Hello everybody^^
it's friday and here's the new chapter.
Thank you all for your lovely comments and favors, I really appreciate them ;-)
Upcomming friday will be my goddaughter's very first birthday, so I will probably post the next chapter on saturday or sunday.
Therefor I hope you all have some great vaccation and those of you, who celebrate chistmas, have blessed days with your loved ones.
Let's finish this year with spreading some kindness^^
Sharry
Chapter 4
-Sanji-
"And? You see something?"
„Nope, too foggy. I doubt I'd even notice if the Marine Headquarters were right ahead of us."
„Step aside, Sanji."
Usopp pushed him away and looked through the sighting scope.
"Hey, Usopp. If I don't see anything, you won't..."
"Okay. Found it. We're almost there."
"What the hell…?"
"All right, I'll inform the others."
Sanji, Usopp, and Nami were squatted together within the Shark Submerge. The navigator had just told the remaining members of the rescue mission left behind on the Thousand Sunny that they had reached Mystoria via Den Den Mushi.
"Well," she said as she hung up, "the others will prepare the diversionary maneuver now."
"Then we should get started, too."
Sanji looked at Usopp, who nodded after a brief second.
"Okay."
"Usopp, you need to move the lever, so we can emerge."
"Yes, I know."
Nothing happened.
"Usopp, the lever."
The sniper still didn't move.
"Hey, Uso..."
"Do I really have to come along? I could tell you from here..."
"Oh, stop it!"
Nami pushed past Usopp and pulled the lever.
A few minutes later, the three pirates came ashore.
Rayleigh appeared to be right; the rarity hunters' island was indeed not particularly big. Like a huge wooden circus tent, the Kurekutas' base occupied almost half of the island.
"The question is whether they actually see the Sunny with that damn fog," Sanji muttered as they sneaked to the back entrance. It was early afternoon and yet he could barely see his hand in front of his eye. This was extremely convenient to break in, as it was almost impossible to be noticed by anyone, but their complete diversionary maneuver was built on the fact that the rarity hunters would see the approaching ship and then be forced to act, not paying attention to what would happen within their own stronghold.
"Don't worry, Franky will take care of it," Nami replied. She was visibly tense. "Can't you work a little bit faster, Usopp?"
The sniper was squatting in front of the locked door.
"This is no ordinary lock, okay?" he hissed back, placing his hand - in which a winding twiner moved for- and backwards - closer to the keyhole. "We also need to make sure that all sensor and Surveillance Den Den Mushis have lost their communication connection, before we enter."
"And this little thing in your hand is able to do that?" Sanji doubted it, pointing at the tiny plant in the sniper's hand. "Looks pretty puny if you ask me."
"Don't listen to him, Mandaline, you're doing great."
The small twiner had almost completely disappeared within the keyhole, only a small tail hanging out.
"Mandaline is a very clever plant, Sanji," Usopp explained. "It's attracted by the Den Den Mushis' signals, and because Mandaline emits a scent that lures in animals, the Den Den Mushis eat them as soon as they grow close enough. But due to the serum in Mandaline's cells they'll..."
"Yeah, we get it." Nami interrupted him. "Your plants are awesome, Usopp, but how long till we can get in?"
The sniper pouted but continued to explain: "As soon as Mandaline no longer receives any signals, it'll start blooming to attract new animals, then we can get in."
"And you're sure no one will notice that plant inside?"
"As I said before, it grows only close to the walls and... Oh, it's blooming!"
The little tail, hanging out like a dirty green worm, opened up from the inside out and a multitude of small yellow bobbles squeezed outwards.
Almost at the same time, they could hear a small click from inside the door.
"Thank you, Mandaline," Usopp muttered, pushing the handle down; the door was unlocked.
Nami exchanged a slightly skeptical look with Sanji before swinging her climate tact and quietly whispering: "Mirage Tempo."
Nothing seemed to change for Sanji, but he trusted the navigator's skills, hopefully they were truly invisible to their environment.
For a moment they looked at each other seriously, then the sniper quietly opened the door and they hurried past the entrance.
Inside, Sanji understood why Rayleigh had insisted that the small rescue force did not include any devil fruit user. The inside of the room appeared to be completely lined with dark metal. Even the inside of the door was covered with it.
"Seastone," Usopp whispered, taking a closer look at the walls. "How much money do they must have to be able to cover a whole warehouse with it?"
