ONE PIECE
Two Worlds, One Family
A young woman struggling to find her place in the world wakes up to find a bunch of cats in her room...cats that turn out to be the characters from her favourite TV show, One Piece! Bound to each other, whether they like it or not, and trying to figure out a way to find a certain somebody's lost Nakama and get everyone back to their home, what follows is bound to be chaos, friendship, tears, romance - and, adventure! (Kind of a re-write of Straw Cat Pirates).
~Parental-Warning~:
This Chapter Contains:
. Mild Sexual References
. Low-Level Violence
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Tequila Flamingo
"You've been staring at that thing for ages." Nami said. "It's not edible, you know." She added, and Emma jumped.
"Oh, I know that." She said, sighing as the Baby Den-Den Mushi went back to sleep. "I just don't know why Sumi-Chan hasn't called yet...I'm starting to get worried."
"I wouldn't worry if I were you." Nami replied, with a smile. "She's with the Whitebeard Pirates, after all."
"Yeah." Emma agreed. "I guess so..." She was lying on one of the beds in the women's quarters. Usopp was busy in his workshop, building another bed but, for now, Emma was using Robin's bed.
She had been given a tour of the ship, from Zoro's training room in the crow's nest to the soldier dock where the special vehicles were housed. The layout of the ship was fairly straightforward, and easier to navigate than the Moby Dick, since it wasn't as big. Still, it was impressive. The grassy area on the deck, with its swing and side, were impressive additions.
Still...Emma found herself kind of missing the Moby Dick, with all its people onboard...then again, she'd only been onboard the Thousand Sunny for five days - she just needed to give it a bit of time, she decided...
"Emma," Nami came to stand over her. "I need your help with something."
"Sure," Emma replied immediately, sitting up. "What is it?"
"The bathroom needs to be cleaned..." Nami began, and Emma flinched.
"Oh...umm..." Emma looked sideways. "I just remembered...I promised...somebody that I'd...do something...for them..."
"No excuses!" Nami snapped, grabbing her by the back of her top.
"No, really, it's true!" Emma protested.
"I don't wanna hear it!"
"It sure is peaceful here." Ace commented, leaning with his back against the main mast.
"Sure is." Luffy grinned. "Why don't you join us?"
"Oh, why not."
"Really?" Luffy asked hopefully.
"No." Ace gave him a Look.
"Aww, Ace, you're mean!" Luffy pouted.
"We've been through this before, little brother." Ace replied, rolling his eyes, just as there was the sounds of protesting.
"Noo!" Emma cried, flailing her arms as Nami dragged her (literally) across the deck. "I don't wanna go!"
"You're going to pull your weight around here or else!" Nami threatened.
"Ribon-Ribon No Grab!" Emma cried, wrapping her red ribbons around the mast.
"Don't you dare!" Nami cried, tugging even harder. "What's the big deal with a little bit of swabbing, anyway?!"
"I hate housework!" Emma replied. "I didn't come on this voyage to work!"
"We're not running a pleasure cruise, Emma!" Nami snapped back. She produced a pair of scissors from nowhere and used them to cut the ribbons. "Now come on!" She began pushing and pulling again, finally succeeding in getting Emma through the door.
"Noooo!"
Ace and Luffy watched all this with wide eyes, and then turned back to each other when the door slammed.
"What was that you were saying about peaceful?" Luffy questioned.
"Did I say that?" Ace grinned, and pulled his hat down over his eyes. "She'd probably do better in the Whitebeard Pirates, Luffy. There's more people to pitch in and do the work, after all."
"Forget it." Luffy said firmly, crossing his arms. "She's joining my crew."
"Why don't you let her decide that?" Ace suggested, still smiling.
"Sure." Luffy shrugged, looking up at the blue sky. "Hey, Ace?" He said, after awhile. "What do you reckon Sabo thought about, just before he died?"
Ace looked startled. "What...what brought that on, all of a sudden?!"
Luffy shrugged. "Dunno. Guess I've just been thinking a lot lately."
"Yeah, well, don't hurt yourself." Ace told him, fiddling with the ring on his finger, and remembering what Emma had said about hearing voices. Was it really possible to hear the voices of the dead, through memories from a certain object?
Ace wasn't sure but, he had a sneaking suspicion, it was all connected somehow...
"You missed a spot." Nami said briskly.
"Okay, where?" Emma asked testily, resisting the urge to throw down her sponge.
Nami pointed. "There."
"Then why don't you clean it?" Emma wanted to know, putting her hands on her hips. There were soap suds everywhere, and they'd been cleaning for hours. Emma didn't understand why Nami was so concerned over one tiny speck.
"I already did my section of the bathroom!" Nami replied angrily, also putting her hands on her hips. "You need to pull your weight around here! Ask anyone, and they'll tell you!"
"What?! Well who do you wanna ask, the speck?!" Emma brandished her sponge angrily at it. Unfortunately, her aim was off, and the soap suds splashed all over Nami instead.
Nami's face turned red, and she immediately picked up a bucket of water, throwing it all over Emma, who shrieked, and leapt at Nami angrily, aiming the sponge - and a kick - at the orange-haired girl.
There was a light knock on the door, which neither of the two girls heard, and the door opened. Sanji poked his head in. "Nami-San, Emma-Chan, I was just wondering if you..." He stopped, and trailed off, seeing the two girls wrestling amidst the soap suds. He just stared at them, blushing, until they finally took notice of him.
"Sanji!" Nami exclaimed, more surprised than embarrassed to be found in such a strange situation.
Emma took the opportunity to mutter her favourite phrase, which resulted in Nami being tied up in ribbons, and unable to stop Emma as she stalked wordlessly past Sanji.
Sanji watched her go, and then glanced back at Nami. His eyes lit up.
"Don't you dare!" She snapped. "Hurry up and get these ribbons off of me, Sanji! There's a pair of scissors in my skirt pocket!"
"Of course, Nami-Swan!"
"Hey, Zoro, where did Ace-Chan go?" Emma asked him, approaching him on deck.
"He went down in the submarine with Luffy, Usopp, Franky, Chopper and Law." Zoro explained, giving her a Look. "To survey something that's going on down there, andto get some peace and quiet."
Emma sighed. "Hey, it's not my fault that Nami's such a slave-driver..."
"I heard that!" Nami snapped, from where she stood above the grass deck, with her hand on her hip. In the other hand, she held a laundry basket. Emma cringed. "What happened to doing the laundry like I told you?!"
"What are you, my Mother?!" Emma cried in disbelief, as Nami slid down the slide whilst standing up, and brandished the washing basket at Emma. "I was going to do it later!"
"That's always the way with you, isn't it?!" Nami scolded her. "You're such a 'gunner' - be proactive, and do it now!"
"I was planning on doing something elseright now, Nami!" Emma protested, backing away.
Nami began chasing her with the washing basket. "No, you'll do this now!"
"Get that thing away from me!" Emma shouted.
"Do you want Sanji to wash all your clothes for you?"
"That's blackmail!"
"That's life!"
As the chasing continued, Sanji joined Zoro on the deck.
"As cute as they are when they're angry, shouldn't we be stopping them or something?" The cook asked the swordsman, taking a long drag from his cigarette.
"You wanna get in the way of that?" Zoro raised an eyebrow, before shaking his head. "Trust me, it's better to just leave them."
