"In the Grand Line I've done my time!,
Hurrah for the Grand Line!
In the Grand Line I've done my time,
Hurrah for the Grand Line!"
Viper watched his men sing and get drunk, throwing empty beer bottles around and swinging to the sound of their voices.
"The Grand Line ships are good and true,
Hurrah for the Grand Line!
They are the ships for me and you,
Hurrah for the Grand Line!"
Viper's grin widened, watching as the cook tried to balance on a beer keg. After already having a number of alcoholic drinks, his coordination wasn't top notch, and naturally he fell flat onto his back to the delight of the rest of the men.
"For one there was a Grand Line ship,
Hurrah for the Grand Line!
That fourteen knots an hour could slip,
Hurrah for the Grand Line!"
The captain turned back inside his quarters, eyes set on the stack of beli that rested on the table. Taking it in his hands, he run his fingers across the top, greedily licking his lips at all the exotic women and foreign sake he could buy with just the one stack. But oh, if the rest of the deal was still active, he'd be called to take her out to sea again. Which meant more money. Which also meant more women and booze.
"Hehehehehe!" He chuckled aloud, tossing the beli back onto the table, before going back to look at the window. His men were still singing on the deck, dancing badly but not caring for the life of them.
His crew was facing towards him, or they were just too drunk, and so they didn't see the numerous strangers standing at the bow. His grin instantly vanished, replaced instead with a snarl of anger. It was that damn Supernova!
"Ready?" Law asked the waiting men, all of them set in determined stances. Nodding, Law raised his hand to chest level. "Room." He spoke, and the familiar swirling blue circle appeared, rapidly growing larger until they could no longer see the edges. Law raised two fingers, turning them towards him. "Shambles!"
The whole company felt a tight shifting, like their body was one place and their soul in another. They were used to it, however, and shook off the initial discomfort. The surroundings switched. The hot submarine was nowhere to be found, and they were instantly blinded by the sun. Finding themselves on the deck of Viper's ship, they were surprised to see some kind of party going on.
The men danced, drank, sang awfully off key, and didn't appear to notice them at all.
"Well, this'll be easy." Parker said. He exchanged glances with Blake, and they both shrugged.
One after another, the enemy crew slowly started to notice their presence. There were many looks of surprise, which quickly turned to confusion, and finally settled on anger.
"Who the hell're you?" One of them slurred, pointing a finger in their general direction. Law unsheathed his nodachi, and rested the point into the ground.
"Viper-ya!" He shouted, eyes scanning those present for any sign of the man. "Are you too much of a coward to come fight me yourself?" The direct insult to their captain made the partiers all the more furious.
"I'll show you a coward!" One of the crewmen shouted, pulling a pistol from his waist and aiming it towards Law.
A gunshot rang out, but it wasn't from Viper's man. Glancing sideways, Law smirked. The smoke from Blake's pistol slowly dissipated in the wind, and he lowered his weapon.
"Ah…" The attacker fell to his knees briefly before toppling over dead, his weapon sliding several feet away. The crew's collective drunken reflexes took several seconds to process the fact that one of their own now lay dead on the deck. Blood from the wound in his chest began to pool around his body.
Law was tired of waiting. A majority of men had apparently been smart enough to retrieve their weapons from along the deck, and were now appropriately angry and set on their targets. "Kill them all. Leave no survivors." The Heart Pirates shouted in defiance at his order, raising their weapons and charging on the men who had hurt their nakama. They would show no mercy. The Serpent Pirates charged, albeit a lot less gracefully and coordinated.
Narrowing his eyes, Law continued to look for Viper and, after failing to spot him on the deck, decided he was probably below deck or in the captain's quarters up above. There was a large window, but it was tinted too dark to see inside.
Law headed towards the stairs, ignoring the fighting around him. Swords clashed against each other, and ripped through the clothing and bodies of those around him. That metallic smell he knew so well permeated the air, but it had been years since such a thing bothered him. Screams of pain, they were merely background noise by now. Nothing that kept him awake at night.
One man tried to swing at him, but he easily cut him down with a flick of his wrist. A quick cut across his throat was all it took, and he tried stifling the blood that spilled from under his chin.
'No wonder Summer likes to target the neck.' It was a quick killing method. He glanced down at his clothes, splattered with an excessive amount of blood. 'Though it can be rather messy.'
