Black as Knight.
Hey guys! =P
(On a side note, DID ANYONE SEE 'LES MISERABLES'? *Freaks out majorly and flails like a fangirl* I NEED TO GO AND SEE IT!)
Read on, and please review! (Thank you for all of the reviews so far!) =D
Zoro clenched his jaw as he walked outside of the building, checking that his katanas were securely strapped to his waist. When he'd spoken to Coby over the radio, he knew he'd said that he knew where Robin would be. 'Yeah, ok. I lied.' He thought to himself. 'But unlike the agents, I have a pretty good idea where it is, considering that Dart-brow took her. Knowing him, he'll cocoon himself right in the centre of his territory'.
Striding out in the directions of the stables, he stopped halfway. Not even sparing a glance at the stables, he pursed his lips together and let out a long, harsh whistle that would have made the ears of anyone stood around him bleed.
Almost immediately, there was a thunder of hooves that increased in volume as a black shape kicked its way out of the stable doors, breaking one completely off its hinges. Balthazar tossed his head as he drew to a halt alongside Zoro, waiting as his master grabbed a fistful of his mane and swung up onto his bare, unsaddled back. With barely even a nudge, Balthazar sprung forwards with a speed that made Zoro clench his mane even more.
Seeing as he had no reins, he used the pressure of his legs to guide Balthazar as to where he wanted to go, and sometimes a little use of the mane being pulled a bit in the same direction also helped. Without having to be told, Balthazar sensed his urgency, flattening his gait out into a full gallop in which Zoro impressively managed to stay seated.
Bolting across London, Zoro started to see buildings that were the tell-tale signs that he'd crossed over from neutral ground -in his opinion- into Sanji's territory. A few buildings were evidently not places in which Sanji would hide and allow to become his main base. Others were possible, but he quickly ruled them out when he saw people coming and going from them.
Spurring Balthazar on once more, he glanced down any other streets that they passed, ignoring the scared people that hurried out of the way of the horse's clattering hooves. Something that Zoro did notice, was the way that the deeper he went into Sanji's territory, the more terrified the citizens around him became. 'Must be getting closer.' He mused as he turned Balthazar down yet another road.
He started to analyse what kinds of building Sanji would shut himself in. 'He's a regular show off. He wants the whole parade, fireworks, a tower built to the skies with his name on it...Son of a bitch. It shouldn't be this hard to find a-'
His train of thought ended as he noticed a rather large building that had perhaps three to four floors and looked like some posh fancy restaurant on the outside. Turning Balthazar towards it, they cantered over towards it, but as they drew closer Zoro could see that past the two double doors it looked somewhat...dead.
And for a restaurant this pretty looking to have no customers going in or coming out, it set the suspicion bells ringing in Zoro's head. Gracefully dismounting from Balthazar, he brushed himself down and put a hand on the hilts of his three katanas, glancing up at the building before him as he stroked Balthazar's neck and instructed him to stay there. 'Will they even be in there?' He wondered as he walked up the steps towards the double doors.
"Only one way to find out." He muttered.
Pushing the doors open, he made sure to close them behind him as quietly as he could. The inside of the building wasn't exactly fancy, but it was furbished at least. Zoro traced his hand down the side of the wall as he walked, seeing and feeling the trace of blood that had been washed away with bleach a long time ago but was as clear as day to someone as trained as he was.
Passing through the foyer, he approached the stairs and looked up through the middle of them. As he had suspected there were four floors, meaning that there were four flights of stairs. Silently, he began to ascend the first set, listening for anything that could alert him to danger. Reaching the first floor, he noted the six doors that were set out in a hotel-like fashion.
Approaching the closest one cautiously, he pushed it open with ease and peered inside. The drapes on the single far window were closed but had rips in them as though it had been shredded by an insanely large kitten, allowing small slithers of light to sketch out the interior of the room. Everything was strewn everywhere. On the bed, table and floor were things including clothes with fur linings, a lot of pieces of sharp, scrap metal or most things that had metal in them, and other various weapons.
