There's no way to prepare you for what happens in this chapter. But don't hate me.
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A World of Difference
Chapter Nineteen: Count the Cost
Dragon watched silently as Ruka stared, inconsolable, at her nakama's corpses littering the floor. Her wide, bright eyes twitched with a mixture of fury and anguish that was all too familiar to Dragon, who'd taken more than one innocent life.
Behind him, Dragon sensed Bonnie and Flint were sitting in similar pools of grief and loathing. But Ruka emitted the strongest waves of guilt. Her face contorted with rage—vengeful, agonizing rage—as barely a tear or two pooled in the corners of her eyes.
"You should know," Second said, mockingly, and Ruka's shoulders jerked into a square, "They were brave. Foolishly so. The tall one lying to the East of you, the one that's still whole, he called Dragon a hero. Said we were monsters. I'm not sure what he was trying to accomplish. But he did entertain the Tenryuubito."
Ruka grit her teeth, clenched her fists, as her shoulders started to tremble.
"It took about two seconds to annihilate them all," Second continued, stroking his beard, "They needn't have suffered. But Dragon tried to stop us with his conquerors haki. That's why everyone's unconscious you see."
Blood trailed from the corner of Ruka's mouth. She had no facial wounds. Dragon suspected it was her own doing.
"Just for the record," First interceded, and Ruka glared up at him with one dark eye from behind ragged fringe, "Your mother and friend, the ones we interrogated for information on you, are no longer in this world."
Bonnie jerked her head up to stare disbelieving at First. Ruka hardly moved at all, save for her rapid breath which came out like steam from behind her rattling teeth.
"The problem with slaves is that they usually have very short lifespans." First began explaining, and Ruka raised her head to curse him with her gaze. "The nobles overwork them and they quickly become defective. Some are sold back into auction, some die, some are executed for entertainment. Would you like to venture a guess as to who assassinated those two poor girls?"
With that, First tilted his head ever-so-slightly, unreadable gaze directed squarely at Dragon.
Dragon stared back, not understanding. Then slowly, it came to him.
It had been a few weeks before he was sent after Ruka. The weather was perfect as usual, and he'd just returned from a guard job on Sabaody Archipelago. One of the World Noble family head's called him into the slave theatre, a place he despised more than Sabaody's auction houses. He'd known before he arrived what he was going there for. His fears were confirmed the moment he reached his destination. Onstage, under a glaring spotlight, two women sat back-to-back, gagged and bound to chairs. He'd stepped on stage, spared two seconds to glance at the women and the Noble family, who were seated in the audience. Then, without thinking, he looked into the eyes of the women and shot them dead. The Noble's had gasped, disappointed, as he stalked down the steps and out the theatre. He'd given them one snappy comment, full of cursing hatred—"Don't waste my time."—and slammed the door as the family laughed, clinking wine glasses and pointing at the dead girls on stage.
Dragon pulled back to reality, withholding breath and feeling his hands go numb.
"Dragon has condemned your family to death twice now, girl." First concluded, speaking directly to Ruka, who listened with forlorn defiance in her wide eyes. "He's your enemy just as much as he is ours. Stop protecting him. He isn't worth it."
Dragon curled his fingers into fists. He looked away from Ruka, ashamed, unable to breathe or say a word. He felt Ruka tense, saw her look at him, and braced himself for a second punch or worse.
But—
"How many times has that worked?" Ruka asked in a low voice, devoid of any emotion save for a bit of hatred. "I get it. This is how you isolated Dragon. Fine. But don't expect me to fall for it. I know better."
"Dragon is a liar and a murderer." First insisted in a cold, adamant tone. "He murdered your mother—"
Ruka whirled, throwing her fists behind her. "YOU MADE HIM DO IT!"
"We didn't make him do anything." First argued. "He was free to refuse."
"LIAR!" Ruka shouted, taking a harsh step forward.
Dragon jerked forward, lashing out to grab her wrist. She didn't react beyond trying to throw him off and run forward. He couldn't guess her plan. Perhaps she wanted to cut their throats. More likely, there was no plan.
"One more chance, girl." First said, nodding politely. "Step aside. We'll kill Dragon, and set the three of you free."
"No." Ruka replied, shaking her head fiercely.
"Step aside." First ordered, reaching into his jacket pocket.
"No!" Ruka snapped, clenching her fist and trying to pull free of Dragon.
"We will kill him, that's already decided." First told her, revealing a small firearm, one that Dragon recognized with a lurch of his stomach. "You can still save yourself, your sister, and your captain. But even if you refuse and somehow escape punishment, we will still end him. You cannot stop that, two-bit, no name pirate."
"OVER MY DEAD BODY!" Ruka shouted, and Dragon winced.
"Watch how you word things." He ordered, for the second time.
"As you wish." First replied, and fired the gun.
It took less than a second. Dragon, livid at the thought of Ruka being harmed further, yanked her by the arm behind him. When he tried to activate armament haki, the pain was so excruciating that he fell to his knees, hunched over, hand cupped over his mouth as he coughed up blood. The bullet closed in on him, and he straightened the fingers of his free hand with plans of catching it.
Flint landed in front of them, feet clapping onto the ground, dirt coming up in plumes. The bullet shot forward, flying straight for his heart. Ruka and Bonnie were suspiciously calm.
He sliced the air with his sword, and the bullet split apart.
Dragon and the Gorosei were mutually astounded. They all jerked back, wide eyes unbelieving, as if having seen a miracle. An astounding, impossible miracle. Inconvenient on the Gorosei's part.
He cut it. Dragon thought, his barely functioning mind put two and two together. A seastone bullet… Impossible…
What was that blade?
Flint brandished his sword, holding it at his side.
"Flint Rackham…" First said, tone thick with disbelief, looking from the sword to the man himself. "…How?"
Flint glowered, raised the sword to hold it over his shoulders.
"You wanna say again," He asked in a challenge, "Who's a two-bit pirate?"
They stared, unable to reply, and Flint pointed his sword at them.
"We're getting out of here." He told them. "No matter what! Prepare yourselves!"
"And how do you plan on doing that?" First asked, making it clear he had no intention of letting them pass.
