A/N: Episode 192.

Enjoy!

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX: IN MY STEAD

"Close the portal! Now! You mustn't open it!" Lucy warned.

"Lucy-san..."

"What's wrong, all of a sudden?" Happy asked.

"What is she saying?" Arcadios questioned.

"He said it's already decided that she'll close the portal." Carla recalled Future Rogue's words. "Why?"

"Please! Close the portal now!" Lucy ordered.

"We can't! This is our only weapon against the dragon swarm! If we close the portal now, we won't be able to fire the Eclipse Cannon!" Hisui said with her arms extended.

Lucy stepped forward. "There is no Eclipse Cannon!" She pointed to the portal. "That's a portal! A portal that's connected to the time stream!"

"And by releasing its accumulated magic power, we can fire the Eclipse Cannon."

"You're wrong! That's no weapon!"

"That's enough. You're speaking to the princess of this country." Arcadios reminded.

"That portal is connected to 400 years in the past!" Lucy said as rumbling was soon heard.

"What?!"

"What powerful tremors!" Lily commented.

"I have a bad feeling about this..." Raden mumbled.

"What is it? Magic power... No..." Erza said.

"It's coming from the palace. Then..."

"That Eclipse thing." Gray finished.

"Princess..." Arcadios grabbed onto Hisui.

"I'm okay." She reassured.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Darton questioned as Lucy widened her eyes.

"Oh, no..." Happy muttered.

"It can't be..."

A dragon soon stepped out of the Eclipse portal as it roared.

"A dragon... came out of the portal..." Hisui mumbled as the dragon roared again, blowing everyone away.

It stepped down, sending a wave through the city. "What was that?!" Erza asked.

"Are they here?!" Sting questioned.

"It's by the palace!" Rogue informed.

"It's that huge...?" Arcadios said.

"No way!"

"We can't..."

"We don't stand a chance!"

"What the hell is this?"

Wendy had a scared look on her face as another dragon appeared from the portal.

"Another one came out!"

"What the hell's going on?!"

"There are more on the way!"

This time, a dragon covered in complete flames came out as it roared, following the dragons marching through the city.

At the arrival of the fire dragon, Sebastian looked up in alarm. "This feeling... It feels strangely familiar." He thought.

A fourth dragon soon came out of the portal.

"There's another one!"

"Protect the princess!"

"Don't retreat!"

Lucy grabbed onto Hisui's shoulders. "How does the door close?!" She asked as Hisui was frozen. "Quick! This is no time to freeze up!"

"Th-There on the pedestal..." Hisui said.

Lucy rushed forward but ended up falling back into Wendy. "Lucy-san! Hurry!" Wendy told her.

"Right!"

Lucy got up and extended her hand up. "So I pull this trigger, right? With Celestial Spirit power!"

Tears were falling from Hisui's eyes. "The 10,000 dragons... come out of the portal, don't they?" She whispered as a fifth dragon appeared.

"Lucy-san! How did you know?!" Wendy shouted.

"It wasn't me! Old Master Crux was investigating the whole time! He just finished his analysis of the portal a couple minutes ago! This device combines the magic from the Books of Zeref with Celestial Spirit Magic! Normally, you'd be able to set the time coordinates and travel through time... but today is different! That moon is throwing off the magic!" Lucy explained.

"Lunatic..." Arcadios mumbled.

"That's why we can't control the portal! It's connected to 400 years ago... in other words, an age where dragons existed!" Lucy continued.

"It can't be... This isn't what we were told!" Darton said. "At this rate..."

The dragons continued to rampage around the city.

"I don't believe what I'm seeing..." Erza mumbled.

"You gotta be kidding me! 10,000 of them are comin' through?!" Gray exclaimed.

"Seriously?!" Elfman added.

The dragons continued to roar. "Spread out! If you're bunched up, you'll all be annihilated with one attack!" Makarov ordered.

