85 The Fall of Titania

Over an hour passed since the end of the Fairy Tail Cooking Competition. The competition had been cancelled and pushed to a later date. The guild hall was back to normal, with the tables and chairs now in their original formations. Meliodas wiped the sweat from his forehead as he held a mop in his hand. Around him, several other guild members were holding mops as they cleaned the floors.

"I-It was everywhere…" Wendy murmured in horror.

"It was certainly worse for the Master and Yajima." Carla mentioned. She looked towards Meliodas sternly. "And what on Earthland did you put in that pie?!"

"It was just like any normal apple pie." Meliodas commented nonchalantly.

"That apple pie was anything but normal…" Lucy responded. "And didn't you say you had a lot of experience?!"

"Oh that. I cooked for my customers all the time. Doesn't mean they liked the food though. They just came to the tavern for ale." Meliodas replied with a cheeky smile.

"Well at least we're just about done wiping up the mess." Erza said. The group finished up mopping the floors when Makarov walked in from the main entrance.

"Master you're alright!" Erza exclaimed.

"Yes...I'm fine now. I had Porlyusica take a look at me." Makarov sighed. "Turns out that pie Meliodas gave me was just a normal pie…"

"Then what went wrong?" Erza asked.

"It was...THE ABSOLUTELY WORST THING I'VE EVER TASTED." Makarov shouted very loudly as he glared at Meliodas. Meliodas returned a friendly smile to Makarov. Makarov sighed as he quickly regained his composure and looked around the guild.

"So where did everyone else go?" Makarov asked.

"Well after your...eruption...those who got caught up in it went home to get themselves cleaned up." Erza commented.

"O-oh...I apologize for that…" Makarov said as he scratched the back of his head, embarrassed at the situation. He turned his attention again to Meliodas.

"By the way...Meliodas...YOU ARE HEREBY BANNED FROM EVER COOKING AT OUR COOKING CONTEST UNTIL YOU CAN PROVE YOU CAN COOK!" Makarov yelled.

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November 21st X784

The next day, Meliodas entered the guild hall. The guild was seemingly back to normal, despite the hectic event yesterday. Meliodas walked over to the bulletin board to look for a job. A specific job had caught his eye. He pulled the flyer off the board and read it.

"URGENT MISSION: TEACH MELIODAS HOW TO COOK. REWARD IS 1,000,000 JEWELS."

"Wow, that's a lot of money to teach me how to cook." Meliodas commented out loud.

"Well it is certainly needed, after what happened yesterday." A voice said from behind him. Meliodas turned around and saw Makarov walking towards him.

"Did you put this up?" Meliodas asked.

"Yes. I made this mission myself. I realize that your cooking is a danger to not just the guild, but all of Ishgar." Makarov replied.

"Don't worry, Master." A kind voice said from behind Makarov. Makarov turned around and saw Mirajane approaching them. Next to her, was Erza.

"We will take this quest and show Meliodas how to truly bake a wonderful dessert!" Erza declared enthusiastically.

"I see...well if it's you two on this mission, then I have nothing to be worried about. I leave Meliodas in your care then." Makarov said as he began to walk away.

"So what are you two going to teach me?" Meliodas asked.

"We will teach you how to make the ultimate…" Erza paused for a moment as she stood in a dramatic pose with her arms outstretched. "Strawberry cake!" Erza said enthusiastically.

"Then please teach me, Master Erza and Master Mira." Meliodas said enthusiastically as he bowed his head.

"M-Master?!" Erza exclaimed. "Hmm...I guess I like the sound of that."

"He's certainly getting into it." Mirajane commented. "Why don't we head over to the kitchen."

Meliodas, Mirajane, and Erza all walked into the guild kitchen. Erza began going through the cabinets, pulling out all of the required pans and utensils they will need while Mirajane went into the pantry to grab the ingredients. Less than a minute later, everything was set up on the counter in front of Meliodas.

"Okay Meliodas, the first thing you have to do is combine the cake mix, gelatin powder, and flour in a bowl with water. We've already measured these ones out for you." Mirajane said. Meliodas nodded and grabbed an empty bowl. He poured the cake mix, gelatin and flour and began whisking it vigorously.

"Wait, you need to add the-" Before Mirajane could finish, a large white cloud of powder filled the room, causing all three of them to start coughing. Erza and Mirajane fanned the air as they tried to clear the room up.

"Meliodas, make sure you add a cup of water to that." Mirajane said as the powder began to clear. "Then add a cup of sugar."

"Oh easy." Meliodas said. He reached into a cabinet under the counter, pulling out a

large tankard.

"We already put out the measuring cups-" Erza commented as Meliodas managed to fill the tankard to the brim with sugar.

"I think that's a bit too much sugar…" Mirajane commented with a nervous smile. Meliodas proceed to pour the entire tankard of sugar into the bowl before filling up that same tankard with water and pouring it into the large mixing bowl. As Meliodas began mixing the ingredients, several other guild members walked into the kitchen. Meliodas looked up and saw Gray, Lucy, and Wendy approach the counter.

"I heard you guys are teaching Meliodas how to make a cake properly." Gray mentioned.

"This can't turn out good…" Lucy sighed.

"I think Meliodas will do a good job with Erza and Mira teaching him." Wendy added.

"Well next is the eggs." Erza commented. "Crack two eggs into the bowl." She handed two eggs to Meliodas. Meliodas immediately threw the eggs whole into the bowl, shell and all. The eggs cracked as they hit the bottom of the bowl, with the yolks and whites leaking out of the broken shell.

