Rumors
On a nearby island, a lone pirate runs through the thicken jungle. His name is Oliver "The Ripper", a fearsome man whose name echoes fear in many people in the surrounding people. He's known to murder countless villages for gold and booze and sometimes even just for fun. No, The Ripper is not a kind man, and no one is prepared to fight him. That is till one lone monk did something daring that one night.
He called upon the 'Dark Angel' in hopes that she will save the village from utter destruction. But four days had pass and no sign of that so called 'saviour'. That is, till tonight.
Tonight, The Ripper is running for his life. Tonight, the 'saviour' appears, grinning and blood thirsty. Tonight, someone will die.
The pirate stumbles on tree roots as he tries so hard to get away from whatever is chasing him. But that will never be that easy; the monster following him flies at an inhuman speed, gaining mileage with every soar she takes. The pirate knows his life is coming to an end, but he will continue to fight. That's the only way he could survive in this madness.
"Get away!" he screams, pulling out his gun and shooting into nothing. The bullets echo through the thick forest till they completely disappear. The Ripper fires blindly and rapidly, hitting nothing again and again. "Shit!" He throws his weapon down in frustration and draws out his secret weapon. A hunting knife. He grins and begins to stalk his prey.
Little did he know, the prey didn't need to follow him that closely. No, the man was already in the area for the angel to kill. Killing humans was just so easy, she almost stopped years ago. Almost.
Beneath Oliver, the ground rumbles. Trees, high as mountains, begins to collapse into the ground itself. He stares, horrified and dumbfounded at the large and looming sinkhole that begins to form. But then, it stops. The ground does not shake and the trees do not fall. That only lasts for a few seconds.
In an instant, the ground shoots up into a large pillar, bring shame to many termite hills. The muddy pillar pierces the man's anus, making its way up through the inner digestive tract, causing ruptures to explode through his body before making an appearance through his mouth. The hunting knife falls to the ground and is left like that for the world to see. Oliver didn't have a chance to scream.
~()()()~
When the Straw Hats dock on the island, they're greeted with a horrible sight. Headless torsos were forcibly place on stakes for many pirates to see. Someone laughs in the background and they see a drunken old man.
"Gahaha! You guys look terrified!" he laughs.
Nami punches him in the head. "What are you saying!? This is a horrible sight!" The man keeps on laughing.
"They're props! See?" The man rips on down and shows them the stuffing. "It's a Halloween and Prank town you all came to!"
Luffy laughs at the prank, then makes fun of everyone who was scared from the prank. Zoro growls at him and punches him in the arm.
"You were scared too asshole!" Zoro shouts, but he doesn't do anything else to Luffy except glare. Sanji kicks Luffy in the head and calls him a shithead. Then he attacks the old drunken man, calling him a shithead too. Both continues to laugh. The rest of the crew scoffs and docks the ship. The crew disembark, except Brook and Franky who decides to remain on the ship to guard, the crew needs to stock up on supplies. The refrigerator was empty, due to the fact their captain was a black hole of a human being. Chopper, Sanji and Nami head out into the town, as they did, Chopper covers his nose and makes a retching sound.
"Oi, what's wrong Chopper?" Sanji asks.
"Can't you guys smell it?" Chopper asks. "It smells like death!"
The other two stop and smell the air, before making a face. Nami covers her nose while Chopper digs out surgeon masks for the two humans. The mask wouldn't work on Chopper very well, as his nose is too powerful. The smell lingers over the town and Nami notices that everyone in this town were also wearing surgical masks. I wonder why. Nami wonders.
"There's no food here," Sanji mutters, looking around. He's correct, as all the fresh produce were rotten and decaying. The shop owner sighs and closes his shop.
"Sorry there kid, I got no food," the shop owner tells Sanji.
"Why?"
"Can't you guys smell it? The smell of death lingers over the town. Everyone here is ruined." Sanji frowns at the new information. But he doesn't ask any more question. The shop keeper waves the pirates off, defeated the pirates obey and regroup with Brook on the Thousand Sunny.
~()()()~
Meanwhile, Luffy, Usopp, Robin and Zoro wander the town, wondering why everyone is ducking away. Luffy picks up a rotten fruit and takes a bite out of it, before spitting it out and making a face.
"Gross!" he cries. "How did this happen!?"
Zoro dumps out the bento that Sanji had prepared for them. All the contents inside were rotting and decaying to the core. A pile of stinking mush falls out, much to the dismay of Luffy. He scowls and rages randomly over the lack of food, only to collapse from hunger.
"How did this happen?" Usopp asks. "Robin do you know?"
"It smells like death here," Zoro says, looking up at the darken sky.
Robin doesn't answer, she doesn't know what's going on. Suddenly, behind them, the local pub begins to break down. The wood supporting the building were eaten away by an unknown force, causing the building to come crumbling down.
This is getting stranger and stranger. Usopp, Zoro and Robin thinks, but they don't express their thoughts, Luffy already did that for them. Someone walks out from the pub, assuming to be the owner, looking defeated. He sits down and buries his head into his hands, moaning over his lost business.
Robin approaches him. "Excuse me, why is everything here decaying?"
The man looks up. "You guys must all be foreigners so you guys wouldn't know, but there's a rumor going around saying we've been hit by the 'Dark Angel'." Upon hearing that word, everyone perks up and listens in.
"What do you mean by that old man?" Luffy asks, walking up and sticking his finger in his nose and picking it.
"You don't understand the legend do you?" All of them nod. "Well, there's another part to it. You'll know when your town is hit when the smell of death and decay lingers in the air. During the first few days, the smell isn't very strong but as the month progresses, the smell gets stronger and stronger before it starts affecting the town.
"You see, when the smell hits, it begins to destroy everything natural. Food, wood, stone. It eats away at everything till the town becomes a big pile of nothing. I suggest you guys leave this island as soon as possible. I know the angel has, her prey has already been killed."
"Who's her prey?" Zoro asks, touching his swords and hope not to take them out for the fear of them rusting away and rotting.
"A pirate, Oliver "The Ripper" Hexin."
"Who's that?" Luffy asks. Robin explains the horrid nature of that person. Luffy thinks that man is still alive and starts marching off to kick his ass. Thankfully, Usopp grabs onto him before he doesn't something stupid.
"Regardless, you folks should leave before the island disappears," the man says before leaving the crew.
Usopp stands there, shaking at the knees. "T-th-Tha-That's j-j-ju-just a-a-a-a ru-ru-ru-rumor right!?" Robin doesn't know for sure, and she has a feeling the other two agree with her. Zoro grabs Usopp and carries him over his shoulder.
"Anyways, we better get back to the ship before this island is gone," Zoro says, walking back. Everyone follows him. But Zoro couldn't shake the looming feeling of despair that had seem to follow them from island to island.