183 The Broken Timeline
'He reacted to that?!' Future Rogue stared at Natsu with a dumbfounded expression. 'This entire timeline...is wrong! This current Natsu is far stronger than I remember. It's not only him...Jellal as well...Fairy Tail's placements in the prior games...and the one named Meliodas. It was almost a fluke that the end result of the Grand Magic Games was the same…If that were the case, my plan to manipulate the princess wouldn't have worked…'
"Lucy, get out of here! He's the one you're after! You guys make sure Lucy gets out of here safely!" Natsu shouted.
"But we can't leave you to fight him al-" Before Lucy could finish her sentence, Loke immediately grabbed her wrist.
"Natsu's strong. He can handle it. We're going." Loke said. Lucy nodded reluctantly as she and the others began to run down the hallway. Future Rogue looked angrily at them as he saw Lucy running away.
Future Rogue pointed his shadow clad hands towards the fleeing group."You're not getting away from me!"
Natsu immediately stepped in Future Rogue's path with both of his hands clad in flames.
"Shadow Dragon's Haste!"
"Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!"
The two waves of flames and shadows clashed with one another, creating a massive explosion causing the entire castle to shake. Natsu emerged from the smoke of the explosion, his entire body surrounded by flames.
"You're really going to get in my way, Natsu Dragneel?!" Future Rogue exclaimed.
"Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!"
Natsu rammed headfirst straight into Future Rogue's torso. Future Rogue's eyes widened as he coughed up blood from his mouth and his body was sent flying down the corridor into the wall. As his body was embedded deep into the wall, he watched as Natsu charged straight at him again. 'He's not even using his lightning clad flames and he is this strong…'
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
Natsu lunged forward, punching straight where Future Rogue was embedded and creating a massive eruption of fire to burst from the surrounding walls and ground. Above them, the ceiling began to crack and large pieces of debris fell down, revealing the upper floor of the castle.
"That slippery bastard…" Natsu grunted as he removed his fist from the wall. 'He probably slipped into a shadow somewhere…'
Natsu immediately jumped up into the air as he sensed a presence lurking beneath him. Just under him, he saw Future Rogue emerge and take a deep breath in with Natsu doing the same.
"Shadow Dragon's-"
"Fire Dragon's-"
"ROAR!"
The two magics clashed with one another, seemingly even at first. Future Rogue's eyes widened as Natsu's flames began to overpower his own shadows.
"Impossible!" Future Rogue shouted as his entire being was engulfed in flames. At that instant, an eruption of fire traveled throughout the corridor and upward through the hole in the ceiling, reaching the main hall on the first floor of the castle.
Both Natsu and Future Rogue jumped out from the smoke and landed facing each other in the main hall. Future Rogue panted heavily, his clothes singed and burns covered all across his body. He stared in both confusion and awe at Natsu.
"I really can't afford to hold back at all against you." Future Rogue said as an aura of both darkness and light began to leak from his body. Natsu's eyes widened as he felt Future Rogue's magic skyrocket.
"That power…" Natsu commented.
"White Shadow Dragon Mode!" Future Rogue charged straight towards Natsu. Natsu's surprised expression immediately shifted as veins formed just above his eyebrows and he glared angrily at Future Rogue.
"That's Sting's Magic you bastard!" Natsu roared as he and Future Rogue both wound their fists back. They both punched forward, hitting each other in the face simultaneously before being blown back by the force of each other's attacks.
Future Rogue landed on his feet and wiped a bit of blood dripping from his lip. "I don't know how you got so strong, Natsu. But I won't let you interfere with my plans!"
Natsu tumbled across the ground, quickly regaining his balance and landing on both of his feet. "And if that plan has to do with killing Lucy, I won't let you get your way!"
Both of his arms became covered in flames and he lunged forward to Future Rogue. Future Rogue did the same, with one arm covered in shadows and the other engulfed in light.
"Dragon Slayer Secret Art-"
"White Shadow Dragon's-"
"Jiu Leixing!"
