-Dominoes-

A One Piece Fanfic By Digitaldreamer

Chapter Five: A Dish Best Served Cold

Well, the holidays are over now. This makes me sad because I absolutely love the holidays, but thankful at the same time because that means I'm finally done making fics and pictures for people as Christmas presents, meaning I'm once again FREE to type as I please. That means it's time to get back to good ol' Dominoes and hopefully soon dear Constable will be able to start writing Tangled Web again and all will be good.

Anyway, this chapter is a chapter that falls in with my fanfic writing roots. My very first fanfic, way back in January 2003, was a Kingdom Hearts fanfic whose plot consisted of the main character of the game getting captured by his enemies and tortured. Fun. So in a way, I'm going back to my roots, but with much more skill and experience.

I'm not entirely sure how this will go, seeing how it's been ages since I've really written any torture…so we'll see how this goes. I almost feel bad knowing what I'm about to make Kuro do to Luffy…almost.

So anyway, let's see how this goes.

Warning: Here be where the torture starts, folks!

---

It really was amazing, the first things that come to one's mind after slowly making one's way through the haze of unconsciousness. For Luffy, these thoughts really weren't so out of place if you actually knew him.

I'm hungry…wait, where am I?

Where's everyone else?

Why is everything so warm?

Hey, that blurry object kind of looks like Zoro's head!

Yikes…it's kind of bright, maybe I'll just close my eyes again…

And finally, ow.

His entire body felt impossibly warm, almost as if he were on fire, and it throbbed with pain. He also seemed to be bound to something above him with very rough rope, and these bonds seemed to hurting his wrists quite spectacularly. Maybe that was why they were bleeding? Then again, that may also have had something to do with the fact that his wrists were the only thing supporting him, as he was dangling from the ceiling.

Luffy slowly forced his eyes open with a loud groan. Seeing nothing but blurry shapes, the boy blinked a few times so the small room came into focus.

It was indeed rather small from what Luffy could tell, with nothing but a concrete floor. There was a single light overhead, which was shining down upon him and seemed to be a bit too bright at the moment. It did reveal that Luffy was in fact hanging by his wrists, which were tied to a chain that was dangling from the ceiling.

However, beyond this, Luffy could see nothing. The shadows beyond what the single light bulb illuminated where a complete mystery to him.

The boy blinked groggily as he glanced around, trying to piece his thoughts together. How had he gotten here? Why wasn't he on the Going Merry?

It was like struggling to reach the surface in a pool of dark, murky water, where it's nearly impossible to tell the difference between up and down. It seemed as if no matter how hard he grasped, he simply couldn't seem to find the memories he sought.

And then it all suddenly came flooding came back, as if he had finally breeched the surface of that dark, murky pool. Those pirates! They had attacked him and Zoro, and Zoro was doing well, and then the scary lady had made everything go all dark and something hard had hit him in the back of the head…

He had to get out of here.

Luffy grit his teeth, trying to snap his bonds and escape. The ropes really were rather thin, he shouldn't have had any problem with it…but it seemed no matter how hard he tried, he simply couldn't summon the strength!

"I'd stop wasting my strength, if I were you. Were you at full health you could easily break free, but it's useless to struggle in your current condition."

The rubber pirates eyes widened and he glanced around the room, intent upon finding the source of those smug words. However, he could see nothing beyond the circle of light that came from the bulb above him. The voice sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite place it…

"Who's there?" He inquired, though in spite of position he didn't seem frightened. On the contrary, he simply seemed honestly confused.

"You ask who I am? You mean to tell me you cannot even recognize my voice? How insulting."

There was the sound of pacing echoing through the room, but the owner of the footsteps still had yet to show himself. Luffy craned his neck, trying to seek out the source of the sounds, but he saw no one. He was starting to get rather annoyed.

"Who are you? Show yourself!" He finally snapped.

"Tsk. I don't think you're in position to make demands at the moment, now are you?" There was silence for a moment, and then something that sounded like several blades being slashed through the air.

