Hey guys! Forzarismo is back rather late with a new chapter for The Rubbery Vengeance! All I can say is that I hope you enjoy this interlude of sorts as to what Brook has been doing with his life for him to be at the Twin Capes with Crocus and Laboon. Well, don't let me keep you all waiting, but first, like always, the stats!:
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Disclaimer: As I type this with my fingers looking more like dehydrated sausages and my eyes looking like they haven't had rest for about a week, All I can utter out to those near me is: I Don't Own One Piece.
Chapter 22: Defying Destiny: Brook's Past
"Cherish the time spent with those you care about. You never know if it will be your last, or worse, their last."
-Gracielson Wayne
Forty-Two Years Ago…
Brook looks on at the sea in front of him, feeling the same as he always has since that fateful day eight years ago. There were days when he would have a dream of a time when his crewmates were all alive, thinking that the cruel reality that he lives in is the dream and not the other way around.
For the next few uneventful years since his death and resurrection, due to the ship's rudder having been broken in the battle, Brook stays aboard all alone on the ship, left to the whims of the ocean's currents. With nothing much to do, Brook merely did as much as he could, such as rolling on the deck, jumping around, leaning against a wall at a 45 degree angle, and singing alone. When he slept, he would dream that he and his crewmates were still alive, and he would always wake up to find a lonely and cruel reality waiting for him. The eight years Brook spent stranded on the ship were very harsh and painful, and he deeply missed the company of others.
It has always saddened him that even when floating aimlessly in his ship, he has never once seen another person alive since his death all those years ago.
Then, as if the heavens heard his plead for human interaction, he saw a ship heading his way.
The radiant white ship with the word 'Flevance' written on the main sail slowly going towards his wrecked ship and Brook could hear the distant chatter coming from said ship, peaking his interest, for once finally being able to have the human interaction that he so desperately craves.
As he heads to his ship's rails, he can notice all of the crewmen out and running about as if they were headless chickens, until he notices that there is some form of pattern and order in their movements.
In the distance he can see what appears to be their leader giving each and every person passing by her orders on what to do, and then that's when Brook finally realises what is going on.
Many of the crewmembers are medically aiding their fallen mates while the lady kept everything in proper working order, making sure that each and every one of her crewmates do what they are supposed to do.
Suddenly, as his ship begins passing by the Florence ship, the woman suddenly turns her head, looking directly at him. Her sudden movements gains the attention of those around her, making them gasp in fear at his form.
This only causes a domino effect in that more and more people's curiosity gets the better of them and face his way, with almost all of them looking at him as if he is some sort of monster.
"AAAAAHHHHH! A GHOST!" Most of them scream in fear.
"A GHOST!? WHERE!?" Brook shouts in fear.
"YOU! YOU'RE THE GHOST!" The crew yells back comically.
"WHAAA!?" Brook yelps in surprise.
As this was going on, the woman commanding the men gives out a light chuckle at the interaction going in between the skeleton man and her crewmates. "Hello! You wouldn't happen to know a way out of here would you?" She asks politely, before jumping from her ship onto Brook's, ignoring the protests of her own underlings.
As she stands in front of the musician, Brook begins to subconsciously take note of her appearance. She looks really young, somewhere around her early twenties he guesses. It certainly doesn't help much either when he hasn't seen such a beautiful in forever and begins to notice the hint of citrus in the air around her, or that her hair is as beautiful as the sunset that he longs to see, or that her eyes look like the moon in it's full glory during a clear night.
Nevertheless, Brook stood tall and quickly preps up what to say to the beautiful woman in front of him.
"May I see your panties?"
A Month Later…
Brook gazes upon the horizon, taking in the beautiful sunset around him. It has been a month since he was rescued by the doctors from the country Flevance, and after the entire crew got over the fact that he is a walking, talking, living skeleton, they began doing tests on the musician to understand why he can poop and where does all the food even go considering he no longer has any organs in the first place.
At the moment he is talking with the head doctor of the ship, the woman who goes by the name Gracielle who is also the same woman who he asked to see her panties. Her response to that was merely a wink and saying at a later date.
The two have gotten along rather well, sharing stories with each other of their adventures in their free time or trivia about themselves as way to alleviate the embarrassment Brook feels when she and her subordinates conduct certain 'hypothesis'' on his body.
At the moment, the two are only minutes away from seeing the Twin Capes as the ship neared its destination.
"So you ready to finally meet your missing friend after so long Brook?" Gracielle asks the musician, basking at feeling what remains of the sun for today.
"Oh goodness yes. It's been so long since I have seen Laboon. I hope Crocus is truly taking good care of him." Brook replies, letting out a light chuckle as he remembers all of the fond memories he has had with the baby whale, Crocus, and the Rumbar Pirates.
"It must be nice… to get to see a loved one after so long and having complete faith that they haven't bit the dust yet." Gracielle says wistfully, gazing in the distance as she gains a nostalgic look on her face. Noticing Brook looking at her with concern, her usual smile returns. "Oh don't mind me, I'm just remembering the past is all." She says, waving off his concerns.
"BWOOOOOH!"
Suddenly, their chat is cut short by the wail of someone all too familiar to the musician. Brook perks up as he can see a massive black object in the distance that he can immediately tell is the crewmate that he and the Rumbar Pirates have left all those years ago.
Laboon.
"Laboon…" Brook whispers out, feeling his non-existent heart beating incredibly fast at the sight of seeing his only comrade that is still alive, and has grown a considerable amount in the eight years he and his crew left him with Crocus. His hands began trembling with pure unadulterated joy as tears begin streaming down his eye sockets at the sight of his only living friend.
