DISCLAIMER
Thank you all so much for reading my story and leaving comments and advice. I don't mind any comment, good or bad. Cause I know I won't please everyone and the fact that I get comments means you red my story and that's all I need. This chapter is a bit longer than the previous ones. Remember I'm still new and I hope you enjoy it. I DON'T OWN ONE PIECE
Chapter 4: Framed
Previously on One Piece: New Century, Lucy landed on an island and after an encounter with the islands delinquents. Lucy was taken to an underground arena and put up against the arena's champion; Jack Lee a kangaroo man. In the middle of the battle the Marines made an appearance and placed everyone under arrest. Working together, Lucy and Jack were able to defeat the Marine captain Boa and make a daring escape off the island. Lucy has convinced Jack to join her as her first crewmate. And now the two are in a small sail boat heading towards…Where exactly?
"Ooooh, now I get it. So you wanna be the worlds strongest man."
"Yes basically, and since you're trying to be Queen of the Pirates you're gonna get a lot of attention. That's just what I need."
The two teens were in their little sailboat, and Jack had finally gotten Lucy's attention long enough to explain his back story. They were sailing blindly towards an unknown destination. Trying to make small talk to keep them busy.
" Alright, but since you're part of my crew I have my first order for you." Said Lucy pointing towards Jack.
"Huh."
"Change your attack names."
"Wait, why?" asked Jack rather confused.
"You keep saying Kanga-Kanga this, and Kanga-Kanga that. It's stupid." Said Lucy mockingly.
"Says miss Gum-Gum." Replied Jack with a sweat-drop.
"Captain's orders." Said Lucy while trying to speak with authority.
As Jack was about to say something he caught a glimpse of a small dot on the horizon. He got up and walked towards the front of the boat. He placed his hand over his eyes trying to get an idea of what it is.
"I…I think that's an island. Thank Oda. We should be there in a few…hours?" Jack was suddenly taken back by what Lucy was busy doing.
Lucy wrapped her arms around the mast a few times. She pulled on them to make sure they were tight. She then inhaled a huge amount of air and blew up into her balloon form.
"Uh…. Wait a minute…" Jack began to sweat nervously, because he knew what she was going to do.
"Hold on tight!" Said Lucy before she blew all the air out on the sail. The boat then suddenly picked up speed and was moving towards the island. Jack was holding on to the mast as well, trying not to fall off. Do you know the saying, 'history repeats itself'? Well, the boat was going so fast they couldn't slow it down in time. They crashed on to the beach and were flung off, again.
Jack got up and brushed the sand off his shoulders. Lucy's head was stuck in the ground and she was trying to pull it out.
"Are you out of your mind?! That stunt you pulled could've killed us! You know we can't swim!" Screamed Jack comically towards Lucy, who just pulled her head out of the ground.
"Shishishishishi, that sure was fun." Chuckled Lucy, ignoring Jack's outburst. This action just made Jack more angry and annoyed, that he started grinding his teeth.
"Are you kids alright?" suddenly both teens attentions were now focused on an elderly woman.
"Yup, we're tougher than we look." Lucy jumped onto her feet and answered the concerned women with a smile. Jack then looked around the area for the first time. They landed close to a harbor with a small village in site. The village was surrounded by thick forests, and the island had a mountain in the middle which was visible. The village was really small in comparison to the rest of the island.
"Hey old lady, is there a place where we can eat?" Lucy asked with a weak voice, bringing Jack out of his thoughts.
"Why yes dear, over there is a…"
"THANK YOU!" Screamed Lucy while running towards the direction where the old lady was pointing at.
"Hey wait! LUCY!" Screamed Jack, while running after Lucy.
(5 minutes later)
The teens were in a small tavern, busy drawing attention to themselves. On their table were dozens of plates, stacked on top of one another. Less than a quarter of the plates were Jack's. After eating he just sat there and watched in amazement at how much this girl could eat.
"Here's your drink sir." Said a young waitress bringing Jack his mug of rum.
"Thanks. Hey can I ask you something? Can you tell me why this village is so small, I mean there's plenty of…."
"S-Sorry but I have other tables." Exclaimed the waitress nervously before leaving, stopping Jack from continuing his question.
"Geez, what's up with her?" asked Jack before jugging down his rum.
"Don't mind her."
Jack and Lucy looked to the other side of the table, and there stood the elderly woman from before.
"Hey it's the nice old lady." Said Lucy with cheeks full of food.
"My name is Gloria, I'm the village elder."
