"This place is nuts!"

The cause for this statement was the incredibly strange gravitational pulls throughout this weird world. He didn't really think about it on the ground, but once Naruto started flying he realised every floating rocky island seemed to have its own pull of varying strengths. Strange thing was it wasn't limited by how big or small it was, some of the most powerful islands had been the smallest. How something like that had managed to form was completely beyond the blond ninja so he did his best to not let it trouble him.

Getting a bearing around here was nigh impossible too as the sun didn't seem to track in a straight line across the sky. Like the rest of this place it seemed to be a law unto itself, sliding across the sky and moving back and forth as it went. So with any form of compass gone, all Naruto could do was try remember where he came from and line the islands from behind up with the ones in front so he didn't accidentally end up flying a big circle.

Grunting as light hit his eyes, Naruto raised a hand to his brow to shield the glare and sighed. "Oh come on, someone has gotta be around here somewhere. This King that lives here wouldn't just suck up Ethernano and then vanish. Where are you… A-ha!"

Finally spotting someone, Naruto grinned and swooped in. He managed to get a good look at the lass as he softly landed several paces behind her. Fairly plain dress sense, just a tan, elbow length shirt with a slightly darker, knee length pair of pants. Said person was also dangling their legs off the edge of the island they were on, fishing rod in hand.

Coughing to notify his presence, the blond chuckled as her startled a bit. Brown flair flicked about as she twisted to view him, piercing eyes casting a calculating view over him through her glasses.

"Hey there! Sorry for that, I just needed to ask directions. I'm a bit lost."

She didn't say anything for a moment, her only movement being the narrowing of one eye in consideration. Finally sighing, she reeled in her line and stood up.

"You're from a long way away aren't ya buddy? No one gets lost around here."

"Heh heh heh…" Chuckling awkwardly, Naruto jumped his eyebrows a fraction at the understatement. "Yeah you could say that. Anyway, I was just trying to find the closest town. Do you know what way it is?"

One slim eyebrow raised as the girl popped a hand on her hip. "Damn, you must be from the other side of the world to not know that."

Slightly taken aback, Naruto frowned and crossed his arms. "Well just humour me and say I was."

Sighing, the girl then pointed over Naruto's shoulder to a strange natural path. "The islands never stay put right? So the only way to traverse them without losing your direction is following the natural paths the trees make. Jump on that one and follow it for about fifteen minutes and you'll find Sycca town."

"Oh good!" Grinning and giving the girl a wave, Naruto turned and called out, "Thanks for that!" as he dashed for the path. Not bothering to reply, the nameless girl sat back down and began playing with her rod again.

A grin of determination stretched itself on Naruto's face as he set himself a rapid pace. Fifteen minutes she reckons? The blond bet he could do it in three.

XxXxXxX

Two and a half minutes later, Naruto jogged to a stop in front of a wide archway. A large 'WELCOME' stretched across it, the name of the town in smaller writing beneath it.

"Well that's nice."

Striding through the gates, the blond looked around as he was surrounded by people of this world for the first time. It seemed like the markets were on today as carts full of all sorts of weird and wonderful fruits, meats and trinkets filled the main street. Voices filled the air and Naruto found it a bit tricky to understand the words. The town seemed to have a distinct accent of its own. Now that he thought of it, he was lucky this place didn't have a whole new language to learn.

Spotting a café, the teenager made his way over and sat down. He perused the crowds as they mingled, taking in the sights and trying to work out which way was the town centre. He also began planning his next step. As for information on this place, he really had nothing to go by. Everything was so strange he might as well throw everything he knew about tracking out the window and start from scratch. As for where he was to go though, well, he had at least one good idea courtesy of Mystogan.

"Hello sir, can I get anything for you?"

Turning his head, Naruto flashed the waiter a smile. "Just water thanks. Also, I'm new to the area, I've come from quite a way away. I was looking for where I might see the King?"

"Ah the king!" That comment earned Naruto a wide smile in return. "Yes, if you're not from around here you'll certainly want to see the splendour of his wonderful city. Do excuse me and I'll get you your water and a map."

The blond sighed as the man strode away. That was much easier than he'd been expecting. Not that there was any issue per-say, it's more that Naruto had a nasty habit of only running into places that were controlled by very nasty dictators. The king might be a bad egg but at least he had respect among the community. Within moments the waiter was back and spreading a well-used map out before him. There were several names written on there and the waiter started with the one Naruto knew.

"So we are currently here on the ground in Sycca. I imagine you entered here from the main gate and off one of the elevated outcrops. This is the most Eastern town on this side of the strait." The man's finger was planted on the town that sat on the edge on one landmass. He then dragged his finger across the map eastward, across the water, across another town named 'Traia' and then finally rested on the word 'Royal City'. "You can see we're a fair hike from the Royal City. Well over two days ride even if you were heading straight there."

Nodding as he swallowed a mouthful of water, Naruto cupped his chin as he calculated the distance. "So, with it being so far, did you have any vehicles that go there? Trains or carriages or the likes?"

The waiter's smile dipped a bit as he sighed. "Yeah we do, but it's very expensive sadly. Since all the magic in the world is drying up, having transport sent all the way out here is getting more and more expensive. Even the upper-class are beginning to feel the squeeze!" A bit of vigour returned to the man though, his hand clenching into a fist and tensing. "But we've just got news our King has somehow managed to obtain a massive amount of extremely potent Lacrima! With that released it should bring prices right back on down and make travel affordable for everyone again!"

