DESPERATION

( Well, this is going to be a long one, but I can't find a way around it this time. I am getting ready to wrap this up in just a few chapters. Though I promise, I tried to shorten this...somewhat)

"This is bullshit."

Sanji would grumble as he quickly found out why the kitchen had been empty when he entered. It would seem that anyone foolish enough to play the part of dishwasher during the active times of the day would find themselves just that ...the dishwasher. It had started with one or two others coming and dumping their dishes, a pat on his back, and a thanks before they left. Sanji had understood them, one was missing an arm, and the other was on crutches. So, it had been a reasonable for them to leave him with their work. Though as he was distracted with his hands all the way up to his elbow in dish water others has used this time to place their plates on the stack and make a hasty retreat. A quick glance to retrieve a dish had almost left him in shock as he saw the stack had double.

Sanji was livid at being taken advantage of, and he was determine to make it stop.

Pretending to be hard at work on the stack of dirty dishes, half an act, and the other half his duty ...the man would keep his eye out for any new additions. He would catch them this time, and if they were able he would make them do their share of the work. That was after kicking their asses for thinking that he was the residential dish washer. It would be a good lesson, and he was grinning quite evilly at the thought of his revenge ...as he scrub one dish so hard that it was literally a mirror by the time he finished. He didn't notice then as he put the dish away that the stack of dirty dishes would practically triple, until he reached for a new one and actually screamed.

"What the fuck! This is not funny! Who the hell did this!"

His temper finally got the better of him as he would rush out the room literally kicking the door open as he thought to catch the culprit in the hallway. A move that to his own surprise was a success as he saw a man standing out in hall with two others. Their faces showed their guilt since they were had been leaning against the door before he burst through. The sweat that ran down the side of their faces was another good indicator as Sanji took a good look at them before he acted. An arrow would seem to connect his eye to the parts of their anatomy that he considered important. All three were practically healthy individuals, one was missing an eye, the other two ...seem to be burn victims with long bandages covering the wounds on their faces. They all had two arms and two legs, and with lightning speed, Sanji would add one bump each to the top of their heads. They could do their own damn dishes. His foot was the deliverer of this message as they profusely apologized afterward the blows ...bowed down on the floor before him. Something inside of him stirred.

The world shook then ...as something arc from his memories.

Somehow, this felt familiar as the fog of his memory parted slightly, but at the same time ...he felt that something was missing. It didn't move enough for him to see what, who, or even why. His mind reel, and he found himself trying to concentrate ...trying to part the fog ...as he stared at them. It was so close he felt it ...just on the tip of his mind's eye. Two people, maybe more, had done this before ..had apologize to him in this matter, and he knew than that this was the stirring of some memory of his, but he couldn't grasp it ...as an awkward silences would stray between them. The three men didn't dare move away as they sat on the floor in a pervious bow position, and looked between themselves. The blond hair man was concentrating hard on something as finally they would decide amongst themselves who would risk gaining his attention. The one eye man would finally bring the silence to a stop as he cough and then declare sharply to the Sanji.

"Hai, are you okay?"

He would wince slightly when Sanji's head would snap up and seemed to blink at him once as if he was drugged. The blonde's movements sluggish like he was waking from a dream would be the only indication that things were taking a turn for the worst. One hand would go to his head and he would rock back on his heels as he started to fall backwards and through the swinging doors. His back hitting the door hard enough that he would be sporting a bruise between his shoulder blade as he fell, and he probably would have gain more injuries if two of the three men hadn't jump to action. Their hesitation to move earlier was forgotten as the one eye man would grip Sanji by the shoulder as one of the bandaged men would grab his other to keep him from hitting the floor back first. Though despite their efforts, his weight threaten to topple them anyway as the one eye man would cry out desperately to bandaged man beside him and the one behind them.

"Sit him down, quickly. Sho, get the Doc."

The one eye man tried to help Sanji to sit, while the bandaged man that hadn't help in keeping Sanji from going through the door took off down the hallway. The remaining bandaged man would rush into the kitchen to wet a rag the moment they had Sanji on the floor. He would return to see the blonde man pressing his fingers so hard against his temples that his nails were literally digging into his skin. The one eye man beside him was trying to get him to focus on him as he kept him sitting upright.

"Get his fingers out of his head, Genji."

