"We're out?" Nezumi huffed, on his hands and knees like the cobblestones would reveal the truth. "We escaped?"
"Not quite," Nami stepped over to him, giving him just enough time to realize what was about to happen, before whacking him upside the head with her staff. "You're more trouble than you're worth, you know that?"
Nezumi didn't answer, on account of being unconscious.
Daud wasn't quite the pathetic sight that Nezumi made of himself, despite being more wounded and exhausted than him. He stood there placidly, keeping a trained eye on Nami and Reiju.
That is, until Cherry emerged from the sewer. Then, he spared hardly any attention for the former two.
"Well?" Daud asked.
"Sure, whatever. As promised, I won't hold you captive any longer. You're free to go," Cherry said.
Daud squinted at her, as if to check if she was just saying that before making a fool of him. In the end, he seemed to decide that she was being honest, or at least that she was going to do whatever she wanted regardless of whatever paltry resistance he could put up.
Daud made to leave immediately, only to stumble and grasp at his neck where a syringe-dart was pumping some kind of liquid into him. He managed to pull it out before the full payload was delivered, but even that wasn't quite enough.
"Y-you promised…" Daud accused, though he didn't sound particularly angry or surprised, just consigned.
"I did," Cherry nodded. "I'm not in charge of Corvo, though. I didn't promise to save you from him."
Right on cue, Corvo leaped off a nearby rooftop and landed next to where Daud was struggling to stay upright.
"Ah see," Daud slurred. "Tha's on me…"
Corvo took his time winding up the meanest straight punch he could muster, then absolutely obliterating Daud's face with it. Daud didn't even try to dodge; perhaps he had some lingering guilt about murdering an innocent woman in front of her child.
Nami sighed. "Okay. Now we can leave."
"Mm, I think I've got it from here," Corvo said. "Thank you… for everything. From Emily too."
Nami couldn't stop herself from smiling and nodded. It was… nice, to be thanked for helping. Especially since it was usually Luffy and the other boys doing all the fighting. Cherry was here too, of course, but she was mostly just hanging out and blowing shit up for fun this time around.
"Alright, but I still need to do one more thing, before we go," Cherry chimed up.
"What?" Nami's good mood soured slightly.
"Hold on," Cherry held up a finger and cupped her ear with the other hand.
Nami groaned. "You are ridiculous."
*boom*
Somewhere in the city, something exploded. A gambling woman would have placed a bet on the Lord Regent being nearby when it happened.
"You sure you don't want to do anything more creative with the captain here?" Cherry asked, giving Nezumi a light kick in the ribs.
"There's nothing I can do that'll be worse than whatever happened down there," Nami complained.
"We could hang him from a flagpole by his underwear," Reiju suggested. Cherry and Nami looked at her, baffled. "What? My character did that to Sora's idiot best friend in the comic book. I thought it was funny."
"You know what? Let's do that," Nami agreed.
…
A few days later, in the World Economy News Paper, a small article on page three pictured a certain marine captain hung up on a flag pole by the thong he was wearing. It was a slow news day.
…
"Ugh, I'm so glad to be back on the ship," Nami moaned. "I almost miss the weather."
Sanji twirled out of the kitchen, holding a tray with three milkshakes on it. How he could have known they'd be back right at this moment, only he knew.
For the record, their flavors were orange cream for Nami, strawberry mint for Cherry, and the classic chocolate for Reiju.
"Ooh, you remembered~" Cherry skipped over and grabbed her own glass (with a twirly straw).
"Of course I did!" Sanji took pride in that. "How could I forget a request from one of our lovely ladies?"
"How have things been while I was gone?" Nami asked. "The weather wasn't too bad, was it?"
She could trust the others' experience to deal with all but the worst weather, especially with Jinbe at the helm. It still worried her to leave them on their own for so long, though.
"Nothing at all, actually. Miss Dalma has an unusual knack for sensing storms, so we've been smooth sailing, albeit at the cost of speed," Sanji said.
That was almost worse than the opposite. If she didn't know that Dalma Tia wasn't going to be aboard their ship for too long, she'd feel annoyed that Tia could effectively steer them away from the weather before it happened. Or maybe they were just in a calm spell and Tia was full of it.
In any case, the ship was in tip top shape, ready for her guidance once again. At least she didn't need to worry that her position was in danger.
…
Okay, so not the best day that Havelock had ever had, but Corvo had captured Daud. That was something! The Lord Regent survived yet another bombing, which was both a relief and rather annoying. His death would serve them, but the violence of the act itself would ruin their reputations; even if they could prove definitively that it hadn't been them, the people would always suspect them.
The worst was the humiliation of the marine captain. That was going to bring a whole new level of scrutiny down on their heads, and he wasn't happy about it at all.
They could work with this, though. He could work with this.
"Havelock," Corvo's voice right behind him nearly gave him a heart attack.
"Oh, Corvo," Havelock tried to regain control of his breath from the start. "You really snuck up on me, there."
"I did," Corvo agreed. Which was a bit… odd, to say the least.
"Since you're here, I think we should make a move on the Lord Regent sooner rather than later," Havelock said. "If he's killed by the bomber, well, that'll be less than ideal for the loyalists."
"Mm, I wouldn't worry about it. There won't be any more bombings," Corvo claimed.
"Really? You dealt with the issue?" Havelock felt a bit of hope kindling in his chest.
"Yes. Cheapshot Cherry has left the country with her cohorts," Corvo said.
It took a second for Havelock to process what he just heard.
"Ch-cheapshot? That was the name?" Havelock stuttered. "But… you said they were small-time pirates, didn't you?"
"I did," Corvo repeated his earlier words.
Something dangerous shone in Corvo's eyes. A cold glint that reminded him of the lenses of his mask.
"You… you knew they weren't small-time, didn't you?" Havelock asked, his collar suddenly feeling too tight around his neck, not unlike the tightening of a noose.
"I did," Corvo echoed.
Havelock wondered if he could draw on Corvo before the man could end him. He knew the answer.
"Am I the first?" Havelock asked instead.
"The last," Corvo answered.
"I don't suppose I can surrender?" Havelock almost begged.