(A slight revision of the title shown in the preview. Sorry if that bothers anyone.)
"Forgive me, sir!" Ryoga was once again bowed almost to the floor in shame. "I let both Jack Bones and the Butcher Pirates get away! I'm a disgrace to the Marines, sir!"
Brandy sighed. "Do I have to go through this every time you make a mistake, Ryoga? Seriously, you sound like an old man. Anyway, contact Marine Headquarters. I think Bandock needs a slight adjustment to his bounty after this little fiasco. And notify all marine bases in West Blue to keep a look out for Jack Bones. For now, that's really all we can do."
"Yes sir." Ryoga again bowed hastily before leaving the room. "What am I gonna do with that kid..." Brandy mused, removing a wine bottle from his desk and uncorking the bottle. Sniffing the top, he smiled at the fine aroma.
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A few days later...
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Groaning, Jack felt his stomach, wincing at the painful rumble that responded. Looking up at the crow's nest, he called up, "See anything, Frank?" The shinobi leaned over and shook his head.
"I hope you're happy. This is your fault, you know." Jack looked up and glowered at Gerald. "How is it my fault that the marine that owned this ship stocked it with little else but alcohol?"
"Maybe not that, but it is your fault that we couldn't get supplies, because you had to have a map of the Grand Line." Jack glared. "Why did I make you first mate, again?" Gerald shrugged. "Probably because they were only two of us when we left the marine base, and you wanted to be captain?"
"So Gerald, have you ever heard the phrase 'rhetorical question'"?
"Oh! Um, uh, oh blast, what do you say on a ship...ah! LAND HO!" They both turned to look up at the crow's nest as Frank vaulted down. He pointed to starboard. "An island, over there!"
Running over to the starboard rail, Jack gazed out in that direction. He could glimpse a small sliver of land. "What...why is it multi-coloured?" Walking up beside him, Gerald consulted the book he had produced from his coat. "Hmmm, according to this, the only island near this area is Rose Island. It's an island famous for it's flower gardens and beautiful women."
Jack eyes immediately lit up. "Alright! Gerald, set course for Rose Island!"
One Piece: The Skull Pirates
Chapter Five: Rose Island's Flowers! The Dictator and the Dancer!
An hour later, the Flying Skull entered Rose Island's harbor. Up in the crow's nest, Frank stared in wonder at the flower gardens around the island. "Wonderful. In the summers, this island must be beautiful."
Jack leapt out onto the pier, then scratched his head as no Port Master approached them. "Guess that isn't necesary here."
"Gerald, Frank, come on guys! I need some food in me!" This was followed by another ravenous growl. His two crew members quickly followed. Jack gave Gerald a look as he noticed he had another basket in his hand. "What's that for?"
Gerald shrugged. "I figured if noone minded, I might pick a few flowers." Jack sweatdropped. "That's another thing I've been thinking about. We need a girl on the crew."
"And what for, pray tell?" Gerald questioned. Jack shrugged. "I don't care what way you look at it from: three men alone on a ship doesn't look good." Gerald tweaked his mustache. "Glad to see you've thought this out so clearly."
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Frank had been so preoccupied looking at the beautiful flowers that he hadn't noticed another thing on the island. At the peak of a large hill was a four-storied extravagant mansion. Flower gardens were planted in a wide circle around the building, as well as several hedge sculptures. The entire property was surrounded by a tall wrought-iron fence, topped with spikes. Standing guard at the gate, the entrance to the house, as well as patrolling around the property were armed guards. The odd thing was, all of these guards were women.
At the top floor of the mansion was a throne room that could equal a castle's. Guarding the massive double doors were two more armed women, and stationed between the pillars on either side of the red carpet were others. The source of all this protection was sitting in the throne at the back end of the room.
Uttering Queen Adianne's name on Rose Island was enough to make a man curl up into a ball and suck his thumb like a little baby. This was not to say she wasn't beautiful. The way her shapely frame filled out her black and red ballgown dress would make a man drool; if their lips weren't dry from terror, that was. Her long auburn hair was something a man would like to stroke; if they weren't afraid of being flayed to pieces by her iron spiked whip. In short, although Adianne was beautiful, she was also extremely dangerous and unpredictable.
