Vergo
Part Three
Law sighed internally when he felt Neo escaping Vergo with no trouble at all. He almost panicked when he felt her turn away from the door, but relaxed when he remembered that Chopper was also in that room. He knew Neo, despite only having meeting the Straw Hats once before, love the little animal that pirate crew had. She wouldn't leave him behind no matter what.
Once he felt her moving farther down into the laboratory and felt her body healing through the use of her solar crystal, he turned to a more pressing matter at hand. He glared down at the two body switched soldiers. Their lives were in his hands at this very moment. And they knew far too much about Doflamingo, himself, and, more importantly, Neo. The vice admiral had come to the conclusion that Neo wasn't human. There was nothing he could do about that, but he wasn't going to confirm anything for the man either. He said to them, "White Chase, I have no obligation to save you and your subordinate, but if you two get out of this alive and ruin Vergo's reputation then that works out well for me and Neo. However, you need to forget everything that you heard about Joker, Neo and me. If you give me that, I'll give you two your lives."
Smoker glared at the pirate. But he took the man's words in and thought about them. He knew he didn't have much choice in the matter. He took a deep breath and said, "Fine. Your secrets are safe. I won't tell anyone of what I've learned on this island."
Law lifted his sword in acceptance to the man's words and sliced his and Tashigi's chains off. He then turned his back to the marines and let his hat fall over his eyes. He really didn't believe that the vice admiral would keep his mouth shut about everything he learned, especially about Neo. But, for now, he wasn't going to worry about it. He looked over to the Straw Hats when their captain suddenly shouted out again.
"I can't see anything from here! What's going on out there?!" Luffy asked as he pulled apart the chain link fence holding them in. He stuck his head out when the hole was large enough. "Yes! I'm finally free!"
"What are you doing?!" Law demanded, but not quick enough to stop Luffy from jumping out of the cage. "You idiot! You can't just do whatever you wish! Get back here!"
"Well, the links aren't made of that sea prism stone so it was easy for him to break out of here," Franky noted.
"That's just how our captain is," Robin added. "He does this every time your back is turned."
"That idiot!" Law hissed when Luffy's feet caught on the railing outside of the laboratory. The rubber man stretched out then sprung back up and screamed out again.
"Hey, Tra!" Luffy called when he landed on the rail. "How do we get inside from here?!"
"Look, pal, I want to get back to the Sunny," Franky said.
"Fine. Do what you wish," Law grumbled. "I've got to get back into the labs."
"And get to Neo," Franky said. He noticed Law flinched a bit. He smiled. Law could see the cyborg wanted to ask him questions. But knowing he wouldn't get answers to his questions, the Straw Hat pirate decided to save them for now and get back to what was most important to him. And Law was grateful for that. "Okay! I'll see you all later then! Coup de Boom!" Franky jumped out of the cage. He laughed at his flying ability and took off to their ship. "I'm coming for you, Sunny!"
"Good luck, Franky! I'm counting on you! Gak! It stinks!" Luffy called as he waved to his shipwright then choked on the nauseous fumes. He then turned and waved to Law. "Come on, Tra! Let's go! What are you waiting for?! Neo's still inside the labs! We have to go help her!"
"Room," Law said with a huff. He warped himself and the others down to Luffy. He glared at the Straw Hat captain. "Neo will be fine. She'll escape from them."
"Huh?! How?!" Luffy blinked a couple times. "She was tied up! Plus, all three of the enemies were inside that room with her! How could she possible escape on her own?!"
"She can. So there's no need to worry about her," Law replied. "She'll come to me when she can."
"Really? How will she fine you? This place is huge!" Luffy practically shrieked.
"I've already told you, Straw Hat," Law said, getting annoying at this young pirate. He was tempted to just tell him about their bond so things would be easier. But then he realized that this young man wouldn't be smart enough to understand his explanation on the bond. So he let that idea go and stuck with an easier explanation. "We've been here for months. She knows the layout of the lab well enough. And she knows what my plans are. She'll know where she can find me. In fact, I know she's already escaped from them and is helping your doctor escape as well."
"What?! She's got Chopper?!" Luffy screamed.
"Will you stop shouting?!" Law demanded. "Let's just get back inside and move on with the plan. Room." He held out his hand and formed his Room once more then warped them inside the building. "Shambles."
…
"What the heck was that?!" Caesar demanded when the fire and crystals faded away.
"Seems to have been just a diversion," Vergo replied.
"Diversion?" Caesar asked. He whipped his eyes to Vergo. "What do you mean?"
"If she wanted to escape, then all she had to do was fly right out of here after pinning us to the wall with her winds or wrapping us up in vines. But we could have easily seen what she was doing through those means," Vergo explained. "She used her fire as a distraction for some reason. There was something she wanted to get but didn't want us to see it."
Monet looked at Vergo then drew her eyes over to the opening in the wall where Chopper had been hiding.
…
"So what happened to you back there?" Chopper asked as Neo continued to fly them through the lab.
"What do you mean?" Neo looked down at him and blinked.
"When that Vergo guy squeezed Law's heart," Chopper said, causing Neo to flinch. "You were in pain too. How was that possible?"
"Oh, well…" Neo dropped her eyes from him. She didn't want to lie to him, but she couldn't tell him the truth either. She looked back up at him when he placed his hoof on her cheek.
Chopper inspected the bruises on her face with tears glistening in his eyes. He said, "You're injured. How could they do that to such a sweet person?"
"I'm all right, Chopper. You don't have to worry about me. I'm a quick healer too," Neo replied. She then hugged him until she felt his body relax in her arms.
