One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda
Kingdom Hearts characters belong to Square Enix and Disney
OCs belong to me.
-Chapter Two Hundred and Forty-One-
-Skylar's P.O.V-
I sluggishly dragged myself down the hallway, rubbing at my throbbing head as I tried to find the energy to pick up the pace. I wonder...how are the others doing? Are they okay? My head soon perked up to the sound of footsteps rushing my way.
"Hey, Chopper!" I called out to the reindeer the minute he ran past me.
"Ah! Skylar, are you alright?!" he came to a screeching halt as he worriedly began to fret over me the moment he saw me.
"Depends on your definition of alright" I shrugged before holding up the key that was clutched in my hand. "Took down one of the CP9 agents, how are you and the others doing?" I asked.
"I don't know about Sanji, Franky, and Nami, but Zoro and Sniper King are handcuffed together and currently being chased by some giraffe and wolf guy—wait! You said you defeated one of the CP9 agents?" he asked, watching as I nodded my head. "What's the number on your key?!" he frantically asked.
"Huh? Number?" I questioned as I looked down at the key in my hand before just handing it over to him.
"No, this isn't the one! I need to find key two!" and with that, the reindeer shoved the key back into my hand and raced down the hallway, leaving me to rub my head in confusion before I turned on my heel and walked in the direction he had just come from.
"Handcuffed together? I have got to see this..." I mumbled as I finally came across a room with an open doorway. Curiously peeking inside, I was quick to take note of how the room looked very calming and peaceful, it looked more like the outdoors than a room inside a tower. But, the appearance of the room wasn't important. No, the four people—well two people and two animals—are what really caught my attention. "Huh? Chopper wasn't lying, you guys are really handcuffed together" I spoke up from the doorway which caught Zoro and Sniper King's attention as the two were currently running away from the wolf and giraffe that was chasing them.
"Skylar, what are you doing here?" Zoro asked, his eyes now seeming to shine with worry the moment he caught of glimpse of my ragged appearance as I tilted my head and scratched the back of it. Wincing just a bit at the way my skull throbbed in protest at the movement.
"You look awful—did you go up against one of those CP9 agents?" Sniper King asked.
"Yeah, I did" I nodded. "I ran into Chopper just a while ago and since I can't really find the place I need to go, I thought I'd come and check up on your two" I said before turning my head to the side as my lips twitched upwards into a small smile. "How'd you even get handcuffed together in the first place?" I chuckled.
"It's a long story" the two said.
"Okay" I nodded. "Well, do you need any help?" I asked, already starting to take a step inside the room.
"No, we can handle this ourselves—stay over there" Zoro shook his head as he maintained eye contact with me. That look in his eye was enough to make me heave a sigh and nod my head as my smile widened only a little at how cute his worry was. "You said you defeated one of those CP9 agents? Do you have key two then?" he asked.
"No, Chopper checked earlier, it's not the one you're looking for" I shook my head as I crossed my arms and leaned against the door frame of the room. Watching in amusement as the two once again put their focus on running from the two animals that didn't really seem to care all that much for my presence—they've already chosen their prey and that seemed to be all that mattered to them. Slowly did my eyes start to wander around the room once more before finally settling on the huge gash in the ceiling, a gash that slanted the whole upper part of the building and let the natural light from outside come spilling in. How the hell did that happen?
"Where the hell is that number two key?" Zoro growled in irritation as he seemed to already be growing annoyed with all the running he's been having to do.
"Zoro, I'm finished, I'm too tired—give me a piggyback ride" Sniper King whined.
"No way!" the swordsman snapped.
"Tempest Kick!" my ears perked up upon the familiarity of the giraffe's voice—it sounded a lot like that Kaku guy's voice...does this mean that he too had a Devil Fruit power? Taking into account that the wolf is also another member with Devil Fruit powers, that means that at least three agents in this building have eaten a Devil Fruit. Zoro and Sniper King were quick to dodge the attack that was thrown their way.
"Finger Pistol!" I owlishly blinked as I watched the way the wolf aimed his attack at Kaku and not towards Zoro and Sniper King.
"What was that for?!" Kaku frowned.
"Don't play innocent with me! You were just pretending to fire that kick at them—you were aiming for me!" the wolf accused. "Weren't you?!" he sneered.
"Eh?" I tilted my head, did they…did they not trust each other? Aren't they on the same side?
"That's the most paranoid accusation I've ever heard!" Kaku glared. "But, I will admit, you have been getting in my way—so if you want to fight, I'm ready" despite how serious he was being, I couldn't stop from snorting.
