It was too quiet.
My stomach was already hurting, pointed rocks jabbing into my flesh as I laid flat, elbows sure to have deep indents as I readjusted.
Kid had salvaged a sniper rifle, thankfully, because I knew damn well my pistols wouldn't do the trick at such a distance. The scope was busted, but it would do. Squinting, I looked down the length of the barrel into the canyon.
There was Kid, and the others, slowly walking down below. Seeing them all together made me realise just how exposed and alone I was, but I knew I had to suck it up. They were depending on me as cover.
*Putta putta putta!*
Pulling the small transponder snail from my pocket, I didn't take my sights off them.
"Yo." I answered casually, as though I wasn't about to shit bricks.
"How are you doing? I can't see you." Killer's voice came through the snail and I chuckled dryly.
"That's the whole point, isn't it? Don't you worry your pretty little helmet head, Killz. I can see you." I pinpointed his exact position, slightly amused to see him peering around for me.
"Do ya see any sign of a camp fire, or the bastard's crew?" Kid leaned in and I heard his voice as though he were right next to me. I wished that he was, because I'd feel a lot safer.
"Hang on." I checked again, peering left and right, seeing nothing but baron wasteland. "No smoke, and I can't see anybody yet. I'll give the signal if that changes."
I really hope this is a bust...
"That's my girl." I could hear the excitement in his voice before the transponder snail disconnected, but I couldn't understand why. I knew Kid was a wildcard, and lived for thrills, but Red-Haired Shanks wasn't fun and games.
Not much was known about his fighting style, aside from the fact that people who challenged him rarely made it back in one piece. A swordsman, and likely the best haki user in the known universe. Were we even remotely ready for this?
Back and forth, my eyes scoured the canyon for what seemed like hours, but my diligence wasn't in vain. My entire body froze when I saw movement. One, two, three, four, five...Ten men, approaching from the south.
Fingers to my mouth, I whistled sharply, the signal Kid and I had agreed upon, and I watched my entire crew stop dead. I prayed that these figures weren't related to Shanks in any way, but somehow I just knew that they were.
It doesn't look like Red-Hair...but we can't get ahead of ourselves...
I had to remember to breathe, laying there, rifle following as the unknown men grew closer. I kept my finger hovering well off the trigger, not wanting to prematurely let off a shot and screw everything up.
When they were close enough for the crew to see properly, Kid pulled back his shoulders and stood tall at the front of our group, such a dominant display for a dominant man. I felt so detached, being at a distance, but I knew it was for good reason.
I'm their eyes...I have to stay focused. There's no room for concern right now...
All ten men looked relatively plain, compared to our motley crew. No wild hair, no flamboyant clothing, just regular old humans. It was too normal. They stopped about fifteen yards away, seeming entirely unphased by our presence.
Kid spoke, and I could hear the bass of his voice, but couldn't make out the words he was saying. There were a lot of hand gestures, none of which seemed friendly, but that didn't come as a surprise.
One of the men responded, much quieter, as though it was just another run of the mill conversation with an acquaintance. No matter how hard I racked my brain, I couldn't think of any names to match what I could see of their faces. It was possibly because I was so far up, but even then, I usually could have figured it out.
Is this some kind of trap? Maybe Shanks is trying to poke fun at Kid by sending rookies? What if they aren't even part of his group at all?
Both sides exuded different breeds of confidence, but there was just something unnerving about those guys. Shifting closer to the edge, I ignored the sharp drag of rocks against my torso, wanting to get a better lock on my target.
If I had been lucky enough to have a proper scope, I would have possibly been able to read their lips, but there was no chance in my position. All I had to go by was body language, and by the looks of things, Kid was getting irritated.
What are they even saying? It's not like Kid to hesitate. Maybe they're just trying to get a confirmation on where Shanks is on this damn island?
I continued to watch, my malaise growing stronger with each passing moment. Should I shoot? Should I wait? It wasn't often that I felt the need to be told what to do, but I found myself longing for direction.
