*Two Days Later*
"Argh!" Summer's head snapped to the left from the force of the slap, and she tumbled to the ground. A hand grabbed her flimsy white clothing and dragged her back up, proceeding with yet another slap to her cheek. "Ah!" She cried, landing hard onto the tile floor. Her ears heard the heavy pants as the Doctor caught his breath.
"Tell me!" He shouted, moving closer to her prone form. He kicked at her side, shooting pain up and down her rib cage. Summer was sure she was close to breaking her ribs, no thanks to him.
One of her eyes was swollen, and she could only see well out of the other. Her vision was blurry, bruises dully burning all across her body. But still, she spit at him. Her gums had been cut, and blood came with it.
"You can go to hell, you bastard!" She shouted back, unafraid of him. He couldn't kill her. He wouldn't. Nemesis was too precious to risk losing.
"Rargh!" He bellowed, forming his hand into a fist and punching her in the gut. The wind was knocked out of her and she wheezed, curling in on herself.
"Dammit!" She muttered to her self, gritted teeth and painful breaths aside.
Two days of constant beatings. They got worse and worse each time, as the Doctor slowly spiraled into 'taking care of things himself.' Summer wasn't quite sure what he meant by that, but there hadn't been another experiment in that time.
It irked her how much he could get the jump on her, and she was thoroughly powerless to defend it. He always entered her room when she was dozing, or distracted. He was well-fed, giving him the superior strength and stamina, and in her weakened condition she just couldn't keep up.
'Law would be furious.' She thought bitterly, taking another kick in the side.
"I want that power!" He shouted, sending a hail of kicks and punches on her small frame. "She's the only way!"
"I'll fuckin' kill you!" She screamed, closing her eyes against the pain.
The host was taking quite a beating, but Nemesis could feel the determination and hatred coursing through her system. The girl was strong, and she didn't worry about her mental condition any longer. Whatever was motivating her to live was effective and constant.
'Perhaps I should look for the pirate.' She thought.
The battle between the Pirates of Heart and the Pirates of Serpent had been satisfying. Nemesis had watched the leaders battle below deck, watching as he pushed out the heart of the other. They had taken his body with them, which was rather confusing for Nemesis. In her culture, they left the victims in their place of death, letting their soul wander the earth by neglecting to bury them.
There had been two deaths. The men seemed very close, and the general feeling was one of sorrow, so she was quite surprised that when she searched now, she found the crew in good spirits. Hadn't their kin died not three days ago? Her senses told her that yes, they still grieved, but something else had taken prominence in their minds.
Law narrowed his eyes through the periscope, searching the horizon, just to make sure that he wasn't making a mistake at all.
"You're certain the log pose points directly at that island?" He asked Bepo.
"Yes, Captain! Jean Bart and I have examined the maps and charts, and there's no other island anywhere close, or in the direct line further on." The bear was rather excited, and to his surprise, Law found Jean Bart smiling in delight as well.
"This is it?" Law asked, more to express his relief than confirm it once again. Both navigators nodded, and Law smirked.
"I'll notify the crew. Make sure we arrive by nightfall." He said, exiting out the door in a much better mood than when he'd arrived.
"Huff…Huff…Huff…" Summer struggled to breathe, her severely bruised ribs pushing against her sides. She couldn't see much, on account of her probable black eye and the cut that had blood dripping down her face. The Doctor's heavy air intake was scratchy, like he was choking on air as well.
She couldn't move. Nothing would react to her brain telling it to do anything, it just simply wouldn't respond.
"You…will…break." The Doctor said between labored breaths. He pulled himself up using the railing of her metal bed. Walking over, he looked down at her broken body. "I will…find what she…can do." He turned his back, probably fixing his lab coat to sit just right. Not bothering to look back at her, he spoke. "Be prepared for the next…experiment."
With a small adjustment to his glasses, he turned the cameras back on and exited the room. She didn't even care that she was crying. It just hurt too much for it to matter.
