Blood binds like Iron Chains 9
Boarded!
(upon the seas)
Vivi struggled as she was put in chains, feeling the cold metal grind and bite into her wrists, but that did nothing to infuriate her, she could ignore the discomfort.
She had a much harder time tolerating the looks on the pirates' faces as they surveyed their prices. Smug grins, lusty stares at the young women in front of them and some even had the audacity to rip pieces of their clothes as if they were souvenirs!
But their protests were drowned out, as were the pirates' hooting, by the bellowing voice of the captain.
As she looked at the man, as he stepped into the light of the lanterns that hung from the masts and rested in the hands of his crew Vivi sincerely wanted to hide in a hole.
They'd been captured by a dark-skinned, short, rotund, shirtless mand with a a long white beard and a matching mop of hair that constituted most of his height, capped off by a hat with the crews' jolly roger on it (the elongated skull on it, mimicking the captains' hair perfectly).
Part of her wanted to laugh, the rest wanted to cringe, the latter won that one by miles.
Especially when the captain started laughing, longer and harder than the rest of his crew.
As his little beady eyes looked them over, one by one, Vivi couldn't help but feel that she and her companions were in far deeper trouble than she first thought!
(In the Germa main castle)
It had happened in a heartbeat.
One moment the soldiers of the Germa Kingdom had rushed down the dark hallway, lights flashing from their lambs. Pell had pulled hard at Cobras' wheelchair, hurrying to get his liege to safety. It also meant, that as they rounded a corner both the infiltrator, and any confrontation, was out of sight.
But they could still hear what was going on.
And from the screams, Cobra could tell that the soldiers were losing. Badly!
And from the sounds that the infiltrator didn't make, Cobra doubted there could even be said to be a conflict. No laughter, no mockery, nor any japes. There was only cold, efficient silence from the man, the sort that any men were capable of when they were swatting a fly!
As the pair turned another corner, they were met by a blinding light from a dozen lanterns. Msaking his eyes, all Cobra could do to identify the people in front of him, was the barrage of voices that shot at him like hail.
"King Cobra?"
"What's going on?"
"WHERE IS THE ASSAILANT?! WHEEEEERE?"
The last question had been roared, not just by Judge, but also from Elizabello, already cracking his knuckles through his thick boxing gloves (his epithet of Fighting King was far from unearned it seemed).
"Calm down! You cannot get an answer if you don't let him answer!" before he responded, Cobra silently thanked the humongous king Neptune for his understanding attitude.
"The assailant is down the hall!"
"How do you know it's him?"
"He told me king Riku! The man is crazy, I tell you!"
"That's obvious if he attacks our nation" Cobra didn't need to see that it was the elder son of the Vinsmokes that had spoken, his sarcasm being all too evident in his tone, not to mention his posture and expression (and that candy red hair. Gods how Cobra hated that stupid hair!).
As the hall behind him grew silent, the last of the soldiers having fallen before their opponent, Cobra couldn't help but respond, his voice as disparaging as the ginger prince in front of him "Fool or not, he's definitely capable"
"They were just MB guards, no real strong points to be honest" Ichiji said dismissively, a scowl having crept unto his face in less than a second, unwilling to admit the infiltrator posed any threat.
"And your brother…." Riku interjected, not foolish enough to disregard the approaching threat that was stalking silently down the hall towards them "….was just a commander of your army"
"He'll pay for that in a few seconds, don't worry" Ichiji scowled, taking a swift step forward, break from the line of royalty that had gathered in the gloomy hall, passed Cobra and Pell, the latter whom didn't waste time getting his king to safety (hopefully at least), and strutting like an angry peacock towards the bend in the hall, no doubt in Cobra's mind that he intended on facing the assailant and restoring his family's honour (after having heard Judge babble about it for 30 minutes when they had visited Niji in the hospital).
Watching Ichiji march towards the bend, serious steps, cloak flapping at his shoulders, Cobra could half believe that the infiltrator he'd met would be in for the battle of his life.
Just as the Germa prince was about to turn the bend however, a shapeless blur flew through the air and slammed into the opposing wall, cracking the stone and metal panelling that lined it, leaving the body of a beaten germa soldier slide down, ending clumped up in a bruised and bleeding heap on the floor.
The sight made the Prince stop up and stunned every other royal present, not their guards however, as Pell began to roll Cobra a little behind the others.
An annoyed look from Cobra was enough to make him stop however.
Cobra somehow felt that the person he'd spoken to was not far from the bend, meaning he was less surprised when the man spoke in that odd voice, the hollowness still there, calm like a sunset over the dunes, whomever the man was, he didn't even sound winded!
"Well isn't this nice…. "
The dryness of the words made it seem to Cobra that the man was mocking them from somewhere deep inside the dark hallway, but somehow, it still felt like he was standing not a metre from him.
"How dare you show your face…." Judge began, ire and wrath so evident in his voice that they could've been separate entities from their source
"You haven't seen my face yet, little germa king" the voice responded, seemingly unconcerned by either the words of the king, or his, and the other kings', presence.
"DON'T BE SNIPPY WITH ME!"
The dry voice sighed within the hall, before something flew out from the darkness, landing on the floor near the heap of a soldier.
The sight froze Cobra on the spot.
Even in the gloom, he could recognise a bomb when someone threw it!
A little round contraption with a fuse and the number #8 on its side.
Judging from his companions' reactions, they knew what it was too.
Then the voice spoke again,
Still as unchanged as the desert itself
"…And since I now have your attention, I'll do what I came to do…."
(On the seas, aboard the Long Ornate Thundering Threshershark IEEKKUSU (IX))
Vivi couldn't stand it anymore!
The torture was unbearable!
At last she forced her mouth open to plead for mercy with a trembling voice
"Please… just please! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD; WE DON'T NEED TO HEAR YOUR FULL NAME!"
The highhaired captain of the Long Long Pirates finally fell silent as he turned to look at her.
For a full 10 minutes, the short fat man had droned on by simply introducing himself to the women before him. Held in place by several of his men (and a pair of very sturdy chains in the case of Shirahoshi and the Kuja pirates).