Jumping off of the ship without a moment's hesitation, Brook sprints as fast as he can towards the whale, while the woman looking on gives a forlorn smile at seeing the man reunite with his whale named Laboon. 'Cherish your friends Brook, enjoy your time with them as much as possible.' Gracielle thinks to herself before heading towards the ship's command center to tell the crew that they can head back home now. 'Immortality is a curse after all.'
"LABOON!" Brook yells out, causing the whale to stop suddenly before turning around as fast as he can, taking in the sight of a skeleton with an afro running on water towards him.
"Huh? Is that…?" Crocus looks on in amazement when he sees the speck in the distance closing in with a ship coming straight behind him. Only when he gets a better look does he recognize who it is. "Brook? Is that truly you?" Crocus can only mutter out as he can see Laboon tearing up at the sight of Brook finally coming back to him.
"BWOOOH!" Laboon cries out in joy as he swims as fast as he can towards Brook as to get a closer look at him. Once close enough, Brook jumps on top of Laboon and begins hugging him with as much strength as he can muster.
"Laboon! Oh how I have missed you so much! You have grown so big since the last time I have seen you!" Brook reminisces as he rubs the top of Laboon's head, with Laboon letting out a loud squeak of happiness. Laboon heads back to the Twin Capes heading directly to Crocus to show him that his dear friend Brook has returned and has not broken his promise.
When seeing Brook again for the first time, Crocus could say that he was genuinely shocked to see the man who once was the second in command of the Rumbar Pirates be nothing but a skeleton of his former self. Literally.
"Crocus! You have no idea how good it is to see you my good friend! I have so much to tell you and Laboon! But that can wait for later! Let's have a celebration of this wonderful reunion between good friends!" Brook expresses as he jumps off of Laboon's head to give the overseer of the Twin Capes a hug.
"Brook… What happened over there in the Grand Line? Where's everyone else? Why are you now a skeleton?" Crocus questions, with a slight feeling in his gut that he will not like the answer that will be given to him.
Brook's once joyous attitude halts at Crocus' question. Brook lets out a sigh before looking at one of his only remaining friends. "I guess it's better to let it out than to keep it in." Brook mutters to himself before looking at Crocus dead in the eye.
"I guess I should start in the beginning…"
Thirty Eight Years Ago…
"YAHOO!" A voice can be heard in the distance, coming from the river going through the Reverse Mountain.
"Hm? It seems we have another group of sailors attempting to brave through the Grand Line." Crocus comments as he reads a newspaper given to him by a News Coo not too long ago.
"Yohohoho! I hope they aren't like the last group, or else things will get quite hectic!" Brook states as he grabs his cane-sword and begins to casually walk up towards the smaller than average ship that has finally reached the bottom of the Reverse Mountain river.
"Never again Roger! That was way too close for comfort!" a blonde man with glasses angrily chastising his crewmate who appears to be a laughing man wearing a straw hat.
"C'mon! It wasn't that bad Rayleigh! Besides, who knows what the sea will have in store for us! There is sure to be much more dangerous things than that measly river! The world is a massive place after all." The man known as Roger retorts to his crewmate who Brook now knows is called Rayleigh.
"You say it's not bad, but look at Seagull! He's puking his guts out! Not to mention Gaban got hit in the head and is currently dealing with a concussion!" Rayleigh points outs, where everyone's attention is now to the large man who is leaning over the edge of the ship with some barfing noises coming out from his general direction along with a shades-wearing man with a ponytail holding an ice-pack over his head.
'Hmm… Roger huh. He was that one rookie twelve years ago or so who caused quite the riot all over the East Blue when the Rumbar Pirates and I left for the Grand Line. Interesting…' Brook thinks to himself before attempting to get their attention. "Um… shouldn't you be making sure your friend there is alright?" Brook chimes in, causing the two bickering young men to yelp in surprise from the skeleton suddenly appearing out of nowhere.
"Holy shit a talking skeleton!" Rayleigh and Roger exclaim in utter surprise.
"Bwooh!" their attention is then taken from Brook and now placed on Laboon.
"Holy fuck that's a huge whale!" Both of them exclaim in awe as they have never seen one of Laboon's kind before in their entire life.
"Yes, he is quite the big one isn't he?" Brook states with pride, motioning Laboon to come closer. "His name is Laboon, and I have known him since he was just a young calf."
Brook went on to explain his life story with the crew, something he only does with people he can tell are genuinely good people. As this was happening, Crocus decides to go and aid their sick crewmate before soon joining the rest of the group as they told stories about their adventures. This went on for hours as it soon became a full blown party that went on overnight.
As to how they got the supplies…
…Laboon can be quite resourceful when asked.
"This is a great way to begin our journey in the Grand Line! Wouldn't you say so Rayleigh?" Roger asks his first mate as he chugs down a mug of rum down as if it were water.
"As much as I hate to say it, I am inclined to agree with on that Roger. Those three certainly are quite the resourceful ones." Rayleigh comments as he looks on at Brook playing the violin on the top of Laboon's head as Crocus and many of his other crewmates, and by many he means five, dance around and overall enjoy themselves.
Roger then begins walking towards them as he finishes his alcoholic beverage and waves to grab Brook's attention.
"What is it Roger?" Brook asks as he skillfully ends his song before jumping off of Laboon's head and onto the dry ground.
Roger gets closer to the dead musician, his smile widening before extending his hand towards the skeleton, and saying three words to him that will change the course of history.
"Join my crew!"
Twenty Five Years Ago…
Brook and Laboon have been through many things since joining Gol D. Roger and his crew to challenge the Grand Line and the New World.
