Sparky vs Snarky

Hearing that egotisical boast immediately made his attractiveness drop drastically in my eyes. I let my expression fall flat before I drawl out, "Keep your panties on Sparky, you're not that handsome. I just never seen this technology before so it's only natural that I don't know how to work it." I end this with my own sneer.

His eyebrow raises at the nickname I given him and he retorts condescendingly, "Never seen a lacrima before? Where have you been living, under a rock?"

"Nope." I quip back while popping the 'p'. "Just in a different dimension that isn't ruled by magic but instead by science." I look down to inspect the crystal as I say that last bit like I'm discussing the weather. I don't bother to look up at his grunt of confusion as I try to figure out how to work the lacrima before I realize that he won't know how to operate my iPod.

"Oh yeah, I better turn this on for you. Wouldn't want you to try zapping it and breaking it since you wouldn't know how to turn on an iPod." I say happily while plucking the small device out of the larger man's hand and giving him a pointed look.

He has a sour expression on his face but doesn't say anything so I consider it a point in my favor. (Smug punk. People like that really rub me the wrong way.) After the iPod turns on, I quickly open the music app and get a playlist going of Rock music before plugging in the earbuds. Finished with setting it up, I hand the device back to Sparky.

"When you put in the earbuds, you just tap this symbol here," I inform him as I lean in closer to show him the correct way to start it, "and you tap it again to pause it. You use these two buttons here to control how loud the music is. Don't use any of that electricity magic Sparky, you could destroy it and there isn't way that I'm aware of to restore it." He narrows his eyes and lets out an annoyed grunt but otherwise follows instructions.

Sparky then closes his eyes while crossing his arms over his chest to listen to the Rock medley playing. I have on that playlist a wide variety of rock going from classic, indie, metal, soft, screamo, alternative and so on.

Erza walks over to me with a smile and a questioning look on her face as she greets me, "Morning Krysti, I see that you have met Laxus."

"So that's his name!" I say happily as I put his sound pods on the table behind us. "I just been calling him Sparky." The red-head gets a surprised look before it quickly turns into slight amusement.

"I'm sure that Laxus didn't take to that name very well." She says with a small smile.

I grin back before replying, "He hasn't said anything about it, although he has been grunting grumpily. I'm starting to think that it's a normal way of communicating for him." Her smile widens.

"Yes it is. Laxus is someone who doesn't talk much usually. So how are you doing today, Krysti? Shouldn't you be resting instead of walking all the way here? It is quite a ways from your home." She asks me in concern.

I give her a happy grin before replying, "It may be far, but I think the exercise is good for me. I am still a bit weak, but Natsu was sweet and stayed by me to make sure I didn't fall. That and I just had to come to see how the guild and everyone else is doing. I haven't seen them in over a week and I'm feeling anxious to see them."

The redhead gives me her small smile as she answers, "Everyone is doing fine and I'm sure that they will be happy to see you too. After all, you did give us quite the scare."

"Well it's not like I meant to…" I cut off what I was saying as a high pitched voice shouts out something unintelligible. Curious to what is causing the noise I look around towards the construction site but nothing seems amiss over there. Something small latches onto me as it rams into my side hard enough that it knocks me off of the bench so I'm lying on the dirt in front of Sparky. I look at what is holding onto me and a mop of dark purple hair is burrowing into my side.

"What the…?" I say to myself before a tear filled face pops up into view.

"Krysti-nee! You're okay! You're really okay! Dad said you were but I thought he might have been lying! Days went by and you didn't show up and I thought *hiccup* I thought…!" Romeo cries out and breaks down again. My heart softens at the sound of his crying and I envelope the boy in a tight hug.

"Hey, its ok, Scamp. I'm fine, your dad didn't lie. I just used too much magic in one go. But I was healed up by Porlyusica, so I'm all better now." I whisper to him as he cries loudly. With Erza's help, I get back on the bench with Romeo sitting on my lap as he refuses to let me go. (Guess the little guy really does care for me.) My heart warms at the care and concern that the young boy has for me and I hug him again.

"Ti-chan!" a higher pitched female voice calls out and I perk up at the sound.

