Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 29: "Love"

(Year: X784)

"Damn!" Erza hissed as Jellal's words sunk into the group. "Things just seem to be getting worse. We need to avoid those cloaked men, beat Jellal, and get everyone before Etherion hits the tower. I think that it would best to—AAH"

Everyone's eyes widened as Shô turned on Erza and captured her in a playing card. Carefully clutching the trapped woman to his chest, he turned to run away, "I'm sorry, Nee-chan! But I need to keep you safe!"

"Shô, don't be an idiot!" Simon began to chase after him. "Things are too dire for you to do this! We need her strength!"

The remaining members of the group quickly voiced similar sentiments. They all began to chase after the tattooed man. While they moved, however, the walls began to shift. Screaming in shock, the mages could do nothing as they were split apart and separated into different hallways. Once the tower finally stopped shifting, each wizard was left alone without any backup to help them navigate the maze which was the Tower of Heaven.

Jellal's chuckles echoing off the walls immediately clued them in on what had transpired. For a few minutes, most of them tried to call out for the others but swiftly learned that yelling wouldn't work. While everyone reacted different emotionally to the situation, they all remained determined. With different goals in mind, they all rushed off to do their part in foiling the dark mage's plans.


Kisame reeled his head back in laughter upon seeing the armored man in front of him, "Hahahaha! Well, things just get more interesting every minute! Four jinchūriki in one place! Who woulda thought?"

Han crossed his arms and eyed them cautiously, "Interesting. Two of the most wanted criminals of my home world in the Tower of Heaven. Kisame Hoshigaki and Itachi Uchiha. What a dangerous duo. Even I can't help but feel a bit intimidated."

"What do you want to do, Itachi?" Kisame turned his beady eyes to look at his calm companion. "We can take him, but it will burn through a lot of time. By the time we finish, your target will get away."

Itachi's Sharingan eyes spun slowly to emphasize his thought process, "Let us negotiate then. You are the Gobi, correct? Perhaps we can make a deal. You must enjoy your freedom, no? If you let us pass, we'll allow you to go free on this day to enjoy your life just a little bit longer."

Han scoffed, "Are you trying to intimidate me, boy? You may be deadly, but don't forget that you're on my playing field filled with my pawns. You're at the disadvantage here. Just run along back to the Elemental Nations. It's safer for you there."

"So, you chose the difficult path?" Itachi opened his cloak to show a hidden kunai. "Very well. We need to go all out then, Kisame."

Kisame gained a bloodthirsty grin as he reached for the massive sword on his back. "Hehehe. You've never given me your blessing like this. Let's tear this tower apart and bring our targets to us."

Han raised a hand, "Do you really think I'm stupid enough to fight you alone? As if. Ikagura, take your pick."

Both of the Akatsuki shinobi felt their instincts fare in warning as an arc of magical energy burst from a spot on the right wall which wasn't crushed from Han's encounter with the other jinchūriki. While Itachi jumped to dodge the sneak attack, Kisame pulled out Samehada to block the sword strike. To his mild surprise, his sword couldn't absorb the energy, so he was forced to slide back into the opening on the far wall before dismissing the strange attack with brute strength.

Itachi witnessed as a strange woman with pink hair rushed after Kisame. He would have moved to interfere, but a sudden punch from Han forced the Uchiha to dodge in the opposite direction. Once the rogue ninja were separated, the hallway walls began to shift. While able to keep track of the changes, Itachi could do nothing to stop the walls from shifting. Within seconds, he and Han were in a completely restored hallway in a different location.

Han chuckled, "Of course she went after the swordsman."

"Interesting strategy," Itachi admitted. "But with what I saw of her strength, she won't be able to hold off Kisame for long."

"She doesn't have to," Han shrugged. "Her job was to help separate you two. That job is done. She can run away from him for all I care."

"And you don't care if Kisame kills her?"

Han smiled beneath his helm, "If she can't survive through this, then she doesn't deserve to be called an assassin."


Vidaldus let out a joyful laugh. Despite his first feelings of apprehension at the prospect of fighting the Shield, he found himself handling the situation well. While not landing a blow on the renowned independent mage, he had not received any damage either. Throughout their confrontation, the rock star themed wizard used a combination of musical waves to weaken the density of the attacking sand and his hair magic to dismiss the weakened golden grains.

