Jet, Droy, and I searched Hosenka for nearly two hours and found no signs of Gajeel. "It's too quiet," I said. We should have found something within two hours of looking. It's like he just disappeared.

"Maybe he left Hosenka?" Jet suggested.

"I don't think so. Something about this doesn't feel right." Suddenly, I sensed something. I turned around, just in time to see Droy get hit by a large iron club that seemed to come out of nowhere. "Droy!" I shouted, rushing to him.

"Damn! Where did that come from?" Jet cursed, standing beside me as I checked on Droy. He was conscious, but his eye was already starting to bruise.

"He's here," I said. I helped Droy to his feet and pulled my handgun from it's holster.

"Not very perceptive." A low chuckle came from the darkness right before a tall figure stepped from the shadows. He was nearly twice my height, and his black hair hung down his back in a wild mane. I noticed that his eyes were just white slits as he stared at me in dark amusement.

"Levy," Jet whispered, "it's now or never."

"Right," I nodded, stepping forward. "I'm guessing you're Gajeel?" I asked him, forcing any weakness out of my voice.

"Tch. Why should I tell you?" He growled.

"My name is Levy McGarden," I continued. "I am a member of the Fairy Tail hunters organization, and have come to speak with you at the request of our Master, Makarov."

"What the hell do I care about weaklings like you?"

"Join Fairy Tail," I blurted out. My request seemed to have caught him off guard, because his eyes widened slightly at my words.

"Join Fairy Tail?" He asked.

"Yes," I nodded, stepping closer to him. "You would be welcomed into the organization, and the council would excuse you for your past crimes."

Unfortunately, I had said the wrong thing. His aura darkened, and he glared at me. "The council can burn in Hell for all I care. And you can send them a message for me. Iron Dragon's Roar!" I didn't have time to dodge his attack. I put my arms over my face to shield it from the worst of the blow, but I was throw backwards several feet.

"Levy!" Jet and Droy cried together. They immediately attacked Gajeel, taking that as his refusal to join Fairy Tail. Droy threw a powder at him containing a pungent odor, but he was unaffected. His fist smashed into Droy's face with such force that I heard his nose crack.

"Damn you!" Jet snapped, running at him. Like Elfman, Jet used hand-to-hand combat mostly. He slashed at him a few times with a small dagger, but never landed a blow. When I saw a small smirk form on Gajeel's lips, chills ran down my spine. He's not even taking this seriously. Jet and Droy can't land a single hit on him, and he has barely been making an effort to fight them!

"Jet, get away from him!" I shouted at him, not liking the way Gajeel continued smirking.

"Why—" Gajeel moved with impossible speed and kicked Jet in the gut. As he fell to the ground, Gajeel, began punching him. I made it to my feet after the third hit, aiming my gun. When his fist rose above his head once more to punch Jet, I pulled the trigger. My bullet met the side of his head, flinging him away from Jet.

"Are you alright?" I asked, kneeling beside my friend. His face was already swelling, but he managed to smile at me.

"Yeah. Caught me off guard."

"Damn it! That hurt."

"What?!" I gasped, watching as Gajeel stood. How is he still alive?! I shot him in the head! He titled his head to the side, and I watched as the flattened metal of what had once been a bullet fell to the ground. It didn't even break through his skin.

"Now I'm mad, Shrimp," he growled. He appeared in front of me, wrapping his hand around my throat. I clawed at his hand as he slammed me onto the sidewalk. "I was going to go easy on ya," he punched me in the gut with his free hand, "but now I'm not."

"Leave Levy alone!" Droy jumped onto Gajeel's back, punching him repeatedly.

"Ain't had enough?" Gajeel snickered, releasing me long enough to bash Droy's head into the cement of the sidewalk. He made a pained noise, then fell sickeningly still.

"Droy!" I screamed, attempting to crawl to him.

Gajeel's booted foot came down on my leg, preventing me from moving. "Who said I was done with you?" He smirked, picking me up by a handful of my hair. Ignoring my pain, I raised my gun again, shooting him in the shoulder.

"Oh my God," I whispered, watching as the bullet hit him and fell to the ground, not even leaving a scratch.

"There is no God, here," he snapped, throwing me like a rag into the wall of a nearby building.

