32:: Unstoppable

WARNING! yeah more violenceand gore! um . . . hi?

Song inspired ------>Oh how I love action music like this one (which happens to be my favorite)

(AN: there’s a ladybug on my desk . . . WHY THE HELL IS THERE A FREAKIN’ LADYBUG ON MY DESK AT 11 AT NIGHT?! PLEASE SOMEONE CLEAR THAT UP FOR ME!

Jk it prob came in when I left the back door open earlier)

I woke up to the dark room, feeling the pressure around me of tightly wrapped bandages. My entire body ached, both from pain and lack of exercise. I needed a walk.

Chopper would kill me, but he, or anyone for that matter was here. I slowly, hesitantly set my bare feet onto the wooden floor, the ship rocking slightly to the gentle waves. I whistled softly, sending out a sonar to tell me where I was.

I stood up straight, silently applauding myself for getting up, and took a step. Huge mistake.

The ground pitched and rolled as I stumbled sideways, almost falling over. I caught myself on the wall, leaning my head into it with my hands bracing myself. I dropped my head.

“I want ice cream,” I whispered, voice hoarse for not using it in such a long time. I had a craving for that delicious frozen dessert, and I was going to get it.

Sending out sonars, I slowly made my way across the room, brushing my feet across the floor and hands out stretched, just in case I fell. When I got to the stairs leading upward, I braced my hands in the walls on either side and started making my way slowly up. I kept my feet on the floor, brushing one foot slowly across the step until my toe hit the second one. Finding that, I managed to bring myself up a step. Took me too long to get up those stairs.

I found the door and opened it. A cold sea breeze hit my face harder than I thought it would. Judging from the utter silence, it was night time. My stomach growled, craving that delicious dessert.

Sonars once again helped me locate my surroundings, taking lots of my sluggish brain power to find the galley door and got inside, stubbing my toes twice and bending my little finger the wrong way once. I was hissing in pain as I pressed myself against the door, listening closely for any signs of movement. No one was in there. I slinked inside, closing the door softly behind me. I sent a sonar wave out just in case. Yup, no one.

I grinned, my face hurting for a second. My stiff limbs needed to be stretched properly, and my cracking bones weren’t helping me being sneaky. Yes every movement, a small bone would crack in response, taking note of movement.

I found the freezer and dug around their until I was sure I found a tub of ice cream. I softly shut the door and slowly made my way to the drawer with the utensils in it. When I got a spoon, I sat at the end of the table, my legs swinging as I opened the lid and dug in. The cold vanilla instantly melted on my heated tongue as I moaned in pleasure. I think I ate the whole thing in that sitting. After that I found some bread and leftover soup that Sanji managed to hide from Luffy. Eating them cold with a class of apple juice, I ate for the first time in who knows how long.

~~

After that my sleeping schedule was thrown off. Everyone still assumed I was comatose, but really I was sleeping during the day when everyone was awake and roaming around at night.  I couldn’t help it. I was sleeping more, so I woke up around eleven or twelve and did what I do until five or six, getting sleepy and went off to bed. This went on for a good week. I think Robin knew, and had leftovers of food just for me.

Maybe I was doing this because I wanted some alone time, or I really was still badly injured and this was my bodies way of healing me. Either way, Robin understood and told no one.

Except Chopper.

It was the early morning and Chopper came in, just as I was waking up.

“I don’t know why you didn’t just wake us up,” he said. He sounded a bit sad. I guessed he was pouting.

“I’m sorry. I thought you would need your sleep after everything you’ve done. But  I would like to thank you for helping me, Dr. Chopper. You’re in my debt,” I bowed my bandaged head.

“Oh you I’m not happy,” he giggled joyfully, “But I’m glad you’re awake. You really had us worried.”

“I’m sorry,” I apologized again.

“That’s alright. How do you feel?” He started checking over my wounds. It was weird not seeing him at his work, what he was doing exactly.

“Fine. A bit stiff and some wounds hurt a bit but that’s alright,” I was still a bit hoarse, since I haven’t really talked to anyone but myself for the past week.

