OPOP

Never in his life had Samil felt such rage. He stared at the crowded, ashen room in front of him. He had burned the island for a reason, and here his adversaries stood trying to revive a brother he had tried to kill. He silently seethed inside. And Luffy was the object of that rage.

Luffy was the reason.

Hin's face was contorted with rage, and as Samil began to stride into the room, the clever old man hatched a plan.

Samil scowled and sped foreword. Zoro cut him off. Samil flung him aside with no trouble.

Sanji was next, but he was down too soon. Zoro picked himself up, and jumped foreward, his katanas flashing. Samil was detained for a moment, but he soon recovered. Hin snuck out of the room and into the open.

"Merd!(shit!)" Samil cried, "Mon frere dois mournir! (my brother has to die!)"

"Non!" Robin screamed, suddenly switching to French, "Luffy devrait vivre! (No! Luffy should live!)" Hands sprouted out of the floor in front of Samil and tripped him up.

"Luffy est plus sympa que toi! Luffy va vivre, et tu va mournir! (Luffy is kinder than you! Luffy will live, and you will die!)" She screamed, running in and punching the immobile Samil in the face.

"Luffy va vivre!" She punched him again. Everyone stared at Robin in shock. Shock at the un-calm way she was acting. Tears dripped down her face as the tension from the past two days caught up. Her body was tense and her eyes tired from worrying. She punched Samil feebly in the face. Sanji suddenly burned with inexplicable rage.

Robin-chwan was crying.

Robin-chwan was crying.

Sanji 'flew' over and knocked Robin off of Samil's chest gently, then he picked up the heavy, muscly man.

Then he gasped in pain. There was a needle sticking out of his neck.

Luffy stirred.

The last thing Sanji saw before passing out was Samil's sneering face.

Flickers of light dashed along Luffy's eyelids. He groaned at the disturbance, and tried to turn his body over. Muscles tensed, and slowly he rotated on to his side. His eyes flopped open, his muscles weren't under his control.

He saw Sanji falling to the ground through the tiny gap in his eye-lids.

His eyes widened slowly, as each of the straw-hats stood to face the dark brother of his. The dark brother that the Curse of D. had neglected to give power to. Vocal chords vibrated, and nerves prepared themselves. He ripped himself free of the wires that connected him to the machine, and Luffy's body lifted itself off the metal bed to which it had been tied. His foot slammed onto the floor, and blood splattered with it.

"SAMIIIIILLL!" Luffy roared, sprinting towards his brother. Time disjointed.

Luffy's fist punched outwards. Samil was flung through the air. Luffy paused, and coughed, blood splaying out of his mouth. Nami gasped, her hands coming to her mouth.

"Luffy!" She yelled, reaching towards him. But too late. The rubber man had already run after Samil.

Chopper was checking Sanji's vitals, "Nami! Zoro! Robin! Usopp! Go after him!" He ordered, looking after Luffy worredly.

Everyone ran out, but Usopp stayed where he was, trembling, "H-He b-beat Sanji... In a s-single instant,"

Chopper glared at the Sniper, "Sanji wasn't beaten! It was cheating! That's all Samil does!" He screamed, "Now go save Luffy, before he kills his brother and then ends up regretting it!"

Usopp squeaked, and stepped foreword, a hesitation in his stride. The metal room seemed to be suffocating. It seemed plain wrong. Usopp stepped into sudden sunshine, and his fear was left behind him.

Hin stood in front of a mob of angry people, all wanting revenge for their town. The white, ashy ground was clinging to everything. All matter upon the island was being infected by the white blanket. Their plants had drowned in fire, their wildlife had become endangered, and their people had lost many loved ones.

Hin raised his fist up in testimony, and the crowd raised their fists as one. A smile quirked on the egde of Hin's lips, yes, they would have retribution.