The double doors were pushed open as a female guard entered. Approaching the throne, she dropped to one knee and bowed. "Adianne-sama, a pirate ship has entered the port. Your orders?" Adianne folded her legs and leaned forward. "Oh? And what of the men?" The guard nodded. "Yes, apparently the ship was stolen by Jack Bones, a pirate, as well as two others." Adianne heaved a sigh. "No no no, I meant what do they look like?"
"Ah, of course." She stepped forward and handed the woman Jack's Bounty Poster. Adianne looked it over a moment before crumpling it into a ball and tossing it away. "He's ugly. I don't care about men like that. He's simply no match for my dear Martin." Smiling, she gestured to the right of her throne, where the only man in the room, nay, the only man in the mansion stood. Dressed in a plain and simple blue suit and dress pants, his brown bowl-cut hair and green eyes were soft without being overly feminine, his height was tall without being a giant, and he was muscular without being freakish. In essence, the perfect man.
"Now then, these men..." Adianne trailed off as she noticed the guard's gaze drifting to Martin. Frowning, she leaned forward. "Are you looking at him?" The guard immediately recoiled. "Ah n-no, of course not, Adianne-sama!"
"Don't lie, you were. You want him, don't you?" The guard shook her head desperately. "You know, one of the best lessons one can learn is to accept the things you simply cannot have." Snaking out her whip, Adianne wrapped it around the other woman's neck, pulling her close. "So, if I catch you looking at him again, I'll skin you alive. Got it?"
Weakly the guard nodded. Adianne removed her whip, reattaching it to her hip and allowing the women to quickly retreat from the room. "Now, speaking of men, I believe it's that time again, isn't it girls?"
The women around the room began to grin.
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"Frank, Jack, do you think this looks strange?" Jack looked to his first mate and raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" Gerald gestured around them. "First, the buildings in this area look pretty run-down, don't you think?" Jack nodded. "Yeah. I thought this was supposed to be a rich island." Gerald continued. "Not only that, but the only people we've seen so far are men. Don't you think that's odd?"
"Yeah. I didn't come to this island to look at men. Where are the women?" The effect of saying this was immediate and quick. An elderly man snatched up his cane and ran to a building, opening the door and disappearing inside. A middle-aged man picked up the child he had been watching and did the same. In moments, the street was empty. Jack blinked. "All I did was ask where the women were..." A window opened and an old man leaned out. "You think that's funny, you damn pranksters? I nearly had a heart attack!"
Frank adjusted his mask and blinked. "This is very odd. What do you make of it, Gerald?" The first mate of the crew was glancing up the street, and cupping his hand around his ear, listening carefully. "Gerald?" The suited man nodded. "Yes, something is definitely coming." Jack blinked. "What's..." He trailed off as two sounds reached his ears. The sound of unified feet, like a military march, and a drum being hit rhythmically. Then the source of the sounds came over the hill.
A column of women, all of them carrying rifles, one of them holding the drum around her neck. Abruptly, they came to a stop in the middle of the street. Producing a megaphone, one of them stepped forward. "Attention all men of this neighbourhood! You know what time it is, so come out now! Don't make us do this the hard way!"
Doors began to open as men stepped out, their faces ranging from miserable to downright terrified. They filed in behind the women like cattle. One of them approached the pirates, motioning to the line. "You heard her. Get in line, now."
"Now wait just one minute! We're not going-" Jack stopped talking as the woman pointed a rifle in his face. "Right, getting in line now."
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They began to walk. The women kept their rifles trained on the men, but they all kept their heads down, not daring to do anything. Jack could see other groups of rounded up men joining them. Eventually the groups started up the hill to the top of the island, where Adianne's mansion stood. "Why do I have this feeling of impending doom?"
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Soon the pirates found themselves in the mansion's foyer. Their escort had disappeared, but with two women guarding the door and two guarding the staircase leading up, and more guarding the doors around the foyer, they weren't going anywhere. Poking one of the men near him, Jack whispered, "Hey, what's this all about anyway?" The man turned, his eyes downcast. "I guess you aren't from around here, are you?" When Jack shook his head, he continued. "In a few moments, the leader of these witches will come down and we'll get led to the dining room, where they'll feed us full of food until we're about to burst. Then, they'll lead us to the bedrooms, where they'll...they'll..." He burst into tears.
