Chapter 33 - Dragonic Invasion
Shortly Before The Explosion, with Erza
One of the most interesting battles for the audience was still going on. The explosions from Minvera's spacial magic did make it a bit annoying as it made it hard for the live footage to keep the battle visible. Regardless, a lot of people didn't see ways for Erza to win.
"The battle between the Queen of Fairies and the Queen of the Sabertooths is still heating up, but is this the end of the Titania?" Chapati Lola asked.
The explosions continued and the feeds were still obscured. That is until Erza drilled through the with Rhongomyniad, tearing through the spacial magic. Minerva looked more annoyed than shocked by this.
"It looks like we are about to witness who the regal one really is." Lola announced.
"Do you hear them Titania? The people grow restless." Minerva said as she raised her palm.
From her balm came out a glowing orb with a black hue. Erza immediately moved around in zig zags around Minerva. As she already predicted a similar attack would be used again. This time, the sky above them sprouted various portals that dropped down various blasts. All of which created medium sized craters where Erza once stood.
Had Minerva been more strategic and used variety, she could have tried stopping Erza before she could charge up the Holy Lance. Instead, Minerva relied on repetition and heavy attacks in an attempt to stop her. Once the portals stopped blasting Erza, Minerva relied on kswinging her staff.
With every swing, Minerva released cursed energy that looked like waves of black flames or black waves of water depending on how well you could see it. Even though Erza took damage, she still powered through it thrusted Rhongomyniad towards Minerva's chest. Minerva refused to lose and wasted all of her energy hoping to bring down Erza with Morgan Le Fay's magic to no end.
"Light, may you be released from the ends of the world. Split the heavens and tether the earth, anchor of the storm! Rhongomyniad!" Erza chanted as the Holy Lance radiated with golden energy.
Minerva tried to teleport herself away, but already exhausted her magical reserves to perform the spell. As for Erza, she wasn't in any better position and could already feel her connection to her class card dimming. Erza could not afford to feel exhausted now and needed Rhongomyniad to held her win.
"Second Origin!" Erza shouts as the Holy Lance glows more brightly.
The shining radiance only spread out and filled the arena with a blinding light. Followed by the sound of a loud crash that sent Minerva crashing through several buildings before her Class card finally gave out. Minerva rolled down the brick road before landing on her back where she slowly raised her head to see Erza in the distance. Looking might and powerful as she raised Rhongomyniad in the air as it's shining radiance continued to glow.
"Lousy… worthless…" Minerva muttered before her head fell back.
With that, Sting was left as the only wizard left in Sabertooth. The odds were not in his favor, even if most of the Fairy Tail Team was feeling tired.
As per the strategy formed by Mavis, albeit already being deviated thanks to Minerva's machinations with the Class Card and getting Kagura involved in the fight. Erza made her way back to the point of origin where her team started in this round. There they would have to await Sting and see if they can defeat him together.
About a minute before Erza reached the meeting point, she felt an immense amount of energy. For Erza, it felt like an active volcano had erupted. Erza looked around before witnessing a large explosion of magic coming from the castle.
"What on earth?" Erza asked.
Erza hopped on top of a nearby building to get a better look. It didn't look like anyone struck the castle and it was certainty not a random disaster. In fact it looked like it came from inside.
"Is the castle under attack? This couldn't be someone from the rescue team could it?" Erza asked.
Erza remembered Lucy is capable of summoning servants who can make the Wizard Saints look like amateurs but neither she or anyone in the group would cause this. There's also the fact that despite the sight of the explosion, it wasn't bad enough to where the castle would break apart or spread destruction.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, please remain calm! I have just A contingency of knights are on their way and will investigate!" Lola announced, but the sound of fear could be heard in his voice.
Erza didn't know what to think and it didn't sound like they were cancelling the games just yet.
With The Rescue Team
Natsu grunted as he barely managed to stand up. In the sudden explosion, Natsu's reflexes caused him to grab the exceeds and shield them. Natsu then looked around and found Mirajane arriving in Satan Soul form with Yukino hanging in her arms. Then he realized that the children were missing.
"Shirou!? Wendy!? Where are you!?" Natsu frantically asked.
"We're right here. Young Shirou said." said the familiar voice of Horologium.
Natsu looked around before finding Horologium embedded into a wall.
"Where are we? I can't see anything. Are Charle and the others fine, Young Wendy asked." Horologium said mimicking Wendy's words.
"Hang on. I'll pull you out." Natsu said as he ripped Horologium from the wall.
"Do be careful, Sir Natsu." Horologium said as Natsu pulled him out roughly.
Meanwhile, Mirajane put Yukino down and found Lucy standing where she literally exploded. Lucy was wearing her dark maiden outfit, but was just standing there impassively. Instead of saying creepy sadistic things, Lucy was just muttering incoherent words while just staring at Future Lucy's corpse. Surprisingly, only Lucy and her counterpart seemed to be the only things left untouched.
As the sudden explosion that Lucy emitted was powerful enough to erase everything within a couple of hundred feet.
"I hope we don't get executed for this." Happy said.
"We destroyed a chunk of this castle. What excuse are we going to make at this point?" Panther Lily asked.
As the group tried to collect themselves, Mirajane was trying snap Lucy out of her trance.
"Lucy, Lucy talk to me. Are you okay?" Mirajane asked.
Lucy continued to mumble incoherently as her pupils looked shrunken.
"Lucy wake up!" Mirajane yelled.
Given the fact that she's in Satan Soul form, Mirajane tended to sound a lot more threatening. Yet Lucy just ignored her as if she wasn't there. While Lucy didn't outright feel fear towards Erza and Mirajane in this form. She did know when to avoid them if they got really mad.
"Hey! I'm talking to you!" Mirajane yelled as she grabbed Lucy's by the chin.
"I don't think that's working." Yukino piped in.
Mirajane groaned as she snapped her fingers, "Lucy, I know bad stuff happened but you gotta snap out of it!" she yelled.
