Chapter Text
The snow falling to the railing proved how cold it was, even if Sanji couldn't feel it.
He thought to ask Reiju about how far they were until they were at the island, but he knew better than that. All he would get was vague yet cold-hearted pointers along with a terribly hidden glare. At times like those, he felt more than indifferent to wearing the Raid Suit 24/7 thanks to his father.
He let out a small sigh. He couldn't feel the warmth of his breath against the inside of his mask.
It wasn't unlike any other day, seemingly to not be able to sense anything that wasn't remotely close to fighting and war and bloodshed, but still left a tinge of something deep in his chest.
It wasn't like he'd indulge in that oddity anyways.
He knew when Niji stepped forth to look over the railing with him. (He always knew. Sometimes, he pondered what it'd be like to not expect someone's presence.)
"Sanji," He greeted. His voice was deep and ever so bold, meaning he had just succeeded in convincing father or Reiju to go with something he had in plan.
"Niji," he responded in acknowledgment.
"We're going after the Straw Hat Pirates." Niji said, straight to the point. He was never the type to prance around the truth, unlike the youngest Vinsmoke. So this news wasn't that much of a surprise to Sanji. "One of our Patrol Snails had witnessed them traveling in the open seas not more than two hours ago. Father had decided to send our main capital towards them so we could slain their crew."
Sanji stared out into the frigid ocean, not unlike North Blue waters. "They're quite a formidable crew. The captain is the son of Dragon, the leader of the revolutionary army, the rumors say. They have also publicly declared war against the Government a multitude of times two years back. They suddenly resurfaced a couple months ago, only to dethrone the ruler of Dressrosa." Sanji stated, remembering the articles he had read out of need. Niji chuckled.
"You are correct, brother. If we get rid of the entire crew, we will both gain more power amongst the seas, and favors from the World Government. Monkey D. Luffy, the captain of the Straw Hats, has a bounty of 500,000,000 Beri. Quite a good price, wouldn't you agree?" Sanji glanced over at Niji and nodded. Niji only grinned further.
"What is the plan?"
~~~
After their chat, the Vinsmokes had gathered in the War Room to figure out the best tactic to defeat them.
They had decided to use the element of surprise, while using the extra hour it would take to catch up to them as prep time. Ichiji would be defeating the captain, Monkey D. Luffy, Niji would be after the right hand man, Roronoa Zoro, he would be after God Usopp and Tony Tony Chopper, Yonji would be fighting SK Brook and Franky, while Reiju would focus on Nico Robin and Nami. Reiju had stated to aim to damage, but not kill. They could get more treasures if taken alive.
He felt apathetic whilst training; the same motion of kicking low-level soldiers as if they were training dummies only a blur in his mind. It wasn't long until he heard a loud siren telling him they were near. He stopped immediately, coming to stand with his siblings near the rail.
At some point the gentle snow had turned into a frigid fog with sleet pouring from the clouds above. He didn't care, but the way he could barely see out in the sea did cause a number of his siblings to groan.
"This is good," Reiju said suddenly. A chill as cold as the air around them is always present in her voice. "They are distracted, we will have a head start." She said, as if it was that simple.
A small snicker came out of the green haired man Sanji called his brother as he grinned and looked towards them. "This'll be good. It's been a damn long time since I fought in shitty weather." He commented. Reiju only nodded, before using her boots to fly in the air; the others followed. Sanji could almost feel the chill underneath the suit from how high they were.
"Okay, let's go before they notice our boats!" She half yelled in the storm. The brothers nodded, and then they were off.
Sanji had memorized the two crew members he was fighting from the poster, even if he was confident he could win. From what it seems they are simple low-level targets that only got fame from the crew they were in. Simple enough.
Landing on the deck third, it was easy to tell the Straw Hats were already prepared. There was some man yelling about a raid from invisible speakers, and people were scurrying out from inside the cabin to help with the fight.