Naruto's smile stayed bright, but inside his thoughts darkened. He'd bet his Saints Badge he knew where all that Lacrima came from. Still, it was a good start and two days travel by a standard person was barely a few hours to one blond ninja.

Finishing his drink, Naruto stood up and bowed his head. "Well thanks for that! Did you know where I could grab a map? I might as well set off now if that's the case, don't wanna waste too much time!"

The map on the table was folded up and handed to him. "This old thing was about to go in the bin. Take it and I wish you the best in your travels!"

It was nice to meet such a pleasant person every now and then. Grinning, Naruto held out a hand and shook it. "Thank you very much for the help. I'll have to come back for a proper meal later if possible!"

A laugh and a wave accompanied Naruto as he wandered out into the street. Rolling the map up and slipping it into his jacket, Naruto looked around. He wasn't quite able to see what way was what for all the people about, so giving his legs a bit of a charge, the teen jumped up to the nearest roof.

And for some reason that prompted the loudest collection of screams Naruto had heard in years.

Looking down in surprise, he found every single person within sight staring up at him, some pointing and others with their mouths hanging wide open. Turning his gaze across them slowly, a small bead of sweat ran down his neck as he realised that probably wasn't the smartest thing to do. Biting his lip, the teen began pondering his next move when a loud voice called up at him.

"YOU! ON THE ROOF! SURRENDER IMMEDIATELY!"

"Uh, what?" Looking over the edge, Naruto spied the voice. A man dressed in an official uniform and armour was set in a battle-ready position, lance held high and right at him. A grey helmet that curled over the back of his head like a snail shell completely protected him from all identification. A balaclava protected the majority of his face, the only part of him visible being his eyes through a wide cut out. Arm length gauntlets wrapped any piece of skin up tight from his view, the grey material contrasted only by a single, oval jewel on the back of each hand. A long knee length cape buttoned up down to his waist covered his chest and earthy tan pants billowed out from under that.

Holding his hands up and waving them, Naruto called out in return. "What did I even do? You can't just scream at someone randomly and think they'll listen!"

"You are a mage of Fairy Tail! Come with us now lest we use lethal force!"

Whipping around in surprise, Naruto came face to face with the exact same man standing on the opposite side of the roof. Actually… no, he was a bit taller. The identical armour though made for a deceivingly similar look. However, "Why on earth would you say I'm a mage of Fairy Tail? I haven't even been here a single day yet!"

"You're a part of a different magic guild?"

Looking back over the edge, Naruto's eyes widened as he spotted well over a dozen new guards, all dressed identically to the first one. "What, where did you all come from?"

"Answer the question!"

Frowning, Naruto shook his head. "I'm still not answering anything."

"He is! He has the mark of the dark guild!"

Cursing himself, Naruto snapped his upturned hand shut and glared at the closest of the now six soldiers on the roof. "You lot just breed like rabbits don't you?"

Despite their accusations, Naruto frowned as he processed what they said. 'There's a Fairy Tail in Edolas, and it's a dark guild on top of that? Why would it be dark in Edolas?'

A sudden burst of magic erupted through the edge of the building he was standing on, crippling the foundation and causing Naruto to abruptly topple backward, crying out in surprise. Twisting nimbly, the blond reached out and grabbed a large chunk of rock and used its momentum to flick himself out of harm's way. Landing solidly in the middle of the road, the blond found it deserted of everyone except soldiers, who's numbers were rapidly climbing into the high fifty's. "Where did you all come from? What do you want from me?"

One guard stepped forward, lance levelled menacingly at him. "You are a dark mage of an outlaw guild. Use of magic in the Kingdom of Edolas is strictly prohibited and you are in direct violation of that law! Come quietly or else we will attack!"

"Oh, that's a relief! I was expecting something much worse." Naruto let out a breath as that answered the 'dark guild' status. So they weren't taking on assassination missions, just using magic illegally. Naruto found it a pretty easy sin to forgive. The soldiers however took his statement a little differently and growled at his insolence. "You think this is a game? Men! Arrest him with all force necessary!"

A loud cry erupted from the group as they rushed the blond, lances trained on him from all sides. Dropping low, the teen let the majority of the sharp heads pass over him. Grabbing one though, Naruto heaved up on the spear and pole vaulted the soldier hanging onto the other end across the street with a mighty throw. Using the momentary shock, Naruto kicked the other spears away and flipped his new toy around to catch the handle. "Alright, sounds like if I put a few of you down for a couple of weeks it'll be doing the guild a favour. So who wants at me first?"

Eyes all turned back to the smirking ninja and a wave of killing intent washed over the teen. It made him laugh a bit.

Suddenly chaos exploded and Naruto began his graceful dance of pain. Lances jabbed at him from every direction but the blond was always one step ahead. Keen eyes gauged the numbers and using his confiscated spear, he parried jab after jab into each soldier's fellow comrade, cries of pain ringing out as man after man was stabbed. It was never anything fatal but always close enough that they instantly collapsed in a pool of their blood, hands held tight around whatever wound they'd suffered to try and stem the flow of blood.

Not a single drop landed on the orange menace in the middle of it all though, the frustrating youth somehow managing to dance around even those. At the back of the group, one soldier summoned another and pointed away. "While we hold this threat off you go and call backup. I believe one of the Royal Army Captains is nearby. We must let them know."

