Hello, missed me? Well, I had a minor writers block, but it's gone. To make up for it, here's my longest chapter yet. Also, it will take some time until the next chapter, I'm afraid. I want to rewrite the earlier chapters to improve a lot of stuff. I want to add more thoughts, emotions and hints of her past.
Disclaimer: Dudes, I still don't own OP, Discworld, RFTG, Portal or WH 40k.
I drew my daggers. A voice in the back of my head told me not to get too fired up, as it would wreck my concentration. And my style relied upon concentration. In fact, there was one other reason, but that was something I'd rather not think about. However, my opponent's intense perfume made concentrating difficult.
As we exchanged blows I shot a few glances around me. No sight of Him, seems like they all survived. He was never late.
Zoro took on the two brothers alone as he said that he could handle the both of them. Ruffy waited for Kuro. I guess some things won't change. However, I got to pay for focusing my attention elsewhere, in pain. I got thrown back a bit at the force of the claws, slashing my chest. Damn that hurt. It seemed that most of the bandages I used to bind my chest were ripped. I always bound my chest for maximum movement ability.
"What was that, tomboy? Getting distracted?" she teased.
I snorted. "Don't overestimate yourself, you fake." The pain was intense and it was difficult to keep my focus. I forced it down; this was nothing I told myself. Dark warnings in my mind resurfaced. I shook my head and laughed it off. I would not let myself reach that point again. I pounced at her, daggers in both hands. She managed to block, but that left her unguarded against the kick that followed. And I still hadn't removed the knives. I could tell that she recoiled a lot more than I did. She seemed very upset as she hissed at me. "You..." The way she clutched her stomach showed that even if she was more accustomed to battle that I was, she most certainly wasn't used to getting hurt. And thus she was beginning to lose her temper. I was tempted to smirk, but I could not allow myself to get overconfident.
She lunged towards me, but I was faster. I struck with the left arm, feigning a slash. She bought it and blocked, but I simply slid by and hooked on to her neck with the dull side of the blade and pulled, throwing her to the side. She rolled some distance, but seemed to recover faster this time.
"Seems like I underestimated you, tomboy girl."
I grimaced. "I warned you not to." But this was getting difficult. My breathing was heavy from overexertion and the wound in my chest was throbbing. I had to wrap this up quickly. The throwing knives, I decided. They would have to suffice. But my plans were slightly interrupted as not only my opponent, but the whole Black Cat crew (those who were still conscious) froze. Kuro had made his entrance. I was both annoyed that I annoyed that I didn't get to finish it immediately and relieved of this breathing pause.
"I- I can explain..." Jango stuttered.
The whole enemy crew shivered as if it was twenty degrees minus. Celsius. Never got the hang of Fahrenheit.
"The sun rose a long time ago. Here am I standing, wondering why nothing has happened yet," annoying-butler-who-wields-way-way-too-many-swords said coolly, malice steadily emanating from his person. I mean, seriously, the guy wields ten swords at once. And I thought Zoro was a bit extreme.
Kuro's rage exploded in one angry yell. "Just what the hell are you doing?"
I scanned the slope to analyse the situation properly this time. Ruffy was leaning at the wall, observing the battle, but he looked more alert than earlier now that his opponent had made his entrance. Nami and Usopp were simply staying out of the way. Zoro had, even though I had told him to guard them, let two of his swords get stolen. They were on the ground some distance away. Cat was now sitting beside Nami and Usopp. I couldn't see the turret.
As the scene unfolded, one that I had little interest in( although I did somewhat wonder what the bimbo's lines would be), I sidled a bit closer to Zoro. "Stupid. I told you to guard them," I scolded quietly.
A vein popped up on his forehead. "Shut up," he said in annoyance.
I sighed and cut of the straps tying my sword to my back and handed it to him. "Here."
He cocked an eyebrow in slight surprise.
"It's a bit long, but it's better than nothing," I urged, but he still hesitated.
"Won't you need it?"
I shook my head. "Nay, I'm good."
He grinned in response and grabbed the hilt, but I didn't let go of the sheath. He raised an eyebrow questioningly. I smirked in response. "You take the blade, I take the sheath." His smirk mirrored mine as he pulled the blade out from its sheath. He then took a moment to inspect the blade. His gaze contained slight surprise, but it lasted but briefly.
