Chapter 59

Being behind the scenes in any kind of major conflict was definitely not Gajeel's style. He was a fighter. A killer. He wanted to be bringing the heat to Jude Heartfilia personally. He wanted to be the one to capture Cobra and finally get some answers about the Phantom Lord War. He wanted to be on the front lines with Natsu and Gray and everyone else that was currently bearing down on the Heartfilia estate.

But he was stuck in an office, instead.

There was a constant flow of people and information going through Gajeel's office. Reports coming in, questions on what to do next, how to handle certain situations, new developments, progress on the war. It was a lot. But Gajeel was somehow managing to keep track of everything and issue orders effectively.

So far, Fairy Tail had the advantage.

Jude Heartfilia had been banking on Fairy Tail attacking him like they'd attacked Phantom Lord. Gajeel switched it up, however. Instead of sneaking people on the inside and attacking in waves, this was a full out assault on all sides. All sides were covered, all routes of escape were blocked. They'd cut the power for the entire block around Jude's estate, keeping him from sending for backup. All Jude Heartfilia had was his small militia of personal guards, and they were barely holding them off.

You see, Jude Heartfilia was an excellent businessman. But he was terrible at war strategies. Fairy Tail were pros. Jude Heartfilia's biggest mistake was pissing them off. They always won. Even if they had to team up with former enemies.

Standing alone, Fairy Tail would have struggled to take Heartfilia down. He lacked numbers, but he had highly trained, elite soldiers under his employ. Their skill made up for their numbers, and fighting Fairy Tail alone, Jude Heartfilia may actually have had the advantage. But add in Blue Pegasus' numbers and Sabertooth's heavy hitters, as well as the additional support of Cait Shelter and the new Fairy Tail members from the McGarden family... Jude Heartfilia was getting overwhelmed. He'd been prepared for Fairy Tail to attack... but not for everyone else to join in. He really should stop making so many enemies.

Even though this war was going quite smoothly, there were still some snags. And it was still very dangerous for everyone that Heartfilia saw as a target. Lucy and her daughter had been moved into the mansion for their safety, and Levy... she was currently with his father in the don's office, the safest place in the mansion, in case of attack. Jude Heartfilia had assassins and snipers in his employ, as well, and there were already reports of some of the mansion guards being picked off outside. Until those assassins were taken care of, Fairy Tail base of operations was essentially under siege. Nobody went in or out of the mansion. Nobody went near windows or doors.

Still, Fairy Tail had been prepared for this. Guards were stationed by the generators at all times, as the power to the mansion had been cut, as well. The mansion doors were barricaded, windows had been boarded well before the war started, and there was enough food and fresh water stored up to last them over a month, feeding everyone there comfortably. Gajeel had a specialist team working on getting rid of the hidden assassins, too, so they would not be a threat for much longer.

For now, Gajeel was focusing completely on the attack on the Heartfilia estate. They had to get Cobra, at all costs, and that's what he was worried about the most. They needed the answers he could provide... and then they needed to kill him. He knew far too much, and he was obviously willing to sell what he knew. But so far nobody on the front lines had seen even a glimpse of him. He could, of course, be holed up with Jude Heartfilia, but Gajeel found that unlikely. Either the bastard had escaped again, or he was hiding somewhere in the estate.

He was likely hiding, and hoping that Fairy Tail would leave once they found Jude Heartfilia. Gajeel made sure that the ground team knew to search every nook and crevice of that estate for him, and to bring him in alive. If Cobra hadn't escaped before the fighting started, there was no way he could have escaped at all. Every escape route was blocked, even the underground tunnels, which they only knew about because of Lucy's info. That was how she'd escaped the estate, after all. So there was no escape for Cobra this time.

It was just a waiting game now.

Levy looked at the playing board with critical eyes, analyzing every move she could make and every move her opponent could make. It was tough, she was playing someone very skilled, after all. But she finally made her move, sacrificing a pawn to gain the upper hand, and she looked up at her opponent with a cheery smile.

"Check." she said happily. Don Metalicana gave a soft chuckle as he analyzed the board.

"I wouldn't celebrate just yet, little one. The game is not over." he smirked, reaching for his knight. One move later, he sat back with a triumphant smirk. "I do believe that is check mate." He laughed at her disbelieving eyes as she looked over the board, trying to figure out how he did that. "While you were busy trying to corner my king, you left your own king defenseless. An easy, yet fatal mistake." he advised, reaching for a cigar. His one vice.

"Gajeel would make that mistake all the time, you know." the don chuckled as he lit his cigar. He clearly remembered a ten year old Gajeel constantly getting frustrated over losing so easily. "He hated this game at first. Once he got into it, he got rather competitive. Would always rush in to try and take my king as quickly as he could. Left his own king defenseless."

"I can imagine him doing something like that." Levy giggled, listening intently to the don's words. She didn't hear about Gajeel's childhood often, especially not from his father.

"He always got so mad that he never won." Metalicana continued with an amused grin. "Of course, I never pointed out his mistakes. The boy needed to learn on his own. It was my way of teaching him tact." He explained, smiling at Levy's amused giggling. "He improved, of course, with time... but he kept leaving his king open and he kept losing."

"Did he ever fix that?" Levy asked curiously, and the don grinned at her.

"Eventually." he chuckled. "It was his mother that helped him figure it out... indirectly, of course. She knew the importance of him learning strategy and tactics, see." he explained to his daughter-in-law. "But a nudge in the right direction now and then wouldn't hurt, she figured. So she went to him one day, sat him down in front of a chess board, and held up the King, telling him to imagine it was her. I tell you, the boy changed tactics right away. Started focusing more on defending his king. But that backfired, too, you see, because I then picked off his forces until he had nothing left." the don laughed merrily as he recalled seeing Gajeel's shocked face. Levy couldn't help but giggle, trying to imagine what it must have been like. "It took him a while to find a balance, but he got the hang of it much faster after that."

"And now?" Levy smiled. "Who wins more often now?" The don just gave her a grin that told it all, as he was filled with as much pride as humanly possible.

"I haven't won a game against him in years."

Woo, another chapter is up! The war is on! Unfortunately, we are following Gajeel and Levy... so you guys get to see what a mob war is like behind the scenes. Not as exciting lol but I'll try to make it interesting.

Anyways, I know this is a few hours early, but I won't get to update tomorrow. I'll be packing and moving from my dorm all day. Gah, I hate this time of year. So much physical labor.

Just in case y'all didn't figure it out, the chess story was to show Gajeel's prowess in strategy.

Anyways, thanks for reading!

-Nerdy12