Drode:(Is currently lowering SH in a birdcage into a pit of lava) You're behind schedule again.
SH: (snorts) Not my fault, summer vacation meant more time for my siblings remember?
Drode: Excuses, excuses! Anything to say before you die a fiery demise like the authors I worked with beforehand?
SH:(sighs, looking downcast) I hoped it wouldn't come to this, but the arc will be concluded in two more chapters.
Shadowy Figure:(cuts the chain and frees SH from the cage, hovering with his obsidan wings to carry him to safety) Yep, and soon the fun will begin. (Blasts Drode into orbit)
SH: (grins, going offstage) See ya later, hopefully within a few weeks if I'm lucky.
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece, but I'm thrilled that Oda has brought in a dinosaur and so many new, unique pirates. The storyline is going to be confusing for a while since none of the DFs have been revealed yet.
Ch 25
"And lo and behold, once the influence was forced back into a single point in the Red Line, Atos cried out for the Ark to rise. And that, was when everything the Navy planned out went to shtland once it unloaded it's vast arsenal on the fleets."
Valor. The very spirit that only the most elite pirates could control on a whim. Gus Pantero was one of those pirates, but he's not important enough to discuss in detail. By sending a wavelength of a person's willpower through the eyes, it could render an entire army helpless and unable to move for several minutes. Some say it could put a human to sleep, others claim to be choking since the valor forced the lungs to freeze up.
Being without a soul or personality, the power to conjure up valor at given times should the need arose was the gift of one person. Requiem, Rank 3 of the Dark Union Quintet. It had a drawback though, it could only be used once a day since it wears out the eyes.
Which was why the hundreds of robotic spheres were laying on the floor, twitching and buzzing since Timekeeper was temporarily out of commission from the intense burst that shot out of her sockets.
"...warned you..." She muttered, dusting herself off. She preferred to use her powers on the captain, since he had such lame mental defenses and never seemed to scold her afterwards.
Still, this person that dared to barge in during her ceremony. He obviously wasn't normal since he was shaking it off bit by bit. Not hesitating in the least, she shot a iron arrow straight into the skull before he could fully recover, driving it all the way through. He didn't even flinch or bend his neck on impact, his eyes filled with disappointment.
"Iiiiiiis thaaaaat aaaaall?" He said plainly, as if it didn't directly sever a ton of brain tissue and nerves and possibly cause severe bleeding internally. Which apparently didn't happen since he yanked out the arrow with one hand, showing a black mass of wiring where his brain would be. "Braaaaiiiiins aaaareeee foooor theeee weeeeaaak. Sooooo Iiiiii reeeeplaaaaceeed iiiiit."
He was answered with 4 more arrows to the chest and neck, which he slapped aside rather quickly with a analysis of speed and motion. "Theeee aaaattaaacks aaareee iiiinteeeereeesting, buuuut theee dooooctooor waaas cleeeaar ooon yooouuur preeeediiiictaaabliiiityyy."
He was met with silence, as she already took off with a trail of departed souls behind her. He gave a brief sigh, unglasping his hands to reveal two baseball-sized silver spheres. "Stoooreee Stoooreee Siiilveeerblaaadeees." He muttered, allowing the two to hover upwards and rocket down the hallway. Attracted by her magnetic aura, the two spheres gave chase as hidden circle panels opened up around the sides.
Requiem was a bit more athletic than Gladyr, but that was because she needed muscle to carry around 20 pounds of iron fillings. Her brain, devoid of impure thoughts, recalled the directions of how Gregory escaped the building and used that information to move about the halls.
Flit! Flit! Flit! Razor-tipped plastic chakrams by the dozens embedded themselves in the floor behind her. Timekeeper was taking no chances with her leaving the premise, so the best way to him was to chop up her legs until she could no longer resist.
With that in mind as she ran, she attempted to 'tug' the small metal weapons with no results since 99 of it was a Plexiglas plastic with metal edges around it. If she was in her right mind, she would have screamed profanities about how stupid it was not to arm herself with more iron powder.
Turning the next corner, she came face-to-face with a firing squad of normal Genova Corp soldiers. Without stopping, she ran straight into the hailstorm of bullets (receiving two in the arm and one on her left thigh). With her legs bent down, she leapt and flipped over their heads with one hand out. "...Fixation..." She murmured, landing feet-first and continued her sprint.
"Fire, fire!" The squad leader yelled out, forcing his men to turn around and take aim. Problem was, all the gunpowder and bullets were 'stuck tight' in the barrels, resulting in a heavy explosion that nearly knocked the spheres off course.
