The Silver Mine Arc
One Piece © Oda
Blizzard, Jupiter, Monkey D. Aika, Kumi, Reggie, and Kuro Diablo © Me
Summary- After their escapade on Dressrosa, Luffy and his group continue on to Zou in order to meet up with Sanji's team. However, during the voyage, Luffy and Bartolomeo are captured by an old acquaintance of the latter, who works for a pirate known as Bill. Bill has made up an alliance with other pirate crews in order to take over the New World. However, it seems that Bill is working for someone WAY higher up.
Previously, our heroes had landed in the country of Dressrosa in order to carry out their plan to destroy Donquixote Doflamingo's SMILE Factory. However, things took an unexpected turn when Luffy enters a fighting tournament with Blizzard in order to win the late Portgas D. Ace's Flame-Flame Fruit. During that time, Luffy befriends a woman gladiator named Rebecca, who is fighting to protect a toy soldier who had raised her since her childhood. Things get even worse when it is revealed that Doflamingo had set a trap for the Straw Hat-Heart Alliance, planning to take them all out and get Caesar back.
When Law loses a one-on-one fight against his former captain, Luffy resolves to save him while Nami, Sanji, Chopper, Brook, and Momonosuke flee with Caesar to Zou, all while being chased by Big Mom's crew. During that time, Luffy has an unexpected reunion with his long-lost brother, Sabo, who had been thought dead for 12 years and is now the Revolutionary Army's Chief of Staff. After Luffy rescues Law and Usopp undoes the spell on the citizens that have been turned into toys, Doflamingo decides to kill everyone on the island using his Birdcage in order to hide his decade-long secret: that he had stolen the throne from King Riku Dold III and framed him.
After a long and hard battle between Luffy and Doflamingo, along with help from Luffy's newfound allies, Dressrosa is saved, and Admiral Fujitora of the Marines shows the world the tragedy of what has taken place, much to Fleet Admiral Sakazuki's ire. A few days after some much needed rest, Luffy and the group set out to catch up to Sanji and the rest of the crew, but as they do, they gain some more muscle in the form of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet. At first, Aika was not pleased at the idea, fearing that Luffy and the others will leave her and Kumi behind due to weakness, but Luffy resolves to train her in order for her to get stronger.
Since his defeat, Doflamingo predicts that a great war will occur over the One Piece, and there will only be one victor...and that person will be the next King of the Pirates.
After the celebration, the Straw Hats see that their bounties have risen (except for Aika and Kumi, who have not gotten any bounties despite their involvement). However, for some strange reason, Sanji is only wanted alive, and Blizzard, as usual, senses that something is wrong.
With Doflamingo vanquished, Luffy, his crew, Law, and Jupiter continue to sail to Zou in order to catch up to Sanji's group while hitching a ride with Bartolomeo.
Right now, it's only been a day since the Straw Hats departed from Dressrosa and said goodbye to all their friends and allies. As the Going Luffy-Senpai sailed...one little wolf girl is seen, standing on the upper deck as she punches a barrel.
"Again!" Luffy ordered, back in his usual red cardigan, yellow sash, and blue pants.
"HA!" Aika shouted as she punched the barrel. She was wearing her dark red cowgirl hat, a jade green shirt with the kanji for "howl" on the front, a pair of yellow shirts, bandages wrapped around her left elbow, and a band-aid on her right calf. Also, she had a long pipe, strapped to her back.
"Again!" Luffy ordered, causing Aika to punch the barrel again with a loud "HA". "Again!"
"HA!"
"Again!"
"HAA!"
"Okay, I think that's enough. You can rest now."
Aika panted as she looked at her knuckles, which were bleeding from punching on the barrel so much. She then looked at the wooden container, which was stained red, only to see that she had barely made a dent, causing her to sigh.
"You did pretty good today, Aika," Luffy smiled. "But next time, try not to punch it so much that your hands bleed."
"You said that last time, too," Aika answered. "My hands still bled. Big Brother, I feel like I'm not getting any stronger."
"You will get stronger, Aika," Luffy said as he took Aika's hands into his own, despite the blood. "I told you, this kind of thing doesn't happen overnight. I mean, look at me! You think I got this strong in just one day? I spent 10 years in a jungle, training to become a pirate, and 2 years ago, Blizzard and I were training on an island, fighting off giant animals!"
"...Do I have to fight giant animals?" Aika asked.
"No, Aika," Luffy replied. "You don't have to fight giant animals."
"Oh, okay," Aika said.
That's when Robin appeared, wearing a pale rose turtleneck shirt, dark fuschia-colored shorts, and a pair of cream colored heels.
"How's training going?" Robin asked as she looked down at Aika, only to gasp upon seeing her bleeding knuckles. "Oh, my!"
"Hi, Aunt Robin," Aika greeted, casually.
"Did you need something, Robin?" Luffy asked.
"Oh, yes," Robin answered as she began to clean and disinfect Aika's wounds, then bandage them. "Rooster Boy said that lunch should be ready soon."
"Lunch!" Luffy and Aika exclaimed as they looked at each other with drooling mouths.
XXX
Down on the deck, Zoro, Usopp, Franky, Blizzard, Kumi, Kin'emon, and Kanjuro are sitting around a spread of food, such as meat, hot dogs, rice, noodles, soup, and other dishes.
"WHOA!" Luffy exclaimed as he and Aika came down to join them. "Look at that spread!"
"Looks great, doesn't it?!" Usopp asked, wearing a light green short-sleeved collared shirt buttoned up halfway with a short, black line on the middle of each sleeve and a dark green cap with his signature goggles resting on top of it.
"Can't wait to eat it!" Franky added, wearing a black v-neck t-shirt with four symbols on it arranged in a square pattern (An "I", "H", "T", and a sun-like symbol), and his hair styled in a bit of a slicked-back look, like Smoker's.
"Heh!" Zoro smirked, wearing a dark-blue t-shirt with his green coat and haramaki over a pair of long, black trousers and boots. "Not bad!"
"Let's dig in!" Blizzard exclaimed, wearing a dark red shirt the word "Zou" on the front, a cartoon elephant's face replacing the "o".
