Chapter 33: Just as i planned (Part 1)
n the Leech Pirates party room...
CLASH!
CLANCK! CLANK!
FIU!
POOM!!!
The infamous pirate John the Leech of the West Blue and Fred, a ten-year-old boy only famous on an island of 20 inhabitants, were fighting to the death!
And it wasn't being an equal battle...
Despite being wounded, each attack that John made with his saber, arms and legs translated into fatal danger for Fred. In the event that any of his attacks hit him or simply parried or blocked them could mean death or be left completely vulnerable to another attack
In addition, John had no problem blocking or parrying his attacks, which were constantly nullified...
'Fuck, I feel like I'm fighting the final boss of Dark Souls but with the ability to parry and dodge everything while I have no weapons or armor!' Fred thought as he performed one evasive manoeuvrer after another, searching without much success for an opportunity to attack.
CLANCK! CLANCK!
The only thing keeping Fred alive was his strong and fast legs, which allowed him to run extremely fast, superhuman stamina that allowed him to run relentlessly for hours, a relatively small size that made him harder to hit and his great experience facing giant monsters that could knock him out with a single blow
And just like with Marlon, the only strategy to face him was to attack him without pause with weapons in both hands attacking with extreme caution but without stopping moving and above all...
WIPPPPP!!!
Using a long-range, unpredictable and unconventional weapon like the one he moved with his head
CLANCK! CLANCK!
"Fucking annoying!" John yelled who was forced to stop his attack on Fred to block the ponytail/whip to prevent him from sticking it in one of his eyes
Every time he managed to corner Fred, he used that annoying weapon to force him to defend himself, escaping from his range or trying to fight back, forcing him back.
"Tell me...
Is your friend as fast and strong as you?" John asked, starting his attack once again as he was the one who had the real need to knock out his enemy as soon as possible.
However, that enemy was extremely fast, slippery, annoying, cautious and calm at all times, always taking the most logical action even in this very dangerous situation.
"It's been a few minutes since we saw that idiot...
Aren't you worried that my Smith has already caught him?
I've told him not to kill him, but he's a bit impulsive and he was in a really bad mood.
I can't be sure that he listened to me
LEECH! LEECH! LEECH!" John taunted, as he continued his relentlessly brutal attack trying to knock Fred down with a single blow.
And not just with his physical attacks...
John knew that Fred wasn't a monster like him, that he really cared about others, especially the people close to him, like that red-haired boy… surely his brother… whom he would surely be extremely worried about
If he managed to exploit that big weak spot, it would most likely break his iron concentration and cause him to make some mistake
A mistake that John would certainly take advantage of
"I'm kind of worried, but you should be more worried about your penis!" Fred yelled, who didn't use much neural capacity to come up with a witty as well as offensive response.
His brain was too busy to keep attacking, evading, using part of his head as a whip and…
WIPPPPP!!!
CLANCK! CLANCK!
Pointing to a different spot than the one he had warned to take him by surprise, something that didn't work, something that frustrated Fred 'Damn, that was a good move'
---
A few meters from the party room
After the clash of attacks between Stephen and Smith, the nine-year-old boy was left injured on the ground with multiple broken bones in his body.
"OHHHGG...
Ahgghhhh..." Stephen gasped, barely able to speak, scream or breathe with his ribs pressing into his lungs.
His arms were practically inoperable, the pain in his back and ribs practically prevented him from getting up and his legs, despite not being damaged, had lost their strength. Stephen without a doubt had lost his ability to fight and now more than before he was unable to run away from his pursuer
His injuries weren't fatal, however...
'IT HURTS! IT HURTS SO MUCH!
I'm going... I'm going to die!' Stephen thought as he cried in pain and vomited blood due to internal bleeding he had suffered.
In his almost ten years of life he had never been hurt in a similar way or felt pain equal to the one he was feeling now.
He was scared, totally terrified! And seeing how Smith approached him with a macabre smile and his saber pointing at him while he was making efforts to breathe, it froze his heart, one of the few organs that still managed to move inside his body
'But... but...
I have to... I have to...'
However, that agonizing pain and paralyzing fear that would have utterly overwhelmed any other child couldn't with Stephen.
Although his body and mind screamed at him to stop, to continue crying and wait for someone to come to his aid... from the moment Stephen decided to embark on this mission knew that he didn't have that privilege.
The danger wouldn't go away if he closed his eyes and buried his head in the ground!
The enemy wouldn't take pity on him for being an injured crying child!
No one would come to save him at the last moment!
