FicWad

"Step carefully, love. Wouldn't want you to trip and break an ankle!" Viper laughed into the night, gripping her elbow like a vise. She stumbled along at his speed, catching herself each time a stray leg or arm happened to be where she was walking. The number of dead men was appalling. The dark sky made it hard to see who had fallen, but she was sure that the Kid Pirates only had four members.

The deck was also slick with dark red blood, staining the wood an ugly black.

Once, she tripped enough to fall to her knees. Viper neglected to catch her and only watched as she couldn't keep her footing. She bent her head low out of instinct and came face to face with Heat. His eyes were closed, and she feared the worst. Then, a tiny flutter of movement came from his chest. It was almost too subtle to notice, and at first she thought she had imagined it.

"Heat." She breathed out as quietly as possible. She watched as his eyes twitched the barest of hints, indicating that he was still alive. She sighed in relief before feeling her elbow being jerked back upwards to Viper.

"No use trying to wake the dead, love. They're gone. Now let's get aboard before the men become impatient."

Having no choice but to follow her worst nightmare come to life, she looked up to the skies desperately.

'Law...where are you?'

"Why would Kid want Summer-ya?" Law steepled his fingers in front of him, eyes turned to the ceiling. It was a question that had been bothering him for awhile now. Was it possible that he knew something was strange about her? Maybe he did it just to spite him? Though why would he go through all that trouble just to annoy him? It didn't make sense…

"What if he doesn't want her but somebody else does?" Bepo wondered aloud, surrounded by the rest of the crew in the mess deck. The bear was laying on his back on the floor, Law leaning against him like he normally did.

The idea had merit. "It's unlikely Kid-ya would work for someone. He is too aggressive." But as he continued thinking about the idea the more it started to make sense. "But if there was something to gain…"

"What are you thinking, Captain?" The bear asked curiously. Law narrowed his eyes in thought. At this point he had the attention of everyone.

"I want all news article for the past 6 months brought to me now. Focus on the classified sections and personal advertisement." Men scrambled to get the papers, rejuvenated by Law's calculating look that meant he had an idea or a plan.

Soon boxes upon boxes of papers were stacked in the mess deck. Grabbing one from the top section, he flipped it open to the advertisement page.

"The only reason I can see Kid-ya having an interest in Summer-ya would be to sell her or trade her. Every single advert must be read. Summer-ya's rescue may well depend on it." At those words, men immediately snatched up papers and began reading.

"What exactly are we looking for, Captain?" Shachi asked, scanning classifieds and headlines as quickly as he could without missing information. Law glanced up from the section he was reading. Newspaper was spread all around the room, and he had to move some away from his face to see the engineer.

"Anything that's strangely vague or uses odd code words. Also one that comes up repeatedly with different messages each time."

"What about this one?" Parker held up a paper and Law approached him. "Here." He pointed to a section almost at the bottom corner of the paper.

"Seeking to purchase impounded yacht. Contact if interested."

"Who would be looking for an impounded yacht? What does that even mean?" He shook his head in confusion. Law looked up from the page.

"How many of you have gotten that same one?" Several men raised their papers in confirmation. "Look for any that reference this yacht and put them in order by date."

The task took longer than he would have liked, but by the end of all the sorting a good stack of papers rested on the floor at his feet. Going through, he read each one.

"Seeking to purchase impounded yacht. Contact if interested."

"I'd like to know who I'm buying from. I appreciate business integrity."

"On a 500,000,000 budget. Still interested?"

"I'm unable to travel, busy schedule."

"Are you willing to bring it to me without destroying it?"

"I'm sorry if it inconveniences you, but please send the yacht to the coordinates listed below."

"Hope to see you soon. I'll be waiting."

"Bepo, put in these coordinates and see where it points us."

"Aye, Captain!" The bear sat up and flew towards the navigation room, intent on finding his missing crewmate.

"This has gotta be it, right? I mean, this doesn't sound like a normal sale does it?" Parker scratched his head.

"I have a feeling…" Was all Law said. A few minutes later, Bepo came back.

"Those coordinates lead to an island called Neritum."

"How long would it take us to get there?" The bear grinned.

"Maybe a week if we pushed our hardest." Law stood, kicking away stray newspapers and brushing himself off. The crew looked to him for direction.

"Head there immediately."

"Arg…" Kid stirred, squeezing his eyes tightly shut against the raging pain that ran through his body. He panicked for a split second thinking that he was blind, but he realized he hadn't opened them yet. Slowly, he rose to a sitting position and surveyed the scene around him.

Dozens of bodies lay across the deck, the blood slowly staining the wood. It was almost too dark to see, but somehow he was able to identify his three fallen members.

"Hey, get up." He called with a hoarse voice. Struggling to his feet, he leaned against an unbroken railing for support. There were a few groans, then three of the bodies began stirring.

"Why didn't he kill us?" Wire grumbled, massaging his injured head. Heat coughed, a horrible sound that racked through his body. Killer slowly went in search of his fallen blades, crawling through the bodies and pools of blood. A sickening squelch accompanied each sweep of his hand through the dark.

"Any idea who that was?" Kid asked his men, who all gave a negative.

"Argh!" He slammed his fist down on the wood in frustration. Who the hell did that guy think he was, coming out of nowhere and decimating his crew then taking his ticket to get rich quick?

"What now, Chief?" Heat croaked, making his way over to Kid. He thought for a long time, staring out to the black ocean. His men waited patiently.

"We go after them." He turned away and made his way to below deck. Stopping he glanced at the bodies that littered the deck. "And clean up this mess."

"I want that money." He muttered to himself as he descended the steps.

Summer was herded down below deck, back to her cage from so many years ago. Viper's first mate shackled her wrists and ankles together, attached by a long chain that also attached to a cuff around her neck. The device limited her steps to small, hurried ones so she could keep up with the men pushing her forward.

'No...'

The steps to the darker section of the deck were old and beginning to crumble. This didn't slow or stop their descent. Opening a door, Viper ushered Summer and the men escorting her through into the room. One gave a forceful shove that sent her reeling inside.

'Please...'

Inside was a large cage, running vertically from the floor to the ceiling and three or four feet in each direction. Viper unlocked the door and nodded, to which the men pushed her inside without warning. She stumbled forward with a small cry, landing on her side and back.

'I can't go back...'

Before she could recover from the sudden movement, she heard the lock to the door close. Viper retracted the key and smiled a wicked toothy grin. A dark chuckle came from his throat, before rising in volume and hysterics. He turned and walked towards the door. Before it closed behind him, she heard his parting remark.

"Welcome home, love."