She didn't want to tell Lucy to get over what she had witnessed, but turning into a vegetable was not helping anyone. Especially now that Future Rogue was on the loose and probably preparing to commit a massive atrocity. Even Natsu tried to add a hand in trying to wake up Lucy's mind.
"Hey Luce? Do you mind if I look at your bra size? I made a bet with Gray and said that your chest is bigger than Erza's." Natsu said, making up a story to annoy Lucy.
It didn't work. So Happy stepped up.
"Lucy, for once in your life stop being the useless mascot. It's not funny anymore." Happy said.
No result again.
"Okay I did my best to be mean that time. How did that not work." Happy asked.
"Let me try." Wendy said. "Lucy, Natsu wants to build a harem with all the girls in the guild." She said.
Lucy didn't even look like she heard anything.
"Um, Shirou and I are getting married." Wendy said.
"Eh!?" Shirou asked with a red face.
"She's missing her son's wedding. You're a bad mom." Natsu said but still no response.
"Natsu, you have to carry her." Mirajane said as she powered down.
Natsu sighed as he gently scooped up Lucy in his arms. However it didn't make things any better as Future Lucy's body was still on the floor. It would be rude to just leave her there like she's just a stain that the maid is going to clean.
"One of you has to carry her." Natsu said as he looked at the group.
The group looked a bit unsure and confused. Most of them were not really motivated to touch a corpse. Natsu can understand the kids don't want to touch the body, but he at least expected something from the females or even Panther Lily.
"Mira, I know my house isn't pleasant or whatever but Future Lucy deserves more than to lie on the ground like someone's underwear." Natsu said.
"I'll do it." Panther Lily said with a sigh. "As a soldier, I know everyone deserves to be buries honorably." he said as he grew.
Panther Lily gently rolled Future Lucy onto her back and scooped her up.
"Thanks Lily, we'll find a good place to bury her later." Natsu said.
"Don't forget, we still have to stop the Eclipse Gate. An army of dragons will arrive if we don't stop it." Yukino said.
"We better move quickly then." Mirajane said.
The group then left the castle, with only more problems than what tey started with.
Inside of Lucy's Mind
Lucy gasped as she gripped her head in pain. She felt like she was being pushed around in some void with no idea of where she is. Lucy felt like she was being thrown around with no sign of where she was going either. Eventually, the pain subsided and she had some grasp of where the earth was.
When Lucy gained her bearings, she found herself standing before a massive orb of flashing energy. The orb itself was surrounded by two rings which were spinning around it. Soon enough, Lucy found herself wearing the Dress of Heaven once again before feeling something cold behind her.
"Uh oh, we finally broke." said a playful voice.
Lucy turned around and saw a curious Dark Lucy standing behind her. Lucy felt confused as to why her darker half was with her as she couldn't directly interact with her like a normal person. Dark Lucy would just be a voice or a second thought, but it felt surreal that she was another breathing sentient standing in front of her. Lucy had some questions but had some doubt that her dark half could answer them.
She was just a different aspect of herself, she wasn't any less intelligent or any more powerful.
"Do you have any idea what happened by chance?" Lucy asked.
"We're broken obviously, but now the Throne of Heroes is probably in trouble." Dark Lucy answered.
"Something tells me that this isn't the throne or even the Grail for that matter." Lucy said as they stared at the shining orb.
"Alert: Beast of Calamity detected. Initiating defense and cleansing." a voice said.
"I guess the disombied robot voice knows something." Lucy said dryly.
"But it said a Beast of Calamity was detected. That's bad don't you think? That's not something to joke about." Dark Lucy said as she tilted her head.
"I know it's bad, but where? Where is the Beast of Calamity?" Lucy asked.
"Beast of Calamity identified, Rogue Cheney... error. Time discrepancy detected." the voice said.
"Oh, it might be talking about the crazy version of Rogue with the bad hair." Dark Lucy said. "Oh well, let's get out so we can kill him." she said.
Lucy ignored her and tried to think, the Beasts of Calamity are not something to be taken lightly. Sure Kiara and Kama are flirtatious and Lucy does have some control but they aren't at their full potential. Honestly, for all the power and responsibility that Lucy has, she hasn't really considered the high levels of danger that come with her task.
The worst threats in her life were rogue servants and the occasional thug working under Mateus who evolved from an entitled brat with power. Even Acnologia proved to be too much and it was because she ran out of power. Unlike previous times, Lucy felt like a fight wasn't going to be enough this time.
"You're taking too long to think." Dark Lucy whispered closely.
"Give me some space!" Lucy shouted as she shoved her.
"I am you, I am not everything you're not but aspects you don't fully embrace." Dark Lucy pointed out.
"Look I know… wait, I never thought about it like that." Lucy said. "No, forget about that. We need to snap out of it and go help." she said.
"Wait, so you don't know how to get out of here?" Dark Lucy asked curiously.
Lucy just sighed, now it was up to the both of them to snap out of whatever trance they are in. Because it looked like her mind was being connected to something. It wasn't the Holy Grail or the Throne of Heroes, that much is obvious. Yet, it was a familiar and powerful force that was aware of worldly dangers.
"This feels familiar. What could be so concerned about Future Rogue?" Lucy asked.
As Lucy asked that, another presence appeared that felt familiar but could not be recognized. It felt like seeing a distance relative after a long time but not knowing who they are but still knowing their importance. Except Lucy didn't know how important this figure is.
"I think our new roommate needs time to reboot." Dark Lucy said as she pointed at the new figure.
Lucy squinted her eyes as the presence and could see an oddly shaped figure that was glitching. It didn't make it any easier as Lucy still failed to understand what was going on. After a few moments, all Lucy could see the outline of a female figure with an imposing stature.
"Notice: Synchronization is nearly complete. Establishing guardian to eliminate the Beast." The voice said.
After a few more moments of thinking, Lucy had a hypothesis of what was going on or at least who was involved in dragging her here.
"The only thing capable of fighting a Beast of Calamity is a guardian, like the Grand Servants. But who creates the guardians?" Lucy asked.
Dark Lucy scratched her head in confusion, "The Counterforce?" she asked.
