S.R: Considering I have some plans for a big huge multi chapter fight here shortly, I have to ask you guys not to be too pissed at me for the fact this mini fan arc didn't have a whole lot of action. But at least Gajeel will get to kick a bit of ass. Oh and from now on when something is said in the draconian language it'll be in parenthesis.

"talking" - regular talking

'thinking' - regular thinking

"talking" - drake, wyvern, or a dragon talking

'thinking' - drake, wyvern, or a dragon thinking

"(talking)" - Speaking in draconian (specifically the slayers)

"(talking)" - Speaking in draconian (Drakes, Wyverns, and Dragons)


'Holy shit! I've never hit so hard before!' Gajeel thought to himself in wonder as he watched Titori smash into the ground after he pummeled her side with his Iron Dragon's Club while in Dragon Force. But then he noticed the tint to his scales was not quite as dark and dull as normal.

"Oi! This ain't my normal Dragon Force!"

"Of course not! As we've clashed you've absorbed some of my titanium. Right now the majority of your power was absorbed from my attacks, so you are more of a Titanium Dragon Slayer at the moment you fool!"

Even though he was in Dragon Force and his magic power was at it's peak, Gajeel was panting heavily. He'd pushed himself just a little too much to get this far. 'If I had another fifteen minutes of rest before she showed up I'd be good right now.' The dark haired man thought to himself with a frown. Even though they were still a fair distance apart he could tell Natsu had already finished up with the Wyvern nest he'd gone to attack.

"I don't have time for this. My alpha's finished up with the other nest and I refuse to fall behind!"

Gajeel shouted in anger. Both at the fact he seemed to be so far behind Natsu, and because he didn't know how much longer his stamina would last. Titori narrowed her eyes at him as he took on a new stance. She knew it was a secret art just by the magic he was pouring into his hands, but… She'd never seen that stance before.

'It's no matter. He's gained my element as a secondary magic. My job here is done, so I might as well let him get one last power up.'

She thought, planning to have the Dragon Slayer kill her with his next attack, so as to avoid dragging things out any longer. The moment she saw his magic circle appear in the air Titori lunged a bit slower than normal, and a bit higher than normal so that she would be hit cleanly and pass over him rather than land on top of the Iron Dragon Slayer.

"Iron Dragon's Secret Art Karma Demon: Rampaging Iron Claws!"

Gajeel chanted as his magic power flowed out from his hands forming a massive set of claws on each hand. With a guttural roar of power he brought arms down diagonally. When it connected with her body Titori cried out in pain as several x shaped scars appeared layered over top of each other on her underbelly.

Titori crashed into the ground behind him, but Gajeel was spent. He couldn't move any more. In fact all it took to floor him was a sudden breeze. But he didn't mind. Gajeel and Titori both knew that his last attack was a fatal blow.

"(You fought well young one)."

Gajeel's eyes widened when he heard the words. He hadn't expected the female Wyvern to say anything in draconic, since the entire time they'd fought, and even before when she introduced herself and explained what was going on she was still speaking in the common tongue. But her words were clearly going to be the last she ever spoke. Since she earned his respect he responded.

"(So did you)."

About that point Gajeel realized he was still in Dragon Force. He'd never activated it before, but from the stories he'd heard about how Natsu activated it, the Iron Dragon Slayer figured it would wear off with time. 'Hopefully, Salamander has an idea about how to activate it on our own. This power is unreal.' He concluded.

"Oi, metal freak you alright?"

He heard the voice of his alpha.

"Ah, shut up Salamander! I'm tryin' to sleep here!"

He retorted, not ready to give in to temptations just yet. If he asked the pink haired Dragon Slayer about Dragon Force it would not just be him admitting to being part of the nest. It would mean he fully acknowledged and accepted that he was weaker. If that were true he would never be allowed to challenge the Fire Dragon Slayer for the title of alpha, and that was something Gajeel wasn't ready to give up just yet.

"Was it really that rough over here?"

Natsu questioned as he finally came close enough for Gajeel to see him without sitting up. At this point Gajeel's magic had already fully broken down Titori's body, so he didn't have any proof as to what kind of Wyvern the alpha of the nest he'd defeated was. Especially since his Dragon Force had already faded away. In fact, the only proof he was even in a fight previously was the fact he was winded. Well that and the torn and roughed up state of his clothes.

"Anyway come on. We've got to get back to the guild already."

Natsu commented as he held out a hand to help Gajeel stand up again. Even though he didn't want to show any weakness, the dark haired man took the help.

"Ain't that right."

He muttered as he recalled Makarov's words. If they completed the job both of them would be promoted to S-class. In the back of his mind he wondered how things would change, especially in regards to the upcoming S-class trials, but he shook his head unwilling to think about it.