His steps had taken him up the stairs, and he swung at the large glass window. Upon impact, it shattered into thousands of pieces, the debris spilling down the stairs and onto the battlefield. Some had fallen over Law, but he shook the pieces out of his hoodie and hair.
"Viper-ya, why do you hide?" He yelled, gazing around the captain's quarters in distaste. It was dark and drab and it smelled something awful. Probably from the amount of time it's owner spent in here. Summer had mentioned once that the man's odor left much to be desired.
Naturally there was no answer to his question, but he continued to search. "You seemed happy to fight when you took my crew member away from me." Sure, he hadn't taken her directly from him, but in his eyes it didn't matter. There was a set of stairs that led below deck, and the whole of the area was dark. Law, for as cocky as he was, knew that this was Viper's territory. There was probably a number of hidden spaces Viper could hide in wait, ready to strike at him from behind.
Shaking off the thought, he slowly descended, noticing the severely dirty state of disrepair the ship was in. Some of the planks were rotting away, leaving holes in the walls and floors. A mouse or two ran across Law's path, and he kicked them away with his foot.
"You should've heard how loud she screamed, how weak willed she was!" His voice called, somewhere below him. Law's eyes narrowed, expecting an attack or trick of some kind. Nothing happened, and he slowly proceeded down.
He didn't bother answering, focusing on the bottom of the stairs for any sign of movement. It was extremely dark, giving the advantage to the Serpent Captain. Law could still hear the fighting above, as well as the thump of bodies hitting the ground. His only hope was that none of them were his own men.
"How could her own Captain let her be taken?" He taunted, and Law gritted his teeth. He knew Viper's strategy was to rile him up, make him lose focus, but he refused to be taken advantage o so easily.
His eyes were slowly adjusting to the darkness, and now he could distinguish vague shapes around him. He was in a hallway, and several doors lined the sides. There was still no sign, not even a sound, of Viper.
"That doctor's probably cut her open and gutted her by now! Hehehehe!" He laughed in the darkness, and Law swung around. The noise had come from that direction, and he gripped his nodachi a little tighter. There was only a single door.
A board creaked, and Law froze. There was movement towards his face, and he immediately dropped to the ground. A loud thud sounded as something hit the wall beside him.
"You're a doctor, aren't you? It's for the good of science!"
'Stay cool. Don't lash out.' He berated himself, fighting off the urge to go charging through the darkness and rip him apart.
He cautiously approached the door.
"Urgh!" A sharp pain radiated from his chest, and he was pushed forward from the blow. A hand grasped his shoulder and shoved him into the wall, sending the pain throughout his body. His nodachi fell to the ground.
Viper twisted the dagger stabbed into his back, just a little, causing Law to groan in pain. "I wonder what poor Summer will think once she learns her captain's dead." He hissed, pushing the blade deeper.
Baring his teeth, Law raised his hand. "Room." The sphere developed around them. "Shambles." He switched places with his sword, and Viper fell forward with the sudden lack of resistance. The dagger lodged itself in the wall, and Law's sword clattered to the ground. Grabbing the handle, Law took a swipe at the pirate.
"Dammit!" He bit, the blade only slicing through a small part of his torso. It wasn't a killing blow, but Law couldn't do much more in the dark of the hallway.
Viper took out another dagger from somewhere on his person, and with the same move, sent his fist flying towards Law's face. The Dark Doctor wasn't able to move in time, the pain in his chest distracting him.
The blow landed right on target, straight in the face, sending Law sliding several feet backwards. He was able to hang onto his sword, however. Both men were panting heavily, energy draining from their wounds.
"Now I see why Summer-ya hated you so much." Law muttered, wiping blood from his mouth. That punch to the face hadn't been light. "You're just as dirty as she said you were."
"Hehehe! She was always a bit of a bitch, that one!"
"Tch." Law's eyes narrowed, his anger slowly rising. He could only see Viper's outline in the darkness, but it was obviously he was clutching his side. Perhaps the wound was more severe than Law first thought.
They both rushed at the same time, blades locking with the other, sending a clang through the dark hallway. The sounds of battle were slowing above them, and Law knew that Viper knew it too. Law only hoped he realized it was his own crew being killed, so he could feel that feeling of loss he had with Summer.
"How does it feel to be losing?" The pirate taunted, and Viper pushed back with force, sending Law backwards.
"I wouldn't know, you tell me!" They swung again, trying to out-maneuver the other.
