I would like to thank everyone who reviewed, favorited or followed this story since I updated it.
Goku275: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it. Luke is always a joy of a character to write for, and I feel the same way about Cana. I look forward to writing this story to the very end, so I do appreciate the support.
Guest: Yeah I know what you mean, the Hungry Wolf Knights was kind of a pain to get through, mostly because I knew what was gonna come next. But yeah, Future Cana was something I knew I was gonna do going into this, and I'm glad to see it was well received. Overall, I'm glad to see you liked it.
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The door opened to reveal a hooded female figure standing in front of them, though the hood covered her face, her voice soft and quivering "So you're here…"
"Yeah, but who are you?" Luke gripped the hilt of his sword on instinct, but then he took a quick whiff of her scent, and then he froze as a chill went through his spine 'This scent… There's no mistaking it, I would know that scent anywhere… but it couldn't be…'
"I finally get to see you again Luke…" the figure finally broke the tense silence as tears started streaming down her face.
"What the hell… Cana…?"
Sure enough, the figure removed her hood to reveal the face of Cana Alberona, albeit with a long jagged scar running along her left cheek and tears flowing "Please, I need you to help me Luke. I need you to lend me your strength."
'This doesn't make any sense. She looks like Cana, she sounds like her, she knows who I am, hell even her scent is exactly the same. This isn't Edolas or anything like that, so how the hell could this be? I mean granted there is Gemini, but I think we'd know if Lucy summoned them. Besides, they only like turning into Lucy, so what the hell gives?'
"Please help me, I'm begging you to lend me your strength. If you don't, the whole kingdom is as good as doomed. We're going to lose everything."
'What the hell have we gotten ourselves into this time?'
"Okay, I think I speak for everyone when I say, what the everlasting fuck?!" Bolt was quick to break the silence "She looks completely identical to Cana, she has the voice, and about ⅔ of you probably can't tell but she's got the exact same scent, though it is kind of funky. Truth be told the only real difference, at least as far as I can tell, is the Bardock scar she's got on her cheek."
"That's not a Bardock scar you jackass." Mira let out a snort "Bardock has one shaped like an X, but that one is just running jagged along her cheek."
"Okay guys, can we not do this right now, seriously?" Luke shot them a dull glance "Although I will say that Mira's right, it's an X on the cheek."
"I know how far you've gotten." Cana (or Future Cana as she will now be known) muttered quietly "All of you have to have heard about Eclipse by now, and its thanks to the powers that it holds to meet with all of you here and now."
"You used the Eclipse, so then that would mean… you travelled through time, didn't you? You came from the future?"
"You always were the smartest and most arguably sane guy in the room. You're right though, I came from the future." she was met with a few comical gasps and jaws dropping.
"Which raises the question though. If you really are Cana from the future, then why did you bother to come back to our time in the first place?"
"I came back so that I could warn you… the kingdom and everyone it… they're all going to be slaughtered…" and then she suddenly fell over and passed out.
Luke was quick to kneel down beside Future Cana and check her over "God only knows what she went through before now."
"Is she gonna be okay?" asked Wendy.
"She fainted, but she's still breathing, so that's a good sign."
"The Cana from the future…" Carla looked on with a clear expression of dread 'Does this mean that my vision is coming true? What else could this mean?'
"Whatever the case may, I think it's safe to say that we've pretty much got our work cut out for us this time." Luke then spared a quick glance back at the Present Cana "How are you holding up with all of this going on?"
"I'm about as fucked up by this as the rest of you." Cana muttered quietly "I can't really imagine myself doing something like this, not unless I was seriously desperate."
"Meaning that your future self probably had a really good reason for coming back." Luke picked up the unconscious Future Cana in his arms bridal style "In any case, there's no chance we're gonna leave her behind. Let's go ahead and get the hell out of here, and then we can work the rest of this out later. Besides, once we get out of the castle we can go ahead and launch the signal flare for the others. On the plus side, the rest of the guild is gonna be pretty thrilled to know that we finally got Lucy out of here."
"And they're probably gonna be as freaked out as we are by this whole thing with my future self popping up."
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Meanwhile, in Mercurius…
In the palace, Darton went on to question Hisui for giving the 12 Zodiac keys back to the wizards they belonged to, seeing how she needed them to open the Eclipse Gate. Hisui went on to explain that she had already unlocked the gate using the keys, and she only had to wait for the results of the Grand Magic Games to decide on whether or not to open it.
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Meanwhile, with the lightning users…
At the same time, Laxus was meeting up with Orga, the latter revealing that he was actually a user of Lightning God Slayer magic. Laxus wasn't intimidated by this though, claiming that he may be able to beat gods, but not fairies.
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Meanwhile, in the Games themselves…
As the games continued, Kagura immediately moved to attack Minerva when it was revealed that she had captured Milliana, but Minerva used her magic to switch places with Erza, which lead to the two of them clashing. She went on to reveal that she would only fight the one who won between the two of them because that was how a queen would fight, and then she left the two of them (Erza being unwilling and Kagura being eager) to settle their differences.
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Meanwhile, with a certain Dragon Slayer…
"Well this fucking sucks." Gajeel gave an annoyed growl as he continued wandering throughout his section of the city "The whole plan the First Master came up with just went right out the goddamn window, so much for the fabled Fairy Tactitian and all that." what he didn't realize was that Mavis and the others had heard this "I guess it could be worse though, Titania could fuck over any of the others in this whole stupid game, queen or whatever they are. Salamander is wasting his fucking time with that Chi user guy, at least the ice stripper managed to do something with that Memory jackass from Sabertooth. That Chi user guy isn't wrong though, Salamander never bothers to think or use his brain, if he even has one. He just charged in, never thinks and gets hella lucky like he did with me. What the hell is Laxus doing though?"
"I doubt it's him or any of the others that you need to be concerned about right now."
Gajeel turned around and found Rogue standing before him "Well well, you're one hell of a pesky little bastard aren't you? Don't think for a second I'm gonna be anywhere near as nice or chivalrous to my opponents as guys like Thunderclap or Salamander, so you'd better go ahead and start saying your prayers."
"I didn't expect you to hold back against any opponents, and that's why I'll be sure not to hold back either."
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Meanwhile, with the other Twin Dragon…
All the while, Sting sat in an alley hidden away so that he couldn't be seen by anyone, planning to win the games all by himself, in order to save Lector.
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Meanwhile, with Crime Sorciere…
"This is much worse than we had anticipated." by this point, Jellal and the rest of Crime Sorciere had gathered outside of Crocus to discuss the situation "I'm afraid we've gravely mistaken the gravity of this situation. If there is a joke in this, it would be that our fate was already sealed before this even began."
"Not exactly my kind of joke, and I know quality humor." Noah told him dryly.
"What do we do if this future version of Cana is telling the truth?" asked Meldy "I mean there has to be something right?"
"Whatever the case we've gotta play our cards right, we're facing total annihilation if this goes down the toilet."
"But how is this possible?"
"Because time travel in any form gives everyone involved one hell of a migraine. Just take a look at Dragon Ball."
"...I guess it's still following me." Ultear muttered quietly "Even after all this time, I still haven't been able to shake it."
"What are you talking about?"
"The price of all my sins, nothing but destruction and suffering. I brainwashed Jellal into believing I was Zeref and worshipping me like I was a god, following my instructions and building the Tower of Heaven, and everything else I did while I was a member of Grimoire Heart and serving under Hades. I will never find redemption, no matter how hard I may try."
