The Warlords
Summary: Set 10 years after the canon timeline, in an alternate universe where the Shichibukai were each born into a different generation, there are seven pirates who will join forces. In another reality, they could have each shook the world on their own. In this universe, the Shichibukai will all join under a single pirate flag, and the world will shatter.
A what-if story concerning a pirate crew made solely out of the Shichibukai.
Partly inspired by Phalanx's "The Supernova Eleven", but it is a completely different story.
Chapter 1: The Birth of Hawk Eyes
The sound of gulls gently echoed through the peaceful seaside town. It was a quiet, peaceful day. As a matter of fact, Mihawk doubted that the town of Crabton had ever had an exciting moment in its lifetime.
The most exciting thing was happening by the docks, where a couple of fishermen were struggling to pull in a shark that had been lured into their snare. The beast wasn't even very big, but it fought furiously against the net and snapped at their harpoons. A crowd had gathered by the pier to watch the show, but no one went to help. Nobody wanted to get on the wrong side of a shark like that.
Mihawk watched the struggle for a while, before eventually wandering off to the Marine office on the far side of the town. For such quiet town, it was surprisingly popular among bounty hunters like him. There was small Marine base overlooking Crabton, but the marines had very little to do except sorting and paying out for bounties. This caused a regular stream of bounty hunters coming into collect their rewards in Crabton. Men like Mihawk.
None of it was very big work. There were no big fish in the East Blue. Instead, Mihawk got by hunting down little fish; small time pirates and mountain bandits, yet it was enough to make a living. Mihawk was young, but strong enough to get by.
The man behind the desk at the Marine office glanced at the boy as he entered, frowning at the large sword draped across his back. Mihawk knew that he looked like a mess. Mihawk was small and scrawny with ragged clothes, and yet he kept his sword, a hulking blade with a huge cross-guard, hung on his back. It made him look like a mouse trying to carry a particularly large knife. Mihawk kept his blade wrapped up in bandages so nobody noticed how valuable it was.
"Aren't you a bit young for a bounty hunter?" The clerk asked critically.
Mihawk laughed brightly. "I've got to eat somehow, right?" He walked up to the desk. "Anyways, I'm looking for a new bounty."
The clerk glanced at the wrapped up blade on his back. "Are you sure your sword is large enough?" He said sarcastically.
"It's a family heirloom." Mihawk muttered with a sheepish smile.
The man shrugged, and pulled up a pile of papers. "Name?"
"Mihawk." The boy replied. "Dracule Mihawk."
"There's a very serious name." He commented.
"My friends call me Mikey."
"Alright, I've found you." The clerk said, pulling up a sheet of paper. He examined it for a moment. "I've got your record. Yeah, I think we've got a couple of bounties for you."
The man left for a moment and then returned with a large booklet of papers. He flicked through the big names without a thought and went straight for the small ones at the very back. He pulled out a few and handed them to Mihawk.
"These should be alright." He said passing the papers to Mihawk. "All of them small, all of them in the area. There's one for petty theft, a couple for disturbance of the peace, and that last one's for excessive littering."
"Got it." Mihawk smiled, grabbing the papers and flicking through them quickly.
"Be careful with that one." The clerk cautioned, pointing to a bounty in the middle. The reward said 500 Beli. "That one might get violent. Maybe put it back if it's too much, yeah? Don't be a martyr, kid."
"It's fine." Mihawk grinned confidently. "I'm strong enough."
The clerk inspected him critically. "How old are you, anyways?"
"Fifteen."
The clerk nodded. Mihawk was small and skinny, he looked younger. "And you decided to be a bounty hunter?"
"This is all just training." Mihawk bragged proudly. "I'm going to get strong. I'm going to be the world's greatest swordsman."
The clerk had to stop his eyes from rolling. He heard that all the time, but there was no way to stop kids like him from going out and getting themselves killed.
Mihawk was just about to leave when he heard the gunfire. It came so suddenly that everyone in the building flinched and took cover. It started slow at first, but then quickened into an orchestra of bullets that echoed throughout the town. Then the loud booms of cannon fire cut through the air. Outside in the street, suddenly people were running.
"What the hell…?" One of the other bounty hunters murmured, slowly peering out the window. The sounds of battle were coming from the harbour. Suddenly, his eyes widened. "Everybody take cover!" He screamed, before jumping to the ground. Mihawk was suddenly frozen with fear. It sounded like a warzone outside. Fortunately, one of the other bounty hunters tackled him to the ground, just before the room exploded.