"What the hell?! Don't put the shells in too!" Gray exclaimed.

"I did." Meliodas said with a cheeky smile as he pointed to the eggs which were broken from the force of him throwing it into the bowl. He began vigorously mixing the broken eggs and shells in the bowl, much to everyone's dismay.

"This is definitely not turning out good…" Lucy commented.

"Erza, can you preheat the oven?" Mirajane asked.

"I'm on it!" Erza said as she walked across the kitchen towards the stone oven.

"So while the oven is heating, why don't we work on the frosting." Mirajane suggested. Meliodas nodded eagerly and grinned.

"So these strawberries are already freeze dried. We just need to grind them into powder and put them in with this stick of butter. Then we'll add five cups of sugar and mix it." Mirajane said. She gestured to a magic powered food processor on the counter but Meliodas ignored it as he instead reached for a kitchen knife.

After picking up the ingredients, Meliodas threw the strawberries and butter into the air and swung his knife quickly at them. The strawberries and butter were immediately cut up into extremely tiny cubes and fell into the mixing bowl.

"Wow Meliodas that's incredible!" Wendy commented.

"I guess that works? Does that really count as powder?" Lucy questioned as Gray remained silent as he watched.

"Well they need to be a bit more finely-" Mirajane stopped as Meliodas immediately began to pour five large tankards of sugar into the mixing bowl.

"That's too much!" Lucy exclaimed.

"There's a regular measuring cup right there, use it!" Gray shouted. Their shouts were ignored as Meliodas vigorously stirred the mixture, causing it to splatter everywhere as it thickened.

"The oven is good to go!" Erza said as she turned back around, having ignited the stone oven.

"Okay then, Meliodas just put the first mixture we made into the oven." Mirajane said nervously. Meliodas nodded and put it on the oven rack. Mirajane set a timer and the group walked out of the kitchen and sat down at the bar and began conversing.

"So who is actually going to taste that thing…" Gray asked.

"I will." Erza replied confidently.

"I don't think that's a good idea Erza…" Lucy said. The group continued to converse until the timer Mirajane had set began to ring. Meliodas and Mirajane walked into the kitchen. Fifteen minutes later, they returned back to the bar. In Meliodas' hands was the strawberry cake. Meliodas placed the cake down on the table.

"It turned out better than I thought." Mirajane commented. Gray, Erza, Wendy, and Lucy were completely silent as they looked at the cake. Despite having been there to see Meliodas mess up on nearly every step, the cake looked absolutely perfect.

"T-there's no way that cake can look this good." Gray commented.

"It looks absolutely delicious!" Erza added as her eyes sparkled with excitement. She leaned in and cut a slice of the cake and placed it on her cake. The group looked at the sliced cake.

"Wow the texture looks good too!" Wendy commented.

"How did the cake even turn out looking this good?" Lucy asked Meliodas with a baffled expression on her face.

"I paid extra attention to the presentation." Meliodas replied smugly. Erza eyed the cake as she sunk her fork into the slice.

"This texture...it's absolutely perfect! I can only imagine how amazing this must taste!" Erza said excitedly as she put the cake in her mouth. As Erza ate the first bite, Makarov approached the group at the bar.

"So that's the cake?" Makarov asked as he gave the cake a skeptical look. From his past experience, he already knew that no matter how perfect it looked on the outside, the taste may not match its looks. He looked at Meliodas who had a large smile on his face before turning his attention to Erza.

"How is it?" Makarov asked. Erza remained silent with a stiff expression on her face. Lucy and Gray immediately got up from their seats and took a step back.

"Erza?" Wendy questioned. A forced smile formed on Erza's face as she placed her fork down on the table. She looked at Makarov and nodded at him.

"I must excuse myself…" Erza said quietly. She slowly got up from her bar stool but immediately took off in a full sprint towards the back hall of the guild. The group stood silently for several moments and looked at each other.

"This can't be good…" Carla commented.

A minute of silence passed as the guild members at the bar stared awkwardly at each other. The silence was broken as an ungodly sound followed by a loud scream echoed throughout the guild hall. Those who were talking in the guild hall immediately stopped, their eyes widened at what they had just heard.

"This turned out very badly…" Mirajane said quietly.

"I suppose you could call this an improvement. She didn't throw up everywhere and explode." Carla commented.

"If you put it that way then I guess?" Gray responded.

"Well either way, Meliodas you apologize to Erza for-"

Lucy's sentence was interrupted by the sound of a loud crash from the roof above as Erza busted in from the ceiling donning her Purgatory armor. Erza landed on top of the table, with pieces of wood and debris from the ceiling still falling around her. The group stepped back away from her as she had an angry, nearly bloodlusted expression on her face yet her skin looked pale and sickly.

"THAT CAKE DESERVES TO-"

Before Erza could finish the sentence, she immediately dropped her purgatory mace and hunched over as her cheeks began to puff up and her eyes widened.

"Wait I might be able to heal her before it's too late!" Wendy exclaimed as she ran to Erza's side. She put her hands on Erza's back as they emitted a faint green glow. However, Erza's sickly demeanor did not change.

"My healing isn't working on her?! What kind of strawberry cake was that?!" Wendy cried out.

"Everyone get away from Erza!" Gray shouted as he saw Erza's face begin to contort. He quickly ran to Wendy, picking her up off the ground as he and the rest of the group jumped over the bar table to take cover.

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[Meliodas is indefinitely banned from feeding his food to anybody in the guild.]