Chapter 2 - The S Class Trials

"Today is the day, Happy!" Natsu smiled.

"Aye sir, you will be becoming a S Class wizard!"

"With my dragon slayer magic and your flying abilities, we can't be beat!" He chuckled aloud next to his feline friend truly believing that the two were an unbeatable team and that no force could stop them.

"Aye sir!" Happy agreed as they made their way onto the large, white majestic looking ship nicked the Fairy Fleet.

"This is the moment you all have been waiting for." Makarov slowly began building the anticipation even further before raising his right arm and lifting a finger on his hand. "The S Class Trials begin...NOW!" He happily shouted while firing a green flare into the sky signaling the prestigious event had become underway.

"Let's go Happy!" Natsu shouted jumping into the air immediately being caught by Happy as the duo flew from the ship blasting off towards Tenrou Island leaving the others behind.

"Crap they're going to beat us there!" The remaining contestants spoke in unison with frustration evident not wanting anyone to get a step ahead of them, especially Natsu of all people.

"Juvia, come on!" Gray hurriedly shouted as he froze the water and started skating across it towards the magical island.

"Juvia is coming darling!"

"Wendy it's time to get going." Carla said while summoning her wings before picking up the sky dragon slayer and following the two disappearing teams. "We should make it to the island rather soon, however Dragneel and Tom-Cat are most likely there already." She added as they raced towards the island to not fall to far behind.

Wendy suddenly curious opened her mouth to speak, "Carla?"

"Yes child?" The cat responded.

"Why do you call Natsu 'Dragneel' and Happy 'Tom-Cat?' Wendy asked with curiosity in her voice wondering why she didn't call the two by their actual names.

"I call Happy Tom-Cat, because he is a cat and I call your fellow dragon slayer, Dragneel-" Carla answered before being cut off as she was interrupted by a lather loud inhaling noise which seemed to be similar as if someone was finishing off a milkshake.

IRON DRAGON's ROAR! Carla paled after hearing the spell as she and Wendy were caught in the blast and tossed around like rag dolls before her her grip on her partner's shoulders began to waver.

"Carla!" Wendy yelled sensing the separation of her friend as she finally was ripped away from the cat's paws and began to fall down towards the water, which unfortunately was now covered from Gray's ice.

"Wendy!" Carla shouted in desperation as she was sent spinning into the air unable to control which direction she was headed into.

"Ahh!" Wendy squealed in fright as she smacked into the frozen sea and came to an abrupt halt lying on her stomach, stars in her eyes before immediately passing out upon impact.

"Nice shot Gajeel." Pantherlily said complimenting his partner.

"Thanks. I didn't want to take out them, but... I wanna be S Class." Gajeel smirked before feeling a little remorseful after watching the little girl black out. Maybe I should have held back a little hehe.

Seeing as four teams attempted, only three being successful thus far, leave the boat Lucy figured it was time for her and teammate to get going so they could start the trials for themselves. "Let's go Levy!" Lucy said grabbing her arm and pulling her along as they jumped down to Gray's ice with help from Levy's solid script magic before they to skated their way down to the island hoping to avoid the iron dragon slayer.

"Elfman, time to move!" Lisanna shouted as she and her brother jumped off the boat and raced toward the island.

TAKEOVER-BIRD! Lisanna shouted as she turned into part bird and lifted them through the air.

"Thanks sis!" Elfman smiled.

"You're welcome." She returned it as they headed to the island.

"We're here Happy." Natsu said as Happy let his wings fade and they both fell to the ground in front of the opened paths.

"Hmm... which path to take?" Natsu wondered to himself. He studied the paths and saw each one labeled with a letter. One path had an E. Another had a A, the third had a R, the fourth had a D, the fifth had a C, and the final path had a S.

"Which path, Natsu?" Happy asked him as he saw Gray and Juvia not far behind as well as Gajeel and Pantherlily approaching rapidly from the sky.

"E" must be for Erza right? Natsu thought to himself as if the choice was obvious. "Alright happy, we're going on Path E!"

