She'd gone back on her word. Yes. She had undoubtedly gone back on that promise they made. Law pivoted, marching back once again onto the same trail he'd paced for what felt like the past eternity. That could be the only option couldn't it? Why else wouldn't she have shown up already? Part of him just wanted to say fuck it and leave Sabaody already before he lost even more of his crew. The place was becoming a damn warzone. Like hell he wanted to stay for too long.
Hang on, what if she was dead? That might be another possibility he had to consider…
"I… Wait…"
His ears pricked up. So. Turns out she wasn't dying in a ditch somewhere. He couldn't decide whether that was a good thing or not. Or whether he was at all happy about it.
"I… I…" The sweat pouring down Strauss's face was intense, far more intense than he had ever seen on her before. "I'm… Don't leave yet…"
She must have ran, no, flat out sprinted to create a flush that powerful. Surprising, given the hour long radio silence she'd given him. That thought was enough to snap him out of whatever strange sort of sentimentality that was beginning to sweep over him and return his rage in full force.
"Where were you? And why the hell didn't you contact me sooner!"
The girl before him huffed, holding a hand in surrender as she doubled over to regain her breath. "I'm… I'm sorry okay…"
"Do you think a 'sorry' is going to cut it?" Law crossed his arms over his chest. "I gave you a transponder snail for a reason, Strauss-ya. So use it for crying out loud! I'm your Captain!"
God… Maybe his judgment had been wrong about this one. She had seemed to be so calm and competent in the bar, a perfect fit for his crew if he had ever seen one, but he was beginning to have second thoughts.
"Yeah." Her shoulders tensed. Almost imperceptibly, but they tensed. He could tell. "Yeah you're right. I made a mistake. Feel free to discipline me as you'd like."
Wait.
Such a sudden flux in emotions could only mean one thing and one thing only. Something that he had honestly been dreading ever since he'd clapped eyes on that wretched straw hat in that wretched auction house.
"You saw him. Didn't you."
All at once her body slacked. As if she had realised there was nothing left to hide anymore.
"Yeah. I did."
He resisted the urge to scream and run a hand down his face. Of course! Of course she fucking saw him! This was just his lucky day wasn't it?!
But… hang on. If the two had met each other, then… Law's brow furrowed. Yes. If that had been the case there was something very, very wrong here. He had to ask. He really didn't want to, and his better judgment screamed to just accept the situation and move on, but he had to ask.
"Why didn't you go with him then?"
Strauss straightened and fixed him with a somewhat confused look. He held the gaze, in a strange mix of both curiosity and… satisfaction? Yes, satisfaction, that was it. Law felt his lips curl.
"Because we made a deal obviously."
Turned out he had been bang on the money with this one.
.
"ROOM!"
Strauss rolled out her shoulders as the sphere puffed up to encompass the wider area. She wasn't exactly sure when the fighting would start, Law tended to be a little spontaneous on that front, but she absolutely wanted to make sure she was prepared for it when it did. Things could get ugly otherwise.
Combat for her had changed very little over the years. Still using her flexibility and precision to wear down the enemies and strike at their weaknesses and whatever. But the changes that had occurred were…
Her fingers cracked, flexing experimentally.
...well they weren't small. She could say that at least.
"Those fools…" Law hissed, suddenly a few feet in front of her instead of standing by the door. "They just had to go and bring trouble!" An elegant finger waved through the air. "Takt."
At least she wouldn't have to do anything soon. Which was both a blessing and a curse. Since she really wanted to go out there and get her hands dirty.
She'd punched someone already though. She'd punched Sanji. Some welcome that was, after almost 3 years of meeting each ot-
Nope! That was gonna end right there!
Juuust keep on moving. Yup. Keep on moving. Strauss hummed to herself, stepping forwards out of the doorway and into the crisp air. The cold would be a good distraction. As she did so her head tilted up towards the spectacle above her. She had seen it time and time again, but watching warships 'magically' levitate themselves into the air never got old.
"I… It's impossible! Impossible!"
Especially as the crew of said warships realised what was happening.
"N… no way…" Tashigi took a shaky step back.
A single piece of ash dropped from the end of Smoker's cigar as he turned, eyes widening at the sight behind him.
"THE WARSHIP IS IN THE AIR ALONG WITH THE BOTTOM OF THE RIVER!"
Oh excellent. They had eyes. Really now- she snorted through her nose- was it possible to be more obvious? Besides, this was the New World after all. Something like this was nothing compared to what this ocean could pull.
