Angel of Death Fruit
Book One: Deadline
By Dixxy Mouri
Chapter 17 – March 5, 12:00 am
Nami felt like a lead weight had been dropped in her stomach.
"NOOOO!" she screamed, falling to her knees. Before her eyes, Elizabeth Stoker was draining the life out of Sanji, whose eyes went wide with surprise before slowly closing. He stopped moving, and his body went limp. Nami almost felt herself choke on her own tears. Oh God, Sanji-kun, oh God, oh God. . .
Elizabeth Stoker pulled away from Sanji, leaving his limp body hanging from the chains. She turned to Nami and grinned evilly, sauntering towards the navigator who was looking at Elizabeth Stoker in disbelief. "You're not the first one I've seen act that way when they watch a crew mate die." The woman worth ten billion berries took her hand by force. "Go on. See for yourself."
Nami cried out as Elizabeth yanked her to her feet and threw her towards Sanji. Once she regained her balance, she stood there, watching his body intently as she continued to cry. She fell to her knees again, slamming a fist into the floor in anger. Although Nami started to swear at Elizabeth Stoker for killing Sanji. . . it wasn't that horrid woman she was really angry with.
All this time. . . he cared so much about me. . . and most of the time I just used him! Protecting him in Skypiea and Enies Lobby wasn't enough! This man was in love with me and I was too proud or stubborn or something to even care about that! I never thought he was dying, and he was reaching out to me to save him this whole time!
I was too late!
She heard the door open and close, and the sound of keys jingling – she was being locked in, presumably while Stoker went to hunt down the others. "Oh Sanji-kun, I'm so sorry. . . I failed you! You're dead and it's all my fault! I should have tried a little harder to save you and now I've let everyone down! You loved me and I ignored you and now you're dead and I can't fix it!" She threw herself at his body and began to cry into his shoulder.
I didn't realize until now that I. . .
March 5, 12:10 am
"I'm glad Sanae's not awake right now," said Chopper. He sniffled, wiping away some tears as he pressed a wet cloth to the Iron Butterfly's forehead. Luffy, Zoro, and Chopper had continued to search for the others while carrying Sanae. However, it was now past midnight, and the group was now resting in what looked like a large audience chamber. Chopper had needed more space to look after his patient, and even if Luffy and Zoro continued to search, there wasn't much they could have done at that point. "I'm sad enough right now as it is – I don't want to know how she'd feel knowing her brother was. . . no, no, we don't know that. Maybe he's fine."
"Of course Sanji's alive!" said Luffy. "He wouldn't die on us!"
"Luffy, there's not much our Love Cook could DO in this situation. If Stoker got to him before Nami did. . . I hate to say it, but he'd be dead," said Zoro. He placed Otouto Sanji on the ground before him. "The only thing we could do for him is give him a funeral and take out Stoker. Or let Sanae decide what to do with his body – maybe there's some tradition in their family. . ."
"Stop talking like he's dead!" said Luffy, grabbing Zoro's shirt. "HE'S! NOT! DEAD!"
"Luffy, I'm just being realistic!" Seeing his captain was upset, the swordsman kept his cool. "I don't want him to be dead, either. But we need to prepare ourselves. If he's alive we can go on like normal and not worry about Elizabeth Stoker ever again. If he's not, we need to put him to rest and look for All Blue in his place – after we kick that witch's ass."
"LUFFFYYYY!!!"
Luffy dropped Zoro and looked up to see Usopp running towards him, panic in his eyes. Well, not that this was odd – Usopp panicked very easily. Still. . . maybe something had happened. "Usopp? What's going on?" he asked. "Have you guys found Sanji yet? Nami's gone missing, now, too, and Sanae's hurt."
Robin and Franky came up behind Usopp. "Elizabeth Stoker found the three of us and used a sort of paralyzing gas on us," said Robin. "We couldn't move for two hours – we've just now recovered from it and we heard your voices." She looked over at Chopper and Sanae. "What happened to Butterfly-chan?"
"Apparently these guys aren't above cheap tricks – Sanae inhaled some powdered seastone and it's made her pretty sick," said Zoro. "I was able to take care of the uncle and get back his sword – the brother named it after Sanji – but we haven't seen any sign of Stoker, the Love Cook, or Nami."
