Last Time:

Snatching her head around, she closed her eyes as she opened them wide. Something was very wrong now, she should have felt the buildup of magic, yet it was so sudden that it was shocking. 'Three…no, four. Four magical spikes, one stronger than the rest, so that has to be Salamander. Are they using their 'Drives?' This could turn bad….' Just as she summoned her orb and was about to disappear, a voice came from the smoke of the carriage, something so deep and terrible, it chilled her to the bone.

"Dragons…..do not like to be chained. I think you all need to be reminded….of who we are. Now, shall we play, little Knights? Come….let us see if you can slay the dragons."

Present:

Erza froze at the tone in which the voice came out, it sounded nothing like she remembered it, nothing like how she remembered Natsu speaking. If that wasn't enough, it didn't take another three seconds until all hell broke loose around them, bringing the cries of panic to even more frantic levels this time. A sudden shockwave made the S-class mage plant her feet into the ground and raise her arms to protect her face from the wind, allowing a small gap between her arms to see what caused it.

Her mouth dropped open as a tornado suddenly appeared not a hundred yards from her, uprooting several carriages, tents, horses, and Rune Knights. Each and every single one of them had looks of disbelief and fear on their faces as they were sucked up and whipped around like pieces of paper caught in a storm. The next thing to catch her attention was the ground suddenly rumbling, fissures and spikes of earth appearing everywhere in front of her in the encampment of the Rune Knights, yet none of it making its way to the Fairy Tail building. From the fissures that had spread all the way to the ocean, water appeared in torrents, blasting away any Rune Knights that have come close.

None of this truly scared her, impressed her, yes, but it did not scare her. What scared her was the explosions of flames occurring on the far end of the encampment, near where the carriage that was supposed to be holding Natsu and his friends were. She assumed they had somehow escaped their bonds and were making the Rune Knights pay for what they've done, if that dark remark earlier meant anything. Equipping into her 'Flight Armor', Erza allowed the wind currents to help carry and propel her forward to the explosions. She danced around the earth spikes appearing, slicing a few in the process, as well as the torrents of water.

Right as she landed, she shot her hand up to hold her mouth as she bit back the need to vomit. The smell of charred flesh filled the air in such strong amounts that it seemed like thousands of people were being burned alive right under her nose. Sudden explosions off to her right caught her attention as a feminine figure suddenly shot past her, quickly followed by another one. If the flash of the skimpy clothing and the wind currents were any indication, that was probably Jess chasing Ultear….wait. 'Ultear is here?! Why the hell is she here?!'

Those thoughts plagued her mind right as she glanced back to the explosions, letting the two other women settle whatever grudge they had against one another. The only thing that really mattered to her right now was finding Natsu, and based on some of the unresponsive bodies around her, she assumed she would not like what she saw. Letting her Flight Armor disappear back into its pocket dimension, she started running forward, following the burned bodies and still blazing fires around here. If one looked at this from an aerial view or from a distance, they would likely assume the world was ending.

"NATSU!" She called out as she ran around, moving past scrambling Rune Knights who went in whatever direction they seemed the threat to be coming from. The only response she got in return was a torrent of flame heading towards her as she grit her teeth. Equipping into her 'Flame Empress' armor, she cut the flames in half and absorbed them into her sword. She decided to stay in this set of armor, in case any other attacks happened to come her way. It only took her half a minute and turning around a corner of tents that she stopped, having found what she was looking for and something she wasn't hoping to see at the same time.

Natsu was holding the Captain of the Rune Knights by his face, the man clinging onto Natsu's arm to try and get him to let go. How Natsu managed to find the Captain was beyond her, he likely went hunting for the man, but what mattered now were the flames creeping up his arms towards the head of the Captain. "Natsu, stop!" She took a step forward until a dry 'crunching' sound filled her ears. Glancing down, she had to hold her mouth again, as she had just stepped through a very charred and very dead man's arm. His entire body seemed so brittle as the rest started turning to ash.

