Angel of Death Fruit

Book One: Deadline

By Dixxy Mouri

Chapter 8 – March 2, 1:30 pm

Nami still didn't understand why the Iron Butterfly had helped her, but she quickly realized that – at least, for the time being – they had an ally. How long that alliance would last was anyone's guess, but it seemed as if, between the Straw Hat Pirates and Elizabeth Stoker's henchmen, she was choosing the Straw Hats.

Mai Lee and the Iron Butterfly were facing each other, and Mai Lee seemed very angry. "You little – don't think that was the last of my arsenal!" The woman backflipped and produced a second whip, which she cracked at the bounty hunter's feet. The Iron Butterfly leaped out of the way, landing gracefully on all fours next to Nami, her body crouched in a fighting position.

"If you want to get out of this alive, we have to take them both out," said the bounty hunter. "Then we might have a chance at getting to Sanji and rescuing him before Elizabeth Stoker does her dirty work – there shouldn't be a need for your crew to have a funeral because of this if we play our cards right."

"Why should I be taking orders from you?" asked Nami.

"Weren't you going to do all of that that anyways?" the girl said dryly. She stood, brandishing her weapon in front of her. "First thing we have to do is stay alive – none of us will be able to do anyone any good if we loose here." She turned to Mai Lee, pointing the ring towards her. "We won't loose to you or your sister."

Mai Lee grinned. "The two of you and Nico Robin won't be leaving this island alive, and neither will your dear Black Leg. But if you insist on fighting a pointless battle, I certainly won't stop you." She pulled the whip tight and grinned. The Iron Butterfly stood her ground, beginning to twirl the ring around her wrist. "So. . . who's first? Will it be our Iron Butterfly, or our Cat Burglar? There's more than one way to skin a cat, and I can squash the other like a bug."

Nami almost let her guard down at the line, while the bounty hunter simply rolled her eyes, clearly unimpressed. "Oh. Wow. I've never heard that line before. 'I'm gonna squash you like a bug," said the Iron Butterfly. "Did all you morons graduate from the same School of Terrible Lines or something?"

"I don't care if you think my line is corny – you're going to die!"

The Iron Butterfly eyed Nami. "I can handle her – anyone who's that unoriginal can't be all that clever. Besides, I think Nico Robin needs your help right now," she said. Nami's eyes widened as she realized just how much trouble her crew mate was in and turned her attention away from the bounty hunter, who charged towards Mai Lee with a battle cry. She'd worry about her later – after Robin was safe.

Robin was certainly loosing her battle against Lee Mai and her Mud Mud Fruit – the Iron Butterfly was definitely right about Robin needing help. Trouble was. . . how was she going to fight someone who had a Logia fruit? Even Luffy had trouble winning against Crocodile and Enel, and he'd been unable to fight Smoker and was clearly defeated by Ao Koji. How was she going to do anything?

Then again, maybe it was just a Paramecia, like Mr. 3's fruit. Still, Mr. 3 almost killed her, Vivi, AND Zoro. Of course it didn't really matter what kind of fruit it was – she needed to know its weakness – and fast. She bit her lip, trying to evaluate the situation. What the the weaknesses of other fruits? Or, what would be strong against mud that she had on her?

She looked at her weapon and the obvious answer came to her. DUH! She's just like Crocodile – her fruit is weak against water! It'll dillute the mud and Robin will be free! Now she just needed to make it rain and the Logia user would be finished. She looked back at the Iron Butterfly – they seemed to be fighting on relatively equal terms, and Mai Lee seemed very, very angry.

Nami concentrated and began to work – she had an idea. "Robin!" she said. "Follow my lead!" Robin turned towards the navigator and nodded as she began to work. Lee Mai looked at her a little funny, but didn't suspect how dangerous Nami was until it was far too late. "FATA MORGANA!"

The end result was lots and lots of Robins surrounding the second twin – the mist has dissolved the mud, and Lee Mai was looking around in a panic. "You're going to need to do a lot more than that if you want to find Robin. Which one is the real Robin, and which one is the fake? Can you tell?"

Lee Mai started to scream and lash out at the various Robins – most disappeared in a puff of vapor as Nami created more and more distractions. With Robin continuing to distract Lee Mai, Nami began to prepare a Rain Tempo. She turned briefly to catch a glimpse of the Iron Butterfly, who had gained the upper hand against Mai Lee and was in the process of pummeling her opponent with some somewhat choppy martial arts. At least she wasn't making a move to interfere with her fight – for now.

Nami grinned, her Rain Tempo prepared. "YOU'RE FINISHED! RAIN TEMPO!"

