CHAPTER 48 – Congregation: Part 2
"Trafalgar D. Water Law."
Law twitched hearing his full name from the mouth of the Demon King.
"Doflamingo." Law said.
"Very astute. But I'm not surprised. Ubuyashiki's spy network is to be reckoned with. Not that he'd be alive any longer to pester me anymore."
Law scoffed at Kibutsuji's statement, much to the latter's annoyance.
"It doesn't matter whether he's alive or not. You hadn't expected me to come after you. Nor did you believe that I'd stop you from luring those Demon Slayers. It's a surprising night, I must say." Law mocked.
Kibutsuji lashed out his tentacle whips as the both of them fell down the labyrinth. Law dodged the blows. He created a green light emanating from his right arm. Unaware to Kibutsuji, Law's room had been activated ever since the event outside.
"Gamma Knife!" Law bellowed, slipping through the tentacles and stabbing into his opponent.
Kibutsuji choked. Law drew out his newly received Nichirin blade, swirling it on his other hand, holding it with an intention of stabbing his opponent.
"Injection Shot!"
The Nichirin sword went right through Kibutsuji's mouth, shaking his entire body. But Law realised it wasn't over. Right after his attack, he leaped back after a giant monster hand protruded out of Kibutsuji's body. Law swung his cursed-blade Kikoku splitting apart the arm.
The trouble wasn't over. The split arm converged into a beastly mouth. Law sensed that Kibutsuji was agitated. And most of all, unknown to Law, Kibutsuji felt cornered for the first time in a while. And that didn't bode well for Law, who realised what the Demon King was about to do.
The labyrinth shattered the moment both the contenders made it inside. A shockwave of enormous magnitude shook every corner of the enigmatic maze.
"Curtain!" Law shielded himself with his Devil Fruit ability, but he knew Kibutsuji was wounded if nothing else. Ubuyashiki's explosive stunt, followed by Tamayo's anti-Demon drug, and then Law, who managed to piss off the Demon King disrupting his plans and dealt heavy damage at the same time.
"What the hell's that?" Zoro wondered as the labyrinth began to shake. Though separated from Law and Kibutsuji, he could realise the latter's aura the moment he felt the tremor. But that wasn't his concern at that moment. He turned around to find two people who had shown up from nowhere that night. And both were stronger than he had expected.
"I don't know what's going on out here, and I don't care to know. As long as I have your head, I'm out of this crazy place." mentioned Who's-Who. Sasaki, his fellow Flying Six from the Beast Pirates didn't look too happy to hear the former babble cocky words. Meanwhile, he had turned himself back into his human form.
"So, you belong to the Beast Pirates." Zoro stated, having all his three swords drawn out.
"I am surprised you all followed after me." He looked upon his fellow Demon Slayers.
"I can't believe you leaped into Kibutsuji's labyrinth! It was a trap!" Shinobu explained, groaning at Zoro's action.
"Who cares? Kibutsuji's here. Best to kick his ass in his own turf. With Tora-o involved the same, I'd say your Demon King's heading nowhere tonight."
"Wha…"
"Don't underestimate that monster." Tomioka reminded, with a grim look on his face. "Kibutsuji has the advantage out here. We cannot let our guard down."
"I know. But as you can see, I have a few things to handle before I can deal with Kibutsuji. Why don't you go after him and find Tora-o?" Zoro said.
"No way you'd find yourself back outside from here." Shinobu retorted, observing the labyrinth they were in. Tomioka and Uzui knew to trust Zoro, just like they had towards Law, the Surgeon who had saved Ubuyashiki and Tamayo's lives whilst getting the Demon Slayers out of the labyrinth trap.
"Are you sure?" Tomioka asked once again, expecting unknown dangers inside Kibutsuji's labyrinth.
Zoro nodded turning his attention back towards the Beast Pirates.
"Alright." Tomioka nodded to Uzui.
"Tomioka!" Shinobu objected to their decision.
