LW: More Punk Hazard, this time Law actually does stuff!
Rubber King and Mirror Master: New World Chaos - Triple Tundra Trouble: Law, The Ironic Surgeon
Somewhere within Punk Hazard's science facility
"These pathways lead on forever" Nami grimaces, then yelps when Artemis appears beside her, not hearing the sorceress' soft footfalls over the thundering of the giant kids, Valentina at least having the excuse of being a ninja to explain scaring the crap out of her.
"We should be almost out, all scans say we're in the clear as far as the goons from before, but there are others outside… or what I think outside is" Artemis informs the navigator, who just frowns harder.
"Great, a fight the second we get out of this place, just what we need with so many kids with us" the redhead grumbles.
"So, what did you mean about not being sick anymore?" Kaya asks as there was little else they could do right now.
"Yeah, did the doctors say what you had, or why you had to stay here?" Chopper adds, still in Kung Fu Point.
"No, they just said we were deathly ill and we needed to be moved here for treatment for at least a year" one of the giant kids explained.
"A year, and they didn't tell you anything else?" Chopper hums, red flags going off in his mind as this whole situation feels wrong.
"Not a thing, but maybe my parents knew I was sick so asked the people to pick me up, doesn't explain the others though" the kid frowns.
"That's nuts, your parents really sent you away, just like that?" Kaya frets, while some of the others were equal parts annoyed as confused, things weren't adding up.
"No, I was playing outside when these guys came out of nowhere" the boy corrects "They said I had to go with them right away because of my condition, and that if I didn't it could spread to my mom and dad and they'd get just as sick. I didn't even get to say goodbye"
"Shi…damn, that's horrible" Nami grimaces "What about the rest of you?" she asks, getting variants of the same story, told they were very sick and needed to come with these weird people or else their family could get just as sick and possibly die.
"Yeah, this is the biggest setup I've ever heard" Valentina hums "If any of this had been true, there would have been no need for secrecy, and you'd have at least gotten to say goodbye, even if you couldn't hug them or whatever to avoid spreading whatever 'sickness' you supposedly have"
"It's kidnapping with extra steps" Artemis growls, the redhead thinking she saw the girl's tattoos shift out of the corner of her eye.
Eventually, the group came to a locked door, which thanks to Kung Fu Point and magical firepower they were able to get open, unfortunately wherever it was leading to, was a frozen hellscape.
"So cold. Chopper, give me your fur!" Nami whines.
"Sure thing…wait a minute I'm not a coat!" Chopper bellows "This is the only option, we best keep moving" he orders, getting less than stellar results.
"I hope Pops can handle the cold" Artemis sighs deeply as she steps onto the ice.
"He'll be fine" Carue assures her "He's stronger than a mild chill"
"DON'T GO!" the largest girl shouts "It's scary and that's where I was brought in through!"
"But that also means that it's the way out" Vivi tries to argue/ placate the giantess, but they were all scared and worried.
"Hey guys, I think I know why they're scared" Valentina grimaces as she creates a fireball in her palm, lighting the tunnel, and revealing the people in the icewalls, as well as the floor, which just adds to the stress and panic of the group.
"FUCK!"
Biscuit room
"So, the goons are saytrs, Caesar's going to die painfully, and I've run out of people to kill" Kaos sighs deeply "Let's go reunite with the others" he suggests, just as Victor blows up the door they entered through to block off any reinforcements.
"Who?" Frank asks, as Sanji is already running in the direction of 'Nami-Swan!'
"The guy who decided kids make great guineapigs for gigantification and other drug trials" the researcher hisses, before following the blond, his long legs made catching up to him much easier than it used to, with Franky, Victor, and Alvida right on his heels.
Outside, on the lake
"I really hope there are tougher foes than just that guy on this side of the island" Zoro mutters as he slices through the projectile with an almost bored, effortless slash.
"Please don't jinx us, just because we're safe from the blasts with you on the ship doesn't mean the rest of us can handle more firepower" Ussop whines, shuffling to join Robin behind the swordsman in what little space the banana boat afforded them.
"This is embarrassing, fire again!" Brownbeard growls, this time a full barrage was unleashed.
"Gum Gum Legs Balloon!" Luffy declares, the non-rubber extra legs causing him to look like he ate a balloon rather than became one, as it appeared as if only his stomach inflated, though it did the same job as before, catching and redirecting the shells, which exploded harmlessly between the Straw Hats and the centaurs.
