Fortunae Gauntlet

Part six of a fanfiction by Velkyn Karma

Disclaimer: I do not own, or pretend to own, One Piece or any of its subsequent characters, plots or other ideas. That right belongs solely to Eiichiro Oda. The only thing that belongs to me here is the concept for the story.

Warning: Slightly gritty chapter. Some graphic violence. You've been warned.

"It is always better to sacrifice your opponent's men."

~Savielly Tartakover, Polish Grand Master

Things happened very fast after that.

Zoro was rather surprised despite himself at how rapidly the situation shifted. One moment he was fighting, landing strike after strike on that annoying cook Tazan's metal gauntlets, searching rapidly, violently for some sort of weakness to press forward at. He wasn't exactly successful, but he could already tell he had more endurance than the shark-like man; if necessary he could beat him into submission simply by outlasting him, though it would be a very unsatisfying conclusion.

But then everything changed, and the next moment a number of things happened in rapid succession. The swordsman heard a roar sounding from behind him, a scream of near-primal fury that sounded suspiciously like the love-cook, growing closer by the second. Zoro hadn't seen or heard from him until now, but in retrospect, their obnoxiously sensitive cook had probably been affected by Tazan's meaningless rants about Nami. Didn't curly-brow know better than to listen to an enemy's taunting?

There was another panicked yell from behind following seconds later. This one sounded like Chopper, to judge from the high pitch of the voice, though it was hard to hear over the clang of metal on metal as Zoro expertly blocked a vicious punch from Tazan's metal gauntlets. The tinkling of the strange, crystalline leaves seemed oddly loud as well, though Zoro could see nothing occurring behind him or find the source.

It didn't matter anyway. All that mattered was his opponent, in front of him. This man had to die quickly so that they could save their nakama, and Zoro was intent upon his job. Moreso now; if he was right, and Sanji had been taunted into battle by this stupid shark-cook, then it was best to finish the battle quickly before curly-brow could mess things up.

But then the fight shifted.

Tazan's eyes flickered over Zoro's shoulder. It was only for a second, but Zoro, ever observant in combat, saw it. And there was no mistaking the way the man's lips pulled back for an even wider, pointed grin at whatever he saw. Then, with unexpected suddenness, he drew a deep breath and yelled, "Now!"

There was a screech of surprise behind Zoro, and moments later he could hear other yells vaguely, at the edge of his senses; but he had more pressing things to worry about. At Tazan's yell, the enemy cook had launched himself forward at Zoro suddenly, pointed jaws wide with a triumphant, vicious grin. And that wasn't all. At the edge of his shaded vision Zoro could see Luffy all tied up in adhesive threads, struggling with frustration against the sticky bonds. His opponent, the Devil-Fruit user Jovis, suddenly abandoned his battle with the captain, assured that the rubber-man wouldn't intrude. The enemy navigator stretched his fingers out, turned towards Zoro, and with a victorious expression slashed his hands at the swordsman and hissed, "Web-Web Needle Spray!"

A double attack. Zoro's eyes narrowed beneath his bandana, and the intense disgust on his face was so strong it was practically tangible. Just as underhanded as their last tactic, and just as potentially lethal; these men certainly were playing for keeps. But though their technique was nearly flawless, and would have killed most of the pirates they hunted for their bounties, they had forgotten to factor in one thing: that their opponent was the demon, Roronoa Zoro, and that Jovis had just entered himself into the demon's own battle.

Zoro turned on one heel with alarming speed, causing Tazan to actually flinch aside, as though the man expected an attack. Or perhaps he was attempting to dodge the love-cook; out of the corner of his eye, Zoro could see the man charging towards them, blind fury in his expression. It hardly mattered, anyway. Tazan wasn't Zoro's target.

He barely flinched when Tazan's razor-sharp teeth dug into his outer thigh, took the hit without caring. A necessary sacrifice, and unimportant. He didn't attempt to dodge either when hundreds of web-needles gouged superficial gashes into his skin, merely raised his arms and swords before his bowed head to protect his face. Some of the wounds were not so superficial; he could feel a few digging dangerously far into his shoulders and arms, but only registered them enough to make sure he could still move his sword arms.

