WARNING: Will compress the rest of Punk Hazard in here—yo! xD So I'll make up for the lots of massive parts by making this the longest chapter by far. ;)
Also, SABO WILL BE APPEARING IN…. 2 or 3 Chapters! Hihihi. I'm quite excited for him, frankly. Hope I don't take too long to finish these two chapters in between. hahahah
Disclaimer: One Piece is not mine. It's Oda-sensei's. The LawxLuffyxAce coverimage is NOT mine, either.
…
"If she was the type to just run away…," A chuckle. "It would've been easier."
"I could've just turn tail and run away." A pause. "But she never ever stops until she beats the enemy."
"So we have no choice but to support her."
"We will follow her even through her worst ideas—Risking our lives is nothing."
"We pledged to live up to her expectations as long as we breathe!"
缴获
CHAPTER 14: CAPTURED
Luffy watched in blunt amusement as the marines of G-5 freaked out about the skeleton's soul, who was checking out the damage done outside. His soul slowly moved back from the walls and slowly turned his head to face them, making ghost sounds by habit.
"W-What the hell!"
"Stop making ghost sounds damnit!"
Brooke stared at everyone when Usopp asked how it was. "Truly… a land of death." He said. "It sends shivers down my spine."
The marines flinched, yelling it was him causing them to shiver. Then they proceeded on yelling at Zoro, who was very blasé about almost getting everyone killed.
They forced themselves to calm and gathered around her crew—yelling how much more careless they were than the rumours said. The marines, dead serious, pointed their guns at the strawhats below. Blackbeard just blushed because the marines knew his name, using it as threat nonwithstanding.
"Everyone's so funny. Shishishishi~" She said and her eyes met Zoro's who sent her a smug greeting grin. She raised her hand and threw him a victory sign. She then told him they were funny in the video when they were being chased by the smoke, making her first mate scowl.
The marines twitched. "DON'T IGNORE US!"
It was then that the marine appeared offended for being ignored and prowled around the crew, until the three swordsmen showed their sword and suddenly the ones 'prowled' on were the marines.
Luffy chuckled at this before turning around to Law and Smoker, who were having a no-interference deal behind her. "Just don't get in our way," the former said, and he teleported to the highest spot in the room.
He then switched Nami and Sanji's body, to Luffy and Sanji's chagrin, but Luffy started laughing again when Sanji's crying in happiness that his body was the one damaged during Caesar's attack, and Usopp similarly sobbing in admiration at his chivalry.
It's really great to have the crew together again, Luffy thought. It felt like it's been too long!
Her smile was replaced by a puzzled face when she felt Law's eyes on her and she looked up, for a moment wondering if he was waiting for her signal or something to speak. But whatever the case, Law simply turned his head away from her and towards the crowd below and took their attention.
Law proceeded to tell them how to escape—past the next tower, to the door named R-66—and how it will lead to sea. "Two hours. After that I cannot guarantee your safety." He said and the marines yelled in response, no doubt thinking he was threatening to kill them. Luffy, in contrasts, asked if he was got to do something to the lab. He stared at her for a second longer than necessary and nodded, saying that he will do what he must.
"Hey." He asked, just before completely walking away. "Don't lose this time." He said, although she didn't sense any sort of hostility in his voice.
So, she smiled. "See yah." She said, having no doubt he'd succeed in his part too. And Law nodded.
As she watched his back, Luffy got an idea. It's pretty troublesome though so she turned to Robin—who was apparently watching her and Law—and apologetically asked for a favour. The rest of the crew proceeded to look for the children.
Now that she was alone in the spot she cracked her knuckles, ready for a fight. She imagined Caesar and his troublesome ability with a grin. A challenge she was excited to take head-on.
"You won't take my breath this time!"
…
Down in the ground floor, Zoro found out that during their separation, Luffy—along with the rest of them—got defeated, and the knowledge made his stomach feel like it dropped down to the floor. The fact that Caesar could take away the oxygen in the air notwithstanding. He recalled getting knocked out by abominable snowmen who shouldn't have been able to take them on at all. "This won't do." He uttered. "We'll never make it like this!"
He didn't hear Usopp's words that he was taking this too seriously. On the contrary, everyone else was taking the loss much too lightly.
He could still recall all those times he lost—almost losing them in the process—so clearly in his head that the very same dread when they lost to Kuma still resurfaced. They couldn't get careless from now on.
And he had no time to deal with these marines, so he walked past them, destroying their swords when they attacked. He looked for her presence and easily sensed her a bit above him. "LUFFY!" He yelled. "OI LUFFY!"
"OI~ Zoro!" She grinned in greeting, but it was replaced by a more neutral expression when their eyes met.
"TAKE THINGS SERIOUSLY!" He yelled—begged—staring at her as seriously as he could, hoping she'd understand. "The New World will only be getting tougher!"
Luffy stared, absorbing his words, then she smiled and apologized. "Sorry," she said. "I won't be careless anymore." Before she continued on her way.
But then she used her stupid UFO technique to take down a couple of goons and played around again afterwards. Zoro only face-palmed.
Still, in the end, he smiled as well, because he knew that his message was sent.
