The bustling crowd of people cheered as multiple voices of excitement surrounded the machines on the ground level, two floors up though, was a dark floor with the lights intentionally being off.

Agent T cackled as Natsu glared ahead at not just the big man, but the blonde, cold woman who stared blankly at him.

He needed that money.

That's all that ran through his mind.

He got into these games, not just for his gain, but to keep her dream on its own two feet.

"I can't fail you... not like before..." Natsu thought to himself as sweat rolled down his head.

Natsu clenched his fists, "The people I care about are being threatened by a Mafia gang that we supposedly owe..."

He raised his head determinedly, "Let me pay them and I promise that my next big cash out will go to you, please!"

Agent T and the mysterious guard looked at each other before looking back at Lucy.

"There is only one Mafia organisation that is capable of running the outskirts of the city where the peasants reside," Lucy thought to herself. She leaned her head forward a bit, "What is the name of this gang?"

Natsu sighed, speaking hesitantly, "...Sabertooth... Mafia".

Agent T and the mysterious guard watched Lucy as she brought the wad of cash to her lips and soon smiled after a while of thinking.

She looked up at Natsu with a content expression on her face, "How would you like to work for me, Mr Dragneel?"

"Huh?" Natsu said as he raised a brow, "W-What do you mean?"

"It's a simple question; how would you like to work for me?" Lucy repeated with that still expression of hers which terrified Natsu even more.

He honestly had no clue what was going through this woman's head.

"How does my situation... benefit you in any way?" Natsu slowly asked.

Lucy slowly walked up to Natsu and the pinkette instinctively backed up until his back hit the wall, the blonde stood right before him, her chest pressed against his own as she stared deeply into his frightened onyx eyes.

"From now on, you will be my Bagel Boy," Lucy declared as she laid her index finger in the middle of his chest.

Agent T and the mysterious guard behind her laughed quietly as the Boss casually intimidated the young man. Natsu gulped and forced a smirk, but it was obvious that he did this to slightly relax himself.

"Eh heh, and what exactly does a bagel boy do...?" Natsu asked with a tremble in his voice.

Lucy gently held his chin between her thumb and index finger, "They serve the Baker. Will you serve your Baker, Dragneel?"

Stupidly, Natsu shook his head, just to get this over and done with, he was quite sick of being in this woman's presence any longer than he should be. He felt like if he said 'no' then he'd just disappear on the spot.

One swing from that guard's axe and it's all over.

She let go of his chin and turned to the mysterious Guard in the shadows, "Looks like he's on board,"

"Awesome." The guard in the shadows unfolded his arms and leaned off the wall, he nodded at Agent T.

Without hesitation, Agent T raised an arm and swiped at Natsu's head, using enough force to just knock him out.

The Pinkette's head swayed as his sight blurred and his hearing turned into a high-pitched sound, it got louder until his body hit the ground with a loud...

THUMP!

Hours Later...

Darkness was all the pinkette could see right now, he found it hard to open his eyes as they felt heavy and knackered.

He grunted as he forced them open - very slowly, the first thing his eyes saw were dimmed white lights that were above him as he lay on a white bed.

Beside him was a neat array of spikey orange hair, a man with blue-tinted glasses smiled down at his phone as he sat across from the pinkette.

"Where... am I...?" Natsu muttered, his words coming out groggy.

The mysterious agent looked up with a neutral expression and stood up from his seat, "You're still in the Casino, just in a more private part of it,"

Natsu looked around, confused obviously, as he took in his surroundings. The room was littered neatly with surgical equipment and monitors that showed readings that belonged to him.

He looked down to find himself half naked, his shirt completely off and his hand was bandaged. He raised his previously numb hand to his face and found that his pinky finger had returned to him rightfully.

The mysterious man had an unnerving smirk on his face as he talked to the pinkette, "Now, you'll have no problems with getting things done for the Boss,"

Natsu was still shaken up by the anaesthetics he was put on during his surgery, so what seemed like being glad only came as an irritated murmur.

"What am I... getting done exactly?" Natsu slowly turned his head to the redhead and the two locked eyes for a moment.

Natsu could hardly describe what his face was like, it was like he was just smiling... for no apparent reason either.

Is everyone in this establishment complete psychopaths or something?

