Black as Knight
TAAA TA TA TA TAA TAAAAAAAA!
Has anyone else seen Jeremy Renner in P!nk's video Trouble?
That sexy little Hawkeye Avenger should be illegal. ;D
ANYWAY.
CHAPTER! *Cue fanfare and rise of curtain*
Westminster Abbey held its breath. The agents that were absolutely everywhere occupied the abbey itself and the surrounding area, the Mugiwara's stood inside for glimpses of their leader along with Mihawk and Shanks who waited near the peak of the abbey alongside the royal family who were immaculately dressed and seated on plush cushions.
Zoro himself felt slightly nervous. He didn't really care all too much about being knighted, but it was the fact that thousands upon thousands of British citizens were to be watching him, and the news was to be broadcast over radios and TV's. And it was all being done in front of the King, Robin's father.
Which in itself was slightly intimidating. He knew that he wasn't dating Robin, but they were in love and-hell. He'd kissed her! In normal lives, it was customary for the boy to be afraid of the girlfriend's father, but jeesh. When her father was sat on the throne of Great Britain, it put a slight strain on the idea of 'forbidden love'.
He was trying not to fiddle with the tiny little earpiece in his ear that Shanks had put in there securely. It was so that Shanks could tell him his cues and what to say if he forgot anything. Which technically shouldn't be anything, since he only had three to four very small lines.
Strapped to his waist were his three katanas, and Zoro kept himself from unsheathing them and sheathing them again, knowing that it would only get on his nerves after a while. His black suit had been washed, dried and finely pressed all in under an hour whilst Shanks had debriefed him on what was going to happen.
The news had come to Zoro as a bit of shock, never mind the rest of the agents. But directly from the terminology of it, he knew that it had been Robin's idea, meaning that she would have told the royal family about how he had saved her, which was troublesome.
Sighing, he reached up and absent-mindedly stroked his three golden earrings that were still stationed in his earlobe. He knew that Mihawk would have asked him to take them out, so he'd purposefully left them in. Just to piss him off.
At that moment, he heard the huge piano start up or...organ. Or whatever it was called. He couldn't be bothered to remember the name of it. In his ear, he heard Shanks' voice clearly murmur to him. "Start walking slowly to the end of the abbey. The walk lasts for the duration of the song, so you have about two and a half minutes to get to the end. Take your time, but don't slouch. The whole kingdom is watching you."
"Remind me why should I care?" Zoro murmured back, his mouth barely moving. He heard a muffled snort on the end of the line, making him resist the urge to smirk as he revealed himself at the end of the abbey so that he could see the masses assembled before him. He nearly swore under his breath at the sight and annoying-ness of the whole thing.
"Because you're on British television. So chin up, eh wot wot?" Shanks sniggered into the line.
Zoro resisted the urge to roll his eyes. The effort making him strain his jaw the tiniest bit as he made do by just blinking. 'When I get out of this abbey, I'm gonna throttle that son of a bitch.' He thought to himself, knowing that Shanks would know what he was thinking by having not even replied.
"Woah kid, slow down. Stop thinking angry thoughts." Shanks murmured, a hint of humour in his voice.
Realising that he had started to slowly increase his pace, Zoro mentally kicked himself for letting Shanks get to him. He was already halfway after about a minute of slow walking, and all Zoro wanted to do was to sprint up the end and then wait for the song to catch up. But he knew that he was strictly not allowed to screw this up, so he settled for thinking about how he was walking ever closer to Princess Robin.
Meeting her eyes, he allowed himself to show her the tiniest twitch of a smirk at the corner of his lips, to which she replied by tilting her head down slightly to him with a light smile. Just by looking at one another, it was like they were having a whole telepathic conversation.
'This is completely your doing, you know that Princess?'
'Of which I take full responsibility for.'
'Kych, I bet you do.'
'I now get to officially call you my own personal Knight.'
'I dont belong to anyone. If anything, you belong to me.'
'Kenshi-san, I don't think that's quite true. And you're being quite daring, trying to play the dominatrix card with the most powerful family in Britain.'
'It's in my nature.'
'Mmm, I can tell.'
Choking back a small laugh, Robin looked down at her hands to allow her hair to obscure the smile that was growing on her lips.
Zoro however, had reached the steps that lead up to the seats of the royal family, finishing in perfect unison with the song.
Clearing his throat but once, Shanks raised his voice as he stepped out to address the abbey. "The Crown now calls the MI5 agent, Roronoa Zoro, to come before this Court with his country to bear witness."
King Rob Lucci then stood, and as he did so, everyone in the abbey and surrounding also knelt to the floor in respect of their king. Lucci descended the steps, the crown on his head barely even wobbling as he stopped on the step above the young swordsman.
