Final Departure

Chapter 9: A desperate cry, unheard

The peculiar weapon crushed Luffy to the ground, its two spikes boring into the stone by his sides. Luffy felt his strength sap away and he promptly became aware of the actual pain that the impact and the pressure on his chest inflicted on his body. The copper taste of blood spread in his mouth as he coughed up some of the warm liquid.

Only now he realised that this thing wasn't a weapon. It wasn't meant to be wielded in combat or do harm. It was meant for the sole purpose of what it was used for at this very moment: To pin down devil fruit users from a save distance; As if they were nothing more than some potentially dangerous animals. However, his attention was soon torn away from his own miserable situation to someone else's.

With all his muscles going limp, Luffy's head was lolling to the side, providing him with an ample view of something that none of them had noticed up until now, because everyone had been too damn busy bickering! Nami wasn't with them anymore. She was way over there, running. That ape-beast, that everyone had seemingly forgotten about, following her on the heel. It was that same moment that a bitter impression crept into every part of Luffy's existence, one just as bitter as the bile that he could suddenly taste in his throat. Nami wasn't fighting. Her whole bearing told him how truly scared she was. Utterly and truly scared. Even in the distance he could make out the terror spread across her features. This wasn't a fight; It was some animal hunting down prey!

Instantly, Luffy made to struggle against his bond, but soon froze when an earpiercing scream rang through the area, telling him that his Nakama had already lost the race. He jerked his head back to the side in time to see how the beast had clawed deeply into the girl's bare thigh, tearing through raw flesh and sending her to the cold stone ground, her face crunched up in agony. Next, Luffy felt crude panic overcome him. In some kind of animalistic rage the huge monster took a hold of the girl, that was twisting around to face her attacker, it's claw big enough to easily clasp around her arms and upper body. Then his Nakama was lifted off the ground and high over the ape's head, one leg futilely kicking into thin air while the other was dangling from her by almost literally only a thread. Nami's eyes grew wide just like Luffy's as both of them knew what was about to happen next.

o-o-o

For the helpless pirate captain these next few moments were passing in some kind of agonizing slow motion. He reached out in a daze, only to realise incredulously that his arm wasn't stretching. There had to be a way to stop that inhuman, brutish creature! A way to breach the distance in time! Luffy could tell that he was screaming out a name, leaving his throat sore. Probably the name of the girl that was in such imminent danger. He wasn't even sure anymore himself, his ears ringing from blood that was rushing through his body furiously and his mind racing in circles.

The rest of the Straw Hat Crew froze when their captain's voice pierced their ears, crying out the name of their former sniper. It was so irrational and twisted that it sent cold shivers down everyone's spines. Something was terribly wrong. One after another they tried spinning around in their fights to make out what was happening.

o-o-o

Luffy was only brought back to his senses when the sound of the brute impact on stone ground reached his ears, along with the voice of the screaming girl falling silent. In spite of the distance, he could have sworn he heard bones cracking. He felt his world spin as the harsh reality of what had just happened washed over him, rendering every fiber of his body even more numb than the Sea Stone pressing against his chest. Yet, he soon tensed when he saw the animal lift it's arm once more, the girl's already lifeless body dangling limply from it's claw. It was going to do it again. It was just going to keep smashing the fragile form into the ridgid, unyielding ground, until there would be nothing left of her for the beast to hold onto. And Nami would be killed. His Nakama was going to die!

The next moment pure rage exploded through Luffy's body and the air seemed to quake with it when a bloodcurdling scream, filled with both anger and despair, erupted from his throat. When, suddenly, the enemy sank to the ground and the enraged boy felt him let go of the device that was pinning him down, Luffy wasn't wasting another second. He didn't know what just happened and he didn't care. His every movement was now running on adrenaline and instinct. Instantaneously, the constraining Sea Stone was thrown to the side and Luffy's legs fired blood through his already elevated circulation. His red-glowing body shot forward, nullifying the distance to his unconcious Nakama in the blink of an eye.

The beast was left no time to react when the steaming man appeared before it within an instant, his hand, by this time, irremovably burried in it's raised arm, securely holding it in place. The animal recoiled for just a second at the sight of the pirate captain's furious eyes when his other fist already fired down mercilessly, blasting it's skull several inches into the ground, where it remained out cold.

