Chapter 9 Bombs
When Erza, Levy, Mira and Gajeel got to class, D and Lucy were already there. D was sitting in the same spot as yesterday (Gajeel's spot) and Lucy was sitting to her right with her head in her arms and ice on her right shoulder. She must have been embarrassed about something because her face was red. D, on the other hand, was staring at Lucy with an extremely amused smile while resting her head on her left hand. D was obviously enjoying whatever Lucy was so embarrassed about. D raised a hand in greeting. Everyone nodded in response.
"Lucy?" Mira called unsurely. Lucy sat up and decided to ignore D for the moment.
"Hey guys," Lucy greeted them with a smile.
"What happened to your shoulder, Lu-chan?" Levy asked.
"PFFT!" D barely managed to hold in a laugh. She sucked in her lips while her shoulders started shaking. Lucy glared at her.
"I thought you weren't going to laugh anymore," she accused.
"I'm not," D denied her voice cracking.
"Lu-chan?" Levy tried again. Lucy blinked and looked over at her.
"Oh…I fell…" she finally answered. Erza, sensing there was more to it than that, asked:
"How?" The question seemed to flip a switch in D as the girl made a strangled noise in the back of her throat before burying her head in her arms and shaking even harder than before. Lucy's face turned red as a tomato as one of D's arms came up and the girl started banging a fist on the table in front of her.
"Oh, just laugh already!" Lucy yelled. D immediately complied. She gripped her stomach and laughed to her hearts content.
"Aw…it hurts! Ahahahahahahahahahaha!" she shouted through her laughter. Lucy blinked and pushed the ice firmly against her shoulder while sinking down in her chair hoping to disappear. Erza got upset at D's obvious enjoyment of another person's misery and brought her fist down on the table.
"What is so funny?!" she demanded to know. D smiled at her and decided to embarrass her cousin further.
"Lucy hurt her shoulder when she slipped on her own sweat," she replied through her laughter.
Silence (except for D's silent laughter)…
Gajeel burst out laughing.
"Wow, bunny-girl! How'd you manage that?" he inquired (I have always wanted to use that word). D and Lucy stared at him.
"Pfft!" D burst out laughing while Lucy stood up and roared:
"Who's a bunny?!" The ice bag fell to floor.
"You are," Gajeel answered. "You're innocent and defenseless just like one." D laughed even harder at this. Lucy turned around to yell at her cousin.
"Shut up already-" Lucy started before a sharp pain in her shoulder cut her off. She grabbed her shoulder and sat back down with a moan of pain. D stopped laughing enough to grab the ice bag off the floor and hand it back to Lucy. Lucy took the bag and smiled at the chuckling girl. "Thanks." D suddenly turned to Erza gaining the red-head's attention.
"Did you go to our room this morning?" D asked with a smirk. Catching onto D's hidden question, Erza nodded with a serious expression. "Was hungry-boy there?"
"He was, actually," Mira informed. D turned her head to the side and hissed an unhappy:
"I knew it!" Erza took out D's note and handed it to Lucy. Lucy adjusted the bag on her shoulder.
"We got your note too. Did you see it, Lucy?" Erza asked. Lucy's eyes widened in surprise as she looked at the note covered in both D and other people's handwriting.
"No," Lucy answered. "When did-"
"It was on the door when you locked it," D interrupted. Lucy blushed in embarrassment. D took the not and grinned. "Well, well, well…looks like we have quite a few names on here…" Mira, Levy, Erza and Gajeel stared at Lucy in shock.
"How did you not see the note?!" they cried. Lucy blushed and looked down.
"Why does it matter if I saw it or not?" Lucy asked in an attempt to defend herself.
"I made a bet with everyone who signed this paper that you didn't see it," D explained. "Now they have to do something that they may, or may not like of my choice. You'll find out what during music class." D had a huge grin on her face. The group had been so caught up in their conversation that they didn't notice the bell rang (Well…D noticed but chose to ignore it for not-so-obvious reasons.) and that the entire class was now staring at them. D chose this moment to inform them of this. "Also…how long are you going to stand there? The bell rang like 2 minutes ago. Speaking of which, where's the teacher?" Almost as if on cue, Macao entered the room.
"Mira, Erza, Levy, Gajeel, take your seats," he demanded. D looked at him.
