"W-Wait, what did you mean by me needing to die in order for the future to survive?"
"The tactic of stalling to figure out a way out by talking? Did you forget who you're facing?" F. Eric asked with an amused smirk as he went into a fighting stance, to which Eric gritted his teeth as his mind raced before coming to one simple answer.
Firing his laser.
"Dragon Cry: Activate!" With a roar, a golden magic circle appeared in front of Eric before unleashing a large beam of concentrated ethernano at his future variant.
However, his eyes widened as F. Eric's own Dragon Cry appeared in front of him before absorbing his attack, the future variant simply smirking as he rushed towards the present variant.
Raising his arms in a cross guard while sending his Dragon Cry to his pocket dimension, Eric wheezed as F. Eric's top right fist crashed into his arms, the force of the attack knocking the wind out of him and sending him blasting through the arena walls.
'Wha-What…the…fu…?' Eric was unable to even finish his thought as he sat slumped against the wall behind him, slowly looking around to see everyone blasting spells against the gravity barrier around them as F. Eric slowly walked towards him.
"You know, this might bite me in the ass, but to be truthful, I've travelled through the timeline so many times that I just don't care."
"Time…timeline?" Eric asked in confusion, shakily standing up before coughing up spittle as his vision spun while F. Eric simply shook his head while helping him up.
"Don't worry about them hearing. The gravity cage around us distorts all forms of sound & light away while keeping everything inside so all they see is nothing but blurry figures walking around." F. Eric explained as he picked Eric up, the present variant confused at the nice gesture while the future variant smiled.
However, that act of kindness quickly turned into hell as Eric's vision went black, F. Eric watching as his counterpart was knocked unconscious by the gravity-infused uppercut to his chin.
Unfortunately, Eric's sleep was quickly cut short as a blow to his chest shattered a rib, blood flying from his lips as F. Eric slowly pulled his lower left fist back.
"To answer your question, I meant this timeline. Just like you, I played around and won the Grand Magic Games for Quatro, but then, I got caught with my pants around my ankles when the dragons came."
"It…i-it was just…supposed to be seven."
"What makes you think we're in the manga timeline? I can tell you that this timeline is the one where ten thousand dragons come through, but rather than just ten thousand, I used the Dragon Cry to try & destroy the Eclipse Gate only for it to supercharged and bring forth millions."
"So…now you're going to kill me…because of your fucking mistake?" Eric growled only to give a silent scream as F. Eric shattered his knee with a kick, the future variant glaring at him as he growled.
"No, I'm going to kill you because you surviving last year is the nexus point that starts this timeline."
"You mean…waking up in that camp?" Eric wheezed while coughing up his lungs, F. Eric nodding before the present variant pulled himself away from his future variant.
"Yes, the former nexus point was the Dragon Slayers coming to the future & Eric Creed was supposed to die in that camp, but because your soul melded with his, we survived and a distortion in time was created."
"Then why not...oh shit, that hurts! Why not…just kill us…at that time?"
"What makes you think I haven't?" F. Eric asked with a raised eyebrow, cackling as his present variant gave him a look of shock.
"What, did you think you're the only one I'm going to kill? You and I are the only Erics that still exist in this timeline because I've killed them all. Past, present and future. They're all gone."
"Then, fucking end this!" Eric growled as he stood up, F. Eric raising an eyebrow as his present variant was covered in an azure before shaking his head.
"I'm not going to kill you now. We still have two more things needed. The first is your Dragon Cry. The second should be arriving…now!" As he finished speaking, the top of the gravity cage opened just for something to fly through the hole and crash into the ground right beside him.
Although, that was not the only thing that entered as Bacchus, Guy, Warcry, Kagura, Minerva, Laxus, Mira, Mystogan, Erza, Jura, Ivan and Makarov managed to make it through as well, Bacchus instantly looking at Eric while the others glared at his future variant.
"Damnit, should have just warped it open at the point of impact instead of opening it earlier." F. Eric grumbled as the dust next to him began to settle, Makarov's eyes widening at the sight of a large light lilac crystal, with a petite blonde girl dressed in a white flowing dress inside of it as she slept an eternal slumber.
"Wha-Wha…How did you…?" Makarov whispered, unable to finish his words as those from Fairy Tail looked confused while F. Eric grinned as he leaned against the crystal.
