Kidd hauls himself up to the bars, sea-stone making his head spin, 'stp that-' he orders

Killer just laughs at him. Kidd's had a life time to get used to the dizzying effect of the ocean, Killer not so much, and Kidd's got front row seats to his partner having a mental breakdown

"if SMILE is an artificial fruit - you think I'll still explode if i eat a real devil fruit?"

"we are not finding out." Kidd hisses, the cuff on his wrist it too thick to get though the bars to try and grap Killer and jerk him away from whatever it is he's found. Kidd is quickly thinking he knows what it is however.

blackbeard's assassin is dead at Killer's feet; and Kidd is hella proud that even sea stoned out of his head and unarmed, the man was still no chance for his Killer.

"when i die - does the SMILE fruit come back too?" Killer mussed, and Kidd never missed his powers more than right now - all the metal in the room to grab on to and use to pull Killer back to his senses - useless to Kidd now. "i hope not," Killer chuckled, "that would be awful for wano. a whole town just getting cursed over and over again."

Kidd had no idea what he was an about this time

"do devil fruits come back if you eat two? they cancel each other out in a body... kinda... does it cancel them out in the world period?"

"i need you to knock it off man," Kidd pleaded, but he was pretty sure that Killer wasn't listening to him at all anymore

Killer held up the bag he'd found to Kidd finally; the one the assassin had been carrying.

fresh fruit, and one marked by the devil in Killer's hand.

"like old times... never meant to curse you" Killer laughed, "but .. but i was always happier it was you than me. not cause of the curse - but you where always to clever with it. making all that shit, i could never. would been wasted on me"

kidd remembered the day Killer had stolen fresh fruit from the marker in town; there's been a public execution, and that left stall ripe for the picking; how here a couple of kids supposed to know how devil fruits respawned.....

fruit was such a rare treat for them to start with, Kidd hadn't known anything was off with it until he'd eaten some. he'd figured it was rotten, that was all, and hid the evidence so Killer wouldn't feel bad stealing food that already gone off.

boy had they been in for a big surprise

...

that assassin had been there for Kidd's fruit.

well... talk about big surprises. now his own forfeited one was in Killer's hand

"how big an explosion, do you think?"

"put it back in the bag kil, don't mess around with that."

"think id be big enough to cause a distraction - a real explosion... or if i'd just pop like a wet balloon?"

"there was a story i heard once - why people got free will and all."

Kidd glanced up from his cell; the more he engaged with his partner, the less likely Killer seemed on trying to eat the damn thing, but it was getting harder and harder. "How'd they say we got free will?"

"there was a graden, and it had a tree that man was told not to eat from, or they'd die. spect.. spect here was a snake in the garden too.

the snake seperated the woamn, whispered lies to her- temped to to eat the fruit. told her she would die - she'd be stonger."

Kidd sat up, gript the bars in his hand; the cuff still prevented him from being able to reach out.

"it was a lie of course. it didn't make her stronger."

"oraochi tricked you, it's not your fault, what were you supposed to do, nothing? the creep told ..." kidd's voice cracked, 'he siad it give you a chance to save me... fuck kil, this isn't your fault...."

he stared at his friend, looking at the fruit in his hand

"She didn't die..." Killer giggled distantly. "funny, is some versions, she didn't know the fruit was forbidden. some she did. but she's always the one to eat it."

"It's not your fault," kidd reiterated, "damnit.. i would probably done the same thing in your shoes - if he was hurting you, said all i have to do to stop it was eat a fucking fruit, i'd do it too."

instead of reassuring Killer, this just seemed to set him off harder. he was laughing so hard he could barely sit up, sobbing at Kidd's declaration.

"but.. .but in ever story, the man knew better. he always knew. never a single story where he wasn't warned about the dangers. you know what he did kidd? when he learned she ate the fruit?"

Kidd frowned, "what he do kil'?"

"He didn't want her to be alone. he chose her over everything."

Kidd shook his head

"he knew he'd die, but he gave up paradise for her, and he ate the fruit too"

and with that, Killer bit into the fruit.

<><>

he did not explode. at least, not the way either of them excepted.

he did start screaming though, body twisting in agony, until he finally screamed his throat too raw to make any noise at all

his skin seemed to boil around the seastone cuffs, and Kidd half wondered if that was keeping him alive. would Killer spend the rest of his life in shackles because of this?

it did bring the guards running, and between his writhing and the dead body, they were plenty distracted for Kidd to lift a set of keys of one of them in the pandemonium.

he still had the issue he had in wano - getting the key into his cuff. at least this time his hand wasn't bound behind him and he never needed powers to shatter the chain that tried to lash him to the wall. he could hold the key in his mouth until he got himself unlocked.

he didn't need to bother with the cell - the guards were armed heavily enough that killing them in one wave was child's play. the bars where easily dealt with after before he was rushing to Killer's side.

he was starting to foam around the mouth, Kidd rolling over into a recovery position as he continued to seize. as much as he wanted the cuffs off his partner /now/ the inflamed skin - while awful to look at and no double painful - was the only part of him that didn't seem to be burning. or - more acutely, seemed to be showing what was happening to him just under the skin?

his skin was deathly pale - far more then Kidd had seen on him before - but almost too hot to touch. his eyes had rolled back and he didn't react to kidds touch or voice in the slightest.

Killer was still cuffed to the wall, but the chain was normal metal, and kidd wasted no time breaking that. every instinct was to uncuff his partner; the sea-stone most certainly contributing to what ever chain reaction was going on in his system.

but to what end of the spectrum. if kidd took it off - would the unknown fruit of their would be assassin implode when sharing a body with the artificial SMILE fruit? would they cancel each other out?

they where trapped.

Killer could barely sit up, there was no way he was going to be able to fight. and kidd wanst leaving him behind.

Killer's body was shutting down on him, blood veses popping under his skin at the slightest graze, leaving dark bruises anywhere Kidd touched him. he as crying blood just as hard as it fell from his ears and nose, and lips. his voice had yet to come back, spitting up blood every time he tried.

kidd was watching him die. he couldn't even hold him with out hurting him.

"you stupid, stupid man,' Kidd hissed, trying to think of any way out of this.

Killer just chuckled, even if it clearly hurt, and kidd did not have time to cry right now. he was messing with his cuffs again, kidd scowling, "stop that and help me think of something."

"i did.." Killer warbled, followed by a click.

before the noise could register, before kidd could look down, Killer let out a cry, curling up again in pain.

"the hell is that? Killer?!"

desite knocking on deaths door, Killer refused to uncurl to let kidd see what he wa sdoing

a second click.

Killer was screaming again - soundless as body long lost the ability to project. the sea stone cuffs fell out of his lap to kidds horror.

in an instant, kidd's hand was literally burning where he was touching the man's bare arm. kidd grabbed for the cuffs, tryin to force htem back on.

<><><>

kidd lay with his partner in the StrawHat's infirmary, the two of them only fitting because Chopper and Franky had upgraded a bed to accomade him and jimbe, and the two rivel pirates still only jsut fit becuase of the completele lack of space left between them.

Killer had't made a sound since his failed kamikaze scheme; and one kidd was goign to riip him a new one once he was sure Killer wasn't goign to  - in fact - explode on him.

his skim moved like soemhting was lurking under the surface - TonyTony having told them than Killer's body esecntiaoll had targeted itself and the fever was literaly his own body trying to burn our an infection that did dont' have. at least not in a medical since; just rwo devil fruits fighting for room inside hs dna