Two Hearts

They Never had a Chance

Bepo glanced up at his captain, whose face betrayed no emotion.

Law could feel the shaking anger welling up inside him. The same kind of anger which had lead him to join Doflamingo's family. The anger that made him want to kill things. "Room!" The circle expanded rapidly through the enormous cavern, outpacing even the sound of Law's voice.

By the time the group realized they had company, it was too late. "Shambles!" The ground around the table rose up, forcing all four of them to fall back. Volt, the shortest and most timid, stumbled towards the ship. With a twitch of his fingers, Law sliced it into three pieces. Volt shrieked, staring with dismay at the ruins of his escape.

Law reclaimed Kikoku from Bepo, and stepped fully into the room. "I found you." His blank expression caused the remaining three to shudder as he drew Kikoku. "Bepo-ya. Close the door. No one leaves."

Bepo saluted him. He closed the door, then turned to face the room with his angriest snarl.

"Damn you, Sam!" the old woman yelled, crawling over the rough edges of cracked stone in an attempt to get back to Aisuru. "I told you to just work harder on day one!"

Sam grimaced, looking towards Law. Law, however, was going to start with Tanner. As soon as the man was on his feet again, Law was beside him. He severed the detestable hand that had dared touch Aisuru without her permission.

Tanner screamed, black eyes wide as they beheld a stump. He nearly fainted when he looked up into Trafalgar Law's pitiless face. The former warlord then removed the whole arm. He could feel Sam coming up behind him. With another flick of his fingers, he created a chasm between them. "Wait your turn." he snapped.

Four more cuts rendered the cowardly Tanner nothing more than a torso. His severed head continued to scream until it was cut in half. Separated, Tanner's eyes darted about in opposite directions. For good measure, Law removed half of every organ in his body, including his heart, and tossed them over his shoulder, into the crevice he had created.

To the left, he could hear Bepo keeping the round one from leaving. The bear's style of karate was hard to miss as he growled and gekered at the man.

Law turned, expecting to see the old woman closest to him. To his surprise, Sam was running at him, full force. "All I have to do," he yelled, "Is touch you!"

He stepped aside, slamming his elbow into his kidney. "I said, 'wait your turn'."

Sam crashed into the jagged stone, coughing up blood. He regained his feet quickly under the murderous gaze of his opponent. "Feel my dose-dose powers!" His hand darted out, intent on grabbing Law's wrist, but the former warlord knocked it aside with the flat of his nodachi. He knocked Sam in the side of the head, temporarily removing him from combat. Law could only glare at the man as he hit the ground, several teeth short of a smile.

Aisuru's inability to defend herself was becoming clearer to him. He had heard of the dose-dose fruit as being similar to the horm-horm fruit. Of course, the dose-dose fruit would be used to administer different drugs, some of which would cause sickness or loss of consciousness. The question now was, how had he been able to affect Aisuru in the first place?

"HA!" the old woman yelled, jumping on his back.

Law staggered forward, having been caught completely off guard. A heavy chain dropped around his neck, instantly answering his question as his circle of power vanished. The woman pulled the chain tight against his throat, cutting off his air. "How do you like that? Grama Grey's still got it!"

He grabbed her by the bun and threw her to the ground. He blinked his vision clear as he removed the sea-prism necklace.

Grama Grey wasn't done yet. While Law was recovering from the unexpected weakness, she pulled a small, square package out of her pocket. Faster than he could react, she threw it behind him. To keep him from discovering what it was, she jumped him again, pulling out yet another necklace from her pocket.

Law didn't bother summoning his operating room. Kikoku easily removed her head from her shoulders. Her body slumped to the ground, between him and the table. His eyes were drawn to Aisuru, who had managed to turn her head. She didn't seem to really see him, as if she was so drugged up that her eyes wouldn't focus. "Law?" she mouthed.

He wanted to assure her that he was there, and she was going home, but he had made Sam wait long enough. Maybe I should just keep her, and give her to Doffy as a welcome home present? The words brought forth another wave of hatred, followed by the slurred echoes of Aisuru's plea for death over slavery.

He turned back to the worst offender. The one with Doflamingo's mark. Sam was sitting up, staring at a small, clear package. His face was taken over by a dark grin as Law's face fell, grey eyes opening wide. Before he could use his ope-ope fruit, Sam's hand clenched. Aisuru gasped, choking on screams she couldn't quite form. Her body convulsed, sending her crashing to the ground.

Sam's hand relaxed. He giggled. "Now what?" His voice was too high pitched to belong to a sane man. "Now what? What do you want to do, Trafalgar Law?" He spit the name, squeezing Aisuru's heart again to use her pain to prove his point.

"What are the options?" He kept his voice level. He knew the options.

Sam crossed his legs, gently massaging the heart as Aisuru whimpered quietly. "You can leave, and know that Aisuru will be alive somewhere, or you can attack me, and she can die with me. That's it. Pick one."

I don't want to be nothing again. Crush it.

He didn't have an option. "Room! Shambles!" he pointed his ring finger in the general direction of Tanner and his thumb at Sam. with a flick of his wrist, he changed their souls.

Now Tanner gazed back at him with unbridled terror. His hand convulsed, reflexively clutching Aisuru's heart. Law ignored the screaming. Even if Aisuru died, it would be better than allowing her to live as a slave... Or, god forbid, in the hands of Doflamingo.

He stepped up to Tanner in Sam's body and held out his hand. "You don't have to be cut again. Give me the heart, and I'll even put you back together."

Tanner swallowed, relaxing his grip. He presented the heart with an open palm. Law pocketed it, and returned Tanner to his own, dismembered body. There was no way he would ever put such a dreadful creature back together.

Sam snarled, grabbing at Law's face. It was hard to do once both his hands lay several inches from his arms. He tried to get up and run away, but Law cut him down. Missing his hands and feet, the kidnapper attempted to crawl to freedom. Law wasn't having it.

Trafalgar Law was angry. He needed this man to suffer, and continue to suffer for a long, long time. He made too many cuts to count, removing bones and organs at will. He left Sam's head in tact for quite some time, reveling in his terrified shrieking. When there was nearly nothing left of the body, Law took his heart, then sliced Sam's head in half, rendering him silent.

"I'm going to keep this," Law explained to the twitching mass of flesh, "Until you starve to death. I'll watch you die slowly, and know that you deserve every second of the agony that's waiting for you." He placed Sam's heart inside his jacket.

Law stepped over to Aisuru and knelt down beside her. He broke off the hated sea-prism necklace and flung it to the side. His hand slipped under the back of her head, pulling her halfway to sitting, and leaned over to press his forehead against hers.

"Law?" she breathed, touching his cheek with the bloody tips of trembling fingers. It took her a moment to work up the strength to speak again. "I was so scared."

He nodded. All of the anger he felt evaporated, and he was forced to admit that he had been scared. Scared for Aisuru... Scared of losing her. He had never dealt with loss particularly well. And it had almost been to a member of that family on top of everything. "Me, too."

Bepo lumbered over to them. "Captain?"

Law cradled Aisuru against his chest with one arm. He handed Kikoku to Bepo, and summoned his room. He took them through the rolling door and onto the shallow bank between the cave and the ocean. The walk back to the ship was silent, but their arrival wasn't.