Krow's ugly look suddenly twisted into an eerie smirk, his eyes flitting over Kaya and Usopp in a fashion that indicated he was scanning them thoroughly.
"Give it up, Krow!" Usopp snarled, and Krow let out a sharp laugh that obviously startled Kaya. Usopp quickly tightened his grip over Kaya's slackening fingers, and glared at Krow as the man slid his glasses higher with his palm.
"Interesting development," Krow hissed, and didn't flinch a muscle when Usopp quite abruptly aimed and pulled the trigger. Kaya let out a stifled scream as the gunshot rang throughout the mansion, the bullet imbedding itself between Krow's shoes.
"I said, give it up." Usopp repeated, his eyes narrowing. Krow only smirked, and suddenly dropped his standing stance. His shoulders hunched, his neck sagging so his chin hit his collar-bone. The blades trailed across the pine floor as his arms dropped down his sides.
What is he playing at?! Usopp thought frantically, but before he could think of something to distract Krow, Krow spoke first out of the corner of his mouth.
"Destruction."
And without warning, Krow disappeared. Kaya jerked, startled, into Usopp, her eyes darting around and wide from shock and fear, when the staircase banister suddenly exploded in an eruption of polished-wood splinters. The ground trembled, and the next second a glass cabinet several metres away shattered with an ear-piercing screech.
Instinctively, Usopp let go of Kaya's hands to cover her properly with his own body, clutching her shoulders tightly in effort to not show his own fear. Kaya squeezed her eyes shut, trying hard not to scream when she heard the noise of exploding wood growing nearer.
The engineer grit his teeth, looking around over the top of Kaya's head to see walls being torn up violently. Damn it, his attacks are random!! I don't know where the hell he's coming from, and-- He breathed in deeply, trying to keep himself calm. The point is that we've got to get out of this house somehow. Or at least, Kaya's got to get out of here--
The abrupt pain that seared through his left leg made Usopp yell, and Kaya's eyes widened as she saw his blood splatter onto the pine-wood. Perhaps it was just her imagination, but just for a brief second, she thought she heard a low, menacing chuckle that slicked a chill up her spine.
His target is me, Kaya thought, forcing her fingers on Usopp's shirt to loosen, If I let Usopp-san protect me this way, he's going to get hurt, too. I'm not going to let that happen.
Pushing away from Usopp suddenly, Kaya stumbled towards the semi-dilipidated staircase. The gun clattered towards the front-door.
"KAYA!!" Usopp shouted, but she continued to fumble her way up the staircase. Argh! If she's going to run, she's got to run towards the back-door I kicked open, not upstairs of all places!!
Distracted, Usopp was completely caught off guard when a blade slid cleanly through his right leg. Crying out in pain, he jerked himself away, and felt an unpleasant ooze of blood rush out of his legs as he did so. He collapsed onto the floor on his own legs as Krow loomed over him, grinning triumphantly as his dark eyes glittered.
"Can't run now, can you." Krow murmured, and he kicked Usopp harshly in the stomach to send him crashing into a marble side-table. The flowers and vase broke in a shower of water and porcelain, and Usopp bit his lip to stop yelping when a piece of porcelain stuck into his palm as he scrambled to get up. His bleeding legs proved unyielding, however, and he struggled to try and just move away from Krow.
"Perhaps this will teach you to keep that long nose of yours out of my business--" Krow began darkly, when he let out a sharp exhalement of surprise. Looking down, Usopp saw Merii, bleeding profusely from the mouth and nose, clutching one of Krow's legs with all his might.
"Merii!!" Kaya gasped from her stand on the second landing, and Merii choked out,
"Get out, Miss Kaya! GET OUT!!"
Krow kicked Merii in the jaw, forcing him off his leg, and turned his leering smirk to Kaya's frightened eyes. "You don't think you can run, do you, Kaya?"
However, Krow was pulled down suddenly as Merii wound his limp and fractured arms tightly around Krow's legs to send him crashing to the ground. Krow's eyes flashed angrily. Merii was kicked heavily in the ribs, a crack ringing the air that mingled with Merii's blood-filled coughs. Jerking his head to the side, Krow's eyes narrowed as he found the actress gone from sight once again.