Has judging how people come to their fates made these guys completely numb to the point where a single expression hides all their emotions?

Natsu was expecting people on this side of Magnolia to be gentle, weird but not too weird, and speak in a nonchalant, formal manner.

But instead, he's met with a cold, stiff-neck lady Boss who runs many establishments and cuts off people's fingers if they f*ck around.

That Lady...

He couldn't quite put his finger on who she actually was and what she was like, personality-wise, all he knew was that he couldn't cross her like he'd do to any other person out there.

She was strong, intimidating, and powerful.

Insanely powerful.

Not to mention... kinda crazy.

He still couldn't forget those cold eyes that ruthlessly cut off his finger like she was chopping up some food for a good brunch with her family. The way she gripped the handle and brought judgement against his poor finger frightened him greatly.

He pulled off the cover and brought his bare feet to the cold floor whilst he still sat on the side of the bed.

"It's obvious that the blonde b*tch isn't your typical business-woman if she is pulling off stunts like that. There's definitely more to her than just running a Casino," Natsu thought as he wiggled his toes to stretch them a bit.

He couldn't remember why he was here or how he got here. He was unsure but as long as he was alive, he didn't care too much about the details.

"So, this work... what will I be doing?" Natsu said slowly, being careful with his words towards the redhead.

The mysterious man glanced at Natsu for a second before looking forward, "You'll be our Bagel Boy; a little dog who runs around and completes tasks for us,"

"What...?" Natsu stared blankly with an 'are you serious' look in his eyes. A Bagel Boy was the kind of title he'd give to Romeo when they needed some bread from the store.

The redhead smiled mockingly, "What, did you think you'd be doing some promising legal work? If that is what crossed your mind then it looks like we've done a pretty darn good job at concealing our business,"

Natsu sighed gently.

He was getting tired of all this yapping that they've been doing lately and simply wanted to just get out of their radar.

He had promises to keep to.

The mysterious redhead began to slowly pace around the room, "Do you know who our Boss is?"

Natsu raised a brow which followed up with a shrug of his shoulders. One would think that was the first question Natsu should be asking but to be fairly honest, Natsu didn't care in the slightest who she was.

All that he knew was that the woman was crazy.

"Our Boss, Lucy Heartfilia, is the Head of the Heartfilia Mafia-" Once the redhead man said those words, Natsu literally brought his hands to his face and gently shook his head.

"No, no, not this again,"

However, the redhead continued with what he was saying, "... We hide our illegal activities behind the business images that our family has created over the years, such as Golden Jude's Brewery, a brewery named after her father,"

The mysterious man continued with his pacing, "There's a lot more, but you get the gist. There is a certain person that we want to... let's say... take out. But we need a discrete ear to be our eyes and ears on that place, and that will be you."

"Shit... I can't believe this," Natsu shook his head back and forth. He clutched at his hair, realising how deep he had gotten into this whole mafia thing, "Well, I'm out then-"

"Out?" The redhead snickered and let out a small chuckle which earned him a raised-brow-frown from Natsu.

The redhead calmed down his laugh and glared at Natsu with a giant smile, "You don't get an out here, Bud. Here's some advice, if you want to protect the ones you love, then attempt to help them in silence. Don't silently grovel at our feet and expect a choice in what we offer you,"

Natsu growled to himself and looked to the side, "Do I at least get paid?"

"Oh, of course." The mysterious man said calmly, "The Heartfilia Family is not cheap. You'll be paid 600 for each drop-off you make,"

"600?! After each drop-off?" Natsu gaped at the mysterious man who just stared back at him with that unnerving smirk.

"Yes. But keep in mind that you will be responsible for refilling the gas tank, and taking care of the vehicle. Any damage done to the vehicle comes out of your expense, got it?" The mysterious man furrowed his brows at the pinkette, the smirk not leaving his face.

Natsu nodded in response.

"Sounds..." Natsu gently stood to his feet, "...Easy,"

"Awesome," The mysterious man gave a cold smile as he closed his eyes, "And just so you know: While we are a crime organisation on a sheet of paper, we are foremost a Family and in our Family, we look out for each other. I hope you understand what I mean,"

Natsu nodded instinctively, "Of course..."

