《Undying Will》 1 1- Rebirth I walked through the pavement, a forlorn look on my face and a bag of supplies in my hand. My brown hair hung loosely over my eyes, and my lips turned up in an ugly grimace. My pale blue eyes shone with a cerulean light that seemed evidence to nights of sleeplessness. My spindly legs seemed thin, and somewhat malnourished as they supported me on the side-walk. My discomfort was quite evident in the soulless sigh that I gave to the wintry air. My breath fogged up in-front of me as I continued on the frozen path. Snowflakes settled down at the tip of my nose, which I promptly blew away. It was a chilly night, like it had been for the past month or so. I had quite lost count, owing to the faint urge I possessed to spend my time as a spendthrift would money, on useless things, that would not possibly, by any chance, give me the degree I so wished for. I wished not to admit, that I had lost hope, the hope that had kept me alive for the first nineteen years of my life had fizzed out, leaving me a dried husk, a spent torch in a dark cave that was our world. After the death of my parents in a car crash a year ago, the world had turned quite bleak. Colors had ceased to fill my view as they had before, and my lack of motivation was only trumped by my gutlessness. my mind was again jolted, as it came upon a sudden sense of anxiousness, a world view perhaps of the nightmare that was to follow. Later when I would look back to this day, I would forever mark it as both the night that I would be brought out of my misery and the day that would grant me a hope that I had very much needed, at that moment and even now¡­ nine times I had prayed this night, the flames rose up into the night sky, the bell in the church rung incessantly as I hobbled through the pavements, the screams of children hung in the air as I held the child''s hand. My sight was blocked by the bellowing smoke cloud that hung in the streets as the girl behind me sobbed. "hey, don''t cry¡­don''t cry, it''s only a little nightmare, not enough to phase our young girl is it?" I tried, my eyes teared up as I beheld the girl. I hoped to god that I had convinced her, for then, I would have at least convinced someone. I hurried through the streets, hugging the girl to my chest, the shelter was just across the street,'' we could make it'', I thought, a sigh of relief already hung on my lips, when I heard the sound of footsteps behind me. it was them, the ones who had started this mess, the ones who had burnt down the citadel and the ones who now threatened the lives of all the inhabitants of the town. I know stupid right, unarmed, no combat experience, yet wanting to fight with trained military personnel, if I was in the sanest of minds, I would have slapped myself then and there, I mean, what was I even thinking, playing the hero, I swear these anime had addled my brain too much. but then the smoke and flame had made me quite hysteric, the only thought in my head of the protection of the girl that had turned the corner into the safe house. "it''s either you or me motherfuckers!!" I roared getting my hands up to my chest. BOOM a noise thundered as I felt an icy coldness in my head. This was war, we were only the first blood. '' mom, dad here I come¡­..'' I thought as I felt myself drift into the grasp of death '' your son is finally coming to meet you...'' ************************************************************************************* "Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm........" a childish voice echoed as I opened my eyes. around me was a white space, the walls were white, the floor was white, heck even the roof was white. ''Racists, all these rebirth gods are fucking racists!!'' I thought as I noticed a boy sitting on a white chair in a corner. "Name: Sven Age: 23 qualifications: NEET, learned in all forms of computer sciences, good at using a body pillow, marginally helpful in doing chores and a crazy anime fanatic Last wish: to know the end of the One Piece anime. Life''s dream: To be a -" "Stop!!!!" I interrupted as I rolled on the marble floors. "It''s really embarrassing when I think about it now¡­.Just¡­do what you''re supposed to do..send me to heaven or something!!" I said with a pitiful look on my face. "Frankly, I would have done just that, but see, you''re last wish caught my fancy, knowing how one piece ends, interesting......¡­hmmmmmmmmmmm" he said going back to contemplating. "how about a deal?" he asked excitedly, of course being the asshole he is he refused to let me contemplate. "I''ll let you go to the world one piece, with two things, cause you won''t survive otherwise, and, you can entertain me!!" he said with a foxy grin. "in fact, here''s a list of things I can give you, go on don''t be shy." he said, throwing me a book. Devil fruits (A/N ill write down the English names don''t worry) 1) the clean fruit- keeps everything you touch clean 2) The dirty fruit- keeps everything you touch dirty 3)............... ................ .............. ............. 234) thought fruit- thoughts are weapons weakness- sea stone, sea water, requires high concentration to use. extremely volatile 235) Bird fruit: model sea gull- it turns you into a seagull. Genius!! 236)bull fruit- turns you into a bull 237)spark fruit-You are a spark man. Able to start fires, lightning and even thunder!!! 238)gluten fruit- allows you to control body fat 239) the data fruit- can code anything Drawbacks- weak physical body, must know everything about what you are coding, must create own coding script, requires target site to ''download'' coded information, mental fatigue, seastone and sea water. 240) bird fruit: model crow- turns you into a crow. 241)............¡­ ................ ............¡­ ............¡­ TRAINING MANUELS: 1) Erza scarlet Sword techniques 2)Baki grappler arts 3) Zaraki Kenpachi sword arts 4)Ishida uryuu Bow arts 5)............. ............. ............ ........... .........¡­ 200)Hans Humpty Dagger arts 201).........¡­.. .............. .............. "So, what do you think, nice collection I got here right??" the boy asked wagging his eyebrows while his hand were quite busy, excavating his nose. "I don''t know, you''ve given me quite a lot to choose from¡­." I said, scratching my head. My knees were reaching my chest as I kneeled on the overly white floor. "I''d choose the thought fruit..... but.. it seems to have quite a few drawbacks...so imma go for the data fruit and well ill go for Hans Humpty Dagger techniques, cuz in the world of one-piece, no one''s ever excelled in dagger arts!!" I said with a gleam in my eyes. "So then without further ado ba-bye!!" he said waving his hand in mock farewell as he snapped his fingers. The white floor that laid below me opened up into a dark trap-door as I fell through. 2 Gol D Lorean Sunlight streamed through my eyelashes as I groaned- or tried to, the only thing that happened though, was a yelp, that seemed close to what a child would do. "Look at the brat, already awake. Look at ''em eyes. they''re the eyes of a king they are!!" A man''s voice filtered through my ears. In front of me was a lean man. His dark eyes regarded me warmly, as the ever present snicker on his lips shook. His dark hair hung down to his shoulder as his dread-locks flew around the place. He wore baggy pants and a white shirt with a brown over-coat. His red bandana held his head together. It had a classic jolly roger on it with a wide grin and crisscrossed bones. Next to me on the bed lied a brown headed women in a pearly white pajama. "If only little Roger was here to see his nephew''s birth" she said with a melancholic sigh. Wa-wa-wait a minute did she say little ROGER??!! I exclaimed in my mind as my blue eyes widened. ''I hope he''s not pirate king Roger'' I hoped in my mind as I dreaded the amount of attention I would get if it were true. "Ihihihihihihihihihihihihihih ¡­." the man laughed, his lips quirking up in a signature smirk. "Nah.... the brat''s too busy raising a storm in the new world. He hasn''t even sent word back to our lil'' island retreat. If I didn''t know the bastard better I would say he''s forgotten us in the rush of his adventures." he said as his smile turned into a disapproving sneer. "now now Jack¡­. you know how tough it is being at the centre of matters, hadn''t you done this too? I can''t help but remember of this group of pirates going by the name of the sparrow pirates..?" The women asked, already getting up to hug her husband and to steel me from him. "Name your son, and stop stalling you overgrown twat!" she said with a pout. "Hmmmmmmmmmm......... hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm............¡­? what about Lor¡­ette¡­.?lo-love why are you trying to hit me..!?" he asked as he side-stepped the women brandishing her fists at him. " He''s a boy you over-grown midget!!" she snapped with a tick forming at the side of her fore head. "hmph!! You don''t even know how to name someone, he''ll be called Lorean, Gol D Lorean" she said as she cruelly stole the chance to name the child from her husband. '' So my name is Gol D Lorean..?'' I thought with a smile on my face, dozing off to the sleep, that indicated that I had reached the end of the stamina that was accorded to an infant. As I fell asleap I couldn''t stop a smile from developing on my face. I had good parents and I hoped that I would make them proud..... ************************************************************************************ This was obviously me. Gol D Lorean. The only thing I had found out from the past year was that I was son of Gol D Jack and Elizabeth Sparrow. I was the nephew of the infamous pirate king Gol D Roger, which I had quite dreaded. We were on the island of D - Eden, and as far as I knew there were only the three of us that lived in this Utopian place. Of course this was not the thing that had distressed me into muttering to myself, it was in fact another matter altogether. It was the fact that, the prizes that the shitty god had promised me hadn''t made themselves known to me as of yet and I was getting quite frustrated. How was I to survive in this world without the gold-finger that was the cheats that the under-age bastard had promised. "Lore- it''s time for dinner son" the melodious voice of my mother rang in the air, it was accompanied by the grating laughter of my irresponsible father. "coming mother!" came the squeaky voice, that I still could not believe belonged to me, as I ran up gritty mountain path that lead to our hut. The sweat smell of my father''s cooking hung in the air as I barged into the house, my nose sniffing and my mouth watering. I could see the stars in my mother''s eyes as she dropped her knitting material and hurriedly made her way into the kitchen. In the kitchen, my father stood a wide grin on his face and a kitty apron on. He had a pan on the stove as he whistled a happy tune. You could smell the sweat aroma as my mother and me set the table - it was basically her doing all the work and me trying to pathetically reach for a pan that was quite evidently out of my reach. My father ruffled my hair as he got the pan that I had been futile-ly reaching for and setting it on the table. And..... Vola it was time to EAT!!! As we sat down at the table (I needed help¡­OH the HUMILIATION!!!!) , my father held the meat as he chowed down. Me on the other hand, I chose to be slightly modest, and by slightly modest of course I mean I inhaled food. Come on I was in the world of one piece, if I didn''t eat like I would never eat again, how would I possibly fit in with the rest of them? My mother seemed the only tame eater at the table, quite evident by the way she seemed to have an obsession with the napkin. ''Pere pere pere pere¡­.'' a voice rang as my father reached for his coat pocket. His easy-going face seemed to suddenly fall of as he answered the Den Den Mushi. "Jack.....ca-captain, i-I'' m dy-ing...." a voice voice rasped as he rose from the table. My mother dropped her cloth as she rose with him. "Lore, dear, go play by the rock. Mommy and daddy have something to do." She said, not even looking at me as she did so. 3 The Treasury of D "Jack¡­" The women''s voice said, her voice shaking, as they stared at his first mate, drowning in his own blood. " The finally found him. What do we do?!?! Barthelomio might not tell them about the island, but he still has the infinite log pose that leads right to this island!! We know how ruthless the world government can be! Little Lore won''t survive if they send out their Cypher Division." She said sobbing. Her eyes were widened in hysterics as she clutched at her husband''s clothes. The man looked worried too. His mouth was twisted in an ugly grimace as he clutched the pistol hidden in his coat. "We have no choice. My lungs aren''t really in the best of conditions and knowing the bastard Lector he''d be on his way here any moment now!! We have no choice, we must escape! But before that we must open the vaults under the island for little Lore." He said already hurrying for the door. " Little Lore! Come here quickly!" He barked as he looked out of the door before he returned to hold his wife in his arms, letting her sob to his chest¡­. ******************************************************************************** I ran through the halls of the house as I huffed. My father had just called to me, he seemed quite anxious, and I felt a dark premonition. The things I knew to be fact, seemed to be about to change. My sweaty hands clutched at each other, my breath caught in my throat as I imagined what would have most likely happened. "Lore! We need to leave here!" My father told me as I entered the room, his hands already reaching for the latch of a trap-door that I didn''t know existed. He pulled the knob, successfully opening a door that lead into what looked like a dusky stairway. He ushered me and my now pacified mother through the path into the cavern-like stairway. The walls seemed to be covered with a colourful and radiant layer of moss and the stairs seemed to be covered with the same slippery substance which was evident by how slippery the entire thing felt. My father''s rough hand seemed somewhat re-assuring in that scenario of haste that I had quite successfully driven myself into. My mother''s rough breathing was the only thing that followed me as I made my way into the darkness. Her pale hand held onto my father''s clothes, and she seemed to draw quite a lot of comfort from the fact that I had not asked any questions and was quite mutely following them. "We are going to the vault of D. The place where every treasure of the D lies and the place where we need to go to escape this island." He said with a deep sigh. His hands reaching for something on the walls as we finally made it to the end of the pathway. A rumble seemed to echo through the pathway as the wall- turned door moved off its hinges opening to us a green and large cavern. The ceiling seemed coated with stalactites that and rows upon rows of shelves seemed to stock up all the way to the roof of the cavern. "Quick little Lore pick the objects that you think are the things that are calling to you. We need to leave now! The treasury can''t be opened by anyone except one with the blood of D! So leaving things here is fine. Also, little lore pick only a maximum of two things! the vault has certain mechanisms to prevent removal of too many treasure." He said, his eyes anxiously roaming the room, evidently trying to find something. My eyes widened, as I looked through the room. I could barely hold myself back from crying to the heavens and kowtow-ing , already, I had reached for the most weird fruit. It looked like an inflated green banana, with light green curls on it. I knew even without looking that it was the fruit that god had given me, the data fruit!! Now all I needed was the ''Hans Humpty dagger arts'' technique and we would be good to go! I thought as I fervently looked around. In the corner most shelf, on the top, next to what looked like a sword, was a hand-book. I knew it was what I was searching for. As I reached for it, however, a boom rocked the room, dust fell from the ceiling, as my recently deserted fear returned, now in full swing, accompanied by the rumble of cannons and the swish of the cannon balls with the air. We were being attacked. I immediately grabbed the book, already resting it near my bosom, as I looked towards my father, fear apparent in my eyes, and my hands trembling . My mother had already made it to my side, her face was clouded by worry, though her sobbing had stopped, replaced with a steely look in her eyes. "This way lore!" My father''s roar echoed, as we hurried t the other corner of the cove, he snatched for a copper key as he led us down a small opening in the wall that had just opened up. The walls were quite wet, and the torch light made eerie shadows against the floor. At the end of the cave was a port of some sort, with the Black Pearl tied to it. The pearl was my father''s ship, and it had been the one on which he had once dominated the grand line, or so he, and mother had told me. We got onto the ship, my father already operating the ships various controls, as he ran around like a monkey with a fire set to its tail. With a loud crash the pearl started as the waterfall infront of us parted, the water neatly branching across the prow of our ship.'' We have officially started our escape!'' I thought as we made our way to the wide ocean. Strom clouds gathered over-head, as the sudden peals of lightning were a common occurrence. The sea was whipped into a flurry by the strong winds and froth flew in the air. 4 the Escape My chest heaved as I held onto the fruit and the book, the only two things that would give me a chance to survive in the world that I now called home. The winds shrieked as the pulled at my clothes and the foam kissed my sweaty brow, with a promise of eternal death, if I ever had the misfortune of falling off the ship. My father stared at the incoming volley, unafraid, and with a challenging smirk that I had only seen on his face, whenever he had cooked something that mother disapproved of. His red bandanna fluttered as his dark hair flew all around him. We were at a cross-road, and both he and my mother knew it. My mother looked at the fleet, her determination palpable, as her blond hair streamed in the cloudy sky. Her pale-blue eyes resolutely regarded the oncoming disaster, as the tear stroked skin of hers seemed to glimmer with an otherworldly brilliance. My father pulled out his pistol, grinning as he did, "come ''ere ya bunch of nitwits, and let this old man clean his blade in your blood!!" he said, then realizing that his sword was still quite safely dirty in its rusty scabbard. "Bastard Lector! I know you are hiding somewhere on those ships let me not find you, or I swear to the writer of the poneglyphs that I shall kill you!!" he said, his face becoming serious as he lead the ship onward to the blockade that had surrounded what was once my home. The cypher ships, (I found out they belonged to cypher only because of the waving flag. Yup, nothing else told me about it) advanced as their cannons began to ring again. The leaden balls thundered passed into the sea, rising raging sea water in their wake -that flooded the deck of the Pearl. The ocean waves rose as if to stop the incoming ships, as we sailed on. In the background thunder and lightning raged, illuminating the sky as it did. As the ships grew closer, my heart could not help but beat louder, as if to welcome the inevitable battle that was sure to commence. My father roared at the incoming mob, already manning the canons as he did, he was a very good sharpshooter and now he put his awesome skills to practice. Already a few ships had sunk into the sea. The leading ship had done nothing to stop the incoming projectiles, opting instead to advance in renewed vigor. the two ships collided, their prows connecting as my father mad weird angles with his shooting. His shots reminded me of Rip Van Winkle of Hellsing. The bullets seemed to have a mind of their own, as they seemed to shriek with glee, bringing with them a season of harvested terror. Not only so, his sword too, which he had by now un-sheathed, also sang with the happiness only attributed with an instrument of war. Already, what I had eaten threatened to abandon me and it took all I had to make my stomach obey me. It was the first time I had seen gore like this, and at such close proximity too. "Lore, run to the crow''s nest, you will be safe there!" my mother bellowed not taking her eye off the men before her. Her hands swayed in a beautiful dance, with a flutter in her legs and a flurry of her fingers. She reminded me of a spider, always weaving its web, waiting for prey, though in her case, she was slightly more aggressive. My spindly legs carried me up the mast, as I occasionally looked down at the carnage that my sweet parents had wrought, blood and limbs flying in the air as the screams of a myriad of people rung from below, somewhat reminding me of the day on which I had died, and the idea of hell that had been forcefully implanted in my brain. Many different types of people existed below me, some shifted into the form of goat-men with horns and hoofs but also with hands and guns, and yet others seemed to turn into metals, like iron or steel hard to the touch and grey to the naked eye. Some men fought with black limbs and others with finger-bullets that ''pew-ed'' through the air. Men and women fought with various weapons, some with katanas and others with the urumi, but they all had one thing in common. They wanted to kill my parents and probably me too. My heart turned cold at the thought, people baying for my blood, merely because of who they''d been. As I reached the top of the mast, my lungs heaved, half with the exercise I had just done and the other with the fear that had accompanied the hellish scene in front of my eyes. My hair stuck to the sides of my head with the water in the air, and the harsh thunder clouds in the sky. My father seemed like a man possessed shooting into the sky with his purple bullets and cutting away with his sword, which by now had turned quite red and gloomy. He ran through the thicket repeatedly, thinning the crowd as he tried to push the ship through the blockade. His hand and blade had turned into an unruly black and seemed to carry the weight of mountains behind each swing. My mother on the other hand had already finished off at her end, and was now calmly loading the cannon balls into their respective holsters before firing. She was doing more to clear the bunch of ships in front of us than the men who had invaded our boat and she was doing a very good job at it. ''BOOM'' a sound rang in the sky as the ships cleared, giving us a free path into the open ocean. The ship cleared its front, my father acting as the block-agent as he removed the last of the men on the ship, either by killing them, or by throwing them off the boat, before urging the ship forward, as we tried to leave. The ships crawled out of the way as the debris of the fallen lot floated away, swaying in the angry waves of the sea. My father held the stern looking critically at the remaining ships that were trying to regroup in front of us, his frown hadn''t lessened, as he held his pistol with a hard grip. "Gol D Jack!!" a roar echoed as a shiny man rose from the lead ship. His black hair touched his shoulders as his white coat whipped around in the wind. His mouth was stuck at an unseemly frown and his stubby beard bristled in his annoyance. "Cypher has held back many times before, but not anymore!! If you want your life to remain intact then give up now!! Otherwise you shall face the wrath of the thousand-eyes Tartoros!!" he roared pulling out a crystal cannon from the folds of his robe. It was etched with strange runes that gleamed with an eerie purple light, and held a socket at the back of the cannon. It had smoky wheels and a pale blue knob at the back of the cannon. My father''s breath caught in his chest, as his eyebrows descended making a valley over his nose as it did. "Tartaros, one of the ancient weapons of Roa and called the launcher of the sorrowful sun! You dare to bring that out of your Mary Geoisse! Does your Government think that Raftel shall not attack them and bring forth their own powers?!!?!" He roared back, already trying not to sweet. " Besides, to use that you must use ten logia type Devil Fruits as fuel, you think you can use it more than once Bastard Lector!!?" he asked as he held onto his blade, with his now pale hand. "Heh, do you dare give it a try?! he asked as he pulled out a purple fruit from his cloak and shoving it into the socket at the back of the cylinder before pulling out another one. "Choose now¡­.. Or DIE!!!!" he screamed before putting his hand back into his cloak. "Jack......¡­ Don''t, you know they won''t let us live either way, they only want you alive because of the Treasury of D!" My mother said as she made her way to the stern of the ship. "Fire away Lector! Let''s see if your shiny sausage is stronger, or my Iron Maiden stronger!" my mother said as she started coiling her hands around the ship. My dad too had pulled out his sword before closing his eyes... "WORLD END SERIES: AT WORLDS END!!" he roared as a white aura rose from his sword as he pulled it to his chest, the pointed end parallel to the ground. The man called lector had already shoved seven fruits into his shiny cannon and was now stuffing an eighth into it, and now a ninth, and finally a tenth, before squeezing the knob. A purple aura started to build at the end of the cannon, as the runes on its side flared. It swept aurora like lights into the sky as the water below frothed and foamed like a dying man. The cannon developed a scarlet-purple glow.(it looked quite like the cero from bleech though from a cannon instead of a Hollow) before the orb was propelled to us. The world seemed to shift around the orb as it zoomed towards us. Infront of us, there was a mesh of black string with a tiny rip in the middle of it to let my father swing his now white sword through it. The ray shot through colliding with the orb. 5 Ragner My tears caught in my throat, as my blue eyes stung. My pale upper body trembled as I tried to control my raging emotions. It had been twelve days since our escape, and now in front of me, my mother breathed her last. Her brows were covered with wrinkles of age that should not have been there, and her previous glossy hair had turned into a dying white, so had mine in fact, but not for the same reason. Her chest had heaved, struggling for breath just moments ago, but now it had fallen with one final rumbling call, never to rise again. She had lost her hands, in that incident that had shook the world and burnt the seas. By lost her hands, I of course I mean that she had no arms, no vitality, and now no life, after a dozen days of suffering, my mother had died in her sleep. I had felt that none would touch me in this world, atleast until I had formally set sail, for that was what I would do, if there had been even the slightest of doubts before, now there was none. I Would set sail, and I Would massacre a path to Mary Geoisse, and I would wipe my mother''s grave with blood! That was what I had promised myself and that was what I would do. ''My previous thoughts were wrong, and I know that now, for I had tasted sorrow, first in my last life I had lost my parents, and now in this life, again I had lost the mother I had gotten close to.'' I thought as the hot tears flowed down my face gushing as they did, much like a dam had broken flowing and rushing torrentiously. This battle had hit us badly-badly was an understatement, we had been devastated. My world view had collapsed, my mother had died, and my father-he probably had it the worst of all. He had lost his wife, the women he had loved dearly, and had lost the ability to take revenge, probably the worst thing that had happened to him. He had lost his right hand, the one he wielded his sword with and had also lost his left leg, he was a cripple for life. The battle had wrecked him completely, and now he was barely a husk of the man that I had known. He sat at the base of the mast as he stared at the sky, he would not have eaten had I not force-fed him a bit of the meager rations we had left, and had not spoken a word save something to the way we were to travel, after which he had promptly shut himself into his shell with vacant eyes and a forlorn body. A howl shook the ship as I whipped around. Behind my back was the man I once called my father, a man who had crawled on the ground to see his beloved''s last moments and a man that now seemed to age beyond the limit to what humans were allowed. His black eyes now had a path of blood running down the side of his gaunt face, as he tried to hold onto his wife''s hand. He raised his spindly arm to hers as he supported himself with the bed frame before caressing her face. "Father, father, it''s my fault mom died! don''t cry! this unfillial son of yours will get revenge! I will slaughter a path to Mary Geoisse!! I will dismember all the body''s of the men of Cypher! Dad believe me!!" I cried as I kneeled in front of him, my tears straining my vision and my throat constantly clutching and relaxing. "Oh¡­.? You''ll slaughter a path to that hell-hole will you..? YOu tHinK It iS tHaT EaSY!!" he roared, coughing as he regarded me. "if it is THAT easy, I would have done it already! I couldn''t do it at my peak! how do you think that you Can!?!?! Mary Geoisse isn''t your backyard, son¡­."he said as he sighed. He had gotten quite calm over his monologue. My knees touched each other as I continued to sob on the ground. My blue eyes swam in their sockets as I regarded my father. My snot had made its way to the ends of my mouth, and my tears had made a small puddle, and had wetted my shirt. Imagine that a one-year old child on his knees sobbing with a vigor usually associated with adults who had lost everything that they had held close to them. "Help me out.........¡­" my father said, his tiredness visible in his hunched frame, he had lost everything that he had held dear, save his son, who was too old to be a one-year old. "Your mother and I had promised each other, that if we were to die, someday then we would be buried in the tumultuous seas of the grand-line. Help me, son, help me burry your mother, father-father has already become useless¡­." he said mournfully as he yanked out the side of the bed, before using it like a crutch, to move out of the room with it and my help. It was time. I had lived in this world for barely a year now and I had already been exposed to the harshness of the world. It was time to put on my thinking hat, and my serious shoes and get to action. I thought seriously as we slowly lowered mother''s body into the sea, never to be seen again¡­. **********************************************************************************'' "NO No No, you''re doing it wrong! you Dumbass!!" My father roared as he corrected my Observation Haki. It had been eight months on the sea, and I had already gotten used to the rocking of the boat and the hard-hits of the butt of my father''s pistol. Though I wished to train, I had only been able to practice observation, because my father did not want me to practice the types of Haki that might damage my body, irreparably. So here we were. Training my observation to extreme levels, did I mention that I was using observation and my tiny-infant body to avoid mortally dangerous bullets from my father''s Winkle Pistol( I had decided to call ''em that after I saw how much they curved in the air, my father said he did it by a strange mixture of the three Hakis, I was not so sure..) and I had awakened my Conqueror''s Haki. (Don''t get me started on that!!) So ya, it was quite an eventful torture session I had had. Today it would all end, or so my father told me. Today I would see my grandfather, Gol D Ragner, the first ever ascendant to the throne of the Pirates, I know, quite mind-blowing, how a hundred over middle aged( my father said that he was very touchy of his age.)man could possibly be the first king of the Pirates, and more than that my own father''s father! "Lore, after we reach Raftel you will be able to eat that Devil Fruit that you got from that vault, and then you''ll be able to finally start training your body, don''t let down your old man now.." he said with a sigh as he reached for the anchor. We had reached the outer boundaries of the island of the Pirates, and I was jittery. 6 Raftel I could barely believe my eyes as I stared at the towering buildings of Raftel. It seemed somewhat like a mix of modern and medieval architecture, and I say this not because I saw sky-scrapers, but because I saw a coffee shop.. Yup, you heard right a coffee shop, and you know why I know it''s a coffee shop? its cause I''m in it!! My father stood across from me, sipping from his cup noisily. After mother''s death he had gotten around to talking less, scowling more, and being an overall dick for more of the time. He had made himself a makeshift crutch from the foot of the bed, and he now used it almost all the time. His hand played with the cup in his hand, as he drunk from it in comparative silence. Me on the other hand, I was happy staring at all the customers of the caf¨¦, and there were a lot of them!! All of them did not look like pirates, just most of them. The barman (for lack of a better word) pursued a crack in the table voraciously, as his one-eye seemed to glare at said hole. A women sat at the corner-most chair as she grimaced. Her red hair drew a stark contrast to the dull monotonous shop atmosphere, as she scowled into her coffee. Another man at the seat next to us chatted avidly with the man who sat next to him, who sported a bored and exasperated look on his face. There was a chattering din in the air, as the people were in quite good spirits, of course all expect for us, the only sad people in the entire caf¨¦. "let''s go." My father said as he fumbled in his picket before getting up with the crutch that had been faithfully leaning against his only leg. He walked with a stumble as he led me out of the bustling shop into the streets. There were lamps everywhere and a fountain gurgled joyfully in the centre of the square. "father, where are we going?" I asked as I tried to get the general gist of the itinerary that my father had planned for us. "We are going to the council house, at the foot of that mountain" my father said as he motioned to the mountain at the back of the town, that seemed to glower down at us, with his head. "You''re grandfather is there, probably presiding over the council, or drinking his clear-headedness away." he said with a sigh as he made his way to the towering rock, steadily and with a purposeful step. As we made our way forward, we were met with more than a number of curious gazes, always directed at me, instead of my father, though I guessed what they were thinking, ''how can child be at the place where almost no pirate can?'' or something along those lines. The air was quite peaceful, as a breeze blew occasionally, fluttering and playing with my hair as it did. As we neared the humongous mound, I felt the rise of the momentum (from the mountain, probably testing if I had the capability to resist it''s conqueror''s Haki) and I felt the pressure mounting on me, like the mountain was not in front, but above me instead. Every step I took seemed to be a cosmic effort as sweat glistened on my brow. Father on the other hand walked on, like a fish in water, as if he was unaware of the pressure mounted by the mountain. 900meters, 890 meters, the distance reduced, until I could barely stay conscious. At the 500 meter mark, I couldn''t take it anymore, as I released my Haki as well, I could feel the pressure alleviating before it disappeared all together. We had made it, we had made our way to the council house (for lack of a better word) and it was stunning. The white archway gleamed with a brilliant splendor, and the floor looked a pristine colour. The carpet lead the way to the reception desk, where a young lady sat with a nonplussed look on her face. She looked at us, at me she looked at with surprise, until she looked at my father and her eyes brightened with amazement before she got up and ran off into a side-room. ********************************************************************************* "kakakaakakakakakakakakaka!!!!" a boisterous voice echoed as a man chugged down a barrel of what could only be assumed as wine. His unruly beard dripped with the runoff from the monstrous barrel forming a puddle on the ground. His unruly head seemed to be filled with a pack of white hair with a bandana tied to its end. He wore a dark scarlet overcoat as he drank away his soberness. "Lord Ragner, Lord Ragner, you''re son has returned!! you''re son has returned and he has a child who awakened His conqueror''s Haki with him!!" A voice echoed as hurried footsteps made their way into the storage room, that Gol D Ragner had decided to ransack. "Haaaaaaaaa!? Which brat are you talking about?!? Is it that brat Roger or the brat Raigar!? hmm? Heh ask them to accompany me!! go on. This old man wants a drinking buddy!!" The man slurred, as he tried to get up, just to fall back again with a loud ''oof''. "its Jack-sama sir!!" the women replied already preparing to help the man to his feet so he could meet his child. "Jaaaaaaacku!!?! Who is that? Stop talking about every brat who claims to be my son!! Now leave me alone so I may make love to this wine barrel which has boiled my old blood!!" He said as he shoo-ed her away and made to grab the barrel that had escaped his clutches. 7 Meeting ".... So... you''re saying¡­.. that you were ambushed by Lector, that little brat that almost caught you in the edge of the Red-line?! and-and little Liz..... Died!!!?!??!" Ragner roared as he rose from his seat. A baleful aura had suffused the room, as the walls shook and the earth cracked. His momentum seemed unstoppable as a heavy aura engulfed the entire of Raftel, like a mountain it seemed to weigh on all its residents, making it hard for anyone to breathe. His scarlet coat seemed to flutter in invisible winds, that had been brought by his extreme rage. "Ka¡­ka¡­.ka, World Government, you''ve gone and done it now. You''ve managed to piss off the Monster! This old man will kill you all now!! Better wash your neck and wait! This old man shall go fetch his beard shaving knife!!" He roared, as spittle flew from his mouth, before he made to leave the room with an enraged flurry. "Seat your ass down old man!! I haven''t finished yet!" my father roared as his aura pressured all the people in the room, of which only the reception lady counted because I had gotten quite used to father''s aura over the past months for which I had been training with him. She had been giving me a pitiful look over all the things that father had just told Ragner and now had a pale face with sweat that glistened on her pale brow. "The little brat is my son, Gol D Lorean. Greet your grandpa little brat!" My father said scowling, as my grandfather swiveled around to look at me, before he sucked in a cold breath. "Not affected by Haki?" he asked disbelievingly, as he looked at my father, a little smidge of anger still remaining at the back of his ringed eyes. "Aye. And not only that the brat''s already awakened his own haki of conquest and observation, and just over a few months too!" My father said pridefully as he again observed me reproachfully motioning for me to do what he had just told me to do. "Little lore greats grandfather." I said as I bowed my tiny head of straight hair. My father''s face cleared as he again went back to looking at my grandfather, a content look in his tired eyes. "You don''t need to make a move, this little brat will be enough to slaughter a path to Mary Geoisse!" my father declared confidently before going back to his liquor glass, which he had received at some point during his story. "Kakakaka good grandson! good grandson indeed! Rise your head little ''D'' this old man likes the way you speak, not like a certain someone.." He said as he motioned for a place next to him. (he had already seated himself though I don''t know when..) "Ohhhh...¡­ Akagami¡­? Why not? the sniveling asshole is the best dagger user I know, why not indeed¡­? But why now? you want to cripple your son?! he is only a year and a few months old, you want him to undergo that demons training?!!" My grandfather said, getting himself into another spit of anger. "Ihihiihihhihi¡­ I didn''t think of that..." my father said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "Dad¡­. why don''t I eat my devil fruit now and focus on that until I get to the age of like¡­ ten before I start training with the uncle that you mentioned. Till then I will try to learn all the fighting styles possible while training my Hans Humpty techniques ?(I don''t know what else to call it¡­.)" I asked expectantly. "Hmmm that could work, why not?" My grandfather said as he wove up an air of certainty. "Ok¡­..but brat¡­. your still going to train under me for observation and conqueror''s Haki, while doing all the things you just said, while also starting you''re armament Haki training by about the age of three.." My father said as he put on a pondering look, before finally nodding and looking at grandfather. "Also old man, loan me you''re island at the back of Raftel, we''ll stay there till this little brat is able to set sail." My father said as he gave the old man a look, containing a hint of mysticism, laughter and surprisingly warning. "And little lore? I amn''t gonna go easy on you just because of your age, you''ve gone way past you''re age, after looking and going through the things that just happened." He said looking at me with a face that alternated between serious and evil (owing to the devilish smirk that he had at the edge of his lips, I would say that was devilish, yes I very much would.) Grandfather looked on at this scene of abject abuse, with a amiable and content smile on his lips before he pulled out a little tobacco pipe and smoking it. "Oh and little girl, take little lore to the library, he said that he wanted to learn let him do so." He said as he looked at the women in the room, motioning for her to lead me out of the room, which she gladly did, though she did smile at me as she dragged me out of the scary atmosphere where she had almost pissed herself¡­.. ************************************************************************************ "How much ever shit a child of two goes through, he can''t have already awakened his conqueror''s Haki, what are you playing at, brat..?" Ragner said, as his calm atmosphere dropped to reveal a serious man that was probably his true face. "Ihihihi¡­. I know right old man¡­" Jack chuckled as he lit his own pipe. "I wouldn''t have believed that the kid was mine had I not seen him grow.. He reminds me of that tale I once heard of the sea and the trident! Nonetheless the brat''s mine, I can see that and so can you right old man? So why can''t the man act like a child for some more time, 0it will be fun to watch, don''t you think?" Jack said as he started to giggle. " Ha! if you trusted as much as you say you did, then you would have let him live in Raftel until he set sail!!" Ragner said as he too descended into a fit of giggles. "I have my own reasons old man, he isn''t a pacifist like old Raiger, he wants an adventure, I have seen it many times in the brat''s eyes, a solemn acceptance of all the matters he has seen. You know what I saw as I mourned her, old man? I saw it, a true rage that had even me shaken, fit like a mountain about to blow, it had me rattled!!" Jack said as he chuckled. "Now I just want to see the storms that this brat brings to the seas, imagine it the thunder and lightning at his beck and call, and a fleet of ships that cover the vast horizon, won''t it be interesting old man..?" he asked as he continued to drink, liquor dripping down the sides of his face from a crack that seemed too big to be a smile and eyes with an ocean of expectations behind them¡­.. 8 Seven "What are you doing brat!!?" a voice echoed through the field, resonating in my ears , as I sat below the green tree. The wind steered through the trees, as the leaves sung a song. My hands trembled slightly as I heard my father shout, I had been subjected to his exceedingly torturous ''training'' that he had had me go through for the past six years. Yes I was seven now, almost eight, and when I had grown to the age of three, I had started training my armament Haki, and now I had already gotten to an initial level in it, and no I was not stupid, just a little lazy, but that was not the reason I had had such little development in it, it was because I had undergone heavy training to refine my body, my muscles, my bones, and even my organs before I had started to actively train in it. I had eaten my devil fruit as soon as I had gotten to this island, and had received quite a shock! I had to write my own programming language, can you imagine the amount of time I had to spend on it, before I was satisfied? I had been to great heights to make this fruit one-piece friendly! I had my own cloud where I could save all sorts of programs, like a code on all the types of battle techniques that I had looked at in the library, and a perfect method to counter each one of them! it took me more than a year to save all of that, and then I had to match it all to the fighting style in the Hans Humpty techniques, which capitalized on being lithe and dexterous might I add? I had trained my Observation to an all Domain type ability, which allowed me to observe everything around me in an two meter radius. I had also added an auto observe function in my head which instantly analyzed the fighting pattern of the opponent and helped me find all the openings in the opponents battle style. I had also found out a method akin to Shunpo, which I had named as the same, while looking through my body, before storing a perfect Edios of it in my cloud. I found that if I added a little strength to the tips of my toes, before instantly coating it with Haki on contact with the ground. My father and grandfather had been quite surprised at it when I had shown it to them, before redoubling my training in an attempt to accustom my body to the stress of rapid movement and instant coating, all the while praising my insight in making a ''revolutionary technique'' that was even slightly better than Soru at its peak, though now, my Shunpo was still quite tardy, as I could only use it with time intervals to let my body adjust to the coating. "Brat, today is the day that you meet the old man, Tanken, your grandfather had to convince him with a bottle of Sakura Sake, so you better don''t disappoint him, otherwise even I won''t be able to save you!" My father said, getting out of uncle Roger''s makeshift grave. I had not been allowed into Raftel again after that day, my father kept telling me that I didn''t have the ''right'' to enter, owing to how weak I was, though I was in fact strong enough to hold myself in the first part of the Grand-line, one-on-one with any of the Captains, though I might indeed end up dead if I faced any of the Yonko''s Executives. I had even later found out that my little brother(cousin) had been born only two years after I had, though father, and grandfather said that they couldn''t help him because of a promise between them and uncle Roger. I thought as I made my way forward to meet my going-to-be dagger teacher. He lived on the other side of the marginally big island, and I had to walk a lot to meet him, though I didn''t dislike the walks themselves, the distance always managed to irk me, like that persistent itch at the back of your neck that would refuse to go away, or an annoying insect that had taken upon itself the paramount task of revolving around your head like your own personal star, that just refused to go away. The trees on either sides of the path, glittered in their nature-y green colour, probably because of the glowering sun in the sky, though who was I to say? Shiny trees were not the weirdest thing that this world had. The stones in my path skipped away as I walked on, the chirp of the birds ringing pleasantly in my ear, and my hand rising and falling in a unique rhythm not quite unlike the constant beat of my heart. I had trained and practiced for this day, scanning and learning every battle style I knew, or could think of, safely coded away, to assist me in the shortest span of time possible. I had found that I could ''download'' this code into my brain, or the related code onto any part of my body, so my restoration ability quite resembled the main character form ''an irregular at magic high school'' though my restrictions were quite greater than his. Though I had never touched a weapon, in my life, or gotten into a fight (much to the disappointment of father) I had all the theory down, and I hoped that that would give me a head-start in my training. As I walked on, I reached a town like place, homes stretched on for quite a distance, and the roofs glinted in the yellow sunlight. I had reached, and now my training would begin... 9 Training I hissed for the umpteenth time today as I cleaned my wounds. My arm stung with the rage of a boiling inferno, as I tried futile-ly to curb the streaming blood that seemed to have an aversion to the inside of my body. ''Whichever idiot it was, that claimed that having theoretical knowledge was enough to have a head start with training was an abysmal fool that deserved to be hung!'' I thought fuming as I covered up my damaged arm, wrapping it with the linen bandages that father had most thoughtfully packed for me. It had barely been an afternoon since I started training, and I already had the wish to avoid it like the plague. This red haired uncle did not make it easier, infact he seemed to revel in my misfortune as he scolded me from time to time. As some of you might have guessed, this red haired uncle was indeed related to that other red haired uncle shanks, though this uncle was in fact that uncle''s father, yes not very complicated indeed. He was a member of my grandfather''s crew, though what position he had, I did not know. The only thing I knew as of this moment was that he was a sadist, how I knew this of course, was quite a no-brainer. It was because of his demonic training. He had tied my legs to a moving wooden branch, with holes on the ground quite symmetrically placed, with spikes popping up and down erratically. He did this to train my upper body ''dexterity'' though I don''t think he knew what that meant. Now I had just been given a breather before we moved on to the ''stretches that would probably kill me'', where I was supposed to stretch all parts of my body while submerged under water, his logic being that I could hold my breath for as long as I could before he came to save me. It was to let my skin breathe for me, so I could even survive under water. (he said it had worked for him, though he didn''t know whether it would work for a devil fruit eater or not)Hence the name. So started my journey through hell¡­ "Chop chop brat, to your feet, we have some suicidal training regimes to go through!" he said, what truly irked me though, was the fact that he believed that I would truly benefit from this whacked training, truly a scary man. He began to walk towards the pond at the edge of the town, his footsteps leaving no imprint on the ground. As he walked he hummed a song, making it look like he was taking his morning stroll instead of leading a poor child to what was probably going to be a hell-of-a pain in the ass. The wind kissed my unruly hair as I made my way behind him, it seemed to have that salty sea feel to it, and felt quite nice, though I was not in the right mind to appreciate the good feel of it, as I was quite preoccupied in my worries. I did not know whether this ''fear'' was because of the devil fruit, or because I could probably end up dead. In my previous life, the only thing I feared more than death was pain, and now I felt it return, when I had faced the blast of tartoros I had feared, but not like this, probably then I was too caught up in the events to truly notice, but now, now I felt it in all its true and ugly glory, rearing its head. True I could probably erase fear from my body with the help of my fruit, but I knew, deep inside, that that was not the way I was to do it, I had to face my fear, face it and win! Otherwise I could Not be the one who would become the strongest pirate! Screw being the pirate king! Screw becoming the next head of the pirate council! I would be a free wind, a wind that would suppress the world!!! I thought as I took a deep breath before plunging into the icy pool. As I sunk I could feel my muscles scream, and my mind spiral into a never ending abyss of terror. My body felt weak, and my head felt fit to burst as I tried to calm myself, already making a copy of the feel of the surroundings, so I could replicate it later, while also paying close attention to the condition of my body hoping for the opening of pores or something on my body that would help me breathe underwater. One minute passed and I could feel my body on the brink of consciousness, but I held on, with the same willpower that had come to me when I had proclaimed my urge to slaughter a path to Mary Geoisse, now it had appeared again, and it helped my consciousness anchor, the lack of oxygen tormented me, but yet I held on, and then I felt it! a tiny stream of what seemed like air blossomed through the heart region of my chest before disappearing in the maze that was my body. I felt it, and I fed upon it with the same vigor of a starving dog at scraps of food, I ''inhaled'' (for lack of a better word) through the tiny pore, before leading the tiny stream to my head, trying to re-oxygenate my dying brain, yet it was not enough, it felt akin to feeding a century hungry ghost to crumbs of the same century old bread. As I felt my consciousness slip away however, I felt the touch of hands on my shoulder, before feeling a yank to the surface of the water, where the true oxygen was. Yes, I probably might die going through this disguised abuse, but atleast I finally understood how scientists felt when one of their experiments gave a new result¡­ that''s a positive, right?....... Right?? 10 Setting sail My eyes glazed over as I stared at Tanken. It had been three years since we had started my training, and now I had just completed the last test that he had for me, yup I was going to set sail. I knew that it was three years before schedule, but father said that I was ready, what with the semi-mastered haki, and my somewhat overpowered devil fruit. I was to start off at north blue, gathering my crew before stepping into the grandline to tell my own tale, maybe fall in love, meet a few people and have an awesome adventure. Of course I knew that I would probably get hurt a lot, but I had long learned to ignore pain (owing to the devilish tortu-Ahem training, yes that''s the word, training of Tanken-senpai) and now I could barely wait. I would set sail tomorrow night, on the eve of my tenth birthday, with a small boat and some escorts to the tip of the redline in the boundaries of North Blue. I knew of course of the shit that I would probably see there, but I had made up my mind. This was going to be my adventure, screw the main story and the god-forsaken cannon, I was going to mess with the story however I wish, so there Humph!(I confess, that sounds childish even to me..) I had already made up my mind with the type of pirate I was going to be, and I also knew that I needed to get a bunch of competent crew mates, not like the idiot Luffy, I mean a deer? what you were smoking, step-sworn brother of mine, quite eludes me, though I wouldn''t mind having a little of it¡­( for research purposes of course..) I even had a list of laughs I wanted to try out!! Anyway, I was getting too excited and I knew it, and so did everyone around me, if my father''s glower and my teacher''s glare were enough responses to go by. "Brat this time marks the beginning of your journey to pirate-hood, make your old man proud!" My father said, as he passed me a canister of sake (''any man old enough to set sail is old enough to drink!'') and patted the ground next to him, before grabbing his own glass of sake and chugging it down vigorously. (Haki users had strong, impervious kidneys..) Tanken too had settled down, sighing forlornly as he drunk. "Tell that idiot son of mine to come see his old man from time to time!" He said, before promptly realizing that we were at Raftel and settling into an even greater sadness. "Brat, you''ll be ten by the time you reach the North Blue, so here is a birthday present in advance, your mother wanted you to have it, especially when you set sail, and so I am giving it to you, here catch!" my father said, before throwing at me a package, wrapped in a thick paper, with a somewhat small strip of cloth attached to it. ''Dear lore, So many things to say, yet so little time, son, lore, know this mother loves you like no one else in the world, you have been one of the stars in my life, and I hope that, in these times you are brave, brave enough to face all your problems, if ever you have a problem that you cannot face, then remember, father and mother believe in you. In this is a small present mother prepared when she saw that you were going to be a pirate like your father, it is a mythical zoan fruit, for someone in your future crew. It is the gryphon fruit, something mother obtained when she was young, I did not know who to hand it to, but now I have, son, give it to someone you trust, and let them eat it, it might be only a fruit, but I am sure that in your hands it can truly reach the best user! Good luck, happy adventures, and glorious life! With love, Mother'' the letter on attached to the package read. Hot tears ran down the sides of my cheeks, as I silently wept, holding the package to my chest, trying to stop the pain in my heart. True, I had lived for a life before this, but still the, the love of a mother touched me, the letter again reminded me of the fight back then, the noises, the screams, the smoke and the terror that that day had been. I felt my father''s hand on my shoulder, before I dove into his bosom. Tears wrecked my body as I trembled unceasingly, a shadowy silhouette seemed to magically enter my minds as I remembered my mother pretty face, her warm eyes and her doting aura, I had missed her without even knowing, I missed my mother......¡­.. *********************************************************************************** "Get in the damn boat brat!!" my father roared as he all but shoved me onto the rickety canoe that they had prepared for me. "Dosen''t my bloodline have any benefits? What are you playing at, father, do you want people to see and marvel at the poverty sticken-ness of the gols?? Don''t you think that it will besmirch your reputation to have your son on a ship, that barely has any life expectancy???" I asked trying to both negotiate, and maneuver on the sad abomination that was to be a mode of transport. "Do it yourself, go on shoo!!" my father said ruthlessly pushing the boat away from the port with his crutch while faking some tears. "Atleast give me some oars! I''ll drown! I''ll seriously drown!! Old man I''ll remember this!!!......." I said as I wobbled on the dangerously unsafe boat, on a misty night......¡­.. 11 Minnon As I walked onto the port, I was painfully aware of how empty my stomach was, its mournful gurgling seemed to echo inside my head as I tried to alleviate it for the twelfth time with the help of my data fruit. I had already stored away the feeling that I would have when I was full (Along with loads of other feelings. No. I am not Gowther, nor am I related to the guy, let''s move on..) and downloading it onto myself, before continuing on the footpath. I had of course made sure that my body would have enough food to grow without problems, though I had also made sure to remain sneaky while I did it. (My father didn''t allow me to take any money with me so I was poorer than the beggar that sat in the corner of the pier¡­ I hate self-sufficiency¡­) My black hair was tied in a neat bun and rested the tip of my shoulder blades, and my blue eyes gleamed in a pale light. My cheekbone had grown more angular along with the contours of my face, making me look older than I actually was. (Tanken senpai said that I looked like a adult baby¡­whatever that is..) My black jacket hung loosely over my muscular yet lanky frame, and my boots made resounding thuds against the dark gravel. I had arrived in Minnon just a short hour ago, and had not made any trouble for anyone (How admirable, me!!) and was infact minding my own business quite well. The dark cobblestone looked quite pristine in the dim glow of the setting sun, the crowd though did not seem to decrease anymore than what it was in the morning, it in fact seemed to double up as people joked around the streets. I knew of course of the actions of the famous Donquixote Pirates and of the famous Doflamingo, but I wouldn''t let that bother me, after all only a small part of the island was cordoned off by the spectacled freak. I was here to have a good time, and if anyone caught my eye I would recruit them, otherwise I would leave the island and look through the surrounding islands, I had decided. So of course, I did not shrik away from emptying a few overly heavy pockets, and walking toward the market. My stealth skills had been trained to perfection by Tanken, and so none of these plebs were the wiser when I slit their pockets. (Though I only picked the extremely snobbish. I felt like robin Hood!) As I walked into the market, I heard the loud screeches of the shop owners, desperately trying to attract the attention of the crowd. I made my way purposefully to the smithy,'' though I am a dagger user, a few stealthy needles wouldn''t hurt anyone'', I reasoned to myself as I entered the almost empty store, before purposefully walking toward the counter. "I want some refined steel needles, as sharp as you have" I said as I acted as if I was looking through his collection with a great interest. "How many do you want?" came the reply, as the man seemed to be in no hurry to get me what I wanted. "Give me twenty" I said refusing to look at him in the face. "huh, I''ll get it for you, give me a minute" He said finally getting off the stole that he had been sitting on, and walking toward the inside of his shop. "How long do you want ''em?" he asked from inside the shed, before seeming to have made a decision all on his own and returning to the outside and handing me the finished needles attached to a leather belt. Strangely enough, the needles were just the right size for me. I handed him the money that I had just pocketed before exiting the shop, and heading toward the restaurant to fill my stomach, which had now renewed its mournful hymn in an attempt to grab my attention and draw it to the vast emptiness that was my stomach. I knew that a gol''s stomach wasn''t as easy to fill as the common folk and so I made my way first to the jewelry store. I knew that it was morally defective of course, nut honestly I didn''t really care. As I made my way into the brilliantly beautiful building that was the goldsmith''s, a couple in the corner caught my eye. "Honey, these pheasants don''t know what true gold is!" the man exclaimed annoyed. He wore expensive clothes and seemed to have what resembled a pencil mustache, it was either that or a regurgitated turd, I was unaware which of the two it was, nor did I want to know. The women constantly nodded her head, almost to the extent of it falling off, not that that would have mattered to her, she seemed to be blissfully unaware of the method one would use to harness the organ known as the brain, and her face wasn''t anything to look at either. Full of freckles and acne, she had a woefully average face, with a hardly better body shape. ''Target Found!'' I told myself as slinked toward the duo before emptying their pockets into my hand, They were quite rich! I realized as I quickly exited the store before heading to the now orange lit inn. I had just made my way to the front of the mahogany doored inn, when I heard the shrill scream of who I could only guess was the owner of the store. "You waste!! Do you not know anything other than eating?! I just picked you up a month ago and you have already eaten away both my summer and winter stores of food!! Hais what a glutton¡­" 12 The Melancholy Fatty ".....Boss, you know about my huuuuge stomach, don''t worry, you know as the saying goes, feed a man a day and he''ll feed you later when you get older!!!!" A nasal voice replied. Where the owner of said voice got the mentioned saying I did not know, though his shamelessness truly cracked me up. I shrugged as I walked past the wall trying to see the conversing duo. As I walked past the cracked walls I came upon a pudgy looking boy, barely five foot in height. His round boyish face shone with a child-like innocence while his inflated hands seemed to play with the hem of his tattered shirt. "No. No more. I shouldn''t have volunteered to care for you in the first place!" the exasperated voice of the shopkeeper echoed as he motioned with his hands towards the fat man, obviously in an attempt, to get rid of the fat man. "sigh... go away brat I have many customers to feed, go to the pier or something." the shopkeeper said, before decidedly ignoring the young pudgy man and hurrying to his humble restaurant. "But boss......." the fatty moaned, before slumping to the ground in a defeated and melancholy manner. "Am I going to die just like this¡­..? A virgin, and starving??" he bemoaned as he looked up at the sky in an attempt to curse god for his misfortune. His smile melting off of his face as a sad frown took its place. "Lil'' brother what might you be doing here?" I asked as I walked over to him and patted his dispirited back. "Uncle...." the fatty replied. "Oh! its uncle john! Shopkeeper boss, my uncle is here! He has money! Give me some foooood!!!" He shouted loudly as he got to his feet and raced toward the shopkeeper, who by now had settled into a pearly apron and was working hard at the kitchen. I did not know whether to laugh or cry, as I made my way forward hurriedly in an attempt to explain myself to the man before I too would be forcefully conscripted into the fatty''s little scheme to fill his stomach. "What uncle? Which unfortunate soul has sinned so much so as to gain you as a nephew?" The shopkeeper replied as he looked up from the food he was making, which now that I noticed turned out to be a round and aromatic dumpling, albeit half complete. As he looked at me, I could see a vast amount of pity that seemed to dot his face. "Young man¡­.I pity you¡­to have such a glutton as a nephew¡­.. Hais what can be said, maybe god has cursed you for the sins of your ancestors.." He said to me as he made his way over, obviously in an attempt to fleece me of the little coin that my pockets jingled with. "What uncle?!?" I said glaring at the fat man. "I am not your uncle, you must have me mistaken with someone else.." I said as I looked pleadingly towards the kindly old shopkeeper, whose face had again fallen as he dispiritedly muttered about an awful loss of money. "Brat... you win, get up ill pay for your food¡­" I said as my heart bled. "Uncle!" the fatty said with an obviously fake happiness. "Thank you¡­" He said as he ran into the kitchen while I emptied my pockets into the old shopkeepers hand. "Can his bill be covered with this..? if not ill have to go get some more from a friend nearby" I said as I remembered the snobbish noble man who I had previously stolen from. " it ...........should be enough" the man said with a thoughtful expression as he meticulously counted the coins in his hand. "Infact, it should be slightly more than enough" he said as he tried handing me back some coins, "Keep it, I am hungry too" I said as I made my way inside and sat at the table with the fatty who was happily chomping away at the dumpling in his hand. "So brat, what are you doing here and why did you have to drag me into your games..?" I asked questioningly as I waited patiently for my food. "Heh, sorry uncle, but I was hungry and you looked like a rich man" The fatty replied as he continued to eat, not even looking up to see my face. "What uncle, I am just ten years old, if anything I need to call you uncle.. This older brother is gonna be the strongest pirate in the world!" I said grumbling. "Call me Lore, that should do" I said as I waited for him to acknowledge my statements. "Of cource, your ten yea- wait What!!!?????" the fatty exclaimed as he stopped looking at his food and, finally, looked at me. "You''re saying, that uncle here," he said motioning at me with his greasy hands, "is only TEN YEARS OLD!!!??!?!" his loud voice resonated in the empty restaurant. "keep it down there!!" the shopkeeper exclaimed as he scowled at me, as if I had committed a terrible error and would be judged by the divine light of god. "You are ruining the customers experience!" "What customers, you don''t have any.." the fatty grumbled as he settled back down. "So tell me more about yourself, why are you here alone?" I asked as I looked at the fatty. "My name is Sorren, and I am the son of a wandering sea healer." he said puffing out his chest. "My father is a famous pirate, you must have heard of him, he is part of a strong crew in the new world!" He said, his eyes glimmering. " I used to live with my mother, she used to teach me all about the human body!" He continued happily as he looked at me. "We were all happy, my father used to visit sometimes. Every time he visited, he brought me cool presents and played with me! He used to get my mom flowers from all over the place, once he even got a stinky smelling one that he called the stinky beauty! On his last visit though... we knew he was worried about something, he kept talking about some terrible feelings he had, always muttering to himself¡­" the fatty said as his expression darkened. "It was all well and good.. My father had gone out to get us our supplies, and mother was tending to her patients, that was when we saw him, a world noble, him in his shiny golden outfit looking full of himself. He took a fancy to my mother and ordered for her to be brought to him as a ''slave''. Luckily though father got back in time to stop them from doing anything too bad¡­.. He saw her in chains and lost it¡­ We escaped and father killed the noble, but it was too late, the marines had arrived. They were firing away like mad men, a-and one of the bullets hit my mother- she died and our boat capsized, luckily some fishermen found me unconscious in the water...¡­.. They brought me back here¡­and here I am" The fatty (Now known as Sorren) said as he sniffled softly into his food. A gloomy aura surrounded him, as he continued to assault his food, ''if he did that on Earth, he''d probably get arrested for food assault.'' I thought as I re-collected my thoughts and began my own meal. "My food!!" he hissed as he slapped my hand away. My eyes shone darkly as I regarded him menacingly, my aura already mounting as I prepared to fire off a concentrated blast of my conqueror''s haki. "Who do you think paid for that food¡­?" I said, a hint of killing intent in my gaze, (never steal a ''D''s food, or you''ll regret it¡­.)before snatching the food off the table and munching on it. The boy had become somewhat more docile as he regarded me with a wounded expression, "Uncle Lore, why are you so mean to me..?" he asked me with a fake sob in his tone. "You have so much money, why are you bargaining with me for this tiny crumb of food?" He continued. "You think this money is mine?" I asked him between mouthfuls, my expression had already settled down as I regarded him with a bemused smirk in the corner of my lips. His eyes glimmered as he understood what I meant, before hauling all the food he had missed, during our brief conversation into his mouth and looking at me combatively. "Brat you say your old man is a pirate, in the new world no less. So tell me, what weapon does he specialize in?" I asked as I let my jaw rest for a short amount of time before immediately returning my attention to my food. "He''s a swordsmen!!" he said as his eyes shone with the brilliance of a star, "but mother convinced me to practice martial arts instead she used to say, with enough training, every part of the human body would become a weapon, then I wouldn''t have to waste space to bring my own weapons, I could use the place for snacks instead!!" he continued as he finally inhaled all the food on his table. My head spun with wonderment, as I regarded the little boy, I was feeling somewhat strange, my current mood hovered between exasperation and hilarity, I was positive that no martial artist would ever be motivated to train just to free up space for some snacks! (good things need to be repeated twice) "So brat, what do you plan to do now?" I asked as I tried to steer the conversation away from the awkward territory that it had just found itself in. "I don''t really know....... hey, hey uncle why don''t I join your crew!?" he asked as he looked at me hopefully. "Then when we reach the new world, I''ll be able to find my father and you can give me food!!!!" he said happily. My head spun as I begun feeling faint, why, of all the people in North Blue did I have to be saddled with this GLUTTON???!!?!?! 13 Strong fatty I felt a stream off cuss words uncontrollably flow out of my mouth as I looked at the pudgy boy that hung onto my leg. His snot already contaminated my shoes and it threatened to continue its journey up my pants as the boy cried intelligibly. "Uncle, Uncle don''t leave me!! Uncle-hick uncle the bad men threatened to put me in a brothel !! Uncle-uncle DONT LEAVE!!" he screamed pitifully as he swam along behind me. (A/N imagine a fat man like lucky Roo crying up a storm, holding onto another guy''s leg as he literally swims on the ground¡­..ya.. nasty..) "Git off me you fat lout!!" I roared, my anger forcing my words to slur. I had constantly attempted to calm myself down with the ability of my fruit, but it all proved quite useless as I got angry faster that I could calm down. "Ubcle!!!......" a sob quite riddled with snot journeyed behind me as I finally made my way into an alleyway that had a lack of people- just what I was looking for. The fatty immediately calmed down, the lines of tears on his face the only evidence to the fact that he had been crying, I was quite in awe at the level of shamelessness that had just been displayed, you have to realize I had been in the company of pirates my whole life! but even then, I had never seen someone as shameless as the fatty at my feet. "It''s not that I am against taking you into my crew per-se, it is just that I don''t really believe you are strong enough to survive in the new world¡­and beyond" I began coldly as I regarded the fatty who had straightened up, an uncharacteristically serious look overcoming his usual gloomy fa?ade. "Moreover I don''t really know you-" I continued just to be interrupted by the scowling fatty. "Captain.." he began, completely disregarding my raised eyebrow. "I am not trying to boast, but I. Am. Strong" he said gritting his teeth as he did so. "I have awakened observation haki, and I know that you are strong. Really strong. That is why I want to follow you¡­.So that one day¡­one day I can reach the same level as my father, surpass him and flatten Mary Gerosa!" he said his eyes blazing eerily as a cold aura burst forward from him. "test me how you will, but please..please give me a chance!" he continued as he regarded me with his brown eyes. I felt shaken. Partly because of the fatty''s determination, but mostly because of his ability. "fine¡­" I sighed looking defeated as I looked at him. "I will give you a chance, one chance only. If you fail-never show your face infront of me!" I said as I looked at him, a spark of battle intent smoldering in my eyes as I took out my dagger, "You are a martial artist. Come! Fight me!!" I roared coldly as I made sure that the exit to the alley, and by extension the alley itself was deserted. Obvious surprise colored his face as he hastily rolled away from me, dodging the cutthroat movement my a hairs breadth. He rounded on me, a roundhouse kick aimed at my face. My eyes contracted as I moved the dagger to intercept, only to be stopped by the heel of his feet. With my hands as support, the fatty somersaulted backwards, much too agile for his stocky frame as he tried to sweep the feet from under his advancing foe, My eyes shone with amusement as I jumped up, over his outstretched leg, only to land and continue to advance unbothered. He rose hurriedly, maintaining his form, before throwing a powerful punch my way. I barely dodged only due to the synergy that my observation Haki and my devil fruit abilities possessed. My mind finally fully focused on my enemy. A sharp gleam assaulted the fatty as I shunpo''d in front of him, just in time to catch the deflected dagger and bringing it down onto his exposed neck. He remained calm as he kneed the bottom of my elbows forcing my dagger off trajectory, before he brought his fists into my exposed chest [ Martial Arts: Tiger Punch] he roared loudly as I flew backwards, again quite surprised my his arsenal of moves. My fruit worked quickly analyzing his battle style before revising my battle style. I had decided, the fatty was going to join my crew!! So of course it followed that he had to be shown how cool his captain was. I shunpo''d back infront of him, before ducking his martial arts move, my body naturally moved away from his next flurry of moves, before I initiated my own move. I took a deep breath before whispering; [ Dagger Arts: Meteor fall], the whisper seemed to cut through the night air like a knife through butter, bringing with it an eerie feeling which our dear fatty felt as he swiftly jumped backwards, putting his fists infront of his chest with a grave expression on his face. My dagger attained unreal momentum as it fell towards my enemy, colours seemed to glow from its tip as it landed before the fatty. The Earth cracked with a thunderous fit as a deep cavity formed where the dagger had just fallen. The surrounding houses had a line of cracks running through them, as a loud crash was heard in the night. The fatty looked pale in all his fainted glory as I panted slowly. I had won, it wasn''t something to be proud of I knew, but I couldn''t stop a smile from growing on my face- I had gotten a new crew member!! I chuckled softly as I put the fatty on my shoulder and ran toward the port. My first crew member had been recruited, how could I not be happy? 14 New crew member -Get! A dim light shone through my lidded eyes as I awoke, my limbs felt truly dead, and my body seemed riddled bruises, from the earlier fight with the captain. I groaned as I slowly stretched my hand towards the ceiling all the while wondering where I was and where the captain was (he wasn''t getting away that easy), I felt a shiver travel through my spine as I remembered the fight I just survived through - it was a terrible ordeal - and I was happy it was over. ''I hope I passed the captain''s test - welp if he failed me, I''ll just have to use my [Supreme move: Beg] no one has survived that before.'' I thought as I slowly rose from the recently identified hay bed. As I got to my feet, I felt a sudden urge to cry, looking at the state of my clothes - they looked like victims of a buster call - as I put them on. "Captain! Where are you?" I called out as I took in my surroundings. It seemed to be in what looked like an inn - it had a wooden table to one side and a spider web encrusted wardrobe to the other along with an old-ish window that occupied a small part of the otherwise empty wall. "Captain.. don''t abandon your crew mate; you know the saying crewmate for a day Partner for life!" I continued as a pleading tone crept into my voice and my power of shamelessness overtook my otherwise upstanding *cough* demeanor. "Don''t get your pants in a twist, I''m right here" a voice replied as the captain entered the room. His usually pony-tied hair had now been left free and his jacket lay draped over his shoulder. His blue eyes seemed to regard me weirdly (I''m not food! wait¡­..speaking of which captain treat me for ruining my clothes!!) He now donned a sea blue yukata that he had quite obviously stolen. (My captain is very stingy - not even treating his crewmates to food¡­) His face housed a satisfied expression. (Quite like how one would look after sex, though I am sure he''ll never ever have sex, he''s too stingy.) He motioned to the side of the bed as he walked into the room, his stolen slippers making crunching noises on the stone ground of the inn as he sat on the chair next to the bed I had recently occupied. " So what are you going to do?" he said putting away his satisfied smile, instead adopting a serious expression. "I''ll just consider all the money I spent to be because of my ill fate, so tell me where do I drop you off?" he continued. I felt a sinking feeling arose in my gut as I looked at him shakily, "Captain, brother captain, grandpa captain, don''t abandon me!!" I wailed as I walked toward him. I reached out to him, discreetly rubbing my nose off on the sleeve of his yukata. ''The damn motherfucker had tricked me!'' ************************************************************************************* I felt like I was dying, (no this is not a suicide note wait till the end) I felt my stomach begin to capsize as I rolled on the floor, the brat was shameless, I knew that but I never expected for it to be this hilarious! ''Grandpa lore?'' I mean who does that, even a NEET from Earth did not posses such levels of face-thickness. I reckoned that people would use this fatty''s face for city walls when he died, it would save them from loads of invaders! "hahahhahahahahahahahahhahah-" my laughter was abruptly cut short by the fatty, who had by now found himself in an unchangeable trajectory towards me. "Umph!" I echoed as a mountain of flesh found in me it''s unfortunate landing site, and a feeling quite akin to the feeling I once felt in water brought itself jarringly back to me. "Okay, enough jokes" I began trying in vain to get the blushing fat pig off of me, all the while beckoning helplessly in my head for a change of topic before finally settling down to ''exploring the entire of Minnon''. to which I enthusiastically convinced the fatty to go with. The streets of Minnon were uncharacteristically filled, quite a number of people walked around hurriedly all seeming to have some form of aim in their endeavor. The men walked around in grey-ish clothes with smiles on their faces - as expected of morning people, all feeling perversely joyful in the morning. The Markets were rich with hawkers all attempting to swindl*Ahem* convin- okay I got nothing, ''a bunch of swindlers the lot of them'', I grumbled as I made my way through them. On occasions, I had felt pinches near my belt- some poor sod had tried to steal my purse, it was filled with crabs, serves them right, Humph! The fatty trailed behind me, his face askance with a merry glow as he looked eagerly at all the stalls. "Never seen a market before?" I asked as I looked at Fatty with one eye, closing the other (I was trying out new looks) "Oh since me and my mother lived on her overseas ship, I never actually visited a town before, he said with an innocent look on his face. ''Best jewelry!!'' ''Ripe fruits!'' We were assaulted by a plethora of vocal advertisements as we made our way through the markets, the fatty trailed behind me, all the while wearing a satisfied look on his face, he was happy, happy for the first time in months...¡­ 15 shady old man in a shady old alley! An old ragged man sat in a corner of the alley overlooking the main street, his wispy black beard lay in an unruly knot, and his stormy grey eyes stared emotionlessly at the otherwise jolly street. His grey hair hung loosely to his pale head and his spindly limbs hung at his side like dead seaweed in a tumultuous tsunami. His chest was wrapped in an ugly bandage, that by now should have been replaced. In front of him lay a browning sheet that seemed to camouflage against the dusty pavement. Around him sat equally unfortunate souls that all seemed to share his unflattering misery. His cold eyes regarded the residents of his alley as he hobbled to his feet, a tattered paper clutched in his bony hand. He reached toward the cloth before him as he placed the sheet. It would serve as a message, a message that ''he'' was still alive. The man only hoped that the description he had been provided served aptly as a judge for character, if not then all would be lost. The colorful chatter seemed to swamp the silent alley as he feebly looked toward the street outside, he was here to find someone, someone he hoped would be able to tell him how his father died¡­ My arms hurt as my heart bled, yes you guessed it, we were at a restaurant. The fatty sat next to me as he inhaled his food, barely taking time to taste the delicacy place before him. Loud noises accompanied his chewing as spittle flooded the table. My eating had been dwarfed by that of my companion and I did not know whether to feel offended by his blatant disregard for the appetite of a D. The shop owner looked on with amazement at the horrifying scene that had been placed before him, not daring to stop his cooking fearing that the monstrous glutton that had found itself into his store would swallow him whole, unless he managed to satiate his world-ending hunger. I hoped that this would not be a common event (Who was I kidding, the fatty joined my crew only cause I brought him food!) as I finally finished my own meal and decidedly hauled the Fatty away from the restaurant. The owner looked at me as one would look at their savior with tears of gratitude that seemed to be enough to raise the level of the sea by a few inches. As we continued our journey we came across many shameless merchants who all wanted to swindle us of some money, and it was up to me make sure that the little fatty would not be fooled by these bespoke and legal thieves. As the sun reached the height of its course, finally we finished our needlessly arduous and tedious adventure through the markets and at end finally reached what I could only assume to be the slum region of the town of Minnon. It was quite funny really - no, not the poverty itself, but the contrast that society seemed to weave itself into regardless of the situation or world. At least in that aspect, humanity was scum. As I made my way to the alley way, the fatty begun to whimper and clutched tightly at my yukata sleeve, you had to realize for all his strength and shamelessness, he was only a twelve year old boy. (A/N yes I know, I haven''t iterated enough how old he is) His eyes darted around as he looked about attentively, this was the slums of the one piece world after all, an almost jungle-ion aura assaulted all that had not gotten used to it, keeping away annoying visitors which I believe we were. A ticking noise overwhelmed my senses as I looked at the mouth of the alleyway. Not many people filled the alley, but those who did, either looked ill, or were straight up fainted. From among them a poor old-man stared back at me, his eyes seeming to bore through my very being as I returned his gaze. His storm-grey eyes reminded me of the look that old army veterans possessed back on Earth. It was the look of a warrior and a survivor. A look that I had only recently adopted after long and grueling hours of Tanken senpai''s Spartan regime. A glimmer of light seemed to swamp his plain face as he slowly pointed toward me, an unknown feeling kept me grounded in place as continued to vehemently point toward me, a feeling that seemed to bid me to come closer, and a feeling that seemed to force me to help up the old man. A cold gleam arose in my eyes as a tiny vein of Haoshaku burst out from me, I had awakened my conqueror''s Haki very early so it only made sense that I was able to control it. In response to my Will, another Will seemed to be birthed rising higher into the noon air. All the residents of the Shady alley had long fainted and even the fatty tethered on the brink of consciousness, but the momentum still continued to rise - not in opposition, but in alliance, an alliance between kings arose between us, me, and the old man. Our Wills seemed to rise into the air, as a solid windstorm seemed intent on buffeting the nearby blocks of Minnon. As the winds swished more than ever, I finally noticed the tattered piece of paper that lay unmoving in the storm that had been conjured up, on it lay a jumble of words, a jumble of words that only barely made any sense. But what it said, sent me staggering backwards - ''he'' was alive! 16 That Man Has a Son! I glared menacingly at the man as his eyes seemed to laugh at me, the fatty looked on between us, unaware of what was going on. He looked very much like a dog, that was tied to a rail while two people juggled unknown treats on either side. The man ( who I had by now decided would remain unnamed for an undetermined period of time) had by now gotten to his feet and was making his way determinedly towards me, all the while waving the tattered paper that I had just recently seen. Yes. Exactly the one that had caused me to employ my current attitude. My hands shook slightly as I received the paper, on it were written only a few simple words, but those words had shaken me to the bone, and would probably illicit the same reputation from my father. It merely read: ''I Am Alive - Barthelomio'' To realize the impact that these words had on me, you must first consider that, one- if, this letter was forged, then that would mean that they knew who I was! ( Why is that such a big thing you ask, well, it is because to the world my father, and by extension me, are dead! So to make such a letter, the writer not only had to know that my father was alive he also had to know that I was!) two- if, and that is a big if, this letter was indeed written by who it claimed to have been written by, then the man who my father thought dead for more than five years was alive! And not only so, he was also able enough to send a letter (However small) to me, his former captain''s son! "Bwahahaahahaa, when the old man said that I would be surprised, he wasn''t kidding around!" The guy said as he began to size me up. He looked at me as one would look at a solid block of gold, "I don''t swing that way, shoo!!!!!" I snapped annoyed as I turned around to explain all that transpired to my blissfully unaware companion. "The names Fawkes" the now named guy began as he stretched his hand. "You must be Gol.D.Love , Leluche, lonny..?" he continued. His words almost caused me to faint in abject anger as I corrected him, before moving on to what was going to be a long interrogation, that would probably span into the night. "So, Fawkes. How''re you related to old man Barthelomio?" I began as I adopted a serious expression. This was after all a serious discussion and thus be approached with the same level of clear-headedness. "I''m ol'' man Barthelomio''s son, that''s who, lived together with him on a small unnamed island in East Blue almost all my life, a drunken wreck he was. Always complaining about the government or the new generations of pirates. On nights when he got really drunk though he''d call me and bitch about how bad of a second in command he''d been to his late captain. Only a few months back did he realize that his captain was in fact alive! You shoulda seen his face!" How he was tracked down by Cypher operative, how his infinite log pose was stolen, and how it led straight to the island that his captain lived on with his family." he continued, his smile morphing into what could only be a sad grimace that seemed to twist his face into an unruly storm of bottled up emotions and pent up frustrations. "You see he had been training me since I was little over two, in haki and in weaponry. He always used to say, that his captain''s food was the most delicious and how the captain also dubbed as the cook for the whole ship! On what could only be two months ago, when he was experimenting on his de den mushi trying to reach his ''captain'' the marines somehow got wind of where we lived, they didn''t send Cypher, but they did send a Buster Call our way - the island was destroyed, along with my old man. He gave me this paper to give to his precious ''captain'' before he passed away in a bloody mess in my arms!" he said, his eyes turning now an inferno of red, veins popping from his temple, spittle flying all over the otherwise silent street. "What do I see here, the son of the famous captain dancing and parading around with his man-slave gigolo!?!!?" he roared as he clutched the sides of my yukata and flung me to the wall. I convince, all my sympathy had been temporarily eradicated in the spur of the moment, as I too got to my feet glaring at the other party. "You think you''re the only one hurt? You think you''re the only one who suffered?" I growled as I walked closer to him, my eyes turning icier with each passing second. "You don''t know the half of it snow flake! After that infinite log pose of yours was relieved from your father''s conniving hands, those bastards in Cypher decided it was time to launch an attack on our sweat little island-" "You survived didn''t you! And don''t you insult my fathe-" "Listen till the end you jabby wee git! Those bastards at Cypher thought it was a nice idea to bring with them an ancient weapon! Do you even know what an ancient weapon is?? Of course you do! those bastards decided to bring that bombastic cannon by name Tartoros, and fired the steamy white pile of crap right at our ships, can you survive that? You think anyone can survive that? Of course not! At least you had an additional few years to spend with one of your parent, I lost my mother and almost lost all of my father! So shut your trap, deal with it, move on and stop pointing fingers!" I roared, before turning my back on the man and storming out of the alley. Fawkes stood there dazed till I was almost out of sight, only then finally registering all that had been told before running after me with an apologetic face. I sighed softly as I calmed down, and slowed down waiting for Fawkes and the little fatty to catch up. A whole lot of shit had happened and I was already dreading the headache that I would shortly have to deal with.........¡­ 17 Breakthrough A deep sigh reached every corner of the room, in the middle a young man could be seen holding his head and sighing like an engine. Beside him sat a fat man, who looked nothing like a man, and everything like a balloon. Loud chomps could be heard between the sighs as the balloon savored a piece of meat. Spittle seemed to fly everywhere in the room, a huge puddle had already formed below the table, it looked much like a river with lines of tributaries that seemed to flow in separate directions. On the bed sat a third man, looking at the two with a bemused expression. Yes, it was exactly the trio, whose journey we had been following so far. (A/N well who do you think I can write about here?) My head ached as I looked at the two people I had resolved to travel with, my eyes swam with a stream of fake tears as I imagined the amount of shit the two guys would get me into, ''so much trouble¡­'' I thought sadly as I forced myself to think happy thoughts. My mind filled with an unnecessary amount of memories from my past life, a world seemed to open up above me, a galaxy of stars that seemed to gleam with the brightness of a million numbers. Everything around me seemed to be composed as a line of falling numbers - each number telling a story that most resembled the history of the world. This world I called my datascape and as long as I was here time remained stagnated. My body turned blue as I looked at the world around me, the grass seemed to compose of only a single line of code - one line of code that represented its entirety. The stars glimmered as I sighed. I finally understood, the skies above, they were where I stored all the information that I had obtained, in this life and my previous one, and now I could use it all! Not passively as I had been doing - aim assists and the like, but as legitimate software that I could now download onto any canvas!! I could create anything, provided of course the material composition was fulfilled! I was a programmer in my own little game world!! As I finally calmed down, I felt a deep resonance with the world around me - this was my home. In here, I could be as I wanted - the Weeb I was! The euphoria of my break through finally left me as my mind was again brought to its calm state, like an undisturbed pool, without any ripples, I was at peace. I was excited no denying it, but I was calm about, you know what I mean? (how would you y''all haven''t gone on an adventure since that one time you jumped off your crib! Wait was that only me?.... Moving on!) The world finally returned to normal, a breath I didn''t know I was holding was released and my hair fluttered in an invisible breeze. (A/N Anime style!) The prick smiled at me provocatively as he too rose from the bed, his bony frame had by now gotten quite filled up, though it was at the cost of what seemed like a century of savings unconsciously contributed by the resident rich of Minnon. The fatty too had used this opportunity to fill his abyss like stomach, and now we were all ready to go, (I had two crew members how cool was that¡­ stop it inner weeb, go back to that dark cave from whence you came!! namely my dataspace where no one would see me) "I feel like a common bandit¡­" I said grumpily as I stared at the ones who had forced me onto the accursed path of Banditry, the aggressors at least had the courtesy to look guilty, so I supposed that.... ''You know what screw it. Anymore thinking and I''ll probably gain premature wrinkles'' I thought as I walked on trying to steer the crew towards the pier, "Don''t screw up anything , low profile, low profile!" I whispered to them, in an attempt, I confess to brainwash them into adopting a low profile. The fresh cry of seagulls, mingling with the not so fresh cry of the merchants rang in the morning air as we walked on towards the blacksmiths, who was right on the root to the port where I had docked my boat. An important looking police officer walked up to us, an amiable-old man look to him as he began, "You folks aren''t from around here are ya? Beware the thieves aroun'' ''ere they are a roguish lot who''ve gotten more active these past few days..... Been stealing stuff from the rich left right and centre! No respect for law an'' order ai tell ya! Anywho, if you folks so come across ''em, just keep in mind, not all of Minnon are like tha''. Anyway merry day gentlemen, have a nice journey, and hope your stay in Minnon don''t get ruinn''" And with those guilt inducing words the officer was off, complaining about the state of affairs and the pompousness of the rich ''snobs'' for being unable to ''keep their pockets to ''emselves!''. A line of sweat - all from how hot the day was, I wasn''t automatically afraid of the police man. No way!! - ran down my spine as we got into the recently visited store. I had prepared enough money to buy a few weapons so I got in confidently. "I want an Axe, give me the heaviest axe you got old man!" he told the smith. The pudgy man sighed as he got up from his stool, "''ere ya go that''s 5000 belli.." he said lazily handing over the axe before settling down to sleep on his stool. (How the man did that baffled me) As we walked out of the shop, a huge BOOM was heard in the distant pier ringing loudly in the air, foreshadowing to the chaos that would shortly engulf the Island......... 18 Battling a king I sighed tiredly as I made my way to the pier flanked by the two people who had joined my crew. We had serious expressions on our face as we advanced, a horde of people ran in the opposite direction screaming as they did, uncaring of those who got in their way. They reminded me of a bunch of mad elephants, storming the roads with rage. This was chaos, smoke bellowed into the sky as it tried to block the path if the sun. "Before we go any further," I began "both of you take this, it''s called [limit breaker], and it''ll allow you to exceed your limits for a small amount of time.." I finished. This had been one of the first things I had tried to ''Download'' (as I had decided to call my newest ability), it was a serum that would boost all physical and mental capabilities for a short period of time, there was a lot of disadvantages to its use though, like how one would be bedridden for atleast a few months, or how it hurt like hell when used, and most of all it could only be used once by any individual! (I wasn''t being lazy, this was the best recipe there was in grandpa''s library!!!) I had already explained to the duo, how one would use it, though the fatty had needed repeated iterations to convince him that the serum was not a fizzy drink and shouldn''t be used so simply¡­.(He still didn''t understand though, hence the need for me to safe keep them until the time the battle started¡­.sigh..) As we rushed through the nearby debris, I finally caught sight of the transgressor. Honestly before this I didn''t really care who it was, as long as the boat was in one piece, I was pretty sure we could just escape, no harm done, but now that I caught a sight of the pier was left shell shocked, my prized rickety boat lay in peril, and most of the nearby ships had gaping holes through them. The initiator to all of this was one particular homicidal maniac by name - Doflamingo. The blond haired man stood alone over a leaden vessel, his red glasses seemed to observe the running people as one would observe puny ants, condescendingly smirking at their terror. His pink cloak seemed to flutter in the breeze as uncaringly played with the hilt of his silver hilted rapier. He sighed bored as he jumped off his boat. "You rats¡­ get lost!" He said chuckling softly as he looked toward the ship. "Damn that Trebol, wanting to go enjoy slaves when he should be accompanying me.!" He grumbled as he looked around only then looking my way, before walking towards us purposefully. "Would ya look at that, three young men all in the pink of youth, wait, two young men and an overgrown capybara. I''m sure Someone would want you!" he said licking his lips, before carelessly moving his hands towards us. The three of us jumped backwards at the same time, fatty even having time to fire off some ugly faces to the antagonist that had by now begun to subtly frown. Our arms clashed as I faced off against the Shichibukai, heavy punches rained down on me as I was pushed back. The man even had time to rain a few kicks towards Fawkes sending him flying towards a nearby building. This was going to be a long and tedious fight.. Sorren leapt around as he tried to avoid the strings that flew towards him, a foreboding aura emitting from them. Lore was the only one in active conflict as he tried to land a clean hit against his enemy. Fawkes who by now had returned to the battle swung his axe heavily as he aimed for Doflamingo, a whistling sound seemed to emit from the air surrounding the axe, as Doflamingo ducked under it only to be greeted by a sharp uppercut from Lorean. Heavy punches and kicks rained down on the pack of string as Sorren finally freed himself from their pursuit, as he too joined the heated fight. "[Martial Art: Quick Punch]" Sorren roared as he flanked the enemy, a sharp attack aiming at Doflamingo''s right shoulder cannoned through the air causing wide compressions of air to blow the nearby sea into a flurry. "[Martial Art: Tiger Punch]" he continued bringing his other clenched fist toward the back of Doflamingo''s shoulder blade. "[Thread Cocoon]!"Doflamingo growled as a swarm of threads flooded out from his sleeve, engufing Sorren before throwing him against the hard pavement. "[Cat''s Cradle]!" he continued as another batch of threads attacked Lorean and Fawkes. The threads spun around them seeming to form what could only be a collection of complex forms that trapped their arms before promptly depositing them onto the pavement next to the entrapped Sorren. "Fuffufu~` that''s all you got? Shame, I was expecting more¡­" He said with an easy smile on his face. "Ok Chop chop. this noble''s got some work to do. So go die~" He continued as he brought his fingers together. [thread Execution!] he said with a simple wave as the victims rose shakily to their feet, the constraints on them only recently removed. A thin string seemed to wrap around the necks of the trio, which begun to rapidly choke them. The trio convulsed in pain, Sorren even began foaming at the mouth, as cried of pain swarmed the air. Doflamingo smiled sadistically as he chuckled to himself, evidently joyful at the prospects of squashing all those who opposed him. A chuckle rang through the air as Lorean seemed to disappear. "I need to thank you Doflamingo, you helped me out big time.. so why don''t you enjoy.. [Sonido!]" A disembodied voice muttered as the threads on the struggling duo suddenly dropped, before Sorren and Fawkes too seemed to disappear only to be deposited a short distance away near the foot of the only standing structure. "then Let''s dance shall we, Doflamingo?" 19 Reversal The air quickened its pace as dull booms echoed in the air. A mournful groan seemed to weave through the air as Doflamingo retreated. Surrounding him stood pieces of wild debris. He wore a frown of anger on his face as a trail of blood ran down his cheek. He glared harshly at his opponent as sparks flew in the air between them. "[Sword draw!]" he roared as he pulled out his rapier from its scabbard, a ray of destruction flowed from its tip as wide gashes spread on the ground. Lorean dodged to the side as he prepared his lean daggers, a cacophony of sparks rose into the air as he Sonido''d to the sword wielding Doflamingo. Rays of light were all that was seen as the duo exchanged attacks, sparks flew in the air as lore swung his blades toward his enemy''s shoulder, a line of light followed the attack as it sought to pierce through Doflamingo. Doflamingo twirled the handle of his rapier trying to deflect the incoming dagger as threads rose to engulf the opponent''s torso. Lore dodged the attack as he sweaved to the left in an attempt to dodge the incoming strings. [Pentachromatic Strings!] Doflamingo said as he attacked with his free left hand, a line of strings seemed to rush toward lore aiming at his neck as it attempted to decapitate him. Lore cursed softly as he Sonido''d out of the way, before reappearing behind Doflamingo''s back and attempting to stab him. Doflamingo twisted around as he blocked the attack opting to meat it with the flourish of his rapier, before he aimed a lethal kick towards the waist of his evasive opponent, aiming to shatter lore''s pelvic bone in an attempt to restrict his movement. Lore ducked under the approaching kick as he aimed a stab at his opponent''s right foot only to be stopped by a mesh of threads that catapulted him away from Doflamingo, before rushing at him in a mad dash to secure his person. "[Dagger Arts: Meteor Fall!]" he roared as he threw his dagger that shone with a dangerous light. Doflamingo shuddered at the incoming attack as he tried to avoid the dagger propelled by unreal momentum. "[Sonido!]" Lore continued as he disappeared, reappearing right beside the torpedo-ing dagger and redirecting the lethal attack. "[Thread Cocoon!]" Doflamingo thought as a collection of threads rose from his feet, forming a sturdy wall against the incoming attack entangling the dagger as it did so. Lore brought the remaining dagger toward his opponent''s neck as he Sonido''d behind him. The dagger gleamed in a cruel light as it begun to near Doflamingo''s neck. Doflamingo twirled around with a sinister smile as he stabbed towards Lorean, his rapier gleaming with unearthly swiftness as it rushed towards Lorean''s heart. A layer of black light enshrouded Lore as he coated his entire body before he rocketed at his enemy, huge cracks running through the ground as embedded foot marks were made where Lore stood only moments ago. Doflamingo chuckled as he too coated his arms with haki before rushing straight at his opponent . Loud ''clangs'' rung through the air as the winds slashed into a storm. At the eye of the storm fought the duo, exchanging attacks at extreme speeds, sparks flying into the storm as the duo fought. Two daggers faced the swift attacks of the rapier, sometimes interrupted by the menace of threads and the occasional body part. Lore roared with vigor as he attacked Doflamingo aiming at his neck at all times. A loud ''Clang'' rang in the air as the duo split screeching to a halt a meter away from each other, long gashes ran through the ruined pavement, as the developed storm of wind died down. Doflamingo chuckled darkly as he looked at Lore. "That all you got, kid? You got potential, why don''t you join my crew, all you have to do is ditch those losers!" he said as he chuckled manically as he motioned to the downed Sorren and Fawkes, of who the latter had barely awoken as he rubbed his head. "Fuffuf~ Why don''t you think about it? You were gonna start a pirate crew weren''t you?" he asked leeringly, surprising Lore. "You can join mine, you''ll have loads of riches! all you have to do is kill those two, and swear loyalty to me!" He finished willing his Haoshaku around him, enveloping the entire port in the process. Lore looked at him condescendingly as he begun to chuckle. "You call that, Conqueror''s Haki? I might not be as strong as you physically Doflamingo, but you cannot compare with me in HAKI!" he roared as his Haoshaku arose in combat to that of Doflamingo. There was an ethereal feel to it as it seemed to shroud a half of Minnon. A tyrannical pressure seemed to enshroud Doflamingo forcing him to his knees. "You are a king? Then I am an Emperor!!" he continued as his Haoshaku seemed to solidify taking the form of a red Yukata. The disposition of a King! Doflamingo kneeled there, his teeth gritting as he groaned in pain. The Port seemed to crack in protest as Lorean''s intent seemed to put it under an immense invisible stress. Veins appeared on Doflamingo''s temple, popping with a sickly green hew, forming a sharp contrast to his brown skin. His white-framed shades seemed to crack under Lorean''s prestige before eventually giving way and shattering to the ground. The aura seemed to have no intention of letting up as it constantly pressured the downed Doflamingo. "Fuff..ffuf~ My, my. What pressure.." Doflamingo muttered through clenched teeth, as he forced his head up. His eyes steeled as he made it to his feet, the pressure seemed to begin to lift, being slowly pushed back as Doflamingo stood upright. His aura forming a small area around him, safe from the torrentious and overbearing aura boasted by Lorean. His pink cloak lay in ruins to his side and his pants hung limply on his legs, yet he stood, the prestige of a king should never be questioned, even so if it were to be an old crippled dyeing king, let alone someone as young as Doflamingo! "Shall we start round two, oh young wannabe Emperor?!" 20 The fall The earth groaned in protest as the razor sharp winds blew apart the surrounding piles of rubble. The clashing of weapons rang richly in the air as lines of sparks bloomed, flying like embers in a beautiful but deadly dance. Lorean sighed, tiredness evident on his brow as a rain of sweat flowed down dripping on the broken floor. His arms shook with the impact as Doflamingo attacked madly. Every attack seemed to be made with a perfect precision, everyone of them aimed at one of Lorean''s vitals. Doflamingo''s eyes gleamed with a mad luster as his mouth split into a terrible grin. ''[World of Threads!]'' he roared darkly as strings in strings begun to rise from his feet forming eerie tentacle like structures. Waves on waves pursued the fleeing figure of Lorean as they attempted to entrap him. Lore howled madly as he jumped around, Sonido''ing at every opportunity that was presented to him. A wave of attacks plummeted towards him, loud booms of destruction ensued in their wake. What seemed like tsunamis of deadly threads. Doflamingo cackled madly as he waved his hands through the air controlling his threads. Nearby houses had their roofs torn off and the cobbled streets broke apart under the tyranny of Doflamingo, as he chased Lorean through the port in a land - shaking rampage. Lorean roared unwillingly as he turned around to face his insane stalker. A line of swear words found their way to his lips, as he glared angrily at Doflamingo. [Dagger Arts: Assassinate!] he roared as he slung his way across a wayward wire line that hung loosely from the ruins of a building nearby before Sonido''ing behind Doflamingo and dealing a lethal stab towards his torso, a sharp gleam accompanied the deadly attack. Doflamingo dodged the offending stab as he clumsily ducked, an annoyed howl resounding from his previously grinning maw, before whipping his rapier towards his opponent''s head. A number of Small strands flew lazily into the air as Lorean hastily ducked before attempting to sweep his opponent''s feet from under him. Doflamingo somersaulted backwards as he attempted to impale Lorean onto the edge of a pack of threads. He swung his left hand in front of him as he re-initiated his killer move "[Pentochromaitc strings!]." Lorean Sonido''d out of the way of the attack, before reappearing into his opponent''s exposed chest aiming his shoulder towards the centre of Doflamingo''s chest aiming at the tiny gap that he knew existed between his opponent''s ribs. Doflamingo dodged to his side as he attempted to whip his rapier toward the carelessly barreling Lorean. Lore twisted out of the way of the sharp instrument as he slashed his dagger across his opponent''s chest. A small gash formed on Doflamingo''s chest as he back-stepped effectively reducing the damage he received, an array of threads made their way towards Lorean''s chest attempting to impale him. "Oho..? the Young king is preparing something big..?" Doflamingo questioned as a sadistic grin arose on his face. "I wouldn''t be much of a senior if I didn''t properly accept my junior''s gift no?" he said as he prepared to receive his opponent''s move. "[Dagger Arts: Dark Zenith..] !" Lore roared as his daggers became black with his Haki coating. The air begun to vibrate as his daggers begun to thrum with what seemed to be a dark and malicious aura. Clouds gathered in the sky as a peal of thunder shone in the horizon. Doflamingo''s face begun to change as his grin fell, to be replaced by a frown of pure concentration. "I underestimated you brat!" he roared as he clenched his fist. Threads begun to form between his fingers as the pavement seemed to transform into packs on packs of strings. The strings seemed to do his bidding as it rose around him, a gleaming light begun to form in Doflamingo''s eyes, as his world of threads begun to spread. Doflamingo thrust his sword into the pack of strings as he clenched his fist. "Off White!" he roared as his expanding world of strings finally stopped spreading. An imperious aura arose from his person as he smiled nastily. Lorean roared loudly as he threw his daggers, a shrill whistle screeched through the air as razor sharp gashes seemed to tear through space. A world-ending aura accompanied the twin daggers as the careened through the air with an unstoppable momentum. The two daggers struck Doflamingo''s string shield which was immediately torn to shreds, before promptly impaling him . A loud Boom echoed through the air as immeasurably heavy shockwaves shook the battered city. The night sky thunder seemed to roar in rage over being ignored by the two fighter and the two injured bystanders. Blue lightning shrieked through the air sounding much like a woeful banshee as thick clouds of smoke and rubble clouded through the air. Lorean lurked forward, collapsing to his knees as he bore witness to the carnage his one attack had wrought. Buildings lay overturned and the pavement looked akin to a newly plowed field, forming a long track until the very end of its path at the base of a rickety house that seemed fortunate to survive the battle that had just ensued. A terrible groan rose through the sky as the haze cleared revealing the figure if the alive but heavily injured Doflamingo. A mournful wail rocketed through the air as he shakily rose to his feet. Deep gashes were formed on his chest, going as far as to reveal his white bony shoulder. His mouth lay bloody as one arm hung limply largely unusable at his side. He ground his teeth as he advanced a gauze of strings covered his injury as his world of strings returned, bringing with it the tyrannical pressure only available to a mad king on a suicidal charge towards his foe. "I must admit, brat. I underestimated you. Too bad¡­. I was able to survive that cataclysmic attack. Had I not gone all out I would have died!!! Be proud, newbie, for you have pushed the Shichibukai Doflamingo ''the Heavenly Demon'' to the pits of despair! Rejoice as you sink to your death!!!" he roared before he collected his downed foe and plunged him into the stormy ocean. Doflamingo, had won¡­. 21 Conclusion Fawkes stared flabbergasted as his captain plummeted into the dark depths of the stormy ocean, his face crunched in discomfort as he slowly rose to his feet, steadying himself with the butt of his axe, wincing as he did so. A line of shallow wounds dotted his chest and upper limbs as streams of blood flowed down them. A layer of powdered pavement coated the top of his head making his hair gritty and stiff. His grey eyes seethed with bottomless rage as deep arching breaths shook his entire body. His beard lay in a torn mess and his shirt had long ceased to resemble a piece of clothing now assuming the form of a bad patchwork of threads obviously woven by a novice weaver who had had too much to drink or had begun to work as soon as happy hour had ceased to entertain him. Doflamingo looked on at the injured man, a smirk of disdain on his leering face and a torn shirt that seemed to hung on for dear life on his carved chest. A silver glow shone from his recently gotten injury, already healing, held together by ingenious use of otherwise deadly strings. His arm still remained useless, though a line of strings soon rectified the problem, as Doflamingo controlled his arm as a puppet master would a puppet. The injured mass of flesh now begun to move, slowly at first but gaining momentum quickly returning to tip-top working condition in a matter of seconds. "You''re captain was an interesting man, you on the other hand¡­..Just go and Die!" he said as he begun cackling, a pack of strings shot towards Fawkes as he made a failed attempt to get out of its way, hobbling to the side with the aid of his heavy one-handed axe which had by now lost all offensive capabilities, demoted to a mere walking stick. A shrill noise echoed into the air as the tip of the axe rubbed against the fragmented ground. "[Axe Art: Mountain cutter]¡­." he said feebly as he swung his bladed weapon toward Doflamingo. A feeble light shot from its sharp edge trotting weakly towards the now guffawing Doflamingo. The attack faded out of existence on making contact with Doflamingo''s bony finger. A shrill laughter rocketed into the sky as Doflamingo doubled over. His chest heaved as he chuckled mirthfully. "Mountain Cutter..? more like grass cutter! What a joke! You call that an attack newbie? I was hurt more by an ant bite than by that feeble attack¡­Hey, what about I let you go so you can actually fill your stomach, then maybe your attacks might actually sting me!" he mocked as he swung his rapier lazily. A pink flash of light shone from its sharp edge as it charged towards Fawkes aiming evidently toward the base of his neck as it gleamed with a cruel light. Fawkes collapsed to his knees as he groaned barely supported by his upside-down axe. The light passed him by as Doflamingo scowled. fawkes''s fists glowed a dark black as he began swinging it towards the horde of strings. "Oho~ YOu can use Haki too? First your captain, now you?" Doflamingo stated as he looked on in interest. Strings upon strings lay torn on the ground as Fawkes swung aimlessly. He let out a desperate groan as he finally collapsed, letting the threads engulf him as he did so. Inside the string cocoon, where Doflamingo could not see him, he pulled out a small vial looking at it conspiringly. ''Fuck, captain said not to drink it, but desperate times call for desperate measures I suppose..'' he thought smiling ruefully as he chugged the barely filled canister. Veins begun to surface as he silently thrashed about, desperately maintaining his silence as he hoped the pain would reduce, his nails dug into the ruined pavement as he finally groaned. His chest began to expand as grimacing face underwent a drastic transformation. His grey eyes begun to change into an arcane golden color as his muscles bulged his pants tore and his shoes tore along with them leaving him scantily clothed, covered only enough to maintain some level of dignity when the fight drew to a close. He sighed in pain as he clutched his axe, before swinging it harshly against the wall of threads that lay over him. Tearing them apart with a loud below. '' Better to add a little theatrics, that is what captain would have wanted..'' he thought with a mischievous smile as he rose to his feet in all of his now steroidal form. Doflamingo stood slack jawed as he beheld the man he had until recently, held nothing but disdain for. "What the hell is that!!??" he roared in confusion as he uncomfortably motioned to the mountain of muscle that had appeared before him. "How rude!" Fawkes began as he sported a good natured grin. "Is that anyway for a gentleman to talk.. Shame, mister Doflamingo, Shame indeed!" he said as he chuckled affably. "To think a world noble would be so ill natured, your ancestors must be crying in despair." he announced as he swung his axe casually. A sharp ray of golden light emitted from his axe, reducing a huge part of Minnon (that still stood) to rubble, Doflamingo cried tragically as he jumped backwards, his previous wounds opening one after the other as he tried to escape Fawkes who by now looked very much like a little child given a new toy, in that he seemed to swing it aimlessly uncaring of the damage that was being caused. "Off White!" Doflamingo cried desperately as he finally took a stand, re-initiating his fruit''s ability, as vines of threads begun to form finally mitigating the damage to a certain extent. "Fawkes chuckled good-naturedly as he readied his axe. [String colossus!] Doflamingo roared as his person was immediately entombed in a humanoid monster of string that glared down at Fawkes on obvious guard. Attack after attack rained down terrorizing the ground as Fawkes swung his axe in a lazy manner, attacking when he could and retreating when he couldn''t. Though his attacks seemed lazy, his expression was anything but. He glared steadily as he swung each time, lines on lines of attacks decimated scores and scores of strings, the torn strings littered the floor.. "[White Out!]" Doflamingo roared, his hands came together as the skies seemed to fill with strings, strings engulfed the clouds and muffled the thunder as a spear seemed to form in the skies above Doflamingo''s head. Fawkes chuckled lightly as he too readied his stance, "You called this grass cutter did you not? So in honor of you I shall call this attack exactly that!! Prepare, heavenly demon, to be harvested like grass would.."He ended as he chuckled, before swinging his axe into the night sky. BOOM..................¡­. 22 Lootzzz! "¡­So you''re telling me.." The fatty said, staring disbelievingly at me, "That you''re a devil fruit user, a person who can breathe under water, with body holes¡­.. and the serum that you gave us, was a product of said fruit!?" he said gawking at me. "Well¡­..body-holes is a little inappropriate, don''t you think?" I whined as a mischievous glint arose in my eyes. I had decided to mess with the fatty. "Why weren''t we told you ate a fruit..?" he asked as a dark aura shrouded his body. "Well, you didn''t ask¡­" I said innocently, before immediately ducking away from Sorren''s outstretched hands and retreating to a corner of the rickety jetty. "You bastard¡­ you piss me off!!! I want to beat you up!! Come ''ere you, lying, bastard captain!" he roared as his loud voice rocketed throughout the open sea. His hands pulled at his hair in frustration as he chased me around the tiny room-sized boat, as I avoided his murderous hands. We finally settled down, a period of time had passed as he chased me around in vain. He now glared at me, panting as deep breaths shook his fat encrusted chest. His eyes stared at me murderously, before seemingly giving up and settling down to listen to what I had to say. "So, ya. I''ve eaten the data fruit, making me a data man! The only reason I could breathe under the water is because of Tanken-senpai''s Spartan training, dunking me for hours on end in the river on the island I lived on.." I said as goose bumps made their way on my body accompanied be a frosty chill that travelled happily down my spine. "If you can breathe under water, why can''t you swim?" He asked curiously as a inquisitive look overcame his dull face. "Ah! The only reason I was able to breathe was because I was able to observe teacher and father demonstrate allowing me to scan and analyze how they did it. The only reason I can''t swim is because I haven''t met a Fruit user who can.." I said sheepishly as I revealed my secrets. "So..... What do devil fruits look like?" he asked as he stared at me with an expression akin to an expression a thirsty man would have when he saw a well. (Yes, I was slightly creped out too..) "Oh they look like regular fruits, only in weird colors.." I said waving my hand nonchalantly before yawning with tiredness evident in my eyes. "So wait.." he began as he stared at me, evidently aware that I was tired, and, I thought, did it because of his slight anger towards my previous attempts to poke some fun at his butt-hurt self. My eyes which were only seconds away from closing suddenly rose in extreme surprise as I stared breathlessly at what Sorren had to offer¡­ It was surely a jackpot, I thought as a smile rose on my eyes. ************************************************************************************* Garp grimly pulled out his den-den-mushi, before reporting the destruction of the previous popular commercial island, which had now been reduced to a pile of rubble floating over the peaceful ocean. He braced for the incoming storm of curses that the fleet admiral would send his way as he motioned for his men to search the port island for possible signs of life in this tumultuous battlefield. A man shouted from a pile of rubble near the centre of the island as he strove to pull up the column of stone that had fallen on a poor blacksmith shop, while another explored the barren inside of a relatively untouched inn, where he found that even the chairs lay untouched with a layer of dust still settled near a corner of the store. "Garp!!!! You''re going to be the death of me ya asshole!" Sengoku roared through the portable snail as virtual spittle seemed to fall upon the reclining Garp. "Hey, it''s not my fault, I was only the guy who discovered this shit!" Garp roared as he glared annoyed. "Vice-Admiral Garp!! We found an untouched shelter!" a marine soldier roared as he begun to open the shelter and lead the people outside. The soldier who had by now excavated the blacksmith''s store and was running through the store salvaging the swords that hung on the floor after helping up an injured man who by now had reached the ship and was being looked at by a doctor. "So, what happened here?" Garp asked with his usual level of agitation as he stared intently at the men who had been saved... I took a deep breath as I attempted to calm down. Before me sat the fatty as he stared happily at me, looking much like a puppy who had done a praise worthy deed. In his hands shone a purple fruit, much like any other Parmecia, but what truly surprised and awed me, where its specs. This fruit was the ki Fruit! Not like the ki that was displayed in anime like dragon ball z of course, but it was still a wonderful prospect for Sorren! After all the fatter you were the more ki you would be a ble to generate! ( Ki meant internal energy, and this energy could only be amassed when there was something in the body that could be converted to it! Thus the requirement for the person to be fat! The fatter you were, the better infact!) The only reason I knew this of course, was because there was information on it in my database. "You''ve hit the jackpot here Fatty!" I said with barely contained enthusiasm. "there is a way for you to be strong, rejoice! For now you have a path to the apex!" 23 Swallow Island A soft boop rang in the air as we alighted onto the port, the light from the setting sun shone behind us as the sweet cry of the sea gulls heralded us to the bustling town. Lights sprang into existence, beside the stores of the street -side peddlers as they hawked their wares and people flocked toward the shining lights as they laughed together. A couple walked hand in hand as they enjoyed the evening sea breeze, the foam from the water flying over them as they walked on their merry way. Sorren stood next to me, a happy grin on his face as he beheld the joyous scene, of course this wasn''t because he enjoyed the beautiful scene, no, it was because he was hungry! Loud bellows rang from his stomach at periodic intervals seemingly demanding food from its surroundings. A worn out ruck sack hung from his shoulder, it contained the fruit we had looted earlier, which Fawkes had decided to kindly give to Sorren. Fawkes hung in the very back, a wince hung on his face as he glared at the people around him, his breath seemed unhurried, but nonetheless a tired knot formed on his shoulders as they stooped, giving him the appearance of a tired grandfather who had just made his way from his daily walk. A yawn shook my body as I finally decided to move, advancing slowly to the nearest inn I found pick pocketing all in my path, dreading as I did the amount that would be eventually spent on the two gluttons that followed me . "Boss, give me three rooms!" I shouted as I made my way to the counter of an inn called ''The Flighty fancy'' that was the closest inn to the port that I could find, bringing my hand down on the counter as I attempted to draw the attention of a stocky middle aged man who looked to be in his late thirties. "Coming!" he said as he came up to the front and begun sizing my companions and me up. His thick muscled arms hung in a dominating knot in front of his fat stomach, a white scarf hung around his neck and a faded brown apron hung around his previously mentioned mid section. A wispy brown beard and a pair of tired black eyes greeted me as he reached for the underside of the counter. "So you''ll be staying for¡­." he said as he regarded me obviously waiting for the answer to his question. "A day, maybe two not more than that though." I said as I looked back at him, my hands seemingly independently digging into my vest for the money that had been pocketed by me. "That''ll be 600 belli, food needs to be additionally paid for, mind" he said as he counted the money that had been placed on his palms, before giving me three rusted copper keys which could only be the keys for the room that had been recently negotiated for. "Cap''n why can''t I have sake?" Sorren whined as he looked at me with the eyes of an offended person. "That''s because you are a child!" I refurbished as Fawkes chuckled in the background and I patted his head very much like one would to a pet dog. A snigger arose in the nearby tables as their residents too laughed good naturedly at his antics. "Ya''ll not from around here are ya?" a red nosed man asked as his eyes shone in a comic look, "Boys like ''im shouldn''t be travelling around at ''is age, he should be playing instead" he said as he rose unsteadily to his feet, obviously unable to hold his liquor. "Tell ya what kid, if you can beat me at a drinking competition, then I''ll pay for your meals!" he continued, this comment directed at me. "Why not?" I said craftily as I too rose to my feet. "To make this a little fair to you old man, I''ll pay for all the drinks" I said seriously, a little guilty for the amount of money that I would swindle from the man in a short period of time. "Hoo YA! I am all fired upppp!" he roared, resembling a certain pink haired, muscle headed main character. "Boss, bring in the drinks!!" he roared as the atmosphere began to elevate, cheers began to ring in the air as the surrounding people became rowdier. The inn keeper chuckled happily as he brought in tankards of sake and set them on the table, loud and satisfying thumps rung in the air as a stranger stood infornt of the table. "Readyyyy, Gooooooo!!" he roared as he handed the both of us a tankard each. "Drink! Drink! Drink!" the people roared as they cheered, loud glugs pierced through their cheers as both the participants chugged down the intoxicating substance, foam hung on our mouths as drops of the tasty drink ran down the side of the face before dripping onto the wooden table. The man opposite to me grinned with a shit eating expression before he reached for another tankard all the while leering at me with the expression of a superior. Five drinks later however, his proud expression had already fallen, now to be replaced by a confused expression as he looked at his surroundings. A loud thump echoed through the air as his legs wobbled. "howyuuu doinn tha..?" he asked with a slurred voice that denoted his current intoxication. I had not even had to resort to my fruit''s ability, my liquor tolerance had already long surpassed the common citizen, drinking with the somewhat odd ball of my family had already hardened me to the stupor that accompanied a drink. A small rose on my face as I glanced toward the passed out man, ''he was not going to be happy'' I thought, as I made my way to the table that housed my companions as I waved the inn keeper. ''He was not going to be happy at all..'' 24 How did you adopt? A loud satisfying burp echoed through the inn as sunlight streamed through the door. Sorren sat with his greasy hands on the table and a satisfied expression on his face as the inn keeper felt cold sweat slide down all parts of his body. The clicking of money was the only solace to the shell shocked man as a listless sigh pervaded through the empty room. I had a happy expression on my face as I walked out of the inn, I had made sure that the crew woke up early in an attempt to avoid the tension that I knew would be present if we were to eat during the hours after the sunrise, people staring at us as if we were monsters or century-hungry ghosts! I had even managed to convince the inn keeper that it would be in his best interests if he woke up early to serve the fat glutton food. Fawkes walked silently behind me, his appetite curbed at around the same time mine was, as he took in the beauty of the island in the young glows of the recently risen sun. "So, what are we doing here, boss?" he asked as his old grey eyes looked at me expressionlessly. "I''m still recovering from that fight with the spectacled freak, so don''t expect me to fight anyone anytime soon.." he said with a cautioning look. "Nothing like that, we''re just going to visit the weapon stores to fix the weapons and, go get supplies, look around the markets, sightsee a little bit. You know that kind of thing" I said as I hummed happily. A orange light shone in the sky as the clouds scattered the morning sun''s light into shades of pink that stole away our breaths. The fresh morning air eased our nerves as a happy expression filled my face. "Let''s go! shops should be opening at around this time no? Lets enjoy swallow island''s markets!" I said as I laughed happily. A long day stood in front of us, a long day of fun games and pranks!! ************************************************************************************* Garp huffed deeply in anger as he listened to the accounts of the residents of the former town of Minnon. His breath heaved as a nasally echo roared from his nose. He was angry! How dare that bastard! How dare Doflamingo!! he thought as he stared at the offending man, who now lay dead on the shattered cobblestone of the broken and crumbling port. ''Pere pere pere pere'' his den-den-mushi echoed as he called Sengoku his fleet admiral. He had to report this. Three unknown rookies had taken down a famous and dangerous Warlord? How could this be possible? How!? he wondered as he waited impatiently for Sengoku to pick up. "Garp...