Dragon knit his brow, casting a quick, cautious gaze around the room. The walls were dirt, easily broken at full strength. More of a challenge with the state he was in, but still an option. If only he could distract them. It would only take an instant—
He felt something light hit his shoulder and he looked to see a small, cone-shaped piece of rock tumbling down his cloak, towards the ground. He blinked incredulously and looked up, at the ceiling full of stalactites.
It was trembling. The stalactites shook together, raining dirt and dust down on them. Dragon shielded his face with his arms, drawing the attention of the others to the ceiling.
All at once, there was a wave of subtle but panicked shock through the room. The Gorosei took one look at them and rushed out the entrance, with thick iron doors sliding into place behind them.
Dragon glared at them as the dirt started to pour down en masse. Squinting through the pain, he grabbed Ruka and looked at Flint.
"How do we get out of here?!" Flint demanded, as Bonnie rushed up behind him to take his hand, her pink hair full of small pebble-like dirt.
Dragon threw an arm out, holding a hand out to Flint. Flint took it and Dragon uttered a quick—"Brace yourselves!"—and ran. At his current speed, he was barely able to generate enough force to trod over the bodies and barrel through the dirt walls. He reached a layer of white-rock and burst through it as well, exiting in a tumble of dirt, rock, and dust into a narrow, windowless hall.
He released Flint's hand, his ears full of the pirates' coughing and spitting. Dragon wiped dirt and sweat from his brow and looked down both ways of the hall before looking back at them.
"Now we run." He told, taking hold of Ruka's hand and taking off down the hall.
Flint and Bonnie were at his heels, their lungs now semi-clear, allowing for speech.
"Where are we going?!" Flint hissed through the darkness.
Dragon swallowed against the perfume-and-sugar air. "Outside! It's our only chance!"
"We won't survive another trip in that elevator!" Flint argued. "We can't go that way!"
"We're not taking the elevator!" Dragon told them, shooting Flint a warning glance.
"What else is there?" Bonnie asked. "Hiding in the slave barns?"
"We're not hiding!" Dragon informed them. "We're jumping!"
"Jumping?" Flint asked, eyes shifting, then popping in realization. "Off the Red Line? Are you insane? We'll never make it!"
"We've got to try!" Ruka said, speaking up for the first time since they'd left the Void. "We've no other choice! Stranger said rescuing Dragon would take some creativity!"
Dragon heard this and came to an abrupt stop, Flint slamming into his back. Flint stumbled away, holding his nose and shooting Dragon an angry look before rushing forward to grab Dragon by the shoulder and shake him furiously.
"What are you standing around for?" He demanded. "We've gotta go, come on!"
"Creativity…" He muttered, eyes shaking.
"What?" Flint asked, angry.
"Creativity…" He said, taking a look at Ruka before whirling and heading off in the opposite direction.
"Where are we going NOW?" Flint asked, clearly impatient.
"My room!" He answered, rushing down the hall in seconds with the other three barely able to keep up.
"What? WHY?!" Ruka asked, not understanding either.
"Because!" Dragon said, turning the bend as he tried to keep an eye out for enemies. "It's the most creative place in Mariejois!"
"ARE YOU CRAZY?" Flint said, more an accusation than a question.
His room was specifically designed to control his powers. Powers which they'd never seen before. Built to channel his odd energies into wiring and lighting so as to make them harmless to himself and everyone in Mariejois. And those designs had been 100% successful, otherwise this palace would be charcoal. Then there was the mirror. The one Anomaly's benefactor had used to watch him all these years. If he were right, that room was their way out of this mess.
"Just keep up!" He ordered them as they rushed down the hall.
At that moment, there was a great explosion that made the entire palace shake. The group of four, especially the weakened Dragon, stumbled and walked into walls. Their vision reverberated along with the palace, so that they were seeing double. Dragon squinted through the quaking and gazed ahead, ire burning in his eyes. If he had to guess what was causing this he had to say it was…
"No!" He gasped as the trembling came to an abrupt stop. An epic BOOM burst through the walls, nearly shattering their eardrums.
"What's happening?!" Ruka demanded, her hands clapped over her ears.
Dragon, grit his teeth and shot her a panicked look over his shoulder.
"We need to get out of here now!" He told them, desperately.
"Of course!" Flint agreed, not understanding what had changed.
Ruka's face fell, then sharpened. "What's wrong?"
Dragon raced back and grabbed her hand, then took off as quickly as his legs would carry him. Bonnie and Flint were hot on their heels, both of them directing their gazes behind them.
"They're out!" He answered.
They had seconds. Less than that, actually. Those people would waste no time in tracking them down and once they did then Dragon and his companions would be trapped like rats. He had to reach his room before that happened.
"Dragon! What do we do?" Ruka asked, sounding just as panicked as he felt.
"Move faster! And stay together!" He ordered as they rushed down the hall.
He looked around them and discerned their position. Mariejois was about three times the size of a medium-sized city. In those terms, they were about three "blocks" or so from his room. There were a number of shortcuts in the walls, hidden behind invisible doors. But he had to assume they were already being monitored. The Gorosei would have checked the Void as soon as the cave in was over. If they didn't see their bodies, and they wouldn't, they would ensure the rest of the palace was properly guarded by either escorts or, now that they were free, CP0. It was standard operating procedure that CP0 go into offensive guard positions in the case of invasion. They would already be in position. But they were aware that he knew those positions, so they would shuffle them, in order to confuse him.
Were the secret paths safe? Or were the halls safe? Where would they be hiding?
He racked his brain for the right answer, and felt a jolt of relief when it came to him.
He came to an abrupt halt, stopping directly under one of the torches lining the halls. He released Ruka's hand and went to the wall, feeling around with both hands until he felt a small screw jutting out, painted white so as to blend in. He pressed it into the wall. Stone grinded as one narrow portion shifted out of the way, revealing a narrow hall so thin there was barely room for men to stand shoulder-to-shoulder.
The others didn't need to be told. They followed in after Dragon, and Ruka's discerning eye found the closing switch in less than a second. The door flew shut behind them, and the torches came to life, lighting up one after the other as if by magic.
