Frost

54

"I really think you should back out now while you still have the chance," Natsu suggested. "After all, we haven't taken a lot of job requests that required our magic. I bet you forgot how to use yours!" The fire dragon slayer wore a teasing smile on his lips. Provoking Gray would never grow old to Natsu, whether he and the ice mage were together or not. Said male stood nearly ten feet in front of him, cracking his knuckles and loosening the buttons on his dark blue button-up shirt. He tossed his shirt aside, and he ran a hand through his dark hair, smiling at his opponent.

"Oh please. You of all people should know that fighting also requires physical strength, not just magic! I bet I could beat you with my own two fists!" Gray exclaimed, flexing to show off his biceps as a visual of his strength. Natsu frowned.

The two were now completely surrounded by their guild mates, who, out of curiosity, came to see who would win this fight to answer the long lasting question: Who was the stronger mage? Not only that, but quite a few were about to win a decent amount of jewel due to the bets they had made. The sound of discussion grew quiet once the two wizards in the center of the circle got in their stances. After a few seconds, they dashed towards each other.

Lucy's eye's widened when she saw Gray throw the first punch, landing a hit on Natsu's left cheek. All she could think about was how Erza was wrong. The sword mage had predicted that the fight wouldn't even happen, yet Gray was able to punch Natsu without hesitation. The dragon slayer jumped backwards, rubbing his cheek and spitting out a bit of blood onto the dirt ground. "I'm not gonna lie, that was a pretty good hit. I won't let you hit another one though," he laughed. Gray placed both hands on his hips and laughed. "We'll see about that one!"

They launched themselves at each other once more, only this time it was different. Natsu had called for his iron fist, and a flame engulfed his entire right hand. The ice mage was able to notice this, and it caught him off guard. Natsu was able to land a kick on the right side of Gray's torso, but it didn't stop there. Ignoring the sharp pain he had just felt, the ice mage was able to grab the dragon slayer's right arm, kneeing him in the stomach. Natsu winced, and then he tackled Gray to the ground. The two punched and kicked at each other all while rolling around in the dirt.

Everyone surrounding them watched in shock, not know who was going to win the fight. It was currently a battle of pure strength—no magic. It was only used once by Natsu as a distraction. Lucy wondered why things were this way. Weren't they always competitive? Didn't they always want to fight to see who was the stronger mage? Erza was not going to interfere, so now was their only chance to answer that question. But why weren't they using their magic?

Lucy noticed Juvia making her way towards her out of the corner of her eye. The water mage had her arms folded across her chest, and her head was turned towards the two mages who would currently rolling around in the dirt, trying to gain an advantage over the other. A look of pure worry for Gray was obviously worn on Juvia's face. When she came to a stop, Lucy gave her a warm smile. "Hey, Juvia." The water mage smiled back.

For someone who saw nearly everyone as a love rival when it came to Gray, Lucy found it odd that Juvia didn't act out after knowing of Natsu and Gray's feelings for each other. She was always on Lucy's ass whenever the celestial mage was around her beloved ice mage. Not to mention her having the audacity to stalk Gray and Erza when they took a job request together. Lucy shivered at the thought, and then she began to wonder if Natsu had received that same kind of treatment yet.

Natsu and Gray had both finally gotten on their feet again, both mages trying to catch their breath before the other made a move again. After a short break, both of them ran towards each other once more, throwing punches and hoping they would land. Lucy shook her head. "I wonder why they aren't using their magic against each other?" she thought aloud. Of course, she figured she wasn't the only one who was thinking this.