Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Fairy Tail.

WARNING: Explicit sexual language and violation of modesty.

Chapter 20: Absolution (X784)

There was much to admire about Natsu and Happy's excellent coordination as the dragon slayer sped towards Naruto while carried by the flying cat, a grim determination settling on his features. Hoteye was quick to support their assault, turning the ground beneath Naruto soft, trapping the man's legs from knee down under a thick, layer of liquefied concrete that congealed almost immediately after. Unfortunately for them, the blond ninja was completely unfazed by the onrushing pink-haired mage, nor the restriction of his mobility. Instead, he just cackled as his fist flashed out, faster than anyone Natsu had ever faced. The powerful punch to his face completely reversed his momentum, and the dragon slayer was sent flying back, Happy unable to correct his friend's trajectory.

Without wasting time, the orange-haired former dark mage waved his hands. More liquid ground rose in front of Hoteye, the wave splitting to allow Natsu pass before converging into a single wave once more. The torrent of earth towered over the immobile form of Naruto, threatening to drown him. Happy just about managed to haul Natsu into an upright position in front of Hoteye to watch as the wave crashed into Naruto's position, only to disappear as it came into contact with the man's outstretched left hand. They could only watch in stunned silence as the blond man aimed his right hand to the side, and the wave barrelled out of his palm, leaving Naruto completely unharmed.

"Mmm, mmm, mmm!" Naruto hummed, taking an exaggerated whiff of the air. "I do love the smell of the freshly dug earth. Reminds me of the graves I'd like to dig for all of you!"

The ninja slowly rose out of the miniature quagmire his feet were stuck in, until he was standing atop Hoteye's liquid earth. He made a show of crouching, readying himself to attack. Natsu and Hoteye tensed, but no amount of mental preparation could cope with speed they didn't have reflexes to react to. He flickered out of sight, appearing in front of Hoteye in less than the blink of an eye. A crushing blow to his gut bowled over the former Oración Seis member, the orange-haired man collapsing to his knees, coughing uncontrollably. Natsu, with Happy's help, spun around and powered towards Naruto, fists encased in fire and feet spurting out more flames for propulsion.

Naruto easily sidestepped Natsu's charge, and before the pink-haired fire mage could pull off a Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame, Naruto raised his knee beneath the Fire Dragon Slayer. The deceptively strong hit bent Natsu nearly in half as spittle flew out of the fire wielder's mouth, his breath knocked out of him. Naruto didn't follow up on his attack though, which allowed Happy to drag Natsu away from the blond man to where Hoteye had stumbled to in retreat. Naruto shook his head slowly, wagging his finger in mock disappointment.

"This won't do…no, this won't do at all!" the ninja clucked his tongue, before planting his hands on his hips. "I'm not even breaking a sweat here! C'mon, at least give me a challenge! This isn't fun at all!"

Natsu growled, and blasted off once more, his entire body now engulfed in fierce flames. Two separate waves of earth rose on either side of Naruto, surging towards the blond man in an attempt to trap him long enough for Natsu's Fire Dragon's Sword Horn to hit. Boxed in from three sides, most people would have retreated back to get some space. Instead, the blond shinobi stepped forward, pirouetting around Natsu and plucking Happy off of the dragon slayer's back as the duo passed him. The Fairy Tail member, suddenly lacking his partner, was powerless to stop himself from flying right into the space where Naruto was standing earlier, just as the two earthen waves from Hoteye were about to collide.

The orange-haired mage only just managed to divert his dirt away from Natsu, sparing the pink-haired fire mage a premature burial. The two waves turned and combined as they rushed at Naruto once more. Scoffing, Naruto raised his unoccupied hand, redirecting the torrent of earth to a random Hiraishin kunai on the ground, scattered from the earlier battle. As the wave of dirt vanished, it revealed Natsu as he leapt at Naruto, roaring out his challenge. Fists aflame, he was about to launch into a barrage of explosive punches when Happy was thrown right at him. The unexpected attack took Natsu by surprise, his blue companion bouncing off his face and obscuring his vision.

A foot planted itself in Natsu's bruised stomach, and the Fairy Tail mage was sent careening away, trying desperately to control his flight with bursts of fire from his feet. A chain had snagged Happy as he tried to fly towards Natsu, reeling him back into Naruto's grasp. Another wave of earth tried to sweep Naruto off his feet from behind, but the man's reflexes were equal to that. The ninja back-flipped, and while in midair, his hands flashed out, a Hiraishin kunai slashing a thin cut across Hoteye's geometrically-shaped cheeks. The man vanished, reappearing where his kunai was in mid flight. As he grabbed the knife to stab down at Hoteye's shoulder, the man ducked, raising his hands in a motion akin to warding off evil.

A geyser of earth erupted upwards from below Naruto, but the man just winked out of existence once more, appearing at another kunai. Happy struggled mightily in his hand, tiny wings fluttering dementedly. But Naruto had a vice grip on the cat as he held Natsu's best friend by the top of his head. Naruto swung the Exceed around to be used as an inadequate shield, forcing Natsu to redirect the Fire Dragon's Roar that he had fired at Naruto. With deftness, the fire mage made his flames circle around Naruto even as he spat out the last fumes and let his Fire Dragon's Claw continue propelling him towards the blond mage whilst keeping him off the moving vehicle that was Nirvana.

Natsu lunged for Happy, hands outstretched, but he only received a boot to the face for his efforts. His Fire Dragon's Roar was dissipated with a gust of wind, and Natsu could only watch helplessly as Naruto manhandled his dearest friend. The fire mage barely noticed as he fell onto a rippling platform of liquid earth, keeping him off Nirvana and just about staving off the motion sickness. Naruto brought Happy up to his face, knitting his brow at the Exceed. His fingers dug into the flying cat's skull, the pressure causing unwitting tears to leak from the Exceed's round eyes. With a loud scoff and a dose of Sleep Magic, Naruto tossed an unconscious Happy uncaringly over the edge of the tower, the tiny cat disappearing from view.

Natsu wanted to dive for his friend, but an earthen wall rose to block off his path. Hoteye shook his head as he rose out of the ground beside Natsu, speaking up before the pink-haired mage could remonstrate. "If you go and retrieve your friend now, he'll take advantage of you turning your back on him. Your friend will be safe from him for now as well."

"Ah, Richard-san, don't tell him my plans~~" Naruto whined mockingly, clutching at his hair. "You're such a party pooper. I'm going to call you Dick from now on!"

"Shut up, you asshole!" Natsu howled, his earlier feeling of helplessness overwhelmed by a growing desire for revenge. "You hurt Happy! I'll never forgive you!"

"Oooh, I'm so scared~~" Naruto grabbed his cheeks, his jaw agape in fake terror. He then smirked, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "You oughta be happy I didn't just kill off that little critter. I thought he might make a cute pet, y'know, in a birdcage and all, so I saved him for later. My friends will go nuts if they see I had me a talkin', flyin' cat!"

Natsu blasted off the platform that Hoteye had conjured for him, his features twisted by a bestial snarl. As Naruto tried to sidestep the flaming human missile, Natsu swivelled his body, clawing at Naruto as he spun to face the sky. The Fire Dragon's Crushing Fang was snuffed out in an instant, along with all the fire on Natsu's body. The dragon slayer barely had time to register his flames suddenly dying out as Naruto grabbed his arm by the wrist, tugging on the appendage as he lashed out at the Fairy Tail mage's side with his left foot. Natsu's scream was soundless as the angled stomp crushed his innards and cracked his pelvis. Naruto fluidly kept up the attack, smashing his left fist into Natsu's sternum, driving the air out of his lungs.

As Natsu collapsed limply onto the cold ground of the king's area, motion sickness proving absolutely no help to his recovery from the assault, Naruto scoffed. He ground his foot into Natsu's hip, eliciting a pained groan from the sick and battered mage. "God, but you're pathetic. It's no fun playing with someone who can't even entertain me properly."

Naruto leaned downwards, putting his lips close to Natsu's ears. "But if you scream loud enough, I might just derive a little pleasure from this lame fight. Will you scream for me?"

Twisting Natsu's left arm around so his elbow was facing Naruto, the blond man proceeded to slam his forearm down on the joint, completely breaking the limb. A howl of unbridled agony erupted from the dragon slayer's lips as his broken bones protruded from his flesh, white shards spraying out of the gruesome wound. Blood sprayed all over Naruto's pants as he continued holding on to Natsu's wrist, which was hanging onto his body by thin strips of muscle and hope. Naruto sneered as he let go of the pink-haired mage, drawing out another whimper from the man as his decimated arm contacted the hard ground.

"Ah~~" Naruto inhaled deeply. "Music to my ears."