I hit the wall with a cry, knowing something was broken. He's too strong. There's no way we can defeat him alone. Especially when Droy is already down, and Jet hasn't gotten back up from that last attack.

"Feeling confident now, fairy scum?" Gajeel asked, kicking me hard in the gut. I rolled several times, coughing blood when I landed on my face.

"Y-you don't have to d-do this," I croaked. The effort it took to talk nearly made me scream, but I kept going. "Master Makarov wants you to join Fairy Tail. You could become a hunter again, and help us fight other demons."

"You think I care about any of that?" Gajeel scoffed, slowly walking towards me. "Hunters are the ones who turned me into a dragon slayer! They should have thought about the consequences before implanting dragon powers into a human! If all those council bastards die tonight it wouldn't be soon enough."

"Th-then you should prove them wr-wrong," I gasped, closing my eyes as he pulled his leg back to kick me again. "AHH!" I screamed as his foot met my gut, and I was once again sent rolling across the ground. "Don't b-become what the council th-thinks you are. Join Fairy Tail."

"Gihi. I'm impressed you can still talk after that," he smirked, crouching down to look at me. Power was practically radiating off of him. Gajeel stood with a bored sigh. "I'm insulted they sent weaklings like you to kill me. Did they honestly think you would be able to kill me?" He laughed, beginning to walk away.

"D-don't become the monster they make you out to be," I said, struggling to my feet. "Master Makarov... is an amazing hunter. He'll...he'll help you. And there are...other dragon slayers at...Fairy Tail." It was hard to breathe, but I continued. Even as he stormed towards me furiously, I held my ground. "Come back to Magnolia with us...please."

"You don't give up, do you?" He snarled, grabbing a handful of my hair and tipping my head back until our eyes met.

I smiled at him, "I'm a Fairy Tail hunter. We don't give up."

He grinned, and I saw a green light as his arm transformed into an iron club. "Too bad for you." He threw me, and before I hit the ground, his arm smashed into me. I felt the sidewalk around me shatter as my body was flung into it. "Now stay down, fairy scum."

I coughed blood onto the sidewalk, trying to get up. My face fell onto the broken cement painfully, and my vision began blurring. This isn't good. I think there's internal bleeding. If I don't get help soon, I'll— I was fading quickly, consciousness escaping me despite how hard I fought. I'm sorry, Master Makarov. I couldn't...do it.

~Gajeel~

I couldn't believe the nerve of that pathetic hunter. "How dare she lecture me! She doesn't know anything! Those hunter organizations are all the same—mindless tools for the council. After everything those bastards have done to the dragon slayers, I'd let Hell freeze over before I ever joined them!" I cursed as I walked along rooftops towards the edge of Hosenka. I heard the screams of a group of tourists as they found the hunters, and kept walking.

For some annoying reason, I couldn't get that Shrimp's face out of my head. Even as she was desperately losing, she never lost the look of determination in her hazel eyes. "Tch. Makes me sick," I growled.

"Looks like I'm going to have to leave this area for a while," I told myself. "The council knows where I am, so I'm sure more of those annoying pests will come after after." Although I told myself they deserved what I had done to them, I still found myself stopping dead in my tracks when I heard another scream. That wasn't a tourist. Having just heard it several times, I knew it was that hunter girl.

"Who cares!" I snapped, forcing my legs to move. Unfortunately, they were going in the opposite direction—straight towards her scream.

I remained hidden in an alley as I approached. They last thing I needed was to be spotted by a bunch of tourists with cameras. If they take my picture, the council will definitely know where I am.

An emergency vehicle was parked beside where I had left her two teammates. Since they were no where to be seen, I assumed they had already taken them to the hospital. The girl, however, was still laying on the sidewalk. The screams must have been from them rolling her onto her back. Her dress was ripped in several places, and there was something sticking through one of her sleeves. My stomach rolled when I saw that it was her bone.

She screamed again when they lifted her onto the stretcher, and I had to hold myself back from charging at them. From where I stood in the shadows, she looked so small and fragile. Damn. I didn't think I had hurt her that badly. I had been trying to send the hunters a message, but something tightened uncomfortably in my gut as I watched them load her into the ambulance and drive away.

"Damn it! I don't care what happens to the hunters! They blindly do what the council tells them to do, so they deserved what they got. Now they'll think twice before sending anyone else after me."

