Although it wasn't something he would admit very freely, Ryoga Hitachi had certainly faced death before. Only Captain Brandy knew of this, and even then, only about a few of his mishaps as The Red Dragon. But, strangely, the one method of death he had never been confronted with was drowning. But it seemed like that had just been luck all this time, the martial artist mused as he sank deeper, water pouring itself down his lungs like they were a drain.
At the very least, it wasn't something anyone could have really prepared for. The storm they had seen yesterday so far off hadn't faded away like they'd assumed, but had been lying in wait, building up steam to unleash its wrath upon another hapless boat. Unfortunately, that had been them. The wind, rain and waves had all come crashing down on the ship at once, knocking several people who'd gotten surprised, had less than honed reflexes, or were just plain unlucky overboard. Ryoga hadn't been any of these – he'd only fallen trying to help someone who would have otherwise.
Hopefully no-one had seen him go over. This was a bad enough situation without the panic that would come from the loss of a superior, not to mention anyone that got it into their head they could save him: in the state the waves were now, it would be a death sentence for anyone who didn't have gills. Someone who was in a position to view Ryoga and his thoughts might have thought it quite admirably that he was concerned about his men even in the face of death. A slightly different person, on the other hand, might have thought it sad that all he could think of was the well-being of other people. The values of a marine who could think that hard about protecting civilians were often preached, inside the organization as well as out, but those who did really failed to consider the exact psyche someone like that would have.
As if to spite him, not only was the ocean quickly snuffing out the candle of his life, it was also making Ryoga delirious: through the fading and blurred lens of his eyes, he almost thought he could see something coming down toward him. "Ha. Fooling me like this…that's very…cruel of you." Not wanting to see such a taunting mirage, he shut his eyes with a heavy thud as he sank deeper into the churning waters.
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Of all the memories that he could have remembered now, at the very least his mind decided it should be a good one.
"D-dammit!" the noise of the captain's anger was audible even from inside his quarters. Ryoga preferred the open air, and the porthole in the small room was kept open at all times. It didn't do much toward making the room any more pleasant, but the sound of waves was calming. The sounds of battle had begun a while ago, but he hadn't joined for the same reason he thought of the captain as 'the' instead of 'his'. He would come when the pirates decided his presence was needed, and not before.
Another male voice came wafting through the open portal; a slightly slurred one. "Now that's just bad language, son. I mean, I can see you probably planned this out for a while, or at least a while for you, and then I came along and ruined the whole thing, but…" he paused, "okay, I guess I'd be a little upset if some idiot showed up and ruined everything I'd planned."
While the captain let out an angry scream, Ryoga nodded. Yes, he had been planning on conducting a raid against a marine-protected island for some time now. Sending a message to those 'do-gooder babies', as he called it. Even if they weren't directly antagonizing them, pirates often seemed to consider the mere presence of marines as a personal affront. The crew had boasted at length of what they intended to do to the marines there, and afterward, the people. It was…rather unseemly.
But it had nothing to do with him.
He heard the captain's footsteps – brash and arrogant, much like the man himself – come closer. "You think you're so smart with those fancy moves, huh? Well, I just so happen to have a secret weapon that's perfect for an old fart like you! Come on out, Red Dragon!" The last part had been shouted, as though to drown out another comment the other man was about to make.
Well then. He rose, pausing briefly to grab his bo staff, and then left the room. As it happened his quarters were right by the stairs, so it did not take long for him to ascend to the battle. Amidst the sounds of clashing swords and rifle shots, along with their causes, Ryoga took in the fighting with a brief glance. Just that was enough to see that the marines would be winning this battle. The pirate crew may have had numbers (aside from the captain, only he had a room to himself), but it was obvious their opponents outstripped them in skill, something that mattered far more in a defensive battle. Whether from the fortifications on shore or boarding the pirate's vessel, they fought with the ferocity of people protecting what was important to them; the pirates couldn't hope to match such strength.
He looked across from him. Standing there on the deck, calmly amidst the chaos, was who could only be their commander. Older, more hardened-looking, and carrying a feeling of experience Ryoga could sense from several feet away. He was sizing the Red Dragon up in the same way, and for a moment he wondered exactly what the man was seeing in him.
The pirate captain, naturally, saw none of this. He sported a bloody nose and bruises in several places, the martial artist noted. None of that said anything about the marine, though; a hardy child might have been able to do the same with luck. "How's about this, old man?" The man said with a wide grin, and jerked a dirty thumb at Ryoga. "Have you heard of him? Hah, you must've, with the stories going around about him. 'The Red Dragon would suck people's blood just to survive!' 'He doesn't have a heart; someone ripped it out and he didn't notice.'" He chuckled. "Man, I can't wait to see what he'll-"
"Shut up already." the marine said with the same pleasantness he'd heard earlier. "So you were smart enough to actually bring someone tougher than you – don't get a swelled head over it."
