And we're back. Just so you know, Sunday is when I'll be updating this story. This is partly due to the fact that I don't have plans for today. But please note that if I ever miss an update, don't panic. If schoolwork doesn't allow me to update today, I will do so within the next day or so. If this schedule ever changes, I'll be sure to let you know.

Also, something I forgot to do last chapter. Thanks to all the people that submitted side characters and villains to me. It really helps not having to make every single character for a story. Kinda drains the brain. And on that note, if anyone else has an idea for a character (not a crew member) then please let me know. I'll send you a character sheet to fill out. Just go easy on the Devil Fruits everyone. Nothing too overpowered.

With that out of the way, let's get on with the story!


As the ship got closer and closer, Rook and Alec's jovial mood became more serious. It wasn't that they were scared or anything, in fact they were very confident in their fighting skills. But this was the Grand Line. No matter how strong you were, there were people who were stronger. The Seven Warlords for example. If they were to encounter one of them, they weren't sure they would live to tell the tale.

But luckily for them, this ship didn't bear the Jolly Rogers of any of them. This was just another pirate crew seeking fortune and glory. Unfortunately, they were probably planning to get their fortune by taking it from them.

Doc sighed and rubbed his forehead. Well they were in for a rude awakening. His crew didn't have much in ways of treasure. They made the majority of their money selling Rook's weapons. And while it was enough for them to live comfortably, it wasn't exactly a treasure trove of beri and gold, but it was enough. Besides that, most pirates couldn't find the value in taking medicine unless they had a good doctor on their ship, which wasn't exactly common.

However, there was one thing on their ship that every single pirate crew on the Grand Line had tried to take from them…well more like one person. Maya. She was a mermaid after all. Bring one of those to an auction house and you could live the rest of your life in luxury. It was because of that reason that they never let the pirates enter below deck. They would go into a frenzy if they caught sight of her.

"Same rules as always." Doc said under his breath as the ship pulled up next to them.

Rook and Alec both nodded and answered, "Keep them away from Maya."

Alec couldn't help but chime in with a smile, "And take all their treasure."

Doc sighed. Alec always had beri on the brain. He didn't like it, but he couldn't stop the man from doing what he liked in this case. He wasn't really hurting anyone so Doc's oath couldn't interfere.

The pirates didn't even stop to call at them. The moment they were even with the ship, the launched the gangplanks and swung over on ropes. The men were a rowdy looking bunch. Scars, bandanas, striped shirts, some of them didn't even have shoes. They looked well fed though. Must just be their personal taste in attire. They ranged from large and muscled to short and scrawny. And all of them held weapons in their hands. Axes, swords, and clubs from what they could see. Nothing too complicated then. They didn't seem to have a sharpshooter or anything. That was a good thing. There would be less damage to the ship without anyone blowing holes in the deck.

The men laughed and chuckled delightedly as they surrounded the three. Doc and his crewmates immediately went back to back so that they couldn't be surprise attacked.

But the attack never came. They men just watched them menacingly as slow, deliberate footsteps approached from the gangplank. The crowd parted just enough so that a large man wearing a black captain's hat and a bushy brown beard stepped into the circle. He leered at them, but oddly enough he didn't look as menacing as his men were. His eyes were droopy and he had fat folds around his neck. His nose hung a little too low to look normal and his belly stuck out of his blue shirt. His brown pants didn't look like they were going to hold together much longer either. He had an unsheathed rapier in his hand and used it like a cane. Rook's eyes twitched in irritation at that.

His jowls rolled as he let out a loud laugh. "Well what do we ave 'ere boys? Doesn't look like we'll get much o' a fight outta 'em."

Doc took the moment to take a small step towards the man. He was obviously the captain of the crew. "Hello, sir. If you would just li-." He was cut off as the man's rapier was suddenly at his throat.

"Who the 'ell do ya think ye are? Do you know who I am?" He puffed his chest out and raised his head hotly at them. "I'm Captain Nathanial Froke. Ruler of the seas! Commander of South Blue! Rightful-."

As he went on, Rook and Alec leaned together and put their hands in front of their mouths to whisper. "Is…is he monologuing?" Alec asked.

Rook looked at Froke in boredom. "Yup. Definitely monologuing. Who even does this anymore?" He could suppress a laugh. "This guy is so damn lame."