"I'm Jack, this is Lucy." Jacked introduced themselves before asking again. "Maybe you can…."
"I know what you're going to ask, and it's best if I didn't tell you." Exclaimed Gloria, interrupting Jack. "Everybody that comes to our village and hears the story, ended up getting themselves killed."
"What do you mean?" Asked Jack.
"Please, it's best if you just leave." Gloria pleaded with the teens.
"Hey Jack before we go, we should check out that cool forest." Said Lucy with excitement.
"NO CHILD THE MONSTER WILL…."
Both teens then looked at the elder with much interest.
"Monster?" asked Lucy.
"What monster?" Finished Jack.
Gloria then placed her hands over her mouth, as she just realized what she said. Suddenly all the villagers in the tavern looked away and pretended to be busy with something else. Jack and Lucy looked around the tavern and saw everyone's reaction.
"Now I get it. The village is small because you're afraid of the forest. Because inside the forest lives a monster. And when you told people about the monster, they wanted to hunt it down and kill it. Getting themselves killed instead. And you can't build more building because that means you have to chop down trees, which might make the monster angry. Correct?" Jack explained the whole situation from his perspective. The villagers started sweating nervously, because they knew he was right.
"You're right." Said Gloria in a low tone.
Jack flinched when he heard he was right about the village. "Wow" Jack then looked towards Lucy when she spoke. "Are you psychic? That was awesome." Said Lucy with her eyes glowing in amazement.
"No dummy, I was just guessing! I didn't know it was true!" Responded Jack comically towards Lucy.
"He just guessed?" Said the whole tavern with sweat-drops.
"Nether the less, it is true. There is a terrifying monster that lives in the caves of the mountain. Normally the beast remains in the forest, but every full moon it comes to our village looking for blood. Any one who has ever tried to stop the monster has been killed or traumatized. We don't want more victims , please leave the island at once." Gloria explained everything to them and hoped they would listen. But her words have fallen on deaf ears.
"Alright, let's go get the monster!" screamed Lucy with much excitement. Everybody was shocked by her reaction, but not just her reaction.
"Sounds like fun. Why not?" Said Jack pulling his gloves down tighter.
Everyone just watched in silence as the two teens left the tavern with big smiles.
Outside, Lucy and Jack were standing at the edge of the forest and all the villagers were behind them. There were many voices trying to convince the teens of not going in. But their efforts were futile.
"Our first monster hunt. Ready Jack?" Asked Lucy with much excitement.
"Ready as I'll ever be." Said Jack with a smirk as he transformed into his man-beast form. This caused the villagers to take a step back for their own safety. The teens then walked into the forest, with the villagers watching until they disappeared from sight.
"What on earth was that?"
"Are they monsters?"
"They won't survive in there."
"They didn't pay for the food!"
Different expressions and reactions came from the villagers from disbelief to anger. Could just two mere teens really capture a monster. Well strangers things have happened.
Lucy and Jack were walking through the forest, looking for any signs of the monster. Well, one was anyway. Jack was busy trying to look for clues, while Lucy was just fooling around all over the place.
"sniff…sniff… Damn, I can't get its scent. I'm getting al kind of smells, but I don't know which one to follow." Said Jack as he smelled the air, looking for any traces of the beast.
"Just smell harder." Said Lucy while hanging upside down from a tree.
"Sure, why didn't I think of that?" Jack responded sarcastically towards Lucy's advice.
"I'm actually glad there's a monster here. If we catch it, maybe we can eat for free." Lucy started talking as the two kept going deeper into the forest.
"I don't get it. If you're gonna eat so much, you gotta have a lot money to pay for it. Anybody can figure that out. Or at least give them something valuable, girls are suppose to have all kinds of jewels right?"
"Nope. No jewels, shishishishi." Answered Lucy back with her signature grin.
"Well how about that bracelet of yours? That can be worth some…."
"NO CHANCE IN HELL AM I SELLING THIS!" Lucy immediately lost her grin and screamed at Jack with much anger.
"…wow….geez….lighten up, it was just a suggesti…..huh." Jack's focused was drawn away from Lucy, towards a weird footprint in the ground. "Hey Lucy. Check this out." Lucy then jumped from the tree and walked towards Jack.
"What's up?" Lucy asked trying to see what he found.
"This footprint. Doesn't it look odd to you?"
"Not really. What so special about it, it looks like a normal boot footprint to me."
"Exactly."
"Huh?"