"How do you like that?!" Vidaldus whipped his hair around to destroy a sand arm trying to grab onto him. He then tried to stab at Gaara with his spiked hair. The attack ripped through the Shield's first barrier but stopped right before hitting its target. "Feel the rock and roll! It's more than a match for your pathetic dirt!"

Gaara was silent.

"A silent audience is the worst! Say something!"

"Zzz…" Gaara released a light snore.

A vein in Vidaldus's forehead popped out, "Hey! You can't sleep through my concert! Wake up!"

The dark mage played a sharp note which jolted Gaara awake. Blinking open his eyes, the jinchūriki took a moment to remember the situation, "Oh, you're still here. Sorry about that. The flight over here tired me out. I needed that power nap."

"That's no excuse! My music should be more than enough to keep you awake," Vidaldus stuck his tongue out defiantly. "Prepare to have your mind rocked!"

Gaara's passive eyes gained a sliver of respect, "You survived against my sand's natural instincts. I'm impressed. You deserve for me to actually be awake to fight you."

"Don't look down on m—AAAHHH!" Vidaldus screamed in pain as three sand fists smashed into him. Ignoring the bruises forming on the areas of impact, he strummed his guitar to send out a sound wave which would weaken the attack. To his shock, only a few grains of sand even trembled before the music. The fists then morphed into a giant wave which crashed into him and sent him flying through the wall.

"You might be able to keep up with me when I'm asleep, but you're way out of my liege when I'm awake," Gaara crossed his arms. "Don't worry. Out of respect for Han, I won't kill you or maim you beyond recovery. One more hit should knock you out, and then I'll head back to help Naruto."

Covered in bruises, Vidaldus used his guitar to shakily pick himself out of the rubble. He stared at Gaara in fear. So this was the power of one of Master Han's kin. It was overwhelming. There was no way that he could hope to beat this man. His hypnotizing music wouldn't even have an effect on someone so strong. There was no way to beat a jinchūriki on his own.

"Oh! Juvia thought she heard noises, but it seems this fight is already over."

Both men turned to see the intruder into their conflict. Juvia stared at them impassively. Gaara just shrugged, "Yeah. You can go on without me if you want. I'll be done in a few seconds."

Unlike Gaara's indifference. Vidaldus grinned in glee. He recognized the woman. She was the water mage of Phantom Lorde, "Hehehehehe! Perfect!"

Gaara didn't blink as Viladus sent out a sonic wave from his guitar. The music did nothing to him, as the sand in his ears filtered out any possible attack on his eardrum. As such he didn't notice at first when Juvia let out a shout. As she began to worm around, though, he noticed her strange behavior. In a flash of magic, she changed from a subdued lady into a leather covered rocker with wild hair and a lot of skin visible to the world.

"Yeah!" Juvia stuck out her tongue. "Feel the music, man!"

"Huh?" Gaara frowned in confusion. "What's wrong with her?"

"She's under my control now!" Vidaldus began to rapidly play his instrument while pumping out as much magic as possible. This time, Gaara's sand did waiver somewhat. "Now it's you who's out of my liege!"

Juvia extended her arms out. Gaara's eyes widened as water burst from her palms. His weakened sand tried to protect him, but it swiftly crumbled before its elemental weakness. He was soon covered in a wave of magical water which both stole his breath and sent him flying into the wall opposite of Vidaldus. As a rare feeling of pain crept up his spine, Gaara thought, 'This isn't going to be as easy as I thought.'


Fu was very annoyed for a multitude of reasons. One of the reasons was simply having one of her own tactics used against her. Fukuro, or Screw That Owl as she liked to call him, used his jetpack to fly around at breakneck speeds. Her bugs struggled to catch, so her offense was limited. He also kept her from fleeing from the boring battlefield by blocking her way back to her companions. Yet, he also hadn't caused any damage, so it was just a waste of time.

As for the second thing…Screw That Owl kept trying to eat her. Her temper flared. Only Gaara was permitted to do that.

With a wave of her hands, Fu directed her bugs to the side walls, "Ok! I'm sick of this! I'm just going to blow up the room!"

Fukuro paused his flight upon hearing that. He looked at her with wide eyes, "W-What!? That would kill you too!"

