Okay, so maybe it hadn't been the best idea to launch himself right in the middle of three marine battleships.

To be fair, he'd had worse. Trying to show up Heat in the kitchen had been pretty bad, not to mention the one where he picked up every psycho he came across to be in his crew. So much crazy strength in one little ship had been useful, but Kid had to fight them for every bit of control. Hell, he had to set them loose on marine bases just to let off a little steam sometimes.

A little bit of that steam would be pretty nice right now. Where the fuck where they?

"Eustass Kid, pirate rookie. Three hundred thousand bounty. Not so impressive now, huh?"

Kid scowled at the marine captain. He'd taken out two of the ships and was well on his way to sinking the third, until some smartass with a bow had got him right in the arm with a seastone arrowhead.

Who the fuck even shot bows anymore? Kid would've smashed him right there for being a fucking pansy, but he was a little busy falling as his self-made floating metal platform collapsed.

The platform had been the second not-so-great idea of the day, but he'd forgive himself that one. He'd looked badass while flying around and laughing as the marines ran from their own guns.

"Give me one good reason not to run you through right here." The captain was still talking.

Kid smirked at him. "Pretty pissed, huh? I would be, if one guy sunk two of my ships and sent my crew screaming like little girls-"

The sudden fist in his face told him the marine hadn't liked his answer."So help me God, I will tear your limbs off one by one until you beg!"

Kid spat blood and whistled, long and low. "Sorry, buddy. Not my kink."

Two marines had to come forward and restrain the man, each holding an arm to keep him back from Kid. The captain was raging now, face red and teeth bared. "I'll kill you! I'll break your bones! I'll cut off your dick and feed it to you, piece by piece, you motherfucking son of a..."

The insults died out, and the silence did more to unnerve Kid than all the bluster had. Seeing he was calm, the marines released their captain, stepping back into place behind him. The man moved forward, hand on his chin, studying the captive pirate.

"No," he muttered, more to himself than to anyone else. "I'm not gonna kill you. Tell me, pirate," he said, raising his voice and flashing Kid a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "You ever heard what they do to rookies in Impel Down?"

Kid had. Like fucking hell was he letting them ship him off to that shithole.

He considered his options. Killer and the others weren't anywhere nearby, or the bloodbath would've already started. He could try to dig the arrow out of his arm and fight, but in his weakened state he probably wouldn't get it halfway out before the marines caught on. He certainly couldn't take on a ship full of them, powerless, with a hole in his arm.

He could always jump ship and swim away, except, he couldn't fucking swim, and Killer wasn't here to dive in and drag his ass out. Maybe the current would be strong enough to carry him to shore, or at least close enough to his ship for the guys to see him.

So far, he had; nothing, fight and lose, maybe drown.

The rim of the ship wasn't far from him. If he turned and ran, he could make it before the marines thought to act.

Kid looked at the marine captain, sick grin still twisting his face. He looked at the sea, that wide open expanse of blue stretching as far as the horizon. He looked back at the captain.

Well, he'd already made two shit choices today. Why not round it out?

As he watched the smooth watery surface rushing towards his face, the surprised shouts from the men still on board muted in the rush of wind, he considered that it just wasn't his day.

The water was black around him. Funny how prettily blue it looked from above, when it wasn't trying to kill him.

Bad idea number three looked like his worst yet, judging by the way the light from the surface was fading fast as he sunk ever deeper. The current wasn't doing shit to move him, letting gravity do all the work in crushing his hopes for an escape.

Well, that's that, I guess. Kid figured he should pull the arrow out of his arm, as one last 'fuck you' to that bitch-ass kid with the bow, but he was having a little trouble moving his hands.

He felt his back hit the sea floor, body settling slowly after it. Weird, he thought the sea would be a lot deeper than that. He could still see the light...

Kid didn't know much about the ocean, but wasn't the sea floor made of rock? Hard, rough rock, not this oddly warm, slippery stuff?

And he was pretty damn sure that it didn't feel like arms, human arms, holding him up.

Kid started struggling then, trying to twist around. He could feel a presence now, something beside him just out of his sight. The oxygen loss was taking a toll on him, movements sluggish and thoughts disjointed. Fighting the water and his own mind, he managed to flip himself halfway over as black spots danced across his vision.

Gold eyes, shining bright as miniature moons in the dark background of the water, gazed down curiously at him. Then the black spots swarmed and took over, and Kid was out.