"How did he do that!?" one of the centaurs gasped.
"A Devil fruit huh? I know what to do. Reload for another barrage!" Brownbeard commands.
"Again, I know the phrase is 'third times the charm' but come on, the previous attacks did literally nothing" Ussop argues.
"Correct, but as the saying goes, they have learned, they're aiming lower, they're not trying to hit us, just sink us" Robin observes.
"But 2 of us can't swim! And even for me and Zoro, we don't know if you even CAN swim in this hot-cold mess!" the sniper screams.
And so the centaurs unloaded upon the waters directly surrounding the banana, hoping to capsize the little vessel, but it was giving it's all to stay upright even as it was bounced around by the artificial waves.
"We need cover from the blasts, the icebergs would do nicely" Robin suggests, pointing to one of many of the outcrops filling the lake, the foursome double-timing their escape to even just get a temporary reprieve from the barrage.
Outside the Lab
The staredown between Trafalgar Law and Vice Admiral Smoker lasted a little over a minute, before being interrupted, by Tashigi of all people.
"Trafalgar, I know you're one of the Shichibukai, but we need to get past, so please step aside" Tashigi half orders, trying to at least be polite to her technical ally "There's no point trying to deny it, we already know there's more on this island besides you, not only did we pick up a distress signal, but so did the Straw Hats, meaning they're either already here, or on their way" the marine captain continues, retrieving their Black Den Den Mushi, who replayed Luffy's entire conversation with the men on Punk Hazard earlier that day "He specifically namedropped Punk Hazard and that it was cold, meaning that the signal came from this half of the island. So not only you, but several people are on this island" she finishes.
"Not only that, but you've worked with Straw Hat before, at Sabaody and when you saved him at Marineford, so it would fit that you'd be helping him now too" Smoker scowls around his cigars.
"Alright then" Law sighs "What now? I happen to know marines are very skilled at faking those distress signals, so that means nothing besides potentially tricking Straw Hat into this hellscape, so there's nothing else we have to discuss. I'll be going now" he hums as he pushes off the doorframe he'd been leaning on this entire time.
"We both know that's a lot of shit, now I want to see exactly what you've been doing here, and what's going on inside that lab given it's supposed to be shut down 4 years ago" Smoker argues.
"It's my vacation home, nothing too special, but most of the place lacks a woman's touch, only got one of those on my crew" Law retorts with a smug grin "You said it yourself, you abandoned this place 4 years ago, so why can't a pirate show up and claim it as his own?" he asks, actually kind of making a point somewhere along the line "and if you're right and Straw Hat does show up, I'll kill him myself, lay his head by your feet as a present. Now, if there's nothing else, get the fuck off my lawn"
Just before either marine could argue, screams could be heard echoing through the facility, audible even out there through the open door.
"I told you the frozen people are scary!"
"Someone get us out of here!"
"Kill it with fire! Wait they're already dead…. Fuck!"
"Hey look a door, I bet it leads to the outside!"
"All alone are you?" Smoker deadpans, as the screams are followed by a noise best compared to a herd of stampeding elephants.
CRASH!
"Whu Pow! We're free now!" Chopper announces as he stands in the snow the first of the group to reach the door…. And regrets it given he was now front and centre around a marine contingent and a Warlord "Oh…. shit"
"So cold, guess we really are on the other side of the island" Nami shivers as she is just a few steps behind him.
"WE made it!"
"We're free!"
"We're out of the building!"
"Kind of cold though"
"I just wanna see mommy and daddy again"
"Hello there boys and girls" The kids all turn around at the greeting, seeing Franky was at the head of the procession, rolling towards them on tank treeds from his knees "Introducing: Franky the Tank Dododododo! Franky the Tank he's Super awesome, Yeah!" he sings to the key of off, which the kids don't care about as he's a robot man with tank legs. Sanji, Victor, and the Samurai head were clinging to his back, while Alvida slid along the icy floor, Kaos following at a more sedate pace, alongside a visibly sluggish Shirahoshi.
Words could not describe how Smoker was feeling right now, on the one hand, he was right, Law was hiding the Straw Hats, but on the other…. He was definitely not used to the sheer What The Fuckery this crew carried with them like a dense fog.
"It's the Straw Hats, and… children?" Tashigi summarises, her brain trying to reboot after what just happened, the rest of G5 not doing much better, to be honest.
