Chapter 7- Thirteen, Fourteen, Quince
The ocean was quiet as Zephyr yawned loudly. He rubbed his eyes slowly while stepping out onto the deck expecting the sunlight but didn't feel any. Zephyr paused before opening his eyes and staring straight at a cow's face that stared back silently.
Zephyr blinked several times at the cow standing on two feet with two katanas slung over its shoulders. "I'm losing it…" Zephyr muttered and the cow mooed calmly.
Zephyr rubbed his eyes again and flinched as the cow suddenly slashed at him with one of its katana.
He quickly swerved away from the cow and looked around to see Lock and another animal. "Did a freakish zoo break open or something?" he called out to Lock who shrugged while staring at the large pig on two feet with an axe.
"Maybe it's a group of Zoan users?" Lock wondered as she dodged the pig's axe.
The pig squealed and Zephyr and Lock grimaced sadly.
"Hey, Lock? Can we have bacon for breakfast?"
"Sure, with a side of beef?"
"Sounds great." Zephyr said and the two animals trembled in fear.
The pig and cow were tied up while Lock and Zephyr looked at the animals. "I wonder if they're tasty." Zephyr muttered as Dylan came out and stared silently at the animals.
"I thought I said no pets on board?" he asked and Lock huffed bitterly.
"We didn't bring these things on board!" she snapped and Dylan ignored her as he walked over to the animals and stared at them.
"Do you want beef or bacon for breakfast, Dylan?" Zephyr asked and Dylan ignored him as he reached down to the cow's arm and poked a gold bracelet wrapped around its wrist.
"Odd. These aren't Zoan users." Dylan stated and he flicked the bracelet, snapping it off the cow's wrist.
The cow mooed loudly and the three flinched as the cow became a man.
"What the hell…"
"The cow became…"
"My beef…"
Rune sat down across from the tied up pig and man while the rest of the crew stood around silently.
"So… where'd the livestock come from?" she asked and Lock shrugged.
"I woke up, came out on deck, and saw this pig standing there. Then Zephyr came and a cow showed up." Lock stated and Zephyr nodded in agreement.
"Cow?" Rune wondered and Dylan pointed to the man. "Him."
"… That's a dude."
"It was a cow." Lock, Zephyr, and Dylan said and Rune stared at them in confusion.
"Ya lost me." Rune muttered and Dylan showed her the broken bracelet.
"This was on the cow's, I mean, the man's wrist," he stated before handing the bracelet to Rune who looked at it.
The bracelet had a small cow head on it and she raised an eyebrow. "Okay… weird tastes. Does the pig have one?" Rune asked and Lock nodded. Rune got up and walked over to the pig and looked down to see the bracelet on the pig's wrist.
"We didn't want to touch it." Lock stated and Rune nodded silently before suddenly smashing her foot down on the pig's wrist brutally.
Lock, Zephyr, and Dylan flinched as the pig started crying greatly at the pain. Rune crunched her foot down more onto the pig's wrist.
A snapping sound was heard and the pig slowly became a pudgy man. "Okay… It's bracelets that change people into animals. What kind of nutcase made these?" Rune asked and Grandes put a hand to his chin.
"Vegapunk, perhaps?" he wondered and Rune sighed before lifting her foot and looking at the smashed bracelet.
Rune glanced around the crew and narrowed her eyes. "Where's Marisa and Naomi?" she asked and the crew looked around before a large shadow appeared above them and the ship.
The crew looked up and froze up as a large fish started falling down towards them.
"Whale Shark Slam!"
The crew gaped at the whale shark as it fell faster. Zephyr quickly flashed up the mast and jumped off the tip towards the whale shark. He placed a hand on his gold-hilted katana.
"Nami Ami!" Zephyr said and unsheathed his gold katana before a flurry of shockwaves sliced through the air and whale shark.
Zephyr's eyes widened as the whale shark had disappeared before his attack could hit it. Suddenly, Zephyr was slashed several times and he fell back onto the deck covered in blood.
