I'm not a big fan of writing fight scenes but I must do it! I need to learn! I can do thiiiis!
Beta'd by MerryAnchor16
disclaimer: One piece is not mine!
Chapter 6
Bartholomew Kuma
Stellar stepped into the shadow of the stage curtains, checking briefly over her shoulder as she brought a hand to her face. Her fingers traced the cut from the henchman's blade tentatively and she winced as it stung sharply. She closed her eyes and pressed her fingertips into the wound, blood oozing slowly down her cheek. A soft purple glow appeared on her hand.
A hot wave bled down her arm and the familiar sensation of tugging pulled in the pit of her stomach. The skin stretched as it was forced back together and a dim violet hue wove through it like stitches, healing the flesh entirely. Stellar withdrew the power after a few more seconds and ran her hand over her cheek, feeling the slight ridge of a scar that would soon vanish completely. She smiled at her handiwork.
"Yo, Stellar!"
She froze. Oh God. Has somebody seen it? She rubbed the leftover blood thoroughly from her face and turned slowly. It was Franky.
The cyborg held up a ring of keys, rattling them temptingly, "If you're gonna free any slaves you'll need these, eh?" He tossed them to her and she snatched them clumsily from the air, a wary smile on her lips.
"Thank you, Franky-san," She said. Franky saluted her lazily with a lopsided grin.
"Yosh, anytime," He replied and left, moving after the Strawhat crew.
Stellar felt her entire body relax. She gripped the keys tightly in her fist and set off for the back of the stage, jumping the steps to reach the large cage the people were trapped in. Some of them were men- mainly ex-pirates or convicts- but mostly they were women and children. They were all cramped up, sitting and standing. One woman held two children to her, trying to comfort them, and the rest all stared numbly through the bars like all the life was beaten out of them (which it probably was). She ran to the door, snatching up the padlock and ramming keys into it in an attempt to find the right one. Eventually, the tumblers turned and the lock clattered to the floor, she swung the door open. Tens of pairs of eyes all stared at her with the same wary, untrusted look.
"Go, all of you, while you still can," She ordered and rummaged through the keys, pulling the smallest one off the ring and unlocked the cuffs of the nearest slave. She then pressed the key into the man's now free hands, "Set them all free and get out of here," She softly said. The slave burst into tears and embraced her.
"God bless you..." He sobbed. Stellar patted him on the shoulder gently and pulled away.
"Free them. I have to go."
The man nodded madly and set to work. Stellar left and ran back out across the stage. She jumped down and landed deftly. She noticed Keimi and her tank were gone. 'Strawhats must've taken care of that' she thought and ran for the exit and down the path leading away from the Auction House. Not too far away she heard the cries and roars of men in battle. Metal clashed as swords met and the air cracked from ammunition rounds. She pulled to a halt and let her eyes scan the area, searching. There, a little further down, at what she recognized to be Grove 1 were the plumes of smoke and the bang of explosions. She set off again, heading there. Her feet crunched against the path as she ran, her hair and cloak fanned out behind her.
A sudden earth shaking bang rattled the ground beneath her feet and she stumbled, tripping up and grazing the skin of her arms and knees as she fell. She scrambled up quickly, staggering to regain her balance. A little to the left of her was now the remains of what was until just now a small bridge. It had caved in on itself, wood cracked and jutting up at odd angles. She made for it and clambered up, ditching the cloak as it kept snagging on the mess beneath her, revealing her long skirt and loose sweater.
From here she could see the whole battle and it didn't look good. Large craters were punched through the soil, bodies of Marines littered the ground and, much to her surprise, Trafalgar Law and Eustass Kid were fighting together, flanked on either side by their crews. The two Captains stood defensively, the white polar bear dropped into a fighting stance beside Law with a frightfully determined look on its face. Stellar stretched up onto the balls of her feet; desperate to see who it was they were pitted against.
The smoke that was coiled in front of the two pirates was swept away and Stellar raised her eyebrows as a very familiar face appeared.
