March 11, 801 WG
Lucci broke free from Zoro and charged Law as the man returned his attention to his unconscious sister. "There is always someone else that can perform the surgery," the assassin said, his clawed fingers seeking Law's vulnerable back.
Law was in the middle of treating his sister. He didn't have time to waste on the Cypher Pol agent. She was in the final stages of the poison and her wrecked chamber had done further harm to her health. He needed to commit all his focus on her if she was to be saved. Refusing to face him, he left his and his sister's lives up to fate. If this was where they were destined to end then so be it. He had made so many terrible decisions in his life, it no longer mattered to him if he died. He was prepared for such an outcome, but he at least wanted to save some of the victims of the World Government's deceit.
"Captain!" shouted Bepo as he rushed to intercept Lucci, Ikkaku and Shachi similarly leapt to his aid, but none would make it in time. He could sense Zoro giving chase but he had not mastered Soru Step.
"It is time for you to die in the name of justice," said Lucci.
Law gritted his teeth as he continued Lami's surgery. Justice? Such hypocrisy!
Then he felt a chill breeze and heard Lucci grunt, his body frozen. Law didn't look as he finished cleansing his sister of the worst of the poison and giving her first aid for her internal injuries. She would need more surgery later but her life was no longer in danger. He turned to face his opponent and gaped.
Lucci was right over him, the man's jaguar face less than a foot from him. His deadly Finger Pistol only a few inches from his torso. The man's face was strained and he continued to grunt, his muscles rippling with the effort to move. Law heard another grunt and looked to his left.
The Straw Hat captain was awake, the reindeer stood next to him, stunned. The young man held out his arms as if he were trying to hold something in front of him. His muscles bulged with effort and his teeth ground together. His hair waved and floated around his face as if he were underwater, the clumpy black dye cracking and floating away, exposing the snow white hairs. His brown eyes were once again a vivid ice blue. Tiny bolts of lightning flickered between this fingers and rolled up and down his forearms. Similar bolts flickers over Lucci.
"Luffy-ya…" whispered Law in stunned disbelief. He didn't know what the man was doing but he had stopped Lucci in his tracks.
"Hurry," grunted Luffy. Lucci shifted an inch. Law realized that Luffy couldn't hold the assassin for very long. Zoro was almost caught up. The Heart Pirates, however, had been delayed by another wave of Marines.
Law drew his sword and hissed, "You call this justice? Your precious World Government deceived my people for a century, abandoned them in their time of need, lied to the world about their affliction, then massacred them to bury their crime. These people are witnesses to their sins, it was never their intention to spare them."
"Sometimes justice must be dark to maintain order," replied Lucci with a snarl.
"That was not justice," said Law as he drew back his sword. "That was mere greed!" He filled his blade with his Haki, with his anger, his grief, his darkness, and drove it through Lucci's heart. Lucci represented everything he hated about the World Government, crying righteousness even as they murdered those who looked to them for salvation.
Lucci coughed then growled, "You think this will be enough to stop me?"
"If it was just the sword, no. However, the poison I used against Luffy-ya, soaked into the sheath and continues to taint the blade," replied Law. "There may be only trace amounts of Tarnished Vein on it, but I doubt you have Luffy-ya's resistance."
Lucci's eyes widened and he glanced down at the sword that was hilt deep into his chest. Black discoloration was already spreading from the wound. Luffy must have lost his hold on the jaguar-man at that moment as he began moving again. However, the Tarnished Vein poison was already weakening him. Only a small amount was needed to kill the average man. Despite Lucci probably having endured poison resistance training, Law doubted he could handle the multiple doses that had just been injected directly into his heart. It wasn't going to be as strong as it had been with Luffy, which was why he wasn't dead yet, but it didn't need to be.
Lucci staggered back and Law released the hilt letting the sword remain in Lucci's chest. He was never going to use it again. He had used it to hurt a friend and that friend was helping him despite his betrayal. This was the right place for the sword to find it eternal rest, in the heart of the one it should have sought from the beginning.
Law glanced at Luffy, he was lying against Chopper, unconscious. He grimaced then looked around as the chambers were opened one by one by Franky, Robin and Usopp. Nami, Carrot and Sanji were keeping the Marines away from the three as they worked. Jinbei was handling the hall a level above them while Law's men had been covering the lower level.
Law looked at his sister, her complexion was already improving, not as white as it had been a moment before. It was time to get to work with everyone else. He picked up a plain sword dropped by a Marine and began to work on those that emerged from the chambers.
Some were conscious and looked around in confusion, their chambers hadn't malfunctioned. "Hold still," Law said to them as he summoned his powers. "I'm going to remove the amber lead from your bodies." He didn't bother to explain that it was only the rough first surgery to get the worst of the contaminate out of their bodies. He would do a more detailed job later once they were safely away.
