Well…I guess I shouldn't make excuses for the delay in chapter 10's release…suffice it to say that I have been extremely busy the past year. Enough about that please enjoy!
Unfamiliar Territory
The Gyrfalcon, Osprey and Albatross were sailing smoothly through the calm belt with the help of Luffy's devil fruit ability. Keeping the three ships hovering just above the water, The Sky Pirates were able to avoid constant sea king attacks and move through the calm belt with relative ease. Koala Island, as Luffy had dubbed it, was moving with the ships, floating a good distance above the sea, using cloud cover to keep its location hidden from prying eyes. The Sky Pirate commanders were relaxing aboard The Gyrfalcon, while their subordinates occupied The Osprey, the crew mostly bored with the uneventful journey.
It was just before sunset, giving the ships a rather panoramic image.
Fitz was sitting down, leaning against the guardrail near the middle mast. He was reading again because no one was willing to lose in another game of cards. Zoro was fast asleep leaning against the middle mast, his three swords propped up against the wood and Nami was on the upper deck, checking the ship's direction every so often. Gin had grown fond of watching Usopp work on new inventions and was doing just that near the front of the ship.
"AAAAARRGGGH! WHO ATE ALL THE FOOD?" Sanji yelled, storming out of the kitchen.
"Food?" Luffy asked, the mere mention of the word able to wake him from his nap on the figurehead.
The teen disappeared from his position at the front of the ship and reappeared right in front of Sanji.
"WHOOOO AATEEEE…?" Sanji began to ask but was cut off by Luffy's sudden appearance, causing the cook to fall down backwards in surprise.
"I heard food. Is there food? I'm already hungry after raiding the refridgeratooooooo…"Luffy began to say before realizing who he was talking to.
"YOU DAMN AIR HEAD!" Sanji shouted before delivering a back kick to Luffy's stomach.
Luffy was sent careening across the ship, on course to smash into the middle mast. He quickly regained his senses just before reaching the mast and activated his devil fruit in order to avoid damaging the ship.
"Looks like you're getting pretty good with your Armament Haki," Fitz noticed as he stood up from his sitting position, putting the book he was reading in his back pocket and adjusting his glasses, coming over to where Sanji was standing.
"It seems to work better whenever Luffy's my target," Sanji replied, taking a long drag of his cigarette, blowing the smoke out in satisfaction.
"It seems to react well to your anger haha," laughed Fitz.
"I'm gonna have to be more careful around you guys now. I keep forgetting that you've learned it," Luffy said, a wide grin on his face, reappearing right back where he had been standing before.
"Can you guys shut up!?" Zoro mumbled, not even bothering to open his eyes.
"Stupid Moss head, all you do is sleep, workout and get lost," Sanji challenged, fixing a burning stare on the Sky Pirate's swordsman.
"What did you just s…?" Zoro began to respond but was immediately cutoff by an earsplitting explosion from the front of the ship.
"What the hell was that!?" Nami yelled from the upper deck.
"That's got to be Usopp's new invention. Didn't he say he wanted to make some explosive bullets for his Trifecta?" Fitz asked and he didn't have to wait long for his answer.
"Damn it Usopp! Are you trying to kill me?" Gin argued as he walked towards the group.
"Well if you didn't bump my shoulder right in the middle of pouring than maybe that wouldn't have happened," retorted Usopp, walking next to Gin.
Both of them were now covered in soot. Usopp's hair was all pointing backwards and the only place without soot were his eyes where his goggles had been, giving him the appearance of a raccoon. Gin had managed to turn away and soot only covered his right side, almost as if a line had been drawn down the middle of his body.
"I'll give you both your punishments later. There's an island up ahead." Nami said pointing straight ahead.
"DAMN IT," yelled Gin, unhappy with the fact that he would be chastised along with Usopp but knowing better than to argue with Nami.
"ALRIGHT! LET'S GOOOOOO!" Luffy yelled before manipulating the three ships to shoot towards the island.
"NOT AGAIN!" Everyone screamed knowing what would happen once they reached the island.
The ships flew towards the mystery island at an incomprehensible speed. Anyone watching from afar would believe himself or herself to be hallucinating.
"WAAAAAARGH I GART EEL I ACE (I can't feel my face)," Usopp shouted his voice barely carrying over the deafening roar of the wind.
