This Bites - Dark Isles preview
by EB-the-GAMER
(PREVIEW FOR A FANFICTION, OF A FANFICTION)
A thick, pea-soup level fog rolled in slowly but surely as the Sunny was on its way to the island, directed by the off-colored, bitter-smelling, log pose.
I contemplated while Soundbite's sudden onset of "snoozing sickness," which, judging by how He and Chopper had somehow BOTH sunk into unconsciousness, was some kind of ploy to get us to the unmarked island the log pose pointed towards. It didn't seem to affect humans though, so at my suggestion, the crew decided to have The Dugongs, Lassoo and Funkfreed below deck for the time being.
this seemed eerily familiar to me on SOME level, but I racked my brain thinking of what this had in common with any Goda's narrative. We'd already encountered the Rainbow Mist and passed through that dead Triangle...though this felt much more mystic, calming, and not as lifeless in comparison.
I'd have to be on-guard wherever this rabbit hole would lead us, it might very well be a trap. I started to get tired as I looked out into the haze, my mind starting to drift off a bit, and then:
"YOOOOOOOUUUUU! FRIEND OR FOOOOOOOOOEE!"
I jumped and looked around for the origin of the question - though it was more of a command- as a continuous whistle filled the air.
"Cross! Starboard side!" Merry shouted over to me, turning the ship "There's a lighthouse; I think whoever's calling out to us is over there!" And looking out, yeah, there was a faint light that occasionally flickered, hovering apparently high above the water. Luffy put his hands on his knees and leaned forward as we moved forward a new wave of mist past by us and - OK, that whistling was getting louder and starting to really annoy me!
Thankfully, from down below, Boss agreed. "HEY, KNOCK IT OFF WITH THE WHISTLE JACKASS!" he yelled upwards at a colossal Gate that we'd approached. the whistle died down, giving our ears a rest. I grabbed Soundbite, put him on my shoulder and walked up to the railing to get a better look at it.
"How odd, I mean, we were looking for an island, I understand, but it took less than a month to get here, and nothing on the current map shows any neighboring islands that close..." Robin stated, examining the large designs of what appeared to be Gargoyles hanging their toes off the top of the doors.
"Ahoy!" a higher-pitched voice called from the top of the wall, "Who are you?! Are you friend or foe!?"
"FRIEEEEEEND OR FOOOOOOOOOOE!" boomed the much deeper voice again.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHHHHHH! MONSTER!" Chopper and Usopp screamed in unison, pointing at the lighthouse. I looked at it hard, and then it blinked at me.
"The... one RING..."
I couldn't help but smile at Sounbite briefly before refocusing on the giant eyeball staring down at us, even in this concerning sleeping state he managed to get a quip in.
"That depends, are you the guys the asshats that made our friends fall asleep with a booby trapped Log Pose?" I responded.
"Wait...," The Higher Pitched voice paused for a moment, "I recognize that voice! are you Cross?! from that SBS show?!"
Good to know this mysterious location wasn't cut off from the rest of the world, at least. "Yeah!"
"SUGOI-ney Weaver!," I...um, my brain stalled as I processed what I'd just heard...huh...thats a new one..."Hold on, I'll explain once you guys are over here on this side! HEY GINCH, lettem by, They're the Straw Hats!"
"FRIEEEEEND!" Ginch the eyeball, apparently, roared in response, shifting its gaze over to the Gate.
"Wow! Its like a giant mirror!" Luffy grinned as the doors slowly swung open, revealing a clear, almost stagnent expanse of ocean that reflected everything on the surface, making gorgous doubles of the freshly setting sun and the sparse clouds that surrounded it. "Something feels off here," Zoro stated with a stern expression, his hands lightly gripping the hilt of his swords "watch for anything suspicious."
everyone nodded silently as we turned our attention to the sound of a rowboat being manuvered from the island the gate was attached to. not too remarkable except for what was using that rowboat to come towards us.
The being wore some kind of a mask that covered the whole of his face, save for one bright yellow eye; said mask had three spikes, one on each side of his face, and one sticking out directly from the top. He wore a overly large zip-up hoodie, mittens, and squared shoes. all of apparel was yellow, tan and white.
"Permission to come aboard?" The strange man (?) hollared up to us. we let down a ladder for him to climb up.