"He looks so fucking stupid!" I choked, my body hunching over as I quickly covered my mouth in an attempt to contain the laughter that wanted to burst forth from my lips—he was just too ridiculous looking in that form for me to take him seriously. The wolf snorted upon hearing my words while Kaku's frown only seemed to deepen.
"What did you say?" the wolf scoffed as he shook his head, trying his best to keep himself from laughing at the giraffe as well. "You've been getting in my way, you stupid omnivore!" keeping a hand over my mouth as small fits of laughter would slip through every now and again, I speed walked my way across the room and over towards Zoro and Sniper King. Just now coming down from the sudden laugh attack that had struck me.
"What are you talking about? I like meat just as much as the next guy" Kaku frowned, not really understanding the jab.
"I told you to stay over there" Zoro scowled.
"Yeah, I know, I know" I waved off his words. "Let me see your cuffs" I suddenly said, gently taking their cuffed hands and letting my fingers trace over the cool surface of the stone cuffs—the number two was engraved right above the keyhole. "Let's be glad you're both not Devil Fruit users."
"Why did you want to see them?" Sniper King asked as I kept silent.
"I was hoping they would have been normal cuffs" I quietly admitted. When it comes to normal cuffs, sometimes a simple jimmy of the lock can get them undone—even the government can mess up a few times in not throwing away outdated cuffs. But, sadly these were handcuffs made from Sea Prism Stone and can only be unlocked with a key, which I'm sure they were already aware of.
"You sure you're okay?" Zoro asked as he used his free hand to gently rest it on my already bruising cheek, being mindful not to apply too much pressure to the area. I only smiled at his concern, taking his hand and pressing a gentle kiss to the back of it before he and I shyly looked away, embarrassed as soon as we heard Sniper King clear his throat.
"You two can get all lovey-dovey after we save Robin" the long-nosed pirate said as both the swordsman and I nodded our heads.
"Ha! Don't lie to me, you long neck freak!" our attention was dragged back over to the wolf and Kaku. "You're a giraffe! Now, why don't you run along and eat some tree leaves!" he sneered.
"I can see you're pretty insistent on fighting me, so why don't you sit tight and wait for me here" Kaku said. "I'll finish the prey on my own and then we can settle this" he assured the wolf.
"Aren't they on the same team?" I questioned, furrowing my brows as I looked towards the two animals. "Why the hell are they fighting one another?" I asked.
"Hold it! We're going to fight, alright, but you're not taking my prey!" the wolf snarled as if he didn't like the idea of the giraffe being the one to take down their opponents.
"Wow!" Snipper King suddenly exclaimed which caught all of our attention. "I've always wondered about this, you too, Zoro—didn't you ask me the other day? Who do you think is stronger, a giraffe or a wolf?" he asked.
"He did?" I questioned, amusement lacing my tone as I curiously looked towards the swordsman. "Wow, I didn't know you were interested in that sort of thing, Zoro" I hummed.
"I bet you're just dying to find out" Sniper King said.
"No, not really" Zoro shook his head which caused me to chuckle.
"I see, yep, I guess we're both really curious to see a fight between them" Sniper King nodded. "What about you, Skylar?" he asked.
"Oh? Well you see, Sniper King, your words have interested me—truly now I also seem to wonder just which of the two animals are stronger" I happily played along.
"No, I said—"
"Just leave this one to me, alright?" Sniper King whispered to the two of us, cutting the swordsman off before he could give away the sharpshooter's plan. "Ah! So the prediction of the world's most feared pirate hunter and notorious swordsman of the Straw Hat Pirates—oh! He's getting the feeling the wolf has the greater edge strength-wise!"
"Of course, I do!" the wolf proudly boasted.
"What's that you say? Really? You don't think we should overlook the giraffe though" Sniper King said, repeating imaginary words that were never spoken by the swordsman beside him. "Very true, that Sky Slicer of his was pretty impressive indeed" he nodded.
"Yeah, it was powerful! The fact is wolves aren't much more than cunning, beyond that, they're not the most capable of creatures" Kaku grinned, throwing shade towards the wolf.
"I don't know, wolves can be pretty smart when they travel in packs..." I muttered as I watched the way the giraffe's words seem to just rile his partner right up.
"You bastard! That's the final straw!" the wolf sneered.
"So, you want to do this right now?" Kaku glared.
"Excellent! Alright, now's our chance, Zoro! Skylar!" Snipper King whispered to the two of us, looking just about ready to take off running once again.