Then he shifted fluidly into his own attack. With Tazan still clamped to his leg, stunned expression on his face even as he tried to bite deeper and still received no reaction, and with Jovis gawking at him in suddenly understanding horror, Zoro brought his swords to bear, locked furious, unforgiving eyes with the enemy navigator, and brought his katanas slashing around with unerring, deadly precision.

"108 Pound Cannon: Fatal Strike."

Sanji had known the marimo for a while, and yet the sight was still stunning...and more than a little appalling, too. Not that fact that that bastard was still clamped to his leg, shark-like teeth dug deeply into flesh as though attempting to tear a piece free. The fact that marimo didn't react to that wasn't really surprising; he'd definitely been through worse in some of their past battles. Though Sanji did admittedly get a slight satisfaction out of Tazan's stunned expression. Clearly the crap-Scorpion cook was used to more panic when people discovered they were being eaten, and their swordsman's complete lack of caring had to be new.

But what Zoro had done to the navigator...

The amount of blood was stunning. The navigator had been at least thirty feet away, and yet he ripped apart as though a sword had been taken directly to his body regardless. No, three swords. The man was currently split into multiple sections, after all, and Zoro had only swung once. He'd practically exploded with blood, and when he thudded to the ground it had been in several pieces; his head was definitely no longer connected to his body, nor was one arm, and his chest seemed uncomfortably split open with a gash that practically mirrored the scar running down Zoro's own chest.

His eyes were still open in horrified surprise. His blood was already dripping into the orange stream, tainting it a deeper color. No good drinking from there now; that source was ruined, a part of the cook's mind told him vaguely.

Sanji knew it was necessary, that killing was part of the rules of the game, and he'd seen enough death and smelled enough blood that he didn't feel the need to throw up right then and there. Hell, he still wanted to smash that sick Scorpion bastard's skull open himself. But the fact that Zoro could kill with so much ease, without hesitation, without an ounce of mercy...now that was a little shocking.

Sanji knew their swordsman was ridiculously strong (not that he enjoyed admitting it). The man was perfectly capable of dealing out death left and right, and Sanji had often felt the aura of murderous intent that surrounded Zoro in some of their more intense battles. He didn't doubt that Zoro had probably killed in the past, whether out of self defense or simply due to his previous job as a pirate hunter. But to date he had never actually seen the swordsman kill. Perhaps he was just imitating Luffy, or acting on his orders, pulling his punches so to speak when it came to their past adventures. But this came as a shocking reminder that Zoro was still just as capable as ever to go as far as he had to when it came to a fight.

It was a little overwhelming.

Zoro turned away from the torn, already-dead body of Jovis before it even hit the lavender earth, and shifted his intense gaze to Tazan, whose jaws were still buried in his leg. It was probably a terrifying moment for the enemy cook, Sanji thought with furious satisfaction, though he wished he was the one to cause the obvious terror in the man's face. Still, Zoro—a bleeding, injured, utterly uncaring, and clearly deadly Zoro—glaring down at his next opponent was a fair enough substitute, considering the circumstances. After all, Zoro did look out for his nakama as well, frustrating though it might be to admit sometimes.

Tazan tore his jaws free from Zoro's leg suddenly, eyes still wide in horror as he realized just how much danger he was really in. Strips of flesh dangled from his sawlike teeth, but he had fortunately not taken a full bite out of Zoro's leg, which would save them problems later. Instead of pressing his attack, the man whirled, darting as fast as his legs would carry him back the way he had originally come.

Sanji snarled and turned to give chase—there was no way he was letting that man get out of here alive. But then he heard the voice of his captain: loud, but with deadly intent, Luffy's voice gave an unshakable warning. "Zoro! Sanji! Down!"