"MY NAME!," The creature stretched to its full height, about as tall as me, arms outstretched, and well...
...
...
...
"Djon! Master of the whistle-whistle fruit! With it, I can transform my hands into whistles, and control the frequency however I see fit!" He finished before the running gag could play out in full, I huffed...
"killjoy..." Soundbite murmured.
Sanji snorted, inhaling his cigarette slightly. Djon pretended not to notice, but the way his visible eye flashed red for a split second before continuing betrayed his feelings.
"Welcome to the Islands of dreams, nightmares, and memories! The Dark Isle!"
" ~OH, My captain's head went a-sailin',
my captain's head went a-sailin',
my captain's head went a-sailin', on the first Monday of last May!~
~My captain's head went a-sailin',
my captain's head went a-sailin',
And to that the crews a-cheerin' on this, a glorious day!~
~Our captain was a dullard, in every way but name,
he had no cre-ate-tivity, in any kind of game!~
~ He flipped a giants table, While they were playin' Chess,
And was swiftly booted out the door, and into a big dog's 'Mess!'
~My captain's head went a-sailin',
my captain's head went a-sailin',
my captain's head went a-sailin', overhead then overboard!~
~My captain's head went a-sailin',
my, captain's head went a-sailin',
He wasn't so much liked, as he truly was abhorred!~
~His eye's were like a demons, they glowed a neon green,
They instilled our greatest nightmares, and kept all our workers keen!~
~Slowly, and all but surely, unrest did we obtain,
And planned to mut-en-nie the Dullard, at night and in the rain!~
~But unbeknownst to us,
We got caught un-a-wars
by Richard Vice, 'The Ravager', who had tons of battle scars!~
~ He was our greatest rival,
and had us at pistol-point.
until our dullard captain had shot him right in his joint!~
~Wish you coulda seen, the battle that was fought,
though the rival crew had pinned us, our captain still cleaved and shot.~
~Till Richard held us hostage, with a black spot on a note,
and gave the choice to Captain with his cutlass on our throat~
~ AAAAAAND then, our captain's head went a-sailin',
our captain's head went a-sailin',
He sacrificed his life for ours, he was the bravest man!~
~Our captain's head went a-sailin',
OUR CAAPTAINS HEAD WENT AH-SAAAAAAAAIIIIILIN'...
So we celebrate his pureness with this song, that - my friend's - the plan!~
~WE CELEBRATE HIS BRAVERY WHENEVER WE SO CAN!~"
Brook and Robin couldn't help but hum along to the morbid-yet-optimistic tune the various monsters in the pub were singing along with while waiting for their drink.
speaking of the variety of strange creatures was really something, some of them looked like autonomous puppets, others like bugs, birds and other animals, and others looked like nothing in particular. Luffy rushed from table to table, asking everyone what they were and singing praises left and right.
" Hey you little manatees! WATCH IT!" a dog-like monster almost literally barked at the Dugongs. He wore a tri-corner hat, a red an black striped coat over a green jacket, both over-sized, and his borwn pants were thouroughly soaked, eliciting snickers from Su as well as his five-headed and fishy drinking buddies.
"You watch it, you raggedy-ass puppy!" Boss shot back just as loudly, crossing his arms and making an effort to mask the pain behind his recent injuries. " We fought the monster that was keeping everyone from returning to the docks, don't think I can't take you on too!"
there was immediate silence and the people in the bar turned to face Boss in surprise.
"You fought the Man of The Sea? And you won?" The monster asked in amazement, not even concerned with the hot hangover coffee spilled on his trousers anymore.
"Man of the Sea?" Boss inquired "Do you know why that thing had my title as its name?"
The pirate shuddered "Aye, The creature you fought and defeated was a Fiend, in particular the step-up called a Fiendish. Creatures unconsiously born of memories that inhabit all but the last Island on this particular stretch of water." He was handed another cup of coffee and drunk it silently. " some are friendlys, but most of them are wild beasts. Fiendishes and Archfiends though... You must be skilled ya' landblubber. I wonder what dredge of a memoy was powerful enough to make a second-best level Fiend like that?"
Boss didn't let the insult in those words bother him, but he stared at the monster unreadably.
I needed a way of breaking the tension, then a thought occured " You have a song for them?" I asked, half-jokingly.
