One Piece: Dead or Alive
Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece.
Kilnorc: Wow...the fourth fic in my Crew of the Axe series. Again, I say, I never thought it'd be this popular. WOOT! On with the new arc! Now, I won't ruin it, but I'll just give ya a hint of what to expect.
1. OC's given to me by some fans
2. Marine OC's I've created
3. More action than in the last fic, lol
4. More backstory on a few of the crew.
5. New Devil Fruits...especially a really freaky Devil Fruit...and it's user.
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Prologue
Why did they always run?
They fight at first, but they always end up running...why? Are they so afraid of death, that they won't meet it head on?
The Blood Countess thought so as she walked down the dark, trashed hallway of the Marine compound she and her crew had just raided. Bodies and blood were everywhere: on the walls, on the floor, on the ceiling...it was a glorius sight to see.
Her boots echoed down the hall and her rapier was held loosely in her hand as she walked. She had come to this base to find the information that she needed, the information that had eluded her for so long. The information that would bring about her rise to ultimate power and make her a great fear to all across the sea.
The Countess came to a stop, letting her rapier drop, it's sharp end pointing to the floor. She stood there, silent as she could be. She could hear the bloodcurdling screams of the Marines as they ripped through the night air. She smiled...her crewmates were having a great time. The smile lingered, even as a rustling sound came from behind.Seconds later, the sound of tearing cloth was heard and she jerked slightly as the metal blade of a sword pierced her chest.
Calmly, she looked down at it and giggled cruelly, "You hide within the dark...and you attack from the dark," she turned around and looked into the terror-filled eyes of the Marine that had just stabbed her, the sword still stuck in her chest.
She shook her head, "The dark cannot protect you...," she hissed as she grabbed the Marine by the throat, picked him a good three feet clear off the ground, and pulled him close, "Now...tell me, where is the book?"
"W-What book?" the man wheezed, tugging at her hand, desperate to get his throat free.
Kairi Lumina scowled and tighented her grip some more, "The book about the ancient cross...the cross that will make my dreams your nightmare! I know that it's last known resting place was here, so tell me where it is and I'll spare you a painful death...,"
The Marine spat a loogie that landed right in her right eye. Kairi growled and brought her rapier up, and backed away into the hall, her eyes practically glowing in the dark as she stared at the man.
"El Baile de la Muerte!" (1)
Kairi swayed from side to side for a few moments before disappearing in a blur. The Marine reached for the pistol that lay at his hip, but before he could even touch the grip, a cold laugh filled the air and extremed pain racked his body.
The woman with blood-red bangs appeared in front of him again, her thin blade dripping crimson. Gagging, the Marine stood in place as blood spurted into the air through the hundreds of gashes his body now carried. Choking on his own blood which poured into his throat and out his mouth, the man fell to the ground...dead.
Kairi snorted and brought her blade to her lips and she slowly licked the entire blade clean, taking in the dark plasma that belonged to her victim.
"Foolish...yet so delicious," she looked down at the bleeding body of the Marine, "You've died in vain, law man...I'll find the book, then I'll find what I desire. When I do, I'll have the power to change this world and not even my old friend Axe would be able to stop me!"
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2nd Lieutenant Fortune was glad to finally arrive at the Marine base where her twin brother, Atreyu, was stationed. She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out the last letter she had received from him a while back. After unfolding it, her eyes scanned the paper and ink.
Dear Sister,
My new station is a great place. There's plenty of things for everyone to do. There's always a dumbass pirate crew or two passing by. We either blast them to Kingdom Come or we arrest them and place them in our prison...usually the latter. It's more fun to see them tear each other part. They get to fight like they want, and no Marine gets injured.
Unlike other bases, there are three higher ups here in control. Two of them are Captains and the other is a Vice-Admiral. One of the Captains is really cool...he's a Devil Fruit user and one hell of a swordsman. The other Captain's not as cool as him, but he's on the same level of strength, despite his handicap. The Vice-Admiral...well...he's a bit borderline. Sometimes, he's all calm and the next moment, he freaks out and beats the crap out of people.
So, as you can probably guess, I do my best to stay on his good side, or at least, a safe distance from his claws. I've learned quickly never to piss off a merman-hybrid. Anyhoo, Captain Glenn says he sees a great Marine in me and as a reward to my service, he's given me my own Devil Fruit! I'll show you the next time we meet.
Take care of yourself, and don't blast the crap out of anything with Lady Luck, alright? It's a prototype...go easy on her. Bye for now.
Love, Atreyu
"Yo, earth to Fortune! Wake up, sweetheart!"
Fortune put her letter away and looked around the Marine vessel she was riding on. There was no one in sight.
"Hello?"
"Down here, kid!"