When they both started laughing, the men around them put their weapons to their backs and yelled angrily, "Who they hell do you think you are? How dare you mock the Captain!?"

Interrupted from his speech, Froke glared at the two darkly. "Eh? You dare ignore the retelling of my glorious undertakings?"

Doc groaned. He was really hoping for a peaceful resolution to all this. But those two just had to go and provoke him. But maybe if he stepped in now, he could still salvage this mess.

Putting his hands together apologetically, he approached the large man. "Please sir, they didn't mean any harm. We're just a traveling doctor's ship. They happen to be my…bodyguards." He gestured at the crew around them and Froke turned to look at him. "Perhaps if any of your crew are sick or injured, we could treat them for you."

Froke let out another belting laugh. "Sick? Injured? Bahahaha! You don't seem to understand how pirates work." He went face to face with Doc and stared at him evilly. "If any of my men become useless like that, we just throw 'em overboard!" Doc stiffened at his words. That was no way to treat someone who needed help. To treat a living person like a disposable item was…horrible. He felt sorry for his crew.

But Froke just kept on talking. "And doctors ship my ass!" He pointed at the flag flapping in the wind with his rapier. "You're flying pirate colors, same as we are." Drool started pouring from his mouth. "Ye be pirates. Which means you have treasure. You must put up this 'doctor' act so that ya can get close to carrier ships." He laughed at the thought. "I can picture it now. Ya stroll up to some hapless ship acting all goody-goody. They bring you aboard to help some prick and his dyin' son and then once everyone's attention is on you, your crew here sneaks up from behind and slaughters the whole ship! Bahahaha!" Tears started leaking from his eyes from laughing so hard. "That's some cold tactics even by my standards."

The rest of his crew joined in the laughter, but they didn't notice a change in Doc's attitude. With every word Froke spoke, his body went stiffer and stiffer and his face paler and paler. Like usual, talking wasn't an option any longer.

Rook and Alec caught on to this. These guys were only interested in treasure and hurting people. Doc couldn't complain about what happened now.

Their laughter finished, Froke and his crew smiled at them, their weapons gleaming in the sunlight. "Well now, lads. Are ye ready?" The crew let out a cheer, to which Froke nodded his head in approval. "Then have at 'em! Take anything shiny and not nailed to the floor!"

The first ones to move were directly behind Alec. Two guys with clubs jumped at him, weapons raised. He just scowled as they neared. Barely giving them a glance, his cutlasses slashed across their bodies, repelling them and causing blood to splatter on the deck.

The two started yowling in pain and holding their wounds, but that caused Alec's scowl to deepen. "Hey now, no need to get all dramatic. You're not going to die or anything." He imbedded his swords into the floor on either side of their heads and smiled maliciously down at them. "But I'm going to make sure this hurts like hell!"

They gave strangled cries before passing out in fear. But while Alec had been playing with them, he hadn't noticed three more men charging passed Rook and brought their weapons down on him. His eyes flashed in panic as he didn't have enough time to pull his swords from the floor to defend himself.

But just before they reached him, all three suddenly dropped their weapons with surprised looks on their faces. One by one, they dropped to the ground with pained groans. Curious, Alec grabbed his swords and stood over them. All three had been shot in the backs. He glared angrily at Rook. "Rook, what the hell!?"

The smith just raised an eyebrow. "What? You're a big boy so you can take care of yourself."

Alec shook his head and stomped up to his crewmate. "Not that. Why the hell did you shoot them? You could have hit me you dumbass!" He complained angrily.

Now he was confused. "I don't know what you're talking about." He waved his empty hands. "Does it look like I'm carrying a gun?"

Now that he mentioned it, he had never seen Rook shoot somebody. He'd never even seen him hold a gun. He looked back at the unconscious pirates. Then who had shot them?

Before he could contemplate further, they heard Froke screaming furiously. "What are ye bastards waiting for? Kill them already!" He was stomping his foot on the deck and waving his rapier like a child throwing a tantrum. That combined with the fact that his fat rolls were jiggling with the motions made the scene almost comical. His eyes were bloodshot when he proclaimed, "The next person to get beat will go without food for the next three days." He started to drool a little. "And they'll have to watch as I eat their meals instead."

