(Bellamy POV)
“Don’t you fucking take your hand off him!” I screamed, half in fear and half in desperation, willing my voice to penetrate Wyper’s thick skull. “He’s not dead!”
“What do you mean he’s not dead? Wyper just hit him with a reject dial. No one could possibly survive that!” Laki argued, hugging Aisa to her chest.
Meanwhile, Nami burst out from her hiding spot to kneel beside her fallen crewmate. “Robin! Wake up!”
“Wyper even used seastone to counter Enel’s power. He has to be dead.” Laki told me, but just because what she said made sense, didn't mean that she hadn't blatantly taunted fate. Meanwhile, Wyper began coughing up a decidedly unhealthy amount of blood, the backlash of his recklessness catching up to him. He was going to be useless from now on, meaning that I should ignore him and simply do what I could to stave off the coming disaster.
The stupid ass attempted to resist as I tried to unwrap the bandages around his right arm, clawing to get at both the seastone and the reject dial. More the seastone than the spent dial, but both could be useful.
And, not as if I had expected anything different, my methods drew protests from my current compatriots. “What are you doing!”
“Saving our goddamn lives, that’s what! Wyper, let go!” I snapped back, finally ripping the rock from his grasp.
Sadly, my efforts to salvage the situation were too little too late, as a bright blue pulse of light illuminated the courtyard, causing everyone to turn around in wide-eyed horror.
And the precious three seconds it took for the information to trickle into our brains, were three seconds too many.
Bzzt
Maybe it was the dread of seeing the dead come back to life.
Bzzt
Maybe it was the alarm of knowing you had just wasted your best chance.
Bzzt
“Don’t tell me…” Nami gasped, covering her mouth with her left hand, unwilling to believe what she was seeing. “He’s compressing his own heart?”
Bzzt
But regardless of the reason, we were all frozen in place, unable to muster the will to do anything, trapped in our bodies, unwilling spectators to a god’s resurrection.
You know the feeling when you realised that hope was dead? That all your effort, all your blood, sweat and tears had come to nothing? That none of your sacrifices nor the sacrifices of your friends had meant anything? That feeling drove Wyper to his knees.
“It’s not that people fear god.” Enel’s voice was conversational as he wiped away the traces of blood from the edge of his mouth, the last remaining reminder of Wyper’s struggle. “Fear itself is god.”
My legs felt as if they were made of lead, a weight crushing my very soul.
“Warrior Wyper, I told you, didn’t I? That you shouldn’t…” Perhaps Wyper was feeling it too, as he collapsed to his hands and knees, no longer able to even gaze up at Enel. “See, I told you. How pitiful, warrior Wyper.”
Somehow, the wounded man found the strength to growl, the dying roars of a great beast. “Don’t address me so casually! 800 years ago, proud Shandian warriors fought for the fate of this city! We are their descendants!”
But I needed to move. While Enel was distracted by Wyper, focused on grandstanding like the stereotype anime antagonist he was. I was aware that he had haki but maybe, just maybe.
Spring Snipe!
I flung myself at him, one arm outstretched and holding the seastone, but he sensed me coming from a mile away.
“That’s getting annoying now.”
Pain.
“But less than last time.” I thought as I lost control over my limbs, rolling head over heels and coming to a stop next to Aisa. Dazed.
“One shot of the reject dial should be suicidal for a normal person.” Enel continued without a care in the world, almost as if to drive home that I was not worthy of being a threat. Just an annoyance which had been dealt with. Wyper on the other hand? He had impressed Enel…well, maybe not impressed but he had been promoted to the status of an interesting bug at the very least. “You shot it twice and still get back up…impressive.”
But getting back up to his knees was all Wyper could manage with the state his mind and body were in at the moment.
“But you are no match for me.”
A simple gesture, a light tap and one of Enel’s drums lit up before transforming into a majestic blue bird, hovering above Enel’s head.
“Wait, Aisa no!” Laki’s anguished scream jerked my attention away from the blue thunderbird to where little Aisa had interposed herself between Wyper and Enel, shielding Wyper with her tiny body.
