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anubislover · 5 years ago

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Welcome to the Heart Pirates, Nami-ya chapter 15: When Animals Attack

Oh my God, Nami thought as the snow leopard in front of her snarled menacingly. It was a beautiful animal, for sure, with thick, luxurious grey fur, bold black spots, and aurous gold eyes, but she’d be much more inclined to appreciate these features from afar. As it was, she sat frozen stiff only a few yards away from where it crouched, sharp teeth and claws bared, its low growl sending a shiver of fear down her spine.

Beside her, Bepo murmured, “Stay calm, Nami—snow leopards aren’t known to attack people. They’re honestly pretty non-confrontational. If we just back away slowly…”

The big cat growled and jerked forward slightly, making Bepo wince in spite of his assurances. However, the snow leopard didn’t pounce, instead meeting the Mink’s eyes and jerking its head over its shoulder.

Furry eyebrows furrowed as Bepo cautiously peered around the animal, only to rise in shock as he exclaimed, “His back leg’s caught in a snare! No wonder he’s so unhappy!” Rushing forward, he immediately began inspecting the trap. “The knot’s pulled too tight to untie like this. We’ll need to cut you loose.”

Nami stared, mouth agape as the leopard shuffled back a bit, revealing that there was indeed some kind of rope snare caught around its back left ankle, preventing it from moving more than a few feet. It looked like it had been trying to claw and chew its way through the heavy cord, but to no avail. In the light of the fading sun, she could even make out a few spots of blood against the silver fur where the rope must have chaffed and cut into the skin underneath. Nami would argue that, though unfortunate for the trapped animal, that was good news as it gave them a better opportunity to get away. To her surprise, however, the large feline seemed to calm down significantly at Bepo’s assessment, and she wondered if the Mink could talk to animals the way Chopper could.

Her question was answered as the leopard made a few chuffing meows and Bepo replied, “The rest of the crew’s searching for the others on the opposite side of the island. Crozier and Cousteau’s team never came back.”

The casual way Bepo spoke made Nami’s pounding heart subside slightly, though confusion was quickly replacing fear. What was a snow leopard even doing on a summer island? Who had set this trap? Why was it near Law’s ripped swimsuit? For the moment, she settled for asking, “Is this a friend of yours?”

To her surprise, before Bepo could respond the leopard slapped its paw over his mouth and gave a warning growl.

Pushing the massive paw aside, the Mink furrowed his brow in bemusement. “I know it’s embarrassing, but would you rather she keeps thinking you’re a wild animal?”

“Bepo, what are you talking about?” she asked, crossing her arms. She was sitting across from a potentially dangerous beast—being left out of the loop was not something she appreciated.

“This leopard—”

A loud hiss was let out between the feline’s fangs, cutting Bepo off. With a sigh the Mink amended, “He’s…well, he’s not a normal snow leopard, ok? We should free him.”

Though far from comfortable with that plan, Nami had the feeling that, friend or not, Bepo wouldn’t stand for leaving the poor animal there. “Fine, but how? My Clima-Tact’s not exactly designed for cutting, and I don’t think your claws will do much good. We need something with an edge.”

He glanced around, eyes lighting up when he caught sight of a sharp rock a few feet away on the beach. “This should do!” he called, jogging up to it. His happiness was short-lived, however, as there was the familiar sound of something crashing through the underbrush, and Bepo barely had time to brace himself before the wild boar from earlier charged out of the jungle.

I thought Jean Bart tossed that thing into next Tuesday?! Nami screamed internally as she scuttled back against one of the trees. The green-eyed pig must have lucked out with a soft landing, then tracked them down to seek revenge.

The Mink’s natural combat instincts allowed him to avoid getting a sharp tusk buried in his stomach. Instead, he managed to grab the beast by the snout and use its momentum to fling it onto its side, sending it skidding across the wet sand.

Acting fast before the boar could regain its footing, Bepo grabbed the sharp rock and tossed it to Nami. “Here! Cut him free while I handle this!”

“Are you crazy?!” she yelled, even as she caught the stone. The edge felt sharp enough to work as a makeshift knife, though she had no doubt it would take some time to work through the thick rope. That didn’t mean she was eager to start; friend of Bepo’s or not, she was naturally very leery of getting close to an apex predator without a protective Mink ready to step in.

Unfortunately, he had much more pressing matters to deal with at the boar climbed to its feet, kicking at the sand as it prepared to charge again. Bepo got into a kung-fu stance, staring down his opponent before he leapt forward, delivering a series of lightning-fast kicks to its side to drive it back away from the trapped leopard and trembling woman. “Nami, please, just do it before this pig’s friends show up!”

Nami glanced nervously at the snarling snow leopard who was jerking towards the fight, fruitlessly trying to yank itself out of the snare so it could join the fray. Every ounce of common sense screamed at her to keep the hell away from such an agitated beast, but then it turned to look at her, and its gold eyes could only be described as pleading.

Pleading and unnaturally intelligent and oddly familiar.

Bepo’s right; it’s not a normal snow leopard, she thought as she cautiously crawled over to its left leg, letting out the breath she didn’t realize she was holding when it stood still and didn’t so much as hiss at her. “Nice kitty. Good kitty. Promise you won’t bite me?” she whimpered as she placed the edge of the rock against one of the more worn parts of the rope.

To her surprise, it nodded solemnly before turning its attention back to the fight between the Mink and the boar, its shoulders tense as it forced itself to remain still while Nami sawed away at the coiled fibers. She could hear Bepo shouting “Why are you attacking us? Who are you?” and angry squeals in response from the boar.

“He’ll be ok,” she assured, though she felt she was saying it as much to herself as the ensnared leopard. “Bepo may look like a giant teddy bear, but he’s a strong fighter. He wouldn’t be a member of the Heart Pirates if he were a pushover. Heck, he can probably take care of that mean old boar all by himself!”

In response, the leopard let out what could only be described as an annoyed huff, but when she glanced up briefly Nami did note that its posture appeared slightly less anxious. It helped that she caught sight of Bepo grabbing the boar by the tusks again to fling it into a nearby palm tree, though she winced when the vibrations shook the trunk so hard a coconut came loose, the hard-shelled fruit landing squarely on the Mink’s head, dazing him while the boar recovered its breath.

Nami was about halfway through the rope by this point, but her confidence at freeing the snow leopard vanished as she heard a horrible shriek from above her. Looking up, she screamed as a massive, long-maned baboon glared down at her, its fleshy top lip flipping back over its nose to display fangs as large as the leopard’s. Without warning it dove from the tree branches, pouncing on top of the frightened navigator and knocking her backwards away from the snarling big cat who could do nothing but helplessly lash out with its claws, trying to catch either of them before they were out of its reach.

“Nami!” Bepo groaned, stumbling forward to aid his friend. Unfortunately, he was waylaid by a ram charging out of the jungle, its spiraled horns and thick skull bashing into the polar bear’s chest with an audible thunk.

She would have cried out in concern had she not been so distracted by the baboon’s vicious attempts to murder her. It wasn’t a large animal, maybe two feet tall, but it was forty pounds of pure aggression. Its grip on her thin wrists prevented her from reaching for her Clima-Tact or even using the stone in her hand as a weapon, and she was barely able to move her head in time to avoid getting her face bitten off.

Frustrated at her struggling, it released one of her arms to slap her hard across the face. The blow dazed Nami for a moment, and the baboon seemed to laugh, the shrieking sound like nails across a chalkboard. Its attention was briefly taken by the snarls of the leopard behind them. Glancing over its shoulder, the baboon chittered mockingly, again showing off its horrible fangs.

The distraction was enough time for Nami to recover her senses, though. Lacking options, she punched the baboon in the side of the face with her free hand, her fist making a satisfying smack against its cheek. Taking advantage of its stunned state, she managed to land a kick against the fleshy, heart-shaped bald patch on its chest, sending it stumbling backwards directly into the leopard’s clutches. The big cat didn’t waste any time as it sank its claws into the baboon’s back, dragging it closer so it could bury its teeth into its neck. Blood sprayed everywhere as the ape’s throat was ripped out with a harsh jerk.

Catching her breath, Nami searched for Bepo only to find him outnumbered two-to-one on the beach. The boar had managed to regain its footing while the ram continued to bash its skull into the Mink’s stomach, and it was only due to the boar’s injuries than he managed to dodge their combined attempt to batter him from both sides.

“I take it back—Bepo needs help!” she cried, pulling out her Clima-Tact and using the batons to send out a gust of wind towards the ram. However, she’d underestimated the power—the blast was more like a hurricane gale, encompassing both animals and Bepo and knocking them nearly a dozen feet into the ocean.

Ikkaku wasn’t kidding about the power boost, she thought, a sweatdrop cascading down the back of her head. We’ll have to modify that so I can aim better.

There was a muffled growl from beside her, and Nami turned to see the leopard glaring at her as its jaws continued to crush the twitching baboon’s throat. Their eyes met, and it jerked its head pointedly towards the frayed snare, its meaning clear; cut me free already!

This time, Nami didn’t even hesitate—with Bepo outnumbered and her weapon’s accuracy compromised, they needed to end this before more animals showed up. As fast as she could, she sawed through the tough rope, heart pounding as she heard frantic splashing while Bepo cried out. She dared not turn around for fear of losing focus, though, settling for mentally praying to every god she could think of that he was alright. Hell, she’d even pray to that bastard Enel if it could help her friend.

Luckily, the gods help those who help themselves, and at last the rope had frayed enough that, with a mighty lunge, the leopard was able to snap its tether and leap into the fray. Nami had to admit she was impressed with the jump—it practically soared forty feet to land squarely on the ram’s back, its claws and teeth sinking into fur and flesh and holding on tightly as it tried to buck the predator off. Meanwhile, with one less opponent, Bepo was able to turn his focus back onto the boar, nailing it with a flurry of kung-fu kicks and slashing its sides with his own long claws. At long last the boar collapsed under the strain of its own injuries, though its green eyes were full of hate even as the life faded from them.

His enemy vanquished, Bepo spun around, ready to help the snow leopard, only to find the ram had succumbed to the same fate as the baboon, its trachea ruthlessly but efficiently crushed.

When it was sure the ram was completely dead, the snow leopard released its neck, flexing its jaw and using the back of one wide, furry paw to wipe the blood away from its lips. Turning to face its ally, it nodded and let out a low chuffing noise.

“Thanks. You too,” Bepo panted, exhausted but clearly relieved as he collapsed onto the sand with a heavy thump.

The snow leopard gave two more chuffs and prowled towards the Mink, its expression stern and determined.

Fearing the worst, Nami stumbled to her feet and ran towards them, brandishing her staff. Her weapon might not have been as accurate as she liked, but she was perfectly willing to use its raw power to send the leopard flying to keep her friend from getting his throat ripped out. “Get away from him!” she shouted as threateningly as she could. The effect was ruined slightly by her knees knocking together, but to her relief, the large cat did stop in its tracks. Intelligent eyes peered at her, and the tip of its long tail twitched as it glanced between the frightened woman and the Mink.

