All Out War!
South Blue: Bellum Town; East side port
After barely managing to escape from marine pursuit for about the last half hour, Bradley made his way onto a large cruise ship that was currently docked at the port. Aboard the cruise ship were his crew mates, watching over all of the civilians that they had captured and planned to use for ransom money. Seeing their Captain in his wounded state, the pirates helped Bradley onto the ship and brought him into the medical room to heal his wounds.
"C-Captain! What happened to you?" The concerned pirates asked their Captain while the doctor of the crew tended to his wounds.
"Never you mind what happened to me! Bring me a den den mushi! I have to speak with Bourne immediately!" Bradley ordered. The pirates complied with the order and quickly brought him a den den mushi. The angered pirate captain picked up the den den mushi and dialed the number, waiting rather impatiently for the person on the other end to pick up.
"What is it? I'm a little busy right now." The person on the other end of the den den mushi finally picked up. Loud noises of explosions and crashing waves could be heard from the other side.
"Bourne! This is Bradley! We're ready to proceed with the next phase of the plan!" Bradley announced.
"Bradley? You're still alive? I figured that Ambrose pirate would have killed you by now. Congratulations on surviving." A furious expression appeared on Bradley's face after hearing Bourne's comment. But nonetheless he swallowed his pride and allowed the pirate to continue speaking. "Perhaps your men have a place in our crew after all."
"Of course we are. The Bradley pirates would like nothing more than to serve the greatest pirate crew ever to set sail from the South Blue." Bradley smiled.
"I'm happy to hear that. Now then, here's your final test, Bradley. If you and your crew wish to join with us, then you must slaughter every person on that island." Bourne ordered.
"E-Every person?" Bradley spoke nervously.
"Did I stutter?" Bourne asked.
"N-No! No you didn't! I understand! We'll kill every person on this island in the name of the Carnage pirates." Bradley said sternly.
"Very good. Call me when you succeed with your mission." Bourne laughed before hanging up the den den mushi, leaving the Bradley pirates to ponder on their next move. Enough though their Captain accepted the task, doing so surely wouldn't be easy.
"Captain. They're messing with us. Clearly we can't kill everyone on this island." One of the pirates said.
"And in the condition you're in, there's noway we can pull this off." Another one of the pirates added.
"We can do this. And we will do this." Bradley stood up from the bed and grabbed his sword. "We still have our trump card. And if the plan succeeds, we'll have two trump cards. Now come along. We have an island to slaughter." The pirate captain left the room and his crew mates reluctantly followed.
South Blue: Bellum Town; West Shopping District
"So you mean to tell me that Ambrose was attacking Bradley and you three stepped in to help the pirate?" The marine officer questioned Corona, Jericho, and Lucy. He wanted to be sure that he completely understood the situation before he reported to his superiors.
"I wasn't trying to help the pirate. Ambrose could have killed the man for all I care." Jericho responded to the question nonchalantly. "I only stepped in to help these two ladies over here." He indicated to Corona and Lucy.
The marine officer glanced over to Corona and Lucy and immediately deduced that they were not from his marine branch. He arched an eyebrow in suspicion of the two marines and questioned them on what branch they were from and why they were meddling around in his jurisdiction without proper clearance from his superiors.
"We're sorry for the trouble we've caused. My name is Corona J. Reynolds." Corona introduced herself while giving off a swift salute to the marine officer.
"And I'm Lucy." Lucy followed suit. "We're formerly marines from the 22nd branch. We're now currently sailing the South Blue with Commodore Bullock."
"Is that right?" The marine officer seemed skeptical of the two marines at first. But he decided to drop it for a later time considering there were wanted criminals on the loose. "Very well then, as you were. Don't cause anymore trouble." He warned the marines before he headed off in the opposite direction, leaving Corona, Jericho, and Lucy to themselves.
"Well that settles that. What do you say we go get some lunch to celebrate a job well done?" Jericho suggested.
"Job well done? We haven't done anything other than allow two dangerous criminals to roam free in the town." Corona sighed.
"Don't worry about that. The marines on this island have it covered." Jericho assured Corona. "Especially the one in charge of this base. I hear he's quite the fighter. Hell, I'd like to get in the ring with him some time."
"It sure was amazing watching you go toe-to-toe against Ambrose like that despite being a boxer." Lucy mentioned. "You must be quite talented."
"Well I have been boxing for twenty years now." Jericho sheepishly bragged while placing one hand on his championship belt. "They don't just call anyone with the Champion for nothing you know."
