-Dominoes-
A One Piece Fanfic by Digitaldreamer
Chapter Ten: An Eye for an Eye
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Gaaah, I'm so sorry guys! I try to update once every two weeks, but this just didn't work out like that! I'm sorry!
Right…so I'm depressed. My dad got the part for my computer, but he won't fix it! My mom and him say they like me upstairs and until I "interact" with people more, they aren't putting it back downstairs. They may never fix it.
This computer is crap. I can't watch One Piece on it, my music isn't on it, and all my files are on the other computer. Including Tangled Web, which has what we had of the new chapter on it. I'm rather depressed about all this.
So yeah…I really am not feeling very happy right now. Maybe that's why this chapter is so chockfull of angst and so damn long! I'm sorry it's so long, but I hope you all enjoy it!
I'm kind of worried everyone was OOC in this chapter…hopefully it turned out all right…
Ah well…read on, I suppose.
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"Nami? Nami, wake up!"
The ginger-haired navigator groaned, brow furrowing. Why did Usopp have to be so loud? His nasally voice was not helping her headache at all! Why couldn't he just be quiet so she could sleep?
"Nami?"
Why hadn't Sanji kicked the sharpshooter for interrupting her beauty sleep already? She just wanted to go to sleep…
…But since when did she sleep upright?
Dark brown eyes slowly opened as Nami began to realize that she was in fact, not in her and Robin's cabin on the Going Merry. Oh no, this was far from that.
It was a nice room, though bare, and medium in size. It was difficult for her to tell what exactly decorated the walls as most were in shadow, but from what she could tell there were several fancy paintings. Other than the paintings upon the walls, however, the room was bare. There was a set of double doors from one side of the room, and then a smaller single door on another side. It looked almost as if there had been a few things in here before, but they all had been moved away to reveal the shining, black marble floor.
The only source of light came from the ornate fireplace, in which a fire was blazing. As opposed to offering warmth and cheer to the scene, the flames seemed to make things all the more eerie, casting unfriendly shadows throughout the room, the blazing embers glowing in the dark. Nami was seated before the fire in a chair, as if she were an honored guest awaiting a visit from the owner of wherever she seemed to have found herself.
Of course, usually honored guests didn't have their arms handcuffed behind the chair and their legs bound to the chair with far more rope than should have been necessary.
"Nami! You're finally awake!" Usopp's voice came from her left and Nami glanced over to him, still looking a bit dazed. He too, was bound to a hard wooden chair, though he was shaking so much the entire chair was actually rattling. "H-how are you?" he asked with a small grin, though his teeth were chattering and he looked like he had just finished a round of panicking and screaming.
"Usopp…where are we?" Nami inquired, glancing around.
The long-nosed sharpshooter shook his head. "I don't know. Wherever that woman took us, I guess…some horrible dungeon w-where we're probably going to be tortured to the end of our days, never to see the light again!" he whimpered, a note of lingering panic and despair in his tone.
"Woman?" Nami repeated, sounding confused, before her eyes suddenly widened as the memories from before she had awoken came rushing back. "Oh no..." she murmured, face paling in horror.
They were in the clutches of Captain Kuro, the man whose plan to murder Kaya and attack Syrup Village had been foiled only because of them.
Of course! How could she have been so stupid? Luffy hadn't been the only one involved in that battle! A major part of it, yes, but she, Zoro, and Usopp had been in it as well! Of course Kuro would want revenge against all of them, not just Luffy!
She should have seen that it was a trap! Of course! It had all seemed just a bit too easy! They shouldn't have even bothered faking giving the ransom and should have just stormed the lighthouse! If they had done that, thing's wouldn't have gone they way they had…
But that was how things were now. And here she was with a throbbing skull and a completely petrified Usopp beside her, cold terror gripping at her heart as she thought of what may await them.
What if Usopp was right and she and Usopp did die there? What if she never got to make her world map? Oh…torture was such a horrible way to die, too! She didn't deserve that!
"We're…no! I don't want to die! I'm not Luffy, I can't take that sort of thing!" she exclaimed, squirming in her chair in a useless attempt to get free.
"M-me either!" Usopp stuttered.
The memory of Luffy's condition from the video was still fresh in her mind. She shuddered, hands balling into fists. There was no way she could survive something like that! She wasn't a monster like him; she didn't have that kind of endurance!
After a few seconds of struggling Nami relaxed against the hard wooden back of her chair, eyes squeezing shut as she fought to push down the panic welling itself up from within. She bit her lip, hands clenching so hard that her nails bit into her palms. She had to focus! Now wasn't the time to be panicking!
But tied and hand-cuffed as she was, there was no way she would be getting loose…someone would have to untie her, that was all there was to it.
"W-well…I don't think we can get free…do you think the others will come after us?" Usopp spoke after a moment, his voice sounding a bit hopeful.
Nami snorted. "Of course! Sanji-kun will come to my aid right away!" she declared, but even as she spoke she could hear the hallow note to it. "I…hope…"
It wasn't that she didn't think their nakama wouldn't try to rescue them. On the contrary, Nami was quite aware of the fact that Sanji would probably do everything in his power to save her, Robin as well. But she had no idea what their situation was, or if those two were in a position to rescue.
