Welcome, everyone. I´m back with another story and want to tell you from the start, that I won´t be able to update this on a regular basis. Work is stealing most of my time and it´s pretty hard for me to write the upcoming scenes in English. Therefore, I will only write when I feel like it. Also, Haruta is female in this fanfiction. I like her better like this ^_-
As you may have guessed from the pairings and warnings in the summary, this fic will be on a whole other level. Please be aware of this! If you feel uneasy with the warnings bellow, I recommend you to leave now, because there will be explicit mature content! I really mean it!
General Warnings: Rape, torture, violence, blood, bondage, heavy angst, character death (only OCs), language, hurt/comfort.
It´s a broad range of different warnings, which should not be taken lightly. I will inform you at the beginning of each chapter for the appropriate.
Warnings for this chapter: Bondage, mentioned death, mentioned blood and mild violence, mild language. Nothing too heavy, just to be on the safe side and give a glimpse at what´s about to come.
Also, I would like to thank Titania Eli for going through my horrible English and doing a great job at betaing the whole thing. Seriously, Titania, you´re amazing at this! If any of you read Phoenix flames and you´re seeing writing improvement, it´s due to her. I can only recommend to go and take a look at her sempiternal story.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
It was one of those days, where everything that could go wrong... went wrong.
"Watch out!" Somebody cried out in warning.
The few pirates, who heard the desperate shout from their Nakama hurried away, just in time before the cannon ball hit the deck with devastating force, leaving a gaping hole in the wooden planks.
"We´ve sprung a leak!" Someone yelled from below.
"Patch it up then!" Haruta hollered back, having her hands full with a couple of Marines, who had popped up out of nowhere. Well, or what she thought were Marines, but since she was unable to make out something like a real uniform, it might not be the Government´s dogs either.
Warding off an aggressive blow with her saber, the short Commander turned around, hurrying to the railing to cut the ropes off and effectively preventing the reinforcements to haul aboard. That was until only seconds later, new cords replaced the old ones.
Haruta couldn´t help, but grind her teeth, annoyed at the stubbornness of their enemy.
Nobody had seen them approach, they had just appeared out of the blue and as another ship emerged from the sea right next to them, the bubble coating popping silently, the brunette finally understood why.
What she didn´t know, though, was the cause of the attack. They were neither flying Whitebeard´s flag, nor any other Jolly Roger at the moment.
In fact, they were on a simple cargo vessel, one of their father's smaller boats, specially built for surveillance purpose. There was no way in hell, the Marines or anybody else could know who they were.
On the other hand, why should they assault an unsuspecting ship, which was anchored offshore near a rocky uninhabited archipelago?
'And we were just about to meet up with Marco...'
In that moment, a piercing shriek emitted from the sky above, causing the Marines to throw their heads back in surprise, frantically searching for the source of the sound.
Haruta used the opportunity to slash a throat open, sending the man in front of her down with a gurgling scream and then looked up herself, just in time to see the phoenix shape-shift into the 1st Division Commander.
"Marco!" She cried out in relief. The blonde man landed with a deep thump on the deck next to the smaller pirate.
"Haruta, what´s wrong, yoi?" He asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at the assaulters.
"Oh, I don't know... Maybe that we´re under attack right now?" She snapped sarcastically.
Marco raised an eyebrow, studying the pissed brunette with a questioning, but lazy look, an amused smile tugging on his lips. That wasn´t the answer he had expected to get. "I can see that... But why, yoi?"
"I don´t know." She shrugged.
"Marines?"
"I think so... Although they seem like an unorganized bunch of cowards to me." Haruta sneered.
"Which branch is it, yoi?" Marco frowned, studying their faces. It was almost amusing, the way they were just standing there, conversing while still being surrounded by a bunch of armed soldiers.
"I don´t know. No flagship so far. It could still be hiding underwater, though."
"I see..."
"PHOENIX!"
Both Commanders glanced over, where the shout had originated from, only to find a shaking soldier standing there, pointing his weapon with false bravery at the two pirates, his pale complexion betraying his tough acting.
Marco tilted his head. "At least he´s not calling me chicken or something like that..."
Haruta snickered lightly.