A few moments later, the tattered remains of Luffy's vest drifted to the floor, though there wasn't a scratch on the boy himself.

"Now then…let's take a look at my work, shall we?"

Luffy let out a yelp as cool fingertips lightly touch the base of his neck. He strained, trying to glance behind him, but he couldn't seem to lift his head quite far enough.

"Hmmm…I wonder…"

The fingertips moved from the base of Luffy's neck to his shoulder blades. A single one was pressed upon the left mark on Luffy's back.

Luffy's eyes widened and his back arched, entire body tensing as a scream erupted from his throat. Pain, shooting through his nerves like broken glass, tearing at every fiber of his being like a raging inferno. Like a thousand knives stabbing through his flesh, twisting and twisting, needles piercing through him.

And just as it started, his tormenter lifted his finger from the mark, leaving the boy shaking and gasping.

"Ah…how interesting…"

Luffy's eyes narrowed at the evident amusement in his captor's voice, anger burning through him as he gasped for breath. "Who are you? Show yourself already! Stop hiding!" He snarled.

He then winced as the same hand that had been examining the marks from his sickness backhanded him.

"As I said, you're in no position to be making demands. Then again, I suppose there's no point in keeping you entirely in the dark any longer."

A man stepped out of the shadows, clad in a black suit with gold trim. His black hair, which was slicked back, glistened a bit in the light. He reached up to adjust his glasses with his palm, the lenses reflecting the light.

Luffy stared blankly at the man for a moment, frowning. Finally, he spoke. "Who the hell are you?"

The man twitched. "You mean to tell me that you do not recognize me?"

The rubber pirate shook his head. "Um…no, not really. Though you do look kinda familiar….what was your name again? Crow? Coorow? Karow?" He frowned, brow furrowing as he tried to remember.

The man's face twisted in anger for a moment before suddenly growing chillingly calm. He stepped up to Luffy, hands behind his back for a moment. He then suddenly lashed out, his hand a mere blur of black and silver. He cupped the boys chin with the area between his thumb and forefinger, using his thumb to lightly brush Luffy's throat. However, that thumb was no longer bare, rather it was covered in black fur. Long swords, like claws, pointed from each of Kuro's finger tips, and one of the blades was now held just under Luffy's throat, while the others framed his face.

"That's Captain Kuro, Captain Kuro of the thousand plans!" He hissed into Luffy's ear, his breath making the hairs on the back of the boy's neck stand on end. "And you are the one who ruined my plan to finally do away with that awful name, so you of all people should remember it!"

In spite of the obvious danger of the blade at his throat, Luffy seemed too busy being occupied with trying to remember the man's name to be scared. "Captain Kuro…nah, doesn't ring a b- AH!" He let out a yelp as Kuro suddenly slid his hand down a bit, slowly dragging the edge of the "claw" on his forefinger along the boys jaw line, drawing a line of crimson.

"You mean to tell me that you do not remember how you and your crew humiliated me back on Syrup village? You and that liar?" Kuro spoke, voice eerily calm.

Luffy blinked, his eyes widening as he suddenly recalled his first meeting of Usopp, a few fleeting flashes of the battle there coming to mind. "You?" He gasped.

"Yes, me." Kuro's grip upon the boy's jaw tightened. "Do you remember the humiliating defeat you handed me? How in a mere few hours my three year plan was ruined by a bumbling idiot? Can you imagine my humiliation? The Great Captain Kuro, defeated by some no name pirate and a pathetic liar?"

"Usopp would have beaten you anyway. He's strong." Luffy said simply, though his eyes had narrowed.

Kuro gave a harsh laugh. "No, no he wouldn't have. Were it not for you, he would have failed and the peaceful, wealthy life I desired would finally be mine! But you had to go and ruin it…"

Without warning, his grip on Luffy's face was suddenly released as the man stepped away and began to pace. "It's all your fault! I had finally devised an escape, and you ruined it! Now I'm stuck with these imbeciles again, with riches but no way to properly enjoy them! I cannot have my peace of mind, and it's all your fault! I have to continue on in hiding, to prevent people from knowing that I am still alive! It's all because of you that I have to continue with this miserable life!"

