"No."
"Excuse me? You can't tell me what to do. You're not my dad." I narrowed my eyes as I looked down at Kid, watching him glance between my face and where his fifth limb disappeared between my legs.
"I'd fuckin' hope not."
Rolling my eyes at his crude jest, I climbed off of him, completely ignoring his grunt of complaint.
"You know I'd have the best chance of getting close and bringing their guards down. They've seen your faces plastered all over the New World. Mine is concealed on my wanted posters."
Kid tried to pull me back into his body, but I was a slippery little thing, easily wriggling out of his old to hunt down my underwear, which he had haphazardly thrown somewhere across the room.
"Chance or not, I'm not havin' you go in like that again. Not after last time. No way, no how."
I thought back to what had happened on that island, and the memories that still somewhat plagued me, but I quickly shook when out of my head, kicking my partner's coat out of the way and finding my knickers.
"Then what do you suppose we do? I'd love to hear it if you have a better plan." I watched from the corner of my eye as Kid climbed out of bed, still standing to attention and uncaring of his full exposure, quite like me.
"We storm in, like we always do. I want you at a safe distance." I knew he was only trying to look out for me, but it was frustrating.
"What, because I'm-"
"Cuz you're a fuckin' sniper. Don't go pullin' the gender card. It won't work."
Ugh, screw your logic.
Throwing on one of the few actual shirts he owned, along with my pants, I moved to the mirror, beginning to fix my hair so it wouldn't look like I had just rolled out of bed in the middle of sex.
"I'm your captain, not just your partner. You can't go against my plan." Kid continued, not bothering to get himself dressed.
"Don't go pullin' the captain card." I retorted, even though I knew he was right. "I've had parts of you in my mouth that aren't made to be tasted, so we're pretty far past that."
The red-head growled in complaint, but quit while he was somewhat ahead, plonking himself back down on the end of the mattress, amidst the screwed up sheets.
"Red-Hair ain't someone you can dupe. I know you're good at what you do, but so are we, so can you just have a bit of damn faith in us?"
I did have faith in them. I never questioned their ability to get what needed to be done done, but this was an Emperor we were talking about. Still, I had less experience than they did, so I knew that no matter how badly I wanted to execute my own part of the plan, I had to do what I was instructed.
"Y'know, if I'd met you in a bar, I would've robbed you blind. You know that, right?" I turned around and smirked, receiving one right back.
"Oh, I know. Wouldn't've seen it comin'." Seemingly over the fact that I had left him high and dry, Kid welcomed the kiss I offered. "Hmmm..."
"What?" I questioned his thoughtful hum, tilting my head as I went to continue getting ready.
"Nothin', just wondering what I'll buy for you once I take that cocky red-haired fucker down."
It took a lot to point out that he was also a cocky red-haired fucker, but I managed to stop myself, picking up my hat and fluffing out the feather.
"Hmmm, how about the rest of Mihawk to go with this?" I joked, enjoying the way his painted lips puckered into a pout. "I'm kidding! I've got everything I want, but maybe a tip for Galley-La would be nice? You have to admit, they did Victoria justice."
Kid flopped backwards onto the bed, stretching out so his bones clicked into place.
"Yeah, guess they did. Well, I'm gonna take a nap if you're actually going through with abandoning our fun..."
Rolling my eyes, I simply blew him a kiss before exiting his room, our room, and heading up to the deck. The wind blowing through my hair was refreshing, and I stretched my arms above my head with a yawn.
The first thing I did was track down my beloved son, lifting him into my arms and blowing a raspberry on his bare, wrinkled belly. Keeping him close to my chest, I wandered towards the bow, finding Wire and Haikei studying a map.
"Nah, get that gummy glob away from me, man!" Haikei quickly skittered a few feet away as I approached, and I squished Missy protectively against my bosom.
"That is no way to treat your superior!" I scolded him, yet again referring to my pet as third in command, despite that position rightfully belonging to both Heat and Wire. "So, how far off are we?"
Wire glanced to the eternal log pose we had gotten ahold of, then back to the map.
"A day out, give or take. It all depends on the winds at this point. You nervous?" He asked, and I shrugged my shoulders. I was, to a degree. Who wouldn't be, going up against a seasoned pirate like Red-Haired Shanks?
