Hello boys and girls. How goes?
This is a story that's been stuck in my head for like a year. I was in the middle of writing one Gajeel and Levy oneshot when this idea attacked my brain. Unlike my A-Z oneshots, this is an actual multi-chapter story. I haven't written one since my discontinued story Sen No Kotoba.
This is the prologue to my story. I'm going to put it up here. It's a bit vague because I want to slowly introduce the cast of characters and not bog you down. If you want to read more, please leave me a review.
And now, our feature presentation of Der Freischütz
The Magic Bullet
Originally a dive, it was renovated under new management. Now it is THE happening club this side of Crocus. Top of the line entertainment, great drinks, A-listers everywhere, and just a little bit of dark and seedy to feed your wild side. If you are into the party scene, you can't go wrong with The Magic Bullet. However, like with many club scenes, there is a dark side to it and it all leads to the owner, Bora Eminentia.
Bora was a low-level drug dealer for the White Fang gang who sold in clubs until he got busted for possession. Though the police suspected that he was into a lot more, that was all they could prove against him at the time. He spent six months in prison. During that time on ice, he decided to go to business for himself. And he came on the perfect idea. If you own the club, you can control the drug game.
When he got out, Bora made a big show about "going straight". He used the money he got from selling drugs to buy his first club. Calling it Titan's Nose, it was originally a bust. But he called in some of his former associates to supply the drugs and in no time at all, he was up and running. With the money he made on both club entrance fees, booze, women and drugs, Bora was swimming in money. So, like any business, he decided to expand. Within two years, he had six clubs and was raking in millions of dollars. Now, his business not only includes drug trafficking, but also loan sharking, intimidation, and sex trafficking. The best part, because he ran his business this side of the legit line, no cops came sniffing around.
Bora smiled from his office, overlooking the landscape that is The Magic Bullet. It was packed. Great. It looks like he'll be making a cool 500k easy.
"Sir." A rough voice called out to him.
Bora turned around. His personal bodyguard was staring at him. "What is it, Kurogane?" He asked.
Bora had to hand it to himself. Kurogane was a great choice as a bodyguard. The man just exuded intimidation. Long, dark hair, blood-red eyes, piercings on his eyebrows, nose and arms, a large, muscled frame with several scars on his forearms, Kurogane was a man not to be crossed. The man started out as a collector for debts and worked his way up to his personal bodyguard.
The bodyguard was wearing a dark blue suit, a black skintight shirt, black trousers, and a red tie. He had a Glock, holstered on his left hip, gloves on his hands and an aura that says "Don't fuck with me".
"Two things." The dark haired man replied. "One, you've just received a call from your bank in the Caymans and they need to speak to you. Two, our...new friends... have a shipment for us."
Bora nodded. "Set up a meeting with our friends." He told his bodyguard. "I'll be there in ten, fifteen minutes. I will call the bank."
"Good." Kurogane answered. He gave his employer a slight bow and left him.
Bora dug into his pocket, grabbed his phone, and pressed one of the numbers that he has on speed dial. After three rings, he got an answer.
"Cayman Bank and Trust." A female voice on the other end of the line answered. "We take your privacy and your security very seriously. My name is Lucia Loveless. How may I help you?"
"I'd like to move some money from my business account to my personal account." Bora told the woman.
"Very good, sir." Lucia replied. "Please enter your account number and security code."
Bora entered the numbers to both of his account and security code on his phone.
"Thank you, sir." The woman answered. "Now, may I have the last password please for security purposes?"
"Prominence." He said.
"Thank you, sir." Lucia said in a pleasant tone. "Identity confirmed. Bora Eminentia."
"That I am." Bora laughed. "Now that we've got that squared away, I'd like to move $2.5 million from business to my personal."
"I can do that right now." She answered.
Bora could hear the clicking of keys from her end.
"There we go, sir." She said. "You will receive an email confirming the transaction. Please click the link and continue from there to finish the transaction."
"Thank you, Miss Loveless." Bora said in gratitude.
"Thank you, sir." She responded. "Now is there anything else I can do for you?"
"No, thank you." Bora answered.