"The villagers said that they're too afraid to enter the forest, but then why is there a footprint of a boot? And what kind of monster would go around wearing boots?" Exclaimed Jack on how odd the scene is. Lucy then just stared at Jack's feet.
"You're wearing sneakers, so why can't the monster wear boots?"
"CAUSE I'M NOT A MONSTER!" Jack screamed comically towards Lucy and her idiotic response. " sigh… we'll just have to follow the scent from this footprint and see what we find. Either a monster or someone who knows about it."
They continued walking, hoping to find this 'monster' and see what it really is. But little did they know, the 'monster', has already found them.
Grrrrrrrrrr….
(Intermission Poster: Jack showing a smirk in his Kangaroo form)
It has been a good few hours since the teens started their hunt. It was already night and the full moon was behind a few clouds. The teens were starting to get annoyed, because they couldn't find their way back.
"Stupid forest, where's the village already!?" Lucy screamed, trying to let out some frustration.
"I had a hunch this island was big, but I didn't think it would be this big." Jack quickly looked side to side, trying to find a way out.
"That's it I'm brining them down! Gum-Gum…" Lucy then stretched her arm back preparing to attack.
'snap'
Jack's ears suddenly twitched as he heard something in the bushes.
"LUCY WATCH OUT!" Jack screamed to warn her of the danger that was there. Suddenly a giant shadowy figure came out of the woods and ran towards Lucy.
"RRAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRR!" a beastly scream came from the creature as it was about to slash Lucy with its claws. But then, just inches away from her face , the claws stopped.
"Sorry, but you're not allowed to kill my captain." Jack was the one who caught the beast's arm. And with a smirk, Jack quickly threw the monster over his shoulder away from them. The beast landed on al four of its feet, and then stood up like a man.
Jack and Lucy were now facing towards the monster standing side by side, ready to attack. The clouds then moved away at that moment, letting the moon's light shine on the forest. Since the forest was so thick, it didn't get much brighter, but a clearer image of the monster can now be seen. It was standing on two legs, was at least six feet tall and had a large black cloth covering its body and face.
Before the two could react the beast then suddenly charged towards them with great speed. The beast was then met with Jack's fist to its face.
"Hey, no fair! I wanted to hit it! That thing tried to kill me!" Lucy screamed at Jack, angered that Jack got the first hit.
"You snooze you loo….ugh." Jack responded back with an arrogant smirk. But the beast then placed its claw on Jack's face.
Then.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH" Jack screamed in pain as blue electricity came from the beast's claw.
"PISTOL!" Suddenly a stretched arm punched the beast in its face, causing it to let Jack go. The beast stumbled, but it was still on its feet. Jack was now on the ground in pain. The beast then charged towards its new target, Lucy. Lucy then threw her two arms back preparing to attack. But the beast placed its claw on Lucy's face and started to electrocute her.
"No Lucy!" Jack screamed, watching helplessly at Lucy.
….
…..
"Shishishi, that won't work on me. Now Gum-Gum, BAZOOKA!" Lucy just smiled and pulled her arms back to hit the beast with great force. The beast was sent flying, knocking down any tree that was in its way. A good distance away the beast was on the ground and seemed to be unconscious.
"WHAT THE HELL! HOW, HOW ARE YOU NOT HURT!?" Jack asked rather surprised while he struggled to get on his feet.
"Because I'm a rubber girl." Lucy answered with her usual smile.
"Wow, you're a lot smarter than what I thought."
"Yeah, one time I got hit by lightning when I was a kid. And that's how I figured it out." Lucy explained while putting her hands behind her head.
"Ok…"
Suddenly the teens heard movement in the distance and looked towards the directions of the sound. The beast was back on its feet and was walking towards them. When the beast smashed through the trees the cloth was ripped off, and with a few trees gone they can clearly see how the beast looks like.
This beast, was something different. It had black boots, military camo pants, silver bracelets covering its forearms and no shirt. This beast was very muscular and had black fur all over its body. Its face almost looked human, except it had the mouth of a big cat, there was grey fur around its mouth , and little round ears on its head. The beast appeared to be half man and half cat.
The teens just looked at the monster with great confusion, until Lucy broke the silence.
"Wait, the monster is just a kitty cat?" Lucy asked sounding rather disappointed.
"How rude! I am not just some feline, I am a panther and I am…."
"Wait. Did that thing just talked?" Jack interrupted the beast sounding surprised.
"Huh..I mean…. RAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUR!" the beast quickly tried to sound intimidating to scare them. But the teens just stared at him, not looking impressed.
