The Bash Call continues
The Marines continued to bombard Rover Island endlessly. The Dagamarar pirates, however, outnumber the marines and quickly returned fire as their large ships slowly backed away from the docks. The pirates lined up their own cannons and began retaliating. The might of the massive pirate crew began to show as the two sides suddenly erupted into a full scale sea battle. The sky began to turn a darker color due to the large amounts of debris smoke, Rover Island had taken so much damage that it looked like a gigantic bonfire in the middle of the blue sea. Our pirates manage to make it out of the mess unharmed but suffer the loss of one of their own, who recently left the crew for an unknown reason. They could only hope that Kuma really did make it off of the island safely. Of course, the only one who knows where Kuma went is Austell.
Meanwhile
Zoro was sitting on a small two-person boat right off of the coast of Rover Island. He was trying to get some sleep, almost as if there wasn't a massive chaotic war going down between the pirates and the marines. At this point, he had seen so much warfare and bloodshed throughout his life that the battle going on was comparable to dogs barking at each other. It wasn't a threat to him, if anything, the battle was a minor annoyance.
The boat that Zoro was riding in was rather strange. It was a black sailboat that had a dark green sail, green fire candles that littered the rim, and a strong steel body. The triangular sail absorbed even the slightest gust of wind but somehow, the boat seemed to move on its own. Even when water splashed into these candles, the fire would not go out.
He sat and watched the marines and Dagmarars fire at each other as his small boat rocked back and forth in the sea's waves. At the corner of his eye, he saw someone in the ocean swimming toward his small ship and climb aboard, it was Kuma. The small boat tilted and rocked as the blue-haired swordsman climbed aboard, dripping wet.
"This is a weird ass boat, what the hell?" He said as he noticed the creepy green-lit candles littering the small sail boat.
Zoro looked at Kuma and then closed his eye "What are you doing here, Prince Nefertari Vohza?"
He took off his shirt and squeezed to dry "C'mon man, knock it off, stop calling me that... I want... uh.. I mean I need to go to Alabasta with you, Mr. Bushido."
Zoro looked at him again "And why would you want to do that? Are you ready to assume the role of prince of Alabasta once again?"
He shook his head and looked at the horizon of the sea with a serious look "Seriously dude, stop freakin' calling me that!"
"Are you really that ashamed of yourself?" Zoro asked boredly.
"Listen man, I just need to go with you to Alabasta. Yes or no?" Kuma was getting increasingly frustrated.
"Hmm" Zoro said before changing the subject "Didn't you come here with your friends? I wonder how they feel about your decision. Or if they even know about it. Now that I think about it, there's a lot of things they probably don't know about you."
He looked agitated and dodged Zoro's question "Shut it already, will ya? Are ya gonna take me with you or not?"
Zoro shrugged "I don't see why not; your mother is really worried about you. But she only asked me to inform you of that. Not to bring you back with me, it seems she's leaving that decision to you. I'd understand if that's your reason."
Kuma shook his head "Nah, that isn't why I'm going... I have no plans to talk to her..."
"Then why?" Zoro asked, despite not showing much interest in the answer.
He exploded "CAUSE- CAUSE I'M GONNA KILL THAT BASTARD OMERTO!" Kuma turned around and shouted.
"Really... you're going to kill a Shichibukai who happens to be the leader of one of the largest pirate crews in the Grand Line... the Dagmarars." he said sarcastically.
Kuma's cigarette flew from out of his mouth as he ranted "Hell yeah I am! He thinks he can torment moms and get away with it? I'm gonna put his head on a freakin' plaque!"
"Big words coming from someone whose skills could use a lot of work." Zoro said bluntly.
"What? What are you talking about?" Kuma mumbled.
Zoro sighed "Don't forget, you're in the Grand Line now, meaning your skills aren't as high-end as they were in the West Blue. You're definitely a skilled swordsman but you need a lot of practice. Also, when you charged at me earlier in that alley I had about 17 opportunities to kill you instantly."
"17? Hey man, that's bull! Ya can't prove that!" Kuma protested
Zoro responded "You're right, I can't. But you need to become a better swordsman regardless if you're challenging big shots like 'Crucible' Omerto. I can give you some pointers if y-"
Kuma looked even more agitated "Alright look here, Bushido bro. I've dealt with and beat 'big-shots' likes Omerto ever since I was a kid. This isn't anything new to me alright? Thanks and all for lettin' me follow you to Alabasta but I don't need yer damn advice! " Kuma sat down cross-legged and opposite of Zoro as he lit another cigarette.
Zoro sighed "Do whatever you want then, Vohza. But don't be angry, I'm just looking out for a friend's foolish son."
"Screw you." Kuma barked. "And stop calling me that..."
Meanwhile on the Iron Thunder
"KUMA DID WHAAAAT?! H-hey, Semi! You're just teasing right? Man, I really wish I knew how to read!" Daiko said with a goofy-frustrated look as Eve, Iron Thunder sailed away from the burning island. The sounds of rampant explosions were becoming quieter as the ship got farther and farther away from the battle. The only thing that could seen now was a black pillar of smoke rising into the sky. While Austell sat quietly against the mast with his head buried in his lap, the other three discussed the situation.
Tora walked up behind Semi and squinted to read the note she was holding. "It looks like she isn't lying Captain, the note really is from that stupid swordsman. You can tell from the hideous handwriting and disgraceful grammar. It looks like he used tobacco to write the note too, what a slob."
Daiko looked angry "Then we need to turn the ship around and look for him! What if he's trapped on the island with those stupid pirates!"