Nodding in acceptance, the guard dashed off. Turning back, the superior blinked in surprise as he now witnessed Naruto fending off the progressing attacks with his bare hands. His old broken staff lay discarded off to the side but that wasn't slowing him down in the slightest. Palm strikes to the flats of his men's blades were perfectly guiding them back into their comrades. Whoever this Fairy Tail mage was had some unbelievable combat prowess. If he attacked even an inch higher or lower he'd be tearing his hands to shreds on the knife like edges. Yet there wasn't a single line of blood anywhere to be seen on him, and the worst bit? He was smiling the whole damn TIME!

Growling deeply as another man fell victim to this terror, the senior guard gripped his weapon tight. There was a reason he was the leader and it was because he'd spent the longest time fighting for his wonderful Lordship's army! So crouching, he focused his eyes on the blond and dashed in.

Lunging outward, he knew what to expect as the mage tried to palm strike his blade again. It would have been successful too if he was a lesser man. However his reflexes honed with years of practice snapped the blade downward at those unsightly orange pants in an attempt to hamstring him. He didn't expect that to work though as the teen vaulted over the swipe at the last second, back springing off his hands to land in a light crouch. This time however he'd caught the mage's attention.

"Huh, you're a level above the rest of this lot. Care to give me some real entertainment?"

Growling, the soldier remembered his training. 'Deep breaths, he's trying to make you angry. Don't be rash, remember the steps and stay focused!'

Lunging in, the two of them began a graceful duel, neither giving a foot as they traded blows and parries at a speed that had to be seen to be believed. The rest of the men fell back, spears still held at the ready but more as a circle of defence as the two experienced warriors battled it out in the middle. They weaved, ducked and dodged around each other for several moments; the actual time feeling more like minutes of consistent back and forthing between the two. Eventually the blond mage managed to get a foot to the back of a slightly over extended lunge and stamped the blade deep into the earth with a crunch. A wide grin pulled at his whiskered cheeks as he yelled, "I got you now!"

There was a mighty thump, but instead of the guard being thrown back as suspected, the youth's fist quivered up against a bright glowing blue wall. The superior had his hand up before him, back facing out and the blue jewel embedded in the rear of his gauntlet shining brightly as it materialised a powerful barrier. Surprise was evident in his eyes as he pushed against the strength of the shield, testing its limits.

A smile pulled beneath the metal balaclava of the guard as he felt the mage push against it. "It's no use, there's nothing short of a Legion that could break through this."

What he didn't expect was the dangerous grin that followed. "A challenge huh? Better pump all the energy you got into it if you don't wanna break every bone in your arm!"

Eyes widening, the guard knew better than to question such a powerful opponent. Gripping his wrist with his free arm, he doubly reinforced the barrier with the jewel on his other hand just as the mage reared his arm back.

"Hold TIGHT!"

And with that scream the mage unleashed possibly the most powerful single hit any one of those guards had ever seen in their whole lives. The resulting boom of it smashing into the magical barrier shook the ground and unsettled all the soldiers around them. For a second it looked like the shield would hold, but rapidly great splinters fractured across its surface before it let up with the mighty crash of glass breaking.

A barely stifled cry ripped itself from the soldier's mouth as he was flung back from the attack, though nowhere near as far as if he wasn't protected. He slid across the street, cradling his arm in agony as he felt his bones groan in protest, either one of them most probably fractured. A man rushed to his side and began checking him over to make sure nothing was seriously injured.

"Sir! The Royal Captains have been notified and they're on their way here now!"

Hearing his guard from earlier sprint in and relay the information, the man cracked a painful smile as he gauged the blond enigma. Holding out his good arm, he recalled his men. "Stand back, one of the Captains is on their way now! Tend to the wounded and do not attack, repeat, do not attack!"

A sceptical eyebrow raised on the teen as he heard the order. He placed one hand on his hip and thrust the other out questioningly. "Hang on, what about that whole, 'we'll use lethal force' thing? What if I don't wanna stop attacking?"

Chuckling, the guard suddenly winced in pain as he tried to sit up. Catching his breath, he grinned and shook his head. "You don't know who the Captains are? I'd imagine someone from that guild to know their names anywhere."

That drew an annoyed glare from the teen as he stood up straighter. "Yeah, well say I just don't care?"

The top guard narrowed his eyes. "Well then you're even more foolish than we'd have thought."

A dangerous gaze pinned him down as the gravity around him seemed to increase, the intensity of the blonde's glare increasing rapidly. "You underestimated me once and look at what that got you. Trust me when I can say I can take anything you throw at me."

That elicited a stilted laugh from the guard as he shuffled into a better position. "Well you'd better hope so for your life's sake." There was then a distant, yet distinctly powerful animalistic roar in the distance and the blonde's eyes narrowed as he spied a dot flying out from behind one of the floating islands. "Oh look, here they are. Better ready yourself mage, the best of us has finally arrived!"

XxXxXxX

Keen eyes locked tight onto the town that was rapidly approaching. Not a muscle twitched as she sat atop the head of her giant hog-like beast as it barrelled onwards with a mighty cry. The second she received the transmission of one of those repugnant Fairy Tail worms had popped up in Sycca, she dropped everything and powered towards them without a moment to lose. That foul dark guild had been a thorn in the side of the kingdom, spitting on their authority for far too long. Every single one she had purged from this good land had made it feel like the air was a bit lighter. From how powerful this one sounded too, it would be a real kick in the guts to their defence to kill him.

A tiny smirk pulled at her lips in anticipation. None that had stood before her had lived to survive. Today was going to be no exception.

'Just hold tight for a moment, I promise that if it's a fight he's after, it will be one he will only just live long enough to remember.'

