Angel of Death Fruit

Book One: Deadline

By Dixxy Mouri

Chapter 15 – March 4, 7:55 pm

"Luffy!" Chopper cried. "Aren't you gonna-?"

Luffy shook his head as Sanae and Kenji began circling each other. "Nope."

"WHAT!?"

"This isn't my fight," said Luffy. "She didn't ask for my help – she wants to do this on her own." He lowered his straw hat as Sanae screamed a battle cry and started swing her blades at Kenji, who dodged them easily. "There are some fights that I can't fight because someone else has to win them. She doesn't want my help right now because she wants to do this on her own – I'm not going to take that away from her. Think about what Zoro would do if I tried to help him fight a swordsman? He wouldn't like that."

"But you defeated Arlong, and he's the one who was hurting Nami!"

"Nami asked for my help. Sanae didn't."

"So if she starts loosing you're going to stand here and do nothing?"

Luffy grinned and pounded a fist into his palm. "Heh, heh, I never said that! Sanae WANTS to kick this guy's ass, but if he starts kicking her ass then I'm not going to let her get hurt. I think Sanji would be really mad at me if I let something bad happen to his little sister, and if he's mad, I might not get to eat any meat."

"THIS IS NO TIME TO BE WORRYING ABOUT MEAT!"

Luffy ignored Chopper. "If she needs my help she's getting it whether she likes it or not!"

Chopper looked on. "Right. So we do nothing until – wait, what's he doing?"

Kenji revealed what resembled a little horn strapped the inside of his wrist while Sanae was recovering from a block. "Madame Stoker gave this to me a few years ago as a special present, and I must say that it's been quite useful against ability users like yourself." Sanae narrowed her eyes at him, preparing to throw a ring. "This'll be quick," he said.

"YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THIS!"

Before Sanae could react, Kenji blew into the horn and a teal cloud surrounded Sanae, whose eyes widened and slowly narrowed before she fell to her knees and moaned. Kenji started to laughed as the Iron Butterfly looked up weakly from the ground, covered in a fine, teal powder. Her rings clattered to the floor, and it was clear that the fight was over. Chopper and Luffy backed up – even the likes of Monkey D. Luffy knew what that stuff was.

"Seastone! That's powdered seastone!" said Chopper.

"That's a dirty trick!" said Luffy.

"We've got to get Sanae out of here!" said Chopper. "He'll kill her!"

Luffy stretched his arms to grab Sanae and pull her towards him – she yelped a little as the captain took her in his arms and started to run after Chopper, who was already back in his reindeer body. As Kenji started to chase after them, Sanae tried to protest the Straw Hat's evasive measures. "Luffy. . . what. . . are. . ."

"We can't fight this guy!" he said.

"But. . . he's. . ."

"Sanae, we know you want to help Sanji, but you'll get killed before you get a chance!" said Chopper. "We need to either get that thing away from him or else we could all die! We're all ability users and that's seastone! You can't do anything to him and neither can we! We need someone else to fight him!"

"I don't like running away but Chopper's right! I'm no good against that stuff!"

Sanae still seemed frustrated, but the seastone was still keeping her overly groggy. Luffy could feel the affects of the seastone himself, but it wasn't enough to put him out of commission and keep him from outrunning Sanji's bastard of an uncle. Regardless, this situation had taken a drastic turn for the worse.

"Chopper! Try to find Zoro!" said Luffy.

"Right!" said Chopper. Zoro was very strong, more than willing to face another swordsman in battle, and, most important of all, not a Devil Fruit ability user. He started to sniff the air and caught Roronoa Zoro's scent – he'd been by this hallway recently, and might still be around! Chopper cried out in triumph. "This way!"

March 4, 9:37 pm

"Hmm?"

Zoro looked around the unfamiliar and rather empty hallway, scratching his head in slight confusion – where the hell did Robin, Usopp, and Franky run off to? They had a shitty cook to rescue, and as much as Zoro fought with the blond, he didn't really HATE him and he certainly didn't want the moron to die like that. "Huh. Looks like Franky and the others got themselves lost. I better go find them."

"ZORO! FIGHT THIS GUY!"

Zoro turned around to see Chopper and Luffy running towards him, a hurt and. . . blue? . . . Sanae in the captain's arms. The Iron Butterfly did NOT look good as his companions skidded to a halt behind him. Though he was wondering what the hell would make Luffy of all people run from a fight, he was more curious about the cook's baby sister. "Huh? What happened to her?" he asked.

"There's a guy with powdered seastone! I think she inhaled it!" said Chopper.

Zoro turned to see an older man running towards them, his swirly eyebrows giving away his identity. Ah, so this is the love cook's uncle, he mused. "Using powdered sea stone is a cheap trick," he said, crossing his arms. "They couldn't fight you like that, but that trick isn't going to work on me." Zoro drew his remaining swords, having left the broken Yubashiri back on the ship.

