Polar Tang

Neo felt her heart rip down the middle. Laying on her stomach, propped up by her elbows, the light from the blast faded. She had no idea who landed the hit against the sub. She had been too focused on the fight to even noticed the sub had been targeted. But it didn't matter. The Polar Tang had been destroyed. The Polar Tang was sinking.

Neo's chest heaved up and down as she drew in short, sharp breaths. Her brain scrambled and split into multiple directions. She had to do something. But what could she do? Should she fly them away? Throw the Blackbeard pirates away from them? Should she take her crew underwater? What about the crewmembers that were in the water? She should go after them. But how could she leave the ones on the island? Would Blackbeard kill them? Or would he take Law's devil fruit and leave the rest alive? What should she do? Escape with the crew? Remove Blackbeard and his crew? Could she even move fast enough to do either of those? Would Blackbeard's darkness suck up her winds? Maybe she should call in a storm? Did she have enough magic to do that?

No. No. No! She couldn't think, couldn't decide. All she knew in her daze was the fight had going on far too long. Their energy had been drained significantly. Law was down. Defeated.

Nothing they tried worked against Blackbeard and his crew. Almost everything she threw at them was sucked up by Blackbeard then tossed right back at them. And that's what caused them to lose the fight. Blackbeard's dark dark devil fruit. The man was an absolute monster. And now that monster was standing over Law, ready for the kill.

Blackbeard's laugh halted her hyperventilation. Her ears grasped onto his words. "Without a ship ya can't even call yourselves pirates anymore! Let alone escape! The owners of the one hundred hearts ya stole to become a warlord are livin' on pirate island. I bet they'll be thrilled if I bring 'em your heart. We'll have a toast."

His taunting tethered her to back to reality. The fight might have been lost, but they were all still alive. Her eyes shifted to the ocean's surface. The crew members that were inside had to still be alive. They were strong. They would survive.

Blood leaked into Neo's eyes from a hit she took on the head. She brushed it away. Her body throbbed and ached. Her blurry vision was clearing. No doubt she had several bruised bones, probably some cracked ones. Her bottom lip was busted from an unexpected attack by Burgess. That was probably when she got hit in the head. She couldn't be sure.

Her solar crystal was doing its best to heal her, though not fast enough. She had to get her crew away from Blackbeard. But she couldn't do it alone. All she had left in her was one more attack, or defensive move with what she had in mind. Either way she had to make sure Law was taken away from Blackbeard if this failed. She glanced at Bepo. Bepo, I'm going to try and get them away from us. But, in case I can't, get Law and get away from here.

Bepo's eyes found hers. They were a mix of pain, frustration, and determination. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small yellow ball.

Neo knew it well. Bepo was impressed with what Chopper could do with the rumble ball. Back on Wano Bepo he had approached her about asking Chopper to if the rumble ball would work for him, to allow him to go sulong without the moon. Chopper wasn't sure if it would work. Neo wasn't sure she wanted Bepo to try it. She had Law speak with Chopper about the ingredients and came to the conclusion it shouldn't hurt Bepo much, if at all. So Neo allowed the mink to try it. They found it worked.

"Now what should we do with the op op fruit? Sell or use it? Don't suppose you'd fancy makin' me immortal?!"

Neo refocused on Blackbeard and her crystals. The elements reached out and touched her. Though she was low on energy and magic they would assist her.

The rumble ball crunched under Bepo's teeth. Electricity crackled in the air. His fur started to stand on its end, growing in length around his head until it looked like a fiery mane. His body grew taller, shoulders wider, claws longer. He looked feral. Drool ran down his long fangs as he charged forward, swiping at Blackbeard. "Keep your paws off the captain!"

"Huh?! Did he go sulong?!" Blackbeard's body flew backwards, the front of his clothes shredded by Bepo's claws.

"No way! There's no moon!" Burgess said.

Van Augar lifted his gun.

Neo's winds grabbed the gun, shoving the muzzle into the air where the bullet fired harmlessly into the sky. Her vision blurred. She barely caught Bepo grabbing Law and jumping into the sea.

Blackbeard laughed. "Ya think you'll get away from me that easily?"

Neo panted as she stood on her noodle legs and spoke. "No... I know we can't... get away from you. You're too powerful."

Blackbeard cocked his head. "Ya know, I'd expected someone like you to be more powerful. What happened to ya, little princess?"

Neo's eyebrow twitched. Did he not know that she was linked with Law?

"Did you forget, commodore?" Van Augar rested his rifle on his shoulder. "She's somehow connected to Trafalgar. They feel each other's pain. Each blow you dealt to Trafalgar she felt it too, and vise versa. With that little tidbit we had the advantage in this fight."

Neo's white glow surrounded her body.

"What is she doing?" Burgess asked.

"Get away from my family!" Neo's winds whipped into a fury. Blackbeard called upon his devil fruit. But it didn't matter. She created several streams of wind. One of the largest fed into his void while the rest picked up him, his crew, and his ship.

"What is going on here?! Ya stop this right now!" Blackbeard shrieked.

"I won't let you kill Law!" Neo slammed the crew down on the ship. Using her winds to make sure they didn't get up as she used the last of her energy and magic to throw the ship as far away from her family as possible. Her knees wobbled then gave out. The world turned black.

...

Neo opened her eyes to the night sky and the stars winking down at her. Her mind working through the fog clouding it in an attempt to recall what happened. Then it hit like a tidal wave. Blackbeard, the fight, Polar Tang, the crew... She gasped and sat up. "Law!"

