Rollercoaster

It was past midnight when Shaad and Raine strolled into their hotel room. As they stepped out of the lift, Shaad pulled the gaudy necklace he'd won from his pocket and eyed it. Raine placed her arms on his shoulders and examined the jewelry as well from over his shoulder.

"Why put up that much money for a necklace and not even wear it," Raine inquired.

"I needed it for my plan; I told you that."

"Uh-huh," Raine sighed, playing with hair on the back of his neck before reaching for the necklace and placing it on him. As she adjusted the heavy chain, she posed another question. "Care to tell me why everyone in that bar eyed me like that when I walked in?"

"Like what," Shaad replied, already thinking on his next move as Raine wrapped her arms lovingly around his neck.

"Like they knew something I didn't."

"I'm sure that was just your imagination," Shaad stated, attempting to step forward away from Raine's gentle embrace. "They were probably the same looks of lust you elicit from most men."

Raine's embrace tightened just enough to keep him in place, and she turned her head to speak directly into his ear, her breathy voice sending shivers through his entire body. "No, I'd recognize those. This was definitely different." Shaad tried to create some distance without being too obvious, but that was totally ineffective. "Don't treat me like I'm stupid," Raine warned.

"I-" Whatever Shaad was about to come up with was cut off as Raine tightened her arms even more around Shaad's neck, briefly cutting off the breath to his lungs. That gave Shaad the better sense than to continue whatever yarn he was about to spin. "There was another detail to the wager," he finally answered, slipping out of Raine's grasp at the same time and turning to face his navigator.

"What kind of detail?" Raine sauntered towards Shaad, her voice gentle and threatening all at the same time.

Shaad, though, stepped back each time she moved forward to keep a constant distance between them, his voice hesitant as he spoke. "Just remember that I knew I'd win."

"What kind of detail," Raine repeated.

"Just something to ensure he agreed."

"What-"

"I said you'd dance in his club for a couple of nights."

"What!?"

Raine had backed Shaad against the bathroom door. But, her outburst gave Shaad the time to slip inside and lock the door.

"It was all a ploy remember - the money, the bet - just a ploy to get his chain."

Raine slammed a fist on the door and, in the sweetest voice she could muster, requested Shaad come back into the main room. Shaad, for his part, ignored her words, cutting on the shower and calling out over the pounding stream of water that he needed to wash up before getting some sleep.

Shaad stood calmly beneath the warm water spraying onto his back, the sensation putting his entire body at ease. He was relaxed and deep in thought. So in his own world was he that he failed to notice when the bathroom door was opened and closed in quick, quiet succession. Shaad stayed like that a couple minutes longer before throwing his head back and running his hands through his hair, heaving a large sigh at the rejuvenation he felt. However, that feeling didn't last long before he was startled from his little nirvana by Raine's oh so lovely voice.

"That frosted glass really does take away from the view."

Shaad's hands immediately came down and he spoke with a start. "What are you doing in here!?"

"Relax," Raine suggested, waving away his anxiousness without moving from the seat she'd taken. "I'm not still mad."

"That's actually not my main concern right now! Why are you in here? How did you get in here?"

"I picked the lock so we could talk," Raine offered as if it were the most obvious thing at that moment.

"Then let me get dressed and we'll talk outside," Shaad frantically responded, reaching for his towel. He was further shook up when he looked out, after falling to grab his towel off the rack, only to discover it wasn't there but instead in Raine's hand.

"See, therein lies the problem. You agreed to be straight with me, but you use every opportunity to avoid open dialogue so you don't have to answer my questions. . . I've found there are three main ways to get answers that someone doesn't want to give." Shaad's outstretched arm fell slack and he leaned back against the inside of the shower door, the feeling of the running water still peppering his skin having faded to the back of his mind, as he listened to Raine continue. "You can reward them - a quid pro quo of sorts - or deceive them. Then there's force. . . Now, for some reason I can't fathom, you reject my rewards - an admirable quality - and you're not the type to acquiesce to my demands just from a bit of force (plus that wouldn't exactly be conducive to a healthy partnership). Additionally, you're too wily and smart to capitulate through trickery."

Shaad was unable to hold back the chuckle that bubbled past his lips at that.

"What?"

"I think that may be the first time you've complimented me."

". . . That's not true. . . I've remarked that you have a truly impressive physique."

That - particularly the way she said it - shut Shaad up as he crossed his arms and closed his eyes, a noticeable shade to his tan cheeks had anyone been able to see.

"Anyway, that leaves us with options like this until you stop trying to use whatever little loophole to not tell me things."

Shaad heaved a sigh of surrender. "Fine; what is it you wanna know."

"Details."

