Here we go! The climactic fight between the Raijinshū boys and Marcus! Also, please note that this will be the last update before April, so don't expect to hear from me until sometime in May (probably mid-May at the earliest, I'd have to recover from NaNo, then finish and edit the next chapter).
Review Response: Dear Crystal Blue Butterfly, greetings! Woah indeed. Budding top mage of Fairy Tail, remember? Thank you for your compliments, I'm glad you're having as much fun reading this arc as I'm having writing it! Hope you enjoy the climax!
Dear Keelan1210, hello there! There is no face sweeter than that of much-needed backup, ne? As for how badly Marcus's butt get's kicked, read on to find out!
Dear BizzyLizzy, hi! Fairy Tail Luck tends to cause that, yes. Glad to hear it! These mini-crossovers seem pretty popular, I may have to do another one soon... Anyway, thank's for the review and enjoy the update!
Dear Dragon Lord Draco, hello! Too true, too true. Anyway, read on to see how the fight turns out!
Dear Azrael d Angelo, hi there! Oh, I'm sorry to hear you were having such a bad day, but I'm very glad that chapter helped cheer you up. I hope this chapter finds you having a wonderful day and if not, that it cheers you up again.
Dear Guest, hiya! I freely admit that your fire comment encouraged me to go a bit crazy. The character you were thinking of is either Marco, who turns into a Phoenix in the One Piece series, or Ace, who ate the Fire-Fire Devil Fruit. Glad you enjoyed the references! I wanted to do more of Whitebeard's and Marcus's fight, but the chapter wanted to stay in Wren's perspective and she's not the type to stand around gawking at the battle when Cana might get caught up in it. Well, you know the saying "When in Rome..." (cracks up laughing) I might have to use that rule sometime! May I? It would be hilarious if someone actually posted a list of rules outside Fairy Tail's door or something and that would totally be Rule 1. I remember that, Natsu might have gone a teeny bit overboard that time... But hey, Fairy Tail. No, no they will not. Marcus is pretty much toast. Thank you, I hope you enjoy this update! The one after this should cover the aftermath of the fight and the return to Fairy Tail.
Dear Squishy4953, greetings! Thank you, I hope this chapter lives up to expectations!
Dear YumiKnowsBest, hello! (hands imaginary tissues) Here, you may want to dry your eyes or you might miss part of the fight. Laxus isn't one for sitting still when he's ticked off. Thank you for your patience and enjoy the update!
Dear TrackHer, hey there! Bet that's not a phrase you ever thought you'd say when you first see him in the anime, eh? Read on, dear reader, to find out what happens next!
Dear powerrangersfan364, hello there! Yes. Yes he is.
Author's Note: So, hopefully this chapter lives up to its hype and that it will tide you all over until I return from NaNo. Can't think of much else to say so ... on to the chapter!
Copyright Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, One Piece, or any references made in this chapter. The only things I own are my OCs who have run off with my plot.
Chapter Twenty-Three: Battle and Fury
(Three months, two weeks, four days since joining the guild)
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Newgate stared at the leader of the three boys that had just arrived, something akin to awe whispering through his veins. He hadn't seen an aura like that since the first day he'd met his son Marco. No, not even Marco. The boy's aura reminded him more of the time he had seen the normally placid-tempered Izō almost lose control of his fury.
Marcus pushed himself to his feet at the boy's threat and hissed, "You little-!"
If Newgate had blinked, he would have missed the moment the boy crossed the deck and slammed his fist into Marcus's face, propelling the whip-wielder straight through the mast. The burning tower of wood groaned loudly as it collapsed, but the boy did not seem to notice at all. He had dragged Marcus up by his collar and slammed his knee into the dazed man's already bleeding midriff, causing the man Newgate had hated for years to cough up blood.
Marcus's fingers formed a strange shape as he clumsily lashed out and Newgate shouted to the boy, "Do not let him touch you! His runes paralyze!"
The boy jumped back just in time to avoid the attack, eyes still glowing an eerie yellow as his lips curled upward into a feral expression. His leg whipped out, smacking into the side of Marcus's head and actually sending him skidding. Newgate narrowed his eyes, cursing his inability to move. The boy was doing well, but that was because he had caught Marcus off guard and already injured. Marcus had not spent the past three years doing nothing, the moment he could recover himself, the boy would be the one on the defensive.