Once Sanji saw one of his targets, he pounced. It was the Chopper pet, the one with 100 Beri Bounty. It'll be hard to not kill him, but oh well. His bounty didn't even have enough to buy a couple of outfits, let alone gold.
The small pet, however, wasn't small at all. He was weirdly the side of a human, and looked like an egg. Weird.
Either way, he landed a kick to the thing's neck(?) and it tried to block, but it wasn't enough. It gasped and hit the wall behind it. Sanji put his hands in his pockets and waited, deciding it would be best if he wanted to bring the pet alive.
That is, until hands started sprouting on him. His eyebrows rose, remembering this would be the Demon Child's doing. Shouldn't Reiju be on it? He wrestled them, noticing how it went straight for his neck before grabbing his chin and—
CRACK!
Sanji paused, waiting for the hands to disappear. Once they did, Sanji grabbed his head and started to reposition it. He'll never get used to the numbness he feels when something life threatening happens to his body.
He's just a robot, refurbished and remade for killing.
It's not like he could care.
He heard a gasp and some yelling from behind him, but he was more focused on the pet that had skittered off to fight one of the soldiers. He thought about fighting it, but ultimately decided to go after that God Usopp guy who was sending weird bullets down from the Crow's nest. He grinned.
Using his boots, he jumped until he was face to face with the man. This man, named a God not too long ago, screamed when he saw Sanji. Sanji scoffed; he had a strong dislike for posers.
God Usopp quickly recovered however, yelling out something strange before shooting a green bean towards Sanji. He easily dodged, using his boots to change his movement. When he didn't get as far as he wanted, he sighed. The wind was ruining everything.
He heard a clap of thunder but knew it was pointless to inspect it; all he needed to do was focus on the target.
That was his only purpose, anyways.
He pulled up his cape and turned invisible. God Usopp was clearly surprised by this move, and he let his guard down for a moment. Watching his body, Sanji planted a loaded kick towards his sternum.
Fighting against the wind, he successfully landed the kick. The air was knocked out of the God, yet also slammed him through the window. Sanji watched and scoffed. Weren't these people supposed to be strong?
He followed God Usopp inside and blocked an "Exploding Star" easily with his cape. He then, using his boots to boost him, shot towards him and kneed him in the face. The poor bastard went out like a light.
Well one down, one more to go.
He stood out the window he came from, feeling the boat rock. He glanced around the gray sky; the snow storm had clearly picked up. Unbothered, he jumped down to the main deck to join in on the fighting.
The rest of his siblings were fighting, yet clearly troubled. It seemed all the other Straw Hats were a little more tougher than they originally thought. It's not like they have ever fought anyone near their level before. Ichiji was struggling against Straw Hat Luffy, Niji seemingly in less favor while in a brawl against the Pirate Hunter, and Yonji was at odds with Franky. The weaker army they had were great distractions, but were still weak nonetheless.
The boat tilted once more, and that's when he realized one of the Straw Hats was also controlling the boat.
It was Tony Tony Chopper.
He immediately bounced over there, kicking the pet in its face once more. The boat spun as the wheel was released, but Sanji couldn't bring himself to care.
This time, the animal changed shape when he fell, into something more dangly than before. It caught itself on the railing and jumped back to Sanji to try and punch him in the face. He's quite a lot stronger than the bounty suggests.
Sanji blocked with his leg, yet sputtered back a couple feet in the process. The thing was panting however, a drop of blood traveled down its forehead, as a living thing should. (Not like him, unable to bleed red if he killed himself in the process.)
He heard yelling, along with rumbling right above him. He knew what that meant, having studied the crew right before the fight, he moved out of the way. Lightning struck at the spot he was previously standing and he almost crashed into the railing in surprise of the attack.
He didn't forget about the Straw Hats pet, however. So when the thing came and tried to kick him overboard he blocked it with his cape. The animal gasped, yet tried his other foot for a roundhouse. Sanji grabbed it with his hands, and felt a pit of numbness when it warped his hand in a way it wasn't supposed to.
