Things got pretty bad, couldn't even go to the gym for a while.
Tried to push through all of them alone, but couldn't. So yeah, I had to put my writing on the back end for a while.
Will try to return this week with regular updates. So yeah… I'm sorry.
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430 | Wrath of Pride
Back in Enies Lobby,
The everyday island of Enies Lobby was in a mess. The once pristine tower of justice lay in ruins, rubble and debris littering the area where it had stood tall just hours before. Bodies of injured and deceased Marines and agents were scattered across the ravaged courtyard of Enies Lobby, staining the stone beneath them crimson. Surviving soldiers rushed to aid their wounded comrades, though their haggard faces showed little hope remained.
Even though the number of casualties was high, the marines and agents on duty blamed Vice Admiral Onigumo more than the pirates. His lack of carefulness was the main reason why so many died.
His motto of serving justice by any means, was the reason for so many deaths. But even he had perished in battle against the pirates.
His body was littered around the battlefield, showing how brutal the pirates were. The CP9 unit sent to retrieve the ancient weapon blueprints was also met with defeat, the shocking fall of Enies Lobby mocking the might of the World Government they served.
In the highest room of the one tower still standing, the remaining members of CP9 nursed their grievous injuries, their fear palpable as they awaited the arrival of former Admiral King Bradley.
Lucci stood leaning on his right leg, bandages wrapped tightly around his body, burned stench and bloodied bandages present. His body was covered in burns and lacerations that oozed with infection, all hiding underneath the bandages.
The only reason why he survived was because of the zoan drug and the last-second use of tekkai. If not he would have been long dead.
Jabra was in a similar situation, if not worse. While Jabra's injuries should have been less serious, he was far weaker than Lucci. And because he was poisoned the effects of the drug started to wear off much quicker. This was the reason why he was still unable to see with his eyes, both of his eyes were completely black with blood stains trailing downwards.
Kaku looked better compared to Jabra and Lucci, having one of his knees wrapped, standing with the help of a crutch. His upper body was also fully covered, where the wound given by the pirate still hissed with pain.
Blueno and Kalifa looked had similar conditions. Blueno with bandages and a broken jaw and nose. While a good chunk of Kalifa's hair was missing, she looked rather well, now that the sea stone bullets were out of his body. Fukuro and Kumadori were also in the room, covered in bandages.
The door slammed open, wood cracking under the force, as King Bradley walked into the room, murderous rage etched on his face.
A cold killing intent washed over all the of the CP9 agents making them stand a tad bit straighter. Bradley's lone eye flashed with cold fury, promising untold pain to the failures before him.
The man looked imposing even at his old age, wearing white shirt and blue pants, with the justice coat hanging on his back. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled to his forearm while he had black gloves on his hands.
The man walked with slow steps, stopping in front of Lucci. Sending him down to the floor, coughing blood and gasping for air.
Kaku who was by the side felt a shiver run down his spine. He hadn't even see the man move, and Lucci was on the floor, struggling to stand up.
Next to get hit was Kaku and Jabra. A swift punch broke his nose along with a few teeth, while Jabra was kicked in the gut, and planted on the wall.
"Stand up! And get in line! You have failed your mission and brought disgrace upon the good name of the World Government," Bradley growled, hand drifting to the sword at his side. "Did you truly expect to escape punishment for this incompetence?"
Fear clawed up Kaku's spine at the killing intent in those words, raw power radiating from the man before him. They had underestimated the pirate threat, and now the fury of the former Admiral would fall upon them.
Lucci with much difficulty stood up, Kaku followed suit, even if his head spun. Jabra was tad bit late, mainly because of his lack of sight, but still managed to get in line.
Bradly walked in front of them, his fury raging on. The CP9 agents didn't dare to look up, too afraid of what might happen.
Bradly took his time to asses their forms, "All of you are imbeciles. My judgment of taking you as CP0 agents might be wrong. But before that, tell me everything of what happened…"
The CP9 agents didn't dare to hide anything, too afraid of the consensuses. Though, Kaku did hide the fact that, he was helped by a pirate. The same pirate that beat him, had shown him mercy. But he kept that to himself, due to the sheer terror that Bradly radiated.