"Whyyyy aaaareee yyyyooouu ruuuunniing?" Timekeeper said, coming suddenly from behind, knocking aside the fallen soldiers like they were dirt beneath his shoes. The two spheres were on his shoulders, ready to attack if commanded.
"...Distance..." She replied, as a large arrowhead formed in-between her palms and started to rotate rapidly. "...Cluster Barrage..." Shifting around to run backwards on her pumps, she unleashed a thick spread of iron arrows upon her opponent.
They were instantly dismantled by the dozens of silver balls that appeared out of Timekeeper's stomach, which she withdrew them into a stream to recapture the fillings in her hand. "...Odd..." She said plainly, not fully understanding how this man was producing all those items from.
"Stoooreee Stoooreee fruuuiiit...theee ultiiimaaatee toooool for cooolleeectiing aaand reeemaaakiiing iiiteeems oof myyy ooown deeesiiign. Siiimplyyy puuut, theee spheeereees areee liiimiiitleess." He gave his answer after sensing the confusion in her tone.
Both of them stopped running, knowing that it was futile to gain any form of advantage in a long-range battle. Requiem selected two marble-sized amounts of fillings, shifting one of them into a long bow. The second plowed into the metal wall, cutting and chopping pieces of it up into tiny, tiny chunks of iron. "...Recycle Arrows..." She said calmly, drawing back on the string and closing one eye to maximize her sight.
"Stoooree Stoooree Tiiin Baaall." A array of tin-colored spheres floated out of his palms, each had small spikes with a small electric generator inside. "Iiiigniiitooon!" The group of spheres sparked a few times, interlocking thick streams of electricity between them using the 'spikes' as a way to conduct a constant recharging.
In the center of the spheres, a pair of hidden panels opened up to reveal a larger spike pointing out, with electric sparks surging around it. Timekeeper grinned in amusement, making a crushing motion with his gloved fist. Zzzzzzzzzzzzt! Zzzzzzzzzzzt! Zzzzzzzzzzt! Zzzzzzzzzzzt! Zzzzzzzzzzzzt! A heavy blast of lightning struck Requiem dead-on, fizzing her hair and making her eyes go backwards from the surge.
Flit! Timekeeper realized an arrow had plunged into his chest, a minor annoyance at best due to the thick body armor the Doctor provided for him. With a brief yank on it, he watched the navigator fall back on her rump, smoking from the intense blast that would have caused her skin cells to flake off like crazy. Patches of her uniform were burnt off, her legs trembled and her teeth were chattering as if she was in a snowstorm without a coat.
"Stooooreee Stoooreee Suuuctiiooon." He whispered, retracting the tin balls back into his body one at a time. It was like watching rocks being thrown in a lake, his body rippling like a flow of water upon absorbing each one. It didn't matter if he needed them, the girl looked too out of it to continue the fight, as short as it might have been.
There was a time, he believed, that he was once a wimp, a cripple that had to be fed his own meals because he was born with stumps for arms. His parents, born and raised on a Clockwork Island (one of many in the Grand Line) disliked handling a kid who had such high intellect but no hands to build machines meant for peaceful purposes.
Instead, he used his feet to hold tools awhile he sat down on stools in his father's workshop. Guns, cannons, steam-powered giant crossbows, he worked on only weapons which shamed the family name. Disgusted by the immaturity and impractial use of his talents, he was thrown from the very top of the tower into the beach below. No one, not even his parents wanted him around since he would only end up bringing the World Government to their door up in arms.
4 ribs broken, a shattered nose, his spine twisted, and unable to move his legs, that was the result of the landing. If high tide had come in by a few hours early, he would been swept to sea and drowned like a Hammer. Instead, a small tugboat with a well-dressed man in a labcoat spotted his crawling form with a telescope and dropped anchor.
"Do you want revenge?" Was what he asked him, as he pulled out a large bag of advanced medical equipment from the cargo bay. Ever so slowly, Timekeeper shook his head yes up and down, and so the surgery began on his body.
As he watched outside the window when his arms were attacked to plastic prostetic limbs, he could see the Doctor bring out a strange shell-like flute and play a calm, shallow melody. A few seconds later, the Queen Echinoquill emerged from the water, shaking the boat a bit with heavy waves and nearly made the surgeon drop his scalpel into his open ribcage.
