~Isn't Death Beautiful?~970Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Pw0hCcx2T
970Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ99oYUBvwiW
The entire crew stood on the deck, watching as the Marine ship slowly closed the distance between them. No one spoke. No one moved. Every once in a while, they glanced at their captain. He leaned against the door to the inside, hat low over his eyes as he apparently rested. But they all knew him well enough to know he was far from being careless. Tiny movement of the brim indicated his searching eyes saw everything that was going on.
Summer stood towards the front, with a clear view of the Marine vessel. She clenched and unclenched her hand around the hilt of her sword, becoming familiar with its shape in her hand.
'Finally...' A part of her thought. 'Kill those who oppose you.'
On the deck of the opposing ship, the pirates could see the Marines scrambling around the deck, grabbing weapons and adjusting the sails as they advanced. It was a chaotic, disorganized mess.
When there was only 100 yards or so between them, one of the marines spoke up through a voice projector.
"Heart Pirates! You are under arrest! Lay down your weapons and surrender yourselves."
Law didn't respond. Though, he didn't really have to. Summer, apparently fed up with doing nothing, rolled her eyes and yelled back. "Ok, we give up!"
There was a pause as the Marines processed her answer. Murmurs erupted from the opposing deck, and many men lowered their weapons in confusion. The man holding the voice projector opened his mouth repeatedly only to close it once more. It took a moment for him to recover. Their ships had drifted closer and closer, to where there was only about 50 feet between them.
"R-really? You're giving up?" He asked.
'Are they really that gullible?' Law thought, almost disappointed with the lack of intelligence in their opponents.
With a smirk, Summer drew her weapon. Those around her did the same, eager grins plastering their own faces. An almost maniacal giggle sounded through her. "Hell no!"
She gave him captain a look, and he pushed off from the wall slightly. "Room." Law muttered, lifting a hand lazily. His room swallowed both decks, surrounding the two vessels entirely. "Shambles." With a flick of his fingers, the entire crew was transported onto the Marine ship.
All hell broke loose.
"Attack!" The Marine's shouted as they tried to bring up their weapons in defense. Many of them were too late, being cut down by his crew within seconds. The metallic smell of blood quickly assaulted everyone's noses.
Law lowered his hand, removing his room in the process. He took a step towards the ship but stopped when his vision started to swim. Leaning back against the wall, he squeezed his eyes shut against the now raging headache.
'Dammit...' He thought. The lack of sleep from the previous week now crashed down on him all at once. He brought a hand to his temple in a vain effort to stop his head from pulsing profusely. 'Why now?'
His vision cleared only just, but enough for him. Shaking his head against such weakness he pushed off the wall and joined the fight.
Slash. A man to her left fell to his knees, trying to cover his slit throat with his hands. Clang. Summer blocked the attack of a man coming from behind her, bringing the sword up just in time to catch it with her own blade. Kicking him in the stomach, she stabbed downwards when he stumbled onto his back.
"Ahh…" A Marine stumbled next to her, eyes wide in fear as Penguin slowly advanced. The crewmates locked eyes, nodding an acknowledgement. Summer flitted through the crowd, leaving Penguin with his opponent.
She glanced at the sword in her hand, liking the way it performed in actual combat. It was definitely heavier and bulkier than her daggers but it had much more power behind each attack. She could easily get used to using it.
'Below.' Her mind told her, and she jumped to the left just in time to avoid part of the wooden deck exploding upwards. Sliding a safe distance away, she saw that a large wooden spike had emerged from the deck. She narrowed her eyes when a man's figure formed out of the spike.
"I'm surprised you dodged that attack so easily, pirate." The man mocked, walking towards her slowly. Summer straightened from her crouch, wiping blood out of her face as she did.
"Well, I'm not your run-of-the-mill outlaw, you know." The screaming and sounds of clashing swords slowly fell away as the two opponents faced one another. She glanced at his uniform, a special badge attached to the sleeve. "And it seems you're not a run-of-the-mill Marine either."
He grinned, his arm forming into a wooden spear. "I'm Toma, eater of the Wood Devil Fruit." He stated it proudly and confidently, as if his was a name that was feared across the ocean. Summer faked a surprised expression.
"Really?" She asked to which he grinned wider, lifting his head up in arrogance. "Hmm…" She brought a finger to her chin, a moment later shaking her head. "Never heard of you."
His eyes widened in shock. "R-really? You haven't? I'm sure you would've at least heard it passingly…" He scratched the back of his head in perplexed disappointment. Rolling her eyes, she brought up her sword again.
"Can we just fight please? Enough talk." Her comment snapped him out of it and he readied his wooden spear.
"Very well."
They charged each other, Summer leading slightly left. They met in the middle and crossed blades. She was surprised to find his wooden weapon did not crack or break against the force of her own. Looking at the shiny blackened coating, she realized why.
As if reading her mind, he smirked again. "Don't think you can break through my Busoshoku Haki that easily, girl." Pulling back, he made to stab her while her guard was down, but she jumped back away from the tip of the blade.
"Girl?" She snorted, once against blocking his thrust towards her lower stomach. He slashed at her left, and she suddenly held her ground. They pushed against each other's blades, testing their strength. "I may look young, but don't go underestimating me."