Fixing a half-lidded stare at Hoteye, Naruto smiled cruelly. "And it seems my day's going to get even better! I see another person who can help me compose my little melody. Let's have lots of fun together, Dick-san~~"

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Erza swallowed her apprehension, as the gigantic structure of Nirvana grew ever larger in their sights. She had sent Natsu ahead, but for all the faith she had in the pink-haired dragon slayer, he was still only one man. Oración Seis were six, and they had Nirvana to boot. As the alliance thinned out the dark mages that were working under Oración Seis, Erza was prompted by Jura to go ahead and join Natsu in fighting the main threat, while the rest of them mopped up the last of the mages that were distracting them from Nirvana.

Kurama proved to be a steed far faster than any vehicle Erza had ridden upon, bar perhaps the train. They closed the distance between Nirvana and themselves in a jiffy, each stride of the massive fox covering huge distances. It also helped that the superstructure suddenly changed directions, and moved towards them instead of away as it did previously. In a few gigantic leaps, the massive canine bounded up one of the enormous legs of the walking city, Erza clutching onto his neck hairs with a deathly grip. Standing at the edge of the walking city, the huge fox took a deep sniff of the air, his black nose crinkling in distaste.

"I smell blood," Kurama muttered cautiously. "A lot of it."

"Is it close?" Erza urged, worried for her comrade.

"No, but it's straight ahead though," Kurama pointed his snout at the tower that rose above all the buildings on Nirvana. "I'm guessing it's coming from the tower."

"Then let's make haste and support Natsu," Erza stated, giving the fur in her hands a little tug.

The fox nodded firmly, and traversed the empty city at great speed. A sudden cloud of dirt and dust erupted from the top of the tower moments later, followed by loud noises of falling debris from within the tower. Kurama sped up even further, and proceeded to burst through the concrete wall at the bottom of the tower with great force. Skidding to a halt, they were greeted with the sight of Naruto standing over an orange-haired man, whom Hibiki had informed was the Oración Seis member known as Hoteye. A ray of sunlight shone through the hole from the top of the tower, illuminating the two combatants in its warm glow.

Erza found herself relaxing, glad to see the blond mage alive and well. So he's alive. I shouldn't have expected otherwise. He must have left a decoy with us to keep Oración Seis unaware of his movements. It looks like he has everything in control here.

Then, he bent down and put his hand over Hoteye's face. The orange-haired man screamed himself hoarse as Naruto did something to the dark mage, before pulling his hand away. Hoteye turned his head towards Kurama and Erza, scarlet liquid pouring out of two hollow eye sockets and drenching his face. Naruto straightened himself, humming a soft tune under his breath as he juggled two small items with one hand. When Hoteye continued screaming, scrabbling at his face futilely, Naruto kicked him in the side in annoyance.

"Oh, stop whining and get up already," the man kicked the Liquid Ground mage again, uncaring of the excruciating pain Hoteye was suffering from. "People in my world took out their eyes all the time, and I haven't heard a single person complain about it yet. And they even did it themselves! I spared you the work of plucking your own eyes out. You ought to be grateful for that!"

"Naruto-san…what on earth…" Erza clenched her armoured fist, unable to believe her eyes.

"Oh! Look, it's Erza-chan!" Naruto's face visibly brightened. He then took a look at the eyeballs in his palm, and transferred one to the other hand. Holding them out with his thumbs and index fingers, he wriggled the ocular organs at the crimson-haired mage, giggling madly. "Hey, Dick-san, can you see Erza-chan too? I'm aiming your eyes right at her! She's such a pretty little thing, isn't she?"

Hoteye let out a soft sob, his screams having petered out. Naruto knitted his eyebrows, clucking his tongue as he crushed Hoteye's chest under his foot. With shearing winds encasing his leg, it was one of the most grisly scenes Erza had ever witnessed. Blood sprayed in all directions as a massive hole was drilled into the Oración Seis member's chest, the cutting nature of the wind eviscerating the former dark mage with extreme prejudice. Bits of bone and organ tissue flew out of the fallen man's thorax, and only when Naruto's foot was completely through the orange-haired mage's chest did he remove it, his pants soaked in blood and covered in gore.

Hoteye's body twitched spastically on the ground for a short moment before it finally stilled, leaving a deathly silence hovering over the three living beings in the area. Kurama's hackles rose as he rolled his shoulders, a signal for Erza to dismount. The woman slid off the large canine silently, the horrible scene that played out in front of her so jarring that she could only stare dumbly at the corpse of Hoteye bleeding out on the ground. It was contrary to everything she thought she knew of Naruto, and it was not the best time to find out such things about him either.

"Such terrible manners, Dick-san," Naruto berated the cooling corpse as if he were chiding a child. "You were supposed to praise Erza-chan's beauty, not lie down there and pretend to be hurt!"

"There's something wrong with him," Kurama rumbled, bending his forelegs in a mild crouch. "He'll never play with his opponents like that. Nor will he do any of…what he just did."

Erza stiffened at the fox's words, before breaking free of the numbing shock. Nodding at the sentient animal, she dispelled her regular armour, donning an all black number. Two bat-like wings spread from her back, before folding down slightly to give her a slimmer profile. Gripping her sword with both hands, she held the blade closer to her body in a defensive posture. She wasn't sure how this version of Naruto would fight, and she didn't think rushing in blindly would do any good against a man who had speed that outstripped her Flight Armour, and the reflexes to go with it. Not to mention he had completely destroyed her Purgatory Armour in a single move once before. She had confidence in her Adamantine Armour to hold up against any of his attacks, but the crippling lack of mobility kept her from choosing that particular set.

And with his speed, I cannot afford to be unable to react to his attacks. He might just have a spell that can pierce my armour, Erza evaluated, bending at the knees. Given the circumstances, sacrificing some defence for mobility and attack power seems more appropriate. He doesn't seem to be too interested in using something that can break my armours, but at the same time, going for all out speed and sacrificing defence will only tempt fate.

"Hmm…the magic in these eyes are fading fast," Naruto remarked blithely, staring at the organs with little interest. "Useless to me then."

Tossing them over his shoulder without a second glance, Naruto wolf-whistled as his eyes roved over Erza's armour-clad body, lingering on her cleavage before his lustful gaze met her narrowed eyes. "Erza-chan, you really shouldn't wear stuff that's so revealing, ya know? It's not nice to tease guys like that."

Erza barely caught his sprint as he blurred into motion, before coming to a dead stop in front of her. She raised her sword up, swinging down and hoping to catch Naruto as he invaded her personal space. The blond ninja's right palm moved into the path of her wrists, blocking the motion and killing her vertical slash before she could bring it lower than her head. Chains sprouted from the palm, wrapping around her hands and binding them together tightly. As the crimson-haired woman lashed out with her armoured right knee, Naruto smacked her inner thigh while twisting his hips, diverting the knee away from his body.

Naruto took a small step forwards, planting his right leg between hers. His left hand caught her leg beneath her right thigh, and proceeded to slide up her body. The motion pulled her closer to Naruto as the gloved hand ran over the black metal, leaving a bloody trail in its wake. His arm wrapped around her waist as his palm settled on the small of her back, pressing Erza up against him. Her armoured chest clacked against his bloodied cuirass, his head positioned over her right shoulder. His hot breath washed over the side of her face as he chuckled perversely, taking a deep whiff of her scent.

"…And it's not safe too, because you never know when a predator might be…on the prowl," the blond shinobi purred, before licking the shell of her ear.

Recoiling, she raised her knee to try and crush his groin. Instead, more chains sprouted from the ground, anchoring her foot to the floor. She only managed to escape his clutches when the blond man was forced to drop all of his chains and jump out of the way of a giant paw that smashed into the ground where he stood. Kurama stood in front of her protectively, a deep growl escaping his maw.

"The smell of the blood is coming from the top of the tower," Kurama said, his eyes focusing intently on the smirking Naruto. "Natsu might be hurt. We'll need his power against Naruto…and the strength of anyone who's still alive."

"What about you?" Erza questioned concernedly. "He's no ordinary foe."

"I've fought beside him for long enough. I know what he can do. I can handle him for a while," Kurama replied confidently. "Go! See if you can find out what happened to him as well!"

Nodding, Erza took off, her Black Wing Armour allowing her to make the short flight upwards without too much trouble. Naruto's storm grey orbs followed her path, and as she disappeared through the skylight he had inadvertently made when fighting Hoteye, he heaved a deep sigh of disappointment. "You're as much of a party pooper as Dick-san was, Kurama-chan. I thought you loved boobies? Shouldn't you be more understanding, hmm?"

"This isn't you, Naruto," the fox barked. "You're not putting up an act again, are you?"