What had happened to Sanji-kun and Robin after she and Usopp were captured? Were they alright? Were they captured too? Probably not, Kuro had no use for them…and what of Zoro, Ace, and Chopper? Had they succeeded?
If Luffy had been rescued, that was definitely a good sign…but…what if they hadn't? It seemed almost as if Yumi had been ordered to capture Nami and Usopp, as if she knew their plan…had Kuro known that they figured it out? If he had…things weren't good. That would mean three out of seven, eight if she temporarily counted Ace, were captured…nearly half…
Even if Luffy had been rescued, there was still the matter of finding wherever she and Usopp were. It had taken them long enough to find where Luffy was, how long could it take to find herself and the sharpshooter? What if they were killed before they could get here?
Usopp broke Nami's silence with his doubtful voice. "But what if they can't?"
Nami swallowed, feeling her heart constrict as cold fear squeezed it's fist around her once again. Who was she kidding? She was terrified, and she had every right to be! She was scared of being tortured, she was scared of whatever had happened to her nakama, she was scared of dying!
But even then, it wasn't those that scared her most. She had been in horrible situations like these before, had faced death before…but she had known what she had faced. She knew all the parts of the puzzle, and thus knew how to solve it.
"Nami…what are we going to do?" Usopp mumbled, looking to her. They were the smart ones of the group, this was the sort of thing they needed to combine together on if they hoped to survive, because they weren't monsters like everyone else. He had his wild, elaborate inventions, wild escape plans, and she had her level-headed knowledge to help him work it out. Together, they were just as strong as any monster.
But he had no wild escape plan that would truly work, he knew that. And she knew…that for once she didn't know enough to work anything out. She didn't have anything to pull together everything like she always did.
She was scared of so many things right now, and as Usopp looked to her a quivering ball of fear as always, she found what she feared most was this uncertainty. She didn't know where they were, she didn't know what would happen to them when Kuro finally chose to show himself, she didn't know what had happened to their nakama, she didn't know if any of them were even still alive, she just didn't know!
Those uncertainties, those 'I don't knows', for Nami, who always seemed to know everything when it called for it, were far more terrifying than anything else.
And so it was with a dry mouth that she finally answered Usopp's question and voiced her fear.
"I don't know."
Before Usopp could reply to that, the set of double doors quite suddenly burst open, though whatever was beyond them was just as dim as the room and thus did nothing to shed any light. Captain Kuro strode in, clad in his usual sleek black suit, his slicked back hair shining in the fire-light, the lenses of his glasses glinting as he pushed them further up his nose with his palm.
"Ah, I see my guests are both finally awake," he drawled, black and white striped shoes clicking upon the marble floor as he walked over to them. The double-doors swung shut behind him, the click of a lock sounding with them.
Usopp visibly tensed while Nami felt her entire back go completely rigid, both glancing towards their captor.
"My, my, for guests you certainly don't seem very happy," he drawled as he came to a stop before the two of them, his back to the fire.
"I take it you don't have guests often then, as I suppose if you did you'd know how to treat them properly," Nami remarked sardonically, even as fear continued to dance in her eyes. She would not show how scared she was, not in front of this man. It was the same as when she spoke to Arlong, just a matter of pulling on a mask. She hadn't used the mask in awhile and it had been gathering dust, but she still knew how to use it.
Kuro glanced down his nose at them, eyes flashing. "Ah, I see the lady has a forked tongue," he remarked, drawing closer to her. He pulled a clawed hand from behind his back to reach out and run the furred palm of his glove along her cheek, the blades upon the fingers framing her face. Nami cringed, feeling the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.
"I don't normally treat guests this way, you're right. But you are, after all…VIP's," he sneered.
"H-hey, don't touch her! Leave her alone, she didn't do anything to you!" Usopp exclaimed, struggling against his bonds. However, the moment Kuro glanced towards him the boy tensed, his eyes widening as he visibly quivered.
"U-um…please?" he stuttered out, giving a small, boyish grin.
Without warning Kuro suddenly spun around and sent the heel of his shoe slamming into the sharpshooter's gut, forcing a choked cry from the boy. The chair rocked back from the force of the blow, but after a few seconds it fell back onto all fours again, leaving Usopp sitting there making choked noises, his face scrunched up in pain. Without the ability to double over, the pain was unbearable!
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about her, boy. I'd be more concerned about yourself," Kuro hissed, eyes gleaming. "The little boy who cried wolf, and by some miracle managed to get others to help fight the wolf off when he couldn't." As he spoke he began to pace before the fire, arms going behind his back again. "My plan was perfect, and you of all people thought you could stop it? You, the pretend pirate? Why even bother? No one in the village would have cared if you had died there, and were it not for these imbeciles, you would have! All you were was the pathetic boy who cried wolf and got lucky! So what gave you the idea that you of all people, could stop me?"
Usopp shuddered as he glanced up at his captor, face still scrunched up in pain. Even so, he managed a small grin. "I didn't think I could stop you…but someone had to. I couldn't let you kill her, could I?" he croaked.