"What is a Whitebeard pirate doing here? Do you have any connections with these people?" The Marine demanded.
"Why, no. Thought I´d just lend the young lady a hand, yoi..." Marco said mockingly. He could see the unbelieving look on the other´s face and shrugged. That´s what you got for asking dumb questions.
Without further hesitation, the soldier turned on his heels and started to retreat, pulling out a Baby Den-Den-Mushi and croaking words into it, which none of them were able to understand over the noise of the on-going battle around them.
Haruta leaned in closer, all signs of amusement leaving her face. "So they don´t know about our motives? That´s strange..."
"You could say it like that. Let´s just beat them up and leave it be, yoi." Marco shrugged.
The brunette stuck her tongue out in a playful manner, giving her older brother an agreeing nod and lifted her saber up once again.
The smaller Commander defended the vessel, while Marco circled the sky in search of the Vice Admiral, who had to be around somewhere near.
He could see two small ships with quite some soldiers on them and decided to land on the bigger one, descending rapidly and transforming into his human appearance a few meters above the deck. As soon as his feet made solid contact with the wood, his enemies were already pointing their guns at his chest.
Marco lifted his hands up, well aware that weapons wouldn´t hurt him anyway. "It´s useless, yoi."
One of the Marines reloaded his gun, aiming at the blonde Commander.
"You never know until you try." He said grimly.
He shot a bullet straight at Marco, who didn´t even flinch as it entered his shoulder. His body healed in the fraction of a second, blue flames licking at the wounded area and leaving behind only a tickling sensation on his skin, while his Ability replaced the destroyed cells with new ones.
"Warned you..." He shrugged. Putting his hands back down, the pirate made his way to the middle of the ship at a steady pace, eyeing the soldiers in interest, who backed off every time he wandered a little too close.
"Now, would you mind to explain, why you´re attacking an innocent cargo vessel? I doubt this Crew has caused any harm to you." He questioned patiently.
"Since when do we have to justify ourselves to a filthy pirate!?"
"Maybe because you´re robbing me of my booty?" He had decided to stick to the version that he had dropped by randomly, if the Marines were actually dumb enough to believe that. Silence was the answer and Marco grew tired of waiting quickly, giving a deep sigh.
"Okay, so you have your reasons, I guess... Then, tell me your branch, yoi. That means, if you´re really Marines."
Haruta was right. The bigger part of the assaulters didn´t quite seem like they were seriously working for the Government, not with their shady clothing style. And again, there was nothing but silence.
Feeling slightly irritated, he revolved to face the crowd again, but paused as he saw the smirks on the soldiers´ faces. "What´s so funny?" He demanded.
In that moment a loud explosion went off somewhere behind him, heated air in the form of a giant blast hitting Marco abruptly and nearly throwing him off his feet.
He stumbled a few steps, before he was able to adjust to the now heavily wallowing ship bellow him, all the years beside the Tremor human preventing him from losing his footing entirely and falling to the ground, like it happened to the Marines. Marco´s eyes widened in shock. Fuck!
That wasn´t good, right behind him was...
He whirled around to take a look at the cargo vessel, or more correctly, the remains of the small ship. Dark smoke, mixed with flickering red flames, rose from the destroyed and slowly sinking hulk.
"Haruta!" Marco had his foot already placed on the railing, now throwing himself off the ship with full force. His body reacted on its own, turning him into a phoenix in the same movement and allowing him to fly above the seawater. A worried scream escaped his throat as he made his way to the ship.
Just what had they done!
He´d almost managed to reach the fuming wreckage as bubbles ascended from the surface right in front of him, forcing him to back-pedal and change his course.
A large black net shot out of the sea, directly aimed at the 1st Division Commander, who couldn´t react fast enough as he was still turning in mid-flight. The web wound around him in no time, making it impossible for the Phoenix to keep permanently airborne.
Marco panicked as the net pulled him further down relentlessly and the water came closer, way too fast to his liking. 'No, no, no, please don´t!'
Flapping desperately with his bound wings and screaming sharply, his talons made unavoidable contact with the salty liquid below, the sea robbing him of his power instantly and turning him human again.