"Aye sir!" Happy yelled as they both ran down into Path E going deeper into the tunnel. After the two had gone out of sight, Path E's entrance was marked off by magical runes and had a red 'X' across it, blocking anyone else from entering it.

"Well, we got beat here, damn pyro." Gray said. "Looks like Natsu was already here." He said this after looking at Path E's X-like marking barring them from entrance.

"Which path shall we take my darling?" Juvia asked him.

"Let's go with route R." Gray answered after choosing the tunnel next to Natsu's.

"Alright." She spoke agreeing. They ran into tunnel 'R' and not long after they got far, the pathway to 'R' crossed itself out.

"I wonder who we are fighting." Gray said questionably aloud feeling a little bit of nerves get to them, but he shook them off quickly refocusing on his goal. No, I'm not afraid. I'm a FairyTail wizard who in a couple hours will be S Class, show me what ya got Master!

So, do I Gray-sama. Juvia wondered during his inner conscious battle.

"Ah. It looks like I am fighting you two, huh? A voice spoke. "Disappointing, I was hoping to fight Natsu...well this should be rather quick don't you agree Gray?" They smugly taunted.

"Erza!" Gray shouted angrily seeing Erza was displeased with fighting him.

"We are friends Gray, but I mustn't ruin the purpose of this trial. You will fight me with everything you have achieved in your life if you want to become an S Class wizard." Erza sternly stated.

"I sure as hell am going fight you with everything I got and prove to you I'm stronger than flamebrain." Gray smirked. You're going down Erza.

"Then let's begin."

"Ready Juvia?" Gray asked looking sideways at the water mage.

"Ready my love." She responded. I cannot fail Gray-sama!

ICE-MAKE SWORD! Gray suddenly shouted opening the battle on offense while bringing an ice sword into existence which was aimed directly at Erza.

REQUIP: HEAVEN's WHEEL! Erza countered as she changed into a new armor. Her Heaven's Wheel blade clashed against Gray's ice blade which instantly broke it, much to his surprise.

"Dammit." Gray muttered in astonishment looking at his shattered sword.

WATER NEBULA! Juvia yelled aiming her attack hoping to catch her opponent off guard.

REQUIP: Sea Empress Armor! Erza's Sea Empress sword sliced right through Juvia's water as if she were fighting a little kid.

"Impossible!" Gray yelled seeing how the Scarlet haired knight cut through Juvia's water so easily without even really trying. Noticing she was distracted with Juvia, he tried pulling another spell. Watch this Erza.

"Here come my ice bringers!" Gray shouted.

ICE-MAKE: ICE BRINGERS! Turning around she took her sword and threw directly towards Gray's ice bringers going straight through it and throwing him into the wall rather harshly.

"I won't lose!" Gray declared through gritted teeth standing back up before summoning a giant canon made of ice.

ICE-MAKE CANON!

REQUIP: Iced Battle Armor! Erza yelled as she once again countered his attack cutting through Gray's ice canon and flinging him back against the wall where he previously landed.

"No..." Gray growled in frustration, seeing he had used to much power in one go and was already low. His eyes began to get heavy as heard Juvia slide to the ground next to him after trying to use a WATER SHIELD spell to protect them and getting obliterated by Erza's skill.

"You did well Gray." He heard the knight say. "You just are not ready for S Class." She added as Gray finally slipped into the darkness the last thing, he saw being a flaming cackling dragon slayer.

"It seems Erza was too much for Gray." Master Makarov sighed as he saw Gray and Juvia failed to overcome her. He noticed a person trying to reach him through a communication lacrima. "Yes?" He answered.

"Master Makarov may I return?" The person asked.

"Yes, you may Erza." He responded as the connection was cut and the scoreboard updated showing Gray Fullbuster had been eliminated from the competition. Looking at the monitor in front of him he glanced at the real time scores.

S Class Trials Leaderboard (Round 1)
Natsu Dragneel (Active)
Gajeel Redfox (Active)
Lucy Heartfilia (Active)
Wendy Marvell (Active)
Elfman Strauss (Active)
Gray Fullbuster (Inactive) Defeated by Erza Scarlet

"Path E and R have already been taken Gajeel." Pantherlily said.

