From the Stars
Wow, been a while since the last chapter. In a way you could say this is the 'second season' of the story. Though I was also a bit strapped on ideas for a while, I figured I may as well just write it out and then go back and redo whatever doesn't sit well with me afterwards. Again, I'm a little bummed out that there aren't many reviewers, but at least Thomas' constant patronage is appreciated. Hopefully more people will review when it's all over, which should probably be in about another 4 chapters.
Beast against Beast! Chopper versus Bongo.
"It's Straw Hat Luffy! Attack!" Was the cry that repeated itself throughout the halls of the Marine base, which was promptly followed by a the pain filled cry as a fist, foot, or sword silenced them. It had only been a few minutes since entering the base, and yet the 9 pirates had yet to meet any heavy resistence.
"Pfff, for a Marine Base, these guys sure don't put up much of a fight. It's actually kinda sad." Sanji remarked, lighting up a drag as Luffy and Zoro finished another wave of officers.
"These are just the small fries, the big fish are probably waiting for us up ahead." Zoro commented, sheathing his swords stylishly. Moving forward once more, they arrived at a large set of doors which led into a courtyard. The ground was unkept, with patches of grass and weeds here and there. A few crosses could be seen, riddled with holes from firing squards. At the opposite end of the grounds was another door, their next destination.
"Feels like DJ who." Luffy commented, recalling a similar yard at the base where he met Zoro.
"That Deja vu, idiot!" Zoro yelled, his teeth grinding in an annoyed grunt.
"Well, I see you brought the rest of your friends along for the ride." A familiar voice called out from above. All heads turned to see Tragen looking down at them from the battlements, Bongo drooling blankly beside him. The sneer of overconfidence scanned each member of the crew, but froze upon seeing Luffy.
"Wait! How the hell are you still alive?! I shot you three times. You should be dead!" Tragen said, loose hairs popping undone as the man tried to make sense of the raven haired boy's survival.
"Shishishishi, it's gonna take more than a few bullets to do me in." Luffy grinned, which sent the fuming Marine Commander into a fit of rage. Calming himself, Tragen coughed roughly before returning to his usual sneer.
"No matter, I'll make sure you stay dead this time. For now, I'll let Bongo deal with you, he hasn't had his candy for a while now. I wouldn't want to be any of you right now." A despicable laugh trailed behind Tragen as he left, leaving Bongo as the wild man began to howl and snarl menacingly.
"You guys go on ahead, I'll take him on!" Chopper said, transforming into his human form and stepping forward. Bongo leapt from the high wall and landed only a mere 20 yards from the group, his hollow manic eyes beaming with a murderous intent. Thick strands of drool hung from his mouth as he breathed heavily like a beast.
"I think I'll stay as well and give tiny doctor some help." Robin stated, crossing her arms casually. The others nodded without protest, aside from a muttered comment by Sanji about 'keeping (his) dear Robin-baby safe'. For a moment, the Devil Fruit imbued reindeer stared down the frenzied wild man. Then the dog like man charged forward with a gallop like run, his overgrown nails kicking up dirt and leaving paw like prints. Chopper ran headlong to meet his foe and both 'beast men' were about to collide in mid-air.
At least Chopper expected to crash into his opponent, until Bongo vanished mere inches from the now stumbling humanoid reindeer.
"Where'd he go?" Chopper looked around, his hat bobbing from side to side as he looked around.
"Behind you!" Robin barely called in time, Chopper turned and felt sharp nails rake across his chest as Bongo seemingly swooped out of thin air. This attack sent the teenaged doctor spiraling through the air. Not wasting a second, Bongo grabbed Chopper by the ankles and mercilessly slammed him into the ground. Not done in so easily, Chopper recovered and used his hands to prop himself up slightly as he tried to trip Bongo. But the dog man avoided the attack with a mocking grin and vanished seemed to vanish once more.
"Dammit, he's too fast." Chopper cursed as he stood up, wiping some blood from his mouth as he looked around. Suddenly a shadow loomed overhead and he cried out in shock as the wild man latched onto his back.
"Ah, let go!" He shouted, shaking from side to side furiously as Bongo laughed deliriously. Rearing back his head, Bongo sank his teeth into Chopper's shoulder.
"AGGGGHHH!!!" Chopper screamed, feeling the sharp fang-like canines sink into flesh. Stumbling around in pain, Chopper aimed for a wall. Throwing himself backwards, the anthropomorphic reindeer slammed into the stone as hard as he could, crushing Bongo. The wild man howled and released his jaws, and leapt off as Chopper attempted to slam him a second time. Doing a roll in the air, the wild man landed on the doctor's head, crushing it into the ground.
"Little doctor!" Robin called out, her normal calm stoic look cracking slightly as she realized the danger her friend was facing. It was like watching too wild animal fight each other. Bongo rolled off Chopper and crouched, sniffing at the unmoving reindeer. Pumping his arms up, the wild man howled victoriously.
"He's like some kind of animal. But a human acting like a beast is nothing compared to the real deal." Chopper thought to himself, still lying face down on the ground. It was obvious fighting like a human wouldn't simply cut it. He had to rely on instinct more than brute strength. Picking himself up off the ground, Chopper slowly got to his feet. Bongo stopped his victory chanting and reared up in an intimidating manner.
