Author's Note: This story starts around the Drum Island Arc. Just so you know.
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Chapter Two: Do You Smell Something Burning?
The moon painted the night sky above most of South Blue an eldritch shade of green, and cast an unhealthy pallor on all who chose to be outside one this eventful night. A small Marine scoutship, apparently abandoned, bobbed up and down listlessly a short ways from the coast of an unfortunate island chosen to be the One Piece equivalent of Bikini Atoll. On the boat, pale hands lowered a modified cannonball into a surprisingly large cannon, trembling as if realizing the magnitude of the task (and the possible ramifications of it backfiring). The cannonball nested snugly in the barrel of the cannon, a small spark began to eat its way up the fuse, inching every closer to its impending destiny. Finally, with a CRACK noise and a belching of smoke, a cannonball whistled through the air, hit the approximate center of the island, and turned the night sky red.
A scalding wave of dry heat caught the sails of the scoutship with a resounding FWUMP, and it flew over the ocean at speeds normally requiring a seatbelt. However, since our intrepid cannon-lighter was not currently in the possession of one, a teenager paddling a fishing boat towards the direction of the explosion looked up in mild bewilderment as the scoutship flew directly over his head and the screaming resonating from within it grew gradually quieter. Several hours later, he reached the island on which the explosive was tested on, and muttered, once again in bewilderment, "Holy shit... I'm pretty sure there was an island here a month ago..."
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Back at the Marine base, Corporal Zachary Riley removed his gear, put on his recently acquired and freshly laundered jacket, picked up a silver briefcase from the foot of his bed, and strolled leisurely through the Marine base like a soldier on his day off. He descended lower and lower, until he reached a steel door, apparently coated with a layer of seastone. He stepped back from the door so as not to be in contact with it, opened his silver briefcase, and strapped a few white blocks to the hinges of the door. He stepped back further, sat down and crossed his legs, and whistled a brief segment of a complex tune. After a couple of seconds, the blocks detonated, and the door fell off its hinges. He walked into the recently opened door, grinned, spread his hands in a gesture of peace, and announced to the room in general, "Not quite good enough, gentlemen!"
An assortment of technicians walked up to greet him, while several others went to repair, and possibly make upgrades to the recently dehinged door. He shook the hands of various technicians until he reached one of apparently higher rank than the others. He looked around furtively to make sure he wasn't overheard, and whispered to the technician, "So, how did it go?"
In reply, the technician gave him the thumbs-up, slipped him a manila envelope, which Zack in reply tucked it safely into his briefcase and gave the technician a toothy smile. The doctor shuddered, thinking the feral grin somewhat akin to that of a crocodile (with or without banana), but by then Zack had turned away to leave. He happily sauntered through the door and flawlessly navigated the subterranean catacombs back to his lodgings (a far cry from the navigational skills of Roranoa Zoro).
Back in his room, he opened his briefcase and the manila envelope, respectively, and withdrew from it a large collection of papers, and one picture of the recent devastation of the test explosive. He goggled at this for a moment, then put the papers back in the envelope and replaced them in his briefcase. Then, he gave himself a pat on the back for a job well done.
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Later on, the same teenager witnessing the experimental destruction of the South Blue island wandered around nearby islands until he eventually found a Marine base. As he shuffled across the various streets in search for the base, he made for a strange sight, and people in the street would stop and stare at the strange albino kid in an outdated ecclesiastical robe. The effect of the shapeless robe covering his whole body gave the impression that he had somehow mastered the art of levitation, and it was with this strange appearance of movement that he entered the first Marine base he could find, and boldly questioned the commanding officer at the base about the recent explosion. This did not elicit the reaction he was hoping for, and he was thrown, struggling, into the jail, all the while yelling that he didn't really mind what had happened, and that he just wanted to know what was going on. His comments ignored, he was placed in a cell, looking severely pissed off. After a long hour on the Den Den Mushi with the main technician of the explosive project who had previously spoke to Zack, there was a unanimous decision to send him over to a higher-security base to see whether or not he could be "reeducated". As they went to fetch their new prisoner, the officer looked on in puzzlement in the painstakingly drawn pentagram drawn on the wall of the cell door, apparently in the prisoner's own blood. The kid looked up at him, as if drawing sinister occult symbols on the walls of jail cells was an everyday occurrence, and said, "Well, what?"
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A blisteringly dry summer heat was pounding on the heads of those unfortunate enough to be outside in the city of Alabasta. Inside the city's less popular casino, Rainbase, a minor commotion was occurring. A girl with a pitcher of beer in one hand and a fan of cards in the other was slurring her sentences and racking up surprisingly large amounts of chips. The other players looked ready to punch her, and one gave them an excellent reason to. Looking at the conveniently placed wall of bounty posters, he located a bounty poster almost exactly matching the inebriated player in front of them. He directed the attention of the players toward the poster labeled:
Kalliope Phillips
Bounty: 50,000,000
Wanted for: N/A
Oddly enough, the poster had a black X painted over it. It seemed that someone had been bright enough to fool the government into presuming her dead. Fortunately, thought the extremely annoyed card-players, she would earn that X over her bounty poster in no short notice. One slid a wrist blade from under his shirtsleeve, upon which an ace of spades was skewered. He grinned sheepishly at the other players, but walked purposefully toward the girl, who looked too drunk to notice. When he was almost close enough to stab, a flash of silver caught some peoples' eyes, and the would-be killer had an ornate wakizashi in his throat. The girl looked at the corpse with red-rimmed eyes, blearily sheathed the sword, and sat down again.
"...personal bubble, sheesh..."
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A typhoon, a rare and unpredictable event especially in the Shabondy Archipelago, caused a torrential downpour on Grove 52, soaking a cloaked figure clutching a dark, lustrous, prism-like object. He walked up to an open stall and pulled off his hood, revealing a gaunt face slicked with rain and reflecting the moonlight. The exchange went along wordlessly and the cloaked figure left silently in the direction of Grove 1.
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Author's Note: I'm baaaack! Sorry for this wait. I have no excuses to offer to you, regrettably. Anyways, I'd like some reviews to see whether or not this story is a complete pile of dogshit. If it isn't, my morale will be greatly bolstered and more chapters will be forthcoming. Incidentally, tell me how many times you had to look in the dictionary while reading this chapter. )