"Like I said, I'm from the future so I know so many secrets, especially the one about Lumen Histoire."
"So, that is the secret you've been hiding all these years, Father." Alexei growled and everyone turned to him with frowns before their eyes widened as he took off his helmet to reveal the grinning visage of Ivan Dreyar.
"Ivan!" Laxus growled, his confusion at his grandfather's shock dissipating as it was replaced by a burning rage.
"If it isn't my greatest success. How have you been, de-!" Before Ivan could finish his words, everyone watched in horror as he was crushed into a bloody paste, Eric frowning as F. Eric unclenched his fist & let the pile of flesh fall to the ground.
"Sorry about that. I just have a burning hatred for him since he caused most of our survivors to be killed by Alvarez."
"So, they did attack as we suspected?" Jura asked with a frown, F. Eric snorting as he nodded.
"A year or two from now. Although, when you've been fighting tens of thousands of dragons on a daily basis, even their strongest tends to be nothing but fodder."
"What?" Guy asked with a frown, a bit confused and shocked just like everyone else as F. Eric smirked.
"That's right. In about two days from today, ten thousand dragons are going to come charging through a magical gate called the Eclipse Gate that is currently hidden underneath the Mercurius Palace. I admit that I fucked up by trying to destroy it with the Dragon Cry and consequently empowering it to the point that millions came through, but now I'm trying to fix that. That is why I'm going to ask once and only once. Please, move out of the way while I still feel some remorse."
"What happens if we do?" Bacchus asked he walked forward, to which F. Eric responded with a shrug.
"I'm going to kill myself and him. With our deaths, the timeline will be restored and everything will go to how it was supposed to be except this time, we won't be there."
"You realize that with you talking so much, an infinite number of branching timelines have already been created." Eric spoke before spitting up a glob of blood, confusing everyone else as F. Eric chuckled & nodded.
"Oh, I do. However, like every timeline, once you destroy the main timeline…"
"The rest will go with it." Eric grumbled with a sigh, to which F. Eric simply smirked.
"Wait, how do you know that? He might know of such a thing if what he says is true, but I don't see how you would know anything of time." Mystogan asked with a frown, to which Eric sighed while rubbing the back of his neck.
"Let's just say I love the complexity of space-time and leave it at that." Eric answered, making everyone frown while Jura and Makarov glanced at each other before shaking their head.
"Well, it's been fun talking to you all, but like I said, we need to die, so I'm going to need everyone to move."
"Unfortunately, while Eric is a pain in my ass, he is also a member of Quatro Cerberus and we of the wild family don't like it when someone threatens our family, even if it is some weird future version of them." Bacchus declared as he went into his fighting stance, to which F. Eric simply looked at him before watching as everyone else got ready.
"Very well. I tried being nice." F. Eric spoke before his ethernano exploded into existence and everyone froze as a nauseating fear flash through their minds, staring in horror as the grinning demon before them spread his arms wide.
"Out of my way." F. Eric spoke as he began walking forward, the mages readying themselves for a fight before they turned as Eric shouted.
"Hell Flame Dragon King Mode: Activate!" The dragon slayer chanted while stabbing his chest with his right thumb, Bacchus' eyes widening along with that of everyone else's as he was obscured by scarlet flames for a few seconds before the flames disappeared to reveal Eric now in his Dragon King Mode.
"Dragon King Mode, huh? You sure you want to burn away your ethernano like that?" F. Eric asked with a raised eyebrow, the others waiting as Eric grinned while raising his hand to the sky.
"Don't worry about me. Dragon Cry!" Eric shouted as his hand sent out a pulse of ethernano, F. Eric rolling his eyes as he watched his present variant recalling his staff before raising an arm to the side just as Kagura appeared besides him with a vicious slash.
"So, I was right. Your magic is not Gravity magic." Kagura spoke with a frown, to which F. Eric simply smirked as he clenched his lower right hand into a fist before raising his index & middle fingers.
"Dragon Scales. Repulse. Paired Falling Stars. Devil Slayer Cursed Arts: Timeless Dismantle." In the blink of an eye, Kagura found herself being pulled away from F. Eric and towards the present one just as the future variant swiped through the air where she previously stood.
Before the others could move, they could only watch as the ground in front of F. Eric was cleaved open, the cut stretching for miles as F. Eric dismissed his gravity cage while grinning at Eric's shocked look.
