A/N: Things are getting crazy and although I don't think the conversation that comes up between the slave traders is all that disturbing, if it indeed has serious and strong implications, please let me know and I'll move the fic up to an M-rating.
PLUS: If you haven't gotten to Dressrosa yet in the manga, there are probably some spoilers ahead.
Now…Please enjoy Part Two!
Chapter 15: Defying Gravity Part Two: They Call her the Crimson Masochist
**Countdown: Two Months, 19 days left**
"ZUKO! TOPH!" Katara called out, and she gasped in fear as the woman was suddenly by her side. The woman reached out and tapped Katara on her shoulder, and Katara felt a sense of weightlessness come over her. The woman tied the black cord around Katara, and she felt herself being pulled up. Katara was pulled into the boat by the man with long, thick, curly black hair and wearing a shiny black top hat.
He pulled her into the boat, but Katara still floated rather weightlessly a few inches above the seats. She noticed the same went for Toph and Zuko, who were tied to the boat almost as if they were balloons. The man quickly adjusted Katara's bonds, so that her arms were tied behind her. Katara noticed how he pulled out his hair in weaves, but it didn't seem to bother him as his hair showed no signs of thinning, nor did he even flinch as he casually pulled out his hair. Toph was struggling against her restraints, but to no avail.
"What is this? The ropes are just getting tighter!"
"I ate the Tangle-Tangle Fruit," the man explained. "No matter how much you struggle, no-one can break my bonds. The tangles simply get more tangled and tighter as you struggle. I'd recommend ceasing your struggle; otherwise you could tighten the bonds enough to prevent breathing." He shrugged. "Or loose a limb. Either way, it's bad for you."
The red-haired woman then appeared, pulling herself up on one of the man's ropes. She looked somewhat annoyed.
"All those bounties, and we get ourselves a few no-name pirates. Dammit…"
"Well, Leyla-san, we have their ship, so they aren't going anywhere anytime soon." The man said, and Leyla only nodded. She tapped the prisoners, saying, "Gravity Field: Zero." Their weight returned to normal, and then the prisoners were lying uncomfortably in the bottom of the boat, somewhat scrunched together. Leyla then tapped the boat, "Gravity Field: Negative Eight."
The boat slowly floated upwards, and the Sunny followed, thanks to the man who had numerous ropes tied to the Sunny. As they floated up to their galleon, Leyla pulled out a den-den mushi, and said to whoever was on the receiving end, "I've confirmed that it's the Straw Hat pirates, along with the Heart captain. There were only five of them on the ship with two other unknowns. Tell Krux that we've currently got three unknowns in our possession. I believe the other Straw Hats are on the island, set up Mission 5 ASAP."
"Understood," A garbled voice from the snail responded.
Once the Sunny was set up next to their galleon, the man fired a bow and arrow with his tangled rope attached into the forested area of the island, and began pulling their boat towards the island. Meanwhile, Leyla continued tapping the boat saying, "Gravity Field: Negative Six. Gravity Field: Negative Four…"
They continued like this until they were safely above the forest. The boat was settled into a clearing, and the man and Leyla forced their prisoners out somewhat roughly, and carried them over to where a small pile of rocks were.
"Anmut, take care of their bonds," Leyla said to the man, and she walked over to where a small group were already waiting for her and Anmut. They had started a fire, and thick black smoke rose up to the sky. Leyla was talking to them about something, and Zuko strained his ears in order to hear what they were saying, but he could only hear brief snippets of their conversation.
"Intercept … Straw Hats … outside … forest. Get them to … when … where you can."
Zuko eyed the fire. They have no intention of hiding… he thought as he watched them. They're planning a trap, and we're the bait…
Anmut proceeded to tie Zuko's wrists to his ankles, ensuring that he would be unable to move. Anmut seemed to be a little kinder to the girls as he simply tied their arms behind their backs, but he had wrapped the entirety of their forearms, forced them to sit cross-legged as he tied their legs, and then forced them onto their stomachs.
Anmut walked away, and finally Zuko spoke up. "Are you two okay?" he asked in a harsh whisper.
