A Light Touch (Eustass X Reader)

Chapter 19: The Crisis

This meant that Decken was tossing these items as high up into the air as he could, so they cleared buildings and made their way to your location. There were some summits in the Metro he could be utilizing, but while he had been dodging Doflamingo it was unlikely he could be too picky.

There were also other assumptions that had to be made - how much velocity the items had or could gain. If strong winds could knock them off course temporarily or not, and other unknown limitations or empowerments granted by the Devil fruit ability itself.

Heat pointed to a few places on a map he'd brought out. "Since he'll realize he's not playing with Doflamingo anymore, he's most likely to take advantage of these elevated locations. Each one would send items into the house on different sections, so once he attacks again, we can head to the most likely location."

"It's not a guarantee," Kid says. "But it's not 4-dimensional chess anymore. It's just between us and him."

"He's going to do what everyone except Shanks has done since we got here," Killer says. "And underestimate us."

"Except Shanks... Hold on, are you telling me you guys waltzed into the Grandline Metro, became kings, and then hopped the fence past the Warlords and challenged an Emperor?!" You were completely dumbfounded as a couple crew members nodded their heads.

"Only cost us an arm and we learned a lot from it, Mouse."

You made a face. You're pretty sure your soul made a face.

"I'm surprised it took this long for The Crisis to hit you like that." Emma quips.

"The Crisis?"

"Everyone who joins the crew has The Crisis. Crisis is defined as 'a time of intense difficulty, trouble, or danger'." Wire explains. "The Crisis is that moment when you realize just exactly what it means to follow Eustass 'Captain' Kid."

"And yet none of you bastards have left after having your crisis." Kid points out and taps on the map to pull everyone back on topic. "I want Mouse to stay here tonight, and we need to send out scouts to look at these locations before an attack. See if there's any we can rule out first."

"We're leaving her alone here?" Hip asks.

"I mean, I'd be safe in the basement, right? Or the workshop – it's mostly a bunker." You offer.

"We're not leaving you alone." Kid grumbles, even though he gives you crooked smile. "You're shit at taking orders, Mouse. I'll stay here – subtle isn't exactly my gig anyway."

"If we happen to come across him while we're scouting, you want us to just handle things?" Emma asks.

"Sure," Kid says. "If you can bring him back here I'd consider it a gift, but at this point we need this problem solved. I ain't going to be a picky bitch about it." He looks around. "Pull Boogie, Reck and Mosh too. Moai and Hop if they're not busy. Tomorrow, I want a call out to gather the crew, give everyone that's scattered a week to get back here."

"Hey House," Kid called out, and put a hand on her shoulder before leaning down and whispering something in her ear.

"I mean, I'll do my best, Captain."

"Yeah, don't go nuts, but do what you can." Kid waved his hand. "Alright, handle your shit, back by dawn."

The crew ruffles your hair or pats you on the back as they file out, leaving you and Kid in the den together.

"What was that with House?" You ask out of curiosity.

"If I wanted the crew to know, I'da said it louder." Kid answers sarcastically, glancing at you from the corner of his eye as he collects up the map.