I would like to thank everyone who reviewed, favorited or followed this story since I updated it.
TheCarlosInferno: Pairing Laxus with Mira is my initial thought actually, but if I do go through with that then it won't happen for quite some time, considering Mira is dead (as far as everyone believes), and Laxus… well I have plans for him later on. I won't spoil anything, but one arc will get a sizeable overhaul.
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"In a land far far away lies the Kingdom of Fiore, a small and peaceful nation of 17 million, and a place filled with magic. Found in every home, bought and sold in every marketplace. For most people, magic is merely a tool, a mundane part of everyday life. For some however, magic is an art, and they've devoted their lives to its practice. These are the wizards and mages, and banded together into magical guilds, they ply their skills in search of fame and fortune. Many such guilds dot the landscape of Fiore, but there is a certain guild in a certain town that stands high above the rest of them, one from which countless legends have been born, a guild that will no doubt continue to create legends well into the future. This guild is known as Fairy Tail."
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Following the events that took place with Eisenwald, the Magic Council took some time to discuss the increasing number of dark guilds and contemplate ways to deal with the problem before it could get further out of hand.
Siegrain on the other hand took the opportunity to piss off the other council members by stating that if Fairy Tail hadn't taken care of Eisenwald and prevented their plans, it would've been on the heads of the council. Of course, several members of the council were irritated by this and took the opportunity to direct the conversation to where they could complain about the amount of destruction caused by Fairy Tail.
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The sun was shining brightly over the skies of Magnolia.
Luke looked out of the window of his apartment at the city below, deep in thought while he was contemplating the recent events 'Eisenwald attempt to use the Lullaby spell created by Zeref in order to kill the Guild Masters, and that ended up being some seriously big news that ended up making all of the papers and had anyone who was anyone talking about it. Looking back, I never would've imagined myself being stuck in the spotlight like this. Unlike two certain jackasses, one pink and one black haired, I'm not gonna let it go to my head. It still makes my heart race like crazy when I think about what we've gone through for the past few days. From what I heard, the authorities caught most of the members of Eisenwald that were involved. They even ended up taking in Kageyama, but he surrendered willingly so that's reassuring somewhat. But what really concerns me is that they still haven't been able to track down Erigor, even after the smackdown I laid on him he was able to get away and now he might show up at Fairy Tail looking to get some revenge. But all things considered I'm not too worried about that, a good number of the people here would be able to whoop his ass without too much difficulty. Plus I have Cana and the others backing me up if I get in over my head too much, not to mention my little buddy Bolt. Being back at the guild after all that time feels great, and it feels nice knowing that everyone hasn't changed a bit in the time I've been gone. I guess it's like the old saying goes, the more things change, the more things stay the same.' he breathed out a deep sigh 'You know as much fun it is saving the world and all that, sometimes it feels good just to be able to relax at home.'
"I don't know what the hell Cana was talking about, this place isn't that much of a dump for 120,000 Jewel a month."
'...Until your guildmates barge in because they have no sense of shame or privacy.' Luke turned around and let out a sigh "Gray you know my rule, you're not allowed to strip in my apartment under any circumstances."
"Hey hold on a second man, I have a perfectly good explanation for that."
"Which is?"
"I was naked when I got here."
"Uh huh."
"It's true." Bolt came into the room holding what looked like a bucket of chicken wings over his head "He just showed up at the window in his underwear."
"I don't doubt that, I also don't care. Gray do I have to remind you of what happened the last time you showed up in my place naked? You and Natsu wrecked the place, and now I'm banned from 30% of the buildings in the city."
"Hey I said I was sorry."
"No you didn't, you blamed it on Natsu and bailed once Erza showed up."
"...Oh yeah. That was a fun day."
"Not for me."
"Whatever, and you've bounced back from that haven't you? At least none of your stuff got wrecked back then, not even those god awful red cowboy boots."
"Hey that's uncalled for man, those are nice boots and frankly I totally pull them off."
"Bullshit and you know it. Hey tiny cat with a snarky sense of humor, if I were to say that Luke could never pull something off then what would I be talking about?"
"Oh you really have to try and turn my own cat against me? Well forget it, Bolt and I have a bond that's years in the making, there's no way he would side with you."
"His red cowboy boots." Bolt gave the immediate answer.
"...Traitor."
"Don't blame the snarky cat, he just knows what's what." Gray pointed out.
"Don't give me that shit, I can pull those boots off and you both know that for a fact. You want me to prove it to you?"
"No."
"Good, I will." Luke made his way over to his closet, threw some random stuff all over the place, and then he eventually dug out a pair of red cowboy boots and tried them on, his expression increasingly smug "Pulling. Them. Off."
"No you're not."
"Fuck you."
"I just speak the truth."
"You speak your opinion, that doesn't mean it's actually true."
"What are you gonna do, wear them until you find someone who actually likes those stupid things? I walked right into that one."
"Yes, yes you did. What are you doing here anyway?"