" Yeh! Let Captain Black Dog tell yeh all abouts 'em!" The monster chugged his coffee and went up to the stage.
Me, Merry, Frankie, Nami, Zoro and Usopp followed Fristol through the village to the shore, Soundbite stayed silent as he stared at the trenchcoat wearing creature leading us.
"The wreckyard is just around this rock, zig." He said flatly "There, we should find a ship we can salvage and use to repair yours, zig."
Around said rock was the most depressing sight I could have imagined, dozens of ships of different sizes and shapes in various states of disrepair. some - I noticed - were distressingly still sea worthy by the looks of it. some lay on the beach in pieces, some in the water and cut cleanly open, others still were impaled on the spiked rock formations like they had been thrown with purpose...
The shaken look from Merry and Frankie kept my mouth shut for the moment
Fristol smiled lightly as he surveyed the wreckyard "feel free to loot any of these ships you choose as you look for the right materials, zig. Mi casa es su casa, and I don't have an interest in gold or treasure, zig." His smile vanished as he sat into a hammock made from an old sail canvas
Nami, drooling, took off to scour the less broken-looking ships with Usopp. Zoro sat down on a toppled and destroyed Crow's Nest next to Fristol, Frankie came with Me, Merry and Soundbite to look for something that could suitably repair the damage.
-o-
Zoro glared intently at Fristol, as well as the large sword that looked like it was part sawblade, for several minutes, before deciding to ask a question.
"Are you a strong swordsman? I feel like theres more to it than that though too, am I right?"
Fristol didn't even bother turning his head "I am a swordsman, and in my world, strength was something you had to have in great supply-" he paused, and closed his eyes while reminiscing " - though, if I recall, my instructor said she'd never seen my level of skill back then when I was about 16, 3 years ago, zig." He leaned over, looking Zoro over. "Why do you ask, zig? Wanting to prove yourself with a duel with me, zig?"
The predatory smiles that came up made Zoro and Fristol's agreement to duel clear.
"Lets wait until we, for sure, aren't busy with other stuff, zig."
"Fine by me, I'm excited."
-o-
" I'M just saying, IF THEY ARE going TO LET US GO, i say we take it! i've only felt this way about an island one OTHER TIME, AND I DON'T WANNA REPEAT THAT." Soundbite argued as we looked through the scraps and wreckage.
"Sounbite, what...what was the -"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHH!"
Merry's scream snapped me out of the question. Everyone immediately got up and ran around trying to find her as she continued crying out further into the wreckyard. I managed to find her first, and I can honestly say the sight was more than just disturbing.
"I-I-I-It's big-bro S-Sunny!" Merry cried as she turned away and gripped my pant leg as tight as she could manage.
The ship, seemingly impaled from the side, before us definately looked like the Thousand Sunny, the figurehead, the trees aboard, and so on. "What, the fuck, is this!?"
"Ah, so thats the ship huh, zig?" Fristol stated as he and the rest of the crew managed to join us, their expressions reflecting mine as they gazed up at it.
"HEY WHAT DID YOU DO TO SUNNY, TRENCHCOAT!?" Frankie snapped out of his stunned silence, grabbing Fristol by the collar and lifting him up. Fristol could not have looked more apathetic if he had tried.
"That isn't YOUR Sunny. look closely at it." the creature sighed. Frankie set him down and turned his attention to the ship again, as did the rest of us.
Indeed, looking more closely it didn't seem so much that this Sunny was impaled so much as it was growing out of the rocks themselves. It also seemed to be covered in a bunch of purple thread-like webs. It was also, stockier, smaller, and more tub-like than the ship we needed to repair.
Fristol stepped towards it, "You all seem confused, zig. I'll explain," he said bluntly, gesturing at the ship "This, is one of your memories given shape by the powers of the lord and ruler of this Island, Momentos. once his powers manifest it, it becomes a physical duplicate"
Then it hit me dead on. "This is The Thousand Sunny, as I remember it from the story." I breathed to Nami, Zoro and Merry. "Without Merry, without the crew members that joined because of me, this would have been the Sunny we'd sailed on from Water 7." Nami and Merry swallowed hard and turned their attention back to the ship.
Thankfully, Fristol was too busy being lost in is own thoughts looking it over to hear me, staring at the ship for a bit before nodding his head in affirmation. He smiled.