The bandaged man called out to the one eye one as he nods. The trail of red would only get his attention then ...as saw the damage that the blonde was doing to himself. He would grab one hand, while the bandaged man would grab the other. Genji couldn't believe their little prank had turned out like this as they held his hands down to his side, while pressing their shoulders into him to keep him from toppling over. They counted themselves lucky that the man didn't try and kick them while he was in this position as they both took that moment to look at him.

His eye was glaze over, and he had a vacant expression on his face. They both knew ...no one was home at that moment as the sound of footsteps would echo down the hallway. The Doctor would skid to a halt with a syringe in his hands. This one a russet colored brunette would skid to a halt beside Genji as he would drop beside the man and plunge the needle into Sanji's arm. They needed him to relax, and the Doc had somehow knew that from Sho's instructions. Thus, what was in the needle wasn't hard to figure out.

A sedative.

The next thing Sanji would remember would be waking up in his new room.

/

The entire flying fish rider's adventure hadn't been too bad as the group celebrated afterwards by eating the Takoyaki they had fought so hard for. Considering everything they had gone though, Usopp hadn't been able to resist the need to give them his spin on it as he started his story. The man was standing with one foot on the table and the other in the chair in a dramatic pose, something he would never had done if a certain chef was there, and was going over ever last glorious detail as everyone but Nami, Robin, Luffy, and Zoro listen intently to his story.

He almost had a full audience, so there was no way he was going to waste this chance.

"So, the great Captain Usopp storm the villainous stronghold of the evil Flying fish riders to save a former enemy ...as he shot down the aerial enemy with his cannons. Though they swarm in the millions, they drop upon the deck like ...well fish as the awesomeness of the Great Captain Usopp was more than they can stand. His mighty crew drove is vessel all the way to port, but it was here that the dastardly coward would ambush them as one of his riders launched a kamikaze attack ...damaging the ship.

This so enraged the Great Captain Usopp that he pointed his finger at the cage that house the now honorable Hachi-san and demanded his release. The lock that knew of his greatness instantly burst apart, and the chains that cover him would fracture at the sound of his voice. That is how great Captain Usopp is, that even non-moving objects recognizes his power.

His former enemy Hachi-sama was free.

And with that, the villain was left with little choice ... without his prisoner to hold against the Great Captain Usopp he would have to face him himself and ..."

It was there that the story would be interrupted as for the thousandth time, Nami would have to scream at Luffy as she tried to convince the boy that they hadn't attacked and beaten up Sanji. Zoro who couldn't at first tell the differences between the two would back her up ...with a simple statement of ...the guy was too shitty to be the cook. And, the rest of the crew would chime in as their Captain looked at them with sorrowful eyes even as he down another three Takoyaki in one gulp.

The man in question, Duvel hadn't really looked like Sanji, but like his wanted poster. This was enough for their Captain to confuse him for the real thing, which, was something that was hilarious. Though Usopp would have never laughed at him if Sanji had been there ...he like having all of his teeth in his head. Well, it had taken a minute for most of the crew to recover and by then ...Luffy was pretty much attach to the guy's arm asking for food. His defeat had come across as more of an accident than anything else ...as they tried to pry their Captain from the man with a slingshot result. The resulting crash had lay the man out flat, and they had used that as an excuse to make their break for open water. Afterall, there was only so much damage they could do to their fake crewmate without risking the wrath of their captain. Their mission had been a success, but no one can say it wasn't fun.

Usopp could only chuckle slightly.

That was their Luffy as he gave a scowl and then left the room to mope. He probably was still half convinced that the imposer had been Sanji, but, with the promise of food ...he would quickly drop it. As Usopp would look to recapture his audience while the captain had found something else to occupy his time. The Great Captain would cough once to draw their attention back to him as he gave himself time to remember. He had forgotten his place in the story, but no one could doubt his talent as he would find a new place to pick up the story.

"And, the waves would crash and the world tremble as the Great Captain Usopp would issue out his challenge to the leader of the Flying Fish Riders."

/

It would be hours later ...and Sanji would wake to see the familiar white walls and ceilings of the hospital. The soft buzzing noise in his ears as the machinery did it's work, and feeling of the covers on him. It felt like deja vu to him as he just lay there, and tried to think back to how he landed there. The same fog from before would roll over his memories, but it wasn't as dark this time ...and then a jarring pain jolt through his head as he tries to investigate that differences. His hand going up to his temple to touch bandages. Those were new, and then a voice would chime in startling him back to reality as he sits up to see two faces smiling at him and another scowling.

"What the hell?"

Sanji couldn't stop himself from exclaiming even as the hospital's alarms would scream in agreement.