Updated: 10/21/16

Chapter 11: Rescue

The bulbous ivory moon shone brilliantly in the midnight sky over the slumbering city below, with the only signs of activity radiating from a few bars and dance clubs. With how placid the city was, few could even begin to imagine the encounter that would take occur in only a matter of moments. As the Straw Hats gathered in a circle on the Sunny's deck, Robin and Nami reviewed the plan once more, making sure that not a single detail was missed so questions could be avoided later. All crew mates either muttered or nodded to confirm their understanding of the instructions.

Brook raised his boney hand like he was a student in the middle of class, the whiteness of his cartilage appearing to emanate a glow against the dusk air. "Pardon me, but I would like to suggest something," the skeleton declared.

The Straw Hats focused their attention on him, inwardly speculating on what their skeletal comrade had planned. Luffy folded his muscular arms over his scarred chest and raised his head up so his gaze was boring right into Brook's eye sockets. "What is it?" he tranquilly inquired.

"When we reach the ship, I want to be the one who runs forward and frees Liara."

At first nobody spoke, as they were unsure on how to reciprocate his request. Nami raised a brow, but Robin looked unfazed, as if she had expected him to make the proposal.

"But I want to rescue the damsel!" Sanji dramatically groused as he fell to his knees, clearly jealous of somebody else able to liberate Liara from her imprisonment.

Brook swayed his head, not moved in the least by their cook's sniveling performance. "I feel it must be me. It's my fault she was captured, and I want to be the one who gets her back so I can apologize and let her know that it'll never happen again." Such sincerity was evident in his words that even Franky began bawling.

"Skull-bro, you-you get that girl back! You do it!" Waterfalls of tears poured from his eyes, which he hastily attempted to mop away.

Robin hummed in approval. "I am fine with that. In fact, I find it quite understandable. What do you think, Captain?"

The rubber man grinned. "Shishishi! As long as we get Liara back, then I don't care who gets her."

Sanji lit another cigarette with a huff as he pushed himself back onto his feet. "Fine, but if he lets this happen one more time I'm gonna kick his boney ass straight to hell. Agreed?" He challengingly glared at Brook, who nodded to the agreeable terms.

"I promise."

The corners of Sanji's lips twisted upwards before gazing over at Robin. She had her arms crossed over her chest and her eyes closed.

Nami pulled out her Climatact. "Any sign of them?"

The Archaeologist lowered her eyebrows in concentration. After several second of silence elapsed, Robin opened her cerulean eyes and nodded. "Yes, they are waiting at the meeting spot. Let's hurry." On that note, the crew determinedly proceeded down the ramp, with Luffy leading them in the front.

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Diminutive lanterns hung outside of houses, and elevated lamp posts lit street corners, which provided a substantial amount of light to guide the group of pirates as they traipsed along the reserved streets. Occasionally a drunk would wander around on the pavement, mumbling some sort of incomprehensible sentence while stumbling around with a hollow booze bottle in his hand. The faint sound of dance music echoed through the night atmosphere for solely a moment before declining back into silence as the Straw Hats proceeded inconspicuously towards the back of the city, armed and prepared for battle against a foe they knew very little about. Before the actual fight, however, another obstacle had to be overcome, and hopefully in a neutral manner.

Brook felt a range of emotions; from furious to apprehensive to charged- it seemed so much more than what his skull could withstand. He desired nothing more than to depart and punish the bastard who had seized Liara away from him.

His movements relatively came to a halt. He was rather unsure as to why he'd only thought of himself and not the others. He supposed that it could have been the fact that he'd probably bonded the most with her out of the entire crew. Well, Nami had too, so maybe she was thinking the same thing. He gained speed so he could keep up with the others.

Yeah, that was it.

The accent of their footsteps reflected on the cobblestone street pavement, which to the Straw Hats was an alluring harmony. It was the sound that proved that they marched together, not just as crew mates, but as a family. With each clicking sound, the determination of the group only grew more formidable.

Eventually they arrived at their target, which was a barely lit street corner. Two forms stood side-by-side beneath the light, their shadows cast onto the sidewalk.

"So, I see you've agreed to help us. We appreciate it." Robin stepped forward and bowed her head in gratitude towards the strangers.

