Author's Note: Sorry for the wait! Sorry! So Sorry! Anyway sorry (again) if this chapter seems rushed/bad/sloppy in anyway! I'm in a rush so I didn't have time to proof read/go over it! I'm so sorry! I hope you enjoy!
"Now what do we do? Luffy's no where to be seen and Kuki's in danger…Shit." Sanji muttered, running a hand threw his hair, but never moving it enough to show his other eye. Kuki gazed over at the button, she could do this, she had to. The girl raised her hand a little bit, pointing it over at her goal. 'Come on…' the Helmsman thought, trying to give enough air force to push the button down, but not too much for Moria to notice. "Shishishi, even if your guys Captain was here it would change anything. You're all just a bunch of kids on this sea." The Shichibukai laughed, crossing his arms behind his head as well as putting his feet up, this guy wasn't worried at all. 'Almost…there!' and in seconds, Kuki's seat belt was detached, flinging aside as she jumped for freedom. Moria hardly had any time to even look at the fleeing girl as she bounded out of the Zombie, "Shishishi, and where do you think that's going to get you?" The helmsman turned, facing upwards with her arms spread out as if she was making a snow angel.
Her Nakama's eyes almost popped out of their heads as Zoro jumped to save her, only to be smacked away by Oz. 'I did not think this out well.' She thought, hearing the screams and shouts of her crewmates off in the distance. Kuki clenched her eyes shut, "Why can't I ever safe myself?" the tiny girl yelled. Suddenly, as it seemed like her voice was echoing, the rushing of the wind, the hair fluttering, the falling all stopped. The helmsman opened her eyes, looking around as her body was just…there… "I'm Flying!" she yelled, feeling the wind supporting her back, "I'm actually flying!" And the Helmsman was, well floating, until she looked down. "Dumbass!" Zoro shrieked, as the girl fell to the stony ground, caught by Sanji at the last second. It felt different to have the cook as her savior, he wasn't built the same as the swordsman, he smelt of smoke and was lankier, but all the same she was happy. Kuki barely got out a thank-you before the blonde teen had to jump away from the crushing force from one of Oz's feet.
"Sanji-Kun thanks." The tiny girl sighed in relief when the pair was far enough away from the monster. "My Angel! My floating, falling Angel!" the cook besotted, smiling down at the Helmsman in his arms as a drop of blood dribbled down his nose. Kuki's eyebrow rose, as she started to feel uncomfortable, until she got pulled away from the smoker. Zoro glared at Sanji with a look that said 'mine', as Kuki was now in her 'rightful' place in his grasp. The uneasy feeling left but Kuki still found a way out of the green haired man's arms, standing on her own…no matter how badly she wanted to stay in that position. The cook was just about to start his argument with the First Mate until someone interrupted, "Fine, I'll give you all a chance to fight me." Moria budded in, stealing all the attention, "If you beat me I'll release all the shadows, but unless you bring down Oz you can't lay a finger on me!" "That bastard…that's so cheap!" Ussop yelled, pointing an accusing finger at the laughing Shichibukai.
"We have to finally defeat Luffy's Zombie to get even close to Moria." Chopper added. "Didn't this just make it easier for us?" Sanji asked, becoming more serious as well as turning away from Zoro. "We just gotta do it, everyone stop complaining." The swordsman ordered unsheathing his swords, "Ussop since that small amount didn't work, go find us a mountain of salt!" "We got no choice but to purify Oz, we'll try and weaken him until you get back!" Kuki added, preparing herself for another battle. "That's right, leave it to us!" Franky yelled, twirling his nunchucks around, pumping himself up. The rest of the crew nodded and got on the offensive, allowing the sharpshooter to run off in the direction of the kitchen. Moria laughed, "Oi, Oz! Take out that long nosed guy before he reaches the kitchen and the path to the mansion as well!" he ordered, leaning back in his chair. "Yes master!" the Zombie agreed, aiming a punch on the path the Sharpshooter was on.
"Ussop!" Zoro yelled after realizing what was going to happen, but the teen barely had time to turn his head before the Giant's arm went threw the stone building, breaking down the last entrance to the mansion. Chopper galloped towards the rumble, his doctor instincts kicking in full force. "Shishishi!" the Shichibukai hollered, throwing his head back in laughter. "This is bad…with Moria's brain added to Oz's brawn…" Franky muttered as they all watched Chopper search for their Sharpshooter. "He's fine!" a voice called out, the crew looked up to see Brook falling down towards them, both arms full. One with an unconscious Ussop and the other with a large, old bag with the word 'SALT' etched on the side. "I had a feeling we would need this so I brought some." The musician said calmly, landing perfectly in front of the group as he place Ussop on the ground. "Brook…you're alive?" Kuki asked without thinking, the skeleton raised his head to meet her eyes.
"Yes, after a perilous journey I have regained my strength and brought back this to save the day," he rose the bag of salt, "now…may I see your panties?" " I think we should just throw him along with the bag down the Zombie's throat." The Helmsman said, turning away from the musician and crossing her arms across her chest. "Yohohoho! So harsh!" Brook laughed. "How are you better?" Chopper wondered, remembering the mess the skeleton was the last time they had all seen him. "Milk!" "What kind of calcium magic is that?" "Everyone knows milk heals bones!" "Liar!" Sanji cleared his throat, breaking up Ussop's and Brook's squabble, "Well…whatever happened, the fact is that now we have the salt we need." Everyone nodded turning their heads to look at the opponent, who, up until now, was being completely ignored. "And with the entrance to the Kitchen destroyed, we can no longer mess up." Robin added. "No pressure…" Ussop squeaked, his knees shaking with fake confidence.