Focus was once again upon the Black cat elites and their ex-captain. Nyaban, all three, were currently leaping at Kuro in rage, hissing. But all they slashed was an empty bag. When he appeared behind them he had already drawn his blades. He sure was fast! But… not as fast as I remembered…
"Who did you say was dead?" Ooh, malice. Creepy. The Nyabans quickly turned around, terror growing, but rage still dominant. But terror overtook entirely as he disappeared once again. Wait, disappeared? No, he had not. Not entirely, I could still see him. Strange, I thought he was faster than that.
He stepped behind them and wrapped his arms around the boys, the bimbo between them. It was a gesture that normally would be seen as affectionate, but during the circumstances, it was threatening. As hell.
"Actually, I do feel a bit rusty."
The fact that I could see his movements bothered me. His 'Catfoot' was supposed to be at about the speed of 'Soru', so how?
Nami's voice echoed in my mind. 'And you! What's with that speed?'
I blinked. Really? Then I remembered how everything had seemed to slow down while I was fighting all of those goons. Maybe, maybe I had gotten fast. But then I frowned. If that was the case, then how come I didn't enter my sped-up mode while fighting the bimbo? I had just thought the thought as the answer appeared in my head, clear as day. Stamina. Well, good thing I'd gotten a breather, then.
As I had mentally straightened that issue out, Jango was done telling everyone about the 'Catfoot', and it was Kuro's (I've gotten tired of making up clever insults to call him by) turn to speak, as he was poking Butchi and Sham in their necks with the tips of his thumb-blades. The chick was probably in the worst position as she had both the blades against her throat. Hey, wait. She didn't look scared in the least. That bimbo was actually appearing to enjoy it! She even made a quiet purring noise. Psycho!
Hmm, now that I think about it, those blades of his kinda looks like overgrown thumbnails. Heh, funny.
"During these three years, I've gotten a bit softer…" he spoke. I could sense rage emanating from our captain, but he knew as well as I that it was not his turn to act.
"I'll give you five minutes," Kuro went on. "Clean this up until then or I'll slaughter you all!"
I pulled out my chain thoughtfully and tied it to my sheath, making a makeshift flail. But then realization hit me. The enemy had passed by the line-of-sight of the turret several times already, but not a single shot had gone off. I glanced at the turret. Oi, when did it get toppled? Annoyance.
But then my attention was called back to the battlefield as Jango announced that they just had to kill me and Zoro to get past, which proved how forgetful they were. Didn't they remember that Ruffy took out about one half of their forces moments ago? Ah, whatever. With the bimbo rushing at me I had other things to think about. I smirked at her. "Thanks for the breather."
And with that, I sped up again, and snickered at her shocked expression. As the sheath was too long to swing around while on the ground I leaped up as high as I could and spun the flail at the highest speed I could muster. He eyes widened as she realized what I was going to do and she tried to run, which was pretty futile. I was way too fast for her. It was as if someone had used Noro Noro beam on everything around me. I took aim and let go, sending the flail flying. It hit her square in the stomach, but I could not allow myself to slow down, not yet, even if she was downed. The moment I hit the ground I spun around and made for Zoro's swords. He could probably handle those two with only two swords easily, but I knew that he'd prefer his own swords. But the world was speeding up already, as I once again was reminded of my bad stamina. As I reached the swords there was a large crash as my opponent crashed into one of the cliff walls where a minor crater was formed. Zoro made short work of the other two. As Butchi somehow managed to stay conscious and crawled towards Jango to get hypnotized into berserk mode, I walked to Zoro and returned his swords in exchange of mine.
"My job's done. I'mma rest," I told him. He noticed that I was breathing heavily from the exercise and simply nodded. I walked over to retrieve the sheath and my dear chain. When I looked at my opponent I almost felt sorry for her. Almost. There was lots of broken ribs and internal bleeding for a start. I frowned at the sight. I knew I'd gotten stronger, but this was more that I'd imagined. I found that slightly worrisome. I shook my head and sheathed the sword. Fatty was berserk and was about to charge Zoro, and I almost thought that all that was left was for Ruffy to beat Kuro, but then I remembered a few scenes that I'd almost forgotten. Just in time for the first one of them to start.