Fu stuck her tongue out, "Nope! I won't get hurt at all! I've practiced getting out of explosions more dangerous than this! Time to die, perv!"

"Wait!" Gray's voice drew their attention down below them. "Don't kill me!"

"Then run!" Fu's annoyance was even more apparent at having her explosion delayed.

"Oh, wait," Gray looked down at his shirtless form. "You weren't talking about killing me?"

"I said that to the perv!"

"But people call me that all the time!"

"Then stop stripping—Hey! Don't take your pants off, perv!"

Gay noticed that he was undoing his belt buckle, "See!?"

Fukuro took notice of his foe's distraction. He rushed towards her exposed back. His strange beak mouth opened wide in an attempt to swallow her whole. But before he could take a bite out of her, he suddenly saw one of the bugs that had snuck onto him during his temporary halt. Without even a chance to cry out in shock, Screw That Owl was covered in fire and smoke from the explosion that followed.

Fu placed her hands on her hips as Fukuro fell to the ground and watched as he quickly recovered from the relatively small explosion. Instead of following up to finish of the assassin, she silently ordered her insects to return to her. Once her bugs were back in their places, Fu turned away, "I'm sick of this. You can handle the rest of this."

"Hey!" Gray glared at her retreating back. "Don't just leave me with your leftovers!"

Fukuro lunged himself at Gray to try to eat him instead, "Who are you calling leftover?"

Gray jumped back to avoid getting eaten. His hands moved to remove his trouser, "Hey, back off, perv!"

"Says the guy taking off his pants!"


"Oi!" Zancrow lounged on the couch in the center of the room filled with lush furniture. "Hurry up, would ya? We're going to miss the good stuff."

"Patience, Zancrow," Hades grumbled. He was working with a lacrima designed to project several images at once. "I need to connect with the surveillance devices hidden through the tower. All this new technology is overwhelming."

Utakata removed his pipe from his lips. He sat cross legged on the same couch as the Flame God Slayer, "Saying it like that makes you sound old, Master Hades."

"Youngsters these days," Hades frowned. "No respect. I could literally obliterate them with one arm, and they still mock me."

From his own personal chair, Bluenote sighed, "Please don't distract him. Although I have little interest in most of what's happening in the tower, I would prefer not to miss Uzumaki's fights before he gets worn out. This is the only accurate way to measure his power."

Zancrow grinned, "Just look at my power and subtract a few points. No way he's stronger than me."

Utakata snorted.

"Hey! You got something to say?" Zancrow scowled at his friend.

"No," Utakata hid his smirk by putting his pipe back up to his mouth.

"I thought so!" steam began to rise from the Flame God Slayer's head.

"There we go!" Hades suddenly proclaimed. The lacrima lit up to show video from inside the tower.

"Finally!" Zancrow grinned. "Find a fight for us to watch!"

"Very well," Hades' one good eye glanced through the images. "Oh, it appears Sabaku no Gaara is having a difficult time."

Utakata gained a glint in his eyes, "Let's focus on that one then. I wonder what would give Number One trouble…"


"Katon: Fire Dragon Bullet!"

A stream of flames burst from Itachi's mouth. Han didn't even attempt to dodge the attack. He stood there and released steam from the cracks in his armor. The heat from his natural element met the fire and canceled out any damage from the jutsu. As the fire and steamed died down to leave a scorched hallway, Itachi jumped back to stare at the massive jinchūriki.

The Gobi's defense capabilities were strong. Itatchi's attempts to use kunai and shuriken on the armor proved useless just like his fire ninjustu. While those first attempts at offense were mostly meant to get a feel of his enemy's strength, the Uchiha knew that a significant portion of his arsenal would be just as ineffective. Kisame was far better suited for this foe. Of course, Itachi knew that there were ways to defeat the jinchūriki, but he doubted that he could afford to spend the time and chakra to best the titan before him.

Before Itachi could finish contemplating his strategy, Han suddenly raised his armored hands up to signal for a time out, "One second, please."

Not willing to let his guard drop, Itachi prepared for a poor attempt at a sneak attack. Instead, Han rushed back to the end of hall and shoved his fist into the wall. With arm exposed to the open air, the Gobi container grabbed onto the person flying up the side of the tower and pulled him into the structure. With that done, Han then threw Natsu and Happy onto the floor in between him and Itachi.