"All right, everyone!" Bartolomeo announced as his crew ran back and forth from the kitchen, carrying plates of food. "Help yourselves to the grub, and have as many helpings as you like! Show us what the infamous appetite of the Straw Hats can do!"
"Thanks a lot for the food!" Luffy called as he and the others ate, the piles of dishes growing and growing around them. "It sure is good!"
"Thank you, Barty!" Aika added, eating a cookie that looked like Chopper's face.
"I can't believe the Straw Hat Pirates are eating our homemade meals!" Gambia said with starry eyes. "And even more so, they're enjoying them!"
"WE'RE SO HAPPY TO BE ALIVE!" exclaimed the Barto Club crew.
However, it seemed that the happiness was short-lived, for Robin soon spotted some dark clouds up in the sky, rumbling with thunder.
"Oh, dear," Robin said. "I don't think I like the look of those storm clouds."
As soon as everyone looked up, a huge chunk of hail came falling from the sky and hit the sea with a loud SPLASH! Soon after, more ice chunks came raining down!
"GAH!" Usopp screamed. "IT'S HAILING!"
"And they're HUGE!" Luffy shouted. "It's as big as your head!"
"Look out! Take cover!" Robin cried.
Aika and Kumi ran around in panic, barely avoiding getting hit by one of the hail chunks, which ended up putting a hole in the deck.
"Oh, crap!" cursed one of the Barto Club Pirates.
"Quickly!" Bartolomeo ordered. "Luffy-senpai and everyone else! Hurry and get inside!"
"What?! No way!" Luffy shouted. "We can help, too!"
"Hey, which one of you is the navigator here?!" Franky questioned as he punched the hail away. "I need orders!"
"Oh, well, that's the thing," Bartolomeo answered. "We don't have a navigator. We were just a bunch of land-based gangsters at first!"
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" Usopp questioned.
"How'd idiots like you survive this long in the New World?!" Blizzard questioned. "Gimme a freaking break!"
"Hey! Granny!" Gambia said into a Transponder Snail. "This is Gambia! Listen, huge hail just started falling on us! What do we do?!"
"Oh, that's right!" Bartolomeo realized. "Whenever we got into scrapes like this, we'd usually call Granny back at home to give us advice!"
"Oh, that's great!" Usopp replied. "Someone who knows the sea very well! So what do we do, then?!"
"Hey, I know!" Gambia piped up. "Isn't there wads of chewing gum stuck to the deck and we couldn't get them off?"
"Wait, that's what that is?" Robin asked, grimacing a bit in disgust.
'I hate chewing gum,' she added mentally.
"Granny says if we wrap up the hail with cloth, the gum will peel right off!" said Gambia.
"Hey, she's right!" said another Barto Club member as he used the hail to peel off some gum. "Look! It came right off!"
"THAT'S NOT THE KIND OF ADVICE WE NEED, RIGHT NOW!" Usopp barked.
Just then, WHAK! One of the crew members got knocked out by a giant piece of hail!
"See?! You got hit!" Usopp shouted.
"She says to rub some sugar on the bump on his head!" Gambia spoke up.
"ENOUGH WITH THE FOLK STUFF!" cried Usopp.
"Seriously, how did you guys survive this long?!" Blizzard questioned.
"This isn't good!" Aika cried, holding onto Luffy's leg. "At this rate, we'll sink!"
"I'm scared!" Kumi yelped.
"NAMI!" Luffy cried. "HELP US~!"
"Nami isn't here, Luffy!" Zoro shouted.
"Of all the ships we could've boarded," Usopp started, "we ended up getting on the wrong one!"
"I guess we have no choice but to deal with this ourselves!" Zoro said.
"If only we had the Sunny with us!" Franky added.
"How lively," Robin chuckled.
"Aunt Robin, how can you laugh about this?!" Aika asked while other members of the Barto Club kept getting knocked out by the hail.
"Hey! Do something!" Zoro ordered Bartolomeo. "Use your barrier!"
"I can't!" Bartolomeo answered. "Granny says we should never defy nature, or we'll live to regret it!"
"ARE YOU KIDDING?!" Zoro questioned. "IF YOU'RE THAT SCARED, THEN GO BACK TO BEING ON LAND!"
"Are these idiots for real?!" Law asked as Jupiter shielded him and himself with Haki-imbued wings.
"Apparently, they are!" Jupiter answered.
That's when Luffy jumped onto the figurehead of the ship.
"Looks like I got no choice," Luffy said. "I'll have to smash all this hail myself!"
"Oh~!" the Barto Club exclaimed with starry eyes of amazement.
"That's right!" Bartolomeo shouted. "The great Straw Hat Pirates who don't even fear god are here, and it's like having the strength of a thousand men!"
"Our appreciation rains down like this hail!" declared the Barto Club crew.
"These guys are seriously a bunch of nimrods!" Usopp sneered.
"Now Gum-Gum...GATLING~!" Luffy roared as he stretched out his arms, smashing the hailstones into powdery snow.
'It's only a short time until we reach Zou,' thought Bartolomeo, who had comical tears of awe in his eyes, 'but even so...I'm glad to be sailing with the awesome Luffy-senpai!'
"We are so happy!" cried the Barto Club crew.
"YOU GUYS HELP, TOO, DAMMIT!" Zoro cursed.
XXX
That night, as everything had settled down, the Straw Hats, Law, Jupiter, Kin'emon, and Kanjuro and the Barto Club are sound asleep, having tired themselves out from all the excitement. As they slumbered, however...three shadowy figures appeared in the distance, one of them smirking while eating a bar of chocolate.
As everyone slept, Luffy stood near the deck, looking up to the waning moon and the cloudy sky. He spotted two seagulls flying overhead and wheeling around each other, as if playing together, before they continued flying away. Luffy sighed as held his hands together.
"Luffy-senpai?"
Luffy turned to see Bartolomeo approach him in concern.
"Is everything all right?" he asked.
"Oh, yeah," Luffy answered. "Everything's fine...it's just..." He then sighed as he looked up at the sky again. "...I really miss Nami. I haven't seen her since Dressrosa...and ever since I finished beating up Mingo, I can't stop worrying about her...Sanji, Brook, and Chopper, too. I mean, I know they made it to Zou okay. Nami's a top-notch navigator and I didn't pick her for nothing."
