damned_institute | Nightshift 28: Kitchen

"Somebody lead Zoro," Usopp called back to the others, hurrying forward into the kitchen. He might worry about Luffy's direction too, if they weren't entering a kitchen. It was too dark. His one flashlight wasn't enough to light up the whole room.

He still didn't like this whole idea. They hadn't encountered anything thus far... not really. He was betting Nami was just trying to get them to rush with that whole 'something's in here' gag. They'd just slipped past everything. But he'd heard someone at the doorway leading from the Sun Room. Others were inside too, even heading this direction. And if other patients were around, monsters would be around to attack them. It was like some weird natural balance.

Things tended to balance, and... things weren't balancing. Everything was going great. Even he was starting to feel optimistic. Which, perversely, meant he was starting to feel more paranoid.

"Let's go fast, okay? Before something can come out of the walls or drop from the ceiling at us..." At least nothing smelled rotten; a lot of the monsters here stunk.

Edited 2007-12-17 05:56 (UTC)

Luffy had grabbed for Zoro's arm as everyone made their way to the kitchen. "You've been here before, you know!" the pirate told him with a grin. "Well, I mean, not inside it, but definitely outside it!"

The idea that there was something in the cafeteria got Luffy's attention real fast, and he'd glanced around, trying to see whatever it was. But, as far as he could tell, there simply hadn't been anyone else around! Well, not anyone to fight, anyway. But Nami seemed like she was in a hurry, and Luffy definitely wasn't going to complain about going in to the kitchen.

"Yeah, we need to go faster!" Luffy agreed with a grin once he stepped in after Usopp. "Where's the place with answers, anyway? In the refrigerator, right?"

“Eh.” Was Zoro’s very articulate response. His mind had told him to try and get a good look at whatever Nami had seen—and now there were voices coming from the other side of the room, huh— but, at the same time, his arm was being tugged in the opposite direction. Zoro followed his arm both because it was apparent that Luffy wanted them to go that way and because if there was anything worth fighting, he hadn’t seen it. (His clue? No swords.)

The kitchen was a lot darker than the cafeteria, though he could keep track of Usopp easily enough.

Zoro stepped away from Luffy, scrutinizing the room almost cautiously. Was there something in this room too? The swordsman couldn’t tell. It was like a haze of darkness was blotting everything out. Zoro walked in a straight line and ended up in front of a pantry door; he knocked on it to test the hollow sound. It didn’t look like the refrigerator Luffy was talking about though in the darkness everything looked pretty much the same.

“Hey, Usopp. Shine that light over here.”

Nami breathed a sigh of relief as she slammed the door behind her finally. That human-temperature yet utterly chilling touch, that grip on her neck, the hand sliding around her lips - she hadn't imagined it. Nami wasn't the sort to just imagine things like that, anyway. The very thought was ludicrous.

Either the quick swat she had given it with her stick had killed it, or there was something still lurking in the shadows that could disappear at will.

She looked around, starting to cautiously make her way to the refrigerator. "I'm pretty sure - I don't believe there's another place it could be."

Yet in the pit of her stomach, she was getting a terrible feeling that they weren't going to find the answers they needed tonight.

Sanji edged his way around the rest of the group, trying to find anything in the dark that might be useful to him right away. The food itself would be in a pantry or refrigerator... But suddenly he found himself feeling unnaturally turned around. He glanced back at the others, towards the door they'd come in... The door had been over there, hadn't it? He couldn't see it now. In fact, he couldn't see any doors where he was sure one had just been.

"Guys," he began with a frown. "There's something off about---"

He was cut off abruptly, voice catching in his throat and ending in a short wheeze of breath, as a fist connected hard with his midsection. After a couple long seconds of excruciating pain, his eyes rolled up and he fell forward to the floor, unconscious.

Sai watched Sanji fall with no more than a dispassionate glance, at once turning his attention to the remaining pirates. His voice when he spoke was empty of threat, but very cold. "I apologize," he said. "But I can't let you go any further tonight." He didn't move, waiting for the one flashlight to inevitably find him.