"What's wrong, Neo?" Chopper then asked, looking at her again. "You seem upset about something. Does it have to do with Law, his heart and Vergo?"
"I'm sorry," Neo replied. She adverted her eyes from him. "Its just, well, me and Law…we're really close. So…"
"Oh, I get it!" Chopper suddenly said. "You just feel each other's pain because you're so close. Is that why you were in such pain when his heart was being squeezed?"
"I suppose that's one way that you could put it," Neo replied with a nod. She placed her eyes back on the reindeer. "It's a bit more complicated than that. But that does abou-"
"No! Let me out of here!"
Chopper and Neo looked up when screaming and banging erupted through the air. Neo was thankful for the interruption, but was quickly taking over with panic when she saw the banging and screaming was coming from Mocha. She was up on a platform where she had seen Caesar use a transportation balloon before.
"Mocha!" Neo shouted.
"One of the kids?" Chopper asked.
"Yes!" Neo nodded.
"Let's hurry then!" Chopper shouted.
Neo nodded again and picked up on her wind speed.
"Let me out of here!" Mocha cried, banging on the door again.
"Hey! Stop that!" one of Caesar's men demanded.
"If you don't stop, I'll shoot you!" another one said.
"He did not just say that!" Neo growled. Her anger flared up again. Her instincts to protect the child grew rapidly in her chest.
"Neo, put me down now!" Chopper said. "I'm going to transform!"
"Right!" Neo nodded. She lowered them closer to the floor and allowed Chopper to jump out of her arms.
"Weight Boost!" Chopper said. Neo's eyes widened slightly as she watched his little body extending into a larger one with bulging muscles and a thick fur collar. He then shouted, "Stop that! Leave her alone!"
"Who, or what, is that thing?" a man of Caesar's asked and the three turned around to see Chopper and Neo there.
"Hey! It's Lady Law!" another one said. "What's she doing here?! I thought the master had her tied up with the others!"
"Stay back, Lady Law!" the third one said. All three raised their guns to her. "We don't want to, but we will shoot you both if you come any closer to us!"
"After all these months, you three should know better than to raise a gun at me!" Neo said while summoning five of each of her crystals. The men took a few steps away from her. "And you should know better than to threaten these children around me!"
"Don't say we didn't warn you!" the third one said, summoning a little courage just before they fired on her and Chopper.
Neo remained hovering in the air as Chopper jumped to avoid the shots. She shifted her fire crystals in front of her body and melted the bullets. "Fire Crystals! Fire Flare!"
"I gotcha!" Chopper cried out as he plunged down towards the men. He slammed his fist into the floor, causing the three men to go flying and slam into the walls around them.
"Whoa! Nice punch!" Neo said, impressed.
"Thanks! It was nothing!" Chopper said while blushing. He then looked up at Mocha. "Hey, are you okay?"
Mocha glanced at Chopper. Fear filled her eyes. She screamed and turned back to pound on the door. "Ah! Monster! Help!"
"Chopper! What's wrong with her?" Neo asked as she landed beside the large reindeer.
"It must be the withdrawal symptoms," Chopper replied. "She's hallucinating."
"Hallucinating?" Neo asked, trying to remember the meaning of the word. She's heard Law and the rest of the crew use it on occasion. "That means she's seeing things that aren't there, right?"
"That's right. That's why she called me a monster even though we met a short while ago," Chopper replied, not noticing Neo's lack of clear knowledge of the word. "Calm down, please."
"No!" Mocha screamed as she continued to pound on the door.
"Mocha, please calm down," Neo said. She guided her winds over to the frightened girl. She picked her up and started rocking her. Mocha curled into herself and cried. "Easy, Mocha. It's me. It's Neo. We're not going to hurt you. You're safe with us."
"Huh? Neo?" Mocha opened her eyes. She started to look around for Neo. When her large purple eyes landing on the pirate, she became frightened again upon seeing Neo as a snake. "No! Let me go! You're not Neo! You're a monster!"
"Mocha, listen to me, I need you to keep your eyes closed. Here, I can help you," Neo said softly as she moved herself closer to the frightened child. She guided a couple earth crystals in front of her. With one of the earth crystals she formed two large leaves while with the other one she formed a couple vines of different sizes. The smallest vines she weaved through the leaves, stringing them together to make a blindfold while using the large one to make the strap for it. She then placed it around Mocha's head. The little girl then relaxed when she couldn't see the monsters anymore. Neo moved even closer, flying up, and placed her hand on Mocha's cheek, stroking it gently as she spoke softly. "You're seeing things right now. All these monsters you've been seeing aren't real. They're not going to hurt you. I'm here now. This guy with me, his name is Chopper. He's a doctor. He's going to help you. He's going to make you feel better. Right, Chopper?"
Chopper didn't reply. He just stared up at Neo and Mocha, completely entranced by Neo's voice. He felt oddly relaxed himself.
"Neo, I'm scared!" Mocha cried, but did as Neo said and kept her eyes covered with the blindfold.
"I know you are. It'll all be over soon," Neo said. "I won't let anyone hurt you anymore. Okay?"
"O-okay." Mocha nodded.
"Chopper," Neo said, turning her eyes to the reindeer.
Chopper continued to watch in awe as Neo calmed and soothed the scared child in her winds and with her words. He was so deep in a trance that he almost didn't hear her address him. He took off his bag and reached into it. He pulled out a needle with green liquid inside of it. "Oh! Right! The sedatives! This will ease your pain. This will help you. Can you hold her still, Neo?"
"Yeah." Neo nodded. "I've got her. Go ahead, Chopper."
