"Damn, you really are a stubborn one, aren't you." Cobra, who had arrived thanks to the help of Lahar and Doranbolt, was standing before the dragon called Maelstrom.
The dark dragon roared with fury, staring down at the poison dragon slayer with a mocking look upon his snout. Cobra, who is able to hear the thoughts and plans of anyone he so desired from any distance, couldn't help but scoff while feeling offended at the dragon's thoughts. He had to admit, Maelstrom was taller than any building he had seen and was probably a hundred times larger than himself, but hearing the dragon think he resembled that of a pebble was really unnecessary.
"Such foolish humans, to think they would embed dragon slaying lacrima in their own kind... you know nothing of the true strength of a dragon." Maelstrom said in a low tone.
Cobra would have returned the insult, but he had been forced to remain silent when a large pillar of golden light collided with the dark dragon, Maelstrom too distracted by the poison dragon slayer that he was forced to go back a couple of steps. When Cobra turned to look behind him, thinking that an enemy had come, he stopped in his tracks upon seeing a golden dragon landing next to him in a defensive stance. Akira, growling at her opponent with excitement and determination.
"Huh... so you're the dragon slayer who received the lacrima of my element." A feminine voice spoke up from behind him.
The poison dragon slayer whipped his head to see a woman of midnight black hair and blood red eyes. Lunaria had taken the form of a woman in her late 40's and there was no denying the amount of interest she had on Cobra. Lucy had told her about the poison dragon slayer long before the return of the Tenrou Team, and ever since then, she had wondered what the man was like. After scanning him for a couple of seconds, while Akira warded off Maelstrom, the poison dragon nodded in understanding.
"I'd like to see what you're capable of, poison dragon slayer." She said as she transformed into her dragon form. Cobra then realized that the woman before him was an actual poison dragon, as her scales resembled his own arms, and was also one of the dragons that came through the portal. "I hope you don't disappoint me since that lightning dragon slayer hadn't disappointed, Raiden."
"I hate to break it to ya, but I don't fight to impress." He said, Lunaria liking his confidence. "I fight to win."
"Lunaria! This is not the time to think about using him as a test subject!" Akira reminded, swinging her tail so that it whipped Maelstrom's face. "The both of you get over here and help out!"
The poison dragon scoffed in annoyance. She didn't like that Akira had practically cut off her train of thought and sighed, she'll have to think about getting Cobra to try some of her poison concoctions (to see how strong his immunity was) some other time. With that decided, Lunaria dashed for Maelstrom while he was distracted with the celestial dragon successor. Cobra watched, trying to hide his awe, as Akira dodged last second and Lunaria drove Maelstrom into a corner. The poison from her body burning the dark dragon's flesh.
"Get off of me, you wench!" The dark dragon cried.
"Call me wench one more time and let's see what happens!" Lunaria retorted almost immediately.
"Hmph... I thought dragons were all powerful." Cobra remarked while crossing his arms as Akira turned to him in cofusion. "So why do you need assistance from her?"
"Because unlike that guy, she hasn't fought anyone in over 400 years." Akira replied bluntly with a hint of sarcasm. "And as for me, I was born long after the war. I hadn't had the chance to fight unless it was training."
Cobra scoffed and beckoned his magic to surround his fists, the dragon slayer looking to Akira as the celestial dragon nodded. Lunaria was keeping Maelstrom relatively busy, despite not being as strong as she once was, so both Cobra and Akira decided to use that to their advantage. The poison dragon slayer jumped onto Akira's tail, and like a spring, she flung Cobra into the air so that he could land a Poison Dragon's Crushing Fang and landed a blow to Maelstrom's head.
"Take that you overgrown lizard!" Cobra shouted while Lunaria smirked.
Cobra then subtly gestured for her to move out of the way, the dragon noticing that Akira was preparing to attack. Once the celestial dragon was close enough, Cobra jumped onto Lunaria's back and the both of them dodged just in time for Akira to to cast a Celestial Dragon's Slash. Maelstrom cried out in pain and took a step back to recover, his annoyance growing as he glared at the two dragons and dragon slayer before him.