XxXxXxX

The blonde's eyes narrowed as whatever it was in the distance came flying in. The anger of the guards earlier was laughable, they hadn't had enough strength to land a single blow on him. This new arrival though… even from this far Naruto could make out an intense hatred being directed at him.

Taking a few steps back, he glanced down at the injured guard. It seemed what he said earlier was being taken as law. Despite the dirty glares he was getting no one had come within ten feet of him.

Casualties wasn't something he was looking to create so the blond closed his eyes as the threat drew near. Whatever it was seemed powerful enough to warrant Senjutsu (Sage Techniques), so reaching out into the air, the ninja began drawing natural energy into himself.

At least, he tried to.

Frowning in confusion, Naruto desperately tried to harness the natural energy around him but it was stretched so thin that it was like trying to get a good drink off a puddle washed out over a concrete floor.

That waiter hadn't been wrong, the amount of magic in this world was dangerously low for anyone that needed it to survive. From the hollow feeling of everyone around him, Naruto came to the conclusion that they must have adapted differently to their environment over time. In Earthland even the civilians had Ethernano running fresh through their bodies. Here though, none of them had a drop anywhere to be found. That would have been why they were using weapons for their magical attacks instead of their bodies. They simply couldn't do it.

Clicking his tongue in frustration, Naruto gave up on trying to enter Senjutsu. He had been pulling in the Ethernano around him and with time would have accumulated enough to activate the transformation, but that was taking far too long and time wasn't something he had much of right now.

It looked like he was just gonna have to take his chances. Stilling his nerves, the teen looked skyward and slowly lifted off the ground. The resultant scream of shock from all the guards helped boost his confidence as he rose to meet his enemy.

Eventually stopping high enough above the town that no one would be caught in the fallout, the teen readied himself and waited. The thing hurtling towards him was now more distinct and didn't it look weird.

It was a dark grey beast with this massive great head, mouth and teeth all pointing directly at him. Two long, thick horns much like a cow's sat above its beady yellow eyes, each one being nearly the same size as its head.

Enormous leathery wings pumped the air furiously as it propelled itself forward at an unbelievably rapid speed for something as massive and ungainly as itself. Abnormally tiny forelegs grabbed at the air as its powerful (and much larger) back legs kicked desperately to try and generate even a bit more speed.

A long whippy tail snaked around behind it, stabilising the beast so that despite its frantic movements it still held incredibly level through the air. Naruto squinted when he noticed an odd bulb on the tip of the tail and after a few moments managed to make out it was split open with a great many teeth in it too.

'Alright, here goes nothing.' Raising a hand, Naruto pointed an accusing finger at the creature and bellowed, "Oi! I'm the one you want! Come and get some, dattebayo!"

It let out a deafening roar as it rose to the challenge, its legs clawing more frantically at the air than ever to try and reach its target. However, now that it was close enough Naruto could see someone riding on top of the things head. Squinting, the blonde's eyes widened as extremely familiar scarlet red hair lashed about furiously in the wind. "No way, is that… Erza?"

Waving his hands, the blond grinned and called out, "Oi, Erza! It's me! How'd you get free?"

Happily waving his arms, the ninja didn't notice the beast dig deep for one last burst of speed. Roaring aggressively, it opened its mouth to swallow up the teen in one bite. Keen danger senses kicked in just at the last moment and Naruto let out a shocked cry as he cut the power to his legs and fell just under the beast's mouth as it snapped shut where he'd been a nanosecond earlier. That didn't save him from the crazy vortex the thing generated though and Naruto was sent flipping and spinning earthward until he finally managed to halt his momentum. He queasily held his stomach and clamped a hand to his mouth as motion sickness reminiscent of his fight with Laxus set in. Holding his position for a few seconds, he swallowed the rise of vomit and let out a shaky breath as the world slowly stopped spinning.

Seeing the giant animal banking around, Naruto growled and rose to meet it. The thing howled again and came in for round two but this time Naruto was ready. Crossing his fingers, the teen whispered his trademark technique and a perfect clone popped into view. Each pulling a Rasengan (Spiralling Sphere) into life, they waited until the last second as the thing came in to bite them again. Springing apart, they lashed out and buried their attacks deep into the sides of its head.

It shrieked in pain as the tightly focused balls of energy ate into the protective scales near its horns before they went up in a massive explosion. Disorientated and wounded, the animal dropped like an enormous stone and Erza was flung off as the creature began corkscrewing towards the ground.

"Woah there, I got you. What happened? Why the hell did that thing you're riding attack me?" Naruto swept in to catch the girl bridal style, his concerned face staring into dark brown eyes. The coldness reflected back at him though wasn't something he was expecting. "Erza? Are you o –"

Naruto wasn't given time to finish his question as a lance was buried deep into his chest. His eyes widened in pain and betrayal before he went up in an explosion of smoke. Falling out of non-existent arms, Erza flipped around and professionally manoeuvred herself through the air to fall like a pin towards her steed. Reaching out an arm, she grasped a horn and pulled herself back onto its head with ease. Grabbing the base of each horn, she growled through her teeth and heaved backwards powerfully.

A strained cry was torn from the beast's mouth but regardless it obeyed, sluggishly flapping its wings and only just managing to right itself out of its dive in time to swoop over the multi-coloured trees. Blood poured from each side of its head but the concussion seemed to have been more effective than the actual wounds.