"I know you want to keep an eye on him, and I'm not going to stop you. But we must fight our own fights. That includes Kibutsuji who's situated somewhere inside. We take our leave." Tomioka said. And with that, both Uzui and himself dashed away from the battle, cutting down a door to the next chamber inside the endless labyrinth.
"Alright, now this makes it even on both sides." Zoro stated.
"Who's the puny girl?" demanded Sasaki.
"Must be Roronoa's new friends out here. Jack seemed to have faced two of them not too long back." Who's-Who observed Shinobu. "She's not a crew member. The Straw Hat Pirates includes the woman who was taken to Enies Lobby two years back."
"Nico Robin?" Sasaki said.
"Yeah. They burned the whole island to the ground, just to rescue one crew member."
"What?" Shinobu was surprised.
"That man defeated Kaku of the CP9." Who's-Who explained, "Not that Kaku had anything special to tell about except for being a proper government dog, but I wasn't expecting Rob Lucci to go down at Enies Lobby."
"Yeah, I remember the news from back then. Straw Hat Luffy defeats the strongest CP9 agent." Sasaki added.
"This swordsman and his crew are not to be taken lightly. And I have a personal vendetta to get by tonight." Who's-Who dashed ahead. "Tempest Kick!"
He redirected the attack towards Shinobu instead to distract Zoro's attention. Shinobu saw the Tempest Kick come in, leaping right before it could have hit her. Zoro on the other hand, retorted with a Flying Blade, much to Who's-Who's angst.
"72-Pound Phoenix!"
"Moon-Walk!" Who's-Who dodged the Flying Blade, jumping in the air and rushing towards Shinobu.
"Tower Climb!" Zoro obstructed Who's-Who's movement with his Nigiri technique.
"Damn! Iron Body!" Who's-Who had to block Zoro's quick attack whilst mid-air. Unaware to Zoro during the heat of the moment, Sasaki charged ahead in his Triceratops form. The horn of the dinosaur, hardened with Armament Haki, sent off Zoro flying.
"Ugh!" Zoro felt the great damage.
Who's-Who took the opportunity and rushed after a wounded Zoro.
"Tempest Kick!" he bellowed, hoping to take the Pirate Hunter out whilst the latter was incapacitated mid-air.
To Who's-Who's surprise, the Tempest Kick, got blocked on the way.
"True… Flutter!" It took Shinobu a lot of physical strength to deflect the strong Tempest Kick with her Dance of the Bee Sting technique. She used her broad Nichirin blade.
"What the…"
Who's-Who dashed ahead after his short surprise.
"Who is that girl?" wondered Sasaki from below. He knew that Who's-Who imbued Armament Haki on the last Tempest Kick to make sure Zoro was taken down for good.
With his right leg hardened with Haki, Who's-Who kicked down upon Shinobu. But to the former's surprise, Shinobu took advantage of his momentum, dodging the fast kick mid-air, and Shinobu deflecting herself away from the pirate. Who's-Who swiped his hardened leg with swift retort, sending out another lethal Tempest Kick. Shinobu managed to dodge the attack in a difficult situation.
I won't be able to hold this long. She realised.
Sasaki realised that Who's-Who failed to bestow the lethal blow upon the Pirate Hunter. He decided to take the opportunity for himself, finding Zoro fall towards the ground. Sasaki rushed ahead in his full-beast form.
"Blade Pistol!" Who's-Who let out a flurry of ranged Finger Pistols like air bullets. Shinobu knew she couldn't dodge the full extent of the shots. The control of her newly-trained Observation Haki was at its limit. She had no choice but to block the incoming attacks with her broad blade.
"Ah…"
Blade Pistols began to overwhelm her defence, piercing through her body. Who's-Who gained momentum against her. A sudden jolt of fear shook Shinobu's spine. She felt as if death was imminent right behind her. But there was no way to dodge an attack from another side.