"What are we even looking at?"
"Giant Kids, a Racoon, a robot man, a ninja, a severed head, a woman with bigger curves than Captian Tashigi, a giant snake lady, and a redhead who clearly didn't know she was going to be on a Winter Island when she got dressed this morning" one of G5 list off as they all start processing what's in front of them.
"Here's my coat, don't want you catching a cold Nami my love" Sanji swoons, as he catches up to her
"Thanks Sanji, it is getting a little nippy, hopefully, we can find the Sunny and…." it was then the noticed Law staring at them from the doorway "Wait a minute! I know you, from the Slave Auction place. Are you the one who kidnapped all these kids?!" Nami asks/accuses/mostly screams.
"He's not Ceaser Clown, so I'm going to go with no" Kaos hisses the steady click of his talons drawing attention, even as his eyes are closed "Oh, that is interesting Trafalgar D. Water Law, the Warlord himself. That just makes things more complicated" he grins savagely.
"Shit, the marines are here too!" Alvida groans.
"What brute would harm a lady as beautiful as Tashigi, I'll string him up by his entrails!" Sanji blazes, unintentionally drawing attention to the Joker-esque Smile scar cutting across her left cheek from the edge of her lip.
"It's just one thing after another today" Vivi groans, pinching the bridge of her nose as Carue tries to hide behind her.
"We can take them, especially if we find Luffy, Zoro, Ussop, Brook and Mom shortly" Artemis states confidently
"Not with all these kids in the line of fire we can't!" Nami argues
"Change of plans then. Everyone back into the facility, we'll find another way out!" Sanji orders, the kids sensing the urgency in his voice all turn tail and run back into the gloom.
"All on your own huh?" Smoker deadpans, up to here with this crap today "You lied, there are other people here with you, including the Straw Hats!"
"Guess so, but that was a shock for me too" Law states flatly, a little surprised by being called out by his full name, but he buried that thought and turned back to the marines.
"Marines! Track down and apprehend the Straw Hat pirates!" Tashigi orders, both hands sliding to the hilt of her swords.
"Ay Ay Captian!"
"Hold it!" Smoker shouts a few seconds too late
"Room"
As the bubble eclipses them, they knew they were mildly to severely FUCKED!
"Those fools bring trouble wherever they go" Law mutters, Smoker not wanting to admit it, but if he was talking about the Straw Hats, he had the Vice Admiral's complete agreement, they were a crew of Chaos Gremlins "And, Tact" he calls, raising one finger, and scaring most of G5 when they see their battleship similarly rise from the sea, then flip upside down as it reaches the edge of the bubble "I lied to you for your own good, but now you know too much, and I have to deal with you" he states, deathly serious.
"We're so screwed, he lifted a battleship effortlessly, what's he gonna do to us?" one marine whimpers
Back with Luffy and company
"There they are men, fire again!" Brownbeard yells, another barrage unloaded toward the pirates "Aim for the bottom of their vessel, it won't survive a repeated assault!"
"We're not going to survive long enough to make land this way, let's just turn back and go around the island" Ussop suggests as the Banana continues to lurch.
"That would take too long, just go forward, we'll deal with these assholes when we get into range" Luffy orders anyway, to the sniper's annoyance.
"Tremble intruders as you face the wrath of Brownbeard!"
"Who?" Luffy asks confused.
"Don't play dumb with me, I was a pirate with an over 80 million berri bounty. B.R.O.W.N.B.E.A.R.D. BROWNBEARD!" the Alligator man bellows, but given their captain and 1st mate both have over 400 million, it's not as impressive to the Straw Hats as he thinks it is.
Luffy checks with his crew, getting a shrug from Zoro, a head shake from Ussop, and a 'meh' hand gesture from Robin, before responding "Sorry, we've never heard of you", which puts the giant man into a depressive spiral.
"Do I really make that little of an impression?" Brownbeard whimpers as his minions comfort him, then he snatches a cannon from one of them and aims it right for the Straw Hats "That may be, but you'll never forget the man who killed you" he shouts as he becomes the first to land a direct hit on the banana, sending it flying into the air and throwing the Straw Hats with it. The good news, was that only half of the group were Devil fruit users, so Zoro grabbed Luffy and Ussop grabbed Robin to stop the 2 from drowning. Bad news, they were on the side of the lake where everything was bitterly cold, so their time was already ticking away rapidly.
