Chapter 52

Gate Crashers

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

"Magic"

Flashback

Location / Date / Time Skip

The bell rang out through the town as the day changed, leaving everyone on edge. "July seventh..." Gajeel mumbled next to Levy. "The same day our dragons vanished... And now ten thousand of them show up on the same day..."

"Fairy Tail will be guarding the center plaza." Makarov ordered. "The other guilds will be in the city, on stand by."

"Take a rest, Erza. We have this." Cana said as she walked over to the knight.

"I'll be fine." The red head replied.

"We might be a bit bruised, but thanks to the royal healers and Chelia, we should be able to hold our own." Gray added.

"It's a shame Wendy isn't around, or else we'd be good as new." Juvia chuckled.

"I'm not sure if that moon is a good sign." Freed mumbled, staring up at the heavenly body.

Mercusius

The ringing bell echoed through the halls as the building started to shake. "What's going on?" Natsu asked.

"The Eclipse is finally opening." Rogue explained with a smile as he charged forward. "Even without killing Lucy, time moves onward. But she will interfere, not matter what!" He slammed his hand forward and blasted Natsu with shadows, forcing the two back. "She will close the Gate! It's set in stone!"

"There's no way she would do anything like that!" Natsu shouted back as he jumped through the volley of shadow shots.

"Move out of the way!" The time traveler shouted as he waved his hand, making a geyser of shadows erupt from under Natsu. "I will end her life and you can't stop me."

The fire user was carried upwards and flipped of the ceiling, diving downward as lightning joined his flames. "Lightning Flame Dragon Mode!" He hit like a meteor and the ground cracked and splintered before a bolt of lightning hit Rogue.

"So this is the power you kept hidden from me all those years ago..." Rogue said as his hair blew to the side and a blinding light shot out of his eyes. Natsu closed his eyes to protect them, only to find a painful attack had ripped him on the side. "Behold, light and darkness working together as one."

He held out his hand and beams of white and black formed around Natsu. "White Shadow Dragon Rough Silk!" The beams tightened around Natsu and pulled before a beam of energy hit him, sending him flying back. "This power is a gift from Sting when I ended his life."

Natsu pushed himself up and glared at the time traveler. "I take no pleasure in doing so, but it was a necessary evil."

"I knew you were all about darkness, but I never knew you cared so little about life." Natsu growled out in anger as he forced himself up.

"Well, now you can take that knowledge to the grave." Rogue growled out as he pulled his head back.

He stopped his roar mid motion when he noticed hundreds of purple orbs floating around him. "Flash Forward!" The orbs began bombarding his location and exploded the ground as Natsu fell over. One final orb flew into Ultear's open palm, letting her catch it.

"Damn it, he got away!" Suishou cursed before he, Meredy and Ultear raced over to the unconscious Dragon Slayer. "Meredy! The First Aid kit!"

"Here!" She handed him the bag as she glanced over to the deceased Lisanna. "No..."

"What is this!?" Ultear asked in horror as shadows started swallowing Natsu. "Wake up!"

"Snap of this, Natsu!" Suishou shouted, kicking the man. "Fight it!" The ground started shaking as a hand suddenly gripped Ultear's shoulder.

"I've gotta go…" He mumbled, pulling himself out of the shadows. "I made a promise… I'm going to save the future!"

Eclipse Gate

Every soldier stared in amazement as the gate finally opened. "That's a lot of magic power..." Slate mumbled.

"With that kind of power, they could wipe out the dragons in one shot." Carla realized.

"This means our future has been saved, doesn't it?" Wendy asked as she walked over to Lucy. "And that's good news for the other Lisanna. She can rest in peace." She wiped a tear from her eye and found Lucy walking forward.

"This is all wrong..." The blonde mumbled. "We have to close the gate, and we need to do it now!"

"What are you talking about?" Arcadios asked, turning to the blonde.

"Please, you have to close it now!" Lucy shouted.

"I cannot!" The vernette replied. "This is the only weapon we have to combat against the swarm of dragons! If we close the Gate, we won't be able to use the Eclipse Cannon!"

"The Eclipse Cannon isn't even real!" The blonde shouted back. "That's nothing more than a gate way between points of time! It has no way to release all the magic it's built up! All it will do is-"

The ground started shaking and cut her off, a heavy footstep shaking the entire kingdom. Every troop looked in horror as a massive, diamond skinned dragon marched out of the Gate, drool escaping its sharp teeth. It placed one foot down and roared, blasting the soldiers back.

