On a small island nearby…
A pirate ship was docked by the shore of a remote island. The ship's figurehead resembled a stylized sheep wearing a musketeer's hat, and the hull was painted crimson. A fine, yet currently empty vessel. The crew had left for shore, and were gathered in a clearing. Their eyes were glued to their captain, as well as a boy hanging upside down by his legs from a tree branch.
"Let me go, you damn witch!" the boy yelled out, struggling against the ropes currently leaving him defenseless. The boy had short, curly blonde hair and wore an opened dark blue jacket with the sleeves rolled up, a white cravat, a black shirt and blue pants. Normally he also wore a black top hat with blue goggles wrapped around it, but it had fallen off (and subsequently looted by one of the pirates) when he was hung upside down. Despite his predicament, he had a stalwart and defiant glare in his eyes. "If you don't untie right now, I'm gonna…"
Yet all his defiance got him was a slap across the face by a gloved hand, sending him spinning and swinging about. The hand that slapped him promptly moved up to adjust a pair of glasses worn by the captain of the pirate crew. A slim, beautiful woman with long blonde hair, staring sternly down at the tied up boy through her narrow glasses. Her outfit was reminiscent of that of a musketeer, colored crimson and orange, and replacing the typical sword with a spiked whip. Her Jolly Roger was displayed on the cloak, showing a skull wearing a musketeer's hat and with its eyes concealed by narrow glasses.
"That's sexual harassment" captain 'Iron Whip' Kalifa of the Kalifa Pirates declared, cracking her whip.
"How the hell is that sexual harassment?!" the boy yelled, his eyes briefly turning pure white and growing in size from his anger. He was still swinging around from the last slap, so Kalifa opted to simply kick him in the stomach this time.
One of the pirates watching visibly winced as his captain kicked the boy.
"Man, the captain's really giving it to him" he whispered to his crewmate besides him.
"Yeah, kinda thought she'd just kick his ass and throw him to the sharks" the other crewmate solemnly nodded. "Guess she wants to make an example out of him…"
"Seriously, the hell was he thinking? Trying to fight the entire crew at once… is he an idiot?" the first pirate continued whispering.
"Talking about my body behind my back is sexual harassment" Kalifa called out to the two, turning to face them and cracking her whip.
"WE WEREN'T DOING THAT!" they yelled, waving their arms in a panic.
"Hm? A pirate ship?"
Nami shielded her eyes from the sun as she stared towards the shape in the distance. Indeed, docked by an island was a red-painted ship, the Jolly Roger waving in the wind proudly displaying its allegiance to a pirate crew. The orange-haired girl scratched her chin as she pondered what to do.
"...ah, screw it. I'll go nuts if I have to keep staying alone in this boat for much longer."
She had underestimated the boredom that arose from sailing on her own. She swiftly turned her boat to sail towards the island, docking out of view of the pirate ship just in case. After that she jumped onto shore, deciding to leave her axe behind to try and lure the pirates into a sense of security. After all, that would make them easier to rob silently. Hearing some noise from within the forest, she headed that way to investigate.
She soon came upon the scene in the clearing, with Kalifa calmly walking away from two badly injured pirates whip in hand. The other pirates hadn't spotted Nami yet, who raised an eyebrow as she saw the boy hanging upside down from the tree.
"Now then, where were we?" the blonde woman said coldly, cracking her whip.
"Wait… is she gonna? No, I'm sure he'll be fine…" Nami thought to herself, as a bead of sweat made its way down her forehead.
Kalifa swung her arm back and raised her whip up high, the metal spikes shimmering in the sunlight as she prepared to strike the defenseless boy. Defiant to the last, the boy grit his teeth and closed his eyes, not wanting to give his captor the joy of seeing him cry. But the pain he anticipated never came. He slowly opened one eye to see what was going on.
The gathering of pirates stared in shock. As Kalifa's whip had descended towards its victim, someone had burst out of the bushes with an incredible speed and grabbed it with her bare hand! Upon closer inspection, it seemed like the newcomer had a metal left arm, which is what she had grabbed it with. The metal was clearly of a stronger quality than that of Kalifa's whip, as the spikes bent in the cyborg's grip.
"Look, I don't know what your deal with this kid is, but I'm not gonna let you whip a 12-year old" Nami said sternly, still holding on to Kalifa's whip.
"12?! I'm 16!" the tied up boy yelled. "...also, thank you very much for saving me!"
"Wait, you're 16? Stop joking around!" Nami said, turning to look at the young-looking boy.