"I'm fine… although very uncomfortable…" Katara said, trying to adjust herself, but that only made things worse as her bonds tightened against her.
"Those rotten, no-good, sons of…" Toph mumbled. She couldn't earthbend like this. She hated the feeling of being so helpless, especially in this type of situation. Zuko tried to burn through his binds, but he only succeeded in burning himself slightly.
"This stuff is immune to fire?" he said disbelievingly. This was not good. All they could do was sit and wait for help to come.
A few minutes later a group of three new figures appeared, and they walked over to the prisoners. Two of them were obviously men, but the third who lead the group confused both Zuko and Katara as they wondered if it was a man or a woman who was approaching them. He or she was large in terms of being muscular, and wore thick makeup with their dark hair in a small bun held back by a clip.
"These will do quite nicely, I think." The one in charge said in an effeminate, but deep voice.
"The dark-haired girl is blind, that won't be a problem, will it Krux?" Leyla asked casually, as she sat on a chair that she had gotten from somewhere. Krux turned to Leyla. "While it might drop her value a little bit, I think I know a guy who has clients who prefer not to be identified. A few marines and nobles… they're an annoying bunch to service. Finding the right girls and boys to service them, along with paying others with favors to look the other way, even blackmailing a few…it can get quite annoying.
"I was almost at a point of blinding a few girls myself, but that could get nasty. Although I wouldn't mind doing it, ripping or burning the eyes out of the stock leaves too much of a mess. Besides, he wants them pretty, not scarred."
Krux sat down on the ground, and continued talking to Leyla. "The fact that she's young and fresh should help, at least. I probably could negotiate prices with him when we start the deal."
Katara listened to their conversation and anger mixed with fear built up within her.
"Hey! Are you actually talking about selling us?!" Toph demanded. Their conversation about the prisoners was so casual, and it irritated Toph.
One of the men bent down and held Toph's chin in his hand, forcing her to crane her neck in her uncomfortable position. "Well, you seem like quite the fighter. You know, I like it when they fight back."
Toph managed to bite his hand hard enough that she drew blood, and the man pulled back, inspecting his hand. Toph glared in the general direction the man was squatting, and she hocked a loogie at the man. The spit landed on his shirt, and he looked down at it before angrily punching Toph in the face. "You little bitch!"
"Don't you touch her!" Zuko shouted, struggling as hard as he could, ignoring his tangled bonds that started to dig into his wrists and ankles.
Krux sighed loudly, obviously irritated. "Don't be punching the merchandise, Manny. And don't be sneaking into the older girl's cell either. Clients pay quite a bit of extra belli getting to be a girl's first time. You ruined some of the stock last time, that's why we barely made anything on some of the more exotic-looking ones. And no, you can't have a look or just a touch. You get too rough. I don't like my fresh stock having any type of wounds. Bandages and scratches make it look like we don't care."
"Toph!" Katara called, and she glared at their captors. "So you like to hit women and little girls? You target the weak and defenseless; I bet you couldn't win in a real fight, even if you tried."
Manny only laughed at Katara's little speech, and he walked away with a shrug, "Sorry, boss. Can't help that short temper of mine."
"That's not the only thing that's short," Zuko said defiantly. "It's takes a pretty small and pathetic man to hit a blind girl who can't even properly defend herself." He was saved from having a few of his teeth kicked out by Manny who was stopped by Krux simply saying his name and holding up a hand. "Walk away, Manny."
Manny mumbled a few curses under his breath, and slouched away.
"Oh, and Manny," Krux spoke up before the man was too far away. "If you do anything to the boy, if the boy has one single scratch or bruise on his body, I will personally take a knife and cut off the head where you like to do the majority of your thinking."
Manny glanced down briefly, and only nodded with a nervous look on his face. He cast a fierce glare at the prisoners as if they were they cause of all of his problems, and then continued on his way. Afterwards, Krux turned his attention to Katara, making her feel as if he could see right through her. "So, you think we're weak, do you?"
Katara wasn't sure if he was expecting an answer, but she continued to glare at him. The more she watched him, the more she listened to him speak, the more uneasy she felt.
