DESPERATION

(The anti-climatic ending...)

The screaming of the alarms would be what got his response first as Genji would rip his eyes away from Sanji.

"Like hell if I know."

He would response to the question, but that wasn't what he meant ...as Sanji rip the covers away. His bare feet would touch the ground as he prepared to head into battle. It was all instinct, and he wasn't the only one to react to it as Genji would reach for a weapon that didn't rest by his bed and the other two men would slip from their places by the door to block it as they peer outwards. Everyone was moving into combat position, but as the announcement rang clearly though the place ...it would be for nothing.

"Stay in your rooms, do not engage the enemy ...this is an order...the shutters to the room will close to keep everyone safe. I repeat, do not leave your room, and those outside of your rooms ...go to the closest one to your destination. I will repeat, everyone is confine to quarters until this threat had been dealt with."

That announcement would force reality back to the forefront. They were no longer warriors, their bodies crippled beyond their capabilities to simply shrug off as Genji's hand would swipe empty air. His sniper rifle was gone, he would never be able to shoot with that sort of accuracy again with only one eye. His hand would gingerly touch the bandage over that part of his face. Sho and the other bandage man would stumble back a bit, their bodies were too badly wounded for them to be the shield to their sniper like they once had. The bandages suddenly felt that much tighter as they looked at each other. They would both take two small steps back into the safety of the room in equal measures. They were useless, and ...like the useless creatures they were ...they needed to stay out of the way.

This feeling would resonate through the hospital as quickly as the announcement, and those more injured or equal to them would realize the same thing. As their hands would go for weapons that no longer exist and they remembered why they weren't armed, and the announcement further pointed out to them of their new place in the world and the place they had lost. They wouldn't resist the order, and so, they rested and waited for others to protect them.

Though there was one who wasn't going to be so compliant.

"Tch, who is going to stay hidden in their own holes while we are attacked."

Sanji's voice would snap the three in his room out of their trance. Their eyes would dart to him as the man would stand up ...he was missing his shoes, but, they were by his bed and he easily slip into them. Even as the shutters that would cover the doors and windows of their room started to slide down ...Sanji would move to escape their little corner of the world.

The two bigger men ...in bandages looked at him in shock.

"You can't go .. the orders."

"Are for those that can't fight."

Sanji would snap at them.

"I got two good arms and two good legs ...I will be damn if I don't use them."

It was like a light went up in their eyes as Genji would growl back at Sanji.

"The orders ...said."

"Fuck the orders."

Sanji growled back just as quickly.

That statement alone would surprise all three. For what Marine didn't know to follow orders ...to always do what is told to them. It was their most basic of Creeds, the very differences between them and the pirates, but, Sanji just looked away from them as he slip his feet into his shoes and headed out the door. His words a slap in their faces as he pass them.

"I am a man, and no fucking man lays around and let someone else protect them when they can do it for themselves."

The tapping sound of his shoes would echo at them as he left the room. His head held high and his hands pushed into the pockets of his pants. His shoulders broad and straight spoke volumes and as they watched his back disappear as he turns a counter ... the sound of those shoes would stab into their hearts as deeply as the words he had spoken. For they were all men, and who in the hell would sit by while another one ..showed them up.

"Humph, that mush brain has a point."

Sho would tell Genji as the ex-sniper only smirked once.

"Humph, he can't remember any damn pledge to follow orders, and we can't sit by and watch him get murdered either. Marines always stick together."

It was an excuse, but it was enough as the fires in their heart and in their heads wouldn't allow them to stay behind. If they got reprimanded for this, at least, they had a good reason for why they had disobeyed orders. The door to Sanji's room would be sealed shut behind the shutter, but there would be no one within.

/

The crew was continuing forward even without Sanji. Luffy was sure ...he had told them ...that if they kept going forwards their paths would cross again. Thus, when they got to the Shabondy Archipelago ...no one thought much of their missing member. They all were resolved to continue forward ...to meet him in the New world ..for surely he would be heading there. Their determination ...to meet again ...maybe it was why when things became dangerous there was no thoughts to turn around. Maybe, that is why ...when things started to spiral out of control ...they refused to even think of leaving another friend behind. Maybe, that was why ...the command to run away came too late. Maybe, because, they were one crew member short ...things turned so desperate.

