Shachi directed the barrel of his gun to the redheaded girl, watching her curiously. She stood in the middle of a lavishly decorate sitting room, taking long drags of her cigarette. Blowing out the smoke, she sighed heavily.
"And here I thought I could avoid a damn fight. Why am I always dragged into these shitty situations? Bastard pirates…" She muttered, tossing the used cigarette butt onto the floor beside her. Shachi gulped, keeping his weapon up.
"Who are you?" Shachi asked, hoping to recognize her name and maybe figure out her strength. She sighed at the question, as if even asking was a bother.
"Nicki."
She was identical to Kat, but with different eyes. Her demeanor was nothing like that of her sister either; replacing Kat's cheerful and innocent disposition was a cold hatred of everything and everyone around her. As if everything that existed spited her.
"I can't let you leave." Shachi said, cocking the gun confidently. She didn't appear to have any sort of weapon on her. Reaching into her jacket pocket, she removed something, and Shachi tensed up. It was only a box of cigarettes and a lighter, however, and she lit one before putting them back.
"Damn. Fine then. Die quickly so I can get on my way." Blowing out the smoke once more, she closed her eyes.
Something was wrong. Shachi frowned, eyeing the girl who only stood there with closed eyes. What was she doing. He started moving left, still pointing the gun to her. Suddenly, her lids snapped open, staring directly into his.
"Mirage." She said, before slowly beginning to fade away. His eyes widened, unable to fully comprehend what was happening. Instantly, he pulled the trigger where she was standing, but the bullet lodged itself into the wall, hitting no one.
"Wha-" He started, glancing around the room in a hurry. What was going on? The walls seemed to shift and sway, but he couldn't ever be sure of the movement. He heard footsteps, but no matter where he looked she was nowhere to be found.
He backed up several steps, back hitting the wall. The sound of footsteps echoed along the walls, making it hard to pinpoint exactly where they originated. Then, the white walls began to change color, fading into sky blues before mixing into greens and yellows and reds. His mind was mesmerized, amazed of the strange occurrences he witnessed.
A sharp object plunged through his chest, bringing his mind back into the moment. "Urgh!" He cried, kicking in front of him to ward away whatever had attacked him. It connected with something invisible, and whatever it was was pushed back into one of the sofas. Looking down, he saw a small dagger protruding from his chest.
Gritting his teeth, his hand gripped the handle and yanked the weapon straight out. Blood began to stain his uniform, forming a circle of red underneath.
"Hmm…you're tougher than I thought." Nicki said, her voice coming from nowhere in particular. "Why can't I ever get the easy ones?" She bemoaned.
"Sorry to disappoint you." He quipped back, cocking the gun again. Slowly making his way along the wall, he bit back a grunt of pain as the heat in his chest grew. He'd sustained worse injuries, this was nothing he couldn't handle.
"Don't get cocky, asshole." She cursed, and he thought that maybe her overuse of swear words was just who she was. The room began to change again, this time the floor seemed to liquify beneath his feet. Gasping, the white tiles suddenly turned into a river of lava.
'Get on the sofas!' He screamed internally, and he jumped onto the furniture to escape the deadly ground.
The thick red liquid flowed clockwise around the center of the room, trapping him on the sofa. He had plenty of ammo, extra clips in his pockets, and so he fired two experimental shots into the room in random directions, hoping to hit the woman.
There was no cry of pain, and the bullets simply made holes in the wall. Nicki seemed to scoff, sounding like a mixture of annoyance and amusement.
"Do you even know how to use that damn thing? God, how pathetic." He narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out how to get around the lava.
Wait…the room was cold! He glanced at the floor, the lava that was supposed to be hundreds of degrees, and realized that it was still as chilly as when he'd first walked in.
'It's an illusion! It's not real!' Grinning, he looked around before hesitantly placing one foot back onto the ground. Even though it appeared that the lava swallowed up his limb, he felt no pain whatsoever.
"So you like to toy with people's minds huh? How pathetic." He mimicked, listening intently for her to speak. The key was the noise.
"Took you forever to figure it out." She complained, and he locked onto the direction her voice came, straining his ears to listen. Raising his weapon again, he pulled the trigger.
Bang!
"Argh!" She cried, and for a moment she was visible, gripping her arm with a grimace. The next instant, her eyes were flaming with rage and she disappeared again.