A sickening feeling rose in his stomach at the brief moment of weightlessness, before the dark ocean swallowed him whole and the waves clashed over his head, leaving him with nothing but overwhelming silence.
His body stiffened at the eternal coldness, which grasped him brutally and his eyes went wide with horror. Shit!
Paralyzed – partly from fear, partly from the Akuma no Mi´s weakness – it took Marco some seconds, before his survival instincts kicked in and he tried to break through the surface.
His head shot out of the water a few frantic heartbeats later, arms flailing around uselessly and aimlessly, despairingly searching for something to grab hold of, while the net twisted even more around his vigorously struggling body.
He was trying to gasp for air, already coughing violently and spitting up seawater. One or two futile, weak cries for help left his lungs, directed at no one in particular, before he started to sink again, deeper.
This time, it was impossible to stick his head out. The cold water encompassed his body completely and made it hard for him to move, not to mention the tangled web around his body. Instead of resisting any further, Marco closed his eyes firmly and placed his hands above mouth and nose in an anxious attempt to keep what little air he had left in, praying silently for help, which he knew wouldn´t come.
It had been so long since he´d last fallen into the sea, he had almost forgotten how it felt like to drown. Now, he remembered. Painfully.
The power leaving his body, the inability to move, the water pressure, the darkness, the lack of air, his furiously beating heart in his chest, the bottomless sea, to depend on someone else´s kindness...
Marco felt sick to his stomach, until a tug on his feet distracted him from his thoughts and he noticed his body started to move downwards.
It took him some seconds to realize that someone was pulling the rope, which was attached to the net. But why the hell did it have to be down instead of up?
By now, all air had already left his lungs and an almost unbearable urge to breathe rose in his chest...
He had almost reached the point, where he was willing to give in to that desire, when he felt something soft and slippery against his back and Marco opened his eyes, only to see the wavering reflection of the sunlight on the surface far above his head. His stomach started to turn again.
As his body was further enwrapped in that slick substance, the pressure decreased and air surrounded him shortly afterwards. Blinking in surprise, he dropped down a few meters and hit solid ground, a pained groan leaving his throat at the sudden, hard impact. The blonde started to cough again, choking out little gasps of air. He curled into a ball as the pain racked through his body.
Where the hell was he?
Pressing her back firmly against the cold stone, Haruta clutched her side, grimacing with pain. She threw a quick look at her bloodstained hand and gritted her teeth, pressing down on her aching side again. These damn Marines with their filthy tricks, suddenly detonating a bomb on the vessel... When did they even place it there?
It had been pure luck, that she´d escaped the worst consequences by jumping down from the ship to chase the last soldiers away, which had started to retreat all too suddenly. Now she knew why...
Two commanding voices nearby had her startled and she ducked even more, trying to soften her pained gasps to stay undetected. A cautious glance around the corner confirmed her worst suspicions.
Some of the soldiers were already searching the remains of the ship, picking everything up that seemed valuable and taking her Crew captive. At least those, who were still breathing...
Haruta wanted to drive her saber through some Marines´ chests and rip them limb from limb so badly, but unfortunately, she´d lost her weapon in the previous explosion, which had sent her flying into the ocean.
Apart from that, she was heavily injured and there was a slight wheezing sound emanating from her throat as she struggled to breath. But just sitting by and watching idly was more than she could take.
She had already been forced to witness the capture of her older brother, his hopeless screams still resounding in her ears as he sank into the depths of the sea and Haruta teared up instantly.
Pull yourself together, this isn´t the right time to cry, she thought furiously.
She resisted the urge to slap herself, simply because that wouldn´t do any good to her throbbing headache. Blinking the tears away, she pushed off the stone silently, retreating as stealthy as possible to safety.
She knew it was totally insane to make any rescue attempts in her current state, so she did the only thing that made sense: getting help!
Marco tried to get up, still soaking wet and entangled in the net, when a foot suddenly pressed on his back and pushed him down again almost effortlessly.
"Easy there, Mr. Commander..." An unfamiliar voice drawled.
Sprawled on the deck and attempting to suppress his coughing, the blonde tried to figure out to whom this voice belonged. Two things, he could already say for sure.
First, he was on a coated ship, what explained the slippery substance from earlier, plus the airbubble surrounding him.
