V
He had expected problems to arise in the last leg of the mission but he certainly didn't expect seastone to be involved. This early into the Grand Line, even the Marines scarcely possessed them. Law cursed himself for not considering the possibility.
But whoever his opponent was – Marius, Edmund or Yingzi it may be – they had been wise to put it into play for it had taken the game up a notch. The Heart Pirates captain knew there was something he had missed in his crew's reports, something that bothered him at the back of his head but could not pinpoint. How much of it had been part of some grand design, however, the pirate didn't have the time to ponder.
His opponent had made his move. Now it was the Surgeon of Death's turn.
Law's den den mushi rang once and a voice spoke. "The thief has been redirected captain," the scowling snail reported. "Michi is heading towards you with the scent we left on him."
"Good. Return to the ship," the captain responded. "Defend it if need be." The line clicked close.
"Sorry captain," Bepo mumbled as they ran. "I should've sensed him coming. Sorry."
"Never mind that," Law replied as he looked about for his crew's mechanic. "I need you now to sniff him out."
"I won't fail again."
With a resolute nod, the navigator straightened out from his slump to towering over the people around them. He narrowed his eyes and sniffed at the air as he turned his head one way then another. Bepo winced at a particular direction, then pointing, said, "There's a strong scent over there, captain. It might be Michi."
Without waiting for a reply, the polar bear take the lead. The pair cut through the foot traffic like a blade. This proved to their disadvantage, however, for it wasn't long before a small troop of patrolling Marines started throwing curious glances at the eight-foot-tall clothed polar bear walking amongst the citizenry. The Heart Pirates captain grabbed a handful of his crewmate's boiler suit and dragged him behind a tarpaulin-walled fruit stand.
"Mind the Marines even as you search, Bepo," the captain scolded as he gestured for the navigator to crouch.
"Sorry," Bepo mumbled from his squat. "But he's so close now. It's Michi; I'm sure of it."
Law scanned for Marines from their hiding place, clicking his tongue at what he found. There were too many of them there now; passing them without incident would take too much time. As easy as it would have been to simply use his devil fruit ability to catch the thief, there was a good chance it would cause mass panic, and he had no intentions of giving Doflamingo any reason to believe he had lost his package, even for a short while.
He pointed to the alley behind them. "The back streets here should be interconnected here. Let's use the long way to reach him."
The pair eased out from behind the shop, then rushed down the alleyway to the closest of its branches running parallel to the street. Bepo led the way once more, his senses growing sharper with each passing minute of tension.
They found Michi two blocks from their starting point, and at the sight of the Surgeon of Death, the Heart pirate quickly joined them in the dark alley. He drummed his fingers under the red-stained handkerchief he presented his captain.
"Chili sauce captain," he said with a nervous snigger. He offered it to Bepo. "This any good?"
Bepo sniffed at it once and grimaced, but nodded vigorously. "That's some strong stuff," the navigator said, to which the mechanic snickered at. The polar bear pawed his nose a few times, then stood his full height, breathing deeply. His eyes were closed as he veered his head from one side to another.
He locked onto a particular direction and made his first few unsure steps towards it. It was to Law's annoyance that it straight was back to Edmund's mansion that the thief seemed to be heading. Bepo's eyes snapped open and he broke into a run.
"To the ship, Michi," Law bid as he followed after his navigator.
If he had cared to look back once, he would have found his crewmate staring after him, arm still outstretched in an attempt to take the burden of three boxes of chicken from him.
+.+
When he signed up for the job, no one told just how much trouble it would possible be. His employers claimed it was going to be easy money, that apart from the white bear, it was a thirty minute job, give or take. All there was to it was a quick steal, a jog around town, and finally, the delivery. Then, he'd be home free with twenty thousand belis in his pocket.
He didn't ask about the roundabout trip to the meet up point, thinking it was probably for confusing any pursuers. Or something.
Teodoro, Tio to both his friends and enemies, had done as he was told, even timed his first move with the island's sunset light show, just to be sure the foreign dupe would be distracted. He had not even put three blocks between him and his victim when he met his first hurdle.
Two men who towered well over his five feet and six inches of height, one a scowling giant and the other a grinning one, headed him off. They didn't even have the decency to let him know they had beef with him when the first lunged at him with an elbow aimed to his head. He dodged in time, but his attacker followed the first lash with a knee to his side. With the large man's height, the hit caught him squarely by the ribs, sending him off balance and straight into the other white-clad man's clutches.
