When you're on Tumblr, please check out the artfulsungodjustified blog. He drew some fucking suuuuper fan art for Deadhouse.

Cheers, YamatosSenpai

"What are you doing?"

Sanji looked irritated by the question but he still answered, "Preparing."

Zoro nodded slowly, biting his lower lip, "Yeah, okay. Preparing what?"

Sanji glanced up at Zoro. He considered his reply carefully before explaining, "You know how hotel room keys work? There is an encoding machine, not accessible by the clerk's computer or anything. The keys are imprinted with a serial number. A new serial number is registered at the room door and the previous serial number is discarded…"

"Okay, I'm following…" Zoro said, fidgeting with his hands.

"Well, often times that's the exact system used for other keycards," Sanji continued. "So if I take this dude's card and register it to different credentials, I should be able to bypass the security systems using his stolen card and my own fingerprint and voice."

Zoro leaned against the desk. The small tech room was cramped and hot. There was a single family photo beside the wall of closed circuit monitors. They looked like a happy family; a dad and mom and three smiling little girls. Zoro turned and stared at the man they had battered into the corner. He looked from Zoro to Sanji with pleading eyes, "Please… I don't want to die."

"Be quiet," Sanji instructed calmly, "I'm trying to focus."

Zoro spared one last glance at the picture before returning his attention to the cowering security guard. He nodded at the man, his chin jutting out in an involuntary display of masculinity, "You're just a security guard. Such a shame to die for… How much do you make an hour?"

"$10.25," the man replied, closing his eyes. "Please…"

Zoro plucked the photo from the desk, the little green thumbtack breaking free of the wall. He extended the glossy photo to the man, withholding it barely out of reach, "What is it?"

"What? What do you mean?"

"You can die. Right now. I will kill you. It's the easiest for us. The safest." Zoro admitted. "Or you can take this photo, go home to your wife and your kids and never come back."

The man grabbed the photo, clutching it tightly to his chest, "You're fucking with me… You're going to… still… kill me, aren't you?"

Sanji completed what he was doing with a smile, wiping his clean hands as if to remove something. He straightened up, swinging the stolen ID around his hand. He looked from the man to Zoro and shrugged, "If he says you can go, you can go."

"Then I'll go," the man breathed, trying to sit up. "I'll go home. I want to go home."

"Act natural," Zoro instructed. "And don't you dare think of saying a word."

"I won't. I won't. I swear…"

The fleeing man was just out of view when Sanji turned to Zoro, "Think he'll tell someone?"

Zoro shook his head, "The only thing getting him through the day was his paycheck." Zoro licked his lips, "And I'd bet those little babies at home."

"Oh my God," Sanji gasped. "You're such a romantic."

"What?!" Zoro barked. "What the fuck is romantic about that or me? Or whatever I just said…"

Sanji laughed, leading Zoro through the finely decorated halls. "You're a family man."

"No I'm not. Don't say stupid things." Zoro crossed his arms over his chest, "In fact, why don't we stop talking to each other for a while?!"

"That's fine," Sanji agreed, "Just look like you're unhappy to be with me and it'll be the perfect disguise."

"It won't be a disguise."

Sanji knocked his elbow into Zoro's side roughly, "Get with the program. I'm not supposed to be walking around freely. Act like you're guarding me or something…"

Zoro nodded, "Fine. Then quit trying to walk so fast. If I'm guarding you we're going at my pace."

Sanji sighed heavily, handing the stolen access cards to Zoro, "If this feels fast you should cut back on the carbs."

"Uh, what?!"

There was a loud cackle around the corner and Sanji nearly leapt out of his shoes. Two, or perhaps three, voices were echoing loudly down the hall. They were boisterous and rude and automatically Zoro didn't think much of them. Sanji spun around, shoving Zoro roughly against one of the nearby doors. "Hide! Hide!"

"I thought we were-"

"Go!" Sanji hissed, shoving Zoro into the dark room and shutting the door silently behind them. Immediately, Sanji locked the door, his hands held strangely in front of him, as if warding off the inevitable attack from the hallway. The voices came and went and still Sanji stood in the dark, silent and expectant.

"What's going on?" Zoro whispered, his eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness.

"Just some people I didn't want to run into," Sanji murmured, finally dropping his hands to his sides. He fished a cigarette out of his pocket.

Zoro nodded, "They're gone."

Sanji nodded, "Yeah."

"Should I ask if you're okay?"

Sanji laughed, "Isn't that asking?"

"No," Zoro explained, "It's asking if I should ask. If you don't wanna answer you have the option to ignore it."

