Chapter 10: Her Name is Zero
Kanzaki stares at where her crew once was, but does not fret as she realizes that they are holding to their word. In fact, she hasn't kissed any of them back yet and still they haven't harmed them. It was all detainment tactics. They were truly trying to stay on her good side despite that they have the upper hand no matter how one looks at it. She now looks back to Aoso who patiently stares back at her with waiting eyes. Collecting herself, she walks forward. One hand reaches up behind his head, pulling him down whilst twining her fingers into his locks. Such an action causes the blonde to gasp in both positive stimulus and surprise. The other hand grips at his muscle shirt's collar, using it to help yank him down and swiftly capture his lips the soft set of flesh brushing against her own ever warm and inviting. His gasp only tells her that she's done right, while, his arms snake around her waist almost as though he's unsure. His shoulders tremble as she moves her lips against his, coaxing him to reply. His shock though is far too great; her method of holding him only reminds him of the day she left. He can't reply in time. By the time she pulls away, he finds himself realizing that he didn't have a chance to move his lips against her own again. He curses to himself, though at the same time he assures himself that he can try again any time he wants from now on.
The next person Kanzaki moves on to is Azen, going in the same order they did with the first round of spit swapping. She can feel her blood rushing with natural hormonal desire, having not orally embraced someone since the last time she had seen them. However she ignores this sensation, forbidding it from showing in her eyes even as she stares her next target down. With Azen, she doesn't take to him as roughly as she did Aoso. With the kind of person she remembers him to be, he probably likes to take control in the kissing session. However at the same time, he's probably also something of a hopeless romantic. With this in mind, she strides her way to him and wraps her arms around his neck to pull him down to her height. She lightly kisses his tender lips, her eyes sliding shut as she stands on her tippy toes to keep him from having to bend over too much. Azen's eyes widen at this kind of approach. It cries for him to enjoy it, and enjoy it he does. He lets the tenderness of the kiss sink into his flesh, and sets his heart aglow so to speak.
That is before he takes control after a moment of just enjoying the feeling of her doing all the work. His leg slips behind her own, hooking her knee before pulling and causing her to fall back. With one arm, he holds her close so that she doesn't land heavily, while his other one catches the both of them. Now in the grass, he places a knee between her legs, up towards her groin as though playing, while now one of his hands flies to her hair and fiddles with it. His hips now press themselves to her own, though as expected he doesn't get the reaction he was looking for. Always so collected, the woman is. He likes the challenge, thrives because of it as well, and is determined to defeat it. Beautiful. That's the only word he sees her as when he's looking down at her as she's catching her breath. A goddess.
After Azen's moved his larger frame and helped her up. She slowly saunters her way to Alour. He is a bit harder to read, more capable than most at hiding his intentions even from her. It was surprising that he didn't kneel to kiss her, and instead held her on his hips instead. Should that be done again?...No. Should she lay him down and get on top of him?...Maybe? Or...Yes, she can try that. She stands before the massive man before motioning to the grass, "Lay down, Alour," she demands. The man does as he's told, but his red eyes scream curiosity. As he's fully comfortable, she kneels so that she may kiss him upside down. The kiss is slow and tender, a hand of hers moving to keep her hair off his face. After about a minute of slow, tender kissing, she switches the tempo as he had done the first time. She even manages to swing her body around so that now she straddles his waist, turning it into a normal kiss with her on top. Alour sits up, forcing her to sit back and into his lap as his legs curl around her. His response is hot and fast, never in one place for that long a time. When they separate, the purple haired male is blushing and panting.
Kanzaki stands, helping Alour to his feet the best she can before she turns to the blond of the group. "I held up my side of the bargain. You'll hold up to yours, won't you?"
Aoso nods once, "We won't kill them," he allows, "Just as we said we wouldn't. But if they come to fight us...We won't hold back".
