Chapter 25: Hell Befalls

Natsu felt the breath get knocked out of him as he hit the back of the Dragon with a sharp thrust from the other's fists into his chest. He gasped as he turned and managed to get into a crouch and sweep the legs out from under the other as flames spread throughout his body in warning. Rouge eyed the other as he kept stern eyes upon him. He could admit one thing for certain – Natsu Dragneel was just as if not more so terrifying that he was eight years ago when he'd fought him. There was no longer the desire to gain revenge because of Minerva – that had changed into something feral and menacing. He'd never seen something like this before, and it stunned him as faint red markings crawled across the boy's skin and red scales dotted the corners of his eyes.

Fangs elongated, nails turned to claws and a wild energy about him he stared onward at the youth in amazement. Natsu's rose colored hair became littered with bold blood red in streaks and he stared onward as those flames went from blood red to a surprising and powerful looking greenish-blue flame. Rouge stared as he hummed in thought and realization before feeling his body take a timid step back – it was so dominating and predatory – so Dragon-like that his instincts told him to stand back and leave this monster alone. But he was in awe.

"How beautiful…those changes are Dragon Force aren't they?" he asked. Natsu hissed at him.

"Come closer and find out…or are you scared?" Rouge made a bold motion forward and the boy grinned before launching himself at him.

Rouge fell backwards and Natsu pinned him there as his flames heated – starting to gain white parts in it from the temperature beginning to rise so high. He wriggled in discomfort and began to struggle to escape the blaring heat while Natsu grinned at him, baring his sharp white fangs at him. Rouge froze solid as the boy eyed him closely and then grinned wider.

"You are going to die…I am going to kill you…and when you die the past will continue peacefully – Rouge's future will not become your own," he said.

"Maybe…" he shot a shadow vector through the boy and he gasped for a moment – wide eyed.

He threw Natsu off as the boy gripped the wound in his stomach and the man laughed while looking him over. A memory surfaced at this – Natsu stared before him, but he was not seeing the same person. Instead who stood there was a youth of roughly seventeen with black hair and eyes and a kind smile. This person reached forward and placed a gentle hand in his hair as he had always done and spoke to him in a benign voice that he couldn't forget even if he'd tried. This person, a comrade from days gone by, looked to him like an older brother would his younger brother with consideration and parental kindness that out did so much more.

They began to speak to him about something important as he saw the other reach up and tap the side of his pale throat and also bring out a black flame to which Natsu only nodded. Outside of this memory Rouge stared transfixed at Natsu as his eyes glazed over and his actions stilled – perhaps he'd nicked something that was causing this? He eyed the wound, stunned that it was already healed when he felt someone move.

His eyes traveled back to Natsu who was looking highly disoriented at the moment. He stared as the rose haired Slayer lit himself up in flames and took a deep breath – his glossy eyes turned mature ruby again and he brought two fists up high. Before Rouge could do anything Natsu had attacked the Dragon and hit it directly in between its shoulders where the wings were. The creature screamed, roared, and thrashed in agony as he drove his claws into the area and jerked wounding the great beast as he did so. Rouge grabbed him and slung him back – Natsu cut a flip and landed prepared for another fight as he looked at the man.

"What are you exactly?" the boy looked him directly in the eyes.

"Your executioner."

Lucy gasped as she hit the ground – finally her body could take no more and she laid there unable to move. Zirconis laughed at the state of them all as Wendy tried to get her breath. The others were staring onward at him trying to think of something while all across Croucus wizards fought against the smaller Dragons and the larger ones as well. Saya and Laxus both seemed to be in a state of inability to fight. She hung her head as she sat there on the ground trying to get air into her lungs. She didn't remember the Dragons being so strong. Or maybe she had gotten weaker. Laxus was in far worse shape, shaking as he was lying against rocks trying to get himself upright. Could they really win? Or were they just fooling themselves?

