"Wait, wait. I think this is it!" Summer said, holding up a file to show Law, he shut the cabinet he was currently looking through, coming to stand beside her. She opened the file, flipping through several pages and diagrams. Some of the illustrations looked like drawing of devil fruits, listing several theories at the top of the pages.
"As to the conclusion of the origin…devil fruit trees…supposed existence, but requires more research…" Law read, taking the file in his hands. "Yes, this would be it."
"Great, now let's get out of here please. I would really lot a hot shower." Summer sighed, grimacing when she put weight on her ankle. It still hadn't gotten better, and she was slowing them down.
"I could always carry you." Law offered, smirking when she narrowed her eyes. The scowl on her face was attractive, he had to admit.
"The hell you are. I can walk, goddammit. I'm not an invalid." And she set off out the door.
She ended up being carried by the Surgeon of Death, pouting the whole way while he seemed to be enjoying himself. She held the file in her arms, which were crossed stubbornly. He didn't say anything about her being severely underweight. During the course of…who even knew how long, Summer had no doubt lost a third of her body fat, her muscle had reduced drastically, though she was still tough enough to take on the staffers. She'd proved that earlier.
He held her bridal style, something Summer didn't take too much pride in.
"The rest of the men should be in the room up ahead." Law said, rounding a corner of the hall. His words made a ball of worry begin to knot in her stomach.
"You think…they'll be happy to see me?" She asked hesitantly. He stopped short, looking surprised down at her. She looked away, too embarrassed by her insecure question that she couldn't bear to see his disappointment. The words in themselves reminded her of when she'd first been forced to stay on the sub, never truly secure with the way things were.
"I'm fairly certain that is the most ridiculous question I've ever heard."
She swallowed, still nursing a worm of doubt that they'd come to hate her, or even wish they had never come to get her in the first place. After being away so long, who was to say she was even still a Heart Pirate?
Law said nothing more on the topic, and she wasn't inclined to talk about it either. He continued back down the hall, nearing the double doors of the employee lounge. She was angled into his chest, and therefore couldn't see through the window of the door. Suddenly, there was this overwhelming fear at the thought of seeing them all. That little seed of doubt, it was still there. What if they hated her? What if…?
Law pushed open the door, and the entire crew swung around to face them. Summer's heart leapt to her throat. They were smiling. All of them.
"SUMMER-CHAN!" Shachi and Penguin yelled at the same time, sprinting towards the girl in Law's arms. He deftly put her down in time to avoid the bear hug that commenced. She was squeezed from both sides, and she would have complained that they were hurting her wounds, if she hadn't cared so much about seeing them again.
"You guys…" She sputtered, failing to hold back the tears of relief as more men approached, wanting to hug her or pat her shoulder, or give words of relief at her rescue. They literally surrounded her with their love and affection, and it was all overwhelming. It wasn't a bad thing, thought. She'd never been happier to feel so unprepared for something.
"We've been looking forever for you! We've missed you so much, Summer-chan! We're sorry we let them take you away!" The engineers babbled, slowly making less and less sense in their words. Bepo came up last, pushing through the bunch to forcibly remove her from Shachi's and Penguin's hug.
"Hey!" They protested, but Bepo was having none of it, shielding Summer deep within his fur. She'd have preferred it if he wasn't wearing his jumpsuit, but his soft and warm paws were just as reassuring. Just seeing him again was enough.
"Summer!" Bepo gave her a soft hug, and she hugged him back.
"Bepo! Everyone! I can't believe you-" She started sniffling, too emotional to get the words out. "I thought I'd never see you again!" Her show of affection had the rest of the men going, with several sniffing and wiping the beginnings of tears away.
"I've never seen you cry like that before." Shachi told his friend.
"I'm not crying, baka! I've got something in my eye is all…" Penguin cried, turning away to rub at his eyes.
Law stood back, watching the whole exchange with a mix of emotions himself. Unconsciously, he kept on eye on the group of medical staff still tied up against the wall. They didn't seem to care for the emotional reunion unfolding in front of them, probably because it involved losing their most precious test subject.
He was glad that he'd recovered his nakama, finally filling the void he'd felt so long in his heart, and the void he'd felt in the crew. They were a crew again, the complete crew of Heart Pirates, with all it's members. The thought made him smile, just a little. Though he made sure no one saw.
Max watched the video camera feed, scowling with every hug the damn pirate crew gave his subject, his life's work, everything he'd worked towards!
"NO!" He screamed, grabbing the nearest thing-a cup to hold pens-and threw it across the room. It hit against the window, the metal thumping against glass, before falling to the ground haphazardly. Everything was wrong! Everything had been torn away, burned to ashes, all because of Trafalgar Law! The meddling antics of him and his damn crew ruined his career, destroyed his facility, and killed half of his staff. The other half were probably tied down there with them.
Max paced the floor, hands clasped tightly around his back. The options had reduced to only one, and he knew it was the only way, the only solution to this problem. He looked over Subject 711-A549's file again, fingers gently grazing the words, the images, allowing them all to ingrain themselves into his memory, where they could stay for eternity.