"Levy!" I shout back happily as I turn to face the petite girl just as she slams into me with a big hug just like Romeo not even moments before. At least this time it wasn't so hard that it knocked me off the bench.

"I'm so happy that you're alright! Porlyusica wouldn't let me in to see you after the war was over and then the Rune Knights came, and the Master had us start rebuilding the guild…" she quickly states before getting cut off by a tight hug from me.

"Ti-chan?" Levy asks in confusion. I squeeze her tighter for another moment before letting her go. A squirm in my lap has me look down at Romeo who thankfully wasn't caught in the middle of that hug.

"Are you ok, Krysti-nee?" he asks worriedly.

I sniff and wipe my wet eyes before answering, "I was so worried for you, Levy." Jet and Droy limp around Levy to where I can see them. "You two as well, Droy, Jet. The last time I saw you, y'all was unconscious in a hospital bed." At this point I started to cry again. "I didn't know if you would be ok."

Levy starts to cry now as well, "We were fine, Ti-chan. Yes, we got beaten up, but that doesn't keep Team Shadowgear down. We are coming back stronger than ever."

I shake my head. "You don't understand. I was there when you were found hanging on the tree. I helped carry your bodies to the hospital. For a while there, I thought you guys might have been…" I stop talking at this and just let my tears roll down my face as Levy and Romeo both hug me from either side. I close my eyes as I hug them back, telling myself that they are ok. That I didn't see my dear friends die.

"Hey everybody!" Mirajane's voice rings out from the makeshift bar where Lucy is sitting. "We can now take missions again!" A chorus of approving shouts quickly follows Mirajane's announcement. I sniff and wipe my eyes free from tears as Levy and Romeo both disengage from our group hug.

I look over to see Jet and Droy's watery eyes as they look towards us and behind them I see Gray walking up to Lucy who for some reason is holding her butt. Natsu and Happy approach her from another side with matching mischievous looks on their faces.

(What are those two up to now?) Suddenly a loud snort from my left startles me and I look over to Sparky who has an arrogant sneer on his face again.

"Weaklings. All of you are pathetically weak to let Phantom Lord stomp all over you." Laxus says in disgust as he places my iPod and earbuds on the bench between us. At his words, two things happen simultaneously. First, Lucy is shouting at Happy, Gray and Natsu about sexually harassing her, and secondly Erza stands up so fast from her seat that the bench falls over.

My fierce protectiveness kicks in and before I realize what I'm doing I bark at Erza, "Erza, sit down." She has a wild look in her eyes that I'm certain that is matched with mine. I hand Romeo over to Levy, so he will be safe just in case things go for the worse. I figured out a while ago that Erza is like me and is a mama bear when it comes to people we care about, and that means things could escalate.

"Young lady! Sit yourself down right this instant." I command using my best mom voice that I can muster. Erza jerks in surprise but follows my command without saying anything. I turn my gaze onto Sparky which becomes a glare.

"I'll deal with you in just a moment, mister." I growl out to the blond man. Standing up, I look over towards the rest of my friends by Mirajane's bar.

"Natsu." I bark, and he comes to attention like he is in the army. "Gray." I bark again and the ice mage follows suit. "Happy." The cat actually salutes me as he also comes to attention.

"All three of you, step away from Lucy and stop whatever it is that you are doing to harass her. This may not be my actual house, but I will not tolerate shenanigans of that sort in my presence. Is that clear?"

"Aye sir!" they shout out in unison.

I point over to the construction site and continue to bark, "Now go over there and help build. And if I catch you guys slacking off or fighting with each other, there will be consequences. Is that clear?"

"Aye sir!" they shout out in unison again.

"March!" I bellow out the best drill sergeant impression I can make and the three hurry over to the unfinished guildhall as fast as they can. Satisfied with how that situation was resolved I turned my gaze back onto Sparky who is looking highly amused at me.

My dander still up, I cross my arms and growl out, "What do you find so funny?"

His lips twitch in amusement as he lounges back against the table more before replying, "Never seen anyone but Erza make those three hop as fast as they did."

"Well we aren't here to talk about that. What I want to know is what makes you think that you have the right to start insulting the rest of the guild for being weak during a fight that you weren't even here to fight." I hiss out that last part. Last night when my friends were telling me what I missed, it was mentioned that Laxus refused to help which made me upset.