"Huh, they're still alive, but they're sitting ducks. So end this in one strike" Brownbeard orders, seeing the 4 bobbing in the icy water.
To make matters worse, the pirates learned there were sharks in the water, and one of them managed to latch onto Zoro, luckily after he'd shoved Luffy over to Ussop to handle as he prepared for slicing, but it just added to the reasons they were in deep trouble. It would take a miracle to get out of this.
Said miracle, initially took the form of an icy chill in the air, damaging the mechanism of the cannons and causing them to backfire on the centaurs, taking out all but Brownbeard himself.
"My men, what just happened?" the alligator centaur wonders aloud.
"Colder than a blizzard, the chill of Hel itself, cuts like an icy blade" Brook states as he steps out of the frozen mist, Soul Solid unsheathed and ready for battle.
"Dam you freak, what is this?" Brownbeard growls.
"Yohohoho. By the way, I just froze your gun barrels, so I'd advise against firing anytime soon" Brook warns a little too late as he re-sheathes his cane sword "Unless you WANT them to explode that is, in which case go right ahead I can't stop you"
"Who the hell are you? And why the skeleton disguise"
"My name is of no consequence, it's Brook. I died once and became a skeleton, and now that I live again, my second life is devoted to the Straw Hats. They are my friends, my crewmates, and I won't let them be harmed if I can help it!" Brook declares passionately, as he prepares to do battle with the centaurs "You can call me, the Soul King!" before proceeding to make quick work of Brownbeard's minions.
"You may be fast skeleton man, but you're too slow to save your friends, they've probably been eaten by the sharks already" Brownbeard laughs as he points to where the 4 were a few minutes ago, then has a double take when he realizes, there are no pirates there, but a fair few unconscious or maybe dead sharks where they were moments ago 'Oh, shit'
"WE MADE IT!" Luffy cheers, as usual not understanding the concept of subtlety.
"Thank you for the assist Brook, that was quite the convenient timing" Robin chuckles.
"I know, what luck that running from that weird ghost would lead me to you, just in time to save you from a horrible fate" Brook nods, his tone light and playful.
"Centaurs, Dragons, Sharks. I don't care what else this island throws at us, because I'm going to cut everything in my path. You should have run big guy, cause I'm not known for mercy. Though right now I'd kill for some warmth" Zoro shivers, getting shaky nods from the other 3.
As the foursome debate amongst themselves, mostly about who to steal coats from, they were finally close enough for Brownbeard to get a good look at them, and a chill completely unrelated to the weather ran down his spine "That hat… oh no!"
"Boss?" One centaur asks
"From 2 years ago, the Supernovas, the Worst Generation. That's Fire Fist and Mirror Demon's brother! That boy, with a bounty of over 400 million, is Straw Hat Luffy!" Brownbeard shouts in panic
"GWHAAAAAAAAAAAA!" the centaurs cry, before making a break for it, only for some of them to get jumped or subdued in other ways, their coats quickly finding new owners on the body's of Robin, Zoro, Luffy, and finally Ussop.
Back outside the lab
"We should have retreated sir, that guy's been bad news from the start!"
"We're all gonna die here!"
'That was the Samurai, and the Straw Hats, I can't let them get away' Law scowls as he activates his powers once more.
Meanwhile, the straw hats and kids continue to flee deeper into the facility, unsure where they're going but anywhere without a Warlord of marines was good for them.
"Do we have any idea where we're going?" Shirahoshi whispers, having shrunk to a more normal size on the retreat, now shoulder height to the researcher.
"No, but for now, not getting arrested is the priority… that's not good" Kaos grimaces, his observation haki picking up something 'this probably won't work, but it's the best I can do'
Ŗ̴̧̠͓̗̼̣̙͚͈͕͎̙̈́̐̑͒͂̾͌͘̚͜ͅo̵̝͎͗̈́̌̔̂͂̾̿̈̆͌̌̕͝͝͝ŏ̷̢̢͔̝̼̥͍͈̘̱̠̮̲̺̋̈́̏m̷̠̝̒̓͋̓͑̽̋͐̈́̾͊͋́
The air seemed to glitch for a moment, though the range clearly wasn't the best as 6 people were still affected by Law's attack.
"Shambles: Heart Shuffle"
"Oh, this is weird" Nami mutters, then starts coughing up a lung, dropping the cigarette as he does.
