I would like to thank everyone who reviewed, favorited or followed this story since I updated it, and for getting this story up to 120,000 views. Thank you for all of the support you've given to this story over the past few years.
BerserkerJ12: I'm always glad to see another TFS fan, so good eye catching the reference to Mr Popo.
Guest: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it. I definitely enjoyed doing the fight between Luke and Salamander, and it's nowhere near close to being done yet.
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The scene in front of the palace was turning rather grim.
"What have I done…?" Hisui was left in a state of horrified shock as tears began streaming down her face "This is horrible… The world is about to come to an end, and it's all my fault…"
"Come on now princess, we all know you aren't to blame for this." Darton was quick to try and reassure her, albeit with little success "The only one that holds any blame for these events is that time travelling wretch that deceived you."
"No, I was the one. I caused all of this."
"Now is not the time for blame Your Highness, you need to leave this place." Arcadios told her firmly "If you remain here then you will be in grave danger."
"No, I… I choose to remain here. I have to stay here. With everything that's on the line, I've come too far to turn on my heel and run away now."
"Princes…" Arcadios gritted his teeth as he gazed up at the night sky 'Wherever you might be right now Dragon Slayers, the outcome of this battle lies in your hands. We'll have to trust in all of you to give these creatures hell.'
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Meanwhile, with the biggest main battle…
"Looks like someone's starting to lose his edge." an explosion subsided atop Motherglare's back, and the smoke cleared to reveal Salamander standing in the center, with his clothing singed but a confident smirk plastered across his face "You might as well call it quits now Luke, with the way things are going now you aren't gonna fair any better than any of the other normal humas that are running around down there."
"You say that like being a normal human would be a bad thing." Luke wiped some blood from his face as his demeanor hardened "Those normal humans down there are a lot more capable than you're giving them credit for."
"So what, you'd give up the power that comes with being a Dragon Slayer just to be like the rest of them?"
"I don't see what's so wrong with that. If it meant I'd be able to stop you and protect all of them, then I'd be willing to do just about anything."
"Well whatever you've got planned, you're gonna have to do it fast, especially once I get this into play. Now!" this was met Motherglare letting out a roar, which was when followed by her laying dozens of eggs that dropped down onto the battlefield below "So now you see where the Mother in Motherglare comes from."
"Those things down there… Those are dragon eggs aren't they?"
"Something like that." Salamander gestured down to where the eggs suddenly began hatching into smaller reptilian creatures "Looks like the others are gonna have their hands full, and you won't be there to save them."
"I told you before that I would do whatever it takes to protect my guild, and I plan to do just that after I defeat you." and so the two of them charged at each other again.
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True to the time traveller's word, the eggs laid by Motherglare were quick to hatch into large humanoid reptillian creatures ready to fight the present mages in the vicinity. As they started to complain about the sudden increase in the number of enemies, Laxus and the rest of the Thunder Legion arrived on the scene in order to battle Atlas Flame. It was then that Mavis told the others that they would not be able to face a dragon, and that instead they should focus on the minions left by Motherglare. However, she also instructed Gajeel to break off from the rest of the group and apprehend the Dark Dragon. Levy tried to follow him, but he refused assistance from her, much to her dismay.
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Meanwhile, with the Twin Dragons…
"Looks like it's go time." Sting looked ahead to see the dragon Scissor Runner looming in front of them, and he shot a quick glance over at Rogue "I can handle this one, you go and check on the other guilds. We need to pick up the slack for any of the ones that haven't got a Dragon Slayer with them."
"Right, I'm on my way." Rogue gave a simple nod and took off running, his mind racing as he did so 'I can imagine that there's no way in hell that Luke, Gajeel or any of the others would give up right now, so I'm not going to either. Even those that aren't Dragon Slayers, all of our friends, they're fighting with all they have, regardless of which guild they're from… Like Lucy. I can only imagine that she's fighting with everything she has right now, with the courage to stand up for the sake of those that she holds dear. I'll follow the example that she and the others set, not just in this battle, but moving forward from here on out. The old Sabertooth guild is dead, and this night will mark the beginning of a brand new era. That's the way we're going to be doing things from here on out, moving forward for the sake of those we hold dear. I can only imagine Lucy will be happy to hear about that herself… Especially given how Sabertooth has treated her up until now. Yeah, that's totally the reason. Crap, Sting is never going to let me hear the end of it if he finds out.'
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The mages of Blue Pegasus were struggling in their battle against the Rock Dragon, especially due to the realization that they did not have a Dragon Slayer in their guild. Jenny was quick to try and compensate for this disadvantage on their part by seducing the dragon, though this tactic had failed miserably. Ichiya tried to use a certain perfume on the dragon using his armpits, which did succeed in incapacitating his fellow guild members, but it had no effect on the dragon since it lacked a nose, and then it began mocking them. This was when Cobra arrived on the scene and told the mages to leave while he handled the Rock Dragon himself, though that didn't stop them from questioning why and how he had been released from prison.
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At the same time, Doranbolt and Lahar watched the chaos unfolding from a distance, with the former being worried about their jobs, while the latter argued that at least they would now have a future as they lead the Royal Army of Fiore into the battle.
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In the mountains outside of Crocus, where she and Levy were assisting in the evacuation of the citizens, Kinana could sense Cobra fighting down in the city.
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Meanwhile, with the biggest main battle…
"So do you finally get it now?" Luke gritted his teeth as he dropped into a stance "Everyone down there is fighting with everything they've got. People that I call my friends, people that I've never actually met, the young and the old. Everybody is working together as one, all of them fighting to survive, to change the future into something better. There's one thing I know for sure about this war you've started, and it's that as long as we keep this up, there's no way that we can lose."
"Yeah yeah, here we go with the big epic speech again." Salamander rolled his eyes and gave a smirk "Don't let yourself get too cocky just yet, you haven't seen the true power that a dragon is capable of yet."
"Then how about you stop running your mouth and actually show me. I'm sick of listening to your prattling."
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Meanwhile, in front of the Eclipse Gate…
"Looks like we can finally get started on the fun!" Zirconis barked out a laugh as he glanced down at the soldiers and mages in front of them "Now then, which morsel should I start to nibble on first? Let's see here… Well how about it ladies? You definitely look all kinds of tender and scrumptious. But still, some cats would make a pretty good appetizer before the main course. Oh cool, the soldier guys even brought some toothpicks for afterwards. Isn't that just thoughtful, and here I thought humans didn't give a damn about anyone other than themselves."