A thick warm fluid dribbled down his face. In a panic, he jerked out of his captor's hold. The freedom that came in just one try caught him by surprise, but the need to escape had his feet taking him down the nearest route to safety anyway. By the time his burning lungs and throbbing ribs caught up to him, he had gone off the course his employers told him to take.
He staggered, one callous step after another, behind a garbage pile and collapsed there. The fluid on his face had ceased to flow by then, though the trail it left pricked at his senses like a burn. It smelled funny, too, but that wasn't important as his next realization; there were no wound. His ribs, too, survived the attack with just a numb bruise.
Tio peered over his hiding place and found no signs of the two giants on his trail. He had many enemies, but the pair was unfamiliar to him. Probably hired men, he thought; it wouldn't be uncommon for his enemies to send those types. A whole minute of searching for the pair bore no fruit.
The dread pooling in his gut was soon relieved by a quick check on his stolen package. He laughed; it was still there, untouched though it stuck out of his pocket like a beacon for itchy fingers. Tio looked about, trying to figure out where he was.
The closest path back to his route was just a few short streets away, he found. He would miss the wide curve of his trek that brushed past the Lord Edmund's mansion, but he figured that his employers wouldn't find out. From where he picked up the route, the base would be just twenty minutes away. Twenty minutes to twenty thousand belis.
Tio grinned and took his stolen prize from his pocket, then tucked it into the band of his pants, before covering it with his shirt. It would be safer there. He eased back to his feet and casually strode out from behind the dump. The hired thief continued to watch his surroundings with a wary eye.
Back on his route, he weaved a meandering path around shops and took short cuts wherever he could, hoping to throw off any remaining pursuer. He fled from every suspicious noise and kept away from crowds. The island native arrived at the mouth of a long, sharply curving alleyway – the last leg of his trip through the east side of town – without further incident.
It was a narrow path, barely able to accommodate four men standing side by side. At that time of day, it was also one rarely used. Street noise muted down mere feet into the alley. Footfalls and snatches of conversations were easy to pinpoint among the few there.
A lone man was ahead of him, hurrying to some unknown destination. No threat to be had from that one. Heading the opposite way and almost before him was a young couple, whispering and giggling. Also not a threat. Most of the folks behind him were heading for the street he had just left. It was almost too perfect, but he wasn't complaining.
Tio continued on in a hurried gait. With sharp ears, he listened to his company's conversations.
"Are you sure?" the closest of them went. "No, of course not. Sorry— No. I don't think he has."
Confused by the exchange, the thief glanced behind him. All the men there were too far now to hear so clearly. Tio swallowed hard as he whipped his head back to look before him; he was almost at the first sharp bend of the alley; his mystery speaker might have been beyond it.
The growing cold, hollow feeling in his chest only grew more disturbed when he found the stretch of road empty. Jogging now, he continued on. He passed three more bends before he heard the voice again.
"Midway now, I think," it said. Tio whipped his head around, but he was as alone as he had been before. "Not quite, but I'll go for it now…Lady Luck help me."
Above! Tio finally realized. But he never got the chance to check. A tile of ceramic crashed right at his feet. The thief swore and broke into a sprint.
+.+
"They've gone further south, captain. Still veering west."
"Got it," Law confirmed Bepo's report, eyes set on the crewmate jogging ahead of him. He brought his den den mushi closer to his face to perceive his hushed order. "Seiuchi, let him choose his way at the next turn."
"Aye, aye, captain," the pilot responded between sharp intakes of breath. The line clicked closed.
A mass of white moved in Law's peripheral vision, one he recognized as another troop of Marines in the yellow-splashed Edmund territory. Damn them for being so plentiful in this island; he had no time to deal with them.
"Bepo, Marines," the captain called to his navigator.
Bepo glanced back as Law pointed to a nearby shop. The former turned sharply for the building and his captain followed after. The pair weaved through the displays, seeking out the back door. The Surgeon of Death ignored the store owner's protests as he escaped into a back alley. Behind him, Bepo apologized for them.
"Where are they headed now?" Law asked when his crewmate broke free of the angry merchant.
Bepo paused a moment to decipher the scents he perceived. "Straight west, captain."
"As I thought." Whipping out his den den mushi, Law called another crewmate. "Kitsune, where's the target now?"
"This movement approaches a cambiare. The main street is upon him."
"Tell Penguin and Shachi Seiuchi's sending him their way." He didn't wait for the confirmation. The captain contacted his pilot next and gave him his orders. The communication device was put away for the first time in half an hour, and Law strode briskly down the shortest path he knew of to the west.
