Chapter 16: Sanji's Fight! An Uphill Battle!
Sanji
Dalton and I rode in a sled as we raced to where the pirates were believed to be. I was smoking in the back as Dalton drove.
We were going quickly. The wind blew in my face. It was hard to find it relaxing, though, with all the stakes in the air.
"Why did you leave your friends to come with me," asked Dalton.
"Our crew is being hunted by a pirate gang with a certain jolly roger, a broken skull with a crown. The captain said I'm on the top of their hit list," I said as I took a drag and let out a puff of smoke. It helped me calm down for a full second and almost immediately stopped. "I think they followed us here and I just wanted to delay them a bit. Take out most of their members."
"Why are they after you?"
"We didn't do a thing. But they keep coming around looking for Ciara. They want to do something terrible to her and I refuse to let it happen."
"How can you be sure she can't handle herself?"
"It's complicated. If the captain of those pirates were telling the truth, then she might have some form of control over her from their time together.
I felt anger bubbling to my surface. "But that's not all. They threatened me and might go after my friends. It doesn't matter if any of them can defend themselves. I have to do what I can now."
"But why didn't you bring your friends? Surely they want to defend their own lives as well as yours."
"I got a horrible feeling from their captain. She's stronger than she seems and will use that strength in horrible ways. Me and Mosshead are the only ones who could fight right now and he definitely got lost. It's all up to me now." I took out a cigarette and smoked half of it in a puff. "I didn't want Ciara to find out about them.
"I couldn't tell Usopp or Luffy because they're always around Ciara and are terrible at keeping secrets. Vivi was already preoccupied with her own problems, I didn't want to bother her. And Mosshead was always on the deck where Ciara sunbathed.
"It was hard to tell anybody about my meeting with those pirates. I got scared and was ashamed. An hour turned into a day, then a few more. Next thing I knew Nami was sick. I was too distracted to tell anybody then." I finished the cigarette with another long breath.
We arrived at the town. It was on the coast, I could see the pirate ship from the sled. It was quiet, with the sound of heavy breathing in the air.
"There's someone in there," I said.
"Just one person," asked Dalton. "How could they terrorize an entire town?"
We walked through the main road. The town was small so it made up the entire town. There was a bar, a general store, and several other buildings without signs.
"Ahh!" A scream came from a second-floor window. It shattered and someone fell out of it. They stood up and ran away with a minor limp. "It's a monster!"
"They're in that building," I said. I was a little confused. None of the people on the ship should cause that reaction other than the captain, and she'd still be on their ship. "Do you want to go in or should I?"
"I'll go," said Dalton. "You keep a lookout." He slowly walked onto the patio. He pressed his ear to the door. He turned around and jumped into the road.
The front of the house crashed down. It made a large cloud of dust that covered the street. It filled my lungs with sawdust. I coughed and nearly puked.
"Are you good," I asked through my screwed-up throat. It was scratchy as hell.
"Yeah," said Dalton. He was just as affected as me. His voice was as raspy as mine.
"What was in there?"
"A monster. Didn't you hear that person?"
The air cleared. I was able to see clearly again. The house was completely destroyed. One figure was standing in the rubble.
It was around ten feet tall. It had the general look of once being human. Its muscles bulged from its skin. Large veins covered it like a spiderweb. Its skin was blood red and steam came off of it. It wore torn pants but no shirt. I recognized it as the same guy who tried to steal Sandra and jumped off the Going Merry. It was looking at me.
"Go deal with the pirates. I'll handle this monster," I said.
"No, you go," he said. "I'm more of a match for him."
"Why's that," I asked.
Dalton crouched onto all fours. His head elongated. Fur sprouted from his skin. He was soon transformed into a large bison. "Bison are good at pushing."
He ran into the monster. They pushed against each other. Dalton's horns were pointed into the monster's abdomen, and it kept the horns back with its hands. Neither side let up for the minute I watched. I left him and ran to the dock.
The docks were barren. Multiple crates and fishing nets were left behind as people ran away. It was eery in a way, seeing the empty dock like it was. A rope connected the pirate's ship to it.
I didn't want to be seen as I went to the ship so I jumped into the water. It was frigidly cold. It was difficult to swim, especially with shoes on.
I made it to the ship and surfaced. I climbed the rope that was tied to the dock and made it to the deck.
There were two people sitting on a crate in the middle of the deck. The one on the right was smoking. They were looking the other way.
I crouched as I walked behind them. I made soft steps, being careful to account for the extra water weight. I slowed my breathing as I got closer.