"Ow!" Natsu clutched at the back of his head. "What was that for, asshole?!"

"Aye, sir…" Happy mumbled with swirls in his eyes.

"I was doing my job. No one gets up the tower except Number Nine and Scarlet," Han declared. "Think you could sneak by, huh? As if. I tagged the cat's magic signature as soon as it got here. Didn't want anyone flying up while Fukuro distracted Number Seven."

Itachi eyed the pink haired man and talking annoyance. He had not time for such distractions. The Kyūbi was likely to flee as the Etherion thing deadline drew close. Perhaps he could take advantage of this and slip away. He looked back to see a strange blonde man carrying a playing card like a newly born babe. So many strange people were gathering within the tower.

"Oh no," Shô mumbled upon getting spotted.

"Shô!" Erza's voice sounded from the card. "Let me out!"

"Erza?" Natsu lifted his head in confusion upon hearing the woman's voice. "Where are ya?"

Itachi's Sharingan eyes began to spin once more. The Jellal person who led this tower mentioned an Erza Scarlet. Han also seemed interested in her. Intrigued, the Uchiha glanced at the card to see a strange energy flowing off of it. He rushed to Shô and knocked the man away with ease. Having stolen the card, he looked to see a red haired woman glaring defiantly at him.

"Magic is a strange thing," Itachi decided.


"Hey, Lucy!"

Said blonde blinked at the familiar voice. Before she could turn to face the other Fairy Tail mage, though, hands latched under her armpits and pulled her into the air. Lucy screamed in shock, "Fu!"

"Sorry, but I'm in a hurry!" Fu continued to fly through the halls. "I got separated from the others, and they might need my help!"

"B-But…" Lucy desperately clutched at her dress to hold it down. "S-Someone might see!"

"Then you should wear shorts or something!" Fu declared.

"I was at a casino party four hours ago!" Lucy's face flushed.

Fu tilted her head in confusion, "I thought Naruto warned you about wardrobe problems?"

"It was just the shoes and stuff that woul get in the way of fighting!" Lucy remembered her first meeting with the other blonde. "Not like I'll worry about modesty during a fight!"

"Okay," Fu nodded. "I have some extra shorts if you want, but I don't think that my clothes will fit around your huge ass."

Lucy's face flushed furthered, "Rude!"

"What? It is was a compliment! Women would kill to rock clothes like you!"

"W-What? I-I…never mind! J-Just put me down! I can walk!"

"No can do. I need to move fast, and I refuse to leave you behind," Fu explained. "You may have taken down Aria, but you're still a rookie. The enemies around here are on an entirely different level than Phantom. You'll get eaten alive on your own."

Lucy lowered her head in shame, "Right."

Fu smiled, "Don't worry. You'll get stronger in time, but until then, just stick with the veterans. We won't let you get killed."


Naruto blinked as a heavily breathing man stepped in front of him, "I recognize your scent. You were hiding down on a previous floor. How the hell did you catch up to me?"

Simon wiped the sweat from his forehead, "Wasn't easy. Had to use every shortcut and secret passage I knew…and I still had to run at full speed. But I was determined to stop you."

Naruto blinked, "You? Stop me? You're kidding right? I can generally get a good feel for power, and we are on so vastly different levels that it isn't funny."

"I am aware of that," Simon nodded, "But I don't wish to fight. I want to appeal to your sense of decency."

"Sense of decency?" Naruto honestly was amused. "You were spying when I met with Erza and the other, right? Did I sound like someone with a sense of decency?"

"Yes. Because your words were driven by love," Simon noted. "Love for your student. You care about her more than anything. The weird thing about love is that it overrides everything else, even empathy for others suffering."

"And you're an expert on love or something?"

"No, but I understand the motivation," Simon explained, "I heard a lot of stories over the years. Don't have a lot of entertainment outside of them, you see. One of the most interesting was a story of how a father damned the entire planet for his daughter. I was sickened at first, but then I realized it was out of love. Love doesn't overcome everything, but it overcomes every other feeling."

"This is an interesting conversation and all, and I appreciate you understanding how I feel, but…" Naruto tilted his head to look past Simon, "I'm in a bit of a hurry, guy. The longer I take, the more likely it is that Jellal hurts Wendy."