Vivi had stopped listening after the first 3 minutes, after which the myriad of words that made up his name had become a mush of different sounds (Vivi wasn't certain, but she vaguely remembered part of it included: Albertus, Nitro-glycerine, Hercules, Winnifred and poodlecomb). Judging from the other womens' expressions and the far away look several of them had developed in their eyes, Vivi was certain that they felt the same way.
"But I'm not done!" the bearded man proclaimed loudly, a scolding finger raised in front of Vivi's face, the scowl and the determined look in his eyes showing that he fully intended to continue the introduction, despite his prisoners' objections "… Almond Robertus Ingvar Valentinus Cynthia honorificabilitudinitatibus Bohemund Brannigan Allan Dagmar Evisceration Trevor Raymond Ballistic Monsoon Politician Daniel…." As he took a deep breath Vivi and the rest of the women cringed in unison "…Donald Frederick Ottoman Tectonic Moray Unicorn…." Another pause, looking directly into Vivis' very anxious eyes with a playful sparkle in his own "…Ib, Captain of the mighty Long Long Pirates!" the short rotund captain finished, flashing his prisoners a smug and all too proud smile, disregarding their discomfort at his lengthy barrage of words.
"Can we just call you captain?" Vivi turned to the face of Rebecca, a thin droplet of sweat running down her forehead, probably from a mixture of fear and worry (of having to repeat the word stream that she had just heard and couldn't for the life of her remember).
"Captain?" the pirate captain pursed his lips, mulling the question over "I prefer hearing at least 10 parts of my name… but since none of you have paid attention…. I'll concede" Vivi would have to loved to be free to slap the look of feigned humility from his face (glancing at the Kuja, she was certain that they'd have done a lot more damage than that).
Feeling an unwelcome hand grabbing her leg, Vivi squealed and tried to break free of the hold.
The smiling bearded face of one of the crewmembers was inches from her own, the smell of his breath hitting her full in the face, Vivi wanted to vomit from the scent.
"Enough of that!" the captain said, his face serious, despite his smile. Fortunately for Vivi, the pirate dreg let her go at his captains' orders, but not before taking a souvenir, which was a large scrap of her already torn dress.
"No more, no more of that" the captain said as he raised his arm, calling the less than pleased pirates into order "it's rude to mistreat your guests…" Smiling the captain sauntered back and forth in front of the six women with an air of supreme confidence.
"We must be at our best behaviour… as we are in the presence of royalty" he said the last word with such a sugary note that Vivi felt compelled to gag a little.
"What are you going to do with us?" it was Shirahoshi that spoke, looking down upon the much smaller pirate with dread so deeply ingrained that it appeared to be part of her very physique, the heavy chains that surrounded her rattling as she shook.
"Isn't it obvious?" not to Vivi's surprice it waasn't the captain that had answered, but Rindo, again… "three princesses is going to be a lot worth to their…. man-parents…."
Vivi almost smiled at the kuja's word for father, seemingly still being unaccustomed to its use, or the concept for that matter.
The pirate captain looked at them with confusion practically written all over his face.
"Man-parents….?" He mumbled to himself, still trying to fathom how anyone would think of such a term.
As one of his subordinates, a tall gangly guy with pink hair, had bent down and whispered something in his hear the captaion of the Long Long pirates' face turned sour "I know she means a father Narcie! Just, not…familiar with that term of phrase…"
Taking a moment to regain his composure the captain cleared his throat before he looked at them again, his face dominated by a superior and scheming expression, the sort that arrogant and stupid people got when they knew something that they were sure others didn't.
"true, but that's not all…." The sight of his smile made Vivi nervous, a different kind of nervous than before "Handing over 3 princesses are bound to make us rich beyond our wildest dreams!" the captain proclaimed, much to the joy of his crew, their hooting and yippees being even louder than before.
"but it could also give us something else!" silence reigned, breaths caught in throats, eyes widened as the crew began to fantazise about what else they could get. Much to Vivi's disgust, more than a few briefly glanced at the captured women.
"SOMETHING…." the captain roared, arms raised to the dark heavens, the last remaining light of the day mixing with that of the ships' lanterns, not illuminating the captain fully but making his skin take on a shining hue, as if the man was covered in gold.
"…THAT WILL MAKE THE SEAS TREMBLE FROM HEARING OUR NAME! THAT WILL MAKE OUR ENEMIES DESPAIR WHEN THEY SEE OUR FLAG! THAT WILL GIVE US MORE GOLD THAT COULD EVER BE SPENT! GOLD… THAT WILL SURPASS THE AMOUNT FOUND IN ONE PIECE ITSELF!"
Vivi shivered more than she had when she and the Strawhats had been at Sakura Kingdom, whatever the crazed captain had in mind, it couldn't be good for them!
"GOLD! POWER! WOMEN! ALL WILL BE OURS!"
(Aboard the Sunny)
The day had passed, and night was fast approaching, the last few rays of light illuminating a few isles and ships in the distance, the gentle splash of the waves hitting the hull of the Sunny.
To Nami, it could have been so heavenly, if not for Sanji.
Barely a moment ago, the chef had started shaking and sweating, looking into the distance intently. He seemed stuck between the states of amorous and furious, which manifested in him having hearts for eyes, pounding like crazy, while his teeth were ground together, creating a racket of noise.
Now that would have been normal, given his behaviour the last few days.
But it had rubbed off on Brook, whom were looking in the same direction, tiptoeing anxiously while he tried to see what was in the distance, if he'd had a tongue, Nami was certain that it would have been lopping out like on a hound.
It wasn't bad signs per ce, it showed that there were women (with panties) nearby, but also that they were mistreated somehow, which meant that there also were some sort of danger.
The last part was cemented by Luffy looking into the distance, with a metre-wide smile on his face, his eyes set in their usual setting: Wonder and hungry for more wonder.
Zoro was feeling it too, smilingly looking into the horizon, his left-hand swaying back and forth, seemingly etching to grab one of his swords and swing it like he had to cut down a Seaking.
Usopp was caught between sneaking off, somewhere safe no doubt (Nami was of half a mind to follow suit), and staying at the cannons, which in his hands were usually the safest place to be (at least for Usopp, Nami's of the safest place on a battlefield was usually somewhere near Luffy, even if he sought out all the most dangerous areas like a child would a piece of candy).