Slowly pulling back up level with a now very cautious Naruto, it panted deeply as its owner and the blond eyed each other off. "Erza, what are you doing?"

The dark gleam in her eye didn't fade one bit as she stared him down. "Will a Fairy Tail worm really address me with such familiarity?"

Naruto didn't reply to that, instead considering all alternatives. She was certainly Erza, but there was a definite malice about her that was just off. Narrowing his eyes, the teen drew in a tiny amount of natural energy, just enough to see into the woman who stood before him. Slowly his eyes widened enough to show his foe he uncovered the truth.

She may have been dressed in battle armour Erza preferred, that being a revealing two piece bikini, metal gauntlets for her forearms and knee high metal shin guards for her legs and a single long lance, but inside was different. She was hollow, without any form of energy inside. This was her Edolas counterpart and she seemed very mean.

"You appear to have mistaken me for someone who you know."

"Only for a moment. Looks can be deceiving, ya know?"

The Erza double narrowed her eyes. "What in this good world could you mistake me for?"

Raising a fist, Naruto readied himself for battle. "Someone who I hope you never meet."

A brief laugh snapped from her lips as a smirk pulled at the corner of her nose. "What, another Fairy Tail member? Maybe I have already met her then, but if that's the case she's more than likely dead."

A cold shiver shot down Naruto's spine at the proclamation and his eyes hardened. "You've killed members?"

Frowning, the red head considered the blond. "You… you say you're affiliated with the dark guild, yet you've never heard of me. Where are you from exactly?"

An emotionless glaze set over Naruto's eyes as he held a hand out. A bright, glowing blue ball began to swirl in his hand and shadows danced across his face eerily. "A ninja never reveals his secrets."

In a sudden explosion of movement, Naruto disappeared and an almighty boom rang out as Naruto's Rasengan smashed into the flat blade of Erza's suddenly transformed sword. Pushing into it, Naruto heard the metal scream in protest.

That was hardly the end of it though as the sword itself glowed a bright gold and warped shape into a wide spear head with sharp edges curling into the point. Using the change in physical properties, Erza rolled under the deadly attack and let herself topple off her beast to fall towards the earth. Spinning in the air, she locked the tip onto Naruto and a single orb hanging just behind the spear head lit up with a blinding light as she cried, "Vacuum Spear, Mel Force!"

An almighty vortex exploded out from the tip and enveloped Naruto in an instant. Crossing his arms over his face and chest, the ninja grit his teeth as he was thrown back from the force of the blast. Catching himself after a moment, the teen ignored several shallow cuts across his body as he stared back at the woman. She whistled and her mighty animal swooped down with incredible agility to catch her on its head again and bring her back up.

Her malevolent smirk spoke stories of her lust for battle and the joy she took from killing her victims. Wiping away a tiny trickle of blood that tickled the side of his face, Naruto frowned slightly at the situation. 'If I had Senjutsu this would be over in a heartbeat. Whatever that sword of hers is though is something else. Tenten-chan would have a field trip if she got her hands on that."

Trying a different method, Naruto crossed his fingers and focused. "Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Multiple Shadow Clone Technique)!"

Erza's eyes rapidly widened as an enormous smoke cloud exploded from the teen before revealing over fifty identical replicas of the original. Looking them all over, she shouted out, "What kind of magic is this? How are you duplicating yourself? Your flying, what type of Lacrima are you using? Explain to me!"

A kunai shot past her head, her incredible reflexes saving her from a new hole in the temple. Growling as she gripped her lance, she stiffened in shock as a deadly low voice growled beside her ear. "Didn't I already tell you? Ninja never reveal their secrets."

A punch of power she hadn't felt in years ignited her lower back in pain as she was blasted off the animal with a furious scream. Flipping through the air, she was now at the mercy of fifty accursed blond freaks and they were fresh out of sympathy. Elbows, fists, knees and feet pin-balled her through the air, each hit drawing a tiny squeak of pain no matter how much she tried to hold it in.

Tumbling through a hole as an attack swung wide, she used the moment to let out a sharp whistle and a fraction of a second later, her steed was beneath her feet, having ploughed through over half the teenagers and sending them up in a cloud of smoke.

Killing intent began pouring from her form as she panted deeply, her shoulders heaving as the back of one of her hands wiped away streaks of blood from her nose and mouth. Growling lividly, her eyes widened in fury and stamped once on her beasts head. The behemoth let out a mighty cry before flapping its wings once and charged into the crowd.

While faster than that thing, Naruto was but a fraction of its size and even as he and his clones scrambled for safety, the horns and wingspan of the creature cleaned up most of the remaining clones. The original was also caught in the blast, a stray wing flap smashing into his head and knocking the sense out of him for a moment.

Crazed eyes locked onto the abnormality and hauling on the horn by her side, Erza swooped the animal in and reared her now massive cleaver up over her head. Nearing Naruto at blinding speeds, the redhead chopped down, intent on bifurcating her enemy in a single swipe.

Naruto wasn't about to have that though and his palms slammed together just in time to catch each side of the blade. Had he been a fraction late and it would have been all over. Even so, a tiny drip of blood flowed down from the tip of his nose where the sword nicked him. Letting out a determined cry, the blonde's muscles bulged as he threw the cleaver head back.

Spinning past the blade, he landed beside Erza and screamed in effort as he lashed out at her head. She just barely ducked out of the way and Naruto's fist smashed into the horn just behind her. Fissures shattered out from the point of impact and blood squirted from the new holes as the beast beneath their feet howled in pain and began bucking like crazy. Anchoring himself to its skull with chakra, Naruto pushed the advantage and used his incredible speed to try and batter the woman into submission.