"Oh," she began as she turned back to the four teenagers in front of her, "there he is." She smirked as Erza, Levy, Mira and Gajeel sat at the seats around them. Macao then started the class. A few minutes later, D's watch went off. The entire class turned to her as she pulled her sleeve back and shut the alarm off. "Forgot to silence that," D mussed to herself. Once everyone's attention was again on Macao, D grabbed the black back (which was on the floor behind her) and placed it on the table. Lucy turned her attention to D as she unzipped the bag and reached inside.
"What are you doing?" Lucy hissed gaining Levy, Mira, Erza and Gajeel's attention.
"Put this on," D demanded handing her what looked like a gas mask. Lucy took it numbly. D pulled out 4 more and handed them to Gajeel, Levy, Mira and Erza, "you too."
"What?" Levy managed to ask as D zipped the bag up.
"Put it on," she repeated. Lucy, remembering the chemicals D had taken out in the science room, immediately put hers on. D glanced at her watch before looking back at the group around her. "Now," she ordered in a dark voice. The group put on their masks, and D reached out and activated them before looking back at her watch. The group stared at her as she held up her left hand and began a five second countdown with her fingers. Five…Four…Three…Two…One
BOOM! Screams echoed throughout the school.
"REMAIN CALM EVERYONE!" Macao instructed as D grabbed her stuff and dragged Lucy, who had grabbed her things as well, out of the classroom and into the hall. Erza and company followed their example and found the hallway in utter chaos. Students were beginning to flood the hall as teachers tried to direct them to the emergency exits.
"IT STINKS!" someone cried. Suddenly everyone around the group began grabbing their noses in an attempt to block out the smell. D, still holding Lucy's arm, grabbed Erza, who grabbed Mira who grabbed Levy who grabbed Gajeel, and dragged them all out of the building. Once they were a safe distance away D turned to the group and grinned.
"Safe!" she declared. She began to collect the masks while everyone else looked around in horror. Students were pouring out of the school in droves, some coughing, some crying and everyone holding their noses. It was horrible. "Well then," D began gaining everyone's attention. She and Lucy were standing a little ways away from the group, "this is where we part, I'm afraid." Erza glared at her.
"Were you responsible for this?!" she yelled in outrage. D blinked and seemed to consider the question for a second. Seeming to come to a conclusion, D placed her hands on her hips and returned Erza's glare full-force. Erza stared at her in shock.
"Am I responsible?" D growled moving closer with Lucy behind her. "No. The ones responsible are the idiotic teachers and staff that rely so much on the school's security that they fail to realize they are PUTTING EVERYONE IN DANGER!" Erza recoiled from D's obvious outrage. "When I was talking to La'har about the holes in the security system, he told me that even though there are measures in place, most of the people don't follow them because they don't realize that computer's and technology can only do so much! Without everyone taking the proper precautions that even public school's do, like locking up a freaking chemical cabinet, this,"-she paused to indicate the crying, coughing and now even vomiting student's (What kind of stink bomb did she make?!) and teachers running out of the building covering their noses,-"could have been much worse. Instead of a few simple stink bombs it could have been a real bomb and all of those people could be dead right now! It would be a complete massacre!"
At that, Erza stopped and took a look at the state her fellow students were in from, as D had called it, a few simple stink bombs. She saw every student that was holding their nose, crying, coughing and vomiting and realized D was right and, if this had been a real attack, there would have been nothing she could do to stop it. Mira fell to her knees in terror as images of all those people she saw everyday, all the people running out of the building, and all her friends, dead flooded her mind. She couldn't take it anymore and burst into tears. Levy was barely standing and Gajeel was slightly pale. Lucy on the other hand was staring at her cousin shocked that the girl had actually used La'har's name.
"The worse part is… that the places I put the bombs would have brought the building down in a way that would set off a chain reaction and killed nearly everyone within the school grounds," D's voice was considerably softer but still tight with her anger. Erza and Levy looked back at her in horror while Gajeel stiffened and Mira cried harder. At that time all Lucy could think was:
WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU DO THAT?! IF YOU MISCALCULATED YOU COULD HAVE KILLED US ALL!
"No…actually, I take that back," D suddenly rescinded. "The worse part is that I was able to make those bombs from things in a science classroom, things that would be locked up and hidden in a public school." Levy joined Mira and dropped to her knees crying her heart out. Gajeel wanted to comfort her, but he was too shaken to be of much help right now. "I had told La'har I would think of a way to show everyone how important it is to follow all security measures. Granted, what I had planned wasn't this extreme, but when I saw the extent of their stupidity, I lost it and went a little overboard…" D took a deep breath and relaxed a little.
A little? everyone questioned.
