Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

NU: Birth of the Seekers…

Chapter 42: The Mirror Pt. 2…

Normal Speech: "Yo…"

Normal Thoughts: 'Curiouser and Curiouser…'

Demon Speech: "Pathetic Ningen…"

Demon Thoughts: 'I hate this cage…'

Seeker Speech: [Time to Die…]

(Manhattan…)

Naruto sat watching the Gargoyles, specifically Brooklyn as a sudden thought came to the red skinned Gargoyle. "Hey, wouldn't it be great to be a shape-shifter?" Brooklyn suddenly questioned and Naruto rolled his eyes, the whole changing forms thing more or less boring for the blond haired youth.

"We wouldn't have to hide, we could fit in anywhere." Lex noted while resting on his side with an arm over Bronx, Broadway nodding his head in agreement with the green gargoyle.

"We could find new friends, maybe even… love." Broadway noted aloud while Naruto spotted Elisa and Goliath glancing at one another and mentally smirked. 'Those two obviously have a thing for one another.' The White-Seeker mentally decided while looking to Hudson as the old Gargoyle suddenly let out a grunt.

"Be careful what you wish for lad." The elder Gargoyle noted sagely and Naruto nodded his head in agreement with him.

"In my opinion, if a friend doesn't like you for who you are, then they aren't real friends at all. You shouldn't have to change yourself just to get people to like you." Naruto noted with a nod of his head and Lex leaned back and gave the blond seeker a flat look.

"Says the guy who can change into anything he wants." Lex reminded and Naruto inclined his head, guessing that his opinion didn't carry much weight on the matter as he actually could shape shift if he felt like it.

"No, Naruto is correct." Goliath stated while walking forward, the young Gargoyles looking to their leader as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Appearances can be greatly deceiving; it is not what is on the outside that matters it is who we are on the inside that truly matters." Goliath stated and Brooklyn frowned while leaning back into a wall.

"Yeah well, what's on the inside of us don't matter if people are just gonna start running away screaming…" The red skinned Gargoyle noted and Naruto winced in sympathy, before frowning in thought as he wondered if there was some way he could help his new friends with their little problem…

(Demona's Home…)

"Well let's just get this over with, shall we?" Puck pleaded while floating sideways and then zipped back and flew around Titania's Mirror for a moment. "How can I be of Service, hum?" The Changeling questioned while floating before Demona, the red haired Gargress frowning as she considered her options, which only served to make Puck impatient. "Out with it I haven't got all night!" The Changeling declared and Demona scowled while glaring at the white haired elf dangerously, causing him to back up a short ways with an amused grin.

"You've got all millennium if I choose!" She stated before cupping her chin with a thoughtful expression on her face, while Puck floated back in front of her. "I'm too vulnerable during the day…" Demona finally decided while Puck took to floating around her with an amused look on his face. "I don't want to turn to stone anymore." Demona thought aloud and Puck rolled his eyes while still floating around the room.

"Of course you want to stroll down fifth avenue in the sunshine, I'm sure you'll fit right in." Puck noted mockingly as he moved to hover before her and Demona tensed up before snarling at the white-haired changeling.

"I could if there were no blasted humans!" Demona declared angrily, Puck quickly shooting away from her as she shook a fist at him. However her eyes then opened and a sudden flash of realization seemed to strike her. "Yes, Puck." She noted while bringing her hands up towards her chest and clenched her fists. "I want you to get rid of the humans…" Demona ordered and then brought her hands outwards in a wiping motion. "All of them!" The red haired Gargress ordered and Puck rolled his eyes before lowering down to stand next to Titania's mirror and pointed at it with an amused look on his face.

"Does this look like Aladdin's Lamp?" The white-haired changeling questioned while pointing at the Mirror and Demona felt her brow twitch in annoyance. "I have limits, after all." Puck stated and then crossed his arms as best he could around the chains binding him while leaning back against the mirror. "What is it you really want?" Puck questioned of the red haired Gargress and then turned to tap the mirror's surface with one finger. As soon as he did the surface of the mirror was consumed by green light, which then changed into a ripple pattern of green magical energy before a clear picture of Goliath could be seen.

"How quaint, after all these centuries you're still carrying a torch." Puck noted in a semi-sarcastic manner while clasping his hands together and tilting his head to one side. "Well if that's what you want I can make him love you again, piece of cake… given your charming personality." Puck noted with clear sarcasm and Demona twitched, and then growled low in her throat as she saw Elisa appear next to Goliath on the mirrors surface.

"That's it. That's what I want!" She hissed out angrily, Puck raising a brow in interest as she did. "If you cannot get rid of all the humans, then at least rid me of that human! Elisa Maza!" Demona ordered angrily, her eyes suddenly glowing with a bright burning red light.

"Did you say that human, or "That Human"?" Puck quipped while floating over to her side with his hand cupping his chin, Demona raising a fist as if to strike him and he shrugged. "Oh never mind I'll figure it out." He decided to himself causing Demona to lower her arm and frown as a sudden mischievous look crossed Puck's face. "This just might be fun after all." Puck decided while flying over to the mirror and then hovered before it. "Thy sight Demona doth offend, so Puck will hasten to amend, be gone Elisa human born, and be no more as you were formed!" Puck declared before opening his eyes and mouth, a beam of bright green light shooting from both his eyes and his mouth and into the mirrors surface as he did…

(Clock-Tower…)

Naruto was idly sitting back while Elisa looked thoughtful, processing what they had been told of the mirror and what it could do. In Naruto's own opinion, she was taking the fact that their apparently greatest enemy had a thing of such awesome power in her possession. 'I think I might be worried or freaking out, her, she takes it all calmly… you've got to admire that.' Naruto noted to himself while lifting a rock with his tail and then tossing it in the air to catch it in his hand, then reached for something else to lift with his tail."Mirror or no Mirror, Demona's no match for us together, we've just got to wait until she makes her move." Elisa mused aloud while looking to her friends, Naruto currently seeing how much he could lift with his tail. However Elisa then started to glow brightly before being lifted up into the air by an unseen force.

"Elisa!" Goliath said in shock as he followed her movements, Naruto cursing as he jumped to his feet and watched the Shadowed Princess start to glow brightly before there was a sudden blinding flash of light. Naruto raised an arm to block out the light while the others were too surprised by the flash to do so. Blinking his eyes open as the light faded, Naruto the gaped when he saw Elisa standing on her toes, or rather… her talons. Standing before them, Elisa now stood as a Gargress, her skin was a bronze-ish tan color, with her long black hair remaining unchanged, her eyes are now black, with pointed ears small barbs on her elbows and a smooth brow, her wings were chiropteran with a dark red inner membrane that was black on the outside and three claw hand at their apex, a long tail, digitigrade legs with three toed talons, dressed in a pair of calf length jeans and a black shirt that ended at her forearms and left her toned stomach bare…

"Whoa…" Naruto whispered as he and the other gargolyes could only stare in shock at what had just happened right in front of them…

"Ho boy…" Brooklyn added while this seemed to break the damn as each of the Gargoyles voiced their own shock.

"Elisa!" Broadway almost whispered in shock while Lex blinked several times as Goliath walked over to the former Human.

