"Person Talking"

'Person thinking'

Spells

"Powerful Creature Talking"

'Powerful Creature Thinking'

Fire Forges Iron

"Let's go!" Natsu blasted forward with his fist blazing and suddenly closed the gap between himself and the other dragon slayer faster than he could react.

"Wha-" His eyes went wide as Natsu's Iron Fist smashed into the side of his pierced face and sent him flying backward into a nearby tree trunk with so much the force the tree fell and hit the forest floor with a solid thud.

"I'm the fire dragon slayer and I'm not going to lose to anyone." He stood tall with his fists still burning and a wide grin on his face.

"That was a cheap shot." The black haired boy jumped up to his feet with a smirk on his face before pulling his fist backward.

"Iron Dragon's Club!" A large green magic circle appeared in front of him and then he thrust his fist through it, transforming his arm into a large iron club that shot out straight towards Natsu

"Ugh!" The iron club slammed into his stomach and pushed him backward leaving deep trails in the dirt from the power behind it. Natsu tucked his left arm under the club while he gripped the top of the club with his right hand, holding onto it tightly.

"Now that's more like it! I'm all fired up!" The Gajeel's red eyes widened as steam rose from Natsu and the ignited hand on top of his Iron Dragon's Club. "Eat this!" Natsu roared out, lifting Gajeel off of the ground and swinging him away like a frisbee, sending him towards a large tree.

The other dragon slayer took it in stride and back flipped in the air until his feet touched the trunk where he exploded off it racing back towards Natsu with his fist pulled back ready to return the favor.

Natsu threw his left arm up and took the hit on his forearm. The black haired boy didn't expect the sudden block and was unprepared for the immediate counterpunch as Natsu leaned back and with his right hand, slammed a blazing Iron Fist haymaker into his jaw, rocketing him into the base of another tree.

The tree fell apart from the impact but Gajeel jumped right back up on his feet.

"There's a reason I go by "Black Steel" Gajeel." He mocked brushed off the dirt on his shirt. "That didn't affect me at all."

"Heh, doesn't look like that to me." Natsu taunted back.

"You sure?" Gajeel sprinted forward and quicker than Natsu thought was possible, Gajeel appeared right in front of him. While his body couldn't react fast enough, his dark green eyes narrowed to see Gajeel's leg transform into a pillar of iron and crash into his gut with enough force to get him off his feet and skid him across the forest floor several yards away.

"Come on, bring it. You're not affected either, right?" Gajeel loomed over the rubble that Natsu was underneath with glowing red eyes and an intense energy rising from him.

A blast of fire that destroyed the rubble on top of him was Natsu's immediate response.

"Hehehe. You got me pretty good there…" His words didn't match his face as he had a grin on but he was boiling on the inside, as flurries of ashes from the rubble fluttered around him. Gajeel had the same expression on his face wanting nothing more than to pound Natsu into the ground.

"You're an annoying little pyro, you know that?" A large green magic circle appeared around Gajeel's right fist as he finished his sentence.

"What was that Metal Face?!" A bright red circle appeared around Natsu's right fist as well and he copied Gajeel's fighting stance.

"I'll crush you! Iron Dragon's Club!" Gajeel transformed his arm into a large iron club again and aimed it right at Natsu's head.

"Grgh." He caught the pillar with his right hand but the strength behind it pushed him back a couple of feet leaving a trail in the dirt. He shot his head up once he adjusted to it.

"Your steel beams can't even touch me! You better start stepping up your game!" The fire grew around his fist and encompassed his whole body before he began to crush the end of the pillar through sheer strength.

"Oh? Acno did say something about you being stronger than you look." The pillar quickly retracted back and transformed into his hand. "That actually burns a little." He left his hand up showing Natsu the steam rising from it after Natsu's grab.

"So? Is that all you got, Salamander?"

"Don't worry about that. This was just a greeting. You ain't seen nothing yet!"

Natsu's eyes narrowed looking for a moment to strike but Gajeel waited for him. Natsu leaped forward into the air while Gajeel did the same a moment afterward with a grin on his face.

The exchange happened in the blink of an eye as Natsu drove his left Iron Fist straight only for Gajeel to slam it down with a low block from his Iron Club and without skipping a beat Natsu sent his right Iron Fist towards Gajeel's face but by now Gajeel expected it so he blocked it with his right Iron Club and immediately kicked Natsu back down to Earthland with a thunderous left roundhouse to the stomach.

"Heavy…" was all Natsu could think as landed on his feet, hunched over his stomach in pain and a clearly grimaced look on his face. He wasn't given long to get over it as Gajeel was quickly diving towards him with his foot aimed at him.

Natsu ignited his fist and grunted out as he tried to hit Gajeel before he could land. Gajeel leaned his head backward just in time for the flames to only brush his nose but he was out of position to land a counter so he used Natsu's other arm as a springboard and leaped backward towards one of the few surrounding trees.

He stuck the landing by sprouting sharp, harpoon-like blades from the sole of each of his feet, suspending him upside down one of the tree's branches. But he wasn't given a moment to breathe as Natsu was already rocketing towards him.

"Fire Dragon's SWORD HORN!" Natsu's body was entirely engulfed in flames and was flying towards Gajeel at an incredible speed with a headbutt. Gajeel could only throw up his arm to protect himself as Natsu drove his head directly into his Iron Club.

The power behind the attack sent Gajeel flying backward, breaking through tree after tree, out of control until he crashed into the ground leaving a small crater and huge dust cloud.

"Now, I'm fired up!" Natsu stood outside of the cloud and slammed his burning fists together excited to keep going.

A powerful green aura erupted from the center of the cloud and blew the dust away revealing Gajeel battered but not out yet.

"Wha-" Natsu was shocked as the energy grew into a pillar of dragon slayer magic engulfing Gajeel.

"Secret Dragon Slayer Art!" He slammed his hands together above his head and all of the magic he was building up condensed around them. A massive pillar of something was forming above him as he roared out: "Karma Demon: Iron-"

His pierced face morphed into one of pain and suddenly the magic lost focus and his spell fell apart. Gajeel fell to his knees exhausted and breathing heavily from his attempt at such a powerful spell for his age.

"Damn it!" Gajeel weakly punched the ground beneath him in anger as he breathed heavily. "I should have mastered it by now."

"Woah! What was that?!" Natsu was grinning at him in excitement at learning a new technique since the two of them had enough. At this point, both of them knew the fight was over. Gajeel was tough, but while Natsu had the energy to spare, Gajeel wasted too much magic to keep going for much longer.

"Like I would tell you, pyro." Gajeel stood up with a pissed off look on his face as Natsu was starting to jump from one foot to the other like the bundle of energy he was. "Come on what did you say? Something secret dragon slayer fart?"

Gajeel had an angry tick mark on his face when he heard him. "You idiot! Why would I say that?!"

"That's what I'm asking!"

"You want to go again?!" The two head-butt each other as a lightning bolt flashed between them.

"Maybe I do! I'm all fired up-"

Clap.

Clap.

Clap.

Both dragon slayers turned to face the source of the noise.

There was an unexpected viewer to their fight.

A/N:

Don't know if this counts as a cliffhanger because you can probably guess who was watching

If you don't think Gajeel should be calling Natsu "Salamander" yet because he doesn't have that alias yet, remember that he was called Salamander because it was another word for "fire dragon"

This was beta-ed by BarelyProdigies

Thanks for reading. Leave a review. Tell me what you liked, what you hated, all that stuff. Just don't leave flames. Flames are Natsu food and he will send them right back at you.