Unbeknownst to the girl, Nemesis watched the battle aboard the ship in interest. It wasn't nearly as difficult transporting her consciousness as to when she'd brought her host along. The men of both pirate crews were locking swords on the deck, but it was obvious the ones allied with the Heart Pirates were winning.
The men marked with serpents were struggling to fight because of their drunken state, and their dwindling numbers put up almost no fight. Seeing no purpose in watching the rest, she directed her attention to the Captain's fight, where the man known as Law was locked in combat with Viper.
Even Nemesis felt a hatred for the pirate. Viper had been the cause of an unimaginable delay in her search for revenge. Whether he knew it or not, she wished for his death, if only to ensure her swift vengeance.
She curtly denied herself that it was because she felt sympathy for the girl and her past. Harboring emotions for a mortal was impractical and foolish.
"I'll be glad to kill you, so I can show her your severed head!" Viper shouted, charging at him with the dagger out.
Law brought his own blade up in time to block the attack, but the angle was just enough to almost knock his weapon from his hand. The difficulty with which he had defeating Viper was frustrating. Already, he'd sustained several injuries. The darkness was making anything hard to accomplish at this point.
'End it already!' He berated, pushing back with what strength he had left. The stab wound wasn't helping him any, but if he wanted to end the bastard, he had to work around it. Calculating the amount of stamina it took to create one of his rooms and for the duration he would need, he figured he had enough energy for one last attempt. Though, it held the risk of backing out. If it didn't work, he'd certainly die.
"Funny, I thought the same thing, except instead of your head," He created his room, raising two fingers, "I'll bring her your heart! Shambles!"
Viper tried lashing out, but his dagger swiped through thin air, and a clattering sound in front of him left him confused. Then his brain remembered that strange teleportation ability, and he remembered the dagger he'd left in the wall. He turned around, but Law was already there.
"Mes!" He yelled, pushing his hand through Viper's chest. There was resistance, a squelching sound, and then his arm went through all the way. In his hand he held Viper's heart, still beating in that small red cube.
"Argh…Urgh." Viper choked, body slowly going limp from the removal of his organ. Law couldn't see his face, despite being a mere few inches away, but he could imagine the expression of pain and surprise. He could feel the last reserves of strength leaving him, but he still smirked, pulling his arm back through the hole in his chest.
"Don't worry, I won't kill you. I'll let Summer-ya have that honor." Law whispered cruelly. Viper's body fell to the ground unceremoniously.
Panting, Law struggled to drag Viper's body up to the deck. The various wounds marking his body were bleeding, the loss of blood making his vision swim. Several footsteps approached, and at first Law thought that it was Viper's men coming to get him, but the sight of his first mate calmed his fears.
"Captain! Are you alright?" Bepo asked in concern, descending to meet him on the stairs and relieve him of carrying Viper's body. Law was grateful, and he stumbled up a few more steps. In exhaustion, he collapsed on the steps. Parker and Shachi went down to assist him up the steps.
"Injured?" Law asked, still huffing from trying to ascend the steps. His two crew members set him up against the wood on the deck. Those without injury helped to carry their companions who were having trouble. The rest went below the deck to see if they could find any treasure or valuables.
"We have 4 wounded. And…" Parker hesitated, looking away. Even through his exhaustion, Law wasn't stupid. He raised an eyebrow.
"And?" He prodded. Shachi sighed, finishing Parker's sentence.
"We have two casualties." He muttered, hanging his head.
The captain rested his head against the wood, closing his eyes. "Who?" It was a simple question, but no one really wanted to answer it.
"Scott…and Mark." Parker said finally, looking everywhere but his captain. The pain in his heart was too heavy for anyone to see it. He didn't want to be weak, or even seem that way.
"Bring them back to the sub, and we'll give them a proper burial." He said quietly, feeling too many things at once.
They'd brought down half of what Summer had hated her whole life, they were close to finding the island where she was...
He wasn't able to protect them, they had long lives ahead of them, they trusted him, he failed…
"Captain." Bepo's voice made him look up. "Let's get back on the sub now." The bear said gently, reaching out to take his Captain's sword.
Nodding, Law handed over the weapon and tried getting to his feet. His injuries were extensive, and he fell back to his knees. Shachi and Parker helped him up again, and assisted him getting back to the submarine.
Whether or not they had defeated Viper, no one really felt like they'd won.
ns 15.158.11.151da2
