DW: I would like to thank bookworm0313, Chibi Warrior II, Francis Wolfang, yukihane, GakuenAliceGRL, Srstatts and xjakx for reviewing.
Chapter 25: A Hero In The End
"How's your arm doing, Lucy?" Natsu asked.
"It hurts a lot, but it will heal in a couple months as long as I keep all the bones and stuff lined up. I'll get a cast later to hold it in place," Lucy said.
"Where do we go from here?" Erza asked.
"I'll fly you all back to North Carolina. We'll make the necessary arrangements after we arrived back in America." Elfman said.
"And what of me, Natsu?" Lucy asked Natsu, "I am Project Cerberus after all, and your orders were to kill me. How will you explain to your superiors that you brought me with you back to your home?" Natsu thought for a moment.
"We'll tell them that you were just from a village and chose to defect to our side. We'll say that you helped us and that you should be given citizenship," Natsu said.
"If you think that will work, then I will agree to it. By the way, you guys should probably take some of this," Lucy said, taking out a vial of clear liquid.
"What is it?" Gray asked.
"The antidote," Lucy said.
"The antidote to what?" Mirajane asked.
"Oh yeah! I never told you guys! My blood contains an extremely powerful neurotoxin that can kill within minutes." This statement resulted in a collective gasp. "I've been slipping Natsu the antidote to it, and have taken it myself, but you guys will want to take some too or the poison might accumulate in yourselves. Just put a few drops on your tongue and you should be fine for a while. I'm planning on starting to take it regularly, so hopefully it will be weakened eventually."
They took the antidote before giving it back to Lucy.
"Well, let's get going!" Lucy said.
"I'm afraid I cannot allow that."
They turned to see Laxus standing behind them with a submachine gun leveled at them. Everyone present reached for their weapons, only to remember that they had either lost them or had left them in the helicopter. They glared angrily at Laxus.
"You will all die right here," Laxus growled.
"You can kill us all, but we still won," Natsu said.
"That's right, you've lost your base and project and the United Nations will no doubt soon learn of your deeds. Your dreams have been dashed," Erza said.
"Silence!" Laxus yelled, "You will all pay. Especially you!" he pointed at Natsu, "You took away my most loyal servant and destroyed all my data of the Apophis Experiment! I'll kill you first!" Laxus pulled the trigger, releasing a spray of bullets. Natsu, Erza, Gray, Mirajane and Elfman began to dive for cover, but then they realized that Laxus's shots had not reached them. Lucy was standing in front of Laxus, having taken the gunshots.
"You…" Laxus growled. Lucy looked up and grabbed him by the throat, even as her chest bled from the gun shots. Laxus gasped for breath and attempted to pull away her arm. Her left arm was disabled from it's earlier injury, but her right was at Laxus's throat.
Choking and gasping, Laxus fired the submachine gun again, shooting Lucy at point blank. Lucy's body shuddered as bullets went into her, but she did not let go. Laxus continued to spray bullets into her, and the others could only watch on in horror as she stayed where she was, taking Laxus's bullets while choking him.
After a minute, Laxus closes his eyes and his head slump to the side, his breathing ceased. He dropped the gun and fell to the ground. Lucy stood still for a moment before falling over on top of him.
"LUCY!" Natsu yelled, running to her. Erza, Gray, Mirajane and Elfman followed him, surrounding the two lying in front of them. Natsu gently rolled Lucy over, and gasped at her wounds.
Lucy's stomach and lower chest seemed to be a mass of bloody remains. If seen alone, it would have been unrecognizable as a human torso. Natsu leaned down and shakily touched the side of her face.
"Lucy…" Natsu whispered, "Lucy, wake up! Wake up!" he begged.
"Natsu…" Lucy gasped. He looked up, his eyes brightening for a minute.
"L-Lucy?" Natsu said.
"I'm not sure that I'll survive…" Lucy whispered.
"No, don't say that!" Natsu said, "Don't even think that!"
"Natsu…I'll try to hold on…but if I don't make it, know that I love you. You've saved me from myself and my master. Thank you Natsu… I truly love you…" Lucy whispered. Natsu leaned down and kissed her. Lucy kissed him back for just a moment before her eyes slid shut. Natsu lowered his eyes, a tear trickling down his cheek. Erza checked her.
"She's stopped breathing and I can't detect a heartbeat. She may have gone into another healing coma, but I'm not sure. It's impossible to tell with her," Erza said.
"What now?" Gray asked. Natsu looked up.
"We…we take her with us. If she's still alive, we'll keep her safe while she heals. If not…"
"Don't think about that," Erza said, "I'm certain she will survive. Now come on, we need to get her back in the helicopter if we're going to take her back with us."
"But…what if she really is dead?" Natsu asked. Erza stopped.
"If she's dead, she'll have died a hero to the world."
END OF CHAPTER