The flying shrapnel burst through the wall and the room shattered. He felt the debris fly over his head. Suddenly, half the building had been torn in half and Mihawk had a clear view out over the harbour, where he could see the sparks and explosions of what looked like a huge battle between the marines and some sort of invisible enemy. Just what was attacking the town?
Mihawk glanced behind him and he saw the cannonball that had burst through the building. Except it wasn't a whole cannonball, he realised slowly. The metal ball had been sliced cleanly in half.
"Everybody move!" Someone called and all the bounty hunters and marines started to run out. Mihawk followed them by pure instinct. All of the bounty hunters had their weapons drawn.
"What's happening here?" A bounty hunter screamed. "Who's attacking us?"
"It's him!" Came a panicked scream, so frightened it bordered on hysteria. "The Demon Hunter!"
Mihawk felt the entire crowd stiffen as the name was called out. "Roronoa Zoro!"
The even the very name send chills down the bounty hunters' spines. They all put their weapons away and started to run faster. Mihawk felt his heart beat with excitement. He knew who that was.
"Roronoa Zoro." He whispered under his breath. "The world's greatest swordsman…"
"Don't even think about it, kid!" A bounty hunter next to him shouted as they ran. He was a man of medium build wearing a green overcoat and red headgear. "Don't you know who he is? Roronoa Zoro is one of the Eleven Supernovas!"
Mihawk glanced at the man. "The what?"
"Along with the Marines and the Four Emperors, the Eleven Supernovas are one of The Three Great Powers! They disrupt the balance of the entire world! They're all ridiculously powerful!" The bounty hunter screamed.
"Roronoa Zoro." Came another voice from the crowd. He said the name like a curse. "That man… he's the first mate to the World's Most Wanted…"
Mihawk felt his heart racing. Around him, the sound of gunfire was slowly dying down. Somehow, he didn't think the battle had been won for the Marines.
They were running into the main plaza of Crabton. A crowd was gathered there, everyone was nervous and not sure what to do.
"What the hell is Roronoa Zoro doing here?" A man muttered with panic. "A monster like that has no place here in the East Blue! He belongs in the New World with all the other monsters…"
"Maybe he just got lost." Another man murmured. He was old, broadly built, and wearing a chef's hat.
"I was being serious, old man!" The man snapped in fear.
"And I wasn't joking." The chef muttered darkly. "That's the sort of place the Grand Line is."
For a while, there was silence. Nobody dared to speak unless it brought the wrath of Roronoa Zoro down upon them. Finally, a strangled voice called lowly from the end of the plaza. "He's coming!"
The footsteps were light, but they carried a weight that echoed through the town. A figure was casually walking across the plaza, like it was just a stroll in the park. The crowd cut apart to let him through wordlessly.
Mihawk had imagined a monster nine foot tall and breathing fire. Instead, Roronoa Zoro was of average height and normal build with lightly tanned skin. He wore a long, open, dark-green coat, closed on his waist by a red stash with a black bandanna tied around his arm. His swords were tucked into his waist. Three swords, Mihawk noticed absentmindedly, all of them of exceedingly high quality.
Still, somehow the man was everything that Mihawk had predicted. He carried an aura of indescribable power that filled the plaza. It was an aura that made it hard to breathe.
The crowd split around him without a noise. It was so quiet that nobody dared to even breathe too loudly. Zoro just walked through, not paying any of the citizens a second glance.
The excitement was building within Mihawk. He could feel his body twitching. He had dreamt of being the greatest all his life, and now here was his chance. His arm slowly moved to his sword almost automatically.
Next to him, one of the bounty hunters glanced at Mihawk with shock. "What are you doing, kid?" He hissed.
"I just need to beat him." Mihawk whispered under his breath. The adrenaline was pounding through him. "I have to beat him…"
Mihawk had barely even whispered, but suddenly, even across the plaza, Zoro's ears twitched. The Supernova stopped walking and turned to face Mihawk. The man's grin was usually only seen on sharks.
"Was that a challenge, boy?" Zoro asked quietly.
In under a second and without a noise, people vanished from Mihawk's side. Suddenly, Mihawk was a very dangerous person to be around. All of Zoro's immense killing intent was suddenly focused on to him, and it was enough to make Mihawk feel faint. Still, the adrenaline pounding through him forced him to step forward.
Wordlessly, Mihawk drew his blade and let the cover fall of it. The Black Sword Yoru glinted in the bright sun.