"Growl all you want... but you're just a big fake, not a real beast." Both then began circling one another, keeping their distance. Chopper watched Bongo closely, reading the pattern of his footsteps. Finally they stopped, neither daring to move another muscle. The wild man hunched over, preparing to spring forth. The reindeer doctor caught onto this and prepared himself.
"Owooooo!" Bongo cried out, launching himself straight towards Chopper with extended claws. Just as the dog man was in inches of tackling the youngest Straw Hat, the humanoid reindeer sidestepped the incoming attack. Grabbing Bongo's outstretched arms, Chopper spun the wild man around and around before throwing him to the ground. Bouncing and skidding on the dirt, Bongo rolled across the ground before coming to a stop in a cloud of dust.
"Is it over?" Chopper wondered, straining his eyes to see through the dense cloud. Suddenly the dust swirled into a plume as a figure burst through. Chopper was knocked back by a blurry figure, which continued to race by him and ricochet off the walls.
"He's faster than before!" Chopper thought, then an idea came to mind. He closed his eyes and instead focused on the sounds and smells around him. The wind howling in the distance... The salty air from the ocean shores... Then the patter of running feet... The smell of unwashed hair and BO.
"Found you!" Chopper said, smiling to himself as his animal instincts locked onto the fast moving target. His head turned and moved along as he followed Bongo, never once did his eyes open to look. Then he sensed a presence coming from behind the archeologist.
"Robin, watch out!" Chopper said, pointing behind the raven haired woman without opening his eyes. Just in time, as Robin stepped to the side a white blur shot past and skidded to a halt. Bongo's blank eyes registered surprise, then frustration and growled. Yet before he could launch another attack, four sets of hands sprouted from the ground and latched onto the wild man's feet.
"He's all yours, little doctor." Robin said with a grin as Bongo thrashed around, trying to keep his balance and getting himself free from Robin's imitation arms.
"Right!" Chopper ingested a rumble ball and immediately warped into Arm Point, his sleeker combat form. Running gracefully across the ground, Chopper cocked back his fist as he let out an intimidating yell. Bongo's eyes widened in fear then saw stars as the furry fist clobbered him. The wild man launched off the ground, the mimic arms releasing him as he took off, and a resounding crash echoed in the yard as Bongo's unconscious form slammed into the far wall, an indentation of his battered form cracking the once pristine stone. As he landed, a slip of paper fell from his ratty pockets, it read: NORMANS BONGO; HEAD OF RESEARCH.
"Well done, little doctor." Robin smiled, rubbing her wrists, it was quite difficult to hold down such an uncontrollable force like that.
"Really?! Awww, it was nothing, really." Chopper blushed as he returned to his small form and scratched his head. But just as the two were about to move on to regroup with Luffy and the others, a whistle drew their attention.
"Freeze! You're both under arrest!" A harsh voice called, and the sounds of guns cocking could be heard. Robin and Chopper whirled around and found themselves face to face with roughly two dozen marines.
"Looks like the job isn't over yet." Robin frowned, slightly. "Ready for round two, tiny doctor?" Chopper face faulted and looked at the raven haired archeologist.
"What?!"
#
On the second floor, Luffy and the gang had just blown their way past another set of marines who were unfortunate enough to get in their way. The hall was enormous, and seemed to encircle half of the base from one end to the other. The group followed Nami's directions, having extracted them from a marine before he fell unconscious. But as they rounded the corner to the steps leading to the third floor, they were greeted with an unpleasant sight.
"Well well well, looks like we meet again." Dead-Eye grinned, his sunglasses flashing slyly in the light, while he chewed on a toothpick with a wide grin. Beside him as always were his brothers, Blade and Lobo, both smirking. Zoro gave a grunt of disapproval, not the least bit intimidated by the new obstruction.
"Luffy, let us take care of these small fries, you guys head on up to get Orpheum." Sanji said, jerking a thumb to Zoro and Ussop, the later looking incredulous as he realized he was being dragged into the fight with the bounty hunters.
"What?! Why me?!"
"He's a gunman, you're a sniper. It makes sense."
"YEA RIGHT!"
As the blonde haired cook ignored the protests of the long nosed sniper, Luffy began to march towards the steps. But instead of being blocked, he found the three men standing aside.
"Get moving, we may be getting paid to stop all of yous, but a fights a fight. We've been challenged and have to see it through to the end." Dead-Eye said, casually pocketing his hands. Luffy nodded, while Nami gave a nervous glance, Franky and Brook followed behind without a problem.
"Now that there's no distractions, let's get down to business." Dead-Eye smirked, flicking the toothpick away, then threw back the coattails of his jacket to reveal an assortment of guns. Blade and Lobo stepped forward and took a stance with their respective weapons, Blade a saber, and Lobo holding his bare fists. In answer, Zoro slung a sword over his back cooly. While Sanji and Ussop readied themselves.
"Ready?" A voice called.
TO BE CONTINUED
Preview:
(Zoro and Blade lock swords and begin matching blows.)
Zoro: Finally, a decent opponent, haven't had one of those in a while.
(Sanji and Lobo are seen trading punches and kicks, both looking fairly matched.)
Sanji: Shut it, algae head! This isn't some game, we're here to save our friend!
(Ussop is hiding behind a pillar, while Dead-Eye is looking around for him.)
Ussop: Dammit, why did I have to get the ringleader?! That's Luffy's job!
Luffy: On the next One Piece; "Swords, feet, and lies? An unlikely match-up!" I'm gonna be king of the pirates!