"Since when are you such an expert on girls?" Sanji wanted to know.
Zoro glared at him. "I'm not. I just happened to have lived with Nami for a bit longer than you have, so I know what she's thinking right now."
"Oh yeah? And what's that?"
"Well, she's back on her home-turf now, so to speak." Zoro explained, dodging as a pair of jeans came flying at him. "So, it's natural that she'd be expecting our newest traveling companion to pitch in, especially since Nami's used to being the dominant female of the group."
Sanji nodded slowly. "Makes sense. What about Emma-Chan?"
Zoro glanced at Emma, who was currently being cornered by a furious Nami. "Well, for one thing, Nami shouldn't be cornering her like that."
"How come?" Sanji wanted to know, just as a beam of greenish-coloured light emitted from the compass around Emma's neck, which extended to Nami and changed her into a cat.
"That's why." Zoro said flatly, as Nami climbed out of the pile of clothes, looking positively murderous - the fur on her back was standing straight up, and she began hissing.
Sanji cringed. "Oh, my poor sweet Nami-Swan, but...you look so cute as a little kitty!" He exclaimed.
Zoro rolled his eyes. "Whatever." I lived with Emma, as well, and I know she's not the easiest person to live with - she hates any kind of housework, and she only cooked because she had to...
Just then, Nami leapt at Emma, who dodged - and Nami went flying over the edge of the ship.
"NAMI!"
"NAMI-SWAN!"
"Hold on Nami, I've got you!" Emma cried.
"Ow, ow, ow!" Nami complained, as it was her tail that Emma had grabbed her by.
"Oh, what, would you rather I let go?!" Emma asked her, as her compass swung down, and hit the side of her hand.
A reddish-pink hologram appeared, showing a dark-coloured cat, with its paws and neck all in cuffs. It was in a very flamboyant room, and appeared to be very weak, with its head on its paws, but it looked up, with startlingly clear eyes, and carefully cleaned its paws with its tongue.
"That...that's Robin!" Nami gasped. "I'm sure of it!"
"How?" Emma asked, as Zoro and Sanji came up to give her a hand.
"Because she's a whole lot tidier than you are." Nami said bluntly.
"Damn it, Nami!" Emma snapped, just as two things happened. One, she leaned over too far, and her necklace slipped off of her neck. This panic caused her to let go of Nami, and both the compass and the cat fell into the ocean. Emma's hand brushed the compass just before all of this happened, and Nami became a human once more, but it probably wasn't going to save her. "Aaa!" Emma cried, as Zoro and Sanji dragged her back.
"Stay here and keep an eye out!" Zoro said, before he and Sanji dived into the ocean to rescue Nami and the compass.
They'd better not forget my compass.Emma thought, leaning over the side of the ship, and putting her hands behind her as she rested her chin on the edge. "I wish the others would hurry up and get back...Nami's so annoying..." She muttered, and stretched, or at least she tried to. Her arms suddenly wouldn't move by themselves, and neither would the rest of her body. "What the Hell...?"
"Fufufufu...now then..." Emma heard the unfamiliar voice from behind her, and then something cold was snapped onto both of her wrists. Immediately, she felt herself grow tired and weary, but she wasn't sure why. Then it hit her - Sea-Stone.
"Why...?" She slowly felt herself turn around, even though she hadn't asked herself to do so. It felt so strange, to be unable to control her movements - who or what was doing this?
She got her answer as soon as she saw him - he was hard to miss. He was huge - maybe around ten feet tall - and had blonde hair and sunglasses and...the flashiest pink-feathered coat in the world.
There was no doubt about it.
"Doflamingo..." Emma realised, unable to pronounce his other name since she'd never heard it before. I didn't get this far in the manga, but I know what this guy's about! I'm in serious trouble now!
Doflamingo smiled. "So, you even know my name. I'm impressed...Demon Of War."
She narrowed her eyes. "Hey, I know your n-name, so the least you can do is l-learn mine." Damn it, there's that stammer again!
Doflamingo's smile widened. "Scared of me, precious?" He made her walk a few more steps towards him.
She stared up at him. Damn it, why were men in this world so Goddam tall?! Emma was only about half his height!
"No." She lied. I'm scared of what he might do to me! Hurry up, Zoro, Sanji-Kun, get back up here and save me! How long can you guys hold your breaths for, anyway?!
Knowing them, it was probably forever.
Doflamingo wouldn't stop smiling, as he made her walk with him across the deck with him.
"What happened to you, anyway, little birdie?" He asked her, referring to the bandages that she was still wearing - most of them had come off, but she still had a few on, where the more serious of her burns were.
"I got into a fight with a volcano."
"Oh?" Doflamingo sounded amused. "Which one?"
"Akainu." She mumbled, and he laughed.
Emma's heart was hammering, as she saw the ship that she hadn't noticed before. Zoro! Sanji-Kun! Hurry! She thought, as she got closer and closer to the edge of the ship. When they stopped at the edge of the ship, she quickly slipped the ring off her finger.
Doflamingo turned to her when he heard the slight chink on the deck. "What was that?" He asked her.
"What was what?" She asked innocently, and his eyes went to her wrists (or, at least she assumed that they did, since she couldn't see them past the red lenses of his sunglasses).
"Oh, that's right, I almost forgot." He reached out, and unclipped the Baby Den-Den Mushi from her wrist.
Her eyes widened. "Don't kill it!" She cried. "I'll g-go with you, just don't kill it! Please!"
Doflamingo smirked, and let the Baby Den-Den Mushi fall from his hand. It hit the deck and stayed there, and Emma honestly couldn't tell if it was dead or alive, as Doflamingo grabbed her, none too gently, and she was taken away from the Thousand Sunny.
This is not good!
"Wow..." Luffy was saying, with his face pressed to the glass of the submarine.
"Luffy, you've been down here before," Usopp reminded him. "How can you be...oh wow, is that an elephant fish?!" He hurried to press his face to the glass next to Luffy, as a massive fish with a trunk and tusks swum lazily by.
They watched it go, and then it turned and swam frantically the way it had come.
"Oh, of course, a school of teeny rat fish." Usopp nodded, as a bunch of small grey fish swam by, forming the shape of a much larger fish with their bodies.
Luffy pointed at something, laughing. "Hey, lookit, that fish looks just like Nami!"
Usopp looked. "Where? All I see is a spotted hippo fish...oh, you mean over there..." He narrowed his eyes. "Holy God, that is Nami!" He cried.
"What?!" Chopper had joined them at the window. "Oh no, it is her! Oh, wait, there's Sanji and Zoro!" They watched as Sanji swum up to Nami and tried to grab onto her, but she glared at him and pushed him away, opting to swim for the surface herself instead.
Sanji just shrugged at Zoro, who continued on downwards, towards something gold glittering on a tall rock that, thankfully, was there.
"They sure picked a weird place for a swim." Luffy commented.
"Uh, I dunno Luffy, I think that something might be wrong up there." Usopp replied. "Why don't you try calling them?" He suggested. "I don't think these guys are ready to go back yet..." He nodded his head over to Law and Ace, who were staring at the navigation controls, and arguing.
Luffy nodded, and the three of them went over to the Den-Den Mushi, and dialed the number for Emma's Baby Den-Den Mushi.