"Yes." Katara said with conviction. "You're weak, and when the others get here, you're going to regret ever coming near us."
"Girl," Krux said, and he walked over and knelt down, placing a hand upon Katara's head as if he were talking to a small child, "It is you who do not realize whom you are messing with. The Defying Gravity hunters have taken out more formidable crews than the Straw Hats. Plus, that Heart captain is here without his crew. A couple extra no-names like yourself aren't going to make any difference and it is time that you accept this fact."
Krux stood and walked away, leaving the three benders with their thoughts. A girl that looked to be not much older than Toph walked up to them, and smiled. She had a cropped hairstyle, and wore a tank top that revealed her stomach. The tattoo that all of the bounty hunters shared covered nearly the entirety of her right side.
She squatted down and inspected the prisoners. "You're cute." She said to Zuko. "How'd that happen?" she poked Zuko's burn scar, and he jerked away from her.
"Don't touch me!" Zuko said through gritted teeth.
"Oh, hmm… I was only asking," the girl pouted. "You don't have to be so mean about it."
"I like this," she said as she held up Katara's waterskin, which had been taken from her at some point in transit. "You have good taste in things."
The girl then squatted over by Toph, and said, "You have good taste too. I like this," and she reached over and took Toph's headband, which released all of Toph's hair to freely fall around her face and shoulders. Toph didn't protest this time, and only imagined using her nastiest earthbending techniques on the girl.
Katara tried to think of a way out of this situation. They only see us as cattle… I wonder if I started telling them personal things about me if they would let us go.
Katara knew that was a ridiculous notion. They were not even considered Human, so telling them anything personal would result in laughter and uncaring looks. These people had a business to run. One little sob story or two wasn't going to make them change their minds. They probably heard them all the time. She could easily imagine the group sitting around a table talking and laughing about the most ridiculous sob story that they had heard, and mocking their victims' cries.
Katara looked over at Toph, who had an angry, yet defeated expression. Toph hated being helpless, and thoughts of what she would do to the slave traders once she was free danced in her mind. Zuko was in pain, and he felt a small, trickle of blood run down his arm. He had struggled so fiercely against his bonds when Manny had his hands on Toph, he had completely forgotten about the tangled ropes tightening against whoever they held when the captive struggled.
The others will come. Katara thought to herself. As her thoughts continued, even though she tried to stop them, the tears started to fall. They will save us, and we'll all be together again and we'll sail away from this place and we will reach Ha Chi Island and we will go home where everyone is… and Aang and I will be together…we've overcome worse.
Katara hid her face as best she could. She didn't want Zuko to see her crying, so she faced Toph instead. Although Toph could probably tell Katara was crying. Toph seemed to read Katara's thoughts, and she looked at her, giving Katara a small, reassuring smile.
Everyone… please hurry.
"Alright, so what's the plan?" Sokka asked those who had been assigned as the rescue team.
"Rescue Toph-chan and Katara-chan, of course!" Sanji shouted with a fire showing in his eyes.
"Oi, oi. Don't forget about Zuko." Usopp said.
"Right," Sokka said, deciding to ignore Sanji, even though he seriously wanted to whack him over the head with Mr. Boomerang. "That's our goal. What's the plan?"
"Joke-ya is right," Law spoke up. "Zoro-ya said that Masochist-ya is dangerous."
Law knew it was pointless to try and formulate a plan when the Straw Hats were involved. For as long as he had allied himself with them, he might as well have been speaking gibberish to a brick wall when it came to laying out a solid plan and expecting it to be followed to the letter.
The look on Sokka's face showed that the gears were turning in his head and he had a finger on his chin. No one else was speaking up at the moment about having an idea, and after a few minutes, he raised that finger skyward, announcing, "I have…an idea!"
"What is it, Sokka?" Usopp asked.
"A sneaky sneak attack! What do you think, pretty good, right? Huh? Huh?" He looked at the others with a wide-eyed expectant grin on his face.
Law, Kin'emon, and Sanji all responded with their own incredulous versions of "Huh?"