Luffy's eyes darkened. "If you didn't want this life, you shouldn't have become a pirate!" He said calmly. "It isn't about riches or whatever, and a pirate who treats his crew like you do doesn't deserve all you have! The way you act, anyone could beat you, even Usopp. He had heart, and cared for his friends. You didn't. That's why you lost, and why you'll be miserable until you die. You'll just keep going, hating the people you're with, with all your riches and no way to enjoy it. It's your own fault; this was the miserable life you chose on your own."

Kuro suddenly stopped, spinning around to swipe his claws across Luffy's face. They just barely grazed it, leaving thin gashes across his cheek. "Silence!" He snarled. "This is all your fault! My dream was lost because of you!"

There was silence for a few moments, in which Luffy's calm, dark chocolate orbs met the rage-filled gaze of an almost yellowish green. After a few moments, however, the mask returned and Kuro's gaze was cold and calculating again.

"However…I have a new wish now. The only two things I desire are peace of mind…and vengeance. You will provide me with both, Monkey D. Luffy." The man smirked in spite of himself as he began to pace again.

"After you defeated me, I had nowhere to go. My crew dragged me back onto our ship and I was forced into the life of a pirate once again. Amazingly enough, though I tried to kill them all, my entire crew was quick to rally behind me again. It was a difficult life, hiding. I could not inform people that I was still alive, lest I risk a chance to once again try for my peaceful life. Indeed, although I had lost it once, surely there was still a way…but how to obtain it? The answer came in the form of your wanted poster."

Kuro paused, glancing back at Luffy before continuing. "Thirty million belli, and then a hundred million? You were spreading quite a name for yourself, and that alone made me want to find you again, to tear you limb from limb for continuing to succeed. I wanted my vengeance…and then the report came that you were nearing this island."

"It occurred to me…what if I took up residence here in your path? If I settled here and established my reputation as one who defends the town from beasts like yourself. It was simple, really, to create yet another false identity. I used some of my crew as fodder for the plan, to make myself appear the hero of the town…it was so easy to fool them all. But still, I was dirt poor, and that was a problem."

As he continued to speak, Kuro began walking behind Luffy. He paused when he was completely behind the boy, eyeing the angelic marks upon his back.

"Wings…the marks of an angel. Or in this case, the marks of their righteous judgment upon a devil. Hikemeia, the Devil Fruit virus." Kuro's eyes glinted as he traced the skin just around the wings, feeling the muscles of Luffy's back tense beneath his touch. "Perhaps you wonder...how was it that you received this virus when the other two members of your crew with powers did not? My doing, of course. I heard of the disease, and found that one of my 'friends' on the island had happened to come across the spores for it. Since he had no use for them, he gave them to me. This gave me the perfect way to set the ground work for the rest of my plan."

"I had one of my men travel to the island prior this one, and fortunately he arrived just as you did. He followed you around, and then when you stopped for lunch he implemented the spores into your drink. You, of course, never noticed, the spores are nearly undetectable unless one knows they are there. Of course, they took a few days of incubation before causing an effect, but that was fine because by the time you arrived here you were in prime condition for my plan."

Kuro smirked as he watched Luffy attempt to squirm away from his fingers as he continued to move closer to the marks on his back, but in his state there was little he could do beyond twitching. "You're so weak you can barely lift a finger, your powers are gone…and this is quite a pleasant side effect."

With that, he suddenly pulled back his hand and dug the tips of his claws into the marks.

Once again, Luffy's eyes widened and he let out a howl of pain. His lithe body tensed and writhed as pain assaulted his senses, worse than it had been before. It was hard to imagine things being worse than the first time, but this was so much worse! It was as if his entire body was slowly being eaten away, like it was covered in some sort of acid. Fire licking at his limbs, burning his flesh, and feeling like every nerve ending was ablaze, as if his blood were acting like some form of oil.