Up on the Thousand Sunny, Nami gasped for breath, as she and Sanji lay side-by-side on the deck.
"D-damn her, and her...laziness..." Nami muttered, sitting up as she heard a ringing sound. "Oh, look, she even left her Baby Den-Den Mushi lying around - what's she gonna do when she and Ace have kids?" And, ignoring Sanji's stunned look, Nami went over to the Baby Den-Den Mushi but, as she picked it up, she noticed the scratches on it, and then something gold caught her eye. She picked up Emma's promise ring, holding it up to eye-level, a sinking feeling in her chest, as she answered the call.
"Emmy?" Luffy's voice said.
"Uh, no, Luffy, it's me." Nami replied, frowning into the distance, and then she heard something else. "Hmm?" She peered down over the side of the ship, to see a much smaller boat alongside it. "Isn't that...?"
"What's wrong, Nami?" Luffy's voice asked over the line.
"Oh, nothing." Nami sighed. "It's just Johnny and Yosaku..."
"Hey, Nami-Aneki!" The two bounty-hunters called at the same time. "We were so worried about you guys!"
"Really?" She asked. "Why's that?"
"Well," Johnny said, as he and Yosaku jumped up onto the Thousand Sunny. "We just saw the ship belonging to a big-shot Grand Line pirate in these waters, and a red-haired girl wearing clothes like yours, so we thought..." He trailed off, when he saw the looks on the faces of Nami and Sanji, who had joined them.
Nami tightened her fist around the promise ring. "Luffy," she said in a tense voice. "Get up here now."
The Heart Pirates joined them up on the Thousand Sunny, as Johnny and Yosaku relayed what they knew.
Nami handed Ace the ring. "She's definitely in trouble - she wouldn't have left this behind otherwise." She told the Whitebeard pirate, whose face was grim as he absorbed the news.
"Well," Luffy said, crossing his arms. "We'll just have to go and get her back! Which direction did they take her?"
"You can't do that, Luffy-Anegi!" Yosaku told him, his eyes wide. "I mean, you guys are strong, sure, but you can't seriouslywant to go up against Donquixote Doflamingo!"
"What?!" Law stood up quickly, staring in unmasked horror at Yosoku. "You're saying Doflamingo has her?!"
"Hmm?" Luffy glanced at him. "Somebody you know, Law?"
Law's eyes darkened, and he clenched his fists. "You could say that..." He muttered, and his crew exchanged glanced. "He's one of the Shichibukai," (There was a collective shudder). "And you could say that he hates me." He shrugged.
"So, basically, what you're saying is that this is all your fault?" Ace said quietly, and everybody froze, glancing between Ace and Law.
Law glared at Ace. "You're going to blame this on me, Fire-Fist?"
Ace nodded, and crossed his arms. "Yeah, I guess I am, Trafalgar."
Nami quickly got between them. "Stop it, you two!" She said firmly, putting her hands up on either side of her. "You can argue about whose fault it is later but, right now, rescuing Emma is our top priority!"
Zoro gave her a strange look. "Weren't you arguing with her only a half hour ago?"
"Yeah, since when are you so eager to go on a suicide mission to rescue Emma?" Usopp asked her. "You've never done that before."
"Yes I have!"
"Huh?" A few people looked up, and recalled Nami venturing alone onto Nezumi's ship, in order to find their missing friend.
Luffy nodded thoughtfully. "Oh yeah..."
Nami was blushing, but she scowled, and said: "Okay, so let's think." She looked around at Johnny and Yosaku. "Where could he have taken her?"
The two bounty hunters exchanged a glance, and then said: "Well, it's possible that he took her to that place..."
"What place?" Ace asked, warily.
"To..." Yosoku gulped. "Tequila Wolf."
"Tequila Wolf?" The Straw Hat pirates repeated. "Where's that?"
"You mean you don't know?" Johnny shook his head. "Oh boy..." He straightened up. "Well, it's basically the base of a massive project that was started to join up all the islands in the East Blue, by means of a bridge."
"A bridge...?" Nami repeated. "But...who could be..." She trailed off, as everybody avoided everybody's gaze. She didn't need to ask - the answer was suddenly blaringly obvious.
Chopper looked worried. "We need to get Emma back..." He declared.
"Umm, Nami-San..." Sanji spoke up. "What about Robin-Chan?"
Nami closed her eyes briefly, and then opened them again, looking over at Luffy.
The captain drew in a breath. "Okay. Here's the thing. Neither is more or less important than the other but, right now, Emmy's the one in danger...that we know of. So, we rescue her first, then we can focus on finding Robin."
"Luffy..." Chopper's eyes sparkled. "That sounded...intelligent!"
"Huh?" Luffy blinked. "It was?"
A few people face-palmed.
The black cat sighed, and shifted slightly, wincing as the Sea-Stone cuffs clanked against each other. How long had she been here? A week? Two weeks? How long had it been since she'd heard the singing...?
For a shining moment, when she'd felt herself vanishing, she'd thought that, just maybe, she was going to a better place (whatever that meant).
But, the next thing she'd known, a crazy guy with a strange name had been standing over her, his pink coat nearly blinding her as she'd tried to escape.
Of course, he had Devil Fruit powers and, once he'd found out that she had them, the Sea-Stone cuffs had come out, and she'd been captured.
Now, she was Doflamingo's prisoner, and the days were turning into weeks or, possibly months.
Looking up at the sunlight seeping in through the window, she was glad to have escaped the bitter cold of mainland Tequila Wolf. Something seemed different today...she wasn't quite sure what it was but, she could tell - something was coming.
Smiling for the first time in...a long time, Nico Robin settled down to wait.
When Emma came to, it was to a dark-haired lady shaking her shoulder.
"Time to wake up." The lady said.
"Nng..." Emma managed to sit up, struggling a bit with her Sea-Stone cuffs, and then she looked down at herself. "Hmm? Whaaaaa-?!" She fairly shrieked, causing the woman standing over her to flinch, and then glare at her.
"Calm down!" The lady said, annoyed.
Emma eyed her. "Well, at least it's not as bad as yours is." She noted, looking at the skimpy maid outfit, which showed off a lot of cleavage and even more leg. Somehow, looking at that made her feel a little less bad about her own outfit, but she had to pose the question: "Who changed m-me?"
The woman gave her an odd look. "I did." She snapped her fingers. "Now, come on. The young master wishes to see you. Now." She narrowed her eyes. "Come on, he doesn't like to be kept waiting."
Does she mean that Doflamingo guy? Emma wondered, wishing that she could use her powers to escape. "No thanks." She told the woman. "I choose life." She quoted Usopp.
She suddenly found a blade pressed up against her neck - the woman had turned her entire hand into a dagger! "Then I suggest you come with me, kid!" She snapped.
"Wait, you're...Baby Five?" Emma guessed, and the woman looked confused.
"How did you...wait..." Baby Five nodded. "Yes, the young master mentioned that you knew a lot about us...no wonder he had his eye on you although, looking at you, you aren't much." She raised an eyebrow behind her goggles.
Emma bristled. "Oh, shut up." She mumbled, getting off of the bed and following Baby Five to the door of the room. Bitch. She added silently. On the way out, she caught sight of herself in a full-length mirror. "Whaaa..." She complained, blushing. She was wearing a sugar pink maid outfit, that came complete with a pleated skirt that was a little too short for her liking. There was a black apron over the skirt, and black ribbons tied at the front, kind of like a corset.