"We're running out of time! Let's do this!" Zoro said, his eyes grazing the sky as it continued to brighten. The swordsman broke out into a run, causing Sanji and Chopper to jump into action as well. 'we can no longer mess up' Robin's previous words rung inside Kuki's head, "I can do this" (FF to when Moria cuts Robin's Shadow away) "Snip." It felt like slow motion to Kuki, watching her dark haired friend fall. The archaeologist's eyes rolled back, showing everyone only white, shocking, painful, white. Finally, after what felt like ages, Robin's body hit the stone, unconscious. "Shishishi! And that's the third one down!" Moria laughed, clenching a struggling shadow in his fist. "You bastard!" the tiny girl cried, tears threatening to fall down her cheeks. And before she could do anything, Sanji was already on the move. The cook was spin dangerously fast until one of his legs was burning hot; emitting a heat even Kuki could feel even though she wasn't even that close to the smoker.
"Diable Jambe." Sanji muttered, furious. The cook sprinted at the Shichibukai, leaping high in the air as he got close, "Give Robin-Chan her shadow back! Extra Hache!" And as the teen started attacked Moria just stood there smiling, "Brick Bat." "He's switching again!" Kuki warned, watching as the figure was now just a bunch of bats swarming the cook. One of the shadowy beings bit down onto Sanji's shoulder, forcing him to stop. "Shishishi, looks like everything is back where it started." "Damn you, Master! I told you this was my fight!" "Sorry about that Oz, I just stole a bit of the action!" Zoro gritted his teeth, his face showing signs of stress. 'He's trying to think up a plan to finish this as well as keep us all safe…' Kuki realized, watching as the swordsman's eyebrows dipped in frustration. The Zombie made an attempt on Robin's life, but with Sanji still on the defence he deflected the attack, panting afterward. 'What can we do? His strength has multiplied…' the tiny girl fretted, her hands clenching so hard that her nails bit into her skin, "I got it!"
The Helmsman broke away from the group, off to one of the buildings to the side of them. She heard Chopper's, Sanji's and Zoro's voice but paid no attention. When she reached the stone wall and after she found the 'sturdiest' part, she started to climb. It took all of the girl's will power to not look down, as well as to slow her heart down after every minor slip and miss-footing, she had to get as high up as Oz's stomach. "Sanji! Chopper!" the swordsman cried out, making Kuki flinch from the sound of him. She could picture the face on the green haired teen as the Helmsman heard Nami's voice, "Two more…down…" The tiny girl's hand clenched hard onto the stone in it's grasp, 'What happened to them? Are they alright?' she exhaled and reached up again, 'If I want to save them, I have to keep going.' Kuki thought, knowing that if she did look back down all her will power would fade. "Shishishi! Number four and number five! Only four left!" Moria chuckled.
The Helmsman made one final reach, grabbing the edge of a large window frame and pulling herself up. "Oh shit." She gasped, spreading herself thinly on the little ledge. Her arms tried to stick to the glass behind her and all Kuki could do was look down…look far far down. The front of her shoes didn't have enough space and were over the edge, no matter how far she tried squishing back they wouldn't fit. "This was dumb…so very very dumb." The Helmsman muttered, her eyes glued to the spot of ground she would land in if she fell. "Gomu Gomu no Pistol!" Oz yelled, stealing the blonde's attention away for a bit. Zoro was in the air, just having missed the Giant's attack until, "Gomu Gomu no" The swordsman tried to counter attack before the monster could hit him with his forehead but he was too slow, "Kane!" And Oz sent the First Mate flying into the building on the other side of the Helmsman's, the swordsman smashed in the concrete right across from Kuki, they were both on even height and straight in front of each other.
"Zoro!" she screamed, eye wide as blood dripped from the corners of his mouth were his sword gave room. The green haired teen opened his eyes and saw the girl, out of delusion, his eyebrow rose, "What are you doing there…you stupid cat?" "You dumbass watch out!" Kuki warned as Oz tried hitting the First Mate again, but the pirate was knocked out of his previous state and he jumped down before the Zombie hit the building. Kuki could finally breath again as she realized that Zoro was still alive and dodging the Giant's attacks, her eyes fell upon Franky, then to Brook, Robin, Sanji and then ended on Chopper's body. These were all her Nakama, her friends, her family. "Ussop now!" Apparently the rest of the crew had created their own plan as well, Kuki watched as Zoro stood on Oz's shoulder and the Sharpshooter had… "Smash!" within a blink of an eye the humongous Zombie kneed the swordsman back into the other building. "No…" Kuki whispered, unable to make any louder noise as she watched the green haired teen fall to the ground amongst the other rubble.
His Wado was falling beside him, out of his mouth, being replaced by more blood. "I won this one." Oz added ending the battle between the two. Everything else that happened after that was a blur to the tiny girl, 'Zoro was defeated. I won this one.' Both sentences echoed inside her head as her vision blurred with complete hatred. "My Family!" Kuki now noticed Nami and Ussop had disappeared and that Oz was stomping at the ground, he got them too? Was she the only one left fighting? "Shishishi, I was looking for you! Crush her too! The last one!" "I won't let you kill my family! Kaze Kaze no Poison Breath!" The Helmsman aimed the purple, misty, cloud at the cockpit, and before she could look to see if it had worked she fell to her knees from the pain. The burning spread like a wild fire, starting at her finger tips and reaching up her arms and, like always, that sickening purple color followed close behind. Without noticing Kuki slipped from her spot, falling down to the ground. After the 'thump' her lungs gasped at the air that just wouldn't come. Kuki's throat struggled to pull in oxygen to feed the fire going on inside her, and just before the flames wrapped around her heart she glanced up to see the smiling face of Moria. "It didn't work…How did it not work?" her eyes began to swim and darken, "I couldn't do anything."