"Here's an idea asshole, you sit there and I take a giant bite out of you! Fire Dragon SWORD HORN!" Natsu's body surged with flames as he soared upwards and tried to nail Zirconis with a fire-enhanced headbutt, hitting him square in the jaw and knocking him back a few feet… only to be grabbed by the head and met with a long slow breath from Zirconis, which proved to be enough to make his cheeks bulge "Oh god… it smells so bad…"
"Yeah that's right, I know how the whole thing works for Dragon Slayers and stuff. One whiff of my breath is enough to put any normal human, out of commission, . It's the best way to make annoying little shits shut the hell up. Seriously though, don't puke all over me or anything. If I don't end up wanting to eat you then I'm just gonna step on you or blow you up or something."
"Zirconis why are you like this, don't you recognize us?" Wendy tried to reach out to him, only to have little success "We only spoke to each other not long ago."
"What's that? You really are one hell of a cute one aren't you? Maybe I'm gonna start things off by eating you before the others."
"But…"
"Forget trying to reason with him, it's not the same one as before." Cana told her "Don't forget that the one we were talking to was already dead and you talked to his ghost, but this version is still alive and kicking."
"So then… what do we do now?"
"This is one of those times where you realize that Luke is one of the smarter members of the guild, and those actually are harder to come by than you realize to come by when you think about it. The point I'm making is that he's right, the only ones that can hurt these things are actual Dragon Slayers, and you and Natsu are the only Dragon Slayers here. Now you gotta show them what you're made of, show them what a Sky Dragon Slayer can really do."
"Good news people, I just made my decision." Zirconis' grin grew wider "I'm going to eat all of you together! That oughta make things interesting, don't you think?"
"And I believe that's the point where we should draw the line." Darton's gaze hardened as he shared a quick glance with Arcadios "Myself and the men will cover you, but in the meantime you have to get the princess to somewhere safe."
"I agree." Arcadios was quick to wrap his arms around Hisui "Now is the time princess, we have to hurry and leave this place."
"I can't leave now, I won't just abandon these men." Hisui told him firmly.
"Better get ready peoples, here it comes!" Zirconis let out a roar as a massive beam of crimson energy burst forth from his mouth.
"Get the hell down!" Cana grabbed hold of Wendy and the other girls, along with the Exceeds, and threw them to the ground before the beam could hit them, and when the beam subsided she lifted her head and took a look around, only for her expression to turn deadpan at what she was seeing "Okay, what the hell am I looking at right now?"
"What the hell, do you have any idea how messed up this is?!" the dust settled to reveal all of the soldiers having been hit by the blast completely unharmed… the only problem being that they had lost all of their clothes.
"Yeah I'm with them on this one, what the hell gives? I figured you were trying to roast them alive or something."
"No not that time, that one was just a means to an end." Zirconis gave a shrug "I mean yeah humans are pretty tasty themselves, but the clothes always give me gas, and believe me when I tell you that nobody wants that to happen."
"And you think we wanted this to happen?"
"I'm pretty sure they didn't." Mira jerked a thumb to where the soldiers were all running away screaming at the top of their lungs "That's one way to beat an army. Not something I needed or wanted to see at any point though."
"I'm pretty sure it gets even worse." Cana jerked a thumb to where Darton stood without his clothes as well, prompting her to cover Wendy's eyes while Arcadios was doing his best to prevent Hisui from seeing it "Seriously, you can only handle so many hijinks on this level before it gets to the point where it's just pathetic."
"You know now that I think about it, guys actually are pretty gamey." Zirconis glanced down at where he held Natsu in one claw, then over at Lucy and the others "But you girls on the other hand, the lot of you sure as hell look nice and tender."
"You won't like the princess, because she's really a man!" Arcadios stepped in front of Hisui to protect her, only to be met with a few WTF looks.
"If she's a man then how can she be a princess? Seriously though, I might be snarky but I'm not stupid."
"Zirconis wait." Wendy took a step forward "Was that your magic you displayed just now?"
"Of course it was. Every dragon has their magic, didn't you know?"
"You mean you seriously have a spell that's meant for destroying clothes? I get the feeling that the guys at Quatro Cerberus would love you." Cana shared a look with Lucy, only for the two of them to fall under Zirconis' gaze, which was immediately followed by their clothes being singed into nothing in an instant, though the former's only down to her underwear.
"Yeah, I like this part of the job."
"This was… certainly not expected." Hisui was quick to cover Arcadios' gaze while blushing fairly heavily herself.
"And to answer your question half pint, no it's not about destroying clothes. When I use my magic on a human, it's to destroy their dignity, what little they might have. In other words, the more my magic destroys of what it touches, the more dignity a person loses in the process. If it doesn't destroy much, then I guess that just means the person doesn't have much in the way of shame." he paused as he glanced over at Cana "I'm gonna go ahead and assume that one doesn't have much in the way of shame them."
"It doesn't matter, because I have some magic of my own." Wendy's gaze hardened with her anger "And it's the kind that's going to destroy you!"
"Is that right? Well that's a pretty gutsy thing to say on your part small fry, go ahead and try to back it up if you can."
"Alright we get it, you don't wanna be naked in public." Cana on the other hand was dealing with Lucy freaking out over being naked, and so she promptly pulled off her own bra and handed it to her "Here, you can use this. I know it's not much in the way of covering but it's better than the alternative right?"
"Good news, I think I know where to start." Zirconis unceremoniously dropped Natsu on the ground, then reached down and picked up both Lucy and Cana in one hand "Yeah, I think the two of you are going to do very nicely as a starter."
"Hey I don't wanna die in the buck, put me the hell down! And stop sniffing me already you sick creep!" Lucy thrashed around and tried to reach for one of her keys, though she had little luck in this regard.
"Looks like this one is gonna be a lot more fun than I thought she'd be."
"Oh just wait, you'll see for yourself that we can be a freaking riots." Cana managed to pull out a few cards and prepared to use them, only to be stopped when she noticed Wendy step forward, her entire body glowing with green-colored magic power "Nevermind then."
"Well now, looks to me like I went and made the little girl angry. Hey here's an idea, how about we see if you've got what it takes to put me down before I eat your friends. How does that sound?"
"That's not going to happen! Arms! Vernier! Enhanct and enhance!" Wendy spread her arms out, causing Natsu to bolt upright as his entire body was engulfed in an intense magical aura, the same for Mira and Bolt "Go ahead and bring it on."