Looking behind her, Nami concluded that Jinbe was the most collected individual aboard the ship. Clutching the wheel in a firm grip, the fishman and former shichibukai stood as still as a statue, except his eyes that were scanning the dark horizon before them, sometimes fixating on one thing and them moving on (most people had a hard time judging his mood based on his eyes, fishmen seemed to have pretty much the same expression in them at all times no matter what mood they were in, Nami, on the other hand, had (much to her displeasure) practically grown up alongside fishmen, so she could detect minute changes in whatever a fishman would do at any point. It was like when she predicted what sort of weather it would be in the next 5 minutes, easy as pie).
The only one that were not smelling that battle was on the winds, seemed to be Carrot, who were jumping from the top of the mast, down to the grassy deck and up on the bridge to go garchu on Nami or Jinbe. All the while poor Chopper was trying to keep up and avoid that there to keep her out of trouble, or at the very least not get in someone's way.
Neither Robin or Franky were on the deck, assumingly caught up in reading about the ruins in the New World and tinkering with the docking system respectively.
Looking through the spyglass, Nami pursed her lips at what went on in the horizon.
"What do you see Nami-san?"
"Ships, 2 of them, coming straight for us…"
Scoffing, the huge fishman's faced remained unchanged "If we're lucky, we can cut down on search time then"
Nami nodded in agreement before she put the spyglass before her eye, watching the approaching ships in anticipation.
Somehow, the ships seemed familiar…
(In Germa Kingdom)
Cobra trembled, not from fear, but from excitement, whoemever the infiltrator were, he definitely knew how to catch people's attention.
The bomb that lay on the floor was a nasty one, small and compact, but with a massive blast radius, easily capable of thrashing the entire hallway and everything within.
Between the bomb and himself, Cobra noted that Ichiji just scoffed, before taking a step forward.
"Ichiji! Stop and get back here!" Judge's words rang clearly through the hall, compelling his eldest son to cease his action and obey, albeit reluctantly.
"But father, this madman surely isn't crazed enough to detonate it in here! The blast will kill him too!"
"True, but I will not sacrifice one of my children when he does so!" Ichiji simply folded his arms in response, sulking away.
"Are you done?" the dry hollow voice called out, not giving even the smallest sign of being irritated
"No…" Judge responded, "but you will be… soon" Judge smiled and even in the gloom of the room, Cobra could see the depth of grim satisfaction in it, the spark of righteous retribution and punishment for crimes too grave to think of. Cobra knew it from himself. He'd often imagined standing before Crocodile and making him pay for the torment he'd inflicted upon his own kingdom.
But Judge was avenging his son, whom, truth be told, seemed the type that deserved to be attacked on a regular basis (same with the other sons he kept with him), and if the infiltrator had been honest about his treatment of Cosette, then even more so.
"If you're talking about the guardroom two levels down, or the one upon the level above, I've already cleared them"
Cobra could see Judge's jaw drop slowly, the realisation dawning upon him like a ton of bricks, demon shaped, flaming and explosive bricks.
"And as for putting myself in danger…" the voice trailed off, letting silence reign in the hall, until it was broken by snap and shortly thereafter, a fizzing sound.
"A Fuse!" Pell gasped, pulling his king backwards just as the rest of the royals fell over each other as they tried to get away.
They didn't make it before the bomb went off.
A titanic boom erupted from beyond the bend, echoing down the hallway, a gush of flame in a dozen colours of orange, yellow, red and purple, followed by a cloud of black and brown smoke the covered the ceiling within the hall.
The bend in the hallway was destroyed, pieces of rubble had crashed into the opposing wall covering the hall way in a fog of dust and smoke.
Less than half a minute passed thusly, the royals being too shocked and surprised to talk
Then, a small thing appeared in the fog, a floating piece of metal slowly making its way towards the assembled and rattled kings. It was the same size as the other bomb, but with one side bent outwards, making the explosive resemble a ripe pomegranate.
As the device dropped to the rubble strewn floor with an audible and loud "clang" that echoed down the hall like a storms first thunderclap across the skies.
"You've had enough time to comprehend what has just happened, so I suggest you refrain from saying other stupid things until I'm done here" the voice spoke, unchanged, as if the destruction had had absolutely no effect on the speaker.
"You can't have much more bombs freak!" Yonji said as he began to jump forward. Next to him, his elder brother smiled, not doing anything to stop his sibling.
A large hand on his shoulder, stopped the youngest Germa Prince however.
"Hold, Prince Yonji" Neptune said, caution etched into his features (which, to cobra, was hard to see, the combination of fog, darkness and the Merfolk Kings' own humongous orange beard obscuring his face from people looking up at him) "This is obviously a man to be wary off" he said and pointed a titanic finger at the spent bomb on the floor.
Following the mermans' finger Cobra shivered as he realised the problem: the bomb was, just like the one thrown before, marked with a number, a #12 this time.
"What about it? It's used, it can't hurt anyone!"
"It's marked #12, the one before it was marked #8, do the math little brother" the germa princess piped in, her voice not void of admonishing, but not quite angry either.
"…So he has more eh, what a creep"
"What's more Elizabello, is this…" picking up the destroyed bomb, King Riku showed his colleagues the shattered explosive, one side only cracked, as if the explosion had had no effect at all on that area, only getting a little soot on it in a very recognisable pattern.
Cobra wasn't happy with what he saw, the parts of the bomb that were free of soot, clearly showed the contours of fingers and a big hand.
Then the voice spoke again, still as a stone and still unchanged,
except now it sounded like the speaker was bored
"If you're done looking at unremarkable destruction, I have demands that needs meeting…"
(On the seas, aboard the Long Ornate Thundering Threshershark IEEKKUSU (IX))
"What are you talking about?" Vivi looked at the Pirate Captain in front of her with the ridiculously long name with a mixture of dread and confusion.
"What do you think you could get for us?"
The pirate captain smiled like a shark, his eyes shining with avarice and glee "Why I can get so much I don't even know where to begin…." Laughing deeply the captain spun around, his cloak flopping around like a thrown fishnet, the smile on his lips only growing wider and greedier.
"But…. The gold and the debt that your fathers' will owe us is going to be astronomical!"
"you won't get as much as you hope" at Viola's words, the pirate simply turned around, smiling as he went "and why not? Your fathers are kings, not paupers"
"You haven't kept up to date huh? Dressrosa is in ruins, all of our money is going towards rebuilding the country!"