"Oh yeah right, we figured that you would've forgotten about today so I came here in order to remind you."
"About what?"
"What do you think? Remember the other day before all of that Eisenwald crap when you up and challenged Erza back at the train station?"
"Oh yeah. That. Crap."
"Yeah Erza sent me to get you so we could get this underway, need I remind you of what happened the last time anyone disappointed Erza?"
"I'm pretty sure that was you and Natsu."
"...Bite me, let's just go."
"Yeah yeah, just let me get dressed."
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20 minutes later…
Soon enough, Luke found himself face to face with Erza outside of the Fairy Tail guild hall, with a massive crowd surrounding the two of them 'I should've just stayed in bed.'
That was when Lucy suddenly forced her way through the crowd "Wait you were actually serious about that, I thought you were kidding! They're actually going through with this whole thing?"
"Oh hey Lucy, how's it going." Lisanna waved "And yeah, both of them are pretty serious about this."
"You've gotta be kidding me!"
Elfman let out a chuckle "Yeah well if the two of them want to call themselves real men then I say they'd better go through with it."
"Erza isn't a man." Lisanna pointed out.
"Yeah but you've gotta admit that she's pretty damn manly."
Lucy showed some other concerns "Aren't you guys worried that this kind of fight is gonna tear our strongest team apart?"
"What are you talking about, what strongest team?" asked Bolt.
"What else, I mean you, Luke, Natsu, Erza and Cana. You guys are the five strongest wizards in the entire guild."
"We are? Yeah in some stupid fantasy, what idiot fed you that line?"
"Well excuse me for humoring the new girl." Luke grumbled loud enough for them to hear, causing Bolt to cringe.
"...Oh. Well anyway yeah Gray is pretty tough, Natsu is, well a reckless smartass who doesn't know how to hold back, and Cana is pretty tough herself, but none of the three of them are even close to being considered the strongest in the guild. There are guys in Fairy Tail that are way stronger than all of them combined, from what I've heard Natsu and Gray found that one out the hard way a while back."
"Do I want to know?"
"Nope, but anyway calling Erza the strongest woman in the guild is actually a pretty safe bet all things considered. As for the strongest guy, Luke is definitely a contender that much is a pretty solid guarantee, but when it comes down to it it would have to be him, Laxus or Mystogan, and that's not even counting the Master or Gildarts. Anyway what Luke meant before was that all of us work well together and have the best chemistry in all of Fairy Tail."
"And by chemistry you mean they like to strangle each other?"
"That's only in cases like Natsu and Gray, or me and Happy."
"AYE!" Happy suddenly charged at him in a comical rage "There's only room for one flying cat in this town-"
"Aye." Bolt ducked under the attempted lunge, which promptly sent Happy flying into the morning sky and out of sight "I don't know about you but I'm pretty psyched to see how this fight is gonna turn out, neither of them are pushovers and no way either of them are gonna go down without a fight."
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Erza glanced over at Luke and gave a small smile "I can't remember the last time the two of us squared off like this."
"We were both just little kids back then so it doesn't really count, today's gonna be the day we settle things once and for all." Luke promptly drew his dragon scale sword "Only one of us can come out on top."
"Well don't think I intend to go easy on you Luke. As a matter of fact, I have the perfect armor for an occasion such as this. Requip!" she promptly flashed into a new gold and blue colored suit of armor complete with a double headed spear.
"Your rarely seen yet still formidable Lightning Empress Armor, not a bad choice considering the current circumstances. Yeah my lightning attacks will only be about ⅔ as effective as they would originally be, of course you have to keep in mind that as a Lightning Dragon Slayer I have the ability to eat lightning at will."
"I am aware, and it's also a good reason for you not to hold back against me. Also Cana, I know you're making a pool on who's gonna win so put down 50 on Erza." he was met with only a middle finger "You never change."
"Some things never do."
Makarov was quick to make the call "Let the first round begin!"
Erza wasted no time and charged at Luke as she fired a blast of lightning from the tip of her spear.
"Not good enough!" Luke ducked under the blast of lightning and aimed a kick at Erza's head, only for it to be blocked by the spear, so he retreated a short distance "Now then… Lightning Dragon… ROAR!" he breathed out a quick lightning enhanced roar.
Erza leapt over the roar, resulting in a few members of the crowd, and prepared to bring down her spear.
Luke prepared to counter her spear with his dragon scale sword, only to be stopped by the sound of a gong "Okay, what now?"
As it turns out, the one that had rang the gong was a frog in a robe "This fight has officially been declared forfeit. May I have your attention please?"
"You already got it with the obnoxiously loud gong."
"I have come here on behalf of the Magic Council."
"And now I'm being ignored. Two things though. One, not to judge but I'm pretty sure I'm one of the few people who noticed that you're a frog. Two, why are you here exactly?"
"As a result of the incident with the dark guild Eisenwald, a member of your guild has been charged with 11 counts of criminal property damage. Luke Drako the Thunderclap, I am placing you under arrest."