"Thank you for choosing Cayman Bank and Trust." Lucia replied.
Bora pushed the call end button. Now he had enough money on hand. He would need the 2.5 to get what he wanted.
There was a knock on his door.
"Yeah?" Bora asked.
"Our friends are here." A voice belonging to Kurogane answered.
"Send them in, Kurogane." Bora told his bodyguard.
The metal pierced man said nothing as he went to get the people. As Bora waited, he turned on his computer and went to check his email. He had one new message. He opened it. It was from his bank and there was a link. He clicked on it. It asked for the club owner's information. He punched it in as Kurogane led two new men in. Bora, having finished the task, got up from his seat.
What he didn't see was that on the bottom right of the screen, an icon of a black gear was spinning. His screen flickered a bit and then returned to normal.
Bora looked at the two men in his office. One was a man with sharp long yellow hair. That man had a vicious smile on his face, like the cat that ate the canary. The other man was a dark skinned man with spiky brown hair and a calm demeanor on his face.
"So you represent Der Freischütz." Bora asked.
"Ya doubt us? Is that why you had your man pat us down?" The man with the yellow hair grinned. "I'm Zancrow. That's Azuma. And yeah, we do."
"In our line of work, I feel it's always best to be a little cautious." The club owner asked. "You never know who's playing for what team."
Both of the men pulled up the sleeve of their right forearm. There was an inscription tattooed on their arm.
Wenn du die Toten kleidest und inmitten von ihnen spielen willst, sollst du deren Reihe beitreten.
Bora looked at them and smiled.
"My apologies for doubting you." He said. "Now we can get to business."
The man known as Azuma adjusted in his seat. "Our employer has finished his initial investigation on your operation and has concluded that you have the infrastructure needed to move our product."
"I've been waiting for this day, gentlemen." Bora laughed. "The day I'll finally be able to sell 'Magic Bullet'. I have a feeling that we'll be able to do a lot of business together."
"All we need is your first payment." Zancrow said. "2 and a half, cash. No e-trail."
"You'll have it first thing in the morning." Bora told them. "I will leave your payment in a locker at the gym on Fourth and Union. I'll text you the specifics later."
"Very good." Azuma said.
The two took their leave of the room, leaving Bora and Kurogane alone in the room. The long haired man looked at his employer.
"Who is Def Freischütz?" Kurogane asked.
Bora snickered lightly. "He's my ticket to getting control of the drug markets in Crocus, Magnolia...maybe even all of Fiore."
"Fiore? Is that wishful thinking?" The bodyguard scoffed.
Bora chuckled. "Maybe. But it doesn't hurt to dream big.
Kurogane silently nodded.
Bora returned to his desk and turned back on his computer. What he saw on the screen made him furrow his eyebrows.
"Kurogane, come over here." Bora asked.
The bodyguard walked over to his boss.
"Take a look on the screen."
Kurogane saw a spinning black gear on the computer screen.
"What is that suppose to be?" The bodyguard asked.
"I don't know." Bora replied. "Do you?"
"I don't know shit about computers." The long haired man told him.
Bora clicked on the black gear. When he did, it made a giggling sound.
"The hell?" Bora yelled.
He tried tapping on the keyboard. As he did, more giggling black gears popped up. The bar owner hit the monitor. All of a sudden, the CD drive ejected, music started playing on his music player, the giggling black gears got louder and louder. Bora had enough of his computer. So he pulled on the power cord and disconnected it from the outlet.
"I'll get a new one." Bora huffed.
All of a sudden, the two of them heard the club music stop. Kurogane put a hand on his gun and peeked out of the office window. That's when he saw flashing red and blue lights. His eyes widened.
"It's the police." He told his boss.
"Let's get out the escape door." Bora commanded.
Kurogane took Bora by his arm and led him to the back stock room of the Magic Bullet club. The police were busy arresting his patrons. The boss figured that that would give him a opportunity to escape undetected. Kurogane opened the door to the stock room. To anyone else, this was the place where overstock liquor was kept. But to those who knew (which would be Bora and Kurogane), there was a secret door behind one of the shelves. The long haired man went to it immediately and opened the door.
