Vergo
Part One
'Neo? Neo, what's going on?' Law panted as he stumbled down the hall. His heart raced when suddenly he couldn't feel Neo or hear her thoughts. He placed his hand over his aching chest and clenched his coat then dropped to his knees. His sword fell from his hand and clanked against the floor. 'Neo?! What's going on out there? Answer me!'
"Is something wrong, Law? You look like you're in pain," Monet said as she glanced at Law when he fell forward and blood dripped from his mouth.
"What's going on?! Who's there?! Come out!" Law demanded through his labored breaths. He pushed himself up on his arm when he heard footsteps coming closer to him. 'Neo? Darn it! If that idiot Straw Hat got you hurt I'm going to kill him!'
"It just me."
Law flinched when a familiar voice answered him from the shadows in the hall. His eyes shot open. He gasped for air as he spoke. "You?! What are you… doing here?!"
"It's been so many years. Hasn't it, Law? You've grown up a lot since then," the man said as he stepped out of the shadows. He looked down at Law. "You're a warlord now, aren't you? That's quite a promotion from an ordinary pirate. And not only that…you're also married now. I have to say that that is probably the biggest surprise of them all. With how harsh you were as a child, I never imagined that you would actually take a wife. What is she like? What kind of woman was able to tame such a wild, unpredictable boy such as yourself? Is she around here now? I'd really like to meet her in person."
Law growled.
"From the pictures I've seen of her in the newspapers, she's quite the looker. Such a delicate looking flower," the man said. "You really should have invited us to the wedding. The young master has the perfect gift for you two. He is very upset with you, Law."
"I'm sure he is," Law replied through huffs. "What are you doing here?! When did you get here?! Vergo!"
Vergo smiled. He then said, "I'm here to extend an invitation. The young master is very excited about seeing you again. He's also very excited about meeting his new sister-in-law. He wants you two to come back to Dressrosa with us. He would like to go ahead and give you his wedding present."
Law frowned. "Why are you really here?"
"What? You don't believe me? Very well then. What do you think I'm really here for? Did you really think that he had no idea that you two were here on this island? You should know better than that, Law," Vergo said. "He's known since the very beginning. Surely you have guessed by now that we don't trust Caesar. To keep a close eye on things, we planted an agent here to make sure he doesn't betray us in any kind of way. Imagine our surprise when Monet called us about your arrival here. As for what I'm doing here and when I arrived, I was spending some time at Dressrosa. A SAD tanker was about to leave so I hitched a ride on it. And wouldn't you know? It looks to have been the right move."
"How was it the right move?! What harm did we cause you all to deserve this?!" Law demanded.
"If you two had caused any harm, you both would be dead right now. We'll that's not entirely true. The young master really does want to meet this wife of yours. So, I'll be taking her back to Dressrosa with me. Whether you come along or not is your decision. But, either way, your precious love is coming with me," Vergo said. He smiled when he felt Law's heart take a sharp jolt in his hands.
"You stay away from her! Vergo!" Law glared and grabbed for his sword. He grabbed the hilt and started to pull it free from the sheath. "You're not touching her!"
"You are in no position to argue. And you didn't say it properly," Vergo said as he squeezed Law's heart as hard as he could, causing Law to scream. He pulled out his bamboo baton and twirled it before smashing it onto Law's head. "It's Mr. Vergo to you!"
…
"What's happening?!" Neo asked herself. "Why's my magic not working?! Law?! Law, can you hear me?!"
Neo gripped a handful of snow when Law didn't reply. Her heart slammed against her chest when she couldn't feel him either.
…
"Luffy!" Robin cried out.
"Blast it!" Franky growled.
…
Neo looked up when she heard the two Straw Hat pirates cry out their captain's name and cursed. She struggled to summon her crystals back to her. Slowly, her magic stirred inside of her and some of her wind crystals flickered in front of her, but none of them would become solid. "Come on! I don't have time for this! What's wrong?!"
…
"Struggle all you want! But there's nothing you can do to escape this! My gas is the deadliest there is! Now, suffer and die, Straw Hat Luffy!" Caesar said with maniacal laughter. "It's over! There's nothing you and your friends can do to stop me! You're the only one here who can use haki and fight against a logia! And, look, the only other one who could possible do something is having trouble with her powers!" He paused and looked down at Neo. "Hm, interesting. She is having trouble with her powers. Well, no use concerning myself over that for now. Soon I'll have the answers to my questions on why she's so different from the others. Soon I'll be able to experiment on her-Huh?!"
Caesar shot his eyes back to Luffy when the rubber man suddenly started to suck in all of the gas around him. He asked, "What the heck, Straw Hat?! Are you serious in a hurry to die?! What's the matter with you?! I've never seen someone as stupid as this!"
…
"Straw Hat! Stop it!" Neo shouted as she looked up at Luffy. She pushed through whatever was blocking her magic and summoned her wind crystals. Wrapping her winds around her, she shot herself into the air. "Wind Lift! Caesar! Let him go!"