Sure enough, Marcus rolled to his feet, eyes refocusing and right hand snapping out just as the boy charged again. The accursed whip cracked through the air, the boy dodged, then hissed as he proved too slow to entirely avoid the attack. The whip lashed out in a flurry of blows, forcing the boy into a retreat, his lightning barely keeping the blows at bay.
Newgate pulled his eyes away from the fight to the other children that had arrived. The blue-haired boy with glowing eyes was crouched nearby, fluttering frantically over Wren-chan and babbling while the taller teenager watched the fight with a conflicted gaze. Newgate raised his voice to be heard over the chaos, "You two." Both looked up at him and Newgate made a point to avoid the blue-haired lad's gaze, he knew about Eye-Magic from his previous travels, "If either of you can break the rune on my chest, I can aid your friend in putting a stop to Marcus."
The taller boy looked anxiously around, "I don't have a knife. Maybe some sharp wood would do the trick…?"
The blue-haired boy hissed, "If you could have helped, you wouldn't be stuck now, stupid old-" Wren-chan hissed faintly and the boy instantly snapped his mouth shut. Newgate eyed Wren-chan for a moment, fury twisting inside him at the amount of blood dribbling from her back and side. A loud crack of thunder nearby made the children all flinch for a moment before the blue-haired boy snapped at Newgate, "And why should we help you with anything? You're just another filthy pirate like everyone else here!"
Newgate rumbled a dark response, "Because I had something to settle with that man, and not just for what he has done to Wren-chan and Cana-chan."
Though he didn't look directly at the boy, Newgate could still see the thoughtful expression that overcame him. After a few seconds and some kind of signal from the silently crying Wren-chan, the blue-haired boy stood up and shouted, "Mest! Cana! Find a way to get the old geezer free. I'll help Laxus buy time!"
With that, the boy sprinted away, several animate tiki dolls following him into the fray. Newgate twitched under the restraining power of the rune on his chest, internally raging that yet another child was running off to fight his battles. If only he hadn't underestimated Marcus, hadn't thought he could take the punch the other man had unexpectedly thrown at him. The blow had been manageable, but it had just been a ploy to get him close enough to somehow write the rune onto Newgate's chest and immobilize him.
The other boy, Mest presumably, looked worried as he put Cana-chan down, "We need to do something about this fire soon, or nobody is getting out of here."
Cana-chan stumbled to her feet, her voice shaky but determined as she began to look around, "Winning first, fire-prevention later." She paused to cough heavily before helping Mest-kun search the area for something sharp enough to break the rune. Newgate scanned the area impatiently, hoping to find something that would help break the rune and set him free again.
He had a fight to finish.
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Laxus had never thought a person could be as angry as he was now. Fury poured through his veins and prickled his skin in a way that somehow dulled the pain of the blows his opponent managed to land. Everything had narrowed down to his fight with the whip-wielding scum in front of him, his magic was souring to heights he had only ever dreamed of achieving, and the little instinct in his head from his lacrima was bellowing primal demands for blood.
As he rolled out of the way of another whip-strike and retaliated with a blast of lightning, memories of Wren and Cana danced in the back of his mind. Cana had been terrified, screaming as she was dragged across the deck by the rune-empowered whip. The visceral terror of her cry had angered him, made him want to hurt the man responsible. But seeing Wren lying there, crying from the pain, blood seeping through her clothes and dripping down her back…
In that instant, for the first time in his life, Laxus had learned what it was like to want to kill.
Laxus deflected the whip to one side, ignoring the line of blood it drew, serving as a distraction for Bickslow's tikis to whirl in and fire. The lasers slammed into the man's back, drawing a cry of pain and another cough of blood. With a wild noise, the man suddenly stomped his foot, runes glowing to life on his boot as it made contact with the ground. Laxus felt his eyes widen as a line of planking rippled in his direction, then disintegrated entirely.
Leaping to the next walkway, Laxus stumbled as the whip was suddenly there, wrapped around his ankle and pulling viciously. A gasp escaped his clenched teeth as he felt the whip dig into his skin with unnatural sharpness, sharpening rune. Scum thought of everything didn't he?
Bickslow gave a war cry that was cut off into a startled yelp as Laxus suddenly found himself airborne, dragged around by his ankle and sent flying into Bickslow before the other boy would launch a counter-attack. The two rolled and tumbled across the walkways, barely avoiding falling into the glittering water below.