“Nami, it’s ok!” Bepo assured her, sitting up with a groan. “He’s just worried about my injuries. He’s going to give me a quick examination.”

“Excuse me?” she stammered, mouth hanging open in befuddlement.

To her immense surprise, the snow leopard proceeded to do just that; it prodded Bepo’s ribs and skull with its paws, checked his pupils, and even pressed an ear to his chest to listen to his breathing.

“I don’t think anything’s broken,” the polar bear assured as he returned the favor by removing the remains of the snare from its foot. “My ribs are probably bruised, but aside from that I’m just a bit sore. All this fur and blubber’s good for something, I guess.”

The leopard meowed curtly, and Bepo hung his head. “Sorry.”

The whole thing was such a ridiculous, comical sight Nami could almost imagine the leopard in a doctor’s coat, conferring with Law over its prognosis. She supposed she shouldn’t have been surprised; her own doctor was a blue-nosed reindeer, after all. Perhaps it had eaten some kind of Devil Fruit like Chopper had? That might explain what Bepo had meant by it not being an ordinary leopard.

That didn’t explain anything about the other animals they’d encountered, though. “Ok, I’m no expert, but am I the only one who finds it odd that we were just attacked by a baboon, a wild boar, and a ram? None of these animals are native to the jungle. On top of that, they were clearly working together! What the hell is going on?”

Bepo glanced towards the leopard, who sighed and gave him a nod. “Um, well, it seems there’s a Devil Fruit user on the island.”

“You mean one that can control the animals?” That would make sense. It was possible the animals themselves had been cargo aboard the ship and had gotten loose when it crashed upon the reef. And while she wouldn’t have expected them to last very long on an island so different from their natural habitat, if there was a human who could control them, their chances of survival was much higher, especially if they could be convinced to work together to fend of predators like the snow leopard.

Her theory was disproven when Bepo shook his head. “No; according to Law, it’s more like he can turn people into animals.”

Brown eyes widened and then narrowed. “Law? Where is that jerk? He should have been helping us!”

Bepo shrank down a bit as the leopard sighed. “He was a little tied up…”

“So was the leopard, and that didn’t stop it from saving us both!”

The leopard let out what sounded like a husky, exasperated meow, and Bepo twiddled his claws. “Law says that he would appreciate it if you stopped referring to him as an ‘it’. Please.”

“WHAT?!”

The leopard growled and gave what could only be described as an annoyed scowl as his ears flattened against his head at her loud shriek.

“He’d…also appreciate if you would refrain from being so loud, since his hearing is a lot more sensitive now.”

Well, that sounded like Law. Or at least a polite interpretation of whatever rude thing the Law leopard had more likely said. “Well, you can tell him—”

Holding up his paws to calm her down, Bepo explained, “He can understand you just fine. It’s you understanding him that’s the problem. Sorry.”

Tempting as it was to make a comment about how Law’s biggest problem was actually listening to people, she forced herself to instead study him in his leopard form. Now that she knew who he really was, it was easy to see some vague similarities. The gold eyes were definitely the same. There were black rings of fur under them that bore a passing resemblance to his sleep-deprived bags. The spots and fur were certainly reminiscent of his fuzzy hat. Hidden in the thick fuzz of his ears, Nami could just make out a quartet of gold hoops. And upon noticing her scrutiny, his lips turned up into a smug expression so similar to his trademark smirk that she had no choice but to accept that this was most definitely Law in snow leopard form.

Of course, this brought up more than a few questions. Crouching down to his level, she asked, “So, someone with a Devil Fruit turned you into a big, fluffy kitty?”

He growled at the description but reluctantly nodded.

“Do you think he’s the one who set up that snare you got caught in?”

Another nod.

“Why were your swim trunks ripped to shreds?”

Despite lacking the ability to visibly blush, Law was definitely embarrassed as he glanced away and grumble-meowed something under his breath. Luckily, Bepo’s sharp hearing was able to catch the explanation. “He says, ‘I may have freaked out a little, and they were suddenly way too tight around my waist. Plus, there was no room for my tail’.”

To her credit, Nami at least tried not to laugh, though she failed miserably. As a child, she remembered her and Nojiko once trying to dress up a stray cat they’d found like a doll, and it had not been happy about it. Her active imagination was quickly filled with visions of a leopard flailing around trying to emancipate himself from a pair of yellow swim trunks. The fact that said leopard was really the normally cool and collected Surgeon of Death made the notion even funnier, and she outright cackled at Law’s unimpressed scowl.

“Why didn’t you just Shambles yourself out of them?” she giggled when she finally caught her breath. Her amusement was doused in cold water when she realized the obvious answer. It was the same reason he hadn’t been able to free himself of the snare around his ankle.

Law gave her a look that clearly said “you think I didn’t try that?” However, he humored her by lifting up his paw and letting out a raspy meow that Nami didn’t need Bepo to interpret to mean “Room.”

Nothing happened. No blue bubble, no body parts flying around, not even the sand beneath them stirred.

Law was a snow leopard with human intelligence, but no Ope Ope no Mi powers.

All three of them hung their heads in despair. “This was supposed to be a relaxing vacation,” Nami grumbled, sticking out her bottom lip in a miserable pout. “An uninhabited island where we could all sit back, enjoy the sun, have a little party, and for once not be attacked or drugged or threatened. Glad to see your little plan to give us some downtime has been such a success.”

Law rolled his eyes and yowled in what could only be a bitingly sarcastic manner.

Bepo’s ears drooped as he glanced between him and Nami. “Do I have to translate that?”

“Don’t bother—I can guess what it was,” she replied, glaring at Law. “And you’d better watch your mouth, mister; otherwise you’re going to find yourself the latest addition to the nearest zoo!”

“Nami!” the Mink gasped, utterly horrified. “You wouldn’t really, would you?!”

Cheeks reddening with guilt, she mumbled, “No.” Her comment had, admittedly, been a bit out of line. At this point, offering Law to a zoo was tantamount to turning him in to the Marines for the bounty or selling him at an auction house. At the very least, she could understand why Bepo would take offense. “Sorry. I guess I’m just a little frustrated. I thought we were finally getting a break, and now this happens…” she trailed off as another horrifying thought hit her. She turned to the cooling animal corpses that surrounded them. “Wait. Those animals—you don’t think they were…”

She breathed a little easier when both Bepo and Law shook their heads. “They weren’t our crew. The way they spoke was kind of weird, but they were definitely talking about us like we were enemies.”

Law made a few growling noises, which Bepo translated, “‘None of the Hearts would have ever talked about you the way that baboon did, much less hurt you’.”

Despite herself, Nami had to smile a bit at the statement. She had no idea what that horrible primate had said, but she completely believed Law that her new friends would never lay a hand on her. Though they were certainly more ruthless than the Straw Hats, they’d proven themselves to be more noble than most pirate crews, and unquestionably loyal to those they cared about.

Nami would never trade her nakama for them, of course, but it was nice knowing that her initial distrust of the Heart Pirates had been unfounded.

Speaking of, they still needed to be found. If there really was a Devil Fruit user running around who could turn people into animals, they were in real danger.

Bepo seemed to share her concern. Turning to his captain, he asked, “So, what should we do? Go back to the ship and try to contact the others, or search the jungle for them?”

The second option definitely didn’t appeal to Nami’s sense of self-preservation. “It’s dangerous enough to wander randomly through the jungle at night—it’s even worse when there are traps hidden everywhere.” Rubbing her chin, she turned to Law. “Can’t you, like, track down the person who did this to you?” she asked. “I’m sure leopards have a pretty good sense of smell—sniff him out!”

Law growled irritably, which Bepo translated, “‘That’s what I was trying to do before I got caught in that snare. Unfortunately, I’m a bit new to being a damn leopard—I could pick out what I assumed to be a human scent, but actually following it was trickier than it seems’.”

“Ah. Ok, good point. What about you, Bepo?”

“I’m a bit better at tracking, but with all the animal scents and dirt kicked up by the battle, I’m not hopeful. It’d be easier if I had something to get their scent off of.” Perking up, Bepo smacked a fist into his palm. “I know! Let’s go to the landing site! I might not be able to track whoever turned Law, but I could probably find one of the other groups!”

Another cutting growl, and Bepo hung his head, ashamed. “I’m sorry. You’re right; we all should have just gone looking for you.”

Though she could understand his deference to his captain, Nami bristled slightly at the way he immediately deflated at the obvious reprimand. “Seriously, Law? You’re the one who sulked away on his own!” she scolded, poking his nose petulantly. “None of this would have happened if you’d stayed at the party and had some fun like you were supposed to!”

Batting away her hand, Law’s long tail flicked irritably as he replied with a series of deep meows and chuffs.

“Ummm, he says, ‘My powers literally could have found everyone and gotten them off the island in seconds. Finding me would have been the best course of action’.”

“Except you can’t even use your powers right now, so it would have been pointless! Besides, your crew shouldn’t rely on you for everything; situations like these prove exactly why!”

Gold eyes narrowed, and the angry string of snarls Law let out made Bepo gasp. “Law, that’s mean!”

“What did he say, Bepo?” she snapped, stubbornly meeting Law’s glare head-on.

The bear slouched further into himself as he mumbled, “He said ‘It’s situations like these that prove why I can’t leave you all to your own devices! Why I have to plan things out, because if I leave it to the rest of you, everything will go straight to hell’.” His round black eyes glistened as his bottom lip quivered. “Are we really such a burden, Captain?” he whimpered, wringing his hands in shame.

To his credit, Law’s ears drooped and his shoulders slumped as he regarded his navigator with clear guilt. Nami hoped his quiet meows were in apology and not some kind of bullshit justification, as Bepo mumbled, “It’s ok, Law. I understand.”

With a huff, Nami climbed to her feet. “So, we’re going back to the landing site, right? It’s our best shot, and maybe one or two of the other groups have returned.” Turning on her heel, she began marching west-ward down the sandy beach. “Besides, if we’re dealing with a Devil Fruit user, I’d much rather stick close to the ocean until we have a better plan.”

After a few moments, she heard the tell-tale sound of shuffling footsteps behind her. She found it unusual that, Law at least, was opting to let her lead. Glancing over her shoulder, she confirmed that a polar bear and a snow leopard were indeed following her, and not some dangerous creep waiting to turn her into a wild animal.

It was weird, looking down at Law instead of up for once. What must it be like for him in such an alien body? She supposed she should cut him some slack—of course he was frustrated, being unable to properly communicate with anyone but Bepo, the loss of his powers, being caught in a trap, and suddenly having stronger senses but no clear understanding of how to use them. Add in the stress of an unknown enemy and the chance that his crew was in danger, and Nami supposed she’d be a bit snappish, too.

