Part 3


Location: Aboard the Argent Fleur, other side of Darwin Island

Erity had had her share of... well, it usually varied between bad and aggravating days. Usually bad though. (A trait she shared with a certain longnosed sniper, not that she knew that at this or any time.) Growing up a street rat in some rinky-dink town on a rinky-dink island in the rinky-dink South Blue meant she was almost entitled to them.

There was the day she got caught stealing apples from that one merchant's stand and got caned across the back for her trouble. That was bad.

The day that government agent found her, in hindsight, was really bad.

The day many years after that that-should-never-be-thought-upon-unless-piss-faced-drunk. That had been the worst.

This, however...

"Honestly, you should be honored!" Eriks was bragging for the tenth time in the last hour. "You've been captured by one of the most beautiful, refined, intelligent pirates on these seas. I don't do this for just anyone, darlings."

... this definitely fell under aggravating.

After being hogtied in the clearing, Eriks'... 'men' (she was hesitant to refer to them as such- they had nicer hair than she did) had dragged her and Enoch back to their ship and tied them to the mast for no other reason than to rub it in their faces. They had even started up a fancy dinner party with fine wine and the snootiest of laughter. They enjoyed the mockery far too much for comfort. While Erity could appreciate anyone who embraced their inner woman, she had the irrepressible urge to knock all of their lights out...

On the other side of the mast, Enoch spit out blood. "Hmph. Pirate Prince is prettier."

"How dare you bring up that upstart! I was here first!" Eriks snapped.

... though not as much as she wanted to punch out Enoch. Not only was the idiot kind of at fault for this (Mr.I-Have-Haki-So-Should-You couldn't detect the entire pirate crew that had surrounded them), but he wouldn't stop baiting Eriks. They had been at each other's throats since Enoch had regained enough coherence despite the sea prism stone of their bonds.

"Enoch, I understand you're annoyed about the situation- I am too," Erity said through grit teeth. "But I would appreciate it if you would stop taunting the man who is CURRENTLY IN CHARGE OF OUR FATES!"

Several men winced at the last words of that sentence. Erity could be pretty shrill when she wanted to be.

"Now there's an idea," Eriks hummed. "If I were you, Enoch-"

"And I'm so glad you're not," Vaughan interrupted.

"- I would listen to my companion. She is clearly the brains of this outfit," Eriks continued, ignoring the insult.

"I'm not his companion!" Erity argued. "He is not affiliated with me!"

"Not that I would want you to be," Vaughan deadpanned. "You whine too much and you're so shrill. I have 64 ex-girlfriends back in Paradise just like you- I don't need another woman like that hanging around me."

"You're the Crimson Heartbreaker?!" one of the crew gasped.

Vaughan's eye twitched but he didn't dignify that with a response.

"Oh, I know you're not affiliated," Eriks said, waving it off. "But that doesn't really matter in the long run. What does matter is that you both have done my dear crew a great injustice. You, 'Blood King' Enoch Vaughan, had the gall to try to hunt us down when all we wanted was to stop at this island to rest." He turned to Erity. "And you, my little rookie, defeated my first mate and stripped him! Stripped him, like some barbarian!"

Presley stood off to the side, glaring murderously at her. He still hadn't put on some pants.

"Would it help if I apologized?" Erity asked.

"No! It irks me- simply irks me- that some little nobody came waltzing in thinking she could take on someone of my caliber. Enoch, sure. He's experienced. But not some blond harlot who is just starting out!"

"At least my blonde is natural," Erity muttered.

The crew gasped in horror. Presley glanced nervously at his captain, who seemed to be on the verge of an apoplexy.

Vaughan gave her a side glance. What was that about not taunting the man in charge of our fates?

Presley marched up to her and grabbed her face. "Don't you dare speak that way to our captain! I won't tolerate an overconfident rookie who thinks she can defeat out crew when she clearly knows nothing of us!"

