Twenty-Seven - Lucy Heartfilia

Lucy couldn't believe what was happening. So many crazy things had happened recently. She was beginning to get desensitized to all the insanity. But a terrorist attack was a little much. It sounded like a few fights were going on; she heard a lot of yelling in different areas.

No one was left sitting in their seats. Lucy wasn't sure which direction to go. She wanted to be useful, but wasn't sure how. After a short moment of deliberation, she decided to find Natsu. She hoped that Wendy had been able to help him with his motion-sickness, otherwise he would be completely vulnerable.

"Natsu!" she called, trying to locate him. She heard him shouting something about being 'fired up' and hoped that he wasn't going to find some way to start a fire. She began to head towards the sound of his voice, but her path was blocked by a massive, weird-looking man. "Why is this happening to me?" she complained as the man gave her a creepy grin. "Will my life never be normal?"

Just then, screams came from up in first class. Lucy glanced around the big, creepy guy to see that a fire had started. Things were getting worse by the second. The plane was starting to shudder, causing the big man to lose his balance and fall down. Lucy prayed that they would not crash.

Suddenly, a familiar voice came over the intercom. "Welcome to Tenrou Airlines. This is your captain speaking."

"Natsu?" Lucy groaned. "What are you-?"

Before she could finish her rhetorical question, the plane tipped sideways.

"AND THIS IS YOUR CAPTAIN SHOUTING!" Natsu's voice exclaimed.

"What is that idiot doing?!" Gray shouted from the next aisle over.

"We should go help," Erza said.

"There's enough to deal with back here," Mira said. "These guys are tough."

"Natsu can't fly an aircraft!" Erza protested.

"OH CRAP!" Natsu's voice continued. The intercom was still broadcasting. "I DON'T KNOW HOW TO FLY THIS THING!" There was a loud snapping sound. "I hope that wasn't important."

"We're all going to die," Lucy said. "We have to get up there and help him!" The big guy in front of her regained his balance and started towards her. "Ahh, no!" she shrieked. She kicked as hard as she could, but he grabbed her leg, rendering her attack useless.

Fortunately, the plane chose that moment to tip again. The man fell and smacked his head on a chair, knocking him unconscious. Lucy very nearly avoided the same fate as she was flung to the side. She got to her feet carefully, battered from crashing into two others, who turned out to be Elfman and Evergreen. She apologized as another voice could be heard over the intercom.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"Laxus?" Natsu's voice asked in surprise. "How are you here?"

"I bought my own ticket," Laxus explained. "Move aside. Let me help."

"I didn't see you on the plane," Natsu remarked.

"I wasn't gonna sit in coach with you losers!" Laxus exclaimed. "Now move before you break anything else important!"

"Where is Makarov?" another unexpected voice asked, this time from right behind Lucy.

"Dad?" Cana asked. "But how-?"

"I somehow got lost and ended up in first class," Gildarts shrugged sheepishly. "I was talking with Laxus. Where is the other Dreyar?"

"Over here!" Lisanna called.

Levy and Lisanna were tending to the injured, which included many Fairy Tail foster kids and Makarov.

"This is not looking good," Gildarts said. "This is Acnologic engine failure! I've seen this before!"

"You've seen this before?" Lucy asked incredulously. "I've never even heard of it!"

"There's nothing we can do to stop it," Gildarts went on. "Our only hope left is to pray for a miracle."

The plane was shuddering furiously and the fire was spreading. Lucy, Erza, Gray, and even Gajeel volunteered to make their way to the front and see how they could help. Wendy, Happy, and Carla followed, despite being told to stay put. The group managed to find an extinguisher and put out the fire, but that wasn't much of a worry compared to the increasingly steep descent the plane was making. When they finally reached the cockpit, Natsu and Laxus had managed to stabilize the plane for the most part.

"It's still going down," Laxus said. "But less so. We need to gather everyone and figure out some sort of way to get off this thing."

"At this point, I don't think we're getting off before we reach the ground," Lucy reasoned. "We need to find some way to brace ourselves."

-.-.-

Everyone convened in the middle of the plane, where all the injured lay. Fairy Tail had managed to take care of the terrorists. The ones that were merely unconscious were tied up together. Everyone was afraid. The ground was getting closer and closer, and it wasn't going to be a pretty crash.

The stabilization that Natsu and Laxus had achieved meant that pressure changes weren't a problem. They were too close to the ground for that to matter much anymore anyway. The impact would happen soon and there was no way to stop it. Everyone strapped into any available seat and put on oxygen masks, which had been largely ignored with all the fighting going on. Lucy found herself seated beside Natsu, who seemed to notice how terrified she was.

"We'll be fine," he said, smiling at her through his oxygen mask. She was unconvinced, but she appreciated his attempt. He had become quite a good friend to her. She would be sad to never see him again, but at least she was with him now. "Don't worry, Lucy," he said, grasping her hand in his.

For a split second, she felt the jolt of the plane hitting the ground. Then she felt nothing.