¡­. What happened?" Sengoku''s voice echoed from the other side of the snail accompanied by a deep and tired sigh. "Sengoku, Doflamingo ruined the port town of Minnon.." Garp said cutting straight to the heart of the matter as he reported in a sober voice, differing much from his usual flippant tone. "Wait¡­ That is not all¡­.. The flamingo bastard is dead!" Garp continued as he adopted a more serious tone, if that were even possible. "Killed by three newbie''s no less, all of them seemingly normal and not having eaten any fruits, on top of that!" he said as a worried expression filled his face. Sengoku''s breath caught in his throat as a dizzying sensation made its way to his head, causing him to collapse on his chair in confusion. "Who were these three? Such famous people shouldn''t be unknown." He questioned weakly as he attempted to get his mind to calm down. "See, That''s the thing, no one knows who they are! An old man here says he could recognize two of them, but of the third no one knows! And even of the two who were identified, no past record exist! It''s like they didn''t even exist till that fight!!" Garp groaned in frustration as he surveyed the wreckage, for the umpteenth time hoping to find some manner of clues that would point to the identity of the mystery trio. "the two identified are, Lorean and Sorren, the third man however is the one that we must look out for. He reduced a fruit-awakened Doflamingo to a dead man in a mere swing!" Garp continued as he rattled off the identities of the identified duo. "Sorren....Wait!!!!! I remember that boy! he''s the son of- Start him off with a bounty of a 100,000 belli!! The other man, the one who one handedly killed off Doflamingo put him up at 600,000 belli! Sengoku roared as an anxious expression filled his face. Make sure to catch them at all costs Garp!! Don''t let them enter the grand line! otherwise, storms will awaken! You could even see the birth of the next Gold Roger!!" he roared as he prepared to meet with the elders of the world government... ************************************************************************************* I chuckled with a silly expression on my face as I exited the merchant''s store, our weapons had already been repaired for the most part and replaced with extreme precision. We were now returning to the inn, and Sorren hung behind me flipping around and thoroughly enjoying the peaceful atmosphere. A couple stared at us in surprise before approaching us and looking questioningly at Fawkes and I. A tinge of caution made its way into my posture as I stared suspiciously at the approaching couple. "How, exactly, did you adopt?" they began as they motioned toward Sorren, questioning me and Fawkes. I staggered slightly as I felt the rise of a bit of saliva in my mouth, Sorren glared at them confusedly as Fawkes gurgled in surprise, I felt my sight darken as I tried maintaining my composure, failing quite dramatically as tick marks made themselves visible on my forehead and steam rose from my ears. Fawkes hastily explained away the issue while he herded me away from the duo, evidently afraid that I would attack them in a most disastrous manner which would result in us getting thrown off the island. 25 Prank "Now that that''s out of the way, let''s go back to the inn" I said seriously as a still flabbergasted Sorren followed behind me in a soulless manner. Fawkes shrugged noncommittally as he began to chuckle and took large swigs from a canister of sake that I had nabbed in the previous day''s chaos. A similar canister hung silently on my hip, which I immediately unclasped and drank from. (I must admit, I had turned into quite a drunk¡­) before I began on my way toward the inn at the end of the road. The people around walked with a purposeful demeanor, with steady steps and lines of sweat running down their forehead as a result of the tyrannical noon sun. A cough echoed from behind me as I noticed an old man. His hair looked abnormally grey, and his face was filled with nothing but wrinkles as warts shone as far as the eye could see. A thick brow and a hunched back along with a wooden stick lay on his person as he looked at us. (When I say looked at us, I of course speak in relativistic terms, his brow blocked all forms of vision and seemed like someone who depended more on observation Haki than anything else¡­) "Could you move out of the way, young man?" He began in his over the top wheezy voice, motioning for me to clear out of the way of the old kimono wearing relic. I simply nodded as I moved, a slight breeze blew over his bald head as goose bumps appeared and an unconscious tremble travelled down his neck. A whoosh echoed into the into the sultry air as the old man vanished, his wooden stick cluttering to the floor as a small cherry blossom settled on it. The street suddenly seemed strangely empty, the winds began to pick up, before lifting the tiny blossom and sending it flying into the noon sky, disappearing quickly in the sun''s glare. Noise begun to filter into my ears as a hand settled onto my shoulder bringing me back from what I could only assume to be a hallucination. "Anything wrong?" Fawkes asked, barely any concern in his voice, before he continued on his journey giving me no more attention. My hair swiveled as I forcefully calmed myself down and ran trying to catch up to the already far away Fawkes, Sorren still trailed behind me a curious look on his face¡­. ************************************************************************************* "So¡­hick, Barthelomio''s was still alive all this time huh.." Jack murmured as he completed the third barrel of sake and lay wasted on the grass. Tanken had long left and Jack had now chosen to whittle away at his boredom by training his patience. "So¡­Son of mine, what are you doing here so drunk that you make this old man blush in shame?" a voice rumbled as Ragner walked toward his son and sat down looking sadly at the pair of prosthetics that lay beside his son''s prone body. It had beautiful calligraphy at the very end, seemingly a sign of someone close to Jack, evident in the doting glance fired at it from time to time. "When I gave lore the bird from this island, I didn''t think the first message I would get would be news about an old friend.." Jack said sighing. Before Lorean had set sail, his father had handed to him a small bird, barely the size of a child''s palm, born and brought up in the islands around raftel, they were able to navigate to it from anywhere, thus the letter in Jack''s hand. "Your brother finally finished his trial. He will be allowed to enter the inner council now.. "Ragner informed, chuckling as he did. I won the bet with Edmund after all, both my children arrived in Raftel long before the boorish old man''s¡­" he continued before rising himself to get back to his work as the head of the Pirate council. "So, Raiger finished his compendium is it? A billion books, huh, he reads quickly.." Jack muttered as he made his way back to his feet and returned to his training. ************************************************************************************* I chuckled sinisterly as I walked through the night, behind me my crew members skulked, a clueless expression on their innocent faces. In front of me stood a huge glowing edifice, lights shone through its mirrors and a wide, now empty ground lay silently in the night light. I had collected my crew for exactly this reason, wanting to start a beautiful hurricane from this very location. A start to my journey! (No Minnon didn''t count, I wasn''t prepared for it then!) The guys trailed behind me suspiciously (Mainly Fawkes, Sorren just stood there chewing mindlessly on a chicken wing) as I clapped evilly. My plan would begin exactly after dinner time and would possibly draw the attention of the entire island. I wasn''t really bothered however, the recent battle had at least given to me a certain level of confidence in my prowess. "What exactly are we doing near a marine headquarters?" Fawkes asked exasperatedly as he glared at me, seemingly daring me to do or say something stupid. "All in due time, my dear first mate, all in due time.." I said trying to sound wise and saint like, sounding instead like a man addicted to helium. A small bell in my head suddenly began ringing, it was time! I chuckled as I began moving toward the fortress like structure, the white paint seemingly glowing resplendently in the yellow sulfurous glow of the lamp attached to a side of the door. Loud cheers seemingly echoed from inside, ''ooh they''re having a party!'' I thought as my eyes began to shine. A Boom echoed as I kicked down the door, people on either side of me flinched at the loud noise. "Hey y''all Marines! Let me steel your ships!!!" 26 Stealing a ship! A loud boom echoed through the marine base as I marched into it, the dull tap of my shoes against the floor sheared through the now silent room. Lights glowed sharply as I heard the breaths of hundreds of marines. The surprised men gaped at me in dumb amazement as I made myself visible before promptly pulling out their weapons and sneering at me in derision. "Oi! look at this bastard thinkin'' he''s some hot stuff ai? Think you''re a pirate brat? " the man in the lead said as the men behind him guffawed. His eyes slowly regarded the both of us, (Fawkes and me; Fawkes currently had his hand on his forehead and was sighing with disappointment..) before finally coming to a rest on the form of the chubby Sorren and softening slightly. He chuckled deeply as he said, "Pay us back for the door, and we''ll consider this never to have happened deal?" his eyes never leaving the clueless fatty''s face as he slowly re-sheathed his blade and went back to his table and begun drinking from his previously abandoned tankard of sake. "And you, bastard, is this the kind of example you want to set for your son?" he said barking at me. (I want you to note that I had now began to feel sorry for the marines in front of me and was considering just ending the matter here, however¡­) "Boss, how can we the marine, just let our name be dragged through the mud by dumb brats like this?" A heavy weight man in the back drawled, his sadistic eyes never leaving our face, even going as far as to lick his lips in an attempt to satiate the bloodlust he was probably feeling. ''The verdict has been passed!!'' I thought as I began to move, my previously burdened feeling had been washed away to be replaced by the adrenaline that had convinced me to consider hi-jacking a marine base. A maniac grin formed on my face as I looked at the nice marine captain, all the while ordering my fruit to target all the men who still had their weapons drawn or radiated a hostile intent like the creepy bastard from the back. "Get ready, Fawkes, Sorren go loot the treasury, I''ll handle things here.." I said as I radiated a little bit of Haki at the unmarked men while advancing at those with hostile intent. Fawkes nodded simply as he tugged along the fatty before going deeper into the base, all the while avoiding those who tried to obstruct them. "Haah? You want to die, ya bast-" the offending man roared angrily, to be prematurely cut short by a dagger that had made its way into his neck. A cold smile formed on my face as a chuckle shook my body, bringing those infront of me shivers of fright. ''The hunt had begun!'' ************************************************************************************* The entire day had been filled with annoyances for Fawkes and he did not appreciate his captain''s attempts to mystify the whole matter, even saddling the childlike Sorren into his safe keeping as he thoroughly enjoyed himself in the battle that occurred above. Though, he had to admit, it was quite a beautiful move to steel ships from the marine! "Hey, hey Fawkes what should I do?" Sorren asked innocently as he walked beside Fawkes. "While I look through the treasury, you stay on lookout" Fawkes replied as he moved his hands in a shooing gesture, "Beat up anyone who comes along, and stall for time against those who are stronger, no enemy as strong as Doflamingo exists here, so let loose all the frustration from that fight!" Fawkes continued with a chuckle before suddenly remembering a glaring problem. "You know what, I think that idiot captain is going to go cause a scene, so go draw some attention away from him, leave lookout here to me. We can''t have him getting mobbed now, can we?" he said looking back at Sorren while correcting his previous statement. He kicked down the door to the treasury, wincing slightly as he did, the mounds of coins streaming light into his eyes. A low whistle echoed through the empty halls as Fawkes went around to his looting activities, ''We are going to be rich!'' he thought chuckling slightly to himself. Sorren stared dumbstruck at the treasury an audible gulp sounding out as he looked. With a herculean effort he tore himself away from the heaps of coins before running up the opposite stairs, he had to create a loud distraction! ************************************************************************************ As I stabbed at another straggler I chuckled helplessly. These people came in droves now, running down the stairs from god knows where, before shooting at me with their useless guns. "Guns don''t work on me dumbasses!" I drawled irritated as I blocked the oncoming volley of projectiles with a coated arm all the while shunpo-ing around killing or incapacitating all the people on whom I felt even a sliver of bloodlust. "Mo-monster!!" the men roared as desperate tears mixed with the rivers of sweat that came from their forehead. "Why is a man like you here, instead of the grand line?" they asked sorrowfully as they stared on in horror as I eliminated their first defensive line. Loud blasts suddenly shook the building making me lose my footing, the men in front of me looked at each other fear in their eyes as deep panting breaths shook their terrified bodies as their eyes looked around in horror. A small stream of blood flowed silently through their legs, making the slippery ground even worse, many men cried in despair as some finally succumbed to the fear of losing their lives, laying down their weapons they kneeled on the ground. They had lost. A loud roar shook the building and spread as far as the island as the previous stifling atmosphere cleared to be replaced with a halo of hope. "Which bastard dares to invade the marine base!!?" A powerful roar echoed. ''Haha the floor boss kita!!!'' 27 Awaken! A crazy smile found its way onto my face as a slight chuckle shook my shoulders as wave of bloodlust seemed to shake the air like a veil as wrinkles spread over it resembling waves on a stormy sea. "Get up here! Let''s fight!!" I roared toward the unknown voice as I smacked the head of a crawling straggler causing him to start frothing at the mouth with a dizzy look in his already terrified eyes. A bottle of sake that had fallen on the floor rolled over to my foot, the stopper still intact on its mouth. A sly smile appeared on my face as I picked it up before leisurely making my way to the lamp in the corner and sitting down on a self made pile of bodies. A simple uncorking was all it took before I began gurgling it down my throat. A small chuckle began to shake my shoulder before changing into a full blown chortle, my bloodlust flooding the room twirling around with my Haki, which I had just recently released causing ominous winds to swirl around the room. The temperature of the room dropped progressively as a mad aura shook the room. This was my will, Undying, Unresolved, wild and Untamed. It was ready, ready to swallow the world! ************************************************************************************ Sorren shivered as he felt the terrifying aura, swat began beading from his forehead before falling to the ground as clear drops. A mad chill reached down his shoulder before freezing his spine, petrifying him in the face of the ominous adversary. ''Captain releases such a fearful aura!'' Sorren remarked fearfully as his mind cascaded back to the conversation he had had on the rickety life-threatening ride to the island. Slowly his brows began to knit together as he stubbornly resisted the tyrannical onslaught, gritting his teeth he forced his dizzy consciousness back on track all the while moving through the lead like air. ''Dammit captain, why''d you have to make things so difficult?'' he whined in his mind as he continued forward. He no longer felt like a lost ship in a torrentious storm, instead a stubborn resolve bloomed from the midst of his forehead, steadily growing in size all the while fighting in the invisible battle of will. ''Captain isn''t even aiming his aura at me, still, such pressure is too inhumane!'' he continued. Sorren slowly felt his surrounding faded into obscurity as he begun to hallucinate. The world seemed to turn into an endless bridge with the stars shining obscurely and a crystalline bridge seemingly going on for an eternity. An illusory silhouette suddenly appeared above him before becoming more and more ethereal all the while descending crushing down at the miniscule will that he had awoken. Invisible ropes seemed to keep him in place as he stared despairingly at the oncoming mountain. Words began to flood his conscience, pictures from the battle against Doflamingo filtering through the front of his eyes. ''Hehe you free loading fatty get ready to die!!'' ''Hah? Pirate, fight your stomach before dreaming about setting sail! Useless fat pug!'' ''You want to flatten Mary Geossa, yet you cannot face even this level of pressure?'' A silhouette suddenly said, morphing into the figure of his captain. ''What crew member, you aren''t on a jolly ride you damn fatty!'' the figure continued as a layer of derision appeared in the usually playful eyes of his captain. . ¡­ ... ''¡­one day I will reach the same level as my father, surpass him and flatten Mary Gerosa!'' a version of him said with conviction in his voice before turning to the kneeling body of the now ghost-like Sorren. His eyes slowly widened before flooding with the previously missing hope, which had obviously been apprehended by his younger self and dutifully returned to its rightful place which had been suffering due to its unaccountable presence. (Or lack thereof) "I will grow strong and I will not bow!!" Sorren roared as his illusory self began expanding shattering the chains that had bound him. A dull golden light swirled out of his forehead before his whole figure shone with the brilliant incandescence of essential hope! Sorren had awoken Conqueror''s Haki!!! ************************************************************************************* A perverted look shone on Fawkes''s old face as he collected the treasures that had found their way to the dank cellars of the marine Headquarters'' treasury. Deep calming breaths were the only things were the only thing that kept him from getting a stroke! Suddenly a tyrannical aura shook the old stones of the marine headquarters, lines of sand fell onto his head as an exasperated sigh shook his frame as a grumbling words were thrown at the walls. "What the hell are you doing captain!!" he roared as he threw a small amount of ornaments at the stairs that lead to the cellar. "Let me loot in piece! This grandfather won''t take you messing with my fun!!" he continued in a lower tone while he rummaged through the chests that lay strewn on the ground. "Money, money, money! Money and more money! Give me money, oh give me money!" He sang in a deliriously happy tone as he pocketed palms full of gold ornaments all the while using his observation to keep an eye at the door of the treasury, ready to make a break for it at the briefest sign of human appearance. Suddenly he perked up, looking at a direction diagonal to the door of the treasury. "Hoh..? Sorren awakened?" he said as a satisfied smirk made its way to his face. "Now we have a crew with everyone having Conqueror''s Haki! Hah!! take that fucking world government!!" he roared as he swung an arm at an invisible adversary. A small chuckle shook him as he went back to his looting and singing..... 28 Ghost spider A loud crack echoed through the room as Sorren winced, the wall beside him had long crumbled to the ground, and long lines of broken walls stood in front of him, smoke bellowing, proving the vast destruction that had taken root there. The entire marine quarters seemed to tether on century old foundations shaking precariously with the wind. "Hah! pirate! What do you say now?" a loud voice bellowed, a small layer of mirth in the otherwise calm voice. A dark hairy arm waded through the grey granite smoke as the clinking of saber scabbards echoed through the destroyed rooms. A tall wide man with a clayey complexion slowly walked through the haze before appearing before the injured Sorren, light black hair lay fainted against his broad shoulders. A golden earring shone brightly in the air and purple lips perused in an ugly grimace. His dark needle-like eyes regarded the fallen child in mock disdain as he kicked at him, "Had I not been here, you might have been able to escape, albeit with your tail between your legs, but now? Now I will destroy you and show your impaled body for the world to see! A boy fallen to pirate-hood brought to justice by the protectors of the world, how does that sound?" He said all the while sending wildly exaggerated kicks toward the downed child. "The world will look and marvel! For how could it not? At the long hands of justice that punished all evil doers!!" he continued as his eyes shone with a mad fervor. "The Marines are the protectors of the World!! Now face divine justi-" he said only to be cut short in between his long and boring soliloquy by a flabby arm that had grabbed onto his calf. Sorren slowly rose to his feet, bruises the only evidence to the abuse that he had suffered. "Justice? What is your justice, other than a blanket that you use to hide and cry under, to run to whenever you are discomforted even slightly? What is justice, my foolish man, if not a blindfold to hide the vile realities of life!? Might is Right! And my Might rejects our puny justice!" Sorren said calmly before lazily tossing away the baffled eight armed man. A dull thrum arose from his person as a bright golden aura enshrouded his body giving him an almost godly look. A condescending look remained in his usual innocent hazel eyes as he looked down on the fallen Marine. (Both literally and figuratively) "I might not be strong enough to fight against Doflamingo as of yet, having to depend on captain and big bro Fawkes to deal with the likes of him, but I can atleast deal with idiotic fools like this who have no clue what reality looks like.." he said to himself as he stepped forward and threw the fallen marine in the direction of the door. Lorean waved cheerily as he sat on his throne of bodies, he had already calmed his raging bloodlust and now sat contently sipping from a bottle of sake, occasionally firing off concentrated bursts of Haki at the fainted ''good guys''. A small smile appeared on his face as he waved at Sorren who had recently emerged from a hole in the wall, hot in pursuit of the flying Marine. "You sure you''ll be able to take care of him? He seems to be able to fly" Lorean casually remarked. To which Sorren collapsed in speechlessness. "Boss, give me a break, I was the one who chucked him through!" Sorren replied getting off the ground. Unfortunately for him, however "Oh.." was the only response he got. A cheerful jingle arose from the only intact staircase as Fawkes made his way up, giving Sorren an encouraging look before sitting down next to the captain and staring euphorically into the distance. Sorren could almost swear he could hear "..Money money money¡­" under his breath. A loud Boom echoed from the door of the building as the recently unwilling and first ''Flying Marine'' entered all the while fuming and giving Sorren a dark look saturated with killing intent. "Oh..? if it isn''t Rear Admiral Onigumo. To what do we owe this pleasure?" Lore said politely as he looked at the now named and recognized Rear Admiral. "I amn''t a Rear Admiral, I am a Vice Admiral Apparent!!" He announced with frustration rich in his voice. "That right there was a fluke don''t'' expect it to happen again Pirate!" he spat before brandishing his eight arms with a serious look in his eyes. [Soru] he roared loudly as he attempted to close the distance between him and Sorren attempting to slash at the boy when he was at arm''s distance. A surprised look overcame his frustrated face as his eyes widened; Sorren had grabbed onto his full strength thrusts and began pulling him closer. A wicked smile could be seen on Sorren''s face as he braced the wide torso of the Marine on his shoulder and threw him onto the ground, effectively using the force with which Onigumo had propelled himself. Onigumo however, landed on his feet as his eight arms slashed wildly at the nearby Sorren who quickly retreated. "[Eight Sword style: Eight paths of the Just]!" he roared as he swung his blades, eight thin lines blurred into existence as they chased the retreating Sorren causing wide tears in the buildings structure and severing the nearby walls as if they were paper. An annoyed frown made its way to Lorean''s face as he slowly stood up before disappearing entirely and reappearing outside the building carrying the still alive marines in his hand and still sipping at the sake bottle. "Oi! Sorren, end it properly, we don''t want to take too long!!" He roared before walking towards the harbor, "We''ll be waiting on the ship, it will be the biggest ship there belonging to the Marines!" he said over his back as he lead the hunched Fawkes towards the Harbor. Sorren grinned, "Well, you heard the man, what do ya say Spider, shall we end this?" 29 Death of a spider! A roar of pain echoed through the night as a bleeding Onigumo fell down on the streets. His black eyes stared unwillingly at his pudgy assaulter, glazed from the beating he had just received. A line of blood streamed down from his torn lips as he forcefully gritted his teeth. Two of his black arms lay limp at his side, twisted out of direction with his joints already swelling from the wallop he had received, the sabers lay out of commission strewn on the ground and another stood broken and chipped at the hilt being desperately clung to by his non-spider arm. "Hah.... Pirate¡­ Justice will prevail!! Just you wait! A Marine vice admiral will come, and when he does, he''ll ,blow this entire island to kingdom come! Serves these bastards right too! The only thing they could possibly do, is die in the name of Justice!!!" he roared as he got back to his feet, before propelling himself vengefully at his foe, a hateful snarl on his beaten visage and a desperate wheeze in his otherwise shaky voice. Sorren stared at him calmly, his brown eyes never leaving the face of his foe, a playful smirk played on his lips. A calm and stoic aura surrounded his body as he slowly stepped forward, parrying the oncoming attack with the base of his foot before kicking back at the enemy pushing him backwards so he could retain his balance. A powerful knee rose to attack his opponent''s unguarded torso, which was promptly stopped a few inches from the desired target being hastily transformed into an open heel kick. Onigumo winced in pain as he received the well placed kick buckling downwards as he unconsciously attempted to protect his manhood. A dull ''thud'' sounded out as he slid backwards a pained groan sounding out accompanied by the skidding sound of his booted feet against the stony pavement, Sorren pursued unwilling to let go of the chance to attack, he took advantage of his enemy''s obvious lack of balance to step forward into Onigumo''s exposed chest. A loud bellow echoed out as Onigumo forcefully pushed forward his spider arms compromising on his already failing balance to do it, "Take this [Spider nest]!!" he roared as five of his arms came crashing down at Sorren. Sorren twisted his foot, leveraging the twirl of his foot as he attempted to dodge the oncoming five hits, he swiveled gracefully past he first swing before jumping above the next sweep that had been aimed at his torso, "[Martial Arts: Air Cannon]!" he roared as he pushed out his fist forcefully displacing large quantities of wind that had been present before him. Onigumo yelped disgracefully as he clumsily dodged the attack of compressed air abandoning the rest of his technique. "Geppo!!" Sorren roared as he maintained his position mid air all the while firing blasts of air at the downed Vice Admiral Apparent. Clumps of pavement flew into the air in places that had been previously housing the Vice Admiral Apparent. His eyes suddenly turned serious as he ducked the incoming bullet, before advancing towards his opponent again, caution rich on his young pudgy face. His Haki suddenly spiked as it enclosed the panting Rear Admiral causing him to double over in surprise which only intensified as his face was met with a Haki infused fist that rammed straight into his exposed chest. "Soru!" Sorren roared as he kicked off from the ground a ''crack'' sounding in his wake, akin to thunder on a rainy night. He reappeared behind the startled Rear Admiral as he kicked his exposed back, driving down his exposed palm in the process breaking Onigumo''s shoulder blades and driving him into the ground. A small grin awoke on the young boy''s face as he looked down at the fallen marine, who looked back at him with rage that bubbled just beneath his frowning face. "Well then¡­. Why don''t you finish the job..?" Onigumo asked, defeat written all over his broken face. "Of course I will!" Sorren replied eagerly as he clenched his fist before slowly un-clenching a single finger, and driving it down purposefully into the fallen marine''s back. "Hah!" Onigumo exclaimed as a sharp blade abruptly swung towards the now defenseless Sorren''s exposed neck. "You''re wide open! Let''s go die together!!" Sorren scowled, disappointment evident in his uncharacteristically serious face, "Why am I not surprised?" he mumbled as he showed no sign of retreating, infact the only difference seemed to be that his hand had now completely unclenched. He lazily grabbed onto Onigumo''s hand as he pulled sharply, before nonchalantly breaking the long arm and ripping it out of its socket. "I''ll just have to make sure that you can''t move now..." he continued as he threw away the dismembered hand and reached for another hand that was still in working condition, all the while he rested a foot on the downed marines head stifling his cries into the muddy ground as he looked down seriously. "I sentence you, to dismemberment!" Sorren exclaimed in a low voice before unemotionally re-locating all of the fallen Marines many hands and throwing them aside. He slowly lifted his foot and reached down revealing the head of the defeated Marine, tears ran down his forehead and snot lay suspended from his broken nose, foam leaked out the side of his mouth and a puddle of blood lay at his feet. Sorren fired a pitying glance at the fainted man before picking up a fallen saber and laying it on his neck. "Scum like you, Do Not Deserve to live, you''re body reeks of hypocrisy! So die, and repent for your sins! Even villains are better than you, atleast they know that they are villains, only bastards like you, who act like heroes but go on turning a blind eye to your own villainy could possibly piss me off this much!" he roared as he swung the blade. Blood flew around as a severed head fell peacefully to the ground. Onigumo the Rear Admiral, had been killed! 30 Barbecue!!! Fawkes stood humming at the front of the prow, a pure white apron hanging over his obsidian coat. A happy expression shone on his old-ish face as a sweat smile shone with a peaceful happiness. Infront of him stood a three legged barbecue stand with aromatic smoke flying into the sky, pieces of meat lay sizzling on the grill as a separate grill held steaming seasoned vegetables. In the background sounds of obscene levels of happiness could be heard, his fellow crewmembers whooping at the upcoming feast that they would be having as the ship moved on peacefully in the merry sea breeze. "Hey, hey, Sorren, we''re having barbecue!!" Lore said in a voice dripping with happiness, "Boss!! I am so happy that you took me from that wretched island, they never gave me any food!!" Sorren replied as water leaked from both his eyes and mouth. "Damnit fatty! You''re leaking all over my vintage outfit!" Lorean scolded playfully as he forcefully pried off the overweight boy, and straightened his wrinkled and wet sleeve. "Damn, you bastards! Stop thanking yourselves, its pissing off this master chef!" Fawkes shouted as he scowled at them, "One more word from you, and no more barbecue, I''ll throw this all into the sea!" Fawkes threatened, now quite sick of the duo constant banter. The results of these words were instant, Lore immediately stiffened looking away and whistling innocently while Sorren immediately scrunched his face in fear, barely breathing in an effort to lessen the noise that he emitted. The sea gulls screamed on noisily as they flew in the sky, some even going as far as to what could only be cat-calling the apron-ed chef in an attempt to gain his attention, ''an act that can only ever be inspired by the unforgivable sin of gluttony! What beasts!!'' Lorean thought as he mentally denounced the poor basal creatures. "Big bro Fawkes, how much longer????" Sorren exclaimed seeming very much akin to a man who had been deprived of his chance to visit the washroom for an extended period of time. "Wait a little my dear little glutton." Fawkes replied as he overturned the strips of meat, whose undersides had by now attained a golden texture. "If ever we have problems recruiting someone, I''ll have to leave it to you Fawkes." Lore suddenly announced as he waited patiently for his food. "Where did this come from all of a sudden?" Fawkes asked surprise dripping from his voice. "Yes, it shall be your job, O'' wise and noble first mate, for then, then, you may awaken them as demons of Gluttony!!" Lore announced solemnly as a wise glint appeared in his blue eyes. A loud bang sounded as he collapsed, injured by the hurtful spike of his enraged cook, a big bump forming on his head glowing painfully in the dying sunlight. Fawkes stared threateningly at him, a metal Haki infused spoon in his hand glinting eerily. He looked closely at the food, before nodding happily and pulling out two plates, he hummed happily as he arranged the neatly barbecued strips of meat, before wrapping the seasoned vegetables with it and adding in a small cup of sauce that had been personally made prior. He garnished the entire dish with a few leaves before good naturedly handing it over to his crewmates with a light "Enjoy". A satisfied look appeared on Lorean''s face as he relished his food, cleaning the plate up almost instantly before he licked his plate clean. "Surprising.." he muttered to himself as he licked his lips. "Hey, Fawkes what did you do to this food?" he asked curiously. "Oh, that! you noticed I see.." Fawkes replied. "Well, who wouldn''t, I mean there is no way in hell that I could be satisfied with just one plate. But surprisingly, I am!" Lorean replied. "It is an ancient cooking technique, passed down in a small family I had been introduced to, they practiced a method to pack all the nutrients in a particular ingredients body into one small slice, that is what I used! Otherwise there could be no way to satisfy this glutton.." he said as he fired an accusatory glare at Sorren. Sorren looked back, a wounded look appeared on his face for a brief amount of time, before he promptly went back to savoring the sweat dishes that his offender had given him. "Ok! Those who''ve finished eating come help me repaint the ship!! We can''t have ourselves looking like those despicable marines, now can we?" Lorean roared as he clapped his hand. It was time to refurnish their ship! ************************************************************************************* Garp was pissed, very pissed infact. Deep breaths shook his person as he listened to the report that was being offered to him by a marine survivor. "...A demon I tell you!!" the soldier shrieked hysterically. Garp motioned for the man to be taken away, though he hadn''t been able to witness the actual battle waking up to a severed head and piles of limbs could cause anyone to lose their calm, let alone a young man from North Blue who had never experienced the harsh cruelty if the Grand line. "Sir!" a soldier from his fleet saluted, "We have received information on how these people looked! They are the same people identified with the Doflamingo incident!" The soldier announced, before taking a deep breath, "All of them seem to have mastered Haki of some kind, with atleast one Conqueror''s Haki user! One ship seems to be missing, assumed to be the target of the pirates from the words of one of them when they barged in. The vaults have been emptied. Most of the Marines are alive, except those who were brought over by Rear Admiral Onigumo from his previous assigned location. The Rear Admiral himself has passed away, all of his limbs torn and his head decapitated. Awaiting Further orders!" he said as he finished his report. "Get me Sengoku..." Garp said deeply as he pinched the top of his nose, he had work to do and a man to cuss at, he would not hold back.........¡­.HaJHHa 31 NOT MARINE "WHAAAAAT????" Sengoku roared as he spat out the cup of tea he had been leisurely sipping on, dousing the papers he had in front of him, many of which would prove important for further marine activities. A nasally cough shook his stocky frame as small lines of liquids ran down his nose into his black beard. His glasses fell off his nose as he sneezed accompanying the recently fallen marine cap. "You''re telling me, that the pirates who put down that bastardly pink flamingo struck a marine base, completely demolishing Onigumo? How did you let this happen Garp! Onigumo is a loyal marine! How will the people of Swallow Island still put their hope in the powers of the marine?!!?" He roared. Though Sengoku had a weird look to him, he was infact very compassionate, though he did not completely believe in the ''Absolute Justice'' that some of his subordinates prescribed to, he still believed that the Marine would do what was best for the people, regardless of the circumstances. So of course it was no surprise that he cared about their public image much more than he let on. For a long time, Sengoku had only ever trusted Garp with his ideals, " I want a world of Peace! Everyone will be treated equally and no one will have to learn how to fight to Survive!!" he had loudly claimed when he had appeared in the grueling Marine camp known then for its Spartan training regimes. For years he had followed through with his silent wish, slowly gaining strength and hunting down all the ''scum of the world'', the pirates he killed could be numbered in the Millions - enough evidence to his compassion to all the innocent citizens of the world. Many a times he had clashed with the head strong Garp, fighting both with and alongside him during the many years they had both been marines. For, though he could trust Garp with his life, he could never trust him to fallow orders. A deep sigh echoed from the Fleet Admiral''s tired figure as he slowly rearranged the stack of papers before him. Nostalgia had long dampened his mood as he slovenly stared at the communication snail. "Garp, Fallow those bastards and destroy them before they reach the New World! With that strength, they could even thrive in Paradise! Failure will not be expected!! Make sure to cut them off here, otherwise they will surely bring great problems to the World Government''s future plans!!" Sengoku said as he exhaled looking deeply at Garp, his usual arrogance missing from his clear black eyes. "¡­.Roger¡­" Was Garp''s only reply as he cut the transmission. Sengoku''s lonely back seemed to hunch forward as a deep aging sigh escaped his unwilling mouth, creases of age made their way onto his forehead, he was getting too old for this shit! ************************************************************************************ (A Few kilometers off the coast of the island of Rubeck) The bold letters on the prow of the ship stood shining brightly, too brightly infact, causing all that lay eyes on the ship to feel a compulsory bout of speechlessness and disbelief. The Bold white letters that stood on the side of the ship spelled the words ''MARINE'', then why you ask, would people be unable to call this a marine ship? This was because, before the bold words stood even more pretentious words spelled in black paint, the words ''NOT'' shone brightly as if combating the luster of the next word. Yes, our dear friend Lorean, had decided that it would be enough camouflage for the ship to sport a new word to offset the suspicion, Fawkes still stood on the prow, hunched in embarrassment. His hands playing with the bottom of his beard uncomfortably looking toward the sea, he looked much like a man who had lost his virginity, but could not for the life of him, remember where or how the theft had occurred. ''Sometimes this captain of mine pulls out genius ideas like cucumbers to maintain positions in battle, and other times like this, his stupidity seems to hold great influence to his under developed Psyche!'' He thought as he gnashed his teeth in frustration, on the verge of storming the captain''s cabin to have some very strong words with the fellow. Sorren stood behind the wheel, sporting his usual innocent and oblivious expression as he beheld the speck that was quickly assuming the form of an industrialized island. On the inside though, he shared much of Fawkes''s skepticism, taking it a step further, he had also taken to describing his captain with a collection of beautiful and flowery words that would not be appropriate to repeat, he had grown up in the company of sailors after all. The only sailors who could possibly defeat a sailor in an abuse match could only be, an injured sailor and Sorren had learnt from the best, ''able to describe any situation he came across with a calm piece of mind showed great mental resilience'', he thought as he praised himself in his mind. Lorean sat in his cabin sipping a bottle of Ale grinning happily a stupid smirk overtook his pale face as his knees knocked against the wooden table that he sat on, a map lay open next to him, though he would assure anyone who had the patience to listen that he did not understand head or tails of the piece of paper that lay open next to him. A loud shriek sounded in the air as the flock of sea gulls overhead announced the setting of the sun over the horizon spreading huge lines of pink screeching across the darkening sky, the clouds churned happily as they flew along with the winds. "¡­. I wonder, what storms must I churn here¡­?" he said with a chuckle as he regarded the nearing island. 32 Torture A cold gasp echoed through the night as we finally landed, our ship peacefully bobbing on the surface of the water, a tiny road led to the empty markets that stood out like a sore thumb in the otherwise deserted town. Houses had their windows down, only a sliver of light pervaded through the cracks in the door which was the only sign that there was any habitation in the depressing town. "Oy Captain, why is it so sad here?" Fawkes asked as he stroked his beard before looking around with vigilance in his eyes. He had learnt the hard way that one must be very attentive and careful in places with the wretched aura that this town sported with abundance. "It reminds me of the gallows in louge town, it gives me the same chills, though here it is much lesser in strength.." He continued, looking seriously at me. "This is Rubeck, the town of chiseled stone, it is a wonderful place to visit, in the mornings at least. It had a little criminal problem you see.." I said as I tried to message him with my eyes. Fawkes responded with a curt nod before shepherding Sorren through the windy town heading toward the town hall. "Let''s rest in the ship.." I said as I looked seriously around me, Fawkes fired a questioning glance at me before acknowledging the order and walking back to the deserted pier holding stiffly to Sorren pudgy hands, ''much like a father'', I thought simply before skipping back to the ship. Creeks sounded in the silent and eerie air as we got on the rotting wooden planks that led to the harbor. I sighed as I got onto the steps that led to the prow of the ship followed closely by both Sorren and a paranoid looking Fawkes. "..Ok spill!" Fawkes said as he looked at me expectantly," well as you can see, this place isn''t very hospitable.. the only reason I set course here was because it used to have one of the pink flamingo''s hideouts and slave trading hubs, so we could loot as much as possible before leaving North Blue, also all this money will help us get a decent ship in Waters 7 so.." I said looking at him with a businessman like look. "Also, I have heard of a family, the San Juans, I think¡­.. They have a lot of connections with the New World so we can get in touch with Sorren''s father, giving us a supporter in the New World.." I continued as I touched my barren chin, adopting a look of deep contemplation. "We''re going to have to beat them up of course." I said as I looked at them. "Huh¡­. you could have given us a little time to prepare.." Fawkes said offering a weak complaint before sighing. "Well you didn''t ask.." I replied as I smirked. My smile slowly disappeared as I looked at Sorren, ready to answer any quarries that he could put forward before pulling out my dagger and throwing it toward a patch of dark shadows, a muffled wince sounded dully in the frigid air as a nameless stranger appeared on the ship. A deep glare rich with killing intent adorned his hidden face as he glanced at us, a sigh escaped my lips as I walked up to him, ignoring both his expression and his fast bleeding arm I chose instead to pluck out his poison canister giving it a deep sniff. "Hmmm.... A mixture of lavender roots and the diluted solution of the moonflower''s leaf with a pinch of lizard spine, it''s a poor toxin" I evaluated with an expert''s demeanor, of course I did not know much about any of these ingredients but I had used my fruit to evaluate the poison and this was the result I had gotten. The man''s expression turned sour as he beheld me, still remaining tightlipped about himself. "Oi Fawkes get a tankard of mead, the cheapest quality" I said ambiguously as he nodded before going below deck to fetch the alcohol, while he did this I dug out the dagger from his palm, all the while resting my leg on his chest. A soft tinkering echoed as Fawkes reappeared above deck and handed me the bottle. A sinister smile appeared across my face as I pulled off the man''s cowl, bundling it into a lump of clothing I shoved it into his mouth and stuck my dagger into his other hand, forcefully disabling the man. A thoughtful look appeared on my face as I browsed through my collection in my database, i slowly overturned the corked bottle making a tiny hole on the cork and connecting it to the bundle of clothing in the man''s mouth. Drop by drop the intoxicating liquid dropped into the man''s mouth forcing him to drink it, smiling sadistically I immediately ''downloaded'' the assortment I had prepared onto the man''s psyche. immediately pain wrecked the man''s body as cold sweat flowed from his clammy forehead spasms shook his body, a low growl sounded from his clenched throat and his terrified eyes widened with extreme fear. I chuckled as I began to explain, "You see, I can download anything onto people''s minds, so I just imagined a huge monster repeatedly crushing the man''s limbs while they regenerate. I am quite proud of my illusions.." Fawkes gave me a nod of acknowledgement as he waited for the session to end, starting intently at the tied up man. Sorren walked away a thoughtful expression on his face as he made his way to the pantry, a long night stood infront of us, and he wanted his night snack! 33 Terrick Terrick screamed heart wrenchingly, peals of gruff and hoarse screeches echoed into the wooden walls of the brig. Of course this was all in his mind, because much like the lifelike illusions that had been plaguing his psyche, he had been allowed to scream his heart out¡­.into a gag that silenced most, if not all, of his screams. His captors had been polite enough to provide him with a roll of coarsely knitted and repeatedly patched bedding, though he was neither in the right mental faculties nor the correct place, so as to speak, to appreciate their magnanimity. His face mask had long been ripped off, revealing a healthy brown complexion marred only by a thin scar that ran from his temple to the side of his lip, a thin line of scratches adorned his unnatural scar and a cut lay between his otherwise perfectly sword-shaped eyebrows. Sea green eyes stared blankly at the rotting wood ceiling as he cursed his fate for the umpteenth time, for though he had been subjected to a very realistic illusion he had been allowed the ability to distinguish between it and reality, albeit barely. ''Damn bastard Alferdo San Juan!! if I find you I swear to god I shall assassinate you balls!! Cock sucking son of an unborn whore! If I don''t get revenge for this unwarranted world of pain I shall renounce my surname and marry that wild pig you call a sister! To invite them for a drink he said, drink your sister! Asshole! Fucking¡­..'' and so on were the wildly innovative curses that he had been concocting over the course of his confinement. A dull chink sounded, piercing sharply through the haze that had been Terrick''s pain, a shining hand seemed to lay softly on his shoulder as a soothing voice shook him out of his stupor bringing him back to the dingy halls that made up the dark dungeon he had been confined in. Slowly he rose, as if a drowning man that had been provided with a wooden log, helplessly he clung onto the life saving noise that had reached out to him. Slowly he felt the illusion clear away from around him, bringing with it a deafening impact from the things that surrounded him. Relief instantly washed over him as he began to lose consciousness, a soft smile of relief hung on his lips as he slowly fainted, he had been saved. Sorren looked on, concern vibrantly shining on his miraculously smooth and round face, the pale moonlight reflected from his dimpled cheeks as he looked at the captive. Over the first few hours he had debated his line of action, at the beginning he had opted to ignore the matter entirely in favor of the more unconventional fish broth that had been left over from his mid-snack snack. He had been raised on a sea ''hospital'' of sorts and had grown up to tales of the brutish and savage pirates that roamed the seas, but still, if he was going to be a pirate, then he would become like his father, as noble of a pirate as could be possible. A small smile slowly rose onto his face as he looked at the passed out man, he looked to be not over than the age of eighteen, judging by the stubs of a beard that had only begun to sprout and the still boyish smile he seemed to wear. "Now then, I guess I need to go explain to Captain why I don''t think torture is actually required to get what we want...." he said with a thoughtful smile, anyone would say he was carefree if one were to see the smile, but a stream of sweat seemed to flow as if to contradict that notion. He re-locked the metal door to the cell and made his way out of the brig. "What about some fish on the way up..?" he thought as he decidedly took a diversion towards the kitchen area¡­. Fawkes whistled inconspicuously as he cleared the bar table looking piercingly at his captain. "Did you want him to do that?" he asked as he wiped away some stains upon the counter. "Simply because he is part of my crew, I can''t be expected to continuously hold-hand him¡­ And this way, we can work out our differences quickly.." Lorean replied as he leisurely sipped from the tankard. "I don''t particularly mind giving up on torture¡­ but I amn''t against it as a mode of gathering information, So if either of you are against it then you need to tell me about it. Not only that the brat''s awakened his Conqueror''s Haki, these moments are required for him to temper it, so why not?" "You really are a bastard aren''t you?" Fawkes remarked as he sipped on a newly filled tankard," any who he''s going to be here anytime now, deal with it yourself.." slowly he walked to the door before throwing it open and into the moonlit prow leading to the cabins. As soon as he disappeared into the corner, a slow rhythmic beat sounded from the stairs that led into the brig, a shiny head was seen swaggering out followed by a greasy mouth that was chewing vigorously on a chicken leg and a peal of fish. "Oh Captain you''re here!" He said with a over-the-top cheery voice as he looked towards the bar before trudging to him purposefully, "Captain, I don''t want you to torture the skinny man in the cells!" he said as he took a deep sigh preparing himself for the scolding he would receive. "Oh.? And why is that Sorren?" Lorean asked with a stern look slowly setting down the mug of ale that he had been drinking. "Well for one, we can''t be sure that the information that would be provided would be in any way legitimate!" He said trying to make a case. "Well you can''t ensure that for any form of information gathering, what is your point?" Lorean countered. "For another, it isn''t really right is it?" He desperately continued. "We are pirates when have we cared about what was right?"Lore asked with a disdainful smirk on his face. "Well- Well I don''t like it!!" Sorren said, the words seemingly erupting from his unwilling mouth accompanied with a sliver of Haki. "Now That, that I shall accept. Remember Sore there is no right and wrong, only what a man can do, and what a man can''t do along with what a man wants to do!" Lore announced imperiously before chuckling happily. "Remember brat, when you say something do not hide behind these useless premises! Might is Right!" he said as he went back to sipping his ale. "Now go sleep, I shall take first watch, you have already removed the illusions from our poor prisoner, so go sleep.." he said as he pushed the dumbfounded boy toward the cabin. 34 Another shady man Terrick let out a sad sigh as he slumped down in the chair, the night had long passed and the sultry noon sun streamed through the gated windows of his resident brig. Before him stood the three men who had captured him the previous night, one had a suave look on his face as he held a recently eaten from plate, another looked at him with piercing blue eyes and a nonchalant and carefree smile on his face. The final man looked at him with an innocent glance as he licked his greasy fingers, having been held responsible by the other two for hogging the contents of the afore mentioned plate all by himself. "So, tell me again, why did you attempt to sneak into our ship last night?" Lore said as he exhaled in a bored voice. "I already told you I am the one put in charge of the visitors screening process!" Terrick replied in a tired voice, hoping that his captors would be foolish enough to believe him. Fawkes snorted, making his disbelief known as he exhaled before shrugging and walking out of the somewhat damp room. Sorren followed behind him, shuffling his feet as he did. "Captain, now that it is daytime why don''t we go explore the town?" he said as he ascended the flight of stairs leading to the prow of the ship. "Well then, what do we do with you..?" Lore contemplated loudly. A frigid chill went down Terrick''s spine as he paled, ''Ugh, this monster is going to torture me again..'' he moaned in his head as he attempted to brace for the eventual arrival of the horror. The man we had captured was yet to open his mouth and I was getting more impatient by the moment. A part of me wanted to stab him with a needle until he finally confessed, the only thing holding me back was the conversation I had had with Sorren the previous night. A dull sigh escaped from my mouth as I walked up to the captive, "My patience is wearing thin, asshole! Either tell us the truth or I swear to god I will sink you!" I threatened, all the while paying close attention to the expression on the man''s face, hoping and praying for a tiny crack on his grim fa?ade to tell me that my act had worked. Sadly I was disappointed as the only response I got for my effort was a tiny wince followed by an expression that seemed to say: ''You do You!'' ''You do you, your mother!'' I roared silently in my head, slowly my head stooped as I gave up. "I''ll deal with you later!" I growled as I called in the rest of the crew ( not that I had a pretty big or complete one¡­)"Help me strip the guy! We''ll use his clothes to tie him up!" I said as I got to work. Fawkes gave me a bemused look as he attempted to stifle his laughter. "Damn it Fawkes don''t laugh, help me!!" I roared as an invisible tick appeared on my forehead exactly over the pulsing vein that had popped up as evidence to my anger. "If anyone gets on the ship, they''ll probably think that this is a sex circus.." Fawkes commented dryly, "if ever such a thing happens, Sorren is the captain and we are all poor exploited sailors, ok?" I asked giving Fawkes a conspiratory look. Fawkes gave me a thumbs up before hunching over and laughing, probably imagining the scenario. "Hey, what is a sex circus..?" an innocent voice sounded immediately causing three men to break out into sweat...¡­ ************************************************************************************* The winds whistled as we walked into the grey island, houses dotted the landscape haphazardly bringing with it a unique disorderly air to the already bleak atmosphere. Long chimneys stood smoking into the cloudless sky, forming a smoky haze to the cheerless town. Though the streets did have people walking around, all of them walked hurriedly as if afraid that too much time spent on the streets would greatly harm their chances of survival, conversation was almost muted, even in the already open taverns as people stooped low discussing their day in a low voice. "Ugh, it isn''t any better during the day.." Fawkes muttered, his opinion seconded by the rapid bobbing of Sorren''s head. "I don''t like this place at all captain" Sorren moaned, for once forgetting to fill his mouth with some article of food. "No doubt there is that" I nodded surely as we walked towards the town square. A gleaming fountain stood at the centre of the square, though no water seemed to flow in the stone sculpted basin. "You aren''t from around here are ya?" a gruff voice said from behind us, "the place has been like this for a long time, dreary as a winter wind, I am surprised people even come here anymore" the man muttered. All signs about him showed him to be a beggar, tattered clothes, an un-kept beard and a black eye. He sported a sad grin on his face as he regarded us, "Why are you even here, brats? I can''t imagine what would drive you to stop at this trash dump.." he continued as he led us to a vacant seat. "supplies mainly" I answered cautiously, "After here we have a long stretch of ocean to cover so we wanted to make sure we had enough food for the trip" I finished as he chuckled, "So you lads are sailing on the sea, the sea is a dangerous place you know.." he said ominously before rising from the seat. "it''s dangerous brats, dangerous I tell you¡­" 35 Shake down! A deep sigh echoed out as I looked at the tattered clothes wearing man who had now descended cheerfully into conversation with my crew (And by crew of course I mean Sorren..) talking animatedly of his time as a sailor in the high seas. "¡­and then I stabbed that dratted fish person in the chest with my trusty rusty razor sharp saber! Down he went that bastard bleeding like an inky octopus! Brats you think you can do that?.." he said gesturing thoughtlessly with his hands high and a euphoric look in his eyes. "Then of course I returned here when I heard that my ma'' was ill, been staying with her ever since¡­. All the cash I amassed in the oceans I splurged on her healing, all the doctors here know me, so brat, as a fellow sailor mind spotting me a bit of cash? I swear it won''t be much.." he said drawing an anticlimactic climax to his made up story. "Ok" Sorren replied before digging through his pockets and handing the man a handful of jewels, "I am a doctor, old man why don''t I take a look at your mum?" he said solemnly looking at him. "Un.." the man replied, obviously distracted by the pile of jewels in his hand "It''s this way.." he continued distractedly as he hobbled into a wide street diagonal to the fountain, he maintained pace as he led us through sometimes looking back at us eagerly to make sure that we followed him. "You know that this man is probably a fraud right?" Fawkes asked puzzled at my silence on the matter. "Yes, and I am sure that lil'' Sore knows that too, he probably gave the man the gold in an attempt to tempt him, all crime in this city is controlled by the three big families the San Juan, the Bonnano and the Gambino family. This man must be affiliated to one of these three, probably the San Juan s, because they are the strongest family here. So by following this man, we might be able to get to the Syndicate''s base, and maybe gaining clues on Doflamingo''s stash here. Also we''ll be able to counter rob them even if these people don''t know anything about that Flamingo''s stash, they most definitely have a stash of their own!" I replied chuckling slightly at Sorren''s genius. "You almost had me fooled! I never thought that the brat was the scheming sort, he hid deep!!" Fawkes remarked with respect in his eyes. I nodded proudly smiling, "What do you expect from people from MY crew?" "Put a lid on it.." Fawkes retorted as he made his way to the front of the group standing beside Sorren who followed the old man with an Oscar worthy solemn look. ''Awesome acting!!'' I thought as I mentally gave him a thumbs up. The man turned into a side alley chuckling to himself at his supposed wind fall. "It''s just around here Benefactors, with what you have given me, my mother will be finally healed!!" he said with big droplets of water falling from his eyes and a terrifying amount of snot dripping from his nose. ''I knew it! This was an ambush''. "Now benefactors, if you would kindly empty your pockets onto the pavement.." the man said, his pathetic face immediately transforming into a sleazy look that one would only usually see on unscrupulous businessmen. He wore a smug and shameless smile on his face that resembled the face of a man who convinced a young girl into prostitution, all the while convincing her that the decision would benefit her. Surprise colored my face as Sorren retained his solemn demeanor, "Oh, you need to ensure that we don''t carry any toxic substances right? No worries, no worries all we have in our pockets are some jewels" he said. A low chocking sound rang from Fawkes''s throat as he looked at me accusingly as if to say: ''You said he knew this man was a fraud!!'' "What? No!! I lied now hand me all your money!!" he roared as he beckoned for the men hiding in the shadows to appear. "So, uncle you lied to me?" Sorren asked still solemn about the matter. If this situation had not occurred to me, I would probably be on the floor laughing, but since I was involved I had a strange urge to throttle Sorren''s fat neck, tick marks appearing on my forehead. Fawkes stood next to me, having much the same expression on the boundary between laughter and tears. "YES! Of course I lied to you! do you not understand that brat?? how thick are you!! Boys, rough ''em up!" The man said rubbing his forehead in frustration . Sorren slowly exhaled, anger obvious on his face. "Captain, these people are bad people! I am going to beat them up!!" he said in a suppressed voice. "Go ahead, but don''t kill them, and leave some conscious!" I said before walking further back and resting my back onto the rocky black walls. A soft bang echoed in the air as Sorren charged forward, moving with a force of a compressed artillery shell. Smacking sounds soon followed as he slapped everyone in front of him. Three men attacked him together swinging down with their flimsy batons. Sorren barreled into one shoulder first, catching him in the chest before the swing could be completed, before delivering a round house kick to another hitting him to the base of his skull. The final man looked on in terror as the fat tank approached him, he looked between his comrades, the tattered clothes wearing beggar and Sorren before decisively abandoning his weapon and running away. Sorren looked at him disdain on his face before he Soru''d to his side delivering a chop to his neck causing him to crumple to the ground. The three men groaned in pain as they looked at us, a devilish smile spread over my lips as I exhaled walking towards the only standing contestant of the failed robbery. "Ok, line up! Men to the right and women to the left! This is a shake down!!!" 36 Politics I chuckled darkly as I counted the money that had been heaped in front of me, a small mountain of cash notes lay rolled up in a dysfunctional mess. Beside it stood a slightly bigger heap of rusty equipment that has been looted from the unfortunate band that had decided to assault us. Soft wailing sounds shook the alley as a group of naked men kneeled together, their knees touching and a tiny stream of tears flowing from their eyes. "Damn, if I''d known there weren''t any women here I wouldn''t have bothered to make those clich¨¦ lines¡­" I moaned in sadness, before promptly turning to the man that had led us to this elaborate, albeit failed robbery attempt. "Which family are you under?" I asked clearly as I looked at the pitiful senile old man. Sorren nodded behind my back while Fawkes simply stood to my side awaiting the man''s reply. "...Colombo¡­." the man muttered softly as he attempted to push the words through his teeth, "The last time I got in contact with the family was four months ago to hand over a part of my earnings as a commission¡­" he continued showing none of the previously shown indecision. He reminded me of a bath tub that had had its plug pulled spilling information indiscriminately after the initial reveal. "They let me work in the fountain area, it''s one of the best parts of their turf, I can con loads of travelers there, they even have a very liberal money collection plan.." he said harping away at the plus points of the business that he had recently taken a fancy to. "So tell me geezer, why the preferential treatment to you..?" I asked curiously, the man hadn''t been very strong, and he wasn''t very loyal either, leading me to question how he was able to convince a cut throat family like the Colombo''s to give him prime land from their turf. "Well that''s because, I defected from the up-and-coming Gambino family with valuable information in exchange for that spot..Now the Colombo''s have an upper hand in the union auction! They even managed to snag a couple of the Gambino merchandise!!" he replied puffing out his chest like a proud peacock and showing a look of ardent pleasure as he spoke of his new employers. "Hoh..? What is this ''union auction''?" I asked curiously. "It''s an auction held every five years, jointly organized and managed by the big six! At the end of the day the one with the most expensive merchandise goes home with the most profit. You have everything from expensive Devil fruits to weapons- Once one of the ''O Wazamono'' series swords had been auctioned off there!! The auction is even frequented by some world nobles!" He said proudly puffing out his chest. ''Hoh world nobles huh..? Interesting¡­'' I thought as I smiled a little. "So, what was this merchandise that you informed the Colombo''s about?" "Hoh¡­ It seems like our dear flamingo friend was returning from here, and just happened to meet us in Minnon!" I said chuckling darkly as I looked back at my crew. "It makes me kind of happy to know that not only did we kill him, we also got him to cough up the ''unknown'' devil fruit" Fawkes said with a slight chuckle. "Hey Fawkes don''t say that to loud! The Marines will be after us for animal cruelty!!" I said as I clicked my tongue in mock anger. "So, Gezer. What should I do with you? kill you, decapitate you, give you to the Gambino s? I''m sure they have a good local bounty out for you.." I said as I returned to the man in question, licking my lips slightly. "Eh.? I th-thought that since I gave you the information, you would let me go!!" He wailed stuttering and crying sharply. Huge tears flowed down his gruff pear-shaped face before dropping down to the dirty ground with a dull thud. Slowly a bored expression overtook my face as I sighed. The man had become too annoying to handle, "You should just go to sleep.." I muttered softly before knife-handing him to the base of his neck. He collapsed with a resounding thud as I looked on at him with a an apathetic expression. "Boss, what do we do with this fat heap now?" Sorren asked, delighted that he could finally use the term fat to refer to someone other than himself. "Hmm, give me a moment.." I said before I consulted my fruit for anything that we could use a body for. [...............¡­. ==\u003e\u003e\u003e bone rending brain parasite- effects: cultivated in the body of an unknowing host takes only a few hours to mature before swallowing all bone matter in the host''s body thus killing him. It can then be used in the place of an adrenaline shot for a brief period of time. Requirements: 1) ten different types of poison.. ....................] "Got it!" I said as I re-read the parasite making recipe, "hehe, let''s go, boys! back to the ship!!" ************************************************************************************* Garp groaned unsteadily as he looked out from the ship. He had just left from the Swallow islands and currently had a belly full of rage with nowhere to vent them. So again it had landed on his trusty assistant to briefly assume the position of punching bag, for the good of the voyage, he had been assured. So now he stood almost foaming at the mouth as the Vise Admiral expelled loud bursts of air in his general direction in a nasty and foul mood. "Sir, we got information of a marine ship sporting pirate colors and a foolish ''NOT MARINE'' painted on the side, we can only assume that they are the same as the people who trashed the swallow island HQ and in extension killed off Doflamingo! they seemed to have moored unheedingly in plain sight at Rubeck island! We are currently awaiting further orders!" A marine said saluting briefly before promptly escaping from the room. Garp fumed as his assistant gulped, before beginning to write a mental will that he hoped he would be able to write down¡­.. 37 The Parasite and the deal I sighed softly as I looked at the barrel that stood in front of me. A clear liquid swirled in the brown wood vat, deep and viscous. A foul stench made me frown as I added in my personal addition to the blend- a drop of sea water. "Boss, do we have to feed the fatty this?" Sorren asked as he hovered curiously at my back clenching his fist over his nose so he could block out the foul smell. "Not really li''l fatty, at least not the entire vat. Most of it is for later, I don''t want to bother making it every time we have an annoying prisoner." I said answering him very patiently as I vigorously stirred the noxious vat of toxins. A few minutes of waiting later, Sorren could no longer maintain his original level of interest, instead he simply trotted to the side before sitting down and chomping on a turkey leg which he had most definitely smuggled from the inn keepers coffers. A snort of mirth echoed from the other end of the room where Fawkes sat leaning against the wall. For context we were currently back at the inn in one of the rooms we had ''booked'' with the fat man tied to the bed post of the rickety bed, a gag cloth over his mouth that resembled a century old sock and ropes as thick as two thumbs tied him in place. Of course he was asleep, but you can never be too careful with folk like this. "Boss, when will this thing be done?" Sorren asked as he gazed at me, boredom barely concealed in his gaze. "I want to explore!! I want to fight! I want to eat!!" he whined as he began to pout, his lips forming an ugly knot over his pudgy fat. "Yes, Yes! It''ll just take a few more minutes to truly bond, before it can be administered to the victim. Now if you don''t shut up I''ll tell you how it works!" I threatened to which both Fawkes and Sorren had a drastic change in expression, both holding explicit expressions of pure horror, Fawkes even looked as if he was about to bolt. Immediately the duo quieted down both going back to activities that did not have any vocal influence, all the while I could be seen hunched over a smelly vat of unknown toxins, smiling evilly. (No I was not and neither am I high!) ************************************************************************************ Terrick sighed tiredly as he tried, for the umpteenth time to wrench his hands out of the makeshift ropes that tied him to a sturdy wooden pole in the brig. ''damn Pirates! The whole lot of them are scum! I swear to god I will stick a dagger up that asshole''s ass crack!'' he roared as he imagined the smug face of a certain pirate, looking condescendingly at him. ''I swear I will ruin that pretty face!!'' he thought, unable to stop himself from feeling a hint of envy toward the pretty boy that had played a role in his capture. Finally he heard a soft crack sound from somewhere, hoping against hope that it was the shabby bindings on his hands he redoubled his effort, swinging his shoulders in wide arcs hoping against hope to tear through them. The caw of a gull sounded from near the windows of the ship, seemingly mocking him for all the freedom he had traded for the chance that he had been offered. (Flashback ) (A/N I swear I won''t do this often anymore) Terrick kneeled before a wizened old man, his beard streaked with tongues of white, haggardly twitching on his chin. The man had a white pony sticking out comically from the top of his head, pointing awkwardly to the chandelier in the roof, his black eyes regarded Terrick seriously as his paper thin skin fluttered thinly in the wind. The man stood at a dismal 4 feet barely reaching the middle of Terrick''s chest, yet it was him who was kneeling to the shrimp and not the other way around. "Terrick, your daily report!" the shrimp ordered harshly as he flourished his hands trying to look imperious, yet he only managed to look like an annoying senior citizen fanning away some form of unpleasant smell. "Alferdo, the snitch from the rabbits has finally derailed their operation, now they need to look for a new source for the Union Auction, unless of course, they decide to back out of the thing entirely. Also the snitch went to the Colombo''s as expected, so now we can expect the Gambino s to take a more aggressive stance on the conflict. The avenue has been presented to allow the family to swoop in and make the Gambino s owe us. Also the storage has been double checked, the goods are safe and in good condition." Terrick said as he looked at the family head in front of him, ridiculing him mentally. "Good! Stick with the family and you''ll get what you deserve!" the shrimp said grandiosely, forgetting for a moment that the family vaults had been emptied by his son, who had squandered all the cash on a wild goose chase of a devil fruit that had never been found. "Boss! Merchant ships are finally turning up for the auction!" a soldier shouted as he ran into the room, immediately looking away from his diminutive ''boss'' hoping that the man would not suddenly get offended by his height. "Terrick! I want you to check through all the ships! You find any treasures, seize it!" he said, once again proving his shortsightedness. Terrick sighed before nodding and disappearing into the darkness, he wanted to have conversation with someone with sense, and he knew that, here he would not find it. 38 Negotiation Armand Gambino trotted around the room frustrated. His sides ached as he moaned in pain, a deep gash on his chest and a throbbing scar on his face making a formidable cross on his forehead. A deep groan of regret shook his frame as he once again ridiculed himself for believing that conniving piece of filth. His short cut black hair was slicked back in an unfriendly mount and his dark shades glowered evilly. A full size white coat hung loosely over his body, sporting a conspicuous lack of buttons making it nothing more than an overcoat. A matching set of pants hung down from his waist making him look much like what one would expect of a gangster. (Think stylish Yakuza) Though he looked like this, he had in fact not traded his brains for a second rate gangster look. This could be proven to anyone jobless enough to ask, by pointing out that he had become the youngest family head to have ever come to power in this chaotic land of the five feuding families. Now however the young star had a problem. A huge problem. All of his goods had been stolen and to top it all off he had been betrayed by one he had considered a loyal family member. Not only losing a valuable amount of money but also probably single handedly causing the decline of his family for the next five years. "Boss! there is someone at the gate who said that they want to talk to you!" A voice called as a grey haired youth sauntered into the room blissfully unaware of the eventual doom of the family. "Hoh? How the Gambino family has fallen if all we can do is let strangers meet the family head whenever they wish?" Armand asked with a hint of depression, before hopelessly waving his hand motioning for the youth to let the men at the family gate meet him. "Take them to the family room, I will meet them there." Armand said, with what could possibly be the most polite welcome anyone on this island would offer. "Also make sure that you station Right and Left on the door just to stop them from thinking of any funny business." ah, I take the previous statement back. ''Hah¡­'' Armand sighed tiredly before making his way to the wall and glancing at the twin swords that lay hanging on the wall, gleaming with a hint of bloodlust. ''Father, it is time to break out the ceremonial sabers it seems.'' he said as he pulled out the swords and clenched them in his fist. You see, it was the custom of the Gambino s to bring the two swords to any and all negotiations, for that was what he assumed he was about to face. He sniffed slightly, before exiting the orange lighted room and made his way to the family room, tracing the yellowing walls as he remembered the family glory that he had seen when he was just a child. Cries of joy could almost be heard when he clutched the door knob to the family room, before he decisively opened the room fully prepared for the eventual despair that he would feel. His blue eyes stared calmly at him, letting no thoughts escape. ''Hah this is going to be tough..'' ( LORE POV ) I took a deep breath as the head of the Gambino s entered the room. I had heard of how young he was, nonetheless, I was still slightly surprised. "So Mister Gambino, I heard your family has gotten into a bout of problems?" I asked unwilling to spend too much time on trivial pleasantries. "Hoh.. Where did mister stranger hear that from?" the man sitting opposite to me replied, never breaking character. ''God damnit man now you forced me to introduce myself!!'' "I am a wandering pirate who just happened to hear a flying flamingo talk about a deal with you, now I hear that you lost the merchandise, imagine how surprised I was.." I said maintaining my poker face as I observed the man opposite to me. After the first facial spasm, nothing was revealed. "Hoh..?" the man said before seemingly decide to stop the information charade that had been playing out before him, "Even if that was the case I wonder how mister Pirate has anything to do with it?" "Nothing as of yet, but I could theoretically help you.." was all that I replied with. "Even if that was the case, what makes mister Pirate believe that he can hold onto his merchandise? after all it is a dangerous world out there.." the Gambino head said. ''heh, first you probed my information now you want to test my credibility? fine then your funeral~'' I thought as I proceeded to coat my hands with Armament Haki, successfully turning it black. "Nishishi, mister Gambino jokes, how could I being a pirate possibly fear the outside world?" I asked allowing a slight amount of derision to slip into my tone. "Ha-ha, Mister Pirate is right, take my previous words as merely words of rambling then.." he said laughing slightly uncomfortably, sweat beading on his forehead. "Now then, onto business.." I said as I motioned to Fawkes who promptly, though slightly unwillingly pulled out all the gold, armaments and jewels that he had found in the Marine hideout. (Hey we were Pirates, so what if we looted sometimes, if we didn''t then we would be weird!!) The carpet was covered with the loot making a sizeable amount. How Fawkes managed to hold onto this much cash and where he kept it was a mystery to me, nonetheless I believed that if he wanted to tell me then he would. "I wonder, if this would suffice for you mister Gambino?" I asked playfully. "It would have sufficed, but what we have lost is still too much.." he said as he looked down, obviously depressed. "Ok, how about this then, we''ll sweeten the deal for you, all this and we''ll help you get back what was stolen, with the catch being that we get to pick up three things from the retrieved treasure?" I said as I slowly pushed out my hands, smiling like a devil. 39 Oh my God! Robbery!! Darcy sat sniffing at the head of the carriage, his pug nose twitching in the air as he looked around alert. He had been placed here by the head of the Colombo to help guard the carriage and goods in case the other families caught sight of the merchandise. His grey coat twitched slightly in the dead of the night as his black buzz cut head felt an unnatural chill. His name was Darcy, no last name was given to him by the family for they felt that he didn''t need it, he had to agree, after all adding another word to his name only made it longer and more tedious to remember. He was a stowaway from a pirate crew that had been caught on the banks of the island, back when the island still held contact with the Rear Admiral Onigumo, and had been immediately bought off by the head of the Colombo - Tilly, who at that time, he had thought was a sweat lady who had saved him, only later did he realize that he had been bought like a common slave. After that his life had been forfeit, or at least that was what he had thought, but since he had eaten the Zoan fruit - dog fruit, model pug!, she had treated him well. Going as far as to make him her left hand, now the one to look after the families goods for the coming auction. They had put all the goods they had ''acquired'' into the carriage and the family had assigned various people to ferry it around so that they wouldn''t be robbed. Also it was to ensure that the family could keep it a secret until the last minute, making a break for it if it got too dangerous was also a point that had been considered. That being the case, the carriage had to be as inconspicuous as possible, forcing the security detail to be restricted to one person. Though Darcy did not wish to be arrogant he would smugly admit to anyone who had the time or patience to listen that he was the strongest warrior that the Colombo had to offer. His dog transformation was his biggest asset. Suddenly he felt a twitch in the air around him as he felt the air swish gently. Immediately he assumed a fighting position, bringing his fist- turned paws in front of his face and squaring off his feet in an attempt to brace himself against the unknown. A dull thud later the only thing he could see was a dark canvas as a heart numbing flame shook his chest. A drip of blood later he could only collapse to the ground in disbelief. He was the strongest fighter in the family, and those as strong as or stronger than him could be counted on one hand! Yet now he slept, hugging the ground, his paws dully scratching against the dusty ground. But, he was faced with the monsters that had landed on the island. (Was it underestimated, if he was not aware of their presence? he surprisingly did not know.) People who could not be defined by the logic of North blue, had appeared. Maybe only those in the Grand line could possibly face them as they were now. Lorean had taken steps to counter his foes nose when he had heard of it from Armand who had nicely warned him of it before hand as they were ironing out the details of the deal, he had also been briefed of the commanders of the other families. One of them had been the man before him now. Lore had tackled the sharp sense of smell by merely spraying a pungent odor through the air for the last hour slowly getting the man used to it before, replacing it with his scent. He had then used Observation Haki to throw his daggers. He felt quite stupid right now though, after all who would take so many measures against the juvenile in front of him. The battle with Doflamingo and the training with Tankan had altered his perception of common sense, leading to the paranoid situation before him. With a slight chuckle, Lorean simply pulled out his dagger before driving it into Darcy''s neck, and proceeded to use his skills to make him somewhat resemble the fruit user. With a slight whistle he led the carriage to a corner, before looking into it. Slowly a look of surprise overtook his previous smug-enough-to-smack face. Inside the carriage were heaps of gold and silver stacked haphazardly at the edge of the room. At the centre sat two swords with beautiful pommels, gleaming unnaturally in the dark interior of the carriage. Lore slowly unsheathed them, whistling as he did. "These are Ryo Wazamono! There is no doubt of it. I wonder what they are called..?" He muttered to himself as he started to look through his fruits encyclopedia. "these look like ''Togatta and ''Fushin'' basically translated to sharp and dull.. man whoever named these things wasn''t joking around at all.." he said with a sarcastic tone as he chuckled to himself insidiously. "I wonder what Fawkes'' face will be like once he sees that my luck for looting beats his by miles!" he continued before exiting the room and giggling to himself like an old man. Far away in one of the guest houses of the Gambino, a tall grey haired man felt a chill spiral down his back as a hint of disgust welled up in his mouth unreasonably. "Which bastard dares even think of beating his father the great me!" he muttered to himself darkly before lazily settling down back to sleep. 40 The Great Escape Armand whistled happily as he paced the room. His previously sunken face had taken a rosier tone to it and his previously sad expressional arsenal had transformed into a hodgepodge of induced ecstasy. A sigh escaped from the mouth of one of the family elders as they looked at the two swords in the centre of the room and the additional butt load of gold and silver. "Hehe¡­ with this we stand a chance of actually making something out of the entire messy affair. We may even be able to come out on top!" Armand exclaimed happily before sitting down on the head- chair and seriously looking around the room. "The auction is the day after and we must prepare! The hall has been set and the invitations have been sent, now we can only wait, hoping that ignoramus Alferdo has not found a way to procure any devil fruits or exquisite slaves.." Elder A said as he stroked his white beard. "Aye, we have no choice but to wait over this. We have done all we can do, the rest can only be left to those guests of ours" Armand seconded, before commanding the elders to double check the condition of the slaves that they had on hand. "Chief, we have a wolf kin boy and a fishman on the board as of now, they were just checked and have been administered the slave collar. I have also looked through their habits and behavioral patterns, there are no problems" Elder B remarked as he gave his report. "How are the Guests? have they complained about anything at all? Do they seem to have any problems?" Armand asked as he came to the last part of his invisible to-do list. "There seems to be no problem on that end. The captain has asked for nothing but some fine sake and a secluded courtyard. The other older man has only asked that the courtyard has a kitchen facility, but chose to compromise when he saw that we had nothing of the sort by being allowed into the kitchen when he wished. The final one, though, has been a slight problem. He has eaten away at what would have fed the family for a month in the past day! Luckily, the auction is to be held tomorrow after which we will be rid of them." The elder summarized as he solemnly looked through a notebook. "Uhm! good, make sure all their needs are met so they have no reason to hold it against us. They are probably the strongest people on the island right now, and I want them to have no reason to hold a grudge against me and my family" Armand remarked, before dismissing all the elders to their respective stations. Another chuckle rang through the room as the elders exited. Most of them could swear that they caught a glimpse of the stoic family chief take a dive into the loot with a goofy grin on his face¡­. Terrick groaned for the umpteenth time as he crawled stealthily on the roof of the building, wincing at every sway at the uncomfortable-ness of the clothing that he had ''borrowed'' from one of the passerby''s. Luckily he had escaped from the ship at nightfall, jumping off the brig window into the expansive green ocean. He had then laboriously negotiated among the schools of fish that frequented the harbor, against approaching his privates, which he had jealously guarded with both hands. He was not embarrassed to confess that this had decreased his swimming speed by a hefty margin. Could they not have left him with the pants he had worn during the escapade? Why had they stripped him so cruelly..? Now Terrick no longer felt pure¡­ The only thing he felt, was worse than this, was the thought of being forced to sleep with the sister of Alferdo San Juan, upon which he had already previously ranted. A dull echo rung through the roof as person who had previously been minding their own business caught sight of the unfortunate Terrick, immediately a loud screech rang through the air as people rushed to the young girl looking alertly around to see what had caused her to go into such an obvious bout of anxiety. She instantaneously pointed them in the direction that Terrick had been futilely crawling towards at the fastest speed he knew to crawl in. People immediately took to the roofs chasing Terrick who by now had thrown all stealth to the wind, gotten up and taken off in a flurry. Running as if the devil was himself was behind him. (which now if you look at it, he was.) "Get back here you creep! I''ll teach you how to stalk right!!" a voice rose through the mob, the first part put him on guard, but the second part immediately caused him to sweat with a vigor with which he had never associated anything else. "Sod off ol'' pervert!" a stocky women said as she brandished baking implement (he did not know which) threateningly. Surprisingly this women was athletic enough to chase him, a hardened assassin! "Miss I can explain!" Terrick began, still not stopping. "It''s not what you are thinking!!" "Tell that to the FBI!" she rebutted, not stopping at all. Now that the initial shock of the entire matter had worn off one could see the mob visibly thinning, which encouraged Terrick to immediately jump into the shadow of a thatched roof, slip between two buildings and jump into a cart of hey. "Where did that pervert go..?" a voice echoed from the left before seemingly ending completely. Terrick breathed in slowly slowing down the beat of his heart, before pulling out some hay and making it into a makeshift cap that he used to cover his face. He sighed tiredly as he twitched into the shadows moving quickly toward the San Juan family home. He had a report to give and a person to talk to, he hoped nothing had happened to her as he flitted silently away¡­ 41 What a Surprise!! Lore sighed for the umpteenth time as he lounged in the VIP area of the Auction. He could hear the glower of the people below as they filed in chattering. Though the auction itself was hosted by criminal families, it did not deter the merchants from joyfully surveying the hall, this was because though the families spent the time leading up to the auction stealing and getting their merch in all forms of illegal ways, they conducted the auction in a very above ground and honest manner. Partly because of the different backgrounds of the people who attended and also to maintain the appeal - after all no one would attend an auction where you were guaranteed to be robbed. Fawkes yawned behind him, using the recliner in the most apt representation of cat-like attitude that Lore had ever seen. His hands played indolently at the cushions and his feet tapped rhythmically on the wooden handle of the sofa. Sorren sat to the corner, spending quality time with the turkey leg that he had looted from the family. His pudgy and greasy fingers splayed joyfully over his mouth, it would be safe to say that he was having fun. The room which they had been given was the best that the Gambino head Armand could offer, and was not a whit less luxurious then the ones the Family heads were allowed into. A loud gravel bang echoed through the air as the auctioneer indicated for the last of the participants to hurry in so they could begin the proceedings. With the a deep sigh and a hearty cough the Auctioneer finally began. "Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome! to the thirtieth grand auction of the northern Blues! Here you will see the grandest treasures that have graced the four seas and the most stunning of delights! Before we begin, I must warn all the participants to remember, you are not allowed to revel either your identity or your background here within the auction halls, any such action will be immediately met with forceful removal of that individual! The auction itself will be broken down into three sectors, the first will deal with gold, silver and jewelry, the second will deal with the obscure parts of the auction, like map fragments and unknown artifacts! the slaves will also be sold here! the final part of the auction will deal with the devil fruits and Meito! The second sector can also be dealt with, by barter. The first sector will have treasures which all have the initial price of a 1000 belli and the increase in this quarter will be unrestricted. The second, for those wishing to use belli to trade, shall have a base price between 1000 to 5000 belli and each bid will have to be with a minimum increase of 100 belli. The last sector will have a base price between 60000 to 80000 belli and each bid will have to be at an increment of a 1000 belli! Both the man and the women wore skimpy clothes with the man seemingly being the type to care for both his face and his abs that would do nothing outside of an exhibition. He wore a silver designer pant and a thin translucent coat. The Women on the other hand wore a layer of fine makeup on her face that demonstrated her perfectly contoured face. She wore a silver coat and a skirt atop which resided a see through shawl. "This chest, was retrieved from the wreckage of the ex pirate crew: ''The Jimmy fang crew'' who previously held a high bounty of six hundred thousand belli! The chest is made of armistice wood which is very hardy and rare! The chest itself contains thirty talons of Silver, all from what can be assumed were the ages of the New World Age - The time the World Government had just begun its reign in!" The auctioneer said, as he finished the introduction to the item. Almost immediately a man from the stands called out the base price of a thousand belli, before smugly looking at his small time merchant counter parts. ''one thousand ten!'' a voice called from the back, before the price gradually rose to a final resting price of 2800 belli, bought by the gentleman who had begun the auction call. "Why are these guys even spending so much for a chest of silver?" The innocent voice of Sorren called as he curiously looked over my shoulder. "Well, though everyone here knows the value of each of these items, the true kickers are the stars of the third sector. That being the case, there is no way in hell, that these small fries can possibly afford them, so they just spend on these things." I replied as I went back to observing, the second item had been carted in, this time a humongous ruby inlaid into a golden tiara. The ruby itself looked quite beautiful, gleaming mischievously in the yellow lighting. It held a certain charm to the bidders, who had jumped on it, the price had already climbed to a hefty 6000 belli, before one lucky man finally got his hands on it for what seemed to be a heart wrenching 8000 belli. A sweet whistle eked through the air as Fawkes chuckled looking at the item that had been carted in, it was one of the spoils that he had robbed from the marines, and was quite a big diamond. It had already been sold to the Gambino for a price of 12000 belli. This along with the miscellaneous other items that we had procured had given us quite a load of spending money. With a chuckle the trio relaxed, when suddenly a dull thud sounded from the end of the room. Slowly a bloodied man walked into the room, his hands shaking and his face clouded over with the gleam of blood. Oh What a surprise! 42 Rocks! Jack chuckled sadly as he looked at the star filled sky, his deep drawn sigh echoed in a lonely crescendo as it rose into the sky. The clouds shunted around as they covered the glare of the sun. "You know, creeping up on people is never a good thing old man." Jack muttered as he slowly rose to look at his adoptive father, who stood over him with a contemplative look on his face. He handed to him a bottle of sake before sitting down on a stump of wood, in front of him. "Hah, brat. I want to leave here¡­" Ragner muttered as he motioned to the island around him. "I want to go back into the open ocean, and bring my grandson back here, train him the same way we did to lore¡­" He said as he looked around bitterly. "Dad you know Roger, he wouldn''t want that¡­. And what is to stop those bastards at Cipher from blowing up your ass with Tartarous and Uranus? Nope it''s too risky. Even you wouldn''t be able to survive the full power blasts from the both of them at the same time. Trust Roger. The brat is under the wing of that Garp brat, he is pretty strong even by my standards! As I am now he could match me blow to blow!"Jack replied, laying down his reasoning clearly. "But what''s to stop that brat from turning the poor boy over to the Celestial Dragons! HE CAN''T BE TRUSTED!!" he said, roaring the last part. "Old man, take a deep breath and THINK! You think that the guy who teamed up with Roger to fight the Rocks brat¡­ what was he called, Rocks D Jabber..? no It was Rocks D Xebec! Ya it was that guy! Old man, you know more than me of bonds forged over the battle field. Heck, most of your bonds were forged at the end of the END WAR. " Jack took a deep swig of the numbing alcohol before, chuckling to himself depressed. "Still can''t believe that the guy I am talking to is an old relic, back in the glory days of the World Government hah?" "Well look who we have here! Jack and the old man, drinking their heads to the high heavens!" a jovial voice interrupted the two reminiscing men. "Raegar!" Ragner called as he smiled dispersedly. "Sit down. Tell me, how was the Library?" he asked smiling, some life creeping back into the dull tone of his voice. "It was AWESOME!!" Raegar said, a deep fanboying tone in his voice. Instantly the suave scholarly air that he had portrayed was lost, what replaced it was a dull hue of what Lore would have called -The Otaku Aura. "Tell me, little Rae, should this old man go get your little nephew from the hands of that nobody Garp?" Ragner began effectively roping the middle man into the conversation. "Also, have you heard, the brats you knew are emperors now. hah the crew that you joined basically contributed to all the Emperors of the New world!" Ragner Guffawed. "And look at you, hugging old manuscripts and stuff!! You put your devil fruit to shame!!" He continued pulling him into a different conversation. "Besides, who said I have to be an official pirate to train my devil fruit. I''ll have you know I have already awakened the damn thing and can go toe to toe with Jack!" "Hey don''t trash the disabled person!" Jack responded before chuckling and sighing. "How are you doing brat, your old man is worried for you¡­" ( A day ago with Terrick ) "SO, dear Terrick, you are telling me.." Alferdo began as he took dizzyingly deep breaths. "That a trio of no-name pirates, forced you, the dark Hand of Rubeck into parading through the streets in these embarrassing clothes.?" He continued as he glared up at the comparatively colossal Terrick. "Yes, boss. I think it''s too dangerous to provoke them. They are strong!" He said as he attempted to calm down his annoyingly frustrated and dumb boss. "Terrick. You have failed this family too many times. First during the dawn moon incident. (when Alferdo''s sister had forced herself on Terrick causing him to lose his shit and scram before the protection time was done..) then the Heist, (Where Terrick had ditched the encampment halfway to report to the big idiot family head) Now this! "I have had it with you! Men!" he said to which sudden hands pulled Terrick to a kneel, forcing his hand down forcing him to listen to the venomous tone of his boss. "All your fool hardy attitude began after the new encampment of slaves were brought from our dealer! Who would have thought, you would fall for such a lowly creature! Heh, well rejoice, you shall be able to see her off, At The Auction!!" He said as he devolved into laughter. Men, take him to the prison and let him see ''her'' for the last time, then shove him to the underway, let him drown in the piranha infestation." he said before turning his back to the downed and gagged Terrick (when did that happen you ask, Don''t sweat the details!!) .. ( Current time, In the auction ) "So wait, tell me again, why would we help you?" Lore asked as he twirled a dagger in his hand, keeping an eye on the items that would be put for sale. "Because I gave you what you wanted!!" Terrick said, desperation dripping in his tone. "True, you did. But so what? we are pirates who captured and tortured you. What makes you think that we would want to help you?" He asked, not bothered to care for his falling expression. "Boss, let him join the crew!!" an excited childish voice boomed from the side. ''How is he so calm at times, and other times plain dumb?? He reminds me of Luffy!! Oh no.. I have a Luffy on my team!!! imma crie¡­" he thought to himself. "Yes yes!!!!! Terrick could be seen nodding at the side. "Tell me something, Terrick, back when we tortured you, you did not beg, you did not plead yet now you do. Why?" Lore asked. "Then my pride was my tether and anchor, now it is my shackle, therefore I shall cast it off.. " he said, conviction dripping from his voice. Slowly Lore could be seen looking at Fawkes as if confirming something, before he nodded. "Okay then, welcome to the crew!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (A/N: let me give you all some bones before you start chewing on me. Lore is meant to embody Pride therefore he is the guy who respects those who are Proud. However, he is also rational enough to know that throwing away ones pride is not done easily. Also he checked with Fawkes. I''ve opened up his opinion to y''all so you guys can decide why he would agree to let Terrick onto the crew. Bottom line is that Terrick is on - the crew needs an assassin and all crew members will be OC) 43 Okane ga Arimasen A sweet sigh echoed through the room as I looked bored at the item that had just been auctioned, the tusk of an ancient Mega mammoth that looked bigger than a part of the building. How they got in the colossal monstrosity I knew not, the only thing I did know, was that the fuck ton sold for more than all the other items on the list combined. Thing looked big enough to seriously injure any one from a few miles away, and gouging holes into anyone that had the misfortune of so much as touching the tip of the monstrosity. "Damn! That looks like something that would look cool on the forefront of any ship!!" Fawkes whistled, in a rare show of emotion in his otherwise stoic and butler-y vibe. (I do Not Look like a butler you asshole!!) "That is true.. What do you say we get it for the ship we''re gonna have built when we go to waters 7?" I asked, as I chuckled evilly. "That sounds fun~" Sorren said, nodding in the corner. With his greasy mouth and blank expression, he reminded me of the look I imagine I had when I first touched chocolate, all those years ago. "Lunatics¡­.." could be heard from a rather weary new addition to the team to whom, we had in a bout of Sorren like stupidity- introduced ourselves to. Which I now regretted. '' Oh well, no use crying over spilled milk I suppose¡­'' "With that I come to the last item of this rather rambunctious part of the auction - An accurate map to the Grand Line!! Ladies and Gentleman, imagine the amount of use this piece of paper could offer. Since everyone knows of the Grand Line and it''s many dangers I believe no introduction is required for this Magnificent item. its pricing shall have a begin at a measly price of 500 belli. Let the bidding begin!" He shouted proudly looking at the uproar that his words had caused. "500 Belli!" "Fool dare dream of buying such an invaluable map for only 500 belli. This old man has itchy hands to spank you in, 800 Belli!" "Old man that is sexual harassment! Fuck off. 900 belli!!" All sorts of cries rang out, raising the price of the hot commodity to a 3000 belli, in a matter of minutes. "Oi cap, we aren''t buying this?" Fawkes asked, looking at me curiously. "At the beginning I thought of just winging it through the calm belt, but now that you say this, well why not? We literally have bills to throw around after all!" I said before broadly chuckling - I wanted to make a grand entrance! ''heh! should have known! Bastards!!'' Terrick thought as he stared, blazing trails of red hot flame into my currently sweating back. "Oi granddaddy don''t swing that way fool!!" I said looking behind me. "6000 belli!" A proud voice called out from one of the VIP boxes, immediately forcing all the previously raving candidates below to immediately shut up. "6100 belli" I called out calmly, immediately infuriating the other party who raised the price to seven thousand belli, where I once again raised the price by a hundred. "8000 belli. Friend in the neighboring box, why don''t you just give this map to me, the son of¡­" The previous bidder said, as I interrupted his introduction with my own inner monologue. '' Arrogant young master get!! it feels like I just completed the standard webnovel kit!!'' "Hah, whose your daddy? 8100 belli" I called out, making the first part as weirdly sexual as I could make it without cracking up. "Oi cap what the hell are you doing! You''re barely ten years old, you shouldn''t even be thinking of stuff like this, let alone throwing yourself at random rich men! You''re too young to be a gold digger!!" Fawkes said, the look of faux seriousness on his face making tic marks spontaneously pop up onto my forehead. "Shattap Fawkes!" I roared before carelessly calling out a bid that trumped the other persons by exactly a hundred. "and For a price of 9100 belli, the map belongs to the gentlemen in room number four."The auctioneer announced before throwing a proud look to the rooms of the three families. A look that screamed - ''didja look at my talent!'' "Moving on to the last and final part, Men, Women and for whatever reason any children in the house, grab tight to your seats and be prepared to be amazed, for now we come to the final part of the auction and perhaps the highlights that you have been waiting for! The Devil Fruit auction! Oh with a bunch of slaves thrown in to the mix too!" The auctioneer said, with a twinkle in his eye. "We only have six item in this part of the auction, with a heaping Three Devil Fruits, two sets of slaves and one pair of Meito. SO all You hungry wolves, dig into the huge heap of flesh that is this opportunity!!" The first item in the line are the pair of Ryo Wazamono, the ancient twin swords - ''Togatta'' and ''Fushin'' The swords said to have accompanied the honorable sword saint ''Okane ga Arimasen'' who trusted these blades till the last day of his life. He was a notable man from Wano who commissioned for the then famous blacksmith Mazushi, who would later make no other notable achievements in his life. With these blades in hand, sir Okane would sweep through the Grand Line making his own contributions to the contemporary sword styles of the era, before fulfilling his lifetime wish. He then handed down these blades to his disciples, who immediately pawned it off to us! Now let the auction for these items begin!!" He said which was accompanied by the crowd''s applause and my laughter. "i..- I can''t,¡­.. I can''t even- they called the guy ''Okane ga Arimasen'' which means - ''I don''t have any money'' which wasn''t his name, it was his catchphrase!!" 44 Devil fruit! ".. With that the twin blades shall begin at the low low price of 75000 belle!!" The auctioneer roared as he brought the gravel down, indicating the beginning of the money slinging fest that began with a flurry. "Oi cap, you think we need this?" Fawkes asked motioning at the blades on display. "Nah, not really, let''s just mess with all the guys in the auction though!" I replied with a deep chuckle resounding through the room as the other inhabitants shivered. "There the guest in the bottom row has called out the price of 76000 belli! Now there with the price of 80000 Belli the VIP corner begin moving, obviously anxious to join the bidding war, and already they are trumped with the price of 85000 Belli called out by VIP room 6! Oh the man in the bottom rows has not given up yet! With a call of 87000 Belli the man rejoins the battle!! Oh ho with the call of 95000 the honest guest from room four also joins the ship!! The guest from the room 8 too calls in their bid of 98000 belli!! Again with the price of 100000 belli the guest in room number 6 returns!..." the auctioneer roared, riding the wave that was the vibe of hype that had taken the hall by storm. The roars of people both calling out and cheering grew louder egged on by the overly excited auctioneer who had by now chosen to raise his hand into the sky and begun acting like a famous music artist at his own concert. However, after a period of money induced madness, the room once again cooled over into a semblance of what it used to be, save for the excitement that this round had brought to the fore. The price had finally been decided on the mark of an overly high 190000 belli, much to Fawkes'' chagrin and Terrick''s utter awe. "Now then ladies and gentlemen, to one of the three attractions of this event, let us go on to one of the world famous and mysterious Devil Fruits. This particular fruit was found on the crags of one of the islands in North Blue. The island called No man''s Jetty!! The old place was once owned by a fallen noble, who decided to gift it to the now Mayor of the peaceful town. This fruit was thus traded with us by the kindly man, when we convinced him that it would do no good with him~ Thus Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the first gamble of the evening!" He roared with a lot of gusto as he waved his hands through the air. "Let''s identify that fruit¡­ well let''s see here.." I said as I scrutinized the fruit with the aid of my devil fruit. "That is a paramecia¡­ the Vacuum fruit!!" I chuckled out, my eyes glimmering with barely concealed surprise. "Hoh.. So I take it you want it?" Terrick asked, taking his eyes off Sorren with whom he had been having what looked like an enjoyable conversation. "Without further ado, let us begin the auction with the low price of 80000 belli!" the auctioneer said, firing a look of anxious waiting at the VIP boxes, who to his happiness did not disappoint, after all what was being sold was a genuine Devil fruit. "90000 belli!" the person from room 8 called out, a barely concealed wanting present in their voice. "Hoh, how could we let a brat like you take such an item, 100000 belli!!" an old voice called out from room 6. "Hoh¡­ Mister is being really cruel! 120000 belli!" the voice from room number 8 called out, a degree of sharpness in their tone. "How could you let out yours truly from this chance to squander! 150000 belli~" I called out lazily, letting my voice carry to the corners of the hall, dripping with a level of bitchiness I did not know I possessed. "The guest is joking. how could this be an opportunity to squander, here we have a once in a lifetime opportunity! 160000 belli!" a disembodied voice from room 1 called out pleasantly. but I could hear an undertone of warning fired to both me and all the other guests as a collective. The guest in room number 6 (who had just decided to cast their own call) and 7, wisely, or unwisely shut up. I on the other hand, only grinned lightly as I looked at my fellow co patriots, "Mister is right, you have opened my eyes. so of course how could I drop this item now? 180000 belli!" I replied in the same pleasant voice that had just been aimed at me. "Oi Terrick your boss is in room number 1 isn''t he? Want to mess with him??" I asked, this time in a softer voice, wagging my eyebrows at the man that sat at the room''s corner. "HEhe, with pleasure~!" Terrick said in a weird sing song voice that dripped with a level of venom I had only ever heard from my father as he talked about people who wasted food. "I am glad that the fellow guest is so perceptive. Nonetheless I ask that the guest relinquish this item to maintain a good relationship with me, the head of the San jam family! 200000" he barked, this time in a clipped and spoiled tone. "Oh mister jam, I must introduce you to my dear friend bread! 201000!" I said before chuckling to myself darkly. "Oi Sorren go deliver this letter to Armand" I said as I hastily scribbled a note and sent it along on its way. A sweat whistle could be heard through the walls from the next room as Armand read the letter and put two and two together. Sorren returned two minutes later to the sound of the gravel falling. the annoying jam would now personally gift to me the devil fruit that he had bought at the exorbitant price of 240000 belli! "Now then, ladies and gentlemen, let us move onto the first file of slaves of the evening-" and here Terrick tensed- " the ones put on sale by the Gambino family, the fisherman and the wolf kin cub!" 45 Angella "...Hah, And with the final price of 120000 belli, the twin slaves are sold~! Moving on however, we once again come up with another Devil fruit of the evening, this fruit we know slightly more about, this fruit allows the user to seemingly transform into an animal of some form, which has been guaranteed by our informant in the grand line!" The auctioneer roared, once again the room was hyped with the weird looking fruit at the epicenter of the storm. ''Hmmm let''s identify once again, this is the Zoan type fruit, the snail fruit?? Pfttt I feel pity for the poor sod who chooses to buy this, this is almost as useless as a type human fruit eaten by anyone who is human!'' I thought guffawing at the looks of wonder in the faces of all the people in the hall, sans of course the members if this room. The fruit itself looked much like a snail shell colored in an exquisite violet. "The bidding for this fruit shall begin with a low price of 80000 belli! But the rules for this particular item, shall be bent slightly, the increment price shall be raised by 4000 belli! Therefore, those wishing to buy this fruit shall begin their monetary crusade with the price of 80000. Moving onto the background for this fruit, it was procured for us in from the Grand line, particularly from the noble kingdom of Alabasta! Without further ado, let the battle begin!!" the auctioneer roared as the people in the lower rooms cheered, no doubt imagining the fruit to change the user into a cat person, While those from the VIP level were excited for a completely different reason, excluding us of course. with a slight whistle the bidding war officially began, with prices flying from every corner of the room. With a loud roar the auctioneer could be seen motioning his hands up and down, seemingly ordering the prices to increase. The crowd was whipped into a frenzy with every increase in the price, slowly however the momentum of the bidders began to dwindle as the many spenders, stopped to ask themselves whether the fruit was actually worth the price that had unconsciously snow balled into a monumental pricing. With a final thud of the hammer against the gravel however the bidding finally stopped, the person who had bought it, the person who belonged to room 6 had finally managed to bag the damn thing at a truly exorbitant price of 190000 belli. "I thank the guest in room number in room 6 for your continuous patronage!" the auctioneer squeaked cheekily as he handed over the fruit to the helper at the side who could immediately be seen running up the side. (And by seen, of course I mean observed¡­) "Now then ladies and gentlemen we only have two other items to displayed, the final devil fruit and the slaves offered by the esteemed San Juan family. The bid for both individuals together, shall begin at the price of 70000 belli. Any and all bids shall be done with increments of a thousand belli!" "Oi, Terrick, this is the one you want to save? Are you sure? You can exchange your privilege for that devil fruit we just bought or something.." I said softly, while looking at him with an eye closed. "No! You promised me Pirate! So yes, I want her saved! If you can''t do it then I''ll find someone else who can." Terrick replied with an amount of steel in his voice, that he had never used against anyone else. "SHishishsihsihsishi.... Good! Finally I see a little spine in you Terrick, remember, this crew does not have useless and greedy individuals! Anyone in this crew shall have a mind of his own! Oi Fawkes, how much of our coffers still remain?" I asked, looking at Fawkes with mirth in my tone. "A hefty load, with what we have now you could afford both items, that are to be sold, so just go crazy!" He replied, a similar tone of annoying glee in his tone as well. "....the price has reached a price of 100000 belli, going to the guest in room 1! Calling once again-" "120000 belli!" my calm voice sounded interrupting the annoying auctioneer, who had been running his mouth throughout the entire time I had been giving my sermon. "Guest in room 4, I ask that you maintain yourself within your own limits-" The douche from room 1, who Terrick had identified as his asshole boss said, just to be interrupted again, I was hoping the guy burst a blood vessel or something. "130000 belli, and if the guest in room 1 can shut up, I am sure that the auction would go on much smoother." I chuckled, before slowly looking toward the auctioneer with steel in my eyes, "Call the price and announce the winner, Twat!" "¡­the guest in room number four has called the price of 130000 belli, does anyone wish to contest¡­.. Sold to the guest in room 4! Moving on to the next item, this devil fruit is the item that has the least known about it. All that is known is that it is a fruit obtained in the Rubella region of the North blue seas! Since so little is known about this fruit, it shall begin at a price of 60000 belli." He said hurrying over to the next item, after hearing my tone. ''Hmmm, this fruit is the Zoan fruit, the Rhino fruit??'' "Oi Fawkes, you think we''ll have any use of a rhino??" "mmh, no? Why are you even asking??" Fawkes said before immediately understanding my thought process and shutting up. Well would you look at that? The fools are jumping up and down again¡­. 46 Reverse crewing.. if that’s even a word.. A light yawn echoed out as I slowly walked down the pavilion entrance way and out onto the streets. Behind me the trio marched, waving around their sore muscles as they walked. A slightly red Terrick led the scantily clad slaves behind us. I has already attempted to remove their chains, but they had insisted that they keep it on in favor of getting out of the place at the earliest instant. Sorren held onto a sack with all of our expenditures, all the while looking absolutely delirious with joy. ( Probably glad that we had finally left the people filled hall.) With a chuckle I turned around, looking at the building that held a gaudy architecture encased on white marble. The hall looked positively resplendent in the twilight, the sun''s dying rays striking the pointed ceiling at an angle. At the gate of the huge structure, a sweating Armand could be seen running towards us on his somewhat thin-ish legs. "Mr. Benefactor!! Wait !!" his gritty voice could be heard calling. "Benefactor, I would like to thank you for allowing us the opportunity to make a stand in this half decennial event, you have given my family the chance to stand on stable footing for the next five years! Thus I must warn you, benefactor, in good faith. The master of the San Juan family is known to be a petty man who is acclaimed for taking revenge at the smallest of slights. Further the San Juan family is known to be the only family of North blue, or at least in Rubeck with support from the grand line! Thus I would like to advice you, sir to skip town at the fastest to avoid having to deal with him" Armand said, heaving for breath while clutching at his knees. "I''ll keep that in mind, thank you Gambino.." I said before making a swift turn and leading my troupe down into the city, that looked at its best during this time of twilight. "Where to now Captain? We''ve already done all we should here, so back to sea is it?" Fawkes asked as we made our way into the thick of the city, the sun swiftly sinking into the horizon in the process. "So you guys merchants?" A voice could be heard from behind me as the man we had ''purchased'' asked his tone positively glowing with hope and skepticism, both in healthy proportions. "Nah, we''re pirates!" I replied, looking at the man squirm, to my surprise the previously calm and somewhat expressionless girl suddenly shift to a more active mote as she began paying attention to someone other than her lover, Terrick. A sharp intake of breath later the man could be seen leaning against the walls of a nearby house and puking into the gutters as the girl looked at us with stars in her eyes. I would not lie, that was beginning to creep me out. So of course, as a properly decent individual I immediately looked over at our newest recruit pointing at her with a questioning look on my face. "No!" I said as I tried to maintain my aloof look. Looking at the other former slave made me calm down somewhat. ( I had decided to un-slave them immediately after I got them, I was only waiting to be at a place where I didn''t have to care about the overly thin walls.) "Lemme in!!" She said, now possibly balling her eyes out and laying snot all over my coral blue shirt in definite layers. "OI Terrick get her off me! And no, bad girl!" I said as she was pried away from me, before promptly making another attempt to run up to me. "Let her on boss, what''s the harm?" Terrick asked grinning, almost completely forgetting his face that was caked with blood. "I Am The Captain Of a Pirate Crew, Not a babysitting service!" I roared, effectively venting the many tic shapes that had formed on my forehead. "If you don''t let me on, I''ll sneak on board and hide in the sake barrels!" She threatened, effectively cowing down the rage that had been building in me and bringing smirks to both Fawkes and Sorren''s giggling face, and making Terrick assume a sheepish smile. "What is wrong with you people! This is the life of a pirate that you''re talking about, why the hell are you so keen to get in on the madness!!" A exasperated and relatively innocent East blue resident could be heard screaming at the miseries in life. Let''s just ignore him¡­. With a whistle we could be seen entering an inn, the door swiveled and the cashier looked over at us, before giving up chucking a key our way and going to get a drink. After we made it into the room I immediately flopped onto the bed and regarded the two people that had become members of our crew, plus one add on. ( I was the adult, I would not be able to maintain my patience if she threw a tantrum again¡­) "So then, why don''t you introduce yourself?" I said, looking at Terrick and his girlfriend. ( Would this be the time to tell you I didn''t know whether they were in a relationship.?) "My name is Terrick, no last name. Been in Rubeck my whole life, I was an orphan when old man San Juan picked me up off the streets. He trained me to be an assassin, and a sneak. Then he died and I was stuck serving the ass hat that you all know. That''s all really." He said, keeping his intro to a minimum. "What about you, girl?" I asked, now a little less patient and more sympathetic to all the members of Luffy''s crew. (he basically coerced them into joining him. Let''s be honest.) "OH, me? I am Angella the Sword shaman of Ohara.." 47 Webs of stupid plotting Armand coughed softly as he paced around the waiting room. He was flanked by two of his elders, the other two had gone to fetch another eminent persona who was imperative to this meeting. His angular face had its own shade of grey overtone that had been cast by the scanty lighting of the room and his shirt had for once, been properly buckled in and completely covered his wide chest. "Sir, the lord will see you presently!" a squeaky voice rang from a dull part of the room that opened out into a wide meeting hall, with racks filled to the brim with parchments that had to be at least a generation old. A diminutive man with a graying forehead and smoky features led the trio into the room, within which on a lavish couch sat the head of the San Juan family. His lavish robe glinted in the yellow light of the lamp that hung from the side of the room. His pencil thin fingers ran over a crack line in the armrest and his face was well endowed with a loony expression of self pomp. "So, little Armand, why did you immediately call this triumvirate meeting?" He enquired with a ghost of a smirk on his lips. "Alferdo, this is to do with the guest I had introduced for the auction, the one who sat in room 4" Armand began, exhaling with joy as he beheld the white hot rage that flowed through the man''s features. "He belongs to the crew of that esteemed individual who had graced this island barely a month ago, to whom the triumvirate had delivered the mystery devil fruit. He arrived barely a week ago and immediately came to us, with what he assumed was the case of familial discord, bringing with him the head of the traitor Farren. He then allied with us to fulfill the quota of the auction and helped allow the family to loot the Colombo motile treasury. There if his words are to be believed, then he ended the executive of the Colombo, the ''Hound'' Darcy, bringing back the two Meito swords. Further, during the auction he extravagantly bid and came through with his bids. Accompanying him was an old man who looked like a character from the esteemed Doflamingo''s official crew and a child that looked too huge to be his own. The man can be considered moderately powerful with the boy contributing nothing to the whole group." He reported, before making his way to the room corner and giving the dull headed San Juan the space to contemplate another of his meaningless tirades of personal glory. With a swinging sound, the duo where pulled out of their musings by the hasty entry of the third member of the triumvirate, an organization of alliance that had been formed by the first three heads of the families, with each successive family head being a member. The newest entry to the room was the head of the Colombo family, and the only female within the three families. Her name was Carla Colombo, and she had been the best star of the matriarchal family. With a swift nod the boy instantly ran out of the room and hurriedly closed the door behind him. By this time, Armand had finished his briefing and had begun looking over at the San Juan with a trace of disgust and annoyance in his eyes. A look that was, in fact mirrored in the face of the other family head in the room. "So tell me, brats! What must be done?" Alferdo said, bravado in his tone as he sought to emulate the vibe commonly present around a wise elder who spent his time advising and nurturing the younger generation. "I know the inn in which the fool stays currently! We shall attack the place with all of our executive officers!" Carla announced, unable to stomach the fact that her family was the only one that had lost an executive, and blinded by the impudence that the man had exhibited. Armand immediately rose to counter her anger driven point, for usually she did not make such impulsive actions and could be counted to be one of the smartest individuals on the island with a lot of potential, her only flaw could be set to be her inexperience and loose temper. Immediately however Armand''s rebuttal was shut down by the San Juan head, who consented to the half baked suicide attempt that had been suggested. True, it had been Armand''s plan to weaken the other two families with the whetstone that was the pirate, but now it looked as if the plan to hide the appearance of Haki upon the forearm of the aforementioned vandal now stood to be a determinant to the welfare of his own family! No more could he mention the omitted fact, for he was sure that the bone head and chili pepper would immediately attack him on the basis of hiding information and unlawful activity. He could only close his mouth and hope that the glimpse of Haki he had seen was the limit of the pirate''s abilities and he was the only one of the duo (He had quite forgotten about Sorren for he believed that a child could not amount to much..) who could harness the fickle force. "So then, let us vote upon the actions of the trifecta, and as the rules say : if it is two to one, it must be assumed that the one seeks to hamper the actions of the whole and can thus be dealt with appropriately!" He said with mad glee. And with that final fall of sanity, the three began plotting the demise of one Lorean who by now had gotten over the shock of the decent of his crewmate and was now chewing on a loaf of bread. The Actions of the Conspirators, this time would not dethrone the Ceaser it seemed.. 