-Dominoes-
A One Piece fanfic by Digitaldreamer
Chapter Twelve: Better Dig Two Graves
Jeez, these chapters really do get longer and longer! I do hope this will be worth the wait and all the work I put it into it…see, I just got KH2, so writing this instead of playing it is pretty hard…but I think it was worth it.
Anyway…so this is what you've all been waiting for, the big conclusion! Luffy's dead, leaving Zoro to deal with the aftermath…will Kuro finally get what's been coming to him? How will the rest of the crew react? Dun dun dun!
Geez, I feel like a TV announcer…
Right, so I hope you all enjoy this chapter. I hope I got everyone IC…you know, again. I'm never going to get over worrying about that.
Enjoy the second to last chapter of Dominoes!
---
When one thought of Vendetta Island, one of the first things that came to mind was usually the clock tower at the center of it. It was considered to be the pride and joy of the island, where great, expensive balls were held in the entryway. Young men and woman would dance gracefully over the polished marble floors, expensive gowns and suits showing in the black surface as if it were a mirror. Collectors would come from all over the Grand Line to marvel over the beautiful statues that decorated it, to be amazed by the lovingly crafted fountains, to gaze at the great paintings.
It certainly was a sharp contrast to how it looked now, unconscious kuroneko pirates strewn all over the chipped and cracked marble floor. Blood was pooled here and there upon the still-shining black surface, smudged upon the walls. Instead of a ball, a battle of life-and-death was taking place, the clock ticking away floors above them.
Yumi narrowly dodged another blast of fire and skidded to the floor, panting for breath. Her black leather trench coat was ripped and torn, blood soaking through it, scorch marks covering her body. The battle had been going on for awhile now, and she had been the one taking all the damage.
She was losing.
No, this couldn't be right! She was the one in control in battles; her opponents were the ones completely helpless against her, not the other way around!
But no matter how much she insisted this couldn't be possible, it was indeed happening. She was exhausted and beaten, a cornered animal.
The silver-haired woman sucked in a breath and jumped into the air, crossing her arms before her.
"Nadeln des Schattens!"
Yumi's voice echoed through the room, taking on a desperate note as dark needles rained throughout the room, a downpour of shadows.
"HIKEN!"
The downpour was effectively stopped by Ace's blast of flame, which illuminated Yumi's face in an orange glow for a mere moment before enveloping the silver-haired woman, bringing forth a cry of pain. After a few moments the flames dissipated, revealing a panting, scorched Yumi. She was shaking on her feet, struggling to keep fighting. The woman stumbled a bit before catching herself, staring at Robin and Ace with wide, crazed eyes.
She couldn't lose here! Surely she was not this weak! She had not come all this way, only to be defeated in the battles she had sought! Eyes narrowing and face twisting into a snarl, Yumi made as if to jump for Ace and attack.
"Schwarzes—"
"Oh come on now, this is just sad. You don't have the strength to use that attack again and you know it." Ace muttered in an offhand manner as he watched her, looking almost sad. "Robin-san, would you please?"
"Seis Fluer!"
Yumi let out a cry as six arms came out of nowhere, effectively restraining her. She grit her teeth as she struggled against Robin's hold, silver hair falling out of its perfect state and into her wild, panicked eyes.
She really did seem like nothing more than a cornered animal when push came to shove.
Ace cocked his head to the side as he looked at her with something that was almost pity. "Geez, look at you. You act so high and mighty because your old tricks worked so well, so you figured you wouldn't need anything else. You never bothered to rely on anything else, and it shows. You say you like fighting, but looks like when you lose the upper hand you don't enjoy it so much, eh?" He drawled, clicking his tongue in a chastising manner. "Well…you did say you wanted stronger opponents. Well, you got 'em, and now you're complaining. You know that saying...eh, what was it?"
"Be careful what you wish for?" Robin finished his sentence for him, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, that's about right." Ace said with a shrug, stuffing his hands into his pockets.
"No…this can't be right! I cannot lose! This is impossible! Kuro-sama….no! This…this can't be!" She shrieked, losing all sense of composure as she thrashed in Robin's hold. He had promised her greater battles…but she would win them! She always won! This wasn't right!
"And now you start acting like a little girl throwing a temper tantrum." Ace muttered, sounding disgusted. "Geez, I almost felt sorry for you until you did that. Pity though…maybe this'll knock you off your high horse." He glanced over at Robin and nodded.
"CLUTCH!"
Yumi let out a cry of pain, which mixed with the sounds of joints and bones cracking from going directions they shouldn't. A bit of blood flew from the woman's mouth as her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Robin's arms retracted as Yumi slumped to the floor in an unconscious heap.
"Well…that's that, then." Robin murmured as she walked over to Ace, whom was gazing down at their opponents form.
"Yeah…I guess we should hurry up and—" Ace suddenly fell silent as his eyes widened, taking in a sudden, sharp intake of breath.
He couldn't accurately describe the sensation. A sudden chill had come over him, as if the flame he was so used to carrying inside of him had just be doused. It was if a tight cord had been tied to his chest and had suddenly snapped, the recoil sending him stumbling. That cord had been connected to something, or someone, very dear to him, and to have it suddenly gone hurt like a physical blow. It was as if something had been torn from his chest, from his heart.
"Luffy!" He gasped.
"Captain-san!" Robin hissed, her own eyes widening.
Ace glanced back at the woman, eyes narrowing. "You felt it too?"
The dark-haired woman nodded. "Something is wrong. Very wrong."