She literally feels her heart plummet. She should have seen that coming, so why didn't she? She as no excuse, having walked into such a trap. Of course they're going to come fight them, not to be full of herself. But they had gone into Enis Lobby for one of their crew members, so that should be evidence enough to say that they won't be giving up on her very easily. "What is it you want in exchange of letting them go unharmed? Name your price and I'll pay it". This is the very least she can do for the people that had taken her on so kindly. Kanzaki Akatsuki always pays her debts when they're due, that much is certain. The Faction is based around making soldiers that specialize in fighting Devil Fruit users. The Straw Hats are the underdogs by far.
Aoso looks sternly at Kanzaki's glowing eyes, which tell of a stress that her face hasn't figured out how to express just yet. "Why do you defend them so heavily...?...You don't...Love one of them, do you?" If she does, he'll take back all promises completely. An enemy that she loves isn't allowed to live.
"No". She denies right away. And it's the truth too. "I don't love anyone on that crew...If anything, allow me to give my heart to you"
"You'd give your heart to us? To me?" Azen questions with a small chuckle, "Kanzaki- no, Zero- I know you're worried about them but don't spout lies. It hurts".
Hearing that name again actually hurts her physically. As though through one word, a mere name, can bring back all the pain and internal sorrow she's felt since she was nothing but a child. As though it makes her relive the horror when she found out her apparent fate, about how a single man put her on this course- made her as she is. It's like a stab to her heart, the knife twisted and left there as she bleeds out. Aoso's intention is obviously not to harm her in this way, but it all the same does. She makes certain not to focus on this. "Forgive me," she returns calmly, "That was wrong of me to say. Allow me to learn to love you, and I'll do my best to should you let my friends leave unharmed". She doesn't realize just how late it is to do that by now.
This time, Alour blinks and sighs, "Is it...That you've given your loyalty to one of them?" having been the one to hang around her the longest, he knows her best one could say. He stood by her side when they were young, he loved her for years, silently and not so much. He knows all her old quirks, her old style of fighting and could probably predict her movements very well despite how long it's been. And he knows, better than perhaps even her, just how far her personal loyalty can go. He's seen it, having watched her train to pure exhaustion all for the sake of her loyalty to Sekai- the man who gave her life meaning. Before she killed him that is. He knows her better than she perhaps knows herself. And if there's anything he knows will never change for her, it's her loyalty. There has to be a crew member that has claimed this from her. She doesn't bother to deny this truth, knowing that Alour will see it in her eyes. Seeing this and his allies look on clueless he explains, "...Gentlemen, for Zero, loyalty is almost the same as love. She'd give her life to the person who hold her loyalty in a heart beat...I think it's best we put them in their place". The name again stabs her. And again, it seems unintentional; she cannot bring herself to hate Alour for uttering it.
"You're wasting your time," Kanzaki tries again, "Just send them away. They're not worth any effort from you". With the drug from Enies Lobby still very much in her system, she can't make them do anything they don't want to. This is the best she can do.
Azen shakes his head, "If your loyalty is like love, then we've gotta beat the shit out of those that have it first. Who is it, that blond guy? It's that blond pretty boy, isn't it?" He growls eyeing where they had all once been. "Or was it that swordsman? He was pretty good looking. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if it was the Captain".
"I have no loyalty to them," she lies. It's horribly made, and not at all believed.
Aoso shakes his head as well, "Sorry Zero," he mutters, "We do have to show you that our love is more powerful than your loyalty...We'll fight them, because obviously they won't be letting you go". She is silent in turn, unable to urge further that they avoid the fight. There's no avoiding it. She can't deny it. She has no doubt she'll have to watch. "Azen, take her to the lab and tell the men there to fix her up. Restore her abilities, that should help putting her where she would have been. Then come back here; we're going to take care of things tonight".