Then, when I saw the slight glimmer as the front man began to draw his sword, my instincts kicked in. A deadlocked target, right on his temple, and my finger squeezed the trigger. It was a sure fire headshot.
It would have been.
If the fucker hadn't leant back the second my finger made the slightest contact with the trigger.
Did he sense that?! Is it haki?!
Chaos erupted in an instant, almost too quickly for my eyes to keep up with. Had I messed up? No, that man had made the first move by going to draw his weapon. Gritting my teeth, I struggled to differentiate friend from foe as they merged together in battle.
Whenever I shot, they just seemed to move in the nick of time. Aim, shoot, aim, shoot, reload. My hands shook, my chest was tight. What was even going on? We had almost thirty men. They had five. Why were they able to hold their own?
Bullets rattled in my hand as I began to reload, a greater sense of panic welling up. Mosh, Boogie, Dive, Bubblegum, they were all already on the ground, and I couldn't fathom it. Who were these guys?
Kid was going toe to toe with two of them, scrap metal beginning to fly about him, forming his patented gauntlet, but they were fast. Abnormally fast, for men who looked like common Joes.
That's our mistake...Never judge books by their covers...
Killer, Heat and Wire were having a hard time of it too, blades and flames a blur amidst the kicked up dust and rubble. All I could do was aim and shoot. That's what I had been told to do, and it wasn't like I was good for anything else.
Aim, shoot, reload.
Aim, shoot, reload.
Aim, shoot...
"You're not half bad."
I spun around onto my back in an instant, shooting up towards where that voice had come from. Spiked red hair shifted to the side as the man tilted his head, the bullet continuing past and into the wasteland behind him.
Fuck...
Red liberty spikes, dark skin, broad frame, I'd seen him before. Of course I had. Rockstar, of the Red-Hair Pirates. In the flesh. I couldn't read his expression as he looked down at me, but I didn't exactly think it wise to try very hard to.
I let off another shot, then another, and another, each of which he avoided without effort until all I could produce were hollow clicks. In a state of alarm, I threw my rifle at him. It wasn't smart, nor effective, but it was all I could think of doing. He had me cornered on the edge of a sixty foot drop after all.
"Decent shot, but not much in the brains department." Rockstar looked somewhat amused as he reached down and lifted me by the collar of my shirt, right off the ground. "Your captain really didn't think this through, did he, boy?"
Okay, he thinks I'm a guy. The smart thing to do would be to correct him, but I don't want to play the defenceless damsel card...Plus, the longer I can keep him from interfering, the better...
Defiantly, I smiled at him, but there was no hiding my fear. Not from him.
"Obviously he did. What, is Shanks so scared that he had to send you in his place? That's sad, man."
I was expecting a good throttling, but Rockstar just stared at me, unimpressed but not angered.
"Why would we let our captain, an Emperor, mind you, waste his time with a band of rookies? Look, you lot can barely handle my underlings."
He turned me to face the mayhem, and I couldn't deny the truth. More than half of our force was completely knocked out.
"Tch, you talk pretty big for someone so new to that shady bastard's crew. Sure, some of them are down for the count, but Kid's going strong. So are our big guns."
Paulie, if you can somehow hear me telepathically, please, I beg of you, smack Iceberg's juicy buns for me one last time...
Taking a step forward, Rockstar held me out over the edge of the canyon, tilting his head as his eyes bore straight into mine.
"Would I also be talking big if I say you're a dead man if I were to drop you right now?"
I didn't dare look away from his eyes. I knew I looked pathetic, and that's because I was, but all I had up my sleeve was bullshit. I'd built my entire life on it, after all.
"I mean, you said it, not me. You can try, but I'm tougher than I look. Hey, if we aren't worth Shanks' time, and he sent you out here instead...does that mean you're not worth his time either? Maybe you should change your name to Rockbottom?"
That did it. I felt his hand tighten around my collar, and there was a familiar twitch I caught upon his forehead. I had seen that twitch many times on Kid, so I knew it was over for me.
"You really should learn to keep your mouth shut."