He seemed to be adapting well to his new form, though. Even over her shoulder, Nami could admire the way he prowled gracefully across the sand. His enormous feet didn’t seem to sink too deeply into the fine grains, either. She imagined the beach, while quite different from the artic climate snow leopards thrived in, shared enough similarity with freshly fallen snow that the snowshoe-like paws were able to move across it almost as easily. And though he lacked his human height, Law’s luminous golden eyes were surely more adept at seeing in the twilight hours that had fallen.

Wait. Low height, plus superior vision, plus walking behind a beautiful woman…

“Bepo?”

“Yeah, Nami?”

“Law’s staring at my ass, isn’t he?”

The Mink twiddled his claws while the leopard appeared unapologetic. “Ummm…he says he’s just trying to make the best out of a bad situation.”

Nami could have screamed in outrage, but for the sake of both the pirate-turned-leopard and the Mink navigator, she refrained. “Well, then he owes me a 50,000 belli sightseeing fee.”

Before long, they were back at the party site, though it was clear they weren’t the first people to stop by. However, given the state everything was in, it was doubtful it had been the crew. Much of the food was gone. Beach bags had been emptied, their contents strewn about as if the culprit had been looking for something. Many of the blankets and towels were conspicuously missing, too, but most surprisingly was the absence of the grill.

“Yeesh. I don’t think the boar and his friends did this,” Nami quipped, righting one of the lounge chairs.

“If this Devil Fruit user is a castaway, he was probably scavenging for supplies,” Bepo noted as he tossed a few extra pieces of wood onto the smoldering fire to give them some more light.

That made sense. While the party had been ransacked, there didn’t appear to be any undo damage done. No violent slashes across the beach umbrellas, no bloody animal remains, not even a threatening note. “Hey, Law, did you get a good look at the guy that turned you?”

Law grunted and chuffed as he inspected the area, sniffing around for his attacker’s scent. “‘He caught me from behind, so I only managed to catch a glimpse of him as he ran off. He looked like an older man. Messy gray hair. Tattered clothes. Skinny, probably from malnourishment’.”

“Huh. Weird.”

“What is, Nami?” Bepo asked as he inspected the sand for footprints. It seemed their mystery assailant was pretty good at covering his tracks, though, as there was very little to indicate exactly where he’d disappeared back into the forest.

She cocked her hip and rubbed her chin as she spoke. “Well, physically at least, he doesn’t sound particularly strong. So why would he turn Law into a potentially dangerous predator? I mean, even if he’d set up traps to keep him from giving chase, that’s a hell of a risk, right?” She turned to Law to gage his reaction, only to stare at the apex predator in disbelief.

“What the heck are you doing?”

Law seemed just as surprised as she was at the fact that his tail was in his mouth. He let out a muffled meow, which Bepo translated to “‘I don’t know. It just feels right’.”

Nami was torn between laughing and smacking her forehead. On one hand, he was utterly adorable. The infamous Surgeon of Death, one of the most feared upstart pirate rookies on the Grand Line, was sitting on all fours, the tip of his fluffy tail caught gently between his teeth as he looked up at her with utter seriousness. On the other hand, it made her wonder if, the longer he stayed in that form, the more leopard-like he’d become.

“Hey, Bepo, you said those animals that attacked us sounded weird, right?” she asked, trying to sound as nonchalant as she could, even as her heartrate sped up in concern.

“Yeah?”

“Weird how?”

The two artic mammals glanced at each other. “Well, I guess it was kind of…primitive, almost? There wasn’t a lot of proper grammar. It’s kind of like when someone’s speaking another language, but they aren’t fluent, you know? Or when you’re trying to say something, but you can’t remember the right words to get your meaning across.”

“And Law didn’t sound like this?”

“No, he’s been pretty articulate.”

“Well, that’s good to hear!” she said with forced cheer, plastering a smile across her face. Though she should be reassured that the mental degradation didn’t seem to be instantaneous, the fact was, it sounded like it was inevitable.

However, it seemed that even in leopard form, Law wasn’t easily fooled. “He wants to know what you’re thinking, Nami,” Bepo said, white brow furrowing in concern.

Quickly thinking up a lie, she said, “I’m just wondering where those other animals might have come from! I mean, it’s safe to assume they were human, right? So, if it was obvious they could understand you, why did they keep attacking instead of asking us for help?”

Though the Mink seemed to consider her question, Law looked up at her sternly and let out a deep growl, hackles raised.

Blinking in surprise, Bepo translated, “He’s saying ‘While that’s a good question, do you really think I’m that stupid? It’s clear they’ve been in animal form for a while and are probably slowly losing their human minds. I already came to the same conclusion—I just didn’t say anything because that’s my problem, not yours’.”

“Like hell it’s not our problem!” Nami argued, stomping her foot in frustration. “You crew needs a captain! Preferably one that doesn’t risk the chance of turning completely feral someday!”

“‘I didn’t want to bring it up for the same reason you didn’t; to avoid panicking anyone! And it won’t be a problem if we can just find this asshole and make him change me back’!”

“And how exactly do you intend to ‘make’ him turn you human again, Law? You don’t have your powers, so you can’t scare him with those. We can’t risk killing him; that might just leave you like this forever!”

His eyes were steady and uncompromising as Bepo answered for him, “‘Then we’ll just slap him in Seastone cuffs and dunk him into the ocean until he agrees to turn me back’.”

Cold dread spread through Nami’s chest like frost on a windowpane while acrid bile bubbled up in her throat. She’d seen more than a few men drowned as torture and punishment during her time with Arlong. It had been something he’d found particularly amusing, as it further highlighted the genetic inferiority of humans compared to Fishmen. It had been one of the many reasons that, when Zoro had leapt into the water back at Arlong Park, she’d jumped in to save him—she’d witnessed more than enough men die in that pool.

She knew Law wasn’t as monstrous as Arlong, but it frightened her to think that, when pushed to the edge, he was capable of even considering such things. Aside from turning Law into an animal and stealing some of their stuff, had this guy really done anything to warrant what was probably the most horrible thing a person could do to a Devil Fruit user?

Blunt nails dug into her palms as Nami’s hands tightened into fists. Her stance widened slightly, as if ready for a fight, as she stared the Dark Doctor down. “You’re not torturing anyone, Law. I don’t care if this guy turns out to be a total psychopath—I’m not going to stand by and watch you torture a frail old man.”

“‘Do you want me human again or not’?”

Of course she did, but her conscience wouldn’t allow her to go that far. Looking for reinforcements, Nami turned to Bepo. “You agree with me, don’t you? I mean, how can you repeat what he just said with a straight face?”

The Mink looked dejected. “I don’t like it either, but if we don’t have any other choice…I mean, we can’t just leave him like this!”

“Then we should try to strike a deal with him! Pay him off! Reason with him! But if you expect me to just stand by while you fucking torture another human being—”

A loud, pained yowl from Law cut off her argument as he jerked forward, his left hind leg kicking out wildly. Nami jumped back to avoid his erratic movements as he blindly tried to claw at his back leg.

“Law! Law, what’s going on? Are you hurt?” Bepo cried as he grabbed his flailing body, trying to hold him still so he could examine him. However, it was Nami who noticed the odd coil of yellow, red, and black stripes peeking out from beneath the monochrome sea of spotted fur. Gasping, she realized what was wrapped around Law’s back foot wasn’t the remains of the snare, but a snake, its head buried in the thick fur to get to the tender flesh below.

“Snake!” she shrieked, pointing at the colorful ring that flexed against the leopard’s leg.

Black eyes widened as Bepo found the culprit. Holding down his flailing captain with most of his body weight, he used his long claws to try and pry at the tightly coiled serpent, but it was so long and thin that it kept slipping through his fingers.

“I can’t find its head!” he cried, panicking.

Taking a massive, unbelievably stupid risk, Nami grabbed one of the discarded fish skewers and jammed the sharp tip into the snake’s flesh. That seemed to force it to finally let go as it hissed in fury and pain, its head turning to glare at Nami with eyes full of unbridled hatred. It let go of Law, but despite its wound it struck out at her, its mouth latching onto her boot.

Luckily, its fangs couldn’t seem to penetrate through the thick leather, though it was clearly determined to try and chew its way through. Acting fast, Nami kicked off the boot and used her Clima-Tact to blast both it and the snake out into the ocean, where they landed with a barely-audible plop.

The threat taken care of, Nami turned back to Bepo, who was cradling the panting, hissing Law, petting his fur and coaxing him to calm down.

“Is it gone?” the Mink whimpered nervously.

She crawled back over to the duo, taking in the way Law’s feline face was pinched in agony while his back foot continued to twitch. “Yeah, but I’m pretty sure it was another transformed human like the rest of them, so there could be more. How’s Law?”

Swallowing hard, Bepo took a deep breath before donning a serious expression. “Do you know much about snakes?”

“No—venomous ones aren’t all that common in the East Blue.”

“We don’t get many in the North, either, but Law taught us emergency procedures for treating snake bites before we entered the Grand Line just in case. At least, enough to get us to the infirmary so he could remove the venom himself.”

“Ok, then what do we do? Make a tourniquet? Elevate his leg?”

Bepo looked horrified at her suggestion. “What? No! That’ll just make things worse! What I need you to do is check the wound to see how big the fang marks are and if there’s any swelling or discoloration.”

“Ok, yeah, I can do that,” she mumbled, though she squeaked nervously when Law instinctively kicked out at her when she tried to prod the wound.

“Easy, Law,” she whispered soothingly, petting his thigh in hopes that it would help him relax. “It’s just me. Bepo and I are just trying to help you. Just hold still for me, ok?” Her gentle touch combined with her coaxing tone seemed to get through to him as he managed to relax just a little, and she took the opportunity to part the thick fur away from where she’d seen the snake sink its teeth in.

The snake had been small, but smart—its fangs might not have been able to piece through Nami’s boot, but it had gone for the area that the coarse snare had rubbed and chaffed. In the center of the red ring of raw, faintly bleeding skin were two tiny, barely visible puncture marks.

“I don’t see any swelling. Do you think it was venomous?” she asked Bepo nervously, taking in the gasping, agonized face of Law. Her heart felt like it was being squeezed in her chest as his eyes clenched, trying to block out the pain. There were a ton of deadly snakes out there—vipers, cobras, copperheads, mambas—and given how none of the wildlife had been native to the jungle island so far, or even acted like they should, she couldn’t narrow any of them down!

“Given how much pain he’s in, I’d say yes.” Carefully, Bepo gathered his captain in his arms like a baby, lifting him up and scurrying towards the boats as quickly as he dared. “We need to get him to the ship right away; I’ll take him to the infirmary while you hit the library.”

“Why the library?” Nami panted as she climbed in after them, starting up the motorboat’s engine.

“Because Law stands no chance at survival if you can’t identify that snake.”

XXX

“How’s he doing?” Nami asked as she skidded into the familiar, sterile room of the infirmary, carrying Dr. R. Monroe’s Encyclopedia of the World’s Known Snakes in her arms. It had been the largest book on snakes she could find in the zoology section, and she’d been relieved to find it included colored photographs of the specimens documented. Her knowledge of snakes was limited, but she knew there were some breeds, like the king cobra, that could kill a human in as little as fifteen minutes—she didn’t have the luxury of going through every written description while Law’s life surely ticked away.