Dragon braced himself for the sight even before they came into view, their bodies illuminated by the torches that were previously unlit. Sure enough, standing halfway down the hall were two of his former fellow CP0 operatives, both of them men, their faces concealed by their masks.
"Hey, you led us into one of their traps!" Bonnie complained, looking stricken in the eerie light.
"There was a trap waiting for us no matter what path we took." Dragon answered, unflinching. "But in this narrow hall, they can pack only so many enemies."
"You traitor," One of them spoke up, and Dragon's eyes narrowed. "How dare you kill so many of your comrades."
"Be quiet." Dragon ordered, pushing his tattered sleeves back. "You people were never my comrades. I've always despised you. And the feeling was mutual."
"You'll be executed for this." The other CPO man threated.
"Try it." Dragon said, and attempted to use his armament haki. Pain shot through his arms like white-hot electricity and he half-collapsed against the wall amidst concerned cries from his comrades. He pried open his eyes. Barely able to breathe, bathed in sweat, and racked by pain, he knew it was no good. Accessing his haki had become impossible. But he had to fight.
"Everyone, we must defeat them if we're to get out of here." He told the three pirates, his tone pleading.
No sooner had he asked did Ruka shove past him and dash ahead, taking the initiative. He felt a twinge in his heart that urged him to stop her, but he pushed the thought away and cleared his mind.
Ruka got close to them and drop-knelt before springing into the air. She pulled a dagger from her belt and twisted it in her hand. One of the CP0 men put his arm up to shield himself, placing his free hand behind his forearm with his fingers pressed together like an arrow. Dragon recognized the stance and immediately ordered Ruka to move.
She kicked off the close-quarters walls, positioned upside down in mid-air with her limbs spread out. This was a moment sooner than her enemy had shot his hand forward, slicing through air instead of vital organs as he would've if not for quick movements. Ruka flipped, kicking the man in the back with all the force she could muster. Unfortunately, her strength wasn't enough to knock him down.
He whirled, aiming to punch her. She slowed his force by bracing it with her dagger, which shattered upon impact. He buried his fist in her throat, knocking her down the hall. She writhed in pain on the ground, both hands cupping her throat as she hacked up blood.
Dragon inhaled sharply, angered by the state they'd put her in.
Flint and Bonnie were quick to react, rushing forward without restraint. Flint had that clever blade of his, and Bonnie was weaponless.
Flint knelt, whirling and slicing through the air like a shuriken. The slicing gusts bounced off the two CP0 operatives, leaving miniscule tears in their clothes. Bonnie hopped on his back, using it as a spring board, her brightly colored nails outstretched. Both CP0 men half-turned, their shoulders joined as their eyes narrowed in unison. Dragon felt their haki spark in the air and ground his teeth at the sight of them, both fully capable and intent on killing Bonnie and Flint together.
Bonnie kicked off Flint, whirling through the air. She sliced through the winds with her nails, and Dragon caught a whiff of something sweet and stinging. It made his eyes water, curiously, and he blinked the moistness away. The other two were closer and got a stronger hit of it. Dragon watched, amazed, as their knees bent and they fell against the walls. How? They were supposed to be immune to toxins!
He blinked, amazed. Of course! He knew the scent. It had come from one of CP0's own laboratories. Bonnie must have found it before reaching the Void. They had not bothered to immunize themselves against that which only they had.
"Do it now!" Dragon shouted.
"Silence traitor!" One CP0 man snapped.
Bonnie whirled again, clawing away at her enemy's eyes. Dragon stared, astonished. That was too easy. Or had they underestimated her?
Blood splashed into the air, and the man's arms shot out. He was completely unfazed by the sudden, inexplicable loss of his sight. He knew only that he must destroy the enemy, Bonnie, as soon as he could. This was how they were all trained
Flint stood abruptly, and Bonnie jumped over the man's shoulders. Her feet clapped against the ground and she raced to Ruka's side, where she lay barely conscious on the ground.
Flint struck his sword against both walls with blinding speed, creating small sparks that flew from wall to wall. They struck the CP0 men, distracting them as small portions of their clothes burned. Flint sliced downwards, cutting one man almost in half. He fell back, now dead.
Dragon stared amazed. But he blinked and the other CP0 man disappeared. Flint, Dragon, and the girls both gasped, their eyes shifting around in desperate search of their enemy. Three pairs of eyes widened in horror, their gaze fixed behind Dragon.
Dragon turned quickly, but the action seemed to take an eternity. As soon as he was turned around, he found himself staring into the barrel of a gun.
Ruka shrieked, sounding horrified: "DRAGON!"
He jerked his knees to move away, but found they were numb and useless. His small, split-second struggle only dragged him closer to the ground, and he flinched at the click of the trigger, froze at the bullet's echoing boom. His pupils shrank, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. If he died now, would they be spared?
Before he could think on it any further, a flash of sky blue flew in front of his eyes. He thought it was the actual sky he was seeing, a glimpse of life beyond life. But the echoing boom of the bullet was quickly followed by the sickening noise of flesh being ripped and shredded. Blood splattered across Dragon's face, only it was not his own.
He winced, eyes flashing up to see Flint standing before him, the left shoulder of his long blue cloak now soaked in deep red blood. It gushed like a fountain from his neck, dripping and oozing its way to the ground.
Dragon's head jerked back in terror. "Flint…?"
The girls were abnormally, frighteningly silent behind Dragon. But Flint stood tall and brave, bearing the fatal wound that would've ended Dragon instantly. Dragon did what he should've done in the first place and forced himself to his feet, staring at the sight before him in astonished disbelief.
Yes, CP0 had gotten Flint. Gotten him good. But Flint had used the same instant to shove his own sword through the other man's chest, cutting his heart in half.
The CP0 man was already dead, his last expression a look of inhuman, insane glee. Just as Fujime's had been.
Flint's hands went limp, his bloodshot eyes slipping closed. Dragon jerked, his arms coming up, and caught the barely conscious, non-breathing man in his arms, catching Flint's head on his shoulder. The blood-streaked sword slipped from the man's chest and clattered to the ground just before the second body dropped.