They have seen how the charismatic Roger made his crew grow exponentially in both numbers as well as power. Examples would be Gan Fall, who even if it was only temporary, joined the crew while they were exploring the Sky Islands, and the Minks Inuarashi and Nekomamushi, both of which are some of the strongest warriors that Zou had to offer. Not to mention Kozuki Oden, who is the next in line to be the daimyo of Kuri of the Wano Kingdom and decided to join the Roger Pirates after they spent enough time with the Whitebeard Pirates, which surprisingly Whitebeard took rather well and with no ill will whatsoever. Eventually they returned back to the Twin Capes where they recruited Crocus when Roger all of sudden got ill with an incurable disease that he got during their adventures. And last, but most certainly not least were the two chore boys they have recruited during their travels: Shanks and Buggy. These two are still young and inexperienced, but they have heart and a ton of untapped potential that could get them through a long way if used correctly.
They have faced many incredible foes throughout the years including Kaido of the Beast Pirates, 'Big Mom' Charlotte Linlin of the Big Mom Pirates, 'Whitebeard' Edward Newgate of the Whitebeard Pirates, 'Red the Aloof' Patrick Redfield, 'The World's Greatest Gun-Man' Silver-Silver, 'Gold Lion' Shiki of the Golden Lion Pirates, and 'Black Arm' Zephyr, his son Admiral Zachariah 'The Clock', Garp 'The Fist', and Sengoku 'The Buddha' of the Marines.
Through these many clashes they have lost three ships before returning to Water 7 where they met the Shipwright Tom and asked him to build the best ship he possibly can, one that can circle the world and back in one piece.
And thus the Oro Jackson was born, becoming one of the crew's biggest icons.
Seven years before this current moment, Brook has seen Laboon find love and companionship during their first trip through the New World in the form of a blue Island Whale who they have aptly named Cerulean, and in return Laboon brings his own pod of ten island whales to join the crew, unknowingly acting as a near-impenetrable first line of defense for the Roger Pirates.
Even more so that his species of whale are known to be one of the most intelligent animals in the world and the crew taught them all to know how to use both forms Haki.
Surrounding the crew at the moment in the violent waves of the sea of Edd War are the Golden Lion Pirates, the only pirate crew besides Whitebeard who were close enough to beat Roger in a confrontation.
"Captain Roger! Your life comes first right!? Just this once, we should listen to what the Gold Lion says!" Buggy pleads to his captain Roger, not wanting to die this early in life.
"Hey, your body won't die no matter how many times they cut you, so why do you care?" Shanks retorts goodnaturedly to his longtime friend.
"I still have a weakness you dumbass!" Buggy yells back angrily before turning to Crocus, the crew's doctor. "Oh yeah! Crocus-san! How is the captain's condition? He'd be better off not fighting right? Please, medically relieve him!" Buggy beseeches to Crocus.
"Unfortunately for you, he is in perfect shape!" Crocus states as he puts on his sack filled with harpoons on his back and grabbing one of them in preparation for combat.
"What about you Brook-san! Can't you play that one song that can always put him to sleep just this once! Think of the crew! We can speak on his behalf! And if things turn south, we can have Laboon swallow us and have him and the others take us down underwater to safety!" Buggy begs Brook, getting on his knees and grabbing the skeleton's pants.
"Yohohohoho! No can do Buggy. All we can do is trust on our captain's decision!" Brook replies to Buggy, who is really getting desperate at this point.
"Rayleigh-san!-ACK!" Buggy tries to get Rayleigh's attention before being stopped by Gaban, who is grabbing Buggy by his hat, which is somehow keeping Buggy from getting closer to Rayleigh.
"Forget about it. We've been together a long time, and we have never been able to stop Roger no matter what." Gaban says to Buggy, who gets even more frightful when he says that.
"Have faith in Tom's ship, the Oro Jackson! Roger doesn't have much time left." Rayleigh says as the crew quiets down when Roger looks towards Shiki.
"How many times have we had this discussion Roger?"Shiki says, "A lot of things have happened between us, but let's put the past behind us! We'll use that apocalyptic weapon you found and my military might! And then, with the perfect plan I've spent so many years developing, we can conquer the entire world at once!" Shiki bellows out proudly as he extends a hand of peace towards Roger. "Become my right hand man, Roger!"
"I have no interest in conquering anything, Shiki!" Roger yells back, "If you can't do as you please, then there is no point in being a pirate, is there!? No matter how you try to pressure me, Gold Lion! I refuse your offer!" Roger finishes with resolution, not flinching at the fact that Shiki has over fifty ships in his command that currently have them all surrounded at the moment.
"Don't, Captain! Don't you realize how many ships we are up against!?" Buggy pleads to Roger directly, grabbing his arm as way to get his attention.
"Move!" Rayleigh yells to Buggy, grabbing him by the back of his shirt and and flinging him behind the rest of the crew.
"In other words, you answer is 'Please kill me right here and now!' Isn't it!?" Shiki roars out to Roger.
"No, it's 'I'm gonna crush every last one of you!'" Roger exclaims, and no sooner than he finishes talking, the main cannon on the Oro Jackson shoots towards one of the ships in front of them, taking them down with a single shot.
"You will regret this day Roger! Shoot him down!" Shiki yells out, with all of his ships aiming their cannons towards the Oro Jackson. However due to how violent the tides are at this point, none of the cannons hit their target missing the Oro Jackson by couple meters or so at the closest.
"Brook! Have Laboon, Apex, and Buckshot bridge us towards the nearest ships! I'll let you handle the rest!" Roger commands Brook.
