**I don't own Fairy Tail or the characters. Those are owned by Mashima.

So, I can see some readers really want a fight. I'm not 100% sure how much of the fight I want to write out, since it's not really a key factor in the plot, but I'll come to a compromise. I'll write out at least the guild master fight, and then depending on how that goes I might add a couple more high-power members before that.

Anyway, here's chapter 6**

"Man, this is really boring so far," Gray smirked as the team made their way down a staircase to the lower level of Banshee's Wail. Behind them dark mages lay unconscious and cuffed in groups across the guild hall. Most of them were out before they even landed an attack. "These guys are supposed to be the most powerful dark guild?"

"Don't get arrogant Gray, those were probably just the foot soldiers," Erza chided, remembering how many weak mages they'd encountered in their battle with Tartaros before confronting the 9 demon gates. "No army employs its generals as its gate guards."

"Most armies at least have soldiers," Gray countered with a smirk.

Barely were the words out of his mouth when the room went black. Not just black. Pitch black. Like somebody took darkness and filled it with blackness, and then made it even more black. Erza felt the weight of the darkness descend on her. Not too far away, she felt the heat of Natsu's flames and knew the dragon slayer activated his magic.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" The heat from his attack scorched her face and hair from its proximity. She would've berated him for such a dangerous stunt if she hadn't heard the attack connect with somebody only a couple feet away that hadn't been there a moment ago. Erza tensed up, wondering how she could've missed the presence of the enemy so close to her.

"Now this is a surprise," a deep voice spoke from the darkness. "How were you able to detect my movements?"

"Doesn't matter how," She heard Natsu say. His voice rang out a mere foot or two from her and she still felt the heat of his flames, but she couldn't even see a glimmer of light in the blackness that surrounded them. "All you need to know is that I'm gonna' kick your ass."

Erza heard Natsu's feet shift slightly, and then the sound of an impact of fist against metal. She shivered as she realized she hadn't heard their enemy move at all. Even now, Natsu's movements were easily detectable to her ear. But other than the sound of blows being traded, no sound came from the unnamed opponent.

The sound of combat faded, and the voice rang out again, this time further away. "You shouldn't be able to even tell where I am. I know you can't hear me, so how are you fighting me?"

"Instinct," Natsu's voice replied. Erza couldn't help laughing to herself at the simple, straightforward answer. Even though it told the opponent nothing, Natsu probably didn't know any more than that one word himself.

Natsu called out. "The rest of you keep going. I'm gonna' have to kick it up a notch to finish this guy off."

"Keep going?" Lucy's voice. "I can't even see my hand if I put it right in front of me. How are we supposed to keep going?"

"You're a Fairy Tail mage. Figure something out."

Erza suppressed a chuckle as she felt for the wall, which she knew wasn't far from her current position. It took her only a few moments to find it. She could hear motion from the others, who apparently figured out a way to move forward as well.