"Flint!" Dragon called, kneeling. Flint's eyes were opening and closing, his pupils swirling and shifting as they struggled to focus.
"B…Nee…" He muttered.
"No." Dragon said, suddenly furious at the idea of this man dying. He didn't want this. All of their crewmates were dead. Why did Flint have to die?
"FLINT!" Bonnie shouted, her rushing footsteps racing up behind Dragon. In an instant, the young woman was kneeling at Flint's side, her expression wrecked by acute heartache as tears streamed from her eyes.
"C-Cap.. Tain...!"
Dragon heard Ruka's broken hearted call and turned his head, looking away from Flint who was bleeding out on his shoulder, to see Ruka. She was trembling against the wall, one arm braced against it as her bent knees twitched. Slowly, she fought her way to her feet, putting both hands on the wall where her nails left claw marks.
"D… Dragon…" She addressed, speaking through her throat wounds. "Flint… Needs a doctor…"
Dragon couldn't bear it. He let all the anguish he felt for Ruka flood into his eyes, his face. Flint had taken the bullet in his neck. The puddle of blood on the floor was quickly growing in radius. He was still warm, but growing cooler. The chances of saving him were—
"FLINT'S NOT DEAD YET!" Ruka growled, making Dragon, her sister, and the dying man in both the former's arms flinch. "If we get him to a doctor, he'll be saved! Now where's this room of yours! Show us the way!"
Dragon grit his teeth. Her tone left no room for arguments. Against his better judgement, he nodded to her, and turned away, pretending not to notice the tears gathering in Ruka's and Flint's eyes. He was looking at Dragon, his lips moving subtly in an indecipherable message.
"Don't speak." Dragon ordered. If Ruka wasn't giving up, neither would he. He supported Flint with one arm and tore a strip of his cloak away with his free hand, tying it loosely around the man's wound. Flint's eyes bulged out at the pain, hacking up blood.
"We've got to move," He told Flint, eyes shifting to the tearful and trembling mess that was Bonnie, and ordered the latter to help him. Together, they half-lifted, half-pulled Flint to his feet, supporting him with their arms. Dragon pulled Flint's arm over his shoulders, and leaned down to grab the back of the man's knee. Bonnie put her hands on Flint's back and slid him up, onto Dragon's.
Dragon felt the weight of the man, who wasn't exactly large, as if he were holding up the sky. His weak legs and nauseous stomach screamed in protest, but he fought the pain back and got moving down the tunnel, shooting a hateful glare at the first CP0 corpse as he passed him.
Together they ran, with Bonnie behind and Ruka ahead. Ruka had taken Flint's sword, and was clasping it in her hands as she ran. It's weight was a bit much for her in her current state, and Dragon felt the overbearing time bomb that was their high chances of destruction tick and tick away.
They reached the end of the corridor after what felt like an eternity. Ruka opened the door and they all followed out as swiftly and silently as possible. Dragon looked down both ends of the unlit corridor, and spotted his ominous bedroom door. Never had he thought he would ever be happy to see it.
He rushed to it, standing aside for Ruka to open the door. They all flew in. Ruka turned the knob as she shut it to keep things silent.
Dragon laid Flint out on the old bed and went to the rucksack hanging from the bedpost. He drew it open and dug inside until he felt a handful of small hypodermic needles and drew them out, staring at them intently in the quiet darkness. He blinked, having identified the necessary vile, and rolled it between his fingers before dropping the rest back into his rucksack. He bit the lid off with his teeth and stabbed the needle into Flint's chest, hopeful and willing all that was good and graceful to save him.
"What's that going to do?" Ruka asked. Bonnie couldn't speak; she'd bitten so deeply into her hand that it was bleeding as profusely as Flint's neck.
"It should slow the bleeding," Dragon answered, trying to ignore the trepidation of his own heart, "And help him stay conscious.
They all jumped—save for Flint, who's eyes were fluttering open and shut—at the sound of the next room's door slamming open. There were boots marching over the ground, furniture being thrown, and whoever was doing it wasn't speaking a word.
"They've found us!" Ruka hissed, turning to face the door, Flint's sword raised in front of her.
Dragon left Flint's side and flew to the mirror, permanently bolted to the wall. Anomaly had said that they—Anomaly and whomever he worked for—had watched him through this since childhood. So they should see him now.
"Save him!" Dragon pleaded, barely noticing the girls' stunned eyes on him. "Save Flint! Please!"
At first nothing happened, and Dragon despaired. But then it hit him, and realization dawned on his face.
"I won't let them find you," He promised, stomach clenching, "Please save them!"
Ruka caught that last bit, reacting with terror and fury. Dragon looked at her, a silent apology gleaming in his eyes, and she opened her mouth to scream at him.
And then she was gone. No magic dust, or flashing lights, or odd symbols to it. They were there and then they were gone. All three of the pirates had inexplicably vanished, as if devoured by the air into an alternate dimension.
Dragon turned, uncomprehensive as he pressed his back to the mirror.
Who was it? Who watched them? Who had taken them?
His eyes flitted to the door and he winced. The Gorosei were waiting at the end of the hall. If they disappeared here, it would be obvious that the one who'd designed this safe room was not on their side. And they were certain to know where to find him, and Dragon's friends.
Flint could no longer fight in his state, and Ruka had to take care of her captain. It was up to him.
But how? What should he do?
A bead of sweat trailed down his brow. He gulped, released one shaking breath through his nose and stared hard at his bedroom door. Any moment now, that door would open. Whomever entered would take one look at him and know they'd won. His heavily bruised, burned, torn skin. The harsh wounds of his throat, his internal bleeding, the way even sitting here was so strenuous he was shaking as if he were caught in an earthquake. If it came to a one-on-one fight with any of them, he would lose.
Never had he lost before. He couldn't afford to lose. Not then or now. But neither could he afford to quit.
GET UP AND FIGHT BACK!
"G-Golde… Antoi… Nette…!" He gasped as he braced his hands against the wall and pushed himself up to his numb, trembling legs. He raised his head, glaring at the door. "Watch me… Fight…!"
