Part Ten
Ussop worked diligently to center the fifty cal onto a sturdy buckboard wagon that they'd used earlier that day. The weapon was fully mounted, the ammo boxes set to be stored within so that they had a moving weapon similar to the train. Kidd had helped out here and there, applying metal with his soldering tools and being a verbal entertainment to Ace and Luffy, who antagonized him for most of the day with their teasing. Zoro was sleeping in the hay that the buckboard had come with, and Shachi had been mapping out their route by drawing on a map he'd tacked to the wall and having their input in staging a defense line around the ghost town they were set on re-modifying.
They were ready for dinner and a night of relaxation, the rain pouring down in buckets around them, muddying the dirt outside and making their horses uncomfortable. Shachi had been the only one with horse experience, struggling to keep up with the others' teasing and mock riding lessons, but none of them could ride and all of them were intimidated by an animal bigger than them.
"The tracks didn't say much," Ussop said, looking up from his soldering with a satisfied expression, Kidd examining his work from the outside. "But they're in town, somewhere. Two of them. I guess all we have to do is keep an eye out on who shows up at the bar, tonight. Anybody hear from Law, yet?"
"We've all been hanging out together, of course we hadn't," Zoro said impatiently, stretching his arms out. He'd removed his hat and bandanna, settling both over his chest.
"Can plants grow from hay?" Kidd asked with surprise.
"He'll be back, it's okay," Luffy said with a wave of his hand. "We've all got plans in this showdown, I doubt he'd just walk away from it, now."
"Okay, this is a serious question – did anybody make it to the post office to see if we'd gotten any messages?" Ace asked, yawning as he looked for a place to sit comfortably. He pushed aside some empty wooden crates and formed a table with them.
"We were all hanging out together, there's no way that any of us did! I doubt the others even thought of it, too."
"This rain might make Tony worse," Zoro said, peering outside with a scowl. "When will it let up?"
"It's better than roasting," Luffy said, fanning himself with his hat. "It feels great!"
"So, let's assume it was Vergo and Pica as the 'well-dressed riders'," Ace spoke up from his temporary resting area, using finger quotation marks. "Tell us about them, Kidd."
"Vergo's a Marine operative that works the Marines for the Donquixote family. They openly trade information. If the Marines need backdoor help with an assignment, they go to Vergo. Vice versa if the family needs something from the Marines. Rumor has it, they slip each other deals on weaponry. The high tech shit, the experimental stuff. There's a medical lab back east that deals mainly with the experimentation and design of vaccines, and rumor has it, they have cures for everything!" Kidd said grandly. His jacket and gloves were hanging from a hook that held hand saws, and he was enjoying the freedom with a shirtless torso while Ace complained. "But it's only available at a price. So the shit that fucked Brook up? Could've been just a prototype they were trying out on the little people. They do that."
"Then Vergo's a highly trained dude that knows how to fight? I want first crack at him!" Luffy volunteered.
"No one's arguing with you," Ace said, scratching his stomach.
"Pica is in the same element, but he works for the government as a go-between. Anything the government has, he gives to the family. Vice versa! But he don't have that much power because the government's trying to keep neutral in things, but everyone knows how that goes…"
"For a guy with your appearance, you're well informed," Zoro said.
"Says the guy with green hair!"
Luffy laughed.
"He's not as powerful as Vergo is," Kidd finished, leaning against the wagon with a tired sigh. "But he's a beast with armory. He designed his own shit – he wears this crazy crap that's as hard as stone, but he can take bullets, explosives, and get hit by horses, and he can get back up. He's strong, but only defensively. So he's usually only with high level guys that need protection. If he's with Vergo, it's a sort of one-two punch. Vergo's got mad fighting skills and this jacket that nothing can penetrate. Pica's got armor and a Gatling gun."
"Gatling gun?" Luffy asked with excitement. "We can use that on our super train! Or wagon!"
"Oh, wow!" Ussop cried.
"I get first crack at Pica, then! Just for that gun!"
"No one's arguing with you, Luffy!" Ace said impatiently.
"What about the other guys?"
