"Oh, come on! You've got to be kidding me!"

Natsu grinned excitedly, grabbing Lucy's hand to propel her faster into the clearing.

"I know! Isn't it great?! Who would have guessed we'd get to fight Laxus?!"

The blonde girl groaned, of course he would be excited instead of terrified like a normal human.

"Can you remember what happened the last time you fought Laxus?"

Natsu grinned wider, not letting up his pushing for a second. Lucy knew that Laxus had to know they were there, he was a Dragon Slayer after all.

"Yeah! I annihilated him!"

"Actually, that's not how I remember it…"

Laxus' voice boomed out across the clearing, but he didn't even bother to turn and face them. A little rude, maybe, but one hundred percent Laxus.

"I seem to remember it took you and Rust Crotch to bring me down. After I'd already fought against Erza, Mystogan, filled the Thunder Palace and tried to cast Fairy Law. In fact, if Metal Prick hadn't taken that hit for you, you wouldn't be here to tell your story right now."

Lucy squeaked and stepped behind Natsu, her hand clenching on the back of his jacket. He didn't even react to her, his grin becoming somewhat feral as he stared down the older Dragon Slayer. Oh no… I need to get him out of here before the Dragon loses it. She bit her lip, turning over ideas in her head as quickly as she could. She pressed against his back, stretching up so her mouth was just next to his ear, her words barely loud enough to be called audible.

"We just have to get past him, Natsu. We don't actually have to fight. Let me distract him we ca-"

"NO!"

The Dragon Slayer roared as he shook himself, pulling out of her grip. She blinked in shock, cursing as she realized her efforts had backfired, spurring the Dragon on instead of calming it.

"I don't need Metal Face. Or any of that other shit! I've gotten stronger, Luce. I can beat him! I've learned a lot, I remember facing Gildarts the last time. I'm not afraid."

She felt the heat in his gaze when he glanced back at her, but she could feel the intent behind his words too. He wanted to prove this to her as much as to himself. After everything, he needed this.

Laxus didn't seem to be too bothered by Natsu's outburst, still facing the other way although Lucy was sure he was still paying strict attention to what they were doing through his other senses.

"What was that, Blondie? You wanna run past me? Look up."

Lucy huffed, cocking out her hip as she crossed her arms in annoyance.

"You know you're literally blonde, right? You can't call me…"

"Look. Up."

Lucy let her eyes drift up beyond the canopy, before trying to withhold a gasp at what she saw. Laxus had erected another Thunder Palace around the clearing, what must have been forty small lacrima occasionally sparking off their electricity. They were essentially as trapped as they would have been facing Freed.

"You try and leave and I activate the palace. Remember you have more rounds to contend with after this, I only have this round so I can go all out."

The Celestial Mage dropped her gaze to Natsu again and found that he was still staring at her as if he hadn't even had to look up at the magic Laxus was talking about. His whole focus was on her in that moment, and it floored her. He was fighting with every instinct he had, wanting to fight for the fun of the fight, but at the same time he was leaving the choice to her. He trusted that if she wanted to run still, he'd find a way to get them out safely. After a moment, she smiled, determination written across her face as her right hand dropped to her keys, her left clenching into a fist in front of her.

"Right, Natsu! Let's do this!"

Her partner whooped, whirling to face their opponent as flames licked up his arms, the Dragon inside loosing all control to his human. They'd chosen well with their mate.

Laxus grinned a toothy grin as he felt Natsu's magic intensify behind him. Oh, this was going to be fun. And no matter what the old man had said, he was going to go all out. Rolling his shoulders he let his ears strain for any movement coming from behind him. Let Natsu attack, see what good it did him. He noticed movement creeping to his right side, but it was just the girl, there wasn't much she could do without her spirits, and he'd hear her call them. He diverted the rest of his attention to the sound that he'd marked as Natsu, tracking the boy as he stepped in the other direction. Ah, they're dividing their attack. Or the girl is hiding and he's trying to draw my attention away.

"So you just gonna stand there all day, Laxus? Or are you actually going to respect me enough to face me?"