He groaned (annoying how pitiful he sounded) and shifted onto his knees to crawl to his bed. Broken, blood-encrusted fingers dug underneath his mattress until they found a microscopic two-inch line of stitching. He dug his nails into the threading and ripped it open, slipping his hand inside to grab a handful of small, round objects.
He pulled his hand free, clutching the objects and pushed himself warily to his feet. He staggered to the door and wrapped his shaking fingers around the icy knob and turned, stepping back out into the hall.
There, First was standing with his arms crossed behind his back. He glowered down at Dragon, disappointed and fatally furious, the veins in his forehead bulging and obvious.
Dragon closed the door behind him and half-collapsed against it, panting and looking up at First.
"Here we are, then." First said with a nodding shake of his head. "A stalemate."
"I'm leaving." Dragon told him, and saw First's eyes narrow. "I won't let you touch them."
"Just quit fighting and we'll let them go." First reminded him.
"You can't expect me to trust you." Dragon said, stating this as if it were obvious.
"No, but even without those three, we still have one other hostage." First reminded grimly.
Dragon blinked groggily and sank against the door. He was about four minutes from passing out, and he really didn't want to think about their other hostage. The one he could do nothing for, even if he wanted to…
"That one… Means nothing to me…" He said, and was surprised how great this lie was.
He rolled one of the small, round objects in between his thumb and forefinger, pinching it lightly.
"Catch me if you can." He challenged, and flicked the object at First.
The older man snatched it out of the air a millisecond before it would've collided with his face. Dragon jumped away from the door, taking three leaps down the hall before First moved to chase him.
"Bang…!" Dragon whispered, and the marble-sized grenade exploded in First's face.
He felt the heat of fire chase him down the hall and his knees cracked three times as he picked up speed. Fire brushed his shoulder blade, setting fire to his cloak, and he grit his teeth as he turned the bend. He reached around him, ripping off his cloak and throwing it back into the blazing corridor mere seconds before the fire died out.
That wasn't enough to kill First, or anyone else besides the Tentryuubito, who were passed out in the Void. He took a moment to hope the cave-in had been enough to kill at least a few of them and rushed down the hall, slipping into yet another hidden corridor.
As much as he wanted to rest, he knew what that would mean. He pushed himself and moved forward, stumbling down stone steps to the end of the corridor. The exit opened to the outside world, and Dragon dropped out of it, falling from the doorway to the red soil five feet below.
He groaned, a broken, crumpled heap. No time. He stretched his arms out and pushed himself up to his knees and cast a sweeping gaze at the view before him.
He was outside the town, near the slave barns. The edge of the mountain was a few hundred feet away. A grand distance in the state he was in.
He gasped, barely able to breathe. He half-collapsed, catching himself by slamming the heels of his palms against the tough red soil. Eyes wide with panic as the gasping, empty breaths increased in frequency. Hyperventilation.
No!
He clapped one hand against his chest, gripping his shirt as he coughed and hacked up blood and gunk and all sorts of unidentifiable inner mess. Dripping with sweat, one lid sunk lower than the other, blood streaming like crimson waterfalls from his wounds. He ground his teeth and fought his way back up to his feet, staring ahead with determination.
He took a deep breath and jerked his legs forward, taking off in a run. He forced his mind to focus on everything but the pain. The taste of dirt in his mouth, the whirling winds enveloping him, the glaring sunshine he never thought he'd feel again. It worked. He passed the slave barns, giving them a passing glance. There was no time to even consider taking a single one of them with him. And it was selfishness he was unlikely to forgive himself for.
He closed in on the edge. Beyond the red line, he couldn't see the horizon. It was all mist and cloud vapor. If not for the echoing noise of waves lapping against the mountain, he would've been unable to believe anything lay beyond Mariejois—
"Dragon!"
Dragon jerked to a stop, chest heaving, lungs screaming. He turned and saw someone running from the edge of town towards him, her teary eyes alit with relief.
"Ruka!" He called out, moving to go after her.
Suddenly, the wind was knocked out of him. A bead of pain tore into his chest, burrowing and exploding there. He didn't have the energy to scream, and simply fell with a grunt. He hit the ground shoulder-first, as blood pooled in his mouth before leaking out onto the ground.
Barely conscious eyes swirled in his sockets. An illuminated silhouette appeared, standing over him, pointing a gun directly at his head.
"Did you really think it would be so easy?" The silhouette asked.
It was First.
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"DRAGON!" Ruka shrieked at the sound of the bullet, her voice drowned out by the noise. Dragon took the bullet in the center of his chest and she flinched, feeling an empty, pulsing agony that turned her blood to lightning.
Dragon slammed shoulder-first into the ground, blood spurting from his various wounds to dye the ground around him so he resembled some gory, earthbound firework. His head dropped to the ground, and her heart stuttered with panic in her chest.
She reached out, fingers splayed, as her blood-and-sweat soaked knees cricked and cracked to carry her closer to him. First had the gun pointed at his head, finger over the trigger, an infuriatingly determined look on his face as he narrowed his eyes inch by inch. Dragon's hazy stare swirled around until it zeroed in on him with a sort of blank expectance.
"STOOOOP!" She begged, tears streaming, blood gushing out, driven by her frantic heartbeat.
…bang…!
The noise was distant. It reached her ears only after cutting through all other sounds. Once it was there, she could barely hear it. An echoing drumbeat against her ears. A mocking repetition of the destruction of all that she held dear.
She had lost everything. Everything.
Blood exploded from behind Dragon's ear, a crimson so deep it sucked away all other colors. The world was bleak and monochrome before her wide, empty eyes.
Dragon lay on the ground, eyes blank and staring right at her. She couldn't look away from his empty gaze. Wide, dark eyes. The eyes of the one she'd given everything—everything—to save. Dark eyes, always so brave but somber. That broken, genuine smile with its touch of sadness that pulled at her heart was now locked in a rigid frown, lips parted from unspoken words that were now permanently, eternally, silenced.
Ruka fell to her knees, her mind a scrambled mess. As if she were the one with a bullet in her brain. Tears trailed silently, one by one, from her blankly wide eyes that tried and failed repeatedly to take in the sight of dead Dragon. Dead Dragon.