Erity didn't miss a beat. "The White Rose Pirates, originally formed in the West Blue and founded by Captain 'White Rose' Henry thirty years ago. They gained prestige through pillaging and loansharking island after island. The crew took a large hit roughly 20 years ago after raiding an island when they ran right into a Navy convoy. Most of the original crew was slaughtered while the few survivors went on to form the modern White Rose Pirates. Led by Eriks, they journeyed to the Grand Line where they expanded into the human trafficking business. They currently haunt the New World, and have gained a reputation of striking their enemies from the shadows before they can even think to strike first. Cowardly, but effective."

Vaughan whistled, impressed. So she had done her research.

Presley's eyes had widened in shock. He stepped back from her and rubbed the back of his neck. "I stand corrected."

"Also, I don't think I can take you on, I know. You only got the drop on me because I was distracted by my fight with Enoch," Erity said with a smirk. "After all, I kicked your sorry ass back in that bar. Seems to me your crew has a history of getting your asses kicked."

Eriks backhanded her.

"Hey!" Vaughan shouted in protest. "I thought you were supposed to be refined! There's nothing refined about smacking a woman who can't even hit you back!"

"It's refined if I'm disciplining a tramp who doesn't know how to hold her tongue," Eriks hissed. He sighed tiredly, looking himself over. "Look at me- I'm all frazzled again."

He turned on his heel and sat down on the railing of the ship. "I apologize my appearance. That night is a sore subject for all of us, me especially. I lost my father and many comrades to the Navy's brutality, and lost a dear friend to that... that... that demon on the island. I had to pick up the pieces and I succeeded. Now I have a powerful crew and we're rich beyond belief. I have forged my crew into something great." He grinned. "No, something elegant! I have proved piracy can be without the barbarism that has plagued the Great Pirate Era, and I won't have it ruined or my crew's past ridiculed by a couple of lowly bounty hunters!"

"What, and human trafficking isn't barbaric?" Erity asked venomously.

Eriks shrugged. "Civilizations have been built on slavery, so I see nothing wrong with it."

"I see." Erity nodded. "Your ideals are as fake as your hair color and are as cheap as your makeup. Typical."

"I'll have you know this makeup is part of the new Mermaid Princess Criminal Cosmetic Line! It's far from cheap!" He crossed his arms and turned his head. "As for my hair, not all of us are born with beauty. Some of us have to work for it."

"All the work in the world can't fix ugly. You need a miracle for that," Erity advised.

"You-!" Eriks started to shout, leaning forward. He stopped. "What's that on your arm?"

"What's what?" Erity asked.

Eriks stalked over to her and examined her right arm closely. Curious, Vaughan looked as well. On her right arm, below her shoulder, was a black tattoo of a jolly roger that Vaughan assumed to be the black splotch he saw earlier. The jolly roger consisted of a round, cartoony skull with two arrow/swords curling behind it.

Eriks' eyes widened, as did his smile. "Oh. Oh my. I recognize that jolly roger."

"No, you don't," Erity argued quickly.

"Yes, I do!" Eriks insisted. "There's not a camp man on the Grand Line who doesn't know that jolly roger! You weren't born with beauty, it was given to you... by Emporio Ivankov!" He started to laugh. "Ohohohoho! You're one of Ivankov's newkama freaks!"

The entire crew started laughing and Erity's face flushed a deep red. Not from embarrassment, but from sheer rage.

"Shut up!" she hollered. "If I can't insult Eriks, then there's no way all of you get to insult Iva-sama!"

"I can if Ivankov and his ridiculous Revolutionary Army have been nothing but pains in my side for years, always taking down my associates in the human trafficking trade. I also find him personally offensive." He flipped his hair dramatically. "I achieved feminine beauty while still holding on to my masculinity. I don't need to pretend I'm something I'm not to be beautiful! You perverted your own body to achieve something you lacked. You're the one who needed a miracle, not me! It's laughable!"

Erity snarled at him, and throughout this entire exchange Vaughan had remained completely straight faced.