Kuro snorted. "You should have. If you had, none of this would have happened. You wouldn't be here now, would you?"
"No, I wouldn't be. I wouldn't be out on the sea if it weren't for Luffy," Usopp replied honestly, his chest puffing out a bit at this. He was proud to be out on the sea, he was proud of how much he'd changed since that fateful date in his little village. He was proud of his captain, the man who Usopp was sure would one day become Pirate King.
"Ah, now that is true. You would have just kept playing pretend pirates forever…that's all you're really good at. I don't even know why I even bother putting blame on you, you hardly did anything other than look like a complete coward!"
"That's not true! I helped save Kaya!" Usopp exclaimed. However, even with this declaration he could feel his spirits sinking. Kuro was right, he hadn't done much…
"Oh really? Fine, you just keep holding that delusion while I continue to wonder…do you even have any use on this crew? Do you even do anything? I doubt it. You can continue to lie to yourself all you want, but those lies won't hide the fact that you are pathetic and completely useless! You have no skills that truly make you a pirate, all you do is sit on that ship and call yourself one! I'm sure everyone else has noticed as well, how useless you are! A weak coward like you is nothing but a burden!" Kuro's voice began to rise as he ranted, grinning as he spit out verbal insult after insult.
"Shut up! That's not true! I'm…I'm not a coward! I'm a brave warrior of the sea!" Usopp cried, eyes squeezing shut. Even as he said this, he knew in his heart that it was just another lie. Another fabricated lie that crumbled away as all of doubts that whirled around in his head were thrown at him verbally, tearing him apart.
He wasn't strong like Luffy or Zoro or Sanji. He always tried, but he couldn't measure up to them! But he stayed…he always stayed because he believed that surely someday he wouldn't be the coward he knew he was.
…Right?
...But…he really hadn't changed much in all the time that they'd been on the sea. He was still weak, still pathetic, still useless, still a complete and total coward.
To have those labels that he knew were so very true be thrown at him, that was so much worse than any pain…
Kuro's eyes glinted as he gazed down at the boy. "Not a coward? You really love hearing yourself lie, don't you? You are useless! Nothing more than a pathetic, cowardly boy pretending to be strong and failing miserably. All you do is hold your 'nakama' back!"
"SHUT UP!" Nami's cry suddenly cut their captor off, her voice echoing through the room in the silence that followed. "Leave Usopp alone. He's not useless! He does what he can, and that's what's important! If it weren't for him, I don't think we would have made it this far! If it weren't for him, Kaya would have died! I'm glad I was there to help him save Kaya, I'm glad I have him here now." As she spoke, fire danced in the young woman's eyes, her hands clenching into fists behind her back. "As long as a person does what they can, they aren't useless. That's what I believe."
The dark-haired man's eyes narrowed, the light from the fire reflecting off of his glasses. Then, without warning he suddenly spun around, swiping his claws across the navigator's face, leaving five bloody slash marks across her cheek. Nami let out a yelp of surprise, but had no time to do anything else as Kuro's other five claws embedded themselves into her shoulder. The blades went all the way through the girls shoulder and into the back of the wooden chair, converging into a bloodied point that stuck into the wood and sent splinters flying through the air with drops of blood.
"Nami!" Usopp cried from somewhere near them, but his cry went unheeded. The navigator gave a choked sound, staring up at Kuro with wide, shocked eyes.
"Learn to hold your tongue, woman," Kuro hissed. Nami's face contorted into one of pain, a high-pitched cry finally tearing itself loose from her throat as her captor pulled his blades free. He brought the bloodied blades up to his lips, pink tongue flicking out to lap away some of the blood before a sadistic grin spread over his face.
"As I said, you should have just kept on playing pretend…if you had, none of this would have happened," he drawled as he looked back to Usopp. "If you had just kept your long nose where it belonged, everyone else wouldn't have needed to come do the job you couldn't do alone. But they did, and now they are suffering for helping you."
He reached out to cup Nami's face with his other hand, his grin widening as she let out a small whimper. "Do you see this? This wouldn't have happened if she hadn't chosen to come to the aid of a pathetic weakling like you."
Usopp bit his lip, listening to his friends pained whimpers with wide eyes. He had always been afraid of things like this. He hated pain, hated the thought of dying…but most of all he hated seeing his nakama being hurt and him being the cause of it.
"They're all suffering. Your nakama are all suffering, and do you know why? Because you were too weak to fight your own battles, because they pitied you," Kuro sneered, brushing a fur-covered thumb along the navigator's jaw line.
The sharpshooter squeezed his eyes shut, biting down so hard he tasted the coppery taste of his own blood as it welled up from his bottom lip. It was true…they were all being hurt because of him. He was so weak…he was only holding them back! If it weren't for him, they wouldn't be here…
He cracked open one eye to glance at Nami, almost too afraid to look…afraid to see the conviction that should have been in her eyes, blaming him, pointing the finger at him because it was all his fault for being the pathetic coward that he was…
But she wasn't. She wasn't blaming him at all. All she did was give him a pained smile, eyes shining as if to say 'It's alright'.
