Titania and The Hunter

by Master Attlon

Born as a human. Treated as a demon. Gathered as a slave. Viewed as a leader. Traveled as a Mage. Grew as a Legend. The journey and life of The Hunter, Naruto Uzumaki

42. Desolation in Paradise

Titania and The Hunter

Chapter 42: Desolation in Paradise

It happened. I don't know how it reached this point, or how it was possible, but it actually happened.

If you told me three years ago that one of my stories would hit such a milestone then I'd probably say I didn't believe you. But it's actually here.

I can't thank you guys enough.

Thanks you for reading this story. Thanks for putting up with its rough start. Thanks for putting up with my bad updating. Thank you for reading my story and supporting me all this time.

Thank you for 2000 reviews.

Also, sorry for the long chapter length. I got in a proper rhythm this time and it did not stop. This might be the longest chapter I ever release. But I needed to cover this material and I wanted to get it finished. So...

Here we go.

########Hunter########

Siegrain, Ultear, Org, and Yajima stood beside each other on the edge of a balcony as they overlooked the process of activation. Dozens of talented and gifted Mages gathered together and started chanting incantations to stockpile magic power. There were more chants and elements being thrown around at once than any of them had seen before. All in preparation for one thing...

The Etherion cannon.

The weapon that could destroy anything.

Org looked over the side to see the magical circles stacked over each other from the bottom of the room to the very top. He never believed in his time as a figure in the Magical Council that he would be forced to use this weapon. It had gone many years without being used...

And possibly it would be a long time before it ever had to be used again after this.

But what mattered right now was they were using it here. To save the world.

Hopefully the future generations will remember their reason for doing it and not just that they resorted to the final measure.

"It's actually quite beautiful to look at, don't you think?" They looked at Ultear as the gorgeous woman silently stared up at the plethora of magics dancing around in front of them. Her eyes were solely focused on the lights in front of her as she noted, "You'd never believe something so beautiful could cause such devastating catastrophe in the wrong hands."

"Yes. And we're being forced to use it." The old sage gave his grievance on the matter as he rubbed his forehead, "I'd never thought I'd see it being prepared in my life. And yet now we are left with no choice."

"But you made the right choice Org." Siegrain attempted to alleviate some of the doubt in the older Councilman's mind, "It is for the good of the people."

"Yes, well, we'll see what the people have to say after tonight. We may have just put our careers on the gallows by doing this." The solemn man bemoaned before sighing and stepping away from the railing, "We need to make a statement for the public in case they start asking any questions. And we'll need to prepare an explanation for the king as to why we didn't report this to him before we decided."

"That's sounds wonderful." Ultear stopped watching the weapon being prepared and stepped away from the railing, "I suppose I'll come help you with that. We have some time before the weapon discharges so we might as well use it productively."

The raven-haired beauty stepped up to Org before they both looked back to see Siegrain and Yajima still staring at the Etherion process. She asked coyly, "Siegrain-sama, do you wish to help us with the paperwork? I doubt it will be as mesmerizing as watching Etherion charging up but it is work that needs to be done."

The young Wizard Saint didn't look away from the majesty in front of him, "I'll be with you all in a moment. I wish to watch this a little bit longer."

"Very well." Org's eyes then shifted to the short man beside the blue-haired youngster and they appeared to softened with some shame. He and Ultear begun to walk away, "I'll leave you both here then."

The young and old Council members stood beside each other in silence while elements flickered in front of them at rapid speeds.

Siegrain settled back in his posture and crossed his arms, "I understand your hesitation with following through with this action, Yajima-San. But you have to remember it is for the greater good. No matter what happens-"

"Your brother." Yajima interrupted and Siegrain looked down at the wizened old man who gripped his hands behind his back so tight his knuckles showed, "You once spoke about how tragic it was to lose your brother and be separated from him for so long. Now you find him again and you still resort to the idea of using this weapon against him. Why, Siegrain-kun? At least tell me why you are willing to sacrifice your brother to do this?"

The blue-haired man looked away from the old man and up at the ceiling again as Etherion's magic process continued to work away in front of him. He blinked a few times before answering in a flat tone, "I realized that the man I once called my brother is no longer the same man I once knew. The person I once saw brimming with hope and strength has now been twisted with pain and suffering. Suffering he cannot help but bring upon himself. And I know that despite any effort I could try to make, he has been so twisted that he could never turn away from it. He is willing to let the world suffer because that's just what he has come to accept. And it hurts me to see that."

"A sacrifice is needed to save this world. And I'm willing to make that sacrifice even if that means I must say goodbye to my brother."

...

Yajima lowered his head sadly before turning around and walking away, "I hope your conscience will be strong enough to bear this weight. Lord knows most men couldn't."

Siegrain watched the old Mage leave before turning back to watch as the magic gathering process initiated.

It was so powerful.

So overwhelming.

Such staggering magic.

A devious smile started to creep over his face before he quickly slapped his hand over it.

No. Not yet. It had been so long he couldn't risk it this close in.

Just a little bit more.

And it will be perfect.

########Hunter########

Erza stood in the hallway in silence as Jellal's ominous announcement hung in the air. There was a moment of complete silence between all of them as they awaited a follow up that would indicate that Jellal was still addressing them. But it never came as apparently the moment he began this little Paradise Match of his, he stopped interfering.

Lucy paled a little at the dark tone the voice used and gulped loudly, "P-Paradise Match, huh? What are the chances that's not as bad as he makes it sound?"

"Pretty low I'm guessin'." Gray droned as he looked around at the walls surrounding them, angry and more than a little disturbed that they were being watched at this very moment. His face twisted in disgust, "This guy just keeps getting creepier and creepier."

Simon looked down in contempt for his own inability to expect that Jellal was keeping an eye on them even when they were in the Tower. But if that was true then Jellal had suspected him and knew about his disloyalty from God knows when but he didn't do anything. Does that mean he didn't see him as a threat?

Did the idea of Erza and Naruto being here and capable of fighting him not scare him in the least?

The former Phantom Mage looked over to the object of her affection and asked curiously, "The gifted individuals he mentioned a moment ago. Is there a chance they are associates of the man Naruto-San saved us from earlier?"

Gray's eyes closed in apprehension as he shook his head, "A team of ninjas chasing us with a ticking clock and certain death overhead? This day just gets better and better."

"You said Naruto was holding off an assassin of some sort in the basement." Erza looked back at Gray with a serious tone in her voice, "Do you think Naruto can take care of that man himself?"

Gray didn't hesitate at all before nodding, "Absolutely. He said he had it. So that means he has it."

The redhead let out a relieved sigh before nodding, "Good." She looked between all of her friends, "We need to regroup with our comrades and prepare to evacuate before Etherion hits. Where's Natsu?"

Gray shrugged his shoulder uncertainly, "Don't know. That moron ran off before we knew it. He's off somewhere looking for Happy."

Simon added, "Which means that he's looking for Milliana."

Erza thought for a moment before pointing at Gray, "Gray, you need to go look for Natsu. Calm him down and tell him what we are planning to do. Knowing him he's probably thinking about breaking this whole place down after he finds Happy." Gray nodded and the redhead turned to Simon, "Can I get you to convince Milliana and Wally to leave this place?"

The tall man nodded, "It shouldn't be that difficult to convince them now that Jellal made that announcement."

"Juvia and I can help you." Lucy offered.

Simon gave a positive him before looking to Gray, "I can show you around. Follow me."

The group of four started jogging down the hallway as they followed the scarred Darkness user. Erza knew what her mission was.

Face Jellal.

Whatever happened after that was something she needed to prepare for.

"Nee-San."

Erza looked back at Shō as the blond had a very vacant and lifeless look in his eyes. Having everything he's known for nearly a decade turn out to be fake would brutally shock just about anyone. The dark-skinned blond seemed to struggle with composing himself before he looked up at her, "I know a way to sneak into the room Jellal is watching from. A way to sneak up on him. You'd have a better chance facing him if he wasn't in complete control of the situation."

Erza thought for a moment before asking critically, "Does Jellal know you found a passage into his chamber room?"

Shō was silent before shaking his head in defeat, "I don't know. I'm not sure about anything anymore."

Erza saw the pure devastation across the younger man's face and felt a ping in her heart. She reached up to gently grab his shoulder and reassured him, "Thank you Shō."

The boy gave a small nod before he started leading them in a different direction to sneak into Jellal's chamber.

########Hunter########

Natsu and Happy were making their way through the hallway down from Milliana's room. After that weird announcement that sounded like it was coming straight out of the walls, the pink-haired man started searching around to find the man that so smugly talked down to all of them.

The Dragon Slayer kept punching down the walls and doors of each room he passed after leaving the cat-girl's turf once he saved Happy. The flying cat watched his friend skeptically before cutting into his destructive path, "Natsu, I really don't think that guy is actually watching us in the walls. Punching the doors and wrecking the hallway isn't gonna stop him."

"It might slow him down." Natsu proudly exclaimed, "If his eyes are the walls then if we take them out, he probably won't know we're coming."

Happy shook his head, "I really don't think it's as easy as you think." The blue cat then seemed very distressed as he remembered what the announcement said near the end, "Plus there's that Etherion thing he said the Council was gonna fire at us! And what about Erza?!"

"Didn't you hear what that Jellal guy said?" Natsu said rhetorically before he cracked his knuckles, "He was talking to Erza and the others that whole time. They freed her already so she's okay. And that jerk is holding a game with all of us in it and he won't let us leave until one side is down." The Fairy Mage smirked again before his knuckles released a quick burst of flame, "Which means if I take out the top asshole then no one can get in our way anymore and we can leave. Plus after what he planned to do to Erza and trying to hurt us, I really wanna kick his ass."

Happy floated there for a moment before seeming hesitant with the idea, "B-But Natsu, isn't that Jellal guy super strong?"

"Doesn't matter." Natsu gave a big, confident smile to encourage his best friend, "He messed with us, which means he needs to get his ass whooped by us. So I'm voting for myself to deliver a Fairy Tail Ass Kicking to teach that prick a lesson. And that's a promise."

The blue cat waited for a moment before a smile came over his face, "You sure?"

"Totally! I got this buddy! Now let's go kick his ass!"

"Aye!"

"Sweet!" Natsu turned on his feet and threw his first up, "Then let's head straight to the top and..." The pink-haired brawler stopped when he finally noticed two figures standing far enough away down the hallway that he couldn't discern who they were. But the tense atmosphere and the cold intent being aimed toward him meant it wasn't anyone he knew. He furrowed his eyes and yelled, "Who are you guys?!"

"Jet Ho Ho Hou!"

He immediately got an answer as the larger figure let an immense pair of explosions blow out behind him before he launched himself forward at staggering speeds. Natsu didn't get a chance to react before the figure barreled into his stomach and carried him down the hallway until everything around him was a blur, "Natsu!"

Natsu gasped in pain as the massive, muscular man knocked the air out of his lungs as they sped down the hallway like a rocket. The Dragon Slayer looked at the huge jetpack that was propelling them forward and the Fairy Mage started slamming his fist down on the man's shoulder in an attempt to separate from him. But as they rocketed down the hall Natsu looked back just in time to see the wall they were approaching, "OH SHI-"

*BAM*

They broke through the rock wall and flew outside before the Fairy Mage and his attacker finally separated. Natsu groaned in discomfort before looking up at the rocket-propelled man that flew out over the ocean before turning back to him, giving Natsu a clear view of him in the moon light. His attacker had massive muscles and wore no shirt, appearing like a body builder that never skipped a day to exercise with a massive jetpack secured behind him.

But the most striking feature was the fact that he had an owl's head that stared at him with piercing black eyes. He proclaimed while speeding toward Natsu, "Hoo hoo! The Hero of Justice, Fukuro of Trinity Raven, has come to slay the allies of evil!"

Natsu blanked, "A-An owl!"

"Natsu!"

The Dragon Slayer looked up to see his feline companion flying out of the hole they just made and making his way to help him. He reached up, "Happy-"

"Hoo hoo-no you don't! Jet Ho Ho Hou!"

The owl man came flying down and slammed into Natsu's chest again, flying directly into the Tower again and breaking through the exterior. Natsu was carried through another hallway at blistering speeds as he tried to escape the incredible lock the owl had him in.

Lucy cupped her hands over her mouth, "Natsu!"

Juvia joined in, "Natsu-San!"

Gray yelled, "Hey, Hothead! We need to get going and we can't waste time looking for you so you better come out and-"

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" A pink and beige blur passed by them before continuing down the hallway with a trail of smoke directly behind them.

The group of Mages violently coughed in the smoke cloud before Lucy asked with teary eyes, "W-was that-"

"NATSU!" A blue blur followed a moment later as he screamed, chasing his friend and the attacker that was grappling him.

"Happy?!"

"Oh shit." Gray cursed before he started sprinting down the hallway to help his friends, "Natsu! Happy!"

Simon followed after, "Wait! You can't fight him!"

"Gray!"

"Gray-sama!"

Lucy and Juvia tried to run after them before they heard a deafening rip of an electric guitar. The two girls shook from the horrific cacophony that assaulted their ears as they turned around to see a thin, sickly pale man stroll forward with a wide gait as his hands shredded down a guitar.

Once he stood in sight they finally noticed that his skin wasn't pale, but his whole body was covered in white body paint. He had paint on his face and silky, long black hair that he whirled around like a vortex behind him before he ripped one last cord and let his long tongue fall out of his mouth, "YOOOOOOOOOOO! HOW'S IT GOIN' YOU SEXY SKANKS! YOUR GOD, TRINITY RAVEN'S VIDALDUS TAKA, HAS DESCENDED TO RIP SOME ROCKIN' NOTES AND MOISTEN THE FINGERHUTS! LINE UP IN ORDER AND WE CAN GET STARTED!"

Juvia furrowed her eyes at the strange, offensive stranger that stood in front of them as Lucy was disgusted by his attitude.

Well...he certainly didn't look like a ninja.

########Hunter########

"GRRRRRRRRRR!" Natsu had to grit his teeth as his back broke through stone walls over and over while being tackled by the strange owl. The furious Fire Mage yelled in anger before his body burst with flames, "I'M SICK OF THIS SHIT!"

The owl flinched and finally released him when they were in a much larger room inside the Tower of Heaven. Natsu spun through the air and puffed up his chest before roaring out, "Fire Dragon's Roar!"

The owl deactivated his jetpack and fell back to the ground just as the flames engulfed the area he was in a moment ago. The massive assassin landed on the ground across from Natsu and looked up just in time to see the Dragon Slayer charge at him before he threw a hook kick, "Fire Dragon's Talons!"

The owl man leaned back unnaturally to dodge the kick before flipping over and landing a kick on the Fairy Mage in the process. Natsu blocked with his forearm and skidded across the floor before the muscular owl exclaimed loudly, "I am a mercenary from Death Head Caucus, Trinity Raven's Fukuro, the ultimate assassin of Justice! And as Jellal-sama stated, you need to play the Paradise Match in order to survive! Jumping to the top is cheating!"

Natsu felt a tick swell in his eye and yelled at the odd mercenary, "You can't be an assassin of Justice! Assassins aren't righteous or whatever! You're just a killer!"

"I am a slayer of evil! No matter how powerful they may appear, all evil doers fall before my fist!" He got into a fighting stance and prepared to beat his opponent dead, "So when you stand in the way of our master's desire, that means you're evil!"

Natsu growled and cracked his neck before raising his fists up as well, "Well I can slay dragons. And I'm gonna kick your bastard employer's ass into next week. So let's see, evil or dragons, who's the better slayer."

