This story originally started as a discussion with my friend on what Devil Fruit powers would you have. It eventually became a crew and we decided to throw them into some ridiculous situation.
Main characters consist of entirely OC's
I don't own One Piece although I wish I did
Thanks goes out to my buddy BlazingRedDragon
Hope you enjoy the story
Chapter 1 : A Good Place for a Fight
In a dimly lit room stood two women standing opposite a hidden figure sitting on a raised wooden throne. "I'm disappointed in you ladies." Said a distinctly male voice. "You two have failed to fulfil your quota this month."
"It's not our fault that there haven't been any of pirates coming to our part of the ocean." Replied the blue haired warrior in leather armour and a large, two-handed sword sheathed on her back.
"Besides, were just one more score behind." Added the red head clad in a simple shirt, jacket and leggings along with several pistols strapped to her. "A bit more time and you'll get your money."
"Well, you two are my more reliable workers." Reasoned the boss. "Very well, you can have your extension. Never say that I am not merciful to my fellow enforcers."
His smile shone in the gloom, a gentle smile that at first glance would be dismissed but the girls knew all too well that it hid a devious mind. With a quick bow and a rushed thank you, the two young women quickly left.
As they exited the repurposed warehouse, the two friends stopped and gazed out at the town. It was a simple port town that they had grown up in, a small but bustling town which drew its fair share of marines, merchants, pirates and other criminals. However the mayor of this little town also happened to be a crime lord who controlled the flow of criminals in and out of the island, making sure that whoever entered would agree to his rules... or else. Oddly enough, it was a peaceful existence on the island as the crime boss actually put value in people ... well, in people that could get the job done.
We should head to the docks." Suggested the blue haired warrioress. "The sooner we get this done, Reis, the sooner I can get back to my meditation."
Reis gave her companion a sly look. "Xenovia dear, doesn't your spot happen to overlook the farm grounds. The same plot that has that cute new worker..."
Xenovia cut her off with an icy glare. Reis just giggled but didn't pursue it any further. They headed down towards town into the bustling market only stopping briefly at the armoury stand because Reis wanted see the new selection of pistols that had arrived. She stared wistfully at the selection before an impatient Xenovia dragged her away. They quickly reached the docks and sat down on the short perimeter wall separating the docks from the rest of the village and pulled out a wad of wanted posters.
As town enforcers, it was their job to make sure that any 'uninvited' pirates, bandits, thieves and the like don't make it into the main economic area of the crime syndicate. Wanted posters are made of those who don't pay the entrance toll or that you've ticked off someone high up and were quickly distributed to the enforcers and were quickly (albeit not immediately) dealt with.
Reis's gaze wandered from the crowd to the open ocean and sighed. Xenovia glanced at her lifelong friend, knowing that look all too well. She was about to turn back to the job at hand when a strange commotion coming from one of the piers caught her attention.
"HAHAH. SEE BROTHER! I TOLD YOU WE'D MAKE IT!" Bellowed a voice.
She looked up and saw a large man in a crimson commodore styled jacket and tricorn hat standing with his right foot propped on the bow of the rowing boat that he was on and struck an adventurous pose. (which in their opinion just made him look even more ridiculous.) At the stern sat a young boywith a small backpack beating on a small drum at a steady beat. In front of him sat a strange grey man who keeping within rhythm of the beat with the oars. Reis also noticed the odd group and both watched on as the tall man lightly stepped off the boat and onto the pier.
He took a deep, over exaggerated breath and cried out. "Ahhh land! How I missed you so! Specifically your beef, mutton, pork and venison!" The kid hopped onto the pier to join his brother (specifically using the strange grey man as a makeshift ladder) and said something to him but the girls were too far to hear. The three headed the customs station and disappeared from view.
"Quick." Hissed Reis. "Check to see if the loudmouth is on the list."
Xenovia shuffled through the posters until she came across the one they wanted. "Here it is." She whispered.