Both of Usopp's eyes snapped open and narrowed. "That's not true," he said calmly, and this time, his voice didn't waver. "My nakama didn't pity me. They did it because they were my nakama, and they were glad to do it. They're here because of me…but they don't regret it. I may be a coward, but I can still do my part, I can still be strong for them…and even if that means all I can do is defy you, then I will," he declared confidently.
Kuro stared at him for a moment, face expressionless. "So you say…"
There was a blur of black, and Usopp let out a cry of agony as his face exploded in pain. The heel of his captor's shoe was pressed against his face, crushing his nose, twisting it at an awkward angle. He could feel the bone snapping and splintering, feel warm blood gush from his nostrils and over the rest of his face, it was smearing on the white parts of the Kuroneko pirate's shoes…
The force of the kick sent Usopp's chair thudding to the floor on it's back, crushing his arms beneath it. The sharpshooter let out another cry, teeth grinding together, blood splattering from his bleeding lip. His head snapped back against the chair on impact, causing the boy to see nothing but stars for a moment as he lay there, disoriented and in agony.
He felt something grab the front of his overalls, the very edges of Kuro's claws creating shallow cuts in his skin as he was pulled back up once again. His glazed eyes, one half closed now in his pained daze, met Kuro's enraged glare.
"Fools," Kuro hissed, releasing the boy and stepping away to pace. Usopp watched him pace, simply trying to breath through his mouth and ignore the sharp pain coming from his broken nose while Nami's hands clenched into fists once more behind the back of her chair.
Finally, Kuro paused. "Yumi…I think we've made enough preparations. Bring him in," he drawled.
He then glanced back at Usopp and Nami, smirk coming to his face again. "You pathetic fools…going on and on about 'nakama this' and 'nakama that'…you act as if that is what makes you strong. That is foolish…you will see, that is your biggest weakness, and that is why destroying you won't be very difficult, now."
The bespectacled man began to pace once more as he spoke. "You see…I've been with your captain for several days, and while physical punishment has been entertaining, it isn't bringing about the exact results that I want. He refuses to submit, because he believes in his 'nakama'." He paused at this, glancing at Usopp and Nami, and his smirk became a grin once more. "You will help change that. It will be his greatest strength that finally leads to his submission…for I have found his true weakness. It will be you two that finally complete the breaking Monkey D. Luffy, the king of all fools."
Usopp's eyes narrowed. "Bastard! There's no way we'd help you! You're not touching him!" he spat.
"And what can you do to stop me, weakling?" Kuro snorted,
The sharpshooter grit his teeth, unable to find a response for that. Nami remained silent, feeling her blood run cold. She had already caught on to Kuro's implications…
The smaller, single door suddenly swung open and Yumi entered, carrying a boneless and bound Luffy. She walked over to them wordlessly, then dropped the boy before the fire in front of them. He collapsed in a heap with a small groan, entire body shuddering.
Both of his crewmates felt their breath catch in their throat at the sight of him. To see their captain in this state on video was one thing, seeing him in person, in such pain, with them so close and unable to do anything about it was far worse.
His wrists were bound before him with rope that in ordinary circumstances would have worked about as well as string in keeping the rubber pirate tied down, but that evidently was not the case here. Luffy's wrists were completely raw, some blood crusting the edges where the ropes had actually chafed enough to completely rub the skin away. His battered and bruised face, which was tinted a light pink from fever, was pressed against the marble floor. His bangs, which were matted with blood, fell over eyes which were only half open and glazed. The numerous wounds upon his sweaty back glistened in the fire light, the infected skin around the wings carved into his back a violent, inflamed pink.
"Luffy…" Nami gasped, finally managing to get her throat to work just enough to let the word pass through her lips.
The boy's eyes shot open all the way and he craned his neck up to look at them. His eyes widened. "Nami! Usopp! What are you doing here?" he cried, immediately making as if to get up and crawl over to them, but as soon as he attempted to rise Kuro's blood-soaked heel slammed down onto his back.
Luffy's eyes widened and he let out a hoarse cry, his face contorting in pain as it slammed to the floor once again. He convulsed in agony, his entire body shuddering as one hand clenched into his fist while the other twitched, his broken fingers unable to do anything else.
"Now, now, my little toy, stay put," Kuro drawled, removing his foot and watching the boy shudder for a few moments before growing still again. "This little visit is for your benefit, after all." He glanced back at Usopp and Nami, smirking.
The two were watching with horrified expressions, looking completely sickened.
"…You…you…what have you done to him?" Usopp finally managed to exclaim, looking away from his agonized captain to Kuro's face.
"Oh, nothing. I'm merely teaching him a lesson about submitting to his betters…he hasn't quite learned it yet, however, so I'm afraid I've had to keep punishing him," Kuro said calmly.
"You sick bastard," Nami murmured, small tears in her eyes.
"Hmmm…I don't think I appreciate being called that. Yumi, gag them. They won't need their voices for this, anyway," Kuro drawled.