48 Do you Have Chicken Legs? A sigh echoed throughout the room as the group of five people somehow adjusted to the claustrophobic environment of the inn room. On the bed sat the reclining Angella who looked goofily at the ceiling, unable to stop the throbbing associated with boredom. On the window sill sat a bored Fawkes who looked vacantly into the yellow rays of the morning idlely brushing his fingers through the cracks in his choice of a seat. Sorren sat on the ground, playing with a chicken leg that he had somehow obtained. I sat on the floor, leaning against the wall of the dingy grey room sighing in boredom as we waited for the fool that was Terrick''s employer. Terrick had sworn that he would be here, before going off to get his stalk of treasure and items. Some would ask, how I the super smart crew captain could allow such a new recruit to possibly sell us out, to which I would reply with my own brand of carelessness in the form of ''this island isn''t strong enough to possibly offer any form of threat.'' But of course for anyone with half a brain cell, this would not be a permissible reason, having too many holes in it to be any good. So off its own merit, I had done a Foxy on the matter, allowing the man one opportunity to sabotage the crew. With a tired sigh, Fawkes turned to me before looking at me curiously " Why don''t we take the fight to those fugly bastards??" he asked before promptly ignoring my answer in favor of going to sleep. "Goddamit San Juan, show some backbone and attack already, get some help from that conniving Armand to!" I said through gritted teeth as I began using my dagger to clean my nails. "With a slight thud, the door opened queuing for the entry of the crew''s assassin who surprisingly seemed to keep his word. "Oi Captain, I saw the fool San Juan getting his entire house up in arms! Those assholes from the other two families seemed to be joining in as well!" he called out slightly anxious to the whole thing. "Wait, you mean the nice Uncle Armand is joining them too???" A na?ve voice popped up as the child of our crew joined in on the conversation with a barely concealed anger. "Captain let me at ''em I want to beat ''em all up!!" he said with a bit of righteous vengeance. "Usually, I would scold you for wanting to monopolize all the fun, but the waiting has made the whole thing sour, Oi Fawkes get up and lets go to the ship, little fatty, you deal with those assholes, don''t hold back on the killing they aren''t really any good men on the other side." I said before leading all the residents in the room out of the window (For we still hadn''t paid for the inn room, we just let some people that looked like scouts see us so that they knew where we were, we couldn''t have them getting lost now could we??) "Aye Cap" came the chorus as we all jumped out the window, Fawkes still yawning and glaring at me for suddenly changing plans and screwing around. Alferdo cursed his luck for the tenth time as he ducked beneath the rubble of the nearby building, once again loudly berating himself for gallivanting on a raid with his family and the other members of the triumvirate. In the beginning he could almost see himself all dressed up in his golden puff shirt and his hair slicked back, he was also going to wear the glasses that his sister had picked out for him, the deep black shades that would reflect the color of his soul.. Now if anyone were to look at him, he would look more like a fashion model that had stood for the testing of a nuclear disaster, what with his broken and shambled glasses and his torn-into-strips shirt. And his pant, ughh it looked like one that he had loaned to a neighbor elephant. The building that he had hidden himself behind had once been the meeting place of his family where they would gather and play their cards, now it had been physically torn down by a child! Ripped apart and disposed of, he could hear the screams of the men he had gathered as they were all brutally killed by the one who would later be simply called ''Gluttony''. HE had come like a storm tearing and ripping apart his men like paper figurines. Popping off their heads with a swipe and breaking their arms with a simple chop. An ever present chicken leg between his teeth and a fat round tummy bouncing up and down with vigor. Now here he sat shivering as the footsteps grew nearer, he briefly zoomed back to the time he had seen the child monster kill the other two family heads, merely punching their heads once causing it to explode. He felt like he was living in a dream, the thud of the footsteps constantly drawing nearer, before suddenly stopping "Oh. I ran out of chicken legs." the CHILD remarked, before again making his way towards Alferdo. Alferdo was not one who believed in a higher power, but now he could not help himself from praying as he squatted down shivering, bathed in the dust and rubble that filled the field of the massacre. As the beat of his heart grew louder, he slowly looked up, his slicked back hair now glued to his temple, and his dirty green eyes contracting in fear, blood seeped beneath his pointed shoes and his moustache quivered incessantly, the voice of death called and he shuddered. "Do you have chicken legs?" 49 Garp is pissed again… With a sigh I looked at the calm sea, sitting cross legged on the tip of the ship that was its bow. My face rested on my hands and a bored look was present in my eyes as I looked at the departing land that was Rubeck. Sorren stood at the front of the ship near the steering wheel, carelessly eating a chicken leg that he had probably nicked from somewhere and enjoying the sea breeze as he controlled the direction that the ship would move in. Fawkes sounded loudly from the kitchen as he prepared what would be our lunch, while the newest additions to the crew sat at the very middle of the deck. Angella sat reading a book studiously, one of her hands playing with the curl of her brown hair, while another held up the devil fruit encyclopedia that I had nicked from the Gambino heads personal coffers. Finally Terrick, our resident assassin and defacto information specialist sat polishing his set of needles, looking carefully at them all. Honestly, the entire trip within North Blue could be considered a jolly vacation, if the crew did this when we were in the grand line, I was sure that we would end up sunk before we reached our first major kingdom. On another topic however, I was quite sad as the days went by. Owing to the fact that the bounty that I had been awaiting, was nowhere in sight! ''Come on! if not me, at least give Fawkes a bounty! We killed a warlord! Some respect would be nice!!'' I roared in my head for the umpteenth time as I regarded my crew, before returning to the plain sea. "OK now what Captain?!" Came the voice of the cook and first mate of the crew as he came out of the kitchen wearing an apron. "Now we set sail to the North pole!" I roared from my seat as I looked over at him with a lazy look. "After that we''ll double back to the West Blue, and when we have all the people that our crew could need, we''ll enter the Grand line! " I said as I slowly rose to my feet and pointed at the sky with reckless abandon. With a raucous laugh I looked happily at the white cloud ridden sky, joined by the joy and happiness of the crew that I had taken upon myself would sail with me to the ends of the world¡­ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ "The flint lock! Get the damn flintlock fool!!" an incensed marine could be heard screaming at a nearby cabin boy, before scowling at him and proceeding to do it himself. "Vice Admiral, we traced the pirate crew down to this location, the mafia island of Rubeck!" A loud white capped marine called as he looked at the smoking wreck that used to be the northern part of the island. The land looked like it had been ravaged by a particularly horny storm that had found it to be attractive. Buildings lay crumbled and the ground sat blackened with soot. Surprisingly enough, based on the profile that had been ordered by the grumpy and forgetful Vice Admiral, no civilian had been caught in the crossfire, that seemed to have played out between the mystery pirate crew and the local rulers of the land. "Sir that one there is the notorious Alferdo San Juan who headed the San Juan family, next to him are some lackeys and the heads of the other families¡­" the marine said, before promptly lapsing into uncomfortable silence to take in the possibly typhoon-ic view that had been wrought on their bodies. The head of the Alferdo family looked to have been slapped to death for the swelling on his face had still not subsided, and his flimsy neck had been turned around like the steering wheel of a particularly adventurous ship. The others seemed not to have suffered the same state, having just been killed by a rib that had pierced the heart or a simple broken neck. The marine gulped, before he turned to the somber looking Vice Admiral who stared surveying the chaos of the issue. "Sir, the ones who did this are obviously a pack of highly trained and sadistically empowered lunatics!" he said clearly before sighing. "Marines! Hear my order! Bring all of the men and load them onto the ship, Wilhem, you shall be in charge of rebuilding and helping the people on this island. Chances are that they do not look favorably on the marines anymore because of our overlooking of the situations here, they might even be hostile, deeming us to be hunting their savior, you are to also deal with changing their attitude towards us for the better! The rest of you, file into the ships I want the vessels to be sea worthy within an hour! We are chasing down these upstart fools!!" he roared as he stormed out, for once not conforming to the comedic and easy going persona that he usually displayed. He was incensed, at the ones that had caused the damage to the town, himself for his tardiness and even the ideal that he had begun to become numb enough to listen to. Since Roger''s execution he had begun to waver from the conventional marine ideal that he had always believed to be true. Not the execution itself, but the fallout and the massive manhunt that the world Government had initiated getting all the high ranking members of the world''s peace keeping force to chase after a child whose only sin had been to be born the son of an adventurous soul. He had begun questioning, both when he had adopted Ace as his own grandson and more recently when his blood grandson Luffy was born. What if, one day they violated this ideal? Would he be forced to hunt them down with his own hands and slaughter them the same way he had torn down pirate crews in the past? Once again Garp found himself pondering these philosophical and depressing ideas as he marched onto the ship, for once wishing to have a sake bottle handy so he could have a drink that would wash away all of these thoughts. ''Are the Marines even necessary at this point?'' 50 The North pole ''A whistling echo shook the high seas as a mighty sea king arose to confront the wooden ship. Its hull had been beaten in and the mast twirled precariously as the storm whipped at the sails and the ocean rose in a terrifying cacophony. Lightning struck in the background illuminating the well wooded ship for what it was, a pirate vessel with a lean skull with a particularly flowery moustache..'' I said before taking a deep breath and a swig from the sake bottle on the table. We had made it a habit at this point, I would tell stories of one or the other famous pirate crews during dinner, at the express pleading of Sorren, this had evolved from a onetime thing to a tradition of sorts. Sorren could be seen with glowing eyes, possibly imagining the scene I had just described. Of all of the crew, he seemed to be the most childish, wanting always to be pampered and coddled. It wasn''t that we minded however, he helped break both me and Fawkes from our somber retinues in his childish bouts of comedy. Fawkes looked on appreciatively from the kitchens while Terrick and Angella sat at the table enjoying the food. "Captain, then what happened??" Sorren said, impatiently waiting for the supposed climax of the story that would conclude the days story. "Calm down lil'' fatty and let me finish this bottle, we''ll finish the rest then" I said before taking a deep swig and sighing in satisfaction. "Then the pirate ship swung smartly to the side, and swung the residents over as if it were an actual person, the pirates cutlasses blazing pounced upon the majestic sea king and stabbed it to death!" I said ending with a flourish of my hands. "COOL!!!!" Sorren said, his eyes gleaming with excitement. How he got excited at these barely blood churning situations when most of the things we had gotten into within our rather short adventure was all but baffling to both me and my first mate. "Boss, when are we going to reach??" The whiney voice of Terrick rang out from his pedestal on the ship''s deck. He had finished shining his blades and now looked much like a bored puppy with no interesting things to do. As soon as he had finished however, a steady stream of snowflakes began falling down from the dark and looming skies. The suddenness of it all had reminded me of the Grand line within which I had the brief pleasure of cruising. The temperature had begun to cool falling at a terrifying rate with the tips of my nose taking a distinctive red hue quite reminiscent of Rudolf the red nosed rain deer. Sorren stood shivering uncannily at the corner of the deck, in the process of pulling on his fifth shirt and tying his shawl around his neck in a distinctively unflattering knot around his flabby neck. His hands shook and his breath fogged in front of his face, making him look quite like the Eskimos from the tundric reaches of the remotest mountain range in the drum island. Of the crew, though I was the most unaffected, I could nevertheless not stifle a faint shiver that ran through my spine and into my clenched butt. My purple shirt seemed to develop a faint layer of ice and my pants became slightly cooler restricting my movement. With a thud, the ship was brought to a halt, the ice barely cracking under the pressure of the relative monstrosity that was our ship. A pale and relatively barren land stretched on as far as the eye could see, only some mounds of unfeeling white breaking the calm and eerie fa?ade of the otherwise calculative icy desert. "Land hoy!" I called out, before deftly jumping off and onto the rough and thick landmass. "Now that we are here, can you finally tell us why you wanted to come?" Fawkes asked a hint of impatience in his tone. "Well, one time when I was talking with my father," I said not immediately answering his question. "He had told me that a cold and desolate land was the most hostile of environments that one could see, even in this vast and almost endless World." "You wouldn''t !" Fawkes said paling considerably as he pieced together everything that I had said. "Yes, we are here for a training montage!" I announced grandly, before raising my palm up to quell the protest that my first mate had just begun to form on the tip of his tongue. "No Fawkes, I am not insane. Also, think about it! Of the members of the crew, the both of us are the only ones that know Haki, the world is not like some game where our enemies will come only in the power range that we can deal with! We need to be proactive. What if on our journey, before Sorren, Terrick and Angella develop Haki on their own, we are faced with an admiral? Though I have a D in my name, I don''t believe that we should silently depend on fate to guide us. No way in hell am I throwing the safety of my crew up to something as cryptic as fate!" I said before talking a deep breath and looking at Fawkes. "Neither of us will be doing any training of our own, I''ll help Sorren improve his battling skills and you help Terrick and Angella at least awaken a single form of Haki. I spent years awakening each form of Haki and training it to where I have it currently, so we can''t expect them to be able to be a decisive factor in fights like the one with the flamingo but still any form of Haki will give us an edge in paradise and might even be enough to hold us through some tough battles. Also Fawkes I want you to find a decent sized hole here and train in the water, it will both help you adapt and help you recuperate. I''ll let you decide your own regimes, Chop chop, off you go!" 51 Resolve of a veteran A sad groan echoed through the ship as a hopeless moan shuddered throughout the entire ship. Sorren sat at the head of the ship, his entire body aching as he looked at the dwindling chunk of ice that had been their ''home'' for what could only be a demoralizing two weeks. Terrick, Sorren and Angella had all awakened some form of Haki, they now knew what it would feel like and Lorean hoped that by the time they entered the grand line the crew would have some level of mastery on the mysterious force. Sorren was finally able to awaken his brand of Conquerors Haki at will, though at the moment it would only affect the weakest of marines, and within the crew could only grant Sorren the temporary ability to stand in the presence of Lorean or Fawkes if their will was directed at him. The chilly wind wailed as the icy waters of the waters drew rapids that ruthlessly attempted to ravage the base of the ship that barely held out against the onslaught. "Boss this ship is shit.." Terrick moaned as he polished his daggers once more. It looked like he was quite obsessed with the dagger in his hand, that looked not much different than his others, with the only difference being the wooden pommel in contrast with the other clothe covered ones. "I know, I was expecting the Marines to have more of a budget, you think we should take it a little easy on them?" I said as I looked over at him with an eye closed. Fawkes chuckled with a little mirth in his tone as he prepared what looked like a cocktail in a manner that looked like too much like a bar tender. A snicker echoed out from the corner of the ship as Angella chuckled looking at the novel that she had gotten from Fawkes''s rucksack. It was a children''s novel on the man that was called ''Noland the trickster'', probably laughing at the many things that people believed about him. I didn''t have it in me to tell her that most of the things that people accused him of saying or doing was just things they pegged on him to justify his execution. Slowly the wind picked up as I jumped off my sitting spot to navigate our way to the next spot on our travel plan hoping that the ship held up so I didn''t have to make a detour to stock up on a new one on the way. "That being said, where are our bounties! I want bounties!!!!" I roared at the sky as I pushed around the steering wheel, a visible tick of anger on my forehead. A sudden shudder ran through the ship as I carefully dodged an iceberg that suddenly popped out of the sea, this was going to be an annoying trip.. I thought as I sighed. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ (Sengoku) Sengoku sighed as he sifted through a huge pile of paperwork that had found its way over his desk. He had had a terrible premonition for roughly the past month, as soon as the famed warlord of the Donquixote family the vile premonition had only gotten stronger. A warlord who would be almost invincible even in the new world had been taken down in one of the blues! Almost immediately Sengoku had mobilized Garp in the hopes that the situation could be averted at its roots, but even Garp who had stood shoulder to shoulder with the late pirate king, had been unable to find them! This could only mean one thing, though Sengoku hoped against hope that it was not the case. He still had chills from that night roughly six years ago, when the five elder stars had summoned him to witness what they had hoped would be a morale booster. That day still gave him sleepless nights as he saw the face of the monsters that could end the conventional world with a single move. The famous pirate Jack, against the final fighting force of the World Government had truly given him a harsh wake up call. The premonition he felt now, had a hint of what he felt at that time back then, a premonition of the final war - ''the End war!!'' The war that would decide the fate of the world as he knew it. He feared it, the war that would rile up the seas of the world, the sea of the new world would froth at the smell of the continuous firing of the ancient weapons and the seas of the four blues would turn red with the fervor the battle brought! Sengoku was sure of it, men like the paltry Kaido would be the first to die in this war, and a hint of fear at this impending war was what drove Sengoku to do anything, he would to anything to drive this impending despair as far as he could, unknowingly this was what he had been fighting for back when he was in the field, back to back with the men that now still fought at the front line. To him this battle was something that he was not prepared for, as an old war veteran, he knew that it was an undeniable eventuality, all he wanted was to outlive it, now he felt it, the stress of the last few decades weathering away at the bones of his frame, what used to be a cheerful and na?ve marine had now turned into a despondent and desperate man that would do anything to delay his own impending doom. Sengoku chuckled in self depreciation as he pondered how he had turned into the type of inactive man that he had scorned back when he had been a younger marine. ''Yes, I will do anything to delay that war, anything, even the genocide of millions¡­.'' he thought drearily as he redoubled his will and leaned over a report, before dipping his quill into a pot of ink and signing his name over the report. With this report and with a hard heart, he had just consigned an island to a buster call...¡­ 52 Reverse Mountain A shudder ran through my taut shoulders as I looked seriously at the looming behemoth in front of us, while Fawkes had spent ages trying to dissuade me against the endeavor that it seemed to him, I was hell bent on accomplishing, we were still here before the mighty cape that existed between the many blues in what I hoped was a suicidal enough undertaking to cause even fate to be impressed enough to allow pass. of course it would do this discourse well for me to first offer some form of context to the whole thing before it would come to pass for me to describe this disastrous adventure, so here I go. I had in all of my infinitely small wisdom, decided that I would not step into the grand line before I had assembled my crew, therefore since I planned to scout within the confines of west blue for potential crew members, I first had to somehow find my way to west blue without entering the grand line. Conventionally inter-blue travel could only be accomplished through either using the calm belt to enter into the grand line through machine or otherwise Boa Hancock like means and then do the same on the other side to enter the other blue. This plan would go directly against my now-in-hindsight stupid decision and therefore I had chosen one of the two lesser dangerous plans instead. And that, ladies and Gentlemen was to use the Reverse Mountain! Conventionally the mountain worked like a slide, where on one side one would have to get onto the mountain while the downward slope led into the grand line, but, if one were to somehow gather enough momentum to somehow jump the borders of the mountain slide one would be able to get a free fall into any of the other blues. Of course I knew that this plan was so riddled with holes that it made my ship blush with shame, it nonetheless was something I had chosen and so I was determined to stick with it. So, we come back to the here and now, with me staring at the monstrosity that was the entrance to the ye olde mother of all adventure, the grand line. And I had to say the author of the original novel had not done it justice! . The mountain held none of the ominous appeal that I had unconsciously associated to it while I had hatched my plan, for which at various instances I had second guessed, nonetheless, I felt that if I broke the promise I had made to myself right now, then I would not have any confidence in fulfilling the one I had made to myself and my father all those years ago. The Stone that touched the skies lay basking in the otherwise pleasant morning with the sea breeze gently caressing my face, the sea green ocean water weathered harshly against the walls of the ancient structure, with the roar of the distant downward slide acting as a constant reminder of the temptation that the endless world of adventure held in store for me. The entirety of my rather small crew stood solemnly behind my back silently awaiting my order for when we would hit the proverbial lift off. I could already feel the dangerous tug of the rapids increase and the roar of the water reach a new crescendo while the sun glared down at us with a judgmental vigor, the breeze picked up, becoming more violent as we drew closer, first becoming a swift wind before jumping up with a bellow and forming a thunderous gale that tore at our sails hungrily. The ship creaked as the mast bent somewhat to the side, the marine flag that was hoisted on the top over the crow''s nest (Which we had been too lazy to remove, procrastinating for the eventual coming of our crews flag to replace it) flapped erratically in the wind swirling rapidly in the sky. The faded paint on the side of the ship, stood despotically in the light reflecting off of the canal as the motley sign of my amendment to the original words stared in an ugly yellow hue. As we neared the base of the mountain the water at the base of the ship thudded against the hull, and with a huge jolt the ship began to shake precariously , "To your positions, man the sail! fasten the riggings, man the steering wheel, boys and girl this is it, we''re sailing close to the wind, harken me laddies-" I was rudely interrupted by what felt like a shoe from the general direction of Fawkes, though I am sure that he had his hands full with furling the sails and fixing the riggings. Me on the other hand, stood in the middle of the ship while I slowly used Conqueror''s Haki to bolster the ship. This was something my father taught me. ''Why is it that even before shipwrights became such a paramount force within the new world, there were still people that ventured into the deep sea? It is because of this technique, the one who has the will of a king needs not a kings vassal to be recognized, a king is a king regardless of his vassal, though if you have the opportunity to one day have a king''s vassal do not hesitate for in that case you not only have a trusty ship, but also an irreplaceable comrade!'' he had said one day as I returned from training, and this was something I had looked into immediately after that, after all it was something I was sure I would need. Slowly my Haki ran through the wood of the boat settling into every crevice and empowering the wooden structure, my hair whipped around me in the fast breeze as I stood still bracing my legs for the eventual impact, we were about to hit the reverse mountain, in more ways than one¡­ 53 West blue With a dull thud the ship landed in the tumultuous and breezy sea, the clouds that had gathered above head shuffled along angrily, thunder booming in the background. Evident crack lines ran through the side of the ship and a faint wheezing rang from the sails. The crew were pitched over in exhaustion, breathing deeply, Sorren sat clutching tightly to the side of the ship kneeling as he breathed deeply, layers of steam rose from his sweating plump face and a noticeable thin-ness to his usual broad frame. A swift wail seemed to come from Fawkes'' spasming muscles, even though the first fight that the crew had had, had taken place quite a while back his body had not fully recovered from the serum, that along with the amount of things that he had done during this particularly dumb endeavor had left him pretty much running on fumes. Terrick was not known for his ability to heavy lift, thus it was not surprising that he had done almost nothing to contribute he was still quite tired. Angella had in fact done more during this particular quest and still somewhat retained her standing form, and was now sitting calmly on the deck with a chair that she had prepared for herself, her only signs of exhaustion were her slowly shivering legs that she had tucked under her. I on the other hand did not physically contribute but still felt like I had physically lugged the piece of wood that we were sailing on, and I would wager that my mental strain trumped all the members of the crew, though I still had it in me to turn around and triumphantly smile towards the retreating gorge while the water still splashed around me as a result of our fall from that height. Barrels of steam rose behind me as the sun gradually set in the horizon casting pink shadows into the sky, a small smile rose on my lips before shunting into a full blown body shaking laughter. "Hahahahahaha!" I roared into the sky as my crew''s shaky laughter slowly joined into the chorus. "Man, that was some crazy shit! but really life wouldn''t be fun without those stupid decisions would it? What say you first mate, would you raise a cup to the stupidity of the world?" I asked as I slowly swiveled around flashing a country toppling grin at the ones that had held my back during my otherwise lethal bout of stupidity. Fawkes chuckled lightly as he slowly hobbled over to the kitchen before bringing back four bottles of sake and chucking it at the four on this ship that were somewhat used to the fizzy concoction. "To you captain, the maddest man under the sun!" Fawkes said before raising his bottle and chugging its contents. "Why raise a glass when we can raise the whole bottle?" Terrick questioned rhetorically before doing the same. "Why not, drink to the mad king?" Angella said bringing up the rear to the trio that had toasted me. I raised my glasses as well, "Weather we one day rule the seas or not, we shall surely drown it in a flood of madness" I agreed before chugging as well, bringing a hype to the festive atmosphere that had been created, accentured by the snores of the youngest member of our crew''s sleeping body we continued to rejoice our surprising survival of the recent and mind numbingly stupid campaign. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ "Kakakaakkakaak-" Ragner roared before he began choking on his spittle, "What the fuck did you teach your son brat? even I wouldn''t pull this shit while I was flat out drunk, let alone with even a hint of some sobriety! He fucking jumped over reverse mountain!" He said with his gruff voice as he chortled at the unbelievable reveal. With a dull thud Jack grimaced lightly as he felt his back clench from the heavy hit while he looked bemused at the antics that his son had decided to embroil himself in, he slowly clenched the letter in his hand before giving the bird in front of him a smile. The coo regarded him carefully before nodding its leg sack for the expected change it would receive for the report it had provided. With a ching and a cursory glance at the money it had been given it flew into the sky before disappearing into the endless gray clouds that surrounded the unnamed island. "Hah, you didn''t react this way when you found out that the brat had beaten the boy from the Donquixote family, yet now you laugh?" Jack queered a slight questioning in his otherwise carefree tone. "Kakak! Back then it was a question of ol'' Tankan''s training, the maniac is part of my crew, I know the kind of torture that he conducts in the umbrella term of training, even after all of that if lil'' Lore couldn''t escape from that pink-ass flamingo, then it would have been better to follow in your brothers footsteps and choose the path of a scholar instead of going out into the wide sea! This on the other hand is a question of sheer maddening stupidity!! So of course I am proud of the little lad, after all that level of stupidity can only have been inherited from the family!" He roared energetically before sipping on his premium ale. Slowly however the smile on his face underwent a drastic change, at the end even transforming into a form of vile and twisted expression that terrified the sitting Jack. "Old Tankan, get the ship and sail into the outer layers of the island!! Go now!" He roared with a rarely appearing serious face that bellied a rage that seemed to singe the air around him, faint vapors of steam rose from around him as a swift light jumped out of the shade behind him, got on a tiny jetty and rode hurriedly into the chilly night, leaving only a bare and robotic ''Yes captain'' that swayed unhurriedly in the wind. "What is it old man?" Jack asked as he tried to hobble to his feet, his observation Haki already reaching out to the ends of the island before reluctantly stopping at the end of its range. "It''s your brother Raigar, he''s injured." Was the curt and sardonic response that he received as the wind devolved into a slight gale that moaned eerily in the night... 54 Ohara A shudder ran through Raigar''s back as he looked at the flustered Olivia, Clover stood at the side his eyes bellying his stubborn dedication to the books that the tree of Knowledge had amassed. With the sound of the blood receding from his face, Raigar stood shell shocked as the previously desperate Olivia ran out of the room. With slow robotic steps he looked toward Clover, before heading toward the secret basement, he had only one thought in mind, it was to claim all the research that had been done, to be his, so the archeologists would not be killed. "Raigar! Wait!" Clover roared before looking at him emotionally. "Whatever you do now, it will be too late. Take this and Leave!" He roared before turning his back to the middle aged brown-head. "But head Clover-" he began, before being interrupted by one of the other senior researchers. "Our research is the most important thing here Raigar, and all of it can be summed up within that book, so go! Run, save yourself, Ohara cannot have been a useless institute! Leave here before it is too late!" he roared as he too turned his back on the one he had considered to be the most promising of the generation. "But, the people-" Raigar continued, desperation lacing his tone. "They are neither your responsibility nor your portion of mental consideration. You are an outsider so leave while you still can and do Ohara a favor while you do" an emotionless voice rang out clearly in the air as a palpable and grim air of finality set into the air. "The scholars of Ohara have built their bed, now they shall lay in it!" A deep booming voice echoed as the fleeing foreigner shed a few choked gasps of parting as he ran quickly into the outside world, tears streaming down his clean shaven face. His brown hair swam in the scanty wind as his footing became harder and harder. The everyday faces that he had gotten used to seeing for the past decades looked at the familiar streaking figure with curiosity, before shrugging their shoulders and continuing on with their daily lives. Before once again they had been interrupted by a running black clothed blob that ran desperately into the library. Raigar''s mind was a mess as he remembered the faces of the old and gentle elders that had held him company for so long, a part of him yearned to turn back and return, to die along with the ones he had seen as comrades, his crew that had accompanied him on the quest within the sea of knowledge and discovery, but as he had learnt from the scant interaction that he had with both his father and his brothers, the captain''s word is supreme. With a dull thrum and a heavy heart, he ran on, looking one final time at the ones that had their daily lives around there, he would obey his teacher''s final orders, then throw himself at the gates of Mary Geoisse with a vengeance that he had never known before. He had never quite forgiven his father for leaving him as a child back then, though he understood that where he was, a child would only face a horrifying fate. Nonetheless he had believed that any family that had prized adventure over the rest of the family would not be worth being a part of. So back then when he had faced his father for what would have been the first time within his then short life, he had left, thrown a monstrous fit and gone as far as to insult everything the man that was his father had stood for, even still he had been given a tiny compass that he had later learned was an eternal pose, to one day find him, if HE had it in his heart to forgive the old MAN. facing this situation right now, he could not help but sympathize however slightly, with what had been his father''s situation. Slowly with the area around him zooming past and a sudden deafening crack in the air he had no choice but to turn around to the world that had been his home for the majority of his life and say, Goodbye... ( SAUL ) Saul hissed softly as he trudged quickly through the countryside. With a heavy heart he committed what he had seen around him to memory, ''Robin where are you?'' the inquisitive part of his mind queered as he grew steadily more desperate. Robin was his only friend within this desperate land and he wished with all his heart, that she at least would survive through the nightmare that he was sure would happen to this blissful island shortly. As he worried, he saw with the corner of his vision the shooting figure of a man who looked like his life depended on the running that he was doing right now, with a torpedo like force the speeding blur rammed hard into the exposed stomach of the part confounded and part worried Saul. "Must...listen to¡­..the captain" a dull voice rang out from the sweating and prone form that lay spear eagled on the floor, sobs racking his body. With a dull moan the middle aged man slowly got to his feet before shuddering at the thunderous noise that now began to ring in the background. Saul now more worried than he had ever been immediately disposed all the thoughts he considered useless in his head before clutching hard at the nervous wreck before him. "Have you seen Robin?" he asked in his forceful voice tugging hard at the now conscious man''s numb shoulders. "Ro..bin?" He asked brokenly before scenes of black haired blue eyed little child appeared before his eyes, bringing him fully back into the moment. "I saw her¡­. She was running toward the library!" he said anxiously as he looked at the towering figure in front of him. "Save her! Please! I don''t want to live in a world where I am the only one who shall survive!" he said hurriedly. Saul looked confounded at the man before him before hesitantly nodding his head. No more did he care for the man before him who after seeing the nod of the giant seemed to have gotten a burst of energy as he trotted away. ''Robin where are you?'' 55 Playing dead works With a dull thud that travelled far enough to shake the trees on the far end of the island, the marine ships finally began their first volley of firing. Spandine stood at the stern of the ship a ship that took the lead within the stream of ships that moved toward the solitary island. A serious look was present in his eyes as he stared at the patch of land where he felt that he had been humiliated. With a disgusted grimace he stared at the tear in his sleeve that was caused by a certain Olivia, for whom he held the highest of sadistic anger. With a sigh he looked at the den den mushi in his hand and the implement that he had used to call the Buster call upon the soon to be extinguished island. Sakazuki stood next to him grunting at the expression on his neighbors face as he prepared himself to slaughter, for justice, he repeated to himself, for it had only been recently that he had gotten to where he was and was not used to the justice justification. (A/N He isn''t used to the implications of his absolute justice is all, he still wholeheartedly believes it.) With a momentous grunt he suddenly jumped into the air and fired a shot of pure magma toward the nearby ship that housed the residents of the denounced island. "All of you die! For Justice.." he said with a baritone and monotonous voice looking at the ship that had broken down at the middle. Spandine looked genuinely mortified for what felt like a long time to him but was in fact only a few seconds, before he sneered at the wailing survivors. "Hmpf trash!" he said with a vile chuckle before fixing his wrinkled suit. With a sudden yelp he noticed a blob of black that still stood on the shore bawling, with a low roar he could do nothing but gesture towards her, hoping that his colleagues would pursue what he considered to be the last person who could read the age old poneglyphs. "Chief the rudder is frozen!" someone replied to his unspoken order to pursue, before sitting back in their seats to observe the ensuing chaos. The skies were died with a flagrant pink that mingled beautifully with the smoke of the fallen boats, the roar of the canons contrasted with the wail of the citizens on the island and the few survivors of the attacked evacuation boats. Fires raged in the wake of the determined Sakazuki who ravaged the land with everyone of his attacks, loud bellows sounded from the sky as the smell of brimstone filled the air. Spandine felt the hair on his arms begin to singe as the clouds in the sky were suddenly penetrated by a volley of fist shaped magma bullets that plunged towards the land. With a shrill shriek and the sound of the tearing of the air around them, the residents of the ship suddenly felt the world around them begin to vigorously shake, deafening thuds echoed outward as the world devolved into a steaming cratered wreck with the trees burning and the magma fires glaring pointedly at the world¡­. (Raigar) With a heaven shattering sound and a Earth rumbling shake the world came to an end. Or at least that is how it felt to Raigar as he collapsed, his legs shaking at the extreme stress that followed the impact of the globular magma and the heavy land of the island. With both hands on his head and his feet tucked in, Raigar assumed the fetal position, heat waves bellowed from behind him singing his clothes and choking him with the smell of rotting flesh and brimstone. His eardrums seemed to have shattered, because, for what felt like an eon, he could not hear anything, before suddenly the world zoomed back into sharp perspective, the wails of the dying and the groaning of the burning trees sounded jarringly, forcing him to once again stand, shivering he began making his way forward hobbling with a dull limp. As he looked around him, he could not help but quirk his lips, ''About about in reel and rout, the deathfires danced at night the water like a witches oils burnt green and blue and white¡­'' he mouthed, unable to stop himself from quoting the words of a famous chronicler as he looked at his surroundings. The water of the sea gleamed eerily as he hobbled on before at last he seemed to have arrived at the end of the island, and what seemed to be the end of his stamina as well. With a huge splash and a defeated groan he had fallen into the water, falling unconscious almost immediately, within minutes the water pushed him back to the surface, his chest barely moved, but if one paid close attention one would still be able to see the dull movement of his chest as he laboriously but tenaciously breathed, dreaming and hoping that he would escape this hellhole, playing on repeat the last moments of his mentor. Slowly he floated on, reaching the outer sea quickly, magically it seemed that the men on the ships did not notice him, though in actuality it was quite evident from the state of his body and the massive amount of bodies that streamed across the sea. They had confused him for a dead man! Alas, if only he had waited for a few more minutes on the shore of the island, he might have had the chance to escape along with a young girl named Robin¡­. 56 Las Camp With a final creaking bellow our ship could be seen coming into the dockyard of the island of Las camp, the bastardized ''Not Marine'' logo along with the scrapes and crack lines on the side of the wooden lunk that one called a ship did little to hide the gargantuan vassal from the eyes of the people on the docks, who had just begun to file back into the town, accompanied by the final orange lights of the dying sunlight. "Captain, why is it that almost every time we land on an island its either night or late evening?" the voice of the pudgy Sorren rang out as he ate the last of our rations that remained dry after the chaotic upheaval of the last twenty four hours. "I don''t know brat, fate?" I called out cheerily albeit with a tired strain in my voice that seemed to echo in the minds of all those that heard me. I was so tired I was sure that if one gave me a berri for every anomaly in my mental state I could probably redeem Whitebeard''s head with it. Fawkes was no better, as he stood behind me, I could not help but notice the faint red hue that torched his face in an unhealthy red and the faint spasming of the muscles in his leg. He was tired, and I was sure now that he was coming down with something, with a quick glance at his figure and another at the quivering form of the crew''s doctor, I took a deep breath. "It seems we''ve been jumping islands a lot and haven''t really been given a chance to relax ever since the start of this adventure, so captain''s orders, shore leave for two weeks!" I called out behind me before taking a deep breath and beckoning the small crew into my congested cabin. "Ok here is the deal, while we''re on this island, I want Fawkes to focus on gathering resources and supplies, Sorren, I want you to make a list of all the medical supplies that we would need and accompany Fawkes on his trips to get it. Terrick I want you to begin taking up side chores on the side to help fatten our coffers, we barely have enough to last us through the week at this point. Do what you must to give us a boost, two things, don''t overdo it, and follow your moral compass. Angella I want you to rake in on the island''s history, find the hub of the smartest people in town and join them, chances are you might get something important on either Ohara or another of the wonders of the west Blue. I on the other hand shall begin building myself an actual information network. We could have hijacked the asshole flamingos but we were too rattled at that point. By now we probably already lost the chance to take any advantage of that." I said as I gauged the reaction of the room. Fawkes and Sorren nodded, a rare sign of seriousness appearing on the latter''s face, clearly his medical inability to help with Fawkes'' situation had been weighing on his conscience. I had made sure to skew the pairings slightly in their favor, with Fawkes being a cook, getting supplies and resources would be a cakewalk for him and he wouldn''t have to strain himself too much. Sorren on the other hand, would be given a much needed motivation booster, for once on the journey not as a combat asset but as the doctor he had promised himself to be. There could be no better motivation for an individual then feeling like they were worth something in the thing they loved. Terrick would have it easy, what with his previous profession and his new found sense of freedom that allowed him to have a sense of liberation that he had never felt before. It would be better if he got used to this new level of agency as quickly as possible. Angella on the other hand had received the most unimportant job so far, and that had been for an important reason, to me she seemed too characterless, like a machine or a puppet, and I refused to believe that anyone who had been through slavery, for however short of a period would be able to maintain that level of air headedness. For that I had given her an opportunity, both to finally begin to open up and for her to display loyalty, or some kind of emotion. I wanted to know, I wanted to know what was the enigma that was Angella. Was she just as stupid as she seemed or was she more sinister? @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ With a dull sigh and a wounded expression Sorren trudged out from the male dorm into the moonlit pavilion that was the deck of the ship. His hands rubbed against his thin trousers before resting on the rail of the ship. He looked at the moon, a sad smile much older than he was on his mouth as he looked at the looming full white orb in the sky."Mother the moon is just as you used to tell me, a round ball of hopes and dreams that shines down on those that hope.. it looks beautiful. Mother do you know, after I met the captain, my life has become very exciting, as you used to say ''A healthy body and a healthy mind keep the happiness inside.'' I am happy now mother, but you are not. Where are you mother, where? Do you hate Sorren? is that why you had to go? I became a doctor just like you asked me too, I wish you were here to see it! I can treat people now, I can help people like you did! Mother smile at Sorren one last time please?" he called out softly into the night sky. Unknowingly his hands had become pale as they clung to the steel railings of the ship with a vigor. Scenes of blood and tears once again filled Sorren''s mind as he gritted his teeth. ''No more! I will heal all those I can, so no one can feel the way I did. Captain has a dream other than revenge, so shall I! My dream is just to protect, protect my crew at all costs, and save those that I can without causing anymore sadness! I shall one day become an person whose very existence shall guarantee that no one on his side dies!" he echoed as he walked back in to the dorm. Unknowingly and unheard, a soft sigh rang through the ship as a silhouette observed the boy''s face¡­ 57 To promise or to vow, what is the difference? "¡­So that''s what happened to the geezer in Ohara¡­" a somber toned and surprisingly sober Ragner said as he held a small unopened bottle of sake. Seated on a wooden barrel the old Pirate powerhouse stared unblinkingly at the mummified body of his son. A small sigh escaped his mouth as he slowly looked out of the old and broken down room through the glass cracked window towards the morning mist that glowed in the dawn of a new day. "The world is moving quickly boy, I know that you do not wish to so much as look at me, but nonetheless, the bastards of the land in the heavens seem keen on antagonizing what little family I have left. So even if, after all of this you cannot forgive me, at least confide in the boy jack¡­" he said before slowly walking out of the single roomed hut into the dewy mountain. With the dull crunch of an old door hitting an even older doorframe, the shaking form of a weak and broken Raigar slowly stopped to be replaced with a host of repressed tears, ''this is the world, the world that will break the spirits of men, innocent and guilty, this is the world that consigns the nameless masses to an eternal depth of damnation, what world doth rise in wrathful indifference if not the host of the myriad of seas? This world dares take, then what am I if I do not learn from its example, ye who sit and revel on your cloudy thrones on the peak of the world, brace and prepare your necks, for the wrath of a man behind whom an island is shall no more shatter, before you are dragged from ye olde and rotting seats!'' he promised himself as sleets of blood drenched the sheets around him. ********************************************************************************** "Is he alright?" jack asked as he looked gloomily at the fire in front of him, embers flying around his shaggy beard. "As well as any civilian would be if they had to bear witness to an island wide genocide.." Ragner muttered darkly into his beard as he settled down onto a log beside the somber Jack. "Tell me boy, was it right to leave him and little Roger when I did?" "Better someone who can care for a child care for them than you, beside whom it would be almost impossible for them to live past a few months.. I should know I retired and still those bastards found me, packing a walloping and sizeable army to bring me in.." he replied barely looking up from his place of brooding. "The world is changing Jack, the end war draws closer¡­ the World government has not made as many moves in the past century as it has done in the past decade. It''s almost as if they feel as the old crone feels in his gizzard, the time of Joy Boy draws closer, the fool decided to leave things here that should only be pulled out when the end war begins¡­.. I think it''s time for a final scrub to remove the cob webs from them don''t you?" with a deep sigh, Ragner could not help but thank the lucky stars that were his crew members who had swiftly jumped at the mission to rescue ''little'' Raigar, if it wasn''t for them, he might have just been forced to swallow the loss of another son¡­. ******************************************************************************** "So tell me again father, why was it that you chose to place me on a crib on the footsteps of an old library on Ohara?" Raigar asked again for what could have been the fifteenth time had it not been that count of the actual number had already been lost at around the seventh iteration of the informative query whose answer had already been so overused that it might as well have been collecting stains of age. "I told you brat, it was because I was too weak to be able to keep you around me without putting my crew and the both of you brats at risk!" he said, his temper fraying as he attempted to lessen the ginormous tick mark that had developed on his vein ridden face. "If you could make a baby, then you might as well have sat around to care for them like a half decent parent!" he said back with a sting in his tone and an overdose of venom. "It don''t work like that you nincompoop! I amn''t going to go as far as to do away with everything that makes me, me just so I can sit around and nanny a group of prospective annoyances!" he snapped back, steam rising through his erect beard that had straightened because of all of the muscles crawling within his face. "And I don''t see you giving your mother even half as much shit as you seem to think I deserve! Go bitch to the hag on the mountain and leave me with the war that is invariably going to happen, or, you can take a seat and discuss like a proper adult, which I hope that you are, or I might have to question your mother on whether she was cheating to get such a disgrace to the gene pool!" he finished, so riled up that spittle seemed to ricochet at the wooden seat. "Now sit down or leave with the rising of the sun, I have to get the council to figure out how to save as many of these island chains as I can, shoo to the side" he said as he began to peruse the map of the entire line once more, jack sat next to him, looking at the same with a serious expression as Raigar fumed in the corner¡­. 58 I am a Doctor Damnit ! Sorren sighed in a bored tone as he wiped the sweat off his brow, the tropical temperature seemed to seep into his clothes, causing streams of sweat to begin to stream down his arms. His face glowed in a pinkish shade of red as he gave a once over to the products in front of him. In the early days of the morning the captain had taken a temporary trip into the town to ''earn'' some money. The gold and the money that had been taken from the island of Rubeck and swallow island was coming to an end, and the captain had felt that the spending on this island would be the last of the coffers, so he had made sure to tell Sorren to pick up as much as he could, Fawkes stood to Sorren''s side, fanning his face with his hand. Sorren had no idea how Fawkes managed to actually survive in the clothes that he had worn, for even though the island wasn''t particularly hot, it did come with heaping loads of humidity. With a final once over, Sorren gave the items before him a last once over, a pack of unblemished and clean syringes stood at the peak of the pile of medical supplies. Different bags of blood, lay packed in a different netted bag, places hanging into a makeshift cooler. A small pile of bandages stood at the very bottom of the pile, followed only with a small box of miscellaneous supplements that Sorren had ensured had an adequate dosage. "Now we haul.." he sighed before picking up the cooler and placing it in the crook of his arm, the bag of the other substantially lightweight item were picked up with Sorren''s right hand, all the while he ensured that the prone form of Fawkes did not collapse. As they made their way down the cobblestone path of the town, they were able to see the different homes that existed in the place. A pale brown layer of dust on the flooring, and the cracked walls of some of the homes shone brightly in the morning sun. A dull red shutter, that had now paled enough to sufficiently encapsulate the maroon of dried blood stood above the doors of most homes, the shadow that they made onto the road helped protect the people against the seemingly heavy layer of water that existed within the air. The smaller homes had windows cut out into them, providing a keen outlook into the pale blue paint and the black stone floor that existed within. Bigger houses on the other hand, had smaller holes cut into the gap between the roof and the ending of the walls, allowing for the hot air from within the homes to freely exit. A thin pipe like aqueduct of water ran into the base of the house, that some kind stranger had explained was to allow for a semi cooling effect to occur by streaming the water into pipes that were threaded into the walls. The place that Sorren and Fawkes had gone to had been the very center of the town, where existed the outer and the inner markets. The former was a weekly market that one would visit to top up on supplies either for the kitchen or for the eventual trip that would be the seas. The inner market on the other hand existed like an all time store, that sold most basic necessities and also dubbed as a primary health center. However tired Sorren had become from the journey that had been the trip to the department store, he was also quite thankful to it. It had allowed him to settle his thoughts and analyze the promise that he had made to himself in his bout of delirious melancholy. It had allowed him to finally resolve himself to the dream that he had desired to dedicate himself to. It had also allowed him to look carefully at the ship''s first mate, look carefully at the effects that the potion had had on the guy. Sorren had even gotten quite ashamed of himself, after all however hectic the last few weeks had been on the crew as a whole, he had neglected his role as the doctor, he had essentially been free loading on the ship so far, true he had been helping in battles and some of the miscellaneous lollygagging but that was not his job. It was the others''. He had been taking the life of a pirate as if it was a walk in the park, and his crew mate had been the one to suffer because of it. With a sudden sigh Sorren rounded on the startled Fawkes, "Fawkes, after we reach the ship you''re getting a once over, no questions!" he said, all measure of composure lost, "I''m fine though?" Fawkes said, a confused tone in his voice. " Beside, there''s no need to worry your little head, I''m fine" he said ruffling the boy''s hair before continuing onwards. "Damnit Fawkes, I''m the doctor of the crew, not its mascot!" he snapped, his arms reaching out to tug Fawkes'' sleeves taut before pulling him back to face him. "Where did this come from little man?" he asked, a surprised tone in his voice as he looked at the pudgy kid in front of him. "Where did this come from?? It came from my broken Hippocratic oath that''s where! True I never actually took the oath, but technicalities! Bottom line is, because of my bad medical usage you, the second strongest fighter of the crew was both heavily wounded, and effectively incapacitated from battle, and me, the crew''s medic, didn''t so much as advise for you to use a fucking cold pack that''s what''s wrong! I didn''t join the crew to be babied! True its my fault for not actually doing any medic work on you! But You and the Captain, didn''t beat me into shape! Didn''t get this crew working as it should have for something as pointless as sentiment! So next time First mate, I request that you be the first to beat some sense into me whenever I don''t act like the crewmember I am! Now back to the ship! I have doctoring to do!!" and with that and a face that seemed to have de stressed to a level it had never been at before, Sorren marched to the ship leaving a bemused Fawkes and an even more bemused crowd, that seemed to have taken the entire scene to be a kid role playing with a poor father ¡­. 59 Wisdom from weird places Terrick sighed tiredly as he looked at the child in front of him, a brown haired boy, in rags lay sleeping on a cloth bed that sat at the corner of a tiny room in a small shack. He had made his way to the bosom of the shady part of town for this, and now he had to finish the job that he had taken. It was a matter of credibility after all. With a remorseless and silent groan he creeped closer to the child before bringing his hand agonizingly close to the child''s neck, thin and pale, it looked so easy to end his life, that if Terrick had not already steeled his heart, it might have made him question himself. But Terrick had done this a few times back in Rubeck, true that he had not actually been allowed to refuse, and true the only one that Terrick had, that could allow for the old tyrant to control him had been Angella, and even her, if Terrick was being honest with himself was someone that he used to justify his actions with. The moral repercussions of his actions were not lost on him, truly, Terrick was just someone with no experience exercising his own agency. For as long as he could recall he always did what another told him to do, after all a good assassin did not ask questions, and a better assassin only did as he was told. Suddenly and with what seemed to be a deafening yawn the prone form of the child began to rise, even then it rose with an almost rhythmic motion, Terrick cursed under his breath as he began to retreat, hurriedly trying to sink into the shadow of the barely four by four room. Almost agonizingly slowly the boy sat up on the bed, rubbing his eyes before opening and closing his mouth to get rid of the tiredness of the moment. Slowly his tiny head began to rove around the room, before stopping at the location that Terrick had chosen to hide in, in the dark of the hinges of the rotting wood door. Terrick began to sweat, he had always ensured that he camouflaged with the background, but after meeting the captain, he had only become more and more sloppy at it. "Uncle, what are you doing here?" The innocent voice of the boy asked, not even a single tremor in his voice. "I don''t even have any cash¡­" he said as he slowly rose up, before bending down to pick up a horridly patched up waist pouch. "This is all I have.." Terrick clenched his teeth before slowly getting out of the dark of the hinges, he had finally come to terms with the things that had just happened. With barely any movements he inched his hands towards the knife hidden in a tiny pocket on his thigh. "Uncle, take it and don''t hurt me!" the boy said, actual fear appearing on his face, his amber face glowing, his spindly arms reached out from beside the bed, reaching toward Terrick, who had stretched out his hands to distract the boy from looking at his other hand. With a sudden and feral screech however, the boy who had so far looked innocent leapt towards Terrick, what looked like the splintered end of some ship in his hand, driving straight towards Terrick''s chest. ''fuck'' Terrick thought as he opted to turn slightly using both his hands, one to hold onto the malnourished hand of the boy, and the other to push against his chest, to both kill his momentum and to stabilize him. With a surprised yelp, the boy could do nothing but come up short against the relatively towering form of the man in front of him, with a growl of anger, the boy kicked toward Terrick''s crotch, being promptly denied by a push against his body, then with a dull thud against his neck, and a remorseful groan the boy could not do anything but collapse, fainting and bringing the overall atmosphere of the room back into a dull and silent calm¡­. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ ''Where... am. ¡­ I..? What¡­.happened?..Wait the old man!, I need to get up!!'' With a twist of his hands and a herculean effort the boy came to, to see a set of threads going over his chest tying him up to a bed that looked to be in a inn. ''Which sick bastard was that old man?? God damnit! First it was that old hag, now this old pervert, why do I have such bad luck with old fogies!?! "Awake?" the baritone voice of a voice brought him out of his contemplation causing his head to turn at an odd angle trying to witness his captor. "So what do you want you sick old fuck?! If you wanted to stick it in, then you could''ve done it when I was out of it, I''m sure that that would have been right up your alley, what you want to see the despair of kids as they get felched by ya? I aint gonna give you the satisfaction ya old fag! you bring your fat smoke stick anywhere near me, imma bite it off you!!!" he said saliva fluttering around his mouth as an enraged and crazed look was in his eyes. Terrick couldn''t help but shudder at the ruthless tone that the boy had, clenching his feet slightly as he imagined the threats that were being spouted at him. "Boy I amn''t going to do anything to you calm down" he said with a sigh. "You''re just here to answer a few questions that I have, then you can go back home". "As if imma believe you fat fuck!" he snapped back. Before quieting down as his stomach groaned. "I could be made more amiable if you removed your sad attempts at BDSM here." he said, calming down slightly. "Sure, but if you run, I''m going to sic you again" Terrick warned before untying the boy off the bed. "So tell me boy, why did you fight back then?" Terrick asked, curiosity rife in his tone. "From the way you were living I''m sure death would be a better option, so why?" he asked. "Well because, if I die, things aint going to get better for me are they, the chance of death being better than living seems worse than the chances of something good happening when Im alive so of course imma go on living, bite my way outa it if I have to.. What you stupid??" he asked looking at the prone form of Terrick. "Yes, yes I think I was ¡­" was his only response. 60 The birth of Mimir Terrick sighed annoyed as he sneaked onto the ship, he shook his neck getting a loud crinkle from it, the ugly and huge doodle on the side of the ship had been the biggest problem that he had faced, having to run all around the town to get someone to invest in his credibility. The loud words only served to give him an extra job to do, as he had to now not only fill up the ship''s coffers but also discourage people from snooping around the gaudy vessel. After the hitch in his last assignment, Terrick had chosen to return to the ship and cool his head, at first he had thought to seek the advice of his ever-thoughtful captain, but swiftly dispersed the idea, having seen how up to his neck in his own project he was. The boy had moved the assassin, anyone who said anything to the contrary could only be blind. True he had been an assassin for a long time, but he was used to having no emotions, having emotions when one could not act on them was merely a cripple from his point of view, and so he had gotten used to being unfeeling. But now, in a crew that basically mandated for freedom and agency, he had no choice but to ask himself why all those actions had been easy for him, chillingly so. This thought had not only plagued him, it had also left him feeling uncomfortable and uneasy. With a tired sigh he looked over at the lone room that stood at the very forefront of the deck, the room was shut closed, mutters echoed from inside as the loud sound of the churning of pages sounded from inside. The captain sounded quite overworked. On the first day the captain had returned to the ship sporting what looked to be a barrel full of snails, all of them of the transponder variety. Then after that and a few secretive calls, he had revamped the captain''s quarters into what looked like a dungeon. Snails stood on every pedestal, each with a name and a colored string leading them toward another one. These would at their end connect to what looked to be a hand drawn map of the different blues. Each island was seemingly allotted a color and each informant a name, though what all this implied, Terrick had not enquired and Lore had not seen important enough to inform to anyone on the crew, save for Fawkes. Unfortunately, the threads seemed to be restricted to the North blue and a little to the West blue. A single island to be precise. The different unused snails so far had then been organized to where they go and placed in a makeshift reserve, where they had an abundance of leaf and a large enough field that it would not be too congested to be in. The captain had been receiving information every day, and had been using different colored binders and what looked to be a weirdly foreign language to codify the information in. Terrick had been told that each of these binders were ordered on date, and held even the most trivial of information. With that thought and a deep sigh he trudged below deck to the cabin before piling onto a hammock and snoring away¡­ ****************************************************************************** I sighed for the umpteenth time as I looked at the binder that stood before me, it housed all the information I had received of Doflamingo''s family- The Donquixote family, and I had to admit, however much of an arrogant blowhard he was, he was at least as cunning. Had he not died back then, then I was sure that the crew and my head would have come under a special type of gunning, not like the dogged persistence that the marines employed to follow most pirates, it was more of a level of persistence that one would associate with an emperor. The same chilling level of control, the same arrogant and unyielding disposition. The only difference I could see was that while an emperor would use pure strength and power, the pink flamingo used his connections. Though Onigumo was in appearance a spider, Doflamingo was more of one. Knowing how each string of his web thrummed when it was flicked and acting as both an alert and a trap when someone were unfortunate enough to fall into the delicately wrought framework that he had built his empire on. The white devil, and the joker were scary opponents to face, especially for one not accustomed to using direct and brutal methods. His web had seeped far into the grand line, and only his death had been able to disrupt the carefully laid out castle of webs, only by piggybacking on the stray elements of this web had Lore been able to grow a semi decent information agency, and even then it was only in its infancy, employing the aid of beggars and members of the North Blue mafia to somewhat make do in bringing in a hodgepodge of information. BUT, Lore was happy he had invested their dwindling coffers into this venture, at least now he knew, he knew of the formidable force that they had only barely been able to evade. They had the burly and frankly scary marine behemoth behind them. It was Vice Admiral Garp for fucks sake. Lorean had more confidence against admirals then he had with that bastard and his three friends! ''Fucking three musketeers of the marines..'' he grumbled mutinously as he tiredly slipped in the latest bit of news into the green binder that he had dedicated to the Donquixote family. He was regretful, after going through the effort of beating the arrogant pink bastard but forgetting to raid his humongous reserves, Lore could feel his face itching with remorse as he thought of it. Now, however Trebol one of the pink bastards executives, his second in command in fact, had taken the reins of the underworld empire, sitting comfortably on the throne and ensuring the family''s continued sustenance as a grand line level powerhouse crew. The world government had not taken the news of the flamingos defeat lightly, they had sent in hoards on hoards of Cipher Pol agents to scour the town where the warlord had fallen, only managing some semblance of normality by passing on the position to the incumbent Trebol, who had gladly accepted, if only to ensure the marines stayed off their back. The world government had done this discreetly however, putting off the entire incident as the warlord ''retiring'' early to be replaced by his second in command, because of ''old injuries'' and other oceans of bile and propaganda. ''Big news'' Morgans on the other hand, had been able to report that the warlord had fallen but was unsure of the cause, the remote location of the battle and the distance between there and the headquarters of the journalists head quarters playing a key role in the lack of credible information, the albatross had been extremely keen on covering the case on his own, and had thus asked for all his subordinate journalists to let him do the field work this time around. Though I was glad at the information I had received I could not help but gnash my teeth, both at the cost I would have to bear to develop this information system and how I could maintain its use to me later on in my adventure. Luckily however, if I could say one thing, then it was this, the head of Mimir had surfaced from the water and would someday know everything about everything. 61 The Lost Bookworm Angella twitched as she ran her fingers down the spine of the book that she had pulled off the old reddish brown bookshelf . She had been quite impressed with the kindly women that ran the homely library. Though it was the only one of its kind in the entire island, it still held a vast enough collection that it was likely that even if people had travelled quite extensively one would likely find something new in the peaceful town. The collection that the library sported spanned from topics as mundane as ''Thirty exotic Lawn shapes'' to ''Basic Grand line Climate- A Discovery''. The books were stacked to the tops of the shelves and the topmost pile even leaned against the wall to make room for the smaller and less known titles. Stacks of books sat to the side of each shelf, with an old wooden ladder leaning against the side of the old oak case. A dusty and old paper smell infused the room with a earthy tinge to it. For the past hour, Angella had been walking through the book-filled alleyways of the colossal room, picking up anything that interested her in anyway, before perusing its contents. She had felt so fulfilled with the entire trip that she had even begun to compare it to the kind of freedom and carefree spirit she had back in the island of Ohara. With a melancholic sigh, she turned back towards the entrance of the building wistfully running her thin pale fingers against the spines of the many books that spanned the shelves as she walked. The librarian sat smiling at the counter, that stood at the entry way to the building. A dull thrum of repeated thuds echoed throughout the otherwise silent establishment as she stamped the books that were on her table. Her old and wrinkly hand held the books caringly as she stacked them to the side, neatly and orderly it was placed off to the side of the table. She smiled at the people entering and exiting the big building, most of whom were children whose head barely reached past the tip of the wooden counter. Her eyes flashed with an old women''s care as she looked at the kids sitting at the tables arranged in between the door and the many alleyways. Angella looked at her with a melancholic and wistful glint in her eyes, the old women reminded her of her own grandmother that had taken care of her on her home island. She had a favorite rocking chair that she sat on at all times and knit most of the clothes that a young Angella wore, her hands were filled with the pricks of the knitting needle that she used in her embroidery. With a defeated sigh, Angella wrenched herself from her reminiscing, forcing herself to walk out of the most familiar structure that she had visited in her time off her home island, bowing her head towards the old librarian as she walked out into the pleasant night. If she was being honest with herself, she would find that she was more than just a little excited at the prospect of returning home, hugging her grandmother and inhaling the deep and rich scent of the Oharan library. In fact, it could be considered to be her only motivation to stay on the ship, the pirate crew, as they called themselves. She could only forcefully push down the bile that rose in her throat whenever anyone on the ''crew'' mentioned the word ''pirate'' and could not help but revile the implications of her associations with them. After all it had been pirates that sold her to the hell that was slavery, a pirate by the name of ''Sonya the lioness'' to be precise. She remembered that time, long ago when she had snuck into a rundown jetty that had moored at the beach of the island. She remembered the faint snickers that she had muffled as she hid beneath the tarp of the old boat. She remembered how stormy the day was, and remembered the sudden bellowing of the wind as the cord that held the boat ashore snapped. She remembered the zooming feeling that she felt as the boat zoomed unto the horizon. After that she remembered her fear, her crying and finally her hope, when she came upon the women that she would later despise with her whole being. She remembered the kindly words that were spoken to her as she was brought onto the deck of the ship, the sweet voice that the cunning sea wench had employed when she pulled her snug into a torn blanket, before the dull thud on her neck that would act as the opening act of her long years into slavery. Sonya''s face still appeared in her mind as she thought of the one that had caused her so much grief, glowering down at her from on high. Above her hate for the mere concept of ''piracy'' however, was her hate for the sea. Her hate for the fickle and cruel force that had dragged her away from home back then, lowering her into a mere starving child and delivering her onto those she would never forget. Now there came another crew, ruled over by a male tyrant instead of a female tyrant this time. One who cruelly killed, who supported the conception of slavery and who was as vile as to brainwash young and otherwise innocent children into becoming a ruthless killer at a young age. The only reason she bore with the foolhardy bunch was because of how close they were to home, then when they reached, she would slit their throats and sell their heads to the highest bidder. Even the boy would go through the same thing, regardless of his reasons he had chosen to become one of the members of this toxic group so he could not be any better. It would be better to finish him off, the most she could do was make it swift and painless she vowed as she hardened her resolve. Pirates could not be trusted, and if she had to sacrifice her self-respect to extinguish even a part of this worldwide malediction then she would do so in a heartbeat. She would not allow for anyone else to go through what she went through, she promised herself as she resolutely marched through the sultry town weather. A deep sigh seemed to echo throughout the night sky as the clouds began to cover the white moon. A series of lights gleamed from the houses that paved the road pitching yellow shadows onto the grey cobblestone. In the end of the road, from the periphery of her vision she could make out the hanging symbol of a smithy. The hammer and anvil symbol looked especially glaring, this with an absence of light from the inside of the building caused Angella to stop in contemplation. She silently made her way to the side of the building before stealthily pushing in the wooden window frame, the rotting window sill caved in easily as the window creaked inwards. A collection of different swords and other assortments hung on the wall. She needed a weapon, and she knew with a definite where she could get one.. 62 Granted With a groan and a sigh I got off the cotton mattress that had been my bed for the past week or so, snails littered the room and a deep scent of blotted ink infused the dingy quarters. On the corner wall of the wooden cabin sat a detailed map, threads running through the different places all labeled by needle like structure. Each thread had a different color and twisted weirdly with the others. On the other side of the room sat a meager bed that had been the place where I had been sleeping for the past week. Around it sat a collection of plates and mugs haphazardly littered across the floor. They had been my meals and drinks, that had been delivered to me for the period of time that I had decided to refrain from human contact for. Today, I decided would be one where I actually got out of the room, my head was fit to burst with all the information I had, and even my devil fruit could not help me right the deep sated lethargy that had steeped my body. Today I would accompany Terrick on his mission. I had decided, and tomorrow I would help train him and Sorren, after that I would spend all my time tailing the newest addition to the crew, in the form of the still silent Angella. Having decided this, I yawned deeply and draped the fallen article of clothing, that had been my shirt, over my shoulders. With a dull groan I began to stretch my hands and crinkle my neck before reaching for the doorknob to push the door outward. With a deep wince and a hasty flurry I raised my hands to cover my eyes to protect it against the relentless rays of the sun. Next to the Captain''s quarters ran a set of stairs that would lead to both the kitchen and the crew''s barracks. A hint of heavenly aroma rose from the stairs, Fawkes had probably begun cooking. With eager steps I jogged towards the kitchen, spotting a bedraggled Terrick on the way down. Not even waiting for a groan of greeting I dragged the man into the kitchen where a starving Sorren already stood at attention. A lopsided apron hung on his chest, one of the sleeves escaping from the top of his shoulder to the crook of his elbow. A small line of drool lined the tip of his mouth as he set the plates on the table. After the first day on the island, he had taken the task of helping Fawkes in the kitchen. He didn''t want the man to strain himself too much owing to the aftereffects of the serum that had still not disappeared. On one of the chairs near the table sat the white capped Angella, perusing the contents of a thick book that she seemed to have purchased from the town library. She had gotten a complete makeover in the time that I had served in self imposed solitude. She had gotten a white top hat with a tiny blue strip running through the middle. A white suit with a pale blue shirt and a purple tie. Overall she reminded me of a female version of Alucard from hellsing without the shades. "It''s a book on Grand line climate captain. It says here that the line is famous for its downright weird and homicidally moody climate, is that true?" she asked, eyes that I had once thought were ditzy no longer looked so dull instead looking at me with a level of intellect I had only begun to expect from Fawkes. "Aye it is. The line can be considered nature''s biggest fuck you to all the dwellers of the world. Its mainly caused by the conflicting of the magnetic waves from different islands. it''s really fun to navigate in!" I said chuckling at the pale face of the two newest additions to my crew. "Anyway Fawkes what''re you doing?" I asked shifting the topic for a later date as I saw the cook bringing in a steaming pot of what looked like pasta. "Why don''t you dig in and find out?" he said with a wicked gleam in his eyes as he dusted off his hands. ******************************************************************* "God damnit captain!" Terrick cursed angrily as he ran over the roofs of the town buildings. Behind him ran a host of black suited men who all held some form of firearm. In his hands were a set of jewels that he had stolen from one of the two most notorious gangs of the island. Beside him ran a cackling Lorean, seemingly out on a morning jog. "How was I supposed to know that these guys didn''t lend their jewels when asked nicely?" he asked taking unholy delight in the wrathful cry of exasperation that his compatriot belted outward. "Anyway no time to point fingers runnnnn!!" he shouted as he continued on a mad tirade of laughter. Sounds of gunshots rang in the background as the black-suited men ran desperately after them. "Remind me again why did I agree to you accompanying me on this trip?" Terrick called out. "Umm, Captain''s orders..?" Lorean replied with a frown of deep contemplation. "How are you still a captain?" Terrick asked with a sigh of resignation. "Because I hold the cumulative majority of brain cells on this crew..?" he replied, before pumping down a chasm between two houses. "Not agaaaaaiiiiiiin!" Terrick groaned as he was dragged down as well. With a soft thud the duo landed on the gap between the two houses before promptly slicking their hair back and, in Terrick''s case turning his shirt inside out to make it look like a different color. Then with an unhurried pace they swiftly blended into the mass of people going about their day. A few hours later the duo could be seen exiting a dingy two-storied building, the jewels notably absent from their hands, replacing which was a suitcase of what could safely be presumed to be money. "Umm captain, the job''s done. This was the only thing that had come up today, so we just have to get back to the ship. Why don''t you go first, I have some polishing to do on these.." he said gesturing to his blades. "Sure why not?" Lorean called out, before walking silently into the evening. Of course after he had crossed the corner, he immediately doubled back to tail his suspicious companion. Terrick on the other hand, waited in his spot for a brief five minutes before turning around to rush to the slums, his pace constantly increasing. Lorean chuckled to himself silently. Terrick was many things, a good assassin one of them, but he often let his guard down when he was confident that one of his plans would go through. To an assassin this was as dangerous as a tell was for a gambler. With a brisk walk Terrick had arrived at what looked like his destination. A dilapidated single storied house with a leaky ceiling and a broken window. With a swift knock Terrick briskly entered the room while Lorean took his place silently at the roof of the house looking through one of the numerous holes that dotted its surface. Through the hole he could see the dull glimmer of a lantern sitting next to a gaunt and pale little boy. "Brat here, take this" Terrick said from his spot at the corner of the room, passing a half eaten box of food to him. The food had been what Fawkes had prepared for the both of them when he found out that the duo would go on a mission together. With a dull groan that sounded like it came from his stomach, the young child quickly gobbled down the food that he had been given. Wiping his mouth and hands with a dull rag that hung from his bed. With a quick flurry the boy immediately settled back down. "Big Brother what are you going to teach me today?" he asked pulling out a makeshift book from a patchy pocket sewn onto his leg. "We are going to finish what we started with of course!" Terrick replied boisterously, we shall only perfect what I had taught you back then. "Ehhh that''s what you''ve been saying from the beginning!!! I want to learn how to fight!! I want to learn how to act cool!!" he said throwing his arms out in a tantrum. Learn how to read before you can throw your hands around brat! You aren''t built to be a fighter, and I don''t have much time today so we shall read something!" he snapped before pulling out a book titled ''Noland the liar''. With a dull chuckle Lorean got off the roof of the house and knocked on its doors. "Would you look at that, the rough and tough assassin finally grew a brain!" He exclaimed, genuine joy in his voice. He never wanted a crew of puppets, that had never been his dream. He had always wished for a group of brothers and sisters to sail the seas with, and finally Terrick had begun to think of himself as a free individual, now it would only be a matter of time before he saw himself as a sworn sibling¡­ However, now Lorean had to deal with the situation at hand. With a dull creak the door swung inwards reveling a sweating Terrick and a confused child that had just begun to read the first words of a fairytale. "Captain I can explain!" Terrick called out, but was pointedly ignored. "What is your name boy? " Lorean asked with a raised eyebrow. "Scipio sir. It was a name I gave myself so I don''t have a surname¡­" the child replied, unsure of the situation that he had been placed into. "Terrick, when you joined my crew, what did I tell you? Do you remember?" Lorean asked, still not looking at the panicked assassin. With a deep breath Terrick remembered, he remembered the time in the auction when he had been given a choice. He remembered those words from back then and chuckled. "..........................................¡­..SHishishsihsihsishi.... Good! Finally I see a little spine in you Terrick, remember, this crew does not have useless and greedy individuals! Anyone in this crew shall have a mind of his own! Oi Fawkes, how much of our coffers still remain?...................." "It seems it was only me who was over thinking. Captain permission to recruit the boy, Scipio onto the crew as a cabin boy?" he asked, seemingly forgetting all of his worries. A cheerful smile on his face and a quirky upturn of his eyebrows. "I shall take full responsibility." "Granted!" 63 The Cabin boys initiation "¡­Ehh~? Big brother''s a pirate?" Scipio called out in surprise as he sat on the deck of the ship. A happy Terrick sat before him nodding in approval. "Aye, and with the captain''s permission so are you!" Terrick grinned before messing up the hair on the malnourished Scipio''s head. "But¡­. There isn''t anything I can do¡­ Would I still be needed?" He said in a soft voice as he looked down at the mud brown deck of the ship. "If you don''t know, you learn brat. The crew will wait for you to arm yourself with knowledge. We aren''t going to abandon you just because you don''t have any experience with the pirate life, learn boy! Learn and use what you know to be truly free!!" Lorean called out, instantly falling into his role as the inspirational head of the crew. At this point Lorean had pretty much resolved himself to having a crew dominated by small children and young adults. When looking at the age statistic of the crew, Terrick was infact the oldest at a stable seventeen. Fawkes stood at an average fourteen clocking on fifteen, and I stood third on the age line at a lowly ten. Sorren brought up the rear as a young nine year old. This of course discounted the ditzy and somehow elusive Angella and the newest addition to the crew the boy Scipio. Speaking off¡­ "Oi brat, how old are you?" Lorean asked, a thumb caressing the base of his chin. "Umm uncle I''m ten why?" Scipio called back, his spindly arms on each other as he tried to ward off the cold winds that motioned the beginning of winter in the locale of the island. "Nice, so we won''t have to bother about you as much. Be glad you''re that old, if you were any older most basic training would have been lost on you." Lorean replied before dusting his hands off and moving towards the captain''s quarters. Mid walk however, he slowly looked back at the child on the deck, "If you''re going to be a part of this crew, you''re going to need to know how to protect yourself. Until the end of shore leave, Terrick I am assigning to you his basic training. I want him up to date on basic hand to hand combat and not be as weak as he is now. First thing tomorrow morning take him to Fawkes so he can fix a useful diet for the brat. He''s going to be expected to clean up on deck and help Fawkes with the cooking. After that you can put him up with Sorren for a decent full body evaluation so I can set up a training schedule for him." With that he turned to the boy with an air of seriousness completely different from his previous jovial form. "Boy, henceforth you shall be the cabin-boy to this crew, as such on the order of hierarchy you are placed on the bottommost rung, the more you know the better your situation shall become, with that when you have gained some asset apart from extra labor you shall gain a new office. From tomorrow, this is what is going to be expected of you. At the break of dawn you are to report to the first mate to help in preliminary preparation of the meal, following this you shall give the deck, quarters and pantry a thorough cleaning, you may alternate the places you clean on a three day basis and you are not to enter the captain''s quarters aside from a daily briefing of events and what you have learnt at the end of every day. Secondly, after food you are to report to Sorren who shall both coach you on the preliminary first aid and on basic body training. Followed by this you shall have a two hour break that you may spend on the ship at your leisure. Following this you shall report to crewmate Angella for your basic studies. Terrick I want you to inform her of her duty to make him as literate as possible before the shore leave shall end. After this you are to report to Terrick for basic weapons practice where he shall give you practical and theoretical knowledge upon different forms of weapons. Both the theory and practice shall be set by Terrick on a day to day basis. Finally at the end of every day you are to report to me. Then you shall provide an in depth report of all the goings on of the day, what you have learnt and what you like or dislike over the course of the day. Here you shall also have the responsibility of transcribing all I say into either a verbal or written document." With the end of the tirade Lorean closely looked at the face of the young boy before nodding at Terrick and entering his cabins. "Scary wasn''t he?" Terrick asked, a playful tone in his usual baritone voice. "I know right.. Big brother how is it working for that scary uncle??" Scipio asked curiosity in his voice. "Honestly the captain is usually an extremely chilled out person. I''ve never seen him show any form of particularly intense emotion. He spends most of the time just screwing around. But don''t let that fool you he is the most insane guy this side of Raftel! I mean you have to be if you want to jump over reverse mountain like we did! Nonetheless, it doesn''t matter how much you mess up in this learning period, the captain will be supportive. Just don''t gamble with the crew''s safety and you should be fine. But still, it this was not how I envisioned my life would go, taking orders from a ten year old. Sigh~" "Hmm hmm¡­" makes sense, Scipio nodded before doubling back to look at the smiling Terrick. "Say whattttttt?" 64 Preparation to set off With a dull sigh Angella found herself nursing a budding headache as she looked at the child that sat before her. A small pile of books sat sprawled between the duo as she rubbed her forehead. It had been close to a week since she had been dropped with this child with the responsibility of educating him. Still he sat there before her, spending close to an hour to read a hundred pages! Oh the sympathy she felt with the teachers that had taught her. With an exasperated sigh she could only dismiss the young child, silently consoling herself with the fact that she wouldn''t have to live with this crew for long. The first time she saw the boy, she was conflicted. He was innocent, not yet pulled into the cruel and dirty machinations of the monster that was the crew''s captain. She had decided then, that she would not turn in this child. Instead she would take him to the Oharan academy and enroll him there so he could learn the realities of this world and not mix himself with the scum that was the pirates of the world. With a final ''tch'' of annoyance she slowly got up and out of the small corner of the crew''s quarters. She was planning on visiting the library again, after all it would make her calm down from the irrational mood swings that she had begun to have ever since she returned to the blue she was most familiar with. With a shake of her head she got out into the sunny deck bathing in the warmth of the noon. Suddenly she heard a call behind her. A black head of hair popped out of the cabin as the captain called out to her. "Oi, Angella, where are you going??" He said a sickening smile on his face. With a silent sigh to herself Angella could only turn around and offer a dreamy smile to him, "Oh I''m going out captain, the librarian said that a new batch of books would arrive from another island today and I want to go check it out!" "Can you come in here and do me a favor first?". With a "Sure what do you need?" Angella walked toward the captain''s cabin a sinking feeling in her chest. "I''ve been setting up plans to Ohara for the past week or so, but I couldn''t really pinpoint what needs to be prepared for the trip. I''ve scoured the surroundings of the destination island but couldn''t really tell if there was a marine base anywhere in the area. Also, seeing as you are part of the crew, I delegate that you''ll be part of the advanced party that lands on the island and ensures that we have a decent welcome. Ohara is unlike the islands before this, we can''t be going into the land of scholars as anything but a party of travelers. It''s the least respect that we can give them, for having to twiddle their thumbs under the noses of the collective bigwigs of the world. So as a member of the advanced delegation, you are to ensure that the people of Ohara know that though we are pirates we come in piece. In front of her was a map of west blue, extremely detailed in its structure. A yellow string led from Las Camp to the far off island of Ohara, evidently giving a basic outline of the route that the crew would take in their trip to the line. With a weary glance around the map Angella shook her head firmly. She had no clue where Lorean had gotten the map from but was sure that the places around Ohara held no marine presence. How much ever Angella hated the pirates of the world, she had to admit this. The white of the marines was no worse than the black of the pirates. At least with one group she could tolerate association. With the other however she couldn''t do much more than grit her teeth and hope they disappear. "Fine then, we set off tomorrow. See to it that the rest of the crew gets the memo. On an entirely new note however, how is the new blood doing?" He asked as he held his bare chin contemplatively. Angella could only do as much as she could to bottle the venom that had begun to rise in her stomach at the thought of the implications that the connotations represented. A person not seen as an individual but as a fuel to the dark and despotic ship that she had sailed on. With a deep sigh, that an un observant individual would have missed and an observant one would have dismissed as nothing but a sign of fatigue, she shook her head again. "He''s trying his best, but I don''t know what it is that you and that monstrous first mate of yours put him through, whenever he reaches me it''s all I can do to keep the little whippersnapper awake let alone in a conducive position to learn! That being said however, it should be noted that he has improved. No more does he stutter on each word or take years to pronounce them. Or worse still pronounce them so wrongly that it feels like all the sea kings of the calm belt have taken a dump in my ear collectively. Now he reads at moderate speeds, already catching up to most children his age that have been given the chance to read¡­ As a member of the island of Ohara its all I can do to prevent myself from going and forcefully clonking his parents on the head for conceiving on the wrong island!!" As she ranted however she could not help but truly regret, for even though she had already hardened her heart to the antics of all members of the crew, she still held a soft spot for the child she had all but adopted as her younger. With a subtle flash of pondering that quickly fled her face, she could only turn around heading for the door. Alas for her, her home that she still fondly remembered had gone up in flames and the child that she had a soft spot for already belonged to the crew of a feeling computer¡­ 65 Dress A deep whistle echoed through the creaking ship as the mast unfurled to a half of its total length catching the wind and swaying speedily out of the docks. A batch of birds quickly vacated the crow''s nest of the ship that they had made their temporary home. As the sun rose into the sky the ship could be seen coasting on the periphery of the horizon, only now going full mast gathering all the speed that the wind could give them. With a deep breath I walked down from the top deck, looking annoyed at the cabin boy that now hunched at the side of the ship puking his guts out for the world to see. With a shake of my head I decided to ignore him, it was his first time at sea he would get over it fairly quickly. "Oi brat, if you''re going to be like that for the entire trip carry a bag with you so you don''t dirty the deck. More work for you after getting week knees is hardly a good idea. If the whole problem persists however, I suggest looking for Sorren. He''s setting up office in the small room between the barracks and the dining hall!" and with that I walked over to a set of barrels that held clean drinking water in the corner of the ship''s deck. With a deep swig from the barrel and a satisfied sigh I patted my belly as I made my way to the mid part of the deck to sun bathe. With a sigh of contentment and a purr I stretched on the deck my back arcing in glee. With a dull warble the pathetic cabin boy slowly straightened up as he grimaced in my direction. "Can''t you cut me some slack captain?" he whined. His face an awful shade of green and red. "No can do, this is a pirate ship, when you decided the life of a pirate, you were warned about how much work would be expected out of you. So stop dawdling and get to work or ill pick up your training and I can assure you, you''re not gonna like it!" I threatened with my eyes closed as he scowled in response. With a dull thud, he crunched back down to puke his guts out once again, a choked host of profanities ringing from his mouth as he hunched over. A dull clacking began at the foot of the stairs leading to the base of the ship as the shiny head of the previously mentioned boy gleamed out in the dull monotonous brown of the deck. "Captain!" he cheerfully called out, a swagger in the way he moved. "I just realized that I haven''t actually been able to stretch much since the whole Onigumo incident, so can we spar? I would have asked you earlier, but through the entirety of the shore leave you''ve remained cooped up in your captain''s quarters.." he said sauntering over to where I lay and covering my prone sunbathing form in a wide black shadow. "Ugh, god damnit brat, go soak in sun elsewhere!" I snarled shooing him away with lazy gestures of my hands. "¡­Fine. You asked for it brat! So don''t come crying to me later when I black your eye!" I snarled out as I slowly got up. My silvery new shirt glistening in the pleasant sun light. "No daggers though!" he called out, a strain of sweat coming from his left temple as he took an attack position. "Ugh, fine.." I said as I made my way to the centre of the makeshift ring that had been made. The sick cabin boy had by that time finally decided to sit up, a tub at his feet that he got from god knows where. To the side sat a curious Angella and another newly appeared Terrick with Fawkes taking up the rear of the entire group. With a deep breath Sorren slowly pulled off his shirt, throwing it to the ground behind him before settling down in a fighting stance. I on the other hand merely unbuttoned the top two buckles on the crest of my shirt making it distinctly V around my shoulders. With a deep calming breath I brought both hands to a level just below my chin before stretching my leg slightly forward. As if the both of us had been signaled by an external force we leapt at each other at the same time. Since this was merely a spar between the both of us, I opted this time not to use my signature flash step to close the distance in between the both of us. Instead going for an experiment I had in mind. With a dull thud that echoed from the bottom of my heal I reached towards him ducking beneath his guard as I did so. My momentum carrying me into his chest where I rammed my shoulder to stop his advance. With a swift swing of his right arm, elbow rushing towards my exposed neck, Sorren welcomed my presence in his guard. With a weave away from him I retreated marginally right into his reach. As I did, his left arm jabbed towards me, aiming for my right temple that I had inadvertently opened up when I retreated. With a sliver of observation Haki I observed as his hands neared my face, twisting my neck at the last minute neutralizing most of the damage as I did. With a step forward Sorren used the initiative that he had gotten during the short milliseconds that I had turned my head for, bringing his right elbow rocketing towards my exposed neck. A dull thud saw me taking a step forward, pushing with my toes into the ground and using the momentum that it generated to twist my body around the punch that came hurtling toward me. A swing of my hand followed my brisk maneuver, bringing my closed fist to meet the open head of my competitor. With what I perceived to be observation Haki as well, Sorren managed to swiftly neutralize the strike to hit temple by stepping back calmly and shoving his feet heavily into my exposed back, pushing me a tad to the side before he deftly bought his other leg up to meet my face in a clever maneuver that saw him leap from the ground and land with his other feat. This was exactly the opportunity that I had waited for, I swiftly brought my left hand up to grab a hold of his ankle while I precariously leaned back. Within the second it took for me to gain a stable hold on his leg I had already placed my leg properly onto the floor bracing myself for the move I was about to try out. With a quick pull and a strengthened hold I brought the rigid form of the now surprised Sorren to my torso: "Yoso!" 66 The sea is meant to be swam in! The sound of a splash of water echoed throughout the deck as a groaning Sorren finally came to. His back lying flat on the top of the deck. The sun glared down gloweringly. "Wut, where am I ?" Sorren called out, pressing his hands down onto the hard wooden floor where he had fallen spread-eagled. Fawkes stood over him with a disapproving glance before immediately looking to his left to pester Lorean. "You could have held back a little bit couldn''t you? He doesn''t even know more than the very basics of Haki! Besides, what the hell was that move even? Even with my shallow understanding that could have shattered a few bones, let alone crushing a few muscles! Who uses lethal moves like that in a friendly spar?" With a shake of his head and a moan of pain Sorren sat up, rubbing his tremoring head. "Fawkes, what even happened? I just remembered sparing with the captain. I had just landed a kick and was attempting another before he grabbed my ankle¡­What happened after that?" "Esh, that wasn''t anything anyone should ever have to witness again. That fragility¡­" a flabbergasted Scipio walked over to him handing over a wet towel while shaking his head in surprise. "Eh, Scipio, what happened?" Sorren asked, redirecting the target of his questions when he noticed an obvious lack of answer from the first mate who stood to the corner berating the sufficiently guilty looking captain. "Well, after you threw that kick at the captain, he grabbed your ankle and pulled you off the ground, rotating you around his body once before dropping you on your back on the ground.." he said sounding confused. "It isn''t just that brat. What I did was give you a tiny tug first before getting you into that absurd speed range. What that did was that it rattled your brain enough that you went into a bout of unconsciousness, or rather a state of semi consciousness. Then all I did was get your body into a position such that when I deposited you onto the ground you landed partly on your spine that pushed you into full unconsciousness. It was good too. The small movement in the beginning made it so that you never felt the pain of all your muscles stretching abruptly!" The captain called out cheerfully as the first mate of the ship face palmed. "Ugh, my head¡­." Sorren groaned loudly as he slowly got to his feet. Unfortunately it seemed that it was not the right time for him to do so, seeing as his feet immediately gave way. With a small heave his falling form deposited itself firmly on Lorean''s shoulders. "Oi Fawkes! Chew me out later. Imma go drop this sack into the barracks!" and with that the carefree captain sauntered into the bowels of the ship. "It''s you that you need to worry about.. With Sorren on a visit to dream land I wonder who''s going to take over your training.." and with those ominous words the form of the first mate walked back towards the kitchen. During the entire process however, Terrick and Angella stood shocked to the side. Terrick with his jaw dropped compared the almost comatose figure of Sorren with the figure of the monster that had almost single handedly taken down an entire collations of families back on Rubeck. Angella stood to the side, her wide eyes the only sign of her surprise. But in those eyes lay a peculiar gleam that regarded the place where Sorren had fallen. Slowly a grim light arose in her eyes lasting only a second before disappearing entirely¡­ ************************************************************************ As Fawkes clunked down the wooden stairs he met the returning figure of the captain, who had now lost all his cheer and held a face of acute seriousness. "Any fish biting?" Fawkes asked. "Nope, just some worrying news. A lot of Marine activity has occurred in these waters.. Much more than the usual, and I am beginning to worry." Was the only reply that he got. "And the crew?" a dull nod was all the answered his unspoken question. "Tell Sorren to prepare for the worst. I don''t want to have to meet a Marine Vice Admiral as soon as we land. Tell Sorren to rest up his expertise may be needed if the situation hits the worst levels..." "aye aye.." ******************************************************************** As a thoroughly cowed cabin boy looked up at the noon sun, he could not help but sigh in contemplation. As he remembered the fight that had just taken place he could not help but clench his fist. Even as a held back spar where the participants never went all out, the sheer power of the fight had gotten him to question what he was doing on the ship. The captain was frightening power house, and his self defense teacher could be called out in the same name. And yet here he was, a week and stupid excuse for a janitor on a ship full of monsters. "What are you sighing about brat?" a voice called out from behind him. With a swift turn around, he could not help but retreat slightly at the sign of the smiling captain. "I was.. just thinking about my practice for today.." he called out weakly as he attempted to straighten up his back. "Well no more worries boy, I''ll be filling in for Sorren today!" he informed him cheerfully. With a sinking feeling, Scipio could not help but gulp audibly. "It isn''t going to be too intense of a workout" Lorean assured him quickly. "Just a little swimming!" ''what?'' was Scipio''s smart response as he attempted to fathom when he was supposed to indulge in his captain''s ''training'' regime. ''I mean surely the captain isn''t going to force me to swim now right?'' With a hum in his tone Lorean took advantage of the dazed form of his cabin boy to swiftly tie a harness around the waist of the boy before immediately pushing him off board. "Well happy swimming then!" 67 Premonition As the sun set over the horizon a golden gleam overshot and shot through the foliage of cloth that I had inhabited near the base of the main mast. A tiny book sat in my hands, visibly fighting against the gentle winds as I attempted to read through the last record that I had written down. For some reason I was unable to pay attention to what I was doing, a worm of worry digging through my heart. The information on my next destination had troubled me more than I let on. I was sure I was missing something, and as a casual fan in my previous life it really rubbed it in harder how much I didn''t know. In fact the extent of my knowledge had always been restricted to the names of some of the important characters, some important places and some of the more noteworthy weapons. I knew much less about the people than I let on, I knew their faces but not of their backgrounds or their specialties, at most only what level of the story they came out in and a tentative estimation of their power level according to the knowledge I had attained in this life. I had always fallen in love with the world more than I ever did with any of the characters, and by the time I faced that deity, I had already forgotten most of the more major information. So far Ohara had tickled my nostalgic tastes, but I could never put a finger on it. At most the name sounded awfully familiar was all I could think of. With a dull caw a gull landed next to my feet, its wings spreading sporadically as it got used to the firmness of a solid perch. At its feet was tied a pouch and in its beak was a simple paper, yellowing with age and torn shabbily with age. I stared at it for a few minutes and as I began to feel successively stupid for expecting anything surprising the bird finally glared at me, a smolder of anger and impatience in its grey eyes as if it was telling me to do something quick so it could get off the god forsaken piece of wood that it had landed on. With a small jump the bird rested its head against my grey pants virtually spitting the paper onto it before flapping its wings in anger and motioning to its pouch. With a surprised and somewhat sheepish glance at the avian correspondence I put my hand into my pockets bringing out a handful of coins and placing it into the faded green pouch. With a caw of finality the bird immediately jumped into the air, a reproachful gleam still in its eyes as it seemed to chastise me for wasting its time. A dull crinkle later, I could not help but smooth out the yellow parchment that I had just received. It began quite simply: ''Dear Lore, This is your old man on this end, and if it wasn''t for something overly important your grandpa wouldn''t have let me write this little letter, let alone use one of the islands best delivery birds to get the information to you post haste. It''s about your uncle. Well he returned a while back and I must say, the information that he brings back is quite dire. Take care of yourself out there! It seems that the world government has returned to its island destroying tendencies, razing every mound that offended them in any way. So, take care of yourself! After your mother, the least your old man needs is to lose another limb. Remember, your mother used to say, that her family was her eyes¡­ well then, for me they are my limbs! The only one left in fact so don''t get overly reckless¡­.. Onto other more satisfying information however, how insane are you brat!?!''; and here Lorean could not help but snicker at the amount of emotion his father was able to convey with a single question mark. He could almost imagine him glaring down at him with bulging eyes, his black hair stuck to either side of his temple. ''To jump over the fucking Reverse mountain, do you think you are a cat? Do you think you have nine lives? Don''t give your old man so many heart attacks bastard!!'' and with that tsundere like ending his father''s tiny scrawl of a hand writing abruptly fell off the page. With a deep sigh I could not help but frown, if it was my gut alone then I would probably dismiss it seeing as nothing had tingled my Haki, but with father''s warning I could not help but pucker my forehead with worry. "OI, Fawkes!! Get the crew into the captain''s quarters ASAP! I have a few worries that are annoying me to no end!" and with that I nimbly jumped off the wooden intersection that had been my perch. With quick steps I walked into the captain''s quarters, opening the door for Fawkes as he shepherded in a group of surprised and alarmed crew members. "What is it, Lore?" Fawkes asked. His use of my nickname being the only indicator to how nervous he was. Usually he had a formal tone to him, but now it was gone.. "Well, right now a mere gut feeling. But I don''t want the crew to get fucked over because I ignored it so imma say it right here and now. Prepare boys and girls to what I expect to be the most tumultuous experience we have on these seas¡­." 68 Subterfuge.. Angella fingered the hilt of her rapier as she looked out at the yellowish white moon. Her feet moved stealthily off the hammock that she had pitched for herself in the barracks. A dull pink cloth had been pitched to divide between the place that she slept in and the places that the guys slept in. Even then it had been only after Fawkes and Terrick had campaigned against the dull and ludicrously clueless questioning of the previously youngest crew member. With a dull swish she pushed through the thin paper screen and trudged silently to the hammock of the newest crew member. With a quick and silent movement of her hands she tied his hands to the edges of the hammock, getting a tiny line of fabric over his mouth to muffle him. Beside him slept the otherwise drooling form of the crew physician, his dark sleeveless shirt hung loosely over his chest, rolling up towards his belly making him look like an adorable child. His black hair stood combed to one side and his round chin had a line of drool running down it. Even though Angella had made up her mind back in Las Camp, she couldn''t help but look down at the child with a small amount of sympathy. She remembered the time when she had just forced her way into this crew, the boy had been the first one to warm up to her enough to approach her for something that was not an order. He had come up to her with a childish frown and had asked her where she was from, having not paid any attention when she had introduced herself. He had been the first one in her entire life to call her "Big sister¡­". It wasn''t just him, no one on the crew had ever mistreated her. The first mate had been the very epitome of gentry, getting her well acquainted with the rest of the crew, with the ship and as an extension all the things that existed on the boat. Terrick had taken care of her as she was a slave, she was not na?ve enough to believe that he was some paragon of virtue but now that she thought of putting a sword to their neck, she could not help but get cold feet¡­ Everyone on the crew had done a lot for her, never made her feel left out and never accorded her with a condescending or patronizing attitude. The captain had been the first one to give her a task. He refused to pity her and treated her as he treated any other member of the crew. But, they were all pirates. She had personally seen as Sorren cut a bloody swath through a group of people. She had witnessed the callous nature that they associated with life, treating it like a tuft of grass.. These were the same kind of people that she despised, the same type of people as ''her''! How could she with any semblance of a piece of mind, ever consign another innocent to the level of brutality that these pirates were capable of? And with that she got to work. The one she was most worried about was the assassin who had joined the crew with her. How could she pose any form of challenge against someone that was used to dealing with the night. To her luck it turned out that she didn''t have to. The assassin had knocked himself out earlier that night when he had been practicing his archery.. Angering the first mate who immediately clonked him on the head. If it wasn''t to kill him then she was sure that she would not be found out, and so she brought out the ship''s spare rigging. As she worked around the room, she thanked god for the unexplained injury that the first mate of the crew had that forced him to fall into deep enough sleep that he snored from time to time. As she finished the bundling of all of the crew members that slept soundly on the bottom deck, she could not help but run her hands through her sweaty brow. The sultry and humid temperature of the night sea did nothing to help deal with the workout that she had undertaken in relative silence. The townsfolk on Las Camp had talked about a draft of chill that had come in these days from the sea, but it seemed that the temperate climate still remained as unforgiving as it always was. Now came the tough part. The captain. She still smelt the burning oil lamp that existed in his cabin. She knew that he was not asleep yet. In fact she never knew when he slept, always he would stay awake long after most of the crew, and woke up earlier than them as well. With a dull thud she slowly walked up the wooden steps that led to the captain''s cabin. As the water washed against the bottom of the ship, she could not help but contemplate the decision that she would take. She had seen the captain''s ability before, she knew that she could not run up to him. She had to sneak attack him. And so, as the door creaked inward she leapt into action. Her hands unsheathed the rapier that hung against her hip. With a clang the thin blade moved quickly and poked towards the captain''s back. "Don''t move! I don''t want to hurt you! Raise your hands above your head and turn around slowly." She said shoving the blade into the gap between his shoulder blade. With slow movements he did as she asked, turning around as he chuckled. "Nice sword you have in your hand Angella, I wonder, what are you doing with it?" "Don''t move! From here we''re going to move the ship towards my home. Then you can turn yourselves in! I don''t want to kill you!!" She said, her voice steady as she commanded him in what she hoped was an authoritative voice. "Since we''re moving in that location, I mean why not? But I must ask, why are you doing this? It doesn''t seem like you to take a group that you chose to join and turn them over to their enemies." "Humph! If it wasn''t for the amount of children on this crew, do you think you would be alive? You might be a pirate but I haven''t seen you do anything contemptible, so you must be mistaken. Don''t influence children with some fantastical definition of piracy! After all, pirates are the scum of the seas!" She announced as she tried to maintain her sword against his chest. "So, you think that since I claim that I am a pirate and those brats have joined my crew, they''ll be treated like pirates by the world, and maybe even become like those frustrating trash of the seas? Hah, how self righteous of you! You think that the world will see it like you do? Anyone that sails on these seas under a banner that does not reek of the world government''s slavery or of the noxious white of their dogs is a pirate! I am not wrong with what a pirate is, you are! Your trust of the world baffles me! If the world is as righteous as you make it out to be, then why was it a pirate that sprung you from the trap that the world had no issue putting you in?" He asked mockingly, his eyebrows raised as his arms stretched outward as if he was challenging the entire world. "You''re wrong! It wasn''t the world that threw me into slavery, it was you pirates!" She roared as she remembered ''her'' crumpled up face before her. "If that may be, it was still the world that did nothing about it!" he fired back with an equal vigor to the venom in her tone. "SHUT UP!" and with that roar she threw her hand forward, but right then; "pere pere pere pere¡­" 69 Flames that rose to end love… "Pere--- ka lick!" the transponder snail called out before immediately calling out in a sleazy voice. "Boss! You asked us to call you if there was a change in the air. Honestly, this information is probably the most world shaking information we have, even more earthshaking then even Roger''s execution!" The voice called out, breathlessly heaving on the other side. "Get to it, don''t waste my time!" I said giving Angella a look as I slowly pushed the tip of the rapier that had been pushed into the fabric of my clothes. "Fine, fine boss! But I want a raise!~" He called out as he finally collected himself. "Boss, seriously I think that you need to sit down for this" he said self importantly. "Carl I swear to god, if you dilly dally anymore than you already have I''m seriously going to reach through the damn snail to gut you!" I roared, my patience coming to an end as I looked over at the prone and stern form of Angella. "Fine then, this information just came in with the latest paper. It''s about the most recent and forceful of marine actions in the past decade or so.. It''s about the razing of Ohara.." and with those chilling words the man cut the call. I stiffened before snapping my head towards the paling Angella. A chocking cry rose strangled from her constricted throat as a hint of madness gleamed in her eyes. "He''s lying! He must be! Why would Ohara be razed?! It must be another one of your ploys! it can''t be, it just cannot be¡­" and with a maddened huff she charged at me, the glint of her blade matching the malicious rage that had appeared in her eyes. With a quick twirl out of the way, I avoided the pointed tip of her blade before firmly holding onto her hand and pulling her closer using the momentum of her charge to make a quick chop to her neck. With a gargle of saliva she fell to her knees, glaring at me with so much hate that she reminded me of that day on the boat when I had vowed to raze the world government to the ground. With a rapid twist of my leg I brought the back of my palm to the base of her neck decisively chopping at it to knock her out. I took no joy in seeing one of my newest crew members crumpling down with a frozen expression of pure and undiluted rage¡­ (FAWKES POV) With a silent glance Fawkes had seen as the form of the white clocked book worm trudged up the wooden steps of the ship, obviously heading to the captain''s cabin. With a sniff he slowly looked at the shoddy attempt she had made at tying him up. If it was someone else she might have succeeded in buying some time, unfortunately however she had chosen to tie up a person who had spent close to his entire life studying the way a sailor had to behave and all the things that one would have to do on a ship. To him dealing with this simple sailors knot could not take more than a mere fifteen minutes. Then with practiced ease he had gotten off his hammock and begun to walk up the stairs. Just as he reached the door of the room he could not help but take a deep breath in surprise, his face achieving a startling shade of paleness as he heard the grim announcement of one of the cultural hubs of the entire world''s disappearance. His breath cold against his teeth as he inhaled sharply, he could not help but firm his stance ready to pounce in to deal with the maddened form of the crew''s only female member. Then with a dull thud he heard as she crumpled to the floor. Immediately he adopted a firm and serious expression and walked into the room in time to see the wrath filled form of his captain. His hair slicked back in frustration as he sat on his chair, his legs tapping against the floor with a vigor that showed the panic that he was trying to hide. "Captain.." Fawkes trailed off as he looked at the face of his captain. "Fawkes I want you to wake up everyone, even the brat. This is the most important information that we have received, probably more damaging than the damn flamingo. Go! Quickly get them on deck! The sun will be up in a bit and with that the biggest bombshell since old uncle''s execution will be brought up! Get everyone, if even one of the high ranking officers are still around here somewhere than this is going to be a big problem. FUCK! God fucking damn the blasted blowhards in the top of the world! For fucks sake, it will be just our luck to run into the damn volcano bastard! I swear to god, This just had to happen!..." he ranted, getting off his seat and pacing the room violently. With a crisp nod, Fawkes ran out into the last bits of night remained as Lorean bent downward and slinked the still form of the fallen Angella over his shoulder. A dull sob rang out from his shoulder as a small and hidden tremor wracked her shoulder. Her previous fit of rebellion long gone as she wept. All the darkness that she had held deep down in her, had leapt out with a fury. "Gone¡­.all gone¡­." he could here as she dully and deliriously called out a fountain of tears freely cascading from her eyes as her white coat crumpled beneath her as she began to bawl. Lorean sighed with emotion as he mentally chided himself at his lack of control. ''If I had just hit her slightly harder, she would not have woken up this early. She would not have to face this weakness, mother, it seems that nothing I do will ever be able to stop anyone else from feeling as weak as I did back then¡­..'' 70 A Looming threat. With a deep breath I looked at the crew that stood before me, a dull stream of grim reality seemingly pressing down on them from every side. Terrick looked carefully at the collapsed form of Angella who sat with her back to the mast cradling her knees as she muttered to herself deliriously. An eternity of torment and pain seemingly saturating her mind as she tried to hold it all together. Sorren looked abnormally serious, his face akin to the expression he wore when he spoke about his mother''s death. Fawkes stood to my left, a silent support, and the only thing stopping me from going completely crazy. Scipio stood shell shocked at Sorren''s side, his face gleaming with a sheen of sweat as he finally felt the eventuality that waited for him because of the profession he had chosen. "Crew, Ohara has been compromised.." I began, recapping for the horrid bit of information that the news coo had provided for us. I sounded mechanical and much like what I imagined a soldier to sound like as he reported a grave and hopeless situation. "Burned to the ground by the marines, for what? For harboring knowledge on the Ancient weapons..?" I began, my voice slowly ramping up as I allowed the rage and frustration that had boiled in my veins to seep into my tone. "BULLSHIT! The world government probably felt like taking a piss on an island that hosted some form of knowledge that was not solely the drivel that the peddle everyday!" I snapped waving around the news paper, that held various downright false bits of information. "We need to decide what to do, do we skip Ohara and go straight to another island, or do we land on the burnt heath to pay out homage..?" I asked. My eyes fallowing the thought process of each and every member of the crew. I could see it. The steel in Sorren, the boiling wrath in Terrick, the undefined sense of terror in Scipio and now the reckless rage in Angella. Her head had snapped up when I had begun my speech and her eyes now followed every move of my hand and mouth with a fanatic zeal. No more could I see the barely concealed disdain for the crew in her eyes. Over the course of this short night she had seen the cruelties of the world and the morality of her crew. Yes, her crew. She was part of them, and would no longer deny, that though this rickety band of fools were pirates, they probably were the only ones left that cared for the person called Angella. And just like that, a change began to occur. Much like it had for Terrick she too began to open up. Her despaired expression slowly melted away to be replaced with a harsh gleam of resolve. She slowly got to her feet and walked towards me, standing to my right she slowly pulled at the sleeve of my shirt. "You know," she began, her tone holding a undertone of grief as she collected her thoughts, a trail of tears running down her cheeks. The world does not care for what I am. It does not care for who I love. It merely cares for its own glint of subservience. Only for itself, not for me, not for I .." She stopped, tears ran down her face as she saw the dawn of realization on all the crew member''s face. With a chocked sound of a sob her shoulders began to spasm uncontrollably as she saw, the dawn of forgiveness on all their faces as well. "Captain¡­" she began, biting her lower lip as a trail of blood ran down her fist, as her nails dug into her palm. "Can I see my family for the last time¡­?" She squeaked out, before falling to her knees and bawling uncontrollably. Snot and tears on her face as she looked closely at me. Her eyes piercing into my brains. "Yes we will. We shall go to Ohara and erect the tomb stones for everyone that you can remember there.." I began, the whole crew nodding in agreement. "Crew, get ready to face the challenge of a lifetime.." I announced as I walked back into the captain''s quarters. "Sorren, patch up Fawkes as good as you can. I hope that I am over thinking but, there is a chance, a decently good one that we will face one of if not all of the prospective Admirals.. First mate, if that happens I want you on the field at my back.." and with that I walked into the room. "Aye aye captain.." ********************************************************************** Kuzan glowered at the wreck that was his ship as his subordinates scuttled around the island. For the hundredth time he could not help but curse at the retreating form of Sakazuki who zipped away self righteously. "God damn that man. Why did we have to sweep the island. Of course no one would have survived. ITs obvious! But noo!! The over productive git had to fucking go around blowing up every mound of earth so he could feel his unholy desire. Fine you want to be productive, be productive. Why did you have to hit my ship by accident too??? Are you retarded.. Fucking blowhard. I wish he died of idyllic dysentery..." Te ice man grumbled as he glowered at the ship on the horizon. "And, why oh why are there no one but fucking petty officers on my ship??" 71 smoke on the horizon With a deep sigh I could not help but clench my fist as I looked at the smoke that rose over the horizon. A thin line of smoke rose as high as the eye could see. Angella stood next to me, her eyes now a gleaming red and a trail of tears that still chalked out a thin line on her face. Her coat ruffled in the wind. Fawkes stood at the very corner, downing a cup of pain killers as Sorren poked his back raw with various liquid supplements. In Sorren''s hand was a small vial of adrenaline that he would administer at the very end if push came to shove. Terrick stood at the very corner, a grim atmosphere hung around him as he sharpened his daggers. I was sure by now that it was his way of getting completely serious. Scipio having realized the intensity of the situation had decided to make himself useful in the only way he knew he could. He had buried himself below deck polishing the two cannons that we possessed. He had gotten enough knowledge on the cannon that he would not be useless if we ever got into a naval battle. Our black flag shook in the morning wing, even though it did not have the skull and crossbones that we would identify our crew under, it still symbolized which side of the law we were on. We had pitched it up on purpose, renouncing all other alternatives in our rage. Angella looked at me through the corner of her eyes a tinge of gratitude in her eyes as she opened her mouth, "Captain, if we do come across any marines on the island or in its vicinity can I be given permission to engage alone?" She asked, a stern tone in her shaky voice. "Unless things get too lethal for you alone, sure." I said nodding solemnly as we came closer to the island that had been burned to a mere hint of its former self. On the ocean around us we could see the shrapnel of boats that existed. Burnt hands held out in despair as blood flowed freely in its surroundings. "Captain, how long ago did this happen?" Fawkes asked, a hint of steel in his eyes as he no doubt recalled what had happened to his own home. "Close to three days ago¡­ If we hadn''t taken that shore leave we might have been able to get here on time¡­" I said, gritting my teeth at the impunity of the situation. "And what face five people on the level of that damn flamingo?" he called back in a derisive tone. "We needed that time to prepare captain. Don''t beat yourself over a good plan." He said with certainty as he straightened up. "You guys keep referencing this flamingo dude, who was he?" Terrick asked as he looked up from his polishing. "Donquixote Doflamingo" Fawkes replied as he came bare chested to the prow of the ship. With a frown he looked at the oceans around him before turning back to me. "Angella, if there is a single ship of marines on land, then you can take the highest ranking officer as we ransack the damn vessel, If there are more than that however, all of us will probably have to face off against one of those blasted vice admirals. Terrick, whoever you face, hope it isn''t a logia. Of the five of us, it''s only me and Fawkes who can actually do any damage. If you do end up facing a logia, run around and pull it into a battle of attrition, target the bastards crew and tire him out. Push him into the sea if you have to. Sorren I want you to overwhelm anyone you face. Keep up the pressure and if you can punch until your hands are sore! Angella¡­..Go crazy!" I called out as I braced myself against the ship''s mast. "Aye aye captain!" Came the chorus from my back as we announced our presence. Fawkes and Sorren stood to my sides pumping out their conqueror''s Haki, the wind seethed in rage as we approached the heath of burnt land. I used my Haki as an operator, setting off concentrated blasts of the force on intervals. The intervals of the waves on the bottom of the ship¡­ ************************************** Kuzan could not help but stiffen as he felt it. A wave of illogical fear overcoming his suddenly frozen limbs as a dark hue overcame the sunlight from the horizon. The winds began to rile up in a froth of fury as the sun seemingly disappeared in fear. The waves of stifling aura coaxed the sea into a rage that Kuzan had only ever seen in the grand line as a mixture of eerie colors began to profuse the sea''s surface. The men on his ship could not help but shiver as they faced the unknown adversary. On the very horizon a blue and white ship finally appeared, with a very close resemblance to the ship that Kuzan himself used. Though, the ship was a little odd.. It looked somewhat weird to his eyes, even as his otherwise lazy expression fell away to show his serious look. A hint of frost appeared on his cheek as his vice admiral cloth sped up in a frenzy behind him. As the nautical monstrosity drew closer, his heart could not help but speed up as a pressure that he had never felt before blasted against his frame. As the ship drew closer, he could feel it. The entire world came to a tempestuous stop. Sweat developed on his brow as the ship drew closer. The closer it came, the more he could see on it. Three men seemingly holding the mast upright, seemingly smiling at him bloodthirstily. He could not help but shiver¡­. ********************** Angella belted out a choke of grief and indignation as she looked at the bastardized shores that had once been her home. As she drew closer, she could see it, a single ship on the crest of the landing wave, and a single vice admiral on its prow. With a shriek she leapt off the ship''s prow onto the other, the distance between both vessels seemingly not even affecting her in the least as she drew an elegant arc in the air before unsheathing her blade and slicing down at the ship before her. The ice man could not help but flinch at the cathartic rage on her face as he face the twisted black slash of blade energy that came barreling at him with an intensity that he had only seen on a desperate sea king. With stiff hands he brought his palm up, reinforcing it with Haki and ice as he made a shield to guard against it. With a swosh the rest of the crew jumped off as well, landing on various parts of the ship and blowing it up in a rabid fit that reflected off their deranged crew member. Her rapier danced as volley after volley of sword energy bombarded the ice man. With every hit on his shield he could not help but retreat, his feet at the very edge of the ship, before he tumbled out of it bad onto the watery depths of the ocean. "Ice age¡­" he called out as the very water froze below both ships. One that had been blowing up with the rampage of those on it, and another that seemingly spat an indefinite volley of cannon balls at them. The ice man looked over at the sword wielder who had also landed on the ice. Though she did not poses a hint of Haki save for the budding hints of Observation Haki, she nonetheless made do with the rabid intensity of her slashes. Her coat fluttered in the icy wind as she positioned her rapier in front of her. With a deep voice she called out, "[Shard blade style: jagged blade!]" As her sword seemed to fall off her hand into the sea below, before, with her pinky she pushed outward holding the blade in a backhand stance and seemingly stabbing at the Marine Vice Admiral''s person. With every swing of her blade a different wave of energy was pushed out, each poking at Kuzan. Kuzan, to his surprise found that he was unable to move away from the blades that streaked toward him. Each individual movement shattered the air as they approached and even the ice below them fractured under the strain of the attack, etching out a dark wave of pure energy at the logia users form. As Kuzan felt the first sword stroke strike him he knew that this was not going to be an easy attack to tank, each attack left a tiny crack on the ice that he turned into, and, when he returned to his human form he could not help but wince at what felt like shrapnel in his chest. Each attack sounded like the strike of thunder as it descended on him, and after the first blow, he was not keen on touching this particular spark of electricity¡­. 