"Well now, this oughta be more amusing than I thought. I say go ahead and back up those claims if you can!" Zirconis unleashed a roar and stomped one of his feet into the ground, the sheer force sending out a shockwave powerful enough to blow the others right off their feet, and then he flew high into the air overlooking the group, Lucy and Cana still in hand "Go ahead and see if you can back up that talk from all the way down there!"
"Am I the only one who notices it's colder?" Lucy began shivering in Zirconis' grasp as she glanced over at Cana "Why the hell is it so much colder?"
"Why do you think? It's because we're so high in the air, which actually works out pretty well as far as I'm concerned. After all, the colder the meat, the tastier it gets." he moved to place both Lucy and Cana in his mouth, until…
"Excalibur: STRIKE OF ASCALON!" a golden blur shot upwards and nailed Zirconis in the jaw with a massive blast of electricity, courtesy of Bolt, now back in his human form with wings sprouting from his back, Shatterstorm having been morphed into the form of a large broadsword with a wide blade and golden hilt "How do you like that one big guy?"
"Not really impressed, don't tell me that's all you've got."
"Not by a long shot, because I've got something you don't. It's called backup. NOW!"
"Satan Soul: SITRI!" this was when Mira came bursting upwards in her Satan Soul: Sitri form and nailed Zirconis in the face, though it didn't do much more than amuse and/or irritate him.
"What was that supposed to be, some kind of love tap?"
"Nope, just warming you up for when you get your ass kicked. Hey Natsu, Wendy, if you're gonna do it then do it now!"
"Do what?"
"This! Fire Dragon Roar/ Sky Dragon ROAR!" this was when Natsu and Wendy both came hurtling upwards, the former propelling himself using his flames and the latter being hoisted into the air by Carla, and they unleashed two simultaneous roars, one of fire and one of wind, the two blasts combining into one larger one that hit Zirconis square in the face, causing him to cry out in a mix of shock and pain "Yeah now how do you like that one asshole?! That's what happens when you try and insult a bunch of real Dragon Slayers!"
"I've had enough of you and your meddling you little brat!" Zirconis promptly flung Lucy and Cana away into the distance, and then he grabbed Natsu and hurled him away in the same direction.
"I've got them, the rest of you take care of Mr Personality over here." Bolt de-materialized his Shatterstorm and flew off after the others.
"Good luck Bolt, we'll leave them being safe to you." Wendy watched as Bolt flew off into the distance, then glanced back down at Zirconis "Now that the others will be safe, we'll be able to focus on him."
"Well now, this is actually pretty interesting." Zirconis let out a chuckle "It's not that often that my food fights back, but I'm gonna put all of you in my belly in no time."
"No I won't, not when I have friends I need to protect."
"Go ahead and do what you have to do, I'll back you up." Mira told her.
"Thank you Mira, I have a feeling that I'm going to need it with him."
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Meanwhile, with the wayward mages…
"Shit shit shit shit!" Bolt was left trying to carry Cana and the others by the arm, though this didn't pan out as well as he would've liked, and they ended up hitting the ground in one of the streets with a loud crash "Okay, I seriously think that could've gone better."
"I think I'm gonna hurl…" Natsu leaned over into a randomly placed nearby barrel and then proceeded to do just that.
"Just make sure you do it away from all of us, with all of the shit that's going down the last thing any of us need or want is for you to start blowing fire chunks everywhere."
"Not exactly the most graceful rescue either." Cana let out a groan as she picked herself up and started doing some stretching, her lack of clothing prompting Bolt to turn away, as well as make sure that Natsu was turned away.
"Well excuse me for not having the strength of a fucking Hulk. I might be OP as fuck after having to spend 7 years training until my bones shattered while you guys were gone, but that doesn't mean it's easy for me to lift two naked chicks with boobs bigger than my head, along with that idiot over there. Anyway that's enough with the hijinks for now, let's just focus on the task at hand." Bolt pulled out a few cloths and handed them to Lucy and Cana, allowing them to cover themselves "But at least this way you won't look like you're trying to flash everyone in the city. Cana on the other hand probably would."
"Hey I might not have much in the way of shame, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna go around showing myself off like a hooker."
"I never said you would, and frankly that's a relief, because we all know that the only person you want to see the good stuff would be Luke." that proved to be enough to make Cana blush and turn away "That's what we all thought. Speaking of which blondie, I snagged your keys before you got sent flying." he handed a pouch to Lucy "At least now you oughta be able to access your Star Dresses."
"That's a relief, I'm really starting to hate being a damsel in distress." Lucy breathed a sigh, but then she glanced around at the others and saw how serious they were getting, Natsu in particular brooding to himself "Do you guys feel that crazy magic power up there?"
"It's pretty hard not to. Luke is up there right now fighting that crazy fucker from the future, and if the fact that he's in Dragon Force is any indication, it's giving him more trouble than any of us thought he was going to."
"I doubt he's that tough, I could totally take him. But how?" Natsu looked up from where he was in the middle of brooding.
"I wouldn't count on being able to hit him really really hard like a Dragon Ball character as the solution to every problem this time around. This dude is strong enough to give Luke a run for his money, and he's riding on top of a dragon that sure as hell isn't fucking around either. That's not to say that any of them are really screwing around at the moment, they're pretty much out for either blood, food or some sick kicks."
"Yeah no kidding, you guys saw what Zirconis did." Lucy shuddered at the thought "He stripped me down and then he tried to make me an horderve."
"So he's hungry and horny, sounds about right for a typical anime fan."
"...So the bastard's got an appetite then." Natsu suddenly pulled himself to his feet as a smirk began spreading across his face "That's it, that's fucking it!"
"What is?"
"I just figured out how I'm gonna take down that fucker and his dragon! This is gonna be totally awesome, it might be the best idea I've ever had! The only one that's even going to come close to it is the double-baconwich: a sandwich with bacon instead of bread."
"...Somehow I get the feeling this is going to end up nauseating me and several others with the sheer stupidity and/or brilliance of it."
"Knowing him it's probably going to be both." Cana pointed out dryly.
"That is also true."