With a swift movement a black cloth was suddenly tied tightly around Nami's mouth, so tight that the fabric was actually wedged into the girl's mouth. Before Usopp could even give a shout, he too found himself gagged.
Kuro ignored the two as they both gave indignant, muffled shouts of protest from behind their gags. He reached down to grab a fistful of Luffy's messy black hair, then pulled the boy roughly to his knees. "Come now, Straw Hat, get up. We have a lesson to teach you, after all."
Luffy glared up at him with wild eyes. "My nakama…what have you done to my nakama?" he rasped through clenched teeth. "Why are they here?"
"Ah, I'm glad you asked," Kuro said as he stepped away from the boy, walking back over to Nami and Usopp. "You see, as wonderful as our sessions are going, they don't seem to be achieving the effect that I want. You have yet to submit, and with your sickness, time is growing rather short I'm afraid. So, to speed things up, I enlisted a bit of…help, shall we say?" He smirked, gesturing to the two crewmembers. "Unfortunately, they've done a few wrongs to me in the past as well, so I had to rough them up a bit. I'm sure you don't mind, right? You're in no position to protest, after all."
The boy's eyes narrowed, face contorting in rage. "You bastard! How dare you hurt them?" he snarled, making as if to lunge for Kuro. However, lacking the strength to even inch over on his knees, this only resulted in the boy crashing to the floor once again.
"Tsk…as I said, you're in no position to protest…but I'm afraid that little stunt has earned your nakama more pain." The man smirked before spinning around to slash Usopp across the chest. He did not slash deeply enough to mortally wound him, but enough to draw thin gashes across his chest, slice one of his overall straps in half and eliciting a loud cry from him.
Luffy's eyes widened at the sound of Usopp's pained cry. "Stop! Don't touch them!" He cried, trying to force himself to his feet. However, with his wrists bound and no strength in his limbs, he only managed to get to his knees before he collapsed once again.
Kuro paused, smirking. "Oh my…it seems hurting your nakama has quite an effect on you. What would happen if I did…say, this?" He moved to roughly backhand Nami across the face, throwing her head back.
"Don't hurt my nakama!" Luffy cried again, struggling once again to move.
"Oh? Don't hurt them you say? Hmmm…I think I will," Kuro drawled before pressing all five of the edges of his claws against Usopp's arm, slowly cutting into it and drawing a gasp of pain from him.
Luffy's eyes squeezed shut as he tried to crawl towards his nakama now, his entire body shaking. "Stop it! Don't touch them!" he repeated, his voice growing hoarse as he shouted at the top of his lungs.
Kuro watched him struggling as he moved back to Nami, pressing the very tips of his claws against her arm. "You tell me not to touch them…but you can't do anything," he drawled as he began to slowly trace along her arm, light cuts that slowly began to form out a letter.
N
"Stop it!" Luffy screeched, his fingers grappling upon the marble floor, trying to find anything that would help pull him closer.
A
"This is why I hate this word…nakama…"
K
"You say it is what gives you strength, you say it is why you will not submit…"
A
Nami let out a strangled whimper, grinding her teeth together as she tried to ignore the pain, trying to focus on the ceiling, the walls, something, anything besides Luffy. She didn't want to see his reaction, she didn't want to see how this may have been affecting him…but she couldn't block out his cries.
M
"But in the end, it turns out to be your greatest weakness…"
"L-leave my nakama ALONE!" Luffy ground out as he tried to pull himself towards them, dragging himself only an inch or so forward before his strength finally gave out and all he could do was lay there and shudder.
A
"And that is why I was destined to finally destroy you, Monkey D. Luffy. Because of this weakness, you will fail."
F
"You say your nakama are important to you, but in the end you won't always be able to back up that claim."
O
"Sooner or later, they will be hurt,"
R
"they will leave you,"
E
"they will betray you,"
V
"they will die and there will be nothing you can do about it…just like now…"
E
"STOP!" Tears were coming to Luffy's eyes as he struggled. He wanted nothing more than help his nakama, but he had no strength! This was so much worse than everything else he had gone through, so much worse than any other pain that he had experienced. He would have given anything at that moment to have the strength to stand, anything to be able to rush over and stop Kuro's blades…but it seemed whatever he had to give wasn't enough.
R
It just wasn't enough.
Kuro stared down at Luffy for a moment, grinning sadistically as he lifted a blood-soaked claw from Nami's arm. "Stop? You tell me to stop? What can you do to make me? Nothing! You're completely and utterly helpless! There is nothing you can do to stop me from just killing them right here!" He sneered, raising up one claw to press it against Usopp's throat.
"Don't touch them…leave them alone…" Luffy ground out as he tried to force himself to rise, his voice coming out hoarse from screaming.
The man smirked, slowly beginning to drag the claw lightly along the sharpshooter's throat, slowly drawing closer to places where those cuts would be vital…
"Stop it! Stop…"
The claws were drawing ever closer, Usopp's eyes were becoming wide and frantic…
"I SAID STOP!" Luffy snarled, the muscles in his arms suddenly straining. He pressed his palms against the ground and slowly began to push himself to his feet on shaking legs, fixating bloodshot, enraged eyes upon the other man. His shoulders tensed as he began to pull his bonds apart, the ropes straining…
Kuro's eyes widened and he removed his blade from Usopp's neck in surprise, grin vanishing from his face. "Yumi! Hold him down!"