"Yeah…something with my brother…" Ace muttered, hands clenching into fists at his sides. "He's hurt…or something. I don't know, but we need to hurry."
"Yes, let's make haste then." Robin said.
With that, the two rushed for the stairs, the exact same thought on their minds.
Hang on Luffy, we're coming!
---
Silence. Like a grave, the top floor of the clock tower was completely and utterly silent.
Roronoa Zoro hated it. He wished there would be some sort of noise. Something, anything, because if there was noise it would help take his mind off of the tiny, beaten form in his arms. If there was sound, maybe it could distract him from his grief; distract him from the tears still streaming down his cheeks.
This couldn't be real. It wasn't possible. Luffy could not be dead, he just couldn't be…
The swordsman sucked in a breath, eyes squeezing shut, his fingers tensing and pressing against Luffy's skin. He could feel the body's warmth ebbing away, slowly being squeezed out by death's frigid grip. This only made him want to hold the boy's body closer, made him not want to let him go…
Wake up, please wake up! He wanted to plead. He wanted to scream until Luffy's eyes finally opened once again and the boy would give him that stupid grin just like he always did and Zoro would realize Luffy had only been sleeping and it was all just one big joke…
But even with these hopes rushing through his head, Zoro knew they weren't true. Such things only happened in fairy tales, and Zoro's life was anything but that.
Those wide, innocent eyes were never going to open again. Luffy would never laugh again, never run around on the deck of the Going Merry getting excited over the smallest thing, never whine to him about how hungry he way, never give him that special smile that was for him and only him.
Never again.
He pulled away slightly, brushing away some of the blood on Luffy's face, caressing the boy's soft skin with his own rough, calloused fingers. A tear fell upon the boy's face and Zoro quickly wiped it away, tried to ignore it as several more quickly took its place.
Roronoa Zoro did not cry. He rarely, if ever, had felt the need to do so, and if he did he always brushed it off as a weakness that he could not afford to have. He never cried…except for this once.
For Luffy, tears were worth it.
Even so…Luffy wouldn't have wanted him to cry. Luffy wouldn't want him to be sad, would he? But even when Zoro tried to will the tears to stop, they kept flowing anyway.
First Kuina, now Luffy…Now he didn't have just one promise to keep, he had two. Both for people that had meant the world to him, and both whom had been taken away. Why did he have to go through this again? To have to lose someone else so important to him…Luffy had put too much of himself into Zoro...to have to boy be gone, just like that, was like losing a piece of his heart.
Monkey D. Luffy was dead, and he took a part of Zoro with him that the swordsman would probably never get back.
Zoro bit his lip as he pulled Luffy's body close once more, rough, calloused fingers running their way through the boy's matted, blood-soaked hair. He took another deep breath, and that was all the sound there was as the tears continued to stream down his cheeks.
All that accompanied his grief was a deafening silence that stretched throughout the room, ringing in his ears as if it were a sound in itself.
Roronoa Zoro still hated it.
And then the silence was finally broken with Kuro's cold, heartless laughter. It echoed throughout the room, reverberating off the walls. It was a hollow, horrible sound, the sound of a madman cackling in triumph.
"He's dead. He's really dead! At long last, my revenge is complete! Monkey D. Luffy is dead and gone!" Kuro cried. "That is what happens to those who dare attempt to foil the plans of the Great Captain Kuro!"
He glanced back to Zoro's kneeling form, a horrible, sadistic grin upon his face, his glasses glinting in the light. "How does it feel, Roronoa? To have come so close, only to fail! You didn't come soon enough, and now your captain is dead! Do you feel pain? Grief? Guilt? Despair?"
Zoro remained silent, shadows falling over his face so one could not catch his expression, though his entire body stiffened.
Kuro chuckled. "Speechless? This is what happens to those who disrupt my plans! Your captain was foolish enough to try, and now look at him! In the end, he wasted away like the pathetic weakling that he was! He ranted on and on about how his 'nakama' would save him, but in the end that wasn't nearly enough! Let this be a lesson for you and all who dare oppose me! Regardless, I will have my revenge one way or another!"
The swordsman's hands clenched around Luffy's lithe frame. "That's what this was all about? Revenge?" He whispered, finally seeming to find his voice.
Kuro's words had indeed hit exactly what he had been feeling at the moment, but not all of it. Losing Luffy was undoubtly the most painful thing Zoro could have possibly endured.
It was also the worst mistake the other pirate could have possibly made.
Slowly, with gentleness one would not have thought him capable of; Zoro lowered Luffy's body to the stone floor. The boy looked so incredibly small there, covered in gashes and bruises, dried blood still coating his lithe frame. The soft green light illuminated his small, pale frame, giving him an almost ethereal glow. His dark hair fanned around his head, slightly matted and sticky with blood, falling over closed eyes, the boy's smile still in place.
He looked like a fallen angel.
Zoro stayed there for a few seconds, staring wordlessly at the boy's face still-smiling face before reaching on either side of him to grab the hilts of his katana. His fists clenched around the hilts of the weapons as Zoro rose, reaching up to place the hilt of Wadou between his teeth, shadows falling over his face and hiding his expression from view.
"Have you ever heard the saying 'he who seeks vengeance must dig two graves, one for his enemy and one for himself'?" Zoro inquired, his harsh, deep voice echoing throughout the room.
"I have." Kuro responded easily, sadistic grin still in place as he pushed his glasses back in place with the heel of his palm, the claws upon his fingers glittering in the light.