He sat down at his desk, opening the secret drawer from the bottom and pulling out the small palm-sized box from within. He placed it on the hardwood surface with care. He sighed, staring at it's black surface, then at the small red button attached to the top, encased in a glass cover so as not to accidentally go off.
He'd installed the system long ago, as a precaution against the deadly viruses and infectious diseases that, if they were to exit the facility and reach the outside world, would have destroyed the human race. It had been years since they'd held any subject matter of that kind, but the precaution had remained.
Flicking open the glass cover, he covered the small, red button with the tip of his finger…
…And pushed.
"Warning: Facility Self Destruct Sequence Initiated. Self Destruct will occur in one minute."
"EHHHH?" The whole crew guffawed aloud, staring at the spinning red siren on the ceiling in shock with open mouths and wide eyes. The medical staff instantly erupted into a chaos of crying and begging and pleading for the pirates to let them go.
"He'll kill us all! Please!" The nurses yelled, trying to inch their ways over to the pirates. The captain unsheathed an inch or two of his blade, enough to get the message across. There would be no mercy. Law narrowed his eyes when an intercom began to speak.
"You have ruined everything I have worked towards, Trafalgar Law, taken away the very thing that has given my life purpose. For that, I shall return the favor! The doors have sealed, there is no escape! Hahahaha!" The intercom clicked off again, cutting off the Doctor's retched laugh.
"DAMN YOU, YOU BASTARD!" Summer screeched, pure hatred in her eyes. Immediately, Law gather the crew together.
"We find the way we came in and get out now!" He said, ignoring the cries of the nurses and doctors, leading his crew through the door they had originally come.
The running feet were barely heard over the loud sirens, and Summer could only feel her heart beating. Bepo had kindly picked her up and carried her with the running men, knowing that she was injured and probably couldn't walk, let alone run. She was silently thankful, and bounced up and down in his soft, furry arms.
Law led the way, sword out in case they ran into anyone guards. The halls were otherwise empty, and he turned into the room they have infiltrated from. The storage room was still dark, and no one was inside. The captain ran up to the door leading outside, only to come face to face with a thick metal wall covering where the door had been. Angrily, he brought his hand up.
"Room!" He shouted, expanding the operating table to outside the facility. In two easy swipes of his sword, the door was in pieces, and his crew was running outside into the thick snow.
They only had seconds left, by his mental countdown, and Law gritted his teeth anxiously. "Go!" He shouted pushing the last man through the door and running out behind the rest.
Max Mundy sat at his desk, holding his beloved file in his hands. He watched as the seconds slowly counted down. 46…45…44…43…
He'd never imagined having to use the self-destruct system in the facility, never imagined things would come so low and futile. But, he would accept death, for the sake of destroying all the evidence they stockpiled of treason against the people of the world, the experiments that would have been considered unethical if they'd reached the knowledge of the public, but oh the results they'd achieved from performing them!
32…31…30…29…
Max had never had a family, and so there was no one to miss his absence. He had no ties to anyone, or anything, and that was just how he'd always wanted to die: painlessly and without leaving a burden on anyone else out there in the world.
21…20…19…18…
He'd been so close, within reach of breaking her. He could have gotten ahold of that immense power, and then…the possibilities that could be made real by having the powers of an ancient god…only the imagination would know…Nemesis would have made him all powerful, the only person alive with the influence, intelligence, and strength to rule the world. And he would have too…
But he wouldn't dwell on such unreasonable things now. No, they were quite impossible at this point, as a quick glance at the timer told him.
7…6…5…4…
He closed his eyes, fingers tightening around the file, determined to not let even death itself take it away from him.
3…2…
"Acta est fabula plaudite…" He muttered.
…1…
Boom!
The facility exploded into a massive fireball, the outer walls flying off several hundred feet in all directions. The force rumbled the ground, causing many of the Heart Pirates to stumble and fall into the thick snow. Luckily, no one was close enough to the building to get injured by the blast, but the heat was sweltering, and the surrounding snow began to melt at alarming rates.
Bepo, still carrying Summer, was knocked onto his back from the shockwave, and a second explosion rocked the island again.
"Stay down!" Law shouted from in front, and everyone who was still standing dropped to the snow. The popping and flash of fire slowly settled, and the immediate danger of another explosion passed, at least enough to make Law yell for everyone to get aboard.
The Heart Pirates picked themselves up and finished the length to the sub, climbing up and retreating inside. The snow was coming down harder, but the intensifying heat of the wreckage was melting the snow before it even hit the ground, creating a sort of rain in the middle of winter.
Bepo carried Summer inside, and she smiled widely at the sweaty, metallic scent of her home. She'd missed it so much, craved it even. This feeling of warmth and happiness, it flowed through her, and she felt Nemesis retreating back into her soul, relaxing now that Summer had been rescued. A new wave of tears began to fall down her cheeks and she silently wept in relief, satisfied that it was finally, after all these years and experiments and tears and all the heartache and sorrow, finally…
…all over.
ns 15.158.61.53da2