'Law, where are you…'
"I don't see anyone on the shore." Law confirmed to Bepo, who with the help of Jean Bart sailed them in under the surface to the shoreline. Using the periscope to just barely look above the waves, and under the cover of darkness, he swept the land for any sign of human activity. The ice and snowy surface made it difficult to see, but there were no moving bodies or sounds that he could hear.
A large grey building loomed right against the shore, with a covered dock further down the way. Law assumed that was where supply ships would dock and deposit their cargo. Turning back to the main building, he could see several small doors set in the side. None of them appeared to be the main entrance.
If only they had a map or diagram of the layout, then he could try to pinpoint where exactly she'd be. Just from looking at the outside, the inside was sure to be extensive and a confusing maze of hallways.
"Bring us in slow." Law commanded, and the sub gently surfaced. Grabbing the intercom, Law spoke to the crew. "We have surfaced. Prepare your weapons and be ready to go on land."
He was pretty sure everyone was already prepared and itching to run out there and get Summer back, but they had no idea what they were getting into. He wasn't going to risk the safety of his crew by blindly rushing inside the madman's lab. No, caution would be heeded during this mission.
Sending the periscope up, Law stepped down from the platform. "Anchor us down, then gather in the mess deck for instructions." With that, Law went to confront the rest of the men.
They brought in a gurney-type thing, probably because she couldn't move very well still. She was sure Nemesis was silently helping her heal faster, as she could already feel the bruises lessening, but the damage was still pretty harsh. With the usual armed guards watching her every move, she allowed the two nurses to lift her onto it and strap her in.
She was too tired and still in a little shock to resist, and they wheeled her out the door.
Unconsciously, she was aware that the next test was about to begin, but she didn't really concentrate on that fact. The only think going through her head was the pain.
Air rushed by, like they were running through the halls, but she didn't feel time going that fast. Why were they in such a hurry? She looked around, but they walked in slow motion. What was going on? Maybe she'd hit her head…
Pushing through a door into the room, which was much darker than the hall outside, they brought her over to some kind of chair. It had a spotlight that shined over it, but nothing else in the room was lit up.
Summer felt the nurses unstrap the restraints on the gurney, and they lifted her onto the chair. She squinted, the light now shining directly into her eyes. Her eyes burned, and they instantly strapped her arms above her head and her legs into the chair. It felt like metal cuffs instead of the usual leather ones.
Her panic began to rise when they strapped her head back to the table. The harness was strange, holding her chin and only the sides of her face down. She couldn't turn left or right, not even lift her head off the table and the metal pressed hard against her chin.
Her breathing came quicker, shallower, as the bright light in her eyes made it impossible to see anything past the darkness. Metal hitting against metal, the scratching of a pen on paper, and muffled voices were all the stimuli she received in that chair.
Everyone was outfitted with their winter attire, in response to the arctic temperatures on the island. Law wore his long, black coat and spotted hat, as usual, but he carried with him Summer's daggers on his belt. He kept checking to make sure they were still there, as if they'd fall off and be lost in the snow forever. He swore he'd make sure they were all kept safe.
The rest of the crew carried weapons of their preference. Any onlooker would think twice before engaging in combat with this bunch. Intimidating was definitely a word Law would use to describe them. Their faces were determined and hard-set, as if they knew deep down getting their nakama back wouldn't be easy.
With a nod from Law, the crew opened the sub door as quietly as they could. The metal still squeaked with the friction, but Law had always made sure that the hinges were well oiled. Law walked out first, immediately being battered by the swirling arctic wind. He faced it, walking down the metal gangway to the snow below. It came to about his knee, but it wasn't too hard to sift through. Gesturing for his men to follow, the Heart Pirates slowly trudged through the thick snow and harsh climate towards the looming laboratory.
Drip.
Summer gasped, shocked by the sudden cold liquid that dripped on her head. The staff had left ages ago, or what seemed like it, and there hadn't been a sound or any movement at all since then. Now, that single drip of freezing water tore her from her thoughts and-
Drip.