"A dragon came through the gate?" Hisui asked in horror, collapsing into Arcadios' arms. "How can this be?"

The creature roared again and blasted everyone back, destroying any stone that wasn't ground level. It slammed its claw down and the shockwave tore through the city, scaring everyone. As it marched forward, a second dragon emerged from the Gate, the one wispy and smoke covered its body, four wings on its hack unlike the standard two.

A third came out, this one fish-like as a fourth, seemingly burning alive came and roared. Hisui stared in horror as a fifth one with a crest on both jaws roared upon its arrival. "Tell me how to close the Gate!" Lucy shouted, shaking the princess.

"Th-the pedestal over there…" She mumbled back, pointing at a station near the Gate.

Lucy looked over and sprinted to the device, only for the burning dragon to roar and launch her back. The blonde stood back up and raced over as a stone dragon suddenly walked out. "I have to close the Gate!"

"I had it wrong this whole time." Hisui mumbled as tears fell from her face. "The Ten Thousand Dragons come through the Gate…" A dark leather dragon stepped out and roared, blasting more soldiers backwards.

"How'd you know this would happen!?" Slate asked, trying to hold on for his life.

"Crux told me everything!" Lucy shouted back, pulling on the device. "He studied the Gate and just sent me everything via telepathy! Apparently, it was created by combining Celestial Magic with Zeref's power. Normally, it would let you travel between any two points in time, but the lunar eclipse is messing with it. It's now locked in on a time four hundred years ago, a time when dragons existed!"

"It's all my fault." Hisui mumbled. "The world is coming to the end because of me…" The stone dragon slammed its foot down, blasting Lucy away from the device. "My kingdom… will forever be stained by innocent blood."

Lucy pushed herself back up and ran back to the device, gripping it even harder. "I refuse to let the world end like this! I have to do this! I promised to protect the future!"

The dragons roared as the soldiers backed away in a panic. "Is there a line? How many of these things are gonna come through?" Slate asked.

Lucy pulled on the handle with all she had, but it wouldn't budge. "She doesn't have enough Celestial Spirit Magic on her own to close it." Arcadios mumbled in realization.

"I can help!" The knight turned and saw Yukino and Nicholas running over. "Lucy, if we're going to pull this off, we need to use all twelve zodiac keys! All we have to do combine our powers and the Gate will close!"

The two tossed their gold keys into the sky and they started glowing before their spirits appeared behind them. In a flash of light, the spirits slammed into the Gate and started pushing. One dragon tries to force its way out, only for Loke to smirk as they shut the time door in its face.

The soldiers raised their spears in triumph before Arcadios turned around. "We can't celebrate now! How many dragons made it through the Gate!?"

"Only eight of them, sir." A soldier replied.

Footsteps caught everyones attention as they turned to see Future Rogue walking over. "You just had to go and ruin everything, didn't you?" He asked, unphased by Yukino's shocked expression. "No matter. I'm sure that eight dragons is more than enough. To be honest, ten thousand dragons would have been far too much for me."

"That's the traitor." Hisui mumbled, shocking Arcadios. "The one who lied about the Eclipse Cannon."

"Listen well, humanity!" Rogue shouted as he raised his hands to the sky. The dragons took to the sky behind him and roared, scaring the army. "Your time as the dominant species is over! Now is the for the age of dragons to return!" He turned to the sky and locked eyes with the two circling beasts. "Go into the city, slaughter anyone you find."

The dragons took off and headed into the city, shocking everyone. "How is it possible that they're listening to him?" Carla asked.

"This is the secret art of controlling dragons: Dragon Tamer Magic." Rogue chuckled as the diamond skinned dragon landed beside him. Jumping onto the creatures head, he spared one last glance at Yukino before turning away.

"I don't understand! Why is he doing this?" Yukino asked.

"I'll leave these souls to you, Zirconis." Rogue declared as a green scaled dragon flew forward, drool escaping his lips.

The creature carried Rogue high into the night sky, where he looked down at the battle waging. The dragons shrugged off the attacks easily, scaring the humans. "That's it! Destroy everything! Rampage and tear this city down. Show them the true power of dragons!"