Doc, Rook, and Alec all grimaced. "At least now we know how he got so fat." Rook noted, making Alec snicker behind he hand.

The threat of going without food plus the insult drove the men into a frenzy. "How dare you talk about the Captain that way!?" One of them shouted. He, along with a group of others, launched themselves Rook. But before they could even inflict so much as a scratch or bruise, they found a single sword blocking all of them. The sword itself was shaped like a katana. The hilt was made of wood and colored a light green. The guard was a shining bronze while the blade itself gleamed in the sunlight. Hanging off the pommel was a small chain that, oddly enough, had a miniature, silver pinwheel attached to it. They were all so shocked at how the blade had suddenly appeared that they hadn't noticed who was wielding it.

Rook smiled. "No challenge at all." Pushing away at the weapons gathered on his sword, he knocked the men away and then brought back his arm to point the tip at them. He eyed them one by one as they were knocked back by the recoil. "Blitz Chess!" Lunging forward, he struck each of the men only once and the hand holding their weapon. He made sure to cut deep enough to make them drop their weapons, but not enough to cut the bone. He didn't want to handicap them after all.

They cried in pain and clutched their hands to their chests. Their crewmates, seeing their distress, decided to jump in to help but found their path blocked by a cocky looking Alec. He didn't even give them time to retaliate before spreading his arms apart as wide as he could. "Bronze Guillotine!" He brought his arms together like the execution tool from which the technique was named. Unlike Rook, he wasn't going to let them get away with just a slap on the wrist. If they wanted to fight, he wasn't holding back. Seeing another pirate he charged towards him. This one must have been new to the crew however. He was shaking in fear at Alec's approach. He was young too, still in his teens.

He didn't stand a chance when Alec cut him with his right cutlass. "Silver Strike!" He went for the throat. This little whelp was going to regret his decision to become a pirate. But whether it was intended or some manner of luck, the youth brought up his sword to parry him, his entire body shaking as he did so. He managed to deflect the sword from opening his throat, but it still cut his neck. It wasn't deep, but it was enough to make a trickle of blood.

Dropping his sword, he pressed a hand to the cut and fell back away from Alec and onto the floor, staring up at him in complete and utter fear. Unimpressed by the boy, Alec scoffed at him and turned his back. "Shit kid, you've got no business being on board a pirate ship. You better head back home before someone actually kills you." The boy made a weak squeaking noise that he took to mean he got the point. Feeling frustrated by the lack of challenge, he went to go take care of the others.

Froke watched as his men fell like flies. He trembled with rage at the scene and, noticing this, Rook grinned at him. "What's the matter, fat ass? Got a problem with us beating your men?" He taunted. He rested his sword on his shoulder in a relaxed gesture. He wasn't afraid of Froke at all.

"That's it! Have at it!" He sluggishly stabbed at Rook with his rapier. It was so slow, however, that Rook calmly moved to the side. He eyed the blade as he did so too. His blood boiling, Froke made multiple quick thrusts, each one gaining more speed and accuracy as he did so. But it still wasn't enough to worry Rook. He kept on studying the man's weapon.

Finally, Rook stopped the barrage of attacks simply by grabbing the rapier with his bare hands. He stared at Froke, dead-eyed while he did so. "What are ye doing?" Froke croaked. He tried to pull his sword out of Rook's hand but it wasn't budging. "Let go, you fool!"

"The rapier is mostly used for quick, precise movements." Rook said in monotone. "And with a one-handed style like you use, it especially emphasizes the need to quickly get into your opponents space so you can hit them before they can retaliate." He sighed and, with a forceful pull, yanked the weapon out of Froke's hand. "I can tell by looking at the sword that you were once a good swordsman. You excelled at fencing." He looked at the obese man and shook his head sadly. "But you've grown fat and slow. You can't even use the techniques you once relied upon anymore. And look at this." He palmed the tip of the rapier and showed him how it didn't even break his skin. "The tip is dull from the way you've been using it like…like a cane!" He said the word 'cane' like it was a swear word. His eyes slowly filled with fire and hate as he looked at the man who was trying to back away. "Seriously, how have you managed to survive out here?"

"Sh-Shut up you brat!" Froke yelled in shaky defiance. He pointed at Rook and yelled, "Boys! Kill him now! Now you hear me?"

