Charlotte spun back to standing, huffing and very angry. "Would you two focus?!" She grunted through gritted teeth. "I am tiny and have only one good arm. Work with me!" The three of them fell, tripping over each other and avoiding another pink glowing hand.
Charlotte cursed at the two's happy and flushed face as they face their pretty assailant, Ain. The two had been falling over her the moment they two saw her, caught up in her beauty. The huntress exhaled, kicking Shachi's hat lower and blocking what his shades was failing to do. "Don't you two have a job for a doctor to do?" She was supposed to be the annoying reckless one disobeying orders, not the two loyal lackeys. Because of them, she hadn't even had a chance to go after Ain and to figure out her abilities. "Pretty sure, he won't be happy to hear that you two are fooling around with the enemy."
The words seem to do the trick as in the next moment, the two shot up to their feet, ready for battle. "You won't tell him, right?" Charlotte snickered at the nervous question and shrugged. Her gaze focused on the swordswoman. "I won't if you can get me to her."
Ain eyed the child with a slight frown. "You'll die if I as much as touch you again with my ability." She said and the two men jolted, gaze darting back towards Charlotte who seemed unconcerned. They stepped forward, shielding Charlotte behind them wordlessly. Or that was their plan. She ran head first between their legs.
"That's if you can touch me again."
"The damn reckless idiot..." Penguin cursed under his breath and charged forward. He should have known better. She did the same thing when she faced off against Law when they first met. "Shachi, take the fruit out of here first. I'll get Charlotte."
"Avoid her hands when they glow pink." Charlotte warned. Penguin managed to scoop her up much faster than she'd like. Damn those long legs. She fluttered her eyes close, focusing on finding Shachi an escape route instead now that she wasn't in control of where she was going anymore. "Down the hall, take you're the first two lefts and then jump out of the third window."
"The window?!" Shachi blanched, but nevertheless darted off. "Better not be a far fall." He muttered and Charlotte simply grinned much to his dismay. It was going to be a long fall. "You know I'm human, right?!"
"Modo Modo!"
"She can throw them?!" Penguin exclaimed when the pink glow shot off her hand like a disc, flying straight towards Shachi. The pink disc Shachi straight in the back. "Shachi! Shachi?" Penguin stared at the younger boy whose appearance he hadn't seen since their childhood together.
"I-I'm fine?" Shachi blinked, patting himself for injuries. The largest damage seemed to be that his clothes no longer fit him.
"How old is Shachi?" Charlotte questioned with a grunt. Her karambit pressed against Ain's short sword. She flung Charlotte back and Charlotte skidded to a stop, cursing her smaller and lighter body. "Subtract twelve years from his age. If he has twelve more years, he can take one more hit or else he'll be a goner."
"He'll be a goner either way. He'll just be babbling sitting idiot at the age of one!" Penguin exclaimed and immediately snapped his head towards the huntress that had somehow gotten free, Ain's earlier words now making much more sense. "What are you doing?! You don't have another twelve years!" A yelp and a thud made him spin around back to Shachi who had tripped over his long pants while trying to get out. Penguin stared at the scene around him and exhaled loudly. Much feeling like a babysit with an unstable toddler and a hyperactive child. His arms shot out, grabbing the huntress by her large red bow and Shachi as he passed him.
"W-what are you doing?" Charlotte choked out after fixing her scarf from cutting off her oxygen.
"Running." He admitted easily, swallowing thickly. "There's no point in risking you two—"
"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.
"Charlotte!" Shachi cried into the debris while the other cursed at the insanity of the man scaling back up so quickly. Law was right, the stunt brought them no time at all. To make matter worse, the marine rookies seem to have finally gotten into formation. Penguin glanced down to the chibi Shachi hiding the stolen fruit behind him and frowned. "Captain, what do we do?"
Law scanned their surroundings, a plan already formulating in his mind. A plan that he wasn't exactly sold on for one reason and one reason alone. A wild card; one piece he was never quite sure of. Grey eyes darted towards the smoke from where Charlotte was flung into earlier. What are you going to do?