"What happened?" He questioned, Goliath watching as Elisa placed her face in her hands for several moments, the significantly larger Gargoyle grasping the claw on her right wing just to make sure that what he was seeing was real and not some illusion. Lowering her hands from her face and blinking several times, Elisa then stared at Goliath as if trying to recognize him before suddenly smiling as she turned slightly to face him.

"Goliath?" She questioned and then leaned up to wrap her arms around his neck, Goliath seeming somewhat confused by the action. "This is wonderful; you've been changed into a Gargoyle." The woman stated happily, Naruto wondering if a few screws were jarred loose by the transformation, then watched Goliath take hold of her shoulders and push her back.

"What?" He asked her seriously, taken aback by her unusual statement, and wondering what the bronze skinned Gargress was talking about…

(Demona's home…)

The blue Gargress looked at Titania's Mirror silently, placing a clawed hand onto its surface for a moment before quickly turning to look at Puck. "What've you done?" She questioned of the pointy eared changeling, the trickster floating around the red head with a mischievous grin spread across his face.

"The Human Elisa Maza, is no more…" Puck replied while internally laughing as Demona clearly didn't know what he meant by that.

"Then let's do the same to every human in the city!" The Gargress declared as Puck continued to smirk and look at her with amusement.

"You don't know what you're asking, believe me." Puck noted in a brief moment of seriousness, only for Demona to grab the chains that were binding him and bring his face close to her own.

"Can it be done?" Demona questioned while shaking the Changeling for a moment and Puck looked at her warily for a moment.

"Yes…" He relented, his keen mind quickly going over a few ways that he could work this to his advantage. "But not from here." The Trickster stated with a flat look, his inner self snickering in amusement as Demona smiled darkly, unaware of what she was about to have him do…

(Clock-Tower…)

"We've always been gargoyles…" Goliath stated while motioning to the other true Gargoyles, Naruto walking towards them with a smirk.

"Maybe not all of us, I'm a shape-shifter." Naruto reminds and Goliath frowns slightly.

"Yes… but regardless, it is you who have been changed, probably by Demona and the mirror." Goliath noted aloud and a sudden frown crossed Naruto's lips while he cupped his chin in thought.

"Wait, why would Demona turn Elisa into a Gargoyle? She wants humans dead right?" Naruto suddenly questioned and Brooklyn frowned deeply before nodding his head.

"Yeah, and especially Elisa, she wouldn't turn her into a Gargoyle, something's off about this." Brooklyn decided and got nods of agreement from the others, before Elisa cleared her throat to get their attention.

"I've always been a Gargoyle." Elisa suddenly declared while looking from Goliath to Naruto and then Brooklyn. "I think I'd know if I wasn't." Elisa declared with her clawed hands on her hips. Rolling his eyes, Naruto then watched Goliath lead Elisa out of the clock tower and onto a large balcony overlooking the city. Following them, Naruto and the other Gargoyles watched Goliath lead her towards the edge.

"How did we first meet?" Goliath asks while holding Elisa's hand, Naruto mentally snickering as he thought they were attracted to one another before, it just seemed a lot more apparent now that they were the same species… especially considering Elisa's reaction to first seeing the lavender skinned Gargoyle…

"I fell off a skyscraper and you glided down and… caught me." Elisa replied unsurely for a moment and Goliath quickly grasped her shoulders and brought her to face him.

"Think! If you've always had wings, why did you need me to catch you?" Goliath questioned of the bronze skinned Gargress, Naruto palming his face and shaking his head.

"Yeah it's not like you didn't have wings or anything…" Naruto mumbled under his breath, causing Brooklyn to smack the back of his head with an amused smirk on his face.

"I can't glide with these." Elisa replied while looking to her wings for a moment, and then glanced at Goliath with a small smile. "Can I?" She questioned and Goliath placed an arm over her shoulders.

"Yes. You can." He replied before jumping off the Clock tower with Elisa letting out a startled Gasp as they fell towards the ground below, only for Goliath to open his wings and start to glide away. Walking over to the edge of the balcony, Naruto frowned to himself while watching Elisa and Goliath glide away.

"Am I the only one who thinks he just ditched us to spend time alone with her while she's like this or something?" Naruto suddenly questioned and Broadway blinked for a moment before rubbing his chin with a smirk.

"Now that you mention it…" He started to say before Hudson shook his head and grabbed one of Naruto's horns, causing the blond to grimace in pain.

"Oi enough about that, le's be teaching the lad ter glide. He'll be needen to know that if nothing else." Hudson stated and Brooklyn nodded his head in agreement before hopping onto the edge of the balcony.

"Yeah, don't worry though it's actually really easy." Brooklyn stated while Hudson pushed Naruto up onto the edge of the balcony, where the blond looked down at the ground below with wide eyes.

"Uh… you know, I can sort of fly so maybe I don't really need to learn how to glide…" Naruto tried to say and Brooklyn grinned while patting the blond on the back lightly.

"Nah man, it's fine, you only have to do one thing to glide." Brooklyn stated and Naruto blinked before looking to the crimson skinned Gargoyle warily, clearly not trusting the look on his face.

"Yeah… and that is?" The blond questioned, only for Brooklyn to suddenly grin.

"Don't hit the ground." Brooklyn replied while giving one hard push to Naruto and knocking him off of the clock-tower. Yelping as he fell towards the ground below, Naruto widened his eyes before opening his wings. Instantly he was lifted up by an updraft and let out a sigh of relief as he started to glide on the breeze.

"I am so gonna get Brooklyn for that." Naruto grumbled with a scowl on his face, only to widen his eyes as he approached a building. "Oh shit how do I turn!" Naruto demanded before looking around and then forming a bit of Darkness on his arm and flung it towards a nearby street-light like a tendril of Darkness. Pulling himself with it, Naruto soon found himself running on the side of the building and then jumped off of its side and started to glide again, and then ignored the sound of churning metal as the streetlight suddenly fell and crushed the car of a certain man. "Okay, at least I have a way to turn, but I should probably figure out what I'm doing…" Naruto decided while flapping his wings, only to catch another updraft and rise up with his wings.

Blinking for a moment, the blond haired youth then lowered one wing and raised the other, causing him to turn. "Oh great, now I know how to turn…" The blond haired youth muttered to himself before shrugging his shoulders and bringing his wings close to his body, causing him to dive-bomb towards the ground, then opened his wings and landed on the side of a building. Digging his claws into the stone, the blond then started to climb his way up the building before jumping off and flying off into the night once more.

Meanwhile, back with the streetlight from before, a man walks towards his car beneath the streetlight with a tired sigh. Having only just gotten off work he approached his car and then stopped suddenly as the streetlight came down on top of it. Gaping for a moment, the man then looked up and saw a certain white-skinned Gargoyle pass by before groaning. "Why does this always happen to me?" The man wondered to himself, having lost not only his last few jobs, but also his motorcycle to Gargoyles, but now he'd also lost his damn car, and he hadn't even finished making payments on it either!

(Naruto learned new ability: Glide…)

(?)