"I'm going to enjoy ripping you a part." He said.
Meanwhile, with Gajeel, the iron dragon slayer had ended up going against the rock dragon. Orestes had been causing him more trouble than he thought since his body was made of pure rock. It was hard enough for him to cut through it with just his Iron Dragon's Sword. However, before Orestes could unleash his own dragon's roar, he was put to a stop when a green dragon had done a flying tackle to his side. The iron dragon slayer completely left in surprise, he recognized the dragon as Ava, while Takeo had followed behind her.
"You... You're..." Orestes stuttered in disbelief.
Ava roared in anger, her blood burning at the sight of the rock dragon. "Speak up traitor! Have you already forgotten the face of your superior!? Have you!? Answer me Orestes!"
"Whoa... what'd he do to make the lady so angry?" Gajeel asked to no one in particular, Takeo landing to stand next to him while sweatdropping at the nature dragon's behaviour.
"From what I gather, he was a comrade of a sorts from before the war. Think of it like the dragon apprentices back in our realm." Takeo recalled. "Lady Ava doesn't particularly like talking about the past before everyone retreated to the Dragon Realm, but I heard that when Orestes joined the war and fought against humans... she turned her back on him."
"That's pretty harsh." Gajeel noted to which Takeo nodded.
"As a nature dragon, Lady Ava believes all life must be treasured. She couldn't have fought back then."
"Well then... I can't say that I don't sympathize with her a bit, but don't you think she's hogging the fight all to herself?"
Takeo looked at Gajeel and the both smirked, glad that they both had the same thoughts. "You looked like you had trouble earlier, mind if I helped you carve for a bit?"
"Heh, just stay on your side and we'll see who lands the most hits." Gajeel said as the blade dragon took tackled Orestes side while the dragon slayer took his back. Ava, who was butting heads with Orestes, smirked as the rock dragon was being taken by three sides. His composure regained and his anger rising.
"You may have been my superior... but I will not allow lowly humans rule Earthland!" He cried.
Ava just scoffed, not even surprised by his answer unlike 400 years ago. "You, along with everyone else that had followed after you, are a disgrace to our masters' teachings! It was because of you our queen never made it passed the war! For that... I will end you here and now!"
Happy just watched in a disappointed, yet expected, look. After getting Lucy's message, while the other dragon slayers were fighting alongside Lucy's dragons, Natsu had been eating Atlas Flame's fire with extreme delight. No matter what the fire dragon did to get the fire dragon slayer to stop, Natsu held on tightly and enjoyed his meal. It was quite ridiculous to his pride to say the least, being eaten by a dragon slayer. It felt like a dog when flees are in its fur.
However, the fire dragon couldn't help but think that the pink headed slayer reminded him of a certain Fire Dragon King. Not only were Natsu's excuses sounded exactly like Igneel, his scent and the feel of his aura were just too similar to that of his old friend's. Once he realized that Natsu was not going to let go, the fire dragon stopped in his tracks as the sounds of destruction and Natsu's chewing resonated through the street he stood in. Happy had long since left to find anyone else from the guild who might need help.
"Tell me boy... what relation do you have with the Fire Dragon King?" Atlas Flame asked in curiosity.
Natsu stopped eating and wiped his mouth in satisfaction from the tasty flames and looked down at the fire dragon to meet his eyes with shock. "Hold on, you know Igneel!?" He asked.
"As a fire dragon myself, I knew him well." Atlas Flame said with nostalgia. "He was also an old friend of mine... so how is it that a mere human like you know and resemble him?"
"Of course, he knows and resembles me!" Igneel's voice spoke as he stepped out from behind a building in his human form, a cloaked person behind him. "I raised that boy right from scratch!"
Atlas Flame became paralyzed as the scent and voice of the red head man before him was too familiar to deny. Natsu looked up and greeted his dragon parent with a smile, not even noticing the cloaked person. "Dad! What're you doing here?" He asked, forgetting the situation at hand. "I didn't see you come out of the portal when Luce opened it."