Corona looked down at the championship belt around the boxer's waist and found herself immersed in how it gleamed. "You said that you were a five time champion, right?" She asked.
"I still am a five time champion." Jericho corrected her. "Well actually soon to be six. That is if I can somehow find a way to get myself on the cruise ship that was scheduled to arrive here."
"Cruise ship?" Lucy inquired.
"Yeah. You see, every year the Grand Line Fighting Tournament hosts these matches to see if anyone can claim my belt. For the past five years I've been taking cruise ships into the Grand Line to main event the matches." Jericho explained.
"But..." Corona trailed off, wanting Jericho to continue with his story.
"But my trainer and bookie forgot to order us tickets onto the cruise ship. So the ship never came to my island to pick me up." Jericho pouted. "So the only other option we had was to chase after the cruise ship and hope they let us on since I'm the Champion after all. I mean I can't lose my belt just because I couldn't get a ride."
"Yeah that would suck." Corona empathized with Jericho. "Tell you what, as a thank you for helping us with Ambrose earlier. How about Lucy and I take you to the cruise ship and give you "special clearance" to hope on aboard?"
"You two would do that for me?" Jericho was stunned by Corona's kindness. Now he was certain that he didn't regret stepping in to protect her from Ambrose earlier.
"It's only fair since you saved us." Lucy nodded.
"But can you wait a little while longer though? Lucy and I have some other business that we need to take care of." Corona said.
"Certainly. The cruise ship isn't meant leave until later on today." Jericho nodded. "So what other business do you have to take care of? Is it some kind of top secret mission that I can help out with?"
"Not really. This is actually kind of personal." Corona replied.
"Understood then. I won't try and pry any longer." Jericho folded his arms and nodded.
"We'd best get moving, Corona. Remember about the mission that Bullock said we would have to participate in later?" Lucy reminded.
"Of course. Let's go." Corona and Lucy turned around and walked towards the direction of the marine base. Having nothing better to do at the moment, Jericho shrugged his shoulders and followed after them.
All three of them walked through the different districts throughout the town and eventually found themselves standing in front of the guarded gates of the marine base. Corona and Lucy were confused to see as to why Harper, Jord, and Meridia were standing around a group of unconscious pirates. Knowing that they wouldn't be able to find out by just standing around, the marines and Jericho walked over to the group to greet them.
"What are you guys doing here? Who are these guys?" Corona indicated to the unconscious group of pirates lying on the ground next to Tobias' feet.
"These pieces of trash were apparently members of the "Sword King" Bradley's crew." Harper replied. "They were causing a ruckus in one of the shopping districts."
"So mister Tobias over here took them down without even breaking a sweat." Jord added.
"He came here to turn them in to the marines but now he's arguing with them about how they need to upgrade their security around the town." Meridia sighed.
"I agree with them. Earlier Corona and I encountered "Sword King" Bradley and "Sword Slaughterer" Ambrose." Lucy said. "We would have been killed had it not been for Jericho here."
"I assume that you guys are all in the same squad then?" Jericho smiled. "Hello there, name's Jericho Chambers."
"Charmed." Harper seemed uninterested in Jericho and turned her back to the group. The only reason she was there was to see if Tobias would chase down Bradley.
"You'll have to excuse little miss sunshine there." Corona told Jericho. "That's Harper, this is Jord, and this is Meridia. These are a few members of our comrades."
"Pleasure to meet you." Jericho nodded his head at the group of marines.
"So what are you guys doing here?" Meridia questioned.
"We're here to help out a friend of ours." Corona replied. "A few months ago when Lucy and I were on a mission, I befriended a little girl on the island. She was captured by the marines of this branch and I want to set her free."
"Why would you want to do that?" Harper turned around and glared at Corona. Her attention had now been captured. "If this "friend" of yours was captured by the marines of this branch, then you certainly shouldn't interfere in their affairs."
"But I have to. Teal was wrongfully arrested. She was only trying to protect the animals on her island from the marines. Those marines were attacking her family." Corona argued.
"I don't care what she was trying to do." Harper harshly said. "Remember what Captain Dexter said. We must not soil the names of the marines from our branch."
"I agree with Harper for once." Meridia cut in. "Even though I don't know all the details to the story, we shouldn't get ourselves in trouble by trying to release a criminal."
"Teal isn't a criminal! She's just a little girl trying to protect her family!" Corona continued to defend Teal. She didn't care what the others thought of Teal. She knew that Teal wasn't in the wrong and she was going to do everything she could to release her from the base.