On the stainless steel table the leopard captain lay, panting faintly but at least no longer writhing in pain. Whether that was because it had subsided or he was forcing himself to remain stoic so as to not worry the pair of navigators, Nami wasn’t certain, but she admittedly breathed a little easier seeing him so calm.

Upon finishing wrapping a clean, cloth bandage around the leg, Bepo answered, “Aside from the pain of the bite, there haven’t been any noticeable symptoms yet. Even the wound itself hasn’t been swelling, though I did shave the area and wrap a clean bandage around it to avoid any infections. Unfortunately, the only antivenom we have is for jellyfish and other toxic sea creatures.”

“What about the others? Any luck reaching anyone on the den den mushi?”

His shoulders sagged. “No one’s answered yet. It rang and it rang…”

Plopping herself into a chair, Nami forced herself to not imagine all the reasons why no one was picking up. “We’ll try again later. Someone’s bound to pick up eventually. Or maybe they’ll call us—animals or not, surely one of them can figure out a way to reach out to us.”

Though he still looked nervous, his fellow navigator’s sure tone seemed to help ease his own doubts. “You’re right. In the meantime, we should figure out exactly what kind of snake bit Law. That’s the more pressing issue.”

“At least I caught a good look at it,” Nami sighed, cracking open the hefty tome. While Bepo continued to busy himself by fussing over his injured captain, pressing for details on his condition, she flipped through the pages, scowling at every snake she passed for daring to not be the one she needed. A few chapters in, though, her heart soared—she’d found a snake with the same colored stripes.

“‘Milk snakes are constrictors, so they're non-venomous. Their temperament is non-aggressive, and do not pose any risk to humans. Milk snakes have small, hooked teeth, rather than fangs. Although a bite may hurt, getting bitten wouldn't cause any serious harm’,” she read aloud.

“Phew! Sounds like we got lucky!” Bepo said cheerfully, though Law appeared doubtful. As he stared her down critically, she began to understand his concern—could a non-venomous snake bite hurt that much? And then there was the fact that the snake had clearly been as intelligent as the others. Even if its human mind had degraded, there was no way a constrictor that size would try to attack a seventy-pound snow leopard.

None of it was adding up, and her misgivings pressed her to take another long look at the glossy picture. The snake looked…similar, but not exactly like the one she’d seen. The head was different, too—the one she’d seen had a completely black head and was a bit rounder in shape. Studying the text further, her hopeful heart dropped into her stomach. “‘Some milk snakes have a striking resemblance to the highly-venomous coral snakes, in Batesian mimicry, which likely scares away potential predators. Both milk snakes and coral snakes possess transverse bands of red, black, and yellow’.”

“…so, he could have been bitten by a coral snake?”

Dread creeping through her veins as she heard Bepo whimper, she turned the page to find a side-by-side comparison photo, and she knew she’d been foolish to get her hopes up. Unlike the milk snake, what she’d seen had displayed wide bands of red and black separated by smaller yellow ones. Flipping to the page indicated in the footnote, her fears were confirmed.

“He was definitely bitten by a coral snake,” she stated, throat tightening. “According to the book, ‘coral snake venom is a neurotoxin that causes rapid paralysis and respiratory failure. It's actually the second most-venomous snake, second only to the black mamba, but it is regarded as far less dangerous because its poison-delivery system is not very effective. They are exceptionally painful bites, but their fangs are small so they cannot penetrate things like leather, and sometimes even fail to puncture human skin’.”

Black claws clutched his snout nervously. “But…Law’s not human right now, and it went after his chaffed leg. How quickly does it affect snow leopards?”

Swallowing hard, she skimmed through the paragraphs of text, flipping through the pages in the vain hope for an answer. “…it doesn’t say. Damn it! Whoever turned someone into a venomous snake is getting a lightning bolt straight to the chest!”

“I can’t believe this is happening!” Bepo cried woefully. “We never had to worry about things like this in the North Blue! Back home it was mostly frostbite and hypothermia—snakes were the least of our problems! I don’t know what to do about something like this!” His eyes started to fill up with tears as he whimpered, “He’s like my brother—I can’t lose him like this.”

Before Nami could figure out a way to comfort the Mink, Law had already sat upright and flicked his long tail across his younger crewmate’s nose to get his attention. As Bepo looked at him in apprehension, he uttered a few reassuring chuffs, even patting his arm with a fluffy paw.

“You sure?” Bepo sniffed.

An affirmative grunt, followed by a few more chuffs and meows, brought a smile back to the Mink’s cute face. “You’re right. It’ll take a lot more than a little bite to kill you, Captain.” He turned back to Nami, confidence in his captain instantly drying his tears. “Leopard or not, Law should be alright while we develop an antivenom.”

Though she was loathed to rain on their parade, Nami was a realist at heart, and no amount of comforting words was going the change the fact that Law currently had venom from one of the world’s most dangerous snakes pumping through his veins. “But how? I blew the snake away! How are we supposed to develop an antidote if we don’t have a sample of its venom?”

Nodding assuredly to himself, Bepo replied, “Antivenom isn’t the actual venom of the snake; it’s made by injecting small doses into lab animals, whose white blood cells create antibodies. The blood is then taken from the animal and then purified.” The Mink’s face lit up. “Law’s an animal! We could take a sample of his blood and purify it to make the antivenom!”

“Do you know how?”

A dark cloud of gloom settled back over his head. “No. Law was usually the one to do it, since it was easy with his powers. Sorry.”

Nami wanted to scream. Once again, Law doing everything himself and making his crew rely too much on his powers was coming back to bite them in the ass. He was the guy with all the plans; shouldn’t he have made contingency plans for when he was out of action? Even if snake bites were unlikely, what about when he was injured, or sick? What, had he planned on pushing through a serious illness until he collapsed? Only the most stubborn, moronic, irresponsible…

Her mental tirade trailed off as she was forced to acknowledge that she wasn’t entirely much better; when she’d fallen ill on the way to Alabasta, no one else knew how to use a Log Pose, forcing them to sail blindly until they’d managed to stumble upon Drum Island. Hell, at the time, she’d been the only one with any medical knowledge to boot! How much of a hypocrite was she if she berated Law for something like this when she’d made the same stupid mistake?

She was shaken from her thoughts by Bepo nervously tapping on her shoulder. “Nami, I hate to ask, but Law wants to know; what are the exact symptoms he can expect?”

Swallowing down her frustration and fear, she located the pertinent information. “‘It takes hours for symptoms to take effect and there is no pain or swelling of the wound itself after the fact. Initial symptoms include slurred speech, double vision, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dizziness, and paralysis of the skeletal muscles. If it continues to go untreated, the lung muscles and heart muscles will become paralyzed, which leads to respiratory/cardiac arrest’.”

“That really doesn’t sound good.”

Law waved his paw in a gesture for Nami to bring the book over. Numbly she placed the tome in front of him, turning the page when she noticed that his snowshoe-like paw couldn’t quite manage the feat.

After a few more moments, Law let out a few matter-of-fact meows and chuffs.

“He says ‘So long as I don’t move too much and keep my heart rate down, I should be alright for up to thirteen hours before I start to suffer such effects. Six if I’m doing anything strenuous. We at least have time to come up with a plan’.”

Despite his reassurances, Nami couldn’t bring herself to get her hopes up again. “What plan, Law? We’re screwed! You’ve been bitten by one of the most venomous snakes in the world, you’re a leopard who can’t even use your powers to remove the venom or create an antidote, the crew’s still missing, there are dangerous people-turned-animals out there that want to kill us, and we don’t even know who turned you into a leopard in the first place!”

“He says, ‘Panicking isn’t going to do us any good. I have dozens of books on neurotoxins—surely one of them should have an antidote that can buy us some time. You’ll stay here and see if you can find one. Bepo and I will try to track down the man responsible for my transformation; if I can become human again, I’ll get my powers back, and the antivenom will be a moot point’.”

Jaw dropping as he realized what he’d just said, Bepo turned to yell at his captain, “You’re not going anywhere!”

“Damn right you’re not!” Nami snapped, slapping her palm flat across the metal table for emphasis. “You just said moving around would expediate the effects! Are you trying to kill yourself?!”

Ears flattening back against his head, Law let out a series of curt growls.

Instead of translating, Bepo replied, “First of all, you said so yourself that you don’t know how to properly track. Second of all, what if there are other snakes waiting to take a bite out of you? And third of all, I’m not going to let you run around in the jungle when you’re injured!”

A few more growls were cut off when Bepo stomped his foot stubbornly. “I’m not carrying you, either! We don’t know if there are any other enemy animals out there! You’ll be a sitting duck!”

Ears flattening back against his head, Law hissed in argument.

“Just because I have faith in you doesn’t mean I’m going to let you risk your own health like this! If anyone is staying here to do research, it’s you; you’ll have a better understanding of your medical books, anyway.”

Frustrated, Law pointed at the open book before wiggling his toes meaningfully.

“…ok, so maybe turning the pages will be a problem. Fine then; Nami will stay with you while I track the old man down.”

Gold eyes widened and then narrowed, and though Nami was firmly on Bepo’s side—and perhaps a little impressed that the meek bear was actually standing up to his captain—she couldn’t support this plan, either. “Even if you could sniff the guy out, it’s too dangerous for you to go alone,” she argued.

“Then what are we supposed to do, Nami? Sit around and wait for the guy to call us?”

Frowning sympathetically, she reached out and clasped one of his giant paws between her hands. “No, but we also can’t get into heated arguments—we need to keep Law’s heartrate down, remember.”

Eyes wide, Bepo watched Law’s broad chest heave as he tried to reign in his anger. Guilt immediately washed over the bear’s face as he realized he’d inadvertently helped speed up his best friend’s deadly condition. “I’m sorry,” he moaned, pulling away from Nami to wrap his big arms around Law, hugging him tightly. “I didn’t mean it! Please don’t die, Law!”

The pirate in question glowered over his shoulder for a moment before finally sighing in resignation, letting out a low grunt as he allowed the larger animal to cuddle him like a stuffed animal. After a few moments, though, he started panting again, and Law lifted his paws to push Bepo away.

“Are you ok? Am I hurting you?” the Mink asked anxiously, checking him for any obvious injuries.

A hint of a smile touched the leopard’s muzzle as he chuffed in response, and after a moment of stunned silence, Bepo let out a happy chuckle.

“What’s so funny?” Nami asked, glancing between the two friends. The argument was over, at least, though she wasn’t completely sure this was a time for laughter.

Scratching his cheek bashfully, Bepo replied, “Sorry. Law just asked me to remind him to install the library’s air conditioning throughout the rest of the ship—he now fully understands why I complain so much about the heat.”