For a moment, Zoro looked impressed. "That's a fine blade." He praised, examining Mihawk closely. "But do you know how to use?"
Mihawk gritted his teeth and took a firm grip on his sword. "I will… exceed… you…" He muttered under his breath, his whole body so tense that he felt like he was going to explode. There was a moment of silence that felt like it stretched an eternity.
Then, without warning, Mihawk burst forward. He moved so fast he blurred, effortlessly swinging the seven foot tall blade in a large arc. He felt the surprise flow over the crowd as he charged. Wow, that boy is good, they thought as one.
Mihawk moved faster than he had ever done before, attacking more viciously and hacking more furiously than he had ever managed. All he could see was blurs as he slashed repeatedly at the green shape that was Roronoa Zoro. A wordless scream left his lips as he swung Yoru so hard that it blew up a cloud of dust.
A feeling of euphoric victory past over him quickly as he couldn't see Zoro standing in front of him any longer. He was left panting weakly, trying to comprehend what has happening. I have just beaten the world's greatest swordsman. The thought was like a lightning strike. I must have done…
The voice from behind hit him like a bombshell. Suddenly, Zoro was standing directly behind, re-sheathing one of his blades.
"I'm sorry." Zoro apologised faintly. "I should have used a smaller blade on you."
It took Mihawk a few seconds before he even felt the pain. All he knew was that his chest started to pour with blood, and then his whole world collapsed. He dropped to the ground as the gash across his chest, from shoulder to hip, started to bleed out.
Roronoa Zoro was standing over him. There was blood on one of his blades. Only one blade, the part of Mihawk that wasn't delirious with pain thought weakly. I'm not even worth one of his swords.
"A blade like this is wasted on you." Zoro muttered with almost disdain, glancing at Yoru. "A sword can only be as sharp as its user, and this one is blunt in your hands."
Slowly, he bent down on picked up Yoru. "I will be taking this blade. A blade like this must be starving for proper combat." He muttered emotionlessly. He slung Yoru over his back and was already walking away. "Your form is weak, and your motions are crude. You have no talent for the sword so please stop trying. Give up whatever dreams of glory you have, they will never come true."
He paused to look at the Mihawk, who was bleeding out on the ground, and staggering for breath. "I have left you alive." He said finally. "Consider this a second chance and devote your life to some other ambition."
Mihawk barely managed to look upwards. "That sword… it was my fathers…" He gasped.
Zoro didn't even turn around. He was already nearly out of the plaza. "You are not worthy of it."
The rage boiled up inside Mihawk, overwhelming the pain. His pride, his dreams, and his heritage was at stake, and he refused to give in. He staggered to his feet, and pulled out his small dagger from around his neck. His body refused to give in to his wounds and suddenly he was charging towards Zoro's back, his knife in his hand.
The Supernova waited until he was mere yards away, and then moved so fast he blurred. Zoro's hand reached out and grabbed the stone wall of a nearby house, tearing through it with ease. In under a second, the concrete start to shake and the foundations buckled. The next thing Mihawk knew, tonnes of rubble were accelerating straight towards him.
He just threw a freaking house at me, Mihawk realised with shock. That was the last thing Mihawk remembered for a while.
By the time the villagers had finally evacuated the rubble, everybody was shocked to discover that Mihawk was still alive. Nearly every bone in his body was shattered, and he was almost dead from blood loss, but he was still gasping for air even as they lifted the house off him.
The boy was taken to the doctors, who wasted no time in wrapping his whole body in bandages. Strangely, the boy's heartbeat was completely calm even as the bones were reset into place.
It took months for him to recover, during that time Mihawk never said a word. People tried to talk to him, but he just stared blankly through them. Eventually, people stared to whisper that he had been to the very edge of death and had left his soul there even as he crawled back. Whatever was left was just a shadow of a person, lacking any emotion.
People tried to help him, yet his whole body was wrapped up in bandages. The only part of him that was visible was his eyes, which just kept on staring forward; unblinking, unwavering. They were eyes of pure vengeance, so sharp that the stare could cut through steel.
Eventually, they started calling him "Hawk Eyes" Mihawk.
Author Notes:
This is my first fanfic, reviews would be really appreciated. Any comments or suggestions are always helpful.
This first chapter is really just an introduction. I debated making it a prologue. In this AU, the Shichbukai as you know them were all children during the start of one piece. Instead, that gap of power was filled by the Eleven Supernovas.
Also, I've already written the first dozen or so chapters, they just need error checking and tidying up. I'm intending on uploading the next chapter in a couple of days.