As he bolted up the stairs, Usopp tried to get up but failed miserably. "Don't stop running, Kaya!!" He shouted, and in response only heard Krow's retreating footsteps.
"Heh. Heh."
Gin raised a brow as he turned to face Don Krieg looking at the floor, his stance limp and slouched and the blood continuing to leak from his knees, but something seemed extremely strange. His eyes were rolling side to side, and his mouth drooped strangely, sagging to his chest. A thin trickle of saliva was sliding down his chin as he continued to exhale wheezily, as though he was lacking oxygen.
"...Captain?" Gin asked hesitantly, his hand still set on the door knob, and then started when Krieg started to stand up. His eyes widened beneath the headband, his back hitting the door as the massive man stood up. He seemed slightly unstable, but the lack of stability seemed to have nothing to do with his knees. Turning his face to Gin, Krieg let out a series of hysterical sounding cackles.
There was a short silence as Gin stared at Krieg. Then, Gin twisted the doorknob to the toolhouse. The click apparently triggered something in Krieg, because without warning, he pulled his arms up haggardly and charged at Gin at full speed. Gin fumbled with the lock and fell with a slam on his back outside the toolhouse as Krieg went soaring over him.
The large man landed on the floor, scraping his temple against the concrete, but picked himself up again quickly. Blood splattered from his forehead, but Krieg's eyes still rolled as he let out a low, guttural growl that did not sound remotely human.
Gin jerked himself round, his mouth open to warn Sanji at the top of his lungs, but was abruptly sent crashing to the ground. Winded and bruised, he tried to twist out from under Krieg's weight to no avail. As Gin turned his eyes to meet Krieg's defiantly, he was met with an extremely eerie and pleased look as Krieg raised a hand, as though he were about to plunge it into him.
He managed to jerk himself hard enough so the hand was no longer aimed at his chest. The hand struck his forehead instead, with enough force to knock Gin out. Grinning, Krieg raised his hand once more-- only to be blasted off Gin. Rolling several feet before picking himself up again, Krieg glared at the offender, his eyes no longer rolling but a sinisterly glowing yellow. Then, without a second glance, the man turned and sprinted towards the pavement.
A bubble-gum pink haired woman was lowering her foot, looking uneasily after Krieg. She bent down and checked Gin, rolling him over and checking his pulse. She looked relieved, and then said out softly, "Luce, you free now?"
Far off, Luce blinked and responded, "I'm afraid I'm not. What's wrong?"
"I think we've got a problem." The pink haired Angel said quietly, and she looked hesitantly at where Krieg had just stood as she murmured, "and I don't think a Silver Angel like me can cut it."
"Weird," Solare muttered, looking intently into Zoro's eyes, "you really do have another soul in you."
"So can you keep her alive?" Zoro asked impatiently, feeling uncomfortable at the way the Archangel was able to look straight into him. Solare nodded curtly, and looked over at his blue-haired companion.
"Luce, is something up?" She nodded, looking disturbed and distracted.
"Volare just told me something bad." Luce answered, her eyes clouded, and she shook her head quickly. "There isn't time for explaining. I'll transfer the soul now; Solare, you'd better hotfoot it over to Volare."
Solare blinked, but he nodded. Turning to Zoro, he said sincerely, "I hope you work this all out." He pressed his palm against Zoro's shoulder as he said this, and Zoro started as he felt something warm and strong settle in the pit of his stomach before spreading to the rest of his body in a crackle of energy. Blinking, Zoro opened his mouth, unsure of what to say - but it didn't matter. With a burst of wings and a flash of white, Solare was long gone in the sky.
"He must like you," Luce commented, bringing Zoro's eyes back to Tashigi, "He doesn't bless just anyone."
"He blessed me?"
"Yeah," Luce said lightly, "how else did you think you were going to find that Demon anyway? He gave you the ability to sense the Demon's presence."
