A/N:
To xxOchibixx: At first I thought she might know them too, but she's Mihawk's crew. Not Shanks'. And I think the author just killed Ace so he wouldn't become pirate king... I mean he has the highest bounty out of the bunch, and is the man's son.
To draugs: An annoyed Law would be cute. And thanks! You're so sweet!
"Lor?" Law said, shocked.
He wasn't the only one. The crew stared in shock at the screen. It was their green haired cook at Impel Down, fighting. They could see her turn her head, glance at Mihawk, before she froze, and the screen moved away onto someone else.
But they didn't need to see anything else. Their cook was at Impel Down. They didn't know how or why. Their captain had said that she had gone home when she left. They doubted that Impel Down was anywhere near her home.
"Double speed," Law snapped. "Get to Impel Down as fast as you can!"
"Aye, sir!"
The crew ran to their stations.
Law let out a shaky breath. She was there.
Her body trembled. She tightened her grip on her daggers, feeling them turn cold from the lack of blood getting to her fingers. She knew that under the blood coating her hands, her own fingers were white, bloodless.
Lor fell into a crouch, staring cautiously up at the larger man.
She had fought him twice, lost twice. She would not lose a third time.
But the smirk on his face said he thought the exact opposite. He expected her to lose, to submit. But she won't. Never again. This time Mihawk was there, and even if he couldn't help, couldn't do anything, she won't let him see her this weak. He was her captain.
She made the first move. Ducking low, she covered the distance in a few long strides. The knife swiped up—he stepped back, and the tip of the blade missed by inches.
He sneered. "Is this all you've got? Why do they fear you so much? You're nothing but a weakling."
"Shut up!" She said, taking in a shaky breath.
She brought her knife up, only for him to draw his sword and parry, pushing her back with only one hand. She let out a shout as she performed a half spin, kicking out at his legs before slashing out at his throat. He only moved back, laughing. His sword fell. The knives caught them, her arms shaking from the effort.
He was barely trying.
He swung the sword, still locked to her knives, to the side. With a cry she fell off balance. She quickly tried to regain footing—only to freeze, the tip of his blade touching the bottom of her left breast.
"This is where I left the scar before, isn't it?" Helios mocked. "A shame, to mark that pretty skin. Then again, you've already been tainted long ago, haven't you."
He swung. She kicked back, dodging by a hair's breadth. For a moment she wondered how, in this crammed battlefield, that she could have so much room to move around. Then she realized. She was fighting an admiral. No idiot would want to get in the way and wind up accidentally dead.
Not that anybody here would wind up purposely dead.
Except Fire-fist, maybe.
"Hmm, do you really think you have so much time to focus elsewhere?" Helios mocked.
Like there was a snap in her head, her attention returned to Helios. He was confident. Overly so. Or else he would have attacked while she was thinking, rather than standing there with his sword resting on a shoulder.
Confidence. She could use it.
Lor fell to a knee, panting hard, a hand on the ground.
Helios smirked. He knew it. She was exhausted. She had been fighting for a long time, and he was fresh. He sauntered towards her, and used the tip of his sword to raise her head. Exhausted. Sweat ran down her face, creating streaks in the blood.
"Well, well," he said slowly. He lowered the sword, the tip lodging in the ground.
In a split second, Lor tensed and sprung, knife flashing. Helios fell back, screaming, clutching his bloodied eye.
"You little bitch!" Helios yelled.
Lor smirked, backstepping out of his reach. One eye. She would have preferred his throat, but for now an eye would do.
Oh how she wanted to kill him slowly. After all he did to her, after he made her kill Rolo, she wanted to enjoy every moment. She wanted to torture him, kill him cut by shallow cut.
But she didn't have that luxury. She was tired, he wasn't. She was quick on her feet, but he had the advantage of reach and strength. If they locked blades again and he used his weight to his advantage, she was finished.
Especially now that she had made him more cautious than before.
Lor slowly circled him, chin low, feet ready to move in any direction at any moment. He mirrored the action. They watched each other, eyes predatory. Neither would be caught off guard.
The only difference was that she was desperate for his blood. He only wanted pleasure.
The changes in Lor's muscle movement were minute, ensuring that the man would not notice.
When he did, it was too late.
She sprung.
But he had good reflexes. He slammed his fist out, hitting her in the gut. She slid to a halt several feet away, gasping for air. She rolled onto her stomach, dry heaving. Damn. That would leave a bruise.
Then her eyes widened, the observation haki she had trained for long ago warning her. She rolled, just to have Helios' sword land where she had been mere moments ago. It would have sliced her in half.
She rolled again before getting her feet under her. On the ground was the worst place to be, and it wasn't because of all the blood and gore lying around like trash.
She panted, wincing at the pain in her midsection. Had she heard something crack? She hoped her adrenaline could keep her going until she finished everything.
Her eyes widened. Helios appeared in front of her faster than she believed possible. The tip of his blade dug into her arm, cutting a line through her bicep as she dodged.
Helios spun, one foot crunching down on her own foot, a fist backhanding her across her ribs. She let out a yell of pain. Her eyes flashed with realization. He was aiming for where he had hit before. And she knew for sure he had broken several ribs.
Damn it. Damn it! Again. She can't lose again!
She lay on the ground motionless. Everything hurt. She looked up at him with bleary eyes. A flick of her wrist. Helios grunted, pulling the knife out of his forearm and dropping it to the ground.
Lor dropped her head, preparing for pain.
It came.
He stepped on her upper back, crushing her against the ground. She screamed again as her cracked ribs shifted. Pain nearly blinded her, and she swiped out desperately with the remaining knife. It didn't hit flesh like she wanted, but the pressure on her back disappeared. Helios had dodged.
"Tch," he hissed.
Wrapping a fist in her hair, he pulled her up, dangling her by the green strands. Her scalp burned. She whimpered, hands grasping at his, trying to free herself. He shook her once, increasing the pain.
"That's enough out of you."
She bit down hard on her lip, averting her eyes. She didn't want to look at him.
A flash of yellow. No. It couldn't be. She was either hallucinating, or mistaking it for something else.
"LOR-YA!" A familiar voice shouted.
Lor turned, eyes widening in shock. No. He can't be here. He can't! She opened her mouth to shout back, but something hit her in the side of the head. She fell to the ground, Helios releasing her hair. She turned her gaze up, and saw that Helios had caught sight of the Hearts' captain.
An indecipherable yell of anger rang through the air.
Helios smirked.