"Did you believe that my appearance was simply a cosmetic change or an illusion? No, this is from bathing in the demonic baths of Tartaros after I destroyed their guild and killed everyone inside it. Now, I have all that I need. Space Magic...", Eric trailed off as his upper right hand was covered in violet, scarlet & azure energies.
"Hell Flame Dragon Slayer Magic…", He continued as he raised his upper left hand, blazing scarlet flames burning brightly.
"And my Curse, Dismantle." F. Eric finished with a smirk as he held up his lower two hands that were coated in a dark scarlet miasma, Eric watching as the ambient ethernano in the atmosphere was corrupted the moment it came into contact with the strange ethernano in F. Eric's hands.
"Guys, leave and get everyone away from here."
"We are not leaving you here, Eric. Now, who has a plan?" Erza asked as she transformed into a dark purple qipao with a halberd, Mira already in her Sitri form while Laxus threw off his cloak.
"Not much. I've been trying to figure out how we can attack, but if he has the same eyes as Eric's…", Guy trailed off, everyone grimacing as they realized what problem they faced.
"If he's like me, using infrared and ethernano scanning at the same time will overload his mind because of the different types of electromagnetic waves we need to look at. Also, whenever we use scanning, we focus on everything around us so that creates a weird way of seeing ourselves from the third person perspective."
"Interesting. Anything else?" Jura asked as he readied himself, to which Eric frowned as he stared at the amused look in F. Eric's eyes.
"Well, considering how he hasn't attacked us while we were explaining it, he's developed a bit of an ego and if his story is true about killing thousands of dragons, then the ego is through the roof."
"I was simply giving you all a moment to say your goodbyes to Eric. Also, most of what he said would have been true, but war forces you to turn every weakness into a strength. Now then, are you done?"
"Yeah, we're done. Everyone, go and help everyone escape. Before you start arguing, Bacchus, this is not an average enemy. This is me we're fighting and I know myself enough to know that if I got to that point, I will kill everyone in my path to achieve my goal, isn't that right?" Eric asked while looking at his future variant, who simply smirked as his Dragon Cry floated down into his hand.
"We're not leaving!" Bacchus growled, everyone else nodding as Eric sighed before looking at his future variant and glancing upwards.
Before they could stop them, both Eric and F. Eric rocketed up into the sky, flying up high above the sky above Crocus before F. Eric grinned as he held his top arms outwards.
"Gravito Secret Arts: Hollow Black Coffin! Dragon Slayer Secret Arts: Imperial Scarlet Prison." With two chants fired off back to back, a large scarlet magic circle not unlike that of Eric's covered the air below them before a cube made out of scarlet flames hid the two men from view, a cube coffin of pitch black ethernano layering over the flames and giving their battle a second layer of protection.
"Thanks for that. You're not so much of a dickhead after all."
"Eh, I thought you might want your death to be quick. So, are you going to let me do this quietly?" F. Eric asked, already knowing the answer as Eric just grinned while letting his Dragon Cry float besides him, the future variant just sighing as his Dragon Cry floated away to maintain the barrier.
"You know me so you know my answer." Eric declared as his ethernano erupted, the temperature skyrocketing while F. Eric nodded before placing his lower arms in a prayer motion while he went into the exact same stance as Eric.
"Then, let us not waste anymore time and allow me to guide you to your de-!"
"Hell Flame Dragon King's Roar!" Eric cut off F. Eric's words by opening his mouth and unleashing a cataclysmic hurricane of flames, his Dragon Cry flying around to F. Eric's back with a thought before it unleashed a colossal beam of ethernano.
"Dismantle. Hell Flame Dragon's Fist." F. Eric on the other hand looked to be at ease as his lower left hand slashed in the direction of Eric's fire attack while his upper right was covered in flames before punching out at the beam heading in his way.
In mere moments, Eric swiftly leaned out of the way just as a gust of wind passed mere millimeters by his face, watching as his fire hurricane was cut to nothing while the Dragon Cry's beam was stopped by a mere punch.
'How much fucking stronger did I get?' Eric thought as he watched F. Eric's smirking at him, the mage not even caring for the Dragon Cry attack as flames exploded from his fist and burned everything it touched to ash.