"What's wrong with you, woman? Are you seriously going to try and fight me?" Caesar asked as Neo hurled herself towards him.
"Let him go!" Neo cried out. She pushed a gust of wind towards Luffy while wrapping another one around her right fist. She swung her wind engulf fist towards Caesar's head. Just as her fist was about to collide with is cheek, her winds vanished on her and she started to plummet.
"Hm?" Caesar's lifted an eyebrow at her then grinned. "You wouldn't have been able to hit me anyway."
…
"Neo!" Robin called out. She crossed her arms over her chest, preparing to catch the falling woman.
"What happen?! Did her devil fruit suddenly decide not to work?!" Franky asked.
…
"Got you!" Caesar said as he snapped his hand out and grabbed the front of Neo's coat.
"No! Let me go!" Neo's body temperature dropped at Caesar's close touch. She went to peal his fingers off of herself, but stopped when she realized her magic wasn't reacting to her panic at all and Law still wasn't contacting her. What's going on?! Is Caesar's gas doing this to me? No, that can't be right. If it was, then he would be gloating over this.
"What's the matter, Neo?" Caesar asked. He tilted his head and was going to continue questioning her, but stopped when suddenly, all of the gas was gone. He turned back to Luffy. "What the heck?!"
"S-Straw Hat!" Neo looked over to Luffy.
"Don't worry, Neo. I'm fine." Luffy smiled and coughed. "I guess poisons don't work so well on me now. It might be because of Magellan."
"Magellan?! Are you talking about that venomous imp from Impel Down?!" Caesar hissed. "Don't you dare compare me to a lowly paramecia eater! I'm a lot stronger than he could ever hope to be!"
"Gum Gum Jet Mace!" Luffy slammed his feet into Caesar's cheek knocking him down the ground and freeing Neo. When Neo started dropping again, Luffy wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her up to his chest. She flinched hard. "Sorry. I know you don't like being touched, but you clearly need a hand here. What's going on? How did you get captured by Caesar? And what are you doing so close to him anyway? I thought you were going to stay in your sniper position. Isn't that what Tra wanted you to do?"
"Sorry. I couldn't just let Caesar…" Neo glanced up at Luffy's straw hat. Apparently I don't want anything to happen to him because he's connected to my godfather. She cleared her throat. "I don't know what happened. My ma-powers just disappeared on me."
"Hm?" Luffy looked at her and blinked. "Did you get hit with sea prism stone?"
"No." Neo shook her head.
Luffy and Neo turned their attention down to the ground when the others started yelling.
…
"Master!" one of Caesar's men shouted.
"Yeah!" Franky called out. "Way to go, Luffy! You really sent him flying!"
"How could he do that to our master?!" another one of Caesar's demanded.
"We'll save you, Master!"
"Stay out of this, weaklings!" Caesar hissed once he picked himself up off the ground and out of the ship debris that now surrounded his body.
"Weaklings?"
"Did I hear that right?"
"That fool! He's going to regret that! I'm going to show him the true power of my gas gas fruit!" Caesar shouted, ignoring the confusion of his men. "Get ready, Straw Hat! This is it for you! First I'm going to kill you then take that woman as my personal science experiment!"
…
"Hold on, Neo! I need to finish this fight! And since your powers aren't working right, I'm going to put you under the protection of my crew!" Luffy said. He tightened his hold around Neo's waist and jumped down from ship wreckage before she could protest. "Hey! Robin! Franky! I need you to protect Neo! Something's wrong with her powers! So catch her!"
"What?!" Neo shouted just before Luffy tossed her towards his crew. "Straw Hat!"
"I've got you, Neo!" Robin cried out. She crossed her arms over her chest and formed a rope net with her hands and arms. She caught Neo then lowered her down the ground.
"Huh?" Neo looked at the arms and hands beneath her a second before they disappeared.
"Neo, what's wrong?" Robin asked as she knelt down beside her. "Did you get hit or something?"
"No." Neo shook her head. "I don't know what happened. My powers just suddenly stopped."
…
"Come on!" Caesar shouted, stopping farther conversations between Neo and the Straw Hats.
"Gum Gum Gatling!" Luffy pulled back his arms and fired several rapid punches at Caesar.
"Gastanet!" Caesar shouted. A musical click came from a round object in the man's hand.
"What?!" Luffy shouted seconds before an explosion went off around him.
…
A bright light flashed, coupled with a loud blast, echoed through the air. The explosion caused several men to fly backwards while shooting shards of debris through the air. Franky jumped in front of Neo when a sharp piece of board came flying towards her. "Don't worry, Neo! I've got your back!"
"Uh, thanks, Cyborg Franky," Neo said.
"Just Franky will do," Franky replied. He kept his back towards her and kept his eyes on the smoke cloud above them. When it faded away Luffy was falling out of the air with smoke coming out of his mouth. "That's just great! He's out!"
"Luffy!" Robin called out.
…
"That's our master!" Caesar's men cheered.
"Now, I'm going to finish you off!" Caesar laughed. "Smilies, wake up!"
