Lucy watched as one of the men who had grabbed her stomped on her phone, breaking it into tiny pieces. As they began to drag her towards her father's warehouse, she started struggling. She kicked and screamed, but the men were oos trong. They dragged her through the door and into the dimly lit building.
"Hey boss! We caught this one watchin' the place!" one of the men shouted.
Lucy looked around, trying to make a mental map of her surroundings in case she was able to escape. She froze when a voice answered the shout.
"Ah. Lucy. How interesting."
The men carried her to a chair in the middle of the room under one of the two lights and threw her into it. She was too shocked by the voice she had heard to fight as they tied her wrists and ankles to the chair. A man walked out of the shadows. A man she recognized instantly.
"Jude."
Jude tsked. "Can't you call me Father?"
Lucy snarled. "You lost that right long ago."
Jude sighed. "Ever the rebel. You know, I wasn't planning on having this talk with you until tomorrow at the earliest."
"Talk? When have you ever wanted to talk?" Lucy scoffed.
"Oh, daughter. Why must you be so insufferable? I only need information."
"Where's Josh? What did you do to him?" Lucy demanded.
Jude looked surprised. "What makes you think I did anything to dear Joshua?"
"Don't play games with me! His car his outside! He came here to meet with you and hasn't been heard from since."
Jude sighed again. "I see. I assume Michelle called you, then."
Lucy struggled against her bonds. "You're damn right she called me! What did you do to him?!"
Jude turned to one of the men who had captured Lucy. "Bring Joshua in."
The man nodded and disappeared into the shadows. Lucy heard a door creak open and a groan. When the man re-appeared, he threw something at Lucy's feet. Lucy looked down and gasped, renewing her struggle against the ropes.
"Josh! Oh my god, Josh!"
His face was bloody and bruised. His clothes were torn and Lucy could see that one of his legs was bent at an odd angle.
"I told him to meet me because I needed information. Unfortunately, he did not have any. However, I believe you might, Lucy dear," Jude said as though it justified what he had done.
Lucy yelled in frustration. "I'm not telling you anything!"
"That's what Joshua said. Granted, he had nothing to tell."
"It was you, wasn't it?" Lucy growled.
Jude looked at her and raised a brow. "What was me?"
"You hired the Oracion Seis to attack Zentopia! You got four people killed!"
Jude waved his hand in the air, dismissing the matter. "Yes, yes."
"Why?"
Jude chuckled. "My dear, this is not a movie. I'm not going to tell you the details of my plans. I am not stupid."
Lucy snorted. "Could've fooled me."
Jude scowled. "Sol!"
A wiry man in a brown suit stepped forward. His green hair stood up in spike and he was wearing a monocle. He swayed from side to side as though he were dizzy.
"Oui, monsieur?"
Jude glared at his daughter. "This is Sol, Lucy. He is a member of Phantom Lord. And he is especially gifted at extracting information from unwilling subjects. Now, what do the police know about this warehouse?"
Lucy eyed the newcomer with caution. She could practically smell the crazy rolling off of him.
"Mademoiselle, this will be much less, how you say, painful, if you tell us now."
Lucy shook her head. "No. I will not betray Natsu like that."
Sol looked to Jude for instruction. Jude shrugged and waved for him to continue. Sol grinned wildly and pulled a knife from his belt. Lunging, he plunged the blade down into Lucy's thigh.
Lucy let out a scream at the pain that assaulted her leg. Sol ripped the knife back out and Lucy let out a strangled gasp.
"Tell me what I want to know, Lucy," Jude pushed, clasping his hands behind his back.
Lucy's eyes swam with tears and she shook her head. "Never."
Sol dropped the knife and grabbed her arm. He straightened her elbow and began pushing up. Lucy felt the strain being put on her bones and tendons. She tried to pull her arm away but only succeeded in making it worse.
"Lucy, this doesn't have to get any worse."
She only shook her head again, biting her lip. Sol shrugged and jerked her arm up. Lucy heard a crack and then she screamed again. Her vision blurred and she fell back against the chair, panting.
"Tell me, Lucy. What does the police know?"
Lucy couldn't answer if she wanted to. Her vision was coming in and out of focus and her body throbbed with pain.
The sound of squealing tires captured everyone's attention and all eyes turned to the door. More squealing and the sound of sirens followed by the slam of car doors. Finally, it dawned on the occupants of the warehouse that the police were just outside. Seconds later, the door burst open and a SWAT team charged through. Two detectives and half of the Magnolian police force came soon after.
Jude could only gape as his men were taken down one by one. What was happening? How had they known? He quickly came to the conclusion that his daughter, his useless daughter, must have called someone before being caught. A gowl tore through Jude's throat and he whipped around to face Lucy.
"You bitch!" he screamed, pulling a pistol from his waistband. He pointed it at Lucy and squeezed the trigger. A bang resounded through the building.
Jude watched as his arm fell to his side limply, blood trailing to his fingers. He looked to his daughter and saw no bullet wound. She was alive. Jude turned around and met the cold, angry eyes on a pink haired detective just before he was tackled to the ground by a SWAT member.
Natsu's raised arm dropped to his side as he watched Jude get handcuffed. He turned his attention to the chair in the middle of the room and his breath caught in his throat.
"Lucy!" he yelled, his gun falling from his hand as he made a mad dash for the blonde. When he reached her, he fell to his knees in front of her.
Lucy faintly felt warm hands on her face. She tried to focus on the man shouting her name, but she couldn't. She only caught a glimpse of pink hair before her vision failed her and everything faded to black.