Chapter 2 – The Rogue Wolf
After the Thousand Sunny hit the water, a massive amount of water splashed upward and hit the deck of the large Brigantine Sloop, dousing the entire crew since they were making preparations to escape as soon as Kuma sent them flying with his unique Devil Fruit power. Breathing heavily and growling slightly in frustration, Luffy sat up and drained the water out of his blue vest, thinking to himself how badly he was defeated by Sentoumaru without even so much as laying a hand on him.
"That stupid bear sent us flying, but I wonder where we are," he asked himself, trying not to think too hard because it made his head hurt when he did. "I just can't get my mind off those three guys." An image of Kizaru, Sentoumaru, and Kuma formed in his mind from what he remembered of them, which caused him a great deal of anger that he was so easily beaten and how his nakama were put at risk because of his weakness. "Someday, we'll take them all down."
With that, he stood up and went to go check on everyone, making sure nobody was hurt or injured. Everyone appeared to be fine, much to Luffy's relief. Chopper would be able to take care of the minor injuries that the crew had sustained. Considering they were flying for three days and three nights, it is unknown as to where they could have landed, but they would soon need to get a bearing on their location.
Nami tapped the Log Pose on her wrist several times, noticing that the compass was pointing in no significant direction and was either sitting idly in place or swaying back and forth as if confused about where it was trying to face. "The Log Pose isn't working, so I can't tell what direction it is to go back to the Archipelago." She assumed at first that there was some form of magnetic interference in between one of the islands of the Grand Line that may have been throwing them off completely.
"Ah! I've got it!" Luffy exclaimed suddenly, fishing around in the pockets of his trousers and pulling out the Biblicard that Rayleigh had given them. Smirking with triumph, Luffy held flat in his palm as it began to point in the direction of where the former first mate would be found. Perking his head up to see where it was facing, he noticed that it locked onto the nearby island that was in their direct path. It was unlikely that he was at the island when they had just seen him at the same grove they were at before being launched away by Kuma.
"That's our destination then," he stated, pointing at the island and nodding to the others to finish preparations for departure and deciding that they would first investigate the town that was present in order to find out where in the world they were. "We need to get back to the grove where we were supposed to finish getting the coating done and get to Fishman Island."
Nodding in compliance to their Captain's orders, the crew set sail towards Hitoya and circled around the island to where the dock was in order to disembark. All the while, the strange youth inside of the jail was watching them, closely examining the sails and flag flying to see if he recognized the colors, but he did not.
"Hey, Marine guard guy," Jeran called out, getting as close to the bars as possible without feeling physically drained by them. "Do you recognize a sail and Jolly Roger that wears a straw hat?" Although it was an infamous crew, he apparently did not know anything about them due to his lack of contact with the outside world.
Quirking an eyebrow, the Marine guard poked his head up slightly over the newspaper he was reading and looked at Jeran. "You mean you don't know who they are?" he demanded, scoffing at his ignorance and folding the paper in half before showing him the image of the Thousand Sunny as well as the nine wanted posters for the Straw Hat pirates. "Their Captain, Monkey D. Luffy, attacked Saint Charloss of the Tenryūbito and he is responsible, along with his crew, for breaking into the Judiciary Island of Enies Lobby to rescue a highly wanted criminal in the eyes of the World Government."
Jeran's eyes widened at the revelation and he clenched onto the bars despite the wave of exhaustion that suddenly washed over him. "Awesome, so those are the guys that declared war on the World Government, something so major that even my backwater island heard about it." He stepped away from the barrier and grinned, looking out the window again as the Thousand Sunny soon drifted out of sight.
I left home in order to live a more exciting life than what I could have had if I just stayed a carpenter like my old man, and I think things are about to start heating up when those guys dock on this island. His entire adventure or misfortune perhaps, started when he decided to stowaway onto a Marine ship to escape home.
Thinking back, Jeran recalled the day that was about a month ago, where he was working lazily with his father to thatch a roof to keep it from leaking for one of his many neighbors. The island of Parm was quiet and peaceful as it had always been, but to Jeran, it was just too boring for him and he could no longer stand living there. The sea was vast and seemingly endless, so he knew it had hundreds of adventures awaiting him.