"Roronoa Zoro, it was been brought to my attention that you defended the royal blood bloodline, specifically Princess Robin, my daughter. As such you have not only defended her, but your own honour and the law that governs this country. Thus you are worthy of recognition and the title of a knighthood. Are you here to accept the accolade of knighthood that is offered to you?" Lucci asked, his voice strong yet strained with what sounded to Zoro like severe illness.
"I am." Zoro nodded.
Lucci turned to Shanks. "Bring forth the chain." He ordered, watching as Shanks stepped forth and handed a thin yet strong chain to Zoro ceremoniously. "This chain has passed from knight to knight throughout the ages in our kingdom, symbolizing the burden that a knight carries in his duties. Let it now pass from knight to knight once again."
Zoro bowed his head once more as he tied the chain securely to his belt, secretly glad that it was not overly heavy.
"Do you promise to continue defending the law and your soon to be title of Knight?" Lucci asked, his voice just about managing to carry through the abbey.
"I will." Zoro responded monotonously, keeping his head bowed.
"To show loyalty to, and protect the royal family to the best of your ability?"
"I will."
"Do you promise to defend the poor and the helpless, and the citizens of Britain in need of your help?"
"I will."
"And finally. Will you show bravery as you have done before now, and not avoid the dangerous paths out of fear, and face your destiny."
"Until death take me, I will." Zoro concluded, stealing a quick glance at Robin to see her staring at him with pride shining happily in her eyes.
Then queen Boa Hancock, in all her radiant beauty, stood and joined her husband. "Master Mihawk as chivalry representative...and Princess Robin as the Royal representative. Do you both now affirm that Zoro has grown in gentle virtue and chivalrous grace, the hallmarks of a true and faith peer?"
Mihawk then stepped forth, his face expressionless as he added his input to the ceremony. "May it please my liege and lady to know that having heard the counsel of my peers, and from my own certain knowledge, I am able to affirm that Roronoa Zoro is a chivalrous young man whose achievements on the field of honour have been matched by his courtesy and concern for all of your Majesties' subjects."
Robin then also stood from her seat, her hand clasped delicately in front of her. "Your Majesties, of my own certain knowledge I am able to affirm that Zoro has demonstrated his abilities in the arts and encouraged their practice in your Majesties' kingdom. Not only this but he is a dutiful and loyal subject to your Majesties' Crown."
King Lucci nodded in acceptance as Robin sat once more and Mihawk stepped back into his place beside Shanks. "We thank you both for your wise counsel. Bring forth, the Great Sword of State. Excalibur."
Coming forward once again, Mihawk bowed low to Lucci as he handed the king a sword of legend, one that accepted none as its bearer. The hilt a pure gold and embedded with a stone heart ruby at the end, the blade once taken out of its ivory sheath seen to be polished to death so that it shone brighter than the brightest supernova.
"Then having sworn these solemn oaths...know now that we, king Lucci and queen Hancock, by right of arms as king and queen of Great Britain, do dub you with our sword, Excalibur. And by all that you hold sacred and true... Once for honour," Lucci stated, bringing the flat blade of the sword down on Zoro's left shoulder before transferring it to the right,"and twice for duty. Arise, Sir Roronoa Zoro."
"The swords that you bear sheathed at your sides symbolize your prowess at arms. Remember well; that the sword should be drawn only in defence of the country, in the defence of those weaker than yourself, or for the cause in which you truly believe. Treat them with care. Wield them with mercy." Lucci intoned, advising him simultaneously before nodding once. "Go now, and greet your peers and your country. They wait for you, Sir Zoro."
Everyone watched as Zoro slowly rose to his feet to look King Lucci in the face, a slight smile quirking at the corner of his mouth as he bowed his head once.
Turning smartly on his heel, he walked back down the aisle a little faster this time to the faster tempo of the victorious fanfare that played out from the organ and surrounding men with trumpets. As he walked, people in the rows of where they had been sat rose as he strode by, bowing their heads in respect and smiling at him, murmuring their congratulations as he passed.
Finally reaching the outside world, he could hear the people all around the abbey cheering and calling his name along with congratulations and shouts of 'well done!'. Allowing himself a small smirk, he waited until the Mugiwara gang along with Rayleigh and Shanks swarmed around him with grins, clapping him on the shoulder.
"Zoro! You're a knight!" Ace sniggered, punching him in the shoulder as he leaned against Thatch, whose mischievous grin matched that of the D. brother's.
"Sugggoooooooiiiii!" Luffy cried in awe, stars in both his, Chopper and Ussop's eyes.