It was tense between the two men before Natsu sprinted forward and let his fist go aflame. He leapt up and jabbed, "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

Fukuro blocked with the back of his arms as a blast of fire engulfed him entirely. He then pushed and spread his arms out wide, pushing the Fairy Mage back before following after him.

The mercenary and the brawler started to exchange blows and kicks that they blocked before any lasting damage could remain. Natsu grit his teeth as he parried a punch, ducked beneath a swipe to his eyes, and threw an ax-kick up to the owl's chin.

But Fukuro leaned away to avoid the kick and spun on his feet to strike Natsu's lobe with a back fist. However the Fairy Mage raised his arm at the moment before contact and grunted from the force that nearly pushed him back as the owl man followed up and tried to rip out his heart.

"WRAHHHHHHHH!" Natsu screamed at the top of his lungs and released a column of fire at the mercenary that forced him to dodge and jump back. The two fighters separated and made some distance between each other to prepare for the next attack. The owl guy was quick and precise with his attacks but Natsu could see each move and knew he could land some serious damage if his strikes would land directly. He slammed his fists together, creating a giant fire around his body and yelled confidently, "NEXT HIT IS SENDING YOU FLYING!"

"Natsu!"

The Dragon Slayer stopped in his mad dash to attack the owl and looked over to see Happy flying towards them as quickly as he could. He had a very panicked look trying to chase after him after he had been attacked and cried out, "Natsu! Are you okay?!"

"Happy! Get out of here!" He called out to the cat in dread that his little friend had entered the battlefield. The moment he turned to address the feline, he saw his enemy take the chance and dash at him from the corner of his eye. He reacted but was barely able to block the heavy cross that dug into his forearm and lifted him off his feet, "URRR!"

"NATSU!"

Before Happy could register who had attacked his partner, a large shadow descended over him. The cat nearly froze in fear and looked up to see two piercing black eyes gaze down at him with pure focus. The blue cat could do nothing before a large fist was raised above him, "Bad kitty."

*THWACK*

Happy was harshly punched and spiked directly into the floor as he gave a loud yelp of pain, "AHHH!"

"HAPPY!" Natsu landed on his feet and leaped forward, flames pouring off him in livid rage as he punched at the owl man's back, "I'LL KILL YOU, BASTARD!"

The mercenary's head turned around until it was almost completely backward as he caught sight of Natsu's attack before it could land. He turned his body at the last moment and tried to land a kick on the Dragon Slayer who turned and matched his strike with a kick of his own. The two fighters were blown away from each other and skidded against the ground before the Trinity Raven member extended his fist out in a pose towards the sharp-eyed boy, "Hoo hoo, I told you! All evil falls before my fist!"

"Happy!" Natsu immediately scampered to his feet and ran before sliding to his knees. He gently picked up his injured friend and cradled him carefully, "C'mon Happy, speak to me! Say something man!"

The blue cat struggled and groaned in pain before opening one of his eyes. He murmured, "N-Natsu?"

"Happy! You okay man?!"

"It really hurts Natsu." The cat gasped when he tried to move and he felt Natsu's hands hold him a little closer. The little cat looked over at the owl man that attacked him and muttered weakly, "W-who is this guy?"

Natsu answered with a dark glare that slowly turned up to focus on the owl-faced killer that had attacked them. He growled threateningly, "He's finished. That's all that matters."

"Hey Natsu! Happy!"

They looked over to see Gray coming up to the room they were fighting in with a strange large man following close behind. The half-naked Fairy Mage called out to them, "What the hell was that about? You came flying past us like a bat outta hell! And..." They stopped just on the edge of the room and stared at the strange-looking individual with a jetpack and owl head that blinked at them curiously. Gray had a bemused glare, "W-what the hell is that thing?"

Simon's eye shook in horror when he saw the man they had engaged in battle, "Oh no."

"Hoo hoo! Splendid! More evil doers to be slain by my hands!" Fukuro gripped his fists tightly as if challenging the newcomers to try their hand at facing him, "Come at me! I shall christen this righteous place in your blood to celebrate the new world!"

"Is this guy crazy or something?" Gray questioned before shaking his head, "You know what, doesn't matter." He started cracking his knuckles, "If he's holding us back then he's a part of that Jellal dude's plan. If he wants a fight-"

"No! We can't fight him!" Simon grabbed Gray's shoulder before he could advance any further and pulled him back with a jerk. The Maker Mage stumbled back as Simon placed the middle and index finger from both hands on his temples as they glowed black. He extended his hands out and yelled, "Dark Moment!"

The entire room lost all of its light in an instant and it was pitch black around them. They were all made blind as a startled Natsu looked around in panic, "W-what the hell?! It's all dark like in the casino again!"

Simon, being able to see through the dark because of his magic made a straight beeline for Natsu and Happy as they looked around, baffled by the sudden shroud of shadow. He grit his teeth as he sprinted past the mercenary to retrieve the man and his cat before it was too late, 'I didn't think Trinity Raven and Death's Head Cuacus' master would act so quickly. If they're already in play then we can't risk fighting them! If I can grab them then we can escape-'

"Good effort to run, deviant!"

Simon's eyes widened when the Trinity Raven member dashed towards him with the complete eclipse of light not bothering him in the least, "But my vision can pierce even the darkness!" He turned around and let a massive burst of flames engulf the Tower dweller, "Judgement Hou!"

"AHHH!" Simon was sent flying from the explosion and slammed into the wall with a loud crack as a web pattern spread out behind him. The Darkness faded away and Natsu looked over to see the downed Darkness user moaning on the floor, "Woah! Hey man you okay?! What were you doing trying to fight that guy?!"

"Hoo hoo!"

Natsu reacted to the yell of the mercenary and jumped over the fist that almost hit him and imbedded itself in the wall. He landed and cradled the cat closely to his chest before sprinting across the room and toward his guildmate. He stopped right in front of the shirtless man, "Gray! I need you to take Happy!"

"What?!" Gray was handed the injured cat and he saw the bruises over his face before asking, "You know we're on a clock, right?!"

"And you know these guys are gonna try to kill us if we can't stop them first, right?!" Natsu countered, "If these guys get Erza back to that Jellal guy and that Ether-whatever hits then it's over! So if I can stop at least one of these assholes before that and beat Jellal, then we'll be good! Erza's safe, this place is destroyed, and we'll be out! And this all starts after I'm done kicking this guy's ass!"

Gray sighed exasperatedly, "How much do think you can do in under an hour?"

"More than enough."

Fukuro clenched his fists again and prepared to march over and attack-

"Dark Burst!"

A wave of Darkness magic came flying into Fukuro's side and exploded violently, creating a cloud of smoke that obscured him from his enemies' view. Natsu and Gray looked over and saw Simon lying on his knees and panting heavily after his surprise attack. His breathing was haggard as he called out to the Fairies, "Y-you have to run! This man is an assassin from a mercenary guild! He's too strong! You can't beat him!"

"Huh?" Natsu was baffled by this stranger's warning before looking towards the Ice Make Mage for clarification.

Gray saw the confusion on his face, "That guy is one of Erza's friends. He's on our side and he's trying to help."

"Oh."

Simon yelled out desperately, "Please! Just go! I'll hold him off-"

"Hoo hoo-led me off?"

Simon's eye widened as the mercenary walked out of the smoke cloud with just a few bruises and scorch marks on his body. The man turned to him as his owl head tilted almost at a complete right angle as he asked, "Was that your best effort at holding me off, evil doer? Because if it was then I am greatly offended that you believe that is enough to deter the great Fukuro!"

Simon looked up at the hired mercenary and saw his attack did nearly nothing to hurt him. He gasped and muttered in shock, "N-no way."

"Hoo hoo. However, it seems like if I wish to stop these two great sources of villainy, I will need some help." He looked over and realized he was the object of condemnation for the two Fairy Mage at the side. He turned back to the injured Tower dweller and stepped forward to grab his shoulders, "Rejoice! I shall be using your powers for the greater good!"

"W-what?"

Natsu yelled, "Hey! What are you doing over there?!"

Happy turned his head a little, "W-what's going on?"

Gray muttered with narrowed eyes, "Something bad."

Fukuro stood back up and brought Simon with him, causing the injured Darkness user to moan in pain before he looked into the owl man's lifeless black eyes. They stayed staring directly at each other in silence as Simon's mind became racked with fear and anxiety. Was he going to crush him? Break his neck? Pop his eye-

"Capture."

Fukuro's mouth grew several times larger and his jaw dropped until it reached the middle of his chest.

Simon was taken out of his stupor and just stared on in shock, "E-eh-AHHH!"

Fukuro lifted him up and threw Simon into his mouth, engulfing the large man completely with his jaw before swallowing him whole with a very loud gulp. In an instant, the bulge formed in his mouth from eating Simon traveled down to his stomach and disappeared like nothing ever happened. A strange dark aura started to cover Fukuro's body as he wiped his mouth, "Thank you for your help."

...

The Fairy Mages just looked on in shock and horror after seeing someone eaten alive and swallowed like he was a snack.

Natsu: "What-"

Happy: "-the-"

Gray: "-fuck?"

The dark aura finally evaporated and the owl mercenary turned towards his enemies. He had shut his left eye and a small tuft of black hair was growing out at the peak of his head. The Dragon Slayer and Maker Mage just stared at him in confusion before he suddenly blurted out, "Dark Ho Ho Hou!"

A wave of Darkness magic came flying towards them and Natsu looked on in shock before he reacted. He jumped in front of the blast and struggled against it with his block. His arms suddenly became shrouded in flames and he destroyed the attack before it could go any further, "WRAH!" The attack disappeared and Natsu leveled a fiery glare at the owl man, "That attack was the same one that other guy just used."

Gray narrowed his eyes at Fukuro, "He...used Simon's magic."

"That's right!" Fukuro proudly proclaimed as he patted his stomach with one hand and fiddled with his new black hair with the other, "I used my Absorption magic to capture that evil doer and assimilate his magic into mine." He patted his stomach, "Once he's done digesting, I'll have his magic for my own. And then I shall eat you two as well and become the greatest hero of Justice in the world!"

Gray gagged in disgust, "He eats people and takes their magic? How messed up do you have to be to choose that magic?"

"He said digesting." Natsu noted dryly before sending Gray a quick glance, "That means he's still alive inside him, right?"

Gray shrugged, "I don't know. But it makes sense that if he swallowed him whole, then he's probably still in his belly."

"All right." Natsu stepped forward and pounded his fists together with a toothy grin, "I just gotta hit this guy hard enough until he throws up. Piece of cake."

Happy moaned, "That's...so gross."

"You ready you owl-headed freaky bastard?" Natsu mocked before charging forward and yelling, "I'm gonna kick your ass!"

Fukuro stood back in a fighting stance as Natsu came charging at full speed. They were about to clash-

Fukuro crouched down and placed his hands firmly on the ground before his jetpack flew off his back like a missile, "Missile Ho Ho Hou!"

The jetpack went flying directly at Natsu and the pink-haired man stopped in place, "W-what the-" The jetpack slammed into his chest and carried him around as it suddenly started flying around in a sporadic and uncontrollable course, "WWWWAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Happy yelled up at his friend, "Natsu!"

"Hoo hoo! I know about your weakness, 'Salamander' Natsu Dragneel! Jellal-sama informed me." He pointed up at the man he had just condemned to his personal nightmare, "My jetpack will carry you round and round this room faster than you can imagine! And since it will be carrying you-"

"U-UGGHHHHHHHH! BLARGHHHHHHHH!"

Natsu's pained moans echoed through the whole room as his motion sickness started acting up being carried by the jetpack.

Gray looked up blandly at the pink and silver streak that swirled around the ceiling in blur before he just sighed. He shook his head disappointedly and turned around, "Fucking idiot. We can't waste time playing with your stupid affliction. We're gonna die waiting here dumbass."

Gray bent down and gently placed Happy against the wall. The blue cat looked up at his friend as he asked, "Happy, I know you're hurt but can you wait a sec? I need to deal with this guy before we head out."

Happy asked, "Can you do it yourself?"

"Totally." Gray stood up and walked back into the room until he stood across from his opponent. The shirtless man craned his head back to look up at the taller, owl-headed assassin as they just stared at each other.

Fukuro tilted his head, "Handle me? Hoo hoo! You must think very highly of yourself-"

"HA!" Gray jumped, kicking his foot out as quick and hard as he could to strike the owl's head as his foot pressed into the larger man's forearm. Gray's foot hooked and attempted to press further in but couldn't get any advantage like this.

Fukuro chuckled, "Hoo hoo! Just like an evil doer to attack while someone is talking."

Gray furrowed his eyes with a smirk, "That's rich, coming from an assassin."

"Not just any assassin!" The Trinity Raven member threw up his arms and sent Gray flying from the force, "I am Fukuro, the hero of Justice!"

"I don't give a damn what you are! You're done!" Gray slammed his hands together and released a dozen spears of ice that shot down at his enemy, "Ice Make: Lance!"

Fukuro weaved through the rain of ice weapons that littered the ground around him as he dashed towards where Gray would land. He swiped his hand up and released a wave of Darkness to hit him in his prone state, "Dark Ho Ho Hou!"

"Ice Make: Shield!" Gray created a shield between him and the magic attack that canceled each other out. The raven-haired man fell through the particles of ice and dark before he placed a foot on Fukuro's shoulder and vaulted off to get behind him. The mercenary looked back in time to see the Fairy Mage land behind him and slam his hands down on the floor, "Ice Make: Prison!"

An intricate cage of ice popped out of the ground and locked Fukuro in before the mercenary swung his arms out in a clothesline and broke through the bars with some extra effort. Gray clicked his teeth in annoyance before he had to leap back as the owl man started chasing after him and throwing a series of punches to cripple him, "Hoo! Hoo! Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!"

Gray quickly ducked and backed up as he felt the air pressure from each punch nearly connect with his face and break his skull. The Absorption Mage threw his kick out like an ax and attempted to shatter Gray's chin but the Maker Mage flipped back before diving forward to kick back. Fukuro slid and avoided the kick, swiping his elbow out to break Gray's rib but was blocked by Gray's hands.

Gray gripped the elbow tightly and channeled his magic, "Freeze!"

Ice suddenly surrounded the joint and Fukuro released a quick scream of pain before knocking his opponent away and cradling his arm. He looked down at the sudden sheet of ice that locked his forearm to his bicep and sent a deep chill down to his bone. He stumbled a little and tried to hold his arm as his fingers started to curl from the icy sensation, "M-my arm. Y-you've frozen my arm."

"A little flash freeze never hurt anybody." Gray boasted as he stood up and pointed out to the mercenary, "Glad I'm getting a chance to knock you down a few pegs, Hero of Justice-San. Doesn't matter what magic you use or how evil you think we are. Stand in our way..." He gripped his fist and aimed it out to the owl, "And we'll knock you down."

Fukuro hunched over and held his arm gently as his body started to shiver from the chill. His beak slowly opened up and he yelled, "D-Dark Moment!"

The room was suddenly devoid of all light and Gray was left standing in a black space without being able to even see his hand in front of him.

"Gray! W-what happened?!"

"Happy! He took out the light! I can't see!"

"Natsu! Make a flame! Gray needs your help!"

"UGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH-URRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGG!"

