Author's Note: Hi everyone! Here's the second chapter of this new story of mine :) Just a reminder that I've changed the timeline up a bit so things will play out a little differently than in canon. Enjoy~
To too addicted to fiction: Aw thank you! Aren't they just adorable as kittens XD
To Smiley-Nami: Here's an update for you!
To Caelan0012: Sorry for the wait, I hope you enjoy the update :)
To Abehsi: Lol I'm so glad you enjoyed the first chapter! Thanks for giving my stories a try!
WARNINGS:
- Breed being a creep
- Animal abuse/violence
Law had been through a lot in his life. He'd survived the genocide of Flevance, his home town. Thanks to Cora-san, he'd lived to see adulthood.
And yet, somehow…his current situation was unlike anything he'd ever experienced.
True to his word, Breed got his hands on some very humiliating outfits for the two captains and was currently fastening a pink hat onto Law's head. He tried to fight, of course, but one word from the disgusting pirate and he had no choice but to go still. Across from him, Luffy was dressed in his own outfit that consisted of a fuzzy blue 'coat' and matching bow on his tail that sparkled with each irritated swish of his tail. The hood was a little too big for the formally rubber boy and fell over his ears easily.
Law, unfortunately, had the pleasure of being dressed in a hideous pink dress and matching sun hat. Because Breed liked to torture them.
"Oh, how adorable you two look~" The maniac cooed, prompting Luffy to hiss at the man. This seemed to make Breed angry as he wasted no time kicking the kitten so he slid across the floor. The attack drew a pained squeak from Luffy. "You should be grateful that I'm willing to spare these beautiful outfits for you two! Ungrateful pets."
"You alive, Straw Hat-ya?" He called, knowing full well that Breed couldn't understand what he was saying. At least he wouldn't cause himself additional punishment. The kitten shook his head and pushed himself back up onto all four paws.
"Yeah…I'm good." Law could tell that the hit caused Luffy pain based on his expression and wished he could examine him but knew such things would only further irritate Breed.
They'd been on Breed's ship for days now, enduring humiliation upon humiliation. Their cat bodies were incredibly inconvenient and made it more difficult to fight back against their captor. Even Caesar seemed worried that they'd never escape. The hairless cat was currently cowering in the corner, furless skin covered by a bright yellow onesie.
Despite his efforts, Law had yet to discern Breed's weakness. Every devil fruit had one but so far nothing seemed to break the spell of obedience. This didn't stop him from trying, of course, They had to escape before being handed over to Doflamingo or they were as good as dead. He was drawn out of his thoughts when Breed's den-den mushi rang, prompting him to put Law down on the table. He wasted no time jumping off (as gracefully as he could, given his new body) and bounding to Luffy's side.
"Man…I don't like not being rubber." Luffy muttered indignantly as he tried to lick some blood from his front paw, "…things hurt a lot more." Upon closer inspection, the kick had likely caused the kitten to scrape himself on sharp debris that littered the floor (because Breed only seemed to keep the main areas of his ship clean). Thankfully, it didn't look too bad.
Law was drawn back to reality when a deep, familiar voice began to speak from the other side of the den-den mushi.
"Were you successful?"
He instinctively arched his back and his ears fell against his head. Law knew that voice anywhere.
"Naturally~" Breed replied while smirking down at his three feline captives, "I am on my way to the rendezvous point now. Is my payment ready?"
"It is…but first I want to hear from Caesar. Is my beloved scientist unharmed?" Doflamingo's question seemed to make Breed nervous, understandably so. He'd turned the Heavenly Demon's favorite (and most important) researcher into a furless beast.
"H-He's not available at the moment. My apologies."
"…is that so." Law could tell that Doflamingo didn't seem to like Breed and that he was becoming suspicious. "I am sending Diamante to meet you along with his men for…assurance. Deliver Caesar and the mongrels to me and you will have your reward. Cross me-"
"Never! I will be there with your prizes, you have my word!"
"I hope so…for your sake."
With that, Doflamingo hung up and Breed's expression immediately soured.
"Who does that damn human think he is!? Ordering me around…trying to intimidate me. He's lucky I'm willing to help him at all!" Law and Luffy instinctively flinched when Breed swept his arm across the table, knocking everything off onto the floor. "This is why pets are superior…"
"Ne, Torao." Luffy meowed, drawing his attention from the fuming pirate, "I think that guy has a screw lose."
