DW: I would like to thank sithmaster56a, RebelAngel91210, xXBleachluverXx, Daydream Clouds, luvingrandomness and blackstar822 for reviewing. Thanks guys!
Chapter 3: The Mission Begins
The woman brought Erza into a small dark room. She pulled Erza roughly on her hair to force her down on a chair. Erza grits her teeth as she was forced onto the chair. The woman stands behind her with a sly smile.
"Excellent work, dear Lucy." A voice said to the woman, now known as Lucy. Lucy bowed before the source of the voice.
Erza then looked up and sees the figure sitting in front of her. The figure wears a black mask around his mouth and has long black hair. He is dressed in green military uniform, black combat vest, black gloves, black belt, green pants and black boots.
"My name is the Marauder." The figure greeted. "You realized you are the first military general to be captured by the Red Hand. Congratulations." He bowed his head.
"The Marauder? That's a very creative name." Erza said dryly. "How long does it take you to think of that?" Lucy scowled and kicked the back of Erza's chair, causing strands of hair to fall in front of her face.
Erza calmly pushed aside her strands of hair away from her vision and continued, "If I'm going to be interrogated, I wished to be interrogated by your superiors."
The Marauder leaned forward. "I am the Superior. I believe you already met my associate, Lucy Heartphilia AKA Project Cerberus." Erza turned to Lucy, who smiled sweetly and waved her hand at her. She turned back to the masked man.
"Just tell me what you want." Erza said.
"Cooperation." The Marauder replied as he leans back on his chair and played with his fingers. "I heard that because of our ongoing Apophis experiment, the military have decided to keep the location of this year's World Leader summit a secret to the public. I want you to tell me where this year's summit will be held."
"Oh I'll tell you alright." Erza scowled. The Marauder leaned forward again.
"Where is it?"
"In your ass."
Lucy immediately grabs Erza by the back of her head and slams her face against the table. Erza winced slightly as she got up and looked back at the Marauder, who nods his head.
"I see, you have decided to test my patience. Lucy, take her to the cell and put her along with the other prisoners." The Marauder said.
"Yes, my master." Lucy said.
"And I have one more task for you. I'd like you to execute prisoner 006. He has become troublesome and I want you to make an example of him to the others. After that, you are dismissed."
"Yes, I will." Lucy bowed down. She pulled Erza roughly by the hair to force her up. "This way, you scum." She said as she pulled Erza out of the room.
The Marauder grinned as he watched Lucy walk out of the room with Erza. She truly was his most prized possession. Not a person, but a possession. He turned her into a killing machine, and she worshipped him like a God. As far as she was concerned he was, and she would follow his every order without hesitation. The girl was only seventeen years old, yet she had killed more people than any other under his command. She was the perfect tool for removing undesirable elements from society, for she would mercilessly slaughter men, women, and children without even blinking.
The Marauder recalled how he first met Project Cerberus. After the incident in Mogadishu, he ordered several Red Hand agents to capture several orphaned children around the world.
When Project Cerberus began, its goal was simple: create the ultimate agent. With that in mind, the scientists under his employment have injected the Apophis experiment on all the children the Red Hand have captured.
The experiment seemed to be a disaster. Of the three hundred captured orphans, most were killed immediately after the injection. The others became badly mutated or deformed, and were swiftly put to death. Only a few survived in the end. There was one however that was more perfect than they had ever imagined.
That individual has become many times stronger than any normal human, being able to lift three times her weight over her head at the age of twelve. Her reflexes have become such that she was able to react to the actions of a person before their brain had even finished processing what they were doing. She became virtually invulnerable to injury, as she healed many times more quickly than normal, and her organs were able to withstand tremendous damage. Her blood now contained a powerful neurotoxin, meaning that she was always capable of killing. This person was of course Lucy Heartphilia.
She and the other survivors grew up in the facility where Project Cerberus was conducted. They were trained physically, mentally, and emotionally. They underwent psychological manipulation to ensure their absolute loyalty and were trained in various tasks. Few could match Lucy in terms of strength, skill and perception, which was what made her among the best.
The Marauder was very pleased. Lucy had been his greatest agent. At the age of fourteen, all of the children were tasked with executing a prisoner. Most of the children either bludgeoned or stabbed their victims to death, but the poor man assigned to Lucy was skinned alive. She became rather unstable as time passed, but that made her all the more effective, and she was absolutely loyal to him.
Of course, with her abilities came paranoia derived from the environment she was raised in, and she came to the conclusion that her place as a future agent was being put in jeopardy by the other subjects. Of the three hundred subjects used for Project Cerberus, only about twelve were still alive. Lucy decided that the only way for her to maintain her place as an agent was to kill all the other children.
