Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Fairy Tail

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Ace watched the scrappy match going on in the arena. The back and forth struggle seemed far too cliched for his liking. Trying to remember the fight back with Hades, he swore that Laxus wasn't this weak. Several possible explanations were being concocted within Ace's mind as to what was happening. The first explanation revolved around Laxus hiding his strength for future events, a cunning ploy and not one Ace believed the lightning wielder would do.

Second reason could be that Laxus' opponent was the one who had attacked Wendy and was using their magic to nullify most of Laxus' abilities. Considering not a single bit of lightning had been shown thus far this was a definite possibility.

This third reason was that something else was afoot and a quick glance towards the stands and where Makarov was put the devil fruit user on edge. The grimace on the elderly man's face was one that Ace had not seen upon the Master which only served to increase Ace's uneasiness.

No matter what though there was nothing they could do but support their fellow guild member. Natsu was clearly one of the most vocal, his chants overshadowing everybody around him. Focusing on the rest of the competitors surrounding him he was pleased to find that he was not the only one who was worried. Gray's eyes were sharp and Erza was biting at the inside of her lip, both of them knowing that something wasn't quite right. Wendy meanwhile had placed her hands together and with her eyes closed looked as if she was praying.

Looking over at where the Straw Hat's were located, he saw that his brother had returned from checking up on his crewmate. Considering that Usopp was a liar before all else he had probably told Luffy that the damages he had taken were nothing compared to what he had suffered before. Luffy probably laughed and made it look like he had bought what the long nosed man had been saying but Ace could see the look on Luffy's face clearly now.

Ace knew that Luffy had always been cheerful and very little was capable of actually bringing him crashing down to Earthland. Of course though that was before he had been separated from his crew. Luffy had spent months in an unknown world with no possible way to know if his crewmates had made it to the same plain of existence that he had or if they were alive at all after their clash with Blackbeard. Luffy did well at hiding the pains and emotions which came with being responsible for his crew but likely after having seen Usopp in the condition he was in, Luffy likely wouldn't give a second thought to going back to Sabertooth's quarters and unleashing hell once more.

"This has been a stellar slugfest!" announced Chapati. "Considering we have yet to see either of these competitors compete we have to imagine that we have not seen what these two fierce warriors are capable of. Just what more could they have in store for us!"

As the crowd cheered on, a small bit of electricity made itself visible on a complete different part of the battlefield and only a handful noticed the change in atmosphere. All of those who had had doubts about the fight turned their attention elsewhere focusing on an isolated part of the arena floor. With the realization that what was being displayed in front of them was indeed a farce, Ace was pleased to see more lighting dance in an area, merely waiting to burst through the illusion. While he didn't know quite what was going on behind the veil of secrecy he knew if he could see and feel the electricity in the air Laxus was fighting back.

Even the commentators had seemed to have sensed that something was amiss as their banter came to an abrupt halt. Before anybody could react however a column of lightning seemingly burst from nowhere, shooting high into the sky and causing many of the people watching to scream out in fright. The blinding light forced everybody to shield their eyes as vicious bolts of lightning made the day even brighter.

Silence reigned supreme as the two fighters on the field flickered out into nothingness revealing the entire Raven Tail team had been fighting all along against Laxus and that there was only one man left standing. "Zhehahahaha!" bellowed Teach as lightning danced between his fingertips. "Now this is power!"

The guild members of Teach were laid out upon the ground, twitching mildly but their condition was nowhere near as bad as that of Laxus. The member of Fairy Tail was lying face down in the dirt, a small puddle of blood pooling beneath him growing bigger by the minute.

"LAXUS!" shouted the members of Fairy Tail as they looked down upon their fallen comrade, shock and horror receding on their features.

"Wendy, get down there now!" instructed Erza looking down at the healing mage.

"Right," said Wendy as Charle latched onto her back before her wings expanded, flapping harshly as the Exceed carried the young girl towards their injured guildmate. While Charle would usually oppose to the fact that Wendy was heading into such a dangerous area with a man who seemingly was enjoying the suffering of Laxus, she doubted Wendy would be in any trouble considering who had already made their way onto the battlefield, smoke billowing off of their body.

"Mugiwara," said Teach as he looked down at Luffy, the rubber boy having moved to the field quicker than most could see.

"What did you do?" asked Luffy as steam continued to billow off of him showing that he was serious.

"I heard about these lacrima things, while normal magic was fine and all to steal I ripped a lacrima right out of him," said Blackbeard with a laugh. "All I wanted was his magic, who woulda thought he had this lacrima in him all along! I then used his magic to decimate the rest of Raven Tail. You shouldn't be worried about me though, that boy over there needs a lot more attention than I do. If we were to go all out, who knows how many people here would die in the crossfire. Could you live with that cloud above your head Mugiwara? Zehahahaha!"

