By this time, the only people inside the auction house were the pirates and World Nobles. The rest of the audience had fled far from the building, much like Beth wanted to do. But the fact that Charloss was still inside, though now lodged somewhere in a wall, made her hesitate in leaving. If all of this did blow over, she’d be punished severely, possibly even killed for her absence.
But a large part of herself urged her to turn around and run through the double set of doors, never to look back and live her life. She shifted in her position on the floor, feeling the warm metal against her neck settle around her shoulders. The inner flames of rebellion quelled at the feeling. She would never live free as long as she had the collar.
There was movement on the stage, and Beth looked to the old man who now walked over to the mermaid. He spoke a few words to her and grasped the bomb collar around her neck. The pirates that had caused all the commotion were screaming for him not to touch it because Franky was getting the keys, but he didn’t appear to hear them.
A large boom and the stage was covered in black smoke, setting the pirates running towards the stage in fear and anger. Their voices kept going over each other and Beth gave up trying to discern what they were saying.
As the smoke cleared, the voices went quiet. The mermaid and the old man still sat upon the stage, the mermaid bomb collar lying open by her tail. A large smile took up her face and she squealed in delight.
How did he get the bomb collar off of her? Who was he? He stood and jumped off the platform into the aisle below. Her hopes soared once more as the thought that he could free her from her slavery.
The pirates by the door, with their red-haired captain, were speaking in low voices but Beth caught the last part.
“He’s the Dark King, Silvers Rayleigh.” His men were visibly stunned, and Beth thought that maybe the name should mean something to her. However she’d never heard of the man that now walked over to the emotional people.
Beth stopped listening, staring intently at the man who could free her. She just needed to get down there but strangely enough her legs wouldn’t move. She was terrified of him at the same instant.
‘Go, free yourself.’
‘But what if Charloss...’
Her years of trained obedience was now holding her back from going after freedom. There was still that lingering threat of Saint Charloss setting off the bomb collar before the old man could get it off. The thought sickened her, but her willpower wasn’t enough to push through the negative thoughts. And then like that, she’d lost the opportunity.
“Supernovas! We have the entire building surrounded! Release the Celestial Dragons and come out unarmed if you want to live!” A loud booming voice, sounding like it came from a megaphone, shouted through the relative silence of the hall. Everyone turned at the sound and exchanged glances.
“This conversations is probably best left for after we escape.” The old man said, heading towards the door with the other pirates. The man with the spotted hat and the spiky-haired captain rose and headed towards the door as well.
“I’ll clear them all out myself. Just stay back and I’ll handle it.” The redhead boasted, smirking as he passed Beth. The other two captains weren’t too happy to hear that.
“Don’t order me around, or I’ll kill you.” The tattooed man replied with a lazy smirk of his own. The one who punched Charloss shook his head vigorously.
“No way! I’ll blast them all away!”
The three captains walked through the doors and outside, where the cannons and gunfire began.
‘Find the keys!’ She mentally berated herself. She scrunched up her face with indecision. Glancing around, she looked at the hole where Saint Charloss had been sent flying. The wreckage was devastating. She couldn’t see where the World Noble had landed, but who knew if he would work himself out of the wall.
‘Go find the keys before it’s too late!’
‘But what about-’
‘Go!’
That did it. She pushed herself up from her hiding spot behind the seats and jogged down to the stage. It was a lot taller up close and she had to find the stairs on the side in order to get up to the top. The lights still glared down at her, making her start to sweat from their heat.
She recalled someone saying that a Franky was getting the keys, but she wasn’t sure where he had gone.
‘Maybe backstage?’
She wandered behind the curtain where several light stands and microphones were left in the corner. Large ropes and sandbags hung from the ceiling to keep the curtain open. She sidestepped over chains and bomb collars that were lying on the ground open. Several sets were lying open, probably from other slaves being set free. But where were the keys?
Continuing backstage, she came to the cages where they kept the slaves for auction. They were a set of menacing steel bars reaching the ceiling, high enough to hold giants if anyone managed to catch one.
There was no one in sight, with the only sound being the huge battle raging outside. It was very muffled but she could still hear the sound of screaming men.
From there, she thoroughly searched the cages and the entire backstage but there was nothing. No sign of the keys and no sign of this mysterious person named Franky. She hung her head in shame and deep sorrow. Tears began to form in her eyes.
‘What now?’