"And what's your problem?" Baby Five asked her. She then looked slightly concerned. "You look uncomfortable...how come?"
"Because this outfit has hateful ribbons and painful constraints - too tight!"
"That's not an answer." Baby Five began prodding Emma in the back. "Go on, get, move it!"
"Okay, okay!"
"Move it, go!"
"Owch, alright!"
It was only when Baby Five had left her alone in the (pink) room with Doflamingo, did reality set in on Emma.
She was alone, restrained, wearing a weird outfit, and with a really weird guy.
Anything could happen...anything...
Emma's heart began to pound, and she felt faint. Her breathing came out in quick, sharp successions, and she would have staggered back - if she'd had the control over her body to do so.
Doflamingo seemed to take great pleasure in her discomfort, and moved closer to her which, of course, only made her feel worse, and him feel better.
Yes, he was a sadist, that much was for certain. He seemed to take pleasure in other people's pain, and she couldn't even beginto imagine what was going to happen to her.
The unknowing was killing her, so she dared to ask: "Wh-what?" After all, didn't sadists love to talk about what they were going to do to you?
"Fufufu...you will find out soon enough, little birdie..." He forced her to turn around, so that she was facing the wall.
Oh no, oh no, oh no! She panicked, as she felt his hands on her shoulders, removing the top part of her dress. Oh God, no...the one thing I fear...above anything... She felt a tear slide down her face, as her bra was unhooked. I should have had sex with Ace-Chan back in the shed... She realised, with grim humor. Oh, Ace-Chan...Law-San...minna...please, come and save me...please... She thought.
"Now, little Demon Of War..." Doflamingo said. His lips brushed against the side of her neck. "To make you mine..."
What is he...? No...no, it can't be! NO!
They had been traveling for two days.
"There..." Nami was staring at the compass in her hands, which had pointed a tiny pinprick of light into the distance, and had now led them to a small island. Near to this island, was a half-constructed bridge. Not wanting to attract any attention, they had moored further away, and were preparing to take the submarine to the island.
Nami placed her hands on the side of the ship, staring at the island.
I can sense it... She thought, a cold wind blowing her hair. This is the place where we need to be...
"Hey, Nami!" Luffy called to her. She turned to him. "You coming or what?"
Nami nodded. "Hn." She walked over to the group that was going, and counted five others - Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Law and Ace would all be going as well, to rescue Emma. Bepo, Shachi and Penguin were going to go along in the submarine, to help pilot it.
As the cold ocean closed in around them, Luffy asked Law: "So, what is this Doflamingo guy like?"
Law was facing away from him, so he didn't see the darkness that crossed the surgeon's eyes. "Do you really need to know?"
"It might help us when we go up against him." Sanji pointed out.
"It'll also help us be better prepared for anything he might've done to Emma." Zoro added, and a few people cringed.
Law was one of them, but he checked himself, and shook his head. "He's sadistic." He replied, in a low voice. "He enjoys tormenting his victims, before killing them."
Ace swore, and clenched his fists. "Any idea as to why he would've kidnaped Emiko?"
Law was staring down at the floor of the sub. "Just one...he hates me, after I betrayed him."
Everybody stared at him in shock, except for the three members of his crew who were present. They just exchanged a glance.
"Okay, we get it." Zoro nodded. "She gets close to you, he kidnaps her to get revenge on you. Sounds legit."
Law didn't respond.
"So, basically, he could do anything to her." Nami said, her fingers tightening around the compass. Everybody glanced at her. Why does this always happen? I argue with somebody, and then...
"Hey, Nami?" Luffy stepped forwards. "Don't worry - we'll get her back." She glanced at him - he had a determined look on his face, similar to the one that she'd seen so many times. "I promise."
Robin watched the entire process in silent shock and horror, wishing that she could do something to help this poor girl, but knowing that she couldn't. It was horrific for her to watch this torture, though, because she knew the pain and fear of being weakened by Sea-Stone cuffs and at the (lack of) mercy of a psychotic freak.
The red-haired girl, who Robin discovered was named Emma, started off trying to contain her pain but, about halfway through, she couldn't stop the screams that escaped her throat.
This only seemed to fuel Doflamingo's sadistic joy, as he held her at bay with his Devil Fruit powers, leaving his hands free to do what they were doing.
He talked to her as he worked, between her screams. "I've had my eye on you for awhile, little birdie. Even before the Wanted posters...the Government's getting tired chasing you all over the place..."
"Then...why don't you...just hand me over to them?" Emma asked, through gritted teeth.
"Aww, but that's no fun," Doflamingo replied. "I was thinking of renouncing my title, anyway." He stabbed the needle into a sensitive part of her back, and she bit back a scream.
"Why...why are you doing this...to me?" She asked, as sweat ran down her forehead and arms.
"You should have figured that out by now," Doflamingo told her. "Aren't you supposed to be all knowing? I've been following you for days, since you left Orange Town." He stabbed her again, and this time she let out a yell. "You seem to be having fun with the Straw Hat Pirates," (Robin's stunning blue eyes widened). "But, I sense something special between you and little Law...fufufu...how fun it will be to see his reaction to this..."
"Shut up..." Emma muttered, crying out softly in pain, and Robin saw blood trickle down her back. "You don't...you don't know any of this..." She screamed again, and Robin heard her sob. Emotion filled her own eyes. "They made this mistake before...CP9 made this mistake..." Robin froze. "Underestimating the Straw Hats...I may not be...as important to them...to Nami...as Robin-San, but..." She screamed again, as more blood trickled from the marks on her back. "But I know they'll come for me, and they'll win!"
It seemed then that Doflamingo had finished with what he was doing, and he made Emma turned around. He leaned down close to her, and whispered: "I wouldn't count on it. I know Law better than you think, little birdie." He then kissed her roughly on the lips, and Robin nearly looked away, knowing that this possibly caused the young red-haired woman even more pain than the tattoo had.
So, she was surprised when Doflamingo suddenly jumped back with a gasp, and Robin saw flecks of blood drip to the ground.
Emma was glaring up at him. "Keep your tongue out of my mouth, jerk!" She told him. Then, she must've known what was coming, because she closed her eyes and flinched.
Robin couldn't tear her eyes away as Doflamingo struck Emma across the face, sending her to the floor, where she landed on her stomach and didn't move.
Doflamingo wiped the blood away from his chin, and glared down at her. "I'll tame you, little birdie, don't you worry about that." He then turned and marched out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him.
When she was sure he was gone, Robin stood up and, dragging herself over to Emma, as far as the chains that bound her to pegs on the floor would allow, she whispered: "Emma-San?"
Emma looked up, her face wet with sweat and tears, but her eyes lit up briefly as she said: "Oh, so it...is you...Robin-San...you heard all that?" She said the last bit flatly, and then closed her eyes and returned her forehead to the floor.
"It's quite alright." Robin replied, laying down. She reached out a paw, and the Sea-Stone cuff clinked on the ground.
Emma glanced up again, and reached across, so that her fingertips touched the edges of Robin's paw. "They'll come for us, right? I mean...Luffy...and the others..."
Robin gazed calmly at her, purring softly. "Hai. I have faith in them."
