"The Future is a cruel place..."
A lone ravenette stood over the body of a defeated Wendy. Both were heavily injured, but in the end the sky dragon was brutally defeated. Cynthia, however, had blazing red eyes instead of her usual innocent blue. "This is a cruel world, don't you agree..? Without you, I wouldn't have realized that there's a lot I haven't seen yet. It's a shame you won't be able to see the rest of the world, ne…?"
"P-Please…I…I didn't…I would never…"
"That's enough! I don't want to hear any more of your mouth!"
"W-wait! Please! I!"
"What did I JUST say?! Don't worry, the rest of them will be joining you soon enough. It was fun, Wendy Marvell…"
It ended with the ravenette piercing her hand through Wendy's chest, retracting it quickly and pulling out Wendy's heart.
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"Those flames…!" Lucy just finished her call, eyes wide at the tower of darkened red flames shooting up from Cynthia's location.
"Don't tell me she's actually losing it right now!?" Luke groaned. "This could not be a worse time to do this…!"
"We're too far away…We wouldn't make it to her in time…" Lucy sighed. "Cynthia, get a hold of yourself…"
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"NOOOOO!" Cynthia screamed, the grip she had on herself tightening. "THAT'S NOT ME! I REFUSE TO BELIEVE TI!"
"Of course, denial of the future one didn't expect is expected…" Future Rogue said as he shut off the visual, only giving a smirk towards Cynthia. "It doesn't matter how you feel, this is the future that will come to pass."
"NO!" Cynthia shouted once again, but instead of a panicked voice, it was more of a stern, determined one.
"Huh…?" F. Rogue raised a brow.
"You heard me…!" Cynthia replied, her expression changing to a threatening one as she managed to collect herself. "I refuse to believe a future in which I kill Wendy! That's impossible, and I know for a fact that I would never do that! I owe so much of my life to her, so I refuse to believe that lie!"
"You see your future played out in front of you and yet you still choose to deny it…?" F. Rogue was unsure if Cynthia was brave or just flat out stupid. "You can try to change the future all you want, but the flow of time always prefers its original course."
"No…" Cynthia said yet again, glaring towards Future Rogue. "I won't allow a future like that to happen. Natsu told me once that we can make our own future, and I can foresee the kind of future I'm going to have! And it starts with me kicking the crud outta you!"
"Hmph…" F. Rogue merely shook his head, letting out a sigh. "Trying to change the future…? Very well…I suppose I can humor you for a bit…"
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"I think that's Cynthia-san…" Kinana said with worry as she stared out the window at the tower of red flames. "I hope everything is okay with her…"
"She's strong…she'll be okay…" Mirajane said with a soft smile. "I'm so tired…"
"H-Hang on, Mira-nee…" Lisanna said with concern. "We have to get her some medical attention. With Jack gone, maybe we can sneak out of here…" As Lisanna spoke, she slowly lifted Mirajane up and over her shoulder.
"R-Right…now's a better time than any to try…" Kinana agreed, giving a nod while helping Lisanna out. "What about the other people…?"
"We can worry about them once help arrives…we can't do much to help with Mira-nee injured…" Lisanna said, now slowly making their way to the door. The door opened, but a wall of Wicked Flames appeared in front of them, causing them to stagger back. "G-Gah..! H-How!?"
"OI! Sit still, why don't ya?!" Jack said while walking through his own flames, causing the females to back up even farther. "We've still got a good 18 minutes, so why not sit back and enjoy the show! Someone should be here soon, so you all get first row seats to watch your downfall!"
"Ugh…" Lisanna groaned at Jack's little speech, but her ears perked up once she realized that help was coming. "Someone's coming…!?"
"Natsu. Don't worry, I'll make quick work of him," Jack replied with a widening grin. "So hold still."
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"Yah!" Cynthia exclaimed while throwing a flaming fist towards F. Rogue's face, but the future dragon slayer evaded by leaping to the side. Cynthia turned quickly, cheeks puffing out as she unleashed a quick Omega Fire Dragon's roar towards the evading Future Rogue. "I won't let you get away!"
"So much like Natsu…I can make this quick in that case…" F. Rogue replied before unleashing his own Shadow Dragon's roar, colliding with the opposing roar, only to cause a small explosion. Using the smoke to his advantage, F. Rogue morphed into a shadow and zipped behind Cynthia, returning to his normal form while extending a hand towards the ground. "Shadow Dragon's Eruption."
