Ch. 10- A Deadly Knight Comes Forth! The Power of Fire Bursts?

One Piece © Oda

Soul Eater © Atsushi Okubo

Blizzard, Spike, Mark, Will, and Juliet © Me

Alex and the Six Feathers © yellowpikmin88

In a corridor lit up by dark blue lanterns dangling from the walls, it appeared that Shino and Black*Star had ended up here. However, it appeared that they were having a bit of a disagreement at the moment.

"I told you not to push that brick!" Shino snapped. "My lucky hat nearly got charred because of you!"

"How was I supposed to know the walls would shoot fire?!" Black*Star asked.

"Hello~! Earth to Black*Star! Of course this place would be booby-trapped!"

That's right. Shino and Black*Star ended up nearly getting barbecued by another booby trap set by Annabelle.

"Dammit, I can't believe my luck," Shino said. "Of all the people I could've been stuck with, I had to be stuck with Black*Star of all people! Why couldn't I have been left with Spike?!"

"Hey, you weren't exactly my first choice, either!" Black*Star said. "HEY! TSUBAKI! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"SHHHH~!" Shino shushed him. "Will you keep it down?! Who knows what could be lurking around here, you doofus?!"

"Ah, what are you afraid of?" Black*Star asked.

Shino sighed.

"Well…Spike will probably be okay on her own, for a little while," he said. "I just hopes she finds her brothers in this godforsaken place."

"Yeah, Tsubaki's pretty tough, too," Black*Star said. "I think she'll be fine without me for a while."

As the two Meisters walked, Shino could've sworn he heard what sounded like…the clopping of hooves.

"Hey…do you hear that?" Shino asked.

"Yeah," Black*Star answered. "Sounds like horse hooves…and it's coming from behind us."

"Somehow, I'm not all that surprised about this," Shino said before he and Black*Star turned around. There, appearing from the shadows…is what looked a knight…in rusty, bloodstained armor, riding on a skeletal horse with flaming green eyes.

"Oh, great," Black*Star said. "And just who might you be?"

"I am Sir Doomsday," said the knight. "Mother sent me her to slay you both, and seeing as how you two are Meisters without your weapons…I'd say you're both as good as doomed."

Black*Star smirked, "If only you knew, Sir Dumbass."

"Such audacity!" Doomsday exclaimed. "How dare you speak at me in such a way?! Well, I shan't stand for it! You two, prepare to meet your DOOM! Ride, Paladin!"

Doomsday's steed, known as Paladin, galloped towards the two Meisters while Doomsday himself held up a large mace.

"Ready for this, Black*Star?" Shino asked.

"You bet!" Black*Star answered, cracking his knuckles.

"DIE!" Sir Doomsday roared as he threw his mace down, only for the two Meisters to dodge the attack.

"You think that because we don't have our weapon partners, we're just a couple of helpless kids, huh?" Black*Star asked. "Well think again!"

"Soul Bullets!" Shino shouted as pointed his fingers at Sir Doomsday, like his hands were guns. BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG! Light brown colored lights appeared from Shino's fingertips, like little bullets which hit Doomsday's armor.

"AGH!" Doomsday cried before he steered Paladin toward Shino, who dodged once again. "Hold still, you whelp!"

"I don't think so!" Shino smirked as he jumped up and kicked Doomsday in the face with the back of his heel.

THWAK! In that moment, Doomsday spotted an opponent and slammed the handle of his mace into Shino's stomach, flooring him in an instant!

"Ugh…dammit, that hurts!" he grunted in pain, but then, THWAM! He was hit in the face by Doomsday's fist, sending him to the floor again!

"…That hurts even more…!" Shino groaned.

Doomsday tugged at Paladin's reins, telling Paladin to walk towards Shino.

"How annoying," the toy knight muttered. "Paladin! Finish him!"

Paladin reared up on his back legs, preparing to stomp on the Scythe Meister's chest. Shino gasped, knowing that one strong blow from those hooves would stop his heart, completely if he didn't do something.

Luckily for him though, a friend was there to lend a hand.

"Oh, no you don't!" Black*Star shouted before he jumped up and kicked Paladin in the face, allowing Shino to roll out of the way just in time.

"You insolent brat!" Doomsday snapped at Black*Star. "How dare you attack my steed?!"

"Soul Leash!" Shino shouted before he held out his hand, and a beam of light brown light shout of his palm, forming a ring or collar of some sort at the end, and then it tied around Paladin's neck, like a lasso.

