Gray was introduced just after Juvia and Carla finished on stage. As before, he performed incredible acrobatic tricks and stunts that impressed everyone in the crowd. Everyone that is except for Mard Geer of course, he just sat that there, watching the young man perform with a bored expression on his face and eyes filled with disgust.

"Can't believe these fools find this entertaining." He thought. "And why do abominations like him, let themselves be seen in our fair city? Why can't they just creep away into the sewers or something? No one wants them here anyway."

Coins were being thrown on stage again and Gray started to collect them. Mard looked over and noticed a pile of rotten fruit and vegetables being dumped just outside the market. It gave him a nasty idea. He whispered an order to a solider and then, just as Gray was standing up from collecting the last coin, the solider threw a rotten tomato right into his face. Mard and half of the crowd started to laugh at the sudden attack.

"Ah!" Gray cried out.

Some of the juice had gotten into his eye, he wiped his face rapidly, trying to get it out so the burning would stop. Unfortunately this caused his scarf-mask to fall off and just like that, the monster was full exposed before the whole audience. Every man, woman, and child there became speechless with terror when they saw his whole face. Never in their lives could they have pictured anything more horrible.

A blood bright gash of ragged-skinned horror had been sculpted into the flesh of his mouth while blacked ash had been permanently scorched on to the skin surrounding his lips. It was a permanent and frightful grin that exposed all his teeth and scarred cheeks and a chin that held it up. It was grotesque, scary, atrocious, blood-red, and ash-black. It was the stuff of nightmares. A curse upon humanity.

"Jellal, what's happening?" Juvia asked. "Why has everything gone quiet?"

But she was quick to figure out what had taken place when frightened screams came from all around, followed by words and remarks such as,

"My God! He's hideous!"

"Is that a mask?"

"No it's his face!"

"I've never seen anything so ugly in my entire life!"

"He really is a beast!"

"No he's a demon!"

"A monster!"

"It's a perversion of nature!"

"It's an abomination!"

"A living nightmare!"

Then again came the laughter. More laughter. So many of them laughing and mocking him. But the rare few who didn't, like Natsu, just continued to look at him speechlessly. They weren't being cruel to him, they just didn't know how else to react to something like this.

As for Gray, he first just stood there frozen stiff, petrified by everyone's fear and mockery of him. He felt ashamed and disgraced. He felt that it was wrong for him to even be alive and among people. But most of all, he felt hurt. He felt terribly hurt, and angry, and frustrated. When was this going to stop? How long were people going to treat him like a freak? How much longer was he going to have to put up with this?

"Go on! Laugh!" He spat at them bitterly. "Laugh at me! Laugh all you want! Laugh yourselves to death! It's not like I'm really human or have any real feelings! I'm just a freak show after all!"

He started to do a little mock-dance.

"I am the freak show! I am the freak show! Watch me smile!"

Jellal didn't like where this was going. He always knew Gray hated how other people treated him but he had never ranted about it like this. Not in front of an audience. Not in such an unhinged and manic way.

"I better put an end to this fast!" He thought, quickly running to close the curtains.

Suddenly one member of the crowd jumped on stage and shoved Gray off and on to the ground. Before he could react, men cornered and overpowered him.

"Get him!"

"Whip him!"

"Beat him!"

"Tie him down!"

They grabbed him, he tried to fight, but not even his strength could be greater than that of twelve men. He was tied down to a pillory, and people began to throw more rotten fruit and vegetables at his face. Rocks and stones were pelted at him as well.

"Stop!" Jellal shouted. "This is unlawful! You can't do this!"

But his voice was lost in the crowd as was his body as he tried to get up there and help Gray. The disfigured man tried in vain to break loose but the ropes binding him were just too strong. Then one tore the shirt off of his back, beating it with a whip.

"Sir!" Natsu said to Mard. "I request permission to stop this cruelty."

But the judge did not answer. He merely just watched the wretched display, staring at Gray as if he had seen a ghost.

"Sir? Sir! You cannot allow this to happen! Do something!"