"Eh?" Cynthia turned around once hearing the voice behind her, but by the time she did an eruption of shadow dragon slayer magic engulfed her, sending her skidding back across the street with moderate damage. "You're not the only one who can do that…" She replied, snapping her fingers after, creating multiple red magic seals around Future Rogue.
"What's this…?" F. Rogue blinked before realizing it, crossing his arms while the magic seals unleashed explosive red fire upon him. When it cleared, his clothing was tattered and he was covered in burn marks. "That was impressive…" He admitted before dusting himself off. He then gathered a solid amount of Shadow Dragon slayer magic in his hand before sprinting forward, swinging his arm for a swipe with shadows following behind him. "Shadow Dragon's Slash!"
"Eep!" Cynthia leaned back, just avoiding the Shadow Dragon's slash aimed for her stomach. She then brought her head forward, and slammed it against F. Rogue's for a harsh head butt, but quickly realized it was a terrible idea as they both began to comically hold their heads in pain after the strike. "ooowie! Why did I do that!? That was a really bad idea…!"
"You're telling me! Hard headed brat…!" F. Rogue groaned in agony, shaking his head shortly after to rid himself of the stinging sensation. "Ugh, now that that's over with…" Future Rogue pointed his hand forward, creating a shadow katana which he quickly flung towards Cynthia, not to kill, but to injure severely.
"Gah…" Cynthia shook her head as her focus returned, eyes widening at the incoming shadow katana. She dove out of the way as quickly as she could but the blade managed to graze her side. She rolled onto her feet, now on a knee as she panted somewhat, wincing from the cut on her side. "You're pretty strong…then again I guess 7 years of strength really does come a long way in some places…" She then eyed the timer, noticing that only 14 minutes remained. "Come on, Natsu…there's not much time left."
"Never look away in a battle!" F. Rogue exclaimed, a quote taken from Natsu himself as the shadow slayer entered his dual mode: White Shadow. Half of his body began engulfed his darkness while his white hair became shaggier, his single eye glowing. He pointed his hand forward, gathering both white and shadow dragon slayer magic on his fingertips. "White Shadow Dragon's Rough Silk." After he exclaimed this, he fired off small, but immensely powerful beams of dual slayer magic towards Cynthia.
"Oh no…!" Cynthia covered herself, letting out a cry of pain as the beams of magic pierced through her, drawing blood from the now open wounds. After the attack was over she fell to her knees, panting heavily from such an attack, but she gave a small grin. "That one hurt…heheh…" She brought herself up slowly, a bit wobbly. "Now it's my turn!"
"Your…turn…?" F. Rogue gazed at Cynthia, a bit surprised that she was still standing from that last attack.
"Mhm…" Cynthia pulled her fist back, gathering a large mass of omega flames around her arm, which turned into the shape of a dragon's head. "Secret Art! Omega Fire Dragon's Radiant Fang!" Cynthia ran forward, thrusting her arm forward, sending the dragon's head right for Future Rogue. The attack exploded once it neared the future slayer, causing the town to shake violently as a result.
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"W-Whoa…!" Erza stumbled around a bit from the force of the small earthquake, shaking her head as she looked in the direction of the small explosion. "That's Cynthia alright. I hope she's not having too much of a hard time…"
"Something tells me she's doing just fine…" Gildarts said while walking right next to Erza, giving a slight grin.
"Gildarts? Did you find out anything…?" Erza asked.
"Not quite…" Gildarts shook his head. "But I think we'll be in good hands now. Ace'll be here any minute, but unfortunately he's taking the long road because his machine is busted at the moment."
"Of course…" Erza sighed at the last part, but there was still some time. "We'll just have to hope for the best.
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Both Cynthia and Future Rogue were hunched over, panting heavily from their last attacks. Both were quite injured but it didn't seem like the fight was over quite yet. Future Rogue was faring better than Cynthia was, however. "You're becoming an annoyance…" F. Rogue admitted. She was more stubborn than he thought, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. "Why don't you just collapse already? I can tell you're on your last legs."
"I can say the same thing…" Cynthia replied.
"Cynthiaaaa!" Wendy shouted, catching the attention of both dragon slayers as she ran through the Wicked Flames that opened up for her (since she wasn't fighting).
"Wendy!" Cynthia subconsciously took a small step back, fearing the future she was shown before, but shook it off and smiled to her friend. "You're okay!"
