Chapter 263: A Powerful Kick
"'We'?" Jose scoffed. "You mean Fairy Tail? That was just a side-trip."
"A side-trip?" Lucy stared at him, surprised. If they hadn't attacked specifically to destroy the guild, then what was their goal?
"Our true objective was to retrieve a certain someone," Jose said. "And since that person happened to be at Fairy Tail, we decided to destroy it while we were there."
"Someone?"
"My, my, you're surprisingly slow for a Heartfilia," Jose drawled. "I'm talking about you, Miss Lucy Heartfilia. The heiress to the Heartfilia Conglomerate."
"So it was because of who I am," Lucy said, surprisingly calm.
"What I don't understand," Jose said, spreading his arms wide, "is why the daughter of the kingdom's wealthiest family would lower herself to doing such cheap, dangerous work?"
"You're kidnapping me... is that it?" Lucy stared at him, her gaze intense.
"No, no, no. Nothing like that," Jose denied. "I may not understand why you want to play at being a wizard, but I assume it's a hobby, or perhaps you want to experience the common life. But if you want to join a guild, why settle for a trash heap like Fairy Tail when you could join the kingdom's number one guild, Phantom Lord?"
"Fairy Tail isn't trash!" Lucy shouted, her emotions boiling over.
"Oh, Miss Lucy. You've clearly been deceived by their sweet talk," Jose said with absolute certainty.
"They didn't deceive me! And they are nothing like you!" Lucy yelled back.
"As a Heartfilia, staying in such a lowly guild is an insult to your status," Jose sneered. "As the Master of the number one guild, I sincerely invite you to join Phantom Lord. Here, you will receive the treatment you deserve."
"NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Lucy shouted, her voice ringing with conviction. "I WILL NEVER JOIN YOU!"
"My, my. What a willful young lady," Jose said, his eyes narrowing slightly, though he kept smiling.
"Let me go. Now."
"I can't do that."
Lucy glared at him. Suddenly, her face turned red. She looked away, her voice dropping to a whisper. "But... I... I need to use the bathroom."
"Oh? That's a rather cliché trick," Jose said, crossing his arms.
"No... really... I need to go... please..." Lucy squirmed, looking genuinely uncomfortable.
Jose watched her for a moment, then pointed to the side. An iron bucket materialized in front of her.
"Be my guest."
"You've got to be kidding me!" Lucy stared at the bucket, dumbfounded.
"Heh heh heh. Cliché tricks have simple counters," Jose chuckled triumphantly.
"Ugh... fine... a bucket..." Lucy stood up and walked over to the bucket. Her hands, still tied behind her back, fumbled with her skirt as if she were trying to pull it down.
"Are you serious?!"
Jose's eyes bulged. His voice shot up an octave, his composure shattering. He watched her for a second longer, then gritted his teeth, his face turning green. Sweat beaded on his forehead.
Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. He spun around, turning his back to her. "Truly... shameless! But I am a gentleman. I will not watch."
With his back turned, Jose missed the wicked smile that spread across Lucy's face.
The moment he turned, Lucy stopped fumbling. She looked up at his exposed back, took two quick steps forward, and unleashed a full-power kick right between his legs.
"HII-YAH!"
"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Jose's eyes bulged out of his head, and his entire body went rigid. After that first, soul-shattering scream, he couldn't make another sound. He clutched his crotch and face-planted onto the floor, his body twitching uncontrollably.
Noah and Natsu, watching invisibly, both winced and instinctively protected their own groins. Just looking at Jose's face was enough to transmit the pain.
"Cliché tricks still work," Lucy said cheerfully, lowering her leg. "I'll have to write that into my novel."
"Gaaahhh! Aaaagh!" Jose finally managed to wheeze, his voice thick with agony.
"Well, take care!" Lucy said, turning and strolling toward the windowless opening.
"Eh?"
When she reached the opening, she froze.
"Haha..." Jose chuckled weakly, despite the pain.
Lucy was in the highest tower of the castle, dozens of meters above the ground. Looking down made her dizzy.
"What a... shame..." Jose groaned, slowly pulling himself up from the floor, his legs still trembling. "This is... a high-security cell..."
Clutching his groin, he began to shuffle slowly toward Lucy.
Feeling the high-altitude wind on her face, Lucy stared at the drop, speechless.
"I can't believe... you actually did it..." Jose finally reached her. Lucy spun around to face him. "Now... come here... I'm going to punish you..."
Lucy gritted her teeth. She looked back at the sheer drop behind her, then back at Jose's terrifying, pain-twisted face.
"I'll show you... the true terror... of Phantom Lord..." Jose hissed.
Lucy squeezed her eyes shut. She leaned back... and jumped.
"WHAT?!!"
Jose stared, stunned. He hadn't expected her to actually do it. He instinctively moved forward to grab her—he couldn't let her die, she was too valuable—but as soon as he moved his leg, the agony flared again. He face-planted onto the floor for a second time.
