Melody Meets Sabo
Melody pressed her back against the wall. A drop of sweat ran down her back from both the heat inside of the building and the anxiety she was feeling. Her heart thrashed against her chest as she listened to the voices come closer to her.
"Man, these long days are killing me," a man said with a groan.
"I know. It's so boring watching over the slaves. It only gets fun when one slacks off," a second man said.
The first man laughed. "You just want to hit them. That's all you're here for."
"Of course," the second man said. "They're so lazy. They deserve every single beating they get. We give them a place to sleep and plenty to eat. Ingrates. This island was nothing until the boss came along and helped them."
Melody clenched her fists. Her teeth ground into each other at the two men's words. The desire to hammer them into the ground right this second filled her. Then use her water crystals to flood their bodies and drown them. But she couldn't. It wasn't the right time for that. She drew in a breath and exhaled. The men's words and footsteps faded away from her. Once they were completely gone she slipped out into the hall. She watched them turn the corner before going in the direction they came.
Coming to a divide hallway she turned to her left. She was about to the end of the hall when shadows appeared on the floor. Voices accompanied the shadows. Her heart raced. Looking around she found a vent on the ceiling. Summoning a crystal she formed a stream of water and lifted herself to the vent. She grabbed it and pulled. The screws gave way and fell towards the floor. Shifting her water she gathered the screws up before they could reveal her presence. Slipping into the ductworks the just before the people passed under her, she replaced the vent.
Dust kicked up from ductwork as she slithered along. It tickled her nose, threating to make her sneeze. "Man, this is harder than I thought it was going to be." Her nose twitched. "If this keeps up I'm going to reveal myself before I can reach my goal."
She summoned two water crystals. Water formed around them at her will. She lowered them to the ductwork in front of her. Moisture leaked out from the crystals, wetting the dust. Pleased with her work she shifted forward. "Okay, let's see. I should be able to get to the right room through the ductwork. I just hope I don't have a klutz attack and fall through the ductwork."
She continued on, wetting the dust and dirtying her clothes as she worked her way through the ductwork. Multiple turns right and left soon made her head spin. She had to get out of this place soon, before she became disoriented and never found her way out. She never believed she was claustrophobic but often tight spaces annoyed her.
The sounds of clanking and groaning of machines finally reached her. She crawled up to a vent and looked into the room. Relief washed over her at seeing the people that had been taken. They were still alive and on the island, though she had no idea for how much longer. Rumors were the workers were going to move the slaves away from here very soon because of the Revolutionaries. She wasn't sure if it was true or not. Most likely it was just a rumor. No one ever knew if the Revolutionaries were around until the damage had been done and they were gone. Still she had to move fast if she was going to free the people that had been enslaved. There would be no way she could face her friend if she failed here tonight.
"All right." Melody shifted her crystals to the screws. Wrapping her water around them she pulled them out then moved the vent aside. She watched the room below, looking for the right time to lower herself to the floor. Several workers wore the same identical light blue suits while the slaves were forced to wear their own torn and dirty clothes. The workers were pacing about the room or stationed in certain areas, making sure the slaves kept working and didn't try to escape. Thought she was quiet certain none of them could escape even if they tried. They needed a keycard to unlock the doors and the ability to cross quicksand once outside, unless they were lucky enough to find the hidden passageway that allowed the shipments to come and go without being seen. Which she knew no one had. But she knew. It was underground. She herself only managed to get inside because of a vent that was on the roof. It was unguarded.
Her eyes fell upon an elderly man. He was assembling a gun when suddenly his face contorted with pain. His hands fell from the gun and he collapsed.
"Hey!" A man wearing a suit stepped up to him. Pulling out a baton he slammed it on the old man's back. "Get back to work!"
She gritted her teeth. This whole thing was so wrong. But it wouldn't last much longer. She was going to get what she needed then it would be over. It had to be. The workers and slaves went back to their business when the old man stood back up.
Melody allowed herself to fall head first out of the vent. Moving her crystals below her she created a water slide for her and fell down behind some crates. Pressing her back against a crate she waited a few minutes to see if anyone noticed her. When no alarms went off she reached for her pocket and pulled out her pry bar. As quietly as she could she stuck it into the crate and popped the lid open.