"You heard our Captain! Let's not disappoint him Laboon!" Brook shouts as Laboon and two other whales smaller than him leap out of the ocean with all of their might.
"BWOOOOH!" The three Island Whales roar out as their mere sizes completely dwarf every single ship in the vicinity, as well as striking fear in the hearts of many in the Golden Lion Pirates.
"Are these the famed Island Whales under their command!?" One of the commanders allied under Shiki exclaims in fear, never before seeing such tremendous creatures under the command of someone much smaller than them.
"I heard rumors that it was because of them that they were able to take Kaido down with ease when he challenged them!" Another commander mutters out horrified to meet the creatures that helped Roger take down one of the most formidable crews in all of the New World.
"Didn't their entire fleet of ships get annihilated by these whales?" Dr. Indigo asks Shiki, who looks completely serious at the situation.
"No need to worry, I had a plan made just for this!" Shiki states as he flies to each and every single one of his ships, touching them with his hands before causing all of his ships to rise from above the water and essentially float several hundred feet above the ocean, giving Shiki's pirate fleet an advantage over Roger. "All of the strongest crewmembers on each ship! Grab whichever cannon you can and aim it towards these bastards under us!" Shiki exclaims as he himself touches five cannons, making them float in the air before setting the fuses on fire.
Little did they realize in all of this that an albino whale three times the size of Laboon jumps out of the ocean and reaches up to the same level as the levitating ships. He whips his tail at them and in turn, completely decimates one fifth of Shiki's fleet in only mere moment's.
Shiki looks at the Whale with utter shock. "Isn't that…!?" He mutters out.
"W-Wasn't he the one that actually killed Kaido in a single shot?" Dr. Indigo whispers out, completely petrified at the sight of one of the most feared members of Roger's crew.
Mybo: The biggest Island Whale ever recorded and Laboon's firstborn.
Two years ago, on an uninhabited island, there was a clash between Roger's and Kaido's respective crew, and during this battle, Kaido attempted to kill the smallest of the Island Whales that is the youngest calf of Laboon and his mate Cerulean. Before he can even get close enough to land a hit on the baby whale, a white fin whose tip is imbued with Haki hit Kaido on the right side of his abdomen, launching him up in the air which intense force. Mybo then jumps out of the ocean before tail smacking Kaido so hard, his body broke through the sound barrier before heading straight into the sea, never once again seen after his body went into the water.
Since then, news spread about a white whale under Roger's so massive and powerful that it took down the monster of a man known as Kaido.
"BWOOOAAAAR!" The behemoth of a whale known as Mybo roars out as he launches the Oro Jackson into the air, catching many of the Golden Lion Pirates by surprise.
Timing it perfectly, all of the cannons on the Oro Jackson fired at the enemy ships surrounding her and the crew, hitting many of them successfully.
Before the ship can fall back onto the ocean, many of the Roger Pirates jump off the Oro Jackson to board the enemy ships and begin fighting the Golden Lion Pirates up close. In the process, Crocus launches a storm of of harpoons to each and every enemy ship nearby, with the ends of the harpoons being held by a thin but strong metal wire. These wires serve to keep the Oro Jackson from falling back into the ocean now that the battle has taken into the skies.
With each of the harpoons now jammed into the ships closest to the Oro Jackson, more of the crew run on top of the wires to board the enemy pirate ships while the rest stay on the Oro Jackson to protect her from any incoming cannon fire.
"Let's join up with the rest Buggy!" SHanks exclaims excitedly as he pulls out a saber from his hip and begins to charge towards one of the wire before being held back by Buggy.
"Don't be crazy! We still need to defend this ship remember!?" Buggy reprimands angrily as he grips Shanks by the shirt.
"Are you sure you're not just saying that because you don't want to fight?" Shanks asks his friend.
"D-Don't be silly! I'm just t-thinking of the w-wellbeing of our s-ship!" Buggy stammers, before a stray sword from one of the now destroyed ships from the Golden Lion fleet flies into him and cuts him through the midsection.
"Ahhh! Call Crocus! I have been stabbed!" Buggy screams, horrified that he has been 'injured' so soon.
"Buggy. Think about what you just said, and repeated it back. Slowly." Shank says, looking at Buggy with a raised brow.
Buggy blinks, thinking back on what he just says, with his face slowly turning red from embarrassment. "Oh…"
"If you two are done chit-chatting, we have more important things to do here." Brook reprimands the two chore boys as he diverts the paths of many cannonballs headed towards the Oro Jackson.
This battle went on for hours upon hours, with the weather getting even worse as time goes on. It got so bad that the wave's heights began reaching in the hundreds of feet and they sky constantly boomed with lightning and strong winds that shoved the ships around violently, forcing Shiki to put the ships back onto the ocean after four of his ships got incinerated by strong strikes of lightning and ten of them crashed into one another with the strong winds. Even with the ocean somehow being the safer option, with combined might of luck, massive island whales, and a well placed broken steering wheel into the head, Shiki and what remained of his fleet were forced to retreat, making this intense and historical battle Roger's victory.
Twenty One Years Ago…
Turns out, Kaido did not die.
In fact, he came out of that battle stronger than ever, though he has a reminder of that day in the form of a scar from where Mybo hit him.
Even though it was just him and some remnants of what remained of the Beast Pirates, they were more formidable than ever, most likely training their hardest during the years when their crew was thought to have been finished off by Roger and his crew and therefore, under the radar so to speak.