Laxus twisted to his feet, untangling himself from Bickslow with the speed of the desperate. He had had the advantage at first, but his opponent was experienced. He had recovered and gone on the offensive again, the runes on his whip making its blows sharper, more powerful, and the whip itself incredibly durable and frustratingly lightning resistant.
As Bickslow and he took off in opposite directions across the walkway to avoid the next stomping shockwave, Laxus managed to reach through his fury for any remembered information on Jutsu Shiki users.
There wasn't much. It was a highly formalized and layered form of Writing Magic, able to serve multiple purposes with just a few runes as long as the caster had enough experience and time. It was mostly used for defensive shields or traps, but theoretically the caster could do just about anything with the runes as long as he had enough time to actually write it all down.
Time like pre-inscribing some kind of shockwave seal on his boots, as well as multiple enhancement runes on his chosen weapon apparently. After runes were inscribed, they lasted for as long as their resting place was unbroken and their caster wished the runes to remain. All that was needed to use them afterward was for the caster to channel magic into them, which was why their opponent didn't create craters every time he took a step.
Laxus threw another bolt of lightning and hissed under his breath as he saw Bickslow get nicked by the whip again. As much as the fury boiling inside him didn't want to agree, Laxus knew they were at a disadvantage. They needed to use everything they had to get the upper hand.
Gathering air in his lungs and trying not to gag on the thickening smoke, Laxus roared, "Bickslow!"
"What?" Came the harried reply as Bickslow jumped across a span of water to land next to Laxus.
Laxus motioned to Bickslow's flickering eyes, "Figure Eyes!"
It said something about just how furious Bickslow was that he didn't even hesitate over the command. Instead, he bit out, "I can't get a good lock on him, he's moving and attacking too much for me to make eye contact. The smoke isn't helping either."
They both glanced over at their opponent, who had paused his attacks to double over coughing. Laxus clenched his teeth, mind racing, "If I get you an opening…" his unspoken question filled the pause, will you use Figure Eyes without hesitation?
Bickslow's voice was dangerously flat, "He hurt Wren." The underlying answer was clear to Laxus, there is nothing I won't do to him for that.
Laxus nodded a touch breathlessly, his nerves were jittery from all of the electricity coursing through his body and he had a vague feeling that after the fight, he would feel horrible. But that didn't matter right now. Right now, the man who had hurt and terrified part of his Raijinshū was slowly straightening up and getting ready to fight again.
Taking another deep breath of acrid smoke, Laxus took off at a run, "Hey you!" The man's head snapped around toward Laxus's voice. Crouching down, Laxus braced himself and shouted, "Is that all you got? Come on!"
His opponent's face twisted into a fierce snarl, hand pulling back his whip before sending it singing out toward Laxus. Instead of dodging as he had done every time before, Laxus tensed, legs sliding farther apart for better balance as he held out one arm at the last second. The whip curled around it several times before it snapped taught and Laxus held back a cry of pain from escaping his clenched teeth through sheer force of will. Twisting his wrist, he grabbed the whip and threw his weight backward.
His opponent jerked forward, caught off guard by Laxus's sudden change in tactics. Out of the corner of his eye, Laxus spotted Bickslow rushing across the docks toward his target, his tikis spinning above him like a demented halo. Refocusing on his opponent as the man straightened up again, Laxus barked, "Think a stupid rope like this is gonna stop me?"
The man sneered at his taunt and flicked his wrist. A different set of runes on the whip glowed and suddenly Laxus was flying, spewing curses the entire way while the man called back, "You really think I would fall for such an obvious ploy?"
Laxus crashed into Bickslow again, and this time they went rolling into the water. Smoke and screams was abruptly replaced by the gurgling rumble of water in his ears and the sting of liquid against his eyes. Pushing away from Bickslow, Laxus kicked his way to the surface, gasping and spluttering as his head broke the water. Bickslow surfaced a moment later and Laxus hissed, "Out of the water, now!"
The thrice-cursed whip snapped menacingly above their heads as the man cooed, "Childish tricks only work on children, brats. I don't know where Newgate found you, but I'm going to make sure you regret following him here. Well, before you die that is." He paused his rant to cough wetly and the boys took the opportunity to haul themselves out of the water and back onto the docks.