Gray was annoyed by the groans and hurls of his Dragon Slayer companion before he felt a strong first strike him across the face. He stumbled back and felt blood cover his lips, "W-what the-"

*THWACK*THWACK*

Gray staggered as several heavy punches, crosses, and jabs riddled his body in a matter of moments. The Maker Mage could barely let out a groan before he was socked in the jaw, punched beneath his rib, and hit in the knee hard enough that they buckled.

"Hoo hoo!" The owl's laughter permeated through the sheer darkness as the attacks continued to blindside Gray, "Can you sense me?! Can you see me villain?! Do you see how in merely a moment I destroy your arrogance and topple your defenses! In the dark, where the light of my eyes illuminates my path to victory, I shall end your reign of terror!"

Despite his words, Gray detected hints of crazed ramblings and boasting in his voice while the attacks continued. The Fairy Mage felt a cold and brutal strike slam against his forehead and split his eyebrow open, causing a sudden but heavy stream of blood to drip down his face and blind his right eye. Not that it affected his vision considering he still couldn't see in the dark but it stung like hell!

A sudden lightbulb went off in his head and he slammed his hands together before touching the ground, "Ice Make: Floor!"

A sheet of ice covered the floor around him and the attacks stopped for a moment before the owl laughed again in the dark, "Hoo hoo hoo! A valiant effort cutting off my attacks but only for a moment! You can't see me so unless you wish to attack blindly in the dark then just resign yourself to your fate!"

He knew he would just be wasting his efforts to attack blindly like that. But that wasn't what he was doing. He could feel his ice stretch out and cover the floor before one section of it finally stopped. There it was.

A wall.

Gray turned and dashed along the ice without any fault, cradling his aching ribs and ignoring the pain that shot through his whole body as he ran towards the place he knew the closest wall was. Fukuro saw him running and chased after him carefully over the ice, "Hoo hoo-oh no you don't!"

The shirtless Fairy Mage could feel his enemy approaching and slammed his fist down before aiming at the wall, "Ice Make: Hammer!"

He created the hammer and it succeeded in its job as it broke off a portion of the wall and revealed a small source of natural light against the unnatural darkness. Gray yelled and jumped out of the hole into the open air, squinting as his eyes readjusted to the light as he went into freefall. His eyes focused back into the black hole he just escaped from and caught sight of the owl's face in the darkness before creating a massive cannon on his shoulder and aiming up, "Ice Make: Cannon!"

A massive cannonball of ice shot through the hole in the wall and Fukuro had to lean back to dodge before he heard the projectile explode somewhere high above him. Gray shot his hands out and created a line of stairs between him and the gap that stopped his descent. He desperately held on to keep himself from falling as Fukuro chuckled derisively, "If you really thought you could hit me by luring me to the edge, you underestimate me fool."

Gray panted, his ribs causing his lungs to burn and sweat to drop down his face, before looking up and smirking, "Wasn't aiming at you, dick."

"FIRE DRAGON'S-"

Fukuro realized too late that a bright light had illuminated the darkness he created and looked up to see Natsu falling at him wreathed in flames. The jetpack that had captured him reduced to pieces from Gray's shot as the Dragon Slayer threw his hands out at the owl man and released a mighty explosion, "-BRILLIANT FLAME!"

"HOOOOO HOOOOOO!" Natsu's flames blew the owl man across the room and destroyed the unnatural darkness that covered the room.

Natsu landed on the floor and wiped his vest of dust as Gray finally climbed back up to their floor. The Maker Mage groaned and shook his head, "I have got to stop falling off all these tall places. It's fraying my nerves."

"Did you have to shoot me, jackass?" Natsu grumbled as he looked over the bruises he got from the cannonball as his stomach finally settled.

Gray scoffed and growled through his teeth, "I didn't really have a choice, dipshit. You shouldn't have gotten yourself caught like that in the first place."

Natsu seethed and was ready to argue back before he finally noticed the bruises, cuts, and blood that covered Gray's body from the ambush in the dark. The pink-haired Mage let his comment die on his tongue before turning back to see the owl man struggling back to his feet, "You gonna be okay?"

"I'm fine." Gray forced himself up to his feet and slammed his fist into his palm. He swiped his hands down as a long blade of ice formed over his right hand and left elbow before he stepped forward. He looked forward and glared, "I'll open him up. You think you can stay on your feet long enough to finish it up?"

"I'm not the one having trouble standing, idiot."

"I'll take that as a yes, prick."

Gray dashed forward, covering the space between him and Fukuro in a matter of moments before appearing right in front of him. The owl's eyes widened in horror as Gray spun around, "Ice Blade: Seven Sword Dance!"

Gray's body blurred as he struck the massive man's body at rapid speeds, leaving five long slashes over his body that drew blood before swing him up with both blades and leaving an X on his chest.

"GAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

Fukuro was left flying in the air before he opened his eyes again and saw the meteor heading straight for him.

"FIRE DRAGON'S SWORD EDGE!"

Natsu tackled directly into the Trinity Raven member's stomach and released a powerful burst of scorching hot energy before Fukuro's eyes rolled back from pain. His cheeks puffed up before his neck grew wider and Simon's head peeked out from his beak, "BLARGHHHHHHHH!"

Simon was regurgitated and fell harshly on the ground as his eye opened up in surprise. He caught sight of Natsu blasting the owl mercenary across the room until he slammed into the wall hard enough to crater it. He lifted himself up on his hands and looked around in confusion, "W-what? What happened?"

"You got eaten by that owl guy and he took your magic." Simon looked to the side to see the little blue cat fly up beside him with a few bruises on his body. Happy gave a big grin of pride as he answered the question Simon wanted to ask, "Don't worry. Natsu and Gray took him out and made him throw you up."

"T-they beat him?" Simon looked back over to see the Dragon Slayer strolling over and standing over the Maker Mage sprawled out on the ground.

"Hey." Natsu not so gently nudged Gray's body. Natsu asked with barely any actual interest, "You sleeping? Or dead?"

The eye not covered in blood slid open and Gray droned out with a cough, "I'm resting. In case you didn't notice I was busy handling your fight and had to pick up your slack."

...

Natsu kneeled down and slung Gray's arm over his shoulder before gently lifting him up beneath the armpit, "Sorry for the wait. I guess I'll just have to pick up the slack for you from here on out."

"Whatever."

Simon blinked in surprise before muttering in surprise, "They...they were strong enough to win."

########Hunter########

"YYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

Lucy had to cover her ears as the drum-splitting note echoed through the entire hall and she swore she felt it reverberate through her torso. She was barely able to open one eye against the horrendous sound and yelled, "I-it's so loud! And so bad!"

"Juvia actually finds this music quite intriguing." Juvia quietly mentioned as her body shook and jiggled as she switched between physical and liquid against the sound wave. She nodded, "Gajeel-kun liked to blast this kind of music back when they were in Phantom Lord. Juvia is accustomed to these sick chords."

"There is something so wrong with your tastes!"

The prolonged note finally ended and Lucy removed her hands from her ears to see the strange man in white body paint and leather clothes run a hand through his long hair. He opened his eyes again and let his long tongue hang from his mouth before shrieking in excitement, "WELL~?! WHAT'D YOU LADIES THINK?! I'M PRETTY GOD DAMN ROCKING, AIN'T I! BE HONEST!"

"Be honest?" Lucy droned as she tried to get the ringing sound out of her eardrums. She looked at him with more than a slight bit of disgust, "You are way too loud. And way too gross."

"Juvia has to agree." The blue-haired woman nodded, "However she did enjoy the music."

"OOOOOOOOOOOO! SCATHING! YOU GIRLS GOT CLAWS!" He gave an over dramatic yell and bent back as if he were in pain before shooting back up on his knees and letting his tongue hang out, "I LOVE IT! YOU GIRLS ARE RAW AND TELL IT LIKE IT IS! AND I GOTTA APPRECIATE THE FANS WHO CAN TELL ME THE TRUTH!"

Lucy's shoulders slumped and her eyes wandered to the side, "How do I keep getting stuck with the weirdoes? Is it a condition? Do I have a magnet or something?"

Juvia stepped forward with a baleful glance, "Raw or not-"

Lucy shivered, "Please don't agree with him like that!"

"-if you plan to impede our efforts to leave this place then Juvia will have to defeat you."

"WOOAHHHHH! FIESTY!" Vidaldus motioned for the girl to try and hit him, "FIRST HIT IS FREE LADIES! COME AND-BLURPARGH!"

He was suddenly encompassed by liquid and drowning inside a concentrated bubble of water. Vidaldus struggled and thrashed around in the bubble of water for some traction to escape but found none. Juvia lowered her hand after capturing the strange rocker in her Water Lock and spoke in a hush voice, "No one can escape my prison once they are fully captured. Except Gray-sama but..." A pink hue covered her cheeks and she gently placed her hand on her cheek in fond memory, "No one is as fabulous as Gray-sama."

"Way to go Juvia!" Lucy cheered with joy that they had stopped the freaky man without any strenuous effort. And the best part was he couldn't talk in there either! She gave the girl a big thumbs-up and praised her more, "You're the best partner ever!"

Juvia looked aside in dissapointment, "Juvia wishes it was anyone other than you praising her right now."

Before Lucy could comment about the ex-Phantom Mage's reluctance to address or even converse with her, they heard a strange whirring occur in the liquid prison. They looked over to see the rocker spinning his head around as his long flowing black locks followed behind at a slower pace. They thought he was just trying one last time to escape before they noticed the water inside the magic prison start to follow the path of his hair. The rim of the spherical prison slowly started to enclose to the center more and more as his hair became shinier with each rotation.

He whipped his hair around one last time and absorbed the rest of the Water Lock like it was nothing. His hair had a magnificent sheen of water over it for a moment before it returned to normal and cascaded down his back. He ran his pale hand through it once before giving a prideful grin and wink to the ladies, "THANKS BABY! I COULD ALWAYS USE A LITTLE WASH TO MAKE SURE THESE LOCKS ARE AS SHINY AS EVER! JUST FOR THAT I'LL LET YA BE MY NEW GROUPIE!"

"No thank you." Juvia responded flatly as her hand morphed into liquid and she waved it in front of her and released a sharp blade of water, "Water Slicer!"

The blades of water went flying at the Trinity Raven member and he smirked and yelled triumphantly as he waved his hair and absorbed the attacks easily. He smiled again and mocked the Water Mage for her efforts, "WHAT I TELL YA BABY! WATER AIN'T GONNA WORK ON ME! JUST GONNA MAKE MY HAIR SILKIER AND SHINIER!"

"Just testing something." The water woman answered as her hand morphed into a liquid state and started getting longer. She lifted her arm up and created a whip that obliterated the columns and ceiling above the man "Water Cane!"

If her water abilities weren't going to do anything against him, then let's see how he fairs against rock.

"ROCKIN'!" He screamed as he whipped his head around and his hair traveled with such ferocity that it shattered through the stone and rock like tinfoil. The rubble fell around him harmlessly and he stuck his tongue out and let it wiggle, "GOTTA BE QUICKER THAN THAT, BITCH!"

Juvia furrowed her eyes in irritation, "This is becoming tiresome."

"Then let me try!" Lucy stepped up to her side and pulled out a golden key to show her, "If this guy can negate your attacks, let's see how he handles mine." Lucy held her key out, there was a resounding click through the air, and she called out, "Open, Gate of the Golden Bull, Taurus!"

A golden light appeared in the form of a humanoid man before it disappeared and it revealed a massive cow man carrying a golden ax. He exclaimed, "Mooooooooo~, I'm here to protect Lucy-San and her friend's sexy bodies!"

Juvia blinked in surprise at seeing the same cow that reduced her to a puddle a few weeks earlier, "That's quite strange."

Lucy groaned, "It's a double-edged sword using him." But Lucy immediately perked up and motioned towards the brash assassin, "Taurus, show this guy who he's messing with!"

"Moooooooo! You got it!" Taurus rushed forward and swung his ax out at Vidaldus as the rocker panicked and jumped back to avoid getting hit. Taurus reared his weapon back and grinned, "You aren't getting away that easily!"

"WOOOOAH!" The Trinity Raven member gasped in surprise as the massive ax swung around him in an attempt to slash him. He stuck out his tongue, "YOU'RE CRAZY MAN! I BET YOU'D MAKE SOME AWESOME FURNITURE WITH ALL THAT LEATHER!"

A vein started to pulse in anger on Taurus' head and he yelled furiously, "MOOOOOOOOO! I'M NOT GONNA LET YOU WALK AWAY FOR THAT ONE, JERK!"

Juvia watched in slight amazement at the strange hulking figure that attacked their enemy with such ferocity. She spoke lightly while watching the fight, "Your friend is surprisingly monstrous."

Lucy gave a small, solemn nod, "At least it's working to stop that guy."

"HEY! HOW'S THIS FAIR?! THREE ON ONE IS JUST TOO MUCH!" The panic and worry in his voice was very obvious before it was suddenly replaced by a cocky assurance, "GUESS I'M JUST GONNA NEED A LITTLE SLAVE OF MY OWN!" Before they could do anything else, Vidaldus started strumming his guitar with a wild flick of his hair before finally landing on the last note, "YEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH! ROCK OF SUCCUBUS!"

The note was so loud and powerful that it echoed through every brick and rock down the hallway. Lucy had to cover her ears because she thought she'd go deaf otherwise. The music finally died down and she lowered her hands to see that nothing had happened or occurred after he had yelled. Taurus was looking around in confusion as Lucy asked, "Huh? Did-did he do something? I can't see. Juvia, did you see something?"

"..."

Lucy looked over and saw Juvia with her head hung down enough to shadow her eyes from view. In fact, her entire outfit had changed from what she was wearing just a moment ago. What had once been a coat that covered her body almost entirely had become an outfit revealing her midriff and cleavage for all to see. Lucy blinked in bewilderment and asked, "Juvia-"

"Hehe!" Juvia giggled menacingly before sprinting forward and letting her arms turn into streams of water. Taurus heard the rushing footsteps behind him and looked back just in time to get dual-whipped across his chest, "WATER CANE!"

"A-AGHHH!"

"Taurus!"

The Celestial Spirit's body glowed yellow and disappeared in a cloud of light before he even hit the ground. Lucy stared in horror after watching her spirit return through his gate to heal before looking past the light and at her companion. Her posture was more relaxed, her hair was unraveled and wavy, and her skin was paler than it was before.

Juvia stood in front of Vidaldus like some sick mirror image and cackled, "HAHAHAHAHAHA! WHAT'S UP YOU SLUT! JUVIA LOCKSER, #1 BITCH OF THE GREAT VIDALDUS TAKA, HAS COME TO SPILL SOME BLOOD! HAHAHA!"

Lucy shivered in fright seeing the girl change so drastically in the blink of an eye and shook her head. Her confusion suddenly turned to anger as she looked over and glared at the man that just laughed and played his guitar, "This is your fault, you sicko! What did you do to her?!"

"IT'S MY ROCK OF SUCCUBUS!" Vidaldus answered before whipping his hair around wildly, "I PLAY A LITTLE SONG AND I CAN FORCE ANY LADY OF MY CHOICE TO BE MY NEW CONCUPINE! AND SEEING AS THAT WATER GIRL LOOKED SO INNOCENT AND LONGING, I JUST HAD TO HAVE HER BE MINE! SO I DID!" He smiled and turned to his new groupie to look her over objectively, lingering on her curves and body figure before matching the creepy grin on her face with his own, "AND WE ARE GONNA ROCK THIS WORLD!"