Another one landed, right on her forehead. The remnants slid down into her eyes, but she blinked it away. Looking up for the source, the single lamp directed right in her eyes made it impossible to identify where the water, or at least she hoped it was, was coming from.
Drip.
Maybe the ceiling was leaking?
Drip.
Well, she supposed it wasn't that bad. Actually, it was kind of relaxing. After the initial shock of temperature, her head slowly got used to the cold and it seemed a little warmer than before.
Drip.
"Remember to avoid noise or alerting too many people when possible. We don't want them taking her somewhere else." Law said, and his men nodded. Parker stepped up, a lock pick and flashlight in hand. Holding the flashlight in his mouth, he wiggled and dug into the lock on the door. After a few moments, the pirates heard a click, and Parker turned the lock. The door swung open with a burst of wind, but Law caught it before it slammed into the wall.
Inside appeared to be a storage room for test materials and substances. Jars of liquids and rows of boxes with medication names lined the shelves across the walls. It was dark and no one was inside. They'd gotten lucky so far.
Drip.
How long had she been laying there? This was another test, right?
Drip.
The frequency of the water drops never seemed to change, always at the same intervals. The drops kept flowing into her eyes, and it forced Summer to constantly blink the liquid away.
Drip.
She sighed, it was going to be a long night. She realized in irritation that her nose began to itch.
'Well, that's just great.'
Drip.
Law peered down the hall from the crack in the door. No one was around, and it was eerily silent. Low humming hinted towards the steady running of machinery, most likely the ventilation system, but other than that there was no indication of anyone occupying the place. So far, it all looked abandoned.
"Stay here." He whispered to the men, and he slipped into the hall.
His quiet steps still echoed around him, and he narrowed his eyes. The hall curved minutely to the left, and he slowed his pace, crouching low to the ground and hand on the hilt of his nodachi, just in case.
There was a door at the end of the hall, and he could hear voices behind it. Glancing around, he couldn't see any other sources of activity, and so he approached with caution.
Drip.
Ok, now this was just getting ridiculous. Was it an hour? Two? Ten minutes? Her sense of time flew out the window.
Drip.
Urgh! The next person she saw would be sure to receive hell for this.
Drip.
Law glanced through a corner of the window in the door. It appeared to be an employee break room, or conference room, and a large number of staff members were gathered. A celebration was in progress, with a cake and refreshments lined up on a table.
Idly, he noticed a bright red phone, no doubt an emergency line or the activation for some alarm, attached to the wall on the opposite side. There was another door into the room as well. Nurses and doctors were laughing and joking around, and Law retreated back towards the wall. Quickly returning to the storage room, he regrouped with the crew.
"A large number of people are gathered in some kind of break room. If we can contain them there, it will make finding Summer-ya easier."
"What do you have in mind?" Blake asked, gripping his gun tighter.
Law told them the plan.
Drip.
It didn't feel like water drops anymore. No, now it was similar to being poked in the head repeatedly by someone's finger or something blunt.
Drip.
The pirates were gathered at the entrance to the room, all except for Law holding up guns at the ready.
"In position." The den den mushi in Law's hand said, and he nodded.
"Enter as we do. All at once." He hung up the snail phone and placed it back in his pocket. Making eye contact with each of his men one by one, he nodded, and they all burst through the door.
The staff members jumped in surprise, turning toward the intrusion. Penguin, Shachi, and Liam burst through the other entrance, holding up their guns to the medical staff. There were gasps of surprise, small screams, and several plates shattered as they were dropped on the ground.
"What's going on?" A female cried, hiding behind another doctor. Law walked forward, unsheathing his nodachi so everyone could see, a twisted smirk on his face.
"If any of you make a move towards that phone on the wall," He paused, seeing that he had everyone's attention, "I'll kill you."
His men still had guns trained on all the staff, and they seemed to realize it too. One of the male staffers, probably a higher-up since he was still remaining so calm, held up both of his hands in a surrendering gesture.
