Kid returned a little later with more bread and water. The loaf from before had left Summer's stomach in an even bigger fit than it had been in days. It grumbled loudly every so often, a shooting pain through her insides accompanying it. Kid didn't seem to notice her discomfort, but then again why should he? She had an itch on her nose again, but because her restraints had been put back on she couldn't reach it.
"We should arrive at the island first thing in the morning." Kid said. Summer nodded obediently, frowning when the redhead didn't leave immediately like always. Hands stuck in his pockets, he wandered around the darkened room aimlessly. She eyed him as he paced back and forth in front of her, never really looking in the eyes.
"What do you see in him?" He asked suddenly, turning towards her. She narrowed her eyes.
"In who?" Her voice sounded gravely from disuse and little water over the past week.
"That Surgeon bastard." He responded, rolling his eyes as if the answer were obvious.
"I already told you I'm not going-" He shook his head.
"I know what you told me before. You'll never sell out your crew, nakama, loyalty, yada yada yada. That's not what I meant." He dragged the chair over and sat himself backwards in it. He clasped his hands together and stared past her, thinking over something that Summer could only guess at.
"Why do you follow him? What does he have that makes you believe in him?"
Summer gaped at him, shocked by his submission. Kid had been nothing but gruff and tough her entire time captured. This sign of weakness, of insecurity, was startling. He was a Supernova, a cruel pirate captain who left waves of destruction in his wake. And he was asking her...a personal question?
"Umm…" She started. "He has ambition, a plan." Then she shrugged, watching as Kid shook his head.
"That it? He's ambitious?" She glanced around, as if the air around her had more answers. Nodding, she shrugged again. Kid sighed and stood back up.
"Whatever. I'll never understa-"
Boom. A loud crash came from somewhere below deck and the whole ship shook from the impact. Kid tried to keep balance while Summer's chair swayed back and forth, threatening to topple over.
A few seconds later another explosion came from above deck and the two could hear the rest of the crew screaming in anger.
"What the hell?" Kid shouted, running back through the door to see what was happening. Summer glanced nervously at the wooden walls of the hull around her. Those explosions sounded suspiciously like cannon fire, and all it would take was one stray cannon to kill her.
Kid ran up to the top deck, body tense from anger and adrenaline. Up top, the crew scrambled to their positions at the cannons. A look to his left confirmed an enemy pirate ship firing at them, slowly advancing with its black jolly roger. The design was nothing he'd ever seen: a coiled snake around a sword.
"Where the hell did they come from?" He shouted, beginning to form his metal arm. Stray cannons from the deck and some of the metal from the railings. The wood around him creaked from the attacks and he felt the ship starting to slow down from damage.
"They came from the west." Wire answered, loading a cannon all the while.
"Well, no shit dumbass!" Kid yelled, using his mechanical arm to block an incoming cannonball. Something was on fire because the air was filled with black smoke.
"Repel!" Taking the cannonball he had blocked, Kid launched it back at the ship at high speed. It hit part of the bow, not doing any major damage but hitting a few men on the deck. The ship was much closer now, and Kid could see the other pirates lining the deck with weapons drawn and raised above their heads.
A man paced behind the line of men, presumably the captain. When he had deemed the distance between them small enough he raised his voice and bellowed.
"I believe you have something that belongs to me, Supernova! We don't have to kill you and your crew if you hand her over!" Kid narrowed his eyes.
"You wanna come here and say that to my face?" He retorted, baring his teeth in anger.
"He's trying to provoke you." Killer warned quietly, but the Supernova wasn't playing around. Who was this guy to tell him he has to give up his ticket to being rich?
"I'm giving you a chance to save yourself, boy!" The greasy-looking captain chuckled darkly, showing wickedly yellowed teeth. Kid was willing to bet his breath didn't smell like roses either. "All I want is the girl and then we'll be on our merry way!"
"Go to hell!"
"Find her!" The man shouted and suddenly the ships were close enough for them to board Kid's. Screams of rage and war sounded and swords clashed. The enemy's crew greatly outnumbered his own but his men were capable and strong. He wasn't worried.
Kid used his mechanical arm to swipe men from the railings and into the water below, all the while using his pistol to take out those close to him. "Get off my ship!" He yelled, punching a man so hard in the face his knuckles broke through to the bone underneath. The man collapsed onto the deck screaming in pain.