"Right. I'll be quick," Chopper said as he jumped up onto Mocha's back. Neo adjusted her winds for him to do so. He stuck the needle into her neck and pushed in the sedative. "That's a good girl. It's done."
"Well?" Neo asked. She watched anxiously for signs of the sedative working.
"It'll take a effect any second now," Chopper said. He and Neo watched Mocha carefully.
Neo removed the blindfold from the young girl's face.
Mocha's eyes slowly fell closed. When she reopened them, they were back to normal. She blinked several times then looked at Neo. "What was I doing?"
"Mocha!" Neo squealed happily. "You're back to normal!"
"You were pounding on the door and demanding to be set free," Chopper replied.
"Oh, yeah. I was trying to get out of here," Mocha said. She looked at the door then turned back to Neo.
"Are you okay now?" Neo asked. She lowered Mocha to the floor and continued to carefully inspect her. "Does anything hurt? How do you feel?"
"I think I'm okay. Nothing feels like it's hurting. But what happened?" Mocha asked while Neo placed her hand on her cheek. "I don't remember."
"Me and my friends took you out of here earlier. You asked us to help you escape from this place," Chopper said. Mocha turned to him. "How did you even get to this point? You were with my crew when I left with Law to come here. You didn't walk all the way back here, did you?"
"We came back here in the flying gas balloon that the master picked us up with," Mocha replied. "But big brother and sister told us not to come back here."
"They were right. You shouldn't have come back here. What about the other kids? Where are they?" Chopper asked.
"Everybody's heading back to the Biscuit Room because they have more candies there," Mocha replied.
"That's just great. More drugged candies. The Biscuit Room, huh? You mentioned that place before," Chopper said, turning his eyes to Neo.
"Yeah." Neo nodded. "It's where the kids stay."
"Listen to me, Mocha, was it? You can't ever eat that candy again!" Chopper said. He turned his eyes back to the child and narrowed his eyebrows.
"What? Why?" Mocha asked.
"It's very bad for you," Chopper said before jumping off Mocha. Once back on the ground, he looked at Neo again.
Neo had dropped her eyes, and feet, to the floor in heavy consideration before looking back in the direction they had came from. She placed her hand over her heart and took a deep breath.
Though he didn't know her very well, he could easily tell she was divided on splitting up with him. "Neo, I have to get to the Biscuit Room. You should go ahead and get back with Law."
"What? What about the children?" Neo asked. She brought her eyes to Chopper.
"Don't worry about them anymore. I'll take care of them. And I'm sure Mocha here can lead me to the Biscuit Room," Chopper said. He jerked his thumb towards the girl.
"I can take him." Mocha nodded. "I know a shortcut to the Biscuit Room. We can get there before the others do."
"Chopper, are you sure?" Neo asked. "I know these kids better than you do. I can calm them down and-"
"It's okay, Neo." Chopper held up his hand to cut her off. "I know you're worried about Law. And you have a right to be. I saw your fight with that Vergo guy back in that room. I know this is going to be a very hard battle. You really should be there to help him. Though I am a bit concerned about how you're going to find him. This place is so huge."
"It is, but I know he's heading to the SAD room right now," Neo said. Her body was healed now so she banished her solar crystal before they could notice it.
"Hm? You know that? How?" Chopper asked.
"Our bond tells me." Neo shifted on her feet. "Besides, once he escaped from the cage that's where he's going anyway. That was his destination all along. He went over his plans for all of this with me several times before we even arrived on Punk Hazard."
"Oh, I see." Chopper nodded. "Of course you'd know his plans. You've been with him for a while now too, two years at least. So you can easily guess what he's next move will be. You go on then."
"Well, all right. But I'll still hang with you two for a while," Neo replied. "I'm not good with numbers and distances, but I think it will be a quicker route to the SAD room if I follow you two to the Biscuit Room then head on to Law."
"Then lets get going," Chopper said with a nod.
Neo nodded back then gathered them in her winds and took off.
…
"How much farther?" Chopper asked when Neo flew them up a fight of stairs.
"Not much farther now," Mocha said. She pointed in the direction of the Biscuit Room. "The room is just down this way!"
"Then lets keep going!" Chopper said.
Neo nodded and started to move them forward when they heard the kids coming from another hallway.
"Can I have the candy now?!" a child asked.
"We're almost to the Biscuit Room!" another child shouted.
"It's the kids!" Neo gasped. "What do we do?"
"We can't let them go beyond that door!" Chopper said. Neo flew them towards the door. He wiggled out of her winds and ran to the door. He pushed it closed. "We have to close it! Mocha! If you really want to save your friends you have to help us!"
"Okay!" Mocha placed her hands on the door after Neo lowered her to the floor.
"Hold the door, you two!" Chopper said before releasing his own hold on the door.
Neo shifted her winds again and pressed them to the doors as well while Chopper grabbed a nearby pipe. He rushed back over and slid the pipe into the door handles. Keeping her winds strong, Neo summoned an earth crystal. She created vines and wrapped it around the door handles to help give it extra security. She nodded at Chopper when he looked at her and smiled for the assistance.
"You go on now, Neo. We can handle things from this point on," Chopper said.
"All right," Neo replied in a low tone. She flew back from the door, her eyes bouncing between Chopper's and Mocha's. "Please, be careful, both of you."
"What are you doing, Mocha?!" a kid screamed. "Let us in there!"
"Open up!"
"I want to go to the Biscuit Room!"
"It'll be fine, Neo. We won't let them get to the Biscuit Room!" Chopper said, pressing his hands back to the door. "You go ahead. Law needs you more than we do."
With a deep breath, Neo nodded and consented. She turned and flew herself away from her two friends. She glanced up when the alarms when off and an emergency broadcast rang out over the entire building.