'This….this isn't Natsu…he wouldn't do this.' She tried to convince herself as she looked around, noticing just how many bodies were around her. Each and every one of them were in the middle of painful screams judging by the positions of their mouths. She witnessed one such scream as the Captain was suddenly engulfed in flames, his cries seeming to spread through the camp as Natsu had the most cruel smirk displayed on his face. 'N-no….he isn't….he wouldn't…' her thoughts trailed off as she finally remembered who he was and what he has done before. 'This isn't Natsu….this is the Salamander, the one that destroys what he hates.'

Gritting her teeth, she shot forward and planted a kick in the side of Natsu's face, blasting him away and forcing him to drop the captain as she swiped her sword in front of the Captain, sealing the flames from his body. Said man was badly burned but alive, albeit barely from the state of his clothing and skin. The hairs raised on the back of her neck as she brought her sword up, blocking a flame enhanced punch from Natsu who appeared once more, an insanely dark smirk plastered on his face now.

With the sword in front of her face, it blocked Natsu's view of who he was currently attacking. Bracing her shoulder under the length of the blade, she caught Natsu's full body with the width of the sword, slamming him into the ground as she flipped it over her shoulder. Jumping back, she had tears in her eyes as she realized that Natsu didn't hesitated to attack her and she was forced into a difficult pinch, either fight him and defeat him so he calmed down or wait until he regained his senses. She saw the look on his face, he was stuck in a state of bloodthirst, it would already be difficult to recognize her as she experienced the same problem a few times with others, so she had little hope of Natsu regaining his senses any time soon.

Elemental Dragon's POV:

Jess was grinning as she immediately started off with one of her most high-class abilities, mainly for it to be her own distraction for her to find a certain black-haired bitch. "Air Dragon's Cyclone!" She bent her arms at the elbow and gathered wind currents around the length of her forearms, suddenly twisting around rapidly as she was in the center of her own tornado. Channeling more magic into the attack, she let it sustain itself as she jumped out of the ripping currents of wind. It would last for a few minutes, enough time for her to go and find her prey, someone she needed to make sure felt a bit of pain before the day was over.

Somewhere off to her left, Atlas clapped his hands together, runes appearing all around him as they slowly condensed into the palms of both hands. Clapping them down onto the ground in front of him, he pressed his fingers into the ground further, getting a good grip into the earth. "Earth-Dragon's Impaling Spikes!" Jerking his hands apart, he continued with his next spell. "Earth-Dragon's Great Fissure!" He tore a small fissure into the ground with his bare hands as everything started shaking, larger fissures appearing all around him and at the edge of the cliff, allowing Rose to use her own spells.

Coating his body in plates of hardened earth, he jumped forward into the encampment, moving around pillars of earth as he started his own path of destruction through the Rune Knights. Not too far off, a group of Rune Knights, having noticed the sudden appearance of Rose and feeling the other attacks, decided to attack instead of waiting for Rose's spells. A fissure suddenly appeared between them and the Dragon-Slayer who now had a dark grin on her face. Barely raising her voice, just enough to be heard, she winked at the men who all suddenly started backtracking. "Water-Dragon's Torrents."

"Aaaaahhhh!" Was the common scream as torrents of water appeared from the fissures that connected to the ocean, washing them away back into their ruined camp for the other fissures and the tornado she knew Jess made to handle them. She kept this one spell up, as it was all she needed for the time being as torrents kept rising out of the several fissures around her, smacking away any who got close to her or ones she had decided to pick out. A frown adorned her face as she felt some of her torrents being destroyed, moving her gaze up to notice a familiar scarlet-haired mage flying towards Natsu's direction.

'She isn't going to like what she sees….but if she does care for him, she'll have to realize what he is. I can only trust that it doesn't get out of hand.' She thought, unknown to her that Jess and Atlas, having noticed the familiar blur as well, thought those exact same words. All of them had frowns on their faces as they realized what Natsu might do, yet they hoped he wouldn't be so far gone at this point that he could still recognize who Erza Scarlet was.