"But now, I see it was necessary," D continued with a smirk. "This drove the idea home, didn't it? That you aren't as safe as you think you are. That you're…vulnerable." The reality hit the four then. No matter how good the security is, if someone wants to find a way in, they will. There is no where that is simply safe. Lucy was shocked that D had used La'har's name…twice.
Erza fell to her knees then. It was infuriating. She always thought of everyone's safety, yet she couldn't see the obvious danger surrounding her. It felt like she had been punched in the gut, like she was facing a power she couldn't even dream of defeating. When Erza next spoke, her voice was shaking.
"Wha-What do I do?" she asked. "How do I protect my friends?" D's ears perked at the word 'friends'. A kind smile came over her features. Lucy would have had a panic attack if she had seen it.
So, she was more concerned about her friends than herself, huh? D wondered.
"How can I keep them safe?" Erza was completely panicking D looked down at her a serious expression, her smile unseen. "Tell me!"
"How?" D replied in a cold voice. Erza froze and looked up at her. D bend forward with her hands in her pockets so that she was eye-level with the red-head. "It's obvious isn't it?" D hissed her next words directly into Erza's ear so only the girl would hear. "Get stronger. Then pull your friends close to you and never let them go. Make sure that even if you go down, you won't go without a fight." Erza stiffened, clenched her fists and covered her eyes with her bangs as she shook in anger at herself. How could she forget something so important?! D stood up straight again. Lucy, by the way was standing to the side watching everything with a warm smile. D moved to her cousin's side before addressing the two crying girls over her shoulder. "What's the use of crying over something that hasn't even happened?" Mira and Levy froze. D gave them a hard stare. "Crying won't stop it from happening, and it sure won't make it go away if it does." The two girls looked up at her. "Instead of crying, you should do everything in your power to make sure it never happens." Mira's fist clenched and her bangs also covered her eyes, while Levy stared wide-eyed at D. Gajeel simply 'tch'ed. D raised an eyebrow at him.
"I don't need you to tell me that," he stated. D smirked at him. Despite his words he was still a little shaken.
"I know. That's why all I'm going to say to you is: 'Keep your eyes peeled, and never take anything or anyone at face value. Always look for another meaning behind everything, especially if you want to protect those that are important to you." She tilted her head at Levy with a smile and Gajeel looked away letting out another 'tch'.
"I don't need you to tell me that either," he grumbled. Despite his tough act, there was a slight blush on his cheeks. D smirked at that.
"I should hope not," she teased, "but one can never be too careful." D turned to Lucy then. "Come on, we better explain the situation before someone calls the police, or worse, their parents." Lucy giggled and the two were about to leave when suddenly Erza and Mira shot to their feet.
"Wait!" Erza demanded her voice back to its normal commanding tone. D and Lucy turned half-way towards them. "You said you work out every morning, right?" D nodded. "May I join you?" D raised both eyebrows at that and took a step towards them leaving Lucy behind her. Now that was unexpected.
"I would like to, too!" Mira shouted. Levy stood up then.
"I want to come too!" she declared eyes full of determination. D smirked while Lucy's eyes widened in horror. She began shaking her head and rapidly crossing her arms in an x to stop them. Lucy even went so far as to mouth the word 'No' over and over again.
"Are you sure?" D asked. Lucy's movements became frantic at that moment. D sighed. "Lucy," said girl froze, "just because I can't see you, doesn't mean I don't know what you're doing." Lucy stopped and clasped her hands behind her back while whistling as though trying to deny that she had done anything. Levy, Mira and Erza gave her identical curious looks at this. "Even after…that do you still want to?" The girls nodded once with eyes hardened at the challenge. D smiled and Lucy slumped over in defeat. "Okay, then you'll spend the night at our dorm room." Lucy perked up at this and grabbed D's arm.
"You mean a sleepover?" she nearly shouted in excitement with her eyes sparkling.
Oh hell… D thought before replying with a cautious: "I guess you could see it that way." Lucy squealed. God I hope she won't do that all night. "Are any of you on a diet?"
"I am," Mira answered.
"Me, too," Levy stated sheepishly with a blush on her cheeks while looking down.
"Get off it," D commanded with a glare. The two girls jumped. "You need to eat as many carbs as you can today."
"Why?" Levy questioned. D grinned.