A line of agony suddenly lashed across Laxus's back and he yelled in both pain and fury. Rolling away from the second whip-strike, Laxus frantically scrambled for a new plan. Because there was no way on Earthland he was letting the trash get away with hurting Wren and Cana like that.
Where the heck is Mest? If we had him than we could really do some damage. Laxus shook water out of his eyes as he pushed that thought away, just got to work with what we've got I guess- His footsteps faltered as realization hit him. Water. We're surrounded by water. I am so stupid.
Lunging out of the way of another attack, Laxus shouted, "Bickslow!"
Bickslow sounded vaguely exasperated as he shouted back, "What?"
Sliding to a brief stop at Bickslow's side, Laxus asked breathlessly, "Your lasers can cut through wood right?"
Bickslow shot him an odd look, "Yeah, but we're running out of dock to dodge on as it is so…"
Laxus shook his head in dismissal of Bickslow's statement, "Not the point. How long would it take your tikis to cut through a section of wood about three feet by three feet?"
Bickslow's eyes nearly crossed as he attempted to estimate and they paused their planning session to run away a little more from the persistent whip-user. Skidding back to each other's sides, Bickslow answered, "Two seconds. Four tops, why?"
Laxus chewed his lip for a moment, "I'm going to get him to hold still for four seconds while you cut the dock out from under his feet."
Bickslow blinked against the smoke curling the air, "Then what?"
Laxus blandly held up a finger and let sparks dance off of it. Bickslow's expression lit up and he gave a comprehending, "Oh…"
The Electric Mage rolled his eyes, "Yeah 'oh'. Now get ready to cut the dock."
As he sprung away again, he barely heard Bickslow call out, "Wait, how are you-?" Good question.
The man was coughing again, a wet, nasty cough Laxus didn't think was from the smoke alone. He had spotted the bloodstain on the man's side earlier, so Laxus knew he was wounded, but had one of his lungs gotten nicked somehow as well? Doesn't matter, just use it to your advantage.
Charging, Laxus tried to get close to the man only to be repelled again and again by expert flicks of the whip. Lightning snapped off of Laxus's form in frustration, he could feel his fury slipping out of his control again and he was feeling less and less inclined to reel it in. His tactics was getting him nowhere, and the voice in his head was pushing more and more for the "hit it till it stops moving" approach.
As he danced away from the whip for the hundredth time, another flicker of an idea popped into his head, maybe… skidding to a stop, Laxus braced and caught the whip for a second time, ignoring the numbness sweeping up his right arm as he did so. The man raised an eyebrow at his action, "Still haven't learned I see."
With a snap of his wrist and a flash of runes, Laxus was airborne. He clung to the whip, refusing to be shaken off as it sent him slamming down onto the docks. Just before the man could send him flying into the air again Laxus reached out his other hand as far as he could and wrapped the whip around his left wrist. He was sent flying again, just as viciously as before. Gritting his teeth from the pain, he let go of the whip with his right hand, hauling himself farther up the whip with his left before grabbing with his right again.
He managed to perform that maneuver, crawling up the length of the whip hand-over-hand, three times before the wielder of the weapon figured out what he was doing. The man shrieked as he sent Laxus flying again, "Let go!"
Laxus swallowed back the blood filling his mouth from where he had accidentally bitten his cheek, almost there. With a screech of frustration, the man flicked his whip out yet again, Laxus forced into being airborne along with it, "Let go of my whip!"
Perhaps it was because they were running out of dock to fight on, perhaps the smoke and blood loss was preventing the man from thinking straight, perhaps he thought the shock of the cold would make Laxus let go. Whatever the reason, instead of slamming him onto the hard wood like the previous times, the man sent Laxus plunging into the water just in front of where he was standing.
The shock of the cold water forced a few air bubbles out of Laxus's mouth, but he clamped down on them and immediately began kicking his legs, just a little farther. Shooting forward through the dark waters, Laxus twisted so that he was facing the surface and tensed.
A moment later the whip jerked, trying to rise from the water. Laxus was dragged violently out of the water-
Only to slam feet first against the underside of the walkway his opponent was standing on. The whip was brought up short, wood groaning under his feet at the unexpected pressure as momentum warred with Laxus's inability to phase through wood. Laxus's left arm wrenched painfully at the motion and he made a strangled sound at the feeling of his left shoulder sliding out of place.