"I saw the flames and rushed over here as quickly as I could…!" Wendy replied, eyes widening once she noticed Future Rogue. "You…!"
"Hm…" F. Rogue looked between the two females before grinning slightly, starting to fade back into the shadows. "It appears my work here is done…You may have gotten in my way of getting to Jack, but I'll get my answers eventually. Farewell…" With that, F. Rogue was gone. Clearly it was already too late for him to get to Jack, but he wasn't done with Dealer yet.
"Cynthia, are you okay?" Wendy asked while extending her hands to Cynthia, a sea-green light appearing as she began to heal her best friend.
"Yeah…" Cynthia nodded, unable to help but think about the "future" she was shown. It wasn't a problem during her encounter but with Wendy right here it was all she could think about. "I'll be okay…and you will be, too…"
"Huh…?" Wendy blinked at the last part.
"Don't worry about it!" Cynthia replied with a grin, unsure if she should say anything just yet. "I'll tell you later…but for now, we have to keep moving…!" Cynthia tried to take a step but she winced from her injuries. "Ugh…he got me..." Future Rogue was much stronger than she could've imagined...
"You can hardly move…" Wendy shook her head, staying by Cynthia's side while she sat her down. "We're staying here…I can tell Natsu-san ran off ahead…I'm sure he can beat Jack."
"Right…" Cynthia nodded, letting out a pained sigh after.
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Joker stood in the way of Crime Soricere from reaching Magnolia, and vice versa. Both sides wanted to reach Magnolia, but for completely different purposes. The ace of Dealer had a large, imposing aura around him...but the three wizards weren't going to back down. Jellal sped forward with Meteor, aiming to meet Joker head on. However, Joker was already in front of him before he could get too far. "What!?" How was he so fast!? Joker aimed a solid punch towards Jellal's stomach, but Jellal was able to avoid by turning sharply at the last second. Joker hit nothing but air, and Jellal used this chance to zip around and kick Joker in the back of the head. He was hoping Joker would at least stumble, but the large man didn't even flinch. "!?"
Joker then turned around, slamming his elbow into Jellal's face. This was a direct hit and the heavenly body mage was thrown to the ground from such an impact. "While the three of you may be above the average wizard, you are still dogs compared to me. I will put you down."
"I don't like the way this guy talks..." Meredy said with a sweat drop.
"Then we shut him up permanently!" Ultear slid into the ice make stance and slammed her hands on the ground. "Ice Make, Rosen Krone!" From the ground, beautiful flowers rose up and wrapped around Joker, digging into his arms. "Now!"
"Right!" Jellal and Meredy nodded at once. Jellal swiped his hand forward, creating nine blades of lightning in front of him. "Jiu Lexiing!" These blades of lightning then all shot towards Joker at once. At the same time, Meredy attacked by sending a number of Magulity blades upon him at once. The bombardment of swords landed on the Ace of Dealer, creating a large explosion.
"Did we get him...? I felt those connect..." Meredy peered into the spoke. There was a large dark shadow within, and as the smoke cleared, Joker was seen standing with only a few marks on his body. "He's strong...!"
"Is that the best you can offer?" Joker lifted a brow. "I expected more from wizards such as yourselves. Although, perhaps my expectations were too high. You've all lost to Fairy Tail...while I have not." He pointed his arm forward, and from the magic seal on his palm, multiple missiles began to shoot towards everyone. Jellal and Meredy had to take cover from the explosions.
"I don't think so!" Ultear swiped her hand, using her Time Ark to remove the missiles from the field. But right after she did this, Joker was already in front of her. "Ah-!?" She crossed her arms, creating a shield of ice in front of her in the shape of a flower. Joker kicked through it once, shattering the shield and slamming into Ultear's chest, knocking her into the ground. "Agh...!"
"Pathetic. Do you think you can stop me with that?!" Joker stepped on the ground, sending his signature Gigaton Pillars towards Ultear while she was down. An impact with that would've taken her out for sure, but Jellal sped forward in Meteor to grab her to safety. At that moment, Joker looked down at his wrist, noticing a heart seal along it. He turned to face Meredy.
"Now...if you want to bring us so much harm, you'll feel it yourself." Meredy said with a narrowed gaze.
"Do you think I'm incapable of handling what I dish out?" Joker cracked his knuckles.