". . . As you know, I've already upset the chapter head of BMF, I'm fairly certain G has something planned for us, and liberating Vega will surely bring no shortage of ire from Sangre's side. As I see it, the only way we're getting off this island alive is if those three sides are too busy looking at each other to notice us. That's where the pendant, and the hoes, comes in. We convince BMF that Sangre's side is pushing in on their game, point Sangre's side in G's direction for freeing the fighters, and we're helped by the reality that G and Luo are actually working together in some form or other. All of that just leaves us with G to worry about, and, lucky for us, he doesn't seem like the type to dirty his own hands. So, after I free Vega and convince him to join us, we'll get to the ship and we're home free."

"After you free Vega? Where am I in this plan?"

"When the ship docks here, you're getting on immediately. You'll wait for Vega and me there. This transport was commissioned by Uncle directly; none of the families can attack us on that ship without crossing him."

Raine briefly looked annoyed at being protected but that soon passed as she cooed, "Aah, worried about my safety? How sweet," before adding, "You're lucky I don't like fighting or I'd rip out your testes for the insinuation." Her voice never lost its pleasant coo, but Shaad definitely got the point.

Again, Shaad ran his fingers through his hair and spoke. "Listen, I wasn't trying to offend you, but this whole situation simply has too many dangerous variables; it's best we move in as small a number as possible. As captain, if something were to go wrong, it's up to me to protect the crew (in this case that's you)."

A few seconds later, Shaad no longer heard the aggravated tapping of Raine's nails or her foot on the bathroom tile. "OK captain, how can I thank you?"

Shaad silently thanked the heavens for that bit of friendly sarcasm before answering simply, "Hand me my towel." He then listened as the shower door opened a little. Reaching out, he turned off the water with one hand and grabbed the towel with the other. Turning into the towel, he offered thanks.

However, he felt himself pressed against something soft in addition to the towel, and his eyes shot open in response. Before him stood Raine with nothing but his towel covering her, their (almost) naked bodies pressed together and their faces mere centimeters apart. She offered him a naughty, sultry smirk and craned her neck to lightly press her lips to his.

Shaad wasted little time breaking the illicit contact, his mind overwhelmed and blank at the same time. But, looking at Raine - the too small towel trying its damnedest to keep her covered while her delectable cleavage fought for freedom - and her enticing smile, Shaad's defenses and self-control crumbled quickly and he hungrily locked his lips with hers, his hands going to her hips as he held her curvaceous body against the slippery wall with his own. The kiss was sloppy and frenzied, and the two eventually had to break for air, giving them each a moment to collect their bearings and think.

Tremors and gale force winds rocked them, but two men calmly strode across the tumultuous landscape even as vicious hurricanes wreaked havoc on the area around them. Shaad's father, the Baron, and his first mate were both well aware of what had occurred, and while the first mate may have felt some unease or apprehension over his captain's decision on who to send ahead, neither man showed or felt even the slightest bit of fear.

"We're close," the first mate announced as the pair came to a deep crater that had filled with lava.

"This reminds me of the first time I met Ol' Joe," the Baron reminisced with a smile as he surveyed the extensive destruction. "Remember that, Grendel?"

"Yes, captain. You almost died from the injuries sustained in that fight," the first mate, Grendel, answered evenly.

The Baron's initial response was a simple smile. "Yes; I did underestimate his. . . tenacity. Who would've thought lava was that hot?"

Grendel merely shook his head at his captain's simplicity.

"The only reason I didn't finish him off then was because it took all my energy just to stand over him. Good thing, though. We've both been through a lot and come quite a ways since those days of reckless youth."

As they walked further, thick black smoke clouds blotted out the night sky and the beginnings of a raging fire beckoned their attention. Stepping through the crumbling entranceway of a ruined, smoldering mansion, the Baron immediately saw his subordinate, Tocar Zeit, lording over the bloodied and beaten Joe Neinz, much of Tocar's crew making themselves scarce after one glance from the captain and first mate.

"You've seen better days, 'Calamity' Joe," the Baron greeted the helpless heavyweight tied to a chair, ignoring the throngs of men that hurriedly shuffled past him.

"Samedi," Joe spat, cursing the man with as much venom as he could muster. His rage drove him to push against his binds to no avail as Grendel took another step closer and raised a meaty fist.

"Actually," Samedi interjected, holding an arm in front of his first mate, "it's Baron Samedi now. My father passed some time ago, and I ascended to the throne of Thanatos. But I'm sure you already knew that. True, I could've gone with King, but Baron Samedi just has a certain je ne sais quoi, wouldn't you agree?

Pain radiated through Joe's skull as he struggled against his mental fog and the thick chains that bound him while Samedi rambled on. He coughed and choked and, in his rage, nearly strangled on his own blood as it spilled from his mouth and the pitiful sounds of his wife, moaning from the floor, became muffled, then softer before seeming to die out altogether.