Resorting to fighting as best she can, Kanzaki flails her limbs like a cat that doesn't want to be picked up. Azen's grip is strong, however, keeping her from doing any sort of damage or even slipping free. "Azen, put me downc" She demands even as they suddenly appear in a very familiar room. Clustered with tubes, utensils for opening things of flesh and closing them, putting things into them, all litter the room. She kicks and squirms upon seeing the room again. Memories of pain and suffering, of constant torture for hours on end flutter into her mind. She fights even harder, nails ripping into skin swiftly defended by Haki, preventing any damage even as she attempts to sink her teeth into the flesh. Her heart hammers, pupils blown wide with honest panic, an emotion she doesn't register actually shows upon her face. She squirms and wiggles and flails, attempting every trick she knows to get out of the tall man's hold. That is, until a hand hits her in the back of the neck, breaking off what was becoming a panic attack. Her world, though she fights it, is forced into becoming nothing but a black heap. Her frame is limp in Azen's hold.
The red haired male glares at the scientists that stare at the woman that's actually rather familiar to them. How could they forget the first person to have ever successfully defected from this particular faction and lived? "CP9 injected her with the syrum made to combat her skills. Fix it," he demands as a free hand forcefully sweeps a table clear of shit he doesn't care for. And then he's gone, not even waiting for the scientists to acknowledge his command. Next to appear suddenly is a large chunk of dirt, as though cut from the ground, with Satsuriku stabbed into it.
(From the Ashes)
Zoro vs Azen
Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate for Zoro, Luffy and Sanji- the idiots- got lost on their way to those three men that had taken Kanzaki from them. What he doesn't get, is that the idiot woman had gone along with their little games, letting them kiss her as they pleased as though such a thing were a bargaining chip. And, while Zoro is no where near on the imitation cook's level in terms of intimacy and chivalry, he doesn't see such actions as a mere thing to trade. Especially when one's life is on the line. What bothers him the most, however, is not the fact that Kanzaki had used her own body to keep those three strange men from attacking and harming them all. But instead, the fact that she honestly believed that since she was too weak to hold them off, that they were as well.
It was a low blow to Zoro's pride, though he's almost completely certain that she was only merely trying to protect them. Just as Robin had done about a month and a half ago. Why is it, that this crew has to pick up problem children when it comes to women? Oh yea, sure, the men have issues that they've had to fight through- the issue at the Bartie, the Black Cat Pirates and Wapol are good examples. But with the women, it seems that things are blown out of proportion- Nami with Arlong, Robin with the CP9 and now Kanzaki with these three men and this faction. Just what exactly is she to these men? And what did she do to get out of the faction in the first place?
The green haired man's eyes suddenly widen, his heels digging into the sand as somehow he's ended up on a beach of all things. He had been running to the amusement park only a few seconds ago. He looks around, curious as he corresponds this happening to when they went from the clearing to the Thousand Sunny in seconds against their will. Just as sudden as the transition from town to beach, a fist slams into the ground where he used to be. He skids to a slightly startled stop, two of his three blades already pulled forth from their sheathes and held at the ready. His dark eyes look around calmly, looking for any sort of attack. He grunts however as a foot slams into his back just as the sand that had been sent flying settles. The force of the kick is enough to send him stumbling forward into a fist that meets his cheek, which in turn forces him to stumble to the side. A third and forth attack comes like this from his unknown assailant. That is until the sixth one, he feels rather than sees the attack coming. His katana come together to block the fist that meets them, causing them to rattle and the attacker to pause. The man that's been bouncing around is none other than that red head.
"You".
"Me," the red head states as he backs off, flipping while in the air to gain some distance.
Zoro's stance is well balanced despite the sand, though it's a little hard to keep his footing- which isn't at all surprising. In each hand rests a sword, though for now Wado Ichimonji stays in its sheath. His glare is harsh and already quite determined. He doesn't plan on letting this guy beat him around like some sort of rag doll. The redhead on the other hand stands relaxed, arms limp at his sides and a thin line being his lips. His golden eyes that glow in the darkness of the evening are zoned harshly in on his moss haired enemy. He is taller than this man, though this man is also thick much like Aoso which should mean that he'll need to make sure to put more pressure into his attacks if he wants to finish quickly. If intel is correct- which it is quite rarely wrong- this man is 'Pirate Hunter' Roronoa Zoro, a man who fights at his strongest with three swords instead of two let alone one. He's also said to have massive amounts of stamina and will power to spare. Zoro on the other hand doesn't know a thing about this man, other than the fact that he is from Kanzaki's past and seems to be rather fast and strong. He's not very thick with muscle, but he's not lanky like Usopp or Luffy. Instead, he's lean with well toned muscle. Muscle meant to attribute towards the speed he obviously has.
