Your gateway to endless inspiration
I tried to post it on a pseudonym on AO3 to distinguish it from my main fics seeing as it's both crossover and a bit too dark (with no comedic relief, even!) to fit my general style but frankly I have no idea if any of my plans even worked out there.
Without further ado, please enjoy this dark, gritty and stinky One Piece x Arcane Oneshot!
Based off on a tweet by @yoononymous! A oneshot! Law has heard rumors of a new drug being developed in the undercity. Wanting to get a cutting edge on his fellow students in the academy, he decides to strike a deal with the undercity's leader, Silco.
The air is so thick down here, it's absolutely disgusting.
Law feels like he can barely breathe at all. He should have hired somebody to come here in his stead instead of subjecting himself to the filth of the undercity.
Yet some morbid curiosity had fuelled him. He'd never been here after all, too busy feeling glad that he wasn't part of this retched city underneath the marvelous pristine of Piltover.
Frankly, part of what had held him back from sending somebody here was that the medical research he came to learn about wasn't strictly... legal.
Which is to say, the academy might well kick him out if they found out about him messing around with this.
Rumor had been that there was a new drug available in the Lanes, a drug that would amplify the physical strength of all those who consumed it, oftentimes healing wounds or ailments in the process.
Not that this drug had a permanent effect, so he'd need to study it carefully. However, if he could find a way to make its effects permanent he might just find a revolutionary way to cure ailments or maybe even just provide increased physical strength to whoever wanted it.
For the right price, of course. Studying medecine did not come cheap, not even when you were from a famous house in Piltover.
He's come here shrouded in a long, black cloak bearing the mark of his house Trafalgar on the back, but somehow the rats in the Lanes still seem to recognize him as a topsider. Maybe it's the way he walks, the way he doesn't scurry around looking for crumbs like them. The way he has pride and dignity while they are worth no more than the filthy dirt under his boots.
He's all too aware of the following he's been gathering since his arrival in this disgusting place. More and more shadows have been trailing after him, some barely even trying to conceal the fact that they were following him. His grip on his trusted sword Kikoku tightens. Let them come. He's got no qualms about ridding Runeterra of a few worthless criminals.
The address that he'd been given seems like a rather lavish den of thieves. "The Last Drop", it proudly states on the sign hanging above the establishment. Law scoffs. What an unimaginative name. Nothing like the noble establishments up top.
He heads inside, noticing that the shadows trailing after him seem to slink away as he enters the building. So they fear whoever is running this place. Good to know.
The air inside somehow feels even harder to breathe. He'd put the gas mask on that he bought specifically for this purpose but his informant had told him that the people living in the undercity might not take well to that, especially considering how easily it would make him recognizable as a topsider. Not that they don't already know that, if he goes by the looks they're giving him.
He ignores them and steps into a hallway besides the bar, unsheating Kikoku and connecting its hilt to a contraption strapped to his back. He makes sure Kikoku is hidden well as he knocks on the door before him at the end of the hallway. He does not wish to antagonize, but he's also not going to head into the lion's den unprepared.
A grumpy woman with short hair that's bound behind her head in a small ponytail opens the door, eyeing him suspiciously. "What do you want?"
Law gives her a condescending look. "I am from the house of Trafalgar. I have organized a meeting with your... leader." The disdain in his voice is clear and he takes a sadistic bit of joy from the hatred that he briefly sees flash through her eyes.
The woman nods. "Fine. Wait here."
She slams the door shut right in front of his face. Law is astonished. Should he really be treated so poorly? He knows they are nothing but worthless scoundrels, but he had assumed their manners to be a little more refined nonetheless. Surely they must have any basic idea of how business is successfully done even in this rotten hellhole?
It takes a few minutes for the door to open again. This time Law finds himself face to face with a terrifying beauty with black and grey hair and a metal mask covering most of her face.
He refuses to step aside, even if her stature and clothing suggest wealth, dignity and money something he's a little more used to from Piltover.
"Step aside.", the woman commands. Her voice has a mechanic filter to it, no doubt due to the mask. He'd love to know how it works and what it is good for. The people living here are used to the thick air, so it can't be because of that.
Just then, he notices a very strange looking floating contraption beside the woman. What it is he has no idea, but his curious mind is immediately piqued.
"Did you not hear me, worm?" The woman's voice is seething with rage at this point.
"Do you have any idea who you're talking to?", Law immediately puffs out his chest, trying to seem a little more intimidating.
"Some little topsider boy who got lost and thinks he can make business with the bigshots. That's all I need to know." Her voice is so condescending that Law makes a mental remark to practise his own tones of condescension at home a bit more.
The woman from earlier appears behind the woman with the contraption, signalling to Law. "Come on. It's time for your meeting with the boss."
Law nods at her and steps aside, letting the rude woman through. "Thanks for stopping by, Renata. I hope you'll find the new design to your liking." The woman addressed as Renata has nearly passed through the hallway as she hears that. She stops in her tracks and doesn't bother turning around as she sneers. "That's Miss Glasc, if you value your life, Sevika."
To Law's surprise, the woman addressed as Sevika visibly pales slightly. She'd seemed like the sort of tough, phased-by-nothing sort of criminal so judging by her reaction, this Renata Glasc person must be rather important in the undercity.
Law follows after Sevika into what appears to be a rather small space for the supposed leader of the undercity. Silco, his name, not somebody he should anger by any means, or so his informant had said.
He'd seen a picture of Silco before so he doesn't show any signs of surprise to see the left eye of the underground leader look so... wrong, for lack of a better word, but his rational mind cannot help but try to analyze what had happened to it.
Some toxic fumes? An injury to the eye, tried to fix through some technical means? He wonders if he would have been able to restore the eye to its previous state if he had gotten to treat Silco after the wound but shakes himself out of his thoughts when he realizes that he's just been standing there silently for half a minute.