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Elsewhere in the city, Erza, Elfman and Lisanna were battling against the miniature dragons laid by Motherglare, and they were later joined in the fight by Mattan Ginger of the Twilight Ogre guild. As the mages continued to fight off the miniature dragon minions and the Dragon Slayers fought against the dragons themselves, Erza found herself being cornered by a large group of miniature dragons, due to being so heavily injured and exhausted from her battles in the Grand Magic Games, but she was saved by Jellal appearing on the scene, and he went on to defeat the miniature dragons with ease. Unfortunately, he was spotted by Milliana, who was infuriated by his very presence on the scene.
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Meanwhile, with the wayward group…
"This proves to be quite the fashion statement." by this point, Virgo had been called out to appear before Lucy and the others "I must ask though Princess, are you doing some sort of boudoir shoot at the moment?"
"Yeah can we not do the jokes right now, this is an emergency." Lucy let out a sigh as she tried to cover herself further "Can you get me and Cana some new clothes pronto?"
"If that is what you wish then so be it Princess, but speaking personally I find that you are fine as you are at the moment."
"Yeah well I sure as hell don't think I'm fine, I'm not going out to save the world in nothing but a freaking tablecloth."
"So be it then, I may have something that will suit your needs Princess." she held up a certain outfit in her hands "It just so happens to be the latest craze in the Celestial World. When I tried one on in order to gauge the proper size, it actually brought Big Brother to tears."
"I'm not so sure if that's a good or a bad thing." Cana noted dryly.
"Yeah well don't forget that he's basically Fairy Tail's resident playboy with what appears to be a cosplay fetish, so keep that in mind." Bolt gave a shrug as he slunt Natsu over his shoulder and sprouted his set of wings "Anyway you guys do what you have to do, I'm gonna go on ahead with this idiot and see if this plan of his actually pans out, and if it doesn't then I'll at least make sure he doesn't get himself killed."
"You know it's not gonna take us that long to get dressed right?"
"What I know is that you might not take that long, given that we live together now and I know for a fact that you're actually pretty low maintenance. The blonde with the oversized ego on the other hand, she's another story. Besides we're kind of on a schedule, trying to prevent a dragon apocalypse and all that, so… see ya. Just throwing this out there dumbass, you'd better hope that this plan of yours is actually going to work!"
"Just leave it to me, I'm gonna manage this one way or another!" Natsu gave a feral grin as he repositioned himself so he was being carried by Bolt.
"So in other words, you don't have a plan. Yeah we're fucked." and so Bolt flew off into the distance, Natsu being taken with him.
"You can always count on Bolt to just tell it like it is, nobody how much you probably don't want to hear it." Cana noted dryly.
"Yeah and speaking of which, what is this stuff anyway?" Lucy glanced up at Cana from where she was trying to get the outfit on, albeit struggling as she did so "Seriously, I can barely get it on as it is."
"Hang on let me try." Cana tried to get her own outfit on, only to run into a similar problem "You know Virgo doesn't seem like she goes for much in the way of practicality."
"I didn't think you'd complain about that."
"I'm not complaining, I'm just stating a fact, like the fact that Natsu's usual go to move is to charge in without a strategy and hit his opponent really really hard, like something you would see out of Dragon Ball. But then again, whenever things get super out of hand, that's when the real deals always come through in the clutch."
"You're not just talking about Natsu are you?"
"Nope, I mean Luke too." Cana glanced up at where Motherglare was flying above the city, a series of explosions visible near her "Even when he's going off the handle in a blind rage, you know that he's still fighting for the right reasons. It's one of the reasons why I fell in love with him in the first place."
"Right… Let's make sure that you get the chance to tell him how you feel." Lucy patted her on the shoulder and gave an encouraging smile, but then she took notice of something else lying on the ground a short distance away from them "Hey what's that?"
"What?" Cana followed her gaze to an old notebook lying amongs the rubble "You mean that journal, what about it?"
"That's my diary, the one I write in all the time. But what the hell would it be doing all the way out here?"
"What did you write some embarrassing stuff in there and then throw it away?"
"No it's not like that, I know because I left mine back at the inn before the whole thing at the Dragon Graveyard." Lucy picked up the journal and opened it, and her eyes widened at what she was seeing "Woah…"
"What?" Cana took a look at the contents of the journal herself, and then she frowned "I'm pretty sure that's my handwriting, but I never wrote in your diary."
"And this isn't the diary I keep with me, unless… What if it is my diary, but a version of it that your future self was carrying around with her?"
"Oh. Well damn. Hey now that I think about it, isn't reading another person's diary considered to be in really horrible taste?"
"Well to be fair it's technically mine. I mean yours. I mean ours." Lucy continued reading over the contents of the diary, and her eyes widened at what she saw "Are you kidding me?"
"What?"
"If I may say so Princess, given the circumstances, you're welcome to read my punishment diary if you're interested." Virgo told them, only to be met with silence "I suppose your silence should be taken as a no."
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Meanwhile, with the biggest main battle…
"Fire Dragon TALON!" Salamander ducked underneath Luke's blast of electricity and nailed him with a fire-enhanced uppercut kick to the jaw, sending him staggering backwards "Go ahead and keep flailing around like a dying animal as much as you want, it isn't gonna do a damn thing for you. I've got 7 years of a living hell under my belt, on top of discovering my destiny and the true power that lies within me. I'm not the same annoying little shit that grew up with you and the others in the guild."
"It doesn't matter, this fight is one you lost before it started." Luke spat out some blood to the side as he shook off any pain he was feeling and got into a stance "It doesn't matter what sort of power you might have, because there's one thing that you still lack: Unlike you, I'm fighting for something other than myself. Everyone from Fairy Tail… my friends… my family… Not to mention all of the other people fighting down there… They're putting their faith in me to win this fight. And besides… I've got a promise to keep. I'm gonna protect the future, and in order to do that, I have to put you down."
"Fine, go ahead and act like a superhero out of the DC universe. I guess I'm just gonna have to kill you here and now. Call that a little bit of mercy, from one guildmate to another."
"You can take your mercy and choke on it. There's only one way this fight is going to end, and it's with you being left as nothing but a pile of ash. I'm not just here to fight you. I'm here to kill you."
"Big talk, not really your sort of thing as far as I can remember. How about you go ahead and see if you can back them up!" Salamander's body started radiating an enormous aura of crimson flames "Go ahead and try it."
"Just remember that you brought it on yourself. Lightning Dragon IRON FIST!" Luke coated his arm in electricity and launched himself forward.