"Okay then we will go with C." Gajeel spoke, and they ran down into Path 'C'. After they got far, that path crossed itself out. Leaving only paths A,D, and S.

"Lil sis, let's take the D path." Elfman said.

"Alright, I'll be right behind you." Lisanna replied as they ran down Path 'D' and which crossed itself out as they went through.

"Darn, we got here late Lu." Levy said. "The only remaining paths left are A and S."

"Let's go with A." Lucy replied, "Maybe we'll have a little luck on our side today and get the safe path?"

"Hopefully." Levy smiled in agreement as they both entered the tunnel and walked down Path 'A' hoping for a lucky first round pass.

"Wendy!" Carla shouted as she searched for the downed sky dragon slayer. After a little bit of time, she spotted her laying on the Gray's fading ice and rushed to her aid before she sunk into the chilly water.

"Child, are you alright?" She asked looked into her partner's eyes and finally saw she was once again becoming awake.

"Yeah sorry, Carla." Wendy apologized after finding her footing and standing up. "That fall was just a little too much" She replied noticing the ice was beginning to melt.

"It's not your fault Wendy, no need to apologize." Carla tried to reassure her. "That dumb dragon slayer..." Carla angrily ranted.

"We should probably get going Carla his ice is starting to melt." Wendy spoke quickly as her feline friend grabbed her shoulders with her paws once again picking her up and flying back into the sky. After a little while, they both reached the island and only saw one path left.

"Child, it looks like we will have to take Path 'S' since it is the only one left." Carla stated.

"Alright." Wendy replied as they entered the tunnel talking amongst themselves about different strategies as the final path for the S Class Trials had been undertaken.

"Natsu, do you see anything?" Happy asked.

"No, not yet lil buddy." Natsu responded.

"I wonder who we are gonna fight." Happy wondered.

"I'm getting the feeling that I'm not gonna get to fight Erza." Natsu said with a disappointed look on his face.

"It is okay Nat-" Happy began but was quieted by Natsu.

"Shh." Natsu whispered. "I see something." He added. Natsu and Happy's eyes went wide when they saw who was in front of them.

"We are so screwed!" They both said in unison.

Erza sat sitting in her chair as she watched a video lacrima focusing on the competitors. She clicked an arrow on the remote as the video feed cut to a close up of Natsu and Happy who were almost to the center of the cavern. You got this Natsu remember our training and I know you'll win. She thought with a smile as the dragon slayer and his blue cat turned the final corridor and entered the great chamber.

"You've got to be kidding me..." Natsu muttered once he realized who he was going to have to fight. Their standing in front of him was a man with dark orange hair with a metal cloak wrapped around him. The man opened his eyes and smirked at Natsu.

"It's Gildarts!" Happy shouted.

"Hello Natsu." Gildarts smiled at the boy in front of him.

"Alright old man. Let's throw down. Time for me to make S Class!" Natsu yelled.

"Is that so?" Gildarts smirked.

"I'm coming for ya Gildarts! I got a whole lot stronger in these last few years and I can't wait to show ya!" Natsu grinned beginning to charge at him.

"Now wait one-minute Natsu." Gildarts told him as he saw the dragon slayer summon his flames and begin to run at him. "Try to calm down will ya?" He asked. The dragon slayer continued his charge at Gildarts. "I'm not ready to begin our fight just yet." He added. "Stay back." Gildarts warned.

"You shouldn't charge at him like that Natsu!" Happy shouted to his partner. "He could pulverize his challengers!" Happy added. Gildarts stuck out his hand straight just as Natsu reached him. When Natsu's fist connected with Gildarts's palm, Natsu's fire vanished into smoke.

Woah! Natsu thought. Sparks began to fly off Gildart's palm as a big summoning of white particles formed around Natsu.

"Gah!" Natsu shouted as he suddenly felt pain all around his body. Happy knew he was in for trouble now.

Erza watched from the video lacrima as Natsu recklessly charged at Gildarts. "You idiot!" She yelled "Why would you rush in like that... especially at Gildarts!"

"I warned ya!" Happy shouted at Natsu. As the smoke vanished, a giant crater was in the place of where Natsu once stood.

