-Chapter Two Hundred and Seventy-Six-
"Skylar!" I tiredly blinked as I hazily looked around. I was no longer in the pew but was now on the floor as the chapel itself looked to be in tattered ruins as if a tornado had blown through. I could only assume that I had passed out at some point, no doubt a direct cause of the exhaustion from the small breakdown I had suffered earlier. Looking at Sanji, I took note of his tight and protective around Nami as he looked at me in relief.
"Are you alright?" I worriedly asked after seeing the bruises and blood that stained his person—his face twisting up into a look of agony now and again as if it hurt him to just stand there and breathe. His fight with Absalom must have been a rough one...I wonder how much he struggled against someone who he couldn't properly see half the time.
"Yeah, I'm fine" he dismissed, giving me the biggest smile he could muster as he gently sat Nami down on one of the askew pews that were still intact. "Now, let's get you out of these binds" he said, bending down as he began to mess with the rope that bound my ankles together.
-Everybody's P.O.V-
Sanji made quick work of the rope around Skylar's ankles first, having no trouble in removing them as he soon sat her up and turned her back to him so that he could get started on the ones around her wrists...
He froze.
Startled as his breath caught in his throat the moment he spotted the dried blood that painted both the rope and her hands—the skin painfully red and raw with harsh cuts from where she had been harshly rubbing it against the binds over and over and over without any mercy. Further digging them in and forcing them to cut even deeper until they drew blood. Shakily, he untied the rope as quickly as he could without causing her further harm; painfully wincing as he watched how the dried blood chipped away and the cuts began to sluggishly ooze once more.
"W-what happened?! We need to get you to Chopper!" he practically shouted, stumbling over his words as he practically snatched up her bloody wrists. No doubt she was in pain...
Had she wanted to be free that badly?
She didn't seem like it earlier and that's why he hadn't been in a rush to untie her—that's why he had prioritized his fight with that freak first. He knew he could handle Absalom on his own and even preferred it as that was another reason he hadn't been in a hurry to free her from her binds. Heavily preferring that she stay with Nami and rest while he took care of everything like the knight he so badly saw himself as.
"Sanji, I'm fine..." Skylar softly smiled as she moved her arms to the front, silently examining the cuts on her wrists with tired eyes. She didn't react like he felt she should have as she regarded the lashes in the same manner that one would a cat's scratch. "The bleeding will stop and everything will be fine...just like always..." she tiredly muttered, a hazy look in her eyes as she slowly lifted her head and looked at him once more with those sad eyes of hers and that sweet smile that seemed to quiver at the edges as if she was attempting to force herself to keep it up.
"I don't care if the bleeding will stop—they need to be treated!" Sanji frowned as he clasped his hands down on her shoulders, giving them a slight squeeze as if wanting to drive home the point of what he was saying. "If that idiot finds out, he's going to throw a fit!" he watched as her smile finally began to falter at the thought of how Zoro would react to seeing such nasty cuts as if such a thought had crossed her mind 'til now. Soon, her eyes became downcast as her head tilted downwards as if she could no longer bring herself to look him in the eye. Softly sighing, he gently took hold of her wrist and looked it over once more, already knowing that they were most likely caused by the rope scraping repeatedly against her skin at a fast yet steady pace. "You should have just waited for me to come and untie you..." he worriedly muttered.
"Sanji..." she quietly murmured as she slowly lifted her head.
"Hm?" Sanji hummed before feeling his breath catch in his throat once more as he locked eyes with her and saw the most sincere and sweetest smile to ever grace her lips. It was a smile that made the corners of her eyes crinkle as they shined with a warmth that made him blush. Carefully removing her wrist from his hand, she clasped both her hands around his own and gave them a firm squeeze.
"Thank you!" she brightly smiled before sweat dropping the second she saw the hearts that now danced around the blond as he swooned—that serious air around him quickly falling away as he fell back into his usual behavior that she was used to seeing from him.
"Oh, Skylar! You're so adorable!"