"Exactly, I think we're witnessing a guardian being summoned." Lucy answered.
"Close, very close but not correct." Said the distorted figure.
"Eh?" Lucy asked.
"A guardian establishes their contract with the world, but they have already been here from the beginning. You, we, are not fully in synch." The distorted figure said before their image became more vivid.
With Natsu's Team
Natsu continued to carry Lucy who was still murmuring while everyone else was behind him. They needed to stop Princess Hisui and guards from opening the Eclipse Gate. When they arrived, they found the gate already being approached by the princess while surrounded by a contingent of knights.
"Okay, now what do we do?" Panther Lily asked.
"I wanna say beat them all up, but for some reason I feel like someone's going to give me a lecture about why that's bad." Natsu said.
"To be fair, the knights might see you as a threat since Princess Hisui might get hurt." Yukino said.
"And they probably won't listen to the people who are running in swinging." Mirajane added.
Natsu nodded, "Then we have no choice. Happy get the rope and burlap sack. We're kidnapping a princess." He said.
"I don't think the sack is big enough." Happy said.
"We're not doing that!" Charle said.
"Okay then what if Mira uses her transformation. We wrap a rope around her and pretend that Mira is the real princess that we rescued while pretending that the other Princess is a fake?" Happy explained.
"That sounds too complicated." Charle said.
"But not impossible, I can transform my body to match the princess's and I can even change my clothes to match hers." Mirajane said.
"Haha, I forgot you could do that." Natsu said.
"Natsu, you have seen me use my magic multiple times. It was my act for the Miss Fairy Tail pageant." Mirajane replied.
"Mira, I don't care about that event and also, anyone who does pay attention just wanted to see girls wearing bikinis." Natsu said.
As they spoke, a couple of knights looked over the bushes and spotted the group. They were quick to surround them with their weapons and demanded them to step out.
"I think the transformation plan might be too late." Happy said.
Seeing as how no absurd plan was going to help, Wendy decided to speak up.
"Princess, please don't open the door! It won't stop the dragons!" Wendy exclaimed.
"Child, please do not interfere. This is for the sake of the kingdom and the defense against the incoming threat." Hisui said.
"But the dragons aren't going to randomly appear. The gate itself is going to bring them in." Wendy said.
"That's impossible because this gate is a weapon." Hisui said.
"It's not, what do you even expect it to do?" Shirou asked.
Hisui sighed, "Look, I know what I am doing. I apologize if I unlawfully abducted your guild member, but I needed their keys and it transpired out of control but I can fix this." she said while pointing at the sky. "The eclipse will power up the gate and destroy the incoming dragons at midnight when they arrive. Like a cannon, a great amount of energy will defeat them and the kingdom will be saved." she explained.
"I guess it takes a psychopath to make such a strange explanation." Charle explained.
Future Rogue barely had a good argument for explaining how the Eclipse Gate functioned when it came to fighting the dragons. He probably knew that he couldn't explain how an Eclipse Cannon makes sense.
"That is not a cannon, I've seen a cannon. Napoleon carries one on his arm." Natsu said, having met Napoleon before.
"It doesn't have to be shaped like a cannon to function. You don't understand." Hisui said.
"You don't understand, a cannon is a cannon and a door is a door. Is royalty excused from school? I know I knew that before Erza tutored me." Natsu said.
"Natsu!" Mirajane scolded.
"Restrain them, we will continue as planned." Hisui ordered as she continued with the plan.
As the gate began to open, Natsu suggested his favorite plan since the factor of being seen as criminals no longer mattered. He decided it was a good time to fight.
"Beat everyone up!" Natsu shouted as he knocked out a guard.
"But what if we hit the princess?" Wendy asked.
"Just use light hits." Shirou said before shooting a knight in the knee.
Shirou decided that an arrow to the knee was the best method of stopping everyone without killing them. However even with everyone joining in on Natsu's plan. It didn't help that Hisui seemed to have already started armageddon by unlocking the Eclipse Gate. Meaning the dragons would likely arrive by the time midnight struck and the door was open.
"Guys, we're running out of time!" Happy shouted as he tried fighting with a wooden stick.
"Then use your weird kung fu and help us get through!" Panther Lily exclaimed.
As everyone fought, they were all briefly distracted by some fireworks in the distance. The group was distracted by the pyrotechnics that the clock was about to strike midnight. It probably didn't help that they could see the Fairy Tail Guild sigil as one of the shapes made by the fireworks.
"Hey, the guild won!" Natsu said.
"That's amazing!" Wendy said.
"Guys, now is a bad time to get distracted!" Shirou yelled as he was being held by multiple knights.
Natsu snapped out of his excitement, "Right, fight first and then party! I'm coming Shirou!" he yelled as he started shoving his way through.
Suddenly, the knights were sent flying from a magical shockwave. Where Shirou stood up, looking a lot older and fit.
"They were right, kids grow up fast." Natsu said.
"Dad! The gate!" Shirou exclaimed.
The Eclipse Gate slowly began to open and everyone was blinded by the light. Princess Hisui stepped back and shielded her eyes as she was expecting some sort of power to emerge. Instead, she heard a loud animalistic roar and a behemoth started to crawl out. Hisui looked confused and that was when Shirou jump high into the air and landed by Hisui.
"Sorry princess, but you are a bad listener." Shirou said before throwing Hisui over his shoulder.
"Unhand her you miscreant!" Arcadios shouted.
"Arcadios? You're here already? Why didn't you warn the princess?" Shirou asked.
Before Arcadios responded, a massive leg stomped next to Shirou.
"On second thought, we can catch up later. Let's go!" Shirou said as they ran away.
"What is that?" Hisui asked with wide eyes.
"Either a dragon or a prehistoric cow with scales." Shirou said as several dragons came out.
The rescue team already recognized the first dragon that came out. It was the same one as the spirit that Wendy had called upon.
"Hey it's that Zirconis guy! What the heck you jerk!?" Natsu yelled.
"I do not know you, petty human." Zirconis said.
"How do you not remember us?" Wendy asked.
"Child, this dragon is from the past. He won't remember us." Charle said just as Zirconis marched towards them.