Moving as quickly as she could without her sight to guide her, Erza hoped this darkness would disappear as they got further in. She assumed it would be limited to a certain proximity to the caster.

~~~Natsu~~~

He waited till the footsteps of the others receded to the next level before moving again, taking two carefully measured steps toward his opponent.

"Shall we begin in earnest then?" He asked, pushing his magic power up till the room became tangibly warmer.

His response came as his enemy charged forward quickly. The air shifted subtly to his right, the pattern and sound alerting him to his enemy's attack. He leapt inside of the blade that he knew was there, grabbing his opponent's arm with practiced skill and delivering a hard punch to the shoulder. His fist connected with armor again, and he quickly dropped and rolled past the man's body.

He was surprised to feel no movement from his opponent. But then a voice echoed through the dark room.

"If we're going to continue this, at least tell me your name."

"I'd rather not," Natsu said as he began gathering flames into his fist. "Though I would like to know yours."

"I'm Balfast, wielder of Erebus. Incarnation of darkness." Natsu could hear a smirk in the man's voice. "And I don't need to hear your name. A Fairy Tail mage who uses fire? Powerful enough to keep up with me in this darkness? The only person you can be is the Salamander, Natsu Dragneel. It's a pleasure to meet you." There was a pregnant pause before the man added, in sarcastic tones, "your highness."

"You just made me want to kick your ass even harder," Natsu growled, wrapping his fists in fire as well. He didn't enjoy pleasantries to begin with, but this kind of banter had no place on the battlefield. Status didn't matter. On the battlefield there was no king, prince, knight, or criminal. It was just a test of one person against another. The clash of two people wielding their magic to determine whose would win.

"I can't wait to get my ass beat by you, your highness." Balfast replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm still. "As amazed as I am that you can fight me in this condition, you haven't been able to land a hit yet."

This was true. Natsu hadn't landed a hit on his opponent yet, but he was still taking his time, learning his enemy's attack patterns.

Another attack. This one coming straight on. Natsu tensed, ready for the blow to come. A feint? Surely, his opponent knew he could sense him coming, and without his sight it was far more difficult to judge the blade's path as it changed directions.

He decided to dodge to the right, suspecting that Balfast could see his motion. His suspicion was confirmed when he sensed the subtle shift of the air around him, the blade diving out of its straightforward thrust and slashing down at his legs. Natsu was ready, jumping carefully so that his feet came down on the blade. In the moment it took the swordsman to recover from the surprise, he lashed out with his fire covered foot toward the man's midsection.

His foot connected with something softer than armor, and Balfast grunted, falling back a few steps. Natsu pressed his advantage. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" The fist connected again with the man's gut, driving him back into the opposite wall.

Balfast recovered quickly, moving out from the wall into his combat stance. Natsu felt the air shift again in the room, becoming heavier. Darker, if possible.

Then the man was moving forward again. Not a straightforward thrust this time. He was coming in with a slash from the right. Natsu moved back out of the way, only to feel another slash coming from above. Unable to change direction quickly enough, he raised his arm, pushing it up at an angle to deflect the descending blade. He avoided most of the damage from the attack, but he felt the sting in his arm where the blade connected and tore off a small section of his skin.

Two swords. He dodged again as the original sword came in with a thrust, then moved out of the way of a vicious slash. He dove and rolled on the ground to the right and left of his opponent, forcing him to turn and throw himself off balance for a moment. A slash narrowly missed him as he came up, and a blade again descended from above.

Natsu stepped back. He would have to do a more ranged attack to make him back off again. "Fire Dragon's Roar!" He put enough power into it to damage a person without completely obliterating the stairs and the building they were in. He felt Balfast falling back under the barrage of flames.

He attacked again, pressing his advantage through the piercing blades that came up to block. "Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!" The blades were unable to mitigate enough of the damage, and his opponent was thrown back again. This time he wasn't stopping to let him recover. "Fire Dragon's Secret Art. Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade."

Balfast rocketed from the wall even faster than before. Natsu barely had time to dodge his first attack before he heard the spell, "Erebus Incarnation, 100 Blades of Darkness!"

His body tensed as he felt blades forming all around him. The first came from the right, and when he dodged back another came from that direction. He went underneath, only to push up again as soon as the blade was clear to avoid a double attack rushing low from both sides. As he was coming down he twisted in the air, mitigating another double attack that still left two deep gashes in his chest and left arm. He quickly took off running, making his opponent track him with his blades. The motion made it easier for him to dodge as the blades always came from a more predictable position. He cut right, then back left, then rolled back to the right as the next blade missed. He could sense his target not far ahead, and he began pushing a large amount of his magic power into his two fists. As soon as he was within range, he executed an almost perfect 90 degree cut without slowing for an instant and brought his hands down on his opponent. "Fire Dragon's Crushing Hammer!"

Balfast hit the ground hard. Natsu still couldn't see him, but he'd given up every attempt at masking the noises he was making. Natsu heard his ragged, choking breath. The man was in bad shape, but not completely out yet.

His opponent got to his feet slowly, coughing and panting. Natsu smirked, though he couldn't see his condition he could tell from his opponent's movement speed and breathing that he was not in good condition. "Like I said, I'm gonna' kick your ass extra hard."

"Impudent brat." The change in Balfast's voice was amazing. It went from a lower-end, slightly dark baritone to a deep, demonic scream. "You haven't seen the potential of Erebos yet. Now I'll show you the power of darkness incarnate!"

"Yeah, yeah." Natsu said, unimpressed. "I've been fighting you in the darkness this whole time."

"You don't understand the meaning of darkness yet." The voice almost hurt his ears. "Darkness isn't just something that affects the eyes. It can be used against your ears. Your senses. Your very soul. You should feel honored. You're the first person I've ever had to use this level of power against."

As he finished, his voice stopped abruptly. So did his breathing, and his movements. Then Natsu realized he couldn't even hear his own breathing. He couldn't feel the airflow in the room anymore. Couldn't feel the fire that he knew wrapped his hands and feet.

But somehow an image appeared in his mind. It wasn't something visual. Not really. Just a general sense of red, and direction. He quickly leapt away from the quickly approaching red. Red meant danger. At least, that's what his instincts told him. As the sense appeared again and he didn't move as quickly, his instincts were proved correct as the edge of a blade caught his side.

Suddenly the attacks stopped again. Then Natsu began to get that sense of… red… all around him. Whatever was happening, his opponent was casting a major spell. He had to end this now, or he might not get a chance.

"Fire Dragon King Mode." This might be overkill, but it was the only way he could be sure to end this. He was certain that he spoke the words. His mind told him that he had, but he neither heard them, nor felt the sensation of his lips and tongue working the syllables. He could only believe the magic had activated as he'd instructed it, able to respond to commands even if the giver of those commands was unable to perceive his own voice or motions.

"Fire Dragon King's Blistering Inferno!" He still couldn't feel the effects of his command, but trusted that his magic activated. The red began to disappear from his sense around him. He kept the attack going for a few more minutes till all the red was gone.

Suddenly his senses were back, and he was assaulted on all sides by the effects of his attack. The bright, blinding fire that was warm even to the dragon slayer. The roar of the flames, echoing through the halls like the voices of the great dragons themselves. Knowing that the return of his senses indicated his opponent was defeated, Natsu released the spell. As the flames receded, he saw his opponent falling to the floor, his clothing burned away and his body covered with burns and scars.

"Im…Impossible…." Balfast managed to rasp out. Then his eyes closed, unconsciousness claiming him.

Natsu smirked at the fallen man, clapping cuffs on his wrist just in case he managed to wake up before they finished the rest of the guild. Then he started to head off to find the others.

And that was when the floor gave out, most of it still melted from the intensity of the heat.