“Don’t hurt him!”
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(Rivers POV)
“That’s the last of them, Muret.” Rivers said, laying Sarquiss on the bed adjacent to Lily’s.
“Thank you, Rivers. I’m not sure how I would have done this without your help.” the doctor answered, giving him a tired smile. The sickbay was filled with Rivers’ crew mates, all of them sporting a variety of wounds, though thankfully none of them were immediately life-threatening.
Hewitt had lost a lot blood and Lily had a severe concussion but Muret had said that they would recover. Eddy looked like he had bitten into a sour lemon, but seeing as he had the energy to be jealous, he was going to be fine. Sure, he would be walking around with a limp for a while but fine.
The only other major casualty had been Sarquiss who had apparently tried to blow himself to kingdom come in a last ditch effort to beat one of Enel’s priests.
Rivers was sure that Muret would dig him a new one for that stunt later. For now, she had contented herself to jabbing the first mate with a larger than standard needle and forcefully putting him to sleep.
SQUAWK!!
“And thanks to you too, Fuza. I haven’t forgotten about you.” Muret skipped over to his new companion, who shamelessly started demanding neck rubs. “Who’s a good boy? That’s right, you are.”
Should he be worried that his partnership with Fuza was going to end before it could really begin?
Nah.
Though, did those neck rubs really feel that good? Birds shouldn’t be able to purr like that. They were just not anatomically built that way. However, Eddy’s death glare did dissuade Rivers from asking for his own.
The navigator had been in a foul mood, ever since Rivers had picked the two of them up. Wouldn’t a decent person be at least somewhat grateful for the lift? He even had the good sense to leave both of them alone on the ship like the good wingman he was, while he went looking for the others. And all he had asked of them was to watch Shura for him.
Who knew Eddy could be such a jerk?
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(Eddy POV)
The results of today’s battles painted a damning picture. They were weak. The Bellamy pirates were weak. Sure, they had all survived but so what?
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Enemy arrogance, enemy negligence, enemy idiocy…they had only survived due to sheer dumb luck. How long would their luck hold? Definitely not forever.
To make matters worse for Eddy, Sarquiss had managed to do something, even if what he had achieved could be accurately summed up as an elaborate suicide attempt. Hewitt and Ross had won on their own and survived on their own against someone who was on the same level as Ohm. Rivers didn’t even get hurt and got a new pet out of the whole debacle.
Even Mani had won her fight, even if it had been more a case of her stealing the kill from the Straw Hats but she had won regardless.
Eddy had just run and still gotten stabbed for his troubles. Despite boasting for months, how he was the fourth strongest combatant on the crew, he had definitely made the most pathetic showing today.
This went sooo far beyond “I need to not skip a day of training anymore” that it wasn’t even funny. This wasn’t only about impressing Muret anymore, though that still remained a priority. This was about Eddy not dying the next time he had to fight anyone stronger than a newborn kitten.
Rivers had brought back one of the priests, so maybe Eddy could convince the guy to teach him mantra or whatever it was called. If words failed, Eddy would have to be very convincing. Everyone opened up to Eddy eventually. While he would prefer to not get his hands dirty, sometimes needs must. Thankfully, there were ways of reasoning that required a bit more finesse than some crude but traditional…arguments.
Also, why was Rivers looking at him like that? Eddy was thankful and all, because his wound definitely would have ruined his leg, if he had been forced to walk all the way back to the ship. However, that still didn’t give the sniper the right to glare at Eddy like that.
And Eddy had been planning to give Rivers his secret stash of Fruit Pops too.
Who knew Rivers could be such a jerk?
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(Muret POV)
It had taken a good half an hour to calm Mani down. She had initially seemed fine when Rivers had picked her up, but the girl had started sobbing once she had reached the safety of their ship. Then again, this was not an uncommon reaction to traumatic experiences.
If you asked Muret, having your comrades be massacred before your eyes and being chased through a forest by the ones who had massacred said comrades, qualified as being a traumatic experience.
