One Piece: Grand Endeavours

Chapter Eighty-Eight: Uncontrollable

Kuro
Shit, shit, shit...I knew this was a bad idea. All of their expressions glaze over and weapons are drawn or they prepare to fight if they fight without weapons. And I can't use my Devil Fruit. The floor could have anything under it (like a huge drop) so phasing throughout that isn't an option. The walls have it to so I vaguely contemplate that he knows about what my Devil Fruit is.

I barely dodge a punch from Luffy and a swing of the sword from Zoro but that puts me into the range of one of Usopp's attacks that knock me into a wall. I cough but don't have time to regain energy as I dodge one of Danni's knives and Nova's bat. I can't hurt them, not really, and I am hopelessly outnumbered. If it was just a few or one of them trying to kill me then I would stand a chance. Even if it was just Luffy I may stand a chance to at least hold him off long enough. But everyone? When I finally get to a point in my life where I have no desire to die, I am going to die. Typical. A bat swings into my ribs and I yelp at the slight crack but manage to knock the bat across the courtyard.

When one of my dodges from a few attacks put me between resident psycho guy and Danni I realise how entirely screwed I am. I can't dodge with Sanji, Zoro and Luffy blocking my way. I have long since been disarmed so I can't block the attack. As one of her daggers go towards me I try to catch her wrist but the sharp point of an injection in my arm delays that. My vision blurs for a second and I don't manage to stop the knife, only redirect it slightly. Instead of going through my chest it goes through my shoulder. Bad but not as bad. Yet. As the blade is pulled out though, the blood loss is already not good.

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How I have kept going for so long is a mystery. It has been a while of dodging but given how many there are and how apt they are at fighting. Whatever I got injected with isn't helping. At this point the injuries are extensive and fighting back is becoming impossible. Broken ribs, several slices and stab wounds given how many use swords, gashes and bruises...That is just scraping the surface. Something connects with my leg and a loud crack rings out. I lose my balance and fall. Broken leg... I cringe and try to get up but hands connect with my throat, squeezing tightly. My burry vision from everything meets Luffy's glazed over eyes and I try to pull away as his grip tightens.

Fire burns in my throat and my vision blurs hopelessly as black spots dance across my vision. I am vaguely aware of the blade of a sword go through my side but the pain is now vague and slightly distant. I am more aware of the blade being pulled out and I can hear my heart beat in the base of my skull. The grip doesn't loosen and pushing away didn't work so as a last ditch effort I elbow him hard in the throat. His grip instantly loosens and I pull away, trying to stand. However I know I don't have the energy to fight any longer. I try to doge but with the broken leg and multiple stab wounds and what was almost definitely poison isn't helping.

A kick to my side, on the broken ribs, knocks me backwards and I land in the stream that I have constantly been trying to avoid. I hear a splash and icy water surrounds me. Holding my breath is impossible, with everything and I slowly begin to drift. So tired...I let my eyes flutter closed.

Luffy
The mind control fades, leaving me frozen in absolute horror. During being controlled I was aware of everything. The punch to Kuro's so hard I added to the broken ribs. My hands squeezing his throat as I strangled him. Seeing everyone attack Kuro and add injury on top of injury.
"Sanji!" I say, looking at the water where he landed. He nods and dives into the water.
"It'll be too late to do anything," the psycho guy laments.
"Shut up!" I yell, clenching my fists so tightly they throb. He just smirks. I am so going to punch that smirk off his face because I doubt that he knows we know that he can't recontrol us if we know that. However though we can't until we know what he injected Kuro with. "So tell us what you injected Kuro with."
"I thought you told me to shut up," he mocks. Ugh. He smirks. "Although I do like bragging rights. A poison Keizo made especially for our pathetic bookworm."
"And the antidote?" Chopper asks.
"There isn't one. It existed in case Kuro got too much of a threat so you think Keizo could make one. So if the injuries don't kill him, in two weeks the poison will." Tears well up in my eyes at that.

Sanji resurfaces with Kuro's motionless form. He gently lays him on the ground and I sprint over kneeling by him. He is breathing, thankfully, but he is barely doing so and is drained of colour. I gently but fingers by his wrist to feel for a pulse but there is barely anything. Just a weak thudding that is barely noticeable.
"Chopper?" I say, weakly. "Is he going to live?" Chopper looks panicked.
"I don't know...he has enough injuries to kill anyone...We need to get him back to the ship. Now."
"We'll stay and take care of this guy," Sanji says and Zoro nods in agreement. I think, like me, everyone hates what we have done and hates this guy even more. Enough for these two to compromise. Chopper picks up what remains of the vial of poison and, as carefully as I can, I pick up Kuro's motionless form.

I feel blood against my skin and cringe slightly. I keep my grip as gentle as possible but it needs some force so he doesn't fall. If it wasn't for the slight rise and fall of his chest I would think he was dead. His shirt is tattered from the amount of times he got knifed or stabbed and the bruises around his throat stand out against the pale background. He has lost so much blood and is losing yet more.

I sniffle but furiously blink away the tears. Crying now could just make me not see the cliff properly and if I fell then Kuro would be even more hurt.
"Do you think you could draw the poison out? Like you would with a snake?" I ask.
"He has lost too much blood for that," Chopper says. "And it will be too much into his system by now." I feel my heart crack. So there is no hope? "I'll have to try to make an antidote. Hopefully I can in time..." So there is hope but macroscopic. So weak that there is almost none. Emotion fizzles out of me.

We get back to the ship and go to the hospital area. As gently as I can I place Kuro on the bed, brushing his fringe from his eyes before stepping back so Chopper can sort out the breaks, stab wounds and everything draining his life out of him.
"Luffy, I'll need you to wait outside," Chopper says. I get ready to protest that. "Please. He has a lot of injuries that I really need to focus on. Anyone being here would just be a distraction." I sniffle again and nod.
"Please don't die," I whisper to Kuro, even if he can't hear me I need to say it. Tears run down my cheeks and I leave the room, closing the door behind me.

Once outside I feel my legs give out and collapse to the ground. I lean against the door and pull my knees up to my chest. I bury my head in my arms and since I am no longer holding Kuro I let myself begin to sob. My eyes burn, head throbs and heart aches but what makes it all the worse is I know the pain I helped be gifted to Kuro is even worse. Now he may die. He is probably going to die. The injuries Chopper may be able to fix but finding an antidote that doesn't yet exist with a deadline of a maximum of two weeks? I don't want to lose him. I cant lose him. But the odds of that happening are an agonising reality that crashes everything around me.