Gajeel hid behind a busted up house while he strategized and wondered if any of the other Dragon Slayers were even remotely aware that they were the only ones who could really do any damage to these things. However, even he was beginning to question that due to the fact that every time he got a hit the Dragon seemed to recover. He wondered how Levy was doing with Kinana and Lisanna with getting the towns folk out of the area and hoped that she and the others were okay. He looked at the Dragon and his jaw dropped, eyes widening.

"IT'S FREAKING BRAND SPANKING NEW! SHINY FRESH OUT OF THE BOX! WHAT THE HELL?!" He heard a roar and sighed.

"Show time…"

With one last breath he raced out to face the Dragon and hoped that someone could let the others know that all the Dragon Slayers needed to fight the larger Dragons. As he thought of this Natsu latched onto Rouge's back tearing at his shoulders with his claws and causing the man to scream as he was thrown back. Natsu had stopped using his magic momentarily and resorted to using his natural abilities to fight. Apparently Rouge hadn't planned on facing someone who wouldn't be using magic at some point and had very few skills when it came to natural instincts.

Natsu took in a deep breath as he felt an idea come to mind – if he could do that kind of damage to this Dragon with his power like that then what about the others? He took a look at Rouge who was trying to stop the bleeding of his wounds as Natsu stood and he paused. The boy tilted his head back and Rouge prepared himself for a roar and got something else instead.

"THE DRAGON SLAYERS! LEAVE THE SMALL ONES TO THE WIZARDS – DRAGON SLAYERS! WE CAN DESTROY THE DRAGONS! THEIR WINGS, THE JOINTS ARE WEAK! USE YOUR POWER, MAKE YOUR DRAGONS PROUD THAT THEY CALL YOU FAMILY – USE YOUR DRAGON SLAYER MAGIC ON THEM FULL POWER!" Natsu took in a deep gulp of air and grinned at Rouge.

"What do you think you're doing?" the man stared at him as Natsu smiled.

"There are nine Dragon Slayers here – Myself, Saya, Laxus, Rouge, Sting, Gajeel, Wendy…." The man laughed.

"Aren't you miscounting? That's only seven!" Natsu glanced down.

"No…I can smell them both – Cobra and an old friend of mine," he stated.

"Who?" Natsu smiled.

"You'll see…"

Down below the Dragon slayers stood still – realization dawning upon a few and the others finally getting an idea about what might just do them a favor. Saya stood and closed her eyes, Laxus watched her and followed her example. Sting and Rouge heard the message and closed their eyes, focusing on their powers. The battle grew oddly quiet – some thinking it had ended while in the sky Natsu watched Rouge as he stared completely flabbergasted at the sudden stillness. Natsu smiled while he felt the sudden pressure rise in the power of the nine Dragon Slayers present. His own energy bubbling to the surface and pouring out in white fire littered with black. He stood and looked to a roof top where a large sword was held up into the sky as a symbol of preparation to fight.

Natsu smirked and looked back at Rouge who was still unbelieving as he felt the magical pressure rising to levels beyond normal. Natsu stood there with his body relaxed and his magic flowing as if it was nothing out of the ordinary – the magic was scalding, burning the Dragon where the boy stood and Rouge was undoubtedly scared of the person before him. Natsu Dragneel wasn't exactly human though was he? His mind wandered for some kind of answer and then he felt the heat intensify.

"Do you see what I'm willing to do? What we're all willing to do? I will without fail – kill you Rouge. If you die then it goes away right? Pretty simple huh?" he asked.

"You aren't a killer though are you? Wouldn't it be easier to just surrender?" Natsu grinned.

"You think I'll surrender? No! I will never let you create a future where only one person is happy…."

Natsu came at him with all the speed and strength that a real Dragon possessed – startling him to no end as the boy shot a withering glower at him and nailed him in the stomach before hitting the Dragon. The creature howled in agony as Natsu grinned viciously as below him other Dragon Slayers began leaving rather nasty looking marks upon the Dragons they were facing. Rouge swerved and landed a deep cut in the chest of the Dragon he was fighting while Sting backed him up – they changed positions and managed to keep it up while Saya had left and allowed Laxus to deal with the Dragon nearest to FairyTail while she herself went after a sleek black Dragon of Asian appearance.