The picture that faced them showed the same man with a sack of treasure slung over the left shoulder and a chunk of meat in his free hand. Curiously, there was a small ball of fire captured on the edge of the picture near his face but since the picture seemed to have been taken aboard a ship, they chalked it up to the possibility that it was a torch.
"Artherius 'Blood-Scale' Pendragon." Reis read out loud. "750 000 Beri bounty. Hmm, that should cover what we need quite nicely." Xenovia was about to agree when the following poster caught her eye.
"Wait Reis. Look at this." She pulled out the poster and read out the name. "Edward 'The Terracotta General' Holmes."
Reis's eyes widened slightly to see the same kid that was with the loudmouth in the picture. He was sitting on the shoulder of the strange grey man with a goofy grin on his face while waving to the camera. They took a closer look at the grey man only to see a very disturbing image staring back at them. He had two inverted teardrop shaped eyes that looked more like pits than eyes. He also wore a creepy open-mouth smile that just made the guy look even less human. The two girls exchanged looks as they took note of the 500 000 beri bounty.
"You don't think... I mean he's barely in his teens... I..."
Xenovia cut off her friend, and quickly dismissed any doubt. "No. I'm sure they are referring to the strange grey man. I highly doubt they would put such a large bounty on a simple child."
A loud roar of laughter echoed from the customs snapping them back to the task at hand. Knowing who was behind the commotion, the two enforcers headed towards the customs office to see what was going on.
As they arrived, they saw their targets talking to one of the customs official, Aunt Mia to be exact. "Do you honestly expect me to pay the toll?" Laughed Artherius.
"No sir." Explained the old crone in her slow drawn out monotone. "However, according to the laws of the Island all entrants who do not pay the toll may or may not be subject to humiliation, incarceration, subjugation, isolation, destruction, persecution, execution and..." she took a deep breath. "Fines."
"Waitwaitwait. Are you saying that I don't need to pay the tolls and I might get into a fight?"
"Yes."
"This place is awesome!"
The kid just rolled his eyes but kept his cheerful grin.
"Come on, brother. Let's go and find us a fight." The tall pirate told his little brother
"Can't we get some food first? I'm starving." Asked the boy
"Like I said, first we get some meat and then we find a fight."
The kid cheered and hopped onto the grey guy's shoulders, who this entire time hadn't said a word, and followed Artherius into the town.
The two enforcers quietly followed them at a distance and watched as the three men headed into a nearby tavern.
"Hang on." Artherius turned and faced the other two as they had arrived outside the Stolen Coin tavern. "Leave it outside. I don't want to have to deal with the same thing that happened last time."
"Sure thing." Answered the boy.
He climbed down from the grey man and followed his brother inside. Reis and Xenovia turned to each other and discussed their strategy on taking down the wanted men.
"Going in there and hauling them out will just cause unnecessary problems. Best bet is to get them to come with us." Reasoned Xenovia."
"It's a sound plan especially considering the amount you were billed for damages the last time you fought in the streets." Smirked Reis.
"Oh shut up." Growled Xenovia as she drew her large, two-handed sword. "Let's just grab their lookout and get on with it already."
Reis just nodded although her smirk never vanished. They approached the strange grey man with their weapons trained on him.
The people around, who were used of this sort of thing, ignored them but did put some distance between themselves and the ensuing conflict. Both enforcers studied their soon-to-be captive and became even more horrified at his curse. The person looked more like a stone statue than a man and the fact that he wore no clothes didn't help at all. In fact they weren't even sure that he was a man.
Xenovia levelled her sword at the strange being's head and quietly spoke to the creature. "I suggest you come quietly. We get paid extra if the target is alive."
Reis stifled a giggle at Xenovia's exaggerated machoness but kept her pistol focused on the creature. The statue guy turned his head to face the sword and cocked it at an angle. A little unnerved at its silent stare, Xenovia gestured to the thing to move out of the village. The creature remained motionless for a while, still just staring at its captors.
