Another Nakama Omakes

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Ms. Goldenweek's Operation: Free Baroque Works VII

-x-

"You're not going anywhere," Black Cage Hina stated as she stood on the dock with Jango and thirty Black Cage Corps. She had effectively blocked the path for Ayako, Bentham, the three Baroque Works Agents and the three animals. "Hina's got you now. Jango finish this quickly!"

Jango raised his ring and started to swing it back and forth in front of him, "When I say 'One, Two, Jango' you'll all fall asleep," Jango instructed. "ONE... TWO..."

Ayako whisked a black symbol at the hypnotist, "Colors Trap: Betrayal Black!" Swish!

The paint struck Jango on the chest and had an instant effect. Swish! Jango spun around to face the thirty marines that were behind him. "JAAANGOOOOO!" FWA-FWA-FWA-FWUMP!

The Black Cage Corps and Jango dropped to the ground. A tick mark grew on Hina's forehead. "I'll stop you myself then," Hina resolved. "KIMONO SLEEVE CAGE!" SHOOF! She threw her arms outward and they turned black as they stretched outward and iron-like bars descended from her arms and crisscrossed to form a long black cage wall.

SHUNK! Suddenly, Ms. Merry Christmas popped out from the ground under Hina and grabbed her legs with a pair of mole-like claws. WHUP! "You should've stood three steps back on the part of the dock that was above the water," the mole-woman taunted the marine captain as she kept her rooted in place. "GET HER NOW, BOYS!"

Mr. 4 bent down and hefted his dog onto his shoulder. The dog turned into a big gun and fired. BOOOM! A baseball flew out of the gun-dog's mouth and exploded on Marine Captain Hina. KA-BOOOOOM! Hina was blown up into the air, flipped over and dropped to the ground.

"UN, DEUX, TROIS... GOOO!" Bentham shrieked as they charged across the dock.

"Hina's... Hina will... stop you..." Hina staggered up off of the ground. Her colorful borrowed shirt had been damaged by the explosion and now it hung opened and revealed that all she wore under it was her fancy black lace underwear.

"SEWING STINGER!" Two long spikes grew out of the bottom of Ms. Double Finger's feet and she raced across the dock like she was on stilts. Ayako noted that despite the unflattering prison jumpsuit that she wore, the woman's full hips swung as she crisscrossed her legs while she ran. Ms. Double Finger lashed out and struck the still disoriented Hina across the face. WHAM! Hina crashed to the ground and tumbled to the side, somewhere along the way she lost Jango's damaged shirt and was now left in her underwear.

Bentham led the rest of them as they charged along the now clear path across the dock towards the ship that they arrived in. Ayako made a note that she really needed to work on this running thing because even Mr. 4 was going faster than her as she fell to the very back of the pack.

WHOOSH! WHAP! Once again two claws clamped onto her shoulders and Ayako was lifted up off of the ground and flown towards the ship. "Uuugghhh..." Ayako groaned as she felt the rice crackers and tea that she'd eaten earlier make their presence known.

Thanks to Ms. Friday, Ayako was vaguely aware that she'd caught up with the others, although, now she was a little more concerned with not losing her lunch all over the dock. Bentham and Ms. Double Finger leapt onto the ship, Ms. Merry Christmas, Mr. 13 and Lassoo followed close behind with Mr. 4 bringing up the rear.

WHAP! Ms. Friday had just cleared the edge of the ship when an iron-like cuff latched onto Ayako's ankle. "YAAAH!" she screamed as she was yanked back and slammed onto the dock.

"Got you, little mouse," the half-naked Hina taunted as she stalked over to her. She had a small dribble of blood going down the side of her face from when Ms. Double Finger had hit her and there was an almost crazed look in the underwear-clad woman's eyes that told Ayako, if she was the little mouse then Hina was the starving cat.

"AYAKO!" came a loud shout. SKISH! The cuff was suddenly gone as Hina jumped backward to avoid a kick from Bentham as he landed on his toes in between them. TMP!

"Benny!" Ayako exclaimed, "Why'd you come back?"

"I came to rescue you," Bentham answered, "That's what friends do!"

"Then you two 'friends' can spend the rest of your lives in prison together!" Hina growled. "Hina's got you now! KIMONO SLEEVE CAGE!" SSHHOOOF! Hina's arms stretched outward and almost instantly surrounded them in a circular black cage.