Natsu however went to open his mouth and see if Gajeel had the same experience he did. But he found himself unable to put it into words when he thought about the disgust he felt at killing the Wyverns. So the duo walked in silence as they headed towards the place they'd last seen Doranbolt, in order to have the man take them home.

Every so often Natsu would try to talk about it, but his feelings would prevent him from speaking. Around the fifth time it started to get on Gajeel's nerves.

"For the love of god, just speak already Salamander!"

He growled out, when it happened the tenth time. But Natsu just sighed. Narrowing his eyes, Gajeel stopped and smacked the pink haired man upside the head.

"Pull your head out of your ass and talk already!"

Shaking his head and smacking his cheeks Natsu tried to push his feelings to the side so he could speak.

"Did the alpha tell you about what's going on?"

He finally managed to ask. But Gajeel growled in annoyance at how timid Natsu sounded.

"I don't give a damn about any of that right now. You clearly don't either."

"Sorry…. It's just… After gramps brought me to the guild, he made me promise to never fight with killing intent ever again. I've gotten so used to living that way, that it's unsettling now."

"To hell with that. We're fucking Dragon Slayers. You and I were raised to kill when we had to. I don't know about you and Igneel, but Metalicanna never let me go far enough to enjoy it. If I have to kill I will. Do I feel bad about it? Hell no. If I have to kill, it's because if I didn't I would be the one that winds up dead."

"I was raised that way too. But after spending so long avoiding it, I… I'm just having a hard time rationalizing it again. Especially since I don't want to go back to how I was when gramps found me."

"Killing to survive?"

Gajeel questioned, wanting to snort about how stupid it sounded. Thanks to Metalicanna, and even his time in Phantom Lord, Gajeel was okay with killing in order to survive. Even when he was at his lowest as part of Phantom Lord though, he stuck strongly to his beliefs and never killed if he didn't have to.

"No. When gramps found me I wasn't killing to survive. I was killing because it was easier. You attacked me? Oh well If I hit you once at full power, you're dead and I don't have to worry about exhausting myself to just simply knock you out."

Natsu answered, feeling a bit uncomfortable to be talking about the dark time before he was part of Fairy Tail. 'Makarov really messed his head up then. Gajeel thought to himself with wide eyes when he finally saw the full picture.

"Did you enjoy it?"

"Hell no!"

"Then what's your problem? The old man probably made you stop killing because he was afraid you were starting to like it. You don't enjoy it, but you know how to kill if you have to. Plan and simple."

As he finished speaking Gajeel wondered why he was even bothering to help Natsu out with his problem. But then, just barely, he felt a bit of pain when he looked towards the pink haired man. 'Fuck. It's not much, but it is hurting me to see Salamander all bent out of shape.'

Natsu however was just repeating Gajeel's words in his mind over and over. Things were quiet between the two as the pink haired man started to see what Gajeel was saying. Out of the corner of his eye the Iron Dragon Slayer noticed that his companion was slowly starting to seem like himself again. Turning his head away to hide it, Gajeel smirked, unwilling to show that he was happy to have helped.

"I needed that pep talk, so thanks Gajeel."

Natsu said after a moment, completely serious.

"Yeah. No problem."

"Anyway, we really do need to talk about the Wyverns though…After all they were sent to train us essentially, and we have no idea how many there are."

Rolling his eyes, the dark haired man responded.

"How about we just deal with this shit as it comes… Girlie ain't ready for a fight like that."

"I hate to say it, but you're right. Wendy isn't ready for that. She might have the power to take down a Wyvern or two, but there's no way she could take on a nest just yet. That's not even mentioning her timid and shy personality."

Gajeel just grunted in response. Natsu wanted to continue the conversation, but just off in the distance they finally spotted Doranbolt. He wasn't alone though, as there was a whole unit of Rune Knights accompanying him.

"We'll talk about this later then..."

Natsu mumbled as they picked up the pace so they could get home sooner.

"What the hell? Why do you two seem so much stronger right now?"

Doranbolt practically shouted when he finally noticed them. But neither slayer answered him. Sighing he moved on and asked the next question he had.

"have all the Wyverns been dealt with?"

"I killed eight of them."

"Same."

Gajeel grunted out after Natsu answered the man's query. Since the two had dealt with a total of sixteen, which was the number they'd told the two about, Doranbolt sighed once more. But this time he also had a smile on his face.

"Thank god… I trust these men with my life, but I don't think we'd have been able to handle more than two of them if we had to join you like the council wanted."

"Yeah well you can report whatever you want to the council. But take us home please?"

Natsu commented, eager to get back to Magnolia.

"Oh, you must be tired after all of this. Let's get you two back to Magnolia then."