Nami frowned sympathetically. Law really did look miserable in all that thick fur, and the climate control in the infirmary didn’t seem to be cooling him down quickly enough. She took out her Clima-Tact and turned it to the lowest setting, pleased when she was able to successfully produce a cool breeze to blow across him. He gave an audible sound of relief as he stuck his face right into the wind, eyes closed tightly as he basked in the invigorating cold.

“It’s not much,” she mumbled, more to herself than the injured cat before her, “but I can at least cool you down. I won’t even charge you.”

This sucks, she thought to herself. The crew’s missing, Law’s on a ticking clock, and the most I can do is act as an air conditioner. We should have headed straight to Atifakuto instead of taking this stupid vacation. We should have known that even an unpopulated island on the Grand Line was still too dangerous to relax on. I should have made Law stay at the party, or at least gone with him. I should have kept an eye out for strange animals instead of arguing with him on the beach. I should have—

Nami nearly fell backwards in her chair in shock when Law crawled forward and rubbed his head against her neck and cheek, letting out a low purr. “Wha—?”

Beside them, Bepo smiled and cooed at the cute display. “Law says ‘Studies have shown that a cat’s purr, when it reaches certain frequencies, can lower stress levels and reduce the risk of heart attacks’.”

“Do leopard purrs reach that?”

“He doesn’t know, but the look on your face says it couldn’t hurt.”

She sighed, though her hand unconsciously buried itself in the thick, soft fur around Law’s neck. “I was that obvious, huh?”

The Mink rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. “Just a little. We’re all scared, Nami, but we’ll figure something out. Law will come up with a brilliant plan eventually, and you Straw Hats always seem to pull off the impossible.”

The earnest show of faith in both his captain’s intelligence and her own crew’s uncanny luck finally brought a smile back to Nami’s face. It was like Bellemere always said; “if you can survive, happy times—lots of ‘em—will come your way.” Surely, they’d get through this, just like any other obstacle on the Grand Line. If nothing else, there was no point in getting caught up in a guilt spiral. She’d never been the sort of woman to accept blame for her own actions. Why should she beat herself up over circumstances out of her control?

Confidence returning and with Law still insistently butting his head against her, she gave in and started petting him, taking special care to scratch behind his large, fluffy ears. His purring grew louder as he leaned into her touch. Back on the beach she hadn’t been able to fully appreciate how luxuriously soft his fur was. Her fantasy of curling up on a cold winter’s night with Bepo and Chopper now included a very snuggly snow leopard sprawled across her lap.

“We’ll figure this out, ok Law?” she murmured into his fur. “Just trust us.”

At that moment, a purururu echoed throughout the infirmary, and three heads snapped in unison towards the den den mushi that was loudly ringing. Being the closest, Bepo scrambled to pick up the receiver, anxiously answering, “Hello? Crozier? Cousteau? Is that you?”

“Hello? What’s a Cousteau?” came a confused, scratchy voice on the other end. It was unfamiliar, but unquestionably that of an older man.

“Oh, sorry. He’s a diver.”

“Oh. Well, that’s not me.”

“Ok. Well, sorry to bother you.”

“It’s alright. Take care now.”

With that, Bepo hung up. It took him a moment to register the dropped jaws and exasperated stares his two companions were giving him. “What?”

“Bepo! That had to be the guy who did this!” Nami shouted, pointing at Law, whose tail was swishing back in forth in agitation as a paw tried to pinch the bridge of his nose to hold back his annoyance.

Black eyes widened as Bepo turned back around, speedily dialing the number for Crozier’s mini den den mushi.

“Hello?”

“Hi, it’s me again. You see, you’re calling from my shipmate’s phone, so I was wondering if you’d seen him? Or maybe the rest of my crew?”

“You mean those pirates? Yeah, I’ve seen them. Turned them all into animals, then locked them in cages!” he replied almost proudly.

“You did what? You jerk!” Bepo growled, glaring at the snail phone. “Why’d you kidnap my nakama?”

“They were trespassing on my island!”

“Oh, sorry,” he replied before remembering he was supposed to be angry. “Hey, what makes it your island, anyway? We found it months ago! Besides, that doesn’t mean you can just turn people into animals, you know!”

The snail glared back at the Mink stubbornly. “Well, I like animals much better than people. Especially when those people are pirates! I hate pirates the most!”

“Sorry.”

Sensing they were getting nowhere, Nami quickly shooed Bepo away from the den den mushi and said sweetly, “What a coincidence! So do I! They’re just the absolute worst, aren’t they?”

For a moment, the snail mimicked the look of surprise on the caller’s face before emphatically agreeing, “Just awful! They’re cruel and rude and just refuse to let me live in peace! I used to be a respected naturalist before they kidnapped me. Made me use my Iki Iki no Mi powers to turn people into animals for them!”

Oof, Nami thought with a wince. Sounds like this guy has a halfway-decent reason to hate pirates. Better stay on his good side. “Well, I’ll tell you what; how about I take these nasty pirates off your hands? If you hate them so much, wouldn’t it be better to turn them over to someone who could take them far away from your island?” The man sounded a little…odd, but despite calling them, he wasn’t laying down ransom demands or threats. Maybe he was a reasonable guy who’d settle for letting them go in return for being left in peace.

“Hmmm, maybe…” he mumbled, the snail flexing its jaw as he thought it over. “Wait. Can you swim, missy?”

“Yeah.”

“Can you sail one of those little boats I saw on the beach?

“Yeah.”

“Could you possibly get onto that wreck on the reef?”

“Yeah…”

“Then I’ll make you a deal—you get me a few things from that ship, and I’ll let the pirates go!” he said cheerfully.

Nami, Bepo, and Law all fell over in surprise. “What? I’m already doing you a favor by taking them off your hands!” she shouted into the receiver.

The snail’s expression turned unexpectedly sly. “Missy, you sound like a smart young lady. Surely you’re familiar with the concept of ‘supply and demand’?”

“Yes,” she ground out through her teeth. So much for this guy being friendly and reasonable.

“Well, I’ve got the supply, and you’ve got the demand. Therefore, if you want them back, you’ve gotta pay my price.”

“You’re not getting a single belli—”

“I don’t want money! Where the hell would I spend it? I’m just proposing a fair trade; the crew for some provisions from the shipwreck. I want a pair of thick, leather boots in a size ten. A thick coat for cold nights. Cooking utensils and pots and pans from the galley. Maybe a few books, too, if you can find any that haven’t been destroyed. If you can bring me all that, I’ll give you back your friends.”

Brow furrowing at the list of demands, Nami bit her lip. It wasn’t an unreasonable request. Hell, if anything it sounded like she was getting the better end of the deal, which naturally made her suspicious.

“Why do you need me to get these things for you? What’s your game?”

The snail shook its head, expression sincere. “No game, missy; I’m a Devil Fruit user, so trying to get out there myself would be suicide, even with a boat.” There was a tense pause before he added meekly, “Please? All I’m asking for are some basic supplies so I can live out the rest of my days in peace. I’m not looking to hurt anybody—my powers have done that enough over the years.”

Nami could hear the self-loathing in his voice and she felt suddenly sympathetic. This was definitely a man who’d been abused by his captors. “Look, I get being afraid of a bunch of pirates showing up, but your powers did hurt someone. The guy you turned into a snow leopard got bitten by a coral snake.”

The snail’s eyes widened in horror. “He did?!”

“Yeah.”

“Then even if you don’t want to help me, you need to get to that ship! The pirates who used me dealt in snake venom among other things, so the infirmary always carried a heavy supply of antivenom.”

“Really?!” Nami asked, flabbergasted. Out of the corner of her eye, Nami saw Law perk up, and Bepo had started quietly doing a little happy dance beside him at the good news.

“Really. Hell, that snake is why I want the boots—he can’t bite through leather.” After a moment, the man’s voice turned compassionate. “Ok, of course your first priority is going to be getting that antivenom. I’m still not letting your crew go without a trade, but I can wait until your friend is safe. You need to administer the antivenom over several hours to be effective, and it’s best to wait until paralysis has begun to set in to avoid a potential allergic reaction. How long has it been since he’s been bitten?”

“About an hour.”

“Alright. I can hold out until dawn, but no later. I’m on a bit of a ticking clock myself—that snake that bit you? He’s one of my old captors, along with the other aggressive animals on the island. Now that there’s a ship they can use to sail out of here, they’ll be more determined than ever to kill me.”

“Why?”

“So they can turn back into humans. Not that I’m sure that’ll work, but it’s a risk you can’t exactly take, is it, missy? Not if you want your own pirates back to normal.”

Nami bit her lip. Well, that was a bit of a problem. “How many of your old crew are out there? I was able to launch the snake into the ocean, and we killed a baboon, a boar, and a ram…”

“Unfortunately, there’s still a few more out there, then, and they’re even worse.”

She could have screamed. Just when it seemed like it was smooth sailing ahead, another storm had to form on the horizon. “If they were your captors, why didn’t you turn them into fuzzy bunnies or something?” she groused.

“Because while I can turn people into animals, I can’t always control what form they take—especially if they a strong will. Making them herbivores and snakes with small teeth was the best I could manage.”

Sighing, Nami ran a hand over her face. She needed to focus on the bright side—there was a supply of antivenom nearby, the Heart Pirates were alive, and their captor was willing to trade them for some pretty basic stuff.

She looked at the nearby desk clock. Low tide would be in a few hours—it would be safest to explore the wreck then. But how long would it take to get everything this weird old man was demanding? Could they risk multiple trips? Would he still be alive by the time they got back?

There were a lot of tricky variables to contend with, but it was still better than nothing.

Squaring her shoulders, Nami said resolutely into the receiver, “You’ve got a deal, then. Keep this den den mushi with you—I’ll call once we have your things. If your old captors attack, call us so we can come save your ass. Like you said, we can’t risk you dying.”

The snail gave a small, shaky smile. “Be careful, missy. That ship’s been out there for nearly two months; I’m not sure how safe it is now.”

Glancing over at Law on the examination table, she gave him a confident grin. “Don’t worry about me—I’m a Straw Hat. My nakama and I always seem to pull off the impossible.”

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sad-trash-writing · 8 years ago

Text

Who’s The Hero of Your Story?, Ch. 10

AO3 Link

The next day, Jemma headed back to the coffee shop. She had mixed up the compound she made from Raina’s sample with some general antiseptics and moisturizers and made a cream out if it to give to Daisy. Whatever got into the wound from Raina would hopefully be blocked by it and allow the scratches to heal.

Daisy’s scratches looked even worse today. Hopefully this worked.

Without a word, Jemma held the tiny jar out to Daisy.

“Thank you,” Daisy said, taking the jar with a smile, “What exactly is it?”

Jemma shrugged. “Just a little something I came up with in the lab.”

Daisy snorted. “So you’re getting a PhD in making face cream?”

“Biochemistry, actually. Mostly focusing on the various uses of genetically altered plants,” Jemma replied.

“Huh,” Daisy muttered inspecting the jar, “How do I know your lab experiment won’t kill me?”

“I guess you just have to trust me.”

Daisy smirked. “Alright, I’ll give it a try. I know where to find you if I suddenly start sprouting leaves.”