A smile rose on her face when she saw all the guns inside. "Gotcha." She pulled a transponder snail from her pocket and took a picture of the guns then took one of the guns and slung it around her shoulder. Next she took a couple pictures of the slaves, the machines, and workers. "Let's see you get away with this now."
"Hey! You there! Stop!"
She jumped. Five men were running towards her.
"Crap!" Melody sprung away from the crates, but the man's shouts alerted the others to her presence. Alarms shrieked through the building. She raced for the vent, shooting herself up and into it with her water crystals before bullets shot passed her. "Hey! It's not nice to shoot at a lady!"
The men cussed at her.
Not bothering with to close the vent she scrambled back through the ductwork as quickly as she could. Bullets pierced the metal work. Pain shot through her shoulder. A bullet had grazed her. "Stupid. Why did I come back in here? I'm a sitting duck."
She scrambled to another vent and kicked it in before dropping into the dark room below. A light came on. A woman screamed. She turned to the voice and saw a man in woman in bed. Her cheeks flushed. The woman screamed. "Oops. Sorry."
"Who the heck are you?!" the man demanded.
She didn't answer as she bolted for the door. She shot out into the hallway. Several workers were coming from her right so she dashed left. Her eyes darted all over the halls as she ran. "Got to get out of here! Got to get out of here! Give me a window! Or something! Anything that leads to the outside!"
More bullets filled the air. The gun smoke and hot lead singed her nose. She rounded a corner.
"You're not going to get away!" A man lifted a bazooka at her.
Melody rolled her eyes. Moving her crystal in front of her she shot out a stream of water. The man gurgled from the water pouring down his throat. She raced passed him. Suddenly a door opened. A woman stepped out. Melody grabbed her and shoved her back into the room.
"Who are you? You're not a worker here," the woman said.
"You think?" Melody eyed a window and dashed for it. "Perfect!"
"You shouldn't bother! You won't get away from the quicksand!" the woman called.
Melody shot her a smirk. "I got passed it to get here, did I?"
"What?!" The woman gasped. "That's not possible!"
Melody moved a crystal in front of her. Keeping the crystal hidden from the woman, she shot a large stream of water at the window. The glass shattered. She dove through it and slid on her water.
The ground grew bigger. The quicksand shifted, looking like a monster moving through the moonlight.
"Not today!" she said as the quicksand tried to grab her. She divided her water slide. One part pushed the quicksand down while she continued to glide through the air on the other stream. She sailed over the quicksand and landed in the swamp. Alligators growled at her sudden arrival. "Sorry, guys. I didn't mean to startle you."
Melody smiled at the alligators before bolting through the trees. She had to get to her safe house before someone came after her, which she knew would be soon. While most of the workers were inside of the factory there were still about a thousand on the outside. She took a few steps forward then paused when she saw movement from the corner of her eyes. Ducking behind a bush she pushed some leaves away to see who it was. Surely the workers haven't caught up this soon. She knew it wasn't workers when screams rose in the air. The quicksand had taken two more victims. "Morons. You shouldn't have come here. Neither should the three who came before you."
Melody shot off through the trees.
A shot fire through the air. A branch snapped before falling to the ground in front of her.
Melody sailed over the branch and kept running. The gun pounded her back as she ran. More gunfire and shouting came. Her chest heaved up and down as she made her way out of the woods. Another mile and the abandon town came into view. It wasn't ideal but there was no way she could lead them back to her safe house. She had to try and lose them before going back there. She raced through the abandon houses and streets, making sure to stomp down as hard as she could to leave solid footprints for them to follow.
As soon as she was sure she had gotten her pursuers confused, she shot up to a broken window with her water and slipped inside the dark house. Standing against the wall she watched as they ran passed her. She exhaled. "Finally. I should have lost them now. They'll be chasing my footprints all night. By the time they figure out I just lead them in circles it'll be too late for them. I'll have this gun to the navy. Then they'll all be free."