That's why...
If he wanted to save himself and others he had to do it with his own hands!
'Please...
Move stupid hand!' Stephen thought desperately as he tried to move his left arm, the less damaged of the two, even though he could barely lift it off the ground.
Stephen was trying very hard to use his dislocated left hand to grasp something inside his jacket, something that might help him in this situation, something that...
Plaf!
Unfortunately, his brave and painful attempt was futile...
Smith stepped on his hand before he could accomplish whatever he was trying to do, declaring at the same time with a shout that the show was over "DIE!"
Then Smith's saber fell at full speed towards Stephen's unprotected neck, who involuntarily closed his eyes as he felt his imminent end with a single thought in mind 'I'm sorry Fred…'
SLASH!
Even with his eyes closed Stephen could feel the saber slice through the air near him.
"..."
However, he didn't feel that his neck had been cut, something that made him happy... and bewildered, forcing his eyes open once more to see what was happening
And what Stephen saw was an extremely confused would-be decapitator "EH!?"
SLASH!
Over his head Stephen saw Smith swing the saber again at his neck, but at a certain point his arms stopped short, sparing him at the last second, leaving both in disbelief.
"NANI!?" Smith yelled in extreme confusion as he tried to finish off his helpless victim again.
SLASH!
And again...
SLASH!
And one more time...
SLASH!
"WHAT THE HELLS IS HAPPENING!?" Smith shouted with madness, hatred, incomprehension and fear upon noticing that someone or somebody was manipulating his body and mind
Every time he tried to decapitate Stephen his brain ordered his arms to suddenly stop, preventing his weapon from reaching his neck, something totally inexplicable to Smith's, but not to Stephen.
'Fred...
Even now...
While you're fighting to the death against a guy stronger than this one... you keep saving my sorry ass...' Stephen thought with a mixture of affection, joy, relief and also embarrassment when he realized that Fred's strange hypnotic power had been what had just saved his life.
Stephen now realized that the moment the chase started Captain John ordered Smith to catch Stephen without killing him and he agreed. It was at this precise moment that Fred took the opportunity to use his [Pact Magic] to seal that deal and create a near-perfect life insurance for Stephen.
Fred didn't think it was 100% necessary to do so, since it was evident that it was better to have Stephen alive than dead as a hostage, Smith would know that and therefore would follow his captain's orders... but luckily for Stephen his friend's paranoia and over-foresight saved him
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME!?
WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE TO ME!?" Smith yelled as if possessed as he attacked everything around him with his saber, slashing and shattering the ground and walls around him but still stepping on Stephen's left hand.
Nevertheless...
SLASH!!!
His body kept preventing him from attacking Stephen...
"AHHHHHHHHH!!!
WHY CAN'T I ATTACK YOU!?
WHAT KIND OF SORCERY IS THIS!?
FUUUUUUUUUUUCK!" Smith yelled in a state of madness as he stomped hard on Stephen's left hand, which was trying to get out from under Smith's dirty boots despite the pain
It was then that Smith realized something as he continued to punish Stephen's left hand 'One moment…'
All the attacks towards Stephen from before had been stopped by himself before damaging him, however, right now he was doing quite a bit of damage to his hand… and his body wasn't stopping him.
Noticing that detail, Smith began to experiment with Stephen...
He tried to kick him hard in the ribs, but his foot stopped short of hitting him.
He tried to slap him with moderate force in the face, and had no trouble hitting him.
He tried to cut off his leg with his saber, but his hands stopped before they could cut him off.
He tried to kick him hard in the leg, and he had no trouble hitting him.
After these experiments, Smith, despite being in a state of mental derangement and thirsty for blood he finally realized that only attacks with intent to kill or that could kill Stephen either instantly or by possible aftermath were those that were stopped or softened
"I see
KOAJ KOAJ KAIJU!
I don't know what kind of Akuma No Mi is this...
But now I get it!
KIAH! KIAH! KIAH!" Smith shouted like a lunatic after having reached that more or less correct conclusion on his own, feeling proud and euphoric of his intelligence and at the same time increasing his madness and bloodlust.
Meanwhile, on the ground and with his left hand still stepped on by that madman, Stephen was trying to say something with great difficulty due to his breathing difficulties, especially with his chest pressed to the ground "The…
Ant…"
Stephen's voice was very low and he was taking a long time to complete his message, a really important message... and to top off this precarious situation, Smith was absorbed with his homicidal thoughts and screaming like a madman and didn't hear what Stephen was trying to tell him
"Looks like I can't kill you...