72 A field of ice and flowers As the battle progressed Angella could not help but begin to pant. Her hair had long stuck to her temple and her blade lay chipped at her side. After the first of her [jagged blade] attacks, the vice admiral had obviously wisened up and decided to block the rest of her attacks. A circular ice shield stood proudly in his hands, gleaming in the shoddy sunlight that peeked through the lines of black smoke. The entirety of his right side had frozen up and his breath seemed to steam outward as he stood tall in the face of his still enraged enemy. [ICE TIME] he called out gritting his teeth in anger as he flourished his hands forward. A gush of icicles formed in the wind that was suddenly blowing, forming a contingent of icy needles that stood opposite his sword wielding foe. The wind began to build up swirling and spiraling in front of him, a typhoon of ice shards had been formed.. Angella''s face ashened, her brown eyes considering the monstrous typhoon that blew from her foes hands. Her cap had long flown away and her otherwise silky black hair had flown out easily behind her. "[Shard blade style: petals on the horizon]!" She roared out as her rapier jumped out towards the icy hurricane. Each flourish of the blade seemed to change the flow of the wind, each movement seemed to create the illusion of a cherry blossom shedding, and each move seemed to change the very flow of the battle. As an observer if this battle were to be seen, one would find themselves bearing witness to a sky clouding storm of maddening beauty facing off against a ravager of nature. One blue and the other green with tinges of pink. One speckled with ice, while the other seeming only to be a figment of one''s imagination. As Kuzan''s move neared her, she could not help but snort, bodily shoving herself in the way of the coming onslaught accompanied with a terrifying attack of her own. Kuzan swiftly jumped backward, for the first time in his life worrying in a battle with a non Haki user for his safety. For some reason it seemed that his Haki had been driven into overdrive. Even as he saw his opponent face off desperately against his attack he could not help but become nervous. For even though he held the upper hand in this conflict, he still felt that it would be a good idea to retreat. Especially as he remembered the warning bursts of Conqueror''s Haki that had been fired at him as the ship neared. As the two attacks collided, he took a brief amount of satisfaction in the fact that he heard a cry of pain from his opponent over the loud crash that accompanied a collision of a dynamic icy hurricane and the incisive attack of sword energies. With a roar of rage the two storms contended rupturing the ice beneath their feet and forcing the two ships facing off against each other to sway terrifyingly. The icy flooring rumbled as thorny pillars began to rise from them, each with a terrifying roar of an avalanche over the sea floor. As Angella landed on her feat shakily from the force of the previous attacks, a thunderous rumble overcame her senses. Her world seemed to shake as from the solid land that existed below her soles she felt the ice begin to cave outward. In front of her the entirety of the ice field looked much like the back of a prehistoric reptile, built like a spiky mace. With a push of her foot against the ground she leapt forward, the world zooming into a different definition as she pushed her senses to identify each and every point of danger on the field. Her mind seemed to shift into overdrive as the world decolorized. Becoming a mixture of white and black, only highlighting the points of danger with a red incandescence. "[Shard blade style: hell''s rose]!" She roared aloud as the walls in front of her broke apart at the stab of her blade. A phantom of a red rose seemed to originate from her hand as it plunged directly to the ice mans location. The petals seemed to rotate in an ominous way, each turn seemingly causing a point of sword energy to stream toward the helpless ice man. The energy twisted and turned in an elegant way from the very bottom of the rose''s petals curving out from behind the flowers sepals. Each blade form resembled the hooked end of a harpoon as it descended towards the man, surrounding him from all sides. He could not do anything but push his Observation Haki to the maximum as he conjured ice hexagonal shields all over his person to face the attack that zoomed towards him. [ICE SHIELD] he roared out, once again displaying his utter laziness in naming his attacks. Each hexagonal curved ice structure covered one of his vitals as he guardedly looked at the frozen rose. He had tried to evade it as soon as his Haki had warned of an attack but had been too late. The colossal rose seemed to look straight at him as it bloomed, seemingly tracking his every movement. ''Damn of all the times for someone to awaken Haki..'' he could not help but fume in his mind as he faced off against the incoming attack. As the rose bloomed he could not help but marvel at the beauty of the attack, each petal seemed to hold a fragment of sword energy and as the attack began from the sepals, he could see the rose begin to open up, each petal jumping at him at the intensity of a machine gun. As the bombardment began, Kuzan was morose, his mind slumped down with an odd tinge of fatigue. Just a few days back he had been forced to kill one of his only friends with his own hands, and after that had to go through a drivel filled report to the five elder stars at the end of which he had been left with a queasy sense of unease as he attempted to reconcile himself by justifying his actions. Then he had had to deal with the arrogant and overly zealotic Sakazuki who had been more than happy to mentally abuse his colleague with a barrage of status reports and overall marine dogma that had at the end of it left him feeling more mentally dead than alive. Then, he had had to deal with his ship''s misfortune and now this? He could not help but diffuse as he finally released his taught muscles. He had been forced to marshal his way through these murky waters for too long. Now he had come face to face with a new world level threat. The marine in him wished to terminate this tumor before it made its way into the eyes of any of the emperors but, the human in him merely wanted to curl up and collapse under the mental strain, and under the beauty of the blooming rose he could not help but smile ruefully. 73 Beaten and faithless As the fog cleared, a broken silhouette could be seen kneeling on the broken ice, a broken hexagonal shield stood cracked in front of him. The corner had jagged cracks all over the erstwhile smooth block of ice. Around him shards of ice lay fallen and a small line of blood flowed freely from his forehead. His coat stood tattered and torn, leaving huge gashes all over his shoulder and even his shirt stood tattered over his bare chest. His breath dragged out of his chest bellowing through his teeth and his shaggy hair stood draped over his right eye as he regarded his fallen foe. Angella panted in front of him, her rapier broken and her chin gashed by a stray shrapnel of ice. The hilt of her blade, the only part of it that remained intact was gripped in her hand as she gritted her teeth and coerced her feet forward. A desolate expression glowered down on the kneeling ice man as she limped towards him, every step seemed to cause her great pain, but yet she pushed on. Routinely glancing at the smoking heath that was her home to remind her of her resolve. Kuzan swallowed softly as he slowly rose to his feet. He could see it. She was weak, she had pushed herself too far and now only stood before him through pure resolve. It seemed to him that a single blow could down her. Yet, he felt scared. He felt a nagging sensation at the back of his mind telling him this. If he took a step towards her, he would die. The marine in him marshaled him forward. Raging at him to fight, roaring in his mind to push him forward and bellowing at him to take this vile pirate into his custody as his job dictated, yet he could not help but glance fruitfully behind him. As he did he remembered his friend. His mind could not help but fill with bitterness as the fire in his mind began to quell. The burning justice that he once followed now no longer held any kindle to stand on, and so it was not surprising when he, gave up. ''Saul, you''ve won it seems¡­.'' he could not help but ruefully mutter in his mind as he looked at his foe. "Heh, take pride in this pirate! You have done something that no one on this side of the great sea has ever done, you have bested a vice Admiral, someone who even the pirates of the new world could not possibly have done¡­ So, you have won! Meet me again in the fields of the new world for your revenge!" He called out through gritted teeth as he looked at her. Angella moved on unfettered, as if she had not heard what he had just said. Even the ship that had continuously been host to the sound of the ravages of battle had gone silent. The pirates that had boarded the white vessel long having finished their work now stared down at the battle impassively. Kuzan was not a betting man, but he knew this, if he made a move now he would die. "Marine, rejoice! If you did not have the power to cause some damage to the island behind you in your resistance then you would not be alive!" Lorean roared from the prow of the ship as he melancholically looked down at the despair of his crew mate. By now a host of tears had begun to descend from her eyes as she bawled. The final wisps of her willpower long deserting her as she collapsed onto her knees. Snot began to fall from her nose as she mourned. Kuzan regarded the fallen form of the women forlornly as he took a deep breath. "Not all of them are dead¡­One survived, a girl named Robin.." And with that he was gone, zooming across the icy road that he had constructed as he resolutely abandoned the men on the ship. Angella looked on mutely as she gained some measure of hope in her dry well like eyes as she turned around to look at her captain, desperation rife in her brown eyes. "Captain..?" was all she said, with barely a whisper. "I will see whether I can find her, but don''t get too hopeful. The meager information network I posses cannot hope to match against the might of the entire world at this point..Nonetheless I will try my best to find this girl. You have my word, so rest¡­" he said as he looked at her with kindness in his eyes. With a final sob of sadness she crumpled down. Her mind could not stand the constant challenge it had faced to its worldview, so on the icy barren field on the ocean she went to sleep, leaving the rest to her crew members, she slept silently for the first time in close to two days.... *************************************** Kuzan mentally dueled with himself as he silently held the personal transponder snail. A mirthless and uncannily serious expression was left on his face as he looked down at the snail on his left hand. His right hand played with the ragged edge of his coat as he thought of his superior''s face. For so long he had held absolute faith in the words of the fleet Admiral and all the other higher ups even somewhat respecting the words of the five elder stars, but this had been too much for the icy vice admiral. His unshakeable faith in his organization had been shaken, and within the course of a few days he had not only killed thousands of innocents but also his closest friend and an innumerable number of children. With a resolute sigh he pulled against the cord of his snail and began to ring a number he had hoped never to put in since the days of his training. With a raspy voice he called out as the ringing tone of the snail ceased. "Garp..?" 74 Superbia "¡­.I see.." Garp said, his teeth stretched out into an ugly grimace as he pondered on the information that he had just received. He knew, if he had not been told this by Kuzan, that his close friend would more than likely keep the escapades of Ohara a secret for as long as he could. He knew that Sengoku would be more than happy to keep the entire navy in the dark of the consequence of their allegiance if he had the choice. Yet, Garp could not slight him for it, he could not call him out on it, merely because of how important the navy still was. He still remembered, back when he had visited Ace and Luffy on the island of Foosha. He still remembered the raw veneration that the mayor held, if not for him then for his organization. Regardless of what Whitebeard or Shanks did in the new world, not many pirates were as benevolent as they were. The navy was still needed, and with that need, Sengoku could be the only one to hold the post of the fleet Admiral. Garp knew this, yet he could not help but grit his teeth. "Haah¡­..Kuzan report it in as per usual. There isn''t anything we can do without ripping apart the status quo. The world cannot lose one of its pillars so soon after Roger.. " Garp said into the mic, knowing full well that he did not believe his own words anymore than Kuzan did. With a dull cough of assent Kuzan went off the line, definitely going to call in this information and report it to Sengoku. With a dull sigh Garp slowly walked out of the room into the moonlit deck outside. A small alcohol bottle in his hand. "Godamnit Sengoku.. " he muttered silently as he took a deep swig of the strong brew in his hand before calling his men to change the course of the ship. He had lost them once the only thing he could do was chase as fast as he could. His musings were cut short however, by another call. " GARP!" the other side roared in the unmistakable tone of a certain Buddha man. "Your orders Fleet Admiral.." He said with a defeated sigh as he chose not to test his friends patience and damage the already straining bit of it that he had left. "I don''t care anymore. I don''t care if they are children¡­ I don''t care if they have done no wrong..Hear my orders! Search and Destroy!" He roared in a magnetic tone as Garp got a slight shiver down his spine. By now all the men that had been asleep had already woken up. Awoken by the deep and commanding voice they could not help but stream onto the deck. "Search and Destroy! Vice admiral Search and destroy!" and with a click he was gone. Garp grumbled mutinously as he remembered the last time he had received those commands. It had been to tail a certain golden lion. And now Sengoku had been angered enough to give that command again to chase a rookie crew. "You heard him men.. Set coarse for the island of what used to be Ohara!" And with that Garp went back into his cabin to enjoy the bit of alcohol that remained in the bottle. *************************************************** With a dull sigh I could not help but look at the setting sun wistfully. Next to me stood my entire crew as we set foot onto the burnt island. The marines on the ship had long lost the resolve to continue battling and stood silently on their heavily damaged ship. "You guys.. I don''t care how virtuous you were as marines, but now your life hangs in our hands¡­ And with that we give you one order! Anyone who disagrees shall be shot! Pick up your guns, pick up your swords and dig¡­.. By tomorrow I want every soul on this island to have been given a good burial! Anyone who even so much as attempts to flee shall be dealt with your own marine martial law! As penned by your own vice admiral Sakazuki if anyone so much as takes one toe out of line you will be decapitated!" I roared at them. Angella shivered next to me before looking up with teary eyes. " As Ohara lived it was a land of scholars and as it dies it shall remain a land of scholars. No one is allowed to touch a single thing on the island.. A platoon of you shall dive to retrieve all the bodies that drowned in the sea, met with your cruelty as the civilians attempted escape! Another platoon will be in charge of matching the bodies together! No dismembered part shall be missed!" I roared out orders at the cowed force. They had been beaten to an inch of their lives by us in the morning and were essentially our prisoners until we decided to deal with them. They had no choice in the matter. "Angella.." I began in a softer voice as I looked concernedly at the haggard women. She looked back at me, her tears long having dried over her dirty face. " Would you like to hurt the world for what it has done here?" With a hint of barely concealed malicious intent she could not help but nod.. ********************************************** Ned sighed as he looked over at the information he had collected on his newest target. He was a bounty hunter and had been pretty successful in the new world for over a few years and was content with the coin that his latest haul had brought him. That being the case however, he could not help it when orders came from up top to take action. The only thing he could do was to follow it. True the boss liked him, but regardless he had never taken it easy on him. With a tired groan he slowly rose off the counter where he had been drinking. Suddenly he heard the dry flat call of the transponder snail. He could not help but curse under his breath as he immediately got up, his brown beard held tinges of wooden shrapnel from the cracks in the counter as he made his way over to the bag in the corner. His blue eyes could not help but light in curiosity as he looked over at the number of the caller. With a click he answered the snail, and with a crisp and prepared tone he called out " What do you have for me Superbia?" 75 Let the anarchy begin! Five figures stood over a snail as they contemplated in silence. The sound of shuffling paper sounded continuously from the background as they ominously glowered down at the transponder snail. "Sengoku! Tell us, why does this pirate crew not have a bounty yet?" A short stocky red faced man bellowed angrily as his white haired mustache quivered. A bald man looked down grimly at the information that had been placed before him. "It is because I did not wish to get any attention to them, if they had a bounty then they would have articles and fame, and so soon after Roger, I did not wish for the world government and the marines to look foolish and unable to prevent the rise of another prodigious pirate.." he articulated calmly as he looked sternly at his five superiors. "Hmpf, how has that treated you so far?" The blonde haired man asked in disdain as he perused the contents of the report in front of him. "First he killed a warlord of the sea! Even then, it was no small fry, it was Doflamingo! That man''s tricky fighting potential already puts him above most Vice Admirals! Then his crew slew an entire Marine Base, killing a Rear Admiral in the process! That has never happened, even in the first part of the new world, Paradise! Then as if, his anarchist tendencies were not enough, he marched all the way to Ohara to utterly defeat a marine Vice Admiral! He has made a mockery of your organization more than anyone other than the upstarts from the Emperor''s rife!" The white haired man, who looked to be the oldest of them all analyzed as he looked piercingly at the snail. "We have had Garp follow him since information of his exploits first began¡­ But the trail went cold somewhere near the North pole¡­ After that the first bit of information we have had of him is in the diametrically opposite direction¡­. It will take us a few days to get back on his trail." Sengoku bit out with an annoyed grimace. "Good.." the old white haired man with the dreadlocks and a scar on his left cheek rumbled out as he clenched hard at the stick in his hand. "Nonetheless, this is a severe case of incompetence that has been displayed on your part fleet Admiral¡­ See that it doesn''t happen again.." the red skinned man called out as he resolutely cut the transmission. A deep sigh echoed from the bald man as he unconsciously rubbed against the sword in his hand. "haah¡­. After Ohara, it seems the world will never be the same¡­" "Aye.. But it had to be done¡­" And with that the five rumbled into silence, each preoccupied with their own worries. The door suddenly bellowed loudly. Someone was desperate enough to rap against its pristine surface with vigor. "Boss, you''re going to want to see this!" He called out as he ran in, panting and sweating tiredly. As the five crowded around the piece of paper that he had delivered, the snail began to ring. The bald man paled as he skimmed through the surface of the article, quickly pulling up the snail and answering the call. Before the anxious voice on the other end could even begin to articulate the issue at hand, he called out with a roar of anger "What is the meaning of this Sengoku!?" Sengoku could not answer as the ramifications of what he had just read continued to badger him. "I don''t know sir¡­" **************************************** Morgans cackled as he looked down at his subordinate. "Kuwahahaha! You did good boy! This is big news! Biiiiig newwssssssss Indeed!" He chuckled out as he seemed to orgasm at the news he had in hand. Ned could not help but grin in happiness. If he had known Superbia would be such a treasure trove then he would have made contact with him faster. In his hand sat a harmless picture of a mass grave. The problem with the image however was three fold. First: The sheer size of the number of tombstones made it clear that it could have only ever been filled if an island was massacred. Second: It was an island. How did Ned know this you ask? It was because of the fact that just a few minutes before his entry into his managers room, the navy had been as kind as to have provided a clear and in-depth forged piece of information on a certain island of ..Ohara. This along with the topography of the entire image made it clear that the picture that he had in his hand, was indeed of that ''Demon island'' as the marines had been as kind as to have coined. Finally, it was because of another part of the picture, the number of men in Marine clothes that worked on the mass grave.. ''Cough with this and the article that we were told to publish side by side¡­ Oh Big news indeed..'' Ned could not help but think as he grinned giddily in the hands of the ecstatic Morgans. The bird man shook him heavily in his flippers as saliva fell all over his cuffs. "This is going to shake the world! It''s going to force the world government to call an assembly much earlier than they usually do! Ohh so many ramifications, so many implications!..." To say that big news Morgans was on the moon, would be incorrect, it was more like the bird man was on an all expenses paid trip to a galaxy far far away, but I digress. As soon as Ned had entered his boss'' office with the scoop, his source on the tip of his tongue, the information had been sent off to printing. As expected both articles would come side by side. The testimony of the marines, as the duo had begun to call it seeing as this, when spread would be like forcing the entire world into a makeshift tribunal to judge the lies of the marines, alongside the actual information. " Oh if only¡­.. If only there were more bounties¡­" the bird man bemoaned as he carefully held the bounty of one Devil child Nico Robin¡­. 76 We are family A morose atmosphere hung over the island as we bowed down. Each body that had been accounted for had a tombstone, and each tombstone had been etched perfectly with their name and other miscellaneous information. The marines stood behind us bowed and cowed into submission as they were forced to pay respects to the men, women and children that they had killed during their buster call. There had been a few people that had refused to pay respects to the lives lost, claiming that all the marines did was just. All of them had been made an example. They claimed that they were pure and righteous because they were marines, so it was only fair, that pirate scum such as us would lay our eyes on such hidden qualities. Unfortunately, other than the week constitution, none of them were able to show for their bravado. I had personally checked. To make sure that it was not just me, I had taken a few volunteers to ensure that there was no part that existed that I could not see. Strangely they were too squeamish and had passed out mid examination. Even now the dismembered bodies of those that refused to pay their respects stood hung on huge poles on the periphery of the island. Crucified in such a way that anyone that made their way remotely close to the bustling metropolis would be able to see them. With a deep sigh I looked over at the burial ground that this island had become. A once green island now stood dotted with rectangular stone after rectangular stone as far as the eye could see. Even someone as callous as me could not help but feel a prickle on my conscience as I looked at the blatant waste of life that had occurred. Terrick stood behind Angella with his hand over her shoulder as she mourned. She had opened up to the crew more in the span of this night than she had for the entire journey so far and for that at least I could not help but look at the island with gratitude in my eyes. ''Thank you for giving me such capable crewmate. Thank you for giving me a sister¡­'' I thought in my mind as I bowed to the island as a whole. Then I looked over at the marine ship that was moored over on the beach of the island. ''And thank you! For breaking another one of my siblings! For spitting on our dreams and telling us how dangerous hypocrisy can be!'' With a final parting glare at the solitary bastion to the organization that I hated beyond all manner of reconciliation I walked over to my crewmates. With a small sigh I touched on Angella''s right shoulder and led her into my embrace, with a soft sniffle she began to cry, my shirt wettened near the place that her face lay crocked as she cried. With a defeated sigh I looked over at my crew. "It''s time. Angella its time for us to go¡­." A dull sob answered me as she nodded her head still nestled in my embrace. "Fawkes pack us in. Free these mules! After Morgans does his bit, death will be the least of their worries. It shall not be by our hands either . Sorren, I want you to load out all the necessities. There shall be no more lollygagging. I hoped that we would have some time in the blues before we pounced into the grand line, but that doesn''t seem to be the case any longer. We shall set coarse for Toroa, because there is someone I have to meet there. Then we shall cut across the calm belt into the grand line! We have tolerated enough, now we shall take the fight to them! Fight and vie for our place on the grand line! Fawkes by noon I want all the crew to be on the deck of the ship. I have something to say to them¡­ and you aswell¡­.." I said ending my orders before rubbing against the bangs of the crew''s swordsman¡­ **************** A dark skinned man looked over at the news paper as he grunted. The world was going through a lot of turmoil. The marines had been shamed, and in an incident that could even be compared to spark that began the great age of piracy. It had been inconceivable for him back then to believe that someone existed in this world that could humiliate the world government and the Navy in such a way save for the Emperor''s of the sea. Yet it had happened. A virtually no name figure in the underworld had done it. He, or she. The man could not say, somehow held connections to the most bigmouthed figure in the world and had even manage to beat back a Vice Admiral''s ship. Forcing their men to bow in shame, to someone that wasn''t their superior. With a small hint of expectation he looked over at a letter that had been delivered to him. His brother had warned him against taking the extremely shady letter in front of him seriously, yet he could not help but do exactly that. ''Heh, Superbia, I wonder what you have in mind¡­'' he chuckled as he looked at the letter of challenge, It had been quite simply phrased really. ''I am going to rob you blind!'' along with a simple crying and smiling mask at the corner. ''Let the games begin!'' **************************************** The sun glowered as it silently trudged down toward the horizon. A warm breeze blew on the deck of the ship as the crew waited patiently. Angella no longer had eyes that looked like they had been dunked into a vat of lava. Instead, her brown eyes shone with a strange determination as she stared into the door of the captain''s quarters. Sorren who had been silent throughout the entire time on the island, looked ahead with an uncanny seriousness. He had been once again proven to, how hard the life of a pirate was. He had sworn to himself silently, that he would not let anyone else go through the pain that he had faced back then, but had failed. Again he was shown how incompetent he really was. He was shown, that even though he was the crew''s doctor, he still could not yet cure all the things that ailed his crew. With a silent glance he looked over at the women that he had called his elder sister. He swore, as he remembered her cry. ''No more! No one else shall mess with my family!'' Fawkes stood to the side. Looking every bit the older brother of the crew, a role he had adopted ever since the crew was first formed. He did not regret it. He promised himself silently that he would go back to his training regime, to protect his younger brothers and sister. He could not be weak anymore. Terrick stood to Scipio''s side as he carefully looked at the child that had been forcefully woken up to the realities of the real world. With an internal nod he decided. He would make sure that Scipio would have a firm figure that he could rely on. To be relied on, it was a foreign feeling for Terrick. With a dull creak the door opened as the captain walked out, holding a bottle of sake in his hand and a collection six plates to drink from. The entire crew reacted dully as they took in the information that had been placed before them. Everyone knew how monumental what the captain was doing was. Yet they could not feel anymore ''right'' about the entire situation. "Would you like to be my family?" He asked as the entire crew began to cry. 77 Status repor Toroa stood in the light of the sun on the horizon as the ship gently bobbed in the ocean''s peaceful currents. After the incidents that had occurred on the previous island, the crew had very much mellowed out. Scipio took his training much more seriously than he had ever so far and Angella was more than happy to oblige. On the first day aboard the ship she had already made an in-depth and well thought out plan that she would fallow to teach the boy, even employing a bit of the ancient language in her teachings. If one were to look at the amount of information that was being dumped on the poor child, it would seem like he was a victim to psychological abuse. Nonetheless he had never complained and took the classes extremely seriously. He had gotten so good at other things that he actively helped the other members of the crew. Fawkes now did not have to solely deal with the food and had time out of his previously tight regime to begin training. Which he had done with much vigor. Sorren was by far the most aided individual. Now he no longer had to deal with all the crews routine check ups, which he had decided to do after the fight that Angella had taken part in. Now every two days he would conduct a full body check up of all the crewmembers and tallied all the information he had in a special notebook so he would be able to clearly write down an individual''s medical history. Scipio helped him compile this data. Thus our crew now had an effective medical plan and a plan of recuperation for any situation that the crew would have to deal with save for extreme conditions. Terrick now had a sparring partner to help him in the guise of Scipio armed with an arsenal of weapons against his unarmed counterpart. He had gotten so good that in one of their bouts of battle he had been able to awaken Observation Haki, however briefly, when Scipio had implemented a plan of action with a pack of iron threads. As for me, I had dealt with this situation as I would any other traumatic incident. By investing a large amount of time into Mimir. Now I had hit a snag in its development plan in lieu of an abject lack of funds. I had already invested as much as the world government would have to pay for a pretty competent crew of Paradise pirates and the organizations financial needs would only grow. Scipio had been able to help me optimize the way that I spent money by properly auditing the organization''s finances and was known by the epithet of Caput. At first he had been flabbergasted by the silly sounding nickname but when I had explained to him what it meant, he had been more than happy to adopt the name and the responsibilities that came with it. Mimir however was not that kind of organization. Already we had employed the aid of a few trustworthy ex marine officials. The oppressive pension policy of the world government worked wonders on the recruitment. I must say, it almost felt like the World Government wanted to be overthrown! Each of the ex marines had a pretty low ranking, nonetheless however they were disciplined enough to train younger members with a strict method for a hefty pay. The training regime had been prepared by yours truly with a little input from Sorren and Terrick, to train master Assassins and already the methods were showing some promise. The assassins would be useless for anyone over the rank of an ensign, and that too only the ensigns in the blues. Nonetheless they proved to be quite effective in spreading their name in the underground. Already they had taken the head of many pirates with notable bounties. The MO of the organization so far was the selling of information, and it had raked in a lot of cash from those transactions. Enough to foot around the same price as I had invested. If things went on as they did however, it would take a long time for the organization to truly bloom into fruition. It still needed stable and continuous investments from me¡­ Which was where my last job in the West Blue came into the picture. I had heard of a particular family that owned a sizable fortune. And, they were right here! How could I be called a pirate if I could not rob them blind?! "Captain! We are nearing the ports!" Scipio''s voice called out from the crow''s nest, breaking me out of my reverie. "Copy that cabin boy Scipio!" I called out loudly as I walked out of the cabin. "Guys! prepare for landing!" I roared out loud as I took a deep breath of the morning breeze. "Belay that!" Fawkes belted out loud as he pushed me off the pedestal on the deck of the ship. "Before we land, brothers your older brother has something to say!-" and he was cut short by the only female of the crew blowing a loud raspberry in his direction before throwing a handful of rope at his face. "Sister too!" he immediately and hastily amended as he ducked to avoid the incoming projectile. "and you better believe it!" Angella called out playfully as she skipped over to the side of the ship and pushed off the heavy anchor easily. Even though no one on the crew save for me and Fawkes had awakened Armament Haki, everyone still approached the threshold of physical strength that existed as a prerequisite of the art. Something as mundane as pulling up a heavy piece of metal was hardly worth talking about. "We know what you want to say big bro!" Sorren chortled as he went along to accompany Angella as she lowered the bridge off the side of the ship. "God damnit that was my first chance to act cool!" Fawkes whined as he frowned. If one had not heard what he had just said one might even be forgiven for thinking that he was ruminating over some serious issue. "Humpf that''s what you get for stealing my spot." I muttered darkly as I walked off the ship. Nonetheless I could not help but smile. Everyone was opening up, my family had grown¡­ 78 Toroa a land of hectic politics With a dull sigh I waded through the mob of people. All around me I could see the people going about their daily work. The island seemed to be the most peaceful and otherwise normal of the three that I had visited so far topping Las Camp with its sheer size and attention to detail. While Las Camp seemed to be fashioned without a proper plan in mind, Toroa had so far displayed the opposite tendencies. The road leading into town from the dock was paved with grass and greenery on either side, and each crossing held a sign that one could refer to for directions. As I had exited from the dock, I had heard the people hawking their various products. The merchant ships had unloaded their cargo straight into the hands of the shops that stood out at the entrance to the pier, which seemed to serve as the island''s markets. Only intensive stores like the weapon smiths or the cartographers held shop at the inside of the island, mainly because of how sensitive their products were as compared to the ones being sold at the docks. That being the case, I could not help but look critically at this design choice. Leaving the food suppliers of the entire island to the mercy of anyone that set foot on the island, seemed counterintuitive to the whole concept of maintaining prosperity, but I digressed. Well colored buildings stood out in the light of the day uncannily as neighbors greeted each other warmly. The foot traffic on the roads was quite heavy, and I had even sometimes felt a wave of slight claustrophobia in certain pathways. At the very centre of a four sided crossing there stood a majestic fountain that many children played around. The falling water gave both an aesthetic affect to the pristine roads and also served as a breath of cool air to all those who passed the structure. Unfortunately, I did not come here to sightsee. Of our journey so far I could wager that this island was by far the island that I wanted to stay in the longest for. With a dull final glance at the tall fountain and the joyful expression of the children in the distance I walked into a small unassuming building. It was a pub. A tavern to be precise and was called the fountain side bar, quite unoriginal but critiquing the names of buildings was not the reason I was here. As I entered I was met with an exquisite yellow light that illuminated the otherwise bland bar. Wooden tables were neatly arranged with four to five chair for each one. At the very centre of the room stood a small and unassuming counter behind which stood a stocky man. The man was bald with a black beard on his face being the only hair that he had. His piercing hazel eyes stared at me for a second, before dismissing me and going back to the shot glass that he was polishing with a dirty grey rag. With a slow and steady step I walked up to the counter and sat myself on one of the wooden stools that was placed overlooking the counter. The man glanced at me sparingly "What dya want? Ale? Happy hours are at noon so the strong ones aren''t served till then, if ya want a water I can tell you a good place to get it, now we offer only some mead." He said with a raspy voice before looking back down bored. "I want to meet with Sai.. I heard that you could get me to him." "Mead''r get out!" he snapped harshly seeming to have tuned me out when the first words out of my mouth weren''t ''mead'' or ''I''m sorry''. With a groan and a quick face palm a voice called out from behind him. "God damnit! Asshole don''t insult me in front of the guests!" With a grunt from behind the counter, a wooden door slid out to reveal the form of a shaggy brown haired well built man. The man had a tubular torso, and a set of sideburns that could almost be confused for a beard. "My word when Superbia said that he would send a rookie pirate my way, I did not expect this! That bastard didn''t add the most important words- A rookie ''New world'' pirate! Even I don''t have Haki down to the same level as you do!" He called out jovially as he smacked the head of the bald bar tender. "Now then, business talks are to be held there" he said as he pointed out to a shady corner of the room. The corner was well covered with a small and dusky black translucent curtain and was placed slightly farther from the rest of the chairs. With a slight nod at him I got off the stool and walked towards the shaded glade. The tall man fallowed behind me just pausing slightly to get the bartender to break out some ''negotiation brew'' as he called it. "So, what business does one of the underworld''s biggest tycoons want from me?" He asked as I pulled aside the curtain, and settled down at the seat to the wall. " What mister Superbia wants is the navy''s show of good faith. He has delivered on the promise that has been made in his initial call to you." I said as I smiled shallowly. Yes, it was right that I came into contact with the Happo Navy when I was working on Mimir''s forces in the West Blue. Back then, it had taken me a little time to identify what he Navy was, or rather how useful they would prove to be. After a little digging I had come across the bout that had occurred between Garp and the former head of the Happo Navy, a certain Don Chinjao. I had also heard of the jewel ice sheet, which was my reason for arranging this meeting. The terms of the negotiation had been simple. I wanted the humiliation the Marines, specifically those that belonged to marine base 80 in some way. As a matter of coincidence, the ship that Kuzan had commanded had indeed been marshaled from the marine base. Sakazuki had been more than happy to dispense all manner of punishments, using his rank and the failure of his colleague as an excuse to torment them. They had been used as a scapegoat in this entire matter and the world government had taken preliminary steps to curb this. Already, men from that base had begun to disappear. On the surface, a statement had been issued that the marines that bowed at the tombs of the ''demons of Ohara'' were no longer marines. An adjacent report and a few articles from competitors had been able to ease the entire issue over in the face of the common populace to some degree, nonetheless the Revolutionary army had had a ball on their impromptu recruitment drives and had liberated quite a few islands from the control of the world government. On the surface, there had not been any major undercurrents that accompanied this incident, but if one was to look deeper one could see the marines, those that till now were treated as the saints of the people, were now looked at with suspicion and fear. That was a start. Sai, slowly blew out a small breath of air as he contemplated what I had just said. "Already the marines control of the entirety of West Blue has dwindled enough, that along with the retirement -" here he sneered " of the warlord in charge of these parts, will prove extremely beneficial to the navy. So, sure initially we were planning on giving Superbia a few million berries and letting sleeping dogs lie, but this will be enough to rocket the Navy to new heights! So The navy shall respond in kind by allowing Superbia a major fraction of the Jewel Ice Sheet! The navy shall also provide Superbia with a chance to fence products to us for a better bargain than would be likely for them through the black market. So, What do you say? " he said simply. I could read into what was left unsaid though. If his proposition was accepted, then I would be forced into a partnership with the Navy. In the short run that would prove beneficial, but what about the long run? With a deep sigh I decided. It was a tempting offer, and I would take them up on it. But I couldn''t be seen accepting this statement, after all wasn''t I a currier? 79 The will of adventure With a final shake of hands the deal was sealed. The two group representatives nodded to each other, each with their own contemplations of the machinations of the deal that had just been brokered. I nodded with a simple smile on my face as I shot a concealed expression of finality the snail that had been placed before me. On the other end, Fawkes could be seen smiling victoriously. Throughout the actual discussion he had been the one to put forth the requirements and provide a baseline to the entire girth of the conversation. Just before the ship had landed on the shores of the island I had dragged him aside to brief him on the entire situation. At first he was slightly pissed that I was using him as a shield but pretty much agreed to the entire plan when he learnt of the scope that Mimir was working on. Then all I had to do was give him one of the transponder snails and carry another to charter a long distance negotiation. The deal had elements of the things that had been discussed, with a few iterations that were offered by both sides. Now, Mimir would hold access to a 25 percent of the contents of the Jewel Ice Sheet that remained with the Navy after Chinjou got his head thumped in. This along with a tactical alliance between Mimir and the Navy saw the two organizations sharing markets. Mimir had a lot of things but precious materials was in short supply. The store house of the organization was so pathetic that all the devil fruits that it possessed came from the auction that I had participated in, in Rubeck. In exchange the Navy now held a thirty percent stake within the assassination circle of Mimir. What this essentially amounted to was that the Navy could now offer Assassination services on behalf of Mimir and would thus have a ninety percent of all the housing payment that the missions they deferred to Mimir, further they would also gain a thirty percent of the housing payment that Mimir offered. When one looked at this, it would seem that I had taken a loss on this matter, but with the reach that the Navy had and with the initial down payment of sorts that was the stake in the Jewel Ice Sheet, the amounts actually evened out and even turned up on the side of profits for my side. This along with the sheer influence that the Navy held within the entirety of West blue was worth the small amount that we were paying for. As I walked out of the curtained corner of the bar, the bar tender waved at me. The sky outside had long begun to darken. We had been in deep negotiation within those small quarter for more than just a few hours, but I was satisfied with the results. With the deal finally ironed out I could traverse to the Grand line in piece. Mimir would not have a problem growing for the foreseeable future. Around the stone structure many families walked peacefully. At the side a couple could be seen holding hands as they walked around the fountain. To the left a mother could be seen chastising her daughter for trying to eat the bubbles that flew off the water. With a smile I could not help but remember the unnamed island. My father cooking peacefully in the kitchen as my mother tried her hand at knitting me a sweater, then her expression of exasperation that would appear when she embroidered the sweater into her skirt. My mouth couldn''t help but curve up in fond memory as I walked away from the heartwarming sight. The lights that illuminated the streets cast a long shadow behind me. A jaunty whistle on my lips as I walked back to the harbor and then onto my ship. The entire crew stood at attention as they stared at me. Earlier in the day Angella had gone out to get herself a replacement for her rapier while Sorren had made a trip down into the hospitals to get a fair share of medical supplies. We would not be landing on an island any time soon so it was only right for us to hoard while we still could. With a dull smile I looked over at the rest of the crew. With a deep sigh and a step onto the helm I said "Next stop paradise!" and with that we were off. The ship chugged along as it cleared the harbor. As night set in the crew all walked over to their posts, each one of them had a job to do and after the recent debacle none of them were slacking. With a renewed fire in their eyes the crew made off, each one of them clear on their route. All except one "Umm, not to question captain''s orders and all, but why are we going toward the calm belt¡­. Hey why is no one answering me¡­. Heeeeeey?!!" As the ship moved closer to the horizon, Scipio could be seen questioning his life, the sanity of his crew and that of his captain, not exactly in that order... **************************** A roar of weapons echoed across the ship as the crew retreated. Fire lit up abruptly in the night sky as the ship''s dull shadow gleamed eerily. A young teenager could be seen wading through the fighting mob on the deck as he sought to escape. A box clutched in the crook of his hand stowed away in the lines of his black coat. His fiery red hair gleamed weirdly as he pushed off one of the attackers. When his father had arranged for this ship to deliver him to his destination, he had already begin to question how adventurous his journey would truly be. Now on the last leg, his entire ship turned out to be a group of unscrupulous turn coats as he ran to the edge of the ship he clenched hard at the thread that tied the final escape raft. Luckily his ship had been attacked by pirates, using the distraction of the loud fight and the repeated sound of gunfire he lowered the boat into the tumultuous sea. ''I don''t care what you say father! I am going on an adventure!!'' 80 I have a smart idea to go through the calm belt! A cold wind passed the bellowing sails as the ship raced towards the calm belt. The sky had long been covered with black clouds signifying the coming of a storm. A faint whistle sounded from the ship''s wooden mast as the wood creaked and whined. The ship had been through so much of the world at this point that its surface had seemingly begun to suck in all the water from the surroundings. A dull crackle of thunder sounded out from the oncoming storm as a gut wrenching smell of ozone hit our nose. "Strange, I thought storms like this only turned up in the new world.." Fawkes commented as he took a few minutes off ensuring the tightness of the fastens to thoughtfully caress his chin. His actions were immediately quelled however by a stare from me. As the ebony black clouds neared us, the boat began to twist. The water had become much tougher to negotiate with and resorted to tossing around the ship to quell its apparent rage at the continuous flashes of light that shot towards its surface. The wind had picked up bellowing against the sails with all the force of an enraged and charging rhino. "Man the sails! We don''t want that cloth to get ruined even before we trudge into the grand line!" I called out with what seemed to be carelessness. My crew however treated the command as seriously as ever and immediately sent along Scipio tied to a harness to pull in the spear eagled cloth. "All of you get yourself tied down! I don''t want anyone to fall off at this point! Fishing you out will be a right pain" I called out as I smartly tied a tough rope to my torso and walked over to the middle of the deck to take my position. With a dull hum my ''will'' flowed out from me and began to seep into the crevices of the wood. Every inch of wood had been saturated and even the sails that were bullying our young cabin boy had begun to settle down. At this point I felt one with the ship, the ship had become me, and its wood transformed from a rotting carcass to an elegant and sturdy trunk of pure force. All the creaking ceased as the storm raging outside was tuned out. A marvelous and gut wrenching aura had begun to effuse my person though no one on the crew could feel it. As the ship cruised through the sea what seemed to be a clear line could be seen on the edge of our vision. That was the demarcation for the beginning of the calm belt. The waves that belted against the ship''s base seemingly refused to exist within the confines of that scarily calm belt of sea. "Guys buckle up we''re about to hit the belt!" I called out towards the crew before I redoubled the effort of the aura to brace for the jolt that would hit us as we jumped off a high tide into the calm beast that was the calm belt. "Umm captain can we not..?" Angella asked piteously. Her downcast expression caused to crack up as I nodded my head in refusal. "¡­.Nothing to see here.. We all knew he was crazy¡­" Fawkes said simply as he walked into our stores and brought out a big and wide drum. "I''m guessing that you brought this huge thing for the occasion..?" He paled in anger at my smug look before face-palming. The crew all sighed in acceptance before they each began to slowly grin in the same way that I was. The amount that it would strengthen us was the only motivator that we all had. " We''ll be taking up the drum in a cycle! Angella shall start and I shall be the one ending the day''s shifts! All those who have awakened Armament Haki shall use this for fine control! Those that haven''t must use this time to awaken the Haki! We''ll be dumped straight into the new world we need some measure of protection against all the other crews!" I called out and smiled gratified at the chorus of ''ayes'' that I received. With a huge lunge the ship rocketed off a particularly big wave into the welcoming embrace of the calm belt. As much as I hoped that we would have a safe journey however, a part of me could not help but look at a brown dot that floated idly on the surface of the calm belt with an amount of suspicion. As I caught sight of the one on top of the just identified boat I could not help but sigh ¡­''Here we go again¡­'' ************** As Rein came to he could not help but gawk at the gritty texture of wood. As soon as he got off his ship it had been a line of disasters one after another. First he had been chased by a few pirates that had taken notice of his escape and wanted a piece of him all by their lonesome. He had only been able to outrun them because of the brewing storm that they had become frightened by. Much to his sadness however there had been nothing to scare away the storm. He only had enough time to curse his father one last time before he had been embroiled in the ensuing chaos that the storm had been. After what seemed like an eternity of tussling with the damn thing he had fallen asleep to the clearing of the storm and the benevolent rays of the sun, yet when he woke up he found himself in a hammock that could not possibly be pitched in his boat and the unmistakable hum of the beats of the drum. Each beat seemed to resonate within him as he felt the minute sway of the ship. He walked slowly out of what seemed like a barrack into a set of rooms. Each had been labeled something or the other and only a few were open. As he walked further away from the room that he had woken up in he felt the sound of the beat intensify. At the end of the long hall of rooms he came to a staircase that led downward. He felt that the sound originated from the bottom of the stair case and so made his way downward. At the very least he hoped to thank the people that had saved him. At the end of the somewhat short staircase he came to a wide opening at the very base of the ship. The cannons of the ship were usually kept here but at this point Rein could see a huge pile of cannons lined together and tied in a heap. Already he felt his sanity lag and whine but that was not the end for in the very middle of the ship sat four people each with a huge oar in their hand. At their back stood a majestic drum from which the booming sounds originated. A purple vested women stood on the drum with two makeshift drumsticks ramming it into the membrane of the drum at routine intervals that governed the rhythm that the oarsmen followed. "Glad that you could join us!" One of the topless man called out from the lot. His grey hair stood neatly slicked back and his operation of the oar seemed the most leisurely. If Rein had not seen the effort that the other three put in he would have assumed that he was witnessing a skit in the making. "Ai Fawkes don''t steal my lines!" the one sitting opposite to him called out before turning to Rein and smartly repeating the same greeting. "Ummm¡­..Hello my name is Rein.." He replied as he tried to get his wits about him. What he had seen was in fact very surprising and someone from his background had never seen something like it. "Lorean." the man nonchalantly replied before going back to rowing. His hands seemed to jet into a deep black every time he pulled the oar back before returning to its earthly complexion. "Where am I ..?" he asked as he frantically tried to collect all the information he could. He had just been kick started and a primal urge seemed to frantically warn him to get away from these weirdoes. "On our ship!" A young chubby boy quipped aloud as he rowed frantically to keep up with his three older counterparts. "He didn''t mean that obviously!" the women called out before turning to him and smiling. Rein being a hot blooded teenager could not help but blush as he looked at her. He had no clue where to look as he beheld the form of the black haired women. "Names Angella, and were on a training regime on the calm belt." she deadpanned before shooting an annoyed look at the lagging chubby boy and increasing the pace of her beating. The child shot her an annoyed look as he immediately altered his pace to adjust to her pace before re-taking his struggling countenance. "Angella let the poor boy contemplate in piece." The black haired man identified as Lorean commanded as he lazily looked at Rein. As he observed all that took place in front of his eyes his brain ran a marathon in on itself as it tried to make sense of the insane implications of the women''s statement. "You''re telling me.." he began. "Yup, stop right there! We don''t have enough time for you to go through a realization, pick up an oar and row, you know we don''t take kindly to freeloaders!" the captain called out. Rein could only comply, subverting all questions for a time when his brain was willing to put up with the level of bullshit that the world was chucking at him. Now he just rowed¡­ Lore on the other hand merely shot a challenging look at his first mate who rolled his eyes before accepting the challenge. The game was on...¡­ 81 I amnt lying. Honest. Rein could not help but gulp a fresh breath of air through his teeth as he lay on his back. His brow had long been drenched with sweat. His lungs heaved weakly as his back perspired. Below him was a huge puddle of what could only be sweat. Over the time that he had spent on the ship he had come to miss his sheltered lifestyle. Now he understood why his father had taken such a drastic reaction to his dream of adventure. ''What dream? This is nothing but torture!'' he wailed in his head for the umpteenth time as he groaned. Opposite to him sat the purple tank topped women, her skin had taken an arousing shade of pink as her breath came out in weak gasps, yet she persevered! In front of him sat the black haired man who had introduced himself as Lorean. He had not taken a single break since the beginning of the day and still he went about it like it was his daily training regime. Rein looked sadly through the gaps in the wood where the cannons would usually be placed. The outside was so pleasant. The sun glowered down like a kind grandpa and a sleuth of lazy clouds stood stationary at the very centre of the sky. What a great day it would be to sunbathe! Yet here he was! Doing chores that he could wager even most slaves would not. "Oi! Get back to work!" the fat boy who had now taken to banging the drums called out to him as he maintained his pace. "I know right! How am I supposed to compete with Fawkes if you drag me down?" The man called Lorean said with a frown. "Oh that was what it was? I thought captain was bored enough to want a staring contest." The man called Fawkes replied. His voice smug, still not a single drop of sweat anywhere on his person. Angella could only press her lips into a single line as she shot a challenging look to the last man in the room. "Oi, don''t look at me like that ! I was built to be an assassin! I amn''t used to this!" he snapped as he breathed deeply. Rein could take some measure of grace to the fact that at least of all the people here two were human.. Oh no wait, they were still rowing! A dull throb hit his torso as an oar side was ruthlessly driven into his ribs. "Back to work! You get a break when we do!" Angella called out through gritted teeth, a small sadistic smile on the side of her cheek. "By the way captain, when will we have our morning break?" Fawkes called out as he smiled. "In a few minutes" Lorean replied, his reply breathing new life into Rein''s dying form. ******************* "So wait, you guys are pirates?" Rein called out through a mouthful of food. He could swear that food had never tasted as heavenly as it did at this point. Usually the mere smell of fish would have driven a vegetarian such as him running, but at a time such as this he could not be forced to bother. "And you''re already running into the grand line? Excited much?" Rein called out curiously. "I bet you guys haven''t even gotten you''re first bounties yet huh?" "Humpf stingy marines¡­." was the only thing he got as a reply as a small thunder cloud formed around Lorean''s head. "Don''t worry captain, when they get over their superiority complex they''ll give us a huge one" Fawkes said as he mirthfully consoled his captain. "humm humm!" fatty nodded seriously. "That being said Rein, I noticed that you''re body was very weak, what are you even doing on the seas at this point?" he asked as he stuffed a piece of meat on his mouth. "I''d planned on eating a devil fruit and coasting through.." he admitted sheepishly. His worldview having being demolished over the past week. Lorean stifled a laugh as he looked over at a young child sitting in the very corner. " I told you that there were older people who were not as mature as to understand that!" he said before swallowing down a whole fish. The boy nodded mutely as he got up, his food finished. " I''m going back up to the deck." he called out docilely before moving soundlessly out of the door. "I told you we should have included the boy in the rowing exercise. Now as we train he spends most time on deck coasting the ship away from the bigger sea king pods.." Fawkes chided silently as he looked worriedly at the retreating form of the boy. Lorean sighed as he nodded. " I thought he would feel better at the fact that he got a unique responsibility.." he muttered as he wiped his mouth before getting up finishing his food. "I''ve decided. Angella, Terrick I want the both of you to take alternative turns up there, of the five rounds that we fallow I want the both of you to have a single round each to train your observation. Let the brat in when either of you take up watch." he said before heading behind the boy no doubt to cheer him up. "I''m confused, what could have possibly forced you all into piracy." Rein voiced one of the things that was bothering him. " I mean, Lorean looks like he could be a fairly high level marine, and Fawkes looks like a professional butler." he said. "Well, me and Lore have parents in the profession. For him it was both his mother and father while for me it was merely my dad. Angella there got bored of the scholar life and through a twist of events ended up on board. Terrick was what could be considered to be a special operative under a fairly influential family and after the family fell out of business he joined us. The fatty ended up on the ship because of the food and never left. The tiny kid fell for Terrick and followed us on." He said breezily. I mean it wasn''t like he was lying, right? 82 Kidnapped Rein groaned slightly as he trudged through the aisles of the ship. He had been here for close to a week and had long lost count of the number of times that he had cursed his fate. Everyone on the crew had started to look haggard with the only exception being the monstrous duo that were the captain and the first mate. Over the past few days the ship had been assaulted by a host of sea kings, though they were young for their race they still would have posed a significant threat to most ship crews that he had been used to. The sea surface had begun to look so eerily still that Rein had begun to fantasize the effusion of different colors from it. In his addled and tired form he had sometimes begun to hallucinate the appearance of will-o-wisps on the watery surface taunting him at his every step. Luckily however, the ship''s crew though barbaric were nothing like the pirates that he had heard of. They did not have a scummy bone in their body of this he was sure. Though they had asked him to work on the rowing, they had never once mistreated him and oftentimes treated him as they would their own. Rein resolved that he would avoid them at all costs after he paid them back for their generosity. A tiny woosh echoed against the base of the ship as the lookout ,the youngest child on the crew, loudly got the attention of the crew. "Sea king in sight!" he roared loudly. His warning was met with a host of grumbles as the crew hastily assembled on deck. Within a few seconds the crew was waiting prime and attentive as they assessed the situation. "Ok how big are we looking at?" the assassin of the crew asked. He had been the only one who hadn''t ''awakened'' the observation thing that the crew often spoke off. "It''s a pretty big one, enough to last us for tomorrow''s breakfast at least." The first mate said simply as he looked over at the only women on the crew. " Think you can handle it Angella?" "Sure but I want first pick of the cooked results." she answered seriously. Lorean pouted as Fawkes nodded. Immediately Angella shot off the deck of the ship, landing firmly on what looked to be the neck of the huge eel like beast. Her rapier gleamed in the faint moonlight as she stabbed towards it. As the rapier penetrated the outer scaly layer of the creature''s skin, she jumped off riding the dagger downward and into the beasts internals. "Aha! A perfect fillet! " Terrick remarked as he tried to imitate Fawkes much to the rest of the crew''s amusement. Fawkes merely grumbled under his breath as he walked towards the floating body of the creature. It had been killed almost instantly. "Humpf the fact that the creature was an infant saved you, otherwise with the noise you made we would have to deal with a whole colony of them!" Fawkes remarked sourly as he threw in the fishing line to get the sea kings body on board. "That is all I could manage to get, so yes it better be otherwise I''ll have to blare my Haki at all times to avoid the little critters." Lorean replied tersely as he nodded. A loud yawn punctured the silent night as the crew''s resident fatty stretched his pudgy hands. "Ok, back to bed! Scipio, come wake me up in an hour I''ll take watch then." I called out. As the crew began to disperse however a strange sound began to sound from the corner. The sound was rather foreign for most, it sounded akin to soft metal rubbing against the hard ground, the water parted quickly too as the crew stiffened. A strange mist had begun to form around the crew, the mist quickly swept over the deck of the crew causing the people on board to retch. Rein shuddered silently as his eyes began to grow heavy. Sorren had just enough time to cry out an unintelligible warning before he crumpled to the floor. Angella shuddered lightly as her shoulder scraped against the side of the ship. Lorean narrowed his eyes as he took a tentative breath of the surroundings, immediately his expression soured. "Fuck, poison!" he called out. His exclamation was met with the weak and groggy movement of his first mate. Lorean could not help but look helplessly at the crumpled forms of all his crew members. Terrick was the sole member that remained standing, and even he looked like he had been afflicted with a terrifying stomach ailment. At the stern of the ship he could see as the mist parted enough to display a lofty silhouette. "Fuck, Yuda!" Lorean could not help but roar before he ran towards his assassin and jumped into the water. ************** I could not help but stiffen as I looked at the huge snake like figure docking on the side of the ship. The water around me sought to suffocate me and it took all I had to breath beneath it. The water surged into my pores, the air in the water permeating my rhythmically pulsing pores. A stout figure''s bare frame could be seen getting onto the deck of my ship. The figure had a head full of matted hair, weather it was red or green could not be said though the moon was able to illuminate enough of their person for me to identify that it was female. She took a large net from what seemed to be a pouch that hung on her back. She wore what looked to be a long robe of scales, possibly taken from the poisonous Yuda. She threw the net over the forms of the crew before she pulled the hook at the net''s mouth closed. She pulled the hook over to the snake, that had its teeth bitten into the rails, reaching for a hoop on its head. With a flurry and a swish she jumped onto the snake''s head before the snake elegantly swam away. Terrick floated next to me his eyes burning in rage as he looked at the women who had ransacked the place that he had gotten used to calling home for the past few months. If not for me holding tightly onto his hand he would have already swam after them. The loss of Angella and Scipio had obviously taken its toll on him. I frowned as I contemplated. ''Amazon lily? but how? they are on the other end of the red line what would they even be doing here?'' 83 Survival I sighed deeply as I dived deeper. Beside me, Terrick swam along, a dangerous calm had seeped through his mind as his presence thinned. He had been shaken by the appearance of the huge snake. Seeing his crew''s strength and all they had achieved together had lulled him into a false sense of security. Only now that his crew''s bedrock had been challenged had he begun to question his own position in the crew. Of them all the captain had been the most proactive, driving himself ragged with every passing day to keep the crew aloft and ensure their strength. The first mate had acted as a stable foundation he was the sane to the captain''s insane, the calm to the captain''s frenzy and by far one of the only useful characters on the ship. Even when he had been injured he had lurked in the background, a psychological bedrock to the entire crew''s crazy shenanigans. The snake had shocked him, what had he achieved today? He could not help but question as the water around him bubbled with the force of an oil pan thrown into a cold lake. What had he done to justify his own existence on the crew? Heck even when the snake had arrived it was still the captain who was conscious enough to drag him into the calm sea, he had just stood there, gawking at the strange sea creature. As these thoughts began to run through his head a strange and cold chill ran through his mind. A clarity that he had not felt in forever had descended over him. Before he had joined the crew, he did not have a strong leader, now his leader was strong and he had become weak. The chill that had began in his brain seeped into every crevice in his body, the muscles in his hands and legs galvanized and his intent sharpened. He was an assassin first and foremost, and now the situation he was in was unfavorable. "Captain, you think we can stand out among the coming horde?" he asked softly as his captain surfaced, a cold smile on his face. Lorean looked at him for a second, taken aback at the sharp contrast in the aura surrounding his crew member. Before he had always felt like a ruffian who had been called an assassin, now he felt like an actual assassin. With a ruthless smile Lorean nodded and the assassin was off. In front of them a scaly tail surfaced, the water swiveled around them as the air turned frigid, saturated by a wild and beastly killing intent. The sea began to toss and turn, waves forming on the surface the size of a minor tsunami. Around them a horde of heads began to pop out, saliva falling off their juvenile yet razor sharp teeth. With a minor push of his feet Terrick propelled himself into the assembled crowd. A thin bladed dagger in his hand that he had pulled from a strap in his boot. With a hiss of challenge a beast lunged towards him, a host of them looking on from behind. With a dangerous swivel he barely avoided the head. With a shriek of rage the first beast shook off its alley that had lodged its front into the base of its neck. As the two creatures fought a dozen of them came to occupy the vacated space. Terrick began to jump and twirl like a trapeze artist avoiding the sleuth of incoming foes. A thin rain had begun to fall, a result of the water that had been thrown up by the rabid lunges of the sea faring monsters. On his side Lorean fought his own enemies, much lesser in number, but they made do with sheer size. One bobbed downward as it opened its beaklike mouth just to be smacked in the side and propelled into another more bulky one that looked like a horse had been grafted onto its face. Around him in a ring the creatures rose attacking in turns with a coordination that would make the heads of a hydra swoon in jealousy. A creature whose face and coloration looked like the pokemon remoraid lunged downward, the sheer quantity of muscle in its lanky frame whipping the water into a pale white froth. With a huge thud its head fell into the water, barely missing its target who had taken the opportunity to jump onto its head and bear hug its neck, a dagger stabbed into its neck cartilage. A wail of pain and anger loudly pierced through its contemporary beastly roars as Terrick stabbed into the eye of one of his assailants before kicking against its side to propel himself onto the rising body of another creature. With a cruel squelch of flesh he stabbed his free hand into the creature''s midsection. His hand took the form of a knife hand as it plunged into the creatures bony interior. He pulled outward harshly as he fell towards the water causing the creature to screech piteously as it swayed trying to dislodge him. With a dull crunch a curved bone was pulled out of the puncture wound that Terrick immediately used as a makeshift sword as he drove it into the skull of an incoming gecko faced sea king. The rancid roar that sounded only increased his pace of stabbing as fresh blood jetted out. The sea''s foam turned red with the amount of blood that was spilt, and more was to follow. ************** "Edda, report!" A voice sounded from a misty isle. The snake that had been seen on Lorean''s ship stopped momentarily as a shrill and basal voice called out. "Edda, The yuda smelt a swath of intruders, I had gone out to investigate. I am Remmy from the high priestess'' entourage!" "Edda, report accepted, you may enter!" The voice said in the same commanding tone before the fog cleared to a certain extent. As the snake neared the huge silhouette of land a small entrance could be seen poking out at the very base that looked like a mine entrance. With a small click of her tongue she patted against the base of her snake''s neck coaxing it to enter the shaft. With a small twitch of her lips she pulled a flask that existed at the side of her makeshift seat on the neck of the snake, made of what looked like sea king bones tied together with nerves, a small wineskin sat unassumingly at the center. "The High priestess expects me, I must report quickly Edda." she said to herself as she took a deep swig from the wineskin. A dull fume effused from the bottle as she chugged. The snake below her puffed out its nose in response before rasping dully as it raced through the dark cave¡­. 84 The hollow mountain A dull hum sounded from around me as I slowly came to. The sun stood glowering down from the sky as a faint thud came from under me. The rancid stench of rotting fish assaulted my nostrils as I slowly looked around. As I did, I began to remember, the kidnappings, the huge Yuda, and the ridiculously huge fleet of sea kings that I had had to face. I inhaled deeply in surprise as I looked at what looked to be a severed head of an octopus like fish with a collection of deep gashes on its forehead. On its side I could see one of my daggers wedged in between what looked to be a rib like bone structure that protected its skull. The only reason I had not sunk yet, as I found out from further observation was because a sea king had been used as a float to keep be on the surface of the sea. The creature was bigger than the usual infant and faint memories from the previous night revealed it to be the one that had caused my failing, having wrapped me in its huge and gritty scaled tail, it had proceeded to choke me, had it not been for the fact the Terrick had just finished his own end of things I might not have survived. Speaking of Terrick however, I was once again struck with a dilemma, in that I could not see him anywhere around me. The man was surprisingly absent from the ensemble that was my surroundings. It would not do to assume that he had died, because the last time I saw him, he had been perfectly fine. A collection of shallow bruises were his only take away from the deadlock that the fight had proved to be. He could not have been assaulted after my falling unconscious because of the simple reason that I was fine, next to me the ship still stood stock still. Untouched save for the brutal violation that it had suffered from the foggy guest that had alighted onto it. So that left only a single option, though it wished to all things holy that it was not the case. "That motherfucker, he went after them didn''t he?" *************** Terrick tucked into the rancid scented flesh of the sea king as it swam through the waters. After the battle that had occurred the previous night, he had already made up his mind to go on a foolhardy rescue mission. However capable his captain was, he would only prove to be a burden if his plan was to be followed. That coupled with his weakness to water battle had made Terrick sure of his plan of action. As soon as he had saved his captain he had begun to pack all the things that would be required to safely sneak into the stronghold of his poison wielding foe. He had made sure to double check his collection, sure that a failure like the one he had suffered sneaking onto this very ship would not be a good outcome. As he prepared to employ one of the smaller safety rafts that existed on the ship to serve as his vessel on his chase however, he was met with a happy coincidence. The creature had been very cooperative, it had been more than happy to ferry him to his kidnapped crew. He still couldn''t believe it. He had known from Angella''s lectures that Sea kings were smarter than they looked but still. As the creature had raced through the current less waters, Terrick had made himself comfortable in a huge scar that existed on its torso. Observing the type of would he could be sure that the huge blue monstrosity had faced off against either another sea king or a monstrously huge Yuda. A sweat rotting fruit stench made Terrick lean towards the latter. As he neared his destination, he looked through the dark satchel that he had worn on his hip. In it was a collection of liquids. These had been a few acids that he had made in his time with the captain and the doctor. The captain had introduced him to the idea, and the doctor had helped him synthesize the mixtures. Each had a specific strength and could be used for a variety of functions. That along with a small collection of throwing needles and metallic thread gave Terrick some measure of confidence. As the beast went forward, the fog around them thickened. A faint pink hue began to permeate the air as Terrick felt a small bout of lightheadedness. This was the same level of toxicity that the ship had been affected with. This lead Terrick to a frightening conclusion. The venom in the air was being spread unconsciously! With a sudden bob, the creature began to go underwater. As it moved inward, Terrick fixed his form in a small gap in the sea king''s scar. A small air bubble formed around the wound as the sea king''s jagged mouth curved into a natural and frightening smile. The creature had used a special method of submergence to provide its alley a bit of breathing room. ( If the creature had a sense of humor it would have laughed.) As the creature neared the huge monolith it could not help but shudder a little. Its herd had tales of this mountain they spoke of it as the ''hollow mountain'' a natural outcrop of jagged rock around a stagnant pool of water, also known as the Yuda den. As the entire of the calm belt was the place of sea king pods, this mountain was the home to the Yuda young, that being the case however, the Yuda young and old lived together. As the young sea king passed through the outer walls, it could not help but feel a tinge of pride, for it had infiltrated a territory that no one in its clan had done before. As its beady eyes breached through the surface of the water, it could not help but widen. For before it was a floating human city. Built using the shed skin of the Yuda, on a hibernating nest of the bests. The sea king had to leave, it had never felt this fear before in its life. For before it, it could see a Yuda as long as the fake mountain around it and as big as to make the sea king feel like an insignificant tadpole before it. It was large enough to house the entire island on its back! 85 Enter the dragon! As Terrick''s head broke through the surface of water he could not help but gasp. The water around him frothed continuously. Waves formed on its surface normally resembling the water in a regular ocean. Though the thing that bothered him the most was the pink tinge that touched every bit of water that was inside the hollow mountain. In fact the water was so colored that one could not be admonished if one were to assume that it was watermelon juice instead of actual water. The water swayed gently toward the rocky outcrop that surrounded the huge patch of water. The mountainous wall had a number of holes drilled through them, each which acted as the entrance to the inside. At first Terrick had been stunned at the ease of entry, only after he had seen his mount flee in terror had he realized that the entrance they had used was unexpected for the simple reason that no sentient sea faring creature would come into a miles distance from the ominous mountain. The settlement that he could see in front of him looked to be built on a mobile base, Terrick could wager was probably some complicated weave of sea weed, or an otherwise bullshit grand line phenomenon. On the huge tough floor he could see a vast array of buildings built, each with some thin material that resembled paper. The settlement looked to favor the Wano country''s architectural style, with a few huge scaly gates forming demarcations among the different people. As Terrick observed he could see a women riding a huge Yuda beach onto the island. The creature immediately swam away going to what Terrick assumed to be the roost of its clout. At the place that she landed he could see a huge mahogany gate that stood imposingly. It was built off an entwined union of four wooden pillars that met on a stylized bridge at its very top. At its very center was a scaly closure that barred entry into the island. It seemed to be made off of fallen scales and looked more like a curtain then a reasonable gate, still somehow managing to force Terrick to regard it with a certain level of caution. He could see the women slowly walk towards the gate before knocking at the wooden gate in a unique pattern. With a soundless flurry the gate opened, the scaly curtain moving upward as a faint gas began to pump towards the women. The scaled folded up at the very top standing parallel to the top bridge. The women bowed solemnly to the gate, unafraid of the conspicuously colored gas that had been thrown on her. Terrick gulped audibly as he calmed down. With a calming breath his presence began to thin, what used to be as bright as the sun had dimmed down to the intensity of a fire fly. With a purposeful movement he began to swim towards the floating island. Each stroke of his hand harmonized with a wave so as to avoid any trace of his movement. He had been somewhat curious at the overall lack of security at the gate, but as he neared he could see it. All around the island apart from the small patch of land near the gate had been pitched with high walls. The whole place had been fortified! As he neared the gate he could not help the increase in his heart rate. He had taken an unusual risk, but he could not do anything else. Before he had touched upon the beach he had tried to scale the wall. Unfortunately the wall was lathered with slime, he could not scale it. Then he had tried to use his needle trying to form a makeshift trekking axe. With a dull sound the needle bent at its tip. Thus he could do nothing but take the head on entry. With a dull sound he tapped against the wall, replicating the pattern that he had seen the women perform. "Clack clack clack clack¡­" sounded the wooden gate before the hard scale wall in front of him slithered upward. The scales folded in on itself as a concentrated burst of toxins brushed against his body. Terrick could do nothing but desperately hold his breath making sure that the toxin did not enter his body to the best of his ability. As the wall in front of him cleared, the small precipice that he was standing on quivered. The fog before him cleared up enough for him to discern the silhouettes of the myriad buildings on the island. Terrick promptly crouched down, immediately entering his peak of focus and silently skulking into the mist¡­ ********** "Edda! I have returned high priestess!" The women that had kidnapped Lorean''s crew reported solemnly in a huge building. In front of her a barely garbed young women stared serenely, her pale white garments a stark contrast to the dull brown that the older donned. "Yura, how went your expedition?" She asked in a soft yet commanding voice. "Edda, the expedition went as before high priestess, the foul infernals of the undersea court did nothing to impede the Yuda, in fact I even chanced upon a collection of foolish travelers. I have brought them here to be displayed!" The one identified as Yura said softly as she kneeled. With a quick look to her side she motioned for a soldier to bring them in. With swift movements the net that housed the crew was brought in, each of them still unconscious. "Yura," the women began reproachfully as she walked towards the netted crew "What have I told you about bringing the ones you find to me? Dispose of them!" She ordered to the soldier. "Edda, high priestess, forgive my foolishness." The women acquiesced bowing her head. Then with a commanding tone she called out to the soldier, "You heard the high priestess, dispose of them!" As the soldier lugged the bodies out however he was stopped by the high priestess who now donned a pondering look, "For the past few moons, the world eater has not been fed, we must feed him! Deliver them to the eye so he may feast on them!" She said amending her previous order. The man mutely nodded before proceeding out of the room. "Yura, the day of the swallowed moon approaches, quickly reunite with the other warriors and prepare for the festival! 86 Breta Terrick groaned in annoyance as he avoided another patrol. He had been in high spirits when he managed to sneak into the snake stronghold only to be almost immediately jumped by a group of scantily dressed women. With swift steps he had been able to flee only to get fully lost in the island''s interior. The island itself seemed to be built with a weird pattern, the houses all looked monotonously similar, the fog blocked most of the island''s surroundings and the ''patrol'' was merely a group of three to four women that carried a spear or so and seemed to work for the sole purpose of maintaining the order of the place. From the bit of information he had gotten eavesdropping, the island seemed to be divided into the outer and inner circle. The inner circle seemed to house most of the soldiers and the ''shamans'' while the outer circle seemed to be a patch of the island that housed all the care centers. Most soldiers he had heard seemed keen to visit the outer circle to meet their ''spawn'' which Terrick could only assume to be their children. Somehow Terrick had made his way directly into the inner circle! The eerie and otherwise weird structure of the town had left Terrick reeling. As he shadily jumped onto the roofs of the many houses, he could not help but glance at the sky. The sun had long set and the full moon had lighted through the patchwork that formed the top of the mountain. He would have blended into the populace below but the people seemed not to have a foreign population. They did not seem to have the concept of a visitor, so anyone that looked even remotely unlike the island''s inhabitants would be immediately reported to the authorities. That along with the fact that all the residents of the island seemed to be soldiers in some capacity forced Terrick to passively collect information. As he looked down at the uniquely cobblestone path he could not help but sigh. With some swift steps he made a decision. He would kidnap someone to get some information! With swift steps he leaped off the maroon tiled roof that he had been on, soundlessly landing on the dirty silver cobblestone. With silent steps he skulked into the barely visible shadows of the huge building formed from the sliver of moonlight that peeked through the thicket of the fog. If all of this wasn''t enough he was also worried by another more serious matter that had him looking constantly at his back. He had no clue what happened to the snake that the women rode on! If his hunch on why his sea king mount ran away was correct, then this place should be a huge nest of the damn huge scalies! Yet in his time on the island he had not managed to catch even the shadow of one! With a soundless inhale he perked up. At the very periphery of his hearing he heard the slurred voice of what sounded to be an intoxicated female. As the women approached he could see a fair looking silhouette. Scraggy black hair and a tribal costume made of brown scales. A thin hair band formed of the black whiskers of the Yuda tied her head, visible as she neared his skulking point. In her hand was a small ceramic flask. From the brief hint of her figure that could be seen, her piercing green eyes and her brownish black hair stood out. Suddenly she stiffened, for Terrick had finally made his move. He had catapulted over her head silently, landing behind her and hitting her on the base of her neck. With a soft gurgle she began to crumple. With a small smirk he pulled up her crumpled form, putting her firmly on his shoulder as he ran up the building. He needed somewhere comparatively noisy¡­ ************* Breta could not help but groan as she straightened up. She could hear the unmistakable roar of the fragrant temple near her. She cursed her fate silently as she chastised her lack of self restraint, she had sworn off drinking the elixir more than two times a day, still somehow she found her way here. She frowned slightly as she rubbed her heavy eyes, jumping up almost instantly as the cold feel of the knife on her neck brought her up short. "Velma, I swear if this is another one of your pranks-" She did not finish, for at that point she came face to face with a face she was all to unfamiliar with. The face lacked the effeminate features she was so used to. Instead the lines of the face were lined sharply like they had been chiseled on! She had only ever seen faces such as this in the outer circle when she was still a young one! "Well now that you''re awake it''s time for some answers don''t you think miss?" he asked in a soft and baritone voice. She stared at him weirdly before ignoring the knife to her neck and trying to get up. A second later however Terrick could not help but clamp his hand over her mouth stifling a scream that she had built up, the fact that an outsider stood in front of her settling in only at this time. "As long as you keep silent no one needs to get hurt.." Terrick said as a trail of sweat flowed down his back unnoticed. The women nodded stiffly as she looked at the knife in his hand. "Let''s start off easy, what is your name?" he asked simply as he took his hand away from her mouth. "Breta¡­" She said stiffly, her eyes never leaving the pointed short knife in his hand. "Well then Breta, would be so kind as to tell me where you would keep people that you get from outside?" 87 This is a crack house! The high priestess sighed a third time as she walked through the halls of the temple. The fragrant temple, the centre of the entire island, had been her home since the time she was ten. The halls looked pristine and polished, her soldiers had been tasked with its care since the time she had been inducted, never missing a day. On either side of the hall stood exquisitely carved pillars, each carved with a spiraling form of a Yuda. It was said that the building had taken over three generations to build, and the attention to detail to even the smallest aspect of the huge building had been one of the reasons. Unlike the other structures that existed on the island, the temple was built on a stone foundation. Overall the temple was a five storied tower, at the lowest level was the prayer hall. There was never a time when this hall had been seen empty ever since its inception. It housed the priests, who spent all their time brewing the ''elixir'', a mystical component that was taken from their Yuda. The prayer hall was a bland and plain circular room, with a central hall that remained closed to the general populace. The main feature of this room was the massive pool of water in the very centre. The pool was linked to a conduit which was directly connected to the nest that existed below the island. The conduit allowed for a single Yuda at a time, and this Yuda would then be led directly to the pool''s center from where they would emerge. The priests dressed themselves with the remains of the skin that these magnificent beasts shed, treated with a special concoction whose sole purpose was to calm the creature. They would then milk the fangs of the snake, collecting the ''holy milk'' from these beasts that they believed to be their progenitors. At this stage the liquid was at its most potent and only the priests were able to handle them, to the rest the fumes alone would be a terrible problem that could seriously incapacitate them. This ''milk'' then be treated with a collection of other ingredients, certain parts of a sea king were known to be specially useful in the brewing process. The result of the mixture would simply called the ''nectar'' still unfit for consumption, this mixture would be aged and the final result was what was called the ''elixir''. Above the prayer hall was the prison, some would be of the opinion that a prison at the very heart of the city was a terrible idea, but often times the fumes that existed on the lowest level of the temple would keep them in a permanent state of sleep! The prison was a simple room, with a horde of cages that each housed a single person, at the very bottom of the cage was an open vent that allowed for the fumes to enter from the lowest level. This noxious fume could only be diluted at the second generation, if not the third, where the offspring would be capable of leaving the hollow mountain for a small period of time. Even then they would have to constantly consume the ''elixir'' at intervals for the fluid to remain in their blood at an optimum level, if not the only outcome that they could face was death! The third floor was the priest''s barracks, where the scholars of the temple lived, forever celibate. The fourth floor was the place where the high priestess currently walked, called the floor of the general, it was the place where the leader of the island, the high priestess, lived. She lived separate from the rest of the priests, chosen from their ranks by her predecessor whom she succeeded at the end of his time. The priests themselves were chosen from the general populace. When one of the inhabitants saw a ''vision'' upon their consumption of the ''elixir'' they would be selected as a priest. Returning to the public eye only if they ever became the high priest. The fifth floor, was a mystery to all but the high priest. Some claimed that it was her private prayer booth where she may drink her ''elixir'' and ponder upon her visions in piece, other''s claimed that it was the place where an idol of the island''s deity was kept. The high priestess was the defacto leader of the entire island and her host of advisors were all the priests, who apart from their milking and brewing also attended meetings at a fixed date every year to decide the way the island was run! ************** Terrick took a deep breath as he looked at the limp form of his hostage. At first he was not sure what she was saying, but now, The Entire Island was a Fucking Pub!! The people drank their days away, and the ones who drank so much that they started hallucinating would end up becoming a part of a defunct bureaucracy! This place was literally ruled by a group of drunk men and women! Terrick sighed ruefully as he asked Breta for the plans of the temple. He had to sneak into the place before the crew was forced into becoming an unconsented citizen of this damn crack house! "Plans, what plans?" she asked as she looked confused at him. "You know like the blueprints of the place. How does one go from the first to the second floor? What shifts do the priests work? How can I enter?" He asked rapid firing a collection of his questions. "How am I supposed to know? Do I look like a damn priest to you?" She said sounding as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Terrick looked once more at the huge windowless structure and bemoaned his fate. "I guess my only option is to get in there and sneak into the priests room. If I get one of those guys then all should be fine." he muttered to himself as he thought of his situation. "Why are you even here?" Breta asked finally bursting out with the question she had been keeping to herself. Over the course of the interrogation she had noticed as his knife went farther and farther away from her neck, at this point she was confident that she could at least ask a question of her assailant even if she could not escape. "You crack headed fools kidnapped a few of my own. So I am getting myself some revenge." he said simply. "So you want to go to the second level?" She asked in conformation. "If I have to." he halfheartedly answered as he straightened up looking at the huge and imposing building. Breta looked at him in surprise and just as she opened her mouth to ask another question she could not help but hear the murmur of people get closer. "Run!" She said as she held onto her nameless kidnappers clothes and began to run off the roof and onto another roof¡­ 88 This is so surprising that I must go for a swim! Breta jumped through the rooftops of the buildings in the inner circle, as she did she could not help but cuss at herself. Terrick ran next to her, a confused expression on his face. She had just helped him escape, for no reason that he could fathom. He had kidnapped her! And she was helping him run from her own people! ''What is going on¡­?'' Terrick thought to himself as he remembered the time he had gotten recruited. Breta on the other hand, ''What am I doing? I knew I had too much to drink! God damnit Breta stop doing stupid shit! Fuuuuuck!!'' a hamster that resembled her mind cycled quickly and repeatedly through these thoughts. and yet, she still ran. Somewhere deep within her a spark of curiosity had been lit, a spark of curiosity towards this strange man. She had heard tales of the outside world from her mother. While other children of the island heard of the glory of the fragrant temple, her mother had told her of an open ocean, a tall mountain that touched the very skies and a plethora of interesting and new concepts that she had never again heard of. "Oi! Where are you taking meeee?" Terrick said, being dragged down off the tiled roof halfway through his question. "To the outer circle! You won''t be troubled too much there!" She called over her back, still running. "You know we don''t have to run right? No one is following us." Terrick said, sneaking a few looks behind his shoulder just to be sure. "The inner circle is too dangerous for someone dressed as weird as you are!" She snapped back relishing the sense of control she felt dragging the poor guy behind her. "How long to get to the outer circle?" "Do you want to swim there? if not wait for it.." And so he waited. They ran in relative silence after that. They avoided most people on the streets below by running onto the roofs, getting down only in places where the fog thinned. Terrick looked around him. He had not seen this part of the island yet. After he had gotten on he had assumed that the entire island was populated with the same monotonous buildings. Only now did he start to see a certain level of variation. The thin cobblestone path had expanded, changing from a matt black to a more demure blue. At the corners of the streets stood tall lampposts. On these lampposts was a small bag like structure from which a glimmer of light could be seen. The road no longer was just a simple straight line, instead it curved on itself nicely, the houses dotting its sides stood empty. "Why are there no lights inside the houses?" Terrick asked as he looked carefully at his surroundings. The lack of people tingling his sense of suspicion. Of all the places you picked to sneak into, you chose the most populated place on the island. " She replied lazily as she made her way over to a small house. With a look around she began to climb its walls, the weird jagged design of the walls making it an easy target. She motioned for him to follow with her hands before trudging onto the fag end of the wide maroon roof. "The east sector belongs to the scholars." She motioned towards the place that they ran from. "The west is for the soldiers. At the end of that turn there we shall come to the separation gate. It looks much like the island gate that exists on the outside of both circles. After we cross that we can go onto the outside circle." She finished as she looked over at him. "Why are we going to the outside circle? My friends are here, I need to rescue them." Terrick said looking over to the only person he knew on the island. "We need to get to the outer circle to get you a decent plan. I know of a friend who says she knows a secret way to get straight into the fragrant temple. That''s your best shot, and honestly, you don''t like remotely like an islander. You won''t be able to fit in." She announced decisively. "Why are you helping me?" Terrick asked, looking at her with steely eyes. This question had been plaguing him since she had dragged him along. "You look like excitement." She replied simply. Terrick merely looked at her, this was an important job that he couldn''t afford to screw up. He had no intention of losing the people that he called family as soon as he got them. He had no time to screw around with random people. After all the things he had heard from Breta, a sense of desperation had welled up In him. At this point he would willingly jump into a trap if it meant that he had a single chance of rescuing them. So, he did the thing that all desperate people would do. He took a chance¡­ *************** Somewhere out in the empty sea a single sailor could be seen on a ship cussing his mind out. The ship didn''t even drift for a second and a look of pure helplessness could be seen in his eyes. Lorean grumbled darkly as he faced off against the dark and deplorable sea. The only clue he had on the people that had kidnapped his people was the Amazon lily. The only known settlement that existed on the calm belt, but they did not ride the Yuda the same way that the mysterious women had. They were one of the few islands that he had been interested in back when he lived with his father. He had read up extensively on their tales and cultures. He knew all about them and that was why he felt this hopeless. They were on the other part of the fucking red line! With a damning sigh he looked around him once again, a part of him wishing against all manner of deities that existed for his observation Haki to be the voice of all things, but to no avail. Suddenly the water beside the ship began to split, a blue head could be seen coming from under the water surface. Lorean recognized this head, how could he not, this was the head of one of the sea kings that Terrick had killed the night before! The creature regarded him calmly as it looked over, completely different from the feral predatory glare that was associated with most sea kings. A low toned yelp sounded from the creature as bubbles began to form around it, a collection of smaller heads appeared, each with their own weird looking sea king. Most of the creatures were smaller than the blue one that had appeared first, but still they all regarded Lorean calmly. A strange sense of calm and serenity filled the air as a final spout of water burst out. There a single small pointy headed sea king appeared. It looked much like the swordfish from his previous life, but it was much sleeker in its build. It looked regally at the man, a sense of arrogance in its eyes. Though the sea king was by far the smallest there was the other creatures bowed down to it. A soft sound began to hum from its sides as its mouth spread into a simple smile. "One horn has spoken very highly of you.." The serene voice said as the sea parted. The sword headed sea king had spoken, and as the records would later say, the pirate captain was so flabbergasted he fell into the sea. 89 Allies in unlikely places! Lorean groaned softly as he twisted the water out of his shirt. In all the records that he had read, he had never once come across a sea king that could speak the same way humans could! At this point, he was quite sure that the library that he had been so confident about was a dastardly sham! There was no way that a place that was the core of one of the strongest associations of people in the world did not have knowledge that anyone with a little luck would be able to find out. The sword snouted fish looked on with a patronizing amount of amusement in its emerald green eyes, a tiny quirk of its head the only sign of the inner laughter that it was undoubtedly indulging in. With a soft sigh Lorean got back into a serious mood, "At another time I would have probably been astonished by the fact that you could speak, but at this point that is pretty much the last thing on my mind. So I''ll keep it simple. What may I do for you, and what will I get in return?" A somber gleam shot through the thicket of black hair covering his eyes as he carefully regarded the creature before him. A simple hum seemed to sound from the lean creature before him. "Quite direct I see, much unlike the other gill-less ones that I have come across. My proposition is simple legged one, I wish for the retrieval of a certain other legged one from the famed and cursed nest of the bearded folk. For that I shall grant you permission to command a meager school of the ones you see before you." He said in a supercilious tone. He shook his fin, seemingly praising himself for the serious manner in which he had conducted himself in. "Ho? This sounds interesting. But I am not yours to command so brazenly sea king, I shall go to the place that you call the nest of the bearded folk to rescue my crew but that has nothing to do with you." Lorean said calmly for he did not want to accept the proposition of someone without trusting them. Maybe the sea kings would decide halfway that they did not wish to listen to the words of a human, maybe they would not even show up. Or worst of all maybe they would decide that they were hungry enough to take a bite out of his back. Lorean was not keen on fighting a battle on two fronts, unlike many other characters that he could name. The sea king froze in surprise, looking over at him with genuine curiosity, that could have been a feral rage too, seeing as Lorean was not too qualified to read the expressions off the face of a fish. "You intrigue me gill-less one. Why do you deny my aid? You obviously look to be in need of it? Isn''t this like ''giving a hand to one in need'' as your race claim?" He asked. "Interesting gill-less one. No one has denied the great Tiamat before!" The sea king called out in a monotonous voice. "Ho! Who''s that?" Lorean replied unconsciously as he pulled the raft towards the ship''s side with an oar in hand. "Me. Was it not clear from the manner in which I spoke?" The one now identified as Tiamat said. "Beats me. Anyway ''Tiamat'' since we were unable to come to a deal why don''t you clear the way so I may go. Since the Yuda are a race that antagonizes your own, will I be at least be given a bit of information as to where the nest is?" "If you agree to our agreement than I could show you?" Tiamat responded leisurely as it saw the angst which Lorean had begun to display in his walk. With a small sigh Lorean looked at him, the seriousness of the situation had not been lost on him. He had only tried to wiggle his way out of owing this strange and mysterious creature that no one so far had seemed to have encountered before. It was unknown, and that scared him. "Ugh fine! I shall listen to the entirety of the demand we shall discuss as we move." Lorean declared, hoping that the creature would speak long enough to lead him to his destination. "So be it." The creature responded. "The first thing that you must know about the place you are headed is that it is breading and nesting ground to the creatures that you call ''Yuda''. As in every nest however, there must be a ruler, a leader. While we the royalty of the sea chose not to congregate with the spawnlings, the venomous creature do. In every nest of the foul ones you shall find a whole host of old Yuda. The oldest of them all invariable often is also the strongest. Since they predate on the sea folk, the nest in this stretch of the sea is also the home to the biggest nest of the foul beast." At this point, Lorean had already begun to look grim. An anxious look had overshadowed his eyes as worry for his crew began to increase. A cruel glimmer remained in the eyes of the sword headed fish as it looked at Lorean from the side of its eyes. The fisherman and the fish had changed places, and with only a few more words it would be time to reel in the net. "As such, the only reason that there is no open conflict between the bearded folk and the undersea royalty, is because the venomous creatures no some amount of moderation. They do not hunt for sport and do not ever consume more than they absolutely have to. Unfortunately however, since the hunting ground has become such a bountiful harvest for them, their numbers have only increased!" At this point Lorean opened his mouth. "Then why do you need me? Since they are such a threat and because you can obviously command your fellow sea creatures to a certain degree why don''t attack the nest?" "heh!" Lorean received the first outright laugh from the creature a savage gleam and a hint of helplessness in its eyes. "That is because of a simple reason. The nest lord that lives in that foul basin is old. He is old enough to have grown to crumble a mountain in his embrace if he wished. In fact the ones that now swim alongside the Yuda are alive only because of him! They venerate him to an extent where they built an entire island on him!" 90 Sea king = Sushi "He is what!?" Lorean roared uncaring as to how loud his voice had become. "You are telling me, that the leader of the nest is the fucking island?" No amount of cthulu had prepared him for the visceral revelation that he had been given. If before he felt a certain level of ease to storm the island of the Amazon like women, now he felt only a sense of dread. No one he knew save for his father had the ability to do substantial destruction to an island all by his lonesome. Heck even the notorious buster call did nothing but level the island! Frightening yes, but these were two different levels of terror. To pierce the scales of the gargantuan snake alone he would need the ability to make a strike that weighed more than a house! However strong Lorean was he would be unable to defeat that kind of monster. Even with the augmentation potion he would be unable to dent the damn thing, and his crew had gone somewhere like that?! "Than what is even the point of this endeavor? That snake alone would be able to hunt your entire race, why does it not, and why are you gutsy enough to poke that sleeping dragon?" Lorean asked, a humble tone rife in his voice. "Peh, Dragon? Don''t make me laugh!" The sea king said with a barely concealed surplus of disdain. "That sort of large serpent is only terrorizing to creatures such as you and these spawnlings! He might be strong but he cannot hope to match your race''s top powers! As a race that yours treats as equal in strength if not stronger, don''t you think that the undersea court would be able to deal with it easily?" He asked with a hint of self righteous pride. "Then why don''t these strong sea kings take action?" Lorean asked curiously as his boat cut through the placid water. "For the same reason that the goliath bearded one does not go out to hunt! They are asleep! Hibernating to be precise. The older a sea creature gets the longer it has to sleep! Since the gill-less ones that live on it provide it a constant stream of food, why would it bother to ever truly wake up?" Tiamat finished his monologue as he looked over at the human. "Wont allying with you alarm him into waking up?" "Of course not. At the level of strength that he possesses there would be no reason for him to attack a small force of spawnlings. He would not even care too much as long as the nest does not go completely empty!" Tiamat said with a serious and confident voice. "This human that you want as a part of the deal, who is he? and why do you want him?" Lorean asked quickly changing the topic as he calmed down. The island destroying threat would not make a move, that was sufficient to alleviate the sudden stress that he had begun to feel. A conversation seemed to happen between the two sea kings, unfortunately however Lorean was not privy to this conversation. "The man that we require is a fairly well built fellow, he seems to have either green or blue eyes and always wears black¡­..No wait¡­. the colors that you humans perceive seems not to be the same that we regal creatures do¡­" Tiamat said, quickly justifying his races colorblindness to the inferiority in the human visible spectrum. " He has a scar on his right cheek.. Find him with that!" Tiamat said. Lorean could not help but glance contemplatively before jumping to his feet. "That''s Terrick! What the fuck do you sushis want with my crew?" *********************************** Terrick gasped in cold air as he looked over at the well built man in front of him. The man had black dreadlocks streaming on either side of his head. A small grin on his mouth and a faint dimple on his left cheek. His green eyes stared at Breta kindly as he beckoned her forward. "Did our deer Breta finally get a friend? By the divine snake it has been a long time! But I must say, since I retired from the inner circle it seems that the clothing of the soldiers there has taken a change a tad more sophisticated! If I was told that the soldiers would begin to emulate outside wear then I would have stayed on, if only as a way to combat the monotony.." He bemoaned as he gestured to a leather chair. "The usual?" He asked as he looked over at Breta who nodded. " Anything for you, young man?" he asked as he looked over at Terrick. "No, nothing thank you." Terrick replied with some measure of politeness. The man nodded simply before walking into another room. "Just let him do his thing.. That''s Bruma, a retired soldier from the inner circle. He''s the friend I was talking about." Breta said as she introduced him under her breath, she looked carefully at Terrick''s face as she nodded. "Breta, what brings you outside here? The last time you decided to visit was when close to a year ago!" His voice echoed from inside as the clanging of pots and pans sounded loudly. "No reason. Just wanted a favor." She replied nonchalantly as the man walked out with a glass of water in his hand. "Well color me surprised! What could an outer circle citizen like myself possibly do to help you?" he asked smiling pleasantly. Breta took a deep breath as a serious expression appeared on her face. Had she not told Terrick of the kind of man that her ''friend'' was, he would have already began to panic. "First off, I must congratulate you, there would be no way that the inner circle''s soldiers could possibly change attire.." She began. Bruma''s kind face dropped into one of surprise, then understanding before settling on guarded. "This man here is Terrick. An outsider. He wants to rescue his friends¡­." Bruma inhaled sharply as a look of realization made its way onto his face. "You do know what you ask me right?" He questioned simply. "If what you ask of me goes through the punishment that you would face is catastrophic. Are you willing to bear it girl? Your mother gave you to me to take care of back when she was alive, are you willing to take a chance and throw away all that she gave to you?" "Yes." She answered simply. Bruma looked deeply in her eyes before sighing in defeat. He looked at Terrick sharply, "I know this girl, if it was not you, it would have been another person, she desperately wishes to go to the outside world and as her guardian I cannot find it in my heart to deny her that chance. Nonetheless outsider I have a price for my service, when you are finally able to save your friends, I want you to steal from the head priestess a vial that she hides in her room. You shall find it in her quarters, and if any harm comes to her then I shall find you outsider and flay you like I flayed many sea kings in the past ¡­" Terrick nodded seriously before doubling over his shoulders towards the smiling Breta. "What''s the plan?" "Oh! That''s simple, we role play as priests!" 91 Surprise senior citizens! Terrick groaned as he put a hand over his nose. He had been suddenly assaulted by a terrifying scent and could not help but retch slightly. That coupled with his airy outfit that he had donned at the behest of his colleague left him sufficiently jittery. He wore a simple brown vest, opened at the centre making it look more like a pullover than an actual shirt, and a similarly brown striated skirt that was lined with what looked to be tiny thin bone, giving it a much needed weight and an aspect of control that was unexpected in a pair of apparel . Both had been made of leather and were once clothes that Bruma wore, now no longer fitting the tall and broad chested man. Breta, who stood next to him was not in a better situation. A dull grimace adorned her thin face as she looked at the path they had to follow with thinly veiled disgust. Bruma looked at them a hint of amusement in his eyes. His expression quickly fell back to the drab locale of seriousness however, as he looked over at his charge wistfully. "Honestly a part of me wants you to have nothing to do with this mess girl. But I know, if not now then next time. You will definitely try to escape¡­ " He said as he looked at her, his eyes stalling slightly on hers before he nodded in finality. "I hope this plan of your shall succeed¡­" This he said to Terrick. However much he had accepted the situation, he could not help but feel the sting of anger towards this young man that had encouraged his ward into such a reckless endeavor. Terrick nodded at him, a trace of gratitude in his eyes." For me, my crew and Breta I hope so too old man." He said before walking into the green sewer filled alleyway. Bruma nodded before he turned around and briskly began to walk back towards his home. He had done all that he could,'' anymore and I may not have the resolve to follow through.'' He thought to himself morosely as he walked away, the fog quickly covering his retreating form. Terrick crouched down, giving his satchel a once over as he rummaged through its contents, ensuring that it had all the things that were of necessity. Quickly from its inside he pulled out a simple thread band that he immediately tied to his waist. He used the band to tie the satchel in a plait in his skirt, giving it a layer of invisibility, that along with the fact that accessing it was easier than it normally was, left Terrick feeling a certain level of joy in his otherwise ridiculously undefended clothing. "let''s go" He said looking over at Breta seriously. She nodded in agreement before walking casually into the ankle deep algae rich water. "What is this anyway? I mean I thought that the island was devided into circles, now I am told that there are a few paths that lead straight into the center of the inner circle, what''s going on?" He asked. The material here looks to be the leftover calcified remains of a long ago occurred shedding! Bruma used to tell me that when the Yuda shed in the open sea, their skin would make its way here, and if left for long enough could become as hard as most rocks!" She hypothesized, clearly unaware of the entire dynamic of the unpredictable pathways. "How does the island usually deal with these kind of routes?" Terrick asked, for he remembered Bruma telling the duo of the relative secrecy accompanying the route. "Well since these paths spawn so randomly and often times lead nowhere, the island doesn''t usually care about them unless they actively come across it. Then they usually close them.." She said, quickly using her hand to steady herself at the sudden incline that the path had begun to undergo. Terrick nodded before looking over at her. "Don''t you think we should start hurrying it up? there isn''t anything here that we need to be worried about, and the slower we go the more chance that we fall down and break something in this thrice damned slippery floor." Terrick announced looking over at Breta. With a nod the duo began to move faster, the water sloshed against the soles of their feet and the slippery algae would give them both nightmares over the course of their journey.. ****************** "God bless¡­" The sluggish tone of an old and bearded man echoed out as he raised his head out of a vat of clear liquid. Next to the white robbed drunk, stood an equally old women not as drunk, but no one in their right mind would dare to call her sober. "Stop drinking the elixir old Tyr or I''ll have to drag you all the way to the quarters again¡­" She called out in an irrationally loud voice. Tyr and Belogna were the two oldest priests in the entire temple, unlike their younger contemporaries, they were in charge of the fermentation process of the entire batch of drink, they were too old to decently milk the Yuda and too feeble to work the breweries. Thus they had been assigned here, a place where the only chore was to look aimlessly at the walls the entire day, only breaking to eat and take a whiff off the top of the barrels before the day would end and they would return to their quarters. The duo could thus not be blamed for spending the entire day, drinking. "Oh! Sod off old haag.." the man drawled as he slumped over the wooden cask hiccupping silently. Suddenly the vents that surrounded the room began to jingle slightly. The sound of annoyed huffing echoed through the hard brown vents. The tube above the largest cask began to shake, the striated cap began to shimmy outward before noiselessly swinging outward. A pale face poked outward, stiffening almost immediately as it stared into the startled eyes of the otherwise drunk Belogna. "Jimmy out man!" A voice hissed from inside, before the face tumbled outward, body and all! 92 Leaving the chapter that comes just after the Doflamingo figh I made a mistake........ So im gonna post it here... Anyway my apologies.. /(*_*)/ [____] ********************* An explosion of cataclysmic proportions shook the broken island of Minnon, as shockwaves spread through the stormy sky separating the dark clouds. The sun shone with abject joy as the as rays of light pervaded the wreaked land. I groaned in pain as I felt the effects of the serum begin to wane. I hobbled over to the downed fatty, before repeatedly kicking his arm, and swearing at him. "Get up you fat lump of flesh!" I roared as I glared at his stirring form "The captain''s still not surfaced go rescue him or something, imma go to sleep¡­" I moaned as my vision darkened, my knees buckled as I collapsed next to the now awake boy. a slight grin lit up my face as I lost consciousness. ''We had survived!''. Sorren groaned as he got to his feet, a shiver ran sown his spine as he beheld the chaos around. He had heard the last words of his crewmember and a wave of shame had overtaken him as a result. A worried frown creased on his brow as he ran toward the blurry ocean. He sighed deeply, before jumping into the salty water. He was looking for his captain, and he hoped nothing was wrong with him. Bubbles flushed out from his mouth occasionally as he made his way deeper into the water, the ocean green water picked at his heart strings, and he would have stayed to marvel the beauty of the sea, had he not been barreling towards his uncertain-fated captain. At the bottom of the sea, among the wreckage of the previously docked ships lay an injured man, blood seeped from the myriad of cuts adorning his chest and upper limbs, as a tranquil expression adorned his fascinatingly unblemished face. Sorren reached toward his unconscious captain, marveling at his ability to stay alive under-water, as he strenuously tugged the knocked out man to the surface. A tired groan rose from Lorean''s mouth as he regained consciousness, before staring in awe at the ruins of the once jolly city. "What...¡­.. happened?" he questioned with a moan as he witnessed Sorren tend to the fallen Fawkes''s injuries. "Fatty, what happened to that idiot, why are my clothes wet, and why is the port ruined¡­?" he questioned. Another groan rose, this time from the fallen Fawkes who looked around him, unable to move. "Ha...¡­.The captain forgot about the fight!" he chuckled light heartedly as he proceeded to narrate the order of events that had taken place during Sorren''s brief moments of incapacitation. It bobbed in the sea breeze nonchalantly, as if gloating at the trio''s misadventure. "Captain¡­ you can''t be serious!" Fawkes moaned, upset by the blatant lack of funds that had been showcased by the man. "You expect proud pirates, who did away with a Warlord to boot, to sail in a dingy vessel like that!?" he said annoyed as he stubbornly glared at the captain from his position on the cracked ground . "We don''t have a choice.. Doflamingo''s crew might be here any moment, and as we are now....we''ll probably die instantly.. Fatty, go! " he said somberly as he motioned Sorren with his eyes to follow his earlier commands, before he promptly collapsed on the fatty''s back dragging his feet behind him. Sorren nodded silently, running to the downed form, of the now dead pirate as he ruffled through his torn shirt pockets and disposed of his body, throwing him into the river. He prepared the boat and hauled the injured duo on board, where Fawkes promptly fell asleep and Sorren tended to his captain''s injuries after untying the untrustworthy vessel. Fawkes'' broken axe lay next to his sleeping body, as Sorren''s medical supplies lay next to his kneeling form. "You''re not at fault you know¡­" Lorean began as he gazed at the now insignificant speck that used to be Minnon, that now shone dully in the horizon. "Anyone would have collapsed in that situation, heck even Fawkes, who trained under the second in command to a former emperor level figure fainted for a major part of the battle, let alone you, who was trained more to be a doctor than a fighter¡­so don''t beat yourself up¡­" he finished as his light-blue eyes met Sorren''s uncertain black ones. "But captain¡­you didn''t collapse! However hard the situation got, you went head-to-head and toe-to-toe with a Warlord of the sea! And even Fawkes who was knocked out for most of the fight, contributed when we most needed it! Me on the other hand, I got carried through most of the fight, the only note-worthy thing I did throughout the entire affair, was drag you out of the sea! And you could have done that yourself too, had you been given enough time!" He bawled as tears silently fell from his otherwise tiny eyes. "Aha! That''s where you''re wrong! I would never have been able to get back to the surface, had you not pulled me up!" Lorean began, "You see, I can''t swim¡­." he confessed sheepishly as he rubbed a hand through his matted, wet hair. "Captain you don''t need to try that hard, I mean which pirate doesn''t know how to swim?" he said as he rubbed his barely visible eyes with his thick fingers. "I choose to digress, little fatty. This Awesome, astonishing, awe-inspiring, amazing, uh¡­.uh give me some more word-Ahem, Yes! I don''t know how to swim! Or rather, I can''t swim¡­" he said. "Huh!" was all Sorren''s response was, to that rather alarming declaration. "Yes, you see, imma devil fruit user¡­." Lorean finished as he relished the look of surprise on Sorren''s face. "Ehhhh!?!!?!!?!" a loud shout echoed through the barren air in the ocean¡­.. 