I looked into the crate. It was filled with red and white pills with a checkered pattern.
I had to find out multiple things. What were the pills? How did they find us? What's up with that guy?
"The captain keeps getting worse," said the one on the left. They sounded like a girl. She sounded scared. "She forced Feiglin to take a bunch of those pills and we didn't try to stop her. We did what she said and held him down. What if she tries to do the same for us?"
"What can we do," asked a male voice on the right. He sounded solemn. I recognized him as the guy who let me meet his captain. "She must be stronger than Whitebeard with all those pills she's been taking."
"That doesn't make any sense either!" The girl was slightly hysterical. "They killed that king! They should've done the same for the captain but it's like they do nothing. They made Feiglin stronger but he somehow didn't die."
"I wouldn't say that's still him, though. He's more like a machine. Or a monster that only knows to kill. Just be lucky he only wants to kill that chef."
That answered enough questions. I had to focus on the guy fighting a giant monster. I pocketed one of the pills and discreetly jumped off the ship. Nobody was on the deck so I was free to use the dock as I left.
The fight was still going on. They were at the same spot as before. The monster looked at me briefly. Its face shifted to anger and its hand shifted.
Dalton pushed and his horn pushed into the monster's gut. It grabbed the horn inside of itself. Dalton pulled back but didn't budge.
"Dalton! Get out of there," I yelled.
"I'm stuck," Dalton yelled as his feet slid on the floor as he attempted to push backward.
I had to do something. I ran to the monster's right and jumped. I brought my leg up to its head. And he grabbed me with one hand. It was so surprising I couldn't dodge it. It started crushing my neck. I couldn't breathe.
Its skin was extremely hot—it felt like hot coals from a furnace—so hot that all the snow around it melted.
"Agh!" Dalton yelled. Cracking sounds came from the monster's abdomen. Dalton jerked his head back. It exited from the top of its head. It went limp and dropped me.
Dalton let the monster fall. Its blood stained the snow around its head a deep crimson, and Dalton turned into his human form.
I had a hard time breathing. "What the hell," I asked through haggard breathing.
"I don't get it either. That guy was far too strong to be beaten that easily."
"You had to rip off your own horn. That's not easy."
"Losing a horn would be the last of our problems if that guy is still alive."
The monster shifted. "Bad news, it's still alive."
"How? I skewered its brain!"
It sat up. Blood poured from the top of its head. Its face was limp with sagging skin and a jaw than swung back and forth.
"Something's up with that entire pirate crew," I said as I slowly stood up. I was still catching my breath.
The monster was breathing much faster. The only indication of such was its chest rising and falling. It stood and looked at me with its criss-crossed eyes.
There was only one way to beat someone like this. I turned towards the mountain and ran. "Dalton, run," I yelled. He followed me. The monster moved after a minute. Getting stabbed in the brain must've slowed it down a little. It started running, and it was gaining on us fast. "Get to the sled!"
We reached there quickly and got in. Dalton whipped the reins and we fled. The monster was around ten feet behind us.
"Any ideas," I asked.
"I got nothing," said Dalton. "What did you learn on their ship?"
"I got it! It's so obvious. This guy took drugs to become this strong. Maybe they wear off at some point."
"So all we have to do is wait?"
"Easier said than done," I said. The monster was getting closer. It was barely faster than the sled. It was nine feet away at that point. "Could we go any faster?"
"I'm pushing them as hard as they go." Dalton was whipping them so they ran at full sprint but not enough for them to get hurt.
The monster got closer and closer. Its fingers were less than a foot from the sled. I then had a crazy idea.
"Keep going full speed," I said while getting ready to run. "Don't look back."
I ran at full sprint and jumped off the back of the sled. I did a double kick into the monster's face. I was launched back into the sled with a flip.
The monster wasn't injured by the kick. It simply made the monster's head briefly stop. I figured that its body took a while to switch motor functions. So its head stopped but its legs didn't. The monster ran out from under its head and fell on its back.
"He's big and dumb. It'll take a bit before he can stand." I sat in the sled and lit a cigarette. I needed to relax for a bit.
We arrived at another village. It quickly emptied when we told them we didn't beat the monster. We needed to stop there because the deer became exhausted after hours of running. We put them in a nearby stable and let them rest.
We were in the middle of the main road, waiting for the monster to appear. The wind was picking up. A storm was on its way.
"Do you think the drugs wore off already," I asked.
"Can't risk it. We'll wait a few hours and go back," said Dalton.
"What's the plan for when it arrives?"
"Pray like hell."