"Good. I hope you listened to it." Zoro growled, finally looking up to fix Kuro with the savage gaze of the demon he was known as.
In a blur of shining, blood-soaked steel, Zoro sped across the room. His katana were met by Kuro's claws, the loud screech of steel straining against steel echoing against the stone walls. They strained against each other for a moment before breaking away, Zoro aiming a strike for his opponent's chest. Kuro, already in the air after breaking away earlier, had no way to dodge and let out a grunt as the katana grazed his chest, slicing cleanly through his shirt and leaving a thick red gash across it.
The man stumbled back, eyes narrowing before rushing at Zoro, slashing at the swordsman as he passed. Zoro's teeth clenched around the hilt of his katana as three thick crimson lines appeared across his chest, the blood seeping into his shirt.
"That wasn't a strike to kill." Kuro growled as he spun around to face Zoro once again.
"Neither was yours." Zoro replied as he crossed his arms before him. "I want to make sure you live long enough for me to pay you back double what you did to my captain."
"And here I thought you weren't the type to fight for revenge, Roronoa." Kuro sneered.
"Normally, no. But I don't mind making an exception for scum like you." Zoro hissed, eyes flashing. "Oni...GIRI!" The swordsman rushed past Kuro, slashing the man across the chest as he did so and coming to a stop before Luffy's fallen form.
Zoro glanced over his shoulder to see the damage, only to have his eyes widen in surprise as he saw only a shredded bit of what had once been Kuro's suit jacket where the man should have been.
"Shit…" Zoro hissed, glancing around for his opponent.
The next thing he registered was a hot, searing pain running diagonally from his left shoulder to across his torso. Zoro let out a cry of agony, a few droplets of blood shooting from his mouth to splatter to the ground as he stumbled forward. He sucked in a shaky breath as he glanced down his front with wide, bloodshot eyes.
One of Kuro's claws had reopened the wound from Mihawk! It wasn't nearly as deep as the original wound, but it was still deep, blood dripping from the slice in his shirt onto the stone floor, completely soaking his shirt front in crimson.
"Well…that's interesting." Kuro remarked suddenly from a few yards in front of Zoro, a horrible glint in his eyes. "One of your old battle scars? Is that one from Mihawk? I did hear that you met up with him...does it hurt to have a wound from such a pitiful loss reopened?"
Zoro sucked in a breath through clenched teeth as he glared at Kuro. "No. This wound stopped hurting a long time ago. Now it's just another reminder of another promise that I made."
Another scar, another promise. Another one dead, another promise to be kept to someone in a place he'd never reach.
"Another promise? You seem to have made a lot of those; it's rather stupid of you. One should never bring so many expectations upon themselves, they'll only drag you down in the end." Kuro drawled.
"Maybe to you it seems that way, but I don't regret making any of them. I doubt you'd understand why, though." Zoro growled as he forced himself to stand upright.
Kuro snorted. "Fool."
Zoro made no reply to that as he suddenly shot towards Kuro again, becoming a blur of deadly steel. The moment he did this Kuro vanished once more, leaving nothing behind in his wake.
The swordsman skidded to a stop, frowning. Instead of looking around the swordsman closed his eyes, fists clenching around his katana as he simply listened.
All was deafeningly silent for the longest time as Zoro stood there, simply waiting.
It was then that his ears just barely caught the sound of steel singing through the air…
The swordsman fell back onto one foot, spinning around to face his opponent as he did so. Yubashiri and Sandai Kitetsu came up to narrowly block all five of Kuro's claws while he used Wadou to slash across the other man's midsection.Finally after doing this Zoro flipped beneath Kuro's arms to skid to a stop behind his opponent. "Tou Rou Nagashi!"
Kuro let out a cry of pain as blood spurted from his new wounds, eyes widening in shock. How did he…
Zoro didn't even give Kuro a chance to finish the thought as he brought both swords over his shoulder. "Tora…GARI!" He snarled as he shot at Kuro once again, bringing both katana down in a diagonal slash across Kuro's back.
Again he skidded to a stop, this time holding both swords above his right shoulder. "One life, thirty-six earthly desires…" He murmured as he looked at Kuro's wide, bloodshot eyes, the villain finding himself unable to move due to the swordsman's previous attack.
"Two lives, seventy-two earthly desires…" A horrible, demonic sort of grin came to his face as his fists clenched around the hilts of his katana.
"Three lives, one hundred and eight earthly desires…"
See how you like it, you bastard.
"Hyaku Hachi Pondo Hou!" Zoro snarled as he sliced both katana downward, muscles tensing with the strength needed for the attack. The resulting wind shot at Kuro, becoming three razor-sharp waves that sliced through the man, sending him flying upwards towards the ceiling. Crimson blood spurted from his new wounds and fell around him like rain, the ceiling cracking from the force of the attack.
The sound of glass breaking filled the room as the clock face that made up one wall of the room cracked from the force as well. Splinters of the crystalline material it was crafted from fell to the stone floor with bits of stone as the cracks ran all along the surface. By some miracle, it did not break, though the sound of the glass-like material straining filled the room.
Breathing heavily, Zoro watched as Kuro fell to the floor, unmoving. The swordsman's face twisted into a snarl as he looked at his opponent's unmoving form "Get up, Kuro." He hissed. "I know you aren't dead yet. Get up!"
Kuro lay there in silence for a moment before his arm twitched, reaching up to push his now cracked glasses up his nose once again. The man slowly got to his feet, the cracked lenses shining in the sea-green light.