"Geez Natsu. What did I tell you? Holding back isn't exactly my thing." Gildarts said.

"No... Natsu..." Happy began to cry. "Poor guy has been blown apart..."

"YEAH RIGHT! HE WISHES!" A voice shouted as it rained down on top of Gildarts. His opponent barely had any time to react as a giant wave of fire came crashing down on top of them.

"Natsu!" Happy shouted excitedly. "Woah! He crushed the floor." Gildarts jumped in the air causing the ground underneath him to crack. A smirk appeared on the S Class wizard's face.

"There is more where that came from!" Natsu yelled igniting his fists and punching at Gildarts. Gildarts used his arm to block Natsu's attacks as he got the edge on Natsu and smacked him in the stomach, then the jaw, and finally the head crashing the dragon slayer face first into the floor.

Natsu had a pissed off expression as he gritted his teeth and ignited his foot on fire. He then did a spinning kick at Gildarts, which Gildarts caught.

"What Natsu does, Gildarts can block it!" Happy said. "Come on Natsu!"

Gildarts threw Natsu back as he crashed into the floor. He caught himself using his fingers and halted to a stop just before the cave wall. Jumping into the air with a grin on his face he shouted;

FIRE DRAGON's... ROAR! A giant typhoon of flame came right at Gildarts.

"Yeah you have gotten stronger Natsu." Gildarts smirked. "I'm proud of you. The dragon's son." He added as he then made a X into Natsu's flame typhoon and it scattered into small boxes.

"Ahh!" Natsu shouted out in pain as he began to glow. The boxes made itself up to the source of the flame which was Natsu and made him vanish into thin air leaving white particles flying into the air.

"Uh oh!" Gildarts said. "I over did it!"

"Natsu..." Happy began to cry as he then started angrily shouting at Gildarts. "You jerk...I'll never be able to forgive you. This was just supposed to be a test... you killed him!"

"Relax." Gildarts said, "It wasn't that type of magic. I doubt he is really dead." Happy looked at him confused.

"Look up." He replied to him. Suddenly, something began to fall from the top of the cave and crashed down into the ground.

"This assembly magic breaks its parts down into tiny pieces."

"Ah!" Happy shouted. It's a bunch of Mini Natsus!"

"Don't worry. He will go back to normal in a bit." Gildarts said. "Unfortunately, this means your test is over Natsu. I'm sorry, but I can't allow you to-" Gildarts added as he was then interrupted by tons of small voices.

"NOT SO FAST YOU OLD GEEZER!" They yelled. "You got another thing coming if you think I am giving up S Class that easily!"

"Ok child, we should be arriving soon." Carla told her partner Wendy.

"Alright." She muttered.

"What's wrong child?" Carla asked her.

"When I got hit by that dragon roar it really messed up my mental state and now, I my mind feels exhausted." She answered before annoyingly muttering, "Stupid Gajeel."

"Well, it looks like we are fighting a team." Pantherlily said as they exited Path C and entered a duel arena.

"Gihihi. I'm fine with that." Gajeel said smirking as he saw a group come into view and heard the words, "Stupid Gajeel."

"Hey!" Gajeel shouted. "Who are you calling, "Stupid Gajeel."

"A duel of dragon slayers?" Pantherlily asked smirking. "I'm sure this will be interesting."

"Child." Carla spoke firmly getting the attention of her dragon slayer.

"Yes Carla?" Wendy asked confused by her sudden seriousness.

"I am going to let you handle this one. Me and the other exceed will not interfere." She stated before looking over to Pantherlily and asking, "Sound good?"

"Sure." The warrior cat replied to her with his usual grin agreeing with her plan. "Good luck you two make sure to make it a good fight."

Carla looked over at Wendy and added, "Good luck child." As Carla and Pantherlily walked over to sit on a bench next to the arena, the two dragon slayers glared at each other.

"I owe you one for hitting me earlier Gajeel." Wendy said still glaring at him and annoyed for his surprise attack at the start of the trials. I can still feel all that spinning

"Oh yeah, twelve?" Gajeel laughed. "I'm not gonna go easy on you like Salamander does. I'll beat you like the rest of my opponents and move on to become a S Class wizard."