缴获
It didn't take long until Zoro encountered the troublesome woman again, shielding one of her subordinates from his attack. He frowned. Why couldn't these marines just get the message and leave them alone! There were more important things!
Apparently the only way he could skip this ordeal was a loud alarm echoing through the whole tower, with the gate to the next tower starting to close and the woman realizing this wasn't the place and time to fight.
They needed to survive first.
They passed by each other, to do their own goals.
It was then that a canon exploded and went straight through the metal door. There was a chill that passed through the halls, and they quickly realize an opening was made and the gas was beginning to leak in.
The crew got on Brownbeard (to his annoyance) and watched the marines run as fast as they could as well, with Robin shortly flying to where they were, apparently having asked a favor by Luffy beforehand. But it was too late for some of them and Zoro had to admit he got worried for megane-Kuina, she was an honorable person other than being cursed by his late friend's face, after all.
The crew made it, with Brownbeard's tail being the one most at risk, and soon marines came after.
They watched as some of the marines carried her and literally throw them past the door. "You've already done enough Tashigi-chan!" They yelled in unison. "Now go on and live!"
They were calcified posing their victory. He had to admit that it was one of the things that tingled his steely nerves of empathy.
"Pretty impressive." He said, smirking, and Nami nodded, while the rest (especially Brownbeard) just sobbed.
Sanji heaved out a sign and took out a smoke. "They went down with a bang."
…
Along the carbon steel-lined laboratory walls, the team ran for a while, with the strawhats and kinemon now on-board Brownbeard—to his chagrin—because they got tired and were too lazy to run. "That's not a good reason you bastards!" He yelled, but was dutifully ignored.
Zoro looked at the direction where they were from, knowing the marines stayed for a bit to mourn the people they had lost. He shrugged but then he—along with Sanji—immediately flinched at a presence and their eyes met, looking at the direction Zoro was just looking.
Vergo.
Sanji used that walk-in-air thing—"It's called skywalk, Idiot-Marimo!"—to pretty much teleport back to where they were.
Zoro stared at the puff of smoke the cook's steps created and nodded, hearing the echo of curly-brow's screams ("I am coming mi Lady!"), almost hearing jazz music in the background. Almost.
In any case, Tashigi and the marines had no chance against the marine-with-the-balbo, but Idiot-cook certainly did. Probably.
"Sanji flew in rage over there." Usopp said. Robin shrugged with a smile. "He probably heard a woman's tears." And she smiled.
It did not take long for Zoro's eyes to narrow yet again, and it did not take long for the fire-breathing dragon they brought in to soar to their direction, leaving a fuliginous trail behind him. They recalled that back when they were thinking they could use it to escape, it was almost adorable, now it had a vicious blood-thirsty look about it that was apparently its actual nature now that, according to Brownbeard, the sedative had worn off.
"GAHHH! He's comiiiinggg!" Usopp screamed.
"The fire looks hot." Robin said coolly, while Zoro—still lounging about—nodded.
"He does look violent."
"STOP BEING SO COOL ABOUT THIS DAMNIT!"
It was wreaking havoc now, and it was clear that with a couple more strong breaths it can cause an explosion, which will get some of that poison gas in. "Brook! Take care of it!" Nami and Usopp yelled as they pushed the musician forward. It only made Brooke's eyes widen (though he did not have any eyes). "Why me? I'm just as scared of dragons as you are!"
"You're the oldest aren't you?"
"SO PLEASE RESPECT YOUR ELDERS!"
But the dragon dived in to attack—directly to the old skeleton—making the skeleton scream his heart out.
.
Only to get a disappointed sigh. From the dragon.
Meanwhile, Zoro just lied there and commented about how much troublesome this one was with its speed. Brownbeard yelled at him to freaking help out, but Zoro knew the crew could take care of it. He didn't need to lift a finger.
Also, it seemed that Kinemon held a sort of grudge against dragons in general and volunteered on taking care of it. "No I can't forgive that dragon either!" Brook yelled in disagreement, bumping his head to Kinemon's. Usopp and Nami blinked at the sudden change of attitude.
"He charged up to eat me—and it sighed!" Brook cried, totally offended. "He showed disappointment right at my face (although I have no face)! What an insult!"
"But you don't even have skin…"
"BONES ARE NUTRITIOUS TOO!" He yelled, still offended, and the next thing that happened was Brook and Kinemon fighting on who to fight the dragon. Brownbeard by this time was already screaming.
Nami, Robin, and Usopp just shrugged and went back to their relaxed positions, and—"My target!" "No, my target!"—all they had to do was wait for the two's finishing shot.
…
Nami heaved a relieved sigh. For a moment there was peace along that fiery room and all they had to do now was run. But they eventually heard metal crashing and angry screams and they looked at where it came from.
A loud, screeching, but familiar cry of an animal echoed.
They saw Chopper in monster form, bloodied, and using himself as a bait for the violent giant children trained to be soldiers. Nami looked at her team before setting her sights on her bloodied comrade, eyes filled with compassion for Chopper and the children.
"It's time to save the kids."
缴获
Law eyed the massive tank in the middle of the room, embellished by strong red paint saying S.A.D., his deep eyes narrowing at what he knew it was. He knew well this was the beginning of truly messing with that person's plans and the consequences would be dire.