Erza put up a valiant effort defending the onslaught but Naruto was just too fast. For every two attacks she stopped a third made it through, knocking her back closer and closer to the edge of the small platform. Finally a fist broke through her defences and connected with her nose solidly, sending her flipping back and over the side of the animal with a squirt of crimson from the abused facial feature.

Blinking through the tears, she held her lance tight in both hands and cried out, "Velocity Spear, Silfarion!" Again, her weapon glowed brightly as it changed into a triangular, arrow like spearhead. Whistling her command once more, her beast took a moment longer than usual to reach her. Upon alighting on its head she realised why. Naruto had taken to punching the horn repeatedly in an effort to break the thing off. Blood spurted everywhere as cracks continued to spread across its surface while the beast moaned in distress below. 'Smart, disabling my Legion would be a very big problem. However, it's much tougher than that.'

Dashing across in a newfound burst of speed her lance graced her with, she stabbed through to impale Naruto's head but the ninja ducked out of the way just in time. He reacted fantastically, a low swiping kick taking her feet out from under her, followed up with a rising uppercut that would have knocked her jaw clean off and thrown it all the way back to the Royal Palace. However, the new agility Erza had gained through her weapon allowed her to palm the attack off to the side with only the lightest of touches glancing her cheekbone.

Rolling with the punch, the deadly woman twisted around the arm and moved past Naruto to elbow him in the back of the head. The move was predicted though as Naruto tucked and planted his hands flat on the ground to vault away from the attack. The length of her spear was no consistent though so as Naruto landed, Erza lashed the handle of it out and it extended right into the middle of Naruto's back to blow him off her Legion. He groaned as his muscles protested the abuse and he toppled over the side and out of view.

Letting himself fall, Naruto gained a good safe distance as he looked back up at the monstrous animal. 'What a fighter, she is an absolute master. That thing though, honestly if I could just wound it enough! Or, actually…'

A new idea lighting his mind, Naruto clasped his hands together. Tensing, a bright golden cloak enveloped his form and a single bright tail of light shot out from his lower spine.

Teeth sharpened and nails lengthened yet Naruto didn't feel a single ounce of aggression cloud his mind. Grinning to himself, the blond mentally thanked old Yajima. 'What you said was right, I can do this!'

As the wave of killing intent washed over Erza and her animal, the blond heard her let out an impressed laugh as her ride bellowed uncomfortably. "Well aren't you just a ball of surprises! I guess that's what you feel like when you get serious!"

Rising up to view the redheaded warrior, Naruto grinned. "Oh, this isn't even a fraction of what I can do."

Allowing himself to embrace the power within, Naruto's teeth and nails sharpened even further, the broiling mass of gold chakra around him exploding in intensity as another two tails shot out from behind him. Yet even then, not a hint of anger entered his mind. He waited a moment longer though, just to make sure that it wasn't a delayed reaction this time. When he finally realised he was still sane, he opened his eyes and grinned. 'I'll be damned! This has to be the power of Ethernano, I'm sure of it!'

The unnerving power of the Kyuubi cloak had clearly ruffled Erza's feathers and the animal beneath her was howling unpleasantly. Rising into the air above them, Naruto stretched his arms out and let the light shining froth from his form to bathe his enemies in an unearthly glow. "This, this is a bit more of what I can do. How are you holding up?"

Sweat dripped down her face as the impossible pressure of the somehow transformed youth bared down on her, yet she stood strong. "Ha, you believe that's enough to get rid of me? You have another thing coming if that's the case!"

She then blinked in shock and it was only by sheer luck she managed to raise her lance in time to block a completely unreadable attack as the teen blurred from vision above to reappear right in front of her face. The force of the hit was like all those fifty clones had rolled into one massive fist and unanimously thumped the front of her. A shriek of pain ripped from her mouth as she was blown backwards, clothes and hair snapping in the wind. Then, she abruptly stopped like she'd hit a solid wall, only this one was flesh and bone and glowing like the sun above.

Rebellious, swollen brown eyes met the cold, gold vengeance of Naruto's as the teen held her an arm's length from his body. The vile coating ate into the material around her neck and she tried to move her face away from the bubbling poison. She gagged slightly through the tightness and blood running through her lips but lost no composure. "If you're going to kill me make it swift. Though I've killed many of them, I never dragged out the deaths of your kind."

Fury burned in Naruto's mind as an unnoticed trace of blood thirst began pulling at him.

'Do it…'

He shook his head as the mage in his grip sneered at him.

'She asked for it…'

"What, too weak to finish what you started, scum?" Erza mocked as she spat blood up his arm.

'She killed members of your family…'

"Stop it!" Shaking his head again, Naruto gave the woman a shake to try shut her up.

'Just twist the wrist…'

The redhead's hands gripped Naruto's arm and tried pulling him in. "Haha! Is the possibility of having blood on your hands too much for you to handle? Maybe you're not as strong as I expected?"

'Break her neck…'

Her voice caught as the fabric around her neck began tightening. Eyes twinkling, the mage continued her taunting. "That's… it? Ha, I've had… lovers hold me… tighter than… this."

'Murder her…'

Naruto's second hand began slowly rising to her face.

'Torture her…'

A small squeak was cut out as Naruto clamped his burning hand over her nose and mouth.