"A little, but I know we've got a fighting chance. I kinda wanna prove I can beat that Beckman guy. Imagine, little ol' me, taking down one of, if not the, best gunman in all four blues?!" I pumped one of my fists, unphased by how Missy's claws dug through my shirt.
"That sure would be something, but don't go throwing yourself into any extra danger. We wanna get out of this with everyone still breathing." Wire was stern, but in a calm, kindly way, and I appreciated his concern.
"Hell, I'm more worried about Lucky Roux. Dude's like a walking tank. Gonna take a handful of us to get him on the ground." Haikei added, leaning on one of the figure head's golden teeth.
"Don't they have a monkey, too? I'm pretty sure I remember seeing a wanted poster for a monkey." I thought back to my research.
"Who, Limejuice?"
"No, I mean a literal monkey. Monster, or something."
"There's that Yasopp, too, and Bonk Punch."
"Bonk Punch. What a name."
"Better than Missile Launcher."
"Excuse the fuck out of you!"
"They have a strong crew, but I think you're both forgetting that the one to be concerned about is Shanks himself?" Wire offered his two cents and the two of us nodded, agreeing with his logic.
"Yeah, but I don't think Boss'll want any of us interfering with him." Haikei explained, and I knew that to be the truth. There was no way Kid would want anyone else to take the credit.
"So we need to focus on the others. I wonder if we can roast that monkey for a celebratory feast?" I questioned, only partially serious.
"We're not eating the monkey. That's bordering on cannibalism." I jumped a little when I heard Killer speak from behind me, and again when Missy climbed over my shoulder and launched herself into his arms. "Get him off of me."
Ignoring his request to take back my beautiful cat, I turned to speak to him.
"Are you nervous, Killz?" I wanted to hear it straight from his own mouth, considering I couldn't search for it in a facial expression.
"On edge, but not nervous. We've been preparing for this, and they're only human. Take the cat, (Y/N)." He answered, stepping forward as I moved to hover over the map. The island we were headed to was supposedly where they had set up a temporary base camp, and it seemed pretty big.
"Are we going for an ambush, or a head-on assault?" I questioned whoever could give me the answer, trying to memorise landmarks and coordinates.
"Head-on. We can't risk splitting up with this lot." Wire responded, tapping his finger upon the Northern shore of the island. "We're going to land here, and head straight through."
This is exciting!"
"(Y/N), I'm begging you, take the damn cat. Please." I glanced over my shoulder to see Missy trying to squish her way up into the helmet to join Killer's head. He had one hand holding it down in place, so I finally caved and pried the feline off, knowing full well I was receiving a glare from the blond.
"Boss is getting us to bring a shit-tonne of scrap along, too, so he ain't gonna hold back. You ain't seen nothing until you've seen him make a tidal wave of steel." Haikei gushed at the thought, and I joined him, imagining just how awesome that would look.
"This isn't like any of our other battles. Don't go into this with your heads in the clouds. We need to stay sharp." Killer warned us. I was getting the impression that he was a lot more concerned than he was willing to admit, but I knew better than to ask.
"We're always sharp." Kid came ambling into the cover of the figure head and I smiled, walking up to him.
"Look, Missy! It's daddy!" I cooed, holding the gelatinous cat up to see the captain, and both Haikei and Wire snickered.
"If you ever refer to me as that cat's daddy again I will actually throw him overboard." Kid growled through his teeth, and I quickly yanked my son out of reach.
"We're a package deal. You love me, you love my son." I huffed, mildly amused at the way Kid leered at his crew members, who all tried not to choke on their chuckles.
"We've got a day to prepare. We eat, we sleep, and we focus. Tomorrow, we prove who really deserves to be an Emperor."
I joined in the round of 'aye aye's, my heart racing at the thought of what was to come. If we pulled this off, we'd be more than just famous. We'd be respected. Revered. We'd be that much closer to making Kid the King of the Pirates.
It's just one battle. Nothing is going to stop us..!
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
***Ahahaha. Hahaha. Ha.
I'm getting a custom tattoo of Killer in like 4 days, so I'm excited. One of Crocodile, too, because my artist had him in his flash designs so I couldn't resist. Once I save up again after this I'll be getting either Ichiji/Niji/Yonji or Doffy :3
Next Time: Into The Fray***