A/N- HEEEEEEEY GUYS, LOOK IT'S A NEW CHAPTER! *cowers behind chair* Okay look, I know that this took 3 weeks to get out, but I HAVE REASONS.

1. School is evil.

2. I need to practice my clarinet because festival is coming up.

3. IT'S FREAKIN' GAJEVY WEEK I WAS ADMIRING THE BEAUTIFUL STRORIES AND ART!

4. It took weeks for 3 people to vote and decide who will die, I wanted to see if anyone else would.

Alright, enough of my lame excuses. You may have noticed that this story has 16 reviews. If you actually read A/Ns (kudos to you patient people who do) then you might remember that I said that the 15th reviewer would help me plot Kakus- *cough* fucktard *cough* fate. The 15th reviewer was Write-A-Rainbow, and we are corresponding now.

To the chapter, Allons-y!

It was happening again.

For a few months after the incident, Levy had had nightmares of that night, those memories. They had later stopped, and not appeared since, but now they were replaced by a different, and infinitely more terrifying set of events.

Now she walked, Jet and Droy by her sides, but this time Droy had not simply been swept away. Instead a sharp blade seemed to sprout from his chest, blood trickling out of his mouth. She heard a low chuckle from behind her and whirled around, only to suddenly hear a scream from Jet as he was slashed in the same pattern as before. Both men fell, unmoving, scarlet pools spreading around their prone figures. She backed away slowly, unable to tear her eyes from the bodies that lay sprawled on the ground. Her back hit rough bark, and she looked back only to see them nailed crudely to the tree's trunk, heads hanging at an unnatural angle. Crimson eyes glinted from high in the leaves, and he slowly stepped out of the shadows, canines glinting in the low light. With all the grace of a trained predator he leaped towards her trembling figure.

And then she woke again to her own bloodcurdling scream.

Opening blurred eyes Levy found herself in a sterile white room, surrounded by beeping instruments. She looked down to see herself in a hospital bed with crisp white sheets covering her lower half. Trying to move them off she suddenly felt a searing pain run throughout her body, paralyzing her muscles, and she almost screamed again. Gritting her teeth, Levy slowly pulled down the thin blankets, and wished she hadn't.

Even under the gown she wore there was no mistaking the sharp lines that cut across her thin body in a torrent, leaving hardly any visible skin. Any part that had not been completely covered by the dress she wore was almost shredded, and some that were. They were not deep enough to scar, but that somehow made them even more terrible, more terrifying than if he had cut her to the marrow.

It was then that a nurse rushed into the room, quickly sedating the sobbing girl and pulling the sheets back over her limp form before once again leaving to tell a doctor.

When she woke again Lucy was at her bedside.

"Hi Levy."

"W-where?" she managed to croak through a sore throat.

"We brought all of you to Magnolia Hospital."

Levy's eyes widened and she tried to sit up only to be held down by her friend. "Jet, D-droy, are they okay? Where are they?"

Lucy looked away. "Droy was only knocked out, he'll be fine in just a bit. And Jet…" she sighed before continuing "He's not doing so good, lost a lot of blood before we got here. They still have him in the ICU."

Levy resisted the urge to cry, unshed tears glittering in her eyes. "This is my fault, I shouldn't have let them come with me…" she frowned "But they shouldn't have come, those stupid bakas."

Lucy smiled. "Now there's the Levy I know. How are you feeling?"

"Besides hurting like crazy, not too bad." She replied, a small smile on her features. But while her wounds would leave no mark, her mind was shaken, badly. Levy had never led much of an eventful life, nor had she gotten into a situation this serious before. For something like this to happen to her of all people seemed unlikely, if not impossible. The only thing close to this scale had been… a long time ago. The most painful memory she had, worse than the events of a year before.

Seeing the pained expression on her friend's face, Lucy tried to change the subject.

"Anyways, I'll be getting back to Fairy Tail, they're not just gonna let this pass." Her eyes seemed to blaze as she spoke. "We will get revenge for you Levy, I swear it."

Levy nodded, Lucy's words giving her little comfort. "Then I guess I'll rest up. Come back later and tell me what happens, okay?"

"Hai, I'll see you later."

And with that Lucy stepped out of the room.

When she stepped back into Fairy Tail the main hall was a whirlwind of activity. People were discussing strategy, collecting weapons, or even just arguing over what to do. Master Makarov was nowhere to be seen, presumably secluded in his office. Dodging people she quickly navigated up the stairs and in front of the door, knocking quickly.

"Come in."

She quickly entered and shut the door behind her, cutting off the rush of sound. Makarov was sitting behind his desk, head in his hands. He looked up as she came in front of him, a somber yet sorrowful expression adorning his features.

"I presume you want to know our next actions."

Lucy nodded. "We have to do something."

"I have called Erza, Natsu, and Gray, they should be here shortly."

As if on cue someone knocked sharply on the door. Lucy opened it to find her teammates standing there, faces barely concealing righteous rage. Even Natsu's features were serious, his infinite quarrel with Gray put aside. When all had entered, Makarov began to speak.

"You all know of the attack of Levy, Jet, and Droy. What you do not know however is the reason why. Three days ago I assigned Levy an S-class mission. She had to hack into the country of Bosco and find their weapons dealer. I trusted her with this only because she was the only person with the capabilities to complete it. Now, I realize this may have been a mistake. However-"

"NO SHIT IT WAS A MISTAKE! WHY WOULD YOU GIVE SOMETHING THAT DANGEROUS TO HER, SHE COULD'VE BEEN KILLED!" Natsu's loud exclamation rang through the small office like a dragon's roar, blotting out every other sound from the next room. He stood, face inches from Makarov's, hands almost splintering the desk underneath them. His teeth were bared, canines dangerously sharp. Makarov stared silently forward, expression unreadable.

