I have been reading 'Writing with Emotion, Tension and Conflict' by Cheryl St. John and she really helped me figure out where this fic is going. Its a book I highly recommend to writers of all types and levels! Also thanks to some of her exercises, I watched all three Expendable movies to get into the hype and mindset of action sequences. Its a lot of action and reaction which takes a bit out of you, ya know?

Enjoy the ride peeps. More to come!

Be warned. Some graphic action scenes are present in this one!


Bedlam

Freed recovered faster than he figured he would. With pain blossoming from the back of his head and his vision blurring every couple of seconds, he stumbled towards his fallen sword. He would have grabbed it had it not been for Mira who stepped into his way.

"Gonna finish me off?" he asked in a slurry drawl.

"I'm not that person anymore, Freed. Whatever you and Laxus cooked up will be stopped."

Broadening her stance, she lunged forward and kicked high with her right stiletto that carried such momentum to make a complete rotation in the air for her left foot to find its mark. Even though his vision is crap, Freed knew the signature attack as soon as her first kick landed on his jaw, the pointed heel biting into his lip. The second kick landed with precision on his stomach to force him off his feet and skidding on his back. Her Demon Kick had quite a punch, he thought as his vision went black. Mira watched with a sad face as his body slammed into the gym floor, skidding along a couple more feet before finally resting in the middle of the gym.

Not wasting a moment, Erza snatched up Freed's sword and cautiously approached the hooded man. She is wary because when they exchanged punches, he had blocked and returned every single one. There are very few who can keep up with her speed, so from that alone she knows this one is dangerous. As she walked closer, the hooded man held his head as he tried to stand up.

"Don't move," she warned as she pointed the blade towards his throat.

The hood turned towards her and for a second, she saw a red mark on the left side of his face. Eyes narrowed into slits, Erza angled the sword to move the hood away from his face. Sensing her plan, the man jerked his head away and kicked at her ankle, knocking her off her feet.

"Erza!" Mira yelled out in concern.

Growling with annoyance, Erza pushed herself up to find the hooded man limping towards the doorway.

"Hold it!" she ordered, using the sword as a crutch to stand up.

The hooded one did not heed her warning and the fury coursing through Erza's veins fueled her next action. With a vicious swing, she threw the sword at the hooded man's back. The blade sunk into the door inches from where the man's hand rested to push it open. The sword swayed back in forth from its new horizontal position in the door like a fish jumping out of water.

In response, the hooded man raised one hand and snapped his fingers. A small little cannon ball suddenly rolled toward Erza's feet and exploded in a giant cloud of thick smoke and bright flashes of light. Not buying the trick, she dived through the smoke with a growl, but the man was gone.

Clenching her fists tight, Erza glared at the empty doorway where her prey escaped through. The adrenaline coursed fast and heavy through her veins, making her feel alive and awake more than ever.

Walking over to her friend and former rival, Mirajane noticed the shaking of the red head's arms and the dangerous gleam in her dark eyes. "Erza...are you alright? You look pale."

The red head nodded grimly, pressing her palms against her things to try and hide the shaking digits, "Its just adrenaline. You?"

Mira winced as she rubbed at her legs, "May have strained or pulled a few muscles. That kick takes a lot of momentum and I haven't used it in years."

Looking at the gym, she noticed the riot still going strong. It seems only minutes went by since Freed appeared and no one had yet noticed one of the doorways are clear. Erza above all her emotions of anger, frustration and excitement felt dread. There is no way that person could be who she suspected. Not with such a mark on his face

She had thought him dead all those years ago. He had to be. Erza preferred his ghost to him being alive.

'Please let me be wrong,' she begged to the air.


Levy's vision seemed to blur with the tears in her eyes and the break neck speed as she ran down the hallway towards Makarov's office. Whipping around a corner, she skidded to a stop with a look of horror.

Before the main offices are Natsu and Redfox exchanging savage blows like professional boxers, only this was for blood. With a one-two punch, Natsu aimed for Gajeel's nose but the man caught his fist with a wide smile. Snarling, Natsu whirled around the in the opposite direction to slam his free elbow into the bridge of Gajeel's nose. Using the opportunity of having Natsu's back to him, Gajeel dug his foot into the bend of his right leg, causing the pink haired male to lose his balance and send his vicious elbow strike into his target's hip. Grunting in pain, Gajeel landed a knee blow on the other's back, sending him flying forward.