Naturally, being a peaceful town, there was little resistance besides the traps stationed around the tower part. Those were quickly dismantled by the hundreds of ravaging, hungry BioxSponges that chewed through the stone and steel like earthworms through clay. And after it was eaten, the 'dung' they produced turned into coral, pure and untainted ocean bedrock.
Circling the tower with streams of coral to prevent the large landmass from falling into the sea, the BioxSponges were moving quickly to turn the island into a large land reef. Humans who approached to study them were either eaten alive or assiliated with Starplanters to grow more of their number. Of course, some of his inventions were used to hold them back but the ground they stood on had turned against the brave homo sapiens.
Within a month, the entire island and everyone on it was gone, and the Queen Echinoquill was satisfied for the time being. There was no trace at all of ever being a city, or any evidence that Timekeeper once lived there. And even he was different, refitted with the latest in technology to control artifical limbs and a new spine thanks to 'donors'. Thanks to the Doctor, he could walk again and he owed him his life for that.
But enough about his past life, the girl needed to be dealt with. He assumed that once he punched her hard enough with his reinforced fist designed to punch holes through boulders, Dreamweaver would take over from there. And then the Doctor would have another Navy personnel with superior DF powers to accomplish his dream of global genocide.
That is...unless she's already out. She'd been laying on the ground without any movement at all for five minutes now, a perfect statue at best. If he punched her, she might end up in a coma, and the Doctor would get mad if a perfect specimen of a Living Log Pose was out of his hands. After all, they could raid more islands once the coordinates are locked, and even navigate a new route past the Red Line.
Walking over, he bent down on his knees to check her pulse with his sensitive neuro-triggered fingers. His eyebrows rose in shock, feeling absolutely no warmth or heartbeat. 'Theee Doooctooor wooon't liiikee thiiis.' He thought, standing back up with a disappointed frown on his face.
It was when he made his way to the Den Den Mushi on the sidewall that his left shoulder began to ache. Ache and moan to be more precise, like a swarm of rats squirming and thrashing about in his sleeve. He quickly shut off his nerve-interface by twisting the red knob on his hand, quickly isolating him from any pain.
Also, he could tell that something was wrong with the hallway since bits and pieces of the pipes and steel girders were missing. The woman? He knew from the research that he dragged out of that lowlife Dragonfish that she could only manipulate the 'small' pieces, smaller than a fingernail at best. That's how she managed to jam the guns so easily. Of course, he outfitted himself with non-magnetic parts should he be attacked, but this was a undefined attack.
No, she was dead. He was sure of it since there was no movement on her part. The 'dead arm' was getting ravaged even further now, as razor-sharp cuts formed along the wiring and gears, with small metal spikes popping out along the folds. And it was spreading, probably spiked a blood vessel and went inside to multiply.
Was this how he planned to die? Killed from a unknown curse that some sick medium siced on him just because he hit her too hard? No. He had to find the source of the problem, and erasing the body was the only thing that could stop the flow. "Stoooreee Stoooreee: Gooold Baaall Scooorcheer." He droned, producing a massive amount of golden-colored spheres which hovered around him.
Each of the baseball-sized objects opened up hidden compartments to reveal a small nozzle dripping with gasoline. Despite the fact each one carried a quart of flammable fuel, it would be more than enough to char-boil the woman into nothing but white ashes.
"100 peeerceeent coontaaiinmeent iis oouur goooaal." He muttered, knowing that if anyone escaped, the WG would respond with warships. Thick streams of flame shot out in droves, consuming the area and destroying the fake walls around her.
That was when a dozen foot-long arrows impaled his back, nearly damaging his vital organs but managed to pierce through the body armor and flesh. Requiem looked a bit worse for wear, shaking off any embers on her clothing and smudging off body grease from her sweaty palms. But she did have a new Longbow in her hand, one armed with even more deadly arrows.
"Stoooop." He said calmly, shutting off the spheres so they would return to his body for maintenance and refilling. Turning around, he could see her dead, chilling eyes glare deep within the bowels of his soul and returned it with indifference. She'd been playing possum, but that was all that saved her. "Yooouuu aareee aaa peeest..."
"...Die..." Was her answer, her Gabriel Bow shining brightly once she pulled on the strands. "...Rapid Barrage..."
A hailstorm of arrows cut into him, either piercing his flesh or bouncing off his armor, prosetitic arms and legs. He guarded his head raising his arm in front of his face to protect himself, biting hard on his lip to keep his focus off the pain. He could see the indifference on her face, but could sense the sheer hatred radiating out of her each time she drew back and fired a dozen or so arrows with each blast.