Glancing over the people there, he found he knew very few of them. But there, one easily recognizable profile... "Ah. Usopp-kun." The name was spoken as though they hardly knew each other, nothing like the familiar and friendly manner he'd been attempting lately. "This is a surprise. But then, you did need more supplies, didn't you?"

There was no smile on his face now. In fact, there was no expression at all.

His flashlight had been pointed over at where Zoro was--he'd been about to try and explain 'pantry' without using the word food and distracting Luffy, when Sanji's words were cut off by a pained cry and the light immediately turned in that direction.

"S-Sai?" Usopp gawked, but only for a second. He knew what this was. "Y-you guys! Try not to hurt him! He's been brainwashed!"

"I'm... a ninja of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Knowing this place, you... probably haven't heard of it."
"Oh, a ninja?! Can you really turn invisible and fly?"
"There are ways of both flight and invisibility... yes... with the aid of ninjutsu.."

He gritted his teeth, more in fear than in anger, and stepped back half a step. "Sai, you don't want to hurt us either, not really. We're friends, remember? We had lunch together?"

So, now he knew why he hadn't seen Sai. While they'd been wandering around, getting 'supplies' from his room, Sai had needed rescuing--just not from the birds or nurses outside. Somehow he didn't think flour bombs would work very well against a real ninja.

"SANJI!"

Luffy could only watch both in horror and anger as his chef toppled to the floor. The attack had come out of nowhere, and the blond hadn't even had any time to properly react. It didn't take long to figure out what had done it, though. Or, rather, who...

"Sai! What are you--?!"

But Usopp had already figured it out. Brainwashed. That was what they called it, wasn't it? You had your mind and your heart, but it wasn't really yours, and you had no way to know any better. Martin Landel's puppet for a night. An enemy against friends.

Luffy knew what it was to be brainwashed.

There was nothing satisfying about fighting a friend who'd been turned into a puppet. He'd go out of his way to pick fights with the strange creatures if it suited him, but after his own experiences, Luffy generally avoided fighting brainwashed patients if he could. But he sure as hell wasn't going to just sit back and not defend himself or his crew.

"We don't want to fight you, Sai," Luffy said after a moment. "You're not yourself, and you'll wake up in the morning and feel really bad about all this." The pirate captain made a fist at his side, his eyebrows furrowing. "But I'm not gonna just let you beat us up, either."

The world was moving quickly. One moment there was the light, then the sense that something was there, and then... Sanji was down.

Zoro held back, ultimately calm though he was spoiling for a fight with whatever had felled their chef. He didn't know any of these people well enough to judge what their normal actions were but he listened to his crew mates just as naturally as he would in any fight. Brainwashed. Like Luffy had been.

Well, at least Usopp had found Sai.

Luffy said it all in his one simple statement. Zoro wouldn't have particularly cared about the boy but he was Usopp's friend and that was enough reason not to snap his neck, so to speak. But Zoro's reasoning was simple enough: Once Sai attacked he was fair game, brainwashed or not.

The swordsman stayed silent.

Nami could almost feel the breath being knocked out of their chef, the impact so sudden and decisive. She couldn't help but watch in horror as he toppled to the floor.

"Sanji-kun!" she called out in alarm, kneeling over the prone form almost immediately. This is Chopper's job, really, she thought as she dropped the rod on the floor and immediately began gently feeling for broken ribs, but Chopper wasn't here, and.. oh, it didn't feel like there was anything. That was good, at least, but she couldn't help but direct her attention to the ninja named Sai.

Brainwashed? Nami narrowed her eyes as she looked at the ninja. It was understandable that someone brainwashed might do something like this, and she could certainly gather that there would logically be no reason to blame him for something like this come morning.

But at the same time, there was Sanji - passed out beside her.

This was what Luffy had faced, wasn't it?