"Smilies? What the heck is that?" Franky asked.
"Looks like it's those weird blobs that fell from the sky," Robin said as the pink blobs started gathering up near Caesar. The blobs shifted then lifted themselves up until they looked like out of place pink pillars in the snow.
"What?! What the heck are they doing?!" Franky asked.
"Smilies, grab onto Straw Hat!" Caesar ordered. He threw out his hand into the air. "Jump!"
"No! Leave him alone!" Neo shouted. She, and everyone else, watched helplessly as the blobs followed the movement of Caesar's hand and shot into the air. They grab onto Luffy, encasing the young man in with their strange bodies. "Get them off! They're going to explode!"
Franky cursed." Blast it! What the heck are those things? Some kind of weird gooey puppies? They followed his command like he's their boss or something!"
"He needs to get away from them!" Neo said as she watched Luffy gasped and struggle against them. She pushed to her feet and started walking forward. "They're about to explode! Their some kind of gas! Get him out of there!"
"What?" Franky looked at Neo then shouted up to his captain, "Luffy, watch out! They're going to explode!"
"Luffy!" Robin screamed.
"Now! Die, Straw Hat Luffy!" Caesar shouted. He raised his hand to create another explosion.
…
"No! Straw Hat!" Neo, feeling some of her magic returning, summoned her wind crystals and charged at Caesar again.
"Neo! Come back!" Robin called after her, but Neo didn't hear her.
"Is she insane or something?" Franky asked. "Why is she getting so angry?"
"Caesar!" Neo pulled back her wind engulf fist.
"Why are you even bothering to try to hit me?! You know I'm a logia! You can't touch me!" Caesar said. He lowered his hand down and prepared to dodge her attack.
"Shut u-AH!" A sharp pain suddenly shot through Neo's chest. She grabbed her chest and crashed to the ground ten feet away from Caesar. 'L-Law? Wh-what's happening? Why does my chest hurt so much?' Neo's eyes shot open. "No…Caesar…he didn't…he could have used your heart to stop me, but he didn't. Law?!"
"Hm?" Caesar hummed and tilted his head when Neo called out for Law.
'Sorry, Neo.'
'What is it? It's your heart, isn't it? Who has your heart?! Law, what's going on?!'
'It's Vergo.'
'No.' Neo gasped. 'Would that have caused my magic to act up?'
'Your magic is acting up?! I was wondering why I couldn't feel you!'
'It is! I don't know why though!'
"Gastanet!" Caesar shouted.
Neo covered her ears with her hands and curled into ball when another explosion rocketed through the air. The blast knocked the weaker, unprepared men down while the stronger ones remained on their feet.
"Luffy! Neo!" Neo peaked out through her right eye when Franky shouted. She looked over to see him and Robin holding their arms over their faces.
Caesar laughed again, bring Neo's attention back to him and the missing Straw Hat captain.
"Straw Hat! Where is he?!" Neo asked as the smoke cleared. She darted her eyes over the area where Luffy was falling to the ground. Nothing was there, but smoke. "He can't be!"
"Straw Hat's gone!" Caesar's men cheered in victory.
"That explosion was huge! There's no way Straw Hat's alive after that one!"
"No! He's not dead!" Neo shouted at them. "He's not!"
"Of course he is, Lady Law! He wasn't strong enough to fight against our master, our savior, in the first place! He should have known better!" one of Caesar's men replied. "And you should have known better than to betray the master! You and Law are going to die next!"
…
"No…Luffy!" Robin said. Then asked, "What do we do now? There's no way we can fight a logia without haki!"
"We're in some deep trouble now!" Franky added.
…
"Yes! I am the greatest scientist in the world! I am the eater of the gas gas fruit! You all shouldn't have made me angry!" Caesar exclaimed as his men chanted his name over and over. He walked over to Neo until he was two feet from her and looked down at her for a moment before kneeling down. "You people didn't have a clue who you were messing with. You poor, pathetic saps! You know, for a moment there, I was a little worried. That wind power, or whatever it is, could have been a real pain to deal with. But lucky me I didn't have to. But what happened to you? You seem to be in some pain here. What's wrong?"
Neo gritted her teeth. What do I do? My magic still isn't working right. It faded away again.
"Why don't we go back to the lab? I can surely help you with whatever your problem is," Caesar said. He started to reach out for Neo.
"Stay away from me!" Neo screamed. Tears dripped from the corner of her eyes as she pushed herself to her feet. But once she got up, her magic returned along with a sharp pain shooting through her chest then through her head. She collapsed to the ground. 'Law…what is Vergo doing to you?'
"You poor thing," Caesar said with a light chuckle. He reached for her once more. She flung herself away from him. "Don't worry. I'll take very good care of you."
"Oh, that was a close one!" Luffy suddenly said, stopping Caesar's hand in midair.
Neo's eyes shot over to the uninjured pirate. "Straw Hat!"
"What?!" Caesar's eyes bugged out of his head as he jumped to his feet and spun around.