"Ok, ok. We'll all just sit down and cooperate," He glanced around at the others, who slowly followed his lead, "and you can tell us what it is you want." He spoke slowly and clearly, as if Law couldn't understand him. Raising an eyebrow, he looked at the doctor in amusement.
"What do you think we want?" Law questioned, watching him frown in genuine confusion.
"Well, treasure, or valuables I suppose." He answered with a shrug.
"Are you serious?" Shachi shouted, angered by the man's comment.
"Shachi-ya." Law said sternly. The engineer swallowed his fury with a nod and remained quiet, not wanting to blow their whole operation because of his pride. Law turned back to the man.
"Your name?" He seemed to sit a little straighter.
"Dr. Kozu Hideki. I'm the head of the neurology department at this facility." Law smirked again, stalking closer to the man. Murmurs began between the staff members at his intimidating composure.
"Well, Dr., one professional to another, I'll explain something to you. Very clearly." He mimicked the man's tone of voice from before, and Hideki swallowed nervously. "You took something that belonged to me." Law was close enough to touch the man now, and he leaned forwards into his face, bringing the tip of his blade to the man's throat. "I intend to take it back, and I don't mind killing a few people to make that happen."
Drip.
"Stop." She croaked out, surprised to find her throat so dry. Her thirst was raging, but as much as she tried to get mouthfuls of the dripping water, the water would simply roll down her cheek and onto the chair or the floor.
Drip.
Her forehead, hair, face, and chest were all soaked. She tried moving out of the way, but the best that her restraints would allow was squirming in place.
Drip.
"Please!" She said a little louder, trying to reach someone, anyone that might have been listening.
Drip.
"Where are you keeping her?" He demanded, lifting the man's chin with his blade. Dr. Hideki was resolute in his answer.
"I don't know." Law cocked his head to the side. Sheathing his nodachi and handing it to Bepo, who stood next to him watching the scene, he removed one of Summer's daggers from under his coat.
"It is said that pain helps the brain remember information." Dr. Hideki's eyes widened, just enough that Law could see it, notice the movement. He smiled. "Should we test that theory?"
Drip.
"Help!" She cried, no longer able to distinguish her tears from the water.
Drip.
"I don't wanna do this anymore! Let me go!" Her panic was rising.
Drip.
"STOP!" Her sobs echoed between the slow plops of the water hitting her forehead. Always, in the same spot, over and over.
Drip.
"Stop this!" A nurse cried, standing suddenly with tears glistening on her cheeks. Law paused in his cutting, glancing up at the woman. She seemed to realize that now all the attention was on her, and she hugged herself in fear.
"Why would I stop?" Law asked, leaving Dr. Hideki's heaving body, now covered in cuts of various depths and lengths, to walk closer to the woman.
"Don't…" The weakened man breathed, weakly reaching a hand out towards the Captain. Law flicked the dagger to the side, getting the blood off the blade. The woman's eyes followed it as the liquid fell to the floor. She gulped.
"Why," He repeated, "would I stop?" He grasped her chin, forcing it upwards to look him in the eyes. She whimpered from the force.
She shut her mouth, trying to look away but he tightened his grip. Frustrated, he pushed her away and returned to Dr. Hideki, raising the knife again. He had a theory…
"NO!" She screamed, and he waited for her answer, confirming that this man in particular meant something to her. He glanced around at the others, noticing that they were all looking at the woman as if she'd betrayed them.
'Interesting…'
"Why?"
"Be-because-because I know where she is!" She burst out into tears. He smirked, and she immediately covered her face in her hands, too ashamed to handle the stares of her coworkers.
Law immediately put the weapon away. He grabbed her by the upper arm and dragged her away. Instantly several members started to stand in protest, but the sound of the pirates cocking their guns quickly stopped their movements.
"Not one step." Blake commanded. "We've got things from here, Captain. Go find her."
With a nod, Law dragged the woman into the hall.
ns 15.158.61.6da2
