Good Meets Bad

Chapter 28

Retaliation
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"What do you want?"

Jellal stared up at Gajeel, eyebrows drawn together. The gangster was obviously surprised that the bluenette approached him. He wasn't expecting Jellal to go to him. At first, he felt his blood boil and nearly punched the president in his face but stopped himself from doing so.

"I need your help," He pleaded, closing his eyes and biting his lip, "I... I want to avenge Lucy."

Gajeel's eyes widened and his heart skipped a beat. "You want to..." He blinked, "You want to avenge Lucy?" He looked down at Jellal, "But how?"

"I want you to train me how to fight," Jellal said, his eyes strong and firm. Gajeel blinked once again and he looked away.

"I can't train you."

The bluenette felt his heart ache.

"But I know someone who can."

Jellal's head shot up in surprise and he clutched Gajeel's shoulders, wide, frantic and desperate eyes staring into his red orbs, "Who can teach me? Tell me!"

Gajeel sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, "This is troublesome but... Lucy's coach, Analee, is still up for training a few willing and passionate kids just like you. She doesn't like apprentices who whine too much or complain so I warn you to just follow whatever she says and wait until you're all buddy-buddy or something. I can take you to her tonight when she's home from work. She usually goes out to do missions for the gang but she's free today."

The bluenette looked at Gajeel with determined eyes, "I'll take it."

Gajeel went silent for a few minutes before smirking. He crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his head back, looking down at him with amused eyes, "Alright then. Meet me in front of Silica's at midnight. Don't be late or else I'll leave without you. Got that, tattoo-freak?"

Jellal twitched at the nickname but nodded nonetheless.

"Got it."

Jellal walked on the empty streets with his hands in the pocket of his jacket. He glanced around, making sure that he was alone as Silica's, a café, slowly came into his view. He saw Gajeel leaning on the wall just beside the window, head lowered down. Before approaching the man, he looked around once more before walking closer, his footsteps alerting the gangster.

"'Bout time," Gajeel mused, lips twitching in a smirk, "Follow me."

The man started walking straight forward, heading for a dark and narrow alley. They walked in and Gajeel crouched down, muttering something under his breath. A few seconds later, Jellal heard the sound of a match being lit and light illuminated the alley. He looked at Gajeel and saw the man holding a torch. He nodded and they proceeded deeper into the alley.

"Where does this alley lead to?" Jellal asked, looking around as he saw insects crawling on the walls. He shuddered and looked straight ahead instead; ignoring the fact that Gajeel was covering his whole view.

Through half-hearted grunts, Jellal deciphered - or more like guessed - that the gangster wasn't going to tell him anything. He wasn't an idiot to not know that Gajeel was starting to get annoyed. If he was in his shoes, he was sure that even he would get irritated. Thus, he decided to shut up and just follow the ebony-haired man.

Their footsteps created loud thudding noises against the rough ground. And with every step they took, his heart pounded faster and faster. At the end of this alley, he would see his only hope: Lucy's coach. If she trained him, he could gain the skills to be a fighter and he could finally avenge Lucy. But he wasn't sure if he could do it. He didn't start out young like Lucy. His passion wasn't fighting. He wasn't as brave as her. And most of all, he didn't have enough courage to fight Minerva. But, one thing was for sure, he was determined to take her down.