"Didn't Natsu beat you?" She stated smugly with a colossal grin appearing on her face proud of her comeback.

"Alright twelve, since you seem to be asking for a beat down lets make this embarrassment nice and quick shall we?" He fired back with his own mechanical grin forming on his features. Wendy has some fire in her huh, wonder where she got that from.

"Don't call me twelve!" Wendy yelled in frustration taking the bait as he called her by the age she was. However, his ladder statement is what got her wondering; Does Natsu really go easy on me? She wondered to herself before realizing he had spawned a magical roar. Quickly, bracing herself and letting her magic flow she summoned her own roar to counter it as the two destructive spells slammed into one another.

IRON DRAGON's ROAR!

SKY DRAGON's ROAR!

I have never taken on a mini army before. Gildarts thought to himself. "This should be fun." He chuckled.

"Attack!" They all shouted as fifty of them rushed Gildarts only to be blown away and defeated by him flinging his cape.

"You're gonna have to do better than that Natsu!" He yelled back. Gildarts looked to have the upper hand till he was attacked from behind as some Mini Natsus grabbed his hair and his cheeks and began to pull. Dropping his guard, they all shouted;

FIRE DRAGON's ROAR!

"Damn you guys are annoying. Time to return back to normal Natsu!" Gildarts shouted as he undid the spell. As Natsu returns back to normal midflight in the air, he releases a dragon spell forcing to Gildarts take the hit head on since he can't block it in time.

Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade! Knowing he won't make it in times he covers the attack with his arm, and the attack rips his cape to a good amount also pushing him back a couple of inches.

Happy looked at Gildarts horrified. "That was a strong attack from Natsu, and it didn't even do a thing!" The cat yelled in shock at Gildarts' power.

"What do you mean, 'did nothing?'" Natsu asked Happy.

"It had no effect on him, Natsu." The cat answered.

"Yeah it did. The old geezer never moved when fighting me, but my attack pushed him back a few inches." Natsu smirked.

"Oh yeah, that's right! Wait... that's bad for you Natsu, because Gildarts never even moved until now and he wiped the floor with you."

"Good job Natsu." Gildarts said smiling. "As your examiner, I say you pass."

"What?" Natsu asked confused at first. "No!" He yelled, "I will beat you!" Natsu began to charge at him once more not wanting to be gifted a spot into the next round.

"I knew that was going to be your answer." Gildarts chuckled. "Very well, we will finish this. Be wise, I will unleash my full power." A strong wind began to emerge all around Gildarts as he transformed into a titan of steel. Natsu's body came to a halt in his tracks as he watched Gildarts grow and look down upon him with glaring red eyes.

Natsu charged once more as his fists ignited into flames as he ran to Gildarts but halted to a stop again as the winds picked up and Gildarts in full power shook him to the core. Natsu knew he couldn't win this fight, but he still wanted to try. "Urghh." Natsu mumbled in fear. He took his right leg forward however; he immediately drew it back and fell to his knees in front of Gildarts. Gildarts then deactivated his full power mode.

"That was a smart choice Natsu." Gildarts said complimenting the dragon slayer's ability to stand down. Natsu's eyes began as he shook with fear.

"There is nothing wrong with fear Natsu." Gildarts explained. "Without it, how would we know our weaknesses?"

Natsu continued to look down to the ground. Why did I give up? Wasn't my goal to defeat Gildarts?

"You passed kid. Now go and make me proud and become an S Class wizard." He said smirking as he began to head toward the exit of the tunnel. "See you around Natsu." He smiled before walking out of the tunnel and into the unknown parts of the island.

Happy looked back away from the tunnel to his partner. "Ready to go Natsu?" He asked glancing down at his friend who was still on the ground as his tears stopped.

"Yeah. Let's go Happy." Natsu said a growing grin appeared on his face as he wiped his eyes with his arm and stood up to exit the tunnel. I won't let you down, Gildarts. Thank you.

"He did it!" Different guild members shouted as they saw Gildarts informing Natsu he had passed his test.

