Well, here is the long-awaited chapter four! I promised a reader to include a very – heartfelt – scene in this chapter, and I hope it's to his/her liking! I'm sorry it's so long; I got carried away in its awesomeness. Hehe…
Chapter Updated: Sunday, July 22, 2012
Chapter 4 - Lightning
Nami
The darkness of the locked vault was suffocating. The silence pressed down on her ears, as she realized the vault must be soundproof. She had only been imprisoned for about thirty seconds and she was already beginning to tremble. Her breath came in short gasps. Never had she actually been trapped in total darkness before, except maybe when Arlong had locked her in her room in Arlong Park when she was still very young.
The memory made her take a deep breath. She wasn't that timid eight year old girl anymore. She had survived to see Arlong fall, rescued a princess and her country, seen the Sky Island of Skypeia, rescued a friend from the clutches of the World Government, and defeated a giant zombie, all with the help of her friends, of course. If she could survive all those adventures, there was no way she'd be done in by just a little darkness.
This vault had no ventilation. So there was a limited amount of air inside. Nami suspected she had about thirty minutes before the oxygen ran out. Of all her weather abilities, she could not make oxygen.
Nami steeled herself and began shuffling around. She jammed her fingers against a box of some sort. She kicked something that rattled loudly. She ran her hands across everything she could until she recognized the cool steel of her Climatact. She picked it up and stood, gripping it tightly. Something soft fell across her foot. She squealed, taking a step back.
"Cool Ball," she said, and a small sphere of blue light appeared in the air, floating to the very top of the vault. It cast an eerie blue glow around the contents of the vault, and shadows danced around lightly. The light wasn't enough, however, so she released another Cool Ball. She didn't want a cloud to form, at least, not yet. Thunder Tempo would be a last resort.
As the second ball joined the first, the light's diameter increased, and Nami could see enough to at least to not trip over anything. She realized the object that had floated across her foot was only Luffy's hat. She knelt, picking it up and placing it lightly atop her head. She had kicked Zoro's katanas. The black blade, Shuusui lay at her feet, partly out of its sheath. She knelt slowly and wrapped her hand around the hilt.
The sword was heavy; she could barely lift it. Zoro's a superhuman monster to be able to lift this thing, she thought. But the heavier the blade, the quicker it to be taken by gravity, therefore the faster it falls, plus the added momentum from her strength. If she could strike the door with the sword, the sharp blade might be able to slice it open.
She dragged the blade toward the door. It screeched across the hard metal floor with an ear-shattering hiss. What Zoro doesn't know won't hurt him.
Nami reached the door. She hefted the large sword above her head, gripping the hilt until her knuckles turned white. With a yell, she brought the sword down against the hard metal. Shuusui clashed with the door, embedding itself into the thick metal. It stopped cutting a third of the way down, sticking out of the door like a black thorn.
No matter how hard Nami tugged at the blade, it refused to be pulled out. Nami soon gave up. She moved backward and found Sanji's shoes. She slipped her bare feet into them. They were several sizes too large, but as long as they worked, Nami didn't really care.
She kicked at the door. The impact jarred her foot, and a large ringing sound like a tolling bell echoed around her. Her hands flew to her ears; her eardrums buzzed.
Okay, that won't work either…
She couldn't do anything with the cola bottles; Franky would need those. Nami wasn't a musician, so she couldn't play Brook's violin even if she wanted to. She had no idea which of Usopp's little spheres did what, and she didn't want to accidentally release a toxic gas. Both Zoro's katana and Sanji's shoes had proved useless, at least, to an inexperienced person without that fighting style. The original owners of all the weapons would have no problem escaping.
That left Nami's own weapon, the Climatact. Thunder Tempo would be her only option. The door was constructed of steel, but after a quick examination, Nami concluded it was layered with a mixture of copper and aluminum, both powerful conductors of electricity. If she shocked the locking mechanism, it might just malfunction and spring open. Of course, the electrical current would travel through the entire vault, so Nami was sure to get a rough shock. She was ready to take that risk, however.
She took the Climatact in her hand. "Heat Ball," she commanded, and several red spheres of heat emerged from the blue tube and floated to the ceiling. "Cool Ball," she added, and blue spheres rose to the ceiling. As the temperature in the vault waned, Nami realized the two Cool Balls floating near the ceiling had caused the temperature to drop. Now that the heat balls joined with them, the air gradually became warmer.
Before long, the light had faded a little, and a large dark cloud floated above her head. Nami braced herself. "Forecast calls for lightning," she whispered, and launched a crackling gold sphere of lightning into the cloud.
The cloud crackled. Shadows danced wildly throughout the entire room. A yellow bolt lashed out and connected with the door. The entire vault crackled as the current moved throughout its structure.
Nami screamed as the lightning shocked through her body, turning her skin inside out. Her nerves erupted into flame, her eyes melting inside her head. Her entire body burned and bubbled, her hair standing on end.
The sensations only lasted a second, but the pain was still there when the light faded, and the cloud dispersed. Nami collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily. She pressed her hands to her eyes. They were not puddles of goo on her face. Her skin was right-side out. Her body had returned to normal.