"...Alright fine, just answer me one question. What do you think of the boots?"
"Correction, 11 counts of criminal property damage and 1 count of poor taste in fashion."
"Fuck!"
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Later, back at the guildhall…
After Luke had been arrested, the mood in the guild hall had become sour at best, and things were eerily quiet. Well, except for…
"COME ON YOU GUYS THIS ISN'T FAIR!" Natsu was now trapped in the form of a tiny angry salamander and trapped underneath a plastic cup "LET ME THE HELL OUT OF HERE ALREADY!"
"Come on Natsu, you need to try to calm down." Lisanna told him, but she pretty much went unheard.
"COME ON THIS ISN'T FAIR, JUST LET ME OUT!"
"If we do then you'll go on a rampage."
"I'll be good I swear, just change me back to the way that I was before!"
"Natsu anyone here knows that the second we turn you back, you'll run off to break Luke out and torch the place."
"Give me a break, I couldn't care less what happens to that asshole!"
"Natsu even if you wanted to help him it's not like we can face off with the Magic Council itself." Erza pointed out.
"But don't those sons of bitches on the council realize that Luke did what he had to do to save the lives of the Guild Masters from the bad guys and their evil death flute?!"
"Natsu if the Magic Councils decides you to be guilty then that's all there is to it, they don't care what you have to say."
"I just don't get it." Cana muttered "I mean we've blown up a lot of stuff in the past and they never made that big of a deal out of it, it just doesn't make any sense to me. You think there might be some other reason behind this?"
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Meanwhile, in the building that houses the Fiore Branch of the Magic Council…
At the same time, Luke was being led down the halls of the Magic Council Fiore Branch HQ towards the trial that awaited him, but he stopped when he noticed someone in front of him, and he let out a sigh "Just like you to show up just to try and make yourself look cool Siegrain."
Sure enough, before him stood Siegrain of the Magic Council, prompting the frog messenger to bow to him "It's been awhile hasn't it Luke, a few weeks give or take?"
"About three weeks or so."
"You don't have anything to be concerned about with me my friend, I'm only here in spirit after all. I'm sending this projection to you from Era, in fact all of the arrogant wrinkled old faces in the courtroom will be projections as well."
"For people who claim to hate Fairy Tail as much as they do, they don't even give enough of a damn to come and face the one member they can get in chains in person?"
"You know as well as I do that such a matter is quite trivial really, but yes they do bark a lot more than they can bite. Still though, I'm glad to see you're being civil with me. It's quite a shame that Erza can't be as level headed as you."
"I don't know what sort of history you have with her but the fact of the matter is that you defend my guild from the rest of those blowhards on the council in exchange for me taking down a few dark guilds here and there, that's enough for me to give you the benefit of the doubt at least for the moment."
"Glad to hear it. You know the elders believe that the destruction in Clover will end up falling into their laps, and the only way for them to avoid that is to place the blame on someone else entirely. To put it simply, you're their scapegoat."
"Yeah that doesn't surprise me in the slightest."
"Nor should it really. But with all of that out of the way it's time for the other matter I wish to discuss with you." he put a hand on Luke's shoulder, but both of them grimaced and he quickly took it off "Tell Erza that I send her my regards, and that she must not let a word slip about you know what, or she knows what in this case, for both of our sakes. You know better than to ask for details of course."
"I know."
"Good. Now then if you'll excuse me I must join my colleagues on the council, I'll be seeing you shortly on the other side." and with that, Siegrain disappeared.
'I have a feeling we'll be seeing each other sooner than you think.'
The frog messenger nervously looked up at Luke "Oh wow, you sure do know some very important people."
"I never did trust that guy, but he approached me a few months into my 18 months training trip and we made a deal. In exchange for me eliminating a few dark guilds at his request, he would defend my guild from the rest of the Magic Council. It seemed only fair to me." Luke prepared to continue onwards, but then paised "Oh crap."
"Is something the matter?"
"I forgot to ask him if he liked the boots!"
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Siegrain made his way through the halls of Era, his mind focused on his goals 'I've worked very hard to get as far as I have Luke, and I must make sure that you and Erza do not stand in my way now.'
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Soon enough, Luke was faced with the members of the Magic Council, or rather magic projections of the Magic Council because they didn't give enough of a damn to show up there in person 'Well this sucks.'
The frog messenger quickly got the trial underway with the bang of a gavel "This courtroom will now come to order, before us is the defendant Luke Drako. If you would be so kind as to take the stand Mr Drako."
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Meanwhile, back at Fairy Tail…
Cana finally ran out of patience (and booze) and bolted to her feet "This is just a complete load of bullshit, we should be there to testify!"
"Absolutely not, we're not going to court." Makarov told her firmly.
"Why the hell not? We all know Luke is innocent, we can't just sit around on our asses and let them lock her up!"
