With Great Power Comes Great Responsibilty

Chapter 53

A few weeks later some thugs broke into a chemical plant to steal a new brand of drug that was created for the purpose of accelerating the strength and immunity of white blood cells. The drugs hadn't of been tested yet hence why they hadn't of been sold yet but if the drug worked it would be worth millions. So obviously thugs who wanted to make a quick buck weren't going to pass up the opportunity. 

An alarm was set off which summoned the police and as expected Natsu and Gray went to intercept the break in. They found the crooks attempting to flee the plant with crates full of the drugs.

"Excuse me but do you have a prescription for those drugs?" Gray asked.

"It's Red Dragon and Blue Tiger!" One of them shouted at the sight of the masked heroes.

"Well just don't stand there! Shoot em!" Another said.

They pulled out their guns and started firing at them. Natsu and Gray dodged the bullets,  dropped down from the ceiling, and lunged to attack the thugs. It was five against two but Natsu and Gray's advanced abilities made up for them being outnumbered. The guns were knocked away and they overpowered the lot of them. But the fifth thug was really big and muscular, taking him down would be a challenge. He and Gray fought hard for dominance, so hard that they ended up slamming each other into some of the crates. The glass test tubes inside broke from the impact and the chemical drug spilled on to them. Natsu aided his partner and together they managed to knock out that last one. Once that was done they restrained the gang and left them to be arrested by cops who arrived in almost not time. 

"Another job done." Natsu said. "And not a single scratch."

"Speak for yourself." Gray said trying to wipe the chemicals off his body. "The broken glass from those test tubes cut my back on all sides. Not to mention I'm covered in a drug. If Aunt Ur saw me right now she'd lose it."

"To be fair it's a medical drug so she probably wouldn't be too angry if she saw you." Natsu smiled. "But seriously, are you okay?"

"I should be fine. A few cuts never damaged anyone."

"Got any glass shards stuck in your back?"

"No I don't think so."

"You wanna stop by Erza's place and have her clean you up?"

"No I can do it on my own. I'll just go home, take a shower, get some sleep, and by morning I should be fine."

"Alright then. I'll see you tomorrow."

"You too."

Gray expected to wake up the next morning with his back feeling sore but for some reason it didn't hurt at all. He was a little confused by this at first but eventually put his worries aside and went on his way to his usual classes. It was noon when his third class ended and he was just about to leave for lunch when he was approached by Juvia.

"Gray!" She called waving at him.

"Oh hi Juvia. How's it going?"

"Great. I just received the best news ever and I couldn't wait to tell someone."

"What is it?"

"My performance got a good review in the paper and a director read it so he called me and offered me an audition."

"That's great. What's the audition for?"

"A commercial. I know it's not much but if it gets me on TV then I'll have a better chance of getting a role in something bigger."

"Smart thinking. I hope you get the part."

"Me too but if I don't then there are other auditions. I just hope this doesn't upset Gajeel. He's always hated tv commercials. He says that they distract people from the news."

"Yeah that sounds like something he'd say. Listen I was on my way to get some lunch, would you like to come?"

"I would love to."

They went to a local restaurant just across from campus. They sat together at a table and started off by just ordering some drinks while engaging in a little chit-chat.

You know I could send this director some head shots of you." Gray said. "To give you a better chance of getting the part."

"You'd really do that for me?" She asked.

"Sure and it would be free of charge."

"You're a totally doll. But I don't know, I'm not very photogenic."

"What are you talking about? I got a million photos of you and you look good in everyone of them."

"You have a million photos of me?" She blushed.

He blushed as well when he realized what that sounded like.

"Uh... It's not what you think and I exaggerated. I don't have a million photos. They're just a few pictures I took of you when you were performing on stage and when you modeled at that charity event. And they're not so much for me as they are for Aunt Ur. I mean...You know how much she adores you."

"Yes she's very sweet. I like talking to her." She giggled before looking at a menu. "So what will you be ordering?"

"Probably nothing too heavy." He answered. "Nerds like me may not be able to build muscle but we can at least keep ourselves from getting fat."

While they waited for the waiter to come back another one walked by serving a tray of grilled chicken for the table beside them. When Gray smelled it his eyes became completely fixated on the  poultry and his mouth immediately started to water.

"Gray are you feeling okay?" Juvia asked.

"Sure. Why do you ask?" He said, his gaze still not leaving the meal he was targeting. 

"Because you're drooling."

"Huh?"

"You're drooling."

He looked down at the puddle of saliva that had been dripping from his open mouth. He quickly wiped it up and then cleaned his mouth.

"I'm sorry I'm must be hungrier than I thought." He said. "Maybe I should order something a little more filling. I haven't been eating that much lately. I think I'll order a burger."

He ordered a burger and then ordered two more followed by two grilled chicken breasts and a whole trout. Juvia was slightly unsettled by this. She didn't have a problem with men having large appetites. Her brother had biggest the appetite of anyone she knew but Gray normally didn't eat that much food. It made her wonder if he was feeling well.

"That was a lot of meat you ate today." She said as they were leaving the restaurant. "Is that normal?"

"No. I don't think so. I was just really hungry at the moment."

"Hungry? More like starving. Have you been getting enough to eat?"

"I eat three meals everyday. But I guess once in awhile we all want to eat a little more than required. There's nothing wrong with that is there?"

"No but you ate three burgers, two chicken breasts, and a trout. That measures up to almost 40 kilograms of meat. That's how much a carnivorous animal eats. Like a big cat or something."

"Big cat?" He said when it dawned. "As in like say...A tiger?"

"Sure. I once did a report on tigers for a biology class. You know they can consume about 88 lbs of meat at one time. Which is pretty much what you just did."

"Uh-huh." He said starting to notice that something might be off.

"So I ask you again, are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine. Really. I have to get to my next class now. I'll see you around."

"Alright."