Every one of the Sky Pirates, aside from Fitz, who was reading against the upper deck guardrail, facing the opposite direction, had their cheeks pinned back near their ears and looks of terror graced each of their faces.
The subordinates aboard the Osprey were in a similar situation, each of them trying desperately to keep their hold on anything that would keep them from flying into the ocean.
Just as soon as the terror began, the ships reached the island and Luffy stopped them on a dime right before the coast. Everyone was thrown forward due to the sudden stop. Usopp hit the main mast in a spread eagle position. Gin followed close behind but was flying sideways and smashed into the small of Usopp's back. Zoro came flying in afterwards but had somehow managed to flip his body in the air so that his feet were flying towards his two crewmates. Using Gin and Usopp as makeshift springboard, Zoro avoided smashing into the mast and landed softly on the deck below.
Nami was sent flying off the upper deck and just before she hit the guardrail, on the other side of the ship, Sanji threw himself between her and the guardrail screaming, "I WILL PROTEC…ARRRRRGH!" Sanji's body acted as a pillow, cushioning the blow for Nami but crushing his stomach in the process.
Fitz followed close behind but just before he was about to collide with Nami and Sanji, he called out GEPPO, kicking off the air and landing lightly on the deck.
The subordinates were in a similar situation but luckily were able to avoid any full on collisions and landed on the coast, skidding to a stop on the beach. Fitz was the first of the commanders to set foot on the beach
"DAMN IT LUFFY! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO DO THAT EVERYTIME?" Zoro screamed, rage evident on his face as he jumped off the ship, landing easily on the coast next to Luffy.
Sanji and Nami followed closely behind Zoro, each giving Luffy an earful about the responsibilities of a captain protecting the ladies on his crew and something about compensation. Luffy tilted his head to the side, giving the duo a questioning look, as though he didn't speak their language. Gin and Usopp were the last of the commanders to touch ground on the beach and Usopp had seen better days. He was still in extreme pain from the mast hitting a rather sensitive area and needed Gin's help to get off the ship.
"Luffy, you should move the ships up with Koala Island. Wouldn't want anything to happen to them while we're here," Fitz suggested, adjusting his glasses in the process and providing the perfect distraction from the crew's griping.
"Good idea," Luffy replied as he held out his hand and said AIR CONTROL.
As soon as the words left his mouth, the three ships started moving of their own accord, rising higher and higher, into the sky until they were covered by clouds. Luffy brought them within Koala Island's air lock to keep them from crashing back to the ground.
After dealing with the ships, Luffy turned to face the center of the island and his eyes grew wide as he took in the surroundings.
"WOOOOW! I've never seen anything like that before," Luffy exclaimed his jaw dropping as he focused on the giant mountain that he was, for some reason, just noticing.
It was really something to behold and the biggest mountain any of the crew had ever seen. The peak stretched high into the sky and wasn't visible due to it being higher than the surrounding clouds, while the base of the mountain seemed to be taking up the entire island. There was a small layer of forestation just after the coastline but the base of the mountain was easily visible through the thinly arrayed trees.
"That's really incredible!" Fitz agreed, excitement seeping into his voice.
"How high up does it go?" Usopp asked, using his hand to shield his eyes from the sun as he looked towards the peak.
"LUFFY!" Percy shouted as he and the rest of the subordinates ran towards their commanders. "There are Marines on this island. We saw a ship just down the coast over there and it looks like they're coming this way," he continued, pointing in the direction they had just been.
"Why don't you just lift us all in the air?" Rufus suggested, the rest of the crew, aside from the fighters, agreeing with the 16 year old.
"Isn't this the perfect opportunity for Vanna to get some practice in?" Luffy asked, causing everyone to turn and look at her.
Despite her 21 years of age making her one of the oldest on the crew, Vanna had a very shy personality, and was never comfortable being put on the spot. She looked towards Nami for some help.
"Don't worry, just do it like you practiced," Nami said giving the girl a smile and trying to instill confidence in her subordinate.
"O-okay. I n-need everyone to g-group together," Vanna answered shyly, feeling more self-assured.
"Alright Vanna, go ahead and do it," Luffy said.
"Ok, here it goes…GROUND LEVEL," Vanna said while holding both of her hands out in front of her body, fingers spread wide.