Still, he smirked, because that was precisely what he wanted.
He joined the shichibukai to get into this room, after all. This room—a room that can shake up the New World. And he was going to destroy it.
"I suppose this is what you call biting the hand that feeds you." He flinched at the voice, but he pushed it down as quickly as it came.
"Vergo." He uttered guardedly, staring at the bamboo-like weapon on the man's hand.
"There is a limit of tolerance for children's actions. You are too clever for your own good." He said, raising his weapon to him who'd he'd call an intractable brat. "I'm here to bring you to your end."
Law only stared, thinking of ways to deal with this person. "I could easily kill you with your heart," he continued. "But Joker tells me to let you die the most horrendous death." The man the raised his weapon and treated it like a baton, and so nonchalantly it was almost like he was out to play. Maybe he was.
Law frowned, knowing full well the torture these people could inflict, the emotions of hate still fresh inside him as the images of the past flashed through his head.
"I'll make you remember what fear tastes like—just like before." Vergo said, and instantaneously sprinted for an attack.
Law knew very well that this person was strong. Very strong—He was Joker's right hand man, after all—And Law knew he stood little chance, especially now when the man was literally holding his heart.
Still, he did his best to deal with him, with his heart as priority. Using his haki he managed to avoid and block the other's deadliest attacks, but same went for Vergo. And Vergo's defense always came with an even stronger attack.
Law could feel his bones breaking with each hit, but he stood up, spiting some of the rusty taste of blood in his mouth.
Soon, he gathered enough energy to make another room, done as soon as he saw his heart. Eventually he did manage to take back his heart, but in the split second that followed he was kicked with such force that he wasn't able to hold on to it. His heart fell from his hand—it felt just like that inside, even—and soon ended back on Vergo's.
However, not even a second when he prepared for another attack. Law teleported to in front of him. "Counter. Shock." He uttered and sent shockwaves throughout his opponent's body. The marine was still standing, and even when he was not surprised, Law had hoped for a better outcome.
"I have a message from Joker." Vergo said, bloodied yet still standing. "He says it's a shame." Just before he pressed his heart again and Law could only scream in agony, crouching on the floor in pain. It was being pressed hard, this time with intent to crush. For a moment there he genuinely wondered if he was going to die so uselessly… barely even managing to hinder Joker.
Vergo pressed it again, much harder than the last—squeezing it—and Law's life flashed before him. Is this really it? Images of his beautiful country Flevance passed through his head, overlapping to the moments when it was destroyed, his family together and happy, his family when they passed, his friends and his teachers who are helping him with his aspirations, Corazon who saved him in so many ways, him finding a home with Bepo and the rest of his crew, and… her. Even her.
But the pain subsided as he saw sharp movements above him, swift and deadly, and Law belatedly realized it was Vergo who was being attacked. Law looked up and saw Smoker arrived.
And he couldn't have been more thankful.
缴获
Luffy glared at the troublesome opponent in front of her amongst the flames he created, flames he also took out with a poof with his ability, along with her breath.
She jumped back to as far as where the flames were and inhaled, realizing Ceasar could only take that oxy-whatchacall'it off the air at a certain range.
This guy's ability was sooo annoying and she couldn't seem to finish him off in time for her to lose her breath. He continued to create fire, then take oxygen, and make that poison sword of his and it turned out to be really challenging.
Soon it got to the point when it—and Caesar's cackles in general—got too annoying that Luffy sent him a very irritated glare. "If I will lose my breath." She told him. "Then I just have to send you flying with one breath!"
She easily hit him with her second gear. "Jet Pistol!" And landed a couple of shots thereafter. It was around this time that she sensed that she was needed somewhere else—by a nakama or an ally, she couldn't really tell—she decided to finish this dude quickly.
"Busoshoku Koka" she uttered, enveloping her fist with Haki, intending to do just that. But she hit a hard stone instead, which was promptly destroyed, but successfully shielded the annoying bastard. Luffy ignored the bird-woman's impressed comments about how she would probably be one of the very few who could break the igloo, as most wouldn't be able to even scratch it.
But the baby Den Den mushi on her belt rung and Monet asked Caesar to go do what he must. Luffy tried to follow him but she was once again blocked by those annoying stones that kept appearing every time she destroyed it.
She realized that the voice on the other line was Joker, and they're talking about her and Law. Joker told them about her conqueror's Haki and how she may even be of higher caliber than Law, but all she really heard was that it seems Law was in trouble.
While distracted, the bird-woman attacked her with her snow and she just kept trapping her in an igloo.
It was so annoying.
She destroyed another one and avoided the snow daggers that followed. She had other things to do than deal with this woman. "I need to get to Caesar and Torao!" She yelled. "I have no time for you."
The bird-woman calmly smiled as she flew around, occasionally sending her mini-blizzards. (Why did she take off her coat anyway, damnit!)
"Law-kun seems to have taken great interest in you." The woman said, smiling, as she flapped her huge wings around. Luffy clicked her tongue.
"'Course he does. We're friends!"
"Oh my~" The bird-woman chuckled (again) sending a few shrapnel. "How dense."
ANNOYING. "How rude!"