The blazing sunny day was strangely beautiful. The sunny rays were soaked up by pure white ash. Some buttercups had miraculously survived the fire that had engulfed the island. It was not the scene of war, but a war was raging. Luffy and Samil moved so gracefully and smoothly that it seemed like they were doing some ironic dance. Luffy swung round, clipping Samil in the face with his foot. The brother fell to the ground, groaning. Nami smiled and cheered, but Zoro just stared with growing unease.

There was something wrong.

Luffy was acting strangly, there was a murky light in his eyes. His actions were too automatic, too controlled. Luffy represented all that was unpredictable. But here he was, with the swordsman reading his every move. Luffy raised a hand and punched feebly at Samil.

Zoro realised what was wrong; Luffy was in pain. He was in such pain that his mind had shut off all pain receptors. Luffy was at his strongest; he was beyond human boundaries.

Luffy was at his weakest; he wasn't even human anymore.

Usopp walked into the sunshine, his face tense; he was afraid. But for once he decided to quell that fear. He stood next to Nami and Robin, Nami on his left and Robin on his right.

Luffy stood over the fallen Samil, breathing heavily. Suddenly he crashed to his knees. He gasped in a breath, his lungs filling with blood.

Cough. Cough. Cough.

Blood stained the perfect white ground, and also the buttercups that stuck out of the ground. Little red droplets rained down upon them, and stuck out as a stark contrast to the flower.

Samil groaned and sat up. He saw his brother coughing out blood and he faltered. For a second, Samil was catapaulted back to when his brother had been his best friend.

A companionship of brotherhood that had been lost. Why had he let it happen?

Samil groaned and stood, crushing the buttercups. He roared and junped at Luffy, "Why!" He screamed, punching Luffy in the face, and sending the captain flying, "Why were you born? Why did Mom die?"

He jumped forword and gripped Luffy's shirt, his entire body trembling. Tears fell down his face. Gently washing away years of guilt "Why couldn't I save her?" He whispered, his voice shaking, He fell to his knees, pulling Luffy with him.

Luffy stared at his weeping brother at loss at what to do. Samil shook Luffy again and he began to lose himself as blood pounded through his head. Blood poured out of his eyes instead of tears. They washed down Luffy's face, staining it.

Samil gasped and stared at his dying brother as Luffy's body went completely numb. "N-no..." Samil suddenly whimpered and hugged his younger brother's body.

"Luffy! You're the only family I have left!" He cried, "I'm sorry! You didn't kill mom, it was me! Me! I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, don't die, don't leave me! I'm so sorry!" He whimpered, his voice pleading. Luffy patted Samil gently on the head with a weak hand,

"It's o-kay, I c-an't fo-forgive, but, It's o-okay," Luffy gurgled, blood pouring out of his mouth with each word. The Straw-Hat pirates ran over, Hin arrived, a crowd of angry citizens behind. They stopped as he stopped , and they stared in shock

They had arrived unto a morbid scene.

I lied. I vowed to kill him, but it turns out that he was the one keeping me alive. As soon as I saw him dying in front of me, on that pure white ground, in that puddle of blood. That was when I realised that my fight was a lie, that my decisions were the ones causing me pain.

Oh, god, what if he really dies?

The room was white, the colour of innocence. There was a window that spanned the size of the right-hand wall. Two beds were lain out in the middle, two bodies lying on them. Nami sat on the floor in the middle of these two beds, leaning against the wall. She had her head on her knees, her eyes were closed. Zoro was leaning on the large window, his hand was on his katana, and his spikey green hair was unwashed. Usopp and Chopper sat opposite the beds, leaning their heads on eachother. Robin sat beside Nami, patting the ginger haired girl on the head in comfort.

Samil stared at his brother, not really seeing anything. The boy was lying on the right-hand bed, breathing painfully. Luffy's body was greatly bruised, but Hin kept on reasurring everyone that Luffy wasn't going to die just yet. The bed next to Luffy was occupied by a gently snoring Sanji, who still hadn't woken up.