93 Fooling senile people is no fun! "Head priestess! the preparation for the festival has begun!" A soldier called as she bowed deeply to the young brown skinned women. The high priestess looked over at her, a hint of fatigue barely concealed in her eyes. Before her was a host of different items, a few piles of smooth leather and a black piece of charcoal. She had obviously been caught taking care of some paper work. "I see. Fine I shall call the priests to attention. Get the Yuda and assemble in the eye, I shall address the newest recruits and bring them over." She said as she got off her hard chair. With a small moan she began to stretch her back that had begun to pain from hours of stooping over and staring at the irregular print of coal on leather. "It shall be done, high priestess. What of the sacrifices? Do we awaken them so they may offer their last words now, or do we do it as we sacrifice them to the world eater?" The soldier asked, emotionlessly waiting for the command that he knew would consign many people to death. "Do it, so we don''t have to deal with their begging during the actual festival! " She said as she dismissed him with her hands. "Merla! Come in! I have a task for you!" She shouted, calling in her apprentice. With a shuffling sound and the creak of the door, a pink haired girl walked into the room. Her pale face and black eyes seemed to gleam in veneration as she looked at her teacher. She had been chosen as the youngest disciple to any high priest or priestess before her back when she had first entered the fragrant temple, and had been groomed to govern the island ever since. "Teacher, what do you order of me?" She asked as she bowed. "Go and collect all the priests, it comes time for the appeasement festival and all the priests must be in attendance! Get Balogna and Tyr to help you organize the lot, they probably know all the priests by name, I want them all to assemble in the third hall so I may address them." She said before dismissing her as well. As her pupil walked out of the room, the high priestess glared balefully at the huge pile of papers on her table. The sheer quantity coupled with the fact that most of these reports were written by people who had not been truly taught to write had at many times caused her to oftentimes feel a level of rage that made her go crazy. She pulled up the piece of coal that lay on her table before vengefully stabbing it into the pile, only to once again feel a sense of anger at the fact that the leather was stronger than the coal and thus did not suffer at all. A few more minutes of stretching and venting later however, she once again regained her expressionless fa?ade as she walked out of the room. **************************** "How come I don''t remember you?" Tyr warbled out with a sense of confusion. His voice had long taken the tone of a drunk man who had more alcohol in his body than blood. As soon as the duo had fallen off the tubing, Terrick had already readied his needles in secret. He had been told by Bruma that any priest was allowed to bring another into the fold, and seeing the old man''s advanced age decided that it would be a good idea to con him into being his guarenteer. Breta too seemed to have arrived at the same idea as on the other side she too tried to convince the old women to the same. The drunk couple seemed to be at a loss, trying their level best to remember but only arriving at a blank. "If we recruited you, what were you doing in the tubing?" the old women called out, a sense of suspicion in her tone. "We got lost?" Breta said before Terrick could stop her. The people in the room seemed to all come to a halt at the same time, the old couple seemed to be petrified and Terrick was lamenting in his heart how his compatriot did not know how to lie. ''At least believe your own bullshit women!'' He roared in his head as his back began to perspire crazily. "Oh, that makes sense!" The old man said as he took his hand off the cask that he had been using as support to touch his chin, promptly falling down in the process. Terrick unconsciously grabbed his falling body as he looked strangely at him. ''Who drinks this much? Are you insane old man?!'' Balogna too seemed to have taken the excuse as she nodded along. "Humm, then tell me your names so I may remember, I have never forgotten a name!" The old women announced grandly. "One and two!" Terrick answered quickly as Breta gave him a look. "Hmmm, I''ve heard of those names before.. You must be a part of the fold after all!" Tyr called from Terrick''s hands as Balogna nodded along. ''they''re senile! Damnit I don''t even feel proud of conning them now! There so drunk that if I called myself a god they might actually believe me!!'' At this time however the door to the room opened hurriedly. On the doorway a pink haired young girl looked over at them. The girl seemed to wear a perpetual scowl as she looked at the two old people, not even sparing a glance at Terrick and Breta. "Old Tyr! Granny Balogna the head priestess ordered you to gather the priests for the festival! Get to it!" She roared out bratily before sauntering out of the room. Terrick and Breta looked at each other carefully. ''Had they been found out?'' 94 Guess that poke-cough A dull sigh echoed through the halls as the high priestess looked over the host of priests assembled before her. She gazed at the eyes of her subordinates, a small feeling of warmth in her heart before she opened her mouth. "Young acolytes and old veterans, it is that time again. The time where we celebrate the past and pray for the future! The festival of the snake father is upon us! It is time for us to feast with the world eater. For those new and inexperienced, the world eater is the island''s patron, and it is time for us to honor him once more! The feast has been placed before his eyes and the time for the supper draws near. Lay your minds to rest and bow in deep penitence so our home may continue to prosper as it has." She said as she looked at each of the priests before her. Her eyes roved through the hall giving everyone a cursory glance before she smiled. "Merla! Step forth. Balogna step forth! Tyr step forth! You three shall go to the feasting halls and aid the soldiers prepare for the festival. Gather the priests under your name and chose a few to aid you. At the strike of the midnight hour the festival shall begin!" Then she had turned her back on the priests before her and walked through the dimly lit hallway behind her. A Sharp yellow light seemed to shine on her back giving the young priests an illusion of a stable mountain. On this island the head priestess was supreme. What she said was the law and all she did was for the benefit of her people. As she exited the room the empty podium was immediately claimed by the young Merla. Her eyes cut through the group before her as she glared. "Teacher might not have warned you of this thus I shall take it upon myself to do so! Tonight is a very important night for her and I, and anyone that puts even a toe out of line, mark my words redemption shall be swift and terrible!" Then with a derisive snort, her glare redoubled. "What are you all waiting for, scuttle!" Balogna and Tyr looked at the fleeing backs of the many priests, a serious expression on their face. Behind them stood Terrick and Breta, now called one and two. They had arrived following the old duo and had stood behind them throughout the entire thing, even pushing their way to the front of the group when the duo were called to the podium. Merla turned around with a savage grin, happy at the amount of ''respect'' that she was accorded. Suddenly she caught sight Terrick and Breta hiding behind the elderly couple and snarled. "What are you doing here? Did I not tell you to scram? Run and get back to work maggots!" She roared at them not caring for the old couple in front of her. Merla glared at him with a nasty glare. She had been chosen as a student to the high priestess and still, her teacher often trusted these old bag of bones more than she trusted even her! It was infuriating, and every glance she took at these old people was another reminder to her of this. Her young immature mind could not understand her own position, and had at many times assumed that the priests, who she was also a part of where her inferiors. With a curt and violent nod she walked off in a huff, once more huffing at the apparent lack of respect. Tyr turned back to them with a kind smile. "What did you say your names were again?" Balogna glared at him, "You old coot, it''s obviously ¡­" And she quieted off, forgetting their names as well. Terrick looked at them, suspicion hidden in his eyes. ''How could someone that senile possibly be trusted so much? Where they faking it? No, their pulses remained stable throughout the entire exchange, and they truly looked clueless¡­.What is going on?'' he thought to himself. "It is one and two, old seniors¡­" Breta answered them, before looking over at them with a smile. "Now then weren''t you both planning on taking us to the feast hall?" ******************Angella groaned in pain as she slowly stirred. The world around her seemed to shift scarily as a weird smell assaulted her nostrils. She could barely make out a shadow that stood over her, as her head began to ring. With a small lurch she bent over, candidly spilling her guts of the food that she had consumed last. As she looked up, her vision clearing, she could make out the silhouette of a man. He had taken a step back hastily when she had begun to puke and stood there calmly. With a small groan she looked over at him, finally his image began to clear, and she could make out his features. The man had blonde hair and a generic face, a scar ran alongside his temple and a tuft of shaggy hair hung down mangily from his chin. "Outlander, calm yourself." He called out in a baritone voice as Angella situation finally came to her. She felt a weight on her hands as sea stone cuffs held them tightly. Her feet too had been bound with the same material, and she had begun to get flashbacks of her time in slavery. A few minutes of hyperventilation later she rasped out. "Where am I? Where is the crew? Scipio, captain?" The man looked on mirthfully before smiling. "You are on the scale island. The land blessed by the serpents! Be proud outlander, for you are to do something worthwhile in your life. You shall accompany the world eater in his feast, be honored!" Angella glared at the man darkly, hating the patronizing tone he had begun to use. "I have no use for this honor take it yourself and let me out of these chains or I swear to god-" And she was interrupted by the sound of a door. A moody young girl walked into the room, glaring darkly at the soldiers. "The time for the festival draws closer! Stop fraternizing with the food!" She bellowed out as she began to wave her hands at them. "You there! Come here and help tidy up the pool! You light up the halls and gather the banners¡­" She began ratting out orders, standing still in her place and drawing herself up to her full height. "Stop dallying!" With a deep sigh the man who had awoken Angella nodded before walking over to her and beginning to work. This had given Angella time to observe the room. The walls were made of a strange substance that gleamed in a nasty yellow shade in the light of the hanging torches. The room itself was a very long and open one. The roof opened out to the outside sky, the hole wide enough to fit a decent sized marine vessel, and a tinge of pink fog overtook the entire place. At the very centre of the room a wide pool had been placed, directly below the opening in the roof. The pool could only be a few feet high barely even reaching to Angella''s knee, but an eerie feeling overtook her every time she looked at it. In front of the huge pool was a vast pavilion like place with a huge carpet that was rolled all the way from the pool to the small unassuming entrance. A dull whimper suddenly sounded as Angella quickly snapped her head to the side, at another corner to the room she could see the tied up body of a boy. Angella immediately knew who it was. "Scipio are you alright?!" She called out, completely ignoring the scathing glance that the young girl at the center of the room shot to her. "Silence!" She barked out, again being completely ignored by Angella. The door slowly creaked open as another two bodies were brought in. It was the unconscious bodies of Fawkes and Sorren! The men that brought them in quickly dispersed to either side of the room, tying Sorren on her end, and placing Fawkes on the other. The soldiers tied the two to a hook in the wall before cuffing their hands and legs. Then reaching into their armors they brought out a small glass before force feeding the contents to both prone participants. Angella looked on in horror as the duo finally began to move, a collection of seizures wracked their bodies before they began to groan. Angella took a deep breath to calm herself as her mind ran at a quick speed. Suddenly the door cracked open and two old figures walked into the room. One an old women and on her side an equally old but exponentially more wrinkly man. Behind the two another two people followed. One a brown skinned black haired women, and on her right. It was Terrick! 95 Bubble bubble toil and- cough The water frothed around the solitary mountain as a host of feral sounding growls sounded softly into the night sky. The pink fog did little to shroud the pale full moon that glowered down at the blue sea. On a small dingy boat a young man could be seen expressionlessly looking at the mini whirlpools that surrounded his boat. His black hair camouflaged with the inky blackness of the night sky. His blue eyes pierced through the noxious fog, not a single movement in his body otherwise. At the front of the boat a single solitary sea king could be seen towing the small raft, it had blue scaly skin and a solitary horn piercing out from it head. Its wide mouth seemed to be open in a permanent glower, it jagged teeth gleaming softly in the pale moonlight. A snobby voice echoed from Lore''s side as a small and lean sea king made its way out of the water. "The young''uns are ready. We swim on the nest on your order. Do not disappoint me scale-less one." The only vocal sea king said. "Sure. Thanks for this Tiamat." He said, still somewhat caught off guard at the amount of authority that the young sea king could muster. He had said that he would provide Lorean with an army and had come through at a level that had far surpassed his expectations. "Are you sure that these sea kings will do as I say?" He asked as he clenched tightly to the holstered dagger at his side. "Yes. For the last time scale-less one. These young''uns are more than willing to participate in the upcoming campaign!" Tiamat snapped, his patience fraying at the level of disbelief that his statements had been received with. The boat swayed gently to the side as more uniquely designed sea kings poked out of the sea. At he forefront of them all stood a gawking red scaled eel like sea king. "Humph. Gather, and at his command charge toward the mountain! You tear any snake that you come across, and flee if you come across the nest patrons!" Tiamat said, his voice carrying outwards. He had spoken in the human tongue for the benefit of Lorean, for sea kings understood both the tongue of the surface and the more guttural screeches of the undersea peoples. Lorean nodded, unperturbed at the level of attention that the predators gave him. He had been told the motivations of the sea king''s and the reason that they decided to aid him. They merely wished to lessen the influence of the nest patrons, the ones that stood in command when the nest father or mother was inactive. On their words the Yuda had been expanding outward uncontrollably, far outweighing the lands that had been allowed as per some agreement that Tiamat''s elder had made with the old snake that housed the mysterious island. Nonetheless Lorean was happy with the aid that he had been provided, any help was better than the foolish scheme he had cooked up to infiltrate the mysterious island all alone. "Let''s go." and with that the boat zoomed forward heading closer and closer to the solitary monolith, flanked on all sides by gargantuan sea kings at a somber pace that bellied the eve of the conflict that was about to begin¡­ ************************** The high priestess had had it up to the tip of her nose with the number of complaints that she had received about her disciple, now wondering what had possessed the little docile girl so curious about the ways of the world eater. Now all she could look at was a gluttonous abomination that had become drunk on the highs of power and fantasy. With a deep sigh she cradled the bridge of her nose, cursing the rules once again for their strict regulations on the high priestess, once a disciple was chosen almost nothing short of death could rescind the position. A dull thud sounded softly as Merla pushed open the door to the ritual hall, a fawning expression on her face as she lead her teacher forward. "Teacher, all the acolytes are gathered, and Balogna reports that the things are ready to be served to the world eater." She said, a barely hidden hint of glee at mention of the acolytes, who just prior to the arrival of her teacher, she had taken great pleasure in disciplining for a reason she had not yet thought off. An expressionless nod met her expectant gaze as her teacher took to the center of the room, looking closely at the various faces before her, before looking at the five prone and tied up figures that stared at the entire setup with a level of hatred that would have made the high priestess flinch were she not used to it. "Acolytes," She began her voice magnetically attracting the attention of the entire room. "Today is the day that we honor the world eater. The holy deity that has protected this island since its very inception. Today is a day of thanks for the care that he has shown us. Today is a day where we look upon the one that has blessed and cares for us from the shadows! Today we dine at the same table that he dines upon, drinking holy elixir when he drinks the blood from his quarry, where we eat the meat of his foes as he swallows the sacrifices that we place before him." A round of nods went around the room, even those that had never heard of let alone seen the world eater nodded piously. "But remember. Though he is our caretaker, we must not forget humility. These people-" Here she motioned to the tied up forms of the crew unknowingly causing one Terrick to clench his fist beneath his sleeves. "These people are the currency that we shall use to curry the world eater''s favor! Accord them the same courtesy that one would accord money. " She finished grumbling in her mind at the level of incomprehensibility that spread around the room. Merla glanced disdainfully at the tied up figures, the only thing that stopped her from going up to them and spitting on their faces being the stern face that her teacher was making as she talked about another ''life lesson'' that Merla had never been forced to learn. "Let the ritual begin." She finished before turning around and bowing deeply to the pool of water that she had stood before. A priest''s figure walked to her side, a sacrificial knife on a platter in his hand. The high priestess took up the dagger amidst the silence, resolutely cutting into the palm of her hands and letting the blood drop into the pool before motioning for her disciple to do the same. Over the course of the next few minutes, the gagged form of the five crew mates looked on in morbid fascination at the priests that walked one after the other to drop a drop of blood into the clear pool. As the final person dropped it in, the high priestess once more began. "With the ocean of blood we shall summon him, and with the bodies of his prey we shall welcome him." The water in the pool began to churn as a faint tremor began to permeate the land. Suddenly the doors burst inwards, a dull and breathless Yura holding the sides of the door frame with pale hands, "Edda, high priestess, the island is under attack!!" 96 Arrogance, o what a sin.. The water slathered against the hard rocky walls of the mountainous outcrop leaving dark stains on the reddish brown rock surface. The various entrances into the hollow mountain stood battered against the inclined slope, sieged by a horde of sea kings. A soft whistle sounded through the air as a group of men and women started to stream out of the island, followed closely by the cacophonic sound of scales rubbing against a rock surface. "The first wave is here!" Tiamat roared as he glances leisurely from the back of the mob. "Get into gear you all, kill as many of the snakes as possible and incapacitate the scale-less ones to the best of your abilities, I don''t want to overly antagonize the people that hold my people hostage!" Lorean called out sharply from the stern of his dingy boat. ''Not to forget that the more blood that is spilled the more likely that these fishes go rabid. The last thing I need is to have to deal with blood crazed sea kings hot on my ass¡­'' Swiftly he jumped off it running into the center of the mob of humans that had streamed out of the cave and expertly smacking the sides of their temple with his dagger''s pommel. A courageous women jabbed at him with a spear, aiming for the center of his shoulder. With a quick turnaround he pulled one of his daggers close to his chest, using its sharp end to redirect the blow before quickly dashing into her chest ramming hard into her clavicle with his shoulder. With a soundless swing he brought his hand down on the top of her head, using the butt of his small blade to crumple his foe. Instantly he turned around, running into the host of enemies. To his left another spear jabbed out with deft movements. With a barely concealed smirk he held onto the spear''s neck pulling at its wielder before kicking out with his left leg catching the man in the chest. With his stolen spear Lorean then proceeded to make short work of the disorderly militia, stabbing into a group here, and dislodging a group there. As the thicket cleared, he shot a glance toward the sound of subdued roars and pained hisses. The prepared sea kings made short work of the Yuda, obviously the snakes had long been used to ambush and sneak tactics. They had been completely dominated by the more violent sea critters. Further, their lack of naval mobility became painfully clear, most of the snakes had gotten in each other''s way, more than anything else and had played the role of an internal saboteur better than anyone Lorean had ever seen. With a simple nod in the direction of the blue sea king Lorean moved inward. The creature had obviously caught his drift as it swiftly followed him in, baying at its feasting companions to hasten their eating. *************** "Edda, enemies have crossed through the outer wall and have taken into the inner lake what must be done High priestess?!" Yura reported panicked. "Calm yourself Yura, explain the situation properly!" The high priestess called out turning her back on the frothing spring in the center of the room. Angella and Fawkes stared at each other from across the room, surprise evident in their eyes. Immediately they looked into the crowd almost instantly catching the eye of the equally alarmed Terrick. "High Priestess, the sea kings have come to the doorstep of the hollow mountain, A whole Horde of them! They attacked the outer wall and sacked the passageway that led into the inner lake they come for the island now! On their head is a black haired man riding what looks to be a broken boat!" Yura snapped all politeness disappearing from her tone in favor of panic and fear. In the course of her decently long life, she had never once come across such a scene! For as long as she could remember she had been lead to believe that sea kings were merely dumb savage beasts that lived in the sea, only now that she had gotten wind of their presence just outside her home did she question her previous assumptions. With a calming sigh the high priestess looked over at her, "Collect all able bodied members on the island, gather them in the outer circle! We must protect our home!" She said in her imperious voice, many would be fooled by her tone, only a select few hearing the odd tremor understood that even she had been shaken as Yura had. "Balogna, Tyr! Awaken the nest and gather the Yuda!" She called out before turning back into the room. "At any other time, the ritual would have held the most importance, but seeing the current events, I am sure that the world eater shall allow it! Acolytes, retreat to your dorms and pray for the island!" She called out, in her haste forgetting the prisoners that lay tied to the walls. Rein could be seen perspiring his dilated eyes flitting right and left, fear evident in the way his body curled to the side. "What of the world eater? Surely he will protect us! I say that we continue the ritual so that we may welcome him when he returns from smiting these foul trespassing bugs!" Merla called out in her first act of open defiance of her teacher. A fanatical gleam could be seen in her eyes as she gazed contemptuously at the group of priests before her, open mockery at the fear that they displayed. In her eyes, the world eater was strong, he would protect them. Among those that he protected she was the most important, after all she was the high priestess apparent. The high priestess looked over at her sharply, "Regardless, we must protect our people! The world eater is a deity he can wait." "Teacher are you implying that the world eater will not act in our protection? I am sure that he will protect us, this must be a test! And even if a few dogs of the outer circle perish he will come for us, and that is what is important!" She said before kneeling before the frothing pool and going silent. Breta could not help but swallow the bile that rose in her throat. Had it not been for Terrick holding tightly to her hands she would have snapped at the kneeling figure. This was betrayal! The high priestess took a deep and calming breath before looking at the soldier standing awkwardly at the gateway. "Go, protect our people!" She knew that she had been pushed under the bus, with this one action she had doomed herself, for after this situation calmed down she would be charged for her insufficient faith, tried by her own disciple and probably fed to the dastardly snake that held her island captive! 97 This is war! part 1 With a thud the world shuddered anew as a soldier limped passed the entryway. He had been part of the first wave that had been taken out by the sea king onslaught. One of his hands lay limply to his side as a trail of blood trickled down it. A vein of worry had found its way into his mind as he walked, he had seen the savage brutality that the infernal sea creatures reveled in. He had seen the cruel and bloodthirsty way that the man that led them cut down his disorderly militia. At this time he could only pray for his people.. As he neared the end of the tunnel he felt a renewed gust of fear and worry as he peered through the thick pink fog. He could make out the vague silhouettes of the foul and terrifying creatures as they waded contemptuously towards the island. At this point he was aware of how moot it would be to raise the alarm, nonetheless he had to do it. Any forewarning was better than no forewarning. So with a heavy heart he limped to the side of the cave, using the last of his energy to feel for a chord. As his body fell forward he pulled. Through a veil of pain and a cacophony of fatigue he heard the sound. The ringing of the knell¡­ ********************* Bruma walked through the streets worry evident in his eyes. He looked around him, into the eyes of the hurrying residents of the outer circle. With a sigh of resolve he shot one final look towards the inner circle, ''Be safe girl..''. Suddenly a gonging sound shattered the cold and somber monotony of the outer circle. At the periphery of his hearing he heard the booming sound of the warning knell. The huge gong had never been rung through his entire term of office, yet, now it did. And as it did the retired veteran could not help but fell a dread that he had thought that he had abandoned on the field. As the heavy sounds rocketed through the ears of the hurrying people, a glance of surprise was shot out. The children who had been used to the rather lack of interesting things happening could not help but begin to grin in happiness. A naked sheen of excitement in their eyes. They did not know what the knell implied, that knowledge had been stripped from their schooling back when he had graduated. With a deadly ignorance they celebrated the coming of the enemy. The adults that often curbed their flights of fancy could not help but smile begrudgingly. Ironically it was not Bruma, but a captured citizen (As the ones that were caught and forced to live here were called) that first understood the dreary circumstances that surrounded the bell, for it was not the first time they had heard of it. It was the same mechanism that their own previous homes had employed in the case of invaders, to warn off violent visitors and prepare the noncombatants of the coming storms. One by one the others too understood the deadly catastrophe that would befall them. Bruma stood transfixed for a minute before he dropped the contents of the bag he held in his hand in favor of jumping onto the biggest crate that he could see. "People calm down! Organize yourself!" He roared as he attempted to take charge of the unruly crowd. The children looked at the panicking adults in surprise and a layer of concealed worry, this was the first time that they had seen such a level of terror in the eyes of the adults. Luckily for Bruma a swift force of soldiers walked briskly towards them. They held a spear in their hands and a curved shorts word tucked in a small sheathe in their tunic. One of them nodded to him thankfully, obviously glad that she didn''t have to deal with a mob of disorganized and terrified people. She had her hands full dealing with her own group, of which a few looked particularly worried having either never travelled out of the island''s borders or never faced an actual threat. The others looked slightly better though they too looked like a spring ready to leap into action in a moment''s notice. "Thank you." The women in charge whispered to him before taking his place at the top of the crates. "People of the fragrant island! Calm yourself and in an orderly manner walk towards the gate to the inner circle. A temporary shelter has been prepared there and the rearguard unit has been assigned to your protection! My men shall accompany you in dealing with them! " She called out in an authorities voice before swiftly getting off the crate and nodding to a group of armed men and women. "If I may." Bruma began, "In the outer circle are the retired force of soldiers. It would be a good idea to recruit them to both lead these people towards safety, the more able ones can be used to bolster your forces." He said. Though in his time working as a soldier he had most definitely out ranked the women before him, at this time he was a civilian and the last thing he wanted to do was overstep his boundaries. Thankfully the women nodded with a thoughtful expression. "That does indeed make more sense. This is the first time the island has ever been attacked, it is better to be safer and better prepared." She said before pointing to the women that would lead the escort squad and relayed a set of complete orders to recruit any able bodied veteran to help in the effort and quickly return to the front lines. The olive skinned women nodded with a stern expression before quickly falling back in line with her subordinates and marching away. "It would be better for us to be properly introduced to ease communication. I am Squad leader Alva." The women said, crisply announcing her name and rank as soldiers were taught to do in training so as to save time and clearly explain the hierarchy of power. Bruma nodded with a neutral expression. "Wing leader, Bruma." he replied causing Alva''s eyebrows to raise in surprise before she stiffly nodded at him. With a brisk pace she began to walk towards the outer circles gate, her hand quickly reaching into her pocket to pull out a transponder snail. Though the island was overall quite isolated from the outside world, the army had still decided that it would be better for its people to at least have a means of communication amongst them. It had been a hard fought battle against the adamant voice of the head priestess but at the end the general had won, re equipping snails that they scavenged to arm their own people. Even then only squad, squadron and wing leader were allowed to hold these auditory machinations. "Reporting. This is Squad leader Alva. The residents of the grey sector of the outer circle have been dealt with, further as per the suggestions of ex wing leader Bruma, the units below me shall recruit veterans of the grey sector to help safeguard the civilians, overall bolstering both the vanguard and rear guard." She said finishing her report quickly. She was met with a raspy voice muttering to itself. "Understood Squad leader. The plan of action shall be relayed to other squads in the blue and white sectors. Assuming that the ex wing leader is present, you shall be required to relay yourself to the front lines taking the temporary position of wing advisor." The voice on the other end finished before quickly ending the transmission. Bruma nodded with clear surprise. He had recognized that voice.'' To think the little lad still worked in the army, how surprising..'' ********* The head priestess bit the tip of her fingers in anger as she looked at the men general of the army. "Update?" She asked snappily for the third time that day, hoping against hope that the gong that she had heard sound in the background did not translate to the overall loss of her gate guard. The midget general glared at her, a seed of anger in his eyes as he puffed outwards. "No! Your eminence, now if you would be so kind as to let me do my job.. We are dealing with the foul creatures of the depths, I have sent my best swimmers after them, Wing leader Ifrit himself is leading them. Nothing will go wrong!" Though the general understood the anxiousness that the head of the island felt, he could not help but curse at her silently for her incessant attempts to distract him. As if it wasn''t enough the amount of work he was having to deal with, he had no choice but to babysit the toddlers in the battlefield in the form of the head priestess and her star pupil! "Insolent!" Merla began, her voice loudly raising to chastise the lower life form that she considered the general to be, only to be interrupted by the ringing call of one of the two snails before the general. "Speak soldier!" the general called out, completely ignoring the child in the control room. "Sir the vanguard swimmers have returned, they are in bad shape! Ifrit is bleeding out-" And he was interrupted by a more grisly voice ringing out in a painful whisper. "General, the wave is crazy! It is lead by a monster! That man made short work of almost all my men almost instantly, the only reason that they haven''t hit the outer circle''s gate yet is because the man''s boat got could in-between a rock outcrop in our battle and he''s trying to get it out! The wave is almost filled with those blasted sea virulents! There were bigger creatures than I have ever seen! the one leading the charge is a monster of its own, a fucking huge blue dragon in the water!" He said, wincing at intervals in his statement before choking somewhat and conceding the mike over to the man that first spoke. "General Ifrit went into shock he''s losing too much blood!" "Get the wing leader to the infirmary! Report the injuries of the swimmers." the midget general said, his voice forced into sounding calm. "Sir, its baffling, none of them save for wing leader Ifrit are too banged up. All of them are injured but not lethally. Most of them are incapacitated though!" The man exclaimed with joy possibly celebrating the ''luck'' of the men. The midget general on the other hand could not help but pale. His men being unharmed proved to him two things. One; the man that led the sea king horde had an unheard level of control over them and, Two; the man was toying with them! With a calming breath the midget general opened his mouth again. "Wing leader Ifrit shall be replaced by temporary wing advisor Bruma, man, it is your job to bring Bruma up to speed!" and with that the transmission was cut. The head priestess looked at the midget worriedly, her worry contrasting beautifully with the utter lack of interest that Merla displayed. She had utter faith in the world eater. ''He would protect them, why was this fuss even necessary?'' The midget general sighed as he looked over at the head priestess. "Head priestess, it would be better if you retired to you quarters, your presence in the control hall makes no difference. it would be better if you spent your time calming the other priests." He said before turning back to the snails before him. "Humpf at last the brute speaks sense! Teacher, let us return to the prayer hall so that we may honor the world eater, I am sure that he shall take care of these infernal cretins!" Merla announced grandly splaying her hands before her in glee. The midget general could not help but snort inwardly at the high priestess apparent''s foolhardiness. A trickle of sweat flowed down his forehead as another cacophony of rings brought him out of his revere. ''here we go again..'' 98 This is war! 2 Breakou Bruma inhaled sharply as he took in the scene before him. He had seen all manner of terrifying things in his career as a soldier, once even having to fish out an ally from the mouth of a savage sea king! Nothing over the course of that particularly gruel few decades came even close to the terror that he felt now. A huge wave of water rumbled to the sides of the circular island, silhouettes of massive feral creatures could be seen on the shadows of the mountainous outcrop that surrounded the fragrant island. The cacophony of loud cries deafened him as a host of soldiers rushed past carrying men on stretchers, their mounts not being as lucky. The front wave swimmers had been neutralized almost too easily, it was surreal! Next to him the squad leader took a deep breath, gasping at the weakness that she had suddenly been forced to acknowledge. The foe before them was too violent, brutal and savage. The air itself seemed to vibrate with the wrath of the wave of sea kings, alone their bloodlust was already palpable, together it was an overwhelming momentum that proved to the islanders why the creatures were called sea royalty. The morale of the men on the island had taken such a massive hit, and the two groups hadn''t even met in open combat yet! (A/N before you start trying to chew me out, this isnt because of some strength that the main character has, I am merely trying to look through the eyes someone that has never faced something being forced to feel the suffocating pressure all of a sudden in a massive scale. Think Rome vs elephants. ) Bruma sighed before turning around to look at the keen eyes of the information executive on the front lines. He was the one in charge of reporting the entirety of the situation on the front lines to prevent the control room from being too swamped to deal with the scattered reports from each unit. "Wing advisor Bruma, orders from head quarters are ordering you to assume position as the temporary head of the Left wing, effective immediately! We''re glad to have you on board sir!" He said as he looked over at the squad leader beside Bruma with well hidden curiosity. Bruma nodded quickly. " Summarize the situation for me soldier! Since my role as advisor was substituted with the leading post, I am lead to believe that my predecessor is currently incapacitated for some reason. I want your briefing to give precedence to the information provided by recon, the state of the soldiers and the conditional reports of the one that engaged that," he motioned harshly to the lazily advancing enemy. "In that order. I also want to be given a direct line to all the Brigand leaders under my supervision." He said walking briskly to the outpost of the left wing. The man quickly nodded before hurrying over to the information tent, no doubt to summon the various men and to compile all the information that he had revealed. Alva looked concernedly at the men and women around her, quickly getting Bruma''s attention and requesting to be dismissed, she had to return to her own squad. With a swift nod Bruma parted ways with the brown skinned women. Pinching the bridge of his nose he tried to calm down. He had forgotten the pressure of the seat of command, now he could almost feel the mountain like presence that the sea king''s emitted. They weren''t something a single ordinary man could beat. As the door to the outpost opened, the heaving informant walked in. Bruma looked at him sharply waiting impatiently for the information that the man would provide to him. "Left wing leader, Most soldiers are fine save for those that had been placed at the gateway in from the hollow mountain and a small elite unit of swimmers that previous left wing leader Ifrit had led to gain a preliminary understanding of the situation. He returned hurt, while the entire unit suffered light but incapacitating damage. The Yuda mounts on the other hand were ripped apart with extreme prejudice. None survived, I am afraid to say. No information has been pervade from the gate guard save for the tolling of the warning knell. Most of the soldiers on land are either too shaken up by the attack or filled with a sense of bravado that would prove damaging if they were deployed. Only a select few squadron leaders and all the brigand leaders are truly serious of the coming events. The morale of the armed forces are at an all time low with conflict rising between some of the lower units in favor of a destructive ''competition'' that seriously undermines the overall cohesion of the wing. Right Wing leader Rapunga has chosen to reinforce the rear guard and promises to provide forces to reinforce the mid guard as well. Secondly with regard to recon, though it was placed on a higher state of importance, I believe that it ties closely to the summarized situation, particularly of the swimmers. " Bruma nodded in understanding motioning for the man to hurry. "The enemy seems to comprise solely of sea kings with a single exception being the man that leads them." here Bruma could not help but interrupt. "Soldier are you trying to make me believe that these savage beasts are answering to someone, let alone that that someone is a human?!" He asked, a sinking feeling assailed his gut when he nodded. "A Human he may be, but as per the information that Ifrit provided, he was a monster all on his own, singlehandedly dealing with the entire human aspect of the unit all on his own. Luckily however no one save for the gate guard have lost their lives, and even with the latter no conformation has been provided. The assailing wave comprises of close to two dozen strong, with no confirmation of whether that is the full strength of the force. The man that lead that force seems to hold no specific power of the devil, though it is unknown whether he has displayed his entire strength. An alternative can be drawn that his hold on the sea kings being that form of power. The individual fighting capabilities of the sea kings seem to fall somewhere between that of a lower Yuda and a Yuda patron. A group of these creatures could deal with a singular patron though it is only a speculation at this point." The man concluded his report and huffed. Bruma pursed the bottom of his lip as he made up his mind. "The line to the Brigand leaders?" "here" With that two snails were brought out, one a dirty brown and another a mottled green. Instantly Bruma pulled the two small communication devices from the man''s hand, "You both were able to hear in on the report, thoughts?" ************** In the fragrant temple five people looked at each other from their cuffs. After the head priestess had addressed the group of priests, all of them had immediately left the room. However those that had been tied to the walls still remained tied to the walls and they were growing anxious. Angella groaned slightly as she pulled against the cuffs. She did not much like the metallic constraints on her wrists and she had made it expressly clear in her word choice. Suddenly the sound of a door being opened sounded out as two heads looked into the room, with a quick sweep the duo entered, soundlessly closing the door behind them. Terrick immediately motioned to his mouth asking his crew to remain silent. The group obliged. With a quick rummage through the satchel on his waist he pulled out a bent hairpin, with a small jimmy into the lock in the walls Scipio was free. The priests of the island had obviously never thought that anyone would set the captives free, the lock that was used was too primitive! Terrick walked quickly to the rest of the group, freeing them. As the group made their way to the center of the room, Fawkes motioned around them. "Where is this? The last thing I remember is falling onto the moldy deck of the ship, now I''m here?" Sorren nodded strongly folding his hands on his chest and pouting. "I''ll keep it short. You all were kidnapped and brought to this island to be made sacrifices. I infiltrated the island making friends with a sea king in the process and attempted to rescue you. Met a slightly demented girl who gave me the idea to play off as a priest, which surprisingly worked and here we are!" Fawkes stared at him mind boggled as Rein kneeled down holding his head and soundlessly weeping. The whole ordeal had obviously been too much for the red head. Immediately however Angella recovered, "What''s the plan then?" " The soldiers around the place have all pretty much left, so the last thing that we need to be worried about is running into them! That being said however, with our luck it wouldn''t be too surprising if things went south, so here''s the plan. All of us will split up into three groups of two with Rein going along with Fawkes. We''ll follow these routes," here he pulled out a map from the pack, letting a collection of grey and black robes fall off the top. The blueprint that he had had been pick pocketed off of Tyr, and head markings that ran through the spine of the building to the refinery. Terrick planned for them to leave the same way that he had come in! "These robes complete the disguise! I ripped them off a few priests that I stowed away carefully and should make most people ignore you. If you do meet someone inquisitive, just say that you were recruited by either an old coot called Tyr or an old women called Balogna. They should buy that. If asked where you''re going say you''re going to find yourself some elixir. If they still nag you knock them out." With a nod at all of them, he quickly grabbed onto Angella and Breta and walked briskly out of the room, the former caught pulling on the robe over her regular clothes. The frothing pool at the center of the room made him uneasy, he didn''t want to have to stay in that room more than he absolutely had to. Immediately behind him he could feel as his comrades too exited. " We need to redirect ourselves to the head priestess'' place. She has a potion that we need¡­" Terrick muttered leading the silent Angella on the route that he had charted out. Back in the room however, the frothing pool rumbled. The frothing began to intensify as the fishy smell of slime and age began to run rampant in the room. In the very center the water began to part as a red light shined outward. It was an eye¡­ 99 THIS IS WAR!3 The world eater awakens! Lorean stared frigidly at the pale pink fog, his blue eyes regarding the swaying formless walls with a hint of disdain. The water below him had long taken a red hue, parts of corpses floated silently to the surface. Gashes of brutal teeth marks glared out of the mottled green scaly outer skin of the creatures as the boat slowly cruised forward. "You know, I thought that you would be more hurried in your approach to the damn nest seeing as your precious crew are held hostage there." Tiamat drawled out, the original elegance that had surrounded him had long since dissipated revealing his interior sleazy persona. "I would have too. But I trust Terrick. This is more a show of force than a rescue mission, if it was me alone then I would have gone in quick and brutal. With the cavalry however, I am more inclined to slowly drive them insane with fear. I shall not kill a single person, I shall merely walk into their city, spit on all that they swore to protect and walk out. This shall be a message. This shall be one of the first bits of evidence to the world of the price of touching my crew. I shall make them feel so controlled that it shall drive them insane." He said. Even the sea king shivered slightly at his tone, the man was not strong but still Tiamat''s instincts screamed for him to get serious. He was in the presence of a predator. With a simple look at his surroundings he gave a nod to the sea kings one either side, there was a lot of preparation that went into looking like a presentable representation of death after all.. ***** Bruma sighed softly as he looked over the carelessly strewn papers before him. He had gotten into quite a heated strategizing session with his brigand leaders, and even after combining the minds of three of the most brilliant minds of the wing, he was still unsure of his plans functionality. The air had gotten much thicker than it was in the beginning, everyone was on edge. The soldiers wore grim looks, staring menacingly at the coming wave no doubt, compensating for the fear that they felt. The brigand leaders had given their men speeches in the hopes that it would motivate them. But there was only so much motivation that could be given in a situation like now. "Wing leader, the wave has entered the proximity of the nest, should we give the command for the frontlines to make a move?" the information officer called out, a snail in his hands. "Ho, so the general finally got the priesthood''s approval to engage the Yuda patrons? Fine send the first wave in. " He said, thankful that the divide that existed between the priesthood and the army still had not devolved to a state where one would have to harangue the other for something. This could be considered the final defense of the island so as to speak. Since the island itself was built on a Yuda nest, the nest would respond to any invasion that occurred to the land above it. Usually however, this would only ever take place if the vanguard were to collapse. Suddenly the water parted as the most anxious of the young serpents leapt forward. Its body coasted clear o the water carrying it forward with a level of intensity that could only ever be displayed by a desperate predator. Behind the first serpent another one could be seen, almost as if it had bitten onto the tale of the first. At this point Bruma had still hoped. He had hoped that the serpents would be able to deal with the wave of enemies that had appeared. His hopes however, crashed almost instantly. As soon as the first serpent came into the boats proximity the water before it split apart. With the below of water a opened maw arose, chomping onto serpents sides before dragging it forcefully into the water. There had been no thrashing. No fighting, just an instantaneous death. As if invigorated by the first of the dire beasts, the rest of the sea kings began to move. Still an almost lazy leisure accompanied their movements, though their eyes had curved into a savage light that gleamed hungrily. The water below churned uneasily as Bruma shivered. The tropic condition of the island suddenly falling into a frigid crawl reeking of blood and gore. The huge sea king that had incapacitated the first of the Yuda surfaced calmly. The serpent still hung dead from its closed maw as a trail of blood dripped downward, the creatures blue mustache like body structure taking a sickening purple. With a loud below it raced towards the huddled mass of Yuda, jumping into the mob of creatures and biting at anything and everything that it could get its jagged teeth on. The intelligence operative had never seen such a scene of contained brutality before. His mouth hung open as the snail lay limply at its side, the creature already fainted from the shock of it all. Within a matter of seconds the wave of serpents that they had been so proud of had been disassembled. Bruma felt a level of shame for ever considering these creatures as a means of somehow taking down the wave of monsters before him. With a heavy heart he pulled his hands to his mouth and with the loudest voice that he had ever used screamed. " MEN, WE GO TO WAR!!!!" ******** The eye in the room glanced around hungrily. His eyes shot around red like blood. It glanced to the left, where oftentimes its food lay tied. It glanced to the right, where many times before it had had the satisfaction of seeing the sniveling wreck of it prey. Then, it glanced to the center, where none but a solitary figure lay bowed and praying. Psh, it had no need for the cattle''s prayer. It wanted its food. It wanted its prey, and yet it faced only a small child that could probably fit through the gap between its fangs! ''Food, where was its prey? Where was the delectable scent of fear in the air? FOOD!'' The eye was furious! As it glared darkly at the small cattle that kneeled before it, its rage could only spiral higher. ''You summon me! YOU drag me out of my sweat o'' sweat sleep, and you don''t give me FOOD?! Then it is time to eat the cattle..'' The eye closed eerily as it reined in its hunger, from the side of the walls a thin strip of skin floated inward, touching the little cattle''s head. ''Only a simply turn and I will be feed, NO! This shall not sAtIsFy me..'' and so it touched her head gently, at the tip of its tongue a putrid purple fruit. "EaT!" ********** The midget general could not help but shudder lightly as the voice of the left wing leader blared through the speakers of the transponder snail before him. Over the past few minutes he had been quite literally bellowing through the damn thing. When he had just begun to believe that the thing had malfunctioned, he had heard the voice of his onetime superior. Others may not have heard it. They might have considered it a chant of glory, a final riling cry before the army engaged. But, he had heard it, the desperate undertones in the man''s voice and he was afraid. Fear bubbled through his desperate body as he felt a crushing sensation. ''They were not going to win..'' A part of him hoped that there would come a message of some death in the conflict, for that would mean that at least now the enemy had been forced to take his army seriously. At least now, the island could know that all of its efforts in grooming its soldiers, all its efforts in protecting its own would be somewhat valued. But it was not to be, for as soon as the roar of battle came through the mic of his transponder snail he was seized with a sudden fear. A cold feeling came through from his back, a feeling of a knife drawing blood, then no more. Merla gasped inaudibly as she stared down at the body below her, she could not know what seized her then, what forced her to stab the man that lay bleeding out on the floor. The only thing that kept her from curling up beside him was her belief. Her belief of superiority. A belief that had been strengthened by a never before felt rush that shot through her system. With a deranged grin she glanced loosely at the bloodied snail in the man''s hands. Her lord had gifted her strength. Her lord had given her purpose, he had given her a part of his divinity, and she would do nothing if not to extend his divine words to the heathenistic scum outside¡­ 100 This is War! 4 Mad men and women Breta felt a sense of unexplainable fear rush through her spine as she looked behind her. Her black hair curled to the side as she unhesitatingly clutched onto Terrick''s shoulder. Angella looked over at her questioningly as she brought her finger to her lips. Terrick did not glance back at her, but she could feel the clench of his shoulders as her hand touched his clothe. He had taken notice of a silhouette through the haze of the corridor. It had to be the high priestess, and she was pretty much the last person that he wanted to face at this time. He looked over at Angella who looked over at him from behind the other wall with a sense of forced calm. ''Do we do this?'' his eyes seemed to ask the thin women. With a serious nod she took point. As she did Terrick turned around looking at the stricken look that his companion had shot towards him. "What is it?" He whispered. Breta merely shook her head, hastily hiding the fear that shot through her spine a second time. This time however, Terrick too had felt something. A skin crawling sensation that blindsided his calm fa?ade. An illusion of movement appeared on the periphery of his vision. A limping figure whose entire frame was blurry as if it was seen through the heated mirage of a torrid desert. Each step seemed to shake his mind as his eyes dilated and his heart rate skyrocketed. With a double take however, the scene was no more. "Hurry up will you?" Angella hissed from the other side of the wall, not taking her eyes off the translucent veil that characterized the end of the long corridor. It seemed that the high priestess'' quarters was sparse in its design, much like the floors below and above. Its overall structure was wholly minimalistic, opting for a vibe of penitence and silence to the rambunctious cheer that had filled Angella''s life the past few weeks. The walls gleamed in a mixture of ash grey and pearly white colors, always blocked by a sway of gentle fog that had somehow even traversed into the deep end of the fragrant temple. The translucent reddish curtain signified the end of the long and frankly unenthusiastic hallway, giving a harsh contrast with its sudden presence of color. At its very top was a line of embroidered gold, stitched in the guise of a towering archway, giving the curtain a certain level of sophistication that Breta was not used to. On the other end of the curtain was a curvaceous figure, that Breta rightly assumed to be that of the high priestess. The women seemed to have her head up, and in the process of ingesting something. ''Probably elixir.'' Breta rationalized as she looked at Terrick seriously. As she peered into the curtain, the first thing that surprised her was the lack of the pinkish tinge of the air. The walls were colored in an overarching green with streaks of vermillion shooting through. At the very center of the room was a knee deep pool of clear water that she assumed to be where the high priestess bathed. To the right was a platter with a collection of meat and drink, a scanty few fruits too existed on it flabbergasting the na?ve girl of the island. At the top of the room directly above the pool was a figure of a roaring Yuda, colored in an archaic grey with streaks of black that shot through its scales. Its eyes looked to be of a strange yellow, gleaming with a level of intelligence that could only be portrayed in a master''s artwork. Its curling body was contoured by its silky black mane that seemed to shake illusion-like in a nonexistent wind. At the very back of the room was a masterful bed, with sheets made of the heart scales of sea kings, the softest and most luxurious of its materials, and layered with the same gold that existed on the curtain. In the center of the pool the high priestess kneeled, completely naked with a brownish earthen pitcher of elixir. A melancholy smile on her face as she closed her eyes, savoring the scanty and aromatic intoxication that came with the cultural drink. Her silky brown hair stood elegantly on her petite back, flowing coolly down her back. A small gasp escaped Breta''s mouth as she watched the creeping figure of her companion. Terrick sneaked behind the women, a makeshift baton ready in his hands, that he had salvaged from his side of the room. With a quick movement he swung down. Alas Breta''s gasp had alerted the women, for she whipped her head to the side and quickly leapt to her feet, an angry light in her eyes, clouded only partly by her drink. "Humpf, I should have known!" She spat out, her voice dripping with a level of venom that made Breta wince. "An outsider, are you an ally to the invader? As if terrorizing my people was not enough you sneak into my island to assassinate me? And you there, islander, why do you share hands with these outsiders!? A Traitor to your own home!" She snarled whipping her head towards Breta as, making no move to cover herself as she raged. "The invader?" Angella voiced, doubts lingering in the air as she looked confused towards Terrick who shrugged in confusion. "Humph don''t play the fool with me girl!" She roared as she looked over at Angella before doubling back at the recognizable women. "You! You''re the sacrifice, who let you out?!" "I let myself out, now then HOST would you be so kind as to explain to me the reason for my kidnapping? Are you in such dire need for brains that you have to look outside of your puny well?" Angella retorted, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she shot a look to Terrick, silently telling him to remain silent. It wasn''t like there could be anything else that could go wrong. The high priestess wound up to her full height as she growled at Angella, a barely seen gleam of guilt quickly quelled beneath the interior of her eyes. "It is your Honor, to be chosen as the meal to the world eater! How dare you!?" Once more dogma ran out her mouth as she repeated what she had been taught by those before her, and what she had in turn taught those that came after. This time it was Terrick that snorted, playfully smiling at the women. Since the time he had landed on the island he had faced the pressure wrought by helplessness, if he had not met Breta who had shown him a method to save his crew he would have done something extremely stupid. He was in dire need of a means to vent, and since the high priestess had scapegoat-ed herself so beautifully, who was he to refuse? "Anything else that you want to get off your chest, recorded or otherwise, it''s not like we''re all grownup enough to tell apart truth and falsehoods right?" He said, equally as sarcastic as Angella. A cornered feeling rose in the high priestess'' chest as she looked around her, the dealings of the day returning to attack her psyche as fear for once overtook her. Not for herself, but for her people. The pressure that it took to care for the lives of an island of people day in and day out, knowing full well that the one that they considered a deity would more than happily chomp them up. And now, faced with a foreign threat from a wave of sea kings that could just as easily flatten all that she and her predecessors worked for, proved to be too much for the women. And so in a burst of rage and released emotions she began to rant.. *************Merla hummed a happy tune as she skipped through the hall ways, a stream of blood flowing from the dagger that she clutched in her right hand. A scent of flowers flew unhindered around her as a pleasant image of a free pathway and glaring sunlight filled her juvenile mind. Today was the best day of her life, sans of course the bitter tasting medicine that her lord had made her eat of course. After she had retched voraciously she had been reborn, the world around her seemed to gleam in a volley of colors that she had never seen before as a halo of glorious yellow had covered her lord. Now she did as He had asked her, she roamed through the hallways killing everyone in sight. After all, they were all heathens. And heathens deserved to die, No? AS she walked through the hallways she saw the figure of an old man hobbling into the priests quarters. Any other time, she would have left the quarters for last. Everyone there was merely a lamb waiting patiently to be slaughtered, but now, after she saw the old man she could not help but gnash her teeth. Silently she prowled towards the senile old coot, her lips wet at the thought of killing another faker. With quick steps she had gotten behind the man, with a tap on his shoulder she watched with a demented grin. As the man turned around she stabbed towards his torso, relishing in the quick change that occurred on his face, a surprised expression quickly turning to that of panic and horror. He would have screamed, had he been less terrified. He would have run, had he been less terrified. But alas.. With a quick stroke she took out her knife, blood sprayed all around her, drops even falling to her face with one falling on her thin lips. With a small pout she licked it, running her tongue across her thin lips as a red trail followed her tongue. As soon as she was done she walked on, not even glancing at the downed man a second time. A jaunty tune on her lips as she continued on. "Heaha, serves you right heathen!" She whispered as she circled the corner, happier that she had gotten back at the old foggy, then she was a few minutes ago. Tye lay there in a pool of his own blood as he stared at the back of the retreating girl, a look of stricken horror and deep sated confusion. With one final raspy gasp his chest collapsed, his head lolled to the side and his tongue rolled out of it slightly, eyes still open in rebellion at the foul way in which he had been killed. Her bright expression suddenly soured. For before her she saw the stairs that led to her teachers quarters. The biggest faker of them all! She had sworn of her faith in Him, and yet, when times got hard, she was the first to denounce Him! Merla could not stand it! So she walked forward into that dark and dreary hallway, a sadistic smile on her lips and a creepy tune spoken out in whispers¡­ ****** The high priestess heaved as she looked around her. Terrick, Angella and Breta looked gob smacked, Terrick had never seen someone breakdown the way she had. True he had seen people breakdown, but they had all been on their knees begging for their lives with tears in their eyes. She on the other hand reminded him of the look Lorean had on Ohara when he had seen the destruction that the marines had caused. With a deep sigh the high priestess finally settled down, through her spiel she had begun to feel cold, now she wrapped her hands around her bare chest trying not to shiver. "So. What do you want?" She asked in a cold voice glaring at Terrick. "Meh, we heard that you have a potion that we need. We came to get that." He said looking around trying to find the object of his search. Suddenly Breta began to shiver, the chill that she had previously felt returned, harder than before, her spine seemed to curl up on itself. Terrick paled immediately moving. With a quick movement he jumped onto the high priestess and amidst screeches of indignance and rage, pushed her into the water of the pool bending his head at the same time. Just in time too, for as soon as they ducked into the water, a screech sounded shadowing a thrown projectile that looked very similar to a kitchen cleaver. "O Teacher~~ Where are you~?" A sweat and sick voice called out as the high priestess'' student walked into the room. A crazy look in her eyes and an eerie smile on her face. Though she looked like she usually did, her face seemed off, her smile seemed to be a tad bit too big, her eyes with shadows that danced deranged in the background of the soft hazel that on any other day would have reassured all that looked at it. The thing that gave her away though, of course other than the obvious, was the trail of blood that flowed leisurely from her hand, as if on a vacation. Of course that could be true seeing as the blood on her hand once belonged somewhere else. "I''m here to kiill youu~~~!" 101 This is War! 5 Clash: The youth challenger and the unknown veteran Terrick snorted as he ran through the hallway, in both his hands were the bodies of his two companions. At this point he had gotten quite sick of the number of times that they had been incapacitated and promised himself to do something about their resistances after the entire situation blew over. The high priestess ran behind him, a rough towel thrown over her torso hastily. Terrick could only marvel at the women''s speed, concluding for his own self esteem, that the faint poison in the atmosphere and the deranged room freshener chasing them had addled the air in such a way that it caused him to slow down. "What''s going on..?" The high priestess muttered, a level of pity for herself that Terrick now shared. At this point he was quite glad that he hadn''t been born in a line of heirs, dealing with the bureaucracy of management had left him reeling. "Run now, complain later!" Terrick quipped, offering his heart felt advice. At this point some of you may ask, why he didn''t move to tranquilize the Rafflesia earlier. To that, Terrick''s answer would be, an unknown devil fruit that could neutralize targets from a distance posed too much of a safety hazard to be challenged without prior preparation. If only he had that thing called Haki down, he was sure it would have widened his arsenal but that was neither here nor there. As they rounded a corner, a deranged shriek sounded as the scent in the air got heavier, the fruity texture of the aroma drawing heavily on a primordial sense of disgust that temporarily caused for Terrick and his semi naked follower to stop in favor of dry heaving. The scent tickled at their noses bringing images of rotting corpses and hordes of worms to the fore as an accompaniment to it. "God¡­Damnit! ..Devil fruits are bullshit!!!" Terrick spat, his tongue immediately picking up on the noxious fume that his nose had been a party to and decided to transmit it to his brain as a separate taste. Now Terrick was both heaving and retching and he couldn''t decide what was worse. "o teacher~~" The singsong voice of the defiler of their noses rang from the corridor as the deranged harpy walked through. With an audible smack of her lips she looked over at them. "A pleasant scent is it not?~" "God damnit women! I''m going to file your for raping our nostrils!!!!" Terrick roared as he held onto the wall for dear life, a single hand on his bellowing chest attempting to cool his hyperactive system. "Silence maggot!" She snapped clicking her fingers at his direction. A visible stream of yellowish rotting air could be seen around him as he collapsed. "Have a smell of pure and putrid fear!~~" She said with an evil witch laugh. Terrick felt his whole world churn as he kneeled down, his face grimaced in an ugly shade of purple as his eyes grew unfocussed. ''Endure until you get used to it!'' ****** I looked at the wreckage that i had personally committed, my hands clenched at my side as I saw the retreating forces of the of the soldiers that had attempted to stall me. The sea before the island at this point both looked and tasted like the metallic pungency of blood. "Hehe, here is where we part ways, gill-less one. Your quarry is much further into the bowels of this beast. We shall stand here and hope that those foul patrons appear here. Go" Tiamat said nodding appreciatively before turning around and shooting a scathing look at the water below. I nodded in agreement briskly journeying into the placid field that once beheld my battleground. The head honchos of the army had been dealt with, only those either too scared or not part of the armed force having been left. With a small grin I shadowed them. I could see their tear stroked face, and would be lying if I said that I did not like it even a little. This was a reminder to myself, of what was the result of those that touched my family. I had seen my mother die before my eyes, and the last thing I wanted was to relive that experience. The building at the very beginning were very small, monotony seemed to be the key quality of the entire island if the entrance was anything to go by. I had seen a transponder snail buried in the rubble, its shell caved in as pieces of cloth from the tent held it in place. I had done quite a number on this place. With brisk steps I walked through what looked like schools and markets quickly passed by. ''Color me surprised! Not a single casualty.. However inefficient they are in dealing with an actual invasion it''s good to know at least, that they don''t completely suck'' I thought as I casually bad mouthed them. Good. In the end of this rood I could see the fog physically thicken. That meant that I had come to the second wall. The second wave, and if the army''s mobilizations was anything to go by, it was going to be a last ditch effort! Over the pinkish fog, I saw the call of armed men. They were assembled in neat cells, each with a level of sophistication that their sea faring counterparts could not hope to match. It wasn''t that they sucked overall, it was only that they placed too much trust on their scaly mounts! Uncaring of the situation I was in, I lightly tapped my palm with my fist. I had cracked the enigma that was the island! "Surrender now and you won''t be killed!" A voice called out over the enumerable sounds of chattering. The man that gave the warning sounded weary, and who could blame him. His men were more terrified than his one lone enemy! "With the dignity that mine name of Rapunga grants I shall guarantee it!" The man continued. Seemingly scared that I would not accept his proposition without his reassuring. "Unfortunately I can''t accept your surrender!" I called back, my face immediately falling at the lack of sense that my statement made in the grand scheme of things. "Ok screw it, Imma kick your ass. You ruined one of my ''most sought after dialogues''!" I called out. Noticing of course the amount of silliness that I had begun to display. But after the amount of venting that I had accomplished I could not help but feel a level of freedom that I had only ever felt before Ohara. The man seemed to choke on his next statement, before hastily biting out an attack command. But it was too late, I had already propelled myself into the unprepared militia. With a swift draw of the dagger hung on my torso I launched onto the first person I could get my feet on, spinning around his neck and ramming the dagger''s base into his skull. With quick movements I propelled off of the guy, jumping on the now panicked groups heads ramming down the heal of my foot every chance I could get. The man identified as Rapunga cowered in a tent in the back, peeking out from a dull black tent that bordered another exquisite gate with an equally exquisite veil. On his side was an older man, obviously evacuated from the front lines gnashing his teeth at me as an aid whispered into his ear. I had a vague inclination of him, remembering him as the one that gave the order to retreat before ''boldly'' standing up to cover their retreat only to be knocked out by one of the other soldiers that I had left unconscious in the front. Suddenly the man leapt forward, the crowd wading away from him as he headed towards me at an appreciable speed. I snickered at the sound of a few of the soldiers sighing in relief before immediately jumping out of the way as the man barreled into the place that I once occupied. "Bruma." he announced calmly as he inspected me. "Lorean." I replied with equal seriousness as I prepared myself. I felt a sense of danger from him, on a much lesser scale than Doflamingo nonetheless higher than most other foes that I had faced. In fact his presence felt a lot like Kuzan, so I had to take this seriously. The man was armed with a simple army grade sword that he immediately unsheathed. No armor covered his chest and torso, though a small scale mail covered his waist and groin. He looked like a conventional berserker, if a berserker were to wield a blade of course. With a quick movement of my wrist I pulled out a second dagger from a sheathe on my thigh. Immediately the two of us propelled forward, at almost the same time. Though I as the leaner and sprier of us made it to him instead of meeting in the middle. Dexterously I stabbed forward, feinting to his neck before hastily ducking the wide swing that he had just performed. With a twist of my foot I whipped around aiming for his exposed side, the man brought his left hand down quickly, his elbows aimed at my face. Instantly time seemed to slow, no more of my coy playful attitude remained. Only a keen focus of mind and a earth shattering excitement coursed through my veins. My knees buckled on command the momentum of my rush carrying me around the parry as I swung around the descending elbow. My blade now aimed at his arm pit, seeking to de-arm him. With a sway back the man avoided again, the blade grazing softly against his shoulder. With a swift turn he brought his leg up aiming at my temple, his sword moving independently to stab into my eyes. With a quick (Flash Step), I slithered to the side, my leg shooting out aiming to make the man fall on his back. With a swift jump over my leg he avoided, he had jumped using a single leg! And it was fucking stable to boot!! His sword zoomed downward, shooting at my. The air in front of it collapsed closer, making a pink projectile charge fool hardily at me. With a spin to the side I doubled my speed. Every other step was a short distance flash step. The first step took me straight into his exposed chest, the blade hung loosely to his side as he dodged. Then he brought his sword down hard, both hands on the pommel for the first time in the fight. I could feel the pressure mount in the blade as it hurtled to my shoulder. If it landed it would cleave through it and possibly half my body as well! I swiftly stopped my movement, I would be unable to dodge the move and continue my onslaught so I braced myself spreading my legs and gaining as much of a balance a I could. My daggers moved upward, and as soon as the two weapons met it twitched to the side. The weight of the sword could not help but pull the attack down, with a ringing noise the blade slid of the end of my dagger as I shot the other towards the man''s throat. We were at an impasse so far, and I wanted to break the stalemate. 102 This is War! 6 Bite off more than one can chew Bruma chuckled softly as he held the shallow cut on his neck. If the blade had made it any deeper than he would be on the floor bleeding out and breathing his last. He looked appreciatively at his opponent, a level of respect for another person that he had only felt for a few others. "I must ask out of blatant curiosity, why am I still standing now? I know you held back with that last attack, but even then, I''m sure that what you displayed isn''t your true strength." He said as his eyes gleamed. Lorean opened his mouth to answer before quickly clamping it down. These people had a leverage on him that he did not feel like admitting to a stranger. "No reason old timer." Lorean quipped before looking at him sharply. "Unless you want me to actually attack you? I don''t mind doing that, but I don''t want to waste too much time so I''ll go all out if I have to." He warned as he looked at the cowering men with a guarded expression. He was mostly just acting strange on purpose so the opposition did not make out any of his goals through some form of super deduction. He did not know if that was a thing and wasn''t too keen on finding out. "Wing leader what are you doing?! Attack him!" The cowardly pile of refuse that was Rapunga called out, hurriedly clutching the pole of his tent, visibly quailing at the tempestuous glance that a few of the men who had retreated from the front line shot at him. Lorean raised his brow at his annoyed opponent, uncaring of the remarks that some other outsiders decided to throw out. With a defeated sigh Bruma looked over at him. "Well, you heard the man, and though we''re pretty much equally qualified, he still makes a whit of sense. If I don''t stop you now you''ll go on to terrorize the inner circle. I can''t allow that. So please" And with a motion of his hands he brought his sword back up. "You first." Lorean nodded mostly mute and indifferent to the entire situation. "Well you asked for it, so let me kindly oblige!" With a sudden shift in expression his back seemed to straighten up, an invisible aura seeming to begin its emission from his person. The men around him recalled as an irrational surge of fear shot through their bent bodies. With a feral roar of stirred up wind he released his conqueror''s Haki. A wave of aura blasting out. Everyone that the aura touched crumpled down, a few unwilling the rest unaware. The only one that still stood was the man that he had been facing. And even he was wound up in a level of anticipation at the eventuality of the battle. "Hoh? You did not fall? I was quite sure of my Haki. Well all that means is that I need to train it harder, and it''s been quite a while since I let it free so why not?" Lorean said, the later parts of his sentence more to himself than his enemy. As he came into range of his younger foe, he suddenly felt a weight that he imagined could only be felt if one were to hold up the sky press onto his back. With a groan he fell to his knees, the momentum of his charge scraping his kneecaps on the floor. The pressure around him was suffocating. As he looked up, he could see a faint silhouette of a faceless figure that glowered down at him. With a surge of Haki the figure seemed to rise, and as Bruma lost consciousness, the last thing he saw was the gleam of a single eye judging his very existence... *********** The eye in the room had turned inward, closed, patiently waiting for the smell of blood to become appealing enough to make a move. Its thrall had begin to move, cutting through the chaff with ease, but it wasn''t enough. The eye was hungry, so hungry.. The most it could do was savor its fantasies of sweat and soft flesh that would melt between its teeth. Usually it would not bother to move, simply opening its huge gullet to swallow all that was sacrificed to it. But it had been awoken, yet no one fed it! These insects simply waved blood and gore over its closed nostrils before taking it away! IT was Infuriated! The eye shot open, gleaming with a madness that a man would only ever see in the eyes of another who had been forced to cannibalism to survive. FOOD! As the water level surged the eye seemed to pierce through the wall. Through a fog of memories it remembered. The face of its thrall, the smell of the thralls flesh, the smell of addled breath over its open maw. If possible it grew crazier, but a hint of sanity had returned to the solitary eye. With a lazy swirl of its lens it closed shut, calming its hunger pangs. Moving would be too much of a hassle. It would wait for its thrall to appear before having a feast! The solitary eye in the room slowly opened up, a mottled green hew that bellied an intelligence that was frightening. But as it did, it felt a swirl in the air, a new scent! A tastier scent! With intrigue it shot open fully, the pond no longer being water, instead fully comprised of a single solitary eye. As it did an invisible aura sought to free itself from its long seized body. It remembered this aura, it could not possibly not respond! All thoughts of food had left its mind, as from the deepest recesses of its mind a command to move appeared. The old fossil began to churn outward, its limbs that had remained stationary for centuries finally twitched. As it twitched the nest that it housed felt turbulence in the water behind it. The patrons of the nest moved in unison like they had all been given a command. The nest father could not be moved! ***** Tiamat felt a turbulence in the water as his gills flattened at the side of his head. His instincts screamed at him, and just as quickly as it began it quieted. the illusory waves that it had felt in the water began to become corporal as titanic figure appeared from the bottom of the island. The patrons had arrived! With a screech Tiamat warned his fellow kin, stretched his neck and glared menacingly at the approaching force. As the first patrons face breached the front of the water the sea kings charged, a duo squaring off against a single serpent. Tiamat himself leading the charge and getting a first hit on the hard scaled snake. His pointed face sharply pierced through the grayish brown scales on the creature''s head as hateful red eyes glared back at him. With a sharp snap of his teeth he circled around the form of the snake tearing at its skin. Around him all the other sea kings too attacked. Not letting the gargantuan snakes even fully recover from being bashed onto, they fought them with a fervor and vigor that curbed the snakes'' momentum. The one that Tiamat attacked with another eel-like sea king with pink scales finally roared, its voice tearing through the air and seemingly signaling to the other Yuda. As a collection the others too roared, invigorating the savage sea kings , for they took it as a display of pain. But that was not to be. The attack might have been able to threaten the younger Yuda, but it was only scratches to the older ones. The onslaught had at this point served only as a point of annoyance. Had it not been for the target of the sea serpents being on the island , they would have charged right back at the sea king horde. Their fangs sinking into their soft juvenile scales and their venom melting through their innards. The patrons were not called the fiercest of the nest for no reason. As the leader finally brought itself to its full height, it had the satisfaction of seeing its attackers cower, well most of them, the smallest still seemed keen on antagonizing it. With unreal speeds the patron Yuda shot forward, its jaws salivating as it spread wide enough to swallow a sea king whole! Luckily however, Tiamat seemed to have expected that. With a mighty twist he swam out of the way, quickly jumping over the serpentine arc to savagely bite onto the shaggy head of the serpent. Now the snake screamed, not out of anger or annoyance but out of pain. As Tiamat had bitten onto the snake''s crown, a younger and bluer sea king had snapped harshly onto its neck. With a twist of its head the blue sea king brought the older Yuda twirling around, foam and sea spray bursting through the air as a whip lash noise echoed out of the place where the serpent made contact with the water. Tiamat held on for dear life, his death grasp not letting up. The huge tumult that had overturned the Yuda had also brought him closer to the snake''s brain, and Tiamat was desperate to partake! With a final bellow of aggression the blue sea king curled itself around the Yuda''s neck, clenching its only limb hard around the weakest portion of the scaly monstrosity. The Yuda balked as its jaws were forced open by the sudden force, long enough for the pink eel like sea king to surge forward and bite into its soft and weak tongue. Then with a mighty heave it pulled outward, dragging the pink thin piece of meat through its twin gate like teeth and below its mean jaw. As the Yuda began to rise, the blue sea king quickly uncurled itself, biting hard into the weak scales and into the more tender muscle beneath. As it fell the outer scales were peeled back and the Yuda screeched. With a final bellow of rage, Tiamat who had been nibbling at the snake''s head finally reached past the skull. The eel like Yuda screeched outward as sparks began to fly off its tail. With a quick motion Tiamat jumped off the monstrosity and flopped into the foaming water next to the panting blue sea king. With a crackle of electricity through the eel''s body the serpent arced backward, a strong smell of burnt flesh and alcohol began to spread through the air. With a final week bellow the Yuda fell, its eyes closing in pain as it roasted. Tiamat glanced around him, his eyes staring at all the other Yuda patrons that still swam in the open waters. ''Don''t bite off more than you can chew they said¡­.How smart¡­'' 103 This is war! 7 Temple run! I glanced behind me for the last time as I walked through the gateway. The men and women that had once stood against me now lie on the floor frothing at the mouth. Over the course of my time in this world I had seen many weird things, enough in fact to forget all that I had held as common sense in my previous life, and of all the powers that I held, this was the most frightening. I remembered, when on the island that grandpa owned I had asked my father why he almost never used his conqueror''s Haki. His answer resonated with me to this day. He had said, " Conqueror''s Haki is the most wild of the three aspects of the self, it is the most uncontrollable. It is precisely for this reason that barely anyone ever awakens it. Even those who awaken it often don''t master it. Heck even I, have a minimalistic control over the damn thing. I might be head and shoulders over everyone of my generation with regards to the other two, but my mastery of Conqueror''s Haki can be barely said to be at the level of old whitebeard. This type of power is rare, feral and savage. It is almost assured that someone who overuses this type of Haki will at some point get so high on it that they consider themselves to be gods! You might be strong, brat, but know this no one is unbeatable!" As I took in the sight behind me, his words could not help but enter my mind. With a sigh I walked through the veil that divided the outer and the inner circle, this entire island confused me so much. I mean, after Tiamat had told me that the island lived, my mind was already blown. But after that I had noticed something. There were no serpent tracks that existed within the outer circle, but as soon as I entered the inner circle, there they were. Staring challengingly at my face. Somehow those snakes entered here but not there, and that confounded me. Was Tiamat lying when he said the monstrous Yuda was asleep? How else would this be explained. With a deep glance around me I gave up on trying to understand it. And with a renewed vigor ran through the empty streets heading towards the center of the island¡­ ******* Fawkes grimaced as he walked the corner. A part of him went out to his travelling companion, but another more rational bit wanted to do nothing but clock the fucker on his head and drag him through the pristine halls. The man did not shut up! Over the course of his stay on the island, Fawkes had already gotten an inkling to how talkative the man was, but only now did he realize that what he had seen was only the tip of the iceberg! Half the things he said didn''t even make sense for god''s sake! Like what was a pachinko machine whose slots were filled with different colored and structured monsters? What was a tactical pencil, and what the fuck was a sensitive dildo?! Fawkes was always the man on the crew that was the most calm, him and the captain seemed to have descended from icicles with the level of calm that they displayed, so for Fawkes to have snapped, especially at someone he knew was not a part of his crew startled Rein. At first a flare of anger had shot through his stomach,'' I mean it wasn''t like I wanted to get into this situation!'' he wanted to yell. But then he got a look at Fawkes'' face and he shut up. Though he covered it well, his fa?ade had long begin to crack, his ever present grin had evaporated and his gentlemanly aura had disappeared. Fawkes was genuinely shaken. True he had had a sad past, there had been many situations where he had been placed in danger. Heck Doflamingo had been more of a nerve wrecker than this island was, at least in its intimidation factor. But that wasn''t it, Fawkes had been involved, actively in all those situations. Though often his decision hadn''t mattered, at least he had been allowed to make them. For a man that was raised on the concepts of Freedom, being kidnapped didn''t sit well with him. Being used as a tool, struck him with an uncomfortable feeling, and being strung up like some kind of pi?ata had him cursing mentally. This was the most mental stress that he had felt since the departure of his father! To top it all off he had to babysit someone that he hadn''t even known for too long, as he was the only source of ''hold it together we have a job to do'' that he could find taxed him more than having to deal with Sorren ninja-ing into the ship''s kitchens to steel food. Rein took this all in, and for possibly one of the few times in his life felt tongue tied. His time on the ship had been quite taxing, if he was asked by someone about it, he would yell every synonym of ''Hell'' all the while hastily backing away and praying to god, but it had begun to grow on him. Especially as he was aware of the alternative, I mean, he would choose hell to solitude any day right? Through his time on the ship, he had met so many unique people, where he was from, children ran through streets in joy or sat cooped up in a tower Repunzel style trying to learn all their parents threw their way. Here, he had seen children be doctors, actually caring for patients with a level of professionalism that would have been lauded in anywhere but Drum. Of them all however, the one that Rein had truly come to like had been the man in front of him. The invulnerable Fawkes! The man always had a smile on his face, he had been the idol of a true and tested older brother! Never too overbearing, always kind.. Now that man, had been reduced to a fidgety figure. It wasn''t a huge fall by any measure, but it was who it had happened to that truly metaphorically slapped Rein across the face and forced him to sober up. With a nod of understanding he went quite. Shooting a look over Fawkes'' shoulders he exhaled softly. Then with a swift pat on Fawkes'' shoulders he led him forward. He might not be strong, but he was the one that had the map memorized. As they navigated the maze before them, they felt a slight tremor in the walls. A primeval string of dread settled in the pit of Rein''s stomach as he looked back, confirming with his ally that he too had felt it. With a quick nod the two hurried forward, a pace more brisk than it had been. Rein still shot looks past the corners and skulked near the walls, but he hurried up. Putting his all to getting out of the horror house that they had landed in. As they moved farther away Fawkes'' face began to clear. The paleness of it all receded as he got his bearings. Unfortunately however, the calm that he had begun to gather abandoned him, shifting away hastily as he looked at the stream of blood before him. A corpse could be seen on the floor spread eagled, an old face, with wrinkles that covered most of the eyes. The face was a parchment white, and what little could be seen of the grey clouded eyes stared out with an equal amount of disbelief. The wrinkled robes matted darkly at the figure''s chest, a dark red cavity. It looked like it had been done with a kitchen knife, but nonetheless the corpse still managed to spook the duo. And as they heard a clatter of footsteps begin to echo from the periphery of their hearing the duo could not help but stiffen.. ******* "Fuck fuck fuck fuck!!" Terrick growled out as he ran for his life. The deranged hag that followed him still cackling away as she trudged after him. The scent that had caused for his allies to fall unconscious was now so repugnant that it caused even the high priestess that had followed him so far, to slow. Her steps had begin to falter a while back and an unnatural amount of sweat pooled over her forehead as she attempted to resist the onset of the fumes. Terrick had so far been quite unharmed save for a small gash on his arm that had refused to stop itching, from a time that he had attempted to attack the hippie only to end up being stabbed as a calming aroma had suddenly warped his sense of danger, only his quick instincts had spared him from any further damage. So here he was, the assassin in the crew of one of the strongest guys of the generation running away from an inexperienced prick with an ego problem. "Devil fruits are bullshit!" "My word, how does she have this much stamina!" The high priestess bit out as the conscious duo finally burst past the spot from where the High priestess'' quarters began. "O teacher, where are you going~?" Merla bit out her token bad person line, before grinning as if to pose for a camera. "Stupid edgy fuck bum!" Terrick yelled out as he threw a needle behind his back, at this point both his verbal arsenal and his fanny pack had begun to run on empty, the only things in there were a few pairs of bandages a few threads of metallic threads that he did not have time to set up. "Oi semi naked lady, any plans?" He called out to the high priestess as he pulled her along running through the inclined flooring that would led them to the floor below. Here on the island the people seemed allergic to both stairs and clean air! "What makes your ruffian brain feel that I have a clue!" She snapped back in a frigid and clipped tone. "Till a few hours ago that young girl was my student, now she''s turned into a proto mental asylum patient!" She finished as she turned the corner with me. As they did, who were to come into their eyes, if not two other bums that were supposed to be a long way off into the pipes by now! "Oi you lot! What are you doing here? Run!" He snapped out jolting the shell shocked duo into a maddened sprint. "Out of curiosity, what are we running from?" Fawkes inquired with strained civility. "Stop running from me teacher!~" The terrifying young women called out as she too run passed the corner. "that now run!" Terrick snapped as a renewed stench filled the room. The high priestess was quick enough to stab them in the shoulder with the dagger, thus keeping them temporarily conscious, and thus they ran. A mad dash. A temple run..... Dun dun dun 104 This is War! 8 The Yuda crisis. Sorren growled sharply as he inhaled the overpowered stench of the narrow grey alleyway. He was already knee deep in the water of the sewer and was highly unappreciative of the route that Terrick had chosen for them to leave the temple by. The only thing that stopped him from doing anything else in frustration was the repeated knell that gonged in his head, reminding him again of how useless he had been. At this point he was glad of the responsibility that he had been given, ferrying Scipio with him provided a useful distraction from his brooding thoughts. True, Scipio had grown massively from his time on the crew, his physique had improved and overall he was probably the fourth smartest on the crew, Sorren could not help but feel a glimmer of jealousy, and though he knew it was unwarranted, a hint of satisfaction at the displeasure and repugnance that his fellow child displayed. "Just a bit further, based on Terrick''s directions we are almost out." Sorren encouraged as he held tightly onto the inexperienced boy''s hands leading him through the sewer. On the blue print that Terrick had provided him, there had also been a collection of short but informative directions that had been written, detailing the state of the sewers, the length of the pipes that made it impossible for someone of Fawkes'' stature to get through over the estimated time that Terrick had charted out. His plans were pretty much redundant now, seeing as the anarchy that had developed on the island seemed to rival the dark underbellies of Sabaody, nonetheless Sorren followed it religiously. He was not the smartest tool in the shed and even if he thought otherwise, this was hardly the time to show it. Scipio muttered to himself as he wrinkled his nose, his pale yellow clothes had taken an unlikely shade of mottled green around its edges, fraying at the contact with the age old contaminated water. His eyes narrowed as he looked at his side, though the island was new, the sewer experience unfortunately was anything but. With a dull nod he looked eagerly at the speck of light at the very end of the narrow and image deficit pathway. With a swift last few steps they were out, and what a hell did they get out into! The buildings that paved either sides of thin brown hatchet that led down into the hidden subterranean passage stood broken. Pristine white stones littered the ground around it. Wails sounded in the background as dust permeated the air. The oink atmosphere that had been at this point become revolting was nowhere to be found. The cobblestone that made the streets that once definitely was the epitome of generalization and monotony stood cracked, jagged lines running through their center. He kneeled against the body of a wailing child, wrapped in a leathery towel that wailed into the air. Next to it was an unconscious women, she had obviously been running from something but had mysteriously fallen unconscious leaving her infant child unattended. That in a location such as this, with chalk like stone precipitate choking at its small and weak oesophagus. If left like this the child would die. So Sorren did the only thing that he had trained to do, he provided medicinal aid, all the while his mother''s words ringing in his ear, '' Injustice is a constant in society, we cannot do anything about it. If we fight it, there will come a time when we ourselves become unjust¡­ If we ignore it then we become numb. So we do what we can, what we must. On seas as strange and dangerous as these I cannot possibly preach for you to save everyone that you see, but remember, the helpless cannot be unjust and the unjust cannot possibly be only that¡­'' Scipio looked on in silent wonder, after the duo had exited the temple they were to lie low and wait for the rest of the crew to reunite with. For all means and purposes, they were free to do as they wished. Of course Scipio believed that it was only right that they try to help out the rest of the crew, but when he had mentioned it to Sorren he had received a reply that had gob smacked him. The duo were too weak, even if there was a time that help was necessary they would only get in the way. So Sorren had chosen a path that even the weak them could traverse. So with quick and efficient steps he walked through the relatively abandoned streets, every unconscious man women or child that he found he brought to Sorren. Sorren would make sure that they lived. No more. He knew, if the ones that came to rescue him for that was the one that turned this island upside down wanted these people dead then they would be dead. Since he did not, he gave them free reign to do as they wished. Silently Sorren could not help but thank his captain, for even when he was not next to Sorren, he still gave him a purpose and a method to prove his worth.. *********** I grumbled darkly as I walked into practically the only colorful building in the whole island. It was a tower of sorts, a cylindrical structure made of what looked to be maroon bricks, it had few windows, but those that existed gleamed with unreal colors. Around it was what looked to be a small moat with small curved bridges that overlooked what was probably the only body of clear water on the whole island. The entrance to the structure was barred with a bony matt black door, serpent indentations all over its glossy surface. the door itself seemed to have two knockers at its very center, each shaped like a Yuda head, as a glossy scaly tail seemed to run along the corners of the outwardly concave triangular door. In the mouth of the Yuda was a simple metal ring, gleaming wickedly into the pinkish air. As I neared, I felt a dull ache of warning that was quickly silenced, it seemed that there were still some threatening individuals in the building. ''Well no matter, if they are only strong enough to cause me this much alarm they aren''t anything much.'' With brisk footsteps I ran towards the overbearing gate, at any other time I would have taken some time to appreciate the beautiful carvings, but not now. My hands landed on the scaly door, pushing at it. With a creak the door folded inwards, the sound it made as it moved first grating then softly dissipating. The interior of the building was nothing if not humble, a dull yellow light gleamed around as low arches stooped over the expansive and empty floor. Though the hall was big, most of it was still dedicated to the wide spring in the center, the water here seemed to be the antithesis to the one I had seen outside, gleaming instead with a mottled red with a layer of froth that seemed ever present on its surface. All around it were small rooms, and at the very center a massive pillar, shooting through the danger pool into the painted ceiling. The thick pillar was a jade green and seemed almost translucent with something that seemed to move within. But that could just as easily be an illusion caused by the lighting. So hoping I moved on, mentally jogging myself to maintain an optimum level of physical standard. If there was even a hint of a foreign body I would instantly heal myself. As I neared the corner of the room I could see what looked to be a second wall, a layer of the wall that from afar would look exactly like its maroon counterpart. It was a walkway, the second wall was its borders as it led to a higher floor. Seemingly made of a velvety carpet I walked upwards hoping against hope that nothing had happened to my crew. ******* Fawkes rounded a corner as he ran, a defacto leader to the pod of misfits that ran away from the deranged women. The farther they ran from her, the more shrill and cold her voice became, at this point her eyes seemed to have shifted into what looked like a yellow slit, very similar to that of a serpent. At first her voice had been almost melodic but as the chase continued her voice seemed to hiss out from her mouth, her tongue often shot through and her movements became more reptilian. At this point Fawkes had begun to form a sneaky suspicion that the women had eaten a Zoan type fruit. As they neared the second floor, the high priestess began to flop downwards, the chase getting to her as her petite chest heaved. She kneeled unwillingly as she looked at Terrick who had been holding her hands. "Go on without me-" She began huffing. "Oh shut up! If I wanted to abandon you I would have done it a long time ago, don''t spit on my decisions!" Terrick snapped as he looked over at Fawkes. "What''s the plan?" He asked as he looked over at his troupe of friends. Angella and Breta were incapacitated, while Rein was in as bad of a situation as the high priestess. Fawkes had his eyes heavy, a blood red gash on his side as he looked over, the high priestess had been unable to control herself and had ended up cleaving into his shoulder. "We aren''t in a position to leave them, and if we move any farther neither of us will be in a decent situation, we''ll have to babysit these two along with those two. It''s better to face off against her here." Fawkes analyzed. However fit the duo were, carrying four people as they ran would be a stupid idea, especially in treacherous halls like these. Terrick nodded as he looked over at his charge. " Stall for two minutes." he said. Fawkes nodded, if it was anyone else that he was facing, he would be confident in his ability to crush them solo, the women wasn''t even as strong as Scipio for god''s sake. But her devil fruit made her a pain to face, especially if he did not have a counter. He steeled his gaze as he looked at the door way. A deep breath wracked through his chest, he would not breath in any air, that would save him from any stray fumes. That would have to do. Then he did something that Sorren would have his hide for, for even though he was strong, the diminutive doctor''s anger was something he still did not want to have to deal with. He brought his finger to his shoulder and thrust it in, wincing slightly at the stream of blood that shot out. He cupped the blood and flooded his nostrils with it, it dried in seconds and his nose was temporarily blocked for good. He grasped at the dagger in the panting priestess'' hands as he charged at the door, as if by divine providence as he reached the low archway a head bobbed through a sick hum sounding out as Merla walked in. Or at least she tried to, yelping immediately as she sidestepped an annoyed and silent Fawkes. The air around her seemed to sting at his skin, his eyes closing in response to the acidic fume. ''ITs ok, Observation Haki should do just as well..'' he thought as he charged expertly stabbing downward at the psychopathic child. The girl looked at him, surprise evident in her gaze. Her eyes sharpened as she caught sight of the descending knife. With a move that should not have been possible for a human she moved to the side. To be precise her upper torso moved to the side, her feet remained where she was, unmoving. Fawkes twirled to the side in surprise as he backhanded with his left hand, it gleamed black with the look of Haki, nearing the women''s startled face. She looked at him again, her eyes now no longer human. With an intensity that would shock anyone she leapt at him, literally slithering past the black hand rounding on his back before biting at his exposed neck. She shrieked as she felt the hard skin break through her fang like canines, her hand shooting for his shoulder, only to have to bend backwards curling in on herself as a foot shot at her face. Fawkes looked furious, the girl did not know any form of Haki except maybe Observation, yet she matched him. He had been used to fighting at arm''s reach, always having the freedom to swing something as heavy as an axe. Now he faced an enemy whose modus operendi seemed to be extremely close quarters, more snake-like at every moment. He growled as he upped the ante, his breath that hitched in his throat put him on a time limit, and his closed eyes forced him to fight depending on Haki alone. This along with the fact that he had to passively protect his body against the acidic fumes to prevent corrosion practically crippled him in direct combat, it was a miracle that he lasted this long. She lunged at him, her face near centimeters away from his before his palm met it, slapping it away as his other hand droved to stab at her exposed torso. She shrieked as she kicked forwards, missing his hand but hooking around his fore arm to bring her out of harm''s way. He stabbed at his back, twisting his body to the side as he did so to make some distance between him and the constrictive fighter, only to have to face her leg that headed for his groin from his side. he Jumped to the side as he attempted to axe kick her shoulder, she dodged bringing his feet down cracking at the floor, with the opening that that provided she lunged, attacking at his exposed nape with her teeth as well as at his exposed head with a knife hand. He twisted around as she did, trying to trip her, he didn''t fail. "Done!" Terrick roared, and with the distraction that his voice brought him Fawkes barreled forwards, his hands closing hard on her face as he threw her towards his ally. Then he collapsed, deep breaths wracking his body as he tried to make up for his lack of it for so long. With a final shriek she gurgled out, as her hands cut into the silver thread that surrounded the corner of the room. She tried and failed as she attempted to get out cutting herself much harder in the process. They didn''t have too much time to gloat however, because as soon as she shrieked a second time, the room rumbled as a foul aura shattered through the air. The world shook as the skies seemed to discolor. The stones cracked as the rumbling of a moving island shattered through their ears. Merla looked up, passing out with a smile¡­ 105 This cannot possibly be a war.. Tiamat could not helped but shiver. A premonition of terror seemed to sift through his scales as he looked down at the convulsing patron. The creatures seemed to shrivel on themselves as they shrieked. They had failed the nest father was waking up, and he was in a mighty state of rage. The Yuda patrons glanced around them, a veil of rage covering their savage yellow eyes. The creatures roared a battle cry as they lunged forward, biting scratching and constricting on all that they could get their fangs on. The winning sea kings could not help but begin to retreat, their original number almost halved by the savage counter attack. ''Rally!'' Tiamat screeched out as he dove forwards, his sharp fangs tearing into the exposed torso of a snake that had just risen to its full height. The Yuda screeched but did not move, only rising higher. With a final glower of pure red hot rage the creature plunged down, smashing against the water with all the force of a falling warship. The water gushed all around as the sea kings were pushed back, they yowled and screeched but still held on, a gritty gleam in their eyes as the glared down at the coming onslaught. Tiamat knew, if it wasn''t for his presence the sea kings would have fled, they were creatures with hardly any sense of camaraderie after all, they would just as easily abandon another of their race if it meant their continued survival. True most of the older and wiser of the race could put aside differences and work towards something, but, the younglings could not. He could see it, the ones at his side visibly trembling as their instincts seemed to fight to gain control over them. They wanted to flee, they would have fled, but Tiamat was there and so their fate was sealed. The sea kings were a race that was often misjudged for their level of intelligence, their savagery and of course their overall anatomy. It was believed that though the creatures came in different shapes and figures, there was something that still unified them as a race, Tiamat was an example of such an assumptions challenge. He was an infernal born to grow to one day become the strongest beneath the surface of the sea. With a shout that roared with defiance he shot forward, no longer caring for the state of those that wished to flee, he shot off the crest of a massive wave that had formed as the water of the earlier Yuda fall returned from the side of the jagged mountain that surrounded their isolated battle ground. His eyes glazed forward as his blood burned, the air split crisply to the sides as he landed on the face of the Yuda. The huge serpent swayed back, surprise in its eyes. With the opening that that had brought Tiamat sunk his teeth into the Yuda''s eyes. With a spurt of blood the creature roared, with a fountain of blood the creature fell, and with the satisfying taste of brain matter Tiamat screeched. Unfortunately for him however, his would bear witness to two scenes that would strike fear into even his reptilian heart. His cold blood would freeze and he would enter hell¡­ The skies around him darkened as he made out the inside of a Yuda''s maw, he squealed to the side plunging into the sea and hiding under the massive dead creature''s floating carcass. The Yuda above seemed not to care as it took a massive bite. With blood, bone and taut muscle fibers it grinned. Then the world shuddered and clouds descended into the cloudless sky. The pink that existed in the atmosphere wafted higher, a putrid red taking its place. And as Tiamat glanced on, the island that stood at the very center of the mountain crumbled to the side, a monstrous eye glaring down at them¡­ ******* I couldn''t help but gulp as I glared at the body of the monster that had just awoken. I could feel a primeval terror seep into my bones as I craned by head upwards. The part of the crew that was still in the fragrant temple panting behind me as a flabergasted glance was shot towards the crumbling temple. Luckily the group had managed to get out relatively unscathed, with the only known casualty being a particular psychopath that had made life difficult for the currently shocked and semi naked high priestess. The temple lay now in ruins, our ears still ringing with the cacophony that had accompanied the fall of the huge building . A stream of red could be seen evasively flowing through the fallen debris, a collection of mutilated limbs all around. Those were the priests that had still remained inside the building. Terrick had made no plans to save them, and even looked on impassively at the fallen men and women. The only real emotion on his face was the traces of fear that followed the appearance of the massive signs of old and broken dull looking scales. The creature hadn''t actually surfaced, only signs of its presence had already mowed the tallest and most important building in the entire island. A low growl came from the wreckage as pinkish water began to appear from under the broken debris. The foundation of the building had come clean off, the only thing on the island that protected it from being flooded had been torn down and the pinkish red water that appeared moved snail-like to submerge the entire structure. With a final bellow a angular head could be seen finally appearing in our gaze. A towering head that seemed to glower down at us from the heavens itself. Red eyes lazily moved from left to right as a forked tongue the size of a two storied house flicked out from the gargantuan head. The eye moved right, a hungry gaze at a portion of the island. It gazed blearily at the houses before slowly moving left. Again all it could see was buildings. It slowly craned its head backwards as it sought to get a clear image of all that surrounded it. True it had not moved forward, but every sway of its head sent tremors through the island. The cobblestone cracked and the land inclined upwards. The creature flared open its nostrils as it greedily sucked in the pink air that surrounded its only visible body part. A storm of pinkish fog plunged into it, a spiral forming at the opening. With another flick of its tongue it slowly turned its head, the high priestess beside me flinched as the eye settled on her, no longer was there any intelligence in that gaze. It was merely the glance of a predator. Slowly the creature began to move, slithering through the air it moved towards us. The earth around us seemed to cave as a massive earthquake shook the island. Its mouth opened and a jagged pathway the size of a marine battleship opened out. The fangs dripped with a red liquid and steamed as it came in contact with the air. The fang on the right seemed chipped while the right one stood oddly curved backwards. An overpowered stench assaulted us as we fell to the floor, the shaking ground proving too much for us to handle. Terrick looked pale while Fawkes silently swore at his shaking legs. They were terrified, and they weren''t the only ones. I gulped slightly as I scampered to my feet . With a deep breath I looked around me. "Get up! Now! That thing can barely move, the only movement will be from that long ass neck that it has, let''s leave before it decides to lose some weight!" I roared in a soft voice as I clasped at Fawkes arm. He was still, fear clear in his eyes. The earth still shook but I had gotten quite used to it. I looked down at him seriously before smacking him on the cheek. "No time for panic attacks! UP now, cry about it later!" I snapped, satisfied at the light that finally returned to his eyes. The Yuda took us all in, an odd gleam of savagery came into its glance as its tongue flitted through. The groan in the very beginning being the only noise that it had made. It looked at us and flicked its tongue out. Then with a sound that I could swear probably reached into the grand line, it roared. The results were immediate, the tiles plucked off as it revealed the what lie under it. The high priestess fainted, the noise and the curveballs that reality that life threw at her proving too much. Terrick looked on dumbfounded. The roar had shocked his system more than it could handle, the same could be said to everyone in this troupe, save for me and Fawkes. The man had gotten to his feet and resolutely plugged his ears. Double layering the armament Haki on his finger tips and on the surface of his eardrums. Still he had barely made it through. I on the other hand had decided to dispose of my ears, bringing my fingers and plunging it into the soft organ. It would only be a hindrance in this encounter and I could heal it later. I looked over at him clearly before dragging Terrick and Angella, the girl that accompanied him with the high priestess and Rein on Fawkes'' shoulders, then, we ran. We didn''t look back, but if the maddened vibrations that I felt along with the mad tingling of my Haki was anything to go by, the serpent was hot on out tail. Buildings stood overturned and the roar of fangs shot through the air. The world around Fawkes turned murky as he tried to cope with the sound. Throughout this entire situation he had been forced to come face to face with styles of fighting and scenarios that he was uncomfortable with and he was beginning to become fed up of his performance. In a futile effort to block out the noise he roared too, his legs buckling under the weight and the uneven ground. The creature fumed as it chased after its prey. Its eyes glared on eerily as it stopped, the tail that had spent close to a century curled up would require more coaxing to move. It shot into the sky, raising to its highest position before letting off another roar. It screeched loudly hoping for the flies that zoomed in front of it to slow down. With a venomous glare it bore its fangs at their retreating forms before spitting at them. A projectile shot at us, singeing the very air it made contact with as it fell towards us. I locked eyes with Fawkes, the fear had begin to make a comeback. With a nod we diverged, running into narrower pathways to flee the flowing poison. The scales underneath the road where we had been running revealed itself, gleaming as if it had been given a polish. I could not help but curse as I looked on. This had been a disaster, a solid thirteen on the fucking Richter scale. "Fucking huge snake can''t keep it in its mouth.." I muttered out, though I could not hear still making out the words with the way that my mouth began to move. The creature followed us with its eyes hungrily still at its highest point. It curled in on itself as it bore its fangs again, just the movement of its body making a storm come to life. The air blew as the creature roared. The land shook as the creature roared. And the island came to life¡­..as the creature roared. 106 This is a slaughter-fes Sorren gulped as he looked at the crumbling island. The outer walls that had imperviously held the island''s mystery aloft, began to squirm minutely. The gates with tarp flowing off of them fell, and the inside of the escaped hellhole was revealed for all to see. The sea king''s looked on, a mixture of fear and challenge in their eyes. Tiamat was the only one with a clear expression of terror on his face, for he knew what he had just seen. With swift strokes he moved to the back, backing into the face of the mountain with his small clout of sea kings, still holding onto the tiny raft that Lorean had arrived in. To the left was another clout, this one of Yuda, each with a small group of people on their back that glanced in absolute terror at the storm that had blown through their island. The world eater that they had heard the priests revere, was now alive, in the flesh. Bruma glanced over with a choked expression on his face, his home the only safe haven that he had known all his life was collapsing around his ears. And he couldn''t even run into the thick of things to stop it. He had to care for his soldiers, when the fragrant temple fell, he had become the man in charge of the whole of the islands civil base. With a tap of his leg on the top of the monstrous serpent''s head he urged it to the back, a motion followed by all those that rode at the head of their respective beasts. The only snakes that now listened to them were the ones that had been trained with them. As the two groups retreated, Bruma could not help but shoot a grateful look at the pudgy doctor. If it wasn''t for the man waking them, they would have been comatose when the island went under. "Roar!!!!" A loud bellow sounded, sonic waves shearing through the fog. The Yuda that carried the civilians cringed, unconsciously their heads bent. The sea around frothed mightily as the riders lost their footing. Many fell into the water, a few fell victim to the frantic waves, and others still were forced into the water by the sheer bulk of the panicked reptiles. The creatures that they had respected as divine fragments begun to screech like headless chickens. The sea king''s looked on, no longer a challenging look in their feral eyes. A single roar had grimly brought them down from their bloodlust induced high. Tiamat, on any other situations would have mocked at the Yuda or rallied the sea king''s unfortunately however, he could neither dispute the terrified parties, nor muster enough attention to do so, seeing as he was currently fighting every single cell in his body that begged for him to swim away. Another loud screech rang out, the walls moving faster. And then it happened. The sea bubbled and from under the colossal snake, the enthralled Yuda made their attack¡­. ********* Then, their head Roma had taken to a particularly impressive head ache! Now, Their Yuda snake had gotten its tail in a twist and refused to tow the damn galley! It was almost like the entire universe knew that the journey was meant to serve as punishment and thought it right to double down on their poor unit. "Damn snake! Swim properly! Sister, I never could understand why our empress still keeps this agreement! It''s not like we need any more of these reptiles. We already have enough of a stock back in Lily for us to make our own snakes! As if being confined to the worst unit was not enough, we have to go deal with those repulsive ''men''! Why do we have to go through this?! Why couldn''t it be Rumi''s squad?" A green headed women called out, a hand on her chin as she glared mutinously at the sea. "Calm down, Iwa. It was the empress'' will that the agreement be maintained, so it shall be. It is merely our job to do as the empress says. Don''t throw a fuss, you aren''t a child anymore. " A middle aged women called out. She had purple hair and green eyes and seemed to be the second in-charge of the galley. Slowly the air around them grew heavy. A pink fog began to waft around them. They were close to their destination it seemed. "Might as well get this over with.." The women identified as Iwa muttered to herself as she went to the captain''s quarters. With a single knock the door pushed outward, a pale and anemic looking women walked out, her black hair scraggly as a yawn was called out. At the periphery of their hearing a dull sound echoed out. Though the ship''s crew could not identify what it was, they still felt a shiver run through their spine. The misbehaving Yuda suddenly grew stock still as its eyes widened. With a shriek it dove forward, maddeningly dashing through the sea as a mighty wave began to roar towards them. A tsunami, on the calm belt!? They thought in disbelief, the crew jumping to their respective posts as they struggled to right the wheel. The dull looking captain snapped to attention a sharp look appearing in her eyes as she ran to support her crew, with a quick step forward she grabbed onto a crew mate that was in danger of falling overboard. "Women, get yourself in gear, we have a freak incident to deal with!" She roared out, her voice drowning in another loud shriek that came from afar. The water only grew fiercer as they drew close to their destination, "What is going on!?" Roma yelled, her mind incapable of saying something that would not be drowned out by the bellowing waves of the sea.. ******** I gasped quickly as I dashed forward. The giant Yuda had more of its body freed from the housing as it raged forward, its bulk crushing all in its path, on its underbelly a few pieces of jagged debris sat helplessly stuck in the chinks between its scales. If when the chase began its eyes had a look of cathartic hunger, now it had gotten completely clouded, a red haze as its fangs dripped, venom appearing as abundantly in its mouth as saliva appeared in mine. As its mighty body swiveled around, the fog around could not help but rise. Clouds of red obscured its full figure as the island became home to the first collection of calm belt clouds. "What is this a horror movie?" I grimaced out as I narrowly dodged a piece of huge debris. Though we were quite far out of the serpent''s range, I could still not help but feel a sense of shattering heaviness on my shoulders. It felt as if, if I did not continue to move then I would be swallowed. "Fawkes! Get your ass with the group off the island! The exit is right there! I''ll stay back and have a chat with this bastard about a close friend of mine called Murphy!" I snapped out. IF there was a chance of danger on any of these adventures, I had long accepted that I would have to take responsibility. If the leader couldn''t protect his own, then was he still a leader? "Hate to say it but, I''ll listen now, later I''ll smack the shit out of your ass!" He roared back before hobbling out. He was not in his best form. He had been unconscious barely an hour ago, and wasn''t in the best states before that. He hated to say this, but Lorean had more of a chance to stall for time than he did, especially because of his fighting style. With a heavy heart he ran to the crumbling gate, the stress from the chase making him shiver. He had had no grasp of his surroundings! With a sinking stomach he realized, he had taken this situation way worse than he had previously thought he had!.. I looked at the colossal beast, a kernel of doubt and fear in my eyes as I shot a fear soaked glance at Fawkes'' back. The man had made it to the end of the island. "Ok, you motherfucker, let''s see how bad those teeth are!" I snarled out as I raced at him. The creature looked at me with a hint of surprise before it roared, zooming downward to bite at him. I looked at the building like face, before jumping to the side, shunpo''ing to avoid the heavy projectile. With a swift turn I jumped again, my fruit in heavy drive as I fed it more and more information. With a flick of my wrist I pulled out my dagger, firing it at the edge of one of the few buildings, a hint of string at the end of the dagger''s hilt. A heavy object bore down on me, a foul scent almost bafflingly noxious hitting my nose. I yanked hard flying at the building, before turning around mid flight to spiral the metallic string that connected us. With a flick I yanked again, using the base of the weapon to swiftly shear out of the way, for though the head had managed to kill its momentum I was sure that the tail that now zoomed towards me would not be as merciful. I barely shot out of the way, and almost as soon as I did a loud crackle roared out. Debris flew out, one even flying all the way to the rocky wall of the mountain before powderizing on its surface. I gulped softly, for at this moment the walls had finally began to move around, a look of satisfaction spread across the snake''s visage as the island finally fell away. The long limb that had remained still for centuries finally began to move, and with the cacophony of scales rubbing together that sounded more like a hundred thousand swords sharpening at once the island''s fell away and the Yuda all father awoke in all its strength and glory.... 107 Terror is scaly. A swath of sweat pooled from my brow as I jumped again, my feet barely touching the hard metallic scale, before I raced up the massive spiral. The mountain around me shook with a passion and the moon glared down lighting up the blackish blue serpent. The world around me could be summed up in the vein of mere scales and shadows, for the creature was so massive that regardless of what I did or how I moved I was always in its proximity. The only reason I had not died yet was because of the sheer size of the serpent. That coupled with my dexterous and nonstop movements was the only saving grace to this dire situation. Nothing I did could hurt the snake and it could not catch up to me. Roar after roar of frustration came off its dripping maw as its face curled vapidly. I had long used my fruit to shut down my hearing, redirecting the brain usage instead to perceive the vibrations off the serpent''s scales every time I landed. I then put all the information into a compilation along with everything I could discern with my observation Haki¡­ It was barely enough. And I was tiring. The solitary hole in the top of the mountain acted as the sole source of light in the otherwise dark cavern. Everywhere that wasn''t the snake was water. The creature had long ceased to act as a land surface, and that was even more frightening. For if it was this large with a major part of its lower torso under water, how fucking large was this fucker!? The bit of scales that I had landed on convulsed slightly as a rumble roared out from underneath it. I barely dodged as it collided with a thick other part of the serpent''s skin, vibrations shuddering through the air as it pushed me backwards, straight into another bit of its body that waited for me patiently. If I could not nullify the force of that vibration, I would break a limb at least. A dull crackle was felt through the air as a jagged crack formed on the mountain that surrounded the conflict field, most definitely caused by the mad cold blooded creature that I was facing. I squatted slightly in midair as I kicked at the air under my feet. ''One good thing that has come from this foolish death march is probably the ease with which I can use moon walk and Shunpo.. '' I thought grimly. Sonido, that was the move that I had created from merging the two moves, it had all the boosted speed perks from Shunpo while Moon walk took the auxiliary position of reducing the blow back of the former, making it possible for me to chain the move. With a quick movement I twisted off a bit of venom that flew towards my face, a sinking feeling in my stomach as I realized that the thoughts in my head had distracted my Observation Haki enough for the behemoth head to have sneaked up on me. Slowly however, I smiled. I had an idea! In the fraction of a moment I had fallen into a tempestuous calm. "Color, Discard. Smell, Discard. Taste, Discard. Feeling, Amplify. Timing, collaborate." I said to myself. My devil fruit followed my commands, all the needless strain to my brain ceased to be as time seemed to slow. I had entered a state of deep focus, I could see. The lines of yellow coloration on the snake''s fangs, the vapid red in its eyes. The sick pink of its tongue and a small dull line that lined in the middle of its forehead. At the last moment I turned around, my shoe stamping on the base of its fangs directly into the tender skin that held it in place. Immediately a sizzling sound echoed outward my shoe melting on contact with the layer of venom that coated the massive fang. I kicked at it, using [Shunpo] as soon as my feet got a firm stand on it. As I kicked at it I angled myself upwards, aiming for the base of the other fang on the opposite side of its massive maw. My daggers were held at the ready, an ''X'' in front of my chest. With a loud thud I pushed off, a small crack line forming on the old teeth. The old relics had obviously been completely eroded, centuries of dormancy, even before which it had not been milked had obviously taken a toll on it. That coupled with the concentrated toxicity of its venom had obviously made it a sharp glass tooth if nothing else. Its tip was sharp, but everything else was as fragile as it went. I zoomed forward, not a hint of pleasure came with my successful maneuver. Anything that could distract me from my target was unneeded. As I neared the other fang I got my hand ready, digging it deep into the tender skin. My hand dug in all the way to the elbow, sizzling as it made contact with the skin. With the two hands I dug through, in an instant I dislodged the stalactite before cutting into the far most point of the mouth and spinning out of it. I leveraged the momentum of my movement to tear out of the closing mouth. A loud roar sounded, even in a state where my ears no longer worked, my organs shook with the vibrations. The pure agony in the animalistic shriek caused the water to mellow out. A fountain of blood shot out of its mouth making a trail over its chipped and olden scales. A second roar sounded as the dislodged fang buried itself into its lower jaw. As a reflex it closed its mouth. That was a bad move as it turned out, for as soon as it did, the crack lines on the first fang redoubled before with a soft crackle the second one too, crumpled down. Though unfortunately it fell off the creature''s mouth making the arduous journey into the bubbling water. The endeavor taking a visible toll on me as I sagged, the world zooming back into focus as my heart made its way into pace with the actions I had just taken. "No time to waste, fast! Faster!!" I roared out loud as I sonido''d out of way of a rabid mad serpent. The world shuddered around me as I stepped onto a bit debris that flew through the air. All around me a mixed fog of dust, pinkish fog and water clouded around. The piece of cobblestone under my foot one of the only survivors to the rampage of the serpent. With a sudden heave the water shook as it flung its way at the wall. As the scaly torso moved I could finally get a clear view of the outside of the serpent''s constriction. Suffice to say it wasn''t a pretty sight. A whole host of Yuda swarmed against the survivors that fought tooth and nail against them. The water was so saturated with the reptilian menace that as far as the eye could see, there was no water! Only a wide swath of scales and hair. The water only added to the problem, it raged frothing and fuming with a wrath that got the hammer that was I shuddering silently. The group of sea kings made a desperate last stand, unable to navigate the tough and fearsome waves. Somewhere in all the commotion the only route through the mountain had been blocked with a stray piece of stone, thus making the only available escape route underwater. We Were fucked weren''t we..? ************** Roma gasped as she faced the mounting waves, every meter that she got closer to the hulking monolith saw the water increasing in ferocity and lethality. Already she had jumped up and down the deck six times rescuing people who were unfortunate enough to face the storm unprepared. They couldn''t be slighted for it however, after all the calm belt was supposed to be calm! She wouldn''t even be blamed for making the assertion that that was the whole point of the damn belt! But Nay! the water seemed more than satisfied to fuck with them at every turn! "Captain, did we navigate into the grand line by mistake..?" the youngest of her crew called out, clearly sea sick. "Reality be damned! I wish that was the case¡­Nope this is the calm belt all right¡­" She muttered, firing a curious glance at the log pose tied to her waist. It still made no sense, as was only right if it wasn''t placed on the grand line. Good to know. A crackle roared out as a roar echoed out of the now terrifying looking mountain. The Yuda looked more and more fanatical as they renewed their efforts, blood coming off of the scales that had had the unfortunate fate of being caught in a rip tide. The creatures had their tongues lolled out and their eyes completely wide as they made their way forward in a crazed and mad dash. Finally, after what felt like a month of wrestling with the unruly sea they finally made their way to the cave system that they were so familiar with, but it was different¡­ There was no one keeping watch as they were used to. There were no soldiers giving them once-overs from their vantage point at the edge of the wall, what was there however, managed to chill Roma more than she could happily confirm. Water swamped the wide cave systems, it was at such a height that she would drown. The stalactites glared down at them glowering maliciously as the Yuda till made forward. The mast scraped at the ceiling death trap as they barely made their way through. And as they exited from the other side, there was only terror that awaited them¡­. "Oh God¡­" 108 Look before you leap! Roma shuddered as wind wracked her body. Her hair warped around whipping all around her as a literal blow of wind rammed into her stomach. The boat bobbed ferociously while the Yuda roared with an odd amount of joy that caused a kernel of dread to sprout in the crew. Who could blame them for cowering though? For before them was a behemoth the size that they had never seen! Its roars cracked stone and its every movement caused a wave of water so high that it eclipsed the vessel to rage towards the weathered crags. The worst part however, was not the humongous monstrosity, but the whole host of tiny and medium sized Yuda that mobbed the ship almost immediately as soon as it entered the hollow mountain. The largest of the wave seemed to resemble the snakes that they used as mounts, and this terrified them more than anything else.. With a quick mental slap Roma moved, roaring at the top of her lungs for the crew to act. In her hand she lugged a mace which she immediately put to good use. "Iwa, to ME!" She roared in the loudest voice she could muster as she leapt at the first reptilian aggressor. With a mighty thud she lodged her black spiked mace into the creature''s skull, kicking at it with her legs to dislodge before repeating the process. To her side she could hear a roar of anger as a snake wrapped around the tail end of the long boat. "Muster the ranks! Hold your positions and get us slowly back into the cave!" She roared at the top of her lungs. She would have gone to deal with the other serpent but her current foe made sure to completely tie her in place. Every hit she dealt seemed to be shrugged off a trail of blood barely coming off the serpent''s forehead as it reared back hissing. A sudden roar sounded as a Yuda was thrown at the one that she was engaged with ramming straight into its bared fangs before pushing it into the horde that swam at the periphery of the ship. Shortly after another two Yuda flew out, both plunging into the turbid sea before disappearing from sight. On any other occasion, Roma would have paused to peruse the cause of her immediate relief, but not now. Now she had to deal with the serpent that engaged with over half her crew as the other half futilely shot into the frothing water. With a roar she lunged, pushing the wide end of her mace into the corner of the snake''s mouth before twisting it out and slamming into its side with all the power she could manage. The snake reeled back, obviously stunned from the hit, a line of cracked scales remained in the location that she had hit. Its head bobbed back for a second as it tried to shake off the dizzying slam before it turned back down with renewed fury hissing in obvious provocation. "ORAAAAAA!" With a mighty heave she pulled the head backwards as the twang of arrows sounded in the suffocating air. With a bellow of agony the Yuda flopped downwards, its mouth bleeding profusely. With a low growl she pulled again, breaking off the fangs of the mighty beast. Safe was always better than sorry in her mind, and even if they had taken out the snake they had to make sure that it was sufficiently non lethal. Finally she shot a glance to the corner of the wave the roar of the water seemed to slow for a second as she marveled at the sight. A tiny rickety boat stood stoically at the centre of what looked to be dozens of typhoons. The large pillars rotated at mind boggling speeds, churning out a steady stream of blood and bits of muscle every second. The water from that part of the hollow mountain looked particularly malevolent as the majority of the mighty horde of serpent''s swarmed towards them. Suddenly a loud roar sounded as a Yuda flew out of the encirclement, followed closely by a second and then a third. At the stern of the tiny boat, Roma could finally see a grey haired young man staring out domineeringly. His hands stood at the ready in front of his chest as he ducked under a creature that had made its way through the perilous hurricane. With a twist of his shoulders he rammed into the snake''s lower jaw, before fearlessly plunging his hands into the corner of the snake''s maw and yanking up the snake. His bare hands did what her mace could not, penetrating deep into the sides of the snake''s sides. The snake hissed in agony as it rose helplessly into the air before being brutally flung outward. Behind the man he could see the silhouette of a lean women calmly fingering the hilt of a plain looking sword. Suddenly she moved, ducking under the rampaging man she pulled out her blade, and even through the din, Roma could swear she could hear the squeal of blade as it left its sheathe. Her hand blurred for a second. In the next her sword once again rested in her sheathe, as if it had been untouched. With a glance to her back she nodded to the man. The man too nodded before whistling and jumping off the boat. From under the water a blue looking head peeked out. A low menacing growl sounding out as he landed on its head. The monster zoomed out of the encirclement as it raged into the thick of the never-ending stream. The terrifying storms slowed for a second before a crescendo of roars sounded out. It seemed almost as if the sea kings , as Roma realized they were, were encouraging the figure on. His previous spot on the head of the boat was taken by the sword wielding women who seemed to prefer a more incisive method of attack. Her sword blurred into action randomly as it sharply cut through the various chinks in the water around her. Almost as soon as she began the sea kings seemed to become more at ease, their movements became much clearer as they realized that they were being supported from the background. In the very end of the boat hid a boy and a girl, kneeling as if to make themselves disappear. Over their bodies a boy stood, as if to protect them, his hands at his side as he clutched tightly at a dagger at his side. Suddenly the onslaught thinned. A gleam of white yowled out as a figure zoomed in and out of focus, as if to border the ferocious circle of sea kings he zoomed around them. It was a man dressed in thin black clothes. In his hands were a thin barely transparent string that he used to great effect. As he jumped around his strings gleamed and snakes were torn up. A roar echoed out again as Roma gazed at the massive snake at the center of the mountain. For some reason the snake remained in place, its limbs only flailing around as if to swat a fly. Roma gasped as she caught a shadow in the thicket, neck to neck with the mountainous beast. He seemed to phase in and out of existence as he faced off against the monster. His silhouette more than just a little terrifying, for it wasn''t just his speed that frightened her. It was the fact that he was still alive that seemed to be the biggest testament to his prowess. At the other end of the room was another group, though they seemed to be in a similar situation to her own ship. A group of Yuda grouped together with many people on their head, as a group of brave fighters fended off the rabid creatures. The only reason that they seemed to be still alive, seemed to be because of the location that they had chosen. They were tucked away in the bowels of the mountain, rocks surrounding them as measure against being mobbed. The man that had exited off the boat seemed to be heading in their direction. As the people on the Yuda glanced at him, the people on the head of the farthest serpent seemed to divide out a child in their midst who had been previously kneeling. The man looked over at the child and words seemed to be shared through their glance alone. Then the boy jumped, an insane trajectory through the air as he landed beside the man as if led there by the hands of a miracle. Then the duo headed towards the center of the mountain, and Roma could not help but gasp in fear. "What are they doing?!" ******************** I could not help but gulp a breath of fresh air as I avoided a projectile like tail flailing through the air. I glanced over at the menacing aura of the serpent as its head glowered down at me. Its mouth was bared in an ugly grimace on its wide open maw. Its teeth was bared in a brutal glower as saliva dripped unhindered from its eyes. An evil fire burned in its eyes as it looked down at me. Suddenly a mountain like pressure descended, on me and then over the entire mountain. The creature had Conqueror''s Haki!!! It was like something out of the world, even my father had never had this level of aura and of this I could be sure. My aura rose out to clash with it, almost unimpeded it flowed out as my mind cleared. A red colored phantom seemed to gaze down at me from on high as literal fractures roared from the air around me. The small Yuda that I had seen mobbing the surroundings wailed as one as more than half of them succumbed to the pressure. Though the sheer intensity of the aura seemed to overwhelm mine in spades, the Yuda''s control seemed to be juvenile at best, downing its own spawn as the water bubbled higher, now resembling a vat of witches brew. "Humphf, a king that can''t even control his disposition is no king! Merely a bandit on a stolen throne!!" I roared out as for the first time in my life my aura blazed out with full intensity. A black phantom seemed to form off me as I once again glared at it, my observation slowing down the world around me as my armament coated me fully. This was the final mile I could feel it, and so with a vigor I leapt out my feet meeting the creature''s limb as I rose higher, Sonido working at the double to race me forwards. "Yo!" And I slipped. 