A/N: Yes, I finally managed an update for those who like this fic (selective writer's block is a bitch to get over). Brief reminder if you're hopping straight to this chapter to read that Law used his powers a few chapters back to swap Doflamingo and Luffy's bodies/personalities, and the same goes for Kidd and Penguin.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Law had heard the lone explosion that had come suspiciously close to where Kidd had vanished from the cell. The Heart Pirate captain could only hope that Kidd had managed to avoid the blast, because Law couldn't stand to think about even more injuries piling up on Penguin's already wounded body. Law's anxiety over the fact that the marines had not yet brought Kidd back was taken advantage of by Doflamingo, who had taken to leering at Law for the past hour or so.
It disturbed Law greatly to be looked at in such a way by Luffy even though he knew that it was Doflamingo. The shades perched on the bridge of Straw Hat's nose made it easier to make the distinction.
It had been eerily silent after the blast, and no marines had come, which Doflamingo took as an opportunity to taunt Law.
"It seems like he didn't get away like you wanted him to." Doflamingo commented as he rested Luffy's back against the side of the cell he was in.
"He could have gotten away. Penguin had no Devil Fruit powers, and unless Eustass-ya ate his own Fruit when younger, he should at least have an idea of how to swim." Law countered, trying his best to prevent Doflamingo from riling him up.
"Wasn't that a gunshot earlier, before that explosion?" Doflamingo returned smoothly. "If he was wounded, I doubt that explosion would have done anything to his continued well-being." A grin stretched Luffy's lips as Doflamingo added carelessly. "Perhaps it killed him. Wouldn't that be convenient? Then your crewmate could be stuck in Eustass Kidd's body, and then you'd have to decide whether to let him play as a captain with that crew or get everyone up in arms over the idea of one captain going to work for another. Or…"
"He's not dead." Law said flatly, not willing to believe it for a moment. "I believe the marines would have come here to comment on that, and to warn us after delivering the news that we should give up on any escape attempts ourselves."
"Are you sure that isn't something you are thinking of that perhaps you should have done?" Doflamingo cut in.
Before Law could respond, the ship around them was shaken back and forth violently and from the sound of it, was struck by cannon fire. Much different from the explosion that had gone off earlier. Law was grateful that the blasts didn't reach him, as he couldn't do anything to protect himself.
Doflamingo, meanwhile, was having a good laugh at the thought of an attack.
"Fools. Do they intend to sink the ship with us in it?" Doflamingo shook Luffy's head even as a sneer crossed his face. "If this is your crew or Straw Hat Luffy's idea of a rescue, they are insane. My crew wouldn't even bother with cannon fire. They'd have perhaps let loose one or two shots before they would have come on board and slaughtered everyone before coming down here."
Two marines tumbled down a set of stairs that led to the cell, groaning and injured.
Doflamingo and Law turned to look at the marines, before the green haired swordsman, Zoro, appeared at the bottom of the stairs, looking around for any other enemies. Seeing none, he turned his attention to Law and Doflamingo. Zoro had a faint smile hovering around his lips at the sight of Luffy wearing shades, and called him on it. "What're you wearing those shades for, Luffy? Trying to be that warlord?"
"I am Doflamingo." Doflamingo said, motioning to the Heart Pirate captain with shackled limbs. "Law decided it would be a good idea to swap your captain and my bodies, which resulted in us being captured."
Zoro seemed to understand and he glanced over at Law for confirmation.
"I had a headache and all of their chatter was making it worse." Law said by way of an explanation.
Zoro appeared to take that for what it was, and used his blades to slice the bars of the cells open, and to remove the cuffs.
Law managed to not flinch at the keen blade slicing within less than an inch from his skin. A soon as Doflamingo had been freed, he closed in on Law, and despite being several inches shorter, Doflamingo still was able to loom before Law menacingly as he spoke tersely.
"You will put me back into my own body."
"I can't do it without Straw Hat-ya around. But if I do…you will leave me be while I rescue Eustass-ya."
Luffy's features reflected Doflamingo's reluctance to let Law slip away so easily, and beckoned the Heart Pirate out of earshot from Zoro as he spoke in a low whisper.
"I will give you three days to find him then. Three days to prevent him from being handed over to the Celestial Dragons. At that point, you will meet me at Fang Island. It is a port for pirates between Fiesta Island and Damper Creek Hallow."