"So then, Roronoa…you really were serious about making sure I lived." A horrible grin came to the mans face as he reached up to try and brush a few greased bangs that had fallen out of place during Zoro's attacks. "You spoke lowly of my vengeance and now you're so determined to carry out your own…how very hypocritical of you."
"Shut up." Zoro snarled, charging for Kuro yet again. "You—"
"LUFFY!"
Zoro paused in his attack, eyes widening as Nami's horrified scream reached his ears. His entire body tensed as he glanced over Kuro's shoulder to see Nami falling to her knees before their captain's lifeless form, Sanji, Usopp, and Chopper in tow.
"Luffy…oh God…he's not…" Nami trailed off, her hand reaching up to cover her mouth, eyes wide with shock. She reached out with shaking fingers to touch the fallen boy but paused before she actually touched him, as if she were afraid to do so.
"Luffy!" Usopp gasped, rushing over and skidding to a stop before his captain, mouth agape, face pale.
Chopper was at the boy's side in an instant, checking for a pulse, eyes wide, his face one of complete devastation. "No…he's gone…" He whimpered.
Sanji's visible eye widened and he looked from Luffy's body to Zoro, hands clenched into fists. "Marimo, what the hell happened?" He demanded, voice coming out a bit harsher than he meant it to be.
Zoro's bloodshot eyes met the cook's for only a moment before he looked away, unable to find any words to reply with. That was alright, as he didn't need any; Sanji got everything from that simple gaze in a way words never could have gotten across.
Hopelessness. Despair. Grief. Pain. A loss so great it could never be expressed with words.
"Oh, what's this? More of his pathetic nakama?" Kuro sneered as he glanced back at the newcomers. "I suppose this goes without saying, but you're too late. He's gone. So much for 'nakama', hm?"
He received no reply save for Nami's soft sobs.
Sanji stared calmly at Kuro, reaching up to take the cigarette from his mouth and flick away the ashes. After a few moments of silence, he spoke. "Oi. Did you do all this?" He asked.
"I was the one who killed him, if that's what you mean." Kuro replied as he licked a bit of blood from his claws.
"I wasn't just talking about him, I meant that." The cook growled, nodding at Zoro. The swordsman scowled at this, brow furrowing. What on earth was Sanji trying to get at?
Kuro snorted. "I might have done that as well."
"Alright, that's all I needed to know. With all that, not to mention making a lady cry, I'd say you've got more than a simple ass-kicking coming your way." Sanji said, replacing the cigarette as his visible eye narrowed dangerously.
With that, he charged at Kuro, aiming a kick for the pirate's jaw. Kuro only just barely managed to dodge this, making a swipe for Sanji that the cook narrowly avoided by flipping back onto his hands and swinging another kick into Kuro's chest. This one connected, sending the older pirate flying into the nearest wall.
"Oi, he's mine." Zoro growled as Sanji came to rest beside him, landing easily on the balls of his feet. "You stay out of this."
"What did I tell you about letting us help, shit swordsman? He was my captain too, you know." Sanji drawled as he stuffed his hands into his pockets, watching Kuro slowly get to his feet.
"Whatever. Just stay the hell out of my way."
Kuro snorted as he stood, brushing a trail of blood from his lip with the back of his thumb. "Idiots. I see you're all not much different from him, and he's already dead. You were too late to save him, it's not as if fighting me will change anything, but you do so anyway. Hypocrites. He talked about you all a lot, said you would save him…fool. That's what he gets for putting so much belief in others, I suppose."
"Shut up. He wasn't a fool!" Nami snapped from her place beside her captain, tears streaming down her cheeks. Chopper was still looking the boy over beside her, tears staining his fur as he tried to find something, anything, that would give some glimmer of hope that the boy wasn't really dead.
The man shook his head. "Ah, but that's where you've been mislead. He was a fool, doomed to fail. That's what happens when you follow an impossible dream so blindly like that. Even if he hadn't died here, he would have died somewhere along the line before he reached his goal. A little whelp like that, with his kind of values, could never be King of Pirates in this age. Either he would have had to change to suit this day and age, to become like people he despised, or he would die by the hands of one of them. The Grand Line has no place for idealistic values like 'nakama' and 'dreams'."
"S-Shut up! Don't talk about him like that!" Usopp snapped, tears welling up in his eyes as he spoke. "Luffy was strong because he followed his dreams like that, he was strong because he kept with what he believed in and didn't change for this stupid world! It's because of that, that's the reason we follow him! Don't you dare sit around mocking his beliefs, because that's what made him strong! Don't you dare badmouth him, don't you dare laugh at his dream!"
"Why? It's true." Kuro drawled.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Ace suddenly spoke up from his spot at the doorway, Robin coming up behind him. "After all…from what I've seen, these guys are known to pull off some pretty amazing things."
Kuro frowned as he looked to the doorway. "Portgas D. Ace and Nico Robin? Ah, how nice of you to join us." He sneered. "Now I suppose the funeral party can begin."
"Like I said…don't be so sure." Ace said as he walked into the room, pausing before Luffy's corpse. He knelt down in front of his little brother, brushing a few strands of matted black hair from his face. "'Touto-chan…sorry, I'm a bit late."
Chopper looked up from Luffy to his older brother, eyes widening. "A-Ace…" He stuttered.
"Shh." Ace cut him off, placing a hand upon the reindeers head. "Doctor, make sure you take care of my little brother, alright?"