"Bartholomew Kuma?" She mused and dropped down from the bridge onto the other side of the bank. Kuma had raised his enormous hands and, where she had once seen paws was a gaping hole. The closer she got, the louder the metallic whirring she could hear thrumming from Kuma's palms. A bright light was building up bigger and bigger in his hands. She could see the worried look on Eustass' face and Trafalgar had drawn his Nodachi, holding the blade at an angle in preparation for an attack.
An ear-splitting BANG struck the air as a beam shot out of one of Kuma's hands. It narrowly missed the Captains and embedded itself into the ground, throwing up grassy turf everywhere.
Stellar ran at them, panicked now. It had been a while since she had laid eyes on Bartholomew but obviously, he'd changed his style greatly since then and there was no way that Kid and Law could hold their ground against him. Even she, with her powers, had struggled to take down Kuma those many years ago and his new style looked even deadlier than the last. She was panting by the time she reached them, and she almost couldn't get out her words.
"Crystal!" She yelled, bringing her arms across to her side as she charged. The ball of light in Kuma's hand was ready to go off and Law and Kid didn't move, both staring with matching shocked expressions at her intrusion. Stellar ignored them and swung up her arms, "Shield!"
Purple light gushed from her hands, ballooning out over her and the two men. Eustass cried out, as the light solidified into indigo slabs of crystal. The beam from Kuma burst out and ricocheted uselessly off the shield. Stellar brought her arms down, the crystals melting back into light that danced along her wrists.
"What the Hell are you?!" Eustass yelled, watching as the shield disappeared, "What the Hell was that?!"
Stellar blanked the shocked Captain out, looking up at her enemy with her serious pearl-like eyes, "Bartholomew... Kuma."
Kuma watched her from behind his glasses. He paused, lowering his arms, "Stellar Stefwill."
"It's nice to know that you still remember me."
Kuma remained silent and Stellar cannot help but feel that the person in front of her is not the Kuma she knew.
She took a step forward as she assessed the warlord with calculating eyes, "What are you doing here, Kuma-san?" Kuma did not reply. She tried again. "Why do you have the same power as Kizaru?" she asked hesitantly.
Stellar furrowed her brow in confusion. This is not right. Kuma is eerily quiet, only staring at her with that unreadable face of his. Stellar took another step forward, "What…happened to you?"
Without warning, a beam lashed out from Kuma's hand swiftly and Stellar just managed to deflect the blow with another shield, her muscles straining against it. Sparks blew out as the two relented, Kuma's light snuffed out and Stellar's shield shattered, the crystals disintegrating before they could touch the ground. 'This is not Kuma,' Stellar grimly thought.
"Oi, bitch! What the goddamn Hell are you?" Eustass barked, interrupting once more.
Stellar replied with firmness in her voice. "Let me help you, Eustass-san."
"No! We don't need some prissy, stuck up-"
Stellar narrowed her eyes in a glare, "Do you want to lose your life, Eustass-san?!"
Eustass paused mid rant and growled, "Fine! But you better not get in my way, you hear?"
Stellar shook her head in disbelief and sighed, "Crystal!" She spread her arms out wide, "Sword!"
The crystals sprung to life out of her arms, slotting together into a large blade. She gripped the handle with both hands and bent her knees.
"Fascinating," She heard Trafalgar murmur behind her and jumped in shocked, now only realizing the man's presence. She felt the heat creep into her cheeks. There was a clank of metal next to her and, out of the corner of her eye, she saw the tip of Trafalgar's Nodachi glint threateningly, "You'll make this fight very interesting, Stellar-ya. I know it."
She released a tight smile and held the blade of her sword out a little more at Kuma who was flexing his fingers as he sized all three of them up.
"Let's end this as quickly as possible."
No, Law. You're the one who is fascinating.
Stellar is a crystal user! Yep, yep. It's like Jozu's devil fruit but the power is different. Of course, there's a reason for that! *wink* *wink* Kinda cool, right? If you have some questions about her power then you can ask me anytime!
Thank you again for the reviews! Reviews always make me happy!