Then, in one swift, quick motion, he cut the duplicate Sunny up the middle with his large sawbladed sword. As the ship's halves lifted off the pointed rocks from the force, it simply started to fall apart, individual wooden parts and planks cleanly falling loose from its port side, and its starboard side falling into the water.
We were all struck by horrified awe as Fristol spoke again, smiling manically with the broken up pieces falling to the sand in front of him, kicking it up. "I couldn't tell you a thing about why I love dismantling ships. something about cutting through the keel of the things like butter gives me a feeling that is nothing short of satisfaction." He slid the sword back into place on his back.
He sighed as he turned towards us again, his expression calming down, but still smiling "If that was the memory of your previous ship, and you upgraded, it should be made of the same kind of materials, once Fez returns from his business errand, he can use his Swap-swap powers to repair the damage that that Lance Squid caused to your hull. Then you'll all be set to sail again."
He stacked and then picked up a bunch of wooden planks and walked past us, whistling all the while.
We all stared at what was left of the Thousand Sunny lying on the beach and floating out to sea. One by one, we turned away from the melancholy scene and followed Fristol out of the wreckyard. Me Merry and Frankie lingered behind.
Merry trembled in a barely contained sadness, fear and rage, tears were flooding down her cheeks as she gripped my hand. "T-that version of big-bro Sunny...they were still "there," I-I could hear his voice! until...until-!"
I hugged her close as Frankie glowered at the spot Fristol was standing in a few minutes earlier. we then turned and walk to join our crew back in town.
The Dark Messenger managed to carry Robin, The Stranger and me a short distance to a small but long island with a large black slab in the middle of it, a tree at the opposite end from where we landed.
Robin looked around, the island was dead silent save for the wind. " What is this place Mr. Messanger?"
The Dark Messenger smiled sadly, but kindly "This is The Grave of the Lost, a mysterious thing that records the names of those who died without a true final resting place, its one of the only island that has never been influenced or visited by Lord Momentos."
Robin thought for a second before visibly pieceing together what the creauture was implying.
"You Mean-?"
"I do, we'll wait here for you."
Robin pulled lightly at the brim of her hat and smiled solmnly as she quickly walked to the slab.
"Thank you." I said as I sat down in the sand, "Something like this means a lot to her."
The Stranger shifted his weight before sitting next to me...a little too close for comfort
" You are welcome, but, I must inform you that you and your crew are in danger."
I heard the sound of shifting stone as the slab apparently shifted through various names, Robin patiently but intently watched.
I knew there WAS SOMETHING not right with this place!" Soundbite snorted "so what is it then, Momentos has a GRAND PLAN he WANTS US OFF THE island for? Is he a part of some group? Is he - IS HE THE MILKMAN?!"
The Stranger's eye twitched as Soundbite stared intensely for the answer. "All of the above. he's planning something for his bosses starting tonight, he wanted you all gone yesterday, but since you stayed the night, and caught on that something's suspicious - like I did - he's opted to start getting more...agressive about getting rid of you all if you keep going on and looking into it. and he does run a farm nearby with hiefer fiends."
"You know, telling this to me is making me more and more interested, and my crew is strong, so why did you tell me this knowing how we are from the SBS?" I grinned in spite of the situation.
The stranger lifted a cigar, and took a puff of it before continuing. "because this is more of an ultimatum. since he's not going to act quite yet unless you actually try anything, you can leave now, and be done with these islands for good, no one who's left ever comes back here and barely anyone leaves. BUT, if you decide to stay, he will probably go for the memories of you most notorious enemies to combat you. most likely the one who, pretty much technically killed you and everyone in your crew, save Luffy and Soundbite."
"who?" I thought aloud putting the crook of my finger up to my chin to think "The one who I think gave us the most trouble was Shiki, but I-"
"YOU KNOW THATS NOT WHO I REFER TO, JERRY CROSS." The Stranger cut in sharply, snapping me to attention "The man I refer to was one you met after the Davy Back Fights broadcast and before your broadcasts on Water 7 and Enies, he changed the very fabric of you who and the rest of the Straw Hats are, turning you all against each other and into various shades of jackasses, he all but KILLED YOU and FORCED ALL THOSE LISTENING, INCLUDING FAMILY AND FRIENDS MIND YOU, TO THE SBS TO LISTEN , all for the sad sake of keeping facades of his crew alive through your sacrifices. Just to hammer it all home, you all survived him because of someone else's lucky shot."