Lucy shook with unrestrained anger for the psychopath that had manipulated her teammate and growled out, "You're a freak. And the worst kind of scum in the world!"

"WOOOOAH BABY, HOLD ON! DON'T GET ME ALL HOT IN THE CROTCH WITH YOUR WORDS! I HAVE A GIRL OF MY OWN NOW, YOU KNOW!" He gave her a evil smirk before turning his back on her and playing his guitar, "AND SHE IS A JEALOUS LITTLE BITCH!"

Juvia cackled and sprinted forward at Lucy who couldn't back away in time before the possessed Water Mage got within a foot of her. Lucy could only gasp before Juvia laughed and struck her stomach with a whip of water. Lucy doubled over and cried in pain, "AHHHHHH!"

"OHOHOHOHAHAHA!" Juvia's chortle barely drowned out Lucy's scream before the succubus continued, "THAT'S RIGHT! KEEP SCREAMING BABY!" She swung her arm down again and struck Lucy's arms and legs until parts of them went red, "THE BOSS GETS HIS MUSING FROM THE SCREAMS OF LITTLE WHINERS LIKE YOU!"

Lucy could barely move as a stinging sensation went up her arms and legs from the whipping. She felt tears start filling in the corners of her eyes as the blue-haired woman continued to laugh and strike her. Lucy desperately covered herself to avoid more injury before making a move and reaching for her keys-

"NOPE!" Juvia slammed her foot into the blonde's stomach and sent her sliding and rolling over the floor. Lucy gasped in pain and tried to catch her breath. Her vision tunneled and she saw her keys had slipped off and laid on the ground a foot behind her enslaved attacker. The Celestial Mage tried to lift herself up but was immediately slapped across the face by the possessed girl, "CAN'T LET YOU GO UNTIL THE BOSS HAS HIS INSPIRATION!"

Lucy struggled on the ground and tried to steady herself up to her knees. She gasped for air, feeling like her lungs were still on fire, and mumbled under her breath, "J-Juvia, y-you have to fight this guy's control. You can't-"

"CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

The Water girl slammed her water whip down on Lucy's back and made her topple to the ground. Lucy kept her scream muffled through her teeth, knowing that if she let it out it would just stir the psycho on to force Juvia to attack her more. Lucy writhed on the ground and tried to look up, "Please Juvia. I-I know you aren't doing this, b-but please try-"

"YOU CAN KEEP TRYING GIRLIE BUT IT'LL AMOUNT TO TOTAL SHIT IN THE END!" Vidaldus danced mockingly a few feet behind them as he laughed, "I'M IN HER HEAD! MAKING HER DANCE AND SUCCUMB TO HER MOST SALACIOUS AND DARKEST THOUGHTS! SHE'S A BAD GIRL! AND SHE LIKES DOING BAD THINGS! RIGHT BABY!"

"RIGHT!" Juvia responded eagerly as she reached down and grabbed Lucy by the top of her hair, eliciting a yelp of pain as Lucy was forced onto her knees by the harsh pull.

The Heartfilia girl moaned in pain before looking up at the girl that kept a hold on her. She gave a small shake of her head, "N-no. I don't know a lot about you Juvia, but I know you aren't a cruel person. Y-you wouldn't do this just for fun." Lucy carefully reached up and held the hand that grabbed her hair but merely gave a comforting squeeze, "He's making you do this Juvia. You tried to help us. You came here to help us save Erza because you knew it was right. And I know it's just this guy making you do these things."

Lucy squeezed the hand holding her hair and felt her voice hitch, "I'm...I'm sorry I'm not strong enough to save you from this, Juvia. I'm so sorry."

"PFFT!" Vidaldus scoffed and ridiculed the blonde for her words and pointed at the back of his wench, "IF YOU'RE TRYIN' TO APPEAL TO HER 'Humanity', THEN YOU OUGHTA KNOW I DROWNED THAT SHIT WAY DOWN IN HER SUBCONCIOUS! SHE DOES WHAT SHE WANTS, WHEN SHE WANTS, TO WHOEVER AND WHATEVER SHE WANTS NOW! RIGHT BABY?!"

Vidaldus waited for an answer but didn't get one as he raised an eyebrow in confusion. Lucy looked up at the girl that held her captive and was startled to see that despite the vicious grin on her face, there were tears filling Juvia's eyes and spilling down her cheeks. Lucy looked up in defeat, knowing she couldn't do anything to help her friend like this and felt tears fill her eyes as well, "I'm sorry Juvia."

Vidaldus clicked his tongue in annoyance before laughing, "WHATEVER! LET'S GET BACK TO THE SHOW! JUVIA BABY, BEAT THAT BITCH UNTIL-"

*Bang*

"AHH!" The Trinity Raven member stumbled forward and yelled in pain as a horrible sting and burning sensation ran through his shoulder. His right arm went lax and he looked down to see a bloody exit wound form on his shirt. He looked in complete bewilderment at the injury and stuttered, "W-what the-"

"Well damn. I guess I got hit harder than I thought." They looked back to see the block-shaped man in the snappy suit with his revolver out and a smoking barrel. His clothes were disheveled, he had dry blood down his chin, and his glasses were missing from his face as he spun the gun over his finger, "I usually hit my targets way better than that when I try."

Vidaldus turned around while clutching the wound on his shoulder and mutter weakly, "Y-you! You're one of Jellal-sama's dogs! W-what are you doing?! AREN'T YOU WORKING WITH JELLAL TOWARDS THE SAME GOAL?!"

Wally gave a conflicted expression before holstering his gun and tipping his hat, "I'm not quite sure what Jellal is aiming for anymore. And I'm not sure we're aiming for the same thing. But I know one thing..." He glared at the sadistic rocker with pure disdain, "I, as a dandy guy, can't stand idly by and watch a creep enslave one girl to beat her friend. Just ain't our style."

"Multi-grab!"

Vidaldus and Juvia were suddenly ensnared by two Nekōsoku Tubes that restricted their moves. Juvia couldn't escape with her Water Body and Vidaldus couldn't channel his magic to his hair to protect himself. Panic started to fill his eyes as he looked over and saw the young cat-girl walk out from behind a pillar to Wally's side. The Trinity Raven member realized he was in a bind as Wally asked, "Now...what should we do with you?"

"I know what to do."

Vidaldus shivered and turned around to see Lucy force herself up to her feet and grab her keys. He sweated in fear and tried to free himself but felt the rubber tube around him tighten until he couldn't move. Lucy carefully picked up her Golden Keys, ignoring the pain in her limbs, and held out one key, "Open, Gate of the Crab, Cancer!"

A bright light filled their eyes before a tanned man in a buttoned shirt with crab legs on his back and a crab hair style appeared. A pair of scissors spun in the air before he grabbed them and spoke in a silky voice, "What can I be doing for you today Lucy, ebi?"

"Cancer, I need you to cut the strings of his guitar please." Lucy then met Vidaldus' frightful eyes with a rather stoic gaze. The blonde smirked and shrugged her shoulders, "And give him a shave too while you're at it. He needs one."

"N-no, not my do! NOT MY-"

"Got it, ebi."

*Sching*Sching*Sching*

The strings on the guitars gave one last dying tone before they were cut in half. The Trinity Raven member didn't even get a chance to scream before all of his luscious hair was cut and removed from his head in an instant. He stood there with his jaw agape as his newly bald head shined in the light. Lucy pointed to the girl beside her, "Cancer, can you cut her loose please."

"You got it."

The Celestial Spirit dashed forward and cut the magical restraining tubes to shreds before they fell to the ground. The moment they fell, Lucy could clearly see that Juvia's clothes and skin color had returned to normal. The Water Mage blinked in surprise and looked down at her hands before apprehensively looking up at Lucy. The Fairy newbie gave her a quick nod, "I thought you'd like to do the honors."

Juvia immediately turned around and sent a spiteful glare at the man that had controlled her like a puppet. Vidaldus cowered under the girl's venomous gaze and couldn't retreat back as the tube tightened around him dangerously. The ex-Phantom Mage stood up and slowly stalked her way towards him as he pleaded, "C'mon baby, d-don't look at me like that. W-we had fun, right? It must've felt so liberating to be bad like that, right? You can't say you didn't-"

"Shut. Up." Juvia's hands liquified.

"Uh oh."

"WATER SLICER!"

Several blades of water went flying at the loud assassin and sliced the tube and his chest up rapidly. He let out a quick scream of pain before passing out and falling harshly on his back. The remaining people looked at the bastard with contempt before letting him rot there on the ground.

"Ah!" Cancer returned through his gate and Lucy fell to her knees as the pain she had ignored had come rushing back.

"Lucy-San!" Juvia quickly came running to her side and kneeled down to check on her. She looked her over in worry that she had been grievously injured, "A-are you okay? Did Juvia break anything? Can you still move?"

"Y-yeah, I'll be okay." Lucy tried to give a confident smile but to no avail as she flinched from the aching in her lungs. She took a moment to breathe slowly and regain the feeling in her chest after the beating she had taken.

Juvia was mortified at the injuries she had made and the pain she had caused the blonde. Even if she wasn't in control of her actions-even if she was screaming in the back of her head to stop-this was her doing. She was responsible for Lucy's suffering right now. She lowered her head in shame and apologized, "L-Lucy-San, Juvia is sorry."

Lucy looked up at her, "Juvia, it's okay. This wasn't your fault."

"But Juvia still did this. She hurt you and laughed over your cries of pain." Juvia's shoulders slumped and her voice became small, "This is the same thing that happened during the Guild War. Juvia thought she...she thought she had moved past this. She didn't want to hurt people anymore for no reason. She didn't want to be a part of so much pain like that ever again. J-Juvia thought if she could help here-prove herself to all of you-then maybe you would let her join your guild. But...but that was just foolish. It was a stupid dream Juvia is forcing on all of you. She was-"

"Juvia." The blue-haired woman looked up from her depression and saw the kind smile on Lucy's face, "You are our friend. And I forgive you for everything that happened in the war." She tilted her head and grinned, "I know you'll have a lot of fun at Fairy Tail. So smile. Please."

"..." Juvia swallowed the lump in her throat as tears filled her eyes. Her shoulders shook and her breathing started to shudder before she gave a small nod. She lowered her head in gratitude and mumbled out between her sobs, "T-thank you."

Lucy smiled and nodded before she heard footsteps over the sound of Juvia's hiccuping. She looked up to see Naruto and Erza's friends walking down the hallway. She perked up and yelled to them, "H-hey wait! Don't go, please!"

Wally and Milliana stopped and looked between each other before turning back to them, "What is it?"

"Thank you for helping us. But why?"

Wally turned away from them, "I already said. I can't just watch two ladies hurt each other like that. It's just not my way."

Milliana seemed a lot more reserved and muttered quietly, "I hurt you guys because I thought I was helping my friends by doing so. I guess...I guess that isn't true anymore." Wally patted her shoulder and the two friends turned back and walked further down the hallway.

Juvia called out, "Where are you going?"

"To get a boat. Get off this island. Or just wait for the light to shine down and make everything go black. We don't know yet."

Juvia and Lucy looked between each other and the blonde thought intensely before asking, "Can you help me up?"

Juvia nodded, "What do you want to do?"

"We can trust Gray to help Natsu. And Naruto will definitely win. Erza is handling Jellal. So I guess...we need to help their friends."

########Hunter########

Danzō pulled on the strings around both hands and vaulted upwards as he avoided the attacks that followed beneath him and destroyed the stone wall. He quickly spun through the air, pulling out several dozen kunai from his Requip space and unleashed them through the smoke cloud where he had last seen his nemesis.

His blockade of knives was useless as a figure blurred through the center of the death trap without care, swatting away the overwhelming numbers with his invincible blade. He braced himself against the floor and launched himself like a rocket at Danzō while he was still prone in the air. The master assassin felt his reflexes kick in and threw his hand out to the closest wall, connecting a wire and pulling him in enough to dodge the human projectile that fired at him. He twisted his hips and threw several more kunai at his target's back before several identical kunai formed in the blond's hand as he tossed them to intercept in the air.

He had created his own arsenal of kunai from the ones he copied after picking them up. That wasn't good for him.

His blond adversary landed against the wall and stayed attached to it with his strange technique before running along the surface to chase after Danzō. He sent his black blade and scabbard into his Requip and pulled out the red blade as it immediately started emanating flames. He gave a quick thrust as a pillar of intense fire shot out from the tip towards the mercenary as he landed on the wall, "Blazing Dragon Tail!"

Danzō threw out his hand, manipulating a dozen wires to constrict and wrap around each other into a makeshift spear. It shot forward like a missile through the center of the fire pillar, obliterating the flames before they could even reach him. But the moment the fire had vanished, Danzō realized that his opponent had disappeared behind the massive fire attack.

He felt a cold chill run down his neck and looked up to see Naruto popping up over him with the fire blade reared back to strike. The Death's Head Caucus master reacted quickly and flipped off the rock wall as the wave of intense flames covered the area he once stood. He was still close enough to feel his skin blister and his hair singe so he clicked his teeth and shot his hand out to skewer the blond while he was still. Naruto jumped up the wall and avoided the garrote wire that pierced through the rock like butter. But he immediately had to steady himself as several large chunks of the wall were pulled and forced out of the wall by the assassin, Danzō smiling before he flicked his hand and tried to crush Naruto beneath the massive slabs of rock.

*SLAM*SLAM*SLAM*SLAM*

The massive rock slabs crashed into the wall with a wave of fire beneath them, creating a large smokescreen that lingered over the wall.

Danzō braced himself and landed onto what remained of a platform he had destroyed when he had dropped a section of the ceiling down. He looked up and gave a derisive chuckle before speaking out, "I must admit that I'm feeling a little flustered. It never takes me this long or this many tries to kill someone. Usually when I drop the ceiling on them that's the end of it. I suppose I should reconsider the limits some people can go through, huh?"

The smoke cloud of the rock smash separated to reveal Naruto still standing parallel to the ground with his fire sword broken after blocking the massive boulder attacks. He looked down at the broken hilt, clicking his teeth as he made a mental reminder to recreate the copy when he had proper time. He looked down at the assassin that ridiculed him and spat out, "You should reconsider what you mean when you say flustered. I'm pretty sure that means you're embarrassed. You look like you're enjoying every goddamn second of this."

Danzō laughed and shrugged, "Well, it's true that as a ninja and an assassin, my pride has taken a terrible hit in not being able to kill you already. But...as a fighter...I cannot say I'm anything but giddy. Especially now that you've abandon your uncertainties and finally started putting yourself into this fight." He titled his head mockingly, "Tell me...what was it that convinced you to finally focus on the fight? Was it the fact I got the better of you and landed such a heavy blow with the ceiling? Was it hearing Jellal-sama's voice again after so long? The thought that at any moment the Council will be wiping us off the face of Earthland? Or perhaps...you didn't quite enjoy the way Jellal-sama used the word sacrifice to describe Titania?"

"GRRR!" Naruto's anger bubbled up almost immediately at the mention of that word again. Sarifice. He knew Jellal had made the others bring Erza here for some horrible reason, but he never in any way thought it would be for the purpose of a sacrifice. And for the purpose of resurrecting Zeref as well.

Jellal was going to use Erza to bring back the worst evil in the world. He was willingly going to forfeit her life for his cause. He still couldn't picture that idea in his head. His friend...hurting Erza...it...

"WRAAHHH!" Naruto leapt off the wall and raised his leg up high before bringing it down in a staggering ax kick where Danzō once stood. The ninja master evaded the attack, jumping high off the platform and watching the kick crack the rock before he threw several kunai at Naruto in retaliation.