He looks a bit taken aback from the venom that is clear in my voice before retorting with, "I know because I'm the strongest ma-" I quickly cut him off with a waving hand.

"Yeah, yeah. Strongest mage in Fairy Tail. I heard that already. That's all well and good but you weren't there!" I accuse him while stabbing at him with a pointing finger.

"What is the point of being strong if you're not there to protect your friends and family?" I take a step closer to Sparky so I'm looming over him and he looks up at me, unimpressed. Hearing the arrogance in his voice, thinking he is better than anyone to go along with him insulting my friends. This just added fuel to my anger which is threatening to burst loose like a breaking dam.

"And what makes you think that you have a right to insult anybody here about being weak when every single one of them risked their lives to protect each other and managed to overcome the odds when they were stacked against us. What gives you the right!?" I snarl that last sentence loudly at the blond man before me.

I'm more pissed than I was at Erza when I found out she punches Natsu in the stomach to keep from having to deal with his motion sickness. I can feel what might be my magic trying to bubble under the surface but I ignore it to deal with the man in front of me.

He gives me a look of disdain before retorting, "I'm Laxus Dreyar, the strongest mage in Fairy Tail and I'm going to become the next Master once Gramps retires." I roll my eyes dramatically at this declaration and I hear him growl softly at my action.

"Ok, so you're Laxus Dreyar. Big whoop." I throw an arm in the air in an arc over my head. "All you talk about is being the strongest mage like some broken record. Frankly, I'm getting tired of hearing it. You're strong you say? Strong how? Tell me that." I say with extreme sarcasm as I cross my arms over my chest while tapping my foot impatiently.

Starting to look frustrated, Sparky indignantly responds, "I'm strong the only way you can be strong. Anyone here I can beat with one arm tied behind my back while blindfolded." He finishes with a proud expression.

"What did you say, Laxus!? I'll fight you here and now!" I hear Natsu roar out as he comes closer to us. A loud thud lets me know that someone stopped him from interrupting me and Sparky. I give the blond man in front of me a flat look before clicking my tongue and shaking my head slowly. I push down the anger as another emotion comes into play. Pity.

"Oh sweetie, sweetie. No. Just no. There isn't only one way to be strong." I say softly while giving him a pitying look. I uncross my arms and place my hands on my hips as I continue.

"Dear child, there are many ways to be strong, and physical strength isn't the best way to go about it. Anyone can have muscles and be able to beat up people. But it is much more rare and precious to find those who have strong minds, or those who have strong faith. There is a strength in loyalty, a strength in willpower, a strength in determination and many more." I take my hands off of my hips and raise them up and out as if to encompass the whole guild.

"Yet the one strength that I see that is stronger than any other that always prevails in the end is the strength of love. The love that people hold for each other, whether it is for family, friends, or for the one you want to live the rest of your life with is far greater than any of those other strengths that I mentioned."

Arms encircle my right leg and I look down to see Romeo looking up at me with a big grin. I smile fondly down at him and rub his head affectionately. I look back up to see the dark look on Laxus' face and I smile warmly at him in response despite the anger I feel towards him.

"Love is the greatest strength anyone can ever possess and with it, people can accomplish things that others would think impossible. And you know what?" I ask the lightning mage before picking up Romeo in my arms with a small grunt.

"I see that this guild is full of love, and as long as that continues to be true there isn't any obstacle that we can't overcome." I end my small speech with a sharp nod of my head.

Laxus sneers at me with the darkest look in his eyes yet before growling out, "You pathetic weak piece of trash. You can't even use magic and yet you're lecturing me about strength? I don't know why gramps even let you in this guild, but once I take over all this goody-goody feelings and crap will end." I look down at him with a raised eyebrow, acting like his words have the same effect on me as a child throwing a tantrum would.

"Child, you have a lot of growing up to do before you take over anything." I state as calm as I can. At those words, Laxus gets to his feet in a rush and he looms menacingly over me. I'm not worried that he will attack me, I'm more worried about Romeo who is now trembling in my arms.

"I am not a child." Laxus says slowly before he literally growls at me with anger in his eyes.

