Yesterday was October 30, which means One Piece season 4 voyage 2 is in stores and available to order on Amazon! :D YAY! Please go and buy the DVDs to support FUNimation and all it's awesomeness! The DVDs come with both Japanese and English settings, so even if you don't like the dub, you still get the sub as well, so it's a win/win.

Happy Halloween everyone! Be safe tonight, count the shadows, stare at statues, get lots of candy, stay close to your mummy, and do not trust anyone with huge cloaks and glowing red swords. :D

This is the chapter that made me feel truly evil. Muahahaha! For those of you who have seen the movie and know what the Machine is, tell me how I did. I really don't know what it feels like to go through that, so I hope I matched up. And I honestly had no idea about the very last part, so I just left it as is. So let me know what you think in a beautiful review.

Chapter 10 – The Machine

Zoro felt slightly uncomfortable, having the Albino practically strip him bare but his sliced trousers. What was possible even more unnerving were the strange gadgets the strange man had placed all over his body. Perhaps the most uncomfortable one was the contraption around his head. Two straps were wrapped around his forehead and chin, keeping two weird metal cups around his ears positioned in place. Still, he couldn't count out the four similar metal cups on either side of his chest and abdomen. Accounting for the metal cuffs that bound his wrists and ankles, it was humiliating to be trussed up like some cow for slaughter.

Sanji only watched confusion and slight nervousness as the Albino rolled Zoro across the bumpy floor to lay beside a huge immobile water wheel. The Albino began taking various ropes and wires and connecting them to the cups positioned at various parts of his body. It made him a bit uneasy, but he dare not show it.

The door to the Pit of Despair opened again, and the weird wolf-man entered his limited field of vision. The werewolf looked amused in his long dirty yellow tunic, his gloved fingers interlacing with each other as he watched Zoro being hooked up to what he correctly assumed was "The Machine."

"Wonderful, isn't it?" Jabra asked as the Albino worked. "Took me half a lifetime to invent it." Zoro glared at the Count, who ignored him and continued. "I'm sure you've discovered my deep and abiding interest in pain. At present, I'm writing a definitive work on the subject, so I want you to be totally honest with me on how the Machine makes you feel." The Albino completed his preparations and stepped away politely as Count Jabra moved to stand at Zoro's head, his hand on a small leaver attached to a tall block of wood, painted numbers reaching all the way up to fifty. "Seeing as this is our first try, I'll use the lowest setting."

The lever moved up one notch. A hatch opened somewhere, and water began flowing in a powerful downpour onto the water wheel, which slowly began turning. Other various gears and spinning contraptions all began moving, slowly at first, then slowly gaining speed as it got going. All eyes turned to Zoro.

The swordsman suddenly felt something catch in his chest; it was like his heart had suddenly stopped beating, but he was still alive. He stopped breathing. His stomach jerked to the left, then to the right again. His eyes squeezed shut as a sharp tingle like he was being stabbed by four million sharpened knives scurried up his spine, lighting his nervous system on fire. His body jerked, twitched, and did the most it could while still bound tightly to the wooden board. Truth be told, it was taking all the man's willpower not to cry out. It was like the very life was being sucked out of him. Zoro let out a groan, and his breathing rapidly increased until he was almost hyperventilating.

There was a momentary pause in the torture session, and Zoro took this opportunity to open his eyes again and glare in Jabra's direction, like somehow it would stop the pain. The Count was watching with silent glee, a small grin curling his lips. The wave of pain returned, and Zoro's eyes shut again.

The pain suddenly ceased, and Zoro let out a massive sigh even when his body still twitched randomly as sudden sparks of electricity still arced through his system.

"As you know," Jabra suddenly spoke. "The concept of the suction pump is centuries old. Really that's all this is except that instead of sucking water, I'm sucking life."

Zoro imagined tearing flesh as he forced his eyes open to glare at the Count, who only smiled back smugly. He only managed a few seconds before the swordsman's eyes grew heavy again and the lids fell closed.

"I've just sucked one year of your life away." Jabra continued, his tone excreting an interested air. "I may one day go as high as five, but… I really don't know what that would do to you, so let's just start with what we have." Footsteps moved away from where Zoro lay, and a moment later there was a shuffling of paper. "What did this do to you?" Jabra's voice asked from farther away. "Tell me. And remember, this is for posterity, so please be honest. How do you feel?"

Zoro tried to open his mouth to tell the insane man off, but all that escaped his lips was a pitiful whimper.

Jabra's voice leaked with curiosity and excitement. "Interesting."

~X~X~X~

Lucci shuffled through stacks and stacks of maps and various papers littered across his work desk. The moon was visible through the tall window, sending a small sliver of light into the room. A candle on his table burned low, the wax dripping onto a map of the Gates of Justice, which he'd had one of his knights draw while searching for Robin on the Enies frontier.