She clutched onto the corner of the hallway as Natsu used the new forward momentum to roll to a stop. His dark eyes flashed with focus, heavy sweat dampening his bangs into floppy mats of hair. On the other side of the hall from her, leaning against the wall with a bored look on his face stood Laxus. Yawning, the blonde glanced at the clock on the wall near him.

"Thirteen minutes. Finish him already," Laxus ordered gruffly.

Cracking his knuckles with a toothy grin, Gajeel walked towards his downed opponent.

"Like takin' out the trash," he murmured as he watched with relish as Natsu fought to get to his feet, spitting some blood onto the shiny tiled floor.

It took a few minutes for Levy to realize Gajeel would kill Natsu. She had seen Redfox fight before, in Phantom and he did not pull his punches. Ever. Before she could yell out from her spot in the shadows, Natsu sprinted forward in a sudden burst of speed. Bellowing from deep in his gut, the pink haired boy caught Gajeel around the waist with enough force to lift the taller boy off his feet, throwing them both towards the main glass entryway doors of the Academy. With a heavy slam, Natsu landed onto top of Gajeel only to lift a fist to punch at his throat.

Like a deer caught in headlights, Levy stood frozen. She had not been there when Gajeel had show up some months ago, on Academy property harassing Lucy but Natsu had. The 'incident' had been quick that very few were there to witness it. She had no idea Natsu could fight like this. So brutal and relentless.

But the win wasn't in Natsu's favor. His punches didn't have the power they did earlier, as if his energy was running out. Sensing this, Gajeel grabbed for the front of his shirt and with the help of his legs, threw Natsu over him and into the glass doors. Levy turned her face away as the both double doors and part of the windows shattered, scattering fragments everywhere.

She turned back to see Natsu landed in a bloody lump on the other side of the door frame, glass sticking out of his arms and back at weird angles. Levy felt her fingernails bite into her palms hard, the anger was so sudden. Natsu, like her, was just trying to protect Makarov.

As Gajeel rolled over to his feet, his red eyes narrowed on Natsu with the intent to kill, Levy didn't think. Running from her spot by the wall, she planted herself between the bully and her friend. Holding her arms out as if to bar his way, Levy swallowed hard as wide red eyes stared down at her in shock. Even Laxus moved away from the wall, eyes intent on her.

"You touch one m-more hair on Natsu," she gasped in a pathetic warning. Levy tried to keep her fear from making her arms tremble too badly, "I swear you'll be the next one….on t-the floor!"

Glaring down at her, Gajeel took one step forward.

"Move."

Like a frightened rabbit, Levy snatched a piece of glass for each hand from the many pieces littering the floor as she scurried away from him.

"GET BACK!" she screamed, holding the pieces up like knives, ready to slash in defense. At her warning and wild eyes, the two boys paused from approaching her.

Crunch.

As if hearing the shot of a bullet, Levy jumped several feet with a high pitched squeal. Her back hit the metal frame of what used to be the glass doors that Natsu had been thrown through. Keeping her arms with the glass pieces between her and the two buff males, Levy looked slightly to the side as a tall man strode nonchalantly past her from the direction of the parking lot.

Brown eyes widened as oily black hair, a prominent nose and similar features to Laxus screamed his identity. Ivan Dreyer chuckled as he flicked a few stray glass pieces from his broad shoulders, his dark eyes alight with cruel excitement as he swaggered towards his son.

"Evening, my little minions. I trust my grand take over is underway?"

Slumping against the metal, Levy's world tipped a little more off its axis. Should she even be surprised? Of course Gajeel and Laxus are selling them out to Makarov's douche of a son. It explained Laxus' words back in the gym. Ivan clearly meant to become the new Headmaster.

A loud click in her ear made her turn her head slowly to face the shiny barrel of a gun.

Oh...boy...


To be Continued...Here let me do it for you. AAAAAAAAHHHH!