So I guess this feeling of warmth is holiness? Dang it feels weird... "So... how does this work?" Zoro asked, kicking all sense of nervousness out of his voice, and Luce knelt down beside Tashigi whilst gesturing he should do the same. As the swordsman quickly sat down, Luce took his hand.
"What we need to do is get you to relax," Luce said with a faint smile as Zoro raised an eyebrow at her, "because, quite unfortunately, soul extraction hurts. Even if it's not yours."
Zoro nodded quickly, and Luce closed her eyes. A minute later, Zoro realised she was in prayer. Yet another minute later, Zoro noticed that Tashigi's breathing was growing softer and more shallow by the second, and he found himself wondering annoyedly, a sense of urgency hitching in his thoughts, just when on earth she'd get on with it -- when suddenly, the Archangel's eyes flicked open. Without warning, Luce picked up the hand she'd had on Zoro's, and holding his hand tightly she pushed both of their hands into him.
Like an icy hand plunging into the depth of his chest, but far more deeply and painfully than any physical pain could accomplish, Zoro felt Luce's fingers searching in the confines of his soul. Then, she grabbed something that made Zoro instinctively wince. Ever so slowly, he felt her soul slowly slide away from him. Unconciously, he immediately tensed and glared at Luce, but she gave him a sharp look.
"Let go." She said in a commanding tone, and Zoro reluctantly forced himself to relax and felt the horrible feeling of warmth and fulfillment gushing out of him as Luce's hand drew back further and further. At last, she pulled both their hands out, gripping something invisible that Zoro could not see but sense strongly, and together their hands sank Kuina's soul into Tashigi.
It took Zoro a few seconds to realise he was still clenching onto her soul and that Luce had already let go. Willing himself to let go of her, Zoro finally wrenched his hand out. Tashigi's face suddenly contorted into a mask of pain; she let out a sharp cry before she curled over onto her side, her teeth gnashing together tightly. The rush of colour back in her cheeks was immediately noticeable, though her face looked flushed in irregular patches.
"What's wrong with her?!" Zoro asked, alarmed, and Luce looked relievedly back at him.
"It's normal. You wouldn't like a soul invading your body, either. But it didn't kill her, and that's all that matters. Good thing you were right about them being compatible..." Luce shook her hair out of her eyes before looking at Zoro with bright blue eyes that seemed to shoot electricity right through him.
"I've got to join Solare," She said quietly, "so it's now your turn to help her. She'll reject the soul in a couple of hours; after all, it isn't really hers. I only pray your claim to have surpassed average mortal strength is true."
Luce started as Zoro leapt to his feet, apparently ready to dash off, and she cried, "Wait! Take the girl with you."
"What for?!" Zoro exclaimed incredulously, gesturing at Tashigi's limp form and pained features, but Luce ignored him. Sliding her fingers under and picking up Tashigi as though she were a rag-doll, she handed her to Zoro, who accepted with a bewildered expression.
"Don't tell me you were thinking of actually coming back here once you'd gotten her soul?" Luce asked, raising an eyebrow, and thought, Especially since you were just about to eagerly dash into the opposite direction! Zoro frowned.
"She's going to weigh me down! What's wrong with coming back here with her soul?" He asked frustratedly, ignoring her last remark. He decided not to mention the fact he was uncomfortable with holding up Tashigi; not that she was really all that heavy, but she was way too close for comfort. But Luce was not understanding in this case; instead, her eyes hardened as she explained coolly,
"If you're serious about saving her, I suggest you take her with you because you're going to need all the time you can get. How long do you think you can hold onto a raw soul for? With mortal hands like yours, I'm afraid you can't hold a soul for longer than three seconds."
Zoro bit his lip, holding back a retort as he realised this wasn't a time to protest; the Archangel looked dead serious. He sat Tashigi down abruptly, surprising Luce, but before she could demand Zoro to take Tashigi with him he had the swordswoman draped clumsily over his back. He threw her arms over his shoulders before preparing himself to dash off again, and turned around briefly just to say thanks.
As he did so, the word barely escaped his lips when Luce's fingers gently brushed against his forehead and her voice said, "Good luck." He blinked; in a whisk of sky-blue hair and feathers, she too had disappeared - much like Solare had. But he didn't have time to ponder about that.