A knock drew his attention to his chief enforcer of all Ohara, Usopp. Although the man was a bloody coward, he knew how to get things done and fast, and that was what Lucci held in high esteem in a man. He did lie a lot, but they were pathetic and easily seen through, and soon the enforcer stopped trying.

Today, Usopp was clad in a gray long sleeve shirt buttoned to the chin and black pants with his usual brown boots. His peculiar weapon of choice, a slingshot, was tucked into his belt. His curly black hair was drawn back into a tight ponytail. The man fingered his abnormally long nose and waited for the prince to acknowledge him.

"Usopp," said Lucci, putting down the map he had been holding.

"Sir," was the respectful reply.

Lucci motioned for Usopp to join him, and the long nosed man did, kneeling beside the prince's chair to be at eye level with him. "As chief enforcer of all Ohara," the prince began formally. "I trust you with this secret: killers from Enies are infiltrating the Thieves' Forest and plan to murder my bride on our wedding night."

Usopp raised a polite eyebrow. "My spy network has heard no such thing," he said.

"Any word from Zoro?" came a voice, and both men looked up to behold Robin standing in the doorway, clad in a light pink gown adorned with pearls. Her black hair was plaited with diamond chips that twinkled as the candlelight sparkled off them. She raised her chin high as the chief enforcer and prince stood.

"What are you doing up so late, my dear?" Lucci asked.

"That is my business," Robin retorted. "Any word?"

"Too soon, angel," Lucci purred. "Patience is a virtue."

Robin's eyes narrowed slightly. "He will come for me."

"Of course."

Appearing to be satisfied with this, Robin turned on her heel and exited the room. The moment she disappeared around the corner, Lucci and Usopp immediately sat and returned to their previous conversation. "She will not be murdered," Lucci ordered. "On the day of the wedding, I want the Thieves' Forest emptied, and every inhabitant arrested."

"Many of the thieves will resist," Usopp countered politely. "My regular enforcers will be inadequate."

Lucci's temper rose. "Form a Brute Squad then! I want the forest empty before I wed!"

"It won't be easy, sir."

Lucci waved his hand to dismiss the chief enforcer, and as Usopp stood to depart, the prince muttered, "Try ruling the world some time."

~X~X~X~

The day of the wedding arrived. The Brute Squad had their hands full carrying out Lucci's orders. As Usopp had predicted, the thieves resisted, and Usopp's mighty squad of eighteen men were caught up in a fierce struggle against the inhabitants. The women and children came relatively calmly, after much floucing about with an iron pan and brooms.

An assistant brute kicked his horse into a canter and chased a young teen through the village, herding him across the road where Usopp was passing by on a large wagon filled with twenty men chained together. The chief enforcer watched sadly as the boy was forced into a similar wagon, where he was greeted by a crying woman. Usopp did not agree with his prince's ruthless ways, but he dare not end up like the previous chief enforcer, who was beheaded for disloyalty.

The assistant brute returned to stand his horse next to Usopp's wagon to give a report. "We have most of them out," said the man, wiping away a bead of blood from the corner of his eye. A shallow cut had been imprinted into his forehead, probably by some rogue man with an axe. "There's a swordsman giving us trouble on the farthest hut."

"Well, you give him some trouble," Usopp shot back, and the Brute saluted briefly before cantering off. Usopp motioned to the driver of the wagon. "Move."

The assistant brute traded off his horse with a fellow member and continued on foot until he reached the final hut that was to be emptied. The thing was horribly dilapidated like no one had lived there for a many years. The thatch roof was caving in, and bags of rotten apples hung from a hook on the doorway. It leaned to one side like a drunken sailor. Despite its appearance, a fire was set in a small pit, over which a pot of soup was broiling.

The assistant rounded the corner to behold the swordsman he had spoken of to Chief Usopp leaning against the mud hut with a bottle of whiskey in one hand and the hilt of his sword in the other. The first time he had seen the man he thought it must have been his boss whom had been lying there; the nose was a dead giveaway. But now giving a close look he realized this man's nose was more square than the chief enforcer's and he was clothed in much more common garb. Also, his hair was a red-orange and close-cropped, whereas Usopp's was long and curly black.

"I am waiting for you, Spandam!" Kaku yelled, taking a swig of his drink. "You told me to go back to the beginning, so I have. There is where I am, and this is where I will stay. I will not be moved!"

"Ho there!" The assistant brute yelled to get the drunkard's attention.

"I won't budge!" Kaku said, his head falling back against the wall. "Keep your 'ho there.'"

"But the prince gave orders that all inhabitants are to be arrested!" the assistant brute growled.

