#(Rogue I apologize for the length of this starter but figured it sets up the situation we discussed)

[ikkaku-of-heart]

Plotted starter for @shambledsurgeon​

There were people out there who assumed that the only member of the Heart Pirates who was even remotely useful in a fight was Law. That the rest of the crew were simply cheerleaders while their captain did all the heavy lifting. Because of that, there were plenty of opportunistic, foolish parties, from Marines to pirates to bounty hunters, who would try to ambush the Hearts when they thought Law wasn’t around.

Too bad for them, Law didn’t employ weaklings.

Slamming her fist into the Marine ensign’s face, breaking his nose and knocking him unconscious, Ikkaku assessed the situation. Darter had already killed four sailors by himself, his axe utterly drenched in blood as he ducked and weaved the sword-swings of what would be his fifth victim. Hakugan was dealing with two lieutenants on his own, his halberd forcing them to keep their distance lest they get disemboweled. Finally, Crozier was going hand-to-hand with a Marine that was three times his size, the arctic survivalist’s swift movements keeping him from ending up with a fist the size of a watermelon bashing his head in. They were the last of the Marines standing, their companions laying in heaps on the ground either bleeding out or unconscious.

Something didn’t sit right, though. Ikkaku could feel in her gut that something was off.

The sound of a gunshot, followed immediately by Darter’s scream of pain, proved her right. Head whipping to the side, she saw the former serial killer clutching his shoulder, blood already staining his boiler suit from the bullet wound. Eyes widening in horror, she charged forward, jamming the end of her shock baton into his Marine opponent’s side before he could cut Darter down. 60,000 volts blasted through his body, smoke rising off of his charred skin as he collapsed.

“Ikkaku,” Darter gasped, and she immediately grabbed her shipmate, pulling him behind a nearby tree in case the sniper was still around. “You need to get out of here.”

“Don’t worry. We’re safe, and Law should be here any moment to patch you up,” she assured, pulling out her first aid kit. She could now see the bullet had gone straight through the shoulder. Her brow furrowed at that, and she turned to look at the felled Marine. His corpse was still smoking slightly, but she could see the stain of blood surrounding a bullet wound in his chest. Realization hit her like one of Shachi’s fists; the sniper had been aiming for Darter but hadn’t bothered to wait until their comrade was out of the way. It was only thanks to the former’s incredible Observation Haki that he’d likely known the shot was coming and could move enough to avoid it being fatal.

Ikkaku’s gut twisted tighter as she peered out from behind the tree, up onto the ledge where she could now see the sniper blowing the smoke off the barrel of his rifle. He was a good distance away, but she knew him. Recognized the black curls that refused to stay slicked back. The dark eyes so much like her own. The wide shoulders and white coat that hung off them. His head jerked back arrogantly before he jumped off the ledge and disappeared into the forest, his smirk sending a clear message.

Come get me, corpse whale.

A cold wave of fury washed over her. Ushi. Of course Ushi had attacked them. Her fucking entitled, psychopath of a brother had sent his men after her nakama. Had even shot one himself. And now he was luring her into the woods, practically inviting her to come after him. To stop him before he could find a new perch and put a bullet in someone else she cared about.

Ikkaku didn’t think. Simply shook off Darter’s hand around her wrist and bolted into the woods. The blood pounding in her ears deafened her to his pleading for her to come back and wait for Law, but she wouldn’t have listened anyway.

Ushi was her brother. Her problem. She would take care of this and keep her nakama safe. It’s what Law would expect from her.