"Fire Dragon IRON FIST!" Salamander met the attack with his own fist coated in flames, both attacks blitzing through each other, and then he charged in with another fist coated in flames locked and loaded that sent Luke skidding backwards, the continuous assault slowly pushing him further towards the edge of Motherglare's back "Now do you see it? Do you see what I'm really capable of?"
"All I see is a cold-blooded savage that has no problems murdering innocent people in order to get his way. People that he claims to have considered his friends."
"Yeah well times change, living through 7 years of an apocalyptic hellhole will do that sort of thing to a guy. Well that, and certain circumstances leading to me discovering who and what I really am, and what I was meant to do. It sure as hell has its benefits though, like being able to do this! Fire Dragon TALON!" Salamander blitzed forward and dealt Luke a fire-enhanced roundhouse kick to the jaw, sending him hurtling down onto a nearby rooftop, and then he blitzed down towards him to finish it.
'Shit shit shit!' his mind racing, Luke rolled out of the way of Salamander's follow up attack and leapt back to gain some distance "Lightning Dragon THUNDER BASH!" he rose his arm into the air and summoned a golden-sphere of electricity, then charged towards Salamander and let it fly forward.
"Fire Dragon GRIP STRIKE!" Salamander met Luke's charge and grabbed the attack with one hand, supporting it with his other hand, and released an intense and explosive burst of flames, scorching Luke at point-blank range. He then went on to grab Luke by his scorched arm and smash him down into Motherglare's back in numerous different positions, causing him to cough up a fair amount of blood, before he grabbed Luke by the head and hurled him down towards the city rooftops, leaving him to hit the ground with a loud thud "Looks like you couldn't back up those claims after all." he breathed a sigh, his expression appearing to be somewhat solemn, if only for a moment "For what it's worth… there was a small part of me that was hoping that I wasn't gonna have to go through with killing you."
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Meanwhile, on the ground…
"Luke! Luke get the hell up!"
Luke's eyes snapped open and he bolted upright, only to cringe in pain, and he looked around to see Bolt and Natsu standing over him, though he recoiled slightly at the sight of the latter "Oh hey guys, what are you doing here?"
"Stopping two idiotic Dragon Slayers from getting themselves killed." Bolt told him dryly as he jerked a thumb at Natsu "I was doing that for this idiot over here when you fell out of the fucking sky and almost took our heads off."
"Yeah, sorry about that…" he spat out some blood to the side as he slowly pulled himself back onto his feet "To make a long story short, our new BFF from the future is a lot more powerful than I thought he would be. I have to admit, I've got my hands pretty full with this one."
"So he's really that strong?"
"To say he's strong is a serious understatement, he's taking everything I have and he keeps dishing out even harder, the only difference is that he's out for blood."
"To be fair, so were you the last time I saw you."
"Well the bloodlust is starting to fade, some things have to get shoved to the back when the fate of the world is at stake."
"Fair enough. Anyway you don't have to do the lone wolf act anymore, just say the word and I'll get up there with you to give you some backup."
"Thanks for the offer, but I need you to keep fighting down here and hell protect everyone else from the dragons and those creatures the big one released. Even without that, I'm gonna need you to stay on standby for the time being, in case things get too out of hand. But with that being said, is there any chance you still have Shatterstorm with you? I could use a recharge p if I'm gonna go back into the fray with him."
"I've always got this son of a bitch with me. Just hold still, I just gotta pull it out and morph it, and here we go. Excalibur: Strike of Ascalon!" Bolt summoned Shatterstorm in its Excalibur form, and just as quickly he unleashed an enormous blast of lightning, resulting in a powerful surge going through the area.
The surge subsided just as quickly as Luke did a little bit of stretching, his entire body being engulfed in a brief yet powerful surge of electricity "There, a little bit of a pick me up oughta do me some good in that fight."
"Let's hope so. Good luck man, and be careful with him."
"Thanks, you too little buddy." Luke caught Bolt in a quick fist bump, and then he launched himself upwards using a series of small bursts of electricity.
"Well that's one thing taken care of." Bolt glanced over at Natsu "I'm kind of surprised you were so quiet during all of that, I figured you'd be screaming at the top of your lungs about how you would be the one to beat the enemy from the future."
"If this fucker really killed another version of Cana, then there's nothing that would stop Luke from trying to get his hands on him, and I don't blame him." Natsu told him, but then he gave a feral smirk "Besides, I'm gonna go and back him up soon enough when my new strategy comes into play."
"Which reminds me, you still haven't told me exactly what it is."
"You're just gonna have to wait and see for awhile."
"In other words, you don't have a real plan and you're just talking out your ass. That's at least ⅔ of your character."
"Fuck you man, is that really how you see me?"
"It's how pretty much everyone except for you sees you. Seriously, have you ever once stopped to think things through before you charge in like a crazed bull?"
"Of course I have! Maybe. Wait, what was the question again?"
"And that answers that."
"I've thought this whole thing through this time, I swear!"
"I'll believe that when I see." Bolt rolled his eyes as he sprouted his wings "Now let's go and get this over with."
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Meanwhile, with a battle against a certain dragon…
"I will admit that I am rather surprised." Freed glanced up at Atlas Flame as it approached him and the rest of the Thunder Legion "I never imagined that a creature such as yourself would turn out to be so foolhardy, to engage the members of the Thunder Legion in battle is a dangerous experience for any and all that dare to do so. Dark Ecriture: Absolute Shadow!" he went on to write runes on himself and encased himself in dark-colored armor, and he promptly tried to blitz through Atlas Flame in a single swift strike.
"Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun!" Evergreen went next and unleashed a rapid barrage of needles composed of magic energy.
"Time for us to rock babies! Baryon Formation!" Bickslow levitated all five of his dolls above him in the pattern of a pentagon, which promptly released a series of beams of energy that ended up striking Atlas Flame dead on.
"Lightning Dragon ROAR!" Laxus finished the assault and struck Atlas Flame at point-blank range with a lightning-enhanced roar, all four attacks hitting him simultaneously and engulfing him in the explosion that followed "Here's hoping that a million volts to the face oughta make this thing shut the fuck up for a little while."
"Am I supposed to be impressed?" unfortunately for all of them, the smoke cleared a moment later to reveal Atlas Flame completely unharmed "That felt akin to little more than the bite of a mere insect. My hellfire is able to burn away any magic it touches."