Zero, Angela, and Dante still carrying the former Maleficent now Black-Soulless: Witch walked out of a Dark-Corridor and into an ominous and dark place. Looking around, Zero noted the area was made of mostly ebony rock of some kind, though was polished to a mirror shine, something that contrasted greatly with the torn and tattered tapestries lining the long halls. The columns that also line the walls give way to a view of a world, and Zero can't help his frown as he walks towards the columns and then silently gapes at what he sees for several long moments. "Is something wrong?" Angela questioned of her boyfriend and rather than answer he reached out and turned her head to look at the world as well, her eyes widening in a mix of fascination, shock, revulsion, and horror when she saw what he did.

The world is vast, an endless expanse of darkness, black and dark-violet clouds seem to all but consume everything, the sky completely filled. The land isn't much better, for only broken patches of land stretch out into the distance, reminiscent of Angela's mindscape Nevermore, only with somewhat larger patches in the center of the world. In fact, the center of the strange world has a massive obsidian coliseum of some kind, numerous chains trailing out from it in what looks like a spider-web pattern and attaching to the many buildings around the world. Said buildings are no less strange, bearing a twisted and almost inhuman design that only a madman could possibly dream up, the echoing voices of chants the only actual sign that life of any kind exists in the strange twisted realm they are standing in.

"By god, what is this place of evil?" Dante suddenly questioned while looking out across the twisted world and Zero frowned for a moment before watching as numerous twisted towers seemed to rise up in the distance and then start to turn in a perfect circle around the area of the coliseum and the buildings around it. The towers turned slowly, smashing patches of earth that got in their way, chunks of the towers walls gave way to the barrage and left them broken, shattered and gaping open for attack. Each of them bore many cruel looking spikes and hooks, with heavy iron-chains completely wrapped around them. The chains soon went taught from the turning off the buildings, the sound of groaning metal and churning stone echoing out across the entire world as they did.

The land around the towers suddenly started to rip open as the iron chains pulled on something, something large which rose up slowly. Watching in morbid fascination the three Black-Soulless bore witness to an enormous obsidian ring being raised upwards, completely surrounding the city and coliseum of the world. Dirt and dust rose up like an ominous cloud from the churning of stone and soon enough the towers came to a stop, the chains running completely taught. The ring then did something surprising, it expanded, it's form divided into several sections, between these sections long bridges started to extend outwards, soon stopping as they each connected with one of the many towers surrounding the surreal and almost evil world that the three Black-Soulless had found themselves on…

"You probably shouldn't stand there like that…" A soft melancholy voice noted, the Black-Soulless quickly turning, only for them to gap at what was looking out on the world with them. The being was short, and young from the voices pitch, its body was feminine and thin, not even seeming to be teenaged, yet she was dressed in a tattered hooded black robe with leather bands / plates forming over several sections of her body, and a white sash hanging from her hips, her fingers on her right hand looked thin and sharp, a spiked pauldron over her right shoulder, bones formed slooped spikes on her left shoulder, and her entire left leg appeared to be made of nothing but bones, her left hand an overly large clawed hand made of bones, while from the shadows of her hood, a single section of a skull was clearly visible…

"Who… what are you?" Zero questioned of the creature, causing Angela to slap his arm and the single section of a skull within the hood turned towards them.

"I am 6 of 26, The Pain of Loss." "Loss" replied with a slight curtsy, surprising Zero and Angela while Dante slowly walked towards "Her" warily.

"What do you mean you're the Pain of Loss?" Dante questioned and Loss turned, her oversized left arm causing her body to tilt to one side rather unsteadily.

"In your words, I would be a mere Personification, the living incarnation of The Pain of Loss, each of you know this feeling well, so it is easiest for me to visit you in my true form." Loss explained, and then turned and looked back out at the world for a moment before a wind blew through the hall, causing her robe to flutter in the unearthly breeze. "My father is calling… I had best be off." Loss offered with another curtsy and then walked away, a shadow rising from the ground and allowing her to walk within it before vanishing from sight. It was several tense moments after Loss left that Zero "blinked" and then looked to both Angela and Dante.

"Am I the only one freaked that she was half-dead or something?" He questioned and Angela gave him a look before looking down the length of the hall with a deep frown on her face.

"We should keep looking around and find out what's going on with this place." Angela decided before walking down the hall, Zero following her and Dante falling into step behind him as they journeyed further into the strange place. Walking down the hall, Zero raised a brow as instead of coming closer to the end, the hall started to extend, getting progressively longer and longer the farther they walked.

"Weirdest hall ever… but man is it an interesting walk." Zero noted to himself as the hall continued to stretch farther and farther, Angela grunting in annoyance.

"Unfortunately, I don't share in your sense of humor…" She reminded the Infidel and he seemed to hum to himself before placing an arm over her shoulders.

"Well it's not like this place is any less freaky than Nevermore." He reminded her and Angela seemed to slump while walking with him, letting out a sigh and palming her face as they continued to walk through the strange place.

"What's said is that doesn't make me feel any better… and it actually makes me feel even worse since Nevermore is my mind…" She grumbled out, Zero rubbing the back of his neck and lightly patting her back in response.

"Well… at least you're used to this kind of place then." Zero reminded her, and she let out a slight grunt of acknowledgement before mumbling something under her breath.

"True, and is it just me or is the hall not stretching anymore?" The Soulless Heretic questioned while looking around and Zero blinked and looked around with her.

"Huh, you're right… so I'm guessing that it doesn't go on for eternity at least." He mused while Angela nodded her head in agreement, and then focused one reaching the end of the surprisingly long hall. Soon coming to a large pair of double doors, Zero walked ahead of Angela and then pushed them open, the doors creaking with disuse as they found themselves walking into the same horrid throne-room Ventus had many years before. Looking around, the three noticed that the tapestries were ripped and torn here as well; the polished floor had a violet carpet that was ripped and tattered as it led to a being resting on the throne itself.

"So at last you come to stand before me…" A deep monotone voice droned out, the three quickly looking up to see a man resting upon the throne. However, this man was twisted, much as Loss appeared to be, his skin was blue-white in tone, with pointed ears and spiky white hair, his eyes were cold unforgiving and pitch-black, without even a shred of humanity left in his gaze, he was a lean muscled man with black tattoos over his body and sharp black claws, the tattoos formed stripes like a mock beard / mustache on his face, black tear marks falling from the corners of his eyes, a three pointed star on the bridge of his nose, a black spider on his torso, and long black lines crawling up his right arm.

The man was also dressed strangely, bearing heavy iron manacles upon his wrists and ankles and a heavy looking iron collar around his neck, broken chains hanging from each, numerous black bands covering several sections of his body with a chain-male loincloth, a pair of heavy looking segmented knee guards, white pants almost unseen with his armor, white plates of armor over his hips and a white cloth hanging from his waist and reaching down below his knees. Frowning deeply, Zero slowly approached the throne while Loss walked out from behind the throne and came to stand at its side, the strange dark eyed man merely watching as Angela and Dante soon approached him as well.

"Something tells me you're her father…" Zero noted and the man silently nodded, his facial expression remaining completely unchanged from the dull boredom he had expressed since they first saw him.

"If you're her father, then who are you? What could possibly sire the Pain of Loss itself?" Angela questioned of the being and he merely raised a hand and leaned his cheek against it while watching them.