So it was an associate of Yingzi's. He had his doubts when the thief - a native of the isle from the looks of him - had gone directly back to Edmund's mansion, leaving him to think that their associate had never planned to hand over his item to Joker. The thief's mad sprint for the west-side hideout after Law's little power play dropped the merchant from his list. The man was also too far south now to be breaking for Marius's estate, and though the possibility the other lord was his enemy still existed, there was a greater chance it was Yingzi who came up with the plan. The underworld liaison liked dabbling in mind games, but his pawns were too easily manipulated into betraying his ploy.
Law grinned despite himself. His crewmates were nothing of the sort; they were as much officials of the game as their captain - their king - was. The Surgeon of Death laughed and looped the rope tying their night's dinner together around his hand. Yes, their fool of a king running around this nameless port town's filthy back streets with three boxes of chicken. No matter, this farce was coming to an end soon.
+.+
Tio pressed himself as close as he could to the wall behind him, cold to his toes and his chest and legs burning. People walking up and down the main street glanced at him and shied away as if he were a madman, but he took no notice of them. His eyes were burned onto the roofline.
He had caught sight of his tormentor's silhouette as it chased him in the alleyways, but had lost sight of it some two blocks before. The street before him was less then a minute's sprint through if he could only chance on a clear path. Unfortunately, that was also going to make him an easy target for the bastard chasing him. Neither his limbs nor his back would survive another roof tile pitched by the same man who wrenched them from under their nail in the first place.
Had this been any other job, he'd have given up the steal by the first setback. He had that discretion; they promised him a clear steal. It wasn't. He really should have dropped the box with those two giants and called it an unfortunate accident. Because his employers lied to him. Because they told him no one would get in the way but many had.
But there was something unnerving about his employers' boss that stopped him from acting on his desperate thoughts. The man's cold voice struck him despite the airy singsong tone he spoke with. In fact, it was exactly because he seemed so carefree that Tio knew there was more to him than his unremarkable appearance betrayed.
Even if he wanted to drop the job now, he was in too deep to quit.
A shadow peered over the edge of the roof above, moonlight rimming the white of the man's short spiky hair and clothing. He could not see its eyes, but Tio could tell they were on him, unabashedly watching as if to mock him. The thief gritted his teeth as he glared back.
He was breaking for the west the moment his chaser looked away, he decided. To hell with the foot traffic.
As if the world had plotted to set at least one thing to go right for him that night, the shadow disappeared. He bolted like a cornered prey sighting its first chance at escape. His first step into the asphalt street was marked by a great crash of ceramic against stone. A cloud of dust caught up to him not soon after.
Tio clasped a hand over his mouth and nose as he spun back, in time to jump away from the man that lunged at him from on top of a pile of broken roof tiles. His dodge had him colliding into the person behind him, whose quick hands tried to gain a hold of him. This attack, too, he twisted out from, and when the dust settled, the thief found himself facing a Marine soldier and man in a white boiler suit.
"What's going on here?" the Marine demanded, glare shifting between Tio and his chaser.
All around them, curious passersby had crowded behind an invisible ring around the group. The soldier's troop began to surround the perimeter.
"Answer me. Who are you?"
The white-clad man stepped away from the apparent Marine officer before addressing his question. "I'm a pirate. And that guy over there," he jabbed a thumb to Tio's direction, "he's with me."
The officer sneered at the haughty declaration, closing the gap between him and the pirate. In response, the latter adjusted his bandanna as he stepped closer to the thief off to one side.
Tio ran before either Marine or pirate could get to him. The soldiers surrounding them rushed to block his path, but he had enough of a head start to slip through the gap between their reaching hands. A sense of triumph washed over him at the feat, and in a burst of gloating, he glanced back at his pirate tormentor. He bore witness to how the man grabbed hold of the collars of the marines closest to him and throw the soldiers onto the pavement. Then over their backs he rolled over, landing on his feet and sprinting after the thief before the rest of the Marine troop could restrain him.
This was a punishment from the Heavens, Tio decided as he took flight. The witnesses of the event stepped away from him, though a few brave bystanders tried stop him. None succeeded but each attempt had him veering farther from the west side of the main street. He spared no more glances at the pirate who was surely at his heels, and ran farther uptown. He needed to get away from those who believed him to be a pirate. The closer he came the plaza, the lesser he growing crowds yielded to his approach.
By the time he broke away from a sea of downtown-headed folks, he found that he hand gone farther south than he had intended. Sometime in his struggle through his last obstacle, he had crossed the mouth of the main street and had pushed onwards into the outskirts of the bazaar.