"Let's go," Sanji said. "We're wasting time."

"I'm waitin' on you."

Sanji licked his lips, "We're heading toward the south wing. Once there we're going to go down the stairs and outside. To the east is a huge row of garages. Those are the warehouses…"

"Alright," Zoro said simply, preparing himself. "So where the hell are we going again?"

Sanji's cheek twitched, "Ya know what, forget it. I don't know why I bothered with someone as directionally challenged as you." Sanji thrust his finger into Zoro's chest. "You follow me."

"And if we get stopped?" Zoro asked, ignoring the insult.

"Act natural. Follow my lead," Sanji replied, "And if necessary, kill quietly."

"This is your house," Zoro realized, "How do I know who I can kill? Aren't you worried that-"

"If necessary," Sanji repeated cryptically, "Kill quietly."

"Maybe you could acquaint me with your home and what to expect," Zoro challenged dryly.

"This isn't my home!" Sanji snapped. He shook his head fervently before collecting himself. He sighed and ushered Zoro further down the corridor. "This isn't my home. I hate this place. And I don't want to be here." Sanji led them to a grand staircase. The railings appeared to be carved from solid marble. "I want to get Chopper, find Luffy, and leave."

"And the others," Zoro interjected. "We have to find out what happened to the others."

"If we do, we do," Sanji said simply, surprising Zoro. "The two that will be tested on are our priority."

"What about Law?" Zoro questioned, keeping up with Sanji's frantic pace.

"What about Law?!" Sanji hissed. "Or Teach? Or Ace? What about them?"

"Why are you so mad at me?" Zoro demanded, getting frustrated. "What the fuck did I do?"

Sanji wiped his face with a shaking hand, "You didn't do anything. Let's just go…"

"You're spazzing out," Zoro noted.

Sanji didn't say anything as he increased his pace. He was dashing down the stairs when he tripped. He was flung forward, head over foot, until he rolled against the marble railing. He crashed with a sickening crunch, his head stuck underneath the weight of his body.

Zoro made a noise of shock and rushed to Sanji's aid. He grabbed Sanji's face, squeezing it, "Are you fucking alright? God damn it, Sanji! What the hell?!" Zoro moved Sanji slowly, laying him in a prone position. "Say something! Are you fucking dead?!"

"I… sh…should have put… your info…rmation on the key…card…" Sanji exhaled weakly.

"Well you didn't," Zoro growled, relief bubbling up from inside of him and splitting his face into a menacing smile. "Get your ass up."

"Everything hurts," Sanji protested.

"I don't care about your emotional wellbeing," Zoro teased, helping Sanji carefully to his feet. "Let's go… and a little slower this time."

"Yeah, right, okay," Sanji groaned, limping down the stairs.

"Why the hell were you running anyway? You're the one who said to act natural," Zoro chastised.

Sanji shook his head, "It's… complicated…"

"How so?"

"I haven't felt right since the hospital."

"No one has."

"Yeah, but I haven't felt like me."

"Explain, as if to a stupid person," Zoro murmured.

Sanji rolled his eyes, "Don't I always?" Zoro grunted his displeasure and Sanji simply smiled. "Okay, well, when I woke up in the hospital I felt like shit. I was alive but it didn't feel like it. And then when I got here I started getting these surges."

"Surges?"

"Yeah, like surges of intensity, almost… I don't know."

"Yeah? And?"

"And now I'm scared."

Zoro blinked in confusion, "I… I mean that's probably understandable…"

"No, Zoro, I'm really scared," Sanji insisted, reaching the bottom of the stairs. He rubbed his sore hip with a frown. "Like paranoia or something."

"Also pretty understandable given our lives…"

"Zoro," Sanji hissed, slapping his hand against the larger man's shoulder. "Fucking listen. I'm trying to tell you something. I feel… I feel like running… Just fucking running… I feel like clawing out my eyes and tearing out my hair and just fucking screaming… I want to get out of here. I have to get out of here. I have to save Chopper and I have to save Luffy."

"I don't get what you're saying," Zoro admitted, "Like at all."

"There's something wrong with me, Zoro," Sanji whispered, grabbing the key card from Zoro and swiping it at the door. He pushed open the back door and peered out into the darkening night. He stepped outside cautiously, holding the door for Zoro.

"You look better," Zoro replied. "The color is back in your face and you're not limping…"

Sanji grabbed Zoro by the collar of his shirt and twisted slowly, "Zoro, I don't think I can tolerate the T serum."

"You didn't get the T serum, you got a transfusion…" Zoro argued softly.