She looked over at her captain. There was a fight that was about to happen, from the looks of it, and Nami tightened her grip on the closet rod Usopp had given her. This was crazy. If someone could knock Sanji out so easily, with a mere punch to the stomach, what would happen to Luffy and Usopp? And Zoro, though he held back?

And what would happen to her?!

She picked up her rod again. Should he come at her..

The ninja didn't need to come at her. He hadn't moved from his spot, when all at once there were two of him. The second appeared silently behind Nami and delivered a quick blow to just the right point near her neck, knocking her unconscious with a little more care than he had Sanji before falling into a puddle of ink.

The first Sai, still standing where he had been, didn't even acknowledge this action. "There is no point in talk here," he said calmly. "I could have killed you all the moment you walked in. If you don't struggle, I'll take you out as painlessly as possible." That said, he drew his short sword from his back and ran straight at Usopp.

It was almost like a dream, first Sanji and then Nami down, and multiple Sais appearing and then vanishing into black. Ink.

He barely had time to try and argue, or even panic, before a Sai was coming at him sword first. Usopp flung his arms up into the air in the universal gesture of surrender, squeaking a bit. The light from the flashlight held up so high illuminated the room a bit better despite the shaking.

"Sai! Sai! Stop, stop! I'm not struggling! Mission success! I'm stopped! You remember, don't you?! I don't have a pan or a slingshot I'm unarmed--" Even as his last words started to blur together in panic, and his arms trembled above him, his knees were preparing to try and leap out of the way. Though running would doubtlessly be pointless, judging from Sai's performance thus far.

At least I don't have to worry about the others hurting him... he thought a tad hysterically.

The second Sai came out of nowhere, and Luffy could only watch, stunned and furious, as his navigator collapsed onto the ground next to Sanji.

"NAMI!"

But there wasn't anything he could do, and he gazed wildly around, wondering if there were other ninjas lurking in the dark. What was all this, anyway?! Since when did Sai have twin brothers who could change into ink!?

There is no point in talk, Sai had said, and now Luffy was starting to agree. As long at he was attacking them, friend or not, he simply couldn't stand back and do nothing.

Especially when Sai took his blade and starting running straight for Usopp.

Without another word, Luffy dashed towards the figure, raising his hand into a fist with the intention of socking their friend-turned-opponent in the face before he could reach their sharpshooter.

Sai's combat skills were top notch and Zoro could appreciate as much. Of course, he also knew they were at a severe disadvantage. Even if they'd wanted to, they wouldn't be able to land a hit on the ninja easily. Zoro wasn't going to fool himself into thinking otherwise.

It was clear what course he'd have to take. Battle experience was going to have to make up for what he was lacking and it was only that sense that gave Zoro a balanced feel of the situation. He was centered, calm, but he was also very pissed off. Zoro bared his teeth, wordlessly running at Sai as the boy attacked Usopp.

Zoro came from below, allowing Luffy the better shot while he stood ready to grab Sai's weapon if his captain's blow hit. If it didn't then Zoro would simply have his own shot at the ninja.

Something was nagging him, though. The ink, his instinct kept saying, and Zoro couldn't resist listening to it.

Luffy's blow did hit. It passed through Sai as though he was made of water - which wasn't far from the truth. This ninja was also an ink clone, and the hit turned the form into a black spattering mess.

"So you do intend to fight me after all," mused Sai's voice from further back in the shadows. There was a rustling like the sound of paper. "I'll do what I must, then." The thought of following through with that threat didn't appear to bother him at all.

The room was too dark to see the slithering forms of black ink snakes on the floor until they had reached the three men, coiling around each tightly to restrain all limbs.

Usopp lowered his arms to shield his face as ink splattered from the clone, wincing at how close it had been.

Don't be stupid, he isn't in control of himself! He could have stabbed you! Would Sai's ink blade hurt as much as a real one? The answer to that was clear from how easily the ink Sais had knocked Nami and Sanji down.

"I'm not fighting!" His voice went a tiny bit higher as the snakes seemed to appear from nowhere in the darkness, wrapping around them. "They attacked 'cause they thought you were gonna kill me!"