'Where is that captain bastard?' He thought, stalking the deck as he searched for his opponent.
Screams of pain, pistol shots, swords clanging together, and the smell of smoke was all that Summer experienced. Altogether, she wasn't too concerned with whatever was happening above her. Kid's crew was strong, they were led by a Supernova for God's sake, and they could handle whatever naive pirate crew decided to attack them.
The ship rocked again, probably from Kid's weird powers. Law had told her all about the other Supernovas over dinner one night, since she was decidedly uninformed. He had described his unique devil fruit ability and noted the fact that it depended heavily on the environment around him. The intimidating metal arm he could conjure sure did some damage.
Despite her confidence in Kid's abilities, she still tensed up whenever running feet went right above her head. They always seemed to be heading for her, but that was impossible. No one knew she was even here.
"Attention." Law raised his voice above the mutters of the crew. Instantly everyone's eyes rested on their captain. Once they had quieted down, he spoke. "There are a few issues that must be addressed."
Having taken a shower and somehow gotten a handful of hours of sleep, Law looked much improved from the almost hysterical state he had been in the past week. Cleanly shaven and dark circles to their normal color, the crew had instantly noticed the change in image and had once again felt hope.
"Have you found where the Kid Pirates are?" Someone asked at the back of the group. Law sighed, having been expecting such a question.
"No, but I haven't given up looking. Which brings me to the issue at hand. In all the time we've sailed, of all the times we've run into trouble, in all the times we've lost something and felt like everything was the end of the world, how many times have we given up?"
Silence. Their eyes shifted, as if recalling those experiences. Law knew that they all knew the answer was never.
"Not once have we let the worst overcome our resolve. Not once have we let those who opposed us keep us to the ground. And now that something has happened, we give up? We despair and work ourselves into a depression?" His eyes narrowed when no one looked up at him. "Summer-ya is in need of our help. It's up to us to save her and I need every single one of you in your best condition, physically and mentally. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, Captain!" The men shouted, gradually shaking off their shame and sorrow. He was right, they weren't helping Summer by wallowing in depression. They stood up straighter with a confidence that had been missing the past week. Law smirked in pride. He was one step closer to finding his missing nakama.
The fighting had stopped. There were no shouts or screams, no weapons ringing with each hit, no cannonfire and no talking. Just an eerie silence that put her on edge. She strained against the leather around her limbs. The smell of smoke still permeated the air but there was no way of knowing what was burning or if it put her in any danger. Breathing deeply, she closed her eyes in an effort to calm down.
'Just calm down. You're overreacting. Everything's fine. You're not in danger.'
'Danger.' A part of her screamed. She opened her eyes again because her mental pep talk obviously wasn't working.
Suddenly slow steps began their way across the upper deck, right above her head. Her eyes shot upwards, as if she could envision Kid meandering around at the fallen bodies of those he'd slain. Those footsteps continued over to her left, before somewhere a door opened and the steps echoed. Like they were going down a set of stairs.
'Danger!' Again her brain screamed at her that something was wrong, that something wasn't quite right. The steps continued their slow approach, and this time she knew that they were coming for her. She'd memorized the path Kid had always taken to gloat or bring her water.
'Three steps to the left and then a turn directly towards me.' The steps turned, angling straight for the door in front of her. 'Eight steps straight, and then...'
The knob turned and the old wooden door slowly eased open. Her vision was once again compromised by the sudden light from the opening. A large figure of a man stood facing her. He was taller than Kid, and heavier.
The figure crossed his arms and laughed and in that instant Summer's blood froze in place. That laugh...A dark chuckle that always seemed to echo and reverberate wherever he went. She couldn't breath, the air seemed to disappear and she thought vaguely that she must have resembled a fish out of water. Her body was numb, all feeling leaving her. His stench hit her next and her nose wrinkled from the unwashed odor that assaulted her. Everything was so familiar, as if she had only been there yesterday, as if she had never left…
In that dark little room on Kid's ship, Summer sat face to face with the one man she hated and feared the most. There, laughing at her shock, stood Viper.
"Summer, love, it's so nice to see you again."
ns 18.68.41.148da2