The figures walked out from the light, revealing themselves to be a man and woman. Instead of returning the greeting, they unsheathed their swords and glared at the bunch before them. The man cracked his neck, and the female narrowed her eyes with intense disdain.

"Make no mistake, we still don't support your group or appreciate what you make our unit go through on a daily basis. We're only doing this for Liara. Now-" She popped her knuckles and clenched her fists. "- let's go get the asshole who has my daughter."

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All eleven figures hustled wordlessly to the Black Dragon's hideaway like trained assassins about to kill their target. They passed by broad moss-covered rocks and towering trees that prevented any moonlight from proceeding into the area through their compressed branches. When they could perceive the sound of the ocean, weapons were drawn out, as they knew their objective was approaching. Zoro fastened a sword between his teeth and firmly grasped the other two while Sanji lit another cigarette and puffed curls of ashen smoke.

Finally, the boat came into view. It was sizable, but not quite as impressive as the Sunny. A few men were seen pacing back and forth on deck, probably on guard duty. Luffy, Merick, and Mina crouched near the front, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. The others awaited their Captain's orders. All had agreed that Mina was to be given the privilege in beating the hell out of Lurg, as she was strong, stubborn, and wouldn't take no for an answer. She did generously comply to allow her husband to get a punch or two in, and that was enough for him

[One Piece Strong World: Senseikougeki~Kodou no volume wo ageru~]

Luffy nodded his head towards one of the men, who had turned around and was facing the opposite direction. The rubber captain grinned, spun his arm around a few times, and propelled his fist forward. "Gomu Gomu no Red Hawk!" he whooped as his fist made direct contact with the man and impaled him off the ship.

On that signal, the Straw Hats and their temporary allies charged . Sanji sprang up and initiated Sky Walk to propel himself towards the ship. After landing, he wasted no time in lowering the ramp so the others could join him on deck. Additional Black Dragon pirates ascended from the main hold, startled by the abrupt crashing resonance. Mina and Merick sprinted up the ramp, showing not an ounce of benevolence to anybody who intersected their path.

Zoro shook his head in disapproval. "You small fry aren't even worthy enough to kill time on," the swordsman muttered in arrogance before slashing his swords across the air and cutting down the pirates in front of him in one swift movement. His Yakkodori attack was powerful enough to send his enemies flying backwards into the ship's wall, their arms covered with deep cuts.

Sanji's hands were placed palm down on the ground while he spun his legs out and delivered a nasty kick to anybody who was foolish enough to be near him. Nami and Robin stood back-to-back, both of them using their own deadly moves. Robin formed an X over her chest with her arms, and instantaneously nine arms sprouted out on several random Black Dragon pirates. "Nueve Fleur Twist" was all she said before twisting her opponent's upper bodies, the sounds of cracking bones echoing even throughout all the chaos.

The top on Nami's Climatact glowed blue as little statics of electricity crackled threateningly off of it. Heat and cool balls lifted upwards until they formed a dusk cloud. "Thunderbolt Tempo!" Nami triumphantly shouted as lightning shot down from the cloud and completely electrified her targets.

Usopp stood at the front of the ship with his Kuro Kabuto armed and ready. He stretched it back and closed one eye to take aim, his tongue sticking out of the side of his mouth in concentration. "Midori Boshi: Humandrake!" Pop Green scattered all over the ground at his opponent's feet. At first nothing happened, so his opponents exchanged confused looks with each other, having no clue as to why the strange long-nosed man in front of them looked so smug. However, as they began to move closer to Usopp, the roots of the Pop Green erupted upwards, causing the men to fall backwards and yell in surprise. Franky jumped over next to Usopp, struck a pose, and then opened his mouth to release a large fireball. It shot out and hit the fallen men dead-on, with not even a hint of flame touching the ship.

Chopper and Brook remained close-by, fighting their own opponents. Chopper had morphed into his newest form, Kung Fu Point, and used his new found strength to roughly knock down his attackers. As they lay there stunned, Brook jumped upwards with his sword drawn out, and propelled himself downwards with his Gavotte Bond en Avant attack. As his feet made contact with the deck, he didn't slice any of the fallen men, only knelt down so his sword was placed threateningly close to the Adam's apple of one of the despicable pirates.