"Me? Acting? So I can keep myself away from all the lovely ladies?" Naruto grinned maniacally. "Puh-lease. I can't wait to get to Magnolia in my swanky new ride, and show it off to Mira-chan. I hope she'll be so impressed that she'll sink right down to her knees…if you catch my drift."

"Then you must have been turned by Nirvana," Kurama surmised. "But your will should be strong enough to fight it off…"

"Maybe it's Nirvana," Naruto shrugged, the crazed smile stretching even wider. "Or maybe I'm just sick of babysitting little brats like Natsu~~"

Kurama's eyes narrowed. "What did you do to Natsu? What's Erza going to find up there?"

"Who knows?" Naruto shrugged his shoulders once more. "But this is all kinda suspicious, y'know? You claim you know how I fight, and I suppose you do. You tell Erza-chan you can handle me for a while. But all you're doing is just talkin' to me. Are you trying to convince me away from havin' my own spot of fun? Or are ya cleverly dragging out the conversation and giving Erza-chan time to get back here with Natsu?"

"Why don't you try and shut me up then?" Kurama taunted, playing along with Naruto. The blond ninja cackled as he launched forwards at his former partner, the sharp whistle of cutting winds filling the cavernous room they stood in.

"As you wish!"

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She thought she would be ready for whatever she would face when she reached the top of the tower. She thought she had seen the worst of the brutality this evil form of Naruto could come up with. She certainly didn't expect to be holding her bile back at the stomach-churning stench of blood and the morbid mess of human body parts scattered around the king's area. Any spot not covered in upturned earth from Hoteye's attacks was slick with coagulating blood. The central pillar was ablaze with energy, but that was the least of Erza's concerns at the moment.

Her keen eyes managed to spot the distinctive white scarf of Natsu amidst the sea of crimson, and she quickly reached his side, crouching by the prone dragon slayer. Biting her lip, she struggled to figure out what she could possibly do to help her friend. His face was pale, but it was clearly not a result of his motion sickness. Lying in a large pool of scarlet fluid, it was clear that without immediate medical help, Natsu might just lose his life. Her mind screamed at her to sever his left forearm and device a tourniquet to stem his blood loss. But Wendy wasn't that far away, and the loss of an arm could be devastating for the dragon slayer's career as a mage.

Taking a few deep breaths to calm herself, she tried to think of ways she could reach Wendy and bring her to their location as quickly as possible. The first option that came to mind was Naruto, but that was impossible under the circumstances. She might be able to beat him if she pulled out all the stops and took him by surprise, but she would unlikely be in time to save Natsu from being completely drained of vitality. She had no form of communication with the rest of the alliance, as no one had thought as far as that. She dearly wished she knew a spot of Telepathy at that moment.

Her train of thought was rudely interrupted not moments later, as the hulking mass of Kurama came hurtling through the concrete, blowing an even larger hole to go with the one Naruto had made with Hoteye. The vulpine animal was folded in half, Naruto under the massive fox with his fist buried deep into Kurama's stomach. They came to a halt hovering near the tip of the white pillar in the centre of the king's area, and Naruto winked at Erza as he tossed the limp body of his former partner down through the gap he had just come through. The resulting impact of the fox hitting the bottom of the tower shook the structure, a tense silence following right after.

Naruto, still hovering in the air, slowly lowered himself to the king's area. As Erza studied the mad grin on his lips, she suddenly realised she could use his current arrogance and nonchalance to her advantage. Leaning down to whisper a few words of encouragement to Natsu, she stood up, raising her hands into the air in the universal gesture of surrender. The blond ninja walking towards her then paused in his tracks, before pouting childishly as he folded his arms in a huff.

"Surrendering? That's no fun at all, Erza-chan," Naruto griped. "I was hoping I'll get more of a challenge from you than the lump of flesh at your feet."

"I'm not in top shape right now, after fighting Oración Seis' subordinate guilds," Erza explained, her heart thumping madly in her chest. Cons were not her specialty. "But if I had Wendy here to heal me up to full strength, I can provide you the challenge you are seeking."

Naruto tapped his chin in false thoughtfulness. "Hmm…that wouldn't be a ploy to keep our little lizard boy alive now, would it?"

"O-Of course not," Erza shook her head, lying through her teeth.

Naruto cackled loudly, throwing his head back and clutching his stomach. Erza held her breath as the man laughed uproariously, before he returned his attention on the armoured woman, flashing her a fanged grin. "Oh, Erza-chan, I wouldn't never have expected you to try a cute tactic like that. But I'm a generous guy, so I'll grant you your wish!"

Wendy appeared beside him suddenly, the disorientated girl falling onto her butt as she slipped upon arrival. As she reached to rub her bottom, her hands came into contact with the ground. The little girl froze as she brought her hand up to see it dripping with blood. Naruto laughed once more at the scene, before strafing to the side to avoid Erza's Moon Slash. Standing protectively over Wendy, she nudged the girl with her heel. Jolted out of her fear-induced coma, Wendy stared bewilderedly at Erza's winged back.

"Natsu's bleeding out over there," Erza jerked her head in the pink-haired mage's direction. "Hurry!"

Wendy nodded hesitantly, unsure of what was happening. But hearing that one of her friends needed her help was enough as she ran over to the prostrate form of Natsu. Naruto watched the moment with mild amusement, clearly not at all bothered by the idea of Natsu being healed back to full health. The blond man chortled at the sight of Wendy puking her guts out beside Natsu, before shakily holding her hands over his broken arm to begin the healing process. But as much as Erza would like to direct her gaze at where Naruto was looking, she could not. Not when she knew how dangerous the blond man was even if he appeared to be completely relaxed.

When Naruto had enough of watching Wendy trying to hold back her tears while healing Natsu, he swivelled his head to regard Erza once more. His eyes ravished her body with great relish, but Erza refused to be intimidated or disgusted by the man's antics. He was obviously angling for a response from her to heighten the level of his twisted entertainment. True to her predictions, the man's grin curled into another immature pout as he realised he wasn't going to get any reaction out of Erza.

"Ah, if only Lucy-chan was here instead of you, Erza-chan," Naruto grouched inanely. "She's so expressive. Her reactions will be far cuter than yours. But it's fine with me either way~~"

The Uzumaki smirked nastily. "I will really enjoy the moment I finally break you, and get you to scream and cry and beg for me to stop as I defile you over and over again."

"You're sick," Erza stated with conviction.

"Puah! Maybe, but no sicker than girls like you," Naruto remarked, his smile turning lustier with every word he spoke. "You're the closet masochist type, aren't ya? You were hurt before, but instead of overcoming that hurt, you went and hid your pain from others, pretendin' to be strong and shit. Secretly, you want to keep feelin' hurt, because you like it. Especially now that you're a symbol to others, a paragon of strength and virtue, you want to feel vulnerable, don't ya? That pain makes you feel like a real woman. In reality, you can't wait for me to deflower you."

"Enough," Erza hissed, her grip on her sword tightening perceptibly.

"Touched a nerve there, didn't I? Don't worry sweetie, I'll be touching more than just your nerves real soon," Naruto jeered. "Then when I'm done with ya, lil' Wendy-chan can have her turn. I think she might even be more fun to-"

He never completed that sentence, as Erza tore across the distance between them in an instant. She no longer cared about the circumstances that led Naruto to become what he currently was like, only that he had gone too far. While it was upsetting to hear as he described how he wanted to rape her, she could handle herself. She knew she was attractive, and some opponents would try such tactics to unsettle her. Even naming Lucy as a potential 'target' didn't really disturb Erza, for the blonde girl was a beauty in her own right. But mentioning Wendy was crossing a very heavy line; no amount of respect Erza held for the real Naruto would help mitigate her fury.

The blond man merely cackled as he materialised his massive head cleaver in a blast of smoke. Blocking Erza's overhead slash, the blond seemed content to just let the red-haired mage strike at him from various angles and pushing him away from Wendy and Natsu. He only parried and dodged, smiling gleefully as he withstood Erza's skilled barrage. As he blocked a backhand diagonal slash with the flat of Kubikiribōchō, Erza surprised him by summoning an identical sword in her other hand and striking at the same point. The blow forced Naruto to bend his knees, the ground splintering and cracking from the power exerted.

With a loud yell, Erza channeled her magic into the blades, releasing it with concussive force. Naruto's huge sword shattered at the point of contact, and a flap of the wings on her armour took Erza safely out of the range of flying shards of metal. Naruto wasn't so lucky, his face and exposed arms getting the brunt of it. But they were no more than cuts, which the man promptly ignored. What he couldn't ignore, however, was that the ground he stood on was right at the edge of the massive hole he made when fighting Kurama. Weakened by the sheer power of Erza's strikes, it suddenly gave way when the blond man tried to take a step.