"Dr. Trafalgar?" said one of the women. Law hesitated, they were mistaking him for his father. "What are you doing?" He must have looked a terrible sight with his raised sword but there were more patients to attend and some that needed more care. Despite their screams of fright, he brought his sword down, cleaving away the fatal poison as only his power could do. He moved on as the people stared at him in bewilderment when they found themselves still whole and feeling much better.
"Follow them out of here," instructed Law as he gestured toward Bepo and Ikkaku who had just reappeared in the room. Zoro, freed from Lucci, had rushed out to do battle with the waves of Marines trying to enter. In the narrow hallway, he would be more than enough. With the Marines in the room down for the count, the remaining Straw Hats and Hearts could focus on guiding the people as they recovered.
"What are we going to do about this? How are we going to get them all down to our ships with everyone coming after us?" said Chopper. He was in his heavy form, his captain over his shoulder, Lami curled in his arm.
"We'll deal with that after we get them out of this room," said Sanji. "We can't bring the Sunny to the harbor, after all."
Law looked at the growing crowd of survivors. Mostly children, some he even recognized. Law froze when he saw one of the survivors was the Sister who had tried to lead the children to safety back then. He thought for sure she and his classmates had been killed. Had they merely been injured? Maybe some of them had been alive but unconscious, but not all of them had been so lucky.
Once everyone was awake, there had been many but not more than a hundred. A country that had once boasted several thousand reduced to less than a hundred survivors. It was tragic beyond words but still better than one survivor.
With the worst of the poison removed from everyone, Law returned to the main floor. It seemed the base had finally run out of grunt Marines or else only the smart ones were left and they were not going to charge them recklessly. Those Marines were forming a plan and possibly heading out to find their ships. They needed to leave.
Bepo and Ikkaku were already leading the first group toward the ropes in the amphitheater. They just had to get the last of them out while keeping the Marines away. Retreats were always the hardest on the ones in the rear.
"Hurry, they're probably just regrouping," said Law as he herded the last few survivors through the main entryway. Jinbei was coming up behind him. Robin had gotten his attention when they started to leave with a wave of her hand that she has summoned from the wall next to him.
"Who are you to give us orders?" snarled Zoro from the fork.
"Not the time, Zoro!" snapped Nami as she ran up to him. She pinched his ear and forced him to hurry after them. "Especially since he's right." Nami didn't let go even when Zoro protested. His ability to get lost was a talent and they couldn't afford to get separated.
When they arrived in the amphitheater, Law saw that Franky had quickly rigged a lift from the lab tables and ropes and was raising the people up in groups of five to six, ten if they were nothing but children. Strong as he was, he was easily moving the lift and the round trip took only a couple of minutes. Law looked back over his shoulder but no one was following. Not a good sign, the smart ones were definitely coming around in their ships to cut off escape. Once everyone was onboard, the two ships could make their own unique hasty escapes, Sunny through the air and Tang underwater.
Law and Chopper were the last to get on the lift. Lami was still in the reindeer's arms while Luffy was still slung over his shoulder. Luffy twitched but didn't wake. Law glanced at the young man, remembering the strange blue eyes when Luffy had suddenly spoken his sister's name. A name Law was certain he had never uttered in the many years since her death. The blues eyes that had shown vividly when he had somehow restrained Lucci, allowing Law to strike the assassin down.
What was going on with him? Law was dying to know, but it didn't seem appropriate to ask in light of everything he had done to the Straw Hat captain. He held his tongue and jumped off the lift once it reached the roof.
Franky carried the makeshift lift over to the cliff. The lift could work for the descent as well. If the two crews worked to haul it up and down together with their strongest, they could lower more people, taking less time. The Sunny had the greater deck area, it would make sense to drop them on her first then move half over to the Tang. Several of their crews and some fitter adults were already climbing down the ropes. Jean Bart and Jinbei had remained up top to help lower the lift.
Once Franky had secured the craft with a makeshift pulley and support to hold the lift away from the cliff for safe lowering, they began lowering the children and remaining adults. Law remained on the cliff and watched the night time seas. They had removed the ropes from the window overlooking the amphitheater, though he glanced back to check for any signs of new lines being tossed up, signaling pursuing Marines. He was still convinced they were readying the ships to strike at their sea side position, but one could never be too paranoid in these situations.
"Law, here!" said Chopper, handing his sister over to him.
He took her then looked at the Straw Hat doctor and asked, "Why give her to me now?"
Jinbei was taking Luffy from Chopper. "Because I need to get small," replied Chopper.
Jinbei looked at him. "Everyone but us is now down. We'll be making this the last trip."
Franky, Jean Bart, and Jinbei stepped onto the lift while holding the rope tight. Law followed with the chibi Chopper. The three loosened their hold to allow the hope to slowly slide through their grip and the lift began its final descent. Law looked out at the horizon that was beginning to brighten with the first hints of dawn. And in that gray ribbon of light the shadows of approaching battleships appeared.