Tio cursed loudly and shot a glance behind him. The pirate was no more than twenty feet away, stringing behind him a throng of angry young men both Marines and civilian alike. With no other escape route open to him, the thief bolted into the congestion of bazaar stalls.
It immediately gave him the cover he desired, but at the same time, opened him to all sorts of surprise attacks. The man tried not to think about the latter as he ran deep into the congregation, before cutting many westward turns from his initial path of entry. He had long since grown used to the human obstacles to his route to safety, and he wanted nothing more but for his job to done and over with. With the desperation of cornered game, he clawed his way to the edge of the bazaar. He toppled displays and shoved those in his way aside in his mad dash.
Five minutes, Tio judged. Five minutes to end this.
By the fourth stall to his exit, both hope and dread swirled in his gut. His path was eerily empty. The owner of the third stall seemed to grin devilishly at him under his green newsboy cap. As he crossed into the span of the second from the last, a tall man strode into the mouth of his exit. Tio cursed and readied to push the man out of his way if he had to. Only when the thief was almost upon his obstacle did the man's attire register in his consciousness. That same white boiler suit and the calf-high boots; it was one of those pirates.
A boot to his chest followed the realization, sending him sprawling back into the cover of the bazaar. This new attacker smiled down at the fallen man. Tio scrambled back to his feet and spun back the way he came. Another boiler suit-clad man was climbing out from one of the stalls.
"I think you have something of ours," the latest newcomer said as he leapt into the despairing thief's path.
+.+
The door was of a heavy wood that had seen better days. Salt had crusted into its crevices, leaving it damp with dew in the night's cold hours. A strong kick would send the termite-infested slab off its hinges.
Law stared at the door, trying to imagine what awaited him inside. Penguin claimed seven men had attacked him. Kitsune and Inuwashi saw only six, and that was the same time Bepo was chasing after a suspicious man at port. There was a good chance Yingzi had brought only seven, and those not already tasked to confront them outside their base were probably armed and ready beyond the door.
A metallic ring sang next to him as a blade struck the wall, and soon after it followed the thud of dead weight. His navigator's short huffs of exertion came to a halt behind him.
"There were five guarding this door, were there not?" Law asked aloud as he continued to scan the wooden door before him.
"Aye, aye, captain," came Bepo's reply.
Only two of them left inside then. Law smiled despite himself and drew his blade.
"Room."
The Heart Pirates captain gave whoever was inside many seconds of dreadful anticipation as he stayed immobile where he stood. No scurrying of panic could be heard from inside, to his disappointment. Not even an attempt to open fire on him; they had no killing intent at all.
With a sneer and a swing of his sword, Trafalgar Law split the hardwood door in half.
Candlelight flickered within. Law strode into the room and let his eyes wander from the two men flanking a full-length mirror, poised to attack at any moment, to the dimly illuminated crevices of the room, but found nothing of significant note. Bepo had joined him before he turned his attention to his foe's last stand.
"I know you're there," he addressed the mirror. The pirate captain sheathed his nodachi to calm the liaison's men. "And this has gone far enough, in-between-ya."
The image reflected on the glass rippled and faded as a silhouette approached its foreground. The crackle of frosting glass filled the air before the mirror cleared. Standing within it now was a small man with soft porcelain features masked with the beguiling innocence of youth, if not been for the dark malice that swirled in his wide, bright eyes. His hands rested lazily on the surface of the pane.
"Little Law," the man in the mirror greeted, the corner of his lips twisting up in an insincere smile. "How long has it been? Yingzi's missed you."
Law frowned at the nickname, and in response, strode up to the speaker's image. The latter's bodyguards blocked him as he approached.
"Men, boss is having a conversation," Yingzi whined behind the pair. "He would like to see who he speaks with." His subordinates stepped aside, their lips drawn to thin lines, but offered only pointed glares at the pirate doctor in resistance. "Good men. Boss is very pleased." Then to Law, he continued. "They're quite the handful, not quite as trained as Yingzi would like. It makes him think that perhaps he should take a lesson or two from Little Law, but…" The liaison dragged his last words as he scanned what Law knew was the involuntary twitch under his eye. "…Yingzi doesn't think Little Law would share his secrets."
Law mirrored Yingzi's sardonic smile. "Not that you would understand if I did."
"Captain!"
The Surgeon of Death turned to face the new arrival, in time to witness Shachi and Penguin sliding to stop, then disappear past the door frame. There was a yelp and a thud before the pair sprinted back to view. Bepo snickered by Law's side.