"Faith..." Emma whispered, closing her eyes, as waves of tiredness washed over her. "I see..." No wonder Nami really gets along with Robin-San - Robin-San is so cool!
"Okay, so what's the plan?" Nami whispered, as they stood on a small sandbank looking at the small island.
"Why are we whispering?" Luffy whispered back.
"How should I know?!" Nami snapped back.
The island wasn't actually an island at all; more like a massive rock that just happened to be jutting out of the sea near Tequila Wolf, which was visible in the distance through the thick cloud cover.
Nami raised a hand, feeling the direction that the wind was blowing. "Guys, be careful..." They all glanced at her. "It's about to start snowing."
They all nodded, trusting her, as they waded in the knee-deep water through the cold salt water.
"The island's surrounded by trees." Zoro began.
"Those aren't trees, those are weeds, wishing that they were trees!" Luffy told him.
Zoro rolled his eyes. "Okay, fine, the island's surrounded by weeds. At any rate, they won't provide us with much cover."
"Another distraction?" Luffy guessed.
Zoro put a hand on the hilt of one of his swords. "Seems like the way to go."
"Hold it." Law said, and they all turned to him. "Whatever you do, do notunderestimate the Donquixote Pirates, especially not Doflamingo himself - leave him to me."
"And why should we?" Ace asked, in a low voice.
Law glanced up at him. "Doflamingo's Devil Fruit allows him to control a person's body, and have them do anything."
The others stared at him.
Ace wasn't fazed. "I'm pretty sure I can handle it."
"Yeah, right." Law said sarcastically. "You couldn't even defeat one of your old shipmates..."
Luffy gasped, and grabbed Ace, who had just made a move to attack Law.
Nami sighed, in frustration. "See, this is why we need to get a move on! You two are way worse when Emma's not here, so it doesn't matter who defeats this flamingo guy, as long as somebody does it!"
"Yeah, you tell them, Nami-San!" Sanji cheered.
Nami gave him a Look. "Don't get too comfortable, Sanji - you're going to help Luffy and Zoro."
"By doing what, Nami-Swan my dear? What is it that you want me to be?" Sanji asked her happily.
"Live bait."
"So, that's the story?" Robin rested her head on her paws, smiling softly. "How interesting..."
"Mmhmm..." Emma nodded as best she could. "We have to find two more Allies, and one of them's a Princess." She added.
"Hmm." Robin said thoughtfully. "I recall hearing talk that Princess Nefertari Vivi has gone missing as of late..."
"You mean Arabasta's Princess?!" Emma exclaimed, before ducking her head, and lowering her voice. "Princess Vivi?" Robin nodded. "Wow...oh, I hope it's her!" She exclaimed softly, her eyes shining.
Robin smiled at the change in her mood, but then her smile faded, and she tensed, as she heard a commotion coming from outside.
"What was that?" Emma whispered, just as they heard somebody yell, from somewhere outside.
"GOMU-GOMU NO..." Emma and Robin exchanged a startled glance. "PISTOL!"
"They actually came for us..." Emma gasped.
"You sound surprised." Robin commented.
"I guess I just expected it to take awhile longer." Emma admitted. "I hope they know what they're doing..."
"I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M DOING!" Luffy screamed, as he crashed through a wall.
That's obvious. Zoro thought dryly, just as he came across an obstacle in the form of a man with light hair and strange war-apint on his face.
Zoro, with his swords, immediately got into his fighting stance. "You're brave, attacking me head-on, I'll give you that." The swordsman stated.
"Oh, no I'm not, really, I'm not." The man replied.
Zoro raised an eyebrow. "Okay..."
The man bowed his head. "Well, thank you for the compliment. I am brave, and one of the top fighters of the Donquixote Pirates."
"Fine." Zoro said. Why do I always get the weird ones? "Then let's see what you can do."
Luffy, meanwhile, ran through the halls of the building, looking for either Emma or that flamingo guy. He stopped suddenly, when he reached the bottom of a staircase, and found it covered with some sort of slime.
"Eww, what is this?!" He asked, reaching out to touch it. It suddenly expanded, and enveloped him. "What the Hell?!"
The liquid soon morphed, into the shape of a man. He was bedraggled,with bowl-cut dark hair and a long, thick beard. Luffy wasn't sure why, but something about this guy reminded him of a giant snail.
As he struggled, the man cackled. "Behehehehe...you'll never leave this house of horrors, weakling..."
He transformed his arms into liquid, which began to smother Luffy's face. He felt the liquid slide into his mouth and eyes, which was both disgusting and a little bit creepy, all at the same time.
Just as he was starting to black out, something struck the liquid man from the side, with enough force to make him let go of Luffy, who dropped to the floor and immediately scrambled out of liquid's way.
"Thanks, Sanji!"
"Don't mention it." Sanji eyed the creepy liquid man with distaste. "So, what's this guy's deal?"
"Allow me to demonstrate..." The man instantly turned his arms to liquid, as he attacked.
Ace, Law and Nami, meanwhile, bypassed all of this, heading for the second floor of the pink building.
"This way!" Nami cried, using the compass as a guide. It indicated the direction they should take, via that tiny pinprick of light. Suddenly, however, she sensed some KI, and Ace grabbed her out of the way just in time, as a bullet sailed through the exact spot where her eyes had been.
A dark-haired woman in a skimpy maid outfit stood there, blocking their way. Baby Five. "You're not going to get any further!" She told them, transforming her hand into a flint-locked blunderbuss.
"She has a Devil Fruit power!" Nami gasped, as Baby Five lunged at her, and Nami managed to dodge out of the way, diving forwards and rolling.
"Better leave it to us, Nami." Ace told her. "Hurry and get to Emik-" He was cut off by Baby Five's attack. "FIRE FIST!" He shouted, cutting off the attack with a wave of flames, which gave Law and Nami the opportunity to get past Baby Five, and continue further into the tower.
Ace dodged out of the way, and continued with this, searching for the assassin's weak point. He soon found it - as he continued to get away from her, unscathed, she became increasingly frustrated, and then her eyes filled with tears, which spilled over and began to fill up her goggles.
"Look, could you just let me get past already?" Ace asked her, impatiently.
She took them off, and buried her face in her hands, sobbing uncontrollably.
Ace blanched. "Umm...okay..." It could still be a trap - he proceeded with the utmost caution. He just...couldn't ignore a crying woman. What a hero! "Hey, lady..." He was then nearly thrown off-balance all of a sudden, by the wailing woman. "Whoa! Hey, take it easy!"
"I'm sorry, I'm soooo sorry!" She cried. "It's just...I...I..." She couldn't seem to be able to say it. She turned her hand into a dagger, and pushed Ace away from her, holding the blade to her stomach. "I'll kill myself, because I can't let you pass, but...you asked me to...to...I'll commit Seppuku!"
Ace's eyes widened in alarm. Holy God, she's worse than that pink-haired guy from Enies Lobby, the one that I read about! He grabbed her wrists. "Now, just hold on a minute!" The ring suddenly slipped out of his pocket and, unthinkingly, Ace stooped down and picked it up, before looking up at Baby Five.
Her face was a look of utter surprise, and she was blushing.
Oh, damn it. Ace realised his mistake too late, just as a door on the side of the hallway opened, and a large man with proportionally-thin limbs stepped out.