And Sanji was in the New World. On this island in fact. In the very building behind them. And she had punched him right in the-
SHUT UP ALREADY!
"I can't let you leave the island now." Law's eyes narrowed under the brim of his fur lined hat. "You'll have to forgive us for saying no one else was here."
"Stay back." Smoker ordered as his troops began to panic, unsheathing his jitte in one fluid motion. "You guys aren't a match for him! He'll chop off your hands and feet in an instant!"
"Strauss-ya?"
Oh thank god, finally.
"Yessir. Leave it to me." A breath of condensed air blew through her pursed lips, parting just barely to form the words that she had become so used to.
"Flurry Step."
And then she… vanished?
To the Marines she had. One moment she was there and the next all that remained was a cloud of powdered snow. There weren't even any footprints, not that they would be able to see them through this damn blizzard. It was… it was… impossible wasn't it? Only Law could teleport like that, and he hadn't even done anything. Wait… what was that damn smirk on his face fo-
"Ha-Hang on! My gun's gone!"
The rest of the Marines fumbled for their own holsters.
"Oi so's mine!"
"And mine!"
"This some sort of joke!?"
KA-SPLASH!
Strauss dusted off her hands, having successfully unloaded all 45 assorted rifles and pistols into what remained of the river with great satisfaction. After all these years, she still couldn't bring herself to like the damn things. Far too volatile. She still hadn't gotten over being shot. (And who was it who nursed you then huh? The guy you just h… oh for crying out loud why was she like this?) Pausing a moment to slap herself to her senses, another Flurry Step was all it took to return back to Law's side.
"Nicely done." He muttered, the hint of a second Room snapping shut across his fingers. She arched a brow, only for him to raise one defiantly back in return.
Oh. So that's how he was playing it, huh?
She didn't bother asking why exactly he needed another Room when the one already conjured had the diameter of an Island Whale. There was no point. It wasn't as if he'd give her a straight answer after all… if she was actually lucky enough to get one.
As long as he knew that she knew, that'd be enough for now.
Law stirred the air with a finger, mixing up the falling crates, pipes, barrels, and other debris that had been caught up in his Room and idly swiping them down to terrorise the cowering Marine grunts on the floor.
So much for the infamous G-5.
"You bastards…" Smoker barely flinched as a barrel passed clean through his right side. "What do you want? Give us back our ship."
A smirk grew over Law's face. "All right."
"R-" The rest of the Marines' eyes lit up. "REALLY?!"
"But... you can't have it as it is now." The letters on his knuckles seemed to flex in the cold air. "Since we cannot allow you to leave."
"Are you seriously trying to show off?" Strauss muttered under her breath as Law's nodachi sliced the floating warship cleanly in two.
"It'll be easier to deal with them if they are panicked."
"Uh huh…"
"You're toeing the line here, Strauss-ya. I could have you for insubordination."
"Oh yeah? Who would help you with your experiments then? Bepo? With his constant moulting?"
"You… Shut up."
Half of the massive helm thunked into the snow a few inches from Strauss's side.
"Nice rock sculpture by the way. Way better than the last one."
"Thank you."
"D… DAMMIT!" G-5 shuffled away from the newly formed ship-mountain that blocked their escape route. "We can't make it back to base without the ship!"
"The hell're you guys doin'?!" One span towards Strauss and Law. "The Warlords work for the Government don't they? You're breakin' your contract by attacking us!"
"Yeah Trafalgar! We'll report this to headquarters y'know?!"
"They'll strip ya of your title!"
Strauss jerked a thumb over her shoulder. "You still haven't noticed have you..."
They blinked, squinting their eyes enough to make out a pile of… of brightly coloured... "E… Eh?"
"Are those… transponder snails?"
"Wait! Mine's gone!"
"And mine too dammit!"
"Aw fuck not again!"
"Keep your mitts of our stuff, girly!"
Law's brow furrowed. "When did you…?"
"When I did the guns." She shrugged. "Figured it'd be useful to take them."
"I see… Good job." Straightening, he raised his voice. "Do you see now, G-5? We won't let you tell headquarters or the Government about anything that you've seen on this island."
"You damn pirates!" Vice Admiral Smoker clenched his jitte tighter in his gloved hands, a small line of smoke hissing out of the seams.
"Are you ready, Stauss-ya?"
The air felt cold inside her lungs. "As much as I'll ever be."