The door led to the alley outside of Bora's club. The two figured they were home free.
"Now we need to get to my house without anyone seeing us to establish an alibi." Bora told his bodyguard.
"Nice night for a stroll, eh Bora Eminentia?" A voice called out to him.
Bora and Kurogane turned to their left and saw a muscular blond man with a lightning bolt scar on his right eye. He had twenty uniformed policemen flanking him with their weapons drawn. His arms were crossed and he had a superior smirk on his face.
Bora glared at the blond officer. "Laxus Dreyar." He spat.
"Lieutenant Laxus Dreyar." He corrected. "And I would suggest you two put your hands against the wall. Any sudden moves towards me or your body and you're Swiss, as in the cheese."
Bora and Kurogane did as they were directed. Lieutenant Dreyar nodded to two of his officers.
"Pat them down." He commanded. "Seize everything."
The officers did as they were told, taking Kurogane's gun and their phones, placing them in an evidence bag.
"So what brings you to my club tonight, Dreyar?" Bora asked.
"You're under arrest for drug trafficking." The blond man responded.
"You raided my club just for that?" He laughed. "Must not have a life."
"That's right. I don't." Laxus quipped back. "So we are going to be taking everything from your clubs, go through it with a fine tooth comb. I wonder what we are going to find?"
"You need to get laid, Dreyar." The club owner sneered. "You know, I have a bunch of girls in there if you want to... you know."
"Get him out of here." Laxus told his officer.
Bora was cuffed and hauled away by the officer into a police car.
Laxus then turned his attention to Kurogane. "And who are you, sunshine?" He asked.
Kurogane huffed. "I'm not talking." He said gruffly.
"You're not?" The officer mock-whined. "How sad. It's a long trip from here to the precinct. Now it's going to be a quiet one."
The bodyguard said nothing.
"Well, you're coming with me." Laxus told Kurogane.
Lieutenant Dreyar reached for his cuffs, pulled Kurogane's hands behind his back and slapped them on. The long haired man reached for a metal stud on his right forearm and pulled it off and palmed it. Laxus then put his palm on Kurogane's and grabbed the stud. He then flicked the bodyguard's wrist discretely.
"Alright then. Take him away too." Laxus told another officer. "Put him in a different cell than Bora. No one is to interrogate anyone until I get there."
Kurogane was taken away in a separate police car. As Laxus watched he put the stud in a tiny evidence bag. He pulled out his phone and dialed some numbers.
"Yeah, we got Titan Nose." He said. "I'm going to put Doranbolt in charge of collecting the rest of the evidence and then head to the precinct to start the interrogations."
Laxus nodded as the person on the other end conveyed some instructions to him.
"Understood, captain." Laxus replied and he hung up.
Putting his phone in his pocket, the lieutenant headed over to Doranbolt, who was carrying a PC in his arms.
"Doranbolt." Laxus called out to him.
The officer in question looked up and saw his lieutenant. "Hey Lieu." He greeted. "We might have a problem."
"Problem?" Laxus asked.
"See this computer?" Doranbolt said as he lifted it for his lieutenant to see. "When we went to turn it on, we found that there were multiple black gears on his screen."
"So?" The blond man asked.
"We believe that there is a third party in play." His subordinate told him. "This looks like the work of Shadowgear."
"The hacker?" Laxus said incredulously.
"It's a theory." Doranbolt answered. "We won't know until we get it examined.
"Alright. Bag all computers, smart phones, anything with a microchip. Take them to COMPFOR. I want the technicians working on this immediately. Tell them I want Laytis on lead." He told him. "In the mean time, you're in charge. Bag and tag everything. If there is a crumb on the floor, I want to know about it."
"Yes sir." Doranbolt replied. Afterwards, he left to place the evidence in the police car, leaving Laxus alone in his thoughts.
"Shadowgear, huh?" Laxus said to himself. "Things are going to get complicated, I can tell."
Far away, in an enclosed room, long slender fingers were flying on a laptop keyboard, typing into the address bar for Fiore Broadcasting News Network. The article on the main page read "Bar Owner Arrested for Drug Trafficking".