They found each other again when their crews coincidentally landed on the same island in one of the uncharted mountainous archipelagos that can be found in the New World. Brook looked on as Roger and Kaido clashed with one another, sending shockwaves of haki throughout the battlefield every time their attacks hit each other. Their battle has been going on for the past five and a half-hours, with none of them giving any glimpse of tiring or giving up.
'Even with his terminal illness, he is still a force to be reckoned with.' Brook thinks to himself as he casually leans on the mast of the Oro Jackson, looking on at the battle with awe, as no matter which battle it is that he gets himself in, Roger never ceases to amaze the skeleton.
Suddenly, everybody fighting stops and looks towards the ocean, alerting Brook that something else has popped up that is in need of their attention.
Beyond the Horizon, he can see three Marine battleships head their way incredibly fast.
The distorted space around the ships and the speed at what the ships were coming at only proved who it was leading the group.
Admiral Zachariah.
The user of the Time-Time Fruit.
"It looks like some nuisances decide to come interrupt our battle. And while I utterly despise you Roger, I don't want this bastard interrupting me as I try to murder you." Kaido growls out as he clenches his fist as the battleships that should've been taken twenty or so minutes to get to their location only take mere seconds to finally be right at the door so to speak.
"A truce then?" Roger asks.
"More like two enemies trying to kill a common enemy." Kaido clarifies as both the Beast Pirates and the Roger Pirates turn their attention to Admiral Zachariah and the two other high ranked marines following behind him: Vice Admiral Sakazuki and his current teacher Admiral Hisoka.
"Pirates, By the power bestowed in me I command you all to surrender or we will use deadly force to apprehend you all!" Admiral Zachariah commands as he removes his gloves and blazer to improve his mobility.
"I'll deal with The Clock, you deal with the psychopathic pyromancer." Kaido states as he charges at Admiral Zachariah, his haki infused fist pulled all the way back as to throw a full powered punch at the Admiral.
While this is happening, Roger does indeed clash with flaming flamboyant Admiral Hisoka while Rayleigh deals with Vice-Admiral Sakazuki. The rest of them, both Beast Pirates and Roger Pirates, were left with what many would call the cannon fodder, though much to their surprise, within the ranks of the Marines were children that look no older than kindergartners in uniforms meant for combat.
"To think the Marines would stoop to do something this low…" Brook mutters to himself in disbelief as he sees the Marines charge at them with vigor.
Many of the children stayed behind to man the cannons on the battleships while others joined the older marines on the frontlines to fight the pirates.
"Don't kill the children! Just knock them out!" Rayleigh commands, not liking the fact that they have to fight children and would rather not have some of his crew members have their hands sullied by the blood of children.
Everyone that is part of the Roger Pirates acknowledges Rayleigh's command and are more careful with the young marine soldiers as they try their best to take them out while not maiming or killing the children.
The Beast Pirates have no such restriction.
One of the child soldiers pushes away an older marine soldier from the axe-wielding Beast Pirate, taking a hit that bisects him from the shoulder to the hip, taking a hit meant for someone else. The marine panics and grabs the top half of the kid and throws him towards the Roger Pirates.
Seagull grabs what remains of the kid, with him being able to fit within the palm of his hand.
"Please… Help me… I don't wanna die…" the kid pleads, voice filled with agony and dread, blood flowing out of his mouth and wound.
"H-Hey, don't worry. Everything will be fine so-!" Seagull tries to reassure the kid but stops talking when he notices a purple glow emanating from the boy's chest.
"Please… I… don't wanna blow up like the others…" The boy begs, tears streaming down his face as the purple glow gets ever so brighter, extending his arm toward Seagull as a last ditch effort to seek out any form of reassurance he can take before his inevitable demise.
Seagull covers both hands with Armament Haki as he clasps his hands together before a resounding boom is heard throughout the chaos and a purple shockwave can be seen expanding for a couple meters before dispersing. When the smoke clears, Brook and the others see Seagull with his hands severely damaged by the explosion, blood flowing down through the gaps in his hands not unlike a waterfall, though many weren't sure if the blood is from their comrade or what remained of the child in between Seagull's hands. Seagull himself is shaking as his eyes dilate from the utter shock he received. With hands trembling, he desperately yells out to his crewmates. "The kids have bombs in them!"
Many of the Roger Pirates look at Seagull with dread at the realization as to why they would bring these children specifically to a battle between two powerful pirate crews.
This is only further cemented when Brook notices that Admiral Zachariah commands the child soldiers specifically to buy him some time so he can prepare for something.
Children.
Being forced to hold off.
Kaido.
'Way to show people how upstanding Marines truly are.' Many of the Roger Pirates think to themselves bitterly as they see the admiral retreating, leaving the marine soldiers, both the young and the experienced, to buy him some time.
Nevertheless, The child soldiers do what they are told, although some of them do so reluctantly.
Most of them were slaughtered when they got close to Kaido. Everytime Kaido threw a punch or kick, said attacks would kill the kids almost immediately, sending them away from from the impact before the bombs implanted in their bodies causes them to explode from afar.
To Kaido, it didn't matter whether or not you were a child or the elderly, man or a woman or the rainbow in between, If you got in his way or worse, were aligned with the World Government, then you are as good as dead in his eyes.
As Kaido brutally pulverises one of the remaining child soldiers, who by which pushes a comrade of his out of the way and therefore taking a hit meant for her and thus being sent towards the direction to one of the nearby islands, a squelching sound can be heard coming from his direction.
Lo and behold, Under Kaido's massive form, stands Zachariah, his arm deep in Kaido's gut. Kaido vomits blood, with most of it landing on Zachariah's head and shoulders, though Zachariah remains still.
