Angel of Death Fruit
Book One: Deadline
By Dixxy Mouri
Chapter 12 – March 4, 6:15 pm
It wasn't long before Sanae had led the group back to the compound where she'd found Sanji earlier. "Hopefully Stoker wasn't onto the fact that someone on our side knows where he is – otherwise we'll have to start the search from scratch and I'm afraid we'd be going from a rescue operation to a recovery operation."
"Huh?" Luffy asked. "Why?"
"Instead of rescuing the stupid cook, we'd be recovering his corpse," said Zoro.
Sanae shot a look at Zoro. "What the hell is your problem?"
"Well, there aren't many other places on the island that Stoker could take him, right?" Usopp said. Sanae nodded, folding her arms. "So she's probably still got him here, and since we've taken down some of her agents, she might not know what we know. Besides, she might have more of her men in there and she might figure that'll be enough time to delay us from finding Sanji."
"Stoker is well-aware that Navigator-san and I know what's going on and has sent some of her agents after us already – Mr. Borgat was not the first of her agents that we have had to face – but I'm positive they did not want the rest of your involved," said Robin. "If she has discovered that the rest of you know what's befallen Cook-san, she will most likely be angry."
Luffy laughed. "Because she knows I'll kick her ass. Right Mr. Acorn?"
"So what do we do now?" Chopper asked.
"This might be a good time to split into two groups," said Franky.
"Two groups?" asked Luffy.
Franky nodded. "With a complex this big, it's likely there's at least two entrances. Plus, if we're in more than one group, we'll be able to search the building in half the time and get to Sanji a lot easier than if we were just in one giant pack," he said. He looked at the women. "Plus, we'll want to make sure that Nami and Robin are in seperate groups because they're girls."
"What about Sanae?" asked Luffy.
"If we're right about his Mercy Task I somehow doubt that I'll work," said Sanae.
Luffy stuck a finger up his nose. "Why not?"
Sanae narrowed her eyes. "Because I'm his sister and that would be gross?" She pointed at her eyebrows. "Sanji and I are related – that would be incest. Brothers and sisters aren't supposed to kiss like that. So it probably won't work, and this is assuming we're right about his Mercy Task in the first place."
"Get used to it – he's a bit slow on the uptake sometimes," Usopp whispered to her.
Luffy blinked for a few seconds before nodding. "Oh yeah! You look like Sanji with longer hair and boobs!" This resulted in groans from almost everyone else in the group except for Robin, who was beginning to divide everyone up into two groups (but still had a playful smile on her face).
Group One consisted of Luffy, Nami, Sanae, and Chopper. And the squirrel. Luffy had expressed an interest in being in the same group as Sanae, whom he was occasionally referring to as "The Squishy Girl" and Robin realized it was probably a good idea to keep Chopper near Luffy just in case something when wrong between the "Rubber Man" and "Squishy Girl".
Even if it was Luffy's fault anyways.
Group Two consisted of Zoro, Robin, Franky, and Usopp.
"All right, let's go!" said Luffy. "Let's more, Squishy!"
"Stop calling me that!" Sanae yelled, running after Luffy.
"What?"
"I'm not a squishy girl! I'm a MELTING girl!"
"But you make ME squishy, so you're Squishy Girl!"
"UGH, STOP THAT!"
"HA, YOU'RE FUNNY!"
"I really hope we don't have to rescue those guys," said Zoro.
"I just hope we don't find a puddle of Luffy somewhere," Usopp said dryly.
Franky, meanwhile, looked a little lost in thought as he watched the other group disappear around the other side of the building (though they could still hear Nami yelling at Luffy and Sanae to stop arguing about the nickname "Squishy"). "Something about what Sanae said earlier has been bugging me."
"What?" asked Usopp. "Do you not think she's really Sanji's sister?"
