Francis "Picture it as you will" cover album – Picture 10
Cover page title:"Crew's quarters 1"
"Francis welcomes you to visit his room. When you enter the door, Francis is seating on his bead, polishing his saber with a bottle of polish next to him. When you enter the door, there's a desk on the left of the door with a wooden arm chair. On the desk, there's a stack of notebooks, every one of them handwritten by him, containing information on every corner of North Blue that he has been. On the wall to the left, right above the bed, there are two shelves, filled with books, such as: "North Blue, back and forth", "Indigenous Tribes", "Flight Lessons For The Frigthened", and such. Next to the bed, there's a nightstand with a small lamp and another book. On the right of the door, there's an umbrella stand where the sword holster and winter coat are kept. On the floor, there's a circular brown rug where he dropped his sandals. "Come again anytime!" he salutes with a wave.
CHAPTER ELEVEN - CIPHER POL 4
"Here's your target" said Obutsu, throwing the now awaken Alix to the floor of the lobby of The Tower of Redemption, the only building in Redemption Island
"Oooww! That hurts, you meanie!" she complained.
The tower was ten floors high (basement, lobby and eight other floors), each of them with it's own purpose. Around the tower, there were Marine checkpoints covering every entrances and the gardens served as training grounds. The rest of the island was nothing more than a large, tall rock with a small harbour, a large forest and the tower in the middle (a square fort looking skyscraper).
From the shadows of the lobby came a black haired woman. She was wearing a maid's outfit and made herself towards Alix.
"Oooh! So you're on duty, Rossa!" commented Anna.
"Good evening, Mr. Obutsu. Mrs. Anna" said Rossa with a bow.
"Please, don't call mrs." said Anna waving her palms in front of her "It makes me sound old".
"I have to be honest, miss Anna, you're not a teenager anymore." replied Rossa.
"WHY YOU PIECE OF SCRAP METAL!" yelled Anna, while Obutsu was dragging her outside.
"Tell mr. Waldorf that we've followed his orders, so he can get off our backs, okay Rossa?" said Obutsu pushing Anna out the seven feet door.
"Sure mr. Obutsu. Come again anytime. The Tower of Redemption always extends it's hospitality towards you"
"Yeah, thank you! But we have our jobs to do now, so we're off" he replied, shuting the door behind him. From outside, his voice could still be heard "No wonder her model has been sent for configuration. Who in their right mind would like to stay in a place like this?"
"Yes, very nice" said Anna's voice "now take these dust chains off me!"
"Only when we return to the ship..."
"Those two are really wierd!" said the tied-up Alix. Suddenly, Rossa grabbed her by the pigtails and dragged her away.
"Owowowow, that hurrtss!" cried Alix in pain "Stop that, you tin can!"
"It's outside the statitics" said Rossa.
"Waa~~hh?"
"Most criminals that pass this hallway are convicted with bounties that have always surpassed the mark of one hundred million. For such a low bounty as you to be here, it's logical that you've been given such bounty to keep a low profile amongst the general popullation"
"Are you supposed to give out such information?" asked Alix, not believing that the android was revealing such information.
"I wasn't given orders not to, so I'm programmed to believe that it's authorized"
"Now I know what Dusty (Obutsu) meant!"
Rossa stopped and pressed a button on the wall. The large painting of a fat politician in front of her opened and revealed a secret lift. She carried Alix inside and pressed a button that said "Top Floor".
"Where are you taking me?"
"To see the Boss" replied Rossa.
"*cough*cough* Is anyone out there?" asked Alex from the middle of the rubble that half-buried him.
"I have Amelia here" replied Marilyn's voice "We're both okay"
"What about Kit?" he asked.
"She's trying to dig out Francis" replied the voice of Amelia from his right.
From his felt and his right, Marilyn and Amelia lifted the debris that were holding his arms and legs down.
"Thanks, but what about Alix?"
"They took her!" replied Kit, ten feet away from the other three, digging up the debris with her own hands "And we couldn't do a thing"
Alex looked around and gazed at the scenary that bathed him with sorrow. There wasn't a single building standing. Just rubble. Several corpses were lying around, bounty hunters and Marines. There was even a clear sight towards the docks, and the Legacy, their ship, was untouched.
"Why would they want Alix and leave us?" he asked.
"I don't know" replied Amelia "But I heard them say that they were only ordered to capture her"
"Why not us?" asked Marilyn.
"Beats me" answered Alex.
Suddenly, Kit started to shout: "Found him! Found him!" while pulling Francis off a hole in the ground.
Alex quickly got up and helped her drag up their Captain.
"He's alive!" announced Alex, checking for pulse on Francis's neck.
"But only his clothes are burnt" noticed Kit, pointing out Francis's half burnt shirt and burnt shorts that were once pants. Then she pointed out that Francis's had red marks from his eyes to his cheeks.
"The bastard went Soulless" cheered Alex "He's got no exterior wounds, but his insides are a little damaged from the fire, nothing that he hans't been through before".