She was fifteen when she put her plan into effect. She locked the doors to the building and set the place on fire. The few people escaping through the windows were hacked to pieces with a machete she had stolen from a local village. She also made sure to kill the scientists who had conducted the experiment so that no more of her 'kind' could be created.
Upon going to the Marauder, she was commended for her dedication to him, and he declared her his personal agent. Since then, she has been going around the world, conducting the Marauder's missions for him. She travelled across the globe to eliminate all soldiers who participate the battle of Mogadishu five years ago. She acted as a tool of the Marauder's vengeance, killing all who slighted him. None were immune to her; she had even killed the top general of a European army when he refused to allow the Marauder's agents a presence in his staff.
In terms of loyalty, strength, and intelligence, Lucy was without peer. She would perform any task the Marauder gave her without fail. To him she was utterly and completely perfect. A killing machine that obeyed his every order.
Lucy and Erza arrived at a seemingly abandoned building in Antananarivo. Underneath the building was the prison that held all of the soldiers she had captured. She normally didn't have contact with them, but they learned to fear the times that she did. She only went to that place to torture and execute them.
Lucy took out a machete and held it against Erza's throat and pulled her by the hair. Erza gulped as she felt the cold blade pressed against her throat but didn't show any fear. Lucy pushed her forward, making her walk. Erza did not resist, walking into the building with Lucy without struggle.
"How can you work for that monster?" Erza asked Lucy.
"Beats working for an organization who are against the Red Hand." Lucy replied. They walked down the stairs of the place to the prisoner area. They went to the cell that held the three most elite soldiers she had captured. Their names were Gray Fullbuster, Mirajane and Gerard Fernandes. They wore tattered clothing and they all had a defeated look on their faces. They were once proud soldiers, but now they were reduced to the pitiful figures before her.
Gray, Mirajane and Gerard look up and gasped. "Erza?" Gray gasped. Lucy then kicked Erza in the back and Erza falls into the room with a thud. Gray and Mirajane quickly got up and help Erza got up.
"I brought a new friend guys. Have fun with her. Also, I understand that one of you has been causing a bit of trouble," Lucy said coldly. Gray, Mirajane, Erza and Gerard remained silent as Gray helped Erza sit next to him. Lucy nearly laughed at them, "What, you won't talk? You should consider it a great mercy that you are allowed to live at all. My interrogation sessions with you are merely the price of staying alive." Gray and Mirajane shuddered as they thought of the horrific tortures she had put them through.
Suddenly Gerard jumped to his feet, unable to contain his anger at her any longer.
"You cold blooded murderer! How dare you hold us here like animals? A monster like you shouldn't be alive! You kill in cold blood! You're a monster!" He was cut off when Lucy grabbed him by the hair and pulled him forward so that his face was mere inches away from hers.
"I do what I am ordered. And right now, my orders are to kill you. Goodbye."
Lucy smashed Gerard's head into the wall, crushing his skull like an egg. The others gasped in horror. Lucy wiped off his brains on her clothes before turning her gaze to the others. Gray just stared at her in shock and horror while Mirajane hid her face in her hands as she burst into tears.
"Let that be a lesson to you," Lucy said coldly before walking out of the cell, leaving the three prisoners with the body of their brutally murdered friend.
Meanwhile, at his bar, Natsu was running a wet cloth over a mug, trying to get rid of even the most miniscual specks of dirt on the glass.
Then, the doorbell rang. Natsu looked up and see a white haired man dressed in a military uniform entering his bar.
"Hi, can I help you?" Natsu asked.
"Are you Natsu Dragneel?" The man asked as he walked over to him. "My name is Colonel Lyon Bastia." The man, now known as Lyon, removed his beret and bowed his head. Lyon puts his beret back on and asked, "A week ago, Erza and Ian came to this bar, did they?"
Natsu nodded. "What happened?"
"I don't know. They were supposed to return a week ago, but they never came back to HQ. Then we heard reports that they were attacked somewhere just outside Canberra." Lyon said in worry.
Natsu widens his eyes. "Do you think they are still alive?" He asked.
"Yes, we do. We last tracked down Erza's coordinates to Madagascar. Just thought you should know." Lyon said.
Natsu lowers his head down. It was all his fault. He had nobody but himself to blame. If he had gone with Erza, she would have been safe. And now, he's going to lose another friend and it's because of him. Natsu grits his teeth and clenches his fists tightly. As Lyon was about to turn around and leave, Natsu looked up.
"Send me in." He said. Lyon turned around.
"What did you say?"
"Send me in, Colonel!" Natsu yelled.
"Are you serious?"
"Yes I am." Natsu nodded.
Lyon paused for a moment, then said, "Very well. I'll let my superiors know. Good luck and hope you can bring Erza and any other captured men back safely."
Natsu saluted. "Thank you sir."
END OF CHAPTER