As the rain began to fall above the Mud Mud user, Lee Mai began to cry as her body seemed to melt away into the ground. "NO! NO, NO, NO!" Lee Mai cried, watching in horror as her flesh turned from pale pink to deep, lumpy brown and seemed to be soaked up into the Earth itself. Nami grinned – she wouldn't die, but she was finished.

As the Mud Mud user was soaked into the ground and Robin started gasping for breath, the navigator fell to her knees. She reminded herself that these women helped to hurt children, and she swallowed. That's right. They helped Elizabeth Stoker, who almost took her away from Bellemere-san as a little girl. The woman who snatched Sanji away from his own family in North Blue (she had always thought it was a bit odd that Sanji ended up in East Blue once he confessed where he was really from). They got what they deserved.

Her attention was brought back to her crewmate, who was coughing and sputtering from her own near death. Nami rushed to her side. "Robin! Robin!" she cried, holding her friend. "Are you all right?" Robin looked up at her and nodded, then turned her attention away. Apparently, the Iron Butterfly's battle was over.

Nami looked towards the other battleground, where the Iron Butterfly was walking away from an unconcious Mai Lii. "Told you I could take her," the Iron Butterfly said. . We've got a little extra time, though – enough time for us to get out of here, at the very least." She was smiling at them as she walked over. She stopped before the pirates and looked at each of them. "Well? Are we ready to go?"

"I don't understand," said Robin. "What are you motivations? You're a bounty hunter."

Nami turned to the Iron Butterfly and gripped her weapon tightly. Even after she rescued them, the navigator remembered the basic facts. They were pirates, she was a bounty hunter – they should be enemies, even with the current circumstances of a very dangerous woman on the island. So why was this girl trying to make friends? There was no telling what this girl was capable of. "Something's not right here. If you're a bounty hunter, you should be looking at Robin and me and thinking about 96 million berries – you shouldn't be helping us like this. What's your angle?"

The Iron Butterfly closed her eyes and stepped forward, laying her weapons down at Nami and Robin's feet. She shook her head and knelt on the ground before them, bowing her head. "I have no interest in your bounties. Please. . . Miss Nico Robin. . . Miss Nami. . . I need your help."

Nami and Robin exchanged a confused look. "Wait. . . you want our help? The help of PIRATES? Your ENEMIES? You make a living off hunting us – you shouldn't be siding with us! I know Elizabeth Stoker sucks but. . . what the hell kind of a bounty hunter are you!?" asked Nami. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Even though the Iron Butterfly had just helped them, she was still very skeptical.

Of course, there was a somewhat obvious answer, and Nami smacked her forhead when she realized it. "Bounty hunters loose some of the prize if they bring in dead pirates – it's a full thirty percent cut, so as far as Robin and I can tell you only saved us so your could collect our full bounties – with how much the two of us would be worth together, that's a big drop – almost 30 million."

"She's right – we have no reason to trust you, even if you have laid down your weapons," said Robin. She began to step forward, looking down on the young woman before her. "You're not one of the most well-known bounty hunters, but your nickname has gotten passed around a little amongst pirates. Taking down two members of the Straw Hat pirates would bolster your reputation quite a bit, which considering your size, you may or may not want. Either surprise them with your talent despite a skinny body, or awe-strike them with the knowledge that someone of your size has such a reputation."

This was true. Although the Iron Butterfly wasn't exactly a twig, she was a little bit shorter than Nami – even with the heels on her boots – and her breasts were at least a cup or two smaller. Although she seemed to have some muscle in her arms and legs, she was still a little bit wiry and looked quite light. Certainly not someone who would strike fear into the heart of a wanted man or woman.

The Iron Butterfly shook her head and held up her hands in defense. "I promise you, that's not what I want! Please, just let me explain myself and I promise everything will make sense if you just give me a minute," she said. She reached into her bag and produced a stack of wanted posters – the posters bearing the pictures and bounties of the Straw Hat Pirates. "I only have these so I would know you when I saw you."

"Yes, that would be the point of a wanted poster," said Nami dryly.

"Well. . . yes. . . but I'm not interested in the money."

Nami stared at the girl in shock. "How!? By myself I'm sixteen million! I'm not worth as much as Robin or Sanji-kun but that's nothing to sneeze at!" She shook her head. "Um, that not I want you to turn me in but. . . we still don't believe you. Bounty hunters survive on collecting bounties – how do we know this isn't some elaborate trick?"

The Iron Butterfly shook her head. "Sorry. The money's not important to me – at least, not the money on your heads." She pulled the poster advertising a 77 million berry bounty for "Black Leg Sanji" from the pile. "I know it's not a very good picture, but this is the reason why I started to follow your crew around – I know that you're trying to find him because Elizabeth Stoker took him away from you – I watched the whole thing," she said. "You want to get him back, don't you?"