"...Shit, things just got really heavy again."
"So what do we do now?" asked Meldy "It seems like at the very least, we should get the citizens evacuated from the city."
"That wouldn't do much good."
"But it'll save a lot of lives."
"It'll probably end more lives than it'll save. I was there in Edolas when people started freaking the fuck out over losing magic, so I know exacly what I'm talking about. Besides, there isn't any real guarantee that what this chick from the future said is actually gonna happen."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because something doesn't feel right about this whole thing."
"He's right." Jellal muttered quietly "Whatevrer the outcome may be, all is not as it seems in this situation."
"And even if it is, you guys are forgetting one really important detail: If Back to the Future is a bunch of bullshit, then that means the same goes for pretty much any and all forms of time travel in this world or any other."
"That, and the fact that I don't necessarily believe that story to be true."
"What are you talking about?" asked Meldy "You can't seriously be thinking that she's lying to us about all of this. Why would she do such a thing?"
"Everything with the Eclipse and that strange magic power, these are pieces of a puzzle that just doesn't seem to fit together."
"So what then?" asked Noah "You're thinking that she's got some kind of ulterior motive that she hasn't told us about?"
"Not necessarily. I'm not sure whether the words of this future Cana are false, or whether her entire being is actually a fabrication."
"Well one thing is for sure, when Thunderclap and the others meet her, it's definitely gonna do him a fuck in the head."
"...Excuse me?"
"Team Four Star, look it up."
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Meanwhile, with the woman on woman fight…
The fight between Erza and Kagura began, with Erza switching from one of her suits of armor to another in a matter of moments, though she was never able to gain the upper hand against Kagura and her swordsmanship, despite the fact that she had never even taken her sword out of its sheath at any point. When Erza whether her strength came from her hatred of Jellal, Kagura lashed out at her and kicked her in the stomach. Erza then begged for Kagura to let Milliana go free of her grudge, but Kagura launched another attack on her and explained that the two of them shared a will to kill Jellal, and then she went on to reveal that the reason for her hatred for Jellal was because he was the one that killed her elder brother Simon, as she had been told by Milliana after the events at the Tower of Heaven. This was when Erza revealed to Kagura that Milliana was not at the tower at the time, but she was, and the reason behind the death of Simon was due to her own weakness. It was at this moment that Kagura finally snapped, unable to control her grief and anger anymore, and she drew Archenemy from its sheath as Erza apologized to her, and their surroundings were quickly stained with blood.
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Meanwhile, with the Fire Dragon Slayer…
"Come on, come on, COME THE FUCK ON!" by this point, Natsu was growing more and more frustrated by the second during his battle with Xian, and he turned to unleashing a rapid barrage of fire-enhanced attacks "Fire Dragon IRON FIST! TALON! WING ATTACK! SWORD HORN! FIRE DRAGON FLAME ELBOW!"
"Even now you don't understand, your anger is more of a hindrance than a help!" Xian stood firm against most of Natsu's attacks, receiving some minor burns from his flames, and he carried on with dodging, blocking and countering the oncoming barrage of attacks as the two of them traded a series of even blows, which came to an end when he dealt Natsu a swift yet brutal palm strike to the chest, just as he received a flaiming uppercut fist to the jaw, sending both of them skidding backwards a fair distance "Your speed and raw power are impressive, and I can't and won't deny your proficiency with Dragon Slayer magic, but even that isn't enough to win the battle at hand."
"Dammit, why the fuck can't I hit you?!" Natsu let out a snarl and was about to pounce agai, only to be stopped by Xian dealing him a swift kick to the chest.
"It's because you're letting your emotions control you when it should be the other way around, you simply psyche yourself up and make yourself far too overeager. Telling yourself that you have to win a battle isn't the same as actually winnin it. You have to face the overall reality of your situation, and do the work required to get there. But overall, if you can't learn to keep yourself under control and keep your head together instead of flying off the handle without thinking, then you'll never be able to truly amount to anything, let alone protect those that you hold dear, or call yourself a true warrior.
Natsu's gaze hardened even further as he started radiating more flames.
"Keep in mind, a true warrior knows how to keep the full extent of their power under wraps until the moment is just right. But overall, a warrior has to remember to stay calm and in control of their emotions, or else the battle may as well be lost." Xian exited his combat stance and breathed a sigh, his expression turning downcast "That was a lesson I was hoping she would've learned by now, though I can't say I'm surprised that she hasn't accepted it."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"I'm well aware that you have your reasons for wanting to win this tournament, so that your guild can regain the glory and respect it once held with the title of number one. My reasons for entering this game is… more personal."
"What do you mean?"
"Tell me, you were at the Tower of Heaven the day it collapsed 7 years ago, weren't you?"
"Yeah, we fought Jellal and beat the shit out of him for making Erza cry."
"That, and for ending the life of a good man that day. It's why Kagura resolved to kill Jellal when the time came for her to confront him. His name was Simon, and he was one of those that died by the hands of Jellal."
"You knew him?"
"We grew up together for a time, so I did consider him a friend and looked up to him, but it's a great deal more personal for Kagura… because she's his younger sister."
That was enough to make Natsu freeze in place, a chill running down his spine "What…?"
"Maybe I should start from he beginning. When I was young, I lived with my parents in the village known as Rosemary."
"That's the village that Erza used to live in."
"Yes, but I didn't know her that well. I was close friends with Kagura since we were little, and I knew her brother Simon by extension. Life was happy and peaceful for awhile, at least until the day came when members of a cult came to our village on one of their child hunts. Simon was among those who were kidnapped and taken to the Tower of Heaven. Kagura and I were among the lucky few that managed to escape, and that was only because Erza helped us to get away not long before she was captured. She never mentioned that to you did she?"
"She… never said anything like that."
"She probably doesn't remember it. I don't blame her, it was such a long time ago, and she's been through so much. I haven't forgotten though, because Kagura and I would probably be dead by now if it wasn't for her. We didn't have anyone else left from the village, so the two of us just started wandering, mostly because Kagura wanted to search for Simon, and I had nowhere else to go, and we travelled together. The fact that I had feelings for her back then did help with my decision to accompany her."
"So then…"
"A few months after the Tower of Heaven was destroyed, we ran into Milliana, and she told us about how Simon had been taken to the tower as a slave, along with a few others… and how he had been killed by Jellal. As I'm sure anyone would expect, Kagura didn't exactly take this very well. She swore to find Jellal and kill him to avenge the death of her brother. I went with her, partly because I wanted to avenge him too, but also because I wanted to make sure that she didn't go too far and end up doing something she'd regret. Eventually we met the masters that taught us how to fight and become wizards. She went on to become a swordsman, while I journeyed along the path to mastering Chi. But it wasn't enough for her. She forced her sword Archenemy and vowed to use it only when the time came to kill Jellal. She grew more bitter and vengeful as time went on. I tried to be understanding of this because I knew why she became the way she did, but eventually I couldn't take it before. I tried to talk to her about it, but it ended up erupting into a full-fledged argument. We lost our tempers, and she told me that she didn't want anything to do with me. I said the same, and we haven't spoken to each other since then. That was four years ago, and I've hated myself for that since then. I ended up joining Lamia Scale, and eventually I learned that she joined Mermaid Heel. I was hoping to try and reconcile with her since then, but other things kept coming up, either I was on a job or she was, at least that was the case during the games last year and the year before The only reason why I agreed to enter the games this year was because I knew for a fact that she would be competing. All I want… is to make things right with her, and free her from her demons. That's the only reason why I'm here." he dropped back into his combat stance "I know winning this tournament is important to you and your guild, but I have too much riding on this myself. She needs me, I need to save her from herself, and I've come too far to fail now."