Knowing he was going to be back in moments, Erza rushed over to Natsu and Wendy. The Fire Dragon Slayer was looking far better than earlier, although his motion sickness was still affecting his cognition and motor skills. Wendy opened her mouth to ask about Naruto, but Erza headed off that question with a raised palm. "I don't know what exactly happened, but Naruto-san's now our enemy. I'm going to need your help. Natsu, where's Happy?"

"He…threw…Happy…off the…tower…" Natsu groaned piteously.

"Okay, change of plans. Wendy, take Natsu and go find Happy. Otherwise, he won't be able to fight with his motion sickness. When you go down the tower, heal Kurama as well. He'll be able to help with the search." Erza commanded. "Can your support spells work from distance?"

Wendy nodded quickly. "It won't last very long, but I don't have to be close by for it to be working."

"That's good enough. Cast the strongest spell you can on me," Erza requested.

Nodding once more, Wendy held her arms out at Erza. A magic circle manifested before her palms. "Arms X Armor X Vernier!"

Erza could feel the powerful magic wash over her body, making her feel lighter and stronger. But she didn't need the enhancement to feel the ground beneath her vibrating, signalling that their time was almost up. She quickly ushered the two dragon slayers towards one of the uprights that surrounded the king's area, which had small, near unnoticeable doors that led to the inside of the tower. She prayed that Naruto was still fixated on fighting against her, and wouldn't stop halfway to terrorise Wendy.

To her vast relief, the man burst out of the hole he had fallen through in far too little time to have tried to do anything to Wendy. He looked more amused than annoyed, with nothing more than scuff marks to show for his fall. His pointed stare at the spot where Natsu and Wendy were positioned previously told Erza that he knew of the duo's retreat, but didn't care. Not for the first time in this battle was Erza glad that this version of Naruto was oozing arrogance from every pore. And that conceit was what she was going to take advantage of once more, as she charged headlong at him.

Then, she quickly swapped to her Flight Armour, and in a burst of speed that surprised Naruto and even herself, she was already touching down across the yawning gap that Kurama's body had made previously. Blood erupted from various wounds inflicted by Erza's Sonic Claw, and the blond ninja's cuirass fell to the ground in a dozen pieces. Without wasting any time, Erza's scanty Flight Armour vanished in a flash of light, to be replaced by a pink, caped ensemble. She wasn't going to dally around, especially when Wendy's support spell was only going to be active for so long. And against a foe like Naruto, she would be better off going all out and hoping he didn't die before he changed back to his original self.

Charging up all the energy she could muster, Erza howled as she leapt at Naruto. Lightning crackled around the sword in her right hand as the blade bristled with increasing power. The man turned around, his broken Kubikiribōchō in mid swing, but even he could see that that would stand no chance against Erza in her Armadura Fairy. Instead, he threw the broken sword at the swordswoman, the blade flying straight as an arrow. While Erza batted the cleaver aside with the sword in her left hand, the blond man continued spinning on his heels, a bright blue ball of energy whirling into existence in his left hand. As wisps of whitish energy circled the ball, Erza stabbed forwards and released all the power she had built up in her sword instantly.

Wendy and Natsu, riding on a half-healed Kurama's back, only just made it out of the tower as an immense explosion consumed the top of the structure. The shockwave nearly blew Wendy off of Kurama as it levelled everything in its vicinity, the fox running like mad to get out of range of the annihilation. Wendy coughed and spluttered as the dust spread to cover the whole of Nirvana. She tried to see past the choking cloud of smoke to find out what happened, but Kurama had veered too far away for her to spot anything. She hoped fervently that everyone would be alive, as she turned her focus back to finding Happy.

Erza panted as she stood at the edge of a shallow bowl that her attack had dug out, her cape now nothing but rags. She was essentially standing at the base of the tower, which had been completely obliterated in the attack. But even so, the central pillar that was protruding from the middle of the king's area remained undamaged, a skinny pole sticking out of the rubble that constituted the remnants of the king's tower. As the dust slowly settled, Erza could see a dark figure standing beside the glowing pillar, the man hunched over.

She didn't let down her guard, however. Her attack had destroyed an entire tower and taken out every building around it, but Naruto was clearly still alive. He was tenacious and powerful, and there was no telling if her attack had mortally wounded him or merely tickled. The answer was somewhere in between, as he stumbled out of the dusty gloom, a crazed grin plastered on his features. His shirt was in tatters, shreds of cloth barely hanging on to his muscular frame. His left arm, the one that wielded the blue ball of energy, was hanging limply from his shoulder, blood streaming down the appendage. He had lost his gloves, boots and his pants from the shin down, and was clearly in a poor shape.

"Fantastic display! Such wonderful strength!" Naruto cackled madly. "It makes me even more pumped up to conquer you!"

"What…on earth…" Erza mumbled in disbelief.

Thinking Erza didn't understand what he meant, Naruto expounded on his words. "Ya see, the joy derived from conquest is proportional to the difficulty. And you, Erza-chan, will make one heck of a conquest! And I shall savour every moment as I drive you into the ground and make you scream my name. In pain or pleasure though…well, we'll find out, won't we~~"

"Please, Naruto-san…please snap out of this," Erza pleaded. If that much force didn't work, then perhaps it was time for words. "This…this isn't you. This isn't the man Mira fell in love with. This isn't the man I have the utmost respect for. You can fight off whatever is influencing you, I'm sure of it!"

"Are you trying to get me to surrender?" the blond man cocked an eyebrow. "Do I look incapable of fighting anymore?"

"You're in a worse condition than I am," Erza pointed out matter-of-factly.

"Pfft. As if that'll stop me from making you my bitch," Naruto scoffed derisively. "How about you change into that sexy Flight Armour for me again, hmm? I bet you're a real animal in bed once you've succumbed to your inner masochist~~"

"Please stop this!" Erza begged. "I don't want to kill you!"

"That's too bad. I was looking forward to facing that righteous anger from earlier, when I mentioned Wendy-chan," Naruto remarked nonchalantly, grinning as he noticed Erza's fists tightening. "It makes ya look real sexy, y'know? I like to break women with a temper. They will fight and fight until they give up and give in to the pleasure. It's a pity Mira-chan's no longer all fire an' brimstone. Ah, the possibilities~~"

"Don't…don't cross that line again," Erza warned, raising her blades slightly. "I…I'll go for a killing blow this time! I mean it!"

"You mean ya haven't been trying to kill me all this while?" Naruto clutched at his heart theatrically. "Man, and here I thought I got you worked up enough to try and kill me! Or am I so weak that lil' Erza-chan feels she has to pull her punches?"

"You're insane," Erza mumbled.

"Insane? You think I'm insane? Well…I'm not denying it!" Naruto laughed crazily. Then, he pointed at something behind Erza. "Oh lookie, here cometh the cavalry~~"

Erza chanced a quick look over her shoulder. Wendy was riding on Kurama, while Happy was carrying Natsu as they charged towards the two combatants, their faces filled with fierce determination. The scarlet-haired swordswoman smiled at the sight of her healthy comrades, before addressing Naruto. "You can't beat all of us. Please give up, Naruto-san, and let us find a way to change you back!"

"Hmm…how about…no!" Naruto giggled, as he waved his right hand.

A blue, shimmering barrier burst into existence just as Natsu was about to reach Erza's side, the dragon slayer slamming comically into the shield. Kurama managed to brake in time, keeping himself from smacking into the barrier like Natsu did. It roughly spanned the circumference of the crater that Erza had made with her attack, and kept Naruto and her isolated from everyone else. The top of the barrier stretched all the way up to the tip of the central pillar, and sealed the pillar within its confines. The glow surrounding the pillar dimmed, but no one gave it a second thought as Natsu banged on the barrier to no avail, plastering his cheek against the shield to try and reach Erza.

"Let me in, you bastard!" Natsu's muffled voice shouted. "I'll show you the strength of Fairy Tail!"

"Ah, that silly rascal. Callin' me a bastard when he's the one who caused this whole fiasco," the blond ninja chuckled dismissively.

"What…what did you mean by that?" Erza demanded. "How did Natsu cause any of this?"

"Oh, ya didn't know? I was my previously emo and wrist-slashin' self, and I had just massacred Oración Seis. Dick-san was turned by Nirvana's first stage, so he was a good guy," Naruto recounted with obvious relish. "Then Nirvana went to stage three and tried to turn me. Lucky for me, Natsu managed to punch and distract me just as I was about to fight off Nirvana's influence! Man, would you believe his timing? It was per~fect!"

Erza was tempted to question Natsu then and there, but it was not the time for recriminations. Naruto was still standing, and she had no idea what sort of tricks he had under his sleeve. "Even if that's the case, what's done is done. And I will do what is necessary to end this fight, even…even if I have to kill you."

