S-Class

The Magic Council- also known as Era.

Erza stood on stand in front of all the members of the magic council.

" Erza Scarlet. You stand before the council to answer for charges stemming from the incident with Eizenwald. These charges include destruction to oshibana station, the collapse of the ryushika gorge railway bridge and the destruction of the clover meeting hall. There are eleven property damage charges against you. Eyewitness reports say the perpetrator was a heavily armored femal wizard-"

As the head of the council was listing off Erza's charges a large explosion from the wall behind her startled the council.

" What is this?"

He asked.

Natsu emerged from the smoke wearing a set of, rather poorly made, armor which included a barrel, a steel skirt, a red wig, and poorly designed bracers and leg guards.

" I'm the crazy lady in armor you've been looking for! If you've got a problem with the way me and my guild do things, you can fight me! I am the all-powerful Erza! You thought I was destructive before well you ain't seen nothing yet! Yeeeeeeah!"

The council watched as Natsu ranted and raved around the hall, using his fire breath to make things explode.

" Do you really think the stuff I destroyed is more important than the guild master's lives? Well?" He asked.

The council was quiet, still trying to rack their brains over the sudden intrusion into their hall. What was supposed to be a quick smear trial to keep their good names ended up turning into such a mess.

The head council man slammed his gavel against his desk and ordered for both Erza and Natsu to be taken away into custody.

Erza, before being taken away bowed her head to the council and apologized for Natsu's reckless behavior.

......

" Words can't explain how angry I am with you." Erza told the boy. " That trial was just a formality."

" Seriously?" Natsu asked the woman. 

" It's a glorified spectacle. The council was using me as an example to remind everyone that if you break the law you'll be punished. It's how they keep order in the magical world." Erza told the boy.

" Wait a minute, so this was all for show?"

" They would have found me guilty and probably would have sent me home with a slap on the wrist." Erza stated. " But because of you, I'm stuck in a jail cell!" Erza shouted.

Natsu was shocked to hear that. It never even crossed his mind that such a thing could happen. He was just so upset about one of his friends being arrested for no reason that he ran off to help only to end up making things worse. A shame.

" I'm sorry, Natsu muttered."

Though upset, Erza was deeply flattered and happy that Natsu would risk something so dangerous to help her out.

" It's okay. You meant well." Erza muttered. She reached over and grabbed Natsu and pulled him headfirst into her breastplate, smashing his head against the metal.

" Ow that hurt!" Natsu exclaimed.

With things with the council out of the way, Natsu and Erza spent the rest of the night in prison, and thankfully were released first thing the next morning.

.........

" Woohoo! Who would have thought fresh air would smell so sweet?! I'm gonna breathe it in all day! It's the sweet smell of freedom. I'll never take it for granted again!" Natsu yelled.

He ran around the guild shouting and yelling while fire erupted from his mouth.

" Hahaha! And like that everything worked out in the end." Satoru stated.

" Yeah, but he's being so loud." Cana muttered.

" Oh, don't be like that Cana. You have to admit, he's kind of funny when he's like this." Satoru told the woman.

" Yeah, but he doesn't have to be so loud." Cana replied. She was trying to enjoy her drink and Natsu's yelling was starting to get on her nerves.

" We could always get out of here. It's been awhile since we've gone on a job together. How about it?" Satoru told the woman.

" Maybe... I wanna... Finish. Oh....."

There was a sudden thickness in the air, and one by one the wizards of Fairy Tail started feeling drowzy.

Cana started to fall out of her chair, thankfully however, Satoru caught her before she hit the ground. 

" Damn... He's coming." Satoru muttered rather lazily. 

First it was Mirajane, then Lucy and Levy, then Jet and Droy, Laki, Macao and Wakaba, Vijeeter, Nab, Max, Elfman, Gray, and then Natsu.

All of them hit the ground sleep.

The only ones still managing to stay awake were Erza, Shira, and Makarov. Though Erza was knelt over on the ground, barely conscious and it took everything in Satoru's might to stay, slouched over in his chair.

The sound of footsteps was the only noise currently heard, and then he appeared.

Emerging from the doorway, was none other than one of Fairy Tail's strongest wizards! Mystogan.

" Your mental facilities have gotten stronger. I'm impressed." Mystogan muttered as he passed Satoru.

" Ngh, and you're still a jerk." 

If not for his sheer strength of will, Satoru might have found himself passed out as well. Mystogans power over sleep magic was truly impressive and it was easy to see how he earned his place as an S-Class wizard.

" Hmph." Mystogan let out a breath of amusement. Rarely did anyone have the ability to refute his power, let alone hold a conversation with him when he was using it.

Having said what he wanted to say, Mystogan continued to the request board and snatched one of the hunting quests off the board and headed over to Makarov to show him the quest to make it official.

" I'm taking this." Mystogan told the man.

" Wait, lift your sleeping spell first."

Mystogan nodded and turned to leave.

" Five."

" Four." 

" Three."

" Two."

" One."

With each step he took Mystogan counted down the time until he released his spell. And when he finally left the guild hall, he undid the spell holding everyone, and almost all of them quickly awoke with a splitting headache.

