One would expect there to be some sort of pain when getting stabbed by a sharp blade.

For Freed there was nothing. It felt like there was some odd pressure in his stomach that made him uncomfortable, but essentially nothing His mind wasn't able to process the idea that there was a sword currently running through his body right now.

His senses seemed to be at a standstill and all he could feel was a prickling behind his eyes.

Then his entire body lurched forward when Black Snake reached out and painfully pulled the sword from his body. The shock of it sent his body falling forward and his hand coming up to cover his gushing wound.

He could feel something warm leak through his fingers and he could see the hole his own blade left behind.

The pain that followed made his vision go blurry.

There's the pain… He thought

"Now I'm going to let you bleed out until you faint. Then I'm going to wait till I get my hands on your little friends and I'm going to do the same thing to them that I did to you. I might even use your own sword." Black Snake sneered. His nimble fingers twirling and twisting the sword in his hands like some sort of baton.

He cast his eyes up to see the audience had grown quiet. There was no cheering but a stale air that settled over the entire Colosseum. The tension around him and Freed made the back of his neck tingle with anticipation.

There was one thing that didn't stop flashing in his mind.

"Do not underestimate Freed Justine. There is something dark lurking in that boy. Best be aware and ready for whatever it may be." Ivan warned through his golden plated mask. "I will not hesitate to punish you if you fail this battle. There is a reason why you were brought here to battle these weaklings."

Black Snake bowed his head hastily. The memory of Flare was still fresh in his mind.

She was weak though, the bitch deserved what she got.

"Do not worry Master, I will make an example of him and show everyone the true power of Raven Tail." Black Snake said against the fear that was swelling in his chest. It was not fear for the battle but for the wrath, his master would strike down on him if he even thought of failure.

There was a tense moment of silence between the two wizards.

Then suddenly a royal guard walked up to them and began to push Black Snake towards to open arena. As they reached the end of the long hallways Black Snake dared to look back. All he saw was his master's receding form quickly going back to the balcony that held the other Raven Tail members. Black Snake couldn't help but think that was his master's way of telling him that he should expect to face this battle alone.

"What do you mean that we can't do anything!" Evergreen shouted. "I am not going to sit here and watch as Raven Tail tortures Freed in front of us!"

Bickslow kept his hands on her shoulder in hopes of keeping her from jumping over the edge of the balcony to try and intervene between Black Snake and Freed.

The mages around her agreed to what she was saying. Some of them were even trying to come up with a plan to save their former guildmate.

Levy was leaning over the railing in hopes of getting a better view of Freed. All she could see where she was standing was Black Snake's back and the glint of Freed's sword.

"I can't see anything from here!" She said.

Next to her Mavis sat with her feet hanging over the railing's edge. Her usually chipper mood had vanished and left her motionless. Her glassy eyes were trained across the arena on Freed. Even though she couldn't see him she could feel his magical energy that was being contained by a nullification spell. Yet even through that, she could feel something darker trying to break free of the spell. Something that wasn't even magic.

"You say that Freed holds a cursed magic," Mavis spoke out into the air.

Levy turned to look at her with confusion until Evergreen broke free from Bickslow's grip and moved next to the First Guild Master.

"What does this have to do with anything. We have to start figuring out a way to get him out of there." She snapped.

Behind her Makarov scoff. "There is nothing that we can do. We are not his guild." Even though he said those words with a sharp tone there was still a sad light in his eyes. "However, Evergreen does have a point. What does his magic have anything to do with the battle?"

There was a moment of confusion in the guild until Mavis turned around with a dark light in her eyes. "His magic is cursed, and it cannot be contained by a simple nullification spell. In a few short moments that will not be the Freed that you know."

Bickslow swallowed back the bile that threatens to rise at the back of his throat. Something in him told him that this was just the start of the battle.

Freed had lost most feeling in his body. The only thing that he could prosses was the numbness that began at the tips of his fingers and spread to the point where the sword had impaled him. That was the only point on his body that he was able to feel anything at all.

It didn't pain as one would expect.

He could feel something different when it came to his magic. It wasn't the solid weight of his runes that were an ever-present sensation when in battle. It was something dark and far more familiar. He felt it first behind his eyes, a burning feeling that had his eyes water for a moment. Then that fire moved down his body to his wound where the burning turned the pain into something almost pleasant.

His nails dug into the dirt for a moment. Freed hoped that Black Snake could feel his nails digging in.

The transformation was like a soft sensual caress. Freed felt it start from the top of his head. His hair grew back to a familiar length. The soft ends of his hair grazed against the small of his back and caught on his bloody scratches.