"I wouldn't be so sure. Jellal is a lot of bad things, but he loves his sense of drama. As long as you keep heading up at even at a slow pace, he won't touch the girl," Simon noted. "Just stall for time so that you can have back up when you confront him."

Naruto tilted his head in confusion, "Before I give you an answer, let me ask you this. Why do you even care? Is this just to make sure Jellal loses? We're actually on the same level you know."

"I know, but this doesn't have anything to do with you or even that little girl," Simon sighed. "This is about Erza."

"Erza?" Naruto frowned. "If you're worried about her, then why don't you go help her?"

"Because I saw the look in her eyes. She…cares about you," Simon looked pained to admit it. "If you get hurt, then she gets hurt."

"First, Erza doesn't even really know me. Second, I won't get hurt. Third…" Naruto glared at Simon. "All this love talk is stupid. Let me guess, you love Erza? Or you think you do or something stupid despite not seeing her for years. Whatever. It's none of my business, but you're currently in my way. I can take Jellal without help. The longer it takes, the more likely it is for Jellal do something unforgiveable to Wendy. I refuse to slow down with that in my mind."

"So…I'll have to fight you," Simon clenched his fists.

Naruto couldn't hold in his laugher, "Are you kidding? Look, I don't want to be mean, but I could take one hundred of you. Just get out of my way and save yourself an ass kicking."

"I can't do that. If I can hold you off for even a little bit, then I'll accomplish my goal."

"So…you're going to try to hurt in order to prevent me from getting hurt even more?" Naruto shook his head. "That's stupid."

"Love makes you do stupid things."

Naruto rolled his eyes. His hands burst with black wind, "Apparently."


Gaara gasped as he forced himself out of the swirling water. Upon getting free off the water, he collapsed to his hands and knees. Every centimeter of his skin was soaked by Juvia's attack. He summarized his problems in a single sentence, "I always hated swimming."

"Hahahahaha!" Vidaldus swung an arm around the smirking Juvia. "You don't stand a chance against us!"

Grunting, Gaara forced himself to his feet. There was a sliver of truth to the dark mage's words. Juvia was definitely his natural enemy. His sand abilities crumbled before her water. His crushing offense had no effect, while his defense was torn apart. Even worse, once wet, his sand was sluggish and took too much focus to dry.

Another attack from Juvia forced Gaara to roll away. Moving without his sand wasn't his strong point, but his companions fortunately forced him to work on his weakness. Upon coming to a halt, Gaara used his chakra to run along the wall in order avoid the continuous spray. Normally, his first instinct would be to switch to magic, but that would severely limit any future strategies in possible future fights in the Tower of Heaven.

He couldn't stop from cursing his luck. Not only was he facing a mismatched enemy, he was in the least beneficial setting imaginabll. He couldn't even think of a worse place for him to fight than a tiny island with a rickety tower filled with allies. Any possible big moves could end up killing them too. Not to mention that he didn't even know if large sand attacks would hurt the woman. His options were limited to almost nothing in this situation.

Flipping back onto the floor, Gaara narrowed his eyes at Vidaldus. The only plan he could think of would be to take out the hypnotist. If he was knocked out or killed, the water woman would likely snap back to her senses. With a simple nod, the jinchūriki rushed to the guitarist. He summoned the remaining dry sand into his right palm in order to use one last attack to take down his enemy.

Juvia giggled mockingly at his obvious target. She jumped in front of her new master in order to protect him. Just like before, she fired jets of water to catch the disadvantaged jinchūriki. Gaara used every skill in movement he had in order to duck and weave around the blasts of liquid. When close enough to his goal, Gaara flipped over and used his chakra to stick to the flowing attack. With one final leap, he sent his fist flying to Juvia and Vidaldus. Normal physical attacks were useless on the ex-Phantom mage, but he could shove his hand through her to get to his real attack.

The water woman protectively shifted her entire body into a water wall. Undeterred by the barrier, Gaara continued with his attack and ran into the magical liquid. Once submerged, the jinchūriki attempted to throw his hand forward to throw his sand at Vidaldus. To his shock, his movements were completely halted once within the wall. Juvia's eye appeared before to reveal the flaw in his plan. Juvia's water was much stronger when it was connected to her real body.