This suitably baffled the pirate enough, him quite obviously not being the kind of man who ever heard those two words, for the marine to turn back to Ryoga and say casually, "So, you're 'Red Dragon' Ryoga, huh? 'scuse me if I say so, but you look…"
"What?" the young man spoke through the pause, narrowing his eyes slightly. What the marine had to say would determine much about his opinion of him.
He shrugged. "Nothing, really. Your bounty poster just made you look a little taller, that's all."
The martial artist's mouth dropped open, while his eyes widened to their fullness. The overall effect was the complete opposite of how many people typically saw him. Like many unusual sights however, it lasted for only a moment, as Ryoga quickly recovered and pointed his bo staff at the older man, glaring. "Are you mocking me?"
In response, he received an impassive look. "Uh…no. Just saying, I thought you'd be a little different. False perceptions, y'know?" Despite the glare he was the target of, his voice hadn't lost that friendly drawl. "F'r instance, I don't know how many people treat me like a hero when we first meet," another swig, "but after just a few hours, they think I'm some drunken idiot! How 'bout that, eh?" He grinned.
"…" the pirate captain hadn't really caught up on what was going on, but he at least understood that his ace in the hole very clearly wasn't pummeling the old idiot who'd sassed him. "Hey, Red Dragon! What's the hold up, am I paying you to stand around flapping your gums!"
"He hasn't really said anything." Brandy pointed out mildly.
Ryoga looked at the marine with a frown, before shifting into an offensive stance. "I'm sorry. This isn't personal."
"Nothing to be sorry about, son," his opponent said with a shrug, quite pointedly not doing the same, "this is your decision, after all, isn't it?" He took another swig, and after he had lowered the bottle, narrowed his eyes. "After all, it'd be a shame if you didn't really want to do this, wouldn't it?"
Startled, the young man looked up, unconsciously taking a step backward. As soon as he realized this, he clenched his teeth, reaffirming his stance two-fold. "Enough talk! Fight me, if you want to protect this town!"
The marine captain shrugged as Ryoga dove forward. "Tough guy act huh? Alright, if you insist: like I said, it'd definitely suck to do something that your heart isn't in. Especially fighting me, if I do say so myself."
At that time, Ryoga assumed that statement was a simple boast. This was a mistake, in hindsight.
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Ryoga's eyes opened. The first thing he saw was the wood planking of a ceiling above. He was still alive.
"Ryoga, sir!" It was abruptly eclipsed by the face of one of the marines. "You're awake."
The deputy captain pushed himself up, unable to keep from uttering a groan as he did so. "Yes, I can see that – and feel it, too." He looked to the marine. "What happened, Bosley? I blacked out after I went overboard; is everyone alright?" Even as he asked, he knew the answer wouldn't be good, but that was his duty as a superior officer, after all.
Bosley shifted uncomfortably as he answered. "Er, just about, sir. The ship took some damage, of course, from the winds and such, and a few people went overboard, I'm afraid. We did our best to get them out quickly, and, well, you were…one of the lucky ones." He fell silent for a moment, turning his head away and biting his lip.
Ryoga looked down, frowning. "I see. That's unfortunate. But," his brow furrowed, "how did you get them out? With how it was storming, even the strongest swimmer on this ship would have been in danger."
For a long moment, Bosley looked exceedingly uncomfortable. "Well, um, er…it was actually the Inspector who handled most of it, sir."
"The Inspector?" Ryoga repeated. The image of a smiling Jade appeared in his mind. "Really?" Jade pouted and vanished.
"Oh, um, yes," Bosley said, quickly nodding, "as it turns out, she's very…experienced in underwater rescues."
The undertones of the statement flew right over his head. "I see. I had no idea; she certainly doesn't look she has experience there."
"The rest of us were a, er, bit surprised as well, sir."
Ryoga nodded. "But it's good that we have someone skilled in that area onboard now. I hope everyone gave her their gratitude?"
From Bosley's mouth gave a sudden cough that someone else might have identified as a barely contained laugh. "Yes, we certainly did – sir, you can't get up now!"
"And why not?" his superior said as he swing his legs up onto the floor, only wincing slightly. "I've definitely been sleeping for a while, and you can't tell me all of our wounded are just staying in bed. I've been up fine after worse than a little water, don't worry."
