"So! Just curious!" Lucy shouted, dodging an explosive blast. "What exactly drove you to marry Natsu!?"
"Is it seriously the time to be asking these kinds of questions!?" Future Lucy retorted, sweatdropping at the fact that even her younger self was asking this. "We can talk about this later!"
The two had spent a lot of time just exchanging blow after blow with Vetani. Future Lucy was limited in her magical abilities as it is and the current Lucy was just barely on the same level of magic prowess as the masked woman. Which only meant that Usami and Ushin's magic was definitely something that she shouldn't underestimate. Vetani was quite flexible and her stamina was high, her explosions were dangerous and many craters now decorated the area because of them.
The masked woman couldn't believe what she was hearing. They were in the middle of a battle and the blonde empress thought it was really appropriate for her to ask about her future self's marriage life. Then again, Future Lucy couldn't blame her. She and Future Natsu had gotten together in the very distant future and even then, realizing and accepting their feelings for one another was something shocking to only them (everyone else in the guild during the time had told them it was blatantly obvious).
"I did say just curious!" The blonde empress replied as Future Lucy transformed into her Aquarius Star Dress so that she could protect her younger counterpart from an explosive blast using a water barrier.
Vetani was becoming annoyed by the lack of attention the two were giving her, seeing as how Lucy wanted to know about her future rather than get rid of her. It felt like she was being underestimated despite the differences of their magic level. She sent five more explosive blasts towards the two blondes, only for them to jump away a fair distance with a look of distaste upon their faces. Once they landed on the ground and regained their footing, Future Lucy casted Aqua Metria while Lucy casted a Water Dragon's Roar.
"I guess it's true what they say, the younger will always be more immature than the former." Vetani said as she dodged the two attacks and sent another explosion towards the two.
"Hey! Don't go dissing my younger self while I'm present!" Future Lucy retorted, taking her whip and grabbing Vetani by the ankle.
The masked woman gasped and before she could counteract, Lucy appeared behind her in her own Taurus Form and wrapped her own whip around Vetani's other ankle. The two blonde fairies then brought her into the air before flinging her towards the other side of the plaza. While Future Lucy ran towards Vetani before she had a chance to get up, the blonde empress looked towards the city. Smoke rising from the ground, buildings being destroyed and the power of the dragons' roars reaching for the sky.
Then she looked up to the sky, seeing Motherglare and Betherion clashing with Igneel and Atlas Flame. As angry as she should've been with the Fire Dragon King, she was glad that he was also up there with Future Natsu and the Natsu of their time. Though she didn't want to admit it, though she was stronger in terms of magical prowess, no one could defeat the pink headed dragon slayer when he is truly determined to win. Especially when he's fighting for their nakama's survival.
"Natsu..." She thought before following after her future self and Vetani.
Meanwhile, with the two fire dragons and two fire dragon slayers, they realized that it was much more difficult than they thought. Usami just sat back while Ushin directed Motherglare and Betherion how to attack. Every time Atlas Flame tried to charge towards Motherglare, Ushin would have Betherion block his way which would then prompt Igneel and Future Natsu to cast a Fire Dragon King's Roar to get him out of the way. All the back and forth causing Natsu great annoyance.
So the fire dragon slayer decided that it be better for him to take a different approach. How was he supposed to beat the twins to a crisp when he couldn't even touch them? Sensing that Natsu had a plan, his future counterpart and the two fire dragons made eye contact with him and nodded, silently saying that they would have his back. Natsu nodded in return before making eye contact with Atlas Flame again before the fire dragon began to fly higher so that he was above the altitude of Motherglare and Betherion.
Once they were at the position Natsu had wanted, the pink headed slayer jumped off Atlas Flame's back and surrounded his body in flames. Heading straight for Motherglare's back and Usami's face. The silver haired woman gasped as she had no ground to produce vines and thorns from, but luckily, Ushin was quick to react and Betherion intercepted Natsu's way while taking on his attack at the same time. The dragon slayer landed on Betherion's back, his eyes narrowed and smirk on full display.
"Not exactly the target I was aiming for, but I guess you would do." He said as the navy haired man rolled his eyes.
Ushin scoffed as Atlas Flame and Igneel bumped heads with Betherion, but neither he or Natsu's balance wavered. "If that other of yours over there couldn't defeat me, what makes you so sure that you will?"
"Simple." Natsu replied with a cocky tone. "I don't have to think about anything while fighting you."
Hearing his words, Usami smirked placed a hand on her hip. "Do you honestly believe that we came to this time unprepared?" She asked as the look in her eye darkened. "My what a foolish dragon slayer... there is one weakness we know you wouldn't dare ignore."
"Oh yeah? And what is that?"
The silver haired woman snapped her fingers as Motherglare and Betherion suddenly began to roar, the other dragons from the Eclipse stopping their attacks to roar with them. The mages and the other dragons were all confused, the two fire dragons and the two fire dragon slayers looked to the grounds with concern. Ushin eased his stance, knowing what his sister was doing and let out an insane laugh. Natsu, Future Natsu, Igneel and Atlas Flame keeping their guard steady.