Semi responded "He likely isn't, on the note here, it says that he's already left the island. What could he be thinking?"
Tora sighed "Whatever the case, we should probably forget about that swordsman, he was nuisance anyway."
"How can you say that about a friend Tora!" Semi shouted.
"Was he really our friend? Just think about for a seco-" Tora was interrupted by an angry Daiko (as usual).
"Shut the hell up Tora!" Daiko said, while lowering his eyebrows. "Kuma's our friend there's no arguing with that! He was probably forced by someone to leave.. or something!"
"Maybe he is, but what if he just used us to get a free ride into the Grand Line? I've been having my suspicions about that bonehead for a while now." Tora suggested.
Daiko got even angrier, more so than he ever has within the crew "How the hell could you say that Tora? I never expected this, even from you!"
Tora got serious also "Tch! This is what I was trying to explain to you back on Camel Back Island, Captain! All Jekko pirates are more trouble than they're worth. Think about it, why else would he leave when we just made it to the Grand Line. We haven't even reached our second destination and he's already bolted!"
"Kuma isn't a Jekko pirate anymore! He's a Black Tooth pirate, got it? He's with us now! So we're gonna find him!" he said, a little bit more relaxed now.
"And how will we do that? We have no information to go on other than his useless note!" Tora stated.
Semi intervened "Well, he couldn't have gotten far. I guess we could try the closest island from here, we don't have many options right now."
Daiko nodded "Alright! Set course for the next island and SET THE SAILS!" he proudly threw his fists in the air.
"The sails are already set you moron..." Tora muttered.
Back at Kuma and Zoro
Out of nowhere, Kuma angrily slammed his fist on to the deck of the ship "DAMMIT!" he shouted with an angry look. He had every right to be frustrated, a powerful pirate was preparing to attack his homeland.
Zoro looked up at Kuma, who was still sitting on the opposite side of the small ship "Whats your problem? Be quiet, I'm trying to get some sleep."
Kuma relaxed a bit by taking a deep breath "Ugh... sorry Bushido bro.. I'm just gettin' so mad right now, I can't contain it. I wanna kill that bastard so much. He's threatening my people...man... my people."
Zoro replied "Frustration and bloodlust won't increase your chances of accomplishing your goal. Rage is only good thing for hand-to-hand fighters. You should try meditating, considering that you're a swordsman. You're very talented but your skills need to be concentrated."
"Thats a load of crap! I don't buy into that meditation stuff, it's boring! It's bull!" Kuma reached into his pocket and pulled out small brown bag "The stuff inside this bag is all the 'meditation' I need, ha ha!" he emptied the small bag onto his palm revealing that it was a dark purple, powdery substance.
Zoro asked "And what might that be?"
Kuma answered cheerfully "Heh.. well I'm glad ya asked! Why this is Joy Powder. Back when I was with the Jekkos we used to use this stuff all the time when we were feeling down or frustrated. It clears the mind and body of all sadness, it's way better than that meditating garbage. The sands of Joy!" Kuma smiled as he tossed his cigarette into the sea.
Zoro asked with an unusual amount of curiosity "What... what... are you supposed to do with it...?"
"That's easy! Just watch." Kuma cupped both of his hands together and began sniffing his mystery powder. Zoro raised an eyebrow.
One Hour later
As he gazed into the sky, he let out his signature goofy smile "Duuuuude, the skyyyy is...like... wow. " Kuma took another sniff as he slouched on the surface of the small boat. "The sky is turning purple... and it has like... clouds. Everything is purple... everything is purple." As he took yet another sniff of his 'Joy Sand', his eyes slowly turned a purple color, along with his tongue.
Zoro looked at the sky "The sky looks pretty blue to me... ."
"Nah man, it's def' purple." Kuma could barely keep his head up and looked extremely tired.
"Nothing you're saying makes any sense, you should probably stop sniffing that mystery powder, or whatever you called it. Doesn't look like it's good for you." Zoro looked annoyed. "Your eyes look like they're changing colors."
Kuma sneezed and responded to Zoro "Say whatever ya want bro. I've never felt more free in my life."
Zoro thought to himself. "This guy is the opposite of how I expected your son to turn out, Vivi. What the hell went wrong?"
"Man... oh man oh man, the sky is.. is just sooo puuuurrrple! I have to go say hello to the sky dragon!" Kuma began flapping his arms as if they were wings."I'm a bird!"
Zoro laughed a bit at Kuma's hallucinations but became serious and annoyed again "Okay seriously, cut that out or I'm throwing you overboard."
Kuma stopped waving his arms and looked at Zoro with an extremely goofy smile and laugh "Yer' lookin' a little tense, Mr. Bushido. Ya know what? You remind me of this asshole I know. He has this long orange ponytail and looks stupid as hell, ha ha ha!" Kuma stopped laughing when he noticed Zoro giving him a bad look "Hey! Stop looking at me like that, Moms used to look at me like that and it always pissed me off! Here, try some of this, it'll calm the nerves." Kuma offered Zoro a handful of his 'magical' powder.
"What the-! Get that garbage away from me! Alright, that's it!" Zoro stood up and chopped a dazed Kuma on the back of the neck with his hand. Kuma went to sleep on the deck instantly with a smile on his face.
The sun was setting with a fiery orange color as the duo sailed deeper into the sea's horizon. Zoro took a long, drawn-out sight and leaned against the side of the small boat.
"*sigh* You're such a fool, Nefertari Vohza. No amount of drugs will be enough to compensate for such a dark past..." he said to an unconscious Kuma, as he too fell asleep.