He did a checkup, changed my bandages, gave me my medicine, and talked with me a bit more. The topics were light and friendly, nothing complicated. He had a cute laugh and was glad that Sano hadn’t cut my ears off. As a musician, all I needed were my hands, ears, and voice.  The rest were bonus.

“I know you need your sleep, but you’re also throwing your schedule off. Try and stay up later then wake up later, too. That may help.” He said as he was leaving. He sounded sleepy.

“Go to bed, Chopper. I’ll figure it out. For now, you get to bed, alright?” I shooed him.

“Okay, good night Rhythm!”

“Good night, Chopper!” I listened to his hoof steps  fade away, followed by the door opening and closing. (AN: Dopler Effect, you’ve done it again!).

I put my headphones on and turned on my music. Leaning back, I let the music flow over me.

~~

%Narrator%

Three weeks. That’s how long Rhythm has been out while they were at sea. Three long weeks. The last week she had been roaming the ship at night.

The Straw Hats were resting out on the sunny deck, not a cloud in sight as the warm sun beat down them. Nami lay under an umbrella, her legs stretched out in front of her in a white mini-skirt with orange rings on the side and an orange cut off tank-top with the words “HATE” written in white along her cleavage. Luffy snoozed at  the top of the figurehead whilst Usopp and Chopper fished quietly, Zoro sleeping on the deck next to him. Robin had finished her library and was now stretched out next to Nami in a pale blue blouse and white mini skirt and black ankle boots. Sanji had all the windows and door thrown open, letting the warm air into the kitchen while he prepared a mid-afternoon snack.

What they didn’t see was the approaching Marine fleet from all sides, sneaking up in them as silent as the clouds.

Robin was the first to notice, then Zoro and soon followed the rest.

By then, it was too late.

They didn’t fire, just sat their completely surrounding them.

“I’ll take them out in a sec,” Luffy held his right bicep and prepared to sling his arm backwards.

“No, hold on,” Nami placed her hand on his shoulder.

Out on the deck of the closest ship (in front of them) came a Marine Vice Admiral.

“You are the Straw Hat Pirate’s, am I correct?” he called out, “Led by Monkey D. Luffy with a bounty of 100,000,000 and two crew members with bounties, Roronoa Zoro and Nico Robin.”

“Yeah. Who the hell are you?” Luffy asked.

“I am Marine Vice Admiral Cancer. I am here on behalf of the Government.”

“Well no shit, Sherlock,” Sanji said, chewing on his cigarette.

“We investigated a recent murder of one of our comrades, and the trail led to you. Someone in this crew is responsible for the murder of Rear Admiral Hiracuze Sano. A death in battle is one thing, but a murder is another.” He explained.

Oh shit.

“We didn’t do it!” Luffy yelled, “he tried killing Rhythm!”

“Rhythm D. Jade is the suspect. And we’ll take her by force if we have too, and the rest of you as well,” he said. “Men! Take aim!”

Chopper stood towards the back, small hooved shivering. He was silently freaking out. About ten huge enemy ships surrounded them, and all of them were pointing their cannons at the tiny Going Merry.

“Chopper,” someone whispered. He yelped and turned to see Rhythm. She was fully clothed in a white T-shirt and black jeans with a silver studded belt and her silver and blue dance Nikes. Her hair was still a bit mattered and her skin was still too pale for his liking.

“Rhythm! You are you okay enough to be standing out here right now?” he really didn’t approve of her nighttime strolls but this was different. No one but Robin noticed the two in the back, too focused on the Marine ships before them.

“Chopper thank you so much for taking care of me. I’m so grateful right now. I want to pay you back,” she said softly.

“How?” he asked.

“Cover your ears. I know how sensitive your hearing is. So do that for me, okay? And no matter what, not uncover them. Plug them if you have to,” she said.

“What are you . . .?” his question never reached her ears as she already started forward. He realized he wasn’t going to get anything out of her, so he plugged his ears like she said too.

She stood in the middle of the deck; the rest of the crew (but Robin) noticed she was there.

Her form was strong. Despite her wounds she held a straight back and chin high. The first cannons were fired. Luffy and Zoro deflected them with ease.