"Because if you don't…" she paused and her grin got a sadistic tint to it, "I can guarantee you'll drop dead tomorrow." D's voice was dark and the girls froze in terror while wondering exactly what kind of exercises D did in the morning. D turned and began to walk away with Lucy following behind her. "If you're not going to chicken out, please, have your stuff with you during Drama. I suggest having shorts and a tank-top," were D's last words to them before she and Lucy were gone. The girls all had the same thought running through their heads.
What did I just get myself into?
"So it's just a stink bomb?" Makarov asked. D nodded causing Makarov to sigh in relief. "Good." D, Lucy, Makarov and La'har were currently in Makarov's office.
"The smell should disperse in about an hour if you turned the air conditioning on full force," D said. "Heat will only make it worse." Makarov nodded and began explaining to Bisca that the air conditioning units in the building needed to be turned on full force and the heater turned off. When he finished that, D turned to La'har and asked him to give a speech similar to the one she gave Erza and company. She made sure to stress that he should let everyone know that if it was a simple explosion many students would be killed or injured. She also made sure that he should make sure everyone knew that the person who gave the test was simply outraged and got a little carried away. He should also drive home that the security system isn't perfect and that there is no such thing as an impenetrable security system. She also said he should hype it up and say that she wasn't caught on any of the security cameras. (This was true, but D didn't know that.) After making an announcement calling for an assembly to explain the situation, Makarov told D not to do any more "tests" that would result in the evacuation of the classrooms. D agreed. Once they were finished with their business, D and Lucy went to their room so D could get rid of the duffle bag. (D didn't want to carry it anymore.)
"So," Lucy began with a smile, "that was an interesting little speech you gave to Erza before."" D looked at her. They were currently in the safety of their apartment.
"I'm sensing a second meaning to your words, and I'll tell you right now. I only said what I said because I know first-hand the kind of damage that can happen when the worse case scenario happens. I also know what it does to people. I don't want to see that again, and no, I won't tell you about it. I've seen things someone my age shouldn't even know about, Lucy. Things I have no desire to share," D stated. The tired look on her face was enough to silence any questions Lucy might have. While trying to think of a way to change the subject, Lucy suddenly remembered something.
"What are you going to make the people who lost the bet do?" she asked. D grinned and only said:
"Choco, choco." Lucy was confused for a moment before her eyes widened in understanding, and she burst out laughing. "And, they'll do it in front of the entire drama class."
"Oh, that is just wrong!" Lucy shouted. D simply laughed.
"You are dismissed," La'har stated.
He had just finished explaining D's little test. He made sure they knew that the school had no knowledge of the stink bombs and that the person responsible would not be doing it again. At the same time, he made sure they understood that they would be placing new rules to prevent something like this from happening for real and that their would be more tests that could happen as early as today depending on said person's mood. La'har explained that even he didn't know when these tests would happen, and that they were in place to show them the real danger they were in. He had asked every person who had fallen victim to raise their hands, and the amount was overwhelming. He told them that if it had been a real attack with poisonous gas, everyone who had smelled it would have been dead right now. He also added that if it was a normal bomb it would have killed anyone within the school grounds as well. He made sure to address every point D told him to and was glad because, for once, it seemed as though everyone was listening and finally understood the importance of the rules in place, especially those that were told they could be dead right now.
"Remember," La'har added as everyone was about to leave the cafeteria, "the smell will be gone in about half an hour, but the rooms will be cold. Classes will begin starting with second period." With that said, everyone went about their own business.
"I can't believe it," Wendy nearly whispered near tears. "So many people could be dead right now! People I pass in the hall everyday. People I don't even know the names of… innocent people!" Wendy was full on crying now. The morning's group minus Rouge was sitting at their table in the cafeteria. Natsu had been in a class with a bomb and was dead to the world due to the smell. (Gray had dragged him out of the room.)
"We could have been killed without even being given the chance to fight back…" Gray stated in frustration.
"Isn't the security system supposed to stop these things from happening?" Laxus asked. A few other girls started crying.
"What good is crying about it going to do?" Levy shouted jumping to her feet and slamming the palms of her hands on the table. Everyone stared at her in shock. "What's the use of crying over something that hasn't even happened?!" No one could believe that Levy was yelling at them. "Crying won't stop it from happening," Levy continued in a softer yet still sharp voice. Her eyes were hardened. She was completely serious. "Crying won't make it go away once it happens." Everyone was silent as Mira stood and went to Levy's side. She placed a hand on the petit bluenet's shoulder causing the small girl to relax.
"Instead of crying," Mira began in a calm tone, "we should do everything in our power to make sure it never happens."
"How are we supposed to do that?" Cana asked slurring her words.
