Chapter 11.5 Zoro's Nightmare
A/N This is a side-along ficlet for chapter 11 of what Zoro experienced while trapped in Fredric's fear fog.
The black smoke choked me. Thick and heavy, it forced its way down my throat and nose, leaving no room for air. My arms were weighted down by invisible weights, and I couldn't move my feet. My swords seemed to fade from my very body, my teeth and fingers clenching around nothing futilely. The frozen state almost reminded me of when I was stuck in wax in Little Garden, except it was dark and cold, and a heavy, dank scent hung in the air. I struggled to raise my arms to try and swipe the fog away. I have to get out. I have to save Nami. Nami? Where is Nami!? I fought to force a scream out, but it caught in my throat with no air to give it voice.
Frustration boiled in my gut, and for the first time in I don't know how long, I felt tears gathering in my eyes. Suddenly, Lavender's sad green eyes flashed through my mind, causing me to fight harder against the fog, which only made me dizzy with vertigo, causing me to fall forward onto my hands and knees. Lavender's piercing scream echoed in my ears as I struck the ground below me.
It wasn't what I was expecting. Instead of cracking against hard marble, my knees hit soft, compacted sand. The darkness faded behind my closed eyelids, and when I finally dared to crack them, I was immediately blinded by a bright afternoon sun. What the absolute fuck?! My blood had been whooshing in my ears since the fog had rolled in, but now it was replaced by waves lapping on the sand, a distant piercing gull cry, and the roaring of a nearby crowd. Slowly, I raised my head to look up and out across the sand in front of me. Bleachers had been crudely erected across from where I was kneeling. They were packed to bursting, people cheering and jostling each other to try and get a better look at the show. Which, if I had to guess, was probably me.
I tried to stand, to try and figure out what the fuck was going on but found that my arms had been bound behind my back. Craning my head, I saw that my wrists were bound tightly with twine to the point that my fingertips had gone numb and were beginning to turn purple. Gazing around, I saw large blood splotches overlapping and splattered across the sand. Some old, some new, all varying shades of red-brown, collecting into a large pool with drag marks at various places on its perimeter. My blood ran cold as I took in the scene around me. It reminded me vaguely of various gladiator pits I had seen in my travels around the East Blue. A snivel to my left drew my attention from the gore before me. Turning my head, I saw my crew in a single file line. Each was bound as tightly as I and all beaten and bruised. Usopp was in tears, Chopper was hyperventilating and trying with everything in him to hide behind Usopp, and Sanji was beside them, fighting not to sway on his knees.
His eye was damn near swollen shut, his nose was broken, and his lip was split, blood dripping down onto his immaculate dress shirt, which was ripped open and hanging off his left shoulder, showing most of his chest and stomach. He was beaten, but his pride still seemed very much intact as even kneeling, he was still puffed up as tall as he could get, staring daggers across the sand. His good eye was uncovered, and seeing his whole face was a shock but a pleasant one. Even beaten to hell, he still manages to stay brave and look kinda hot. That thought shocked me, but before I could process it, Sanji suddenly looked my way, his blue eyes bright and alert. For a moment, I had a weird fear that I had said that aloud, and he'd heard me, and my breathing stopped in embarrassment, but then I noticed his eyes weren't actually looking at me but up and over my shoulder. I let out a brief sigh of relief and tucked my weird thoughts away for a later time. Swiveling my head, I caught sight of Robin and Nami.
They were roughed up, but no more than we could expect from being in a fight. Nami was pressed against Robin's side, cradling what appeared to be a broken arm to her chest; the older woman was whispering words of encouragement and comfort, but I saw her eyes over Nami's head; they were woeful, the teal color clouded with it, and I could tell she didn't believe a word she was saying. Robin herself seemed relatively unharmed, but she was holding her stomach with one arm as if it was in great pain, and her brow was pinched fiercely. She seemed profoundly shaken by something, but I couldn't yet tell by what. They weren't bound like the rest of us, but I recognized the thick black band around Robin's arms as sea prism stone handcuffs. Of course, they had to resort to such a dirty trick. No way one gets the drop on Nico Robin without playing dirty.