…
"This is the D building! This is the D building! This is an emergency broadcast to all buildings of the third laboratory! The member of the seven warlords, Trafalgar Law, has infiltrated the SAD manufacturer room!" the man said. "I repeat! This is the D building! This is an emergency broadcast to all buildings of the third laboratory! The member of the seven warlords, Trafalgar Law, has infiltrated the SAD manufacturer room!"
…
"That's great," Neo said with a sigh. 'I was wondering when you'd get into the SAD room.'
'I just had a bit of an issue with Straw Hat. But I'm here now. Though I'm not very happy with you coming to me. I'd rather you not fight Vergo again. Not after what he did to you last time.'
'Yeah, well deal with it, pirate boy. I'm not letting you fight Vergo alone, especially since he has our heart.'
'He's going to squeeze my heart again. And it'll affect you. How do you think that will help me?' Law frowned at the pain he was causing her through his stupid decision to let Caesar have his heart. If only he knew, if only he could have guessed that Vergo would have appeared here.
'Don't blame yourself for this, Law. You did what you knew you needed to at the time. Besides, how will this help anyone? If I stay with the others, I'll only be a burden to them since your battle will affect me. They won't know how to handle me, especially since I'm not comfortable enough for them to touch me, except for Chopper. But, he has to focus on the children not on me. And you know he'd focus more on me than the kids because of my link to nature. He's attracted to me because of that. If I'm with you, then my anger will be unleashed on Vergo. That will help me push through the physical pain and help you.'
'I noticed you used your solar crystal. I hope you were alone.'
'Uh, I wasn't.' Neo swallowed when she felt a slight touch of worry and frustration build in Law's chest. 'Don't worry. It was just Chopper. And he didn't see my solar crystal at all. I hid it underneath my coat while flying with him in my arms. I was able to keep the glow dim enough that he didn't even notice that.'
'Fine. You've made your points very clear. And you are correct.' Law relaxed and conceded to her will. Both knew she had done the right thing in using her solar crystal and in the choice that helping him would end in better results than helping the others. 'Just get here then when you can. I'm sure Vergo will be here any second since everyone knows I've entered into this room.'
'He'll probably get there before I do then. I'm not sure where he went after I escaped from him. I had to help Chopper and Mocha get closer to the Biscuit Room before I left them. I'm worried. I know they're just kids, but they're so strong and angry. I hope Chopper and Mocha…I hope all of them will be all right.'
'I know, love. They'll be fine. The Straw Hats are dependable. You see that, right?'
'I do.' Neo nodded.
'Good girl. Now focus and come to me.'
'Right!' Neo narrowed her eyebrows. She picked up her wind speed and flew faster down the halls.
…
"Understood, Young Master. I'll even bring you a picture of Law's dead body once this is over," Vergo said as he headed down the hall to the SAD room.
"You don't even have a camera," Doflamingo replied from the transponder snail.
"Oh, you're right. I don't have a camera. Guess I'll just have to bring back one of this ears then," Vergo said.
"Well, then I look forward to seeing it," Doflamingo said with a laugh.
"By the way, there is something else I've become aware of," Vergo then said. Light flashed across his sunglasses. "It's about Law's little love, Neo."
"Oh? What did you find out about her?" Doflamingo asked, his laugh cutting of instantly.
"For some reason she can feel Law's pain. I noticed this when I squeezed his heart earlier," Vergo reported. "I also assume that the pain feeling thing, whatever it is, works in reverse too."
"I see. Since you've brought up the subject of the woman," Doflamingo said. "What do you think about her?"
"I don't think, I know she's not human. All those newspaper reports are correct," Vergo said. "She was clearly holding herself back when she fought against me to escape. She was also injured, but it's clear that she and Law are hiding something. Would you like me to beat the truth out of them?"
"Well, if you would like to, I see no reason for you to not try and get the truth from them. Although, I'm not sure you'll be able to get either of them to talk," Doflamingo said. Vergo's eyebrows rose slightly when he felt something from his master. It was blood lust and anger. "After all, that other one, Ren, never would reveal a single thing to me no matter how much we tortured her. Perhaps we should let Law live, for now anyway. We could use them against each other. I want to know the truth about these two women. I want to know the truth about what Law and Neo are hiding! Bring them to me! I want them both brought to me! I really want to meet my sweet, little sister-in-law!"
"Yes, Joker," Vergo replied, obediently as his master laughed again. "Consider them captured."
…
Law lifted his eyes to the SAD machinery before him. He focused on Neo, she was getting close to the room. He then lifted up his sword and unsheathed it. His body ticked when footsteps echoed in the room. They were followed by a very unwelcomed, but expected voice of a guest.
"I feel like I've been bitten by my own dog," Vergo said with mock disappointment in his tone. "Law. This is far too much even for a disobedient and mischievous child. You always were too smart for your own good. People like that tend to always die young. It would be so easy for me to kill you by crushing your heart, but I'm not going to do that. I want to torment you as slowly as I possibly can. And wouldn't you know that I'm going to get the pleasure of torturing two people at the same time. I can't wait to see your face twisted in fear and pain when your precious love is writhing in agony. Maybe she'll come here to try and protect you. I hope she does. I'd love to see her fear and pain while you writhe on the floor in agony."
Law narrowed his eyebrows and glared at the man before him. His anger built up in his chest at the thought of how this man had already torture Neo before. One way or another, Vergo was going to pay for that. He was going to pay for touching Neo.
Vergo pulled out his bamboo staff and covered it with his haki before charging forward. He cracked Law in the chin while saying, "Let's just see how much pain you two can handle!" He jumped into the air before he slammed his fist into Law's stomach, driving the young warlord into the floor. He glanced down at the young man as he stood over Law.