"You just figured that out?" Law replied with a sigh, "Yeah…he's definitely not in his right mind, which is why we need to get the hell out of here."
…but how?
Over the next few days, Law made a point to be very observant of Breed…specifically of his habits and mannerisms. H quickly learned that the man greatly valued routine and order, as evidenced by his ridiculous requirement that all his pets treat him like a god, which he certainly was not. They all had to line up and essentially escort him everywhere as well as submit to his often painful discipline. The other sea creatures Breed had captured seemed more resigned to this than Luffy and Law, but that was to be expected.
Oddly enough, one of the creatures seemed to know Luffy from a prior adventure and did his best to help them as much as he could. The dugong had even drawn an x-shaped scar on his chest in honor of Straw Hat, which Law supposed was cute, but it didn't do much to help them out of their situation especially since they were often kept separately from the others.
Law, Luffy, and Caesar all had their own cages that Breed would stuff them in at the end of each day with only a threadbare blanket for warmth.
What truly worried Law was their stamina. They were given barely enough food and water to survive and it was quickly getting difficult to gather enough energy to resist. Luffy, in particular, was very affected by the lack of nutrition and had become dangerously skinny in his small kitten form. Not only that, but Breed took sadistic pleasure in torturing Luffy for no apparent reason.
Law forced himself to watch whenever the madman would dunk his ally into freezing cold buckets of water, laughing as the tiny cat struggled to breathe.
He glanced over to Luffy at the thought, for once grateful that he could see through the darkness of the room they were forced to sleep in. The little black kitten was still shivering and looked so tiny in the too big cage. Law knew that Luffy was one tough bastard, but he wasn't in his normal (very durable) body. There was a good chance he'd already caught something from the hellhole they were trapped in…and there was no way Breed would treat him.
Caesar, unsurprisingly, was relatively unharmed.
'I'll get us out of this.' Law found himself promising as he curled up into a ball and folded one paw over the other, 'There has to be a way…'
Shockingly enough, his breakthrough happened the very next day.
As usual, Breed had taken them out of their cages and was currently fitting them with humiliating tags that attached to the green, slimy collars. Luffy hissed weakly at the man but barely had the strength to fight back anymore. His entire body was covered in bloody welts and bald patches were Breed had torn the fur out. His attempted resistance seemed to amuse their captor if his smirk was anything to go by.
"Can't fight back anymore, Straw Hat? That's good…very good." Law growled low in his throat when Breed tightened the collar with his power, making the kitten's breath hitch in surprise. "There…now everyone will know your new name: Bound."
Luffy clearly didn't like the new distinction and tried to scratch the tag off, but that just earned him a hit behind his ears. Law, for his part, was furious Breed dared to label a free pirate something that meant to have your freedom taken. It was cruel. His growling grew in volume when Breed laughed and raised his arm to hit Luffy again. Without even thinking, he rushed forward and bit into their captor's hand as deep as he could.
Breed yelled in pain and shook him off, prompting Law to stand over Luffy's much smaller body. The kitten was definitely still dazed but sent him a look of gratitude. For whatever reason, Law found himself becoming more and more protective of his ally. Perhaps it was their current difference in size…or the fact that he felt responsible for getting them into this whole mess. He's the one who asked for Luffy's help with Doflamingo, after all.
If only he'd accepted more assistance from the Straw Hat crew…
If only he hadn't held so tightly to his pride.
"How dare you…" Breed snarled, eyes burning with the promise of retaliation, "Pets should know their place!" Law grunted in pain when he was smacked right off the table, smashing his side into the chair on the way down. He grit his teeth at the foreboding crack he heard from his rib cage, sliding to a stop. That wasn't good…
"Torao!" Luffy yelled, scrambling up onto his paws and down onto the floor as quickly as his clumsy paws would take him, "Are you okay?"
"I-I think I might've cracked a rib…but I'm fine. What about you?"
Luffy gazed at him with sorrowful dark eyes, not responding right away. The tag hanging at his neck made an unnervingly pleasant tinkling sound whenever the curly-furred kitten moved, always reminding the teen that he was now owned, his freedom gone. Law knew it affected him…he wore his emotions on his sleeve no matter his form.