"Where is Liara?!" he pressed, not hesitating to push the point of the blade against the man's neck to show he wasn't fooling around. The man glanced around with a pleading look in his eyes, only to find the other men that had fallen beside him had their arms and legs held in place by a pair of arms. Brook nodded appreciatively at Robin, who gave a small smile as her arms remained in an "X" shape. All the other pirates had been dealt with and defeated.

All except one.

"Well done, well done!" Lurg stepped onto the deck from his cabin on the second floor, clapping and smirking as he strutted down the stairs."Too bad I wasn't informed of your arrival ahead of time, other wise I might have prepared some snacks."

Mina hatefully scowled at him. "Get your ass down here Lurg! We need to have a talk!" she spat as she aimed her blade at him.

"WHERE IS LIARA?" Brook once more furiously demanded with narrow eye sockets, enraged and impatient.

Lurg coyly shrugged. "I assume sleeping in her room. But let's not worry about her. After all, you came tromping onto my ship and attacked my crew mates. That isn't something I appreciate, you know."

"But you took Liara away, and she is our nakama!" Luffy accusingly yelled. The other Straw Hats nodded in agreement as they stepped forward to stand beside their captain. Lurg stood on the main floor now, and decided to draw out his own sword to show he was just as serious. Mina flew forward without hesitation and slashed angrily at him, the sounds of metal clanking against each other audibly resounding.

"You're better than I expected," Lurg complimented with a sarcastic grin as his sword once again met with hers, sparks flying off the blades. Mina ducked and jammed her foot upwards with incredible flexibility, her heel smashing into his chin. Startled, he stepped backwards, but recovered quickly enough to block her lower jab. Everybody else stood nearby and watched the fight with increased intensity. Brook didn't bother paying attention to what was happening before him as he was too busy trying to guess where Liara was.

[+]

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All she could see was pitch black as she was cloaked in shadow. Even after remaining in the dark for so long, she still couldn't the floorboards beneath her feet or the wooden walls that imprisoned her. Sitting alone for such a lengthy amount of time had filled her with disturbing thoughts of numerous situations that always ended in tragedy.

Was tonight her last night alive? She couldn't have imagined that she was going to die so young, and before she'd been able to make her dream of discovering Fantastia Island come true. Worse yet, it was going to be after she'd met the most wonderful group of people who she'd had the pleasure to call friends.

Still, regardless of how unfortunate her situation was, she couldn't help but hold onto the tiny bit of hope that her nakama would find her.

But what if they had tried to and failed?

She briskly shook her head, wishing she had a free hand right now so she could slap herself for having such negative thoughts. Perhaps she should call the Captain back in to do it for her. After all, even though him hitting her earlier had stung like crazy, it had at least woken her up to face reality. In a situation like this, despair and negativity wouldn't get her anywhere, nor would feeling sorry for herself.

She suddenly perceived what sounded like an emphatic yell. She lifted her face and listened intently as the sounds of swords, shouts, and crashing surrounded her. Her eyes widened in disbelief and hope blossomed once again as a tear flowed down her swollen cheek.

Please let this be them.

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The fight continued on. So far, Mina had proven to be agile and clever, as she was adapt at spotting an opportunity to catch Lurg off-guard when he least expected it. Eventually she managed to slash him a few times and kick him in the stomach, causing him to gasp for breath as air was forced out of his lungs. As promised, Merick was able to step in and give Lurg a few good punches, shattering the captain's nose and engraving a bruise on his forehead. Lurg put his hands up, his face bloated and caked in blood.

"Fine! I surrender! Go get your damn daughter. She's nothing but trouble anyways," the defeated captain muttered. He skin turned ghastly as Brook approached and glared so threateningly at him that he swore he was staring at the Grim Reaper.

"I will only ask this one more time," Brook growled. "Where is Liara?"

Lurg grimaced. "12 doors down on the left hallway."

"Why thank you." Brook used the back of his sword to knock the captain out before looking at his crew, who had visibly relaxed and seemed to be urging him forward with their smiles.

"Go get her Brook!" Usopp and Franky cheered while the others watched him with approval.

The skeleton wasted no time in bolting down the hallway as adrenaline coursed through his bones. He couldn't wait to reach her and make sure she was safe.

It was time for her to come back home.

"I'm coming Liara!"