"If you get a pay rise because of it, you can pay for the first round of drinks tonight!" Nami suggested slyly with her eyes replaced by Beli signs.
"And you had a talk with the King of the realm without stuttering. Not bad at all." Shanks laughed, his red hair flicking about his ear a little in the slight wind.
At this, Zoro frowned. "I'm sorry, I still don't believe that that is the King of this country. The King who once killed the tyrant king of France by charging into battle with his devil fruit ability allowing him to change into a spotted leopard that bulled down anyone in his way before ripping the tyrant king's throat out." Zoro stated, his knowledge of the King's history surprising Rayleigh a little. "I don't see it in this...this...decrepit old guy. He's fading. And he's fading fast."
Rayleigh nodded. "I know. It's been something that the royal family have kept undercover. But the moment the king falls...we will be lost without our leader. It is he who keeps things going when all else fails. He has done so before, but it is unlikely that he shall do so again." He said gravely.
"Zoro." Mihawk's voice hailed the green-haired teenager as he entered his office, not standing at the entrance and instead offering a puse coloured folder to him. Zoro reluctantly took it, his eyes scanning the report quickly as Mihawk waited for him to read. "This will be your next task. Find him and bring him in."
"Jack the Ripper?" Zoro questioned, the face of the man not appearing in his mind seeing as he had never encountered him. "Who is he and why are we going after him?" He asked, seemingly unbothered by it.
Mihawk sighed in annoyance. "It is listed there if you bothered to read anything." As Zoro gave no response, he continued. "Jack the Ripper, fits his name to a tee. They say he only carries a knife and kills people by slitting their throats and allowing them to bleed to death. His victims typically involve female prostitutes from the slums, their throats cut prior to abdominal mutilations. Usually the bodies are found either during the night or just as the dawn breaks, that gives you a specific time slot of when best to go looking for him as long as you are wary and are not overly confident of yourself."
Zoro glared at the underlying insult, but after a few seconds of silence, he let it pass. "Is there anything else I should know?"
Nodding, Mihawk rested his elbows on the desk and interlocked his fingers. "The removal of internal organs from at least three or more of the victims have led to rumours and other such suggestions that our killer possesses anatomical or surgical knowledge."
"So he knows about bodies." Zoro stated, mulling it over for a moment or two. "And we're just catching and bringing him in, right?" He clarified.
"Yes. If he is not brought in alive, it is no great loss, but if we do then both the royal family and the government have given their permission to allow us to make an example of him." Mihawk agreed, his eyes glinting at the mention of 'making an example'.
Zoro wasn't sure he wanted to know what his father meant by that.
"Zoro." Mihawk called, gaining his attention. "Are you sure you are up to this?"
"Yes." Zoro snorted contemptuously.
"Yes sir." Mihawk corrected sharply, narrowing his eyes at the green haired boy.
"There's no need to call me sir, Mihawk." Zoro said with a smirk, making Mihawk fix him with an irritated stare.
"Just take the report and get going with it. I want you and three others on the case, and I insist on one of them being Shanks. He already knows of the report and will be waiting for you just outside headquarters this evening at seven o'clock."
"I'll have the horses taken out in readiness." Zoro nodded, turning to walk away.
"No. This job will be done on foot. The horses will not be able to get down the alleyways that you may find your target in. You will be fast enough as you are." Mihawk disagreed before wordlessly dismissing him, focusing on the papers neatly filed on his desk.
That night, a young girl waited out on the corner that joined Prescot and Leman street. Every which way was deserted, and she was scantily dressed with a vest top that did not cover the visible tattoo on one of her arms or her bare stomach and with a neck line that clearly displayed a fair amount of cleavage, not to mention that her legs on full show due to her incredibly short shorts and high-heeled sandals. Her hair was clipped up to the back of her head to reveal the gorgeously smooth skin of her pale neck that had a slight trace of goosebumps from the light cold wind that whipped around her body in the cold night.
As the minute hand of the clock hanging from the street lamp clicked into place to align with the hour hand to make it midnight, Zoro pushed his back against the lamp and rose to his full height before walking off down the street that was dimly lit by a couple of other street lamps. Zoro on the other hand looked less than a shadowy figure from where his black suited self emerged from the darkness as though just casually walking down the street from a business meeting during the night.
Passing by the lamp on the corner, the girl reached out and grabbed at his shoulder so that he stopped in surprise. "Evenin' sir." She whispered sexily, her hands slowly roaming his body almost teasingly so that he tried to step away from her. "You lookin' real tense, know tha'? Betcha I could 'elp with tha' if you wanna go for a bit...promise it's cheap as h'anythin'. I'll make et enjoyable."