"Natsu, you know we can't keep this up for long right? We're running low on energy!"

"Yea Saya…don't worry – we can do this."

She paused at the voice – it wasn't Natsu who replied to her. Another voice had come through and she shook it from her thoughts almost instantly because she was certain that it was impossible. Taking a deep breath she turned a corner and ended up going head to head with the black Dragon she'd been hunting down. She prepared herself for a battle while Wendy was landing fairly strong hits to Zirconis. Lucy looked on at the girl before she hit the ground hard and she tried to get herself to move. How can they win? Even at full power all the Dragon Slayers were still in danger. She looked to Hisui and tried to fathom what was going to happen – she didn't want that future for them, for the little girl yet to be born. Her future self looked up as Zirconis knocked Wendy away and Lucy tried to move – her spirits tried to get there fast enough and then the loud splattering of blood filled her ears and she looked to see her future self fall to the ground and the Dragon stare as Wendy – now full of rage kicked him and knocked him away. She came down to where she was and Lucy stared horrified.

"Why! Why did you save me?!" the woman looked at her with a soft smile.

"Because…if you live then I can still live…Natsu will still be beside me….she can still be born….and we won't have to just…" the woman coughed up a large amount of blood.

"But you're her mother! She needs you! Why would you just do that?!" Lucy cried.

"Silly me…listen…if I live in the past – I can still live in the future because it will change….we won't have to just tell her stories about….FairyTail…we can live in Magnolia…with the Guild…and Natsu won't have to change…everyone can be…happy still….and she can grow up…surrounded by….Nakama…." Lucy stared at her older self as she smiled.

"Please, Wendy can you…" the little girl looked down.

"No…it's far too deep for me to do anything….if Chelia….was here…." The girl began to cry and the exceeds stood there watching in sorrow and shock.

"Why?" Lucy looked at her in fear.

"Because if you live….he can be happy still….the guild will still exist…and she….she can….have what we….once did…." The hand that Lucy had been holding became cold and slowly slipped from her grasp.

Tears fell down her face as she stared at the woman who had chanced everything to give her daughter a better future – to give everyone a better future – in sorrow as she realized that just had just witnessed her own death. Lucy covered her eyes and tried to not imagine what would happen if she too died. Would that little girl vanish right before the other's eyes? Had she already? Lucy couldn't handle the image of it and she screamed – loudly as Happy cried out her name in morning for the other woman. Above them though the noise carried loud enough for a certain Dragon Slayer to hear the screaming, and the name.

Rouge laughed as he imagined that one of the Dragon's must have killed the blonde girl and in his jovial state he failed to noticed those white flames go black. He turned just in time to have sharp nails rip into his stomach. He fell back as he was tossed and the boy brought his foot up before landing it directly in the wound he'd created earlier – causing the Dragon the thrash about and crash into buildings as a single tear slid down the boy's face and cold red eyes turned to the man.

"You…are dead…" Rouge stared at him – his personality taking a complete turn.

"Are you threatening to actually kill me Natsu Dragneel? Over a simple thing like that girl's life?" there was a twinge in the boy's oddly stiff body.

"It wasn't simple…it wasn't a trivial thing….it's Lucy…and I am going to kill you whether it's here or in the future I don't care…but I'll make sure you feel every ounce of agony that she did." The boy turned to him and he felt a tremor of terror go through him.

"He's not just threatening….he's going to kill me…"

Saya was tossed back as she landed a sharp blow to the Dragon between the joints of its wings making the creature writhe like a snake on the ground and hiss as it did. She watched its black scales glint like stars and paused in realization – why did this look so familiar? She took a moment to look at the creature as it laid there in pain and took in a few heaving breaths before looking at her in surprise. They watched one another for a moment and Saya recognized the creature with a smile upon her face before looking around them. She crawled to it and the Dragon looked at her in faint uncertainty before she placed a hand upon its snout and watched it for a moment.

"Saya Dragnoir…" it asked this cautiously and she smiled.

"It's been a while."

"I thought you died child…" the dragon began to right itself.