Law hesitated only for a brief moment. His desire to make sure that Kidd wasn't handed off in Penguin's body to suffer at the hand of the celestial Dragons was greater than escaping Doflamingo's clutches at this point in time. Law took a deep breath before he let it out and inclined his head in understanding. "I'll do that."
Doflamingo smiled grimly, the look rather off-putting on Luffy's face, coupled with the shades. "You had better show, Law, or I will kill that crewmate of yours as soon as I could track you down if you have lied to me about coming to Fang Island." Doflamingo turned away and headed for the stairwell to the upper decks, tossing out another threat over his shoulder. "And perhaps, while I am at it, I will kill Eustass Kidd as well."
Law met Zoro at the base of the stairs, and could only shake his head wordlessly at the green haired swordsman's questioning stare.
Above deck, the marines who had been escorting them to who knows where were lying on the desk in various states, from unconscious to heavily wounded. Only one remained, disarmed and tied to a mast, and looking clearly unhappy at being surrounded by so many pirates.
Luffy also happened to be on deck, having come over from Doflamingo's ship to join in on the rescue. Luffy brightened immediately upon seeing Law, and waved at the Surgeon of Death enthusiastically.
"Hey, Tra-guy! You're all right!"
Law was greatly disturbed to see such a look on Doflamingo's face without shades on. But hadn't Luffy been wearing them? Perhaps he had taken them off at some point between here and Fiesta Island. Not that it mattered so much, but Law couldn't help but smirk at the sight of Doflamingo himself clearly finding the sight unwelcoming as well, as he prowled forward and almost got in Law's face as he grit out irritably.
"Change us back."
"Our agreement?" Law asked, wanting to make sure he wasn't being duped.
"It will be held, even though I shouldn't grant you it in the first place after all that's happened." Doflamingo said spitefully.
Law would take that as a yes, no matter how displeased Doflamingo was about it. Law raised his hand and twisted them sharply with a muttered word.
Luffy, still standing next to Law, removed the shades and then immediately grinned at the Heart Pirate captain. "That was awesome! Can you do that again with one of my friends?"
Doflamingo loomed over Luffy and Law, and plucked his shades from the straw hat captain, and after fussily getting the shades back in their proper place, haughtily turned his head to survey Law. The act was accompanied by a nasty smile, as if Doflamingo were thinking of something unpleasant to do to Law now that he was back in his own body.
"Three days." Law reminded the older pirate in a deadpan voice.
"Hey!" Luffy exclaimed after Doflamingo had struck Law backward with a five color string attack. Luffy pulled up short of throwing a punch at Doflamingo when Law's arm suddenly blocked his path. The Straw Hat captain wore an unhappy look, as if he'd have liked nothing more than to clock Doflamingo for hurting one of his friends right in front of him.
"Three days, Law. No more." After speaking his piece with a painful slash across Law's upper arm that had him staggering backward, Doflamingo used his powers to maneuver himself away from the marine ship, and back over to his own ship and crew. The blond's voice reached Law as Doflamingo called out to him across the distance. "Don't be late, or I will make good on my other promise!"
There was a brief silence as Doflamingo's ship sailed away, before everyone present relaxed.
"Hey, Tra-guy. What was Mingo talking about?" Luffy asked curiously.
"It was nothing." Law said evasively as he shook his head and avoided the eyes of the others of the Straw Hat crew. "In any case, I need to find Eustass-ya. He appears to other people as one of my crewmates to the marines, remember? They've found out who my crewmate was, and they likely have him on board another marine ship."
"There was another ship sailing farther ahead." Nami commented from where she was hauling up a small bag of treasure she'd found.
"They took one of your crew?" Luffy asked, looking affronted at the thought, as if it were terrible of the marines to do that.
Law nodded. "I need to go get him before they hand him over to the Celestial Dragons." It wasn't much use reminding Luffy that he'd swapped Penguin's and Kidd's personalities. Instead, Law focused on what he needed to do to find and get to Kidd. "I'm going to go over and speak to Eustass-ya's crew. We may need help." Law warped over to the other ship without waiting to hear a response. Besides, Law figured that with the way Luffy and some of his crew were heckling Carlos the marine tied to the mast, they would find out the other marine ship's destination soon enough.