Wiping sweat from his brow, Jeran looked down at his father, Ender, who was discussing the charges with the patron that he would have to pay for their hard work in fixing his roof. The sun was high over his head, beating down on him and causing his brow to itch as sweat ran down his forehead. "Damn, it's pretty hot out today," he mused, putting a hand over his eyes to shade them from the sun. At that moment, something caught his eye that filled him both with shock and joy at the same time. There was a Marine ship pulling into the dock of their city and several men were disembarking, most likely in order to gather supplies or investigate about some of the recent pirate attacks.
A devilish grin formed on the young Kedamono's face before he leapt from his perch, hitting the ground with a thud and a cloud of dust, dashing off almost immediately after. "I'll see ya later, old man! I'm off to live a life of adventure!" He waved and shouted to him in an ecstatic manner, leaving his father in shock at his son's sudden behavior. Jeran arrived at the docks in a matter of seconds, seeing a few townspeople fishing on the edge and mumbling to themselves about some boring thing he did not care to listen into. However, he would use them to help him out with his plan and snuck up behind them to get their attention.
"Hey," he called out to them, getting their attention and waving a hand for them to come to him. "I need you guys to help me out with something."
"Well sure, Jeran, what's up?" one of the men asked, pushing up lazily on his straw hat to reveal his eyes. "Babel and I were just gathering up some fish for the coming market sale when the commerce gets pretty high."
With a scoff, the man named Babel waved his hand as if disregarding what the other had just claimed. "We were trying to catch fish, but those stupid Marines came and scared all the fish away, though we weren't having much luck beforehand since genius Ivan here brought the wrong kind of bait that the fish didn't like one bit."
Seemingly irritated by that comment, Ivan shoved Babel and the two of them got into a light scuffle, wrestling around on the dock before Jeran brought his fists down on their heads, prying them apart afterward and calming the two men down.
"Listen, I don't care who did what or what happened, but I just want you two to talk with the Marines about something, possibly why they're here and what they plan on doing as a distraction." Jeran still had the smirk present on his face the entire time he was explaining the situation to them.
"A distraction," Ivan asked, tilting his head to the side a bit, wondering what Jeran could be planning. He knew the boy was mischievous and pulled a lot of pranks, but messing with the Marines was not grounds for funny business and could get him into trouble.
"For what," Babel continued, finishing off Ivan's initial sentence. "A distraction for what?" It seemed that he had the same thoughts running through his mind, folding his arms and leaning in closer to get the word of Jeran's plan.
"I'm gonna get on board their Marine ship," he answered, standing up and sneaking past the two in order to hide behind a barrel while he gave them a silent signal to go and talk to the Marines. "Go, go."
Despite their protests about how much of a bad idea it was, they solemnly agreed and went to go talk to some of the men coming off the ship in order to pump them for information. After the last of the troops marched off the deck, it was clear for Jeran to dash on board quickly and pull up a tarp to one of the dinghies on board, hiding inside the small escape craft and simply waiting patiently for the ship to disembark.
The ship soon left port and was heading to their next destination, wherever it may be. Jeran heard a loud commotion going on and the tarp was suddenly thrust back, snapping off of the small vessel and flying into the wind. He was now staring into the eyes of a large group of Marines, all pointing guns at him. A weak smile and nervous chuckle escaped from him before he transformed into his hybrid wolf form, which he affectionately dubbed Hybrid Point, letting out a vicious roar and started to attack the Marines.
"He's a Fruit user!" one of the Marines shouted, taking aim on him and firing a bullet from his rifle, only to have it crushed in the vicious grip of Jeran's wolf-like fangs. "Call the Captains immediately!" His words went unheard as he was caught in a choke hold and knocked unconscious by the wolf boy. It seemed that the Captains had already been alerted to his presence, as a door swung open from below deck and four figures appeared from within to confront him.
The first figure that Jeran laid eyes on was a five foot six man who was garbed in all black with a vest and long sleeve shirt beneath it, trousers and boots to match and a Marine Cape to complete the ensemble. His eyes were a crystalline blue color and his hair was jet black and went down to his shoulders, stopping just short of them. The appearance made him quite dark and foreboding, almost as if a raven hunting for carrion during the night. He was Karasu Kuragari, Raven Captain of Hitoya Island.
Standing directly beside the dark Captain was a man taller than him, standing at six foot one and having a stern figure to him. Quite unlike his comrade to the right, he wore the typical Marine uniform, outfitting himself with a white long sleeve shirt accessorized with golden buttons and dark blue pants and black combat boots. He always kept a brown belt at his hip which usually holds his flintlock pistol. The Captain had long dark hair that went down past his tail bone and was always tied in a ponytail with a purple hair band along with dark green eyes. He was Hiruma, Phantom Captain of Hitoya Island.