The woman only laughed and continued creating the barriers that Luffy could only punch them all one by one.
Her eyes twitched and she frowned as she looked around her, looking for a way out. Each time she destroyed an igloo, there was always another one outside.
So. Many. Iglooes.
The birdwoman apparently trapped her in many many layers of igloos. "I am not strong as you are." She said and as the temperature dropped by a fold, the woman was suddenly face-to-face with her. "But the strongest fighters don't always win."
While Luffy shuddered in the cold, the birdwoman raised her wings and wrapped her arms around her. Luffy shivered wildly at the feeling of dry ice enveloping her skin. "So cold!"
"My body will drain your vitality." The green-haired woman said next to her ears. "And soon your heart will freeze." The woman even patted her back. "Go to sleep now." At those words, Luffy thought that she had never been so tempted by something outside of food.
Other than touch Ace.
Ace.
The moment she closed her eyes, Zoro's words echoed like an explosion inside her head. Take things seriously!
She woke up in a flash. She heard the bird-woman gasp as she escaped her freezing hold. "Go away!" She yelled and raised her fist to the air, force sharply downwards, and destroyed the floor.
But then she fell. To a chasm.
.
.
"Ah, damnit."
缴获
She fell for quite a few seconds.
BAM!
"Urghhh."
She pushed away the concrete rubbles that used to be the floor and stood up, patting her hat and the rest of her clothes to rid of the dust. She let her eyes get used to the darkness and looked around, noticing that she was surrounded by junk. "Why's it so dark anyway?" She asked as she lifted her head up and realized that she had fallen so far down that she could no longer see the hole she fell into.
At the thought, her stomach grumbled and she looked around and frowned at the absence of food, throwing a few junk here in there for good measure. It was then that she sensed a presence, apparently almost hit by one of her debris.
"Don't be so careless, you impertinent fool!"
She blinked and stared at the odd form revealing itself from the rubble. It resembled a delicious-looking eel. One shaking of fear, but an eel nevertheless.
But it was talking, so she asked who it was. "Momonosuke! That is my name!" Luffy's eyebrows furrowed at this. She heard the name before. Where was it? She couldn't remember she blamed her stomach and her head lifted up from her belly to look at the talking pink dragon.
It sure looked delicious.
"STOP DROOLING!"
She nodded. But she didn't really stop, though.
"You can't eat me! I'll eat you first! Behave yourself, woman!" The way of talking reminded her of her third and fourth legs. "Ah!" She yelled as she promptly remembered where she heard the name. She wondered if Momonosuke-the-samurai's-son got stuck on this dragon and using his fart to speak as well.
She grabbed its head and tail and stretched it a little and looked at its back, but there was no butt protruding. It tried to escape her grasp but its stomach growled and she knew he was hungry too. She pointed it out, only to get a glare. "Samurais don't get hungry only after 10 days of fasting!"
Her eyes widened in aghast.
"TEN DAYS?!" Ten days without food?! She will definitely die a painful death without meat for ten hours.
Ten hours.
She shuddered at the thought.
The horned eel then eyed her—then at the ground since she was too preoccupied with the imminent hunger to keep hold of him—and asked who she was. "Oh, I'm Luffy! I'm gonna be the king of pirates!"
This made him turn a bit whiter. "P-PIRA—" then he fell down, tired. "You must be joking. Pirates are large heavyweight men. Not small women."
Luffy didn't take offense and leaned down a little to look at the horned pink eel a bit more closely. "How'd you get here?"
The thing stared at it and it faced down, and suddenly it was on the verge of tears which baffled Luffy a little. "I overheard them… that 'Master'…" he whispered with what looked like his last bit of strength.
"I thought he was a doctor…" he croaked out. "But I was wrong—they're his experiments… and that they likely won't live past five more years." Tears were falling now, no doubt remembering whoever he was talking about. "He says… he says that's okay because they're necessary sacrifice for the greater good." "He says they should be thankful for the short but meaningful life..."
It took a moment, but Luffy soon understood and connected the dots. Instantaneously something snapped in Luffy, then. How could people take other lives for granted like that was something she would never understand. Momonosuke flinched at the sudden change in atmosphere and he could only stare at her for a while.
"Let's get out!" She yelled, snapping him back to the present. She would climb the wall, she said and when he asked how she ended up reassuring him that her crew was on their way to help the kids. "They always keep their word."
Momonosuke gaped, but nevertheless absorbed the certainty behind her words. She was no ordinary pirate, he thought, and almost stood up to go to her. But soon the hunger caught up to him, primarily because now there was someone around to rely on, and then he lost half of his consciousness.
"O-Oi!" He waved his arms around suddenly seeing scary snakes in front of him in what seemed like a nightmare, and began to run as fast as he could, unconsciously creating dense clouds in his steps allowing him to move vertically. "You're… you're flying?!" Luffy's exclaimed, flabbergasted but she grinned in the end.
She's got to admit this is a little better than eel meat.
…
Momonosuke climbed up an impressive height before he completely lost consciousness. They fell down but she stretched out her hand to punch the wall to get something to grab on.
"You've done great, Momo." She said and wrapped him around her neck for flexibility, and they walked somewhat aimlessly after that.
She heard his cackle behind the wall.