Three days…
As the Heart Pirate headed over to meet Killer, Law hoped it wouldn't take more than three days and trusted, to an extent, that Kidd could fend for himself until then, and keep Penguin's body intact. Now more than ever the Heat Pirate captain regretted his rash decision to swap everyone's personalities. Not because he wanted Penguin in Kidd's place, but because they might have been able to avoid capture altogether had Law not confused everyone by shifting bodies and confusing all of them over their powers and limitations.
-x
Kidd wanted to kill someone, but that wasn't an option at present. Though he felt that things could have been worse than they turned out to be. If nothing else, he found that he couldn't help but be amused by the brunette haired marine twins, Mac and Jen.
This tolerance was mainly because Kidd found, the longer he was around the two marine, that they acted much more like pirates and not the naval officers they dressed as. It was as if the twins had gotten on the wrong ship and had just decided to roll with it even if they weren't like any marines Kidd had come across before. Though Kidd usually got into fights; not conversation, so he could be a little biased. Kidd finally couldn't take all the mindless chatter and had to say something, before he was tempted to blow up at the two marines and ruin his chance to perhaps convince them to free him. Because they were way too easygoing and had to be new to the marines. Any of the other ones Kidd had seen aboard this ship would never have been so open like these two were.
"You two sure don't act like marines. You remind me more of pirates." Kidd interrupted as he carefully eased Penguin's wounded yet thankfully treated right leg to a more comfortable position. "You're way too talkative around me. Seeing as I am a pirate and all."
This announcement prompted the twins to crack up, laughing merrily at the very idea.
Kidd wondered if that was a stupid thing to stay, before he was hiding a grin from the response.
He couldn't believe his luck. Maybe an easy escape wouldn't be out of the question.
"We totally wanted to be pirates when we were younger." Mac agreed, slapping his sister lightly on the shoulder. "Didn't we, sis?"
"We did, with all the talking we did with pirates who came to our hometown to stock up." Jen said with a nod. "But our parents forbade us from that lifestyle, so the only way we could go out to sea was to become marines." Jen shooed her brother's hand away from her shoulder and flashed a mischievous smile Kidd's way. "But I think our mom was just worried we'd end up ruffians since me and Mac always got into trouble at home. Set the house on fire once."
Kid was annoyed that, somewhere along the way through the twin's chatter and his occasional grunt of input, and now, the pirate comment and a little backstory, that he appeared to have somehow made friends with the marines. They were certainly being friendly enough with the way that they were seated side by side on the bed he was on, instead of standing or on one of the chairs in the small room like they were before.
This friendliness toward him could prove useful in the near future, so Kidd continued to keep at it, even though he knew full well that these two marines would have been dead had he had his real body and access to his Devil Fruit powers. As such, Kidd was smart enough to use any opportunity when it was so conveniently presented to him. Though Kidd knew better than to think he could get Jen or Mac to release him right this instance. They were still marines; enemies. But if he could get them to like him, or rather, his outward appearance as one of Law's crewmates, he might be able to catch the marine twins off guard and get them to slip up and free him. It would come later, or so was Kidd's hope.
Again, Kidd cursed the fact that he wasn't in his own body, but between his arms cuffed behind his back and Penguin's body fatigued and still recovering from previously inflicted injuries, Kidd knew, much to his displeasure and ire, that there was no way for him to fight his way out of this predicament at present.
"It would be awesome to do whatever you want as pirates." Mac was chattering away, unaware of Kidd only barely tuning in to his words.
"It would!" Jen agreed, a little frown crossing her face. "But then we'd have to fight our former comrades if we came across them."
"That wouldn't be much fun." Mac said with a sigh.
"But it would be cool, sailing wherever we want to go." Jen said with a little smile.
"It would, sis." Mac sounded enthused by the idea of going anywhere in the world. The brunette haired marine turned to Kidd, both he and his sister wide eyed with excitement. "What's it like, being a pirate?"
"Does Trafalgar Law really cut out people's hearts from their chest?" Jen chimed in, going a little off-topic.
Not that there was really one to begin with.
Kidd allowed himself a smile. Oh, he was so going to give Trafalgar shit in any way he could, but in this one case, he supposed he could make the Surgeon of Death's reputation remain a little bloodthirsty. Because Kidd knew that Law could harmlessly pop someone's heart out without killing them, but these two marines clearly had no idea and had only heard the rumors.
Probably the little tale of how Law became warlord of the sea two years previously.