The next man was a giant compared to his two other companions, dwarfing both of them at seven foot six with slightly dark skin, giving him a tan appearance as opposed to the other two who had fair complexions, and he has spiky blond hair with a few bangs that hang down in front of his right eye. His eyes are a dark brown in color. The Captain seemed particularly wealthy, as his outfit was a slick black suit with a golden chain around his neck, golden pocket watch, and several golden bracelets as well as rings adorning his fingers. He was Rodrieguz Rick, the Slick Captain of Hitoya Island.
Finally, Jeran's eyes fell upon the last Captain, who had a significantly paler skin tone than the other three. He had short, slicked back brown hair and deep black eyes and was wearing a dark blue cape with white inner lining and a blue, long sleeve shirt with a black tie beneath it as well as a white collared shirt under it; he also wore a pair of black slacks with dark blue colored shoes to complete his ensemble. He was Terry, the Metallic Captain of Hitoya Island.
"So you guys must be the head honchos around here, huh," he asked in a defiant manner, cracking his knuckles and threatening them with his claws, though they made no apparent movements. His vision blurred suddenly as he felt a fist plow into his stomach only to look up and see the dark Captain had moved without him even noticing, taking the time to attack him quite viciously, bringing him to his knees in an instant. Jeran was about to retaliate, but the man who assaulted him was already gone and the distraction was all it took for him to catch a swift kick to the temple, successfully knocking him out and causing his body to hit the hard wood surface of the deck.
Scowling as he came to reality, Jeran remembered how the four Captains ganged up on him on their ship and hauled him to the prison he was currently locked up in. "I bet you feel like a big man, don't you, Terry?" He got no response from the Captain as per the usual, but he figured he would continue to pick a fight with him. "You attacked one person in an unfair manner and captured me, so I guess that makes you almighty in the eyes of the Marines." In a disgraceful manner, Jeran spat at Terry's feet and left a rather large and vile looking puddle of phlegm that stained his normally clean boots.
Crumpling his paper together angrily, Terry stood up and thrust his metal bat through the cage, only to have it be caught by Jeran in a punishing grip. There was a wicked grin present on his face as he used brute strength to bend it out of place and force the Captain a little closer to his Kairouseki prison.
"I may be weakened by this damn prison, but I've got enough power to knock your sorry ass out," he thrust his head forward, bashing it against Terry's skull and sending the Captain reeling back only to stop himself with the wall as his crutch. "Damn, his head is hard as metal, I thought the bars would weaken him too."
While the blow had hurt him significantly, it did not do enough to knock him unconscious. "It's true that my metal powers were negated by those bars, but I've trained my fortitude so much that a simple head butt isn't going to penetrate through my durable skin." He pointed a finger to his forehead to show that there was only a minor bruise and no bleeding to show he had been busted open. "Nice try, Kedamono, but you're gonna be locked in there until we decide how to execute your mangy ass."
Back on the shores of Hitoya, the Thousand Sunny weighed anchor at the dock and Luffy was the first one to leap off the deck in order to get a survey of their surroundings. He may have been a little gung-ho, but the energy helped him to keep his mind off their predicament and recent defeat. As soon as his feet hit the deck, he locked eyes with a simple Marine patrolman who was busy doing his rounds of the city.
"Straw…hat…" The man seemed dumbfounded at the appearance of Luffy and was slowly reaching for a Baby Den Den Mushi attached to the back of his belt, careful not to make any sudden movements as not to attract the ire of Luffy, treating him as if he were some type of wild animal.
"Have the men returned from their patrols, Kuragari," Hiruma inquired as he walked into the highest room of the Marine headquarters, which served as their meeting area and a lounge when they needed to rest, even though the four Captains had their own personal rooms. "It's been a while and not all of them have reported in." He tried to look over his shoulder to see what his companion was doing, but he blocked his sight suddenly when he stood up.
Kuragari was drawing up maps a second before, but he stood up suddenly and lightly pushed Hiruma away as if to tell him that he did not want him spying on his work. "No, all the patrols haven't come in yet, but it's not a problem for me considering sometimes it takes a few of them a little long-" His train of thought was cut off when his receiver Den Den Mushi began to vibrate wildly, gaining both of their attention. "It's the receiver connected to Sector X-51 buzzing in."