That’s when Rhythm made her first move.

A wave, a  sound wave rolled off of her and moved across the deck and stretched out into the sea, causing sea waves to form and throw the ships up, making them rock dangerously. When the wave had rolled off of her, it blew her hair up like an inky halo. The crew noticed her.

Another sound wave, this one stronger rolled off of her and into the sea, throwing a couple men overboard ion the Marine ships. The Going Merry wasn’t effected.

“What the hell’s going on?” Usopp said as he clung to the railing. The Marines were confused as well.

The biggest one rolled off of her and into the sea, more powerful than before and extended further out than the last too.

But unlike the last two, this one took the sound.

It was like a silent film. You could see the action, rolling waves and rocking ships with the confused Marine’s and pirates aboard. It was like everyone went deaf. A dolphin jumped out of the water, making no sound whatsoever.

Zoro remembered back when the same thing happened, when Rhythm jumped into the lake to put out the fires back on Tomoni Island. She was planning something.

A ringing sound filled everybody’s ears, a sound that made Chopper writher slightly and clutch his ears. Zoro pulled the small doctor to him as he buried his head into Zoro’s strong chest. She took a step forward, and with a slow even pace she made her way to the front of the ship where Nami, Robin, and Luffy stood. Each step she made had more sound waves rolling off of her and made the whole ship vibrate dangerously. The Straw Hats were stuck in place as they followed her with their eyes.

The Marine ships were a different story. Something had gotten to them and they were dying one after another. Some jumped overboard, screaming about demons and ghosts and what-not. Some were shooting randomly, as though trying to kill an invisible enemy. The bullets hit their crewmates instead. Others were running around and screaming, or curling up in a ball. The few that weren’t affected were trying to calm the others down.  Cancer was in a flurry to calm down his own shipmates.

The sea seemed to rise to a unheard tempo, as the wind itself blew in all directions.

Rhythm reached the railing of the top deck and stood on top of it, as though preparing to jump to her death. Her face was blank as her shoulders were tense. Luffy held Nami’s shoulder as she started forward to get Rhythm, Luffy shaking his head as a silent message passed between the two. The pale lavender light twisted around her hands and feet, rising up into the air

Chaos on the ten ships ensued. More Marines fell as their captains tried to get everything together again. The piercing ringing noise still rang in the air. Cannons and other dangerous explosives shook and trembled by the unseen force, preparing to explode at the wrong touch.

And she did jump off the ship. Nami, Sanji, Usopp and Chopper yelled out for her. Luffy was too calm with his hat visor over his eyes.

She didn’t fall to her death, let alone drown. Instead sound waves boosted her up into the air again and launched her at a ship to the left. The ringing got louder, as did the shaking cannons and screams. The moment she landed on the ship, it exploded. Fire and debris rose into the air as bodies flew, charred corpses with their soot weapons in their hands, treasures of their own. Rhythm had jumped from that ship and to the other, and another. Each one exploding behind her.

The ship before the Vice Admirals was the last to explode. Rhythm didn’t jump out to his, but instead flew to the sky and disappeared behind the thick dark clouds of smoke and ash and a ball of sound, leaving a trail of smoke and ash in her wake.

And she didn’t come down.

“She’s dead. At that altitude her brains will explode,” Cancer said, wiping sweat and ash from his brow.

How wrong he was. Sound left the area again, followed by a couple flashes of lavender light and a sonic boom and Rhythm came down at the speed of sound in a streak of lavender light, her leg extended out as she broke the leading ship in half with that kick. Ringing filled the air again as she jumped back onto the next ship, grabbing a sword from one of the Marines and decapitating him with it. The ship was burning as she sliced a man in half and stabbed another through the head, leaving the sword their as she broke a guys wrist turning his hand and pulling the trigger of the gun into his  mouth, brains exploding from the back of his head and splattering his remaining comrades. It went on like this as she blew up that ship, killed a few men grotesquely and blowing up that ship. Her speed and agility were unmatched as she moved like an angel of death. When there were three ships left, she jumped off the third and launched herself across the space, swinging her leg around and throwing a streak of lavender sound wave at the ship she just massacred, instantly blowing it up to the sky. The last two she took out with ease.