Jellal was in front of him, releasing a blast of darkness magic at point blank range. "Dark Rondo!" This beam curved around Joker's body as he tried to defend it, instead slamming into his back. Joker staggered one step forward from the impact, before he reached out, slamming his fist into Jellal's chest. Whatever damage he was to sustain in the process, he pressed on as Jellal tumbled along the ground. "Agh...!"
"He didn't flinch...!" Meredy gasped. In the next instant, Joker was in front of her, a crimson orb charged within his hand. "Ah!"
"Begone!" He thrust his arm forward, putting out the same intensity of a beam that nearly killed Lisanna. Meredy crossed her arms as she defended herself from the blow, but it was too strong and she was thrown backwards, tumbling along the ground. She wasn't dead, though. She was tougher than that, which did make Joker quirk a brow. "Oh, I see. So you aren't made of paper." Joker then sensed something surrounding him. He looked up, only to see dozens upon dozens of orbs surrounding him.
"Flash Forward!" Ultear swung her arm forward, sending the multiple copies of her orb to bombard Joker all at once. It didn't seem like he had any defense for this attack and they all slammed into him at once. Ultear panted heavily, hoping for the best. But Joker stepped from the smoke, unfazed, even with the signs of damage on his body. "No way..."
"What is this man...?" Jellal said through gritted teeth.
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Strong and Elfman threw punches at each other. Their sheer strength upon their colliding fists caused a shockwave to boom out. Some of the cobblestone street was uprooted from the impact and the two slid backwards. Elfman was still in his Beast Soul, panting softly as he and Strong had been going at it. "Stand out of my way!" Elfman said while lunging forward once again, throwing a punch at Strong's cheek. It was a direct hit and Strong staggered backwards.
"I need you out of my way!" Strong exclaimed, gripping his club and swinging it towards Elfman. "Strong Swing!" He swung for the fences, and Elfman crossed his arms. The impact was far stronger than he anticipated and he was thrown into a building from the impact. "I gotta get to Jack!"
"I have to get to my sisters!" It took Elfman a second to crawl out of the rubble. But when he did, he immediately lunged towards Strong once again. "They're in danger and I have to save them. That means I need you to MOVE!" Strong went for another swing, but at the last second before impact, Elfman turned into his Lizardman Takeover. The high defensive increased allowed him to hold his ground when Strong attacked. Strong's club slammed into Elfman, but he didn't budge! Still, he felt the impact reverberating through his body, but it wasn't enough to stop him.
"What!?" Strong gasped. In his shock, this allowed Elfman to land a punch at Strong's stomach, which threw him backwards. He dropped his club in the process and coughed. "Damn...you're strong..." He said while shaking off the impact, coughing a few times. "But you ain't the only one that has to get to that Cathedral! That kid is in danger..."
"You care about your members that much?" Elfman was curious, because this was the first time he'd seen or heard anything of the sort from Dealer. Only Jack and Tia made sense, because they were siblings.
"Well..." Strong wasn't sure how to put it. "I don't hate 'em! But this is different. I made a promise to that kid's sister...so I gotta follow through on it!" They had the same goals, but their allegiances just made things impossible for them. Only one of them could move on. "If I don't get there...Joker's gonna do something terrible." Strong then lifted his hands, causing numerous vines to rise up from the ground and grab Elfman and constrict him.
"Gh...!"Elfman grunted, tugging against the vines but to no avail. He could feel these vines slowly sapping away at his strength, while Strong was only regaining vitality.
Strong had his Platinum Club at the ready, and even formed a matching walnut to go with it. "I gotta end this here... STRONG CRUSH!" Strong leapt into the air, crushing the walnut onto Elfman, before the ensuring impact of his club. A large tremor shook Magnolia for a moment and Strong leapt back from the impact zone, panting softly. "Sorry..." He was about to turn around, but Elfman began to rise.
Even with his Lizardman takeover, that attack did incredible damage. But Elfman was still standing, much to Strong's shock. "I...won't fail my sisters again..." Elfman's scales were in tatters, but he was still standing despite the damage.
"Sisters...Lisanna is dead, Joker got her...!" Strong said. "And your other sister is way stronger than you!"
To that, Elfman shook his head. "Doesn't matter..." Elfman took slow, heavy steps forward. "Lisanna is alive thanks to Ace...and Mira is still my sister. It doesn't matter if she's stronger than me...IT'S MY JOB AS HER BROTHER TO PROTECT HER!" Upon hearing the news that Lisanna was still alive, Strong's eyes were wide in shock. Elfman entered his Weretiger form, pouncing on Strong with a flurry of blows. Elfman was far too fast for Strong like this, his claws raking across Strong's body at every opportunity. "Weretiger Rush!"