When out of nowhere, Bahamut returned for the first time in seven years. The massive black dragon rammed itself into Zirconis and a couple others.
"Who are you!?" Zirconis asked.
"I am Bahamut and I will not allow you to mindlessly destroy this civilization, my compatriot." Bahamut said before knocking Zirconis onto the ground.
Just as more dragons tried to exit the gate, they were blasted with a heavy amount of magic. Unfortunately that hardly did anything to actually damage the dragons. But it did give time for everyone to take cover as the massive beasts of legend had started coming out.
"I'm too late." said a familiar voice.
"Lucy!?" the group from Fairy Tail asked.
"You're finally awake!" Wendy exclaimed.
"Yeah, sorry about that. I think my mind literally shut down on me." Lucy said as she still appeared dizzy. "But I can still do some good, but I need Yukino by my side." she said.
Yukino looked surprised, "What can I do?" she asked.
"Yukino, I won't toot my horn about being strong, but only celestial spirit mages can close that door and I feel like I just woke up from a coma." Lucy explained.
Yukino had some idea of what she was trying to say, "Okay, I'll do my best." she said.
Lucy then reached out to Wendy, "Wendy, I'm giving you a command seal to you and… ugh." she said, almost falling.
Mirajane quickly caught her, "Lucy, I think you might still feel fragile. You did literally explode with energy at the castle." she said.
"Did I? I can't remember anything after… forget it. I think my magical connection is feeling numb." Lucy said as she stood up. "Wendy, I can only give you a partial command seal with one servant I'm afraid." she said.
"I'll do my best to support everyone." Wendy said as she extended her palm.
Lucy smiled as she channelled enough magic to give Wendy her command seal. With that, she was able to have the girl forge a contract with a servant. Resulting in the appearance of a blue eyed woman with long purple hair and holding a large staff holding the Holy Cross.
"This is Saint Martha, The Dragon Rider." Lucy said before leaving with Yukino.
Saint Martha smiled at the child before looking at the incoming dragons.
"I see we are in a predicament." Martha said with some concern.
"Wendy, try to keep your distance from the dragons. Natsu and I will try to help everywhere else." Mirajane said before transforming again.
Wendy nodded before looking at Martha, "Miss Martha, can you tell me about your abilities so we may help each other?" she asked.
"I would say I'm fairly capable of defensive attacks. Although I would recommend a true Dragon Slayer to have fought these overgrown lizards." Martha said, thinking Siegfried or Sigurd would have been a better option to have.
With Lucy
As everyone tried their best to fight the dragons, Lucy and Yukino grabbed onto the handle/locking mechanism of the Eclipse Gate. From there, they had to poor their energy and physical strength into trying to close the gate. Which only because difficult as the dragons were trying to pass through the portal with every second they had left.
"Lucy, I'm afraid we might be at our limit." Yukino said.
"Don't give up yet! If we stop, Fiore is doomed in this timeline!" Lucy said as she kept pulling.
Both girls did their best before feeling a lot of magic coming from their golden keys. Yukino and Lucy stopped for a moment before feeling all 12 zodiac keys trying to act on their own.
"What is this?" Lucy asked, clearly confused.
"I think this might help us." Yukuno said, coming up with a quick solution.
Just as another dragon tried to come out, Bahamut appeared and blasted it bakc inside with a Megaflare.
"Lucy, while my brethren are arrogant fools. Their path of destruction knows no bounds. I cannot keep hold of too many of them at the same time." Bahamut said.
"I'm working on it! Just help everyone else!" Lucy pleaded.
"Lucy, take out your keys. We can combine our powers and close the gate." Yukino said.
"Oh right, the keys were… the literal key. Whatever, no time for puns." Lucy said before taking them out.
When Yukino did the same, all 12 keys floated above them and summoned all 12 celestial spirits.
"Open Gate of the 12 Keys! The Zodiac!" they said together.
The knights watched in awe as the 12 celestial spirits of the zodiac emanated with light and came together. Using their combined strength, the 12 spirits flew directly towards the doors of the Eclipse Gate and began to close them. The girls watched in anticipation and felt anxious before watching the zodiacs finally seal the doors shut.
"Yay! We did!" Happy cheered.
However, it was far from over as everyone felt the loud stomps of the dragons.
"Oh right, them." Happy said. "Bring it on!" He said, pulling out a crossbow from out of nowhere.
"And what do you expect to do what?" Charle asked.
"Something is better than nothing!" Happy said as he fired an arrow and missed. "Dang it." he said.
Then suddenly, Future Rogue appeared from the shadows and he started to look more reptilian and demonic. Like he was a beast that crawled out of hell then tried and failed to adopt a human's form.
"You!" Lucy yelled.
"I'm surprised you did not blow yourself up with that suicide bombing you attempted." Future Rogue said before raising his arms in the air. "Its not matter, for I will rule this and the dragons will answer to my beck and call." He said.
"And you humans say we are too proud!" Bahamut said as he landed behind Future Rogue.
Future Rogue grinned at Bahamut and tried to use his magic to enslave the Dragon King. Bahamut scoffed despite feeling somewhat sick of the magic that Future Rogue was releasing. Bahamut aimed downward and tried to blast him with a small charged roar.
"Megaflare!" Bahamut shouted only to miss.
Future Rogue moved quickly enough to avoid the attack and jump directly at Bahamut.
"White Shadow Dragon's Vestment!" Future Rogue shouted as he summoned several large black and white beams at Bahamut.
Luckily for the dragon, he had thick scales and high level durability against magic. However, the attack itself felt like a massive club to the face. Causing him to stumble back into a nearby building.
"You ruined my plan by closing that door early, but luckily I grew in my time period." Future Rogue said before he released magic into the ground.
Moments later, an army of skeletons made from the bones of dragons came out and charged at the knights. Future Rogue laughed as the knights rushed to protect their princess.
"This can't be happening. This wasn't the way it was supposed to go." Hisui said as she began to panic.
"Princess, please stay calm. I will get you to safety." Arcadios said as she held onto him.