His spheres appeared, mostly gold and silver type, but they were quickly cut down or impaled through the eyeball, splattering red blood all over the floor upon crashing.
"...organic. Unforgivable..." She muttered to herself, noticing that some of the orbs had living tissue inside of them that produced a mind of it's own. She shot his kneecaps a few times, but the metal plating seemed to handle the hits well.
Her ammunition returned to her the second it made a dent in his armor, dispursing into particles of iron that floated around her like a swarm of wasps. As long as the gloves held out, she could be able to use 100 accuracy on each arrow she released.
There was also the internal damage that she dealt, her 'demonic exorcism' technique that she used on Marcus. She planned to do it slowly this time, to unhinge all the joints and slowly make him bleed internally with his bone structure broken up. Then, she'll have the spikes shoot out and make him completely paralyzed. Mission accomplished.
Or so she thought, as he brought out a lead container with his other pin-prickled arm. Her pupils shrinked in size and she has the sudden urge to puke her own blood on the floor, her bow wavering in her palm before dispersing and flowing back into her sacks.
"Huuurts, doooeesn't iiit?" He snickered, opening the lead box all the way to reveal a glowing Eternal Pose. Requiem seemed to make a screeching wail, clawing at the nearest wall in a state of torment. To her, it was like being cooked alive in a oven with knives sticking into her body despite the fact her ability prevented her from feeling pain of any sort. "Yyyoouur cooomraaadee aalsoo toold mee aboouut yooouur weeaakneess too ootheer coompaassees."
Requiem wasn't listening, she was too busy pounding her skull into the floor now. Two compasses can't maintain a clear frequency next to each other, just as two magnets on the same pole push each other away. Her ears were bleeding now, as was her nose. Even her vision was wobbly, as if she needed glasses or being spun around a hundred times and stopped immediately.
Death, that was the feeling she was feeling. Her other half, the part that was compressed by her new mindset, was struggling to break free. But if that were to happen, she would no longer be able to control metal. She forced her weaker half to shut up so she could focus, but it was like a jackhammer to the forehead. If she was a computer, the opposing magnetic waves were erasing her systems temporarily.
Timekeeper walked over, kicking her hard in the back to send her away from the blood-stained wall. Numerous colored orbs began to appear around him, ready to discharge lighting bolts, flamethrowers, bullets and razor shuriken upon her. Powerful or not, he'll have the Doctor patch her up later. Now was the perfect time to take her down.
That is, until part of the ceiling fell in with a thunderous roar to distract him from behind. And then came the heavy boot to the face; "Lightspeed Kick!!"
He was sent flying down the hall as Prelude landed safely, panting heavily from the running. "God! What is with all these freaks getting in my way?" She muttered angrily, knowing that she had to take out a few platoons of Genova Soldiers and ended up facing a barrage of rockets. A horrifying howl could be heard upstairs, coming closer and closer to the hole she fell through. "Damn it!"
Timekeeper grunted, his face now covered with a footprint mark as he struggled to get back up. Another woman marine, the only one gifted with abnormal strength in arms and legs, had violently hit him. His nose was broken again, due to the stream of blood leaking out. Opening his mouth, he licked up to satisfy his thirsty throat. "Hooow annoooyiiing." He said to himself, adjusting the leg pulleys to stand up straight.
And then he was flat-down on his chest again, half-dazed as the massive behemoth Ratel Badger Zoan fell down from the cracked ceiling on top of his head. "Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooow..." He moaned.
"ARRRRRRRRWWWWWOOOOO!" Cresendo howled, sending chills up Prelude's and Requiem's spines, the latter barely felt it due to the magnetic forces slowly vanishing due to the distance between her and Timekeeper. Multiple airblades struck her in the back, and Jester Geppoued down and created a air road to run at her on one leg and kicking with the other.
"Rankyaku Road Trip!" He yelled, jumping in between running, and round-house kicking to drive the airblades hard. She responded with brief grabs and snatches which were avoided with Soru combined with the creation of air roads.
Once her heavy bulk was removed upon attacking the ever crazy Surgeon General, Timekeeper tried to stand up again. No good, his legs were shot and the artificial limbs were broken from the weight pressed down on him. "Jeeesteer...whaat iis gooiing oon?" He said firmly, gathering the orbs around him for protection.