And second, the ships really belonged to Marines.
Seems like I found the flag ship and the Vice Admiral, yoi, he thought wryly.
As a few of the Marines knelt down beside him, grabbing his arms and feet roughly, Marco stiffened at first, but tried to wriggle his way out of the unwanted touch right after the shock wore off.
"Let go, yoi!" He demanded. The foot was lifted from his back and the net was removed as the blonde saw a man approach with shackles, handcuffs and leg irons.
Oh hell no!
Struggling with more effort, he begged silently for his Ability to return in time, but he was still too drenched with seawater to have faith in that hope. He clenched his teeth as the Marine bent down, enchaining his wrists with the handcuffs and pulling his arms closer together in the process.
All of a sudden, Marco felt even more vulnerable than before, his vision starting to blur. "Kairoseki..." He whispered weakly.
"Well spotted!" The first voice he´d heard congratulated him.
Marco glanced to his side, a pair of light-brown boots stepping into his field of vision. Trying to look up further, he was able to make out white trousers and something like a trench coat in the same color. He didn´t have to see more. "Vergo..." He murmured.
The Vice Admiral knelt down beside him, lifted his hand and slapped Marco across the face with full force. "It´s Vergo-san." He corrected calmly.
The blonde froze for a moment. Did he really just...?
As the pain began to spread through his cheek and he was sure he hadn´t hallucinated the fact, that he´d just been hit like a child, the Commander saw red. "Hit me one more time and I´ll kill you, yoi!"
"I don´t think you´re in the right position to threaten me." The other man smirked.
Marco snarled at the Vice Admiral, who took the offered shackles from his subordinate and pulled on the chains, forcing the pirate to roll on his side, before he managed to dislocate his shoulder, which would have been more than painful with his Ability currently gone.
Vergo guided his hands down his body towards his feet, suppressing every attempt to retrieve the limbs with brute force. Horrified, Marco felt a strong grip on his ankle only seconds later and he started to thrash around, trying to kick the dark-haired man. It was definitely not a good idea to get anymore enchained on a Marine ship.
"Let me go, yoi." He managed to hit the Vice Admiral with his still free foot in the shin, but screamed out as the other´s leg turned black only seconds before their bodies connected.
"No, not after finding such a marvelous and unexpected catch..." Vergo laughed and shook his head, apparently unimpressed by the kick.
The Commander bared his teeth, as he heard a clicking noise from the direction of his feet and felt a cold, heavy material grab his ankles in a relentless hold. Fuck it!
He wasn´t even able to move his arms and legs separately now, the whole construction giving him barely enough space to straighten up without having to flex his legs. As Vergo stood up and grabbed the connecting chain with his hand, the blonde´s limbs followed automatically.
"See? I told you we could take on one of Whitebeard´s Commanders, if we just make appropriate preparations." Marco looked up to see the Vice Admiral talk to one of his subordinates, who he recognized as the one with the Den-Den-Mushi from earlier. So that´s how it was...
"You mean by hiding underwater and playing dirty, yoi?" He spat with contempt.
Vergo´s head whipped towards him and he picked the Commander up by the chain, until his whole body dangled in the air. Marco kept his body tensed, returning a challenging look, until he was carelessly dropped to the floor. His back and head made painful contact with the hard wood below and he had to withhold a pained yelp.
He threw a death-glare at the dark-haired man, who smirked down on him with an arrogant expression on his visage, before he turned away, dragging him along the deck. Struggling and squirming against the shackles, the blonde tried to break free, but failed miserably, the Kairoseki still robbing him of his power effectively. He watched as Vergo opened a door, which led inside the ship and pulled him down a long corridor, until they reached a staircase.
Marco´s sleepy eyes widened almost unnoticeably and he prepared for the pain, as he realized that the Vice Admiral wouldn´t stop to pick him up.
Without hesitating for a second, the taller man went downstairs, towing Marco along, who bit down on his lower lip to prevent any sound from leaving his throat, unwilling to give the Marine this satisfaction. His shoulder and hip scraped painfully over the rough angle and his back hit the first step, making him grimace, fist his hands and curl his toes.