"We got separated from Nami during a fight, and then Sanae tried to fight her uncle – I think it would have been a fair fight without the seastone, but right now she's unconscious," said Chopper, shaking his head. "Luffy and I had to run – we couldn't go up against something like that with our abilities."
"We were told by Stoker that Nami is 'out of the way'," said Franky. "And if Robin was-"
"NO!" said Luffy. He slammed his fist into the wall. "SANJI! IS! ALIVE!"
The group could hear laughter from behind. They turned to see Elizabeth Stoker grinning madly at them as she casually stepped into the room. "A pleasure to finally meet you, Monkey D. Luffy," she said. She licked her lips. "I must say, the first kiss is always one of my favorite Mercy Tasks to assign – I like the taste of virgin lips.Your dearest Black Leg Sanji was no different."
"No way. . . Sanji's. . . dead?" Usopp asked with wide eyes.
"WAH!!! YOU KILLED HIM!" Chopper cried, tears streaming down his cheeks.
"Cook-san. . ." Franky pulled Robin closer to him, trying to comfort her.
The cyborg swallowed. "We were too late?"
"Son of a. . ." Zoro slammed a fist into the ground.
Luffy was silent.
The rest of his crew watched the captain as they held back their own grief. No one really knew what Luffy would do if any of them ever died. They'd seen what happened when one of his crew was in mortal danger, but they had yet to see how the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates would react to the death of one of his cherished crew members.
What followed Luffy's silence was a murderous scream and a frightening sense of blood lust in his eyes. The captain launched himself into a blind rage at Elizabeth Stoker, taking the others by surprise. Punching and kicking her with everything he had, he began screaming unintelligible words at her that flowed out of his mouth like a hurricane.
But it wasn't working. Luffy was hurting her over and over again, but she kept laughing and healing and laughing and healing faster than he could keep up. But that didn't stop Luffy, and he continued to attack her, even as each of his blows meant less and less and less. It was as if Straw Hat Luffy were a helpless kitten trying to maul a giant.
Nothing was happening.
But Luffy kept screaming and striking blows anyways, tears flowing down his cheeks.
"YOU KILLED HIM! YOU KILLED SANJI!"
Elizabeth Stoker laughed as Luffy started ripping the soft flesh from her bones, only to have more grow back in an instant. Skin, muscles, veins, and blood flew through the air as the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates kept screaming and crying. At the sight of the misplaced flesh and Luffy's blood-drenched arms, Usopp fell to his knees and threw up while the rest of the crew watched in horror.
"Captain-san. . ." Robin whispered, her eyes wide in terror.
"LUFFY, STOP!" Zoro screamed – Franky held him back.
"I don't think you should go near him right now. . ."
"LUFFY!" Chopper screamed.
None of the Straw Hat Pirates had ever seen Luffy this angry before.
Finally, Luffy stopped, backing away from the still alive (but covered in blood) Elizabeth Stoker, who smugly folded her arms after getting to her feet – Zoro ran behind Luffy and pulled him away, seeing that Luffy seemed to be going into some kind of silent shock again. There was still rage in his eyes, but he wasn't responding to the swordsman.
Elizabeth Stoker grinned as the blood on her body and Luffy seemed to vanish into thin air and scattered bits of flesh turned to dust. "Does anyone else want to try? Perhaps Pirate Hunter Zoro would like to slice off my head, or would the little pet like to do anything?" She turned to Franky, Robin, and Usopp. "Or do you three want Round Two?"
"Round Two?" Zoro asked, looking at them in confusion.
"She's really immortal – when we ran into her we tried to fight her but it was no use! I broke her back and Shipwright-san riddled her body with bullets but NOTHING worked!" said Robin, her eyes wide with panic. "Nothing could take her out! You saw what Captain-san did to her and she came back from that as well! I don't know what to do!"
"What are we supposed to do?" asked Chopper.