…
"Ah!" Neo screamed when excruciating pain shot through her and Law's chin. She lost control over her crystals and dropped to the floor. Thankful to only have been flying a few feet off the ground, she landed on her feet but stumble forward then dropped to her knees when pain shot through their stomachs then back. Pushing herself back up, she recalled her wind crystals back to her and lifted herself back up into the air. She gritted her teeth at the pain both her and Law were taking from Vergo. She pushed through it all and forced herself to move forward to the SAD Room. She narrowed her eyebrows when the room came into her view, forcing herself not to release claps of thunder that wanted to form from her anger. She could see Vergo inside of it. She picked up the speed on her wind crystals and flew straight to it. She could hear Vergo's voice when she entered into the room.
"Get up, Law. It's far too early for you to die. Your young love isn't even here yet."
Law gritted his teeth and glared at the man hovering over him. He forced himself to keep his eyes on him so he wouldn't give any hints away that Neo was about to go on the attack. He just watched her carefully through their bond while she focused her anger on Vergo. She wrapped her winds around her right foot before slamming a kick into the man's head, sending him flying several feet away. Law could help but crack a grin then. He said, "Well, she's here now. Let's see how well you handle a force of nature."
"Force of nature, huh?" Vergo asked while picking himself up off the floor. "Interesting thing to say when she's got control ove-"
Neo flew forward and slammed her wind engulfed foot into Vergo's face. She once again sent him flying through the room. This time she followed then slammed a kick into the man's stomach before flying under him and landing another kick on his back. Following him again, she laced her fingers together and tried to land another hit on his stomach. She gasped when her wind engulfed fists landing on something harder than his stomach. Crap! I forgot he has full body armament haki!
Vergo smiled, seemingly sensed what her thought was just now. Using her momentary distraction, he grabbed a hold of her wrist. She shrieked at the unexpected contact and released a sharp crack of thunder that vibrated her own racing heart. "No! Don't touch me! Fire Flare!"
"Hm?" Vergo's eyebrows rose at her frenzy while simultaneously releasing her when she summoned her fire crystals and tried to burn his hold off of her. He watched her carefully as she put a decent amount of distance between them, just across the room from him. He landed on his feet and stared at her. "You really don't like being touched, do you?"
Neo flinched at his words.
"I thought so. You did show this kind of behavior before when I touched you. I really do wonder what could have happened to you to cause you such extreme reactions from being touched. And I assume that's only by people you don't know. I'm sure you have no problem with Law touching you. You are quite attractive for someone who looks so young," Vergo said. He glanced over at Law with a suggestive smirk that made Law boiling hot with anger. "But never mind that. It really doesn't matter. What I would like to know is why are you bothering with this charade of pretending to be a devil fruit user when it's obvious that you're not one? Come now, child. If you're going to fight me, then fight me as you really are. I don't want this fake fight with a fake devil fruit user."
'Law?'
'It maybe pointless, it pretty much already is, but keep calling out your attacks.'
'Okay.' Neo took a deep breath. Her racing heart was calming down and her body temperature went back to normal. "Element Crystals! Vine Snap!"
Vines shot out of her crystals and over to Vergo. Before they could wrap around him, Vergo squeezed Law's heart. Both Neo and Law cried out in pain and crashed to the floor. Neo growled. She shot herself over to Vergo. She wrapped her winds around her right foot and kicked out at him. When he easily saw that attack coming, she switched her moves to her water and wind crystals. "Element Crystals! Water Rush! Wind Circlets!"
"What?!" Vergo growl just before the water encased him. Neo spun ten wind circlets around the man's body while dropping both the wind and water temperature. The water began to freeze, trapping Vergo inside.
Neo flew herself away from him. She landed on the floor, huffing and puffing as the pain in their chest finally started to subside. Both Neo and Law watched the now froze statue of Vergo only for a few short seconds before the ice started to crack. Neo went back on the attack, hoping to land another hit on Vergo before the man could retaliate. "Multiple Vine Snap!"
Neo summoned twenty earth crystals and snapped out five vines from each of her crystals. Once the ice was cracked he slipped into his fastest attack. Neo's eyes widened when Vergo disappeared from her sight, her vines just missed hitting him. She could feel him moving around, but couldn't get a lock on him. She guided her winds all over the room and tried to locate him that way. She was able to detect him when her winds touched his body, but then he would quickly move again. Frustrated, Neo growled and summoned her fire crystals. Tweaking one of her defense attacks, she created firewalls and pushed them out into the room. "Fire Walls!"
"You're getting frustrated," Vergo said as he appeared by her side. He infused his right leg with his haki and kicked her right side, cracking her ribs. Neo yipped and Law grunted at the pain. Vergo pushed through his attack in an attempt to kick Neo across the room. His eyes widened slightly when Neo wrapped her vines around his leg then jerked him away from her. She snapped the vines and his back collided with the ground. Before he could move, she slammed both her wind-engulfed feet into his stomach and pinned his jacket down with large thorns. He gasped and coughed out blood.
"Fire Flare!" Neo shot a flash of fire onto Vergo's body as she lifted herself into the air. She continued to push more fire at him. The heat from the fire washing back over her and Law's skin.
Law pushed himself to his feet. He narrowed his eyebrows and tried to concentrate on Vergo's fire engulfed body. Something wasn't right. Neo pinning him down like that was far too easy. Plus, they should have smelled burnt skin by now. His eyes widened then shot up to Neo. 'Neo! I order you to drop! Now!'