Did it work?
XXX
Luffy
Luffy attacked Captain Ramius, his eyes blazing with fury. This guy had dared to insult him, and he was determined to kick his ass. He hadn't noticed Nami creeping around them. All Luffy was concerned about was putting this marine-guy in his place. Both men refused to move, their furious gazes locked on one another.
Suddenly, Captain Ramius turned his head, and Luffy followed his gaze.
Nami was kneeling at the base of the big door, rubbing her fingers over the ankle she had messed up. Luffy was concerned. If Nami kept walking with that ankle, he had no idea what would happen, but he at least knew it wouldn't be good.
"Cat Burglar! How dare you! How dare you!" Captain Ramius yelled.
Luffy had to draw his attention away from Nami. She wouldn't be able to do much against him. "Hey, captain-guy! Listen when I'm talking to you!" Luffy threw back his arm. "Gomu gomu no… pistol!"
Captain-guy raised his hand and easily caught his punch just before it connected. His gaze left Nami and returned to the Straw Hat captain. "Straw Hat. You're not a match for me. Not a match for me."
"Luffy! Keep him busy!" Nami yelled. Luffy could see from the corner of his eye his navigator crawling awkwardly into the safe. Nami knew what she was doing, so Luffy decided to obey his navigator, but only this once.
"Right," Luffy yelled, and attacked the captain, knocking him back into the couch resting in front of his desk. They struggled there for a few seconds, both trying desperately to remain on top of the other and therefore keep the advantage.
However, Captain Ramius socked Luffy in the jaw, and he flew backward into the wall, smashing a chair. The captain launched himself at the desk, grabbing the transponder snail.
"Mayday! Mayday! Straw Hat Luffy has invaded my office! In my office! Requesting backup immediately! Immediately!"
"Oh no you don't!" Luffy sprang up and ran at the captain.
"Luffy! I found them! Luffy!"
Luffy stopped and looked toward the vault, a smile beginning to spread across his face. "Nami! That's – " His smile faded as he watched the vault door slam shut across his navigator's face. "Nami!"
He ran to the door, banging his fist against it. "Nami! Nami!" he roared. "Answer me!"
There was no reply from inside.
Luffy exploded in anger. He was positive captain-guy had rigged the vault or something. It was his fault his navigator was trapped inside there. She might be in there with the weapons, but there was no way she could possibly get out on her own. Luffy would have to save her.
By the time Luffy had come to his conclusion, Captain Ramius had replaced the transponder snail to its place on his desk and returned his attention to Luffy.
"Straw Hat. You should just give up. Give up. There's no way you can win. No way to win."
"That's what you think!"
The two men charged at each other, Captain Ramius with the goal to capture, Luffy with the intent to completely annihilate.
Luffy had no reasonable idea why he was so angry. The only major times he lost his cool was if someone had eaten all the meat, Sanji was out of meat, or someone thoroughly pissed him off. It must have been the third option, because the kitchen was full of meat. The next thing to figure out was why this guy pissed him off. It wasn't like most of the other guys whose ass he kicked, who kept talking about subordinates and not friends, there is no such thing as a dream, or guys who were just stupid and needed to be taught a lesson. This captain-guy was different. True, he had stepped on Luffy's dream of becoming King of the Pirates. But he didn't treat his friends like subordinates as far as Luffy could tell, and he certainly wasn't stupid.
Maybe it was because he had locked Nami in the weapons vault. Yeah, that had to be it. Luffy hated it when people mess with this crew, especially Nami. Maybe it was because he had saved her before, on many occasions. Maybe it was because she was the second – well, maybe fifth – to join him, and he had developed some sort of special connection. Luffy didn't really understand it. But all he knew was that Nami needed his help right now, and captain-guy was the only person who could.
Luffy yelled a challenge, and threw his arm back.
The marines of minor rank burst into the room just before the pirate and marine captain clashed. Every man surrounded Luffy, their guns trained on him. Luffy growled, his anger level rising dangerously. Every second wasted on these annoying marines was a second that could be put to better use rescuing Nami from the confines of the vault.
He prepared himself. "Gomu gomu no…" he began, but just then, a marine behind him fired, and a net suddenly attacked him from behind. Luffy flew forward, his limbs entangled in wire. He crashed into a wall, cracking a mirror. "What the hell…?"
All the energy was suddenly sucked from his body. He slid to the ground, completely immobilized and exhausted. "Dammit…"
"That net has sea prism stone in it. Sea prism stone," Captain Ramius told him, a smile crossing his face. "Like I said, there's no way to escape. No way to escape."
Luffy narrowed his eyes. "You bastard! Release my crew!"
"Why would I do that? Why would I do that?" Captain-guy said. "You'll be together again soon. Together soon. You'll all be executed together. Executed together."
Just then, something in the air crackled. Every strand of Luffy's hair stood up straight. Every marine, including Captain Ramius, stared toward the door to the vault. The entire structure was covered in arcing tendrils of lightning. The door smoked. The dial for the knob fell from its post in the door and crashed to the ground, breaking into tiny smoking pieces. The door creaked open, its once slick hinges now burnt and rusty.