Naruto grit his teeth and merely swatted away the first two kunai sailing at him. His eyes widened when he finally noticed the wire attached to the second kunai that had looped over itself and hung around his neck precariously. He quickly ducked as the wire tightened up to try and decapitate him before he dodged three more knives. The whiskered Mage noticed the wire on the last kunai and slammed his foot on it before kicking in the wire with his other foot and violently pulling the ninja in towards him.

Danzō released the wire and kept sailing towards the Fairy Mage as two kunai appeared in his hand and he flipped over Naruto's kick. He landed in a crouch behind the blond fighter and spun up to stab his back repeatedly, hitting nothing but air as Naruto leaned and dodged by a hair's breadth with their limited space.

Naruto parried and pushed the knife strikes aside as Danzō kept pushing and tried to rip him to shreds. The blond fighter grit his teeth before covering his fist in Armor and shattering one of the knives before grabbing Danzō wrist and attempting to throw him off. But the master assassin jumped and locked his legs around Naruto's shoulder and arm before spinning and throwing Naruto off the platform in retaliation.

"Storm Fist!"

The mercenary guild master jumped off the side as the barrage of air blasts decimated the rock platform. He threw out his hand and sent a flurry of steel wires out to restrict and pierce through the falling blond. He wasn't going to be able to move through the air like-

"Void Storm Step!"

A loud bang echoed through the room as a shockwave blasted the wires back and Naruto disappeared. Danzō's eyes widened in surprise and he noticed the blond floating high above where he was falling just a minute ago. Naruto retrieved his light blue blade and swung it around as quickly as possible, unleashing several blades of wind at the other ninja, "Grand Gale!"

"HA!" Danzō waved his arms out and formed a protective wall in front of him to part the powerful gust of wind on either side. He slid against the wall and landed on a lower level before looking up to see Naruto standing on the wall above and across from him. He tried to calm himself before asking, "Jumping in the air? Thats a new one."

"Still feeling like standing in my way?"

"Standing in your way?" Danzō scoffed, "Young Hunter, this was an execution the moment you walked into this place. I just haven't taken the proper measures to ensure that result." He held up his hands, "But I'm going to change that."

There was a rumbling as every wire shuffled out of his clothes, through the rocks and twisted around each other as they floated behind him like spider legs. Naruto furrowed his eyes and prepared to move as Danzō smiled and let the garrote limbs behind him sway, "Widow Death Thread."

*Schwip*Schwip*Schwip*Schwip*Schwip*

Naruto had to sprint along the wall as a countless number of wires started shooting out from the appendages sprouting from Danzō's back. The wires pierced through the rock so cleanly that there were no cracks. Naruto keep running as fast as he could before he immediately turned right and ran down the length of the room in an effort to escape the onslaught. He jumped off the wall and rapid punched towards Danzō, unleashing a flurry of air blasts that were easily destroyed by a quick flick of a steel tendril.

A steel tendril emerged from the rock wall and whipped into Naruto's side, sending him hurling down into the floor below them. Before he could even hit the floor Danzō had unleashed a heavy rain of wire that repeatedly pierced into the ground and obscured his sight for a moment.

Danzō waited with baited breath, letting the smoke cloud clear a little and scouting for any movement on the lowest floor. He finally pulled the hundreds of wires out of the ground and let them contort and twist back behind him to form the spider legs. He sent a quick look to their tips and noticed something.

Some of the wires had been ripped and torn. But others had lines of blood along their lengths.

The dust finally settled and revealed Naruto hunched over with some wire gripped in his hands and cuts and scratches that drew blood over his whole body. He was panting heavily as he shuffled around to feel the cuts that covered his torso, arms, legs, and his chin too. They didn't pierce him like the one through his shoulder but there were enough grazes that together it was a bad situation.

"Do you see now, young Hunter?" Naruto panted and looked up with burning eyes at the man with the steel wires dancing behind him. The Death's Head Caucus master smiled and tilted his head, "This is an execution. And you were a fabulous prey while you lasted." One of the tendrils shifted forward and unwound at the tip into the numerous wires that formed it, "But just like a spider I'm done playing with my food. You're in my web, and it's time for the last bite."

Naruto slowly lifted himself up to stand straight as he ignored the pain lingering through his body. Erza was in danger. His friends were in trouble. They were all going to die and he was just sitting down here like an idiot. His hands lowered to his side as he looked over the bottom level he stood in.

They once rested here.

Kazuya and Erika. Erza's parents.

And just like that, a memory flooded into Naruto's head of a promise he made years ago after burying them.

"I won't lose anyone again. I'll protect everyone I care about, and I'll never let them die. I'll become strong! The strongest! I'LL NEVER BE WEAK AGAIN!"

He wasn't always able to keep that promise. He lost people. He wasn't always able to protect the people he cared about. He couldn't stop his friend from dying. He wasn't the strongest.

But this wasn't going to be one of those times.

He was going to fulfill that promise now.

The Earth dragon cleaver appeared in his hand and he slammed it down in the floor, causing a quake to shake the whole room. Danzō staggered on his platform as the Fairy Mage continued to slam the magical sword down on the ground over and over. The walls, platforms, ground level, and ceiling all started to break part before an avalanche of stone started coming down around them.

Naruto turned around before swinging upwards and creating a cyclone of debris that filled the entire room. Danzō's platform broke apart beneath him and he was left falling through the air before he landed on a stray slab to steady himself in the tornado of debris. He tried to stand up but quickly flicked out his hands to destroy some rocks that were coming in to crush him.

He continued to leap between boulders as he realized he was trapped. Inside the cyclone of debris, he was blocked off on all sides and in constant danger of being crushed. The legal Mage was merely waiting for the moment he was crushed between two massive rocks like an insect. It was cowardly but a smart move to trap him inside a certain death trap of stone and rock.

But it wasn't going to be enough.

He was Tobita Danzō. Guild Master of Death's Head Caucus. The Red Spider. He couldn't be taken out like this.

The older, rugged man jumped off a rock and spun through the air before channeling his String magic. The makeshift spider legs on his back separated into their respective wires and whirled around at breakneck speeds to obliterate the debris floating around him. The rocks were reduced to pebbles and then reduced to dust as the wires sliced thought them with ease. The Red Spider smirked in the midst of his rampage as he knew his strength and skill were proven with this.

He was the greatest killer in his rank.

*Schwip*

Danzō's eyes widened his shock as he suddenly felt the magic going through his wires disappear. He looked over his shoulder to see Naruto falling through the eye of the tornado and reducing his wires to shreds with his black sword.

Danzō panicked as he realized he had lost his offense and defense trying to destroy the rubble around him and left himself wide open. With no wire remaining and Danzō now falling through the air, Naruto fell towards him fast and sent the blade back as his fists glowed with magic. Danzō turned in the air and pulled out knives to counter-

"Knight's Crusade!"

A barrage of heavy punches shattered the knives and landed squarely on Danzō's torso. He gasped and felt blood fill his mouth as his body bent with the rapid strikes. Naruto pulled his fists back before concentrating his magic into his right until it glowed bright.

He landed the devastating right into Danzō's stomach and roared, "FLYING GAUNTLET!"

"GAH!"

The ninja mercenary was launched clear down the room and cratered the ground from the force behind the punch. Naruto righted himself in the air before landing in a crouch and falling to his knees. He hunched over a little and tried to catch his breath before looking over the cuts along his body.

They were healing thanks to Kurama's healing factor. It was slow but they were definitely closing. He could make it go faster with the Sky sword but...no. He needed to conserve and regain as much magic as he could right now.

The blond took a moment to compose himself before pushing himself up to his feet with a huff and walked towards the crater he had created. He walked to its edge and looked in to see Danzō lying in the center motionless. The whiskered man waited for a moment before slowly walking down the crater to the center before standing over the defeated ninja and speaking sternly, "I know you're breathing. Your chest is barely rising at all but I can still see your nostrils moving."

A small smile cracked on Danzō's face before a modicum of blood seeped out of the corner of his mouth, "Was it convincing?" His broad chest seemed to contort and shake before it broke apart to reveal a coat of wire that had been colored to match his skin tone, "I wore of vest of wires over my chest like chainmail. It reduces the damage I receive from physical attacks to my form. Although it didn't seem to do much good this time since you kept hitting so much I'm certain you broke my ribs."

"I decided to take the opportunity."

"You made an oppurtunity." Danzō acknowledged, "You took advantage of my pride by giving me a challenge that forced me to act as wildly as possible. Then you destroyed my wires before they could return to me and attacked me before I could retaliate. Although if I were you, I would have sliced me up with that pretty sword of yours." He titled his head up from the floor, "Are you going to finish me now?"

Naruto shook his head, "I told you, I learned the techniques. I don't follow the methods."

"Well maybe you should." Danzō chided, "Take it from someone who's taken more lives than you can count. It's useful to tie up loose ends."

Naruto responded by roughly gripping Danzō's shoulder and lifting him off the ground, eliciting a groan from the injured ninja, "Well take it from someone who's done a whole mess of worse shit than you but I don't care what you have to say."

Naruto dragged him along the floor, pulling him over rocks and debris and ignoring the pained moans it resulted in. Naruto tossed Danzō into a small row boat and pushed him through the waterway and towards the ocean. The immobile ninja could only lay in the boat silently before Naruto turned around and walked back towards the walls.

Danzō's voice reached out before he floated out of the Tower, "What are you going to do now, young Hunter?"

Naruto stopped in the middle of the floor and looked up to the ceiling. His eyes narrowed in deep thought...

"I'm going to keep my promise."

########Hunter########

Erza looked around at the hidden hallway Shō had been leading her through to ambush Jellal. This passageway was much less refined and well decorated as the hallways she had been running through before.

This was simply a long hallway made entirely of stone with old torches and lanterns lighting the pathway. She knew this section was different than the others because this was like a remnant of the older version of the Tower. She remembered carrying buckets of mud and rock in line with dozens of other people down pathways like this years ago.

"Just a little further Nee-San. We're almost there I'm sure." Shō quietly stated as he lead the older redhead through the halls.

She trusted Shō. She didn't want to leave him alone anymore. He knew he must be in pain but despite the confusion he still wanted to help her. She still loved him, and she was sure he loved her too.

But she couldn't do this...

Erza spoke up, "Shō, what are you doing?"

The dark-skinned boy spoke over his shoulder, "I'm leading you through the catacombs behind the wall Nee-San. I don't know why these are here but they cover the entire structure of the Tower of Heaven. We could effectively reach any spot in the Tower without fail-"

"Shō stop."

The Fairy Mage and her younger brother stopped in the shadowy hall with a tense silence. Shō didn't turn around as Erza spoke up, "Shō, we've passed by several connecting pathways already. If we wanted to go to the top we would have traveled up somewhere but all we've been doing is going down. I followed because I thought you wanted to tell me something but you haven't said a word. This place might have changed but I know...you're leading me to the beach, aren't you?" Her eyes narrowed with concern and she asked, "What are you doing?"

Shō kept his back to her before turning around and looking at her with as firm a look as he could, "I'm leading you to the beach so you can take a boat." Erza showed no reaction, probably having already discerned that so he lowered his eyes to the floor, "I want you to get on one of them and leave this godforsaken place once and for all."

Erza shook her head, "Shō I can't do that. Gray, Lucy, Naruto and the others are all still in here. I'm not abandoning them. And we need to stop Jellal as well-"

"I'll stop him." Shō's voice suddenly went rigid as he gripped his fist so tightly his arm started to shake. He growled through his teeth, "I'll kill him if I have to. I'll make him pay for lying to us and keeping us here and-"

"Shō." Erza's voice broke through his mad muttering before she gave him an apologetic look, "Shō, I'm sorry you had to find out like that, but fighting Jellal by yourself is suicide. You can't beat him."

She wasn't entirely sure how she was going to face him either but she couldn't focus on that right now.

Shō looked conflicted by what Erza said but closed his eyes tightly knowing she was right. His shoulders trembled before they went slack and he looked up at her sadly, "I should have know he was lying. I should have known you weren't hiding away from us like that but I listened to him. I tried to be strong. I tried to be like you because...because I was just too scared to face this world by myself. I wanted to believe what he said about being able to set everything right once we were done here." He shook his head in self-loathing and hoarsely spoke, "I wanted to see you all again. I wanted us to be happy once more. To be a family. But I was living in a dream and I was willing to bring you back to hell...back here...to do it."

Her eyes softened in pity, "Shō."

"You're new sister. Koyuki, you said, right?" He looked up at her before she nodded, "Then go back to her. Don't let her end up like us, Nee-San. Be there for her. I'll try to warn your friends to leave this place before anything happens but I just...I want to make sure at least you can get away."

...

Erza looked at her dear friend sadly before she shook her head. He looked at her with slight confusion before she looked at him with a firm, unwavering stare, "Shō, I won't leave this place again. Me leaving here left you, Simon, Wally, and Milliana to stay and suffer here by yourselves. It's because I left that I wasn't able to stop Jellal when I could and get you all back to freedom." She frowned and shook her head, "I left once before...I'm not leaving here again."

Shō looked at her in shock before his eyes started watering with gratitude. He closed them and gulped before he continued, "Nee-San, I-I love you. I want you to be happy. And I know you being here and fighting this battle won't do that. So if I have to..." He held out his hand and prepared to capture her in a card as a last resort, "I'll force you on that boat and make you leave here."

Erza looked between his outstretched hand and his panicked, confused expression. She frowned and warned him, "I need to stop Jellal. And I won't back down from that. So if you are going to stand in my way, I won't hesitate to push you away."

Shō tried to keep composed but his arms started to shake. His voice hitched, "I don't want you to suffer because of us anymore. I'll sneak up on Jellal, I'll force him to let you go, and if I have to-"

"You will do what exactly, young man?"

Erza and Shō immediately froze before the blond teen turned around and stood by Erza's side away from the silky voice that echoed through the hallway. They heard something clap loudly against the rock ground before a figure finally appeared in the faint light of the torches.

The person approaching them at a slow and reserved pace was a beautiful woman with long pink hair and bright red lips. She had beautiful piercing eyes that settled into a small, intrigued stare at the duo she approached. She wore a white kimono with flames and skulls decorating its sides with the sleeves so far down they revealed a generous amount of cleavage. Her high-platform sandals clicked against the ground and the long katana secured to the nape of her back swayed slightly with her saunter. She stepped up to stand across from them and titled her head quizzically, "You make it sound like you are prepared to fight Jellal-sama by yourself. But how in the world do you think you will be able to handle him alone?"

Shō was frozen in fear and Erza stepped in front of him protectively as she narrowed her eyes at the strange woman. She acted refined and cordial...

But her bloodlust was dripping off her like a stench.

The pink-haired woman gave a formal nod to the defensive redhead, "You are Erza Scarlet, correct? The Titania of Fairy Tail." A small smile came over her lips, "I have been very eager to meet you face-to-face."

Erza kept her glare and spoke with a heavy tone, "And who are you?"

"Oh, my apologies. It is rude to approach a stranger like this without giving a name." She gave a small bow, "My name is Ikaruga. I am an assassin of Death's Head Caucus and a member of Trinity Raven." She stood up straight with the same simple smile, "My associates and I were hired by Jellal-sama to make sure that this evening went off without any mistakes or altercations. Unfortunately, you escaping and the arrival of your guildmates set the clock back ever so slightly. But not far enough that it cannot be salvaged."