Despite his pain, Laxus felt a flash of triumph as he heard first his opponent cursing in surprise and then the shriek of Bickslow's tikis coming in for the attack. Up until that point, every time the enemy had used his whip, he had moved his entire body with the blow. Either a single step for simple attacks or entire short sprints for the more strenuous activities of flinging Laxus around and smashing holes in things. His coughing fits, the only time he was completely still, were too short to exploit and were guarded by his shockwave boots.
But now his whip was pinned by Laxus, the boy's collision with the underside of the dock having brought his sprint up short, and the shockwaves from his boots could do nothing to the flying tikis. Now Bickslow! Just as Laxus began to slip off of the underside of the wood and fall back into the water, green light seared through the planking just on his right and there was the telltale shriek and splash of his opponent falling in.
With an internal snarl of victory, Laxus kicked forward, lunging through the water to the spluttering figure. Latching tightly onto the man's coat with his right hand, Laxus snarled, "This is for Wren and Cana!" The very air seemed to freeze for a split-second, everything going still as Laxus's magic curled tightly inward.
Then it exploded violently outward and the entire lake lit up with destructive yellow light.
Despite their close proximity, Laxus could barely hear his opponent's screams over the sound of the thunder as it rolled and roared all around. Something inside Laxus, that niggling instinct in his head that he'd had ever since his father had implanted the dragon lacrima inside him, bellowed a cry of vicious triumph and Laxus mirrored with his own howl of victory.
He only stopped when his head inevitably slid under the water, breaking his concentration and forcing him to let go of his enemy in order to properly tread water. Panting slightly from a mix of pain, adrenaline, and elation at finally beating the man who had so grievously hurt Wren and Cana, Laxus swam clumsily toward one of the few sections of walkway that remained intact.
Bickslow waved to him as he jumped across the various holes in the wood planking, "Oi!" Bending over, Bickslow helped Laxus roll onto the walkway, a ferocious grin on his face as he puffed, "That … was amazing! You got him!"
Laxus grinned, then winced as he moved his left arm by accident, "Yeah. Finally."
For a moment they just sat there, trying to wrap their heads around the fact that the fight was over. At some point in their fight, the screaming and flares of magic had died away, and now Laxus thought he could hear people moving through the smoke and trying to put out the fires. A part of him tensed at the thought that the impromptu firefighters were probably allies to the man Laxus had just beaten, but the rest of him was too tired to really care.
Their dazed silence was abruptly broken by the sound of weak splashing and someone attempting to drag themselves out of the water. Both of their gazes snapped toward the sound and Laxus hissed incredulously through his teeth at the sight of their opponent rolling out of the water and onto a nearby piece of walkway, he's still conscious? After all that? He caught sight of runes flickering weakly on and off across the singed emerald waistcoat and felt a flash of frustration rip through him, of course he added defensive runes to his clothing. Of course he did! Why can't he just up and-
Bickslow sprinted past Laxus, interrupting his thoughts. Leaping lightly across to the other section of wood on which their opponent lay wheezing, the bluenette grunted, "Oi, kisama." The man made a low noise as his head jerked toward Bickslow's voice and he made to sit up.
Just as quickly as he had begun to move, the man froze and as Laxus grudgingly climbed to his feet moved for a better look, Laxus could see that the man's eyes were glowing a telltale green. Bickslow's shoulders shook slightly as he hissed something in a low tone to the man.
Laxus's emotions went from smug at Bickslow's capture of their opponent to alarm as the man mechanically raised his hands to his own throat. Forcing his throbbing legs to move, Laxus stumbled forward and shouted, "Bickslow!"
Bickslow's head tilted fractionally in Laxus's direction, not taking his eyes off of his target, "Don't say he doesn't deserve it. You saw what he did to Wren and Cana. He was going to kill them. He was going to kill Imōto."
Laxus faltered, mind flashing back to the terror in Cana's scream as she was dragged helplessly across the deck. To the sheer amount of blood flowing from Wren's back and the tears in her eyes. Wren, the girl who hardly ever cried about anything, the girl who had somehow become so, so precious to him. To both of them.