"Listen to me very carefully." Harper closed the distance between the two and got right into Corona's face. "You will drop this useless matter right here and right now. Your actions will only anger these marines and make a mockery of our base."
"I will not make a mockery of our base. But I must at least make an attempt to save her. Now get out of my way." Corona stepped aside and attempted to walk past Harper. However Harper stepped in front of Corona again, refusing to let her pass.
"I'm not moving. We are this close to the Grand Line and I will not let you cause any trouble for us." Harper placed her hand on the hilt of Joan Arc, showing Corona that she was serious about not allowing her to get anywhere near the base. "If you jeopardize this chance for me, I will cut you down."
"Do they fight like this all the time?" Jericho whispered to Lucy.
"Oh yeah." Lucy nodded.
"What the hell is going on here?" Everyone turned around and looked ahead past the gates into the marine base. Approaching the group was the Captain of the base. He is a tall man with dark tan skin, short black hair, and he sports a small goatee on his chin. He is currently wearing a grey fedora with a black band going around it. The words "Grey Justice" are imprinted on the front of the band. He is also wearing a black suit with a grey tie and black pants.
"Captain Stone!" The marines guarding the gate saluted their captain.
"Who are these people? And why are they crowding in front of the gate?" Stone looked to the people in front of the gate while taking a drag of his cigarette.
"About time you showed up, Stone." Tobias brushed past the marines guarding the gate and approached the marine captain. "I was just telling your lazy subordinates about how they should really beef up their security around here."
"Is that right?" Stone glared at the bounty hunter. He then took a quick drag of his cigarette before blowing the smoke in the man's face. "I don't recall a bounty hunter having the authority to undermine my men."
"I think it's fair to do so considering they're allowing two notorious criminals to roam freely around the island." Tobias folded his arms firmly across his chest.
"My men and I will take care of them like we always do. They don't just let anyone run the top branch in South Blue." Stone brushed past Tobias and headed for the town. "But hey, if you're feeling up to the task. Why don't you hunt down the criminals yourself?"
"Will do." Tobias took Stones' words as a challenge and he headed for the town as well.
"A hunting competition?" Harper grinned as she placed her hand on the hilt of her sword. "Excellent. I shall find both of these criminals and cut them down before anyone else here."
"You think you can handle them yourself?" Jericho looked to Harper. "That Bradley guy isn't much of a challenge right now considering the condition that he's in. But Ambrose however, he's definitely a tough one."
"Don't underestimate me, pretty boy. I could walk circles around both of those pirates with little to no effort at all." Harper boasted proudly as she headed for the town as well. "By the end of today, I will have both pirates captured."
"Should we really be letting her go by herself?" Jord asked.
"We've followed her this far. My feet are tired. Let her go alone if she feels this confident in her abilities." Meridia shrugged her shoulders and sighed.
"Um, excuse me." Corona looked to the marines soldiers standing in front of the gate. "Do any of you know anything about a marine commander bringing in caged animals here a few months ago?"
"Caged animals?" The two marine soldiers exchanged confused glances with each other before looking to Corona. Both of them shook their heads.
"What about a little girl? She appears kinda feral, she has long teal hair." Lucy asked.
"No one that you're describing matches that description." The first marine soldier said.
"I'm sorry, but we're really busy." The second marine soldier added.
"Something's wrong. Teal has got to be here. That marine with the large boomerang was from this branch, correct?" Corona asked.
After hearing Corona's description of Commander Kramer, the two marine soldiers gasped in shock and proceeded to bombard her with questions regarding the commander. Apparently the commander had accepted a mission regarding the jungle island, but he failed to report in or even return to the base in months. The news of the missing commander brought a frown to Corona's face. If Kramer never returned to the island after completing his mission, then the odds of Teal being on the island was now zero.
Having all of the disappointing information that she needed, Corona hung her head and walked away from the base, seeing no need to remain there any longer. With no other reason to be there themselves, Lucy, Jericho, Jord, and Meridia followed after her.
South Blue: Bellum Town; South Shopping District
"Man this is boring." Dagger complained while walking through the streets of the south district alongside Christian and Dimitri. "I would have expected the Carnage pirates to make their move by now." He gritted his teeth and repeatedly clenched his hands into fists.
"We've only been here for about two hours now, Dagger. Give it some time." Christian said.
"We don't have time." Dagger turned around and frowned at his comrades. "You two don't know the damage those pirates can cause. If we just stand around and wait for them to make their move, then this entire town will be leveled."