"Aww, and I was hoping you could get all mad at Natsu," Naruto stuck his lower lip out, before grinning lustfully. "S'okay, I have other ways of making you feel all hot and bothered~~"

Dozens of chains burst out of the ground around Erza, the Requip mage quickly swinging her blades to keep the metallic links away from her. She recalled that dismal loss she suffered at Naruto's hands before; the chains could absorb her magic, and she wasn't exactly filled to the brim with power now that she had brought out Armadura Fairy. Even as she ducked and weaved through the forest of metal, she found herself increasingly caged in.

Gritting her teeth, she unleashed some power through her blades, smashing apart a web of chains that threatened to pin her against the azure barrier. With her path towards Naruto momentarily cleared, she dived through the opening, swords humming with energy. She was outpacing the chains easily, and Naruto seemed shocked by that. Then, his stupefied expression melted away, his lips quirking into a smug grin. His hair suddenly extended, strands twirling together for strength. The hair shot forwards, closing the distance between Erza and Naruto in an instant. As she tried to slash away the locks, they merely split apart to let her swords through.

Then, one strand caught her right wrist. Another snagged her left ankle. Within the blink of an eye, Erza was held spread-eagle by hair of all things, and no amount of struggling and power would afford her the leverage needed to break free of her bindings. The chains retreated back into the ground, and Naruto sauntered in front of Erza, smirking all the way. The hair had wrapped around her arms and legs completely, while a single thick cord was around her waist and her neck. The hair around her forearms squeezed until she let her swords go, disarming her. Naruto reached out to stroke Erza's cheek, the noose around her neck tightening to keep her from twisting away from his touch.

"Such flawless skin you have~~" Naruto whispered, tilting her chin up with a finger. She was not short by any means, but bound and secured, she felt much smaller than Naruto as he loomed over her vulnerable form. "But my goodness, does the most beautiful rose has the thorniest stem."

"I possess more than just thorns to ward off men like you," Erza hissed.

A bright glow encompassed Erza's form, but Naruto did nothing to prevent her change of armour. The Flame Empress Armour was her choice, and it proved an effective one as she unleashed a brilliant flame that surged up the extended locks with fiery intent. Brushing the ashes off of her armour, Erza quickly reverted to the Armadura Fairy as Naruto blew out the fire with a wind technique. The man refused to be aggrieved by how he couldn't trap Erza, and she briefly wondered if he would have applauded her if his left arm were not out of commission.

"You always seem to have a trick to get out of sticky situations," Naruto remarked casually. "Although I really hope you won't have one when I'm having a…sticky situation with you."

"I could say the same to you," Erza replied, hoping that the magical presences of a dozen mages that were approaching had a solution to this particular problem. "And the innuendo isn't going to help you defeat me, Naruto-san."

"That's a pity," the blond man shrugged, an easy smile curling his lips. "I guess if I want to get anything done 'round here, I'll have to break all of your armours, huh?"

"I won't make it easy," the crimson-haired mage declared.

Naruto laughed mirthfully. "And that's what kept me from just breaking you just like I did with the buffoon outside. That, and your breasts are just fantabulous~~"

Then, the man's eyes turned yellow, his pupils morphing into little bars. Before Erza could even blink, the man smashed her into the barrier with a punishing palm to the abdomen, the force of the blow shattering one of her strongest armours instantaneously. All the air in her lungs was driven out, and if not for her armour, Erza was sure she would be spitting blood and not saliva as she struggled to regain her senses. But Naruto didn't relent this time, and prevented her from even thinking of equipping a new set of armour as he reappeared before her, rattling off a flurry of punishing fists. They were weaker than his initial strike, but they were no laughing matter when she didn't have any metal to protect her.

Erza was unable to counter the succession of punches that went by too fast for her to catch, peppering her entire torso haphazardly. The pain from each blow melded together in a cauldron of hurt, and it eroded at her mental faculties. When the combination ended, the pain didn't. Erza slumped over Naruto's torso, her hands clutching weakly onto his shoulders for support. Outside the barrier, Wendy and Natsu were shouting, but their voices were mere whispers to Erza's hazy mind, indecipherable over the sound of blood pounding in her ears and the mind-numbing pain.

Her body was about to slip to the ground when a series of chains slithered out of the earth, supporting her weight even as they bound her in a tight cocoon. Left in nothing but white breasts bindings and flame-motif pants, the metallic links were thus pressed against the bare skin of her torso, the cool feel of the metal a soothing balm for her battered flesh. Naruto chuckled lowly as he cupped Erza's chin, but this time, he was using his left hand to do so. The dark glint in his orbs conveyed a terrifying malice as he gently brushed his thumb along the swordswoman's jaw.

"Oh dear, it seems my left arm wasn't as damaged as you thought it was," Naruto murmured, the wicked edge in his voice unmistakable even to the pain-addled mind of Erza. "I wanted to play a little longer, but our audience is about to getting a little larger, and I didn't want to give them too much hope."

The Christina flew into view, the majestic airship less pristine than before. But instead of hijackers riding the vehicle, it was being commandeered by its actual owners, and filled with the most powerful mages of Fiore. Kurama dragged Natsu away from the barriers as Christina extended its cannons from its hull, before unleashing a devastating volley of magical fire upon the barrier. Various members of the alliance peered over the side of the airship to view the results of their assault, but to their dismay, the barrier remained firm.

The airship circled the cylindrical barrier, seeking either a landing spot or a better angle to fire another salvo. Naruto paid no heed to it, instead focusing on the dragon slayers just beyond the translucent shield. Natsu had quickly returned to smacking his fists against the wall, but now using his flames to try and break the shield. Kurama, however, looked resigned, and settled onto his haunches as he watched Naruto carefully. He was speaking with low tones to Wendy, who looked rather frightened as her eyes briefly met Naruto's gray orbs.

"Ah, perhaps I had been hasty in sealing only the two of us in here," Naruto chuckled malevolently. "I do enjoy the taste of fear. And Wendy-chan seems to be filled to the brim with it."

"Leave…her…alone…" Erza croaked.

"Hmm? Shouldn't you be more worried about yourself, Erza-chan? Wendy-chan is standing safely on the other side!" Naruto exclaimed, as the chains spun her around to face her friends. "Look at how desperate they are to get in here and save your pretty little butt. I wonder how they will feel when they see me ravage your body in front of them?"

"Enough…of…your...games…" the swordswoman gasped. "Just…kill…me…already…"

"Just kill you? End things, just like that?" Naruto replied incredulously, as he wrapped his arms around her waist, the chains parting to allow for skin contact. He leaned his chin on her shoulder, a wicked grin on his features as he watched Natsu's rage reach apoplectic levels. "Oh no, that's out of the question. See, I like to savour the…little emotions. And just killing you won't give me any…pleasure."

A single hand crept higher, slipping underneath the chains and her dirtied chest bindings. Erza stiffened as the warm palm cupped her breast gently, before beginning to caress her supple flesh. Naruto smirked as he stared out of his barrier, watching Kurama shield Wendy's eyes with his massive body while Natsu went ballistic. "No screaming? No…struggling? I am violating you right now, my beautiful crimson rose~~"

"I…won't…yield…to…your…games…" the scarlet-haired mage hissed, resisting the terror of helplessness that threatened to overwhelm her consciousness.

The Requip mage tensed further as she felt a pair of lips pressed against the crook of her neck, the mouth suckling and nibbling on her creamy skin tenderly. As a slow wave of desire crawled through her veins, she couldn't help but feel utterly disgusted with herself for even responding to the blond man's ministrations. Unbidden, a single tear rolled down her cheek, eliciting a soft chuckle from her torturer.

"A strong woman like you will probably find a brutal rape far less traumatic than a…softer touch. I like to see the way you twist your face as you try to deny the rising desire; to convince yourself that the pleasure you're feeling doesn't exist, to justify to yourself that it's still rape even if it feels oh-so-good," Naruto whispered huskily. "Then watch as you capitulate and beg with teary eyes when I bring you right to the edge, then leave you hanging. Plead for me to drive you mad with pleasure, to succumb to your baser desires. And then, slowly but surely, you'll turn into a decadent, sordid whore who can't live without my touch. Just like your days as a child slave, except this time you're going to be a sex slave! Doesn't that sound lovely?"

"…N-Never…" Erza choked out, fresh tears springing from her left eye. I…I have to…be stronger…than this…

"If you say so," the man purred, giving her earlobe a tiny nibble. Goosebumps rose on her arms as she next felt a rough tongue dragging up her cheek, lapping up her tears. Naruto smacked his lips loudly. "Mmm, mmm! I do love the taste of tears. Salty and full of misery."