'Make her scream…'

Her eyes widened as she realised he intended to drag it out. Legs began kicking into Naruto's stomach, groin and wherever else they might hit. Furious eyes screamed murder as she bit down hard on the inside of his hand. Naruto's cold eyes didn't even register the wound.

'Make her PAY!'

*BOOM*

A massive explosion right below the duo threw them apart. Finally being free of those hands, Erza took a great gulp of air and let out a shrill whistle. Again, the Legion swooped in to catch her and not giving its Master a chance to speak any commands, turned and hightailed it away from that evil glowing demon its Master had been fighting. It could only handle so much intense pressure and those last few moments had nearly made it desert its comrade and flee the battle.

Naruto meanwhile snapped his mind's eye open as he realised what he was about to do. He shuddered as he fell through the air, Kyuubi cloak still wrapped up around him tightly. Mind clear now, the blond let Erza escape as he fell into the trees. He could have followed but honestly… thinking back on holding that wretched woman in his hands… he couldn't say how much of that had been the Kyuubi's influence compared to the anger he felt.

'You were spared this time. Don't risk it again.'

Twisting in the air, Naruto's keen eyes tracked the upcoming branches and lithely twisted through them to land with a heavy crunch in a kneeling position before two extremely shocked people. The glorious gold cloak around him lashed extra violently for a split second before it sucked back into him with a whoosh.

"He is a Fairy Tail mage, right Jet?"

Lifting his cerulean eyes, Naruto blinked in surprise. "Levy? Jet? What, how are you here?"

The taller of the two snorted and crossed his arms. "Well, he knows us so that's a start at least." Frowning urgently, Jet stamped his foot. "You! Who are you and how can we trust that you're a part of the guild?"

"Uh…" Pushing himself up, Naruto held a hand out, the one with the Fairy Tail symbol tattooed into his palm. "That proof enough?"

"Yep, can you run?"

"Wait, wait, what's happening? Why are you rushing?" Naruto held both hands up now, trying to pace the awkwardly fast conversation.

That didn't work too well though as Jet suddenly snatched Naruto's jacket up and lifted the surprised teen off the ground. "Wake up dumb-ass, you were just fighting Erza freaking KNIGHTWALKER! You're lucky we came and blew the two of you apart else you'd just be another dead body to number in that bitch's tally book. Since she hasn't killed you though, she's gonna come looking for you! Now for the last time, can you run?"

Completely caught on his back foot, all Naruto could do was nod his head.

"Good." Dropping the blond, Jet hoisted Levy up onto his shoulders and picked up the small cannon the girl had been sitting on. "Try keep up."

His shoes suddenly glowed a bright blue and the mage spun around before kicking off and skating away from Naruto at an extremely high speed. Head spinning from the abrupt turn of events, the teen just stood there for a moment in shock before a rough scream of "HURRY UP ASSHOLE!" from Levy woke him from his stupor and had him dashing after the rapidly departing pair.

XxXxXxX

From what Naruto could count, they'd been near full sprint for the better part of fifteen minutes with not so much as a peep from either of Jet or Levy, except when they told him to shut up if he asked any questions. It had been frustrating, really frustrating since he had so many questions and he was getting ready to just overtake the two and beat some sense into them. Waiting was never his strong point and this was plenty long enough.

At that though, Jet skidded to a stop in a small grassy field amongst the trees. Quickly dropping Levy, the pair turned around and locked eyes with Naruto as he too skidded to a stop. Raising a confused eyebrow, the teen looked around. "So… where are we?"

Hearing the click of a barrel being loaded, Naruto slowly turned his stare back to Jet and Levy. The small girl was sitting back on her cannon, the nose pointed directly at him. "Alright, I'll bite. What's going on?"

"EXECUTION!"

Completely taken by surprise, Naruto just managed to duck under the arms that were aiming to wrap tight around his neck from behind. A pair of strong legs though closed around his torso and clamped down, locking his arms to his side. Rolling with the weight, the teen tucked his head, twisted in the tight grip and burst free from the legs with a spurt of chakra. Snapping an arm out, the blond caught his assailant by the collar and dragged them down to the ground with a harsh thump. Not even a squeak was able to burst free from their mouth as Naruto rammed the sharp end of a kunai up under their chin to snap their jaw shut.

Cold eyes glared up at the taken-aback duo as Naruto pushed his elbow into his captive's sternum and drove the air from their lungs. "Did you have any more tricks you want to pull or can we start the negotiations? As for you," looking down, anything the teen was going to say caught in his throat as he spluttered out "L-Lucy?"

Livid eyes glared up at him but she dared not move her head. Her tight fitting, black leather one piece suit was open most of the way down her front with various zip pockets spotted across her outfit. Her hand had been slowly reaching for her hip but Naruto's knee had firmly planted that to the ground.

Hearing an urgent rustling around him, the ninja watched as more and more of the people he knew and loved from Fairy Tail began creeping from the bushes, weapons trained on him, caution and a little bit of fear on their faces. Shaking his head, Naruto dropped the knife and held his hands up. "Alright, everyone just calm down! I don't even know what is going on. I have a hundred questions and I bet you all do too. I'm just gonna back off Lucy," pushing up using legs only, Naruto backed away from the glaring blond, "there, see? Now, what the hell is all this?"

Keeping his hands raised, Naruto watched as Droy knelt beside Lucy and swapped some quiet words. Spitting into the grass, the aggressive girl wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and pushed herself to her feet. "Me first bigshot. What the hell are you doing throwing around our guild name carelessly and then tackling the Fairy Hunter?"