Sanji pulled Zoro to the ground. They squatted down, facing each other. "T serum, Trafalgar serum," Sanji whispered. "That's all it ever was."

"This doesn't mean anything to me," Zoro confessed, patting Sanji's knee. "Come on. Let's keep moving."

Sanji clicked his tongue in frustration, "Zoro, there isn't some magic potion they've been using. It's Law's blood."

"But that's impossible. They used T serum in the trials and…" Zoro trailed off unsurely. "And they injected Law with it too… That doesn't make sense…"

"Law didn't need the T serum to go berserk, did he?" Zoro shook his head. "Law's blood infected all of the Ds. It was always Law. He is the virus."

"How do you know this?" Zoro questioned, eyes narrowed.

"I'm a scientist, remember?" Sanji retorted. "I put it together after reading the files."

"Can't we worry about all of this later, Sanji?!" Zoro demanded, adjusting himself on his bent feet.

"No," Sanji murmured, looking around nervously. "There are things I need to tell you right now."

"Later." Zoro insisted softly. "Later."

Zoro stood. Gripping Sanji by the elbow, he lifted the slighter man to his feet. "Chopper. Luffy. Get the hell outta here. That's the plan." Zoro smacked Sanji roughly on the back. "Now act natural. We're going to get caught if you look like you're up to no good."

"Yeah. Okay," Sanji murmured, following behind Zoro obediently.

"Now which way?" Zoro wondered.

"See those huge fucking garages?" Sanji pointed. "There."

Zoro nodded, "Got it."

They walked side by side, quickly and silently, until they crept up on the outbuildings. Zoro peered around the corner, checking the window with caution. He nodded to Sanji and they moved around to the far wall and the door. Sanji swiped his card, "Vinsmoke, Sanji." The door beeped and a green light flashed brightly in the darkness. "Okay, we're in."

"Is this the one?" Zoro whispered, following Sanji inside.

Sanji shook his head, "No. But it's safer inside than outside."

"Are you sure?" Zoro questioned skeptically.

Sanji rolled his blue eyes sharply, "Fucking come up with your own plan if you don't like mine…"

"That's not what I was-" Their argument was drowned out by a terrible roar. Zoro let out a growl, hooking his fingers under the collar of Sanji's shirt. He yanked Sanji backward and they bumped into one another as Zoro pressed his back to the door. "What the fuck is that?!"

"I didn't realize," Sanji breathed into his hands, "Of course they're not empty."

"What's not empty?"

"The warehouses," Sanji whispered, turning around to search for the light switch. He found the controls on the wall behind Zoro's head and he began adjusting the lighting. There was another roar of complaint and this time Zoro and Sanji could see the creature in distress.

"What the fuck is that?!" Zoro panicked, backing flush against the wall.

"It's in a cage," Sanji murmured, amused at Zoro's reaction, "It can't hurt you."

"What is it?" Zoro pressed, eyeing the creature uncomfortably.

"I don't know," Sanji admitted, looking around the room for an interior door. "Come on, this way…"

Zoro stood frozen in place. He couldn't take his eyes off the cage. Contrary to how it appeared, Zoro wasn't frightened by the roaring creature. He took a slow step forward, and then another, until he was directly in front of the metal cage. He reached out a hand, touching the cool bars with his fingers. The creature screeched and Zoro lowered his hand automatically. "Hey, it's okay…"

"Zoro, come on," Sanji breathed, waving the other man forward. "This way."

Zoro's attention was fully on the creature. It wasn't like any animal he'd seen before. It walked on two legs, using the knuckles at the end of its long arms for balance. It was probably meant to be covered in fur but it was bare to the skin in many itchy, scabby patches. The creature had a small mouth with two rows of human-like teeth. The eyes were brown and creased and full of fear.

"Sanji," Zoro said, shaking his head. "Come back here."

Sanji knocked his forehead against the frame of the door. He clutched the key card in his shaking hands and with a terrible, irritable grunt walked back over to where Zoro stood. "Chopper. Luffy. Escape."

"Open it."

"What?"

"Open it."

"Excuse me?"

Zoro grabbed hold of Sanji, pulling him in close enough their noses touched, "Open the fucking cage, Sanji."

"How the hell am I supposed to open the cage?!" Sanji sputtered. "And wh-what are you thinking?! That thing could be dangerous… We are supposed to be looking for Chopper."

"How do we know this isn't Chopper?" Zoro asked, folding his arms across his chest.