~~~Erza~~~

After they were a good distance from the fight, Erza was glad to be able to see again. It wasn't that she couldn't handle herself without her eyes. She'd proven many times in the past that she was very capable even without any of her senses. But she preferred to be able to fight what she could see.

And right now she was just seeing more rock and stone. They were continuing on a downward staircase, but about 20 feet ahead the wall to the left just disappeared. Erza drew her sword up to the ready position as they came to the room, wondering what awaited them around that corner. She rushed into the room, scanning immediately for enemies.

She found them quickly, not even attempting to hide. Standing near the opposite wall were three tall male wizards and one very short female wizard, all wearing the cloak and hood arrangements the first mages they'd met at Wyvern's Ear. The girl offered the group a mock bow, a smirk evident on her pert red lips.

"Welcome, Fairy Tail. I never thought you to be the type to sacrifice one of your own to move forward."

"Nobody's been sacrificed," Erza replied, allowing a smirk of her own. "We just know how to pick our fights."

"I still sense the darkness of Erebos, and it hasn't even been fully activated yet," one of the men said. His voice was gruff, and there was no sign of any emotion on his face. "Balfast is just toying with the one you left there to die."

Erza's grip tightened on her sword as her heart leapt to her throat. Natsu… No. She had to believe in him. She'd seen the man accomplish incredible things even before he managed to attain this level.

But Erebos. The name sent shivers down her spine. The god of darkness. The incarnation of chaos and night. Could Natsu really win against the power of that god?

"You haven't seen Natsu fight," Gray's voice cut into her fears, reminding her again that this was Natsu they were talking about. The same Natsu that defeated Jellal, a wizard saint, at the tower of heaven. The same Natsu that defeated Hades, formerly Precht, the second master of Fairy Tail, at Tenroujima. The same Natsu who destroyed the war god avatar with a single blow.

'Thanks Gray,' she whispered, too quietly for the ice mage to hear. She needed the reminder that no matter how dire circumstances seemed, she could always have faith in Natsu to pull through. Aloud she said, "That's right. Natsu's not gonna' lose to anyone. But we can kick your asses while we wait for him to catch up."

"Bold words, Titania of Fairy Tail," the short girl spoke again, half laughing at them. "But you don't know who you're dealing with. I'm Evedra, this is Aizon, Moras, and Jaira. You may think you're hot shit cause you somehow managed to take on our god slayer tribe, but we're the dual devil slayer clan. The strongest mages in Banshee's Wail. Well, aside from the master and Balfast." She smirked.