Kaku sat immobile for a moment before suddenly dropping his bottle and lashing out with his other hand, whipping the blade of his sword through the air and slicing open a rip in the other man's sleeve. "Spandam gave me orders," he mumbled. "When the job went wrong you went back to the beginning. Well, this is where we got the job, so this is the beginning. And I am staying until Spandam comes." The long nosed swordsman fell back into a rickety chair, still mumbling incoherently.

"You, brute, come here!" said the assistant, motioning to someone behind the drunk swordsman.

"I am waiting for Spandam!" Kaku smiled.

"You surely are a meanie," a familiar voice said, and fingers suddenly wrapped around Kaku's vest and pulled him up to stand. Kaku shook his head to clear the pretty stars darting around his vision and examined the thick fingers wrapped around him. Slow familiarity clicking into his mind, he looked up to behold the fuzzy face of his old comrade.

"Hello," Luffy grinned his goofy grin.

"It's you," Kaku whispered with a lazy smile.

Luffy nodded. "True," he said, and it took a moment for Kaku to realize the giant was referencing their rhyming game aboard the ship post the princess's kidnapping.

The assistant brute looked confusedly from the giant to swordsman, coming to terms with the fact that the backup he had summoned wasn't backing him up. He raised his small axe and ran forward to intercept the men, but Luffy didn't even look up before raising his thick fist and socking the brute in the jaw, immediately knocking him unconscious.

"You don't look so good," Luffy commented nonchalantly.

Kaku rolled his eyes and let out a sound like something between a horse whinney and a belch.

Luffy leaned in and took a long sniff. "You don't smell so good either. Eat some meat, then you'll smell like meat."

"Perhaps no," Kaku smiled, and pulled away from his friend to stand alone. "I feel fine."

"Yeah?" Luffy smiled. "Great!"

He pat his comrade on the shoulder, and Kaku immediately crumpled to the ground as his intoxication took its toll. Luffy watched the swordsman fall was a childish giggle. Once his system had been depleted, he hefted Kaku's body over his shoulder and led him inside the house.

Luffy and Kaku were reunited. And as Luffy nursed his inebriated friend back to health, he told Kaku of Spandam's death and the existence of Count Jabra, the werewolf whom had slaughtered his father. Considering Kaku's lifelong search, he handled the news surprisingly well, and by well, falling face first into the bowl of vegetable soup Luffy had clumsily prepared.

Luffy took great care in reviving Kaku, giving his limited nursing expierence. His next tactic besides soup was continuously dunk the patient's head into two tubs of water, one ice cold, the other boiling hot.

After two minutes of these, Kaku immediately sobered and detatched himself from the giant's heavy grip. "That's enough! That's enough!"

Luffy backed off and watched as Kaku snatched a towel from the wall and rub it through his hair, causing it to stand up in a very amusing way. "Where is this Jabra now?" he asked urgently, throwing the wet towel away. "Where is he, so that I may kill him?"

"He's with the prince, in the castle," Luffy informed him. "But the castle is guarded by thirty men."

Kaku cursed to himself and ran a hand through his damp hair, kicking a bucket in frustration. "How many can you handle?"

Luffy began counting on his fingers. "I don't think more than ten."

Kaku likewise began ticking off numbers on his hand. "That leaves twenty for me. At my best I could never defeat that many." He sighed loudly and sat in a chair, leaning on his knees and bowing his head. "I need Spandam to plan; I have no gift for strategy."

"But Spandam's dead," Luffy pointed out.

"No… no, not Spandam," Kaku whispered, raising his head slowly and staring dramatically at his friend. "I need the Man in Black."

"What?"

Kaku rose from his chair and approached the much larger man, gripping his tunic tightly. "Look, he bested you with strength, your greatness. He bested me with steel. He must have out-thought Spandam, and that's no easy feat. A man who can do that can plan my castle onslaught any day." A wide grin broke the swordsman's face, and he released the giant to make for the door. "Let's go!"

"Where?"

"To find the man in black, obviously!"

"But we don't know where he is?" Luffy protested, moving to join him.

"Don't bother me with trifles!" Kaku yelled gleefully, a rekindled fire burning in his eyes. "After twenty years, at last my father's soul will be at peace. There will be blood tonight!"

~X~X~X~

Lucci examined his reflection in the blade of the knife he was sharpening. Unsatisfied with the man glaring back at him, he proceeded to press it once again to the sharpening rock he kept on his desk. The eerie sound of steel against stone grinded in his ears, but it was a pleasant sound; a sound of power.

The Chief Enforcer Usopp suddenly entered the room, his face sweaty and undignified but satisfied all the same. He knelt before the prince, breathing hard.

"Rise and report," Lucci spoke without setting down his activity.

"The Thieves' Forest is empty," Usopp rose from his position and gave a weary smile. "Thirty men guard the castle gate."

