Chapter 4: The Island of Kinghts! Camelot Island!

Balilaika was panting, her mansion destroyed and her underlings butchered by the upstart pirate crew led by that monster that called himself Hope. It was ironic, she thought, that a man named that would bring despair to her and others like her.

The golden eyes that looked down on her certainly did not reflect a mere mortal, if she didn't know any better she would say that this man would be an enemy of the gods. "W-what do you want?"

He raised an eyebrow, as if he were mocking her. "I'm a pirate"

She knew what that meant and prepared herself for the worst… it wasn't anything that Doflamingo hadn't done to her already.

"I want Parties, Plunder and Power" Hope explained as the bloodied tip of his spear touched her chin, staining it with her subordinate's blood. "I have power, and I have partied for the last three nights."

Balalaika understood what he was after. Gold and valuables, assets and munitions. "I'm robbing you for all the guns, swords and berries you have. Tell me Miss Underling of Doflamingo. Where are your ships?"

She didn't hesitate, there was no point in denying Hope any longer. "Port A… though you will only find a small caravel"

Hope nodded and removed his spear. "Cool beans… I'll be taking that"

He turned around, an action which shocked her. Her thoughts became verbal "Isn't he going to rape me?"

Hope glared at her. "I may be a pirate… but even pirates have to have standards, which separates us from thugs"

Hope sat on the balcony of his newly acquired caravel, looking down at the deck which was packed with his crew. "Let me make things clear. You can do what you want when you are apart of this crew… But."

Everyone's breath hitched as the gaze of Hope sharpened. "If I catch anyone murdering innocents, murdering crewmembers or Oda forbid raping anyone… you will be drowned by me personally"

Most of the crew gulped. Revy looked at Hope with confusion. Hood nodded and Ronnie hummed in agreement. They where glad to know that their captain was not a complete monster.

"Revy I want to talk to you in private… the rest of you set the ship's course for Camelot Island" Hope ordered as he dropped down from the balcony onto the deck. The crew stood there for a second, contemplating how to rig a vessel like this.

Hope didn't bother asking them if they knew how to sail a ship, he would let them figure it out. Pushing the door to the Captain's quarters open he spared a small glance at Revy before walking in.

The room itself was full of treasure and weaponry, an organized mess that Hope was going to transfer to the hull of his ship sooner or later. He heard the door close, indicating that Revy was in the room.

"I'm sorry… I didn't realize that you were there as a forced worker" Hope apologized, turning around and bowing at the gunslinger, who was utterly confused.

"Sorry? Why?" She asked as Hope fixed himself into an upright position. She took a few seconds to think about it and realized what he was talking about. "You wouldn't have thought that some whores are forced into the trade?"

Hope inhaled deeply. "It slips my mind at times… to be honest I thought you were doing it for the coin"

"I was… I was going to buy my freedom" She admitted before scoffing. "But I doubt I would have been freed even if I did rack up enough Belli"

"You're free now… well mostly until I deal with Doflamingo" Hope replied as he laid his spear against his new desk, noticing the transponder snail that was sitting in the middle of it.

Revy paused. Whenever that monster was mentioned she would always calculate her way out of the conversation.

Her train of thought was interrupted by the ringing of the transponder snail. Hope looked at the snail and frowned but nonetheless he picked up. "Yes?"

"I assume that this is the person named Hope who attacked my underlings in Dancing Port?" the voice coming from the snail asked, Revy froze, she never liked hearing that voice. The red aura that surrounded the man who enslaved her radiated from the snail.

Hope's aura changed as well, it was a lighter, more imperial shade of red. "I still have no idea why the Navy sponsors a piece of shit like you… Donquixote Doflamingo"

"Ho? You have some balls kid… no wonder you attacked one of my holdings and stole some of my property" The warlord decreed. "I'll cut you a deal… how about you return my property to me personally, and you work under me as an executive?"

Hope looked at Revy, he could tell she was fear stricken. "I have a counter proposal"

"Oh? Do tell" Doflamingo replied somewhat eagerly, clearly entertained by Hope.

"You agree to leave me and my crew alone… that way you get to keep playing King" Hope offered calmly, his eyes beginning to glow a red much like his aura.

Hope and Revy could hear the sigh of frustration come out of Doflamingo's mouth. "I have to decline, frankly your offer is offensive"

Hope grinned. "Then we have no further business to discuss… stay out of my way Donquixote or you will end up regretting it"

With that Hope hung up the phone. His aura returned to its normal gold, a comforting sight for Revy. "Well I hope he gets the message… I don't plant to kill a warlord anytime soon"

"What do you mean, plan? Do you really think you can take on a warlord?" Revy shouted at Hope angrily, she didn't want to fall back into the clutches of that man.

"Ahhhh! You're hurting my ears!" Hope whined as he put his fingers in his ears, blocking out all sound. He watched Revy's mouth move more violently causing him to sigh, which caught her attention.

"A feeble warlord isn't enough to stop me, Revy" Hope explained as he unplugged his ears. "Now do you accept my apology?"

Her jaw dropped onto the floor. "Are you fucking serious? You apologise for giving me the best sex of my life but aren't worried about getting into a serious dispute with one of the more powerful warlords?"

"Heh! Sex" Hope laughed as Revy shot him a glare.

"Why I accepted your proposition is beyond me… you are an idiot!" Revy exclaimed before sighing, she would be needing some booze real soon. "You don't have to apologize for anything… start worrying about the important stuff"

"But you are important to me?" Hope replied instantly, walking to his chair and sitting down on it. "As soon as you joined my crew you became important to me… what other people think doesn't matter"

Revy felt the heat rush up to her face, she wasn't used to feeling this… important. "Ugh! You're impossible!"

"Tell me something I don't know Shihehehehe!" Hope chuckled out causing Revy to visibly fume and storm out of the cabin, still blushing.

Hope looked at the port they had just docked into, it seemed that his crew had some decent navigators with them, though he would need to recruit a proper one before he headed to the grand line. A chef and a doctor would be needed as well... But that could wait. His senses had picked up two beacons of power pulsating from the island in front of him and his crew, it was cause for invesegation.