"Welcome to Fairy Tail, Lucy!" Happy cheered as the four of them stood before the massive double doors of the Fairy Tail Guild Hall.
"WE MADE IT ALIVE!!" Natsu shouted, kicking the doors open with enough force to rattle the walls.
"GRANDPA, WE'RE BACK!!!" Kari yelled, flying in on her golden cloud Nimbus.
Inside, the guild members turned to look.
"Hey, Natsu, Kari," one of them began. "I heard you two went a bit wild in Hargeon, huh? Had to go and start trou—"
Before he could finish, Natsu's foot connected with his face, sending him flying into a table.
"WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!" Lucy cried in shock.
"YOU LIED ABOUT THAT SALAMANDER, I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS!!" Natsu yelled at the unconscious man.
"Ooh! We're fighting now? Awesome, let's go!" Kari whooped, leaping onto a tall man nearby.
"Wha—?! You wanna go, little monkey?!" he barked back.
Within seconds, the guild hall became a full-on battlefield—chairs flying, tables breaking, magic flaring. Lucy just stood there, eyes wide.
"Oh wow… I'm actually standing inside the Fairy Tail guild hall," she whispered in awe.
"So Natsu and Kari finally made it back, huh," said a spiky-haired man standing in the middle of the fighting, wearing nothing but his underwear.
Lucy blinked. "...Is he naked?"
This was Gray Fullbuster, a talented Ice-Make wizard—and a notorious habitual stripper.... Huh.
"It's time the three of us settle this once and for all!" Gray declared, marching toward the brawl.
"Gray, your clothes," said a calm female voice nearby.
The speaker was Cana Alberona, Fairy Tail's legendary drinker, casually sipping from a barrel of alcohol as if the chaos around her didn't exist.
"I don't have time for that!" Gray snapped.
Cana sighed. "See, Lucy? This is why I don't date anyone here. No class." She took a long drink.
"Come and fight me, Natsu!" Gray yelled.
"Not until you put some pants on!" Natsu yelled back.
"It's only noon and you're all whining like spoiled brats," a deep voice grumbled.
Lucy turned to see a muscular, white-haired man approaching.
This was Elfman Strauss, the guild's resident "real man" enthusiast.
"I'm a real man! You want me to prove it to ya?!" he shouted.
'I can't believe he's encouraging them!' Lucy thought, horrified.
Before Elfman could even flex, Kari, Natsu, and Gray all turned around and punched him simultaneously, sending him flying out the window.
"They knocked him out that easily?!" Lucy gawked.
"Geez, it's so noisy around here," came a smooth voice.
Lucy turned to see Loke, the guild's self-proclaimed lady killer, lounging with two women at his sides.
Before he could say another word, a cup nailed him square in the forehead.
"Ow!"
"Are you okay, Loke?" his admirers gasped.
"I'll… go protect you two," he muttered dramatically, standing up.
"Good luck~!" they chimed.
Lucy scribbled something in her notebook. "He's definitely off my list…"
She looked around. Tables were breaking, bottles flying, and people were cheering. "What is wrong with this place?! There isn't a single sane person here!"
"Excuse me, hello! Are you new here?" a cheerful voice said behind her.
Lucy turned—and immediately fangirled internally.
It's Mirajane!
The stunning white-haired woman smiled kindly. "I'm Mirajane. Welcome to Fairy Tail."
"Um, shouldn't we stop them before someone dies?" Lucy asked, pointing at the chaos.
Mirajane waved her hand dismissively. "It's always like this. I just let them tire themselves out. Besides—"
CRASH!
Elfman flew back into her, knocking her to the ground.
"See? It's kind of fun, don't you think?" Mirajane said weakly before passing out.
"MIRAJANE, DON'T DIE ON ME!!" Lucy screamed.
Gray suddenly flew past and crashed into her.
Natsu twirled Gray's shorts around his finger. "Give me back my underwear, you jerk!" Gray shouted.
"Excuse me, miss," Gray said to Lucy, completely serious. "Can I borrow yours?"
"AS IF!!" Lucy shrieked, smacking him away.
Loke tried to swoop in gallantly—"You men are so insensiti—" —only to be punched by Elfman.
"Speak with your fists, Loke!" Elfman yelled, before Kari kicked him into a pillar.
"I told you to butt out!" she shouted.