"Gum Gum! Jet Stamp!" Luffy shouted. Kicking out his foot, he nailed Caesar's chest, sending the gasman flying several yards away from them and into pieces of the wrecked navy ship. "And that was for making Neo cry!" He brushed himself off and straightened up his hat before walking over to Neo. He bent down and smiled at her. "Are you hurt?"
"Uh, no," Neo said, even though she was seeing double. She blinked, causing her vision to clear, then looked over his body in disbelief. Her eyes then rested on his hat. "Not really. You're the one who almost got blown up.
"What are you doing over here?" Luffy asked. "I told you to stay with my crew."
"I, uh…" Neo blinked. She brought her eyes back to his. "I know. I just couldn't let you…I was just trying to…"
"You were worried about me, weren't you?" Luffy asked with a huge grin.
"Uh, yeah." Neo nodded, her eyes once again returning to the straw hat on the young man's head. I was worried about him. I guess adjusting to him and his crew is going to be a bit easier than I thought it was going to be. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Godfather trusts this guy. I'm sure he'd trust Straw Hat with my life, just like Law does.
…
"That jerk! For a second there I thought we were going to have to start looking for a new captain. How was it possible he moved that fast?" Franky wondered as he rubbed his head.
"It's a relief to know he can move that fast and avoid future explosions," Robin said.
…
"S-Straw Hat?!" a G-5 soldier stuttered in disbelief at the uninjured pirate.
"Is he invincible or something?" another G-5 soldier asked. "There's no way he could have survived that!"
…
"All right." Luffy stood back up. Keeping his eyes on Neo, he said, "You just stay right here. I'll take care of Caesar then we can get you back to Tra. I'm sure he'll want to see you since your powers aren't working right. He's a good doctor. He helped me after all. Promise me you'll stay out of the fight from now on. I don't want you to get hurt. Promise?"
"I, uh, promise." Neo nodded, unable to take her eyes off the pirate before her.
"How dare you do that to our master?!" one of Caesar's men demanded, though Luffy and Neo ignored him. "You're going to pay for that!"
"Good! I'll be back soon!" Luffy said to Neo before running in the direction he kicked Caesar in.
Neo's eyes automatically followed the young pirate. She watched as he smashed, punched, and kicked Caesar's men out of his way while screaming at them. "Out of my way!"
Once through all of Caesar's men, he grabbed a hold of Caesar's coat. "Okay, I really got you this time! You're not getting away again! Hey! Robin! Franky! Do you see something we can put him in?! We can't just tie him up!"
…
"Just a second, Luffy. There might be a barrel around here or something," Franky said as he looked around. He paused when the navy soldiers started screaming and running towards them. "Here comes the navy."
"Whoa, whoa, hold on, Straw Hat!" the G-5 soldiers said while running towards the pirates. "You can't just take him like that! He's a pirate! You all are! We're taking you all into custody! Now come quietly!"
"Such a pain," Franky said with a shake of his head.
…
"Smoker, Straw Hat and his crew just caught Caesar!" Tashigi-Smoker exclaimed.
"Darn it! Those idiots!" Smoker-Tashigi cursed before rushing forward.
"Smoker!" Tashigi-Smoker said before following her commanding officer.
"Let's go, guys!" a soldier shouted.
"Follow Smokey and the captain!" another soldier added.
…
"Is this really it?" Neo asked herself as she watched Luffy laughing like he didn't have a care in the world. "It can't be. Something doesn't feel right about…"
Neo's eyebrows perched up when she noticed a strange look on Luffy's face. Luffy then suddenly stopped laughing. His eyes went white and he dropped his hold on Caesar's coat. She narrowed her eyebrows and concentrated as hard as she could. A small amount of magic returned to her. She gasped when she sensed the gas floating around Luffy. She pushed herself to her feet and ran towards him. "No! Straw Hat! Get away from him! You have to get away from him! Now! Come on you stupid crystals! Work! Darn it!"
…
"Luffy?!" Robin asked. She then shouted out at Neo when she saw the young woman running towards Luffy and Caesar. "Neo! No! Don't go anywhere near Caesar with your powers acting up!"
"Geez! It's bad enough when Luffy acts without thinking!" Franky said. "What's she doing?!"
They both gasped when Neo suddenly crashed to the ground. Robin asked, "Did Caesar get her with his gas?! Franky, we have to do something!"
"Right! I'll draw their attention to me! You go help Luffy and Neo!" Franky said as they rushed forward.
"Be careful, Franky! That guy's a lot strong than we realized if he can easily take out Luffy like that!" Robin said while crossing her arms over her chest. "Cien Fleurs! Wings!"
"Right! You be careful too!" Franky said as Robin took off into the air. He swung his arms and knocked several of Caesar's men down before holding up his hands to fire his beam. "Franky Radical Beam!"
…
"Ah!" Neo stumbled to the ground when several hits pelted her body, Law's body. 'Law! What is that man doing to you?! Law?!'