"My name is 26 of 26… I am the Pain of Sorrow and Suffering, known to some as The Pain of War." The man replied in a dull monotone voice before closing his eyes as he "felt" that little tidbit of information cause Zero to tense. However he inwardly admitted, War did create Loss in its own way, so it was fitting her father was The Pain of War itself… "But I have another name; I am Leader of The Guardians of Pain…" The man stated while placing both hands onto his thrones and rose up to his full, imposing six-foot height. "I am Master of The Eternal Plain…" The man continued to say as he walked down the length of the stairs leading up to his throne, Loss staying at his side every step of the way. "I am a Creator of the Acolytes names…" The man continued as twisted shadows rose out of the ground, the familiar Acolytes which Vanitus had fought forming and bowing as the man and Loss passed them.

"I am, Lord Pain." Lord Pain stated flatly as he reached forward, a strange wicked looking straight edged sword forming before he grasped its hilt and lifted it up to rest along his shoulders. Zero mentally cursed and widened his eyes upon seeing it was actually a large long Ice Saw of all things, maybe even a Nokogiri of some kind, with an obsidian hilt that bore a chain falling from its pommel, the chain briefly coming to life and attaching to the chain on his right manacle. "And you are trespassing where you are not wanted… I will give you but one warning, leave now." Lord Pain ordered darkly while pointing his ice-saw like sword towards them, his pitch-black eyes gazing at the three darkly.

"Is that a challenge?" Zero questioned, causing Angela to palm her face with a groan while Dante took a step back, a familiar Heartless Minion watching from the side-lines. "Cause if it is, then you're on LP!" Zero declared with a grin in his voice, Lord-Pain frowning deeply and bringing his sword back to rest along his shoulders then snapped his fingers.

"I see… you are a brave one, I will accept this, but first, face some of my Guardians." Lord Pain stated as five portals of shifting shadows opened up and five black leather bound manacle wearing mummies walked out of the portals, each looking identical save for some added features. The first of them seemed to have glasses and a strange looking apparatus on his head, the next had metal teeth and metal claws grafted to its hands and fingers, afterwards was a simple leather bound mummy, followed by one with a pair of goggles, and the last one had a strange looking chain of some sort with sharp spines along it wrapped around his body and stringing him along. Cracking his neck, the glasses wearing one then rubbed at his shoulder with a groan.

"Ugh, great, our first time out in a decade and the boss leaves in our fucking sealed state…" He grumbled out with a hefty amount of annoyance in his voice, the goggles wearing one chuckling to himself.

"Well think of it this way, at least we can walk around again, it's not like being trapped in limbo was any more fun than being Sealed." He noted aloud and the glasses wearing one grunted while the simple mummy floated off of the ground, arms folded behind his back.

"Regardless, it would seem that the master wishes us to deal with these intruders, doing so might convince him to lessen our sentence for the attempted coup d'état that you tried to instigate Annoyance." The mummy noted and the aptly named Annoyance grunted while crossing his arms over his chest and seemed to glare at the black-soulless.

"I still don't see why he got so pissy about it; we were just trying to liven things up around here…" The goggles wearing mummy noted to himself and then got a look from the others, the clawed mummy snarling while crouching on his haunches like a wild animal. "And jeez, I think Temptation lost a little more of his sanity in limbo, he might even try eating them!" The goggles wearing Guardian noted and the floating one turned and seemed to twitch upon seeing Lord Pain giving them a slightly annoyed look.

"Fellows it would seem as if we were talking about the master… while he was standing right behind us." The floating Guardian noted, causing the only other talking ones to stiffen then turn around to see Lord Pain frowning.

"Uh… hi boss, how's it going?" The goggled Guardian questioned while rubbing the back of his head, Annoyance grunting in, well, annoyance before seeming to glare at Lord-Pain.

"What do you wish of us?" He questioned darkly while Lord Pain merely pointed towards Zero and the other black Soulless with a flat look.

"These intruders have invaded our realm, deal with them and I will consider releasing you from Limbo on a more permanent basis." Lord Pain intoned while walking away, revealing a large tattoo on his back that looked like black angel wings tipped in a bright bloody red. As his offer registered, each of the Guardians seemed to become more lively, the goggled one even stretching out his limbs and chuckling darkly.

"Alright! Now yer talking my language boss man! A little scrap is just what I need to loosen myself up after a few decades in Limbo!" The goggled Guardian noted while Annoyance walked forward and then seemed to glare at Zero and the others.

"Indeed, I am 1 of 26, The Pain of Annoyance." The Guardian stated darkly and then motioned to the animalistic Guardian as it snarled and hissed in a distinctively feral manner. "While this feral little ball of insanity happens to be my brother of a sort 2 of 26, the Pain of Temptation." Annoyance explained simply while the hunched over Guardian snarled and a long slime covered tongue formed out from between its sharp metal teeth to lick them.

"I am 3 of 26, The Pain of Fear." The floating Guardian intoned flatly, Zero blinking for a moment before rubbing the back of his neck.

"Okay… how are Temptation or Fear painful? I mean I get how Loss is painful, and War is painful as hell, and I suppose Annoyance causes a headache so it's sort of painful…" The Black-Soulless felt the need to ask and Annoyance pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Temptation refers to a person's desires… the things that we desire and yet never allow ourselves to truly indulge in. Before he was here, Temptation never even once considered allowing himself to do anything he desired, he always walked the straight and narrow, he constantly did as he was told… and so here, he has relinquished himself to his desires, his temptations have consumed him." Annoyance explained and Zero mentally grimaced, as that sounded like he'd become somewhat hedonistic, to an extreme extent of course, only he was even more monstrous as he'd clearly given in to even more base desires.

"As for fear, it can be painful, when one is so stricken with fear… that they fail to act." Fear explained calmly and Zero frowned to himself, guessing that the Guardian had once been someone who had been too scared to do something, though he wasn't able to tell what it was.

"Yeah yeah, whatever! Me, I'm 4 of 26, The Pain of Betrayal Baby!" The Goggled Guardian suddenly declared with what sounded like a grin, Zero wincing as he knew this particular pain pretty well… "Oh yeah, and this lummox here is 5 of 26, The Pain of Love." Betrayal added while nudging the chained Guardian in the side, then started to rub his chin. "Yeah, he hasn't talked much since Annoyance sewed his mouth shut a couple centuries back…" Betrayal noted more to himself than anyone, Zero gaping at that while Annoyance grunted and glared at his fellow Guardian.

"It's not my fault the bastard is an Emo who would whine bitch and moan about the fucking whore who broke his gorramd heart!" Annoyance shouted at the surprisingly mellow Guardian who nodded his head while Love just seemed to stand around and take it. "God was he annoying when he could still talk! It was every four or five days and he went back to talking about how fucking sad his life was! I swear, just cause we look like Emo rejects and are called the Guardians of Pain doesn't mean we are all emo ourselves!" Annoyance grumbled out, Zero sort of understanding his annoyance with Love if that was the case, though not agreeing with him sewing the guys lips shut… then again, he'd have just beaten him senseless whenever he'd start talking, while not a permanent solution it'd make him feel pretty good.

