FicWad

Kid was silent, still reeling from the sight of the massive warrior woman. What exactly was he getting himself into? Bringing the scope back up to his eyes, he watched the pirate crew gather their injured back to their submarine. A smirk lit up his face when that creepy Surgeon bastard was one of them, limply being carried by the giant bear thing in the orange jumpsuit.

"Serves you right." He muttered to himself, delighted that the other Supernova turned out not to be invincible like he always seemed to make himself out to be. His arrogance had always gotten on his nerves.

"Captain, what now?" Wire asked, and after a moment Kid put down the scope.

"We keep following them, but at a large distance so they don't detect us. The next island should be close by, so we'll catch them when they land." They nodded obediently, slowly filing back inside. Kid remained at the railing, gazing out at the yellow submarine as it submerged once again into the endless ocean.

The injured were brought inside the infirmary and, thankfully, there were very few. For being right after a battle, there was very little conversation. This wasn't surprising, considering what everyone had just witnessed not twenty minutes ago…

Bepo gently placed Law onto the infirmary bed, next to the still form of Summer. The bear was concerned for his captain and friend, knowing that it was likely they wouldn't wake up for awhile. Law's extreme exhaustion coupled with the physically draining battle left his body's energy completely used up. It would take at least several days before he could even move his limbs.

Summer, on the other hand...well, he didn't know what exactly was wrong with her. There were no outward indications of injury; nothing was bleeding, her head was fine, she'd been energized before the battle even began...It was unexplainable, really.

"Umm...Bepo?" Shachi asked, glancing nervously at his unconscious friends. Over and over he fiddled with his hands. "Do you think…" He struggled to finish his sentence.

"Think what?"

The engineer swallowed thickly. "Do you think it's safe to...you know…" Shachi gestured between Law and Summer, obviously expecting the first mate to understand what was being implied.

"What are you talking about?" The bear asked, and he sighed heavily.

"Are we sure it's safe to have Summer-chan near the crew?" The question itself felt like treason, a betrayal to his nakama, his companion. He loved Summer, he really did, but after seeing the events of that day unfold he wasn't sure if being in her presence was even safe anymore.

All he was given was a blank look from Bepo, and his frustration grew.

"I mean, after today, would you trust her to be next to Captain?" The bear pondered this a moment, putting a paw on his chin in thought. He could see where his friend was coming from, but…

"Summer is our nakama, so we should trust her." And that was that. There was no hesitation or doubt in his answer, and Shachi shook his head.

"Don't defend her just because she pets you." There was a pause, then a moment later the bear lowered his head in depression.

"I'm sorry."

"Defend your opinions!" He yelled, sweat dropping at the bear's reaction. This only made the depression worse, and he soon gave up trying.

At the same time, the bear was right. Nakama wasn't just a word. It was a promise that you would be loyal to them and trust them with your life. Shachi had proudly given Summer the title of nakama and she had accepted it with determination to honor its meaning to the best of her ability.

So, now when the going gets tough, he just dismisses everything she's done for him until now simply because there's something about her they didn't know? He shook his head. He could really be a horrible friend sometimes.

Much as he tried to shake it off, the doubt still lingered.

"I hope you have something good to report to me, Viper." The voice through the den den mushi made the pirate captain laugh. His back was to the window, making his shadow appear on the wall of his quarters.

"Better than good! We know where she is. We're on their tail right now, in fact." The man sighed.

"If you still think she'll go willingly, then you're denser than I thought." A comment like that normally would've set the captain off. But not today. Today he was in a wonderful mood, not including the fact that he was very, very drunk. That was just an added bonus.

"I know how she thinks. In fact, I wager we'll have her begging us to take her with!" This produced another cackle from the pirate, sending spit flying through the air.

"Remember, she must be unharmed. Don't underestimate her." The snail phone went silent.

"Ahahahahahaha!" For some reason, Viper couldn't stop laughing. He didn't even know what he was laughing for at this point, he just couldn't stop it.

The door opened, revealing his first mate. He looked concerned. "Captain, are you alright?"

"I think I'll let you off the hook for coming into my quarters just this once! Besides, I'm not in a killing mood at the moment! Ahahahahaha!"

The first mate slowly closed the door, terrified that he had dodged death so closely.

"Moriah-sama, aren't we going to go after the Red Hunter?" Hildon asked. The Shichibukai lounged lazily on his throne, looking down upon the graveyards that surrounded his castle. As always, a gloomy mist floated aimlessly between the stone markers. Just how he liked it. Holding a glass of red wine, he threw back his head and drained what was left of it.

"Oh, no. No, we won't do that." He tossed the cup backwards behind him, and a moment later it smashed into pieces on the floor. A zombie was there immediately to clean up the mess without him having to raise his voice.

"Why not? Don't you want the powerful soul within her?" To this, Moriah gave a wicked smile.

"Of course, but we won't have to lift a finger. You see, I am fairly confident of one thing." He stated, standing and moving to the window. Clasping his arms behind his back, he looked over his kingdom. Zombies milled around, heading off to whatever jobs they needed to complete. Turning around to face his bat henchman, he chuckled darkly.

"The Red Hunter will find her way to us herself."