Angel of Death Fruit
Book One: Deadline
By Dixxy Mouri
Chapter 19 - March 5, 12:23am
Elizabeth Stoker closed her eyes and nodded in Sanj's direction. "Well played. I should have realized there was a reason you suddenly shut up after a while – quite clever of you." She shook her head. "In all my years of doing this, not once has anyone pulled a stunt like that. You're the first. I can't say I'm not impressed by that little bit of ingenuity. I'll remember that for my next victims."
At that moment, however, Sanji was not paying much attention to Elizabeth Stoker. The Straw Hat cook was a bit distracted by Sanae, who was hugging him rather tightly and making a fuss over him. "Onii-kun! Onii-kun! You're alive! You're okay! You didn't die! I thought I was never going to see you again but you're all right!"
"I'm glad to see you, too, Sanae," Sanji said, trying to break free from her grip – even he was no match for the power of an overly emotional baby sister, however. Even so, he couldn't believe he was seeing her after all those years apart – she'd grown up behind his back. Last time I was her she was just a little kid. Now she's. . . not a kid anymore. He frowned. I missed all that. Shit.
"Touching. Now I'm going to kill you both!" Stoker snapped. Sanji got a better grip on his sister's waist and dragged them both out of the line of fire to the floor several yards away. Sanae detached herself from her brother and looked at Stoker in a bit of fear.
"She's immortal."
"Yeah, I know."
"No, you don't – she can't be injured!"
"Once again – I know that!"
"Oh," said Sanae. "Good. So we just need to figure out some other way to kill her!"
The cook froze. "No. I can't," Sanji said slowly.
"Huh?" Sanae asked. "Sanji, what are you-"
His eyes were wide with panic. "If I hurt her. . . I'd be breaking my promise, but if I don't Nami-san and Robin-chan and my sister and the rest of the crew could all die," said Sanji. His knees buckled and he grasped his head. "But I can't hurt a woman. But I can't let anything happen to the girls. But I can't kick a woman! I can't choose! I can't do this!"
Zoro groaned.
"Sanji!" Chopper screamed.
"What the hell's wrong with you!?" Sanae yelled. "She's going to kill us!"
Sanji shook his head. "I can't!"
"Onii-kun, I've missed you these twelve years but this is NO TIME for a nervous breakdown! We have to do something about her!" Sanae screamed, grabbing the collar of her brother's shirt. "Do you realize how much I've gone through the past two years just trying to find you?! Do you know what Nami and Robin and Luffy and the others have done to save your sorry ass!? You can't just sit here and-"
"I made a promise to never hit girls!" Sanji yelled back.
"Forget the promise! Our lives are at stake!"
"How do you NOT remember!?"
"What the FUCK are you talking about?!"
"You KNOW why I can't hurt women!!"
"No, dum bass, I don't!"
"Of course you do!"
"No, I don't!"
The frozen Straw Hats, unknown to each other, all shared the same thought:
They really ARE brother and sister. . .
"WHY DON'T YOU REMEMBER!?" Sanji yelled. "YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER!"
"REMEMBER WHAT!?" Sanae yelled back. "Sanji, you're not making any SENSE! What kind of promise is so important to you that you'd be willing all of our lives for it by not getting rid of the monster trying to destroy us!? SHE'S TRYING TO KILL US! Stop being so stubborn! This isn't fair, Sanji- what the FUCK is wrong with you!? What kind of freakish 'promise' did you make that you're willing to get us all killed over!?"
"IT'S NOT A FREAKISH PROMISE!" Sanji countered.
"What are you talking about!?" said Sanae.
"Why don't you remember the day I almost killed you!?"
"WHAT!?" Chopper screamed.
Sanae's jaw was dropped, and she stood in stunned silence.
Sanji clenched his fists tightly, trying to hold his composure.
By this time, however, the little reindeer doctor noticed Elizabeth Stoker had drawn a gun. Chopper immediately began to scream, darting towards the woman. He was able to knock her down in time to send the bullet harmlessly into the air. The sound was enough to get Sanji and Sanae to stop arguing and recall they were in the middle of a much more. . . important fight. Another shot rang out, and the siblings split again to avoid getting him.
"Sanji. . . I don't remember. . . but I know you wouldn't mean that. . . do you think Dad would want to see you die because of that?!" asked Sanae, landing on all fours. "Mom and Dad died trying to find you that day! They loved you! They were terrified that something bad happened! They wouldn't want you to give up just because your opponent was a woman! They gave us our LIVES – don't waste that!
"SANJI! STAND UP AND FIGHT, YOU STUPID DUMBASS!"
By this time Stoker had broken free of Chopper's grip and was running directly at Sanji. Still not on his feet, Sanji rolled out of the way, and was forced to continue dodging her blows from the ground until he was able to scramble far enough away to get to his feet and close enough to Sanae to pull her to hers. Stoker, meanwhile, was laughing. "Even after everything your sister has said, you still won't hit me?"
"What good am I going to do my parents if I won't live by the things they taught me?"
Sanae smacked her forehead. "We're all going to die."