"...Don't think I don't get it." Natsu's flames dissipate as his gaze softened slightly "I know what it feels like to try and look good for the girl that means so much to you."
"You have a special someone yourself?"
"Yeah I do. Her name is Lisanna, she's up in the stands right now. Her name is Lisanna, and I try to do right by her. Her and Happy too."
"The little blue cat with wings?"
"That's the one. She's… kind of my wife actually."
"You're married?!"
"Not really, I mean…" he started blushing "Not the point!"
"You're muddling the message somewhat, but I do understand. You're saying that you know how it feels to wish to do everything in your power to do right by the one that you hold so close to your heart." Xian let out a sigh, then dropped into a stance as his gaze hardened "So you know why I can't and won't back down, not at this point."
"Yeah I do." Natsu's gaze hardened as he dropped into his own stance, his body once again radiating flames "But I'm still not backing down."
"I never expected you to. After this battle, I'll go to Kagura and free her from her demons. Win or lose, that's what I came here to do."
"I figured you would, but don't think I'm gonna make it easy for you. If you wanna get through me, you're gonna have to do it the hard way."
"I never would've expected anything less from you." then the two of them charged at each other, and the battle began anew.
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Meanwhile, with the battle between warrior women…
The slash from Archenemy was a powerful one, but Erza was able to parry the attack and divert the full power of the strike, which ended up destroying a large section of buildings. Erza felt that since so many people had lost their lives while trying to protect her, she could not allow herself to be killed by Kagura so easily. After a few more minutes of fighting, Kagura was left looking defeated, but as she tried to get up, some debris from the roof overhead fell towards, which prompted Erza to push her out of the way, but at the cost of her leg being trapped underneath the rubble and bearing the brunt of the damage.
Kagura questioned Erza as to why she would do this, to which Erza replied that she recognized the little sister of Simon, and explained that she was from the same village. Kagura was left to remember what had happened back then. When the cultists had attacked the village, Erza had hid her away (along with Xian) in a safe space before she was captured by the cultists herself. Left shocked and stricken by this revelation, Kagura pulled Erza out from within the rubble and was about to hand over the victory to her, but Minerva suddenly stabbed Kagura through from behind with her own sword, earning the points from the victory for herself. Kagura then told Erza to protect Milliana, but this only prompted Minerva to release Milliana from her magic, revealing that she was covered in wounds and bleeding heavily, which prompted Minerva to explain that she got bored and decided to hurt Minerva for fun. Erza was left enraged by this, and with her fury driving her, she got ready for the battle to come.
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Meanwhile, with the Rescue Team…
"Well isn't that just typical." Luke glanced ahead, and his expression dulled as he eyed the door waiting in front of them "Okay so for those of you keeping count, how many is that?"
"I'm pretty sure this is door number seven." Cana told him dryly "Or eight. I don't know, I didn't bother keeping track after we found the future me that you're carrying in your arms. Which does raise the question: How do we know we haven't been going in circles this whole time?"
"There are some pretty strong wind drafts blowing through from every direction, so I can't pick up the scent coming from the outside."
"The big guy here isn't gonna last much longer." Loke jerked a thumb at Arcadios "You think we should stop for a minute so we can take care of him?"
"If nothing else we should have Wendy use her Sky magic to heal him, at least then we won't have to worry about him dying on us. Wendy."
"I'm on it." Wendy was quick to rush over to Arcadiosas Loke set him down on the ground, and she let her healing energy wash over him "So what do we do next?"
"Well without being able to contact the others, there isn't much that we can do."
"Isn't that just our luck." Cana grumbled "For once I actually wanna hear Warren's voice going off in my head, and I don't say that very often."
"I doubt anyone really says that often. I guess the only thing we can do is hope our luck will change and keep looking for a way out of here."
"Yeah, but if it doesn't change then there's a pretty fair chance we could all be stuck wandering around down here forever." Mira pointed out.
"That's also a possibility, one that none of us want to think about."
"I'm so sorry about this." Yukino muttered quietly "We wouldn't be stuck down here at all if I had been more acquainted with the layout of the castle."
"Don't give it too much though, we're all in the same boat right now. In any case, once Wendy is done healing Arcadios we'd better keep moving. Being stuck down here isn't helping this future version of Cana feel any better."
"You're right." Wendy pulled herself to her feet "I just finished healing him, but he needs time to rest still."
"Okay then. Loke, sling him over your shoulder."
"I don't suppose you want to trade our wounded?" asked Loke.
"Nope. Alright guys, time to move out." and so everyone made their way through the doorway and down the hallway that followed.
As they continued onwards, Bolt glanced over at Luke "So how do you think the others are doing in the games right now?"
"Considering who we've got in the game, I doubt we have much to worry about. They're gonna pull out a win soon enough, probably before we even get back to the others."
"I doubt it's gonna be as easy as you think, at least not with who they're up against."
"I never knew you to be so worried."
"I'm speaking from experience, considering my own track record in the games. The other guilds have a bunch of heavy hitters like Kagura and Jura, and pretty much anyone on the Sabertooth team. Especially Kagura and Jura though."
"Yeah, I know how you and Max faired against them. But we've got people like Erza, Laxus and the others on our team. They can handle this, I know they can."
"I figured as much, but it's not gonna be an easy fight for any of them. Truth be told, Kagura is the one that concerns me the most."
"How so?"
"She's got one thing that none of us have, or Jura for that matter: A metric fuckton of bloodlust in that blade of hers."
"You mean because she wants to kill Jellal and avenge her brother."
"Right, I forgot he told you about that."
"Me and Cana met up with Xian after we got to Crocus, he told me the whole story about him and Kagura, and how they connected back to Jellal. I will say this though. If Erza's the one that ends up fighting Kagura, we might have a serious problem."
"Emotional connection via dead friend/brother, combined with the fact that Kagura is a fucking beast when she gets serious, Erza's really got her work cut out for her. Then there's all of the members of Sabertooth herself, like Minerva. One way or another, she's not gonna have an easy fight ahead of her."
"Let's be fair though, this is Erza we're talking about. If there's anyone that can handle pretty much any obstacle being thrown at her, it's the Queen of the Fairies herself."
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Meanwhile, with the two lover boys…
"And in a shocking move, Minerva has just struck down Kagura, and that earns the Sabertooth team a total of five points for defeating a team leader! That puts them ahead of the Fairy Tail team by five points, earning them a full lead! And with Erza being badly hurt on the battlefield, the team for Fairy Tail may not only lose one of its best, but also its team leader."
"What?" Xian froze in the middle of his attack when he heard this announcement, causing him to stumble in shock "The leader for the Sabertooth team… she took down Kagura?"
"That's the crazy chick that took down Lucy yesterday." Natsu broke off from his own attack as his own expression hardened "But I thought Erza was fighting your girl."
"She was. Minerva must have used some sort of underhanded tactic."