He could smell the coppery smell of his blood, taste it in his mouth…he must have bitten his tongue at some point, but he couldn't recall doing so. He ground his teeth together, trying to keep another scream at bay as the pain tore through him, feeling as though it would never end. There was no release, no break, just that horrible pain.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the blades were removed from the marks on his back, leaving crimson and some sort of thick, blue-ish pus trickling down the muscles of his back to mingle with the boy's sweat. Luffy's entire body shook as he gasped for breath, head hanging as he tried to regain some of his strength.

"Well…that was fun." Kuro remarked, eyes sweeping over the damage done before walking around to the front of the boy. "We've seen what that part of the virus can do…let's see some other side effects." He snapped his fingers, and the chains that held Luffy to the ceiling suddenly lowered him to the floor. Having no strength to support himself, Luffy sunk to his knees.

Reaching up, Kuro unhooked the ropes from the chain that Luffy had been dangling from. Luffy's arms immediately dropped to his lap and the boy gave a soft sigh of relief, glad to no longer have the stress on his arms, though his wrists were still tied together. He didn't have much time to relax, however, as Kuro hauled him up by the throat, causing Luffy to let out a choked gasp.

"When you had your powers, you could take a lot of punishment, or so I recall. You could fall from a cliff, land on your head, and be perfectly fine." Kuro smirked. "I wonder if the same principle works now."

With that, he hurled Luffy as hard as he could towards the nearest wall. There was a loud CRACK upon impact with the concrete, the sound of ribs fracturing and Luffy's yelp of pain filling the pirate captain's ears.

Luffy slid to the floor, the blood from the wounds inflicted earlier staining the wall. He lay there, shaking and panting as he struggled to get to his feet. However, as he struggled in the dark, a kick suddenly slammed into his side and sent him flying into the wall again.

The boy didn't move for awhile, he just lay there, breathing and trying to ignore the sharp pains that came from his now fractured ribs. His entire body shook as he tried to get up once again, sweat sliding down his forehead. Everything felt so warm and he just hurt everywhere…and it seemed no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get up!

His struggles were ended as the heel of Kuro's white and black striped shoed slammed onto his fingers, eliciting another cry from him.

"Hmmm…well, it seems you're even weaker than the average human now…what's it like? To have been able to endure these things all these years, only to find that suddenly you cannot. I wonder how long it's been since you've experienced something like broken bones…" Kuro trailed off, grinding his foot into the boy's fingers and bringing forth several cracks.

Luffy's cry of pain became a howl as his other hand clenched into a fist, his face screwed up in agony. As his cry ended he clamped his mouth shut and tried to prevent himself from yelling anymore, teeth grinding together. He wasn't going to show how weak he was, damnit! But it hurt…it was as if the bones in his fingers were splintering!

"W-why are you doing this? What do you want?" He managed to grunt out, voice shaking.

"Why am I doing this? Vengeance, of course." Kuro said calmly, removing his foot and gazed down at the rubber pirate's mangled hand. "And what do I want?" He smirked, kneeling down and pulling Luffy up so he was at eye level with the boy.

"Your figure, broken and kneeling before me, pleading for mercy." He sneered. "I will destroy you for what you've done to me, and when am I done the entire world shall know it!"

"I won't…kneel before you." Luffy hissed, eyes flashing as he glared back at Kuro with defiance written all over his face. "I will never plead to someone like you."

Kuro's eyes narrowed. "We'll have to destroy that spirit of yours, first. I'll enjoy that." He said before hauling Luffy up and throwing him against the wall again.

This time Luffy's head slammed against the hard concrete, stars exploding before his eyes as he slid to the ground. Things spun as everything began to dim, the pain in his head beginning to diminish as everything began to fade away.

However, he wasn't allowed the bliss of unconsciousness as once again Kuro stabbed one of his claws into the marks on his back. Luffy's eyes widened and he let out a scream, body shaking as his fists clenched, toes curling as he thrashed.