'Ahh...Nami-senpai,' thought Bartolomeo. 'The future Pirate Queen whose beauty stops the heart of man! No one else is fit to be Luffy-senpai's woman!"
"The last time I talked to her, she, Sanji, Chopper, and Brook were being chased by Big Mom's crew," Luffy spoke up. "I just can't help but worry, y'know? I mean...I don't know what would happen if I never saw any of my crew again!"
'There it is!' thought Bartolomeo. 'The great love that Luffy-senpai has for his crew! It's one of his many traits that I admire!'
Just then, Luffy seemed to spot something in the sky...and he gasped when he saw what it was: a giant hunk of meat.
"MEAT!" he cried as he jumped after it and latched onto it with his teeth. "FOOD FOR ME!"
"Wait, hang on!" Bartolomeo shouted as he grabbed onto Luffy's legs, and before long, SPLASH! They both fell into the water, causing the others to awaken.
"What was that?!" Kin'emon questioned. "Is it hailing, again?!"
"I'm not sure," Kanjuro answered.
"Big Brother?" Aika asked as she looked around. "Big Brother, where are you?!"
Not too far from them, it is revealed that the meat is being pulled by a giant fishing rod, which reeled Luffy and Bartolomeo onto a platform.
"Unh...Luffy-senpai," Bartolomeo groaned, he and Luffy both soaking wet from the sea water. "Both of us are Devil Fruit users...the sea water makes us weak...!"
"Look, Sis!" exclaimed a woman, dressed up like a delinquent. "We got him! We got Straw Hat!"
"Yeah," answered another woman with red hair that had streaks that were dyed blonde, a long, dark blue coat resembling that of typical street thugs with a picture of the ocean on the back, sarashi binding around her breasts, and a pair of light blue jeans with a letter S belt buckle. "But also we got this green-haired loser."
"Incredible...!" whispered a large, hunchbacked man with a rather sickly complexion and dark green, lightning-bolt shaped tattoos on his body and face, as well as a tattoo on his arm that looked like a silver "S" with crossbones, and a skull wearing a red bandanna and sunglasses. "You actually lured Straw Hat Luffy with that giant piece of meat! Just like you said, Desire! You're amazing! Amazing, amazing, AMAZING~!"
"Who're those guys?!" Zoro asked as he spotted the strangers.
"Oh, no!" Aika cried. "They've got Big Brother!"
"And the Captain, too!" added Gambia.
"That's them," said Desire. "Pirate Hunter Zoro, God Usopp, Cyborg Franky, Demon Child Robin, and White Wolf Blizzard. All right, everybody! Let's do this!" She then took a bite out of her chocolate bar. "Just as we planned!"
With that, she revved up the engine on the Flying Fish she sat on, using some sort of boiler as an engine, before she and her cohorts charged forward!
"Here they come!" Aika exclaimed.
"Not good!" Kumi added.
"Listen up, Straw Hat Pirates!" Desire shouted. "I am a former captain of the Sweets Pirates from the East Blue! The name's Desire, thank you very much!"
"Knock it off!" Usopp shouted as he prepared to fire his Black Kabuto. "Give Luffy back!"
"Yeah!" Aika added, holding her pipe.
"Aika, what are you doing?!" Robin asked. "Get inside!"
"But I wanna fight!" Aika argued.
"No way! You're not ready yet!" Zoro refuted. "Let Usopp handle this!"
Aika only pouted at this.
"No fair," she mumbled.
"Certain Death: Green Star!" Usopp shouted. "SEA DEVIL!"
PYEW! He fired a Pop Green into the water.
"Here comes a projectile!" called Desire. "Formation: Madeleine!"
On that, the Sweets Pirates split up and then formed a circle around the giant flytrap plant, which tried to chomp on them, only for them to fire cannonballs at the stem, causing it to topple over into the water.
"What the hell?!" Usopp questioned. "They destroyed it!"
"Now can I fight?!" Aika asked.
"No, Aika!" Robin answered.
"Let me try!" Franky spoke as he held up his fist, just as Desire and her comrades broke through the smoke.
"All right, get ready!" Desire called to her small fleet. "This time, it's a machine gun!"
"Weapons LEFT!" Franky shouted as he opened fire on the Sweet Pirates, managing to hit only one while the others split up.
"AH!" a young woman with curly hair shrieked. "I'M HIT!"
"Hang on!" Desire called out as she drove to her and caught her in her arm. "You okay?"
"I am now!" said her comrade. "Thanks, Big Sis!"
"Damn!" Franky cursed. "Couldn't get 'em!"
"Now can I-" Aika started.
"NO!" everyone shouted, causing her to flinch.
KABOOM! Two cannons were fired at the Going Luffy-Senpai, sending two cannonballs towards the ship. Zoro quickly made short work of them by cutting them in two, but when he did, a strange, sticky substance came out and fell on him.
"What the hell is this stuff?!" the swordsman questioned.
"Shoot them down!" shouted the hunchbacked man, causing several other pirates to shoot at the Going Luffy-Senpai. Soon, the whole crew was covered in the sticky goop.
"I-I can't move!" Robin cried.
"Me neither!" Usopp shouted, struggling to get free.
"Ngh! What a calamity!" Kin'emon added.
"What is this?!" Franky questioned. "Is this...birdlime?!"
"It's sticky~!" cried the Barto Club Pirates.
Blizzard, Aika, and Kumi are the only ones who weren't stuck. However, they soon saw that they had a bigger problem on their hands, for they found themselves getting shot at again.
"Look out!" Blizzard shouted as he scooped the girls up in his mouth and ran for the railing.
"Wait, what about the others?!" Aika asked.
"I'll go back for them! I promise!" Blizzard shouted as he jumped off and landed in the sea, just as the cannonballs hit the ship.
"HA!" the tattooed hunchbacked man laughed. "How pathetic they are! Shoot them all dead!"
"Hold it!" Desire ordered. "That's enough. Pull back, Peseta."
"What?!" the man, Peseta, questioned.
"I'm in charge of this assault squad," Desire replied. "We're heading back to Silver Mine. We got what we came for."
With that, the squad drove off, taking Luffy and Bartolomeo with them. As they did, Desire glanced back at the latter, who groaned as he slipped into unconscious. However, not too far behind them, Blizzard is seen tailing after the squad with Aika and Kumi on his back.