She pushed up on her left arm with a low growl at her inability to help no one. Through her blurring vision, she saw Luffy reaching for Caesar who was back upon his feet grinning like a cheshire cat. She tried to push herself up to her feet, but the hits that Law was taking was taking just as much toll on her as they were him. She watched helplessly as Luffy fell to the ground, unconscious. She pressed her forehead to her forearm and grumbled, "Great. This is just great."
"Neo! Hold on for a second! I'm going to get you two out of here!" Robin's voice called out to her.
Neo looked up to see Robin lifting both herself and Luffy in the air. "Robin, you have to get out of here! Caesar's behind you!" she shouted when Caesar, in his gas form, slipped behind the woman. She screamed again when his gas took a hold of Robin just like it did Luffy. "No!"
"Robin!" Franky shouted from a distance away. "Get out of there!"
"Too late!" Caesar said just as Robin dropped to the ground. He turned his eyes to Neo. "Very soon, my dear. Very soon it will be just you and me."
Neo cringed and recoiled. She flinched when Tashigi-Smoker charged forward with her sword out and ready to strike the gasman. The navy woman shouted, "Caesar! You're not going to get away with this!"
"No! You can't fight him! Get out of here! All of you!" Neo said, but the navy woman didn't listen. Tashigi-Smoker just continued to charge forward until Caesar's gas took a hold of her too. She passed out and crumpled to the ground.
"What just happened to her?! What is he doing to them?!" Smoker-Tashigi asked.
"Would you like some too?" Caesar asked as he turned to the navy.
"No you don't, Caesar! Element Crystals! Wind Circlets!" Neo screamed as she managed to call upon several wind crystals and engulfed the scientist. She then shouted over to the navy soldiers. "Smoker! Get your men out of here! He's using gas!"
Smoker-Tashigi turned to his men. "You heard her! Everyone, get out of here now!"
Caesar turned to Neo and scoffed. "This is a waste of time! You clearly don't have the strength to stop me! Just give in and accept your fate! Your crystals are already beginning to fade again!"
Neo dropped her eyes down to her crystals. He was right. They were starting to flicker out of sight again. "Franky! Get Robin and Straw Hat out of here! I'll hold Caesar for as long as I can!"
"What?! I can't just leave you!" Franky shouted as he lifted Robin's head up off the ground. "Your powers aren't working!"
"We don't have a choice! I have enough strength to hold him while you get away! Now go!" Neo shouted.
"Crap!" Franky cursed. He darted his eyes between his crewmates and Neo.
"Franky! Hurry! I'm losing my hold!" Neo screamed seconds before her crystals vanished. "No!"
"Yes!" Caesar threw his hands into the air. His gas flew out over the area.
"Ack!" Franky gasped as air disappeared from him.
Neo growl again. She grasped her throat as Caesar's gas took a hold of her. Her vision clouded over. She felt herself collapse to the ground before everything around her went black. Law…
…
"Master! Master! Master!" Caesar's men chanted.
"My strong, loyal soldiers! Tie these pathetic pirates up! Use sea prism stone chains for the devil fruit eaters! Leave the navy soldiers here and get inside the laboratory! It's dangerous out here! Something strange is raining down from the sky, but don't worry! I'll protect you and this place you call home!" Caesar said.
"What about Lady Law, Master? What should we do with her?" a man asked while binding Neo with chains. "She and Law betrayed us. They are no longer our friends or allies."
"I can't believe she actually betrayed us like that," another man said. He sighed as he looked at Neo lying on the ground.
"I know it's hard for you all. She was such a nice, sweet young woman. But don't worry about her anymore. Her betrayal won't go unpunished," Caesar said.
"What are you going to do to her?" the man asked.
"Nothing for you to worry about. I have special plans for her. I'll be taking her personally into the lab," Caesar replied. He bend down and picked her up bridal style. He turned to the laboratory entrance then stopped when one of his men spoke again.
"What about the children?" the man asked.
"Don't worry about them. As soon as I secure Neo and get my blood samples from her, I'll go after the children myself," Caesar replied. He nodded to the other pirates. "Just take them inside to my lab. I'll be there as soon as I can. Make sure their chains are tight and secure. I don't want them escaping."
"Yes, Master!"
…
Blood poured into Law's mouth when Vergo twirled his bamboo staff before cracked him on his chin then whacked his back. His body slammed into the floor.
"Just as merciless as always," Monet said as she stood back and watched, emotionless, at Law getting pummeled. "Nothing ever changes with you."
"Showing mercy would make for a very bad punishment, Monet. And this kid needs to learn his lesson. Besides consistence is a good thing," Vergo said.
Law huffed as he pushed himself up on his arms. Pushing through the pain in his body, he focused his mind on Neo. He tried to contact her, but she wasn't responding. A small amount of relief flooded his chest that she wasn't feeling his pain, but it was quickly replaced with dread when he realized she was unconscious not just out of magic. Well, at least she's unconscious for all of this now. She won't have to deal with the pain until she wakes back up. But this also puts her in danger. Caesar probably already captured her. He's probably taking her to one of the labs. At least he won't be able to learn anything from her blood. But still…Vergo is the real issue here. If Doflamingo has and interest in Neo then Vergo will undoubtedly try and take her with him. And with my heart in his hands…there's no way I can stop him. Neo's going to freak out if that happens. I've got to try and distract Vergo some how and get my heart back so I can help her.