Kuro kneeled next to him, smirking as he spoke over Luffy's screams. "I will break you. Once I do, I will bring your defeated form before the city and I will ensure that your crew knows. I will kill you in front of them, and then I'll turn in that head of yours for your bounty. This will restore my wealth, my reputation, and my thirst for vengeance will finally be quenched."

As he continued to speak, he began to carve into Luffy's back with his claws, tracing along those "wings". He would slowly draw one of the blades back and forth, slowly deepening the cut and making the line thicker. Luffy's blood coated his claws, trickled down the boy's back in rivers.

Luffy let out a loud scream at first, his screams slowly melding together into a loud, keening wail. He tried to squirm away from the tearing blades, but Kuro simply placed his other hand on the boy's back to keep him from moving away. He didn't bother to prevent the boys thrashing, on the contrary he seemed amused by this as every time Luffy thrashed it would cause his carving to go a bit astray and he'd end up starting over.

Finally, one wing was done and Luffy lay there, panting and whimpering, his back sticky with blood. Kuro smirked, tracing his fingers over the new wound and watching as Luffy tensed.

"Wonderful…but we're only halfway done…" He murmured as he sliced into the other mark without warning. Luffy gave a choked gasp, but his throat was hoarse from screaming, and he didn't have the energy to even thrash any more. All he could do was lay there and grit his teeth, though he was unable to stop the pathetic whimpers that came from his throat every now and then.

"I have waited so long for this…can you understand? I've waited so long for my revenge, months, almost a year now….but it's been worth it. So worth it. Revenge is a dish best served cold, as they say." Kuro said calmly.

Luffy did not reply, his eyelids growing heavy as his head grew light. Everything was spinning, and Kuro's words were so distant now…

"And we're done!" Distantly Luffy could feel the cold blades behind pulled from his back, felt his own warm blood coating it. Everything hurt…it just hurt so badly…

Kuro gazed down at the boy's shuddered form, grinning as he licked the blood from his claws. "Perfect. A work of art. I must say, the wings fit you…" He reached down to grab the boys wrists, hauling him up again so they were nose to nose. His dark eyes met Luffy's glazed ones, the boys face slick with sweat as he labored to breath.

The pirate captain walked back to the center of the room, attaching Luffy to the chains again and watching as he was hoisted back up. He gazed at his enemy for a moment, simply watching him struggle to breath, his eyes meeting Luffy's, which were still shining in defiance.

"My plan will succeed." He said calmly. "You will break."

Luffy gave a twitch, mumbling something incoherent. He then let out a hacking cough, spitting something out so it landed at Kuro's feet with a wet splat!

Blood.

Kuro's eyes narrowed as he glanced up at Luffy again. Luffy returned his glare, but only for a few moments before his eyes finally fell shut and his chin fell to his chest with a groan.

The boy's captor stared up at his now unconscious captive for a few moments. He then wordlessly turned around and walked away, his footsteps echoing in the dark. There was the sound of a door opening and closing, then silence.

---

Nami sighed as she sat upon the edge of the large, expensive looking marble fountain in the middle of the town square. She glanced over her perfectly manicured nails, then sighed again and tapped them upon the marble.

Where was everyone? They were all supposed to meet back here five minutes ago!

The navigator shook her head, gazing up at the fountain once again. It really was quite beautiful, a depiction of a group of angels relaxing upon a stone, stretching out their wings and singing to the heavens. The orange and red rays of sunset reflected off of the surface of the water, setting the streams of water that shot from containers that angels carried aglow. It was good quality too, this place really was rich! This fountain and a few of the wallets Nami had picked off of random passer-bys proved that.

She wouldn't mind spending several days here, in spite of how cold it was.

"Nami-saaaaan!"

Nami blinked, glancing down the road to see Sanji rushing towards her, along with Usopp, dragging a cart filled with a vast amount of food.