Her body instantly obeyed his command. Neo released her winds and plummeted from the air just before Vergo could smash her head in with his haki engulfed fist. She fell a little too fast. When her feet hit the floor, she stumbled forward and dropped to her hands and knees.
Seeing Vergo disappear from his aerial attack and reappeared beside her. He lifted his bamboo haki embedded staff in preparation to break her back. Law shot out his hand. "Room! Shambles!"
Neo disappeared just as Vergo swung his staff down. The staff hit the floor, causing a loud clank to vibrate through the room. Vergo looked up to see Neo was now beside Law, still on the floor and panting hard from the fight and from the shock of almost getting her back broken in half. Vergo said, "Interesting. She didn't sense that I had moved from underneath her fire. And she didn't sense me moving behind her to attack. Yet, somehow, she was able to avoid getting hit by me. And the only one who could have alerted her to my presence never said a word out loud."
Law cursed under his breath. He had screwed up and given a hint to the enemy about his and Neo's bond. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.
Neo tried to stand up but paused when pain shot through their bodies. She took a quick glance at Law, he gave her a quick glance, before they both turned their eyes to Vergo who had already landed on the floor. 'Law, calm down. He can only guess at what that means.'
'Yeah. I know.'
"She's not human. You two can feel each other's pain. She's moving a lot faster now than she was during our fight before. The newspapers have said before that when she becomes angry her moves become faster and stronger, but that's not possible when a person's body is as damaged as hers was. And, if I recall correctly, she was having issues with her powers before all of that. That makes me think she's somehow an incredibly fast healer. And from what I just saw, I'm guessing you two have some ability to communicate through some kind of telepathic bond," Vergo said. He moved his hands behind his back and held them there. "And the only way that could possible be true and be done is through some form of magic. Am I correct?"
'Well, that's just great. He's figured it out far too quickly.' Neo thought to Law.
'Yeah. But he still doesn't have any confirmation about it. We can still leave him guessing.' Law thought back to her. But he still had doubt rattling around in his chest that he didn't even try to hide from her.
Neo's lips twitched into a small smile at his weak attempt of making her feeling better. 'You're sweet for trying to comfort me like this, my love. But I know that I can't keep my magic hidden forever. We're not perfect. People will eventually figure it out, especially when I engage in battle more often. You saw what happened just now. One little slip up and Vergo has it all figured out.'
'Well there's no point in worrying about it right now. We have to get through this fight first. I'll try and move his attention elsewhere. While his attention is on me, use your solar crystal to heal your body. You're not going to be able to fight him with those cracked ribs.' Law placed his hand on his ribs and rubbed them before letting his hand drop back to his side. The pain was fairly intense for him. He knew it was worse for her.
'I'm fine, Law.' Neo's body twitched in pain with each breath she wheezed through. She placed her hand on her damaged ribs and tried to stand up again. A sharp pain shot through their bodies once more. She dropped back to the floor, gritting her teeth and trying not to whimper at the pain.
'Sure you're fine. Use your solar crystal, my stubborn little princess. Since you insist on fighting Vergo, you're fighting him at full strength.'
'Fine.' Neo relented. She summoned her solar crystal underneath the back of her coat. It was a little uncomfortable to have the crystal pushed against her back by her coat, but it was way more tolerable that her ribs. And as long as she kept her back away from Vergo's sight, she should be able to keep it hidden, especially if Law drew Vergo's attention to him. 'But when I get the chance, I'm healing you as well. And I will not hear any argument on the subject. That's an order.'
'Yes, ma'am.' Law chuckled to her through their bond. It was rare for her to give him serious orders. And, despite his 'Don't tell me what to do' attitude, he really did love it when she took control over him, especially when it came to their intimacy moments. Forcing those suggestive thoughts from his mind, he focused his attention on Vergo. He said, "That some pretty big assumptions you're making about us there, Vergo. Or are you people just frustrated because your scheme is crashing down around your ears? It's important to you guys after all, isn't it? This thing?"
Both Neo and Law felt a small amount of relief when Vergo turned his attention to the warlord. But it didn't last long as Vergo grasped Law's heart and squeezed it hard. The bonded pair screamed out. Law bent backwards over the railing while Neo crashed to the floor, trying her best to keep her back away from Vergo. She felt her solar crystal increasing its magic healing ability over her body. Desperate for Vergo to not see the glow engulfing her body, she forced it to back off into a slower, steadier pulse. She could feel it resisting her will, but eventually it obeyed her.
"Watch your mouth, you runt!" Vergo hissed, squeezing harder on Law's heart.
The bonded pair screamed out again. Neo curled into a ball, once again having to fight against her solar crystal's increasing desire to heal her. She huffed and spoke through a strained bond. 'L-Law…if he keeps squeezing your heart…m-my solar crystal keeps trying to increase its magic t-to heal me. Vergo will notice the…the glow if it increases.'
'Right.' Law formed his Room and tried to call his heart back to him. "R-room! Come back to me, my heart!"
The heart warped out of Vergo's hand and landed in Law's palm. Vergo rushed forward, struck a kick to Law's body causing the warlord to fly backwards. Law and Neo grunted when his back collided with the railing then again when he collided with the floor. Law grabbed a hold of the railing and struggled to pull himself to his feet. Vergo then punched Law across the jaw twice, sending excruciating pain through the bonded pair's bodies.
Neo mentally growled to herself. With having to keep her solar crystal low, she wasn't healing fast enough. She tried increasing the magic of her solar crystal a bit. She started to heal a little faster then, but it still wasn't as fast as she wanted. She forced herself to pull her thoughts off her solar crystal and put it on Vergo and how much he was hurting Law. She focused on her next fight with him. She had to get Law's heart away from him. She knew she might not be able to actually defeat Vergo, but Law could. She gathered her anger up. A low rumble of thunder mixed in with the sounds of the machinery around them.