A scent caught his attention and he turned to see Natsu standing on top of a tall building, a cloak wrapped around his waist. "Natsu Dragneel…" The two stared at each other before Rogue chuckled. "It's hopeless. Destroy him."

Motherglare roared before charging at the building. It destroyed the top as Natsu jumped over the head, landing on the beast. Erupting in flames, Natsu charged and tried to hit Rogue, only to miss and hit shadows. The pinkette turned and blasted him with a roar, pushing him back as the dragon tilted from the force of the impact.

"It's pointless, this city is doomed." Rogue declared as the dragon circled in the sky. "It will soon be nothing more than a pile of ash."

"What are you trying to accomplish here! Tell me!" Natsu shouted back as he hung in for his life.

With Fairy Tail

The burning dragon roared and forced the Wizards back, the sheer hear pushing them back. "Stay calm! We need to focus!" Erza shouted.

"This is crazy. It's like what we went through Acnologia." Elfman mumbled in fear.

"No, I can't tell how, but this one is not as bad." Gray replied.

"Foolish creatures! I am the mighty Atlas Flame!" The dragon shouted. "My fire consumes all in its path. Now prepare to be burned away!" The beast let out a roar and blasted them all back. "Still alive? You must be powerful wizards to survive."

"Damn right we are." Makarov declared as he grew in size. "Fairy Tail are no ordinary wizards! The power we share is like none other! Because we are a family!" He slammed his fist forward and hit the creature as hard as he could, only for the flames to burn his hand.

"There is nothing you can do." The dragon declared. "Humans will never defeat a dragon!" No matter what power you use, as long as your humans, you won't be able to defeat a dragon!" He started to spin and the force and heat blasted the giant back and destroyed the ground.

With Sabertooth

The crested dragon roared as he swatted away an icy attack from Rufus. "Can we even beat this monster?" Ogra asked in mild fear.

"If memory serves, Sting and Rogue both killed dragons when they were young." Rufus declared.

The Twin Dragons lowered their eyes as Sting let out a sigh. "You're half right…" Sting confessed. "Weisslogia let me kill him. He didn't lift a finger against me."

"Skaldrum was suffering from a sickness." Rogue added. "I just put him out of his misery."

"Who cares!? If you can kill dragons, now is the time to do it!" Ogra shouted as he blasted it with lightning, only for it to shrug off the attack.

"Starting to see what Natsu was talking about." Sting declared.

"Doesn't matter." Rogue replied. "I have to protect my friends."

With Natsu

"I told you that in seven years, dragons would rule this world." The time traveler declared. "However, it won't be ruled by these dragons. It will be ruled by one on top of the food chain: the Black Dragon, Acnologia. In my time, wizards and guilds no longer exist. He eradicated them all. I created a spell to control dragons, but it had no affect on him. And now, he can only be defeated by dragons like these!"

"That's why you summoned all these dragons?" Natsu asked.

"Right again." The time traveler chuckled. "I traveled through time and convince Princess Hisui to let countless dragons through, but these eight will be more than enough to accomplish my goal. Acnologia doesn't stand a chance against me now. Soon I will be the king of dragons!"

"Like hell that's gonna happen!" Natsu shouted as he raised his flaming fist. "You got some pretty rotten luck, pal." He chuckled before slamming his fist down on the beasts back, making it buckle and cry in pain.

"CAN YOU HEAR ME!?" He shouted for all to hear. "QUIT PLAYIGN AROUND AND USE YOUR DRAGON SLAYER MAGIC! THERE ARE EIGHT DRAGONS AND WE GOT EIGHT DRAGON SLAYERS! WE CAN DO THIS! IT'S WHAT WE WERE BORN FOR!"

"You really are an idiot, aren't you?" The time traveler asked. "There's only seven dragon slayers here!"

"I can hear the last one coming." Natsu chuckled.

Outside the City

Doranbolt panted as he fell to his knees. "Sorry about this, but we're all set." He turned to the side and pushed up his glasses. "Dragons are attacking the city. We need your power, will you help us?"

"You don't say." Cobra chuckled. "I can hear you loud and clear, Natsu."

Yep, I added an extra dragon to coincide with the extra Dragon Slayer in this story. In this story, I made it a bone dragon and boy is it gonna be fun to write when it fights Nicholas. And this is going to be a whole lot DARKER than what was in the show. I look for to that, see ya then.

Beta read by General Feng Xiang