"Al right buddy fess up. What Devil Fruit did you eat?" Jack asked the beast, knowing that it wasn't really a monster.
"I did not consume a Devil Fruit, I am a mink like you." The beast answered back.
"Hey didn't that Marine captain call you a mink too?" Lucy asked Jack, remembering what happened a few days ago.
"Yeah I remember. Look buddy…."
"My name is not 'buddy', you may refer to me as Pandor." Exclaimed Pandor, interrupting Jack's sentence.
"Ok Pandor, but I'm not a menk or whatever. I'm just a guy that ate the Kanga-Kanga Fruit." Upon saying that Jack reverted back to his human form.
"Hey Panda if you didn't eat a Devil Fruit, then why can you use electricity?" Lucy asked the panther with much interest.
"My name is Pandor, andthat is called Electro. All minks can produce electric shocks from their bodies." Pandor answered, and demonstrated by producing electricity from his hand.
"That's so cool!" Lucy said with so much awe, that her eyes were sparkling.
"Enough, you still have to pay for the people you killed." Said Jack interrupting Lucy.
"Killed? Oh you must be referring to the tales that the villagers told you. I have not killed anyone. If a person appears in the forest I just try to scare them. They run straight back to the village, but sometimes people are so scared they run to the nearest shore and swim away from the island." Exclaimed Pandor.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That's so funny HAAHAHAHAHA!" Said Lucy laughing so hard she grabbed her stomach and fell on the ground.
Both Pandor and Jack just stared at her and sweat-dropped.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA… 'sigh' . Alright Jack let's go." Lucy pulled herself together and started walking away from Pandor.
"Wait, what? But I thought we were suppose to kill him." Jack asked, feeling rather confused. Pandor flinched a little after hearing that.
"Nope, we were suppose to kill a monster. He's no monster, and besides I like him too much." Lucy said with her hands behind her head.
Jack didn't say a word, because he knew when she makes a decision she sticks to it. He just gave up and started to follow her. Pandor just stood there in amazement. Somebody who actually liked him. Before he could say anything, he suddenly got a whiff of something in the air that troubled him.
"Curses, excuse me you two! You need to follow me, a massive storm is approaching the island!" Exclaimed Pandor towards Lucy and Jack, who turned to him when he finished.
"I don't buy it." Said Jack with his arms crossed.
"Please I beseech you. You must come to my cave at once. The storms around here are very dangerous." Pandor tried to plead with them.
"Yeah sure, then you'll just try to kill us when…."
"Okay, you lead the way." Said Lucy stopping Jack from finishing his sentence.
Jack flinched by Lucy's words, he just couldn't understand. How can she be so trusting. Pandor was also surprised by this, but he knew they didn't have enough time. He just nodded and led them to his cave.
(minutes later)
Sure enough, there came a terrible thunderstorm. Luckily everyone made it to the cave that Pandor spoke about. The cave wasn't that impressive, but it was still standard. There were lanterns on the walls that lit up the cave, there was an old desk as well, there was a worn out mattress in the corner and baskets full of fruit. Pandor started a fire to keep them warm. They were sitting around the fire and he treated them to some of his food, trying to show his gratitude. Lucy was happily eating the food, but Jack still felt uncertain.
"I don't get it. Why would someone that tried to kill us be so friendly and give us his food?" Jack asked, this whole situation seemed suspicious to him.
"Firstly I was not trying to kill you, if I was you would be dead by now. Secondly….."
"Wow wait! Are you saying that I would lose to you pussy cat?" Jack briefly stop Pandor's sentence, sounding annoyed.
"Truth be told you did when we were in the forest. By that conclusion I would say that my strength surpasses yours." Said Pandor sounding rather smug.
"Who said you won, I was just getting warmed up that's all!" Jack protested against the thought of him losing to a cat.
"Do you suggest we finish our little scuffle right here and now?"
"Yeah, when ever you're ready."
Both of them were staring daggers at each other. And both forgot that there was someone else in the cave. Lucy was still eating happily, and then she snatched both Pandor's and Jack's food.
"Hey Lucy that was mine!" Screamed Jack.
"Shishishi, you snooze you lose." Said Lucy to Jack, getting revenge for earlier.
The two then got into a little scuffle, and Pandor just sat there and watched. He found it to be humorous and he just smile before asking.
"So tell me, what are you two doing here on this island. And I would like to know your names as well please." Exclaimed Pandor.
Jack and Lucy immediately stopped and looked at Pandor.
(minutes later)
"WHAT?! YOU WANT TO BECOME QUEEN OF THE PIRATES?!" Screamed Pandor in shear shock.
