Chapter 5: Iron and Gold
After escaping Buggy, Hook formed an alliance with Nami, a self-proclaimed pirate thief. While hunting down an injured Silk, Hook defeated Mohji, the beast tamer of Buggy's crew, and found the mayor of the port village, Boodle. After explaining the effort it took to build the town to where it is now, Silk, liking it as her home, declared to Hook they should drive out their enemies, and even ate the Devil Fruit she'd been carrying around to better balance against Buggy's Chop-Chop powers! However, when another building falls victim to Buggy's powerful cannonballs, Boodle and Silk rushed off to fight him! Not too long after...
BOOM!
Hook's eyebrows shot up at the sound of another cannon. 'Again!? Does this guy ever run out!?' Taking off in a sprint, Hook and Nami followed the sounds of destruction, expecting to see another three houses demolished and Silk and Boodle (hopefully) not too injured. When the pair arrived, however…well, there was a building destroyed, but it was Buggy's HQ! Instead of being blown away, Boodle was staring, slack-jawed, at Silk. The woman in question was holding Dorado-scratch that, a glowing Dorado, and breathing heavily.
"Silk!" Hook called out as he came upon the scene. She turned toward the Comboman, a sheepish smile on her face.
"Hey…you missed the party…" Silk's banter fell flat since her own face is failing to convey any emotion besides surprise.
Nami scanned the clearly out-of-sorts girl up and down. "Er, are you alright?"
"Alright? I'm great!" SIlk beamed, practically exploding with enthusiasm! "Buggy, who actually survived the cannonball to the face it turns out, tried to shoot me with some of that weird ammunition, and I…I just grabbed Dorado-it just felt like it was calling for me to use it and…I don't know-it's like the blade reflected the cannonball right back! If this is Devil Fruit power, this stuff's the tits!"
"That…*cough*…wasn't no fruit, girlie…" The group looked over to find one of Gally's former flunkies, limping from, more than likely, being caught in a cannon blast twice! "Gally…he did that too, but it was like his spirit was sucked out of him. How'd…some small island hick do that…and still be standing…" The man finally passed out, falling forward.
"Incredible…" Boodle said in awe. "I've never even heard of a weapon like that."
Silk looked at Dorado with pride. "Well, etch it into your memory! This is Dorado, the Pride of Cisco-"
"Enough of this!" Silk's spiel was cut off immediately by a familiarly shill voice. As if choreographed, Hook and Silk both got into a fighting stance, facing the fresh wreckage of the bar. "You pests have got some nerve…" As the dust settled, it became obvious why Buggy could still stand-he had used his own men as human shields.
"Cap'n, this is the worst disgrace we've suffered since you formed our crew…" That came from a man right next to Buggy-a pale sort, with greasy black hair and a ridiculously long blue-white checkered scarf. Naturally, he had followed his captain's lead and used a crewmate as defense-a former of Gally's, Hook recognized.
"Geez, those bastards really were just cannon fodder," Hook said loud enough for only Silk and Nami to hear.
"Captain…why…?" Said cannon fodder groaned as he was thrown to the side.
Buggy fixed the wounded man with an acidic glare. "As the Captain of this crew, you should be so lucky to put my life ahead of yours, moron." As the clown pirate casually strolled forward, he fixed Hook and the others with that same glare. "Today's been a busy day. New recruits, some tricky little thief, and now…" His glare singled…right onto Hook. "Of all powers…boy, you have the powers of the Clank-Clank, right?"
Hook traded astonished looks with Silk, while Boodle looked on, confused. "Uh, yeah? What's it to you?"
"I was unfortunate enough to know the former user…that demon would have decimated the whole island if he was my opponent…" Buggy's eyes went vacant as he got lost in thought before he focused back on the present. His eyes took on a wilder glaze as he stomped on some ankle-high rubble. "I don't plan on letting you get that strong! Cabaji, kill him now!"
Right on command, Cabaji rode forward at max speed on a unicycle, his sword poised to run Hook through!
"Consume!" Unfazed, Hook grabbed the blade, ready to absorb it!
"Chop-Chop…" At least, until Hook saw on his right that Buggy's top half had floated over, his knives at the ready! "Harpoon!" With that yell, his arm fired off at an alarming speed! Hook let go of Cabaji's sword, dodging the detached hand. Cabaji tried to take advantage of the opening by spearing Hook, but a gilded weapon blocked the strike.
