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Everything stood still, as if time had stopped completely. No one could have predicted that Rena would actually pull the trigger, but they had all just witnessed it. Silence enveloped the room. Even Odysseus’ expression softened for a split second, shocked that Rena had acted without hesitation.
Rena continued to glare at the screen, still holding the gun up. She waited, letting her rage simmer down. After an agonizing 30 seconds, she finally lowered the gun to her side.
Odysseus’ grin grew even more menacing. “Well, well, well… Looks like you’ve crossed over to the dark side, Mystic. Let’s see your little followers support you now. Just who is Sy to you that you would go so far as to actually kill someone? Going against your own code. HAHAHA! This is simply amusing. You know what, maybe I will actually hold up the deal. I’ll send the coordinates over and we can settle this there. Bring all your little friends too, if they still want to follow you. See you later, ~Mystic~.” Click. The screen went black.
Rena stood still for a moment before turning around, tossing the gun on the table, and sitting down. Placing her elbows on the table and her head in her hands, she let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. Everyone just stared at her, unsure of what to do or say.
Finally, Rena lifted her head, resting her chin on her intertwined fingers. She smirked and started counting down, “3… 2… 1…”
Suddenly, Ryker let out a huge gasp for air, blinking a few times before looking around. “Wha-What the fuck? I’m not dead?”
“No,” Rena said flatly.
“But… why? Wait, no… more importantly, HOW?”
Rena opened the box and pulled out some bullets. “I replaced some of the bullets with paintballs filled with fake blood.”
“Whaa- but why? The one in my leg?”
“Because I wanted it to look believable. Oh, and the one in your leg was a real bullet.” She smirked.
Ryker sat there in shock before he started laughing. “Hahaha, so you really can’t do it, huh? I knew you were too weak to actually kill someone.”
Rena stood and leaned in close to Ryker’s face. “No. I’m not weak. If anything, it took every ounce of my strength to NOT kill you.”
“But you’re always saying you don’t kill people. So clearly, you are too weak to break your own code.” Ryker grinned.
“Don’t mistake my self-control for weakness. The beast in me is sleeping, not dead.”
“But you still couldn’t go through with it. Conscience got the best of ya, huh?” Ryker chuckled.
“No. I let you live because you don’t deserve the easy way out. Let me put it this way… there are VERY few people in my life that I would actually kill for, and Sybil just happens to be one of them. In fact, she’s at the top of the list. So congratulations, you guys wanted to get to me, well, you found the one person you can actually use against me.” Rena growled as she turned to leave the room.
“Just who is she to you then? I mean, we know she’s someone from your future, but just who exactly is she to you? Ohhh, is she your lover perhaps?” he grinned.
“No, she’s not. She’s also none of your damn business. I’m never going to tell you who she is.”
“Fine, don’t tell me, but you should at least tell them. They probably deserve to know if they are going to blindly follow you into battle.”
“What do you mean, battle?” Rena glared, squinting her eyes.
“You really think he’s not going to put up a fight once he finds out you didn’t actually kill me, right? So you’re going to need all the backup you can get, but I don’t think your little friends are going to blindly follow you while you hold a vital piece of information like that. So just who-” he was interrupted by a fiery pinky.
“You’re wrong,” Natsu said as he stood up with a growl on his face. “Rena is a member of Fairy Tail and our friend, so whoever Sy is to her, it doesn’t matter. If Rena needs our help to rescue her, then we will.” Multiple people nodded in agreement.
“Thank you, Natsu, but it’s fine. I don’t expect anyone to follow me if they don’t want to. I’ll send you all home soon. I just…” She started to tear up. “… excuse me for a moment.” She looked up towards Law, who was smirking against the wall when an idea popped into her head.
She started to chuckle. “You know what…” then she turned towards Ryker. “I think you need a doctor. After all, the bullet that went through your leg was a real one.” Then she walked past Law and whispered, “Why don’t you take him somewhere and have some fun,” and then she headed into the next room, Sy’s office.
Law’s grin grew even wider as he pushed himself off the wall and started towards Ryker. The man stared at the doctor, unsure of what to make of the situation or the menacing grin he was wearing.
Law finally reached the man, towering over him. He just stared down with odd pleasure.
“Well, are you going to get this bullet out of my leg, Trafalgar, or should I say Trafalgar D. Water Law?” Ryker sneered.
Law’s face dropped into a scowl. “How do you know that name?”
“Wait, Toraro! You’re a D too?” Luffy asked excitedly, causing Law to groan.
“Shut it, Strawhat-ya.” Turning back to Ryker, “How do you know that name?”
“Oh, we did our research after we let you guys on that ship. We found out ~all~ about you. How’s your crew doing, by the way? You know, at the bottom of the ocean?”
“Toraro, what does he mean ‘At the bottom of the ocean’? What happened to your crew?” Luffy asked, his eyes going dark.
“You mean you didn’t tell your friends?” Ryker sneered, glaring at him.
“They’re not my friends.” Law grumbled.
Ryker started to chuckle, then he spoke a little louder, looking at Luffy. “Your friend Trafalgar here ran into one of those emperors of the sea, as your world calls it. Let’s see, Blackbeard, was it? And he completely wiped out Trafalgar’s crew, submarine, and everything. It all sank to the bottom of the ocean. You only survived because your pet over there dragged you to safety. Isn’t that right?” he said, glancing back up at Law.
“Blackbeard,” Luffy said with rage in his eyes.
“Oh, Toraro,” Nami sighed softly.
Law just glared at the man, trying not to rip his head off right then and there. Then he leaned in close. “Would you like to know why they call me the ‘Surgeon of Death’?”
“Not really, no.” Ryker grimaced.
Law leaned up. “Room.” Then he smirked, pulling a scalpel from his pocket. “Well, that’s too bad. Mes.”
Suddenly, there was a cube in Law’s hand containing Ryker’s heart. “Bepo is not a pet. He’s my crew, my navigator, my friend, my family.” He gave the heart a squeeze, causing Ryker to scream in pain.
“Let’s have some fun… shall we?” Law grinned, grabbing the back of the chair Ryker was in and rolling it out of the main room and into the infirmary.
Ryker’s eyes went wide in panic. “N-no wait, I’m sorry! L-let’s talk about this.”
Everyone was just staring in awe at the scene that had just unfolded. The Straw Hats, of course, were unfazed by Law’s antics. Finally, someone broke the silence.
“Um… Should… someone go check on Mystic?” Wendy asked.
“I’ll go!” Sanji jumped, quickly receiving a smack to the back of the head from Nami.
“No, Sanji, you are the last person that should go.” She grimaced.
“I’ll go!” Natsu said.
“Natsu, you’d probably say something inconsiderate.” Lucy chimed in.
Meanwhile, Hawks had sent one of his feathers across the room and under the door. He felt Rena’s presence and used his feather to see if she wanted him to follow her. Receiving confirmation, Hawks smiled and walked to the door, but not before letting everyone know he was going to check on Mystic, with a typical Hawks cocky grin etched on his face.
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