Hey everyone! I won't keep you with random words, enjoy! And quick Disclaimer / Warning, I own nothing in regards to characters of places, nor torture methods, that being said, I do NOT approve of such interrogation methods, and chances are neither do the Straw Hats, however, as an AU story, I suppose it's a must.
"Will someone shut that boy up before I kill him!" Dellinger called out from his spot in the large table now occupied by every member of the Donquixote family.
A few glances were sent in the teen's direction, though none made a move to either agree nor disagree with his exclamation. All looking to Doffy for guidance on the matter.
Doflamingo on the other hand looked untroubled by the hoarse cries that rang throughout the mansion. "Let the boy wear himself out, he's less trouble in Law's room anyway." the blonde stated before his manic grin fell.
"That isn't the reason of why I have called you all out here, the boy is just an annoying side effect of the reason." The head of the family began, pausing for effect.
"As most of you have guessed, an essential member of our beloved family is currently unaccounted for. Normally this wouldn't be any cause for alarm, seeing as Law always had a... reliable streak to him, but there are certain factors that simply don't add up. The most obvious and obnoxious is the pining boy upstairs The second is his phone is currently off, so any chance of tracking him would be futile. And the third is this." the man concluded pressing a button before him, whereupon a small circle was revealed and emitted a beam upwards, expanding and showing a clear view of the garden, the night-vision camera easily capturing each detail in high definition.
"This was taken a few hours ago, before the screaming began. As you can all see..." He trailed off as they all watched the footage that soon showed Law emerging from within the statue of the angel located in the South-East corner of the property. Promtly the image of Law closed the exit he had used and went off on his merry way.
"I didn't know there was a secret passage there! Why does Law get all the good stuff!" Dellinger exclaimed, causing LaoG next to him to pat the boy on the back reassuringly, albeit a bit harshly.
"Oi Oi Dellinger, don't be so hard on yourself, no one else here knows all the exits, right Doffy?" Trebol asked helpfully from his spot.
To which Violet deadpanned. "Actually, I know every in and out there is to this place."
"No one asked for your input." Baby5 called out from her seat next to Buffalo.
Though whatever sentence was about to be said by another member was reconsidered as a pulsing vein developed upon the forehead of their Head. No other action was needed for him to silence the room as all eyes landed upon him yet again.
"Now that we are all done with that childish matter, turn your attentions to Camera 6." Doflamingo ordered, and no one dared disobey as all eyes focused on the new picture which showed a parked vehicle. Something that could be easily overlooked, especially with the throngs of people that littered this particular night.
"Normally this wouldn't be so alarming, but due to recent events and rumors regarding the declaration of war on the Whitebeards, any small event could lead us to loosing a member of this family. I had managed to quiet down the rumors in the underworld, though it seems there are still some insects present." The blonde finished just as the blue Corolla in the picture turned on its headlights, discarded two of its passengers and slowly began to tail the oblivious Law.
The Family watched as the target and the tail were beyond the watchful eyes of the camera and looked again to Doffy, what will their plan be.
"Violet, hack into every street camera in a five mile radius, I want Law's each and every step tracked. Monet run those plates through the system and track that vehicle down once we have a plate match. Cesar run those two's faces through every database we have access too. Sugar and Trebol, I'm leaving you in charge of the wailing boy. LaoG, Señor Pink, Gladius, Pica and Machvise hold down the fort and watch over Dellinger and the others. I doubt anyone would be stupid enough to stop by, but in case they do lets be hospitable. Diamante, Bellamy, Baby5, and Buffulo, get equipped we leave as soon as that vehicle is found."
An array of agreements followed the young master's wishes and everyone dispersed, though some more reluctant than others in Dellinger's case.
The session had begun with them asking where Law was on the night of December third. Which had for a mere moment struck him as odd, for that was the night that his life had suddenly taken a sharp turn towards anything but normal.
At first Law had said nothing, counting five seconds before the first wave of electricity was sent into his nervous system. Reeling from the effects of having his nerves calm after the impulsive actions Law had fixed his gaze upon the woman once more.
"Tell me where you were on the night of December Third." the Devil Woman repeated.
Law considered keeping silent, though curious as to whether the machine could pick up on small hints of misleading information, he decided to give it a shot. "Home"
A low buzzer sounded off to his right as the blue haired 'Aniki.' hummed in disapproval. "That's a lie Big Sis."
"I know what that buzz means!" she snapped before focusing murderous eyes upon him once more. "Do you think us that stupid Surgeon?"
The corners of Law's mouth twitched ever so lightly through the rising swelling and bruises. "Do I have to answer that too."
That answer only got him another round of shocks, these in higher voltages.