Luffy could barely see through the net, but he could faintly make out the slumped figure of his precious navigator just inside the vault. His precious straw hat lay clutched in her hands.
This angered Luffy even further. Now she was unconscious! Oh man, captain-guy had really done it this time. He began tearing at the net, using his hands, his teeth, his feet, anything that would break the net. He tried to be as quiet as possible, because even his not-so-intelligent brain could deduce that the marines catching him in his escape was not that great.
Finally, a wire snapped, and the entire net fell apart. The marine closest to him heard the net snap, and turned around, his eyes widening as he watched Luffy slowly untangle himself. "Captain! Captain sir!"
"What is it? What is it?" Captain Ramius turned, but the marine who had called didn't need to explain why he had done so. Luffy was already letting loose a full scale Gatling Gun on the entire group of marines in the room. They collapsed to the floor, groaning and holding their aching limbs.
Luffy lept over them, taking careful measures to step on Captain Ramius's face, and raced to Nami's side. He tugged his hat from her grip and placed it on his head before gripping her shoulder and shaking her mightily. "Nami! Nami!"
XXX
Nami
The land was beautiful. Daises and tulips of all different colors grew for miles, swaying in the warm summer breeze. The sky was a clear blue, with not a cloud in the sky. Her lightweight dress rippled around her legs like satin, blowing her hair gracefully across her face. She smiled into the wind, spreading her arms to soak up the sun's radiance. It warmed her from her core until her whole body felt suddenly calm and peaceful; she could stay like this forever. There was only one thing missing.
"Nami! Nami!"
Someone called to her. Who was it? The voice was familiar. She turned slowly, and a small figure could be seen running toward her through the flower field. The figure was obviously male. His dark raven hair whisked around his face with the breeze, blowing in front of his kind dark eyes. He wore a light cotton shirt unbuttoned halfway down, revealing a well-built chest and body. It billowed at each step he took. His trousers were of deerskin and a bit dirty, but she didn't care. She liked hard-working men.
"Nami! Nami!" He called her name again, stopping a few feet away from her.
This must be paradise, she thought, staring at the boy. Wait, a man. Now that she could see him clearly, she realized he was a very handsome young man. But something nagged at her that told her she knew him already. And that he would never wear something like that if he could help it.
"Nami! Nami!"
Nami moaned. "Stop it… I'm right here…"
Suddenly, the field of flowers faded, replaced by the deck of a rolling ship. The sky overhead turned dark and cloudy, with pouring rain and violent thunder. Her dress was replaced by a soaked t-shirt and jeans. Her hair was plastered to her face, small strands whipping about with the wind. Her skin grew chilled from the driving rain. She had to spread her feet to keep from falling over, one hand gripping the deck rail.
The man across from her had lost his billowing cotton shirt and dirty trousers for a red vest and blue shorts. His hair was also stuck to his his head sat a weathered straw hat that had seen its better days. He was staring intently at her, his mouth moving at he shouted once more.
"Nami! Nami!"
A piece of wood suddenly flew up from the ocean. It slammed into the side of her head. She went down, rolling along the deck. Her vision went fuzzy. The man ran to her side and knelt beside her, shaking her shoulder and calling her name.
"Nami! Nami!"
"Nami! Nami!" That was Luffy's voice. She was certain of it. She could recognize that voice anywhere. But why was he was shaking her shoulder? It was obnoxious. He had to stop. What if he wasn't shaking her shoulder? Move his hands a few more inches downward and...
"LUFFY!" She yelled, her eyes flying open. She sat up suddenly, and her forehead conked against something hard. "DON'T TOUCH THAT!"
"Ow…" A very small voice said.
The scene came into focus. She was sitting in a large metal room full of the Straw Hat weapons. Luffy was a few inches away, rubbing his forehead through his hat. That must have been what she hit. Now that she thought about it, she ached all over; her skin was darkened a bit, and it tingled whenever she moved.
"Luffy! Are you alright?" Nami maneuvered herself to hands and knees, wincing slightly at the unexpected pain.
"I should be asking you. Did you make that lightning?"
Nami simply nodded.
Luffy grinned and gave her an energetic thumbs up. "That was so awesome."
Nami flushed, remembering her vision. "We should, uh, get going. The rest of the crew needs us."
"Oh. Right."
Luffy grabbed a handful of materials and stood, waiting for her. She, too, gathered the remaining weapons and stepped out of the vault with her captain. Her ankle still throbbed, but she could stand it. The electric shock must have done something to it. At least she could walk.
Luffy bypassed the group of marines by the door, but Nami stared at them for a moment, wondering what on earth could have happened out here while she was trapped inside the vault.
"Nami! Let's go!"
Nami looked to her captain. "Right."
And thus ends chapter four of Escape. I want to thank everyone for their excellent reviews and positive influence! You really have no idea how much I appreciate it.
Coming Up: Chapter 5 - Reunited, Part 1