Law clenched his chest again. With a deep breath, he addressed Vergo. "Vergo…the navy soldiers of the G-5 base are here on the island now. They're just outside the front of the lab. If they see you here, you're going to be in a lot of trouble with the navy. You're there commanding officer after all. You're finished when they see you here."
Vergo swung his bamboo staff and whacked Law in the stomach. "Are you seriously trying to give me advice on how to deal with my own men? I know how to handle them. You should know your place, boy! Also, don't make me repeat myself. It's Mr. Vergo!"
Law sucked back a scream when Vergo squeezed his heart. He fell back onto the floor, grateful that Neo was no longer awake before his own mind went blank.
…
"Huh?" Luffy asked as he started to wake up. He blinked away his blurry and waving vision before looking to his left. "Oh, Tra! What's going on?! Where are we?!"
"We've been captured, you idiot. What does it look like to you?" Law grumbled as he kept his eyes down in concentration on keeping track of where and how Neo was doing. Through her forced nap, he could feel her magic returning to her and their connection was growing stronger with each second, but she still wasn't awake.
"What?!" Luffy screamed. "When did that happen?!"
"When Caesar knocked us all out," Robin said calmly. "Don't you remember what happened?"
"Oh, right! That dingdong did something to me!" Luffy shouted as he struggled against his chains. He whipped his eyes to his right and saw Tashigi and Smoker was with them as well. "Huh?! Oh, you're here, too, Smokey?! Did Caesar capture you two as well?"
"Clearly!" Smoker-Tashigi hissed. "You're just as dumb as ever, Straw Hat!"
Tashigi-Smoker shifted against the chains that bound her borrowed devil fruit body.
Law noticed her struggle. He said, "Why are you wasting energy like that? That's sea prism stone chains. You're a devil fruit user now. You can't get free."
"Wait a second! Where's Neo?! Why isn't she here?! Where is she?!" Luffy asked. He whipped his eyes around their cell but didn't see her anywhere. He shot his eyes to Law. "Where is she, Tra?!"
Law's hat fell over his eyes as a dark aura surrounded his body. Luffy's voice faded from his ears as he locked his mind onto Neo and tried not to think about what Vergo and Caesar were going to do to her.
…
Caesar laughed to himself as he laid Neo down on the exam table. He rubbed his hands together while speaking to himself. "Finally! After all these months, I'll be able to see what this creature really is!"
Laughing again, Caesar flew over to his scientific and medical supplies. He pulled a heart monitor and a brain monitor over to her. Unzipping the top of her coat, he stuck the patches onto her chest, reaching under the neck of her shirt to do it, and then placed a patch on each of her temple. He then rolled up the sleeve on her left arm. Grabbing a needle, he stuck it into her arm. His eyes began to shine brightly as he watched her red blood fill up the syringe body. He pulled it out and held it up to the light. "Finally! Finally! Finally! FINALLY! All of her secrets will be mine!"
"You mean, all of her secrets will be Doflamingo's," Vergo said as he entered the lab. His hands were behind his back as he walked up to the scientist. "The young master wants her to come with us when we return to Dressrosa."
"Yes, of course," Caesar said. Placing the needle down he picked up a pair of scissors. He snipped off one of her fingernails then a lock of her hair.
"What are you doing?" Vergo asked.
"Getting as many DNA samples as I possible can!" Caesar replied with a ton of giddy vibrating through his voice. "I've waited for months to extract her DNA! This is the only chance I've been able to get it! You have no idea how sickeningly close she and that bratty warlord are! I've spent months doing nothing but watching them suck face! It was horrible!"
"So this is her, huh?" Vergo asked. He looked down at Neo's face. "This is the woman Law married and has the navy in such a tizzy? She's just a child."
"Interesting, isn't she?" Caesar asked while he checked on the machines monitoring her brain waves and heart rate. He then turned back to her and ran his fingertip down her smooth cheek. "She has such an inhuman feel about her. I wonder if I slit her open if her crystals would appear inside of her."
"I can see that now," Vergo replied. "At first I thought that all those reports about her were just ridiculous drivel. But then I remembered another subordinate of Dofy's. She had the exact same inhuman feel about her."
"Seriously?!" Caesar snapped. "There's another one who feels just like this one?! Why didn't I know about this?! I could have had my answers all along!"
"It doesn't matter," Vergo said, purposefully ignoring the rants of the scientist. "You are not going to cut her open. Dofy, wants her in pristine condition when I deliver her to him."
"Pristine condition?" Caesar raised a skeptical eyebrow at the man. "I know you better than that. You're going to torture her in front of Law."
A smirk tugged at the corner of Vergo's lips.
Caesar frowned. "You are a sick man, Vergo."