When the whip finally broke his skin, Gray cried out in agony and when Juvia heard his cry, she knew he was in danger. Relying on her hearing and Carla's guidance, she did her best to get through the crowd. With each painful cry Gray let out, Juvia felt as if she herself was getting mercilessly whipped. Just hearing him suffer, hurt her worse than anything in her life. She couldn't bear it. Then the cries stopped and she couldn't hear him anymore. That's when she became really afraid.

At last she made it up to the pillory and before that whip could come down for another lash, Carla jumped and clawed at him, giving Juvia a chance throw herself right on top of Gray. She wrapped her arms around him and shielded him with her body as much as she could.

"Stop!" Juvia pleaded tearfully. "Please! Stop this!"

"Wretched animal!" The man with the whip said tossing Carla aside and then turning his attention to Juvia. "Move woman!"

"No!" She refused.

"I said move!"

"No!"

"Last warning! Move or you'll both get a real good lashing!"

"If you want to hurt him any further, you'll have to kill me first!"

But Juvia just shook her head and held Gray tighter. He wanted to tell her to get off. He wanted to tell her to leave him, to let herself get whipped too just to protect his miserable hide. But the beatings had him so weak and in pain that he could barely speak. But it was also the young woman's words and actions that had made him silent. He couldn't believe that she was actually that determined to protect him. So determined that she'd risk her very life. It was beyond anything he could have ever imagined.

"Stupid little wench!" The man said raising his whip again. "If that's the way you want it! So be it!"

"Enough!" Natsu said jerking the whip from the man and throwing it down. "I can't stomach another moment of this! It's bad enough that you're beating down an innocent man, but to raise a hand against a woman? You should be ashamed of yourself! You all should be ashamed!"

"Captain Dragneel! Get down from there at once!" Mard ordered.

"Yes sir." Natsu said respectfully. "Just as soon as I aid these poor people."

"They're none of your concern! Leave them be!"

"I will not!"

"It is a direct order! Get back over here now!"

"No!"

"How dare you defy me! I am your superior! You are forbidden to disobey my orders!"

"Unless my defiance is in the best interest of her majesty or England! And I am certain that queen would not approve of this horrible display and insist that I put a stop to it immediately! And if you do not believe me, you can ask her yourself."

Mard said nothing and his blood boiled as he watched Natsu use the dagger from his belt to cut the ropes holding Gray. Once he was finally free from the ropes, he dropped straight to the ground.

"Gray!" Juvia gasped feeling him fall.

He tired to get up, but he was in too much pain to move. His back was sore, his legs were sore, his arms were sore. He felt like his entire body was on fire and any movement he made just burned him even more. He was getting dizzy, and everything around him was going black. Then he was out.

"Oh Gray." Juvia sobbed. "Oh my dear sweet Gray."

She laid down by his side, held him close, and started crying. It was such a terrible day, the way all those people were so cruel to him, and she could hardly bear it. She wept for him. It just wasn't fair. Why did everyone have to treat him this way? He was no less human than anyone else. He felt pain like everyone else, he had hopes and dreams like everyone else, and he wanted be accepted like everyone else. Why couldn't the world just see that? She was blind even she could see that he was just a man who wanted to be given love and compassion just as every other human being wanted.

The crowd finally began to disperse and Jellal rushed toward the pillory as fast as he could. He gently moved Juvia from Gray's body while Natsu lifted the unconscious man on to his back.

"I've got him." Natsu said. "Where do you all live? I'll bring him there."

"We just live in that carriage over there." Jellal said. "I'll show you where to lay him down."

Jellal led the way holding one of Juvia's hands while she tearfully held on to Gray's with her other hand. Mard watched them, feeling a mix of anger and terror. Anger at Natsu for going against him and terror at the sight of Gray. However he wasn't terrified for the reasons most people would be when they saw his face.

"This cannot be. It cannot!" He thought in mortified, disbelief. "It's just not possible! It can't be him! He's dead!"

Apparently there was more to this judge than just a power-hungry, corrupted, bigot