"That's the docks," Hiruma stated, walking to the window and trying to get a good look, but Kuragari had already flown through the escape hatch in the ceiling by transforming into his bird form with his Devil Fruit. "That Kuragari, always wanting to do things himself."
When he flew high above the Marine base, Kuragari's keen raven eyes scoped out the situation, seeing the patrolman lying on the ground with a large bruise on his face and a man with a straw hat walking off the docks. His eyes widened when he saw the Thousand Sunny, flying the colors of the Straw Hat Pirates. Kuragari dropped back into the room and grabbed his Den Den Mushi. "All patrolmen immediately make for the docks and apprehend the Pirates that have docked there, but take extreme precaution as they are the crew of Monkey D. Luffy!"
"What," Hiruma seemed astonished that the crew was there when it was reported they were just in the Grand Line. "The Straw Hats are here?! What the hell are they doing here?" He got no answer from his partner, who simply rushed out of the room and began to descend the many stairs in order to exit the base to intercept the pirates before they got any further.
"I don't know how or why they're here, but all I know is it is our sworn duty to bring them to justice as Marine Captains, so we need to try our all on defeating that crew despite the things they have done and their total bounties." Kuragari was sweating slightly, a bit nervous at the idea of fighting such a dangerous group of people.
Luffy looked around, not recognizing the island and he looked back at the others, smiling widely. "I'm gonna go take a look around to see what I can find, okay?" He did not wait for an answer and simply dashed off, heading in the direction of the Marine Headquarters towering over the city, using that as his guide since it was where he was trying to get. The Marines may have been his enemies, but if there was anywhere he could get information from, it was there.
With an agitated sigh, Nami put a hand to her forehead, but before she could start complaining about the stupidity of their Captain, a whole cadre of Marines stormed up to the docks, armed with rifles that were aimed at the Straw Hats. She simply stepped away from the railing, knowing what would come next.
Almost as if on instinct, Zoro and Sanji, along with Franky, jumped off the ship and landed on the dock, eyeing out the Marines before laying waste to them in a matter of seconds with a flurry of sword slashes, kicks, and bullet fire from Franky's schematics.
Eye twitching angrily, Kuragari stood in awe of the monstrous strength of just three of their crew members, so he knew that he would have to step in himself in order to fight against them. "Hiruma, we're going." He stated bluntly, tossing his cape on and heading out the door, and his partner simply followed him. The two Captains were going to engage the pirates in direct combat. They were the strongest duo of Marines on Hitoya, known as the Shadow Specialists.
Luffy had just passed by Kuragari and Hiruma, reaching the door of the base from a different route and arrived in time to see the door still open from where the Marines had left. A wide grin spread across his face as he let himself in, taking a look around his surroundings to try and get a bearing of where he was going, though he had no sense of direction whatsoever. He took off running again, choosing a random path and dashing through the halls, causing a ruckus and beating down any Marines that unfortunately happened to be in his way.
"Damn it," Jeran growled to himself, kicking at the bars to no avail, only succeeding in injuring hurting his foot from the solidity of his prison. "When are you bastards gonna let me out of here?" If they opened the cage, he might have had a chance to escape by taking down Terry when the Kairouseki was out of his vicinity.
"That's for us to know and for you to find out when we decide to transfer you to another Marine prison," Terry answered simply, still flipping through his newspaper. A commotion on the other side of the prison door got his attention, prompting him to stand up and walk towards it. "What on earth is going on out there?" The door suddenly got blasted off its hinges as the faint image of a sandal plowing into it could be seen, and Terry was hit by the steel door, flying back and slamming into the floor.
Jeran jumped back at the sudden outburst, seeing an odd man wearing a blue vest and black shorts walk into the prison, take a single glance at him and then walk over to the fallen Marine to retrieve his keys. Despite Terry having metallic skin, the door hit him so hard that it knocked him out for the moment.
With a grin on his face, Luffy opened the door to Jeran's prison and unnecessarily ripped it off its hinges, tossing it aside and causing it to land on top of the door that already flattened Terry. "Yo!" he shouted with enthusiasm.
"D-Don't you "yo" me!" Jeran retorted sharply in protest, his face taking a sudden, yet rather humorous looking angry expression. "Who the hell are you, busting in here and opening my cell for me?"
"Oh, I'm Monkey D. Luffy," he answered casually, his grin widening significantly. "I'm the man who's gonna be the Pirate King!"