Within moments, the unhinged battlefield quieted down to an eerie rest. A last few remnants of steam fizzled away in the air and the red tint faded from Luffy's skin, as he cautiously guided the creature's stilled arm towards the ground, where his unconscious Nakama finally slid from the now liveless claw. Only then did Luffy realise the extend of his navigator's injuries, twisting his infuriated features into a distressed stare.

Little cracks in the stone ground spoke of the sheer brutality of the animal's attack. And yet there was no actual dent, a painful indication of how, with the surface not giving in even an inch, the shockingly normal body of the girl had taken the full force of the bone crushing impact. And then there was blood. Just so much blood. Most of it in form of a dark pool, rapidly growing underneath her; Undoubtably originating from that horribly clawed up leg. There were thin, angry lines of crimson running down from her mouth, nose and ears and a rib was piercing through her top, the red stain tinting the textile around it growing steadily wider.

Dazed, Luffy picked up the limp and broken body, inconscient of the additional harm his actions could cause. All he could think of was taking his Nakama away. To Chopper. To the ship. To safety. Just away! He could feel his hands slip and glide on her slick, blood-bathed skin. And then his heart sank when he beheld what had been left behind. Weakly, Luffy sank to his knees, carefully placing the lifeless form back onto the ground - where her severed limb was still lying. In his blind rage he hadn't even noticed how the impact had torn off the last bits of what had kept the leg attached to the girl.

All of a sudden it was as if that Sea Stone lance was pinning him down again. Luffy could feel all of his strength sap away as he stared down at the torn figure beneath his own bloodied hands, a weird non-existant pressure on his chest making it unbearably hard to breathe. For a few moments, he felt his chest heave painfully against the clutch on his lungs that his tensing body was providing itself, before he realised that he felt violently sick.

When the Straw Hat crew witnessed their captain throw up next to their missing crew member, everyone knew that something was horribly wrong. They stood in shock for as long as it took the boy to recollect himself after emptying his stomach's contents, then shuddered when his newly found voice brought back life to their frozen bearings with a coarse cry.

"CHOPPER!"

This was a bad sign. The one name that they knew was promising despair.

"CHOPPER!"

He hadn't even voiced out the name of the girl before him, yet.

"CHOPPER!"

Their captain's frenzied cries continued to ring throughout the area. Admist passed out enemies the ship's little doctor, in return, was now desperately struggling against his restraints.

Sanji's mind abruptly clicked back into place. His eyes fell on the last standing fishman, that was looking around his unconcious comrades agape, blocking his way. Without hesitation, he made to kick down the creature with the ridged skin, when a glinting blow struck down the enemy just before him. The cook's head snapped around to the swordsman by his side.

"Go!" Zoro hollered, a rattled look edged into his face.

Immediately, Sanji began sprinting towards Chopper and Robin on bloodied legs. Swiftly, he pulled their doctor into his arms along with his restraints, then turned to haste back into direction of their captain. The pirate struggled to free the reindeer from the tangled Sea Stone net mid-sprint before, finally, Chopper was able to break through an opening. He instantly jumped from his Nakama's arms, all the while turning into his animal form midair. The nimble reindeer galloped on, briskly leaving his saviour behind.

Sanji dropped to his knees, knowing that things were out of his hands from hereon onwards. Slowly but surely, he felt his initial adrenaline dwindle away, opening his defenses to both exhaustion and shock; Much like everyone around him.

Within seconds, the crew's doctor had made the distance to their distraught captain, who was pressing down on the bleeding stump of the girl fiercly. Chopper wasn't sure how Luffy had known to do that, it may have been crude instinct. However, considering her alarmingly pale colour, it was good that he did.

When the little doctor looked up he was met with the realisation that he truly had two patients. Luffy was obviously in a state of shock; His eyes unfocused and crazed and his features twisted in emotional pain. He looked like all he wanted to do was to embrace the lifeless form and press her against his chest as fiercly as he was pressing down on the girl's gaping wound instead. The only thing holding him in place being that he was painfully aware how any more force on the crushed body would most definitely be a death sentence to their Nakama. If she wasn't dead already... At this state even the little doctor wasn't able to tell right away.

Author's Notes:

Wow, it has been a while! Can you believe, that I started this story 8 years ago? And it ended on such a daunting spot to be discontinued for such a long time. Life has unfortunately taken me in other directions in the past few years. I hope that this time around I can make more progress as I love writing this story so much! Btw. "Fuck you 10/10" is honestly the best review I've ever gotten, lol. Really made my day. And of course I enjoyed all your other reviews and DMs very much as well. Thank you all for sticking with me for this long!