Usopp cocked his head, with a confused look. "If it's a sneak attack, isn't it already sneaky?"
"Whoa!" Chopper exclaimed in curious excitement. "What's a sneaky sneak attack?"
Robin only smiled, "It sounds interesting."
"I'm glad you asked, my dear reindeer doctor." Sokka said, and he continued. "A sneaky sneak attack is when they think someone is sneakily attacking, and they go to deal with that person. When in truth, there is another sneak attack behind the first. While the enemy is dealing with the real sneak attack, a third team that consists of the real attack shows up!"
"It sounds exciting!" Chopper seemed to be looking forward to this idea. "What do I do? Whose team am I on?"
"Chopper and I work well together, and we can serve as backup." Usopp said. "So let's do our best!"
"Right!" Chopper said with a nod.
"Law and I will go together as the sneak attackers. I'll go in first as the fake sneak attack, and then you come in and do whatever it is that you do with that cutting thing. But do it sneakily."
"Right," Law responded flatly, with a rather annoyed look on his face. He seemed to look and sound annoyed a lot lately.
"And then Kin'emon, Robin, and Sanji will be the real attack that the bounty hunters have to deal with. Chopper and Usopp will be our backup and watch our backs for when stuff starts going down. Those guys won't know what hit them!"
The group set out in a run mostly because of Sokka, who was running in a panicked state. The others attempted to calm him down and tell him that everything was going to be okay. As they were making their way across the island, Sanji pointed to the sky, "Look, we have company."
Two people jumped from a blimp that was high in the sky, and landed in front of the rescue team. Sokka stopped in his tracks, not necessarily because the two had shown up, but because of their odd appearance. One was rather short in the fact he was barely pushing four feet, and wore a light pink bodysuit that had a giant version of the bounty hunters' emblem on the stomach, and the outfit had a pointed hat and a hole for the man to poke his face through, making him look almost star-shaped. The suit had long oversized sleeves that came nearly came down to the ground. He also had a thick, handlebar mustache that seemed too big for his face and body in general, and orange tinted goggles. He had peg legs made of smooth, shiny wood that came up to his hips. And he had a mischievous smile on his face as he waved at them by twiddling his fingers in their direction.
The other was tall and thin, wore a double breasted black bodysuit with a high collar, a patch depicting the number 8 overlapped an ace was sewn on the left side of his jacket. He wore a gray mask that covered his entire face, and the mask had a wide red slit where his mouth would be, slightly resembling a Glasgow smile. He wore glasses or goggles over the mask, and a top hat that was nearly as tall as he was rested atop his light hair.
"You're the rest of the Straw Hats and the Heart captain, and two of you are no-one," the tall man said, almost as if he was reminding them of who they were.
"And you're weird looking," Sokka countered.
"Look at him; he thinks he's so funny." The tall man said. He removed his hat and held it gingerly by the brim with outstretched pinkies, and rested it against his chest. "I'm a member of the Defying Gravity bounty hunters. I am known as Wild Jack Hickok. It is quite unfortunate for you that our paths have crossed."
With one hand, he reached inside of his hat, and as soon as they heard the *click*, Sanji shouted, "Look out!"
Even though there was nothing to protect them as Jack's Gatling gun opened fire on them, everyone dodged to the sides in the hope of not getting hit. At the same time, Usopp called out, "Green Star: Flower Shield!"
A giant green plant that had leafs which were shield-shaped bloomed between the combatants. The bullets from Jack's Gatling gun only made muffled thumps against the leaves of the Straw Hats' and their companions' cover. Sokka could barely will himself to move, as his body insisted on shaking in fear and refused to budge. Momo squealed and hid himself under Law's hat as the assault continued.
"W-what is that?!" Sokka demanded, as Usopp wiped his brow in relief.
"That was too close," Usopp answered.
"I've never seen or heard anything like it!"
"It's a Gatling gun," Robin answered. "We would probably look like raw hamburger meat if we got hit by it."
Sokka shot Robin a look of fear as he quickly felt his desire to move dwindle even further, and Usopp scolded her, "Don't be saying such terrifying things in situations like this, Robin!"