"Oi tell me about it! And I swear if I had to listen to him bitch and moan one more time I'd be the one kicking his ass off of the fucking planet and into the plain of eternal suffering! Hell, even the Acolytes who worship the fucking dirt we walk on hate his guts when he starts acting like an Emo bastard!" Betrayal declared, Zero wondering if there really was a plain of eternal suffering as it seemed these guys believed one exists…

"Uh, are you guys done now?" Angela questioned unsurely, the Guardians all looking at her while Lord-Pain shook his head and took a seat on his throne.

"Whoa, you guys are seriously still here? Man, I figured you would've like left by now or something…" Betrayal admitted while rubbing the back of his neck, Annoyance, Fear, Loss, and even Love nodding their heads in agreement while Temptation was spacing out and gazing towards Angela with a disturbing intensity.

"In all honesty, we have no idea where we are or if Dark-Corridors could even get us out of here." Zero offered and Betrayal nodded his head, seeing the Black-Soulless point on the matter, while Fear rubbed his chin.

"Have you even tried making a Dark-Corridor?" The Guardian questioned and Zero shook his head. "Then of course you don't know, though if a corridor leads here, it's reasonable to assume one could lead you out of here as well." Fear continued logically, Angela briefly appreciating that someone in all the worlds had actually used his common sense for once in her life, while Loss walked over to stand with them, Betrayal seeming to vanish for a second before he suddenly appeared beside her, his hand on his chin.

"Hey, have you finally started growing into your figure or something Loss?" The Goggled Guardian questioned of her suddenly, the smaller Guardian seeming to twitch, then twisted on her heel into a flying kick that easily sent him flying, Annoyance ducking to avoid the goggled Guardian as he impacted with the far wall…

"Pervert…" Loss mumbled in distaste, Zero snickering to himself as Betrayal slowly climbed to his feet while muttering something under his breath.

"You know, for "Guardians of Pain" you guys aren't as totally depressing and emo as I thought you'd be." Zero stated while crossing his arms over his chest and seemed to get several annoyed looks from the collected members of the GOP.

"Just because we're the living embodiments of pain and suffering does not mean we're depressing Emo-bastards! I mean c'mon, who the hell said we had to be cliché assholes like that?" Betrayal demanded, the other Guardians nodding their heads in agreement. "I mean seriously, whoever he is, I'm gonna find his ass, then I'll grab his tongue and pull it down through his anus so he can eat shit for spreading such horrible horrible lies!" Betrayal declared and got looks from all those gathered, as that sounded kind of extreme even for him.

"Err… right… uh, don't put us in with his type, we don't really condone or even support most of his actions." Fear suddenly stated while motioning towards Betrayal, the Goggled Guardian muttering to himself, before taking a quick combat stance. "However, now the time for talk is over, our master has given the order, so prepare yourself!" Fear declared while raising his arms up, Annoyance adjusting his glasses while the strange monstrous Chain around Love started to pull him into a stance and Loss spread the large sharp claws on her left hand as the shadows started to rise up around her…

(Manhattan…)

Naruto found himself wandering through the skies over the city, frowning to himself silently while crossing his arms. 'I smell soulless, yet I don't see any soulless… where the hell have they gotten off to?' The blond Seeker wondered to himself before looking up and hovering in the air upon seeing a lightning bolt strike a distant tower. "Huh… I wonder if that could be something important." The blond mumbled to himself before turning in the air and gliding a nearby building. Stretching out his limbs for a moment, Naruto then rubbed at his chin for a moment while looking to the large tower in the distance. "I should probably go find the Gargoyles…" He noted to himself, and then remembered how Brooklyn had kicked him off of the clock-tower…

"On second thought, they can handle it themselves!" Naruto grumbled out angrily while making his way across the roof, and then hopped onto the next roof with a frown. Continuing across the rooftops, the blond haired Seeker of Darkness soon found the scent of The Soulless wafting closer with the breeze. "Finally, I was starting to wonder when they would show themselves…" The blond Seeker noted with a frown, just as several Soulless: Paladins formed on the rooftop, each one looking down at him. Smirking slightly, Naruto swung his arms out to his sides and formed Soul-Blade and No-Heart into his hands. "C'mon." Naruto ordered while pointing Soul-Blade at the Soulless, and as one the armored Paladins lunged at the blond haired Seeker.

One of them quickly swung its arm, sending a wave of light towards Naruto who merely fell down, seemingly vanishing, while a shadow slithered its way across the ground. The confused Soulless looked around for the blond, only to jump back as he came out of the ground, stabbing Soul-Blade into one of the Paladins with a grin on his face. The Soulless was absorbed into the weapon as soon as he did, and the blond looked towards the remaining Soulless darkly. "Who's next?" The blond quipped with a raised brow and the Soulless lunged at him once more moving back with a single move, easily twisting and dodging around the Paladins attempts to stab him with their lance-like arms.

Chuckling lightly, Naruto then swung his arm and sent an arc of darkness flying into the Soulless Paladins. One of them was totally bisected by the arc while another lost its left arm and wing, thus fell to the ground like a stone. Smiling darkly, Naruto kicked forward and stabbed Soul-Blade into the downed Paladin, quickly absorbing its soul while one of the remaining Paladins brought its wing inwards before throwing it forward, its razor sharp feathers flying at Naruto like a hail of daggers. Seeing the attack coming, the blond grinned widely before he stabbed both of his blades into the ground, a sphere of darkness forming around his body. A mere second afterwards a shot of darkness arched out of the sphere and an silhouette of Naruto attacked the Paladin that attacked him, slicing it in two down the middle.

The remaining Two Paladins saw this and quickly flew into the air and started to evade as more of the silhouettes started to form and try to cut them to pieces as well. Soon however they stopped and Naruto removed the sphere, both Paladins looking down and watching cautiously as the blond through Soul-Blade into the air and formed Void-Gear into hand. Throwing Void-Gear forward, Naruto then jumped onto it and rode into the sky, catching Soul-Blade along the way as he headed upwards for the two remaining Soulless. As soon as they saw the blond approaching them, the two Soulless reacted by grabbing their halos.

The first one crushed its halo in its hand before rearing its fist back and then punched forward at the blond haired youth. A beam of pure light extended from its enclosed fist and yet Naruto merely twisted on Void-Gear and easily avoided the beam. Twirling his Keyblades in hand, Naruto caught them in a reverse grip and swung an arc of Darkness from each of them. The arcs flowed towards the two floating Paladins, only for them to dodge out of the way, the Paladin who had yet to attack then slammed its glowing Halo onto its lance arm and lunged back. Launching itself towards Naruto the Soulless jabbed its lance-arm at the blond, only for him to effortlessly avoid the attack with a grin.

Stabbing Soul-Blade into the Soulless, Naruto absorbed it into the weapon then glanced up at the last remaining Paladin which looked around for something. Not seeing what it wanted it then watched Naruto fly passed it and up into the air. There the blond jumped off of Void-Gear and stretched open his wings as the Keyblade vanished in a flash of sparks. Gliding through the air for a few moments, Naruto then lunged down towards the Paladin and stabbed Soul-Blade down through the Soulless sternum effortlessly. Both of them began to fall as he did, Naruto smirking as the Paladin was absorbed into his blade like those before it. With the Soulless gone, Naruto then opened his wings to catch the air and fly into the city.