Hisui started to lose her mind at the realization that she did screw up. Future Rogue was the one who told her about the dragons and the lie about the Eclipse Gate being her weapon of defense. Now her kingdom was being ruined and the madman behind it looked invulnerable. Even now, Hisui watched as many of her knights were being eliminated by the skeleton army.
At least until Natsu came in, "Fire Dragon's Talon!" he shouted as he destroyed a wave of skeletons with a single attack. "Get over here Rogue! I'm kicking your creepy ass like I did with your past self!" he shouted.
Future Rogue scoffed at him before summoning more skeletons to attack Natsu. As Natsu was distracted, Rogue called down one of the dragons to come down. He quickly climbed onto the back of the dragon and ordered it to take off.
"I don't have time to waste on you, Natsu. Because my goal will always come first." Future Rogue said as he escaped into the sky.
Natsu snarled as he released a heavy wave of flames that turned the skeletons into ash.
"What is it with you jerks flexing your power and then running away!?" Natsu asked.
"That's a good point Natsu. This trope is annoying." Happy said.
"Trope?" Natsu asked.
"Yeah, it's like there's this "I'm super powerful and will destroy you all. Except I'm not going to fight you so I'm gonna run away." personality. Seriously, even Laxus did it and he still got his butt kicked." Happy explained.
"Oh yeah, now I get it. Still, we gotta regroup or something. That jerk is making a mess and these dragons are going to wreck up the city." Natsu said.
As they tried to regroup with the rest of the group and the knights. They spotted Yukino shaking Lucy who looked emotionless.
"Did Lucy hit the pause button again?" Happy asked.
"I don't know, after the Eclipse Gate was closed. Lucy just froze up." Yukino said, looking nervous.
The moment Yukino let go of Lucy, the blond girl was briefly surrounded with sparks of magic. Yukino jumped back feeling startled by the sight while Natsu went to poke Lucy on the cheek. Lucy didn't respond except for some more magic just sparking around her. Natsu kept poking her, wondering if something was wrong.
"Luce, are you okay? Are you glitchy?" Natsu asked before poking her again.
This time, the random sparking hit his finger and shocked him. Natsu looked like he had been struck by lightning as the magic started seeping onto his flesh.
"NATSU!" Happy shouted in terror.
Elsewhere
King Toma E. Fiore, the current ruler of Fiore, was aware of the dragons and a part of the plan to combat them. However, while he wasn't aware of what really caused them. Toma stood before the present guilds in his capital and did his best to explain things with hopes they wouldn't freak out and help their kingdom.
"I understand this may seem terrifying for some of you and just absurd to a few others. I only ask that out of the goodness in your hearts and in defense of your homeland. That you help your kingdom by lending your strength against these ferocious creatures." Toma stated.
With the various wizards, anyone who still wished to deny the existence of dragons would have to accept the truth. Because they witnessed the winged creatures they deemed to be fictional flying in the distance and destroying the capital.
"I will not shame anyone who wishes to back away now. I can order you as your king, but respect that you are all individuals with free will. A kingdom without its people is not a kingdom at all. I am fully aware that many of you are not experienced or prepared for such a cataclysmic event. As well as acknowledge the fact that several of you are exhausted from the final round of the games." Toma said, waiting for a reaction.
Many of the prominent wizards stepped forward, either feeling brave or just optimistic.
"As a Wizard Saint, I cannot decline a call from his majesty and I may not speak for the entirety for my guild, but I doubt they will back away now." Jura said.
"I sure can!" Toby said before Lyon pulled him back.
"We are not running away Toby. We are not only wizards of Lamia Scale, but wizards of Fiore." Lyon said while keeping an eye out for Juvia. 'Did she see me? Did she think I sounded cool.' he wondered.
"My guild isn't backing out of this either!" Makarov announced as Fairy Tail cheered.
"Just because we lost this year, it doesn't mean that Sabertooth weak!" Sting shouted from the back of the crowd.
"MEEEEN! His majesty has personally called on our help and patriotism is one of the best scented perfumes!" Ichiya said as he smelled the air.
Toma started to tear up, "I cannot thank you all enough for your loyalty and generosity, kabo!" he said.
"EH!?" everyone asked.
Toma mentally cursed as he almost revealed himself to have been Mato the Mascot. Then again, it doesn't help that Mato is just an anagram for Toma. It didn't matter, everyone was too focused on the sounds of destruction getting louder.
"You are dismissed, now go fight those winged beasts!" Toma ordered.
Everyone stared at their king for a few more seconds in awkward silence before turning towards the danger. From then on did the magic guilds decide to confront the threat to their kingdom. Toma sighed in relief once the wizards were gone and directly attacked the dragons.
"I almost screwed up with that. Now where is that daughter of mine up to? She said that her plan to eradicate the dragons would be occurring by midnight." Toma said, feeling concerned for the safety of his daughter and kingdom.
Toma would send for a small squadron to go look for her just in case some trouble did occur.
With The Guilds
Everyone was doing their best to fight the dragons but did not seem to get any result from their attacks. Not even Makarov himself who used his Titan magic to increase his strength and size to match a dragon. His punches would have knocked over large buildings had been rendered useless and unable to leave any real damage.
"Are these things invincible?" Makarov asked before being hit by a tail.
"Heaven's Wheel!" Erza shouted before sending a barrage of swords at a dragon..
All of which had shattered upon impact. Erza looked stunned before nearly being hit by a tail herself. As everyone hit their dragon with everything they had, only Gajeel seemed to be capable of hurting it.
"Iron Dragon Sword!" Gajeel yelled as he dug his blade into the thick hide of a dragon.
Gajeel's sword's edges then started to spin wildly like a chainsaw. The dragon let out a cry of pain as it tried to shake off Gajeel.
"Geehee, it's not so fun once you actually hurt!" Gajeel yelled as he started cutting deep into the hide.
"Keep him still, we got this!" Gray shouted. "Ice Make: Saucer!" Gray shouted as he threw a spinning blade of ice at it.