It was followed by sobs and a familiar voice—Brownbeard's—trying to speak sense to the others in that room. "He killed them! He killed them! He was fooling all of you! He called us guinea pigs!" He was trying to say, but he was tongue-tied, and Luffy only understood his meaning by feel and haki. She hastened her pace.
She then heard gunshots.
Brownbeard was sobbing, no doubt bloodied from gunshots, and Ceasar pretending to be aghast when all she heard was his maniacal laughing.
She put Momo down and bit her thumb. "Gear Third" She uttered and sprinted to help. She arrived just in time before Caesar hits him with his deadly shot.
It only grazed Caesar, but at least Brownbeard was safe.
"It's Monkey D. Luffy!" They called, but before they could attack her Caesar seemed to have remembered something. Luffy watched as the minions run after Caesar's instructions—they apparently still had a show to run—and she walked to Brownbeard, patting his head. He was still crying, no doubt because of a combination of shame, betrayal, and despair.
"You tried." She said and she gave him a smile, turning to face the annoying poison bastard, who flinched under her glare.
"You tricked every one of them. The people of this island were all tricked to get here, huh." "What is this island?"
His fearful stare somewhat morphed to one of pride, which only made her eyes twitch. "Shurororororo~ You don't know anything about the secrets of this island, huh?" "Then let me tell you." "An island that is like gas—an island that seems like it doesn't exist. Get it?"
Luffy only looked at him, silent, and Caesar became unnerved by her stare.
"A place where we could do as much illegal experiments as we want. Powerful people back us up. They will cover up everything." He forced an evil smile. "No matter how much they cry or scream—no one will hear."
Still, she only stared, and Caesar's smirk turned to a frown.
He threatened her of how many big shots will go after her if she does this, something about S.A.D. and how he was the only one who could create it. Stopping his work will make many many powerful people furious.
He laughed, obviously finding this whole thing funny. "Do you have the guts to pick a fight with them?!"
But she covered her fist with armament, and connected it to his face, effectively cutting his cackle short. "I've been picking fights all along!"
缴获
As most of the Strawhats reached the Biscuit Room, Zoro looked around the room to see if everyone was there. There was Robin, Nami, Chopper, and the kids. Kinemon then went to scout for Momonosuke and the others, while Usopp and Brooke were asked to get some seastone handcuffs, apparently a favor asked to Robin by the captain.
A birdwoman appeared and suddenly a chill surrounded the whole room, and soon it was snowing. He narrowed his eyes as the women defended against her. Logia-type, he surmised, and he raised his sword surrounding it with Haki.
The bird-woman proceeded to attacking the weakest ones, primarily those preoccupied, and he managed to defend them. It was annoying. "It is strategic to go after the weaklings first." Birdwoman said which somewhat touched one of Nami's nerves, who managed to land a hit with her weapon.
He defended them just enough for his crew to get past the door and to the kids.
It was then that birdwoman noted on how he seemed to be avoiding hitting her. His eyes twitched and the woman smirked. "Oh my, It couldn't be what I think it is, could it?" She laughed, but was somewhat cut off by new arrivals.
It was the marines, and they seemed to be led by curly-eyebrows. "Yes, Aniki!" They yelled and immediately Zoro knew their idiocy somewhat got to another level. Curlybrows soon spotted him and their eyes met, and for a moment there he was almost relieved to see him.
Almost.
"Stick your tongue out at him!" Curly-eyebrows yelled as they ran, pointing at him, and the marine-idiots did just that, creating an idiotic line of idiots sticking their tongues out at him.
I hope they all slip, hit their heads, and die.
They didn't, which was unfortunate especially since they all proved to be useless—stopping their tracks at the sight of the bird-woman and admiring her 'exotic beauty'. The woman allowed them to lose their guards for a second just before using the chance to bite a few shoulders off.
Obviously Cook was not going to help out with this one, not that he needed help, so he just told them (or Tashigi) to get out of the room and deal with the kids, blocking Monet's attack with a sword. However, the latter just chuckled and repeated her previous observation. "I thought I had no chance of beating you." She said, "But it seems I was wrong."
To his chagrin, even when the barbaric marines left, Tashigi remained. "I figured I am needed here!" she says, which made him frown.
This was going to be even more troublesome than he thought.
…
Nami and Chopper watched as Mocha bravely protected the other children by guarding the candy with her body. "We're going home together!" she yelled, and she ran away eager to protect them from the drugs. The crew followed the kids and tried to slow them down without hurting them, sedating as many kids as they could.
But the kids were raised to be inhumanely strong and they could not contain them without doing something to seriously hurt them. Half of the kids escaped and eventually surrounded Mocha, who could only hold the candy as close to her body as she could.
Sobbing, the girl gulped, and—having no other choice—placed all of the poisonous candy inside her mouth.
Chopper cried, near-hopeless, body still too slow from all the injury he had sustained. He knew how much Mocha wanted to save her friends—they wanted to grow up together—but he didn't know she would sacrifice herself. "MOCHA!" He yelled as he runs towards the bloodied girl who knowingly took the lethal candy on her own.