"Mafia 101, no snitching, no betrayal, and no disrespect. I don't have to be in a mafia to understand that, that's for sure. I've seen the times Eucliffe has buried dudes alive for speaking to him like they were common mates or something." Natsu said in his mind as he slowly got his shirt on.

"Uhh, what are you doing?" The mysterious man's smirk dropped to a neutral expression. The redhead grabbed Natsu's shirt which made the pinkette halt midway through putting on his shirt.

"Huh?" He raised a brow at the redhead who spoke once again.

"You will not be wearing that. Not in our business, come with me, I have the best clothes for you." The mysterious man walked ahead of the pinkette who reluctantly followed him.

Once they exited the surgery room, the air became thick with an aura of mystery and elegance.

The hallway stretched out before them, its pristine marble floors reflecting the soft glow of crimson-hued lights. The walls, adorned with intricate tapestries depicting ancient scenes, seem to whisper stories of the past.

Natsu glanced at the design of the corridor, staring in awe as he walked close behind the mysterious redhead who took a leisured step with his hands shoved in his pockets, his footsteps echoing in the vast expanse. The sound reverberated off the high ceilings, adding to the ethereal atmosphere. The soft velvet carpet beneath their feet cushions each step, making Natsu feel as if he is gliding through the air.

"So, what are the periods for working this kind of job?" Natsu asked out of the blue, it felt like they had been walking for quite a while, so a little chatter ought to break the silence.

The redhead didn't look back, he continued walking on before answering Natsu's question, "Depends on you and how long each drop-off is,"

Natsu raised a brow.

The way he said it made Natsu a bit nervous.

"Alright, I should be back at the restaurant if I get quick with each one," Natsu thought to himself, wondering the kind of drop-offs he'd be making on this job.

They soon entered a room with a maid who stood by a small podium. She looked robotic in her eyes as she stared at the redhead who still had that smirk on his face.

He turned to Natsu and spoke, "Virgo here will fix you right up,"

"Virgo?" Natsu repeated as he slowly made his way to the podium.

Immediately, the fair-height woman took the pinkette's measures, roughly raising his arm and parting his legs.

"H-H-Hey! What gives, lady?!" Natsu asked through gritted teeth.

The redhead continued watching the sight as it took about two minutes for Virgo to take all of Natsu's measurements. She turned to the redhead with a neutral expression printed on her face.

"5 minutes is all I need," She said with a robotic tone which made Natsu raise a brow.

"Five minutes? To do what?" Natsu asked.

With that, the redhead turned on his feet and left the pinkette with Virgo who just remained perfectly still.

Natsu loosened his shoulders a bit and sighed as he glanced at Virgo with an unamused expression.

"This day keeps getting weirder, and weirder, so what now? You take my measurements?" Natsu asked.

But Virgo simply raised a hand, "Something like that,"

Natsu raised a brow, "Something like that? What do you-"

But before the pinkette could finish his sentence, Virgo had already appeared beside him, her hand palming his face, forcing his words to halt as she slammed him to the ground with all her might.

His head smacked dead into the floor, causing a brief gust of wind to fill the room.

Once Virgo removed her hand from his face, Natsu gasped for air as his eyelids shot wide open and he stared at the ceiling in disbelief.

"Now, back to doing your measurements," Virgo said calmly, as if what just transpired, was to go unnoticed.

Five Minutes Later...

The mysterious redhead leaned off the corridor wall once the door to the Tailoring room opened, there, Natsu stepped out in a navy blue suit with a thin black tie and a gold-buckle belt holding his navy blue trousers up and finished off with his white sneakers. His hair was neatly combed also and made him look like a complete gentleman.

Natsu rested his hand on his neat hair and grunted, "Tch, how is it?"

The redhead analysed Natsu from his smart suit jacket to his shirt and matching tie, down to his smart belt and trousers. He nodded in agreement at how smart he looked till his eyes spotted the sneakers and the redhead's smirk turned into a frown.

"What the f*ck," The redhead said with a deadpan stare as he looked up at Natsu who responded with an absent tone.

Natsu ruffled his hair back to its messy appearance as always and tapped his foot on the ground, "Yeah, I know. The shoes mess everything up, but I am NOT wearing those smart shoes. They mess my feet up,"

"Meh, as long as you can afford some better-looking sneakers then this should be good enough," The redhead chuckled.