The ice blade did leave a big impact but the dragon ignored it. Gray looked confused as Juvia stepped in.
"How dare you ignore my beloved's attacks!? Water Ray!" She shouted, hitting the dragon directly with water but with no effect. "It did not work either?" she asked with wide eyes.
"Iron Club!" Gajeel shouted as he bashed the dragon on the head. "Don't waste your magic like that! I think these overgrown lizards are resistant against most magic!" he exclaimed.
"Damn it, just when we don't have Natsu or Wendy with us!" Gray cursed.
Suddenly, a massive barrier filled with various magical scriptures surrounded the dragon. Gajeel managed to get off of it before he was trapped inside with it. That's when they saw Freed at the front of the barrier.
"If we cannot defeat them directly, then can still try to weaken or restrain them." Freed said.
"That's right, my babies can't scratch that thing but I bet Laxus can." Bickslow said as he stuck out his tongue.
That's when everyone saw a massive streak of lightning coming from the sky. It then came down within the hole at the top of the barrier and struck the dragon's head. Once it fell down, Laxus revealed himself standing on top of it.
"Gajeel is right, only Dragon Slayer magic seems to be effective." Laxus said.
"Yeah, even fake dragon slayers seem to do some good." Gajeel said.
With The Rune Knights
As their leader and in the name of the Magic Council, Lahar stood in front of a large platoon of Rune Knights. All of whom were waiting for Lahar's orders. Who in turn was waiting for Doranbolt who finally arrived.
"Has the prisoner been released?" Lahar asked.
"Yes and I made sure he won't run away. At least not run away once we are done." Doranbolt answered.
Lahar nodded, "Very well." he said before stepping forward. "Men, as the guardian force of the Magic Council and the magic society within the kingdom in Fiore. You will not be given a choice like the magic guilds, you have all sworn your loyalty to defending Fiore. We will stop these dragons before they destroy our capital." he said, trying to motivate them.
The Rune Knights raised their staves and clicked them against the ground. This signaled Lahar that the Rune Knights were ready to fight.
"Some speech, at least they remember their job." Doranbolt commented.
Lahar raised his hand and aimed at the direction of the dragons. Ordering the platoon to engage the dragons. As the Rune Knights ran off, Cobra from the Oracion Seis stood at the top of a tall building. The artificial dragon slayer looked in the distance, but seemed to ignore the destruction going around him. As if there was something else occupying his mind.
"Cubelios." Cobra whispered. "I know you are out there." he said before taking a deep breath.
Before Cobra would join the fight as he was ordered to. His mind focused on his pet snake who he grew up with in the Tower of Heaven. His poisonous serpent friend was gone by the time he woke up in prison. It's all that has preoccupied during his seven year imprisonment.
"I will find you, but for now." Cobra stopped and looked at the dragons.
He jumped down from his spot and made his way towards the dragons. Somehow not noticing Natsu flying through the air like a missile.
"I'm coming for you Rogue… hey, was that the poison jerk!?" Natsu asked, thinking he saw Cobra.
Natsu didn't worry about whether or not he really saw the poison dragon slayer. His focus was on Future Rogue and with a new source of magic to enhance him. Without needing Happy, Natsu propelled himself across the night sky and chased after Future Rogue.
Flashback, A few minutes earlier
As Natsu was still being electrocuted by the high amount of magic surrounding Lucy. The Holy Maiden let out a gasp as she released a large pulse of magic. Natsu went crashing onto the brick road as his body still tingled with ancient magic.
Lucy started catching her breath as her vision felt blurry. At the same time, her friends just stared at her wearily.
"How long was I gone?" Lucy asked.
"Like two minutes maybe. Natsu touched you and he got shocked by some magic sparks on your body." Natsu said.
Lucy looked at Natsu's twitching body, "I might need to fix that." she said.
"Lucy, what happened to your clothes?" Wendy asked.
"What do you mean?" Lucy asked as she looked at her attire.
Lucy looked down and realized her Dress of Heaven was completely changed. Lucy covered herself in embarrassment as she realized more of her body was revealed. For her new attire lacked practicality as it looked like a blue bikini top and shorts with a dress shaped like grids with a white color on the top to gold on the bottom with blue accents. There also appeared to be some sword shaped accessories floating behind her back almost like a cape.
Lucy also reached for her hair, realizing it was slightly longer and curled around the bottom. With the tips being turned orange and wavy in the air. Lucy also noticed that she had a brand new staff with a gear shaped decoration at the top.
(A/N: Materia's outfit from FF Dissidia NT)
Wendy just gave Lucy a curious stare while Charle and Yukino blushed and looked away. Lucy was too developed for her age and it didn't help that the clothes didn't cover much. For a woman that shared the same title as Jeanne D'arc, Lucy seemed to find the wardrobe that did not befit a pure maiden. Even if the staff and dress made her look somewhat exotic in the standpoint of a fantasy like character.
"Why can't I wear a robe or something more conservative? I'll even accept a dumb nun habit." Lucy said.
She then looked and saw Shirou covering his eyes with his hands while Mirajane just giggled.
"Lucy, I didn't know you were a closet pervert like Erza." Mirajane said.
"Says the girl wearing a skin tight leather suit." Lucy countered.
Mirajane covered herself, "Touché." she said, regretting she chose this outfit for today.
As Lucy felt discomfort in her new attire, she felt a light coming from the staff and saw another light in her chest. A moment later, Lucy felt like her entire magical reserve had expanded to an impossibly high measure. Lucy could only describe this feeling as being in the center of an ocean. She wasn't drowning in magic, but it felt like she flaoted over a calm endless sea of water.
"This is new." Lucy said.
Lucy shook her head from the thought as she looked at Natsu who was still twitching. Lucy raised her palm in an attempt to use a healing spell, but instead of just fixing any damage that Natsu sustained. Lucy witnessed Natsu being almost rejuvenated with a bright silver light. The Dragon Slayer quickly stood up as if nothing had happened.
"Hey Luce, are you taking fashion advice from Erza now?" Natsu asked.
"I could say something similar to you." Lucy said.
"Eh?" Natsu asked before noticing his outfit changed.