109 Lights ou With a cocky smile Fawkes gazed at his captain, a hand on his ankle as his compatriot stared down the gaping maw of the scaly serpent. At this point he had finally calmed down, and after he had vented his frustrations on a whole school of Yuda he had finally realized where he was meant to be. Angella and Terrick did not have Haki, though the former could awaken it at any moment. They were exempt from this fight, for they would only serve as a hurdle in it. Sorren could at least provide some form of support seeing as he had his own brand of Conqueror''s Haki, that he could use to empower Lorean''s. With the trio combining their own Haki he was sure that they would be able to match the sheer magnitude of the mighty behemoth that gazed down at them, coiling its torso a little as it attempted to gather the energy to leap at them. The duo stood on a dilapidated boat, the wood barely holding together against the monstrous pressure. Too scarred even to whine it seemed. Suddenly with a roar the creature rose to its full height, the moon light from up above briefly clearing the thick bloody fog. It shone down on the creature''s head, reflecting off its old scales as it glared down menacingly. The water around them rose as the boat began to capsize. With a mighty heave Fawkes yanked his captain to his feet, his expression souring as he looked around before he signaled to Sorren. The trio jumped off the rickety boat, as soon as they did they could not help but grimace for the wooden contraption fell away. Disintegrating as if it were leaves in a mighty wind. From below the water''s surface they could see a grimacing sea king, almost as soon as the boat disappeared off of its head it ducked inward vanishing from sight. Obviously it had been spooked, the fact that it had delivered its charge also seemed to play a part in its hasty escape. Fawkes glanced over at his captain soundlessly. He knew that talking would not be able to help, so he glanced at him silently, an inquiring glance in his eyes. Lorean looked at the humongous serpent before swiftly pushing aside his allies, rotating his body and Sonido-ing out of the way of the monster''s face. For the first time rips appeared alongside his chest, torn apart with the ruthless winds that accompanied the charging maw. Fawkes glanced over at Sorren before he jumped into the fray, roaring as loud as he could he attempted to jump at the serpent''s head. Sorren too decided this was the moment to act, unlike his compatriots however he was unable to use any of the six powers . Unwillingly falling at a wave of debris he made up his mind. Flaring up his miniscule aura he roared out loud, buckling his knees for the eventual fall in the process. As if by a signal a second flare of Haki roared to life, this extremely close to the head of the serpent. With a cacophonic screech, it spat at him. Humongous globules of venom flying at him from the front. The stench alone enough to knock out a lesser man. Fortunately for him, he knew Observation Haki, and had a very dependable captain. With a swish in the air a dagger lodged itself in the creature''s cheek area, digging deep into the still bleeding tattered muscles. With a shriek of rage it turned around, and struck. A part of its tail and its wide face on a collision course with Lorean at its center. With a grunt Lore looked at the oncoming creature an idea in his relatively clear head. With a deep push he reentered a state of extreme focus. The individual details of the creature''s scales visible in his eyes as time slowed down. Just as the tail seemed to touch at his back he flared his legs. Moon walk carrying him to safety with his feet resting on the hard and sturdy scales. Then with another grunt he flared his legs forward, kicking off the ledge with a force that cracked the scales underneath slightly. He looked over at the grimacing Fawkes as he made his way closer, then he mouthed a few words. Fawkes stood stock still glaring at his captain helplessness evident in his gaze. He usually accepted and rode with the craziness that Lorean displayed. Not this time! This idea wasn''t just crazy it was suicidal, but it could work¡­ With another glance at the outside he grimaced. Then he looked down at Sorren before motioning at the tail that Lorean stood on. Sorren gaped with naked disbelief before he too sighed. ''He''s getting therapy after this¡­'' he thought to himself as he nodded. With a flare of his stocky legs he jumped upwards, yanking himself up onto a stray part of the creature''s limbs before running along it. Fawkes followed his movements shortly with his eyes before he got to work at his end of things. With a swift grunt he made his way to the end of the serpent''s tail, his muscles bulging with a vigor of energy as he landed on it. Then, he did something stupid. With Haki coating his entire body he pulled out a dagger, shoving it into the soft end of the tail and running along it, a faint line was created along the muscles as he did. The creature had been starved for a long while, its muscles long losing their elastic toughness now replaced with a soft and week interior. Enough Haki could cut it, and thus it did. At this point the wound was merely a prick to the colossal creature, so it did not notice. Fawkes could wager that even if it did, it would not have cared, its body was tired starved and its mind was mad. If it couldn''t catch its prey now, it would eat itself, of course that would only happen after all of them died¡­. With a dull roar he pulled apart the fine muscle and with it came a trail of scales. Then he tied the tiny scales around the shimmering scales before throwing it over to the opposite side where Sorren ran, a small veil clutched tightly in his hands. As Sorren looked over he quickly raised his hands, grabbing onto the chipped and almost broken dagger. Then he looked over at the captain, just in time in fact to bear witness to the snake barely swiveling out of the way of its tail. The captain rampaged on its forehead, tearing at its heavily lidded eyes with his strange movements and dagger empowered with so much Haki that it gleamed with a light similar to that of a O'' Wazamono blade. With a gulp of fear he solidified his gaze. Then with a resolute bellow he stuck the vial''s contents into his open mouth. Lorean looked around, joy evident in his gaze, along with a healthy dose of fatigue and fear of course. His first mate glanced at him, and his crew doctor glared at him. Then as one an unreal pressure erupted, the mountain shook and the semi conscious humans around all fell unconscious, a few fell into the water and a few others fell on each other. The creature looked around, for the first time in its life being subjected to a pressure that it had never felt it could only rage. Anger appearing in its eyes it widened its maw to an unreal length, almost enough to swallow a building in fact. Then it roared. And that had been what they had been waiting for. As one the trio jumped, the thin layer of muscle and scales cutting into the creature mouth as the landed around it. Lorean on the other hand jumped right into its mouth, his daggers at the ready as he plunged them into the creature''s inner mouth. He moved quickly for if he stayed in one area too long he would burn away with the level of venom in the creature''s mouth. Blood flowed like rivers, as its forked tongue flailed around. With a shriek it moved, still pressured by the insane pressure that the trio emitted together it flailed. The entire creature seemingly on fire. Its tails moved with a great vigor, a much greater vigor than the one it had displayed when it faced off Lorean alone. All thoughts of conserving energy and hunger had fled its mind, for the first time in that encounter the great Yuda felt a fear of death. At first the water raged higher and higher as it attempted to move, slowly its limbs heated up. The age old muscles locking up as the creature choked on a mixture of blood, an O'' so unhealthy amount of venom and a fatigue that its century old body could not handle. With a mighty thud the monster finally began to shriek lesser and lesser, a pained whimper in its eyes as the deceptive lids that covered them sought to drown out the faint light of hope from within its eyes. Slowly the behemoth sunk into the water, two figure right behind its head still holding on for dear life. Sorren alone seemed to be pulling all the weight as Fawkes for the first time in his life used his body might to stabilize another. And as the mighty winds began to cease so too the movement of the century old tyrant as its archaic blood finally stopped flowing to all parts of its longer than necessary body. Then with a final heave the jaw of the creature splintered, and with that the last hopes of life. From its bloody maw a tired captain slowly walked out, as the head plunged into the water below¡­. 110 Renegotiation. Roma could not help but stutter, her eyes wide open and her hands dully grasping at the steel rail on her boat. Her crew seemed to share at the sentiment if their dull and languid expression was anything to go by. The water had finally begun to settle down as the scary winds abruptly stopped. The thick and oppressive fog seemed to clear somewhat as all the Yuda stopped. Their eyes grew dull, as an almost human look of emotion came over their predatory yellow eyes. The creatures that had been giving them so much trouble stooped with the rest, then in unison gazed up at the moon. Then with a synchronized hiss that had Roma shivering they began to roar. There was no sorrow in their eyes for the death of a fellow serpent, only the sorrow of losing the apex of their own race. A low thrum sounded in the air as their tongues lolled out of their fanged mouths. The creatures stared in solitude for a few minutes, then they streamed to the ruined island. All of them uncharacteristically silent in their approach. "Quick Hurry to that side!" Roma growled as she motioned to the alcove where some Yuda still stood gazing around carefully. She had not forgotten the reason for her arrival here, after all of this she at least wished to strengthen the bond between the lily and the island. The fact that some Yuda still listened to them more than enough reason for the relationship. "Roma, what about them?" Iwa motioned with her eyes, motioning towards the solitary boat that stood idly diagonal to the entrance. The sea kings that guarded the ship seemed to slump forward somewhat as what resembled a sigh of relief arose from their bellowing chests. Still they stood protectively however, each one of them glaring down with a menacing look at the retreating Yuda, shooting them and the group of survivors dirty looks from time to time. The people on the boat seemed to deflate, the women with the sword leaning down kneeling on the wooden flooring as she breathed deeply. Her face was downcast as she tried to catch her breath, her hands still clasping her sword harshly. The man with the rope sat beside her, his hands shaking so overtly that Roma could see them move from where she was on the deck of her boat. His eyes were closed as his face stood pale and glistening. Blood streamed through his hands, though if it was his own or that of the creatures that he had slain Roma could not be sure. His black hair fell mop like on his forehead as it seemed to drip with sweat. With shaking hands he tapped his neighbor on the shoulder shooting her a look of inquisition before flopping on his back breathing deeply. As the boat neared the catchment of survivors Roma could see the fog at the center shifting as the Yuda clout parted. From the very center where the beast had fallen the gray haired man from earlier walked out, deliberately calm as he stepped on the tired water. In his left hand he held the plump man from before, holding him by the scruff of the neck with his hands hooked through his still somehow in proper shape shirt. In his other hand he held limping man that Roma had not seen before. The man had his arm slung over the grey one''s shoulder as he limped along, his feet dipping into the water as he tried to maintain his level. How the gray haired one walked on water Roma was unsure, if they had met under any other situations she would have asked him how he did it. Now, she only felt a level of reverence as she gazed at the man that had walked head first into disaster to stop it. A dull thud brought her from her thoughts as the survivor''s Yuda bumped against their ship warningly. They glared at them seemingly assessing them for any danger, before seemingly satisfied they moved aside letting them proceed towards the small cave like structure that existed. "Who goes there?" A raspy voice called out as a haggard man walked out. He limped forward leaning over the shoulder of a bloody women. His vest torn and his hair in such a mess that it reminded her of rat carcass that had been eaten into for days by a group of crows. By the way that the people around him looked at him, Roma was sure that he was the group''s leader. "Islander, I come from the Lily." Roma began as she walked to the front of her crew, putting on a face of motionlessness as she tried to suppress her jittery insides. "Amazonian. Speak, to what do we owe this visit?" He asked back. His voice measured and his gait straightening as he looked at her. "We had arrived in the beginning for our annual quota of serpents, though now I quite feel that we have had too much of them.." Roma said as she tried to measure the man before her. She had made her tone ambiguous on purpose, trying to scout the man for information. She wanted to know the state of this group of people, if for nothing else, then to pressure them into a new bargain. "Islander, I am sure." He remarked dryly as he looked around. " Aye these beasts may even manage to scare a veteran like me, let alone soft foreigners such as yourselves. Unfortunately I must ask that you wait for your annual shipment. At least till such a time that we get our island back on track and deal with the menace that that creature caused." And with that he glared at the wreckage of the island. His eyes steeled as he made out the figure of the trio that had exited the wreckage. "Better yet, why don''t we negotiate this now. We have to welcome those guests too you see." The man concluded, as a small tinge of shock ran through her spine. ''They knew each other!'' That meant that any change to the earlier pact would be impossible! Especially if the two groups were as chummy as they seemed. The invite right now was a blatant threat and a show of force to boot! And there was no way that Roma could refuse, for if that group were only guests to the islanders, that meant that they could be brought over to support the Lily! The presence of the men on that side would prove to be troublesome but Roma was sure that her queen would make something out of it. "Then I suppose that I must accompany you." 111 Renegotiation 2 What do you say? I glared at the incoming ship as I sighed. My feet could barely stand to support me, and still there was a long line of things I had to go through. "Oi, Fawkes d''ya want to be captain¡­?" I asked as I groaned out loud. Fawkes stifled a snicker before swiftly nodding and pushing me forward to the front of the overpopulated boat. With a betrayed glare I shuffled slightly. With quick steps Fawkes dropped Sorren into Terrick''s arms, then he walked to my side holding my shoulder to steady my aching calves. With a small lurch in the now peaceful waters the embargo around my boat shifted as the sea kings began to depart, diving deep underwater towards the freedom of the otherwise open calm belt. With a knowing look Tiamat moved to the side, staying by my side. A burning look in his eyes as if he wished to tell me something. With him stood the single horned sea king, that I had begun to call ''horny'' in my mind. (I wasn''t particularly known for my naming sense) With a calming whistle the ship came to a halt, a decent distance away from us. Then with a small heave piece of wood fell into the water in front of it. A thin rope coiled against its end. With a swift jump a lean women landed on the wooden structure, using it as a somehow stable source of footing. With another dull crash a second pile of wood was lowered down, quickly being alighted by a man that I could recognize better. That was the warrior that I had faced on the island, the one that had given me a decent challenge in fact. With a small cough the man began, "I suppose before any discourse is to begin, thanks and apologies are in order, outsider. Your actions on the island, alongside that of your fellow compatriots," here he looked at the prone form of Sorren. A touch of reverence in his otherwise calm expression. "They saved us civilians. For that I, and the island''s folk are thankful. The help that you and your allies rendered to this island have appeared as a boon in times of need!" He finished, bowing curtly to me before looking to the side and bowing a second time to Sorren. A glimmer in his eyes appeared as he beheld Terrick''s form, though it quickly dissipated to make way for a more businesslike appearance. "What of taking my friends? What does your island say to that, Soldier?" I asked a cutting edge in my voice. The women that had stood silently on the side perked up at the tone, staring at me with a renewed expression. "General!" She began in reproach, obviously wishing to get on my good side. With a grunt I stopped her nascent tirade, for though I had an issue with the island''s leadership, that was where my qualms with the island stopped. And seeing as how the upper echelon had all been completely killed, I no longer held too much of a grudge. IF the crew wished to exact vengeance however, that would be an entirely different ball game all together. So in the following matters I believe it would be better for matters to be dealt with between the two bodies as opposed to needless interventions." I said to her, bringing her necessity within the ensuing discussion to a bare minimum. "Further Mister General. Though I personally do not have further umbrage with the island as a whole, mostly because the offending bodies have all been killed and because I am personally not in a mood to waste the efforts of my doctor, that does not mean that my crew has forgiven the island for any of its transgressions-" Suddenly I was interrupted by a voice from the periphery. A feminine voice called out with a strong level of resolve. " Then I shall take responsibility! If as this sir says, his crew does indeed wish to take up their righteous indignation with the island, then I shall personally forsake my head as a token of appeal! Thus I ask that sir is not hasty with his actions." Then with a flurry of movement the high priestess that had been saved by Terrick and company walked over, giving the general a curt nod before looking over at Fawkes. Fawkes looked over at her, an expression of indifference. "We shall discuss this after." was all he said, before shooting Terrick a look. Catching his eye I glanced over at the kneeling assassin, looking at his side to see the still panting sword user, further in the back Rein and Scipio still lay unconscious. Angella and Terrick looked at me with the same expressions however, with a nudge to his side Sorren too awoke. With a scurry of whispers the idiot train now held the holy trifecta of the crew. The numbskulled doctor, the ditzy sword wielder, and the day-care man. With a slight grumble I looked over at the silent general and the stiff high priestess. "Hah¡­ The crew opts to forgive you, though that is mainly because your drugged priests have all perished and your very way of life seems to have collapsed like a senile serpent. That being said however, this island shall still be liable to pay for all of its transgressions." Already an idea was forming in my mind, though Rein and Scipio had still not forgiven the island, I was sure that it would be alright, the former was not a crewmate officially and the latter was smart enough to know when it was good to massacre and when it was good to take advantage of things. "Here is my offer to your island, starting off I shall begin with the way that you managed the island, though at this point it would be no different to call it a city. the high priestess and the general shall constitute a board of leader, chosen from fields that I don''t particularly give a rat''s ass about. There are only two things that I want from this board. One, to hold this island in a state of isolation as best as it can with a single department of sorts that controls the gates of this massive structure. Two, the department I suggested shall have a single member in the board, with complete powers over this mountain''s borders. The representative shall answer directly to me. Now onto matters of payment, the island shall act as a docking station for a group of people that I vouch for as long as they do not damage the integrity of the island or cause undue frustrations onto its people. These people shall be under the explicit authority of the department head that I had arranged for. The department shall also act as a recruitment/ training organization that maintains and bolsters the ranks of the group. In exchange for this continuous incursion onto your lands and the amount of overall economic burden that you shall take on, this island shall be under my explicit protection. That means that you no longer need to maintain such a cut throat relationship with Amazon Lily, or fear the navy too much. As long as you don''t get the wrath of the entire force upon your heads the crew shall protect you." I finished, taking a deep breath to compensate for all the air that I had expelled. I could literally see the numbers fly in the head priestess'' eyes as she computed all I had told her, the Amazon Lily representative stood stock still though her eyes seemed to zoom out of focus. "A couple of questions," the head priestess began professionally." Will this representative that you choose have a say in how the island is run? If so how much authority? Who will it be? and will that person have a detrimental effect on our island''s functioning. Also will these group of people, be of the unsavory variety?" A small chuckle escaped my mouth as I looked over at her. " The man that I suggest will simply have complete authority over his own charge. The authority over the island as a whole shall only be as much as the authority of any one member of this board, with their powers all being addable. He shall interfere in how the island is run only as much as another single member of the board. As to who he is, I was thinking about mister General here, what do you say?" 112 Barts! Brenda looked on awestruck as she looked at the man that Terrick called ''captain''. From what Bruma had told her, a ''captain'' stood equivalent to a general on a ship! So this man was the same to his crew as Bruma had aspired to be for the island. The very thought of that still managed to blow her mind. The man stood on the mammoth carcass, his face glistening in the new found ray of sunlight that had begun to seep into the interior of the hollow mountain. He stood gloriously clearing the floating debris, hands hard at work with his sleeves rolled up to his shoulders. To his side was another member of the elusive crew, he on the other hand Brenda had seen before. He had been one of the few that Terrick had come to rescue. He was called Fawkes, if she could recall right. They had been introduced of course, nonetheless Brenda found herself at extreme odds with how flippant her mind had become with the information gleaned from that exchange. Of the seven membered crew, Brenda was ashamed to say that she only knew the names of four, and even them she often got mixed up. A sudden tap on her shoulder brought her out of her revere. Behind her was the black haired Angella, a sunny smirk on her face as she fluttered her sword around like a walking stick. "So, what''re you looking at?" She began her smooth voice causing Brenda to feel a small spike of warmth. "Just trying to take it all in, I mean it''s not every day that your home is razed to the ground.." she replied as she turned back around. Now that the troublesome chase and infiltration no longer gave her an adrenaline high, she once again returned to her usual personality. A dull and raw honesty that Bruma had told her caused for people to dislike her company chief among those changes. Angella though just chuckled, an understanding nod later she walked forward. "You know if you want to get on the crew, you''re going to have to ask¡­" she whispered before going forward to join the duo in their restoration efforts. Brenda blushed slightly, unused to people seeing through her. The only one that had been capable of doing it before had been Bruma, and even him Brenda could only accept because of the amount of time that they had spent together. "She''s right you know¡­ There''s only so much wishing will do to you." A voice droned out as a head popped out of the calm water. Terrick looked at her face seriously, he had been going for a swim in the calm waters, maximizing the down time to train. His wet pants stuck to his lanky muscled legs as he pulled himself onto the tiny boat. "Ol'' Bruma said that you wanted to leave the island. Unless you don''t want to do it with us, you''re going to have to work fast. The crews been here for a week already. We''ll probably be leaving soon. "Fine goddamnit! Stop nagging." She snorted out, he was the fourth person that day that had offered her this advice. First it had been Fawkes, who had been helping out by keeping the civilians fed. He alone had got more work done than a whole platoon of cooks! He had said it to her in a brief moment of respite and then exited rather coolly. Then it had been the doctor, the boy had flagged her over in between her chores to offer her the advice before being whisked away by Bruma to look at some soldiers that had faced some heavy bruising on their daily hunting trips. Brenda would be lying if she said that she did not wish it. She knew that they would accept her too, but a small voice inside her head still stalled desperately. Every time she plucked up the courage to ask the captain for permission she would remember the fag end of the monstrous battle. The battle had shaken her to her very core, it had been a true clash of titans! Looking at the crew that she wished to join then looking at herself, she could not help but feel inadequate. The only one on the crew that she could possibly relate with was the boy, and he was a boy for crying out loud! Barely past the age of nine, still a childlike warble in his unbroken voice. The fact that she was as useful as a ten year old ribbed against her pride knocking it on its head and drowning it in the shallow water. With a groan of finality she made her mind again, looking ahead with an expression of resoluteness. She would do it. With purposed steps she walked to the head of the boat, pulling along the line that connected it to the gargantuan carcass that her people had decided to use as their island. With a tug she pulled ahead and jumped onto the hard ground. "Oh good you''re here, go fetch me one of them hammers why don''t you!" a sudden voice interrupted as a buff women looked over at her. She was part of the reconstruction party, and had obviously confused her as being a part of the supply unit. Unfortunately, Brenda could not find it in her to correct the women''s opinion, and so she was off. Trudging quickly to the pile of crudely made hammers, grabbing one and yanking it back to the buff women in a huff. ''Back to the quest!'' she thought to herself as she continued her way to the captain. As she neared the captain she could not help but notice a dull smirk on his face, a glint in his eyes as he looked at her from the corner of his eyes. "Ah¡­ Mister captain, may I speak with you?" She asked, at the critical moment her voice deciding it quite liked its residence in her voice box. With a turn and a pleasant smile he looked over at her, temporarily stopping his chores. "Yes..?" "Uh¡­ iwantedtoknowweathertherewasanopeningonyourcrewOkthankyoubye!" and amidst chuckles and straight out laughter she fled, her ears red enough to light up a dark cavern¡­ ************ I couldn''t help but laugh out loud as I remembered the scene. With a wistful glance at the moon I looked over at the crew, sans Sorren of course for he was still on the island working on the last serious case. It was because of him and his desire to treat all the patients he could that we had stayed on the island. He would finish his chore tonight, and by daybreak tomorrow we would be off. Rein sat to the very corner, the week''s events still shaking his mind. Many times I had woken up to his screams as he woke shaken from nightmares that had started from that day. The only one that he spoke to was Sorren, and I wasn''t particularly insistent. If he needed help then he would get it, but he would have to ask. "So, did she finally ask you?" Angella asked silently a small smile on her face as she stroked Scipio''s forehead. He lay asleep on her lap, tired from the day''s work. He''d worked really hard today. "She did, if you call what she did a call for permission. Whatever it was, it was damn hilarious." I said chuckling as Fawkes filled the crew in on what happened. Terrick was the first to guffaw, before chocking on the drink that he had just guzzled prior. "So, you going to do it?" He asked out loud a hearty laugh later. A serious expression came upon my face as I looked at the crew. "As long as someone is willing to vouch for her I don''t see why not!" "I do!" was Terrick''s equally serious response."Then she''s in!" Then my serious expression melted away, as I chucked my canister at him. "damnit Terrick! At this point you''ve recruited more people than I have!" and we were again chuckling away, a silent party as we waited for our hard working doctor. As the group finally began to tiredly lie down, a small tug ran through the rope that tied the boat to the island. With quick and gentle movements I pulled us closer. On the surface stood a smiling Sorren. Fatigue clear in his eyes, though he still looked perfectly vibrant in his joy. Next to him was the wizened form of Bruma and a sniffling sound that told me of the existence of the island teen. Bruma looked over at me thankfully as he embraced her, Sorren climbing on the ship as I waited for the scene to play out in its entirety before I interrupted. The girl slowly turned to me, determination in her red eyes. "So, do you accept captain?" the moment seemingly rubbing away the nervousness that she had felt prior. "If you join the crew I''m going to push you really hard." I warned, happy to see that her determination still remained. "I don''t care how you complain, your training''s going to be tough. Especially because of where we''re going. If you join you''re going to be the one with the least authority of the lot, even Scipio shall outrank you. And I don''t particularly care how weak you are, as long as I see you work to your bones we won''t have a problem, but if you slack off don''t blame me! What d''ya say, cabin girl Brenda?" I asked my voice completely serious as I looked into her eyes. She nodded, still determined. She would do fine, I was sure. Those were the same eyes the Scipio had, and I was damn proud of that brat. "Then get on, girl!" With a smile she walked onto the boat, careful not to let it rock too much. The last thing she wanted to do was wake up her new superiors. "Please. Call me Barts!" 113 Back to the ship! I sighed softly as I looked at the ship. Still standing at the spot that it had been at, lonely on the surface of the smooth and translucent water. "We shall leave you here, gill-less one¡­" Tiamat growled out softly as it dove into the water, the single horned sea king hesitating briefly before bobbing over and tapping softly against the wood of the boat with its horn. Then it too was gone. The crew impassively looked at the retreating figures, Terrick being the only one to nod behind them. Barts gulped softly as she looked at the imposing ship, all thought of the sea kings off her mind. "So, that''s a ship??" She said to no one in particular as a blinding gleam shone out of her eyes. When no one answered her she began to look around, immediately latching onto Angella for answers. The two had really hit it off in the past few days, and now Barts probably felt the closest to her. I couldn''t really blame her. Terrick had told us of the circumstances of their meeting, suffice to say that Fawkes had been instantly convinced that she was insane enough to fit right into the dynamic of the crew. "Home sweet home, and all that jazz.. Fawkes can you whip up some tasty fast food for us?" I asked as I climbed nimbly onto the deck, tying the boat onto the rails and pushing down a netted rope ladder for the rest to climb on with. "Aye captain.." Fawkes muttered less than energetically as he helped Scipio hang onto the rope. The little brat had been awfully quite off late, and hadn''t indulged much in the way of conversation with any of the rest of the crew. He had spent almost the entire of his conscious week helping around Sorren and making sure that nothing too bad happened to him. Barts was the fourth to climb on top, immediately dragging Scipio off to explain to her what all the parts of the ship did, completely oblivious to his sober inner monologue. Looking at the backs of the retreating figures I called out, "After you have Barts aware of the facilities on board report to the captain''s quarters." Angella climbed on deck as I finished my command and shot me a questioning glance, shooting her hand down to drag up the bulky Rein and nonchalantly deposit him on deck. "You guys too. Oi freeloader, this is how it is on our ship. Get used to it." and with that I began to haul up the rope ladder, Terrick already having cleared the way and lazing silently in the sun. As the small group dispersed I sighed again. It seemed like the post of captain came with its own share of problems.. weary is the head that dons the crown indeed¡­ ************* Scipio grumbled inwardly as he pointed at the mess hall. "And that''s where we have our food¡­" he said out loud, completely devoid of energy. "Say, where are you from Scipio?" Barts asked as she curbed her curiosity. "Eh, why though?" She responded cluelessly. Scipio briefly debated on whether he should ask her to stop prying, almost instantly coming to the tragic realization that she probably wouldn''t care about what he said and continue to annoy him. "Parents were assholes. Abandoned me. Had to spend most of my childhood fending for myself and living in the slums." He replied finally, succulently summarizing his situation in a way that he hoped would yield the least questions. "Oh, ok.. So how did you get on the crew?" She asked, a second question to take the place of the first. Scipio looked at her annoyed as he took a deep breath. "Maybe I''ll tell you later. Something is bothering me right now. I''ll see you later in the captain''s quarters." "What''s bothering you?" She followed almost immediately. Scipio glared at her, now completely angry. "Can you please leave me alone to my thoughts?" he whispered out through gritted teeth. "Does that have to do with the thing that''s bothering you?" She continued almost completely ignoring the loud sounds of his teeth grinding together. To be completely honest, Scipio did not know from where his anger came from. Usually he would be unaffected by most verbal banter, even if it was an insult. This time however, he felt his mind cloud over and a blazing fury spin itself into being in his head. "WHAT IS IT TO YOU? YOU''RE A STRANGER HERE HOW WOULD YOU KNOW HOW I FEEL? WHY ARE YOU EVEN HERE, ITS NOT LIKE WE HAVE ENOUGH TO DEAL WITH ALREADY! BESIDES IT WAS YOU PEOPLE THAT KIDNAPPED US, THEY TIED ME UP FOR GODSAKES! AND YOU''RE ASKING ME TO COMPLETELY FORGIVE THAT? NOT TO MENTION THAT HUMONGOUS FUCK YOU SNAKE THAT POPPED UP! WHAT DO YOU THINK WE ARE!...." Halfway through his tirade he felt his coherence slip. He yelled the first thing that came into his mind, and as he did he felt his brain begin to work up a full head of anger. He knew in a small part of his still functioning mind that Barts had nothing to do with it. He knew that it was not her fault, yet he continued to bellow. His face had long ago journeyed past the red phase now settling on an unhealthy pink as a horde of spittle rained out of his mouth. Still Barts did nothing, she merely stared at the boy as she patiently waited for him to finish, only stiffening slightly as the boy began to rain weak blows against her shoulders. It still hurt mind you, just not as much as most things had hurt the in past weak. " why am I so weak?¡­" he whispered finally in a horse voice as he buried his face into her chest. Hot tears running down her cheeks as he began to cry. There was only so much helplessness that boy could take before he collapsed after all. Barts soothingly ran her hands through his hair as she smiled toothily. Tapping rhythmically on his back as she tried to calm him down. This wasn''t the first time that she had dealt with someone overwhelmed by emotions, it happened more than one expected. Especially around as much alcohol as she had spent her childhood with. 114 Therapist. My eyes grew heavy as I dealt with the swath of reports. At this point I had begun to regret dropping everything to go save the crew, the sheer quantity of papers that I had been transcribed during my time away caused me a hulking feeling of helplessness. Don''t get me wrong, I was happy with the system I had in place, having only to ring up a small collection of no more than a dozen people to be informed of all that had occurred. The issue was the sheer amount of shit that had happened in the brief week! I was broken out of my revere by a small knock on the door, the crew had arrived. The group filed in silently, Fawkes calmly walking through at the head of the lot before walking to my left. The rest of the group spread out before me looking at me calmly. Terrick had gotten a much needed change of clothes, a small and airy shirt and a pair of black cargo pants. A small holster with a tiny dagger rested on his hip. Barts stood to his right, she had ditched her more tribal costume for a pair of clothes that I guessed that she borrowed from Angella. Scipio glanced at me with rich determination in his eyes, gleaming with a renewed vigor. A small smile stretched across my mouth. "Brat, it seems you''ve dealt with it.." I said out loud looking piercingly at him. "Remember what I said to you? I won''t hold your weakness against you, as long as you work hard to remove it. ''Being weak isn''t wrong, staying weak is.'' So, boy did you try your hardest?" I asked. My voice breaking the grim silence of the room. Scipio looked at me, surprise in his eyes. "Aye Captain." He said nodding to me. "Then all''s fine. No one here will expect anything else." I said to him before looking at Sorren. The fat boy had slinked into the room at the very end, carefully steadying himself at the door frame as he looked onward. "You doing alright fatty?" I called out. "Ugh, Captain how did Fawkes deal with this? It hurts soo much!!" He whined out loud, his serious expression melting away to reveal a more carefree demeanor. "Eh." Was all I said as I shrugged. "Now then onto more serious matters. Terrick do you have a plan?" I asked, obviously referring to the crew''s pathetic poison resistance. He nodded solemnly as he came forward, I was really starting to like the ''fall in'' esque feel of the whole briefing, but I digress. "I have a few things that would be useful. From tomorrow I''m going to have Fawkes put in small amounts of toxin into the food that we eat. I was trained this way so it''s probably going to work.. Of course we''re all going to have very rebellious stomachs for a week or so, but it''s a small price to pay." He said as I nodded. Fawkes grimaced slightly as I looked at him before nodding. "Don''t you mess with my food!" He roared out loud before flinching. With a meek nod of apology he walked out of the room evidently rattled by the events on the island. "Leave him to me." Barts said, interrupting my thoughts. "I''ll handle it. You don''t need to worry too much." She said nodding proudly before stalking out of the room. The floor boards creaked as I looked at the rest of them. "Hah¡­ Fawkes work with fatty for a new schedule, we won''t be rowing out of here any time soon it seems¡­" ************** Rein gulped as a suffocating feeling slithered down his back. He could feel it returning, panic laced through his spasming muscles as he leaned against the walls of the ship. Merely staying near the crew seemed to bring it on, horrific scenes filled his mind as he began to heave. Giant serpents seemed to dance before him as his breath began to shorten, he could feel his muscles constricting unnaturally as he tumbled to the floor. He was hyperventilating, his heart seeming to want to flee his constrictive ribs as veins began to reveal themselves on his arms. He clenched his hands firmly as he shiveringly reached into his pockets, only calming down slightly as he felt the bulge of cloth beneath. He would do it. However much he suffered at this point, he could not hold it against the crew. True, they had forced him to work. But he was not as spoiled as to believe that he was entitled to free service from anywhere. He wasn''t a world noble. And even the distant manner that the crew dolled against him could not possibly alienate them from him, for whatever they did they still treated him humanely, caring for him the way they would care for another member on the ship. He pulled his coat to his face as he buttoned it down on one side. rapidly he began breathing into it as he forced it around his mouth and nose. Slowly he could feel his heart begin to calm down, and his breathing to subside. "What''re you doing?" A curious voice suddenly called out, rapidly piercing his one man bubble. He could not help but gape at the women staring down at him. Her black eyes gleaming intelligently as she regarded his fallen form. He smiled weakly as he tried to get to his feet, only for her to kneel down in front of him. "What happened?" She asked her voice once again ringing out soothingly. He sighed slightly as he began to sit up, no longer trying to get to his feet he looked at her. Then his mouth began to move, and as he spoke he could feel his tense muscles relax and his heart settle. For her part Barts listened, not interrupting at all as he told her how he felt, a small smile on her face as she patted his back encouragingly. 115 Resolve, broken and unbroken Garp gulped softly as he guzzled down the glass of water. His eyes roved over the calm water as he smiled softly, if only everywhere was as peaceful as here¡­ "Vice admiral, Vice admiral Kuzan requests for permission to board the ship!" A loud voice roared. With a snort Garp put down the glass, grunting loudly in affirmation. "Heh what are you a pig, old man?" Kuzan''s lazy drawl belted out as he got onto the ship, his pants completely wet and his hair slicked back awkwardly. "Brat, I''m surprised you didn''t contact ol'' Buddha for a pick up." Garp rumbled out as he turned around, glaring darkly at the man that had caused his superior to force him on a pick up mission. "I did. Sakazuki straight out refused and Borsolino was carted off to go on a subjugation mission into the new world.. You were the one closest to the Blue." He said simply, looking at him with a bored glance before settling down on a chair on deck. Garp rounded on the ice man with a glare as he looked at him. His graying beard seemingly bristling as he took in the desolate frame of the once righteous Marine. Seemingly without being prompted to Kuzan sighed as he opened his mouth, an acute feeling of pain in his beady eyes as he looked at the man that had once had a hand in his training. "What am I to do, old man¡­?" he whispered out loud, the lazy fa?ade melting away to reveal a man that was conflicting within himself. "What do you want to do?" Garp responded neutrally as he looked at him, an emotionless gaze regarding the now quivering man. "They ordered for me to kill, so I did¡­ I remember Saul used to say, that justice was what we were to work with. Was there any justice in what I have done Garp¡­?" he said memories of his fallen friend seemingly clawing at his back. "hah¡­ Look at me, boy. Look at these seas. Peaceful isn''t it? This is what we protect, not those arrogant blowhards and not Sengoku. We protect these seas, and the people within it. But, the forces that we can protect it against are small¡­. True pirates like that bastard White beard may be a right pain to deal with, but they are not the ones we protect the seas against. We protect the seas against our superiors, for whatever foul thing that they make us do, it shall pale in comparison to the things they themselves would do. In some convoluted way, we do as much as we can. After what happened on Ohara, I cannot hope to hide behind the fragile fa?ade of Marine integrity, neither I nor Z have ever considered that. All we know is this, however bad it is now, war is worse.." Garp said solemnly. ''Oh! Sengoku, why did you do it..?'' he thought worryingly as he witnessed the most kind and caring of the marines begin to fall. In front of him, Kuzan crumbled. No tears fell from his eyes, and no sobs shook his body. The change was more fundamental. His passion burnt out and his motivation froze. His eyes that once held a fire that Garp admired now began to splutter and die. This was the day that Garp would forever remember as the day that he failed in his duty to protect, he failed in his duty to nurture, and failed in his duty to lead.. ******************************* Water thrashed against the solitary island as jack sat on the beach. The golden sand already crawling into his prosthetic leg. The sun glistened silently as it sunk beneath the watery surface as sharp pink light glistened on his chiseled face. His trusty sword sat at his side, shining as bright as the day it had been forged. The hilt had long deteriorated, and the etching on the scabbard stood weathered, a sign of the time that had passed. A single bottle sat in his hands, obviously containing alcohol, nonetheless unopened. A hand on his shoulder broke him from his revere as his brother walked beside him. Bandages still littered his body, sickly as it was. The man silently sat beside him, a hand gently nudging at the hilt of the sword while another played carelessly with the cover of a book. "What are you doing here, Raigar? Weren''t you healing.." Jack muttered as he glanced to his side, before immediately looking back to the empty horizon. "I heard of what happened to your leg.." He said as Jack snorted. " I haven''t known you to beat around the bush, brother. Just say you heard of when Ellie died. You don''t have to pussyfoot around matters, I have long accepted it." "Brother, I have a request of you." Raigar said, breaking through the nascent brooding atmosphere. Uncaring of his wounds he turned around. The fire that Jack had seen the first time he had laid eyes upon his brother when he had reached Raftel gleamed once more. "Say it then. As long as it is something the current me can accomplish say it." Was Jack''s reply as he looked to his side, his eyes clear and his clenched fist relaxed. "I want to train. I want to grow strong! Help me brother!" rancor rife in his tone as he clenched his hands at his side. "The only thing I know is how to wield the blade, I cannot train you in much else." Jack replied as he swiveled to the side, his eyes staring straight into the fiery eyes of his adoptive brother. "That is fine! I can''t possibly train in that which I choose now can I?" He said as he motioned to his injuries, his hands shaking at his side as he glared into Jack''s eyes. "I will do it!" 116 Surprise after surprise! The clouds in the sky benevolently gazed down on the shiny prow of the ship, as it made its way slowly and steadily forwards. Below deck, the rhythmic beat of the drums rumbled outward. ''Boom, boom. Boom, boom.'' it rang as I stood over it bare chested, my shirt tied to my waist. Barts sat on a corner, sweat pooling off her forehead as she attempted to keep pace with the rest of the folks around her, her side only making do because of Fawkes'' steady and reliable presence. But still she persevered, on her first day on the ship she had complained bitterly, on the second she had wailed piteously, and on the third she had silently accepted her fate. Of the crew, only Sorren had a pass, too injured to do so he made do with his own coping exercise on deck. Rein groaned loudly as he slumped forward, the grueling exercise proving too much for him. His red hair matted limply on the side of his temple as his pants drowned in the sweat that he let off. He groaned and panted, yet was unable to move. Angella walked up to him, patting his shoulder before calmly and easily lifting him up and placing his gasping form at the side. "You alright there, red hair?" I called out cheerily as I looked at him. He gasped as he caught my eye, flipping me off before resting his back against the wall. I paid him no mind, only paying attention to the drum in front of me and the apt rhythm of my rising and falling arms. Slowly the pace of the beats slowed, the thick drum membrane vibrating softly as it quaked less and less. With the beat the crew began to slow, their arms resting safely and slowly at their side as I stopped. Fawkes breathed deeply as he looked around, his eyes caught mine before he nodded. The calming beat controlled their rhythm, the rumble of each beat controlled their intensity. With how the exercise had repeated itself over the past few weeks since we had entered the calm belt, there was no surprise that it had served its purpose. This was a method that I had discovered back when I lived on the island with dad, it helped people learn to tune themselves well with their Haki. Already most of the crew had a preliminary understanding. Even the complete rookies on the ship, Rein and Barts had managed to grab onto something! Rein, regardless of how weak he was now proved to be a true talent. He had already awakened Observation Haki! At least enough to predict anything within a three feet radius around him! "Ok gang, this session of rowing comes to an end! The afternoon session shall belong to Scipio, Angella and me! Disperse, Fawkes prepare our lunch!" I called out, with a loud roar of approval welcoming my decision. With a swift look at Terrick I walked behind the red hair, hooking my arms under his armpit and lifting him off his feet. Fawkes did the same from the other side. With quick steps we ran to the stairs amid feeble protests from the man we ran into the kitchen and depositing him on a chair. Within the next three minutes the entire crew had gathered, Angella had gone off to gather the absentee doctor in the time it had taken the rest of us to dry off. Amidst loud chatter and even louder rebellious stomachs we barreled through our lunch, there was little to no information that was shared amidst the collective. Halfway through the banquet however, Barts, who had been until that point sending Rein the stink eye spoke up. "Captain, I''m quite new to the pirate life, so I wanted to know," and from within the folds of her recently-changed-into dress she brought out a pink fruit. It had spirals all over the sides and a pointy stalk that called out conspicuously to all those around. The fruit, though mango shaped obviously was too big to belong to common conceptions of the mango. " Can I eat this? I found it a few hours before we left fragrant island¡­" She said, quickly silencing herself as she took in the gob smacked expression that I knew that most of the crew shared. I must confess, the only reason that I remained silent for as long as I did, having Barts loudly call out to me over three times, was because I had lost most cognitive function, I mean what were the odd? A sigh and a few Heimlich maneuvers later, when we had finally calmed down I looked at her again. "hah¡­. Most pirate crews even in the new world follow this policy, Barts. At least when it comes to devil fruits. Finders keepers. You found it, so do what you want with it. The captain has no control of what a crew member does with a devil fruit he or she has found. But, if you want to eat it, I want to remind you of this. You will never be able to swim again!" I said, my final words just being spoken when Barts already slammed the fruit into her mouth. Two bites later, she had swallowed it. As if that curveball wasn''t enough however, another jumped out of the corner to assault me almost immediately. Rein, who had been silent over the last exchange finally looked at me. "Lorean. No, captain. I want to ask you something." He rumbled out, his baritone voice cutting through the racket that Barts snap decision had caused. Again the crew settled into silence, Sorren pausing in his attempt to toast the recently inducted devil fruit user. "Go ahead, Rein." Was my only reply. The man would have my undivided attention, if he requested for it, then I suppose that it was important. "I want to join your crew." He said, simply and succulently remarking as if to ignore the absurdity that he had just spouted. I still regarded him seriously however. Though all my many instincts begged me to spit take, I looked at him calmly. Through the entire situation my brain roared at me to accept, to toast him and her. But I could not, so instead I could only nod. As soon as I did, as if an ironic replay of the scene that had just occurred he pulled out a sweat cloth from his breast pocket. With deft fingers he unknotted the cloth before swallowing the purple grape underneath. It was another devil fruit! Throughout the ensuing celebration I could only sit mute, the captain and his first mate had been successfully dumbstruck. Oh and, later that day, we entered the New World! 117 New world madness With a huge jerk the ship screeched upwards, the sudden presence of waves on the ocean surface shocking its residents. The winds around began to wail almost instantly, with dark clouds swarming hungrily over the miniscule ship. The sails that stood bundled up on the side whipped with the sudden gust, breathing down a sense of terror and pressure down on the fragile mast of the white sided ship. With a roar I ran out, taking the steps three at a time racing to the deck. The sudden difference of temperature and climate had shocked me. Behind me the crew followed, with Rein wheezing with each step that he took. On the deck, Sorren ran with his arms akimbo. A sheen of worry and sweat on his face as he attempted to pull at the well tied harness that tied the sails in place. "Fatty focus on the rear ties!" I roared out loud as I pumped out my Haki. With both hands on the helm I could finally breathe a little easy. Fawkes bulldozed out of the stairs, wind whipping at his hair he gazed around a barely concealed hint of glee as he ran to aid our diminutive doctor. He was bare chested as I was, and could not help but shiver as the winds chilled the stream of sweat that trailed down his biceps. Within moments the crew had assembled running to different places on the ship as they attempted to right the situation. "North winds in coming!" "Damnit this harness, who the fuck tied it!?" "God damnit, these winds are so damn unforgiving!" A trail of curses rang out of the inexperienced crew as they glared at the bundle of black clouds in the sky. Since it was basically the first time that the crew had come across such a lethal and downright terrifying storm, their inexperience showed brazenly as they attempted to cope with the sudden upheaval. Over the next hour the ship swayed uncontrollably, the open sail bellowed in protest at every passing wind and the mast groaned heavily as it faced the brunt of the wrath of the water that streamed out from the monstrous clouds. The water waved blearily, the waves cresting at the side of the deck with cracks and roars that seemed to come from an unfathomably scary beast that we could not see. Water roared from all sides, freely passing through the barren deck. "Fawkes! Right the sail! We go Northward!" I roared out loud as I looked over my back, my Haki still roaring through the creaking wood that formed the old ship. "Which way is North!?" Was the infuriating response. "That way you fleet footed dingus!" I yowled out, bending my neck awkwardly towards a completely inconspicuous direction. "Aye aye Bastard!" Fawkes called out as he pulled against the swathe of ropes that controlled the direction of the sails. They had laid securely alongside the fruit that mother had given me. A single one, embedded into the wooden centre of the spoked wheel that controlled the rudder, controlled the direction that we sailed towards. The trio of needles quivered in the rain, swiftly falling flat before jumping back into action as if under the stimulation of a whole packet of Viagra. Suddenly I roared out. "Damn bastard, are you annoying me on purpose?? I said north, that''s in the opposite direction!" Before glaring venomously at the panting first mate. "Fuck you. You try holding these ropes in place!" He barked at me, before digging his feet into the wood below to forcefully pull and change the direction that the sail had somehow begun to point at. Over the course of the next hour, the crew marched up and down the deck, roaring and panting like a steam engine as they attempted to right the rebellious sail and protect the quivering mast. At some point in the grueling exercise Rein had fallen down, beaten out of the land of consciousness by a golf sized ball of solid hail that had punted him ruthlessly on the temple. Now he sat at the side, leaning against the door, that had until that point been subject to banging under the cruel winds. A fist sized bump stood proudly on his head, his hair parting over either side of the massive welt. The only female on the crew looked positively drenched having at some point been forced to jump off deck to save Scipio who had been forced to dive for the entertainment of the cruel new world weather. The only reason that she had made her way back on deck was because of the three lines of rope that tied her to the mast, with two of them intertwined so as to maintain a level of strength that it could not possibly possess otherwise. Terrick stood to the side retching furiously as a shine layer of sweat fell from his mouth, a transparent layer of bile that his stomach had ejected to accompany the food that had been forcibly evicted. As the winds finally began to calm the quivering needles finally began to stiffen, no longer looking like a dead leaf in the storm. The ship creaked loudly as we collapsed on deck. The first mate whimpering silently at the level of strain that his body had been forced to undergo. Sorren walked between the collapsed bodies, with Barts at his side as they helped calm the people around and deal with the furiously hacking Terrick. A goofy smile existed on Sorren''s face as he patted on Terrick''s back, his face gleaming with a mischievous light as he no doubt thanked his lucky stars for the injury that he had undergone. "Can we go back to the blues captain¡­?" Scipio genuinely questioned as he curled in on himself, stroking his burning muscles. I looked at his red tomato like face and smiled, then I began to laugh, and within a few seconds my crew laughed alongside me¡­. 118 Trouble on the fleet admirals plate! I glanced out of the corner of my eye as I lay leisurely on the deck, on a make shift hammock I stared at the calming sea green water. The waves lapped gently against the ship''s side as we swayed gently in the breeze. The storm from yesterday, seemed not to have happened, for the skies were clear with a group of gulls flitting calmly across the boundless sky. The clouds stretched lazily on, drifting thoughtlessly in all directions. It had been a mere day that we had spent on the new world and already we had faced one of the most terrible storms that we had ever experienced. The multitude of ice bergs that came after did nothing to ease the tension that the place brought. Only now did we have a slight moment to relax, and so that was what I was doing. Sleeping on deck all the while keeping an eye on the unpredictable sea. Angella had collected our youngest prot¨¦g¨¦, (Neither Sorren nor I counted, seeing as both of us acted much older than we had any right to) harshly hammering the last nails into the coffin of his illiteracy. Fawkes had taken the two rookies to the far side of the boat, snugly fit into the huge shadow of the tall and trusty mast. He had them experiment with the fruits that they had consumed. It had been ruled over food today, that they both were woefully unaware of how to possibly use their capabilities, even if the devil fruit was to be discounted, the both of them still possessed a piss poor form and little to no battle experience. Terrick had taken it upon himself to rectify the latter in a surprising show of character and responsibility. So every other day they would drill the basic weapons and unarmed combat alongside the crew''s assassin. While on the days that they did not work on their physical abilities, they would work on their devil fruits, which was what they were doing now. I originally planned to train them on the use of their devil fruits myself, but Fawkes had volunteered, seeing as and I am going on a vein and quoting him here, ''I was pretty useless on the last island, and the only even slightly respectable thing I did was the basic equivalent of weight lifting'' in an attempt to both get himself familiarized with people that possessed devil fruits and to the individual aspects of the fruits that the two rookies had consumed. Thus I had left it to him. It would help him in the long run, I reasoned especially if we were to get involved with the bigwigs of the sea. No doubt about it. We would need every trump card we could get our hands on. And now here I was. Thinking lazily as I looked at the chipped daggers on my palm. There was no where that I could improve anytime soon. The restrictions on my Armament Haki, was pretty much my age coming into the picture. The main reason that I could train it this far, could be pretty much solely attributed to my devil fruit. With a sigh I slowly swung of the thin white cloth that had been slung between the railings of the ship and a part of the captain''s cabin and began to walk forward. There was nothing I could do about the former, but the later? I could definitely work on that! *********************** Sengoku groaned as he looked at the massive flood of papers that had found their way onto his desk. It had been barely a month since that big mouthed bastard Morgans got his hands on what had happened on Ohara, thankfully the world government had pretty much censored him by that point. Still, the blowback of that matter had forced him to make CP9 work on the double! The scanty few that got their hands on the information before it had been categorically silenced had already thrown shade on the monstrous bounty that Sengoku had been forced to sign on one Devil child Nico Robin. The revolutionary army had been having a field day! and vice Admiral Borsolino anything but. For he had been the only one that could be dispatched to reach the destination of issue in any sensible amount of time. At this point Sengoku could not help but pity the lazy brat, he had been driven almost as ragged as Sengoku himself! To top it all off, Garp had pretty much lost the trail of the upstart pirates that he had been pursuing. The only thing that stopped Sengoku from questioning his old friend''s capabilities was because he knew that the temperamental fool knew when to act serious. He had been sending back regular reports for god''s sakes! "Fleet Admiral!!" the sound of the door hastily broke Sengoku out of his revere. In marched a marine, his cap skewed in its placement, with a frail fluttering file in his hands, an anxious look in his face and a pronounced huff that told Sengoku that he had run up from the information room on the other side of Marineford. "Soldier." He greeted with a simple nod, his hands not leaving the weathered pen in between his fingers. "Garp''s report just came in! It''s been signed off by Vice admiral Garp and Kuzan!" he said as he waved the paper around before placing it on the table with a worried expression. The fleet Admiral nodded calmly, a hint of dread in his heart as he dismissed the man with a wave of his free hand, his afro quivering. His glasses gleamed unnaturally as he perused the contents of the unpunctuated letter. It spoke of how Garp had Kuzan on ship. And what Kuzan met with, resembling a certain pirate that Sengoku had hoped would be forgotten, he had hoped that a monster such as Garp would be enough to sniff him out and put a stop to him before he took up place alongside recent upstarts like Kaido or Linlin, or heaven''s forbid fucking whitebeard. Again his fears had been proven accurate it seemed.. "Goddamnit Kong, you made it look so fucking easy.." he muttered darkly as he did the only thing he knew he could do. He sanctioned a bounty. 119 Sphinx As we neared the verdant coasts of the island, the wind seemed to noticeably calm. The caws of distant gulls did much to add to the overall serenity that the calm sea offered. With every, crest over even the smallest of waves the ship creaked, croaked and generally made a loud and suffering growl. At this point, I would be forced to say that I had grown pretty attached to this ship in its all rickety glory. Every time I looked across the wide wooden deck I would be shot with waves of nostalgia. I could almost see my silhouette as I stood atop the wide space, arms akimbo as I heroically announced for the departure of the boat from its marine base home. With a twist of my neck I could see the fading forms of Fawkes and Sorren as they chortled, christening the sails and generally supporting my decision to do so. With a clap I slowly gazed around, startling a surprised Rein, who had been till that time swabbing away at the deck with a mop. ( as the defacto weakest member on ship, he had been delegated all the chores that Scipio had been doing) "I''ve decided!" I called out, uncaring for the broad chested red heads scowl of annoyance as he cleared the puddle of water that had been formed credit to my interruption. The others shot me an unimpressed look, before looking over at my shoulders nodding in satisfaction and going back to what they had been doing. Angella flipped through the pages of a book on slavery, thoroughly unimpressed both with my attention grabbing ways and the overall fraudulent contents of the political propaganda-rife book. Terrick snorted, not even deigning to give me a glance all the while polishing his shining curved daggers. Sorren looked at me with a mild confusion, then seemingly decided that what I had to say was going to pull us into a rabbit hole that he did not want to enter if he could help it. Fawkes looked at me with slight pity, his hands still holding onto the stick that he used to correct Barts'' posture. "What have you decided O'' great and wondrous captain?" he called out with a bored drawl in his already derpy tone. I shot him a glance of gratitude before I snapped back into seriousness. At any other time I would revel at all the gag opportunities that that statement could segue me into, not now though. "After we''ve amassed enough resources I''m planning on taking this old boat-" here I patted the sturdy mast, "To waters seven so we can get him outfitted. At this point I don''t think I want a new ship." I said grimly. Fawkes looked at me in surprise before shrugging. "As long as his keel stays remotely unbroken things should fine." and then he was back to training Barts. "On another note, captain how long till land fall?" Rein asked as he ran his hands over his clammy brow, panting slightly at the strain that cleaning a slightly swaying deck with weights tied to his thighs caused. Pshaw amateur.. "This is the new world big bro. Do YOU think that they''re anything to go by?" Sorren queered as he looked up from a leather bound book. "Point.." I muttered as I gazed piercingly at the island coast. "Cut that time by half Rein, the winds are going to be picking up. You can finish the cleaning job later, just get your body slightly stretched for any eventuality. Fawkes, get the boxes you prepared this morning ready. As soon as we hit land all of us will get a box that we can use for lunch. Angella, prepare the signal flares. Sorren, first aid." I belted out as I ran below deck. The time in the calm belt had taught me that things could strike at any moment, and for all my bluster as a fairly decent pirate, I was sure that the flippant attitude I had developed on the blues would not fly. I needed to be ready for everything. With hasty steps I ran back up the stairs, seven revolvers in my hand. These would serve as a last resort. Angella and Terrick had awakened their observation and would be able to use it well. Scipio had been given basic training on the usage of all weapons and for the other two, it would serve as a last resort at least. As soon as I got on deck I tossed the guns I had over to the crew, a tiny pouch of ammo and gun powder tied to the ends. Angella nodded to me as she caught the one I tossed her way, her sword resting at her waist as she got up, the book firmly tucked away someplace. Terrick smiled as he caught his, daggers shining wickedly in every conceivable place that it could be shoved. Fawkes stood to the side, an ax on his back as he smiled. Where he got the dull looking weapon was anyone''s guess. Sorren smacked his fists together as he nodded, taking extra caution as he stowed away the gleaming revolver. He had made significant progress with his wound, but he wasn''t at his full power by any stretch of the imagination. He could take out mooks easy, anything higher than a regular new world pirate on the other hand would be slightly hard to deal with. With a dull thud the ship neared the shallow waters of the coasts, I could see the vast fields of green that surrounded the small wooden landing that worked as a makeshift port. No one was in sight, and so I could relax at least a bit. They might not be able to recognize the faded print on the sides of the ship, or the pure black flag that we flew, but they would sure recognize the faded colors that lined the ship. And as we began to lower the anchor I could not help but hiss in surprise. For regarding us meekly was a ugly creature with a white coat and a black face. Its lower fangs curved around its mouth as its brownish black eyes balked at the size of the ship. "Fuck me sideways with a spiky dildo, it''s a sphinx!" 120 Bar fight! As the ship neared the wooden makeshift port, the scenery began to clear. Off in the distance a solitary mountainous monolith rose solemnly up into the sky still covered with a faint layer of obstructing fog that I blamed for not being able to spot it right off. The land on either side curved outward, with sandy outcrops flagging around. To the left a collection of thick and verdant trees tufted around, though scanty in number, still gave a feeling of freshness and abundance. To the right was more highpoint like structure, the sand spread all dune like with a collection of black hardy rocks jutting out copiously. the land overall lifted pretty high, with a treacherous maw like rock structure baying out towards the sea. A breath of relief shot through my body the ship came to a halt, the landing barely touching at the wooden outcrop that poked out of the sandy port of the otherwise barren island. The sphinx still stared at us in curiosity, a cursory growl guzzling out of its fanged maw as it neared us. I was the first off the boat, following me closely were Fawkes and Barts. Fawkes shot me a curiosity steeped glance as he motioned towards the massive yet tame beast. "What''s a sphinx?" he asked softly. "A native creature to a scanty few islands on the new world. they''re pretty tame and harmless, most use them as a type of cattle." I answered dryly as I made my way forward. The fresh countryside winds caressing gently against my cheek, as the fresh scent of moist grass assailed my nostrils. "So where are we?" he asked simply, at this point the rest of the crew had gotten off with Terrick being the only one to stick close to the deck. The group pooled behind me, waiting for my introduction attentively. "I can''t really tell, to be honest. Needs to be either Sphinx, yes that''s the actual name of the place, Feather tuft island, or Gypte island¡­. Can''t really tell which though." I answered calmly as I turned around. As the crew nodded I looked over at Terrick seriously. "Take care of the ship, when the away winds come then you can get the ship to a more protected alcove. I would tell you to get it to that outcrop-" here I pointed to the right, "but staring the ship in this kind of dead wind is almost impossible. Sorren. You stay back too. You''re injured and I don''t think we want to bring you into the thicket of things, instead why don''t you investigate the area. Check out weather that place-" and again here I motioned to the scary rock outcrop. " can act as a useful docking spot." Sorren nodded grimly. He may have recovered somewhat, but I didn''t wish to risk the chance that the handicap of taking him would provide. Immediately he took off, silently moving on the sandy beach, as small foot holes formed in his wake. "At any other time I would suggest splitting up, but this is unknown territory and you never split the party, so.." with a shrug I moved forward. As we walked on the sandy beach I could not help but marvel at the level of security and peace that the island offered, so far at least. At the very end of the beach a swath of grass began to grow, steadily growing bigger until they reached our knees, as far as the eye could see the grass grew all around. At the very end of the green path however, a thicket of trees grew. Bounding the humungous monolith as if in a ring like formation. The grass seemed to have been grown artificially, for there was no way that they could grow so orderly or so neatly unless they had been cultivated to do so. Fawkes groaned as we entered the moist grass, his eyes carefully trailed against the surroundings. The sphinx had slipped into the thicket quite sneakily. Its tail swaying fastidiously as it ran through the dark confines of the branching trees. "Ugh what sort of annoying landscape is this.?" I muttered to myself as I walked on.. ******************************** Marco sighed as he waved his foot around. The world seemed to go to war against itself around him, yet he seemed not even to notice. A bottle of alcohol sat in his hands as he leaned against the walls of the dimly lit tavern. His orange hair seemed to wave around, all pineapple like as he took a deep sip of the bitter draught. "God damnit Thatch! That''s my drink!!" a random pirate roared as he drove his elbow into the sniggering sword wielder. His long and afro like hair waved around as he fell off his seat, the bottle of alcohol still in his hand. "Asshole, you want a piece of me?!!" He roared out as he got to his feet, before snatching at his angry crewmate. With a mighty heave he judo flipped him off his chair before smiling in satisfaction. Unfortunately however the erstwhile untouched alcohol bottle now lay broken, shattered from its contact with the ground. With a mighty swing, the self satisfied whitebeard pirate was tossed out as a cussing and angry mook took his place. "Asshole don''t waste alcohol!" And thus devolved the fight that shattered the tavern to bits. Tables fractured under the intense brawl, the tavern chairs had long vanished as food was tossed all around, the crew''s penchant for the preservation of alcohol obviously not extending to the field of the product of sustenance. As the fight increased in its intensity, Marco''s fellow commander began to enjoy himself more and more, occasionally coating his ginger fists in Haki before resting them in the faces of his comrades. With a sudden wail, an unfortunate fool flew towards the brooding phoenix. With an equally loud thud the afore mentioned sad existence fell upon the alcohol bottle that Marco had been nursing. Then began the true pandemonium. "That does it! Thaaaaaaatchhhhhh!!" he roared as blue flames rose around his feet, before he rocketed towards the grinning swordsman. Punching out with each breath as he sidestepped past the unnamed drunk sod that in his stupor believed himself capable of taking on the first commander of the whitebeard pirates himself. As all this got underway, a crying bar tender crawled beneath the counter. ''Everytime these bastards come here, every fucking time! Why does this have to happen to my bar..?'' 121 peace under the flag. The canopy balked over at us as filaments of light percolated through the thicket. The tress glowered down as dry leaves crunched under us. Though the forest had seemed thick at first glance when we entered it though, I could see a faint path that stretched throughout the otherwise clean forest. The wood glistened freshly in the warm and humid climate. Surfaced roots surrounded the wooden thicket, tripping the unwary traveler, which had happened at the expense of my newer crewmates more times than I would have wished. At the edge of my vision, I could see the fog steep. At this point in the journey, even the smallest hint of fog did get me jittery. Fawkes stared at the ground keenly, the path had not eluded him. With a whistle at the now extremely nervous duo he angled his head at the forest floor. "Look down and tell me what you see." he said simply as he shot me a glance. He seemed to have taken his mentor role very seriously. I looked at him seriously, a part of me wanting to chastise him for wasting time, another more logical part called me out on my stupidity, he was getting the crew ready for anything they would come across, my patience paled in comparison to the security that a secure back would offer. Rein swallowed slightly as he crouched down, trying his best not to disturb the spot that had been motioned to. Barts settled down more comfortably, true she had close to no experience with the actual field work, but she had been trained, and she was a more calm individual than most of the crew by nature. Rein went first, his hands moving faintly along the edge of a fallen leaf. He seemed very anxious, I blamed myself for that. I had gotten him worried, and taking into consideration his last excursion with the crew (By excursion of course I meant kidnap) his worry could be easily understood. From what I knew of the guy, he came from a very safe and doting family, from what I had gathered he had been pretty much smitten by the stories of a retired pirate that now worked for his family( It seemed that he never got a bounty because of how low he was on the crew''s pecking order). He had run out to sea the first chance he had gotten. Him sticking around with us was quite admirable, after all he seemed to be the only one on the crew with even a hint of an actual dream. Sure I wanted revenge, but I couldn''t really say that I dreamed about it. Sorren and Angella pretty much fell in the same boat, while Fawkes just wanted to make his old man proud. Terrick was new to the whole dream concept seating him right alongside Scipio as an individual that couldn''t even recognize a dream if it bit him on his backside. Rein was a man that dared to dream, and dared to stick with it. True he had been forced to do a lot of the hard things that he had done on the ship, but he had still wanted to do them at the end of the day. Barts looked over at his findings silently before shaking her head in denial. "If it had rained as recently as that wet mud would imply, then the wood around would have to be at least equally wet. And the ground was covered by these leaves, yet there is no moisture on there either. " With conviction in her tone she looked over at Fawkes, there are no animals in the vicinity, the leaves around are relatively undisturbed-" here she was cut off by Fawkes'' raised hand. "All good inferences I''m sure, but you two are missing the point! Look at the thickness of the leaf fall, the dryness of some of the mud, and the distinct coloration of absent vegetation. This is obviously a trail. And looking at how cleanly it''s been maintained I''d wager that it was made by human hand." he said simply as he pointed out his findings. "Now then, that the impromptu lesson has temporarily ceased, I would suggest moving onwards. I can see some pastures in the distance and a lot more sphinxes to boot. We''re near civilization, and judging by the method of farming I''d wager the more civilized kind." I said emphasizing my point by motioning towards the sparse fog embankment. Fawkes nodded summarily as he made his way forward, and with dignified steps the remaining duo followed. As we walked onwards, the thicket of trees began to recede, as if acting as a protective wall that we had crossed. The fog followed the forest''s example, and began to clear as well, revealing a most breathtaking sight. A dignified mountain rose into the sky at a distance, rolling hills flanking it on all sides. On these hills houses could be seen, surrounded by makeshift ranches and plots of land where a pack of Sphinx grazed peacefully. It seemed we had entered a countryside town, peaceful and serene. In the distance a bold and well made gate stared down imposingly, with a small cobblestone walkway leading into the bustling town square. People walked around uncaring of the intruders that stared at them from over the walls. Going about their daily work as jovially. Men and women walked side by side, with bags of produce held between them on what looked like a self made cart. Neighbors called out to each other pleasantly greeting each other, then going about their day. A gaggle of children ran out of the gate towards the forest, midway they banged into us. The lead child looked at us surprised before smiling happily. "Uncle you look new! Have you come to visit like those other nice uncles? Tell us stories when you''re free ''kay!" Then with a wink of childish innocence he was gone, taking with him his entire clique of friends amidst looks of incomprehension. As we walked forward, Rein could not help but ask. "Captain, those children..?" "The group of ankle biters look so damn carefree. It''s like they haven''t ever faced the cruelty of the unknown before." Fawkes remarked as he ran his fingers through his nascent beard. I nodded simply, suddenly coming to a halt I raised my hands seriously. "I''ve figured it out. That''s why everyone here doesn''t seem to care about a group of suspicious walking towards their town." As the group followed my hands they visibly stiffened, for in the very center of the now completely visible town square a bold flag waved majestically. A skull and crossbones stretched out on its majestic black canvass, with a crescent mustache on the grinning skull. "The island is under the protection of the fucking whitebeard pirates!" 122 Surprise! The emperor''s flag waved in the wind as a sense of sincerity settled into the base of my stomach. Of all the imperial candidates in the world today, he could be considered the standard, the man that defined the title and gave it meaning. The serenity of the island seemed empirically linked to that free flag, the joyous expressions on the face of the people that gallivanted below it gleaming with a sense of security that I had not seen even in the most peaceful of the blues. For here, there was no pirate that could loot or plunder, no world noble that would shoot bullets from a golden gun the size that their brains could never hope to reach. Here, there was no marine that would thrust their world view on the free folk that lived here. Angella could not help but sigh in reverence, her eyes taking an envious tinge as she no doubt put herself in the place of the baker hawking in the background. She superimposed the baker that she knew with the one that she saw, the one back on Ohara. As we stood stock still in place, the people that walked past glanced over at us curiously before whistling on their way. Baskets in their hands as they went around doing their daily jobs. Fawkes touched my shoulders softly as he urged me on, his eyes telling me to walk forward. My goal waved loftily over my head, I had been given time to worship and stand silently in reverence, now it was time to hustle. The time for worship was over, the next time I would sigh in reverence, that man would be before me. I nodded equally morosely as I walked forward, each of my steps ringing in my ears. I remember when I trained, when I researched in the library, this man''s work, his journey and his life had plagued it. Ringing, haunting and taunting me forward. And as I stepped into the shadow of the flag waving against the skyline, a smile stretched over my clean face. "Ok, guys! Go around, we''re on a new island, be cautious but enjoy!" I smiled to the crew behind me. Fawkes was the first to leave, heading purposefully in the direction of the market. Rein looked ruefully behind him before shooting me a look of helplessness. "What do I do, captain?" he asked in a meek voice. His red hair and buff figure cutting a stark contrast to his squeaky voice. "Look around, walk through the town and enjoy the scenery. You made a decision to make it into the world, now go ahead and enjoy its beauties." I said, an uncharacteristic level of motivational thought in my words. Barts looked at me next, not as clueless as Rein but still with a certain level of doubt on her gleaming face. "What do you want to do?" I asked her, beating her to the punch. In the short time on the ship, she had become a core member of the crew. Our emotional anchor, even if I do say so myself. A naughty expression appeared on her face, as if she was thinking up a prank her face scrunched up childishly. "You know, captain. Ever since I left the island, I''ve begun to miss booze¡­", ah! there it was, the subverting response. "Well I can''t help you there. Alcohol on board is going to be the piss poor imitation until we find a brewer willing to cater to the crew''s requirements." I answered dryly, a hint of saliva in my mouth as I remembered the fruity texture of the wines on the island. The crew had taken a small sip of the stuff, and now the normal brew tasted like sea king''s piss! We were hooked onto the damn thing! "Weeelll, maybe I can go buy a few fruits and try and make an imitation of the elixir? When I was on the island, I always wanted to be a priest after all!" She said enthusiastically. ''Ugh. Why was everything she said so left field?'' I bemoaned mutely as I nodded. And with the crew was dispersed leaving me singly under one of the few banners that I respected. ''Now what to do..?'' I wondered as I walked forward, breaking into a small jaunty hum as I walked into the city. ********************** Angella groaned as she tried to reason with the owner of the book store. She just wanted to have a little read of his wears, he didn''t have to insist that she purchase it! She reasoned darkly as she negotiated in the futile enterprise. "A hundred thousand berries for the lot, and no lesser!" He announced resolutely as he waved a paper fan over his face. "But-" Angella began, only to be shushed by an old women reading smut in the backdrop. The shopkeeper gulped inaudibly as he looked at the women, his attention briefly moving from Angella to the old women. "As I was saying, a hundred thousand berries and not a single berry lesser!" he announced once again as he looked at Angella, his eyes clearing all traces of fear that it once held. "Ugh.. Goddamnit old man!" Angella hissed as she brought out a few thousand berry notes and picking a few books off the pile. Her budget of the ship''s funds could in no way sustain her reading habit. With a sigh she sat down as she cradled the book glaring at the man as he began to open his mouth. ''I''ve bought your books, what else do you want?'' her eyes seemed to say challengingly as she began to flip through the yellow paged encyclopedia. "Hey.. Old man, what''s with the flag in the centre of town?" She asked flippantly as she shut the thick parchment like book. "Oh! That, that''s ol'' Edward''s flag!" The man began as he stretched to his full height. "He''s a pirate, but a really good one! He was born here on the island, I remember the lad when he was a child.. He used to play with my older brother! He had a full gang racket goin'' on, riding sphinx into the sunset an'' all! But when the world government stopped protecting the island, he went out and became a pirate! Been caring for the island ever since.." the shopkeeper said finishing his nostalgia train. Unfortunately however, Angella was too busy wrapping her head around the fact that THE Whitebeard had played with this swindler''s brother.. ********** I groaned darkly as I walked out of the market. My back itching as I moved forward. The sheer humidity in the town alongside the occasional tamed sphinx colliding into me had taken its toll on my body. The dark canopy of the houses above covered the streets from the sun''s perplexingly harsh glares as I walked forward. The occasional businessman bumped past, for him the day was young and a whole ocean of opportunities lay ahead. Only after going around town had I realized how vast and unique the island itself was. It had been built atop a collection of rolling hills, with a massive selection of cultivable land in the form of step farming pastures available to the island''s food suppliers. The sphinx on the island had taken up the position of cattle, doing everything from helping with the cultivation to transport. At the very center of the island was the markets, with a cache of men and women hawking all forms of goods, from the everyday food produce to a more antique collection of sea shells and other odd trinkets. With a huff I moved past the last of the traders, before smiling in satisfaction. At the very horizon of my view was a cozy looking tavern. Wooden walls surrounded the small establishment, with a rickety sign with the words '' the eager eater'' on it. As I neared the establishment, sounds of shattering plates and breaking tables rang out. My suspicions were awoken, though it was swiftly squashed in favor of annoyance as a street side vender called out to me. A plushy in his hands of one pineapple headed pirate in all his orange glory sat on his carpet stall. "One for your young''un perhaps?" he queered through his yellow teeth, before sighing in disappointment when I nodded in the negative. And thus I journeyed forward, an itch in my throat I reached for the door. Before jumping out of the way as it flew off its hinges alongside the bulky body of a bald bare chested man. At this point my observation Haki was ringing, and with just a glance I knew why. For within this unfortunate establishment was a group of two individuals that stood sizing me up cautiously. One Marco and another Thatch of the whitebeard pirates stared out at me expressionlessly, the duo holding each other by the scruff of their shirts with a dribble of food falling off their heads¡­ 123 Jagged dagger Marco choked as he glanced at the door. His hands slowly leaving the cuff of the man that he was holding up before he walked back to the counter with a forced expressionless face. With a small snort he settled down before picking up a half finished bottle of booze and chugging down silently. The room shifted awkwardly under the sudden silent turn, before the bar tender who had ducked below the bar counter rushed out to welcome his latest customer, thanking the man in his mind for appearing when he did. With sweat running down his forehead the man straightened out his crinkled apron, fingering his beard anxiously. "Welcome sir! What would you like to have..?" He began with a voice of faked bravado. I couldn''t help but smile at the man. He was quite well built, but still his torso crouched forward, making his actual figure appear much smaller than it was. "Can you get me a bottle of booze and a plate of some decent grub?" I asked simply. Shooting him a small smile before wading through the wreckage towards the room corner. "Ummm¡­ This.." the bar tender began hesitantly, his eyes shooting over at the till recently rambunctious crew that had been chugging away at the last vestiges of his booze stores. The pineapple headed whitebeard came to his rescue, shooting me a small smile before he offered me an unopened bottle of booze. "We finished the last of the alcohol, but this bottle is unopened. Why don''t you take it?" With a slight chuckle I nodded at him, turning from the direction I was heading towards to walk over to the phoenix man. "Huh, you guys must have cleared out the poor man''s coffers if his expression was anything to go by. I''m Lorean by the way, nice to meet you." I said with a small flourish of my hands before seating myself next to the other pirate, grabbing the bottle from his hands and uncorking it in one motion. A few people around chuckled at my jovial statement shooting the sweating bar tender an understanding smile. Thatch had the decency to look a little guilty at the damage that he had caused to the tavern. Of course his rambunctious personality made it so that he could not remain grim for too long. Almost as soon as I had taken a big gulp from the bottle that had been offered to me, he sidled into the seat to my right, grinning cheekily. "So tell me, Lorean. What are you doing on an island this far into the grand line!" His baritone voice rumbled out as half the drinking crew shot me looks of curiosity. "Eh, wanted to be a pirate. scrunch. gulp. Got into the new world with a few accidents¡­ Gulp. Literally the first island that I found.." I said as I stuffed my face with the steaming food that had been offered to me. "So." Marco began in his clipped tone. He had offered me the booze more as a sign of courtesy, but now there was an actual hint of interest in his otherwise flat voice. His eyes narrowed as he looked at me, "What''s your bounty?" Ah. There, he just had to go ahead and say it. We were having such a good time too.. I had begun to question the overall efficiency of the marine system at this point, seeing as they had still mooted on my bounty. Not a wink of it had been seen, from the time of my escapades on Swallow island! "Ugh.. About that¡­ Those bastards still haven''t -" And there I was interrupted by the bar tender gasping loudly. Then came the ringing, as a precaution, I had gotten a few of the transponder snails from the ship, both as a means to call the ship if there was ever a need for a quick entry and in case there was a report that Mimir had for me. ''Pere pere pere pere pere'' the snail called out somberly as pulled it out of my jacket pocket. Its eyes following my hands as they moved to receive the call. With a swift nod towards the group I got off my chair and walked out of the tavern into the glaring light of the sun. My observation Haki bloomed around me as a method to make sure that no one would hear the call that I was about to receive. "Superbia." I called out crisply as I picked up the receiver. "Roman here sir!" A crisp and dusky voice called out from the other end. I could hear a hint of excitement on the man''s voice, though he masked it quite well with the professional tone that he had employed. "Boss! The papers came in and you got to see this!! The marines sicc-ed a completely unknown rookie crew with an insane bounty!" he huffed out, his voice breaking with the excitement of it all. Whatever sense of decorum he had had been blown away as soon as he began the report. "Oh..? Send over a copy of the bounty pages as usual to the records group. They''ll brief me about the overall trends." I said professionally before immediately shutting off the call. I had a hunch that I wanted to clarify. ********************* "Are you sure about this, Sengoku?" One vice admiral Tsuru called out as she flapped a small collection of bounties in the air. The fleet admiral curtly nodded, not even looking over the huge heap of papers that he had in front of him. "Do you realize the kind of upset that this will cause? A drastic increase of bounties like this, at this rate the marines will look like a bunch of fools!" She called out as she gave the absurdly large number a seething glare. "I tried sending Garp after the group Tsuru, he couldn''t even catch up to him! And not only did he beat Doflamingo, he also had a run in with Kuzan! You know how that brat is. I had no choice but to give him that high of a bounty! Any lesser and anyone that went after his head would end up dead, whole naval teams would have been lost! And even if we warned those bases in the grand line about him, and issued a gag order to shut them up, it still would be a fire under our asses! " he groaned out as he looked at her through his rimmed glasses. Genuine fatigue colored his old face as he sighed, rubbing at the bones of his nose. Tsuru sighed as she began to calm down. Even if there had been a mistake, there was nothing she could do now. ''But still four hundred million berries? As his first bounty too! What sort of monsters did you drag out to sea Roger??'' With another sigh she exited the room, her mind going out to her fatigued friend. Her fingers aimlessly caressing at the edge of the yellowed bounty. Upon which in bold letters were written; ''jagged dagger'' Lorean- 400,000,000 berries ''shard blade'' Angella - 100,000,000 berries ''Mountain cutter'' Fawkes- 150,000,000 berries 124 Forces begin to gather Shanks groaned as he shook his head, trying to shake off the effects of the previous day''s partying. Lucky Roux had put on a masterful party, with a whole collection of well-made and refined fried cousine. The Red hair flag waved vigorously in the wind as he chuckled. With a slight shake of his head he walked off the expansive deck, walking towards one of the few bodies that wasn''t passed out cold. With bow he looked over at the mustached figure before him. "Oi, Hawkeye hell of a party wasn''t it!" He exclaimed as he sat on a crate next to the stoic swordsmen. "Ugh, red hair.. All this alcohol shall be the end of you I swear.." Mihawk groaned as he slapped his hand onto his pale forehead. His sword Yoru rested silently at his side, while his golden yellow eyes closed in annoyance. One of the strongest Swordsmen in the world was currently flummoxed. On one hand, if he stayed here, he would be able to get a lot of action paced spars, but on the other, he would have to deal with the red hair pirate''s in all their foolhardy glory. Tough decision. "Don''t be like that Hawkeye it''s not like you have anything else to do.." Shanks began to whine, as he tossed back a bottle of ale that he got from god knows where. "Quite, Red hair." Mihawk chided as he slowly opened his eyes. He with a sharp gaze he looked over to the small patch of land that he had encountered Shank''s crew on. In the shadows of the copse of trees that dotted the sandy beach a glimmering figure could be seen walking purposefully. As Mihawk laid his eyes on the incoming figure he could not help but relax. The fall of a warlord had had him on edge. Especially if the ones behind Doflamingo''s death was the one that he was thinking about. He had had his fair share of battles with that rabid beast and didn''t much want to face off against the suicidal menace. However, things were not as they seemed. For the lonesome figure of Ben Beckman, that would at most times bring out feelings of relief within Mihawk as the only other sane person in Shank''s vicinity, his somber expression was anything but. He silently made his way onto the deck, overstepping Lucky''s snoring sack like body and made his way up to his captain. As he did, a small smirk began to appear on his scarred face, the cigar in his mouth waving a silent smoky trail in the air. This was it. Dracule decided, when Ben adopted the feral grin that he currently had on, he was more than likely to urge his captain into doing something infinitely crazier than anything the red haired blockhead could ever manage to do on his own. "Red hair, I''m leaving!" He yelped out as he hastily got off the crate that he had been sitting on. Then with a strong heave he jumped off the ship landing on his rickety boat. Within seconds he had begun rowing away furiously. "Nothing too serious captain, I think I just found us a new set of Rivals-in-the-making. What say you, we go visit ''em?" He asked with a cheerful chuckle as he handed over a fairly new paper. Throughout it all his cigar danced, smoke raising in happy little clouds to the sky. *********************** I sighed in annoyance as I looked at the bounty poster in front of me. Marco and Terrick had left me alone to go back to their own thing after a few minutes of probing glances, Terrick wasting away his seventh bottle of rum (this was the number that I had personally counted to after I had come to the tavern) as he obnoxiously betted against his crewmates. Marco had resigned to the corner accompanied only by a small collection of pirates as they played poker amongst themselves. He would shoot a few glances over at me from time to time, in what he thought was a stealthy manner, turning back to his cards after a few seconds of cautious staring. This was not the thing that had me annoyed unfortunately. Oh no, I was annoyed for a completely different reason altogether. It was because of the image on my bounty poster. I wasn''t complaining about the print of the picture as much as I was with the angle that the camera man had decided accentuated my looks. On the paper I could be seen with a derpy smile as I slept on the deck of our ship, bare chested, and with a collection of scribbles on my face, curtsey of the kid doctor that I had had the misfortune of sleeping near. I mean think about it, the first debut into the world, and I appeared like a two bit comedian that doubled up as a mime! And so here I was, neglecting my food in favor of the more raunchy drink that I was drinking away almost as liberally as the fatass extrovert in the center. "Hey! Now that I think about it, what is the great ''jagged dagger'' doing on such a small island?" the afore mentioned fatass in the center queered. I shot him a look as I abandoned my drink, "Got into the new world, and the only thing we had on us was a log pose. So we ran in the direction that it pointed us towards and here we are." I said as succulently as possible. Turning back around to my still steaming food as soon as I was finished. "Another thing!" the bartender brought up croakily, the pressure in the room ramping up as everyone in the room looked over at me. "It says on here that you killed a lot of innocent civilians on Rubeck island. What''s that about?" he asked, though his phrasing sounded crass, his tone was nonetheless polite, so I decided to answer him. "Hmm, Rubeck. Oh that island. Well we came upon that island and it basically turned out to be a rat''s nest of every single kind of lowlife you could think off, save for a certain kind of bubble wearing freak. Some idiot decided to try mugging us on ship, (here I could not help but grin in fond memory) while another decided to try sell off a crew mate of ours. So as current company would provide, we slashed and burned. Honestly man, since your catering to the whitebeards, you need to be used to the kind of smear shit that those blowhards in the marine push out their ass.." I grumbled, the room rapidly de pressurizing as the scanty few judged me safe enough to stop staring at. The bar tender offered me a apologetic smile as he bowed slightly, a rag in his hand as he went back to cleaning up his bar top. With a loud thump the door opened once again, this time to reveal the crew''s only responsible influence. With a small sack of what I would wager was books stood the spectacled Angella. And she looked worried¡­. 125 The storm begins. Fawkes hummed as he padded along, at some point along his shopping spree he had come across a groaning Barts, in the process of being fleeced by a market seller. She had had her hands on her chin as she lapped up the exorbitant price that the man threw out. If it wasn''t for Fawkes, it wouldn''t be surprising if she never made it past the first vendor having exhausted all her stipend on a few meager fruits. Now she followed him, pointing silently at the fruits that she thought would help make the wondrous alcohol. Then Fawkes would handle the negotiations. By this point, stars could be seen gleaming in her eyes as she looked at the crew''s first mate, quoting prices that the sellers visibly balked at, before they sadly conceded. A small fruit basket sat in her hands, a collection of assorted ingredients. She could already imagine the taste that the collection would provide her, for she used her fruit to simulate their amalgamation. She had obtained the Scent Scent fruit. A devil fruit that allowed one to control, exude and create different typed of scents. Of course one of the major drawbacks had to be that the she had to have smelled the scents that she wished to create at least once. Her mouth watered as the serene concoction dripped down her nose, so heavy it was that it gave her tongue a phantom taste. Fawkes looked back at her, before going back to his chores. He too had a basket in his hands as he bartered the various shop keepers for their product. At times he would run his hands over the different articles of food on display, testing the firmness of the tomatoes and the supplely of the different meats. "Hey Fawkes, what else do you need?" the silent Barts asked, at this point slightly confident in her own ability to negotiate. He looked at her pensively before pulling out a crudely made list from his pant pockets. The paper was crumpled, with a whole stream of scrawled down words, scribbled with his barely legible handwriting. "Here''s the list, the last three are the only ones left. You can go buy them, but you can pay only less than this amount." and with that he handed her both the list and the bundle of cash that he had hastily grabbed from his breast pocket. With that she was off, visiting the nearer stalls first, and when they denied her the price that she quoted she moved on. ''Eh, I don''t think anyone can scam her for those products. Besides the quality of the stuff doesn''t have to be too good..'' At this point Fawkes quite felt like his father, when he had first taken him to shop. And thus he renewed his shopping, with a smile on his face as he mentally recited the products that he would need. After what felt like a major portion of the morning the duo were done. The bags they held bulged outward, with a trail of fabric spilling from their sides. "- Ka-lick, Terrick here." the voice answered. A barely concealed hint of apprehension at the sudden call that he had received. "Fawkes on this side, we''ve given the town a cursory look. There aren''t any hostiles as of yet. My task is done and I''m coming back to ship to drop off the goods." Fawkes said, taking no small level of satisfaction at the professional vibe that his statements had given him. "Ok, the ship is still docked at the shore, no changes on our end. Scipio and Sorren have returned with no alarming news. " Terrick reported before he ended the call. "Well, off we go!" Fawkes called out enthusiastically as he nodded to Barts, then together they set off¡­. **************************** Not far from the island of sphinx, a storm was brewing. On a little visited island, that went by the name of Wano, two forces had begun to move simultaneously. For at this time, Wano had been the territory of one ''Kaido''. He had taken the island not long and then ruled with an iron fist. His crew of pirates were called the ''beast pirates'' and he was their Grand Marshal. Now however, his claim to the elusive home of the samurais had been challenged. At the eve of the new year, the two forces would collide. Already men had been amassed on the banks of Toto land on orders of its sovereign ruler, one Charlotte Linlin. Set to sail off the sweat covered fortress with only a few short and scanty officers missing from the Monstrous Campaign. They would besiege the island, the gluttonous queen had decided. With her children at the forefront of the battle. Her proud boy would lead them, already he had begun to shape up to be her first commander, the one she had named Katakuri. Though he was young, and this would be his first time in charge of her grand army, Charlotte felt not a single smidgen of worry, for why would she worry? Was it not perfection himself that led her crew? As she sat on her blazing throne she could not help but smile, first from pride at the strength that her son was showing as he rallied her crew, and then from hunger as she imagined the sizeable territory that she would grab off the hands of the mangy rabid creature. "Katakuri! We set off!" She roared, her voice easily overshadowing her cheering children. As the wind began to pick up, the big mama chanter began to sway into the sea, at the very forefront of her massive fleet. With the idle drum beats of war, the oars off the side began to sway, and then as one they began to row. Her fleet was off! Their next spot would be off the coast of Wano, and her next move would be to flatten the face of the one they called the strongest creature¡­. 126 Goddamnit Kaido, not again! A shudder ran through King''s body as he stared at the pouring rain. Over the edges of his ship he could see the sea begin to froth, with all of the beast pirates that he had been in charge of stiffening. Kaido had given them the order to act as the fore piece to his grand fleet, while he sat at the very middle in the hugest of all ships within the fleet. Even from as far as king was he could still hear his captain celebrate, gargling on the massive barrels of booze as he smiled cheerily. After all within the world right now, their adversary was one of the only people that could fulfill the mad man''s wish. King on the other hand, didn''t much like the prospect of clashing with the empress'' crew. They had just made it to the helm of the world, with Kaido being conferred the title of ''Emperor'' only a fair few months prior. Big mom was different, she had had nearly two years to consolidate her position as one of the strongest people on the high seas. "Keep it coming!" His captain''s baritone roar could be heard over the frigid air as he urged the fleet forward. As if by silent order King marshaled his wayward thoughts. His commander had given him an order after all, and unless he himself called for a retreat, who was King to do so? With his roar, a dreaded squeal of thunder blared out, jagged lights coloring the dark and gloomy clouds. Yet their captain urged them forward. When the waters began to rage, frothing over the sides of the ships in an attempt to swallow their decks, their captain urged them forward. And when a terrifying typhoon began to rage in front of king''s ship, Kaido urged them forward. He was too happy on his war path to stop now, even if there was a massive tsunami the size of the aqua Laguna that hit Waters seven routinely, he would not change his forward march. He would not falter, the only ones on his side that could not fall were his all stars.. The rest, could be replaced easily. This was Kaido! The maddest man in the high seas, with a scowl that would scare babies to death and a tumultuous urge for a true war. A war that would have his blood boil and his gaping chest wound itch. He wanted blood lit on fire by the first calls of the clarion that warned of that monstrous calamity, the calamity that would flip the world on its head, with the sound of canons echoing in all parts of the massive world that he called home. ***************************** Sengoku stiffened as he read the report before him. The last few years had not treated him well. When he had just begun to siphon the growing aftermath of Roger''s last words into a manageable situation, outliers had appeared, one after the other. His patience had been categorically attacked, first with the fall of Donquixote head, and brother to his adopted son Rosinante. Then with the death of a promising rear Admiral, on his last years in that position. After that the Happo Navy had begun to move, making a previously unheard of amount of noise dragging down the marine name in every way that they were capable of. And now this?! The new world had begun to shift again with the currents that that mad man Kaido managed to whip up! Why was that fool unable to die silently in a corner and let Sengoku deal with the rest of his shit in piece? No! The only thing that could possibly give Sengoku more of a headache would be if, god forbid, Some other overachiever managed to catch the rabid beast and bring him to Marine ford. The level of stress that an un-killable emperor level figure living in one''s backyard was something that Sengoku did not wish to feel again, thank you very much. And so with a heavy heart Sengoku reached out for the trembling snail on his desk. Within the next few rings, his most reliable of officers were on call. "Sakazuki, I want you to get your ass to Wano asap! We can''t let those two assholes stir up the new world as much as they are doing now! Get on the next ship with Borsolino and meet up half way with Garp. He is almost out of the calm belt. And Sakazuki, I want no casualties this time." Sengoku belted out imperiously before he cut the call, he didn''t much want for the mad dog''s response after all. Speaking off, he had an idea as to the epithet that the afore mentioned Vice Admiral would get, when he could no longer hold back his promotion.. And thus with an annoyed scowl that had made its presence ever apparent over his relatively long employment, he got ready to give his superiors a call. ''God forbid if something else happens¡­. I need a vacation..'' *************************** Shanks couldn''t help but whistle as he sat on the head of the deck, his cloak bellowing loudly as he enjoyed the salty air that buffeted his face. "Captain!" Yassop called out as he came over, his hands on a transponder snail. "We''re heading into a stirring cesspool! That mad man Kaido is flipping mental! A few weeks ago he issued a formal challenge to Linlin! Now the two are on a collision course near where we are!" The snipers voice called out, slightly panicked at the possibilities that meeting two emperors, both recently christened, nonetheless dangerous on the battle field. "Now, Yassop¡­ Calm down¡­. We''re just heading near there, besides we''ve fought Kaido a few times, things shouldn''t be too hard.." Shanks called out breezily as the ship swung past a Knock up stream, barely avoiding the impromptu elevator. "Ugh, I was afraid he would say that¡­" Yassop mumbled slightly as he caressed a picture in his shirt''s pocket¡­ ''See Little Ussop, you''re father is being a brave man..'' 127 Reins new talent! I couldn''t help but sigh as I sat silently in the waning sun light. Beside me sat a slightly drunk Fawkes and a wasted Thatch. Marco looked at me apologetically but made no motion to relieve me of the annoyance that was his crew mate. He merely sat at a fair distance sipping from a canister of fresh water and indulging Angella in pleasant conversation. After close to half an hour of getting used to the entire tavern save for the tavern owner had shifted here, an open hill with a wonderful view of both the sunset and the bustling town below. It seemed that this time of the day was always kept for leisurely sun gazing for as if by prior motions the entire crew had vacated the tavern just as the sun went down. Most of the rest of the white beards lay snoring at the back of the open area, the few that were still awake sat silently in remote circles playing cards amongst themselves. "So what''s your plan?" Marco asked out loud as he shot me a look, as he did, the rest of the crew shot me looks as well. I hadn''t gotten to telling them the plan that I had in mind, Rein and Barts from a game that they had been recently dealed into and Angella from across Marco. "Eh, I don''t really know. To be completely honest we go where the wind takes us, though I do wish to visit Dr Vegapunk on Punk Hazard sometime in the future. "I said flippantly, though looking at Marco''s disbelieving gaze my plans would be extremely hard to fulfill. "You, want to meat Dr Vegapunk¡­. Even pops can''t do shit like that!" he spluttered, his overall feeling of disbelief only mounting as he looked at the crew''s serious fa?ade. Fawkes looked as calm as ever, while Angella looked like she didn''t have a single care in the world¡­ Rein looked flabbergasted while Barts just looked clueless, at this point what more could I expect from my crew? "What about you? It must be quite exciting to be an emperor''s commander." I asked, at this point slightly peeved at the amount of surprises that I had laid into the commander. He sighed as he gave us another glance, giving up whatever it was that he was about to say. "Eh¡­ The same old. We go back to the Moby Dick and party with the old man, and at around the same time next year we come back here to ensure that nothing happens on our territory." He said shrugging. "No dreams, no goals?" I asked probingly, unhappy with the level of information that he was providing. "Nope. I''m quite happy the way things are¡­" He said as he gazed off into the distance, a fond glimmer in his eyes as he looked at the flapping flag in the center of town. "¡­If anything, it would be to get pops the throne.." he said almost as an afterthought, his voice barely above a whisper as he slowly got to his feet. The sun began to disappear behind his back as he walked over to the muttering Thatch, kicking the downed man in the forearm. With him the rest of the pirates began to stir, pocketing the cards that they had been playing with and the wads of cash that they had made in their little gambles. Rein looked at the pocketed cards sadly, he had discovered a knack for the art as evident with the sizable pile of paper currency that he had placed before him. "We''ll be off then Jagged dagger!" Marco called out, amidst groans from his crew mates at the loud nature of his abrasive farewell. "Yeah, we''ll be here for a bit. Two days I guess. " I called out. "A word to the wise rookie, if ever you dock on an emperor''s territory its best if you get their permissions for it. If this was ol'' Linlin''s land she would have you gobbled. " he called out with a cheery and mischievous smirk. With a chuckled I slowly got to my feet. "O'' virtuous and pineapple headed pirate commander, may we dock here for longer?" I called out, and with extreme satisfaction I could barely hear a pleasant sounding retort. "Who has pineapple hair, ya bastard!" Ah music to my ears. ***************************** Whitebeard couldn''t help but groan at the hardy drink that passed through his massive mouth as he sat leisurely on his throne like seat. Wood beams stretched on in rows as they held up the massive wooden ceiling. This was the captain''s quarters. And he fucking loved it. Around him he could hear the massive cheer of his crew as his children celebrated. Today was a Friday, and thus the entire ship had gathered here instead of on the deck to guzzle alcohol like there was no tomorrow. "Oiiii! Ya wanta wrestle wid me?!" A completely wasted man called out as he went against another equally wasted mook. Then the duo began to dance around each other weirdly, obviously attempting to hit each other but both too drunk to see straight let alone walk straight. At the end of their glorious brawl the duo could be seen on the floor slithering around and cursing fluently. At one point one man even decidedly confused his opponent with the rather more sturdy flooring and began to attempt to pummel it. And this was where he was stopped with a quick chop to his neck, by the multitude of medics that existed on the ship. The duo where then dragged sanctimoniously to the healing ward amidst good natured applause and laughter. Scenes like this could be seen all around the old emperor, and he only smiled as it happened. They were his family after all. His alcohol abuse was suddenly interrupted by a rather bleary call that he could only barely hear over the rambunctious din. It was a transponder snail that stood solitarily over to a beam on the side that had been till that moment chewing happily at a leaf placed before it. With a small groan of annoyance the old emperor got off his throne and walked over to the muttering snail. At this point the loud noises around had descended to a manageable limit, for most of the mostly sober crew were quite curious as to the contents of the loud interruption. At that very moment the door banged open, as a pudgy pirate walked in. "Sir, Marco just reported in. There was a new crew that landed in Sphinx! He says they''re pretty all right though." Edward Newgate smiled good naturedly at the message before flapping his hands out dismissively. If his son said they were trustworthy then they probably were. His smiling face did not last long, for as he saw the individual that had gotten in touch with him, he could only grimace in annoyance. For the one that had currently given him the call was a certain young''un brat that he found pretty infuriating. Not infuriating like ''tear your throat out'' but more a ''the neighbor''s kid dropped his ball in the garden for the third time this hour ughhh'' kind of infuriating. it was a certain cocky little red haired shit, though he said so himself, that was giving him a call. "What do you want brat?" He roared out, as he glared at the snail, more with annoyance than with actual malice. "Well. two things. The younger pirate called out breezily. First off I wanted permission to dock at Sphinx. There''s a nice rookie that I want to have a chat with. And second. It seems that the rabid beast and the you wannabe glutton are going at it. And their duking it out close to Sphinx too." Shanks said, hanging up as soon as he had finished sending the messages through. And now, the hall had pretty much frozen over, the high of the celebration ending mockingly insufficient at the monumentous declaration. 