However as he did, the blond then yelped as a sudden flash of green light was sent out from the large tower he'd noticed earlier. "Okay, maybe I should've checked that out…" Naruto reasoned before sniffing at the air and frowned deeply upon catching a whif of an exceptionally strong Soulless. "But then again, I have a job to do…" He reasoned while flapping his wings only once and began to glide through the city, only to gape upon seeing nothing but Gargoyles on the streets below… "Whoa, what the hell did I miss?" He wondered before shaking his head and grumbling something about focusing. Spotting a park near the center of the city, Naruto maneuvered himself to where he landed in it in a low crouch.

Exhaling through his nose, Naruto caped his wings around his shoulders and walked into Central Park with a frown. Spotting a Gargoyle jogging by, Naruto raised a brow before shaking his head and entering into a circular expanse of some kind. "I must say, I'm thoroughly impressed with your combat skills." A vaguely familiar voice echoed out, Naruto looking around before a flash of light blinded him. Taking a step back, the blond then blinked his eyes open and closed several times and saw a strange Soulless with a sword in hand, silver hair spiking out of the back of its mask, and a Neolithic cross over its mask standing across from him. Narrowing his eyes, Naruto also noticed the golden armor, something he'd only seen on Nephilim before.

"You're one of those Court Soulless, like Nephilim." Naruto stated with a frown and the golden armored Soulless silently nodded his head while walking forward.

"Indeed, I am Saint. I am the Soulless in charge of managing travel between the worlds…" Saint replied with a slight bow at the waist and Naruto narrowed his eyes onto the golden armored Soulless.

"Why would the Soulless endanger their operations by sending someone as important as you to fight me?" Naruto questioned of the golden armored Soulless and he let out a light chuckle before crossing his arms over his chest.

"I was not chosen for this; I volunteered to take this task. Nephilim was weak and fell to your blade Seeker; I will reclaim the honor of the Soulless, and purge you from the worlds myself!" Saint replied and Naruto gripped Soul-Blade and No-Heart tightly, Saint suddenly glancing down and lingering on No-Heart. "Where did you get that?" Saint questioned while pointing his sword to the blade, his masked eyes never leaving the keyblade as Naruto lifted it up and raised a brow.

"I got it a while back, does it matter?" The blond asked with a raised brow and Saint merely cracked his neck and then twirled his sword in hand before pointing its blade at the blond.

"I suppose not, for soon enough you won't even exist anymore, Seeker of Darkness." Saint declared before lunging forward with a sudden burst of speed, Naruto narrowing his eyes and blocking his sword with No-Heart and swinging Soul-Blade at him. However Saint blurred into motion once more and Naruto had to jump up to avoid a swing from the lightning fast Soulless. Opening his wings Naruto then landed and scowled as Saint appeared once more, only to twirl his sword and stab it down into the ground. Instantly numerous pillars of light spiraled around the Court Soulless before suddenly spreading outwards in a spiral. Cursing under his breath Naruto backpedaled long enough before rolling between two of the pillars of light and letting out a breath of relief.

However, his relief was short lived as he barely managed to avoid another swing from Saint and rolled backwards for several moments, before twitching as he vanished once more. "Seriously, this is your idea of fighting? Running and hiding like some kind of coward?" Naruto demanded with a low growl reverberating from somewhere near the back of his throat.

"I do not hide boy, I am merely using every advantage that I can…" Saint replied from nowhere and everywhere at once, Naruto silently looking all around for the Court Soulless. "One who does not use every advantage against his enemy is a fool; it is not the strongest warrior who wins but the smartest. If I were to attack you head on you would win, you have superior one on one combat skill. However against multiple opponents, you have to focus on a single opponent at a time, thus I had believed my Paladins would be sufficient to dispose of you. Of course I was greatly mistaken in my reasoning, as you also have speed on your side, allowing you to deal with them easily." Saint explained before appearing and lunging with several lightning fast slashes of his sword, Naruto finishing it by locking Soul-Blade and No-Heart with his sword.

"So what's your point?" Naruto asked through gritted teeth and Saint let out a humph while crouching down and ramming his shoulder forward, knocking the blond back. Rolling back and flipping onto all fours as Saint tried to stab him, Naruto growled darkly while glaring at the Soulless as he blurred into motion once more.

"My point is simply this; I will not underestimate your combat abilities like Nephilim did. I have been watching you for some time, your abilities in long range attacks are sadly lacking when compared to your close-range abilities. This means that a full squad of Acolytes could keep you busy for hours, while Paladins and Crusaders would be mere child's play for you to defeat as they are strictly close-range Fighters. As I am also a close-range fighter, I will stick to my strengths…" Saint explained once more and Naruto frowned as he could swear something about the Soulless voice sounded familiar… and sort of like… well… a teacher.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it; you'll keep dodging my attacks and moving around at ungodly speeds so I can't hit you while you can wear me down before dealing the finishing blow." Naruto reasoned while looking around and saw Saint appear a distance away from him and lift his blade before pointing it forward and swinging it, sending several spheres of light towards the blond. 'Wait, I've seen those spheres before… or at least… Ventus did…' Naruto thought to himself as the spheres lunged at him and started to explode, cursing loudly the seeker shot into the air, however Saint then lunged up into the air and stabbed his blade at the blond. Widening his eyes, Naruto quickly blocked with his Keyblades and formed his Dark-Armor over his body…

"Neo-Shade! Come forth!" Naruto declared while glaring at Saint from behind his helmet, his symbiote forming near instantaneously and grabbing the Court-Soulless.

"Get lost!" The Neo-Shade declared loudly before throwing the Court-Soulless to the ground where he impacted with a great bang. As soon as Naruto landed he noticed his armor had changed to match his new body and let out a loud roar, spreading his massive wings while the Neo-Shade narrowed its eyes on Saint. Crawling out of the hole he'd made, Saint didn't even have the chance to blink before Naruto was upon him, grabbing him by throat and then slamming him into the ground. The force of the slam caused the earth to buckle and then finally crack open as Naruto then lifted him up and the Neo-Shade started to wail on him. Finishing off with an uppercut, the shadowy wraith sent the Court-Soulless flying back. Spreading his wings and grasping at his head, Naruto growled low in his throat before roaring out once more.

The roar created a sudden shockwave that hit Saint, sending him flying back into a tree before he broke through it and was sent skidding across the dirt before finally impacting with and shattering a fountain. Releasing several labored breaths, Naruto then flapped his wings and went speeding across the land. Lunging at Saint with a roar and delivering a devastating Dropkick to his face, the force of which sent them both sliding forward before Naruto flipped off of the Soulless. Crouching down and landing on all fours, Naruto suddenly started to shake before the glass of his mask broke open to reveal a sharp jagged maw, his roars coming out even louder and clearer than ever before. Lightning arched across Naruto's form as he gripped at his head once more, darkness flickering around his body before he lunged at Saint once more.

The said Soulless barely managed to get up before Naruto suddenly started to lash out with his claws, ripping and tearing chunks out of the being. He then forced his wings forward and somehow managed to use them to pick of Saint, then flipped back and started to rapidly kick / claw at him with his feet. Finishing his vicious attack with a sudden sharp upwards kick that sent Saint flying upwards, Naruto then rolled over onto all fours, ducked down and then launched himself upwards. Closing in on the Soulless, Naruto wrapped his tail around his ankle before ducking into a downward roll and bringing Saint with him. Soon approaching ground, Naruto slammed into Saint, causing him to give out a pained groan / moan.