"Don't go pretending…I'm not here!" Silk panted as she pushed the acrobat back. She took on a loose defensive stance, the smell of blood wafting around her as her wrappings had several fast-growing red spots.
Hook frowned. 'Shit! Her wounds are opening up! Got to end this quickly!' Someone else was of the same mindset; too bad it was the cyclist, who spat fire at Silk. She flinched back, before pitching forward, screaming in agony. Turned out the fire was a ruse, as Cabaji's main goal was to kick her in her stab wound!
"Oi, shitty brat!" Buggy called Hook's attention back to him; he was back on his lower half, his arms crossed as he laughed. "Don't worry about that bitch! You're the one who gonna be full of holes now! Chop-Chop Buzzsaw!" With that, he jumped-no, rather his top half flew off, and his legs jumped toward Hook, spinning rapidly with knives sticking out of both shoes.
Hook whipped out his pistol and shot at the approaching spinning doom. The shot was deflected off of one of the shoe blades, but it was enough to slow the mad attack down, giving Hook enough time to jump over it. "Hey, Ass Clown! Shouldn't have sent your lower body! Iron Hammer!" Summoning the club, Hook brought down said 'Hammer'…right on the clown's family jewels!
To say Buggy cried out would downplay his response; the sound he made would have cracked glass! In any case, both halves collapsed, twitching in agony. After landing, Hook took a quick survey of the field; Nami had disappeared, while Boodle had, begrudgingly, decided to stand off to the side. Unfortunately, Silk was doing no better in her fight, as she was kicked in her midsection again, Cabaji lapping up her screams of anguish.
"Hehe. How foolish," Cabaji crowed. "You should have followed the redhead's example. A woman has no place on the battlefield." Silk doesn't respond, or look up at him, too busy curling around her wound for protection; Cabaji was just mugging at this point. "Your boy toy's odd talents caused us quite a bit of trouble. Now you'll learn not to mess with Cap'n Buggy's crew." Midway through his statement, Silk's grip tightened on a brightly glowing Dorado, leveling her furious gaze on the incoming swordsman. "Prepare to be well done!"
In one motion, Silk stood up and brought her ax-wait, no, it was…melting? No, changing! The ax was changing into a-
CLANG!
…A golden shield. Well, not exactly a shield; it was not perfect, and parts of the original ax were sticking out, but it was effective enough to stop Cabaji's sword. While Cabaji stood (well, balanced, being on a unicycle) shocked, Silk fixed him with a feral grin. "Don't for a second…" She smacked the sword away, and bashed him right in the face, sending him spinning back, falling off his unicycle with a nasty bruise. "…underestimate me, bastard!" Despite the shield's deformity, Silk raised it with unbridled dignity. "Look closely! This is the Pride of Cisco! As I wield it, I will never let it be ruined by defeat!"
Cabaji, instead of being intimidated, just scoffed. "You pretend to be strong, but in case you have forgotten…" He gestured towards Silk's gradually reddening wrappings. "…all I need to do is attack your wounds until you fall."
"Girl, please!" Boodle called out from the sidelines. "If your wounds open up anymore-"
"It's fine!" Silk cut the mayor off, eyes never leaving her enemy. "I'm stronger than him anyway!"
"Oh?" Cabaji got back on his unicycle, smiling slyly. "And what makes you think that, little girl?"
Silk matched the smile right back. "Because I don't need to hit a weak point." Hook laughed at the level of vitriol the barb drew from the now enraged acrobat, as he pedal-charged at Silk. Halfway to her, he whipped out spinning tops (of all things!) from his coat, scattering them across the field. Silk, still wielding a gold shield, battered them away easily enough. The misogynist gymnast used the distraction to pedal up a building, the momentum of climbing up a sheer wall shooting him up into the sky.
'Attacking from the air? Silk could easily dodge that-' Out of the corner of Hook's eye, a disembodied hand flies close to the ground towards Silk's ankle. Adopting a disbelieving look, he looked over to his other side, and saw Buggy's lower half trying to tiptoe away…well, can't have that. "Iron Hammer!"