"Then let's get onboard and regroup" ordered Amelia
"Right" acknowledge Alex, picking up Francis by the shoulders "We've gotta take care of our wounds and prepare to find Alix"
"And how do you suppose we do that?" asked Marilyn, carrying Francis by the legs.
"We'll think of that later" said Amelia, hoping onboard the ship "I'm gonna get the Captain some clothes, you prepare the first-aid kit"
"Okay" replied Kit, heading for the main cabin.
One hour later, Francis woke up at the smell of over-cooked eggs, rice, and what smelled like burn fish. Along with Marilyn and Kit arguing.
"You've let the fish burn waaay to much" said Marilyn
"Soorry" apologized Kit with sarcasm "It's not my job to cook in this crew!"
"Heeh!" Are you going somewhere with that?" joked Francis, sitting up "Am I not serving my purposes as a cook for this crew"
"N-n-no, it's not that!" stammered Kit trying to correct herself "I meant that I'm not used to cook"
Francis laughed at her confusion and placed his hand on her forehead "Just joking. I think it's great that I'm not the only one that can cook"
"Although we can't eat the fish she burnt" added Marilyn.
"Yeah...*snif*" replied Kit with a sad face, showing Francis a severely burnt mackerel on a stick.
Without second thoughts, Francis took a huge bite off the fishes belly.
"Dude, that's bad for you're health!" complained Alex.
"And stomach" added Marilyn.
"But he's got a point..." said Amelia.
"He does?" replied Alex and Marilyn in shock.
"Yep" answered Francis "This fish took serious hard work to be caught, and it was only in the end that it went bad. If I were to toss it away, all the hard work that was done before would be waisted, no?"
(...)
"He's got a point there..." mumbled Alex.
"Itadakimasu!" saluted both Amelia and Kit, both eating burned fish with rice.
"We lost" admitted Marilyn, picking a fish to eat.
(a few minutes after)
"Okay, we're all set in supplies" said Francis placing a bag of wheat that he had found in a building (amongst other things) into the closet "Now we need to find a way to trace Alix"
"I can help in that situation" said Amelia from the harbour of the island, showing an object on her hand.
"Is that...?" started Francis, trying to focus on the object.
"An eternal compass that the pyromaniac that is Marine Captain Anna Cole must have left behind after it fell off her pocket " answered Amelia "And it points to an island called Island Of Redemption... but..."
"I hate these buts..." said Francis
"Kit as checked on a map in the Mayor's office. The island is located in the Calm Belt, we have no way to reach it but by Marine vessel."
"Then we steal one" said Francis, slamming his fist on the railing.
"Highly unlikely to happen" stated Alex, who was carrying some medical supplies from town.
"I second that!" supported Marilyn.
"Okay, spill it you two" ordered Francis.
"We've shown time and time again that plain soldiers are easy pickings for us, right?" asked Alex.
"Right!" confirmed Francis.
"So the higher commands are very likely to have put up a warning for all ships to either reinforce themselves or retreat from this area" continued Marilyn.
"Damn it!" cursed Francis, slamming his fist again.
"Then give me an hour" said Kit, approaching the boat from the plaza "I'll go make us some wings."
(Meanwhile, at the Tower of Redemption)
"Please enter here" said Rossa, throwing Alix off the elevator, into a large room, decorated like the meeting hall of great politicians. On the middle of the hall, there was a wide meeting table with several seats on the side and a large arm chair at the end. Every other chair were very tall office chairs.
"Glad to finally be of your acquaintance!" said a voice from the arm chair that was facing the opposite side of Alix.
"If you're going for the bad guy routine, you should at least face the one you took captive..." commented Alix, standing up while still tied with sea stone shackles.
"OH, THIS YOUTH OF TODAY AS NO MANNERS AT ALL" yelled the figure, turning his chair around. There, Waldorf was sitting, tapping his fingers on the arms while gazing at Alix with an execution look.
"... And you are?" asked Alix, not having a clue about the situation.
"The name's Waldorf, Sir Waldorf for the likes of you. I'm the head and brains of the CP 4 organization and leader of the same."
Suddenly, a voice that came from one of the other chairs (that were also turned around so they wouldn't face Alix) spoke: "Sorry to bug you, sir, but I must interject! I'm afraid that I'm the brains of CP 4" From the chair he was sitting on, came Weber.
"I know you!" shouted Alix, startling Weber "You've stayed at Loguetown's University some time ago now. They said you were a Chemistry researcher, altough you were still young!"
"Wow, to meet a fellow scholar" commented Weber, removing his bowler hat and starting to spin it around on it's hands neuroticly "But that doesn't give me the right to skip good manners: The name's Duun "Sorcerer" Weber. Glad to meet another scholar, even if it's in such conditions.
Alix couldn't manage to gather a decent response at the weirdness that surrounded her, so the next thing that happenned could have only made it worse.
"I say you and I get to know each other better..." said a voice behind Alix.
Not liking the tone of voice, Alix quickly threw a kick towards where the voice had came from, only to hit Rossa and hurt her toe, since she was made of metal. "Ooohhh, she's a fisty one" said the voice, once again.
