Laxus Returns from Training

After eating the cake, Erza became much more cheerful and even smiled from time to time. Eleven could tell that she was slowly settling into the guild. Although he felt she still had secrets buried in her heart and couldn't open up completely, everything was gradually getting better.

A few days later, with the help of the master and Ms. Porlyusica, Erza's injured eye was restored to normal.

Once again, Eleven marveled at Ms. Porlyusica's remarkable medical skills. He immediately scampered off to her cabin to express his admiration. Of course, he ended up receiving a loving thrashing from her and was thrown out.

Everyone in the guild returned to their usual routines, playing cards, shooting the breeze, streaking, and whatnot. Erza seemed to have become addicted to cake. Whenever she sat down in the guild, a slice of cake would appear in front of her, with all sorts of flavors on offer.

Everyone lived life in their own distinctive way.

One day, Eleven suddenly remembered his earlier decision to properly straighten Erza out about wasting time on jobs. He would take her on a job and be a mentor like Gildarts, giving this newcomer a proper education.

Unfortunately, Eleven's grand plan was interrupted before he could put it into action. The guild doors were violently flung open once again, and a blond-haired youth strode in high-spirited, wearing a bearskin cloak.

"Yo! Laxus is back!"

Everyone in the guild welcomed him. Laxus had been missing for almost half a year, and he was finally back.

Gray and Erza also turned their attention to Laxus. Erza had never met him and was curious. Gray had met him once, but he had been beaten into amnesia within seconds, so he wasn't very familiar with Laxus either.

Eleven was the happiest of all. Over the past six months without Laxus around, he actually hadn't seemed to mind... Still, he was happy Laxus was back. They could have passionate duels between mages again. Hehehe, he would one-shot Laxus again for the sheer fun of it!

"La~xa~us!"

Eleven's mocking voice came from deep inside the guild. "Even if you were scared of me, you didn't have to hide for half a year!"

Seeing Eleven act like such a jerk, Cana, who was sitting beside him, instinctively covered her forehead. She moved away from him and the trouble he was stirring up, and sat down with Erza.

Erza, meanwhile, was surprised that Eleven, who always seemed like such a nice guy, had this side to him. She quietly asked Cana about the relationship between Eleven and Laxus.

Gray now remembered what Laxus had once done to him. Seeing Eleven provoke Laxus, he became wildly excited, immediately stripped naked and rolled up his sleeves, ready to fight Laxus too.

But Laxus, who should have flown into a rage at Eleven's words, was surprisingly calm. He first greeted the old master, then leisurely turned to look at Eleven.

"Eleven, you brat, are your injuries healed?" Laxus raised an eyebrow and looked at Eleven teasingly.

"Yeah, couldn't be better." Eleven didn't mind. He even stood up and jumped a few times to show Laxus that he had fully recovered.

"Good!" A cruel smile suddenly appeared on Laxus's face. He flung his cloak aside, and crackling bolts of electricity shot out as he laughed wildly. "Now I can beat you into a cripple again!"

Seeing how arrogant Laxus was, Eleven frowned. "You weren't the one who seriously injured me last time. How about you stop taking credit for it?"

Laxus: (▼皿▼#)

A whirlwind swept up fallen leaves and sent them dancing through the air, giving the Magnolia street outside the guild a slightly desolate look. Once again, Eleven and Laxus stood facing each other, ready to duel.

Of course, the word "desolate" could never apply to the Fairy Tail guild for long. Before long, everyone poured outside to watch. Gray was the most excited of them all. He decided that no matter who won, he would challenge the winner afterward.

Facing Laxus, Eleven was pondering a question: should he give Laxus some face? Should he use his ultimate move right away, or trade a few blows first? After thinking it over for a while, Eleven decided to give Laxus three seconds of face. They were friends, after all.

Makarov once again took on the role of referee, watching his children show what they could do with great delight.

"Begin!"

Crackle! Boom!!

The duel was over!

A gray figure was blasted straight into the guild in an instant and lay motionless.

Everyone present stared wide-eyed at Laxus. From their perspective, the instant Makarov announced the start, Laxus had transformed into a bolt of electricity and appeared behind Eleven almost as if he had teleported.

"Did he turn into lightning to move? Is he a monster?"

Everyone was utterly shocked. This was far more spectacular than Eleven's invisible Telekinesis blitz. Makarov's eyes were wide too. He hadn't expected his grandson to have grown so much without him noticing.

Electricity flickered all over Laxus, crackling and snapping, occasionally even splitting his skin. It seemed this move also placed an enormous strain on his body. Inside, though, he was absolutely delighted!

I won it back! A one-shot! And I should look much better right now than that guy did last time! That felt good!

Laxus was wildly cheering himself on inside, shouting 666 with all his might. On the outside, though, he kept up a nonchalant expression, maintaining his cool pose. He even felt that wasn't enough, so he picked up his homemade bearskin cloak, swept it over his shoulders, and turned away in style. He offered everyone no explanation.

Behind him, Gray swallowed and shrank back. He'd challenge him some other time. Erza, on the other hand, looked eager for battle, but she was fairly polite and didn't rush forward to challenge him.

"Ah!"

Eleven shot upright in a hospital bed. He looked around and discovered that he was in Fairy Tail's infirmary.

Cana, who was sitting beside Eleven reading, jumped at his sudden shout and gave him a slightly reproachful glare.

"Damn it! Laxus is such a lousy friend!"

After staring blankly at Cana for a long while, Eleven suddenly blurted that out. He had clearly been planning to give Laxus three seconds of face, yet Laxus had one-shotted him! What the meow kind of magical scrap brotherhood was this?

Cana was baffled by his words, but she couldn't be bothered to ask. It wasn't as if Eleven had only started acting weird yesterday.

"That's what you get for courting death and insisting on provoking Laxus! Hmph! Serves you right!" Cana scolded Eleven, but thoughtfully poured him a glass of water anyway.

"No, I have to get even. I didn't even use my full strength!" Eleven took the glass and drained it in one gulp, then sprang out of bed and ran off without looking back, vanishing from sight and leaving Cana in disarray.

<(｀^´)...