So Kidd made up the most horrible thing imaginable. That Law would carve out people's hearts with blade in hand and deliver them to other people who didn't take his warning as seriously as they ought to have. Kidd did, as an addendum, say that Law only did it to people who deserved it. Which he figured was something Law would do. Kidd, however, was not such a saint, and decided to take a moment to brag about himself, because why the hell not?
"You know who Eustass Kidd is, right?"
The twin's expressions changed and they edged closer as if Kidd were about to tell them an even more harrowing tale.
"Yeah! That he kills anyone that gets in his way. Even entire towns and cities. Not even civilians get out unscathed." Mac said in a hushed tone, as if speaking about Kidd might bring him there.
Kidd grinned, figured it looked weird on Penguin's face, and gave a little shrug, as if he weren't going to deny or confirm the claim.
"I don't think I would want to run into him as a marine." Jen said nervously.
"Wouldn't probably want to see him as a rival pirate either." Mac joked.
Kidd preened himself just a bit. It was as it should be. He wanted people to know his name and know he would fuck them up if they messed with him. He thought Killer would be proud of him for it, but already he could hear his masked crewmate's voice telling him to get his head out of his ass and make sure he didn't get himself killed in the situation he found himself in.
Kidd scowled a little bit. Damn, Killer could ruin his good mood even when he wasn't there. It was something that he was never going to tell his crewmate, because he knew Killer would take advantage of it and make sure his captain erred on the side of caution, instead of kill it first and ask questions later.
It worked out for Kidd in the past, however, so he saw no reason to change his ways.
Any other way was much too boring.
Destroying things was a hell of a lot of fun. It wasn't his fault people couldn't get out of the way fast enough.
"Well, in any case, your captain still sounds scarier." Mac said after a moment's deliberation.
"Yeah, cutting people's hearts out face to face. I think he's someone I wouldn't want to come across in person either." Jen chimed in.
Dammit.
Kidd bristled at the thought of some random marines thinking more highly of Law's destructive capabilities then his own but the thought of Killer's mental chiding made Kidd focus on what was important right now. At the very least, the quiet made the two marines siblings change topics.
"We're part of the group that's escorting you to a…facility, you know."
"Where you're going to be held until a ship is ready to head on to where the Celestial Dragons are."
Mac and Jen turned to one another, ignoring the sight of Penguin furrowing brow as Kidd processed that new information.
"I don't much like that place."
"Me neither. It makes me unsettled."
"Yeah, and even inside the building you can still hear…"
"…the people crying or screaming outside. The ones working?"
"Working. It's forced labor." Mac scoffed. Even as young as they were, he and Jen knew exactly what was going on. "I don't like it sis."
"I don't either, but we don't get much say in what happens to poisoners."
"I know, but I still don't like it."
"I don't think many of the marines do. Government and all's orders though."
"And the Celestial Dragons."
The twins both went silent.
Kidd was still thinking fast, though he came up empty handed, and when he was urged up of the bed and led along by Mac and Jen out of the room of the ship an hour or so later, Kidd didn't know what he was going to do.
But he wasn't anyone's slave, so he was going to fight whether or not he got himself, and Penguin's body, killed.
It was an insult he refused to let stand as is.
-x
Kidd didn't get much of a chance to struggle as he was led off of the ship and into a large, sprawling building of a nondescript kind. But Kidd figured it had to be soundproof, otherwise whatever the hell was going on out back or wherever would have been heard very easily.
Kidd was led into the building and down a hall that was heavily guarded, and Kidd cursed internally about how much of a bitch it was going to be trying to make an escape attempt, or for anyone to try and assist him in an escape attempt. Not to mention he was limping because of the bullet wound in Penguin's leg. Kidd glowered at those who patted him down for weapons, and sneered when his hands were uncuffed and then cuffed in front of him instead, but Kidd did thrash and snarl wordless threats when two of the guards fitted a collar around his neck. One that he recognized seeing on Sabaody on slaves.
Son of a bitch.
Someone was going to pay for this, Kidd thought furiously, as he was dragged along stumbling into a cell and shoved unceremoniously inside. There was nothing in the cell, so Kid took to prowling back and forth, glaring whenever anyone passed by. The marine twins were nowhere in sight, which meant that Kidd had fucked up and had no chance to try and get some inside help to escape. But he had something more important to think about four hours later, when a different group of guards came and forcibly removed him from the cell, and ushered him outside.