Shō gulped loudly facing the strange woman and asked, "How did you find us?"

"Did you not think it strange that these pathways and systems cover the entire Tower?" Ikaruga looked around, fascinated by the complex catacombs they were traveling through, "Jellal-sama had these paths built through the walls for some special reason. And he knew you traveled through them regularly. He noticed you leading Titania through this way and sent me down here to make sure you did not escape. I must return her to Jellal-sama's side...and no one is to stand in my way."

Erza stepped forward and scowled at the woman as she merely smiled pleasantly, "How does Jellal plan to make the Tower function?"

The assassin shrugged, "I am not sure. I was merely asked to retrieve and deliver you to his side."

"Sorry-"

Erza pulled two swords out and dashed forwards at blinding speeds while cutting across the woman. She stopped in a stance with both her swords outstretched in front of her after ambushing the pink-haired woman, "But I can't afford to waste time with someone like you."

"No, I am sorry for the inconvenience. But Jellal-sama did say that I needed to return you to his side."

*Crack*

Erza's swords and armor cracked and shattered apart into scrap metal in an instant as the damage finally settled in. Erza gasped in pain, clutching her chest and looking down in shock to see the blouse she wore beneath her standard armor. Her armor had been cut. And she didn't notice. She heard Shō yell her name in panic and slowly looked over her shoulder at the woman she attacked.

Ikaruga slowly peeked over at Erza and smiled, her long sword gripped in her right hand. She gave a quiet giggle and titled her head in amusement at the shocked look on the redhead's face, "He also said that you needed to be alive. Not particularly in the most perfect state if it was necessary. Will that be necessary, Titania?"

"You!" Shō yelled angrily and threw several cards that shot through the air like bullets. Ikaruga merely raised her sword and blocked the cards without looking away from Erza. The young man looked on in shock that his effort didn't work before yelling and throwing several more desperate attacks at her.

Ikaruga turned around this time and her arm flashed so quickly it looked like a blur. By the time her counterattack stopped her sword was back at her side before the cards split apart in thin layers that floated to the ground. He stood there in absolute shock and watched as she smiled, "There is nothing in this world that can withstand my Mugetsu-Ryu and Yasha Empty Flash. Before my blade...everything will fall apart. And everyone shall be cut."

Two deep, bloody gashes crossed over Shō's chest and he gasped before coughing up blood and falling over. Erza jumped to her feet and called out, "Shō!" She switched her clothes out into Heaven's Wheel Armor and summoned dozens of swords to float behind her. She yelled ferociously and sent them flying at the kimono-wearing woman.

Ikaruga merely scoffed before she pulled out her sword in a silver flash and destroyed all the blades instantly. Erza sprinted through the raining metal and started swinging her broad swords at the other woman in an attempt to cut her down but could only meet her blade as Ikaruga parried. Their sword slashes were faster than the eye could see before Erza jumped back to gain some distance. Only for her swords to break apart again and for her armor to shatter while Erza felt the cuts pass through her body as well. Ikaruga smiled condescendingly at the panting redhead, "Did you merely receive your name by chance? Because this is hardly the showing I expected from someone called the Queen of Fairies."

Erza's rage flared and she switched into her Black Wing Armor before running forward to strike. Ikaruga slowly turned towards her and prepared to parry but Erza passed by her side and slid along the ground to flank her. She leapt in the air, flying toward Ikaruga with the help of her wings and quickly slashed twice, "Moon Flash!"

The pink-haired assassin let her swordplay do the talking and easily blocked the double attack. Erza flew over her head and they turned to face each other as Erza started rapidly swinging her sword and Ikaruga met her strike-for-strike. The Fairy Mage pulled back to swing again but the Trinity Raven woman acted faster, her sword disappearing in blurs before the black armor around Erza shattered to pieces.

Erza felt the phantom slashes hit and cuts appear over her body but she ignored them to continue her swing. But her sword was instantly destroyed again before it even connected with Ikaruga. The redhead stumbled back, disarmed and unprotected before the hilt of her opponent's sword came up and knocked her in the chin. Erza fell back with a grunt and held her bleeding chin before looking up at the powerful swordswoman over her.

Ikaruga stood proudly over the redhead woman, reveling in the sight of her panic and confusion. She was probably very strong. And her skills and armor would have worked on just about anyone else.

But her magic. Her swordsmanship. Mixed with her Mugestsu-Ryu...

No one could ever challenge her with the blade. There was nothing under the moon she could not slice apart given the chance.

An uncharacteristic fear and anxiety filled Erza's mismatched eyes looking up at the kimono-clad lady. A tinge of joy filled her heart seeing the fear she caused with her skill as she smiled.

What can the human body withstand?

How much pain can one person go through before they died?

And how much could she bring back to Jellal to still be considered a sacrifice?

She was so...eager to find out.

"Get...get away from her."

Ikaruga stopped stalking towards her prey and looked back at the injured animal she had left behind.

Shō slowly lifted himself up on his hands and knees while a small stream of blood dripped out from his wounds. He struggled to his feet, gasping in pain as he tried to steady himself before finally standing up again. His eyes were heavy and he tried to calm himself as he glared up at the swordswoman.

Ikaruga raised a delicate eyebrow in befuddlement, "And how exactly do you plan on making me get away from her?"

"I-I'm not going to let Nee-San get hurt anymore." Shō rasped as a pair of cards slipped into his bloody fingers, "The cult members...Jellal...people like you...I won't back away from them anymore." He raised his arms up and crossed them over his chest in preparation to attack, "I won't run! I promise I will protect her!"

Shō sprinted forward and threw the cards as precisely and fast as he could. The cards disappeared in a white blur and cornered the kimono-clad assassin on all sides. Ikaruga made no move to attack or defend...

"You are a fool."

*Swish*Swish*Swish*Swish*Swish*

The sound of cutting air came and went in an instant before the cards fell apart in shreds. Shō could only watch in silence as the woman's alluring voice reached out again, "People as weak as you need to focus on becoming stronger before they can ever hope to protect something. Until then...it would be more beneficial to back away and run before the predators catch you...except now..."

*Plop*

The sound of something substantial landing in a puddle drew their attention as Shō slowly looked down. He lost his voice and his eyes started shaking as he looked down to see his right leg severed off just below the knee. A steady stream of blood was spewing out from the stump and coating the floor beneath him in a crimson sheen.

"You may not be able to back away so quickly."

"SHŌ!"

In an instant, Erza sprinted past Ikaruga and caught her injured friend before he toppled over. She lowered him to the floor carefully and listened to his breathing as it started speeding up and becoming irregular. He was flinching and twitching as the shock of losing his leg started to settle in. He turned to her but his eyes were wildly looking around like he couldn't concentrate, "N-N-Nee-San! W-what happened?"

"Shō, calm down! It will be okay!" Erza tried to comfort the boy as she looked down to see the blood escaping from his wound. He was going to bleed out if she didn't stop it. She quickly undid his belt and tied it around the stump before tightening it as much as possible. The blood loss slowed down but only by the smallest of margins.

"N-Nee-San, m-my leg hurts." He gasped as he gripped her shoulder and unconsciously started tightening his hold on her, "W-what do I do?"

Erza was panting and looking between him and his injury. She closed her eyes and thought quietly before her shredded clothes changed into the red and orange Flame Empress Armor. She held up the red blade and started channeling a fire through it with the armor's help. The blade started releasing a powerful heat and she spoke softly to her terrified friend, "Shō, I'm sorry...but it will be okay."

Without wasting another moment, Erza pushed the burning blade against the leg wound and heard the sound of flesh sizzling against heated metal.

"AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Shō released an agonizing, bloodcurdling scream as his wound was cauterized with Erza's blade. It was the most horrific wail she had ever heard in her life. He thrashed around and tried to escape her grasp but Erza held what was left of his leg down as she closed the wound until the sizzling stopped. The rapid bleeding finally halted and Shō let out one last gasp before falling back unconscious from the pain.

Erza dropped her sword and finally caught her breath again as she panted heavily from the experience. She looked down at her armor, knees, and hands to see they were all covered in blood. She tried to regain her senses and gently placed her fingers against his neck to feel his heartbeat. She couldn't find one and believed she had failed before finally noticing a pulse after her senses had stop flaring.

Shō needed medical support. And she couldn't give him any. She wasn't good at helping people. She wasn't skilled at saving them. All these years after the Tower-after all the atrocities she had seen and Erza decided to take up the one answer she could find...

She only knew how to fight.

The redhead gentle dragged Shō under his armpits and over to the wall before placing him against it. She checked on him one last time before slowly standing up and showing her back to her enemy. Ikaruga merely stood there patiently...

...

She quipped, "He does not look good."

"WRAHHHHHHHHHH!"

Erza concentrated a mass of flames down the hallway towards the assassin and picked up her sword on the way. She charged the woman in the sea of fire and swung down-

*Crack*

The flames were swiped away. Her sword broke apart. And her armor fell to pieces again. Erza stumbled behind her before yelling and switching into her Giant Armor. She turned and threw her mighty fist-

*Crack*

Ikaruga broke that armor as well. Erza switched into another-

*Crack*

Broken. Into another-

*Crack*

Broken. Another and another and another and another-

*Crack*Crack*Crack*Crack*

Broken. Broken. Broken. Broken.

More prominent cuts and injuries started accumulating over Erza's body as she was left wearing only the black underwear she wore beneath her armors. She was breathing heavily and Ikaruga hadn't been hit once.

Erza panted a few more times before turning around as her hair flared and her eyes focused with anger. Her body glowed with light before she was finally wearing a spiky, bulky, almost demonic black armor from the neck down. And incredible pressure poured off her and Erza's voice was filled with desperation and anger, "My Purgatory Armor. The strongest armor in my inventory. I have never worn this armor and prepared to let my foe walk away again."

Ikaruga raised an eyebrow in intrigue before she sheathed her sword. She let her hand rest on its hilt in anticipation before smiling, "Well all right then Titania...show me the most of what you have to offer."

"AHHHHHHHH!" Erza jumped forward and raised her arms up to crush her enemy. Ikaruga pulled out her sword to defend as Erza's fists came down, "WRAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

The ground cratered and hallway cracked beneath the immense strength and pressure behind Erza's attack. The entire hallway shook and even the Tower seemed to quiver beneath the strike as a massive dust cloud exploded down the corridors.

Erza stood up from the ground, panting heavily while her shoulders fell up and down with each breath. That was the strongest strike she could offer at this time. If that didn't do it-

"My my~, was that not intriguing."

*Crack*

The Purgatory Armor, the strongest armor she had, shattered and split into junk that fell to the ground in a heap. It took a moment for Erza to realize she had been defeated again before she fell to her knees in disbelief.

Ikaruga's sandals clapped against the floor as she emerged from the dust cloud with a few scuff and bruise marks from taking the attack. She smiled and tilted her head, "That was your best effort yet. I must admit that last attack was strong...but not strong enough."

She knew that now.

Every armor she had...every sword in her possession...everything was moot before this woman and her sword.

All the years of gathering the strongest items in the land to protect herself...reduced to nothing.

She was unprotected.

In...in the Tower of Heaven

Her eyes widened in horror as her voice hitched in fright.

In an instant, all the horrors and atrocities she had tried to forget flooded into her mind.

The fear. The loneliness. The hate. The doubt.

Watching her friends get tortured. Getting tortured herself. Threatened to be killed and eaten if she didn't follow their demands. Losing her parents. Losing everything she ever knew.

In an instant Erza thought she had changed. She wasn't the woman who had become a Fairy Tail Mage...

She was a cowering little girl again. Curled up with her knees to her chest and crying under her arms to hide from the world around her. Alone...in the darkness.

She hadn't changed at all...

...

The little girl felt someone approach her and looked through the darkness to see a young Naruto standing over her with a smile. Slowly he was followed by Rob, Milliana, Shō, Simon, Wally, and Jellal all standing before her.

And then...there were more.

Natsu. Gray. Lucy. Happy. Mira. Lisanna. Elfman. Makarov. Cana. Levy. Jet. Droy. Hashirama. Mahiro. Koyuki. Gildarts. Porlyusica. Laxus. Macao. Wakaba. Reedus. Max. Warren. Laki.

Naruto, now all grown up and joined by his friends, turned back to the redhead and smiled before offering his hand.

Erza looked over herself to see she was grown up again. With a moment of hesitation she reached up and took his hand before getting pulled to her feet. Her friends and family greeted her with warm smiles.

Two hands gently rested on both shoulders. She turned around to see two people she had never gotten a chance to meet.

A black-haired man and a red-haired woman.

Ikaruga approached the frozen woman slowly before Erza's body glowed with light again. The brightness faded to reveal the Fairy woman wearing simple red gi pants with flame details and wrappings around her chest. Her cuts and wounds were still very visible as her hair was tied in a ponytail and she slowly pushed herself to her feet. Two lights shined from her hands before a knight sword and a katana appeared in her grip.

Ikaruga gave a small hum before inquiring, "So, what do these garbs do to enhance your abilities?"

"Nothing." Erza responded in a quiet voice as she looked down at the floor in thought. She took a deep breath and followed up, "My armors and defenses are worthless before you. In the end anything I wear will merely be stripped away and leave me exposed here." She closed her eyes, "I wanted to hide behind my armors because the thought of this place touching me again...taking everything from me again was just terrifying. But even without my armor...I am protected. What my loved ones have given me to keep stepping forward...to keep fighting on no matter what I am faced with..."

Erza's eyes opened to reveal her anxiety and fear had been completely abandoned. Her blue and brown eyes burned with a powerful intensity as she leveled a glare at her opponent, "Can protect me even when I am bare and trapped in this place. And if I cannot beat you with my armors..." She held the katana up and aimed its tip at the kimono-clad killer, "Then I will let my swordplay lead me through this."

Ikaruga was annoyed that she was being underestimated again, the redhead woman believing now that she was solely relying on her swords that she'd be able to win. But she stayed calm, preparing to crush the woman's hopes, and motioned to her mismatched swords, "And what will you do with those? They do not match well. What may they be exactly?"

"My last resort."

Excalibur and Kusanagi.

Her mother and father's swords.

She had practiced with these swords a few times when she was younger but she never actually used them to fight. She kept them in her Requip space so she always had a piece of her parents with her wherever she went. They were mementoes. Their keepsakes. And she never wished to risk breaking them in battle.

But in this place...before her enemy with no other option...she entrusted these swords with her life. She remembered reading in her father's journal that when they got these swords they made them with something special. She wasn't sure if it still worked or if it would work with her but...

She felt stronger with them in her hands.

Ikaruga smiled before nodding and pulling out her katana. She turned it in her hand before pulling it back to strike, "Well then...let us see how your last resort fairs, Titania." Her arm flashed with a silver blur before she whispered out, "Yasha Empty Slash."

The invisible air strike flew through the air directly towards Erza as she raised her swords up in the air. She closed her eyes and let her breathing be the only thing in her ears. Right now she could do only one thing...

Fight.

"HA!"

*Schring*

Erza brought her swords down on the invisible attack as it broke apart and destroyed the ground on either side of her. Erza slowly opened her eyes to look down at her blades as they released a faint light from their metal. Ikaruga was perturbed by the sight of her attack being unsuccessful before she sent several more attacks that flew through the air at the redhead.

Erza looked up and jumped to her feet to retaliate against the barrage. She swung her swords out and destroyed each attack before they even reached her. She turned and slashed out against all of the staggering attacks that were useless against her pair of mismatched swords.