"Final warning." Chimed Reis.
A few more seconds passed before the thing straightened up and began to walk in the direction the two enforcers had indicated without any protest. Reis pulled out a piece of paper, wrote on it and handed it to the bouncer for him to deliver to the wanted man.
Meanwhile inside, the two pirates were busy enjoying one of the best meals that they have had in a long time.
"Brother?" asked the kid. "Why did we let them take Thud?"
"So we know where to go for a fight." Answered Artherius as he wolfed down his stack of meat.
"Makes sense. Can I have some beer now?"
Artherius picked up a mug and placed it in front of his brother. "No. Now finish your milk Eddy."
Eddy dropped his head in depression. "Ah, come on." He complained
Reis and Xenovia stood waiting on a grassy knoll for the two pirates to arrive. Their captive sat a couple of paces behind them, completely bound in rope. Reis quickly spotted the two pirates.
"There they are." She indicated to her friend. "And it's about time to. I have better things to do today."
"Suuure you do." Replied Xenovia sarcastically. She knew perfectly well that Reis's idea of a busy day involved shopping, lying about in their room or drinking vast quantities of alcohol.
Before Reis could retort, a strange crumbling sound came from the direction of their tied up captive. Both of their heads snapped towards the tied up creature only to bear witness as their captive crumbled into dust. Both women just stood there in complete shock, unable to move or even think. They weren't strangers to death but the sight of someone inexplicably turning into a pile of rubble was a whole other matter.
Xenovia was the first to recover. "That doesn't change anything. We capture both the boy and the man and collect our reward." She stated.
Reis nodded but still stared at the pile of rubble.
"Hi there." Called out a familiar voice. "Are you two the ones that we're supposed to fight?" The two enforcers spun around with weapons drawn and faced their quarry.
"Yes." replied the blue haired swordswomen. "Presuming that you are Artherius Pendragon and Edward Holmes."
"That's us except my brother's name is actually Arthur Holmes and I prefer to go by Eddy." Said Eddy.
"Dammit Eddy!" Yelled Artherius at his brother. "How many times have I told you not to tell people that!"
Eddy just shrugged before turning to Artherius. "Hey Brother, can I fight one of them?"
"Sorry kiddo but I want a challenge so you're sitting this one out." He answered while cracking his knuckles.
"But... but that's so not fair." Complained Eddy.
"I'm allowed to destroy a marine ship but I can't get into one little fight..." grumbled the youngling under his breath as he was ushered to one side by his older brother.
"Hold on!" exclaimed the red haired gunslinger. "Can someone please explain that to me?!" They all turned to see her pointing at the pile of rubble and dust that was their former captive that was clearly still freaking her out.
"I must admit I'm a little curious myself." Commented Xenovia.
"Oh that. That's just my golem. That sometimes happens when I dismiss them." Shrugged Eddy as he headed towards a nearby tree.
"Enough of this!" roared an impatient Artherius "Can we please get back to the fight!"
Xenovia narrowed her eyes at the braggart. She had grown sick of the man's overconfidence and was going to relish cleaving that ego in two. Reis saw the telltale signs of her best friend's fury boiling within her and decided to take a step back. "Hey Xen, why don't you have first crack at this joker."
Artherius let out another burst of laughter. "I tell you what. Since you want to do this whole one-at-a-time bullshit, I'll give you a free hit. No tricks. No flinching. Just me standing right here."
Xenovia's restraint snapped. She charged at the tall pirate, who just stood there with his arms folded, vaulted into the air and spun to generate as much momentum as she could before slamming it into his left shoulder. A loud 'thunk' reverberated from the impact zone only to reveal the large, double edged blade just resting on his shoulder. Artherius idly swatted the sword off him while not saying a word and just grinned mockingly at her. Xenovia's initial surprise was quickly replaced with rage which she decided to take it out on the annoying pirate. A flurry of slashes erupted from the furious enforcer striking the motionless pirate who seemed completely unfazed by the torrent of blows.