-Skylar's P.O.V-
I flinched as the building suddenly started to shake, causing Sanji to quickly pick up Nami before helping me to stand. His grip on my hand was gentle yet firm as he pulled me back onto my feet without any issue.
"Uh-oh, that doesn't sound good—what's going on here?" he frowned as we looked up at the ceiling. Watching as it began to quiver and ominously bend inwards as cracks appeared along its surface, sending dust slipping through and raining down around us.
"Don't know, but whatever it is, it's cracking the ceiling" I remarked before feeling my eyes widen at the realization of what I had just said. Indeed, the ceiling was now starting to crack and crumble as it eerily groaned and bent inwards as if under immense pressure until finally, a giant foot broke through it.
"Crap! What now?!" Sanji flinched. "Is that thing Luffy's zombie?!" he asked as he looked at the appendage that had broken through the ceiling of the church. Instantly, my hands flew to grasp at my swords as I ignored the stinging pain that came from my wrists due to the sudden movements. "Dammit!" he cursed.
"Nami, hey...uh...now would be a good time to wake up—there's nothing I can do" he grounded as he desperately tried to shake the ginger in his arms awake, quick to realize that he couldn't exactly fight and defend while carrying her at the same time. "Guess we're just going have to run for it!" he concluded before stumbled as he was taken aback the second Nami disappeared. "Hey, Nami?! Nami?!" he frantically shouted as he started to look around in a panic.
"Wait, if she disappeared then that means—" I hissed as my wrist was suddenly and very harshly grabbed. I couldn't get a word out other than a startled cry as I was yanked back, my body slowly disappearing just like it had the last time Absalom had taken hold of me.
"She just disappeared into thin air—huh?! So did Skylar!" Sanji balked when he finally noticed that I was now missing as an animalistic growl ripped through Absalom's throat. "It's you again!" he angrily sneered as he wildly turned his head in the direction he thought he heard the growl come from.
"Looks like the tables have turned!" Absalom boasted, sounding quite pleased with himself as he got an upper hand on the cook.
"You bastard! So you're still alive, huh?" Sanji frowned. "If you want to finish this then stop hiding and bring it on!" he snapped as my attention was quickly drawn towards Oars who was now making his way towards us—his foot lifting and looking just about ready to come back down again.
"Well, well, that trouble-making giant is finally under our control—in other words, you're screwed" Absalom mocked, a grin in his voice. "I think I'll be taking my bride and mistress for good this time" he chuckled, causing me to start struggling as I tried to desperately pull my wrist free from his grasp. Clenching my jaw, I tried my best to ignore the sharp jolts of pain that shot up my arm as blood came gushing out of the wounds on my wrist the more I struggled and the more he tightened his grip. "Quit it!" he irritably growled, quickly growing annoyed with me.
"Like hell you will! You give Nami and Skylar back!" Sanji angrily demanded. "Where the hell are you hiding?!" it felt strange being able to see the blond and not have him see us back—to be right in front of him and watching as he frantically twisted his head left and right in search of us.
"Aw, are you lonely? Then why don't you play with Oars here!" Absalom snickered as my eyes widened upon the sight of Oars bringing his foot straight down towards Sanji who looked to be far too distracted in trying to locate us to take note of the danger currently above him.
"Sanji!" I shouted.
"What?" Absalom growled as my wrist suddenly slipped free from his grasp, the blood making it slick enough for it to easily slide its way out of his grip and allow me to run away before he even had a chance to reach out and take hold of me once more.
"Skylar?" Sanji questioned, quickly turning as I flung myself towards him—my arms wrapping tightly around his torso just as the foot finally came crashing down.
-Zoro's P.O.V-
"Hey, that felt like an earthquake—what just happened?" Franky asked as the ground suddenly started to shake.
"I haven't a clue, but whatever it was, it made my hair stand on end" Brook answered as I continued to examine my new sword, Shusui. "Ah, but I'm a skeleton, so I don't have—oh! Now wait a minute..." he said as if he suddenly remembered something. "Ah, that's right, I do have hair" he remembered as he touched the afro atop his head.