The blonde Dragon Slayer's grin widened as he heard the sharp intake of breath from the other Dragon Slayer. He whirled to the left, expelling his own roar at the boy. The magic blasts met square in the middle of the clearing between the two men, both of them continuing to expel their breath as the power built. Finally the level was too much to be contained and there was an explosion in the clearing, lightning and fire arcing everywhere. The force blew the trees back, and both men threw their arms across their own faces, feet planted firmly on the ground. Laxus chuckled to himself as the blonde girl's shriek hit his ears.

"Is this getting too much for you, blo…"

His taunt was cut off as he turned to face her, immediately getting blasted by a column of sand. He'd already dropped his guard, so there wasn't much to keep him from flying backwards a few feet before hitting the ground, the sand continuing to slam into him. The fuck?! When the earth finally stopped and his vision cleared, Laxus looked back across the clearing at the girl. She was standing next to that scorpion spirit of hers, the creature's arm around her shoulders. Obviously he was the only reason she hadn't gotten blasted from the clearing when the roars had overloaded.

"So you've learned to call them without speaking? Impressive."

Laxus grinned as he stood up. He may have underestimated them, but that just meant he could have some more fun. He started to laugh as he let the anger course through him, feeling the fabric of his shirt rip as his muscles grew and his skin turned to scales. It was time to see what kind of damage two dragons could really do.

Laxus stayed standing still. He was a huge advocate of letting your enemies tire themselves out, and there was no better example of that than Natsu Dragneel. The younger man grinned, baring his teeth as his own magic amped up through his body. He didn't grow scales of his own, but the flames dancing across his skin increased in heat to the point Laxus could feel them even at the distance they were apart. Every sense they each had was tuned to each other and Natsu's partner, Lucy still standing on the sideline with Scorpio. The spirit was bouncing on his feet a little, waiting for another opportunity to catch Laxus off guard.

After just a moment of the Dragons staring each other down, Natsu lunged forward, his right arm drawn back behind him, his left hand extended in front of him. He'd charged Laxus enough times that he was keeping a defense handy, but he was going to land this first punch, he just knew it! Especially with that other plan..

Laxus still just watched as the other Dragon Slayer came nearer, prepared to step to the side and drop his fist onto the boy's head like he'd done so many times before. His Dragon growled at the waiting, still wound up from the danger to its humans on the ship. When Natsu was mere feet away, Laxus threw his right hand out to the side, catching the spirit that had been trying to get the drop on him. With a feral roar, the Dragon Slayer slung the body around by its throat, not even caring to see who it was before slamming them into the pink-haired boy in front of him.

Natsu yelled as he and Loke both went flying across the clearing, landing heavily in a pile at Lucy's feet. She lurched forward to help Loke up, the flames that were still on Natsu's skin too much for her to touch. Just as the men were getting to their feet, Lucy felt a hand snatch at the back of her shirt, pulling her away from them and spinning her towards the trees. She felt her hair stand on end and heard a loud crack as Scorpio wrapped his arms and his tail around her, his back to the other combatants.

After a moment she pulled against him, turning to see what had happened. Again, Laxus stood perfectly still in almost the exact same spot that he'd been when they arrived. Natsu and Loke were both laid out on the ground groaning, a scorch mark where they'd been standing before. She smiled over at Scorpio, nodding her thanks as she pulled Loke to his feet again. Natsu wasn't even fully standing before he was rocketing back across the clearing, a low growl in the back of his throat.

"He's not going to stop charging, Loke! He's too angry at this point… do what you can to help!"

The lion spirit nodded, clenching his fists as he raced after his fighting partner. There was a brief flurry of movement as the two threw punches at the S-Class Mage. Loke stumbled back at one point, shaking his arms out as if he'd been shocked when he made contact. Natsu didn't seem to be effected that much, but that could have been because of his fire, or because he'd gotten used to Laxus' shocks. I mean, he can use the lightning sometimes, so he probably has some immunity. Lucy looked back to her other spirit, cocking her head to the side and considering the way his armored tail had protected her from the shocks before.