After the retelling of the events, the former Admiral Bradly seemed to calm down a bit. The intense killing intent that he radiated also went down quite a lot, "For an unknown group of pirates to be able to kill one of the Vice Admirals. That boy Onigumo was quite strong for his age…" he said, with a frown.
The whole of CP9 seemed to have relaxed hearing that statement. But that soon came to an end.
"Still, after everything I have decided that some of you are unworthy of being part of CP9, let alone get a promotion," he said with a neutral cold tone, his eyes shifted to Jabra, then to Kaku, and one by one everyone. "It seems some of you are unworthy…"
Kaku felt the wind brush past his side as a shiver ran down his spine. And from the corner of his eyes, he saw red. Blood spluttering out as a head rolled over and a body fell. Jabra's body.
But he wasn't the only one. Kumadori and Fukuro also met the same end. Kaku didn't know what to say, or do. His body remained still, checking on itself for new wounds.
Only after not dropping dead he calm down a bit. But then it hit him. His family… brothers that helped him survive till now were dead. Kaku felt like tears were gathering in his eyes, and yet he refused to show any kind of remorse.
If his superior had deemed them unworthy. Then they were unworthy. That's how it always was. But he was questioning this.
And yet Kaku couldn't even make himself move. Too afraid of doing anything, a part of his mind, roared him to take action against the former admiral for killing his friends. But that was the foolish part, or so he told himself.
"Why did you kill—"
Kaku was wide-eyed as he saw Kalifa lunging toward the former Admirla with the intent to kill. Blueno who was by his side also didn't anticipate this, and moved to grab her hand. And he did.
But it was too late. Another head rolled to the floor, along with several parts of body, dying the floor red.
The blood in Kaku's vain ran cold, seeing the twitching dismembered body part of his now dead friend. And yet he was unable to move, too caged to do something. Too weak to do anything.
Did their lives mean nothing? Were they just going to stay like chickens out for slaughter… was there any meaning to this?
"Act of hostility to me, only proves my point," Bradly said, using a handkerchief to clean his blade as he eyed the now dead agents as trash. "All of you are too weak and unworthy to carry the name of justice…"
Kaku couldn't hear anything, it was as if his mind had shut off, his eyes laying on the blood-stained floor, where the bodies of his comrades lay. Still twitching with warm blood flooding his feet.
He didn't care anymore. Whatever Bradly said about being unworthy didn't matter. The only one who was worthy was Kalifa, not Lucci, not Blueno. And definitely not him. She was brave, and she faced the consequences of it.
"It seems you are in your head soldier!" Bradly said grabbing Kaku by the throat bringing back his attention to him. Kaku then found himself staring back the cold eyes of Bradly, "Remember the number rule of Cipher Pol agent. That is following orders. But it seems you might have having second guesses. You might be strong compared to the other trash, but…"
He then pushed Kaku off, before taking out a revolver. A small revolver with six shots. He tossed it to Kaku, who barely caught it, "I won't waste my time. Kill yourself and stop being an eyesore."
Kaku didn't feel fear or terror. Instead, he felt light for some reason. The cold metal of the revolver reminded him about the coldness of the world government.
For a moment he looked up, Bradley had already turned his back. It seemed easy to just point the gun and shoot. But he was a soldier. And he had to follow orders. He looked towards Lucci, who didn't look him in the eye. Coward.
He glazed at Blueno, who was shaking and barely stopping himself from moving. Another coward.
With the gun barrel pressed up against his head. He gave himself one self-deprecating smile, he promised himself that this was the last order he would follow. And like that… he pulled the trigger.
*Click
Rather than the grim pain he was anticipating, he found nothing.
"At least you are loyal," Bradley said with a snarl, "Keep the gun to yourself. And remember the mercy I showed you today…"
Kaku could only nod, lacking anything to say. He could only eye himself in the reflection of the weapon. Remembering what he lost that day. Two people had shown him mercy today. One gave him a gun, while the other took his sword. And yet…
'At least I'm alive…'
The only ones remaining were Lucci, Blueno, and himself. The others were dead. They were more than comrades to him. They were his family. They might have had disagreements but shared pain and suffering when others didn't.
But it seemed in the grand scheme of things, all of this was worthless. It almost felt as if he had lost something close… That day something changed within him. Something that he couldn't put into words… but something was lost. And the blame for that was nothing but his own weakness and lack of freedom.
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