Missing Piece

Chapter 24

"Who said I'd let you get away." Ain interrupted from next to them. A pink bubble around her retracted arm. "Modo Mo—"

"Don't you have any other tricks!" Charlotte slipped out of her scarf to land a kick against her arm. Her face light up in glee despite Penguin's scolding her for the stupid stunt that could have killed her. Ain's attack had landed on herself and she was shrinking. Her smile dropped when Penguin rounded a corner. "Wait! I need to see how she turns back!" Charlotte called as she flapped in the air, still hanging on by her scarf.

Penguin shifted his hold on Charlotte and tucked her under his other arm like he did with Shachi. He wasn't going to risk Charlotte letting go to run back into danger. "No time, and would you stop trying your damn suicide tactics? The woman's fast enough without your help." To prove his point, Ain rounded the corner.

Charlotte deflated with a pouted as she watched Ain trail behind them. Her body was already back to normal. Charlotte perked up suddenly, "Jump out of this window!"

"You said the third window!" Penguin retorted while Shachi added. "That's the first one."

"Well now I'm saying this window. Go. Now!" She ordered and Penguin pivoted quickly, jumping out of the window with no hesitation. His mouth slanted into a grin at the familiar blue dome sticking out of the side of the building. It fell quickly along with the colour in his face when the wall next to it was sliced clean open. "Trust me." Charlotte whispered next Penguin's ear and the pirate had half a second to wonder when she had climbed onto his shoulder before Charlotte was standing and shouting into the hole. "Target! You said you take care of your crew! Well take care of us now before we become pancakes against the ground!"

Trafalgar Law spared a second glance behind him at the strange request, his grey eyes locking momentarily with Shachi and Penguin's wide ones as they fell. The same thought running through their minds.

What?

"W-w-w-we're running out of the range of his room!" Shachi panicked and the two shouted curses and pleads at Charlotte's insane plan, while Charlotte stared back at the hole in the wall, waiting.

You said to trust in the Captain.

"Shambles!"

The three of them landed roughly in a heaping pile before a battered Law. "Whose great idea was it to jump out of the sixth floor of a building!?" He demanded between pants, steely grey eyes immediately locking with the only smug face challenging him. "Hunter-ya." He should have known.

Charlotte disentangled herself from the pile and patted herself off. "You needed help with Zephyr-sensei. You're welcome." Law shambled their placement with Zephyr.

Law stared at her a for a second more. How did she—right, Haki. He sighed, already fatigued from his fight with the instructor and now mentally tired from Charlotte's antics. "We need to move. That stunt won't buy us a lot of time." He stepped past Charlotte who spun around at the lack of appreciation. All work. He spared the young Shachi a glance and turned towards Penguin. "Good job."

"Hey! Where's my thanks for helping you get rid of the Marine instructor?"

Penguin nodded, "It's exactly like you expected, Captain, she charged right in." Penguin reported, responding to Law's question for a debrief, and Law patted him on the back. "You did well to stop her." He continued, ignoring the young huntress' cries.

"I'm literally right here!" Charlotte huffed and then turned back when the world around her darkened. "Huh?" The rest of the Hearts turned back just in time to see the Marine instructor knocking Charlotte into a wall.