However the vicious and possessed Seeker wasn't done with him, he then lifted his arms, and seemed to look at the sharp curved barbs on his elbows for a moment before suddenly slamming them into Saint's back, causing the Soulless to cry out in pain. Not finished with him, or his fun, the possessed Seeker, then grabbed Saint by his hair and lifted him into the air, a malevolent chuckle echoed from his throat as he crouched back and lunged at a large boulder before slamming Saint's face against the rock. Rearing him back, Naruto continued to do so, slamming his face into the stone again and again, then casually throwing him to the side, the Neo-Shade forced to watch all of this with wide eyes, only to then watch in horror as a small heart shaped hole started to form in the center of the blond's chest…

However as this happened, Saint finally managed to rise to his feet, and then suddenly grasped his head as his mask broke apart. What was revealed as a pair of tired blue eyes, which blinked open and closed several times before looking to where Naruto was groaning in pain, the hole slowly growing as the Neo-Shade looked on helplessly. "Your heart… it is very strong… but the darkness is stronger here…" Saint noted while looking at his sword and then cast it aside as if it were something worthless. "I've brought… such horror to the worlds in this form… I will not allow anyone else to suffer because of me… chosen one… of the dark realm… I will not let you fall!" He then said while raising his hands to palm his face for a moment, then through his hand to the side and formed a familiar keyblade with E shaped teeth…

"My true name is… Master Eraqus! And this madness ends here!" The Court soulless declared while raising his Keyblade to the sky, a suit of vaguely samurai looking armor forming over his body as soon as he did. The armor was mostly silver with gold accents, a blue-green girdle of sorts forming armor around his waist, while a gold key-bearer symbol rested upon his brow. Looking at his hands for a moment, Master Eraqus then jumped back and lifted his Keyblade into the air, sending a burst of light upwards that formed into chains, the chains then shot outwards and spread to several corners of the area, The Neo-Shade watching with wide eyes as Eraqus then crouched down, before lunging up into the sky and lifting a massive section of the earth upwards and into the air.

The shaking and shuttering of the earth caused Naruto to fall forward before snarling and glaring up towards the now floating armored master. The Master then landed on the ground and blurred into motion, Naruto lunging at him and swinging a claw through him, only to hit an afterimage as Master Eraqus then lunged from behind and started to rapidly slice through the possessed Seeker of Darkness. Soon finished with that, Eraqus formed a ring of golden sword like objects around himself as he lunged at Naruto, the blades then formed into beams of energy that sent the possessed seeker flying back into a skid. Quickly running after the blond, Master Eraqus had to dodge a quick blade of Darkness and lunged into the air and formed a strange symbol of energy at his back that began to glow brightly.

Moving with blinding speed, the master landed a kick against the possessed seekers chin and caused him to stumble back. Landing low to the ground, master Eraqus then twisted under a swipe from Naruto's claws and elbowed him in his side. Grunting in pain Naruto roared and twisted into a tail-whip, Eraqus effortlessly flipping over the attack and sending a series of swords flying down to explode in a hail of fire that knocked the possessed seeker onto his back. Grunting and getting back to his feet quickly, Naruto roared towards Eraqus who merely lunged down at him and kneed him in the chin, knocking him back once more.

Twirling his blade in hand, Master-Eraqus then seemed to vanish, Naruto looking all around before the master formed before him and sent several chains from his Keyblade that quickly wrapped around the possessed blond. "Hold still!" Eraqus grunted as the possessed youth thrashed in the chains and he twitched before lifting him up and then slamming him down into the ground. Naruto let out a grunting sound while Eraqus formed several swords which started to spin around his body, raising his Keyblade up he then sent the swords flying towards Naruto where they quickly started to twist and turn around his body before finally wrapping around him enough to hold him down.

"Good, now I can…" Eraqus started to say before his chains were broken and No-Heart formed before the blond, taking the shape of a crest while a wall of pure Darkness formed around the possessed seeker. "Xehanort… even now you stand against me…" Eraqus mumbled to himself before lunging forward, No-Heart merely forming all of Naruto's keyblades and sending them flying at the armored master. Twisting and turning around the Keyblades, Eraqus then started to rapidly slice and swing at No-Heart, all but effortlessly dispatching it and causing the field to fade. However the Keyblade then flew before Naruto who howled loudly, the heart shaped hole started to grow even larger, while a field of darkness surrounded the Possessed Seeker.

As soon as the possessed seeker was protected a large throne formed before him, a familiar suit of armor sitting in it, before it suddenly threw off the coverings over its arms. The armor then pushed itself up out of its throne and onto its feet, standing strong and tall across from Eraqus, forming No-Heart into its hand while Naruto remained safely hidden behind the field of Darkness. Narrowing his eyes, Master-Eraqus reformed then strange glowing seal behind his back while No-Heart crouched into a stance. "Somehow, this feels just like old times…" Eraqus noted mostly to himself while taking a stance across from Xehanort's armor, both suddenly lunging at one another and locking blades. The two dragged their blades into swings pounding their keyblades into one another before No-Heart formed its keyblade into a single greave on its right leg and lunged into a kick to Eraqus face.

Stumbling back from the blow, Eraqus growled and rolled out of the way as No-Heart then lunged forward, a field of Darkness protecting it from damage. Growling lowly, Eraqus formed several chains from his keyblade that lunged out and wrapped around No-Heart, before he then lifted it up into the air and slammed it down into the ground. However the armor then formed No-Heart into four wings and flew into the air, Eraqus grunting in annoyance as he did. "Xehanort always was better at shape-manipulation…" Eraqus noted bitterly as No-Heart formed darkness into its hands and then started to fire a slew of blasts down at the armored master. Widening his eyes, Eraqus cursed while forming a barrier, reflecting each of the spheres back at No-Heart, causing the armor to fall from the sky.

However on its way down, No-Heart formed a shield from its keyblade and came down swinging at Eraqus, who quickly moved out of the way. No-Heart landed on the ground in a crouch as a result, and Master-Eraqus stood across from it and took in a calming breath. Remembering the lessons of his own master, Eraqus lunged forward and swung at No-Heart, the armor quickly moving out of the way and grabbing him and twisting on his heel to slam the master into the ground. Grunting in pain, Eraqus then swung his own keyblade up and fired a ball of light into No-Heart's face, knocking the armor back and allowing himself to roll onto his feet while the empty-armor slowly got back to its own feet.

Moving quickly, Eraqus lunged at No-Heart, only for the armor to block his attack with its shield and then punch him back. Forming weapon back into a keyblade, No-heart then formed all of Naruto's other Keyblades around its body before sending them flying at a surprised Eraqus. Mentally cursing, the armored master dodged the attack while No-Heart came at him swinging, the master blocking each of the blows as they came. "We've fought and sparred for years Xehanort; I already know all your moves." Eraqus reminded the empty armor and it merely tossed its keyblade forward, causing it to form into a crest and hover in the air. The Crest then formed Naruto's other keyblades and sent them at Master-Eraqus, while No-Heart lunged at the armored master on foot.