"I understand – you want Stoker's bounty," said Robin.

"Huh?" asked the Iron Butterfly.

"Elizabeth Stoker is worth ten million berries – supposedly. I wasn't even aware she was real until recently and thought the bounty was just part of the story," said Robin. "Somehow you found out Cook-san was one of Stoker's victims, so you followed us in hopes of using him as bait to catch Elizabeth Stoker."

"That's not the whole story! I don't CARE about Stoker's bounty, either, although I'll admit that yes, I would turn her in before I turned any of your crew in, but it's nothing to do with the numbers," she said. The Iron Butterfly frowned. "I had to figure out if I could approach you without getting attacked first. I'm pretty sure I could at least get away with my own life or handle some of the crew by myself if you guys attacked me, but that's not what I wanted. I saw the rest of your crew a few days ago, but Roronoa Zoro almost spotted me and they're all on high alert – I'm sure they wouldn't listen to me, and besides – Sanji wasn't with them, so I would be just wasting my time anyways."

"Why are you so interested in Cook-san, Iron Butterfly-san?" asked Robin.

"Well, if she's lying about not wanting our bounties, he would be easier to take down because he won't hurt a woman – he'd be putty in her hands," Nami pointed out. She looked the Iron Butterfly up and down. "It's not conventional seduction-worthy clothing, but you've got a bare midriff and arms – short skirt, fishnet tights. . . dressed that it wouldn't take much for Sanji-kun to be all over you."

The Iron Butterfly stared at Nami in horror. "EWW! NO WAY! Gross, gross, gross!" The look of utter revolt on her face was so sincere that Nami wasn't sure how to take it. "That. . . oh God. . . no, no, no! Yuck!" She stepped aside, shuddering. "Please do me a favor and don't mention that again. The idea is just. . . ugh!"

Nami frowned. "Okay, so he's a pervert but he's not that bad, butterfly girl. And. . . the wanted poster isn't very flattering, if that's what got you so upset. He looks a lot better in person," she said. Robin sent her a sideways glance, and Nami tried to quietly swallow. Just because I think he's not as ugly as that damn picture doesn't mean I'm attracted to him.

Are you?

Oh, shut up.

Fine, don't listen to your voice of reason. You just admitted you find him more attractive than the wanted poster depicts him. All right, it's a terrible picture, fair enough. But you just defended him against someone who gets pretty grossed out at the thought of doing anything with Sanji-kun – more importantly, someone you barely know. Why would you care so much about what someone you barely know thinks about Sanji? Just say it, Nami – he's not that bad looking, isn't he?

The Iron Butterfly shook her head, seeming to regain her composure. "No, no, no! That's not it at ALL!" She cleared her throat, stood, and placed her hands on her hips. "My real name is Sanae – the Iron Butterfly is just a nickname I've earned from bounty hunting, and I prefer the name my parents gave me," she said. "And yes, there's a very specific reason I was looking for him, but it has nothing to do with the 77 million berries on his head – if I could, I would pay much more than that just to see him."

Robin and Nami were a little confused until Sanae removed her hat, and suddenly her intentions were clear. As she clenched the black cloth between her hands and looked at the other women with sad eyes, she was suddenly no longer a threat to them at all. This was why she had been looking for the Straw Hat pirates. . . and more importantly, why she had been looking for Sanji.

Sanae nodded, sniffling and wiping away a tear as she looked as she closed her eyes. "I could never do something like turn him in for a bounty – I don't care if he's a pirate," she said. Her eyes opened, accenting the two perfectly swirled eyebrow resting above her eyelids. "Sanji-kun. . . is my older brother."

Author's Notes

In all honesty, I want to know how many of you saw something to this extent coming. Maybe not that Sanae is Sanji's baby sister, but I'm curious.

Dah crap, is Sanae going to join the Straw Hats?

Probably not. But it could happen if there's a demand for it/it seems appropriate to the story. I'll admit in EARLY versions of the character that was part of the intent, but for this story, no. She is not likely to join the Straw Hats.

. . . fall in love with one of the other Straw Hats?

Also probably not (though if she ever really wanted to get on Sanji's nerves she probably just needs to throw herself at Zoro).

So we're safe from getting another Mary Sue whose only purpose is to screw the Straw Hat of the author's choice.

Yeah. I mean, if it looks like the story wants to go in a certain direction I'll probably let it go there, but that was not the reason I created her.

I realize this was a tad short, but one, fight scenes are a little bit of a weakness for me, and two, there's only so far I could drag out Sanae defending herself against Nami and Robin's questions before it just got silly.

And I really wish I had started using Nami's internal voice a lot earlier.

Dixxy