Franky shook his head. "No, no, it's not that at all. I believe she's his sister – it's possible a bounty hunter could figure out a way to fake those eyebrows, but some little things in the way she moved and the shape of her eyes. . . that can't be faked as easily, especially from a cruddy wanted poster picture. It's when she was talking about her teacher," said the cyborg.
"Ah, when she mentioned Master Anatak-sama," said Robin.
"Who's Master Anatak?" asked Usopp.
"He's a really well-known swordsmith," said Zoro. "There's a very famous Anatak known for making swords and weapons. Although he's not as good as some of the great swordsmiths like the one who made Wado Ichimonji, he's probably amongst the best in modern times. If it's the same one Sanae mentioned, that means she was trained as a blacksmith."
Robin frowned. "And that her master was murdered."
Usopp froze. "Murdered?"
"It was in the papers about two years ago – Master Anatak and his two apprentices fell victim to an attack. One of the apprentices was all right but left a few days later, Anatak was dead before help could arrive, and the other apprentice was very seriously hurt – they weren't even sure he was going to make it," said Franky.
"That actually makes a little bit of sense. Butterfly-chan mentioned she had something else she needed to take up with her uncle in addition to what he did to Cook-san," said Robin. "Perhaps her uncle is the one responsible for what happened? And it would make sense that the other apprentice would be her other older brother, Akito."
"So if Anatak is dead and Akito didn't make it, either. . ." said Usopp.
"Sanae's out for quite a bit of revenge," said Zoro.
March 4, 6:33 pm
"An old wine cellar," said Nami.
"This is how I got in before," said Sanae. "Sanji had escaped when I found him, but I know that Stoker found him again and brought him someplace else before I left the compound. Weird thing is, he just kind of stood there and gave her the silent treatment before he let her take him away."
"Sanji's really against hitting women – didn't we tell you that?" asked Nami.
The Iron Butterfly didn't look very pleased at the reminder. "Yeah, you did. . . but I don't think that was it," said Sanae. "Mind you he didn't look HAPP, but he was just kind standing there with his arms crossed like he was trying to stand up to Elizabeth Stoker. I know SHE was pissed, but it looked like he was keeping a relatively cool head for someone who was about to die."
"Maybe he's up to something?" Chopper suggested.
"Like what?" asked Sanae.
Luffy laughed. "Heh heh, he's gonna play Mr. Prince again, isn't he?"
". . . do I even want to know?"
"I'll explain later," said Nami, placing a hand on Sanae's shoulder. Though Luffy and Chopper had reminded her that if anyone could orchestrate something to buy them just a little bit more time, it would be Sanji. Sanji's not an idiot – well, MOST of the time – so maybe those two are right. But how's he going to get himself out of this?
"Uh, Luffy? Sanae? Nami?" Chopper said, tugging on Luffy's vest.
"Ya?"
"WE'VE GOT COMPANY!"
The humans in the group turned to see a surprisingly large group of men brandishing various weapons headed towards them – on all sides. Sanae groaned in exasperation. "Oh for crying out loud where did she GET all of these lunatics?!" she said, brandishing one of her rings. "Okay, Luffy, show me what a man worth three hundred million can do."
Luffy was more than happy to comply with Sanae's request and charged headfirst into the mob, letting loose a variety of his rubbery attacks. Chopper morphed into his human form (which was the best he could do for the time being as it was too early for another Rumble Ball) and Nami readied the Perfect ClimaTact as Sanae began to clash blades with a swordsman.
Mostly, Nami found herself very busy using her staff to block attacks, stepping backwards as a large man with a missing front tooth advanced on her. Usopp's workmanship was holding up to the punishment and she had to hand it to the marksman for at least giving her a weapon that could effectively block enemy attacks even if it did double as entertainment at parties.
By the time she finally found an opening large enough to clock the man over the head, knocking him out, Nami realized she'd fought herself away from the main fray – and away from Luffy, Sanae, and Chopper. Aw great – this isn't good. The navigator sighed and looked around, trying to figure out which direction she'd come from.