"I'm not joking! I just haven't hit my growth spurt yet. Just you wait, in a few months I'll be as tall as you!" the boy continued, pouting cutely.
"Yeah, sure. Look, I-"
Nami was interrupted by Kalifa pulling hard on the whip, making Nami lose her grip on it.
"You grabbed my whip without consent… that's sexual harassment" Kalifa frowned, glancing at the spikes that were bent by Nami's metal grip.
"Wait, how does that- whoa!"
Nami had no time to question it, as Kalifa cracked her whip towards her. The orange-haired pirate was forced to jump to the side to avoid the dangerous attack. She was starting to regret leaving her axe behind in the boat. Kalifa followed this up with several more attacks, forcing Nami to stay at a distance until she managed to grab hold of the whip once more. Kalifa frowned as she found her weapons once again in the younger pirate's clutches. She glanced quickly at her crew, who were still just standing there dumbfounded.
"Waiting so long to help me? That's-"
"Yeah yeah, we get it!" Nami interrupted her, tugging hard on the whip and making Kalifa stumble forwards. Her pirate goons rushed forwards to help their captain, with the first reaching Nami while Kalifa was still going forwards, attempting to punch the orange-haired girl. Nami dealt with this situation quite efficiently; her right hand caught the man's punch, while her right foot shot out to kick Kalifa in the stomach. Then, using the grip on Kalifa's whip and the fist she had caught in her hand, she threw both towards the charging horde of pirates while she dove backwards to get some distance.
Nami quickly reached over to the tied-up boy, handing him a spike she had removed from Kalifa's whip. Part of his hand which poked out from the ropes grasped onto the spike, the boy grinning as Nami prepared to fight the incoming group of pirates.
Kalifa adjusted her glasses as she stood up (none of her crew dared trying to help her up, in fear of being accused of sexual harassment), glaring at Nami. The metal-armed pirate was dealing with her crew quite efficiently, easily avoiding their attacks while dispatching them with her own powerful punches. The robotic arm in particular being capable of some devastating attacks. Kalifa grimaced as she rushed in to try and whip Nami.
Seeing Kalifa's incoming attack, Nami grabbed a fat man by the collar and dragged him in between her and Kalifa. Thus, the whip struck only him instead, despite his pleas for his captain to stop.
"Hey! That was a cheap trick!" "Yeah! You lousy coward!" "You foul woman!"
The pirates jeered at Nami's tactic, only warranting an eye roll from the 'foul woman'.
"It worked, didn't it?" she shrugged before grabbing the back of the man's shirt with her other hand, and throwing him at a group of enemies. She turned back towards Kalifa, who prepared herself to whip one more time.
"That's sexual harassment-" "SERIOUSLY?!" "I will now administer your punishment" Kalifa coldly stated, before she began whipping around herself seemingly at random. The speed rapidly increased, the whip becoming a blur that encompassed her entire body in a metal ball. Then, she suddenly leaped towards Nami with an intense flurry of strikes. "THORN FOR ALL!"
Nami remained calm, swinging her metal arm up to hit the whip as it swung towards her. The whip wrapped around her lower arm, as she gripped it tightly.
"SHE BLOCKED THORN FOR ALL?!" one of the remaining pirates cried out in shock, never having seen his captain's ultimate attack fail before.
Nami grit her teeth as she once more pulled on the whip, dragging Kalifa through the air. As she did so, Nami's right hand clenched into a fist and swung in a downwards angle towards Kalifa's face. Before the blonde captain even had a chance to react, the fist collided hard with her face. Nami's punch continued, digging into Kalifa's cheek as it slammed her face into the ground hard. A small crater formed, as Kalifa's glasses shattered.
After that, silence. The pirates who weren't already knocked out were staring in complete disbelief. With the exception of one standing a couple of metres behind Nami. Grasping a rifle in his trembling hands, he slowly aimed it towards the girl who had just defeated his captain… but before he could fire, a metal pipe slammed against the back of his head, making him fall unconscious to the ground.
Standing over him was the previously captive boy, now freed from his bonds with the help of the spike Nami had handed him. He grinned proudly as he looked over at Nami, who gave a thumbs up. The very few remaining pirates took this as their cue to flee.
"Nice hit" Nami smiled. "Why did these guys tie you up anyways?"
"I snuck aboard their ship and tried to take them down. I was gonna hand them over to the Marines so they would let me join" the boy declared, picking up his hat which had fallen off the head of one of the pirates Nami defeated. "When I went to apply they just sent me home."
"Well, yeah. I doubt the Marines would want to accept 12-year olds" Nami shrugged, scratching the back of her head.