When none of his men moved to follow his order, he looked around in confusion…only to find all of his men on the ground either unconscious or groaning with Alec sheathing his cutlasses with a bored look on his face. "Sorry, tubby. I don't think any of them are in any position to listen to you."

All the blood drained from his face. With a scream he tried to run back on his ship, but Rook grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him back. Falling off balance, Froke fell with a thud on his back.

Sighing, Rook crouched next to him and yelled back at Alec, "Yo, go get me some rope for this guy. Might as well tie him up before he tries anything stupid."

Alec rolled his eyes. "Alright. But what are we going to do with these guys?"

Rook shrugged. "I don't really care what we do with his crew, but we're on the Grand Line. Most pirate captains have a bounty on their heads here. Might as well keep this guy until we reach the next island. We might be able to make some cash off his head." Tears started flowing down Froke's cheeks at their plan and started begging for them to release him, but he was ignored.

Meanwhile, Doc was going around the deck and checking the wounds of everyone that got hurt. Many only had minor wounds, cuts and bruises. For them he just bandaged up and told them to wait in a group. For others, like the ones Alec slashed open, he had to get out a needle and give a few stitches. Most of them didn't scream or shout or anything, they just looked at Doc in confusion.

When he reached the young boy whose neck Alec had cut, Doc glared at the thief. "How many times have I told you now, Alec?" He seethed. "No vital areas! What if you had killed this poor boy?"

Alec scoffed in irritation. "Hey, he's alive isn't he? And that's barely a scratch!" He said in his defense.

Doc used a cloth from his pocket to wipe away the blood so that he could see the cut better. He was right, it was just a scratch. It bled a lot, but it wasn't going to endanger him. "That's no excuse." He shot back. "I told you when you joined this crew, we fight if we have to but we never kill." He wrapped his neck in gauze to stanch the bleeding. While there was no danger to his life, he still wanted to prevent infection. Once that was done, he marched over to his crewmate and looked directly into his eyes. He was mad. "One more chance. If this happens again, we're taking you back where we found you." He narrowed his eyes. "And last I remembered, you have an outstanding warrant there, which is why you joined my crew in the first place."

Alec ground his teeth together in frustration as he tried to come up with a retort for his captain. But he had promised not to kill anyone. And he had attacked to kill the guy. He knew what kind of mood Doc was in. He wasn't going to let up without an apology. "Fine. I'm sorry, all right?" He said through gritted teeth. Then he perked up as he remembered something. "Now that that's all cleared up," happily, he turned around and practically skipped his way towards Froke's ship, "let's go see how much these guys were packing!"

Doc sighed in resignation while Rook grinned and called out, "Be sure to let us know what you find! I want my pick of treasure before we put it all away." Alec gave him a thumbs up as he crossed the gangplanks.

Rook was about to head back inside the ship when he remembered something. Turning around, he saw Froke trying to crawl away in the direction of his ship. "That little bastard didn't get me any rope!" He shouted as he pulled Froke back.

Smiling slightly at Rook, Doc turned to Froke's crew. "Any of you know anything about medicine?" He called out.

The crew looked at each other and muttered while shaking their heads. Doc rubbed his forehead with the heel of his hand. Yet another crew without a doctor. But before he could voice that complaint, the young man raised his hand, which wasn't shaking as badly now. "I-I know a little bit." He said softly.

Doc raised an eyebrow and studied the boy more closely. He had short blonde hair and blue eyes. He wasn't marked up by scars like the majority of the rest of the crew. His clothes also looked a bit nicer as well. He might not have had much experience, but even a little medical knowledge was better than none at all. "Okay." He said in a lighter tone. "Then take these bandages and this disinfectant." He gave the boy what he had on hand. "Be sure to change everyone's bandages in a few hours." He instructed. "And for the ones with stitches, spread this paste on them so they don't get infected." Then a thought occurred to him as he looked at what little he had given him. "This probably isn't enough for this many people though." He turned to head below deck. "Give me a second and I'll go get some more for you."

He went to leave, but before he could, the boy outstretched an arm and called, "W-Wait. Why are you doing this for us? We tried to kill you."