At the burning remains of the last ship, she jumped from the bow, twisted gracefully in the air with a couple flips, and landed on the Going Merry’s bow, completely unscathed from the fight but covered in soot and Marine blood. All ten ships were burning, sinking into the ocean as the last cries died. Ash fell like rain as the last remaining lavender light faded from her, rising into the air and dispersing like smoke. Nami fell to her knees, eyes wide and blank with her hands over her mouth as Usopp fainted.

From her left hand, came a strange black substance. It was little squiggles, like a child’s drawing, but it withered as it floated into the air and faded. No one noticed the strange phenomenon besides Robin and Zoro. The latter narrowed his eyes and frowned, puzzled at to what it could be. They quickly faded into the air.

“We-we have someone this powerful on our ship. Zoro was right, you were holding back,” Nami gasped, choking slightly since she was still in shock.

“Rhythm let me check to make sure you’re okay. I’ll help you get cleaned up,” Chopper bravely stepped forward.

She stiffly nodded and followed him inside. The crew was silent, until Nami finally gathered herself and ordered them to get to work in sailing the ship between two of the sinking Marine vessels.

“Is it wrong to get turned on by all that?” Zoro asked Robin.

“For you, not at all,” she said smiling slightly.

~~

Rhythm joined the crew, completely healed except for her eyes. New scars joined her collection as smaller wounds disappeared completely.

“We’ll get to the next island in less than a week,” Nami announced over dinner that night.

“Whoo! Meat! Meat!” Luffy chanted, pounding his fork and knife on the table.

“Table manners!” Sanji growled, kicking Luffy in the head.

She sighed, “I don’t know if I’m going to get meat or not for you,” she said, a dark grin spreading across her face.

Luffy turned pale, “No meat?”

“Yes. It’s taking a toll on our budget, and if this keeps up we may have to make some changes,” her eyes glittered.

“L-like what?” Luffy was a bit shaken now. This got everyone’s attention.

“Oh like unnecessarily large quantities of meat . . . booze . . .” she let the sentence hang in the air.

“Wait whut?” Zoro looked over his bottle of sake while Luffy’s jaw had hit the floor.

“NO MEAT? ARE YOU CRAZY?! I HAVE THE MIND TO THROW YOU OVERBOARD!” he yelled.

“I said cut back, didn’t say we were going to stop buying it all together. We need protein. Isn’t that right Sanji-kun?”

“Yes Nami-swan<3,” he sighed.

“We still have the gold from Skypiea, so maybe we could cash it at our next stop. I had to say theirs at least 100,000,000 Beli in there,” Robin added.

“100,000,000 million,” Usopp and Chopper fell to the ground.

“We’ll be fine on meat,” Robin giggled behind her hand at the sight of the two.

“Jeez I was kidding Luffy, Zoro,” Nami rubbed her forehead. Zoro finally caught on and was making an incredulous face. The two biggest idiots.

“Can’t go wrong with apples,” Rhythm said around the last bite, throwing the fourth core down onto her plate, “good for bone protection, lung cancer, breast cancer, colon cancer, liver cancer, diabetes protection, and great for weight lost. Am I missing anything?” she asked Sanji.

“Vitamins A and C,” he added, hearts for eyes, “Rhythm-dwono’s so smart <3”

(AN: yay! Nutrition for all! God now I want an apple *looks in fridge* nothing to eat but cake mix and baking soda . .  .  TO THE MARKET! :P)

“So we’re keeping the meat?” Luffy asked.

“Yes Luffy, it was a joke.”

“Booze too?” Zoro held up his bottle.

“With the way you annoy me, I’m thinking of making you use your own money,” she tsked.

“What money?”

“Exacly.”

Zoro frowned, making Sanji, Rhythm, Luffy, Usopp and Chopper laugh at him.

~~

“Bet you’re gunna lose,” Rhythm smirked.

“To a blind girl? Like hell,” Zoro scoffed.