It only took a few quick glances of the slaves working in the distance for Kidd's restraint to snap. And whoever had fitted the cuffs to his wrist with the short chain between was an idiot, because they were much more flimsy than the ones he'd been cuffed with on the ship. Kidd saw red when someone dared to whip his across the back with a short crack of pain, and whirled on the one holing the whip.
Kidd was going to kill someone, all right, and there was no one around to stop him.
Neither the marines nor the guards foresaw Kidd being able to snap the chain through sheer fury, and used his newly mobile arms to rush the guard who had whipped him backward, crushing the man against a pillar with a punch and from the sound of a crack, snapping the neck as the man fell lifeless to the ground. Kidd promptly turned his attention to the living, and offered a crazed smile.
These were dead men.
Dead.
It was complete chaos for the next minutes as Kidd stole two blades and made short work of several guards and a few marines, laughing when they tried to get him under control. But he didn't give them a chance to do anything. Kidd was glad of Penguin's more nimble body, as fatigued and wounded in the leg as it was, because Kidd was able to doge attacks he normally would have had to block. Even with the ache in his leg Kidd managed to avoid injury, as fury had overtaken him and dulled his sense of pain. Kidd was so engrossed in carving a path of destruction that he didn't see that one of the people, marine or guard, had managed to sneak up on him.
But Kidd did notice the sharp crack to his skull that ended his rampage, as it sent him down and out in an instant.
-x
When Kidd woke he found his whole body ached and throbbed, and the only thing Kidd could think of then and there was that Law was probably going to go through on the threat of curing his balls off for letting Penguin's body be harmed. Kidd, his head pounding, decided to just never mention what had happened.
Coughing, Kidd struggled to open his eyes, and when he did he was greeted with a dimly lit room. Brief panic surged through him over the fact that he was submerged to his waist in water, before he remembered that he could, kind of, sort of, swim while he was in Penguin's body. Only his wrists were cuffed over his head, letting some of his weight be held by his wrists, which hurt a fucking lot more with his head already killing him. Kidd let out a shaky breath as he tried his best to hold still, because even the water buffeting him gently sent waves of agony coursing through his borrowed body.
Whoever had hit him over the head had had real good aim. Kidd would have appreciated it had it not been him the person practiced their skill on.
Kidd carefully lifted his head at the sound of a door opening, his jaw setting at the sight of several marines filing in, followed by Admiral Kizaru.
"I thought I told the guards to keep you in a cell until we came to retrieve you."
Kidd said nothing; he didn't doubt it would be a pained wheeze or something, and not words.
Fuck, his head hurt.
"It was their oversight, but I would have expected them to be able to handle one pirate. But it seems your old reputation is still true. The Celestial Dragons really want you back as soon as possible."
Kidd couldn't help but sneer at that.
Kizaru had to have noticed the response, but the marine continued on as if he hadn't. "You'll be staying here until the ship is ready to sail." Admiral Kizaru indicated the marines with him. "These men here will make sure you don't get any funny ideas to pull some similar stunt.
"I'll fucking kill you." Kidd managed to growl lowly. He fell silent at the click of guns being cocked and pointed his way, and decided not to press his luck.
For now, anyway.
"I doubt you'll be able to get free of your current restraints, but these men here will be the ones you meet if you put a foot outside this cell." Kizaru left the room with the other marines, and the door was closed.
Kidd let his head hang as the throbbing in his skull became worse, and let out a disparaging laugh. Penguin's body was not doing well right now, especially with the water buffering him and the cuffs digging into his wrists.
This day was turning out to be very fucked up.
-x
Kidd wasn't entirely sure how long he had been passed out when the pain had finally overwhelmed him into unconsciousness, but at the sensation of someone holding him up slightly in the water while someone else fiddled with the cuffs around his wrists, Kidd come to reality more quickly. And instantly became alert, wondering how in the fuck he'd gotten people to help him in such a short amount of time. Because Kidd sure as hell recognized the two marines in the cell with him.
Mac and Jen.
The two marine twins from before.
Kidd was surprised they could actually be so quiet when they wouldn't shut the hell up before, and then Kidd realized it was because he had been passed out. Because as soon as the twins saw he was awake they started to chatter, albeit in hushed tones.
"We're going to help you escape." Jen said from where she was carefully unlocking first the cuffs and then the collar around Kidd's neck.
"We saw what happened." Mac added, holding Penguin's body up out of the water as Jen finished with the cuffs and freed Kidd.