Like a flash Yumi appeared, pressing a single gloved hand upon his back and shoving him to his knees. Luffy's eyes widened and he let out a loud, bloodcurdling scream. His veins became visible beneath his skin as his entire body tensed, curling inward in an attempt to escape from the pain even though it was inside him. His bound hands flew to his body on their own accord, the working one clawing at his skin in an attempt to do something, anything to take his mind off of the agony coursing through his body…anything…
Finally the boy slumped over with a groan, Yumi's grasp being the only thing holding him upright.
Kuro watched him in silence for a moment, cautious; almost as if worried he may spring up again. Once he realized the boy wasn't going to rise again his smirk came once again, though he was doing a poor job of hiding his relief. "Foolish boy…thinking you could save them…idiot…" he sneered, lightly tracing his claws over Usopp's skin once more.
"…Don't hurt them….l-leave them alone…" Luffy rasped out once more, trying to force his head to
The man smirked. "As I said…you can't do anything to stop me…" he drawled, tracing another slash across Usopp's olive skin, smirking as he heard the sharpshooter give another pained whine.
The boy tried to force his head up with considerable effort, teeth grinding together. His captor was right…in this state, he couldn't do anything. Nothing to save his nakama. His nakama were suffering, bleeding, crying, and he couldn't do anything.
"Stop…leave them alone…" he mumbled, sounding like a dying, broken record.
"As I said… this is why you will break. You care for them so much that you will do anything for them. Anything," Kuro said, trailing off. He watched Luffy's bowed head for a moment before reaching behind Usopp's chair to grab his arms. He pulled the boys arms out from behind the chair and over his head, using one hand to pry open the sharpshooter's fist.
"I have given you many chances to submit. However, you were foolish and didn't take them, and thus have forced me to this." He held one of his claws over Usopp's index finger. "Sooner of later, you will beg for my mercy. This shall be your punishment for not doing so…shall we say this boy here loses one finger for every minute you take? I suppose he'll have trouble using a slingshot with few fingers, but it's a small price to pay, right?"
Usopp's eyes widened as he looked from Kuro to Luffy, his entire body going completely rigid. This couldn't be happening! Kuro was bluffing, he had to be!
Luffy's eyes widened. "No! Don't! Leave them alone!" he cried, forcing his head up as he struggled against Yumi's grip.
"Five seconds have passed…" Kuro said calmly, lightly beginning to put pressure on one of the blades.
The sharpshooter tried to jerk his arms from his captor's grasp, but Kuro's grip only tightened. He was serious!
"Don't touch him!" Luffy cried.
"Ten…" Kuro placed a bit more pressure on the blades, drawing a thin line of crimson. Sweat slid down Usopp's face as he looked back at Luffy. Even as he tried to calm the panic welling up inside him, tried to keep silent…he didn't want to lose his fingers!
Luffy continued to struggle, thrashing, trying to escape. "STOP!" he screamed, finally slumping against Yumi's grip in exhaustion.
"Fifteen…" A drop of blood welled up from the wound. Usopp glanced at Luffy, eyes pleading. He wasn't entirely sure even what he was pleading for, was it for Luffy to stop him? To not give in? To do something?
"Stop…please…stop…" Luffy rasped, trying to force his head to rise once more, trying to get back his strength…but he couldn't move.
He couldn't do anything. All he could do was watch.
"Twenty seconds…"
Tears pricked the corners of Luffy's eyes as he watched, helpless. "Stop…"
"Twenty-five…thirty…" Kuro suddenly brought the blade down even further, the sharp edge actually sinking all the way through the flesh and hitting Usopp's bone. The boy let out an involuntary cry into the gag, eyes widening.
"STOP! PLEASE, STOP!" Luffy screamed, bucking against Yumi's grip.
Kuro glanced up suddenly, his eyes flashing triumphantly. "What was that?"
Luffy mumbled something, slumping boneless in Yumi's grip once again. Kuro watched him for a moment before pressing down the blade once again, drawing a whimper from Usopp. "You might want to hurry and say that again before your friend here loses his finger…"
"Stop…please…please stop. Don't hurt them…please…I'll do whatever you say," the boy pleaded in a broken, lifeless tone, head rising. His tear-filled, blood-shot eyes met Kuro's dark glinting ones.
Kuro smirked. "Whatever I say?"
Luffy was silent.
"Is that so? Then prove it to me. Bow," Kuro drawled, glancing down his nose at the boy. Luffy gazed up at him for a moment, then looked to Usopp and Nami before slumping forward once again, bowing his head.
"Very good," The dark-haired man purred. "Now, say 'Please master, spare my worthless nakama, I will do anything if you will spare them'…"
The rubber pirate ground his teeth together, eyes narrowing as he stared down at the marble floor. "Please….master," he mumbled in a low monotone. "Spare my…spare my…" He paused, taking in a shuddering breath.