"But Ace—"
"Things aren't always what they appear to be." Ace said simply as he stood, stepping over Luffy's body and towards his murderer.
Said murderer simply smirked. "What? Do you expect him to rise from the dead now?"
"Nah, that's impossible." Ace replied with a small grin. "Then again…my brother is known to pull off some pretty crazy things."
"You're delusional."
"And you're a crazed psychopath. The one who has seemingly just murdered my little brother, I might add." The white-beard pirate's face became grim as a few flames burst from his arms. He glanced over at Zoro and Sanji as he stepped up beside them. "You guys don't mind if I join in, do you?"
"Nah. He was your brother, after all." Sanji replied.
Zoro said nothing, he just frowned as he looked at Ace. Did he know something they didn't? Why did he keep talking like Luffy wasn't really dead?
"Yeah, you guys g-get him!" Usopp cried from his spot near Luffy, hands clenching into fists at his sides. If only he had his slingshot! Then he could avenge Luffy too…but he couldn't do anything without it. He was useless right now…
Robin, whom had been watching all this transpire wordlessly, said nothing as she walked over to Luffy's body. She knelt down beside the reindeer, glancing over their captain's body.
"How is he?"
"Robin…he…" Chopper trailed off, shaking his head. "No pulse, no anything. He's…Luffy's…" The reindeer couldn't seem to bring himself to say it as he let out a small sob.
Robin, unable to think of a response to that, reached out to touch the boy's face. Though she hadn't been with the crew for very long and she had lost many things in her life…somehow this just hit her so much harder than anything else. To finally have found someone who accepted her, who had made her happy for the first time in so long, only to have him gone so suddenly…
But if he was gone…why did his body still feel a bit warm?
"Epaule!" Kuro let out a cry as Sanji's kick struck his shoulder, sending him forward into the next kick to his ribs. "Cotellete!" This kick sent the man flying backwards into the last of the cook's attacks. "SELLE!"
The final kick struck Kuro in the lower back, sending him flying into the air. Sanji jumped back after this, just in time to avoid a blast of flames from Ace.
"Hiken!"
The flames filled one half of the room, a loud cry of pain sounding from within the blaze as the fire enveloped the dark-haired man. After a few moments the flames cleared just enough to reveal a singed Kuro, whom was stumbling a bit on his feet.
However, the fire was not entirely gone, and from the blaze came Zoro, arms crossed before him. "Yaki..Oni Giri!"
Kuro let out another cry as three deep gashes appeared across his front, the force of the blow sending him flying back to slam into the stone wall with a sickening crack. Groaning, the kuroneko pirate slid to the ground and stayed there, unmoving.
Ace frowned as the flames gathered back to his arm once more. "Is that it?"
"No, he's not out yet." Sanji said, shaking his head.
"Get up, Kuro." Zoro snarled, pointing Sandai Kitetsu at their opponent.
The man let out a breathless chuckle as he slowly got to his feet, a crazed gleam in his eyes. "You really are determined to make sure I live…only killing me by the inches."
"That's what you did to our captain, isn't it?" Sanji growled.
"Ah, very true…but then, he couldn't fight back, unlike me. Foolish on your part." Kuro smirked as he suddenly slouched over, beginning to sway this way and that, claws dangling before him.
Zoro frowned, eyes narrowing. What's he doing? Is he just tired…no, that can't be right… He couldn't help but feel like he was forgetting something, something Nami had told him when telling him about Luffy's fight against Kuro back in Usopp's village…
"Shakushi!"
Kuro suddenly vanished without a trace, leaving the room deathly silent.
Sanji grit his teeth around his cigarette, glancing around. "Where is he?" He demanded, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Something bad was about to happen…
The cook then let out a cry as three slashes suddenly appeared across his chest, blood spurting from the wounds. Ace's eyes widened as claws slashed across his face, had his body not turned into flames on instinct one of those claws would have taken his head off. Zoro grunted as another blow caught his shoulder, slicing through it and hitting the bone.
"What the—" He was cut off but the sound of steel slicing through rock, one of the pillars near by collapsing due to three clean slashes in its surface. Nami let out a cry as one of the blows narrowly hit her, instead cleaving a great gash into the stone floor next to her.
"Damnit, he's going so fast he can't even tell where he's aiming!" Ace cried as another blow hit him, this time in the stomach, and once again left three flaming slashes before vanishing.
"Shit." Sanji muttered as his eyes darted around, searching for some sort of sign as to where their opponent was.
"Would you both shut up?" Zoro growled as he shut his eyes once again, entire body tensing as he listened.
"You're the one talking, idiot." Sanji snapped as another blow slashed across the ceiling, shaking the entire building.
Ace simply snorted.
Then, without warning, he sent a burst of fire behind him. At the same instant, Sanji spun around to send a kick into Kuro's jaw just as Zoro shot backwards and past the man, leaving new gashes across his already mangled chest.
"GAH!" Kuro let out a cry of pain as he reeled backwards, blood gushing from these new wounds. The force of all three attacks sent him flying back into the already cracked clock face.
With a loud shattering noise Kuro broke through the clock face, his body flying back into the night sky. He seemed to hang there in the sky among the stars for a moment, time stopping, before he tumbled downwards and landed with a sickening thud upon the roof of the clock tower's base. Though the rooftop was several stories below the top floor, it still wasn't enough of a fall to kill him.
Zoro rushed over to the great hole in the clock face, staring down at their fallen opponent for a moment, wind whipping through his hair. Then, without a word he jumped from the tower after the man, blood-soaked katana glistening in the starlight as he followed him.