Then came the more painful part of his takeover.

The joints of his fingers would pop disgustedly, his joints would extend out and his skin would turn black. His claws were sharp and deadly. The black of his skin would craw up his arm until it reached the middle of his bicep. Then his veins would protrude from his skin, looking like an intricate design that would go up the rest of his arms wrap around his neck and would surround his eyes. Which at this point were pitch black. His irises a bright purple that seemed to glow against his dark energy.

His legs were unrecognizable by the point that his transformation was done. They were the same color as his arms, but his feet changed to look like claws of a monster. Two large jagged claws formed the front part of his foot, then where his heel would have been there was another claw. With this new lower half all his weight would be put on the balls of his feet.

His clothing was ruined. His pants were ripped as his legs grew and his shirt that was already in tatters fell from his body.

During all this underneath him was a bright rune with strange markings that no old wizard in the arena could figure out. However, the first master of Fairy Tail knew exactly what those runes meant and who they were from.

The power that she was feeling from Freed was no longer his own. It belonged to something darker, more dangerous.

Then finally Freed spoke, but his voice was no longer his. It was deeper, there was an underlining edge to it that made the entire arena stay silent out of fear.

"You think that this is finished?" Freed growled out.

Black Snake turned away from the crowd slowly. His eyes widen when he saw what Freed had become. Fear made him stumbled back a few steps and drop Freed's sword on the ground,

"What…what are you?" Black Snake stammered.

Freed slowly got back to his feet and towered over his opponent. His smile was wicked, and his teeth were sharp and jagged.

"Death…" was all Freed said before he vanished.

The crowd gasped in unison and tried to figure out what had happened to Freed.

Then the arena was being filled with a blood-curdling scream.

Black Snake had his arms thrown out and his head tossed back as he bared five deep bloody scratches.

Only a few feet in front of him was Freed standing with a bloody hand. Then he vanished again and reappeared right behind Black Snake with a sinister grin. He rose his hand for the second time and grabbed a fistful of Black Snake's hair.

With strength alone, he lifted Black Snake off the ground. Large beautiful purple wings sprouted from Freed's back. The feathers ruffled for a moment until they spread out to their full length and flapped once, then twice until Freed was up in the air taking Black Snake with him by the roots of his hair.

Black Snake cried out, clawing at Freed's hand to try and get him to let go but to no avail. There was nothing that he could do. He was stuck at the mercy of whatever this demon was.

"Now tell me how it feels when someone fucks with your magic." Freed spat.

Another set of runes appeared over Black Snake' chest, but these were darker in color the markings too were different; sharper and scratch like.

Without any warning, Freed pulled his enemy back and flung him to the earth.

The impact was so great that the ground underneath Black Snake was cracked. The poor wizard was covered in dirt and blood. His lungs could barely function to give him the oxygen that he so desperately needed. For a second, fear settled over him and he feared that he was going to die at that very moment. He had pushed too far, he had unleashed something that wasn't normal and that was out to destroy him and anything that would be in his way. Freed was not a wizard at this point he was the Devil.

Freed took in the scene before him. A dark and sinister pride settled over his chest as he felt his lips pull back in a smile. He took his time coming back down to the ground. His wings lazily bringing him to a landing right next to Black Snake's head.

Slowly he reached down with his claws bringing Black Snake back up by his hair. Just like it was done to him. He looked around to try and find what he was looking for and then he spotted them, luckily, they weren't too far.

Freed dragged Black Snake across the arena to where his guildmates were. All of them looked at Freed with fire in their eyes. They looked like if they had the chance they would jump right in and fight him, but it wouldn't be for Black Snake. It would be for the fact that they thought they were better than Freed and thought they had a chance.

God just the idea made him want to laugh.

As he got closer to the dark guild he dragged Black Snake a few more feet until he threw him at his guild's feet.

Freed stood there and looked up at the members. His lips pulled up into a smile and he bowed.

The crowd around him gasped at his boldness.

He slowly rose his head and turned on his heels to walk away from the man on the floor.

There was another moment of silence as he felt the adrenaline in his body began to drain slowly through his wounds. The once warm pain that was just a faint echo was now screaming at him to stop. He could feel the coagulated blood pulling at his skin and something warm ooze out of him every time he breathed in.

Unbeknownst to him, Black Snake was pushing himself up. His eyes still wide with fear and his entire body was shaking. He looked up at his guild Master Ivan and through his golden mask he nodded his head once.

Black Snake's entire body froze. His head fell, and he pulled back his lips into a tight line. Then he began to speak. "You may have been able to take me on but wait until the entire Rave Tail Guild is tearing every little Fairy apart. We already took out two. What were their names? It was some brat and a front heavy blonde." He builds up the courage and laughed into the ground.