"And apparently Minerva has rendered Milliana unable to fight, earning another point for the team from Sabertooth, earning a total of 55 points for their team! Fairy Tail keeps falling further and further behind by the second! A six point gap isn't going to be easy to come back from, especially with their leader being so badly hurt. As for the team from Mermaid Heel, all of their competitors are now out of the match, leaving their guild in 4th place for the games overall, and leaving Erza and Minerva to battle it out one on one! It's down to the Queen of the Fairies and the Queen of the Tigers!"
"Dammit!" Xian let out a growl as he clenched his fist tightly, his bangs covering his eyes in his anger "This shouldn't have happened, I should've been there! And now she…"
"You've got nothing to worry about." Natsu blitzed in front of him and tried to land another attack, only for Xian to block it "It doesn't matter if she's drowning in blood, Erza's gonna kick her ass and avenge your girl and the crazy cat lady, and she's not gonna stop until that Sabertooth woman says mercy."
"Believe me, I'm well aware of Erza's resolve and determination, but even so that won't be enough to satisfy me. I am grateful for our conversation up to this point, but I can't afford to hold back anymore or waste any more time. I will get to her, and if I have to fight my way through you to do that, then so be it." Xian dropped into a stance as green energy began circulating around his body.
"So you've got another trick up your sleeve, that's pretty cool. But don't think I'm gonna make this easy for you, because I'm gonna win this game no matter what! If you wanna go all out, then I will too! with a surge of flames , Natsu charged forward, his fists coated with flames as he prepared to finish it "And now it's over! Dragon Slayer Secret Art-"
"Soaring Falcon Strike!" Xian suddenly blized forward faster than Natsu was able to react and dealt him a brutal palm strike to the face "This is what I mean when I say I'm done holding back, and I refuse to abandon her when she's in need! Never again!" he then bombarded Natsu with a rapid barrage of attacks, continuously pushing him further back with each strike.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! Stop fucking moving so fast!" Natsu tried to block and counter Xian's attacks, though he was having very little success 'How the hell is he doing it? He just starts glowing and suddenly he's so much faster than he was before!'
"In response to the dire situation, I decided to show you my most powerful technique, something I refer to as my Total Concentration Chi mode, when I close off any unnecessary thoughts or movements for the sake of increasing my speed, power and precision several times over, in order to bring an end to the battle quickly!" and then he dealt Natsu another palm strike to the face, sending him tumbling back into the side of a building.
"You're really breaking that out now? You must really be desperate."
Xian broke off from his next attack and glanced back to see Lyon dropping down onto the scene behind him "I'm rather surprised you haven't encountered anyone yourself by this point, aside from the ones in Quatro Cerberus."
"Quatro Puppy." was Natsu's input as he pulled himself back to his feet and spat out a fair amount of blood.
"Not important."
"I was looking for someone in particular." Lyon glanced over at Natsu, then looked above him and gave a smirk "I will say that I'm rather surprised to see you like this, you're looking a little bit rough Gray."
Sure enough, Gray dropped down onto the scene in front of Natsu and quickly gave a smirk of his own "I was just taking care of a little bit of unfinished business, you know how that sort of crap goes. Speaking of which…" he glanced back at Natsu, and his smirk widened "What in the fuck happened to you? I didn't think you'd have so much trouble with a guy like this."
"And I say shut your fucking hole." Natsu let out a snarl as he stepped forward "Just go ahead and take care of your stripping buddy and leave this Chi user or whatever to me."
"Oh yeah, because that's been working out so well for you all this time."
"You wanna go ice prick? Fine, I'll shove a flaming fist through your eyes and then take out both of them! I'll throw down with all three of you, I don't give a fuck!" he prepared to pounce, only to be stopped by Gray grabbing him by the scarf "What the fuck are you doing?!"
"As much as I'd love to settle the score with you, right now we've got more important things to worry about. I've been watching you and him go at it for the past few minutes, and I've seen enough to know that what he's been saying to you is true. The guy's got skills, and you losing your cool and flying off the handle at the drop of a hat is what's giving him an advantage in your fight. You've gotta do what you've never done a day in your life, and calm the fuck down and think this through. Before you start snarling at me like a rabid dog, we both know Lisanna would probably tell you the same thing."
"...You had to use her name you icy bastard." Natsu let out a growl, but then he took a break to calm himself down "So what the hell do you think we should do?"
"As much as I hate to admit it, and it actually kind of hurts to say it, if we wanna take both of these guys down, then we're gonna have to do something that we swore we were never gonna do again: We have to work together."
"This fucking sucks more and more every minute."
"Believe me, the feeling is mutual. And for the record, you might wanna lay off the cursing a little bit. Keep in mind that Lisanna is probably watching every minute of this."
Natsu's face immediately went pale, and he let out an uncharacteristic squeak of terror.
"Yeah, that answers that. Now let's go." and so the two of them prepared for the two on two battle that was to come.
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Meanwhile, across the city…
Of course, there were other battles raging across the city while all of the emotional drama had been taking place. Take Gajeel and Rogue for instance, since they were battling it out with each other until Gajeel told him to give up, but Rogue was quick to provoke him and bring him back into battle.
Orga and Laxus were also going at it, and they actually began to fight it out after they had a little chat, but as they fought it out Jura stepped into the fray, thus joining the fight and turning it into a three on one match.
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Meanwhile, in the palace…
From within the viewing room of the castle, Hisui confided in Darton what she had been told by the person from the future: That within a day, an army of over 10,000 dragons would descend upon the kingdom and destroy it, with countless people losing their lives, and that the outcome of the Games would entirely influence her decision.
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Meanwhile, with the Rescue Team…
"Well this is pretty typical for us." Bolt glanced down at where Acradios and Future Cana both lay on the ground in front of them, then glanced around at the interior of the castle "The minute we get out of one maze, we find ourselves thrusted right into another one. Truth be told, this sort of thing shouldn't surprise me anymore, and yet here we are."
"I'm sorry about this." Yukino muttered quietly "If only I had known something like this was going to happen, then I could've memorized the floor plan of the castle."
"You really have to stop blaming yourself for everything. It doesn't do any good for anyone in the grand scheme of things, and there's no reason for you to be so hard on yourself."
"The master and the others are probably worried sick about us by now." Luke pointed out "We'd better hurry up and get out of here fast and let them know we got Lucy back, along with what we know about the Eclipse and the Cana from the future."
"Easy solution, we charge through the castle soldiers full throttle like a bunch of maniacs in the way that only Fairy Tail can, and be done with it once and for all."
"See, stuff like this is how you know I'm the level headed one between the two of us. In case you forgot, we've got some injured with us."
"So we have a few of them carry with us, the rest of us can just take down the soldiers with a single shot and be done with it."
"That's not the only problem he's talking about." Cana told him "Keep in mind that our guild is still competing in the Grand Magic Games themselves, and the entire thing is being sponsored by the kingdom itself, so if we go ripping through their soldiers then there's a pretty fair chance that it could get the guild disqualified from the tournament entirely."
"...Fuck, I didn't think of that."
"Though considering we just more or less tore apart their entire execution squad, I think that ship has pretty much sailed already."
"You guys do have a point though." Wendy pointed out "Maybe we should've gone a little bit easier on them back there. I mean when you think about it, none of them were really that bad of people. They were just doing their job and had to fight us because of it."