Doranbolt returned, when he realized that the two slayers had been gone for almost 20 hours while dealing with the Wyverns.

Cana's Day

When Michiko finally woke up, Cana got her breakfast, and dressed the little girl up in her lavender shirt that said 'Snuggle me' and the pair of pants that they'd gotten her back before the returned to Magnolia. Natsu's signature scarf was wrapped around her as a blanket, just because it was keeping her calm.

"Let's wait for daddy at the guild okay?"

Cana told the little girl with a smile as she lowered her into the baby sling that she had put on while the little girl pulled on her fingers playfully. Then she grabbed the diaper bag, and they were ready.

Walking into the guild she was greeted by the sight of only a few people. Which wasn't completely strange since it was still a little early. But Mira, Erza, and the master were there at least.

"Morning."

Cana said as she joined the trio at the bar. She resisted the urge to order some alcohol, and just sat there to talk with them. Erza and Mira both echoed her greeting, with the white haired woman making silly faces for Michiko in order to get her to laugh.

"Good morning Cana."

Makarov said, as he turned to face her. While it was still his usual tone, she could tell there was something he wanted to say to her, so she faced him as well.

"I've been thinking about this for a while, and I couldn't really decide on what to do about it until after you left yesterday."

Cana raised an eyebrow at that.

"Okay… What's going on?"

"You and Natsu were both going to be selected to participate in the S-class trials. But now that you've got Michiko to take care of, I can't in good conscious have you two participate."

"I figured something like that would be the case. Honestly though, I'm fine with that. I mean I've already taken part in the trials a few times, yet I never passed. I might not be cut out for being an S-class. If that's the case I'd rather focus on taking care of Michiko."

Mira and Erza were listening in despite not being part of the conversation, and they both went wide eyed at Cana's response. Even though they were known as the two strongest women in Fairy Tail, they both knew that Cana was every bit as much their equal. She just lacked the confidence to prove it. They wanted to say something to her about it, but Makarov beat them to it.

"Look at me Cana."

When she turned her focus to his face, the guild master made eye contact and held it as he began to speak.

"You are just as capable as any of our S-class. If I'm being honest with you, the only reason you aren't S-class already is the fact that the council put a limit on us. I'm only allowed to promote one wizard a year to S-class. Sure you weren't the one promoted each time you tried, but that doesn't mean you failed the trials. So have some more confidence in yourself."

Even though she wanted to believe him, her insecurity were popping up in her mind and whispering things like 'you still aren't worthy' and 'it still isn't enough'. Shaking her head to clear her mind, Cana looked down at Michiko and smiled. The little girl was babbling away as if she was trying to be part of the conversation too.

"I'm fine with the way things are right now master. Don't go out of your way to do something special for me."

Cana told the guild master. The look on her face was all the proof he needed to believe that she was perfectly okay with missing out on the chance to become S-class. So with a sigh he finally responded.

"Alright. I understand."

But Erza had to cut in at this point, curios as to how the master planned to handle Natsu.

"What about Natsu master? He'll stay behind to help raise Michiko, but he'll be frustrated at missing out on his chance to become S-class."

"He and Gajeel are out on a request from the council, one that they declared to equal to an S-class job. So I decided that handling the situation with the Wyverns is his trial. When they get back I will promote the two of them to S-class after hearing their report."

None of them could argue against the idea as it made complete sense to them. If Natsu and Gajeel could complete an S-class job then they were certainly ready to be S-class. After that the conversation died down and they lounged about the guild hall, waiting for their two slayers to return.

Hours Later

"I don't know how much longer I can stay. It's getting close to Michiko's bed time after all."

Cana told the guild master with a small frown. He could tell she wanted to be there when Natsu returned, and it made him smile. 'It truly is amusing how the two have changed since becoming parents' Makarov thought as he nodded at her words.

They had no way of knowing just how long of a job it was, since the request from the council was an emergency. So he wasn't really surprised to see that it had almost been a full twenty four hours since the two Dragon Slayers left.

"Don't worry about it. If those two brats return while you're at home I'll just send him straight to you."

Makarov went to say. But he only got halfway through, when three bodies appeared in the middle of the guild hall.

Taking their hands off of Doranbolt's shoulders Natsu and Gajeel both stepped away from the council worker.

"We're back!"

Natsu called out happily. At first no one said anything. The few people that were still at the guild instead just looked over the two, with most of them confused as to why the only evidence they'd been fighting was the ruined clothing. But Cana shook her head knowing they'd hear the full story later. So instead because Mira was holding Michiko, she ran to her boyfriend, throwing her arms around him as she kissed him deeply.

"Welcome back."


S.R: This was fun. Anyway I'll see you guys next time!