'Shit, we went all out with those attacks and they didn't even scratch him. Here I thought I was gonna be a good match for this one because of all the times I thrashed Natsu. It's times like this I wish a Water Dragon Slayer was a thing. Then again didn't Luke say something about how he trained with a guy who uses eight different kinds of Dragon Slayer Magic? Shit, where the hell is another Dragon Slayer when you need one?"
"I think he's about to show up right overhead." Bickslow pointed to where two figures could be seen flying overhead.
"Okay I see Bolt and, does he have Natsu with him?"
"I swear I know what I'm doing this time, now quit fighting me and drop me like a fucking bomb already!" with a feral grin spreading across his face, Natsu leapt down from Bolt's hold and was able to land square on Atlas Flame's head "Now this is what I'm talking about, and you sure as hell ain't gonna interrupt me or blow me off this time!"
"You again, the same wretched pest as before." Atlas Flame let out a low growl "Tell me, who are you?"
"The name is Natsu Dragneel, and I'm the guy that's about to send your flaming hole all the way down the hatch!" and so Natsu started consuming his flames with a large grin spreading across his face all the while.
"You actually intend to eat me? You can't be serious, stop wasting my time you wretched human!" Atlas Flame let out a snarl as he tried to shake Natsu off of him again, with little success.
"Oh I'm dead serious asshole, and your fire tastes fucking amazing!" Natsu's grin only got wider as he continued to eat the flames, even despite the attempts to shake him off.
"Get off me you fool!"
"Not a chance in hell!"
"Somehow I get the feeling we shouldn't be surprised by this." Bolt shared a glance with Laxus and the others as he landed on the ground next to them "Seriously, the only times he ever does think is usually with his stomach, or with whatever he's got going on further down, but I'm pretty sure Lisanna is the only one who can get that going."
"Don't fucking bring that up!" Natsu tightened his grip on Atlas Flame despite another attempt to get him to fall off, to no avail "Anyway you and your guys get the fuck over to the castle right now!"
"One of those points I actually agree with." Bolt spared a quick glance at Laxus "To make a long story short, Wendy and Mira are off fighting a dragon in front of the palace, you guys head over there and back her up."
"And you're not gonna go too?" Laxus shot him a raised eyebrow.
"I was there and I didn't do a damn thing to him, even my strongest blast didn't do much more than piss him off, though I still chalk it up to the fact that I'm not a Dragon Slayer. Besides even if the kid is one, she's still just a kid and about as intimidating as a cocker spaniel. Besides, who better to take out a fire dragon than a Fire Dragon Slayer, even if he does have less brain power than a squirrel."
"You sure he can handle this?"
"Not without doing something mind numbingly stupid, so if nothing else I'm gonna stick around and make sure he doesn't get himself or anyone else killed. Plus if he actually eats him then he might actually get one hell of a power boost."
"Huh. Well when you put it like that… Fuck it, let's just get going." and so Laxus turned on his heel and took off running, with the rest of the Thunder Legion following close behind him.
'And now to see how this goes.' Bolt sprouted his wings and flew off in the direction of the two fire users.
"You wretched little brat, this meal is going to be your last! All you're going to taste is my fury!" Atlas Flame continued his attempts to get Natsu off of him by ramming his way through numerous buildings, though this showed little success "How dare you lay your filthy human hands on the mighty Atlas Flame!" he was about to make another attempt to drive Natsu off of him, only to stop as a certain sensation made itself known to him "Again with such a familiar feeling… But is such a thing even possible? No it couldn't be, such a thought is absolutely absurd… But why would a human remind me so much of him? None other than the Fire Dragon King himself… Tell me boy, you share some sort of connection with Igneel, do you not?"
"What's that?" Natsu looked up from where he was eating the flames "Hold the hell up just a second, are you seriously trying to tell me that you know Igneel?"
"Of course I do. Igneel is notorious for being the king of the fire dragons, as well as my sworn friend."
"Holy shit, are you for real? I actually know him pretty well too, he's actually my dad."
"Well what do you know, they're bonding." Bolt floated onto the scene and watched as things appeared to unfold between Natsu and Atlas Flame 'Oh good, so this turned out to be the only kind of problem I like, the one that ends up solving itself. And now it's occurring to me that given that this is Natsu, he's probably going up there to help Luke fight the guy from the future. Who just so happens to be Natsu's own future self. Fuck, this is gonna be bad.'
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Meanwhile, atop Motherglare…
"Looks like things are heating up." Salamander glanced down from his place on Motherglare's back, though he frowned slightly and took a look around "Thank the Dragon King nobody else was around to hear that. Seriously though, the raw destructive power the dragons are putting out is one hell of a sight to behold, and their power is gonna be more than enough to take my dreams and make them into a new reality. Acnologia isn't going to stand a snowball's chance in hell against us, we'll kill him without a shadow of a doubt. Once that's gonna be taken care of, this entire fucking world is gonna be mine to make into my playground. The sky is gonna burn, the land is gonna be ripped to shreds, and any light is gonna be snuffed out. I'm the true King of the Dragons, and I'm going to claim my crown during the Dragon King Festival… but even so, I'm also so much more than that. I'm also claiming my destiny as the destroyer of all… Bringing chaos and suffering wherever he goes, and cleansing the world in the blood of all that would dare to stand in my way!"
"You're forgetting one crucial detail." a new voice drew his attention.
"Let me guess, if I want any of that to happen then I'm gonna have to step over your bloody corpse to do it?" Salamander rolled his eyes as he glanced over to see Luke blitz back onto the scene, his entire body surging wildly with electricity "Well now, looks like someone's finally getting serious."
"You have no idea how right you are." Luke's gaze hardened as he dropped into a stance "I got a little pick me up on the trip you sent me on down there, and now you're about to see my full power, Dragon Force completely maxed out."
"Yeah sure, whatever you need to tell yourself. I will give you credit though, you're definitely looking a lot better than you were before."
"You're about to find out just how much, now stop wasting time with the small talk and let's just do this already." Luke let out a snarl as his Dragon Force roared into life, his body being covered in a layer of golden dragon scales "Now let's go."
"Fine by me, if you're so much of a glutton for punishment then I'll be happy to oblige you. Fire Dragon SWORD HORN!" Salamander launched himself forward with a fire-enhanced headbutt at blinding speeds… only to be stopped by Luke catching him with one hand "What the-"
"Nope." Luke dodged the next attack from Salamanader and struck him with a simple fist to the face, followed by a knee to the jaw, only to end up being grabbed by the knee and thrown down onto the back of Motherglare and sent skidding backwards.