"I only heard rumors about the other guys. Diamante and Trebol? Trebol is Doflamingo's right hand man – he basically coached Doflamingo on being who he is. I'm not sure what Diamante's role is, but I heard he's badass with weaponry."
Shachi cleared his throat, playing with his markers and map. "First off, you've got old information."
"Hell with you! I'm always up to date! I make sure of it!"
"Yeah, you're right about the four executives, but there's only two. Vergo and Pica. Trebol and Diamante were killed years ago. For that information to just now show up on this side of the world shows that it wasn't made public. It was tucked away with shame, probably," Shachi mumbled, adjusting his hat.
"How would you know that?" Luffy asked curiously.
"I'm a bartender, we know everything because we hear everything."
"What's 32 times 11, then?"
"352."
"Damn, you do know everything!"
"That's basic math, Luffy!" Ace shouted at him impatiently.
"Why wouldn't it be public?" Kidd asked curiously. "Everyone in that family has a role. Those two are part of the top dogs!"
"Well…see, um, there's – well, this is what I was told, I wasn't there to experience it, myself," Shachi said with a cringe.
"Obviously, you were over here knowing where ghost towns and driving trains and playing with horses, and shit," Kidd said sarcastically.
"Trebol and Diamante…they were recruiters. But not conventional ones, they used kids for…" Shachi trailed off, waving a hand to let the others fill in the blanks. All but Luffy did, who frowned at him intently. "Anyway, the police were onto them because an orphanage the family owned kept losing kids mysteriously. They were using them for all sorts of heinous things, really. One day, when a couple of officers were checking on the welfare of those kids, something happened where there was a shoot out.
"Everyone got fucked up, including those two. So they were taken to the hospital, there. It's a special hospital that the family ran, that only certain people could use. They're pretty advanced. Anyway, Trebol and Diamante were brought in and were supposed to be fixed up. Supposed to be. When Doflamingo went to check on their progress that night, he found them both carved up and missing pieces that were then mailed out to various people, including himself. By then, there was a police investigation into the child, um, recruitment ring that Doflamingo claimed he knew nothing about. It got pretty ugly."
"They forced kids to fight with them?" Luffy asked curiously.
"They used kids for a lot of things. Rivals let their guards down around children. Sometimes, they never left the broth – the house down the street. Or, once they reached a certain age, they were groomed to take certain positions in the family hierarchy. As a result of all this, even the public and police began to treat unattended kids with extreme caution. Like, rivals would literally shoot any kid that didn't have a parent attached them in public areas. It was that intense."
"Well, I guess I can see why they couldn't make it public," Kidd said with a sigh. "That's messed up."
Shachi shrugged, fiddling with his markers. "Well, when Doffy – I mean, Doflamingo catches up to the guy that killed his friends, it's not going to be pretty. He'd essentially raised the guy, called him 'brother'. And it worked out, he had a reputation for being the best in the business. They even nicknamed him the Surgeon of Death because he was good at fixing people so that they'd last longer under torture. He was supposed to be promoted to take up a power position to help that family expand…but…people snap. I guess he just got tired of it and rebelled."
"Guy should've offed himself just to save himself the trouble of that ever happening, there's no redeeming that weird shit," Kidd said with a snort.
Shachi shrugged again. "There are more details to the story, it wasn't just isolated to that. The family's grown too powerful, and if they took root up here in the west, it'll get even worse. Rumor is, it's being slowly dismantled from the inside – Vergo has been looking for a spy that's supposedly in communication with non-corruptible Marines, before they can establish anything out here other than the banks and westward expansion plans."
Ace peered at him suspiciously. "You know a lot for overhearing gossip."
"It's going to come out, eventually. I'm just saying, there's a bigger picture to it than just an all out fight between us and them, and you guys will be pulled in with it."
"That's shady as hell, man! Should we be suspecting you guys of anything?"
"I'm not kidding when it was mentioned that Blackleg stepped into some shit he shouldn't have stepped in. He should've taken 'no' as no."
Zoro sat up. "Are you talking about Law in anyway, here?"
But before Shachi could answer him, a man in a wet jacket and a dripping hat burst into the building with a panicked face.