The panic over the strange black fog and the events preceding it seemed like a dream now. Likely something I'd thought up while unconscious after getting my bell rung. What the fuck was going on? Did I pass out? Were we in a fight and lost? And where the fuck is Luffy? My internal turmoil was interrupted by footsteps that alerted me to someone stopping directly in front of me, dust kicking up into my face, causing me to let out a hacking cough. I shook my head to try and clear it and looked into the face of a man I didn't recognize. My eyes started at his shoes; they were shiny and polished, but the soles were grubby with old blood and dirt. His pants, while the standard Marine blue, were stained and tattered at the hem, barely holding together. He wore only a faded black tank top that was wet and stuck to him with sweat and blood that did not appear to be his. When my gaze finally reached his face, he sneered at me with broken, rotten teeth before spitting what appeared to be chewing tobacco in the sand near my knees.
"I'm Captain Denji." he paused. "So," and laughed to himself sinisterly, "this is the famous Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro, huh? I always thought you'd be taller." He laughed again as he looked down at me on my knees, and a crowd of cronies behind him joined. He looks across all of us, his eye lingering a tad too long on the girls before he continues.
Sanji spit blood onto the sand to my left and laughs ruefully, "It's cause he's so full of hot fucking air. Now, where the fuck is our captain."
Denji laughs before smacking Sanji on the side of his head, and even after his comment, it took everything in me to keep from jumping across the sand. The impulse was shocking and inappropriate, given how skillful I knew Sanji was at defending himself. "Cheeky." Denji said, voice full of snarky joy, "All in time, my new friend. First, we need to have a conversation. You see, I hear your crew has been giving the World Government a real run for their money, but that's where the Government and I always differ. They want to catch you and make an example out of you. Me? I want to see this pirate scourge wiped off the face of the planet. You all come here with your dreams and ambitions, but all you're really doing is running around stirring up trouble and causing bureaucratic grief wherever you go. And I'm here to put a stop to that."
He lets out a deep sigh before pacing in front of us. "Now, the way I see it, each," he pauses and looks back at Robin, "most of you were smart, law-abiding citizens before this ridiculous rubber fool bounced into your lives and caused utter chaos and led you astray. This time, and this time only, I am prepared to offer amnesty for the alleged crimes committed under his name; all you have to do is renounce him."
He said it as if it was such a simple thing. A chorus of scoffs and as-ifs sounded from our crew; Sanji, Nami, and I even laughed a little at how ridiculous that notion was. Surprisingly, Usopp spoke, "W-w-we would never turn on our C-captain." Denji laughed right in his face. "That's what they all say, but I think you will find that with the right leverage, anyone can be convinced to make the right decision." He went pensive and continued to pace in front of us. I began to bounce my gaze around the beach, trying to assemble some kind of plan. My eyes stuck on a pile about five yards to our left. I was all of our stuff. Nami's climatact, Chopper's backpack, Usopp's sling bag, and my swords, Wado's pommel, stood up proudly from the pile, just waiting for me to grab the handle. Suppose I could just get over there.
Before I could fully form my plan, Denji stopped pacing right in front of Chopper, a look of annoyance on his face. "What the fuck is this raccoon dog doing here."
One of Denji's cronies steps forward nervously, his voice tentative. "Well, sir, you said to grab The Strawhats. He was on this ship with them, fought with them, so we brought him." Denji turned and gave the man a look so full of anger that it made him wither back in line and shake from head to toe.
"I said," his voice was hard, "to grab The Strawhat. Not The Strawhats and their pet."
I saw Chopper puff up with indignation, his cowardice momentarily forgotten. He wasn't even bound; his fear was all that was keeping him behind Usopp. With that forgotten, he stood at his full height in front of Usopp and yelled. "Hey! I'm their doctor, and I'm not a raccoon dog. I'm a reinde-" He doesn't get to finish. Denji pulls his pistol from his belt and pulls the trigger, blowing Chopper away before any of us can make any move to stop him. Usopp began making a sound that wouldn't be out of place on a dying animal, and Sanji, who had been sprayed with Chopper's blood, had gone incredibly still and pale.
Nami screamed loud and long to my right. "Chopper! No! How could you do that?" Denji swung toward her gun drawn. I moved before I could think, struggling to get to my feet and putting myself between Nami and the Captain. He laughed, "Oh, don't tell me you're this upset about your pet. I mean, sure, it could talk, but come on, you can always get another one." He turned toward the bleachers and the gathered crowd, throwing his hands up and out. The crowd cheered louder at the sight as if they'd just seen the most fantastic show of their lives. I could hear people taking bets and numerous people talking about whether Denji would let them have Chopper's antlers when all this was over. My stomach turned, and I had to fight a heavy wave of nausea.
