Hey everyone it's Natsu here.
I am incredibly nervous about this chapter. I mean I barely scraped by on the other chapters and those were fights never done before. This is Natsu and Gajeel! A fight that has already been done by the professional hiro mashima how am I gonna do proper honor to this fight? to mashima's masterpiece!? I don't know but I guess we'll find out. Wish me luck guys. Enjoy the chapter cookie
Don't own FT. (Why do I have to point that out?)
Ch 26: Natsu versus Gajeel.
Shortly after the heat of the last battle a new one quickly rose. Natsu Dragneel and Gajeel Redfox, a match many had been dying to see. Would they use their alternative modes? How long could the fight go for? Who would come out victorious? These questions and more filled the stands as they prepared for the next battle.
"It's finally my turn!" Natsu shouted.
"You must be pretty excited then Natsu" Lucy said.
"Not really.."
"Why not?"
"Cuz I gotta fight metalhead out there.. He's not even worth my time!"
"What was that salamander?" Gajeel growled behind Natsu.
"I said you're not worth my time stud face"
"I'd beat you anytime and you know it pinky!"
"So far it's one to zero! Pretty soon it'll be two!"
"I'll pummel you here and now Salamander!"
"Then let's go Metalhead!"
"Boys!" Erza shouted "save it for the tournament!"
"Aye ma'am!" The two of them cried in unison.
"Good. Keep it that way."
"These two I swear..." Connor muttered.
"Yeah I hear you" Gray agreed "they're both idiots."
"Says the guy with no pants on" Connor pointed out.
"What! No way!" Gray shouted rushing off to find his pants.
Connor sighed. He had discovered another possible loss. Natsu was his main class meaning If they fought he'd have a disadvantage. He watched Natsu and Gajeel argue over who was best and it made him nervous. If it came down to it and he lost control again the dragon slayers would have the best chance to beat him. He thought about that for a moment as he watched them squabble "we're doomed..." he thought.
"Alright everyone! Its time for the fight you've all been waiting for!" Lola shouted excitedly "The Salamander! Natsu Dragneel! And Blacksteel, Gajeel Redfox!" The crowd was incredibly excited and cheered wildly.
"Will the fighters please enter the stadium!" Slendy shouted.
"Alright I'm all fired up!" Natsu yelled as he leaped down into the stadium.
"Let's win this!" Gajeel shouted as well.
They stood on the same side of the stadium just standing as if they were waiting for something.
"Hey Salamander will ya head over to the other side of the ring already?" Gajeel asked to his opponent.
"Why don't you? I got here first" Natsu argued.
"Just do it ashface!"
"No! You go!"
"Silence! Both of you! Natsu you go the other side!" Erza commanded.
"Aye!" The pink haired man shouted obediently as he ran to the other side of the arena.
"I've really gotta learn how to do that.." Connor muttered.
"You and me both..." Lucy agreed.
"Okay everyone it's finally here. Who will be victorious?!" Lola shouted excitedly
Gajeel and Natsu smirked at one another. This was their rematch their chance to see who really came out on top. Natsu had assistance from Lucy and Sagittarius previously and now he was anxious to prove he could do it on his own. Gajeel felt a similar sense of anxiety, the Salamander would fall before him this time.
"Ready! Begin!" Lola yelled into the Mic.
The two dragon slayers dashed at their opponents. Natsu's fists burned with his bright orange flames. Gajeel created his magic circles and turned his arms to iron rods.
"Iron dragon's club!" Gajeel shouted extending an iron rod towards Natsu.
Natsu quickly rolled to the side and avoided the iron pole then kept on running. "You missed metalhead!" He taunted Gajeel.
"Did I?" Gajeel retorted. He extend smaller poles from the sides of the main rod that struck Natsu dead in the side of his torso.
Natsu growled as he got back up. Gajeel retracted his iron pole and smirked at his fellow dragon slayer. Natsu foolishly continued his charge as Gajeel sent another rod.
"What the hell is pinky doing?" Gray said "he's just gonna get hit again."
"Just watch Gray He might surprise you" Erza said.
"Go Natsu!" Young Romeo cheered for his hero.
As the rod closed in Natsu slid underneath it and grabbed on tight. "Fire dragon's flame elbow!" He shouted sending a jet of flames from his elbow flipping the rod and himself. As the rod flipped Gajeel flew into the air He quickly detached the rod to avoid being slammed into the ground. Natsu got to his feet and puffed his cheeks "fire dragon roar!" He shouted sending a stream of powerful fire at the midair Gajeel. Gajeel raised his arms in defense "iron dragon's iron shield!" Suddenly a large iron shield formed from his crossed arms that covered his front shielding himself from the damage.
"Nice try Salamander but no luck!" Gajeel taunted his opponent.
"Don't get cocky Blacksteel!" Natsu shouted from above him thrusting himself into the air with jets of flame "fire Dragon roar!" He roared releasing his flaming dragon's roar. The blast hit Gajeel directly above him and sent him crashing into the ground and onto his shield.
"When did he learn to do that?!" Connor shouted.
"While you were training on your own Natsu was doing his own training" Happy explained "he got really strong to beat you. That's one of his new moves; the fire dragon thruster!"
"So he can fly now.. that's great.."
"Actually it's more like your booster. Its a temporary burst that only holds him for a few seconds. He'll he falling in three, two, one" and as Happy said one Natsu fell to the ground.
"Crap!" Natsu shouted as he fell back down to the earth. Although it was quite a fall he landed firmly on his feet and smirked. "Take that stud face!"