"Really, Baby Five?" Buffalo asked, closing the door behind him, which he really didn't have to, since they were about to start battling again. "You know what happened to the last eight of your fiances, nnniiinn..."
Baby Five let out a choked sob, but nodded, and then transformed herself using her Buki-Morphose.
She now resembled a giant gun on legs.
Ace just stared at this insane duo, and shook his head, sliding the ring onto his pinkie finger for safe-keeping. The last thing he needed was to accidentally propose to this insane girl again!
"Alright. You two asked for it."
Law and Nami took the stairs three at a time, heading for the top floor. Something was pulling them both in that direction, and it wasn't just the compass. They reached a very elaborate corridor and, noticing the huge pair of double-doors at the end of the hall, they ran up to them and, after exchanging a glance, they pulled the doors open, and stepped inside.
BANG!
Nami screamed, as pain tore through her right shoulder, and she fell to the pink carpet, which quickly became stained with her red blood.
"Nami-Ya!" Law gasped, through gritted teeth, and went to help her...but, he discovered that he was no longer in control of his body, and soon discovered the reason.
"Fufufufu, how very entertaining." Doflamingo was sitting carelessly on a throne-like chair. He had his elbow rested on the chair's arm, and the side of his face rested on his knuckles. "I didn't know you'd started to care so much about people, Law."
Law glared at him, but didn't have a chance to respond because, just then, in unison, two women's voices called: "Nami!"
Law glanced sideways with his eyes, and saw Emma crouched on the floor near to Doflamingo. She had a chain collar around her neck, and there was blood on her arms and chest.
The other speaker appeared to be a black cat with the most amazing blue eyes that Law had ever seen, and he quickly assessed that she must be Luffy's archeologist, Nico Robin.
Nami tried to raise her head, but the bullet had lodged itself firmly into her right clavicle, which was not only painful, it was dangerous - she was losing a lot of blood. She spoke, through pale lips. "Robin...Emma...you're...okay..." She grimaced, and clutched at the carpet, as Doflamingo got up, and walked over to her.
It wasn't clear which was louder - Nami's cry of pain, or the shouts from her friends, as Doflamingo roughly kicked her. She hit the wall near to where Emma and Robin were, but neither of them was able to help her, as they were both chained up.
Law didn't have to be the medical genius that he was to know that Nami was in a lot of trouble right now, as he switched his gaze back to glare at Doflamingo, who was smirking down at him.
"This is one of the great things about being a pirate, isn't it?" The blonde-haired man said cheerfully. "You can do whatever you want, and get away with it."
"Let them go, Doflamingo!" Law said.
"You're in no position to be making demands, Law." Doflamingo replied. "Like I said, I'm free to do whatever I want right now. Like this..." He made Emma get up, and walk towards him, dragging her chain with her.
The look on her face was unreadable - she kept her head down, as Doflamingo made her turn around.
"Go ahead, I'll let you look." Doflamingo said, as he reached over and began to remove Emma's dress, finally tearing it due to the Sea-Stone cuffs that were on her hands out in front of her.
Law's eyes widened. "What are you...?!" He began, angrily, but he stopped abruptly, as the final folds of dress fell away, leaving Emma in her black underwear, and the mark of the Donquixote pirates glaring in black ink on her back, mingled with the red. His heart pounded in his chest, and he couldn't take his eyes off of the horrific sight.
Anger silently boiled in his blood, and he suddenly began envisioning horrific and macabre things happening to his former mentor.
Just then, Doflamingo made Emma turn around, and Law saw the tears in her eyes. "Law-San..." She whispered. "I'm so sorry...I'm so weak..."
"Fufufu..." Doflamingo patted her roughly on the head, but she kept eye-contact with Law. "I heard you got some tutelage from Black-Legged Sanji of the Straw Hat Pirates...times to put that to the test, my little birdie..."
Law suddenly found himself in control of his body again just as he found a pair of Sea-Stone cuffs slapped on him and, just then, Doflamingo made Emma attack him.
Usopp sighed, and stared at the tiny island. "Do you think they're okay?" He asked, as another explosion rocked the pink building on that island.
"Oh, man..." Franky sobbed. "We should have gone with them!" He suddenly looked up, with a determined expression. "That's it! We can't just stay here! We have to go and help them!"
"No, Franky!" Chopper cried. "Luffy told us that, under no circumstances, were we to follow them!"
"Yeah, you don't wanna mess with the Donquixote Pirates!" Johnny added.
"But..." Franky began, and then he looked past Johnny, seeing a ship approaching through the slight flurry of snow.
It was quite large and, as it got closer, they could see that its figurehead was a dragon.
"I've never seen that ship before," Usopp mused, as it came closer to them. "Is it a pirate ship? It's just flying ordinary red flags."
"It's also aiming a cannon at the island." Law's shipwright (submarine mechanic?) added.
Everybody froze, and then they began screaming and waving their arms about, to get the other ship's attention...
"Well, that was weird." Zoro remarked, staring at the mess that had been made of his foe, and the sticky foe of Sanji and Luffy's.
"I'll say." Sanji agreed with Zoro, for once.
Luffy nodded. "Okay, now..."
"AAAUUURRRGGGHHH!" A scream suddenly pierced the air, and all three of them froze.
"That was Emma-Chan!" Sanji realised.
"Let's go!" Zoro said, and the three of them began running towards the staircase, but then they jumped out of the way, as a massive man came rolling down the stairs. He hit the wall opposite with a sickening thud.
A lady appeared at the top of the stairs, looking devastated. "Buffalo!" She cried, before she was struck from behind by Ace. He caught her gently and set her down, so that she wouldn't fall down the stairs, before indicating that they should keep on heading upwards.
"How could he hit a lady like that?" Sanji mumbled, as they climbed the stairs, and side-stepped Baby Five's body.
"So much for them being all-powerful." Zoro remarked, as they ran down the hallway.
"I dunno..." Sanji muttered. "I feel like we're all fighting a bit differently lately..."
"Maybe something to do with this whole Allies thing?" Luffy guessed. "Maybe Emmy talked to the gods for us, or something?" The idea did not make him happy, however...getting powers, like that...
"No, Luffy, I'm sure that's not it." Zoro rolled his eyes.
"Good." Luffy said, unexpectedly.
"HOLD IT!" A voice suddenly yelled from behind them, and they all turned to see Baby Five standing there.
"Evidently, he didn't hit her hard enough." Zoro sighed.
"YOU CAN'T GO UP THERE!" Baby Five yelled, and turned various parts of her body into bombs as she flew at them.
All four of the men shouted something unrepeatable (well, Luffy might've yelled something different) as the world exploded around them.
Law only just managed to dodge, as Emma aimed a roundhouse kick straight at his neck - another split-second, and she would've killed him.
Doflamingo was clearly enjoying himself, as he made Emma attack Law, and Law was unable to do much because it was her, and because of his Sea-Stone cuffs. Every time Law got close to Doflamingo, he would just make Emma appear there almost from nowhere, and Law would have to cease with his attack instantly.
Nearby, Robin was unable to do much as Nami bled out, her skin ghostly pale and her breathing ragged. She was in a lot of pain, and unable to do anything about it.
Nami looked up, and her brown eyes met Robin's blue ones. Robin watched as Nami gritted her teeth and then, slowly, inch-by-inch, she began to crawl her way towards the black cat. It was an effort for her, as the strange fight raged on in the background, and Doflamingo was completely distracted by the pain he was causing to Emma and Law, that he didn't see when Nami reached Robin, and uncurled her left hand.