Certain that he was on the right track, he quickly checked the other rooms to find similar layouts, the only difference being that some were tidier that others. His breathing shallow, he returned to the stairs and started to climb the second flight. As he reached the second floor, he perceived only one large wooden door with three porthole windows, like those that would be found on a ship.
Glancing through one of the windows, he saw the glistening metal worktops that shined like polished silver, accompanied by the black handles of knives, ladles, fish slices and other such culinary devices that were also there inside the incredibly large kitchen. Shaking his head with a tiny, barely even breathed snort, he turned back to the stairs and started to ascend them once more.
At that moment, he heard the voice of Ussop screaming in pain, the din added to by the shouting of what sounded like the rest of his gang. His blood ran cold for a second, and keeping silent, he sprinted up the stairs to the third floor. Realising that the screams weren't coming from that floor, as there was nothing but empty space in one huge room with the stairs in the middle of it, he raced up the fourth flight of stairs and stared at the corridor ahead of him.
Slowly pacing down the corridor, he felt his own dark aura pulsing around him in what seemed like dangerously calm waves of fury. To the left of him, he could see a door with a sign reading 'attic' on it, a small ladder leading up to the space between the roof of the building and the ceiling currently above him. Whereas the door on his right, with no windows that allowed him to see inside, intrigued him more.
From the silence within, he knew that they knew a person had entered the building, and as such were guarding whatever thing of value lay inside. Realising that he'd half unsheathed his black hilted katana, he slid it carefully back into place with a hiss of metal that was concluded by a clunk as the sheath met the hilt.
Forcing his aura down, he reached a hand out and placed it on the door, the sleeve of his black suit making the only noise of material moving as it crinkled a little at the movement. He proceed to heave the door open and take two slow, menacing strides inside.
The room was fairly light due to light pouring in through the window, even though the clouds outside were grey. Stood inside were the Kali group. Having battled them so many times, Zoro knew them by name. As his eyes roved over each of them, their names echoed within his mind. 'Franky, Kidd, Marco, Brook, Buggy and Vivi...Meaning that Law and Tashigi are upstairs with Thatch and the others.' He deduced.
At the centre of it all, bound to a wooden chair with her hands shackled together with seastone handcuffs and a range of knives, guns and swords being held to her head or other vital parts of the body, was Princess Robin. Her normally beautifully smooth skin was cut and raw in places, blood trailing thickly from a slightly vicious cut to her temple.
When he saw this, Zoro's temper inwardly flared. However, he showed no emotion, not even the twitch of a cheek muscle. The members of the Kali gang flinched as they got a good look at him, taking in his unmistakable green hair and three gold earrings that hung from his ear. All except one, who casually walked forwards with a cigarette in his mouth and his hands in his pockets, his whole posture totally relaxed.
"So it's true." Sanji said, stopping at the distance halfway between Zoro and the princess.
"My Knight..." Robin breathed, raising her head to look at the swordsman .
Sanji laughed and pointed towards Zoro. "Him? He's your Knight? Do you know who 'he' is?"
Robin said nothing, instead locking eyes with Zoro after he had searched her face and body, taking in the damage that had been dealt to her. She could see the hatred in his eyes that he was unable to conceal, and in her eyes he could see the mixture of relief and calm hope that she placed in him to get her out of the mess that Sanji had landed her in.
"This man has killed people. Did you know that? Innocents too. And now look." Sanji continued contemptuously, flicking his blonde hair back proudly. "He's been made into a secret government dog. He casts a shadow that no longer looks like his own."
"Don't touch her." Zoro said quietly, not even rising to the jibe.
Sanji snorted. "Or what? Try anything. Even lift a finger..." He gloated, walking over to the princess and lifting her chin delicately as she fought the urge to pull away from him. "...and I'll just click my fingers. Sending a bullet through her pretty little head."
Zoro stiffened, making Sanji smirk slightly. "Has the Marimo fallen in love with the princess?" He clapped slowly as a grin took a hold of his features. "How...beautiful." He said. "So. What are you going to do? Are you here to ransom for her? Or do I get to blow her delicate little brains out?"
The swordsman stared at Sanji calculatingly, his eyes flickering once to Robin. "I'll pay the ransom." He nodded, walking forwards as he pulled a wallet out from his jacket and held it out to Sanji.