Suddenly the blade snapped causing all the rage to quickly drain away from Xenovia. She stared in disbelief at her opponent who still stood there, completely unscathed. She was even more surprised when a small wooden golem snatched the remains of her sword out of her hand and ran away with it. She looked up at Artherius, who seemed just as surprised at his brother's antics.
"Eddy! What in blazes are you doing?!" He yelled.
"Nothing." Replied Eddy who was clearly doing something.
Xenovia quickly came out of her stupor and chased after the little golem which started to flail its little arms around in panic."Give me back my sword, you little bastard!" she yelled at the thing.
Artherius chuckled and turned around only to come face to face with the muzzle of a pistol at point blank range. A shot rang out and Artherius's head snapped back, the force of the shot knocking him a couple of paces back. The pirate righted himself and blinked at the gunslinger while a flattened piece of metal lands at her feet.
She merely shrugged. "Do you blame a girl for trying?"
Meanwhile, Xenovia had given up the chase and decided to make her way to where Eddy was sitting.
"Well this doesn't look right." He said to himself while examining what could only be described as a bunch of sharp, jagged spikes attached to a handle.
"Is that my..." A pang of sadness blossomed in Xenovia's heart as she gazed sorrowfully at the mangled remains of one of her most trusted companions.
"I'm not finished yet." Stated the annoyed boy. "Just give me a second."
Xenovia watched in fascination as he rubbed his hand across the spikes and they began to warp and meld together. He then hit the metal with his fist causing it to flatten and take the shape of a blade. Finally he pinched the metal between his forefinger and thumb and glided them along the blade edge. A couple of seconds later, he was holding a completed sword and offered it to the warrior.
"There you go. Sorry it doesn't look like the original but I really wasn't paying much attention" Xenovia gazed at her new sword, a single edged, guardless two handed sword and when she tested the edge, she found that it was also incredibly sharp.
"Why?" she asked.
"Simple." He explained. "Arthur won't fight you without it and then complain all day about it."
"Thank you." She whispered.
"No problem. Now go attack my brother before he gets bored."
"...and that's why they call it a duck foot pistol. Now if I had access to those weapons..."
Before Reis could finish her long winded explanation about something to the half-asleep pirate, Xenovia came barrelling into him at full tilt brandishing her shiny new sword. The pirate let out a yell as he was suddenly woken up and sent hurtling off his feet.
Reis quietly slipped around the brawl and padded over to where the youngling that was laughing his head off.
She pointed her pistol at him and got his attention." Alright, enough games. Call off you brother and you don't get hurt."
Annoyance flickered across his face as his hand quickly shot up and grabbed the muzzle.
"Ugh, I'm sick of people thinking I make a good hostage. What is it about me that people automatically think that they should take me hostage. Oh and one more thing, I wouldn't pull that trigger if I were you."
Reis quickly saw what he meant after he removed his hand from the barrel. The muzzle was neatly sealed. Before she could react to one of her favourite guns being ruined, a giant clay hand erupted from the ground and quickly enveloped her.
"Let me go." Yelled Reis
"In a minute." Grinned Eddy. "But you'll have to beat me at a little game first."
"What sort of game?" asked Reis suspiciously.
Eddy waved over one of his little wooden golems which came over immediately and belly flopped onto the ground in front of him. He placed his hand onto the back of the construct and it immediately began to transform.
"Chess!" he announced while revealing a newly formed wooden chess board and pieces.
"Well since I have nothing better to do. Sure, why not."
"Yay! Finally I get to actually play a game. It's so hard to find good opponents, well ones that aren't trying to lock me up or end me."
Reis giggled. "What about your brother?"
"Really? Have you seen my brother?" replied the boy sarcastically
"Ha ha, point taken. Now if you could do something about my bonds..."
"Oh right. That would help, wouldn't it?"