"Ya'll are needed at the hotel! Quick! It's bad!"
All of them abandoned their things, racing after the man that led the way.
: :
Sanji and Brook laid the unconscious man on a table, and both of them didn't know where to start. Brook hastily set Tony on a table nearby, as Sanji hurried about, looking for bandages, painkillers. The on call doctor refused to touch the man, realizing that something massive was happening, taking off before he could get caught up in the middle.
The rain finally stopped, thunder booming in the distance.
"I don't know what to do for him!" Brook said, on the edge of panic. "He's breathing, but it's really bad!"
"Damn that shitty doctor for running away!" Sanji growled. All of them startled at the sound of a rapid fired weapon. The sound was more than thunder, closeby, and he turned with a startled look, knowing it came from the hotel. He turned to run out when Brook snatched his arm.
"Stay."
"What if he needs help? I can help, until the others show up!"
"You've done enough. If the battle moves, I need help with Tony. There's nothing I can do for this man, but I need you to help Tony. Stay. The others will show up, soon, and they'll take care of the situation."
Sanji looked over at Tony, who watched him with fearful eyes, cringing as the sounds resumed again. Then he looked at Penguin, finally at Brook, jerking his arm away from him. "I'll be right back."
"Sanji!" Brook snapped. "There's nothing more you can do! If there's more, who's going to be here to protect him? Do you honestly think I'm enough if there's more than two here in town?"
Sanji paused at the door, then gave it a frustrated expression as the gun went off again. He swept his hands through his hair, struggled to breathe normally. He looked back at them, touching his pockets for his cigarettes and matches. Brook snatched them from him, gesturing at the medical sign that warned them of oxygen tanks present.
"Sanji…Vergo couldn't land a hit on him. I'm sure he'll be fine against this one. Listen, the gun is still going off. The scrapyard isn't that far away, the others will be there soon!"
"Sanji - ! Please let me fix your face!" Tony called, but his voice was shaking and full of tears, and it was obvious he was doing what he could to distract the man from leaving them. Sanji couldn't ignore the boy's request, but he reluctantly pulled away from the door, Brook laying a hand on his shoulder with a comforting pat.
: :
Pica's armor was a heavy helmet, a grey coat that was similar to Vergo's, but he carried a belt pack full of bullets and a Gatling gun that he could shift over his back to free his arms. He was strapped with one carbine on each thigh, and his arms were heavy with muscle that caused the jacket to strain. While he moved slowly, he was strong and built, just as tall as Vergo, towering over most men. The only drawback to his presentation was his high pitched voice, and he was screaming shrilly with rage as he stood over Vergo.
Law crouched down low behind the hostess podium near the restaurant, and caught his breath. Vergo's coat was bloodstained, smelled like the man, and made him sick, but it came in handy. Bullets ate up the walls and tables around him, shattering wood, knocking out the windows, and causing a few support beams to fall. He patted the pockets, looking for anything he could use against the Marines or the family, and found a small notepad in the inside jacket pocket. He opened that up as Pica screamed for him to die. Once he saw Vergo's messy handwriting detailing dates and times, he closed it up, shifted to stuff it into his jeans pocket.
He looked at the framed pictures on the walls that remained, looking for at least one intact glass. He could see Pica moving over Vergo, checking on him, and Law felt frustrated that he'd lose the answers he was looking for if Vergo died during this. But once he saw that Pica's attention was diverted, he pushed away from the podium, supporting his rifle with both hands and firing at Pica. As expected, the ammunition he used didn't work. In fact, the bullet ricocheted, and he ducked, climbing back to the podium as Pica screamed in outrage.
The Gatling gun was turned in his direction and fired again, and from the way the wood shifted around him, the podium wasn't going to hold up very well. He looked to the right and saw that he could move through a line of tables and booths to get to the kitchen, so after Pica stopped shooting, he ran in that direction. Pica followed, waddling carefully after him, Vergo abandoned.
"You'll pay for what you've done, Trafalgar!" Pica shouted. "Murderer! You sick, demented fuck!"
"Who's demented?" Law hollered back in outrage, reloading his rifle. "None of your actions were any better!"