HRREEEEEEEE~! Paladin was so spooked, he reared and threw Doomsday off of his back before he began to gallop around in circles, pulling Shino along with him!

"WHOA!" Shino cried as he was dragged along. "Black*Star! You deal with that knight! I gotta get control of this horse!"

"Got it!" Black*Star said with a smirk. "Leave it to me!"

Shino grunted as he managed to try and pull himself up on Paladin's back as the skeletal horse galloped around in a panic.

"Easy!" the Scythe Meister called. "Easy now! Take it easy!"

Paladin whinnied as Shino pulled at his reins, and soon the horse began to slow down.

"Good boy," Shino praised, gently petting him in the back of his head, causing him to whinny with glee.

Those horseback riding lessons with Grandpa sure paid off, he thought.

Meanwhile, Black*Star managed to dodge Doomsday's mace before he jumped up and kicked him in the head.

"YAHOO!" the assassin exclaimed. "You can't keep up with the great and powerful Black*Star!"

WHAM! Black*Star seemed to have spoken too soon, for he was soon hit in the side of his chest by Doomsday's mace!

"UGH!" he cried as he coughed up blood and was sent crashing to the ground.

"Humph!" Doomsday scoffed. "You're a bit too cocky for your own good, lad!"

Black*Star growled before he stood up and cracked his knuckles.

"You think something like that will stop me?" he asked before he charged at Doomsday and punched him in the chest…only to be met with great pain. "YOOOOOOOOOW! MY HAND!"

Doomsday laughed as Black*Star held his throbbing hand.

"Fool!" he said. "Even you cannot penetrate my armor! Rusted, it may be, but it was crafted from the finest steel!"

"I guess I did underestimate you, considering you were a toy," said Black*Star. "However…I'm not gonna lose to someone like you!"

With that, Black*Star charged at Doomsday, who charged back and tried to hit him with his mace again, but the young assassin suddenly disappeared in a blur!

"What?!" Doomsday questioned. "Where did you go?!"

Shino smirked at this as he sat on Paladin's back.

"…Finishing Strike!"

Doomsday turned to see Black*Star charging at him with lightning speed!

"Black*Star…BIG WAVE!"

WHAM! Black*Star slammed his fist and elbow into Doomsday's back, creating a huge shockwave and sending Doomsday crashing into a wall!

Black*Star glared at the knight, as if expecting him to stand. At first, it appeared that Doomsday was indeed going to get back up…but then, he just let out a groan…as he fell unconscious.

"I thought so," Black*Star said. "Tch…what a pushover. This fight was totally boring. How am I gonna surpass Zoro if the enemy doesn't fight seriously?"

Shino then rode up to the assassin on Paladin.

"Well, in any case, we won," he said, "but I doubt that this is the last we'll see of him. For now, let's just keep going. Maybe we'll run into the others as we go. Hop on."

Black*Star jumped onto Paladin's back, and with a snap of the reins, the skeleton horse galloped away.

XXX

Meanwhile, in a corridor lit up by dark blue lanterns, Nami is seen walking along with Kutaro at her side. If one were to look closely, they'd notice that Nami had bandages around her left bicep. She and Kutaro also had a bad run-in with a booby trap, which resulted in Nami's arm getting hit by an arrow that came shooting out of the walls, and, unfortunately for her, her Sorcery Clima-Tact went missing.

Luckily, she packed some bandages for just such an emergency.

Right now, the two are carrying on a bit of a conversation.

"So…there was actually someone else who could control fire like me?" Kutaro asked.

"Yeah," Nami answered. "His name was Portgas D. Ace…and he was Luffy's older brother."

"Really?

"Yeah. Ace was such a nice man. He was always so polite and respectful, especially towards Luffy."

Nami then sighed, sadly.

"…He died, two years ago," she said.

"He did?" asked Kutaro. "W-what happened?"

"A man named Akainu killed him…right in front of Luffy, too."

"…Does Luffy miss Ace?"

"Yeah. I think he'll always miss him, no matter how much time has passed…but I think that's a good thing."

"It is?"

"Yeah. I think missing Ace is Luffy's way of keeping his memory alive."

She then sighed sadly, again.

"…I wonder how Luffy's doing right now," she said. "I hope he's doing okay."

A slight pause, but then, Kutaro held out something to Nami: his turban. Nami turned to Kutaro, whose hair is revealed to be red…and rather wild.