"And?"
"Wha…. You don't mean that you'd…." Rebecca began, voice trembling, her eyes filling with tears
"I don't need that much gold… initially!" Laughing, the captain looked down his nose at the shackled women "I'll get all the gold I want eventually, but before that I'll need their support!" smiling even wider than before, allowing Vivi to almost count each of his yellow crooked and uneven teeth.
"And what, do you need our fathers' support for?" the words came out slowly, as Vivi tried to control the seething feeling of fear in her gut.
"Oh, my dear princess, nothing special…." The pirate began with feigned humility "A good word with the World Government"
"Wha…" the rest of the women looked at the captain with utmost confusion. The man had to be mad.
"With the support of several Kingdoms behind me…." The pirate began, all traces of humility gone with the wind "I, captain…." Vivi's eyes twitched as the captain, once again, began to spout his full name.
(On the seas)
Two lean ships were near, signalling them to turn around, turning to his second the man raised an eyebrow
"What is it?"
"They're babbling about lots of reefs and Seakings, nothing major captain"
Scratching his chin the captain looked at the ships in the gloom, odds were that they had more than 10 times their own number if they chose to fight
"What's our course cap? That camp we found before indicated that those princesses had fled in this direction"
"Which means that this could just be a huge smokescreen…."
Looking through his spyglass, the captain smiled as he saw a huge long bearded man walking about on one of the ships.
"Let's go ask, tell the others, full attack as soon as we're within range!"
(In Germa Kingdom)
"So what are your demands…."
"King Cobra, this is my country, I'm more fit to talk to this cretin" even if he didn't say it, the Germa King were also speaking of Cobra's condition, sick as he were. Pursing his lips the stricken king fell silent, allowing his colleague to have his childish way.
"besides, there's no reason to ask… this beast of a man is obviously here to try and finish the job of killing my precious son!"
"When you step on a turd, do you then stomp in it some more to remove it?" the dry voice shot back with supreme calm.
Judge and the other kings stood silent, processing the infiltrators' allegory for his assault on Prince Niji, each in their own way, which swiftly divided them in two camps, those that were hiding knowing smiles (and in Elizabello's case snickering) and those that were stunned and outraged, consisted of the Vinsmokes.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Judge howled, his fury making him take a step forward, his golden spear already brandished and ready for use.
"In short terms for your benefit, I likened your child to thrash and showed my disinterest in his measly little existence"
Judge shook with barely contained rage at the infiltrators words, turning ever more read with seething fury. If the hallway hadn't been gloomy, Cobra was certain that the Germa King, the man infamous for killing four kings in North blue and the supreme commander of the Germa 66, had achieved the same colour as a particularly overripe beetroot.
Despite the situation, the idea brought a smile to his lips.
"Then…" Princess Reiju began, and as soon as Cobra turned to her, it was clear to him that she shared his mirth at the situation "What is it you seek here, if I may be so bold to ask?" although the words were polite, Cobra could sense a hidden duplicity within them. Studying the pink-haired (and to his joy, also voluptuous) princess, he found that she had hidden den den mushi behind her back told him all he needed to know.
"Before that imbecilic blue haired fop interrupted me…. I was in the process of ordering food, bring the girl chef here and I'll finish my order"
For a moment, all the royals looked stunned at the ruined bend in the hall, then all jaws hit the floor with a huge thud.
Riku was the first to speak
"You…. You infiltrated a country…."
"….Attacked our army….." Reiju continued
"…Rumaged through the medical reports…." Pell mumbled
"…b-beat a prince to a p-pulp…" Neptune stammered
"JUST TO ORDER TAKE-AWAY!" laughed Elizabello, the cramps making him double over and chortle hysterically. Fortunately, no one seemed to notice, leaving the king of Prodence to control the fit of laughter that had overcome him.
"I do not order fastfood!" the voice said with a firmness that hadn't been there before, as if the person felt insulted "I dine in a civilised manner at all times!" the voice shot back, not being the least bit concerned about the kings' reaction.
"Now bring the girl, that Den den mushi the princess has should do the trick"
Again all in the hall were stunned, looking from the broken corner, to the surprised Reiju
"how…"
"Feigned politeness is a sure sign of duplicity little princess, now bring the girl, the soldiers that are coming for me can wait a little longer"
Cobra was shivering, whomever the infiltrator was, he obviously didn't care that he was being set up and was shocking them at every turn.
"Must be insane…" he mumbled to no one in particular
"No, I'm sane King Nefertari, just not always rational, it's a…. family affliction I'm sad to say…" the voice responded, the emphasis on "family" made it clear that it wasn't a pleasant subject,as such Cobra immediately shut up,
afraid to give the man any more reason to be further infuriated.
(aboard the Long Long Pirates' flagship)
Breathing a sigh of relief as the pirate finished his tediously long name, ending with the "Ib"
"So what'll you use our father's support for?"
Captain Long Long smiled with barely contained avarice, to them to everyone, but mostly to himself it seemed "Why…. There is more than one position available amongst the Shichibukai off course!"
"You…want to be one of the shichibukai?" Viola said slowly, before she cracked a smile "no one knows who you are!" her smiled died down instantaneously when the captain drew his sabre amd put it's tip to her throat
"No one knew who Buggy the Clown was and he's a shichibukai now, raking in all the money" he laughed
"When I heard that, I thought, why not me? WHY NOT US?!" spreading his arms wide, the crew erupted in cheers.
"and that's just the tip of the Iceberg!" he roared "With these!" he gestured to Marguerite and Rindo "I'll parlay with the Pirate Empress, BOA HANCOCK herself, the most beautiful woman on the earth, to be my wife!"
Again the crew erupted in cheers.
"You're insane"
The crew fell silent, just as they were about to break out the rum to celebrate someone had the nerve to rain on their parade. All their attention went to Marguerite.
"There's no way her highness would ever consider having anything to do with you!" she said with disdain.
"Why would any of our fathers support another Shichibukai? We've all suffered under those monsters yoke!" Viola cursed.
"Hey!"
"Watch your tone, a princess is of less rank than an empress"
Vivi gulped at either of the Kuja's words, the subjects of the pirate Empress seemingly didn't shy back from admonishing others, even in the midst of a crisis.
