Bepo, Shachi, and Penguin all watched as Katrina suddenly bolted forward before anyone could stop her. The Heart Pirates hadn't quite realized their fellow crew mate wasn't just struggling in her fight against her opponent. Katrina dove forward, her shoulder colliding with the man on top of Nikkicha and knocking him to the ground. Penguin, having recovered from his confusion, tried helping the blonde mechanic to her feet. However, when she screamed and tried scooting away from him, Penguin became crestfallen and let his outstretched hand fall back to his side. He never thought there would be a day when Nikkicha told him to stay away from her. Penguin looked over in the direction he last remembered Katrina being only to see the young brunette embed one of her daggers into the man's abdomen before dragging the blade of her remaining dagger across the tender flesh of the man's neck, getting a spray of the man's blood all over her and yet Katrina didn't even flinch. The young pirate shivered at the sight as well as from the sound of the man choking on his own blood before silence fell over the alleyway. He had thought the brunette was nothing more than a carefree civilian who happened to be able to cook really well. Penguin had honestly thought she'd simply been caught up in the chaos that seemed to follow his captain around, but he now knew he had severely underestimated the young woman standing a few feet away with him and his comrades. If she hadn't already proven she had no ill will towards his crew he would be worried about them being tucked away in an alley far from view.
"Disgustin' fuckin' marines."
Katrina spat out venomously before wiping the blood from her daggers on the clothes of the now dead marine. It was only then that the Heart Pirates realized the man Katrina had tackled off their crew mate and killed had been a marine. The shirt to his uniform discarded on the ground by Nikkicha's feet.
"You're okay right? He didn't actually manage to…"
Katrina asked, trailing off as she slowly made her way towards the blonde. A sigh of relief escaped the brunette's lips when she saw the blonde shake her head.
"No, you tackled him off me before he could get my pants down far enough."
The mechanic answered when she finally managed to find her voice.
"I'm glad. No one should have to go through that."
Katrina said with what she hoped was a reassuring smile, speaking from recently gained experience that didn't need to be explained. Bepo had told the rest of the crew what had almost happened to Katrina back in the brothel at the hands of Jericho and that their captain had been the one to kill him.
Nikkicha stared at Katrina's offered hand for a few minutes before taking it and accepting the brunette's help in getting to her feet.
"Thanks."
She said and Katrina smiled, noticing that the girl's earlier hostility was now gone.
"Don't mention it."
Katrina told her as Penguin came up, handing Nikkicha a jacket that looked like his and Shachi's boiler suits. The brunette guessed it was a crew uniform of sorts, though now wondered why Bepo didn't wear the same colors as the others. Was it because he liked to stand out? That couldn't be right. After having met the bear herself, she knew that couldn't be the case. Perhaps it was Law then who was trying to make a statement? First mate type rights? Shaking her head and deciding it best not to try and figure out another individual's mind she didn't know, least of all someone like Trafalgar Law, Katrina watched as the blonde took the jacket with a small smile before her eyes went wide and she suddenly started freaking out. Talking so quickly it was hard to understand anything she was saying, but that only seemed to make her try that much harder to make them listen.
"What is it Nikki? Spit it out!"
Shachi said when he got fed up with their mechanic's sudden inability to speak properly.
Apparently this was what she needed to finally find her voice.
"It's captain! He was with me after Penguin and I got separated. The marines were chasing him towards Groove 1, and the marine Katrina just killed told me they planned on ambushing him near the auction house!"
Nikkichia shouted, her voice near hysterics. Silence followed her frantic words as the gathered Heart Pirates looked at one another, trying to process and decide on what their next best course of action would be.
"What are you guys doin!? Don't you want to go help your captain?"
Katrina asked, snapping them out of their hesitant states. Nikkicha, Penguin, and Shachi looked at one another for a brief moment. No words were spoken, but a silent understanding was met before they all ran out of the alleyway and started to head towards Grove 1, dodging the people milling about on the streets only one thing on their minds; getting to their captain.
Katrina growled in annoyance after having almost run into another person for about the twelfth time before she ran towards a nearby shop, being careful not to squish the flowers growing on the windowsill, jumped up onto the roof and kept running.
"Keep going! I'll take a shortcut and meet you there!"