She had failed. Failed her captain, her crew, her sister, and herself. Failed Hestia, and Stranger, and his generous benefactor who'd been kind enough to teleport her back here. Failed Dragon.
Everything was over. Over… She had lost everything.
"Do you understand now, girl?" First's voice came, so loud and grating and full of uneasy satisfaction. "Dragon was always meant to die for us, one way or another."
Ruka's eyes twitched at that, eyebrows raising just enough. Her ears ached. Her heart was gone, punched out of her chest, gone, gone, GONE…!
She had nothing now. Nothing but—
Her head whipped up, eyes jerking, focusing on First. The newly monochrome world had turned to a staggering crimson. It bled out, dying the sky, the clouds, the mountain, and her only enemy in sight all different shades of maddening red.
She dug her heels into the soil and forced her knees up without touching the ground. Her legs went stock still—she hadn't noticed they'd been trembling—and her cloudy, dark, lightless pupils stared hard at First as the heat in her belly swelled from numb, pin-prickling anger to an explosive rage that could've burned her and the entire God-forsaken "Holy" Land to ashes.
Everything should be ashes. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. The entire, beautiful, impossible, hideous world…
"Die…" She ordered. Calmly and point-blank.
First blinked, as if pricked by a needle. "Say again, girl?"
Ruka felt an odd sensation reverberating through her body. Like an earthquake in her flesh. It was painful, as if she were about to spontaneously combust. She didn't care; she wanted to. But not before…
She looked at First, focusing her shaking, wide, cursing gaze on him. Empty man. Empty, thoughtless, greedy, vile, humanoid creature.
"You make me sick." She told him, and he narrowed his eyes at her. "Drop dead."
First's eyes twitched wide open, turning gray and round with agony. To her mild surprise, but intense satisfaction, he did as she said. He dropped to his knees, then collapsed to the ground, wide-eyed and seemingly soulless.
00000
Dragon was still alive.
Barely.
The bullet never touched his brain, but that did not mean he felt no shock. He was physically stunned, lying in a dazed, pained anguish that was so bewildering he might have been trampled. Then again, that was what had happened in a nutshell. They had trampled on him and everything he valued, everything that was dear and important to him.
Ruka. Her after-image flashed before his eyes like a ghost, and he winced from where he lay on the ground. He saw, but could not register, so many awful happenings. Impossible things. One moment Ruka was on her knees, staring at him as if the world had ended. The next, she was ordering First to die. Miraculously, he dropped to his knees, unconscious and barely alive. Just as Dragon was.
He watched Ruka. Was all this real…? It couldn't be. He could feel her haki. It was tremendous and mind-blowing (no pun intended). It flashed out in wave after wave, an endless onslaught of razor-sharp frostiness. She was the epicenter, an undersea earthquake. Her haki was a tsunami, its range surely expanding.
It was this that finally stirred him to the surface of his deep stupor. He blinked, feeling as if he had just risen up from deep water to poke his head above the ocean. Ruka was standing, but the look in her eyes was not like her. There was no trace of the woman he knew and cared for in her eyes. She had become a mirror-image of himself. Scarred and broken and with nothing to lose.
He gasped, a fountain of blood splattering the ground in front of him. He took in deep, panting breaths, eyes wide and pale and searching around as if still stunned. For a moment he was caught in his own reeling amazement—how was he still alive? What were the odds? —when he remembered Ruka and the power she was unleashing, and his eyes swerved back to find her now with her back to a line of CP0 agents.
"N—ungh!" He tried to speak, to call out to Ruka.
She couldn't do this. He could feel it from here. The self-destructive force of this insane power of hers which had knocked out First. If it could do that, then—!
"Cease this revolt at once." One CP0—One of the older ones—ordered, pointing at Ruka. "Surrender and submit to questioning—"
Ruka whirled, eyes bright with something dark and cursing. Dragon watched as the line of five highly trained CP0 operatives collapsed like dominoes, falling to the ground, apparently lifeless.
No, no, no…! Dragon rolled onto his stomach, slid broken hands over crumbling red soil, stretched his fingers out feebly.
"Ru… Ka…!" He called. Stop this now. Please. It's too much—!
She turned, eyeing him. Her face showed minor signs of astonishment—twitching eyes, pressed lips—but clear signs that she saw him. She saw him bleeding out, broken, at the edge of death. She saw him smile, weak and apologetic, saw his bloody fingers that left dark ruts over the soil.
He expected her to run to him, to fall to her knees in front of him, to drown him in her tears and her heart-aching relief.
But all she did was stare…
And stare…
And stare…
Dragon grew uneasy. Something was not right. No, something was criminally amiss.
A crowd of escorts were rushing up behind her, coming out to the edge of the mountain from the city. Dragon saw them in their matching uniforms and shoes and sunglasses that made them look like clones. He had hated them, but now he pitied them. He feared for Ruka, who had lost her mind and all control with it…
"Halt!" The escort in front called out as he dashed ahead, leading the crowd to her.
Ruka turned around, planting her feet in place. Dragon saw her tense knees and rigid back and felt her power increase tenfold, shooting out from her like a bombardment of spring-loaded harpoons. She knocked the first line of escorts down and the next ran smack into a wall of air. A literal barrier.
Dragon concentrated, something which made the entire back of his head cramp and ache. He understood what was happening. The waves of haki were now so frequent forward-wise that their collective force was like a wall. It was still in waves though, and when the lines of escorts touched the edge of Ruka's haki's radius they collapsed like the rubble washed inland from the coastline after a tsunami.
Only Dragon couldn't feel their life force. Had she killed them…?
"Ru… Gaaah!" He began, and fell back into the dirt. Pushing himself up was no good, and he couldn't use haki in his state. But he had to speak to her, get her attention.
"RUUUUKA!" He screamed, and it forced so much blood up his throat. The mess dyed his teeth, leaking through the cracks, and left his chest and throat burning.
But she looked at him. She was uncaring, but expectant. She was listening.
"Ruka, you have to stop this!" He spoke in a rush, afraid to breathe should the pain overwhelm him. "You've done it, now stop!"