"Argh!" the sneaky clown cried out, before griping in a slightly higher pitch than normal, "Why…do you keep…hitting me…there…" As both halves of the clown lay strewn about, the young pirate got an idea...
"Summon." Turning his arms black and gold, Hook called out the iron bars from when he freed Nami and turned them into iron bands. Gathering up Buggy's limbs, he secured the entire pirate with the restraints. "Don't go messing with Silk's fight, Bobo!"
"Do you really think this is the end, brat!?" Buggy roared. "The Buggy Pirates own East Blue! You and the floozy can't really expect-!"
"Mighty Push!" With a yell and gust of wind, it sounded like something intense happened in Silk's duel. Looking over, Hook and Buggy saw…Cabaji knocked into the air, absolutely out cold while Silk was still standing, if haggard. "Heh…heh…I told you, I won't fall until you do…" With that, Silk does finally pass out, at the same time as Cabaji hit the ground.
Since Hook was too busy laughing at Buggy's gobsmacked expression, it was up to Boodle to run over and check on Silk. Meanwhile, Nami came around the corner, carrying a hefty bag that clinked with each step. "Oh, good! You guys are done! Never doubted you for a second!" Hook gave her a disbelieving look, but she either ignored it or missed it. "I couldn't find the map, but I found all this lovely treasure at least!"
"Wha-! My treasure!" Buggy spoke up from his prone position. "Oi, witch! Drop my treasure this instant!"
Nami held on to the sack tighter. "No way! I'm not leaving my treasure behind!"
Buggy looked like he swallowed a golf ball. "What!? 'Your' treasure!?"
"That's right! My treasure! I stole it, so it's mine!" Nami responded.
"You can't call it yours until you've gotten away with it!" Buggy retorted.
Nami's response was to stick her tongue out at the old clown. "Like I'd stoop so low as to take lessons from a pirate!"
While it was funny to see Buggy get as red as his nose, Hook decided it was best to end this quickly-
"Chop-Chop Festival!" …and just like that, any chance this was ending soon have evacuated to the other side of slim. In a flash, Buggy separated every part of him, getting him out of the iron restraints, and spreading all over the battlefield! Boodle immediately threw himself over Silk, protecting her from random body parts hitting her and making things worse. Unfortunately, Hook was not as lucky, being close enough to get battered quite a bit, before the mass of the attack flew at Mach speed in the direction of Nami. Oddly enough, As Hook recovered from the assault, he noticed the only thing not heading for Nami was Buggy's feet…
'It can't be that easy...' Hook deadpanned at the sight of Buggy's shoes walking across the ground in an almost casual manner. 'For all the uses of this fruit, there are some glaring weaknesses!' One Iron Knuckle later and Buggy (rather, his parts) was writhing in pain before getting any closer to Nami. 'Stupid or not, between Silk's wounds, and Nami and Boodle being so weak, it might be best to move this fight elsewhere. Is there a limit to how far he can get from his feet?' With that thought, Hook grabbed the ass clown's ankles and ran for the other side of the plaza!
Buggy grunted like someone had yanked him by the collar, his head yelling over Hook's shoulder, "LET GO OF MY FEET, YOU FLASHY BASTARD!" The test a success, Hook ran through the town, turning this way and that, making sure Buggy couldn't just fly back to the others. Once he was sure there wasn't a single familiar building nearby, the teen let go of the disembodied feet and turned around, ready to fight. Buggy reformed, hovering a little over his feet, absolutely livid. "You are turning into a flashy pain in the ass! You're just as bad as B-erk!...as that bastard!" He punctuated that statement by sending his hands at his opponent, three knives in his right, one held downward in the left.
Hook raised his arms, the flying knives stabbing into him. Despite the pain and bleeding, Hook shot Buggy a crazy grin. "For me? You shouldn't have. Consume!" Buggy was only able to pull his hands away, as his blades were absorbed. Completely defenseless and in shock, Buggy barely reacted as Hook rushed him. "Oi, Big Nose! That's a pretty stupid as hell snozz!"
"Don't you come any-WHO'S NOSE IS BIG STUPID!? I KILL YOU!" Buggy's shock swiftly turned to blind fury, distracting him enough so he failed to notice Hook's Iron Club arm suddenly inches from his face, smacking him into the building behind him!