"Jinbe-sama is not a monster!" Shirahoshi piped in, straining against the chains, trying to break loose, but to no avail.
Suddenly all of the chains were pulled and in the next moment the women landed on the deck, hard. It was made worse when Shirahoshi's massive size made the deck bounce and wobble, which meant that the women landed once more.
"No more of your interruptions!" the captain roared, his beard brisling and eyes bloodshot.
"This is a time for celebrations, not some small scuffles about who's a monster, celebrations! Party! BOOZE! Not battle of fighting!"
Suddenly, one of the crew came running out of the crowd, his face pulled into a fearful grimace
"Captain Long Long, Captain Long…."
"Nypers, tell Morkin and Balong that they can join us in celebrating our triumph!" the captain responded, not noting his underlings facial expression, nor the shrillness of his voice as he screamed in panic
"CAPTAIN! BALONG IS UNDER ATTACK!"
(in Germa Kingdom)
"Did you get all that girl?"
"Y-yes I think so" Cosette stammered, part out of nervousness from being so close to all of the Kings, and part from being close to the person who'd beaten Niji to a pulp in front of her
"Go over them then" the voice said, Cobra could at this point only assume that the infiltrator was impatient, but somehow, managed not to not let I be heard in their voice.
"For an appetizer: butterfried mushrooms with fresh parsley"
"Fish course: fighting fish caviar… t-that one will be a bit hard to find sir"
"The dressrosan King can be of use with that"
"O-okay.." Cosette stammered before she went on, part nervous and part… something Cobra was surprised to see in the girl: Excitement.
"Soup Course: Vierno Oil Soup, Oh dear that's a good one" She gushed, clearly looking forward to serving it "but it'll take months to make!"
"No one said that you were to make it now, just keep it ready for next time I drop by"
Behind Cosette and next top Cobra, Judge was starting to seethe even more, the soldiers had yet to show up and… do something, Cobra assumed, since the royals didn't dare to attack the infiltrator (and evidently also gourmand!) what hope did the soldiers have of defeating him?
"And the main course: Sirloin of Meteor Ibex, rare to medium and if that is not possible, Tartare of Bananawani with tomatoes, and either dish with accompanying vegetables and sauce of my own choice" she finished, hugging the chart and list to her chest, visibly overjoyed.
"I felt generous" the voice simply responded.
On his end, Cobra was beginning to feel hungry from hearing of all that food talk.
"And the Cheese course: Island Whale Milk Cheese, aged for 8 and a half years, the milk coming from a 45 year old cow"
On Cobra's right, some of the Kings were beginning to move from side to side, some, like The king of prudence, looked visibly uncomfortable at not doing anything at all.
"And finally, the dessert!" the chef stepped nervously from side to side as she read her notes, making the rest of the kings more than a little agitated
"Four Laired Black Chocolate Cake, each layer from one of the four blues, with deep black, double brewed coffee on the side" :D!
Somewhere in the darkness a stomach began to growl, loudly.
Cobra knew it wasn't him, though he felt in a similarly. In the corner of his eye he was vaguely aware of King Riku and Elizabello nudging each other with an elbow, after which the sound began to die down
"And what wine will you be having to your meal?"
"You can pick the wines, but for the Main…" the voice trailed off, and the sound of glass moving over the floor filled the hall. A moment later Cobra could see an empty bottle roll towards Cosette, making little screeches as it went.
Picking the bottle up the chef tried to read the description before the voice spoke again "I'll require the wine that is a year older than that"
"This a 28 year old Painoian! We have three bottles of 29 year old in the wine cellar!"
"You only have one now" the voice said bluntly
Next to Cobra, there was a loud clang as Judge lost hold of his spear, letting the polearm land on the floor.
The wielder of the weapon, stood, mouth agape, eyes as wild as if he was about to be hit by a tornado
"You raided MY winecellar!" the Germa king howled, his voice growing shrill from the outrage that was brewing within him
"I sampled some of your wines" the voice corrected "And for your information, I'm certain quite a few of them are fake"
"You sampled 2 bottles worth 89 million beli a piece!?"
"Sampled one, took one" the voice responded, much to the rage of Judge whom at this point was shaking with fury.
"And if there's nothing else, I have no more to do here, good bye"
"Wha…wait!" Judge started, only to be interrupted, by the flying body of one of his soldiers, and a big one, without a head, ramming into the opposing wall. As soon as Cosette saw it, she ran off screaming, almost dropping her notes.
"Your soldiers tried to sneak up on me when I was about to order the wine, it took my focus off a little"
Looking at the decapitated man, Cobra had no doubts that it had been fast and surprisingly merciful, the man probably didn't have time to feel pain.
That didn't stop the assembled kings from feeling fear however, it had struck all the kings quite silent, not one of them dared speak or move a muscle.
"Hmm… I half expected that you'd ask me to help your search for you girls, a wise choice to refrain from such" the voice cooed.
It was strange, in Cobra's ears it sounded like the voice was teasing them.
"If you can…" the King of Alabasta began "…would you?" finished Neptune, either one having an edge of worry in their voices.
"No need to" the voice responded calmly "Your mutual connection will find them soon enough, of that I'm certain"
Cobra raised an eyebrow at this, his fear subjugated by his curiosity. He wasn't the only one
"What mutual connection?"
"That's an obvious answer King of Dressrosa" the voice continued, the tone still unchanged "If you don't believe some worthless marine smokescreen and are smart enough to listen to any pirates escaping those pathetic New Fishman Pirates"
The voice fell silent again, and nothing could be heard from the hall.
After perhaps half a minute, Pell left Cobra's side, taking a lamb from of the Vinsmoke princes, he walked nervously to the corner that had been destroyed in the previous explosion.
Turning the corner, he looked over the scene that had been left. Eventually the rest of the kings joined him, Neptune being kind enough to carry Cobra's wheelchair.
The sight that met them was to be expected, a scene of massacre, slain soldiers, debris and rubble littered the floor, blood splattered on the walls. Horrifying as the scene were, it was nothing compared to the fact that the infiltrator had managed to conduct it in the deepest of silence.
"What in the…."
All eyes turned to Reiju, the lamb light showing her looking down into the broken bomb from before, specifically something within.