"Clearly this guy has a very different opinion than me of what's horrible." Jack lifted his head as he heard the sound of footsteps. Slowly descending the stairs, Adianne smiled delicately, casting her gaze over the men, who cringed away. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Adianne bowed elegantly. "I thank you all for coming. I am happy to be able to spend another delightful evening with you all."
"But before that, we must go through a simple formality." Raising her finger, Adianne began to recite. "We are not worthy to be in your prescence, Adianne-sama, or the prescence of any other woman. We are lower than low, inferior to pond scum. Thank you for allowing us to bask in your glory, Queen Adianne."
Lowering their heads, the men began to recite the insulting phrase by memory. All except for three. "What are you babbling about? There's no way I'm saying that feminist propaganda crap, you crazy woman!"Adianne blinked, gloved hand stroking the bannister. "Oh? How silly. This isn't feminism, it's the truth. Women are superior to men, and that is the honest truth."
Jack folded his arms. "Oh yeah? Well..." Pushing back his sleeve, Jack bent back his fist. "Maybe this will knock some sense into you! Skull Skull no Rocket Fist!" Adianne cringed as Jack's fist rocketed at her face. "Ah!" However, the projectile was intercepted as Martin leapt from behind her, easily stopping the fist in an open palm. "How dare you try to hurt Adianne-san, you pirate!" Shoving, he pushed, sending Jack's fist back to it's owner, the bone slamming him in the head and knocking him over.
From behind Martin, Adianne chuckled. "You see how quickly my dear Martin leapt to my aid? Without women, men would be utterly helpless, you see? And as for you..." Removing a small remote from her dress, she pressed the button. Getting to his feet, Jack blinked as the floor suddenly dropped out from him. "Why is there a trap DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR..."
Gerald looked down the trap door where his captain had disappeared down, then up to Adianne. "Could you repeat that? I don't think I had it the first time."
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For how long Jack dropped, he couldn't really tell. Eventually however, he struck hard ground as the drop abruptly ended. "OW! Son of a..." Rubbing his bottom, Jack stood up. He was standing in a small cage, with no obvious exits other than the door. Iron bars prevented escape in every direction. Looking to the corner, Jack gulped as he saw the remains of corpses there. Running forward, he began to hit the bars desperately. "DAMMIT, LET ME OUT OF HERE, YOU B-"
"Oh la la, do you talk to your mother with that mouth, Monsieur Ossements?" A jilting voice called from the darkness outside his prison. "W-who's there? Show yourself!" Footsteps clacked on the stone floor as a girl stepped forward. Jack blinked. "Cute..."
That seemed to sum up the girl's appearance quite well. Her outfit was a simple red blouse, ending in a black skirt. She wore a white barette on her head, and had pink hair tied in two pigtails. Her eyes were a deep shade of violet. She was quite petite, being at least a foot shorter than Jack. Finally, she wore a clasp shaped like a rose, pinned next to her heart.
"My name is Jack Bones, not whatever the hell you called me. And who are you, anyway." Sighing, the girl rolled her eyes. "I know that. Ossements is French for Bones, you simpleton." Turning on her heel, she curtsied. "As for my name, you may call me Mary. Bonjour, Monsieur Ossements."Jack sweatdropped. "You know, talking in a language you know someone doesn't understand is pretty obnoxious."
Mary pouted. "Well, excuse me for trying to show some class, Monsieur Ossements." Jack glared. "Well, what do you want, anyway? Are you supposed to guard me, or what?" Mary smiled, then held up her right hand, where an iron key dangled. "Well, I could lose track of this key for a moment, if you could do me a favor." Jack leaned up against the bars. "Name it."
Mary's eyes glinted. "Very well. Monsieur Ossements, I want you to defeat Adianne."
To be continued...
Mary releases Jack from his cell, and the two work together and free Gerald and Frank from the women's clutches. Retreating to a safe place, they quickly plan their assault on Adianne's Mansion. However, Jack and his crew find that Mary is more than she appears.
Next time, "The Summer of Love! The promise in the Flower Garden."
(Well, the next few chapters should be quite interesting, that's all I can say.)