"How dare you think you're above us," Pica continued, shuffling his way. The wooden floor creaked as he walked, protesting his extra weight. "You think you can hide forever? Is that what you intended? Don't you know the past will always come back? You couldn't have shown up at a more convenient time!"
Looking at his surroundings, Law saw that the only kitchen exit had been blocked by a man's body, twisted at such an angle that the drop bar could not be used. He winced. He looked to the left, seeing the hallway that would take him to the staff quarters. Law reached out for the coffee pot sitting atop of the stove. He unlocked the top, checking the heat inside. He then drank some hastily as Pica growled, aiming to walk around the server's counter.
Abandoning the coffee pot, Law stood, Pica lowering the gun to fire but knocking it off some pots and pans that were hanging from the wall, causing them to clatter to the floor. But bullets shattered the wall and swinging door Law jumped through, rolling to the side, slamming up against a set of shelves that held workers' clothing and cleaning supplies.
"How dare you drink coffee while I'm trying to kill you!" Pica shrieked.
Law looked around himself, noting the support beams and the narrow corridor nearby. He stood and pressed himself against the wall, waiting with bated breath for Pica to finally emerge through the doorway. Pica started firing at him, and Law pulled the jacket over his head and ran from the wall to the corridor, bullets hitting the material with punching power. He stumbled a bit, knowing he'd see the bruises tomorrow, but as he ran through the corridor, he twisted out from the doorway and saw that they were now near the front lobby. He looked back as Pica continued shuffling after him, moving slowly under the weight of gear.
Just to piss him off, he jogged in place while in full view of Pica, causing the man to scream with outrage, lifting the gun again. Chuckling, he ducked out of view, bullets flying out from the corridor, shattering decorative items near the front entrance way of the front lobby. Plants shattered, wall sconces fell, wallpaper was torn to bits while bullets ate the wall. The glass siding around the doors shattered, allowing in the breath of fresh rain. Law turned and examined the area, knowing he had several moments to spare while Pica made his way out.
He noted the main pillar near the staircase, one he assumed that had to be the main support for the floors above. He stood next to it, waiting for Pica to emerge from the corridor, and when he did, Pica was already red faced with rage. He aimed and fired without checking his surroundings, screaming. Law hid behind the pillar, listening to the wood being eaten up as Pica advanced. As it started to wobble, more and more pieces falling to the ground, he pulled the jacket up and over his head and crouched so that he was less of a target.
The gun's barrels stopped spinning, and Pica began to reload. Peering around the corner, Law watched him do so. Then he looked at the pillar again, noting how much skinnier it was from when he'd first stood there. Pica watched him as he breathed heavily, so Law flipped him off, waving his hand around in case he couldn't see it. With renewed fury, Pica finished reloading and fired again, wood cracking noisily just above Law's head. Seeing that it was sufficiently weakened, he pushed away from the pillar and sprinted for the staircase, throwing himself onto the other side as Pica followed.
They were returning to the bar area, now, and Law could see Vergo still laying on the floor, bleeding heavily. He frowned, then moved quickly as Pica caught up to him. He climbed and ducked behind the counter, still moving as Pica once again destroyed what was left of the counter, the back shelves. Glass flew, liquid splattering everywhere, and suddenly Law was back where he started with the hostess podium. He ran deliberately for the support beams, Pica chasing after him with the gun.
"Stand still, fucker!" Pica screamed. "There's no where for you to go!"
Bullets ate up the support beams around him, and he was once again behind the kitchen counter. He checked the coffee pot to see if there was more, and caught his breath as Pica shuffled after him. Then he stopped walking, and Law waited for him to say or do something to continue the chase.
"You little shit…you think you're so fucking smart. I know what you're up to! You think collapsing the building will hurt me in any way?" Pica roared.
There came the sound of shuffling, and something heavy hitting the floor. He peeked over the counter to see Pica dropping the weight of the gun and its ammo belt at his feet. Quickly, he shot to his, holding his rifle with both hands, and then jumped onto the counter so that he could start the physical combat.