As she picked it out, the royals were surprised to see that it was a Den den mushi, unremarkable and without any unique characteristic.
"So he's going to contact us at some point huh?" Riku said, his voice trembled a little
"Yes it seems so…" Cobra didn't know who said it, it might have been him,
but he knew,
that all of the other kings felt the same,
and that,
somwhere deep within them,
they secretly dreaded it.
(On Runny Rum Archiepelago)
This whole situation was not what she'd expected when Amande had invited her for a tour in the newly refurbished and expanded Smugglers wing of the Pirates Museum.
They'd gone before, but the new exposition of Coyle the Fruit Merchants' logbook and his notes on Devil-fruits had been too good to pass up, but most of the new pages that had been put up for the public had been charred, burnt and submerged so long that the ink on the pages had become completely muddled. Such a shame, all that knowledge, lost to time.
What was even worse, was that they now had to hide behind a nearby statue of the smuggler himself, a big gaudy thing that offended either of the two Charlotte daughters' sense of aesthetics or their sense of proper economics, all that gold, gems and jewels could be better used in Tottoland, rebuilding Whole Cake Chateau after what the Strawhats and the Firetank crews had wrought. She wasn't sure how, but it was their fault somehow.
Just like this was somehow their fault too, that she and her big sister had to wander about, finding new allies for their crew, in the most filth ridden (but wonderfully sunny and filled with losers more than willing to pay her ever expanding bartap) cesspit in the New World.
Which led her to their current predicament.
They'd chosen to Hide from the vice admiral that had the authority over the Archiepelago, and the Marine base further up the mountain, as soon as she'd shown up. The very much beloved Vice Admiral Gion, whom the locals kept saying should have been promoted to full-fledged admiral, but also that they were happy all the same, as it meant that they could keep her, at least until the marines came to their senses and promoted her.
Why the woman were in the museum was a bit of a mystery, but she'd brought company. Half a dozen guards, and two other women, one of whom were in chains.
They'd simply marched in and the Vice admiral had taken up position infront of the glass cabinet containing the logbook and notes, scanning over the destroyed pages.
The Charlotte sisters were close enough for Galette to hear what was being said, albeit slightly muffled.
"Can you do it?"
"…Possibly" the woman in chains responded, her blue-haired head turning to look at the pages in front of her "But it'll take time with all those pages and I can't be sure of the results"
Scrathing her chin, the vice admiral was silent for a moment "If you can only turn back time of something, man or object, 12 years per touch, all of these pages could prove useless, unless…."
"What seems to be the problem and what is your solution Vice admiral?" the other woman questioned, her short curly spiked purple hair barely shifting as she tilted her head.
"These notes are approximately 25 years old, around the time Vice Admiral Hoodie defeated that monster…" she trailed off, a hand brushing the glass, right on the spot where one of the notes hung, charred and impossible to read.
"So my prisoners' ability is useless in deciphering those scribbles" the purple haired woman concluded with a shrug.
"Perhaps not, Rear Admiral Malta…" Gion responded, not turning back, but only starring intently at the notes in the cabinet "Captains Redcliff and Jolland will be here soon, I told them to pick up Commodore Durkey on the way… with his abilities we'll be sure to put yours to good use" turning around, the young vice admiral smiled reassuringly at the prisoner "And that will make the judges go much easier on you Ain-san!"
The prisoner stood a little straighter at this, a marine helping one of their own prisoners were unheard of for Galette, but this whole scene was getting very intriguing.
Rear Admiral Malta scoffed
"Durkey…. I'd much rather be off this island"
Clearing her throat, Gion looked at her subordinate "True, he's not the easiest person to be around…"
"He's a sexist pig." Malta said bluntly, Galette didn't need to see her expression to know she was sneering "...and Redcliff is a maniacal fanatic, while Jolland is a fat slob, we're more fit to do this task without them!"
"More fit? True, that's why we're outranking them and not the other way around" moving to leave, Gion addressed Malta again "As to their individual flaws, those can be tolerated or worked around, but let it rest for now, if this works, it'll aid the marines for years to come"
As the Vice Admiral looked at the statue of the Fruit Merchant, Galette and Amande were sure to hide behind it more thoroughly "All attempts to make Coyles' echo talk has failed, it remains unresponsive… but with Ain here" Gion looked proudly at their prisoner, a smile playing on her face "We'll finally crack his secrets wide open, no need too consult the remains of that villain!"
As the Marines left, Galette smiled to her elder sibling "Aid the marines for years to come….." she quoted teasingly "…or Mama in a weeks time?"
Though her sister smiled back, her words bore a hint of warning "But they also said that there's going to be more marines on the archipelago, and soon!"
"A slob, a fanatic and a pig, we'll get our own pig tomorrow, and an idiot to deal with the others while we steal both notes and that prisoner"
"I see, you hope to use her abilities on some of our own crew"
"Only those that need it, imagine some of our people getting to be in their prime again? Streussen, Zucotto, Tamago… " Galette trailed off, counting in her head how many old people the Big mom pirates employed (too many perhaps).
"First we need to get the girl, and better wait until the notes have been restored too, and the former is bound to be under heavy protection" Amande cautioned
"Yeah, but we're not without allies of our own on this island Big Sister" Galette reassured Amande "Several infamous pirate crews are willing to join the Big Mom Pirates, and they're here right now, former subordinates of Whitebeard and survivors of the Battle of Marineford no less"
Removing herself from their hiding spot, Galette stood up and made ready to leave
"Come on, let's call Smoothie and tell her what's happened, I'm sure it'll delight her to hear what we've found out!"
(on the seas, not far from Germa Kingdom)
"You really haven't figured it out yet have you?" the man spoke into the den den mushi, eliciting angry outburst from the Kings on the receiving end. Which could practically be summarized with: "What do you mean" excluding all the expletives, curse words and other foul language.
"You people really need another hint?"
"Just give us the answer already!" another angry voice howled into the snail, the telltale sound of splintering wood followed by polite silence, indicating what else the speaker was doing.
"Pfff" the man scoffed, unamused at the King of Prodence's little tantrum, to him it was as about as stimulating as a conversation with his…. Blast, he almost acknowledged that little imbecile!
Taking a deep breath, he buried his anger at the thought he'd just had and kept his mind fixed on what he was doing.