"Even if we left this very second there's no way we'd make it in time."
"But-"
"DAMMIT LET ME THE HELL OUT!" Natsu once again exploded from where he was trapped underneath his plastic cup "I'VE BEEN STUCK UNDERNEATH THIS STUPID GLASS FOR HOURS, COME ON IT'S GETTING HARD TO BREATHE IN HERE AND I GOTTA PEE DAMMIT! COME ON AND LET ME THE HELL OUT OF HERE ALREADY!"
"Are you sure that you want to be let out?" Makarov was met with silence, and he gained a confident smirk "What's the matter? It looks to me like you've lost the fire in your belly haven't you? Alright fine, just hold on." he fired an energy blast, destroying the cup and revealing who was really inside it "Macao?!"
Sure enough, Macao now lay on the floor receiving looks of disbelief from everyone in the guild hall "Oh crap."
In case of Erza however, it was more anger than disbelief "That was you?!"
"Yeah, sorry about this you guys but I kind of owed Natsu a favor. I turned myself into a salamander so that everybody would think that I was him."
"Do you know where he went? Oh damn, he went after Luke didn't he?"
"Yeah, I'm afraid so."
"That imbecile, he's probably going to try and fight the entire Magic Council!"
"Would everyone please just calm down?" Makarov promptly shut them up "The only choice we have now is to wait and see what happens."
"And pray that Luke doesn't let him do anything too stupid."
"That too."
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The members of the Magic Council looked down on Luke with one shared expression (the only exception being Siegrain), that being disdain "Luke Drako of the Fairy Tail guild, you stand before the council to answer to charges stemming from the incident involving the dark guild known as Eisenwald. These charges include extensive damage to Oshibana Station, damage to the Reeyushika Gorge Railway Bridge, and the complete destruction of the Clover Town meeting hall. There are 11 charges of property damage against you, as well as 1 charge of poor taste in fashion."
"Hold on a second." Luke shot a glare at the frog messenger "You actually filed a charge against me for that? I thought you were just blind of good boots when you see them."
"Silence! According to eyewitness reports, the perpetrator is described as a young man with brown hair, glasses and a sword strapped to his side with the Fairy Tail guild emblem on his left arm."
"Who also happens to pull off a very expensive set of Red Cowboy Boots."
"Silence! And no you don't."
"Son of a-" Luke was cut off by an explosion behind him.
"What in the world is this?!"
"...Do I dare look?" he did, and his expression dulled.
As it turns out, it was Natsu wearing a red colored quarter zip and a pair of Luke's glasses, flailing around in a comical fashion "I'm the quarter zip wearing Dragon Slayer you old fuckers have been looking for, if you have a problem with the way me and my guild do things then you can shove it! I'm Luke the Dragon Slayer and I'll shove my sword up your asses before you even know what hit you!"
"Oh god dammit."
"If you thought I was destructive before well you haven't seen anything yet, wait until you see what happens when I get really angry!" and so he proceeded to destroy half of the courtroom during his comical tantrum, much to the horror of most of those present, the annoyance of Luke and the clear amusement of Siegrain "Do you old fucks seriously think that the stuff that I destroyed is more important than the lives of the Guild Masters? Well?!"
"And you wonder why Gray constantly tries to strangle you."
The council members didn't hesitate in making the call "Take them away."
"You know the usual routine, just send the bill to Fairy Tail."
Natsu comically rounded on him now "What the hell are you doing Luke, don't apologize to these wrinkled old fuckers! Oh shit I mean- I am Luke, hear me roar!"
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20 minutes later, in a certain prison cell…
Luke levelled a glare on Natsu with what appeared to be a mix of anger and unyielding annoyance "I don't think there's a word even begin to describe how much of a migraine you give me."
"Hey what the hell did I do?" Natsu grumbled.
"You mean aside from destroying half of the courtroom for pretty much no good reason? The trial was just a formality for show you idiot."
"Are you serious?"
"It's a gigantic glorified spectacle, the council is just using me as an example to remind everyone that if you break the law then there are consequences. It's just a reason to help them maintain order in the world of magic."
"Wait a second… you mean this is all for show?"
"That's what I just said, they probably would've just found me guilty, slapped me on the wrist and sent me home, but thanks to you we're stuck in a jail cell for the night. Not to mention you basically torched one of my favorite quarter-zips for no good reason."
"I'm sorry."
"...Forget it, I know your heart was in the right place." and yet he promptly kicked Natsu in the side of his head "But seriously, don't to anything THAT stupid again okay?"
"I will make no such promise."
"Can you at least tell me if you like my boots?"
"Did you get them from a dragon like I did my scarf?"
"No."
"Then they look ridiculous."
"Says the cocky little bastard with pink hair who is the reason we have to spend the night in a jail cell."
"To save you."
"We just went over this, you weren't saving me."
"Agree to disagree."
Luke forced himself to suppress the blood curdling scream that he felt building up inside of his throat.