Sanji didn't hesitate; he threw himself to the lavender dirt, flattening himself as much as he could. He could see Zoro doing the same out of the corner of his eye, or maybe his leg had just given out from under him, but within seconds the both of them were face down on the ground, watching Tazan's panicked retreat with impatience.

They didn't have long to wait. Luffy's fist came roaring overhead along with the call for his pistol attack, still trailing hundreds of snapped sticky filaments. Apparently Jovis' webbing grew weaker after death, allowing Luffy to break himself free. The rubber fist connected with Tazan's back, and the man crashed to the ground with a scream of both pain and surprise.

Luffy wasn't finished. He bounded over both his crew mates with one stretchy leg, leapt into the air, and with a howl of "Gomu Gomu no Gatling!" launched a hundred or more rapid-fire punches at the crap-Scorpion's unprotected back.

Glass trees shattered and crystal leaves cracked into dust under the furious assault of Strawhat Luffy. Tazan screamed, ducked under the wild attack, and tried desperately to protect himself, holding up his steel-gauntleted hands in front of his face. The metal rebounded a few of Luffy's punches, but others connected with vicious accuracy. The snap of breaking bones was inaudible under the cracking glass trees, but Sanji was sure that Luffy had broken more than a few, to judge by the man's limping and the way one hand clamped to his side.

Still, though terrified, in pain, and obviously unprepared, Tazan remained annoyingly durable. He managed to stumble to his feet as Luffy's assault came to an end, already moving for the trees with shocking speed despite his obvious leg injury. As he ran, he half-yelled, half-rasped, "Beat it, Eagle-Eye! Too dangerous!" and then disappeared into the crystal forest.

Something about that bugged Sanji, but he was too angry to care at that moment. He heaved himself to his feet quickly, taking quick stock of their surroundings. He was uninjured, other than maybe a slight bruise when he hurled himself to the ground. Zoro was bleeding badly from a number of injuries, both superficial and fairly serious, and he stumbled when he went to stand. But really, when was he ever not covered in blood anyway? Luffy looked alright for the most part too, other than a similar selection of superficial cuts from Jovis' needle attacks. Hell, he probably did more damage to himself when he attacked Tazan just now; his gatling gun had shattered a number of trees, and there were still shards puncturing his hands and wrists, blood dripping over his fingers. Despite their injuries, all looked ready to continue the fight, and all of them were already stepping forward to charge after Tazan.

That was when the distressed calls came from behind them.

"Captain-san! Come here!"

"Luffy, d-don't...don't follow, not yet!"

Sanji whirled immediately at the sound of Robin-chan's voice. There was a tremor to it he didn't think he'd ever heard before, the closest his darling Robin-chan had ever come to sheer panic or fear, and somehow it sent a chill up his spine. If she'd been injured too—

At first he felt relief. Robin-chan was still there, kneeling on the ground but otherwise unharmed. There was no weapon protruding from her body, and she seemed to be entirely intact. She was safe.

Then Sanji saw the rest of the scene, and his heart plummeted to his stomach.

Robin had not, admittedly, expected the ambush to go perfectly, even when she suggested the idea. Something always and inevitably went wrong when the crew tried to plan ahead, as the Strawhats were far better at winging it than they were at setting elaborate traps.

So when she suggested the ambush, she was almost certain that Captain-san, and probably Swordsman-san as well, would be the first to break it. Neither one was really made for an ambush anyway; both were far too accustomed to meeting their opponents head-on in direct combat. She had planned accordingly, placing the others from the crew in positions that would provide cover or observation well and did not rely on the placements of their captain or swordsman.

What she hadn't expected was that anyone else would burst free from hiding. Especially Cook-san. Though he was a regular combatant—indeed, Robin would go so far as to say one of the top combatants of the crew—she also knew he had some experience with the more subtle forms of war. After all, he had played his 'Mr. Prince' game perfectly back in Alabasta, when she was still allied with Crocodile, in order to keep the rest of his nakama safe.