Pica unloosed his carbine, so Law fired first, wincing at the ricochet that rattled around the kitchen, pinging off various metal surfaces. Pica fired at him, the punch knocking his leg back. Instead of falling back like Pica wanted, Law jumped from the counter to start swinging Kikoku. Every time he connected, ducking and shifting as Pica fired at him, the jacket caught every blow, rendering the hit useless. Pica realized he was wearing Vergo's jacket, erupting with a roar as he dropped hold of his gun with one hand and snatched the material with the other. That gave Law a chance to kick Pica's knee with one booted heel, elbow aside the arm holding the gun, and smash the butt of his rifle into the exposed sliver of his face.
He reached to pull the helmet off, but it was latched on tightly. He released that as Pica punched at him, forcing him to evade the best he could with Pica holding onto him. He grabbed that wrist, kicked Pica's exposed ankle, then drove the butt of his rifle into his boot. Pica released him with a pained shout, Law stuffed the barrel into his mask and pulled the trigger, but the man somehow pulled his head back within the helmet – his skin exploded with gunpowder scorch marks and the bullet pierced through the material, landing with a dull thud in the ceiling.
Pica shrieked, drawing one arm up and over to swat Law away from him. He stumbled, caught himself quickly as Pica withdrew into himself to make an impossible target, all exposed areas covered. Law retreated back to the kitchen with mounting frustration, at a loss as how he could penetrate that armor Pica wore. Recovering, Pica followed, jumping atop of the counter, Law looking up at him as he twisted onto his back and fired a few shots. Pica jumped, forcing him to roll to the side, kicking with all effort into the man's ankles. He stumbled slightly, giving Law ample room to get up and start hitting him with the rifle. He spun and twirled it to generate more strength into each hit, but the jacket absorbed each blow with ease. He gave a frustrated curse.
Pica kicked out, catching him in the mid section, causing him to stumble back and hit the stove with a windmill reaction. Once he caught onto that, he threw the burner covers at the man to distract him before raising the rifle once more, aiming for his exposed face. He fired off the last shot, just barely catching the man as he ducked his head. The bullet ricocheted once more, but Law used that moment to wind up with the rifle and swung upward with a wild swing, catching the man upside the jaw. Pica fell backward with a gurgle, arms spiraling in an effort to catch himself. Grabbing a fork from the nearby counter, Law jumped on him, snatching onto his jacket with a growl and stabbing downward, effectively pushing the tines through Pica's left eye. Pica screamed as Law withdrew the tines and stabbed again, releasing crazed laughter as the orb burst and oozed and Pica was stiff with shock and pain. He stabbed again but Pica started to move, and he missed, stabbing through his cheek, so he lunged to the side with a wild jerk to tear out as much meat as he could before Pica could touch him.
Pica screamed almost soundlessly with fury, his face ruined and missing an eye, and threw a wild punch that caught Law because Law was busy admiring his work and laughing wildly about it.
Law landed on his back with an undignified 'oof!', his rifle and fork bouncing out of his hand before he pulled his rifle back up with a quick snatch, sitting up to shoot as Pica leapt at him, then froze in mid-air. Both his and Law's face shifted into surprised expressions as Pica swam, struggling to move towards him. Pica's blood dripped over Law, and his head was shaking as his helmet jerked about, pulling on his neck. All the pots, pans and various utensils started shaking, rattling noisily in their cupboards, several tin cups hitting Pica as they flew out of view.
Then, Luffy was there, throwing all his might and weight into an overhand right that caused Pica to shift out of his mid-air flight and slam hard into the counter. Law relaxed with a relieved sigh, resting for a moment while Luffy hollered with delight. He crouched down on the counter while Pica slammed into the surface and rolled off onto the restaurant side.
"You okay, Law? You psycho path! I can take it from here!" Luffy assured him. "Where's Brook and the others?"
"Take that armor off him, and you'll have a better chance at him! If nothing else works, take out the rest of the support beams, and that should give you a chance," Law then said, rising quickly as he thought of Vergo. He saw Kidd using his gloves to stop Pica from shooting at him, Zoro with all his swords drawn a distance from Kidd, Ussop hiding in the back with his Winchester. Ace and Shachi were nearby, and he knew he didn't need to stick around.