I swallowed HARD, the description of the events were something I had definately discussed with everyone before, and we'd all agreed it was some kind of shared bad dream, and left it where it lie. Thats when I looked at Soundbite, and noticed his terrified, paled expression.
"BARON Omatsuri and Lily Carnation."
The Stranger relaxed, the fact we deluded ourselves apparently annoyed him greatly "AH, you do remember, I'd be happy to share all those details with you and I bet that Captain Luffy does too." He tilted his head "Now, knowing that you all have that wretched near death experience hidden away in the dusty part of your minds, Momentos will most likely use it to put you all through hell again with his Momento-Momento powers, only this time he will most likely add some stuff to it to keep you guessing on top of it all."
I gave him an amazed look, he sighed and layed himself down "I've had much time to think about your possible arrival, and if there was ever one thing that I learned, its that not showing your opponents proper respect can lead to trouble in more than one kind of way."
I smiled mischieviously as Robin returned "Buts its just so hard to resist the urge to have a little fun with them!"
Lord Momentos slouched in his chair so far that his back was almost fully horizontal against his seat. only his head was against the backrest as he scanned the Straw Hats that had come to challenging him for his rule over this island in the Dark Isles.
"Where is Cross, memory man?" Luffy snarled, Soundbite sitting on his strapped transiever, and Vibrognash sitting on Luffy's left shoulder.
Momentos narrowed his eyes, "This is the first time Fiends have been so nice to visitors, first there was the Saul-full and Belle-mire, but that was by my own design for the poor girls." Momento slid out of his chair and into a standing position. "then there were the Fiendishes made in the image of a few of your former enemies, that helped you combat some of our actual army..." Momentos' head rolled and twisted around for a bit, before settling down again and gazing out at Vibrognash. "...And now you too, my mass-produced perfection?"
Vibrognash grimaced angrily from his perch.
"WHERE'S CROSS you CREEPY CROOKED ass of a man?!" Soundbite Demanded
Momentos scoffed at the snail "Its far too late, he's being quickly taken to End Line, the last of the islands, as we speak by Polly, once he gets to the top of the clocktower in Finisdis City over there," Momentos paused "The Editors will do their worst, and there won't be a crewmate for you to save anymore."
Luffy, was silent, the brim of his hat covering his eyes, as he set down Soundbite and Vibrognash on the ground. "If you think you think you can just take one of my crew, Momentos." His glare, made the Lord flinch "THEN YOU HAVE ANOTHER THING COMING, BASTARD! GUM-GUM - "
The clear whistle of an arrow blew through the air, causing Luffy to stop mid attack-name as he dodged the projectile that nearly impaled him from straight above.
Soundbite Looked up, and almost swallowed his tongue at the figure standing sideways on the incline of the architecture of the cieling.
"Did you forget I have a whole series of your adventure's worth of memories I can pull from? Straw Hat Monkey?!"
The Archfiend with the tree tipped head, tendrils and a flower on its shoulder readied another arrow.
"You have only yourself and Cross to blame! HE DECIDED TO DIG, AND YOU WERE JUST AS MUCH OF A CLUELESS MORON AS EVER!"
A whole volley of arrows rained down at once. Luffy picked up a potted plant, and whipped it above himself as the blanket of daggersharp arrows pinned themselves around him. Conis, Brook and The Stranger had rushed out of the radius just beforehand.
"Speckehihihi...I only wished Cross had been captured later, I wanted him to be a part of your little attack team here." Momentos chuckled, "Oh, well. Momento-Momento Reunion! MEMORIA!"
The seprentine spectre wrapped around its master as a few revived Archfiends reappeared. Hundred Plan, Foul Play, Devil Child, Crescent Moon, and Straw Hat all materialized themselves and primed for a fight, The present Straw Hats did the same.
what followed was pure chaos.
The creature blinked wearily as it came too, he was no longer drifting on debris, but inside a ship by the looks of it. His head hurt, his stomache ached and his palms just got sweaty, must've been pirates. No one was around to watch him, heh, they probably thought he was harmless.
...
Weeeeell..., the purple Axolotl-like creature thought to himself, its not like they were WRONG per say, He didn't want to fight if he could help it, after all.