"C-Captain?" Law gritted his teeth, eyes staring into the smoke to try to spot any signs of the familiar red scarf or purple hair. "Captain!"
"We got what we came here for. Time to leave!" He summoned his room again. The blue dome stopping a few meters short of where Charlotte was. He was running low on energy. "Shachi-ya, inform the others."
"What about Charlotte?" Shachi snapped around, blinking at his new surroundings. He glanced down at the fruit in his hands and gritted his teeth. "Aye, aye, Captain!" He saluted and twisted on his heel, spotting the others that Law was referring to. His face split into a large grin at the waiting Bepo and Cole. "Cole, how far can you shoot?"
Chaos ensured. The foot soldiers that arrived were led by Black Cage Hina, who was the only officer not to be immediately diced up by Law. They managed to find Charlotte who was using the severed body pieces to avoid Hina's iron bars and to inflict further panic and confusion with her borrowed abilities by shrinking random marines. She was fine minus the concussion, broken arm, and now new head wounds.
"Good job!" Penguin gave a thumbs up when Charlotte managed to strike the other Devil Fruit user with the Modo Modo ability. Now they could finally move as they wanted. "Watch out!" Penguin stabbed the air above Charlotte's head, his eyes widening when the blade refused to go through flesh. "What's going on?"
"Not sure, but I haven't been able to cut him either." Law admitted disgruntled. He eyed the blackened skin cautiously. Just what was that black skin?
"Armament Haki." The two glanced down at the huntress staring at the same black spot. "It's another form of Haki whereby the user uses their own spiritual energy to create basically an armor around themselves." She explained and met Zephyr's impressed face. Her mouth slanted into a grin. "You're one annoying guy, aren't you?"
"And you're rather well informed. Tell me, how are you so adept at fighting in that tiny body of yours? Most are too disoriented to fight after being hit by Ain's ability." He shot back as Law shambled her out of harm's way. He cursed when Zephyr attack turned out to be a faint and he was the real target.
"Let's just say that I had lots of practice against larger opponents." Charlotte declared as she dropped back within the confides of the battleground. She stepped on Zephyr's head as she fell, and immediately slid down his back when he tried to reach her, perching herself in a blind spot that his larger muscles blocked him from reaching. Eyes laser focused on Law trapped in his Battle Smasher. "Now let go of my target!" Charlotte raised her blade to stab against the instructor only to have her weapon get knocked out of her hand by a young Hina's iron pole being shot at her. Penguin turned with the attack, his eyes widening.
"BEHIND YOU!"
Law seastone-sapped body turned just in time to see the danger Penguin was referring to and for the nth time that day he cursed his luck. His shambles ability locked away by the seastone grip around him. Ain had made it to the battle, her hand outstretched to touch the nine years old Charlotte. The pink glow of her reverting ability surrounding her hand.
"You lost twelve years and are now nine years old. You don't have another twelve years left to lose. We don't know what will happen if you run out of years. You could potentially disappear."
"CHARLOTTE-YA!"
Bang.
The pink glow faded away and Ain crumbled to the ground. "AIN!" Zephyr shouted, twisting around to look at his injured subordinate. Her arm wrapped around her midsection where blood was quickly oozing from. She had been shot!
What happened? Charlotte thought, glancing to the side, past the hole in the wall from Law's earlier attack.
"Cole happened." Penguin supplied, smugly. It was then that she noticed the slight glint of sniper rifle barrel. From way out there?! What the hell? And the Old Fart couldn't beat that stupid shooting game.
Law watched silently as Charlotte climbed towards Zephyr's bionic arm like some kind of monkey. She tapped the Battle Smasher with her copied ability, reverting it into nothing and freeing Law.