Before Sanji could react to his sister's comment, there was the sound of a gunshot and a scream from Chopper. The little reindeer was clutching his arm – thankfully in his mostly human form – and was starting to bleed. "Someone shot me!" he yelled. He looked around for the shooter, his eyes stopping at the door.
Leaning on the edge of the door frame with a gun in one hand was Kenji, glaring at everyone in the room in anger. Zoro, still frozen in place, was shocked. "Looks like I got here just in time," he said, chuckling. He turned to his niece and nephew, a sly grin on his face. "Well, well, well. . . looks like you're both still alive."
March 5, 12:34 am
"There's got to be some around here!"
Nami was hurriedly searching through storage room and other rooms seemingly inhabited by Stoker's henchmen. She needed the ClimaTact and she needed to find Stoker's weakness – Sanji wouldn't be able to distract that horrible woman for very long before it was obvious he wasn't going to attack her.
Sanji and Nami had tried to join the battle with Stoker until they heard that Stoker was unable to be injured by normal means. They exchanged a look of concern before Nami's eyes widened and she told him she'd be back soon – she knew what they would need to do to destroy her.
"Just keep her busy!" Nami had said before taking off.
Now, however, came the tough part: finding it.
Technically, it had been Sanji who had figured out Stoker's weakness, although it was about as plain as day when someone took it into consideration. Elizabeth Stoker was a Devil Fruit user. Devil Fruit users had two universal weaknesses – the sea and seastone. All they needed to do to kill Stoker was stab her with a sea stone dagger or drown her. Seeing that they were too far from the shoreline to consider drowning her, that left finding a seastone weapon.
And if Sanji had found that little piece of seastone, maybe there was more. . .
March 5, 12:35 am
"You're ALIVE!?" asked Sanae. "But I thought Zoro killed you!"
Kenji continued to laugh. "I'll give the kid credit – he knocked me out pretty good."
"He's still standing after a fight with ZORO!?" Sanji asked in amazement.
Kenji lifted his shirt, revealing bright blue scales underneath. A few of the scales were cracked, showing flesh and a little blood underneath. "There's a certain breed of sea king that has lightweight but very tough scales. He didn't break the scales or my flesh, but the force of that attack knocked the wind out of me for a while there."
"Don't be foolish enough to think I don't take care of my own, darlings," said Stoker. "Kenji dear is my right hand man. Of course I was going to give him protection – he's a good man. It's not every day to you find a subordinate willing to sell his own flesh and blood or kill his own brother for you."
Sanji's eyes widened. "So you DID kill them. . ."
"I didn't exactly kill them, per se," said Kenji. "The fall did."
"You worthless piece of crap!" Sanae yelled, starting towards Kenji.
"I wouldn't," he said. "This gun has seastone bullets. You can't melt those."
Sanae halted, and Sanji pulled her close to him. "Asshole," he said.
"Devil's Fruit users are few and far between, but I've encountered enough to known when to be prepared," said Kenji. He gestured to the frozen group of Straw Hats. "This'll work on that rubber body of your captain as well, and he can't even dodge like your little sister can. Heck, it'll work on any of them, really. Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro, dead. Demon Child Nico Robin, dead. Cyborg Franky, dead. I'm guessing the kid with the nose is Sogeking? He'll be dead, too."
Sanji and Sanae grew quiet – there wasn't much they could do without one of the others getting hurt. Kenji was right – they were all helpless. The cook clutched his sister's hand, squeezing tightly. Luffy and the others were enraged, but they couldn't fight the effects of the stone powder.
NO! Keep your hands off my cook!
C'mon, stupid cook, think of something!
SANJI!
Cook-san!
You've got to do something! You're the guy who broke onto the Puffing Tom! C'mon!
Taking a deep breath, Sanji closed his eyes. "I'm the one you want, aren't I?"
"You're useless to me now," said Stoker. "That navigator girl ruined you for me."
Sanji swallowed, a serious but frightened look in his eyes as he started to speak again. "But. . . if I allowed you to have me anyways . . . you could leave my crew and my sister alone. I give myself up peacefully if you let them go. Sanae gets to go home, and Luffy and others get to continue on their journey."
Stoker paused. "Eh?"
"You could kill me. Turn me in for my bounty. I don't care. Just let them go."
"SANJI!" Chopper yelled.
"Onii-kun, stop!" Sanae yelled.
"Luffy. . . is the man who's going to become the Pirate King! And Marimo-head wants to be the world's greatest swordsman! Chopper needs to find a cure for all diseases and Usopp is going to be a brave warrior of the sea! Robin-chan is going to find and dechiper the Rio Ponyglyph and Franky's going to be there when the Thousand Sunny reaches Raftel! Nami-san needs to finish her map of the world! And I don't want Sanae to die on me or have you go after Akito!" Sanji swallowed. "I can't let their dreams die. Even if it means I'll never see All Blue. . . they're my friends. I can't let you hurt them!"