Was there any way to reason with him? "Listen, Sai, you really, really don't want to do this! I know you think you're supposed to, but think about it some more! Who told you to? When? Why? Come on, you're smart, this doesn't make any sense, right?!" The arguments were a bit weakened by Usopp's unmanly high tone of voice. He didn't bother trying to break free of the snakes, even though he was shaking in their grip. They were firm enough... was it the force of impact that broke the ink magi... uh, jutsu? He was sure Zoro and Luffy'd do a better job of testing the strength of the things.

Luffy hadn't expected his fist to pass through Sai's face. Eyes widening, he landed in a crouch and sharply looked around.

"Quit hiding!" he called with a scowl. "If you're gonna fight us, at least fight us like a man!" Because, at this point, it was pretty damn obvious a fight was gonna happen. Usopp could beg Sai to stop all he wanted, but he didn't know what it was like to be brainwashed. Friends didn't mean anything when Martin Landel was pulling the strings.

He shouldn't have been surprised when he felt the snakes coil around him, but he really was. Stll, he did his best to struggle against their grip. But, no matter what, he couldn't seem to break through them! Growling, he allowed himself to fall over from his crouch as he tried crushing his side against the floor. Maybe the snakes would squash like bugs if he tried hard enough...

It left him open for an attack, but it wasn't like Luffy could do much just tied up, either.

Zoro had already been close by when Luffy's fist revealed the fake Sai and the swordsman had to make short work of his unnecessary momentum, throwing a foot out to catch his weight. He shifted the other, pulling it up behind as he came to a neat stop on the now slippery kitchen floor. Drops of ink splattered across his sweater and on his face as he barely moved to block it.

Wiping it off with the back of his hand, Zoro scowled. "Ink. What the hell?" Was it some kind of devil fruit? But no, what kind of power it was didn't matter. Beating it was Zoro's only concern. His eyes strained against the darkness, hoping to catch sight of something that would reveal where the real Sai was hiding.

And then he felt the snakes trying to restrain him. They weren't biting which meant that they had a different purpose. Sai wasn't trying to kill them. At least, not yet. Zoro tugged and strained against the snakes but it was clear that they weren't going anywhere. Luffy was having a similarly difficult time and that, above all, told Zoro that the snakes weren't going to come off easily. Since there was nothing to be done about that he set his sights on Usopp, remembering what had happened to the fake Sai when Luffy hit it. Did these snakes work that way too?

Using what was left of his movement, Zoro rammed his shoulder against Usopp's binds, hoping that at least one of them would get free. Their sniper was a little out of it now but Zoro wasn't going to let him fall as Nami and Sanji had. He might be the only one who knew how to beat Sai.

Face tense against the reality that brute force wasn't going to cut it this time, Zoro wordlessly counted on Usopp to realize this soon.

"Fight like a man?"

There were several moments of silence, then another figure stepped free of the darkness - looking exactly like the previous two. But this one was the original Sai, and he gazed over the three bound before him with those same impassive eyes.

"There are many types of men," he pointed out. "If I limited myself in how I attacked I would only make accomplishing my task that much more difficult." There wasn't even any reason to discuss this. Usually he carried out missions in near silence.

He placed a foot on Zoro's shoulder as the man attempted to break Usopp's bonds, shoving him backwards. The snakes securing the sniper had become partially weakened, but Sai ignored this.

Usopp simply wasn't much of a threat.

Zoro had smacked into him, perhaps trying to break both of their bonds at the same time, before Sai kicked Zoro back with a flexibility that Sanji would envy. With the weakened bonds, it wasn't really effort to pull free, the snakes collapsing into ink as Sai walked by, ignoring him as though he weren't even there.

There are many kinds of men.