Neither Nami nor Sanji responded as they walked through the aisles of high-stacked boxes. The ceiling seemed to be far away, and heavy chandeliers hung down, to their left were numerous cages, also made of black metal, all of them empty. Mandaline entwined around some of the black poles, the yellow bobbles had already withered and slowly it collapsed to the ground.
"Not much going on here."
"Shhh..." Nami hurriedly turned to the sniper.
"What? There is no one here. They obviously don't seem to expect burglars."
Carefully, Sanji stepped over a Surveillance Den Den Mushi, that swayed back and forth as if it was drunk.
"Who is mad enough to actually try robbing the world aristocrats?" he commented.
"Well, we do." Nami next to him grinned slightly mischievously. The chef had to admit that it made her look incredibly seductive.
"You sound like you're enjoying it. Talking about kleptomaniac traits... ouch!"
"Be quiet and shut up."
The navigator hit her elbow against the sniper's side. Wary, Sanji looked around. Nami's little magic trick may have concealed them, but they could still be heard very well.
After nothing happened for several seconds, they continued their way.
"Where is this birdcage Rayleigh was talking about?" Nami whispered so softly close to Sanji's ear that he could feel her breath, the temperature of his body rising.
"Concentrate, Sanji!" She slapped him slightly on the back of his head, but that helped only to a limited extent.
The Dark King had told them that Zoro would probably be locked away in a birdcage. The only question was how to put a fully-grown man into such a small prison.
Therefor Sanji rather suspected that birdcage was only the name for a particular cell.
Or maybe not.
As they came around the next corner, it seemed like they had reached the center of the camp. To their left was a wide aisle, leading down to a huge, closed double-door gate, but actually they all stared to the right.
Just a few steps away there was a small table with different types of chairs. Four guards in black suits sat there playing cards. Almost hidden between their beer bottles lay a bunch of keys.
The impressive thing, however, piled up behind the guards.
From the ceiling hung a huge birdcage, which shimmered almost reddish in the light of the chandeliers. Although connected to the ceiling by an enormously huge chain, the cage stood on four poles as well and thus towered above all other things in the hall. The poles and the stairs leading up to the cage in steep steps also glimmered as if the setting sun was shining on them.
"I would say," Usopp whispered in a hoarse voice, "that this is the birdcage Rayleigh spoke about."
Sanji nodded silently. From their point of view, the bottom of the cage almost completely concealed the interior, making it impossible for them to see if Zoro was really in there.
"We have to pass those guys and get up there," he muttered to the two others, paying attention to not be heard by the guards, who chatted with each other and emptied their bottles slowly, but they were neither loud nor drunk.
"Can't you use your skywalk?" Usopp whispered equally softly.
"I don't know if they can see me if I'm too high. Nami-swan, how far does..."
"That won't be necessary," the navigator interrupted him, pulling both men with her towards the double-door gate.
The further away they moved from the cage, the better they could look inside. As they reached the door, they turned around.
Now Sanji could see their crew's swordsman.
Zoro knelt on the floor of the cage; chains led from the bars down to his body, apparently tying hands and feet. Two more chains led straight to his neck, which was trapped by a broad bronze ring.
Directly under Zoro's head was a small pedestal on which he could put his head to rest, but he didn't, although another chain connected the ring around his neck directly to the ground - strained enough to almost tear apart - keeping the swordsman on his knees, he refused to place his head down on the pedestal. Despite the bent posture, he held his head as high as he could.
"Oh, God," Nami whispered, shocked, but Sanji had to admit that he was impressed. No matter if one liked the Marimo or not, that idiot was no one to give in that easily.
"Wow," Usopp next to him stared through his sniper googles, "if I wouldn't know any better, I'd say Zoro's staring right at us."
"So, what's the plan now?" Sanji decided to ignore the comment.
The navigator pointed to the guards. "I can see two bronze-colored keys. I assume that these are the ones for the cage and for the chains."
"But how do we get them? We need a distraction," Sanji mumbled.
Carefully, they scurried back to the guards.
"If that's all we need…" Usopp pulled out his oversized slingshot and loaded it with two small green pills. "Green Star: Rafflesia."
The seeds disappeared somewhere in the darkness between the many boxes.
Within seconds, a strange smell spread through the warehouse.
The bewildered guards got up and started talking louder. Sanji nodded at the sniper, only to realize that Nami was no longer standing between them, but the next moment he saw her on his left.
Suddenly, they heard enraged noises coming from the direction of the double door, followed by agitated voices. The door was ripped open and another guard in a suit entered.