"Stop." Zachariah states before suddenly pulling his fist out of Kaido's gut, jumping in the air and drop kicking Kaido straight on the back of his neck, staggering Kaido as he begins to tip forwards towards the ground.
Before he can however, Kaido reaffirms his feet's hold on the ground before turning with incredible speed to hit the now tired Admiral with a haki infused fist. The admiral crosses his arms as a way to block the attack from hitting his face, and while he does succeed in blocking the attack, the force delivered from Kaido's massive fist sends him flying towards one of the Marine Battleships and hitting one of the masts with enough kinetic energy to crack it.
"Who's next!?" Kaido roars out in fury as he looks around like a deranged beast looking for his next prey.
As if to answer his question, Space starts distorting slightly around Zachariah's body before it phases into nothingness from the cracked mast, and suddenly appearing under Kaido's body where he was not too long ago.
"Rewind!" Zachariah roars out as he kicks upwards on Kaido's chin, making the giant of a man stagger once more as the distance between them grew.
Meanwhile with Roger and Rayleigh, their singular battles ended up becoming one amazing team battle, with them constantly switching opponents to confuse the heat duo.
"You certainly are quite the tricky one aren't you?" Rayleigh remarks as his sword hits Admiral Hisoka's claw weapons, making a power struggle begin between the two.
"My, my what gave it away? Is it my taunting? Or is it my acrobatic skills?" Hisoka playfully asks, the ever-present grin on his face only widening at when he finishes talking.
"No, more like your dickishness." Rayleigh retorts as he begins to overpower Hisoka in terms of pure physical strength.
"You know as well as I do that it will take more than pure physical force to take me down." Hisoka states as his body explodes into intense flames.
"That may be the case, but you wouldn't be the first logia I have taken down." Rayleigh snarks back before sprinting at the man with his haki-infused blade poised to strike the flamboyant admiral down permanently.
Meanwhile, Roger and Vice-Admiral Sakazuki at the moment were facing each other in a rather one-sided fight.
Guesses on who is overpowering who at the moment.
"You have much to learn young man. A devil fruit can only take one so far." Rogers chastises Sakazuki for his over-reliant use of his Magma-Magma Fruit.
The injured and bloody Sakazuki only roars out in retaliation as he launches waves upon waves of magma upon Roger, regardless on whether or not his attacks accidently hit his subordinates. "You will meet your end today Roger!" Akainu exclaims large balls of magma towards him, with Roger dodging and weaving through them, getting ever so closer towards Akainu.
When the up and coming pirate king gets close enough, he slashes at Sakazuki across the chest with his cutlass, injuring him even more than he already is.
Sakazuki yells out in agony as the pain from all of his accumulated wounds begin to get to him, not to mention all the blood he has lost fighting Roger has caused the Vice-Admiral to slowly begin to lose consciousness, though through sheer will has denied his body to fall.
"You definitely have spunk I'll give you that. Sadly, I'm going to end this now. We've been fighting for hours now and I just want to relax at this point. It's been fun. With your capabilities, I can see you becoming Admiral in no time." Roger compliments, suddenly right in Sakazukis face as he launches a flurry of haki-infused punches and kicks at magma man, who didn't get the chance to form into logia form and therefore soaks the damage up like a mangled sponge. With one last punch, Roger launches the unconscious Sakazuki's body into the ocean, making many of the marine soldiers look on in shock and horror that one of their strongest got taken down as if it were nothing.
"One down, two to go." Brook says to himself as focuses back on his opponents, knowing that this skirmish will soon end, with them most likely being the victor considering Kaido is having a hard time with the purple haired admiral, and that Rayleigh is now being assisted by Roger to take down Admiral Hisoka.
It's always a good day for the Roger Pirates.
Twenty Years Ago…
Today is not a good day for the Roger Pirates.
Even when disbanded for about a year now, it still hurts all of them to know that their captain is going to be executed in front of the public just for following his dreams and living his life to the fullest.
Brook looks on at the execution platform sitting in the town square of Loguetown, solemnly awaiting for his captain to be led to his death. Using Observation Haki, he feels the presence of both Shanks and Buggy, as well as many other powerful figures hiding within the public.
Despite his rather tall height and being a skeleton, with a good disguise that involves a lot of bandages, a really conservative suit, and shoving all of his afro into a really tall top hat, he is able to go through the crowd as he pleases as they are more interested in to see when the famed Pirate King will be shown.
Climbing to the top of one of the buildings around the execution platform, Brook can see his captain Roger in the distance, walking ever so confidently to his death, having lived as a man with no regrets. Slowly, but ever so surely, the gap between him and the execution platform gets smaller and smaller, until he is finally at the platform's steps.
"Inherited will, the destiny of the age, the dreams of its people. As long as people pursue the meaning of freedom, these things will never cease." Roger states loudly, everybody in the vicinity hearing him loud and clear. Eventually, he reaches up to the top of the platform, standing tall and proud as he always did.
"Do you have any last words?" One of the executioners asks Roger.
Roger turns his body slightly towards the executioner who asked him with a knowing grin, startling the man. "Can you take this off? It's chafing me." Roger requests the man.
Looking away, the man replies, "I cannot do that!"
"Why would I run away now? Hmm… That's a little saddening…" At that, roger continues on forward before turning around and sitting down with his legs crossed, looking onto the crowd before him. "Well, go ahead and finish it." Roger says uncaringly.
The executioners begin to do so, starting the proceedings that they have to do before they execute a criminal. Everyone looks on at the scene with anticipation on the Pirate King's oncoming death.
"HEY PIRATE KING!"