I raise an eyebrow again as I shift Romeo in my grip before replying, "You sure are acting like one. Talking about being the strongest all the time, talking about how you're going to be the master one day, and now you're trying to intimidate me with your size to make me agree with you? Just like a kid. Heck right now even little Romeo here would be a better guild master than you until you mature some more."

The positively evil glare he gave the boy in my arms raised my hackles to the point that I put Romeo down and had him stand behind me. Having the child safely behind me, I stood up and glared at the lightning mage with my not so impressive height of almost five and a half feet. Our eyes lock in a contest of wills and I do not plan to back down. We stay that way for a full minute, staring each other down before Laxus suddenly closes his eyes with a scoff.

"You and the rest of these weaklings aren't even worth my time." He boasts while turning away to grab his lacrima and sound pods. I snort at his words.

"More like you're scared." I snapped back at him before mockingly scoffing. I can hear his neck snap, he turned to face me so fast.

"What did you say?" he snarls as an expression of outrage over takes his features. I cross my arms over my chest as I ignore his glare.

"You heard me, Sparky." I retort before uncrossing my arms to put one hand on my hip and point to him with the other hand. "You. Are. Scared." I repeat slowly while enunciating each syllable.

He marches up to me while growling in a very threatening way, "I. Am. Not. Scared."

Not breaking eye contact, and not willing to back down, I shift into a more firm stance before continuing, "Yes you are. Scared that I'm right that physical strength is not the only type of strength there is, but also scared that I'm right about you still being a child." His eyes widen in fury and for a moment it seems that he is about to attack before he deflates into nonchalance and turns around again.

"Why should your opinions matter? Once I'm Master every one of you weaklings will get kicked out. Only the strongest will be able to stay. Fairy Tail will be the strongest guild." He retorts airily before disappearing in a blast of lightning. The sudden departure caught me completely off guard and I tried to leapt back with a yelp, but only to trip over Romeo who was right behind me. We both tumbled and Jet was fast enough to catch Romeo while I just landed against Erza.

Helping me stand upright, the red-head looks away in a sad expression. "I'm sorry about Laxus…" she starts off softly. "He hasn't always been this way, but ever since the incident, he has been obsessed with strength." I tilt my head to the side slightly at that.

"Incident?" I ask in confusion. Erza's head lowers at my question until her eyes are hidden from me.

"I don't know exactly what happened, but the Master had to exile his son, Laxus's father, from the guild. Laxus hasn't been able to forgive the Master since." I narrow my eyes at this. (Ok, so tall, moody, and handsome may have a legit reason for having a chip on his shoulder.)

"Still doesn't give him a right to be such an ass-bag." I say as a snide comment. At that, I hear Natsu laughing over my particular insult for Sparky, Happy's giggling soon joins in along with a quiet chuckle I barely caught from Gray.

Without turning around I call out sweetly, "Oh boys?" the laughter immediately stops and I smirk as I see Erza holding back a smile as she looks over my shoulder.

"If I turn around and don't see you working, you better be prepared for retribution." I almost sing-song before slowly turning to face them. I hear a quick pounding of feet and I can see the three guys working hard in the distance. A loud sound of laughter comes from all around and I'm startled to see that most of the guild is nearby and laughing at Natsu, Gray, and Happy.

"When did they get here?" I ask in bewilderment to no one in particular.

"They all came up just after Erza knocked over the table and you ordered her to sit down." Jet said as he still is holding onto Romeo.

"Yea, I know I never seen anything like it!" Droy exclaims as he waves the arm not holding onto a crutch in excitement. "Erza never takes orders from anyone but the Master! And then you stood up to Laxus." Droy says the lightning mage's name like I just challenged some sort of god.

"Not just stood up, you put him in his place!" Jet butts in excitedly.

"And you did it for us!" Droy finishes before the two start crying and engulf me in a damp hug with Romeo caught in the middle. (Now I know how Levy feels.) I laugh awkwardly as I try to comfort them.

As I look around, I can see the smiling faces of the rest of the guild looking our way and I lock away the anger at Sparky for another time as I allow myself to be content. (This may not be my world or even my dimension, but this is my home now. For better or for worse I will do my best to do right by these people.)