note: I absolutely love Rogue! He's such a sweetheart~
note2: I haven't written Rogue before, so I don't really know how in-character I actually made him, but I tried my best :)
note3: Since we share Rogue, this is dedicated to Calavera!
disclaimer: I don't think Mashima-san has an unhealthy obsession with his own characters.
summary: Who was that man who summoned and controlled the dragons? If it was him, he sure doesn't recognize himself.
He stands rooted to the ground, looking up at a spot in the sky where a dragon once covered the sun and cast shadows among them like they were insignificant mortals.
Well, that wasn't too long ago.
They have a dragon in their hands and the mighty Sabertooth starts its assault on the creature, confident yet not out for blood like they used to be. Sting takes the front, the thrill of slaying a dragon (they were dragonslayers, after all) for the sake of the world running in his system like it was his own blood. Orga was not too far behind, grinning ear-to-ear and itching for a fight after his defeat. Rufus runs behind them with the silent grace he always possessed, composure calm—almost calculating—but the smirk that adorned his lips told of the excitement bubbling within him.
And yet there he was, eyes wide and body unmoving, waiting for the thought that had long passed his mind to sink into its depths.
That man was a dragonslayer, and he had the power to bring the dragons at his feet and under his command with a snap of his fingers.
What's worse was that he feels familiar, and he doesn't know why and he doesn't want to know. The man wanted to destroy the city, kill his friends and the people that meant to him and he wanted nothing to do with him. The only link they'll ever have is when they defeat him (together, he thinks wistfully, almost with anticipation).
A body of scales appears in his line of vision, and he instinctively shifts into his battle stance, but his muscles drop when the dragon only stands in front of him, staring down at him and not attacking like he expects. Confused but still wary, he could only look in shock as the dragon bows down to him, tame and submissive. "Master Rogue," it says, and his world shifts in its axis.
His guildmates' eyes were now all on him, questioning, disbelieving, and everything dawns on him.
He was the master of this dragon.
He was the man who commanded dragons like his pets.
He was the man who wanted to bring humanity to its own extinction.
He was the man who wanted to hurt—
It couldn't have been him, he thought, incredulous. There was absolutely no way he would've let himself become like that—cold, sadistic, cynical, evil.
He shakes his head, refusing to believe it himself. His gaze turns down to his feet, slightly ashamed, and he sees it.
His shadow is dark and overwhelming, and it has the ability to overpower him at his weakest. It changes who he was and turns him into a monster.
Maybe that's what happened, a moment of weakness and takeover, and after too many mistakes and corruption it has come to this.
His future self has become too evil.
He has to stop this, he knows. It was a battle with himself and he was the only one who has to defeat him. This was his fight.
The dragon holds out a palm, and he jumps on it, a foreign feeling of resolve burning in his chest.
He made a promise to protect his friends (because nakama was precious, and nakama gives you more strength than your shadow can), and now he will.
Amidst the shouts of his guild, he takes off with the dragon, flying towards the man who, despite being the same person as him (yet so different, so far from who he is now), was an evil that has to be stopped.
note: Awww, go, Rogue, go!
note2: I seriously love him more than his future self. It's weird, because I love him so much, and yet I loathe his future self equally.
note3: Leave a review? More reviews mean more love for Rogue! (Haha, no, not really, but more love for me? :))