"Special delivery," Penguin chirped as they entered, waving a small box wrapped in brown paper in the air. "One package of mercantile intel of unspecified content." He passed the item to his captain with a smile.
"We left your friend where the Marines'll find him." Shachi grinned at the last of Yingzi's men. "Too bad he didn't have a bounty on him, eh Penguin? We could've earned some cash tonight."
"Not with that boiler suit, you wouldn't." "Ha? What was that Bepo?" "Sorry, we didn't hear you. Mind saying that again?"
"Crew." The group kept whatever else they had to say to themselves, though they continued to playfully elbow their navigator. Law held the package to him. "Well then, in-between-ya, here's the delivery as promised."
"Little Law has quite the admirable leash on his pets. Yingzi is jealous." The liaison's smile was as cheeky as ever as he reached out of his mirror.
Which, Trafalgar Law would later muse, was what made the surprise that stole it from his lips all the more satisfying as he wrenched Yingzi clear through his glass shield. The boxes of dinner's main course hit the floor the same moment the pirate drove the butt end of his sword handle into his infuriating associate's midsection. The Heart Pirates present jumped in to ward off Yingzi's bodyguards; neither man even tried to attack. They merely snatched their employer's crumpled form away from the pirate captain, their expressions torn between dismay and annoyance. Law smirked down at the small man.
"That wasn't nice at all—" Yingzi coughed, clutching his stomach. "—Little Law."
"I don't recall tolerating you to be part of the job description." The so-addressed tossed his delivery to the liaison. "Now if you'll excuse me—" He picked up the boxes of chicken from the floor. "—I have a much-postponed celebration to attend."
+.+
"Here's to the captain, for reaching the prime age of twenty-four. May he live out his full thirty-five years in as good of health as this day."
"And if he leaves the Great Seas any day sooner, may the man who fell him be cursed with horse piss booze for the rest of his days."
"Let maggots infest his meat and cheese."
"'N 'is 'taters be ev'r spoiled."
"Here, here," Law interjected with a laugh, raising his mug for a toast. "For the sake of the poor fool who ends this pirate's sailing, eleven years and more for me."
The crew cheered and followed suit, crashing their tankards to the crewmate closest to them. Then like the northmen that they all were, downed their drink to the last drop. The din of their chatter continued on well into dinner. A lazy smile played on the captain's lips as he watched and listened in on his men.
"Hey, Uchi," Michi called to the bandanna-ed man wolfing down a chicken thigh next to Law. "I heard you led on some Marines today."
Seiuchi grimaced and swallowed, to which many a crewmate laughed. "Don't say it that way."
"So how did our master charmer escape such unwanted attention?" Law purred in provocation. Kitsune jumped on his seat at the question and dropped a booted foot on the table, a move which Inuwashi mirrored soon after.
"I stole him from his adoring crowd," the cartographer deadpanned. "For a rooftop walk under the moonlight." "Ayup! 'N ah saw 'em get offa there." The pair both pointed to the closest building at port, stomping their feet and doubling over themselves as they did.
"Off the table, you pair of fools," Zatou chided at the duo, his words slurring near the end. "These dishes are expensive."
Seiuchi sighed in relief at the interruption. Law was put off only for a moment before he recalled something to continue his streak of fun with. "Hey, Zatou, your little friend said she'd be a good girl for you from now on."
"Ha?" A rare look of confusion invaded the engineer's face as the rest of the crew charged in for the kill in their captain's place.
"A girl?!" Shachi's slurred squeak rose above everyone else's demands. "You were with a girl this morning?"
"So while I was getting my ass kicked, you were having some fun?" Penguin wailed after his friend. "You're awful."
Law chuckled in the sidelines, where Bepo joined him, brows furrowed in concern. "That was that little girl, wasn't it?" he whispered conspiratorially.
The Surgeon of Death grinned wide and winked at his navigator, raising a finger to his lips. Bepo's eyes grew wide, then twinkled in mischief, pleased to share the secret with his captain.
A/N: After nearly three months, this fic is finally finished. And just in time for Christmas too. *throws confetti*
I changed quite a number of things in the past chapters to make the whole story more coherent, so I would recommend rereading the fic for those who have already read through just so no new little detail would be missed. ;D The story officially ends here, but I threw in a bonus scene to go with the character trivia in the next chapter.
If anyone would be interested in how my OC's to look like, I've provided a link to a group picture (not exactly drawn specifically for this fic) in my profile.
Happy holidays dear readers~