Before anyone could so much as blink Smoker disintegrated into a billow of white cloud. "Don't push your luck!"
CLANG!
A million things had been running through Smoker's head a few moments before. How to defeat that obnoxious Ope Ope user was one, quickly followed by what he was going to do with those damn Straw Hats once he got his hands on them.
What he did not expect… was for Law to vanish completely from sight.
Ridiculous, right? Smoker knew the bastard could teleport (or something like that, he didn't care about how), but the guy wasn't someone who ever backed down from a fight. Especially after saying something as irritating and defiant as that. Or perhaps that was all a lie. An act to try and catch everyone off guard.
His teeth gnawed into his cigars as he swerved to prepare a turn.
Wretched pira-
CLANG!
Smoker raised his jitte just in time to stop the black blur from slamming into his neck, giving a light grunt as he forced his attacker away from him. So he was right! That fake teleportation was to give him a false sense of security! He should have known! Tensing his shoulders, Smoker prepared to lunge forwards (the faster he could get rid of the bastard the better) but when he looked…
When he actually had… time to focus…
His eyes squinted.
The fuck…?
Strauss grimaced, sliding her foot behind her for balance. Fingers digging deeper and deeper into her palms with every passing second.
This was a mistake, right? Law might be a pirate, but even he wouldn't let his subordinate deal with a Vice Admiral by herself… right? It was near suicide!
Smoker risked a glance over his shoulder, to where Trafalgar was happily toying with those idiots of subordinates he had. Tashigi was trying… eh not really… to set them free, but to no avail. He'd have to have a word with her la-
"NGH!"
The blow connected with his abdomen before he had time to blink. Smoker, blinking away the haze in his head, inwardly cursed at himself. And he told his men to never get distracted away from their opponent. Idiot. It had surprised him thought though. It was a weak blow, nowhere near the standard he was used to among his peers, but still forceful enough to make him see stars.
Although…
He eyed the indigo black sheen vanish from Strauss's fingers.
That weak Haki might have something to do with it.
A second hit aimed for his elbow, too sharp and fluid for comfort. God she was fast. Too fast for her own good. Actually come to think of it, that fancy footwork of hers looked sorta similar to a technique he'd looked into a while ago. Something the Cipher Pol units used. How the hell she'd learnt that he had no idea, but damn if it wasn't annoying.
Even so, as she moved her arm backwards… His eyes widened. There! Lunching forwards he slashed out with his jitte, right where her elbow moved past her stomach. The girl hissed, dipping her torso so far back it was a miracle she was still balanced.
His jaw resisted the urge to smirk. Now that was foo-
The leg struck up out of nowhere, hooking in between the prongs of his jitte and allowing the momentum to fling the weapon out of Smoker's grip and into a nearby snow bank. Or at least to try to. He clenched the handle tight enough to regain control and instead aimed a swift blow to Strauss's stomach.
It hit.
She grunted, collapsing in on herself so fast it hurt to watch. Understandable really. With such a slim build any hit could be disastrous. But she remained upright. And she remained strong. Almost as if the pain was none existent.
He should have trusted his instincts the first time he'd met her. She would've made an excellent Marine. But this was the life she had decided to choose for herself. So she should reap the consequences.
Damn this girl!
"GYAAAA! I GOT CUUUT!"
And damn his high maintenance crew! Smoker wheeled his head around to yell back, "Stay out of that sword's reach! You guys are in my way! Just get out of the circle already!"
"Th… The circle?!"
"While you're in the circle Trafalgar created you're as good as a patient on his operating table!" A vein in his jaw tensed. This was strange. Why the hell wasn't she attacking? His guard was (seemingly) down, his attention was elsewhere… this was a perfect opportunity to attack
Nothing. Not attacking. Nor defending. She just stood there, looking at him with a stony face that he couldn't be bothered to decode. If anything, she was retreating. It was hard to tell, thanks to the heavily falling snow, but he could swear that there were footprints inching away from him.
… Smoker didn't have a good feeling about this.
But he had to warn his men. Properly at least. So he continued. "Listen up and listen good! This is Trafalgar's operating room. He's got total control over it and can manipulate anything as he pleases. He's the Surgeon of Death for a reason!"
"Thank you for that pretty speech, Vice Admiral."
Oh dammit all! Smoker's eyebrows furrowed into a fine groove. What was it now?!
Strauss tossed a small stone out her pocket, only for it to be replaced by her captain almost immediately. "It gave me enough time to take care of some unfinished business."