"Krahadol!"
Kaya had appeared. Large chock among the still conscious members of the black cats, except from Butchi, as he was berserk. I watched the scene unfold with mild interest as I sat down by the wall, taking a well-earned rest. I now decided that I had to increase my stamina if I were to be able to keep up with the others.
"Kaya-sama, what brings you down here?" Crappy butler had once again slipped into his darned act.
"Merry told me everything!"
And so, his cover was blown, and thus, finally, his mask fell. "Ah, he did, did he? And here I thought I had killed him properly."
Kaya's eyes widened in shock. This was definitely not the man she knew. But she seemed to gather herself rather quickly and turned to Usopp. "I'm sorry, Usopp-san. You probably can't forgive me, but I just couldn't believe that Krahadol would be a pirate…" He voice was quite shaky, but I had to say that her mind was stronger that I'd given her credit for.
Usopp snapped. "Never mind that! These guys are after your life! Why are you here, didn't I tell you to run?" he yelled, both upset and worried.
Kaya swiftly countered. "And what are you doing? Why do you risk your life to protect me even after all I did to you?"
Usopp begun to counter, using his usual rant, but no one really listened to him as Kaya turned to Krahadol. "Krahadol, if you want my fortune, go ahead and take it, but leave this village alone!"
I smiled. She had a strong mind, all right, and she deserved praise for that. But my smile was swiftly shattered by Kuro, that jerkface. "Indeed, I do want your fortune, but that's not all. I want to live a peaceful life." I grimaced in disgust, and I could bet my foot that Ruffy did too. Zoro probably did too, in his mind. Peaceful life? Some kind of pirate he was. I spat in disgust. I'd had enough of 'peaceful life', thank you very much. He somehow managed not to notice and went on with his monologue. Annoying bastard.
"For three years I've worked to gain the trust of the villagers. Not before I've gained both peace and money will my plan be complete. Both that the pirates attack the village and that you die and leave a will is absolutely necessary for my plan to work."
Ooh, intense killing intent emanating from four individuals. Nami was mainly frightened and I'm still not sure if Usopp is even capable if emitting killing intent. Kaya was in a state of shock, until she raised a flintlock gun. Man, I love that model. Unfortunately, my aim with any ranged weapon other than throwing knives is downright horrible. I remember my brother telling me that I couldn't hit a barn from the inside.
"Leave. This. Village."
Kuro was unfazed by this threat. "My, you've become a strong woman in these three years." He took a step towards Kaya and spread out his arms, temporarily taking on the butler-face. "Remember? We've been through a lot during these three years. We've lived together for a long time, even before your parents died. We went on sailing trips together, we've gone shopping, I watched over you when you had fever."
Kaya started to waver as she remembered. Tears welled up from her eyes. About now I figured that this guy relied way too much upon his brain, and that it resulted in dulled senses. Otherwise he'd at least reacted to the enormous amount of killing intent emanating from Ruffy, Zoro and myself. The conscious parts of the Black Cats were sensing it and were quivering in their boots. Man, isn't that guy supposed to be observant? In any case, Mr. Evil Mastermind went on. "We've laughed and we've cried together. I've served you all this time. I've followed the wishes of a naïve noble girl. I've endured…" Short pause for dramatic effect. Ooh, drama. "… just so that I'd be able to kill you, on this very day!"
Poor girl. The happy illusions of three whole years, crushed within minutes. Usopp, on the other hand, was boiling in rage. But he didn't get to speak. Yet.
"I, who once called myself Captain Kuro, have lowered my head to a little kid." Oh, man. The guy just didn't know when to stop, did he? There is a limit of how much evil one can spit out in one monologue. Or at least it should be. But that didn't stop him. Why should it? "I followed your every wish. Do you understand what humiliation that has been?"
That last line was too much for Usopp. His rage exploded. Fist clenched, he lunged furiously at Kuro, intending to smash his face in, but Kuro was much too fast for him.
"Usopp, that reminds me. You punched me quite hard yesterday. You certainly didn't hold back…" Kuro's ego-speech was finally interrupted by an outstretched fist that sent him flying several yards. Ah, mass-jawdrop. There's always an audience. "What the? How could he punch Kuro from back there?" There were numerous exclamations such as these.
