Disclaimer : One Piece characters don't belong to me.
I hope you enjoy the following (uncompleted)fanfic brought to you by kat.chan, the tofuGal.
"Just this one more assignment, then you can head back free."
"Right. Sure. You know what? Every mission should have a you-can't-refuse-this-one-more-job-Tashigi! whenever I plan to hit the showers. And when I miss my wash-slot, it's okay! Yeah, I can live with wetting just my butt."
".. So now it's about your posterior?"
"Eh.. No, sir. So sorry about that."
She was relieved that her Den Den Mushi didn't duplicate her reddened expression, and exhaled an inaudible sigh. It wasn't worth being drippy around commodore Smoker.
"You're just there, anyway. Don't grumble."
Tashigi squinted. Even with their ship's searchlights on, it was hard to see outside its range in the moonlit-darkness. Likewise, her officers were trying to spot the contact ship, leaning over the deck to scan the horizon.
A shadow bobbed a distance away.
"The envoy is code-named Deepbelly, right?"
"Yes. You've located the courier?"
"Yeah, two ships. One being.. a galley, I think. Bearing north-east, captain!"
She barked the last sentence to the captain, and rounded up the Marines.
"Two? There's supposed to be just a brig. If the guests are pirates, just do your damnedest."
The troops waited in formation for Tashigi's orders, and she as began to address them, everyone's attention was stolen by a cry of distress. They looked up to see the barrelman hopping frantically in the crow's nest, shouting and pointing in the direction of the two vessels.
"Ensign! I saw the insignia on the galley's flag.. it's 'Beating Fist' Nellah's ship!"
No one reacted to the news- because none of them recognized the name. However, the overhearing Smoker behaved otherwise, crashing from his tilted seat many, many many fathoms away.
"GET THE HELL OUT, DUMBASSES!"
As if answering his roar, three firing canon rent the silent atmosphere ablaze with sound and color. The shells hit the bow and portside with deadly accuracy, intending to render escape futile. Pitching wildly, the ship sent the Den Den Mushi flying from her hands.. and she thought that, if they didn't sink, they were definitely marooned.
"Mobilize weapons! Return fire!"
Smoker swore at the bust connection. Just when they needed his guidance..! The mission was a simply delivery of World Government documents, and no pirate- Much less 'Beating Fist' Nellah, should have cultivated much interest. How did things go to the dogs?
"I'm going over to them," he announced to his office, picking up his jutte from his desk; but Kuro-Ori no Hina blocked his path from leaving the room.
"You can't handle it alone! Besides, vice-Admirals nearest to the site have already been dispatched!"
"That's my lieutenant out there, Hina." He pushed her aside without waiting for a reply. Pouting, Hina followed him.
As the offending ship advanced, their mortar assaults proved ineffectual- they might as well used peashooters to pockmark the reinforced galley. When the the galley was close enough, the Marines could see eager faces onboard smugly hinting, you won't be crying back to yer mommas, 'cause you can't even leave yer shit-boat. No one harbored optimistic thoughts on going against the pirates.
Tashigi was furious about her negligence. She channeled the anger through her Shigure into defeating the onslaught of pirates, dropping onto their boat like sharks to a kill. Their resistance was piteously frail- already three-quarters of her men were felled.
They want the goods..
A fresh barrage of canon-fire punched into the ship, causing everyone to crash to the rocking deck. If they're sinking the boat, that means they've got the documents?! Rolling with the motion, Tashigi caught a glimpse of World Government folders being handled by a pirate. She abandoned fighting the buccaneers and took possession of the documents, hacking them aside with her sword.
"Cover me!"
The way to the wheelhouse was clear, but her sprint was interrupted when she was slammed down from a bullet to the back.
Gasping in pain, the folders slid across the floor to the feet of a lofty man, peculiarly androgynous in figure. His hands were red with blood, and clasped in his right fist was a throbbing heart. She then knew the reason behind 'Beating Fist' Nellah's nickname.
"Thank you for bringing them on time, young lady."
Outmanned, outgunned and out-of-time!!
My instinct-
It told her that the documents mustn't be in his ownership.. not even over her dead body. Suddenly an officer intervened and fired at Nellah with a pistol, but he swiveled away in the air like a dancer in zero gravity and reached for his face. That distraction was an opportunity enough for her to scramble to the papers and produced a lighter she never planned to use.
"Trying to ruin my precious visage? Let me give back the favor." Nellah's fingers gripped the man's scalp and yanked the skin clean off the skull, dropping the screaming marine to his knees- what remained on his head was a bloody mass of flesh. Tashigi was frozen in horror of his violence and power.. her legs turned feeble and she couldn't summon the energy nor will to move-
"You.. are a Devil Fruit user!"
"Is it that noticeable? You're precise, and you're right. I ate the Haku-Haku fruit, and I might tear you up like paper if you don't pass the documents here, now."
She smiled pathetically and lifted the folders with a shaking hand. In the light of a nearby lamp, Nellah could see it was soggy with..
"Liquor? Oh-you-sonuva.." Watching as he leapt towards her, she dropped the glowing lighter to the documents and it went alight with a whoosh. Both of them jumped back from the rearing flames, which hungrily consumed the papers.
It was over.
The assignment, a failure.
Blame.. that was owed to no one, but herself.
A flinch was all she managed in trying to rectify her mistakes, for Nellah's hand was around her throat, his growl in her ear.
"You could've lived, bitch. But you're desparate to die?"
Then.. blackness.
Some terms/words I used that you might not know..?
Barrelman– A sailor that was stationed in the crow's nest.
Kuro-Ori no Hina – Hina the Black Cage(her nickname)
Den Den Mushi - The snail phones that the One Piece world uses
Shigure - Tashigi's sword name
Haku - Tear up (correct me if I'm wrong :3)
..:: tofuGal sez.. ::..
Ah.. I changed the structure of the story quite a bit- owing my rusty writing skills.
I'm try to make my work engaging and fast-paced like in thriller novels.. I wonder what impression this chapter left you? )
This fanfiction does not.. glorify any pairings. No. Its neutral. Expect action, drama.. and more action? 'Nuff said. tofuGal.. away!