It was the first notice the Baron took of the woman and a frown affixed to his features at the sight. "Was all this really necessary," he asked, knowing the answer was no.

"Apologies, sir. My brother got a bit impatient while we waited so I let him have his fun."

"Is that why we passed three smoldering towns on the way here?"

"No, that happened while 'Calamity' Jane and I were fighting. He's currently preparing the house for his 'Grand Finale'.

Samedi massaged the bridge of his nose out of frustration and groaned before addressing his target, Joe. "We'll have to speed this along then. But, I must say, I never would have expected you to become a Schichibukai."

Little girls' screams rang out from a bedroom down the hallway, interrupting further commentary, and Joe's world went foggy for a moment as his heart was wrenched by the pain of his grandchildren. His babies!

But as the children cried out, "Pa-Pop! Pa-Pop!" over and over again, screaming in fear and begging for his help, Joe was reminded how helpless he was. These babies were his heart and his soul. And right now they were screaming and crying and begging for him to save their lives.

Joe was a veteran pirate and he knew the rules of the seas well. Shit, he'd helped write the latest volume of that muhfucka. He'd come up and made a name for himself alongside many of the generation's Yonkou and other top names. So, from the moment the island was put in uproar and overrun by Tocar's crew, Joe had seen how things would unfold, and it wouldn't be good. It had been a while since Joe led a vicious raid without care of life, property, or retribution, but some things never changed, and he understood how many aimed for his head.

As if on cue, Tocar's brother came down the stairs, the echo of the girls' screams still going strong in the man's wake. Joe blinked through the blood that was running into his eyes as he fought to see the men responsible for mutilating his wife. Miranda was sprawled on her back, her beautiful mouth brutally sodomized, her bloody, pulverized hands limp beside her. She wasn't fighting or struggling anymore, having ceased all movement, and that scared the shit out of Joe.

"Miranda," he screamed despite the blood filling his mouth. Again, he strained against his binds and his busted head exploded with the agony of a million firecrackers as his broken heart detonated with killer rage.

Those bastards had put a hurting like few others on Miranda. Abused her and tossed her around like a common whore, then violated her right before his eyes. Joe trembled, burning with cold fury.

This wasn't the work of men. The way of pirates with any shred of decency. Only savages filled the ranks of Tocar's crew. Animals in every sense of the word.

Samedi saw the boiling hatred in Joe's eyes and a part of him felt for the man he once called a rival. "I truly am sorry it came to this, Joe. You must know this isn't personal; I know the value of family and wouldn't want them dragged into bullshit like this. But, there's something I need from you."

Joe, though, was beyond words. He'd accepted his loss and the fate that came with it. The surprise had come in the way they handled his woman. They smashed the tips of her fingers with a hammer, pounding through her nails and bursting her flesh open like grapes as she screamed out in shock and agony. It had been years since Joe had renounced his brutal, wicked ways and became a Schichibukai, but even at his lowest, when he'd been practicing and teaching the absolute worst sort of depraved, gutter behavior, there had always been some measure of principle in his actions. There had been limits.

But Tocar and crew lived by no such rules. They'd taken low to a new level, one where no act was too dastardly or too foul, no boundaries were unbreachable, no victims were too young or too innocent, and absolutely nothing and nobody was untouchable or off-limits. It was the precise reason they'd clashed so often in the past. They were exactly the type he wanted to rid from the world, heartless fiends who gave even the murky title of pirate a bad name. And, for the man who would wield such monsters as a weapon, there was no redemption.

"I'ma kill you," Joe tried to scream as Samedi and Grendel turned and exited the once lavish mansion.

Samedi wore a tense expression on his face as he contemplated the next move. "That's three Schichibukai down. We've completed our goal, but-"

Tears of outrage filled Joe's eyes as Tocar's brother, Saiko, a stout thug, stepped over Miranda then grabbed her by her feet and dragged her closer to the chair so her husband could see exactly what his steel spiked club had done to her. It was one of his favorite weapons and had the advantage of doubling as a useful torture tool. It could be used to beat his victims to a shredded, bloody mess or rip them apart from the inside. Didn't matter. He enjoyed it. And, it hurt like hell for his unfortunate victims.

"I'ma fuckin' kill you!" Joe screeched at the sight of his wife's brutalized, lifeless body. She was wearing her favorite yellow blouse and jean skirt that she looked so good in. She had been tortured mercilessly and her naked thighs were smeared with blood. Her tongue hung from what had been her mouth and her eyes bulged in her head.

Joe bucked in his chair in a futile attempt to attack, his skin crackling, simmering, and sizzling but powers quashed all the same by the seastone chains. The excruciating pain of grief and helplessness surged in his body, and despite all the years he'd spent rehabilitating himself, all he wanted at that moment was bitter revenge. In the slowest, most painful ways possible.