The other hand of Naruto's made broad strokes across her toned stomach, every brush inching closer to the edge of Erza's pants. As the edge of his palm met the waistband, he suddenly stopped, but didn't do anything to remove his hands from her body. Erza, her eyes squeezed tightly shut, took a brief moment to register the lack of motion from her tormentor before she creaked her eyelids open. Standing beyond the blue barrier were the members of the alliance, although Blue Pegasus was conspicuously missing; likely to still be aboard Christina, positioned above and behind the group. Kurama was now blocking three female mages' views of the scene, while Lyon and Gray were looking away to respect Erza's modesty.

Natsu didn't share the same sentiments, but he was too busy raging against a cage made out of rock to notice. Standing directly before them was Jura, his face a mask of impassiveness. He had his arms folded across his wide chest, and his brow knitted. Then, suddenly, the barrier shook with terrifying force, but not enough to dislodge Naruto off of Erza and not enough to destroy the barrier. The Uzumaki smirked as he finally let go of Erza, the woman catapulted towards the pillar. Another set of chains slinked out of the ground at the base of the pillar, replacing those that stemmed from the ground before Naruto as they secured Erza to the white marble.

"That was a good try, Jura-san, but not good enough~~" Naruto gloated. "My barrier goes all around~~"

"Please let Erza-dono go. She has been defeated already. There is no need for you to humiliate her in such a…crude manner," Jura requested politely.

"What? Oh, no, I'm not trying to humiliate her at all! You're too prudish, Jura-san~~" Naruto grinned broadly. "I'm just teaching her about carnal pleasures~~"

"Whatever the reasons you may use to justify your actions, they are deplorable," Jura stated firmly. "I had hoped that even if Nirvana had changed you, you would still retain the moral compass of your true self."

"Moral compass? Oh, this is rich! Do you think my other self was some sort of…beacon of morality?" the blond ninja chortled. "How naïve! You can ask Natsu about the bodies he saw before Erza-chan took out the entire tower. I maimed and mutilated the members of Oración Seis instead of arresting them like I did with those puny dark guilds I destroyed before. Moral compass? Pfft!"

"It does not detract from the fact that your former self did Fiore much good in various guises," the Wizard Saint retorted. "And I'm sure that even if he did end lives, he did so in a merciful way, unlike your derogatory treatment of Erza-dono."

"Mercy? What gave you the impression that bad guys dabbled in mercy?" Naruto giggled madly. "Well, maybe some do, but not me. I don't deal in mercy. I'm a merchant of despair~~"

"I…I truly expected for you to have fought harder against Nirvana's grip on you," the Earth Magic user shook his head despondently.

"What, and stay as that emo, brooding loser? Go back to picking off dark guilds 'for peace'?" the Cait Shelter man replied snidely, before spreading his arms out wide. "No, no…this…this is way more fun. But if you want to blame someone for all this, blame the lizard boy in your cage. He's the one who distracted my stupid self from fighting this awesome transformation."

"Your lies are transparent," the Lamia Scale mage remarked sternly. "Perish the thought of turning us against each other."

The blond man dissolved into deranged laughter. Jura waited patiently as his fellow Wizard Saint expressed his amusement. Naruto shook his head as he wiped a tear from his eye. "Oh dear, that's the best laugh I've had for a while! Why would I have any reason to lie about this? In fact, you can just ask lizard boy right there! I've got nothing to hide~~"

"Is this true, Natsu-dono?" Jura turned to address his compatriot.

Natsu crossed his arms defiantly. "I saw him chatting with an Oración Seis guy on top of Nirvana. He's betrayed Fairy Tail before. What was I supposed to think?"

"See, see? Ah, I feel vindicated~~" Naruto commented smugly.

"As a member of another guild, I do not have the authority to question your decisions. But you will be wise to examine a situation more carefully before rushing in the next time," Jura chastised the dragon slayer, who only stuck his bottom lip out obstinately. Returning his attention to Naruto, Jura addressed the ninja. "We wish to rescue Erza-dono, while you wish to accomplish your goals of, I suppose, world domination. But this barrier prevents any combat from taking place, and it has set us at an impasse. What do you propose we do now, Uzumaki-san?"

"Plan? I don't have a plan. Do I look like a guy with a plan?" Naruto pointed at himself exaggeratedly. "I'm not lookin' for world domination. I'm not like those blithering idiots of Oración Seis. Fiore deserves a better class of villain. And I'm going to give it to them."

"That would be you then," Jura said dryly.

"Righto! I'm a simple guy, with simple tastes. I like…actually, I don't care for most things. Money? Worthless. Power? I've got plenty. I suppose I like women, and I'm not even picky about that," the blond elaborated, waggling an eyebrow. "But mostly I just like to see chaos. Anarchy. Because the only sensible way to live in this world is without rules."

"In the end, you just want to watch the world burn," Gray interjected.

"Do you want me to lie and tell you something else? That I want to free people from the shackles of law, from the corrupt governance of the Magic Council, from a frivolous monarch whose blood is his only mandate?" Naruto scoffed. "I'm not that noble. I'm supposed to be a villain, remember?"

Jura narrowed his eyes. "Regardless, we are still in conversation and not any closer to solving this conundrum."

Naruto chuckled. "Actually, Nirvana is still on its admittedly slow journey towards Magnolia Town, so I have the upper hand. But I'll entertain you…or rather, you'll entertain me."

"And what do you mean by that?"

"I'm sure that pretty boy from Blue Pegasus, the one who knows Archive, is busy trying to find out how to stop this beast. How about I give you that information for free?" Naruto offered.

"Why would you do something like that?" Gray pointed out. "You have nothing to gain from that."

The blond man grinned cheerily. "Well, then I'll have more fun! It's no good if everyone dies so quickly. I want to have a challenge at least. Can you imagine how bored I'll be if I just killed everyone who opposed me? S'why I said you'll entertain me, didn't I?"

"Tell us then," Lyon demanded shrewdly. "Since you're so eager to lose."

"Hmm, I'm pretty sure I still have the better cards in my hand. I mean, I control Nirvana, none of you can touch me right now, and I even have a hostage, or did you forget Erza-chan?" Naruto taunted. He squeezed his chains down, drawing out a pained groan from the scarlet-haired woman to emphasise his point. "But it's cute to see your enthusiasm. Might I say I feel really loved right now?"

"Get to the point," Kurama interrupted.

"Ooh, so sca~ary!" Naruto mocked. "Fine, fine, fine. Such a spoilsport. You guys noticed there are eight legs right? They're actually magic absorbers that channel power from the earth to these lacrima positioned at the top of each leg. But since they regenerate, you will have to destroy all of them at one go!"

Jura casted a quick look over their motley group. "We only have seven mages capable of destroying a lacrima here."

"How do you miss a giant fox standing right behind you?" Kurama grunted in annoyance. "That's eight, and that's enough. We won't need to call down Blue Pegasus. They can keep an eye on Naruto. And the Archive guy can use his Telepathy to coordinate everyone's attack."

"Oh, darn! That pretty boy knows Telepathy too?" Naruto slammed his fist into his palm. "That's so unfair!"

"Yea, and he's been listening in to our entire conversation, and just confirmed that you're telling the truth. I can't believe someone will just tell us how to defeat him," Gray scorned. "I hope you'll be fully entertained when you're sitting in prison waiting for execution, asshole."

"Says the guy who's refusing the advances of a pretty little lady by the name of Juvia," Naruto retorted slyly. "Are you gay? Because she can turn to water at will."

Gray blinked at the non-sequitur. "What do you mean by that?"

"Instant, au naturel lubrication. And the backdoor's always open for business!" the blond shinobi guffawed at his own joke. "And if she can manipulate her throat as well…no gag reflex!"

"Leave the madman alone, and let's go," Lyon pressed a palm against Gray's chest, keeping him from attacking the barrier and wasting his efforts. "We can deal with him later, when he doesn't have Nirvana under his control anymore."

"Ta-ta!" Naruto waved, as Jura freed Natsu from his cage, and the allied mages split up.

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Lucy shuddered as she tried to banish the fresh memories of the terrifying madman that Naruto had turned into. She figured that the man was a good guy, even if he was quite loaded with emotional baggage. If Mira loved him enough to show off the relationship to a guild that pretty much hated his guts, she must have seen something really good in the guy. And Nirvana turned him into some sort of perverted psychopath who beat Erza, and has a barrier that even a Wizard Saint can't break! Heck, it didn't look scratched when the Christina fired on it! I really shouldn't have come on this mission! I'm not made for this sort of thing! So many things have gone wrong…so many things can still go wrong!