"You fight so hard to protect your afro then you forgot you have it?! Maybe I'll give you a pompadour like mine—would that help you remember?!" Franky snapped.
"No! No, thank you!" Brook frantically shook his head.
"Get over here!" Franky irritably growled as I ignored the two. Instead, I silently watched as the ground trembled once more before I dragged my attention towards the church off in the distance, suddenly growing uneasy the longer I looked at it. "What's that?" the cyborg suddenly asked.
"No idea" Brook answered. "But whatever it is, it's giving me goosebumps or it would, but—" he whined as Franky suddenly struck the back of his skull as if he wasn't in the mood to listen to one of his stupid puns. Placing my new sword back in its sheath, I watched as the front wall of the church suddenly shattered as a very large zombie burst through it.
"Oh man, it's some kind of monster!" Franky shouted.
"How terrifying..." Brook practically dragged the word out as his jaw dropped.
"It's...it's a zombie!" Franky sputtered. "Oh crap! That must be Luffy's zombie!" he quickly realized, recalling how Usopp had mentioned that the captain's shadow had been placed inside a gigantic monster. "Hey, look down there! Two more people came out of the building and it looks like Curly Brows and Skylar!" he suddenly pointed, causing my head to snap in their direction as the church continued to slowly crumble and fall apart now that its structure was in ruins.
-Skylar's P.O.V-
"Shit...get off...!" I grunted as I pushed the rubble on top of me off and sat up, shaking my head in an attempt to clear my mind which felt a bit disorientated after having an entire building crash down on me without any warning.
"Skylar, are you alright?" Sanji groaned as I looked down at him.
"Yeah, I think so" I nodded. "What about you?" I asked as he slowly nodded before quickly lifting his head and looking around, shoulders soon drooping in disappointment as he practically deflated.
"Dammit! I failed her!" he shouted in a mixture of anger and distress. I knew exactly who he was talking about as I looked around as well and found that Nami and Absalom were nowhere to be seen amongst the rubble of the ruined church. With a soft sigh, I gently patted his back in a comforting manner.
"I assume they got out before the building crumbled, so that means she's safe to an extent—we just need to find her quickly before that creep continues his wedding" I assured him, watching how he stared up at me for a few moments before heaving a heavy sigh.
"Yeah, you're right" he nodded as I finally pushed myself to stand.
-Zoro's P.O.V-
"What the hell is he doing? He's going to get stomped on" I frowned as my eyes narrowed in thought. "Didn't I tell him to make sure Skylar didn't get hurt? Shitty Cook can't do anything right..." I grumbled as I watched how she started to stand on shaky legs—looking to stumble a bit as she tried to find her footing amongst the rubble beneath her feet.
"Show yourselves! Come out, Straw Hats, you can't hide from me!" Luffy's zombie roared as he continued to stomp around.
-Skylar's P.O.V-
"He really did a number on the church" I whistled as I examined the rubble around us—not a single wall or pew remained. You probably would have never known this place was once a church if you hadn't seen it before its destruction. All it was now was just a sorry pile of debris.
"Dammit, Luffy...your zombie's going to be a real pain in the ass..." Sanji irritably grumbled as he finally started to push himself to stand, happily taking the hand I was quick to offer him as I helped to pull him onto his feet.
"It wouldn't be our captain's zombie then if it wasn't" I lightly grinned.
"Hey, Usopp! Is that you down there?" I perked up to the sound of Zoro's voice as I followed behind Sanji.
"Zoro? What are you doing up there?" Usopp shouted back from wherever he was as I shook my head and continued to follow the blond before coming to a stop in front of Oars.
"Hey! You're standing in our damn way—and what do you think you're doing interfering, Luffy?" Sanji frowned as he scolded the corpse.