"It's also a stupid big target!" With all his strength, ignoring his still wounded shoulder, Hook sandwiched Buggy's face in the middle of his iron fist and the wall. "IRON…" The wall cracked from the pressure, rupturing more and more until… "CRUSHER!" -the wall-hell, the friggin' house!- imploded from the hit, burying Buggy's face in the rubble. This time, he was not getting up.
As the debris settled, Hook grabbed at his shoulder. "Urgh... damn bastard! Kicking your ass hurt my ass! Huh?" Scattered around the ass clown's person, Hook found, was a stack of papers and some jewels. "Sweet! Swag!" Bypassing the jewels, Hook picked up the papers on a hunch; in his grip was a blueprint of sorts... and a map that showed the entrance to the Grand Line!
"Hook!" Said pirate looked up as Nami ran up, still carrying two times her weight in gold. "Are you-what the what the hell happened!?"
Blinking at the outburst, Hook looked around at all the wanton destruction his last attack had caused. "Buggy did it," he state with a deadpan expression. "So, about your map…"
"The map?" Nami looked puzzled before her fake grin mask rose up again. "Oh, you found it? Great work! Can I just hold on to-"
"You didn't mention this was a map to the Grand Line." Hook tsked at her, even waving a finger in her face. "If we're working together, we should be able to tell each other everything."
Nami frowned. "Tell you everything? You haven't even told me everything! You, Silk, that flippin' ax! How were you able to do that-that…all of that!?"
"I ate the Clank-Clank Fruit. It made me a Combinable Human." To demonstrate the fact, Hook changed his arm to Consume Mode and brought up a knife, before tossing it into the air and catching/absorbing it. "Inanimate objects only. You saw how I could use them earlier."
Nami's eyes widened. "Whoa…wait, that fruit Silk ate…she can do that too…"
Hook shrugged, then winced as he remembered he hit Buggy with his bad arm. "Yes and no. Buggy ate one, but he can't do anything I can and vice versa; as for what Silk can do…" Hook trailed off, not entirely sure what Silk could do. Though, he suspected, a certain shady bastard probably knew exactly what Silk could do.
Nami looked nervous but seemed to handle the new info well enough. "...Ok. Well, thanks…for saving me and all." She switched back to a grin, a more open and honest one. "And thanks to you, I'm 10 million beris richer!" Hook returned her smile, just glad that whole annoying fight was over. As Nami started complaining about her haul's weight ("I have a busted shoulder." "That didn't stop you before!"), a large group of people approached, armed with makeshift weapons.
"Hey, you!" One of the men called out. "We're the citizens of this town! What happened to the pirates? Did they mutiny?"
Nami sighed in relief. "Oh, it's just the townsfolk. Well, what happened-"
"Hey!" A couple of people pointed at the broken house. "That was the Mayor's House! What happened here!?"
"Buggy did it." Hook stated in the exact same way earlier, without even batting an eye.
The crowd responded strongly to that comment. "Of course, that pirate would destroy the Mayor's house! But, where is he!? And where'd that girl get all that gold!?" The crowd only got antsier at that thought.
The redhead scrambled to answer before things got worse. "T-this is from Buggy! I stole it from him! Honest!" Good job, Nami!
One woman from the crowd raised her voice and said, "Where do think he got those valuables!? A good chunk of that belongs to the town!" Neptune curse you, Nami!
"How fast can you run, burdened with gold?" Hook muttered from the side of his mouth to the sweaty, nervous girl.
"STOP!" As if sent by God, Boodle arrived right in the nick of time, with Silk's arm draped over his shoulder. "The only one who gets to say anything to these kids is me!"
Giving Silk over to a nearby villager, he walked up to the confused teen until they were a few feet from each other. "After everything you did here, poking your nose in our business…" The mayor paused for a moment, before falling to his knees, bowing to the ground and crying, "…and saving Orange Town from the clutches of pirates! Words cannot express my thanks!" The mob goes from angry to shocked. Looks like that defused the situation...
"Mayor! What about our valuables!?" The same woman from earlier piped up.
"The town is still standing! That is more than enough!" Boodle stood up and addressed the crowd's worries. "Our lives, our homes, and community-be thankful that, thanks to this young man and his friends-we have anything at all!"