She dearly wished she hadn't thought of that a moment later, as behind her, she suddenly heard a massive explosion. Flinching, she ducked and pressed her hands over her head to protect it from flying debris if there was any. When nothing rained down on her head, she turned around and looked for the source of the sound. She squeaked in horror as she saw that the Christina was missing the entire bottom half of its hull, and even from the distance, she could tell that it was a clean cut. All over the sides of the airship were holes that belched out smoke and flame as it spiralled towards the ground quite rapidly.

"Oh no, I jinxed things!" Lucy wailed aloud. What on earth can cut an airship in half like THAT?!

"Ahem…hello, hello, is this working?" a voice rang out in her head that didn't belong to Hibiki.

"W-Who's that?" Lucy whispered in terror.

The voice chuckled madly, and Lucy bit her bottom lip, hoping beyond hope that it was not him. "Woohoo! I knew I could hijack that pretty boy's Telepathy link. Well, it helps that I just shot down his little flying boat, so he can't really focus on kicking me out of the connection. Thanks for the confirmation, Lucy-chan~~"

Lucy squealed in fear, clutching her head and shaking it vigorously. "No, no, no! Get out of my head you crazy freak!"

"That's not nice. I'm not a freak. Nor am I crazy. You guys are just ignorant, unable to see the truth about our world. Really, I'm just ahead of the curve," Naruto replied in a blasé tone. "Now, I just got rid of the conductor in your little orchestra, but I'm sure you will find ways around that."

"Then what's the point of taking them out?" the Celestial Spirit mage cried out.

"Oddly, only Lucy seems interested in talkin' to me. S'no problem, I like it when cute girls talk to me~~" Naruto giggled crazily. "But back on topic. I'm going to make things a little more exciting! Now, as all of you know, Nirvana's under my control now. Which means I can turn anyone to the dark side with a snap of my fingers!"

"WHAT?!" the blonde girl exclaimed.

"Oh yes, that's right. And the range for this thing is ama~zing! I'm going to select one of you to become my good pal," the Uzumaki carolled. "And guess what? Without the pretty boys from Blue Pegasus, you guys will be down to seven! Oh no, whatever will you do?!"

"You're a monster!" Lucy yelled out to the skies.

"Tell that to the people who pay and bet on animal fights, or even boxing. My games are only a little more cruel than theirs," Naruto chirped. Lucy could hear the sound of the blond rubbing his hands together as he continued speaking. "Well, in order to let you guys try and stop me, I've dropped my barrier. But wait! The chains I'm using to tie Erza-chan up, are created from the bottom my feet and go into the ground! Which means I can't move! I'm a sitting duck! Oh no!"

"I'm going to kill you!" came a very recognisable voice over the Telepathy. Lucy felt a wave of relief. Natsu will save the day again; he always does.

A short silence followed, before Naruto's voice was heard clearing his throat. "Oh, and I forgot to mention. Whoever reaches me first gets to become the first baddie! And guess what? We already have a winner!"

"N-Natsu is now on your side?" Lucy voiced shakily.

"That's right~! And whoever comes along to try and stop me will get to become bad guys for a change, just like Natsu!" the ninja cackled. "And here's the cherry on top! I'll be sending Natsu along to hunt people down! Oh, my mind tells me I should aim for Jura-san because he's so strong, but my dick tells me I should get Natsu to kidnap the cute girls for me instead…ooh, the pretty boy dropped out of the Telepathy link. Guess that means I'm anchoring this connection now…well, I don't have anything else to add, so bye bye~~"

The man made an obnoxiously loud clicking sound as he broke the link, leaving Lucy to stare in the direction she came from in horror.

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"Oh, Natsu, Natsu, Natsu, shouldn't you have learnt by now that charging in recklessly will do you no good?" Naruto chided, wagging his finger as he leaned over the dragon slayer.

The pink-haired mage was sitting on the ground in shock, finding that despite possessing all of his mental faculties, he was unable to control his body. Sadly, he could still feel his motion sickness. Happy was unconscious, the flying cat having been immobilised with Sleep Magic once more. Naruto giggled insanely as he raised his right hand, and wriggled his fingers. To Natsu's shock, his body started to respond in quirky ways, as if the blond man was controlling him like a puppeteer controls his marionettes.

"You did accuse me of being a puppeteer before, didn't you?" Naruto sighed melodramatically. "You hurt my feelings, you really did. But I decided to embrace the concept instead. Now I'm a puppeteer, and you're my little doll! We're going to have lots of fun together!"

Natsu's eyes widened, but his mouth refused to respond to his commands as he tried to shout at his adversary. Naruto clucked his tongue in false disapproval. "Now, toys aren't supposed to talk back to their owners, you know? You're just asking for a punishment. I didn't really plan on sending you running around to attack your friends. I was just teasing them, 'specially that scaredy-cat Lucy-chan. But now…you're making me mad."

Tapping his chin with his left index finger, Naruto tilted his head as he stared at the sky. "Hmm…like I told the rest, it makes sense to send you to weaken Jura. But there's no fun in that. It'll just be a manly, testosterone-fuelled fight, and there won't be any wailing or screaming. That rules out the other guys too. And Kurama. So it's down to the girls…"

"Well, you fought Sherry before, and she's from another guild, so that's less fun," Naruto rambled on. "Lucy or Wendy…hmm, both sound like good choices. Who to pick, who to pick…"

Natsu struggled with all his will, but could only scream within his mind as Naruto twitched a single finger, causing him to try and bend his leg over his shoulder and turn into a human pretzel. "Well, Wendy-chan has Carla for company, so she'll be kept calm…mostly. Lucy-chan though…hmm, she'll be scared out of her wits by now, especially by the thought of her dearest friend Natsu trying to kill her. But we gotta let that fear fester a little more, or it won't be as fun…and well, Erza-chan's got the well-endowed part down, so I think I should get someone a little…flat, to mix things up. What do you say, Natsu?"

Against his desire, his head nodded jerkily. Naruto clapped his hands together, inadvertently causing Natsu to knee his own jaw. "Oh, how wonderful! You agree that we should go after Wendy-chan!"

Naruto squatted down beside the fire-breathing mage, using his left hand to lift up Natsu's right. He peered closely at the appendage. "Hmm…no claws. Then there won't be a lot of blood. That's not good. And your fire will cauterise any wound too! You're a party pooper even when you're just a doll. How annoying. I guess I'll just have to give you a knife or something…"

From out of nowhere, a three-pronged knife appeared in Naruto's palm, and he presented the weapon to Natsu. Hurling curses at the Uzumaki within his head did nothing to change the situation, as he found himself reaching for the weapon shakily. He could feel the rough, sweat-stained cloth chafing against his palm as he wrapped his fingers around the hilt, holding the weapon in a reverse grip. Naruto patted his head condescendingly, flashing him an encouraging grin.

"Go on, Pinocchio! Go and do papa proud!" Naruto urged playfully.

Natsu stood up, but as he straightened, his body stopped moving. Thinking it was the spell wearing off and an opportunity for him to break free of Naruto's control, he focused all his will on moving his hand, hoping that he could overcome the spell and stab the blond man in one swift move. Instead, his face was flushed with futile effort as Naruto exhaled exaggeratedly. "Oh dear, looks like my control isn't all that good. Maybe I should just teleport Wendy-chan here and save the trouble of sending you out."

Even if the dragon slayer had any control over his own motor functions, he would still have frozen on the spot as Wendy tumbled out of thin air, dropping a few meters from Natsu's feet. A single chain erupted from the earth to snag Wendy by the waist, and lift the squirming girl off the ground and facing Natsu. More chains appeared, locking Wendy's head in place so that she was staring right at Natsu even as her limbs flailed about wildly. Step by step, Natsu's spasmodic movement drew him closer to his fellow dragon slayer as he clasped his other hand around the one wielding the knife, raising the small weapon high above his head.

Tears sprung from Wendy's eyes as she watched her friend approach her with the tri-pronged kunai, with a clear intent to stab her. Hot liquid streamed down Natsu's cheeks as he realised that he was about to kill his own friend because of foolhardiness on his part. His body jerked to a halt, the knife raised the highest his arms could reach. As his hands swung down, Natsu instinctively squeezed his eyes shut, unable to meet Wendy's terrified gaze.

Then, cold steel entered his gut, and his eyes snapped wide open. Wendy was splattered with blood, but it wasn't her own. Her brown eyes, wide with fright, stared at the bloody wound Natsu had inflicted on himself. Hands coated liberally in his own vital fluids, Natsu raised them once more against his will. He reached out and doodled a bloody spiral on Wendy's cheek, the petite girl shaking in unadulterated fear. When his crooked drawing was done, he drew back, before promptly punching himself in the face.

As he fell to the ground, more chains came up to capture him, and began to drain his energy rapidly. Naruto was on the ground as well, but he was laughing instead, the man clutching his stomach and stomping the ground, chains connected from the bottom of his feet to the ground visible when he raised each leg. It took a while for him to recover and climb to his feet, a few errant chuckles still escaping his lips. "Oh my god, the expressions on your faces were priceless!"

