"Old man, we're back!"
With the flimsy wooden door kicked flying, Future Natsu strode in casually. Upon seeing the lively scene inside the guild, he froze for a moment, standing there dumbfounded.
"Really now, if you're coming in, then come in. Don't just stand in the middle blocking the way, alright?"
Future Gray followed close behind, speaking words of complaint as he entered the guild.
Then he, too, was struck dumb.
"Hey, you two, do you have to compete over everything? We still need to report to the master—WHAT (voice cracking)?!"
Future Lucy, poking her head out from behind, blinked in utter confusion. "Huh? Me? Two masters? And why is everyone else here too?!"
At this point, the thick-skulled Future Natsu seemed to catch on. He walked over with a grin and greeted them warmly: "Yo, long time no see, Edo Lucy~"
Oh, so it was everyone from Edolas visiting!
Future Lucy clutched her chest and let out a heavy sigh of relief, only for her nerves to immediately tighten again.
"Wait! That clearly looks like me, right? No, it can't be me, and it definitely can't be Edo me either!"
Flustered, she shook her head frantically, completely lost in confusion.
Future Mirajane, Future Macao, and the others standing behind were equally baffled, unable to make heads or tails of the situation. They hadn't been part of the same training camp as Future Natsu—they just happened to run into each other on the way back to the guild.
Despite having mentally prepared themselves, seeing their counterparts who looked exactly like them still left Chase's Tenrou Island group feeling surprised, with an indescribable sense of strangeness.
Future Erza stepped forward slowly, her uncertain gaze falling on the two masters sitting at the bar. "Master, what exactly... is going on here?"
She couldn't tell them apart. Even she couldn't tell which one was the "real" master!
"Ahem, well... it's a long story—"
Scene change.
A raucous, boisterous banquet began.
The people from both worlds mingled together, slapping each other on the backs in the somewhat cramped hall, drinking, singing, and bragging.
From a distance, there wasn't the slightest hint of awkwardness.
"Dammit! Why doesn't our side have such cute girls joining?!"
"You're called Éclair, right? Would you like to watch the sunset together on the mountain behind later?"
Future Macao and Future Wakaba, wearing lecherous old faces, crowded around Éclair, showering her with attention.
Seven years had aged their appearances considerably, but it hadn't washed away their perverted old man tendencies.
"You've both aged quite a bit, Mr. Macao and Mr. Wakaba," Éclair replied calmly, handling them with ease.
It strangely felt like she had just joined this noisy guild all over again, the Phoenix Priestess thought to herself.
Her unintentional remark seemed to strike a nerve with the two perverted old men, who collapsed to the ground together, sinking into deep emo mode.
"I said, Dad!" The now teenage Romeo was utterly speechless.
Over on another side, the Exceeds had gathered together.
"What, Momon is our little sister?!" Future Happy stared at Momon in disbelief.
"Aye~ Momon totally recognizes me as her big brother, you know~" Happy puffed himself up in front of his counterpart, paws on his hips, tail held high.
"That's not true! If anything, I should be the big sister!" Momon shot back, not giving him any face.
"Still, I never thought there would be another version of me in another world..."
"The world of magic is truly a wondrous thing."
Future Carla, Carla, and Panther Lily chatted amongst themselves nearby.
Unfortunately, Future Panther Lily and Future Gajeel were still out training and hadn't returned yet, or else they could have had the full two-blue-two-white-two-black set.
Future Mirajane and her three siblings sat at a table with their counterparts.
"Thank goodness. It looks like the Lisanna over there isn't going hungry either, and Elfman is so cute~"
Future Mirajane propped her cheek on one hand, a gentle smile on her lips.
"Huh? 'Not going hungry'—are you saying I look fat?!"
"Cute... I'm... cute..."
True to form, one sentence from her brought both Lisanna and Elfman to tears on the spot.
Future Lisanna noticed Mirajane's somewhat off expression and asked with concern, "Mirajane-san from over there, are you feeling unwell?"
"No, not at all," Mirajane said, pushing aside the chaotic thoughts in her mind and forcing out a smile.
Just then, overlapping, perverted-sounding shrieks rang out from the side.
"AAAAHHHH! Two, two Gray-samas?! Has Juvia ascended to heaven?!!"
Both Juvias had hearts in their eyes, staring at the two shirtless Grays with drool dripping from their mouths.
Then, the next second, sensing each other's presence, they turned and glared at one another with venomous hatred:
"Where did this dead rain woman come from?! Don't think you can take Gray-sama away from Juvia!!" x2
True to form, when it came down to it, even themselves were rivals that had to be eliminated.
"Wahhh, Laxus... This is wonderful!"
Tears of emotion came from another direction—it was Freed and the Thunder God Tribe.
From Future Max and Future Nab, they had learned that in this world, Laxus had appeared on Tenrou Island and fought side by side with his comrades against the powerful enemy Grimoire Heart.
"Tch. So the me from this world still hasn't come back yet? I wanted to see how strong that guy really is!" Gajeel clicked his tongue in annoyance.
Future Jet and Future Droy, standing beside him, didn't understand. "They're both you—is there really any need for that?"
"Hey Lucy, let's play that super fun mirror game!" x2
The two Natsus, arms around each other's necks, eagerly approached Lucy and Levy, who had been talking about Tenrou Island.
Both Lucys' mouths twitched as they shouted in unison: "Who wants to play such a childish game with you?!" x2
Hearing this, the Natsu brothers immediately shot back that they didn't understand a man's romance at all, then eagerly started playing—making all sorts of weird faces at each other, mimicking the state of looking into a mirror, having an absolute blast.
"Mirror game! That's what it means to be a man!!"
Hearing there was fun to be had, both Elfmans and Happies immediately joined in, bringing plenty of enthusiasm.
"Hey Lucys, you're being a bit unromantic, you know~" Cana let out a drunken burp while hugging her barrel of booze.
"Exactly. You won't play games or drink—how boring can you get?" Future Cana chimed in.
"Making funny faces at yourself is a man's romance? I have absolutely no need for that!"
"And besides, you drunkard women over there competing with yourselves in drinking—you're in no position to talk, are you?!"
Feeling offended, both Lucys synced up perfectly, transforming into jagged-toothed, ape-like tsukkomi mode.
The scene descended into complete chaos.
"Aha, ahahaha. This is several times louder than usual, isn't it..." Future Levy scratched her head with a wry smile.
Normally, this was when Erza, as the disciplinary committee member, would step in to maintain order.
But right now...
"Wh-wh-wh-what did you say?! That man named Chase... m-m-m-marriage?!"
Future Erza's bright red cheeks kept steaming as she looked at Chase, who was talking with the two masters in the distance. Her eyes had turned into spinning spirals.
"I-It's not to that extent yet!"
Erza flailed her hands in a flustered explanation. "It's just... he gave me a flower, and... and I gave him a lap pillow, that's all!"
Hearing this, Future Erza didn't calm down—she only grew more agitated.
Much like when she heard Bisca had proposed to Alzack, her brain overloaded. She grabbed Erza's armor and started shaking her, firing off questions:
"Have you picked out a suitable wedding dress yet? What style is it?"
"What about children? How many do you plan to have?"
"You should buy diapers and strollers in advance, right?"
Erza: "..."
That day, she finally came to deeply understand the terror of the Fairy Queen.
***
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