"Gah! Ack! DAMN IT!" Strong grunted in frustration as he was being blitzed by Elfman. There was hardly anything he could do from this onslaught. He swung his club at the ground to create another shockwave, but Elfman leapt into the air to avoid it. As he did, his body began to change once more.
"BEAST SOUL: BELCULAS!" Eflman transformed into an enormous, armored beast while in the air. He reared his fist back and aimed to swing it at the crown of Strong's head. Strong retaliated with the mightiest swing he could muster, the two of them impacting each other at the same time. A clap of thunder loudly boomed outwards across Magnolia, catching the attention of anyone who heard it. With the dust settled, only one large figure was left standing...
"Haaaaah..." It was Elfman, bruised and bloodied as Strong lay defeated under him. That fight took everything he had and more. Elfman saw the wall of Wicked Flames disperse, leading to the Cathedral. "Hold on, you two...I'm almost there..." He took slow, heavy steps forward...but he then collapsed onto the ground shortly after.
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"READY, HAPPY?!" Natsu roared while sprinting towards the cathedral at full speed.
"Aye, sir!" Happy exclaimed.
"Let's go!" Natsu shouted at the top of his lungs, gathering fire in his mouth as his cheeks puffed out. "Fire Dragon's ROAR!" Natsu threw his head forward towards the closed doors, blowing them away instantly. "Jaaaack!"
"Whoa!" Jack jumped to the side as the doors were blown open, watching as they brunt to a crisp.
"That voice!" Lisanna's ears perked up at the sound of the familiar voice.
"I finally got to you!" Natsu exclaimed while lunging right towards Jack, throwing a flaming fist towards the kid's face, but Jack was quick and evaded the strike with ease by flying back.
"So, you finally made it, eh!?" Jack asked with a grin, keeping a few foot distance between himself and Natsu. "I've been waiting for one of you to show up! I'm glad it was you! I was starting to get bored! It won't be long until this town you call home is burnt to a crisp!"
"Natsu!" Kinana grinned at the sight of the Salamander. Hers wasn't the only one, the faces of those trapped also lit up at the sight of help.
"Glad you made it..." Mira said with a small smile. She was looking extremely exhausted due to the effects of the Wicked Flames.
"You guys get out of here now. This is going to be a tough one," Natsu said while keeping his glare on Jack.
"R-Right…" Lisanna nodded, looking to Mirajane. "Let's go…" Both she and Kinana were going to help Mirajane out of the building.
"Aye…be careful, Natsu." Mirajane nodded. Quickly, the civilians Lisanna, Mirajane, and Kinana left the building, just leaving Natsu, Happy, and Jack.
"Finally, we get to settle the score from a while ago…" Natsu said while pounding his fist together, flames igniting fiercely on them. "I wasn't finished with you yet! You've put a lot of my friends in danger. I don't care what your reasons are, I'm not letting that slide!"
To that, Jack scowled. "My REASON is that you took my sister away from me! You think you can do whatever you want and escape the consequences!? You took away something I hold dear, so now I'm going to do the same to you!"
"I'm not letting that happen! Because I'm going to stop you right here, right now!" Natsu shouted, his orange flames rising high into the building.
"Do you really think you have a chance at beating me!?" Jack asked while holding hand in front of his face, the malevolent, violet flare of the Wicked Flames burning brightly on his hand. "I hope you know that I didn't even get the chance to warm up back then! Joker took all the fun. Plus, if you didn't notice, there's only 10 minutes left! You don't stand a chance, Dragneel!"
"WE WON'T KNOW UNTIL WE TRY!" Natsu roared at the top of his lungs, lunging towards Jack with his fire burning brightly.
"I'LL ENJOY FINISHING YOU, YOUR FRIENDS, AND THIS TOWN OFF!" Jack shouted at the top of his lungs, rushing towards Natsu with his purple fire burning around his Corvus Armor.
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Natsu: "This is it, Jack! We settle this here and now!"
Jack: "Fine by me! I hope you're ready to say goodbye to everything you hold dear!"
Natsu: "10 minutes?! I just have to beat you in 9 minutes and 59 seconds!"
Happy: "Go get 'em, Natsu!"
Next time: Natsu vs. Jack! Fire Dragon vs. The Flames of Disaster!