Musician: Chapter 7—Friends

Luffy was chasing the cave creature through the darkness. Perhaps it was a tasty animal. Maybe Sanji would cook it for him. Whatever it was, it would be fun to catch. Luffy didn't care if it was dark. A chase was a hunt, and a hunt was fun. Luffy stretched his fingers into a net, ready to catch his fun.

The fun didn't want to be caught. In fact, fun was the last thing on Drummerman 's mind. His captain, the man who had pulled him from the streets of despair, the man who given Drummerman his only glimmer of hope in the world, was going to die.

Drummerman spun the drumsticks, bringing them up into Luffy's fingers. Slicing those fingers, the blood, the flesh, seemed so right. Somewhere in Drummerman's head, he knew it wasn't right, but that part of his head had left a long time ago.

Luffy yelped in pain. He brought back his arms in the dark, to find blood flowing from his half-size, mangled fingers. No animal could have done that. In the pitch blackness, Luffy knew that there was an enemy out there. He couldn't see it, but he knew it was going down. Anger flared within him; he clenched what remained of his fists, and shouted: "Gomu gomu no PISTOL!"

Drummerman hadn't lost his sense of reality. He had, in fact, a greater sense of reality. His sanity was what had gone away. He heard Luffy shout out. He heard the sound of Luffy's arm stretching through the blackness. Setting his teeth, dealing with the pain shooting through his leg, Drummerman shifted his body to the right. After what seemed like more than a second, the arm came rocketing past. Drummerman didn't think as he swung his blade down, severing the arm from the body.

Luffy felt the pain. He couldn't see his enemy, and that made him even angrier. He sent more punches, more kicks, into the dark. He only received more pain. If there was one quality that set Luffy apart from the rest, it was that he didn't give up. This time, it turned out to be his greatest weakness. Perhaps it was a good thing that he didn't know he was killed by the hands of a friend.

By the time Chopper and Nami found Zoro on the mountaintop, he had lost too much blood. Nami reached down and shut his eyes. "He was a good man," she cried. "How could anyone do this?"

Chopper pointed down the trail of blood that led straight into the cave. "Come on, Nami. Whoever did this is after the others, too. Let's hope we can get to them in time." He and Nami, didn't want to say it, but they both knew. Drummerman had done this. The feeling of betrayal was the worst feeling of all.

Sanji and Usopp, who was carryingthe flare, came upon Drummerman standing over Luffy. Blood was everywhere. Sanji looked wide-eyed at the scene. Who was this man? No one who hurt his captain lived, even a friend. Sanji, so hurt, swallowed his cigarette, a tear dropping from his eye. Then he aimed a kick at Drummerman's middle.

Drummerman, whose leg was already broken, saw Sanji's kick coming. Something about seeing his captain lying dead on the stone floor of the cave made him stop. He didn't move, and the kick sent him flying into the wall. He felt his ribs crack, splinter into hundreds of pieces. It sent him into a rage once more. He rushed at Sanji, blades ready. But he stumbled as the pain overtook him. He fell face-first into Sanji's foot.

Sanji followed through with his kick, sending Drummerman spinning deeper and lower into the cave. Sanji's throat was burning. His heart was broken. In all his days, no one had ever betrayed him as deeply as that crazy man with the bottle stuck into the side of his head, and he wasn't going to live to see tomorrow.

Drummerman found himself lying at the edge of a cliff. He couldn't feel or see how deep it was. Struggling, he stood to his feet. As the light crept down from further up in the cave, he saw Sanji's silhouette running towards him. A kick aimed for Drummerman's neck missed as he ducked. Unfortunately for Sanji, he didn't see the cliff, and the force of his deadly kick sent him flying past Drummerman into the deep caverns below. It was twenty seconds before Drummerman heard the sound of Sanji's body hitting the floor below.

Drummerman fell to his knees and wept. His friends were dying all around him, and he couldn't stop it, because he was the one killing. He struggled to climb back out of the cave, and each step sent more pain writhing through his bones. He didn't want to kill, but what choice did he have? It was too late to go back.

Chopper and Nami found a flare dropped on the floor of the cave. Then Chopper saw Drummerman walking towards him. Chopper knew what he had to do. Changing to his brain point, he scanned the drummer, finding the weak spot: the bottle. Not thinking of anything else, Chopper changed to his arm point, and smashed the bottle, and Drummerman's head, into the wall. But Chopper found a drumstick in his chest.

Drummerman's ears were ringing. His head was gushing blood, and he found himself losing consciousness. He still turned the blade in Chopper's chest. He heard, he felt Chopper's heart ripping away. The reindeer's lungs were shredding, andthe life was gone. But still, Drummerman turned the blade. He didn't stop until his strength left his arms, and he could turn no more.

Nami watched in horror as Drummerman dropped Chopper, whose chest was erupting with blood. Drummerman walked towards her. "Nami, get out of my way please," he said calmly as he walked slowly towards the exit to the cave. He held his other drum stick in his hand. "Move. Or I'll kill you."

Nami didn't know what to do. Her mind raced. She couldn't comprehend all of what had gone on. "Drummerman," she said weakly. "Don't do it. We are friends."

Drummerman couldn't believe his ears. He dropped his weapon, and tears flowed from his eyes. After all he had done, after all he had done to hurt her, she still cared for him. Was this what friendship was all about? Could a true friend even forgive someone like him? "Nami," he wept. "I'm sorry." His words were broken by sobs. "I'm not going to kill any more. I can't."

Nami cried with him. "Oh, I know," she cried, looking at him. "I know you won't. But why did you do it, Drummerman? Why did you kill our friends?"

"I… don't know." He truly didn't know. Suddenly, Drummerman felt a sharp pain in his back. He looked down to see a dagger pushed through his heart. Drummerman fell to his knees, blood spewing from his mouth. He watched Usopp walk up to Nami, take her hand, and walk away.

Drummerman, don't ever give up on life.

I didn't, Robin. Life gave up on me.

He saw Robin's face as he reached for the light, but fell into darkness.

THE END