Swordsman and marine stare one another down harshly before the former of the two speaks, "What do you want with Kanzaki? Where is she?"
"We call her Zero; that's her name after all. Also…..That's none of your concern. You're lucky she's put herself on the line to keep the lot of you safe," Azen snaps back, not at all pleased that this man doesn't seem at all intimidated by his small show of power. Intel didn't say he was a brainless idiot who can't tell those that are strong from those that are weak. "I wasn't expecting to have to send her back to the lab, but it turned out that way as well".
"...The lab?! What do you mean by 'the lab'?" Zoro demands in a short rubbing of his vocal cords, grip on the hilts of his blades tightening. Is that some sort of code to call their base?
"It's just how it sounds," Azen returns with a shrug of his broad shoulders, "The lab is the place where we were reborn into power".
"Reborn?" This guy is spouting bullshit, and Zoro doesn't like it at all. "If you're not going to speak like a normal person, then let's fight!"
"I can fight and talk, you know". That said, he rushes Zoro, his frame disappearing from that spot he was just at before suddenly Zoro feels a foot connecting with his chin and then with the top of his head. Then with his thigh, which twinges in pain from the impact of something hard hitting his muscle without remorse. This onslaught only takes a few seconds before suddenly he's back in his spot, where as Zoro is left in a confused daze. How did he move so fast?! Is this that same trick Kaku used to become faster?...No, it may be even faster than that! "The four of us are four of many of the government's experiments," he explains plainly. "Let me start from the beginning...".
Sanji vs Alour
Sanji had been running himself, in the correct direction he knows they all had once been in before suddenly they were again on the Thousand Sunny. He doesn't get it. Why would Kanzaki-hime do that to them? Suddenly become so afraid and unwilling to fight back against the men that were obviously taking advantage of her? And right in front of him too! Those men don't deserve Kazaki-hime, that is first and foremost in his mind. Secondly, is that he has some asses to kick through and through. Third is that- He suddenly leaps over a long whip of something the color of crimson. A whip that had lashed out at him, it retracts to its master as swiftly as it tried to hit him. There, standing at the top of a roller coaster in the amusement part portion of the island, is the tall purple haired man. In the moonless night, illuminated by the park's lights instead, he looks rather ominous up there. But that does nothing to daunt Sanji's determination. Instead, he scoffs once and continues to run, upping his speed and now on guard. However, even though he is successful in many graceful dodges of even three whips, a fourth lashes out and captures his leg. The purple haired man wastes no time at all and yanks his arm back, forcing Sanji's feet out from under him and his head to smack into concrete. On the way up, he is forced to slam into many a portion of metal until finally he lays on the tracks of the roller coaster. Five feet at most is how far he is away from the purple haired bastard. He ignores the blood that now cakes the back of his head due to his fall, as well as the stinging sensation in his arms that had been used to cushion each collision.
"Bastard, where's Kanzaki?"
"Kanzaki? I'm sorry, I don't know a Kanzaki. Zero however is safe and sound now," Alour states, the four whips already out to get him without another word. He personally hates meaningless talk. The least amount of words said during a fight, the shorter the fight and the sooner he can get back to what's important. This way of thought is especially strong right now. Zero is waiting for him in the lab after all.
