AN: Sorry, I lost the draft Yesterday. I had to remake it again from scratch.
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That night, Fairy Tail was bursting with noise. The hall was packed, tankards overflowing, tables shaking with laughter, and half the members already throwing bets around. Everyone knew that Master Makarov was going to reveal the location of the S-Class Wizard Trials.
Makarov stood atop the bar counter, staff in one hand, chest puffed out with the pride of a king. His small frame seemed to tower over everyone as he cleared his throat. The guild hushed almost instantly; everyone knew this was serious.
"Listen up, brats!" Makarov boomed, his voice echoing off the rafters. "Tonight, I announce the details of this year's S-Class Wizard Promotion Trial!"
Excited murmurs rippled through the crowd. Lucky leaned on the bar with his juice in hand, his clones lined up neatly behind him like well-behaved shadows, though a few were already scribbling names for betting pools on the chalkboard.
"The location," Makarov continued, letting the pause stretch long enough to make even Laxus raise an eyebrow, "is none other than Tenrou Island!"
The hall erupted.
"Tenrou?! That's the holy ground!"
"No way he's actually letting them go there?!"
"I thought only the Master knew the way!"
Makarov nodded gravely. "That's right. Tenrou Island is Fairy Tail's sacred ground, the resting place of our guild's first master herself. Only those participating in the trial may set foot there."
He raised a finger. "And another rule, you candidates must each choose a partner to accompany you. One partner only, and that partner cannot be an S-Class mage. Choose wisely. You have one week to prepare before we depart."
The weight of his words sank in like a stone dropped into water. For a few seconds, the guild hall was silent. Then...
The rivalries ignited.
Wakaba turned on Macao, pipe clenched in his teeth, smoke puffing out like an angry chimney. "Well, old friend… looks like we're enemies now."
Macao smirked, cracking his knuckles. "Tch. Don't hold back, Wakaba. I'll crush you."
They leaned into each other, foreheads pressed together like brawling brothers. The guild cheered at the sight, already taking bets.
Laxus smirked, looking at the chaos with confidence. His sharp eyes locked on Lucky, who sipped his juice calmly as if none of this had anything to do with him.
He leaned close, lightning sparking faintly around his shoulders. "Just like last time, I'll win. This year, S-Class will be mine."
Lucky didn't even blink. He took another slow sip before answering flatly. "We'll see."
His clones muttered in the background, just loud enough to be heard.
"Smug lightning brat."
"Someone fry his hair."
"Should we portal him into a lake?"
Lucky gave them a sharp glare, and they all coughed innocently. But the tension was already set, the trial hadn't even started yet, and the rivalries were blazing hotter than Natsu's flames.
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The next day, the guild hall turned into a battlefield of a different kind. Every candidate stood before the bar, ready to declare their partner, while the rest of the guild gathered like spectators at an arena.
Makarov banged his staff. "Alright! Let's get this over with! Candidates, pick your partners."
Wakaba stepped forward first, puffing out a cloud of smoke that curled like a dragon. He pointed dramatically. "I'll take Natsu!"
The guild gasped.
Natsu blinked, pointing at himself. "Me?"
"Yeah, you, brat," Wakaba said with a grin. "You've got fire dragon slayer magic. Together, smoke and flame will burn anything down."
Natsu's grin split wide. "YEAH! Let's go!"
Macao immediately scowled. "You just picked him to counter me."
"Damn right I did," Wakaba shot back smugly.
Sure enough, Macao stepped forward next. "And I'll take Gray. Fire and smoke? Ice will put both of you out."
Gray smirked. "Good choice, old man."
The room buzzed with excitement. Two teams have already formed, with old friends turned into rivals, and Natsu and Gray caught in the middle.
That left two candidates, Laxus and Lucky.
Cana strode across the hall before Lucky could move. Her long hair swayed, her eyes sharp with determination. She stopped in front of Laxus and smirked. "I'll team up with you."
The guild erupted again.
"Cana? With Laxus?!"
"I thought she would pick Lucky!"
Cana didn't flinch. She turned her gaze to Lucky, her voice carrying. "Let's see who's the better card user."
Lucky raised an eyebrow. So that's how it was.
Laxus grinned, draping an arm over Cana's shoulder like he'd won a prize. "Not bad. At least I won't be bored."
Which left Lucky.
He didn't hesitate. His eyes found Erza, already watching him with her usual steel gaze. He nodded once. "Erza. Will you join me?"
She stepped forward without pause. "Of course."
And just like that, the teams were set:
Wakaba & Natsu
Macao & Gray
Laxus & Cana
Lucky & Erza
The guild buzzed with excitement, arguments breaking out over who would win. Makarov just chuckled, stroking his beard as the tension grew thicker.
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The guild hall was alive with rival tension.
Wakaba sat with Natsu at one table, already lecturing him. "Discipline, brat! You follow my lead, got it?"
Natsu nodded for about three seconds before shouting, "I'll lead us! I'm the firepower!"