He decided to sneak around, The Pirates seemed to be doing their own separate activities. He wondered how he could go from one place to another without being seen, It didn't necessarily matter if they knew he was up and about, as long as they couldn't reach him it would be fine...
reach.
reach! that was it!
The monster saw a rope connected to a boxed off crows nest high above the ship. However, it was right next to the pretty angel, a woman in black reading a book and the oddly dressed stranger he'd seen several times in town before. He Oozed as he steeled himself to climb that rope. This Ooze-Ooze fruit that the Editors had crammed down his throat was an insult, but at least it'd allow him to move quickly and slide up the rope.
He pressed himself against the ground as much as his liquidy state could manage and slowly crept to the rope,
...
almost there...
...
"How're ya doin'?" The nearby sword vibrated as he reached a gooey, smelly hand up to climb. The angel and the stranger both turned to glance at him in his puddly state.
In absolute shock The monster re-solidified and grabbed the rope, pulling him up to the crow's nest extremely quickly when he tugged at it. He clambered into the room and snapped the door shut. He paced back and forth to calm his anxiety at the situation. It was only a matter of time before these pirates got up to the crow's nest and caught him for good, and then, who knows what they'd do to him. He shuddered.
"Hey. You up there!"
He turned around, there was a pipe transferring someone's voice. a woman for sure.
"W-what do you want with me?!"...That was more panicked than he'd meant it to sound.
"Hey, is that how you talk to someone who saved you from being adrift at sea?!" the woman snapped.
"ANSWER MY QUESTION FIRST!" The combo of stress and anger was exceedingly apparent.
...
...
"We need your help to find one of our crewmates" the woman stated "its as simple as that, you were with him when he left with those cloaked asswipes."
"The Editors?" The monster said, "forget it. If you intend on following them to End Line, you ARE suicidal!"
"HEY! Come on! WE'VE SURVIVED WORSE. I thought people on these islands LISTENED TO the SBS!?" came another voice, though this sounded like it was stitched from other voices and it went right in his ear.
"...your those Straw Hats that...WAIT! where's Lord Momentos?!"
"He's FINE, tied up, KNOCKED OUT, and with a ton of bruises for the shit he put us through, BUT FINE" the patchwork voice confirmed.
The monsters voice changed to something soft as he paled "...I, failed..."
SPLASH
"What are those?! Its piggybacking on that one! And THAT one's on top of those two!" someone outside yelled in dumbstruck shock.
Something huge appeared outside, apparently
"What?! what was that!? what are you saying?"
The creature explained "My job was partially to have my curse lifter by protecting Momentos and be in league with the Editors by helping them complete their objectives too. The Editors cast me aside mid-voyage when they got Cross on the way to Bladeys Island, and now that Momentos is also captured...I've failed, and I have nothing else to live for..."
With that the monster listlessly opened the door to the outside ignoring whatever the voices through the pipes, and used his powers to get up to the tip of the ship's main mast where the flag waved.
on the other, less impressive, mast crouched some kind of a Crocodile that made a slight ticking noise, apparently it had known where the creature was, and had scrabled up to a good position to jump at himon top of it, a great white covered in scars and gnashing furiously, and on top of that, some kind of octopus and squid combo. all of them eyed the creature as he reformed himself and disabled his powers in acceptance.
The Croc pounced, the shark opening its mouth wide and the squidopus reaching for him. All there was for a few moments was the ticking.
tick!
tick!
tick!
Its okay...I deserve to die through this curse. All that work to get somewhere, I wasted it. I could not do anything to keep Momentos from being caught, I wasn't able to bring him aboard the Editor's ship and was not good enough to join The Editors, I deserved the punishment these new powers represent, I-
"ONI GIRI!"
"GUM GUM PISTOL!"
tock?
The monster fell backwards as he looked up at a swordsman with three swords, He hadn't actually managed to cut the crocodile, Tick Tock Croc...somehow, but his attack had both knocked the monster up out of its collision course with him, and knocked it out. The shark, White Death for sure, and the Orange Octopus(?) had been hit hard by two extending fists.
The salamander-like monster, still reflexively shutting off his powers, fell to the deck as his returning pursuers fell into the water off the port side. He lost consciousness as soon as he hit it.