Chapter 2: Gathering Funds! The crew begins their pirate training!
Ronnie felt water being poured over his head, he was instantly awake after that cold liquid washed over his face. He waited for his vision to clear, the residue water was blinked out of existence as his ears picked up coughing coming from around him.
"All right you poster people of scum and villainy! Today you start your Hope certified Pirate training! Yay!" the voice of their captain bellowed as many groans filled the air. The crew had rented a barn to crash in, which was not a good idea to Ronnie because he could hear just about everyone doing just about everything after their party at the bar.
"Say thanks to your hooded crew member, because he has gotten me information on who we're going to raid next! These people aren't amateurs though so i'll give you an hour to prepare yourselves!" Hope explained as Ronnie spotted his fellow crew member, the person who everyone named Hood, standing beside the captain. It was true that he was the one who had saved their hides in the previous battle against the butcher's men. Sure Ronnie was holding his own, but this person was on a different level. Some of the things he saw he couldn't explain. He had half the mind to call him a devil fruit eater.
It looked as if Hood had taken the role of first mate, not that Ronnie wanted it, too much responsibility for him and it would leave little time for his maintenance of the ship that he assumed Hope had waiting for them.
"You heard the captain!" Hood bellowed with a commanding voice. "Get your sorry asses into gear and get washed! For those of you that are too hungover to remember where we are. We are in a barn, next to a water pump, wash there and get your weapons ready!"
Ronnie couldn't say he expected that from Hood.
Hope looked at the large asian-themed estate, he couldn't name what culture it resembled, and he wouldn't call it Chinese because he believed that was culturally inappropriate, even if the culture did not exist on this planet.
"So you had a look inside and counted forty odd guards, did you demon?" Hope teased as his hooded crewmember grit his teeth. Hope knew he didn't like being called that. "If you wanna be free, you're going to have to be free of the irritation that that nickname causes you demon, because after you become comfortable with that, you will be able to show your face in public places"
"I… suppose you are right, Captain" Hood replied as his two scimitars glinted in the sunlight.
Hope smirked. "Of course I'm right! I'm a genius!"
Hood snorted, his interpretation of genius was different to his captain's. There was only one person on this planet that he considered a genius.
"Your guess was close but not correct… I count fifty patrolling the estate, with ten inside probably doing business or other things" Hope said mumbling the last part. This count surprised Hood, he was extremely thorough with his scouting, he could remember any and every face he saw but didn't count more than forty
"What makes you say that captain?" He asked, wondering why Hope had guessed more than him, yet had never set foot in the building in his life, unlike himself.
"I said it before… It's because I'm a genius!" he almost shouted, making Hood slightly anxious, what if the guards found them before they attacked?
"Go get the crew demon! I'll make sure the crew will be facing a challenging but winnable opponent!" Hope explained, slapping Hood on the back before walking towards the manner. Despite how strange his captain was, Hood could confirm that he was not a liar.
He smirked under his hood and turned around, the crew should be armed by now, raring to go he assumed at least, he was raring to go. Every fight like this brought him closer to his goal, even though it had only been formed months ago.
The walk to the barn was far enough for the estate to be out of view for him, out of ear range as well. To him the streets of Dancer Port disgusted him, sure they were somewhat clean and had shops that were family friendly. Yet the outright sight of slaves and slavers immediately detracted from the idea of normality
He reached the barn to find the crew all kitted up and somewhat ready to go. Captain Hope didn't seem to give inspiring speeches so he decided he would have to do it in his stead, a part of him enjoyed it. "All right you fools! The captain has decided to battle our enemy already, he grew tired of waiting for you hungover, sex-starved idiots to get ready. Let's go show him that we're there to support his ambitions and get some gold!"
The crew roared in approval, making Hood feel warm inside, the thought of acceptance filled him for a second before he flushed it down. "Follow me you fools!"
Hood turned around and marched the crew out of the barn, towards the estate, sounds of gunfire and swords clashing becoming more and more noticeable to his ears. So he started to jog, they started to jog. He started to run, they started to run. He started to scream, they started to scream.
They stormed the estate with minimal resistance and made their way to their captain who was lazily dodging and weaving through a storm of arrows and bullets. Despite all the battlecries, gunshots and explosions, Hope's voice was the loudest.
"Shihehehehe! Go get them you scoundrels!" he shouted before Ronnie's blunderbuss took off the head of an attacking swordsman.