"You're not getting away that easily," Aika said with a glare. "No one's taking my Big Brother away!"
XXX
The next day, an island is shown in the middle of the sea. It was deserted and had outcroppings of rocks everywhere. In the middle of it all, though, is a giant silver tower.
This is Silver Mine, a deserted, solitary island near Dressrosa. A silver fortress dominates the center of the island, and its sparkle makes even the surrounding waters shine...and it is here that some pirates are just returning with quite a load of treasure being pulled behind them on a cart.
"So?" asked one of the pirates as their fishes docked in the port. "How'd it go?"
"We got another fine haul!" answered his comrade, glancing back at the hoard of treasure.
XXX
Meanwhile, in a hidden somewhere inside the fortress...a shadowy figure is seen, munching on what looked like a pile of stones. As he did...a glowing red substance dripped off him...something that looked suspiciously like molten rock. The figure opened his mouth, allowing steam to seep out of his lips. He picked up another piece of rock before he began to bite into it like it was an apple and began to walk out, the strange liquid dripping off his body and turning into something that looked like silver...before it melted through the floor.
XXX
Concurrently, somewhere outside, some guards had been stationed at various points. They had these simple orders: nobody suspicious gets in and nobody suspicious goes out, either. As they walked around, one guard seemed to stand out above the rest: he was a burly man, very muscular, with huge arms and tanned skin. His legs were disproportionate to the rest of his body, and he had a head of white hair on his head. He had several scars: two on the left side of his stomach, possibly left by bullets, one of his right pectorl, one on his left shoulder, and one on his right wrist that had been closed with stitches. Strapped to his back is a nodachi, similar to Law's Kikoku, and the only thing he wore is a pair of navy blue trousers and a mahogany sash around his waist.
"Reggie!" called one of the guards, gaining the man's attention. "Perimeter looks clear around here!"
"Check again, just to make sure," answered the man, known as Reggie.
"Yes, sir!" answered the guard as he walked off, carrying his rifle.
As the guards continue their patrol...a familiar white wolf-dog poked his head out from behind a corner, looking around cautiously.
"Blizzard? What do you see?" asked Kumi as she and Aika stood behind him.
"Everywhere we go," Blizzard started, "there are guards. Luffy must definitely be here."
"So?" Aika asked. "Let's take those guards out and rescue him already!"
"Now wait a minute, Aika," Blizzard scolded. "Don't be so eager!"
"Why not?" Aika asked. "I can take them!"
"You're not ready to handle these kind of fights, yet," Blizzard retorted, causing the Honshu Wolf-girl to pout.
"Aika, listen to him," Kumi said. "If we go out there with our heads sticking out, we'll get swarmed! And then we'll never rescue Luffy and Barty!"
"...I know," Aika muttered, "but still..."
"Look, Aika," Blizzard began, "consider this part of your training. Sometimes, the best defense is stealth." He then glanced back around the corner. "In order to confuse and disorient the enemy, you must use the element of surprise."
As he said this, though...the wolf-dog gasped as he noticed that Reggie was making direct eye contact with him, causing him to gasp before he went back to hiding behind the rock wall.
"Dammit!" Blizzard cursed. "I was careless! One of them spotted me!"
"What do we do?"
Kumi asked.
"Let's fight!" Aika exclaimed, grabbing her pipe.
"No, Aika!" Blizzard shouted. "Don't! You're not ready!"
"But I wanna fight!" Aika added. "Why won't you let me?!"
"Uhh...Aika?" Kumi asked. "This isn't the time to be arguing! I think we should-"
Suddenly, KROOSH! Something jumped out of the ground before the Canine Trio, causing them all to gasp in surprise, for it is revealed to be Reggie, only now, he looked different. His body, aside from the front, was covered in black fur, and his fingers were replaced with long, white claws.
"Surprise!" he shouted. "GUMAMAMAMAMA!"
"A honey badger?!" Kumi questioned.
"A Devil Fruit power!" Blizzard cried. "Girls, run away!"
"No way!" Aika shouted. "I'm staying here!"
"Dammit, Aika!" Blizzard cursed as he kicked Aika away. "Just go!"
"AGH!" cried Aika as she slid along the ground.
Blizzard growled as he glared at Reggie, who grinned in a sick manner as he gripped the hilt of his nodachi.
"Well, well," said honey badger-man. "Looks like a little lost mutt just stuck his nose where it don't belong!"
XXX
Inside one of the tunnels of the Silver Mine, someone is seen, hitting a wall of rock with a pickax, and it is revealed that that someone is Bartolomeo, who held a pickax in his hands, which were covered in the same substance that his crew and the rest of the Straw Hats had been bombarded with the night before.
"Ugh...!" Bartolomeo groaned as he kept hitting the wall with the pickax. "If it's for the sake of Luffy-senpai...then I have no choice! Urrgh...why the hell am I doin' this, anyway?!"
WHAPASH! A whip struck the Super Rookie in the back, causing him to cry out in pain as the force of the crack threw him into a wall. It is revealed that the one who whipped him is Peseta...whose whole head was hitting the ceiling.
"Quit your whining, you impudent moron!" he ordered. "Did you dig up any ore like I asked?!"
"Ngh!" Bartolomeo grunted as he stood up. "What about Luffy-senpai?! Is he okay?!"
"Hehehehehe- OW!" Peseta snickered, only for his face to grind up against the stone ceiling and scrape his skin. "Sure, he's fine...at the moment, anyway. But there's no guarantee he will be in 10 minutes!"
"What?!" Bartolomeo questioned. "10 minutes?! If you do anything to my glorious senpai, I'll never forgive you, you hunchbacked bastard!"
He attempted to his Peseta with his pickax, only for the taller man to jump back and literally whip him, causing the Cannibal to go flying back into the wall again.
"Shut your mouth and keep digging, you idiot!" barked Peseta, hitting his head against the ceiling again, before he turned to leave. "I'll be back- ow! To check- ow! On your progress- OW!"
Bartolomeo tried to go after him, only to fall down because the pickax was too heavy.
"OOF!" he cried. "Ugh...dammit! If only I could use my barrier! But more importantly...that red-haired tramp from last night?! Who the hell was she, anyway?!" He then growled in frustration. "LUFFY-SENPAI~!"
