"Jellal," Lucy mumbled under her breath, sighing, "I'm not on the run here," She said, gritting her teeth in anger as she drifted to the side, her ears ringing due to the constant firing of bullets behind her, "They are on the run and I am catching them. Did you hear about the murder incident last week?"

The bluenette swallowed heavily, shooting a few more people, "You mean about the innocent girl who was found in a dark alley with her head..."

"Yea, that one," Lucy chuckled darkly, "This gang killed that innocent child. For what? Because apparently, she tripped and splattered her ice cream all over the leader's shirt and bang," Lucy hissed, "She died."

"How do you know for sure?" Jellal asked, licking his lips as he began to wonder how many were after them because he pulled the trigger countless of times and they were still on the go.

Lucy grinned devilishly, "I was trained as a killer and a detective, it's a specialty that's been passed down from generation to generation. My mother was a talented detective but she tried not to kill until they threatened to kill the fetus inside her tummy." The bluenette went silent at this and the blonde decided to continue, "She turned from an innocent detective into a merciless killing machine and after a dreadful mission... that night, I was born."

There was a scream and Lucy jerked the bike to the side in surprise, "And about the incident, I knew because right outside the alley was an ice cream cone on the floor mixed in blood. Coincidence? I don't think so. Then I asked one of my members to spy on countless gangs and Kurohebi was cursing about his ruined shirt."

"You were just lucky that he was being careless," Jellal said, pouting.

Lucy chuckled, "I wish I was but I wasn't."

"I don't understand."

"It's hard for me to explain," Lucy said, exhaling softly as they turned around a corner and was in front of a big warehouse. The doors opened and Lucy parked inside. When Lucy and Jellal got down from her bike, the whole gang - including his friends - arrived in the warehouse and they all got down from their motorcycles. Lucy licked her lips, "Stay here, okay?" Jellal nodded and the blonde walked far across the room, walking up the stairs and sitting down on a chair. She crossed her legs and arms, leaning back.

The murmurs in the room disappeared as Lucy raised a hand, signaling for them to quiet. She inhaled and closed her eyes, "How many have we lost?"

"None, milady," Zen said, bowing his head, "However, seventeen of our members have injuries."

"Virgo."

A girl with short pink hair stepped forward, bowing with one hand across her chest, "Hime."

"You know what to do," Lucy said and Virgo nodded before walking towards the injured people. She crouched down and began treating their wounds as a man brought her the tools needed. The blonde sighed and she stared at the people below her with a pained look.

Biting her lip, she closed her eyes and lowered her head, "I'm sorry..."

It could be seen that many were surprised at the sudden apology. Half of the people in the warehouse were blinking at the leader. Lucy inhaled and she opened her eyes, "I'm sorry that you all had to go through this."

"It's alright, Lucy-sama," Someone from the crowd encouraged, "We enjoy fighting anyway."

"Yea!" A man agreed, grinning as he bumped fists with a few of that gang's members, "We joined the gang to protect you, Lucy-sama. We should be the ones apologizing since we couldn't fulfill our duties."

Lucy smiled and she shook her head, "You need not worry about me, I was trained, remember?"

"Yea, but, you're still a girl," Zen said, grinning as he titled his head to the side, "Men are supposed to protect girls."

A woman in the crowd scoffed, "You can say that after you stop cowering behind us like a baby, idiot."

Laughter sounded in the room and Lucy chuckled, "She's right. Actions first before words, Zen," She mused, smiling as the said man crossed his arms stubbornly and pouted. After a few minutes, Lucy's eyes softened, "Guys, I'm sure you've heard of the Student Council, right?"

"Aye," They answered and Lucy chuckled.

"Thank you for helping me save them," The blonde said, exhaling softly as she looked into Jellal's eyes for a second before looking back at her gang. "I couldn't have done it without you and to be honest," She closed her eyes and placed her arms on the chair's armrest, "I was scared."

Gasps were emitted from the crowd and Zen spoke, "This is odd, Lucy-sama is never scared."

"True!" A woman said, frowning, "Is this a joke?"

"You shouldn't be so rude, Rin."

"I was only asking, Len."

Lucy raised a hand, "As you all know, I have someone I love dearly," She smiled and in the crowd, she could see Jellal's tinted cheeks. "I was scared to lose him, so scared that it even drove me to the point where I asked help from a former member, Gajeel. He was more than happy to help and I was very glad that he was willing to do it. I was frightened that I would make the same mistake again and all that I care for would vanish," Her voice broke at the end and she lowered her head, "But because of you, I was able to protect him."

"It's no problem, Lucy-sama," Yukino yelled, smiling widely as the girls around her giggled and raised their thumbs in agreement.

"To us, you're more important."