"I'm short and furry… which is kind of how I expected my initial Bat transformation to go" Valentina hums, then frowns "But these hands aren't made for Jutsu -_-"
"IT'S COLD! Now I understand why you humans complain so much!" Chopper shivers, then has to start pushing her hat out of her eyes.
"Pops, we got a problem" Artemis grimaces, though at least the tank treads meant he wasn't falling over from the transition.
"Ow, fuck, how do girls move with these things jiggling everywhere" Franky mutters, the redhead's J cups nearly smacking her in the face when she stumbled.
"Come on rugrats, we've not got a lot of time, did I lose my smoke during the scuffle, I was sure I had it" Sanji hums, not even breaking stride as she does.
"That's not good" Vivi summarises "Did they switch bodies or something?"
"That's what it looks like, which puts Law in the top tier of bullshit Devil fruits" Alvida grouses as the incident leads to the crew all taking a moment to assess the situation.
"So, Chopper switched with Valentina, Sanji with Nami, and Franky with Artemis. Interesting shuffle" Kaos chuckles, his head tilted curiously.
"What do you mean Pops?" Artemis asks.
"That of the 6 of you, the 2 Devil fruit users switched bodies, while the non-users swapped amongst themselves. I wonder if it means anything?"
"You mean like he can only switch people if they either both have, or don't have Devil fruits?" Shirahoshi suggests.
"Probably not that simple, Chopper and Valentina have completely different fruits, he had a Zoan and she a Paramecia" Vivi argues.
"So Chopper should have swapped with Carue, or Val with Victor, it would keep to the gender swap side effect of this situation?" Kaya muses.
"Hey Sanji, why did you have such a lack of a reaction to entering Nami's body, I kind of expected a pervert explosion?" Carue asks.
"Because I've carried bigger, and had more junk in the trunk" Sanji admits "I spent 2 years as a woman on Kamabaka after all, and let's say, Sora gave Robin pre-pregnancy growth a run for her money" the cook explains, using Robin as nobody could argue the archeologist had been the most stacked of the crew back then.
"While that's important, we need to worry about Franky in my body" Artemis warns.
"I didn't touch anything, even with how stupidly big these puppies are" the former cyborg whines "I know Robin would castrate me and Kaos would probably rip my heart out my ass if I did anything to his baby girl"
"While true" the sorcerer agrees "That's not what I meant. I was talking about you being a novice in the body of an archmage, meaning you have a metric fucktonne of magical power and a thimble of control. We need a suppression seal drawn up and activated pronto before he accidentally blows me, and the rest of us up"
"Chopper's gonna need the same, Kage level chakra reserves in the hands of an academy student, it's always a bad idea" Valentina agrees "Especially if he activates the Curse Seal, then we all get our heads exploded via sonic waves. So she'll need a suppression seal on her stomach, probably the 5-element seal just to be safe too, as I don't know what our conflicting affinities will do"
"I'll do that once we find somewhere actually safe to work in" Kaos agrees with a sigh, getting nods from the 2 who actually know what they're talking about and confused shrugs from Franky and Chopper.
Outside
Mostly for intimidation purposes, and maybe a little fun on his part, Law brought down all the junk that had been on the ship's deck and had it float around the 'battlefield' using the 'basically telekinesis' part of his Devil fruit's abilities.
"Listen asshole, give the ship back and stop playing around" Smoker growls around his cigars.
"Ok, fine" Law shrugs, surprising even the Vice Admiral with his response.
"For real?!" some of the G5 marines yell
"Of course, in 1 second" he smirks before with a flick of his wrist, the ship was cleaved in 2 straight down the centre. He then lets it drop, causing all but the logia to scatter, and allowing him to slice up the ship a few more times as it falls.
"We should have left when we had the chance"
"Yes, you should have" Law agrees "And now, you won't ever be leaving"
"He turned our battleship into scrap, we're stuck here with this lunatic" one of the G5 marines shouted what the rest of them were thinking.
"Warlord or not, you've crossed the line and I'm not letting you just walk away from this" Smoker states before surging forward in a plume of smoke, jite pointed out in front of him as he zeros in on the Opi Opi no mi user, who manages to dodge the strike, but even within his Room, a normal sword was worthless against a logia as Smoker just disperses from the slash "Don't let him cut you men, leave the fight to me" he orders.