"She did it for you!" He said to the hallucinating kids, feeling Mocha quickly losing energy. "PLEASE STOP!" But they didn't, still trying to get the candy that didn't fit in Mocha's mouth, utterly high and unreasonable due to the drug addiction.
It was then that Sanji entered and he seemed to have had a group of marine minions.
And Chopper cried some more.
Thank God
…
"You won't hit her anyway." Tashigi announced, to his chagrin, and then mumbled about their confrontation in Logue town. Something about him looking down on women. "This isn't the time, woman!"
But she seemed steadfast in what she was doing so Zoro just walked to the corridor and served as a guard, much to the marine's surprise and the birdwoman's amusement. He sat down and watched the two women fight.
Tashigi did pretty well for a while—blocking, defending, and showing her haki—but Monet soon managed to bury her deep ice fangs in her shoulder. Zoro stood up then, and—with a swoosh—sent a sharp line of force towards the women's direction, injuring the birdwoman's face.
"Time's up." He drawled, walking past the dust his attack created. He sent Tashigi a sideward glance. "You know for all your boasting you sure were taking a long time."
He turned his head to the Birdwoman, then several steps away from Tashigi, shocked that he'd attack her in the first place. "There are things I don't want to slice." He admitted, but there was now a growing need to cut growing in his gut—and it showed in his expression.
He smirked, eyes resembling those of an untamed animal. "But have you ever heard of a wild beast that promised not to bite?"
The women froze as he unsheathed shusui and, with a flick of an arm, he cut one in half.
.
.
"She's alive?" Megane asked, disbelieving, as he sauntered to the door where his crew went. "You didn't use Haki?!" He heard Tashigi from behind. He heard the other woman as well.
"Are you mocking me?!" She yelled, trying to piece herself back together. "Or is this how you show mercy?!"
But he smirked. She must be so overwhelmed at being the prey of his—he could see how the logia-user was struggling to piece herself together even without looking. She won't be able go back even when he hadn't used Haki.
Still, Monet managed to rise and try to land a shot before Tashigi sliced her. "You didn't need to butt in." he answered when she accused him of looking down on women (again). He wanted to retort that wasn't exactly true.
First of all, the person who initially fueled his desire to be the best swordsman as a child was a girl.
Also, while he may have had a history of being very distracted when Nami was in genuine danger and using his strongest attack when Robin's safety was concerned, he also respected them greatly and knew they can generally handle themselves and their own safeties well.
And finally, he had been willing to endure pain with his captain. And that said a lot about his view of women.
But before he uttered any of this (thought it was arguable he'd even say anything) Tashigi fell down due to her injuries. His eyes twitched a little and his head whipped up to see the gas coming in.
He could only sigh and bent his knee to her level. After heaving a sigh, he lifted her to one of his shoulders. Like a sack.
This was so troublesome, he thought, but this woman was probably going to hate it more though.
That thought frankly made him smirk a little.
缴获
Vergo's was one of the strongest armament haki Law had ever seen, and that was along time ago—when he was a child. He could only imagine how much stronger this man had become since then. So he was not surprised when even Smoker was no match, even in basic fighting.
As he gathered strength, Law watched as Smoker attacked using his flight as leverage while Vergo was similarly on air with his moon walk.
Smoker's resilience was still admirable, and he did land a lot of punches, even if his strongest attack was blocked by Vergo's armament. Soon, Smoker was taken down and Vergo turned his attention to him, lifting up his heart and squeezed it once more.
Shit
His torture went on for a few, but long, seconds until they noticed smoke materializing around them and realized that Smoker was standing up again, making much more smoke than he had before. Vergo mocked him. "You're still using that useless ability? Are you even thinking straight?"
Law would've agreed if he hadn't seen the look on Smoker's eyes. It was not a look of desperation, but rather: Of determination. His peripheral view caught smoke crawling to him with unusual mass and some of it clears and he saw his heart, resting on one of Smoker's displaced palm.
He looked at Smoker who had just endured a major attack to distract Vergo from what was actually happening, and—for a moment—their eyes meet. Now we're even, he can almost hear the marine say.
So you don't want to owe a pirate, eh?, Law thought and he smirked, looking down at the denden mushi on the floor in between him and Vergo, knowing Joker was listening.
"You're not going to keep your throne forever." He told the person on the other end, placing his hand on nodachi. "But first…
"…You will lose your right hand man."
缴获
Luffy sharply looked up at the feeling that some massive slicing force was released. A second later, this was felt by everyone else in the form of an earthquake.
She turned her attention back at Caesar though, who was one of the people panicking at the continuous movement of the earth and falling ceilings. He ordered for the vents to open and amidst the chaos, and he revealed his intentions and true nature to his minions on his own. "You're just guinea pigs! I can easily replace you!"
The minions believed in him though, saying this was a trick, and lets the gas flow in. Caesar laughed manically and excitedly went to the entering gas and combined with it, turning into a denser purple form.
Luffy watched, startled, as his minions get petrified as he moved and how Ceasar didn't even bat an eyelid at killing his own minions. Her eyebrows met, anger boiling inside her. She ran to a tunnel to try and lure him away from the others. "Gear Third!" She yelled as she ran to gain momentum and turned back to attack.
But the first thing she saw was how he killed them on purpose, as if he was having fun. Her eyes constricted, unable to comprehend how a person could so this while laughing. "Armament!"