One of these frowns disappeared as someone caught sight of a stunned Ultear, blades of air appearing on her arms as she slashed it forward. "Air-Dragon's Slash!" The announcement of the spell alerted Ultear to who was attacking her as she quickly jumped up into the air, avoiding the strike, yet the woman cursed herself for her mistake. She had just entered her enemies domain, and the concentration of magic appearing above her made her brace herself as Jess appeared in the sky. "Air-Dragon's Pressure Strike."

A crater appeared below Ultear as she was forced down, coughing a bit of spit out as she suddenly twisted out of the way as a kick cracked the ground from where she landed. Keeping the momentum from her roll, she gained a bit of distance as she growled, several orbs appearing around her. Each one hurled forward, intent on turning Jess into a beat-up doll, yet it was not meant to be. Jess disappeared into thin air, suddenly appearing in front of Ultear, a hand placed on the woman's stomach with an innocent grin visible. Such made Ultear look down at the rune appearing on her stomach. "Air-Dragon's Pressure Strike."

Ultear was hurled through the air, crashing through several tents and passing a flash of red hair, but what caught her attention was Jess who was following after her. The strike itself wasn't that powerful, due to it having no build-up, but it did force her out of the encampment and away from any support she might get from the Rune Knights.

Back to Erza and Natsu:

Erza brought her sword up again, blocking another strike and shifting her weight on her feet to push Natsu back once again. She was breathing heavily at this point, yet she showed no signs of backing down to Natsu who was currently trying to roast her alive. At this point in the battle, she knew that Natsu was not in control of his actions based on the change in his eyes, his attacks, and the fact he has not said a single word during their exchanges, something entirely unlike him to her knowledge. This entire fight so far was just Natsu enhancing his own attacks with his elements and not using any of his signature attacks, something Erza copied.

Both were simply trying to overwhelm the other with strength, yet Erza knew something, she was losing. She had put away her fear of what Natsu had become and replaced it with the need to save her own life and bring back someone she cared for, who was the same person trying to currently take her life. As ironic as the situation was, she couldn't let herself be distracted before a wave of fire erupted from Natsu, following him as he kicked at her head, only to feint with it and plant a punch into her stomach.

Coughing up a bit of spit, Erza was hurled back into a tent as she quickly stood up again, but not without a very noticeable dent in her armor. 'To think….there is such a change between the Natsu I know and the Salamander….even though they are the same person.' She slashed her sword at Natsu who jumped at her, nicking his cheek and drawing a little blood. "Natsu, wake up you idiot! It's me! Erza!" She had tried calling out like this several times since they started several minutes ago, yet the only response she got was another attack that could cave her head in.

She was slowly losing ground during this entire fight, because she knew when it came to brute strength that Natsu out-classed her. Making up for this in speed, it wasn't enough as she was holding back from trying to deal any real damage to his already hurt body, unlike him who was trying to kill her. 'I have to think of a way to handle this….he doesn't respond to me calling for him. He isn't getting any calmer, if anything, because I'm fighting back he is starting to get more wild!' Biting her lip, she kept cursing herself mentally as she came up blank with any solution to fix the situation she was in. A few stray thoughts went into actually trying to kill him to save herself, but she banished that as she ducked another punch aimed at her head.

'No…this is still Natsu, so he must still be in that thick and stupid head of his!' She reminded herself as she slammed the flat of her blade into Natsu's chest, knocking him back. His attacks were sloppy and easily read, likely because his mind was somewhere else or he didn't have one right now. Yet for how sloppy they were, each one had enough power to end this fight if they made a clean hit, something that Erza had noticed when he smashed through a solid steel chest-plate of a stray Rune Knight that got too close to try and help her. Said man turned to ashes seconds later while he screamed for mercy.

One thought made its way to her though that seemed to have some merit. 'He's acting on instinct…instinct demands to protect what he cares for when it is hurt.' Gritting her teeth, she dodged back a roundhouse kick and instead responded with one of her one that was blocked. Widening her eyes as her leg was grabbed, she braced herself as she was slammed into the ground, a crater appearing under her. Coughing up blood, she sliced his arm to get her to let her go.