So basically, getting hit by that thing is bad news. Sokka began to try and think of way out of this, when Usopp spoke up, "Chopper and me will take care of these guys, you go on ahead. We'll keep them busy!"
Usopp sounded braver than he felt, as he was obviously shaking throughout his bravado.
Jack stopped firing momentarily and stood on the other side of the plant wall, disappointment evident in his voice. "Look at that, Dorin. They made a wall just as I was about to shoot them."
Dorin turned to Jack and whacked at his hip (as that was as high as he could reach.)
"You idiot!" Dorin exclaimed. "Leyla-san wants them alive, not in bloody pieces!"
"What? They put up a shield."
Dorin continued yelling at and insulting Jack, who nonchalantly dug a pinky into his ear and sniffed at it when he pulled it out. Usopp peeked at the pair from behind their plant shield, and whispered, "They just seem to be more interested in arguing than attacking…"
"Truly, it's a distraction that I believe." Kin'emon said with eyes narrowed.
Usopp nodded in his agreement, as he was someone who had done enough lying throughout his life that he could quite easily spot other liars. "Get ready to run, guys."
With that, Usopp shot a seed over the wall shouting, "Green Star! Black Haze!"
The seed exploded upon contact with the ground, creating a thick black smoke which blinded the bickering pair and lead them both into coughing fits. While Chopper and Usopp stayed behind, the others ran out into the open, with Sanji having to drag Sokka with him as Sokka could hardly bring himself to move, and they headed for the forest. Jack turned to fire his Gatling gun on them, only to be hit by something Usopp had fired at him.
As they were running, Sokka was asking, "Are they going to be alright?"
Sanji smirked. "Come now, Sokka. Don't underestimate our Sniper and our Doctor. Have a little faith."
They made it into the forest, which was actually a lot thicker than they had originally thought. A few members of the group loudly stumbled as quietly as they could through the forest, occasionally running into the thin sides of branches and trees, along with stumbling over vines as they couldn't really see through the tangled mess. The only ones who didn't seem to struggle was Robin and Law, as they both easily sidestepped around any obstacles. Sanji lead the group towards the clearing, as he could sense where they were. He was in a rather furious mess as well, as he vowed to save Toph and Katara from the hands of those dirty bounty hunters and slave traders, along with threatening them with death if either of the girls were harmed.
Zuko tried adjusting his position as best he could, but to no avail. His arms and legs were getting that tingling feeling that limbs do when they've been in one position for too long and fall asleep. He glared at their captors; hoping one of them would see his angry glare and even get frightened, even if it was just a little bit. Of course, considering his position, they most likely would have laughed and mocked him for it.
Leyla sat talking in whispers to Anmut, who seemed to have a sort of odd smile on his face. One of the bounty hunters approached the pair, and jabbed a thumb at their hostages. "Leyla-sama, what are the prisoners doing here? Don't you want us to take them to the ship?"
Leyla seemed surprised. "Didn't anyone tell you? This is Mission 5. We're waiting for the Straw Hats to come to us."
"Ah, I'm new here," the man said, rubbing the back of his head in a nervous manner.
"Are you questioning my judgment?" Leyla asked with a shake of her head, almost as if she was trying to fathom such an idea. The man stopped, and looked as if he was trying to think of the correct answer. It was obvious he wasn't very bright.
"Um, no. N-not at all." He insisted.
"Do you know what Mission 5 is?" Leyla asked, almost as if she were speaking to a child. It was then Zuko noticed something; everyone in the camp had ceased their conversations, and now their full attention was on Leyla and her dim-witted follower.
"Um…" he looked at his fingers and counted them, and he seemed to rack his brain for an answer, until he finally shook his head, "Yes! No…"
"So, you don't know what Mission we're doing. What was it that you asked again? What did you think we should do with the prisoners?"
"Ah, I just thought that we should take them to the ship… I mean, as long as the Straw Hats think we have them here, they'll come to us anyway."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Leyla said, and she slowly shook her head as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "That is Mission 7. In this case, we want Straw Hat and his friends to see them."