The air around her hands began to distort slightly and a ripple seemed to move outward from her palms, enveloping the air around the crew.
((WITH THE MARINES))
"Oh man! Vice-Admiral Woosk is going to be really happy with this one," one of the marines said, sporting a huge smile.
"You're telling me. There should be a feast tonight. She wasn't easy to catch," the other responded.
The two Marines were walking along the beach, en route to the path that would take them further towards the center of the island. They were carrying a sea stone net and inside the net was a girl, roughly 17 years of age.
"I hate having to go this way though. The Captains aren't exactly my favorite people in the world. We have to go through at least one of their nests to get to the testing facility and it's definitely not a place I would willingly spend my time," the marine on the left pouted.
"Why can't we just take her in the front?" the other asked.
"Oh yeah, I keep forgetting that you recently joined this contingent. We need to keep up appearances. If we were bringing them in through the front then those weekly inspections would find something the Vice-Admiral doesn't want them to find. It's way safer this way," The elder Marine responded.
"Huh? What's that?" the younger marine asked.
At that moment the two were walking right by Vanna's illusion.
"What's wrong with you? You know we're in the calm belt right? There's no way anyone other than Marines could be on this island," the elder scolded.
"I guess you're right. I need to get more sleep. Things are looking a little blurry to my eyes," the other responded, rubbing his eyes with his free hand.
The two continued on their way until they came to a small clearing in the trees. Turning into the clearing, the two disappeared from view.
"Good work Vanna! They didn't notice a thing," Luffy said praising the girl with a pat on the head as he walked forward, stopping just before the tree line, sizing up the giant mountain.
"Luffy what do you want to do about this? It sounds like they're using this island as some sort of testing facility and they were carrying a girl with them," Fitz asked, adjusting his glasses, a rather serious look making its way to his face.
"Well we should go in there and bust them out!" Luffy concluded and began walking in the direction the Marines had gone.
"Whoa whoa, hold up a second," Sanji said having come out of the forest.
"How did you get there?" Luffy asked tilting his head to the side.
"There was a lady in distress! So I followed them but they went into a tunnel of some kind and the entrance closed before I could get to them," Sanji responded, taking a drag of his cigarette.
"Hey Fitz, did you notice? This whole island is being monitored," Nami said pointing to a den den mushi she had noticed, sitting up in a tree at the edge of the forest.
"I did and Luffy's straightforward way of thinking might not be too bad on this occasion but we still need more information before breaking down the front door," Fitz answered moving to stand by Luffy.
"Well, wouldn't it be best to take out the den den mushi's?" Zoro asked scanning the forest with his eyes.
"Alright moss ball, how do you plan to go about getting them?" Sanji asked after exhaling a cloud of smoke.
"Cut them up! Go stand in the forest so I can get started," Zoro threatened and unsheathing one of his blades, a deadly look made its way into his eyes.
"Alright! I got them. Nami, what should we do with them?" asked Luffy who suddenly appeared between Zoro and Sanji with an armful of mini den den mushi's, dropping them on the sand.
Everyone in the crew stood, mouths gaping open, obviously still struggling to get used to Luffy's disappearing acts.
"O-okay Usopp, do you think you can make some modifications to these?" Nami asked picking up one of the little snails and tossing it to Usopp.
"What did you have in mind?" the sniper asked, holding the snail up to his face to get a better look.
The snails were extremely small, about the size of a nail head.
"I want a way to keep in contact with everyone," Nami said.
"Alright, I think I have an idea of what to do. Titus, Miriam, can you both give me a hand? Also I'll need to get up to the ship. All my tools are up there," Usopp responded, pointing up into the sky.
"Okay Luffy, take them up and stay with them until the modifications are finished. We'll need you to distribute them once they're ready. You'll be able to locate us right?" Fitz asked, looking over at his Captain.
"It shouldn't be a problem. My Observation haki is at that level. Ok let's go," Luffy said before using his devil fruit ability to lift Usopp, Titus and Miriam, along with himself, into the sky towards Koala Island.
"And in the meantime?" Gin asked, twirling his tonfas in his hands.
"We should be able to move freely throughout the island without drawing too much attention so let's go check out that entrance those marines carried the girl to," said Fitz getting unanimous agreement from commanders and subordinates alike, before heading towards the greenery.