"We're not going to let that happen. The moment the pirates make their move, we'll make our move." Dimitri spoke optimistically. Before any of them could say anything else, the marines took notice of a large mass of people heading towards the town square. Overhearing them mention pirates, the marines rushed towards the town square to access the situation.
When they reached the town square, they saw Bradley and a few of his crew mates standing in the middle of the square, holding several civilians hostage. Recognizing Bradley immediately, Dagger took a step forward in an attempt to confront to pirate. However Christian grabbed onto his wrist and prevented him from doing so.
"Don't even think about it. One wrong move and you'll most likely get the hostages killed." Christian frowned.
"So what? We're just supposed to stand here and let those pirates do as they please?" Dagger growled.
"I agree with Christian. We should wait and see what the pirates want." Dimitri spoke up. "Or at least until the others arrive. I'm sure the senior officers will know what to do."
"If they don't show up soon, we'll have to be the ones to take care of this situation." Dagger folded his arms and frowned.
"Attention civilians of Bellum Town! I am "Sword King" Bradley! Captain of the Bradley pirates!" Bradley introduced himself to the crowds of people surrounding the town square. "And today is unfortunately the day that every last one of you die! Unless our demands are met by the marines of this island!"
"And what demands would that be?" The civilians cleared a path for Captain Stone as he made his way into the town square, followed by a small unit of marines carrying rifles. "Captain Bradley, correct? The "Sword King"?" The marine captain took a drag of his cigarette, shifting his eyes from left to right, scanning the area.
"Captain Stone. It's a pleasure to meet you like this." Bradley spoke sarcastically as he unsheathed one of his swords and held it inches away from one of the hostages' neck. "I wish we could have met under better circumstances though. But nonetheless, whatever happens now will happen."
"My thoughts exactly." Stone raised his hand and snapped his fingers. Moments later, a large number of marine soldiers appeared from the rooftops surrounding the town square. All of them pointed and aimed their rifles solely on Bradley and his crew mates. "I don't care what you want, Bradley. Whatever it is, you won't be getting it."
"You're just going to dismiss my demands without even hearing them first? What kind of marine are you?" Bradley arched an eyebrow in curiosity, not a single bit threatened by the large number of guns being pointed at him. "Are you telling me that whatever I want isn't worth the lives of these poor, innocent civilians? Who knows, Stone? Perhaps our goals will benefit each other." He turned his blade to the side and slowly rubbed it against the face of the civilian hostage.
"What are you talking about?" Stone sighed.
"I want you and your men to mobilize and capture the pirate, Ambrose." Bradley frowned at the mere mention of his name. "Once you do that, I want you to bring him over to me. If you manage to do that, I will hand over the civilians to you unharmed."
"You captured and held these civilians hostage just to get the marines to capture a pirate for you?" Stone dropped his cigarette on the ground and squashed it flat with his boot. "What's your game, Bradley? I heard you two got into a fight earlier today. But this is a bit much."
"Are you going to comply with my demands or not?" Bradley glared at Stone.
"Very well. We'll capture Ambrose." Stone closed his eyes and sighed. "However, we'll also be capturing you and your crew as well. Men, prepare to fire on the pirates."
"Is that man crazy? He has hostages!" Dimitri gasped.
"Does he plan on killing the pirates along with the hostages?" Christian frowned.
"What's the deal with this guy?" Dagger growled.
"The rumors about you are true, Stone. You're a really cold man. You don't care about the people on this island do you?" Bradley sneered at the marine captain. "If any of your men pull the trigger, you'll be getting dozens of people killed. And I don't just mean these people here."
"Oh? Is that right?" Stone's eyes narrowed. He began to wonder what the pirate captain was talking about.
"That's right. Earlier today my men and I…"acquired" a cruise ship before it docked here. We figured that you wouldn't completely comply with our demands." Bradley chuckled. "We have more hostages than you think. And if you try anything sneaky like trying to rescue them while I'm here, my men and I will kill all the hostages at once. And then we'll kill all of you."
"No wonder he appears so confident. He has more hostages." Christian sighed.
"But we're willing to release the hostages safe and sound, if you just do your job and capture Ambrose for us." Bradley said.
"Son of a bitch." Stone cursed silently as he pulled out a new cigarette and lit it before placing it in his mouth.
"The captain's stuck. He can't do anything right now." Dagger turned around and faced Christian and Dimitri. "We have to get to that ship and release the hostages ourselves."
"But if we do that, won't they figure out what's going on and kill the hostages here?" Dimitri asked.
"It's a risk we're just going to have to take. We can't just sit around anymore and wait for the others to show up. We have to take action right now." Dagger said sternly.