"Exchange!" She cried, and a blast of wind forced him to shut his eyes.
He opened them, completely disoriented. He shook his head, but his line of sight didn't move. That was when he saw…
…Himself.
His own body, standing on the floor with his gun still gripped in his hand. "What the hell is this?" He cried, his body stepping backwards in a panic. Nicki grinned, he could feel it, and chuckled.
"I switched our eyesights. You haven't figured it out yet? Wow, you're a dumbass. I ate the Vision-Vision fruit. I can manipulate people's sight."
He pressed his hand to his head, his body in front of him copying the movement. Suddenly he had a thought. Raising the weapon, he moved his arms to point directly at Nicki's body. He was looking down the barrel of his own gun, which made him hesitate, but he knew it wasn't actually him.
She began to move, veering left and quickly approaching him with a knife in her hands.
He cocked it, trying his best to aim the gun from this new angle. But before he could get a shot out, he heard her yell.
"Blackout!"
"Penguin! I've missed you guys!" Kat waved cheerfully, sitting cross-legged in her chair. Penguin approached carefully, glancing around for other enemies. There weren't any. He looked back to Kat, who was smiling like an idiot.
"Kat-chan, no, Kat," He shook his head, dropping the honorific without hesitation, "we're not friends."
Immediately her face dropped, her bottom lip quivering in a pathetic fashion. "But…we spent so much time together on the yellow submarine." She choked back a sob, a single tear rolling down her cheek. Penguin sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. He really didn't want to deal with this right now.
"Can we just fight now?" He asked pleadingly, holding his sword out.
"But I want to be friends!" She cried, rubbing at her eyes in dismay.
"You've got to be kidding me…" He muttered to himself, sighing and glancing around for anything that would help this awkward situation. He was sure that Shachi and the Captain were having easier times with this than him.
"Can we play a game?" She asked suddenly, face bright and happy once more. As if her display of sadness had never even happened. He opened his mouth a few times, unsure of what she was suggesting.
"Umm…" She took this as a yes, because she bounced out of the chair and stood on the floor, her pink flowery dress swirling around her knees.
"Yay! Wanna know what it is?" She grinned, teeth flashing and hands tucked behind her back.
Before Penguin's eyes, she snarled angrily, transforming her face into something he'd never imagined possible for her. Anger and Kat didn't go together, but she had a certain bloodlust in them, and he took a step back in shock.
"It's called…catch me or you die!" And then she was gone.
Like that, in a flash, she'd disappeared from her spot in front of the chair, leaving only a small whoosh of wind in her wake. He immediately brought up his sword, but he wasn't prepared for the massive amount of power that her lightning-quick kick to his side exerted.
His body was thrown into the wall, and he crashed to the floor. "Gah!" He winced, mouth open in a silent cry of pain. Just the force of that blow alone probably cracked or broke his rib. He could feel the pain beginning to flare, no longer just a steady burning feeling.
"Opps! I forgot to tell you I ate the Fast-Fast fruit!" Kat giggled, appearing next to him with a large grin. "I like to keep secrets, so I didn't tell anyone! Sorry!" She said in a singsong voice, sounding suspiciously unapologetic.
"Grghh…" He groaned, pushing himself off the floor and grabbing onto his sword that he'd dropped. "Ok…" He was breathing heavily. Kat giggled once more before disappearing again.
"Alright then…" Penguin said, shaking his head free of the stars in his vision. "Captain said we had to get rid of you guys…and that's what I'm gonna do." He vowed, taking up a fighting stance.
"But you can't catch me!" She sang, and Penguin could feel the air moving on his left. He swiped his sword in that direction, and suddenly she changed direction. He tried shifting out of the way.
"Missed me!" She called, and her fist caught his shoulder. The force pushed him up against the wall. It was unbelievable how strong she was, considering all the time she'd spent with them. She really had been good at hiding her devil fruit.
Penguin coughed, bloody flecks falling onto the floor below him. Yep, rib was definitely broken. With that last one, he wouldn't be surprised if a bone had popped out of place either. He refused to be beaten by this confusing girl though; childish one moment and murderous the next. He stood position again.
"I will defeat you." He promised. She only laughed again, disappearing into a gust of wind.