((IN THE MARINE BASE: STEAM ROOM))
A Marine came sprinting down the hall, pushing his way through a group of his comrades to get to the steam room.
The base had been built inside the mountain and the hallways were constructed in a circular shape to maximize space, often causing a spot of dizziness for those that had not grown accustomed to the winding halls.
Such was the case with the aforementioned Marine.
Reaching the steam room and opening the door hurriedly, the Marine quickly became disoriented by the massive quantity of steam within the room and promptly slipped and slid across the slick floor, slamming into the wall and barely missing the lone man in the room.
The Marine groggily stood to his feet and, unable to discern the location of the man due to the thick steam, he turned towards where he thought him to be.
"Vice Admiral Woosk!" The Marine said, saluting at the same time. "There are reports of our surveillance system suddenly going dark, pointing to intruders on the island. How would you like to proceed, Sir?"
"Firstly, Lieutenant, the steam room is a sacred place for rest and relaxation, therefore, as I have stated on multiple occasions, I am not a Vice-Admiral while surrounded by these luxurious walls. Secondly…I am over here," Vice-Admiral Woosk responded from the opposite corner of the room to where the Lieutenant was saluting towards.
"My apologies, sir," the Marine responded while quickly turning to face the direction of the voice.
"Thirdly, there are 5 captains stationed on this rock. Go bother them with your morbid talk of intruders. I still have 20 minutes to go in here," the Vice-Admiral responded.
"Y-yes, Sir," the Marine Lieutenant said and quickly turned to walk out the door.
"Fourthly, Lieutenant…the door is over there," Woosk said, failing to realize that the steam was too thick for the Lieutenant to see where he was pointing.
"I can't see where you are pointing sir. I'll just feel my way out using the walls. I need to inform the Captains," the Lieutenant responded.
"Firstly, Lieutenant, the steam room is a sacred place. Secondly, we do not touch…oh, he's gone," Woosk realized, feeling somewhat dejected at being ignored.
((WITH THE SKY PIRATES ON THE ISLAND)) _
"Eyebrows! I thought you said you knew where you were going," Zoro said, scolding the cook for leading them to nowhere in particular for the past hour.
"You, of all people, telling me off…I'll never understand how your brain works under all that moss," Sanji retorted, turning towards the swordsman and coming face to face, their noses a hair's breadth apart, sparks flying.
"Boys, fighting amongst ourselves is the last thing we need right now," Nami said nonchalantly but it produced the necessary effect to break the two up.
"AS YOU WISH NAMI-SWAAAAAAN!" Sanji sang before diving towards the navigator with the intention of embracing and kissing her. Nami ducked out of the way and Sanji's lips planted firmly against Jago's left cheek.
"Fitz, is it alright if I hit him?" Jago asked in a complete monotone.
A short nod from Fitz was all Jago needed and, drawing his right arm back; he delivered a crushing sucker punch to Sanji's stomach. The cook, who had yet to open his eyes, was sent flying up above the trees, before landing a short distance away near the base of the mountain, all the while yelling, "NAMI'S PUNCH OF LOVE IS SOO HOT!"
"HAHAHAHA!" Zoro laughed but quickly stopped once he saw the greedy look in Nami's eyes, contemplating payment for his earlier fight with Sanji.
"HA-Ha-ha ahhhh…damn it," Zoro said as he grudgingly went off to get Sanji who would most likely be caught in some sick, romantic fantasy.
"I'll let you off this time Jago," was all Nami said in regards to Jago hitting Sanji in the stomach.
"Oh Nami-Swan, your punch of love has led me straight to the mountains entrance," called Sanji, causing Nami to slap her hand against her forehead, shaking her head in disbelief.
"How come our commander had to be an idiot?" Isabell asked, directing her question at Sheldon.
"It seems to me that this is a crew full of idiots," Sheldon responded, in the lowest whisper possible, not wanting to turn Nami's wrath on himself.
"A crew of stupidly powerful idiots doesn't sound too bad," Isaac said as he walked past the two chefs, Percy on his right, walking after the rest of the crew.
The two cooks smiled slightly before following after Isaac and Percy.
"Hey Percy, can you change into your ocelot form for me?" Isabell asked putting on the most innocent look she could muster.