The twins both helped maneuver Kidd over onto solid ground, before they were on either side of him and helping Kidd stand on his feet.
"We saw the land the…workers…were on, and we didn't like what we saw."
"We never saw it before, but…"
"It was terrible."
"We can't turn a blind eye to this any longer, so we're helping you get away."
"I've heard the Celestial dragons are worse than those guards." Mac added.
"It was a long time coming…" Jen began as she helped Kid toward the door with her brother's help.
"…But now is as good a time as any to leave the marines." Mac finished for his sister as he opened the door and cautiously peeked out into a hall. "We get into too much trouble already."
Kidd noted that the twins were still in their marine clothing. "If you're leaving, why are you still dressed like that?" It wasn't like Kidd really cared; he actually found it funny as hell that he'd managed to convince two marines to help him of all things. Kidd was more than happy to let these two help him escape. He couldn't care less that they were deserting the marines in the meantime.
"Staying in uniform will help us get out without much suspicion." Jen replied, as she and Mac led Kidd out into the hall.
"Yeah, we'll just pretend we're escorting you to the ship. We were part of that group still, anyway." Mac added with a smile.
"Oh, wait." Jen loosely attached some cuffs around Kidd's wrists again. "Need to make it look convincing."
Kidd was displeased about more cuffs, but if it got him the fuck out of here he didn't care. And as he walked, something more concerning came to light. Penguin's right arm was very heavy and hard for him to move right now. Kidd strained to put the sensation out of mind, as well as the sore leg, as escape was his most important priority right now.
But yet again, Kid's thoughts strayed to Law's reaction to the state of his crewmate's body, and knew beyond a doubt that the other captain would be unhappy to see it had taken more of a beating. But Kid would be quick to point out that it was Law's fault to begin with, swapping bodies as he had on Fiesta Island. Kidd would leave it at that, and leave out the new body count, as both Law and Penguin would not be pleased about that in the least bit.
-x
Two hours later…
-x
Kidd was amazed.
That didn't happen often, and the reason for the amazement was that the marine twin's plans of smuggling him out of the building had actually worked. And as an added bonus, Mac and Jen had actually been able to get him to the far side of the island, and onto a beach with the sea stretched out before them. Now, if only Kidd had some way to contact Killer…
"Wow, the sea is so pretty today." Jen commented out of the blue.
Kidd frowned to himself and then turned out the marines and offered what passed as grudging thanks. "You two are devious. Maybe you could be pirates after all."
Mac and Jen beamed at that, clearly excited by the prospect, though before they could bombard him with questions, a familiar voice hailed him.
"Eustass-ya! Why the hell are you out here? I thought you were captured?"
Kidd saw Law striding down he beach, and Kidd couldn't help but find that prowl rather interesting and very attractive. Pissed off Law always looked very appealing. And then Penguin was there, in Kidd's body, and Kidd couldn't help but be amused to see that at the very least, Penguin could pretend he was the other man because of the enraged expression he held on him.
"You're Trafalgar law." Mac said, though his nervous tone was overridden by Jen.
"Your crewmate is really interesting."
Law looked taken aback for a brief moment before he appeared to be bemused. "The person in question is actually a captain" Law indicated Penguin in Kidd's body. "This is who you were really talking to. I used my Devil Fruit to swap their personalities."
"That's right! You have the op op fruit." Jen declared.
"You're Eustass Kidd?" Mac asked Kidd.
"Well, we didn't really give him any chance to explain and just assumed from appearances he worked for Law." Jen informed her brother.
Mac and Jen glanced at one another before they beamed at Kidd like he was the more fascinating person in the word and spoke together. "Awesome."
"That's so bizarre. You're finishing each other's sentences and talking at the same time." Another voice piped up, and Kidd realized that somehow Straw Hat Luffy had tagged along with Law and Penguin.
Penguin completely ignoring Luffy's excited expression at the marine twins being in sync with one another and instead addressed his captain. "Law?"
Kidd moved toward Law as he remembered he was supposed to be irritated with the other captain. "You should change us back now." Kidd leered at both of the Heart Pirates. "Because I think I owe both of you some payback for all this."
-x
Law looked between his crewmate and Kidd, before he let loose a sigh. He had found Kidd sooner than he would have expected, and that was good, because he could put distance between himself and Doflamingo before the man would realize anything was amiss. Law heard Penguin's soft query and Kid's demand to be changed back, but his gaze lingered briefly on Penguin, as it seemed his crewmate was distracted by the appearance of his body.