"So as an insult to both Ivankov and the Revolutionary Army, here's what I'm going to do- you're both interesting specimens, so I'll sell you both into slavery. How does that sound?"

Erity paled and Vaughan scowled.

"That's what I thought. Men, move them below deck. We leave at dawn."


Time: Two hours before dawn

It had been hours since Vaughan and Erity had been moved below deck, now chained in black market sea prism stone chains around a support pillar. They had spent the time in utter silence, Eriks' plans for them echoing around their heads. Until now.

"... So, you used to be a dude," Vaughan drawled.

Erity shot him a baleful look as best she could from her side of the pillar. "Really? The first time you've spoken in hours and that's what you say?"

"What? I'm curious," Vaughan reasoned. "... So is everything different, because I heard the Horm Horm Fruit is very-"

"Enoch."

"Okay, okay, I have a legitimate question, I promise."

"Then ask it."

Vaughan adjusted himself a bit before asking. "If you really are one of Ivankov's people, why in the eight hells are you a bounty hunter?"

"Not that it's any of your business," Erity growled. "But I'm currently not affiliated with him or the rest of Kamabakka Kingdom. It's a long, long story that I'm not inclined to tell you."

"I suppose that's fair," Vaughan conceded.

Erity was quiet for a few more minutes before she spoke again. "... When I left the island, I promised myself and Iva-sama that I wouldn't fail at this. I would succeed, no matter what it took. Now it's my first hunt and not only do I lose my first capture, I'm captured and about to be sold into slavery! I totally failed! This bites! I don't want to be a slave for some fat noble!"

"If you hate it so much, then why don't you do something about it?"

"I'm strong, but even I can't break sea prism stone chains! They're harder than diamonds! Maybe if I had some lockpicks, but where am I-?"

The chains fell away.

"... Eh?"

Vaughan stood and held up a fist. In between his fingers were little wire tools.

"Boom," he said triumphantly.

Erity jumped to her feet. "Wha- how- huh- wha-?!"

"My mentor once told me a wide skill set was crucial on the Grand Line. That happened to include lockpicking."

"But... the seastone..."

Vaughan stretched. "Back when I first ate my fruit, I exposed myself to sea prism stone everyday to see if I could build up a tolerance. It still takes my powers away and makes me stiff as hell, but it doesn't affect me as badly as it used to. I was just putting on an act for Eriks."

Erity crossed her arms. "Then you could have gotten us out of those chains at any time?"

"Not at any time." Vaughan smiled. "Only when it was funny!"

"YOU ASSHOLE!" Erity screamed, kicking at his head.

"Shush," Vaughan hushed her, dodging. "You need to work on volume control. Do you want to alert the entire crew we're free?"

"Maybe, if it'll knock some sense into that fool head of yours! That's why you didn't warn me we were being surrounded! You wanted them to capture us!"

"Ever heard of lulling your opponent into a false sense of security? Also, I was tired. If they were offering to carry me back to their ship, I was going to take them up on it."

"You bastard!" Erity yelled. "You put us through all that humiliation because you were too lazy to make it here yourself?!"

"My parents were married before I was born, so still not a bastard. And I'm not the lazy one. You are."

"I'm the lazy-?" Erity tried to argue.

"Who gives up after failing one time?! My family's been failing at one task for over seven hundred years and they've never given up! Straw Hat Luffy failed to save his brother at Marineford and he still had the balls to go back and ring the Ox Bell! So I don't want to see you give up after something as stupid as failing to capture your first bounty, got it?!"

"I... I wasn't giving up!" Erity protested. "I was just complaining! It's what I do! Failure has gotten me into trouble before, so it's only natural!"

"It sure didn't sound that way to me. And I smelled 'success issues' wafting off you the minute they threw us in here," Vaughan said sternly. "You've failed before this and doing so now terrifies you. That's why you were so insistent about capturing White Rose yourself and not having Haki was okay, because you don't want to fail. Well, that's moronic. It doesn't matter how many times you fail because if you're still alive at the end of it and stronger for it, than you can always succeed later! Giving up to avoid failing again never solves anything, especially if you're afraid of letting someone down! Trust me, I know!"