"No, Natsu and I both are alive….say…would you mind giving us a hand?" she asked. The Dragon looked to the side.

"Assist you and Natsu Dragneel? It would be an honor as The Kokuryū to assist those who are the children of Igneel, the King of Fire Dragons and Tempiria, the Queen of Time Dragons!" Saya smiled.

"Arigatou Kokuryū! Now, listen…"

Before the Eclipse Portal Lucy was still in shock over the sight of her own dead body lying there and her mind was still trying to fathom what was going to happen to that child in the future – what would come to be of her? She hoped that since she still existed that the girl did as well. Looking around her she saw a weeping Happy, and Lily while Carla was watching Wendy who was being slung back as Lucy stared onward. She stood and screamed catching the Dragons' attention as she stood before it. Wendy looked at her in fear as Zirconis watched the blonde girl and then eyed the corpse lying at her feet. He rose an eyebrow before looking at her closer.

He leaned in and sniffed of her as Wendy stood by unsure of what he'd do. Zirconis eyed her and then sniffed of Lucy again as it tried to register what was going on with the person before him. His eyes landed on the corpse then looked to the girl before giving her another sniff and then he eyed the cats who were bristling and staring onward at them in anger. He sighed and then went back to eyeing Lucy. There was a tiny bite mark still present on her shoulder – nothing much to notice at this point, but it was evident now considering her vest had been destroyed and she was now bare shouldered. Her eyes stayed hard as the Dragon sniffed her once more and hummed in thought.

She had a rather interesting scent to her – something he hadn't smelled before, and something he had. The first being Magnolia flowers and honey, which was flowery and sweet. Something he liked and made him question if she would taste as good as she smelled, but he also caught the scent of another thing that made a frightened ache develop inside him. He knew the scent of fire, brimstone and spices that was so evident that it made him cringe as he stared at the blonde. He looked at her and then to the others before staring onward in questioning. Was she really what he was thinking? He eyed her and huffed before looking her over once more and giving her another sniff.

"You smell like something that I don't like girly," Zirconis stated. Lucy narrowed her eyes.

"What's that?" Zirconis looked at her closely.

"That scent is a Dragon's scent – I don't like it," he said. Lucy felt herself bristle as the Dragon looked her over.

"I don't really get what you mean!" the Dragon huffed.

"You smell like that damndable Fire Dragon Slayer! Natsu Dragneel! Igneel's son!" he roared at her and she narrowed her eyes.

"Natsu…you know him right? I'm his mate! Lucy Heartfilia!" she snapped.

"You're that pink haired demon's mate?! No wonder you smell like him! I'd know that scent of brimstone, spices and fire anywhere! He always smells like that from his element! Hmm….I wonder….that bite on your shoulder isn't a mate mark…maybe he put it where it can't be seen?" Lucy stared and then her clothes vanished.

"AHH YOU PERVERTED DRAGON!"

Lucy curled up to herself only to be grabbed by Zirconis. She slammed fists down upon him and he laughed away her attempts before being given a grin as he sniffed of her and lifted her leg to try and locate the mate mark to which Lucy kicked him in the eye. The Dragon roared and put his thumb atop her head. She panicked when pain spread through her. Wendy jumped into the air with Carla's help and the girl screamed when a gust of wind sent her flying as Happy dove after Lucy.

"DON'T WORRY LUCY I'LL SAVE YOU!" he flapped his wings harder.

"YOU BETTER YOU STUPID CAT!"

{Chapter 25: Hell Befalls – END}

Author's Note: I know it's not completely deserving of its chapter title, but it seems to be doing okay right? I'm trying to stretch this out to much so that it doesn't bore people but I don't want to rush it either. Anyways the next chapter will be up soon!

Thanks to my readers: you're awesome as always!

NEXT TIME:

{Sometimes a small bit of relief is needed in the midst of a fight – even if it comes flying at you from out of nowhere. The question is – once it's here does that give you a chance to change things? Can any of them make it better?

"Don't scare me like that again! Promise me you won't make me think I've lost someone again!"

Chapter 26: Nakama

Arigatou Nakamas!