"You pretty much only do ranged attacks, don't you? Would your gloves insulate you at all against the lightning?"

The scorpion shook his head, grinning a little.

"I don't think they'd help much, but I can keep you safe here if I need to."

Lucy nodded, turning her eyes back to assess how the fight was going. Loke and Natsu didn't seem to be making any ground at all, Laxus using them against each other more often than not. Lucy was beginning to see a flaw in their training method, in that the two had only fought against each other and not worked on team attacks very much at all. Well, she'd just have to step things up a bit then…

The Celestial Mage cast her eyes about the clearing, trying to find what she was looking for. Unfortunately it was so hot, there weren't really any puddles or anything, and the path they'd chosen didn't seem to have access to the river that she knew snaked around the island. Lucy groaned, pulling at her keys once again.

"Oh great… I'm going to have to use my water skin… she's going to hate me."

"Wait, Lucy do-"

She grabbed Aquarius' key, squeezing her eyes shut and sliding it into the mouth of her waterskin before Scorpio could say anything else. There was another roar, but she knew instinctively that it wasn't either of the Dragon Slayers across the clearing. She'd heard that particular sound enough times in her life.

"Really?! Are you stupid?! You actually… no, you know what? Fine!"

The water spirit lifted her jar, starting to sling it around as water gushed out, not even caring who all she was dousing. The wave hit Lucy and Scorpio first, knocking them both out of the clearing and into the trees. The scorpion hooked his tail into a tree and snatched the blonde as she was washed past him, helping her get her head above the water. The wave kept coming, flooding the clearing more than it should have been able to, but hey, magic. The Dragon Slayers were both slammed at full force, knocking them into the ground as Loke was thrown into the air.

The wave finally settled down, still covering the ground with about a foot of water. Natsu groaned as he shoved himself off the ground, looking down to notice that his flames had been extinguished. He clenched his fists, yelling as the fire erupted on his skin again, and his onyx eyes settled back onto Laxus. Scorpio leapt from the tree they were on, splashing back into the clearing and setting his owner back onto the ground before turning to try and appease his girlfriend.

All movement in the clearing stopped as Laxus started to cackle from where he still lay in the water. Lifting his head he looked past the other assembled bodies straight at Aquarius, and grinned in a way Lucy hadn't seen since before his banishment.

"Thanks, babe."

Aquarius had already started to blush as Laxus slowly raised a hand out of the water, pointing it to the sky and snapping his fingers.

The clearing was bathed in yellow as the Thunder Palace activated, the entire island trembling at the crash the electricity produced as it hit the water below, instantly evaporating the last of the liquid left lying on the ground. Lucy's ears rang at the proximity of the explosion, her eyes screwed shut as her hands tried and failed to block out the noise. Her head was spinning, but soon enough she could hear Laxus' booming laughter echoing through the trees. Was this it? Had they been knocked out?

"Is it over? Is what she says."

Horologium stood calmly in the clearing with Lucy safely inside, his arms hanging at his sides. Scorpio was unwrapping his tail from around his torso, glaring over at Aquarius, who had just realized that her boyfriend was there and had been hit by her water. A moment later it dawned on her that his anger was maybe related to Laxus' blatant flirting that she hadn't brushed off. He glared at her another moment before spinning on his heel and storming off into the trees. Lucy felt the pull on her magic stop a moment later as he returned to the Spirit World.

"Wait, Babe! Scorpio!"

Aquarius wailed as she also disappeared, and Lucy puffed out her cheeks in annoyance. Perfect timing for her spirits to have relationship problems. She pressed her face against the glass of the chamber she was sat in, trying to locate the rest of her team. Loke had come through of his own accord, so she couldn't tell if he was still around, but she thought she remembered seeing him thrashing around after Aquarius had shown up and flooded them. Not her best plan, if she was honest with herself. She shook her head before she started dwelling on all of the mistakes that they'd made so far and continued searching for Natsu. Her eyes skated over Laxus who was still laying on the ground laughing, small sparks dancing across his chest and arms.