She walked forward. Hearing something thump below her she moved to stop walking but her feet decided not to listen. They tangled onto each other causing her to lose her balance. She fell forward, landing on the floor with a hard thud. The floorboards snapped. "Uh oh." Before she could react the floor grumbled beneath her. Her eyes slammed shut. She fell for a few seconds. She knew she was going to land on the hard floor but something felt off when she landed. Her body was at an odd angle, as if she had landed on a chair or something. She opened her eyes to find a pair of dark eyes staring back at her with a mix of surprise and suspicion. She had landed on someone's lap. Her eyes drew to the scar on the side of his face. Her heart hammered. She had seen his face and scar before but was unable to place it before a voice interrupted her thoughts.
"Hold it!" someone said.
Melody pulled her eyes away from the dark eyes to find herself surrounded by several men and women. They held up their weapons at her.
"Who are you, girl?" the blonde man she had landed on demanded. "Did you over hear us?"
"Huh?" The woman standing beside a fishman leaned closer to Melody. "Don't jump the gun, Sabo. She's just a kid."
Melody smiled inside her head. She was often mistaken for a child since she looked so young. This was her chance to slip away from them. "No, I didn't hear anything." She moved off the man's lap. Collapsing her hands in front of her she bowed to them. "Forgive me for dropping in like that. I didn't even know someone was here. This area has been abandoned for over twenty years." She put on the sweetest smile she could manage. "I'm sorry. I'm just a little kid. I was on my way home and got lost. Could you please help me?"
"That's not going to work, girl." The man she landed on stood up. "I can tell that you're not as young as you look."
Melody glanced back at him and flinched at his dark, hard eyes peering down at her. Crap. How did this guy know that about me? Is it possible he's strong enough to know what I am? Has he met someone like me before?
The people in the room stared at her and whispered. "She's not a kid?"
"She looks like one to me."
"Yeah. She has to be about eight years old or so."
"Do not let her appearance fool you," the scarred man said. "We're taking her to the brig. Take the gun from her."
"You got it, Sabo." A man grabbed her arm. He jerked the gun off her shoulder, tossed it to the fishman, and pinned her wrists behind her back.
"Aw, come on!" Melody flinched when he pulled her arms too hard behind her. "Take it easy! I'm not here to hurt you or anything!" Her eyes shot back to the scarred man. "Wait. He called you Sabo. You're the number two of the revolutionary army."
"If you know who we are then you know there's no possible way for you to take us down," Sabo said.
"I'm not here to take you down," Melody mumbled. "But I could if I wanted to."
"No. You couldn't."
Melody jumped when Sabo leaned close to her. The hairs on her arms stood on ends. She swallowed.
"What do you mean?" the woman asked.
Sabo dug into his pocket. A green light shimmered from a murky green stone in his palm.
Melody's legs wobbled. Her energy vanished. She buckled to the floor with the man still holding tight on her wrists. She panted for air. "You've got…to be kidding. Where…did you get that?"
"It doesn't matter." Sabo handed the woman to the stone in his hand. "Keep this out where it can see her skin."
"See her skin?" The woman took the stone. "What is this?"
"It's what will keep her in control until I can speak with her later," Sabo said. "We're going to take her back to the ship while the rest of us look around to make sure no one followed her. We'll meet you back there. Hack, you carry her."
Melody glared at Sabo before she was passed to the fishman.
"I apologize for this," Hack said.
"It's okay." Melody smiled.
"Hack! Don't be nice to the enemy!" the woman said.
"Sorry. But I do not believe she is an enemy," Hack said.
"You're so nice," Melody said before glaring at Sabo. "Something someone else here could learn from."
"Shut up or I'll gag you," Sabo said.
"Let's just get this over with," Melody said.
Hack lifted her into his arms. They headed for the door. One of the other men looked out. He nodded back at them before they shuffled outside.
"You're not much of…a gentleman," Melody said between pants. "You could have at least asked my name back there."
"I never claimed to be a gentleman," Sabo said. "And let's not forget that you're the one who dropped in on us."
"It's not like I did that on purpose," Melody said. "I tripped and fell through the floor."
"You tripped?" Hack looked down at her.
Melody smiled with a squeal. "I can't believe I get to see a fishman. I've heard so much about your people. You're so cute!"
"Uh," Hack said, a light blush fanned across his cheeks. "That's nice."