Everyone turns to the voice of the man who yelled out to Roger, who looked at the man with slight interest.
"What did you do with your treasure!? It's somewhere on the Grand Line isn't it!? You have it don't you!? The greatest treasure in the world!" The man yells out to Gol D. Roger, with many people around the yelling man getting more nervous with each passing moment this man keeps his mouth open.
"Insolent! Hold your tongue!" an angered execution roars out to the man, but he is nonetheless ignored.
"Your one special treasure!? ONE PIECE!" The spectator screams out of the top of his lungs as if his life depended on it.
For a moment, everything is silent, but then everyone can hear the faint chuckle coming out of Gol D. Roger's mouth before it erupts into full blown laughter.
"My treasure?" Roger rhetorically asks, making Roger's former crewmates look on in anticipation on whether or not Roger will reveal anything about the treasure they stashed together on Raftel.
"Alright that's enough!" The executioners exclaim, pointing their blades closer to Roger in hopes that it will quiet him down, but as always it is unsuccessful.
"If you want it, I'll let you have it!" Roger continues on, with his ever present grin widening. "Go look for it."
At that, the executioner begin to raise their blades, in hopes to stop Roger from revealing anything that can cause anything bad for the World Government.
Even so, Roger continues on, saying the last words that anyone will ever hear from the Pirate King. "I left it all in that place!"
"EXECUTE!" one of the executioners exclaim, driving their blades straight into Roger's chest, Instantly killing the Pirate King right then and there.
Everybody could only look on in silence at what just happened. Not only did the pirate king die, but he also revealed that his famous treasure is somewhere in the Grand Line.
Suddenly, as if someone let the floodgates open, Almost the entire crowd erupts into cheers of joy.
Brook can only look on solemnly at Roger's death, though he isn't surprised to see him do a last hurrah right before he died. Suddenly, he felt a bit of water hit his shoulder, making him look up to see that the sky is clouding up, bringing with it heavy rain. "Even in death, You still know how to turn the world upside down. Goodbye Captain. It's been fun." Brook says, mostly to himself, and partially hoping that somehow, his captain heard him. Looking down at his captain's corpse for the last time, Brook slowly turns around and walks through the rooftops of the buildings, bidding his now deceased captain farewell.
Eleven Years Ago…
"Say, If Roger were to have a kid? What would you do?"
A disguised Brook stops what he is doing to turn around to see a small child ask that question to a group of drunken lowlifes near one of the alleys in the vicinity.
"If Gold Roger had a child? He'd be beheaded, no doubt about it!" One of the thugs states as he does a slashing motion to his neck.
"His last words should be something like this: I'm so sorry I was born! I'm just garbage!" Another man says mockingly, making crying noises before he and everyone around him erupt into laughter, unknowingly humiliating and angering the child before them.
In an instant, the kid was on top of the man who cried mockingly in front of him, landing multiple hits to the face with a broken pipe, and therefore knocked him out with his face bleeding profusely.
"Gah!? What the hell is your deal kid!?" one of the drunk thugs exclaims, sloppily lashing out at the kid with his beer bottle.
The kid reacts in time to parry the strike and hit the man right on the temple, making him crumple onto the ground like a sack of potatoes. The kid continues going on the offensive as he jumps off of the man he first knocked out and lashes out the remaining three other men, not caring for the difference in both size and numbers.
Brook looks on at the small skirmish with interest as it soon ends with the small kid victorious, though not without a few injuries himself. He can see the kid slightly limping away through the alleyways, and decides to shadow the kid to see where he is going. After trailing him for about five minutes or so, he finds the child sitting down on a cliff off the edge of the island, looking on in the distance as if something is troubling his mind.
"Ahem!" Brook coughs, Ace getting up on high alert as he looks at the tallest man he has ever seen.
"Are you with those men at the alley?" Ace growls out, grabbing his pipe and holding it in a defensive position.
Brook holds up a hand peacefully, showing that he means no harm. Even so, Ace is still wary of the man, who begins to walk closer to him, and subconsciously makes Ace tighten the hold he has on the pipe. Brook ends up beside Ace before sitting down on the floor beside Ace with his legs crossed, putting his sword can to his side, waiting patiently for Ace to calm down when he sees that he truly means no harm to the boy.
Slowly, The boy begins to sit down as well when he realizes that the tall lanky man is not going to hurt him whatsoever.
"Let me tell you the story of someone I knew for a long time…" Brook began, piquing Ace's interest as well as confusion as to why this man would come up to some random child to tell him a story of somebody else who he probably doesn't even know.
"…His name is Gol D. Roger, and I met him twenty seven years ago on Reverse Mountain…"
Or maybe not.
Nine Years Ago…
Peroperopero~
Peroperopero~
Brook glances to his den-den mushi, wondering who in the world is calling him at the moment. It's one o'clock in the morning for God sakes! "Hello? Who is it?" A disgruntled Brook asks through the phone.
"Well, I certainly wasn't expecting that answer when I called you. It's a pleasure to talk to you too old friend." A voice states mirthfully, making Brook's socket's widen in surprise.
"Shanks. It certainly has been a while. How's everything going for you? Everything running smoothly I hope?" Brook asks, changing his tone of voice once he realises who is on the other side of the den-den mushi.
"Yes, everything is going well right now, but that's not what I want to talk to you about." Shank says.
"Well what is it then?" Brook asks his former crewmate.
"About a year ago, on a certain island in the East Blue, I met a kid who at first seemed to be some ordinary kid with big dreams, but then some events happened that caused me to change my perspective on the kid who I know wholeheartedly defies any form of logic whatsoever." Shanks says, piquing Brook's interest since the kid must've been very special for Shanks to have taken the time to call him, especially during this time of the night.