Jester laughed wickedly, staring at both him and his monstrous opponent. "Isn't it obvious, you pathetic worm? I've got to take this beast down for the boss and get a massive promotion. You lay there and get eaten like the trash that you are, for you don't deserve being a Homo Superior being someone who relies on machines for walking and touching."
"Weee aall wooork fooor Doooctooor. Teeaamwoork iiis hoow wee shoouuld go aaboouut thiis." He said, allowing the silver spheres to fire off shuriken into Cresendo's furry legs. She yelped with a sharp cry, ticked off that someone else was trying to get her mad. "Beesiidees, Iii aam taakiing care ooof thee Naaviigaatooor."
"What navigator? It's just us two and the monster! So unless you want to eat your own words, take that creature out or I will chop off your head!" Jester said, noting that Prelude and Requiem were gone, as he formed a aerial cartwheel to slice his long scythes into her arm. She swiped at him a few times, bellowing with blood-stained fangs to rip him and his companion asunder.
Meanwhile...
THUNK! THUNK! Three, no, four bowling balls collided with Alto's hard head, knocking him over in a daze of confusion. In the Vault Room, he could clearly see a massive opening leading out into the cave (which was done by Hoppi) behind the Doctor.
Chunks and pieces of the rusty anchors littered the battlegrounds, as well as metal bats, shovels, daggers, cannons, bazooka shells, etc. So far, he hadn't managed to get in a single hit on that lab coated jerk. It was if he could teleport, vanishing seconds before being cut and then reappearing elsewhere to throw a kitchen table on him.
'What kind of power does he have? If only I reinforced the strings with seastone, I could neutralize him, but then I wouldn't have as much flexibility.' Alto cursed in thought, swiping the table cleanly in half before realizing that there were 4 lit bombs behind it.
"Heh, naive fool. If you had the power of the Devil inside, you would easily anticipate my attacks and counter it. Surrender and become my servant." The Doctor said, once the explosion blew up in Alto's face. Backflipping in mid-air with ragged Navy Clothing, Alto discarded it to reveal his bare, yet somewhat muscular body and landed safely on both feet.
"Devil Fruits...are a abomination to the Navy and what we stand for." He gasped, spewing out soot and gagging from the smoke. He slashed apart a variety of cabinets that suddenly shot out from the ground at obtuse angles, swirling the strings to shred them to splinters. "And you are no better, a selfish cur who uses human beings for research and experimentation. So get over here so I can beat you up!"
"I think not. A Doctor is someone who avoids physical confrontation and I like to stay alive for the time being. Not that it matters to you, since you have a track record of keeping pirate captains alive. What a wuss you are." He said, moving out of the way of a Double Hand Lance, then fired off a spread of heavy bowling balls which collided with Alto's body awhile he was reeling the strings and untangling them.
'I don't know if it's even possible to win, he seems to have a unlimited amount of ammo to launch at me. And Bolero seems to be in serious trouble.' Alto thought, rubbing the sore flesh and cursing the fact that one of his ribs was damaged. He could plainly hear the cries of help behind the non-soundproof vault door, Bolero was definetly settling the place ablaze and Gregory was cursing him out for it.
Kicking up his shoes in the air, he moved in to deliver a row of cross-slashes to the torso and legs with a burst of speed. 'I don't know if I can risk going any faster without veggies or water, I'll have to take it easy for now.' He thought, jumping over a barrel filled with gunpowder and made his way up a ladder.
The Doctor laughed, appearing on the top floor with several dozen barrels ready to be discharged below. He kicked one after the other, dropping them down upon Alto as the Navy Captain narrowly ran to avoid them. The slightest spark from his strings would set off a nuke-like chain reaction once the main explosion hit the barrels at the bottom, possibly ending up in him being disfigured and burned alive.
That was not something Alto wanted to experience, moving swiftly from ladder to ladder and dodging the barrels. To him, the Doctor's attacks were going in slow-motion despite it being normal time. 'Adrenaline Limit' was the best word to describe it, the sense of your life hanging by a thread awhile everything becomes a blur. If he came to a stop, his stamina would be weakened by the flux of motion, meaning he had to keep going.
Some of the barrels actually came closer to each other, forcing him to leap over them and put wear and tear on his leg joints. White cloth rags on the floor protruded thick steel spikes resulting in him slicing them apart. One of them succeeded in slamming a metal baseball bat on his right leg, making him wince as he kicked it out of the way and jumped over another barrel to climb up a ladder.