Law relaxed a little. The marines appeared harmless and despite telling Straw Hat he could handle this, Luffy had not yet drawn any attention to them on this island. It was all well and good, and now, after he put his crewmate and Kidd back to normal, they could all get out of there. Law raised his hand and swapped Kidd and Penguin's back to their original bodies, but in doing so, he missed the look that crossed Penguin's face, more concerned by his words than posture.
"What did you do to my body?" Penguin's voice was a low, dangerous growl as he faced Kidd sharply.
"Nothin.' The marines did stuff, though. In that building and on the ship before." Kidd said dismissively. Unfortunately, the twins decided to back him up in what they thought was a helpful way, but only caused Penguin to go off the deep end.
"Yeah, some of the guards tried to make him work with the other slaves." Mac supplied. "But he broke free and attacked them instead."
"It was really messy. Killed both guards and marines." Jen added. "So they knocked him out with a strike to the head and then strung him up by his wrists in some water."
Law shot Kidd a warning glare at the red haired captain for giving the marines even more reason to go after his crewmate. "Must you complicate things?"
Penguin didn't even bother with words. He threw himself at the red haired captain instead with a silent snarl.
Kidd blocked the punch with his metal arm, and soon there was debris everywhere as Penguin and Kidd fought one another down the stretch of beach.
"Penguin! Stop! Stand down! We need to leave this place!" Law tried to intervene, but his voice didn't reach his crewmate.
Penguin had given in to the rage he kept bottled up and out of sight, and couldn't see or hear anything but Kidd as he sought to attack the man, despite the state his wounded body was in.
Jen and Mac watched the brawl in fascination, until a group of marines in the distance headed their way, and made themselves scare.
Law was forced to get out of range, and seized Luffy by the arm to prevent him from getting into a fight with the marines as he made one last attempt to get through to his crewmate.
"Penguin!"
Nothing.
Law grit his teeth and held out his left hand at the sight of the marines getting to close for comfort at present. He was still unarmed for the moment. "Room."
"Hey, Tra-guy, let go! I'm gonna kick their asses!"
Law tuned Luffy out and brought the both of them back to the Thousand Sunny.
It seemed like they needed to rethink things, and Law needed to figure out how to calm his crewmate down until enough for Penguin to realize that they needed to escape.
-x
Kidd had to grudgingly respect Penguin's sudden flurry of punches and kicks and felt that the son of a bitch was pretty strong for being injured and not even a captain like he or Law were. But Kidd, as he blocked another punch, knew that he had nothing to worry about as Penguin couldn't harm him, if he didn't let the man get close enough to let his fingers crush his throat.
All Kidd had to do was wait for Penguin to wear himself out into an exhausted state.
As much as Kidd would have liked to flatten this asshole, the red haired captain couldn't harm Penguin without pissing Law off. And Kidd had plans about getting back at Law, and some of those plans involved a bed, and Kidd would very much like to ensure he didn't get his balls or dick chopped off. Not to mention Kidd wanted to make damn sure that Law stayed the hell away from-
An ominous laugh rang out and suddenly, Penguin and Kidd were caught mid swing in their respective attacks, or defense, in Kidd's case. One look at Penguin's expression said it all.
The two of them were fucked, as reality washed over them and took the rush of battle away.
Doflamingo.
Donquixote fucking Doflamingo had shown up, and as the bastard languidly approached their tethered bodies, the blond haired pirate looked far too pleased with himself.
-x
Doflamingo circled around the two pirates he had captured with his Devil Fruit, and grinned nastily, "I doubt that Law will have kept his word and come to see me if he had been able to retrieve the two of you. This way, Law will have to come to Fang Island." Doflamingo laughed. "Leverage is a wonderful thing, isn't it?"
"Fuck you." Kid snarled as his Devil Fruit powers flared up to attack.
A large fist ended the fight before it could begin.
Doflamingo let Kidd's unconscious body drop to the sandy beach, before the blond turned his attention to Penguin. "Would you care for similar treatment? Or will you be smart for once?"
Penguin felt Doflamingo's powers leave as it freed his body and allowed for movement. However, the Heart Pirate knew that he stood no chance against Doflamingo, so he just stood here, wearing a frustrated look. This was not good, at all. He'd lost control and was paying for it. Penguin didn't even begin to want to know what this was going to do to Law.