Samil shifted under the weight of the shackles and the chains that were his blame. Hin hadn't allowed him the liberty of simply walking through the village unshackled. And the Straw-Hat crew wouldn't take their eyes off him.

He couldn't blame them.

The room was pristine, it was situated right at the top of the hospital building. This room had managed to survive, and it was imperetive that Luffy didn't receive any viruses or bad bacteria. So there they were, waiting for their captain to wake up. Waiting for him to decide whether or not he was going to live.

Samil closed his eyes, and began to sleep.

"Samil! Samil!" Screamed Luffy, his voice echoing from witin the well, "Help me! Help me! Please!"

Samil stared at his drowning brother, he had been agonising over the decision. Would he really try to kill the brother. After painul thought, he ended up pushing Luffy. But now, as he pretended to laugh, he saw the fear of killing someone. He heard a twig snap close by, and he ran off and climbed a near by tree.

He closed his eyes, and counted to ten. Then twenty, then thirty. He tried to make his mind blank so he could escape into sleep.

A face formed in his mind, slowly melting into focus. Fearful brown eyes, a mouth contorted in agony that was calling his name. Wet black hair and a wet face. It was the face of Luffy in the well. Samil had been so afraid of that face when he'd seen it, that it'd been burned onto his mind.

Luffy continued to scream, his voice piercing Samil's mind, "Samil! Help! PLEASE HELP ME!"

Samil put his small hands over his smaller ears and grimaced. Ten seconds from now, then it would end.

Ten. Nine. Eight...

"Hey! The devil's fallen into the well! Ha! Wow, who had the courage to do that?" A voice called from beyond brush and in the meadow on the other side.

Seven. Six. Five...

The numbers came slowly through A dog burst through the brush, and into the small well-clearing. It was followed by two people. They were carrying lamps that were needed now that the sun was dying below the trees. A bird of prey landed in the tree that Samil was sitting in, and he nearly lost his balance as the tree swayed vioently.

"HELP! HELP ME! PLEASE!" Luffy's screams were dying away, gradually getting weaker and weaker. The two men stood by the well, their faces were in the shadows, but Samil could just make out their sneering grins. They stood at oposite ends of the well and bowed their heads in mock severity.

Four. Three. Two...

The last rays of sunlight disappeared behind the forest. There was an eerie quiet as Luffy gasped in a strangled breath. Then another. His limbs worked in desperation, he was far too young to die. However, death does not listen to reason, and the clock was ticking away Luffy's last heartbeats.

One.

"Help! Help...plea-" Luffy's plea was cut off as his head went under. Samil could hear the pop of bubbles as they rose to the surface one by one. Luffy was holding his breath as hard as he could. But bubbles of air still escaped and rose to the surface.

The two men shared a triumphant silence, and then left. Not a word came out of their mouth. Not a word broke the mourning silence. And that made it worse for Samil.

He gritted his teeth and jumped down from the tree. In one swift movement, Samil took a strong vine and tied it to a tree stump and then threw it down into the well.

And then Samil jumped into the murky depths.

The building shook under a slight tremor, but everyone ignored it. Luffy was breathing softly now, his cheeks flushed slightly from fever. Overall, his condition was better than it should have been. Luffy was connected to the 'liver' machine once more, and tsuchiseki was once again flowing through his veins.

Sanji groaned softly, and everyone looked at him. Chopper padded over, his hooves clacking on the tiled floor. He put a hoof to Sanji's head and nodded, "He's fine, he'll wake up soon," Chopper smiled.

Sanji was replaying recent scenes through his head, internally cursing himself for not protecting Luffy. He should have realised something was wrong and gone to search for them himself.

He cast off the weak thoughts.

Wait, he'd been knocked out just as Luffy had begun to stir... How much time had passed? Was his captain already dead?

He sat up suddenly, groaning when his still dormant body protested. He looked around him slowly, checking the inventory.

Nami. Robin. Usopp. Zoro. Chopper Hin. Luffy.

His captain didn't look good, but at least the rubber man was still breathing.