Elizabeth Stoker grinned, walking up to Sanji and grabbing his chin. "I could make you my slave," she said. "I could force you to do anything. I could keep you alive and torture your body until there was nothing left but an empty shell. I could degrade you. Some of my men would like you – I could make you their personal 'play thing'. Poke both of your eyes out and feed them to you. You'd be willing to do this for these-"
"Yes."
"Onii-kun. . . don't do this. . ." Sanae pleaded.
"Even bring me more children?"
Sanji stood, trying to hold his composure together. "I won't bring you more victims. Enslave me, torture me, kill me, rape me, do whatever you want to me and my body as long as you leave my friends alone and don't make me do that – I'd sooner slit my own throat then hurt kids the way you hurt me."
Stoker grinned. "This is still an interesting proposal."
"Luffy is not going to stand for that!" Chopper yelled.
"Neither will I!" said Sanae. Kenji clicked his gun, and she froze. Sanae gritted her teeth.
"So, little cook, do we have a deal?" asked Elizabeth Stoker. She started to walk circles around him – Sanji felt his body go cold. "In exchange for the safety of your friends and your little sister, you're mine to do whatever I please with except making you collect more children for me. That sounds like a fair exchange to me."
Sanji opened his mouth.
"GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF MY MAN!"
BANG! BANG!
Kenji cried once and dropped his gun, clutching his profusely bleeding hand. Stoker, on the other hand, was screaming as she clutched her shoulder, which was a bloody pulp of flesh and bone. Nami was standing in the doorway holding a gun of her own, her eyes wide with shock as the firearms in her hands shook.
"Nami!" Sanae cried.
"That BITCH! You got out!?" Kenji cried, crawling towards his weapon. Before her uncle could recover the gun, Sane kicked it away and slammed her foot into his chest. Kenji grabbed her foot and pulled her to the ground. Unfortunately for him, that put Sanae close enough to the gun to grab it, and she pointed it at his forehead.
"You. . . you wouldn't. . . I'm your uncle!" he said, shaking in fear.
Sanae's eyes were cold as she pushed the nozzle against his forehead. "Uncle Kenji, I've been a bounty hunter for two damn years – I know how to handle myself in a fight against wimps like you," she said. Her glare narrowed. "And family ties didn't stop you from killing my parents or selling Sanji or attacking me and Akito." Kenji's eyes widened and he slumped over.
Meanwhile, Sanji couldn't take his eyes off Nami.
One: She'd just shot two people.
Two: She'd probably referred to Sanji-kun as "her man".
She was still shaking.
"YOU MORON!" Stoker screeched, clutching her still bleeding shoulder.
"She's. . . not healing?" Sanji asked.
"Seastone. . ." said Nami, looking down at the gun. "She can be hurt with seastone!"
"YOU LEFT THOSE DAMN BULLETS OUT!? YOU IMBECILE! NOW I'VE BEEN SHOT YOU INCOMPETANT PIECE OF TRASH!!" Stoker screeched at Kenji. He didn't react, and Sanji began to wonder if he was even alive anymore. Sanae turned away from Kenji, pointing her gun at the Life Life user.
The Iron Butterfly pulled the trigger.
Nothing happened.
"No bullets. . . how quaint," said Stoker.
Sanae turned to Nami. "Nami! You have to shoot her again!" she yelled.
Stroker growled, getting to her feet. . . still clutching one of the guns with the bad arm. Nami kept the gun pointed at Stoker, sweat dripping down her face. "I can smell it – you won't shoot me again. You don't have the guts to do it. And this arm will heal – eventually. It'll take a long time, but it will heal. So either you put your gun down and let me and 'your man' make our deal, or else I will shoot you."
Nami swallowed, still shaking. "I can't let you do that to him – he doesn't deserve it." She tried to stop shaking, but it was no use. "What you did to him. . . you forced him to leave his home when he was a child. . . it led to his parent's dying, it led to him nearly starving to death . . . he spent twelve years desperately trying to save his own life and hide it from the rest of the world. . . and no you want to do THIS!?"
Sanji's jaw dropped, the cigarette in his mouth falling to the floor.
"I can't let you do that!" she yelled.
"YOU'LL DIE, BRAT!" Stoker pulled the trigger.
BANG!
Nami cried and closed her eyes, fearing the worst. Nothing happened.
She opened her eyes and saw something that shocked her.
Sanji was holding Elizabeth Stoker back. The bullet lodged itself harmlessly in a wall.
"SANJI-KUN!"
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Stoker said coldly.
Sanji gritted his teeth. "When I promised not to strike a woman again, I meant it for all women. And I don't like doing this. But if I don't do something you could hurt my little sister or Robin or the woman I love! I'm not going to let you live if it means they have to die!" He closed his eyes, holding the squirming woman tightly. "NAMI-SAN! YOU HAVE TO SHOOT HER!"
Nami's arms started to shake.
"NAMI-SAN!!"
BANG!
Author's Notes
Wow. There were some bumps in the way to getting this one done. But after some beta-ing and some adding and cutting I think I'm okay with it.
I'm guessing there will be about two more chapters/parts to go and then onto the next story!
-Dixxy