"Too late" Law taunts, his slash extending much further than it should have, dicing up several of the G5 marines, and causing the rest of them to panic.
"Damn it. Get out of the circle, it's the only way to escape his power. Law's fruit makes anything within the zone of his control like a patient on an operating table, able to control everything at will, and given his epithet is the Surgeon of Death, he's very good at that" Smoker warns/scolds, before turning his attention back to the Warlord.
"Trafalgar Law!" Tashigi cries, both katana out and a visible aura flaring from her, as she rushes for the Warlord, who looks somewhere between amused, and curious.
"Tashigi stand down, your haki won't be enough to counter his power!" Smoker warns as their blades clash.
Law side steps, though his eyes widen as frost rapidly forms over Kikoku, seeing the grin on the marine Captain's face and the shimmer of something other in her eyes, he knew he needed to end this quickly.
"Bull Needles!" Tashigi hisses as she lunges, both swords prepped in perfect center mass, stabbing height.
"Shambles!" Law counters, swinging his sword and much like a certain samurai the bluenette is decapitated, before being bifurcated at the waist, all the parts falling into the snow with a soft thud 'What, are you? And how could you do that? I know where the ice and snow Devil fruits are, Kuzan and Monet, but that didn't even feel like a Devil fruit' he wonders to himself as he wills the frost off his blade, using it as a projectile to keep the rest of G5 away from his fight with Smoker.
"Fucking bitch, I can't even see what I'm fighting like this" Tashigi snarls, her head had rolled onto its side as her torso pats and gropes around in the snow for either its legs or the aforementioned head, abandoning it's swords for the moment to avoid causing actual damage to herself.
"That should keep her occupied for a little while, maybe longer given the last person I did that to is still in pieces" Law smirks as he turns from his latest victim.
"And now you're just pissing me off. I don't take kindly to you messing with my people. Most of them may be screw-ups, but compared to pirate scum like you, they might as well be Garp and Medusa, Tashigi most of all." Smoker sneers, crossing the distance in a matter of moments, his jitte clashing against Laws' blade, pushing the warlord back, even if just a little, though the main point was to draw his attention elsewhere, so Smoker could turn the rest of his body to smoke, and blind side him, managing to grab Law by the throat and slam him into the ground, pinning him as he retracts his arm to attempt to impale the warlord with his jitte.
Unfortunately, Law was able to substitute himself with some of the battleship, blocking the attack as well as freeing himself from Smoker's grasp.
"That weapon of yours, it's tipped with seastone isn't it? I could feel it on the first swing?" Law asks as the 2 clash once more, which just resulted in the area around them getting even more wrecked than it already was, sending most of G5 fleeing, as they'd been told to do previously, though some did have the forethought to grab Tashigi's parts as they fled the circle.
"I don't need to kick your ass, but if you don't get out of my way I sure will boy!" Smoker threatens, stabbing his jitte into the ground "White Blow!"
Elsewhere, on the ice side
"This was quite an inspired idea Luffy" Robin chuckles as the 5 of them rode on Brownbeard's back like some kind of carriage, the alligator centaur cowed by fear enough to give them the ride with minimal prompting from the captain.
"I mean he lives here, he'd gotta know how to move around this place better than we can" Luffy shrugs from his place on the centaur's shoulder "Speaking of, move faster, my crew could be in danger or hurt right now"
"After what you did to me and my crew, why should I make your life easier?" Brownbeard grumbles
"Because you're not dead, but we can fix that if you back sass us too much" Zoro threatens.
"Not helping!" Ussop scolds angrily.
"Zoro has a point though, he is being awfully mouthy for someone who was pissing himself not 5 minutes ago" Robin muses.
"Maybe he knows he'll find assistance at the building we're heading to… no, then he'd actually be trying to get us there rather than being a slow coach" Brook hums, then shrugs as he's got nothing.
"Actually, now that I have a minute to think… why did you steal a coat Brook, you weren't shivering, you didn't go in the water, you don't even feel the cold?" Ussop asks curiously.
"I felt left out, everyone else got an outfit change and I wanted to join in with the rest of you, fighting those centaurs for their coats was kind of fun, and don't tell me this grin doesn't look fabulous on me?" the skeleton admits, then poses giddily.
"I mean, those vertical stripes are rather sliming" the sniper admits.
"I do worry about the others surviving in this cold, we were fortunate enough to find a means to keep ourselves warm, they may not" Robin hums, now frowning deeply.