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The next morning, back at the Fairy Tail guild hall…
"YES!" Natsu let out a roar at the top of his lungs "Who the hell would've thought that fresh air could smell so sweet, I'm gonna breathe it in all day!"
"Shut up." Cana promptly took a sip from her mug of booze, only for her to be ignored "At least you didn't have to spend years in jail because of that idiot."
"I think I've been through enough punishment being forced to spend a night alone in a cell with him." Luke told her dryly.
"Still though I can't believe that arrest and trial were just a fucking stunt, all of that booze wasted over me worrying about you for nothing."
"Yeah well that can't be helped, they didn't want me as a sacrificial lamb so much as they wanted a scapegoat."
"...Okay I'm pretty sure there's a pun in there about your jokes being cold, but I just don't care enough to try and think about that."
"And I just feel drained after spending a night with him." he proceeded to down a large mug of coffee "And now I feel better, truth be told I think I've had as much exposure to Natsu as I can stand for awhile."
"Speaking of fiery redheads, are you gonna finish going toe to toe with Erza or what?"
"Oh yeah, I totally forgot about that."
"Screw that!" Natsu suddenly popped up in front of them "I say screw Erza, how about you and me go at it instead?"
"I'm not in the mood to deal with you right now."
"Yeah nice try, I'm not letting you off the hook that easy!" Natsu coated one of his fists in flames and charged at Luke "Fire Dragon-"
"Boot to the head." Luke swiftly buried a fist in Natsu's gut, causing him to comically fall to the ground "So is that gonna be enough to satisfy you for now?" he was met with only a tiny pained squeal "And I have my answer, thank the great god above for that."
Bolt wrote down a talley on some random white board "And with that the current score between the two of them is Luke 17, Natsu 0."
"That you know of." Luke glanced over and noticed Makarov nodding off a bit "What's the matter with you Master?"
"It's nothing I'm fine, just a bit sleepy." Makarov grumbled.
"I'm guessing that means he's coming."
"Yes." Makarov strained to keep awake, whereas everyone else in the guild suddenly dropped to the ground and fell asleep one by one.
Luke on the other hand, completely unaffected by this, just leapt up onto the second floor of the guild hall and leapt back to the ground "You know if you cover your face then this just seems really redundant Mystogan."
Sure enough, before him appeared a figure wearing a dark blue cloak, his arms and legs covered in bandages, a dark blue bandana with a silver forehead protector, and a green mask covering everything except his eyes, and he stopped when he locked eyes with Luke "I see that you've returned. You do appear to be stronger than before."
"And you're showing more face than the last time I saw you."
"Certain… circumstances transpired that prompted a change."
"That about sums up why I left without any context." he handed Mystogan the job request "That should keep you gone for at least a few weeks."
"My thanks."
"Be sure to lift the sleep spell before you. Actually leave it on Natsu for awhile, I don't need him trying to fight me again today."
"As you wish. Oh and by the way, you pull off those boots. Five. Four. Three. Two. One." and with each step out of the guild hall he counted down further until everyone in the guild hall started to come around. That is to say, everyone except for Natsu started to come around.
"...Yes! Finally, someone gets it!"
Cana opened her eyes and let out a sigh "Let me take a wild guess, Mystogan was here again?"
"Pretty much yeah, and he likes the boots." he received a bunch of dull looks "Oh come on, I p
"What a douche, does he really have to put us to sleep every time he comes here?"
"I'm sure he has his reasons?"
"So who is this Mystogan guy?" asked Lucy.
"Well for one he's one of the contenders for the strongest wizard in Fairy Tail, that is unless you count Gildarts, and for some reason I've chosen not to ask he doesn't want anyone to see what he looks like, which is ironic considering he wears really concealing clothes, so whenever he comes to take a job he casts a sleeping spell on the place."
"That's kind of creepy."
"Don't think too much into that, he might come off as a bit unnerving some of the time but his loyalty to Fairy Tail is unshakable. Aside from the master over there, I'm the only one who's ever gotten to see what he actually looks like. Regardless, I'm sure that he has his reasons, I choose to respect that and I think you should too."
"Fine by me I guess. So who exactly is the strongest wizard in the guild?"
"Not counting Master Makarov, that would have to be Gildarts but the old guy hasn't been around in a few years or so. As for the second place spot, that's a lot more of a tough call to be honest."
"Oh really, so who then?"
"Don't ask him, he'll just cut himself out because he's way too modest." Cana told her "He's one of the contenders for the second top dog around here, the others being Erza and Mystogan as I think you already know."
"You're forgetting Laxus too." Luke pointed out "As much of a douche as he might be he's still insanely powerful."
"...Yeah, about that."
"What?"
"Nothing, just forget it."
"If you say so."
"HEY!" Natsu suddenly bolted to his feet "Hey Luke, you and me right here and right now, let's go at it full on Dragon Slayer style!"