"At least one of you has a brain." Doflamingo mused, before gesturing at Kidd. "Bring him along, or I will drag the both of you."
Penguin wouldn't have cared one whit if Kidd was dragged along, but he knew Law wouldn't like it, for whatever reason, and attempted to get the red haired captain to his feet. It was tough, but Penguin managed it as he levered the two of them up. Penguin was still greatly disturbed by the weakness in his right arm, and his wounded leg but when Doflamingo turned away, and Penguin's hand brushed a pistol in Kid's belt, the Heart Pirate acted on impulse.
Foolish, foolish impulse brought on by the situation and the dire consequences that were sure to follow should Penguin and Kidd be captured.
As much as Penguin disliked striking an opponent from behind, he would not give Doflamingo the courtesy after what he'd done to Law. What he had put him though in the past and in the present. Penguin wouldn't let an opportunity pass him by. The Heart Pirate pulled the pistol free from Kidd's belt and shot Doflamingo in the back without a hint of hesitation.
Satisfaction at seeing Doflamingo stumble was overrode with pain as the blond haired pirate whirled about and slashed Penguin with his Devil Fruit powers, the string landing harshly and cutting painfully into skin.
Penguin collapsed to the sand as Kidd dropped limply along with him.
"You and your captain are fools." Doflamingo's voice was taut. "And I am done with you all looking down on me like you can get away with taking Law with you."
Penguin grimaced briefly from the pain. He was a fool for thinking a pistol shot would end Doflamingo.
"I'm not even sure Law will prove useful alive should he get any ideas from you or Eustass Kidd. I suppose I should be thanking you for making this easier for me." Doflamingo's voice turned harsh. "I'll be sure to kill you in front of your captain this time, so you won't get the chance to slip away to try and help him again."
Penguin felt splitting agony soon after as something connected roughly with his head. He'd thought he heard a crack, and as he began to lose consciousness, the Heart Pirate supposed he was lucky that Doflamingo hadn't crushed his skull outright. The blond haired pirate wouldn't kill him; no, he'd save that for when Law showed up. Penguin knew it from the blond's threat, but knew that Doflamingo would also use him and Kidd to lure Law in, just like before. But this time, Penguin felt he would die and there was nothing that Law could do about it.
Fools…
Doflamingo was right about that, but he was a fool himself to think that Law wouldn't retaliate in some way if Penguin truly did die, and at the blond haired pirate's hands. Not to mention Straw Hat Luffy had declared that he would kick Doflamingo's ass, and the Heart Pirate was certain that Luffy would show up whether Law wanted the other captain to or not.
The only regret Penguin had before fading completely amid Doflamingo's low laugh was that he was only going to bring Law more pain, and all because Penguin had lost control of himself.
The Heart Pirate had realized only when he'd been halted mid attack against Kidd that Law had been calling out to him earlier to stand down, and Penguin hadn't heard him. If anyone was a fool, it was Penguin for not thinking things through in the heat of the moment.
Law was many things, but Penguin knew, when it came down to it, that his captain was no fool.
And Doflamingo would find that out soon enough.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
A/N: I can't believe this took me nearly a year to update but I'm glad I waited to work on this fic again (I appreciated the follows and favs and the reviews I've gotten since the previous chapter was posted last summer). I'd have updated sooner out of guilt for taking so long, but I know it would have been terrible because I had writer's block for this and I had hit a dead end with the fic briefly until just recently, so I'm happy to say I should be able to update this fic again way sooner than this one (I have at least two more chapters in the outline I've been writing up again-this chapter turned out a bit longer than I thought it would be). Since the story changed I had to change the outline from before and I like the way it turned out. There'll be a larger scale fight against Doflamingo now (because I wanted a way to throw in Gear 4 since it was shown/more of Law's attacks and as Doflamingo was going to be beaten in this fic at some point, it'll be a lot more fun to write the fighting scenes).
I feel bad for picking on Penguin but at some point Law does have to just lash out and not go along with whatever Doflamingo threatens. Kidd is gonna get his ass kicked around a bit in this fic as well, but then he'll get a fight in as well. (And the marine twin OCs will make a minor appearance once or twice more because they amused me more than I thought they would).
And there will be more smut; just not until after things are finished with Doflamingo (btw the fic is winding down with what's left-conflict, battles, smut and then resolution).