Once he arrived to face the Doctor, he realized the fact that for some reason, there was three very big Siberan Tigers on chained leashes in his hand. Tigers that looked ill-fed and looked like they would maul the first chump that they ran into. "Alakazam..." The Doctor chuckled, releasing the trio of man-eating cats upon him.
"I hate tigers!" Alto screamed, tears flowing out of his eyes as he ran away with the dangerous felines in hot pursuit. Their roars and screeches only hastened his exit speed making his way down the ladder. Unlike bugs, he had promised his commander never to take the life of a animal with his strings since they had souls and the ability to adapt.
The big cats narrowly missed clawing his fingers, leaping over the edge of the railing and fell five stories to the ground with bulging eyes. Two of them even tried to fly by flapping their legs, but gravity claimed them and dragged them down to the surface. Alto didn't even want to look to see if they landed safely, it could be gruesome for someone who hated to kill others. Climbing back up with sweat on his forehead, he glared at the Doctor with twitchy fingers.
"Hmmm...you're more like a coward than a hero. I may have to reconsider making you one of us if that's the best you can do." The Doctor laughed, not noticing that Alto lifted his right arm all the way up. And then slammed it down in a karate chop-motion.
"5 Finger Fissure..." He said in a low, hissy voice as the floor the Doctor stood on collapsed, forcing him to 'vanish' into the towel-sized piece of cloth below him and 'reappear' back on the ground floor. Numerous cuts sliced deeply into the Doctor's flank and legs, ripping his specialized body armor apart with targeting the vital straps connecting them. The Doctor seemed almost frozen, disbelieving that someone actually hurt him after years of training himself to avoid attacks.
THUD!! Without giving thought to his own safety, he jumped over the ledge with his eyes closed. 5 seconds later, his rear was sore and his legs felt like a steamroller ran over them. "No more games, Doctor. I see now the power you were gifted with, and I will put a stop to it the only way I know how: By destroying this entire area!" He grunted, stumbling to his feet and swaying, rubbing the sore spots with his hands for massaging.
"Really now?" The Doctor said, snapping out of his stupor. True, he was bleeding now and he lacked the armor needed to deflect his strings, but he had his Devil Fruit to balance things out. That, and a thousand men ready to deploy in the complex.
"Really." Angling his right arm in front and his left arm in the back to make a S-like shape, he drew his two legs together which puzzled the Doctor a bit. "Double Hand..." he began to spun in place, his strings becoming visible at the same time turning a light grey. They weaved around his body, avoiding contact with skin and clothing, forming into a tight cone-like shape. "Tornado!!"
It was instantaneous, a flash of razor steel that flew out in all directions, cutting the very air itself to produce heavy shockwaves of wind. In the center, Alto spun in place on one foot to 'curve' his wires outwards like tarps, flapping them to expel excess heat and carve up the pavement. The white patches of cloth were torn asunder, burned to a crisp from the waves of steaming hot wires running through them.
Even the Doctor struggled to avoid the advancing threads, moving from one place to another as soon as he sensed them approaching. "That's more like it, the rumors that you had gained the power of Double Hand are true." He smirked, opening his palms to fire off a dozen poison darts. They lasted about three seconds before being cut into 5 halves.
Through the haze of threads, he could clearly see that Alto's glasses had shifted into a blood red color, filled with hatred and disgust. "Come at me, you pathetic magician of a doctor." Alto said sternly, ready to carve the Doctor to pieces as he hopped foward awhile spinning in place. Even if dead, he would still get the bounty with 20 taken off the total.
A long thin, white sheet appeared in front of the two hands, and the snout of a rather large cannon emerged out of it. The Doctor grinned viciously, knowing it was time to kick the battle up another notch, even if it meant exposing his true powers. "It's time for you to join the New Generation of Superiority!" With that, the cannon boomed loudly, firing off a explosive cannonball with enough gunpowder to level a city block.
'This...could be bad.'
"They got Murphy!" One of the marines said outside, wildly firing at the gelatinous green BioxSponge emerging from a comrade's mouth. It was watching a blimp deflate, the muscle and bone inside the flesh evaporated as the creature devoured them from the inside. Finally, the head was consumed as the creature burst out of the empty skin ready to devour anything in it's way and turn it into coral.
The battlefield was getting more hectic than ever, marines running everywhere to take out anyone with a Starplanter grasping on the chest. Even the chain of command was disrupted since the infected were closing in. A bazooka blew apart one of the Majors bubbling crazily from the mouth, and the land was ravaged with mortar wounds.