'Finally we're getting somewhere.' The blond made sure to reply quickly and move slowly. "Well for starters, I'm throwing your name around because it's mine too. See the mark?" He pointed at his palm. "As for Erza, well, she attacked me first and I retaliated."

That wasn't the right answer apparently as a vein pulsed on Lucy's forehead as she clenched a fist. "Then what the HELL is wrong with you? If you're really a part of this guild you know to NEVER engage her ever! Now you've gone and pissed her off even more than usual! You're lucky we got word of an apparent Fairy Tail member being attacked and sent help!"

Frowning, Naruto looked over at Levy and Jet, cannon still pointing straight at him. "I don't know how much they told you, but did they say who was winning?" Naruto then motioned to himself. "I don't have a scratch on me." They'd long since healed but they didn't need to know that.

An accusing finger was pointed at his face. "Those cheeks of yours speak otherwise."

"Oh," Naruto slapped his palms to his marks, "yeah these are natural. She didn't do this."

Droy's eyes narrowed under the dark glasses he was wearing and stared at the blond a bit more. Inclining his head, he spoke in a low voice to Lucy. "You know, he doesn't look like he's lying. Hell knows we've had enough Kingdom dogs try and infiltrate our ranks."

The shorter blond crossed her arms angrily as she looked up at her team mate. "Yeah, but I've never seen him anywhere before! Not much of a guild member if they never even show their freaking faces around."

Lashing a finger out, she lay the law down. "I don't trust you. You might have been fighting in our name, but I still don't trust you. Anyone who's ever tried their luck with that witch has either lost their lives or a good portion of their bodies. I'd execute you now if it wasn't for that."

Frowning, Naruto decided to show them a few more of his cards. Gotta give some to get some. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I'm a member of Fairy Tail, but not this world's. My guild and members have been stolen from Earthland via this thing called Anima which the king owns. I was startled at first because you are all identical to the people I know. You're not though are you? You are all native to Edolas hey."

"You… you're not of Edolas?" Levy frowned as she studied their target. "I've heard stories of that parallel dimension. Not much to go on. If you really are though, do something to prove it."

Naruto grinned. Time to shock some fairies. Laying his fingers in a cross, the blond called out "So I have a theory, none of you can actually use magic right? It's all weapon based." There was a small nod of agreement from everyone visible, most of them looking like Naruto had lost his brain. Of course no one could use magic!

"Kagebunshin no Jutsu!" And a mighty smoke cloud enveloped the field to all their surprise. Coughing rang out as the cloud rapidly dissipated. That was replaced by a single scream of shock which was quickly joined by others as they all looked at the now twenty identical blonds with bulging eyes.

"What the HELL DID YOU DO?" shrieked a stunned Levy, her finger wavering across the crowd of orange as she struggled to pick one to point at.

"This?" Naruto turned to his clones for a moment before they laughed at them openly. "Let's just say this is real magic."

Dropping the technique, Naruto crossed his arms and waited. The entire guild was shaking after seeing the impossible, quite a few of them checking with their members to make sure they did actually just see that.

Swallowing, Lucy took a breath and ran a hand through her hair. Though her voice was stable, her hand shook as she pointed at the boy. "So, you are actually from this parallel dimension and your version of Fairy Tail was stolen by the king?"

Naruto nodded.

Sighing, the blond girl turned to look up at her partner. "Well… that does sound like something that rat of a king would do. Just another sin to add to his list. Still, it is shocking that there is a whole other version of 'us' over there."

She then studied Naruto's face. "However, for what you claim I would have thought your double would be someone I'd know. But I swear I have never ever seen you before. I'd know those scars of yours anywhere."

Naruto shrugged. Of course he didn't have a Naruto double running around. His dimension was who knows how far away usually. They didn't have to know that though.

Turning to her friends, the apparent leader of the guild spoke out in a loud voice. "Well, you've heard him. This isn't something I want to decide by myself. Majority rules, hands up those who don't trust him." A fair number went up straight away. Nodding, Lucy then called, "Those who do?" Another selection went up and Lucy counted the votes.

Placing her hands on her hips, she turned and eyed the blond male before her. "Alright… we'll trust you for now. You're on thin ice though, be careful not to break it."

Beaming them a trademark grin, Naruto nodded. "Yup, I got it!"

A very distant roar then reached their ears and instantly watchful eyes locked onto the sky. Lucy began backing up slowly, her shoulder nudging Droy in the process. "Quickly, gather all those who can't run as fast and get them home on your pods. We're leaving right now."

XxXxXxX

A/N – and there we go. There was more I was feeling I could write but that's a good place to stop.

So who's liking the change in pace? It's about time I think. Trust me, the wait is just as frustrating for me as it is for you. We got here though so expect things to continually get better!

Also, who's loving this Tartarous arc? Yes, I only follow anime, mostly because I'm too lazy to sit and read manga. I'll be honest, these last few months of Fairy Tail have been really depressing and slow. I'd been considering giving it up for a bit simply because the plot seemed so shallow and unplanned. But damn, that Tartarous arc was the bang that finally kicked the story back into gear! Super pumped on where it's going now and I'm really excited to see where it's being taken next. My big problem though, plot bunnies . oh the unbelievable possibilities this arc holds for someone like Naruto. This story will finish before then sorry, but if ever I was to write a sequel this arc is a must-include in my story.

Anyway, do leave me a review on how you think everything went! I have my reservations about a few things but with good feedback I'll be able to continue to grow as an author!

Until then,

Lanky Nathan