Staring at it as though it would explode upon touching it, Sanji walked back over and snatched it out of Zoro's hand, opening it and rifling through it. His eyes widened and his mouth twitched up into a smirk. "My, my...Someone earns a pretty sum." He remarked, glancing up at Zoro as he sealed the wallet away in his own jacket. "Now then, you're going to turn around and walk back down those stairs. We'll send the princess out five paces behind you. You're not allowed to turn and look back at her until you're both out of the building, otherwise you're both dead. And she'll be first." He grinned, taking a drag of his cigarette.
Heaving a sigh, Zoro turned on his heel and walked slowly towards the door. 'I've no other god damn option now.' He thought emotionlessly. 'Shanks taught me to use it properly, but the moment I do, everyone in MI5 will pick up on it and let them know exactly where I am so that they can come and detain me...but I guess that's just the risk I have to take. For them.'
He could hear Sanji's subordinates roughly pulling at Robin, and he stopped upon reaching the door, closing his eyes as he did so. Focusing only on the ones he wanted it to affect, he pushed down his dark aura of killing intent into the smallest point he could, feeling like it was a bungee rope being pulled taught, or a giant spring being pushed down until it was tightly packed on itself.
With an abrupt flare of energy, his eyes snapped open and he released the pressure within him, the shock travelling out and around him as his Haki ignited with him and forced its way out like an imaginary black tidal wave of fury and death.
Behind him, he heard the thumps of bodies hitting the floor as all of the Kali gang, even above him in the attic, he was able to hear another thump and the collapse of bones. The only few remaining concious being Robin, the Mugiwara's...and Sanji.
"I-Impossible." Sanji gasped, his cigarette nearly falling from his mouth. Spinning round to glare at Zoro in a rage, Sanji's visible eye widened as Zoro also turned and unsheathed a sword that no-one really ever saw unless Zoro intended to cause them a fate worse than agony. Placing Wado Ichimonji's pure white handle in his mouth, he withdrew the black cursed katana of Sandai Kitetsu, and the red hilted sword of Shusui, a blade once belonging to a powerful Samurai.
"Santoryuu." Zoro growled, his voice laced deep with danger.
Running forward, Sanji lashed out with multiple kicks in quick succession that Zoro blocked with the blunt edges of the katanas held in his hands. Gritting his teeth in building anger, Sanji jumped back a few steps before hurtling back in and going head-first into the battle once more.
"Toro Nagashi!" Zoro yelled, leaning towards Sanji and using using Kitetsu and Shusui to block Sanji's legs while he twisted his body around continuously, to avoid any of the leg attacks that managed to get past his swords. Within a few seconds, his head finally dipped in a quick slash with Wado. If Sanji hadn't noticed the slight strain in Zoro neck at that moment and disengaged the fight by air-hopping back quickly, he would have been cut deep across the stomach.
Zoro raised an eyebrow as Sanji air-hopped to the floor and re-lit his cigarette. "So you learnt to do your ballet in the heavens, eh?" He questioned, making Sanji grin as he calmly walked up to him.
Catching Zoro off guard, Sanji raised his leg up high and managed to hook his foot around Zoro's neck. "Reception!" He cried before the swordsman could respond, he brought his leg down hard, smashing Zoro into the floor at break-neck speed. Sanji watched as Zoro rolled to the side and stood up, spitting out splinters from where the wooden floor had cracked underneath him. Leaning down towards the floor, Sanji placed one hand on the floor and raised himself easily up onto it, holding himself sideways while facing Zoro, who was gathering himself.
Wasting no time he spun around rapidly on his hands and gained speed. As he did so, he quickly ran his hands over the wood and approached Zoro, delivering a kick into his side. "Concassé!" He shouted, coming upright and watching as Zoro was thrown to the side a little, only just managing to maintain his balance.
Not leaving any time for Zoro to prepare himself, Sanji turned his back to face Zoro and performed a series of fast back flips towards him. "Troisième Hachis!" Sanji yelled triumphantly, using his hands in a final powerful push, Sanji launched himself at Zoro and delivered several fast and painful kicks into the swordsman's chest, the final kick being so hard as to send Zoro flying backwards, narrowly missing Robin who was still strapped to her chair.