"Okay, but why call me? Usually this type of stuff is reserved for Rayleigh. Why inform me of a kid that I have no history with?" Brook inquires, only to hear a small chuckle escape Shanks lips. "What is it that you know that I don't Shanks?"
"The funny thing is… the kid told me a story where he-" Shanks suddenly stops talking, making Brook wonder whether the red haired man passed out or something, since he has seen it happen decades ago when he was younger.
"He what?" Brook asks, wondering what Shanks was going to say.
"Hmm… You know what? Forget I said anything. It make things much more entertaining." Shanks says, waving off what he was going to say as if it weren't important.
"So you just called me, in the middle of the night, for nothing?" Brook slowly says, getting more and more irritated by each passing word that comes out of his mouth.
"I guess so huh? But hey, at least you got to talk to me. We both know you miss me." Shanks says in a playful manner, trying to get a reaction out of the musician.
Only for Brook to hang up the Den-Den Mushi.
Brook can only sigh in resignation, wondering what in the blazes did Shanks mean with that phone call.
Eh, he'll think about it later.
Sleep is important after all.
Present Time…
"So you sent your family to go hunting in the Calm Belt just so you and me can have some alone time?" Brook asks his friend Laboon, who chirps and nods, confirming Brook's suspicions that Laboon wants to have some quality bonding time with his best friend.
"Can I join in on the fun?" Crocus asks, bringing a foldable chair with him as well as a newspaper.
"Bwoooh!" Laboon lets out a cry of agreement.
"Well it looks like we got our answer Crocus." Brook says contently as he brings out his violin from its case.
"Let's start off with a classic one! You know which one I'm referring to." Crocus suggests, making Brook smile, despite the fact that he has no skin or muscles to smile, Crocus and Laboon can tell when Brook is smiling.
"Ah, but how else am I going to start off? We both know that Laboon can never tire of this song no matter how many times he has heard it." Brook says as he places the violin in between his neck and cheekbone, before beginning to play and sing.
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho~
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho~
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho~
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho~
Going to deliver Binks' Sake!~
Following the sea breeze! Riding on the waves!~
Far across the salty depths! The merry evening sun!~
The birds sing as they draw circles in the sky!~
Farewell to the harbor, To my old hometown ,let's all sing out with a Don!~
As the ship sets sail, waves of gold and silver dissolve to salty spray as we all set sail to the ends of the sea!~
Memories of his past adventures with his first crew, the Rumbar Pirates, begin to fill his mind, remembering all the fun times he has had with them since he left being the leader of a battle convoy from that kingdom and finding his first home through them.
Going to deliver Binks' Sake!
We are pirates sailing through the Sea!
The waves are our pillows, The ship our roost, flying the proud skull on our flags and our sails!~
Now comes a storm through the far-off sky!~
Now the waves are dancing, Beat upon the drums!~
If you lose your nerve this breath could be your last, but if you just hold on, the morning sun will rise!~
Memories of his return to piracy through Gol D. Roger as well as the many, many adventures he has had being apart of his crew phase into his mind, reminding him off the good things that came out of their adventures.
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho~
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho~
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho~
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho~
Going to deliver Binks' Sake!~
Today, and tomorrow, our dreams through the night!~
Waving our goodbyes, we'll never meet again!~
But don't look so down, For tomorrow night the moon will also rise!~
Going to deliver Binks' Sake!~
Let's all sing it with a Don! A song of the waves~
Doesn't matter who you are, Someday you'll just be bones~
Never-Ending, Ever-wandering, Our funny Traveling tale!~
The image of his captain, Gol D. Roger staring death in the face with no regrets, his trademark smile etched onto his face, never wavering even after death, showing the world that he lived his life to the fullest, with no regrets whatsoever.
'Life is good.' Brook thinks to himself as he begins to finish the song.
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho~
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho~
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho~
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho~
Only when he finished the song did Brook realize that they have some company. A really well armed caravel class ship reaches down onto the calmer part of the knock up stream, where all the energy is reduced since gravity is no longer driving the water downwards. He also notices how all of them are looking at the skeleton with something akin to awe, with the man in the straw hat having some tears leak out from his eyes, no doubt moved by his wonderful singing and music playing of course.
"Ah! Welcome to the Grand Line! I hope you all are prepared for the arduous journey ahead of you! Oh, I'm getting ahead of myself! Where are my manners?" Brook says quickly, before realizing that he hasn't introduced himself properly to the newcomers to the Grand Line. "My name is Brook! If you want a different tune, just give me a sax-a-bone!" Brook jokes, hoping to lighten up the crew's spirits with one of his trademark skull jokes.
"Y-Yes! Hi! My name is Luffy! And this is my crew, the Strawhat Pirates!" the well-built and muscular man wearing an incredibly familiar straw hat now that he looks at it more closely says as he gets off the ship and goes up to the musician with a beaming smile.
"It's nice to meet you."
And there we have it. Yet another half-assed chapter that I rushed out because I no longer wanted to keep my fellow readers waiting as to what will happen next.
Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and make sure to favorite, follow, and review! all of your reviews and PM's not matter how negative or positive, will always be appreciated.
On a sidenote, I'm thinking of rewriting my earlier chapters because let's face it: It's complete and utter shit compared to my newer chapters in terms of quality and consistency. Whenever I do, I'll post a note of that on whichever chapter comes next as I fix them up.
Thank you for your time and have a pleasant day!~
Forzarismo,
June 12, 2018