Heights had never really bothered me, be it jumping from the top bunk in my childhood bedroom, or swinging from the crow's nest above the sea, but falling from the top of a canyon? That was a little different.
Automatically, I curled my body into a ball and tucked my chin to my chest, but it didn't do much good. Rockstar had released me far too close to the edge, so instead of a free fall I was bouncing off of jagged rocks every few feet.
It hurt, but there was no stopping it. If I were to unfurl myself, I'd just end up with more damage, so I just squeezed my eyes shut and waited to hit the ground, unable to stifle my yelps with each momentary impact.
Well, it was good while it lasted. Sorry, Kid. Sorry, Killer. Sorry, everyone. Try to get out of this, okay?
I was as prepared as I ever would be to hit the ground and become a memory, but instead of insufferable agony and a word of black, I hit something leagues softer, experiencing some pain, but not enough to end my life.
"(Y/N), for the love of god, scream if you're falling off a damn cliff! You're lucky I heard you over all this!" Opening one of my eyes, I saw Heat's worried expression hovering over me, smeared with blood and dust. "Are you alright?!"
I was still shaken from my close call with death, but I managed a slow nod, absently patting his shoulder and squirming until he put me down. Every bone, every muscle, every cell in my body hurt, but I had a job to do.
"Kid..." I murmured my partner's name in a hoarse voice, head whipping up and around to try to spot him. The second I caught sight of him, preparing for another massive attack using Punk Gibson, I rushed towards him. "KID, WE GOTTA GO! ROCKSTAR-"
I was sick to death of the world spinning. It reminded me of what it felt like to be shocked by Livewire's Devil Fruit ability all those weeks ago. One moment I was standing, and the next I was on the ground, a heavy, yet not unfamiliar body pressed over the top of me.
Vision hazing, I tried to look around, realising that Heat was no longer standing, but on his stomach, unmoving. Not too far from where I had been stood Rockstar, his back facing us, saber returning to its hilt.
"Stay down. Do not move." Killer's voice whispered directly into my ear, low and deathly serious. I didn't respond to him, but it took so much inner strength to not reach out to pull him back to me when I felt his chest peel away from my back.
Killer was strong, I would never in a million years doubt that, but Rockstar wasn't any regular pirate. Even if he was relatively new to the Red-Hair crew, there was a reason he had been accepted by Shanks. Seeing what his little squad was capable of, I knew we had made more than just a simple mistake by coming here.
Rockstar was steadily making his way towards Kid, who had finally begun to take the upper hand, having already dealt with four men, but the rest of our crew? Not a single person was moving, besides Killer and our captain.
Stop...
Killer's shoulders rolled as he prepared to strike from behind, but as badly as I wanted to stop him, I didn't want to go against his order. I never listened, so why did I want to obey now? Was it fear?
He was quick on his feet, as though he was walking on air, blades whirring to life as he sprung into action. In any other instance, I would have been in awe of his violent grace, but I simply couldn't be. Not when Rockstar so casually glanced over his shoulder.
"I don't have business with you, Massacre Soldier." It took one swing of his sabre, that was all, to send Killer flying backwards, crashing into the stone ground and cracking it through before he resumed his path towards Kid.
Terror coarsed through my body as I scrambled to crawl over to the blond, panting heavily as I rolled him over and panickedly inspecting him. He wasn't bleeding from his stomach, where he had been hit, but when I lifted his shirt, I knew for sure there were broken bones, at the very least.
"I s..said...don't move..." He wheezed out, his hand pulling mine from his stomach as he forced himself to sit up. He was barely able to catch his breath, and I could hear it crackle through the stifle of his helmet. The back of his shirt was shredded from his landing, deep scrapes beginning to seep.
"We need to stand down." I squeezed his hand tightly, desperate for him to listen to me, even though I rarely would when the roles were reversed. I could feel his eyes on mine, even though I couldn't see them, but when his helmet ever so slightly shifted, I knew he wasn't going to agree.
"You run. Get...back to the Victoria, and don't you dare...come out until we come get you..." No matter how hard I tried to keep hold of his hand, Killer would have escaped me. He was a smart man, beyond his years, but he was no less brash than his captain. I was still coming to realise that.