Knowing his strength couldn't possibly match Sai's, Usopp grabbed Sai's arms below the shoulders from behind, not really trying to restrain the other man, only holding his attention. Sai might not even hear this. But he might remember it. "This is what I meant, Sai! This is why I lie, why we make friends, why the efficient route isn't the right one! Why you can't just cut off your feelings for the good of the mission!" He took a deep breath, considering the number of weapons a ninja must have on hand even without counting the magical ink; this might be the end, a very stupid end, and he wanted volume. "It's the same as what they did to you in your village! It's your heart, Sai, it's your mind! Do you want to be the kind of man who is controlled all the time by others?! You're the only one who can break you free!"

The fight would end and they would lose. Sai wouldn't be defeated by their strength.

Edited 2007-12-21 23:05 (UTC)

Well, at least the real Sai was out in the open now. Maybe. Unless this was another ink twin or something, but Luffy had no way to find out since he was still bound by those weird snake-things.

He gave a hard frown as he watched Sai shove Zoro backwards. This was a bad situation. A guy didn't have to be experienced with battles to know that, at least.

Then Usopp was reaching out to grab Sai, and it looked like he was trying to reason with the ninja. Luffy already knew it was impossible, though he didn't blame Usopp at all for trying. He didn't expect any less from someone in his crew, and he only watched with a grim expression, neither discouraging or encouraging the sharpshooter from what he was doing.

This was between them as much as it was between himself and Sai. Maybe even more so.

Zoro fell back against the wall with a grunt. It was a hard kick and though he was used to worse he still lost precious breath on impact.

The swordsman's eyes narrowed as he watched Usopp. This was something that had to be said, that only Usopp could say and Zoro was man enough to bow out of it for now, no matter how bad things were looking.

Sai let Usopp speak, eyes narrowing slightly as he went on. They were nice words. They may have even had some impact if the ninja had been his usual self. Unfortunately for them both, Sai belonged to the Institute that night and he had but one goal in mind.

The sniper's grip wasn't all that strong. Sai shoved both elbows back into the man in order to loosen the grip on him to the point where he could turn around. He then grabbed Usopp by the front of his shirt and hefted him across the room, sending him crashing into the stove.

Calmly, he turned back to the other two. "I'm going to finish this now," he said.

Usopp let out an 'oof' as he was elbowed, then was thrown like a toy and smacked hard against the stove.

Yeah, that's pretty much what I expected.

Despite the pain in his gut, he managed a few last important words. "You guys, quit fighting, he can't control himself and he'll get more violent the more we struggle! Sai, at least make this fast! You know we aren't a match for you right now!" The odds of the ninja listening to those words were better, but not great. Worse, he was fairly sure that the short sword Sai was wielding meant Zoro couldn't lay down like Nami and Sanji had. And if Zoro fought, then Luffy fought. Sai was the most likely to listen to him on this point, weirdly enough.

Wait--a short sword-- He struggled up from where he'd fallen, preparing to rush Sai despite his own words. If he could just get his hands on it, maybe... maybe... Maybe I can get my guts cut out and bleed to death. Hooray.

"At least try not to get hurt too much, okay?!" That was about the best he could hope for. He realized that, while Zoro and Luffy fought, he couldn't hold back either. It wasn't even a matter of the promise he'd made Sai about the sword--he couldn't stand aside any more while his crewmates fought and still be a man. One of his hands reached into his totebag, but the quarters were too small for the flour bombs to not blind all of them, and Usopp was the only one with goggles to keep the chili powder out. Then... He took the bag off his shoulder, wielding it in one hand like a limp hammer, bracing himself to try swinging it.

This was going to hurt a lot.

Luffy wasn't surprised when Sai rejected Usopp's words and threw the sniper into the stove. Gritting his teeth, the pirate captain struggled against his bonds. "Nngh! Usopp--!"

The idea of just standing back and not fighting...he could definitely do it, but not in this kind of situation. There was no telling what the ninja could do to them. Maybe if Luffy had been alone, it wouldn't have been as much of an issue. He would have put in his best, and if it resulted in him dying, then that was the way the cookie crumbled. But since his crew was right next to him, Luffy felt like he needed to do everything possible to get everyone out of this alive.