"I'm 16!" the boy yelled. He stomped his foot angrily, this clearly being a sore spot for him. Nami just scoffed in disbelief. "I'm serious! You stupid orange-haired witch!"
An anger vein popped up on Nami's forehead as her frustration with the little brat mounted. She swiftly moved over to him and grabbed him by the back of his shirt collar, lifting him into the air. Shadows covered the top half of her face as she spoke to him. While she still wore a smile, the look in her eyes and tone of her voice revealed a barely concealed fury.
"Excuse me? Didn't I just save your life? I think you should watch your mouth a little~"
A bead of sweat formed on the side of the blonde boy's head as Nami's glare bore into his very soul.
"S-sorry miss!" he quickly blurted out. His pride was not so overwhelming he wasn't willing to apologize (especially to save his life). Nami's expression immediately shifted back to a pleasant demeanour, gently placing the boy back on the ground.
"No problem~" she sang, as the boy was getting a bit creeped out at how quickly her mood switched. "Ah, we haven't been properly introduced, have we? I'm Nami, the beautiful future Pirate Queen!"
She struck a fabulous pose as she said that, with one hand on her chest and the other on her hip.
"Oh, right. I'm Sabo" he smiled, before his eyes suddenly widened. "Wait, pirate? You're a pirate?!"
"Yeah, though technically I haven't done anything except beat these guys up yet. And in this instance I intervened to save a minor, followed by self-defence. Even if you dragged me in front of a court, they wouldn't have anything on me" Nami smirked with a wink.
Sabo didn't have anything to say to that, so he just sighed.
"Well… y-you'd better watch yourself, because I'm keeping an eye on you. And if you start acting up, I'll come for you!" the boy declared, puffing out his chest.
Nami rolled her eyes.
"I'm trembling" she said before pointing in the direction she came from. "My boat's in that direction. If you want you can hitch a ride until we reach the next island."
Sabo was about to start walking towards the boat, but sudden hesitation rushed over him.
"Wait… how do I know you're not gonna throw me overboard while I sleep?! Or sell me as a slave!"
"Well, it's either ride with me or stay on the island. Alone. With the crazy dominatrix and her band of jolly jackasses" Nami shrugged. "It's up to you. I've got something to take care of first."
Realizing that he had no other options, Sabo sighed and started walking towards the boat. He glanced over at the defeated Kalifa's discarded whip laying in the grass, remembering the danger he was in and the dread he felt. His sight went back to focusing on the forest as he continued heading to shore.
Sabo sighed, resting on his back in the boat and staring up at the clouds.
"What's taking her so long…?" he pondered, frowning. "Wait… what if she's taking Kalifa's ship? Would she even be able to steer it on her own? Or… is this all some extremely elaborate con? A con that's either incredibly stupid or insanely brilliant."
His rambling thoughts were interrupted by the sound of snapping branches and bushes being pushed aside. He sat up, seeing Nami emerge from the forest… carrying a large wooden chest on her shoulder. She had a big goofy grin on her face as she placed the chest on the boat, getting in after and setting off. Between Sabo, Nami, the chest and Nami's huge axe, there was very little space left.
"Wha-what's this?" Sabo asked, confused.
"Well, I figured it would be a waste to leave without checking their treasury first~" Nami snickered, opening the chest to reveal that it was full of gold! Sabo was admittedly impressed, this being the first time he had ever seen such a huge amount of valuables in the same place. He moved closer to get a better look, but the chest was slammed shut right in front of his face. He fell backwards in surprise, and was about to yell at Nami for being so careless when he saw the look on her face. A calm smile, but eyes that told him to back off. Luckily, Sabo was starting to learn to pick his battles, and so he let it go.
"Waaaaaah…" Nami sobbed, her hand half-submerged in the seas as she stared down into the blue abyss with teary eyes.
"Will you stop it already? You've been crying for three hours!" Sabo yelled at her with his arms crossed.
"You were the one who threw it overboard…" Nami growled, shooting the blonde boy a death glare.
"It was too heavy! Would you rather we sink?"
"Maybe I should have thrown you overboard instead…"
Sabo sighed, knowing there was no winning this discussion. As he gazed back to the sea, however, he suddenly spotted something over the horizon. He raised an eyebrow as the distant silhouette distance slowly became clearer.
"Hey, Nami! I think I see an island" he called out, leaning forwards and shielding his eyes from the sun to get a better look.
Nami pulled herself together enough to take a look for herself, grinning as she saw the faraway landmass.
"Great!" Nami said as she stood up. "You can buy me supplies there to make up for the chest."
"AS IF!"