Split into three ...but the numbers were uneven ...so for him and Usopp it had been two. The damage and effort of fighting ...at less than full strength against the pacifista was clear. The damage to their party was almost complete, they couldn't take anymore. There was not a single member that had been left un-injured. Yet, the enemies kept coming ...two more ...and they were strong ...with everyone so weak.

It had all fallen apart in mere seconds.

Zoro stood against the Pacifista, his swords were drawn as blood drips down the side of his face and arms. Usopp ... lay to his side ...unconscious, and Zoro knew ...he should have been laying next to him. The beam that had hit him ...was at an Admiral's strength ...more than anything that he could handle. He had immediately become a dead weight, and, still they had tried to escape with him. He should have stayed that way ..and been lying beside Usopp even now. Though...as his nakama fell trying to protect him in this mad dash ...how could he do less. He had forced himself to stand again ...and with his last breathe he would fight, and he knew ...at that moment that is what this would be. His mind went to the stupid love cook. Where was he ...when they needed most? Though as he looked at the shoes of his opponent he remembered he had already sacrificed once ...he couldn't blame him for not being here now. Thus, it was up to him ...beaten bloody or not. If they were to meet again ...they couldn't be wiped out ...

He would take up a defensive stance ..his body couldn't do anything more.

He could take this next shot ..and then ...he would worry about what happen next.

Zoro told himself.

He is going to be the world's strongest swordsmen ...he didn't need his help damn it. He would get them through this. They would not fall apart now. They will all meet in the new world. They would meet again in the new world, and if he allowed the crew to be shattered ...before then. He could see the look in his eye, and he could imagine that little curly eyebrow dancing in his anger and frustration. Maybe, it was the blood lost that had him muttering those words ...as he tried to raise his eyes to match that of his opponent. The last flickers of determination was held within his own.

"Shitty cook."

Luffy's scream would cut across the area ...Zoro's name.

It sounded too much like the one for Sanji all those days ago as the beam power up in the hand raised to finish him off, and suddenly it disappeared as the creature was taken down by his own double. A Pacifista vs. a pacifista, but ...Zoro easily saw the differences as the two separated after the initial collusion. Kuma! That one was no double, but the real thing. He was the one who started this horror in the first place, the man who had split their crew once before ...as Kuma put down his double in no time flat and turn his attention towards them.

There was nothing more he could do.

"Where do you want to go?"

His mind snap back to reality as he heard those words, and then ...he was gone.

/

"Duck, Sanji."

A voice called him just in time as the man would sweep low ...as he did a leg sweep instead of the spinning routine he had used to clear the area just moments before. The pirate that had pulled his pistol only moments before, head would snap back ...as the plate would hit hard against it ..smashing and breaking against his skull. The man would slump in the entries way to the hall way ...as Sanji turned that leg sweep into a powerhouse upper kick ...catching an opportunist hard against his chin. The man's feet would clear the ground as he was literally face planted into the ceiling as Sanji never stop his movements for one moment. His hands holding his body straight upwards after that leg sweep had turned into a powerhouse upper kick, and now ...as he went rigid, a handstand to allow .. two men to rush past him in that tight space. A sword would catch one pirate in the gut, while a hard club would catch the other one in the chin. Both men knew by now to draw back as quickly as possible after their rush ...as they made it point never to close the gap between them. A weakness most ...saw as the pirates push forwards, but those that did would be great with the floor ...as Sanji dove through the area between them ...to send forth a flurry of kicks that would further clear more space before them.