It looked like Usopp was going to try and do something. But there wasn't exactly much Luffy himself could do while he was tied up like this, either. Dammit!

Zoro shot Usopp a grim smile. They were going to fight this out somehow and it looked like the sniper had an idea.

"Not going to make any promises," Was Zoro's only reply. His eyes were shadowed, almost as if he had his signature bandanna back on, and he bowed his head in concentration.

He had no real idea of what Usopp was planing to do but his gut told him that distracting Sai would probably be for the best. Zoro wasn't sure if doing so was even possible, but...

Maybe if Sai really wasn't focusing on Usopp... and if he, Zoro, and Luffy could make a big enough mess of things...

Zoro couldn't be certain about the extent of Sai's abilities because of the boy's reserved state (the swordsman was used to more showy fare) but he didn't care to spend too much time thinking about it.

Slanting a glance at the struggling Luffy, Zoro took a big step-hop in his captain's direction. He could barely manage the movement with the snakes holding him but the wall gave him a good push off.

"Luffy, roll over here!" The plan wasn't to release Luffy's bonds but to give Usopp a big enough window of opportunity to get in a good hit. If they got the snakes off of Luffy then good, but if not then that wasn't really Zoro's main goal anyway.

The whole point of the thing was to make it look like it was.

"I intended to make this quick, Usopp-kun. Your friends have elected otherwise." Sai was fully aware of the attack from behind. Rather than allow Luffy and Zoro to break their bonds themselves, the ninja made a quick handsign and released them. The snakes melted the same as his other ink forms had.

Immediately after that, Sai flipped forwards onto his hands then launched himself upwards from that position. His feet made contact with the ceiling and held with chakra. "Still," he went on, glancing down at them, "like I said before: If I meant to kill you, you'd be dead already."

Sai was now ignoring him and standing on the ceiling, great. He'd thought he should try to free Luffy, but Zoro seemed to be working on that before Sai released them anyway, apparently not finding it necessary. And why was Zoro looking at him like that? What? What?! ... Oh, crap, he probably thinks I have some kind of master plan. I know more about Sai than anyone... Not anything that'd help them win. All he knew was that Sai was now a super-powerful ninja who could fly and turn invisible and things, and Usopp was utterly powerless. Everyone's powerless here! You're the only one with weapons! The fact that Luffy never fought with weapons and Zoro was stronger even without weapons didn't comfort him.

But he slid his goggles down over his eyes, then unclasped his bag. Maybe one flour-chili bomb wouldn't work... but a whole night's worth of production of them...

He swung the bag one-handed, letting its weight carry it. The momentum should hold the delicate origami 'bombs' back until it hit, when the sudden stop would break them all open at once. He hoped the bag itself would help contain the flour-chili mixture as it exploded over Sai's face--assuming Sai didn't stop it in time.

Usopp's other hand grabbed at Sai's short sword. He wouldn't have the muscles to retain it, but if the others distracted Sai... or at least the flour bombs might distract Sai or keep him from slicing the precious bag to bits.

The bag was in mid-swing as Usopp yelled "Try not to let it get in your face! USOPP SWING!"

The pirate captain had been fully prepared to let Zoro handle freeing him from the weird snake-like trap, but it looked like Sai had other plans.

Luffy knew Sai wasn't himself, knew that he didn't really have much control over what was going on. But he didn't like the feeling that he was being toyed around with, no matter the circumstances. As soon as his bonds were released, he stood up and scowled at Sai.

"Go on and get it over with already then!" Luffy said suddenly. Without thinking, he pulled his arm back and tried to launch it up at the ninja in an attempt to knock it down. But it hardly stretched at all, and Luffy almost knocked himself off balance at the unexpected shift in his weight.

And that was about the time Usopp announced his own attack. Luffy's dark-eyed gaze snapped over to the sharp-shooter. "Wait, what? What?"