"I think we all know that, but given the circumstances we didn't really have too much of a choice in the matter. The fact of the matter is that they were sent down there to kill us, so we had to fight and defend ourselves. Besides, it's not like we seriously maimed them or anything. We just put them out of commission for awhile, so really that was going easy on them." Luke then glanced over at where Cana was kneeling down beside her future self "Speaking of which, how exactly are you holding up with this whole situation?"
"Well enough, considering how screwed up this whole situation is." Cana let out a sigh "I mean we come here to rescue Lucy, fight off a pack of executioners that kind of dragged on, and then once we take care of all of that, we find my future self that looks like she just went through a war zone, only for her to pass out immediately after."
"Yeah, that sort of thing can screw with anyone's head. But listen, you don't have to worry about this okay? Whatever happens it's gonna work out, I promise." he gripped her hand gently in order to reassure her, and the two of them exchanged a small smile.
"Hey lover boy, think about this for a second." Bolt dragged Luke aside for a moment and gave him a smirk "You notice the opportunity sitting in front of you?"
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Think about it. You love Cana, you wanna tell her how you feel and start a real relationship with her, and then a second one just pops up out of nowhere, and I think you'd be able to split your love in between two of the same girl, if you take my meaning."
"...How many of those special brownies have you had today?"
"Three."
"Bolt."
"Four."
"Bolt."
"Alright alright, I had three for every Star Dress that Lucy has."
"Nine? You are one seriously fucked up feeline."
"And you love me for it."
"You're still not getting your own room." Luke then glanced down to see Future Cana slowly coming to "Hey, are you feeling any better? Try not to move around too much."
"Right…" Future Cana let out a groan as she opened her eyes and sat up "So where exactly are we right now?"
"From what I can tell, we're probably in the dining hall of the castle."
"So we're still inside the castle? From what I remember from last time, right after we defeated the Hungry Wolf Knights and escaped from the Abyss Palace, we ended up getting caught by the Royal Army again. That's the main reason why I rushed over here as soon as I was able to. I was hoping that I'd be able to warn all of you beforehand, but then luck just came and pimp slapped me like a dirty hooker, just like it always seems to."
'Kind of a colorful analogy, but it serves to prove that she really is Cana.'
"To make matters that much worse, all of us, my version anyway, ended up being stuck behind bars until it happens."
"It being what exactly?" asked Lily "You're saying that these events that you're talking about are in our immediate future? That sounds quite ominous."
"The hell with sounding ominous, it was a living nightmare that I already went through."
"If what you're saying is any indication, I don't doubt it." Luke noted "But think of it this way, now that we know about it the chances of them catching us are a lot more slim. The others should get it too, I can't see them being too much of a problem."
"Maybe not at full strength, but that's where the problem lies. While we were making our escape last time, we ended up getting too close to the Eclipse Gate, and as a result all of us ended up losing all of our magic power. The soldiers of the Royal Army caught us, and we got thrown into a dungeon soon afterwards."
"That would raise some more concerns, but it still raises the question." Cana knelt down in front of her future self "What exactly made you decide to risk your life and come back here from the future in the first place? You still haven't told us anything about why you came back at all, or what it is you're trying to warn us about."
"The reason I came back…" she started trembling "The reason I came back was so I could change the horror that is my past…"
"What do you mean? What the hell could've happened that was so bad? At least knowing anything about it in advance is better than going in blind."
"Okay… Okay…" she started trembling even further and began whimpering, but she complied nonetheless "Our worst nightmares are about to become reality, when a massive swarm of more than 10,000 dragons are going to attack the kingdom. The city is gonna go up in flames, the castle is gonna get torn down in seconds, and countless people are going to be slaughtered like insects by them." and that was enough to shake everyone present to their cores.
"You mean… an entire army of dragons is gonna attack us?"
"Yes, over 10,000 of them."
"But I don't get it, I thought they were all extinct." Mira was quick to protest "Where the hell would they even come from?"
"I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, but now I'll never be able to unsee everything that happened."
"It doesn't make sense to me either." Wendy glanced down at the Exceeds "Do you guys think it might have something to do with that Dragon Graveyard that Noah showed us?"
"I was wondering that myself." Lily frowned in thought "But now that you mention it, that is a pretty distinct possibility. This just became an even more dire situation than any of us could've expected."
"To say it's dire is one hell of an understatement." Mira glanced over at the others "You'd think we would be able to sense that many dragons at some point, but then again there is a chance that we haven't noticed them because they're laying low and waiting for the right moment to strike and launch this invasion."
"Well whatever happens, one thing is for certain. We can't go in unprepared." Luke was quick to pull himself to his feet and stuck out his fist "Hey Bolt, you'd better hit me with a recharge real quick."
"Way ahead of you. Thunder Burst!" Bolt morphed Shatterstorm into its axe form and quickly unleashed a powerful blast of lightning towards Luke, only for it to dissipate within a matter of seconds.
"Thanks, and do you still have that whetstone I gave you?" Luke caught the whetstone in his free hand, and then he started using it to sharpen his sword "This thing has been getting pretty dull with all of the battles I've been using it in lately."
"What are you doing?" asked Future Cana.
"You said we're gonna be facing an army of dragons, that means that I'm gonna need to make sure I'm prepared before we go into this."
"You mean… you actually believe what I'm telling you?"
"Of course I do, what you mean you were lying?"
"No I swear I wasn't, it's just… I would never lie to any of you. It's just that it kind of caught me off guard that you believed me so easily."
"It's not that hard to believe. If you're really Cana, then I can't think of a single reason why I shouldn't believe you. You really ougta have more faith in your friends, I thought you were a lot more together than that."
"...Isn't that just typical." Future Cana snapped out of her stupor and let out a chuckle, thought it sounded rather melancholy "I never thought I'd miss the way that you always made yourself into the self appointed voice of reason. But yeah, I guess you do have a point."
'This all seems so strange…' Carla frowned in thought, but then her eyes shot wide with a sense of dread 'But now I can feel all of it coming together. The castle Mercrius crumbled in my vision, and then I saw Cana singing. No that's not it, she wasn't singing at all was she. No, she must have been crying. But why, what could've happened to make her break down in such a way as that? Excuse me, but you mentioned before that we were all still inside the castle when the attack by the dragons began right? So what happens to all of us?"
"Oh… that…" Future Cana's face fell, and she started trembling again "The castle fell before we even knew what had happened, and half of us… didn't even make it out. When I came to, I was among the rubble and everything was going up in flames, with dragons all over the place causing all kinds of destruction, and one of them was about to kill me… until Luke showed up. I tried to stop him from charging them so we could get away and find the others, but he didn't even hesitate to charge at them. He fought them with everything he had, but eventually they became too much for him. He was covered in wounds, but he wouldn't back down. He looked back at me and smiled, and then he charged at them as he prepared his final attack… the Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Indra's Wrath: Heavenly Sacrifice."
"Oh damn, you knew about that?" Luke cursed under his breath, but he was quickly met with a series of looks from the others "It's something I learned during my training with God Serena, back when I left the guild for almost two years. It's supposed to be a last resort in case I meet an opponent that I couldn't beat and was out for blood. Part of the reason why I keep training for as long and as hard as I do is so that I never have to use it."