"Isn't it obvious?" Erza began standing up with her bangs covering her eyes. Everyone turned to her and she looked up eyes burning with authority. "We get stronger! We take the people who are important to us, pull the close and never let them go! Make sure that even if we go down, we don't go without a fight! That it the Fairy Tail way!" Everyone at the table cheered and held up Fairy Tails special sign. Gajeel only smirked.
"The first thing we need to remember is to keep our eyes peeled," he interjected. "We should never take anyone or anything at face-value. Always look for another meaning behind everything, especially if we want to protect the people most important to us." Everyone stared at Gajeel in shock. "What?" Mira chuckled.
"She got to you too, huh?" she asked. Gajeel blinked before a smirk made its way onto his face and he closed his eyes.
"I guess she did," he confessed confusing almost everyone at the table further.
"She seems to have gotten to all of us," Levy giggled.
"I believe she did," Erza agreed closing her eyes with a smirk.
"Who did?" Jellal finally asked voicing everyone's confusion. The four looked at each other and smirked before turning back to their friends.
"D did," they replied in unison.
D sneezed. The two girls were currently sitting in their second period class while waiting for everyone to come inside. Lucy was wrapped in a blanket while D was simply sitting in her uniform. When D sneezed, Lucy looked at the girl worriedly.
"D, you should really put a blanket around yourself," Lucy scolded. "You're gonna get yourself sick." D rolled her eyes at her.
"Oh, shut up," she answered. D was sketching something again. She refused a blanket, but had plugged in a heater that, while small, was powerful enough to warm their little corner in ten minutes. However, D had only just plugged it in so it was still cold. "It'll be warm in a minute anyway." Lucy looked at D skeptically before going back to checking her homework for the 10th time. She just knew there was something wrong…she just couldn't figure out what. Since it was her music homework, she was seriously stressing out over it. Once she started muttering to herself, D took pity on the poor girl and decided to help. "What is it?" Lucy jumped.
"What is what?" she asked in confusion. D smirked and turned to her cousin.
"What is your problem?" she tried again.
"Oh…" Lucy answered. "Um…" (Okay…you don't wanna read about two people doing homework, I don't wanna waste your time. Let's just move on.)
Erza, Mira and Gajeel had just finished explaining everything that had happened since they walked into Mr. Macao's class that morning. Levy was looking at some sort of journal. All of their friends were currently staring at them in shock. Natsu, on the other-hand, had only just regained the ability to speak.
"So…you mean to say…it's…her fault…I'm like this?" he somehow managed to ask. Everyone looked at him. Gray smirked.
"No, it's your fault for having such a sensitive nose," he sneered. Natsu glared at him.
"It's the teacher-who-left-the-chemical-cabinet-unlocked-'s fault," Erza corrected. Everyone went silent. Levy, who hadn't been listening, suddenly let out a large 'UGH'. Everyone looked at her as she began muttering to herself.
"What's wrong, Levy?" Mira asked. Levy stopped her muttering and looked up.
"It won't work," she complained. "I've done the math over and over again and it just won't work!" She yelled the last part before banging her head on the table. Everyone looked at each other in confusion before turning back to Levy.
"What won't work?" Lisanna asked. Levy stared at her before sighing and sitting back up.
"The play's budget," she answered. "No matter how many times I do the numbers, they simply refuse to add up. There is simply not enough money to cover all the expenses." The girls then began to panic.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE'S NOT ENOUGH?" Evergreen yelled.
"CHECK IT AGAIN!" Cana demanded.
"Maybe you missed something, Levy-san," Wendy offered. The girls continued yelling at Levy until Laxus interfered.
"Okay, okay. Calm down," he ordered in a voice loud enough to be heard over the girls.
"WE ARE CALM!" The girls yelled turning on him. The boys all backed up, but Laxus barely flinched.
"We can fix this. Levy," he began turning to the girl and holding out his hand, "give me the book, and I'll see if I can do anything with it." Everyone sighed in relief as Levy handed Laxus the accounting book. Laxus was the only one in the group that was smart enough to be in Advanced Mathematics. If anyone could figure this out it was him. Laxus got up and packed his things. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get my jacket and head to class." Everyone said their goodbyes and they were about to part when Levy remembered something.
"Laxus wait!" she shouted. The boy stopped and looked at her. "D is in you next class, right?" Laxus stare at for her a moment in confusion before it hit him.
"Oh, I get it," he answered with a nod. "Yeah, I'll ask her to help." Levy smiled and Laxus left.