"If you dislike punches that much, it's time that you receive a few hundred more," Ruffy told him intimidatingly as his arm snapped back. Drama, drama. Dramatic pause with lots of mumbling among the audience. Suspense and cracking knuckles. The majority of the voices that make up my mental council said 'get on with it!'
OK, so about now, vegetable trio appeared out of nowhere with kitchenware in their hands and started to bash the now downed Kuro's head. It had enormously little effect, but they did not notice that yet. They soon calmed down and yelled at their captain, upset.
"I knew it! Captain's fighting for us!"
"Why didn't you tell us? Instead you go and tell black lies-"
"He means white lies!"
Usopp didn't even take the time to be surprised. "White or black, it doesn't matter! Why are you here? Run, dammit! Run for your lives!"
The kids started to protest, but where soon cut short by Kuro who rose up, scaring the veggies shitless. But he just walked past them and kicked Usopp out of the way. His target of attention at this moment was now Ruffy. "That actually huts. You're using strange methods I must say. If I'm not wrong you're one of those who've gained the powers of the devil's fruit."
Ruffy grinned as he confirmed this. "That's right; I ate the Gomu Gomu no mi. I'm a rubberman!"
Various exclamations of surprise was heard from the onlookers. Kuro's face got dark as he issued the orders. "Jango, I'll take care of the kid, I leave kaya to you. Make sure she writes her will, then kill her." Short pause. "And those ants…" he nodded towards the vegetables, "are a bit disturbing."
Jango nodded and started to walk, but Zoro held out his blade and blocked the path. "Sorry, but you can't pass."
Jango was unfazed. "Butchi!" And thus, Zoro got occupied fighting a buffed up Butchi, who entered the fight with his trademark dropkick. Frikkin' whole ground cracked. I rose up, intending to continue where Zoro left off, but then I saw something that made me freeze. Butchi had pressed Zoro against a wall, and suddenly, I was back on earth, only eight years old, in a dark alley with my only friend I ever had.
I was paralyzed by fear. The man held a knife to my friend's throat. My legs were shaking and I could hardly breathe. I could see dark cloth flutter at the edge of my vision. All I could hear was my friend's voice whispering, terrified.
'Help me…'
My breathing quickened. It didn't matter that Zoro could cut him up like it was nothing. I t didn't matter that I let an enemy pass. A friend of mine was threatened. I could feel my sight blacken, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Cat lay her ears flat back and hiss, a rare sight. Then I saw something else at the very edge of my vision. Black cloth.
I barely had time to utter two words before I lost it.
"Oh, shit!"
Hah, cliffhanger right before a short break. Oh, I'm so evil! Now for the SBS:
Mionic t: about the first chapter, what did yuffie do in the open hurt like that?
J: Ah, that is still secret! Rest assured, it will be revealed in due time!
Seraph: I loved the humor in this one XD. The battle was great, I loved Embla's battle tecnhnique and the descriptions of the moves but it would help if you could describe them during the battle so that the readers could catch up. Portal and W40K References are awesome xP SBS: Dragging Embla to the SBS made me laugh, ahah XD, are you planning on doing that more often?
J: OK, sure. I'll think about that. And I might. It depends on the kind of questions I get.
Mionic t: you can judge someone by having too much make up, perfume, the kind of clothes pauli hates, and movement pattern, but judge someone for having curves isn't fair as they can't decide that on their own, i mean, name one girl in op that don´t have curves, even Arvida got her curves later on...
J: Ah, yes. Thanks for pointing this out. I intended to write this, but I didn't get a good moment to, but she got her just through plastic operation. Embla noticed this and that's what ticked her off.
Seraph: I really loved the chapter! I've noticed you've improved on your conversations too, thats Great! I think the ZoroXEmbla thing is a Good idea by the way, it adds more depth into the story ^_^ SBS: Why does Embla despise Krahadol?
J: Any reason not to? He's a jerk, through and through. I think that I explained that pretty well in this chapter.
That's all from the SBS this time. I'd be happy to receive questions from other folks than Mio an' Seraph. Don't get me wrong now, guys. I really like your questions, but I rarely get any from other sources, which I find rather sad.
Well, until next time! /wave