The sound alone was enough for Freed to lose control.

"I'm going to kill you!" Freed roared.

Before he was even able to turn, a bright white light blinded his eyes. Then he felt a deep chill crawl up his still monstrous legs. He looked down and saw them covered in ice.

"Lyon!" Freed screamed.

Laxus at this point was finally snapped into action.

"He's trying to bait Freed…" was all he said before he was consumed with lighting and swept away in a bright light that sent him flying.

He finally materialized again in front of Freed who at this point was able to free himself from one of the ice restraints.

Freed was stunned to stillness when his entire body was blocked from Black Snake. A painfully familiar black shirt filled his vision then strong arms wrapped around his body.

At that moment his entire body began to shut down. His knees grew weak and his entire weight was resting against Laxus' strong chest.

Laxus lent down so his lip was close to Freed's ear. "You're not a killer Freed."

Freed was finally given the chance to rest, then to his keen ears, he heard Black Snake call out.

"You don't deserve Fairy Tail's kindness. You're the one who abandoned them when they needed you the most. How can you stand there and let him comfort you when you're the one that let them down? You fucking traitor." Black Snake growled out. His body still too weak to get back on his feet.

That was Freed's breaking point. He gave up all control to his demon and let it consume him in a blinding rage.

"You bastard!"

He fought against Laxus' arms. His claws reaching out and digging into whatever available muscle he could reach. Freed trashed and punched Laxus to try and get at Black Snake. His eyes were wide and glowing violently and his power was getting hard to contain within Laxus' arms.

Laxus tried his hardest to ignore the sharp pain that was thrumming all through is his body.

In one last attempt to finally end this battle, he wrapped his arms even tighter against Freed. Then letting his magic consume him like before he shot through the arena and vanished into the winding hallways.

Freed was still screaming and roaring, even after he was pulled away from the fight.

Laxus kept whispering into Freed's ear that it was over, that he didn't need to keep on fighting. That he was safe and was able to rest and recover. He wanted to desperately ignore the fact that blood was staining his entire front. Then slowly Freed began to calm down, until he stopped altogether and stared off into nothingness.

His voice was soft when he whispered out Laxus' name. His body slumped against Laxus' and he lost consciousness.

A soft purple light surrounded his body and then he turned back to himself. His hair shortens back, the horns that had sprouted from the top of his head vanished into the air. His wings began to fade away into little particles while his legs looked like they painfully changed into something normal. Both his arms and legs were angry and red. Laxus almost thought that his skin must have burnt somehow with how much magical energy it took to change back to his normal self.

Coming through the hall Laxus could hear what sounded like a small group running up to him. For a short moment, he wanted it to be the Thunder Legion. Then he saw Lamia Scale running up desperately trying to find out what had happened to their dear friend.

Chelia was the first one to reach the couple. Her hands were raised and at the ready encased Freed in a soothing healing magic that instantly began to give him color.

Lyon walked around Chelia ready to take Freed into his arms and take him to the coliseum's infirmary.

Laxus was not having any of that. If Freed was going anywhere then Laxus was going to be right there.

"Back off Snow Princess…" Laxus growled out in warning.

Before Lyon was even able to come up with a rebuttal, Chelia was pushing past him. Her eyes were wide and frightful conveying emotions that Laxus did not know how to handle.

All Laxus could do at that moment was pull Freed closer to his chest.

"Please, he needs to get help. He won't be able to survive without it." Chelia cried.

Behind Lamia Scale, there was already Royal Medics levitating a small bed there way.

Jura took a step to the side and informed the Medics of Freed's condition. They were nodding their head and rushed forward; roughly pushing through Lyon and Chelia. When they reached Laxus they were stoic when they reached out to take him.

For a moment there was a part of his head that was screaming out to keep Freed close. Then there was a louder part that was telling him that Freed needed to get help. Without it, there was a chance that he wasn't going to make it. The fact that he couldn't feel Freed's magic was enough to make his blood run cold and his mind jumps to conclusions that did not end in the best light.

Finally, Laxus gain reason and moved to the bed that they had wheeled behind them. Gently he placed Freed on the bed. His eyes finally able to take in the extent of his injuries; his skin was a waxy color, the hole in his side had gotten bigger and all the bruises and scratches that littered his body stood out against the contrast of his pale skin.

When Freed was on the bed they began to sweep him quickly away and without hesitation, Laxus began to follow. That was until a Medic came up to him and said sadly.

"Only guild members are allowed to be with the mage."