Huffing and bent over backwards on the railing, Law placed his thumbs against Vergo's arms. Crackles vibrated through the air then Vergo's body. "Counter Shock!"
Law huffed as he struggled to keep himself standing. He placed both arms on the railing and looked at Vergo. The man's face was covered in blood, but he was still standing. Both Neo and Law's hopes sank a little when the attack didn't do anything. Vergo then said, "I have a message from Joker. He said 'What a shame.'"
Vergo straighten up his body then turned to Neo and added, "He also said he's excited to meet his sister-in-law."
"I'm not his sister!" Neo hissed.
"You are. You married Law. And Law has been like a little brother to Joker," Vergo said. "He's really looking forward to meeting you. He also has a wedding present for you. Has Law told you about that yet? Well, I suspect you two haven't had much time to chat since you've been separated until now. But then with your obvious bond, I could be wrong."
'Wedding present? Law, what's he talking about? What could Doflamingo possible have to give us? Other than a beating that is.'
'He mentioned it earlier when I first fought him. I don't know what he's talking about either. And you're correct. Whatever Doflamingo's gift is, it's nothing good.' Law pulled his attention back to Vergo. "Whatever it is, we don't want it. I'm more concerned about how my attack didn't work on you at all. I knew exactly how to get my heart back from Caesar. I just didn't expect you to show up here, Vergo."
"That's Mr. Vergo to you!" Vergo hissed. He squeezed Law's heart.
Law bent back over the railing and screamed. Neo screamed as well. Her cracked ribs finally healed. She tapped into her anger, she summoned an earth crystal and created some cotton for Law's ears. She stuffed them into his ears, with her vines, to shield him from her next attack. Once he was secured, she threw her hand out at Vergo, she curled her fingers into a fist causing a sharp crack of thunder to sound off through the room. Once she had Vergo covering his ears from the mind rattling noise, she wrapped her winds around herself and charged at him while positioning her solar crystal just below the platform where Law was now laying on his back, she fed it's healing magic to him. Keeping her thunder clapping in the room, she repetitively punch, kicked and hit Vergo with her crystal attacks.
She went to kick Vergo again, but he dodged the attack. He retaliated with a kick of his own to her stomach that she just barely avoided with a quick push of her winds. Her eyes widened at some of the fibers that was cut off from his kick. The two then locked into an intense round of trading kicks and punches. When he attacked her, she tried engulfing him in her fire, but his haki pushed him past her attempts. She tried to pin him with her winds but it didn't work either. He moved just far too fast for her winds to hit him. A couple times he made contact with her body. Her lip split open and several bruises were forming on her arms and legs. I think… Isn't that the shave technique he's using? He's moving to fast for me to hit him effectively. I've never fought someone who uses that technique. This isn't working. He's trying to wear me down. He knows I'm not physically strong enough to stop him. And the majority of my crystal attacks aren't being very effective with how strong his haki is. I've got to figure out away to stop him. But how can I do that?
Neo twisted her body to the right. Vergo's punch clipped her left shoulder. She stumbled back from him. He followed with lightning fast reflexes. Her eyes widened when she saw him swinging his haki infused fist and hitting her in her stomach, causing her ribs to break and one of her ribs to puncture her left lung. Her heart raced with panic at the same time Law's did. She blinked and noticed she hadn't been hit. She blinked again and noticed Vergo swinging at her stomach. A feeling of déjà vu flooded through her. Her body reacted to the oncoming attack. She flew herself up with her wind crystals. Wrapping the wind around her, she flipped her body -head over heals- until her boots collided with Vergo's head. She pushed on through until his nose collided with the floor. Her heartbeat increased at the unfamiliarity of what just occurred. Her body temperature dropped and her breathing increased. 'Law! Wh-what was that?! What happened?! What did I just do?!'
'I'm not sure. You saw Vergo's attack coming before it happened. It might be possible that you've awakened observation haki.'
'What?! I can't…I don't know…I'm not…' Neo ducked just in time to avoid being hit by Vergo's punch.
'Neo, calm down. Haki won't hurt you. If this really is observation haki, and not your magic developing in a new way,' Law thought to her as he watched her easily dodging Vergo's attacks now, 'all it's doing is showing you what Vergo's next attack is going to be.'
'Th-that's all it's doing? It…it won't hurt?' Neo thought as another vision came to her. She pulled her legs up underneath her as Vergo swung his left foot at her. She retaliated by kicking her wind-engulfed feet out at his chin. Blood shot out of his mouth as his head jerked back.
'No, it won't hurt you. You're fine.'
'I'm fine. I'm fine.' Neo took a deep breath. She looked at Vergo. His head was still tilted backwards, but she knew he wasn't really hurt. With his haki it was impossible for her to do any real damage, even if she was angry with him.
"Well, isn't that interesting," Vergo said as he tilted his head back down in the correct position. "If I'm not mistaken, you've just developed observation haki. You are an interesting subject. I can see how you've become such a handful for the navy and other pirates to deal with. With them, you can easily defeat them. But, with me, you have no chance. I'm sure you are aware of that. However, there is one way you could have ended this already."
Both Neo and Law twitched. Both knew where this was going.
"And that would have been for you to have blood lust within you. If you had the desire to kill me, I would have undoubtedly been killed by you," Vergo said, nonchalantly. A smile spread across his face. "You would make a wonderful addition to Joker's family. Of course he would have to beat all these weaknesses out of you."
"Don't you dare, Vergo," Law hissed.