"Dammit Mystogan, you had to welch on that didn't you? Look Natsu, I thought I had already made it clear to you that I'm not interested in fighting you." he promptly leapt back up to the second level "Besides, if you can't even get up to this level then you don't have a hope in hell of beating me in a fight."
"I think we'll see about that you lightning douche!" Natsu promptly charged up towards him in a blind rage, only to end up getting struck with a bolt of lightning, causing his charred husk to fall to the ground in a comical fashion.
"Like I literally just said less than ten seconds ago, you're not allowed on the second floor. Not yet at least." he leapt back down onto the first floor.
Lucy blinked several times before finally finding her voice again "Uh… so what was that about exactly?"
"Natsu is the kind of guy who needs life lessons to slug him in the crotch before they start to take effect with him."
"No I figured that out pretty fast, I mean why can't Natsu go up on the second floor? What's that about?"
"That area of the guild hall is reserved for advanced members of the guild, the jobs listed up on the request board up there make the ones down here look like a walk in the park. They're what people refer to as S class quests, they're jobs so dangerous that one wrong move could seal your fate. But at the same time, with that risk comes a higher reward in the form of a hell of a lot more money. Master Makarov hand picks the wizards he believes to be capable of handling jobs like these, and there are only five people in the entire guild, among them being Mystogan, Erza and yours truly. I wouldn't worry about that too much if I were you Lucy, as far as I'm concerned there's no amount of money that could be worth it if you have to throw your life away."
"Yeah no kidding."
"Yeah. Well anyway, frying Natsu and punching him out a few times kind of fired me up no pun intended, so I think I know what I have to do. Hey Erza, you wanna go finish that fight from yesterday?"
Erza stared at him for a moment, then shrugged "Okay why not."
"Great, let's take it somewhere outside the city. We don't need to destroy the town in an all out brawl."
"Right, not again."
"What do you mean again?"
"Let's just say that the Harvest Festival last year was very eventful, but for all of the wrong reasons." and so they left on that note.
Lucy on the other hand made her way out of the guild hall with her mind drifting 'Oh man, I can't believe I just met Mystogan. That is so cool, I can't believe how many famous wizards are in Fairy Tail! But Luke seems different from the rest of them, he's so powerful and yet he's not fight happy or crazy like the rest of them. At least I know I have one sane person in the guild I can talk to. Plus I think I'm starting to figure out how everyone is ranked in the guild, which means that I have to start to work my way to the top.'
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Within an hour, Erza and Luke had relocated to a large training ground located outside of the city limits, located at the foot of Mount Ivor to be exact "This should be far enough from the city that we can go all out without concerning anyone about collateral damage."
"Looks like you've thought this through." Luke noted "I hope you're ready for this Erza, just keep in mind that guild mate or not I have no intention of holding back against you."
"I would expect nothing less from you, but know that the feeling is mutual."
"Glad to hear it."
"Now then, if you'll allow me. Requip!" Erza promptly requipped into her Lightning Empress Armor, complete with her Lightning Spear.
"Like we already established, you attack with and defend against lightning but I can literally eat lightning, and that also means that I have that much more reason not to hold back. So you mind if I make the first move?"
"By all means, go right ahead."
"All I have to hear. Lightning Dragon… ROAR!" Luke let out a roar, and with it came a powerful blast of lightning.
Erza readied herself and used her spear to cut clean through the roar, and then she unleashed a lightning blast of her own from the tip of her spear.
Luke didn't hesitate in devouring the lightning in its entirety, easily swallowing all of it in a single gulp "It's times like that I really love being a Dragon Slayer."
"If long distance attacks won't work, then I suppose I'll simply have to settle for close combat instead." Erza promptly charged forward with her spear raised.
"Lightning Dragon… IRON FIST!" Luke burst forward at full speed and countered Erza's spear with a lightning enhanced fist, the two attacks colliding in an explosion that sent both of them skidding backwards from the impact.
"Your mastery over your magic has improved even more significantly, I'm impressed."
"I made a few connections to help me with that, and I created a few techniques myself, this one for example. Lightning Dragon… SURGE!" he raised his hand and fired a blast of lightning from overhead.
With a mighty roar, Erza swung her spear at the attack, and despite being pushed back a short distance, she managed to counter the blast and quickly fired off one of her own.
Luke leapt out of the way of the attack, circled around Erza and promptly unleashed a second Lightning Dragon Surge attack at point blank range, engulfing her in an explosion.
Erza blitzed through the resulting smoke and dealt Luke a solid kick to the torso, knocking him off his feet, only to be forced to retreat in order to dodge a stray slash from a certain sword made of dragon scales, but not before she fired off another quick blast of lightning, resulting in an explosion.
When the smoke cleared, Luke emerged unharmed and simply brushed off some dust and dirt from his shirt "So are you done trying to steal my shtick yet?"
"I knew you could consume lightning based attacks, but to not even be scratched and to fend off my attacks so easily was definitely unexpected."