When it was clear that Law wasn't going to state his whereabouts on that particular night, it was Aniki who spoke up. "Give it up Big Sis, we know as well as he does that he was at the hospital. Let's stop wasting time and get to the needed questions."
"Yeah, yeah, fine." she muttered and thus it began. "On the night that Portgas D. Ace died..." she took a breath for something Law couldn't decipher. Since her facial features lost behind the curtain of darkness, preventing Law from reading them. "That night, there was a boy with him. Where is he now?" she asked finally.
And Law's heart stopped.
For a dreadful five seconds, his heart refused to beat, lost in the shocking truth that was before him.
These people were after Luffy-ya!
Law was paralyzed for those five seconds before the current of electricity jump started his heart once more along with his mind.
So it wasn't about the Family, as he had suspected, this ridiculous form of kidnapping and torture was not a result of the death and silencing of the Billions, but of that night!
These people not only knew of Portgas D. Ace's death, but they also knew of the teen involving the death; a fact that was released to no one but the Marines and a few members of the Hospital staff. Were they the ones behind it? Was he right in suspecting that the older D. 'brother' had died in response of protecting Luffy-ya? Was Ace-ya protecting Luffy-ya from this band of members?
If that was the case, Law was not about to be the one to hand Luffy-ya over, he despised the idea of leaving the teen in the incapable hands of Doflamingo, he would have preferred that HE was still in the picture. However, at this point he thought of the stupid Bird Brain as the lesser threat.
Law was not going to hand Luffy-ya over to them, even at the cost of his life.
And so the question began again and again.
"Tell me where the boy is." the sentence was repeated for the hundredth time. And again Law said nothing, steel gaze meeting cold hazel in a clash of wills as they had done so many times now.
"You know the drill Surgeon." the redhead warned, fingers inching closer to the button that had been abused for over an hour.
"And you know the answer bit-." Law's words were cut off as once again his body was struck with a current of electricity, sending his spine arching upwards and straining against his bindings. The strain against the hard ropes caused another spike of pain for each time he was hit with a current, the ropes that held his hands down dug deeper into the raw flesh.
Breathing heavily Law's gaze fluttered back into focus staring at the unfazed woman before him, however, it was clear that her patience was running out.
Law watched with a slight sense of amusement as the woman he decided to call after the Marimo's suggested alias of 'Devil Woman.' instead of 'Swan' or 'Big Sis' as the other two referred to her as. She was becoming flustered after a single hour? Possibly two of electroshock tactics.
Relaxing as much as he could on the uncomfortable chair Law watched as the four members discussed amongst themselves as to what they should do next, seeing as physical approaches weren't working.
"If I may suggest something..." A cool feminine voice spoke up from seemingly no where, a door closing firmly after she spoke. However this time, no blinding light was emitted from the room beyond the one they occupied.
"I was watching you from the other room, Navigator-San, and though electroshock is helpful in some cases.. Surgeon-San here, has had extensive de-conditioning in such mild measures of interrogation as any child raised in our world." she continued setting down a sizable bucket of water next to Law.
Law had to admit, her pleasantly smiling demeanor did nothing to calm the rising sense of panic. Her words registered in his brain, and he had to admit she was right, he had been conditioned to stand most methods of interrogation, though there were several methods that couldn't be taught to avoid.
Psychological torture was all about breaking down the receiver, not physically as the others had, but mentally. Now Law was strong mentally as well, but against waterboarding...
The new woman's blue eyes lit up maliciously, as he peered deep into the depths of Law's soul.
"What's the matter, Surgeon-San? We're not going to electrocute you." she chuckled darkly as she reached into the bucket and pulled out a small cloth, holding it over the bucket and methodically wringing it.
The pace of Law's heart beat picked up with each droplet that landed upon his exposed flesh. Swallowing what little saliva had gathered in his dry throat he forced himself to stay relaxed, though it was becoming a loosing battle as he soon realized he had closed his eyes and was breathing shallowly.
Again the chuckle rang as a small damp feminine hand trailed down his chest. "Now, now Surgeon-San, do relax. Tensing up wont ease the experience... well for you anyway." she amended.
"Cook-San please escort Navigator-San out, we need not expose her to this." she advised and removed the hand upon Law's chest, slowly pulling off the wires attaching him to the shocking device.
"Would you like to tell us where the boy is now Surgeon-San? I promise you it will all end now if you speak." came her voice once more, giving Law his one way out from the new version of Hell.
Silence followed soon after the door was closed and three members were left in the room.
"Very well, Surgeon-San." the woman's smooth voice said finally, the palm that had removed the suction cups roughly took a hold of his onyx hair and snapped his head back.