"Die!" bellowed Sasaki, at the point of piercing Zoro mid-air with his Haki-hardened horn.
The whole room shook to the core, followed by a huge gust of wind, tearing apart every last wooden panel on its path.
"1080-Pound Phoenix!" yelled Zoro, hitting Sasaki at point-blank range.
"Argh!" Sasaki was blown off, his Armament Haki breached. He hit Who's-Who with his enormous size. The latter himself took a beating from the 1080-Pound Phoenix, having let down his guard whilst preying on Shinobu. As for the Insect Hashira, she observed the enormous Flying-Blade attack fly away from her reach. She felt that Zoro had let off that attack in instinct. Though she had instances of witnessing his Flying-Blade attacks, the 1080 during that instance was by far the strongest one.
Tremors shook the room. Sasaki dropped hard on his back.
"That was powerful." remarked Who's-Who, getting up to a stand.
The Pirate Hunter was on his feet.
"They are part of Jack's crew, I assume?" Shinobu landed back, heaving.
Zoro walked ahead without reply, much to Shinobu's confusion. She observed him put his bandana upon his head.
"That hit hard." remarked Sasaki returning back to his normal form.
"Looks like the Pirate Hunter is finally taking it seriously." said Who's-Who, observing Zoro walk towards them.
"Glad that I was in my beast form during that last attack. I can boast all day regarding my tough hide, but I was forced to use Haki all the same to defend myself. That man was holding out on us." Sasaki realised Zoro's potential, turning into his Zoan hybrid form. He drew out his sword, the spinning Karakuri Rasento.
"It's all gonna be the same in the end." said Who's-Who.
Shinobu was surprised to find both the men transform into their hybrid forms, especially Who's-Who, whom she hadn't seen in his Zoan form. A Saber-toothed tiger. Who's-Who drew out his dagger.
Zoro began to sprint toward the enemies.
"Blade Pistol!" Who's-Who unleashed.
Shinobu was surprised to find Zoro dodge every last one of the shots with little effort.
"What the…" Who's-Who was annoyed.
"Observation Haki." remarked Sasaki stepping ahead. "He'll dodge all the ranged attacks. It's gonna be a battle of strength."
Both the Flying Six dashed ahead towards Zoro to clash in melee combat.
"Flame Breathing… Three-Sword Style…" Zoro muttered.
"Tempest Kick!" Who's-Who charged at point-blank range, followed by Sasaki who slammed down on Zoro with his Rasetsu.
"Blazing Tiger Trap!"
Three men of beastly strength clashed. The whole floor trembled along with a shockwave that was set off right aftermath. It ripped apart most of the room and the maze around.
All of a sudden, the room began to turn.
"What's going on?" Sasaki bellowed.
He fell off through another door which shut after him.
"Damn! This place is insane!" Who's-Who bellowed in annoyance.
"Shinobu!" Zoro observed the young lady lose balance.
"This maze is under the influence of Kibutsuji!" Shinobu replied. "We must get out of here!"
"Is there a way to get out?"
"I don't know. But I think Kibutsuji or one of his Demons is controlling this whole thing."
"More the reason to find Kibutsuji and end him here. Come on, let's find this Demon. As a matter of fact, Tora-o must be already clashing against him!"
"Absurd!" Shinobu couldn't believe Zoro's excitement.
"Alright, I think this room-flip thing sends you to some other part of the maze. Let's move ahead!"
"Wait!"
Both of them dashed through one of the openings.
"You ain't getting away from me!" Who's-Who bellowed, rushing after them using his Moonwalk. He accelerated in mere moments.
"Iron Body!"
Who's-Who slammed onto Zoro with great force whilst his hybrid form. The latter managed to block the Saber-Tiger's pounce. Who's-Who grabbed hold of Zoro's Shusui with Armament hands. He almost bit off Zoro's head with his fangs.