But...
KIAJ KIAJ KIAJ!
you will wish you were dead
YOU WILL WISH YOU WERE DEAD!" Smith yelled, salivating like a rabid dog and with bloodshot eyes moved closer to Stephen, stopping to step on his left hand to look at his right hand
'Shit...
When is Fred's fucking poison going to take effect?' Stephen thought, completely desperate, sore and scared to see how Smith grabbed his completely broken right arm with his big bloody hand with only four fingers thanks to Fred
He was scared, more scared than before, even so, the fear didn't paralyze his almost motionless body. Stephen had something important to say and do, so while he tried to get his left hand on his jacket tried to make that lunatic listen to him "The...
...An..."
But it was useless...
"Wow, you have ten fingers, how I envy you...
Are yours screw thread?
Now we will find out!" Smith said as he grabbed one of the fingers of Stephen's shattered arm and...
CRACK!
He twisted one of his fingers like a screw
"Mmmnff!" Stephen cried out in pain, a pain heightened by the pain in his chest as he screamed. Even so, he kept trying to convey his message "… ti…
... do..."
CRACK!
And one more time…
"Mhjjffff!!!
... te...
… Take..."
CRACK!
And another…
"GRJJNFF!!
... it...
… Don't..."
CRACK!!
And another…
"AHHHHHHH!!
...
…Hurt…
…
…Me…"
CRACK!!
And another one...
"Crjjjjttt!!
… More…"
During the torture, Stephen did everything possible so that his cries of pain and tears didn't cloud his message and at the same time, with his less injured and untortured hand, from one of his inside pockets he pulled out what Smith had originally come to take from him.
A syringe containing a liquid that could solve his most critical problem
At first, Smith pursued Stephen with the goal of taking him hostage, but mostly to obtain the antidote to the poison that would knock him out at any moment and possibly kill him
However, due to his crazy temper that earned him the title of [Bloodlust], that was extremely pissed off from the injuries and humiliations he had suffered earlier today, to the blood loss that clouded his brain, the brain damage Marlon had caused him, the damage and humiliation that the children had caused him right now, the medication, the alcohol and other drugs Smith hadn't only forgotten that he had to catch Stephen alive
He must also inject himself with the antidote as soon as possible and bring it to his captain as well!
All the factors already mentioned, plus his magical restriction that prevented him from killing the child in bellow him, made him completely forget about the existence of the poison and the antidote, which was on the floor, a few inches from Stephen's left hand, near his feet.
"KIAH! KIAH! KIAH!
They haven't come out!
MAYBE I SHOULD TWIST THEM TO THE OTHER SIDE!?" Smith screamed, still in his own world, unaware of what was happening around him.
He didn't realize that Stephen had been begging for his life by offering him something he needed, he didn't realize that his victim had just passed out from the pain and that it would be of little use to continue torturing him in that state and he didn't realize that what he needed was right at his feet
The only thing on Smith's mind was a strong desire to pour all his frustration, pain and hate into the first living thing even remotely related to the origin of these evils until he was completely satisfied
And nothing could stop him now!!
Slash!
Nothing except being attacked by someone...or something...
"AH!
WHAT THE..."
A stabbing pain in his amputated finger finally brought him out of his trance and immediately looked for the one who made that small and superficial but painful cut.
However, as much as he searched...
"MEAW!"
The only thing he found was a small cat a few meters from him...
In other circumstances, he would have wondered what a cat was doing in his den, how it had gotten there and if it had been he who had made a cut in what was left of his severed finger with his claws. However, seeing what that cat had just caught in its mouth prevented those thoughts from forming in his head.
'That's...'
That cat had a syringe in its mouth, the syringe with the antidote that he urgently needed and a few moments ago he had completely forgot about due to his state of mental derangement
And now that syringe he and his captain needed so badly was speeding away once again.
"FUCK!" Smith yelled in frustration after barely regaining his sanity and remembering why he was really chasing the boy he was torturing by not being able to kill him.
And after rearranging his priorities, much to his regret, he was forced to chase that cat instead of continuing to torture the boy
'Schrodi don't...let go of that...let go of…" Stephen barely conscious thought as he watched Smith chasing after Fred's cat, who seemed to be trying to save his life at the risk of his own.
And sadly, all Stephen could do now was fight to stay conscious and see with increasingly blurred vision Smith chasing Schrödi down the corridor, until he lost sight of them and shortly after his eyes closed again…
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pa-treon.com/user?u=83938371
Edited By: The_Bored_Immortal
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
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