"Zephyr!" Lock shouted while something splashed into the ocean.
"Dylan! Inside!" Rune snapped and the navigator nodded before rushing into the nearest room.
Grandes glanced behind him as something jumped out of the ocean.
"Hammerhead Shark Drill!" Lock's eyes widened as a hammerhead shark spiraled into her, knocking her into the mast.
Lock coughed up blood as the shark disappeared back into the ocean. Grandes quickly headed over to Zephyr and Lock to check on them while Rune, Roland, and Gladstone looked around.
"Good move having Dylan get out of the way. He's useless at sea." Roland said and Rune ignored him as she glanced around.
She narrowed her eyes to her right and disappeared just as something jumped out of the water.
"Got ya!" Rune shouted as she appeared next to the thing and slammed her fist into it, sending it hurling down back into the ocean.
Rune gritted her teeth as the fist she used to punch the thing was cut up and bleeding.
"You okay?" Roland called over and Rune nodded while her hand healed.
"That thing's skin is rough," she stated and Gladstone flinched as something pummeled him down. Roland looked in surprise as something whipped by him and into the ocean.
Blood rolled down Roland's cheek as he and Rune glanced around. Rune looked over at Grandes to see him checking on Gladstone now.
"First a cow and pig, and now this thing."
"Shark."
Rune looked over at Roland as his cheek healed itself. "A shark? Was that a fish-man or something?" Rune asked and Roland shook his head.
"That was a full shark," he stated and Rune gritted her teeth angrily.
"And how could a shark be doing this all?" she snapped and before Roland could answer, something jumped out of the water landed on the upper deck.
The shark squirmed around before slowly turning itself into a man around Roland's age. The man reached into his shirt and pulled out a pair of glasses before grinning widely and putting them over his eyes.
"The shark's a guy?!" Rune snapped and Roland scratched his head in confusion.
"Well, the cow and pig were. Look, he has a bracelet on too." Roland stated and Rune noticed the silver bracelet around the man's wrist.
"Oh, so you noticed? What a pity. You beat up my little toys." The man said while pushing his glasses up with an icy stare at the two.
"Yo, shark guy. Take a hike or I'll fillet you." Rune snapped bitterly and the man chuckled darkly.
"You? Fillet me? Amusing. I'm afraid your threats are empty." The man stated as he snapped his fingers calmly and a screech pierced the air around them.
A large roc flew down and landed behind the man while it held Marisa in its talons. The little girl looked at Rune scared and Rune clenched her fist angrily.
"Let her go." Rune seethed and the man chuckled again. "Another empty threat," he stated and something round and covered in needles rolled over and uncurled to show Naomi gagged and bound.
The porcupine that had wrapped into around Naomi snickered quietly while Rune glared at the man. The man pushed his glasses up and grinned widely again at Rune.
Roland eyed the roc and porcupine and at the silver bracelets identical to the man's the two animals had on.
"The bracelets the cow and pig had were gold colored. Why are the ones you three have silver?" Roland asked and the man chuckled yet again.
"You noticed something so trivial? How amusing. Well, to answer, the bracelets they wore weren't complete. Ours are." The man stated and Rune clenched her fists tightly as she seethed even angrier towards the man.
"Let. Marisa. Go." Rune said and the man smirked.
"Don't worry, I will. I'm just thinking first."
"Thinking of what?!" Rune shouted and the man opened his eyes to stare at Rune coldly.
"Thinking of what to make you all into," he stated and before Rune could shout back the roc had disappeared and a metallic click was heard overhead.
"Cheese!" A male voice shouted and Rune looked up to see a guy with the roc's wings and a bazooka grin down at the two.
The next second, smoke covered the deck and the man motioned to the porcupine.
The porcupine pushed Naomi into the smoke along with Marisa.
The man chuckled as he pushed his glasses up his nose and he stared at the smoke.
"You may call me Quince. Welcome to my newest animal show, my new toys."
Ready da tomatoes at Quince! XD I only brought him back to suffer more!