"I'm sure that big, ominous building we're heading toward has heating, after all, other people have to live there too, like the people who captured the rest of the crew" Zoro argues "Plus, if all else fails, the cook can light himself on fire, while Artemis, Valentines, and, Shimmer can all summon magical fire to at least keep them warm enough to be safe for a decent amount of time"
Deep within the facility
"What should we do Master?" one of the satyrs asks in concern and fear "Law and Smoker are having an all-out brawl right on our front doorstep.
"Law has made a nuisance of himself, he was supposed to make them leave" Caesar frowns in his gas form, disappointed at the Warlord's lack of progress at what he deemed a simple task.
"Also, the pirates took the children from the Biscuit room, they took them to the front, which was one of the reasons Smoker decided to fight rather than leave, they ran into Law, but it looks like they 're not joining in on the struggle, instead returning to the lab, most likely looking for another exit" the hazmat man continues.
"Wait! The navy saw the children? That was the LAST thing we needed to happen. They may not know the details, but even just seeing those kids will alert them that we're up to something" he snarls, his glass shattering in his gaseous tendrils "At this rate, even if we kill Smoker, the navy will just send more marines to investigate the island and us in turn"
"I thought so" a female voice purrs in amusement.
"I hope you have something useful to add Monet, I'm not here for your entertainment, especially after letting Law upgrade you as I did" Caesar scowls.
"Well, I know who our intruders are for one. Never mind Smoker, it's the Straw Hats we need to worry about" the harpy states "They cause trouble wherever they go, leaving a trail of destruction comparable to an Admiral on a bender. And now, they have the kids, and most of them are loose in the facility. I hope that one was worth it" she argues, pointing to Medusa, still unconscious from a dose of Ceaser's sleeping gas "Also, for the record, they already took out Vegapunk's Dragon, and Brownbeard's Vanguard"
"WHAT? HOW?" Caesar yelps frantically "We have them contained in this facility!"
"No, you have MOST of them contained, 4 had already left and made shore by the time your men got on the ship and gassed everyone" Monet corrects giddily "They've passed through the Burning Lands, crossed the lake, and are probably only minutes away from reaching this facility"
"That's bad, but, given the amount of destruction they cause, maybe we can spin this to our advantage, make us out to be the victims to the Straw Hat's villainy. A tough sell, but it would be worth it in the end, Shirorororororo!" the living gas cloud cackles. "And I know just the man to ensure our story is the only one people hear about, afterwards it'll just be a matter of eliminating the G5 and pinning their deaths on the Straw Hats. Call Joker, we need to get this sorted out quickly, otherwise, we could just hire Kira to take out the Vice Admiral ourselves, maybe even offer his Devil fruit as payment" Ceaser hums as his mind goes off on a tangent.
Outside the facility
"You're really getting the hang of these transformations" Vivi praises as Shirahoshi was in her 'basically' human form, shrunken down to 6ft and wearing one of Robin's skirts to hide her lower half, though like most of the crew, the mermaid was shivering in the cold, as well as slipping and sliding due to the icy ground.
"Walking, not so much" Alvida teases, getting a tail whip to the back of the head from Kaos, his talons cracking through any ice and rock as he keeps pace with the others, the tail returning to its resting place around Shirahoshi's waist.
"We've managed to get out of the facility, but now we're out in the freezing cold with all these kids and nowhere to go!" Nami frets, Sanji's body at least letting her keep to the front.
"All we can do is run and figure it out later, once we find the Sunny, or the others we can make a plan from there" Chopper suggests "Such as how to unswap out bodies, because I really don't like the cold"
"I can agree with you there, my balance is shot, I'm actually surprised I'm managed to avoid falling flat on my face yet" the former cyborg frowns "Artie, Val, Shimmer, you know what kind of magical bullshit did this to us?"
"The Devil fruit kind" Artemis deadpans "Law's fruit makes him God within his bubble, turns out body swapping is on the list of overpowered shit he can do to people in it"
"So, Psycho can swap us back then?" Sanji asks, the only person not having trouble 'piloting' their new bodies
"Not with any degree of skill, all I was able to do was glitch the Room for lack of a better term, partially out of Self-preservation and to protect the crew" Kaos answers.
"Qua? What do you mean to protect the crew?" Carue asks in confusion.