"Say it!" Kuro sneered.
Luffy licked his dry, chapped lips before speaking once again. "My worthless nakama…I will do anything if you will spare them."
Kuro's face spread into a wide grin. He was definitely enjoying this, seeing his enemy bowing, broken and bleeding before him. "Very good. Now that I've gotten that from you, let's see you prove your submission." He released Usopp's arms, letting them drop behind the chair once again before walking over to the fire.
He stood in front of it in silence for a moment, hands behind his back. The blood-soaked claws on his gloves gleamed behind him. After a few moments he reached out and grabbed the poker, which was sticking out of the fire. He began to poke around in the white-hot coals for a few moments. "Now then…you said you would do anything if I would leave your nakama alone?"
Luffy glanced up at Usopp and Nami, wincing as he watched them both shake their heads frantically, their eyes clearly saying 'Don't do it!'.
But he had to do this, whatever it may have been, for them. It was all he could do.
"Yes."
"Good…" Kuro turned around, bringing the poker with him…and as he turned one could see that what he held in his hand was not really a poker at all. "This is a brand. It bares the Kuroneko pirate emblem," he explained coolly as he held out the super-heated tip before Luffy's widening eyes. It was no bigger than the head of a teaspoon, but it glowed red with heat, the flat piece of iron shaped like a cats head with crossbones behind it.
"Now that you have submitted yourself to me, I daresay it's time we have a bit of physical proof. Generally brands are used for things like cattle, property…and as you are nothing more than my toy now, I feel it fits. For you, to be marked like this is an honor, though I doubt someone as low as yourself would understand."
Luffy continued to stare at the brand, at complete loss for words. He swallowed, his mouth feeling so much dryer than it had before.
"Now then…where shall I place the mark?" Kuro inquired as Yumi moved to lay Luffy out upon the floor on his back.
"You aren't touching me with that!" Luffy rasped, finally finding his voice. He tried to roll away, but Yumi held him in place with ease. Even so he continued to thrash against his bonds, like a trapped animal fighting for it's life.
Kuro stepped back, raising an eyebrow. "Oh, is that so? Shall I place it on one of your nakama instead?" He sneered.
The boy's eyes widened and he quickly shook his head. He couldn't let Usopp or Nami go through that! He wouldn't!
The man smirked. "Good. Now then…where shall we place it? What do you think? Arm? Chest? Stomach? Hip?"
Luffy said nothing, seemingly unable to find his voice. He craned his neck up to look at Usopp and Nami, trying to look away from Kuro's triumphant smirk. Remember what he was doing this for, remember this was the only way…
"Fine. If you won't choose, I shall choose for you," Kuro said calmly. With a grin dancing upon his lips and a sadistic gleam in his eye the dark-haired pirate knelt down, gripping the fabric of Luffy's shorts and jerking them down just enough to reveal the boy's right hip. He held up the brand, smirking as he looked at Luffy's widening eyes as his captive stared up at him. He leaned in close, bringing his lips close to the boys ear.
"You are mine," he hissed, his breath dancing against the boy's neck.
With a quick, sudden movement the brand met it's target, sending Luffy into a spiral of searing agony. He screamed louder than he had ever screamed in all his life as the scent of his own burning flesh met his nostrils. He sucked in a deep breath, emitting a hollow sound like wind through a tunnel. A series of rough, ragged gasps followed as he lay twitching upon the floor.
His teeth ground together as he rolled over, pressing his face against the cool marble floor. Cold…it was so cold, so much better than the searing heat that coursed through his body, so much nicer than the sweat that covered his tiny frame.
Distantly he heard Kuro rise and say something to Yumi, heard Nami and Usopp yelling into their gags, but it didn't register with his brain. Everything was falling into that dull, heated haze of agony, becoming tinted a dark red as he lay there, panting for breath.
Whether seconds, minutes, or hours passed Luffy wasn't sure of, but the next thing he knew something was pressed under his tongue.
"There's no doubt about it. He's dying. Ordinarily the virus wouldn't kill, but with your treatments it's mutated so much...the fever can't possibly go down in time. He'll be dead before sunrise."
Dead? The word only barely registered itself in Luffy's brain. What were they talking about? Who was speaking?
"That's fine. I wanted him to survive long enough for me to kill him in front of them all, but this is good enough for my tastes. I have no use for a broken toy, anyway. See to it that these two are taken care of. Yumi, take him up to the room. I'll be up to pay…a final visit after I get cleaned up."
"Yes sir."
Once again Luffy only barely registered cool leather brushing against his body and hauling him roughly into the air. He felt a strange sense of vertigo as his vision began to fade. The room faded away, the heat faded, the pain faded, everything just sort of blurred together into a dark gray.
Slowly, that too faded to black and Monkey D. Luffy knew no more.
---
Miles away, Nico Robin finally opened her sky blue eyes and uncrossed her arms. "It doesn't look good. He doesn't have much longer," she said grimly, glancing over at the fountain.