XXX
Meanwhile...
"Hey! Lemme outta here! Lemme out!"
Somewhere in a prison cell, it is revealed that Luffy has been locked up, and what's more, his body was encased in a giant ball of silver.
"Lemme out, dammit!" Luffy called out. "Lemme out~!" He then groaned, pathetically. "It's no use...I'm too hungry and I've got no strength...!"
"Oh, will you just give up, already?"
Luffy looked up to see Desire and her fellow crewmates.
"Look at how pathetic you look," said the female delinquent. "Bill's gonna execute you, soon, so why bother putting up a fight?"
"Who's Bill?" Luffy asked.
"Our boss, of course," answered Desire.
"Where are my friends?!" Luffy questioned. "Where's my little sister?!
"How should I know?" Desire asked. "Not that you should expect help, anyway. We destroyed that tasteless ship with our Battle Boats. We're the ultimate attack squadron that makes full use of the weapons that Bill forges for us with the power of the Smelt-Smelt Fruit. You, Straw Hat Luffy, have lost, and your friends are nothing more than fish food, by now."
"That's not true!" Luffy barked. "Zoro, Blizzard, and the others don't die so easily!"
"I'm just telling you the truth," Desire smirked.
"Well, I say you're lying!" Luffy shouted.
"I am not lying!" Desire argued.
"Are too!"
"Are not!"
"Are too!"
"Are not!"
"Are too, infinity!"
"DAMMIT!" Desire cursed, growing comically angry.
"Big Sis, relax," advised one of the women that accompanied Desire.
Grrrrrrwwwwll~! Luffy's stomach started growling, causing him to sigh pathetically.
"I'm so hungry...!" he complained, to the girls' confusion. "I just wanted that giant piece of flying meat from last night...hey, do you still have that? Can I have it? Pretty please?"
"Hell no!" shouted Desire and her crew.
"But I want it~!" Luffy whined as he struggled inside the ball, causing it to totter left and right. "Gimme meat~! Gimme, gimme, gimme~!"
"Will you shut up, already?!" Desire questioned.
"Gimme meat, now-" Luffy shouted, only for the redhead to shove a chocolate bar in his mouth.
"Here!" said Desire. "Just eat that and keep your mouth shut, will you?!"
"Big Sis!" exclaimed the women.
"It's fine," Desire reassured. "It's just one little chocolate bar. It's not enough to fill his stomach. He can't break that ball that Bill made."
"Yummy~!" Luffy exclaimed as he finished the whole chocolate bar. "Thanks a lot, lady! You're really nice, huh?"
Upon hearing that, Desire's face flushed pink, but then she scoffed.
"Don't screw with me, jerk!" she shouted. "It's not like I feel sorry for you or anything! I wish Bill would kill you, already!"
Just then, PURU-PURU-PURU! PURU-PURU-PURU! Desire gasped silently before she pressed on the Mini Transponder Snail hooked up to her.
"This is Desire," she answered. "...Uh-huh. Got it. I'll be right there with him."
KOCHEP! She hung up before she glanced up at Luffy.
"It's time, Straw Hat," she grinned, to the Straw Hat Captain's confusion.
XXX
"Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill!"
On a stage, the shadowy figure from before came walking out under a spotlight as the stands were filled with pirates who chanted the name "Bill" over and over with great enthusiasm. The figure is revealed to be a muscular man with long, light brown hair. He wears an open blue jacket, purple pants with a blue star on the left leg, gray boots, a silver necklace as well as earrings, a belt wrapped around his waist multiple times, a red scarf tied to the belt, and a red cap with goggles on top, as well as a belt with an S on the buckle. On his left bicep is the same Jolly Roger that is tattooed on Peseta.
"Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill!" the pirates chanted before the man, revealed to be the one called Bill, raised his hand, causing them to stop.
"...My friends," he began, "who are aiming to go to the top with me...welcome, my friends of the Silver Pirate Alliance!"
Upon hearing that, everyone began to cheer while Bill smirked.
"Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill!" the pirates in the auditorium chanted as their leader stood before them, only to stand up when he held out his hand.
"All right," said Bill. "Let's see how well you guys did, today. Who's first?"
"Bill! Over here!" called a pirate with a scar on his face and a red T-shirt. "Hey, you! Stand up!" He then pulled up a man with spiky hair and a scar on his forehead.
"Lemme see here," Bill said as he looked at a stack of wanted posters. "Oh! Looks like you got Boblat, a pirate with a bounty of 68 million! Well done!"
Hearing that caused the pirate to laugh with glee until another pirate spoke up.
"Hey, Bill! Me next!" called one wearing a bandanna around his head before he held up a beaten-up man with long hair in the front.
"That there's Tambu with a bounty of 70 million," Bill noted, looking at Tambu's wanted poster.
"I didn't just capture him," said the pirate, "but I also looted his ship and got all his treasure to boot!"
"Oh! Good job, buddy!" Bill praised, and soon, all the other pirates in the room started clamoring all at once.
"Hey, Bill! See how good I did today!"
"I wanna show my catch, too!"
"Me, too! Over here!"
As the pirates spoke, Desire and her crew came walking towards the stage, rolling Luffy forward as they did, and Peseta soon noticed.
"Oh, there you are, Desire," he said.
"...Where's Bartolomeo, Peseta?" Desire asked.
"Oh, don't worry," answered Peseta. "He's being treated with the utmost respect, as you requested."
"...Good," Desire replied as she and her squad went up on stage with Luffy in tow.
"And who is this, Desire?" asked Bill.
"Bill," Desire answered, a blush on her face, "this is the rookie the 500 million bounty on his head! Straw Hat Luffy, who you wanted to capture!"
The crowd gasped at this.
"No way! It can't be!"
"THE Straw Hat Luffy?!"
"I don't believe it!"
"...Bill?" Luffy repeated.
"I'm impressed, Desire!" Bill exclaimed. "Well done!"
Desire blushed even more and smiled, holding her cheek like a little school with a crush.
"Hold it, boss!"
Everyone looked up to see Reggie...who was holding someone over his shoulder.
"I got someone, too," the honey badger-man answered as he roughly tossed whoever it was onto the stage. Luffy gasped in shock, for he saw that it was Blizzard, heavily beaten and hogtied with chains!