"I agree with Dagger. The pirates have made their move, so now it's up to us to make ours." Christian said. "Hopefully things will work out for the marines on this side. But for now, let's go and find that cruise ship." Not wasting any time, Christian, Dagger, and Dimitri snuck their way out of the town square and headed for the docks.
South Blue: Bellum Town; North Shopping District
"Why are you following me?" Tobias didn't bother to look over his shoulder. He could still feel Harper's presence from behind him. He figured that the female marine would leave him alone after his visit to the marine base, but that didn't turn out to be the case.
"You captured a few members of Bradley's crew, correct?" Harper responded to his question with a question of her own. "While they were just lowly grunts, I'm certain that the pirate will attempt to hunt you down and regain whatever little amount of honor that he has in him. And whenever that time arrives, I will be here to strike him down with my sword."
"If anyone is going to take him down, it will be me. His crew mates picked a fight with me that they couldn't hope to finish." Tobias said. "Plus I need some money anyway. I'm running low on funds."
"I could care less about your petty money problems. All I want is to be recognized for taking down the self-proclaimed, "Sword King"." Harper rolled her eyes in annoyance. "You can have the stupid bounty for all I care."
"That's all I want." Tobias rolled his eyes.
"Hey, did you hear that "Sword King" Bradley and his crew mates are having a standoff against the Captain Stone and his squad?" A group of civilians walked past Harper and Tobias. "I'm glad that we didn't go anywhere near the town square today. I hope they can get that situation under control soon."
"Bradley was demanding that they capture Ambrose and bring him over to them, right? Only then would he release the hostages? He must still be sore about his humiliating defeat earlier." The civilians laughed as they continued down the street.
"Bradley is at the town square?" Both Harper and Tobias turned around and faced the direction leading to the town square.
"What cowardice. He's using hostages to manipulate the marines into capturing another pirate?" Harper scowled.
"Looks like it." Tobias turned away from the direction of the town square and walked in another direction, confusing Harper.
"Where are you going? I thought that you wanted to capture Bradley for his bounty." Harper called out to the bounty hunter. "He's in the other direction."
"Bradley has hostages and he won't release them until Ambrose is brought to him." Tobias informed Harper. "No other marine on this island besides Stone can even hope to match up to Ambrose. Which is why I'm going to do Stone a huge favor and capture the pirate myself."
"Your statement is false. If there is any marine on this island that can capture Ambrose, it's me." Harper confidently boasted.
"Is that right?" Both Harper and Tobias looked up to see Ambrose standing on the ledge of a nearby building. The pirate captain looked down to the bounty hunter and marine respectively, a menacing grin etched onto his face as he placed his hand on the hilt of his sword. He jumped down from the building and landed a few feet away from the two. "I heard that Bradley put a hit out on me. I never figured that a bounty hunter and a marine would team up to capture little old me."
"Ambrose." Harper quickly unsheathed Joan Arc and pointed it at Ambrose. "The pirate solely responsible for the fall of a highly respected swordsman country. You slaughtered hundreds of soldiers in one night with that single blade resting by your side."
"Ohhh…so you know about Satsuriku and me? You're well informed, marine." Ambrose was impressed by Harper's power of knowledge considering her current rank in the marines. "I'm sorry to say that I don't know much about you though. Care to introduce yourself to make this more…civil?"
"Hmph, if you must know, my name is Harper Valentine. I am the swordswoman that will defeat you and "Sword King" Bradley in one day." Harper introduced herself. "And fortunately for me, that day will be today."
"Don't get your hopes up, Blondie." Tobias took a step forward while cracking his knuckles. "I'm the one that's going to capture this man."
"Don't try and kid yourself. Your skills pale in comparison to mine." Harper brushed past Tobias. "Why don't you save yourself some trouble and sit back?"
"No need to fight over me. I'll give you both a chance to fight with me." Ambrose unsheathed Satsuriku and grinned menacingly as a dark, ominous aura began to surround him. Taking immediate notice of the threatening aura, Harper and Tobias ceased with their bickering and prepared to engage the pirate in battle.
South Blue: Bellum Town; West Shopping District
"Hey, I'm sorry that things didn't work out about saving your friend. If there was anything I could do, I would do it." Jericho assured a depressed Corona as the group continued down the street.
"Thanks a lot, Jericho. I really appreciate you saying that." Corona stopped walking and turned to face him. "Since we're done my problem. I'll keep to my promise and help you settle yours."
"And what problem would that be?" Meridia inquired, wanting to be filled in on the situation.