Law grinned smugly as he caught Charlotte, careful not to touch any skin. "Told you can trust my team." He said, tucking her under his arm and summoning his room. "Let's get out of here." He said, shambling them away from battle before Charlotte could run away and do more damage now that she spotted the rookie marine who clocked her. Or before Zephyr turns his attention back to them.
The moon shone brightly through the portholes of the Polar Tang. Law wasn't expecting to see his crew in various ages younger than he remembered them to be. He inhaled deeply, already feeling a migraine coming. "Charlotte-ya," He called. There was only one person aboard who could have done this. "Why is Shachi now 1? He was 13 earlier."
"I took matters of learning how the ability work into my own hands." Charlotte explained without a shred of guilt or remorse. Law often did experiments, why couldn't she?
"I don't experiment on the crew." Law groaned and Charlotte only shot him a disbelieving look. The number of times she ended up chopped up would state otherwise. "That's because you needed a punishment." He sighed at her unrelenting stare. Her hand grew purple, and she lifted it towards the walls of the Polar Tang around them in a silent threat. "And?" He relented; he much rather have his crew be babies than the sub sinking due to sudden holes appearing on the ship.
She frowned, arms crossing over her chest. No luck, huh? Law thought, catching the huntress stifling another yawn. It all started when Charlotte hit Cole with the Modo Modo ability after getting frustrated by him and all his pipsqueak comments. Cole wasn't the only one she smacked with the ability for constantly teasing of her for being 'an adorable child'. Most of the crew had been hit by her ability at least once in the first few hours of returning.
"Here. This might help." Law said, dangling a thick book before her.
Charlotte sat up instantly. Her fingertips ghosted the front cover as if it was too precious to touch. Her platinum eyes sparkled as she read the author's name at the bottom of the book. It was Dr. Vegapunk's Devil Fruit encyclopedia. "Where did you... when we were separated, you went to get this, didn't you?" She asked, lifting her gaze towards the Law.
"I want them back to normal in the morning." Law warned as he disappeared into the sub with a yawn. "Good night." She hummed a response, already settling next to a snoring Bepo. The book already cracked open.
The next morning, Law was surprised by the disheveled child squatting outside his quarters. Her hair, a tangled mess, and layers upon layers of eye bags stretched from her eyes to her chin. Her cheeks were red and swollen too. "What happened to you?"
"It's not there." At Law's quirked brow, Charlotte repeated, "I went through the book three times and her ability isn't in there. It's not in this volume." The encyclopedia sat on the floor next to her. The roman numbers IV branded on the book's spine indicated that there were more. Other ones that could house the information she needed.
"You were up all-night reading?" Law gawked, still trying to process the state the child hunter was in. His morning coffee forgotten about.
Charlotte made her way to the coffee machine, climbing on a step stool to reach the counter. "You know this would have all been easily avoided if you hadn't taken me from the battle before I got what I needed. There were plenty of marines that require reverting back." She said between yawns, while pouring the coffee into a cup. She stared at the dark, black liquid in silence. You can do it. You can drink this black goo.
"Correction, all of this would have been avoided if you didn't shrink the crew."
Charlotte jolted. "T-that's their fault..." she mumbled. "P-plus, it's not like it's affecting anyone in doing their jobs."
"Not yet, but what about later? Rike-ya is 7, Cole-ya is 12, Penguin-ya is 14, Bepo is 8, and..." Law continued to list, and Charlotte twitched at every additional victim. She really did rack up a headcount.
"...I'm finding a way, aren't I?" Charlotte muttered into her scarf, platinum eyes glaring at her bitter enemy. "Eh? What are you doing?" Charlotte asked, arms flying up to reach for the sky blue mug when Law plucked it off the counter and above her head.
"Getting my coffee?" Law looked at the hunter oddly. This was his cup. Plus, she doesn't drink coffee, hating how bitter it tastes on her tongue. "You weren't thinking of drinking it, were you?" He took a sip, not missing the way the other's face scrunched up at the thought of the taste. "Go to sleep, children need sleep if they want to grow taller."