"My body is, different than most people, Chopper can attest to that, not only am I an awakened fruit user, I'm someone who ate 2 and survived. What do you think would happen if those qualities, were shoved into someone else?"
"They explode, which might kill both of you in the process" Victor responds with a shiver.
"Exactly"
CRASH
"We need to stop, we won't all make it at this rate" one of the kids worries as another falls.
"We don't even know where we're going, or where the others are" Kaya mutters, the situation starting to get to her.
"Fuck! Maybe we should have split up, some of us mind the kids in the creepy lab that was at least warm, and the rest go hunt for Sunny, and/or the others" Valentina groans.
Just outside the bubble
"You alright Captain, got your parts fitting together right?" One of the G5 marines who was still intact asks, flinching when 2 glacial blue eyes lock onto his own.
"Other than feeling completely useless in that fight, I'm just fucking peachy!" she grumbles through gritted teeth, SSS burning in her core, completely at odds with the bone-deep chill of her other blades. She moves to stand but is held back by the other marines.
"What are you thinking, Smokie's got this, he'll clean Law's clock no problem" another G5 attempts to placate her, her unscared side twitching into a smile, as they'd unknowingly chosen the same nickname for her boss and Straw Hat did….
Straw Hat's on the island! Oh God, was she actually considering it? She knew Zoro might, especially if it meant fighting a swordsman, but the others? Could she trust a pirate not to completely destroy the island?
"I can't believe Law did this to us, I thought the Warlords were supposed to be on our side" one of her subordinates complains.
"Warlord is just a fancy title, they're all still pirates at their core. They were never our allies, it just benefited them in some way, shape, or form to suck up to the Government" she mutters bitterly.
Meanwhile, in the bubble Smoker, or more accurately the Vice Admiral with great control over his logia, was a more than adequate counter to Law's Devil fruit, as nothing he did to Smoker's body stuck as it just collapsed into smoke and reformed like nothing happened, nor did throwing large chunks of ice and battleship slow him down all that much besides whatever hand was holding his jitte, as the rest just plumed through or around the debris. On the other hand, Law had to keep substituting himself with the snow or debris to avoid the seastone-tipped weapon from striking him, knowing the moment it did this fight would be over in the Vice Admiral's favour.
"Law! What kind of secret are you hiding here, that would make fighting us look like the best option?" Smoker asks/demands as he chases he slippery Warlord "Whatever you're doing here, is exactly why you joined the 7 Warlords, isn't it? A deceptive snake, just like Blackbeard, thinking you can use us as pawns for your games. Too bad I'm not going to wait around for Straw Hat or Mirror Demon to kick your ass, cause I'm gonna do it right here, right now!" he declares as the 2 continue to clash, the island falling apart from their continued slashes. Finally, they pull apart, both combatants panting, the fight starting to take a toll on their stamina.
"I've never been a fan of a Warlord system, pirates can't be trusted no matter their words their actions will always lead to treachery" Smoker declares, which just causes Law to smirk.
"You've got that right" Law grinned impishly, before forming pillars where Smoker stood, causing the marine to reform a little closer to him, rapidly enough he wasn't able to do more than pull himself together, until it caught him fully off guard, skewering the logia and causing him to drop his weapon as his focus wavered, just as Law intended.
"Law" Smoker wheezes "There's something going on here, and you're only part of it" he states, Law's eyes widen as he didn't expect that to be noticed, that whatever was happening, it was bigger than him, his surprise giving Smoker a moment to mold his smoke and use the rest of his body to fight back the Pirate, kicking away the swordsman, while one of his arms retrieved his weapon, beginning the fight once more, this time both sides remaining on the ground, weapons locked.
"You first, what's your story Smoker, why are you here?" Law grunts as he pushes against the marine's advances, getting enough distance to pull up another pillar, stopping another Jitte strike, and giving him the opening he was looking for "To get to the truth, you have to broaden your horizons. Scalpel" he cries, and with a single strike, removes Smoker's heart, then teleports it to his hand "You can bed, but I don't have to tell you a damn thing" he states coldly, squeezing the heart just enough, to cause Smoker to pass out.
TBC
LW: And the weirdness of this arc continues, though one change to the incident is I paired up the body swaps rather than a big shuffle, just felt less messy to me.
Caesar's being shifty, but hasn't actually interacted with the Straw Hats directly yet, maybe next chapter.
Luffy and co are almost at the lab, so a reunion is in the near future, though they are still missing one member.