Sanji scoffs, "Fine, I'll just beat it out of you". Ignoring the throbbing of his head and arms, he draws a long drag from his cigarette before going on the offense. By rushing his target and already having something of a plan, his hands reflexively shoot out to hold his balance as he kicks with his right leg, "Collier!" However, an arm raises to block at a speed Sanji didn't figure the man would have. And just as fast as he blocks, he returns the attack, lashing out with a hand and catching Sanji in the sternum, causing him to tip before he can bring his foot back down. However, the chef is not one against improvising, and as such he rolls with the tipping of his frame and stands on one of two hands and spins himself, leg lashing out powerfully, "Cotelette!" His target is the purple haired man's ribs, however his is met with another block. Sanji isn't done, however. With the leg he just kicked with helping him to spin to another angle, his other foot now aims for the purple haired man's stomach now, "Flanchet!" Alour, tired of these attacks and blocking, catches the foot before it can retract after being blocked. A flick of Alour's wrist reveals one of the two hidden blades on his wrist, allowing it to stab into Sanji's exposed calf. The blond's body jolts in pain, though he dare not scream despite the fact that the wound is in fact extremely painful. Blood, as it should, immediately works to clog up the wound and push out what had harmed its host, though it doesn't work so well until Alour pulls the blade from Sanji's calf and pushes him away.
The blond has no choice but to hobble back, or even do a back flip or two just to get some distance between one another. He pain has him panting, and his leg feels like it would very much love to fall off right now if that would get rid of the issue. Alour in the mean time literally absorbs the blood as though he were a sponge and Sanji's blood water. The massive man sighs as he watches the blond in front of him, "You're very strong. Do you think you can still fight with that leg?"
Sanji, too determined and proud to admit that his leg very much smarts, instead opts to use all the strength in his good leg to launch himself into the air. If he's lucky, he can finish this with one last shot. Using his good leg to kick as well, he flips himself midair before planting his kick into Alour's sternum, causing the man to stumble back in surprise. It's obvious that he wasn't expecting Sanji to be able to work through the pain of having his muscle stabbed. Careful to step down with his good leg, he then hooks his other foot around Alour's neck as the man is bent down low enough for Sanji to reach in his current condition. "Reception!" He grits out through his long since destroyed cigarette. Alour's face meets the planks of wood that help make up the roller coaster's tracks, only to break through the wood and fall to the ground far down below. Or, Alour would if he didn't manage to land on a metal beam and swing himself back to the top.
He can't say that Sanji isn't a tough opponent. Normally, when Alour stabs his target in a majorly used muscle, they often fall under the pressure of fighting him soon after. However, Sanji's ability to improvise says something about him as both a person and as a pirate crew's chef. One must be able to think of ways around wounds like these, lest they die under the pressure of surviving. "You want to know about Kanzaki, correct? I'll only tell you if you give me a decent enough fight. You're lucky Kanzaki won't stand for me killing you. It's what I specialize in- assassinations- and my Devil Fruit is best at it".
"I don't really care what you specialize in, you shitty womanizer," he grunts out. Taking a moment to light a new cigarette and take a drag that helps numb the pulsing pain in his calf, he eyes the tall man warily. "Fine," he allows, "I hope you're hungry".
Luffy vs Aoso
"KANZAKIIIIII! WHERE ARE YOUUUUU?!" Luffy's booming voice can be heard as he enters the forest behind the amusement park of the island. He, Sanji and Zoro had separated who knows when, but he's much too focused on the fact that yet another Nakama has been taken from him. It was bad enough that Robin did it, allowed herself to be captured in an attempt to protect them from the Navy. But now Kanzaki too? Don't tell Luffy...That she too wants to die?!...No, the Kanzaki Luffy has grown to know over a mere month and a half would never do such things. She's too proud to want to die. "KANZAKIIIIIi!" He calls out again. Maybe if he found and fought one of those three guys that were doing that thing with her. Kissing was it called...?...Now that he thinks of it, he's seen all sorts of people do that in the past, kissing, but he's never really had any real interest himself. "SHOUT IF YOU CAN HEAR MEEE!" Luffy demands as he runs along a route that has no real sense or true path. Unknown to him, he's run in a circle for the third time just seconds ago.