"Luffy? I think I'm supposed to crush that guy" Oars said, looking to be lost in thought for a moment as if he was struggling to recall if he knew the name Sanji had spoken or not. "He's my enemy—my name's Oars, hello there" he suddenly introduced.
"Hello, nice to meet you" I waved before drawing my swords as Sanji lit himself a cigarette.
"Really? What's with the introductions?" Sanji raised an eyebrow, a small smile tugging at his lips at my wave. "Idiot...he does whatever he wants, huh?" he grumbled.
"Well, this is Luffy we're talking about, and he does have his traits" I softly chuckled. "So this isn't all that surprising."
"You're right, he defiantly takes after Luffy" Sanji agreed.
-Zoro's P.O.V-
"Look at this" Franky motioned. "Those morons are picking a fight with the monster" he scoffed, causing my fists to clench as I trained my gaze on Skylar. She looked a little banged up already and from what I could tell, she looked like she was having to constantly readjust her hold on her swords as if she couldn't get a comfortable enough grip on them.
"That damn, stupid cook!" I growled. "He better not let anything happen to Skylar—and has he even rescued Nami yet?" I frowned, quickly noticing how Nami was nowhere to be seen among the two.
"Probably not, I think he and Skylar are in worse trouble than she is now" Franky frowned. "He saves one of the girls only to put her into an even more dangerous situation, what a dumbass."
-Skylar's P.O.V-
"You look just the same as your wanted poster!" Oars suddenly exclaimed as he looked straight down at Sanji, causing me to turn my head as I choked back a laugh.
"That drawing looks nothing like me!" Sanji snapped.
"What do you mean? It's so good!" Oars praised, confused as to why the blond was getting so angry and defensive all of a sudden when it came to his wanted poster.
"He truly is just like Luffy" I chuckled with the shake of my head, unable to stop the smile that pulled at my lips as the thought of that drawing on Sanji's wanted poster made me want to just curl up and die of laughter.
"Are your eyes rotting, idiot?!" Sanji snapped.
"I don't know, I think he's right" I lightly teased.
"Skylar..." he lowly whined, clearly not appreciating the teasing remark as I only smiled at him and shrugged.
"But you admit you're a part of their crew, huh? Just like the girl next to you is" Oars said as I finally straightened my posture and composed myself. Now wasn't the time to laugh about Sanji's wanted poster or to tease him about it—I could always do that later.
"Yeah, what of it?" Sanji asked.
"Then you're both dead!" Oars huffed.
"Wanna try us? Then bring it on!" Sanji and I glared before quickly dodging the attack that was sent our way.
"Stay still and let me squash you!" Oars roared as he started to move faster in his attacks. Following Sanji's lead, I jumped back as I moved out of the way of each attack— squinting my eyes in an attempt to see through the dust that was kicked up by the zombie's excessive amount of hits to the ground in his attempts to crush us.
"You punk, you almost broke my damn cigarette!" Sanji frowned as we advanced towards the zombie once he was finally done with his fit and left a good enough opening for us to retaliate. "Alright, you got your shot in, now it's our turn!" he huffed.
"I'm not finished yet, you twerps!" Oars snapped as he raised his hand high once more. "Gum Gum Sickle!" Sanji and I quickly jumped out of the way of the attack as my eyes narrowed into a sharp glare and my feet roughly slid across the ground.
"I see, he knows his moves, but he didn't inherit any of his powers..." I muttered as I watched how Oars' limbs stayed in place—neither one stretching at all nor going as far as the zombie was probably hoping.
"Alright, I got to admit, Luffy's zombie is kind of a badass..." Sanji reluctantly grumbled before rushing forward, dodging the attacks sent his way as he kicked himself up into the air by using the debris around us until he was able to strike the zombie's head...though the attack didn't do much it seems. Frowning, I positioned my swords and rushed forward—lashing out at Oars' leg only to find that it barely did any damage at all. Quickly, I pushed away from the zombie the moment he smashed his hand down on the area that I had been standing in, leaving behind a huge imprint on the ground as he did so.
