned! Whether it is the word or the spirit of the law upon which the judgment was based, either way, the key holder was clearly in the wrong in that situation! Aries's contract should've been severed the instant that wizard tried to chain her up and keep her in the human world, if not sooner as that is nothing less than attempted murder!"

"Even if by some obscure chance the wording of the law puts Leo on the wrong side of it," Levy declared fiercely, "Words are worth nothing without spirit to back them up. I'm a solid script mage. I know words better than anyone, so I move that it should be the spirit of the law that is taken into account, NOT the wording!"

The Celestial Spirit King (Virgo told me after the fact) stroked his immense mustache and was quiet for several moments as he stared off into space, "You humans make a valid point, and upon reviewing the evidence, I do believe that you are correct. Very well then, LEO THE LION…"

There was a flash of light and a sound like a clock chime and the ginger haired guy that I'd seen at the Guild Hall that morning was suddenly standing before us looking very flustered if not outright stunned. "LOKE?!" Team Shadowgear chorused.

Loke who was apparently also Leo turned and looked at us, "Um, hi guys… hey Virgo, um, what's going on?" He pointed at the Celestial Spirit King before asking in a kinda small voice, "And why is he here?"

"Your retrial is in session," I responded bluntly, "Levy and I are your defense attorneys. I think we're winning."

Loke/Leo started to splutter and protest and was cut off by Levy's hand snapping out, curling into his lapel and yanking him down to look her in the eye. Loke/Leo was quite pale as Levy explained to him just exactly why he was innocent, how it was not his fault and how he wouldn't have to wait on a slow death by exile if he made a monkey out of her in the courtroom by refusing the pardon we had just worked very hard to get for him. When she was finally done she asked in a quiet, steely voice, "Do I make myself perfectly clear Mr. Lion?"

I'm not sure if Loke/Leo soiled himself from Levy's absolute death glare, but I don't think it's too much of a stretch to guess that he wanted to as he replied in a small timid voice, "Yes ma'am…"

"Pfftffft…Pffft…" We all looked at the Celestial Spirit King and saw he was trembling and then, "PFFAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" We all stared as the Celestial Spirit King proceeded to burst out howling with laughter fit to literally shake the heavens.

A moment later when the Celestial Spirit King's laughter petered out, he smiled a big toothy smile at us, "Leo the Lion, you are hereby granted return passage to the Celestial World. You are exonerated. Be grateful to the guidance of the stars!"

Leo went to his knees in shock with tears brimming in his eyes, "Thank you…thank you all so much…" he cried as he covered his eyes with his hands, "Please sir, I have to make it up to them!"

The Celestial Spirit King was starting to fade out of existence in what looked like a ripple of reality, "Very well then. Choose one of these two who argued so passionately for your innocence to be your new keyholder."

"LEVY!" Leo declared without hesitation as he snapped an adoring gaze to the blue haired Solid Script mage. I couldn't blame him, she was supremely cute, especially in that maid's uniform (yeah she was still in it). Levy blushed slightly and shook her head with a smile, "Sorry Loke, I've already got Jet and Droy drooling over my every step, don't need a third one. Why don't you give it to Jerry? He's already got Virgo's key."

Leo looked over his shoulder at me with a flat stare and slumped a little at the fact that I was emphatically male, "Okay…"

I walked over and put a hand on his shoulder, "Come on bro, I need a good wingman." Leo's head snapped up and he looked at me in surprise. Then a huge grin lit up his features, "Now that's more like it!"

I grinned and offered him my hand, "Partners?" Leo took the hand with a grin, "Partners." I nodded, "Now you go on home and get some rest, you've earned it bro." Leo laughed as he dissolved in a cloud of golden light and left a key in my quickly clenched hand with the symbol of Leo the Lion on it.

I smiled at it, "What an eventful first day I'm having…" Virgo cleared her throat, "Um, Master? Since we've completed the contract, can we resume our conversation later? I want to get home to welcome Brother Leo back."

I nodded with a smile, "Of course, we'll talk later. Go be with your family. My questions can wait a while." "Thank you!" Virgo chirped as she disappeared in a burst of golden light.

I turned back to Team Shadowgear, "So, shall we head home?" I grimaced down at the burn holes littering the sleeves of my jacket and the char blackened ruins of my poor hat in my hand, "I've got some shopping to do." I sighed at it, "This was my favorite freakin' hat too…"

AN:

Okay, now before I get bombarded with comments that that was too easy on saving Loke/Leo, I'd like to point out that in canon all it took was Lucy pitching a complete and utter hissy fit about how unfair Leo's punishment was. Levy and Jerry were actually ready to start pulling case files and have an all out legal debate with King Stash-Face. I get the feeling from canon that the Celestial Spirit King really hated having to banish Leo at all and was probably looking for any even halfway decent excuse to pardon him. I'm pretty sure that a legal team from Fairy Tail featuring Levy is enough reason for anyone to just shut up and go with it to avoid the horrors that arguing with them would bring down.