Before Luffy can shout out the name again, a fist suddenly finds a home in his face, sending him flying into a tree that breaks under the impact. Luffy stands, rubber body keeping him from feeling the pain of that hit and allowing him to seem as though nothing has happened. However, his black eyes land on a pair of electric blue ones. He glares heavily at this man, who in turn glares right back. However, the owner of these blue eyes is careful. Monkey D. Luffy, the man with a bounty of 300 million beri all on his own, is said to be very powerful and quite unpredictable. Just as well as incredibly difficult to take down. "You're stupid aren't you? Her name is Zero. And she can't hear you," Aoso denies bluntly as he stands only five feet from Luffy, arms firmly crossed over his bulky chest. "She's not near here, and she's underground," he continues, "And you won't be getting her back. She's mine". Yes, he had told Azen and Alour that he was willing to share her, but that was a flat out lie. Once Zero is all fixed and the Straw Hats are gone, he'll be putting Azen and Alour in their places. Did they really think he'd share someone so precious? Ever since that true smile she gave him during their Pre-test, he has believed her to belong with him at all times. They were made for one another by the hands of fate- or whatever you want to call it. Hands that knew that there'd be no stopping him when he got very close to having his hands on her. Only he can love her as she should be, only he knows all that there is to know about her. Just as she knows everything about him. Yes, they are made to be. Nothing will stand in Aoso's way to get her to fall in love with him.
"She's not some sort of object!" Luffy snaps back, a fist lashing forward to begin one of his stronger moves. He has no patience to take it easy on this guy, "Gomu Gomu no...Gatling!" He snarls. Though his fists only meet dirt and dust is kicked up. "She's our Nakama! And unless she says otherwise, that is where she belongs!"
"She told you to leave!" Aoso snarls himself, blocking one of Luffy's many punches and grabbing his wrist to force him to come to him. When he does, Aoso releases Luffy and plants a harsh knee into the younger man's solar plexus. The contact forces Luffy back into a rolling rubber heap of bones and flesh. "She wants to be here!"
"KANZAKI! CAN YOU HEAR ME?! WE'RE COMING FOR YOU!" Luffy ignores Aoso's statement. Until he hears that Kanzaki wants to stay here from her mouth, there's no stopping him.
Rest of the Strawhats vs Failed Faction Members
"Ahh! Don't kill me!" Usopp screams as a particularly nasty child chases after him with a knife as though they were some sort of homicidal maniac. However, as he races passed Franky, the man releases a Strong Right which slams into the child without remorse. "Ha! Don't mess with the power of the mighty Captain Usopp!" However, a small horde of people charging causes him to yelp and release a Hi no Tori Boshi in their direction, stopping them where they are.
"Mighty Captain Usopp," Robin replies after a moment, "Maybe it's best you continue fighting? Clutch!" She demands, twisting the five people surrounding her into odd and unhealthy shapes at sickening angles. She knows she's broken a bone or two, that's for certain.
Nami's eyes widen before suddenly she ducks under a rabid swing from a tall man that stands in front of her. Spotting a kick coming to her ribs, she barely manages to dance around this as well, including the other kick that's aimed for- oddly enough- her left boob. "I'm tired of all these people!" She snarls, annoyed by the last attack as she holds her Perfect Clima-Tact at the ready. They've been fighting for maybe fifteen mintes and there is still no sign of the enemies numbers going down. This is much too much work and stress for the navigator, but she dares not to back down at all. Kanzaki's in trouble after all, and Nami'll be damned or dead before she gives in. "Robin's right! Has anyone seen any signs of fighting up ahead?" If the three others are attacking those strangers, then that leaves Kanzaki free to save as far as she knows.
"I saw an explosion to your left!" Chopper offers in his walk form, dodging yet another shuriken that's sent his way. Suddenly, he switches to his heavy point, his much larger frame easily lashing out to clock someone in the face and toss another to the side. "Heavy Gong!" He commands firmly, breaking someone's nose wit ease. "Other than that, I've heard fights ahead and to our right! It has to be the others fighting those guys!"
"Right!" Nami agrees as her Clima-Tact is swiftly bent to make a triangle which is thrown into the cloud created by released Cool Balls and Heat Balls, "Thunderstorm Tempo!" With that small group of people taken care of, she moves on, "We have to hold on here until they get back with Kanzaki then!"
"Right!" The rest of them agree.