Future Rogue suddenly felt a sharp pain in both of his shoulders and found himself pinned to the ground. Natsu came to a screeching halt as he looked at the figure standing over Future Rogue, who was pinned to the ground with two swords of lightning. Future Rogue turned his head to get a glimpse of who interfered. A look of surprise formed on his face.
"Jellal?!"
He immediately winced in pain as blood spurted out of his arms. 'I already had my hands full with Natsu…I can't fight Jellal.'
"So you're Rogue, of the future." Jellal commented. Jellal noticed Natsu begin walking towards Future Rogue but and immediately glanced at Natsu. Natsu noticed Jellal's serious gaze and stopped.
"Explain yourself. You have nowhere to run." Jellal continued.
"I underestimated you…both of you…" Future Rogue said. As blood dripped down from his mouth, a small smirk formed on his face. "But you both have also underestimated me."
Both Jellal and Natsu's eyes widened as Future Rogue suddenly sank into the ground, right into his own shadow.
"What the?!" Natsu looked down at the ground and in the immediate area frantically for where Future Rogue could have gone.
"This was an error on my part. I didn't anticipate his possible escape with those injuries." Jellal said calmly. "No matter. He won't be able to fight for now. Natsu, I'll need you to fill me in on everything that has happened so far."
—
A bright, full moon and starry sky illuminated the city of Crocus. Meliodas, Ultear, and Meredy stood atop a high building, watching as a massive crowd of mages and guards gathered in front of a towering door. The massive door had a sun and moon design etched into the middle, with the upper section being green and split into twelve sections. A set of steps lead up to the door with two pillars supporting it on each side.
"So that's the Eclipse Gate…" Ultear commented.
"So that's supposed to be some kind of cannon?" Meliodas questioned. "Looks nothing like one to me."
"What about that magic from earlier? It felt like Natsu was fighting someone really strong." Meredy said.
"Jellal went ahead to handle it. Besides, Natsu can handle himself in a fight." Meliodas said calmly.
"You think it was the figure you chased down on the third day?" Ultear asked.
Meliodas gazed at the Eclipse gate and furrowed his brow. "Most likely. I would have gone after him myself but I'm a bit more curious about this "cannon."
A few moments of silence passed and the surrounding area began to grow darker. Meliodas looked up at the moon as he saw a shadow begin to fall over it and darken. 'An eclipse.'
Suddenly a massive creaking sound echoed throughout the city as the gate began to open. Bright light began to spill out from the opening and an immense magical presence could be felt.
The gate swung wide open and a hulking figure began to emerge from the bright light. Meliodas squinted as he stared at the creature coming out of the gate. He looked towards Ultear and Meredy who were frozen in place with wonderstruck looks on their faces.
"That can't be…" Ultear said silently.
"A dragon…" Meredy whispered.
Meliodas remained silent as he watched the mastodonic dragon with swirl patterned blue scales walk out of the gate. The dragon towered over the rest of the guards standing beneath it and was nearly the size of the gate. Behind it, Meliodas could make out the figure of another dragon trying to emerge.
The swirl patterned dragon raised its right claw up and slashed downward, sending a massive shockwave that cut through the city and destroyed dozens of buildings. The dragon let out a massive roar as several more dragons emerged from behind it.
"I'm going over there!" Meliodas shouted.
—
"This can't be real…" Arcadios muttered in disbelief as he held Princess Hisui close to him and stared at the dragon and the destruction it left behind.
"So ten thousand dragons…are coming through the door…" Hisui said quietly as tears began falling down her face.
"We have to close that door!" Lucy screamed as another dragon walked right out. She immediately dashed forward, only for another dragon to stick its head out of the gate and roar, the shockwaves sending her flying back. Before Lucy could fly back very far, she felt herself stop as someone caught her from behind. Arcadios and Hisui's panicked expressions began to shift into relief as they saw the person who had caught Lucy.
"Meliodas!"