128 The sides clash. The seas shook as the two massive fleets drew near. The weather seemed to shudder as the echo of the heaving of oars began to rise. Even though the two sides couldn''t even see each other, their presence was still felt. Katakuri stiffened as he looked at his mother, his open aired shirt waved in the wind of the salty sea around as his mouth quivered. This would be his first mission as anything but a sweat commander, and he was nervous. At this point, his hands twitched unconsciously longing for the silky texture of a well made donut. With a sigh he looked behind him, his eyes coloring slightly as he used his observation Haki to see the state of his crewmates. He knew that they were worried, though his younger brother Cracker did not show it, he too was jittery. Two ships off he stood silently, the ever present smirk having left his face. It wouldn''t be a lie to say that his mother stood at the peak of the world, alone she had dominated the seas, alone she had snagged for herself the position of ''Emperor'', but there was a limit of what she could do alone. Going face to face against the brute Kaido was unfortunately one of them. The beast stood with a physique that some would argue dwarfed the strongest man in the world. For this face of she needed her children, and though Katakuri was not as strong as any of the three disasters, he was still strong enough to phase and stall them. With a deep breath he looked once more through his lens, his eyes searching the horizon to find the dreaded fleet that they were about to face. His eyes glowed as he felt the incoming storm. And then his mother roared, "KAIDO!" As if in the voice of the creaking ice her voice rocketed forward, the seas retreated against her voice alone as the fleet grew antsy. For some this would not be the first campaign that they sailed along the brood mother for, nonetheless, they could not help but quiver. For before them was an emperor. A true dominator. The skies changed color as the dark storm clouds rumbled in earnest. Jagged lines of lightning groaned through as if to welcome her empyrean presence and then, her Conqueror''s Haki blazed forth. Arising as if tangible it engulfed all in its wake. Katakuri could not help but balk at the terrifying presence that felt like an unruly seas cold and unyielding waves. "KAIDO!" and then she leapt, the ship sinking slightly into the weeping sea as she brandished her sword. Her devil fruit aided her as she sailed over the massive berth between the two crews. "LINLIN!" Kaido roared in kind, his voice equally fierce as a terrifying wave of Haki collided against his mother''s. Though his fleet couldn''t yet be seen, Katakuri could not help but quail. This was nothing like facing off against Whitebeard. The strongest man never evoked such feelings of fear within him. As the opponent''s crew came into view of the scope, his mother had already reached them. Landing as if a meteor she raged through his fleet, stopping only when Kaido''s earth shattering presence rose to confront her. The both of them had their Haki enhancing their fists, slugging each other like base brawlers. Still, the ocean quaked as the storm clouds above were ripped asunder. "Hold!" Katakuri roared raising his hand into the air. Big mom''s fleet seemed to take in a massive breath together with that raised hand, shaking thunderously as it came down amidst the cacophony of a million blazing canons. The battle had started. ****************** King glared angrily at the rabid emperor on deck. Most called his master the rabid beast, now King found someone more fitting for that name. The terrifying women ripped through his hardened crew as if they were her son''s biscuits. The ship splintered beneath her as she raged. Above King''s face unfortunately. As the head of the forward, the first ship of the fleet, King was expected to face off against any outer threat before they could tear into the other ships behind him. Unfortunately in this case it meant facing off against this child in an adult''s body that was currently suffering from a fucking sugar high. Each blow shook the water around. Wind roared in accompaniment as copious amounts of blood flowed freely from his exposed wounds. With a barely concealed groan he rose to his feet, covering his still intact mask as he pushed off the hulking form of the sweat addicted empress. With a loud shriek he pulled forward, Haki infusing his hands as he brought them forward in the manner of a punch, with an audible crack their fists met. His hands almost immediately caving in as the superior Haki overpowered his arguable terrifying fighting potential. With a sudden ram of his head he pushed the empress away from him, using the brief respite to transform into his Zoan form. As he emerged a loud roar could be heard, his bestial tendencies getting the better of him. Each wind beat stirred the surrounding clouds. He zoomed forward, his jagged claws beginning to harass the angry empress. Linlin stared at his prehistoric form impassively, before swaying away and ramming into him with her other. As if swatting a fly. "LINLIN!" His captain roared as he squawked through the air. His body spinning away alongside a monstrous wind. Then with a mighty lunge the Strongest creature met with the empress, their fists blazing a menacing black as they began to brawl. Each strike tore into the world around them as reality seemed to shudder at the clash of their Conqueror''s Haki. Only after he bypassed seven massive ships could King straighten himself, Then with a mighty lunge he began to fly forward. The empress had gone out of her way to meet them on their front porch, it would only be right for them to return the favor no? A devilish smirk stretched across King''s face as he crossed the mighty chasm between the two fleets, his nervousness all but lost, and his desire for destruction rekindled. ''Oh I love this soo much!'' 129 Re-dispatch Shanks groaned as he walked through the raging winds, at some point over their otherwise easy voyage, thick and strong storm clouds had begun to gather overhead raging into a dreadful storm. "Damnit, those bastards started without me!" He roared out, before lazily slashing his sword through a ship high wave that had been threatening to overwhelm them. With a dull rumble of rebellion the mass of unquenched sea rage split through the middle thudding to the side. "Hard to Port!" His first mate roared all of a sudden as he proceeded to clench hard at the tightening rope. A massive iceberg popped over the sea, almost stabbing through the ship''s hull in the process of surfacing. Evidently Ben had been paying attention to the situations around with his Observation Haki, for with a mighty roar the ship bent to the side, the mast twisting mournfully at the sudden and violent turn, the winds still urging it on. A shrieking scraping noise echoed out as the ship''s side grazed the icy monolith, before righting itself gradually as the smirking first mate began to loosen his hold. The sky still colored a pale and deathly blue with fist sized hale flying meteorically down. The strong winds carried them off, each as dangerous as a bullet from a cocked pistol by the time they landed on deck. Yet, the wood stood strong, quite literally bouncing off the pelting projectiles. Shanks smiled leisurely his hands still casually holding the sword at his side, fingering the hilt expectantly. His Haki began to slowly flow out, at first casual and barely present, then the winds began to pick up as an unruly and rebellious aura began to accompany it. His Haki was one of mischief, not like Whitebeard''s enshrouding protectiveness, like Kaido''s mad domination nor Linlin''s destructive childishness. His was more casual then the former two and more calm than the latter. The winds swept apart as the waves cowed, then with a mighty and unheard roar the Conqueror''s Haki enveloped the ship raggedly scaring away all that were within proximity. Shanks could only maintain this for a while, before his Haki and will would be spent. Of the top tier figures that he had just mentioned, he had the most control of the mysterious force, and yet he would readily admit that he had no control at all. The clouds bayed above, the winds roared, yet for the moment the ship was untouchable. ************************ Garp groaned tiredly as he face palmed, he had just entered the ports of Marineford when an order from his afro headed Buddha wannabe friend arrived at his ship''s front. It was an order to mobilize immediately. Unlike his previous mission however, it wasn''t something as simple as to find a rookie pirate. It would be a dispatch to stop a war between emperors! Garp groaned as he looked at his crew, before grimly motioning for his subordinate. "Petty officer, the vessel has been re dispatched to a mission within the New World, gather all those below the level of Ensign and have them return to the barracks for drills." He ordered calmly. Most people that knew Garp would call him a an eccentric, but even he knew, taking Haki less marines into a battle field between emperors was as pointless as bringing a truck full of firewood to douse a forest fire. "Captain Roman!" He roared out loud, gathering the attention of the loudest marine onboard. "Inspect the Ship and the engine room! We shall depart Shortly, when Vice Admiral Sakazuki and Vice Admiral Borsolino join us. Kuzan, you are to remain here, you have been mobilized as well." Garp ordered calmly, taking his position as a soldier of the previous generation seriously, as characterized only a rare few times within his long and rather decorated career. The ice Logia man looked surprised, the first genuine emotion that the old Vice admiral had seen on his face since the incident. With a serious look the captain ran below deck, to inspect the state of the cooling engine, they would have to run her at full power if the magnitude of the re dispatch was anything to go by. The number of Vice Admirals on board would be only one shy of a buster call, and the lack of a fleet would only prove to increase the speed of the single ship. The captain could not help but gulp as he looked at the components diligently. He could not help but hide the small spark of hope within his chest, ''are we finally going to go against whitebeard? The force we have would definitely justify it'' This soldier had only been given post on this crew after all. He was used to a more black and white outlook then most on the ship curtsey to the previous higher officers that he had followed under, one Vice Admiral Sakazuki. With a brief glance at the functioning tools the man, briskly walked away, he had seen the engine and even given the boiler cursory look, what more could go wrong? With hurried steps he got on deck, just in time to see the red shirted marine arrive on deck, a superior smirk on his face as his cloak fluttered in the wind, his naval colors appeared more whole than the others, though Roman could definitely attribute that to the excessive care that the Marine officer gave to everything that related to his job and post. "Garp, when are we to depart?" he asked in his baritone, his eyes looking at the soldiers as they departed from the top of the deck. "In a few minutes, as soon as Roman is here with the results of the investigation and Borsolino decides to appear" Garp said calmly, and just as he did the afore mentioned light-man appeared flashing on board. The four vice admirals nodded to each other, then together they glanced at the now slightly quivering Marine captain. "Report" was all they said, though that did not stop the words from resonating through Roman''s chest. "All things ship shape, sir!" He said with a salute. "Then let''s head out." 130 Censorship With a flutter of beating wings, the head quarters of the World Economic Times rumbled in anticipation. Multiple news Coos flew out of the enclosure as one big news Morgans chuckled. His feathery hand twitched in anticipation, his composure barely holding strong. The world was being taken by storm as of the moment, with the apex clash of the top forces of the world and here he was, waiting upon a meeting! He had sent his best journalists to the site of the clash, but in his heart he was unhappy. nonetheless, there were sacrifices to be made, if his thirst for knowledge and the latest scoops were to remain as easily pursued as it had been for the past few decades. So here he was, in his own structure waiting patiently as if a guest for his appointment. With a quick shuffle his newly promoted secretary walked out of the room, a pale face as he looked beseechingly at the ''Emperor'' of the news world. This was the man that had allowed for Morgans to publish the news of Ohara, as futile as it had all turned out to be. "Boss, he''s calling you in" he whispered out, his face marred with trails of sweat. Morgans nodded curtly, straightening out his jacket he walked into what had been until that point his office. With a polite knock on the door, he swiftly entered. His fists digging into the insides of his pockets as he looked at the mess that had been made of his office. Papers lay strewn everywhere, some torn up and others in a messy pile on the floor beside the desk. On the seat that he had once been his, a bald man sat a cruel grin on his face as he reveled in the anguish that he caused Morgans. Freckles dotted his face as a cruel glimmer shone off his spectacles. He wore a White gi as a beautiful hilted Katana sat overbearingly at his side. With a click of his tongue the man looked at the quivering bird-man. "What was our deal Morgans? From what I hear from our resident Buddha you''ve started to renege on your side of the deal.. Must we really go to such extents to silence a smart and brave man like you?" The bald man asked, his hands resting on a few sheets on the desk. "It seems you let your new position get to your head Morgans.. When we Allowed you to spread this information we made it clear what we Should and should not see within the confines of your silly papers. So tell me Morgans, does that leash on your neck feel any looser. I wouldn''t mind tightening it for you" and then he grinned, and Morgans saw red. True, Big News Morgans was a head line seeker, true he was one that would never shy away from a good story. But as he had been painfully made aware there were a few stories that one Did not Tell. With a heavy heart he watched as his nascent articles were torn apart or rephrased, with horror as his many contacts were burned through and with downright malice when the bald man began to write down an article that Morgans would have to publish in the next day''s paper. As the last dot on the edge of the article sounded scribbled on the piece of paper with a sense of uncaring disdain, his heart melted. ''So this was what it felt like to have one''s work disparaged and burned down..'' he thought morosely as he stretched a clearly fake smile onto his beaky fa?ade. Each step that the man walked out of the hall felt like a lifetime of stress, and each paper on the floor accounted for one more nail in the proverbial coffin. He Would publish as he wished. He Would write what he wanted written. Maybe not now but later. He swore it with every feather on his body. ****************** Whitebeard groaned as he looked at the ditzy looking transponder snail, once again regretting the assignment of this particular son in such a trying time of need. Thatch was many things, smart, confident and charismatic. But he was not in any way useful to the whitebeard pirates upon Sphinx. "Thatch!" Edward rumbled out, his voice reverberating in the now empty hall. "Get Marco on the call" "Will do pops! Oh, before that, did I tell you about this swell kid I just met! He took me on in an alcohol battle and Won!" the pompadour swordsmen gushed. "This is not the time son, later!" Edward called out, his patience fraying. He could not tell Thatch about the clash of emperors before he told Marco of this he was sure. With the cavalier attitude that the former adopted, it wouldn''t be a surprise if he decided to rouse up the entire island in a sense of alarm and decided to fortify it with all the townsfolk running around like headless chickens. He lacked a certain level of finesse that his pineapple headed brother possessed in copious amounts. "Ugh fine¡­" Thatch groaned, nodding and sounding as if a rebellious teenager in his gothic face had taken over his body. With a click he was gone, Whitebeard could feel the flamboyance of the scene departing with him. He let out a sigh.. Young people, he could never understand them! With another click the snail morphed its expression, a stern look and aura suddenly permeating from it. "Marco." the old emperor rumbled. "Extend your stay on the island. It will need you there! That rabid beast Kaido and that old women Linlin are going at it around there. Protect the island and your brother. He might be a smart kid, but he''s known more for his stupid shit then his smart ones. " Marco chuckled lightly at his father''s description of the arrogant swordsmen, agreeing and taking glee at the assessment. "Don''t worry pops. We''ve got it here." was his only reply. "The pirates that landed on there, are they trustworthy?" Whitebeard asked, satiated by the confident response that his son provided. Worst comes worst, Sphinx would be sieged by one of the two idiots, all he would have to do was go challenge them there for it. "Yes pops." Marco replied. He had quite a good opinion of Lorean after all. "Then if things get too difficult get them to help out. They''ll be properly compensated later." 131 Alliance Charlotte Big Mom roared unintelligibly as she pushed away the bulky emperor, her sword crashing against his chest. With a loud crackle the ship beneath their feet began to break, jagged cracks appearing across the deck as its crew fled. The mere presence of the two clashing emperors was enough to terrify the people on board. "LINLIN!" Kaido''s voice roared as he punched forward, the level of Haki on his fist seemingly bending the space around him. The duo had begun to retract their Conqueror''s Haki, neither of them wished to harm their own crews, especially at this point when even a single extra counted. As they fought the boat beneath them creaked, bellowing its dissent, before in one roar of impending doom it broke apart. And that was the signal for them to move to a different ship. With their waving hair the duo fought, roaring up and down the line that the ships had formed, sometimes terrorizing Kaido''s crew and other times terrorizing Big Mom''s. They were not the only ones fighting however, for the cacophony of clashing weapons was enough even to out rumble the slowly returning storm clouds. "FIRE!" Katakuri roared as his eyes glared at the incoming Allstar. His hands turning into a sticky mochi, he plunged it forward, and the very tips of his fingers shot forward as mochi bullets. King roared loudly as he paused his harassment pushing his observation Haki to the limit he dodged, his wings beating untiringly as he evaded the sticky projectiles. A series of loud booms sounded, as a whole host of ships fired at each other. Though the Beast pirates outguned the Big Mom pirates, most of their incoming projectiles were nonetheless defended against by the Empress''s sweet commanders. Cracker roared loudly as he advanced forward, a mash of biscuit armor protecting and hiding his face, beside him was an entire armada of biscuit soldiers, each holding a precious sword in its hands. "For Big Mom!" He roared out loud as he pulled out his massive sword coating it with his Haki. His biscuit soldiers followed suit as they raised their spindly arms, before besieging the nearest ship. On a ship to his right, his sister Smoothie chuckled slightly, a cruel glint in her eyes as she ordered her men to fire. Her sword rested on her back as her hair flowed freely. Though she did not show it, anyone familiar with her would see the light of awe in her eyes as she saw her mother rampage in the very center of the cluster. With a slight chuckle she jumped, traveling an unreal distance. It was time for them to stop being passive after all. Katakuri looked at her form in the distance as he sighed beneath his scarf. "Take care here." he ordered a crewmate curtly as he looked at the glaring King. "CRACKER. Let''s go." he said in his rumbling voice before he attacked. ********************** Fawkes looked at me with a smile. "Captain, what now?" he asked. We had verified that the island was almost absolutely safe. So now it was time to gather the crew no? "Ugh fine. Let''s go collect fatty and Terrick." I said groaning into the full mooned night. With a purposeful step I began to walk towards the pristine gate. Suddenly I could hear someone breathe deeply from afar. "OI! Jagged dagger!" Marco roared as he neared us, his eyes seriously glaring at our retreating backs. With a slight huff he stopped before us, why he did not just fly to us was a mystery to me. "There''s been a situation." he said, his voice carrying a serious tone to it as he regarded me. All cheer and fatigue disappeared from my face as I looked at him expectantly. "That rabid beast Kaido went on a rampage and challenged Big Mom to a battle, they''re clashing not far from here. Their entire armada are facing off against each other in between Toto land and Wano. Pops is worried about here so he''s asked me and Thatch to stay here in the odd situation of if any of the crews make landfall here. For safety''s sake he asked for a temporary alliance between us." He informed me seriously. To say I was shocked would be an understatement. Just as I entered the New World two Emperors decided to duke it out! What were the odds? "Fawkes?" I asked simply. "Well, we have no choice at the moment do we? If we get off the island, the closest places are Wano, Toto land and maybe Zou. If these two are duking it out it''s in our best interests to remain here till such a time that they get so wounded that they go back to their own strongholds to lick their wounds. If we get off now, we''ll be plunging into the thick of things and if we stay here, then wouldn''t it make sense to ally with the strongest forces on the island?" Fawkes analysed. "Angella, go get fatty and Terrick. If we need to get our asses into this one then the least we can do is involve those two in the planning process. Marco, can you tell us about a safe-ish spot to dock the ship so it doesn''t end up dead?" "I''ll come with you then. It''s better to do these things quickly and I''m quite familiar with the seas around." He responded, looking over at me for permission. Regardless of his standing within the whitebeard pirates, there were still formalities and limits that he would have to follow when entering the ship of an ally after all. "Fawkes why don''t you stay and accompany Thatch here while we go dock the ship in the location." I said, my mind in overdrive. Then with quick steps we parted ways. 132 The Vice Admirals arrive Garp groaned as the ship zoomed forward, the engines running at their maximum efficiency. His forehead creased in worry amidst the stress and overall work that had been piled upon him. He still marveled at times, at the journey that he had come upon, and the young brats that he had had the pleasure of meeting through that journey. With each passing second, they moved closer to an active war zone, and though he was not worried for himself, he could not help but worry for the crew that he had taken along him. How many men and women would die today? He did not know, and honestly, he was much happier in the dark. The grandline weather that was often adversarial seemed to have taken a backseat, almost aware of the urgency of their mission. True they had been ordered there primarily to observe. Even Sengoku could not accept them to go head to head against two emperors. With him here, they would definitely reserve their strength, fighting only through their massive fleets that could rival that of the entire Marine corps. "Captain! Ice berg dead ahead!" His foremen called, a watch glass held to his eyes as he constantly conversed with the navigators. With a bored sigh, Garp waved his hands lazily, a canon left his hands at breakneck speeds before jamming into the massive icy structure demolishing it. They were taking the most direct route to the point, following only the needle of the New World pose. If it pointed through a patch of storm clouds, you could bet that that was where they were going to go. Back inside the rest quarters however, the other high ranking members sat together. Sakazuki and Kuzan having temporarily dropped their feuding to plan carefully. Even the one they called the marine''s Dog was not mad enough to run straight into two rampaging emperors after all. "Why did fleet Admiral send us ouuuut~~ I was playing a good game of crossword toooo~" Borsolino called. Of the three Vice Admirals he was the calmest, sitting on his bunk and mindlessly shuffling a pile of cards that he had whisked out from under the pillow. "Hey, Sakuu~ Call a card~" He drawled, his hands flicking across the deck in his hands at light speed. "Shut it you circus monkey!" Sakazuki called, looking up from the only bottle of sanctioned booze that he had on hand. Though he was partly annoyed with the sparkle man''s flippant attitude the arbitrary shortening of his name infuriated him to no end. "Ohhh~ Scaary! Saku is buurning!" The glasses wearing marine called back, his drawn out drawl only ramping up the other man''s annoyance. Between the arguing duo however, the third Marine sat silently. His head turned at a random angle as he picked his nose. If Borsolino appeared uncaring and Sakazuki serious then he was indifferent. The ice man looked between his two comrades with a blank look. Sakazuki fumed but remained silent, drawing out slow deep breaths as he attempted to calm himself down. Ever since he had eaten the Magma fruit, he had noticed that it had become harder to control his surges of anger, and his infuriating and justice-hating fellow marines only served to decrease his already short fuse. "Vice Admiral sirs! You are requested on deck by Mission leader Garp!" A short man appeared, his hands firmly against his head as he delivered his message. "Acknowledges soldier." Sakazuki voiced, before slowly rising to his feet and beckoning his fellow Vice Admirals forward. The man nodded smartly before exiting the room. Behind him the towering Vice admirals followed, each in their own thoughts though equally serious. As they got on deck they could not help but blanche, for the calm of the bowels of the ship had convinced them of the smooth sailing journey, and the tempestuous winds that ravaged the groaning vessel were anything but. "VICE ADMIRAL! Your orders!" Sakazuki yelled, his head malforming shortly as a fist sized rock pelted through it. "Un! You brats ready yourselves, we''re going to be facing these winds all through the battle! We''ve been having strong winds ever since we entered the New World, and judging by the massive quantities of rain, we''re probably getting close to it. Now remember, Sengoku''s orders were clear. We are to merely observe! Only if we are guaranteed to nab either Big Mom (hopefully) or Kaido(God forbid) do we move. This is the first time you lot are going to be seeing an all out emperor conflict, better remain careful! Now Sakazuki, from the reports that I have received, of the three of you, you have the weakest control of your devil fruit. I don''t want you to be bursting into flames all rapidly, if I see that happening I''m throwing you off board! Kuzan you are to watch over the left flank of the ship, and Borsolino you are to precede as the overall executive head of the ship. You shall be calling the shots. I''m shall focus on deterrence within enemy lines and Sakazuki you shall act individually as the right flank! From the reports that we have gotten it shall be the lighter side, so the canons that we focus on shall be on you, Kuzan. Each of you are responsible for the men on your flanks, while Borsolino you are responsible for the overall ship''s functioning. Dismissed!" And with a clap of his hands the elderly Vice Admiral turned his back on them. Steel in his eyes as he looked at the mass of clouds that raged over head. He would function poorly on the ship, he would be too constrained. And with the number of anchors on board he could not take that risk. "And brats, we follow the red ledger for this. You lot shall be aiming to down any stray ships that move too far from the main convoy, do not engage, I repeat do not engage with the main force unless I say so! No hostages and no prisoners of war, I don''t want to overflow Magellan with high profile convicts. We hit anything that moves, no mercy. " 133 The cutlass falls The winds howled as the two sides of the conflict clashed terrifyingly, debris and pieces of wood colored the pale blue surface of the water as overbearing roars echoed into the stormy canvas of war. Gun shots echoed as the clash of weapons drawled into the night sky, and yet within the conflict, one would find a massively underrated situation on the side of one ship that shone as an outlier in its presence. For, even though the one that led it wasn''t as strong as the head of Big Mom''s forces, there was not a single casualty within their ranks. Instead, the pirates on board said ship looked to be in high spirits, fighting for a period of time before retreating into the back of the crowd to disappear entirely! A bullet zoomed through the thicket of the crowd as a third ship neared enough to board it, swimming mercilessly on the bones of its fallen brethren. The galley stood proudly in the air as the boom of canons sounded in the background. "Attack!" A man roared, his mane like blue hair swimming in the turbid air around. A scar ran across his stubby chin where a beard once grew, while his pale green eyes glared at the minute, in comparison, ship before him. He was the captain of the ''Black Cutlass'' a swift and sleekly built Tender, borne from ash wood. He had been the captain of a pirate crew that sailed with that ship, the '' Cutlass Pirates'' they had been called, and they had made quite a name for themselves in the first half of the Grand line, Paradise. Only after this man had entered the deep and dark chasm that was the New World, did he realize that there were many people like him, better than him and a scanty few that were worse. So he did the only thing that had seemed rational at that time. He had bowed to a stronger man, a terrifying force of nature even back then, Kaido had been on his first conquests of Wano and when this man had joined him, there were only a small number of compatriots that existed within the pirate group. So here he was, bowing to the wishes of the madman of the seas, going to war with an arguably equally terrifying force of nature. He was conflicted. His first mate on the other hand, clearly did not share any of his inhibitions, for with a roar he launched himself forward. In one huge leap landing on the smaller Ice Breaker. He sighed as he followed along, a new battle awaited him on the other side.. With a loud bellow to invigorate his spirits he plunged forward, a transparent layer of Haki surrounding his open fists. Dummm! The wood groaned as he landed, his hands buried in the neck of what would be the first casualty of the meek Ice Breaker. The ignored gangplank stood behind him, creaking under the weight of his boarding men. A small smile appeared on his old and wizened face as he waded through, the roar of his men a merry jolly jingle in his ear. Of course, that was only for a period of time, for where the morale filled roars of his men once called, a gargle of pain remained, blood splattered on the deck under the headless bodies of men that he had known. Still this man fought, digging his trusty yet chipped blade into the sternum of a man that charged him, digging his pistol into his eyes he fired. With a swish of his long hair he turned around, swinging his freshly bloodied blade in a long arc around he stepped into a new swathe. An unseen kick rammed into his shins as he groaned, a cleaver appeared overhead barely blocked as he buckled. His legs now bloody he swung forward letting the cleaver nick him in the clavicle as he rammed into the massive chest of his faceless attacker. With the roar of the aging bronze pistol he drew blood, twisting quickly as he belted the legs off from under the massive man. Then his cutlass came down, cutting deeply into the man''s chest. With a swift drop he avoided a sword to the head, before his new assailant was laid to rest by his panting first mate. "Cap''n sweatin'' yet?" The bulky man asked, his balding head rimmed with sweat. His single eyes stared at his captain as he grinned, his three teeth gleaming annoyingly in the scarce light. "The o''ers been downed by them already, fell like flies the lot of ''em. Only Sway and a few of the other boys are still kicking." he grunted out as he charged forward, uncaring of weather the panting captain had heard his report. The captain took a deep breath as he limped forward, his shins slowly recovering from the metal tipped shoe that had been rammed into it. "You bottom feeders, Get your asses into gear! Anyone dying here are gonna be fed to master King!" He roared as he advanced swinging his blade more fiercely at the seemingly never ending onslaught. His First mate roared his assent as he ran forward, jumping into the fray behind his captain. The duo could only maintain their Haki for a small period, so though they had not fought for more than a half hour they were already running on fumes. "Uoooh!" the balding and foolish first mate roared as he charged, before suddenly collapsing into a bloodied heap. His head rolled off his stuffy neck as a spurt of red liquid colored the browning of the deck, where he had stood a long nosed witch stood instead, her eyes filled with manic glee as a wicked scythe sat comfortingly in her hands. Her large nails dripped silently as she advanced, tearing into anyone that came in her way, with a simple swipe of her hands she tore out the throat of a random figure, before swiftly swinging her scythe around, and with it an uncanny chill ran down the captain''s neck. Followed then quite closely by his head, expressions of disbelief and all. 134 Battle royale established. Borsolino groaned as he stood atop the deck, the cheerless brood of clouds above head did little to lighten his somber mood. And how could his mood not be somber, with the rabid booms of canons in the background and the continuous roar of dying people. It isn''t to be misunderstood, it wasn''t that Borsolino cared about those people, or just people in general, it was more that he found that noise annoying. If it was up to him, he would have participated alongside the rather stealthy older Vice Admiral. But that was not his orders, so of course he remained on the ship, lazily looking across from the deck of the ship while ignoring the small collection of shivering marines behind him. His compatriots however were not as ''enthusiastic'', the magma man stood to the side, glaring bloody murder at the clashing forces, not a hint of fear in his eyes. He stood straight, as he had often done his cap slung neatly across from his head, a small collection of white hair had begun to grow over his ears as a deep growl arose from his chest. "Damn pirates.." he grumbled darkly as he ground his teeth together. As if it took all the discipline in the world to keep him from going out and enacting his justice on the world. It was his third compatriot that Borsolino was most surprised by however, (well as surprised as Borsolino could get) a man that had often stood shoulder to shoulder with Sakazuki and volunteering for every single hunting mission that had been sent the man that they called the fiery Kuzan now sat at the very end, overlooking the roiling sea as he picked his nose. Uncaring of both his image and the overall conflict that he was a party to. The man sat calmly, his hands on his chin, as he whistled tunelessly. A bored gleam in his wide eyes as he regarded the marines around him. "Eh~~~ Kuzaan what are you brooding about?~" Borsolino began, his needlessly sing song voice grating roughly against the ears off all those on board. Kuzan ignored him however, opting instead to slowly and lethargically scratch his head. ''Interestiiing~'' Kuzan thought still smiling as he looked back at the overwhelming battle, even though they were at the periphery, he could not help his heart from palpitating as he occasionally heard the loud bang of clashing fists, no doubts the evidence to the two emperors still duking it out. His eyes slowly dilated as he threw his hands forward, a laser like ray shooting out of them as he spotted a small ship that was fleeing from the battle, a subsidiary crew of Big Mom''s no doubt, or the pathetic few that remained of them. Oh well, no one would miss them. "Don''t slack off men!" Sakazuki roared as he noticed the sparkle man''s movement, with a quick step he had walked over to his side of the ship, with a deep breath he glared at the canon crew. His eyes blazed as a plume of smoke slowly rose off his nose, his face had turned to magma, yet his hat remained unburned, not even slightly bothered by the intense heat that the man gave off. Slowly a grim smile began to stretch upon his face, for as the war intensified, the weaker crews had no choice but to retreat. And what they ended up retreating to was the naval ambush that he had set up. ''Serves you right damn criminals!'' he thought excitedly in his heart as a childish sense of jubilation rose in his heart. He genuinely believed that he was serving the course of justice. "Oh~ Would you look at that! The Vice Admiral is finally mooovinggg~" Borsolino drawled out as his sunglasses flashed. He was right too, for just as he finished his statement the apelike Vice Admiral made his move, smashing through the escapade he assaulted the weakened empress who had just been unbalanced. His hands glowed a bright black as he mercilessly drove his fist towards the women''s abdomen. "Prometheus!" The empress shrieked, as her flaming hair began to unravel. Within an instant the flaming orb had formed a literal shield before her. It was to no avail however, for even before the shield could even fully form, the aged Vice Admiral had ploughed right through it ramming a terrifying Haki infused fist into the gargantuan empress. The old women roared as she cannonballed out of the wreckage that she had been fighting in, ploughing straight through more than five ships before she finally came to a halt, heaving as she held on. Prometheus glared, his eyes seeing red as he saw the women fly off, his form shimmering as it expanded. With a boom it roared forward, a terrifying explosion ramming into the old man. Garp glared at the orb, before swiping his fists towards it. He did not know any fancy techniques, all he knew was this punch. If a single punch would not break what was before him he would punch twice. It was that simple. With a bellow the Beast roared, angry that his foe had been stolen. His mace fell forward, ramming ruthlessly into the old Vice Admiral''s back as he attempted to deal with the barely tangible angry ball of fire. "GAAAAAARRRPPP!" He roared, his fists raining down towards the Vice Admiral, only to land on the flaming ball. Garp had successfully evaded both of his strikes, barely mind you. But he had evaded them. His fists shook slightly as the skin upon it broke, the heat from the blob had been too much. "GARP!" A second roar sounded as Charlotte linlin barreled forward a noxious rage upon her face. Her Sharp sword waved in her right hands as she landed on the broken yet somehow still floating ship that the Beast and the old Vice Admiral stood on. Prometheus simmered happily as it immediately roared higher taking Kaido off guard. Though it could not truly injure the man, just the suddenness of his actions had caught him off guard. With a joyful wave it flared upon the fat women''s head, tongues of flame licking the manic women''s face affectionately. And as the three superpowers stared at each other with rancor, one Charlotte Katakuri gnashed his teeth in anger. "ALL BIG MOM PIRATES! ATTACK THOSE MARINE DOGS!!" His voice echoed; and as it reached the tiny ship that had suddenly become the target of both massive crews, even Sakazuki could not help but gulp. 135 The war shifts. The sea was aflame. Torrents of magma shot out of the ship side, downing hordes of ships one after the other amidst the screams of their crew members. As if Big Mom had not been enough, the beast pirates too streamed towards them, clashing against both the pirates and the marines chaotically. All it had taken was a roar from their supreme commander, and the entire armada had come upon them. Where screams of pain rose from one side, hoots appeared off the other. Marines ran across the deck, the superiors ordered around their inferiors and the chaos of the seas roared across their single small deck. Kuzan had gotten off his patch of floor, and though he did not show it there was a smidgeon of stress on his otherwise stretched taut face. His hands splayed out in front of him, jets of ice streaming out of them as he dealt with the ships that approached. Borsolino however, seemed to be as still as he had been when he had received his orders. He sat upon the observer''s deck as he oversaw the situation, not once making a move. He would preserve his strength as he waited for the entire cluster fuck that was this conflict to fade over. Strict orders shot out of his mouth at times, easily tearing through the noisy din on deck. "Sakazuki~ take over and let the cannons cool down a bit, we can''t be having them start malfunctioning over the course of the long and drawn out battle. Kuzan, stop pelting the other side with hail, give yourself a break. " He called out, motioning for more men to move towards the magma man''s side. While both Vice Admirals were blazing through the opposition, Sakazuki was still overly pressured by the sweet commander that had decided to attack his front. "Ya sparkly bastard! Get your ass out here and help!" Sakazuki yelled, quite uncharacteristically. He was one to pride himself on his position and accorded others the respect that their cloak offered them. He was the perfect soldier, much like Borsolino in that regard, he would never question the orders of a superior and would never tolerate insubordination, thus for him to be forced to resort to vulgarities was a rarity for anyone on board. "Oh~~~? But I have to work here~" Borsolino replied cheekily. Of the three of the Vice Admirals on board he was the most at ease. He was the fastest of the trio, and though neither the bushy haired man nor the cap wearing soldier would admit it he was the strongest of them. It couldn''t be helped his devil fruit gave him an insane advantage. His cheekiness wouldn''t last however, for in the small period it took for the cannons to reload, the massive fleet of ships had neared. Katakuri, king, Cracker and Queen fought ferociously not budging from the place that they had occupied on the battle field. A single all star and a single sweet commander were enough to make the Vice Admirals sweat. After each volley the Encirclement drew closer, each volley brought down more ships but put more pressure on the guardians of each flank. Sakazuki had already partially transformed into his elemental form, rabidly punching out as fast as he could. Kuzan was no better, both his arms were raised as he trudged forward each step freezing a whole ship in its wake. From the base of his foot a trail of frost shot forward, climbing down the side of the ship and freezing the water before it continuously. The wrathful waves were stuck mid swing. Still the other side advanced, the larger ships had a strong hull with each second the ice broke before reforming under the orders of the panting Vice Admiral. Slowly Borsolino ceased to smile, if he stayed where he was he would be unable to dispense his duty aptly. "Rear Admiral Strawberry, take charge of overseeing the ships condition." He called out as he made his move, within seconds the Rear Admiral he had ordered stood at the helm shouting orders the way that Borsolino had been, though it was definitely more frequent. Borsolino on the other hand stood next to Sakazuki. "New Orders Sakazuki~ I''m relieving you of your spot go wreck havoc on the other side instead.~" The Vice Admiral ordered, a barely concealed smirk on his face as he saw his fellow marine stiffen at the flippant tone. Nonetheless with a nod Sakazuki was gone. With swift steps he ran across the sky, his moon walk something that he was especially proud of. His direct assault was covered by beams of light that had suddenly appeared in the cloudy sky. Area of effect wise, no one could beat Borsolino. With a deep boom he landed on the first ship that he saw, his feet already blazing by the time it touched the shrieking wood. This was what he was an expert in, pure unmitigated destruction. "[Flare]" he said simply as he waved his hands outward, a line of pure magma flowing off his hands splitting the ship in half. As the vassal began to sink he could not help but smile, none of the members of the crew on the ship could even near him for fear of being burned by the intense heat. So they chose the next best option, jumping head first into the sea. Where they landed there they drowned for regardless of how they jumped they would always be impaled by a mini spear of light. With a soft exhale Sakazuki hefted a moderately sized burning wad of charcoal (for the wood around had already been burned beyond the conventional definition of wood) and with a small heave he threw it forward. A flaming spear of sorts. And thus the red Dog began his rampage, wrecking havoc across the myriad ships amidst the encirclement. ********** Borsolino stood there impassively, uncaring at the plumes of smoke that rose from the wreckage. Regardless of the number of ships that Sakazuki torched to the depths of the deep sea, or Kuzan consigned to a frozen fate more still streamed forward. And where once he had the luxury of sniping them from afar he now had to deal with up close. Many had made it past what could be considered safe recklessly charging forward either to be put down by the flaming Vice Admiral or to engage with the crew in a ship to ship battle. Here Borsolino could not help for he had his hands full dealing with one particularly annoying foe. One Charlotte Snack stood arrogantly on a ship at the periphery his mere presence enough to deter the Vice Admiral from taking any action that would otherwise take his attention off the fat man. A large black katana in the man''s hand and a small bun on his head (the hair kind.. You can never tell with these sweet kinds) and a malevolent grin on his otherwise small face. He roared loudly as he jumped off the ship, barely slipping over the massive quantity of blood that sat morbidly on the deck. Within seconds he was beside Borsolino, swinging his katana from on high he slashed towards the shade-wearing Vice Admiral. "[Ame no Murakumo]" the Vice Admiral called out hurriedly as he made a sword of light in just enough time to defend against the katana wielding behemoth. Taking a single step forward he pushed against the man, before ducking to cut his unprotected abdomen. Snack only grunted in response, his stomach caving in slightly as if facing a blunt stick instead of a knife, before he brought his left hand out to punch against the yellow clothed marine. Borsolino could only dodge pathetically as he switched to the side, instantly transforming to light he charged at his opponent''s back, slashing down with all his power. Yet again however he was foiled, for with unreal ease the sweet commander switched out of his range, his sword coated with Haki rising to meet the Vice Admiral''s. Borsolino switched to the side as he ran forward, transforming into light he body slammed the other man, twisting on impact to kick his feet off from under him. He could only resort to such petty movements, for on this ship anything more would risk sinking it. He worked best when Kuzan set the stage for his battles. With a grunt Snack fell backwards, righting himself almost instantly. But the brief period of weakness was enough for the cheeky Vice Admiral. Moving at the speed of light Borsolino charged forward, his light sword transforming more dagger like he stabbed it into his foe''s shoulder drawing blood. Unfortunately for him however, Snack only grinned as he abandoned his katana, and with both hands infused with Haki he hugged Borsolino in a skeleton crushing embrace, his entire torso coloring black at the formidable amount of Haki that he employed to keep the Vice Admiral in one place. With a twist the duo were free falling off the deck of the ship. However Borsolino struggled he could not budge, for within the massive man''s embrace it was all he could do to stop his shoulder and spine from breaking. Still he struggled using his own Haki to strengthen he tried again. And as the duo neared the water he could feel his foe begin to weaken. As soon as the bonds of Haki loosened enough that his fruit ability was no longer restricted he zoomed forward, propelling the duo onto the ship that Snack had come from. As they landed on the deck, Borsolino powered up a full power laser, his fists gleaming he grunted as he buried it into the foe''s stomach. Snack growled out loud as he felt his vest melt and his skin tear. Still he held on his fists curling on the other man''s waist he twisted pushing outward as he threw the Vice Admiral off of him. Borsolino smirked as he flew through the air, and with a sniff of his nose he burst forth with an even faster speed, running at the other man with a vigor that would have frightened a Bull Zoan. And as he neared the other man, he could only feel a sense of catharsis light radiating off his form before all that existed before him twisted and then was no more. Where he once stood a triumphant and Grinning Charlotte Snack stood, his face tired and his torso bleeding with one hand he signaled his other sweet commander and with the other he slowly released his sister from his embrace. They had successfully taken out one of the four Vice Admirals, now there was only two more to go, Momma would take care of the old man. 136 Missing agent! Garp groaned as he nursed his wounds, they had been beaten back. The impromptu alliance between emperors had put a massive amount of stress upon his sole ship, and with the sudden removal of a strong Vice Admiral the situation had only worsened. So, here he was. Leading his ship in a hasty retreat as he worked double time throwing out more cannon balls then half the cannons on board. The magma man had been beaten into submission, with the sweet commanders double teaming him he had been no chance. So here he was, sulking in the corner as he sent waves of flaming magma tumbling over the fragile ice that Kuzan conjured up. Speaking of Kuzan, he had been the most unaffected by the situation. Uncaring of the massive loss of life on board the ship, and even more indifferent to the fact that a colleague of his had just been vanished into thin air. He stood there silently in the spot that Garp had commanded him to oversee, a lazy look in his eyes and a clear lack of expression on his face. Though a solitary trickle of sweat ran down his forehead, there was no other sign of the exhaustion that he was no doubt feeling. The atmosphere on the ship was somber, not many on the crew could believe that they had been beaten back, they had Garp the Fist on their ship after all! But Garp was getting old, and even in his prime, he would find it difficult to take on two massive powerhouses like Big Mom and Kaido let alone now. However much he did not wish to accept it, he was getting old. He was burning out at a faster rate than his overly passive friend Tsuru. It would only be a matter of time before he would be forced to retire, if not because of his inability to contribute to the navy any longer then because of the worry his superior/ close friend had for him. He was Sengoku''s right hand man, like Sengoku had been for Kong. The only difference being, that he would not succeed anyone. "Captain Roman.. Set course for Marineford, we have failed. The artillery we have on board is a pathetic amount, it shall be pointless to even consider remaining within the battle with one whole aspect of our ship crippled like this.. We''ve lost a high ranking officer with next to no chance of having him return to help the battle. And even if he somehow did manage to work his way back in any reasonable way, a single ship against an entire armada is a stupid idea." Garp groaned as he massaged his forehead. "Aye sir!" the said captain called out as he made his way into the control room. He would report to headquarters. "Vice Admiral!" a second captain called out, walking out of the control room he glanced hurriedly to the high ranking officer. "Speak soldier." Garp acknowledged as he let fly another projectile. As if two warring emperors wasn''t enough to give the marines an issue, they had a third and potentially infuriated emperor in the walkway to conflict. Of the three emperors Whitebeard was the least receptive to navy presence, and any sign of the marines would be a sign of war to the old geezer! The Marines could not afford to war with the old and strong emperor, at least not now, when their supplies had just been massively impacted by their actions on Ohara. The great pirate era had become a nightmare to the organization, and though dealing with one of the few that could be held directly responsible to encouraging it was a highly desirable situation, it was simply impossible at this point in time! Add in the possibility of a triad emperor alliance however minute and it was a situation that spelled doom for the barely recovered marines. "Captain! Fleet Admiral requests an audience! " Captain Roman called out as he held a fuming transponder snail. "Aye, Sakazuki pull double duty!" Garp called out as he abandoned his post. As he held the transponder snail he gave the rest of the marines a look. Within seconds the control room, where plans were made and the ship''s status was monitored had been completely deserted. "Sengoku." Garp grunted out as he waited for his friend''s words of chastisement, as the highest ranking officer he had failed his task. "Garp. Report." was all the Buddha man said, a grave tone and a brick like expression on his face. "We were beaten back, the entire armada of the duo overwhelmed our ship as I left to ensure that neither Kaido nor Big mom would actively participate in the conflict. Linlin''s whelps managed to outsmart the sparkle kid and he was chucked off the battle scene. Current information says that he probably landed on Whitebeard''s territory." Sengoku groaned as a whole new level of frustration appeared on his face. "Minimize the damages." and he was gone. The man acclaimed within the Marines for his brains had been left stumped. With a sigh Garp exited the silent room. "Change course! Set course to sphinx I''m sure that we have a few poses that point in that direction lying around from when Whitebeard was making storms with that bastard Roger. Follow through with it. This shall be a stealth mission if at all possible, under next to no circumstances are you to engage in open hostilities. The last thing we need is the world''s strongest man on our heads. Sakazuki this is especially for you, you are to remain on the ship for the entire period of time Kuzan you shall accompany me on a retrieval mission. In case we are either unable to find Borsolino, or end up finding him engaged in hostilities with the buccaneers on the island you are to set course straight to marineford to prepare for an impending attack. 137 First blood. "And stay down!" The marine Vice admiral snarled out inhumanely as he rammed his foe''s head into the ground. A deep gash ran alongside his neck, any higher chances are that he would have been killed. Luckily for him however, he had managed to dodge the curved dagger that his opponent was tooting. Terrick snorted on the ground, his arms twisted in an absurd angle as fresh blood flowed freely from his broken nose. In a fair fight, chances are that Terrick would come out as the weakest of the crew. His forte was assassinations, sneaking and espionage. No scenario drove that in harder than the situation he found himself in currently. Slowly Borsolino smiled, a sadistic gleam in his eyes as he hooked the fallen man''s chin up. Blazing eyes rife with rebelliousness met the wickedly jaded ones hidden behind scratched shades. "Tell me, where am I ?" the Vice Admiral cooed, a sickly sweet voice from his otherwise lackadaisical visage. Terrick stared at his foe, disbelief coloring his face. He knew what the man''s uniform signified. It made no sense for him to answer a marine for anything, especially now when he clearly decided to throw his all into the bandwagon that was piracy. "Fuck you¡­" he rasped out, his teeth hurting as the vile taste of blood and wet mud intermingled in his mouth. "Oh~? Feisty I see." the sadistic man quipped before he drove his boots into Terrick''s Adam''s apple. With a monotone voice he repeated his question, slowly removing his foot from the choking man''s throat. "Terrick gurgled mutely, it took all his energy to even collect a wad of blood in his mouth. With a determined glare he spat it out, the blob sailed through the air, a mixture of blood; mucus and saliva. "No no no! None of that~~" The vice admiral called out as he lazily moved his head to avoid the non lethal projectile. "If you''re going to be that way, there''s going to be punishment in store~" With careful and practiced motions the towering man stepped on Terrick''s broken elbow. He smirked devilishly as he saw his captive try to muffle the scream that no doubt brewed in his wounded throat. Then Borsolino twisted his foot ramming it with a satisfying thud into Terrick''s skull. "Oh, we can''t have you fainting on me now can we?" he asked himself as he sent a fast laser bolt into Terrick''s exposed back. Immediately the fainted assassin woke up, hissing as he felt the burning skin wail. "Now, will you tell me where I am?" Without giving Terrick time to reply the sadist walked around. "Come on, you''re making this harder than you have to.. It''s not like where we are is much of a secret, I haven''t even asked you the really juicy bits yet!" He whined a childish pout on his face. "Fine. Be that way." Borsolino said, losing interest in his downed opponent. With a swish of his hands a sword of pure light appeared in his hands. Then with a nonchalant wave it headed towards Terrick''s head. At that moment however, Borsolino could not help but start. The Observation Haki that had helped him deal with Terrick had made itself known again. He twisted around quickly, his long spindly arms stretched out as he brought the sword down in a brandish. His eyes widened slightly as he felt his sword harmlessly bisect a rock that had been thrown at him. Instantly he twisted around, going down on his knees almost by muscle memory. His Haki called to him just as his body moved, as he felt a swish breeze against his glasses. A pudgy fist floored towards his face, coated with Haki no less. Borsolino growled as he brought his sword up to impale whoever it was that had attacked him, his eyes barely registering the figure of a fat child as he felt a tug on his hands. Instantly Borsolino knew, that he would have to tank the fist that headed torpedo like towards his face. With a sickening crunch the Vice Admiral yowled as he rammed into the ground the force of the punch rattling his knees. His glasses cracked as they fell off his face, crashing against the floor. Small bits of sharp glass poked at his closed eyes as they stung. His eyes had closed on their own as a response to the punch that had socked his nose, and a good thing too for otherwise he might have been blinded. With a growl the man rose to his feet again, blinking through the blood he looked across from him, to see a piece of cloth that once belonged to his sleeve. A single tooth shot through it with blood soaking its ends. Terrick had bitten onto his hand in an attempt to allow for Sorren to land the blow. And he had succeeded, for though the Vice Admiral walked forward a limp now existed in his gait. The man had been temporarily incapacitated. The deep gash on his chest and the assault on his nose that caused for his eyes to sting and sting at the small pieces of glass that had buried their way into his eyelids. "BRATSSS!" the enraged Vice Admiral roared as he followed after them, first his form was wobbly, only managing to beam a few feet in front of him, but as he huffed after them he shot forward faster, his form slowly improving as he got used to the injuries that littered his body. Now, in front of him, he could see the wide back of the child that had punched him. A figure was held in his arms as he zoomed forward, half of his body lay vaulted over Sorren''s shoulder while his feet sat on his upheld arms. 138 Unexpected visitor Terrick groaned as he sat on deck, a small bottle in his mouth as alcohol trickled into his open maw. He snorted in annoyance as a drop of water splattered on his head. They had found the cove that the captain had spoken off, and with a lot of patience and luck had managed to anchor the ship in a relatively shallow portion of the cove. Now all they had to do was wait for the captain to come over and relieve them. "Ugh.." He snorted again as he heard the faint whisper of his compatriots snores from the other side of the deck. The young boy had exerted himself a bit too much, and had ended up quite drained. As a doctor he had taken his own recovery extremely seriously. He would perform a set of exercises every day, pushing himself and maintaining his body''s overall fitness. Slowly Terrick got to his feet, a smile unwittingly finding its way onto his face as he felt the calm and cool breeze rustle his hair. As he locked at the cloudless sky he could not help but reminisce. On this crew he had discovered himself, made more friends that were no longer restricted to a four cornered jail cell and even gotten his own prot¨¦g¨¦. (However hard the captain would fight for the boy, since it was him that brought little Scipio onto the crew it was he that should get the credit he argued) With a switch of his fingers he brought out a barely sharp dagger from within his coat, its surface gleaming with an unearthly tinge as it seemingly gobbled up the light from its surroundings. A line of cracks ran across its sides as chips of metal could be seen conspicuously absent from its structure. With practiced ease he brought out a mini sharpening stone, resting it against the railing he slowly began to grind across it, and though the sound it emitted was quite shrill he could still hear the unmistakable sound of the blade cheering as its dull surface met the gritted stone. He would do this often, for this blade was a relic that he had obtained purely by chance from his late father''s draw. Grinding it helped him remember a more peaceful time, and let him become truly at peace with himself. It was almost a ritual at this point. Unfortunately however, this ritual would be interrupted this night by a blaze of light along the horizon that zoomed speedily towards the rightmost corner of the island. A shooting star of sorts that blazed through the air. In seconds Terrick was once more at full attention, and though his better judgment warned him against it he slowly pocketed his knife anyway. He was the least likely of the crew to get caught under any circumstances, and so was fully in charge of scouting new and unexplored situations. Especially under the cover of night, even the captain and Fawkes with their advanced levels of Observation Haki would find it difficult to find him. **** Borsolino moaned loudly as he slowly got to his feet, leaves colored his hair as his shirt wilted in the mud. He had zoomed through a whole swathe of trees before ramming rather painfully into the ground, his elemental transformation coming apart at the sudden stillness that was associated with falling at a rather unbreakable floor. With purposeful steps he slowly made his way off the muddy track that his body had made on the ground, his hands beating at his vest in the vain hopes that it would get the large specks of mud off of the garishly yellow shirt. His white navy coat had come undone, torn and limply hanging on a branch a few meters away. Slowly he looked at the sky as he recalled all that had occurred during the fight that he had until just a few minutes ago been a part of. As the scenes began to run through his head, he could not help but gnash his teeth. He had been done in! And it was even at such an important time in the battle! The Marines might have had to retreat because of him. He had failed! Slowly he parted his teeth, getting angrier as he recalled the snide smirk on Charlotte Snack''s face. "That bastard!" he roared softly as he kicked at the ground, displacing a fair bit of grass in the process. He could already see the Fleet Admiral as he read the case report, glaring at him with the judgmental eyes of a superior as he looked at the performance of a rather mediocre subordinate. "God damnit, Drake was right. I should have a transponder snail on me at all times! Ugh, the fleet Admiral is going to chew me out¡­" his tone was no longer as laid back and drawn out as it had been when he spoke with Sakazuki. Slowly he began to calm down, breathing softly as he pulled the torn coat off the tree. This far out in the New World without a log pose or a decent transponder snail was the worst kind of stranded that he could be. He would have to scour the island to see where he was, hopefully there would be a marine office situated here. But as he walked forward, he could not help but frown. His observation Haki warned him of something, but what that something was eluded him. With piercing eyes he looked around, his guard up as he slowly crouched down. He could easily have found his way onto a closed island with its own natives, or worse onto Whitebeard''s territory. In the latter case, he could only hope that his prayers reached the right deity. He had seen the old man in action when he was a captain all the way back when the Marines had been dispatched to deal with the then pirate king. He could still not help but shiver at that battle, even the light around the old man''s fists seemed to quake and break. Suddenly a glint shone in the dark sky, a dagger flew harmlessly at him. With a smile he slowly relaxed bringing his hands up in front of his face he caught the blade. But just as he did, he felt his senses flare up again, quickly he got down low, twisting at an absurd angle to look around. At the very edge of his sight, he could see a faint shadow flitting through the thick trees. And then with a flash of silver, Borsolino screamed. 139 The cavalry arrive, and so does the infantry Explosions wracked the silent forest as Sorren ran desperately. Deep breaths shook his body as he huffed, the last few days of inactivity coupled with the side effects of the drug that he had taken, put his body in a precarious condition. A run that would on any other day not have fazed him in the slightest now seemed as daunting as wrestling an adult sea king would. Granted he was carrying another incapacitated man that weighed at least as much as he did, and he had made the run just a few minutes prior not to mention the quick but taxing ambush that he had laid on the older Vice Admiral. A roar sounded behind him as he twisted to the side, he did not have much observation Haki like his contemporaries so his view was more limited. He was more talented with Armament Haki being capable of coating a small portion of his body for an extremely short period of time. Even the punch that he had delivered had only been backed by Haki coated on the surface of his fingers, which now that he thought about it was a stupid decision. For now his palms bled and the nails of three of his four fingers had been broken brutally. With a quick twist around he zoomed around a massive tree, using the hard bark as leverage he shot forward, his body almost parallel to the ground. A loud boom sounded to his side as he felt his opponent gaining on him. Suddenly a flare of pain arose from his leg as a stray piece of stone that once belonged to the floor ruthlessly shot into his heel. "Goddamnit!" He roared out loud as he twisted his face into Terrick''s satchel, now resting on his knee. With a brutal spin he brandished his head, throwing the dagger that he had bitten into out behind him. Unfortunately a stray piece of metallic string had also caught on in his motion which now sat jammed in between his teeth. The blade spun in an unimpressive arc as it shot into a tree not too far from him nowhere close to the Vice Admiral who now beheld a funny expression. Sorren gulped loudly, flinching at the cold of the metallic wire as he ran in a random direction. He was only vaguely aware of the direction that he ran towards hoping against hope that it was in the direction of the town. However it was all in vain, for as he ran the piece of stone that lay in his feet still stung and the Vice admiral on his tail only got closer and more zealous. Finally when his body could no longer hold on, a loud boom sounded just behind him the force pushing at Borsolino grinned slightly as he neared, his quest for answers all but forgotten as he kneeled and drove his finger into the child''s flabby back. Then he fired, point blank. His light searing into the child''s torso and into the ground. While Terrick had held on through the pain, Sorren was not like him. Sorren screamed loudly as a wave of pain assaulted his mind. But the Vice Admiral was too angry to care. So with a flourish he conjured up his light sword jabbing it succinctly into Sorren''s leg. Then he slowly got to his full height, raising his foot in preparation of bursting the child''s head when a voice called out in barely concealed rage. "Borsolino, has no one ever told you not to play with your food?" ********* Thatch looked around worriedly as he sat on his stool. A half empty pitcher of water in his hands as he looked at the darkened sky from inside the inn window. The Whitebeards had retired to the inn after their daily town overview and were awfully subdued. So much so, that Thatch could hear the grumble of a few stomachs. Though this was their usual meeting spot, it still held an uncanny air as a putrid stillness filled the room. The occasional rumble of the floor from afar was what made Thatch particularly jittery. He was worried about Marco. He was part of the crew after all, and though Thatch would tell no one about this, he was also one of the few people that Thatch admired. He was broken out of his revere by a bold yet soft voice from behind him. It was the man called Fawkes, jagged dagger''s first mate. The man smiled as he sat down next to Thatch, giving him a meaningful look from over his hands that were curled around his mouth. "You''re worried." he deduced, his eyes shrinking into crescents as he looked around. "Heck, all of you are worried. It''s about the pineapple hair, right?" he asked astutely as he slowly lowered his hands, now utterly serious. "The explosions worry you too?" Thatch asked, evasive as he attempted to emulate what he thought Marco would expect. "Yup. The last time we faced explosions of this proportion, it was in a city that was collapsing on itself. Not a pretty sight I must say." he answered simply as he shot a glance at his crew. Rein sat at the corner, those that didn''t know him would assume that he was uncaring of the situation, but Fawkes knew better. The man was terrified out of his wits! Angella on the other hand, was actually calm. She leaned against the wall, lost in a book that she had gotten out of nowhere. Barts sat beside Scipio, giggling lightly as she attempted to teach the child how to play a game of cards. "You should go check it out. You''re crew can keep me in check if I pull any funny business and I am decently strong enough. At least as a last resort, I won''t be a burden. You on the other hand both know the lay of the land, and have a better control of Haki then I ." Fawkes muttered as he looked around, his expression grave as he felt another tremor filter through the rough floor of the otherwise small inn. Terrick glanced at him surprised, slowly his expression sunk into a pensive mood. He wanted to go, he knew he could be useful. But could he trust the man before him with the state of his crew? Yes. He decided. True, he was only acquainted for a short time, but in his gut he knew that he could trust him. With a swift nod he looked over at Fawkes. "I''m leaving them in your care." and with that he was gone. 140 The second awakening. The Earth shook under me as I ran through the thicket of the forest. Marco followed close behind as he muttered to himself, both of us sharing a grim expression. We had agreed to check the ship before we returned, for the explosions were in the general vicinity that it had been docked in. "Ugh, I hate this island." Marco muttered softly as he twitched to the side, dodging a low lying branch and a projected root that looked like it had made it its sole life''s goal to trip someone important. "The terrain is like a mole field the farther away from the town, I don''t even know why pops doesn''t allow us to just expand into this forest.." he growled darkly as I chuckled. Even in the serious situation that we were in, I still cracked up at his indignance. "Eh, if the forest annoys us, then it should annoy anyone who wants to get to the town no?" I asked good spiritedly as I leaned under a suddenly very in-my-face branch. "Ugh, aren''t you even a little worried about your ship?" He asked. "Eh, a little bit. Again, worrying isn''t going to get me anywhere so what is the point? We are doing as much as we can to reach before things get too late, and anxiety is only going to get in the way. I''ll funnel up the frustration now and get rid of it later." I answered simply as I twitched. My observation Haki pricked at my mind as I felt the vague silhouette of a ship at the very precipice of my mind. "That way." I called out as I swiftly changed direction, now actively leading my ally in the direction of the silent-as-night ship. Marco nodded mutely as he followed behind. However, as we neared the ship, I could not help but furrow my brows. There was something off about this situation. Though I could make out the ship quite clearly now, I could not feel the presence of anyone on it. No sentry Terrick and no sleeping or eating Sorren. "Something''s not right." I called out as I swiftly came to a halt, the explosions that had wracked the ground going silent. My eyes immediately shot around as I attempted to look at any and all signs that I could discern from the surroundings. My eyes lighting up as I glared at the muddy ground. "Maybe it was diversion?" Marco asked as he switched to look at me, his eyes briefly looking at my face before his serious expression stiffened further. The explosions had started again, and where once they had sounded like small cannonballs now they sounded in succession like a waterfall. ************************************************************************** Borsolino grinned sadistically as he looked at the child that had fallen before him. Smoke rose from his cratered back as a barely concealed whimper sounded from the unconscious boy''s mouth. His hands were red and raw, as holes gazed back with a ferocity that caused Borsolino a certain measure of joy. Or was it when he finally entered the academy, now scrunched up with enough credits to be recognized by an actual instructor instead of a mere ensign? In fact, Borsolino had quite a clear idea on when it was, he just wished not to acknowledge it. Slowly he pulled his feet up before kicking away the twitching body. The child was as good as dead, like many others had been when ''that man'' was done with them. Now it was time to gain some actual information. Chances were, that he was already discovered what with the sound that he had been making during his interim rage. With purposeful steps, he walked towards the other man, the one with broken limbs that had passed out, but now woke up as he felt an eerie feeling crawl through his bones. "Now, will you tell me what I want?" Borsolino asked, ditching his previous sunny tone for a more foreboding and intimidating one. Terrick looked at him in a daze before his eyes roamed around no doubt hoping to catch sight of his mysterious savior. When he did see Sorren''s form though, he jerked as a disbelieving expression entered his bloody face. Tap. Tap. Borsolino drew closer each step drawing a fresh jerk out of his victim. Slowly Terrick glanced at him, his eyes filling with a vitriol that made Borsolino grin. His eyes grew red as he began to struggle, his broken hand twitching and spasming as he got to his feet shakily. With twitching fingers, he reached into his pouch flicking out two knives. "Oh what are you going to do? Stab yourself?" Borsolino taunted as he shot a wave of light at the standing man. Terrick flinched as the beam of light buried itself in his shoulder. Still he stood shakily. His broken hand twitched as it grabbed the hilt of one of the knives. Then with purposeful strokes, he pushed it towards his face. Now, Borsolino was curious, arrogant that nothing would be able to change the current situation. So he waited. With a feral growl, Terrick clenched his teeth grabbing the fabric of his sleeve and a sizeable amount of his skin in his teeth. He was ready. "Oh! Bravo! ~~" Borsolino called out as he clapped. Then his expression fell and he zoomed towards Terrick. A laser beam shot towards Terrick''s unprotected face as Borsolino leaned under his guard. And When Terrick dodged the beam of light, a second one had appeared speeding to his chin. With another growl Terrick did the only thing he could with the time he had been given. He dropped his arm, the already broken arm almost obliterated under the pressure of the jab of light. Borsolino smiled as he rose to his full height, right next to his target as he pushed. What could Terrick do, other than fall? As the wounded assassin, toppled Borsolino spoke again. "Since you aren''t cooperating, what about I shoot the child?" Then Terrick lost it. 141 Thatch enraged A wave of pure energy shot through the trees around as my footsteps echoed out from the moist ground. A typhoon of emotion echoing from a point that I could not see. Marco groaned as he looked up, surprise and caution coloring his aloof eyes. He felt it too, it was familiar. He knew what it was, heck his father was an adept at its use after all. It was Haki, Conqueror''s Haki to be precise. He could feel the air headedness that surrounded the invocation of the ability strike him before disappearing quickly. It was gone, where the Haki once was a baleful roar sounded out. The voice that roared out was parched and unintelligible. Raw emotion rang through the air as we cleared the last vestiges of trees that surrounded the tiny grove. We saw it, an enraged man limping towards another, and in the flash of light that followed I could not help but shiver at the pure madness that was emitted from the figures face. Then I recognized the figure, it was Terrick. "OH~?" The other figure called out, still not noticing our presence. A tattered yellow shirt on his chest as a deep wound bled into a cap that was tucked into his breast pocket. It was Vice Admiral Borsolino! "You have the Haki of the king~? Then you''re too dangerous to be left alive.." the man''s face twisted as he grinned in a savage fashion. What once was a blemish-less face now had a tiny and almost invisible scar that bled copiously. With a zap he appeared before Terrick''s body ramming his hands into his chest, only for his hand to sink into an arm that flapped around haphazardly. In Terrick''s other hand he held a dagger that gleamed with a wicked glint. With a quick stab he aimed at the other man''s neck, barely missing as Borsolino ducked. "Go To Sleep!" Borsolino snarled as he shot forward aiming to stab Terrick in the chest with a gleaming sword the he had just conjured. Fortunately, the time that Terrick had bought for himself was enough. With a leap above Terrick''s figure I brought my heel down, ramming with all the strength I was able to muster into Borsolino''s forehead. "GAH!" He yelped out as he fell back into the ground, instantly shifting his head away as I landed beside it. I didn''t care though. With a simple twist around I looked at my crewmate, and with a satisfied look I called out; "You can rest now.." ************************** Thatch groaned as he felt the assault of an unknown Haki on his mind, he almost keeled over as he felt the oppressive force. Instantly however, he righted himself. He was close he felt it. The roar that followed the burst of Haki only made the Whitebeard more nervous. He remembered still, the battles they had gotten into, against the Golden Lion, and even the erstwhile pirate king! Thus, the worry he felt in the moment, was a rarity for him. The man that he had adventured back-to-back with, could possibly be in danger! With a swift and silent roar he jumped out, his nerves stretched taut as he prepared to spring. At any moment he prepared himself to see Marco''s bloody body, hanging loosely from a tree or barely holding on against the assault from a shadowy figure. What he saw however, made him stall. In front of him, he could see two figures fighting. Or rather, one figure pummeling the other into the ground. Jagged Dagger stood over his enemy vindictively, an air of bloodlust around the young man as he stared into the eyes of the terrified marine. The man that was considered a leader amongst the rising stars of the navy groveled beneath the young pirate, gashes all over his body and blood flowing as rampantly as a particularly zealous stream. Lorean held a obsidian dagger in his hands, drops of blood falling from its curved surface as he advanced. And when the Vice Admiral twisted to beam away, he disappeared with a single crack appearing before the horrified soldier. "[Shunpo]" he leered as he neared the marine. Terrick breathed easy as he looked around the clearing, the worry that was clouding his mind began to clear, and as he faced Marco''s piercing glare he could not help but blush. He had abandoned his responsibility to run into the thick of things that he was ordered explicitly to avoid. But as he shifted his eyes away from Marco''s impassive face he could not help but wince at the spread eagle form of Terrick, broken hands and blood slowly leaving his body. As he shifted his eyes further however, he could not help but freeze. The worry that had drained out of his mind appeared again in full. With purposeful steps he walked towards Sorren''s prone body. With deliberate steps he kneeled down, and amidst Marco''s questioning glance he flipped the child''s body over. With horror on his face he recoiled, true blood caked the child''s face as a pained expression sat on his face. But there was no doubting it. That face, that nose it was HIS. The boy that he thought had died in a terrible storm, the child that he had carried when he was but an infant, the child that had called him father. At this point the worry had left Thatch''s mind, there was only cold dark fury. With slow steps he rose to his feet, with his eyes never leaving the frowning face of his son. "BORSOLINO!" He roared out loud, his voice appearing twisted and deranged as he pulled out his sword. Lorean started, shifting to look at Thatch''s positively writhing face. Then he looked behind Thatch at the child. Realization dawned on the newbie captain as he leapt out of the way of the rampaging Whitebeard. And where once Borsolino danced, now he twisted in a faint mockery of escapism. 142 Aegis Garp sniffed softly as he stood at the stern of his ship. His marine coat waved silently in the sea wind as his ship zoomed forward. To his right Sakazuki sat cross legged , literal smoke rising from his nose as he glowered into the distance. The magma man had been completely disgusted with himself. It was the first time that he had failed a mission, and he could almost hear the damage that would be done to his ideal of justice. What angered the man more however, was the flippant attitude that his comrade had showed. In most missions, even though he was at loggerheads with Kuzan he still respected the man for his work ethic. After Ohara however, the equally zealous Vice Admiral had gone silent, uncaring of the ramifications that his failure would have on Justice. The ice man sat to Garp''s left, a comfortable and expressionless fa?ade as he played with a small ice crystal that he conjured up. Kuzan could care less, every time that he could feel the smidgen of vitriol bubble up from his icy gut he would hear the screams of Ohara, the last words of his friend and the parting shot that was Garp''s own words. He could not care, for if he did, then what he had done was murder. But in his mind, however much he denied it the issue was what it was, so he choose the next best option. He would stop caring, for both sides. "You Brats! The job we have now is to extract Borsolino only. Strictly restrict the amount of damage you do, and unless the alternative is death, disengage. We are to enter the island, extract the sparkle brat and leave! Heaven knows if Whitebeard finds that there was ever Marine presence on the island!" Garp rumbled out as he glared mutinously at the dark sky. "But we can take ''im!" Sakazuki interjected, his lost composure letting the slang of his younger years catch up to him. Garp looked at Sakazuki, anger in his eyes. "Vice Admiral Sakazuki. Stand down. On this mission I am the superior officer, so now my words are law!" the older man grunted, before turning his back onto the marine Vice Admiral to glare intensely at the island on the horizon. Sakazuki ground his teeth as he got to his feet, it was like he could no longer stop the burst of pure foolhardiness that bubbled in him. It would be surprising for most to believe, that of the three young Vice Admirals, he had been the most reckless. Only after years of training and hierarchy had he gotten the tendency out of his system. The tough battle before, alongside the actual sight of two clashing emperors had probably surprised the man enough to briefly forget his mission. With purposeful steps he entered the barracks below, he needed to clear his head. Kuzan saw him go with mild interest. "That''s the most riled up I''ve seen him since we became Rear Admirals." He remarked as he slowly got to his feet to accompany Garp at the front. ''After this I''m going straight back to East blue'' he thought as he took a deep breath. ********* Borsolino huffed as he stared gob smacked at the enraged whitebeard. He barely escaped the volley of sword strikes that struck at his torso as he twisted his body absurdly. His clothes already fell in tatters as specks of light shone in the surroundings. ''The other two probably retreated, to give those two pests medical attention.'' he thought venomously as he zapped a few steps forward aiming for the swordsman''s open chest. Thatch grunted slightly as he brought the hilt down towards the taller man''s forehead, barely missing as he was forced to twitch to the side to avoid a laser shot from the light man''s finger tips. A dull pain invaded his stomach as the kick connected. It wasn''t enough to put him down though. Vengefully the pompadour man struck with his sword sheathe as he used his actual sword to deflect a volley of small laser bursts. ''Light sword!'' Borsolino thought, not having enough time to actually call out the technique''s actual name. It had been hammered into him as a recruit by a wacky instructor. Name all your techniques. The names would help you visualize the purpose of the technique and help you actually employ it faster, but when the actual name calling became no longer necessary, the habit was too hard to get rid of. Thatch jumped up suddenly, twisting his body in an oblique shape as he spun his sword around, clanging extremely loudly with the light man''s sword surface. Borsolino huffed as he was forced to step back, each step cratering under him. How could Thatch not exploit this opportunity? With quick step he landed on his toes, directing the momentum of his fall into a forward movement that almost doubled his speed. A rapid flurry of blows followed, as Borsolino could do nothing but retreat. Every strike against the light sword reflected off, but it still pushed the Vice Admiral to pull his guard closer together. Suddenly Thatch twitched downwards, bringing his sword away from the other man. He was crouching with his sword at the ready. Almost instantly he had coated his weapon with Haki. Borsolino gulped as he fell back, banishing his sword he twitched his hands forward as a wave of light appeared before him. It was a mirror of sorts. Thatch twitched slightly before stabbing forward, and while the entire motion alongside its preparation might have sounded like it had a lot of openings, he gave the bleeding Vice Admiral no time to follow through on exploiting any of them. This time at least, Borsolino had enough time to call out the name of his technique; "[Aegis]" and while he could not see it, Thatch faltered, his hands numb as a raspy breath flowed through his chest. He had been moderating his breath all this while, and while it may have looked flawless, he had been on a ticking timer. All that air that he had been holding in his lungs for optimal body condition came rushing out of him, and with a small jerk of his hand, his sword cracked. ********* A loud explosions came from behind me as I leapt forward, Terrick''s limp body draped over my shoulders. Then, the sound of cracking metal struck sonorously through the air. Immediately Marco stiffened. I shot him a look, before immediately receiving Sorren from off his back. Marco would face off against the sparkle man next it seems. 143 Landing in oppressive silence. When Marco breached the tree line, there were a lot of things that he expected to see. His comrade somehow injured, or in some way gruesomely hurt. What he did see however was Thatch with blood trailing down his forehead with a terrifying array of minute holes on his torso. The Whitebeard stood tall as he held his sword though the way it was held made it expressly clear that he had no way of using the metallic weapon usefully. His opponent was no better though. Marco could at least take some measure of satisfaction from that. The Vice Admiral stood stooped as his breath rattled against his chest. His teeth shone out scarily as a scarlet line ran across his otherwise pearly white teeth. He seemed at a glance, so weak that a single breath would topple him. But in his eyes, Marco saw a stubborn vigor that pushed the man forward still. "Oh would you look at that¡­ The First Division Commander of the great and powerful Whitebeard Pirates has returned to gang up on poor old me!~ Well Then, Come on!" Borsolino roared as his fingers twitched, rays of light coloring his fingertips as an ugly grimace colored his face. He could flee sure. But in the condition that he was in, where would he go? He did not know where he was, and within the New World Whitebeard held a multitude of territories within his grasp. He could escape, but the neighboring towns folk would not give him aid. He was too weak to cross the seas with his strength, heck he could barely stand without seeing double! With a steely look he prepared to jump forward, putting his all in an attack. Before he did however, he was caught off guard. Thatch had tackled him to the floor! A rabid look overtook the pirate as he began to ravage the man under him. Unarmed blow after unarmed blow rammed into his person, each colored in a strange hue of black and red, a mixture of his Haki and blood. Borsolino buckled as a dull pain ran through his head, before he began to struggle too. "Marco! He is Mine!!" Thatch bit out. His rage turning his usually clear eyes into a clouded red. As he began tearing at the man, his nails digging into the other man''s meager clothes that remained, his entire demeanor the very picture of a desperately fighting wild animal. Borsolino jumped forward, his hands ramming straight at his assailants neck as he attempted to strangle the rabid man. Thatch growled darkly as he rammed his knee forward, catching the off guard Vice Admiral right in the crotch. Suffice to say that he was satisfied at the flinch that he heard. But the flurry was soon at its end, with labored breath the pirate brought himself to his full height before shooting the gob smacked Marco a glare with a surprising degree of clarity. ********** Garp could not help but look at the inert sky with a baleful glare. He smelt a hint of blood in the air, and it wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that he despised it with all the bristled hair of his military trimmed beard. The Vice Admiral was sick. Not physically no, but mentally at the way that things had played out. "Search." he barked out softly as he gazed at the island. They were on a ticking timer and he did not want to be here when the timer began to chime. A bellow of robes sounded softly behind him as the two young Vice Admirals leapt of the ship. With purposeful kicks at the empty air they made it ashore. "You. Keep the engines running but ensure that we don''t go any further in. The last thing that we need is to get caught in the shallows and lend up run aground." The Captain nodded his assent as he ran into the control room. Garp looked at the ship. Catching the eye of one of the captains that had sailed with him for a substantial amount of time he nodded subtly. He would go ashore to ensure that no one crept up on the ship. On land he would also be able to hurry to the young Vice Admirals aid if it turned out that they got in over their head. With a graceful leap he cleared the frothing waves in front of the ship, landing noiselessly on the loose and damp sand. With a swish of his cloak he was gone, disappearing into the foliage that surrounded the beach. On the ship, the men could not help but gulp. Sweat running down their head. Even Captain Roman, who had at the very beginning of the day boisterously claimed that they would have the emperors in chains by the end of the night was no different. He had seen the chaos that two newly anointed emperors could bring. He could only shudder at the outcome that would arise if they ever offended the ''Strongest man'' in the world. With every minute thrum of the ship''s engine he could not help but jump. Feeling his heart weaken with every successive jolt of fright that ran through his spine. As the men pinned their eyes directly at the shore line, they could not help but shudder as from the very corner of the thick vegetation a young man ran forward. On his back the body of a grotesquely maimed child jiggled around helplessly, while in his arms an equally comatose man lolled pathetically. Was it the nerves, or the oppressive silence that made him do it? For as the man ran across the sandy recesses of the beach, a burst of bullet fire sounded through the inert air. And as if in slow motion shot towards the young man''s shoulder. 144 Lorean Unleashed Garp looked on gob smacked as he saw the young man flinch backwards. The bullet barely grazing the man''s clothes. The mere sound of the gun shot had almost forced him into action, only his years of experience and training had stopped it. He could not help but curse in his mind silently, he had made it clear that no one was to make any more noise then they absolutely had to. All of the lights on deck had been killed, and the dark tint to the ship''s colours made it almost completely camouflaged within the recesses of the moonless darkness. Yet, here he was, a bungling fool of the highest proportions blowing what little chance that they had on the island in their ill decided rescue mission. With steel in his eyes, Garp looked on at the scene. Unfortunately there could be no failure on the mission that had been assigned, the asset was too important. If not, he would have been the first to call it a day and return to headquarters. Sengoku could give him an earful for all he cared. As the bullet darted past the man on the beach, Garp held his breath, hoping against hope that he did not notice the small metallic ball that had almost taken his head. Unfortunately the man in question was Lorean, and he was in a piss poor mood to top it off. With an enraged glare he scathingly looked at conspicuously silent sea, in moments he could see the silhouette of the offending vessel. He debated it in his head too, weather pulverizing the solitary naval vassal would take enough time to put his crewmates in any tangible danger. Then he made his way farther, the lives that he held in his hands was more important. True he had just been shot at, but if they wanted him to take any action they would have to try harder than that. His gait became more guarded as he ran, purpose in his steps as he made his way towards the town. Unfortunately for everyone involved, a certain captain on board the offending ship decided that a single shot was not enough. They had already made some noise, it would be too risky to let the man go. "Fire." he called out softly as he let his hand fall through the air. A hail of bullets followed the ill given order as the marines on board rained lead pellets at the man''s retreating figure. Most never touched him and the few that got close enough to actually make contact were all mysteriously avoided. Garp stared in shock. He had never seen anyone use Soru as the man in front of him had just done. It was Soru too, Garp would know too it had been the technique of the six powers that he had spent the most time mastering. With a sinking heart Garp could not help but glower, for somewhere in his heart he knew that this extraction mission would not e as easy as he had first thought it to be. This man that he saw would put a damper on their mission, he just knew it. ******** I fumed in my mind, they had taken it too far. They could already consider it a blessing that I had not decided to go ballistic on their ship, the gall it took to continue shooting made me go almost completely mad with rage. If it were not for the heaviness that I felt in his arms, I would have already lost his mind in my overwhelming anger. With each thump that I heard behind him I could feel my temper flare, those bullets were being aimed at me! At My family! Suddenly I could feel the air part behind me, a chilling feeling quivering its way up my spine as a terrifying presence made itself known to my Observation Haki. In one motion, I twisted around. My face barely scraping against the ground as I avoided a punch that I had only just barely felt coming. The glimpse of white that I saw, did almost nothing to quell the volcanic infuriation that I held within me. My rage seemed to bellow in my head as I saw the hint of white and gold that formed the attire of a Marine Vice Admiral, the same apparel that Borsolino had worn as he assaulted my crewmates. As I took a few steps back I gazed at my assailant. It was a marine. A relatively tall man with a wide chest and a band of white hair that coloured his otherwise military hairdo. The coat that most in his position wore was conspicuously absent, flapping with a dull tremble in the air behind him. The man glared at me, a deep sense of frustration in his eyes as he stared unblinking into my eyes. I felt literal vitriol bubble through my throat as a dull and mechanical red seemed to overcome my vision. Slowly I steadied my position a deep breath rasping through my dry mouth as I stared at the man before me. "What do you want Marine?" I called out venom dripping off my tone as I beheld the bulky man. "I can''t let you leave, civilian. Unfortunately I shall have to detain you here." he called out as he prepared his stance. His hands going black almost instantly as he dropped into a low guard. "Hoh~ Quite full of yourself aren''t you. Old Man!" I bit out my lips curling into a purely visceral smile as I slowly laid my crewmates at the foot of the tree beside me. With quick movements I had my dagger at the ready in both hands. A wicked black curling off their surface as I breathed out through my nose. I was going to have to make this quick it seems. 145 Marco vs Kuzan The marine Captain stared gobsmacked on the observation deck as strong winds assaulted the prow of the ship. A strong wind had begun to brew as the Vice Admiral had taken to the floor to bring the mysterious man into custody. He could barely follow along with the fight as the two figures clashed, the ground beneath their feet cracked as the met in a thunderous clash. The Vice Admiral was faster, but the mysterious man seemed to know his move''s inside and out. He saw through every fake, and stabbed easily through the Vice Admiral''s guard. And when the Vice Admiral advanced with his trusty fists, the other man seemed to fade away returning instantly at another spot from where he would stab dangerously. While the Vice Admiral did not bleed, his sheered clothes alongside his frustrated expression made it clear that he was feeling anything but joy at the way that the fight was going. "Captain! Word from Vice Admiral Sakazuki! he located Vice Admiral Borsolino who is in desperate need of medical aid. The two are making their way to the ship as we speak!" A man in the control room bellowed out as he held a pale and small snail in his palm. It was a baby Transponder snail that was most commonly used for retrieval missions like these. One would be in the hands of the field agent while the other would remain in the control room, ready to connect the two creatures if there was even a single sign of danger. "What about Vice Admiral Kuzan?" The captain asked as he glanced around him. Anxiousness in his voice as he fidgeted around. He was seriously unqualified in the situation at hand and it was really showing. While the ship held a massive force that was the four Vice Admirals there was not a single Rear Admiral that the headquarters could possibly re assign on such short notice. After all most marine bases in the Grand line and the New world would be headed by the Rear Admirals. The single Commodore that the ship housed had also unfortunately been wounded in the conflict prior and was currently resting in the barracks. Thus, it had fallen to the Captains to give orders on ship, and boy were they nervous! "No word from the Vice Admiral as of yet, but sir Sakazuki did say that there were signs of battle at the place that Borsolino was found that indicated conflict!" The man with the transponder called out. "Contact the Vice Admiral for a brief overview of his situation!" the captain briskly ordered before going back to fidgeting and gaping at the scene that he was witnessing. *********** Kuzan breathed in sharply as he glared at the blue phoenix that had been steps away from kicking his head off from its actual place on his neck. The creature''s maddening attack reminded him of the time that he had been posted at south blue where there was a species of pelicans that dive bombed anyone that invaded their territory. The locals of the area called them ''brave birds'' for their violent charge, and Kuzan could now testify that there was nothing brave in the suicidal rush that his avian foe employed. The trees around them had been pretty much flattened in the conflict as the two raged at each other''s throats. Hints of ice did mar the tracked and cratered ground, though not a speck of the frigid substance could be seen on his enemy''s sapphire plumage. Kuzan growled darkly as he brought the ice sword in his hand in an ''x'' shape in front of his chest. Only barely holding himself from being thrown barrelling through the air. As annoying as it was to admit it, it was a fact that he lost out to his enemy in terms of Haki, especially Armament. After all his devil fruit wasn''t really conducive to close combat. A low caw could be heard from the birds beak as it came to a stop mid air, its talons splayed before it as it spit venom at him through its gaze. Instantly Kuzan lunged, his ice capping the ground in a fine frozen rink of sorts before immediately turning the sultry air a bone biting cold. He was a Logia, he refused to play by the other side''s rules. A massive boulder shot through the ground as the phoenix took to the air, jumping to a position at a higher altitude then the frigid caps could touch. Kuzan jumped atop the icy mountain tops as he splayed his hands forward, a hail of bullets racing through the air at his enemy. A ray of light shot through the hail as a clawed foot raced towards him. A small smile finally came upon his face as he tapped his foot. The boulder he had been standing on now had a slide! As he gracefully slid down the smooth icy surface he brandished his hands again, the few ice boulders that still remained instantly shattered into a storm of sharp icy daggers. This had been his plan, or well, a lucky occurence! To draw his foe in before assaulting them with a sheer mountain of tiny yet deadly jagged ice shards. The phoenix swished backwards as it narrowly avoided the first shard that had been aiming for its head, before with a helpless cry it rose back into the air. "So, what do you say? You can''t get near, and I can''t reach as far, so shall we call a truce?" Kuzan called out as he leisurely brought his hands to his nose. The bird huffed in anger before bursting into flames in the sky. A blaze of blue brightened the sky for a second, before a much smaller figure dropped through the protective shard layer. As soon as Marco made it through he transformed once again, zooming at the Vice Admiral at a speed that he had never anticipated. While all this took quite a while for Kuzan to comprehend, the humanoid figure had already returned invading his personal space aggressively as a volley of punches shot towards his face, transforming back and forth between the deadly but blunt fist to the equally deadly but much sharper talon. Kuzan growled again as he dodged, twisting and turning as he attempted to control the battle. But where his opponent had first dodged, now he headed right through! And as Kuzan twisted out of the way of a particularly rabid charge, he was suddenly surprised by a; ''Pere pere pere pere...'' 146 Worry rampant amidst the rookie crew Marco growled as he spat a small wad of blood from his mouth. He was furious! Not only had he managed to catch his opponent off guard he had also pushed him to a point of abject desperation, and still the Vice Admiral had escaped. Whatever the case, Marco had to admit, that a Vice Admiral suddenly bursting with all the powers that they possessed would startle even the most battle hardened member on his crew, save of course for the captain. Still, he had managed to land a successful hit. One that had left his opponent badly wounded with a large gash on his neck. Were it not for his frigid abilities he would have n doubt bled to death. With a slow sigh he straightened out perking up as he inhaled graciously. This was no time to be down on things, he had to give chase! Instantly blue fire shot across his arms as they transformed into the deific wings that his devil fruit provided him. With a deep thud, he leapt off the ground flying furiously through the thicket of trees that surrounded him. ******************* Sakazuki growled, as he gazed judgementally at his fallen comrade. Not only had he been defeated bringing shame to the organization that they were both a part of, he had also done it in a place that would bring an untold amount of damage to the ''Justice'' of the world. The only consolation that the magma human could think of was that he had taken revenge. A few meters behind him a charred body lay, smoking and sizzling in the air. That was Thatch, and though he was alive, how long he could live for was anybody''s guess. Sakazuki chuckled to himself slightly; all the stress that he had pent up had left his system. As he shaved through the muddy forest floor, he could already see the forest begin to thin as they drew closer to the sandy shore. Fun aside, he had to hurry. He had been ordered to return, and though it pained him to admit it, in the instance at hand, it was a measly captain that was giving it. Were it not for the naval codex that had been beaten into him by his instructor, chances are that he would have ignored the order consequences be damned he would have hunted every single low life that existed on this island torching anyone that provided even a smidgen of aid to them. His colleague groaned on his shoulder as he winced unconsciously. The rapid movement had no doubt caused his wounds to flare up, and though he was not yet awake to face the pangs, even a slight bit of stimulus was enough to force his brain to wail in abject agony. Sakazuki smiled slightly at this, in the academy he had been lorded over by this man. Now while he was wailing in pain, He Sakazuki was unhurt and had dealt with the most probable culprit to his condition. Borsolino had been one upped, and for a man as competitive as Sakazuki, just the thought of it caused a beautiful smile to bloom. That single realization forced him to race forwards, small traces of smoke rising from where his feet met the mud and grass. Had he taken his time, he would have been able to sense Thatch twitch. He would have noticed as a conspicuous pineapple headed man appeared beside him, before glaring with such intensity that it would cause even Magellan to quail at its toxicity. However, he did not, and thus though he made his way onto the beach, there was no way that the Navy would be able to survive in one piece that night. ******** Fawkes paced around the inn with some measure of anxiety, his crewmates looking at him with equal parts bemusement and worry. He had been like this ever since he had taken over for Thatch. At the beginning, he had only felt a little uncomfortable, but as time passed the ball of worry began to expand settling heavily in the pit of his stomach and causing for his brows to shift and curl. "What is up with you?!" Rein asked, for what could possibly be the eighth time that night as he fidgeted nervously. Yet again, his question was doomed to be unanswered. The crew''s first mate had remained mum all this while, only shooting Angella bouts of worried glances from time to time that she had begun to reciprocate. Even Barts, the one on the crew that was the most sensitive to emotions had been left flummoxed as she gazed at them. She had even leaned in and whispered into Scipio''s ears a few times, wondering if this was the norm for the crew that she had decided to join. Finally, Fawkes stopped glancing over at Angella with a trace of finality in his eyes. "Barts, marshal these guys here, and if any of the whitebeards ask be sure to inform them of the worry that we have. Angella, let''s go." He said as he shot Barts a look before speeding out of the inn. Over the course of the time that the crew had known her, Barts had proven to be a responsible crew mate, and in this juncture she was also the one that had the finest head on her shoulders. Fawkes could only leave it to her. If it was in any other situation Fawkes would have let it be, Lorean could handle almost anything that was thrown his way after all. But now, his intuition told him to run to do as Thatch did and pursue his crewmate. As the duo began to run through the town Angella finally spoke. Of the crew, she was the one that both Lorean and Fawkes listened to, "You aren''t the only one. Maybe the new world is getting to us, and maybe we aren''t ready for it but I''ve been feeling too." she confided as they ran. And, though Fawkes was sure of his decisions before, now he was truly completely assured that his actions were the right ones. 147 To Safety! I growled darkly as I ran, tendrils of helplessness shooting through my systems as I narrowly dodged the lead pellet that had been about to puncture Terrick''s head. Every fibre in my being wanted me to draw my daggers and go on a rampage, but I resisted. I was no stranger to loosing someone close, and every thought of the loss I would face vastly overwhelmed the oppressive helplessness that I currently felt. As I dashed through the trees, the sound of gunshots that rang behind me began to grow louder and more hurried. The gunners where no doubt becoming anxious forcing them to begin shooting haphazardly, as opposed to the modicum of care they gave to their aim until that point. In a few more meters the tree cover would become too thick for them to continue their rapid fire, and at last I would gain some piece and more importantly safety for the two passed out in my arms. Suddenly a growl curled through the air, my observation Haki blazing at such extremity that they began to give me a headache. With a swift turn I dodged whatever it was that had come hurtling towards me, a terrifying heat pervading the surface of my face as I felt my eyebrows singe. It was a man in what looked to be an official formal red, a marine cape flapping away behind him as he landed deftly. It had been him that had attacked him. (if it wasn''t obvious already) With a glance at him, it became apparent how. The man stared at me apathetically, a line of red liquid seeming down his hand as he stood calmly at the ready. As soon as the man had arrived, the blaze of guns had stopped at least for that I was thankful. "What is with you fuckers and attacking incapacitated victims?" I growled out as I glared at him. My patience running down a slippery slope as I gazed coldly at the Marine. "You have obstructed the course of Justice civilian. Stand down." the man called out apathetically. His eyes regarded me carefully as he looked down at the body in my hand. "Drop the bodies and come quietly." he finished. Before turning his back to me with an unhidden amount of authority. I growled darkly as I gazed at the man. Judging by what my Haki told me, he was dangerous. Then again, I could hardly drop Sorren and Terrick and go silently. They needed treatment and I wasn''t particularly keen on trusting a marine any further than I could throw one. "You heard me Civilian. Drop the bodies." He said enunciating clearly as he noticed my clear hesitation. His hands began to bellow with smoke as glared me down, his eyes beginning to smoulder as he stared me down. A soft gurgle began to develop within my throat as I clenched my muscles, a single [Shunpo] would throw him of guard. As I barely twisted out of the way,"Lorean!" A roar echoed out as a blue blaze crested over the trees landing swiftly at in front of me, a blue wing chopping down savagely barely defending against the full power punch of the marine Vice Admiral. Marco had appeared, twisting slightly as he stabbed at the man''s open torso with his talons. Instantly I twitched, retreating quickly I flashed out of the clearing. Marco would be my distraction I decided, as I raced forward, bursting at full speed. As the world zoomed around me I could feel the trees draw closer, my anxiousness coupled with the claustrophobic woods around made the adrenaline that ran through my veins churn with enough vigour to turn milk to butter. A splash sounded under my feet as I ran over a puddle. A graze followed as a small line of blood drew onto my face. My Observation Haki warned me of course, but I moved to fast to care, a small cut would do nothing and wasn''t worth avoiding. As I ran into the dark woods, the roots began to sprout from out of the ground, the same path that I had tread in the morning of my arrival now seemed all the more dangerous. The wind howled, the leaves crackled under foot and before I knew it, I came upon someone familiar. It was Fawkes, and boy was I grateful that he was here. My feet skidded to a close as I stopped before him, unloading my charge almost instantly before draping them onto my alert first mate''s shoulders. No words were exchanged, just subtle glances. And as I prepared to dash the way I had come, I noticed two other figures. A barely hobbling Thatch and a worried Angella. All I could do was give her a quick glance before I looked at Fawkes. "Angella follow! Fawkes get those three to town." I said before shooting back into the forest. Now though, Angella followed. Within seconds I had returned to the forest''s eerie embrace as loud thrums echoed off the mud covered forest floor. Suddenly, a small pop sounded puncturing shrilly in the eerie silence of the forests. I had to hurry. ******* Left. Right. Below! Marco shrieked as he dodged through the air, ice boulders and magma fists raining down on his rocking form as he evaded through the air. As soon as he had appeared, the boat on the Horizon had upended their engines, maintaining a steady thrum as they began preparations to leave. The lights dotting the side of the ship began to beam slowly as low shouts could be heard on deck. All that remained on the Marine agenda was to silence anyone that had seen them, first the phoenix then the three that had fled from them. 148 Frozen dress! With a quick twist, I leapt into the clearing, the heavy thicket of trees shifting into my background. Already my Haki bubbled through me. A layer of faint black colouring my arms as a swift image of the situation entered my mind. Marco looked, his expression slightly easing up as he proceeded to land beside me. The beach had been torn apart by their brief skirmish, icy pillars jutted out of the loose sand while a black glass like material dotted the ground. My dagger slipped into my hands as I glared at my enemies. Sakazuki and Kuzan had frozen for a moment when they saw me enter the scene but quickly recovered. "The ice queen is mine." I called out sharply before [Shunpo''ing] in front of Kuzan. My dagger shot at his neck at a breathtaking speed, all the momentum of my swift movement behind the blow. With a swerve he bent backwards, dodging the tip of the sharp weapon before splaying his hands forward with a makeshift ice sword aimed at my torso. My right foot stomped, cancelling the momentum that had been built before my entire back twitched to the side. The dagger that had shot towards him stretched taut before curving around to assault his neck. He twitched as he received my blow with his hands, instantly I felt a fearful chill shoot up my arm. "[ICE TIME]" he called out callously as the ice began to spread his hands already chopping down at the block of ice that was my arm. Enduring the sting of the frost, I swung forward, Haki colouring the icy construct as well as it shot forward like a brutal mace towards the Vice Admiral''s face. The Vice Admiral twitched as his expressions fell. He was the least durable of the three Vice Admirals; if he were hit with the blunt force of the blow, he would take some serious damage! With a small ''caw'', he moved backwards ice forming around him the shape of a pseudo pheasant that covered his body. "[ICE BLOCK: PHEASENT BEAK]" he called out, though the construct looked more pigeon then pheasant. My punch connected almost instantly as a spider web of cracks made their appearance known on their surface. With a growl, I clenched my fist; the ice that covered it began to crack as a layer of steam slowly shot through the cracks. With my devil fruit, I had manually increased my body''s temperature, both to deal with the icy temperature on the beach and to combat the Vice Admiral''s bad habit of freezing anyone that he was fighting against. The red tinge of my skin only increased his worry as he twitched backwards again. "[ICE BLOCK: PARTISAN]!" he roared aloud as a small arsenal of frozen spears appeared behind him shooting at me with glinting tips. With a sneer I advanced, my dagger quickly shattering any icy shrapnel that made its way towards me. I was at my optimal, and now I would even be able to link Steps! (A/N steps= activation of Shunpo) With a swift whoosh I was behind the frost man, my dagger aimed at the nape of his neck. Ice shot out of the man''s back as he fell forward, and there too he was met with my presence. It seemed the half-baked plan that I had come up with to deal with the chilly weather had in fact elevated my overall performance! My arm shot forward from the right as my left hand went for the stab. Kuzan could do nothing now, his momentum carrying him into my lethal strike. He twitched as an ice cube formed before his face, which he used to twist away from my dagger. With a grim order, the muscles on my right hand expanded. With a tiny explosion of movement, I had grabbed onto the man''s hand, and though he was taller than I was, it still did not stop me from pulling him off his feet. "[OPEN HAND: YOSO]!" I barked as the man twisted around, his hand instantly breaking before the sound of his ribs shattering echoed into my ear. This was the first time I had used this move with all the intention of killing my opponent and it really showed. While I had tested this on the ship, there had been no injuries to anyone, now however, the only reason I had been able to pull off the attack was due to the state that my body was in. Instantly, my form reminded me of something, a certain bowl cut man in tights to be precise. Suddenly, the weight in my hand disappeared, the momentum that I had been swinging around immediately retarding into my standing form. With heavy steps, I pattered forward, me feet leaving indents into the ground below. I could not believe it! Someone had managed to even out speed the reactions that my body offered me, even when I had effectively cut a majority of my nervous system out of the reactionary procedure! In front of me a grizzled man stood, judging by the coat that was on him, he was a Vice Admiral. His eyes glanced at me seriously as he took the slumped iceman in his arms in a princess carry. "Humph!" he sniffed out as he slowly set the man down. "Boy, where did your strength come from? Kuzan, help Sakazuki deal with Marco, we need to get out of here quickly." he rumbled. While the first part of his statement forced me to revaluate him clueing me in on the fact that he had been watching me for a period of time that would allow him to profile my strength, the latter forced me to truly worry. Marco had barely been holding on before I came in, and with how far away Angella was he might not be able to hold on for too long. With a deep sigh, I looked at the man before me. My eyes immediately sharpened as I slowly eased out my Conqueror''s Haki. It was time to go for broke! 149 The forces retreat. Garp stared silently at the figure before him, his teeth gritting and his coat swaying in the wind. He had failed. He could not possibly expect Whitebeard to take this affront lying down, maybe, if he was not seen here then it might have been a different scenario all together, but as things stood, a war with the strongest man in the world seemed almost inevitable. With a small growl he raced forward towards the man before him his hands colouring a menacing black as it dove forward. He fought with the simplest of movements, where others would use agility and tactics he punched, where others used weapons, he punched. Suffice to say, that though he did not know much more than the simplest of punches the strength behind them still terrified combatants all over the world. A sudden pressure erupted around his shoulders as he neared the pirate, so stifling that it gave him a truly endless illusion of strength. His foe stood still two daggers at the ready as the winds began to pick up. Instantly the various other fighters stared surprised, their collisions stalling for a moment as the felt the truly momentous presence. A wave of it flowed outwards, everyone within its range instantly felt a primal fear crawl through their spine. The water rippled as a mad howl rose from the copse of trees that bounded the battle. Instantly the ship balked, its rails yowling in a phantom of pain as everyone below the rank of commodore instantly fell unconscious. Garp stared agape in surprise as he felt the aura. At the distance that existed between the naval vessel and the sandy beach only a handful of New World pirates would be able to have that kind of an effect! Garp instantly advanced, his speed almost doubling as he pushed his fist downward, the draft of displaced wind shrieking alongside the yowling copse. A minute twitch ran through the pirate''s body as he leaned backwards twisting around with a fatal level of flexibility to ram his heel into the advancing Vice Admiral''s temple. He had gotten faster! *** I stared silently as my body worked. Around me everything had faded save for the sole marine that I fought against. The colour from the world had already receded alongside the unnecessary senses of taste and hearing. I had streamlined what my body would process and by passed the neural network that ran through the length of my lanky body. Now my limbs moved at the direction of the Observation fed interface within my mind, and while my body worked up a storm of steam with muscles gaining micro tears with the undulating heat I grew stronger. This was just like the eight inner gates, and as I was, I could sense the threshold. I would be unable to use that move too many times anytime soon, but it would be enough. As his fists began to rain towards me, I dodged. With a small displacement, I began to dance, a phantom of swerves and flash steps I circled the man, a phantom calm settling into my stomach. The momentum in my movement began to build as time around me slowed to a snail''s crawl. With a purposed twitch, my daggers arose beside me already coated and ready for some bloodletting. As I shot forward all the momentum that I had gathered moved with me, and while the wind that had accompanied the marine Vice admiral had only shrieked, the ones that followed me roared. A thin layer of smoke began to rise from the blade''s metallic surface. Garp gazed aghast as he was blindsided, the figure that he had been pummelling into the ground had suddenly arisen from beside him! "[Dagger arts: bladed peacock.]" A deep and foreboding voice echoed out as the Vice Admiral balked. The figure that had stabbed towards him now took to sickly grey, columns of steam rising from all around as an angry spark shot from the daggers surface. The roar of the wind was all but ignored as a menacing avian stared down at the Vice Admiral. With a twitch the figure moved, the small plume of feathers on its tail rising up into a menacing wall of steam and smoke. At the eye of each individual feather, a spark was birthed, and as the creatures talon dug into Garp''s arm the feathers followed. ****** Sakazuki started with fear in his eyes as a man that his mentor had acknowledged to be one of the strongest if not the strongest marine in history was engulfed by the wave of what could only be described as pure malevolence. The sound of two antagonistic beasts duelling for supremacy could be heard from within the veil as the roaring winds reached a crescendo. The steaming column shivered with each clash as the bright burst of the verdant orange flames blinked in and out of existence. The column looked much like an enraged and incensed campfire with embers spewing out left and right. The only difference was, that though the embers appeared only for a small interval of time, each appearance denoted a wild and untamed blazing blade of flame tearing ruthlessly at the victim. Slowly, the peacock receded, the majestic figure seemingly rising to its full height as the tyrannical pressure condensed around it. Though Sakazuki was a marine, he did not look at his senior officer first, the figure''s captivating red eyes prevented it. This was a creature of steam, so hot that the regular man would shudder, shiver and have his skin melt off with a single touch from its outer plumage. Nevertheless, his Vice Admiral had fought the creature in its own field. With a final shrill roar to the skies, the figure disappeared. The steam dispersing into the world around as a semi naked man could finally be seen. A swathe of burns coated the man''s upper body as he stood upright. His eyes were completely glazed as his daggers rested on his side. Across from him Garp panted, though he was conscious the man still looked completely burned, his prim uniform had left him a while ago and lethal criss-crosses covered his chest. His right hand rested at his side completely limp, his knuckles completely burst open while the bones jutted out with a sinister red tinge. "Marines, PULL OUT!" he roared with the last of the vestiges of his energy as he vaulted onto the ship''s deck his massive jump a few of the stronger captains to awaken while the single commodore limped out of the sick bay. At the edge of the forest, a white coated swordswomen stood glaring at the receding boat. She made no moves forward, for she knew that even with the addition of herself and Fawkes, there would be almost no way to force the single ship to remain behind without losing someone on their side. She could take Kuzan for a while, and Marco could maybe defeat Sakazuki, but Fawkes was tending to the wounded and no one else on their crew was strong enough to cause the old Vice Admiral to sweat. So she had to let them go, Marco knew this too for he too ceased all movement watching with hawk like eyes as Sakazuki leapt onto the ship as well. Kuzan limped forward, a hand on his back as he joined the duo, he was injured. Not terribly so mind you, just enough to call in a few weeks for recouping. 150 The ripples continue A shudder ran through Sengoku''s spine as he stared at the cowering transponder snail. He had just received a report from Garp, and it forced a whole slew of curses from his mouth. His rimmed glasses flashed as he slowly sighed, reclining slightly on his chair as he sighed in exhaustion. His dark eyes closed as the bags under them gained prominence, ever since information came to him of the clash between the two emperors he had been staring down receiving call after call while he attempted to make a coherent battle map off the fragmented parchment on his desk. Exhaustion flowed through his system as he contemplated inaction. He was tired, and if what Garp said, was anything to go by, he would have to pay a personal visit to a certain man. He was aware to a frightening degree how protective the sea faring behemoth was, especially towards his adoptive children. Nevertheless, the bridge was not truly burnt as of yet, Whitebeard would not wage all out war jeopardizing everyone on his crew to avenge a slight injury on one of his commanders. As far as Sengoku was concerned, Thatch''s situation was not truly lethal, it was at most a sign of extreme exhaustion, not something that would cripple the man for the rest of his life at least, and that meant that things had not gone past the limit of reconciliation. The price that he would have to pay however was something that he truly shuddered to think of. With a surging heart, he slowly reached across from his desk to a particularly smug looking snail. This snail only connected the old Fleet Admiral to a single other one, the transponder owned by the five elder stars to be precise. With a deep sigh, he pulled up the organism each ring, forcing the man to calm down and squash any emotion that he felt. Every time he conversed with the manipulative group of old men he would be left drained, and this time he was sure the grilling would be many fold stronger. "Fleet Admiral." an emotionless voice called out from the other end. "We have a situation." Sengoku replied no prelude to his statement. The lesser time the two groups spent in conversation the easier the old man would be able to sleep at night. The other line remained silent, a single impatient snort encouraging him to continue. "Borsolino was rescued, but the mission did not go unnoticed. There was altercation with the Whitebeards." he summarised succinctly. "I was under the impression that ''The Fist'' was on board the rescue mission?" the other side asked (clearly the bald man from the scratchy tone that he employed). "Garp was among the ones that were dispatched, as a last resort he was ordered to lie low, even if the marines were discovered on the island the three Vice Admirals would not illicit as drastic of a response from the old emperor, or at least that was the original plan. (A/N serious= will take a while to recover; Lethal= possibility of death is high) The other side has three casualties, with two from Jagged Dagger''s crew, who Borsolino claims he injured enough to seriously maim if not outright cripple. Thatch of the Whitebeards also suffered serious damage though likelihood of the injury lasting is extremely small. The issue is that Garp had to take action and faced off against Jagged Dagger, and from the information that we received, Jagged Dagger managed to wound him. The injury is deep but manageable seeing as the method utilized was hastily initiated. That being the case however, Jagged Dagger can now with surety be said to be on par with Admirals. Thus, a revision of his bounty is necessary. How do we deal with Whitebeard?" Sengoku finished ending the impromptu briefing. A lengthy pause followed, and then the five elder stars began to speak. ****** Whitebeard growled in annoyance as he stared at a few of his children horsing around on deck, with his beefy hands he began to nurse the bridge of his nose. "YOU BRATS! GET BACK TO WORK!!" he bellowed aloud as he slammed the armrest to his chair in mock annoyance. It was only the first light of the morning and though he was not personally hung over from the exhaustion of the previous days activates the same could not be said for the newer additions to the mammoth crew. The few on deck stopped immediately, sufficiently chastised. There were few rules on the Moby Dick, chief among them being not to ruin the old man''s retirement life. However much the older denizens on the crew disagreed it was plain for all to see. (The retirement I mean.) A small sigh later the old man began to raise a bottle to his lips, it was the brew that he got almost exclusively for himself, and every guzzle could cause his tongue to shrivel and his throat to burn. He fucking loved this stuff. Ever since information on the clash between the rabid beast and the sugar high mad women had reached him, a kernel of worry had begun to sprout within his mind. Would his children be all right? "Pops!" A sudden voice called out, breaking him from his contemplation, as he stared at the young man running towards him from across the deck he could not help but worry. It was Tiny Timmy, the man in charge of receiving and processing all the information that the out stationed teams reported, and right now there were only two teams that had been dispatched. "It''s from Marco!" his squeaky voice called as he kneeled down exhaling deeply. Then the old emperor frowned. 151 Prelude Sengoku smiled morosely as he waded through the waters of the Grand line, a small ship at his disposal as it sailed over the uncharacteristically calm waters. It had been over half a day since he left his comfortable office and already he could feel the cramps that crept up his back. A small crew worked around silently, as a small and wizened old women sat in a corner reading the paper. Sengoku let a small sigh shudder out of his body as he felt the change in the air, they were close. The hum of the engine shuddered through the floor as the ship waltzed forward. This was a unique ship, a special model. It had been sent to the headquarters expressly for the trip that the fleet Admiral was making. "Oi, Sengoku! Did I have to come along?" the old women asked as she folded up the paper in front of her. "Of course, Garp is too far away and I want both of you having my back." The old man bit back, his eyes never leaving the horizon. Tsuru snorted as she slowly rose to her feet. "What makes you think going personally onto Whitebeard''s ship to negotiate is a passable plan?" She asked as she calmly came to stand beside him. "Can''t help it, it was ordered by topside..." Sengoku replied, his hands clenching slightly as he remembered the flippant tone that the Elder Stars had when they addressed him. To them, a war with Whitebeard would hurt worse than losing a paltry Fleet Admiral. If Sengoku died, they would merely reinstate his predecessor and force him into the role, if not him then Z and if not Z than one among the multitude of puppets that they held access to. A war with Whitebeard would burn their resources, damage the marines and through it all they had no guarantee of victory! Not to mention that moving against Whitebeard could force the undercurrents to swirl faster than they were comfortable with, whatever that meant. If it wasn''t obvious already, Sengoku despised being left in the dark. That had been the case for as long as he could remember. When the higher ups forced him to sanction for a categorical purge of anything even remotely related to the erstwhile Pirate king and his middle name, he had no choice but to follow through. When they told him to erase the tales of one Elizabeth Sparrow as she was called he had no choice but to do it. Through his decently sized career on top there had been many decisions that had been made for him, forcing his hand forward. He had been helpless, even quite recently, among the bounties that he had sanctioned there was one that he was unsure of. Who in their right mind would price a child over 50 million berri? Unfortunately, that was how it was. The elder stars would bite at anyone that they so desired, whether it be a pirate, a marine or even a noble. As they grew closer to their target, a faint mist began to rise from the waves below. Instantly the man was on guard. Tsuru bit her lower lip as she walked to his side, her eyes staring resolutely at the thickening mist. Slowly a silhouette began to emerge from the mist''s bosom. A whale like front bore down them from up high. The size difference was so high in fact, that it looked much like the marines were on a small kayak staring up at the foreboding emperor''s structure. The white of the ship''s figurehead gleamed a motley grey in the claustrophobic mist. This was one of the fabled ships; merely glancing at it took the Fleet Admiral back to younger days. The faint smell of Sabody''s resin rose off the structure''s surface as water dripped from its sides. "Whitebeard!" Sengoku roared as he waited. "As the message discussed, I''ve come to bargain!" Slowly the massive goal ceased all movement as a small trap door rose from its side. With the rattle of chains a massive anchor fell, the resultant splash making the marine vassal sway. "Sengoku!" A roaring echo arose from above as the mist began to clear, the clear scent of alcohol rose through the air. A massive shadow fell on the ship as the rays of the sun finally infiltrated through the thick mists. "We can discuss on board." the voice finished with an air of finality that only barely concealed a volcano of anger and mutinous rage. The World''s strongest man was angry, and the only thing stopping him from showing it was the sole reason for his anger. As the figure receded, a wooden gangplank fell before the Fleet Admiral silently resting on the suddenly silent water. With a small sigh Sengoku walked forward Tsuru immediately behind. The wood below them creaked a little, but otherwise remained stable. "Care for the ship." Sengoku bit out before continuing forward. His mind already on speed mode as he attempted to stimulate the negotiation that he was about to enter. The sheer pressure that the situation offered reminded him of the many escort missions that he had been on for previous Levelies. As the duo walked onto the hard wood deck of the Moby Dick, they could not help but freeze. All around them, hostile glares erupted, huge canisters of booze lay forgotten on the floor and equally massive men stared bloody murder at the Marines. "Control yourself on my ship, Sengoku or I will not hesitate to Kill you." the giant man called out expressionlessly as he settled on a massive chair at the very centre of the ship his arm resting on the side as his hazel eyes glared at them. "Believe me, I don''t want to be here anymore than you." Sengoku replied peevishly as he stood before the behemoth. "Say it then. Why are you here?" the giant rumbled cutting straight to the heart of the matter. "It''s about what happened on Sphinx." 