"You don't get to be an S class mage without knowing that practice makes perfect, and you'll have more success trying to teach Gray not to strip than defeating me with my own elemental magic."
"I see."
"Hey you had to try."
"So I did."
"Looks like in terms of using lightning based magic the two of us are at a stalemate though, you can't hurt me and I can't hurt you like this. What do you say we go ahead and try to change things up?"
"As you wish then. Requip!" Erza flashed into a new set of red and orange armor complete with a crimson colored sword.
"Switching to your Flame Empress Armor, and by extension switching from lightning to fire magic. The question is, how good are you with that armor?"
"I'm so glad you asked." Erza blitzed in front of Luke and slashed at him with her crimson sword, the blade coated in flames and the blast that followed sending him skidding backwards a short distance.
"So along with elemental magic we're going for swordsmanship skills. Works for me, I say let's do it." Luke promptly drew his dragon scale sword and burst forward with his sword aimed at her.
Erza ducked underneath the attack, but couldn't prepare for what came next.
"Lightning Dragon… ROAR!" as he soared overhead, Luke attempted to attack Erza with a roar at point blank range.
"Flame Empress: Soaring Flame Blade!" Erza used her flaming sword to attack Luke with a powerful blast of fire, engulfing him while also propelling herself into the air.
Luke dispelled the fire with a quick burst of electricity and burst upwards towards Erza at full speed "Lightning Dragon TALON!" he launched a lightning enhanced kick aimed at Erza's head.
Erza blocked the attack with her flame sword on instinct, resulting in a small shockwave from the collision, and she quickly dodged a swift barrage of slashes from Luke and his dragon scale sword and counted with her own sword before dealing Luke a swift kick to the head, sending him hurtling back towards the ground.
Luke stopped himself after skidding for a short distance "So what's your next move?"
"You're about to find out! Flame Empress: Soaring Flame Blade!" Erza followed up with another Soaring Flame Blade attack, engulfing him in an explosion. She then proceeded to return to the ground and look through the smoke that followed 'I can't see or detect him yet, but I know that an attack like that one will only slow him down.'
Sure enough, when the smoke cleared Luke still stood there, mostly unharmed but with a few burns and scratches "You've got a lot of variety going for you, and your mastery is pretty impressive."
"The same for you, that's one of my more powerful attacks but you're just brushing it off without too much difficulty."
"I guess that means it's time for us to step it up a little bit."
"Does this mean that you're at the absolute peak of your power yet?"
"Not yet, if you want that then you'll have to earn it. Members of Fairy Tail we may be we have different goals for wanting to get stronger, I may not know what yours is but you know damn well what mine is. I can't change what happened back then, but at the very least I can make sure that it never happens again by getting strong enough to protect everyone. And once I do, well then maybe I'll finally be able to see my father Kaminari again."
"I see. I understand how you feel about that situation more than I'm willing to inform you the details of, but you can know that I do understand. As of right now I can't imagine my life without any of my comrades here in Fairy Tail. As your friend and comrade, I'll do everything in my power to help you achieve those goals, and the first step to that is pushing you to your very limit right here and right now. Requip!" with a flash she requipped into a new black set of armor complete with a set of wings and a sword.
"Your Black Wing Armor, lets you summon a sword and two battle axes and increases your attack power. You're really getting fired up now aren't you?"
"You're about to find out just how much!" Erza promptly charged towards Luke, meeting him in an explosive collision and attempting to slash him across the face.
Luke dodged the slash and began firing off a barrage of sword slashes of his own from his dragon scale sword, resulting in the two of them trading even blows until their blades collided with a blinding flash, until he broke away "Dragon Sword Style: THUNDER BURST!" he blitzed back towards Erza at full speed with a barrage of lightning enhanced sword slashes of his own.
Erza blocked and dodged almost every slash of the sword, albeit receiving a few cuts and light wounds here and there "Moon Flash!" she fired off a barrage of slashes from her own sword at full speed.
Luke dodged and blocked every sword slash being aimed at him "Is that all you've got Queen of the Fairies?"
"Why don't you see for yourself! Requip!" Erza blitzed behind Luke as she requipped into her Heaven's Wheel Armor and dealt him a sharp slash across the chest faster than he was able to react "Now dance for me my swords! Circle Sword!" she summoned a wheel of swords and hurled them all at Luke at once.
"Lightning Dragon… HEAVENWARD HALBERD!" Luke summoned a large halberd made of lightning magic and hurled it at Erza, disintegrating all of her Heaven's Wheel swords as a result.
"Heaven's Wheel: Pentagram Sword!" Erza blitzed out of the path of the attack before it was able to hit her, then blitzed towards Luke while he was still recovering from his attack and dealt him a swift barrage of slashes in the shape of a star.
Despite taking the full force of the attack, Luke grabbed Erza's sword on the final stroke and slashed her clear across the chest before she could get away, sending her hurtling backwards a great distance.