"Okay! But where's – "
"Hospital."
"Are they okay?" Luffy asked with worry, as Pica rose to stand grandly, Kidd protesting in that he was taller than him. Law saw that his helmet had been dented by Luffy's punch. He looked at the teen with wide eyes, unable to imagine having that sort of strength himself. Luffy looked obviously pleased at facing a strong opponent.
Law didn't answer because he didn't know, and he didn't want to see that horrible scene where Vergo was beating Sanji without any mercy. He saw that Pica was screaming with rage, and it had all the guys' attention. Luffy started laughing uproariously, Ace holding his mid section as he demanded Pica to speak again.
Law ran away from the counter and headed for Vergo, Shachi following after him with another look back at the others. Once he found that Vergo was dead, Law growled and kicked the body with frustration.
"Jesus," Shachi muttered. "It looks like you were just getting started."
Law then reached for Vergo, for a meat cleaver. "I can bring him back to life."
"That's disgusting! Just him go! It's better that he's gone!" Shachi cried, pulling him back from the body.
Throwing aside the cleaver, Law reached out and grabbed him by his collar, giving him a slight shake as he heard Pica shouting at the others. Ace was still laughing uproariously, Luffy's laughter a bit more distant, Ussop screaming at them to be serious. Even Kidd was struggling to keep a somewhat calm voice, yelling for someone to do something about Pica's armor. The building shook slightly as something happened, but Shachi was looking at Law with a bewildered look.
"Do you work for Rosinante?" Law demanded. "Why didn't you tell me that? Why am I finding it out from an enemy?"
"He didn't want you to know! We weren't supposed to interfere with anything, just - be available if you needed us, or if any of them were to show up! We were supposed to tell him if they found you!"
"How can I trust you?"
"He wanted me to tell you 'borscht', if you ever found out about us. That was the code word he gave us, something only you two would know."
'It shouldn't always be of a convenience. No romance, nothing, and how much do you want to wager that he'll be visiting the pleasure house in a week?' Rosinente signed as the bride and the groom gave their monotonous vows in front of the procession. His brother sat next to him with a wide grin, obviously pleased with the ceremony. They were all wearing black, it was sweltering inside the church, and Law had slept through most of it until Doflamingo realized he was sleeping and thumped him on the head for it.
As he rubbed his head, Rosinente continued to sign. 'When it's your turn, you should make sure that she can at least be able to bring something to the table. Like a sandwich. Marry someone that can cook. Please. Don't think of yourself. Think of poppa, too.'
"You're not my 'poppa', and I'm never getting married, don't be stupid," Law had answered with a gruff expression, keeping his voice low. With a vengeful expression and a clenched fist, he hissed, "I'd kill myself if Doffy tried to make me do it."
"I'll kill you right now if you don't shut the fuck up," Doflamingo warned him, glaring at him and Rosinante for a few moments before he turned away.
Rosinante continued signing. 'Marry someone that can make borscht! Borscht is important!'
"You get married!"
'But you have so much potential with these good looks, most of which come from my own loins!' Rosinante then grabbed his chin with one hand and squeezed it with parental affection, causing Law to slap at him.
"You're not my goddamn dad!"
Rosinante loomed over him with a furious expression and wildly signing hands and arms. 'The abuse I receive from you because I love you!'
"Will you two knock it off?" Doflamingo told them both, giving them both cold stares. "I'm going to sit between you two if you both keep this shit up."
Rosinante's shoulders shook again, his older brother staring at him until he straightened up. Once he looked away, he signed to Law, 'Thanks for getting me into trouble.'
"You started it!"
'Borscht.'
A minute later, Rosinante signed 'borscht' again from the other side of his brother, his face holding that cheerful, goofy expression of his that Law struggled not to notice because Doffy's forehead vein was starting to pulse, and his grip on Law's knee was starting to hurt.
"Of all the - ! That is the stupidest code word he can think of to say to me, so I believe you," Law then said presently, embarrassed at the memory. He shoved Shachi away.