Neo groaned and tilted her head to the side. Every single part of her body ached as if she had been run over by a large herd of elephants. Her eyelids parted to blurry vision. She licked her dry lips.
"Ah, she awakens," Caesar said just as Neo opened her eyes fully.
Neo shifted. The chains on her body bit into her coat. Her anxiety shot up when she realized she was bound by chains and being eyed by Caesar and Vergo. She had been cornered. Her mind flashed back to her past and to the time she woke up for the first time on Law's ship as a familiar, yet startling beeping filled her ears. 'Law!'
'I'm here.'
'What happened?! Where am I?! Caesar and Vergo are here! Why does my body hurt so much?! What did Vergo do to you?!'
'Shh. It'll be all right, love. I know they're with you. I figured they would be when I woke up and you weren't beside me. We were fighting. Vergo got in some hits on me. That's why your body hurts.'
'Law! I'm chained up! I'm trapped! What do I do?! My crystals want to come out! I'm trying so hard not to let them! I'm in sea prism stone chains!' Tears gathered at the corner of her eyes. She flinched when Vergo leaned in closer to her. "Stay away from me!" When Neo tried to scoot away from him, Vergo grabbed her arm and jerked her back to him. She tried to scream and pull away from him, but her head spun and her magic took a sharp dip before coming back. "No! Don't t-touch me! Get…away…"
"Shut up," Vergo said harshly. He squeezed his hold on her arm, making her yip in pain.
'Neo!'
'Law…he's going to hurt me, isn't he?'
A long pause passed between them before Law answered. 'I'm so sorry, Neo. I messed up. I didn't even think that he would have ever showed up here. I'm so, so sorry.'
'Law, where are you? My magic keeps draining. I don't know how long I'm going to be able to keep our connection. I'm scared.'
'I know you are. It'll be all right. Just stay strong for me, okay? Don't give them anything they want. Can you do that for me? Can you fight?'
'I don't know. I'll try. I'm being held by sea prism stone shackles though. I don't know what Vergo is going to do either. Caesar has me hooked up to some machines. And I think he took blood. My arm hurts.'
'I know. I felt that. It doesn't matter. He won't be able to find out anything from your DNA. Vergo is the one you need to be concerned about. Just focus on him. I really don't want you to fight against him with your magic not working correctly, but if you get the chance to escape, then do it. Let loose on him and get away.'
'I'll try if I can. But my magic is about out. I don't think I'll be able to escape even if I try.'
'Then use your best judgment. If you think you can escape, then do it. If you think you're better off not fighting, then don't fight.'
'Okay, Law. I'm calming down now. Are the others with you? Caesar knocked them out as well.'
'Yeah. They're here. They're worried about you, especially Straw Hat. We're all bound by sea prism stone chains and in a cage. Well, my chains are normal ones. We got lucky there. But I still can't come and help you since it would reveal the truth.'
Neo mentally chuckled at him through their bond when he hissed Straw Hat with an ocean size amount of jealousy in the words. 'Leave it up to you to be jealous at a time like this.'
'I can't help it. You're mine.'
"I've heard a lot about you, Trafalgar Neo," Vergo said. He squeezed her arm again, pulling her attention from Law. She grit her teeth at the pain and refused to make any sound this time while his fingers dug through the thick fabric of her coat and into her skin. "What are you? You're clearly not human. And I know those sea prism stone shackles don't work on you. Why go through this charade? What exactly are you trying to hide?"
'Neo!'
'I'm fine, Law. He's just digging his fingers into my arm. I can handle that.' Neo stared up at the ceiling. She focused on it instead of the pain shooting through her arm. 'There's nothing he can do to me that will make me talk. He can't inflict anything worse than those people from my past already have. I'm strong now. I won't cave to him.'
'That's my girl. Keep telling yourself that. And don't worry if you lose control over your magic and can't speak to me. I'll always be right beside you. I'm not very far from you. We'll be reunited soon. Vergo won't do much harm to you since Doflamingo wants to see you. And I'm their real target anyway. They'll only try and use you to get to me.'
'Okay. I think it might be best if I don't try and fight him. I can conserve what little of my magic I'm regaining and save if for when I really need it. If they bring me to you, I might be able to free you all. We'll have a better chance of escaping that way.'
'That would be the best plan of action. All right. Do your best to get him to bring you to me. We'll figure out the rest from there. I'll see you soon.'
'Right.' Neo closed her eyes. She kept herself open to Law, but tried to conserve as much magic as she possible could.
"Well, if you're not going to just willingly answer me," Vergo said. He jerked her off the table, pulling and snapping some of the wires that were attached to her. The beeping from the heart monitor flat lined from the disconnection.
"Vergo!" Caesar hissed. "I wasn't done with her! And you broke my equipment!"
"We don't have time for your ridiculous experiments. Once we're back in Dressrosa you can play with her all you want. Right now, I want answers from her. Unlock her chains," Vergo said. He shoved Neo towards Caesar.
Neo swallowed a growl when she was shoved. She bit her bottom lip and took in a deep breath. She flinched when Caesar moved closer to her and reached for her chains. She took a deep breath and slowly let it out. Okay. This is it.