"Requip!" Erza ignored the fact that her armor was damaged and she was bleeding and requipped back into her Black Wing Armor, and then charged at Luke at full speed.
Luke quickly shook off the barrage of slashes he took in time to block Erza's swords using his own "Alright I think it's safe to say that's enough screwing around, it's time for the two of us to end this. Come at me with your strongest armor and I'll give you one of my most powerful attacks, sound good?"
"You never back down from a challenge do you?"
"What the hell do you think? Of course not, now quit holding out on me and come at me with everything you've got!"
"If you want my everything then fine, you'll have it! REQUIP!" with a mighty roar and a massive burst of magic power, Erza requipped herself in a flash of light. When the light subsided, Erza stood there clad in a new pink suit of armor complete with a matching set of swords "So this is it, this is me at my maximum right now."
"Armadura Fairy, this armor bears the name of our guild to symbolize your pride in being a member of Fairy Tail, and it also may be the strongest armor you have in your arsenal at the moment."
"You have my strongest Luke, now the time has come for me to see yours. Return what's being given to you."
"If that's what you want then that's what you'll get. Thunder Drive!" Luke was suddenly engulfed in a golden colored aura, his body crackling with electricity "My Thunder Drive technique, increases all of my abilities by a pretty wide margin. There, you've got what you wanted, now come at me."
"As you wish!" Erza charged at Luke at full speed, resulting in a blinding clash as she quickly slashed Luke across his chest using both swords.
Luke dealt Erza a horizontal slash across her torso and kicked her in the gut, sending her skidding backwards "Come on, let's finish this already. Our strongest attacks, right here and right now."
"Agreed." Erza un-requipped one of her swords and gripped the other one with both of her hands, green energy flowing into the blade "For the pride of Fairy Tail!"
Luke gripped his left arm using his right hand, a large ball of electricity crackling into life in his palm "Dragon Slayer Secret Art…"
"FAIRY BURST!" Erza charged forward with her sword pointed at Luke, energy radiating off the blade.
"ROARING THUNDER!" Luke charged forward and let his blast of lightning collide with the Fairy Burst attack, resulting in a massive light and explosion that covered the entire mountain range as a result. When everything had settled down, Luke's Thunder Drive technique had subsided and he was panting slightly "Had enough?"
With a strained roar, Erza attempted to slash at Luke once more in one final desperate attack, but only a second later her armor shattered as she lost consciousness and fell to the ground.
Luke caught her before she could hit the ground and gave a small smile "I guess it's safe to say we've both gotten a lot stronger since the last time we faced off, but this isn't anywhere close to our limit. We're gonna keep pushing each other and go even further beyond."
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Soon enough, Erza had regained consciousness, and now that she was back in her usual Heart Kreuz Armor with some bandages across her torso, she and Luke were calmly making their way through the night covered streets of Magnolia, and she shot Luke a small smile "You know, on some level I do believe that I should be disappointed in myself for this loss, but with you it's somehow different. Congratulations on your victory Luke, I must admit that I haven't been in a fight like that in a good long while."
"Yeah tell me about it." Luke let out a sigh "You're called the Fairy Queen for a reason, you had me on the ropes at a few points there. No wonder Natsu and Gray are scared into shitting themselves of you."
"It takes a lot of hard work and dedication, the same with anything in life that is actually worth accomplishing. I intend to train hard from here on out, because this isn't the last time we'll face each other in battle."
"Name the time and the place and I'll be there and ready for a rematch." and they sealed the deal with a handshake.
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Morning came, and the sun had long since risen over the skies of Magnolia.
Luke made his way into the guild hall with a mug of coffee in hand "Hey have any of you guys seen Bolt? He never came back to the apartment last night."
"That makes two problems we have to deal with now." Cana let out "I showed up this morning to take a job request but it turns out that one of the S class quests has gone missing."
"...Oh shit."
A/N:
The main highlight of this chapter is something that I've been looking forward to, which is the battle between Luke and Erza. I got to show some of Luke's power during his battle with the Lullaby last chapter, but this is what happens when two of the strongest wizards in Fairy Tail get serious, what with Luke's mastery over his Lightning Dragon Slayer magic against Erza and a few of her different sets of armor, such as her Lightning Empress, Flame Empress, Heaven's Wheel, Black Wing and Armadura Fairy armors, the last of which probably being my favorite of all of them.
The use of the Red Cowboy Boots gag is a reference to How I Met Your Mother, based around the boots in question worn by the main character Ted. I just thought it would be fun to add in, and have Luke act as some comedy relief rather than him just being the serious one all the time, even if he is a lot more quiet and grounded than the rest of the main cast. I may continue this in later chapters, depending on how it's received.
Thunder Drive is essentially Luke's version of the White Drive and Shadow Drive techniques used by Sting and Rogue, increasing his offensive capabilities. It's also meant to indirectly foreshadow a certain secret about Luke and his Dragon Slayer magic. It will be revealed in a later arc.