"The straw hats are coming! Up in front with you guys!"
One of the guards grabbed the bunch of keys and rushed down the aisle.
"You both come along, you stay here and watch the list objects."
Two of them followed the ordering one, while the biggest one was left behind.
The three pirates hid within the shadows, although no one could see them. The door slammed close after the guards and casually Sanji strolled behind the remaining one. Only one kick was needed to send the man to the ground, unconscious.
"Mirage Reverse." Nami dissolved her magic trick.
"What are we doing now? The guy took the keys with him." The sniper was still whispering as quietly as before, like he expected more guards to show up.
"Did he now?" Smirking like an evil queen, the navigator pulled out the two shimmering keys.
"Oh, you're just incredible, Nami-swan!"
"Like I said, kleptoma... Ouch!"
Nami cuffed Usopp's ears.
"Now let's get Zoro out of here."
They nodded to each other unanimously before running off.
The stairs were narrow, just wide enough for one person and incredibly steep.
Sanji always took two steps at once and it almost felt like he was running up a ladder.
"What are you guys doing here? Where is Rayleigh?"
"What a great welcome! You're making it a joy to save you, Marimo."
The swordsman sounded rough, yet Sanji couldn't really blame him.
Finally, they made it all the way up.
"You have to get lost," the pirate in the cage growled. "Where is Rayleigh?"
"What's wrong, Zoro?" Usopp asked confused, while Nami tried to unlock the cage's door. "Don't you want to be saved?"
"You shouldn't get involved, damn it."
"Considering that you are chained to the ground in a cage, you are quite demanding here, Marimo."
"Shut it, cook."
After a few seconds, the door slid open and Sanji followed the navigator inside.
Only now Sanji realized how huge the cage was. Easily several people would fit into the cage in next to the prisoner. The whole crew would find enough space here without standing on each other's toes.
"Why don't you just free yourself?" He grumbled quietly. "Not like some frail chains are enough to stop you."
Zoro only snorted sneeringly as an answer. It was strange to see him kneeling on the floor, it felt wrong.
The navigator crouched on the floor next to him.
"Anyway, we'll break you out now," she declared in an absolute tone.
Behind the gate the noises grew louder.
"Guys, we should hurry up," Usopp urged. "Rayleigh said that he can give us ten minutes at max to get back to the submarine with Zoro."
"What?" The swordsman hissed angrily, while Nami loosened the first of his shackles. "Are you guys crazy?"
"Would you calm down?" Sanji was not intimidated by the other. "You're the idiot, who didn't tell me anything, disappearing with some stranger without explaining anything."
"I told you that..."
"That we should go to Rayleigh, yeah got that. But whether it suits you or not, you belong to the straw hat crew and we take care of our problems ourselves."
Nami loosened the chains around Zoro's right ankle.
"You shouldn't interfere," the swordsman insisted. "I made sure the contract would keep them from getting at you, but if you try to rescue me now, it's..."
"We know." Nami remained surprisingly calm. "Rayleigh explained that you only agreed to that contract to cover us, and that's the reason why he wanted to go on his own to help you."
She was now dealing with Zoro's wrists.
"But you know our captain, whoever messes with one of us, messes with all of us."
"Exactly!" Usopp agreed, even though his knees were shaking.
Suddenly the doors ripped open again and a horde of hunters poured in.
"Take off the chains!" Zoro commanded.
"You sure? You seemed to like it here." Sanji stated mockingly. The other couldn't even look at him from his position.
The sniper jumped over to the stairs and started firing at their enemies.
"There are so many of them!" He yelled in panick. "Didn't Rayleigh say there were only a few rarity hunters."
"Yes, concerning that," the swordsman on the ground murmured, "it seemed a few things have changed. Now take off those chains, Nami!"
"I'm trying," she frantically replied. "The key doesn't fit. I'm not getting the ring off!"
"What? There were only two damn keys made of bronze!" Sanji cursed. "One for the cage and one for the chains."
"If they won't work on the ring, try the chains!" Zorro gnarled. In the distance, they could hear Luffy's loud laughter. They had to stop him from entering the storage room under any circumstances, the omnipresent seastone would weaken him too much.
Meanwhile Zoro had placed both of his hands on the ground, lifting him up and pulling his head as far away from the ground as possible. The chain seemed like it was about to tear apart, but it didn't. Nevertheless, Zoro was barely more than few inches away from the small pedestal.
With two silent clicks, Nami was able to loosen the two chains on the top side of the ring.