Tashigi gave a sharp grunt of pain - a sharp blast of air into Zoro's ear - as he started to run, deftly skipping over fallen bodies, and Zoro muttered, "Don't worry, we'll get you back to your original soul."
Zoro didn't know it, but Solare's blessing had not just been magnetism towards evil aura - it had also been of enhanced speed, so he was slowly gaining on the Demon that was clutching onto Tashigi's soul every minute.
Normally, even with the speed and magnetism Zoro would have been running around in circles and thus would have never reached the Demon in time.
But thankfully, Luce had blessed the green-head with a sense of direction.
Something in the atmosphere shifted. Like the way some strange, dark aura seemed to have captured the S.S. Going Merry, the area suddenly seemed to have something dark and disturbing clinging to the air. Both Sanji and Nami stopped talking abruptly, and exchanging uneasy and surprised looks, they both turned behind them.
A large man sporting a blue and white headband was walking haggardly towards them, and Sanji immediately recognised him as the man who had tried to take the Old Geezer's ship, and also as the man who had tried to crash the dinner dance.
But Don Krieg did not look a thing like himself at the moment. His shoulders hunched tightly, as though something was screwing them tightly up, and his eyes were emitting a faint yellow glow that did not look warm at all. His lips were bared back in a strange way, baring only on side of his teeth, his jaw jutted out as he breathed noisily. A trickle of spittle ran down one side of his mouth, frothing at the corner, and his nostrils were flared. But perhaps most noticeable was his horribly pale skin... and the fact blood from pouring from his knees profusely.
"Nami-san," Sanji said quietly but urgently, "Get out of the way."
"Sanji-kun," She began, but he unlocked his hand from hers and held his arm before her, as though to protect her.
"He seems dangerous." He said, and Nami swallowed the retort understatement of the year! and instead hesitantly stepped away.
Krieg suddenly lunged, letting out a shrill, piercing screech as he did so, and his fingers painfully latched onto Sanji's shoulders. His nails dug into Sanji's skin, causing him to wince as he swung his legs round to kick Krieg off him. He stood up quickly, trying to ignore the fact Krieg's fingers had torn through his shirt and skin so deeply he was starting to bleed, and his eyes widened in surprise. Krieg was hanging off the top of a lamp-post, now letting out eerie shrieks of laughter.
Sanji watched him apprehensively, and suddenly, Krieg jerked his head to fix a piercing glare at something behind Sanji. The model stepped back slightly, confused, and bumped into Nami's elbow. "Nami-san, I told you to get away!" He said in surprise, but Nami was trembling as her eyes darted about furtively.
"I-I can't move!" She whispered, and she let out a short cry of pain when she tried to move her legs, only for her muscles to start violently twisting. Then she let out a sharp scream, her eyes fixated behind Sanji as she cried, "Watch out!!"
The model was caught off-guard; a knee caught him squarely between the shoulder blades, claw-like grips hitching him at the elbows and jerking them back. Letting out a yell of pain, Sanji was sent with a slam to his knees as Krieg screamed with excitement behind him. And quite suddenly, he felt something horribly chilling and vile tear into his very being through his back.
"SANJI-KUN!!" Nami screamed, her eyes widening from shock, and she noticed with confusion no blood seeping through. It looked as though the man had an arm through Sanji's chest, but there seemed to be no physical harm. However, Sanji's eyes were listless, his posture slack as the man continued to push his hand in deeper.
Krieg searched roughly, and found Sanji's soul. Grabbing it tightly, he started to withdraw it from Sanji. A searing pain caught Sanji like wildfire, and his eyes flared back to life. His teeth clenched together as he grit out, "Let--go!!"
Krieg suddenly felt a scorching heat rise up and burn up his arm, and letting out a wounded howl he let go of Sanji's soul abruptly and wrenched his hand out. Sanji spun round and sank his heel heavily into Krieg's jaw, sending him flying into the lamp post. However, Krieg leapt back to his feet, and hurtled onto Sanji again, stuffing his palm over Sanji's mouth.