So when Cook-san leapt down from his perch in the crystal tree she had assigned him to, Robin had to admit to herself that she was privately stunned. Though she supposed she shouldn't be, she thought. It was obvious that Tazan was trying to bait a few more crew members free, and he had hit on the exact subject to enrage Cook-san past the point of thinking.

He was already pelting towards Swordsman-san and his opponent, a look of unbridled fury on his face, when Doctor-san leapt from one of the crystal bushes some fifteen feet away from her, shouting frantically (and shrilly) for their cook to come back. Robin kept her expression cool out of habit, but inside she was groaning in disappointment. With only herself and Longnose-kun left, their ambush had been effectively destroyed. Their opponents certainly were clever.

She was just planning to rise to her feet and enter the battle as well—their ambush was useless, but she could still provide backup in the fights against Tazan and Jovis—when it happened. "Now," roared Tazan, and the next second a sharp squeal permeated the air, and Doctor-san collapsed to the ground.

Robin was stunned, but only allowed herself to falter for a moment. Cook-san was too intent on Tazan to have noticed Doctor-san. She doubted he had even heard Doctor-san calling him, from the obvious fury on his face. So she had to act herself. Still remaining hidden—if the sniper was about, which seemed likely now, she didn't want to provide another target for the man—she crossed her arms and murmured "Veinte Fleur" quickly. Twenty disembodied limbs sprouted in a line near Doctor-san, dragging him away towards the tree Cook-san had occupied until recently. It would provide more cover and hopefully she would be able to examine him there, without being spotted.

There was screaming going on in the direction of the stream, where the major battle was occurring, but Robin did her best to ignore it. What was important now was Doctor-san. Crouching low, she slipped quickly through the crystal bushes, doing her best to keep her location hidden still, and shuffled towards their reindeer-doctor. Doctor-san wasn't moving, but at this angle she couldn't see what was wrong, or even if he was still alive.

She had almost reached the little doctor when Longnose-kun jumped free from his own hidden location at the base of the same tree she'd dragged Doctor-san to. Robin felt like screaming in frustration. Out in the open, Longnose-kun was a perfect target; he would inevitably meet the same fate as Doctor-san. Why were her nakama going to die all around her like this? Why couldn't she stop it?

But Longnose-kun surprised her. His slingshot was in his hand, but he wasn't aiming for the battle by the stream. Instead, knees shaking, eyes unabashedly dripping with horrified tears, he lifted the slingshot and aimed for a tree a little ways down the clearing.

"E-exploding Star!"

The pellet fired and burst on impact, colliding with the reflective crystal tree. Robin had no doubts about Longnose-kun's handiwork, having seen the exploding stars (among others) at work before. But she hadn't expected the entire tree to simply shatter with an overwhelming series of cracking booms, sending shards of odd natural glass flying everywhere. Smoke filled the air, hovering over the impact site, and Robin heard a distinct panicked scream from within, as though its owner was in pain.

"Eagle-Eye?" She said quickly from behind Longnose-kun, as she came around the tree towards the fallen reindeer.

Longnose-kun jumped and spun, already leveling his slingshot in a blind panic, but froze as he recognized Robin. Shakily, he nodded. "Y-yeah. I traced the shot, b-but...I w-wasn't fast en-nough..." And his watery eyes dropped to the doctor's unmoving form.

"We don't know anything for sure yet," Robin said crisply, forcing herself to act calm as always for the sniper's benefit. Longnose-kun was close to panicking, but if there were other ranged attackers in the brush, they would need his assistance. It was important for them to stay calm.

Slipping forward into the open, now willing to take the risk, she bent down over Doctor-san and began looking him over. Not turning to look at Longnose-kun, she asked him quickly, "Do you think their sniper is gone?"

"I—I'm not—"

"Longnose-kun," she said, calmly but a little sharply. "Do you think he's gone?"

He shuddered, took a deep breath, and then hesitantly nodded. "I...I think so. I wasn't expecting the tree to break like that, I just wanted to distract him, but he probably got hurt pretty bad with the explosion..."