"But you did use it, at least in the time I come from. You were in your Dual Element Dragon Force when you used it, so the power output managed to kill at least 100 of them. Too bad about 200 more showed up to take their place. Once you activated the spell, I ran and never looked back. I don't remember what day it was when that happened, but once I came to and saw my version of you die, and when I ran into Lucy not long after, I knew that we didn't have any real choice but to use the Eclipse Gate. Neither of us had any idea of how to operate it, but somehow we were able to get it open. We were determined to go back in time and warn all of you about what was to come. We were desperate, we doubted if it would even work, but we knew we had to at least try. But then another dragon attacked just as we were about to enter, and Lucy tried to fend it off in one of her Star Dresses, and she pushed me through the Eclipse Gate before I could stop her, and then the next thing I knew it was the fourth of July of the year X791."
"Hold on a second, that was just a few days ago." Mira pointed out "Does that mean the gate is only able to make small jumps back in time? I thought they said the gate was supposed to be used to go back 400 years to take out Zeref and Acnologia."
"I don't know all of the details myself, and I'm pretty sure Lucy didn't either. Maybe it ended up being broken, so it wasn't able to take me back that far in time."
What none of the others had noticed was that Arcadios had awakened, and was listening to everything the others were saying 'It all makes sense now, this girl is the mysterious visitor from the future that had advised the princess before. Something isn't right, I can feel it.'
"If you make it out of the castle then you'll need to rendezvous with Jellal and the others from Crime Sorciere, but be careful because there are lacrimas all over the city that are being used to monitor the games. That means you're gonna have to take an underground route in order to meet up with them."
"Him and Aftershock, they know about this don't they?" Luke guessed.
"I don't know about Noah for sure, but Jellal found me last night and I explained everything to him to the best of my ability. I'm sure him and the others are busy coming up with a plan even as we speak."
"Why is he coming up with a plan though?" asked Lucy.
"I'm sorry, all of this is my fault. I probably should've come here with some sort of strategy in mind, but to be completely honest, I don't know what we can do to stop it. I needed him and the others to help me."
'Of course, it all makes sense now.' Arcadios frowned in thought 'I don't understand though, this girl has to be the one who told the princess about the Eclipse 2, which means that she lied when she said that she arrived on the fourth. Why would she choose to deceive her friends?'
"I'm so sorry about all of this, but I couldn't do it on my own. I know I should've found you sooner too, but I was just at a complete loss on what to do besides just trying to warn you about this."
"...Hey don't worry about that, you've got nothing to apologize for." Luke gave a small, gentle and reassuring smile as he knelt down in front of Future Cana and pulled her into a comforting hug, her head resting against his shoulder "First, I want to be the one to thank you. The fact that you risked your life for all of us and for our future, that's just another fact that proves to me that you really are Cana. We're gonna find a way to stop these dragons, and things are gonna work out for everyone, and you're gonna be here to see it happen."
"Luke…"
"I've said it multiple times before, and I'll stand by it until the day I die. I don't want to imagine a world without Fairy Tail, especially if that means a world without you." as he held her, he glanced over at the present version of Cana, and the two of them locked eyes.
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Meanwhile, with a battle between Dragon Slayers…
"You wanna run that the fuck by me again?" Gajeel shot a pissed off glare down at the wounded form of Rogue "I guess there must be some crap stuck in my ears or something, because I swore that you just said something about me not being as strong as Thunderclap or Salamander. Was that what you said?"
"Yes, that was what I said. I thought that was true, but now…" Rogue was left panting heavily, but then he let out a bitter sounding chuckle.
"What the hell is so funny?"
"It's rather strange, I had never been able to understand the reason why you had decided to join Fairy Tail in the first place. It took me a long time, but seeing you and all of the others in your guild now, I think I've finally come to understand it."
"Is that right? Well go ahead and spit it out, and I'll fact check it for you."
"I don't know if you actually remember this or not, and I don't blame you if you don't because it was such a long time ago. I was just a kid back then, no older than that Dragon Slayer girl with the blue hair, I think her name was Wendy, but anyway I was just a kid who looked up to your former guild Phantom Lord, but more than anything I looked up to you more than any of the others. As a kid, it was one of my biggest dreams in my life to become a member of that guild when the day came. Unfortunately I never got the chance to make that dream come true, since Phantom Lord was forced to disband when they decided to challenge Fairy Tail and lost, and yet I wasn't surprised in the slightest when I had heard that Luke was the one who defeated their master Jose."
"He might be soft, but he's a fucking powerhouse."
"Believe me, I know. And of all of the guilds you had the opportunity to join, you chose the one that had just defeated them. You joined Fairy Tail, and I was left devastated and heartbroken by such an act. The fact that you had chosen to become part of the guild that just ripped through your old one, it was something that I just wasn't able to wrap my head around. I was so confused, and deep down I knew there had to be a reason, but I wasn't able to figure it out for the life of me. That's part of the reason why I came to your guild before the Games, to try and find what that reason is, and to see how different things are in this guild compared to Sabertooth. But now I think I finally understand. What you wanted was to have friends, people that you could trust and who trusted you."
"Them having decent taste in music didn't hurt either."
"That doesn't surprise me in the slightest. But things such as friendship, camaraderie, things like those don't even exist in Sabertooth. We were nothing but the footsoldiers for our master, and we were forced to follow his orders or else be tossed aside like pieces of trash. If we were defeated in battle or any event, then he would force us to pay the price. I don't really know what it's like to be in a true guild, because I honestly don't have any true friends. To be completely honest, I don't even know what it is I've been fighting for all this time. I realize now that having friends, standing beside people that you can trust and the bonds that you share, that's what drives all of you and keeps pushing you, and it's one of the things that makes you so powerful. That's one of the main reasons why we were never able to measure up. The only real exceptions to that rule are the likes of milady, and she's about as strong as she is sadistic and ruthless, and Sting when he awoke his true power after losing Lector."
"...Don't act like such a fucking dumbass." Gajeel finally spoke up "That's the biggest load of bullshit I've heard since Teen Titans Go became a thing."
"Wait what?"
"You heard me." and then he gave a smirk "You say you don't have any friends, that you're one of the footsoldiers for that fucking Hulk Hogan reject that is your master. But I saw you during the games before today. You didn't bow before him like some fucking foot stool, you didn't look away when you saw something you didn't like. During blondie's match with Fairy Tail, you took away that hair bitch's leverage to make the fight fair. Even after she lost, you snapped her out of her funk and told her what she needed to hear. Hell, after she lost to that chick from your guild in the fight yesterday, you went to check on her. I know you're not some fucking foot stool, I don't care what you say about it. If that doesn't make a friend, then there ain't much that does. Besides, even if you don't give a damn about her, you've got another friend by your side in that little frog of yours."
"Frog? What the hell are you talking about?"
"You know what I mean, that little pink frog that clings onto your shoulder."
"You mean Frosch? He's a cat you idiot, he just wears a frog suit."
"Well if you wanna get technical, he's an Exceed. But am I right or what?"
"Actually…" Rogue paused for a moment, then gave a small smile "You're right about that, the fact is that Frosch is my closest friend. And Lucy… she's rather intriguing. I should thank you for reminding me of something as a important as that."
"Rogue." a sinister voice rang through his ears, causing him to stiffen and sweat to drip down the side of his face.
'What the hell?'
"Face forward. Do you see the man that's standing in front of you?"
'You mean Gajeel? What about him?'
"All you need to know is that he is your enemy."
"Okay enough of this, where the hell is that voice coming from?"
"You okay kid?" Gajeel shot him a raised eyebrow "You're looking like you just went right off the deep end."
"You mean you don't hear it?"
"Rogue. You must kill Gajeel."
"Who the hell are you, and why can't I see you?"