So, he punched.
He punched the animal in its face and suddenly felt something ugly spark deep behind his exoskeleton and number of modifications and tests he had years ago.
He never paid attention to that feeling. He couldn't fail, he wouldn't fail.
(Not again.)
The animal fell to the floor, and Sanji recomposed himself while holding onto the railing.
However, the great sea had different plans.
The boat shook again and a wave touched his fingertips. The railing was already icy, so he slipped back on the said railing and hit his head against it.
It didn't affect him, he couldn't feel it anyways.
But then, the boat rocked and swayed to fit nicely with the sea and Sanji almost fell overboard. He heard yelling and shouting and screaming West of him, but he couldn't afford to care right now.
He tried steadying himself, but forgot one thing.
That animal.
He was punched straight in the face, and in the moment he forgot he was about to slip and tried to grab its hand to break its arm.
He failed.
He failed.
He felt himself get submerged in the water, even if the frozen ocean never bothered him, he couldn't help but feel a static-like feeling in his arms.
His sunglasses broke, was the first thing he realized. Everything was so much less bleak without them. The ocean was stained so blue and dark it felt so strange to see the world this way.
The next thing he noticed was that he was breathing in the water. He was drowning. He was drowning and he couldn't feel bothered by it. (What was wrong with him?)
The last thing he noticed was a figure. A figure deep deep deep in the ocean neither beside him nor close.
It was probably a Straw Hat, he figured.
Maybe he should drown.
Maybe he should help them.
Maybe he should let both of them drown, it would be the best of two worlds.
Or maybe he should follow orders like he is supposed to. He closed his mouth; it wouldn't be a failure if he brought one of the Straw Hats back with him up to Germa castle.
Using his boots proved to be a pitiful experience, as they didn't have that much air to bounce off of, so he guessed it would have to be swimming.
Even though he was the worst out of his brothers, he still was a great swimmer.
Coming closer, he realized which of the Straw Hats it was; Straw Hat Luffy.
How did the captain get all the way down here? Wasn't he supposed to be the strongest? He guessed the sea will always conquer humans, no matter how strong they are. You could never beat the unforgiving ocean.
He grabbed the Straw Hats wrist, knowing it would be best to get them both out of the water first. But then he felt a sharp coldness in his back.
He gasped, choking on the sea water a bit before he turned around. It seemed one of the Straw Hats had followed him, either to save their captain or to finish Sanji off. He guessed now it would be both.
The one who followed Vinsmoke Sanji was the second best fighter of the crew; Roronoa Zoro.
Sanji glared at him. Right now he was at a disadvantage. Although the Raid Suit helps, it only does so much in the water.
The Pirate Hunter sent another slicing attack towards Sanji, but he blocked it with his cape. ...Which was a fatal mistake.
The slice cut cleanly through the cape, attacking his side as well. He coughed and swallowed at the sudden pressure, but felt nothing else. He didn't panic; he couldn't panic. Although he was confused about how the man did such a thing, he couldn't focus on that. Changing his direction, he sent a kick towards the Pirate Hunters ribs to try and make him swallow more water.
He landed it, yet was accompanied by the slice of his boot in the process. His chest flared, a feeling he had never felt before. Is this what dying felt like? Was he dying?
He blinked. His vision was getting blurry but he knew he had to keep fighting to the end. If he were to die, he needed to die in battle to prove he was strong enough.
His limbs were shaking like damn crazy, as if they were gears that had been rusted and rotted away. Either way, he used his other foot to kick the Pirate Hunter away. He didn't seem to expect that, his mouth opening to let out some air as Sanji swam to the other Straw Hat.
If he were to die, he should at least complete his mission.
He laid under the Straw Hat, watching his drowning form as he grabbed him by his shoulders gently and positioned himself. Putting both his feet on the Captain's sternum, he kicked. He sent the captain flying upwards as the motion sent him deeper into the sea.
He only hoped the Vinsmokes knew it was from him.