"Good." Robin returned to her examination, but already knew the results without really having to. There was a crossbow bolt lodged between Doctor-san's eyes, exactly the same as the one that had taken Navigator-san's life. The reindeer had probably died almost instantly. There was nothing that they could have done.

"Is...is he..." Longnose-kun was still trembling, seemed unable to take his eyes from the body that had been one of his closest friends only moments before.

Robin didn't answer that question. Instead, she said quietly, "You did the right thing, Longnose-kun."

"But he's still—"

"Eagle-Eye could have hurt others," she said smoothly, fighting for every scrap of calm in her voice. Watching these people who had genuinely cared about her dying in front of her was a nightmare, but she would do her best to keep them together and save the rest of them. If that meant keeping her cold, professional personality to keep them calm then she'd do it without hesitation. "You chased him away. You may have saved someone else's life, Usopp."

He looked shocked that she used his actual name, but that seemed to drive home the importance of her words. He still looked sick, and terrified, but her words seemed to wash away some of his guilt at least.

"Beat it, Eagle-Eye! Too dangerous!"

Both pirates snapped their eyes over to the battle in surprise; they had been so intent on their own situation they hadn't spared much attention to the battle by the stream. Captain-san and Swordsman-san were both streaming blood from a number of wounds, though Cook-san thankfully looked unhurt. Jovis, or what Robin assumed to be Jovis, was sprawled on the ground near the stream in a pool of blood, nearly unrecognizable. Only Tazan remained of their enemies, but he was already running out of sight across the stream. Captain-san, Swordsman-san, and Cook-san darted forward to give chase.

But that couldn't happen; they couldn't allow themselves to be split up. Robin understood that, and judging by Longnose-kun's stunned and horrified look, he did too. Both opened their mouths to speak at the same time, calling for their companions.

"Captain-san! Come here!"

"Luffy, d-don't...don't follow, not yet!"

The three of them spun, still wearing the intense expressions of battle. Robin ignored them for the present, caught a last glance at Tazan's retreating back, and quietly grew an eye between his shoulder-blades. They couldn't give chase now, but it wouldn't do to allow the man to get away, either.

The expressions on the three combatants were rapidly changing now. The intensity of battle was fading from Swordsman-san's face, but his anger remained as he stared at the unmoving body of Doctor-san in front of her. Cook-san's expression had shifted to sheer stunned horror, and Captain-san's eyes were fixed on the unmoving reindeer, wide and blank.

Then they were all running towards their crew mates, even Swordsman-san, though he favored one leg heavily. Captain-san crashed to his knees by Doctor-san's side, holding out his hands to the unmoving reindeer as though expecting some sort of response, but their was none. He slapped the furry head lightly on the side instead, tugged gently at his antlers, poked the fuzzy pink hat, tried to force some sort of reaction. Doctor-san remained completely still, eyes wide but blank in empty shock, mouth still partly agape.

Still there was no response, not at first. Captain-san still kept poking, prodding, as though he didn't entirely understand what had happened. Or rather, Robin decided quietly, he did know what happened—he was perceptive enough for that—and he just didn't want to accept it.

But then Longnose-kun started quietly sobbing next to her, whimpered guiltily, "S-sorry, Luffy," and it was as if those two tiny words broke the dam. Captain-san seemed to bend, as if under the weight of the entire Going Merry, and his shoulders began to shake. When his head lifted again, his eyes were filled with tears, huge and powerful, unashamed of the act itself and yet horribly shamed for allowing himself to lose another nakama. It was, to Robin, one of the most terrifying sights she had ever seen, to see Strawhat Luffy bend like that. She had seen him mopey, sullen, annoyed, in pain, and yet never had she seen tears flow like they did now.

The others apparently hadn't as well. Swordsman-san looked quietly disturbed, and glanced away from them almost immediately. His hands were still on his swords, and he looked back in the direction that Tazan had run, as though debating giving chase. But he didn't move, and though he shed no tears, Robin could practically feel his own frustration and shame. It was unsurprising, really; even with the little time she had been with the Strawhat crew, it was obvious that Swordsman-san and Doctor-san had unexpectedly bonded. The young reindeer had always run to Swordsman-san first if upset or scared, and the Demon Zoro had uncharacteristically responded like an elder brother might. To see one of his nakama, and an unofficial personal charge at that, dead before him was probably something deeply upsetting to him.