"Dual devil slayer, eh?" Erza cocked an eyebrow. Was that just some fancy title, or…?

"Yep, we all use two types of devil slayer magic," she said with a smirk. "I'm poison and steel."

"You talk way too much," Erza said with smirk. "Come on guys, let's get them."

Without waiting for confirmation, she charged at the girl who identified herself as Evedra. Predictably, the girl's first move was to attempt to trap her within a poison cloud. An attempt that failed utterly as she requipped to her heaven's wheel armor and used her swords to create a wind to blow the cloud away. The next attack was an enormous spike of earth that jutted out of the ground directly below her, almost catching her head on, but as the tip touched her foot she launched herself into a forward roll, coming up out of it closer to her target and bringing her into easy range.

"Dance, my blades!" Her swords began to move forward in a circle toward the devil slayer, who quickly cried out, "Rock Barrier!" A huge shield of rock appeared in front of her, effectively shattering Erza's blade attack, but crumbling to pieces as a result of absorbing the blow. Before the pieces started hitting the ground Erza requipped to her sea empress armor. Her long sword broke through the crumbling rubble, commanding a water blade to slice her enemy. Evedra was knocked back several paces, a gash appearing on her lower abdomen.

"I see. So they weren't exaggerating," Evedra said. "Then I will have to take this fight seriously." As she spoke a very dark green, almost black substance began to cover her right arm as well as the right side of her face. A similar substance, only dark purple, appeared on her left side. Soon her body was a mixture of purplish-black and greenish-black, meeting and swirling together in the middle.

"Devil's Rockslide!" Suddenly Erza was dodging for her life as enormous boulders began to rain down on her from the ceiling. Her body went into pure reaction mode, moving on its own without her thoughts to guide it. Right. Then left. Forward. Throw yourself to the right. Left, quickly!

To an outsider, her dance may have looked practiced – graceful even. But to her it felt awkward and uncontrolled. Instinct alone was keeping her alive amidst the hail of rocks. But somehow that instinct guided her closer to her opponent. Close enough to lash out with her long crystal sword. She felt the blade connect, piercing her opponent's arm. Then she winced as a boulder glanced off her shoulder – the price for landing the attack on her opponent.

Suddenly Evedra's magic turned very dark. "You've injured me twice now," the girl growled. "It's time to end this. Devil slayer's poisoned lungs!"

Suddenly Erza felt her body go rigid. An instant later ever inch of her body was eclipsed by the sensation of pain. She struggled, somehow managing to inch one of her limbs forward, but could do no more. The sensation reminded her of Cobra's poison, only worse. She knew without a doubt she would soon die if nothing were done.

"Not so tough now, are you Titania?" Evedra's voice, now with hollow demonic undertones, mocked her. "This poison acts quickly, but it still gives you 15 minutes to suffer before you die. So you can watch as we kill all your friends."

Erza writhed in pain as the poison continued to take effect, half choking with each breath. She was no stranger to pain, but this poison seemed to have a paralyzing effect as well. But she could overcome it. She had to overcome it for her friends. For her guild mates.

Her mind went to Natsu and the impossible feats he'd pulled. Not only had he completely defeated opponents who were way beyond him in terms of magic and strength, he'd emptied his body of magic in the middle of an attack just so he could fill it with a new kind of magic. Just because it's supposed to be impossible doesn't mean I can't do it.

She tried again, and somehow her legs responded. Then her arms also as she ground out, "requip: clear heart armor!"

"Impossible," Evedra said, gaping at Erza. Erza managed a smirk, despite all the pain coursing through her through her body.

"Why is it called devil slaying magic?" She asked. "Have you ever used it to defeat a demon?"

"N-no…" Evedra's eyes were still wide, clearly unable to comprehend that Erza was able to move.

"Well I may not be a devil slayer, but I've defeated demons." Erza said, and charged. Her attack connected fully, and she watched in satisfaction as Evedra fell to the ground, not moving further. Then Erza collapsed, unable to fight the poison any longer.

"Erza!" Wendy was by her in an instant, and she felt the sky dragon slayer's magic working in her body. The pain began to disappear, and she felt her breathing get easier. Wendy sighed, falling to her knees next to Erza. "That was really hard to heal," she said, her voice sounding tired. "It took a lot of my magic."