Vaughan thought back to all those days at Rip Off's, yelling at Shakky not to bring up that island, cursing his family...

"There was a time I gave up my goals- which are none of your business- and it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth," Vaughan admitted. He leveled a determined look at the mohawked woman. "I swore to never do so again, and I'm not about to let you do it either, especially when you've proven that you're skilled enough. Got it?"

Erity bit her lip in contemplation.

"Shut up, you crappy freak of nature. I'm not giving up."

"BECAUSE MY CREW IS OUT THERE GETTING STRONGER, AND I REFUSE TO LET A SINGLE ONE OF THEM DOWN BY FAILING!"

Erity rubbed her tear ducts tiredly. "You men are so stubborn, aren't you? Always showing me up with your bullheaded determination."

"Speaking from experience?" Vaughan asked.

"I knew this guy once. He wanted to defeat me but he failed again and again. I didn't understand why he didn't just give up, so he wouldn't have to face failure over and over, but then he told me it was because he wanted to get stronger for his crew, and he wasn't going to let them down by failing. You reminded me of that, and just like then I feel like a major tool for having 'success issues.'"

"Can't be a tool if you don't have the equipment, if you catch my drift."

Erity punched his shoulder, but in a friendly way. "Shut up. Alright, you've convinced me with your grandiose speech. How long have you had that one in the revolver?"

Vaughan rubbed his shoulder. "A while. I've been saving it. How'd I do?"

"A little preachy, but not bad. Now, what's our next course of action?"

"Now, we go up on deck and have words with Eriks like the mature adults that we are."

"Meaning we beat the crap out of him?"

"Exactly. If you don't mind helping me."

Erity smirked. "What about not needing a rookie's help?"

"I did just admit you're skilled enough. I'd say you're plenty qualified," Vaughan retorted.

"Okay then. I'm in."

"Great. And to make it better, I bet you haven't even realized where they locked us up."

Erity focused on the room's contents and gasped happily. It was filled with boxes of clothes and, oddly enough, boxes of high grade weaponry.

"For someone who claims to be so intelligent, Eriks sure picked a dumb room to throw us into," Vaughan observed.

Erity immediately started going through boxes. She first pulled out a new outfit for herself and had Vaughan turn around as she changed. She chose a white pirate blouse, brown capris, and a red sash around her waist. She was going for a vintage pirate look, as it would appear. Once she was done Vaughan got some clothes for himself. He chose a simple black t-shirt, gray slacks, and a red leather jacket he found (and might keep, since it looked pretty cool- he wondered why someone like Eriks had it). He made sure to dig his medallion out of his pants pocket where he had put it for safekeeping first and put it back on.

Once they had both changed, they started going through the weapons. Vaughan immediately pocketed some quality revolvers. He was about to look at the sniper rifles when he heard Erity squeal.

"Shush!" he hushed her again.

"Sorry!" she apologized. "But look what I found!"

She hefted what looked like some kind of bazooka with two seashells on either side up on to her shoulder.

"It's a deluxe burn bazooka!" she clarified. "It's a special kind of shoulder cannon that can ignite gas stored in the dials and release a napalm-like blast! I thought you could only get them on sky islands, but I guess Eriks has connections in the black market. I'm so using this!"

"Huh," Vaughan grunted. "I took you for more of a brawler."

"I am, but who doesn't want to see an giant explosion every now and again?"

"I don't... you are one crazy bitch, you know that?"

"Well, this bitch loves cannons," Erity told him smugly. Then she frowned thoughtfully. "By the way, I've been meaning to ask. You know now I'm not technically a 'bitch'... how do you feel about that?"

Vaughan crossed his arms. "Does it matter what I think?"

"Not really. I'm just curious about your opinion."