In it, was the key she had stolen from Baby Five when she'd dodged from her attack. It was a one-size-fits-all key.
Robin bit back her gasp as, with great difficulty, Nami fit the key into the Sea-Stone cuffs, and slowly turned it. The Sea-Stone cuffs clinked away, and Robin immediately felt her strength return to her but, just then, Doflamingo spoke.
"Now," he said, and Nami and Robin froze, before Nami inched forwards to cover up the fact that Robin was free. Doflamingo's attention, however, was on Emma and Law. Both of them were panting from the exhaustion of trying not to kill each other, and Emma looked like one of the girls from Ikkitousen Xtreme Xecutor. "For the final act...fufufu...I didn't forget about about what you did to me, little birdie...I don't appreciate being bitten like that..."
Emma bit her lip, and then looked up at him. "Please...Doflamingo..." He looked at her. "You can...do...anything, whatever you want but, first, please, please let Law-San treat Nami's wound, please." She tried to keep the tears out of her eyes. "After that...anything you want...you can have it..."
"Emma-San, no..." Law began, but Doflamingo cut him off.
"Fufufu...isn't that sweet?" He said, mockingly. "I'm getting cavities..." He waved his hand. "Fine then. Law, attend to your precious little friend. And then...we shall have some fun..."
Law suddenly found himself in control of his body again and, after a quick look at Emma, he hurried over to Nami and Robin, not noticing at first that Robin's Sea-Stone cuffs were off, until he saw the key.
"But, how...?" He breathed, barely making a sound, as he carefully turned Nami over, onto her back, and examined her shoulder.
"Never...mind..." Nami whispered, holding out the key to him. She managed to unlock his Sea-Stone cuffs, without Doflamingo noticing. "Robin...the compass..."
Robin nodded carefully, and discreetly activated her Devil Fruit powers but, just then, Doflamingo spoke again.
"I'm going to tell you what I'm going to do, Law." The pink-feathered man said. "I'm going to take control of your body, and make you beat your precious little Emma to within an inch of her life." Emma and Law both froze, and then paled slightly, as Doflamingo continued with: "Then, I am going to take her, and make you watch as I..."
As he spoke, Emma, who was standing slightly behind Doflamingo, suddenly felt something on her shoulder, and glanced sideways out of the corner of her eyes, to see a black paw somehow jutting out of her shoulder, and it was holding her compass. Emma swallowed, as several other black paws appeared from her wrists and, despite lacking opposable thumbs, Robin managed to unlock the Sea-Stone cuffs, which clattered to the floor, making Doflamingo turn his head sharply and stop mid-sentance, thank God.
"Doflamingo," Emma said, as the pinkish-red light emitted from her compass. "Here's the thing...I'll bite any part of you that's in my mouth, so don't even try it!"
"Clutch!" Robin said sharply.
As her powers worked to drag Doflamingo to the ground, Emma looked across the room. Nico Robin was a tanned woman, with silky shoulder-length black hair and stunning blue eyes. She was tall, and beautiful and, right now, she was causing Doflamingo a world of pain.
As Emma ran to Nami and Law, an explosion rocked the building.
"We need to go!" Law stated, picking up Nami easily - now that her job was done, she was close to fainting. He glanced at Emma, the look on his face unreadable.
Emma nodded, and grabbed onto him and Nami. "Robin-San!" Robin reached back, and grabbed Emma's shoulder. "Ribon-Ribon No Transport, and make it snappy!"
As they vanished, Emma caught sight of Doflamingo, though writhing in pain on the floor, who managed to glare up at her, with furious eyes.
As they appeared outside, to see the building exploding around them, they caught sight of a huge ship that was firing on the island.
"Who is that?!" Emma cried.
"The Revolutionary Army." Law said, and Robin nodded.
"Hai - I recognize their ship's figurehead." The archeologist stated, just as Luffy, Sanji, Zoro, and Ace came running up to them.
"OH NO, NAMI-SAN!" Sanji yelled, seeing Nami's limp and bloodied body in Law's arms.
"Who did this?" Luffy asked angrily. "I'll make him pay!"
"I advise against that, Luffy-San." Robin said calmly, though there was a slight note of urgency in her voice. "We must evacuate and seek medical help for Nami-Chan."
"Robin-Chwan! Emma-Chwan!" Sanji cried in delight at seeing both women, and then wailed: "Oh, my poor Nami-Swan!"
"Less gushing, more rushing!" Zoro snapped suddenly, and they all began running towards the shore, where the yellow submarine was barely visible through the white snow that had began to fall.
As Emma waded through the water, with Ace's hand clenched around her wrist, and he pulled her up onto the deck of the submarine, she half-turned, and caught a flake of snow in her hand. It was the first time she had ever seen it - it was beautiful, and a fitting end to her terrifying encounter with one of the Shichibukai. She then glanced up, and met the stern gaze of a man standing on the Revolutionary ship.
They were dark eyes, and they were so familiar...why...?
Then, Emma realised, that they were the eyes of both Luffy and Garp so then, this must be...
"Dragon..." She whispered, wondering if he was supposed to be here or not. Then again, they were supposed to come here to liberate Tequila Wolf, and they wanted Robin to join them but, wasn't Robin supposed to have gone to him, and not the other way around?
Robin hurried up behind Emma, wincing at the sight of her back, and took her by the shoulders. "Emma-San, I know it's not everyday you get to see snow, but we have to close the door!"
Emma nodded and, giving one last glance at Dragon, who was looking at either her or Robin, she allowed Robin to lead her below deck, to where Ace was waiting to throw his arms around her, as the sub dived.
Emma allowed him to hug her, but looked around. "Where's Nami?" She asked, urgently.
"Law took her in to be operated on." Zoro said tensely. He was leaning against the wall. "Sanji and Luffy are in there with her, but Law might end up kicking them out if they keep on yelling the way they are."
"They're just worried." Robin said calmly.
Zoro nodded. "I know...hey...you okay?" He asked her, and she nodded, smiling lightly.
Ace was hugging Emma, when she suddenly gasped and pushed him away, wincing in pain as she sunk to her knees.
"Emiko...?" Ace took a look at her back, and stopped. "What is...?"
"Doflamingo tattooed his mark onto me!" Emma exclaimed, the trauma finally catching up to her. It was about time. "I have his mark on my back, his horrible, evil mark! I don't want it! Get it off! Please, please get it off of me!"
"He can't do that, it's permanent." Zoro said, a little bit alarmed by Emma's sudden screaming.
"Emma-San..." Robin began, but Emma cut her off.
"What should I do?!" She cried, clutching the sides of her head, as tears gathered in her eyes. "I know I should be more worried about Nami right now, but please, get Doflamingo's mark off me!"
Ace was suddenly there, and he grabbed Emma's wrists, forcing her to look up at him. "Emiko, calm down." He said, in a serious tone. "I can do something."
Zoro and Robin stared at him.
"You can...?" Emma whispered.
Ace nodded. "I can't remove it completely, but I can fix it. Do you want me to do that?"
"If it gets rid of his mark, then please, Ace-Chan...please..." Her voice cracked, and genuine tears fell from her eyes.