"I'll give you the answer… as soon as I think you've realised it yourself" pausing for the inevitable backlash of angry curses, the man took the time to look at the documents he'd copied from Germa's labs "Your mutual connection, is someone, whom you've all become indebted to, in the past, or recently"
Pausing again, the man was almost surprised to find that the royals were silent this time around, smiling he continued "One of you, have a daughter that briefly sailed in their ship, one of you have fought alongside them directly, one was briefly imprisoned by them before being freed by them again, one of you owes their kingdoms freedom to them and yet another have a son on their ship now"
Silence. The hints didnt exactly make it a riddle, but then again, he reasoned: without his perspective and intel, it would be hard to piece all that together. Not surprisingly the kings knew not what to make of his intel. As expected they weren't people to share that they had frinedly connections to a notorious pirate crew.
"What the hell are you on about?"
"What, I am on about, King of Dressrosa, is that you owe your countries' freedom to them, one of Germa's princes are their chef, the king of Prodence fought alongside them when that fop Doflamindgo was defeated, King Neptune was imprisoned by them within his own castle and Alabasta's little princess sailed on their ship, is it beginning to make sense to you now?" he finished, ignoring the angry outburst from the king of Germa that followed the revelation of his third son's position.
"You mean…"
"Yes king Neptune, I'm talking about the Strawhat pirates" the man interjected, not even managing to finish before the outbursts rang out again, but not angry this time around more shocked and in some cases even happy and celebratory. The kings had clearly held back in front of each other and were happy to be able too speak more freely. It was Perfect!
"But…" a voice cut through the happy laughs and joyous voices
"Yes King Nefertari?"
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because that imbecile to Strawhat is excetionally lucky!" he responded bitterly and a little annoyed, "Eventually, that idiot spawn of a natural disaster will encounter everyone on the seas, so why not your daughters?" the man finished and ended the call, not in the mood for any more banter or babbling from their foolish mouthes.
Instead he picked up the other den den mushi next to him and spoke to another mouthy fool.
"Did you get all that?"
"Loud and clear boss-chan" the voice of Judge Vinsmoke responded
"And you are sure you can mimic their voices to perfection? Their staccato, patterns and infantile mood swings?"
"Yes" the man at the other end said in the voice of Neptune, before continuing in the voice of King Riku "I'm perfectly sure!" And ending with the voice of King Elizabello "Boss-chan!"
"Excellent, I'll call when I've decided what to use this for"
"Uh! Uh! Boss-chan, I haven't heard if Bertram is doing ok?" the voice changed again, becoming overjoyed and excited, the real voice of the speaker.
"...Bertram is improving" the man eventually confided, being rather pleased with the newest addition to his organisation "He's finally learned the propper way to sit at the dinner table and eat with knife, fork and spoon, his shooting lessons are picking up speed as well"
"...Boss-chan..." the voice began, unsure of how to proceed "That's not what most people teach their dogs"
"That explains why so many of them need a leash when on a walk" he resonded, anger
"...If you say so Boss-chan..."
"Now, if you have no other questions, I have a quarry to track down and preferably before that idiot is captured by the CP0"
"No sir"
"Excellent"
Click
(On the Long Long Pirates' flagship)
"Well, tell Morkin to help him, We're celebrating here!" the captain dismissed Nypers again, turning to have one of his other crewmembers who had a filled mug for him. Nypers wasn't finished though.
"Morkin's ship has been attackek and is already sinking captain!"
"WHAT?!"
"They were attacked two minutes ago and their ship is taking in water, it went so fast Morkin doesn't even know what happened!"'
The smile had died on the captains' lips, the rest of his crew looked equally shocked at the news.
"Perhaps it's that boss those other pirates talked about"
The pirate captain's head whirled around with an audible snap, eyes wild and confused
"What boss?" Viola eyed the darkhaired Kuja with mix of surprise and suspicion.
"Yes, what boss" the pirates echoed the question, almost in unison
"We heard from other pirates that their boss was coming up from the south" Vivi admitted "We didn't want to worry the rest of you", she deeply hoped they'd never see through her lie, the last thing the group needed now was to have a fall out.
"What do you know if this...boss?" the captain, an edge of nervousness in his voice, but as it often were, there was anger aswell, waiting to burst forth like water from a geyser.
"Not much..." Vivi tried to think up a lie, knowing some one amongst their number knew them mysterious boss, but afraid to speak too much about it, lest she made it look like she betrayed the group "only that the pirates feared him, was afraid he'd be known for getting us and not themselves" at least that part was true, the Beautiful pirates was by far the most spotlight seeking group (or at least their captain was) she'd ever met "They said he always destroyed everything when he showed up!" She waasn't lying this time around, or at least she thought so, she couldn't remember everything that the crazy narcicist had said, but her words seemed to work like she'd hoped: the pirates had gotten jittery, looking at eachother, sweat slowly running down their faces, jaws were tenched and men swallowed nervously.
"Destroyed everthing!" the captain laughed nervously, trying to dissuade his own fears "No one is that..."
the captain was interrupted by the flying remains of one of his own ships, hurtling through the air and crashing into the ship on their right side, shattering part of the deck and spreading wounded crewmembers and splintered masts into the sea.
Shattered lambs on the ship, were destroyed, broken on the deck and soon the ship that had been struck, ignited with small scatterd fires.
"WHAT THE?!" the captain began, his whole form trembling at the sight of the destruction that had just been wrought, and so near himself! If he'd cared about anything but himself, he'd have noticed that his crew and prisoners were struck by fear aswell.
from the wreckage of the fallen ship, a number of crew members began to scramble, crawl and jump off the ruin of a vessel, one of whom was sambling towards the railing, waving frantically at his comrades on the flagship. In the rising moonlight, that bathed part of the waves in a sheet of silvery White, only obstructed by a few clouds over head, it looked almost beautiful.
To Vivi the small form looked like a monkey version of the captain, same long beard, but with a pair of Googles on his head
"MORKIN!" the captain howled, all thoughts of controlling his fear forgotten "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?"
"THEY JUST CAME OUT OF THE DARKNESS CAPTAIN!" tripping, the monkey fell hard onto the ships' railing, nearly knocking himself out, but he still tried to get up "I'm sorry captain" he managed to cry out, dread smeared across his face like make-up on an opera singer.