Natsu found himself in a silver set of light armor with purple markings with spikes perturbing from the shoulder pads. Natsu felt some chafing and discomfort as he checked out the armor. On a positive note, nothing happened to his scarf which was still hanging around his neck.
"I guess this is cool, but it's all bulky." Natsu said.
They were then interrupted by the sounds of the dragons fighting in the distance
"Natsu, we can worry about our crazy fashion later. Right now, you need to help Bahamut and fight those dragons." Lucy said.
"Alright! Time to show everyone a real Dragon Slayer!" Natsu exclaimed.
Lucy then raised her palm, "Vigor!" She said, enhancing Natsu.
Only instead of just a minor boost in strength and speed. Lucy felt Natsu's overall power level increase greatly compared to his normal base form. Natsu started to get excited as he felt a massive fire building up. Unlike the previous times where he's felt sick because of him devouring a new source of energy like lacrima from the Tower of Heaven or the flames of Zancrow.
"I'm definitely more than fired up for once. I think I might need a new catchphrase." Natsu said as his surrounding energy looked vibrant and alive.
"Slow down, I don't need you running around yet. There's a chance I accidentally overdid it." Lucy said.
"Sorry Luce, but for once I'm listening to you and yo already told me to help fight those dragons." Natsu said.
Lucy sighed, "Fine, but try not to overdo it." she said.
"You already know me Luce." Natsu said before jumping high into the air.
Where Natsu then launched himself towards the direction of the dragons. Where he used the flames from his arms to propel himself like a rocket. Everyone on the ground watched as Natsu flew away in a brilliant radiance.
"You sure helped Natsu, but is that enough?" Mira asked.
"Unless he develops a negative personality. Natsu's persistence will always win." Lucy said with a smile.
"Lucy, can you help me next?" wendy asked.
"Me too! I wanna fly like a rocket too!" Happy exclaimed.
"Your current speed is fine enough." Charle told her.
"Sure, let just give me a minute after I call for reinforcements." Lucy said.
End of Flashback
Natsu flew around the surrounding dragons before finding the massive dragon that Future Rogue is riding on. Future Rogue noticed Natsu coming and sneered. The evil Dragon Slayer raised his palms above the dragon and made it turn around and face Natsu.
"Motherglare, destroy this roach!" Future Rogue commanded.
Motherglare roared as they released a powerful roar from its mouth. Like the Dragon Slayers, Motherglare released a powerful magical blast involving the type of magic it uses. in this case, it released a powerful blast composed of diamond minerals that looked capable of destroying anything that got in it's way.
However, Natsu took a page from Erza's playbook and generated a lance in his hands from his fire magic. Thanks to Lucy's enhancements, Natsu found himself with the strength to pierce through the attack. Destroying the incoming minerals before making his way directly towards Motherglare who shielded itself with diamond scales. Which only reduced the impact of Natsu's attack.
"I see you gained another power as well, Natsu. What sacrifices did you make for it?" Future Rogue asked.
"The sacrifice of having to listen to you. Lucy gave me this strength because she believed in me while you just steal whatever doesn't belong to you." Natsu said before throwing his spear at Motherglare.
Motherglare growled in anger as the spear felt annoying and started to burn into its scaled hide. Natsu then grabbed onto Motherglare and threw a fire enhanced punch at Future Rogue. Future Rogue tried to counter the attack with a shadow enhanced punch. The collision of the two attacks created a massive shockwave that made Motherlgare lose its balance.
As for the two Dragon Slayers, it was a stalemate as they both held their grounds.
The two continued to trade blows, fighting to determine the survival of the human race. With the victims being anyone who is close enough to feel the shockwaves of their attacks. It was the battle between a beast and a guardian.
With Fairy Tail
The guild now found themselves facing off against a dragon made up of flames. Like the other dragons, it wasn't taking any signifiant damage from the wizards.
"I really didn't want to say this, but Natsu's appearance would really be appreciated!" Gray exclaimed.
"Salamander isn't here. It's just us, beloved." Juvia said.
Evergreen sighed, "It should not matter, this massive newt is made of fire. You two utilize the elements that can counter it." she said.
"Yeah, you two lovebirds should do something about this thing. My babies aren't enough to hurt it." Bickslow said.
Then Miya spoke up, "I suppose I could share a few techniques you two taught me in the future. At least the ones you were supposed to know." she said.
Juvia smiled, "Such a good girl, now tell mama and papa what we must do." she said.
"Humans, such small soft creatures. You will now know the feeling of hell fire!" the dragon said.
"Take cover! Ice Make: Multi Barrier!" Gray shouted.
With all of his strength, Gray created several large layers of ice in an attempt to stop the dragon's roar. Only to fail as the impact was only slightly reduced and most of the guild was sent crashing against the brick road. Gray barely managed to avoid serious burns before watching Juvia holding onto Miya for safety as her coat started to burn.
"Juvia!" Gray shouted as he put out the flame.
"Don't worry about me! Check on Miya-chan!" Juvia pleaded.
Miya had her eyes closed as she grunted and groaned in pain. Gray cursed as he lifted Miya into his arms.
"Sorry little girl, you need a bit of a timeout." Gray said as he looked for a safe spot for Miya.
All the while everyone else tried to stop the dragon's rampage by attacking it all at once.
"Lightning Dragon Roar!"
"Requip: Water Empress Armor!"
"Beast Soul: Lizard Man!"
"Solid Script: Freezing!"
"Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun!"
The attacks went on from that point but the dragon released its powerful flames and countered the attacks. As well as slapping away the wizards who were going in for a direct attack.
"Fools! My hell flames can counter any magic you posses!" the dragon exclaimed.
The dragon then prepared to release its roar on them again. Leaving them with little time to form a good enough defense. When another spell attacked the flaming dragon first.
"Tarasque! O' Tragic Drake Who Knew Naught Love!" Saint Martha shouted.
Suddenly, a massive dragon like creature with a big shell appeared in front of the dragon. Tarasque lunged at the flaming dragon and began to law at the creature, knocking it on it's back as a result.