This time, when Alix threw a second kick (with her other leg), the figure did a back flip and landed on the table, right next to Weber, startling him once more. It was then that Alix noticed that the so called "pervert" was wearing a red blindfold over his eyes.
"Are you really blind?" asked Alix, nonchalantly.
At this comment, Weber started to laugh with his awkward laugh, sending chills down Alix's spine.
"Garfgarfgarfgarf! That's the fourth person TODAY, Totashi, my good friend!" stated Weber.
"Shut up!" yelled the person called Totashi, punching the table, but causing little effect on Weber, who was still laughing.
"Now now, Totashi, that's not the way we treat our guests" said yet another voice, coming from another chair at the other side of the table. "Hello!" greeted a young woman with dark red hair, spooking the hell out of Alix "My name's Yumi, Yumi Tanaka. Hope we get along!" The weirdest part came next.
"You want a lolipop?" asked Yumi.
"Whaaaahh...?" dazed Alix, not believing that a bunch of weird people like these could be the infamous government unit known as CP 4.
"Looks like she doesn't want it..." said Yumi " Do you want it, Nana-chan?" she asked towards the turned chair at her right.
"No thanks, I just ate a while ago" answered the figure behind the chair. At the same time that she turned her chair around, the window sheets opened.
Dozens of scars covered what Alix thought that was the pretty face of a young woman. She looked like only a year older than her. The sudden brightness of the room that reflected the scars of the one known as Nanami had even scared Weber.
"Please restrain yourself from doing that Rossa!" complained Weber, whiping the sweat of his face with a scarf, talking towards the android that had just opened the windows to let the sunlight in.
"What?" asked Nanami "I have no problem in showing my scars to other people, so why does everyone here make such a fuss about it?" she asked, clueless at the feeling she was letting out towards the entire room.
"And people call you weird, hein, Totashi old-chap?" said Weber.
"People call him wierd because he refuses to stop wearing that red colored blindfold. I told him that a white one would be less threatning" said Yumi.
"I concur!" said Rossa, taking her place right at Waldorf's left.
"Hey!" complained Totashi " I might not be able to see, but I can hear all of you perfectly!"
"Then you wouldn't mind me doing this..." said Nanami, jumping onto the table and spinning Totashi around like they were playing blind man's bluff. When she was done, Totashi fell off the table.
"Enough!" yelled Waldorf, slamming his fists onto the table, time is the essence here!"
"Can I at least know what are the charges to cause you guys to drag me here?" asked Alix "Besides the being a pirate thingy..." she added.
"Yes..." started Waldorf, now that all other members of the CP 4 had quieted down and sat in their seats "I'm giving you the chance of revealing me the whereabouts of a certain person."
"Who?"
"Professor Galagan, History teacher at the University of Loguetown and former Head Researcher of the Forgotten History Society" announced Waldorf, rising from his chair and heading towards Alix in his pinguin manner.
"You lost me at the seconf part, I only know professor Galagan when he taught me history, not for any hidden group!" said Alix "And do you know that you walk like a pinguin?"
At this last remark, all members (except Rossa) started laughing and giggling.
"ENOUGH!" yelled Waldorf, silencing the room and causing all members to sit straight on their chairs. "Do you have any leads on where he is?"
"No..." answered Alix.
"... I don't believe you..." said Waldorf "So I'm ordering that you are to be questioned" he blankly replied, sitting back on his arm chair, grabbing a piece of paper and starting to write.
"WHAT?" yelled Alix, still left on the sitting position she was left on when entering the room.
(Meanwhile, at Whiskey Peak)
"It's done!" stated Kit, pulling her working goggles up to her hair and putting down her work hammer.
"I gotta say Miss Inventor..." started Marilyn "When you first told me about this device, I had doubts, but now... I think we can do it" she concluded, giving Kit a high five.
"It's a dinghy, equiped with three hang glider, a pedal powered engine and a tail rudder" said Francis "How is this thing supposed to even take off?".
His answer came in the shape of Kit pointing towards the highest cliff of the island "And guess who's doing the pushing?"
"I should have kept my mouth shut!" commented Francis, facepalming himself.
"Yes, you should have" said Alex.
Under Kit's orders, Francis and Alex (ordered by Marilyn for standing around laughing) started pulling and pushing the flying machine using a made-up cartwheel, while the girls were allowed to ride on the dinghy. The Legacy, their ship, was being kept inside a hidden port thay had found, kept safe from bad weather and bystanders.
From where she was seated, Amelia turned around and faced the sun that was about to go down. "Don't worry, were coming!" she whispered.
"Did you say something?" asked Marilyn.
"Oh, nothing. Just my alone talk, that's all..." she replied quickly.
"HUSH!" ordered Kit, hitting Francis slightly on the head with her sword holster, making him push the cart faster.
My thanks go to: PhoenixofProcella; Dandy Wonderous; TimesUnfettredImaginationBomb and Allycat18. I love you guys, take care.
Other thanks go to the people who suggested the antagonists, I thank them!
Please vote on my poll, It's just four mouse clicks away, please?
NEXT CHAPTER: ALL HANDS ON DECK!
I swear to everyone that all battles will be awesome. I've even given the names, soo, what do you think?