"What harm could you do to me?" He laughed and jumped backwards. "Impalement!" Toma's body morphed down into the ship's deck and he disappeared. A small rumbling grew louder and Summer jumped to the side. Another wooden spike broke through the deck, sending broken debris in all directions. That one quickly dissolved and the rumbling sounded again.
Summer leaped again, this time inspecting the deck closely. The new spike was already beginning to recede into the deck again, but she wasn't paying attention to that. Her eyes narrowed on the previous spots he had emerged from.
Wherever he broke through, his attack left a gaping hole in the ship. Smirking at the forming plan in her mind, she once again heard the distinct rumbling of Toma's attack. She jumped onto the railing to escape the pointed spike that emerged.
Toma resumed his human form and stood next to the gaping hole he had created. He was panting low under his breath, probably to prevent her from hearing it. Tilting her head to the side, she raised an eyebrow.
"Can you even aim, bro?" He frowned in anger, before morphing into the deck once more. The tell-tale rumbling grew louder and she jumped at the last second. Toma's attack went directly into the wooden railing, sending broken wood pieces flying into the ocean.
'Good.' She thought. 'He's not paying attention.'
She ran towards the main mast, shoving people aside as she went. Her sword may have accidentally sliced a few arms and torsos as she went, but she wasn't keeping track.
Placing her back against the wooden beam, she glanced around for Toma. "Baka, you couldn't hit me even if you tried!" She shouted over the sounds of combat. The ground started to rumble and she grinned, readying herself to jump once again.
Her eyes wandered as she waited for the attack. Up by the wheel, she saw Law and who she assumed to be the Marine Captain locked in combat. Her eyes widened in alarm and her breath caught.
Law was losing.
Law jumped onto the deck of the Marine ship, slowly making his way through the bloodied bodies and flashing swords as his crew fought against their enemies. He killed a man here and there to make his way to the main deck, intent on one man's gaze.
The Marine captain, a Commander by the look of his jacket, stood on the top deck with his arms crossed. He hadn't participated in the fight at all, just watched as his men and Law's own battled it out below him.
His head was still raging, possibly even worse than before, but he couldn't be bothered with that at the moment. It was his job to take out the leader. And so he would. Even if it killed him.
"Hiya! Ha! Take that!" Bepo flew past Law in a flying kick, aimed at a Marine that had set his sights on the pirate captain. He went back into his ready position, alert to anyone that would hurt his friend.
"Yah! Captain, we'll take care of these guys!" Bepo said, examining him in concern. "Are you alr-"
"I'm fine, Bepo." He continued up the stairs to the deck, holding back a wince as his peripheral vision began to black out. He was in no shape to fight. But he had to.
Ascending the final step, he stopped when the Marine Commander sighed heavily.
"It is like a prophecy, the way the sun is near setting." He said, caused Law to narrow his eyes in confusion. With his back still turned towards the Heart captain, he continued. "The ending of the day marks the ending of the battle, a natural conclusion."
Law looked out over the ocean, watching as the sun only touched the horizon. The sky was a deep orange.
"Wouldn't you say it was quite beautiful, Trafalgar Law?" Now, the Marine was facing him. His hand gripped the standard marine sword tightly, but with a grace that exuded ability and confidence.
"You've been following us."
If the Commander was disappointed that Law did not answer his question, he did not show it.
"The duties of a man in service are only those to the people he wishes to protect. A tragic beauty, if I ever heard one."
Law sighed in exasperation. Why did they always encounter the strange ones?
"Enough of this." He muttered, raising his hand to waist height. "Room."
He barely had time to form his room before he had to block the Commander's sudden attack. Law gritted his teeth, barely able to push back against the immense force the Marine showed through his blade.
Glancing around, he saw a nearby barrel on the deck. "Tact!" The barrel went flying towards the Commander, who had to jump away to avoid being hit.
"Have you ever marveled at the idea of death?" The commander asked, coming towards him once again.
"No, I haven't." Law spit, taking a breath in preparation for any attack.
Another sigh escaped the Marine's lips. "It's as if nature gave humans a way to be forgiven, to start over. A way to erase our mistakes."
Law ignored the man, slicing the air in his room. His opponent jumped up to avoid the cutting force. Behind him, the railing of the ship was split in half. A large piece floated in the air above their heads.
"So, Trafalgar Law, allow me to erase the mistake that is your existence." The commander leapt forward, faster than a normal human could possibly do, straight at Law. His eyes widened, realizing he wouldn't be able to dodge in time.
"Shambles!" He switched himself with the railing behind the commander a second before the man's attack would have killed him. Instead, the wood of the railing was smashed into pieces. Bits of debris floated around them.
Law once again slashed, catching the Marine's left arm. His attack left his arm split at the elbow, and he stopped to examine it a moment.
"Urgh…" A sudden, sharp pain through his head forced Law to his knees. At the same time, his Room disappeared from his exhaustion. He had overused his ability, and now he was defenseless.
"A shame. Life is a beautiful thing." The one-armed Commander said, standing above the weakened captain. Law breathed heavily, unable to move from the pain in his muscles. Most of his vision was black at this point, with only splotches of the man above him visible.
"Trafalgar Law, I bid you farewell." The Commander raised his blade, and The Heart Pirate Captain closed his eyes.
ns 15.158.61.23da2