At Juvia's mercy, Gaara could do nothing as his hand was ripped open. His remained dry sand immediately melded with the water. He darted his eyes around and attempted to move. Before any conceivable plan could form within his mind, Vidaldus struck. Long, hair spikes flowed through the barrier with ease. They were all aimed at some of Gaara's various vital organs. Without hesitation, the Shield shifted his focus to his magic and covered his entire body in his black Armor magic.

Vidaldus's face twisted with hate upon seeing his attack bounce off Gaara's skin. The whipping motion of the hair continued to try to impale the jinchūriki, but the redhead's defense remained firm. While he could not be physical damaged, though, Gaara still suffered at the hands of the combined assault. His lung began to burn as a warning for its need for fresh air. Unable to move, Gaara could only hold his breath and desperately think about what to do next.

Unfortunately, very little came to mind. While he could possibly manage an escape if he shifted back to chakra, that would leave him exposed to the hair spikes. At the same time, staying within the water for much longer would be his death. He was in a winless situation. There was only one way out.

'Shukaku, I need your help.'

'Eh? You sure, kid? Last time you did this, you fell into a coma.'

'Not like I have a lot of choice right now. Hopefully, without the giant explosion, it won't be as bad.'

'Alright, but there isn't a lot of sand to help with.'

'Really? Don't you feel it?'

'Huh? Oh! I get you. The water's full of the sand.'

'Right. Now hurry the hell up. I need to breathe.'

'Fine. Geeze. You get cranky when you don't have air.'

Without another word, Shukaku pumped chakra out of his host's body. Ignoring the pain which resulted in having two forms of energy shoved through his body, Gaara ordered the sand around him to move away. Fortunately, he had just enough control to move the water away from his head to expose his lips to air once more. Gasping in deep breaths, the redhead savored the feeling of no longer being suffocated.

"What?" Vidaldus's eyes widened in shock. "How did you do that?"

Gaara gritted his teeth at the feeling of having his insides burn, "Trade secret."

"It's the sand in the water, master," Juvia's voice echoed out of the liquid. "He can control me to some extent when it's in me."

"Then get rid of it!" Vidaldus demanded.

"But then it will attack you," Juvia argued.

Growing paler, Vidaldus hissed. He continued his rapid hair strikes to no avail against Gaara's protected form. As he did this, he began to rapidly strum at his guitar in order to disrupt the power of the sand. Juvia's liquid form enhanced the rocker's influence to the point that the water began to overpower the sand and creep closer to the jinchūriki.

"No," Gaara hissed. He desperately fought back but found himself at an impasse. Without completely focusing on his sand there was no way to completely fight back against the dangerous duo. He began to desperately think of motivation to use in order to fight back against them and ignore the pain of using both magic and chakra at the same time. "I…won't…leave…them. Fu, I won't die and leave you!"

The water suddenly stopped. Juvia's eyes widened, "F-Fu? T-The girl you hold affection for?"

"Hey!" Vidaldus frowned. "Why the hell did you stop?"

"Hold affection?" Gaara scoffed. "I love her."

The water retreated more.

Vidaldus took a step back, "W-What's happening!?"

Gaara stared into Juvia's eyes in the water. In the doors to her soul, he recognized something that he saw in the mirror for the majority of his youth. Her orbs were filled with crushing loneliness, "Naruto too. Not in the same way, but I love him like a brother. They saved me from my solitude, and I refuse to betray that and leave them."

"Solitude…" Juvia's mind flashed back to her own childhood. There had been so many tears and so much rain. No one wanted to be around her because of the storms she brought. Not a day went by where she didn't wish that someone would love her. "I-I don't want to be alone anymore. I-I want to be loved too. I-I want to join Fairy Tail."

"Well, guess what? Fairy Tail mages don't get controlled like this," Gaara stated. "If you want all that, then don't give up. Think for yourself and fight back."

"I-It's so hard," Juvia's head formed in the liquid.

"I know. The dark voices are so strong, but I know a way to easily overcome them," Gaara glared at her. "Who is the light who leads you through the darkness?"

"G-Gray-sama. J-Juvia wants to be with him."

"And do you think that he would want to be with a puppet?"

Juvia's eyes flared, "NO!"

Vidaldus's eyes widened in fear as his control shattered. The water in front of him gained a golden tint to it. No longer worried about being stabbed by the hair, Gaara released his Armor magic to focus on his sand. In unison, the elemental fighters ordered their powers to spin. Their energy mixed to obtain a perfect mix of swirling water and sand. The power emitted by their combined power was so great that everyone in the Tower felt their might.