Doc turned back to him and looked at him with a smile on his face. "Because I wasn't lying when I said I was a doctor." He simply said. "When people get hurt, it is my job to fix them back up, regardless if they were beaten up by my idiot crew."

At the 'idiot' comment, Rook, who was now sitting on Froke's back, shouted, "Hey, it's their fault!" His sword was now sheathed, though nobody had seen where the sheath came from, and he was using it to dig into Froke's back so he wouldn't try to get up.

Doc waved his hand apologetically at Rook then motioned for them to stay there. "Once you have your supplies, you can go ahead and leave." He sweat dropped and added, "Oh, but you'll probably have to find a new Captain."

At that point, Alec was crossing the gangplanks again with a very satisfied look on his face and a bulging bag over his shoulder. "Captain!" He said euphorically. "These guys had a good haul." Opening the bag, he revealed that it was filled with gold coins, beri bills, gems, and even a jewel encrusted gold crown.

One of the crew grabbed his head and yelled in dismay. "No! Even with Captain, we'd be broke if you took all that. How are we supposed to buy food?"

Alec scowled at them. "Hey, you should have thought about that before picking a fight with us."

Doc put up a hand to calm the two. "Now, now. No need to get upset." Reaching into the sack, he pulled out the golden crown and tossed it over to the boy on top of the bandages and medicine he had already given him.

Alec looked at him like he was insane. "What are you doing? That thing must be worth a fortune." He said frantically.

Doc knew that he was going to say something. Alec loved treasure and money more than almost anything. That's just the way he was. "Err…just consider it my cut of the treasure."

Still thinking that he was crazy, Alec closed the bag and headed for the door. "If you say so. But man, you are way too generous. People are going to take advantage of that one of these days." He was about to open the door when he accidentally kicked something. Looking down, he saw a lone pistol lying by the door. Curious, he reached down and picked it up. It was still warm like it had been fired recently. His mind went back to that moment in the fight when the three men had been shot. He furrowed his brow in confusion. But why would the gun be all the way over here? And who fired it? None of the pirates had been over here, and he couldn't think of any of his crew who were. None of them used guns to begin with…but what could that mean?

Turning back to ask Doc if he had any ideas, he saw him freaking out over three men who were still bleeding. "Oh no! These guys have been shot!" He exclaimed loudly. "Quickly, someone bring me some tweezers and sanitizer!"

Deciding that if Doc saw him with the gun, he would probably lay the blame on him. And Doc had already warned him once. If he thought that Alec had shot those guys, he might really kick him off the ship. He pocketed the pistol and quietly went below deck. He would try to figure it out later.


Later that night, Doc, Rook, Alec, and Maya were sitting in the kitchen eating dinner. Not far off and tied to a support beam was Froke who stared at them with pitiful eyes. "Please!" He shouted desperately. "If you're going to turn me in, don't I at least get a last meal?"

Maya glowered at him and raised a knife threateningly. "One more word out of you, and I'll cut all that fat off you like a steak!"

Whimpering, Froke scooted as far away from her as his ropes would let him. And silently tried to ignore his grumbling stomach. Giving pity on the man, Doc called to him, "Don't worry. You'll get some of the leftovers later." He would have gotten up to give him food now, but then he remembered how he had said he'd let his crew starve so he decided that he could wait a little bit.

"You and that bleeding heart of yours." Maya scolded, poking at him with the knife. "One of these days, someone is going to make you regret being so nice."

"That's what I said!" Alec said as he chewed on some rice.

"Easy with that thing." Doc warned, trying to get away from her prodding knife. He had already used up a lot of bandages on the pirates and he didn't want to use any more. "And it's not like we can let him starve."

Rook could help but laugh between bites of fried fish. "It would probably take him a while to starve anyway." He chuckled.

When Rook spoke, Alec swallowed and studied his part of the table. Not only did he have a large plate piled with fish, meat, and rice, but he also had a second plate filled with a second helping. This was in spite of the fruits, vegetables, and jugs of water and booze that were scattered around the table. "Well you're one to talk. Every time we sit down to eat, you have two plates. I'm surprised you're not the size of a ship." He pointed out. And it was true. For some reason, Rook always ate enough for two people.