"That wasn't the plan!" Usopp complained, still keeping the guards at bay. "We should be gone long ago when they come in."
"Yes, obviously that didn't work," Nami replied with a slightly irritated undertone, as she lay halfway under, halfway above Zoro and tried to undo the ring.
"Let me just kick the chain off," Sanji declared, taking a step towards the kneeling swordsman.
"No, Sanji!" Nami looked at him seriously. "Don't!"
"Why?!"
She just shook her head and concentrated on the shackles again. In sheer desperation, she pulled out the cage key.
"It fits!" She shouted enthusiastically, and a quiet click echoed through the cage.
The next moment, the chain rattled to the ground and the swordsman got on his feet. To Sanji's astonishment, however, he still had the broad reddish shimmering ring around his neck.
"None of the keys fit the ring," Nami explained hastily, letting Sanji help her up.
"It's fine." Zoro swiftly stretched himself, his voice a single growling thunder. "Where are my swords?"
"Um..." Those present exchanged views. They really hadn't thought about that part.
"Doesn't matter. I can't fight them anyway."
"What?" Usopp sounded horrified. "What do you mean by that?"
"Didn't Rayleigh tell you anything?" It was strange how Zoro talked to them, even sharper and colder than usual. "I have signed a contract with Joudama, agreeing that I cannot defend myself against them."
"Oh." Now Sanji understood. "True, you must obey her until her father comes, right?"
The swordsman replied nothing.
"That means you can't even fight them?" Nami asked.
"I can't do anything actively against them, and if Joudama gives me a command, I have to do as I'm told."
The other three exchanged a serious look. It seemed that this devil fruit was much more powerful than at first thought.
"Well, so that's how it is." Sanji knocked his toe-cap against the floor. "Just stay behind us and leave the fighting to us."
"Tze."
He regarded the other. Zoro looked different than usual. Even harder and more unapproachable than Sanji was used to. His lips were a thin line and his unharmed eye seemed unusually emotionless. He was not calm, as usual, or controlled, rather the contrary; he seemed to be a ticking time bomb that could explode at any moment. But Sanji didn't know what would happen as soon as he exploded.
Lighting a cigarette, Sanji stepped next to the sniper, who had successfully defended them so far.
"Okay, in which direction?" He asked Nami behind him.
"Plan B should be active by now. If we don't make it out in time, Franky and Brook should get the submarine back."
"Then all we have left is the main exit."
For a second, Sanji let his eyes wander over his comrades.
He was used to protecting Usopp, he would defend Nami at any time with his life, but Zoro... He recalled that fight two years ago, when they had wanted to protect the badly injured Zoro, and in the end Zoro had sacrificed himself anyway.
The swordsman met his gaze at eye level. His face said nothing, there was no twisted grin, no faint smile, like usually before a fight. Slowly, Sanji doubted that this man was still the Roronoa Zoro he knew. But Sanji would worry about that later.
So he was the one to show a false grin and nodded at the other. This bailout appeared to be so simple, not a problem, so why did everybody feel so tense?
Sanji ran down the stairs, followed by Nami, right behind her the grim face of the swordsman. Usopp, guarding their back, was the last one.
Sanji couldn't remember that the swordsman had ever been in the middle position of such a formation - the safest place in a fight - but they had no choice right now and although Zoro seemed anything but happy about them showing up, he seemed at least to understand that this was the best solution at the moment.
They rushed through the partially defeated mass of suits and quickly reached the large double-door gate.
Behind the gate a similar picture of what they had left behind greeted them.
The pompously equipped entrance hall was covered with unconscious men and women, and everywhere were shards and holes in floor and walls. The reception desk was smoothly divided in the middle, like it had been cut with an overly large butter knife.
"Where is everyone?" Usopp came to halt next to Sanji.
If they had won, where were Luffy and the others?
That they had lost was ruled out, after all, the distraction squad included not only their captain, Robin, and Chopper, but also Rayleigh. These four together had to be invincible.
"Come on," Sanji murmured, waving at them, "let's keep going. Standing around here is not an option."
Nami nodded approvingly and the swordsman was already moving forward again.
Sanji and Usopp pushed the winged doors open and now they knew where the others were.
The forecourt between the main building and the small pier was not much larger than a spacious marketplace, but it had turned into a real war zone.
The fog of earlier was slowly lifting, so that the large shadows of several ships could be seen in the water, as well as another smaller distant scheme, which probably belonged to the Thousand Sunny.