"O-Oi…you're not dead, right?" Law glared at Caesar when the hairless cat timidly approached them.
"Why do you care?"
"Because believe it or not, I want to get out of here to!" The scientist shot back with a quick hiss, showing his teeth, "Besides, Joker will be pissed if you two die before he can get his hands on you." As they were talking, Law thought he heard someone call to him, but he was too engrossed in his conversation with Caesar to care. That is…until the person tried again.
"I said come, stupid pets!" Almost immediately, Law and the other two straightened up, collars glowing green as they followed the commands. As they made the terrible trek back to the foreboding table, Law's eyes widened in realization of what had just happened. Because they hadn't heard or registered the command, they hadn't followed it.
…was Breed's weakness really so simple?
"All right, now it's your turn Trafalgar…" Breed sneered, yanking him up onto the table by his scruff. He yowled when sharp pain shot up his spine, originating at his no doubt broken rib (or ribs). "…or should I say Corpse?"
"Your choice in names sickens me." Law snapped despite knowing his angry meows meant nothing to the man. Still, the designation did make a pit form in his stomach involuntarily. He'd known when he initially made the plan to take Doflamingo down that he'd probably end up dead, but now that unfortunate ending seemed more likely than ever.
It sent shivers down his spine.
'No! We will survive this.' Law thought, recalling why he allied with Luffy in the first place. Straw Hat Luffy was a miracle worker and together…they could do anything.
That evening, long after Breed had retired and left them locked in possibly the darkest room on the ship, Law roused Luffy and Caesar just before the dugong silently entered the room, a key ring around his neck.
"Is he asleep?" Law whispered, prompting the dugong to nod. He'd enlisted the aid of the sea creatures in their plan as they, obviously, wanted to escape as well. "Good, now…here's what I've learned. It seems that if we can't hear Breed's orders, we will not be compelled to follow them."
"…what's that mean?" Luffy asked with a tilt of his head, making Caesar sigh deeply.
"It means, idiot, that if we can cover our ears we won't have to do what he says!"
"Hey, I'm not an idiot! I'll kick your ass!"
"Settle down!" Law hissed, making the two go silent (though Luffy continued to glare at Caesar), "There are cameras everywhere…if Breed hears us, we're done for. Tonight, we'll use whatever we can find to put in ears and tomorrow, we'll attack."
Luffy nodded in agreement alongside the dugong, who saluted. It seemed that the sea creatures were on board as well.
"Then what? We swim to the nearest island?" Caesar asked with a scoff, skin bunching up as he stretched in his cage. Law settled himself down onto his paws and sent the scientist and annoyed glance.
"If we get control of the ship, we won't need to swim. All you need to do is wait for my signal." With that, the three cats got to work clawing their blankets apart for scraps while the dugong retreated to inform his companions of the plan. Law often glanced up at the many security cameras and speakers located in the dark room, worried that Breed might force them to stop at any time.
Being that bastard's prisoner had made him paranoid.
"Ne, Torao…is this right?" Luffy asked after popping up with a bundle of shredded blanket in his mouth. Law nodded.
"That's good, now-"
Suddenly, the entire ship jerked, sending all three cats flying into the sides of their cages. Law yelped in pain when he landed, yet again, on his injured side and laid there until the shaking subsided. Once the ship was quiet once again, Law attempted to right himself while glancing over at the other two. Luffy appeared to have difficulty putting weight on one of his back legs and some of his wounds had re-opened. Caesar had a gash on his head that was bleeding into his eye. The furless cat groaned as he stood up on four paws.
"Ugh…what the hell was that?"
"I don't know, but it can't be good." Law managed, ears picking up noises behind the locked door. It sounded almost like…cannon fire? Were they under attack? "Quickly, finish what you're doing and-" However, before he could finish, the lock turned and Breed rushed in looking very frazzled.
The sea creatures were behind him and one look told Law that they hadn't quite had enough time to finish their plan. It would have to be put on hold for now.
"Damn pirates! How dare they attack my ship now of all times! Oi, pets, go fend them off until I'm ready to go!" Law watched as the sea creatures' collars glowed and they rushed off while explosions could be heard all around. It seemed that Breed's large ship was proving to be an easy target.