"Evacuate all injured on the ship, make sure none of them are infested!" One of the commanders yelled out, as more and more marines came off the ship with stretchers and medical gear. The rest stayed behind to load and support the thirty cannons onboard, cleaning them out and aiming them at the port. So far, the creatures were making no movement to the ocean water.
One of the ships was carrying 'tainted' fruit juice in barrels upon inspection for Starplanter stowaways, which were used to feed the BioxSponges as a distraction. Unfortunately it either A. killed them offright by turning their foamy skin gray and moldy or B. Give them super physical/elemental abilities. The latter kind was becoming a regular pain in the butt when hit by cannonballs and simply rebounding them away with different powers of several Devil Fruits.
"This is going to be a long fight..." One of the sub-commanders sighed, wishing the Lieutenants would arrive already to knock this 'alien' army into non-existence. He studied the huddled figures shivering on the top deck, covered with blankets and calming down the frightened children.
About 35 people emerged from the cave entrance, escorted by Marine recruits covered in coral slime and dung. According to them, a second entrance was made in the building using timed explosives and a rope ladder, no doubt made by Gladyr. Hundreds still remained trapped in the building and shots were fired by Genova Corp guards, meaning the Non DF prisoners no longer had any use as hostages.
Mounted cannons roared once the fuses were lit, blasting apart the hordes of BioxSponges in the village and lighting parts of it on fire. Some of the villagers complained but were silenced with the promise of a ton of berri put into their bank after this was accomplished. After all, property damage had to be hushed to prevent news from coming out to dishonor the name of the Gandros Navy unit.
'Heaven help us...' He thought, just as the ground he stood on turned into a bluish-green coral, and a BioxSponge shot out from beneath to swallow him whole, then fled underground to avoid a barrage of cannonballs.
"Line them up!" Barked one of the senior guards, standing on a high podium in the middle of the grassy courtyard. He pounded his stun baton against his other hand, grinning mischievously.
Row after row of men, women, and children were standing up with shackles bound to their arms and legs. Even if they were capable of running away, it would be like doing the three-leg race with 20 people clinging to the other. Not to mention the explosives inside the cuffs on their hands.
40 armed guards stood on either side of the large crowd, their facial expressions unreadable but the message was clear: They were going to die. Children cried in their mother's arms, men bawled like babies, and rumors of their demise spread. One of them attempted to move out of the square formation, only to be clubbed over and over again with the heavy rifles until he submitted.
In front of them was a wide staircase with 20 steps, leading up to a makeshift wooden gallows with standard drop trapdoors. It was the Doctor's idea to create one, since so many pirates had to face strangling with a defeated look on their face right before their heart stops. Fitting for Homo Sapiens, whose crime was being a weak, pathetic race of humanity who destroyed the planet for selfish reasons.
One-by-one, the crowd formed a line towards a torturous hell that awaited them, the hope gone from their faces. If only the marines hadn't interfered, if only they had the bodies needed to sustain the transformation of a Devil Fruit, if only... But it was too late to think otherwise, rebelling against a superior race was grounds for execution.
As the first 10 lined up, the commander gave the order to lower the ropes down quickly. Rumors of infiltration into the ranks was a grave concern for his people, taking down these lesser beings will require about two hours if he timed it right and sped up the hangings. 4 of the people were children, so stools and chairs were placed under their feet so the Genova Commander could tighten the rope around securely so the neck would snap. The rest, 3 male adults and 3 women, were given the usual knot check and tightening and pleaded for their lives with tears in their eyes.
"Pathetic." He kicked one of the men in the ribs, then punched one of the ladies in the face a few times to shut them up. "Begging doesn't work on someone who's been killing indiscriminately for 20 years. Accept your fate and let the maggots feast on your corpses, right before we throw you into the Boiler to flash-burn you until you are nothing but white ashes."
He smacked the children around as well, laughing as one of them wet themselves out of fear. "Feel the tension of the world being weighed down against you, for you as an inferior race have done NOTHING worthwhile in your lifetime to help others or the environment. Remember that just when you no longer have the ability to breathe."
Walking to the side of the gallows, he moved his hand in a thumbs down position to signal the drop. The air was still with breath-taking silence, the kind of moment separating a person from life or death when laying on the bed helpless before the Reaper himself.