Unsteady on his feet, Killer still went for round two, a pitched war-cry tearing through the canyon. Rockstar was much closer to Kid now, but he stopped, the roll if his eyes obvious by the way his shoulders slumped.
"Alright, punk. Have it your way." I had to press my palm tightly to my mouth to stop myself from screaming when I saw it. This time, Rockstar didn't use the blunt of his sabre to knock Killer back. No, he meant to do real damage this time.
The impact was heavy, but what shook me to the core was the sharp cracking sound it made when it struck the side of Killer's head. I couldn't tell whether it was his skull or his helmet, but when his entire body went limp as he was sent flying once more, bouncing like an understuffed ragdoll, I wasn't able to focus.
"KILLER!" Kid's attention had been seized now, and I caught a brief glimpse of him before my body moved on its own, towards what was possibly the corpse of one of my dearest. "YOU SON OF A BITCH! I'LL KILL YOU!"
This time, when I reached him, I was almost too scared to touch him. Heart in my throat, my hands shook as I forced myself to roll him over, my whimper trapping in my throat when I saw the state of his helmet.
It was busted in on the side, nothing but red oozing out jagged metal onto the ground beside him, turning dust to gory mud.
"No...No no no no...Killer...No..." I repeated over and over, tears spilling as I frantically dropped over him, pressing my ear hard against his chest.
I can't lose you...I can't fucking lose you..!
It was a struggle to hear over my erratic breathing, but his heart was still beating. Not as strongly as I would have hoped, but it meant he was alive. My relief was almost enough to knock me right out over his unconscious body, but I knew things weren't over.
My hands scrunched into the material of Killer's shirt as I looked up, watching Kid as he stood against Rockstar, chest out and teeth bared. Monster versus monster.
"Your piss-take of a captain too much of a coward to come'n play?! Where is he?!" He barked out, stretching the steel extension of his arms up to seem far bigger than he was. Rockstar didn't seem the slightest bit phased, just standing there, watching.
"Now I see where your crew gets it. You're a mouthy little brat, aren't you? Arrogance doesn't get you anywhere." The man sighed, scratching at the side of his jaw. "To put it bluntly, he can't be bothered. Plain and simple."
Kid, please, for once in your life, don't be irrational...
But I knew Kid, and his response didn't come as any kind of shock. His brow ticked, and he took a hulking step forward, trying to look as threatening as ever. Facing any other foe would have probably worked a charm, but this wasn't a normal enemy.
"Hah?! I'll just have to kill you to get his attention, now won't I?!" He lunged forward, metal creaking loudly, and I couldn't look away. There was no matching Rockstar's speed. We just weren't on his level. Unlike his defence with Killer, he didn't stop at one strike. One, two, three...
Kid very nearly lost his hold on his ability, his mounds of scrap shifting and complaining as he stumbled back, the left side of his face and torso now bloody and undoubtedly scarred for the remainder of his life.
He was startled, silent and staring incredulously at the Red-Haired Pirate, fury beginning to bubble and overflow. Unthinking, wanting to help, in any possible way I would, I fumbled for my pistols, lowering myself and using Killer's body as a stabiliser.
I shot in tandem, but before I even pulled the triggers I knew it was in vain. Rockstar barely even spared me a glance as he shifted, slightly arching his back to avoid one bullet and deflecting the other with his still-drawn sabre.
Kid's unbloodied eye met mine, for a fraction of a second, and I knew. This was do or die for him. He wasn't going to yield, not unless he was killed.
"The Worst Generation. I don't know whether that's a compliment or an insult right now. You really thought you could waltz on into the New World, at your skill level, and take down an Emperor?" Rockstar sounded amused as he spoke, but I knew he wasn't smiling, even though I could only see the back of his head.
"You ain't had a chance to see my damn skill level yet, bastard!" Kid smirked, all sick and twisted, his tongue lashing out to collect some of the blood streaming down his face. "Go on, run along 'n get your Captain! I'll be happy to show him!"