Rook and, oddly enough, Doc both froze and started to sweat. Rook rubbed the back of his head awkwardly and refused to make eye contact with him. "T-that's just because I have a high metabolism." He said with a stutter. "All that forging really burns off the calories." He tried to pass it off as a joke and laughed weakly.

Doc picked up on it and started laughing too, though not any more convincing as Rook. "Yeah, plus all that heat from the fire makes him sweat a bunch. It's no wonder that he has to eat a lot to make up for all the energy and fluids he uses up."

Alec studied the two, unconvinced. They were definitely hiding something. He may not have been on the crew that long, but there was definitely something fishy going on.

Sensing his skepticism, Rook quickly emptied the rest of his meal into his mouth before picking up his second plate and running for the door. "S-Speaking of which, I've got some metal waiting for me in the forge. I better not leave it for too long. Thanks for the meal Maya!"

"Just bring those dishes back once you're done." The mermaid said sternly. "I'm not your maid or anything."

The door slammed shut behind him while Doc and Maya went back to their meals. But Alec stood up and pointed at the door. "And then there's that. Why does he ALWAYS finish eating at his forge? I've never once seen him finish eating at the table."

"Just forget about it." Maya said, chewing on some broccoli. "Everyone has their quirks and that's one of his."

"Y-yeah." Doc said trying to calm him down. "It doesn't do any harm, so we might as well just let him do what he wants."

Alec turned his gaze to his captain and looked at him suspiciously. "…You know something don't you?" He asked. He might not be able to get any info out of Rook, but Doc was a pushover. It didn't take much to get him talking.

Doc put up his hands defensively and tried to wave off his suspicions. "I have n-no idea what you're talking about. What could give you that idea?"

Alec sighed at the obvious lie. He may have been an amazing doctor, but he was a horrible liar. Like one of the worst he had ever seen. It was so clear that he was lying that even a child would be able to tell. "Well whatever." He said in resignation. If Doc wasn't going to talk, it would be wrong of him to antagonize him. He was Captain after all. And he guessed he needed to act a little nicer after Doc got so mad at him earlier. If it was really important, they would have told him. Better to just let it drop for now.

Finishing his food, he got up and wiped his mouth. "Thanks for the meal." He said to Maya. Then he untied the end of Froke's rope and led him to the door. "I'll take first watch." He said. He needed some fresh air.

"Oh. Okay." Doc said in surprise. Undoing the strap on his wrist, he tossed the Log Pose to him. "Come get us if anything comes up. I'll be out later to give Froke something to eat."

Alec waved at them. "Yeah, yeah." Walking up the stairs to the deck, he led their prisoner over the mast and tied him to it. "Try anything funny and I'll gut you like a pig." He said flatly. Froke tried to protest, but Alec ignored him as he climbed up to the Crow's Nest. Once he was settled, he checked the Log Pose to make sure it was still pointing in the right direction. All was well for now.

Pulling a small sack out of his pocket, he opened it up to show a small handful of coins and gems. He grinned from ear to ear as he looked at them and rubbed them against his cheek. "Oh sweet treasure, how I adore you!"

"Oi! Get your grubby hands off my treasure." Froke yelled up at him.

Alec put on an intimidating face and looked down at the man. "Eh? Your treasure? You lost your right to it when you attacked us so it is mine now."

But Froke wasn't going to be dissuaded. He stomped his foot and retorted, "Just you wait till I get out of these ropes. I'll kill you and take back all of my treasure from your dirty hands."

"What part of 'gut you like a pig' didn't you understand, tubby?" Alec shouted with one leg over the rim of the Nest. He was ready to jump down there and beat some sense into him.

The two shouted back and forth for at least an hour until Doc came out with Froke's meal. He shut up quickly as he gorged himself on the leftover meat and rice that Doc gave him. Alec gave a "humph" and sat back down in the Crow's Nest before going back to adoring his loot.

But while all this was happening, none of them noticed a shadowy figure in the Helm Room. The moon's light reflected slightly off a mask covering the top half of his face and the Log Pose on his wrist. It also revealed a pistol holstered at his side.

He gazed out into the night silently as he steered the ship, unknown by any that he was there.


And there you have it. Please let me know what you thought of it. Especially the fight scene. While this one was intended to be short and simple, I'm not the greatest when it comes to writing fight scenes. If you have any tips, please let me know.

Till next time!