His rage came flooding back to him and for a long moment Laxus felt like saying nothing. Like letting Bickslow give the order to squeeze. Maybe not long enough to kill, but enough to make the man suffer for what he had done. Because somehow Laxus's previous blast of lightning didn't seem like enough of a punishment anymore.
Then Laxus took a deep breath and answered with a grim voice, "Yeah, he does deserve it. He probably deserves worse, all things considered. But that doesn't mean you can make him strangle himself. Members of Fairy Tail do not unnecessarily harm or take life. You know that."
Bickslow's lips twitched, his posture shifting to something uncertain and vaguely rebellious. He opened his mouth to say something and Laxus added quietly, "Don't you dare. Don't you dare prove that tattoo on your face right." Bickslow's mouth snapped shut with a click and his head twisted around farther, staring at Laxus out of the corner of his glowing eyes.
Laxus struggled with the rage in his soul, with the vindictive little part of him that said no one would care if he let Bickslow do whatever he wanted with the scum. Bickslow probably didn't even intend to kill the man, just make him suffer for what he had done. That seething part of Laxus hissed that making the man suffer was fine, was better than fine, that it was justice.
That part of him sounded strangely like his father now that he thought about it, and that thought was enough to make him push the impulse away and keep talking Bickslow down. Grunting, Laxus jumped the short distance between himself and Bickslow, stumbling to a stop at his friend's side.
Taking a deep breath, Laxus kept his eyes on the side of Bickslow's face as he murmured, "You are not a monster Bickslow. You are not what the people who branded that tattoo on your face claimed you were. But if you do this … you'll prove them right. You'll be exactly what they feared." Laxus motioned a shaky hand at the frozen whip-wielder at their feet, "You'll be just like him."
Bickslow's jaw was clenched so tightly, Laxus could see the veins standing out in his neck as he struggled with Laxus's words. In a way, Laxus could understand. Cana was one of Bickslow's few friends, no matter how much they bickered, and Wren was his little sister, the most precious thing in the world to him. For Laxus, seeing them hurt was enough to infuriate him and vow to beat the perpetrator to a pulp. For Bickslow, it had to be so much worse.
But their opponent was already beaten. He was down, clearly too weak to fight anymore. Doing something to him now would be…
"Would you stop me?" Bickslow's voice cut through his musings. Laxus blinked at Bickslow and the other boy elaborated tightly, "If I do it anyway, would you stop me?"
Laxus stared at Bickslow for a long time, trying to figure out what the honest answer to that was. Finally, Laxus replied, "Yes."
"Why?" The word was pushed through gritted teeth with enough venom to make Laxus nearly flinch.
Laxus took a deep breath, "Because I don't want to lose a friend." Bickslow faltered again and Laxus pushed on, "Do you … do you remember when Wren got between us and … and my father? Do you remember how she looked?"
Bickslow's breath hitched and Laxus took it as a yes, "I can't read auras but … but I think we now know what she was feeling back then. Which means if you do this, you'll be doing the same thing to your colors that you were so afraid of happening to Wren's." Bickslow made a strangled noise, eyes widening, and Laxus fell silent. Waiting.
Several seconds crept by with aching slowness. Laxus could feel his heart beating in his throat and his injuries throbbing alongside them as he waited for Bickslow's choice.
Then Bickslow barked out a hoarse, "Go to sleep," to the man on the ground and Laxus felt something in his chest ease. Bickslow sagged a moment later, his chest rising and falling in harsh pants while his tikis drooped in the air with identical keens.
Laxus gripped Bickslow's arm with his good hand, offering silent approval and support for Bickslow's choice. They stayed that way for a long time, just watching the twitching, slumbering form of their enemy and recovering from the ordeals they had been put through in a single day.
Eventually, there was a soft displacement of air and a familiar flare of magic that had them turning to look. Mest yelped as he nearly ended up in the water before teleporting again to safety on the docking across from them. As he straightened up and looked around, Mest commented, "Well … this place is definitely ruined."
Laxus opened his mouth to demand why Mest hadn't showed up sooner to help, but something entirely different spilled out as he studied the teen's appearance, "Are you alright?"
Mest blinked at Laxus, then down at himself, "Hmm? Oh, yeah, I'll be fine. Some pirates came back to the ship just after you'd left and since neither the girls or Newgate-san were in any condition to fight them, I was kinda busy."