The pirate threw a look of dread down the endless stairs, cursing inwardly as he saw the countless steps unfold in front of him. 'Just perfect, that will leave bruises, yoi...'
He was dragged down the stairs continually, his lip bleeding slightly from the force of his teeth biting into it to keep his whimpers from escaping his mouth.
As they finally reached the end of the stairway, Marco felt as if he´d just gone several rounds with Ace and another couple more with Thatch. His entire body ached and he was positively sure he had broken some of his ribs. Panting heavily, he blinked away the forming tears.
Vergo didn´t seem to notice anything or maybe he just didn´t give a shit and just continued to tug him along, his heavy footsteps resounding in the dim corridor.
Marco tried desperately to keep his calmness through the pain and think straight. 'This has to be the lowest level of the ship...' He threw a quick glance to his sides as they passed several empty cells. Although, from the darkness, he couldn´t tell for sure if they were really unoccupied.
He could barely make out anything from the meager light. There might were other captives hiding in the shadows, but he couldn´t hear a single sound, not even the sound of breathing.
Locking his gaze at the back of Vergo´s head, he wouldn´t be surprised if the Marines had just "conveniently" forgotten about them, leaving them to starve to their deaths. After all, this was the infamous G-5 he was talking about. They were well known for their cruelty and their tendency to torture any unfortunate pirates, they´d caught.
Shivering at that thought, Marco started to struggle again, ignoring the intensifying pain in his joints and ribs, concentrating instead on trying to rip the damn chains from Vergo´s grip. He realized his futile efforts, when the Vice Admiral came to a halt in front of an unoccupied, dark cell and dug into his pocket, pulling out a long, slender key.
The dark-haired unlocked the door and it made an ominous creaking noise as it swung open, allowing them to step inside. Dragging the still resisting Commander along a little rougher than necessary, he made his way to the back, where a horizontal steal bar protruded from the wall at chest height, a dark-brown leather strap dangling at the end.
The taller man stopped again and turned to face Marco, who snarled at the Marine, but ceased his actions, when he heard distorted laughter echoing down the hallway, which became more and more apparent. Tilting his head in said direction, the blonde was able to distinguish several footsteps, some of them limping and stumbling.
Judging from the sound volume, the approaching men must have almost reached his section of the corridor. When they finally passed his cell, Marco went pale. Those men that just went past...
Haruta´s Division!
These damn Marines were leading a few of Haruta´s men down the hallway and towards their appointed cells. Most of the pirates seemed pretty battered, their torn clothes and bleeding wounds indicating the severity of the injuries. Marco knew that the brunette had set sail with at least sixteen men under her command, now he was only able to count nine of his brothers.
Revolving to his tormentor, Marco´s expression hardened and he locked gaze with the Vice Admiral, who returned an equally cold look. "Let them go, yoi!" He growled, a dangerous undertone resonating in the Commander´s voice.
"No." Vergo replied in a bored tone.
Marco thrashed around, as furiously as his ribs enabled him to. His lips pulled back into an angry snarl as he spat out, "They have nothing to do with this!"
"They´re pirates, just like you." Vergo smiled, peering down at him. "This is Justice. We must eliminate any possibility of 'evil' that exists."
"Since when do you care about justice, yoi?" Marco sneered.
"Watch your tongue..." With that warning, Vergo loosened his grip around the chain and switched to the handcuffs instead, lifting the smaller male up as if he was a feather.
Bucking with all his strength and ignoring the burning pain in his chest, Marco tried to squirm his way out of Vergo´s relentless hold, until a hand wrapped around his throat, successfully preventing any further struggles. The blonde shut his eyes and ground his teeth as the grip tightened and clogged his respiratory tract, leaving him gasping for breath.
'Fuck...!'
Marco surrendered as he was dragged sideways, not even resisting as something hard scraped against his neck and a rough fabric encircled his throat. He heard a metallic clatter and the unknown object around his neck narrowed threateningly, nearly asphyxiating him in the process.
Immediately, Vergo´s grip slackened and Marco desperately gulped in air for several moments.
After the bright, dancing stars behind his eyelids had faded and he was sure, he wouldn´t pass out, the blonde opened his eyes again and registered instantly, that he was unable to move. He stood slightly stooped, his feet on the ground forcing his arms to remain mostly extended and as he tried to straighten up, the object around his throat prevented him from doing so.