"WHAT HAPPENNED? HOW MANY? WHO?"
"we thought we'd get a Little more to celebrate capn... we were at least 20 to 1, but one just did this, like it was nothing!" he pointed a thumb to the destruction behind him.
"...And the other ship?" the captain stammered
"another of them sunk it with a slash"
"A SLASH?!" the whole crew erupted in disbelief, not believing what they'd just heard, not wanting to.
Vivi shook slightly as the fact hit her like a shovel to the temple, it seemed so unreal. She'd seen a man reform his head after she'd thrown her weapon at it, seen that Pell had survived a bomb that should have destroyed a country and seen Luffy and Zoro survive grivious wounds, but this was in a Whole other League than what she was used to.
A moment later she heard another noise, a ringing noise... a den den mushi!
looking in the direction of the sound, she realised it was the pirates' that was ringing, the crew man from before, Naiburse-or-whatever, was in the process of answereing it.
"What is it Balong? We've got a Little situation on our hands here!"
"Balong? was that the Guys' name?" a rough voice said, one which Vivi felt was vaguely familiar... then she remembered!
It was that other pirate that had stopped the slavers from catching them earlier that day!
Behind her Shirahoshi quivered, silently whimpering "It's the horned demon captain!" to herself in despair, but loud enough for their captors, and the other prisoners, to hear.
"What the hell have you done with my subordinate?" the pirate captain growled, partly from fury and fear.
"beaten him..." the voice provoked, goading the captain into a fight "but before that, he did say something about you having the missing princesses..."
"THOSE GIRLS ARE MY PRISONERS SCUMBAG!
"Too bad, I'd have left you and you crew alive for the Mermaid, and for the others; well I guess we wouldn't have taken all your gold... but now it seems we need to use force!" the voice cracked in laughter before the snail went click.
The pirate captain looked like he wanted to curl up and cry himself to sleep. Being attacked on two front by two different Groups could do that to most people Vivi reasoned, either which seemed absolutely barbaric. But one of them she knew, and she'd almost rather face the boss, than them at this point.
Then, suddnely, a huge pillar erupted from the Water between the stricken ship and the flagship, violently pushing them apart and making all lights swing adding to the Chaos of pirates and prisoners trying to find their footing on the rocking ship.
"What the..." she managed to stammer, before she saw a form in the darkness, coming towards them across the waves from behind the bridge.
From what she could gather, it was a smakker ship then the one they were on, but also much faster! and closing the distance rapidly.
"Pre-prepare the cannons! FIRE AT WILL!" Vivi concluded that she wasn't the only onw to notice the approaching Vessel, the captain having found his balance, and didn't want to Waste a second more in fear.
The other ship didn't Waste their time either, a single cannoshot rang out, the projectile hitting the flagship ringht in the side, but not doing any damage at all.
"HAHA! they don't pack engouh punch to harm the Long Ornate Thunde..." the captain began to gloat, but Vivi saw that it was premature, as a large wine began to grow up the side ofr the ship, followed by another and another, the large plant beginning to cover the ships' side completely.
"Whaaaa?" was all the captain had time to say, before the Vessel rammed into the flagships' side and handfull of shapes boarded the larger craft.
One of them, obscured by the darkness, drew a blade, and with a slash parted most of the bridge off, sending the structure tumbling into the waves.
On the deck, the pirate crew did a collective shiver, and took a step back from the approaching foes.
Behind the swordsman, Vivi could barely makeout a woman with a staff, seemingly ordering two other shapes, one tall and thin and another that was bulky, to do something, but the crash and creak of Wood being destroyed and the splash of Water from the front of the ship made it impossible for her to discern it.
Turning towards the bow, Vivi tried to see what had caused the splash from before.
All she saw were pirates, that moments before had tried to distance themselves from the boaders, flying to all sides, landing on the deck, bruised and battered as if the were sandbags.
"NAARCIE DEAL WITH THAT GUY!" the captain howled sending a lanky crewmember with a monstrously lonig sword running towards the bow with a smile on his lips.
He joined his comrades on the deck, his smile replaced by the imprint of a large fist.
the captains' response was to cringe and shiver, an emotion that was shared by his entire crew.
slowly, they all backed away from the terrible figure that slowly, as meticulous and unstoppable as the tide, strode forward, each step making the crew, and the prisoners, tremble and almost skip a beat.
the way the lambs still swung and cast their flickering light on the deck, made it impossible to see any detail of the figure, all Vivi could note, was that it was huge! easily taller than the pirate captain (even his hair!) and much wider, yet unlike the captain, the attackers girth was no doubt made out of muscle.
Vivi shivered at the sight of the man, even more so when he stopped moving, his head turned directly towards her and the other women on the deck. She half expected the the man would sink the ship or howl demands with the voice of a demon, instead it was another sound that drew her attention.
not to mention another direction.
From where the bridge had been, another slicing sound erupted and a shockwave went across the deck, cutting clean through it and the side of the ship as easily as someone would cut a pie!
Afterwards Vivi didn't know whose scream was the loudest, her own, that of the other women or the pirate captains'!
All she knew, was that this the boarders weren't done with them.
Not by a longshot!
End of chapter 9
Welcome new readers/followers and those who've favorited my little tale since last time. Thank you.
Fyi: Next chapter will be a short one I think. I need to pick up the pace regarding this story as I won't have as much time come autumn.
Threads
Strawhat pirates: are closing in on the princesses, after waaaaaay to long searching the seas.
The princesses: despite being in deep trouble, finally seems to have some light at the end of the tunnel.
The Royals: survives their run-in with the unknown factor, only getting a little
The unknown factor: has successfully infiltrated Germa Kingdom and is creating bloody havoc. Man is a living proof of how dangerous the New World is.
The Marines: A callback to previous chapters with Redcliff, Jolland and Durkey, and introducing Malta the rear admiral as well as Gion who's recently appeared in the manga propper. They're trying to figure out some old secrets.
The Big mom Pirates: Is eavesdropping on the Marines' plans and making some of their very own.
The princess hunters: Some may recognise the Long Long Pirates from movie 13 ( wiki/One_Piece_Film:_Gold ). Another group of hunters resurface from previous chapters, still trying to get Shirahoshi for their own ends.
RnR If you'd be so kind.