Jemma blanched. “I’m sorry?”

Daisy waved the little jar in the air. “This has mutant plants in it, right? If I turn green, I’m gonna be annoyed.”

Jemma huffed out a nervous laugh. “Right, well, that shouldn’t happen. I, uh, have to meet with someone in the lab. Bye!”

Jemma scurried out the front door and took a few deep breaths. She thought for a moment she had blown her cover and Daisy figured out who she was. Telling Daisy about her research was probably a bad idea. She would be able to figure out who was behind the super villain who had a mutant plant attached to themselves if she really thought about it.

Jemma’s phone dinged with a new email. It was from Raina, requesting a meeting in two days to discuss 'her next extracurricular project.' Jemma took another deep breath. She could only hope that they had changed their minds about killing Quake and this would be a meeting about a symposium for her to attend.

Jemma rolled her eyes at herself. As if her life could ever be that normal.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jemma checked back in with Daisy the day of her meeting. She made sure to go in the lull between the morning rush and the lunch rush so she would have time to grill Daisy on the compound she gave her. That was definitely the only reason she was checking in today. Not because every time she talked to Daisy, her chest felt fluttery and her vines started doing a weird, wiggly dance.

Still, Jemma had to wait in line behind a lady with an expression like she had just bit into something sour berate the manager while Daisy stood next to him and texted, looking thoroughly unimpressed.

When the lady was finally satisfied with her yelling and moved on, Jemma sidled up to the counter.

“Well, you’re looking much better,” she commented, noting Daisy’s scratches. In the two days since she had been in, the red, inflamed cuts had faded into tiny pink lines across Daisy’s cheekbone. They probably wouldn’t even scar at this point.

“Yeah, whatever you gave me was magic,” Daisy replied. “What was in that, by the way?”

Jemma shrugged. “Just a bit of general antiseptic and some experimental extracts. Nothing too mysterious.”

“Huh. Strange.”

Jemma frowned. “Why?”

“Well, at first I thought I was having a bad reaction to it, because it felt really weird and tingly. And then for awhile I couldn’t use my…arms. They just kind of felt weird, but it wore off pretty quickly,” Daisy said with a ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

Then, Jemma saw the purplish bruises up Daisy’s arms and gasped. “What happened? That didn’t happen after you used the compound I gave you, did it?”

“What? No!” Daisy tugged her sleeves down over her hand. “Well, yes technically, but it didn’t cause it. I, uh, took a kickboxing class the other night and got my ass handed to me.”

Jemma eyed Daisy. Maybe the compound blocked her powers as well as whatever got into her scratches from Raina. Maybe the blocking of Daisy’s powers directed them back into herself as opposed to out, causing the bruises.

“Well, at least your cuts are healed, so you don’t need to use it anymore. I didn’t realize there would be such strong side effects,” Jemma muttered.

“Hey, it worked. I can’t complain about the side effects too much,” Daisy said. “Maybe you’ll let me buy you a drink sometime as a thank you.”

Jemma smiled, in spite of everything inside her saying don’t encourage her. “I—“

Her phone chirped a reminder about her meeting with her advisors in ten minutes. And she was an eight minute walk from the campus.

“Shoot, I’m going to be late for my meeting. I—I have to go, I’m sorry. I’ll talk to you later?” Jemma called on her way out the door. She didn’t pause for Daisy’s reply. It was probably best she didn’t see Daisy’s expression because she was sure Daisy would just think Jemma was blowing her off.

Unfortunately, she would have to worry about Daisy later, because, if she was late, her advisors were going to kill her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jemma skidded into Raina’s office with two minutes to spare. She got a raised eyebrow from Quinn, since normally, Jemma was a solid five and a half minutes early. Since Garrett still wasn’t there, no one commented, though.

Garrett sauntered in three minutes late, earning him a glare from Raina and an exasperated eye roll from Quinn. Great, so everyone’s in a good mood already.

“Now that everyone has elected to show up—” Raina shot another glare at Garrett, who seemed unperturbed, “—we have another issue to attend to: Quake is still alive.”

“You don’t have to remind me of that,” Garrett grumbled. Jemma noticed then that he had a black eye and bandages wrapped around the half of his arm that hadn't been amputated.

Jemma fidgeted in her seat, before she realized that none of them were looking at her.

“Apparently, our initial try has failed somehow, so we’re back to the drawing board,” Raina growled.

Jemma frowned. “I’m sorry, but what was the initial attempt?” She knew she wasn’t included in all the trio’s plans, but since she was originally given this task, she figured they would have let her know if there was a change of plans.

Raina sighed. “One of the only good things to come out of my thorns is that they’re tipped with a low-potency venom. Anything I scratch, within a few days, will burn, itch, and eventually, shrivel up and die. Somehow, Quake got scratched, but didn’t get affected, as Garrett learned last night.”

Jemma’s stomach sank as Garrett recounted his latest altercation with Quake. She didn’t realize that those infected scratches were part of a conscious attempt on Daisy’s life. When she thought of Daisy’s bright smile every morning, Jemma found it hard to feel guilty about interfering. Unfortunately, they weren’t having this meeting just to talk about one failed attempt.

“Simmons,” Raina spoke up, interrupting Garrett’s graphic story. “You know what this means?”

Jemma gulped. She had a feeling that she did.

“Good. You’re Option Two and we’re running out of time for more options. We’ve got big plans coming up and we can’t have Quake getting in the way before we’ve gotten started,” Raina finished.

Jemma was tempted to ask about the 'big plans,' but her throat felt like it was closed up and her mind was reeling with what they were asking her to do.

Quinn spoke up. “You have one week.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Apparently, her advisors didn’t trust her to come up with a plan in a week, since, two days later, Jemma got a notice of another meeting. Also, a 6-inch long dagger mysterious appeared in the lab with a holster that would snap perfectly onto the belt Fitz built in to her bodysuit.

Jemma quickly tucked it into a drawer and tried to forget it was there. The next day, she went up to Quinn’s office. The whole trio was present, but Raina was, unusually, sitting off to the side with Quinn, giving Garrett the run of this meeting. Garrett laid out a blueprint of a government building downtown that would be their (Jemma’s) stage.

With a marker, he drew X’s all over the building’s access points and security checkpoints, as well as where valuable documents were stored. She wasn’t actually going in to take anything; she was just causing enough panic and noise to summon Quake.

“—And then, once you barricade the door, she’ll Supergirl her way to the roof and BAM!” Garrett slapped the table dramatically causing Jemma to nearly fall out of her seat. “If you’re lucky, maybe a news chopper will be there at that point to catch the finishing blow on camera. Then, no one will ever mess with us again.”

Jemma felt sick. Like she was about to be physically ill. She was sure if she looked in a mirror right now, she wouldn't be able to distinguish the color of her face from her vines.

To disguise this fact, she just nodded along to what Garrett said without a word. Her mind raced through thousands of possibilities of ways to get out of this whole arrangement. All of them ended in death: hers, Fitz’s, her family’s, hundred of stranger’s.

Quake’s.

She couldn’t. But she also had to.

This was the point of no return. So far, she had only robbed a few people and caused some destruction of property. But murder? That was something she could never come back from once done. She would be a super villain now and always.

She eyed the framed diplomas on Quinn’s wall. Was it worth this? Jemma knew if she backed out of this and somehow didn’t end up dead, there was no way she could start another doctorate anywhere else. She would be blacklisted from every school in the world. How would she continue to do her research, to solve problems?

To make the world a better place.

That was why she wanted to go to this school in the first place. She wanted to solve problems in the world in whatever way she could. Her research was supposed to minimize bad things in this world. How could she do that if she was working for people who aimed to create so much bad?

��We’re really counting on you for this, Simmons,” Raina piped up. “We’ve got big things in the works and we can’t put them off anymore.”

This was the second time Raina had brought up their 'big plans.' If Jemma wasn’t already staring at the blueprint of the most abhorrent thing she could think of, she would be inclined to ask what her role would be in those plans. As it was, she couldn’t stomach knowing who else was getting hurt or robbed or killed while she sat back and did nothing.

She thought of Fitz down in their private lab, pounding out as many projects as he could. She thought of the burly security guards that led them to the lab the first day and knew, despite Garrett’s assurance, that they could access the lab whenever they wanted and do whatever they wanted with no witnesses.

She thought of Daisy. A virtual stranger to Jemma, but another good-hearted person just trying to make the world slightly less evil.

She didn’t know if it was intentional or not, but Jemma suddenly realized that she was sitting in the lowest chair in the room. Garrett towered over the desk in front of her. Raina was now leaning against the doorframe. Quinn was hovering by the windows.

All eyes were on Jemma and all exits were blocked. She was physically and metaphorically trapped.

“So?”

“I’ll do it.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The designated day finally showed up. Jemma spent the day frantically testing and retesting her plants, hoping that maybe they wouldn’t actually be ready and The Plan would have to be postponed.

Unfortunately, the one time she wanted failure, Jemma got success. Her plants were responding perfectly to everything she wanted them to do. She wondered if she could get away with lighting them on fire and pretending it was an accident.

That afternoon, the two plants were carefully transferred to nondescript containers and transported to the roof of the building Jemma was supposed to infiltrate.

She spent the rest of the day avoiding contact with anyone. She didn’t want to see Fitz because he would ask for updates on Jemma’s super villain activities and Jemma didn’t think she could manage lying to him right now.

She briefly considered making a stop at the coffee shop, but that thought was quickly thrown out. She knew if she had to make polite conversation with Da— with her target— the last bit of her resolve would crumble.

Jemma camped out in her apartment until it was nearing dusk and then suited up. She slid the dagger out of the sock drawer she had moved it to once the plan came together and snapped it onto her belt. It wasn't overly large, but the weight of it suddenly felt like it would drag Jemma into the ground.

She tugged on a hoodie and sweatpants over her suit and slid out the fire escape toward the roof.

Right on time, Quinn’s helicopter appeared and hovered low enough that she could grab on and pull herself up.

The first of many horrible plans of this evening happened right away. As soon as they approached the building, Quinn handed her a rope that was tethered to one of the handles in the interior of the helicopter and given a three-second countdown.

On three, she jumped.

Keep your feet straight out as soon as you jump. If the rest of your body hits the window first it’s gonna hurt, Garrett’s voice echoed in her mind.

She clung to the rope with all her might as she swung through the air. In the split second before she hit the window, she looked toward the ground a dozen stories below her. She didn’t have time to worry about the height before her feet were crashing through the nearest window.

Entering the building on one of the middle floors will limit the amount of security you have to bypass and shorten the distance you have to cross to get to the roof.

Jemma let the rope slip out of her hands as she tumbled through the window. Jemma hissed as she felt a sharp sting in her hands. A thin cut stretched across her palm from landing on all the broken glass. She was pretty sure she felt a matching one on her cheek. This was one of the many ways Jemma could tell this plan was entirely concocted by Garrett; he was more concerned with style than what was considered practical. Yet another reason why this was the worst plan Jemma had ever been involved in.