“You’d be amazed . . .” she wiggled her eyebrows, “Never underestimate a blind person.”

“Well go, your turn,” he nodded.

“Got any six’s?” Rhythm asked.

“Fuck you!” He slammed three six’s down on the deck.

“Yes that makes seven! I win I win!” she threw my cards in the air while Zoro sulked.

“Lost to a blind girl in Go Fish. Now Zoro that’s just sad,” Sanji snickered

“Shut up, Curlicue. She had Usopp helping her,” he grumbled.

“Actually, I told her what she had. She did the rest,” Usopp shrugged, trying to hide his laughter.

“Re-match! Best two out of three!” Zoro started gathering the cards and shuffling them.

“Watch, he’s gunna lose again,” Usopp whispered to Rhythm and she giggled. A vein throbbed on Zoro’s forehead.

Zoro lost the second match (“The sad thing was, I was going easy on him,” Rhythm shrugged) and won the third (“Shear luck. He won seven to six”)

“I guess you blowing up that Marine fleet was your way of blowing off some steam, huh?” Zoro said after numerous card games. The two sat out of earshot from the rest of the crew.

“Yeah. I’m glad I did. I haven’t seen that much carnage in too long,” she sighed and leaned back against the railing

“Too long? Well I have a feeling we’ll he more,” he smirked.

They sat in silence, listening to the others’ antics and the sea sloshing against the side of the battered Going Merry.

“Look I’m sorry what I said to you,” Rhythm and Zoro said at the same time, “You first.”

“No you.”

“Ladies first.”

“That’s you, marimo.”

“Fine! Look I’m sorry what I said to you at the last island. I didn’t mean to make you mad. If I hadn’t made you made you wouldn’t have run off and gotten hurt,” Zoro admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

“No biggie. My fault too, I guess. I knew I shouldn’t have trusted that bastard” they both knew perfectly well who she was referring too.

“Don’t do anything so stupid again then, okay?”

“Fine I won’t date Justice-loving freaks. Just good ol’ fashion, run-of-the-mill criminals. Hug?” she opened her arms with an awkward smile on her face.

“No,” Zoro leaned back and closed his eyes, preparing for a nap.

“Aw I wanted to make a picture perfect moment.” Her shoulders slumped.

“That’s overrated.”

As pirate’s, I guess it is. Can I have a hug anyway? Unless you’re not man enough.” Take a blow at a man’s ego, perfect way to get what you want.

“Man enough?” he cracked his eyes.

“Yup. True men will hug in public and where pink. Here, how about a bro-hug?”

“Fine, bro-hug,” he leaned over and gave her a bro-hug. That hug took her breath away.

“That was a sucky bro-hug,” she pouted. “Free hugs! I feel generous!”

“I’ll give you a hug!” Sanji twirled over and practically scooped Rhythm into a bear hug.

“Yay! Sanji’s giving me a hug, that’s pretty manly . . . wait Sanji, don’t touch me there. Remove your anatomists* from my lower region!”

Things weren’t so weird for the Straw Hats anymore. Just as normal as it could be.

~~

The ships, all ten of the Marine vessels, were burning. Silence permitted the air except for the huge ocean waves and the crumbling ships and the crackling flames.

On what was left of one of the decks, stood a man. He wasn’t a survivor, let alone a Marine. He was just there. His tall, lean form was framed in the golden firelight, the only distinguished feature was the top hat and the smell of decay and cherry blossoms.

“Heh . . .” he grinned, “Lack of self-control. Powerful, yes, but no control.”

He turned sharply, still unable to make out his features. His coat-tails lifted in the sudden wind. A couple heart-shaped cherry blossoms flew off of him and swirled into the air, making contact with the flame and instantly burning into ash.

“Something’s coming, something big. And I would love to be part of this,” his grin grew.

His form dissolved completely into a whirl of cherry blossoms, lifting into the sky. Some were burnt in the raging fire, while the rest flew up and disappeared into the heavans.

AN: if you’re not aware yet, I like fire. A lot.

Anatomists- fancy-smancy way of saying hands