She called down to them before taking off without waiting for their response.
Law cursed his luck as he hid in an alleyway while the marines ran past searching for him. They had somehow managed to get him from Grove 23 to Grove 2. He wasn't sure what their purpose was, but he wasn't going to stop and think on the reasonings behind marine actions, right now he had to focus on getting back to his sub and getting off this island with his crew.
Law poked his head out of the alleyway once he thought the coast was clear and checked both ways before slowly walking out into the street. He didn't even get three steps before someone called out.
"There he is!"
He looked behind him to see marines coming his way and he groaned before taking off again. He could easily fight them, had he not forgotten his nodachi aboard the sub. So, he was reduced to running away since he wasn't too pleased with the idea of hand to hand combat with so many opponents, especially since he was still starving.
The dark doctor noticed he had passed the bridge connecting Grove 2 to Grove 1 and frowned to himself. He hadn't meant to go that far into the Archipelago, but it looked like the marines weren't really giving him much of a choice.
Turning down a road, Law hoped he could slip back down a different alley when he suddenly found his path cut off by a different group of marines. The Heart Pirate captain cursed his luck once more when the marines quickly moved to surround him before he could do anything. Frowning, Law wondered if he would be better off just knocking a few of them out and returning to his sub or if he should play with them a little? They had rather rudely interrupted his visit to the island, but it was partly his fault for being who he was.
"Don't try to resist Trafalger Law, you're coming with us."
The captain of the Marines called out, stepping towards Law and the North Blue native's fingers twitched with the urge to cut into the man who dared to give him an order. The Marine captain waved his hand, giving the silent order for his men to try to get Law in Sea Prism cuffs, but Law swiftly knocked a few of them out before they could even get close enough. He boredly looked at the remaining five who paused in their pursuit of him after having seen how easily he dealt with their comrades.
"Stop standing around and get him!"
The Marine captain shouted and the Marines looked at each other before they both rushed Law at once, knowing he wouldn't be able to stop them both.
"Law, catch!"
A female voice suddenly shouted from above and both the Marine officers and Law looked up to see a brunette haired girl toss something long and black through the air towards Law. He reached up and caught it, having recognized what it was the second she threw it, the Surgeon of Death smiled before holding his empty hand out parallel to the ground and a thrumming sound soon sliced through the silence before a blue dome covered the Marines in front of him.
"Room."
Law said, voice reverberating within the dome he created, his smile turning into a smirk.
Katrina had just gotten to Grove 2 when Bepo called up to her and tossed her something. She had been confused when the polar bear had given her a sword that was way too big for her to use and was going to throw it back to him when she remembered just who the sword belonged to. Without another word she nodded her understanding to the polar bear before taking off ahead of him and the rest of the Heart Pirates that were bringing up the rear to where she knew their captain to be. She had seen the Marines move up ahead and knew without a doubt that he was there.
Katrina frowned when she ran along the rooftops and saw Law surrounded by Marines on all sides. She heard the Marine captain say something before a few Marines tried to put Law in cuffs. She laughed when she saw him knock them out without even a second thought, but stopped short when the Marine captain shouted something else and all the Marines started to charge at Law. She knew there was no way for him to be able to fight them off like he had before and jumped over to the closest building to him before calling out to him.
"Law, catch!"
She shouted before throwing the sword she'd strapped to her back to the pirate captain on the street below her. She saw him catch it and saw the smile that appeared on his face when he had his sword in hand. A shiver ran through her at the look on his face, the brunette wasn't quite sure what to make of the fact it was a pleasant shiver.
Leaning forward to see over the edge while catching her breathe, Katrina was surprised at the appearance of the blue dome that covered the area below, encasing the remaining Marines. She heard Law say something as she sat down on the edge of the rooftop she was on. Katrina couldn't help the smile that found its way onto her face as she watched the show begin.
Blue-green eyes watched in fascination with the rest of the Marines as Law's sphere engulfed a large portion of the Grove they were on, causing the Marines to pause. That was honestly where they fucked up. In a few quick, precise movements that were almost too quick for Katrina to follow, Law sliced the Marines into several different pieces without even moving from his spot.
"Shambles."