"Thanks Wendy," Erza said with a smile. "You saved my life."

Wendy blushed and stuttered out an acknowledgement of Erza's thanks, and Erza turned her attention to the other battles. Gray was just finishing off his battle. Lucy, Leo, and Taurus were triple-teaming another one. Juvia was also just finishing her battle.

Well, looks like I pulled the short straw again, Erza thought. But really, she wouldn't have it any other way. With the poison gone, she was quickly ready to get up and head to the next room.

Looking around, she realized none of the mages had escaped unscathed from their fights. It appeared the dark guild was more powerful than they anticipated. And they hadn't even faced the master yet.

They headed down another staircase, spiraling down into another large room. When they got to the room, there was a single man standing in the center. He was at least 7 feet tall and wore a full set of armor, lacking only a helmet. His chiseled body was larger than Elfman's, and the sword he wielded was a good five feet in length.

"So, you made it this far," he said in a deep, booming voice. "I'm impressed. As always, it seems Fairy Tail is full of surprises."

Just then Erza felt an oppressive, dark magic from somewhere above them. The magic had incredible force, meaning the wielder was very powerful, and was likely employing a finishing move.

"Well, it looks like one of you wasn't so lucky," the tall man smirked at them. "But he must be pretty good. I've never seen Balfast go all out against an opponent before."

Suddenly another oppressive magic, this one hot and sweltering, filled the room. Like the last one, this was coming from above. There was a powerful explosion as two finishing spells collided, and then both auras faded.

Erza could only wonder what happened, and judging from the look of the giant in front of them he was having the same feeling. But suddenly Erza smirked. She didn't really need to wonder what happened. It was obvious. Natsu did what Natsu did best. Gave his opponent a beat down.

Apparently the giant in the middle of the room came to the same conclusion, because his aura suddenly turned furious. "Now I'm angry," he yelled in his deep, booming voice. "Prepare to die!" He stepped forward, bringing his enormous sword across in a sweeping motion so fast that the group barely had time to jump back and evade the attack.

At that moment, there was a cracking noise in the ceiling. The noise made the giant look up, and he quickly got a face full of boulders and melted rock. A slightly charred body came down with the rubble and lava from above, and last of all came Natsu, who landed gracefully on top of the heap that covered the giant.

"What'd I miss?" he asked.

Then he jumped off as the giant slowly toppled to the ground, apparently done in by one of the boulders that had fallen on his head.

"Well… That was anticlimactic," Erza said after a moment.

"But Natsu still knows how to make an entrance," Happy cheered.

"You can say that again," Gray said, rubbing the back of his head ruefully. "To be honest, I don't have much magic power left after that last battle."

"Juvia doesn't either," the water mage declared.

Erza chuckled. "I used up most of my magic power as well, when I got poisoned" she told them.

"And I used up most of mine healing her," Wendy added quietly.

"It drained me to have 2 spirits active at once for so long," Lucy said as her shoulders sagged tiredly.

"Long story short, we're all short on magic power." Carla snapped. "Now let's figure out who this is and how much longer till we can take out the guild master."

"Umm, I think this is the guild master," Wendy said quietly.

Everyon stopped and stared at her.

"What makes you think that Wendy?" Carla asked.

"Well," Wendy blushed under everyone's gazes. "There was a report about Banshee's Wail in the Sorcerer's 'Crime Watch' column. And the article mentioned that not much was known about the leader, except that he was really big…"

"You're right!" Lucy cried out suddenly. "I'd forgotten all about that!"

Erza looked at the downed guild master, then clicked some cuffs on him with a sigh. "I can't believe he was so weak."

"Well, he did kind of get taken by surprise," Gray smirked. "They really shouldn't have designed their guild in a way that allowed Natsu to drop the ceiling on him."

The friends shared a much needed laugh before gathering the cuffed prisoners together and letting the council know the dark guild was defeated. Then they all headed back home. Natsu to the palace, and the rest to Magnolia.

They all looked forward to doing it again soon.

**A/N

Alright, that took a while to write. Sorry about the ending of that chapter, but I felt a little evil after I realized that the guild layout would have Natsu fighting right above the guild master.

Anyway, with this out of the way, the next couple chapters will have many more Natsu/Hisui moments, for anyone who cares.

Ciao**