Edited 2007-12-26 15:39 (UTC)

Zoro almost tripped when Sai released the snakes, but managed to catch himself before he bumped into Luffy. He glared up at Sai, mind already trying to work out how to fight a person standing on the ceiling even as Luffy launched his unsucessful attack.

Try not to let it get in your face!--

Well, that was a good clue as to what Usopp was about to do. Eyes widening slightly, Zoro pulled his arms up to defend against whatever foul substance their sniper was planning to release into the air.

--USOPP SWING!

Sadly, the results of this weren't as Usopp would have wanted. There was no explosion of flour and chili powder, as the bag was halted before it hit. Sai had grabbed the straps just before the point where they connected with the bag, the rest falling harmlessly limp.

"You shouldn't waste these," he said as though the two of them weren't currently fighting each other. "There are better uses." His sword came loose of its sheath and into the sniper's hands because of this, but he immediately dropped from the ceiling, landing with his legs over Usopp's shoulders and effectively knocking him to the ground where he retrieved it. The bag was set aside.

Sword drawn, he made a rush at the other two. He aimed to stab Luffy while he was disoriented. Zoro would be clocked afterwards.

Dammit, no! It was the only thing he had--it was no surprise to see it halted but he could at least have hoped for something other than--

Oofing as he hit the floor with little dignity, Sai sitting on his head, Usopp winced at the angle his nose was bent at against the floor. That concern was quickly replaced as Sai jumped into movement, and Usopp looked up with alarm to see Sai's sword aimed at Luffy.

"No!" Useless. Useless talking, useless attack, no time to jump up and try again... His hand reached out to grab his totebag, but he didn't expect to have the chance to get up and fight before Luffy and Zoro had engaged Sai. He hadn't really expected anything else, he tried to tell himself, but that didn't make it easier to take.

Luffy barely had time to react to the way Sai handled Usopp's attack. He'd figured ninjas were good fighters, and this only proved it. It was becoming more obvious that they weren't going to come out of this as winners, that much was obvious. But Luffy sure as hell wasn't going to sit back and take this lying down, either.

Of course, when Sai suddenly rounded on him, it caught him completely off guard. He moved to dodge, but he was a split second too late. The knife caught him in the side. Choking on a curse word, he clenched his teeth as the sharp pain lanced through him.

No way!

There was blood--it was starting to soak on his shirt now. But there wasn't much he could do about it now, except realize that maybe it was a good thing he hadn't gotten back his regular clothes back after all.

The lack of an explosion only moments after Usopp's shout was enough to alert Zoro that the attack hadn't followed through. He brought his arms down and looked up, just in time to catch Sai running at them with his sword drawn. Usopp was on the floor and he was yelling, but Zoro only had time for a short intake of breath when he caught sight of Sai's intended target.

Luffy! But he wasn't fast enough and now the familiar scent in the air made his own blood freeze as if he were the one who'd just been stabbed. If Zoro had the imagination for it, he would’ve thought that that had been the case. The blood was pounding in his ears loudly before he’d realized that Luffy had only been wounded in the side. His captain would be alright; he hadn’t been stabbed through, at least. The painfully beating pulse in Zoro’s head receded slightly.

Luffy had received worse injuries in the past but Sai had finally gotten serious and Zoro couldn’t help the sinking feeling in his gut telling him that his own version of “getting serious” would be nothing more than a laugh now.

Where were his promises? The swords he’d sworn by? Did losing them mean he couldn’t follow through on his vow? No. He’d promised to become the best and nothing but. But this wasn’t his best, was it? Where was that 100 and 50 percent he’d grown used to giving?

After a quick glance to assure himself that Usopp hadn’t been stabbed (the sniper was moving, he looked alright, he wasn’t bleeding but Zoro’s brow furrowed darkly anyway) Zoro started forward for the ninja—

And then he blinked halfway through his motion as the world exploded in colorful spots. Zoro fell forward, eyes shadowed and arm slightly outstretched as he hit the kitchen floor with a heavy whump.

He was out cold.