"If you insist," Vaughan sighed. "To be honest, I think if you're born a certain gender, that's the card you've been dealt and you should stick with it physically, though I have no issue if you want to dress a certain way or bind your chest or whatever. That being said, it's your body and your life. As long as you're happy and not bringing harm to yourself or anybody else, why should I or anyone else care what you do with either? It doesn't affect my life if you want be seen as a man or a woman."

Erity gave him a long, calculating stare, then broke out into a laugh. "Yuhahahaha! Not bring harm to anyone? You just asked me to help you beat the crap out of a pirate!"

"Eh, jackass has it coming for smacking a lady, among other things," Vaughan said with a shrug.

"That he does." Erity balanced the burn bazooka across her shoulders. "Thank you for your honesty. Now let's show that hypocritical bigot just exactly who he's messing with."

Vaughan smiled and slipped on a pair of sunglasses he saw sitting in one of the boxes. He knew he liked this woman.


Time: Dawn
Location: In Eriks' private quarters

Eriks tried to not yawn as he meticulously applied eyeshadow. There had been many a time where he had to completely restart his morning ritual just because he had mis-aimed the brush.

So much to do today, so much to do, he thought. I still have to call one of my dealers and tell them I have new merchandise. Then I have to call my tailor to update Orchid-chan's wardrobe... also have to talk to Orchid-chan again about this whole "no-pants" kick he's on. It's worrying.

The pants issue could wait though. Eriks really wanted to see those arrogant hunters get sold on the slave market- especially Erity. How dare that damn tranny mock the tragedy his crew went through? It had been nearly 20 years since then and he still had nightmares. And not even about the marines!

Eriks shuddered. No, his nightmares were about the demon. That terrible, horrible demon on that dump of an island. He found that creature covered in his best friend's blood, still standing over the corpse with a long dagger in its hand and a dead look in it's eyes. It's dull, red eyes that reflected the firelight-

"Wait." Eriks stopped applying his makeup. "Red eyes... why does that sound so familiar right now? Didn't-"

"CAPTAIN!" Presley screeched, bursting into the room. "We have a-!"

Presley was cut off as silver hairbrush thunked against his forehead, knocking him to the ground.

"For the love of Mother Sea, Orchid-chan, haven't you heard of knocking?!" Eriks yelled at him. "What if I had been still applying my makeup?! You would've messed me up and I would've had to start over!"

"My apologies, captain!" Presley apologized, getting up. "It's just that I have urgent news!"

"Get on with it then!"

"It's Erity and Enoch, sir! They escaped!"

Eriks' eye twitched. "They. Did. What?"

"Escaped, sir," Presley repeated. "They are no longer in the room we chained them up in. They may have also helped themselves to some of spare clothes and weaponry."

"You locked them in the Wardrobe Emergency/Battle Emergency Room?! Why?! What about the- are you still not wearing pants? We talked about this last night!"

Presley was dressed in a black dress shirt and his hair was as immaculate as ever, but he was not wearing pants. He had at least changed into boxer shorts.

"Well, you see, I've become accustomed the the breeze-" Presley tried to explain.

"Never mind that!" Eriks shouted, grabbing his captain's coat off a chair and rushing out of the room. "Come on!"

The pair ran up to the main deck, where the rest of the crew was searching the ship for the escaped prisoners in the dim light of sunrise. Eriks ran to center-deck and took charge.

"No, no, no, they're not still here! If they've escaped, they would have already returned to the island by now!" Eriks yelled. "Form search parties and head out! They couldn't have gotten far!"

They suddenly heard a sharp whistle. The White Rose Pirates ran to the front of the ship and looked out onto the island. There, standing only feet from the edge of the forest, was Vaughan.

"Oi!" he called out. "Lose something?!"

In a surprisingly short amount of time, Eriks and his entire crew had jumped ship and surrounded Vaughan, aiming their weapons at him with relish.

"You have a lot of nerve, mocking us this way," Eriks growled. "Didn't your mother teach you any etiquette?"

"She did," Vaughan replied, adjusting his sunglasses. "I simply choose to ignore it when it suits me."