Kenji drew a blood-stained sword. "Fancy yourself a swordsman, do you?"

"The sword's stained with blood," said Zoro.

"Yeah, Sanae said he impaled her other brother with it," said Luffy.

"Zoro-san. . . that blood. . ." said Sanae, her voice softer and weaker than normal. She raised a shaky arm and pointed at her uncle. "If you're worth. . . half as much. . . as your blades. . . you know that a sword must. . . be destroyed if it's. . . ever. . . ever. . . brought harm to its. . . creator."

"You're a foolish little girl, my dearest Sanae," said Kenji, pointing his sword at the group. He glared at Sanae as he began to advance on them. "These men are pirates! Don't think that Roronoa Zoro is anything like a REAL swordsman – I doubt the man has any respect for the blades he's carrying."

Needless to say, Zoro disagreed, and quickly had his remaining blades locked with the tainted sword in Kenji's hand. "Don't you DARE say I'm not a real swordsman!" he growled. Kenji looked at him with only enough interest to hold off a much stronger man with twice as many blades at his disposal. "I've been a swordsman for almost my entire life. I've dedicated my life to becoming the world's greatest swordsman, or I will die – no, dying is not an option. And I may be a pirate, but I would never raise any of my blades to the man or woman who forged them."

"You're all talk!" said Kenji.

Zoro glared, readied an attack, and in what seemed like a split second later, was standing behind Kenji, the bloodied blade lying on the ground as his feet. Sanji and Sanae's uncle fell to the ground, unconscious or dead, and the infamous Roronoa Zoro sheathed his swords and picked up the tainted weapon.

Zoro looked at the hilt of the sword, sighing. "Otouto Sanji," Zoro said.

"He named the sword after Sanji," said Chopper, lowering his head. "He thought. . ."

Sanae leaned her head against Luffy's shoulder, blankly looking at the sword. "Onii-san. . . chose a good. . . name," she said, smiling weakly. "He. . . never. . . told. . . me. . . that . . oo. . ." Then her head dropped and Luffy screamed, but the Iron Butterfly wouldn't respond to the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates.

"WAH, WE NEED A DOCTOR!"

"Chopper, YOU'RE a doctor!" Zoro snapped. Chopper ran to where Luffy was kneeling with Sanae and began to check her vital signs. Still holding the tainted blade, the famed former pirate hunter walked closer as the girl was laid down on the floor, Chopper shaking his head as he examined her.

"What the hell happened to her, anyways?" asked Zoro.

Chopper frowned, pressing his stethoscope to her chest. "When we first met Kenji he blew powdered seastone in her face – it really weakened her and she couldn't fight." The reindeer looked between Zoro and Luffy with a serious face. "It definitely seems like she inhaled it, so there's seastone in her lungs right now. She'll probably be okay – she just needs to rest up and let it get out of her system," said Chopper.

"So she'll be fine?" asked Luffy.

"Yes, but she's going to be a little tired for a while," said Chopper.

Luffy cradled Sanae in his arms and stood up. "We still need to find Sanji and rescue him," he said. He brushed some of the hair out of Sanae's face, looking at her swirly eyebrows. "His little sister is sick. She might feel better if her big brother is around to make sure she's okay, and if Sanji knew she was like this, I think he'd want to be with her."

Chopper frowned. "But we still don't know where Elizabeth Stoker is keeping him."

March 4, 10:00 pm

"Great. Zoro's lost."

Robin stopped, looking around. Usopp and Franky were still with her, but the green haired swordsman was no where to be seen. "Hmm. Swordsman-san has mysteriously disappeared." She closed her eyes and took a few steps. "Would it be safe to assume he's gotten lost again?"

Franky sighed. "That guy's lucky he can find his socks in the morning."

"And you'd all be wise to find yourselves out of my business."

The group turned around to see a woman with bold turquoise hair standing behind them. Usopp screamed, hiding behind Franky. "AH! IT'S ELIZABETH STOKER! SHE'S GOING TO KILL US!" His knees were shaking, his teeth were chattering, and neither the shipwright nor the archaeologist were too surprised.

"Usopp, she's right here and it's not midnight! If we take her out now. . ." Franky said.

Robin grinned. "With Elizabeth Stoker dead, any of the people affected by her would be freed – including Cook-san," she said. Franky and Usopp watched as the archaeologist crossed her arms, preparing to use her ability. Elizabeth Stoker yawned as Robin sprouted arms all over her body. "This won't take long. CLUTCH!"

With a sickening snap, Elizabeth Stoker was bent backwards. Usopp and Franky cringed as Robin dropped the woman's body on the floor. She turned to them and sighed. "Robin. . . why are you always so creepy?" asked Usopp. "You just. . . you just broke a woman's back! A woman worth more than our entire crew's combined bounties doubled! Tripled! Doubled AND tripled!"