It wasn't deep, but enough to make him loosen his grip for her to slip her leg out of his grasp. Wiping the blood away, she saw a moment of hesitation on Natsu's face at the sight of the blood on her face as he sniffed the air. Blinking once, Erza watched as the hesitation disappeared a few seconds later as the blood dried itself from the heat around her. 'Was he…? …I see, so I really do have to take my chances.' She knew that Natsu would not forgive himself for this, nor would she let him forget about it.

Gaining a grim smile, she watched Natsu charge up another attack that was aimed directly for her chest. Instead of blocking, dodging, or retaliating, she simply closed her eyes. Right as Natsu's fist made contact with her, the entire area turned into a massive explosion of flames, the view of Natsu's fist slamming into Erza and the sound of metal tearing through the air was the last thing a short, old man noticed.

Makarov's POV:

This entire situation was a mess, and not just because of the amount of money he would have to spend to fix the amount of damage around here, but because that his friend's guild members were currently taking on several hundred Rune Knights and making them into even more wanted criminals. Groaning, he sat atop of one of the pillars of his ruined guild hall, watching the attacks go around and several Rune Knights thrown about like toys. As far as he noticed, none of the attacks were too violent or crippling for these Rune Knights, so he wouldn't feel too bad about some of them ending up in the hospital for a few days….or weeks….or months.

True, he didn't like what was happening, but even he felt that what was going on was somewhat deserved. The Council send a unit to arrest his guild and the very people who helped destroy Phantom Lord. If that wasn't a spit in the face of the name of justice, he really couldn't think of anything else that would come close to that. He had watched Erza run out into the encampment, likely to go find the pink-haired brat she took an interest in, much to Makarov's amusement. 'Ah…young love. Such a wonderful thing.' He thought with a perverted grin.

Yet, no matter how much he thought of this little show, he couldn't help but have something in the back of his mind telling him that something was going to go wrong. Several explosions on the other end of the camp alerted him to where Natsu Dragneel was likely going rampant, doing who knows what. That made him frown, he knew that something was happening over there he really did not approve of. Sighing a bit, he could only imagine what the young man was doing, since Makarov knew that the boy had no real issue with killing those whom stood in his way or were evil in his eyes.

A sudden blur of pink and red made the old man's eyes widen as he narrowed them to get a better look. The same blur passed by again, yet he caught the faces of Erza and Natsu, locked in a very violent and desperate fight against one another. From one glance, Makarov knew what was happening there. 'The brat lost himself to his bloodlust….and it seems Erza is trying to get him back. I guess I'll go make sure this doesn't get out of hand, I don't need the entire town leveled.' Even though he knew of Natsu's strength, he had no doubt that Erza was just as capable, if not slightly more so, than the Dragon-Slayer.

Jumping down from his perch, he started walking along the tents, following the burnt trail of destruction and the fires still flickering around him. Upon one sight, he frowned as he noted a chest-plate with a fist sized hole through the middle, the center slightly melted. He could guess what happened to the man, if the pile of ashes around the armor was any indication. Hurrying his pace a bit, that bad feeling that was in the back of his mind kept growing the closer he got to the sounds of battle. Turning around one tent, he froze as he saw Erza standing defenseless right as Natsu's fist made contact with her armor and they disappeared in a torrent of fire.

Natsu's POV:

Punch. Kick. Dodge. Punch. Punch. Kick. This is all that went through his mind as he fought the blurred shape of his opponent in front of him. Whoever this was, he had to admit they were good to keep on such even terms with him. He would have thought it was one of his siblings, yet he would remember their magic from having trained with them for so many years. Natsu didn't care though, he was having the time of his life fighting like this, nothing to stop him or possibly trouble him.

Catching a kick that was aimed at his head, he grinned as he slammed the figure of his opponent down into the ground and watched as they backed away from him. That's when he suddenly stopped as something felt wrong, causing him to sniff the air around him. 'This smell….it's so familiar…blood? Where do I know this scent from?' The scent suddenly disappeared, swallowed by the flames around him as he shook his head. 'Ah, who cares, all I want is for them to pay! Chaining me up like a slave, I'll show them who is in control of who!' Cancelling his thoughts, he went back to charging his fists with flames once more.

