sin & sorcery

9. i hope you're ready for a firefight

Gray and Natsu agree to the raid on Skavak's base, but things don't go as planned.

TW for graphic violence and injuries

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i hope you're ready for a firefight
'cause the devil's got your number tonight

.

"This is the worst idea we've ever had," Natsu grumbled, shifting uncomfortably in his new clothes. Erza had equipped them both with thick, reinforced undershirts, as well as pistol holsters that displayed their new weapons. Gray wasn't about to admit it out loud, but Natsu looked hot as hell.

"Nah, we've had worse," Gray said, keeping a nervous hand on the strap of his bag. Inside was all the material they required to complete their plan, including several explosive spellcubes and a handful of grenades. "Remember when you stole all of Lucy's underwear?"

Natsu snorted, a smile on the corner of his lips. "True, I think I'm more scared of her than I am of this Skavak guy." His voice was filled with bravado, but Gray could tell it was mostly fake. Natsu was likely as scared as he was. They may have agreed to pull off this job, but that didn't mean it wasn't terrifying.

They walked in silence for a while, Gray checking their datapad for directions every few blocks. Eventually they left the entertainment district and headed into the slums, which smelled terrible. Shipping containers were stacked against the walls with doors cut haphazardly into their sides, joined together by precarious-looking catwalks and staircases. Dirty, barefoot children ran and screamed in the street while their parents hung laundry between the stacks. Gray didn't like to think about the fact that this was where Edo-Gray, Rogue and Sting lived.

"Are we sure?" Natsu whispered, hand hovering nervously over the pistol at his hip. His voice was shaky, and Gray reached over, grabbing Natsu's hand and bringing it up to his mouth. He kissed Natsu's knuckles and Natsu exhaled sharply, tension leaving his shoulders bit by bit as his breathing evened out.

"We talked about this." Gray's voice was quiet and sad. The decision had been easier for him than for Natsu. Gray knew evil – he'd seen Deliora kill his parents and hadn't hesitated to return the favor when the time had come. Just because these were humans didn't mean they weren't monsters. "Even if we could get home without them... we can't just leave them like this." Gray sighed. "We need to fix it."

"I know." Natsu rubbed his eyes. "I just... I know that. And I see what Revik did to here-you. He... he tortured him. Cut off his fingers." He hesitated. "I do want to make things right."

"Part of me wants to tear Revik apart with my bare hands," Gray muttered quietly. Natsu squeezed his hand again and they lapsed back into silence.

After another half an hour the scenery began to change again, and they found themselves in an industrial district. Warehouses lined the streets, each with symbols and phrases in Underspeak sprayed across the sides. The boisterous noise of the slums was gone, replaced by an eerie silence that made Gray's hairs stand on end.

"We're close to the target," he said, reaching up and tapping the earpiece that linked them to Sting and Edo-Gray. The datapad showed their destination to be ahead and several blocks on the right.

"Copy." Edo-Gray's voice echoed in his earpiece, and Gray shivered at the sensation of hearing himself talk. "I'm heading for the entrance. Sting, are the alleys clear?"

"As far as I can tell." A clicking sound came from Sting's end and Gray assumed he was typing. "Couple of cameras are burnt, this guy's either really confident or really stupid."