Behind her, she heard a deep chuckle. "Who's there!?" she demanded.
Nami spun around to see a man step out of the shadows, a bloodied sword swinging at his side and long brown hair held in a ponytail. Her eyes widened in anger when she spotted the swirled eyebrows – it was unmistakable who this man was. "You!" she cried. "You're that bastard of an uncle! You're the one who tricked Sanji-kun!"
Kenji looked at her in surprise. "Now how would you know about that?" he said.
"Sanae told us about what you did to him," Nami said.
Sanji and Sanae's uncle raised an eyebrow in curiosity as he scratched his goatee. "Ah, so my niece is still alive? That's interesting – I thought I'd had her killed," he said thoughtfully. "You see, Devil Fruit users don't do so well in the ocean, so I assumed she had drowned, but I guess I was wrong. I must admit, though, I'm very impressed she's survived after all this time and managed to find us here. She's tricker than I originally anticipated. Madame Stoker could use a girl like her, although I doubt she'd be willing to join us."
"You went after your own family!" said Nami.
"It's business," said Kenji, advancing towards her. "Please, my dear, I've heard rumors."
"Rumors?" Nami stepped backwards as the man got closer. "What rumors?"
Kenji snorted. "You were quite the little thief back in East Blue – a few of your previous targets remembered you quite well when they saw your wanted poster and I couldn't help but overhear about the exploits of the girl who would become Cat Burglar Nami. You've got quite a focus on money, it would see."
"So?" Nami said,
Kenji grabbed her chin. "We're not so different then, are we? We have similar goals."
"I'm NOTHING like you!" Nami said, striking him with the Perfect ClimaTact. "I didn't sell children to a monster who intended to kill them, let alone my own flesh and blood! You sick son of a bitch! You're his uncle! HIS UNCLE! I can't even imagine anyone from my village doing something like that to me or my sister! You sold him out!"
"And you wouldn't do the same?" asked Kenji.
Nami had to stop and think about this. Most of the crew had some kind of debt hanging over their heads (even Sanji, despite all of his pampering). She charged her crewmates left and right for almost anything she did for them – and then some. Nami didn't think twice about it, and had amassed a rather large treasure chest in her room.
Nami, stop listening to him!
But it's true!
No, it isn't! Okay, so MAYBE you should cut back a little on charging your FRIENDS for every little thing you do for them – seriously, Nami, your FRIENDS – but do you honestly think you would sell out one of your friends like they were NOTHING in exchange for money like this piece of shit did to Sanji? When he was a CHILD, none the less?
. . . no. I've thought about it, sure, but. . . you're right. I couldn't do that.
And that is why you are NOT like this guy! You don't want to admit it, but I really think you care more about Sanji than this bastard ever did. He saw Sanji-kun as an opportunity to make money – and for that matter, he might've seen Sanae and their other brother in that same light. And maybe there was a point where you were ready to extort Sanji out of money, sure – but you wouldn't hurt him to do it.
You stabbed your own hand so Usopp could escape from Arlong.
Even when you were sick, you insisted the crew continue towards Arabasta.
When Sanji and Usopp were electrocuted in Skypiea, you and Gan Fall protected them.
You were worried when Franky Family beat up Usopp – and not just over the money.
You went after Robin with the others when she was taken by CP9.
You stood up for Sanji when Kalifa soaped him.
And you went after him when Elizabeth Stoker came to drain him life force.
Somehow, I doubt that Kenji man would have done that for anyone – even his own nephews and niece. Instead, he was ready to sell at least Sanji to a woman he KNEW intended to kill them for her own purposes. You would have never sold out anyone in your village for money. Now, you wouldn't sell out any of the Straw Hats. Heck, you took into consideration that, since Luffy was a pirate, that the rest of his crew would save him from Buggy the Clown – even if it was just Zoro at the time.
I WON'T HURT MY FRIENDS, EVEN IF IT IS FOR MONEY!
