In the backyard of the Fairy Tail guild, all the members gathered; the fight between Alex and Natsu was about to begin.
The bets had already been placed; if nothing went wrong, only a few would benefit from betting on the right horse.
"Alright, you two brats!!! Fight to your heart's content, but no low blows or mutilations," Makarov said.
Natsu was overflowing with confidence. He possessed the Lost Magic of a DragonSlayer; he could fight most of the guild and emerge victorious, not counting the monsters who were in a higher league.
"Seeing as you are both ready... Begin!!!!"
Makarov gave the signal to start the fight. Everyone watched with expectation to see what kind of magic the new guy had and if he could put up a decent fight against Natsu.
Natsu charged straight ahead to hit Alex in a fistfight, his hands covered in fire, ready to use his Dragon Slayer magic. But before he could reach Alex, the boy had already cut the space between them, landing a clean blow on Natsu's face.
The impact was blunt. Just as Natsu had reached the halfway point, he flew back at the same speed. Alex stood in the middle of the yard, still in the stance from the punch. With his right fist and right leg forward, his left hand resting as a fist by his ribs, and his left leg extended back, Alex threw a punch like something out of a martial arts movie.
"Wow!! It actually worked!! I just wanted to give it a shot."
Everyone's jaws dropped. Natsu was running full tilt when Alex appeared in front of him and sent him flying with a single hit.
"You've got to be kidding me!!! What was that?"
"Hey, Natsu! You better stop playing around! I bet everything I earned on my last mission on you. If you lose, I have to go back to work!"
"Aye!! Natsu!! I bet all my fish that you'd win. If you lose, I'll have no food!"
Cana rolled her eyes at Happy's comment—who on earth bets fish?—but well, she couldn't exactly turn it down.
"Hoooi, the new guy is going to make me rich if he wins! Yes! Yes! Yes!" Feeling many malicious glares, Wakaba decided to stay quiet for the moment.
Natsu stood up while processing the blow he had received. He was running toward Alex when, suddenly, Alex was already in front of him, hitting him.
"Hey, so your magic is speed, just like Jet's!!"
Jet himself shook his head; not even he could do what Alex did. He could run fast, but not appear in front of Natsu and send him flying with one punch.
"To your misfortune, my magic is a bit special. It has nothing to do with speed, but thanks to it, I can move very fast."
After speaking, Alex appeared next to Natsu, delivering a kick with his right leg. This time Natsu had his guard up and managed to block the kick with his arm, then counter-attacked.
"FireDragon'sIronFist!!" Natsu attacked with his fist wrapped in fire. Alex retreated half a meter, negating the distance to dodge Natsu's attack.
Being a novice at fighting, Alex thought Natsu's fist wouldn't reach him. Too naive—Natsu has some of the best melee instincts. When the punch didn't connect, Natsu followed up by stepping hard with his right foot, exploding in flames to accelerate and hit Alex. This time, there was no time to dodge.
Alex didn't expect Natsu to close in so fast. The fiery fist slammed into his stomach, followed by a combination of blows to his face and the rest of his body. This time, it was Alex's turn to go flying. Natsu didn't stop; he inhaled, inflating his lungs, and then exhaled a blast of fire: "FireDragon'sRoar!!!!"
The flames went straight for Alex's body, which was lying on the ground, impacting him fully.
"BOOM." An explosion rang out.
"Oe, oe, oe... wasn't that last attack a bit much?"
"Natsu went crazy; the fire finally got to his brain and melted it. Did he just kill the new guy?"
"Forget killing the new guy, when Erza finds out... she'll kill Natsu. At this rate, we'll become the first Dark Guild because our members killed each other."
"Dead or not, does that count as Natsu's victory? I won the bet!"
"Quick, take him to the infirmary, he might still be breathing!"
Makarov began to get angry. His children were saying absurd things one after another, letting their imaginations fly as if they were in a contest for who could say the stupidest phrase.
"Silence, brats!!! Look closely, the battle isn't over. Natsu is still on guard; he hasn't stopped looking at where Alex is."
Everyone went silent and saw a silhouette rise from the smoke. As if being pulled up by strings, Alex's body rose starting from the knees, followed by the rest of his body which was bent back until it straightened out. Standing fully upright, they saw a pair of blank eyes followed by a somewhat creepy smile as if the person laughing wasn't the one who had taken the damage.
Some felt a slight chill at the scene. Alex stepped out of the smoke. "Wow, that really hurt. What would I have done if that attack ruined my face? Jeez."
Everyone saw that Alex was completely unharmed not a scratch, and his clothes were perfectly intact. He walked on his own two legs as if he weren't injured at all.
"What the hell!!"
"Hey, are you seeing what I'm seeing? The guy is unharmed after that beating."
"Maybe his magic is some kind of illusion... yeah, that must be it, otherwise, how do you explain it?"
The members of Fairy Tail were on an emotional roller coaster unhappiness, joy, and total disbelief. It was all caused by one person, who at that moment had no time for them. After all, Natsu's blows really did hurt, and being burned by those flames was no joke.
"Time to get serious. I still can't trade blows properly; I lack combat experience and the guy in front of me doesn't fight by the rules, Alex thought."
Natsu felt danger closing in, but he didn't understand from where; his instincts told him something was near. And he was right. Alex materialized a screw in each hand, then accelerated in an instant, appearing in front of Natsu. Without hesitation, he used the element of surprise, knowing Natsu didn't understand his magic.
He threw the two screws he had in his hands, followed by two more he materialized. Natsu saw the screws flying toward him, but since the distance was so close, he didn't have time to dodge. He could only cross his arms in front of his head to cover himself.
That was his biggest mistake. The screws penetrated Natsu's shoulders, followed by two others that pierced his legs. Natsu was impaled right against the guild wall. Alex's magic shortened the distance so he could hang Natsu against the wall. And once the screws pierce your skin, it's game over... the fight had come to an end.
Everyone saw Natsu pinned against the wall, unable to move.
"Hey, now what the hell happened? What kind of duel is this? It makes no sense at all." Another wave of shouting broke out among the members.
Makarov approached Natsu. "Tell me, can you keep fighting?"
Natsu wanted to answer the Master, but both his strength and his magic were gone. Natsu was helpless while hanging against the wall. Seeing that Natsu was unable to respond, Makarov declared the end of the match.
"The fight is over! Natsu cannot move. The winner is AlexWeiss!!!"