"True," A man said, smiling, "Lucy-sama's friends are our friends, her enemies are our enemies."

"And to hell the devils go!" Lucy and her gang cheered, laughing after in happiness. Erza couldn't believe that this was The Crossed Heart gang. To be frank, there was nothing to be afraid of if you were on their good side. The only time you should get scared is when you're on their bad side. This was not was they expected. They were expecting a silent and cold gang who didn't laugh and smile but they thought wrong. It was like they were a family.

Levy jumped in surprise as Gajeel began to laugh along the most feared gang, a light tint of pink on his cheeks. "All hail War Maiden!" He praised along with the rest of the crowd, grinning as they all chanted Lucy's name over and over like it was a spell.

"I'm amazed with their relationship," Laxus mumbled to Jellal, eyes wide as saucers, "I thought this gang was silent."

"I thought the same," The bluenette said, eyes lingering on their leader, "I think it's how Lucy controlled the gang that made them like this."

Laxus shook his head as he smiled, "But to think that Gajeel was once in her gang... somehow it makes me feel defeated."

"How come?"

"I don't know," The blonde said, staring at Lucy with amazed eyes, "The school is scared of me but everyone's scared of this gang. It's kind of overwhelming to know that they weren't as cold-hearted as we thought they'd be."

Jellal opened his mouth to speak but stopped when he noticed that there was a dreadful silence after the gang's laugh. He spotted Gajeel's face had gone dark and Lucy's went serious and taunting with a fiery gaze in her eyes. Her fingers were clasped together in front of her, face covered by a shadow and her eyes illuminated by the light that passed through the glass ceiling. She looked like she was about to announce something vile. The atmosphere immediately went silent and bitter, smiles turning into thin lines as their leader began to speak.

"We have no reason to celebrate today, which, as the gang knows, is unusual," The blonde said, her voice bouncing off the walls in an echo. She examined their faces-livid, angry, remorseful, mad, cross, irate, furious-those were the faces she hoped to find but she found none but faces void of emotion. Nodding, she continued, "We did not kill Kurohebi and for that, it's my fault." Her shoulders started shaking as tears threatened to fall. Her gang looked like they were about to tell her that it wasn't her fault so she raised a hand, gesturing that they stay quiet.

She sucked in a deep breath, "Due to this horrible mistake, they will gather more troops. We'll be forced to go all out. Today, we only sent out a third of the gang," Her teeth gritted in anger as her eyes narrowed into slits, "But we might have to send out the whole gang when the time comes."

"But that won't be a problem," Gajeel voiced out and everyone turned to look at him. "We've done that before and only a few of us got injured, it's no different now."

"He has a point," Zen said, frowning, "If we send out the whole gang, there won't be many injured members like today. The reason why they were shot was because we were too little and too easy targets."

A woman interjected, "But with a mass number of gangsters, they'll just fire everywhere and there's a large chance that we will get hit!"

"No, they wouldn't be too careless to just fire everywhere," Yukino said, lower lip quivering as she tried to stop her trembling body. "There is a large chance that their members will get hit too and I don't think that they would risk that."

"I dealt with the Lucifer Gang already," Lucy announced and relieved sighs escaped through their mouths. She tilted her head to the side, "Which means that we only lessened the gangs by one."

"That's not enough!" A man yelled, "We can't put your life in danger, Lucy-sama."

Lucy closed her eyes, "My life's not in danger."

"It is!" They all shouted, faces distorted in a look of concern, "Let's leave the matter alone."

Lucy's eyes shot open, "We can't!"

"Why can't we?" Gajeel asked, frowning, "As much as I like fighting, we can't put your life on the line."

"Gaj's got a point," A man with white spiky hair said, sighing, "It's too dangerous, Lucy-sama."

A brunette standing next the man nodded in agreement, lips tugged down, "I have to agree with Haru, it's not safe for you. But why can't we?"

"One of the richest families is having a ball on Saturday, two days from now," Lucy said, licking her lips as she swung her head to the left and her bangs were swept behind her ear. "I'm sure that the Tiger Gang, Shadow Gang, Thunder Gang and other more gangs will be there to kill the heir to the family," Her eyes darkened, "You know our job, I cannot say it out loud for there are others here who are not part of the gang. It's crucial but we have to go."

"So we're going to camouflage?" Haru asked, eyebrows rising into his hairline, "We're going to have to dance, I presume."

Lucy nodded, "It's not that bad, I've taught you all how to dance, did I not?"

"You did," They all answered in chorus and the blonde leader smiled, her eyes softening.

"What matters is the safety of that family. To others, they would call this a mission," Lucy said, eyes darting over to the student council to see if she was right. When Erza nodded, she faced her gang again.

"But to us, it's a gang war."