Suddenly, a cannon ball slammed into the wall of the house right next to them and they all took cover.
"I thought they weren't fighters,"" Nami said angrily. "So why do we have to fight?"
"Sorry my dear, it seems that the Korekutas have evolved more than I expected." The cannon ball turned out to be Silvers Rayleigh, who emerged between the rubble and knocked the dust off his clothes. "They're not very strong, but their weapons have some…"
He paused. A gentle smile swept over his lips and Rayleigh shook his head slightly.
"You always get in trouble, don't you?" Then Rayleigh rushed a few steps forward and ripped Zoro into a warm embrace. Screams echoed over the battlefield. "I always have to get you out of some mess."
The swordsman did not return the hug but grabbed the other man by the shoulder and held him an arm's length away.
"Why did you take them with you?" Zoro gnarled between gritted teeth. "I told..."
"Have you ever discussed with your captain?" The former pirate didn't seem particularly impressed. "He's a bigger bullhead than you are and that goes for the whole crew. So instead of giving me a talk, we should get lost for now."
Sanji disagreed silently, suspiciously eyeing as the two men talked to each other.
"Why run away?" He asked nonchalantly. "We are clearly stronger than these rarity hunters. Shouldn't we teach them a lesson, so that they don't come after us ever again?"
In the background, huge legs suddenly emerged from nowhere and trampled enemies to the ground.
The Dark King exchanged a quick glance with Zoro and then shook his head.
"No, we have to run."
Then he turned towards to the swordsman.
"Joudama still has you under her control, right?"
The green-haired man nodded.
"Get the ring off of me," Zoro coolly ordered.
"Okay." Rayleigh put both hands on the bronze ring, but then grew stiff.
"I can't," he muttered.
"What?" Zoro took an angry step towards Rayleigh, so that they stood right in front of each other. "Just take it off!"
"I can't, the spikes are too sharp and cut too deep. If forcibly removed, I will hurt you."
"Then do it!" Zoro growled.
"No, it could kill you."
"I don't die that easily!"
The others followed the tense discussion of the two men, forehead against forehead.
"It's dangerous. You're not strong enough. What if..."
"Silver!" The swordsman's voice echoed all over the place, and for a fraction of a second the world seemed to freeze.
"Take. It. Off!" Each syllable was a threat. "Understood?!"
Sanji exchanged a quick glance with Nami. He knew that Zoro was intimidated by only a few things but talking to the former vice-captain of the Pirate King in this way was nothing but a sign of stupidity.
Rayleigh turned his gaze away and bit his lower lip.
"Fine," he said seriously. "But not here. We need to reach safety first."
Zoro took a deep breath, but then he nodded before turning to his crew members.
"Then let's go."
Now the swordsman ran right next to the Dark King. Sanji followed him shaking his head.
This man was not Zoro. Not the one he knew. Something about him was different. He was tougher, more uncompromising, more ruthless. How he had behaved towards the former pirate had been presumptuous, almost arrogant.
That, too, did not suit Zoro. Certainly he was some bigheaded muscleman, who played almost too much attention to pride, but basically he paid a certain respect to every human being. Sanji wondered why he was behaving so differently now.
They rushed across the battlefield, straight towards the Thousand Sunny. It turned out that Zoro had not exaggerated. Whoever attacked him, he only seemed to be able to dodge, but Sanji noticed something else.
He knew Zoro's zero-sword style, basically how he fought with his fists, but the movements the other showed now were mostly completely unfamiliar to him. Moreover, almost in complete harmony, he moved with the Dark King. Whenever Zoro dodged an attack, Rayleigh was right there to eliminate the attacker.
It had to be a form of Kenbonshuko Haki that the former pirate could guess Zoro's movements and thoughts, it had to be.
From their right Robin joined them, followed by Chopper. Only Luffy was still raging in the front yard.
"We should hurry up," the archaeologist told them. "Soon the other ships will arrive."
"Yes, let's get lost," Usopp agreed.
"Oh no, please stay."
As if hit by lighting, Zoro stopped.
Few meters before them, a figure appeared in the fog.
A tall man, much larger than the others present, approached them. With each step, his silver walking stick tabbed on the floor. The man wore a white suit with a silver tie, as well as a white cape; the buckle decorated with the emblem of the world aristocrats. His silver hair was tamed in a long ponytail.
"Finally, after all these years."
An almost warm smile illuminated the stranger's features as he stopped and spread his arms.
"Welcome home, my number one."