"Oh, really?" a voice said behind the door, which was quickly pushed open to reveal Jade. For once the young lady wasn't her cheery self, a severe frown marring her features.
The martial artist smiled as she walked up. "Good morning, Inspector. It's good to see you're – ah?" He murmured dimly as she pushed him right back down with shocking strength. Folding her arms, Jade shook her head at Ryoga for a moment before turning to the other marine in the room. Bosley jumped as she did so.
"Bosley, go tell everyone that Ryoga's not to leave this room, alright? He'll be taking the day off."
The bespectacled marine looked between the two officers and seemed to quickly decide he didn't want to get in the middle. "Yes, ma'am," he said, nodding and backing away, "I'll go tell everyone that right now, then!"
Ryoga frowned as the door shut. "Inspector, I'm not quite what you think of me, but I assure you-"
"'All I did was nearly drown, I'm perfectly fine', huh?" Jade finished in an imitation of his voice. "I might not know everything about you, Ryoga, but I do know you can't just walk away from that." She leaned forward. "Unless you want to spend a week in that bed, you're taking today off. Understand?"
Even if she was exaggerating a tad, Ryoga was surprised. He'd never seen her like this before. "Is that your professional opinion, Inspector?"
She nodded. "Yep. I don't want to pull rank on you, but I will if I have to."
Ryoga returned the stare a moment more, and then sighed, lying back under the covers. "Alright, then, I suppose I'll bow to your expertise, Inspector. Consider me out for the day."
"Yay!" All at once, the woman's cheerful disposition reappeared, like the sun coming out from behind a cloud bank. "Then just call me Nurse Jade, Ryoga," she said happily, "I'll make sure you're taken care of all day!"
Ryoga gave another, lower sigh as she tucked the covers in tightly over him. "Of course you will." Not that he could underestimate her too much today. "I heard from Bosley that you have other talents than just inspecting," he said as she reached down to fluff his pillow, "thank you. It's good to know there was someone there who could take care of the ship."
"Wow, a compliment. This is a special day." she remarked, rolling her eyes slightly. "Really, though, I didn't expect everyone be as surprised as they were. It was a little embarrassing."
He couldn't resist a chuckle. "Well, Inspector, you have to admit-"
"Really, you'd think they'd never heard of a mermaid before."
His voice shut up instantly. "…pardon?"
Jade nodded, an odd look in her eyes. "Yep, a mermaid, with the tail and everything. I can show it to you later if you want."
"I…see." Ryoga said, somehow feeling guilty. "I had no idea, Inspector."
"What's that supposed to mean, exactly?" she replied, folding her arms. "Mermaids are all supposed to be beautiful women, aren't they?"
He might not have been used to dealing with women, but Ryoga had been in the marines long enough to know when something was expected of him. "I'm sure when they say that, they're thinking of someone like you."
She nodded matter-of-factly. "They do, don't they? Stereotypes are really a problem, huh?"
"Oh, certainly." said her new ward agreeably. "Most people wouldn't think a mermaid would want to join the marines, for instance, what with the…" He let the sentence hang in the air rather than saying 'what' was outright. None of it was really proper discussion in front of a lady, especially one with a fish tail.
Jade raised an eyebrow. "That's sure an odd thing to hear from you, Ryoga." She shrugged. "It seems like everyone back on Fishman Island had a problem with the marines, or the World Government, or something at least. I just decided not to make it my problem, and it turned out that the recruiters didn't much feel like it, either. Not many people who want to sign up can swim as fast or as well as me, and I was good at getting into places other people couldn't."
While informative, it was clear none of that was answer to why she had chosen to join the marines. But it was equally clear he wasn't getting one at the moment. "I see." He smiled. "I appreciate you wanting to tell me, Inspector. I'll try not to do anything that will make you regret it."
The woman shrugged, but Ryoga could sense the smile behind it. "Well, everyone else knows now, so someone as important as you shouldn't be out of the loop." She clapped her hands together. "Anyway, I should go get you some breakfast. Try not to miss me, okay?" Winking, she departed.
Ryoga settled back, listening to the rapid footsteps retreating. "I think I passed that test, more or less." He frowned. "Still, though…since she has legs, she has to be at least thirty. Her conduct just gets worse and worse…"
One Piece: The Skull Pirates
Chapter Twenty-One: The Gated Power! What lurks in the Archipelago?
"Well…this is a little creepy."
Mary sniffed. "I'd call that an understatement, but it would be an understatement too."
"Glad to hear you agree with me."
It was dumb banter, but if there was ever a time they needed some, it was now. Not that it really kept some shivers from running down their spines, but hell, anyone would be a little skeezed out at something like this.