Marco´s eyes wandered around the cell for a second. Judging from his position in the room, he was most likely trapped in that ominous leather strap, he´d noticed on the bar before. His brows furrowed in anger and he raised his head to meet Vergo´s gaze. It was disgusting, the way the Vice Admiral watched him with that infuriatingly satisfied expression.
They glared at each other for a long time and even though no words were spoken, it was clear who came out top when Marco finally averted his eyes in resignation. He had to admit, there was no way he could get out of this anymore, whether he liked it or not and somehow, he felt like the lives of his remaining brothers were on the line as well.
"That´s a good boy..." Marco jerked as Vergo´s hand dropped down on his head and ruffled his damp hair, until the blonde locks stuck out in all directions.
"Stop that, yoi!" He snapped.
Glaring up at the taller man, he watched the Vice Admiral fish in his pocket, until he pulled out a karabiner and bent down wordlessly in front of him.
An unpleasant feeling settled in the Commander´s guts as Vergo hooked the chain into the karabiner. A heartbeat later, his feet were pulled coarsely. Sagging into the strap with his full weight, the rough leather around Marco´s throat tightened even more, causing him to choke violently.
He could swear he´d heard a "Taichou!" from somewhere down the hallway, but was too busy trying to breathe through the pain to respond. He barely noticed the Vice Admiral attaching the karabiner to a pendant on the cell´s ground, forcing Marco´s legs to keep outstretched at full length.
Air! He needed air!
Straightening his back with all his strength and reclining his head, he tried to reduce the pressure on his pharynx and succeeded as he slowly regained oxygen. Now staring at the dark ceiling, the Commander took a few deep breaths, ignoring the burning pain in his protesting shoulders, which got pulled down his body dangerously far by the extremely short chain and damn, his ribs ached like hell!
"This will keep you from doing anything stupid, won´t it?" The dark-haired commented idly, as if he was discussing the weather, while stepping back to admire his work.
Marco´s gaze wandered to his side, where he could scarcely make out Vergo´s figure from the corner of his eye. Tilting his head was simply impossible in this position and he could feel his legs starting to tremble due to his uncomfortable posture.
"Well, have a pleasant stay..." He heard more than saw the Vice Admiral turn around and leave the cell, locking the heavy door from the outside. Vergo walked down the hallway together with the other Marines, who seemed quite cheerful, the echo of their blithe conversations slowly fading in the distance.
A quiet moment passed, where Marco closed his eyes. The only sounds remaining were his weak wheezing and the blood pulsating in his ears at a rapid speed.
He had to calm down.
When he was sure his voice wouldn´t fail him, he spoke up. "Is everyone alright?"
"It could be better." The Commander opened his eyes again, trying to connect a face to the raspy voice, coming somewhere from his right.
'Maybe Taro?' He couldn´t tell for sure.
"I´m okay." Another voice he was familiar with. 'Must be Sam´s...'
"Jiro is unconscious." One of his Nakama reported worried, judging from the tone, it could be Nobu.
"Is he still breathing, yoi?" Marco asked, silently counting his brothers.
"Yes, but heavily bleeding." Was the reply. The conversation ceased for a moment and the blonde could hear someone ripping a strip of fabric off his shirt. "Here, bandage him with that."
'That´s Masa. Makes five out of nine.'
"Marco Taichou?" Someone, definitely Yugo, piped up hesitantly. The blonde forced his mind to stay alert and answered, "What is it?"
"What about you? Are you okay?"
No, he was not...
"I´m fine, yoi!" He lied. If his feet slipped in this position, he would strangle himself to death and judging from the already cramping muscles in his legs and back, this was going to be a long ride indeed...
So, you´re done for now. Hope you enjoyed so far :)
I´m pretty sure you already guessed it. There will be 9 original characters in the next chapter, but don´t panic. It´s not important to know who is who and who is saying what. That would be a little too much to expect... I just named them to make clear, that there are different people interacting and it would be too confusing to write somebody, someone and so on...
Was there something else I wanted to say...? Oh, right. Tell me, what you think about it ^^
Any comment will be appreciated.