"No! I've had enough of you treating me like a pet. Throwing me all over the place and I can't do anything back without Sanji flipping out," Percy retorted as they all came to the place where Sanji landed.
"I'll be nice. I promise," Isabell said
"The not-so-secret entrance is right here!" Sanji said as he ushered the crew towards its location.
"Good going Jago. We might have been searching all day," Gin whispered to Jago causing the normally emotionless 19 year old to crack a small smile.
The secret entrance to the Marine base was cut out of the mountain and well hidden by the surplus of vines that grew all along its base. The entrance was built into the rock face and, even after moving the vines to the side; there was no obvious way to open the solid stone door.
"Everyone out of the way," Zoro said, unsheathing two of his blades and walking towards the blocked off entrance.
The crew complied, shuffling out of Zoro's range.
"Ah Zoro, I found a lever here that's probably…" began Rufus, trying to point out his discovery only to be cut off as Zoro began his attack.
TWO SWORD STYLE: ROLLING RHINO, yelled Zoro standing completely still for a moment as a white light gleamed across his blades, a clear indication to Zoro's grasp of armament haki.
Taking one step forward, he swung his arms to the left, causing his body to start spinning. Rotating 720 degrees, Zoro stopped and sheathed his blades as the dust that had been kicked up from his attack settled back to the ground. Just as the hilt of his swords hit their sheaths, 4 white hot slices appeared in the shape of a square causing a chunk of the mountain, along with the vines, to fall towards Zoro, hitting the ground and revealing a dark passageway.
"Who needs doors anyways," Rufus stated choosing not to mention his discovery of the lever that was obviously there to open the door that Zoro had just sliced out of the mountainside.
"Ok, here's the plan. I'll head in with Zoro, Percy, Isaac, Jago and Rufus. The rest of you stay here until Luffy returns. Nami, have Luffy find us once you get your den den mushies. After we get ours, I'll update you all on the situation and we can go from there." Fitz said before nodding to Zoro, Percy, Isaac, Jago and Rufus as an indication for them to follow him into the mountain.
A ways up the mountainside, unbeknownst to the remaining Sky Pirates, a panel in the side of the mountain slid open and a Marine peered down the rock face.
((WITH FITZ, ZORO AND THEIR SUBORDINATES))
The tunnel was big enough for two people to walk side by side and, as it was Zoro and Fitz were in the front, Percy and Jago came after and Rufus and Isaac behind them.
"You guys make sure to stay behind me. Since eating my devil fruit I've been able to see clearly in the dark," Fitz said as he led the group through the passage.
"Man it's dark in here," Rufus complained, walking with his hands outstretched and trying to feel his way through passage.
"What did you expect? We're inside of a mountain right now," Isaac responded walking in a similar manner to Rufus.
"It doesn't hurt to be a little optimistic Isaac. Right Jago," Rufus said looking for Jago to back him up.
"No," Jago replied in the monotonous tone of voice that had become somewhat of a trademark.
"Hey! Rufus, focus on where you're walking. You keep stepping on the back of my heels," Percy said.
"What are talking about? I'm not even walking behind you," Rufus replied.
"Sorry. That's me," Isaac said in an apologetic tone.
"Stop, there's something ahead," Fitz said, stopping on a dime and putting his left hand on Zoro's shoulder to signal him causing the group behind them to fall to the ground in a heap due to the sudden stop.
"You could give us a little warning before you do something like that," Percy said irritation ebbing its way into his voice as he stood to his feet.
"Agreed," said Jago.
Isaac and Rufus were too busy trying to untangle themselves in the dark to say anything.
"It looks like the passageway splits into two just ahead. Rufus and Jago, you both come with me and we'll take the left side passage. Zoro, Isaac and Percy…you guys take the right side.
"Waaaaaiiiiit a minute! You want Zoro to lead us? He doesn't even know how to go places that he's already been to," Isaac complained.
"Yeah yeah, come on Fitz. Let me lead the way," Percy chimed in.
"I don't want to hear another word out of you two. Let's go," Zoro growled. The killer intent emanated a menacing aura around the swordsmen despite the darkness and the two subordinates fell silent and obediently followed behind their commander.
"Ok guys. Make sure you stay close behind me. There's something dangerous up ahead," Fitz said as he led Jago and Rufus through the left side passageway.