As she finally caught sight of her Dragon Slayer, Lucy groaned, seeing him breathing heavily as he struggled to roll onto his back. She whipped her head back as she realized Laxus' laughter had stopped and saw the blonde stalking closer to her partner.

"Laxus, stop! He's down! Is what she yells."

The Lightning Dragon Slayer ignored the spirit's monotone voice, baring his teeth in a feral grin, his Dragon thrilled with the violence they were unleashing. Even if these weren't the ones who'd threatened his people, they'd been around and done nothing. Lucy frantically scrambled for her keys once again, hoping her plan worked long enough to get away.

Laxus knew that his Dragon was showinggrin was feral, but he didn't care. Lightning was rushing through his veins, he hadn't felt this high in a long time. The boost of the lightning from the water had recharged him and he clenched and unclenched his fists as he stared down at Natsu still lying on the floor. The other Dragon Slayer looked worse for wear, some of his clothes singed off not from his own flames but from Laxus' lightning, and he still occasionally twitched. The girl was right. He was down, he didn't need to fight anymore. But he wasn't bothered with reason. He wanted to have fun. He felt the lightning charge in his muscles, sparking around him and filling the air with static.

"Laxus! Please!"

That voice. It cut straight through his anger, right into his heart. Laxus froze, turning in place to lock eyes with one of the only three people who could have stopped him in that moment.

Freed looked… bad. Laxus couldn't imagine who could have done that much damage to him, outside of other members of his own team. That was wrong. The Raijinshuu should have never turned on each other, but he guessed it was the rules of the test. If Freed had come up against Evergreen or Bickslow…

His clothing was torn, hair loose and wild around his bloodied head. His right eye was pitch black, in too much pain for his magic to keep in control but then he should be…

No. Something wasn't right. He didn't smell right for a start. If it was really Freed the Dragon inside of him would have felt him coming from a mile away. His magic would have been out of control, sending out dark ecritures by the dozen if his eye was shining like that. But of course, the whole point of it wasn't to distract Laxus for long…

At that moment, the floor dropped out from underneath the Dragon Slayer, literally this time. He fell about fifteen feet, the hole in the ground shooting straight down, just big enough for him to fit. His ears caught a voice above him as his Dragon slammed against his restraints. He'd been tricked, and now they were running away. He began to claw up the walls, too angry and caught up trying to contain the beast to change to his lightning body.

"We must hurry, Princess. It will not contain him for long unless you'd like me to bury him alive."

Lucy shook her head as she burst out of Horologium, sliding to a stop next to her partner. She laid a hand against Natsu's cheek to let him know she was there, hoping the Dragon would catch her scent and stay calm so he didn't panic and hurt her spirits. He twitched again, a small shock jumping into her hands from his skin, making her squeak. His eyes snapped open for a moment, his slitted pupils barely more than a line as his hand flew to latch onto her wrist.

"Shh, shh, it's just me. We've gotta go. Come on, stay calm."

She leaned down quickly, closing her eyes as she pressed her forehead against his, forcing herself to stay calm. Natsu continued staring at her for a few seconds, the sounds of Laxus clawing at the ground getting louder. He finally dropped his hand, his eyes closing again and Lucy jumped back to her feet. Her pink haired spirit bent to scoop the Dragon Slayer into her arms and they took off out of the clearing. Gemini stayed where they were, ready to leap in front of their opponent to slow him again if necessary.

As soon as the women were into the woods on the other side of their battleground, the spirit wearing the face of Freed disappeared. Moments later, Laxus propelled himself out of the ground, standing in the middle of the clearing with his hands balled into fists, his sides heaving as he struggled to calm down. The predator inside only saw fleeing prey, but he knew he was supposed to leave them be if they'd managed to get past him. Taking a few gulping breaths, he threw his head back, loosing a roar into the sky.

The fighting begins! This was so fun to write, and I am looking forward to more fights in the future! Keep those reviews coming, we love them all!