"Zoro!" She cried out of worry for him, struggling uselessly at her shackles.
Groaning, Zoro levered himself upright properly from where his back had made hard contact with the wall. Taking a deep breath, he grinned and his eyes flickered over to an astounded Sanji. "My turn...Ero-cook." He laughed menacingly.
Both Sanji and Robin blinked, unused to the sudden change in Zoro's behaviour. Above them in the attic, the Mugiwara's -who until then had been yelling at Zoro and trying to cheer him on- fell silent. Thatch's voice could be heard telling them to shuffle into a corner of the attic, and when Sabo asked him as to why Thatch's nervous voice replied with 'Zoro's about to get violent'.
"Tatsu..." Zoro started, spinning his swords around in his hands which created a powerful wind energy that caused Sanji to have to hold on tightly to his cigarette and to stay upright. "Maki!" He yelled, creating a dragon-like tornado that created a hole in the attic above him,, the circle of wood dropping down as he moved forwards, watching as Sanji was blown away from him, creating small lacerations all over the Kali gang leader's body at the same time.
Landing painfully on the floor a little way away from Zoro, Sanji rolled and stood up as Zoro closed in on him and began to slash at him. Using his black leg techniques, he spun on his leg as quickly as he could as he fell back a little under Zoro's incredible onslaught. "Diable Jambe...Premier Hachis!" Sanji hollered as he unleashed one of his most powerful techniques.
Taking a running jump, Sanji's leg caught fire in a pure white-hot flame. Kicking out with both of his legs, the rammed them into Zoro's stomach multiple times at great speed, the Diable Jambe causing burn damage to Zoro's stomach as well as partially burning away his black agent suit so that it resembled a charred mess.
In return, Sandai Kitetsu raised itself in the swordsman's hand, slashing horizontally across Sanji's breastplate. It did not go deep, and managed to only score him so that it caused him a sharp pain, although the blood quickly seeped out and was soaked up by his his smart shirt.
Zoro coughed around Wado Ichimonji's handle, and a little bit of blood dribbled out from the corner of his mouth. Sensing that he was quite possibly winning, Sanji smirked, stepping back a few paces from Zoro and starting to prepare yet another technique.
He slowly ground to a halt as he stared at the dark aura the was now able to be visibly seen as it surrounded Zoro, the aura resembling black tentacles or black licks of flame. "Kiki Kyutoryu." Zoro stated, his voice barely audible as he stood up straight and clenched his swords more tightly, their blades each pointing towards Sanji.
Both Sanji and Robin stared in disbelief as Zoro seemed to almost transform in front of them, gaining an extra two arms on each side and two extra heads so that his katanas totaled up to nine, all of them still pointing towards the Kali leader. "Asura Ichibugin." Zoro snarled, his eyes piercing as Zoro leapt at Sanji, powerfully slashing at him with all nine katanas at once. Sanji raised a leg, preparing to block the attack.
Robin's eyes widened at his strength as Zoro ended the move in a way in which all nine swords were held out like a fan, spreading out like a peacock's tail as fresh blood dripped down each of them.
The image of the demon Asura faded, leaving Zoro in his normal state with his three blood-soaked katanas. The two of which were in his hands now pointed towards the floor as Zoro relaxed his arms.
Behind him, a cigarette dropped to the floor, its end no longer lit. Sanji's visible eye was wide open in a mixture of surprise, fury, terror and agony. The nine deep cuts that lined his body were serious, and he collapsed painfully to his knees, screaming as they cracked upon meeting the floor and his whole body jolted in pain.
"You will haunt the streets of London no longer." Zoro stated, his voice flat.
"I-I-I...W-Will..." Sanji stuttered, the agony he felt hindering his speech as he felt his life force ebb away in every cut and laceration on his body that had been caused by the swordsman.
"What?" Zoro asked almost mockingly. "I know for a fact that you're going to die."