Jack looked up and down the street they were on, as if he was expecting something, anything to happen. He was standing in the middle of the road: going any further in either direction didn't seem like a good idea to him, in the same way that most people don't like to walk near gravestones.
Houses, squat, humble and made of stone, stretched away on either side of him in this clearing they had found. All of them had been constructed of the same white material, and they looked almost uniform, which didn't help his cemetery comparison or his nerves in the least. As pristine as they looked, though, there wasn't a soul around. The average town would have been up in arms by now with such a fearsome pirate in the middle of it, but they hadn't laid eyes on a soul so far.
Looking down, Jack spied a rock. Picking it up, he tossed it up and down in his hand thoughtfully a few times, before tossing it lightly at the front wall of one bungaloo. It hit with a noisy clack that rang like a bell, before falling to earth without any fanfare. Silence reigned again as the skeleton rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
Mary watched him. "What are you thinking?"
"Not really sure," Jack said honestly, "but I think it's pretty obvious we didn't just catch this place while everyone was away. There's a story behind it, and I'd bet a dozen chests of gold it has something to do with how this area got so mysterious in the first place." He paused. "Well, maybe half-a-dozen. You never know."
"Ha ha." the botanist rolled her eyes and walked over to a stand near one of the larger buildings. It was definitely the kind that held food from a merchant, but there was nothing inside it now other than the bare bottom. "We're probably the first ones to set foot here in decades, if the stories have it right," she murmured, "but even if something happened to them in the meantime-"
Jack nodded. "There'd still be some signs that they were here, right?" Not wanting to get shown up, he'd poked his head into the door of one house – there was no-one there.
Slowly, Mary shook her head. "I don't like this, Jack. I feel like…we shouldn't be here."
Any bravado-filled comment the captain had prepared fell short. He'd never heard her sound this scared before. "Yeah," he said, nodding, "I know what you mean. We'd better find the others, and fast. I would bet a dozen chests that they all ran into the same stuff we did, and there's no telling for sure if they were as lucky."
"You think animals could really hurt those three?" she said, raising one eyebrow, but with a bit of hesitance in her voice.
Jack shrugged. "You really want to expect anything from this island?"
She had to admit, he had a point.
Once they had gone in a hurry, silence reclaimed the hamlet, which now had one difference to it. The pebble Jack had thrown had been done so lightly, with barely any of his great strength behind it. Nonetheless, though, a small mark had been left on the wall, marring its uniform beauty slightly. A moment passed as the sounds of the pirates' footsteps faded into the distance, before the damage was covered by a slight, ethereal glow. If either of them had seen it, they would have been reminded of the ocean almost instantly.
After a moment or two of the light show, that part of the building was completely restored. It was as though it had never been damaged in the first place.
Once the harm had been undone, the presence turned its eyes toward the two, seething with a formless mouth. They will both pay dearly for that.
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"Er…Mr. Micheals, wasn't it?"
"Huh?" the whaler, who had fallen silent as they walked, looked down at Gerald a bit suspiciously. "I'd keep quiet if I were you, moustachio. Begging's not gonna get you anywhere."
The first mate had to concede that he was probably right on the money there, but he plunged on regardless. "Excuse me for saying so, but you seem a bit…out of place around here."
Micheals continued to frown for a moment, but then just shrugged. "I guess not. Just don't look tough enough, eh?"
"It's the face, really"
"Thanks," he sniffed, "I'll have to work on that. Yeah, I'm out of place in this crowd. No freakin' kidding." He stole a cautious glance at Ahab, but the captain's constant muttering covered up any words that weren't shouted. "If somebody had told me a month or so ago that I'd be on a hidden island in the middle of nowhere, following a guy like this and trying to do…I don't even know, I woulda laughed at 'em. How's that for hindsight, eh?" He spat.
Gerald raised an eyebrow. "So why are you associating with him, then?"
"Well, I-" Michaels paused, and then glared down at the captive pirate. "Wait, why the hell am I even telling you this?"
He shrugged. "I couldn't say. Some people have said I'm a good-"
Apparently Iron Tusk wasn't, though. His fist sailed across the distance and smacked Gerald in the side. He winced as the whaler sniffed. "There. Now be quiet, if you know what's good for you."
"Shut up back there, Michaels! I'm trying to think!"
"…"
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"You know, ordinarily I'd be pretty happy to see someone else on this island," Jack brought his arms up and down rapidly, shaking what he currently held in them like a soda bottle, "but I think I'll consider one of you guys an exception."