"Dammit! Neither of our attacks did much to hurt him..." I grumbled before my eyes widened as Sanji suddenly whizzed past me and smashed into one of the nearby buildings. "Sanji!" I gasped before wincing as Oars rushed forward and caught the falling blond.
"No more fancy footwork for you, pipsqueak!" he snapped, causing me to snarl as I rushed him. Using the falling debris around us as Sanji had, I jumped my way up to him and attacked his upper body in the hopes that that would do something—anything really—to slow him down or maybe even hurt him enough to let the blond go...
It didn't.
Much to my dismay, he barely batted an eye at my attack as I started to make my descent back down to the ground. However, I didn't make it far before the zombie snatched me up midair with his other hand. I could feel my heartbeat start to pick up when he began to squeeze us as the fear of knowing that he could easily snap me in half as a twig suddenly overwhelmed me.
"Alright, pirates! Squishing time!" he proclaimed as he lifted us up.
"W-wait..." I muttered, my breathing picking up as I looked at just how far down the ground was. It was my anger that had made me brave enough to attempt such a crazy climb up to him in the first place...but now, that anger was slowly turning into regret and fear as my vision blurred and quivered at the dizzying sight of how high up we really were. I flinched when Oars suddenly cried out as his head caught fire out of the blue. Quickly, he peered around him with one eye in an attempt to find his attacker as his head continued to burn in a fiery blaze of blue.
"What?!" he snarled, finally turning his attention elsewhere as he angrily threw Sanji and me aside as if we were nothing more than toys that he was done playing with. I cried out in pain the second my body struck the ground—every bone in my body practically rattling and aching all at the exact same time as my vision began to blur. The last thing I saw before I passed out was Sanji's unconscious body sprawled out right next to mine.
-Later-
The first thing I was met with when I slowly blinked my eyes open was Zoro's onyx-colored ones staring straight back at me. They were filled to the brim with worry before quickly being replaced with a flood of relief as he pulled me into a tight hug the moment he realized I was awake. Soon, I felt him gently grasp my face as he pulled me into a loving, deep kiss that had my eyes fluttering shut and heart pounding as I was quick to return it.
"Hey now, I'm fine...no need to worry..." I softly assured him the moment we pulled away before owlishly blinking when I suddenly felt him carefully take one of my wrists into his hands—tensely examining the cuts that were already starting to scab over as the dried blood around them chipped away with every movement I mad.
"What happened? Who did this?" he asked, a dark expression crossing his face. I gently smiled, biting back a laugh as I leaned forward until I was able to rub the tip of my nose against his own much to his surprise.
"No one, I'm perfectly fine" I reassured him. "But if it makes you feel better, I'll have Chopper patch me up as soon as we're done with everything here" I told him, causing the tension in his muscles to relax as he nodded.
"Yeah, that would make me feel better..." he mumbled before pulling me into another kiss that we quickly pulled away from the moment we heard someone clear their throat.
"Are you two lovebirds almost done?" Robin teasingly asked, grinning as we nodded. Our cheeks stained red with embarrassment as we refused to look at her and the others after being reminded that they were still there.
"Crap, this guy is going to be a real pain in the ass" Franky groaned as we turned towards Oars who didn't look to have a single dent on him despite how pretty beat up some of us looked. Without wasting another second, we made our way towards him to continue our fight.
"He's not just strong, he's fast as hell for his size" Zoro remarked.
"What was his name again?" Sanji asked.
"Oh...uh..." Chopper scratched his head in thought, unable to remember what the zombie was called.
"I think it was Roast, right?" Zoro asked, causing me to snort.
"No, but I wouldn't mind one" I chuckled.
"No, not even close" Usopp shook his head. "I think it had an "s" at the end, didn't it?" he asked.
"Hues?" Chopper suggested.
"I think you're getting colder, actually" Usopp said.
"Fours?" Sanji asked.
"No way, that's close, but..." Usopp trailed off.
"It's Oars" Robin and I corrected.
"That's it!" the others exclaimed.