"N-N-Never...Forgive you..." Sanji completed, his eyes glazing over as he only just managed to turn his head to look at Zoro over his shoulder, Zoro mimicking the pose as the two rivals glanced at each other out of the corners of their eyes. "M...Marimo." He breathed, finally falling forwards and collapsing onto the wooden floor. Not breathing.
Grunting once in acknowledgement, Zoro looked up towards the hole in the ceiling and walked out of the room and clambered quickly up the ladder, each movement causing him pain in his stomach from Sanji's final Diable Jambe. Upon reaching the attic, he felt relief flood him as he saw his friends, each of them bearing new wounds from their torture, but otherwise alive.
"Zoro!" Luffy yelled happily, the others joining in with overjoyed, relieved laughter or happy crying as the Mugiwara leader sheathed all but Wado Ichimonji, using the katana to cut the crew out of their tightly bound ropes. At first, none of them could move due to having been tied up for so long which had made their limbs heavy and numb.
All except for Luffy, naturally, who merely bounced around happily and hugged everyone, especially Zoro. Ace merely shoved Luffy off when his brother hugged him for more than five seconds. "Yeah, ok Luffy, I've been close to you long enough, I don't need a hug as well." He snorted.
Nami moaned as Chopper helped her to roll her shoulders back and get used to motor control once more. "Nami..You'll be fine. You just need to keep moving your shoulders as much as you can for the next five minutes." Chopped nodded, in doctor mode as Nami smiled and thanked him gratefully as he blushed cutely and moved onto Sabo. "Praising me doesn't make me happy you bastard..." He gushed, trying not to laugh like a small child.
"Luffy, can you get us back down there?" Ussop questioned, pointing back to the floor below them as he nervously glanced through the hole that Zoro had made earlier with his Tatsu Maki whilst fighting Sanji.
Everyone suddenly sweatdropped, which then turned into a panic as Luffy laughed hysterically and stretched his arms out, grabbing everyone securely and jumping down the hole, dragging them all with him as he did so. There was a multitude of panicked yells as they fell, ending with mostly simultaneous 'oof's as they landed on a springy stretched out rubber Luffy underneath them, who was still laughing like he'd just heard the funniest joke in the world.
He stood up, only to have everyone's fists punch him in the head so that he was catapulted face first back into the floor. "NOT LIKE THAT LUFFY." They screamed/shouted/yelled at him.
Ace glanced to his left as there was a light groan from where the remaining Kali group members were still out cold on the floor. Marco was just starting to wake up, blinking his eyes and groaning as he tried to get his arms underneath him. Rubbing a clenched hand on his bare muscled abs in preparation, Ace allowed his hand to ignite and burst into a colour of orange flame. Judging the timing, he punched down hard on Marco's head with a well placed fist of fire that knocked him out once more, raising his aflame fist to his lips. With a sexy, boy-ish grin, he blew his index and middle fingers out like a gun.
Suddenly the sound of a horse neighing outside in warning and anger reached their ears, the horse clearly distressed as they caught sound of it rearing and slamming it's front two legs onto the cobbled stones.
Zoro took charge at once. "There'll be agents surrounding the area. I want you to get into the basement as fast and as carefully as you can and wait there. Whatever happens, don't get caught and don't try and come after me. Once everyone has gone, head back to base. Start re-claiming territory. Ok? I trust you guys." He ordered, breaking out into a knowing smirk. "You're my family."
They nodded in return, grins plastered over each of their faces as they hurried to do as they had been instructed. Each of them turning at the door to face the princess and bowing to her in respect as they left, either winking or grinning mischievously with a quick call of "Your majesty", making her smile back at them and dip her head in return.
"So those are your friends." She said after they had disappeared, waiting as Zoro forcefully broke her seastone shackles from her wrists, being as gentle as he could about it. Once removed, arms sprouted from the floor and chair as they helped her to swiftly release herself from her once tightly bound ropes.
"Mmm." Zoro nodded. "Are you ok?" He asked, carefully checking her over and wiping away most of the blood on her forehead that had matted into her raven coloured hair a little bit.
"I am after having seen you. My Knight in armour." Robin teased, making Zoro blush lightly as she kissed his cheek. "Thank you for saving me."