He snapped his fingers and Reis felt that she could move her arms but not much else. The clay surrounding her shifted and repositioned her into a comfortable sitting position.
"That's not what I had in mind." She deadpanned. Eddy just smirked and moved the first piece.
Meanwhile Xenovia was going to town on the older brother.
"Hohohaha... Please...stop...hahaha...it tickles...it...tickles... hahahaha!" Laughter cascaded from Artherius as he rolled around on the floor in tickle induced convulsions.
Sweat started to pour off the warrioress as the prolonged and ultimately useless beating started to take its toll.
"The best sword I ever had and all its good for is to TICKLE! AND WILL YOU SHUT UP ALREADY!"
Despite her rage coursing through her veins, fatigue was creeping through her body and she knew she wouldn't last long. She ceased her pummelling and took a step back to catch her breath.
Artherius picked himself up off the floor and dusted himself off while tears were still streaming down his face. "That...that's the first time anyone has tried to tickle me to death. Can't say it hasn't been fun but its time to end this."
Artherius cracked his knuckles and strode menacingly towards her. Xenovia knew she was in trouble and quickly searched for her companion which she quickly discovered that Reis was playing a board game with the enemy.
"Reis! What the hell are you doing!" yelled the ticked off swordswoman.
"What does it look like?" replied the gunslinger." "I'm currently winning a game of chess. Checkmate."
"What!" cried out Eddy "Best to out of three?"
Xenovia was about to berate her further but a looming shadow cut her off.
"Leave them to their fun. You have a prior responsibility to deal with."
A large fist flew at her but she managed to duck and roll out of the way. She spun round and lashed out with her sword. Artherius chuckled as he strolled up to her, ignoring the blade as it bounced off his body. With a smirk, he pounced and delivered a knee to her stomach causing her to double over. Spluttering, she rolled into a defensive stance. The speed of the blow caught her off guard but she was determined for it not to happen again. Artherius sent a couple of lightning fast left jabs towards her which she dodged and parried however the flurry masked a right uppercut that found its mark. The vicious punched connected her jaw and launched her several feet into the air. Artherius grabbed her ankle out of the air and slammed her into the ground, repeatedly. He then picked up the dazed warrior and threw her into the tree that Eddy and Reis were next to. Reis yelped as her best friend flopped into the ground, completely unconscious.
Xenovia had lost her grip on her sword after the massive uppercut which had flown through the air and buried itself into the chessboard.
"Noooo! I was winning that game!" Eddy cried.
Reis was struggling against her bonds and was begging for Eddy to let her go. Eddy had hopped up off the floor and was checking Xenovia to see if she was ok. He absentmindedly waved his hand and Reis's clay prison crumbled off her. She rushed to her side and knelt down beside her friend.
Eddy placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "She's alright although she's going to have one hell of a headache when she wakes up."
"Well that was fun." Announced Artherius "Come on Eddy. Let's go and get some more to eat."
"Coming." Replied the kind hearted boy. He turned towards Reis and asked. "Need any help getting her home?"
She simply shook her head and lifted her comatose friend onto her shoulders. Eddy scampered to his brother's side but not before waving goodbye to the two enforcers. Reis waved back and began the long journey of hauling her best friend and sword back to their home. She smiled despite herself at the odd pair and wondered what other trouble those two will cause.
Meanwhile on top of a hill, a man sitting in a deck chair had witnessed the fight and was busy stroking his thin, wispy beard in contemplation. "Yes, they will do nicely."
A little information on the characters
Eddy Holmes
Devil Fruit Power: Sculptor sculptor fruit allows him to bend any raw material into what shape or form he wants and create and control golems. Golems have a limited programmable intelligence. Eddy's range is also limited and any golems outside it will cease to function or just crumble to dust
Personality: Eddy is incredibly curios individual and is constantly tinkering with something which often gets him into trouble. Since he is also incredibly young, he loves to play games and will be naïve on some matters
Other character will be overviewed in following chapters