(Picture Ed's hair from Cowboy Bebop.)

"Here!" Kutaro said. "Whenever Vanellope got upset, I gave her my turban to wear! You can wear it, too!"

Nami smiled before she put Kutaro's turban on her head.

"Thanks, Kutaro," she said. "I remember Luffy always gave me his hat whenever I got upset."

Kutaro blushed a bit and scratched at the back of his head, but then…they heard a scream.

"Huh?!" Nami questioned. "What was that?!"

"NAMI! HELP ME!"

Nami gasped upon hearing her Captain's voice.

"Luffy?!" she questioned.

"KUTARO! HEEEEEEEEEEELP!"

"Vanellope!" Kutaro cried before he ran off with Nami following behind him.

"NAMI~!" Luffy's voice was heard screaming again.

"I'm coming, Luffy!" Nami shouted. "Hang on!"

Soon, the two reached a room of some kind…but they didn't see Luffy or Vanellope.

"L-Luffy?" Nami called. "Luffy, where are you?!"

"Vanellope?" asked Kutaro. "Are you here, sis?"

"No…but you are!"

Suddenly, something dropped down on Nami's back, causing her to scream in fright.

"WHAT IS THAT?! GET IT OFF ME!" she cried before she managed to cause whatever it was to fall.

Kutaro gasped when he saw that it is a ventriloquist dummy with slicked back brown hair, blue eyes (one of which is lazy), a blue-and-white pinstriped suit (which is a bit tattered and dirty), a loose red bow-tie, a pair of dark brown pants, and a pair of black leather shoes.

"Who are you?!" Kutaro asked.

"I am Ventrilo-kill," said the dummy. "Mother entrusted me to kill you both."

"Not gonna happen!" Nami snapped.

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice," said Ventrilo-kill…before he jumped at Nami, trying to get on her back again. Luckily, she managed to punch him with her Haki-imbued fist.

"Back off, Chucky!" she said.

"You're a tough girl," said Ventrilo-kill. "I do like tough girls…especially ones with a big pair of melons like yours."

Nami gasped in disgust at this.

"Oh, great!" she said. "As if Sanji wasn't bad enough!"

"Nami! I have an idea!" Kutaro said. "Use me!"

"What?" Nami asked.

"Use me to fight back!" Kutaro said before he morphed into a twin-headed staff with a crystal flame pattern on the upper half, and the head on top is an iron ball with ram horns and a jack-o-lantern-like face with flames in the eyes. The lower half appeared to be made of granite and is covered in cracks, and the head on the bottom is a large jagged boulder covered in blue runes and several kanji-bearing pebbles floating around it.

Nami grabbed Kutaro…only to nearly drop to her knees.

"Rrggh…you're so heavy…!" she grunted.

"What do you mean? No I'm not!" Kutaro said.

"Yes, you are!" Nami cried. "Ugh, it's no use! Aside from my Armaments Haki, I'm useless! Look Kutaro! Just get outta here and leave me behind!"

"I can't leave you here!" Kutaro said. "What will Luffy say?!"

"Just go!" Nami argued.

"Arguing, are we?" asked Ventrilo-kill…before he jumped on Nami's back again!

"AAAAH!" Nami screamed as she dropped Kutaro, who morphed back into his human form. "Get off of me! I said get off! Get…unh…ugh…!"

Suddenly, she froze up…and then she raised her fist, which turned black with Haki. Then, all of a sudden, WHAM! She tried to punch Kutaro, who jumped back to dodge, resulting in Nami punching the floor and creating a small crater in it!

"Nami! What are you doing?!" Kutaro questioned before dodged another punch from her. "Stop it!"

"I can't stop it!" Nami cried. "My body won't listen to me! This dummy's controlling me!"

Ventrilo-kill laughed at this.

"This is an ability that Mother gave me," he said. "I call it Soul Strings. I can control anyone I want."

Nami growled as she tried to break free, but it was no use.

"Kutaro, help me!" she cried as she tried to punch Kutaro again, only for him to dodge and seethe in frustration.

"I'm trying to think!" he said but then, THWAK! Nami kicked Kutaro in the side, sending him flying into a wall!

"Sorry, Kutaro!" Nami apologized.

"It's okay," Kutaro groaned as he pulled himself out of the wall. "I know you didn't mean it."