What the… His head flicked around to see the majority of his men in halves against the snow. Perfect halves. Tashigi remained among the survivors, trying her hardest to start piecing the strangely shaped jigsaw puzzle back together but to no avail.
The realisation hit him, so fast and hard he kicked himself for not thinking of it sooner.
Strauss hadn't been aiming to beat him. She never had. That hadn't been her, or Law's goal. The two of them had laid a trap for him, and like the idiot he was, he'd walked straight into it.
And allowed himself to be distracted while his men got sliced to bits.
"You…" With dread pooling in his stomach he noticed Tashigi, enthusiastic and overly emotional Tashigi, begin to grip her gloves tighter around her katana. "You bastard! TRAFALGAR!"
She'd lost it. Absolutely lost it. The girl always did have a way of getting far too emotionally invested in whatever people she grouped herself with. But now was not the time!
"Don't do it, Tashigi!" he bellowed as the figure sprinted past him, "Your Haki isn't strong enough!"
It was pointless. He knew that much. She was never going to listen. As much as he desperately wanted her to (dammit Tashigi!) when she got like this it was pretty much impossible to get anything through her thick skull.
Krr… ack…
The sound was… deafening. Even though it couldn't have been louder than a mite's wings. But it still managed to pierce through the ever constant blizzard that surrounded this half of the island.
Tashigi's blade spun, end over severed end, soaring through the air… and landed in a snow bank.
Smoker couldn't... For fucks sake he just had to move so why couldn't he?! Why the hell was he being forced to watch this… this joke! As his subordinate's back wavered, her legs struggling to support themselves, before… before…
"C-CAPTAIN CHAN!"
Her torso divided neatly in two.
She wasn't dead. He… he knew that, even without seeing Tashigi's severed legs stumble around aimlessly. He knew Law's methods. Some sort of doctor's oath thing stopped him from killing. So Tashigi was alive. But even then…
"How… Dishonourable…" A gloved hand thumped into the snow.
No one knew Tashigi as well as he did. No one else could even think of what sort of impact being cut would have on her. For as much as she was emotional, she had the pride to match it.
"I got sliced but… I'm still breathing! Why… Why… WHY DON'T YOU JUST KILL ME TRAFALGAR?!"
Smoker bit clean through his cigars.
Law grimaced, that asshole actually had the nerve to grimace, and slung that obnoxiously large sword over his shoulder. "You talk like a master swordsman. But let me tell you something, Marine soldier girl."
Tashigi was gritting her teeth. So harshly Smoker could see the trails of red seeping into the snowbanks.
The pirate's eyes narrowed, flitting briefly over his own battered crewmate. "The weak can't have the option of choosing how they die."
That… pirate...! Smoker lunged forwards only for a well placed jab to send him rolling backwards. He snarled at Strauss. Damn that girl.
"You can't reach me with that sword."
He was so quiet. Barely audible over the roar of the growing blizzard. It made Smoker hate the guy more. Especially as Tashigi slumped back down into the ground (although really? Lunging with half a torso? She should've known better).
Law cocked his head. "I can chop you more if you want me to."
Smoker could feel it. His blood… boiling.
That goddamn…
"D-Damn you! Stop insulting our lovely Captain-chan!"
"Captain-chan, don't worry! We'll riddle that fool with bullets!"
"Oi you idiot! Our guns are-"
"FUCK!"
...arrogant…
"Strauss-ya?"
"Yes Captain?"
"You can go now. I can handle the rest of this myself."
"B-but- !"
"I believe there is a certain group out there you should find sooner rather than later."
"I… I see. Yes sir."
...pretentious…
"Oi everyone get down! He's gonna cut everything again!"
"Is that guy invincible or something?"
"No one can stop his sword attack!"
"That ass! Captain-chan, run!"
...BASTARD!
SHING!
There were few things in the world that Smoker hated. Sure, he got irritated by a helluva lot of stuff, but he never outright hated them. This, however he hated. He hated it to the point that he had to physically stop himself from lunging at Law and clobbering him into an unrecognisable pulp. Since not only was he a goddamn pirate, he was a goddamn warlord and, to make matters even worse…
Smoker's eyes flashed, the cloud of smoke clearing enough for him to peer deeply into Law's eyes as he struggled against his jitte.
… HE HAD GODDAMNED DISRESPECTED HIS CREW!
"The Surgeon of Death... Trafalgar Law!" The last few remnants of smoke twisted forwards to rejoin Smoker's arm, his leg, his ear. "You're just a pirate."