Erza simply smiled arms resting in her lap and legs crossed as she glowed with brilliant vibrant colors very happy for her friend. Good job Natsu, now you're one step closer to tying me. She was proud of him for what he had accomplished. I guess all that training paid off huh?

Gajeel and Wendy shouted their roars out at one another. The two attacks collided causing wind and iron to become one as their spells vanished.

She has gotten a lot stronger since Edolas.

I have to give this fight my all. Gajeel might be stronger than me, but I can out smart him. Wendy thought as they both continued to trade blows.

IRON DRAGON's SWORD! Gajeel yelled as an iron sword came flying at Wendy who luckily dodged it in time.

SKY DRAGON's WING ATTACK! Wendy shouted back for the first time on offense as it hit Gajeel head on making him fly backwards.

"Good work Wendy!" Carla praised Wendy complimenting her on the young dragon slayer's strategy.

"Thank you." She smiled happy her strategy was paying off.

"Quit your yapping." Gajeel called. "Kid, you have gotten good I will give you that. However, this is a duel and I know were both dragon slayers, but I must take you down and make sure you don't get up this time." Gajeel boldly stated looking quite serious.

IRON DRAGON's ROAR! Gajeel yelled as a typhoon of iron once again came from his mouth and barely missed the sky dragon slayer.

SKY DRAGON's WIND BEAM! Wendy shouted as a giant beam of wind directly nailed Gajeel knocking him to the floor giving Wendy hope she could actually pull this off. The iron dragon slayer was shell shocked at how a twelve year old was easily overpowering him like this.

"Come on, Gajeel! You are always bragging about how you are going to destroy Salamander... Yet you're going to let a fellow and younger dragon slayer beat you senselessly?" Pantherlily spoke to his partner trying to get him riled up so he could come back and win this.

Damn. He is right. I can't let her beat me. Time to put this fight to an end. Gajeel announced as he suddenly knew this fight was over.

Iron Dragon Mode: Dragon Force! Gajeel called out as his skin began to change

"Sure, you don't want to surrender, Wendy?" Gajeel asked her. "Last chance."

Wendy knew she didn't have dragon force yet. As things were looking bright, she had slammed into a brick wall and the facts blinded her like a neon light. She had lost this fight, but being the stubborn little FairyTail wizard she was along with the idolization of one of her friends, she refused to give up. If she surrendered, Gajeel would win. However, fighting didn't matter anyways either because the iron dragon slayer had won already. There was nothing she could do, but Wendy didn't want to give up because Natsu sure wouldn't. She admired him for his strength and ability to move on and fight through it all, she would follow in his footsteps and fight to the end.

"No." Wendy affirmed. "Give me all you've got!"

"Gihihi. Stubborn like always. Wonder where you get it from, probably the firebreather." Gajeel chuckled as he began to emit a powerful aura from within.

IRON DRAGON's WING ATTACK

IRON DRAGON's ROAR!

Those two spells, due Gajeel being in dragon force, was all it took before Wendy was face first down meeting the Earth. She failed to avoid the attacks in time and slipped into unconsciousness as soon as her nose brushed the soil.

"Sorry Wendy." Gajeel said after making sure his opponent was down for good. "I gotta go become S Class though and you were in my way." With that him and Pantherlily left the tunnel knowing they moved onto round number two. Carla watched her unconscious partner sleep knowing all along that Wendy was too young to participate in these games anyways and frowned in disappointment knowing how long it would be for her friend to get over the loss. You're not weak Wendy, you're just too young that was a great effort out there and I'm very proud to see how far you have come along. Carla smiled as she walked over to her friend and sat down next to her letting her rest from her beatdown.

A/N: Sorry for the small delay, I meant to have this chapter out a couple days ago but things happened and I honestly just forgot about it. I made sure the Wendy and Gajeel fight was much more intense and meaningful then how it was previously written. Hope you guys are enjoying the revised story we have plenty more showdowns to happen and numerous encounters still awaiting on the horizon so keep an eye out for the upcoming chapters, they're good I promise! Make sure to review what you liked and what you didn't like and I'll see how I can improve throughout the story's continuation, see you in the next one!