Usopp was a sobbing mess. He had fallen to his side when Chopper had been shot, and now he was spattered head to toe in Chopper's blood. He was muttering and begging quietly to himself, rocking gently back and forth. Sanji had become more rigid, if possible, his face going ghostly pale as he stared at where our doctor had just been sitting.
Denji began to chuckle again and to bounce his gun between those of us still alive, laughing harder at each flinch or whimper. He looked at Usopp, "What happened to that bravery from just a few minutes ago, hmm? Not quite so brave with your pet's brains sprayed across your face, are ya?"
He stopped in front of me and leveled the barrel square with my head. I was shaking with rage, and my legs were wobbly from kneeling for so long, but I stood my ground and met him head-on, determined to protect any of my crew I could.
"Now then Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro. Given that it is in your name and all, and since you all spurned my generous offer of amnesty, I'd like you to pick who I kill next."
The way he said my name caused the hairs on the back of my neck to stand on end, and the shock of what he had said froze the blood in my veins. "What?" I didn't recognize my voice. It was high and full of grief for our doctor; I could feel a sob stick in my throat that I refused to let him hear. Denji's rotten smile grew broad.
"Ya, that seems like it'd be a fun game, doesn't it? In fact, if you pick the order, I shoot them in. I'll let you pick one that gets a chance to run for it, and hell, maybe they'll even get away."
Again, there was a round of laughter from the gathered marines and cheering from the bleachers. I was at a loss for words. "I... I can't do that. You can't ask me to choose which of my friends dies." The words had barely left my mouth before Denji turned his gun on Usopp and fired two shots. His sniveling cut off like a switch had been flipped. Again, Nami released a ragged scream, and this time, even Robin let out a low whine of distress.
"You bastard! You said I could choose."
"That I did, that I did. But you see, you hesitated. And every time you hesitate, I will make the choice easier by shortening the list you have to choose from."
"No, no. You can't."
A hot, searing pain in my cheeks suddenly flared, and Robin let out a sharp yelp of pain from behind me. The bullet had whizzed against my cheek, and when I turned, I saw that the bullet had struck Robin right below her left collarbone, and she was bleeding heavily. Nami had bent over her to shield her from further harm, but the damage had been done. Her blood poured out of her in a heavy, steady stream into the sand below. Robin gasped and reached for Nami, holding her hand tightly but increasingly weaker as the seconds ticked by.
Robin tried to speak to us, but her breaths were wet, and words couldn't get past the blood welling in her throat. She looked around frantically, and finally, her eyes rested on mine. In them, I saw no blame, only love for all of us, maybe worry about what was to come. I felt a tear finally trickle down my cheek as I watched Robin's eyes go dark. The intelligence drained from them as her blood drained from her body.
A great wail escaped Nami when Robin's hand went slack. And then there were three. Sanji was vibrating with rage. I'd never seen so much hatred on anyone's face before, but with that gun still aimed in Nami's direction, I knew he'd never make a move that might jeopardize her. Denji was talking again, but I couldn't hear anything over the crowd's cheers. Three of my crew dead at my feet, a monster between me and my swords. I never felt so weak, not even as a young boy, constantly getting my ass kicked by Kuina on a daily basis.
Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain against my palm, and my hands were free. My arms snapped out to my sides once the binding was gone. I turned back to the girls and saw Nami on her knees behind me, a sharp shell held in her hands.
She looked up at me with angry, watery eyes. "Do something." Her voice was watery and raw, but she didn't have to tell me twice. I immediately bolted toward the pile with our stuff, knocking marines and common folk who got in my way down with wide-sweeping punches and kicks that definitely left them all more than a little incapacitated. Denji protested loudly, clearly surprised by the sudden change in the dynamics, and he began shooting wildly, but I couldn't stop and worry about what he might hit.
The crowd on the bleachers began panicking and streamed past me to try and get away. It felt like an eternity, but I finally got to our things. I found them covered in blood. Nami's climatact shattered, Chopper and Usopp's bags ripped, the contents were strewn about, there were even cigarettes, fresh ones, broken and tossed haphazardously around the pile. But the worst, the most personal offense was the blade of Yabashiri shattered into several pieces and tossed around like trash.