"Shut up. I'm not going to tell you again to be quiet," Sabo said. He slipped up to a house and tucked beside it.
"Do you hear something?" the woman asked.
"Voices," Sabo whispered.
"I though this place was abandoned," the woman said.
"They're probably looking after our little thief here," Sabo said. He peaked around the building. Down the alleyway were a group of men speaking together.
"I'm not a thief!" Melody tried to snap at the blonde but it fell flat thanks to the stone draining her energy.
"Oh yeah? Then why did you have the gun?" Sabo asked. "Did someone just give it to you?"
Melody grumbled. Technically she did steal it since it didn't belong to her. But she stole it for a good reason. And they were being made illegally.
"Let's go." Sabo shot across the street when the men had vanished. Sounds of a fight broke out somewhere behind them but the three didn't stop as they made their way through the abandoned town.
Melody growled, as she remained helpless in Hack's arms. She cursed the pollution stone. How did that guy even find one of those? Was it him who figured it out or was it someone else in the Revolutionaries? Before she could work out an answer for those questions the sound of her captors boots on the wood broke her thoughts. They had reached a ship. The one carrying her took her down some steps. Wood and mold gathered in her nose. It was a step up from all the dust she had crawled through a while ago. She was placed down on a cell floor.
Hack stepped back.
Sabo knelt down and searched her pockets. His face turned curious at the sight of her pry bar. "It's shorter than normal."
"Duh." Melody rolled her eyes. "I have to be able to carry it easily. And hide it when needed."
"I did also noticed your pants pocket was rather big." Sabo put the pry bar under his arm. "I take it you made them yourself."
"Maybe." Melody shrugged as he pulled out her transponder snail. She opened her mouth to demand it back but she wasn't sure that was the right idea. The revolutionaries were known for freeing slaves. Maybe she didn't need to give it to the navy.
"Now, tell me what you were doing in that house," Sabo said. He sat down in front of her. "Tell me how you got that gun."
"I took it from the factory," Melody said. "I was going to give it to the navy when they came back here."
"How did you manage to get it from the factory?" the woman asked. "We've been trying to get in there for two weeks."
Melody shrugged. "I have my ways."
"That could be a very long wait," Sabo said. "And it's possible the navy wouldn't listen to you."
"I know. I could manage until they get here. I also took pictures of the factory for proof that it's here," Melody said.
"And that's why you were in the abandon town?" Sabo asked.
"Yes." Melody looked directly in his eyes. "I didn't want to lead them back to my safe house."
"Instead you led them to us." Sabo frowned.
"Well, excuse me for not knowing you were there." Melody frowned with a roll of her eyes. "Next time I'll be sure to pack my x-ray vision with me." She sighed when Sabo frowned at her. "Look I don't mean you any harm. I won't tell anyone that you're here. I know you actually help people. If you want I can get you into the factory."
"And what makes you think we need your help?" the woman asked.
"Because you've lost men." Melody looked at the woman. "Who are you anyway?"
"Oh. My name's Koala." Koala pointed at herself.
"Cute name." Melody nodded. "I'm Melody."
"Nice to meet you, Melody," Hack said.
"Must you be so nice to her?" Koala asked.
"I can't help it. I'm just drawn to her," Hack said.
"He's so cute!" Melody squealed. She turned back to Sabo. "Well? I can get you into that factory. I'm pretty sure your men are alive. Most likely they're working inside now. What do you say? You want to free those people or not?"
"Why should we work with you? For all we know you're working with the factory," Sabo said.
"Did you know there's a man at the factory that has a devil fruit?" Melody asked.
"That wasn't in our reports," Hack said.
"Tell us more," Sabo said.
"His devil fruit is quick sand," Melody said. "That's why your men haven't come back yet. He's using the natural quick sand in the jungle as a cover. Normal people can't tell where the jungle quick sand ends and where his devil fruit quick sand begins. But I can. I can get you inside the factory."
She locked eyes with Sabo. The man was giving her words consideration.
"Fine." Sabo nodded. He snatched the pollution stone off the floor and shoved it back into his pocket. "I'll believe you for now. But if you show any signs of betraying us I'll pull this stone back out. Then kill you."