Virgo peaked out of the room, nodded at the redhead then closed the double doors behind her.

"Well, that was a lot of work, now what?" Natsu scratched the back of his head.

"Now," The redhead rolled his shoulders in a gesture for Natsu to follow him, "Your work begins,"

"Finally," Natsu thought to himself as he followed the redhead.

Whilst the situation was oddly terrifying, considering he didn't know what he was getting himself into.

Nonetheless, no matter how daunting this all felt, he would do his best to make the most of it. Working for a wealthy woman will boost the restaurant and gain them so much respect that even Eucliffe would quiver in his boots.

Elsewhere...

"Ah-Choo!" A blonde-haired man sneezed and rubbed his nose in an annoyed manner.

"You alright, Eucliffe?" A man with an auburn hat, and long blonde hair, turned to the blonde-haired man and simply shook his head.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just a little fever, I guess," The blonde raised his hand to his forehead, he made a moping expression and slouched over,

"When are we going to get our money, Rufus?"

"When that measly peasant, Natsu, quits playing around," The man known as Rufus said softly to Eucliffe who just sunk into his crimson couch.

"Natsu-chan. Natsu, Natsu, Natsu. It's always the ones that I like that end up being the rebellious ones, huh?" Eucliffe scratched the side of his head in annoyance, then he began to mope, "But I like him... he's my sweet little Natsu-chan,"

Rufus rolled his eyes and chuckled, "I'm sure 'Natsu-chan' will come with the money somehow,"

"Better be quick, you know the Boss hates waiting," Eucliffe said roughly, his behaviour changing almost immediately, he stood up and walked up to the giant windows that revealed to him the great city of the outskirts of Magnolia that they currently rule, "I can't have those f*ckers thinking we've gone soft. Get Orga and Rogue to rough 'em up some more, shake every penny out of 'em!"

"I understand, Sir," Rufus bowed before leaving the room.

Eucliffe turned back to look out of the window, "Let's show 'em that Sabertooth Mafia is the ones to be messed with,"

Outside of the Casino...

"So, what name do you go by?" Natsu asked as he and the redhead had left the elevator.

"The Lion of the Heartfilia Family," The redhead turned to Natsu.

"Well, that's a mouthful," Natsu groaned.

"Ha, it is. But I'm not really caught up on formality like the others, you may call me Mr Loke," The redhead smirked.

"Can't I just call you Loke?" Natsu asked wirh a raised brow.

"I don't know… do you want to get punched in the face?" Loke raised a brow at the pinkette.

Natsu rolled his eyes and grumbled, "I thought you didn't like formalities,"

"At times," Loke grinned.

They entered a private vehicle Bay space and walked up to a medium-sized van that was completely white and had a direct and somewhat... professional logo on it.

Natsu squinted his eyes at the logo, "Celestial... Zoomers..."

He looked at the redhead who just shook his head, "Don't even ask..."

The two entered the van and the redhead began to go over what Natsu would be doing.

"Here is the navigation screen. For each drop-off you make, it will automatically change to the next so you won't have to worry about manually doing it. The vehicle is automatic, so no more of that stick nonsense that other services do," The redhead explained as he pointed at the various parts of the vehicle.

Natsu nodded in response to it all.

"Lastly, for privacy reasons, don't look inside of the packages. Customers will know when the packages have been breached, so just don't, okay?" The redhead said with a serious tone as he stared into Natsu's eyes.

The pinkette looked away for a bit and shrugged his shoulders, agreeing, "Yeah, sure. I'm not that curious about what people purchase. Just as long as I'm being paid then I don't really care,"

The redhead stared at the pinkette for a minute before smiling and putting his seatbelt on, "Okay! Let's go to our first stop then!"

"Aye Sir," Natsu smiled as he started the vehicle, the dashboard came to life and the navigation screen lit up with its first drop-off. Natsu took the vehicle out of Park mode and pushed his foot down on the accelerator, the wheels span quickly, leaving dust behind them as they exited the grand Casino's security gates and raced down the road.

Loke clutched his seat a bit and glanced at Natsu who was focused on the road, "Eh heh, going a little fast, aren't you?"

But Natsu didn't hear him, he was already lost in the very thing he enjoys best; Driving.

To Be Continued