He wasn't going to rest until things were finished.
"Oi, wait marimo!" Sanji called, but it was too late. Scoffing, the cook glanced over at Ace. "What do you think?"
Ace shook his head. "Not sure. He seems beaten to me…" He glanced back to where Nami was crying, face pressed against Luffy's chest.
The navigator sucked in a breath as she fought to compose herself. Luffy wouldn't want her to cry…but…
After all he had done for her, all he done for everyone…he couldn't be gone just like that. They had gone through so much to try and save him…he was too important to them for him to just die!
But he was dead, and even Kuro being beaten didn't change that.
Nami forced herself to sit up, brushing away her tears with one hand. "Well…I guess that's…that then…" She murmured, sucking in another shaky breath as more tears fell. "Luffy…"
Sanji rushed over, dropping to his knees next to the navigator and putting an arm around her shoulders. For once, Nami didn't bother pushing him away, she needed the comfort. The ginger-haired woman turned away from Luffy to bury her face into the cook's chest, apparently not caring that it was now covered in blood.
"Shhh…it's alright Nami-san, it's alright…" Sanji murmured softly into her ear, gently stroking her head as he glanced down at Luffy.
Idiot…why'd you have to go and die? You made Nami-san cry…bastard...
"I-I'm sorry…I tried everything I could." Chopper whimpered, shoulders shaking as tears streamed down his cheeks.
"It's alright Chopper, it's not your fault." Usopp said, trying to smile for the reindeer and failing. He reached down to pat Chopper's head, biting his lip as his own tears continued to fall.
Robin silently looked away, staring off into nothingness. She had already lost plenty in her life…losing one more shouldn't have effected her as much as it was, right?
But no, she was crying too. They were all crying for him.
And thus, no one really noticed when Luffy's chest suddenly rose in a shaky breath. No one noticed when chocolate-brown eyes slowly opened and glanced around, though their vision was rather fuzzy at the moment. No one noticed as his fingers twitched, trying to reach up to brush away the tears his nakama were shedding, though he didn't know their cause.
They did notice the small, weak groan coming from the boy's lips as he tried to force his voice to work once again, however. Six pairs of eyes widened as they all looked back to their supposedly dead captain.
"Hey…why's everyone crying?" Luffy croaked out, his voice hoarse and weak-sounding, so soft one could barely catch it, but it was there.
He was alive.
Everyone could only stare at him, mouths agape, completely at loss for words as their miraculously not-dead captain blinked up at them in confusion.
"Luffy?" Nami gasped, her eyes wide.
"Yeah?" Luffy mumbled, looking confused. "What's wrong? You guys are acting like someone died or something." He said with a small, weak grin.
"You…you IDIOT!" Nami finally shrieked, pulling out of Sanji's grasp so she could grab their idiot captain and pull him into a hug. Usopp let out a similar cry as he fell to his knees to grab onto Luffy as well; ignoring Chopper's excited babbling about how Luffy needed his space.
Eventually Chopper too gave up and sort of flung himself onto the captain as well, joining Sanji in his yelled obscenities at Luffy that didn't seem to really have any weight behind them. Robin hung back, staring in shock at the great group hug with their clearly not-dead captain at the center.
"You idiot, you stupid idiot!"
"We thought you died, you—how could you, had us all worried! Stupid!"
"You shitty…made Nami-san cry, I oughta-- …you idiot!"
"I-I knew you weren't really…I knew it! I really did! You idiot, don't scare us like that!"
Finally after a minute or so of this babbling Chopper finally convinced everyone that they really needed to let Luffy go, so slowly everyone moved away to give the boy some space. He gave them a wide grin as he was finally allowed to fall back with his head in Nami's lap, wincing in pain as he landed.
"But…how? You should be dead!" Nami exclaimed.
"Nah, he shouldn't be." Ace finally spoke up as he walked over.
"Ace?" Luffy cried hoarsely, his eyes widening as he looked up at his older brother. "When did you get here?"
"Couple days ago, decided to help look for you. I couldn't leave my 'Touto-chan' in the hands of a crazed psychopath, now could I?" Ace said as he knelt down beside the boy and took him from Nami's lap so he could hold him close.
Luffy let out a weak laugh as he was pressed against Ace's bare chest, glad to have his older brother's warmth close. His laughter cut off into a harsh, loud cough, which brought concerned looks from everyone, but after a few seconds the cough dissipated and Luffy snuggled closer to Ace. "'Nii-chan…"
"So…how isn't he dead, then?" Nami asked, brow furrowing.
Ace shook his head. "Hikemeia can't kill anyone. It's that simple. No matter how much any other infection helps it along, it can't kill anyone. Sooner or later the body will build an antibody to combat the virus and kill it all off. I think in my brother's case, the virus did spread farther than normal and the infections from what Kuro did deter his immune system a bit, but in the end it couldn't hold it off forever." He paused, frowning as he tried to figure out how to word the rest of what he was trying to say.
"I think the antibodies just sort of hit the virus all at once, so when all the infected cells were destroyed, it temporarily shut his systems down. He would appear dead, yeah, his heart even stopped, but that was only until everything could sort of restart. His brain could handle the lack of oxygen for a few minutes, and after that everything started coming back slowly. And well…there you have it."
Nami shook her head. "That…doesn't really make much sense."
"No…but I guess it could work…" Chopper said as he carefully moved Ace's arm aside so he could check up on Luffy. "It's the only thing we've got right now, anyway."