Gray, sitting with Macao, snorted. "He'll get Wakaba killed in five minutes."
Macao smirked. "That's fine. You freeze whatever's left."
Cana leaned over the table beside Laxus. She shuffled her cards, her expression sharp. "Don't underestimate me. I'll show everyone card magic isn't second-rate."
Laxus didn't even look at her, but his smirk deepened. "As long as you keep up, I don't care."
At the bar, Erza crossed her arms beside Lucky. "Our teamwork will need sharpening. We can't rely on your clone all the time."
Lucky nodded. "Agreed. We'll train. Harder than anyone else."
His clones cheered in the background, throwing towels over their shoulders like trainers.
"Boot camp time!"
"Clone squad ready!"
"Tenrou or bust!"
Lucky sighed. "…This is going to be a long week."
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The following week was nothing but sweat, steel, and strategy.
Lucky and Erza secluded themselves in the forest outside Magnolia, far from prying eyes. Lucky's clones spread across the clearing, setting up dummies, barriers, and summons to test them.
Their training began with coordination drills.
"Portal, now!" Erza shouted.
Lucky snapped his fingers. A shimmering oval opened behind a stone golem as Erza's blade swung through. She vanished into one portal and erupted from another at the creature's blind spot, her sword biting deep into its flesh.
The clone controlling the golem grunted as it dissolved.
Again.
Lucky summoned a flame beast. Erza charged, only for the creature to roar and unleash fire. Lucky twisted his wrist, a portal sucking the flames away before spitting them back from above, raining down harmlessly on empty ground.
Erza used the distraction to cut the beast's legs out from under it.
Again.
Sometimes they swapped roles. Lucky created a wave of clones, and Erza directed them like an army, giving orders while Lucky adjusted strategies on the fly. Other times, they practiced defenses: Erza in her heavy adamantine armor while Lucky stacked portals into layered shields, redirecting every attack until they were both drenched in sweat.
One night, under the stars, they sat by a fire catching their breath. Erza's arm was bruised, Lucky's shirt half-burnt from an experiment gone wrong.
"We're improving," Erza said between breaths.
Lucky nodded, sipping water. "This should be enough, even if Tenrou won't be forgiving. We can already cover for each other's weaknesses completely."
Erza looked at him then, eyes softer than usual. "Then I'll trust you to guard my back."
Lucky met her gaze. "…And I'll trust you with mine."
The fire crackled between them. His clones, watching from a distance, wiped imaginary tears. "Our boy's growing up!"
"Such teamwork!"
"Such synergy!"
Lucky threw a rock at them.
By the end of the week, their teamwork was sharper than steel. Portal-assisted re-quips, clone-supported assaults, and summons combined with Erza's tactics made every movement smoother, every strike more precise.
On the last night, they stood atop a cliff, overlooking the dark sea, and couldn't help but frown at the clones' eccentricity and the guild members 'closeness.
After all, Lucky thought moving into his new mansion would solve most of his problems.
He was wrong.
His clones had somehow decided the mansion wasn't Lucky's property; it was theirs. Within days, they began behaving less like obedient extensions and more like eccentric roommates.
Clone #3 demanded his own bedroom and spent an entire afternoon arguing with Clone #7 over who got the window view.
Clone #12, #45, 5#83, and more were occupying the toilets, locked themselves in the bathroom for "personal reflection" and refused to come out, forcing half the house to line up in the hallway, banging on the door. Even if the clones didn't need to use the bathroom, they were still occupying it. One particularly ambitious clone opened a tavern in the basement, complete with a barrel of stolen cider, and invited guild members over for "happy hour."
"Boss," Clone #5 explained when Lucky confronted them, "it's called economic diversification."
Lucky's eyebrow twitched. "It's called illegal."
And as if clones weren't enough, the guild had basically adopted his mansion as an extension of the guild hall.
Natsu kicked down the front door three times in one week ("It's faster than knocking!"). Gray left his clothes scattered across three separate rooms. Erza "inspected" the kitchen daily, which somehow always ended with half the pantry mysteriously replaced by strawberry cake. Cana had set up a second bar in his living room, claiming it was "for training."
By the fourth day, Lucky sat on his balcony with a glass of juice, staring blankly into the sunset. "Buying a mansion was a mistake," he muttered.
And just as he thought it couldn't get worse...
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.
A guild runner stood at the front gates. "Message from Master Makarov: All S-Class candidates are to report to the guild. It's time."
Lucky groaned, finishing his juice in one gulp. "Finally. At least Tenrou Island won't have property damage… right?"
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AN: I know it is weird to have Natsu and Gray as support, but at this time, I don't know any other Fairy Tail mages who even qualify for this. Also, because of Lucky's existence, the average level of the Guild is higher than the original because they can get some good rewards from Lucky's Roulette. In a typical S-Class Mage examination, while combat power accounts for a large portion, intelligence tests also carry significant weight