The blonde marine looked down and flinched at what she saw. There, standing at least three feet tall, his eyes meeting her just below the waist, was a disturbing figure of a man. While his size depicted him physically as a child, his features gave away his age of at least forty years. But, that wasn't what made Fortune stare...no, it was the fact that the right side of his body looked normal and the left side of his body was completely covered in horrible burn scars. He couldn't see out of his left eye, which was milky white, but his right eye functioned perfectly. The small man looked pudgy, had thick, dark eyebrows and matching short hair.
"See somethin' you like, toots?" the man gave a small pelvic thrust in her direction, "Because if you like what ya see...I'm open to-,"
He didn't get to finish because a large boot rammed itself into the man's rear end and sent him flying into a nearby wall. Fortune turned to see her superior standing behind her, lowering his combat boot.
"Commander Ukita!" Fortune gave a salute, "SIR!"
Commander Ashley Ukita cracked his neck and ran a hand through his red hair, "At ease, kid...," he sighed and looked at the small man's legs as they flailed back and forth in the wall, "Dammit, Sam, I told you to back off, ya damn pygmie!"
The small man pulled himself out of the hole and landed on his ass in front of them both. Grumbling, he got to his feet and glared up at the Commander, "Ash...you sir, are an asshole!"
"Quit complaining runt," Ashley, or Ash for short, snapped back, "Go get our gear before I kick you overboard,"
Fortune watched as the small, horribly burnt man walk away, muttering under his breath. She turned to Ukita, "Uh...sir?" she nodded to the retreating midget, "Who...?"
"That's Sam Rico," Ash cracked his neck, "My 1st Lieutenant...I told him to come and meet his squadmate, but instead he tries to get in ya pants," he scratched his head again, "Sorry,"
The blonde Marine cleared her throat and looked at the huge Marine fortress that sat on the island ahead of them, "Have you ever been here, sir?"
"Slayheim Fortress?" Ash shook his head, "No, never. However, a friend of mine and your brother take up post here. Hopefully, we'll get past all the formality shit and get to business,"
-A short time later-
"Vice-Admiral Roog, sir!"
The Vice-Admiral turned his massive head and looked over his shoulder at the private in his door, "What is it, soldier?"
"Captains Glenn and Ichi, Commander Ashley Ukita, 2nd Lieutenant Fortune and 1st Lieutenant Sam Rico are here, sir! They're just outside!"
"Thank you. Dismissed, soldier,"
The Marine saluted and walked out just as the mentioned group walked inside.
Captain Glenn was a young man, just two years younger than the twenty-year old 2nd Lieutenant. He had a lean body, built by years of training in the Marine Academy. His serene blue eyes peeked out of the bangs of his messy, dark green hair. He wore a pair of baggy pants, an unbuttoned Marine Captain's jacket which showed off his chest, a pair of hard, wooden sandals on his feet, and a bucket hat on his head. Besides all this, the only other things he wore on his body was a large greatsword on his back and a smile on his face.
Captain Ichi was a man of twenty-five years of age, with short cyan colored hair and a lanky body. Like Glenn, he wore an unbuttoned shirt, large pants, but a pair of normal sandals instead of wooden ones. On top of his cyan hair, he wore a Marine's cap backwards and a pair of ruby-colored shades covered his eyes. In his hands, he carried a large, red stick. Unlike Glenn, he wore a serious look on his face.
Fortune couldn't help but stare at the Vice-Admiral. He was huge! Standing at least thirty feet tall, Vice-Admiral Roog was massive. He wore the jacket of a highly decorated Marine officer, huge combat boots and black pants. Under his jacket, Fortune could see not one, not two, but four extra arms!
This must be the merman blood in him, she thought as she looked up at him, Brother did say he was a hybrid of merman and giant...I guess he's part octopus merman to have those extra arms.
Slowly moving his mane of thick, white hair out of his eyes, Roog looked carefully at the group.
"Commander Ukita," he nodded, his voice deep and gravelly, "I'm glad you could make it on such short notice,"
Ash grinned, his arms in his jacket, "Nice to be here. I've never been to Slayheim, but I've heard it's one helluva place,"
Roog chuckled deeply, "Indeed," he turned to Fortune, "I take it you are the sister of my 2nd Lieutenant Atreyu?"
Fortune nodded, "Yes sir. I'm his twin sister. Is he here?" she held up the paper she had in her jacket, "I have a letter saying he was hoping to talk to me,"
"I'm sorry, but Atreyu is on an errand for me," Roog shook his head slowly, "He should be back in a few days, though. A week, if things get bad. But, I wouldn't worry about him...his new abilities give him the edge where he is,"
"Where is he, sir?"