"Oh! That's White Wolf Blizzard with a bounty of 400 thousand!" Bill realized.
"Caught him snooping around the mines with some little girl and her puppy," said Reggie. "I guess they came here to save Straw Hat."
"Wait, Aika and Kumi came here with you?!" Luffy asked. "Where are they now?!"
"They ran off...while I was fighting this guy," Blizzard answered, his voice strained with pain. "They could be anywhere in this godforsaken place...!" He then looked up at Reggie. "I didn't expect him...to be so tough!"
Flashback
Blizzard growled as Reggie drew his nodachi while Aika and Kumi ran from the scene. Soon, the honey badger-man swung his blade at the wolf-dog, who jumped over his head and landed behind him. He then bared his teeth and lunged at him from behind, aiming right for his neck. However, for some reason, Reggie didn't even make an attempt to dodge. He just stood there as the wolf-dog bit down...and yet, Blizzard seemed to struggle.
'What's going on?!' thought Blizzard as he tried to hit the jugular vein, and yet he felt Reggie's skin moving about in his mouth with each bite, and his fangs wouldn't even sink in, all the way through! 'I can't get a grip on him!'
"Having trouble?" Reggie asked as he smacked Blizzard across the jaw, causing him to let go. "GUMAMAMAMAMA! Stupid mutt...don't you know that honey badgers are one of the toughest animals in the world?! They've been known to even attack lions!" He then pinched his skin with his claws. "With my skin all loose like this, it makes it hard for you to get a good grip, don't it?! GUMAMAMAMAMAMAMA!"
Blizzard growled as he stood, spitting out some blood in his mouth.
"Oh, so you're not backing down, eh?" Reggie asked before he cracked his knuckles. "Fine by me...after all, you know what they say about honey badgers: they don't give a damn!"
With that, Blizzard and Reggie lunged at each other, preparing to clash.
Flashback
"I didn't expect to lose, so easily,"
Blizzard said. "I was such a fool!"
"At least Aika and Kumi are safe," Luffy said. "...I hope."
"Well done, Reggie," Bill said, causing the honey badger-man to grin as he looked at Desire, who sneered at him.
'Who the hell does he think he is, one-upping me like that?!' she thought. 'I was gonna win Bill's heart for sure until he showed up with this mangy fleabag.'
"Ahem!" Bill cleared his throat as he looked to the audience. "Allow me this moment to express my gratitude to all of you!"
"Hey, don't mention it, Bill!" said one of the pirates.
"Yeah!" shouted another. "If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have gotten this far!"
"We would've all been long dead in the Grand Line, by now!" added a third. "We all appreciate you for taking us all in when we had nobody else to turn to!"
"THANK YOU, BILL~!" they all cheered, causing Bill to chuckle.
"It's been a whole year since we formed the Silver Pirate Alliance," said Bill, "and in that time, we have taken down more than 100 rival pirate groups! Do you know why this is?"
"Tell us, Bill!" shouted a pirate holding a spear.
"Yeah, Bill!" added the other pirates.
"...Let me be frank," Bill answered. "Individually, none of you would've stood a chance out in these seas..."
Hearing that caused everyone to make confused, almost surprised noises.
"However," Bill continued, "when you combine your strength, you become stronger than any other pirate in the world!" He then gestured to Luffy and Blizzard. "Even members of a pirate crew from the Worst Generation are helpless against your combined might!"
"You tell 'em, Bill!" Desire cheered.
"Now, tell me!" Bill shouted as he pointed to a random pirate in the stands. "What is your dream?!"
"I wanna be stronger!" exclaimed the pirate with slicked-back blonde hair.
"Is that all you want?!" Bill asked.
"I wanna live as happy and free as I wanna live!" shouted another pirate with black, curly hair.
"Is that all?!" Bill asked, again.
"I wanna become invincible!" yelled one more pirate, whose eyes were welling up with tears, as were the others.
"And you can, my friends!" exclaimed Bill. "All that and more! If we continue to unite our hearts as one, we can even take out the Four Emperors! Kaido, Big Mom, Red-Haired Shanks, or even Blackbeard, it doesn't matter! If we can combine and defeat all our enemies...WE WILL BE UNSTOPPABLE~!"
"YEAH~!" the pirates cheered.
"So, keep aiming for the top of this Great Pirate Era together with me!" Bill shouted.
"YEEEEAAAAAAHH~!" the pirates cheered once more, while Desire's smile kept growing.
"All right, Bill!"
"We'll follow you to the ends of the world!"
"Yes, Bill!" exclaimed Desire and her squad. "Show us the way to our dreams! Take us all the way to the top!"
As the pirates continued with their revelry, Blizzard only stared at Bill...and almost instantly, the wolf-dog seemed to notice that something was off.
'...This guy is lying to all of them,' he thought. 'It's just like with Caesar...he's using his charisma to charm them and then take advantage of them, somehow.'
Luffy only stared in silence while Bill glanced at him and Blizzard.
"Look around you, Straw Hat and White Wolf," he said as he pointed to several odd-looking silver statues...all of them with expressions of agony and fear. "These are more than just some pretty decorations for this auditorium...these are actually the many pirates we have defeated..and soon, you will join them. Your little adventure ends today."
"What makes you so sure?!" Luffy asked.
"Because," Bill said...as his stomach and chest started glowing a hot red, "I ate the Smelt-Smelt Fruit, turning me into a blast furnace-man. My body has become a searing-hot blast furnace! I can melt down ore and turn them into all kinds of things!" He then reached inside his abdomen as he smirked evilly. "Don't worry...I'll turn you both into nice silver statues, befitting of a man and dog worth 500,400,000 combined!" With that, he threw balls of hot metal at Luffy and Blizzard, the latter trying to move up so that he could shield the former with his body...but just as they were about to hit...
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRGH!"
BOOM! The floor suddenly burst open, and out jumped Bartolomeo, wielding his pickax, which he used to knock the balls of hot metal away!
"LUFFY-SENPAI~! BLIZZARD-SENPAI~!"
"Chicken Head?!" Luffy questioned.
"Heh!" Bartolomeo smirked as he landed in front of the two Straw Hats. "No way am I gonna let you touch my heroes!"