"I do not need your services. Try someone else lady." Zoro snapped, giving the woman a knowing look as she winked back, allowing him to push her back towards the street lamp as he strode off down the next street and slid silently into a doorway where he could watch the girl from a distance, acknowledging Shanks' presence alongside him with a curt nod.
Shanks raised an eyebrow at him. "Did Nami play her part alright?" He asked in a voice that was barely even a whisper.
"Give her some credit. Nami's been able to slip into different roles since we were kids. She's a bloody expert at this." Zoro replied curtly.
Shanks nodded. "Well she's doing it pretty damn well then. Heh, looking at her like that almost makes me feel a little bit tempted to-"
"Finish that sentence and I'll tell her you said it, then you'll be singing castrato for the rest of your life." Zoro threatened, making Shanks immediately shut his mouth much to Thatch's amusement in a concealed doorway on the opposite side of the street.
Their attention was suddenly drawn to another figure approaching Nami from the other street, walking straight up to her and toying with her hair as they exchanged a few words and he made slightly more intimate gestures that made Zoro clench his jaw, willing for Nami to move it on.
As though sensing his feelings, Nami seemed to make a suggestion to which the man smiled and nodding, still caressing her slightly and making her giggle as he towed her back down the street from whence he'd came. Looking across the street at Thatch to see his friend nod to him, he nudged Shanks so that together the three of them set off after Nami, staying a fair distance yet keeping her and the other man within their sights.
They watched in disbelief as Nami was suddenly pressed up against a wall, the man's hands groping for her, his patience obviously not having held out that long. Nami's horrified look as he started to try and shed what little clothes she wore made Zoro's hands fly to his katanas and begin to unsheath them in anger.
But before he could even fully unsheath them, the sound of wood sickeningly hitting flesh resounded in the night, making the three of them look back to see Nami still stood up against the wall, but her assailant now crumpled on the floor out cold with her saviour dressed in a fine black suit and a top hat wielding a hunk of a wooden beam that had been pulled off of a window that had been boarded up on the other side of the street next to a small alleyway with a stone arch at its entrance.
Nami looked rather stunned herself, and she jumped as the man tossed the beam back over towards the window and stepped forwards to tenderly take her hand. In the night, the man's kind voice echoed down the street so that Shanks, Zoro and Thatch could clearly hear what was being said.
"My dear, are you quite alright?"
"Y-Yes. I'm fine thank you."
"Surely not, you are trembling! Come with me. I was about to head down to give my dear friend who works at the railway station a little company, as he gets so lonely. I'm pretty sure he could put the stove on for us and could perhaps break out a tin of sardines to help warm you up after that little ordeal."
"Oh..No. Thank you but I should probably-"
"No, no my dear! I insist! Why you are sti-What on earth am I doing standing here chattering whilst you are shivering with cold? Here, take my coat. We'll walk down to the station together and we'll have you no longer feeling the cold."
Nami could not do anything for fear of rudely rejecting his kindness as he helped put his long black coat over her shoulders before she slipped her arms gratefully into the arms of the warm coat, allowing him to tow her away towards the railway station that was less than a two minute walk away.
Frowning in worry, Thatch looked to Zoro as Nami turned the corner with the strange yet kind gentleman, the two of them staying back as Shanks ran out and scouted around the area that Nami and the gentleman had just vacated. "Zoro...something's not right about this." He murmured, his stomach feeling unusually queasy.
"I'll agree with that lads." Shanks stated grimly as he rejoined them. "It looks like we've just handed Nami over into the hands of our killer."
Zoro's head whipped around to look at the second-in-command of the agents. "What?" He demanded.
Nodding his head in a certain direction behind him, Shanks' eyes flitted over to where the gentleman had tossed the beam. Curious, Thatch and Zoro wandered over to the alleyway with the arch, a horrible stench filling the air as they drew closer. When they saw the cause of it, Thatch turned away after little more than a second and ran to the side of the road to be sick. Zoro meanwhile was transfixed with a mixture of disgust and horror.
Laid out on its side, was the remains of what used to be a woman. The term 'used to be' used because of the state of the mangled body, the face unrecognisable and the throat heralding two violent slashes across the throat. The abdomen was also split open to reveal the insides gleaming at him as they poured out of the body like boiled water did a teapot. Bones were also shown in the throat as they jutted out slightly at an angle, kind of like the bone did in the right wrist which showed the signs of the unsuccessful struggle of the poor victim.