Gajeel growled and got back up "that's not even near enough to beat me Salamander. You got a lucky hit anyway."
"Yeah right! I outsmarted you fair and square!" Natsu snapped back.
"Never thought flamebrain would actually use his brain" Gray commented.
"Its a little different when Natsu is fighting. Dragon slayers are made to fight dragons it makes sense he'd have some sort of strategy" Lucy said.
"Well at least he's using his brain in some sort" Connor said.
The two opponents in the arena stared each other down before setting off again. They clashed and their hand to hand battle began. Natsu struck with a sweeping kick to trip Gajeel. Gajeel leaped and avoided Natsu's kick then struck at him with an iron rod. Natsu performed a quick backflip and leaped at his opponent with a flaming fist. Gajeel crossed his arms and blocked the fire Dragon slayers attack causing Natsu to retreat with his thruster.
"Iron dragon's sword!" Gajeel shouted forming his arm into his signature iron blade and swinging it down on top of Natsu.
Natsu quickly rolled and unleashed a flurry of fireballs. Gajeel formed a smaller shield of iron and deflected the flames then swung his sword after Natsu landing a hit with the blunt edge of the blade that sent the pinkette to the ground. Natsu groaned and quickly recovered then made another charge. Gajeel created small kunai knives and threw them in Natsu's direction prompting Natsu to leap into the sky.
"Fire dragon's wing attack!" He roared swinging his arms and sending a flurry of flames onto Gajeels head. The flames consumed the iron dragon slayer and he fell to his knees. "How'd ya like that stud face!"
Gajeel looked up and smirked. He was now wearing his iron dragon scales "that didn't even warm me up Salamander. You're losing your edge" he taunted.
Natsu growled "I'll show you who's losing their edge."
"Then come at me Salamander!"
Natsu made a straight charge at Gajeel. Gajeel simply smirked knowing Natsu couldn't get through his iron scales but what Natsu did surprised him. Natsu slid under the iron dragon slayers legs and struck his crotch. Gajeel bent over in pain and groaned.
"Well that's one way to get past Gajeels iron scales..." Connor commented.
"I think it was more of a silent insult rather than attack" Lucy sweatdropped.
Natsu was hysterical with laughter as he watched the groveling Gajeel "that should teach ya not to taunt me!" He shouted through his laughter.
Gajeel growled deep in his throat and stood straight up again "that's it I'm ending this" shadows began to gather at Gajeel's feet slowly rising up his body before extending outward and running wild across his body. His eyes glowed purple and he smirked "let's do this Salamander."
"Alright then I'm done playing with you" Natsu covered his body in his bright orange flames. Lightning exploded from his body and swirled with the fire in perfect harmony "I'm all fired up now."
"What's this!? They've entered their other forms the lightning flame and iron shadow dragon slayers have arrived!" Lola announced with great enthusiasm.
These two titans had entered their ultimate forms. Natsu as the lightning flame dragon slayer and Gajeel as the iron shadow dragon slayer. These two titans faced each other their magic power spiking beyond their normal limits. The other remaining dragon slayers were somewhat anxious to possibly face one of them later on in the ring. The two opponents smirked at the other this was going to be a proper dragon duel.
"Lightning flame dragon..." Natsu began.
"Iron shadows dragon..." Gajeel prepared.
"Roar!" They shouted together.
Natsu's roar of untamed fire and lightning collided with Gajeels roar of gray iron and black shadows. These dragons roared and shook the stadium and as they collided an enormous explosion engulfed the arena consuming the two opponents. A battle of will and endurance would settle this. An enormous cloud of dust covered the arena leaving the crowd anxiously awaiting the victor.
"A huge cloud of dust has blocked our view ladies and gentlemen. I can't even see from here. All we can do is wait" Lola said with a hushed voice.
Silence blanketed the stadium as the dust began to dissapated. They could make out two figures one standing the other on his knees.
"Come on Natsu.." Lucy muttered.
"Gajeel.." Pantherlilly said quietly.
As the last of the dust cleared the victor was revealed.
"Natsu Dragneel! Natsu Dragneel is the winner!" Lola shouted excitedly as he threw his hands into the air.
There stood Natsu hunched over and gasping for breath but standing with his signature grin. Gajeel sat collapsed on his knees before falling to the ground unable to move any longer.
"Damn..." he muttered "I should've won this time..."
"You did it Natsu!" Happy shouted flying down to his friend.
"Yeah I did.." Natsu replied panting heavily.
Soon the medical team arrived to take the two heavily injured dragon slayers. Natsu fought about it but after some thorough convincing from Erza he eventually complied.
"They put all they had into this..." Connor whispered "and I bet they still didn't have their full strength. Maybe we'll make it out of this after all" he smiled to himself as he saw Natsu and Gajeel carted out by the medical team "Alistair you'd better bring all you can. Because we won't go down without a fight."
"And as the sun begins to set ladies and gentlemen I want to thank you for coming out today" Lola said humbly "today ends the preliminaries of the dragon tournament. We'll be giving the competitors time to rest tomorrow so be sure to return in two days for the semifinal match up!" He shouted excitedly.
And so the preliminaries of the Dragon Tournament had completed. In two days they would continue the mighty battle between the most fearsome fighters in the world of Earthland.
Hey everyone it's Natsu here.
So I actually feel a little more confident with this one. I feel like this fight was worthy of mashima-san. Either way I hope you enjoyed the latest installment next time we'll see what happens when you stick eight dragon slayers in one hotel ;). Have a nice day everyone.
Until next time my friends.