Cana groaned, raising a glowing magic card. "That's enough, you guys. Knock it off."
Gray summoned an Ice-Make circle. "Oh yeah? Says who?"
Elfman's arm turned to stone. Loke's ring glowed. Natsu's flames roared. Kari cupped her hands, energy swirling.
"Do they always fight like this?!" Lucy screamed, holding up Happy as a shield.
Happy nodded. "Aye!"
Suddenly—a massive footstep shook the ground.
"WILL YOU FOOLS STOP FIGHTING LIKE CHILDREN?!" boomed a giant's voice.
Everyone froze.
Lucy looked up, trembling. "H-he's huge!!"
"Oh, Master! You're still here," Mirajane said casually, brushing dust off her hair.
"Did you just say Master?!" Lucy squeaked.
Natsu grinned. "Ha! Guess that means I win this round—"
The giant promptly stepped on him.
The massive shadow turned toward Kari, who still had her hands charged.
"Kari," he said calmly, "you remember what happened last time, don't you? Now, how about you just—"
KABOOM!
Kari fired the ki blast through the roof.
Everyone stared silently as smoke filled the hall.
"…My hand slipped," Kari said.
BAM!
The giant's fist slammed down, planting Kari face-first into the floor.
"K-Kari!!" Lucy screamed.
The shadow shrank, revealing a short old man with a mischievous smile.
"Well," he said, brushing off his hands, "looks like we've got ourselves a new recruit."
Lucy blinked. "W-wait—that's the Master?!"
"Yup!" Mirajane said cheerfully. "This is Fairy Tail's Guild Master—Makarov Dreyar!"
Makarov hopped onto the balcony, holding a mountain of papers.
"You've gone and done it again! Take a look at all these complaints from the Magic Council!" he shouted, shaking the stack. "And now I have to fix the roof, too!"
The room fell silent.
"Have you lost your minds?! All you kids do is make the higher-ups mad at me!"
He paused—then smirked.
"However…" He set the papers aflame. "To hell with the Magic Council! If all we do is follow rules, our magic will never grow. Don't let those blowhards scare you! Follow your own path! Because that's what makes Fairy Tail—NUMBER ONE!"
Cheers erupted around the hall.
Later that day, Mirajane smiled as she pressed a glowing Fairy Tail mark onto Lucy's hand.
"There! You're officially one of us."
Lucy beamed. "Hey Natsu, Kari! Look, I got my guild mark!"
"Oh yeah? Cool," Natsu muttered, scanning the job board.
"Yeah, nice. Anyway—check out this one!" Kari said, pointing.
"Make sure it's a big reward!" Happy chimed in.
"Whoa—160,000 Jewel to catch some thieves!" Natsu read aloud.
"Sounds good to me!"
Just then, a small boy ran into the guild.
"Master Makarov! Why hasn't my dad come back yet?"
Makarov sighed. "You're testing my patience, Romeo. Your father's a wizard—he'll be fine. Go home and have some milk and cookies."
"But he's been gone a week! He said he'd only be gone for three days!" Romeo shouted, tears forming.
"He took a job on Mount Hakobe," Makarov said gruffly. "He'll be back."
"But why won't anyone go look for him?!"
"Because your old man can take care of himself. Now run along—"
SMACK!
Romeo's tiny fist hit Makarov square in the nose. "JERK! I hate you all!" he cried, running out.
Lucy frowned. "That poor kid…"
Mirajane smiled softly. "Master's worried too—but he just doesn't show it."
Suddenly, Kari punched a hole through the request board.
She turned and walked out the door, Natsu and Happy following silently.
Inside, guild members exchanged worried looks.
"This isn't good… You know how she gets."
"She's never like that when Erza's around," another muttered.
"Let them go," Makarov said quietly. "They'll be fine. Those two always are."
Outside, Lucy watched them go. "Why did they get so upset?" she asked.
Mirajane folded her hands. "Probably because they understand how Romeo feels. Kari doesn't remember her parents—Master found her as a baby and raised her like his own granddaughter. And Natsu… he lost the only father figure he ever had."
She smiled faintly. "Just because we're part of Fairy Tail doesn't mean we don't carry our own pain."
Out on the street, Natsu placed a hand on Romeo's head, and Kari patted his back.
"We've all had our fair share of suffering and loss," Kari said softly. "But you're not alone. We'll find your dad, and bring him back.