Steel gray eyes were blinded by the dimly lit light bulb for a moment before his vision was obscured. The damp cloth was placed onto his abused face, clinging firmly onto his bruised features and effectively making breathing harder.
'Calm down, calm down. Law you must calm down!' he scolded himself as he struggled not to gasp behind the clinging mask that was suppressing his breaths. 'You have to endure, you must! For Luffy-ya.'
As soon as that thought had formed, an excessive amount of water rained down upon the cloth and Law's face, causing the doctor to choke not only in the lack of oxygen, but on the sudden onslaught of water that was forced into his lungs.
Fear rose in Law's chest as natural instinct to escape the life threatening situation rose, he began to struggle, trying to thrash his head in order to rid himself of the confining cloth. Trying without avail to free his hands from the binds not caring that they tore into his flesh further.
This continued for what appeared to be an eternity, though ended mere seconds later as the cloth was pulled off and allowed him but five breaths, a glimpse of three emotionally blank faces and the lone lightbulb...
Then the cloth descended once more.
Back at the Donquixote estate, Luffy had reduced his voice as nothing more than a hoarse whisper, remaining huddled in the farthest corner of the room still clutching the tear soaked bear.
The agonizing wait had extended from half an hour to two, and there was still no sound of the man Luffy associated with safety. The screams of the other teen known as Delly had stopped as well, no longer telling him to be quiet.
Now the only thing that he could hear was his own shallow breathing as he tried to keep the rising fear down.
Luffy didn't like that feeling. The feeling of helplessness, of defeat and utter fear of everything around him. The fear was irrational, some part if his brain knew that much, but the rest of it screamed at him to find the surgeon. To find Torao and thus find safety. But he couldn't do so in this room, he was as helpless as he was the day...
The thought that was forming in his mind suddenly came to a halting stop. The day that what?
Luffy's hammering heart sped up as he tucked his head further into the flush dampness of the stuffed bear. He was unsure if he wanted to probe the lost thought any further, warning bells rang left and right inside his mind as he even considered touching the thought.
Deciding to heed the warning, Luffy opened his mouth to cry out Law's name again, in hopes that this would be the final plea to the man, where he would finally come to his rescue. To pull him out of the darkness like the flames had in his dream.
The dream!
Luffy peeked over the bear and felt a warm calm wash over him as he thought of the fire in his dream, the comfort he had readily associated with Torao washed over Luffy as he replayed the message the flame in his dream had promised. "Lu. I'll keep you safe."
"But.. who are you?" Luffy muttered under his breath, knowing very well that it did not belong to Torao, nor anyone of the people who lived in the big house. And none of the disembodied voices matched that warmness.
Calmer though still anxious, Luffy held onto the bear.
Several minutes had passed since the meeting Doflamingo had ordered to take place.
Shaded sunglasses turned to Violet, in a silent order to begin.
The dark haired woman stood and as Doffy had done, pressed another key button to turning on the holographic monitor. "I checked the surrounding area, and was able to map out Law's path, he headed straight to the park. And as Doflamingo rightfully observed, the two pedestrians, and the Corolla follow Law to the park. Where they seemingly sedate him and place him in the car."
Monet stood up next, not needing to be told to do so, following the button pressing procedure as the other had. "The plates were pretty simple to track down, the car is a rental, not very clever if you ask me, either these people are small fish trying to make it huge for another employer, or they're seriously stupid. Since the car is a rental, it has an easy access tracking system via the rental company. The car headed towards Water 7, however, they soon turned back towards Dressrosa. The Law-Snatchers are still within Dressrossa, its outskirts if they haven't ditched the vehicle there."
Cesar joined in then as he pulled up vague images of those who had left the car. "I ran these pictures through ever nearby database, criminal records, and the such, and nothing came up Doffy. Furthermore, running the name the car was rented under, one Franky.. proved fruitless.. there is no mention of a Franky in any nearby records. Hoever, give me more time and I will come up with some results."
To this this the Warlord held up a palm, "I know enough Cesar. They made the mistake of thinking they could get away with harming my family, and for that they will not be forgiven. We leave at once, and we will return with Law."
The tall blonde man stood up from his chair and headed towards where his car was readily purring, ready to retrieve his Godson.
I'm sorry I'm cutting this one short, and for the delay in updating, this update got an unprecedented set back due to an idea I was playing with for an AcexLu, which is posted up :D feel free to check out The Deal.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this installment [sorry for the severe angst], I will try to have the next one up as soon as I can. Also thank you so much for all of you who have viewed, favorited, followed and reviewed. Love you guy! See you next time!