"W-Wait!" Vidaldus began to beg for mercy, but his foes would hear none of it.

"Unison Raid!" Gaara and Juvia's combined voice called out. "Oasis Spear!"

In the blink of an eye, the powerful attack consumed the dark mage. As if that weren't enough, the almighty move continued forward until it tore a hole into the side of the Tower of Heaven. It then continued forward and flew off into the distance like a golden rainbow.


"Ice Make: Hammer!"

Gray smashed his right fist into his remaining palm. His magic rushed to obey his commands as a frozen hammer immediately formed over the strange owl man. Once it crashed down, Fukuro was covered by the backlash of freezing wind that rushed off it upon making contact with the ground. Covered in patches of ice and burns from Fu's previous attacks, the dark mage collapsed to the ground. The Fairy Tail mage waited for the man to get up but was disappointed.

"Hey, you dead?"

Fukuro was silent. Gray walked up to him and kicked him in the side. The response from the blow was a grunt. After the sound, though, the dark mage returned to silence.

"Well," Gray rubbed the back of his head. "Not dead, but you ain't getting up any time soon, huh? What a disappointment…"

It was to be expected from Fu's leftovers, though. She landed a solid explosion on Fukuro which left him wounded and with destroyed equipment. Gray really only had to dodge the larger man's close up attacks. The ice user didn't even get injured during the fight. The only reason the fight lasted as long as it did was because of the distraction which had been the weird energy burst which had floored both him and the owl guy.

"What was that anyway?" Gray frowned and turned in the direction from which the strange explosion originated. Whatever it was, it probably involved someone he knew. They might need his help. "Alright. Probably should check that out. Make sure it wasn't someone getting themselves killed."

He just hoped that what he discovered wasn't as anti-climactic as his own fight.


Gaara groaned as Juvia gently placed him against the wall before sitting next to him. They both enjoyed the satisfaction of being off their aching legs. While the water woman was merely tired from their confrontation, the jinchūriki was completely exhausted. His body gave out on after the Unison Raid attack. Using both chakra and magic at the same time was as straining as always. Fortunately, he didn't fall into a coma this time. That was an improvement at the very least.

His teal eyes tiredly examined the scene in front of him. His combined attack with Juvia decimated everything within its path. The stone walls of the tower were cleanly burned through in a perfect circle all the way to the outside. Vidaldus laid at the edge of the destruction. Despite having his hair burned away and his guitar destroyed, he was still breathing. Gaara didn't believe that it was from toughness, though.

"You're too kind," Gaara spoke to the woman by his side. "He took away your free will and tried to kill me. If you didn't hold back the attack around him, then he would have been obliterated and punished for his sins."

"Perhaps," Juvia slowly nodded. "But Juvia doesn't think that his death is worth sullying her conscience."

"Hmm…" Gaara slowly nodded.

"Are you okay, Gaara-san?" Juvia asked. "Juvia didn't want to hurt you…"

"Most of this is fatigue," Gaara explained. "Using those two types of…magic together takes a lot of energy. I won't be of any use in anymore fights."

"Sorry," Juvia bowed her head.

"It's my fault. I should have just crushed the pyscho before he could gain the advantage," Gaara sighed. "Do me a favor and don't tell Naruto. He'll never let me live down being so careless and playing with my food."

"Very well," Juvia nodded.

"And, um, you might want to avoid telling Fu too," Gaara noted. "She might get jealous of you doing a Unison Raid with me."

Juvia blinked, "Would she consider Juvia a love rival?"

"I wouldn't say that," Gaara closed his eyes. "She knows that I would never betray her. I love her too much to do anything to hurt her on purpose. But she would get pretty salty with you."

"Fu-sama has nothing to worry about," Juvia blushed. "Juvia has someone of her own to show affection."

Gaara hummed, "You mentioned Gray before, right?"

Juvia's blush deepened, "Y-Yes."

"Good for you, and good for him, I suppose," Gaara opened his eyes. "Do you love him?"

"L-Love? Juvia doesn't know. She hasn't known him long…"

"Well, you care about him deeply. And Fairy Tail. That much is obvious," Gaara stated. "If you didn't, we never would have been able to connect in the battlefield like that. I think that we're a lot alike. I could feel it."