Sanji was pacing in front of it, hands in his pockets. Finally, after a few moments, he suddenly spun around and sent a hard kick into the nearest lamppost. The metal pole bent with the force of his blow, but the cook didn't care. "That bastard! Touching Nami-san like that…when I get my hands on him I'll make a fine dish out of him, I hear cat's a delicacy in certain countries!" he snarled, grinding his teeth down upon his cigarette.
"He hurt Long Nose-san and Captain-san as well…" Robin trailed off as she watched Sanji curse before sighing and shaking her head.
She hadn't been with the Straw Hat crew very long…but she knew they definitely weren't as they appeared. The cook may have seemed like he was only fretting over the navigator's condition, but she could tell from his state that his worries went beyond her, though he would never admit it.
"That shit-head better get here soon…" Sanji grumbled under his breath.
"Ah...perfect timing, look Cook-san," Robin said, gesturing to the street.
Zoro, Chopper, and Ace were all walking slowly towards them. Chopper had small tears in his eyes while Ace had his head bowed, the rim of his orange hat falling over his eyes.
The swordsman walked a bit away from them all, head bowed, hands in his pockets. His jaw was set in a thin line as his eyes stared ahead, seeming to not really be looking anyway.
"Ah, I see Rescue Party Two returns empty-handed as well?" Robin asked.
Ace looked up, his expression looking grim. He then shook his head as Chopper ran over to them. Zoro simply stopped walking and stared up at the starry sky, saying nothing.
"T-they…they moved Luffy. There was nothing there when we got there," Chopper finally mumbled, staring down at the cobblestone ground.
"So in the end…this entire ordeal has ended with us all worse for wear. Nami-san and Usopp-san have been taken, right?" Ace asked, glancing at Sanji and Robin.
"Yes, Navigator-san and Long Nose-san were taken, how did you know?" Robin inquired, raising an eyebrow.
"That bastard had a video waiting for us. We saw everything," Ace explained.
Sanji sent another kick into the telephone pole without warning, his teeth clenching around his cigarette. "Goddamnit! I should have done better! That woman…Nami-san…" He trailed off, his shoulders slumping.
"Well…cursing it all won't do anything. We'll have to work out where they're hiding again," Ace said with a shrug.
"But…we don't have any clues…" Chopper squeaked.
"Who cares if we don't have any damn clues?" Zoro suddenly hissed, speaking for the first time since they had left the lighthouse. "I'll tear apart this entire damn city if I have to."
"Zoro…" Chopper whimpered as he glanced over at the swordsman, looking at his silhouette beneath the streetlight.
"I don't fucking care how many buildings I have to tear apart! I'm going to find him! Luffy is dying! We don't know how much longer he has! I have to do something! I'm not just going to sit back and let them, let him die!" Zoro snarled, turning and making as if to stalk away.
"Swordsman-san, wait," Robin said, holding out her hand.
"I don't care what you say, it's not stopping me! I've had enough of waiting around!" Zoro snapped.
It was then with a flourishing motion that he pulled out Yubashiri to block the kick aimed for his head.
"You aren't stopping me this time, Love Cook," He snarled.
"Not trying to stop you. Just trying to get you to wait, you shouldn't interrupt a lady," Sanji hissed. "If you stopped to listen for a second you'd find out that you don't have to tear apart the entire city because Robin-chan knows where they are!"
They caught Zoro's attention. He paused before lowering his sword, glancing over at Robin with narrowed eyes. "You know where he is? How?"
The dark-haired woman nodded. "I used my power to grow an eye on that Yumi character. Using that I was able to see where they've taken our nakama…and to see Captain-san." She paused, biting her lip.
"I saw the doctor of his crew visit him, Swordsman-san. He says he won't survive until sunrise."
Sanji's visible eye widened while Chopper gave a squeak of shock. "But…it's already going to be morning soon!" the reindeer cried.
"Then we'd better hurry and go get them, huh?" Ace drawled, a small grin coming to his face as Zoro sheathed Yubashiri once again, though the swordsman's hand remained upon the katana's hilt. "Robin-san, where are they?"
Robin glanced at all of them, watching as Chopper's face became determined, his hooves gripping the straps on his medical bag. Sanji took a drag of his cigarette, visible eye flashing.
She hadn't been with them very long. She knew thing's looked hopeless, but she had seen this crew do many amazing things. She was sure thing's would be all right.
"They're in the clock tower. The very top floors," Robin said calmly, gesturing to the great tower that stood above the rest of the buildings, ticking away the time until sunrise.
Ticking away the time they had left.
Zoro already stood with his back to them, tightening the black bandanna on his head as he stared up at those ticking hands, at the stone leaves that represented time and it's quick passing.
"Let's go."
Hold on Luffy, we're coming!
---
To Be Continued...
Whew! That was a long chapter! But it was worth it, I like how it came out.
Please make sure to leave a review! Every time someone reads and doesn't review, a Mary Sue is born. Please, think of the One Piece fanfiction section and how it's already dying!
Next Chapter: It's a race against the clock as the remaining Straw Hats struggle to reach their captured nakama in time! Will Zoro reach Luffy in time, or is this finally the end?
Beta's Note: Snorkle burger. Good night.