'Who's attacking? Straw Hat-ya's crew?' Law thought, suddenly hopeful. Maybe things were looking up.
"Tch, I don't have time for this…" Breed grumbled to himself while rummaging through a leather bag he'd brought with him. Law's fur immediately went on end when the man pulled out a syringe. "Bound, be still!"
Against his will, Luffy stopped moving and didn't fight back even when Breed roughly grabbed him by the scruff and drug him out of his cage. The kitten's ears were up, searching for familiar sounds of his crew, even as Breed pushed the needle into the loose skin at his nape. Law's eyes widened when his ally went limp, seemingly unconscious.
The man then pulled out a carrier that was a bit smaller than their cages. It was brown and featured closely woven metal bars in the front and a handle on top. He wasted no time tossing Luffy's unconscious body inside and ordering Caesar to follow suit. Apparently, he didn't see the scientist as a threat since he didn't drug him.
Law struggled to his feet as yet another explosion rocked the ship.
"Corpse, come!" He had no choice but to approach the man and went still when Breed hissed for him to not move. Law winced as the needle went into his scruff and cold liquid began to circulate through this veins, making his eye lids droop. He barely registered being stuffed into the small carrier with his fellow felines before darkness took him.
Hopefully, whoever was attacking…was a friend.
Meanwhile…
"For such a big ship…it isn't putting up much of a fight."
Eustass Kidd simply huffed at his first mate's statement as they continued to shower the massive vessel with cannonballs. Upon first coming across the odd, and large, ship, the crew had gotten excited about a big score…but so far, the fight was turning out to be disappointing. Even Kidd found himself let down by the lack of resistance.
He had been looking forward to a little violence to take his mind off the annoying subject Killer kept bringing up: alliances.
Ever since they saw Straw Hat and Trafalgar together on that broadcast to the underground brokers by some freak scientist, Killer hadn't stopped bothering him about it. Deep inside, Kidd understand why it was important at this stage of their journey…but he didn't want to admit that he needed help to take down an Emperor.
…of course, he'd learned the hard way that they weren't pushovers. His hand instinctively went to where his metal arm attached at the shoulder, a gift from Red Haired Shanks during their last encounter.
They'd discussed who would be a good fit, but unfortunately, most of the so-called 'worse generation' were assholes that Kidd didn't want to associate himself with for fear of being stabbed in the back. Killer had brought up Straw Hat since he was definitely the most honest of the group but, discounting the fact that the teen had way too much energy, it seemed that Trafalgar had already snapped him up.
And Kidd hated that damn smug doctor with a passion.
"Captain, there's something approaching us from the sea!"
He frowned at the call from one of his subordinates and glanced out at the swiftly moving blobs that were coming up on the Victoria Punk.
'Probably more sea creatures.' Kidd thought while motioning for Killer to take care of it. Ever since they'd started their barrage on the unknown ship, weird creatures had started to attack them…each adorned with an eerie green collar. Wire had managed to catch one and was examining it on the other side of the deck while holding the wiggling animal down.
He couldn't help but wonder where the crew members of the ship were and why they had yet to come across any human enemies.
"What do you think, Wire?" Kidd asked, turning towards the man and the blue rabbit thing he had by the throat. His crewmate shrugged and scratched his head.
"I'm…not sure. I've never seen anything like it."
"It's almost like they're being controlled." Killer put in after landing back on the deck of the ship, holding yet another squirming rabbit. "They seem scared but have yet to retreat. Perhaps this a devil fruit of some kind."
It was likely given they were in the New World…but why hadn't the captain of the other vessel revealed himself? It was cowardly to send beasts to fight in your place.
'They won't have many places to hide soon.' Kidd thought with a smirk as the ship began to collapse in on itself under their barrage. He'd drag them out soon enough. Suddenly, his subordinate in the crow's nest called for him.
"Captain! There's a small boat trying to set sail on the other side!"
Kidd immediately brought a spy glass up to his face and located the boat. The man currently loading the boat up with supplies was portly and wore an odd outfit but what really drew his attention was how he was ordering the collared animals around. He must be the leader of the crew.
His smirk grew and he called for the ship to change course.
"Chase them down! No one escapes Captain Kidd!"