" You alright, Cana?" Satoru asked the woman.

" Yeah... Yeah, I'm good." She mumbled.

Everyone around the room started grumbling and complaining. 

" Oh man, was that mystogan?" Droy asked.

" What a jerk." Jet exclaimed.

" Does he have to put us to sleep every time he comes here?" Levy wondered.

" Who's this mystogan guy?" Lucy asked.

" Well, for one, he's a contender for Fairy Tail's strongest Wizard." Elfman told the woman.

" Really?" She asked.

" Yeah. And for some reason he doesn't want anyone to see his face, so whenever he comes to the guild he casts a sleeping spell." Gray told the woman.

" That's kind of creepy."

" Master Makarov's the only person here who's ever gotten a good look at his face." Gray told the woman, not knowing that Satoru had also caught a glimpse of the masked man. 

Lucy was stricken by what she had just learned. However, that was the least surprising thing to have happened. 

As soon as Gray finished speaking another, familiar voice, spoke up over him.

" That's not true. I've seen him before." The voice of a man said.

Immediately it was like an alert went off on the wizards around the guild. Satoru, Gray and many others looked up to the second floor to see a man wearing a yellow dress shirt, with black pants and a black fur coat standing over them wearing headphones. What stuck out about him the most was the large scar over his right eye in the shape of a lightning bolt.

" Laxus?!" Eflman exclaimed.

" That's rare."

" You're never here."

Macao and Wakaba both stated.

" And here's another contender." Gray muttered to Lucy.

" Mystogan's just a little shy." Laxus spoke. " You should all respect his privacy."

Upon hearing Laxus' voice so clearly, Natsu awoke from his slumber and stood up to challenge the man.

" Alright Laxus, you and me right now!" Natsu exclaimed.

" Getting your butt kicked once today wasn't enough?" Gray asked the man.

A little earlier, Natsu had tried to attack Erza again and she quickly defeated him with one swift punch to the abdomen.

" Yeah pal, if you can't win against the red head, then why even bother with me?" Laxus asked Natsu.

This irritated Erza, who was in no mood to be taken lightly.

" What are you trying to say?" Erza asked Laxus.

" No need to get worked up Erza." Gray told the woman.

" Hmph, I'm saying that I'm Fairy Tail's strongest Wizard." Laxus exclaimed.

" Oh yeah? Come down here and prove it." Natsu told the man.

" You come to me, little man." Laxus said to Natsu.

" With pleasure!" Natsu yelled. He hopped up from his seat and made a dash towards the second floor stairs.

However, before he could even take one step onto the second floor, Master Makarov's hand slammed Natsu into the floor, pinning him down with ease.

" You're not allowed on the second floor, Natsu." Makarov told the boy. " At least not yet."

" Oops. I think you made him angry." Laxus joked.

" That's enough out of you Laxus." Makarov told the man.

" Heh! The most powerful one in the guild isn't some old man, a punk wearing a mask, or some chick." Laxus spoke. " You want to know what the strongest wizard looks like? Then you're staring right at him!" Laxus exclaimed.

Tempers were rising quickly. Though not as much as some.

" That's pretty tough talk. From a punk who's never around!" Satoru shouted.

" Heh, what's this? Satoru, I didn't see ya down there. You look pretty small." Laxus said to the man. " It's been awhile."

Judging from the look on his face, Satoru was quite angry. He was practically glaring daggers into Laxus.

" Whoa, easy now Shira." Gray said to the man.

" Yeah, you should listen to him. I mean I already beat you once. What's one more?" 

" A lot's changed since last time, Laxus." Satoru told the man.

" Oh yeah? Prove it."

*Zoom!

Satoru moved across the hall, faster than most could see. 

Stopping just below him, Satoru placed his hand against the wall behind the bar. " Hmph!" The force exerted from his fist, sent a crack careening up the side of the wall, right below the post where Laxus stood.

It wasn't much, but the message was still loud and clear. 

" Why you!"

The sight of yellow light flickering was all Lucy, and the others could see, before a bolt of lightning touched down at the spot where Satoru was standing. 

With a wave of his arm, Satoru swatted the bolt to the side, while dashing back to gain distance. And although the brunt of the attack was dispelled, Satoru's arm was still left smoking from the heat of lightning. Though it didn't seem to bother him much.

Satoru and Laxus glared at one another, and it seemed as though the magic gathering between the two of them was growing. However.

" THAT'S ENOUGH!" Makarov yelled. " Laxus, if you're going to cause trouble then, go somewhere else and do it!" He told the man.

" Whatever." Laxus grunted.

" And you, Satoru, step outside and chill out for a bit. I'd have expected you to know better!" 

Satoru clenched his fist and turned, leaving the guild hall quietly to hide both his anger and shame. 

It was quite some time before things got back to normal around the guild, and although things quieted down, the tense feeling of unease still filled the air.

............

And then.

" Hey Mirajane, what was the master talking about earlier?" Lucy asked the woman. " Why can't we go up to the second floor?"

" That area of the guild is reserved for the more advanced members." Mira told the woman. " Those jobs up there make the ones down here look like child's play. They're called S-Class Quests."