The ropes dropped, but not all the way, for a second later they were severed. The humans tied to the ends dropped down, unharmed but now had sore buttocks or chests from the impact. Still, for the moment they were spared a horrific death
"Interference! Kill them all!" The commander yelled out to his men, taken by surprise by the sudden ambush. He couldn't see what cut the ropes or the person who threw it, but the Doctor was blunt on the order of complete extermination. The hostages screamed bloody murder, grouping to each other and hugging for support once the soldiers turned about to face them with the safety off on their rifles.
"I won't do that if I were you." The commander heard from behind, as a razor-sharp kunai gracefully slid a quarter of an inch from his throat. The voice sounded young but dull, probably male. He didn't even sense the guy's presence when he was snuck up on.
"What do you want? Who are you to threaten a Commander of the Genova Corps?" He growled, knowing that if he tried to grab the guy from behind, his neck would be sliced off in an instant.
"Me? Not much." The man said calmly, as the Commander saw his men one by one look down at the floor and turned to face him. A faint ringing could be heard, growing a bit louder with each strike like a bell. "You should really try not to underestimate the Navy, Commander. We have more connections than you think. As for who I am, just a wandering stalker of a musician."
He felt the kunai move away from his arteries, turning his head sideways to face the imposter who was fully clothed in Elite Genova Corp clothing, with curly blond hair poking out the sides of the sides and in the back. The kunai slid back into his sleeve, leaving him armed with only a tambourine.
"Musician, my ass! Die, intruder!" He said, bringing out a hidden pistol instantaneously to fire upon the curly haired gentleman. The man only smiled, snapping his finger against the tambourine at the same time.
That was when the arm literally exploded, making him howl out in a furious rage as his gun dropped to the floor. Blood, gore and folds of burnt flesh flew about the courtyard, frightening some of the kids as it got on their clothes and faces. Chunks of the severed hand laid about on the floor, the blood already evaporating into the air.
"GAAAAAAH! Devil Fruit user! How dare you betray the Executioners of the SUPA!" He bellowed, cradling the heavily bleeding open wound with his other arm. "My brethren will hunt all you weak mammals down with our superior numbers, island to island until only those gifted by the Devil remain! The Genova Corps will not rest until we-" Before he could continue ranting to draw attention away from his hand curling around his back flank to bring out a pin grenade, a dozen Marines dive-tackled him to the ground and commenced disarmament procedure and applying specialized non-breakable steel handcuffs to the wrists.
Since the Commander was involved in Piracy, Absolute Justice had to be be upheld in place of Moral Justice. He along with the 80 guards that were subdued would be carried off into a transport ship with Pacifista guards acquired with permission from the World Government, since the Kuma bots were the only thing that could handle blood-crazed steroid abusers like himself. Trials would be made, bail denied, and the news would be rewritten so the people of Genova Island would be prostituted for attempted treason against the World Government. All in all, the Navy had their work cut out for them this time.
"Oh please, there's nothing to be steamed about. You should have realized that you will pay for your crimes sooner or later. Guys, take over." The young man smirked, having his ring finger bend over to his instrument as he turned around to jump off the ledge of the podium. His beloved wasn't to be found here for some reason, despite him chasing her halfway across the Grand Line.
For a traveling musician, he didn't have the time to play around with a bunch of lame villians who were barely above the 200 million berri mark. All that mattered was to reunite with his one true love and kill the bastard who claimed her as a fiancee to win her hand in marriage. His cheeks flushed red just thinking about it, just as the Marines in disguise began to free the civilians from the shackles and disarming the small bombs.
Flik! As easily as he come in, he vanished without a trace pinging his specialized tool with his finger. Yet for some of the Marines that went past, they could detect a noxious odor in the air that caused a few to either faint or throw up their lunch.
"Everybody's a critic..." Was the last thing they heard of him before his voice trailed off into thin air.
Silver Balls- Fires special disks made to slice into human flesh like a knife through butter, can also be used for surgery on his patents.
Tin Ball- A automated sphere with a internal power source that constantly recharges. It then fires a powerful burst of volts. Used to restart a person's heart or wake a person from a deep sleep.
Gold Ball-A automated sphere that uses internal fuel for both flight and to expel thick streams of flame. Sometimes used to cauterize deep cuts.
5 Finger Fissure- A chop to slice a person's armor apart. Doesn't kill but stings like heck.
Double Hand Tornado-A 20 foot wide blur of destruction, used to carve holes in wooden pirate ships and is mobile. Unfortunately, it can't stand up to explosions and leaves him vulnerable for a minute or two due to spinning and untangling the strings.
Pacifista-A special squad made of mass-produced Kuma droids.