"Any time." He replies with a smirk.
"Are you going to be in trouble because you broke out to come and save me?" She questioned.
"Yes."
"How much?"
"A lot."
"How much is 'a lot'?"
"As in, my father is probably going kick my arse and you'll probably never see me again for the next...ohh I don't know...ten to twenty years? Ever?" He responded, the both of them listening to the thundering footsteps that now stormed up the stairs
Robin stared at him, unafraid. "...I still love you."
"And I you." Zoro replied, kissing her hand before letting it go and turning away taking three steps forward as the door burst open.
Shanks, Benn and Rayleigh marched in one behind another. Zoro stood his ground as Shanks strode towards him, the way he did so making Zoro think that the second in command was about to hit him. 'Here we go'. He thought, waiting for the blow. Instead, he was shocked as the red-haired legend brushed past him, Benn and Rayleigh doing the same as Shanks attended to Princess Robin, whereas Rayleigh and Benn started to gather up the fallen Kali gang.
Rayleigh paused as he picked up Sanji's lifeless body, making Shanks momentarily turn towards him. Seeing the damage that had been wreaked on Sanji's body, Shanks stilled, and his hands paused in bathing Robin's brow of the blood. His eyes flickered to Zoro for no more than half a second before regaining focus on attending to the protesting Princess.
Meanwhile, Zoro felt thoroughly confused as to why Shanks had not started beating him up for having snuck out of MI5 headquarters. Then he heard another set of footsteps echoing down the corridor, and he resigned himself and sighed heavily as the final piece clicked into place.
Hawk-Eyes Mihawk entered swiftly with his black cape flying out behind him and his face one of cold fury as he grabbed Zoro by the collar with both hands and stared down into his son's face, the height advantage intimidating Zoro somewhat even though he bowed his head away and remained devoid of any emotion.
"What on earth do you think you're playing at boy?" Mihawk asked icily. He didn't shout. He didn't need to. With that one question everyone felt the room temperature drop by about ten degrees as Mihawk's cold anger filled the room.
Refusing to say anything, Zoro kept his head bowed and his eyes trained on the floor.
"Answer me." Mihawk pressured, his grip tightening so much that it was sure to leave a crease in Zoro's already ruined black suit uniform.
Receiving no answer, Mihawk's yellow eyes flashed dangerously as he grabbed the scruff of Zoro's neck and started to roughly tow him down the stairs, Zoro starting to shout things 'get off of me' and 'leave me alone, I did what was right' as defiantly as he could, the old Zoro almost reinstalled into him by half, so much so that he felt able to challenge Mihawk verbally.
"Fine." Mihawk hissed as they arrived at the foyer and out through the building's double doors. "We'll do this the hard way."
With that, he mounted Salvatore in under a split second and hauled Zoro up to sit in front of him, effectively trapping him as Salvatore erupted straight into a gallop, Balthazar whinnying angrily as he sped after them.
I have to admit, when writing the bit in which Zoro reaches the 4th floor, I felt slightly intimidated by him. And I'm the author. =L I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck slowly stand on end.
I haven't done one of these in a while but I gave each section a scene name and said what song I listened to whilst writing it. If you know a few, cool. If you know all of them, YOU'RE (A wizard 'arry) AWESOME. So yeah, here:
Finding the building: SR-71 = Tomorrow/Goodbye.
Enter and exchange:: Kid Cudi = Ruler and the killer./The black keys = Chop and change./Avenged Sevenfold = Nightmare.
Haki: Avenged Sevenfold: So far away. (This song nearly made me cry whilst writing, because I related it to Zoro and imagined him singing it.)/A day to remember = You should have killed me when you had the chance.
Fight for London: P!nk = Are we all we are/Fall Out Boy = This ain't a scene It's an arms race/ Black Sabbath = Paranoid.(Imagine playing this when Zoro says 'My turn'...You're welcome.);D
Freedom and Love: Les Miserables = On my own/Florence and the machine = Heavy in your arms.
Trouble: Kansas = Carry on my Wayward Son.
But yeah...Please review! ^^
Kai XxxXxxX