Rockstar readjusted his feet, tilting his head a little as Kid began to move again, scrap rising higher and higher, reaching the halfway point up the side of the canyons edge.
"That's not going to happen, but he did want me to give you a message, so you better pay attention, Eustass Kid."
Everything was so quick and so slow at the same time. The cut through metal. The cut through leather. The cut through flesh, muscle, artery and bone. The blood spraying out like a water cannon, painting stone and steel as it came crashing down around the pair of unevenly matched pirates.
Kid's arm hitting the ground, fingers twitching for one last time.
The second he dropped to his knees, I was on my feet, sprinting as fast as my legs would allow me to. I knew nothing but panic. No words, no plans, no anything. I only ran faster when Rockstar kicked Kid square in the face, sending him sprawling back into the rock-face to fall limp.
He barely even blinked when I skidded to a halt between the two of them, aside from taking a single step back. Raising my hands, I dropped my pistols to the ground, choking through my terror as I tried to form two words.
"W..We...We y..yield..."
It took too much to look him in the eye, but when I did, I didn't see any kind of pity, nor true aggression, either. Just the look of somebody who was going through the motions. That was what had scared me the most. We were nothing to these people.
"Don't worry, we didn't come to kill any of you. If anyone succumbs to their wounds, that'll be unfortunate, but as I told your ballsy captain. I'm simply delivering a message." Rockstar sheathed his sabre, pocketing his hands as he looked at me, momentarily glancing at my quivering legs. "You're not playing some fun little game anymore. This is the real world. The New World. You've all got some serious work to do if you want to survive out here."
I didn't dare move, even as he turned to walk away, his conscious companions gathering their few wounded and carrying them away. Once they were out of sight, I collapsed to my knees, spinning and clambering to reach Kid.
I could see his breathing, somehow, through my teary, doubling vision, so I set to work clumsily removing my belt, using it as a tourniquet to try and slow his loss of blood. Off with my shirt, I dropped it several times before managing to hold it hard against the sever, uncaring how buckets worth of his fresh blood seeped between my fingers and down my arm.
We're nothing to them...
I knew I wasn't going to be able to stay conscious for long, and I hoped, prayed, that somebody else would wake up and help us Anybody. Leaning, mostly falling forward, I pressed my forehead against Kid's, closing my eyes as my face became hot with blood.
We're lucky to be alive...
Realising the blood just wasn't stopping, I slipped and scrambled to my feet, haphazardly making my way to where Heat was laying, fighting back the urge to throw up and pass out as I hunted for his lighter.
Once I found it, I returned to where Kid was, looking as though he were on the brink of death, grabbing a warped sheet of metal, the closest thing I could. The sparkwheel stung my finger as I tried and tried to get the flint to spark up, finally getting it to work and holding it under the metal.
We should never have come here...
I cared not about burning myself, the heating metal scorching my hand, and the lighter bubbling the skin around the curve of my thumb. I needed the heat. If my temporary pain could save Kid, then that was always going to be worth it.
Once I knew it wasn't going to get much hotter, I threw the lighter aside, braced myself with one hand on Kid's chest, and pressed the glowing steel against the open, gushing gape where his arm had once been attached.
Kid momentarily regained consciousness, screaming out as his flesh sizzled and cauterized, though he quickly slumped back over.
"I'm sorry...I'm sorry..." I repeated over and over, but my voice wasn't really there anymore. Once the smell of burning flesh was too much, I dropped the sheet of metal and fell forward into him, my head on his chest so I could remain sure that his heart was still pumping.
The fact that we were taken down so easily, by so few...I don't know how Kid is going to cope with that...
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***I'm actually still having a very big, very real meltdown over chapter 1079. Like, I'm not okay. At all.
:)
I took a lot of liberties with this scenario, since we haven't really been given much info. I decided on Rockstar because he's the newest main crew member, and we know Shanks wasn't actually present in canon. If we ever get fed more info, I might come back and rewrite this.
Next Time: Aftermath***