Zoro hung his head after about a minute or two, staring at the pavement as he tried to dispel the image from his mind. Instead he focused on the blood beneath him. Blood that had been drooling over the pavement which now slowly ran over the cobblestones as flecks of rain were spat from the heavens above them, mingling with the blood so that it dribbled over the stones and was washed away into the drains below the city.
Shanks looked at them as Zoro turned to him and Thatch stopped retching, his bowels now empty of any lunch or dinner that had previously been in there. Shanks' eyes heavy with a kind of knowing dread that was mirrored in his fellow agents expressions as he spoke.
"If we don't find her in time, Nami will end up like that." He breathed out heavily through his nose. "Or worse."
As they entered the railway station's tiny wooden building that felt more like a shack on stilts than anything else, Nami looked out of the grimy window as the gentleman lit up the lanterns in the completely pitch black single room with a match, illuminating the room to reveal a scar that ran down from the middle of the man's forehead to his left ear, the scar just running above his eyebrow.
Noting that something was wrong due to the absence of anybody there, Nami turned to him. "Hey..uh. Where's your friend?"
"What?" The gentleman asked, his earlier well-spoken tone slipping slightly to give him a little more of a rougher, London-er edge about him.
Trying to stay calm and stay her panic, Nami kept her voice as steady as she could, wishing that Shanks would burst in that door at that moment with Zoro and Thatch. "You know! That friend you said would be waiting here so that we could put the stove on and warm up?"
At this, the man snorted. "Lesson number one, never trust a stranger. If you haven't already figured it out, I lied."
Sensing danger as he took his hat off and laid it on the floor in the corner, Nami swallowed nervously. "Wh-Who are you?" Nami questioned, her eyes wide, fumbling around for that clip in her hair that she could take out and turn it into the secret knife that it also doubled up as.
"There's no good look for that clip my dear. I replaced your fancy looking knife one with another earlier. And the name's Jack. You lot out there know me as 'Jack the Ripper' I believe. Got you guys to thank for that really. Made me into a right celebrity you have. S'all very flattering, must say."
"B-b-but you hit that other guy when he was...with...with that beam!" Nami cried, hoping to appeal to his better nature before she had to resort to anything else, even though she had no other weapon on her to be able to defend herself with.
"Ahh yes. Not my favourite weapon, but it does the job. Shame I couldn't kill him really, but I couldn't kill in front of those three little friends of yours." At this, Nami's eyes widened. "Oh yes my dear, I knew they were after me. But what they don't realise is that they're not really after me. No, no, no. I'm just carrying out orders. The only difference is that unlike the others before me, I don't need controlling. The master can control 'em through those funny lil' strings of his, but he knows that I was willing to do the dirty work. To kill...He controls the others for fun, makes 'em do it because then he threatens 'em with death if they don't."
Jack shrugged with a little evil grin. "That's good ol' Doflamingo for you though. Never miss trick 'e don't." Then he frowned almost sadly. "I don't even know why I'm telling you this...Oh wait. Yes I do. Because you won't be alive to tell no one else."
"What are you going to do?" Nami asked fearfully, her blood having run as cold as ice at his last, almost careless sounding statement.
Jack 'the Ripper' grinned wickedly as he ran his tongue down a knife that he produced from the inside of his jacket pocket, seeming to not notice as the blade slit his tongue a little so that a small droplet of blood ran down the length of the dangerous looking sharp metal. "I'm gonna do the best I can."
YAAAAAAY FOR CHAPTER 12! =D Sorry it was rather short..but I don't like filler chapters.
For anyone that doesn't know, Jack the Ripper is actually based on a real person/character. In British history (1888), he was classed as one of the most dangerous serial killer that London (specifically in the Whitechapel area) had ever seen, and he was never caught.
There was other things that the Ripper did, and one was known as the 'Hell letter' that was delivered to the head of the vigilance committee, Mr Lusk. Here's the link for anyone that wants to see it (and a photo of the original letter. Gives me chills just looking at it).
h]t[tp : / en . wikipedia wiki / From _ Hell _ letter
But yeah, I put a little spin on the whole thing. =P (Jack the Ripper was one of my favourite people to study in history...I found it really interesting. Can you tell?) xD
Anyway, PLEASE REVIEW THANK YOU COOKIES TO EVERYONE!
MWEEEEEE HEHEHEHEE!
Kai XxxXxxX
(Who has gone slightly crazy...er).
P.s: SANTORYUU3. YOU WARNED ME THAT I HAD BETTER UPDATE TONIGHT. AND I DID. AT EXACTLY 11:59 PM. WHAT DO YOU CALL THAT FOR TIMING, EH? ADVANCE TOWARDS ME BRETHEREN!
Actually, please don't come at me bro. ;D