He was the type of person she hated the most.
"I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOUR FACE EVER AGAIN!" She went for the attack, not feeling her hands being petrified by the contact.
"Grizzly magnum!" She yelled, and she punched him so far she can't see anymore.
…
Soon afterwards, Luffy and Momo reunited with the crew and the children. Momoshiro stared at her crew, the marines, and all the children, and whipped his head to Luffy. "See, Momo? Told'ya my crew's awesome." She said with a smile, and Momo almost cried. Almost. Because warriors never let others see their tears.
Law and Smoker came bringing their odd ride of metal weirdness (it's for a thing called SAD, but now it was for them they said). She ran to meet them with a grin, because she just knew Ceasar was stupid to think that Vergo guy would defeat these two.
Law promptly asked her where Caesar was and she told him. "I crushed him in the face. Isn't that great?" She pointed at the tunnel she threw him towards. "I wonder how far he went."
Law gaped disbelievingly. "Oi, I told you to kidnap him!"
"But I don't even want to see his face anymore!"
"What are you going to do if he runs away?"
She pouted. She really hated Caesar, after all…
At this, Law can only sigh.
…
Law really shouldn't have trusted her with 'kidnapping'. Asking her to kick someone's ass was okay, but she simply did not have the discipline to kidnap people. Well, whatever. They'll find him soon enough, he thought, lest everything could get screwed up. "Everyone get inside the car!"
But no one in her crew moved and he frowned. "We have to go now."
"Chopper and Brook are still out there." She said, eyes not wavering away from the closing door. His shoulders slumped, knowing he had no say in this after all.
Fortunately, they did arrive on time along with marines and a child. Everyone entered the car, just in time for the SAD Factory to explode, which triggered more obstacles in its wake.
Luffy just laughed as everyone—from the children, marines to Caesar's former minions cheered together when the swordsman cut down a massive fallen rock on their path. The swordsman looked behind them and warned them not to celebrate just yet: The poison gas was still there, after all.
Law furrowed his eyebrows and calculated that if gas was entering like this then there will be gas outside too. It had spread much farther than he thought. "Is there anyone who can generate wind?" He asked, as it was the only way to get out of this.
"What?" The marines yelled, understandably. "Don't say such impossible things when we're in this situation!" They yelled, looking at him like he's an idiot. "We can't find a person with that skill so easily!"
But the navigator nonchalantly raised her hand.
"WHAT?"
"What the hell is with this crew?!"
The marines had not yet gotten over the awe of the navigator and her weapon when the moment they reached outside they were met by the Cyborg in a much larger form—a Giant Robot, a kid and a few marines would exclaim—much to the excessive excitement of well... everyone.
They were boys in men's bodies, he thought.
Still, he couldn't help but feel amusement along with relief and he looked at her and the people she called nakama.
Truly an odd crew.
…
They took back Caesar from Buffalo and Baby 5 through the navigator and longnose. Their appearance almost fugacious, as many of the events the past few hours, even when they presented a challenge to the crew. He had known those two since they were children after all, they'll be back.
In any case, he fixed the kids by slicing them up and taking out the poison (though Tony-san ignored his warning to not take a peek at the procedure and took a look anyway, causing for some rather troublesome misunderstanding he wouldn't have cared to correct with any other crew), and the marines took charge of the kids afterwards.
A child—Momonosuke, they called him—was reluctant to eat no matter how hungry he was. Kinemon broke the stubbornness by eating eagerly and saying he trusted them. "Let us continue to live, Momonosuke!" He said, and the boy took a bite… and another, until he was gobbling the whole meal.
They both cried. And they could tell these two must've gone through a lot even before they met them.
Still, as much as he's not against soft scenes, he warned Luffy that someone was coming and they didn't really have time to eat until they get out of the island's vicinity. She turned serious at this and gets everyone's attention, and he was almost relieved.
"Someone is after us." She said, standing up straight. "So let's hurry!"
Then, she grinned. "BAAANQQUEEET!"
And they had a party.
Law could only gape.
…
The party continued for far too long, he thought, but he didn't bother to tell them to hurry up anymore either as that, he now knew, was a lost cause. This crew—and the boisterous G-5 marines—would party until they dropped.
Well, whatever.
He drank his soup (which he admits truly was delicious and invigorating) and turned his head to the direction of approaching footsteps. It was Smoker, though Law barely spared him a glance.
He could feel the older man's stare, however, and Law eventually looked up and met them. Smoker didn't really look hostile, but he was apprehensive, and maybe a bit curious. "What are you up to taking advantage of Straw hat?"
He stared at the man, though he honestly wouldn't be surprised if there really was a hint of worry for the pirate in the marine's voice. Still, at the comment he wanted to laugh, saying he felt like he was the one taken advantage of.
"As long as Shanks isn't the first one." He remembered her say when he told her who the target was. "Since I want to beat all of the four emperors!"
He even told her how low their chances of winning were. But her smile remained. Hell—If anything it even brightened. "I see." She says, unperturbed. "Okay, let's do it!"
He wondered out loud if he'd be able to ever get a handle this crew.