Outside the window, Quinn’s helicopter sped away. At the other end of the hall, Jemma heard panicked voices and the thunder of footsteps rounding the corner.

Before they made it into her line of sight, Jemma pulled out a device stolen from Fitz and slapped it on the keypad on the nearest door. It whirred angrily until the keypad flashed red and the floor’s alarm sounded. That ought to attract some attention.

The first group of guards was small, only having three. Jemma lunged towards them, landing a punch to the first one’s nose and knocked him back a few paces. The other two spread out as much as they could in the narrow hallway. The second tried to grab her wrist, but she slipped out of his grasp and kicked him in the knee. The third managed to get behind Jemma and loop his arms under hers to try to immobilize her. One of her vines snapped around his neck and squeezed just tight enough that he panicked and released her to try to claw it off. Once free, she ducked down and flung him into the second guard and knocked them both out cold.

The first guard made a lunge for Jemma again. She jumped over the unconscious forms of the other two guards and snapped a vine around the first’s wrist before he could move.

Quake monitors police dispatch in her free time. That’s how she always knows where to find us.

“Change your radio to the frequency of the police dispatchers,” Jemma commanded. The guard’s eyes went blank and he reached for his radio. “Now, call for backup.”

“This is Officer Jones of the Federal Building, requesting immediate backup—“

“Sound a little more distressed,” Jemma whispered. His voice was rather deadpan and didn’t sound too urgent.

“—requesting immediate backup.” the guard’s voice kicked up an octave. “There is a powered intruder, repeat: powered intruder.”

Once the call went out, Jemma pulled off the guard and he fell to the ground. She found the stairs to the next floor up and sprinted up them.

She only had one more floor to ascend before reaching the roof and this one had a larger guard presence. Still, Jemma’s intense training with Scarlotti seemed to be holding out and she managed to disarm them long enough to slip into the next stairwell. It helped that she had around 20 limbs to work with. She barricaded the stairwell doors and headed to the roof. There was only one access point to the roof and it was through this door, so she shouldn’t have any unwelcome intruders.

Once she passed through the door to the roof, she snapped another one of Fitz’s devices to it to instantly weld the door shut, like it had at the bank. Now, all she could do was wait.

The sun was just setting on the western horizon, casting everything in a purple and orange glow. The clouds shifted slowly, giving the impression of a watercolor painting coming to life. She could see the entire city and even some of the outlying suburbs. Jemma would have admired the view if she wasn’t focused completely on what she came here to do.

She saw plants 3.1 and 3.2 tucked into boxes the same color and shape of the vents on the roof. If she didn’t know what to look for, she would have been none the wiser that they were even out of place.

Jemma fished out the tiny electrodes she designed and stuck them to her temples. She concentrated on experimentally moving the vines of the plants across the roof from her. It was much more difficult than moving the ones on her back, which acted more like an extra set of limbs. These new ones were more like moving puppets with strings made out of slinkys.

When she was confident they were obeying her thoughts, Jemma tucked them back away and waited.

The distant sound of police sirens was all Jemma could hear from this height. All the security guards were still stuck a floor below her, so she couldn’t hear what they were doing to try to break down the door. Jemma hoped that maybe Daisy would be taking a night off from being Quake and wouldn’t show up. It wouldn’t be Jemma’s fault if she couldn’t complete her mission then. Unfortunately, fate was not on Jemma’s side and she saw a shadow streak up the side of the building. The roof trembled as Quake slowed her descent. She landed and her eyes found Jemma straightaway.

Quake frowned slightly, more in confusion than anger. “Really? You graduated from jewel thief to, what, stealing people’s mortgages?”

Jemma rolled her eyes. Just a few more feet.

“So, where are the rest of your cronies? I thought you were all in this together?” Quake teased. She strolled a few steps forward. Just a little closer.

“They’re taking the night off,” Jemma replied. “This job is only for me.”

“Really? Surprised they trust you that much. They don’t seem to give you anything important to do. It’s almost like they don’t treat you as part of the team,” Quake said.

That much was true. Except in this instance. Quake took a few more steps. Perfect.

“So, what are you really here for?” Quake asked, sounding bored.

Jemma locked eyes with Quake. “You.”

Plants 3.1 and 3.2 snapped to life. Vines coiled around Quake’s elbows. Next, they wrapped around her knees, locking them together and forcing Quake to her knees. A sick part of Jemma’s mind thought she liked Daisy in this position, but she pushed it away.

“Impressive,” Quake murmured. She scrunched up her face in concentration and then hissed in pain. She flexed her hands and glared in confusion.

“They’re coated with a compound that temporarily blocks your powers. I wouldn’t try to use them or you’ll just hurt yourself,” Jemma informed her. She was hoping to sound aloof and in charge, but she genuinely didn’t want to cause Daisy any pain. She would be doing enough of that shortly, anyway.

Quake suddenly looked concerned. “Okay, that’s new. At least this gives me time to talk to you without having to beat you up first.”

Jemma narrowed her eyes and sauntered across the roof towards Quake. A distant boom drew both Quake’s and Jemma’s attention. A few blocks away, a cloud of smoke was clearing from another skyscraper. Police cars swarmed the area below it and, above, Jemma recognized the Quinn helicopter that dropped her off dangling a rope down for the forms of Raina and Garrett to climb. Garrett appeared to have a large bag of something tucked under his arm. Jemma could practically hear his maniacal cackling from here.

Jemma frowned. They hadn’t mentioned doing another job tonight. They said they would be on standby to come swoop in early in case anything went south for Jemma. Instead, they were using her as a distraction, to both temporarily and permanently get rid of their nemesis.

Daisy growled and squirmed against the vines restraining her. She snorted when she saw Jemma’s face. “Wow, must be rough to not be included in the big plans. They’ve really got you in the minor leagues still.”

Jemma glared. Daisy continued when Jemma didn’t stop her. “Listen, if you’re trapped or you don’t want to work with those guys, you don’t have to. I work with an organization that helps people like you and me. They can help you and protect you from whatever you’re caught up in. You have a choice.”

Jemma paused. That was surprising. She always pegged Quake as the solo vigilante-type who never needed help from anyone. Though this ‘organization’ she mentioned could just as easily be the police.

Something nudged Jemma’s hand, but she ignored it, wanting to hear more of what Quake had to say. Quake very obviously noticed it, though, and her eyes went wide.

Jemma looked down. One of her vines had retrieved the dagger from its holster and was helpfully trying to press it into her hand. Jemma rolled it into her palm and stared at it.

Quake noticed the glint of the metal now in Jemma’s hands and started struggling harder.

“Okay, seriously, you don’t have to do this,” Quake pleaded. “I can help you. We can help. You can use your powers to do something good.”

Jemma took a few steps closer to Quake. She had to do it. She couldn’t go back now. Her advisors would go after her family, her friends, anyone she loved. She had to do this one thing for them and then could worry about squirming out of their grasp.

Quake was visibly panicked. Jemma didn’t think she had ever seen so much fear in her eyes. “Okay, I know you said I don’t know what kind of person you are, but I know you’re not a bad person. I can see it in you. You haven’t hurt anyone yet, and that’s not an accident. Quinn, Raina, Garrett. They’ve hurt hundreds of people, but not you! Because you’re a good person!”

Quake--no, Daisy was practically begging at Jemma’s feet. Jemma tried to tune out her words. It was only making it harder for what she had to do.

Logically, it was so easy. Aim for the heart, the guts, the throat. Jemma knew the human body like the back of her hand. It would be so easy.

Emotionally, Jemma couldn’t separate herself from the person in front of her. Quake was trapped and at her mercy, but all Jemma could see was the friendly barista who flirted with her and gave her free snacks. Beyond that, Jemma could see the superhero, whose only crime was trying to make things a little less dark and to help people. Even people who had a knife pointed at her.

Jemma gripped the dagger a little tighter and glanced towards the building her advisors had just robbed. The helicopter had disappeared into the distance and not reappeared. Quinn was supposed to circle back and pick Jemma up once ‘the job’ was done, but it appeared she was on her own.

She looked back at Daisy. She had given up trying to squirm free and was staring at Jemma with wide, pleading eyes.

Jemma wondered if Daisy was right. Was she a good person? Does a good person compromise their entire moral compass for the approval of three terrible people?

Does a good person use their scientific mind and research to commit terrible crimes?

Jemma’s eyes fell on her plants, the ones she worked tirelessly to create for months. They were still tightly squeezing Daisy’s arms together. Was this really their intended purpose?

Jemma felt her resolve crumble into dust. This wasn’t her. No degree or fancy lab equipment or even a lifetime of charity work could make this go away if she went through with it.

The dagger slid out of her hands and clattered against the roof.

She turned and ran. Jemma sprinted towards the back side of the building and jumped.

There were no police cars on this side, as expected. The city’s police department really needed to work on their siege tactics.

But there was a gutter. Jemma shot out a vine and wrapped it around the gutter. She yanked herself closer to it and grabbed it tighter with her hands and all her vines to slow her descent.

Her hands burned from the friction, but she held on as tight as she could. She hit the ground just slightly too hard to be comfortable, but immediately jumped to her feet and scanned the back alley. Her eyes found a sewer cover. It wasn’t ideal, but it would have to do for now.

She hoisted the cover, slipped into the sewer, and swung herself onto the concrete ledge.

Jemma slid to the ground and tried to catch her breath. Her hands were still shaking and, once her weight was off them, her knees felt wobbly too. She peeled the electrodes off her temples and tossed them into the scummy water rushing by. Hopefully, the plants would relax now and Daisy could get out of there before the police broke through to the roof.

Jemma buried her face in her hands and tried to breathe deeply. She was so screwed.

#skimmons #bioquake #jemma simmons/daisy johnson #Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.#who's the hero of your story fic #superhero au #supervillain au

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swfanficbyjz · 8 years ago

Text

SW AU - Fate of the Master Chapter 7

<- Previous Chapter

"Vader," Sidious hissed as the black suit appeared in the entry way of the castle. "You've failed me. I expected much better from you. You think I wouldn't find out what you've been up to? I know everything!"

"I'm sorry, master." Wheezed Vader, falling to one knee and bowing his head. "It won't happen again," he groveled.

"No it won't," Sidious said angrily letting loose purple lightning. The black suit stood, raising its red lightsaber to absorb the blow. "You dare challenge me?" Sidious went for another cast of lightning and the lightsaber was too slow to block it. It hit Vader with full force and then suddenly, an explosion so massive, it sent Sidious flying backwards.

"Now!" Anakin whispered to Ahsoka, and she leapt from the shadows igniting her white lightsabers in mid-air. Though startled, Sidious got his two red ones up in time to block her attack. She force flipped over him and ferociously bombarded him with strike after strike after strike. He blocked every swing, but seemed to have some trouble tracking her. She was too fast, and the explosion appeared to have affected his vision. His rage rose up so fast, Ahsoka could not block his assault from both his lightsaber and the purple lightning. She cried out as she flew backwards falling over debris. She was on her feet again quickly and racing at him. This time she came at him from one side, and Anakin, who'd retrieved the lightsaber from the blasted apart droid, came running in full tilt from the other.