152 things conclude Whitebeard stared as he sat on his throne, his family all standing all around looking at the Marines with hostile eyes. "Sengoku, you must have a lot of guts, coming on MY ship and ordering me to forget the danger you put MY children in.," the massive man said, each word followed by a spike in his presence. His hazel eyes stared at the marine fleet Admiral expressionlessly, though his Conqueror''s Haki shuddered all around. With a small thump, the first man fell, and like a domino, anyone who was not a Division commander had sunk into the sweat nothingness of unconsciousness. Sengoku looked back impassively, his glasses glinting as he met the huge man''s heavy gaze. "You have no choice Whitebeard. IF you choose to war, then the marines will gladly accompany you. All I want to do is prevent needless casualty, do not take that as a sign of weakness. If you decide to wave your flag that way, then you must be ready for the death of your ''children''." the sarcasm in the man''s tone was evident. "Gurararara! Sengoku, do not take that highhanded tone with me! We might not truly go to war, but if you cross me, then the New World will not be as receptive to you dogs of those bubble headed mongrels as it currently is." Whitebeard announced, his threat clear in the air as his rumbling laughter shook through Sengoku''s bones. Sengoku gnashed his teeth as he looked at languid figure, at this point he knew that he would have to bleed. ****** Shanks chuckled as he sat on top the deck of his ship. He was in a wonderful mood, just the scent of the grilling fat over the small barbecue grill atop their current ship. The storms of the New World seldom troubled the Red Hair pirates after all. "Oi! Captain we''re almost there!" one of Shank''s older crewmates called out, a smoking cigarette in his mouth as he climbed down the crow''s nest. "How much longer Barnie?" Yasopp giggled, taking great pleasure in the older man''s glare. "oh Sod off, ya bastard!" Barnie replied before marching purposefully towards the smoking pit. "Come on old man~" Yasopp glancing over at the other man with a hint of excitement. He had gotten his hands on a few clippings of old newspapers that briefly spoke of one Jagged Dagger''s trips in the West Blue. He had gotten it into his head, without even meeting the man, that they would be good friends, on a drinking competition a few days prior he went as far as to compare it with Shank''s relationship with Mihawk! "We''ll be there in a few hours fool." Barnie replied through the curtain of haze that surrounded his face before looking at Shanks seriously. "I''ve thought about it Shanks, I''d like this to be the last." he requested before smiling sadly. Instantly Shanks felt his good mood evaporate. This was Barnie, a man that had accompanied him from the very beginning of his journey. Then and there, Shanks had known that the world no longer excited his old friend as it had. They had spoken then, a few months back, when Barnie had heard of Shank''s idea to visit the blues. He''d wanted to be dropped off at North blue. At Kuen to be precise. He had fallen in love see. Over letter the couple had said their vows when Barnie realized that had unknowingly fathered a child. A few months from now she was expecting, and he wanted to be there for her. After all, he could no longer truly keep up with the vigour of the much younger Shanks. With a sigh, Shanks looked at him. "You sure old man?" "As sure as you are about that cap.." "Then so be it." And with that their brief conversation was done. "Lucky. Stop overcooking the damn thing and throw us a banquet!" Yasopp called out, sensing the vaguely depressing mood that had arisen from the brief conversation. "Peh! As if you would know anything about how cooking works!" the fat cook called back yanking back the tail of the fleeing Sea King. A dull roar sounded out, as Lucky glanced apologetically at Shanks. "Cap''n you gotta shock it again." Shanks sighed. ****** Sengoku sighed slightly as he rode his small ship away. The experience was nerve wracking. The negotiations had been finished, a handful of islands had been what was paid Foodvalten among them. This was the plan that the Five Elder Stars had posited, sell an island that Whitebeard was struggling for and the issue would be closed. Whitebeard did not wish to go to war anymore than Sengoku did; authority and respect could go hang itself for all the old pirate cared. He would not indulge in an action that could risk the lives of his family, especially if the object of his actions was alive and well. Thatch was fine, as Whitebeard heard from Marco. That was the main reason that the conversation went as smooth as it did. In fact, Borsolino was trashed worse than anyone on the other side was. Therefore, the situation could still be talked about. "Are you sure giving Foodvalten over was such a good idea?" Tsuru asked. She was perfectly aware of the significance the island held to the old pirate emperor. "It was the only thing that could be done. With this we shall no longer prevent Whitebeard''s forces from taking the place, it shall put a major kink in our plans to deal with the old moustached fool but it shall be better than having to suffer the consequences of partaking in a war that we have no way of winning. Moreover, with this, Z can retire peacefully; his presence is no longer a necessity in guarding the place. So we can at least look at this in some measure of a positive light. The issue I am more worried about is the growth of the new generation. The way things are going not one of the three brats can possibly face off against the pirate menace, and this is just the start of the damn pirate age! Kuzan held so much promise, but from Garp''s reports, he has begun to underperform. Sakazuki is still overly conceited and competitive, and Borsolino is something of a marine Kuma! Ugh, the way things are going I suppose I have no choice but to accept what those bastards at the Reverie say... We are going to have to give the Shichibukai more responsibilities... The Boa women is already handling the Calm belt, and Crocodile wants to be placed somewhere in paradise! Moria is good as he is, especially with his dumb ship plan, and none of the others are going to do us any favours..." Sengoku said as he bit his lower lip. "What about Dressrosa? Doflamingo had it under his control back then, and with the way the hub functions, we are going to need someone to police the underworld from there... "Tsuru asked, equally worried, though her worry was more for her friend then for the status quo. "The flamingo bastards replacement is going to have to do, though off the grapevine I''m hearing that the five Elder Stars are planning on making it a protectorate like Sabaody."Sengoku replied, knowing full well that that course of action would be much worse than letting loose a whole horde of the worst kind of Impel Down''s inmates onto the island. 153 Thatch Awakens. A small groan escaped Thatch''s parched lips as he opened his eyes. The light all around seemed to overwhelm him as he flinched. Memories of the events that had played out quickly ran through his mind. First his fight with Borsolino, then his motivations for it. Instantly he sat up, sparks of pain shooting through his torso. All to soon his condition made itself known to him, a massive collection of bandages all over his body as a small bandana like piece of cloth was tied across his crown. His usually exuberant pompadour hair sat slumped over his forehead as his dishevelled beard covered his chin. With careful eyes, he looked around, taking in his surroundings. He had been placed atop comfortable bed, white sheets splayed to the side. A thick smell of medicine wafted through the air as a chilling draft entered from the sandy brown door''s base. Though the door was shut tight, he could still hear the faint mumbled from outside. With a small moan of pain the man got to his feet, most of his clothes had been removed with his white pants being replaced by the more greyed black ones that he wore. A spike of pain shot through his head, and with his wealth of experience, he was aware that it was not because of a concussion. With drawn out and staggered steps he walked to the door, pushing it open. Instantly he was aware of where he was. It was within his ship''s infirmary. His taut muscles relaxed noticeably as he looked to the centre of the small circular room. A single table sat there with a man passed out over its surface. A familiar head of hair greeted him as he stared at the silently snoring figure. It was Marco, though now he had replaced his attention catching purple coat for a more subdued white, a single stethoscope draped over his neck. With a rueful smile, Thatch moved forward, and though his expression remained joyful, a small jolt of hurry ran through his system. Now that his status was all but confirmed he was beginning to worry about everyone else that had accompanied him. With a silent jerk on his friend''s shoulder, he woke up the pineapple headed man. With a twitch Marco awoke, his face instantly twisting into a grumpy grimace as he looked at the man that had woken him up. The expression however promptly fell away as he jolted to his feet. "Thatch, you aren''t even supposed to be out of bed!" he whispered admonishingly as he tugged the man towards the recently vacated room. "What happened?" Thatch asked, promptly skipping over his crewmate''s command. Thatch all but ignored him as he continued to look at Marco, at the mention of the absence of casualties he had relaxed a bit, nonetheless his face still held a serious expression. "What about Jagged Dagger and his crew?" he asked, and here Marco could hear a trace of pleading. "Alive the lot of them, the two that we discovered at the scene stabilized a day ago. In fact one of them even woke up close to an hour back, they''re resting." Marco said, patiently explaining the entire situation as he pointed over to the other two rooms at the different corners. A sigh of relief instantly flopped through Thatch''s mouth as he finally allowed himself to fall back onto his bed, a genuine smile stretching across his face. Marco glanced at him as he sat down at his bedside, "You ok there? What brought this on? Is it the kid?" he asked as he remembered his friend''s violent reaction to the prone form of a certain brat. Thatch looked at him as pure undiluted joy began to appear on his face, "Remember back when I''d returned to the crew a few months back, close to a year now that I think about it.," he asked. Marco nodded with a quizzical look. "Yup I remember, you came back sort of out of it, demanding for a personal meeting with pops in fact. When you got out, pops was kinda pissed. The crew''ve been thinking that had something to do with the whole embargo over this part of the line and on Sabaody. I heard that he''d ordered the lads to be more antagonistic to the dragon bastards then usual too." "Yup, that was something he did after he heard my story. After all, how pissed is a grandfather going to be when he hears that his daughter-in-law was shot dead, and the man that did it also might have caused the death of his grandson." and here Marco felt his face pale as he shot a look to the room on the right. ******* With a dull thud, Shanks leapt onto the shore. He could see, pieces of shrapnel dug into the ground with huge gashes that went quite deep into the soft sands of the beach. A whole massive crater of glass glinted in the sunlight, black residue all over the side of the gaping hole as a thick smell of burnt wood met his nose. His face soured slightly as he made his way forward, a massive chunk of the familiar forest having been burned to their stumps, glared back at him, evidence to the battle that the place had sustained. Yasopp glanced over as worry coloured his face; he did not want to lose a friend even before they met. With a small stare, he walked forward, landing to Beckman''s side. His face scrunching up at the horrid smell. "Let''s go, if there was an actual issue to the town or the Whitebeards then the old man would be up in arms... Moreover, seeing, as those lads seemed to have landed here, they should be relatively safe too. " The Red Hair pirates all disembarked silently as they began to weave into the deforested copse. Their ship bobbing silently on the shore as the sound of the News Coos sounded behind them. 154 Captains conundrum A rumble shot through the room as I gobbled the soup placed before me, to the side my trusty first mate sat on a hard wood chair glancing at me over his hands. This was the third day that I had been awake after the fight, with the first two days being proper evidence to the fact that experimenting during battle was almost never advised. Jolts of pain had raced up and down my body forcing Marco, who had taken it upon himself to nurse all of us back to health, to bluster up and down to no end about how headstrong and stupid I had behaved. For the first twenty-four hours of consciousness I had had, I could barely move my hands let alone my upper body. The whole day had been spent with my body readjusting to what could be considered ''normal'' for me. On the second day, things had begun to improve, and by improve of course I mean that the pain that I had been forced to endure was not enough to keep me awake. Therefore, as the sun had risen I had slinked slowly back to uneventful and dreamless sleep. Through the entire endeavour I had opted to feel the pain that the process entailed, letting my mind analyse the various components that had caused it. With agency returning to my body, I now also had a tangible plan to re-achieve the state that I had been in when I had fought the old Vice Admiral. As soon as I had awoken, Fawkes had been kind enough to tell me about the state that Terrick and Sorren were in, giving me a thorough diagnostic amidst Marco chastisement. "I see that you are able to actually use that mouth of yours today captain..." Fawkes called out, snarking slightly at the fact that they had to shove a tube down my throat to keep my body effectively sustained for the last four days. (As I had been forced to be all too aware of over the previous two days) "Shut it..." I called back not even looking up from the food in front of me. "How''s the brat?" "Eh, he slipped into sleep a few hours ago, no longer in that meditative state of semi consciousness. Marco tells me that the tough times are out, though he might be a little scared of flashes of light, and night chases for a bit. "He replied slowly getting to his feet. "Terrick on the other hand, is going to take some time... He is not used to the kind of strain that his body was forced through. The overall structure of his body was essentially too weak for the sudden jump into the New World. Little Scipio at least got a bit of time to get used to the conditions, and he isn''t even one of the crews heavy lifters! Though his voice sounded flat, I could still do nothing but flinch. As the overall decision maker of the crew, I had failed to take into consideration our overall capabilities. Couple that with the fact, that we did not have a coated ship to begin with, made it an impossibility to rectify. Every time Terrick or any of the others save for Fawkes would fight, they would need a heavy downtime! With a sigh I looked over at him. "Has he woken up?" "A bit earlier than you. On that vein, the Whitebeard guy, Thatch, he woke up too. Just a few hours ago in fact... He wanted to meet you as soon as, but Marco didn''t want to complicate things too much so he got me instead. Suffice to say that there is gonna be a lot to talk about." and with that he left the room. With a slight groan I got to my feet silently, pins and needles shooting up my leg as I hobbled forward. Most of the crew often asked me, why I wasn''t always using the fruit to keep myself on a proverbial high, keeping my body at peak performance at all times and numbing even the slightest hint of pain. The answer to that was simple, if ever there was a situation wherein I would be forced to separate from my devil fruit (Sea stone is a motherfucker, I assure you) then I would be caught dry. The relief that my fruit gave me would literally be an addiction at that point, and I didn''t want that kind of liability. Emotions, and feelings were a pain to deal with, but they couldn''t always be escaped. Unfortunately. With a small flinch I pried the door open, gripping onto it for support as I walked through the hallway. A faint limp riddled my steps as I used the walls around for aid. With each successive step forward, my gait grew stronger. As I walked forward I could hear the sound of murmuring arise from a room in the corner, speckles of light shining through the doorway to the wall on the other side. With a soft rap I made my presence known as walked through the threshold. "I am here..." I called out, relishing the overall feeling of the strange reference in my mouth. The residents of the room stared back at me, and then Marco with a sigh simply ignored my presence, opting instead to comment to my first mate. "When you told me the guy did not take orders from anyone, I was under the impression that did not include his doctor..." "To be fair doc, when you say that, you make it sound like you told me to stay in bed." I quipped snidely, taking an undue amount of satisfaction from watching the man sigh in frustration. "Let it go doc, that''s the kind of guy he is." Fawkes replied deadpan before shooting me a serious glance. "Captain, I think reintroductions are in order. This is the captain of our pirate crew, and this" here he motioned to Thatch, "is Sorren''s father." 155 What is a captain? I stared at Thatch expressionlessly; any mirth that had existed in my mind had long deserted me. I wasn''t as baffled by the fact that Sorren''s father was Thatch as I was from the fact that the man had seamlessly abandoned his child. The attitude he displayed on the other hand, made me pause. No man that abandoned his family would react as violently as he had. Instead, I merely sat down keeping the man''s stare with equal parts intensity and curiosity. "What happened?" I asked simply. I had heard fatty''s version of the story, but I could not simply assume that things were as plain as they appeared. His stony expression began to fall a little as he took a shaky breath. "I suppose you know of the celestial dragon?" he asked woodenly. His question only being met with a nod as Fawkes settled beside me. "The entire trip was supposed to be my vacation, going away from the hectic new world and settling in within one of the more pleasant blues was the idea. Sorren''s mother Martha was one of the few that still subscribed to the ''Red Roll'' philosophy. It was one of the reasons that I fell for her in the first place. She cared for anyone that was stranded on the sea on her ship... Every few months she would land on one of the islands both to drop off her patients and to deal with supplies. When I landed in the North blue, she was tending to a small battery of sailors from a recently pillaged merchant ship. When the patients left, one of them contacted me. A man by the name of Wanze was on that ship. He left for me a note that told me to meet him a few miles off the calm belt if I didn''t want the navy to find out about Martha and Sorren... I followed his demands telling Martha not to worry about it too much. The damn bastard on the other hand, was part of an entourage for one of those scummy bubble headed monsters! He told his master of Martha, convincing the old senile man that she would make a fine slave! When I reached the location that had been pointed out on the map, no one was to be found... I sailed back as fast as I could, reaching just in time. I killed him. But, Wanze escaped back to the Celestial dragon''s ship firing a whole host of cannons while I was occupied. The ship sunk, with Sorren hiding in the captain''s cabin, I thought he had drowned too... "The man finished, his face twisted with a feral rage as he recounted the scene. My mind churned with the new information that I had received. With a raspy breath Thatch continued, his tone now bone dry, he shook away Marco''s attempt to feed him from a jug at the side as he glared at me. "Let me have my son." he said, a tone of finality in his voice as he looked at me. You want to sway his mind, go ahead. But if you question his conviction then the two of us will have some words." I finished, my gaze following his every movement as a trace of Haki pressed outward. Thatch''s expression cleared up, no longer as worried. "If you shall not force him to remain, then we shall not have a problem." he snipped back, regaining a bit of the swagger that he had had on our first meeting. I chuckled softy, before glancing at my first mate. "Done questioning my authority?" I asked softly looking at his stern expression. With a sigh, he nodded. "The captain is not easily questioned. But, you''re foolhardiness was without thought of the whole crew. Honestly I amn''t mad about the shenanigans or anything, but after the calm belt you began to treat the rest of the guys as you would a mook. Advance recklessly, but with caution as my father always said to yours. He told me, before he died, that if I were to join your crew then there was something I had to tell you. A captain''s head belongs to his crew; his body to his journey and his mind to his goal. Earlier on this island, you finally found you''re head space, now the crew shall forgive no more mistakes. The new world might be where you thrive, but the rest need paradise." he finished before subtly bowing. Usually on sea, anyone who questioned the captain was a mutineer. Anyone who berated him a foe, but on land, the penalty was much lighter. Besides, Fawkes was not insulting the crew; he was representing it, as a first mate should. So even if I was angry with him, I couldn''t. "Fair." I said simply before shooting the Whitebeards a glance. "Any news from the head Honcho?" "Nah, Pops just said that red hair was coming in for a visit... Speaking of" Marco said, before glancing out of the ship''s window. "You ok to make a trip Jagged dagger?" "Please, call me Lorean." I said as I got to my feet. "From pops prediction Red hair must''ve landed by now. So why don''t you accompany me to welcome the man?" Marco quipped before looking at Fawkes. "You can look over stuff here right?" It seemed that through our somewhat brief encounter Marco had developed a level of trust in Fawkes that was not easily reciprocated within me. With a little twist around, I got to my feet, happy for now that my crew had vented its issues with me. (Well at the moment, it was only Fawkes, but the rest wouldn''t complain to me as much as they would beat themselves up) 156 First meeting A small snort escaped Marco as he walked through the forest, in front of us walked a small gaggle of men. At their very head was a fairly average red haired man with three small scars on his left eye and a goofy smile on his face. He wore a dull black overcoat covering within a drab floral patterned shirt. A red ribbon-ed straw hat on his head. "Marco!" he called out with a voice dripping with glee, guffawing a little when the pineapple headed man took on a troubled expression. "What d''ya want Shanks?" Marco asked, his face the very picture of diplomacy as he nodded to the man''s crew in politeness. "Eh, just came around to get away from the overall storm that the old hag and the drunk beast decided to stir up... From here, we''ll probably leave the New World for a bit, the crew''s started to feel a little homesick," he answered as he flung his hand over Marco''s shoulders. "Why here specifically Shanks? Is this going to be another spiel where you attempt to convince me to look out for people in my crew?" Marco asked with a slightly frustrated expression as he led the procession forward. As the men walked forward, one of them from Shank''s right approached me pushing out his hand in a sign of greeting. His hand was calloused as a derpy smile adorned his face. Sandy hair fell all around his head contrasting with the swirly blue shirt that he wore. "You''re the new guy eh?" he asked as he smiled at me. "So it seems. Lorean." I answered shaking his hand as I introduced myself. "I''m Yasopp!" he called out enthusiastically before flinging his hands over my shoulder as Shanks did to Marco. I wouldn''t say the man''s outgoing nature made me uncomfortable as much as the abruptness of it all. Luckily, for me, one of Shank''s men quickly gripped onto Yasopp''s shoulder manually dragging him back to their side. "I''m Ben Beckmen and the big man''s Shanks. Welcome to the New World" he called out behind his back as he shot me a predatory grin. "Don''t try to intimidate the guy, Ben. He took on old Garp and managed to survive!" Marco quipped quickly coming to my side as he courteously led the band of pirates into town. Shanks shot me an impressed look as he whistled. "That old relic? How''dya survive? He packs a mean wallop from what I''ve seen" Shanks said, grinning in satisfaction as Marco led the group into the Town''s tavern. "The old goat was scary, no denying it, but he isn''t particularly gunned towards surprise attacks, and he does the worst against speed types," I answered as I began to mingle into the group. "Fair..." the older captain decided as he took a deep swig out of his bottle before flopping on one of the seats at the desk. "Get one of the barrels" Marco dryly informed the bar tender as he settled next to the captain, barely acknowledging the nod that he received from the tubby man behind the counter. Speaking of the tubby gentleman with some classy goggles, he reminded me a lot of Sorren, the same round face and overenthusiastic tone. Of all the New World pirates, if I were to bet on who I thought the little fatty''s father was, I would no doubt vote this man into that position. "So, newbie. How''s the New World treating you?" Shanks asked in all of his glorious enthusiasm. "Worse than a spiky dildo to the butt" I reported to the man briefly glancing over at him. "Dahahaha! That''s a staple around here!" he said chuckling to himself as he took a deep drag off of the huge mug that he had in hand. Ben looked at me from the other side of the room. "So, what about you''re crew? Where are they?" he asked as he let out a massive smoke ring leave his mouth. "Angella''s trying to haggle the book keeper, and Fawkes is out on Marco''s ship. The rest didn''t particularly have a good week here" I answered as I turned back around to look at Shanks. "Enough about me, mister Red hair captain... I''m pretty much as curious as Marco here, what are you doing on Sphinx?" I asked leisurely sipping out of a tankard that had been delivered to me a few moments prior. "Eh, apart from the little stuff that I wanted to talk to Marco about, I''m here for you, kid. When the crew heard that someone took out that flamingo bastard all the way in North blue, they almost immediately wanted to have ya on. So, what d''ya say? Wanna join my crew?" the future emperor asked, as all the noise in the tavern reduced to a maddening crawl. I looked at him with some measure of mirth in my eyes before shaking my head, the only reason I had not immediately burst out into laughter was to save the poor man some measure of reputation, it seemed that that was not going to work though. With a childlike pout the older captain winded down his eyes slightly downcast. "Why not?" he whined as Ben chuckled. "This is the second time Cap''ns been rejected like that! The first time was Hawkeye!" Ben supplied gleefully as he snatched a small stack of bills from a equally bummed out Yasopp. I simply shrugged my shoulders at him before grinning. "A toast to that pathetic attempt!" I called out as the room went all but silent. The older pirate''s crew stared at me as if judging my position in that tavern. Then as if placed in a domino, the room burst into laughter, the first one to do it being the fat man that sat beside me. Just like that, I felt immediately more comfortable with this rag tag crew of misfits. 157 The promise! "I got to say*hic* man, you got a lot of spunk!" Shanks called out in his slurred tone as he leaned over my shoulder. Marco shot me an apologetic smile as he walked beside me, holstering two of the Red hair pirates over his shoulder. From what he told me, the concoction that they had been given was a strong one that had been brewed specifically for Whitebeard. A strong concoction that most of the Whitebeards carried with them, it was the main cause of the old emperor''s drinking problem, Marco informed me dryly. Ben Beckman chuckled a little as he walked further in front, leading the way to the red haired man''s ship. Under his shoulder, he nursed Lucky Roux, who had already passed out after he''d burned through half the taverns stores. Usually it would be Ben''s responsibility to lead his captain forward, but under the childish insistence of the man there had been no choice but for me to drag him forward. "You know you could just stay at the inn." Marco called out simply as he shot Ben''s back a frustrated look. "Nah, the ship''s safer, it has more room and we won''t be imposing on you lot" he replied cheerily as he took a deep swig from the fat cigar hanging from his lips. "Ugh... Shanks groaned suddenly as he attempted to rise back to his full height, he had already shaken off most of the dulling effects of the alcoholic beverage. With a small sniff, he nursed his head a little as he hobbled off my shoulder. It seemed that the constant life and habits of an abject alcoholic made it easier to stomach the fizzy drink, who knew? As if on cue the rest of either indisposed, or thoroughly wasted pirates began to wake up, immediately getting off the shoulders of their more sober counterparts that had until then taken the position of their escort. The sun still hung in the sky, now much brighter then it was when we had greeted the pirate crew, glowering down at us in the sweltering afternoon air. We had made it out of town a while back, and with Marco''s direction, we had chosen a more open and scenic path that overlooked the different rolling hills in the distance. The verdant patches of grass and shrubbery covered the step like mountains in a delightful spread of different hues of green as the scintillating smell of coffee hung in the distance. This was a route that had been unknown to me, seeing as we had just entered the town when we had immediately been conscripted into the island''s defence force. Now that Marco showed it to me, I could appreciate the name that it had been given -''The painter''s path''. In the crest of the pathway that we were, walking on a sole tree grew outward, its wide branches conveniently covering a sizable portion of the smooth and grassy fenced area. Fortunately, Shanks was quick to veto the idea, opting instead to take a rest under the somewhat cool shade that the decent sized tree offered. In a few minutes, the bulk of the crew had settled down, sitting either on the grassy floor or on a comfortable shaped stone. Then Shanks shot me a look. "To be honest newbie, one of the reasons I came here was to inspect the competition, I mean you have a sizeable battle log under your belt." he said, the rest of his crew not giving him any mind as the settled down either playing a game of cards or just lying down for a quick snooze, a piece of long grass in their mouth. I shrugged simply. "Now that you''re here, what do you think?" "A good man!" he said shortly firing towards me a warm grin. "So what are your plans for the future?" He asked, changing gears quickly. "My crew will be heading to paradise for a bit, I have a few loose ends to tie up and a ship to bulk up." I said simply. "You?" "We''ll be going to a few blues, probably ending our journey in the East. Yasopp''s been feeling a little homesick and I''ve been feeling slightly out of it for a while. A few months of calm relaxation should do the trick," he said simply. "Hoh~ East blue? We''ll probably be making a trip there if we ever have some time for it" I said before looking down at the village. Marco sat to the side, leaning on the base of the tree breathing softly. However strong the man was, he felt like he was unable to take part in this conversation, he had already sold his freedom. He did not regret it of course, after all he loved Whitebeard as a father, but as a crewmate to the strongest man in the world, he could not talk amidst those that he felt could change the world at a whisper of a word. Neither Shanks nor Lorean were strong to the point of making him feel this way, it was more of their aura that made the exclusionist atmosphere grow. This was a conversation between captains. A mere commander could not intervene. "Daha! Then if you ever come to the blues when we''re there, why don''t we meet up?" Shanks said taking the initiative to pass a piece of paper to me. On it as a long number scrawled with dirty handwriting. "Sure thing!" I called out with an equally childish grin before pocketing the strip of paper. "When I return to the New world, let''s duel!" Shanks said glee in his voice as he shot out his hand. And as we shook on it, the sun glowered on as the chattering of the birds began in earnest. Then with a swift chuckle Shanks pulled me to the edge of the wide overlook, raising a small shot bottle that he had snuck in his shirt when we had been drinking at the bar. (He had been drinking, I''d had a sip.) With a jump he landed on the stump of the fence turning around with his hands on his waist. "Crew! To Barnie! AND to Adventure!" With that the mirthful cheer of his crewmates began anew, their vigour lifted, and with it my blood began to boil. This was going to be the second arc of my journey! I could almost feel it. 158 A call to adventure Instantly he had to snap them shut, the intense light from a curtained window to the right searing into his retina. The thudding in his head jumped to a completely new level as he moaned softly. He felt movement before him as the creak of an opening door was heard near the foot of the uncharacteristically comfortable bed. Then the noise redoubled, where silence had been now the cabin seemed to grow heavy with the harsh sounds of breaths as multiple bodies milled around him. With a small wince he opened his eyes, blinking repeatedly to have them get used to the harsh light. Slowly the figures around his bed became clear. Very close to his pillow stood the scantily dressed and fairly brown skinned Barts looking down at him with worry in her eyes. As soon as their eyes met, he could see the joy spark back into her eyes. To her left stood his captain, a mixture of worry, chastisement and pride in his eyes as he looked at his downed teammate. Then he heard a voice break the silence getting his attention to the foot of the bed, "Can you hear me?" a slightly rough voice called out, originating from a purple shirted man wearing a pair of gloves and a white coloured apron that hung somewhat loosely from his chest. "...Water...." Sorren called out, a raspy voice that caused him physical pain to speak in. While Fawkes, who had been standing to the side of the purple shirted man, went to fetch the liquid he needed, he nodded at Marco. He was familiar with the process that the man was employing, as a doctor the least he could do was cooperate. As Marco drew closer, he forced the people milling around the bed to retreat. He softly grabbed onto Sorren''s pudgy face proceeding to give him a full body check-up. "Here it is." Fawkes baritone called out handing the glass of the liquid to the doctor, who then proceeded to drip feed it to Sorren. After the third glass had been downed in this manner, Sorren nodded his thanks to the man. "What happened?" he asked in a voice slightly less strained then the one he had used before, looking at his captain with worry in his eyes. "You saved Terrick from Vice Admiral Borsolino. That bastard went ahead and knocked you out. Then he threatened Terrick with your life for directions. We got there in time to bust his ass so not much harm was done. The repercussions of extreme activity and the punishment that Borsolino exerted on you when you were knocked out forced your body into hibernation." Lorean informed with a glint of pride in his eyes. "This is Marco, one of Whitebeard''s pirates. He helped chase away the Vice Admiral alongside some other busybodies. After the entire issue he was kind enough to nurse you guys back to health back on their ship." He finished before looking pointedly at the door that had been closed during his report. Marco sighed tiredly, before pointedly walking to the door, behind which some muffled noise could be heard. With impatience on his face, he pulled the door open, dragging the person that had been standing on the threshold. Sorren could feel his breath hitch in his throat as a sour feeling overwhelmed his nose. At the foot of the bed a heavily bandaged Thatch stood, a single eye closed as he wore a kimono that had its top half pulled down. A minty salve could be smelled from some of his bandages as he attempted to smile. Sorren remained silent. The only thing keeping him from believing that he was in a dream was the constant yet somewhat dulled pain that he felt in the pits of his stomach. Slowly a tear rolled down his cheek as soft sniffles wracked his body. His eyes had begun to cloud over yet he refused to close them, afraid that when he opened them again his father would disappear. Slowly Thatch walked over to him, his left hand slinging over his shoulder as he brought Sorren''s head gently to rest on the part of his shoulder that did not have the salve. Slowly he rubbed his son''s head, humming a soft tune as a wide derpy smile spread over his face. He was together with his son! As his smile widened he could feel his worry beginning to drift away, and for what felt like a moment of the culmination of all of his dreams he solemnly embraced the child tears running down his face. ***** I could not help but sigh, rifling through my pockets as Marco walked out of the ship into the rambunctious night. Fawkes, who accompanied him to ensure that Shanks did not burn down the town in his moment of drunken charade, followed him. Slowly he returned to the room, from the inside he could hear joyful conversation as Thatch cooed in a voice rife with happiness. Sorren could be heard in a jolly tone as he told his father of the adventures that he had been on. I did not want to rush the duo to make a decision, but I had no choice in the matter. With the way the trends went, there was sure to be no rest for us on this island. With harsh knocks, I rapped against the door, before slowly entering. Thatch looked at me slightly suspicious, but I had eyes only for my first crewmate. The boy might sometimes be too dumb for his own good, but his emotional maturity surpassed many, decades older than he was. "Captain?" Sorren asked, somewhat confused by my sudden intrusion. Slowly however a glint of realization hit him, his smile growing slightly stiff. His father and his captain in the same room, both strong pirates in their own right. Of course, the fact that Thatch was giving me the stink eye added into his computations. Almost as soon as the silence became overwhelming however, he smiled again. "When are we going on the next adventure?" 159 Do you sin as Superbia Sin? The slow caw of a sea gull broke him out of his reverie as the coo landed on the rail that he had been leaning on. It shot him an enquiring look as it passed a paper over. Grudgingly, Shanks handed over the money that the paper required. "Oh! The paper''s finally here!" Yasopp called out cheerily as he came over to Shank''s side. His loud voice quickly grabbed the attention of the rest of the people on board. (Ben and Roux shot over confused looks as Roux ate a chicken wing under Ben''s headlock.) Shanks looked at his crewmate''s frowning face before sighing and conceding the puzzle part of the paper over. Most did not know this, but Yasopp was quite addicted to the simple crosswords that appeared in every publication of the article, the funny comics on the side obviously helped. Yasopp smiled before running off to the side, his position quickly filled by one of the older crewmembers Barnie who came to the side to have a slight smoke. On the very first page in bold letters was written; "The Warring Emperors, The Storming World!" an article penned personally by the headline seeking Morgan that spoke of the finally abated conflict between the two newer additions to the world''s highest rank. "The New world faced a tumultuous storm, with the Beast Kaido and the Cotton candy Loving Big Mom as they terraformed the chaotic waters of the New World. Though the two only clashed on the first day of the conflict, the damage that they caused was still catastrophic, causing a bulk of Sea Kings in the area to migrate into the near islands, it was one of the most massive beast migrations from the time of the Flying Fish Wave caused by a clash between the previous Pirate King and the current Strongest Man in the World. Sources say that the conflict was so far reaching that it even forced the Marines to send in a diplomatic force to mediate the two emperor''s affairs. The Hero of the Marines lead a collection of young and upcoming talents right into the centre of the storm to uphold justice and bring a damper on the war. Unfortunately, the pirates had already schemed for such an intrusion and with a stroke of luck managed to force away the marine''s forward forces. Having no choice Garp had to fend off the forces of the two pirates all alone as he made way for the recruits to retreat. In the clash, he caused so much damage to the pirate forces that the two emperors'' were unable to show up on the battlefield after the first day of the clash. On the seventh day of conflict, the Drought Jack alongside a flank of the ''Beast''s'' massive armada directly attacked Big Mom causing heavy damage to the already wounded empress. Due to the unforeseen damage, that Jack, King and Queen (Who is rumoured to be equally strong if not more so then his contemporaries) each have had their bounties increased, with King being worth a massive 1,280,900,000 belli! While Jack and Queen each hold a terrifying bounty of 900,000,000 belli. On the side of Big Mom, Charlotte Katakuri has been assessed to possess a bounty of a shocking 850,000,000 belli. These pirates are terrifying existences and are not to be trifled with!" Here the article ended, revealing papers that held the new bounties of the four figures alongside terrifying mug shots that caused some of the weaker Red Hair pirates to quail. This however, was not the most shocking of articles that the paper held. On the very bottom of the second page, a scantily written article by a shadily named author made itself known. It was simply titled "The Buddha meets the Strongest Butcher". The article said that even the ''savage'' Whitebeard had wished to enter the war. It was only after a visit by the strongest Marine (as Sengoku was known to the world) who had ''beaten'' the pirates into submission. (Here Shanks and his crew guffawed, their laughter shaking the entire ship. Some of the older crewmembers even fell on the floor as they cried tears of pure hysteria) That being the case however, the author continued to argue that due to the volatile situation in the belt between Totland and Onigashima a consignment would be sent from the Foodvalten base to ensure the security of the people. The author ended his somewhat unbelievable spiel by promising the death of the ''evil pirates'' and the heavy surveillance on the two emperor''s fortress. "I needed that!" Shanks remarked as he wiped a tear from his eye. Then, he groaned. On the horizon he could see a large angry collection of clouds start to gather as the winds picked up. "Raise the sails! Here we go again!!~" ********* Sengoku growled as he rubbed his pained eyes, a strange sense of satisfaction overwhelmed him as he read the paper. It was not the poorly written article that had grabbed his vanity, it was more the fact that Morgans, who until this point had been a pain in the collective asses of the Marine Corps. Unfortunately, for the old Fleet Admiral however, he was immediately met with an individual who arguable caused him more pain. It was the bounty poster of one jagged dagger. What was his problem you ask? It was the fact that he could not inflate the man''s bounty without revealing to the world one of the Marine''s most monumental fuckups. The failed mission into Sphinx. On any other occasion, he would merely give it to his superior Kong to sic the man with a couple of random reasons that would justify the man''s increase in bounty. Unfortunately for him however, by word of mouth and a personally written interview with one Marco the phoenix that had been published into one up and coming publication that went under the name of Superbia Sin,(It would be safe to not get Sengoku started on that one) he could not possibly increase his bounty without revealing that he did something against the World Government on that island. Then it would all fall out of place in a matter of minutes.... 160 Taint the world in Sin. The collection of transponder snails that sat around me all looked at me, complete apathy in their eyes. A few of them that I had placed on a one of the makeshift plates on the walls munched silently on a leaf while the rest shot yearning looks in their direction from time to time. Shanks had left that morning, and I was already fitting back into my role as the schemer on deck. Usually I would have Scipio on deck with me; taking him through the ropes of things and helping him get acclimatized to my method of report gathering. Unfortunately, however, today was not meant to be such a day. In front of me sat a draft of a very important document, one that I could foresee causing another storm in the world. It was a newspaper. One that I had spent a fair bit of time after I had woken drafting up, curling through the incidents that had happened attempting to air as much dirty laundry as I could without getting immediately called out. After all, it was more satisfactory to screw someone over and leave the scene unmolested then to be caught red handed in the affair. I was extremely tempted to republish that article on Ohara that I had had Angella write to me, but judging by the World government''s violent reaction to it, that would not be a good idea. After all, within mere hours of the thing being drafted down, when the papers hadn''t even gotten into nascent publications the World Economic Times headquarters had been raided by one of the Five Elder stars (if my sources were to be believed) who had manually ordered for the cancelling of the paper''s contents. If they could do that to someone as well established as Morgans, then all it meant was that they had the mouthy birdman on strings, and if that were the case, then my small publishing house would not stand a single chance. Therefore, I had decided to publish something slightly less damaging. An interview with myself (I had loads of fun asking myself questions!) and one that had been compiled from all those in the town that were willing to talk to me about their situation under the pirates. Marco had only shot me a confused look before getting very defensive when I had questioned Whitebeard''s ability to protect his people. Now came the second problem. This was one that I had been breaking my head thinking about, how could I have my paper reach the masses? Luckily for me, the man that had made the Ohara article possible by sending it directly to Morgans had been all too kind to provide a viable exit strategy. From here, it would be hand distributed by the newer Mimir recruits as a daily mission that would yield them a certain amount of fixed points within the organisation. They could then use these points to exchange for direct guidance of our combat professionals. I had managed to gain the services of a retired Captain, a man that went by the name of Redoran. The handicapped man had been coerced into the organization after it had managed to attract his daughter into its services. The girl now worked as an operative (information gatherers and providers. Also works in gauging the levels of missions) who had an admirable talent for information gathering. Luckily for the organization, the old captain had had a few weeks of training on Marineford where he had been lucky enough to gain a manual for four of the six powers. To this day he had only managed to learn three while the manual had been confiscated when he had been forced into early retirement due to his wounds and incapability to continue field work. His guidance came as quite the costly affair for most of the recruits, but almost no one complained. After all Shigen, Soru and Tekkai were top class survival techniques! While the West blue worked wonders on our recruitment drives, the North Blue was where we had the most presence. After Doflamingo''s appearance on the weak sea and the general ferocity that his fall had inspired in the Blue''s pirates to expand turfs there had been a lot of requests to bring many pirates in. The people would only be allowed to put a nominal sum in to request the capture of the outlaws, after all their bounties were quite enticing in their own rights. The sum was merely to compensate the operatives for their services, alongside bringing in a lot of goodwill both in the underground and otherwise for the cheap service. It was quite a successful endeavour to have rival outlaw groups hire Mimir to handicap each other in some way. With a small sigh I looked over at the paper in front of me, my eyes hurting as I slowly and meticulously read it a final time. It would be done, the sins of the world would be revealed. This would be Superbia''s sin. With growing anticipation, I picked up the transponder snail. The other end picked up on the first ring. One side gave the command with bated breath and the other followed through with a dry throat, and mere hours later a new wail of pandemonium rose through the world. 161 Set off once more A small bottle of alcohol swished around in my hand as I stared at the ocean bank. The papers had been distributed, what little was said within its confines had been gobbled up instantaneously by the general populace of the otherwise dank underground. Now, plans of our actions had begun to surface within my mind. What were we to do next? We would get out of the New World, that was something I had decided as soon as I had seen the state that a single island had left fairly strong members of my crew in. Paradise was where we were going to go, both to train the crew and to stock up on a ship''s necessities. A small tap sounded from behind me as my first mate joined me at the rail. Leaning over he shot me a look. "When are we leaving, captain?" he asked as he glared expressionlessly at the deceptively calm sea. "Tomorrow. We''re going to need at least this much time for us to get everything prepared." I said softly before turning my back to the ocean and clapping my hands. "Crew! Gather up your belongings, shore leave ends tomorrow!" I roared as the crew halted whatever they were doing. Angella had been sitting on a barrel in the corner, perusing a semi-interesting book. Scipio sat right next to her, reading a smaller one that she had lent to him. Barts and Rein worked silently to understand their fruit while Sorren sat on the floor patiently giving Terrick advice on how he would have to condition his body. The crew nodded simply before getting back to what they were doing, not an ounce of question in their eyes. "Fawkes, come with me. We''re going to finalize some of the goals and get Marco''s help on some important stuff," I said before walking down the gangplank next to the side. Fawkes followed behind me silently. Within minutes, we had waded through the relatively familiar thicket of trees to reach the still bustling town. Though the sun had begun to set on the horizon, people could still be seen cheerfully walking through the dusky streets of sphinx. Parents muttered jokes into their children''s ears while old grandfatherly figures sat at corners gossiping about the day''s events. Orange lamps glowed brightly as the world began to darken. As we drew nearer to the bar, we could hear the raucous laughter of its inhabitants. The Whitebeards partied as they had when we had first entered town. I smiled with a hint of mirth in my eyes as I rapped by knuckles against the door entering almost immediately after. A few of the pirates nodded to me in greeting while a few others jovially raised their tankards to me before going back into their own solitary bubble of conversation. I chuckled softly as I walked beside him rapping his shoulder to gain his attention before looking over at the pineapple headed man who had been occupying the corner. Thatch shot me an infuriated glance with his reddish eyes before muttering at the bar tender for a refill of his tankard. "Jagged Dagger." Marco called out as he settled next to me, nodding his head in Fawkes direction before shooting me an expectant glance. "Do you have a coater on board? We''re gonna need to coat our ship if we''re going to leave the New World. Sailing through the calm belt is a definite no no. Especially within the next few months, after all I amn''t insane enough to challenge Sea king''s in the heat." I asked as manner of greeting as I motioned for the bartender to bring me a cup of water. "You''re in luck, Lorean." he replied before beckoning to one of the crewmates in the far right. "Nice. Now, what about our payment?" ***** The sun glowered down on our naked backs as we left Sphinx in the distance. It seems the New World had decided it was going to be one of ''those days'' where living felt like utter torture and the sun felt like our personal stalker. It had been only a brief half hour since we had left the banks of the island and already most of us had begun to sweat bullets. Barts had opted back to her more airy and open island clothing as she waved her hand around from time to time to generate a wonderful smelling aroma that masked the otherwise repetitive smell of creaking wood. Rein ran around with a pair of tiny shorts as he pulled the ropes of the sails around, catching what little wind would allow us to exit the shallow and languid waters that we were in. Angella helped him, doing more work than he could even conceive of doing in the process. She had stripped down to her bra and had folded up her pants all the way to the edge of her thighs as she attempted to fight off the oppressive heat. I stood at the very centre with dagger in hand watching the skies around for any sudden movement. My Haki pervaded the deck of the ship, spreading through the creaking wood empowering it. Sorren stared at me from his end of the deck, glaring at me with a little dissatisfaction. "Captain! Tellll mmeeeeee!!" He whined, referring to the brief encounter that I had had with his father prior to us setting off, where Thatch had in no unclear words told me about the suffering he would bring upon me if his son were to be hurt in any way. He had then had the gall to turn around with a sunny smile and tell Sorren he had confided within me a secret ''between men!'' that was not to be repeated and firing me a surreptitious wink that meant nothing. Luckily, for us, the coater in Marco''s group had had with him a sizeable amount of resin that would be required in the overall coating process. All it had taken was a brief two hours for the ship to be fully coated before we were ready to set off. Marco had also been kind enough to provide us with an eternal pose to one of the bordering islands of the New World. From there it would be a mere day to reach the Red Line. Oh, did I mention he gave me Whitebeard''s calling card? 162 The never-ending rain. Luckily, however the howling winds had not whipped up a true storm; though it was intense, it did not require much attention from the whole crew. Fawkes was below deck cooking us a warm and tasty lunch that would warm up our cold and rigid bones. Sorren was in the small medical bay, looking over Terrick''s condition making sure that his body was not overly stressed before the tender muscles returned to their supple fitness. Scipio was in the captain''s quarters, analyzing the information that Mimir had provided to me. Angella and Barts were in the room that had only recently been converted into a wine cellar (It used to be a secondary cabin, but since no one was occupying it they had decided to saturate it with their concoction). They had managed to brew a sample within the three barrels within using some fruits that they had obtained from Sphinx. Rein was aiding me while he trained. He had gained enough control over his devil fruit''s abilities now, that I could finally infer what he had eaten. I was quite surprised with what I found. "Captain! Stray winds from the south! We''re going to have to pivot to the opposite direction to stay on course!" He called out as he yanked the ropes that connected to the slightly tattered sails. I shot a quick glance over to the compass embedded into the wheel. The needle had been wobbling maximally ever since we had left the island. Though it was an eternal pose, the magnetic forces that the islands all around emitted were enough to mess with it a little bit. Marco had warned me about something similar, the older the eternal pose was the more the magnetic forces around would affect them. That being the case however, he was sure that it would work for what I had in mind. Now seeing the swaying needle begin to steady I could finally breathe a sigh of relief. It seemed we had finally cleared the inner and most intense crest of the magnetic waves that an unknown island was emitting. With a quick twist, I got us back on course, nodding at Rein indicating my gratitude for his quick judgement. Over the past few weeks that he had been sailing with us, he had gotten quite used to reading the weather and was able to make quite accurate prediction of them when needed. He was still a novice at interpreting the New World pose however, so he could not take over officially as the crew''s navigator. (True I could double as the crew''s navigator, but it was not my place to occupy every role that the ship required) With a quick leap, he yanked at a rolled up piece of cloth that had been installed above the doors that opened out into the stairs. Quickly he fastened the cloth to the wooden floor with a hook. Our temporary out-doors picnic spot! Fawkes raised his eyebrows at him as he exited the doorway, his polished shoes tapping at the wood as he settled down, uncaring of the splotch of wetness that formed at the bottom of his formal pants. With a chuckle, I walked over, settling down almost instantly. "The others?" Rein asked as he conspicuously slurped in some stray saliva. Fawkes smiled knowingly as he removed the lid to one of the six dishes that he had on his tray. Instantly we could hear the bounding and boisterous steps of our crew''s doctor. "Scipio! Get your ass here, Food!" I yelled out not batting an eye as I grabbed the bowl of soup that had been offered to me. "Coming!" The young Caput said as he exited the dusky captain''s cabin, a line of parchment on his knees as he walked over, his black hair mopped over his face. Within moments, that crew had gathered, and though it was quite stuffy we could all fit underneath the cloth umbrella setup that we had assembled. Instantly the mood of the group took off, for as the women entered they held a small closed tankard in hand. "Sample?" I asked towards Barts as I handed over a bowl to Angella. She nodded mutely before firing a look at her female companion. "Angella refuses to let me get a taste!" She whined as a gentle hand slapped the back of her head. "This is the only bit that''s been properly fermented. The last thing I want is you drinking it away, you stupid alcoholic!" Angella chided, before taking the tankard from her and dissipating it into six tiny shot glasses that Fawkes handed to her. We silently began our lunch, chugging the small glass of aromatic wine before we began to dig in, comfortable in each other''s presence. That was when the ringing began. My head split painfully as a huge gush of water raised from beside the ship. Instantly the crew had dispersed, the food safely tucked underneath the sheet. For the first time in three days, the winds began to pick up. Sleets of rain began to fall, and the resilient sun that had so far cheered us on sunk into the dark cover of the foreboding clouds. All the while, sounds of cannons boomed around. BOOM! A mountain of water rose, right beside us. We could see neither who followed us, nor where they shot from. The sleets of rain made it too hard for us to see, and the angry rumbling of thunder in the background only added to our overall panic. Suddenly, we could see a ship viciously cresting a wave right in front of us its canons toting at us evilly. With an audible thump, we could see the cannonball hurtling at us dangerously, and as the smoke and fog cleared, we could see we were surrounded. 163 Marine battle My Haki coursed unabated into the creaking vassal under us, saturating every stray piece of wood and coating it in the viscous yet somehow rigid power that was my Haki. Any cannonball that came too close for comfort would be shot down, either with Angella tearing into them with her blades or Fawkes chopping them up with his axe. Though we could not see who had attacked us, the whites of their flags could still be made out. They were Marines. "TERRICK! MAN THE CANNONS!!" I roared out as I yanked the wheel to the left, a wave underneath carrying us into an arcing pose that barely avoided a projectile that had been coming straight at us. The weakened assassin nodded at me, quickly making his way into the cannon room below deck. "Sorren!" I roared, this time less loudly seeing as the boy was relatively close. "Onto the crow''s nest, Give me a number and analyse our escape path!" I ordered. The fat man acknowledged it by scampering up the wet ropes of the sails, twitching precariously in the ferocious winds. The stormy water roiled, frothing and bubbling with a vitriol that reminded me of the first day that we had entered the New World. All around us, massive waves rose and crested, providing us much needed partial cover against the intensifying onslaught. With a crash the Ship collided with the crest of an incoming wave, the keel groaning under the pressure as we forcefully rode it into a high position. Before us was a collection of three ships, flags flapping over their masts. On their deck, I could see the stoic face of a Marine officer. Probably a Rear Admiral, looking at the regality of his clothing. He wore a small top hat, with a collection of heavily rimmed glasses that seemed much wider than his face. He held a quaking snail in his palms, and judging by the situation it was what he was using to manage the situation around us. His shoulders stood stooped, his coat overflowing off his back yet somehow staying on even in the thundering weather. ''Fire!'' I read before we went under, the wave that had been giving us a lift plunging down. An uncomfortable sinking feeling rose in my stomach as we tumbled forward, the ship weaning slightly off course as it thumped onto the moving currents. A loud yelp could be heard from the crow''s nest as Sorren adjusted his position quickly scampering back into the relative safety of the crow''s nest. Scipio had disappeared below deck, weather to help Terrick or to retrieve something I was not aware. Suddenly the water beside us separated, revealing the form of a sea stone-encrusted ship heading right towards us. With a deafening crash, they rammed into our side, pushing the carefully balanced ship into an emergency overhaul. The toppling ship attempting to right itself within the viscous water. Fawkes looked at me long enough to see me nod, before he roared leaping onto the other ship. He had boarded them. While conventional crews would first utilize the plank to bridge the gap between the two vessels, we did not need such a measure. With the roar of a demon, he cleaved through the crew, every brandish of his axe tearing through the marines before him. His Haki turned into a sinister black covering his bladed weapon''s wicked edge. Within moments, the garish blade had been turned scarlet, rivers of blood flowing and merging quickly with the torrential rain. The leader on the ship had been a mere Captain. He stood no chance. With an angular chop, Fawkes tore him in half, growling in slight frustration as his blade lodged into the wooden deck. The marines around him quaked in their boots as he turned to them, his face softening slightly. With simple moves he proceeded to throw anyone he could get his hands on, off board. They wailed and shrieked as they fell into the seas roaring maw, some immediately died, the wave carrying them into the wooden keels of either ships. As soon as Fawkes had cleared the deck, he broke apart the wood around his axe. With a mighty heave, he pulled his axe out, using the momentum of the movement to tear through the mast. Impassively, he tossed the wooden beam off deck before gracefully landing back on our side, not a speck of blood on his pristine, yet somewhat wet suit. Barts looked at him, worship in her gleaming eyes as she temporarily ceased her aid to Rein who had been trying to push off the offending ship''s keel with a stray piece of wood that he had found. Unfortunately, for us, there was no time to rest, for with the fall of the first ship, five more zoomed towards us, easily cutting through the multitudinous waves. I could not aid the crew in this fight; it took all I had to stabilize the ship. Wrestling with the sea was no easy task! My muscles roared in agony as I pulled against the wooden wheel, hoping against hope that nothing happened to the rudder that was suffering the brunt of the offending sea. It seemed however, that our problems were only to be compounded. For as we rose up a third colossal wave, Terrick stumbled on deck. "No more cannonballs!" he yelped as he ran over to Rein and Barts. Taking out his dagger, he literally rolled over to Angella taking a hasty stance as he readied his weapons. Just in time too, for as soon as we stood atop the watery hill we were ambushed once more. This time, by the Rear Admiral''s vessel. 164 Stop! Friendly Fire! This was an uphill battle, both literally and figuratively. For as the four marine vessels drew near the water around us began to cascade inward, the surface below us becoming the bed of a massive wave that rose from behind us. It seemed like the World gave us a verdict. Stand and fight, or be drowned. As the water behind us receded, the sails could not help but flap noisily, the mast twitching under the strain of the rapid and rabid pulling of the ocean currents. I could see it now, the officer on board the ship smiling cruelly. The water had turned us into a prone target. Even though, I could survive for a time under the water the same could not be said for the other devil fruit users on board. This was what could only be deemed checkmate for us. With determined eyes I made contact with Fawkes, we needed a burst of power to get out of this. "Sorren! Get down here!" I roared at the top of my lungs, my voice turning slightly hoarse amidst the wail of the waltzing winds. The resident doctor on board perked up from the crow''s nest before immediately scampering down the netted ropes that scaled the side of the mast. "Terrick, to ME!" I roared, grabbing the assassin''s attention. Within moments the small ensemble was formed, me at the very forefront gripping tightly to the slightly splintered wood of the wheel. On any other day, this situation would not have fazed us. The world was not so cut and dry though. One day you would find yourself on par with an emperor of the sea and the next you would find yourself potentially losing your life to a child. As a group we blazed our Haki, mine as the most massive immediately forming a fore to the group. Though intangible, the pressure seemed to collate, the mad and unfretted wave that was my conqueror''s Haki forming the forefront and the stable yet heavy Haki forming the bedrock of our collaboration. If one were to ask anyone on the crew at this moment what they saw, there would be a wide variety of answers. For as the auras collated the world shook, the tempest around ground to what seemed to be a halt as an almost tangible figure formed over our heads. The groaning of the boat stalled as it too began to emit a force that supplanted ours. An unwilling and sharp force formed at our back. The rain around us seemed immaterial at the moment, for the strain on my mind that holding the ship together entailed had been briefly alleviated. With it my observation rose to an unprecedented height. His dull eyes met mine, the stubborn fires that had been lit when he had stood up to Borsolino burned with a renewed vigour. Then, Fawkes threw him. ******** Rear Admiral Marcus grinned a bloody grin as his moustache fluffed upwards. He was enjoying the chase quite well. For as long as he could remember, this was the most cooperative the sea had ever been with him. Whenever the pirates seemed to snatch at a chance to escape his enclosure, the seas would seemingly rise up to slam the route shut. When he had been told to survey the area and take over rounds that worked on pretty much clean water, he had been quite unsatisfied, after all he was a mere few credits from being able to afford one of the devil fruits from the Marine''s storehouses! A devil fruit! As a Rear Admiral in the New World he knew how important it was for a soldier to hold a Devil fruit. He had been storing and stockpiling for the better part of five years to finally redeem a paramecia that he had his eyes on. Heck he had made it his duty to hunt down pirates in his past post, so much so in fact that he had gotten the attention of the notorious Sakazuki! Things unfortunately just had to go south for him, when he had been so close to apprehending the pirate crew that he had been following! It was infuriating. Now however, his intuition was blaring in all directions. These were cash cows! They would get him what he wanted and much more! Judging by the way that they had taken down the other ship at least. Unfortunately, for Rear Admiral Marcus however, he had overlooked one thing. Because of the high tide that had obscured his vision for most of the encounter, he was of the opinion that it had taken the joint effort of the entirety of Lorean''s crew and a few cannon rounds to take down the marine vessel. Thus, when he saw a spark of light zoom out of the other vessel he could only stare in dumb horror as a man raced through the air. To add insult to injury, the man that had thrown his crewmate instantly turned around, heaving a massive axe in one hand as he raced to the very back of the ship before brandishing it heavily against the impending massive wave. This was where the scene turned black for the marine Rear Admiral, for by this time the spark of light had already cleaved through his throat with a dagger before turning on his entire armada to slaughter them. The sad part was, that though he was the cause of the slaughter, more marines lost their lives to friendly fire then they would to his wicked curved daggers as he danced through their convoy. They barely had time to pull out their pistols to fire blind shots, let alone notice that the man that had leaped into their midst had a slight limp on one side and a obviously weak non dominant hand. Then, with practiced ease, he would walk over to the side barred cannons wheeling them to the very corner of the ship''s sides. Just like that, a Marine Corps lead by a Rear Admiral fell to the dreaded blade of a smurf and the confused hunting of friendly fire. 165 Fishing in troubled waters His eyes took a dark and brooding turn as he stared at the flapping uniform that had fallen to the ground. Flashes of that climactic battle raced through his mind as phantom pains struck his side. His arms throbbed as he chopped down, burying his dagger in a marine officer''s shoulder before twisting it in for maximum effect. With a mean sway to the side he dodged an incoming foe, their faces had all faded to the background as he fought them. Who they were didn''t matter to him. All he saw was threats to his family, a concept that he thought he would never understand. With a rapid jump, he sailed over a passing sword stroke, using the flat of his blade to leap onto the railing on the side. He danced from side to side, as he swept past a litany of weapons coming his way. Then he winced, a bullet had grazed past his face, drawing a small line of blood. Instantly his attention snapped back to the present. With a masterful leap, he vaulted onto the marines in his way, burying the heel of his shoe into the top of their clavicle. Within a matter of seconds, he was at the very centre of the ship where the mast rose. Around the wooden mast a collection of heavy-duty ropes hung, ready for any amount of insanity that they would be subject to. With a high jump, he held onto one of their thick ends, twisting downwards before flinging himself off board toward the ship right beside it. This was the last standing ship on the armada that hadn''t lost its head. He was about to change that. As the momentum of the swing reached its absolute peak, he flicked his hands letting the curved dagger in hand fly over toward them. With a wicked sound of flapping wind he landed atop the ship, right beside the marine man that had been downed by the bladed weapon intruding on his throat. He waved his hand, yanking harshly against the curved blade. A squirt of blood gushed out as the man crumpled. Terrick waved to the right, bringing his hand up in a bloody and cruel predatory talon. His left hand clenched against a bloody pistol that he had salvaged off one of the bodies from the first ship. He cleanly sliced with his dagger drawing a guttural scream from the soldier whose shoulders he had carved, before he placed the muzzle of his gun in his mouth and fired. The out spurt of blood and the noise hid his form for a second as the men around showered in the recently deceased soldier''s brain matter. Now the area around Terrick had cleared. He could see the Captain, barking rapid orders as he made his way forward. Terrick surged forward, accurately sliding into the arm''s range. With a twitch of his waist, he lunged forward, a deep inhale filling his nose with the scent of blood and rain. A dull groan rose from the marine, as he swished to the side, accurately catching the hem of his opponent''s cloak at the tip of his blade. Terrick waltzed around, dodging the sword that came for his side he thrust forward, letting the bloodied dagger tear at the man''s skin. He let the momentum carry him forward, before hunching down beside his right leg and tearing brutally into the man''s thigh. A garbled roar sounded out as the enraged captain turned around, startled by the dagger hilt that was smacked into his nose. Terrick stepped forward, burying the muzzle of his pistol into the hole in the captain''s throat. With a flick of his fingers the roar of the bullet sounded, and though the captain guarded against it to the best of his abilities, his Haki was nowhere strong enough to take a bullet at point blank range to a lethal spot. With a dull thud the marine captain collapsed, and with it fell the morale of the rest of the crew. Wails sounded as the soldiers at the edges leapt off deck. Those that did not make it in time, found themselves bathing quite unwillingly in their own blood as lethal lines were drawn across their throat. Terrick sighed, allowing the adrenaline from the battle to cool off a little, the thudding of his blood on the base of his skull made him uncomfortable. That of course paled in comparison to what he was about to do next. With a face full of regret, he dragged at one of the few remaining cannonballs on deck, before loading it into the cannon''s mouth. He stared morosely at the ship in the horizon, before lighting the fuse in resignation. ''Terrick - died while foolishly sitting within the barrel of a cannon!'' he could almost see these words on his eulogy, alongside the sad face of his crewmates and the gloating face of the captain (the guy that suggested the course of action) and the first mate (The guy that implemented it without asking for permission from the people involved). As the boom sounded, he let his Haki trickle outward, as he sat on the ball. He could feel his but heat up as he sailed through the air, the black smoke having already turned his countenance into that of a miner doing overtime. He briefly opened one of his eyes, immediately regretting the course of action. The frothing water was extremely close. Too close for comfort, and the ship was still a few ways off. With a massive tumble he fell off of the hot ball of death, hoping against hope that his captain would be amused enough with his sacrificial behaviour to save him before he drowned in the harsh waves below. Fortunately, that seemed the be the case, for right before his landing he could feel a gritty feeling on his face, contorting around his body restrictively. It was a net. The bastards were fishing him out of the situation with a mouldy net that they had found in the ship''s storage... On second thoughts, that summed up his situation just right... 166 The decent begins His spread-eagled form was found amidst the groaning bodies of his crew, all in their own respective forms of exaggerated pain. Fawkes could almost swear that he had pulled something, what with the tedious and downright stupid idea of hacking at a wave of water. Yet, here he was, having done exactly that and now groaning like an old man stretched too far past his capabilities. Terrick sat at the side, nursing his paining sides with one hand as he used the other to bandage a surface cut that he had received. As soon as the marine assault had concluded, the weather had begun to clear. The sleets of rain reduced to a petty and tame drizzle, after which even that ceased to give way for a sunny and pleasant morning that Fawkes had not seen coming. The only ones on their feet, were the monstrous captain and the equally monstrous doctor. Sorren walked between the collapsed figures with a small flask of an unnamed concoction that he dubbed ''energy malt''. Over the course of their previous trip into Sphinx, he had finally managed to recover from the temporary weakening he had suffered on Barts'' island. At least enough for him to prioritize the health of the rest of the crew over his own recovery. (Not that he ever neglected one for the other) As Fawkes stared at the cloudless sky, he could not help but grimace. He could smell the faint whiff of the algae that grew on the walls of the Red Line. They were close to it, the heights of human despotism within the known world. The wind curled through the ship''s half open sails, much more docilly then it had ever in the past few days. "Gang, prepare for the dive! We''ll be waiting up here till you guys gather your breath, then we''re diving under the Red Line! From what I''ve heard we''ll be going straight into fishman territory, so buckle up. We''ll simply be passing through, Marco did assure us that the royal family wouldn''t make things too hard for us, what with Whitebeard''s writ of passage and all. Best to be gone quick though, we don''t know which school of these guys we end up offending if we stay here too long! I''ve heard it''s almost as bad as Sabaody." The captain called out from his position at the wheel. His voice easily traveling over the silent winds as he turned towards us. With a slight moan at the effort Fawkes began to rise, his upper body caked with sweat as he began to get to work. He was almost completely sure that his face looked more zombie like then human, what with the listless expression and eyes that screamed with agony. "HALF SAIL!" Angella called out from her position at the forefront. Her nimble fingers found the small crevices between the firmly tied rope as she switched into the tightly coiled figure. "Now guys. I know most of you were paying attention when Marco was explaining how the resin worked. (here he looked pointedly at Sorren who had been innocently observing his nails in the corner) That being the case, I still need to make it clear. When we are down there, oxygen is going to be relatively scarce. So no off the top movements, and no fighting. That includes over the top training too, we don''t want to put the crew at risk so you can stay on point with your regime. Get it?" He barked. Fawkes had noticed that after the incidents of Sphinx the captain had gotten stricter in matters that pertained to the crew. Where once he would let the crew mates figure things out on their own, now he took an active role in teaching them and keeping them in line. (though the latter rarely if ever came into the fore) Fawkes was still undecided on weather this was a good thing or not¡­ Within seconds the ship had been raised to full sail, with it cruising safely over the water currents. Then, began the decent. Fawkes did not know how the other crews on the Grandline did it but on this ship, the captain had come up with a smart way to make the ship sink easily and efficiently. (Wow it felt weird to say that out loud) From the sides of the ships where the cannons were, small weights were dropped, each weighing a sizable load. Then when the ship began to suffer some turbulence of sorts, the sail that was at full sail would be reduced a smidgen, reinforcing the decent by gathering the ship downwards. So, it went, the ship sailing forward at first before slowly entering the calm sea that had until moments ago been baying to swallow them up. It was almost like they were giving it what it wanted. Seeing the water begin to rise above the sides of the ship, Fawkes was again led to questioning the sanity of the entire enterprise. Sailors where always taught to fear the sea, maybe give it the respect one would give a wild beast but never to embrace it like they were now. Then, the water rose further and Fawkes went from imagining such thought provoking things like the dichotomy of the sea to actively shuddering as thoughts of eldritch abominations such as the one in his father''s stories began to swarm his mind. As the water rose above his head and the last rays of clear light faded from his view, Fawkes realized, within the bowels of the sea, that all his strength, amounted to a little more then nothing. 167 Down in the dumps Not a trace of wetness appeared on board and the dismal and overbearing silence had me wishing to myself that no piece of debris within the water came our way. The sails remained completely still with the air within the bubble quickly becoming somewhat stale. It wasn''t like the air within had begun to lack in oxygen, the mysterious nature of the resin ensured against it. Nonetheless I could find myself already missing the fresh saltiness of the breeze above. The crew that had been weighing in the effort to keep the ship on course towards the direction that the pose pointed us at now sat silent, marveling at the novel nature of the experience. They had attempted for a bit, but none of their efforts seemed to sway the ship from the course that it was heading in. With a sigh and a final grimace at the thin layer that divided us from the wall of crashing water I walked back over to the crew. Briefly looking them over for any blatant show of injury apart from the fatigue that they displayed upon their faces. With a small smile of deference, I looked them over. "Nothing else we can do here. Go get some sleep, Angella, Sorren on top is yours, holler if you need the rest of us. The rest of you lot, get to sleeping, we need to rest those bones when we get a chance." With a nod of assent the crew began to shuffle, the ones that had been cleared to rest making their way below deck, while Angella took point and Sorren occupied the crow''s nest that he had begun to like staying in. Me on the other hand, I decided my time would be well spent within the captain''s cabin gaining access to the latest above ground and organizing Mimir when I needed to. Garp smiled a little as he looked at the document in his hand. It was a sanction for the leave that he had been applying for, for the past year almost. It had only taken what, a couple of months of constant harassment to get Sengoku to ok the entire application. Easy right? With a swift sway he began to pack his stuff, clearing the office room that he had been assigned of everything even remotely personal. He was happy, he could finally meet his grandson. The last time he had seen the lad, he had been a tiny baby, barely bigger than the palm of his right hand. Then again, the last time that he had seen him, there had not been as much divide between the father and the son as there was now. Now of course things were not as salty as they had been. Dragon now understood why Garp did what he did, and Garp in turn understood that though he shared his son''s dream, he would never have the guts to do what he had done. At least not now. Now with the week of leave that he had gotten, Garp could almost imagine what he would do with the brat. Of course, if anyone, even his closest friend or his most trustworthy subordinate were to see what he had in store for the boy they would berate him harshly and attempt to choke him out. I mean, who thought of feeding their four-year-old grandson hard liquor and relaxing on the beach with them? Unfortunately for the absent Luffy, there was no one to correct his grandfather''s warped view on child care, so he could only so he could only suffer in silence for the time when his grandfather''s view on children would resolutely collapse and he would thus be treated to a hefty dose of ''The Fist of Love''. With a hum the old Vice Admiral began to peruse through his extremely limited wardrobe, swiftly packing a pair of loud and awkwardly colored shirts alongside an old bleached and faded blue pair of trunks. Within moments the old man was ready to go, a suitcase in hand and an old pointed brown cap in hand he swiftly exited his room. "Vice Admiral! The boat leaves in a few minutes. You have been scheduled to travel alongside the delegation to the Goa kingdom, they will drop you of at Logue town!" the receptionist called out politely, before going back to the pile of papers that had to be filled before they would be given to renovate the space. Garp waved cheerily as he pulled out a coconut from one of his pockets. He looked it over for a second, and seeing as the object was still somehow edible, he chopped off the top with the edge of his palms. At the very base of the coconut a small amount of liquid sat undisturbed. With a single gulp he downed the coconut water, grinning slightly as he chucked the used object behind him. A few miles off, a single marine officer walked dejectedly. He had just been dumped. Unfortunately, the world proceeded to take another dump upon him, as a sudden projectile rammed itself to the top of his skull. Suffice to say, the poor man had to spend a whole week in the infirmary before the nurse allowed him to leave. With the Vice Admiral however, no such complications arose, for within a few hours of boarding the navy vessel they had already arrived in East Blue waters. They were on the famed navy steam ships after all, and as the smoke of the top of the boat began to clear, a very cheery Garp could be seen on the port of Logue town waving at the departing ship. 168 The sendoff Throughout his life on the seas, he had had to bid farewell to many crewmates. It never got easier. At least, he could take joy in the final moments of parting. After all, there were still things to be done. Barnie the old man, was one of the few members of his crew still without a bounty, so there was not much reason to worry. The town below was infested with activity, the chattering of people all around raising the young pirate from his thoughts. The town was preparing for a celebration. In fact, the celebration was to do with the old pirate and his newborn son. The enclosed town was more than happy to celebrate it, after all it was not every day that a child was born here, in addition when one was to consider the fact that it would be the new born child to the Mayor''s family the people felt that there was all the more reason to party. Shanks'' crew was more than willing to cooperate. The bunch of scallywags had deserted their captain the first chance that they got, dumping the hungover man on a small sack of potatoes on deck before they ran into town. He could see Lucky Roux in the side, alongside a particularly scandalized couple as he roasted a pair of fish over a makeshift barbecue, his hands dripping grease and a arsonist''s smile on his face. His glasses gleamed with a particular spark of malcontent as he roasted the food. The crew''s cook had taken it upon himself to take control of the food facet of the celebration, taking great joy in the scene of the various pastry chef and otherwise running around town looking for the most exotic of ingredients like headless chickens. It was safe to say, that nothing was safe from the ambitious fat man''s outstretched and vile fingers. Shanks could not help but retch at the times that Roux had fed the entire crew a horrible dish because one of his experiments had run awry. To the other side with the decorations, Yasopp stood a pistol in hand as he attempted to peg the massive banner into the temporary wooden beams that Ben Beckman had helped erect. Of course, he had failed, and the only thing stopping the blacksmith from chewing out the hazel haired sniper was the dangerous looking weapon in his hands. With a small burp and groan the red-haired pirate rose to his feet. He nursed his head with one hand as he ran another down the side of the gangplank. As the captain of the crew he could not be seen moping. The least he could do for Barnie was a good send off. The rest of the day passed in a blur, and as it went by the New World hot shot could feel himself getting happier and more carefree. The first thing that came to his mind was no longer battles on territory that had to be fought, but more how a pink banner would suit the rosy atmosphere of the baby''s welcome party. God! Shanks had become a party planner! In fact, at the end of the day when the man that had been sent with Barnie and his wife to the doctors in the next town returned, shanks found himself in a clown''s apparel. Full with white face paint, red fake nose (that eerily resembled another pirate that he knew) and all. The real kicker was, that he enjoyed it! Over the course of the day, the little regality that he had as an empyrean candidate had all but drained away. What was left was a mere husk of joy and relaxation that he had left the grand line to find. His crew stood around him, mingling with the rest of the townsfolk all up to their own hijinks. Then, a small procession was formed at the very entrance of the town. Leading in the delirious couple alongside a baby in the very pink of health. The mayor had already begun to recover a little color on her face, though she still rested on the palanquin that she was brought on. Her husband was one of the pall bearers, smiling proudly at anyone close by as he cooed in unintelligible terms how beautiful his child looked. He had gotten a daughter, and had gotten to boasting about how strong and beautiful she would grow up to be, so much so that it looked as if the rest of the pall bearers (the mayor''s brothers) had begun to feel their ears rot off. Still they smiled, for as Barnie was giving the rights to parenthood, they too were given the rights to uncle-hood (if that was even a word). They could almost imagine themselves giving the little girl a piggyback ride as they told her of her mother''s embarrassing moments. Shanks grinned as he received Lucky''s subtle signal from the side. With a smirk he advanced forward a colorful set of balls in hand with a crudely made tricycle between his feet. He waded through the people in front before stopping shy of the palanquin''s entrance. Barnie''s wife gave him a thankful smile as she slowly moved her cooing daughter into the line of his sight. Instantly the terror of the New world began to dance, juggling the balls around him as he rode his tricycle weirdly. It was a competition that his crew had hatched, behind the back of their leaving member who was giving them a startled look. Their aim was to get the child to laugh, and that is what they did. When Shanks was removed from the forefront, he was replaced with Lucky who smiled as he attempted to belly dance his way into winning. Then came Yasopp who attempted to crack a joke, instantly going down when one of the blacksmiths he was harassing told him that the girl was too young to understand what he said. His only saving grace was the angelic smile the baby had on her face through his performance. In the end it was surprisingly Ben Beckman who won, he had been too embarrassed to do much, so he simply walked forward and attempted to mimic Barnie''s gruff voice. Somehow that had been enough to spiral the young child into a jingle of laughter, and as the laughter continued the townsfolk found themselves laughing along, and with them the pirates laughed too. 169 The bloody Mary The Rear Admiral that had been placed there was now the subject of a Naval sendoff, and those that survived the collapse of his armada now requested to either be transferred to a more peaceful location or all out retirement! The smear propaganda that the newly surfaced news document that had housed the interview with the best rookie pirate on the seas did the marines no service. Its columns were rife with horrific documentation of every single Marine fuckup since the times of Roger, though thankfully none of the more damaging documentation had come to light yet. Nonetheless with the appearance of this positively slanderous slew of information, the recruitment of able-bodied individuals from two of the four blues had begun to taper. So much so in fact that the erstwhile Admiral Z who had been till this time filing complaint after complaint at the massive stock of people that he had to train, now had enough time to visit the Fleet Admiral from time to time to complain over tea! Of course, as Z''s close friend, Sengoku was glad that his friend had gotten the time to meet him. Unfortunately, however during these interactions, Sengoku was reminded of his fractured relationship with the figures of his generation. Of his original friends he had only Garp and Tsuru to confide in, and even among them he could not possibly divulge all that he had done to maintain peace within the world. In this time of Marine decline, he could not fathom how, or even why such a headache inducing figure had risen. Every time he remembered the state that Borsolino was in, he would gnash his teeth. Not in a long time had the hand of Justice suffered so much damage as it had now. The most infuriating part of this all was, that he could not possibly reveal any of it without tearing through the already flimsy fa?ade that the marines possessed. This report, however, would allow him a certain level of catharsis, and for that he was grateful. With a grim face and an almost melliferous glare the old Fleet Admiral brought his officiated pen down, sanctioning the rookie''s new bounty. At the level that it was at, it was only a few numbers shy of world shaking figures like Shanks and Mihawk, though Sengoku still had hope that the latter would accept his invitation and take his post amidst the warlords of the sea. After all, within the current roster there was no one that could match him. Talking about rookies however, Sengoku''s worries were still not over. For there was not just a single figure that had arrived in the New World in search of Roger''s thrice damned treasure. She was someone whose history was unknown. All Sengoku knew was that her name became prominent within Paradise a few years ago. First for her cataclysmic take down of G12 in Holiday island where she was reported to have torn down several captain level figures personally. Then she had cut a bloody swathe through the whole of paradise, even at one point giving the well-fortified G8 a visit, though the Vice Admiral that had been placed there had dispatched of her forces quite easily and even beaten her back into hiding purportedly injuring her seriously. Now three years later, whispers of her bloody Jolly Roger made itself known again. This time however, it wasn''t in the tamer seas of Paradise but in the dastardly waters of the New World. She always targeted bases at the periphery, taking out as many marines as she could before sinking beneath the sea and escaping to god knows where. The Kuja pirates had even been contracted to surveil the area for her, yet not a single trace of her was found. Over the past few months, she had hit over three bases, but this time she had done enough damage to actually have Sengoku personally want to strangle her neck. She had crippled a Rear Admiral in a single attack, according to the heavily maimed survivors of the incident. Here, Sengoku finally received actual information of her. According to them, she was an old woman with a scar running down her face. A dreaded expression and a fiery glare that could fuse their legs to the ground. Her voice was scratchy and cold akin to raw nails rubbed on metal, and she wielded what looked to be a saber of sorts, though she more often used her hands then her blade. Her crew was almost fully comprised of equally scarred women, with a small minority of men being a part of them. They rarely spoke, ignoring any bystander who did not seem to swear allegiance to the Naval flag. Her ship itself looked like a grotesque union of multiple ships, with what looked to be stitch marks running all over their sides. The most frightening thing about her ships though, was not her weird aesthetic or her suicidal style of fighting. It was her Jolly Roger. The flag looked eerie at best; a permanent frown pasted all over its skeletal face with a slew of stitches running down its left cheek. One of its eyes glowed with an eerie green while the other looked a more servile blue. On the right side of the skulls terrifying frown was what looked like a dab of lipstick, coloring the region above the flag''s maw. Merely looking at the flag inspired fear, for it was an odd amalgam of various intricacies. This was why she had attained her frightening epithet. The ''Bloody Mary'' for though she was silent she was frightening. Though she shone alone on her ship she reeked with the scent of her victims. Though she hunted down only the marines, she was a scourge to the sea. 170 Fishman Island: A series of bizarre events Above, it felt like every moment was spent wrestling with the hearty and dangerous waves. Down here though, an entirely different scene played out. The silence was oppressive all around, yet somehow still feeling comforting. Even the devil fruit users on board, did not feel as alienated with the coral depths as they had thought. The bubble around the ship waved serenely as we moved along, a small wave of sea floor current carrying us forward amidst a small stream of moving sand. We were making progress, and though the towering structure that was the Red Line did frighten us somewhat, the tiny hole at its centre brought those that had been slightly sceptical of the plan the last bit of closure that they would need. The cave itself was deep, a faint light gleaming from its interior. That was the reason that could still exist in such an inhospitable environment as this one. It was the light from the Sunlight Tree Eve, sister trees with the rather well known Adam that any sea faring soldier would kill to have making their vessel. The soft light caressed softly against us, illuminating the surface of the soapy bubble around. "Captain..." Terrick gulped, as he looked forward, glaring down at the gap between the base of the ship and that of the cave with a look of mortification. "Quite!" I murmured to him, indicating with as much force as I could how precarious conversation was in a time where oxygen was as restrictive as it was. He acquiesced shortly with a nod before indicating to the stuff that he had just seen. He wanted me to see whatever he had. Sorren looked over his shoulder curiously, yelping softly as he scurried back. Now, the situation caught my attention. With a quick faint step, I moved to the edge of deck, leaning over with a small smile on my face. Instantly, a look of pure wonder and terror appeared on my face. If it was anybody else, I was sure I would have laughed at the bizarre amalgam of emotions that appeared on my face. The cave floor jutted outward with small spikes, each one looking like something that had been forcefully erected over natural construction. Around each of these spikes lay a tiny depression, and though it took a little squinting, I was barely able to make out the faint gleam of scales that coiled around these jutting rocks. It was a sea king, and not just one either, it was a whole minor colony. Most of the creatures basked in the darkness. Their gaping maws opened and closed at random times as they snorted out a collection of bubbles from their noses. Most of them were asleep with the few at the periphery of the cave entrance sometimes leaving and coming back in. Quickly it became apparent to us that this colony was comprised of mostly juvenile creatures. They were not young enough to be a safe member of the colonies in the calm belt but were too fragile to hunt alone in the open seas, so they came here hoping, I was sure, to catch pirate ships off guard whenever they crossed this precipice. I let slip a small wave of conqueror''s Haki as I crossed them. They did not seem too keen on the hunt at the moment, but I was not privy to their thoughts, that could change at any time. It was better to be safe than sorry. As we began to finally dip into deeper water, a small draft rose off the ground. It was a cove. The cove, more like, for below us laid a wide-open gateway, taking us slightly deeper into what resembled a deep valley. We could barely see the exterior from where we were, and that too was only because of the use of Observation. The valley was crested with a gleaming double bubble that towered over our ship. Around the bubble, the occasional gleam could be seen dispersing light from within to the outside. As we neared the bubble, a smaller frigate pried itself out from the double-layered pocket, a black flag on its mast top. It was a pirate flag, of that I was sure. Weather they were antagonistic or not was yet to be seen. As the frigate neared us I could see the silhouette of a figure on its stern staring at us. It was a fish man. "Leave!" the shrill voice sounded out, as the frigate drew close enough for us to see who was speaking. It was a short whiskered man with a brown cap on his head. His features reminded me of a obese rat, while his flag was that of a skull with rat teeth. "Surrender or Die! I am Rock-Wrecker Nezumi, either pledge fealty to me, or leave this place!" He announced imperiously. I was confused. From what Marco told me, this was Whitebeard''s territory. Then, why did was it that the man in front of us acted with such sincerity. It felt almost like I was being accosted by a police officer for tax evasion! Moreover, the man had a name that I could not even recall to have ever read. From behind the frigate, a low rumble could be heard, startling both parties. A third ship had made its way out of the bubble in the time that Nezumi had been confusing me. This ship looked more regal, royal colours on its side as it waved the majestic flag of the Ryuga family. A imperious looking man stood at the ship''s head. A small drum sat behind him with two of his men banging it on either side, this was the object that had been making the dull rumble. Without as much as a word, he motioned to his men. Within minutes the joker before us had been terminated, there had been times where he had attempted to fire off cannon balls, but they had either failed or only been rocketed back to his own ship under the springy influence of the bubble around it. After the man and his nameless crew had been well and truly detained, (and by detained I mean smacked atop the head with what looked like a stick made from the reef around) he turned to us. His baritone voice finally rumbling out as the beating drum ceased. "Who are you, and what intention do you have with the underwater kingdom? I suggest that you not try anything funny, we have the right to use extreme violence if necessary." 171 Fishman island : Spiel of hate "Humph! Pirates... I never understood king Neptune''s liking for your kind! You characterize the worst of what is in humanity, your rampant lust for plunder!" he snarled at me as he looked over the documents that had been provided to us. It was a simple piece of paper that Marco had issued. At the very bottom was Whitebeard''s insignia. Not much more was necessary for one to traverse through Fishman Island, I was told. With a defeated sigh, he looked over us one last time, before motioning for us to move inward. He tossed over a small medallion as we slowly moved forward before moving back to his patrols. The pirate crew that they had caught kneeled on deck with sea stone cuffs on their hands and necks, glaring after us with a blazing pair of eyes. "Show that to any of the patrols that you see! It''ll allow you to go around unmolested!" He barked after us as his ship began to sway, a collection of small pipes on the ship''s rear end regurgitating bubbles that forced the vassal forward. I would have stopped the man to question him, but I could almost feel the animosity that he held for us. The only reason he hadn''t immediately attacked was because we gave him the letter. As we moved closer to the island before us, I could finally make out a few landmarks. Around the island, like a wall, a hardened reef cropped. From where we were it looked like the island sat atop a purple mushroom, the bulbous top being sculpted into the tall structures that I could see jutting over the landform. From the centre of the island, a glow could be seen washing over us lighting up the entirety of the island''s surroundings. Barts gasped at the beautiful sight, her eyes roving hungrily over the exotic colours as she briefly abandoned her post to come stand beside be near the wheel. Angella stood further back under the shade of the doorway, a rough looking book before her. Her hands roved over the yellowing pages as she made note of god knows what. Sorren briefly appreciated the sight, but after a bit he went back to picking his nose and messing with the mast. Rein on the other hand, had a similar reaction to Barts albeit with a more childlike wonder than an actual child like Scipio displayed. Stars could be seen in his eyes as he joyfully jogged up and down the deck looking at the fantastic island from all angles. As we drew closer we could see the wings of the reef around curled up into what looked like a makeshift gate that was huge enough for our ship to enter. As we crossed the gate, a host of turbulence shook the boat, warm water rising against the sturdy bubble around. We were officially at Fishman Island. ********* Around them he could hear droves of people muttering. They were all Fishman. Where he was from, he was taught that they were slaves, but what he saw before him lay quite opposite to that idea. Children ran across the black floor of the dock, smiles on their faces as jagged teeth jutted out. It wasn''t all sunshine and roses though. The island before him had made that abundantly clear as soon as they docked, when they had almost been arrested. A group of burly Fishmen had come over as soon as they had seen the ship. That was only the first wave. First came the officials, they were easily dealt with. As soon as they saw the medallion that the crew had received enroute they grudgingly left, issuing a few papers to allow anyone on the crew to enter the city. Within minutes of their departure came the second group. A collection of concerned locals with pitchforks. The captain dealt with them too, showing them Whitebeard''s insignia seemed to calm them. The third group however was the most damning. A group of ruffians, with a man whose pointy jagged teeth jutted out of his cheek in the lead. As they drew closer Rein had been able to hear stanzas of hate, the man in the lead roared it out while those who followed him hooted or cheered. At the very back a group of children walked grinning with malevolence as they glared at any and all civilians around them. When they had neared the ship, Rein could hear the man in the lead beginning to chant. Rage and vitriol in his eyes as he came to a halt in front of the ship. His spittle had flown as he regarded everyone on board with disdain and tempestuous rage. Then his men had drifted to the side letting the children take the stage. The second stream of rage and hate had begun to flow then as the children roared in their high pitched voice. The captain had seen them for a moment, then ignored them. He could not care less, and Rein understood that. However, he could not help his heart go out to them who had been subject to sermons of hate all their lives. As if reading his mind Lorean had turned to him then, but before he could open his mouth the soldiers from before had returned. They had chased away the mob, but Rein could not forget that sight. A row of people glaring at them with hate had fear, while a smaller group on the outside either with indifference or with catharsis. What excitement had flooded Rein''s veins had disappeared. He was drained. A pat on his back broke him from his revere. It was Lorean, a bemused smile on his face. "Why?" Rein croaked as he looked at his captain. What that word meant he did not know. Was it, ''why did you do nothing?'' or was it, ''why do those people take so much joy in their hate?'' Rein did not know. 172 Fishman Island: Laurel They wore a huge trench coat and a top hat, both with tinted a sandalwood brown. A small horde of fishman followed them, a burly man in the lead roaring curses as they made their way through the streets. "Thief!!" The man screeched as his tone rose shrilly. You could already see that he was tiring. His frame would not allow him to indulge in as much activity as he was doing, sweat pooled from his pale mottled blue face as he grimaced in anger. The men behind him roared in assent at the man''s assertion, though it was clear to the common bystander that they had no stake in the chase. They were merely here for the fun of it all. The figure in the front quickly dipped into a narrow passage that streaked to the right, rancid stench filled the air as broken pipes leaked faecal matter onto the pale black stone. The burly man groaned as he breathed in, clenching as much of his stomach as he was able, before shimmying into the narrow spot. Instantly the small mob that he had assembled deserted him. It was all fun and games until you smelled for days. "Stop!" the man roared huffing through his visible canines. "Return my item to me at Once!" He continued as he chased after the figure. At the very end of the narrow passage light could be seen streaming through, the passage was no doubt a connector between two streets in the market. The cloaked figure instantly whirled around, the shawl they were wearing on their faces came undone swaying to the side. A pair of cunning green eyes regarded the figure as a mischievous grin spread over the petite mouth. A small curl of blonde hair streamed down from the cap as the now identified women smiled. Her pale grey webbed fingers pulled the silver instrument from her breast. It was a lyre. Then with a light tap of her fingers, she began to play... ******* Rein snorted softly as he walked through the market place, hawkers roared from every side, though whenever they saw the little entourage of pirates they could not help but lower their voice staring at their figures with suspicion. The small group consisted of Fawkes, Barts and Rein. The captain had decided to stay back on the ship, while Scipio who had originally wanted to join the group had to be diverted when one of the snails began to twitch and beep. Sorren had no interest, and had instead decided to give Terrick an examination after the recent scuffle that they had been a part of. Angella had been quickly dissuaded when the captain had dragged her under deck showing her a half completed blue print that he wanted her opinion on. That left Rein and Barts forced to accompany Fawkes on his constant journey to find new and interesting cuisine! At least that was what he claimed. At this point everything that Fawkes prepared was so tasty that he didn''t care what it was, the lines between the different forms of food had become blurry. Finally, Fawkes stopped his monotone march, dragging the duo over to a bright yellow tiger shark sitting on a small wooden stool. On his table was a whole host of different fish, each with a vivid and different colour. "What''s the speciality old man?" Fawkes asked as he bit his bottom lip. He had been unable to identify some of them, and that bugged him. The fishman regarded the small group with narrowed eyes before he looked over at his goods. "The lanky one, it''s called a Floundering Farwer . We only get a few hundred every week." He said with a clipped tone as he introduced a thin and bony fish us to. Fawkes ran his finger over the creature''s side with a contemplating look. "How does it taste?" Aha now the man asked the important questions! "Eh a little spicy with a strange tang." The fishman replied as he looked over Fawkes with an appraising look. "I''ll take it! Also put in the grey one and the Tonal Traunt" he said pointing at a fairly large grey fish and a colourful blue and orange one. The fishman nodded as he proceeded with the transaction, a hint of surprise could be seen in his eyes when Fawkes handed him the money. "You lot are actually paying!" he remarked a measure of surprise that had Rein questioning how the man made a living. "We aren''t poor enough to have to swindle sellers in the streets." Fawkes replied curtly as he began to look around. "But ya''ll are pirates no?" the fishman asked, now much more comfortable with the conversation. Rein could not help but chuckle at what the man was insinuating. He was calling all pirates poor, and he could relate. He too had a similar idea before he came to sea. Fawkes smiled as he looked at the man, nodding politely as he began to walk over to another stand with green seaweed sprawled over. Unfortunately for him however, a sudden brown meteor shot towards him, running quickly enough to surprise the first mate. "IIIIITTTTTTTTT DIDN''T WOOORKKKKKKKKKK!!" the figure screeched as she ran, her cap bent over her head as he barrelled head first out of the small group of scandalized shopper running straight at Fawkes. Fawkes dodged to the right smartly reaching for the figure''s hand in curiosity. "Stop her!!" A roar sounded out as a huffing and wheezing fishman waded through the crowd. Rein looked on in bemusement as the women was forced to a stop, before she shot a distressed look over her shoulder and pulled Fawkes forward. "We run!" she muttered as he barrelled forward, dragging a baffled Fawkes with her. As if the situation was not absurd enough, the orange tiger shark took this moment to comment: "Huh I knew it, all ya''ll pirates are poor as fuck!" 173 Fishman island: The old temple He was not out of breath his temporary accomplice was though. She leaned against the wall taking deep breaths as she attempted to stop huffing. Through the course of her mad dash her trusty scarf had come clean off, letting everyone who was interested get a look at her face. With slow deliberate steps she got to her feet, her heaving chest no longer puffed out as conspicuously. "What...?" Fawkes asked, unable to formulate a coherent question in this situation. I mean what could he ask her. ''Why were you running?'' ''Who was chasing you?'' Did it even matter to him? With a shake of his head, he gave up. Unfortunately, for him, the day only became even more absurd from there, for with a small scream the fishwomen turned to him. "Who are you? Why are you chasing me??" Suffice to say, that Fawkes was annoyed. With a small defeated sigh he simple stared at her till she calmed down, an unnerving curiosity invading her eyes as she began to look him over. "Big. Buff. Really strong..." she began to mutter to herself as she walked all around him. "You can''t be that old geezer!" She concluded after her investigation. "He was way more pudgy then you!" she nodded as if she had solved the world''s most confounding mystery. "We aren''t even the same colour! How could you confuse us?" Fawkes snapped aghast when he realized that she had confused him with the fat fishman that had been chasing her. "Don''t sweat the details!" She said with a mischievous smile, before she began to skip into the tiny encampment. It was a small village like settlement, located on the outskirts of the island. Corals spread as far as the eye could see as tiny huts with purple and green reef ceilings glared dully at him. A small roadway could be seen leading inward, a ditch on either side with a small quantity of sea weed flopped soullessly on the greying streets. Most of these huts had a single stone door from which people would exit or enter with a simple rock like walkway constructed for over the ditch. At the very corner of the small road of huts stood a relatively bigger one, this one made solely of reef. Even the door was merely a cut-out of the stuff. A single hole was drilled over the structure that seemed to act much like a chimney. It was to this hut that the women walked towards. The smile on her face had faded somewhat as she walked forward, wading into the group of people that stood going about their daily lives. Children in tattered clothes ran around and when a few crossed her path she would blankly ruffle their heads before continuing forward. Fawkes groaned slightly. He was curious now. "Do you know what this is, stranger?" she asked sonorously. Now that he paid attention to her voice, it held a magical tone to it. It almost felt as if every word she spoke belonged to a song. "Not really stranger" he replied insipidly unable to let the slight mocking tone out of his voice. He smiled humorously. "This is the old temple. Whatever you see before you, once belonged to the greatest school of Fishman Karate, the temple. Humpf. Now look at it. Barely able to make ends meet..." She muttered as she walked forward, nodding towards an old crippled women that sat on her doorstep grinding down what looked to be a certain grain. "After the Island was forced to cede some of its authority to the World Government, it was forced to disband all formal schools of karate. Whoever remain are only solo practitioners... Till a few decades ago, they didn''t particularly care that the rule was followed, but after fisher tiger, they decided to be a little strict with us..." she chuckled humourlessly as she finally made her way to the reef door. At its side hung a small bell. She rung it waiting patiently. On the other side of the door shuffling noises could be heard. "Why tell me this?" Fawkes asked. He was curious might as well ask... After all he had never met anyone here nor had he heard of the so called temple. "Because you are human." She replied simply. "If you are down here, that can only be because of two things. Either you are someone that is respected by the royal family or you are strong enough that they cannot control you. Either way, it will be interesting seeing how you take this information." she said bowing slowly as the door creaked inward. Inside the decrepit hut stood a group of old people. Even the one who had opened the door was someone who had more wrinkles than they had skin. As soon as the women entered the door she glared at the women at the very centre. It was someone that looked more fossil then alive, yet still somehow she breathed. She had a positively Machiavellian grin on her face as she looked at the brown coated women. "Little Laurel, how was your little escapade?" She asked cackling at the very end of her question. "You lied to me old goat! The Lyre doesn''t do shit! You sent me on a fool''s errand!!" she roared as the older women cackled louder. "But wasn''t it fun?" she asked smiling cheekily with the two teeth she still possessed gleaming in the light of the lamp hung on the wall on the side. "Bullshit! I even tried to play it! It was so out of tune that I felt like someone was dragging out my bones and playing drums on my spine!" She snarled. "Hush tunist." an old man who had been sitting down with his eyes closed called out, his voice sounding like every word that he said out loud would be his last. "Let us old bones indulge ourselves somewhat on these last few days." he finished before going back to his meditation. The group nodded somewhat vigorously as the women in the middle pouted. "Old prankster, stop tricking the poor girl." another women chided from the other room as she came in rolling over a wheel chair. "Fine..." the women grumbled before looking over at Laurel. "You want the damn Lyre take it, it''s in the prayer hall! You''ve kept us company for long enough. Soon this house shall no longer belong to us, and when we leave there will come a new Tunist. Your effort has been recognized." she finished on her croaky tone before she fell silent. Within a few more moments her breath too had fallen equally silent. 174 Fishman island: cross roads "Help me a little m''kay" Laurel muttered to the mute Fawkes, taking no pleasure in his dumbfounded expression. "It is time to bury her help me carry her out back" with that she slowly crossed the old women''s hands over her chest. She looked more asleep then dead, the only thing that showed to her situation was the absence in the rise and fall of her chest. The wrinkled skin looked pale and sick, nonetheless Fawkes could not find himself with even the slightest amount of any feeling apart from solemnity. With a deep sigh he followed Laurel carrying the old women in a princess carry. The old folk in the hut cleared the way, those who could walk standing solemnly at the side. Those who could not walk merely bowed to the figure. The old man that had been the first to speak when the duo had entered the hut looked visibly upset. "Farewell old women... Go pave the way for this generation." he muttered with a silent prayer before going back to silence in the corner. There was no mourning, no rights, nothing. It seemed death was a common guest in this hut. Behind the kitchen a door lead to the backyard, a vast and serene plantation with a few calming weed structures that covered the ground in an elegant spider web weave. To the side was a collection of neatly cut reef on a broken cart. All of them blank and untouched save for the curved edges that had no doubt been filed to look as they did. As far as the eye could see there were graves, all of them marked with at least a sentence referring to who was buried below them. Fawkes shot a questioning look over to the silent fishwomen as they continued through the vast organized graves with green pathways leading them through the maze of vibrant grave stones. She had tarried for a moment, to pick the stone at the very top of the pile. Cradling it with both hands she lead the way forward, expertly navigating through the silent yet somehow un-sombre location. "This is the temple''s grave, meant to house those that died from the temple''s members. At the very back is the spot for those that died of old age, like ol'' prankster here. After the temple lost most of its disciples and its mandate to teach karate, the huge hut that used to be the sanctum became the home of those that had only a little left to live. They would enter the temple, bidding farewell to their families days in advance. Living amongst those from the same generation, waited upon by a ''tunist'' that was the term associated with the oldest pupil of the temple. The tunist will try to let them rectify all of their regrets so they may pass peacefully. In exchange, the tunist is allowed to leave the temple, with a token that most fits them. For me it was the Lyre, ol'' prankster was my teacher when I had just joined the temple. Now, most of those fossils know they are about to die, so they relieved me early. " She finished taking a deep breath at end of it before finally coming to a stop near a decently excavated mound, fresh dirt upturned at the side. She gently placed the tombstone down next to the opening before gingerly taking the old women from Fawkes'' arms. With a practiced patience she brought the body into the hole, lying her with a small sniffle. Fawkes stood silent at the side. He did not know much of the process, and didn''t much want to appear heartless to the only one he knew that could lead him back into the city. He had seen his fair share of deaths, having at one point even witnessed the death of his mother before he had to bury her alongside his grieving father. With a sad smile, Laurel began to scoop handfuls of dirt and heaving it into the grave, her webbed fingers dragging across the small heap as she did so. Within moments, the grave was closed, and the gravestone put in place. Fawkes shot her a small comforting smile before following her back. The silence on the brief trek back was almost too deafening on the ears. "What do you plan to do now?" he quietly asked. "Leaving Fishman Island is a definite first. I don''t want to be here any longer than I absolutely have to... After what happened to queen, Otohime the place seems to have gone to the docks. While most fishmen are fine, the more influential ones from Tiger''s old crew have gotten viler. Even those not as bad as Arlong are still quite rampant in their own rights. That brat Jinbei is the only one with even a semi-decent head on his shoulders and even he doesn''t have much more influence than Arlong''s lot. I do not want to live in an island where the royal family has lost its core and its streets controlled by radical thugs. I would rather take a chance on the outside world. I mean, it can''t be as bad as they claim at least..." she said shooting a lopsided grin over to Fawkes. Fawkes sighed. Maybe this was not the time, but he had to tell her before she became someone paraded around in a cage at Sabaody. "You''re wrong there... Humans no better than that Arlong''s bunch roam around above quite openly and in large numbers." here he was assuming the fish''s identity having never heard of him before. Nonetheless, he could guarantee that there was someone worse amongst the humans. I mean, you had the celestial dragons. "I mean, you''ve heard of the world nobles. Pirates are often no better, you would be lucky if you were not sold to a slave auction in a week. It would be a testament to your strength too." he finished with a hopeless flourish. She shot him a mirthless smile, her eyes telling him she knew all of that. "Out of the frying pan into the fire then... There is too much stagnant here." "Maybe I can give you another choice?" 175 Fishman Island: A single rock Fun and games aside, Fawkes'' disappearance had begun to worry me a little. The man was as strong as I was, and if what Rein had to say was right, then he had been yoinked away. Though he had assured me that the women looked harmless, and Fawkes had only been startled by the suddenness of the situation it had still begun to bug me. I did not want a second Sphinx after all. I would rather not see those I now considered siblings bloody. The light from the tree in the distance cast a vague shadow over my face, as if it had begun to wane. The tree itself was built to emulate the day-night cycles from the surface, and though it would not completely darken, the surroundings would still dim. As the last of the ships docked at the side finished unloading, the sailors got off board. A litany of fishmen leaving their posts to scour the town for the nearest tavern, no doubt. This was the beginning of happy hour on the undersea island. From what I had heard they had a unique liquor, made from the extract of reef exposed to some form of liquid. I wasnt completely sure of the process, only that the liquor was pretty strong stuff. I would have maybe decided to indulge myself too, had it not been for the current situation. Minutes passed by as I stood silently at the stern of the ship. The surrounding seemingly finally settling down at what could be considered ''night'' on the island. The first wave of stragglers began to return. Lodging on the island was often too scarce to trust in, so most of the travelling sailors often slept within their own ships. The crew had long begun to experiment within the ship''s kitchens. We would usually be staring at Fawkes'' back as he blazed through the kitchen making us a particularly tasty entree. Now that he was absent the rest of the crew decided to try their hands at the culinary art. I for one knew that I was terrible at it. The last time I had attempted to cook, there had been a whole fire, with the resultant food being pretty much inedible. A loud crash brought our attention to the fore, as those that had been seated below deck ran out. A small group of skinny fishmen regarded us with blazing eyes that had been dulled with the onset of the alcohol. "It''s cause of you lot..." he guzzled out as his small group of lackeys nodded their heads, equally intoxicated. "You lot are the ones that did it..." He continued shakily fumbling in his dirty white clothes and pulling out a cooking knife. He waved it in the air threateningly before hobbling to the side of the ship. "Fir-firsht ya take big bro Tiger! The-then you even take the Queen! Where did you even get the guts to saunter back here again?! Filthy Humans!! You lot are a group of murders!! Dea-" here he paused slightly his face going pale as he retched, though his stomach was strong enough to hold its contents inside. "Selling us around like cattle! Fuck you Humans and yer high handed attitude! Just cause we nice folk have a pair of gills or look a certain way, you lot trample all over us!! FUCK YOU!!!" he roared, punching angrily at the boat''s side. I stared at him impassively, nonchalant as if those words flew over my head. Angella was the one most affected, especially by what the second man had said. After all, she too had been enslaved at one point. She knew how they felt. Terrick mutely looked at them, before snorting and going back below deck. There was nothing he could do about the situation. They wanted to bluster and he could not care less. If they attempted to harm anyone on the ship however, he would be the first to cut them a new pair of gills. Angella shook slightly at his callous attitude, a hint of compassion had burrowed its way deep in her heart and his indifference to their situation was a burst of cold water on her face. With a small sigh of empathy, she joined him. She could sympathize, but that was all they had. Her sympathy. As the yelling continued, a larger audience began to grow around the ship. A whole swathe of people standing silently with a gleam of judgement in their eyes. Then, the situation became a lot worse. ''Tap...'' A rock thudded on the deck''s top, a child stood their gnashing his teeth as he glared at the ship in general. He held a whole handful of tiny pebbles, with shaking hands he aimed at me, his eyes blazing with vitriol as he threw it. ''Tap...'' bounced away, leaving a small gash on the side of my head. Then. Then all hell broke loose. Within seconds the crew stood around me glaring down menacingly at the small collection of people. Sorren growled aggressively as he blared his Haki forcing the drunk men to their knees, within moments they had passed out. As for the child that had thrown the stone at me? Terrick stood behind him expressionless as he held a dagger to his neck. ***** Fawkes grinned slightly at Laurel''s gawking expression, his words had managed to touch her. They had just exited the village, and already she had been overwhelmed. Not by his offer, but by his stories. She had requested him to tell her of the world above, and he had complied. She laughed alongside him as he related to her his meeting with Lorean, gawking at the sheer level of testosterone it would require to make as much of a foolhardy decision as piggybacking someone you just met onto the crew and making him the first mate. He had not told her much about his father, or Lorean''s for that matter. Only that they had been on the same crew together which was as much as the rest of the crew knew. Still, she was flabbergasted at the ballsy-ness of it all. Fawkes just getting on a boat and letting the waves decide his coarse, and the sheer level of coincidence that it would require for him to meet a child of his father''s crew mate. "Fate" was all she could say when she heard him relate to her the entire story. 176 Fishman island: to start with a bang and end with a whisper. A roar echoed through the air as the drunken fishman slugged the shadow of the man that had threatened the child. The loud and outspoken mob bellowed racing forward as if a fire was lit under them, glaring bloody murder at the man as they reached for pieces of weaponry. Some held broken bottles, others held broken mops. Terrick stared them down, still impassive as he held the shivering life of the angry child in his hands. His curved knives digging slightly into the child''s collar. A sigh slowly sounded out, followed then by a pure and overpowering wave of presence. Lorean had released his Conqueror''s Haki. As if summoned, Terrick''s own Haki rose up paling in comparison and much more uncontrolled. Nonetheless, within seconds the world grew silent, with the different fishman all falling down on their faces. The last to fall was the child in Terrick''s hands, a furnace of rage in his glassy eyes as he stared at the ship with a vitriol that could drown the vessel. Terrick held on still, his knife digging slightly deeper into the child as he gazed sharply at his captain. All it would take was a single order, and the child would be dead. Lorean only waved his hands mutely. There was no reason to go ahead with the action his respect for Whitebeard would not allow him to sanction Terrick''s actions. With a curt nod Terrick dropped the child like a sack of bricks, leaping onto the ship nimbly. Angella stared at him, equal measures reproach and disgust in her eyes. Lorean only sighed a little going back to the stern of the deck to keep his vigil. Within the suddenly silent and morose night, Terrick could hear his steps thudding softly against the wooden stairs as he walked below deck. An aggressive hand clutched at his shoulders yanking him around. It was Angella. "You were really planning on killing that child?" she growled out, her eyes spitting fire at him. If it was a regular fishman, she would have been a little uncomfortable. The fact that it was a child however, exacerbated her feelings in the situation a lot more. Terrick merely nodded, standing silently in the hallway. "Why?" she demanded softly. "He attacked the captain." was all his answer was. "The attack would have done nothing! The child could not have possibly hurt Lore!" she snapped. "So? The fact remains that a no-name child attempted to attack our captain. After we drank from his cup, he pretty much became our big brother! It does not matter that it was a child." he snarled in return, his expressionless face turning slightly haunted as scenes of conflict entered his mind. A sparkle of light. Unimaginable pain. A fallen figure, and blood covering his sight. With a look of contemplation, she turned around. In her mind the problem had been expanded. Did she have the resolution to cut down anyone that stood to harm her family? Only time would tell. ***** Laurel frowned at the eerie and soulless confines of the harbour. Usually at this time sailors would be making merry, locals would be meeting each other and the street ruffians would be making a fool of themselves. Yet, here there was not a whit of the usual hubub. As she edged closer to the new arrivals she began to smell the pungent scent of spilled alcohol mixed with what she assumed to be piss. This was the outskirts of the water port, the only ones docked here were the newer vessels, those that did not particularly want to be under the close watch of the city guard. As she drew further she sensed her contemporary tense up, with a small quirk of his head he shot her a look telling her that he would be going to check something. With a soundless woosh he disappeared forward vanishing into the purplish haze of the underwater island. Laurel was right behind him, walking forward briskly. Within a few moments she came across her first body, it was an older more pudgy looking fishman with a crutch beside him. It was evident that he had been crippled a while back, what with the weird chip on his legs. She gazed slightly affronted, kneeling beside him to check for a breath. She breathed a small sigh of relief as she felt his chest moving. A small gargle sounded from him as she tapped at him, with a small fit he began to awaken, coughing and huffing as he did. "Demons... Child murders the lot of them..." he muttered silently as he began to reach for the crutch at the side. he breathed deeply, his eyes coasting over her as fear clouded them. With a worried glance, she looked further forward, her hopes immediately dashed by another body further also moving around slightly. She rose to her feet marching forward gazing down worriedly at her downed compatriots. In the distance a solitary ship bobbed up and down morosely. Around it was the highest concentration of bodies. She glared at it, marching forward, then she stopped as if beaten. For on the stern Fawkes stood gazing down at the figures imperiously. She had seen that look before, gazing down at everyone with disdain. She could not believe it. This was the man that had helped her burry the old prankster, now he stood at what could only be the cause for her people''s suffering. She growled darkly, gazing at him. Then she turned around to storm out of the harbour. A small pulse seemed to thrum out from the ship, forcing the waking folk back down, and that was the straw that broke the camels back. She could only curse her own short-sightedness and naivety for trusting a man that she had just met. With a small growl she pulled out her lyre once more and began to play.