"Here's to help you understand better. In my timeline, it was me against Acnologia, Zeref, Alvarez and hundreds of thousands of dragons. There were no guilds to help me and there was no Fairy Tail to save the day. I've fought day in & day out for five fucking years and breaks were few in between."
"Wait, then couldn't you have used the Neo-Eclipse thing Zeref had and just rewrite the timeline?" Eric asked with a frown and F. Eric frowned as he looked to the side.
"That was the first thing I tried to do. Unfortunately, Tartaros had been waiting for their opportunity and captured me when I was at my weakest point before activating Face. It was only because I was becoming an Etherious inside their guild that I still had my ethernano, but when I came out...everything was gone. That is why I need you to let me do this, Eric. Even if you don't attack the Eclipse Gate, that's still ten thousand dragons that you'll have to fight and we both know what happens after the dragons arrive."F. Eric spoke with a frown and Eric stared at him before he sighed.
'I could just say no and try to kill him, but if what he says is true about killing Zeref & Acnologia, there's no way I'm even close to surviving a fully charged attack from him. Maybe I can appeal to some sense of camaraderie in him. Nah, he'll probably get mad at me for trying. Am I really about to do this?'
"I have a request." Eric spoke as he deactivated his transformation, F. Eric smiling as he snapped his fingers and Fairy Heart appeared besides him in a flash of scarlet flames.
"Make sure Flare goes to Quatro and not Raven Tail. Even if it comes to the point that she dies during the attack, please make it so she dies peacefully."
"…Hah, I can't promise that she'll die peacefully or make it to Quatro, but I will make sure that she lives the best life that she can." F. Eric spoke with a nod, to which Eric gave a thankful smile before calling Dragon Cry to him.
"So, how painful is this going to be?" Eric asked as he watched F. Eric pull his own Dragon Cry back, to which the future variant simply smirked as the two Dragon Cry staves floated on both sides of him while Fairy Heart floated behind him.
"For me, painless. For you, you'll be experiencing the lives of every Eric Creed that existed throughout this timeline while your body is being ripped apart atom by atom."
"So, painful, then." Eric muttered as he palmed his face, grumbling at F. Eric's chuckles before taking a deep breath and shaking his head.
"Very well. Get this over with."
"Truthfully, you have more guts than me. I would have just killed myself out of spite."F. Eric said with a shrug, to which Eric snorted.
"I was thinking of that, but I wanted to be the mature one for once."
"Ha! Sure, now…Dragon Cry: Activate! Dragon Cry: Activate! Fairy Heart: Link!" F. Eric chanted as his ethernano reached out and attached to each of the three artifacts, Eric floating backwards and watching in awe as the two Dragon Cry staves began to glow a bright gold while Fairy Heart radiated a violet glow throughout the sky.
"My spell required four things: three objects of nigh-infinite ethernano that can be used to fuel the spell and an object that has travelled through time & is also the nexus point of the timeline."
"Which is why you can't use Natsu or the other slayers for the second part." Eric spoke with a look of understanding, to which F. Eric smiled before turning to face him as his lower two arms grabbed Eric by the shoulders while his upper hands reached out and grabbed a Dragon Cry in each hand.
"To make your demise a peaceful one, you are much more complying compared to the other Erics I've killed across my travels."
"Yeah, that doesn't make me feel any better, but thanks." Eric spoke with a nervous smirk, making F. Eric chuckle before the present variant was surprised by the cage around them dissipating.
Looking down, he caught sight of Bacchus leaping towards them, Flare and Guy not too far behind, but unfortunately, it was too late as he felt F. Eric's ethernano overflowing into his body.
With one final smile, he looked at the tears on Flare's face before closing his eyes as he felt his consciousness fading away.
"Time Magic: Made In Heaven."
A/N: And with that abrupt ending, the timeline is reset & rewritten once more! Let me make it clear: this will be the one & only time I use this! Why I won't use it again? You'll find out later in the story.
As for those that wanted Eric to beat up his future self, this was exactly as I wrote it to be: an unwinnable situation.
What's going to happen next chapter? Stick around to find out.
And now, like always, you can go to my Pat-reon-.-com-/-KingCrimsonNova to read ahead on this as well as many other stories(Not many. Just three at the moment). If you want to, you are free to, but if you don't want, all's good as I will still be uploading here. This is just me trying to get some extra cash.
As always, read, enjoy, review and until next week...
Ba-Bye~!