"Oh well, the point is he's alive now." Ace said with a shrug.
Sanji shook his head as he glared down at the boy. "I swear, as soon as you heal I'm gonna kick your ass." He growled. He didn't care Luffy had been tortured for the past few days and had nearly died, no one got away with making a lady cry while he was around!
Nami gave a sigh of relief, shaking her head. "You idiot…" She muttered, lightly whacking the boy on the head, causing him to give a weak laugh.
"I-I knew he wasn't dead all along! I was just pretending because I didn't want to spoil the surprise for you all!" Usopp declared, nose in the air even as he reached up to wipe a final tear from his eye.
"And I'm sure those tears were all completely fake, Long Nose-kun." Robin said with a small chuckle.
"T-they were!" Usopp stuttered. "What, you don't believe me? The Great Captain Usopp-sama knew all along!"
Robin just shook her head and laughed.
Luffy just smiled as he watched his crew laughing and smiling. It was good to see them smiling, he didn't want them crying for him. Everything was alright now…
Well, almost. There was still one person missing, and without him there something felt very wrong…
"Where's Zoro?" He asked, brow furrowing in confusion as he tried to lift his head to glance around. After a few failed attempts he fell back again Ace's chest once more, frowning.
"Zoro?" Nami asked, glancing around. "Um, he…"
Sanji's visible eye suddenly widened. "Shit, he's still with the Kuroneko bastard!" He cried.
"You left him with that guy?" Nami cried.
"Well, what do you expect? He would have torn apart anyone who tried to stop him!" Usopp pointed out.
"Well, hurry and go check on him then!" The navigator snapped.
"Gladly, Nami-san! Anything for you!" Sanji cried, grabbing Usopp and rushing over to the hole in the clock face. Robin followed, with Nami in tow.
"I wanna see him too." Luffy declared, looking up at Ace.
Ace frowned, but nodded and stood.
Chopper yelped, running after the two brothers. "Wait, I need to—"
"Zoro comes first." Luffy said calmly.
The swordsman, meanwhile, was standing upon the rooftop of the building that made up the base of the clock tower. The night wind whipped through his hair as he fixed cold, eagle-like eyes upon the twitching, bleeding form of Captain Kuro.
The other man was covered in gash after gash, bleeding so profusely he could barely move. He looked up at Zoro through the now completely shattered lenses of his glasses, a weak, pained grin on his face.
"So, it's come to this." He murmured before pausing to cough up a bit of blood. The splotch of crimson landed with a small splat in the pool of blood surrounding him. "Roronoa Zoro, the bounty hunter known as a demon…going back to your old ways now?"
Zoro said nothing, he simply stood there before his captain's murderer, the silver blades of his katana dyed completely red. Blood covered his body, both his own and his opponents, as he stared down at Kuro with hard, unfeeling eyes.
The eyes of a demon.
"Does this make you feel better, knowing that I am suffering? It doesn't really, does it? It's a hollow pleasure, revenge is." Kuro said with a soft chuckle. "In the end, it hasn't solved anything. Your captain is still dead. You failed to save him, and you will carry the weight of that guilt for the rest of your life, knowing that you survived and he did not."
"Maybe so. But at least I'll have some peace knowing you didn't survive either." Zoro snarled.
"Killing me won't bring him back, you know that." Kuro said, same lady, cat-like grin still in place.
Zoro's fist clenched around Sandai Kitetsu as he pulled it back, preparing to drive it through the villain's heart. "I don't care." He hissed before driving the blade forward.
"ZORO, STOP!"
The katana stopped mere inches from Kuro's chest, the swordsman's eyes widening. Yubashiri slipped from suddenly numb fingers and fell to the rooftop with a loud clatter, while his grip on Sandai was only just barely kept.
He would recognize that voice anywhere.
"Luffy…" He gasped, turning around to gaze up at the clock tower.
There stood the entire crew, all watching and waiting for him. But Zoro could have cared less about that, his focus immediately went to Ace and the tiny form held against his chest.
Luffy was alive and well. His smile was weak compared to his usual fare, he looked completely exhausted and was shaking in Ace's arms, but he was alive.
"But…you're…"
"Alive." Luffy croaked out, still smiling. "I promised you, didn't I?"
Zoro stared with wide, disbelieving eyes as he lowered his katana to his side and took Wadou from his mouth. "…Yeah…you did promise." He said, a smile coming to his face.
"Hang on a sec, we'll be down there soon!" Usopp called out, and with that everyone vanished from view.
Zoro stood there in silence, disbelief still clear on his face. Luffy was alive! It didn't seem possible…he had felt the boy's heart stop! He'd felt the warmth leave his body, felt his blood stop flowing…it didn't make any sense!
Then again, hardly anything about Luffy made any sense.
"Well, isn't that wonderful? A happy ending." Kuro sneered from behind Zoro. "Your captain lives, and everything's perfect…right?"
Sandai Kitetsu came to easily block the blow aimed to stab the swordsman through the back. Zoro then easily spun around to counter the blow and send Kuro sprawling to the ground once again.
"Yeah. Except for one little detail you forgot." Zoro growled as Sandai was once again pointed at the other man's chest.
Kuro stared up at the shining blade before throwing his head back and cackling maniacally. "You really are serious about killing me, aren't you? Your captain's alive, and you still want to go through with it. If that's the case, then I won anyway!"
Zoro scowled. "What are you babbling about?"