Seeing both coming, Eraqus narrowed his eyes and took a defensive stance, his eyes seemingly narrowed before quickly forming a barrier at the last second. The barrier deflected all of the keyblades from No-Heart's crest, and the armored master then ducked under a kick from the armor itself. "This ends here!" The Master declared while twisting on his heel and sending an arc of light to rip through No-Heart, sending the armor flying back and off of the arena he had made. Seeing the crest attempt to soar back to its master, Eraqus moved quickly and grabbed it with his left hand. The armored master grit his teeth as the Darkness of the weapon attempted to force its way through his armor, Eraqus hissing as could feel it as it managed to work its way through.

Gritting his teeth and looking to where Naruto was, the Master shook his head and ignored the pain of the Darkness spreading its way through his armor. Narrowing his eyes, Eraqus lunged at the field and sliced through it with Master Keeper, the field shattering and Naruto falling to his knees before looking up, the hole growing dangerously large while a pair of yellow eyes flashed within the black glass of his helmet. "Do not worry young one…" Eraqus stated while looking to No-Heart for a moment and then stabbing the weapon into the spot where the hole was. "You will not fade away this day." Eraqus whispered while turning the key, causing a brilliant light to form as the hole was quickly sealed, No-Heart fading while Naruto's dark armor bled away, leaving the blond to sway for a moment before groaning as he fell to his side.

With the blond saved, and No-Heart gone, Master Eraqus let out a light chuckle before falling to his knees. As the armored master's power faded, Eraqus quickly picked up Naruto, hissing as the darkness continued to eat away at him. Working through that, the master lunged across the land and jumped back to the ground below as the large section of earth fell to the ground once more. Letting out a breath, Xehanort released Naruto and then fell to his knees, darkness working its way through the smallest of openings in his armor. With that done, Master Eraqus looked to the blond and instantly saw the resemblance to his former pupil…

"Ventus… looks like this time… I was able to save you. Though I fear it wasn't a permanent fix, only tempering yourself to darkness will allow you to use it without ill effect." Eraqus noted before hissing and gripping at his left arm as it started to shake and spasm. "You know, after all that happened, all I did… I never got to say, how proud I was of you Ventus. Or Terra. Or Aqua… I never got to tell any of you how proud you all made me, each so strong in your own way." Master Eraqus noted mostly to himself, and then looked at Master Keeper for a moment. "Aqua has the original one; it is hers now… but maybe…" He mumbled quietly before reaching for the blade with his darkness coated hand and touched its blade. As soon as he did darkness crawled over the light weapon and changed its form more suited to the blond haired seeker.

Its color-scheme was inverted for one, turning white where it was black, black where it was white, and blue in the red sections, while the keychain turned into a white upside down version of the key-bearer crest with a blue cats eye in the center, and the E shaped teeth changed into N shaped teeth. "Now then, what to call you then?" Master-Eraqus wondered to himself before smirking slightly as he looked at the sleeping Naruto. "How about, Teachers Pride." Nodding his head as the name seemed appropriate in some way, Master-Eraqus looked it over for a moment before placing it into Naruto's hands and pushing himself up to his feet.

"You still have a journey ahead of you Ventus, and I… I have much to make right. I hope in some way you know I was wrong to attack you, and perhaps… you even forgive me for doing so." Eraqus mumbled while walking over to the sword he had wielded as Saint and picked it up before swinging it a couple of times. "I have wronged more than just you though, I have brought such horror to the worlds with the Soulless… and this is a wrong that I have to right." Eraqus stated before crouching back and opening a corridor that was surrounded by light. "As such, I will make right the wrongs I did." Eraqus stated while walking into the corridor, leaving Naruto lying on the ground, his form briefly covered by Darkness as he was then returned to his Gargoyle shape…

TBC…

AN: First of all, Lord Pain is in no way me, he is an old character I created years ago, thus is where my Pen-Name comes from, he is the "Secret Boss" for this fic, and might make an appearance in future stories. I chose to use him as I had already added The Pain of Wrath, 25 of 26, earlier on who fought Vanitus. Here are some links to pictures based on this story, Note, remove spaces to see…

Five Soulless Types: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/?offset=48#/d4hauc0

Soulless-Paladin: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/#/d4ovim5

Court Soulless-Inquisitor: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/#/d4ovj69

Court Soulless-Saint: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/#/d4ovxoa

Court Soulless-Redeemer: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/#/d4ovjgj

Court Soulless-Seraph: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/#/d4ovjrl

Black Soulless-Heretic "Angela": http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/#/d4ovk7g

Black Soulless-Infidel "Zero": http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/#/d4ovkjt

Aqua and Naruto pic: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/?offset=24#/d4hlfc8

Gargoyle Naruto 2: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/?offset=48#/d4hb331

Take your pick, they are both the designs I think of for his Gargoyle form, either one works so it doesn't really matter which one you prefer…

Gargoyle Naruto 3: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/?offset=24#/d4hlgt0

Gargoyle Naruto + Seeker Armor: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/#/d4owftz

Relm, Shadow, and Ventus: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/?offset=24#/d4imvud

Early Naruto Design + Dark Heart Keyblade: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/?offset=24#/d4imwh8

The Neo-Shade: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/?offset=24#/d4imwxh

Early "Shadow" Disguise design: http: / 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/?offset=24#/d4imx8w

Shadow Disguise, Genji-Armor, Genji-Helm, Genji-Glove, Genji-Shield, Dragon-Boots, Genji-Blade, Genji-Key: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/#/d4iv9j5

Naruto, Xion, and Xine The Seekers of Darkness: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/#/d4k8zs6

The Brink of Ruin: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/#/d4k904f

Black Soulless-Nightmare / Soul-Blade: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/#/d4ovkuk

Young Xine, Young Andross (Seraph), and Will (Dusk): http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/#/d4n29ow

Spyro The Dragon Style Naruto Concept Art: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/?offset=24#/d4hdnxb

Thunder-Cats Keyblade Concept Art: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/#/d4imzaj

Early Gargoyle Naruto Concept + Gargoyle Seeker Dark-Armor: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/#/d4iv916

Lord Pain and Loss: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/#/d4n2acz

Annoyance, Temptation, Fear, Betrayal, and Love Unsealed: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/#/d4ovh7q

Acolytes / Sealed Guardians of Pain: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/#/d4ovhmv

Naruto's Keyblade's…

Dark-Heart…

Soul-Blade…

Void-Gear…

Vorpal-Key…

One-Winged-Angel…

No-Heart…

Lost-Memory…

Teachers Pride…

Genji-Key (Ninja / Samurai Only)…

Other Weapons:

Silver-Short-sword…

Silver Throwing Knives…

Blitz (Demonic-Shotgun)…

Gloria (Demonic Knife)…

Genji-Blade (Ninja / Samurai Only)…

Genji-Glove (Ninja / Samurai Only)…

Genji-Shield (Ninja / Samurai Only)…

Genji-Helm (Ninja / Samurai Only)…

Genji-Armor (Ninja / Samurai Only)…

Dragon-Boots (Ability Added, Jump)…