Ikaruga looked in shock as the Fairy Mage rendered her attacks useless and charged towards her. Erza brought her swords up and slashed at her with a firm strike that Ikaruga faltered and poorly blocked against. The swords scrapped against each other before Erza's blades slipped past and slashed against Ikaruga's shoulder and arm. The kimono-clad woman looked at the blood over her arm and felt her eyes start to shake before seething out in anger, "T-those swords. Those swords! They-they can nullify magic?!"

Erza looked down at her parents' blades as the glow from the swords slowly faded out. A small smile came over her face. Her parents used very basic and simple magic from what she read and even if they expanded their abilities like Naruto they were still basic. So how did they get their edge in so many battles?

Their swords were forged with magic-nullifying Lacrima in their temper. In the right hands they would activate a null field that neutralized some magics that came in contact with the blades. But apparently they were only made to work for Erika and Kazuya because they never worked for Naruto.

But she was their daughter. And they worked for her. The keepsakes of her parents were no longer heirlooms she could let rust in her inventory. They would become the masterpieces of her fighting style.

And right now they leveled the playing field against this assassin.

Ikaruga growled through her teeth before unleashing a flurry of air attacks that flew towards Erza. Titania wasted no time and dashed forward through the barrage, letting her instincts and swordplay take charge as she countered each strike she felt come her way. Some of the attacks were too blunt and left small scratches and cuts that drew blood over her body but still she persisted.

Ikaruga could no longer hold off her nemesis from a distance and held her sword in for a close fighting stance. Erza pounced and struck down as Ikaruga guarded and let their swords clash before parrying her knight sword and thrusting forward in retaliation. Erza used her katana to block and redirect her sword and swiped forward to catch her other shoulder. Ikaruga felt a deep slash rip through the skin of her top breast before she retaliated and quickly left a deep gash along Erza's side.

The two women passed over each other before turning around and charging once again. The swords flashed in silver light as their attacks moved faster than normal in a shower of sparks. Erza and Ikaruga both yelled furiously as they continued slashing at each other with the intent to tear the other apart. Cuts started to litter their bodies but they were paid no mind as they focused on fighting.

Erza felt slashes cut her legs, stomach, sides, chest, shoulder, and dodged as the blade cut open her cheek. Ikaruga felt cuts open up on her legs, her arms, her waist, and felt a chuck of her pink hair get lopped off but focused solely on the redhead. She didn't care if she was supposed to bring her back to Jellal anymore! She was going to make this woman pay!

Their blades crossed and they tried to force the other back in a stalemate. Ikaruga pushed with her sword, her hair disheveled and the calm smile she used to bear now changed to a look of crazed determination. She yelled out, "I will not fall to someone else's sword! You are beneath my blade!"

Erza met her fury with her own push back, "I don't care if you're better than me. Right now there is nothing in this world that can stop me from pushing forward! From winning against you!"

Erza knocked Ikaruga back and turned on her feet to strike the woman with both swords as she blocked. The assassin dashed in and started waving her sword around wildly as Erza had to quickly repel each strike but struggled to keep her strength with the cuts along her arms. Her sword was knocked aside and Ikaruga came in to slice her but the redhead twisted and fell before kicking her leg out and catching Ikaruga's chin. A spew of blood came out of her mouth before Erza braced against the floor and kicked out again, catching the Trinity Raven member in the stomach and knocking her back several feet away.

Ikaruga nearly doubled over and gripped her sword tight as Erza held her dual blades out in a combat stance. They yelled, charging at each other and crossing paths as they swung their blades down to strike. The two ladies skid along the floor for a moment before stopping in place and keeping their backs towards one another in waiting.

...

Two bloody gashes opened on Erza's body, cutting a wound beneath her ribs and down her shoulder. The Fairy Mage grit her teeth tightly to stifle her painful groan before lowering her head and panting heavily. She had taken damage. And it had hurt a lot opening herself up like that. But in return for leaving herself open to a strike...

*Crack*

Ikaruga's sword broke apart into pieces and two long gashes appeared down her body from shoulder to chest. The assassin let out one last painful moan before falling back unconscious.

Erza's shoulders relaxed after having defeated her opponent and she let out a long sigh. Her breathing was slowly coming back to her as she looked herself over. She was covered in bruises, cuts, slashes, and blood. It hurt but she wasn't shaking in fear anymore. She relaxed a little before panic filled her thoughts again and she turned, "Shō!"

She quickly ran over to her friend's side to check on him and saw that his face had lost a little color. Her mind went to the worst place as she held his cheeks and patted them, "Shō? Please wake up. Please!"

Shō remained motionless before his eyes slightly fluttered and looked towards her. His eyes were tired and almost clear but there was still some life in them. She almost cried in joy as his ragged voice responded to her, "N-Nee-San?"

"Yes. It's me." Erza happily answered before looking down at his injury. The blood had stopped but the cauterized wound was still badly injured as he had lost a lot of blood. If he wasn't in shock then he must have been numb to the pain at this point. She looked around and planned to move, "Shō, just hold on. I'm going to move you. I need to get you some medical attention as soon as possible."

"No don't." Shō muttered out as he held her hand and squeezed it tightly, "Nee-San, please...you need to go and face Jellal. There's isn't any more time to waste."

"It's not a waste of time helping you." Erza reprimanded as she argued with what he said, "I'm not leaving your side to go and fight. Not when you are left like this."

"You can't...risk letting him escape from here." Shō rationalized, "Even if Etherion comes down on this place and wipes it from existence, if Jellal escapes and lives on to try again...then another Tower of Heaven will reappear somewhere else in the world. It will just keep going on and on for the rest of our lives. This place and all the horrible things it represents will never vanish from the world. So please...even if it means forsaking me and the others...put an end to this nightmare..." Shō's voice started becoming hoarse and tired as tears filled his eyes, "Put an end to Jellal...you're the only one who can."

...

Erza could only look at her friend in shock as his eyes slowly shut and his head tilted to the side. His breath was weak and quiet as he passed out from pain again.

He was right.

If Jellal continued like this, he would just make another Tower somewhere else. The Tower would be destroyed by the cannon...

But they needed to stop him.

Erza felt disgust fill her mind at the idea of leaving her friend as she grit her teeth. She summoned a dozen blades that channeled her magic and created elements around them. With a wave of her hand she sent the blades careening down the hallway in the direction they came from so they would leave a trail leading back to Shō. Hopefully her comrades would notice this pattern and come pick him up. It might not happen but she had to hope for the best...

Erza stood up and looked in the direction Ikaruga had emerged from. Her eyes narrowed with intensity before she sprinted down the corridor to climb to her destination.

########Hunter########

Wally and Milliana kept marching forward and tried to ignore their followers before they spoke back, "Why are you still following us?"

Lucy answered from Juvia's piggyback, "Because we want to help you! You guys are Erza and Naruto's friends, right? Their family before they came to Fairy Tail! And you saved us too!"

Juvia nodded, "Juvia concurs. She owes you both greatly for stopping that man and helping her back to clarity."

"Don't bother thanking us." Milliana sadly muttered, "We don't deserve any thanks. Not from you or anyone."

Lucy's shoulders slumped sadly, "Don't say that."

Wally and Milliana turned back towards them, an annoyed and miffed expression on their respective faces as they glared the girls down. The dandy man pointed out, "Look. Just stop. Stop whatever you think you're doing by trying to convince us to stick by you. We don't...we can't be here anymore. We can't see Erza or anyone else anymore. So just leave us alone."

"But why?" Lucy implored, "You're their friends. Friends can't just ignore and forget each other like that. Erza doesn't resent you guys for anything that happened. She still loves and cares about all of you so there's no reason to be so reluctant to see her again." Their conflicted expressions persisted as she became irritated, "What is so wrong about seeing the people you love-"

"Lucy! Juvia! There you are! I've been looking all over for..."

Lucy and Juvia looked up in surprise as Wally and Milliana froze from the new voice that appeared in the hallway. They slowly turned and they felt their stomachs twist when they saw the wounded state of Naruto coming to a stop a few feet away from them. Wally felt his voice hitch and Milliana started trembling slightly as Naruto looked between them in disbelief.

It was a tense moment between the old friends before Naruto showed a small smile and looked at them. He finally spoke up, "Wally. Milliana. I-I can't believe it really is you." He stepped forward, "I can't-"

"Don't!"

Naruto froze in his place as the others looked to see Milliana holding out one hand and preparing to restrict him if he came any closer. The cat-girl seemed panicked and frightened by the man in front of her as she shook her head, "Don't come any closer!"

Lucy heatedly asked from Juvia's carry, "What are you doing?!"

Wally turned to her, "Milliana-"

"This is the resurrected version Jellal told us about!" Milliana desperately muttered, "This is the version of Na-chan that Er-chan brought back to life! This is the reason we did what we did! Why we're using the Tower in the first place!"

Wally looked at the cat-girl sadly as he closed his eyes. He shook his head, "Milliana, I don't think that's what we were doing here at all."

"It has to be!"

Wally answered, "No, it's not. We were tricked."

"That's not true!"

He seemed angered by her reluctance and yelled, "Why can't you see we were being used?!"

"Because then we hurt them!"

Wally reeled back from Milliana's scream as a look of fright and sadness filled her eyes. Her voice hitched and she lowered her head, "If everything we've been doing these last few years was wrong then that means we've been hurting the real Er-chan and Na-chan. We brought Er-chan back to this horrible place after she had finally escaped and were going to get her killed. A-and we betrayed Na-chan. We hurt them both. They're our family...and we hurt them." She weakly stated before looking up at the sad blond in front of her and shaking her head, "So there's no way Na-chan can stand in front of us and smile. There's no way we can still be his friends after everything we've done."

Lucy and Juvia looked at the poor teenager sadly as Wally felt empathetic with what she felt. It's true. After what they had done they could never face their friends again like this. It was just better...that they left and never turned back.

"You're right."

They looked back to Naruto as he had looked down and avoided their eyes. His voice was heavy and he refused to face them, "It's true...after all of this...I can't be Naruto anymore..."

Milliana swallowed the lump in her throat and felt her heart start to break-

"Because I am Neko-Man!"

Her eyes widened in surprise before she looked up to see Naruto with a big grin and his hands hiked behind his head like cat ears. The cat-girl and others could only stare at him blankly as she lowered her hand, "W-what?"

"I said I am Neko-Man!" He repeated as he hopped step by step towards her, "Defender of Peace! Beater of Bad Guys! And protector of all little boys and girls who are scared in the world!" He got up in the cat-girl's face and grinned widely, "Neko-Man can withstand any sadness and face it with a smile! And all he asks is that you smile too little girl! So turn that frown upside-down and show us a big smile to say how happy you are!"

...

"*S-sniff*"

Naruto opened his eyes to see the pure surprise on Milliana's face as tears filled her eyes. She tried to hold them back as best she could but in just a moment they started coming down her face unheeded. Her shoulders started trembling and she started hiccuping from the crying as she lowered her head and sobbed, "N-Na-chan." She didn't waste a moment as she wrapped her arms around his chest and cried loudly into his shirt, "I'm sorry Na-chan. I-I'm so sorry."

A fond smile came over Naruto face before he gently rubbed her back and patted her bouncy brown hair. He chuckled, "C'mon, I just told you to smile, silly girl." Her sobs continued into his chest as he sighed in relief, "Remember what I told you all those years ago? I'm happy to see you too but this isn't the time to be crying. Not yet."

"Naruto..."

The blond looked to his side and saw Wally standing beside him in disbelief. The blond smiled and patted his friend's shoulder, "Hey Wally. You got way cooler from the last time I saw you." The blocky man seemed to tremble a little and his eyes watered before Naruto grinned, "C'mon buddy, not you too. I'm getting all nervous seeing you guys cry looking at me again."

Lucy and Juvia looked at the reunion with fond expressions. They wanted to give them a moment but Juvia dropped Lucy on her butt before she yelled, "Gray-sama! What happened?!"

Gray came limping over towards them with some support on Simon's shoulder. Happy was resting tiredly on his head as the Maker Mage calmed the panicked woman down, "It's all right. I got knocked around a little but we made the bastard who did this pay. So it all works in the end."

"It most certainly does not!" Juvia shrieked angrily as steam started coming off her form, "Tell Juvia where this bastard is! She shall go and teach him a lesson herself!" Her flaring hatred disappeared before she shook her head, "N-no, what's more important is to help Gray-sama! Gray-sama, is there anything Juvia can do to help you?"

He shook his head, "I'm fine. Don't bother."

Simon looked up from the man he helped carry down to this floor before his eye met with Naruto's. The two older men just stared at each other before Simon gave a small nod, "I'm sorry for hitting you. But I had to make it convincing so you could come here and help bring everyone back."

Naruto was silent for a moment before smiling, "Well it was super convincing. You hit way harder than the last time I saw you."

"Not nearly as hard as you I suspect."

Lucy stumbled to her feet and rubbed her butt before looking around for a missing someone. She looked confused and worried before asking, "Where's Natsu?"

Happy finally opened his eyes from atop Gray's head and answered, "Natsu ran off to fight that Jellal guy. He said he was gonna make that jerk pay for the stuff he's done. We tried to stop him but he was too fast."

"What?!"

"That idiot!"

Simon handed Gray's injured form for Naruto to support before he started stepping back down the hall, "I have to go catch up to him! The rest of you need to go!"

Naruto called out, "Wait! Simon!"

"I was the one who couldn't stop this! You're all here because of me! I can't risk losing any of you to this fight so go!" Before they could argue Simon had dashed down the hall and out of their sight.

Naruto clicked his teeth, "Shit!" He looked between the party they had gathered and thought about what to do, "We can't go back into the basement because I ruined everything."

Wally shook his head, "The guards and members are all gone now too so that's all the boats. I don't think there are any left."

"Yes there are." Gray pointed out as he looked between them, "We still have our boat floating on the shoreline of the island from when we snuck in. We might be losing space but we can all still fit if we try."

Lucy nodded, "That's our best chance."

Milliana looked around in worry, "What about the others? Er-chan still isn't here and I don't know where to find Shō."

"I heard and smelled something when we were passing by." Happy stated in a raspy voice as he looked down at Naruto from Gray's head, "There were a lot of explosions and some of Erza's blades sticking out of a wall. They were pierced into the ground down some weird hallway behind the wall. And I...smelled blood in there too."

Naruto's eyes constricted before he shuffled Gray's arm over Wally's shoulder and looked between them, "Get everyone on the boat and prepare for takeoff!" He started running down the hall, "I'm gonna go find Shō!"

"What about the others?!"

"Just go!"

########Hunter########

Shō's eyes were heavy and he couldn't move at all. He didn't know whether he was alive or dead at the moment but he was still in pain. So that was probably a tell that he was alive. He remembered...losing his leg...and telling Erza to leave before he passed out.

And now...his leg wasn't hurting nearly as bad.

He opened his eyes to see a light green glow emanating from his lower region and relief come from his fresh wounds. He looked over to see Naruto kneeling beside him with a green blade in hand as he made the sword glow and heal him. He tried to feel his dry throat and whispered, "Nii-San?"

Naruto looked up in relief, "Shō! Fuck, I thought it was too late!" He sighed in relief before looking down at the horrible amputation and burning he had suffered, "How did this happen? Who did this?"

"It...it was that woman over there."

"What woman?"

Shō turned his head to look over the floor to see Ikaruga had moved and vanished from the hallway. Damn. She escaped while he was unconscious.