Kuro sneered up at the swordsman, reaching up to grab the blade of the katana and pull it closer, blood seeping into the black fur that made up his gloves. "Go on then, Roronoa. Kill me. Take your revenge for your captain. After all I made him suffer through, I deserve it, don't I?"
The swordsman's eyes narrowed as the still clear memory of Luffy's cold form pulled against him ran through his mind. He pulled the sword away from Kuro's grip, preparing to deal the blow and send him out of the world.
Scum like him didn't deserve to live anyway.
"Zoro, I told you to stop!"
Once again, Zoro paused, gritting his teeth. The other straw hats had all run out onto the rooftop from the door meant as a fire escape for that floor. Across the rooftop there was a set of stairs that lead to the ground, which would probably be how they left.
Once he got rid of this guy, anyway. But Luffy said not to…
The swordsman glanced over his shoulder at Luffy, whom was still in Ace's arms, shaking from cold, his voice still sounding incredibly weak.
"What's wrong, Roronoa? I thought you were going to finish me?" Kuro sneered, drawing his attention once again. The katana was inches from his chest, one simple stab and it would all be over. The man who had caused this entire mess, all the pain they had all endured, would be gone.
"I…"
"Don't do it, Zoro. He's not worth it." Nami scowled as she looked down her nose at the now rather pitiful-looking man who had been her captor.
"Nami-san is so merciful…" Sanji murmured, but went ignored.
"Not worth it? But don't I deserve to die? Isn't that what you're thinking, Roronoa? You killed hundreds as a bounty hunter, why should I be any different?" Kuro sneered, a horrible whisper in his ears, a verbalized form of the swordsman's conscience.
"Zoro, don't! Come on, let go!" Chopper squeaked.
"But…after all he did…he should…" Zoro trailed off as he stared down at Kuro, brow furrowing.
Killing people…it had always been so easy before, so effortless…why was it any different now?
Zoro's arm tensed as he prepared to drive the katana forward, to end this man's life—
"Zoro!" Luffy's cry came once again, sounding desperate this time as he struggled out of Ace's grasp and landed on the rooftop, stumbling a bit on his bare feet.
"Oi, Luffy, you shouldn't be—" Usopp's voice was cut off as Ace's arm went out to stop the sniper from rushing out towards the boy. He was now struggling to stand and walk over to the swordsman, entire body shaking violently from effort and cold.
The swordsman glanced back once again to see Luffy struggling towards him, entire body shaking. Even from there Zoro could tell easily the boy wasn't going to make it, and in an instant Sandai Kitetsu went clattering to the rooftop as he rushed to close the distance between them and catch the boy before he collapsed.
Luffy fell against Zoro's chest, sucking in a deep, shaking breath as he reached out blindly to grasp fistfuls of the swordsman's bloodied shirt. He buried his face into it as he inhaled the swordsman's scent, still shaking. Zoro's strong arms reached up to hold the boy close, carefully avoiding causing any damage to his mangled back as he ran his hands through the boy's dark hair.
"Zoro…be Zoro, not him." Luffy murmured weakly, his voice only just barely reaching the swordsman's ears.
Zoro gazed down at the boy for a moment before nodding, shutting his eyes as he simply held Luffy close. "…Who am I to deny my captain's orders?" He whispered.
Luffy felt the soft, rumbling vibrations of Zoro's voice against his ear and he smiled weakly. "Good…I like my Zoro the way he is." He said, his eyes finally closing as the last of his strength faded away and he slipped into the realm of unconsciousness.
The swordsman gave a small smile before turning and walking back to where he had been, and then knelt to pick up Sandai Kitetsu. "Come on guys, let's get out of here." He called behind him as he re-sheathed the katana.
Ace smiled, finally moving his arm and walking towards the edge of the roof to where the ladder that lead to the staircase began. "Yeah…it's about time he gets home."
"Alright, C-Captain Usopp-sama says it's time to leave! Good work, my faithful crew!" Usopp declared with a grin as he ran after them, Chopper close behind yelling about how Usopp shouldn't run as it would upset his injuries.
Nami glanced over at Robin, then promptly burst into laughter, the dark-haired woman quickly following suit as Sanji gestured for them to go before him, mentioning something about "Ladies first" and how he was going to make a lovely feast for them in honor of their rescue. You know, even though Nami had been the only one who needed rescuing.
Kuro lay there, watching in shock. "Hey, wait! What are you doing? Aren't you supposed to kill me? Isn't this about your revenge? Don't I deserve to die?" He cried, eyes wide. "Y-you're 'Pirate Hunter' Roronoa Zoro! The demon! Killing me shouldn't be that big of a deal!"
He wanted to die! After all this…he had nothing else left! Why didn't they just kill him?
Zoro paused, glancing back at Kuro, and then shook his head. "You've got me wrong. I used to be a demon, but…" He paused, glancing down at the smiling, unconscious Luffy in his arms, a smile coming to his face.
"That's not me anymore."
---
To Be Concluded…
Whew, that was long! I do hope you all enjoyed it…and I hope Luffy not being dead made sense. Xx He didn't really die, guys, it just seemed like he did! Well hey, the virus isn't real and I took biology…so…it…sorta makes sense…
Right, anyway, be sure to leave a review! We only have one more chapter to go of this!
Next Chapter: Luffy's alive, and things are slowly going back to normal…or are they? Will Luffy be able to recover after all he's been through? And what about what Zoro said before he "died"? Will it just be pushed aside now? Make sure you don't miss the last chapter of Dominoes!