Ignoring Law's demand, Vergo continued, "You're far too powerful to keep holding yourself back. From what I've seen you could easily be a serious problem for the entire world. You could easily wipe out the four emperors. So why don't you?"
"I have no interest in becoming an emperor," Neo said, even though she felt like she should remain quiet. Her mind drifted back to Luminous and her royal title. She didn't even want to rule over them. She just wanted to be with Law and her family. "I don't want to rule over anything."
"Such a shame." Vergo shook his head with a smile. "But it doesn't matter. You'll get over that once we integrate you into our family."
"No!" Neo screamed. Tears stung her eyes as her anxiety and fears of being taken away from Law rose up in her mind. "I'm not going with you! I'm staying with Law!"
Law about told her to calm down, but quickly halted himself. He knew she could use this to her advantage. 'Neo, use that fear against Vergo!'
"I won't let you take me away from him!" Neo summoned more of her crystals to her. Thunder clapped both inside and outside of the laboratory. Outside of the laboratory, storm clouds gathered above the island. Thunder rumbled and lightening flashed. The wind picked up and swirled the deadly gas around, creating tornadoes of gas spinning in place. Inside the building, Neo created wind and fire tornadoes. She struggled to keep them away from Law as she held onto her fears of being taken away from him. Combining her elements -blending leaves into her wind tornadoes- she launched them at Vergo. She cut up his clothes, and some skin when she could reach it. She then launched her fire tornadoes at him.
Vergo's smile vanished when he realized he was having a difficult time of dodging her attacks now. He kept getting hit with her attacks as she pelted him with then one right after another. She clapped thunder around his ears to the point of blood leaking from them. She pounded his body with vines, trapped him in a flower trap, slammed a current of boiling water onto him, and then tried to freeze his body in place again. He broke free of the ice and started dodging her attacks again. He tried to attack her, but with her possible development of observation haki it had become impossible for him to hit her. Interesting. Her attacks have gotten even stronger than before. The fear in her eyes has increased as well. It's amazing how well she's controlling her anger and focusing it solely on me. Usually when a person gets to this level of blind rage they become unfocused and pretty much forget how to fight effectively. But she's the complete opposite. It seems her fear of losing Law is far greater than her anger over him being hurt. It's increasing her strength to what should be an impossible level. Who is this woman? What could have possibly happened to her to have such a strong attachment to Law? It's almost like they're one person instead of two separate beings. Could that even be possible? They do feel each other's pain. Could it be possible that they really are bonded to such an impossible level that they would die without each other? If she keeps this level of fury up I would actually lose this fight within just a few minutes. Well, I would lose if I didn't have Law's heart. Vergo leaped away from her. He reached into his pocket and squeezed Law's heart as hard as he could, without killing him, before Neo could stop him.
"Ah!" the pair screamed. Neo grabbed her chest and dropped to the floor. Her crystals vanished.
Vergo lightened up on his hold then squeezed it again. He smiled when Law and Neo cried out again. He squeezed it a couple more times, his mind debated on obeying Joker's orders and slightly disobeying them and killing these two right here and now. He could tell Joker that it was necessary. The man would be disappointed, but would understand that Vergo took the correct course of action. Sensing another presence in the room, he stopped squeezing the heart. He said, "What is it? Can't you see I'm in the middle of something here? What do you want, Vice Admiral Smoker?"
All three turned their eyes to the fourth person in the room. The vice admiral scanned his eyes over the scene before him, but said nothing. His eyes landed on Neo. His mind going over everything that he just saw her do to Vergo. She was far more trouble than he had first thought she was. And he had no idea what he was going to do about her once this whole issue had been settled. But, for now, that didn't matter. He had to focus on the real problem at hand. He turned his eyes to Vergo and prepared to do his part in this battle. He scoffed and said, "Never can rely on you pirates to do anything correctly. No matter. This fight is now mine. I'll handle him from this point on."
'L-Law?' Neo's bonded voice and body trembled. She kept her eyes on Vergo despite wanting to look over at Law.
'It's fine, love. You've done more than enough for now.' Law thought to her as he wrapped his presence around her, knowing she really wanted to be held by him, but knowing that wasn't possible right now. 'You just relax and heal. Vergo knows you would have beaten him if he didn't have my heart. I'm very proud of you. You've done so well in all of this.'
She rubbed the heel of her hand in her eyes when tears gathered there and nodded. That was all she could manage at the moment. She shrunk down on the floor and curled into a ball while summoning her solar crystal behind her. She released a relaxing sigh when relief came to her body through the solar crystal and settled down to watch Smoker engage in battle with Vergo after they exchanged some heated words. Soon the fight would finally be over.
…
Author's Notes: We're officially over 500,000 words! The longest story I've written so far! Ever! And geez this fight was a pain. Couldn't get it started then it wouldn't finish. And I couldn't get tapped into Neo's anger for some reason.
Ashley123654: No, Zerina won't be mentioned in this story. You're not the only one who's asked me about a cross over between the two. I might do one at some point. But it'll be a while since I'm gonna start some other Neo/Law stories soon. Plus I have no ideas on what a Neo/Zerina story could be. And, oops, I didn't mean to make their pasts so similar. ^.^'
Inazumame1997: Thanks!
Apple Bloom: No worries. Read and review when you can.
Rondinaashraf: I don't think so on the gates. That's Luffy for ya. No Franky doesn't have OH, only Luffy, Zoro and Sanji do. He's strong enough to notice Neo's difference though, all the Straw Hats are.
Avaiaal: Thanks! I did, a bit. Got an 8 pt. :3
Sarge1130: I think Vergo figured it out.