Law grimaced, that wretched smirk falling off his face for one beautiful moment! It was at that moment when Smoker lunged.
"Quit messing with the Marines!"
This was so stupid. Strauss's nose twitched, dislodging a colony of melting snowflakes. What sort of subordinate went off and left their captain like that? Especially when he was about to go head to head with a Vice Admiral!
It wasn't that she didn't think Law would lose or anything. No he'd definitely win against Smoker. But she'd done practically nothing out there! Nothing! And it sucked!
This felt too much like slacking off for her liking.
Purupurupurupuru… Purupurupurupuru…
And now Caesar was calling her. Just great. Producing the still buzzing transponder snail, Strauss let out a small sigh. And picked up the receiver.
Ca-cha!
"What?"
"Nufufu! As rude and bitter as ever I see!"
Her nose wrinkled. Even better. "What is it Monet? I'm kinda in the middle of something right now so make it quick."
"My…" Oooh she could hear that smirk on the snow woman's face even without the snail. "And here I thought we liked each other. Oh well! But anyways, it turns out that we have an emergency on our hands!"
She always sounded so damn happy didn't she…
"I'm aware."
"Oh I thought you would. Although-" That jubilant tone abruptly shifted into something more sinister- "if that's the case… Why aren't you detaining those Marines, Stra- u- ss?"
So she was watching was she? Strauss stifled a grimace, knowing full well it'd be picked up immediately by the snail. Of course she was. Unlike Caesar, Monet actually had working brain cells.
"My Captain said he could deal with them by himself." She dipped her head against a sudden roar of wind. "You were the one who told me to obey his every word, remember."
"Hmm… I do remember saying something along those lines. So, are you away on his orders then?"
Strauss paused in her tracks.
I believe there is a certain group out there you should find sooner rather than later.
"No." She said eventually. "No he didn't. There's just… something I want to check out for myself. The Marines recorded a distress call from one of the centaurs. Thought I might as well see what's going on over there..."
Quit talking! If you babble on and on you'll only arouse suspicion, Strauss! But… her hand reached up to her chest.
Nothing.
Just a feeling.
"Is that so…" Monet hummed cheerily over the line. "In that case go right ahead! We sent Brownbeard over a short while ago but haven't heard anything since. It'd be useful to receive a few updates." The snail's grin widened. "Especially on our unexpected test subjects."
Strauss swallowed the heavy lump in her throat. "I see. I'll get on that straight away then."
"Much appreciated! I shall let the Master know where you're up to. Keep us posted!"
"Will-"
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…
"-do." She trailed off at the snoring transponder snail in front of her. Monet never waited before hanging up did she. Although, she sighed a breath of relief, at least she had somehow managed to buy her and Law time.
And the rest of the Straw Hats.
Her pace quickened, trudging towards the distant wreckage of the previous research bases. It wasn't exactly hard to guess where they were. There weren't exactly many places out here that could shelter children from the cold.
She was going to see them again huh? Properly this time, and without any prying eyes. It should be a relief but for some reason she couldn't find it in herself to feel happy about the thought.
Chances were… they wouldn't be happy to see her.
A/N
Hi there. No quirky ending shtick today I'm afraid. It has... been quite a while since I uploaded. And some of you might know this if you read my other fics (not on this site lol) but I've been hit with some really, really rough news. About three weeks ago now, my grandmother passed on. I was so so close to her, she has seen me grow up all the way until adulthood, and although it had been coming for a while it... still really hurts.
I'll be alright. Don't you worry about that. Grief is funny in that it comes and goes when you least expect it to. But yeah. The funeral is tomorrow actually (guess who's procrastinating and unhealthily running from their problems by writing fanfic!) which means I'm hoping to get some closure, but if I'm a while with the next update... you know why.
In the mean time, I just want to quickly say THANK YOU. EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU! For the people who leave reviews (I see you, each and every one of you, even the guests). For the lurkers who added this to their favourites and never say a word. And for the people who just clicked on this story because it sounded sorta interesting.
THANK YOU.
I know it's cliché and pretty much every single author has said this at one point or the other, but you guys have no idea what this support means to a creator. To know that you like and enjoy someone's work... it's so humbling. Reading all your praise and funny comments has helped me pull through the past few weeks and helped me get some strange sense of normality. I could not do it without you. So yeah. Thank you.
Please, keep on staying safe and happy. Xx