"Jericho here is a five time fighting champion in some televised fighting tournament. He needs to get into the Grand Line by a cruise ship that's meant to be docked here." Lucy began.
"And since he doesn't have a ticket or anything. We hope that we can ask the people to make an exception and let him on the ship." Corona finished.
"Couldn't hurt to ask." Jord shrugged his shoulders.
"Isn't that a bit illegal though? It's practically abuse of power?" Meridia asked.
"It's not an abuse of power if we're just politely asking them to let him on." Lucy replied. "Besides, Jericho helped us with Ambrose earlier. It's the least we can do for him."
"Well I guess there's no harm in doing that." Meridia shrugged her shoulders before sliding her hands in her pockets. "So does anyone know where the cruise ship is meant to dock?"
After hearing such an obvious question, the entire group grew silent. Now that they had thought of it, none of them knew where the cruise ship was going to be docked. Feeling ashamed that they had yet to receive such basic information, Corona, Jericho, and Lucy hung their heads and looked down to their feet.
"So none of you know where the cruise ship is going to be." Meridia folded her arms and shook her head in disappointment. "Honestly. I don't know how any of you manage to get things done around here."
"It's fine, it's fine." Corona spoke optimistically. "I'm sure if we just ask for directions, we'll get the answers we need."
"How do you suppose we do that? There's no one around here." Jord informed everyone. After taking a quick long around, the group noticed that his words were true. The entire street had been completely abandoned by the civilians.
"He's right. Everyone's gone." Lucy agreed to the statement.
"Why would everyone just up and disappear all of a sudden?" Corona felt a little uneasy.
"Not entirely sure. But I have a feeling that something's about to go down." Jericho smirked, feeling excited about the sudden turn of events. Before he could properly elaborate, the boxer turned around after hearing someone call his name. He focused his sights down the street where a short, portly man with short black hair wearing a suit suit running towards them. The terrified expression on his face caught the attention of all the marines.
"J-Jericho! There you are kid!" The portly man hunched over and breathed heavily. Seeing such a familiar face, Jericho reached within his back pocket and pulled out a towel. He handed the exhausted man the towel and smiled as the man used it to wipe his face clean from the sweat beating down his face.
"What's with the face, Coswell? Did you dine and dash again?" Jericho asked.
"Not this time!" Coswell finally managed to catch his breath. "There's something big going down at the town square! Some pirates have civilians captured and they're demanding the marines to hand over some pirate!"
"Pirates?" Jord gasped in shock and looked to his comrades. "You don't think it's the Carnage pirates do you?"
"Carnage pirates? No way, it's the Bradley pirates." Coswell reported. "But that's not all. The marines can't make a move because the pirates also have taken the cruise ship hostage."
"Cruise ship? You mean the cruise ship that we're meant to be taking?" Jericho frowned upon hearing the news. He then reached his arms out and placed his hands on his comrade's shoulders. "Coswell. Do you know where the cruise ship is? If we can find it, perhaps we can rescue the people there."
"Why do you think I've been running frantically around this island looking for you? The cruise ship is docked on the east side of the island. If we hurry up and make it there, perhaps we can stop the pirates and give the marines the advantage." Coswell smiled.
"If you two are going to be rescuing a cruise ship from a crew of pirates. Then it only makes sense to have us tag along." Corona indicated to her and the marine group.
"I wouldn't have it any other way. Let's get moving." Jericho turned in the direction of the docks and prepared to break off into a run. That was until Coswell grabbed him by the back of his shirt.
"Hold on a second, kid! The pirates will be looking out for marines! If we head there with these marines, then they'll alert their friends and have the civilians murdered!" Coswell stated.
"Then we'll disguise ourselves as regular civilians. Once we do that, we'll pretend to have the pirates capture us so that we'll easily be able to make it on the ship without much difficulty." Meridia suggested.
"I like that plan. Then we'll attack together, defeat the pirates, and rescue the hostages." Corona smiled at the thought of the plan. Her imagination began to run wild on how exciting the mission would be.
Now that the group had a game plan, they searched around the island for a nearby clothing store to disguise themselves as regular civilians of the island. Once they managed to find the store and disguise themselves, the group hurried over to the east side of the island. Where they were immediately confronted by Bradley's crew mates. They allowed themselves to be "captured" by the pirates and brought aboard the cruise ship. The pirates then placed the entire group along with the other hostages in the dining area.