"Another one's appeared!"

"The rocks! The rocks are moving!"

Lucy struggled with the pedestal. "Lucy-san! The portal isn't closing yet?!" Wendy shouted.

"One dragon after another is coming out!" Happy added.

"Why?! Why won't it close?!" Lucy questioned.

"Because I..." Hisui muttered.

"Princess! It's dangerous here!"

"...I made the wrong choice... the world is going to end..." Hisui mumbled.

Lucy soon flew back. "Lucy!" Lily shouted as the rock dragon roared.

"The fury of dragons... will permeate the world..."

"I want no part of that!" Lucy exclaimed as she charged forward. "I have to live for the sake of my other self!"

"I'm gonna laugh... cry... and live for her!" Lucy declared.

All of the dragons soon took flight.

"Those tremors... Don't tell me they're already..." Meredy muttered as Natsu continued to sink lower into the shadows.

"Natsu! Wake up!" Sebastian exclaimed.

"What should we do?!" Ultear wondered.

A hand soon grabbed onto Sebastian's shoulder. "Natsu?!"

Natsu sat up. "I gotta go..." He mumbled. "I made a promise..."

"So I'm gonna..." Lucy started to say.

"...protect the future!" Natsu and Lucy finished in unison.

"Dragons are still pouring out of the portal!" Lily exclaimed.

"We have to stop them quick!" Carla stated.

"Princess! It's dangerous here! You need to take shelter!"

"Princess! Please hurry!"

"What... What did I do?" Hisui asked herself.

"Lucy! Get that portal shut!" Happy shouted as both Natsu and Sebastian were running through the palace hallway.

Lucy was struggling on closing the portal. "Lucy-san!" Wendy yelled.

"There isn't enough Celestial Spirit power!" Arcadios said.

"I can help!"

Yukino soon arrived with Mira. "Yukino!" Happy called out.

"Mira-san!" Wendy exclaimed.

"Lucy-sama! Please take out the 12 Gold Keys!" Yukino instructed. "We'll combine them with mine, and use 12 Keys to seal the portal!"

"With Celestial Spirits?!" Lucy said.

"Lucy-sama!" Yukino called out, throwing her two Zodiac keys in the air.

"Got it!" Lucy said, throwing her ten Zodiac keys in the air as well, making them combine and turn into a golden light.

"The keys..."

"...turned into a golden light..."

Both Lucy and Yukino kneeled down as they joined hands.

"Celestial Spirits of the 12 Gold Keys..."

"...lend us the power to seal away the evil!"

"Open..."

"...12 Gates!"

A golden beam shined down on Lucy and Yukino, followed by a door chime.

"Zodiac!" Lucy and Yukino spoke in unison.

All of the Zodicas appeared one by one.

"Those are..."

"Amazing! All of the Celestial Spirits!"

"Please!" Lucy begged.

All of the Zodiacs flew up in the air, pushing the Eclipse portal close as it finally slammed shut.

"It shut!" Lucy exclaimed before her and Yukino both sighed in exhaustion.

"You did it!" Wendy cheered.

"Yay!" Happy jumped up and down.

"They did it!"

"It's too early to celebrate! How many dragons made it through?!" Arcadios asked.

"E-Eight!"

Future Rogue and Future Orion soon stepped up. "You foiled my plan, Lucy and Yukino. But eight dragons are still plenty." Future Rogue claimed.

"Rogue... sama?" Yukino mumbled.

"What happened to Natsu and Sebastian?!" Lucy questioned.

"To be honest, I couldn't control 10,000 of them."

"What are you talking about?" Mira asked.

"They're the ones that told me about the future." Hisui informed.

"Those two guys are from the future who tricked you?" Arcadios questioned.

"Are you saying that this was your aim all along?" Lucy asked as Future Rogue smirked before extending his hands up.