"Sanji!" Chopper exclaimed, handing him a medicine to drink. Sanji drank it obediently, ignoring the bitter tase. He checked himself for wounds and felt non. He stretched and then realised that everyone was staring at him worredly.

He gave an awkward laugh and flapped his hand in the air, "I'm fine! I'm fi-"

The building shook violently and dust fell from the ceiling. Everyone held their breath as the tremor continued to shake them.

An infernal crashing sound shook them, a crack appeared across the ceiling. CRUNCH! Rubble fell from the ceiling, and the Straw-Hats were flung to the floor. They couldn't react as Luffy slid off his bed, hitting his head on the floor.

He sat up slowly, and opened his eyes into turmoil. He stared around him, confused at where he was and what was happening to the building.

Hin screamed as a boulder flew down at him. He cowered and covered his head, his aged head shaking with worry. The boulder never hit him.

Zoro landed, katanas in hands, "Oi! Don't just sit there! Run!" The swordsman yelled, his voice screeching slightly with anxiety.

Luffy stood up, grabbing his hat which hung on the edge of his bed. A sly smile pulled at his lips. And for the first time in ages, Luffy was Luffy once more. "Oi, everyone!" He grinned, "I think we'd better get out of here!"

The building shook once more, as if to demonstrate a point. Luffy laughed, his eyes closing with joy. And then he stopped abruptly, staring at his brother. Samil stared back, his face neutral. Luffy lowered his head, so that his hat covered his eyes. He stepped very deliberately towards Samil.

He bowed his head so that it was next to Samil's and muttered something, Samil replied in a whisper and Luffy nodded slowly.

Luffy took in a slow breath and then punched Samil's chains, they smashed. "Let's go," Luffy ordered, ignoring the strange looks he received from his crew and the town leader. Samil and Luffy waited for everyone to run out of the room before sharing a look.

"You promise?" Luffy asked, frowning.

"I do," Samil replied, "If I break our promise, I shall end my own life and cease to be Monkey D. Samil,"

Luffy nodded, content, "The same goes for me,"

They linked pinky fingers, and shared a solomn stare. And then they ran.

Luffy whooped and gripped his hat in elation as he sprinted down the hallway with his nakama. The building shook once more, and he stumbled ever so slightly. Nami looked down, pretending to ignore the sign of weakness. But she knew that it was all a facade, Luffy wasn't fine, he was just acting that way. The other Straw-Hat's noticed his stumble, and subtly shifted their position so that he was in the middle. Samil ran behind Luffy, Sanji running along by Samil's side.

Samil glanced behind him, frowning, the hallway behind him had crumbled to nothing.

Sanji was gasping for breath. Aparrently whatever Samil had injected Sanji with hadn't worn off. He closed his eyes against the headache that was pounding through him. His foot hit nothing.

He gasped as his foot fell through the floor.

"SANJI!" Nami cried, reaching for his hand, but Samil beat her to it. There was a dark moment as Samil stared at Sanji, evil covering his face. Luffy glanced behind, and stared at his brother, his mouth mouthing one word, no!

Samil grinned a Luffyish grin, before throwing Sanji foreword. The floor underneath Samil cracked and then broke. Luffy ran foreword, his hand outstretched. He flung a rubber arm down and caught Samil. The floor creaked, and rocked Luffy slightly. Samil grinned some more, tears forming in the corners of his eyes,

"Hey Luffy! Our promise dies with me!" Samil laughed, before pulling Luffy's hand off him.

And so, Samil plunged into darkness. The last thing he saw was his brother reaching towards him, screaming his name.

OPOP

A.N. wow! That one was a long. I thought you deserved a long one because I've been extremely lazy recently!

Parts of this chapter were seriously forced. I shall check it through later, and try make it better, but please tell me if you see any typos etcetera.

Anyway, I'm back at school now, so I'm in the most creative-dampening environment possible. Not sure what to do next, PM me if you've got any ideas ^_^