"Yup. Now it's your turn, what is a mink anyway, and why are you on this island?" asked Lucy ignoring Pandor's expression.
Pandor quickly pulled himself together before he answered. The news was still hard to swallow.
"Oh…ahem…. O-of course. Well minks are basically humanoids with animal features, we use to live in the New World on Zunisha."
"Wait, I thought Zunisha was just a fairy tale." Said Jack
"No, Zunisha was real and we lived happily in Zou until…."
"Sorry, what's a Zunisha?" asked Lucy interrupting Pandor.
"Oh you see, Zunisha was a giant elephant that roamed the New World. And minks use to live on its back which was called Zou until… Until a hundred years ago, when Zunisha was killed." Pandor explained, and after hearing the last part both teens eyes widened.
Pandor continued. "After the death of Monkey D Luffy, the government issued an order for the marines to kill Zunisha, and every last mink there was."
"But why?" asked Lucy.
"Since the minks on Zunisha were allied with the Straw Hat Pirates, they were considered to be criminals. The government wanted to make sure there were not any minks that escaped, so even the ones who lived in other parts of the world were executed. And now to this day all minks are considered criminals. Even me. Both my parents were killed when I was a child. I had no one who could protect or teach me. I had to learn navigation and how to predict the weather during my travels. So that I could swiftly escape capture. I kept on traveling for years and years. But 10 years ago I came across an island that accepted me. The residents did not fear me and they treated me like their own. I stayed there for 6 years living a happy life, until….."
….
"Until one night, the mayor was found dead in his office. His assistant reported him being butchered, because all over his body and on the walls of the office were claw marks." Exclaimed Pandor.
"Hey, why did you kill the mayor? I thought you said they were nice people." Asked Lucy, sounding a bit angry.
"No you idiot he was framed." Said Jack and he bonked Lucy on the head.
Pandor just sat there in silence. Every time there was a flash of lightning, it reminded him of the flashes from gun barrels, and the thunder was replaced with gunshots.
'BANG'
'BANG'
"Please stop this at once! I was wrongly accused, I did not kill the mayor!" said a bleeding Pandor.
"You were born a criminal, you are going to die anyway." Said a Marine officer showing no sympathy.
"Why would I kill the man who gave me a home!?"
"Hey Pandor, you alright?" Asked Lucy, bringing Pandor back to the present.
"Sorry. After the mayor's death everyone accused me of doing it. So I escaped from the island and found myself here. My diet consists of fish, reptiles and fruit. Every once in a while I go to the village at night to look for supplies such as clothing. And every time someone comes in the woods I scare them off. To make sure no one knows what I actually am." Pandor finished his story. Lucy looked on with much interest. Jack didn't show much emotion. Suddenly Pandor's ears twitch, he then turned his head towards the cave entrance. He then stood up walked outside.
"Where are you going?" Asked Jack with his arms crossed.
"I thought I heard something, I will return shortly, the rain stopped so I should be fine." After saying that, Pandor disappeared into the night. After his departure, Lucy then continued to eat her food.
Meanwhile, Pandor was busy running through the forest, looking for where the sound came from. He stopped, and was focused on a dead boar. He walked towards it and saw the bullet hole in its head. But he felt really uncomfortable.
'Why would anyone leave a dead boar like this? This boar was dead when the bullet hit it. It has been a few minutes after the bullet was shot, where is the hunter?' Pandor tried to answer these questions in his head, but couldn't. Then suddenly he felt this sharp pain in his right shoulder and he fell to the ground.
"I…..can not…..move…" Pandor's entire body was paralyzed, only his mouth could move a bit.
"Don't bother, that is a paralyzing poison. You won't move for a few hours."
Suddenly there came about 2 dozen men out of the bushes. They where wearing black tuxedos, sunglasse, black cloves, black shoes and a black hat. These were one the special agent groups, the group that works for The World Government. This was a Cipher Pole group.
One of the men walked towards Pandor. This man had long blue hair and he didn't wear a hat.
"I am Francios, the leader of Cipher Pol 3. You have no idea how hard it was to find you, mink."
CLIFFHANGER! Anyways that's chapter 4. It's a bit longer then my previous chapters, I hope you didn't mind. By the way I suggest you guys to go and read One Piece Ch 842, it's really good. It's available on Mangastream. And special shout out to Hotspot the 626th, who helps me a lot. Please leave a comment and review this chapter. See you next time in
Chapter 5: The end of a nightmare