"Double it. My princess must be safe."

"The gate has but one key." Usopp pulled from inside his dark blue cloak a key sewn to a tasseled cloth, embroidered with the royal family crest. "And I carry that key."

Lucci spotted Robin suddenly appear through the door, her head bowed once again in depression. Her single Lady-in-Waiting trailed behind her as usual, performing once again the comforting motions meant to console the bride-to-be. "Ahhh, my dulcet darling," he said, and Robin looked up distractedly.

"Your highness," Nami whispered, bowing low and sweeping her red gown across the floor in respect.

"Tonight, we marry," the prince rejoiced, moving around the table to take Robin's hands in his own. "Tomorrow morning Usopp's men will escort us to the Grand Line River, where every ship in my armada waits to accompany us on our honeymoon."

"Every ship but your four fastest you mean," Nami injected rudely.

Lucci shot the lady-in-waiting a death glare. "Know your place, woman," he growled.

"Every ship but the four you sent with the letter to Zoro," the red-haired woman continued without hesitation, her eyes narrow in anger and tone seething with annoyance.

"You will not speak to me in such tones," Lucci growled.

"Nami is correct," Robin whispered distractedly, drawing the prince's attention back to her. "Every ship but your four fastest."

"Yes, yes of course," Lucci said hurriedly, regaining his regal composure and making Nami snort discreetly into her sleeve. "Certainly not those four."

Usopp coughed lightly. "Ahem, your Majesty,"

Lucci did not meet his chief enforcer's gaze, but gave the man a curt nod as a signal of his dismissal. Usopp strode toward the door, taking Nami's arm roughly in his and pulling her after him despite her protests.

"You never sent the ships," Robin immediately said once the two were out of earshot. The princess immediately knew she had guessed correctly when she saw a dark light encompass her so-called fiancé's eyes. "Don't bother lying. Doesn't matter; Zoro will come for me anyway."

Lucci released his bride. "You're a silly girl." He strode back to his desk to replace his dagger within its sheath.

"Yes, I am a silly girl," Robin retorted angrily, following him. "Silly for not having seen sooner that you are nothing but a coward with a heart full of fear."

Lucci fingered the hilt of his dagger, his voice deadly serious and his eyes filled with a cold evil. "I would not say these things if I were you."

"Why not?" Robin smiled mysteriously. "You can't hurt me. Zoro and I are joined more than you and I will ever be. When we run, you will not be able to track us, not with a thousand bloodhounds. And you cannot break our bond, not with a thousand swords." Confident now in her speech, the black haired beauty roamed around the desk to face the prince head on. "And when I say you are a coward, that is only because you are the slimiest weakling ever to crawl the earth!"

Lucci's dagger clattered to the desk as his iron hands reached for something more interesting to grip. They latched onto her arm so hard, Robin let out a small cry of pain. The prince dragged her from the room, twisting her arm painfully. "I would not say such things if I were you!"

Robin was thrust into her room, and she could hear the lock click behind her. Nursing her arm, Robin couldn't help but smile.

~X~X~X~

Lucci rammed his thumb into the secret knot that concealed the entrance to the Pit of Despair. Slamming the door behind him, he clattered down the stairs and into the wide room, where he could barely see Jabra scratching at something on a roll of parchment. The Albino was fiddling around with various jars containing different types of liquids. The roving table that bound his troublesome cook was parked a few feet away from the machine. Its occupant was breathing heavily, his bare chest heaving, and it was clear he had just endured a session on the Machine.

However, the man Lucci was interested in was barely conscious. He was currently connected to the Machine, the wires and ropes all ready for action. His bright green hair stood out like a sore thumb against the darkness of the pit, and this made him easily identifiable.

Lucci leaned over the board planting one hand on either side of Zoro's face so the man had no choice but to look at him. And that he did, those dark green eyes framed by a cold intelligence that Lucci, under different circumstances, would have admired.

"You truly love each other, and so you might have been truly happy. Not one couple in a century has that chance, no matter what the storybooks say. So I think no man in a century will suffer as greatly as you will."

Lucci was confident these would be the last words the man would ever hear, so the prince stepped away and took control of the Machine, raising the leaver to the highest setting: 50.

Count Jabra stood up sharply, yelling out, "Not fifty! At least, not yet!"

His cry fell on deaf ears, as the room was suddenly filled with the feral screams of a dying man.

The plot thickens! Oh no! The machine has been set to fifty! If the first setting sucks away one year… what about fifty? O.O

Anyway, the next chapter shall definitely begin the next events until the finale, the epic climax. Almost there, people! Thanks for staying by me so far, and I hope you enjoy the rest of the story.

Coming Up: Chapter 12 – The Miracle Worker