She wasn’t sure, and so she wandered the empty hall as the battle continued to grow. Naturally, her curiosity grew as well and she wiped away the moisture from her eyes and peered out the two front doors.
Outside, the redhead and the other two captains fought off the surrounding Marines. So far, no admirals had shown up, but Beth knew it was only a matter of time since Saint Charloss was assaulted.
Beth’s eyes widened as she watched a giant arm of guns and swords form on the arm of the redhead pirate. He then swung it down onto one of the large cannons, destroying it in a single blow.
‘What a strange ability...’ She thought, eyeing as it broke apart and the individual weapons were sent soaring towards the enemy. They screamed and tried to escape the onslaught of attacks.
“Repel!” He shouted, and suddenly all the metal surrounding him attached into the giant arm once again.
“Ah!” The collar around her neck pulled forcefully towards him, pushing her neck against the wall. The force from the captain’s power had effectively pinned her to the wall, despite her being several dozen yards away. Several shackles from backstage went flying by her face and attached themselves to his giant arm outside. He sent the metal objects back at the Marines and her collar finally came off the wall. She rubbed at her neck, trying to get her breath back.
Suddenly, she had an idea. His strange magnetic powers seemed to be able to attract and repel metal of all kinds. Maybe he could take off her bomb collar without setting it off. It was a long shot, but it was now her only option. That old man was nowhere to be seen and the keys were lost by now.
All she would have to do was find a lull in the battle and ask him to take it off for her.
She waited, watching as the three captains dispatched the surrounding Marines with their devil fruit abilities. Soon, there were only a handful of men remaining, shouting through den den mushi snails for backup immediately. The captains were regrouping with their crews, probably planning their escape.
‘Go now! Don’t hesitate!’
She ran out into the open, straight towards the red-headed captain. They began to walk away from the auction house but she shouted at them.
“Wait!” She called, holding out her hand to stop them. They turned at the noise. Once she got relatively close to the crew, the blue and white masked man halted her movement with his blades. They were pointed straight at her face, and she gasped at their sharpness.
“What the hell do you want?” The captain said in irritation. She panted from all the running, dropping to her knees and bowing her head.
“Please, I beg of you...will you take off my bomb collar.” Her voice was probably muffled with her face almost in the grass. Her tears leaked into the dirt, shoulders shaking from the emotions of that day all being pent up and let out at once.
There was a few seconds of silence as the captain presumably thought over her request. After awhile, she lifted her face to the man. He raised an eyebrow.
“What’s in it for me?” She wasn’t expecting this question and gaped for a moment.
“...I’ll do anything.” Was her answer.
“Hmm...anything I ask?” She nodded emphatically, wiping away the tears from her eyes. It did no good to look as weak as she was, though it was still pretty obvious.
“Chief, it might not even work.” The one who looked like a scarecrow said. She turned her eyes to him, only for a moment.
“I don’t care. I’ll take the risk.” Her words were confident but internally she was screaming ‘you could die!’ Once more, she turned to the captain, trying to appeal with her eyes. Finally, he nodded.
“Alright, but you have to do whatever I tell you.” Her face lit up.
“Of course, whatever you want. Just please, take it off.” She stood and lifted her head, exposing the collar attached to her neck.
He walked over and grasped both sides of the collar. She trembled at his proximity. Would it work? She gripped the bottom of her uniform nervously.
“Repel.” He said quietly and Beth could feel the forces pushing and pulling against the metal. It started to grow hot, almost burning the back of her neck. His face was one of extreme concentration. Beth swallowed thickly, squeezing her eyes shut as she waited for her fate. With a loud snap the two ends disconnected and deactivated the whole system.
With a gasp she fell to her knees and clutched her now bare neck. Her whole head felt a lot lighter with the absence of the heavy metal collar. She rubbed the skin, still unbelieving that she was free from the power of the World Nobles.
“Tha-” She began, but the man interrupted her.
“Killer.” He nodded and the man with the mask nodded. Before she could react, the hilt of his blade struck her temple and everything went black.
“Was that really necessary?” Heat asked, eyeing the unconscious girl slung over Wire’s shoulder. Killer resheathed his blades and looked to Kid. The captain shrugged and trudged on towards their ship.
“Chances were she would have tried to escape.” The crew nodded in understanding. “Besides,” He continued, “why miss out on a free slave?” He smirked, satisfied that he had filled the position of cook on his ship.
ns 15.158.61.20da2