Ayako looked back and saw the ship leave the dock. "Benny, you shouldn't have come back! Now she's got us both."

"Nope," Bentham replied, "She got greedy. She'll only be catching one of us today." Wh-whap! He grabbed her shoulders and lifted her up off of the ground then started to spin. Whoosh... Whoosh... WHOOSH! Ayako felt a rush of motion sickness again and her eyes crossed as Bentham swung her around him. Then he let go. WHING! Ayako struggled to remain conscious as she flew up out of the cage, across the dock, over the water and onto the ship. WHUP! She was caught by a pair of strong arms and went face-first into the black-and-white – and notably firm – chest of Ms. Double Finger.

Ayako dropped to the deck and immediately lost the tea and crackers that she had tasted earlier. She wiped her mouth and crawled to the railing. She looked over it and saw Bentham still in Hina's cage on the dock as the ship sailed away from it and Black Cage Prison.

"BENNY! WHY?" she screamed back at him.

"Because, we're friends," he answered. "I'd gladly sacrifice myself to save just one person that I called a friend. But now there's you and six others on that ship. So I'm proud to stay behind and make sure all of you can escape." He looked back at her and flashed her a smile and a thumbs up. "That's what friends do. They help each other achieve their dreams."

"You're not going to stop me," Hina insisted, "I'm still going to catch her."

"Oh, I thought we might hit this little snag," Bentham noted, "You seem to be laboring under the delusion that I'm going to come quietly. BIG MISTAKE! LET'S DANCE, SWEET CHEEKS!"

(A/N: It was between that and 'You shall not pass'. But I felt that both Dumbledore and Mr. 2 have a certain level of flair that Gandalf doesn't so I went with this one.)

"Benny..." Ayako whimpered. Tears welled up in her eyes as she turned to Ms. Double Finger. "Let's go back! We've gotta save him!"

"There's nothing you can do for him now," Ms. Double Finger told her.

"But... he's my friend..."

"I know," she said, "But if you go back there and get caught then his sacrifice will be for nothing. Your friend gave himself up so you could escape. Don't insult him by making it meaningless."

Sniff! Ayako wiped her nose and eyes.

"Who cares about that crazy Okama anyway," Ms. Merry Christmas said as she came out on deck and left Mr. 4 at the helm. "You'd be better off just forgetting about him at this point."

"Forget...?" Ayako repeated. Her tears were instantly gone. "Who... cares?" Oh, so this was why it was called white hot rage. "I CARE YOU SMELLY OLD HAG!" She rushed at the dumpy older woman but Ms. Double Finger grabbed her and held her back. Her grip was like steel. There was no breaking it. But she could still do some verbal damage. "THAT CRAZY OKAMA IS WORTH FIFTY OF YOU! HE SAVED ALL OF OUR LIVES! DON'T YOU EVER DISRESPECT HIM AGAIN OR I'LL MAKE YOU WISH YOU WERE NEVER BORN! I GAVE YOU A GLIMPSE AT YOUR DREAM, SAY IT AGAIN AND I'LL STICK YOU NECK DEEP IN YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE!"

"..." Ms. Merry Christmas stared wide-eyed while Ayako seethed and glared at her.

"Well, that shut her up," Ms. Double Finger remarked.

Her yelling at Ms. Merry Christmas didn't change the fact that her friend was going to prison while she got away. Her anger melted away and was then replaced by the pain of loss and guilt. "It wasn't supposed to be like this," Ayako mumbled, "There was always a chance that we might not succeed but we were in it together. Sink or swim, we were supposed to be in it together to the bitter end. This doesn't feel right."

"Then think of it this way," Ms. Double Finger instructed her, "He believed in you, he believed in your plan to the point that he gave himself up to ensure that you succeeded. If he means that much to you, then you'd better not let your friend down."

Ayako wiped her eyes again, "Right," she agreed, "Head for Alabasta. I've got another idea."

While Ms. Goldenweek, Ms. Double Finger, Mr. 4, Ms. Merry Christmas, Lassoo, Mr. 13 and Ms. Friday managed to escape from Black Cage Prison. Mr. 0, Mr. 1, Mr. 2 and Mr. 3 were quickly transferred to the infamous, inescapable prison fortress known as Impel Down.

-x-

'Till Next Time...

Peace!