With that, he held up his pickax and used it to cut off Blizzard's chains, thus freeing him from his bonds.
"Who the hell is this freak?!" Bill questioned.
"Bartolomeo!" Desire barked. "You idiot, you're ruining everything!"
"No way!" Peseta exclaimed in shock. "Did he actually climb his way out of there?!"
"Get them!" Bill ordered, and soon, the pirates came up on stage, attempting to surround Bartolomeo, Luffy, and Blizzard, but the Cannibal and the wolf-dog fought back with all they had. Bartolomeo proved to be quite skilled at using a pickax for a weapon, but as he took a swing at Desire, she used her sword to cut the pikcax in half, rendering it useless!
"So I was right!" Bartolomeo exclaimed. "I thought it was you I saw the other night, Desire! I'd recognize that hair of yours, anywhere?! What the hell are you doing here?!"
"And just why is it any of your business, all of a sudden?!" Desire questioned.
"Wait, they know each other?!" Luffy asked.
"Apparently!" Blizzard replied as he kicked away another pirate.
"Just give Straw Hat and White Wolf back!" Desire ordered as Bill appeared beside her...pulling out two burning hot swords from his body.
"Hehehehe...!" he snickered. "Don't think you can get away, fools!"
He then tried to hit Luffy with his swords, but Blizzard managed to roll him out of the way, but just by a hair, for Bill ended up hitting the side of the ball the Straw Hat Captain was trapped in. Luffy gasped as he saw how the hot blade cut through the side of the ball. If Bill had hit any closer, he would've cut off his arm!
"Gumamama...!" laughed Reggie. "Just give it up! It's over!"
"This is the end for you," added Peseta.
"Dammit," Bartolomeo cursed. "If only I could use my barrier, but my hands are still stuck together!"
Soon, he, Luffy, and Blizzard were surrounded at all sides.
"I guess this is the end," Blizzard hissed.
"Not yet, it isn't!" declared Luffy as he used his body to tilt the ball onto its side. "Here I go!"
Soon, he started rolling towards Bill's pirates, bowling over them like a regular bowling ball!
"All right, Luffy!" Blizzard cheered as he and Bartolomeo ran after him.
"That's my Luffy-senpai!" Bartolomeo shouted.
The pirates, in their cowardice, ran as fast as they could up a ramp as Luffy rolled after them, bowling some of them over as he did.
"Even when you look like that, you're so strong!" Bartolomeo declared, but then, all of a sudden, Luffy started to slow down.
"Luffy?!" Blizzard questioned. "Hey, what's wrong?!"
"...I don't...have anymore strength," Luffy answered. "That chocolate bar wasn't enough."
Before long, Blizzard and Bartolomeo found themselves running for their lives as Luffy came rolling back towards them.
"YOU IDIOT~!" Blizzard yelled as Luffy chased them out through a door, much to the confusion and Desire and her squad.
"...What the hell is his problem?" she asked.
"Rrrrgh...!" Bill growled. "Don't let them get away! Go after them!"
"Right, boss!" Reggie answered. "You heard him, guys! After them!"
"YEAH~!" the pirates shouted as they all ran off, emptying the room.
"Dammit to hell," Bill cursed. "A totally botched execution! How can this day get worse?!"
PURU-PURU-PURU! PURU-PURU-PURU! The Mini Transponder Snail hooked up to Reggie's ear started ringing, causing him to press a button on the shell.
"Yeah, what is it?!" the honey badger-man asked...before his eyes went wide and he gasped. "Oh! Oh...hello, sir. No, no, I wasn't talking about you!"
Bill turned and glared at Reggie, who grinned sheepishly.
"Not to be rude, but aren't you a bit early, sir?" asked Reggie. "Oh, no! This isn't a bad time! I'll send Bill down right away!"
With that, he hung up.
"Who was that?" asked Bill.
"...It's...Kuro Diablo, sir," answered Reggie. "He's here early."
Upon hearing that, Bill's eyes went wide...as if in alarm...before he exhaled.
"I...I see," he said. "Very well. Peseta...do we have it?"
"Yes, Bill," Peseta answered.
"Good," answered Bill. "Let's go, then."
XXX
Concurrently, in another tunnel, Aika and Kumi are seen walking together, the former dragging her pipe along the ground in a dismal manner.
"It's not fair, Kumi," Aika said. "I just started training so I could be stronger like everybody else...so why wouldn't Blizzard let me fight?"
"Aika, you've only been in-training for one day," Kumi answered. "You gotta give it more time than that."
Just then, Aika gasped as she heard the sound of footsteps approaching. They looked up, only to gasp as they saw Desire and her attack squad approaching.
"Enemies!" Aika exclaimed as she got ready to fight, but then Kumi grabbed her by the back of her shirt and pulled her out of the way. "Hey! Kumi- MMPH!"
"Shh~!" Kumi whispered. "Just be quiet!"
Soon, Desire and her team got into their Battle Boats.
"Listen up, now!" Desire ordered. "Escaping this fortress is no easy feat, not even for Straw Hat Luffy! Each team, split up and find Straw Hat, White Wolf, and that chicken-headed loser at all costs!"
Aika and Kumi gasped upon hearing that.
"Big Brother?!" the former whispered.
"I'll be taking the lead here!" Desire exclaimed. "Thank you!"
With that, Desire, her team, as well as the other squads in the port revved up their engines and sped off, out into the open to find the escaped fugitives.
"We gotta go after them!" Aika cried. "We can't let them get Big Brother, Blizzard, and Barty!"
"But how?!" Kumi asked. "We're not fast enough to catch up to them!"
Aika looked around, wondering what to do...but then she spotted something in the port: a lone Battle Boat, left unattended. As soon as she saw it...a grin appeared on her face, one that made Kumi feel very nervous.
XXX
Meanwhile, Luffy was being rolled by Blizzard and Bartolomeo until they finally came to a stop.
"Looks like we lost them, for now," Bartolomeo speculated.
"Looks like it, to me," Luffy agreed. "Thanks a lot, Chicken-Head! You saved our butts back there!"
Hearing that caused Bartolomeo to gasp before he broke down in tears of joy.