"Why?" She asked, speaking while maintaining her wall of haki.
Dragon grit his teeth. "This is too strenuous! This amount of haki shouldn't be possible for anyone! And you're using it continuously, unconsciously, without restraint! If you keep this up, your brain will fail!"
"So?" She asked him in a trance-like state.
Dragon flinched. He'd been afraid of this. Her crew slaughtered, Flint being shot, Dragon's apparent death. She'd been tough, given it her best, but even she couldn't withstand such stress, such emotional strain. It was that which forced conquerors haki to awaken in the first place. He should've known, should've seen the signs.
"RUKA LISTEN TO ME!" He pleaded, feeling her approaching death become more inevitable with each passing second. "YOU HAVE TO STOP! YOU'LL KILL YOURSELF!"
"That doesn't matter." She answered, cold and adamant. Dragon looked into her eyes again and saw none of her. Like he was speaking to the tortured soul of Ruka. "My mother, my friends… My captain, my crew… Everything important to me, my own life and you… They won't stop until it's all obliterated. They're the ones that need to disappear! They need to fade away! I'LL KILL THEM ALL!"
Dragon curled his fingers, scraping soil into his palm. He lay trembling on the ground.
"But that's…" He said, half in wonder, half in horror, "That's how I feel. All the time. Every day… For twenty-seven years…"
"I'll destroy them!" She promised, so self-assured that Dragon almost believed it. "I'll kill them all. Every one of them will die…"
"No." Dragon said, shaking his head and clutching the back of his bleeding skull as he got to his feet. He met her eyes and staggered, dragging his feet until he got closer to her. Remarkably, she didn't move, but she didn't look willing to stop either.
He reached out with his free hand and pulled her in for a hug. He felt her gasp in his ear, felt her trembling form go still against his body. He unclasped his hand from around his skull and wrapped her in both arms, his expression determined and struggling.
"If you do that, you'll die too." He told her reasonably, and nudged her head with his own, burying his nose in her hair. He felt her tears soak his shoulder "Please stop… Your crew… Didn't wish for this. Neither do I. Please, just stop Ruka. Please…"
It took a moment. But his urging voice won out, and she collapsed into him, unconscious. As soon as she had, her waves of haki and the wall holding back the escorts died instantaneously. The crowd stared in confusion which quickly turned to anger and they charged forward.
Dragon's eyes snapped forward. He held Ruka to him, turned, and ran. He ran to the edge of the Red Line, to the cloudy abyss lying beyond it. He heard the ripping of wind and calls for blood. He didn't pause to think about it.
"STOP HIM!" First ordered, awake again.
Dragon jumped, diving head first into the clouds.
Wind howled in his ears as he cut through the clouds, falling with such astounding speed that he couldn't help but be surprised. The stress of the fall ripped his wounds open and caused broken bones to break more.
Help us, he pleaded silently.
Then, he couldn't help it. His exhausted body overwhelmed him into a dark, dreamless sleep.
00000
Dragon's head turned, his cheek pressing into a feather filled pillow. Light illuminated the darkness behind his eyelids, which quickly and anxiously flickered open. He gasped, feeling himself lying in bed and sat bolt upright.
He released empty, gasping breaths as he looked around the small room to assess his situation. He was, inexplicably, in what looked like a hospital clean room. Everything was white, anti-bacterial and spotlessly perfect. The room was a perfect cube, dimensionally speaking, and his bed was fairly large, sitting in a broad plastic bed frame. Surrounding it were a few machines which bleeped and hummed mechanically. An IV was stabbed into a vein halfway up his left arm, with his fingers, neck, stomach, and most of the rest of him wrapped in thick bandages that were, thankfully, clean. He was shirtless, wearing only pants with what felt like more bandages beneath them. There was a hospital tray positioned at the end of the bed with a glass of water and a tray holding a small bottle of vitamin supplements and a smaller bowl of fruit.
He blinked, astonished and surprised. His head felt abnormally light. He reached one hand around to run his fingers through his hair and found, to his surprise, that it was cut shortcut.
He let his hand fall. Haircuts were the least of his worries. He took another sweeping gaze around the room, and half-jumped out of his skin with relief.
Ruka was there. Seated in a small stool at his bedside, semi-conscious with her head bowed and her hair hanging in her face. She'd been treated too, from the looks of her. One arm was in a sling, and she had a single crutch with her. She was wearing very thin shorts and a tank top, exposing all of her bandages, the ones wrapped around her thigh and shoulder. Her face was beat up pretty badly too, shiny with ointment with small band-aides stuck over flesh wounds.
"Ruka…" He said, slowly and carefully. "Where are we…?"
Ruka was slow to respond. Then, as if the action was more strenuous than trying to lift boulders, she carefully raised her head and gave him a weak smile. But her eyes were red and puffy, and heavy with bruising bags beneath them.
"Hi, Dragon." She told him, then let her head drop away, her eyes shining. "Okaerinassai."
"Ruka…" He said, worried that perhaps he should keep silent, should the wind from his speech knock her out of her chair. But he had so many questions. "Ruka, have we been captured again?"
She shook her head wordlessly, dropping her head so her bangs half-hid shining, defeated eyes. She then looked to the front wall of the room, near the entrance, where a familiar face was seated cross-legged on the ground, waiting patiently.
"Good to see you, Dragon." Anomaly greeted formerly, sounding anything but pleased. But there was something hoarse about his voice. As if he had worried himself sick over something… Or someone.
Dragon knit his brow. "What are you doing here? I sent you away."
"True, you wouldn't accept my help." Anomaly said, complacently. "But she did. I helped her to reach you."
Dragon wasn't surprised. He had figured, somewhere in the back of his mind that she must have received some assistance from someone. There was no one else who'd taken any interest in helping him save for these two.
"Where are we?" Dragon asked again, and Anomaly frowned at him from behind the shadow of his hood.
"In a safe place." He answered, speaking up again when Dragon opened his mouth for further questions. "I'm afraid the details will have to wait until later. You have a more pressing matter to attend to. There's no more time."