"We're right behind you…hey…w-what? The walls are all sticky…this is gross," Rufus complained and turning to wipe his hands on the first thing he could find which happened to be Jago.
"Are you guys still with me?" Fitz asked becoming a little concerned by the lack of noise behind him.
"WAAAAAAAAAARRRGH!" Rufus yelled as he went careening down the passageway courtesy of one of Jago's kicks.
"Damn it Jago. What was that for?" Fitz asked his subordinate.
"He wiped the grossness on my arm," Jago responded his voice still void of emotion.
Fitz shook his head and continued down the path to look for Rufus. As they walked Fitz could make out a faint scurrying sound just up ahead.
"Rufus. Where are you?" Fitz asked.
"Over here," came the reply, a short distance ahead.
"I'm stuck on this wall."
Fitz and Jago moved through the passageway until they reached the source of the voice.
Jago's kick had sent Rufus flying into what, at first glance, appeared to be a very sticky wall and Rufus was now stuck half way up it.
"I can't get down," Rufus said as he struggled to release himself.
"Just hold still for a second," Fitz replied as he formed his gargoyle tail.
In a flash of movement, Fitz used the spike at the end of his tail to slice Rufus off of the wall. After Rufus fell to the ground, a warm gust of wind shot through the passageway.
"What the hell was that?" Rufus asked, picking himself up and trying to regain his senses in the dark
There was a rustling, squishy sound that made its way to the Sky Pirates' ears.
"Oh my! You've taken away my prey. What shall I do with you?" a silky smooth female voice asked, the owner of the voice located at the top of the cave.
"Rufus take off your gloves," Fitz said then turning to look at Jago, "Jago be … I see you're as observant as always."
Jago already had his fists up, looking directly at the spider lady, as though he could see through the darkness.
"My decorations are also ruined. Your punishment just doubled. I'll take my time draining you," the zoan devil fruit user said jumping from her position on the ceiling down towards Fitz, Rufus and Jago.
((MEANWHILE))
"Damn it Zoro! That's the fourth time," Isaac complained picking himself up from the ground having fallen after running into Percy and Zoro as the passageway turned sharply to the left.
"How the hell am was supposed to know that the passageway had turns in it," Zoro fumed standing to his feet and dusting himself off.
"It's almost like they're laughing at us," Percy said before transforming into his hybrid ocelot form. "Zoro let me lead, I can see pretty well in the dark."
"Why didn't you say that earlier?"
"Never mind that. Lets go," Percy beginning to walk past Zoro before freezing as he felt a hand grab his tail.
"Isaac let go of my tail. NOW!" Percy yelled spinning and swiping a paw at Isaac who was barely able to dodge.
"Whoa, ok ok, I get it the tails off limits. Lead the way Mr. Sensitive." Isaac said somewhat upset by Percy's behavior.
Percy continued moving, making sure to keep his tail out of both Zoro and Isaac's reach, calling out whenever the path changed directions, making their progress much faster. It wasn't long before Percy led Zoro and Isaac into a high ceilinged chamber, a faint buzzing sound filing the room along with a sweet aroma.
"That's honey," Isaac observed.
"I don't like this. Swords up," Zoro said drawing two of his swords, Isaac and Percy following suit, Percy remaining in his hybrid form.
"The buzzing's getting closer." Percy said, his ocelot hearing picking up the increase of vibrations.
"Percy, Isaac, get behind me and stand three and a half feet apart from me and each other. We're going to make a gauntlet. I'll take down as many of whatever is coming and if any get through you take them out. Isaac, be sure to pick off any stragglers. Keep your attacks short. We don't want to compromise our position," Zoro said as the trio got into position, the buzzing sound growing ever louder.
"Damn it! Why do I get the bitch position? I'm barely going to get to kill anything," Isaac pouted taking up his position the furthest down the tunnel.
"Wait do you hear that?" Percy asked.
"No," Isaac replied.
"Exactly. They're in the room," Zoro said, placing his third sword in his mouth.
The sudden silence lasted ten seconds before the buzzing began again, this time right on top of them, as a swarm of bees came flying towards them, stingers at the ready.
There you go. Hopefully it was enjoyable. I'll try to put the next installment up a little faster
Let me know what you thought