Cook-san was equally affected by the young doctor's death. Unlike Swordsman-san, Cook-san made no effort to repress or even hide his tears. Robin suspected he was crying for two, now. The shock of Navigator-san's death had been too sudden for him, but now he was allowing himself to feel again. That was good, at least; it brought him closer back to what he had been before. Now he stood behind Captain-san, trembling, fists clenched, tears running, and quietly stared down at the body before her.

Longnose-kun was still sobbing, and Robin suspected that she had not alleviated his guilt as much as she wished she could. There was only so much he could do, and he had to understand he wasn't responsible for Doctor-san's death; that he wasn't responsible for any of this. She would have to talk to him later, if she could. If she lived.

And as for herself...

Inside, Robin felt like screaming. Inside she could feel her curse already at work, could see the Strawhats she associated herself with now crumbling to pieces, dying one by one. She wanted, privately, to just run; to run and run, and keep running, just to keep them safe, because she knew somehow they were all dying because of her. Aokiji's recent encounter with them only made that foreboding feeling that much stronger.

But she couldn't abandon them. Not yet, not with so much at stake. They were dying here, but she forced herself to remember that this was a game, sick and twisted though it was. She had to help them win here, even if it meant their own death, because only then would they all survive to leave this horrible astral world—and its island origin—behind. So she used every scrap of willpower she had within her to keep her face and voice calm, to not betray her panic and her fear, to help the remaining Strawhats as best as she could.

Moving quickly, Robin quietly sprouted a few arms and gently removed the backpack from Doctor-san's shoulders. It felt disgustingly as though she was plundering the dead, disrespecting their doctor's corpse, but there was little else they could do. They had stored much of their food supply with Doctor-san, and he had carried most of their medical supplies, what little they had, as well. It was too valuable a thing to leave behind.

Captain-san watched her, shoulders still heaving as he sobbed shamelessly. When she had finished, she quietly lifted the tiny body and held it out, respectfully, to their captain.

"There isn't much we can do for him," she said quietly. "Not now; it's too late. And we don't have much time if we are to win. But you have the right to do what you can."

Captain-san nodded, seemed to understand. He wiped his eyes dry with the fringe of his vest (his arms were still bloody) and then gently, almost reverently, lifted the dead reindeer in his arms.

They had no time to bury him, and Captain-san seemed to feel the press of the hours as much as the rest of them, understood the urgency. So he instead laid Doctor-san at the base of one of the untouched crystal trees, in the cool shade cast by the nearly-set invisible light source, and arranged his body as comfortably as possible. The bolt in Doctor-san's head he removed with surprising care considering his usual overpowered handling of the world around him, though he did chuck the offending object as far into the crystal woods as he could possibly manage.

When he was done, he turned to the body. Doctor-san's eyes were now closed, and he looked almost as if he were sleeping, if not for the bloody hole in his head. Captain-san looked down at the reindeer, eyes now devoid of tears. And then, with a mix of his familiar determination and new, deadly seriousness, he said softly, "We'll get you back, Chopper. That's a promise."

Random Fact: The 'navigator' position is the first one to be wiped out on both sides.

Have you guys picked up on the Scorpions' strategy yet? If not, it'll be explained next chapter.

As far as Sanji's shock over Zoro's killing stroke goes, I think it's well founded. Zoro and Robin strike me as the only members of the crew who have killed and are mentally prepared to do it again. You'll notice no enemy ever dies in this series, but I think those two only pull their punches now because Luffy demands it. I mean...you definitely have to focus to keep a sword from killing somebody, especially after unleashing all the potentially lethal attacks Zoro does on a regular basis.

As always, if you choose to review, kindly leave a review with substance! I do so love feedback. :)

~VelkynKarma