Their offensive strikes from two sides kept the emperor so busy blocking that he couldn't force push them or use his lightning. He was still spry for his old age, and even handicapped from the bomb in the suit, neither of them managed to find a weak spot.

Somewhere far away, an explosion sounded, followed by another and another. Until Bail's voice buzzed through the comm Anakin had snapped to his wrist, "Sorry we're a little late to the party.”

"Perfect timing, my friend," Anakin replied, as he continued to break down Sidious's defenses.

"How can we help?" Bail asked through the static.

"Destroy the castle supports," Anakin said, "send this metal dung heap to the chop shop!"

"With you still inside?"

"You let me worry about that!" Anakin said slightly breathless. Neither him, nor Ahsoka had really had a chance to recover from their major surgeries, it was honestly incredible, they were doing so well. But of course, he had to think that, because suddenly Sidious found an opening in his defenses and threw him back with the force. Then he turned on Ahsoka and sent a full force of lightning at her. She'd managed to get her lightsabers up in time, but it was taking all her effort to shield the attack. Anakin was about to jump up to swing at him again, when two explosions rocked the base of the castle and the floor started cracking between them as part of the structure began to lean at a dangerous angle. The sudden movement threw Ahsoka off balance and the lightning hit her hard. She screamed in pain, lightsabers falling from her hands as she slumped to the floor.

Anakin was on his feet and jumped across the chasm between them, slashing furiously at Sidious. "You're weak!" Sidious cackled at him. "You think love will save you? Hah! Only the darkness can do that. I have so much more I could teach you, Vader. So much more power I could give you!"

"I won't listen to your lies anymore, old man!" Anakin grunted. He let his passion rise to the surface, but instead of using hate, he felt pity for him.

"I've never lied to you. I've only ever pointed you to the truth." Sidious taunted him. "Everything I told you through the years was to help you. To show you how those people that you loved only used you. How little you meant to them. But to me, you were like a son. I would've done anything for you. I did all of it for you! I paved the way for you to stand at my right side in a glorious new empire. I gave you a life the Jedi never could!"

"Don't listen to him Anakin, please!" Ahsoka begged from where she'd fallen. "The Jedi made mistakes, we all did, but it was never out of spite or manipulation. We loved you, we still do. Even though we were taught that we shouldn't. And in our love, we couldn't see you. It blinded us, Anakin. It blinded us to what you needed." The emperor tried to draw the duel away from Ahsoka so Anakin couldn't hear her anymore, but as several more explosions rocked the place, it was his turn to lose his footing.

Anakin spun his wrist and Sidious's lightsabers went flying out of his hands. He stood over his dark master; tall, powerful, and in control.

"Are you really going to kill me, Anakin? After everything I did for you?"

"No," Anakin replied. "But I doubt I'll be able to stop her from doing it." Ahsoka now stood by Anakin's side, looking just as imposing, her white lightsabers drawn in her reverse grip and she was ready to strike. Her eyes were narrowed in her distinct predatory manner; that the clones and the other Jedi had affectionately referred to as ‘kill mode.’ "There can only be two," Anakin said after a moment.

Sidious's eyes widened as Ahsoka lunged forward. With incredible speed, she blocked his stream of lightning, spun to the side to build momentum and slashed a lethal blow down his chest. "You two? Inherit the Sith?" He gasped as blood gushed down his robe.

"Why not?" Ahsoka snapped. "After all, neither of us are Jedi anymore. You made sure of that."

The castle tilted, creaking as overhead beams snapped like they were twigs.

"Time to go," Ahsoka said turning to run, but the piece of floor they were all on dropped from underneath them and they went sliding down towards the lava below. She managed to catch a jutting beam and, believing that Anakin would also find something to grab onto, she flipped upwards to grab a piece of flooring that was still horizontal. She was about to climb up when she heard Anakin call out from somewhere below. Between the heat waves and the debris, she couldn't immediately see him. And then her heart nearly stopped in her chest. He was dangling by one robotic arm at the very edge of the broken floor. Holding onto his feet was Sidious, trying to pull him down with him. "I'm coming!" She cried out with pure panic in her voice. She let go of her hold and went sliding fast down the floor piece, grabbing his hand just as it slipped off the edge. She barely got ahold of something with her other hand as the floor piece dropped completely vertical and debris from above rained down on top of them. She couldn't hold him, he was slipping.

"Let me go," he said. "My life has no value anymore."

"It does to me!" She cried, gritting her teeth, willing her hand to stop from being so sweaty, her hands were burning from the hot metal.

"Ahsoka," Anakin breathed. "I..." but he couldn't finish his sentence. Ahsoka glanced up at the pipe that was slipping from her hand. She felt something in the force and then, she let go. All three of them started falling towards the lava below. Sidious, realizing that they'd given into death just to finish him, let go of Anakin's mechanical ankles and fell away, hitting something with a sickening sound. He bounced off and fell into the molten river. Ahsoka still holding Anakin's hand, leveled out, spreading her limbs to slow her fall. Anakin did the same, and they both force flipped, landing on the open loading ramp of the ship rushing by below. The same thing Sidious had bounced off of. It was the ghost!

---

Anakin and Ahsoka held onto the edge of the cargo door as the ramp started closing. "Is he really dead?" She asked as the last thing they saw was the fortress collapsing completely into the molten lava.

"I think so," Anakin said quietly. "I can't feel him anymore."

"Good." Ahsoka sounded relieved, he glanced down at her. "I'm sorry about your home."

"It wasn't my home, it was my prison." Anakin said, trying to control the emotion in his voice. "I'm not too sorry to see it destroyed. In fact, let's make sure no one ever builds anything here ever again. This planet is off limits!"

"Here, here!" Came a voice from behind them and they turned around to find five people staring at them plus an old c-150 droid.

"Ahsoka!" Ezra spoke first sliding down the ladder to greet her. "I'm sorry we didn't come back for you! We thought you were gone for sure! I'm glad that's not true!"

"That means a lot to me," she replied smiling at him, "but don't be troubled by it, I wouldn't have been there if you had come back."

"How did you get out of there alive?" Ezra asked, eagerly.

"Well," she started, glancing at Anakin, "I thought I was a goner, and then out of nowhere, my old master swooped in and rescued me." She felt him clench slightly next to her. They both knew that wasn't quite what happened.

"You're Anakin Skywalker?" Ezra said with awe, turning towards him.

"I was once." Anakin replied shifting uncomfortably from the probing gazes. "Maybe I still am." Only Ahsoka understood what he truly meant by his words.

Before Ezra could start bombarding him with questions, Ahsoka stepped forward and took charge of the conversation. "Master," she said, noting his grateful smile at her redirect of the conversation. "I'd like you to meet Ezra, Sabine, Kanaan, Zeb and chopper. And I’m assuming Hera is flying the ship." Anakin nodded at each of them. "And of course, you already know Rex."

"It's good to see you alive, general." Rex said, saluting him.

"The feeling is mutual, captain." Anakin replied.

"You too, commander." Rex said softer, turning to Ahsoka. Seeming to sense their need for privacy Kanaan herded everyone out of the room so the three of them could catch up.

---

"I didn't want to say anything in front of them because I'm not sure they know the truth, but I feel like I deserve an explanation." Rex spoke first.

"Yes," Anakin said simply. "You do. Both of you do. I let Chancellor Palpatine manipulate me into believing my friends were really my enemy..." Anakin started and then his voice faded as he was overcome with emotion. Ahsoka put her arm around his shoulders and leaned into him.

"An explanation is needed, but maybe not right now." She said protectively. Rex nodded at her. He didn't appear to want to completely trust him again and she didn't blame him. He hadn't been with them as they rediscovered each other. All he knew was that Anakin had become the Sith Lord they were running from. Which meant of course, that the man Rex had always looked up to was responsible for horrendous acts of violence and death. Including, killing the Jedi at the temple on Coruscant, and leading the clones that hadn't removed their chips to do it. And Rex, had taken that part personally.

"The short answer," Anakin said, swallowing hard, "is that I couldn't control my emotions. I failed as a Jedi. And every time I got attached to someone, they got hurt. And out of fear of losing those closest to me, I was taken in by the promises Sidious offered to help me keep them alive. I just never thought about what it would cost to do that."

"It cost nearly all the lives of the people who loved you and trusted you!" Rex spat in a rare outburst of anger. "Plus hundreds of thousands more! You want us to just forgive you? Just like that?" He turned and started pacing back and forth, rubbing his hand over his bald head, muttering to himself. It was probably something he did often to control his emotions, just nobody would normally see it when he had his helmet on.

"No," Anakin replied. "I don't want forgiveness, or pity, or acceptance. I want to face justice for what I've done. I can't bring them back, I know that. But, there's still a fight that has to be won. The empire has no idea that their leader is dead. It will take time to bring the galaxy back into balance. Let me help you with that first, and then I will accept the punishment of my actions."

Rex stilled, and turned back to them. He looked at Ahsoka as if for advice.

"Nothing will ever right the wrongs that have been committed on all sides..." she started tentatively, "but Anakin is right, there's still much to be done and we could use his help restoring order. And perhaps when it is all said and done, the sentence will have already been served." She didn't have to say more. Both men seemed to understand what she meant. Whether he went to a jail cell or not, he would have to, for the rest of his life, live with the guilt of his actions. The remorse, the pain, and the scars. And they would shape him as the future unfolded. Who he became now, depended on how he dealt with that grief. But at the very least, he deserved the chance to atone for what he'd done. Even if he couldn't undo it.

Rex nodded and said at last, "I certainly have missed fighting by your side." He turned and climbed the ladder heading to the cabin.

Sabine stepped through the door just before he reached it. "Sorry to interrupt," she said, "but senator Organa is requesting your presence on his flagship. Both of you," she said indicating Anakin and Ahsoka. They smiled and started up the ladder behind Rex. Anakin passed by Sabine with a nod, but she stepped in front of Ahsoka before she could exit. "You sure you want to meet the senator in pajamas?" She mused.

For the first time since Ahsoka had demanded to go with Vader when he left Malachor, she thought about all the crazy things that had happened. And she was suddenly self-conscious. There was just too much to explain, and she had no idea where to start.

"Hera or I have some spare clothes if you'd like." Sabine offered. Ahsoka looked down at the royal blue satin pajama pants that were tucked hap hazardly into her gray boots. The slightly too large, long sleeved, button up top, pinned to her sweaty skin in weird places after she'd put her lightsaber belt and chest plate back on. She could only imagine how silly she must look, and she couldn't stop the laughter that erupted from her mouth.

"Thanks, Sabine," she said recovering at last, "but I think Bail will understand." She walked past her, head high, genuine smile on her face for the first time in years. If you can't be confident in the face of absolute insanity, what's the point?

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