"Lucy!" everyone exclaimed as they saw Lucy, Martha and the others arrive.
"Sorry everyone, I had a little trouble but I'm feeling good as new. I mean that literally." Lucy said as everyone noticed her new clothing.
"What's with… this?" Evergreen asked as she pointed at Lucy's clothes with her fan.
Lucy sighed, "Look, I'm never allowed to pick these dumb outfits but that's not the point." she said. "The point is, I went through some literal out of body experience and I'm trying my best to grasp the temporary power up I received." she said.
There was really no way for Lucy to explain the Counter Force or how it decided to use her as a guardian or some kind of bridge to protect the world from the cataclysm that Future Rogue was causing.
"Lucy, I do not mind you explaining how things went for you but now would be a good time for action." Erza said as they heard a loud crash.
They looked back and saw Tarasque having some issues keeping the flaming dragon down.
"Right, I need everyone to extend their hands. I'm going to have to release as many servants as I can without exploding and hopefully enhance you all like I did with Natsu." Lucy explained.
"Lucy turned Natsu into a rocket!" Happy eagerly said.
Everyone sweat dropped at what Happy said.
"Somehow I knew that boy would become a living firecracker." Makarov said.
"Anyways, let's get to work on this." Lucy said as she raised her staff and started glowing. "By the way, Cana you were able to call Gildarts right?" she asked.
Cana looked confused, "No, how would I do that?" she asked.
"Did Gildarts not give you a card to contact him with? In the event that you were in danger?" Lucy asked.
Everyone remembered that, there was a brief point in time shortly after they returned to the guild when Makarov wanted Gildarts to become the new guild master. It didn't last and Makarov was appointed the guild master again in a letter that Gildarts left behind. Along with the letter was a custom made magic card, similar to the ones Cana uses for her magic. Which worked as sort of like an emergency flare so Gildarts would know when his daughter was in trouble
However, some members immediately remembered what happened to the card.
"Oh I destroyed that thing. Dad was getting on my nerves with how close he was." Cana said, acting like she did nothing wrong.
Lucy just stared at her with a blank expression.
Lucy remembered how Cana poured her heart out about how she wanted Gildarts to acknowledge her as his child. Having been too nervous to approach him and tell her the truth. Now she acted like he's this annoying parent that she didn't want to be near around. Cana had this depressing story and now she's bothered by Gildarts' fatherly affection. Sure it's much but after all that, Cana just doesn't want him around?
During the training period, Lucy learned her own father died! She was shattered for an entire week thinking about what Jude went through his own daughter went missing!
"Cana, I can't even…" Lucy said with a sigh.
Cana failed to see the issue. Lucy had to restrain herself from bashing Cana in the head with her new staff.
"Cana, you will face punishment on another day." Erza said.
"What did I do?" Cana asked.
Lucy just sighed, "Okay, ignoring the fact that we're a man down. I'm going to have to work with what we have." She said.
Once everyone was close enough, Lucy raised her staff over everyone's hands as they piled up. Lucy did her best to manipulate her newfound control of the magic without accidentally giving too much. The last thing she needed was to cause everyone to explode. Natsu was easier since he was just one man and he has experience with forcing his body to take in foreign magics that harm his body.
Luckily, the magic didn't seem to hurt anyone and hopefully there would be no harmful after effects.
"Oh boy, I feel like I got a lot of pixie dust in my body." Happy said.
"I think it is pixie dust." Ventus said.
"I suppose there are not many ways to describe this feeling." Charle said.
"Is this going to be enough? Not all of us can land critical blows on the dragons." Levy said.
"It should be, there are magics that can pierce through passive resistances." Lucy said.
"Isn't that a contradiction? A magic that can bypass anti magic?" Wendy asked.
"I guess, but Bahamut seems to ignore it." Lucy said.
In the distance, Lucy watched as Bahamut was wrestling with three dragons that were trying to dogpile him. One of them being Zirconis who looked a bit too cocky.
"Weakling, you dare serve humans?" Zirconis asked.
"I am not their slave. I am their companion!" Bahamut roared as he bashed Zirconis to the side.
Lucy shook her head and focused on everyone, "Everyone, work together as best you can. I know someone likely already gave a speech about unity or defending the kingdom but you should avoid showboating and going off on your own." She said.
With that, the guild felt rejuvenated and very motivated to keep fighting. Leaving Lucy with the task of summoning more heroic spirits to help with the fight.
Elsewhere
An entire regiment of dragons could be seen flying in the distance. Had they arrived earlier, Princess Hisui would have been given more reason to why she needed the Eclipse Gate. However, these were not the ones that meant to attack and destroy the kingdom.
These dragons were much smaller and slightly deformed with some having discolored skin and odd markings around their bodies. As well as symbols branded onto their leathery flesh.
Floating along side the incoming dragons was a small airship with Daphne inside.
"That's right babies, make mama proud. Your first brothers and sisters didn't do so well, but now you got some weaker dragons." Daphne said as if the dragons could hear and understand her. "Gotta love King Goldie, such a generous guy to invest me after all these years. Then maybe I can get payback on that black dragon that killed my first batch." she said bitterly.
Daphne is still sour about Acnologia killing her prototype dragons and wouldn't mind some revenge. However she wasn't crazy enough to look for Acnologia with the belief she could beat it so easily. For now, she just had to hope her current batch would be good enough to deal with the dragons attacking the capital.
"I wonder how everyone feels when they realize I'm not crazy." Daphne said snickering.
Like Natsu, Daphne can't be called insane or a liar when mentioning dragons. Now that the entire kingdom and likely other countries would learn about the existence of dragons. As it wasn't like the King could deny the existence of the dragons or even see the benefit in keeping the accident a secret.
"I mean wyverns are dragons too, but they aren't as interesting or tough for that matter." Daphne said.
Wyverns are technically dragons too, while they are treated as pests like vulcans and other creatures. Even Daphne was confused as to why no one believed dragons existed when those creatures are always roaming around mountains. Whatever, it didn't matter right now or later.
TO BE CONTINUED…