To be honest, Muret was surprised that she was being as calm as she currently was. Perhaps it was because she hadn't been actively targeted today? Except for the dog, but the dog had been quite funny once it wasn’t trying to crush you.
For now, Mani had needed rest, so Muret gave the girl something to calm her down and closed the bedroom door behind her. She would return later to see if Mani wanted to talk once the girl woke up again.
Re-entering her domain, she found Eddy and Rivers leaning against opposite walls on either side of her sickbay, glaring daggers at each other.
Knowing both of them as well as she did (you’d be surprised by what people told their doctors), she could make a decent guess as to what both of them were thinking.
They’re both idiots.
But even as she readied her syringes to teach the two a lesson in communication, she couldn't help but smile fondly.
But they’re her idiots.
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(Bellamy POV)
My body was moving before my brain could really register what was happening. Out of the periphery of my vision, I could see Laki scrambling for her rifle, knowing that she wouldn't reach her adopted sibling in time.
Wyper was shaking, trying to move his body by sheer force of will, to do anything but let Aisa place herself in danger because of him. Nami, bless her heart, was attempting to reach the piece seastone I had dropped when Enel slugged me across the face earlier.
It was like the world had gone silent and was moving at a snail’s pace, which made Enel’s widening smile even more grotesque than it normally was.
In the deafening silence of the moment, I could hear an echo of Enel’s name in the distance.
Eneeel!
And then the moment passed and time sped up again.
I wrapped myself around Aisa, my back turned to Enel as Wyper flopped to the side, screaming profanities to try and draw Enel’s ire back onto himself.
Don’t
A bullet tore a hole through Enel’s forehead. We all knew it would do nothing, but Laki didn't care. Anything was better than doing nothing and watching her loved one die before her very eyes.
A flap of the wings sent the bird my way. Aisa’s eyes clenched shut.
Touch
I didn't think. Instead, I just willed myself to transform, to shield Aisa. Nothing but a tube of steel, coils layered directly upon coils into a veritable tower.
My world exploded into white, red hot agony lancing through my entire body. I couldn't see anything and my ears were filled with the unending crackling of electric discharge. The one thing I notably couldn't hear were Aisa’s screams.
My
It felt like every nerve in my body was burning up all at the same time. I shuddered, something inside of me giving way and suddenly it wasn't quite as painful, not quite as hot.
“Wwhhaatt hhaavvee yyouu dddoonnee tttoo mmeee??!!?!??” A garbled scream filled the air but the voice was not Aisa's.
Nakama!
Thankfully, soon enough the electricity faded and I could unfurl myself from around Aisa, every motion a fresh source of pain. But I needed to see.
Enel was down, Nami pressing the seastone to his stomach with everything she had left. Zoro had Enel’s right arm trapped, pinning it against the ground with his full weight. At the same time, Wyper had somehow managed to clamp his teeth around the other, hanging on like a limpet. It looked ridiculous but he was successfully immobilizing his target.
And the man of the hour?
Luffy was sat upon Enel’s chest, raining blows down upon him. “Gum gum gatling!”
It was an absolute torrent of violence. At the rate he was going, I feared that Luffy was going to drill himself and Enel through the floor and into the clouds below. And I knew that it was not going to be enough.
“Laki!” I gasped out, my voice hoarse. “Kill him!”
Laki didn't verbally respond but I knew that she had heard me, because she took aim and pulled the trigger.
And then, suddenly, it was over.
Enel stopped struggling, Luffy stopped punching, I stopped breathing. Nami, I noted, was still holding the stone to Enel’s stomach, obviously worried about a repeat of the first time his heart had stopped, even as a pool of blood spread out beneath her.
And that, if nothing else, was proof that this time something had hit the bastard. I doubted that even a logia could shrug off a hole in his head…especially if he was bleeding blood and brain matter like that.
But it was always better make sure. Slowly, I stumbled over to Enel’s body, picking up Zoro’s sword on my way there. I could see the understanding dawn in Zoro’s eyes and shock in Luffy’s, as I raised the blade above my head…
“Wait, Bellamy!”
…and brought it down.