Corona and the others carefully scanned the entire room, taking a note of each pirate and what they were holding as a weapon. Fortunately none of them had anything out of the ordinary besides swords and pistols. However they also took into fact that any of them could possibly be devil fruit users. With that in mind, the group remained patient for now until an opportunity arrived in which they could spring into action and attack the pirates.
"Are you sure that this plan of ours is going to work?" One of the pirates asked with a concerned tone of voice. "I have a feeling that the marines on this island are probably up to something. This is way too easy."
"Don't sweat it man. We have the hostages, remember? The marines would do anything to make sure that they get them back safe." The other pirates didn't sound as concerned.
"And if they try to pull something, we'll put a bullet through each of their heads." Another pirate said menacingly as he careless waved his gun around the area, scaring a majority of the hostages.
"Yeah, I guess you're..." Before the pirate could finish his sentence, he along with everyone else on the ship lost their balance and fall to one side of the ship after it suddenly leaned to the side.
"Now! Now!" Corona ordered her squad to strike, figuring that now would be as good a time as any. The squad immediately sprung into action and subdued as many pirates as they could before they had any chance of regaining their balance.
"S-Shit! There were undercover marines on this ship! Someone inform the Captain!" The pirates cried out.
Refusing to allow the pirates to call their Captain, Jericho and Coswell rushed after the pirates and sent them all flying back into the farthest wall in the room with fierce barrages of punches. Following their example, Corona and Lucy leaped after a group of pirates and struck them down with fierce attacks of their own. While those four were dealing with the pirates, Jord and Meridia were helping the hostages evacuate the room. They didn't want innocent bystanders being harmed during the battle.
Before the two marines could lead the people out from the door, a group of pirates that heard the ruckus from outside blocked the exit. They then aimed their pistols at them and open fired, hoping to kill them all before anything else went wrong with their operation. While everyone else closed their eyes and flinched in terror at the oncoming bullets, Meridia remained calm while extending her arm forward. The bullets suddenly slowed down until they eventually fell to the floor. Confused by the sudden turn of events, the pirates aimed their guns again and open fired. However the results ended up the same thanks to Meridia.
Taking advantage of the confusion, Jord rushed forward. His right arm then began to secret a liquid substance. He then quickly morphed the liquid substance into that of a hammer before it hardened. With his makeshift hammer he smashed his way through the small group of pirates, clearing the way for the hostages to make it out of the dining area.
"They were both devil fruit users? Who knew." Corona was caught off guard and yet impressed by the abilities displayed by her comrades. With the hostages away from the dining area, she now had no reason to hold back on the remaining pirates inside of the dining area. Using her new and improved Soru technique, she vanished from the sights of her comrades and enemies instantly. She then reappeared, took down a single pirate, and disappeared again, repeating this cycle over and over until she suddenly lost her footing and tripped.
She stumbled across the floor and wound up by the feet of an armed pirate. The pirate took quick advantage of the situation and aimed his rifle at her, his finger slowly pulling back on the trigger. Not having enough time to escape, Corona shut her eyes in fear and waited for the gun to go off. However that time never came for Jericho immediately came to her rescue and punched the pirate across the face, instantly rendering him unconscious.
"You're good. But your footwork could use some improvement. Also your attacks are a bit shallow. It's like you're still holding back. Don't hold back, punch through your opponent." Jericho critiqued Corona's abilities. Corona blushed in embarrassment as she made her way back onto her feet. She quickly thanked Jericho for saving her life before she rushed into battle against the pirates again.
As the battle between the pirates and marines continued, two pirates watching through the window from a separate room cowered in fear on how badly the situation had gotten. They knew that if the marines in the town square caught word of the situation, then their entire operation would fall into shambles. And they just couldn't allow that to happen since their lives were definitely on the line. Remembering what they had to do if a situation like this occurred, the pirates headed down below the deck to the cargo hold. They passed by all of the cargo in the front and headed straight for the back, where a large steel cage resided.
While initially frightened of being near the steel cage, due to the fearsome growls and rattling of the cage, the pirates knew that this was their only shot of repelling the marines from the cruise ship. The pirates took a deep breath and quickly opened the cage, allowing the beast trapped inside to roam free and wreck havoc on anyone in its way. The beast burst out from its cage and made its way towards the fleeing pirates.
Meanwhile back on the deck of the ship, the battle between the pirates and marines intensified. Pirates from the other sections of the cruise ship heard all the racket and rushed to aid their comrades. Corona and the others were currently huddled up together, standing back to back, keeping careful watch of each pirate surrounding them. They had clearly underestimated the number of pirates they had hoped to be facing.