Clenching his fist, Luffy could do nothing as Blackbeard turned his back on the pirate as officers came and placed the knocked out members under arrest for having clearly interfered in an official match. When the officer came towards Blackbeard however, the menacing pirate merely scoffed as he walked past the member of the governing body. "Tell 'em I quit the guild," said Blackbeard not even bothering to look at the guard. The soldier, still following the orders he had been given, stepped in front of the behemoth of a man, determined to do his job.

Courageous, possibly.

Foolish, definitely.

Blackbeard looked down at the guard, the minion of the army reminding the pirate of the lowest ranking marines that he had slaughtered by the hundreds if not the thousands. Breaking the man like a toothpick would be child's play, with the combined powers of both darkness and lightning along with the slew of other magic he had absorbed when he had entered this world very few people in this world could stand up to him, if any at all.

That was in a one on one scenario however and being in the centre of an arena filled with mages from every corner of the continent definitely meant that the decimation of this guard would invite death upon him. Of course though hundreds would die in the process, both sorcerer and bystander alike but he would die in the process. So that left one very logical route to take.

All around people had to shield their eyes from the brightness Blackbeard illuminated before looking at the spot where he had stood to find that he had completely vanished, having bolted away in a flash of lightning far away from the stadium. For those familiar with Laxus' magic they knew that it would take ages for Teach to master such complicated skills and as such would likely crash to the ground in a heap somewhere far from here. Though they cared very little for the pirate at the moment as all eyes returned to the collapsed form of Laxus, a determined Wendy putting every bit of magic she could into healing her guildmate.

From up in the Lamia Scale stand, a young girl grimaced as she watched the display in front of her before leaping from her position, gliding down to the arena floor without a hitch before running across the dirt. None of her guildmates stopped Chelia, knowing full well the personality of the child and they silently prayed that her abilities would be able to help Laxus. Even if he was their competition none of them wished for this kind of fate upon Laxus.

Obaba looked over to where Fairy Tail's block was located and wasn't surprised to see that Makarov wasn't to be seen amongst the other members of the infamous guild. She knew that her fellow guild master would likely already be on the way down to where they held the prisoners to 'question' his son. Needless to say there was nobody on this continent who wanted to be in the path of the powerful wizard at this moment in time and Blackbeard was lucky he had fled when he had.

For chances were his life would have been forfeit otherwise.

...

"Ladies and gentlemen, we thank you for your patience," announced Chapati. "As you are aware, Raven Tail has been disqualified from the tournament due to their heinous act. Please be warned that their guild member, Teach, is still at large and is yet to be apprehended. The King has declared that until Teach has been captured extra guards will patrol the streets every night so that his citizens may sleep safely. On other news, I am pleased to announce that Laxus, the victim of Raven Tail's attack, has reached a stable condition and his life is no longer in danger. Due to the acts of the day however, it has been decided that the rest of the battle portion of today's competition has been cancelled. We hope you understand that this has been a very trying day for the guild's and none of the participants wish to continue after having witnessed this attack. We hope you understand and will return tomorrow when our scheduled entertainment recommences. Thank you for your time."

...

The tavern that Fairy Tail had been using as their staying ground was uncharacteristically quiet. Considering that both Laxus and Usopp were currently in the intensive care section of the hospital it was understandable why the moods of the wizards and pirates was so low that it scraped across the wooden floorboards. Even the bartender felt incredibly awkward with the situation as he had yet to sell a single drink throughout the evening.

The door to the tavern opened causing everybody within the building to look at the master of the guild, Makarov, making his return from the hospital. The guild leader allowed his gaze to drift over his family, able to see the sorrow and pain in each pair of eyes. Yet he couldn't bring himself to say anything after having spent the last few hours by his grandson's side as doctors along with the healing abilities of both Wendy and Chelia worked overtime in order to only get Laxus into a stable condition. The doctors had assured the elderly man that Laxus would live, as for when he would regain consciousness however they couldn't tell.

Makarov knew what they had been hinting at however and knew there was a distinct possibility that with having such a powerful magical source ripped unceremoniously from his body there was a chance that Laxus would never wake. This was news though that he couldn't share with the rest of the guild, Makarov opened his mouth for but a second before closing it again, unable to form any words at this moment in time. His head dropped in defeat, the usually happy leader sulking off to where the bedrooms were located with none of the members of the guild willing to stop him.

The master's quest for rest seemed to spur many of the Fairy Tail and Straw Hat members into action and slowly, one by one, they all made their way towards their rooms. While the original inhabitants of Earthland were determined to track down Blackbeard and bring justice down upon him it was those that had journeyed across the Grand Line who had a different kind of thinking.

Justice would be brought to Blackbeard, but there was no chance that he'd be rotting away in a prison cell.

He would be rotting away in either a coffin or a field somewhere as wild animals ripped away at whatever was left behind after they were done with him. Consequences be damned.

...

When I close my eyes I remember it all Lu-chan. The awful silence, the unspoken dread. Never before had fear and hate been so willingly accepted by Fairy Tail, at least for the moment. Many feelings remained clutched to the chests of those who were unable to speak, unable to communicate with those that treated them like the family we were. How were we to know however that this was merely the beginning of the devastation that was soon to follow.

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