"Fire Dragon BRILLIANT FLAME!" Salamander leapt forward as he prepared a two-handed ball of flames overhead, and he subsequently hurled it downwards, when…
"Lightning Dragon DEMOLITION FIST!" a large blast of lightning in the shape of a fist burst forward and cancelled out the ball of flames, sending Salmanader flying high into the night sky as Luke chased after him.
"Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Flame Lotus: EXPLODING FLAME BLADE!" Salamander let out a snarl as he unleashed an enormous spiralling torrent of flames and sent them hurtling towards Luke.
"Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Indra's Wrath: ROARING THUNDER!" Luke was quick to counter the flames with his own enormous blast of lightning with one hand, the two spells colliding and resulting in a powerful explosion that lit up the skies, though that didn't stop the two of them from trading a series of even blows in mid-air, yet even in the midst of that the two of them traded a series of even blows, which came to a head when Luke grabbed Salamander by the waist and unleashed a burst of energy that sent both of them hurtling down towards the ground below.
"Fire Dragon FLAME ELBOW! TALON" Salamander unleashed a burst of flames from his elbow and launched himself forward to grab Luke by the throat, and then he tried to follow up with a fire-enhanced kick, when…
"Lightning Dragon ROAR!" Luke waited until Salamander was about to strike him and then unleashed a lightning-enhanced roar at point-blank range that sent him hurtling upwards back into the night sky, and then he launched himself back into the air for a follow up attack.
"Fire Dragon SOLAR CRUSHER!" Salamander rose both of his hands into the air and summoned an enormous ball of flames large enough to illuminate all of the city below them, and he launched the ball of flames at Luke, engulfing him in the explosion that followed and creating a series of powerful shockwaves that could be felt throughout the entire city.
When the blast subsided however, Luke burst upwards from within the smoke, covered in some noticeable burns but otherwise coming out unharmed, and the two of them promptly returned to their positions atop the back of Motherglare "I think I've made it clear to you already that I'm done screwing around."
"Yeah well, that goes both ways." Salamander spat out some blood to the side "You know if you really cared about this world then you'd stay the hell out of my way."
"The fact that I care about this world and all of the people I hold dear is exactly why I'm doing my utmost to beat you into the ground."
"This isn't just about me conquering or destroying this world, it's about me fulfilling my own destiny. Once I become the new Dragon King, these flames of mine will radiate a light that will illuminate a new era for this world!"
"The world is better off without any light or flames you might bring to it." Luke dropped into a stance and prepared to charge, until…
"We don't have use for whatever crappy flames you're putting out!"
'Great, of all the times for Natsu himself to show up.' Luke breathed a sigh as he glanced over to the source of that voice, only for his expression to dull slightly at what he saw 'Somehow, I feel as though I shouldn't be surprised by this.'
"I got my own stash of fire right here, and I guarantee it burns a hell of a lot hotter than whatever the fuck you've got going for ya!" sure enough, Natsu came flying up onto the scene from his place on the back of Atlas Flame, and the latter ended up butting heads with Motherglare in a swift yet powerful collision.
"Part of me thinks this shouldn't be a surprise for him."
"Yeah well, all of me says there's no fucking way that he should be able to ride one of my dragons like that!" Salamander gave a scowl "Hey what the hell Atlas Flame, you're supposed to be on my side!"
"I was on the side that I believed to be right." Atlas Flame gave a low growl "But now I made the choice to listen to my heart."
"But my Dragon Tamer Magic should have you under my control, what the hell did that idiot do to you?"
"The magic that you used to cloud my mind is gone. The boy that rides atop me is the son of Igneel, one that I call my sworn friend. Even if it is rather strange that the boy keeps insisting on calling me Uncle. In any case, he reminded me of who I am, and what it is that I truly believe in."
"So let me get this straight, I'm supposed to believe that he broke you free because the two of you became besties?"
"Hey it worked didn't it? Now come on Uncle, let's wreck this asshole!"
"Indeed, and now you shall feel the true power of a dragon!" Atlas Flame launched itself forward and chomped down on Motherglare's neck, causing it to roar in pain.
"Now we're talking, get behind the fucker like that!"
"Don't turn your back on them Motherglare, move goddammit!" Salamander barked at him, only to be forced to evade a sudden blast of lightning from Luke "Oh yeah, I kind of forgot that you were still here."
"In case you forgot, I'm the one that you're fighting right now." Luke spiked his Dragon Force as he prepared to launch another spell, only for it to be disrupted by Motherglare firing a powerful roar at Atlas Flame, resulting in it destroying a nearby mountain.
"Now do you see? That's the power of a real dragon, even one whose entire body puts out a metric fuckton of flames can't compete."
"That's a misconception." Atlas Flame let out a growl as a series of flames covered the spot where the roar struck him "My entire body is made of pure flames, no breath attacks would ever be able to hurt me."
"Pretty cocky bastard aren't ya, but your flames alone aren't gonna be enough to tear through the diamonds on Motherglare's body."
"So you claim, but you've never experienced what my hellfire can truly do have you? It can burn with the intensity of flames from the very pits of Hell itself, and this young man, the son of my sworn friend has consumed it and made it his own! He has it raging inside of the deepest depths of himself."
"Did he now?" Salamander gave a smirk "Well this oughta be interesting."
"You're damn right! Fire Dragon IRON FIST!" Natsu burst upwards with his body coated in the hell flames, and he launched a blazing-fist landed a blow on Motherglare, causing it to roar in pain "Now how do you like that?"
"Actually I like it a lot, about this much actually." Salamander gave a smirk as he opened his mouth wide and began sucking in the excess flames around them, and once he was done he let out a low belch "Thanks for the pick me up. Now where the hell were we?"
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On the ground, the soldiers of Crocus were left in awe as they watched Motherglare and Atlas Flame fighting each other, while the king himself was left mumbling about how humans fighting against humans, dragons fighting against dragons and humans fighting against dragons was known as the Dragon King Festival, a feast of humans, dragons and demons. He then fell to his knees in despair while claiming that they would never be able to go back now.
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On another end, Rufus was cornered by a group of Motherglare's hatchlings, only for Gray to jump in at the last second and save him, as well as remind him of the skills of his that had been memorized. Others throughout the city, such as Macao, Romeo and Wakaba, had also engaged the creatures in battle. Orga found himself in a similar situation, but he was cornered by a large group of hatchlings as well, with Jura showing up on the scene just in time and saving him at the last second. Sting and Rogue on the other hand were fighting their own dragons, but even with the power of Dragon Force at their disposal, they were struggling.