"E-exactly!" Nami immediately latched onto Boodle's thinking. "If it wasn't for us, this town would have literally been blown away! So, we'll just…"
"You guys can have the gold. Every cent." Hook talked over Nami casually, subtly cradling his arm.
Nami s eyes bug out at the act of charity. "W-w-what!?"
To clear up her confusion, Hook motioned to the wreckage behind him. "This place is absolutely wrecked. These people need to rebuild…and they need money to do it."
Nami looked from the sack to the crowd, to Hook, and back to the sack. She looked like she had eaten a whole lemon, as she tried to find some way of not turning the large haul over. But eventually, she did put the sack down and stepped back, even if stiffly. "Being attacked by pirates wasn't your fault. So, I guess…you'd better keep this." She then turned around, grabbed Hook by the collar, and glared absolute power into the wounded man's soul! "But the next time we fall into fortune, I get it all. You reach for it, you lose an arm."
Hook sweatdropped at how much she resembled an oni while doling out the threat. 'I was going to say that anyway, but I guess this works too...'
As soon as the unconscious pirates were rounded up and imprisoned on their ship, the news of their defeat spread to every citizen of Orange Town and a party started in earnest. It was mostly just dancing and party games (Buggy's men drank and ate like a plague of locusts), but a return to normalcy was welcomed in any form to the happy villagers. After being thanked for the umpteenth time, Hook was sitting on a crate, watching the festivities and sipping on water. (It cannot be emphasized enough-Buggy's men were absolute parasites!) But truthfully, it was getting a little dull, so he got up to search for Silk.
Said blonde was currently lying on a makeshift cot. She had changed back to her old clothes, having bled through the other ones. If the kids were chomping at the bit to hear from Boodle how Hook neutered a lion and a clown, the men were drooling to hear about how someone as gentle-looking as Silk knocked a man ten feet in the air! By the pained look on her face, she either needed rest, or the fervor was starting to get to her. Coughing to get the others' attention, Hook was able to scare off Silk's fanbase. Silk shot Hook a tired smile. "Thank God! If I have to hear one more time how 'impressive and amazing I am,' I was gonna scream!"
"Glad I could help." Hook glanced at her bandages, frowning a little. "So, about those battle wounds..."
"Doctor said it won't scar, so that's pretty good! He told me I just need sleep, but…" She looked around at all the people celebrating. "I had to be here…to be a part of this!" She smiled like a sunbeam, before deflating again. "You know, I left Port Cisco so quickly, I never even said goodbye. I was so focused on…" She did not say the name. She did not need to say it. "These people…they suffered just like my home…but we saved them! We stopped those thugs! I was able to stop them! And it felt…good! Great really!"
Hook crossed his arms at her hemming and hawing. "So, what's eating you? Really."
She did not answer at first, fiddling with the handle of Dorado and staring off into space. Finally, blushing slightly, she looked over at you. "H-have you heard of the legendary island of the Amazons?" Hook raised an eyebrow as she continued. "Sailors who've traveled to Cisco talk about an entire island full of women-overwhelming power, unrivaled beauty-not a single man has actually seen it or lived if they have!" She had to sit back to breathe for a moment, probably due to her stab wound. "They say there's a woman-a Pirate Empress-strong and beautiful enough that no one would dare set foot on that island! And I-" Her voice faltered for a moment. "But is it even possible…can I reach such a goal?"
Hook smiled widely at her energy; it reminded him a little of himself. This was no mere interest; this was her Dream! "You want to make it come true, right!? Then don't hesitate! Let's sail out and find out together!"
Silk's doubt spiral caved at that, her eyes widening as she blushed. "I…" She stayed quiet for a moment, before clearing her throat and meeting her partner's gaze. "Then I won't disappoint you! I will travel the world! I will become a symbol that nobody will dismiss! I will become the strongest woman in the world! When lions see small ports like Orange Town or Cisco, they will remember what happens when you challenge the quiet mouse!"
Hook and Silk sport matching smiles as an understanding passed between them. Here sat two people-one pledging to reach the heights of fame, another the peak of strength… At that moment, a bond of Iron and Gold has been formed-and the world would quake where they stand!
A/N: You know, re-editing this makes me glad my ability to write fight scenes has improved! Dialogue may be touch and go, but thank God it's not worse! Thanks for reading! Tune in next time!