"...can't."
Law turned back to the small child still staring at the spot where the cup once sat. Her small hands balled into fists. He leaned against the threshold, "And why not?"
"The copied abilities resets when I'm unconscious. I won't be able to turn the others back if I sleep."
I don't do things for the sake of others. It was just a lucky coincidence—collateral. Her go-to excuse replaying in his mind. Explain this then. He challenged silently. As if sleep deprivation was convenient for her or for her sake. "Go to bed." He ordered again and this time she did snap her head towards him. A look of disbelief on her face, that only further confirmed what she so clearly denies each time. "You'll all be fine in the morning." He continued and she looked at him as if he had a loose screw. Law sighed, explaining his logic. "If everything resets when you're unconscious, then the effects should be nulled too."
"T-that... actually makes sense." She gawked and her eyes grew heavy at the idea of sleep. She shook her head and raised her hands to either side of her face. "But what if we don't?" There were no precedence of it working that way.
He grabbed her hands before she could slap herself awake. "Didn't I tell you to trust me?"
Charlotte swallowed. Platinum eyes looking with grey ones, imploring them. "It's on you if it fails."
"Yes, yes, I'll take responsibility." At the words, the huntress was out almost instantly. "You could have at least waited until you got to your room." Law sighed, catching her before she struck the ground.
Her chest rising and falling gently. The long tank that she had been using as a dress slowly filled out as her body grew back to her regular height. Law fanned out her signature scarf around her quickly like he had seen her do often using it in place of a blanket. He covered her soon to be exposed body and lifted her princess style, making sure the scarf acted as a barrier between them to avoid burning her awake.
He kicked open the supply closet that Charlotte had claimed her room and frowned at the tiny space. How the hell do you manage in such a small space? There's not even a bed. Shifting plans, he turned to his room instead.
He laid her out in the middle of his bed, and she immediately turned, cuddling to the plush pillows. Her breathing slow and even. Law brushed a loose strand of hair from her face, letting the strand fall back over her shoulders, being careful not to brush his skin against hers. He was mildly surprised that she was wearing so little—a thin tank top being her sleeper wear choice. A stark opposite to the many layers she wore. It made sense given what she said about her ability burning her. It must have been suffocating under the thick layers. He thought back to the look on her face back in the infirmary. He could wear gloves more often.
A movement caught his attention and Law eyed the exposed skin and swallowed thickly. "This is dangerous of you, Charlotte-ya. To dress so lightly on a ship full of males." His grey eyes lifted when he noticed another pair of eyes watching him. It was the pufferfish plushie the crew won for her. Its slanted angry eyes staring back at Law. He frowned, suddenly feeling judged by the thing.
Did you know Charlotte's likes fishes? That's why she's always sitting by the windows while we're submerged—to watch the fish.
Law frowned and carefully covered the huntress with his blanket. He plucked the pufferfish from the bed, locking eyes with it. Why are you in my room? He hadn't really thought about it nor was he actively avoiding the huntress, but he didn't really put in time with her either like Rike had said. It never occurred to him since she's has always been there. "Keeping watch on her target" as she'd often say.
"I wouldn't be surprised if she knew more about you than you knew about her. She's fast at picking things up."
Law scowled, pushing Rike's words from his mind. It doesn't matter. He reminded himself, stubbornly. So, what if he didn't know much about the huntress or her likes or dislikes like the rest of his crew seemed to. It wasn't like it was causing any problems. He caught sight of the thick gloves next to her. "It hurts whenever I copy an ability." Her words echoed in his mind as he picked up the gloves. They really were thick. He turned back towards the sleeping woman. A slight smugness on his face as he lowered the gloves again. There were things that he knew about her. Things that his crew didn't know yet. Not to mention—
"Would you really just let me into every detail of your life, Law?"
He stretched as he exited the room. There were things the huntress didn't yet either—they were on the same playing field.
Would you, Charlotte-ya?