"You're dead!" he cried, heaving in his chair from side to side. Joe stared down at the battered body of the woman he had loved for damn near the last half of his life and let out a tortured roar. Piercing guilt, grief, and the burning desire for vengeance surged in him. "You backbiting little bitch-ass punk! You're dead!"

Saiko wore a sadistic, malicious grin and laughed crazily.

There were more of Tocar's gang moving through the house, and Joe knew they were picking through his stuff and stealing whatever they could carry out.

"Let's go already," Tocar complained as the girls shrieked loudly from their room.

The sound of their shrieks rose in the air and the smell of burning flames wafted through the large, multi-story house. The girls' screams were now rising to an anguished frenzy and Joe moaned as he felt their physical and emotional terror.

'Break free!' he urged his granddaughters in his mind but the billowing smoke was sure to kill them. Oh, the flames! 'Break free!' Joe knew death would come easier for the twins if they could face it in each other's arms. But if he'd been unable to break free and save his wife, who he loved more than his next breath, there was no way those poor little girls could break free to save themselves.

Smoke was spreading through the mansion rapidly now and the girls' screams were wild and heart wrenching. Joe wished he could cover his ears and block out the horrible sound of their beautiful voices.

And, at that moment it was Joe who broke.

"Let 'em go," he sobbed in miserable defeat. His eyes met Tocar's in broken submission, imploring mercy from a youngster who was young enough to be his son. "Let my girls live. Samedi can have whatever he wants. Please, just let my babies go!"

That caught Tocar's attention "What is it exactly Samedi wants?"

"Is something wrong, sir?" Grendel asked, showing a bit of concern for his captain who seemed unusually preoccupied with a single thought.

"You've been with me since I first ventured out on my own." Grendel simply nodded. "The captain we served under was completely ruthless, but his strength and reputation afforded us some protection in those years before we grew strong enough to not need it any longer."

Grendel remained silent. The first mate remembered those days all too well, but understood Samedi enough to know he would get to the point at his own pace. He never did anything any other way.

"It took me a number of years after we left to fully understand, and begin to combat, just how powerful the influence he'd had on me was. I accepted Tocar under my banner 'cause I saw a few of those same reckless, destructive qualities in him. But, his brother is all too happy to persist in that metaphorical squalor. . . I'm not one to take the moral high ground on anyone; I'd be a hypocrite if I did with what we've done. But, what Saiko did back there. There's no place for that sort of thing under my command."

"What do you want to do about it?" Grendel knew his captain had already placed the incident they'd just left in the past. Samedi despised public discord among his crew more than almost anything (even in front of dying foes). No matter which way that discord went. For that reason, a few of the more uninitiated members of his crew would sometimes act first then ask forgiveness later not understanding the full ramifications of such insubordination.

"Tocar still has potential; he's already strong enough to beat Joe and his mind is just starting to catch up. But, his brother's a liability. When we get back, send Baraqyal to visit Tocar and explain the situation. . . Oh, and have him retrieve what we came here for. Joe will break. I just couldn't stay there any longer without ripping Saiko's head from his shoulders."

Saiko looked down at Miranda's body on the floor, then touched the pistol in his waistband and laughed, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Man, shut the fuck up already! 'The Unnatural Calamity' Joe, my brother's archrival, sitting here begging like a little bitch; quit embarrassin' yoself! Them babies ain't going nowhere but to hell with you and the rest of ya fam!"

"But they kids, man. . ." Joe moaned. "They just innocent little kids. . ."

"Fuck them kids!" Saiko snapped. "Just shut up and choke on your blood like your woman sucked on this metal dick," the sociopathic pirate shouted, brandishing his steel club with glee.

"Please," Joe pleaded with his captors, not giving a fuck how weak he sounded. The smoke was getting worse now, and so were the little girls' cries. The man once known as 'The Unnatural Calamity' howled so agonizingly that he sucked in the toxic smoke and choked on his cries.

Tocar and Saiko coughed against the smoke, too. Tocar pulled his shirt up over his nose and walked away while Saiko, smiling gleefully, backed away toward the door after him. Joe watched helplessly through the grayish haze as the two men jetted out of the house and into the fresh night air.

'I'ma get ya'll back,' Joe vowed as swirling gray terror swept over Miranda's body and rose like a cloud over his head. 'All of ya'll! Somehow, some kinda fuckin' way, even if I gotta do it from the pit of my cold fuckin' grave, I'ma pay ya'll muhfuckas back!'

Joe Neinz squeezed his eyes and coughed as he struggled to take his final breaths. The last things he heard were the heavy footsteps of Tocar's savage killers running out of his house, and the pitiful sounds of his granddaughters' dying screams.

'Somehow, someway,' Joe thought as smoky blackness descended upon him, 'I'ma get ya'll bastards back. Especially you, Samedi. You're a dead man.'