Hope smiled as he watched his crew beat the remaining twenty odd members of the triad, the gang he had attacked. His initial assault had probably stunned them and weakened morale enough for his crew to wipe them out without any casualties. It wasn't often that grunts of a fairly powerful mafia were attacked by upstart pirates.
The doors to the estate were kicked open to reveal a man in a suit and black trenchcoat, sunglasses and wielding two pistols. "That's its you fuckers! You've come and attacked my home for no reason! It's time for you to pay!"
Hope could tell that this man was different from the other grunts he had faced, sure he was stronger than them but that didn't mean he didn't trust his crew enough to take him on. "Demon, take out this fool while the others mop up"
Hood sprung into action dashing towards the gunman who started to open fire on Hood. He dashed and dodged and weaved out of the way until he was within range, slashing an x pattern onto his chest with his blades, to finish him off Hood decapitated him.
Hope yawned as the last gunshot was fired, signaling a total victory for him and his crew. "All right! Let's loot the place and put all of the bodies onto one massive pile."
The crew nodded and started to do their assigned tasks, even after a stamina draining battle. Hope knew that the stamina they would gain from not stopping their activities would be helpful in Paradise and the New World.
He personally took a walk outside, and looked at the busted gates. There was a woman standing there holding binoculars. He decided to pay her a visit and walked over to her.
She was smaller than him but it didn't detract from her intimidating aura. Not that Hope was scared. Her blonde hair and blue eyes would have made her a hit with men and women everywhere, but the countless amount of scars on her face told everyone who saw them that she was no pretty girl, but a hardened warrior.
"Hello! My name is Hope! I assume that you were watching that altercation?" He questioned as he noticed Revy walking towards them with a complicated look on her face.
The woman pulled out a cigarette and lit it. "My name is Baliliaka"
"Ooh! I Know you! You're that scary lady that Revy mentioned!" Hope mocked as his senses screamed at him to move, so he did, jumping back moments before a bullet embedded itself into the ground. "Now that wasn't a nice greeting was it?"
Balilaika's hardened eyes glared at Hope. She lit her cigarette and blew the smoke towards Hope. "I admit that I thought I would have been rid of you after that shot"
Hope noticed the firearm on her side and robbed her of it, he pointed the pistol at the direction where the bullet came from and fired. "I guess you lost a gun and a sniper, that isn't good is it?"
Balilaika had trouble reacting to how quickly Hope had taken out one of her best snipers. This and robbing her of her pistol in broad daylight with enough speed that she could see him but not react.
"I honestly had you pinned for more of a physically powerful opponent. But even geni can get it wrong sometimes" Hope said with a sigh as he crushed the gun with his hand effortlessly. "Especially since you're a subordinate of Doflamingo."
He watched as Revy drew her cutlasses and aimed them at Hope. Balilaika put a hand up, signaling for her to stand down. "Two Hands that's enough… I don't think there's anyone on this island capable of defeating him in combat"
Hope nodded. "Ding Ding Ding! You're correct! Your reward for answering correctly is this… Tomorrow I will attack your estate and take your life, my crew will kill your crew, Revy will join my crew"
"Huh? Who said I would join your crew?" Revy shouted in confusion as Balilaika narrowed her eyes.
"I admit, Two Hands isn't the type to betray her employer, how are you going to do that?" the mafia leader asked as Hope dropped the gun onto the ground.
Hope turned around and laughed.
Revy didn't know what to think, why was this person going out of his way to get her all worked up and ready for an adventure? She couldn't deny that she was interested, only that she buried that curiosity deep down, because she believed that dreamers like him would end up dead.
The crew feasted on whatever they plundered from the estate's kitchens. Lots of meat and lots of spices were sacrificed before the crew ate some tasty food. Not that they complained about the bad tasting food in front of the chef, who at the time was Hood. They all saw how much more adept at combat he was compared to them. Even Bill Theif Biggie would struggle with him.
Their captain sat on the side drinking tea and munching on some of the better tasting meats that the crew had produced.
He was a mystery to them, he had that special charisma that attracted followers and a keen eye to search through just about anything. There was no denying his strength as well, the crew suspected that this seventeen year old could take down a small army if he wanted to.
"You fools! Don't drink too much tonight! Tomorrow we raid another gang!" Hope bellowed with a smile that made them laugh.
They all cheered in approval. Hope really did let them think that there were good people on those seas. Though it didn't matter to them, they had him and only needed him.