"How convenient for you. But it's the end of the line." Eriks drew his sword and held it against Vaughan's neck. "You have nowhere to run to, Enoch."

Vaughan raised an eyebrow and ran his thumb over his medallion in disinterest. "Whoever said I was running? Haven't you noticed Erity's not with me?"

"Where is she? Tell us!" Presley demanded.

"I really don't know," Vaughan sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "She got excited about something she found in that weapons room and ran off."

Eriks didn't know why, but he suddenly broke out into a cold sweat. His sword shook a little. "W-What made her excited...?"

Vaughan smiled sadistically. "Oh? You haven't heard?"

The air suddenly smelled of gas. The bounty hunter snapped his fingers.

SHOOM!

KA-BOOM!

Overhead came a beam of intense, blue-white fire that singed the top of many of the pirates' hair. But that was paltry in comparison to what it hit- the Argent Fleur. The ship vanished in a giant explosion followed by a wild inferno. The heat was so great they could feel it even at a distance.

Eriks dropped his sword and gaped in shock and horror. Vaughan could only grin wider.

"Bitches love cannons."


Read and Review, please!

"If you insist," Vaughan sighed. "To be honest, I think if you're born a certain gender, that's the card you've been dealt and you should stick with it physically, though I have no issue if you want to dress a certain way or bind your chest or whatever. That being said, it's your body and your life. As long as you're happy and not bringing harm to yourself or anybody else, why should I or anyone else care what you do with either? Personally, it doesn't affect my life if you want be seen as a man or a woman."

Honestly, this is an angle that didn't even occur to me until I had started this prequel. At any rate, I'm glad it did. Vaughan's view is what I think is a good attitude to have towards transgenders or even homosexuals. It's okay if you personally don't agree with it, but don't prejudice people for it. Respect their decisions and life choices (as long as it's not hurting themselves or others) and treat them like the good people they are. I'm Christian, but I have friends and family members who are gay whom I care for very much and would do anything to protect. I don't hold their sexual preferences against them, and I really don't like people who would. They shouldn't be prejudiced just because they feel a certain way and act on it. If it makes them happy and it's not hurting anyone, does it really matter whether a person likes boys or girls or wants to change their gender?

Erity had her share of... well, it usually varied between bad and aggravating days. (A trait she somewhat shared with a certain longnosed sniper, not that she knew that at this or any time.)

I started chapter 19, "Know Thy Enemy" in a similar fashion only with Usopp. I didn't want to rewrite the opening so I made this observation.

The day many years after that that-should-never-be-thought-upon-unless-piss-faced-drunk. That had been really bad.

Erity mentioned back during the jungle confrontation with Roronoa, Sanji, and Chopper that her background with CP9 was not a story she could tell sober. This is referring to that.

"Yes, I do!" Eriks insisted. "There's not a camp man on the Grand Line who doesn't know that jolly roger! You weren't born with beauty, it was given to you... by Emporio Ivankov!" He started to laugh. "Ohohohoho! You're one of Ivankov's newkama freaks!"

There, I did it. I confirmed what everyone guessed a long time ago. Erity is a Newkama- a man who was transformed into a woman by Ivankov's Horm Horm powers. Though I'm surprised none of you caught the tattoo- I described it back when Erity ran into Nami way back when.

"What? I'm curious," Vaughan reasoned. "... So is everything different, because I heard the Horm Horm Fruit is very-"

The answer is yes, BTW. I have a feeling Ivankov is very thorough.

"Not at any time." Vaughan smiled. "Only when it was funny!"

A lesson I learned from Roger Rabbit.

He chose a simple black t-shirt, gray slacks, and a red leather jacket he found (and might keep, since it looked pretty cool- he wondered why someone like Eriks had it).

The jacket mentioned in that outfit description is the one he currently wears. He really did end up keeping it.

"Bitches love cannons."

Given Vaughan's physical appearance, a Hellsing Ultimate Abridged reference had to be made... and I just realized giving him pistols and sunglasses makes him look like Alucard. Huh.