Nami then charged at Kutaro again, preparing to punch him once more, but the boy managed to get out the way just in time. Ventrilo-kill laughed evilly as he continued to force Nami to fight with Kutaro.

"Dance, my puppet!" he cried. "DANCE!"

"Damn you!" Nami shouted. "Just lemme go, already!"

"Not likely, little lady!" said Ventrilo-kill.

"FIRE FIST!"

Nami looked up, only for Ventrilo-kill to make her dodge when he saw that Kutaro was trying to the dummy with his flaming fists.

"Dammit! Watch where you're aiming!" Ventrilo-kill shouted. "You could've charred me into cinders!"

"That's the idea, you hunk of wood!" Kutaro barked as he tried to hit Ventrilo-kill again, but the dummy made Nami grab Kutaro's hand with her Haki-imbued palm.

"Ah! Nami!" Kutaro said. "Let go! I'll burn your hand!"

"No you can't!" Nami said. "My Haki allows me to shield my body from things like fire, so you couldn't hurt me if you tried! To a certain extent, though!"

BAP! She then punched Kutaro across the face, sending him down to the floor.

"Sorry, again!" she quickly apologized.

Kutaro growled at Ventrilo-kill, who glared back at him with an evil grin. The boy then stood up and began to ignite both his hands.

"Nami! You might wanna duck!" he shouted.

"What are you up to?" Nami asked.

"Just trust me!" Kutaro said.

"…Okay."

"What's this?" Ventrilo-kill questioned.

Kutaro took in a deep breath, and the flames on his hands grew.

"…INCINERATOR!" he shouted before he sent a stream of fire at Nami…who managed to duck down and throw Ventrilo-kill right into the flames!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGH!" Ventrilo-kill screamed in pain as he was covered in flames.

"C'mon! Let's go!" Kutaro cried as he grabbed Nami's hand and ran away with her. However, Ventrilo-kill began to crawl after them in hot pursuit (no pun intended). As he did, though, he didn't notice that his body is slowly turning into ash. Just when he was about to grab Nami again…he is soon reduced to nothing but a pile of cinders.

"Phew!" Kutaro sighed. "Glad that's over- MMMPH!"

Nami suddenly grabbed Kutaro and hugged him tightly…but she didn't realize how she was hugging him.

"Oh, Kutaro! Thank you!" she said. "You saved me!"

"…No problem…!" Kutaro said, his cheeks blushing and his voice muffled by Nami's…melons.

Just then, something floated out of Ventrilo-kill's charred remains. Nami and Kutaro looked and saw…a pure soul, floating above the ashes.

"Is that…?" Nami whispered.

"Yeah, it's his soul," Kutaro said. "Or rather…it's the soul of one of the children that Annabelle kidnapped."

"What do we do with it?" asked Nami.

"I'll take it with me so we can have Lord Death reclaim it," said Kutaro as he took the soul, which seemed to make the sound of a child laughing with glee, and for a moment, the duo seemed to hear it say…

"Thank you for helping me!"

"…Let's keep going," Nami said. "Hopefully, we'll be able to find the others."

"Good idea," Kutaro agreed before he and Nami left to continue their search.

XXX

In a separate part of the citadel…Annabelle is watching everything from her Crystal Ball, and needless…she was anything less than happy. She is downright furious.

"What a bunch of impudent pests!" she snapped. "How dare they! First, those brats escape, then some of my best toys get defeated, and to make matters worse, the Demon Swordsman has escape as well!"

"We're sorry, Mother," Chaotic said, fearfully.

"They were…stronger than we thought," said Teddy B.

Red Rover whimpered in agreement.

"…Oh, you poor, poor dears," Annabelle said, pitifully. "If anyone is at fault, it is mine. I must've underestimated them…but worry not. Just because some of them survive doesn't mean that they all will."

She then looked at the Crystal Ball again…and she smirked when she saw Stein and Marie.

"And I believe I just found our next two victims," she said.

"Professor Franken Stein and Marie Mjolnir?" asked Rover. "Mother, I don't mean to question your methods, but…are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Don't worry…I know exactly who should deal with these two," Annabelle smirked. "…Oh, Seamstress~!"

At that moment…the Seamstress appeared.

"Worry about the Demon Swordsman and those brats, later," she said. "I have much better prey in mind for you."

TO BE CONTINUED…

Sorry for it being kind of short. However, I'm putting this on hiatus until I finish Fishman Island.

Review, please!