" S-Class?"

" They are jobs so dangerous that even one wrong move could be your last. But with that danger comes and even higher reward." Mirajane explained. " Master Makarov hand picks the wizards he thinks are capable of handling these jobs. There are only five people in the guild who are considered S-Class, that includes Laxus, Mystogan, and Erza. I wouldn't worry about it for now though, Lucy. After all there's no amount of money that's worth risking your life over."

" Yeah, no kidding." Lucy told the woman. " Though do you mind telling me what that was about... Earlier. With Shira and Laxus. It seemed like there was a lot of bad blood there." Lucy asked the woman.

" Oh... I don't know. I think that's a story you should ask, Shira yourself." Mirajane told the woman.

" Oh, really. Is it that bad?" Lucy asked.

It was at that point that another person joined Lucy and Mira at the bar.

Having found interest in their conversation, Cana decided to take a seat and join in.

" You really want to know?" Cana asked Lucy.

" Huh? Oh, Cana, right." Lucy muttered. 

" I'll tell ya, but you gotta try not to bring it up too much. That year was a pretty bad one for all of us." Cana told the woman.

" Really?"

" Yeah." Cana responded. " To put things in simple terms, Laxus and Shira fought each other a couple of years ago, and Laxus beat him pretty badly." Cana told the woman. " Though Laxus wasn't too great himself either." Cana explained. " It was during the finals of that years S-Class exam. In fact, Shira was the one who Laxus beat to become S-Class."

" Wait, you mean, Shira's an S-Class Wizard too?"

" No. He's not." Cana told the woman. " You see Laxus and Shira were both born in Fairy Tail. They grew up here together, they were raised together, and they always hung out. They were inseparable." Cana told the woman.

" Then what happened?"

" When Laxus and Shira fought each other, Laxus attacked him relentlessly, and I mean brutally. It was as if his personality had done a complete one eighty. And ever since then, their relationship has gotten worse and worse." Cana told the woman. 

" Wow.... That's crazy. But... I never knew Shira was so strong." Lucy muttered.

" Yeah, he's strong, but Laxus and the others have always had an advantage." Cana stated.

" What do you mean?" Lucy asked.

" She means, I don't have the firepower." Satoru told the woman.

Cana and Lucy both jumped in surprise when Shira suddenly appeared behind them., having seemed to appear out of nowhere.

" Hey, Shira, welcome back." Mira said to the man.

" Hey, Mira."

" Are you feeling, okay?" She asked.

" Yeah, I just needed to cool off for a bit." Satoru told the woman.

" Well, I'm glad to hear that. You had us all worried earlier."

" Sorry, Mira, I didn't mean to spook you." Satoru told the woman. He grabbed a chair and sat down next to Cana and Lucy. " So, you were wondering what was up with me and Laxus right?"

" Uhm, yeah. Sorry." Lucy muttered.

" Don't be it's fine. In fact, I'm proud to speak up about it." Satoru told the woman. " You see, I'm not what many would consider a genius or talented. In fact, it's quite the opposite."

" What do you mean?"

" You see, everyone in the world is born with a magic container within their bodies that allows them to absorb ethernano and as a product of that, use magic. Some are luckier than others and are born with a large container. Some, on the other hand, are not so lucky and are born with small containers. It's an overly simplistic way to explain it, but you get it. Me... I was one of the unfortunate bunch to be born with a smaller than normal container." Satoru explained to the woman. " My magic is pathetic." Satoru told the woman.

" What?"

" Yup. When it comes down to it, even guys like Max or Elfman have stronger magic than I do." Satoru told the woman. " Truthfully, if we were to compete in a magic battle alone, Natsu would beat me. Even his magic has an advantage against mine." Satoru told the man.

" But then how were you able to fight Laxus? I mean earlier you moved faster than I could see, and you smacked Laxus' lightning away like it was nothing." Lucy asked the man.

" Hmph! Well, it wasn't like nothing." Satoru told the woman. He pulled his sleeve back revealing the bandages covering his arm.

" Oh my."

" Hahaha! Don't worry about it. I've had worse happen. In fact, I was lucky to get off with only a few minor burns." Satoru told the woman. " You see, unlike the others, instead of focusing on bigger and more powerful spells, I spend my time honing my own destructive physical power and sharpening my own magical skills." Satoru explained. " By properly channeling my magic energy I can further enhance my martial arts and my physical abilities to higher levels. In simple terms, I focused all my time and energy on mastering the basics. And then I went further ahead and created a next level to that." Satoru told the woman.

" Wow that's incredible, Shira." Lucy exclaimed.

" I know right! I am amazing! The almighty Satoru Shirahama!!!" Satoru exclaimed proudly. 

" So, if you guys were to fight now, you and Laxus... Who would win." Lucy asked.

It was a good question, and one many people wanted answered. If Laxus and Shira were to fight right now, who would win?

And with all eyes on him. Shira smiled.

" Heh! Well, it'd be a tough fight. Tougher than any I've ever had. But... If we were to fight right now..."

" I'D WIN!" 

A declaration of victory is made! The Title of the Strongest is still up for grabs!