"How so?" Juvia tilted her head.

"Loneliness. Being isolated because of something we can't control. The connection started with that, but it finished with love," Gaara gained a small smile. "Naruto and Fu saved me. They showed me love. I haven't been lonely since I met them."

"Juvia wants that too," Juvia stated.

"You'll get it. Just speak with Master Dreyer, and he'll take you in," Gaara encouraged her.

"Really? Juvia is so relieved," Juvia gained tears in her eyes. "They seem so happy. W-What about Gray-sama?"

"What about him?"

"D-Do you think that he will return Juvia's feelings?"

"Probably if you're sincere enough. I wouldn't go too crazy if I were you, though," Gaara chuckled. "Ask Fu for some tips. She got through my stupid head, after all."

"Juvia will." Juvia's eyes gleamed. "Juvia will prove that love conquers all."

"I wouldn't say that," Gaara shakily raised a hand to his 'Love' scar. "Love is strong, but it doesn't always get through. Especially romantic love."

Juvia's eyes widened. "W-What?"

"Just make sure that who you love is who you think they are," Gaara sighed. "Don't fall into a trap. Loving an ideal instead of a person is a dangerous thing. It's just asking to have your heart shattered."


Itachi held up the card so that Han could see it, "This is Erza Scarlet, no? What if I escort her up? Will you let me pass then?"

Unfortunately, his actions drew Natsu's attention as well, "Hey, asshole, let Erza go!"

Erza shouted to Natsu in alarm, "Be careful, Natsu! This man is not normal! He's incredibly dangerous!"

"We'll see about that!" Natsu rushed forward with his fist cocked back. Fire formed around his arm. "Fire Dragon's—Oof!"

Itachi kicked him away with ease, "You shouldn't leave yourself open like that when attacking."

"Don't worry!" Han began to charge forward with steam bursting from his armor. "I won't be as easy to stop!"

Seeing the tank of a man running at him at full speed, Itachi expertly weaved around him. With the path up the tower clear, he tried to charge down the hall only to be stopped by a wave of fire. Natsu formed the fire with such ease that it almost took the Uchiha off guard. Flicking the card up in the air, Itachi ran through some quick hand signs. Once completed, he caught the card and breathed out a stream of fire in order to push the enemy flames aside. To his shock, though, Natsu willingly jumped within the path of the flames and literally consumed the fire.

"Itadakimasu," Natsu grinned.

"You're open!" Han struck Itachi in the back only to see him replace himself with a log.

Itachi appeared further down the hall from his destination. He frowned in thought. Both of the enemies were only focusing on him. Perhaps he could distract them by throwing the card to the Gobi. That would draw the ire of the pink haired man and—

"Happy to the rescue—Gack!" Happy's flight was stopped when Itachi grabbed him by the throat.

"Hey!" Natsu's temper flared. "Leave him alone!"

Itachi rolled his eyes in annoyance. It seemed like he angered the strange fire man even more. Throwing the card away might not work anymore. Why did everyone seem determined to get in the way of his plans?

"I refuse to be a bystander in this fight!" Erza declared. She swung her blade at her entrapment and sliced through the card which held her. Once again, Itachi was forced to move further back as the card shattered, allowing Erza to join the conflict. Before she could even take a deep breath, Han rushed forward and grabbed her into a bear hug. He then rammed through several walls to take them to a separate battlefield.

Once he was satisfied with the distance between them and the fighters behind them, Han released Erza just in time to avoid being sliced by her blade. To prevent her from following up on her attack, the Gobi container released a bunch of steam which forced his foe to jump back into the wide room to which she was carried. When she finally stopped moving, Erza stood tall and glared up at the giant, "I recognize you. You're the Steam Bull, a villainous dark mage who destroys everything in his path."

"That's me," Han cracked his knuckles. "And you're the Titania. I've been paid good money to beat you and drag you to Jellal. Try not to bore me."

Erza frowned. While concerned about Natsu and Happy being stuck back there with the strange, dangerous man, she couldn't help them before she dealt with this obstacle, "Do not worry. This battle will not bore you in the least. Prepare to be defeated. I will punish you for your sins, dark mage."


Thank you for reading and please remember to…

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