"Shō, I healed this as much as I could but I'm running out of time." Naruto sent his sword away before quickly hefting the younger boy over his shoulder and moving through the hallway again, "We need to get out of here!"

"W-wait Nii-San!" Shō tried to find the strength to speak and gripped Naruto's back, "Nee-San is still up there! We have to help her!"

"Not now Shō!" Naruto argued as they finally ran out the front entrance of the Tower of Heaven and onto the beach. He looked around for their ride and quickly moved around the shore, "Right now Erza would say getting you out of here is our top priority!"

"B-but-"

"Guys!" The whiskered Mage called out to his friends once he saw them preparing the dinghy for their escape. He finally arrived at its side and stepped into it, "I found him but he ain't doing so hot."

Milliana cried out when she saw the state he was in, "Shō! O-oh no!"

The dark-skinned blond was slowly lowered into the center of the small boat and Wally looked up at Naruto in worry, "Is he gonna be okay?"

"He needs help." Naruto pulled the Sky sword out and offered it to Wally, "I need you to channel your magic into that blade and hold it over Shō. It will do the rest."

Wally took the blade and followed orders as Naruto jumped in and pulled out the oars. He started getting them ready before Gray groaned through his injuries, "W-wait, where's Erza?"

"And Natsu?" Asked Lucy.

Milliana looked at him with fright, "Simon is still in there too!"

Naruto ignored their complaints as he started rowing them off the shore and into the ocean. As quickly and as powerfully as he could he started rowing through the water and putting some distance between them and the Tower. In a matter of minutes he rowed them a few hundred feet away from the island and into the shifting waters of the ocean.

Gray grit his teeth and looked at Naruto with fervor, "We aren't leaving them behind! Take us back!"

Happy sat up from his place at the bottom and shook his head, "I don't wanna leave Natsu!"

"We have to go back for them!"

"They need us!"

Naruto finally reacted to their worries and stood up in the boat, looking up at the Tower of Heaven that filled the sky. He silently stepped forward on the boat, causing the others to shuffle around to avoid his path and the oars in his hands. He stopped on the end of the boat before asking, "Juvia?"

The Water woman sat up, "Yes?"

"Will you be able to push this boat to the mainland if you have enough time?"

Juvia blinked in confusion, getting the same looks from the others in the boat before nodding, "Y-yes."

"Good." He turned back and faced them. Slowly he looked each of them in the eye, "You all have been so brave. And so strong today. I can't tell you how happy I am to see you all alive. But with what's happened to you...how badly you've been hurt...I needed to get you away from the Tower...because I won't risk endangering you any further in this fight now."

Naruto tossed the oars into the water as they splashed and immediately sunk as the others looked up at him, "I'll get Simon and Natsu and Erza all back. I promise. But from this point on...you are heading back to shore..." He jumped off the boat and towards the water, "So please stay safe."

Naruto kicked off the water and caused a mighty splash that rocked the boat. They all stumbled and strained themselves to stay seated on the boat before they saw Naruto sprinting over the water and heading back towards the Tower. They realized what he was doing and called out to him, "Naruto! NARUTO!"

The blond pushed their panic out of his head and focused on the shore he sprinted to reach. He was cutting it close. He was running out of time. He needed to get them all back. He needed to stop this.

########Hunter########

The guards were gone. The members were gone. The assassins were gone. His friends were gone. His enemies were gone. The Tower of Heaven was vacant. Everyone had run away from the threat of complete annihilation at the hands of the Etherion cannon. He was alone.

Except there were still a few stragglers bouncing around in here.

Jellal gave a small smile beneath his hood before he leaned forward and knocked the chess board over and let the pieces clatter over the floor. He leaned back in his throne and coyly smiled, "Well then, I suppose the Paradise Match is coming to an end."

"Yes. It is."

*Schring*Schring*

"And so is toying with the lives of all the people I care about."

Jellal froze in place as two different blades pierced through the back of his throne and locked his head in from either side. Jellal didn't seem to mind the close call at all as he remained calmly seated in his throne. He looked to his side and saw the faint reflection of his eyes in the length of the katana. He turned back to look forward and smiled, "If you were hoping to skewer me then I should probably tell you that you missed."

"I'm well aware of that." Erza's voice muttered behind the chair as she held the grip of her blades tightly. She threatened, "This is over Jellal. The fighting is finished. You've lost."

Jellal laughed and had more than enough snark fill his voice, "If you actually believed that then you would have gotten your comrades together and escaped while you could." He tilted his head a little and let his hood touch the blade, "Come on Erza. We both know that this isn't truly over as long as I'm still in play."

Erza narrowed her eyes, "Why are there pathways and passages along the inside of the Tower? You wouldn't have made an entrance into your chamber room without a reason. So why?"

"Erza, this is hardly the time for questions. We are still in the middle of a match. And if you really wanted to assure victory..." A swirling orb of black magic appeared in his hand as he smiled, "You would have killed me from behind."

*BOOM*

The black orb compressed in his hand before exploding out in a ball of Darkness magic. Erza pulled her swords out and jumped back to avoid getting caught in the blast. She skid across the floor and held her swords out in a fighting stance as Jellal appeared through the fading darkness. He slowly pulled his hood off to reveal his matured face, causing Erza to furrow her eyes at the reserved smile he showed while facing her. The palm of his hands started glowing black and he motioned for her to come, "Well then Erza...shall we begin?"

The redhead sprinted forward as Jellal released a volley of Darkness attacks at her at high speed. The Fairy Mage started swiping the quick flurry of magic attacks away with her two swords as she pressed forward. Her magic-nullifying swords reduced the attacks to nothing as she appeared in front of Jellal and crossed her arms back to strike. The blue-haired man jumped back with surprising agility to avoid the slashes at his body.

Jellal landed a few feet back and stumbled in his stance before looking down at the cuts on his coat and shirt. He played with the tears a little before looking at the girl with interest, "Are those the magic-nullifying blades you used to defeat Ikaruga? I'm impressed. They're very special, but you'll need more than them if you want to stop me."

"Don't worry. I do." Lights started appearing around Erza in rapid succession as they sent swords flying from her Requip space to overwhelm Jellal. The tattooed man looked around at the massive amount of weapons converging on him before he clapped his hands together and created a small army of slithering apparitions around him. The creatures all shrieked before rocketing forward and colliding with the blades to protect their master. Dozens of apparitions and weapons impacted against each other and destroyed the ground around them from the shockwave.

Erza gripped her blades tightly and lowered her stance as several ghouls popped out from the smoke and flew towards her. She leapt off the ground to avoid the first familiar before running along its body to gain some height against the remaining enemies. The ghouls started flying up and attacking the body she was running mindlessly as she leapt off it to keep dodging. She fell to the floor and came up to her feet to cut apart the first apparitions that came flying down at her before she dodged the third. She was left stuck in the air as another pulled up to attack and she twisted in midair, feeling the creature scrap her hair and untie her ponytail before swinging back and cutting off its head.

Erza sprinted towards Jellal to try and attack him before a dozen apparitions came falling down on her and created a massive explosion that engulfed her. Jellal lowered his hands after his apparent victory-

"HA!"

Only to fail to react when Erza burst out of the smoke with minor injuries and slashed across his chest hard enough to draw blood. He blue-haired man staggered back before Erza twisted and jumped, landing a powerful drop kick on his chest and knocking him on his back. He roughly hit the floor and groaned before he felt something sharp press to his neck. He opened his eyes to see Erza kneeling over him, the tips of her mismatched swords pressed over his chest to his arms and the base of the blades crossed over his neck.

Erza was panting lightly after taking the powerful attack before glaring down at the man beneath her. She spoke in a pointed tone and looked directly into his eyes, "It's over Jellal. You lose. Stop this now."

Jellal shuffled on the ground before he felt the blades get pressed further against his neck. He stayed still as a small chuckle escaped despite his hopeless position, "Well...I guess you really did win." He made a loud gulp before looking at the blades hanging precariously over his jugular and looked up at the exhausted woman pinning him down. Despite her various injuries and cuts she still had an indomitable, unyielding glare that focused solely on him. A genuine, small smile came over his face as he noted, "You really have changed a lot since I last saw you. You've become so much stronger. Like a gallant knight."

Erza furrowed her brow before asking, "Why are you still doing this?" She looked around the chamber room and shook her head, "Why are you still clinging to make this thing work when you know it can't."

"Because I'm trying to change the world, Erza. With Zeref's power in my hand I can really remold the world and change it to my whim. Create a world of truly pure freedom. Create a world for all of us to be happy." Jellal answered, "And I needed someone with a strong body with strong magic and a strong soul to act as the sacrifice to bring him back. That's why I chose you." Jellal looked directly into Erza's blue and brown eyes, "I chose you to be the one that truly ushered in an age of peace and tranquility for this world. I thought you would at least appreciate that."

"That's not what I mean and you know it." Erza stated as her hands tightly gripped the hilts until her knuckles went white, "I mean that no matter what you did, you wouldn't have the magic power necessary to make the Tower of Heaven work."

The blithe smile on Jellal's face folded into a line on his face as the flaw in the R-System construction was addressed by his old friend.

Erza's eyes lost the edge in them as she remembered the researched she had done, "The criteria for the R-System to function is a sacrifice with the power on par with at least a Wizard Saint and more magic than is physically possible to gather by one man. It required enough raw magical power that if you gathered all the Mages from across the country and filled their magic into the Tower that it still wouldn't be enough. You would need to stockpile raw power. Generators that could create thousands of Edeas of magic a second and even then it would take more than 2.7 billion Edeas to reach your goal." She shook her head, "Even if you had your sacrifice-"

"Making the Tower function was still just a dream I would never be able to see finish."

Jellal finished her thought as he looked up in desolation. He blinked and his eyes seemed to look directly through her, "Of course I know about the magic deficiency issue. I've known about it the whole time. It was the only thing standing in the way of this place finally becoming perfect."

Erza stayed silent before she slowly raised her blades up and held them off at the side. Jellal remained lying on the ground and she asked, "Then why stick around? Why would you stay and create something that did nothing but hurt you?"

"Because it was an obsession." Jellal shuffled a little on the ground and Erza moved off of him as he sat up, "I think my mind was taken over by the spirit of Zeref. When I was being tortured by the cult I heard a voice whisper that name in my head and tell me about how I can save myself, my friends, and this world. It started whispering ideas and I started acting however I had to in order to reach that goal. I lied to our friends. I manipulated peoples' feelings like a puppeteer. I toyed with them and planned for how I would move forward." Jellal slowly stood up and craned his head to look up at the ceiling as he staggered forward, "The thought of you and Naruto leaving my side just started burrowing in my head along with his commands and I became...obsessed. Erza, the girl that offered her hand to me even in the midst of my cruelty. And Naruto, the boy I cherished as my closest friend turning against me and equaling my new power. The thought of bringing you two back to our perfected Tower of Heaven consumed my mind for so long that I didn't even notice until one day..."

Jellal collapsed to his knees and his shuddered, "Zeref's voice had disappeared and I...I was still having the same thoughts. I knew how horrible a man he was and I believed I could use him. But then I realized that all the horrible acts and things he suggested for me to do were just my thoughts now. I wasn't being influenced anymore. I was just changed. I had become a broken man...obsessed with hurting my dearest friends and rebuilding the hell that treated us like garbage. I couldn't stop no matter what I did. Even faced with unclimbable walls like the lack of magic needed I still continued forward to finish because I couldn't force myself to stop."

Jellal's hands tensed up and he growled through his teeth in shame, "And now here I am...eight years wasted in rebuilding hell and I can't do anything about it! This is just a monument. A monument to my failed obsession. And everything I have forsaken along the way."

Erza looked at the broken man with pity for his plight. What he had done was unforgivable. Even if he was manipulated and then obsessed with that outcome, he held this sin upon his back for the rest of his days. But...even so...seeing someone she cherished like a brother and friend having fallen so far...

She stepped forward, "Jellal, come with me. This place doesn't have control on us anymore. Let it stand as a monument that you have finished with your obsession and you can move on now. We can leave the Tower-"

"No." Jellal interrupted before he hung his head in resignation, "I'm sorry Erza but..."

Erza noticed a bright glowing start to warp the shadows and fill the outside at an unnatural rate. The room started to glow like the sun was physically coming down closer on them.

Erza watched as everything started being obscured in the bright light as Jellal spoke in defeat...

"We wasted too much time."

########Hunter########

Natsu was sprinting up the next flight of stairs as he panted, "The moment I see this bastard Jellal I'm gonna breaking his freakin' nose! Then I'm gonna put my foot up his ass and-"

Natsu had to shield his eyes as an overwhelming light shined through the windows and made the rock tremble. The Dragon Slayer lowered his hands and looked on in shock, "What the hell?"

########Hunter########

Simon was running through the hallway as quickly as he could to catch up to Natsu and Erza and get them out of here. The large Darkness user kept moving until the whole enclosed space started glowing brightly. Even surrounded by concrete and metal on all sides the inside started glowing white and Simon could barely see his outline in the illumination.

His eyes shuddered and he staggered back against the wall before muttering out, "I'm...I came too late. I failed."

########Hunter########

Naruto was running up the side of the Tower as he made his way to the top.

What better way to bypass all the stairs and shuffling when you could run up a building?

Naruto looked up past the peak of the structure before he came to an abrupt halt in shock. The black clouds above the Tower started to spiral around and turn like they were becoming a tornado. But instead of reaching down to the surface the clouds slowly parted away from each other.

A brilliant light started to appear in the center of the open vortex and caused everything underneath it to start glowing.

Naruto looked over himself to see he was also bathed in the encompassing luminous that bared down on them. He looked up at the light, "Oh no."

########Hunter########

"Etherion."

Erza stated in a neutral tone as she looked around to see everything was aimed down upon with that ultimate weapon. There was no escape.

And she wasn't scared. Why?

Was the fact that they were now most certainly going to disappear just not scary? Or did she already know she was resigning herself to this fate by staying behind to face Jellal? It didn't matter because it was happening right now...

"I'm sorry Erza." The redhead looked down at the kneeling blue-haired man that was facing away from her. His voice and tone were defeated and he lowered his head, "In the end I've condemned you to oblivion as well."

Erza looked around sadly at the state they were in. They only had a few seconds left before Etherion hit and destroyed everything. She spoke with a quiet voice, "I always knew that I would one day face my end. I never thought it would be here when it happened..." A ghost of a smile came over her face while looking down at the tattooed man, "And I never thought I'd be by your side while it did."

Jellal's head raised up and he looked back at her to see the smile even in their doom. He turned back around before quietly asking, "Erza...I can never ask you to forget my sins or the horrible things I've done. But now, at the end...can you forgive me?"

...

She still wanted to do so many things. She wanted to see Koyuki grow up. She wanted Mahiro to join their side again. She wanted to see Gildarts return to the guild. She wanted to get married. She wanted to start a family. And she wanted to say goodbye to the man she loved most in the world.

But right now...she at least didn't want to die with hatred in her heart.

She stepped up to Jellal's back and kneeled down as well to gently rub his hair and hug around his shoulder. She felt him tremble in fear and she whispered as she closed her eyes, "I forgive you, Jellal."

The light grew even brighter, becoming so intense she could see the shine even through her closed eyes. She felt the final weight of the weapon finally bear down on them as one last thing reached her ears before oblivion-

"Thank you."

And then...silence

########Hunter########

Done

Phew

That's done. Time to get working on what's next.

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