Silco himself is seated in his large chair, leaned against the back of it. Apparently he's not willing to make the first move, trying to put Law at a disadvantage but two can play that game. Law is all too used to knowing how to navigate the difficult situations in the academy and he doesn't feel particularly intimidated by this thin, seemingly powerless man. Which is sure to be a misconception, judging by the information his informant had provided him with prior to this meeting.
According to the rumors, Silco had disposed of the previous leader of the undercity of many years violently, taking total control and uniting the undercity once more, taking up far more illegal transactions with Piltover than had previously been the norm. Law isn't sure if all of this information can be trusted, but one thing had been clear - if even a fraction of the rumors were true, he'd do well to remain on friendly terms with the man before him.
Finally, Silco speaks up, getting up off his chair and moving around it to lean against the front of it. "So you're the youngest son of House Trafalgar."
"That I am.", Law answers simply.
Silco looks at him scrutinizingly. "I trust you are aware that this new research we talked about in our communication cannot be given out freely to any untrustworthy individual. The other chembarons would be all too happy to get their hands on it."
Law's eyes narrow. "Given out freely? The sum we agreed on is rather lofty for you to describe it as "free"."
"Perhaps.", Silco muses. "But you are a researcher, are you not? Surely you would agree that the value of knowledge cannot be determined through mere monetary means."
"Be that as it may", Law responds in just as much of a haughty tone. "I have yet to know whether this new chemical of yours is of any value to me and my research. I suggest you do not question me and focus on the business part of our agreement."
"Very well." Silco gets up once more and moves to a cabinet in the side of the room, grabbing a suitcase resting on top of it. He carries it to the desk with ease, unzipping the sides and revealing what is within to Law: many vials of a purple liquid, bubbles inside, rising to the surface.
"This is what we call Shimmer. The chemical you paid for, the main focus of our deal. It is very new of course, so there hasn't been much testing as of yet."
Law's eyes shine with greed as he regards the vials. "I see. I look forward to doing some testing myself. Perhaps we could strike an accord. You reduce the price on this chemical and in return I remain in contact with you and provide my test results with you?"
Silco nods slowly. "Perhaps that would be a wise decision. We do already have one lab scientist working on tests, but it is as they say, the more the merrier."
He scrutinizes Law once more. "Beware, however. The test subjects tend to get a little... volatile."
Law nods, thinking of the sound-proof isolation chamber he's set up in his basement. "Fine by me. I can take the necessary precautions."
The deal is quickly struck, Law exchanging a reduced amount of the previously agreed on price in exchange for the suitcase full of Shimmer. Just as Law thinks that they're already done with everything, a weak whimper can be heard from the door adjacent to the office. He raises his eyebrows curiously, looking at Silco questioningly.
Silco waves him off. "Don't pay it any mind. That's just one of the people we will take in for testing soon."
Law's curiosity is piqued. He doesn't have a test subject himself yet and he's eager to get his hands on one. "Mind showing them to me?"
Silco shrugs. "I don't see why not." He opens the door to the adjacent room.
Apparently the boy on the other side had been leaned against the door because he stumbles and barely catches himself from falling as he enters the room.
It's a thin, starved looking boy, a little younger than Law, or maybe that's just the effects of starvation displayed on the boy before him. His black hair looks like it hasn't been washed in days if not weeks and his clothes are ragged and dirty. A strange hat made of straw dangles from a rope around his neck, looking entirely out of place in a city as dirty and sunless as this one.
Law can't help the contemptuous sneer that sneeks onto his lips at just how disgusting the kid before him looks. His contempt gets worse when the kids suddenly flings himself to Law's legs, clinging to it, looking up with wide eyes.
"Please. Help me. Please!"
Law looks at Silco, who shrugs once more. "I supposed we should have gagged him already. Someone..." - He looks at a pistol laying on his office desk as if blaming it for that someone's actions - "Should have taken him to the lab already, but she seems to not be taking her duties too seriously. Please excuse the disturbance."
"No, no.", Law quickly reassures. "Maybe I could take him with me?"
"Yes! Please, please, I just want to get back to my friends, they need me, we ran into trouble with one of the other gangs and I don't know if they're okay and-"
Law intercepts the desperate rambling of the kid by striking him straight across the face. "Silence."
The boy falls backwards, looking up in absolute horror and distraught, his hopes of being saved by this new stranger now completely shattered.
Silco smirks at the boy's expression before turning his gaze back to Law. "Why do you want to take him with you?"
"Well, seeing as I will be exercising some testing of this Shimmer drug, I too will need a test subject. It'll be hard to smuggle a person into Piltover, but going up from the undercity here should work fine, I think."
"Ah. I see. If he will still be used for his intended use, then I see no problem with it. It's not like anybody will miss him."
The boy, who's now sat on the ground, hugging his knees, mumbles quietly. "You're wrong. They'll come for me. Zoro and Sanji and Nami and Usopp and all the rest. They won't give up on me."
Silco scoffs. "Your little band of hooligans? I give them a week before they are crushed by one of the other gangs. They completely lack discipline."
Silco helps Law in gagging and restraining the resistant boy who tries to fight them but has barely any strength left from how much he appears to have been starved lately. They put him in a sack and Silco administers a sleeping drug to him so he won't cause a scene as Law makes his way back to Piltover.
As Silco says his farewell to Law at the door, he says: "I look forward to reading of your test results, mister Trafalgar. To a long and happy partnership."
He reaches out his hand for a handshake which Law prompty accepts. "To a long and happy partnership. Thank you for giving me the test subject free of charge. You're sure that those friends he spoke of won't cause any issue to me?"
Silco shrugs and smiles in a cruel fashion. "If they do, I'll have my men take care of them. Worry not."