Charging forward with a grin on his face, he shot his fist forward, waiting for his opponent to try and defend themselves. He frowned as the closer he got, he noticed the figure not doing anything. 'He'll die if he takes this attack…why won't he move? Does he think my attack is weak? I'll show him weak!' He growled as he slammed his fist forward even harder.

In the next moment, his fist met something hard, pushing further, it soon met flesh as the smell of blood and sizzling skin met his nose. This all happened right as the explosion encircled them both, blocking the view of anyone who came near him and even his own view from the brightness and intensity of his flames. All he registered was someone shouting from behind him right at the moment of contact, such a familiar voice…it sounded like Jess if he could think about it. "Natsu, stop!"

Elemental Dragon's POV:

Rose and Atlas were running through the ruined camp, panting a bit as they passed knocked out Rune Knights and burning fires. A bad feeling crept into the back of their heads the moment the attacks from Natsu started getting more intense, meaning he was actually fighting someone instead of going on a rampage. They both had an idea of who it was and they hoped to anything that it wasn't turning out like they thought. Both of them knew of a way to stop Natsu, yet the act of it would likely end up with someone dying. Passing piles of ash and burnt corpses, they felt the flames becoming more intense, all the while Atlas was cursing himself.

'Shit shit! I'm a damn moron! He would have recovered on the way to the jail, I knew he would have! I pushed him to get us out sooner and Scarlet might die for it, he'll never forgive me, much less himself if she does!' Atlas was running as fast as he could, slightly in front of Rose as they traveled to the explosions of flames. Rose was having similar thoughts, but she was more cursing herself for allowing Atlas to give such a suggestion. Each of them were caught up in the moment of being able to get revenge on the Rune Knights that they didn't remember what guild they were next to.

Natsu was one problem, but another was their own Master who would likely kick them out of the guild if someone from Fairy Tail ended up dead because of a stupid choice on their parts. That was if Natsu didn't leave of his own accord after he would be recovered from what he was doing. The Fire Dragon-Slayer was already hurt from all of his battles, now he was in another one, but this time it wouldn't be a physical wound, but a mental one.

This only caused them to pick up their speed as they passed several craters with spiral-like impacts in them and several instances of seemingly frozen in time objects around them. Earth was crumpled like it was wasting away and trees seemed to have rotted at the base or new ones that weren't there before suddenly having sprouted from somewhere. Passing another crater, they saw Jess surrounded by chunks of ice and heavily breathing.

Noticing them, Jess sprinted to them as they stopped for a moment. "Where's the skimpy bitch?" Rose asked to Jess who frowned in response. "She got away...teleported right as she froze me in a block of ice. If I wasn't in my Drive, I would be dead right now….didn't even know she could use Ice magic." They all frowned a bit at the new information and the fact it made her an even scarier future opponent. "You're going to stop Natsu, right?" Rose and Atlas nodded a bit as Jess frowned further. "Let's hurry….i'll plant some enhancements to pick up our speed, we need to stop him."

They all suddenly started glowing, not even saying another word as they were sprinting nearly three times as fast to the explosion. Right as they turned a corner, Atlas and Rose noticed Makarov just appeared as Jess suddenly screamed out. "Natsu, stop!" Jerking their heads to who she was talking to, Atlas and Rose watched in horror as Natsu hit Erza, the two of them suddenly vanishing in a pillar of fire.

General POV:

As the pillar of flame disappeared, all that was left was Natsu standing above the downed figure of Erza Scarlet. His fist was covered in blood and his knuckles were cut from the steel, fire licking around them that quickly dispersed. One thing ruined the entire picture though, the look of horror on the face of the Fire Dragon-Slayer at what he was seeing in front of him. On the ground under him was Erza Scarlet, a hole in her chest-plate with the impression of his fist easily seen on her chest. There were burned scars there, showing where his knuckles had made contact as he instantly fell down to check on her.