Law's voice echoed after he re-sheathed his sword, drawing Katrina's eyes back to the North Blue Native. She watched as he moved his hands in a puppetmaster-like motion and her eyes widened upon seeing different body parts belonging to the once whole Marines now floating around as if they were no heavier than a paper bag floating on the wind. As Law moved his hands, so did the body parts and Katrina realized quickly what 'Shambles' did and made a mental note to avoid getting caught in that sphere in the future.
Glancing from the screaming and panicking Marines, Katrina looked at Law's face and honestly couldn't say she was surprised to see a slight psychotic glint to his eyes. He was enjoying himself. He enjoyed playing with the Marines, that much was painfully obvious as she watched him let the blue dome fall and stood back watching as the Marines scrambled in an attempt to put themselves back together properly. The smirk on his face and amused look in his eye made Katrina almost envious of him at that moment. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been in a fight. In a good fight, one that tested her limits and made her break a sweat. The Archipelago had demanded she focus her attention elsewhere or she would have lost the thing she cherished more than her own life; her freedom.
Movement out of the corner of her eye pulled Katrina from her silent observations and mental musings. A Marine Law had robbed of his legs was crawling towards the dark doctor's exposed back. Katrina initially relaxed, certain Law was a seasoned enough pirate and more than capable of handling an already downed Marine who was just too stubborn to die. That was until the light from the steadily rising moon reflected off the blade the man was hiding in his hand. Katrina's body moved before she had even finished processing that Law hadn't noticed the man. She jumped off the roof of the building she'd been sitting on, landed in the middle of the battle field and didn't miss the way everyone stopped at her sudden appearance. She used that to her advantage and was already halfway to the Heart Pirates' Captain before her mind finally caught up with her body. She realized when a blonde haired Marine nearly took her head off that what she was doing was a stupid idea. A very stupid one, but she couldn't find it in her to stop and turn back. No, that's not right. She could stop, but the thing that kept her moving was the fact the young pirate captain had unknowingly endeared himself to her. She herself hadn't been aware of it until she looked up after pushing the now dead blonde Marine away from her to see the unseen assassin was making his move. She opened her mouth to yell for him to watch out, but it was too late. The Marine had pulled himself up enough to drive his sword through Law's stomach from the back, the blade piercing the flesh easily and emerging on the other side, making the pirate stop and stare down at the wound in shock.
"Die pirate scum!"
The Marine shouted, lifting a shaking arm to aim his gun at Law's face and moving his finger to pull the trigger, but he never got the chance. Katrina jumped over a pile of dead Marines, using their bodies as a springboard to launch herself through the air until she landed beside Law.
Grabbing the back of the once canary-yellow hoodie, Katrina yanked Law out of the way just as the gun went off. The bullet flying through the air where Law's head had been seconds before. Charging forward once she was sure Law would be okay, Katrina pulled her daggers from the sheaths on her thighs and sliced the sharpened blades through the flesh of the Marine's hands, effectively making him drop his gun as the severed hands fell to the ground at her feet. While the Marine's eyes followed his hands to the ground in terrified horror, Katrina flipped her hold on her blades before dragging them across the flesh of the Marine's arms. Blood ran down his arms in rivers from the cuts she made and at that point the Marine's fight or flight instinct must have kicked in because he suddenly attempted to scramble away from her. The lack of legs made it a rather pathetic attempt, as did the fact Katrina was now on a mission. This man wasn't getting off this Grove alive.
In just a few steps Katrina was standing before the fleeing Marine and pinned him to the ground with a knee as she knelt and mercilessly drug her blades across his throat and kicking his head in the opposite direction of his body after completely severing it. She could feel the Marine's blood spray over her body and start to trickle down her face and into other less pleasant places, but she pushed the rising rush of excitement of the fight aside as she turned her attention to a rather shocked looking Law.
"You're wounded pretty bad hun, think you'll be alright enough to help me get us out of this?"
She asked, glancing around at the remaining sixty or so Marines who warily attempted to surround them after having witnessed what just happened to their comrades.
"Only if you agree to join my crew when we do."
He said, making Katrina's eyes snap back to him. She studied him for a few minutes, wondering if the blood loss was affecting his thinking before smiling ever so slightly as she turned her attention back to the Marines.
"We'll see babe, we'll see."