"You have to kill him, because it is your destiny."
"Enough of this, show yourself already!" Rogue glanced down at the ground, only to see his shadow looking back up at him "What the-"
"That's right. So glad to see you finally realize it. I am your shadow. I will lend you some of my strength, and then you can go and strike him down!"
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Meanwhile, with the Rescue Team…
"Alright come on, we can't waste any more time." by this point, Future Cana was leading the members of the Rescue Team, along with Lucy and Yukino themselves, through a series of dark passages "It's this way, and the sooner we get the hell out of here the better."
"Not gonna lie, the underground path is definitely convenient." Luke glanced around, then turned back towards Future Cana "So how exactly do you know about this to begin with?"
"I spent a little bit of time exploring the castle, so that way I know how to get us out of here without getting caught or getting too close to the Eclipse gate. I figured it was the least that I could do."
"You're not gonna hear me or any of the others complain about it, that's for sure. We'd better hurry and get out of here so we can fire the signal flare, the others are probably going out of their minds by this point." they bolted out out of the passageway and into a hallway in the castle, but that was where he held out a hand to stop them "Hold on a second."
"You picking it up too?" was Bolt's guess.
"Yep, we've got incoming, and there's a lot of them."
"There they are!" as it turns out, this was when a large number of soldiers "Capture the fugitives, use lethal force if necessary!"
"And that just makes things even worse."
"Dammit, this is bad." Future Cana cursed under her breath "I didn't know they were gonna end up here."
"Don't worry about it, all we have to do is knock them out and then we can just keep moving forward." Luke stepped forward and drew his sword, with Bolt stepping up to his side and drawing Shatterstorm "The bottom line is, just stand back and leave it to us. Give us about three minutes, and we'll clear the way without too much of a problem."
"Yeah, but it's not the only problem we have." Wendy was quick to get their attention "I don't know what happened, but Colonel Arcadios and Yukino are both gone."
"...Yep, part of me thinks I should've seen that coming. I don't get it, they were right behind us just a second ago, and then they slip away so suddenly without any of us noticing? Something about this doesn't feel right."
"Arcadios is one thing, but we can't just leave Yukino behind like that. Hold on, I'm gonna go after her." and so Mira promptly took off without another word.
"Hold on a second Mira, aren't we supposed to stick together?"
"I'll come back as soon as I track her down, for now just start busting some heads!"
"...And now this is happening."
"Only one thing left to do on our end." Bolt tightened his grip on Shatterstorm "And that's kick some ass and look fucking awesome while we do it, now are you ready?"
"About as ready as I'll ever be, now let's get this over with already. Dragon Sword Style: Iron Hammer!" Luke was quick to thrust his sword into the ground and unleashed a powerful surge of electricity, blowing a large number of the soldiers away, only to quickly see more of them charging them "You wanna take this next group?"
"With pleasure. Storm Force!" Bolt morphed Shatterstorm into its trident form and unleashed a large blast of wind, ripping through the soldiers and sending them all flying away "We'd better do this fast, I don't know how to explain it but I've got this bad feeling in the pit of my gut like there's something we're missing."
"Oh, so I'm not the only one. Whatever the case, we'd better take care of this and meet up with the others soon before things get even worse. Hey guys, you up for joining the fight?"
"As if you had to ask." Cana and Loke both stepped forward, with Lucy doing the same as she donned her Leo Star Dress "Now let's go ahead and kick some ass."
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Meanwhile, with the games themselves…
As the games continued on throughout the city, Gajeel suddenly found himself beginning to fall victim to Rogue after he was possessed by the being that was his own shadow, granting him a noticeable increase in power. It ended up getting so bad that everyone in the stands started to fear for Gajeel's life, while Frosch had taken it upon himself to rush out of the Domus Flau and towards the location of the battle to try and snap Rogue out of it.
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Meanwhile, with Crime Sorciere…
"What the hell?" Noah's gaze snapped up along with the others, and he glanced in the direction of the Domus Flau colosseum "Okay, this just got freaky."
"You mean you sensed that magic power too?" asked Meldy "I definitely did."
"You'd have to be Salamander levels of stupid to not feel it."
"We can all feel it, and it's coming from the city." Ultear noted.
"If I had to guess as to why that is, I'm gonna go ahead and say that things just got a hell of a lot more interesting in the games."
"I doubt that to be the case." Jellal told him "More likely the future version of Cana has been caught in the fighting, so we must tread carefully from here on out. As long as Luke's group is still with her, there's no need for us to act rashly."
"You're right about that part, Thunderclap can take care of things on his end. I still say there's something going on in the games. It's pretty rare for me to feel something so dark it makes chills go down my spine."
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Meanwhile, with the Rescue Team…
"I call upon the power of the lion, Leo!" Lucy held up one of her golden Zodiac keys "Star Dress: Leo Form!" with a golden flash, Lucy was enveloped in her Leo Star Dress "Now let's do this! Regulus Impact!" she stuck out a fist and fired a golden wave of magic energy at a large group of soldiers,
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Meanwhile, with the two on two battle…
"Yeah I know, when you start cursing like a freaking sailor, Lisanna scares the ever loving crap out of you more than Erza ever could." Gray shot a smirk at how pale Natsu looked "Trust me, it's awesome to watch, but we've got other stuff to do. As much as I hate to admit it, we're gonna have to work together if we wanna take both of them down."
"They say that pride as a warrior can be both your can be both your greatest strength, but also your greatest weakness." Xian got their attention as he dropped into a stance, with Lyon doing the same by his side "In cases like this, the best way to ensure victory is to put aside your own personal pride and do what needs to be done. Myself and Lyon feel the same way, which is why this has become a tag team battle of sorts."
"Two on two then?"
"That is another way to describe it."
"Don't get so freaking cocky just because you got a few good hits in." Natsu stepped up to the plate as he wiped the blood from his lip "If you guys just wanna lose that much faster, then you ain't gonna hear us complain. We'll just take you out and get this over with. And for the record, I hate having to do this."
"It's not a fucking picnic for me either." Gray let out a snort "But you know that I'm right about the fact that we have to do this. Besides, take a look at this guy."
"You know who I am, and you know my reasons for fighting." Xian addressed both of them, but he was staring directly at Natsu as he spoke "You understand my reasons as well, so you know exactly why I can't and won't back down, not now." he also took notice of the side glance he was getting from both Gray and Lyon.
"You can see it as well as I can. He's a lot stronger than either of us thought he'd be, and now he's got Lyon backing him up. If we wanna win the games and get the title of number one guild back, then we've gotta stop them here and now. Gajeel, Erza and Laxus are all fighting a bunch of other opponents, and they're all pretty strong as they are. You get it don't you? The fact is that if we don't stop them here and now, there might not be another chance."
"...Since when are you so up for the whole teamwork thing?" Natsu shot a glance at him.
"I just said I hate having to do this you flame-headed dumbass, but I know what I gotta do when it really counts!"
"Fine, but just so we're clear I'm never teaming up with you again. After this, you try and get in my way in a fight and I'm shoving a flaming fist down your throat."
"You can go ahead and try, I'll shove an ice sword up your ass the second you do. But yeah, never again after this." they both say that, but we know what happens in a later arc "Now let's do this already."
"About freaking time too. Fire Dragon Roar!" Natsu breathed out an enormous stream of flames, and the two on two battle began.