I was still a little shocked that she had invited me to join her organization. Even after I had beaten her up, she still managed to try to convince me. And she smiled at me. I didn't think anyone had ever smiled so honestly at me before. Sneers and smiles full of sarcasm I was used to, but hers had thrown me off. Blood was running down her face from a gash I had caused, and she still smiled at me.

It was a little unbelievable. "Stupid girl," I scoffed. "She's still a kid. She doesn't know anything."

~Levy~

"Levy! Levy, can you hear me?"

"L-Lu-chan?" I asked, blinking my sore eyes.

"Thank God," she sighed in relief, grabbing my hand. "How do you feel?"

"Bad," I admitted. I chuckled, but the action sent pain throughout my entire body, causing me to wince.

"Try not to move," Lucy told me.

"Jet and Droy?" I asked, worriedly.

"They're just fine," Lucy smiled. "They were released this morning."

"This morning?" I frowned. "How long have I been asleep?"

"Just a day," she said. "You were hurt pretty bad, so the doctors gave you some really strong pain medication. It knocked you out for a while. You were awake in the middle of the night, don't you remember?"

I shook my head. "The last thing I remember is passing out on the sidewalk." My eyes suddenly watered as I remembered how horribly I had failed. "I couldn't convince him," I whispered. "He overpowered us so easily. I failed the Master."

"Don't beat yourself up, Levy," Lucy soothed. "You did your best."

"I never realized how pathetically weak I am," I sighed, closing my eyes. "He wasn't even trying, and look what he did to me. I'm—I'm a disgrace to Fairy Tail."

"Stop talking like that!" Lucy snapped. "You're an amazing hunter, and it isn't your fault that you lost. Not even Master Makarov anticipated him to be that powerful!"

"It's still no excuse," I said. "I—"

"How's she doing?" Natsu asked, loudly, as he came into the room.

"Not so loud!" Lucy told him, frowning. "She's resting."

"It's alright, Lu-chan," I said.

"Hey, you're awake again!" He grinned. "You were saying some funny stuff earlier."

"What?"

"When you woke up last night," Lucy explained. "The doctor told us it was the medication. You weren't making any sense."

"I don't remember that."

"You were telling Lucy how much you loved her novel, and then starting talking about monsters," he chuckled. "You were like 'you're not a monster. I just know it,' and stuff like that." I had to laugh as he tried to imitate my voice.

When his words sunk in, I felt heat creep up my neck and into my face. I had to have been talking about Gajeel. But, why would I talk about him in my sleep?

"Levy, are you feeling okay? You're face is kind of flushed," Lucy said, concerned.

"Y-yeah," I told her. "I'm just a little hot, that's all." I was saved from any further questions when half the guild came into the room, followed by my doctor and a nurse. After I was examined, and given permission to return home, everyone was ushered out of the room so I could change out of my hospital gown and into normal clothes.

I slipped on a short orange dress that tied around my neck with a white ribbon and had separate sleeves. I was quite fond of that style, so I had several dresses that were similar. I worked gently around my broken arm, tying on my sleeves before fastening my sandals. "Well, I can't tie up my hair with only one arm," I sighed, just giving it a quick brush.

"May I come in?" Master's voice asked from the other side of my door.

"Sure, Master," I said, taking a seat on the hospital bed.

"I'm relieved to see you're alright," he said. "I would like to apologize to you."

"You don't—"

"I should never have sent you three there alone," he interrupted, looking rather distraught. "I was so sure that he would agree to join Fairy Tail that I didn't expect you to have to fight him. I'm afraid my arrogance has caused you a lot of pain."

"It's not your fault!" I stood up, shaking in frustration. "I was the one who lost. If I had been better prepared, then it wouldn't have happened. Please, don't blame yourself."

He sighed, looking away from me. "I still shouldn't have sent you alone. Not even S-Class hunters will take on a dragon slayer alone. It was foolish of me to send you into a fight with such high risks."

"Master," I smiled, bending down to take his hand, "I'm a hunter. Not only that, but I'm a member of Fairy Tail. I'm used to risks. Now, please don't feel bad. It will make me feel worse about losing if you keep apologizing to me."

"Right," he nodded, looking up at me with a smile. "Are you ready to return to Fairy Tail?"

"Yeah," I nodded, returning his smile. "Let's go home."