"It's not!" Sanji replied, shaking his head. "It's not a reindeer! It's some orangutan thing or something; I don't know what it is!" The creature roared and Sanji hissed from his place against the wall. "But it's a weapon; that I know for sure…"

"Do you want out?" Zoro asked the creature bluntly.

The creature did something unexpected. It sat down and lifted its hands. It threw its index fingers forward in a purposeful motion. Zoro didn't know what it was saying, but he knew it was saying it. Zoro turned to Sanji, "It wants to go."

Sanji sighed, his head bowed, "They'll know we're up to something."

"Sanji, I'm sure they already do."

Sanji nodded and stepped forward. He inspected the cage a moment before heading back over to the control panels on the wall. He swiped his card and placed his hand on the screen. In less than two minutes the cage had lifted and the creature was standing unsecured in the room with them.

"You gotta help yourself now," Zoro said, propping open the exterior door. "Go on."

The creature was shockingly swift. It slipped past Zoro and out the door so fast that Zoro nearly toppled over from the wake. Zoro righted himself and shut the door, looking to Sanji, "You know, it's harder to catch us if they have loose animals running around the property…"

"I think you're underestimating the danger we are in," Sanji chastised. "This isn't a movie. There isn't a guaranteed happy ending."

"We're freeing them all," Zoro said, ignoring Sanji's concerns.

Sanji was silent for a moment before nodding, "Sure. At least until we find Chopper."

"Deal."

"Now come on," Sanji pleaded, "I don't have much time…"

The door led to a narrow hall. The space between the walls was barely wide enough for Zoro's broad shoulders. He looked over at Sanji and smiled tightly, "Good thing we're not claustrophobic."

"We will be after this," Sanji retorted shaking his head. He walked down the tiny hallway and opened the door at the end. He stepped into the next warehouse and took a deep breath. "Air."

"What was the point of that?!" Zoro demanded as he stepped into the next warehouse.

"It's a security feature," Sanji explained. "Most of the creatures are too large to fit inside those hallways. So if a creature gets loose, the scientists have a place to hide until back up arrives."

"Cowards," Zoro laughed bitterly.

"Yeah, well," Sanji continued as he searched for the lights, "They're scientists not warriors. That's why the D Foundation was the perfect partnership."

"Why is this at your house? Isn't this dangerous? I mean, this can't be legal…"

Sanji laughed, "Legal? My family are billionaires. They don't give a fuck about legal."

"Nothing's in here," Zoro realized when the lights came on.

Sanji exhaled in relief, "Good. Let's keep going."

"What if they've moved him already?" Zoro wondered, walking briskly across the room.

"The guy said tomorrow," Sanji replied as he squeezed through the next narrow hallway. "I only know what he told me."

"I thought you were recruiting a spy," Zoro complained, "All you did was menace information out of him."

"Menace?!" Sanji arched a brow and halted in his tracks. "What the hell does that mean, asshole?"

"Don't worry about it," Zoro grunted, his shoulders brushing forcefully against the sides, "Just keep walking."

"You brought it up!" Sanji groaned.

"Yeah, my bad," Zoro said, "Bad timing."

"You think?"

"Just forget about it. Hurry up, I don't like being in here," Zoro complained, wiping sweat from his brow.

"Hold on," Sanji said, sliding his key card through the slot, "It's being a bitch…" Sanji slid his card again and again but the light flashed red. Sanji looked up with wide eyes, "Try the other door… the one we came out of… try it…"

Zoro backtracked awkwardly, unable to turn. He reached the door and slid Sanji's card through the slot. He wiggled the handle. He ran the card through again and again but the door wouldn't open. "Fuck me," Zoro murmured. "It's not opening."

"Fuck!"

"What do we do now? We should've just stayed outside…"

"It's a door," Sanji said, licking his lips. "Structurally it's a weak point in the wall."

"Meaning?" Zoro scoffed, shaking his head.

"Kick it down."

Zoro looked around the small, cramped space. He could barely walk let alone kick down a door. He shook his head and cleared his throat, "Sanji that isn't going to work."

"It has to," Sanji argued, "We can't wait around for someone to come and find us."

"I'd say they already know we're here…"

Sanji cursed, slapping his hand against the door in front of him. "Damn it."

"People are going to be coming," Zoro sighed. "What do we do when they get here?"

"Zoro, I'm telling you what to do," Sanji snarled, "Get through the fucking door."

Zoro saw it then; the strange splotches of color on Sanji's skin. The way his blue eyes began to widen. Zoro closed his eyes, a peculiar feeling in the pit of his stomach. And he nodded, "Sure, Sanji, I'll get us through that door."