"Bastard!" Zoro bellowed. A fang air-blast just went past without notice. Zoro's head missed it by a mere inch, thanks to his Haki.
Zoro retaliated, swinging his blade deflecting Who's-Who away from him.
"Looks like he won't leave us after all." Shinobu came up close.
"He's after me for some reason." Zoro mentioned, looking at Shinobu. "You should move ahead. I'll hold this guy off."
"I'll fight with you!"
"Do you remember what happened when he came after you the last time? You had a hard time dodging his attacks. My bet is he is one of Jack's strongest henchmen, or maybe Kaido's as well. He has Zoan-fruit powers, those weird CP9 abilities, and can use Armament Haki along with that. I assure you, I have no intention of fighting this guy until we were outside. But choices are limited right now."
Shinobu discovered Who's-Who shooting off a Tempest Kick towards her way. She managed to dodge it at the mere moment, realising she couldn't out-speed and fight the enemy if she was on the defensive. Her greatest frustration had been Who's-Who's body hardening abilities, which made it very difficult to bypass his defences without Armament Haki or heavy strength.
"Alright." Shinobu agreed and began moving away from the battle.
"I'll get back to you as soon as this is done. Good luck." Zoro replied, drawing out the rest of his blades.
Shinobu walked down a corridor away from the chaos. She arrived upon a small pond with water flowers situated around the room. Suddenly, she realised the smell of blood and drew out her broad Nichirin blade.
"What is this place?" she wondered, opening a sliding door.
The pond extended inside the new room. There was a walkway that led through the pond. Shinobu cared none of that except to be surprised by all the bodies that lay on the floor. All of them were girls who were dead on the ground. Her eyes led way along the blood trail towards two entities in the middle of the huge room. She gasped the moment she realised them.
"Ooo… looks like we have a newcomer. A girl of all things. I got to thank Nakime for sending such a young and tasty-looking girl to my place." Exclaimed the tall fellow.
"Shinobu!" bellowed the lady holding a Nichirin blade.
"Big sister!" Shinobu exclaimed, surprised to find Kanae Kocho wounded.
"What are you doing here?" Kanae yelled.
"I could ask you the same." At that moment, Shinobu began to see the truth. She recognised the fellow in front of Kanae, and couldn't mistake the blood stains on the top of his head. And, she sure as hell couldn't mistake the sharp fans held on his hands.
"It's him!" she growled.
"Oh my, and I thought such a cutie was here to be part of my delicacy." said the fellow.
Without ado, Shinobu rushed ahead at great speed.
"Crimson Hanagoromo!" she yelled. She almost expected to swipe off the Demon's neck with her great speed.
An obstacle popped up. One of the fellow's fans blocked her quick and pre-emptive attack, much to her surprise.
"You shouldn't rush these things, young lady." The fellow replied with a cold face.
At that moment, Kanae grabbed hold of her little sister and leaped away.
"Lotus Ice!" the fellow swung his fans, sending off a cold wave, capable of freezing the area right in front of them.
"Shinobu!" Kanae slapped her little sister once they landed on the other side of the room.
"But…" Shinobu was astounded.
"That's the Demon who killed me in my previous life!" Kanae bellowed.
"Why did you come here then?" Shinobu retorted. "I will kill that Demon, I swore on my life!"
"I knew he would be here tonight." Kanae replied. "And I had a feeling you might've followed Captain Law here after his gambit at the Ubuyashiki Mansion. But I am not yelling at you for that. You charged right ahead onto an Upper Demon Moon! I thought you knew better than that! You are starting to behave like that Zoro! That kind of impulsive behaviour will get you killed!"
A moment of silence. Shinobu realised her mistake for jumping the gun.
"Alright, we can talk later. But first, we have to finish old business with this girl-killing villain. Keep your wits." Kanae advised.
"I know." Shinobu took a deep breath. "He never expected to fight you twice, sister. And now, I am here as well."
"Let's do this!" Kanae growled.
TO BE CONTINUED...