"A more focused attack than your previous efforts, but as I mentioned before, the time for me to hold back is over!" Xian quickly blitzed out of the way of Natsu's attack.
"You're not going to get away from me Gray, I will defeat you and free my beloved Juvia of the hold you have on her! Ice Make: Swan Wings!" Lyon charged forward and fired off a barrage of ice projectiles made to look like swan wings towards both Natsu and Gray.
"Do you see me chasing after her like a freaking predator?! Ice Make: Shield!" Gray slammed both of his hands into the ground and summoned a large shield made of ice to protect them from the ice projectiles "Ice Make: Cold Excalibur!" he then formed a large longsword made out of ice and slashed at Lyon trailing a large amount of ice in its wake and hitting Lyon before he was able to retreat, drawing a small amount of blood from him "Dammit!"
"You gonna run away like a bunch of fucking cowarads or fight already?! Fire Dragon Brilliant FLAME!" Natsu summoned a large two-handed ball of fire and hurled it forward, which was able to hit Lyon and send him hurtling back, but Xian was able to dodge it "FUCK!"
"It's not gonna work if we keep going like this we're not gonna be able to take him out. We need to find a way to pin him down so he can't get away." Gray frowned in thought as he backed away and watched Xian's movements for a moment, and then the realization dawned on him 'Yes, that's it!"
"The two of you have prowess as mages that few could or would deny, but I'm afraid that this is where I stop wasting anymore time! Soaring Dragon Strike!" Xian blitzed forward and quickly dealt Natsu a sharp fist to the gut, then followed with a swift uppercut punch to the jaw that sent him flying backwards.
"Shit! Ice Make: Platform!" Gray slammed his hands together and summoned an ice platform in mid air that allowed Natsu to rebound from the attack "This isn't gonna work, we're gonna need to fence him in somehow so we can limit his range."
"What the hell does that mean?" Natsu shot a pissed off glance at him.
"I'm saying that if we can cut down the amount of ground he has to work with and make it so that he can't move around so freely, then that should make it a lot easier for you to catch him and take him out. Once that's done, taking down Lyon should be a hell of a lot easier."
"...What do I have to do?"
"I'm gonna have to hang back for a little bit to make this work, you go in and get close to him and try and punch him out."
"I'm gonna do more than try, I'll smash his face into the fucking ground! Fire Dragon SWORD HORN!" Natsu rebounded off of Gray's ice platform and sent himself hurtling forward at full speed with a fire-enhanced headbutt.
"Even now your enthusiasm never wavers." Xian ducked underneath Natsu's headbutt and dealt him a swift elbow to the chest, stopping him in his tracks "I do respect those who stick to their guns so fiercely even in battle, but as I said, I'm not doing this for my own enjoyment. I have to finish this quickly so I can get to her. Also, you left yourself wide open when you pounced at me so readily."
"He's not the only dumbass that left himself wide open, you fall into that group yourself right about now! Ice Make: Cryo Cage!" Gray spread out his arms and unleashed a barrage of ice lances from each hand continuously in numerous directions, caging the other three combatants inside.
"What are you doing?"
"Trapping you like a freaking rat." Natsu shot him a smirk "Now it's not gonna be as easy for you or Gray's senpai to run away, and I can hit you both a lot easier now."
"So you actually cooperated with him with these intentions in mind. A clever strategy I have to give you credit for, but that means you're not going to be able escape either, either from myself or from Lyon."
"I don't need to, now I can take both of you down at the same time!" Natsu gave a feral grin as he pounced forward, inten on finishthing this fight with his own hands.
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Meanwhile, with a battle between Dragon Slayers…
"You know, it's honestly rather pathetic." by this point, the battle had ended up taking a turn for the worst, with Shadow Rogue grabbing Gajeel and keeping him in a chokehold "I honestly find it hard to believe that I ever really looked up to you. How pathetic. I idolized you, and now I have you in the palm of my hand. Ending your miserable existence would be a simple as just squeezing this hand. But I don't need to. It won't be long now until the shadows have eaten you away, and once they've had their fill this world will be free of you." and then he simply tossed Gajeel to the ground as the shadows began to circle around him "You will simply vanish, being forced to sleep in eternal darkness."
"...That's what you think dumbass." Gajeel suddenly shot a smirk at Shadow Rogue.
"What?"
"The way I see it, if Thunderclap and Salamander can pull something like that off, then I sure as hell can too." he clenched his fist and inhaled, and the shadows suddenly began flowing into his body as he pulled himself back to his feet "Yeah, there we go."
"What is this? What have you done?"
"What does it look like genius, I just went and used my own magic power to consume and absorb your shadows. I don't know who or what the hell you think you are, but you better get the fuck out of his body or else."
"You seriously expect me to just leave Rogue?"
"You'd think you'd get to know a hell of a lot more about the kid before you go and try and take him over like some kind of parasite. His name isn't Rogue, it's Ryos and I took the kid as my own sworn brother. You can go ahead and say that you looked up to me as much as you like, but you know as well as I do that's not anywhere near true, because it took me a long time to become that kind of guy. Be honest with me, and with yourself. You never looked up to me back then, you were afraid of me."
"You're wrong, I was never afraid of you."
"Well you should've been." Gajeel's smirk widened as his skin turned to metal, his entire body being surrounded by shadows and black energy "Maybe you forgot because I turned into such a big ball of sunshine and rainbows these days, but I'm more than happy to make you remember exactly why you should've been afraid of me."
"I don't believe it… you became an Iron Shadow Dragon?!"
"You're damn right I did, and the top billing on the name is how you know that you're dealing with me. Now let's do this."
Day 5 results (so far):
Team Sabertooth: 55 points
Team Fairy Tail: 49 points
Team Lamia Scale: 48 points
Team Mermaid Heel: 43 points (eliminated)
Team Blue Pegasus: 29 points (eliminated)
Team Quatro Puppy: 15 points (eliminated)
A/N:
Now we get into the real meat of the second half of the Grand Magic Games, with a mysterious visitor in the future (aka Future Cana) warning of the impending doom that was preluded to in a previous chapter. All the while, the Grand Magic Games are nearing their climax. This arc isn't done yet, not by a longshot.
One thing I think is worth noting is the dynamic between Natsu and Xian. I knew going into this, at least since I decided to have Natsu fight in the games instead of going with the Rescue Team, that I knew I was gonna have the two of them fight each other. It's why I eliminated Sherria from the games so early. I figured that given the main reason why I had created Xian to begin with (the reason being he was an OC requested to be paired up with Kagura), I figured I could have him and Natsu at least come to an understanding, given how Natsu would be able to identify with how he felt, given his own feelings for Lisanna. Plus I think it's refreshing to see Natsu struggle in a fight against someone like Xian, where he actually can't just power his way through it like he always does.
Speaking of which, one other thing I think is worth noting is that I had Natsu and Gray team up to take on Xian and Lyon in a two on two match. Unlike with Juvia and Gray in canon, there isn't any chance of him and Natsu pulling off a Unison Raid to win the battle, so I had to get a little bit creative to find a way for them to win. As for the results, you're gonna see that next chapter.
On and on the plus side, we finally get to see Gajeel unlock his Iron Shadow Dragon Mode! That's a hell of a way to close out the chapter, am I right? We're gonna see the payoff of that epic moment in the next chapter, but that's not the only time we'll get to see it during the games. I've got something pretty big planned for when the final battle of the Games comes.