"Fight me," Vergo stated plainly as Caesar unlocked her chains.
Neo raised her eyes to him. Behind her Caesar chuckled softly before saying, "Yes, fight him. I'd like to see how your body reacts after being poisoned by me. You were clearly having trouble fighting before. I don't believe you were close enough to feel the effects of my gas. At least, not when your trouble first started. But let's see what you can do now."
Neo swallowed hard when the chain dropped from her body. She jumped when they clanked against the floor. She looked down at them, without thinking, and then quickly pulled her eyes back up to Vergo. But she wasn't quick enough. The second she had her eyes back up, Vergo's fist slammed into her stomach. She gasped. Her body fell forward.
"You should know to never take your eyes off your enemy," Vergo said as Neo slumped over his fist. "Didn't Law teach you that?"
Vergo grabbed a handful of her hair. He jerked her back and kicked his shin across her shoulders, sending her flying back against the wall.
Neo felt all the air being forced out of her lungs when her back hit the solid surface. She closed her eyes as she slid down the wall. She could feel Law's anger burning through their bond. But he didn't say anything to her. She knew he didn't want to distract her. He just wrapped his presence around her as much as he could until her magic faded away from them, plunging them both into a magicless darkness. Just great. My magic failed again. What is happening to me? Is this because of Caesar's gas?
Caesar smiled as he watched her collide with the wall several feet across the room then slid down it until she was on the floor. He laughed. "Not bad. You never fail to impress, Vergo. You're so ruthless. She's quite a bit smaller than you are."
"Her small size does not matter," Vergo replied. He cranked his head to his left, cracking his neck a couple times. "The young master wants to know all of her secrets, just as you do. And it has been made very clear that her power, or whatever it is, increases when her beloved crew is in danger. Besides, that wasn't even half of my punching strength."
"I suppose that is somewhat true. She does seem to become more powerful when someone she loves is in danger," Caesar said as he inspected Neo from her spot on the floor. "But here and now, she's the one who's in danger. Perhaps we should take her to Law. I think you should be attacking him instead. That would put him in danger and release her fury. After all, you have Law's heart. The fight would be easy. You've already captured him."
Neo twitched. She raised her eyes to Caesar and glared. At least I don't have to do much of anything to get them to take me to Law.
"What's the matter, Neo? Haven't you figured that out just yet? Law hasn't come to save you yet," Caesar said. "And that's because he can't! He's trap! He's trapped like the little rat he is! He's in sea prism stone chain too! He can't come save you this time even if he wants to!"
You have no idea how big of an idiot you are, Caesar. Law isn't coming because he's pretending he's chained up with sea prism stone. But just wait until he gets free. You both are going to regret touching me. I can handle you two just fine. I might not be able to beat you, but I won't lose either! Holding her head high, she said, "I want to see him."
"You're in no position to make demands," Vergo said. He swung his right fist at her, clipping her right on the jaw.
She went flying again. She hit the floor, bounced once, and then rolled to a stop. Her vision and head spun like crazy. Her stomach flipped a couple times as she pushed up on her forearms. She touched her now sore jaw. There's no way he actually hits that softly. He should have broken my jaw just now. He's only toying with me. He is holding back.
Vergo walked up to her. She gritted her teeth when he pulled his right foot back and began to swing it towards her. He suddenly stopped when Monet entered into the room. She said, "Master, Vergo, the others are awake now."
"Ah, good," Vergo said as he set his foot back down on the floor. "This will be better with Law watching."
Neo gritted her teeth and glared up at the man hovering over her. Her heart pounded in her chest and her head. At least I'll be back with Law soon.
"All well," Caesar said. He smiled at Neo. "It was fun while it lasted. But I have to go pick up the children now. Be sure not to torture her too much before I get back."
"Then you better hurry," Vergo said as he walked over and grabbed the chains off the floor just as one of Caesar's men came in with a smaller piece of chain. The man handed it to Vergo then left the room. Vergo then turned back to Neo, pulled her to her feet, and chained her back up, adding another chain that served as a leash for him. He jerked her along as they left the room.
Neo pressed her lips together when vomit rose into her throat. She swallowed it back down. There was no way she couldn't let herself to be sick right now. It was a bit of a surprise that she hadn't thrown up yet. Her vision was still swaying a bit thanks to the hits Vergo gave her. She pushed it aside. For now all she was concerned about was getting back to Law.
…
Author's Notes: Combining Neo into these parts of One Piece is harder than I thought it was going to be. Sorry if it's bad.
inazumame1997: She has her moments, doesn't she? :3
PuddyKatz: Ahem. :3 Hee hee
deideitk: Glad ya like it.
Drawkill Vear: I'm so sorry! ^.^' I'm not doing them on purpose.
rondinaashraf: Sorry. Those cliffhangers. I'm hoping to have Darkness up within th next 12-24 hours.
Apple Bloom: I think it might be. :3
KittyCCCC: We'll see soon what's happening. :3