"I get it! You're trying to get them to stop paying attention to us and start fighting each other! Then we'll make our escape while they're distracted, right?" Zoro loudly asked which caused the two animals to turn their attention back on the three of us.
"Well, Sniper King, it was a great plan while it lasted" I said, patting the long-nosed pirate's back in a comforting manner.
"Are you for real?! That just occurred to you—why are you sharing that information with them?!" Sniper King snapped.
"I'm kind of embarrassed, but you actually had us going there" Kaku embarrassingly admitted.
"The prey is always the first priority" the wolf said.
"Gah! Geez, Zoro, what am I supposed to do with you?" Sniper King frowned. "Skylar, how do you handle him?" he asked.
"I don't know, I just go with the flow sometimes" I shrugged as the long-nosed man huffed.
"We almost got away with it and you completely ruined the plan!" he scowled.
"Ha! Big deal, it was a pretty terrible plan in the first place" Zoro scoffed.
"Aw, you don't have to be embarrassed that you made a mistake" I cooed.
"I'm not embarrassed!" he snapped.
"I got an even better survival plan" Sniper King suddenly told us. "Just do me a favor, Zoro, and please keep your mouth shut this time" he said which caused the swordsman to grumble in response. "Hm? A giraffe or a wolf—I wonder which one is cooler? There's more to life than just strength, there are truly more important things" he loudly pondered. "For example, being known as the most stylish and hip! Hm, which one is it?" he hummed in thought.
"Do you really think they'll fall for it again?" I whispered to the long-nosed pirate.
"Well, I'm having a little trouble arguing with his logic on this one" Kaku said.
"Ha! Nothing to argue about, everyone knows wolves are both stronger and cooler than giraffes!" the wolf laughed.
"They...they did fall for it..." I sweat dropped.
"What? You are so full of it, all you have to do is go to any zoo to see that giraffes are a million times more popular with kids then wolves are!" Kaku argued. "Which obviously means that giraffes are cooler!" he huffed.
"That's the stupid point I expected a tall horse to make!" the wolf snarled.
"Don't you ever call me a horse! I'm a giraffe, dammit!" Kaku snapped.
"Why is this even important?" my sweat drop seemed to only grow bigger the longer I listened to the men argue.
"It's working, let's go!" Sniper King motioned for the two of us to follow before he came to a jerky halt thanks to the cuffs and Zoro's lack of movement.
"That kind of distraction won't last long enough for us to get away" Zoro said.
"You sure? Because they seem to really be getting into it" I said as I watched how the two CP9 agents continued to bicker with one another.
"What?" Sniper King tilted his head. "Well, I sure hope you have some sort of backup plan then!" he snapped.
"Rock, paper, scissors—you and me" Zoro suddenly said. "These cuffs are a real problem, but I thought of a way we could get them off of us."
"Really? What does it have to do with playing rock, paper, scissors?" Sniper King curiously asked.
"I'm not liking where this plan of yours is heading, Zoro" I frowned.
"Whoever loses...has to chop off his own hand" Zoro said.
"That's the most terrifying idea I've ever heard!" Sniper King cried as I hit the swordsman.
"That's not exactly the best plan you could have come up with!" I snapped.
"I'm not done explaining, just listen!" Zoro snapped right back as he rubbed the back of his head. "The first thing we do once we get these cuffs off us is run like hell until we find Chopper, and with his medical expertise, he'll be able to sew the hand back on in no time at all—understand?" he asked.
"We're not ragdolls! Don't be ridiculous!" Sniper King snapped as he now began to drag the swordsman behind him.
"That's not how this works! You can't just cut off a limb and sew it back on like nothing ever happened!" I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose as I followed behind the two.
"Wait!" Zoro stopped which caused all of us to come to a halt and dreadfully look at him. "I got another plan to get us out of this mess" he confessed.
"Oh god, this can't end well" I groaned.
"I don't even want to hear it!" Sniper King cried.
"We won't be able to settle this with words alone" Kaku said.
"I'm ready to go when you are, and lets up the stakes, the winner gets to keep the prey all to themselves!" the wolf growled.
"What the…?" Kaku was taken aback as he and the wolf soon directed their attention towards us. Both of them now eyeing the swordsman that had all three swords out while Sniper King tightly held one of them out. His body stiff as he was held up like he was the sword instead.
"This is a horrible idea and won't end well" I sighed, shaking my head as I looked at the two.
"Shing!" Sniper King nervously laughed.
A/N: Enjoy
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