"After a long absence away from your beauty, it makes setting my eyes upon you once more all the more wonderful!" The cook gushed as he finally reached the fountain.

"You've only been away from her for a few hours, idiot." Usopp muttered.

"What was that?" Sanji growled.

"Er, n-nothing."

"I thought so."

Nami shook her head, standing and brushing her skirt off. "Did you get everything we needed, Sanji-kun?"

"Yes, Nami-san!"

"Good. Now we just need Robin and Chopper…where are they?" She inquired, glancing around.

She then spotted Robin and Chopper walking towards them, carrying quite a few books and other supplies.

"Ah, Robin! Chopper! Did you get everything you needed?" Nami called, waving.

"Yeah, we got lots and lots of stuff!" Chopper said with a grin.

"I believe this ought to hold my interest for awhile." Robin said with a nod.

"Good." Nami said with a smile. "Well, if that's everything, we should get back to the ship to check on Luffy and-"She suddenly paused, brow furrowing as she glanced off into the distance. "Is that Zoro?"

The entire crew blinked, glancing down a street to see Zoro standing in the middle of it. He looked rather tired and sweaty, his spiky green hair in complete disarray as if he had been running all day. He was panting and looking this way and that, as if he were searching for something.

Nami's eyes narrowed. Why was he here instead of watching Luffy and the ship? "ZORO!" She yelled, stalking over to him.

Zoro stopped what he was doing and glanced over to see Nami storming towards him, the rest of the crew following with confused looks.

"Swordsman-san, what are you doing here?" Robin inquired.

"Yeah, shithead! You're supposed to be watching Luffy and the ship! What, did you go to the bathroom and get lost?"

"I-"Zoro tried to explain, but was interrupted by Chopper.

"Where's Luffy? You can't just leave him by himself, he's in no condition to have left the ship!" The reindeer cried.

The swordsman listened to everyone babble for a while, completely silent, before finally speaking out. "Stop!"

Everyone fell silent, staring expectantly at Zoro. After a few moments of silence Nami spoke.

"Zoro, why did you leave the ship? Where's Luffy?" She demanded, hands on her hips.

The swordsman gazed at them all, expression unreadable. How could he tell them? How could he tell them that he'd failed again when he'd sworn he would never do so again? He'd failed at protecting his captain…how was he supposed to tell them?

"…Zoro?" Chopper prompted, staring up at him with wide eyes. "Where's Luffy?"

"…We were attacked…by the Kuroneko pirates from Usopp's village." Zoro finally spoke, looking away. "Just this afternoon. I fought them, but there was this woman. She made everything go dark and when everything got light again Luffy was gone. There was nothing I could do. I came here to search. I've looked everywhere, but I can't find him. He's gone."

Everyone was silent for a few moments, shocked. Finally, Chopper spoke up.

"Gone? Luffy's…gone?" He repeated, eyes wide. "But he's sick!"

"Not gone, exactly. Captured. By the sounds of things, you know these pirates, correct?" Robin asked.

Usopp and Nami both glanced at each other before nodding. "They attacked my village. These guys helped me save it." Usopp said, gesturing to Zoro and Nami.

"They may have taken Captain-san for revenge, then." Robin said grimly. "Now would have been the perfect opportunity, given how weak he is."

"Those bastards…" Sanji growled.

Nami bit her lip. "We have to find him! We can't just let them have him!"

"Yeah! This is because Luffy helped my village, we can't let them take him for that!" Usopp exclaimed.

"We're not letting them have him." Zoro finally spoke up again. "I won't let them take him." The crew fell silent, glancing towards him. The swordsman's eyes were narrowed as he stood there in the center of the street, hand held over the hilt of wadou.

I've already failed you once, Luffy. I won't fail again.

"We'll save him. I won't rest until we do."

---

To Be Continued…

Well, I hope that turned out alright. It was my first time writing Kuro, and the first time in awhile since I've written torture scenes. I hope this turned out alright, though. Please tell me what you think!

See that review button? If you click it, you may get candy! Go go go!