Epithet

Characters: Law, Penguin, Shachi, Heart Pirates. Rating: K. Warnings: None

Surgeon of Death. Law's first bounty poster, a measly 28 million beri obtained as he finally allowed the marines to identify him on his approach to Reverse Mountain, declared the words loudly above Law's own name. His crew, now numbering some fifteen strong after Law decided, ten years after forming the crew, that they needed more members to survive the Grand Line, looked at it dumbly, trying to work out where the hell that had come from.

Realistically, it probably had something to do with the Ope Ope no Mi's ability to disassemble people at a distance, and the black, unrepentant tattoos on his fingers. Still, Law hadn't gone out of his way to kill people, usually content to leave them alive (if in pieces) unless provoked too far. The epithet did its job, however, and soon civilians and weak-willed pirate crews alike fled at the sight of him, screaming pleas that he show mercy.

Law, because despite his general lack of killing he was still in possession of a large sadistic streak, usually responded with a knowing smirk. If he was annoyed rather than amused he could even be known to demonstrate his abilities. It was enough to cement his reputation, without any need for deaths.

Penguin was the first to voice (out of hearing of the captain) the idea that the epithet was accurate after all, in its own twisted way. Law was a surgeon, so the suitability of that title was indisputable. And perhaps, he reasoned, that was the key to the epithet.

Shachi, predictably, was the first to realise what he was getting at, and laughed at the irony. The marines had portrayed Law as a merciless killer, but in reality, it was the opposite. Law was a merciless healer. No matter how badly injured they were, if they begged for the sweet release of death rather than face a life of rehabilitation or disability, Law would not let them die.

The Surgeon of Death controlled who lived and who died. Once Law decided someone would live, nothing could change his mind. With his vast medical knowledge and the Ope Ope no Mi, he could perform medical miracles, keeping death at bay indefinitely (and that was a whole other kettle of fish that they were careful not to dwell on too much).

It was a fact the Heart Pirates were thankful for, knowing that no matter what happened their captain would do everything in his considerable power to heal them. Law scolded them for their recklessness in battle, but for as long as he would keep them alive, they saw no reason to fear injury. The Surgeon of Death had a crew with no fear of dying, a fact the marines were slow to learn but other pirate crews not so much.

The marines themselves didn't realise the true meaning of Law's epithet until Marineford, almost three years after bestowing it upon him. The miraculous recovery of Mugiwara Luffy, re-invading Marineford barely two weeks after leaving it comatose in the Heart Pirate's submarine, could be attributed to no other.

The Heart Pirates would forever be amused at how the marines had come up with so fitting, without even realising it.

Despite his apparent reputation (even commented on by Kid), Law doesn't seem to be an active killer nowadays (his past is another matter entirely, of course). While the likes of Vergo and Monet's deaths are attributable to him, he's openly acted to keep enemies alive (G5 on Punk Hazard, and those hundred hearts of pirates were still beating), so I just couldn't understand why he's the Surgeon of Death, until I looked at it from the other way and realised that he controls death more than just about any other character in the series, and that's before we get into that mess that's the Eternal Youth Operation...

Thanks for reading!
Tsari