Mest's version of "busy" somehow managed to entail a shirt reduced to literal tatters, one pant leg missing up to the knee, a pink burn mark spreading up his arm and side from elbow to ribs, a host of bruises and scratches, and a deep cut on the left side of his face from his temple to a short distance below his left cheekbone.
Bickslow sounded vaguely impressed as he asked, "What does the other guy look like?"
Mest gave a weak chuckle then winced as the action pulled on his oozing facial cut, "Guys. Plural. There were ten of them, and I'd like to think they look worse off than me. They're unconscious at least. I managed to deal with nine of them when one of Newgate-san's friends showed up and took out the tenth for me."
Laxus frowned, "Who?"
Mest clarified even as he limped over and nudged the unconscious whip-user with his boot, "The giant of a man that was on the ship. Trapped by a Jutsu Shiki rune, remember? We finally managed to break the rune on his skin and he wanted me to teleport him here to finish the fight, but then the lake lit up like a lightbulb and I figured that trying a blind teleport in the middle of that would be … dumb. So I told him that you had already finished the fight. Looks like I was right too."
Laxus shot a halfhearted glare at Mest but refrained from commenting on that further. Instead, he asked tiredly, "So … what do we do with this scum now?"
Bickslow piped up, "What about the girls? How are Wren and Cana?"
Mest stepped closer, grabbing the limp wrist of the defeated pirate with one hand and Laxus's good shoulder with the other, "Take him back to the ship I suppose, fire should be out now. As for the girls … they could be better." Bickslow went rigid and Mest added hastily, "They're fine, both of them are alive and conscious. But their injuries aren't anything to take lightly. Newgate-san said something about Marco-san being able to help them…"
Bickslow gave a low noise that conveyed how much stock he put in that statement before he obeyed Mest's signal and placed a hand gingerly on Laxus's back. Mest teleported, causing Laxus's perception of the world around him to ripple and twist for a moment before everything righted and they were standing on the deck of the battered pirate ship. Mest promptly let go of his passengers and called out, "Newgate-san!"
The massive giant looked away from where he had been conversing with a scruffy young teen Laxus thought might be a girl, "Mest-kun, you are back." His gaze fell on the unconscious body next to Mest and his eyes widened for a moment before they narrowed, "So. They really did it. Marcus has been defeated." The man gave a slight scoff, "And I didn't even have the pleasure of defeating him myself. Even so," his weighty gaze fell on Laxus and Bickslow, "thank you. I know you did not do it for me or mine, but you and yours have still freed us from our chains."
Laxus gave a tired nod of acknowledgement to Newgate-san's words, then, ignoring the painful twinges of his injuries, asked, "Where are Cana and Wren?"
Newgate-san motioned over his shoulder toward one of the doors leading into the ship, "Inside the former captain's quarters. Marco is seeing to them as best as he can."
Laxus, Bickslow, and Mest took off toward the door without waiting for an invitation. As they passed Newgate-san's looming form, the man rumbled, "You should probably have him fix that shoulder of yours, boy. Before you make it worse." Mest paused long enough to give a quick bow and word of thanks, but Laxus and Bickslow just hurried on.
Shoving open the indicated door, Bickslow bolted past Laxus and into the room, his cry of, "Imōto!" heart-wrenching in its intensity. Laxus followed behind seconds later, idly aware of Mest closing the door behind them as the blond took in the sight of the two girls. Cana was hunched on one end of the bed, eyes shining with unshed tears of relief as she watched them enter. Her shirt was in bad condition, with lots of rips in it that showed glimpses of the bandages on her back. However, aside from that and the bandages on her arms where the whip had been wrapped around them, she seemed alright.
Laxus nodded to her before he moved his gaze to Wren. The littlest of their number was stretched out on her stomach across the bedsheets, her head next to Cana's hip, eyes wide with relief at the sight of them and her back exposed to the air. Bickslow was snarling at a droopy-eyed man who had been gently running glowing hands over Wren's back a moment earlier but had now backed off upon Bickslow's demand.
Laxus came closer as the man protested softly, "I'm using my magic on her wounds to keep them from getting infected, yoi. I'm not going to harm or molest your little sister. I'm just trying to help, yoi."
Bickslow's eyes flashed a dangerous green before Laxus laid a tired hand on Bickslow's arm and murmured, "Let him work. Just … watch him and make sure he means what he says. Those gashes look … Wren's back needs all the help it can get."