Betherion then dove down towards the Eclipse, Natsu falling back on Atlas Flame, where the two Lucy's and Vetani fought. When Vetani and Zirconis heard the roars of the Eclipse dragons, they made eye contact with each other and nodded without anyone noticing. Both Lucy's stopped what they were doing and wondered what was going on, Zirconis then began to charge up his roar and while the two blondes got ready to counter the attack somehow along with Wendy, Carla, Laxus, Kai and Raiden, Vetani aimed for Lucy.
Future Lucy saw what the masked woman was doing and immediately went in front of the blonde empress, Vetani smirking at her actions. The masked woman then casted her spell, Future Lucy being surrounded by a golden barrier and reminding her of a certain etherious demon she had defeated long into the future. She wasn't particularly worried about herself, since she could just surround herself with a water barrier but she knew better than to underestimate Vetani's power.
Lucy gasped when Future Lucy was surrounded by the explosive barrier and so Zirconis used that to his advantage, letting out his roar and Lucy getting hit with it. Ushin had gotten Betherion to secure Future Lucy and took the blonde time traveller from the ground, Vetani boarding the dragon after them, the Eclipse dragons' roars subsiding and only Lucy's scream being heard throughout the area. It not only reached the ears of her dragons, but also the two fire dragon slayers.
Future Lucy watched with wide eyes as her younger self was hit with the jade dragon's roar. A normal human would've died being hit with a roar of that power. Luckily, Lucy is the Dragon Empress so she has built up a strong resistance to a dragon's attack. But that doesn't mean she wouldn't be hurt. Both Natsu's and Igneel looked down towards the sound of Lucy's scream and their eyes widened when they saw Future Lucy stuck in the golden barrier. Future Natsu remembering that fox demon that his Happy got rid of before.
"Lucy!" Future Lucy cried as the roar dispersed, revealing the blonde empress laying on the ground while unconscious.
Natsu's eyes constricted and turned to face Usami with anger as Betherion flew right behind Motherglare, Future Lucy and Future Natsu staring at each other in worry. "Hey! What'd you do that for!?" The fire dragon slayer demanded in anger. "Your fight is with me!"
"We're growing tired of playing." Usami simply replied. "So we're going to make this plain and simple. You surrender and this girl lives. Or... you can continue to fight and the girl explodes into itty bitty ashes."
"Like that would work!" Future Natsu retorted, his dragon senses going insane at the thought of his mate being in danger. "Luce could easily form a barrier to protect herself from harm!"
"If you're so confident in the woman's abilities then go ahead and continue to fight." Ushin dared as Vetani held her arm up. "The blonde no longer has the power of the Dragon Empress, so let's see how much pain she can withstand now."
"No! You can't surrender Natsu!" Future Lucy cried, desperation evident in her eyes. Future Natsu gnashed his teeth, feeling his star tattoo from when Future Lucy marked him burning from underneath his scarf. "Don't worry about me! If you surrender, everything we've done will be all for nothing! Think about the guild! Think about our child!"
At the mention of her child, Natsu's eyes widened as he looked at his future self. The pink headed time traveller was clearly conflicted and his hands were rolled into fists. When the younger dragon slayer's eyes stared toward his older self's left hand, the matching golden wedding band was on clear display. Natsu immediately realized that the one who would be marrying Lucy in the future... will be him. And that made the situation all the more worse.
"What should I do!? Luce... you gotta help me..."
After Lucy was hit, Wendy immediately left Zirconis to Laxus, Kai and Raiden as Carla brought her to the ground to heal the blonde's injuries. Lucy got up after a few seconds and shook off the pain, staying seated as she looked up to where both fire dragon slayers, her future self, the twins and the four dragons flew in the distance. Inwardly cursing herself for letting her guard down and letting herself be hit by the jade dragon's roar. Even more so by being affected by the roar as well.
Wendy placed a hand on Lucy's shoulder in worry, not saying a word as she could tell Lucy was deep in thought. It was then that Carla saw a notebook on the ground and walked over to retrieve it quickly. Wendy looked over to her exceed as Carla handed the notebook to the her, confused as to where the notebook came from and who it belonged to. When Lucy saw it, her eyes widened as she recognized it as one of her notebooks she was sure she left back in Magnolia.
"What's this doing here!?" Lucy exclaimed as the two looked over to her.
"You know whose this is, Lucy?" Wendy asked as the blonde nodded.
"It's mine... but I could've sworn I left it back in Magnolia..." Wendy handed the notebook to Lucy and the blonde began to flip its pages, soon realizing that the book in her hands was Future Lucy's notebook. Reaching a certain page, Lucy's eyes widened and she immediately forced herself up, much to Wendy and Carla's surprise.
"What's wrong, Lucy!?" Carla asked as the blonde began to make a run for it.
"This is my future self's notebook, there's an entry she wrote about how they got rid of the dragons!" Lucy shouted as she began to platform her way to rooftops, Wendy and Carla gasping in relief. "I know how to defeat them! NATSU! YOU HAVE TO DESTROY THE GATE!"