It lanced a pain through my heart to see the blade so desecrated. Another blasted tear escaped my eye, and I brushed it aside and reached for Wado. I was going to end this now, but when I pulled, the blade remained stuck as if it was plunged into stone. Frustrated, I gave one final pull and seemed to dislodge it. The sword came forward with an uneven lurch, and briefly, I lost my feet. Falling flat on my ass, I quickly got my bearings and was just about to launch into the crowd when I noticed that the sword felt heavier than it should.
Looking down at Wado's long, immaculate blade, I came to an abrupt, horrifying sight. Wado went in one side and out the other of Captain Monkey D. Luffy's head, which was severed at the neck, his body buried amongst our belongings. My best friend, my captain, lay in pieces, pierced by my own sword, at my feet. I hadn't noticed it before, but his signature straw hat was amongst our things, only it had been shredded. The once pristine straw was stained and scattered across the beach, and only the red band remained near Luffy, looping gently around what remained of his neck. Bile fought its way up my throat and burned as I tried to push it down. A shout of warning stole my grief from me.
But before I could turn, a sharp stabbing sensation bloomed in my chest. A cough slipped out of my lips as I looked down, spraying blood down my white shirt to merge with the blood spilling from a spot just below my diaphragm. The sword was so familiar it was as if my own arm stuck from my torso—blade long and dark blue, white Hamon flames along its edge. Kitetsu had always been beautiful, and even now, as it dealt a death blow to me, I could still appreciate that.
I dropped Wado as Kitetsu was ripped from me suddenly. The thunk of Luffy's head hitting the ground was sickening. More blood slipped past my lips as I turned around slowly. The scene before me was unbearable. Nami lay so very still on her front, the sharp shell she'd used to free me stuck deeply into the top of her head. Chopper, Usopp, and Robin had been harshly kicked away into a mangled pile of limbs.
Then there was Sanji. Beaten and bloody, being held roughly by his hair, Denji holding a sword, the very same sword that had just pierced me, to Sanji's stretched neck.
Denji's ever-present smile grew, "Oh, would you look at that we are down to one."
I fought to breathe through the blood in my lungs. "You, you said you'd let one live."
"No swordsman, I said I'd give one a chance to flee. And I did, but he went to the girl, was quite easy to catch after that."
Of course, he did. In no reality would Sanji ever leave a woman or flee to save his own life if he thought he could save her. No matter how obviously futile that was. Denji drew Kitetsus's blade closer to Sanji's neck, nicking his Adam's apple and causing a fresh trail of blood to run down his chest. "W-wait." Each breath felt labored, and though I held my hand to my chest to hold in the blood in front, I could feel the blood pouring down into the sand behind me.
"No," Denji jeered, "I don't think I will." Then, with the utmost malice, he drew the blade across Sanji's throat. I watched Sanji's blue eyes widen a split second before they glazed over. Denji let him go then, and I watched as the boy I felt, well, I don't know what I felt for him, fell over in the sand, lifeless and still. I couldn't even exclaim my despair as blood finally flooded out my mouth, completely cutting off my air.
Denji walked over to me slowly before stopping and reaching for Wado's hilt. I tried to clench my hand around her, but my fingers would not listen. He pulled it to him and wiped Luffy's blood onto his pants. "This is a fine sword. I'll make sure it lives up to its pirate-hunter nature, don't you worry." He then turned away, and he and his cronies began walking off the beach, leaving my crew and me lying dead and very nearly dead on the beach to await the high tide.
Time stood still as I lay dying, staring at where Sanji lay and praying he would move, that it was a trick. But of course, that wasn't going to happen; he and the others were gone, stolen from me so tragically. Eventually, the water was finally high enough that it began to brush against Robin's hair, and some of the blood in the sand started running into the ocean itself. My vision faded in and out. When the water reached my eyes it had already erased one body after the other, and I grieved their loss. The loss to the world, their families, and the loss of all our dreams. A waste, all of it.
One last tear trickled down my face as air finally stopped moving into my lungs, and my vision went completely dark, as the tide washed over me completely.
A/N I hope you all enjoy this one. Another chapter to follow immediately - CL