"You guys don't seriously want her to continue running around the Grand Line, do you?" asked Usopp, still recovering from throwing up but slowly getting to his feet. "Zoro. You came from a dojo, and there are kids there, right? What if she got her hands on one of them? Or she could go to Drum Island and go after one of Kureha's patients. Or she could go to Water 7 and go after Chimney. Three of my best friends back home are young enough to be her victims. We can't just leave her here and do nothing about it!" Usopp wiped the corner of his mouth. "Besides. . . shouldn't we get back at her for what she did to Sanji?"
"Oh, so now you all want vengeance?" asked Elizabeth Stoker. She began to laugh maniacally. Before anyone could react, she produced another red ball and slammed it into the ground, freezing the Straw Hats in the process – except for Chopper, who was still making noise and moving around.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO THEM?" Chopper squeaked. "THEY'RE LIKE STATUES!"
"I see – you must be too close to the ground to be affected by the stone smoke as it rises to its victims," said Elizabeth Stoker, glaring at Chopper coolly. "You don't look that difficult to kill – you're very tiny. How did Straw Hat Luffy find a creature as interesting as you to join his crew anyways?"
Even if I use a Rumble Ball there's nothing I could do against her, and if I go into the blind rage of Monster Point I might hurt the others and STILL not hurt her – WHAT AM I GOING TO DO!? Chopper swallowed hard as the sound of Elizabeth Stoker's clicking heels began to move towards him and his patient.
"STOP! DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!" Chopper said, staying small but standing protectively in front of the unconscious bounty hunter. "DON'T HURT HER!" He grimaced, trying to figure out what to do to stop Elizabeth Stoker from hurting Sanae. Or, for that matter, anyone else. Luffy and the others couldn't move, Nami was missing, and Sanji. . .
"Move out of the way, little. . . thing."
Chopper shook his head. "NO WAY!"
Elizabeth Stoker sneered. "You're no threat."
Chopper reached for a rumble ball and stuck it in his mouth. "RUMBLE!"
"What?" Stoker asked in surprise. "Rumble?"
"ARM POINT!" Chopper swung at Elizabeth Stoker, sending her flying into the opposite wall. It wasn't going to do him any good – she was just going to get up again – but he needed more time to think of something. He considered going after her, but at the same time, he was afraid to leave Sanae alone.
"Why don't you stupid pirates get over it!?" Elizabeth snapped, returning for more.
"YOU'RE NOT EVEN A HUMAN ANYMORE!" Chopper screamed. "You've lived for so long that life doesn't even mean anything to you anymore! You don't cherish ANYTHING but your own sick and twisted excuse for an existence! You've become a heartless monster, and you only care about yourself! You don't understand what makes our lives worth living! HORN POINT!"
The reindeer thrust his antlers at Stoker, but it wasn't much use. She grabbed them, and for the remainder of the rumble ball's time limit, they struggled. Finally, time was up, and Chopper had returned to his half human, half reindeer form. He was easily tossed aside by Elizabeth Stoker, screaming as he flew through the air.
Elizabeth Stoker stood over Sanae's unconscious body, frowning. "I'll handle the rest of the Straw Hats later – that little thing was no bother and the rest of you here can't do anything to stop me – your navigator is still probably crying over Black Leg Sanji's corpse." She nudged Sanae's body, which caused the bounty hunter's eyes to open.
The Iron Butterfly started to stir. "What's. . . going on?" she asked weakly. She coughed a little, sat up, and looked around. "What happened – AH! ELIZABETH STOKER!" She was quick to her feet, reaching for her weapons, but was disappointed to see they were nowhere to be found. She stepped back, Elizabeth Stoker advancing on her. "YOU!"
"Yes?" asked Elizabeth Stoker. She looked at Sanae with amusement as the bounty hunter tried to keep her ground against the other woman. "I see the affects of Kenji's darlings seastone powder has worn off. It's really only good for a few hours. You've snapped back quick well, haven't you?"
Sanae caught a glimpse of the frozen Straw Hats behind her and Chopper running towards her. "What in the. . . what have you done to them?! Where's Nami? Where's my brother!?" she demanded. She took a fighting stance, but looked a little concerned – Sanae could survive on some hand to hand combat, but she was feeling the absence of her blade rings.
"She froze Luffy and the others!" Chopper squealed. "And-"
"Your brother is dead and I'm about to kill you and the rest of the Straw Hat Pirates."