"I wasn't actually supposed to come but Grandeeney and Celeste helped me sneak out." Igneel admitted sheepishly before turning to make eye contact with the fire dragon that his son sat atop. "But to think I'd see you here after all these years. Your mind must have dulled if that woman was able to control you easily, old friend."
Atlas Flame's eyes widened and his mind cleared. "Igneel... is that really you?" He asked in utter disbelief. "But... you... you had disappeared so long ago!"
The Fire Dragon King scoffed at his friend's claim as he crossed his arms. "I didn't disappear you old fool! I went in hiding to raise my son and prevent him from turning into a dragon like Acnologia."
Upon hearing the word 'son', Atlas Flame tilted his head in confusion since it was the first time he had heard of the fact. "Your son? You have a son, Igneel?"
"Huh? He never told you?" Natsu asked as the fire dragon looked at the fire dragon slayer grin. "Igneel's my dad!"
The flaming dragon was silent for a moment, turning to look at Igneel who only smirked with pride. Then, he met eyes with the cloaked man next to him. When Future Natsu locked eyes with the fire dragon, Atlas Flame knew he was also from a different time like himself. However, Future Natsu seemed more calm and reserved compared to the current him and the Fire Dragon King that is his father. But there was no denying the scents that he and the current Natsu shared.
Igneel and Natsu eagerly awaited Atlas Flame's answer, wondering how he would react to the revelation. But... "Now that I see you both together, it is not as far fetched as it seems." He said, making Igneel and Natsu sweatdrop.
Future Natsu could not contain his laughter any longer and bursted into a fit of giggles, his younger self looking at him with a confused expression that soon turned into slight shock as the time traveller's hood fell down. Igneel immediately regained his composure when he realized Future Natsu's face had been exposed. After the dragon council meeting, he had learned that Future Natsu had indefinitely mated with Lucy's future self and had also learned that Nashi was his and Future Lucy's child.
After the time traveller told Igneel of what happened in the future and the fact that Nashi had Future Lucy's dragon slaying magic sealed within her, he had instantly asked if he could see Nashi just once. Igneel was ready to bring the child to him but Future Natsu declined, saying that seeing him would only bring back Nashi's repressed memories... and both he and Future Lucy didn't want her to remember any of that. So Igneel let him watch the child play in the garden from a far.
It was a tender moment, one that made Igneel realize that Natsu would soon become that same loving father in the future. In a future that was undoubtedly brighter. But at the moment, the Fire Dragon King was worried about how the current Natsu would react to Future Natsu's appearance. He could only imagine Lucy's reaction when she meets up with her future self. However, Natsu's slight shock soon disappeared and he just raised an eyebrow pointing at Future Natsu, who finally stopped laughing.
"Hold on..." He said, staring at Future Natsu intensely. "Dad... did you forget to tell me that I had an older brother or something?" At his words, the three were in complete disbelief at the fire dragon slayer's question. Although they should've expected it, Future Natsu especially had hoped that his younger self was just even the tiniest bit smart like Lucy.
The pink headed time traveller scratched the back of his head sheepishly, recovering quicker than the two fire dragons and nodded to Igneel. The red headed man turning into his dragon form while Future Natsu boarded his back. "Let's just say I'm another version of you." He said soon pointing to Motherglare and Betherion. "And now that you're powered up, we can finally beat those guys!"
"Hey why do you get to go on Igneel!?" Natsu cried pointing an accusing finger at his future self.
The two dragons sighed and the Fire Dragon King just looked at his son with a soft expression. "It'd be better for you to fight at the front position with Atlas Flame, Natsu." He stated. "I can't afford to be damaged much or my soul fragment will break and I will disappear back into your body."
The fire dragon pouted, but soon became determined in an excited way and his body was soon covered in flames to match the flaming dragon beneath him. "Alright then... Let's go kick some future and dragon ass." He said, hitting his palm with his fist.
Hi sorry! I'm only posting these three chapters cuz I'm currently suffering from writer's block so I'm having trouble writing out the climax and all that! Hopefully these chapters are okay for you guys!