"Yeah, that was. . . weird," said Franky. He looked at the body in worry. "I don't doubt Robin knows how to use her abilities but. . . Elizabeth Stoker was worth ten billion. This. . . was that all it really took to take her out after all this time? That. . . that was too easy. I don't trust this. Not at all."

Another series of snaps could be heard as Elizabeth's body straightened, and she calmly stood, leaving all three of the Straw Hats present staring at her in shock. "You shouldn't be able to walk! You shouldn't even be alive!" Robin said, her eyes wide with shock and horror. "That's impossible! How?!"

Elizabeth Stoker sighed, walking up to Robin and picking up her chin. "My dear girl. . . I thought about taking you. You would have been easy prey, but the trouble in finding you. . . I figured you must have been a very, very smart little girl to stay so well hidden for so long." She slapped the woman, sending her into Franky. "I can see I was wrong."

"Of course," said Robin, bracing herself against the cyborg. "She's immortal. And not just immune from the effects of time. She's immune to anything we could throw at her. Disease, poison, broken bones, bleeding to death. . . none of it will harm her. We're not going to get rid of her that easily. There was a book on her in the library."

"Robin. . . COULDN'T YOU HAVE REMEMBERED THAT EARLIER!?"

Franky had already begun shooting at Elizabeth Stoker, watching as she laughed while bullet holes pierced her body, leaving her looking like bloodied Swiss cheese. The cyborg's eyes widened as the holes seemed to heal themselves, leaving a tattered dress in its stead. It was true. Nothing he could do could harm her. "That's. . ."

"Is that all?" she said.

"She. . . doesn't even feel pain?" asked Usopp.

Elizabeth grinned. "It stung a little."

The marksman's eyes widened in fear. She can't feel pain. She can't DIE. Unless. . . "FRANKY! I'VE GOT AN IDEA!" He loaded Kabuto and pointed it at Stoker, who just seemed to smile. "I know how to stop her!" He grinned. "Of course I, the great pirate Usopp, would have figured it out eventually.

Elizabeth Stoker yawned, reached into her cleavage, and produced a small red ball. "Assuming you're right. . . I can't let you continue." She dropped the ball, which easily cracked open and began to smoke. Once Usopp had inhaled, he realized that something had gone horribly wrong.

I. . . can't. . . move! Usopp realized in horror. It was as if his entire body had become living stone. All he he could do was blink and breath. He couldn't see Robin or Franky, but he guessed they were in a similar predicament. Elizabeth Stoker, on the other hand, was laughing as she pulled out a pocket watch.

"The time is 10:09 pm. The effects of that stone smoke bomb last two hours – just enough time to ensure that you aren't a threat to me anymore. And with your navigator out of the way. . . I believe I've won this little battle." Usopp almost felt his heart stop. What had Elizabeth Stoker done with Nami!

If she's suggesting our guess is right, then with Nami and Robin incapacitated and Sanae related to Sanji. . . SHIT! Usopp could feel a nervous bead of sweat trailing down his cheek. Things were beginning to look really, really bad. "But don't worry – I'll bring your precious Black Leg's body back to the ship once I'm done with him. Ta, ta!"

With that, Robin, Franky, and Usopp were left alone and unable to move.

Author's Notes

Otouto – little brother. Don't quote me on the correctness – I found it on a forum. But it had a few other phrases I was familiar with, like big brother (which Sanae uses a couple of versions of) and imouto-chan, which is little sister (what Sanji and Akito call Sanae). So the name of the sword is "Little Brother Sanji". Akito probably named it that because it was so close to the tenth anniversary of Sanji's disappearance, and it's possible he has other weapons named for his parents.

Sixteen is looking to be pretty short and finally goes back to Nami (and Sanji), but I will most likely not release it without having seventeen done or almost done.

I've got a couple of plugs!

First plug: I learned a valuable lesson or two. One, check my freakin' deviantArt page for messages more often. Two, on occasion, running a search for yourself on deviantArt can net some interesting finds.

Like olafpriol. She wouldn't let me link to the original drawing I found, but I'm pretty sure I was allowed to link to this:

http://olafpriol. is awesome. She's got fanfiction here on as well, which I plan on sitting down, reading, and reviewing, once I'm caught up with the second plug.

My other plug is for a fic by Nehszriah, which I won't link to because it's rated M (it's prequel is not M, though). Inherited Will, Destiny of the Age is one of the most original concepts for a fanfic I've seen, which shows a morbid possibility of what could have happened if Kuina hadn't died, and how it affected the rest of the world. You can find it by checking out my favorite stories on my profile, and reading it's sister story, "As Fate Would Have It", would probably be a good idea to read before hand – this story focuses more on what happened to major canon characters, while Inherited Will is all about the aftermath.

-Dixxy