"Listen to me well, you ignorant peasants! I'm here to tell you that the world you know is coming to an end. The age of dragons is upon us!" Future Rogue declared as the eight dragons roared behind him and Future Orion.

"To begin, slaughter all the wizards in this city." Future Rogue ordered as the dragons took off.

"The dragons are obeying him?!" Carla said in shock.

"Before, he said something about control... Don't tell me...!" Lily exclaimed.

Future Rogue chuckled. "The Secret Art of controlling dragons... Dragon Manipulation Magic."

"Controlling dragons?!" Happy quoted.

Future Rogue hopped onto one of the dragons as Future Orion followed him. The dragon soon took off.

"What does he want?!" Mira wondered.

"I don't know." Wendy admitted.

"What possible merit could this be for him?" Yukino asked.

"I'll leave them to you... Zirconis." Future Rogue spoke.

Zirconis laughed. "These humans look delicious!"

"That's..."

"...the one we met at the dragon graveyard!"

"Oh, no!"

Zirconis soon drooled.

The fire dragon landed in front of the Fairy Tail members.

"It's huge!"

"Are you serious?!"

"Th-Th-This is..." Droy was lost for words.

"...a dragon!" Warren finished.

"Fire is coming out of its body!" Max exclaimed.

"Attack!" Makarov ordered as they charged forward. "Concentrate on its legs! Just like we planned!"

"Yeah!"

"I am Atlas Flame! I'm going to show you wretches the flames of hell!" Atlas Flame claimed as he fired at the Fairy Tail members, blowing them back.

"Hang in there, brats!" Makarov said.

Another dragon landed in front of Sabertooth.

"Sabertooth, full-scale attack! Let's go!" Sting ordered.

"Yeah! Aim for the inside of its mouth, its stomach, and any other soft parts!" Rogue added.

The rock dragon landed in front of Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale, Quatro Cerberus, and Mermaid Heel.

"Men! So this is a genuine dragon... But don't falter! Now is the time to show them all the power of Blue Pegasus!" Ichiya claimed.

Other guilds started attacking the dragons that came to them.

"Overwhelm it with numbers!"

"Hit it with all the magic power you've got!"

"Overpower it!"

"Did we do it?"

However, the dragon still stood.

"Seriously?!"

"It isn't wounded anywhere!"

"My god..."

"Focus on one point!"

"Take this, monster!"

The dragon ended up knocking the combined attack away before stomping on the ground and sending the wizards flying into the air.

"How tough is this creature? None of our magic is having any effect!" Jura spoke.

"Let's try to concentrate our attacks on one spot!"

"Then let's all coordinate."

"First I'll cut it with one stroke of my sword." Kagura said.

"Right." Jura nodded.

Kagura ended up getting attacked by the dragon. "Kagura-dono!" Jura called out.

"Oh, no."

"Scatter!"

Blue Pegasus were on the roof. "Men. I hit it with parfum to weaken its defense, but it had no effect?!" Ichiya said as the dragon attacked the building they were on.

"Men!"

The dragon soon roared.

"You..."

"It's not even scratched..."

"I didn't think their scales would be this tough!" Kagura stated.

"Can humans even defeat a dragon?" Jura asked himself.

The dragons continued rampaging as they roared one by one.

"Yes! That's it! Run amok even more! Show them the wrath of a dragon!" Future Rogue said before he noticed Natsu and Sebastian on top of a building with Natsu carrying an angered expression.

"Natsu... Dragneel..." Future Rogue mumbled.

Future Orion took a glance at Sebastian, who had a stoic look on his face. "Sheesh... He's as ambitious as I remember. How annoying." He thinks to himself.

A/N: Yes, Atlas Flame is actually showing up this time in this book. Unlike my other two SYOC stories. And in case you didn't make the connection, the 'feeling' Sebastian felt was Atlas Flame.

Natsu will be battling Future Rogue while Sebastian will be battling Future Orion.

Thanks for reading!

~ Kaleb.