There was a chuckle from the person typing.
"Another one bites the dust." A decidedly womanly voice laughed. "Bora's broke and as a side bonus, he just got arrested. Chalk one up for Shadowgear."
"And don't forget her friend, the lovely Lucia Loveless." Another female voice replied.
"That was great, Lucia." Shadowgear laughed, saying the name Lucia in a teasing voice. "If it wasn't for you, we would have never gotten him to trust us."
"It was you, Shadowgear." Lucia said in the same teasing tone. "You sent him the email that sent him a worm to copy all his files."
"And now we are 35 million dollars richer." Shadowgear laughed. "I've prepared the usual counters. I'm destroying the phishing website and using the dispersal program to send his money in separate accounts as it is bounced all over the world."
Shadowgear chuckled as she logged into an anonymous bulletin board and began typing on the board.
Hello boys and girls,
Shadowgear here.
Just stole from local gang leader and gangster wannabe, Bora Eminentia. Stole 35 mil. Now he's under arrest. Enclosed in the attached files are my proof.
I believe I've got the top score now, my lovelies.
See you next crime
Shadowgear
She posted the message on the board,
"What did you post?" Lucia asked
"I copied his files on his computer and posted them." Shadowgear explained.
"Nice." Lucia laughed.
There was a knock at the door. Shadowgear and Lucia looked in that direction. Lucia went over to the door and opened it. On the other side, there was a young man with salmon-colored hair, a white scarf that looked like scales, and an infectious boyish smile.
"Hey, Lucy." He greeted.
"Hey, Natsu." Lucia, now known as Lucy, replied with a smile. "What brings you over?"
"Have you and Levy applied for classes yet?" He asked.
Shadowgear got up from her chair. "We were about to go over there now."
Natsu waved at the girl. "Hey, Levy." He greeted. "Anyways, we need to hurry down to the campus square so we can get into the electives we want.
"Me and Lucy will be right there, Natsu." Levy, also known as Shadowgear, responded.
"Alright." Natsu said. "I'll meet you girls in the lobby." With that, the salmon-haired guy left.
Lucy closed the door, then she smiled at her friend slash accomplice.
"That was a close one." Lucy snorted. "Thank god he's not quick on the uptake."
"And yet, he's still your boyfriend." Levy teased.
"At least I have a boyfriend." Lucy teased back. "Now come on. You need to stop being Shadowgear, hacker extraordinaire and go back to being Levy McGarden, senior at Magnolia University."
"You got it." The hacker laughed. She shut down her laptop and got a light jacket from her closet.
"You think the authorities will ever catch us?" Lucy asked.
"No way." Levy snorted, waving her hand back and forth in front of her face. "I mean, who would believe that two innocent girls could ever be stupid enough to steal from bad guys."
Lucy laughed. "I guess you're right." She said.
The two left their dorm room. Levy was right. Who would believe that the greatest hacker of our time was a sweet little girl like Levy McGarden?
And that's the prologue.
This story came about because I wanted to give Levy a new facet in her personality. Usually, in AU fics, she's always the girl who's in the wrong place at the wrong time. She's helpless and scared until she meets Gajeel and everything changes. Other than that, she's basically the same as she is in Fairy Tail. I wanted to give her a more manipulative, more cunning side to her, give her some rough edges so to speak, on top of her normal personality. So this story about a hacker started slowly coming together. You'll see more of her personality in the next couple of chapters.
To be honest, I had a hard time coming up with a title for this story. The title is German for "The Freeshooter" and it comes from a German opera. The reason for this connection will be explained in later chapters but those who know about Der Freischütz will get an idea. There will be a German motif in the story which will be explained as well.
The German inscriptions that Zancrow and Azuma have on their arms is translated as "If thou wouldst dress the dead and play amongst them, thou shalt join their ranks."... At least according Google translate. It's probably mangled. If there are native German speakers reading, if you could leave a better translation in your review, I'd appreciate it.
Anyways, is this a story you want to see more of? Loved it, hated it, have no opinion one way or the other? Leave me a review. I'd love to hear from you.
Until next time,
A. Angel.