Bickslow paused, glancing from Laxus to the man to Wren before he winced and reluctantly let the man return to his work. Laxus stared at Wren's back, a sick, angry feeling rising in his chest at what he saw. The marks were deep, so deep that even after all this time they were still bleeding, albeit very sluggishly. The man ran a hand over one of the gashes again and Wren breathed sharply through her nose in a muted version on an ouch.
Laxus sat down next to Wren, trying to figure out what to say, but somehow failing to come up with any words. His head hurt, his body throbbed, his shoulder was screaming at him, his magic reserves were low, and all he really wanted to do was sleep for a week. But the urge to check on the others, the … need to watch over them, somehow managed to overpower his own physical wants.
After a time of tense, tired silence, with Wren occasionally reaching out to gently touch Laxus's and Bickslow's cheeks and look concerned, the man treating her back spoke up, "My name is Marco, yoi. I saw what you did to Marcus on my way to the ship, that's some powerful magic you two have." He paused to exchange his magic for a bulky first aid kit, then continued, "Thank you, yoi."
Bickslow gave a tired snort, the aggression having slowly seeped out of him, "Didn't do it for you."
Marco shrugged, "I know. But we still owe you kids big time, yoi. When Cana-chan offered a deal to get us all out of this mess, even I didn't think it could go this far south. But you kids did good, yoi."
Laxus lifted his head from where it had been drooping to his chest at that, "Deal? … What deal?"
Cana flushed a bit and looked about to say something when Marco shrugged and continued, "That's … a bit of a long story, yoi." With that warning, Marco launched into a tale of treasure hunters and family, betrayal and slavery, stowaways, living black spots, and a desperate bargain to free both parties.
Laxus listened to it all as Marco finished bandaging Wren's back and then moved on to setting Laxus's shoulder back in its socket and treating the other wounds the boys had gotten in their fights. The three fought off sleep with their desire to know what had gotten them into their current situation and it was only after Marco had finally finished his story that Mest piped up tiredly from his spot against the wall, "Remind me to never go on a job with you guys ever again. Like … ever."
Laxus shot Mest a dry look before caving to Marco's suggestion to spend the night in the cabin, the blond man assuring them that he and his adoptive siblings would oversee the capture of the rest of the pirates and keeping watch at the cabin door for them.
Laxus normally wouldn't have agreed, but he was exhausted and Mest was in no condition to teleport them all the way back to the nearest town.
After they had all taken some pain medication for their injuries, Laxus crawled onto the wide bed that was very extravagant for a ship and dropped off to sleep almost as soon as he allowed his head to hit the mattress.
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Marco and Thatch peaked in on them several hours later, after all the fires had been confirmed dead and the scum who had followed Marcus all disarmed, tied up, and tossed into the brig. Immediately after looking inside the room, Marco slapped a hand over Thatch's mouth to keep the teen from waking up the kids with his loud "awww…".
Outwardly, Marco shot Thatch a bland look. But inwardly, he had to admit that the scene was endearing.
The three boys sprawled across the bed in various positions. Mest-kun at the foot with his back to against the cabin wall, Bickslow-kun draped across the head of the bed with his head toward the door, and Laxus-kun solidly out to the world in the middle, his head by Bickslow-kun's and his feet shoved against Mest's calf.
But the most endearing part of it all was the lump of pillows and blankets set protectively in the middle of their sprawl, telltale long brown hair and puffy blond curls giving away the identities of what the three boys were guarding even in their sleep.
Marco quietly closed the door and shooed a cooing Thatch away, a fatigued smile tugging on his lips as the thought of just how fierce those small, harmless-looking kids were while awake. He shared a glance with Oyaji across the deck as he herded Thatch toward their temporary living quarters in the hold and the giant smirked.
Marco was sure that they were thinking the same thing; Fairy Tail was a one-of-a-kind guild to have children like that, and now they owed that guild a debt that would take a long, long time to repay. If ever.
But then, if the Master of Fairy Tail was anything like the children he had raised, that didn't sound like such a bad thing.
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Japanese Translations: Kisama - a very, very, very rude way to say "you". Note: A lot of the subtitles I've seen translate this word as a curse to get the insulting emphasis across though I don't THINK it's a swear word.
Oyaji - Pops (according to One Piece subtitles)