Law dropped to the ground and the sword lodged itself in the doorframe above his head. He rolled away, standing and facing his sudden attacker. The man pried the weapon from the door, stooping to allow the bunny from before to hop onto his shoulder. It perched there, and he turned to look at the pirate Captain.
"You're the one who defeated Viper?" He asked.
Law looked to his adversary curiously. The man's expression was uncanny, really. Lifeless eyes, a line of stitches running from his temple to his chin. His clothes were a little more formal than casual, with a gray jacket and black shirt lined with dark green accents. The bunny was oddly out of place, considering how imposing this man seemed to be capable of being.
In answer to his question, Law gripped his sword a little tighter. "So, you're his subordinates?
"That would be correct. You'd be crazy to think anything else." Law raised an eyebrow. Odd choice of words. "I am Magnuson."
"I assume you've been watching us? Kat-ya was a spy?" The man nodded.
"That's also correct. We've been watching you for some time, Trafalgar Law." He glanced at the animal on his shoulder. "Lepus does not like your cold hatred."
He frowned, deciding that this man was perhaps a little bit mentally unhinged. He seemed to converse with the bunny, giving it a voice as well. How strange. Still he was an enemy and Law would defeat him.
"Now then. We'd be crazy to sit here and waste our time." He rushed forwards, sword out to thrust. Law met the blade with equal force, pushing him back several steps.
"We killed Viper-ya, don't think we won't kill you." He ground out, slashing out across the man's chest before he could recover.
Instead of slicing through flesh as he'd expected, his sword met little resistance, and easily passed through the man's body. The spot where he'd been attacked had turned into water, and it quickly reformed before Law's eyes.
"You must be crazy, trying to attack me with a sword. I ate the Mizu Mizu no mi, I am a water man. Your sword will do nothing to me."
"Tch." Law scowled in irritation. Just what he needed. A Logia type user. One immune to physical attacks. How grand. He jumped back, dodging the quick slice towards his body. Law raised his hand.
"Room!" He shouted, and the blue sphere enveloped the both of them. Magnuson only watched the room surround them, and didn't seem too intent on attacking again. With expert skill, Law slashed through the air in quick succession, separating the man into dozens of pieces. He watched in frustration as the man's pieces liquified and formed a puddle on the ground. Slowly, he reformed from the water, the bunny still sitting on his shoulder.
"It is no use." Was all he said.
Then he began his attack. Running forwards, he sliced and thrust his weapon at the Captain, and Law was forced to go on the defensive, raising his sword and parrying all attacks aimed his way. The man was very good with his sword, and he was pushed back further and further to the wall. The metal blades clashed together, and his back hit the hard surface of the wall. Without expression, Magnuson thrust his sword towards his head.
Law dropped to the ground, narrowly avoiding the blow. The force of the attack shook the room, and stone debris from the wall rained down on his head. Looking up, he saw his sword lodged deep into the wall, and Magnuson simply stared at it with his empty eyes.
"Shambles!" Law shouted, switching places with the rug on the floor.
Panting, he took a moment to rest, watching as the man yanked his weapon free of the wall.
He had to figure out how to beat him, before his strength gave out.
Bepo, still clutching an unconscious Summer, leapt out of the way of the spirits' swords. He ducked behind the safety of the furthest couch, looking back to see the tips of both sword lodged in the now-broken wall where they'd been sitting before. Now, the two were blocking the only exit. Bepo had no choice but to remain in the room with the battling spirits.
They had long passed the time for talking, and the shouting was soon replaced with painful gasps and the grunt of exertion. Both were pretty beaten up, but neither looked anywhere near finished fighting.
Their blood painted the floor, making it slick and smeared. There wasn't much white tile left to see near them. The smell of metallic liquid was bothering Bepo's sense of smell, because of how pungent it was, but there was nowhere to go besides the opposite side of the room. They were still effectively stuck.
He just hoped Summer would wake up soon.
Her strength was beginning to ebb, slowly fading away with each strike and block. Her hands were covered in blood, as was both of their bodies. They breathed heavily, angered that their strength was at equal level with the other. Besides the non-fatal wounds they'd inflicted upon each other, this fight was getting nowhere.
This was what she'd been waiting for, and damn her if she would stop now.
ns 15.158.61.20da2