The Iron Butterfly's eyes widened. "We were too late?"
Elizabeth Stoker grinned. "For you. . . yes. But the little navigator girl was just in time to watch," she said, laughing. "I have to admit I was impressed she was able to find us when she did, but she was as little as mere seconds too late." She folded her arms. "There's something so satisfying about watching friends arrive too late."
Sanae lowered her head. "Don't think this is over, you monster."
Elizabeth Stoker produced a knife from behind her back. She chuckled, running the blade across her finger to test its sharpness. "Don't cry too long, little girl – you'll be joining your precious big brother soon enough!" She raised the blade above her head, a crazed look in her eyes. "DIE, BRAT!"
"SANAE!" Chopper screamed.
Sanae jumped back as Elizabeth Stoker continued to swing at her. Chopper was amazed at the cool head she was keeping, what with the girl's complete absence of offensive maneuvers. Then the little reindeer screamed when Sanae stopped blocking all together and Elizabeth Stoker drove the knife into her chest.
"SANAE!"
But the Iron Butterfly was fine.
Instead of blood pouring down her stomach, there was a silver liquid.
Stoker looked at the knife handle – now void of a blade – in complete confusion. "WHAT THE HELL!?" she screamed, looking between the handle and the Iron Butterfly with a look of of total bewilderment on her face. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY KNIFE, YOU LITTLE BITCH!?"
Sanae grinned. "You're not the only one with a Devil Fruit."
Chopper gasped. "You were able to melt the knife that fast!?"
"It's nice to be able to melt bullets and daggers like that," said Sanae.
"YOU CAN MELT BULLETS!?"
"Not all the time!"
"But you can't melt this!"
Sanae turned in time to see Elizabeth Stoker was now wielding a piece of broken wood. She dodged, but the look in her eyes was more concerned than before, and Chopper knew that Stoker had been right. Wood didn't exactly melt very easily. "Chopper! Where are my blade rings!?"
"It doesn't matter!" Chopper said. "She's immortal!"
"I KNOW THAT!" Sanae said, continuing to dodge the attacks.
"NO! No matter how much you hurt her she keeps healing! We can't do anything!"
Elizabeth Stoker began to laugh. "The little thing is right – I've been decapitated, poisoned, burned, stabbed, shot, strangled. . . you won't be able to kill me, little girl." She kicked Sanae, knocking the wind out of the Iron Butterfly as she flew into the stone floor, causing the Life Life user to cackle.
Sanae gasped. "Monster. . . YOU MONSTER!"
Sitting up, Sanae watched as Elizabeth Stoker towered over her. The woman grabbed the front of Sanae's shirt and pulled her to her feet, keeping a firm grip on the fabric. "Perhaps, but I'll be here long after your corpse has begun to rot." Sanae watched as she raised the stake above her head, a crazed gleam in her eyes. Oh my God, I'm really going to die here! And I couldn't do anything to save Onii-kun!
Sanji. . . I'm so sorry. . .
"Now prepare to DIE!"
Elizabeth Stoker swung down.
Sanae closed her eyes, wincing.
The stake never made contact.
Sanae opened her eyes to see why she hadn't been stabbed.
There was a leg blocking Elizabeth Stoker's forearm.
Sanji grinned, taking a drag from a cigarette. "Sorry, but no one hurts my baby sister."
Author's Notes
Special thanks to SuNa for beta-reading this chapter and doing stuff like finding typos and forcing me to think about whether or not Sanji got stabbed, which resulted in a really bad MS paint comic of the last part of the scene that amused him greatly anyways.
On Sanae's ability: Sanae can melt most metals, plastics, rubber (including Luffy), wax, ice, and probably some rocks. I figure she does have a "limit" to what she can and can't melt, and that limit would probably be a degree – anything with a higher melting point than her limit would be something she'd be unable to melt, and she would not be able to melt sea stone. Depending on when she sees them and how far away they are, Sanae is capable to melting bullets and blades – she needs a few seconds to "warm up". With knives and swords she just needs to dodge for a little bit – it's a bit trickier with bullets.
Find out how Sanji survived and more next chapter!
-Dixxy