The moment Lucy jumped, Noah grabbed Natsu and teleported them to the ground below, simultaneously releasing the spells binding Natsu's movement and voice.
If Noah hadn't restrained him, Natsu would have attacked Jose the moment he insulted the guild.
Natsu reacted instantly. He saw where Lucy was falling and sprinted.
"NATSU—!!" Lucy screamed, her eyes still squeezed shut as she plummeted.
"LUCY!!! RRAAAAGH!"
Natsu leaped into the air and caught her.
CRASH!
They slammed into a wall, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"You're so reckless!" Natsu groaned from beneath her.
"Okay, up you go," Noah said, appearing beside them. He had waited until he was sure Jose was incapacitated before coming down.
He levitated them both to their feet. The ropes binding Lucy's hands snapped. She rubbed her wrists, free at last.
"We need to go. Jose won't take this lying down," Noah said. After that kick, Jose's pride would demand blood.
Natsu shuddered, remembering the kick, then his anger returned. "That bastard! How dare he talk about our guild like that! I'm gonna beat him up!"
"Not now. We're leaving."
Noah raised his hand, and the three of them vanished.
Back in the cell, Jose staggered to his feet again. He tried to take a step and collapsed again.
"OOOOOOOH!!!"
Waves of pain washed over him. He gritted his teeth so hard they nearly cracked, his face a mask of pure hatred. His magic power leaked out uncontrollably.
Crack... crack...
Fissures appeared in the stone walls, and debris rained down.
"You dare... mock me... You little brat... Just you wait..."
Noah, Natsu, and Lucy reappeared in the guild hall. Everyone immediately crowded around them.
"How did it go? Are you okay?" the real Lucy asked, rushing over, her face full of concern.
POOF!
The Lucy standing next to Noah and Natsu vanished in a puff of smoke, replaced by two small, floating blue creatures.
"Mission accomplished!"
"Perfect execution!"
"We're fine."
"And we gave him a kick!"
Gemi and Mini chirped happily.
It had been Gemini disguised as Lucy all along.
"A kick?" Lucy asked, confused. Natsu shuddered again. Noah just chuckled and tapped the magical camera he was holding.
"Watch this."
He projected the footage onto the wall, skipping to the part where 'Lucy' was in the cell.
When the guild heard Jose insulting Fairy Tail, they roared in anger, demanding to go teach him a lesson.
"Quiet. Watch," Noah ordered.
The video continued. Then came the kick.
The entire guild went silent. Everyone turned to stare at Lucy with expressions of shock and disbelief.
Lucy's face turned nuclear red. "I-It wasn't me!!" she shrieked.
"Our actions were based..."
"...on your thoughts," Gemini finished.
The spirits' words dealt the final blow. Lucy buried her face in her hands, unable to look anyone in the eye.
"Wow, Lucy... that was amazing," Sorano said, genuinely impressed.
The female wizards nodded in approval. The male wizards, however, all unconsciously crossed their legs and took a step away from Lucy.
Seeing this through her fingers, Lucy wanted to die of embarrassment.
"Alright, enough," Noah said, clapping his hands. "Everyone, are you ready?"
The mood in the guild shifted instantly. After seeing 'Lucy's' kick, they knew war was inevitable. But since Phantom Lord had dared to kidnap one of their own, they wouldn't show any mercy.
"We're ready!"
"Magic items are prepped!"
"We're rested and full of energy!"
"Just waiting for the word!"
Noah nodded.
"Good. Rest up for now."
He opened his Archive. The six red dots on the map were moving toward Magnolia.
"They're coming."
The guild members' expressions hardened. They returned to their seats, mentally preparing for battle. Seeing the excitement on their faces rather than fear, Noah smiled.
"Laxus, are you ready?" he asked via Telepathy.
"Ready. I'm in position."
"Good. Wait for my signal."
Noah then contacted Mystogan. "Mystogan, are you ready?"
"In position."
"Wait for my signal."
"Understood."
Noah then teleported Erza, Mirajane, and Cana back to the guild.
He found Makarov sitting at the bar, his face dark. "Gramps, what's wrong?"
"I didn't think Jose would actually dare to kidnap one of our children. It's unforgivable. He needs to be taught a lesson."
Makarov knew that Jose's plans for Lucy wouldn't have stopped at just "inviting" her to join. If she had truly been captured, her fate would have been terrible. The thought of one of his children being harmed made his magic boil.
"Relax, Gramps. Nothing happened," Noah said, placing a calming hand on Makarov's shoulder. "We've been preparing for this. Now we just have to punish them. Don't get angry; it's bad for your health."
Makarov took a deep breath, and his magic settled.
RUMBLE...
A deep, mechanical grinding sound came from the distance, getting louder and louder. The ground began to shake.
~~~
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