The monster appeared on the horizon. It was sprinting with its entire body. Its face was as slack as it was when its brain was stabbed.
I had to run, but that would put people in danger. I couldn't run or it would catch up to me. The deer couldn't help and Dalton already got hurt. There was only one option.
"Ahhhh!" I yelled to the top of the mountain. "Snow! Fall on us!"
"What are you doing," asked Dalton.
"I'm starting an avalanche. It might bury it enough for the drugs to wear off before it causes damage."
"Yelling doesn't cause an avalanche, that's a myth."
It didn't matter, the monster arrived and threw its fist at me. I was barely able to dodge it.
I dodged three more punches before climbing a tree. It destroyed the tree so I jumped to another, then another, and this kept going for a little while. I jumped through ten trees in total.
"Sanji! I have a plan," yelled Dalton.
"Would love to hear it!"
"Use your lighter!" I could hear him because I was too far into the forest. What could he mean by lighter? It came to me at that moment.
The heat coming off the monster melted all the snow on the trees and floor. It also dried them out. It was perfect.
I jumped down the tree and landed on the dirt floor. There was no grass to be found.
The monster came at me. I ducked behind a tree, moved to the left of the monster, and kicked a tree onto it.
The tree hit its shoulder, but it didn't realize it quite yet. I went to its right side and kicked another tree on it. This made it fall on its face. I continued putting trees on it until it looked like a giant bonfire. It only took me a minute.
I took out my lighter and ignited it. I then put the flame around the base of the bonfire. I repeated this a few times. The flames spread to all of the wood in a couple of minutes. I left the fire and returned to Dalton.
He was just outside the forest. "It's done," I said. "Nobody could survive that."
"Nobody could survive that much brain damage either," replied Dalton. "We have to make sure it's dead."
The crackling of the fire grew louder. I could feel the heat on my back. I turned back to see the monster. It was completely on fire. The rest of the forest around it was burning as well. The monster was breathing faster than ever before.
I was in awe. It should be dead, but it keeps getting up. I stepped back and fell on the floor. This was it, I was gonna die.
"Get up," said Dalton. "It's catching its breath. Maybe we could keep going and try again."
"And what? Set another forest on fire? This is it, the end of the line. Get out of here while you still can. You could make it at least."
"No." Dalton stood in front of me. "I have to protect the inhabitants of this island. I let you stay, so you're under my protection."
"Do you know what to do," I asked. I finished the cigarette and started another.
"I have a terrible one." He took in a breath and screamed. "Aghhh! Snow! Fall!"
"But that doesn't work."
"Maybe it will, maybe it won't. Aghhhhh!" He kept yelling.
I joined in. "Aghhhh! Come on snow!"
We screamed for a few seconds. The monster brought a hand up and started breathing again.
A rumbling sound shook the floor. We looked to see a large wave of snow coming from the mountain.
"What's your plan again, Sanji," asked Dalton.
"Get him buried in snow. The drugs could wear off before he escapes."
"Let's hope that works. But first, we have to get out of the way. One of us needs to confirm its death."
The monster brought its fist down. Dalton grabbed me and jumped out of the way. He made me stand up and we ran up the mountain. The monster followed slowly.
"Why don't we go in a house," I asked.
"The snow won't be deep enough down here. It has to completely bury the monster."
The snow was halfway down the mountain. It'll take only a few minutes for us to be hit.
We ran until Dalton stopped. The snow was seconds away from hitting. The monster was on our tail. We were next to a large forest. "This is the spot. The monster will be smothered here."
"How do we get away from the-" Dalton picked me up and threw me to the top of the tree. I grabbed it to avoid falling.
The avalanche hit my feet. I almost lost my grip but my right hand held on. After a short period, I was able to relax in the snow.
"Thank you, Dalton. Your sacrifice won't be forgotten," I said to myself.
I took out a cigarette and took a deep breath from it. I looked around in thought.
It was like the floor was raised by the avalanche. There was so much snow. There was no way Dalton lived. The monster I couldn't be sure.
I looked to where the monster was. There was a divot in the snow. It was getting deeper by the second.
I got up and looked closer into the hole. It looked like it was bubbling. It made sense, if ice gets hot enough then it melts, then it starts to boil.
I watched the snow go into the hole and get boiled away for a few hours. Eventually, it stopped, and I could see the monster, at least I assumed it was.
It looked like it used to be human, probably. It was like a skeleton with a thin covering of skin. No muscles, it only moved from weak breathing. Its eyes were glossed over like they didn't see anything. The monster was defeated.
TO BE CONTINUED...