"However, whether she had completed it beforehand or not, we now know the culprit. You may have already heard of the Phantom Lord dealer. They are a quite prominent member of the underground, but too good at cleaning up to find evidence against. This is the first time they've operated so close to home. I've let them go off on the sidelines as long as nothing major happened, but this…" he paused, his face thunderous "… is unacceptable. Needless to say we will take action. However if it is in the government's radar, mission or not, they will have to act against us. That's why I have called all of you here. We will be launching a covert operation into their headquarters to both seek information regarding their deal and with Bosco, and taking out Jose, along with Levy's attacker."

"Whoever it was, they will soon regret it." Erza stated solemnly.

"Then I suppose it would not surprise you to hear that it was the one they call Kurogane?"

Lucy looked around confusedly. "Who's 'Kurogane'?"

Natsu turned to the side. "He's nothing special."

"Do not underestimate our enemy Natsu, it is not for kindness that he is named Black Steel. Gajeel 'Kurogane' Redfox is one of the strongest people in Phantom Lord, along with the team called the Element 4. He, like Natsu, also wields one of the Dragon weapons."

She looked at the rose-haired man with surprise. "I thought those were almost lost to history, how did he get one?"

"Same way I did probably." He muttered, extremely pissed.

"However, unlike Natsu's weapon of flame, he mastered the element of metals, or more specifically, iron."

Lucy's eyes widened. "And Levy was bound with… oh god."

Makarov nodded. "Exactly. So I advise that only Natsu try to defeat him"

"That iron bastard will fry." Natsu hissed, small gouts of flame coming off of him. His powers were vastly different. He had another channel from his mouth, almost a second stomach, which held highly flammable gas. This stomach let him seep the gas out from any part of his body, and ignite it with tiny sparks from his pores, covering his fire-proof skin in searing flames. By this he could also channel it into his mouth for a fiery blast. Natsu also had the ability to 'eat' fire by his mouth condensing it into gas as it entered, the liquid moving to the second stomach. This held true for all Dragon wielders according to their respective elements, giving different abilities. While all could channel the roar, Natsu cloaked himself in flame, yet the Kurogane built a set of iron armor-like scales. Only one Dragon could hope to defeat another.

"I will explain the details of the plan as we get there, but for now we must go."

And with that they departed through the office's back door and into the night, ready to make their move.

Arriving at the depot, they quickly enacted their plan. Erza took one side of the building while Gray focused on the other, quickly climbing the high fence and avoiding the coils of barbed wire. Natsu, Lucy, and Makarov headed to the back. Natsu melted a small hole in the metal, only large enough for them to fit through, and just avoided the sweeping spotlight of a guard. Getting to the back door, Lucy went to work, quietly picking the lock. Entering, Natsu split away to search for Kurogane, while the other two headed to the top floor. Lucy would get on the computer to find evidence against Phantom, while Makarov confronted Jose. Gray and Erza would keep the small fry away until the other three completed their tasks. If all went well, they could be in and out within an hour.

Of course it didn't go well.

As soon as they located Jose's office and found he wasn't there, Makarov departed elsewhere. This left Lucy in the darkened room, the steady hum of the computer her only companion.

Or so she thought.

As the door shut silently behind her, a dark figure with blazing crimson eyes stole up behind the oblivious girl. It was only when a long rapier-like blade was held to her throat did she notice, a sharp intake of breath escaping her involuntarily.

"Well well, looks like a fairy wandered in, gihihi."

Okay, looks like things are really HEATING UP NOW! (ahahahaha I so punny) Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter, sorry if it's reeeeeeally late, and hope to see you again soon!

Carlygrl15- Meh, I could bear them before the timeskip, but after it was more like 'SHOVE OFF, LEVY DOESN'T LIKE YOU YA DAMN PEDOS!' As for killing them off… *cackles* you'll just have to see, won't you?

IxiaLiliana- Yep, there will be deviations from the canon storyline, but it will still be tied to the manga mostly.

Lexie loves anime- Me and Write-A-Rainbow are corresponding, and *chuckles darkly* you have no idea.

Yukiiaroo- I do love my capslock. Yeah, I usually write these all at once so a little error is to be expected. Really don't like self-insert stories though. You don't read fanfiction to put yourself there, you read it to see all your favorite characters in different scenarios, different worlds. It's not the M-rating I don't read, but smut. (Really don't know where my life would be without having read Hard Liquor, Sick, or any number of other beautiful stories.) I thank you for your respect.

Random-Dudette98- Firstly, I'm happy that you appreciated the timeskip.

Secondly, WOO-HOO another person on the 'Modern-Fairy-Tail-Is-Awesome' train!

Thirdly, I really had to, plus it acted as a channel for what I wished she'd do to them.

Fourthly, Ehehehehe, yep.

Fithly, life is always full of surprises.

Sixthly, good 'cause you're stuck with it.

Seventhly, yes, but it will be minor.

Eighthly, yes, yes I am.

Ninthly, as I said to lexie loves anime a while back, be my guest. *throws Kakusu into screaming mob*

Tenthly, OMG TEN!

Write-A-Rainbow- ALL HAIL THY 15TH REVIEWER! Yeah, had a good time figuring them out. It's alright, the only reason I keep up so well with P.M.s is I can get on fanfiction on my 3ds, which I have pretty much 24/7. And I can't actually TYPE as much as I'd like because I have to steal the laptop every time. *screams internally*

Fred and George Weasley Twins- Silly boys, of course he goes overboard, this is Gajeel-Kurogane-Sadistic-Little-Shit-Redfox we speak of.

Anyways, hope the next update is sooner, have a nice day/night whenever the hell you're reading this, and see you guys next time!

-Tetsryu