"You're awake. I'm glad." Topaz's voice was full of relief.

Neo looked at her sister finding Topaz was holding Cora. Part of her relaxed before she looked around for the rest of her family. They were scattered over the ground, even the remains of the Polar Tang, her solar crystal's glow surrounded them all. Law and Kailen were hovering over Conner. The former's hands working furiously as the latter's crystals beamed down a green glow. "Conner!" Neo rushed over to him. His chest was split open. Her stomach lurched. "Conner!"

"Relax, Neo," Law said in a low but firm voice. "It'll be fine. Everything will be fine."

Neo knew better. Law was guarding his thoughts as he worked on Conner. He did that when the injury was bad and had a higher chance of taking a life. All they could do was wait and see if Conner could be saved. She licked her lips and looked away. She needed a distraction. She couldn't think about possibly losing a brother. Not now. "What happened after I passed out? Or before..." Her head throbbed. "...when the Polar Tang was... How did it get onto the island?"

Topaz walked over. Cora shifted in her arms before settling in to suck on his fist. "We could tell things were going pretty bad for you all fighting on the island. So we took precautions. We took some crystals the captain harvested on Luminous and formed a box for us to get inside and a sort of head pocket for the crew to wear and breath for a short time underwater. When the sub got destroyed we were able to get inside of it before the water could over take us. Once in the ocean Kailen used his crystals to have the ocean plant life to grab everything he could. He even pulled the crew into the box with us. Then, once Blackbeard and his crew were out of the picture, we surfaced and started gathering up everyone else. With the help of some whales we moved everyone to another island. We're still close to Winner Island though. So we asked some sea life to inform us if any ships come close. We're not sure if Blackbeard and his crew will come back or not."

"I see. Thank you." Neo closed her eyes with a deep breath.

"Don't thank us." Kailen's expression was grim, torn. "I wish we could have helped. Blackbeard's power is insane."

"Don't blame yourselves." Everyone looked up at Law. "We weren't prepared enough for him. It's a simple as that. No one is at fault."

"Should you even be up yet?" Neo eyed him, studied him. She could feel he was still significantly drained of energy.

"You know I'm fine," Law said.

Neo's eyes followed Law's hand as he picked up another surgical tool from a white cloth laying on the ground. "You managed to salvage some surgical tools, too?"
"I figured Law would need his surgical tools once he woke up," Kailen explained. "So, as soon as we were on the island, I gathered up what I could and disinfected it all. While Law was unconscious I did what I could to keep Conner and Basil from bleeding out. It's not my specialty, but I managed it. I might have to study with Law to help better in the future."

Law nodded. It wasn't a bad idea.

"How is Basil?" Neo eyed their second chef. He was laying on the ground a few yards away from them. His left hand was wrapped up in bandages.

"His left hand was severed. He lost quite a bit of blood, but thankfully we have a generous crew. We have plenty of blood donors." Kailen ran a hand through his hair. Even though he didn't participate in the fight he looked as exhausted as those who had fought.

Neo pressed her forehead to his shoulder. "Thank you. You did well. Don't ever doubt that."

Kailen relaxed with a nod.

Their voices fell silent so all they could hear was crickets and the ocean lapping at the island and the occasional chatter of the crew. Time blurred as Neo altered her time between watching Law and Kailen work to checking on the rest of the crew and taking care of Cora.

Finally, the surgery was done.

"I've done all I could. It's amazing he didn't lose his arm and shoulder completely," Law said as he sat down beside Neo, who remained near Conner. "Now it's up to Conner." A moment of silence passed between them. "You should fix us a shelter. I think we're going to be here for a while. The crew needs to heal."

It was only then that Neo took notice of the island they were on. It was decent size. There was a forest and animals but that was all. She couldn't feel any structures that would suggest people lived here. She was glad. She didn't feel like dealing with a bunch of strangers at the moment. All she wanted was to be with her family.

Summoning her earth crystals she willed some of the trees to grow large. Their limbs stretched and wrapped around the area where they were. Some branches twisted together then formed a roof over an opening so their camp fire smoke could be released. She then grew some flower beds so the crew didn't have to sleep on the ground, Cora was already in his.

Neo sighed. She'd make rooms for everyone later since they were staying for a while. As things were she wanted to keep everyone close. "There's a storm brewing a few miles away. It's going to be a chilly night. We should add more wood to the fire. Or start a few more. Or we should get some blankets. I could wash and dry them for the crew. They won't have to be cold."

Law slipped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her to his side. "You don't have to keep it in."

That was all it took. Tears poured down Neo's cheeks as she grabbed onto Law's shirt. Her body trembled as she kept her voice low so she didn't wake anyone who was already sleeping. "Law... It's gone. The sub... Our home is gone."

Law rubbed her back as he listened.

"I know Polar Tang was just a sub. But it's the only home I've ever known. I am so grateful the crew is alive and now safe. I really am. But it hurts."

"I know it does. It's normal. It will be fine."

Neo sniffed and brushed her tears away. "Do you think they'll come back?"

Law exhaled, his brain working over the likelihood of Blackbeard returning. "I doubt it. While we didn't win that fight we did give them a hard time."

"If they do come back, you won't fight again, right?" Neo looked up at him with tired, pleading eyes. There was no way she could handle another battle like that again so soon.

Law brushed a strain of hair from her face and kissed her. "We won't."

"Good." Neo created them a bed and half laid on his body, breathing in his scent as she let the stress from the day pull her into a deep sleep.