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Meanwhile, with the battle in the skies…
"Actually I like it a lot, about this much actually." Salamander gave a smirk as he opened his mouth wide and began sucking in the excess flames around them, and once he was done he let out a low belch "Thanks for the pick me up. Now where the hell were we?"
"What the fuck…" Natsu was left stunned by what he was seeing, but then it quickly gave way to comical anger "Hey what the fuck man, you're not supposed to eat my fire! That's totally cheating!"
"And what, it's not cheating when you get to do it?"
"Shut your hole you cheater! Fire Dragon ROAR!" Natsu let out a powerful roar, and with it came a stream of flames.
"Nope." Salamander opened his mouth wide and consumed the flames in an instant "Okay now you're just getting repetitive. Seriously Natsu you oughta start using your head, you're gonna be in for a lot less migraines when you do."
"How the hell do you know my name?"
"A lot of reasons, a good chunk of which are why I made it clear to all of the dragons here that they're not supposed to lay a single scale on you. You've got a hell of a big role to play in how I become who I am."
"What does any of that mean? Who the hell are you?"
"What does it look like? I'm you, or at least I'm another version of you. I'm the you that came from 7 years in the future, the version of you that accepted the darkness in our hearts, and used it to bring about my destiny. Our destiny."
"Just shut up! There's no way in hell I'm gonna believe any of this crap you're spewing out of your hole!" Natsu tried to launch a flurry of attacks in a rage.
"Go ahead and be in denial as much as you want, you know in your heart it's true. The fact is that you're gonna be one of the few people that actually gets out of here alive, and given enough time, you're gonna end up figuring out who you really are, what you really are, and what your true purpose is. That's gonna lead to you becoming me, and taking over this world, becoming a true king above all these peons."
"What the fuck are you going on about? Where the hell are you getting all of this from?!"
"To put it in terms simple enough for even to you figure out, our creator did. The one that made us into who and what we are, gave us our destiny. It's that destiny that led me to summon all of these dragons, and they're gonna destroy the world like I want them to so I can rebuild it and rule over the new one. I'm gonna hatch this plan over the next 7 years and then travel back to this point in time."
"I said shut up, I'm not believing any of your bullshit! Change Mode: Lightning Flame Dragon! Lightning Flame Dragon ROAR!" in his rage, Natsu activated his Lightning Flame Dragon Mode and unleashed a powerful roar, striking Salamander dead on and engulfing him in the explosion that followed, forcing Luke to retreat or else risk being caught as well.
When the smoke cleared however, Salamander was standing with some minor burns, but aside from that he just appeared to be annoyed "Yeah see, this was around the point when I started using my head. When I discovered that no Dragon Slayer, even one with a Dual Element Mode, can absorb more than one type of Dragon Slayer Magic at a time. Not even Acnologia himself is an exception to that rule. Of course even if he can't absorb that power, it doesn't mean a damn thing if it's too weak to hurt him. Look if you still don't believe that I'm you, take a good long whiff of my scent."
Natsu let out a growl as he charged forward, only to stop when he actually did manage to catch a whiff of Salamander's scent, and he froze on the spot.
"Yeah there we go, now the gears are turning. The fact is that your heart has been enveloped in the flames of darkness, or I should say it will be anyway. You don't have any choice about this whole thing, all you can do is accept your destiny to live on, to become the demon that we know ourselves to be, and rule this pathetic world with a scorching iron fist!"
"Shut up! It's not true, it can't be true, you're just a fucking liar!"
"Yeah, keep telling yourself that."
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Meanwhile, a short distance below the battle…
"So there he is." Ultear stood atop a large earth plateau towering above most of the city, and she glanced up at the battle raging in the skies above, her gaze growing hard and narrow as it locked onto the sight of Natsu "To think that all of this would start with him."
"Well like a wise man once said, it's the stupid ones you gotta watch out for." Noah rose up next to Ultear on his own rock plateau "And you're welcome for the lift by the way."
"I don't have the time or the patience to deal with your snark right now, we're in the middle of a crisis situation."
"You think I don't know that? I think it's pretty obvious how bad things are if Thunderclap of all people is losing his cool. Then again, seeing the girl you love get killed by someone you thought was your friend can fuck anybody up, even if it is a future version of her."
"And you remember who he said was the one that did it? It was Natsu."
"Salamander you mean. I think Thunderclap made it pretty clear that he doesn't consider them to be the same person."
"Let him hold onto that principle if it brings him comfort, but the fact is that the Salamander from the future has created one big weakness for himself by coming to this time. If we were to kill the version of him from this time, then that version of him would be wiped from existence entirely."
"Yeah there's at least a dozen things wrong with that, but I'm gonna go ahead and boil it down to two. One, there's no chance in hell Thunderclap would let that happen, even in the emotional state he's in right now. Two, you gotta keep in mind the time paradox that would create."
"That is a fair point, but keep in mind that time has already been altered by the Eclipse Gate being opened in the first place."
"Either way, like I said before, Thunderclap would never let that happen. Besides, he was pretty insistent on dealing with the Salamander from the future himself. He put it best, the one from this time hadn't done anything wrong and is still his friend, and frankly I think he's right. I might think the Salamander from this time is a pain in the ass, but he's an innocent person and we're not gonna butcher him. Plus don't forget that he made us swear that we weren't gonna lay a hand on the present Salamander."
"Yes, I know that we made a promise, but still…" Ultear glanced up at the battle raging in the skies above, then out at the smoking ruins of Crocus 'I'm sorry Luke, I know I made a promise to you, but there isn't any other way. Natsu may be innocent as he is now, but the fact is that he will fall from grace and turn into the agent of our death and destruction. It's just too much of a risk that we can't afford to take. If he doesn't live long enough to come from the future, then he can't open the Eclipse Gate, and it will prevent the dragons from ever attacking. There's only one way to save the world from enduring such a hell… and that is to kill Natsu before it's too late.'
A/N:
Well everyone, this is it. I honestly wasn't certain if we were actually going to get to this point, but here we are. This update on this date, June 30 2022, marks the third anniversary of the day I first published this story. Seriously, it's been three years now and so much has changed, not just in this story either. But you guys don't have to worry, I started this story and I give you my word that I'm going to finish it, no matter how long it may take