There you go! Now go kick his ass and save your boyfriend.
. . . oh I'll kick this guy's ass all right, but Sanji-kun is NOT my boyfriend.
. . . not yet.
. . . don't spoil the moment, okay?
"You're wrong!" Nami said defiantly, pushing Kenji away – he was startled enough that was she was able to start a Mirage Tempo without him noticing, and his eyes were now firmly locked onto her water-vapor doppleganger. "Sanji-kun is my friend! One of my nakama! I'd never sell him out!"
Kenji shrugged, drawing his sword. "Very well then – let's battle."
Nami was a step ahead of him – she'd already completed the mirage for him to attack. Quickly, she slid behind her opponent as he attacked her image. He dropped his guard as Nami's horrified face seemed to disappear before his eyes and she tripped him, sending him crashing to the floor with a surprised yell.
"Very clever trick – how DID you do that?" he asked. Kenji grinned. "Devil's Fruit?"
"Brilliant inventor friend."
Kenji was on his feet in seconds, his sword at her throat. "Good friend."
"One of the best," Nami said, kicking him in the stomach.
From there they began to clash physically, Nami mostly blocking Kenji's slashes and trying to figure out how to find one of the others – she didn't have time to be messing around with Sanji's asshole of an uncle – she needed to find Sanji-kun! But as their battle progressed, Nami got more and more curious about the sword in his hands.
Why was it stained with blood?
"Ah, you like my sword?" he said, moving to try and slice her neck.
"It's stained," she said, leaning back and jabbing her weapon forward.
"Trophy blood," he said. "I have only had to draw blood with this weapon once before."
"Is that so?" said Nami.
"Yes," said Kenji. "I needed to discipline a naughty boy who wouldn't listen to his elder."
Nami recalled something Sanae had said earlier."That, and I have an understandble bone to pick with my uncle – I'm a little surprised you haven't run into him yet, but he's her second in command. He just doesn't know when to stop hurting our family or the people we love. I can't let him keep doing this to people."
That blood. . .
"Sanae was not the only one I tried to eliminate two years ago," said Kenji.
"You hurt Sanji's older brother, didn't you?" said Nami.
"It had to be done."
An image of Nojiko's smiling visage flashed through her mind, and the boiling anger she felt when she watched her sister's shooting. Is this what Sanae wants with her uncle so badly? Is this the other grudge she has against him, aside from what this jerk has already done to poor Sanji-kun?
Did he really KILL his own nephew?!
"You're a monster," Nami said slowly. His ass is SOOO Thunder Tempo-ed!
"I think I've had enough playtime," he said cooly.
"PLAY TIME!?" Nami snapped.
Before Nami could react further, Kenji was behind her, his arm around her neck. He squeezed, and she tried to scream. "I won't kill you – yet. Your bounty is worth much more if you're alive, so for now you can consider your life saved. But once Madame Stoker is finished with your previous Black Leg Sanji, we'll be taking a little ride to Mariejoa."
"Why. . . would. . . Marines. . . let. . . Stoker. . . go. . ."
"Because she won't be delivering your heads – we will," he said. Kenji's arm was now pinning Nami's arms to her sides as well. "And I don't have a bounty, and I don't consider myself a pirate. The Marines, however, will consider you a pirate, and I don't think they'd believe your crazy accusations that we work for a woman many of them don't even believe exists."
"You. . . monster. . ."
Kenji clamped a hand over Nami's mouth, and she could smell something sweet. . .
March 4, 7:00 pm
Sanji turned his head towards the door as someone stepped inside – much to his displeasure, it was Elizabeth Stoker. She stepped towards him, her shoes clicking against the stone floor of his prison and a glint in her eyes. "Oh come now, Sanjj-dear," she said, stroking his chin.
"You've only got five hours to go before your first kiss."
Author's Notes
And now some of these chapters are getting TOUGH to write. Parts of the next several chapters have been written, though.
Dixxy