It was in this way that the three men ...that had disobeyed orders were now holding the southern corridor alone. The Doctor ..one of four that had guarded the place ...now lay behind Genji in the hallway. It had all happen so quickly as they rounded the corner to find that the strong hold had been sieged by pirates that had used the furious storm outside as a cover. The russet hair doctor ...a man who was a master of needles had been fighting valiantly then ...as he threw them out with a accuracy that could have made Genji jealous of him ...when he had both eyes to see with.

But, a Sniper was never meant to be on the front lines, and with the pirates having gotten so far in before they were notices ...he was cut off from support. A single rush of all of their forces has ...put him down ...a deep gun shot wound in his belly ...as they had come to his aid a few moments too late.

His life now depended on their ability to get to the front. The hospital itself was broken into four different sections ...the main lobby ...was the gateway to the hospital, and then after that...it went towards emergency (waiting patients), surgery (patients being worked on), recovery (Healing patients), and finally ...the mortuary (dead ones). There was one doctor to man each one, and with their ranks being that of at least a Captain ...they can generally take care of themselves. Then again, they normally fought together in the lobby area, never letting their opponent get so close. Though this time, they had been taken off guard, and the four fought on their own separate grounds. It was the russet haired doctor that was in charge of their wing, and it was him that was down and in need of a doctor's aid.

Sanji never said tolda ya so ...as the thought of how this could have ended if he hadn't been there. IF he hadn't told them to go out ...despite the order, and Genji shivered at the thought of the massacre that would have taken place. The corridors were tight and narrow, at most three men could pass at one time. But, beyond the corridor ...they could have spread out like an ocean it was that many men that they were fighting. The injured behind the shutters would have been dragged out and easily killed, and his little group wouldn't have had a hope of a prayer ...if they hadn't caught them in this tight hallway.

"Damn it, get your head in the game."

Sanji shouted as the gun shot miss him by inches. The bullet smashing into the wall next to his hair as blonde dance backwards. The first time they had lost ground since this had started. The pirates were trying a firing range again, they had tried it more than once, but every time they thought to simply gain some distances and fire into the corridor until the three men were down ...Genji had made them think differently. The man was a sniper, and though his range was much more lackluster than normal ...with the help of the Gun ..Gun ..fruit ...he could turn anything into a bullet to fire. And, not only was he a better shot than this raggedy group, but he was faster too.

The string of items that collided with those that tried to shoot ...would make someone arch a eyebrow, a plate, a mop, a gun hilt, and finally ...a fallen pirate himself. Genji was collecting ammunition as they walked ...from those that fall and from things left lying around.

It was a long haul, but eventually ...it would all come to an end ...as the rear group would scream in pain and rage. The head Surgeon was the exception to the rule in term of rank, the man was the leader of the hospital and a Admiral in his own regards. The only reason the fight had lasted so long had been sure numbers alone ...as he finally managed to clear the rear and the front would quickly follow thanks to Sanji.

It was all over ...and they ...who had begun to forget that they still had a purpose were considered to be heroes. It was over ...and with the Pirates captured and put into prison for three days ...it seemed that was the end of their adventure. Yet, it would seem they hadn't just come to the hospital by accident ...they were being chased, and there was no better strong hold than one ...that could only be access by the sea. It was why they had attacked, and why ...three day later a marine ship had come to port.

The man marveled at what they had done, and once they had discovered that Sanji could cook as well. Everyone at this point figured, he must have been a master chef, and someone whom rarely saw the front lines of battle ...the reason no on recognized him ...was recruited again to the life at Sea. Though at the time, Genji had thought he would be saying goodbye to his friend ...somehow they had managed to be recruited with him to go to Marineford.

"Nakama..."

Sanji had said at that time.

"...don't leave Nakama behind."

It was why they were there with him ...on the day ...that the newspaper came, and for some strange reason ...Sanji had cried. He couldn't explain the tears himself, because a man doesn't cry. But, something had made him sad ...about the article

"The Strawhat pirates had been destroyed."

Desperation -THE END.

(I want to thank everyone who review, favorite, and follow. Thanks to you, I managed to get this to completion. So, thank you ...thank you very much for your support ...it was SUPEERRRRRR)