"What matter is that?" Dragon asked, but forgot his question when he saw Ruka retrieve her crutch from where it leaned against her bed. She leaned on it as she stood, and more heavily as she stalked toward the door.
Dragon, worried over her catatonic-like attitude and her sudden desire for movement. He threw the blanket aside and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. There was a slight twinge in his gut, followed by some nausea and a minor head rush. Other than that, he was surprisingly without pain.
"How long have I been out?" He asked Anomaly as Ruka opened the door.
"This way." She urged and stepped out into the hall.
Dragon knit his brow. Anomaly ducked under the doorway and slipped out, his bulking form easily able to fit through the frame. Dragon followed, barefoot, clad in bandages and weary. This couldn't be good news. It was impossible.
He frowned, worried and followed them. The halls were narrow, dark, and somewhat familiar. There was a smell in the air, like chemicals and medicine. Were they in a hospital? Why was the lighting so poor?
"Ruka, what's going on?" He pressured, not liking the look of things.
"In here." Anomaly told him, polite and careful.
They'd reached a door. It hadn't been more than two minutes walking distance. Dragon stared at it, not liking the look of it.
He frowned at it, then reached forward and turned the handle. The door creaked open, sickeningly, and Dragon inhaled sharply at the sickening sight waiting for them inside.
The room was dark, a shadow version of the room Dragon had been in, with hospital bed and medical equipment. Only these machines were a lot more high-tech, and running at different capacities. The heart monitor sounded a slow, unsure beat.
Seated on a stool beside the bed was Bonnie, her face devoid of all emotion and streaked with tears. In the bed was…
"Flint." Dragon uttered, and moved inside to stand over the man.
Flint was pale, barely conscious, and staring off into the distance. His eyes regained a little of their lost light and flickered, perhaps unconsciously, to Dragon.
"Why aren't you wearing a mask?" Dragon asked, though he already knew the answer.
Bonnie choked on a sob, her back curling with grief at Flint's side. Flint squeezed her hand lightly, apparently lacking in strength.
Flint smiled up at Dragon, and began to croak out barely audible words:
"They said…I've got… Five minutes…!" He said, and Dragon winced. "It was actually meant to be sooner… But I had something to say to you, so I was holding out…"
"For how long?" Dragon asked, fighting back a wave of nausea. Where was Ruka? Was she still standing in the hall, afraid to come inside?
"About… Four days…" Flint answered, gulping so the thick bandages around his throat moved. "Took all the strength… I had in me…"
"What did you want to say to me?" Dragon asked, uncomprehending. Ruka and Bonnie he could understand, but Dragon? Was it to tell him off?
"Don't… Surrender to them… Ever again." Flint said, shaking in his death bed. "You can fight them… Better than anyone… You've got more reason to than most… And they've already gone after…. Everyone and everything important to you… Don't give in to them…!"
Dragon squeezed his eyes shut, opening them as tears started to gather and spill over.
"I'm sorry…" He said, knowing the words were pointless. They fixed nothing. "This is my fault. If I had trusted Ruka sooner, then none of you would've—"
Dragon flinched, squaring his shoulders as he dropped his head and let the tears come. All of them. They'd all died for him. It was his fault.
"No… Their fault." Flint insisted, and Dragon raised his head, opening his eyes. "It was them… Always them… So don't… Be afraid of them…"
Dragon dried his eyes on the back of his sleeve and nodded firmly, letting Flint see his determination.
Flint smiled weakly and raised his chin. "C'mere… Ruka…!"
Ruka ran inside, at Flint's side in seconds. What about her crutch? Perhaps the pain in her thigh no longer mattered to her.
She knelt by his bedside, taking his free hand and looking at him with focus so intense as to be heart-wrenching.
"I… Lied to you." Flint said, a single tear falling from his eye. Ruka stared back at him in questioning confusion. "Before… When I said your lies… Meant I didn't trust you anymore… It was a lie. I've always trusted you… From the moment I met you… Always… And even though… You're different now… I still do. Don't blame yourself for what happened… To us… This fight of yours… Won't allow for weakness. Keep it up… Keep going no matter what… And leave the others to me… I'll look after them… And wait for you…"
Ruka nodded, then grit her teeth as the tears came.
"One last thing…" Flint choked out, and pulled his hand away from Bonnie. Dragon and Ruka were shocked at the sight, but Bonnie remained still and lifeless.
Flint reached out and grabbed Dragon's hand. He pulled Dragon's and Ruka's hands together, cupping them in his own hands.
Ruka and Dragon looked from Flint to each other, then back again.
"Did you know…?" Flint asked, knowingly. "Ship captains… Can marry people…"
Dragon and Ruka blinked, their eyes lighting up. Their excitement calmed long enough to look at Flint trustingly, and the dying man's weak hands gripped the two together.
"From now on, you two…" He said, pausing to cough. "United. Together. Until death do you part—"
He broke off, and Dragon's heart sank as the man's hands slipped from theirs and hit the bed. The heart monitor broke into a drawn-out beep, showing a straight line.
Bonnie screamed and threw herself over Flint's body, her wails and weeping the anguished, heartbroken cries of someone who was all alone in the world. Her sister beside her fell to her knees, burying her face in her hands as she wept and sobbed openly.
Dragon cried, unable to control his own agony. He wanted to reach out to Ruka, to comfort her. But not now. Not in front of Bonnie. Not when he had robbed her of the very thing he had fought to protect.
Dragon felt a hand drop onto his shoulder and turned to see Anomaly standing there. The man nodded out into the hall. Dragon opened his mouth to argue, but quickly closed it. There was nothing he could do here. His very presence would just intensify their pain.
He followed Anomaly back out into hall, let the man close the door behind him.
"It isn't your fault, Dragon."
Dragon flinched, temporarily shaken out of his grief. He knew that voice.
"They fought to protect you. More than I ever could. They have my gratitude for that. And for so much more…"
Dragon spun around to face the end of the hall. The source of the voice was a familiar old-geezer whose face he knew well. So well. After all, this man had saved his life more times than he could count.
Dragon's mouth fell open, breathing out the old name.
"Vegapunk…!"