"You marines made a huge mistake messing with the Bradley pirates!" All of the pirates aimed their respective weapons towards the marines as they slowly began to approach them. Before the marines could retaliate, a blur raced past everyone and struck down the surrounding the pirates. The marines followed the blur until it eventually came to an abrupt stop. Bright smiles came across their faces upon seeing that the blur was Dagger.
"I see that great minds do think alike after all. So you guys heard about the hostage situation as well?" Dagger turned to his comrades and smiled.
"Yeah. We came rushing here immediately after we heard what Bradley was doing." Corona nodded.
"Good thing too. I'm sure that Christian, Dimitri, and I would have had a little trouble eliminating all of these pirates while rescuing the hostages." Dagger said before he looked over his shoulder to see the pirates returning to his feet. "These guys are certainly tougher than they look. No matter, I'll strike them down again and make sure that they stay down."
"Not if I beat you to the punch." Jericho stepped up and took a boxing stance. The two men glanced at each other and smirked, figuring to make the situation into a competition. But before the two could spring into battle, two pirates from below the deck burst out from the floor and landed on the deck covered in blood and bruises. Immediately afterwards a person jumped out from the hole the pirates created and landed safely on the deck.
"No way...you really were on this island." Corona looked to the person and gasped in shock. "Teal? Is that you?" She looked to the little feral girl that was currently soaked from head to toe in blood.
"Teal? Your friend that you mentioned earlier?" Jericho looked to Teal in confusion, feeling a bit uneasy being around the little girl.
"Yes. That's her." Corona nodded as she walked over to Teal. "I knew that you were here, Teal. I came to help you." She extended her arm out to Teal. However she was quickly pulled back by Dagger once Teal snarled at her and swiped her sharp fingernails at her, intending to cut open her throat.
"Whoa! Back away from here, Corona! I don't know what's going on here, but that girl is bloodthirsty right now!" Dagger warned everyone as Teal looked around at everyone, trying to determine who she should attack next. Not wanting to be one of her victims, the pirates fled the cruise ship and allowed the marines to fend for themselves.
"We can't let those pirates get away!" Lucy left the others and decided to chase down the pirates while the others stayed behind. Seeing the marine flee gave Teal incentive to chase after her. The little girl let out a loud roar as she lunged for Lucy while her back was turned. However Dagger intercepted Teal and kicked her back over to Corona, Coswell, and Jericho.
"I'm not sure what's up with this girl. But she reeks of blood and different types of animals." Dagger mentioned while shaking his head. "I call dibs on this one. You three can go on ahead and help Lucy capture the other pirates."
"No! Don't hurt her Dagger! She's my friend! Let me talk to her!" Corona pleaded.
"There's no point in doing that. I can tell that this little girl is far too gone." Dagger refused to listen to Corona. "It's best to capture her now and throw her in jail."
"No! I will not let her be thrown into another cage! She is a human being! Not some animal!" Corona yelled. She then looked to Teal and tried to communicate with her again. "Teal! You don't have to attack us! It's me! Corona! Don't you remember me?"
Teal looked over to Corona and snarled again. She definitely remembered her. However none of the memories were pleasant. Flashbacks of the marines throwing her and her family into cages raced through her mind in that short amount of time, making her even more furious. With another loud roar, Teal lunged for Corona and attempted to slice her with her sharp fingernails. Corona evaded each attack while continuing with her efforts to calm the little girl down.
But nothing was getting through to her. She was too consumed with rage and hatred to even bother to listen. She wanted revenge for what happened to her and her family and she didn't care who she had to go through to get it. Corona eventually realized this and decided that the best way to help Teal was to defeat her. She bit down on her lower lip as she swung her fist forward and landed a quick jab across Teal's face.
The little girl skidded back a few feet and growled in frustration while licking away the blood running down the corner of her mouth. The two girls then stood there, glaring at each other. The once two friends were now bitter enemies. And they had no choice but to fight each other to get whatever they wanted from one another. Without wasting anymore time, the two girls rushed at each other again, engaging in combat once more.
That's the end for this chapter! I hope you all enjoyed reading it! I would also like to say Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope you all got what you wanted/needed and I also want to wish you all a Happy New Year! With that now out of the way, here's the preview for the next chapter!
Next time on One Piece: The Fight for Justice!
The Grand Line Awaits!
Corona: I'm sure you'll understand why I must do this!
Harper: So that's the source of your strength? How interesting.
Wyatt: What are you doing out of your restraints?
Dexter: Are you certain that you made the right choice giving such a power to her?
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