He turned his head quickly, begging himself to hear any sign of her heartbeat or a breath of air escaping her mouth. Swiping his hand, all the flames in the area instantly died out as he ripped her chest armor off, exposing a burned shirt under her. Natsu didn't bother to do anything other than place his hand over the burn, dragging the traces of his magic out of the flesh, all while still waiting for that one sound he was hoping would come.

'Thump'. A sob choked him as he heard the heartbeat, all the tension in his body falling away as he let a few tears fall from his face. 'Oh god…oh god….I-I almost killed her!' He drew the last traces of his magic out of her as he raised his hand to her face to touch her cheek. This would have happened if a voice hadn't shouted out. "Get your hands off her you bastard!" A giant fist slammed into his entire body, knocking him a good distance away. Instantly, flames licked at his body again as he snarled at the now giant form of Makarov Dreyar, standing between him and Erza.

"Out of my way Gramps! I need to make sure she's alright! Move or I'll make you!" His fists lit on fire as he started charging forward, until Jess, Atlas, and Rose suddenly grabbed him and held him in place. "You nearly killed her, Dragneel! Come near her again and I'll make sure I'll kill you myself!" The giant of a man roared out, his eyes turning white with the concentration of magic in the air. Struggling to go forward still, Natsu fought with tears in his eyes as he tried to escape the grip of the other three.

He was too weak right now to go against their strength, too tired, too hurt. Natsu had almost killed the person he admitted to not even an hour ago to loving, all because he couldn't be strong enough to control himself. 'Damnit damnit damnit! This….this is my fault!' He kept screaming internally as he slowed down his struggles. "Let me go….i'm going to see her." He spoke out quietly to the other three. They all exchanged glances to one another before Atlas shook his head. "If you go over there, he'll kill you. She's alive, leave it at that, Natsu. If we stay here too long, reinforcements will arrive and we won't be able to escape. I know you're hurting, but-" Atlas was speaking before he was interrupted.

"I don't care! Let! Me! Go!" He shouted as he twisted and urged the last of his strength forward, ripping away from them. Instantly running to Erza, he froze as he saw one of her eyes opened and facing him. That was all it took, the emotion in that one eye to make him stop. Clenching his fists, he instantly turned away, walking away as Makarov shrunk down, keeping a firm glare on the retreating figure of Natsu Dragneel. "You may never come near her again….if you do, I promise you will regret it."

Jess turned to the man and frowned slightly. "Scarlet made her choice to get involved and she paid for it-" Natsu grabbed her by the throat, tightening it slightly before he let it go, mainly because of Atlas who snatched his arm away. "Enough….we're leaving." The pink haired man grumbled out as he walked away. The three glanced between him and the downed figure of Erza Scarlet, also noticing the look in her eye. It was that of pure fear.

The thing that everyone missed was the outstretched arm of Erza Scarlet, reaching towards the retreating figure of Natsu Dragneel. From the attack, she could not speak, for how much pain and pressure was going through her body. Yes, in her eye was the look of fear, yet it was not the fear of a man who had nearly killed it, no. It was fear for the man that she was afraid would never come back, fear for the man that she loved would think she no longer loved him. As her eyes darkened and her arm fell to the ground, the last view she saw was the traces of tears falling from the downcast head of a certain Pink-haired dragon-slayer.

Said man had an emotionless mask on his face as he led the group of his siblings away from the camp, tears silently falling from his eyes. He dared not look back, less he be reminded of the fear that was in her eye. Natsu Dragneel had almost killed a person he loved, simply because he listened to his friends and his own need for revenge and to escape. Walking through the ruined camp and towards the woods, he fell down and hit the dirt as they were out of sight. Yells of shock from his friends reached his ears, but all he saw before he passed out was the barely breathing, nearly dead body of the woman he loved, his fist covered in her blood with a hole nearly through her chest.

'Ah….how could I ever forget….nothing good lasts forever. I suppose….that I don't deserve a happy life around her. Guess I won't be seeing her ever again….i'm a damned idiot. It hurts….seeing her scared. So much….I guess this is payment for my sins.' He gave a small, mentally dry, pained chuckle as his eyes rolled up into his head, embracing the darkness of his mind.