"Isla Cadaver," Roog wiped his nose, "An island about a day's journey from here. Now," he clapped his upper hands, "I suppose it's best to get the briefing out of the way. I'm sure you all know about the rising number of pirates and other fugitives with high bounties rippling through the Grand Line,"
Glenn nodded, "Yes, sir. From this rookie from the East Blue, Monkey D. Luffy, to anyone like Shidyk D. Shade,"
Roog smiled, "Glad you've payed attention, Captain. As the one in charge of Slayheim Fortress, I have the duty to arrest or kill anyone who is outside the law...save any traveling Shichibukai. Now, special orders have come through. There is one group in particular that we must be careful with,"
"Sir?" Fortune raised her hand, "Who would that be?"
"Not those Straw Hat punks," Ash muttered, picking his nose, "Sure, this Luffy kid took down Crocodile, but he was the weakest of the Shichibukai...it was bound to happen,"
Roog shook his head and brought out a folder from behind his back, tossing them to the group, "This group is called the Axe-Head pirates,"
"Axe-Heads?" Ichi raised an eyebrow, "I heard they were disbanded a few years ago,"
"It seems that the captain, who vanished during that time, has resurfaced and gotten himself a new crew. Mostly kids, but some of those kids are worth taking note of,"
Sam snagged the contents of the folder and whistled, "70,000,000 Beli for this chick? She's pretty hot...is 70,000,000 her bounty or her rate?"
Ichi raised his stick and whacked Sam on the head hard, "Listen, perverted midget...shut the hell up,"
Roog cleared his throat, "That girl is considered a threat by the Gorousei themselves,"
"What da hell?!" Sam leapt out of his seat, waving the poster around, "This chick? Are you serious? What the hell for?"
Fortune covered her eyes, He's in for it now...
"It seems she has an ability that could tip the balance between the Three Powers," Roog explained slowly, glaring at Sam, "For now, we have orders that if we find her, we take her alive...and if she cannot be persuaded to reform and leave her pirating life, she will either be incarcerated or executed to prevent the wrong forces from obtaining her powers,"
"Holy shit!"
Everyone turned to Ash, who held another poster.
He turned it around to show them, "This ain't Captain Zolaro's kid?"
Roog nodded, "The one and the same. The daughter of Captain Zolaro was imprisoned for treason and murder and now, she travels with a dangerous man,"
Fortune looked at them, confused, "I'm sorry...but who is Captain Zolaro?"
"Who was Captain Zolaro," Ichi corrected, "He died years ago in duty. His daughter, Niri, was a promising cadet. She had the dream that, with her father's legendary pistol at her side, she would bring justice to the world as her father did in his years of service,"
"My God," Fortune covered her mouth, "Horrible...,"
"Check this chick out," Sam held up another poster, "What the hell kinda name is Chizuru?"
"Gimme that," Ash snatched it away and looked at it for a few moments, "What the hell is with this captain? Is he a pervert or what, most of these people are chicks,"
Roog took a seat at his desk and crossed his upper hands in front of him, "This is a crew of unique pirates...some we have permission to kill if need to, but it'd better to take them alive. However, since we are stationed here, we cannot go seeking them out,"
"Then what the hell was all this for?" Sam held up the folder, "I mean, if we're not going anywhere, what the hell, man?"
Ash pushed down on Sam's head, "Shut it, runt!"
"I've shown and told you all about this group so that if the bounty hunters I've hired can do their jobs right and bring them in, you'll know their faces and who to spare,"
"Hold on," Ash rose to his feet, waving his hand, "I'm sorry, I'm still not getting it...?"
"Maybe you will in time, Commander Ukita," Roog leaned back and put his upper hands behind hi head, crossing his lower and middle arms across his abdomen, "Until that time, just trust me. There is a method to my madness. Until then, you three will remain here until I have no longer any use for you or you receive new orders. Glenn, show them the barracks,"
Captain Glenn yawned and scratched the back of his head, "Got it, boss,"
As the others left, Ichi remained in his place, holding onto his stick as he faced the Vice-Admiral.
"You think we can capture them, sir?"
"If not the bounty huntress, then the lad will...," Roog chuckled, nodding, "That is...if he or the island doesn't kill them first,"
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Kilnorc: Aw man, first chapter of the new CotA series. Man, I sure hope that this was a good start. As you can see, all of the Marines you saw are OC's I've made -bows- they're pretty cool and they all have their quirks. You'll see later on. Again, I hope you've enjoyed the first chapter. Later ya'll! Okay, for sure now, I'm gonna work on my other stuff...-runs off-
On the next chapter of Dead or Alive...
Axe: Okay...I didn't wanna admit it, but for now..we're so friggin' lost.
Devon: Great. We let Dusty hold the Log Pose and steer the ship one time and we're off course from Jaya! Kit, if we never get there, I'm gonna kill you!
Niri: Well, until we find the course again, why not just stop at the island ahead and chill? C'mon, there might be some treasure there...
Hidden Enemy Onboard!
???: This is gonna be fun...
(1) This translates (as best to my knowledge) to Dance of Death.