Sanji's eyes widened - he was pressing a soaked piece of cloth over his mouth, and he let out a choked noise before throwing Krieg off him. However, it was too late; the damage was done, and Sanji felt his world sway as he fell onto his knees.
Krieg gave a satisfied growl before turning and plunging his hand through Nami's chest. Sanji's eyes rounded, and he forced himself up. Nami's eyes glazed over as she felt intruding fingers sift through her core, but like Sanji, she grit her teeth and forced Krieg out, making the large man screech in pain.
"My soul's b-been through en-enough already!!" Nami managed to say from her frozen state, and Krieg glared at her piercingly. Then he grabbed Nami round the waist, hoisted her over his shoulder and started to run. Sanji's jaw dropped open.
"W-wait! No!! Gargh--"
He could not stand from the weakness starting to permeate through his senses, however, and he felt despair sink through him. Then he mentally kicked himself. Nami-san needs you, remember? He told himself firmly, and he forced himself onto his side, wincing at the movement but knowing what he had to do.
The cook managed to force all the strength he could muster into his fist, and steeling himself he punched himself in the windpipe. It worked; coughing violently, he vomited onto the road. Feeling disgusted but better now that he had gotten rid of most of the liquid from himself, Sanji stood up and caught sight of Krieg leaping over cars to cross the road, Nami helplessly with him. Then Sanji noticed, with a bit of a grimace, that Krieg had left behind him a trail of blood that had obviously dripped from his knees.
"I'm not losing her twice," He snarled, and began to sprint as fast as he could after Krieg.
Chuu fell against Cabodi and Jango, the last one unconcious, and Luffy grinned as he dusted his hands.
"That was fun!!" He cheered, bouncing up and down, "I haven't had my body in ages!!"
It's not for long, Kale reminded him, and Luffy drooped. Then his eyes widened, and he suddenly rolled over and narrowly missed a heavy punch to his torso. Spinning round, Luffy saw Cabodi standing, looking at him hollowly.
"Huh. You can still move? Wow!!" Luffy remarked, highly impressed.
You moron!! Don't you think something's strange about him?! Kale yelled, and Luffy frowned, peering closely at the guy.
His eyes were a little weird, yes; they were rolling around like crazy, and his tongue was hanging out of his mouth as he chewed it. His skin was all white, and his hands were raised up despite the fact Luffy was sure he'd cracked the bones at the joints...
"He does seem a little different," He said with a slightly confused frown, and Kale refrained from mental strangulation.
He looks like he's been posessed, Kale said grimly, And I think he's been posessed by a high level Demon.
"Demon?" Luffy echoed, and he threw his arm back behind him when Kale quickly said,
No, Luffy! Don't punch him!!
Rubber snapped back and Luffy was forced to leap over Cabodi as he ran forward, his arms outstretched as though to grab him.
"Kale, what's wrong?? Why can't I beat him up?!" Luffy exclaimed, and Kale said urgently,
Because high level Demons can wrench out souls -- even out of strong people like you, Kale snapped, Close range combat is no good. Do you understand?
"Can't he do any of that wonky stuff from this distance too, then?" Luffy asked, frowning as he scooted over one side to avoid a broken tile Cabodi had just chucked at him.
No, he needs to use his hands and put it into you. This is bad, Luffy. Valkrief's Demons have invaded this dimension already. I hate to think of where else Demons are taking over--
"Kale, what am I supposed to do then?!" Luffy yelped, hopping aside and rolling rapidly beneath Cabodi's wildly swiping hands, "Just keep running away?!"
Give control back to me-- I'll get the Demon out of that human's body immediately, some way or another.
Kale waited for Luffy to exchange souls. There was a short silence, then--
"No."
...What?!
"I said no. I don't wanna change souls." Luffy gave a small pout as he said, "It's been ages since I've been let out, especially in my usual seventeen-year-old body. I don't wanna switch now."
You gormless, rubber idiot, this isn't the time to be childish! Kale said angrily, This is a high level Demon!
"I don't about any of that stuff," Luffy said stubbornly, and he stood to face Cabodi as he added stoutly, "And I don't care."