She sighed, and said to the man, "Bend down here for a moment,"
The man complied, and she touched his cheek. "You're quite sweet, dear. It is truly an unfortunate lesson you are about to learn; but others will learn by your example. Gravity Field: Six."
The man was forced to his knees, and he gasped at the sudden pressure on his shoulders preventing him from moving. Leyla kept her hand on the man's cheek, and continued speaking as if she were doing nothing more than casually enjoying afternoon tea.
"You see, my dear hunter," Leyla, spoke clearly for all who were present to hear. "The Straw Hats are nothing, if not predictable. I want them to see their friends, and I want them to have that false hope of rescuing them. I want to use them as leverage, as a distraction. Gravity Field: Seven.
"For you see, they are quite shrewd. From what I have heard of them, people who have gone up against them have lost terribly. Even when it seemed like all was against the Straw Hats' chances of victory, they came out on the winning end. Gravity Field: Eight."
By now, the lowly hunter was flat on the ground, pathetically staring up at Leyla, who continued talking as she inspected her nails on her opposite hand.
"You see, I know who "Straw Hat" Luffy is. He is predictable. He is willing to go through so much trouble just to get one friend back. When he and his crew broke into and destroyed Enis Lobby, do you seriously think they went in there without so much as a plan? That would be foolishness! Gravity Field: Nine."
The man was gasping for breath, as the pressure slowly became heavier.
"Do you seriously think that "Straw Hat" Luffy broke in and out of Impel Down without a plan? He brought the likes of Crocodile and Ivankov with him, along with hundreds of other prisoners. And while he may have failed in his mission to Marine Ford, he showed just how much of a threat he truly is. Gravity Field: Ten."
The man was coughing up blood. He must have had incredible endurance to be able to survive for this long.
"He also succeeded in taking down the Donquixote Family, even though it was just barely. If the Marines hadn't of been there, their escape would have been much cleaner. Plus, allying himself with a former Warlord like Trafalgar Law for whatever reason that could be, it just goes to show: "Straw Hat" Luffy acts like a fool, and everyone simply goes along with it, simply because his act is just that believable. They foolishly underestimate him, but that is not the case here. They will come to us, and we have ways to counteract whatever and whichever of their little plans they decide to throw at us. This plan is set specifically for "Straw Hat" and his little crew. Give them a sense of false hope. Use their desires and their needs against them. Let them think that they are winning. And just when they think it is in their grasp; crush them, like so. Gravity Field: Thirteen."
"Ahh!" The man screamed, there was the sound of crushing bones and blood shot from his mouth, ears, and eyes. Leyla stared coldly and the now deceased body of her former follower. She then eyed the rest, and ordered in an annoyed and practical manner, "From now on, inform a person of what Mission is what. I don't need fools like him questioning my methods, or risk them ruining my plans."
"YES MA'AM!" the other hunters spoke up in unison.
"Now, remember you may need to cut off a limb or two, but try not to kill them. They are worth more alive than they are dead."
Zuko stared at Leyla, being somewhat reminded of his sister, Azula. Azula was sadistic and crazy, but while Leyla was sadistic she had decent rationalization on her side which was something that a crazed Azula lacked (and maybe Leyla did have a small dose of crazy). Zuko wondered what would happen between the two if they were ever stuck in a room together. They would either be the best of friends or the worst of enemies. Leyla seemed to think very highly of Luffy. Perhaps all of Luffy's antics were an act, after all?
"That guy…" Toph said in a shaky, barely audible whisper. "I felt him die…"
Watching or just hearing a person die was one thing, but to feel every creak and pop that the man had gone through so excruciatingly, Toph was furious. Leyla was the type of person Toph hated. Toph also had a mix of fear and doubt as to what she would do to Leyla if given the chance.
Suddenly, Toph jerked slightly and she smiled. "They're here."
Next time: The Sneaky Sneak Attack begins, Katara fights her first Haki user, and Leyla doesn't like it when things don't go her way.
A/N: Okay, okay! I must naturally assume here that the Straw Hat pirates do in fact bring down the Donquixote Family. They are the [heroes] protagonist pirates after all.