"You…bastard…" Natsu gritted his teeth, having found his ability to speak once more.

"Goodness, that was so much fun! And I didn't even have to use Nirvana to change you like I said I did!" Naruto wiped a tear from his eye. "Pinocchio, I hope you learnt an important lesson here!"

"W-What do you m-mean?" Wendy stuttered fearfully.

"Ah, I only used a rudimentary puppetry technique to control his body. If I actually used Nirvana to turn him into a bad guy, his personality will be completely different, like what happened to me!" Naruto explained gleefully. "Instead, I manipulated his body so that he will feel the shame and regret as he sees himself trying to kill his own friend! And all because of his own stupid-"

"Second Origin: Release!"

Naruto whirled around quickly as Erza's magic reserves, kept low by his chains, suddenly burst through the roof. Her powerful aura was enough to even dissolve Naruto's chakra chains, the metallic links evaporating into wisps of chakra that scattered into the winds. A new set of armour Naruto had never seen before was already on the Requip mage's body, the blue and gold-trimmed robe held closed with a purple rope. It was not her most defensive of armours, with golden pauldrons and greaves the only real protection. The white sash that flowed in a loop behind her head, the tiara and the kimono-like robe would have given her a regal feel, were it not for her rather exposed cleavage.

"Second Origin, huh? Shoulda expected you to pull another rabbit out of the hat," Naruto remarked, admiring the huge halberd with the golden hand guard that appeared more ceremonial than functional. "So, the armour's really pretty, and I like the way it shows the valley of your breasts, but what does it do? I'm not going to be slow enough to let you catch me with that big, unwieldy glaive."

"You are unable to move because you're still holding Natsu and Wendy hostage with your chains, which means I don't have to worry about not hitting you. You revealed that weakness to everyone quite readily not moments ago," Erza riposted calmly. "But I have a feeling you will have a way of avoiding my attack in any case. No, I have another idea in mind."

Grasping her massive halberd with both hands, she yelled as she spun gracefully, the weapon slashing across the base of the pillar. Naruto's eyes widened as he released his chains to dash forward, but he was too late to reach and stop Erza. The brilliant light that had surrounded the pillar for so long flickered wildly as the clean, diagonal cut forced the white marble structure to slide off its own base, before crashing to the ground with an earthshaking thud. As the pillar shattered into hundreds of pieces, Naruto howled, staggering back as if physically hit. Clutching his head, he bent over, clearly affected by the magical backlash the sudden destruction of Nirvana caused.

"Natsu! Take Wendy and go find the lacrima!" Erza ordered, as the Fire Dragon Slayer prepared to attack Naruto while he was distracted. "I can handle things from here! GO!"

Throwing a reluctant, hateful glare at Naruto, the two dragon slayers fled, leaving only Naruto and Erza in the shallow crater. The swordswoman stood in place, watching Naruto's reactions vigilantly. She had hoped that with her Nakagami Armour's special properties, she could destroy the pillar that not even her Armadura Fairy could scratch. And by destroying the pillar, she not only prevented Nirvana from being used in a nefarious way, she could break the machine's connection with Naruto, which could potentially free him from the spell he was under.

"I'm kill not going me now to fall before it's so easily too late!" Naruto grunted out, gnashing his teeth as blood trickled from both nostrils.

It was clear that the destruction of the control pillar had given the real Naruto a chance of retaking his body, but there was no telling which side of him would emerge victorious. The evil that Nirvana absorbed from the world was not something anyone could just throw off. There was no choice but to attack and hope for the best.

Erza shut her eyes briefly, muttering a prayer under her breath. Forgive me.

Brown orbs blazing, Erza roared as she charged forward. Naruto's right hand was thrust in her general direction, a spiralling blast of wind tearing across the broken landscape. Erza twirled her halberd, shouting as she slashed through the gale with ridiculous ease. The glaive spun in wide, elegant arcs as Erza closed the gap, slashing across Naruto's torso. Blood spurted from the grievous wound that stretched from right shoulder to left hip, but the blond man remained standing. Erza didn't relent, twisting and smashing the butt of her halberd against Naruto's temple. The ninja stumbled, stunned, but was coherent enough to grab her weapon by the pole on the follow-up slash.

Erza gritted her teeth as the blond, his eyes a mottled mash of blue and grey, planted both hands on the handle of her halberd, right below the huge blade. In that position, Erza had little leverage for breaking Naruto's grip, and couldn't slash at him either. Moreover, due to the length of the weapon, she couldn't manipulate herself close enough to land blows with her fists without leaving her body open. If she tried kicking, he could easily destabilise her and send her sprawling.

Then, suddenly, Erza found herself falling forwards, only just keeping herself upright with a quick adjustment of her footing. Her eyes bulged in shock as her glaive slid through flesh and bone with little resistance, dousing her in a fine, scarlet mist.

Naruto had pulled on the glaive, the blade carving right through the blond man's abdomen and emerging from the other side of his body. The wide blade had entered his body horizontally, and had it been any wider it would have bifurcated him. The only thing keeping the weapon from penetrating even deeper was the decorative ring at base of the non-cutting edge. A river of blood gushed from the fatal wound, pooling at the ninja's feet. More blood spurted out of his lips, coating his chin in crimson.

Erza's startled gaze met Naruto's weary cerulean orbs, a brilliant azure that had once captured many an adolescent heart. But while there might have been a sparkle in his eye in the past, now there was only anguish. His hands fell to his sides limply, before his legs gave way. Erza pulled out her halberd and tossed the large weapon aside as she reached out to try and hold the boneless man up, her arms hooked beneath his armpits.

"Naruto-san, stay with me!" Erza cried.

Naruto's head fell onto the crimson-haired woman's shoulder, muttering apology after apology. His voice got softer and softer as Erza lowered the both of them to their knees. Circling one arm around his torso to try and keep him upright, she deftly removed her sash to wrap around his stomach even as she shouted for Wendy. But no Sky Dragon Slayer appeared, and the cloth was soaked through in seconds. Once she knotted the sash on Naruto's back, she shouted once more for the Cait Shelter mage, but to no avail. It was then that she finally noticed that Naruto was no longer speaking. His naked torso, pressed against her thinly clothed chest, told her the rest.

His heart was no longer beating.

Author's Notes: FINALLY watched Fate/Zero. Goodness, that's a ton of parallels between Naruto/Kiritsugu and Holy Grail/Nirvana. I'm surprised I didn't get even more reviews referring to Fate...

I interpreted Nirvana's influence not just as good-to-evil, but also a 180° personality twist. So Good!Naruto is my concept of a gritty hero, and Bad!Naruto his archnemesis. I admit to being inspired by the Joker and apologise for the plagiarised quotes, but they were too good to pass up.

If Bad!Naruto appears bipolar/crazy, I intended it. As for the sexual violation... I figured it would further emphasise the personality change between Good! and Bad!Naruto, and less people might complain about how Naruto doesn't just annihilate everyone. Plus, the character interactions post-Oración Seis will be more interesting to write.

Since Nirvana started with eight legs, I presume there were eight lacrima. On Erza's Second Origin and Nakagami Armour, I'm assuming that it belongs to her, and that she was the one to wear it ten years ago. Now, Levy was the one to mention the 'ten years' thing, but she read the fact off a book. So, if the book was published in X791, ten years ago is when Erza was 16. Works for me.

Wanted to use the Rune Knights, but the fight didn't go as planned. None of my fight scenes ever go as planned...

I hope you guys aren't too disappointed with how things played out. But I think it fits my story better than just straight-up violence. That reminds me, I really should change the genre labels for La Tormenta. 'Drama' seems appropriate...any other suggestions? Angst? Maybe...romance? :P

On another note, I try to add plot twists to surprise my readers. But I really want to try a dab of foreshadowing like pros do. So I decided to sprinkle hints around for a big twist I'm planning. I thought of making the clues obvious, but that doesn't fit La Tormenta's style. So I went with subtle, and lo and behold, no one has found the hint I left in the previous chapter. Should I be proud of that? :D

Unfortunately, you guys might have to live with this chapter for a while. College is starting within a month, and I don't know if I can find time to write. Hopefully I will. Not going to declare a hiatus or anything, because look how pointless it was the last time I did. Just know that I haven't abandoned the story, and I will definitely inform you guys if I do.

Oh, and I've noticed that I somehow made Natsu disliked amongst my readers, when I only tried to keep him in character. I think you guys are really tired of canon Naruto/Natsu's personalities, aren't you?

P.S. I've posted up a Hanzō challenge on my profile. Someone please write an awesome Hanzō story! Thanks!