"Enough!"
"Natsu, stop bothering with Laxus. You know what he's like. No matter how long you argue with him, it won't do any good!"
"Anyway, you!"
"Mira just gave you a pretty stern warning, too. You really should get to work and start earning money to pay off your debt. That's the most important thing right now!"
"Anyway!"
"Let's go get ready, then head out and find some work together!"
"And Lucy, Gray, Happy, and..."
"Annie?"
"Let's form a team!"
Just then, after stopping Natsu from starting a fight and watching the annoying Laxus laugh as he swaggered away, Erza turned and suggested it to her companions.
"Uh?"
"Huh?"
"What?!"
"Even Happy?"
Hearing Erza suddenly come over and say that, everyone was startled—including Lucy, the cat Happy, and the drunk Natsu and Gray.
"??"
(??????)????
Annie hadn't paid any attention to the commotion behind her. She'd already finished her cake and was now forcibly holding onto a certain teddy bear, rubbing her cream-covered little hands all over it. She turned around curiously to look at the person who'd called her name.
"Here's the thing!"
"Ever since the Eisenwald incident, we've all been together pretty much constantly. Come to think of it, it's been over two months now..."
"Well, since we've all been getting along pretty well, I suggest that starting today, the six of us—Erza, Lucy, Gray, Natsu, Happy, and Annie—officially form a team!"
"Ah!"
"C-could we really do that?"
"Erza, you know I'm just an ordinary Celestial Spirit Mage. Can someone like me really team up with you?"
"You're an S-Class Mage!"
"It's fine, Lucy. You've already teamed up with Annie, haven't you? She's an S-Class Mage, too, and she seems even stronger than I am!"
"Well..."
"All right, Lucy! Of course Erza can join us, but... why does