Sai stood over the fallen pirates, keeping an eye on Luffy in the event that he tried to get up again. Hopefully the captain would focus on his own wound and not try to attack him again. If that happened he'd simply have to knock him out as he had the others.

He didn't turn back to Usopp, but was obviously addressing him when he spoke next. "Please stay where you are. This will only take a moment." The short sword was resheathed on his back with a sharp clink. It wasn't even necessary for taking out this last opponent.

Stopping others from advancing past this room so far had been remarkably easy.

Usopp said, through gritted teeth, "If I come over there it'll just make things faster for you anyway, right?" He didn't move forward quickly, feeling the ache from being flung around and knocked down, but headed towards Luffy. He didn't bother raising his bag towards Sai again, after seeing how handily the ninja had stopped the attack. Sai was right, this would only take a moment.

"Someone needs to stop Luffy's bleeding. I'm not trying to go anywhere, I just want to try to do that." His tone was even, if a little heavy. He was angry, but not at Sai. Stupid useless... you could at least not distract the others...

Luffy's body wasn't built the same way as before. There was something about Landel's that made it harder to take the same kind of abuse he had in the past, and a stab wound to the side wasn't exactly a scrape on the knee, even if it wasn't fatal. With his hand clutching his bleeding wound, the pirate felt himself sink to the floor, just as Zoro had done when Sai had made his move.

Gritting his teeth, he watched with his final, slipping strands of consciousness as Usopp approached him. He knew the fight was over. Sanji, Nami, Zoro, himself...they'd all been taken care of in a heartbeat. There was nothing to do now except accept whatever happened next.

Still, thoughts of what to do ran through his mind. His instincts screamed at him to tell Usopp to drag the others out of the kitchen while he faced off against Sai the best he could. After all, it was a captain's duty to look after and protect his crew. Never mind the fact Sai probably wasn't going to allow anyone to leave in the first place -- Luffy wasn't thinking about that now.

He mouthed the sharp shooter's name, a sharp gleam in his gaze as he tried to make eye contact. And then darkness fell over him like a thick blanket, and he completely slumped over, falling silent.

There was no movement from Sai as Usopp went to Luffy's side. The Captain wasn't going to be getting up any time soon. He idly adjusted his gloves, not even glancing at the sniper, as though the whole thing was already over.

"He shouldn't die from that," he said, letting his hands fall to his sides. "I'll tell you again - it's not my intention to kill any of you." Whether or not Luffy's bleeding was stopped, Sai knew that morning would come before the life petered out of him.

"Do what you want." He'd finish the task soon enough.

Usopp--

He recognized his own name on Luffy's lips, but then Luffy was unconscious and Usopp didn't know what he'd intended to say. To keep fighting, to give up on it, to protect the others? It wasn't fair, if Luffy was going to be Captain, he shouldn't leave Usopp without direction like this...

Usopp turned from where he knelt beside Luffy, not standing yet, just glaring at Sai. Or at what Sai had become, not Sai himself.

"Hah! It's your mistake to turn your back to me. Now, with my secret weapon, I shall--"

"My friends may have fallen, but I will not! This 'Captain Usopp'-sama cannot let you lay another finger on my comrades!"

"You've played right into my hands. My eight thousand men have this location surrounded! Now that you're winded from fighting my crewmates, you have no choice but to surrender or face inevitable defeat!"

"Just get it over with fast." Usopp sighed heavily, closing his eyes and lowering his face.

Sai said nothing in response, just approached the kneeling pirate slowly. His expression was still blank, not a bit of his attempting-to-be-friendly smile had shown the entire time. This was a mission, plain and simple, and there was no need to try and play nice here. He would finish up and return to waiting. Night wouldn't be much longer.

At the last moment, his movements became a blur. He went from standing before Usopp to kneeling at his side in an instant. One hand came down quickly, just a single sharp blow to the base of the pirate's head, and it was over.

The he stood again, and casually returned to the counter and the exact spot he'd been sitting when the crew arrived, waiting for any last victims to show.

Nightshift 28: Kitchen

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