"I don't deserve such praise coming from you!" he cried. "I, the unworthy Bartolomeo, would go through hell for you, Luffy-senpai and Blizzard-senpai!"
"Hey, that's my line!" Blizzard remarked.
"Ugh..." Luffy groaned. "Moving around in this stupid ball makes me hungry. The only reason I managed to move around a little bit was because of that chocolate that the Chicken-Head Lady gave me."
"Chocolate?" Bartolomeo asked. "Oh, you must mean Desire! Yeah, that girl always loved chocolate. She and I actually go way back, you know!"
"Oh, so you do know her!" Luffy realized.
"Yeah! We grew up on the same island in the East Blue together!" answered Bartolomeo. "We used to cause all kinds of ruckuses when we were little! We both went out to sea separately, but...what she's doing in a place like this and why she's doing all these things is beyond me!" He then shook his head to erase his concern. "No! I can't be thinking about that, now! Our top priority is getting out of this place!"
"But first, we gotta find Aika," Luffy pointed out "She and Kumi could be anywhere in this place!"
"Right!" Bartolomeo exclaimed. "Once we find Aika-senpai and Kumi-senpai, THEN we'll escape!"
But then, KABOOM! An explosion occurred behind his back, forcing him to look up and see Desire and her attack squad!
"D-Desire!" Bartolomeo stammered.
"Hmph!" Desire scoffed as she chomped on her chocolate bar. "We found you!"
"LET'S GET OUTTA HERE!" Bartolomeo screamed as he and Blizzard ran away while rolling Luffy along in front of them while Desire and her squad gave chase!
"It's no use, Bartolomeo!" shouted Desire. "We're the fastest boat racers in all of the East Blue! You can't outrun us on land or sea!"
Soon, two cannons appeared at the sides of Desire's Battle Boat, which hit the ground near the escaping trio and sent them flying into the air!
"Bartolomeo!" Desire called. "For the sake of our past friendship, I'll ask Bill to spare you if you hand Straw Hat and White Wolf over to us!"
"Are you mad?!" Bartolomeo questioned, although he was stuck to Luffy's silver ball and was being rolled along with it. "Luffy-senpai is the most important person in the world to me! I'd never give him or Blizzard-senpai up!"
"You're still going on about that?!" Desire questioned in comical anger. "In that case, all three of you can go to hell together!"
"Big Sis..." muttered the woman at Desire's right flank.
BOOM! BOOM! KABOOM! She fired more cannonballs at the three, so much so that they could barely dodge!
"Big Sis, you're shooting at them too much!" cried the shorter woman.
"Desire, stop!" Bartolomeo cried. "What are you trying to do, kill me?!"
BOOM! Desire ended up hitting the ground in front of Luffy, Blizzard, and Bartolomeo, causing a chasm to form in front of them.
"We're trapped!" Blizzard shouted as he and Bartolomeo turned to see Desire's attack squad, surrounding them.
"Last chance, Bartolomeo," hissed Desire. "Don't make me do something I'll regret! Give Straw Hat and White Wolf back, NOW!"
"Over my dead body!" Bartolomeo barked.
"...So be it," Desire hissed as she prepared to fire her cannons one more time...but then, VRRRRRRRRMM~! They could hear the sound of a roaring engine somewhere behind them.
"Hey, what's that?" asked the stouter woman behind Desire, who looked back, only to gasp upon seeing a Battle Boat, driving up towards them...but it was who was driving that shocked her: Aika, screaming her head off while Kumi clung to her back!
"HELP ME~!" Aika screamed.
"AIKA?!" Luffy and Blizzard questioned.
"HOW DO I STOP THIS THING?!" Aika asked.
"H-hit the brakes!" Desire shouted. "The brakes on the handlebars!"
Aika squeezed the brakes on the handlebars, causing them the Battle Boat to skid along the ground uncontrollably.
"I STILL CAN'T STOOOOOOOOP!" Aika screamed.
"WE'RE GONNA DIE~!" Kumi howled.
"Oh, no!" Desire cried. "No! STOP! YOU'RE GONNA-"
BAM! Because they were going too fast, Aika too fast on the Battle Boat, they ended up crashing into Desire's Battle Boat, which ended up crashing into Luffy, Blizzard, and Bartolomeo and causing all of them down into the chasm!
"BIG SIS!" cried Desire's attack squad.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH~!" they all screamed as they disappeared into the darkness below.
XXX
Down in a familiar hidden room, Bill is seen, chomping on some ore he had in a bowl next to him while sitting on a throne. As he did...a black jaguar with green eyes, a golden collar, anklets, and a ring on his tail, appeared at his side.
"Well, well, well," said the jaguar...who was actually speaking in the human tongue. "There's quite a ruckus going on out there."
"We had a bit of an...accident," said Bill. "It'll be resolved, soon enough. In the meantime...Peseta!"
"Right!" answered Peseta as he pulled away a tarp, revealing crates of silver bullion. "It's this months latest tribute! Isn't it great?!"
"Oh, my!" answered the jaguar. "There's even more than there was, last month! We appreciate the tons of silver you've been giving to us...and my brother appreciates it, as well."
"Of course, Kuro Diablo," replied Bill. "Give the Monster of the New World my regards, won't you?"
"Naturally," Kuro Diablo grinned.
"And take care of the pirates we captured, as well," added Peseta.
PURU-PURU-PURU! PURU-PURU-PURU! The Mini Transponder Snail in his ear rang, causing him to press the button on the shell.
"Yeah?" he asked. "...Hmm...I see. Understood."
He then hung up.
"What is it, Peseta?" asked Bill.
"Straw Hat, White Wolf, and Desire fell into a chasm, apparently," said Peseta. "What should I do?"
"...Send in Avelon," Bill ordered.
XXX
Inside another tunnel, where a track has been set up...a shadowy figure sits.
"Korokorokoro...roger that. I'll deal with them as you say."
All of a sudden...his hands and feet turned to wheels as they touched the track. A sign on a mine cart strapped to his back appeared, showing the word "Departure" on it, and two headlights turned on.
"Off we go!"
FWEET~! He blew his whistle and rolled off down the track.
TO BE CONTINUED...
About time I finished this and put this up. I put up on DA in separate parts because the episode itself was so long. Hope it was worth the wait for you guys!
Review, please!