He found his hat and gloves, pocketing those before fitting his hat back on. Pica was screaming, Luffy was laughing, and it sounded like glass shattered. Ussop ran from the scene as Ace flew past him. The other man hit the wall with such force that the wind was knocked right out of him. Kidd tumbled head over heels, losing a glove, and Pica was screaming about Luffy's horrid breath in his face as another slam against the wall caused the staircase to creak. Zoro himself slammed through a couple of support beams that had already been shot up earlier, and an ominous creaking noise gave dangerous protest.
"That doesn't sound good," Ussop said, looking at the structure with worry. "I'm going to get some of our stuff! Shachi! I need your assistance!"
Shachi looked at Law, who gestured at him to go. Seeing that the man was handled, Law then left the building to run to the hospital.
: :
Once at the hospital, Law saw that Penguin was lying on a table, the other three wearing worried expressions. He told himself it was because Sanji was closest to him, but he reached out to touch him, examining his face, touching him for any gunshot wounds. Then there was a moment where he could only look at the other man with relief, and Sanji was looking at him with a similar expression, reaching out to wipe Pica's blood from his face, his thumb lingering. Then Sanji looked beyond him, where the open doorway revealed visible townspeople hurrying away from the hotel with panicked voices. Tony had done his best to clean and bandage some of Sanji's injuries, but since he was moving about with no real trouble, Law forced himself to then focus on Penguin.
Brook shook his head with a sad sigh.
"What's going on out there?" Sanji then demanded, moving to the door to look at the hotel. It didn't look as it did when they were there, earlier – the windows were shattered, the insides kept lighting up with gunfire, and the sounds of his crew were obvious. The building kept shuddering in such a way that it made people nervous – which was why they were quickly moving away from the scene with their animals. The deputies that had made themselves present but not interfering kept their cautious distance, prodding people to leave the area as it became intense.
Law looked down at Penguin, then swept away the bandages and tape that the others had out, intending on covering the visible scrapes and cuts the man had. Tony was sitting on a stool, looking intensely worried as Brook stood nearby.
"We didn't know what to do!" he said heavily. "He doesn't look so good."
Law ripped the other man's shirt open, where almost every inch of Penguin's skin was mottled with bruises. His midsection was distended and a deep red, and Law quickly swept his hands over him, searching for more injuries. He then swept off his hat and hastily washed his hands in the nearby basin. "I need all the scalpels in here. Needle and thread. Disinfectant. Towels. That oxygen tank. Everything!"
Brook moved about to grab all the items, shoving over a wheelie cart that was posted near a stretcher. The drawers underneath had some of the things Law needed, and Tony watched with fascination as he raised the table as high as it could go to accommodate his height. Brook returned with a few brown bottles, and moved Tony away from the scene, despite the boy's protests. Sanji peeked back in to see that Law was already in the process of working on Penguin, and he gave a slow exhale of relief, confident that the man was saved.
Once Law started cutting the man open, though, Sanji hastily turned away. He looked down the road to seeing Ussop and Shachi hurrying out from the hotel with their things in their arms, and Ace flew out of a broken window with a wild yell, bouncing into the muddied street. The hotel shifted, wood creaking noisily, the pair turning to look back at it with dismay.
"The entire place will come down soon," Ussop told him, running into the hospital with breathless action. Shachi followed right after him, then made a sound of distress once he realized what was happening with his friend. He abandoned all the bags and suitcases that he'd been carrying and raced over, Brook holding him a safe distance so that he wouldn't be in Law's way.
With a wince, Ussop stood next to Sanji after checking on Tony, who was standing on the stretcher to watch everything with a fascinated expression. "You really need to stop having these guys stomp your face in," Ussop told Sanji. "Do you even have all your teeth?"
"A couple of them are loose. That guy was pretty strong. We held him off pretty good until…we weren't strong enough," Sanji said reluctantly, his expression downcast. "Once Penguin fell, he…well, he's in the state he's in. It was horrible. In the end, I couldn't do anything to help him."
Ussop nodded in sympathy, standing close enough beside him so they could look at the hotel together. He touched his hand to Sanji's, then held it tightly once he realized how bad it was shaking.