Smoker—then holding his own bowl of soup—looked at him with a mix of puzzlement, reservation, and pity. And Law raised his eyebrow at him, only to shrug in the end. They finished off their meals together.
Their moment of silence however was interrupted by a commotion created by an odd mix of marines, pirates, and children. "When we grow up, we're going to be PIRATES!"
The marines gasped. "DON'T!"
And Mugiwara-ya just laughed, the way she always did.
He could only stare at her.
缴获
THOUSAND SUNNY GO
A few hours later
He was sitting on one of the benches within one of the ship's lawn, one of the few in the ship who was even awake, and the only one guarding Caesar. He had a den den mushi at hand, and armed only with massive amount of grit. "Your most powerful business partner—Kaido, king of beasts, will be most displeased if he finds out about this."
He relished in the pause, knowing he was finally getting under his enemy's skin, and he then stood up and kicked Caesar out after he let his voice be heard. "Let's negotiate: Caesar for your resignation in the Shichibukai."
Fortunately, his voice was steadier than his nerves. And it was disconcerting how Doflamingo can still instill fear amidst the anger in him.
It was then that he noticed Strawhat nearby, nonchalantly staring at Caesar on the lawn, before literally stepping over the scientist to go to him. Law's eyes stayed at her while he spoke to his greatest enemy. She stood next to him, silent. "If I don't see your resignation in the newspaper, the deal is off." He said, putting the speaker down.
As he stood, her passive stare morphed into a smile. "You did good." She said, and raises her hand, patting his head and felt the nerves that were sending anxious signals through his body calm down at contact.
He looked at her and he wondered if she sensed the underlying fear he held within himself.
Whatever the case, it was then that he realized—along with the stillness of the boat—that things had really calmed down, and he took time to absorb the sight of the person next to him.
Law looked at her warily as he mused, suddenly reminded of a moment during his fight with Vergo. What did it mean… for her to be one of the people he saw when he was on the verge of death…?
To some degree he knew he was attracted to this woman in a way he hadn't felt before. But to see her face the moment he believed he was dying?
This was the last thing he needed right now.
And he knew he was screwed.
"What is it?" She asked, sensing his stare. But Law didn't answer so she furrowed her eyebrows and took a step forward. By instinct, he stepped back, and this made her blink. "What?"
He cleared his throat.
"Torao?"
"I'd like to be alone." He said, but as always she didn't listen.
"Eh? What—"
"Room"
And he disappeared to the safety of his chamber, just like that.
"Torao?" She looked around, no longer sensing his presence in the corridor. She blinked. "…Huh."
To Luffy, this will be one of Law's great mysteries.
.
.
END OF CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15: CONTROLLED
Sometimes it takes less than the peto-peto fruit to be controlled.
REPLIES TO ANGELS
Vanessa Masters – hahahah I know I'm sorry. I'll try to update faster so my precious reviewers don't forget the comments I reply to hahaha. And wow 'such perfect work' is quite the compliment. Thank for that, and I will do my best to continue improving. Hihihihihihi. Thank you for the review!
Callmecrazylol – Indeed! Good thing we all know it will probably never happen again (except if by some event Shanks dies, of course). Glad you liked it and thx for reviewing!
Bepo1401 – Heheh I am super glad you loved the chapter! And noted! I liked the Law POV parts as well. Hehe. Thx for reviewing!
Littlest1 – Hahahah. /someone/ has to be in the know hahahah. Such fun to write I tell you. Glad you liked it btw and thank you for reviewing!
Sakihinata – No problem! And thank you for reading and reviewing!
Rainbowmaze – Awww I'm happy to know that I somehow helped with your day! *hugs* And Thank you for telling me you liked the chapter, as well!
Sdkop21 – Thanks for sayin the story has a lot of potential! I hope I get to write it all, though I admit I'm a bit struggling at some parts.
Haruaji11 – Thanks for reviewing! And hehehe. I hope I don't disappoint with the LawLu thing! Feel free to comment on them tho!
Robertastarcris11 – Here it is! Sorry for the wait, and I hope you like it!
Nachuu – (ch4) ahaha yep! Mutual feelings un haha di ka nag-assume. Hahhaha. I'm so happy you liked the story kabayan! At sino pala gusto mo makatuluyan ni Luffy? XD Sabihan mo ko dali! hahahahha
Pinkus-pyon – Thank you for reviewing! Hahha. I loved writing LawLu as well hehe. And yep, Sabo and Kidd will be in the harem. Smoker… well probably not. xDD
Carolyn Tate – (ch1) Thank you for commenting! Hope you get to this chapter and good luck to the cause you were talking about! :D
Shadow Wolf 15846 – Thanks for reviewing! Here is the next chap! I hope you like this one as well!
Foolishlysmart – hahahah why what'd your bestie say about your old user name? XD Thanks for reviewing btw and I am so glad you liked the story. Where are you from btw? And your English isn't bad.
Starlightdarkest – I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far! And loool actually I haven't gotten to writing Barty yet. Looking forward to that as well! Hahah. Thx for the review btw!
FemLuffyisLife – Thanks for the kind review! Here's the update and I hope you like it.
Lea – Here it is! I am so glad you liked the story! Hope you enjoy this chapter as well!
…
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