Ace wiped the tears away, cupping the sides of Emma's face in his hands. "Emiko...I'm sosorry...that I wasn't able to protect you...what happened to you up there?"
Emma closed her eyes, as more tears fell unhindered, and Ace sighed, and drew her close to him. "When we get back to the Thousand Sunny...it'll be okay, I promise..."
Emma sighed, burying her face in her arms, and not feeling anything due to the anaesthetic, as Ace worked on her back. They were in the med bay of the Thousand Sunny - Chopper had agreed to let them use the room, as long as they didn't mess up any of his equipment.
"I'm so weak..." Emma muttered. "I couldn't stop Nami from getting shot...I couldn't stand up against Doflamingo's powers...it was so lucky that Nami got the key, and that Robin-San is so strong..."
"You're such a downer." Ace muttered, concentrating on his work. "It happens to all of us."
"Hmm...I can't believe I got kidnapped, too..." Emma closed her eyes. "Ace-Chan, am I really meant to be on this team?"
"What do you mean?" He asked her, knowing full well what she meant.
"Well, once we find the last Ally - I bet it's Brook - you guys won't need me anymore..." Emma began, but Ace cut her off.
"Stop it." He said firmly. "How much longer are you going to deny it?"
"Deny what?"
"The fact that you're important to us." Ace replied, using a clothe to clean away the blood on her bare-back. He was mindful of the fact that she was only wearing a pair of pants - the Thousand Sunny was warm and toasty enough, thanks to its winter modifications, so Emma could get away with this, for now. "We risked our lives to save you."
"You saved Robin-San, too." Emma mumbled.
"We didn't know that she would be there with you." Ace replied. "You should have heard Nami - she wouldn't stop until she'd found you. She kept on yelling at Trafalgar and I, as well...said something about us getting along better when you were around..."
Emma laughed softly. "Really? That's saying something..." She sobered slightly. She hadn't told Ace about what had happened in that room, and she didn't plan to. She didn't know which part was worse, but he wouldn't react well to any of them, for sure! "Ace-Chan...thank you..."
"For what?" He asked, as he wiped away the last of the blood.
"For always putting up with me...I know I can be a real handful at times..." Emma replied.
It was Ace's turn to laugh. "Maybe. But, you know I love you."
He said it! Emma thought, her eyes sparkling, as Ace stood back.
"Okay, all done!" The Whitebeard pirate said, smiling at his handiwork. "Take a look."
"O-okay..." Emma started to get up, and then she blushed. "Hang on, don't look!" She scolded him, covering her chest with her arms, as she walked over to the mirror on the wall. She turned around, and looked over her shoulder, staring at the new mark on her back. She just stared, and Ace came over and stared with her.
"Well, what do you think?" He was getting slightly worried by her silence. "Do you like it?"
"...How?" She asked quietly.
He began tracing carefully across her back and, due to the anaesthetic, she didn't feel it. "Well, I just shifted this by cutting here and inking here..."
"Are you sure it's okay?"
"They all love you just as much as I...well, sort of, just...not in the same way...ah, you know what I mean." Ace shrugged.
Emma swallowed, her heart pounding in her chest. She was suddenly aware of how dim the room was - it was lit only by candles, courtesy of Ace himself. Emma clasped her hands to her chest, considering what this all meant. She then turned to Ace and, in an instant, she'd pounced on him.
Pinning him to the ground, she couldn't keep the lopsided grin off her face. Leaning down close to Ace's surprised face, she whispered: "I love it."
He grinned, and kissed her, and both of them felt the electrical current run through their bodies. And, considering how skimpily they were both dressed, this was very interesting for them, as Ace ran his hands down Emma's waist, and Emma kept her hands on Ace's chest, feeling his heart beating as wildly as what hers was. They stopped only long enough for Ace to give Emma her ring back (after she promised to never take it off again) and then they resumed their make-out session, which started to get a bit steamy when Ace's hands travelled even further southwards down Emma's back, and she bit back a startled gasp.
Ace's grin became devilish, and he began trailing kisses down her neck, letting his lips brush against the soft part of her throat, as she arched her newly tattoed back despite herself. She moaned softly - she had never done that before, but now seemed like the perfect time to do it.
"Ace-Chan..." She whispered, just as the door to the med-bay was opened.
"Hey, guys, how's it going?" Chopper asked, as he walked into the room with Law, and then the two doctors stopped.
They stopped and stared.
Emma stared back at them and, beneath her, Ace had frozen.
"Aah, my eyes!" Chopper cried, turning away.
"Aah, my dignity!" Emma cried, springing up with her arms crossed over her chest, as she quickly turned around, but this was quite possibly a mistake.
Because now, there for Law to see, was the new mark on Emma's back - the mark of the Whitebeard Pirates, there in all its glory. How Ace had managed to convert Doflamingo's mark to Whitebeard's mark, nobody would ever know but, he had, and that was all that really mattered.
As Emma blushed furiously and tried to find a t-shirt, or a dress, or something, and Chopper mumbled something about being scarred both physically and mentally, Ace got to his feet, and found one Trafalgar Law glaring at him.
Ace returned the glare, but there was a hint of smugness there, too, as Emma finally succeeded in finding a dress to put on, with thanks to Robin who had shown up.
"Nami-Chan is awake now." She said, sounding relieved but still managing to look serene.
Emma gasped. "I'm going to go and see her!" She declared.
Robin nodded. "We'll all go together, okay?" She asked, glancing at Chopper, who nodded, and led the two women out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Ace and Law were left alone, facing each other.
"So?" Ace crossed his arms.
Law glared at him.
Author's Notes:
. Those two guys that the monster trio were fighting were Diamante and Trébol.
. Flint-locked blunderbuss...heh, I just love that concept. This is the second time that one's shown up.
Mugiwara Wolf Spirite - oh, that's true. They're everywhere, doing everything, after all. DON'T MAKE EYE-CONTACT! Lol, I can see that you're still on about Emmace, now Lawma (Lawma?). XD Oh well, you'll just have to wait and seeee...
WindWhistle21 - making people die of excitement is what I do best. But, I also enjoy answering people's reviews. If you can take the time to review, then I can certainly take the time to answer them all. :) And, yes, Law and Sanji friendship is epic.
Shinobi . Hikari . Ookami - although, Boa wants a Luffy-shaped cookie, I'm sure of it. Toss one down into Hell for her, and see if she goes after it. Yes, go Slytherin! *Grabs Flintlocked Blunderbuss* Let's go hunt us some chocolate! Thanks for the review!
Shiningheart of ThunderClan - don't worry, Robin made the big bad flamingo man pay! ^^ Tashigi is VERY obsessed with Zoro, it goes BEYOND her duties as a Marine, I believe. It could be a big problem for her, soon enough, though...heh heh heh...oh well and, don't worry, over-active imaginations are a GOOD thing!
KaiF . Raphaella - thanks so much for your review and continued support! XD
MsWildLuck - the flamingo is as the flamingo does, and the flamingo does what he wants (damn it, he should've said that in the story!). I'm glad that you and Boa are enjoying my story! *Returns the thumbs-up*
Cocoa Liddell - don't worry, things will start to get a lot clearer for them all, soon enough...about as clear as mud. ^^ But, yes, she and Ace DO need each other right now, and will very soon. *Prediction* Thanks for the review! :D