Even as it was bouncing up and down and the wrong way around, the man in black's face strove to indicate that the feeling was very mutual.
"But hey, it's your lucky day!" Jack grinned, stopping momentarily. "I have way bigger fish to fry right now, so I don't wanna waste my time dealing with a nobody like you." He resumed with new vigor for a few seconds. "So how 'bout you tell me everything you know, okay? It'll be easier on both of us. More for you, though."
Off to the side, Mary rolled her eyes. They'd been pretty lucky to come across one of the enemy crew all alone like this, but sadly her captain had decided to take charge when it came to interrogation. Trying to play good cop didn't really work when the worst the bad cop could come up with was making you derapage. "He is telling the truth, for what its worth." she put in. "Unless you're very attached to whoever you're working for, I'd spill the beans, tout de suite. Oh," the botanist snapped her fingers, "and I should mention that he's been known to uplift trees when he gets angry. Just to tell you."
The man's eyes widened, unsure, but Jack raised a non-existent eyebrow. "What? I've never done that, Mary." Their captive's face changed to annoyance, and he started to open his mouth. "Yeah, I've broken a couple rocks, and caused a cave-in, sure, but never anything like that."
"…how about I just tell you everything I know?"
"Aha," Jack said triumphantly, "figured out what's good for ya, huh? Smart man!" Unceremoniously, he dumped the man on the floor, sitting down cross-legged before him. "Well? I'm waiting, pal." He was too pleased with himself to hear Mary sighing behind him.
Sitting up, the man rubbed the back of his head, grumbling. There was no way he could get away from these two, and this jerk knew it. "Hah, you pirates are sure confident, aren't you? You really don't know anything about that Ahab, do you?"
Jack picked out the word 'that' in the same instance he noticed the lack of anything resembling respect. "Nah, I don't, actually. Other than that I want to punch his face in, but somehow that doesn't really make him anything special. So why don't you enlighten me?" He grinned. "Don't want to find out I shoulda done it harder, right?"
The whaler tried, unsuccessfully, to conceal a gulp. "Look, I don't know what you guys think about us-"
"I wouldn't say what I think about you with a lady present, pal."
"-but that bastard sure as hell isn't with us. And I'm not your pal." He finished defiantly.
Mary leaned back against a tree, quirking her mouth. "He's just in charge?"
A moment passed, and then their captive sagged. "Yeah, exactly," he muttered bitterly, "even if none of us can stand his guts, that bastard and his pets have taken over. Even the Captain doesn't dare cross him now."
Jack couldn't help but feel a little sympathetic – the guy looked miserable, and he'd seen enough of Ahab to know it must have been hell being on the same ship – but he wasn't about to say that aloud. "Okay, got it, he's bad news. But how is he bad news? What's he here for?"
For an answer, he received a sarcastic look. "You think he'd tell some mook in a crew he brow-beat into working for him? But all of us know it can't be good, whatever it is." He looked around, as if he were afraid Ahab himself – or something else – would pop out from nowhere. "I've heard dozens of stories about these islands, and even one of them's true, the idea of a guy like him making a big score here is enough to keep me awake at night."
He looked them both in the eye. "I'll tell you both this. I might not have any idea what he has planned on this island, but I wouldn't get between him and it for all the gold on Raftel. He's crazy and driven. I don't think there's anything he won't do."
"Whatever." Jack stood up, bringing the man with him by the collar. "He probably eats puppies for breakfast, too, but I don't really give a damn." He jabbed a thumb at himself and sneered. "I'm a pirate, and I don't like his face. So I'm gonna smash it down like a bad nail, that's all. You can watch, if you want."
The whaler groaned. "And I thought this wouldn't be too bad a day when I woke up…wonder why."
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Drake looked around carefully as he walked, pursing his lips. This whole situation was peculiar, and it didn't take a very perceptive person to see there was something strange going on here. But that was just it; the only thing he was sure of in this situation was its strangeness, and it bothered him. But despite that, he didn't sense any outright danger from whatever was watching, or the girl in front of him. At least not for now. But if they thought he would go along with this without a word of objection, they were both quite mistaken.
"Emelia." he called out, softly but firmly. The girl kept walking, but he continued. "I can see for myself that this island is deserted, even if you want me to think otherwise." There was silence. "But," the merman continued, if there's some reason – any reason – you need my help, you don't have to worry that I'll walk away. I'm not the kind of person who would leave someone in trouble."
"I'm not in trouble." the waif said calmly with a brief shake of her head.
Drake couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "It doesn't sound that way to me."
"I'm not in trouble." she repeated, and paused.
"But someone is?" It wasn't a very hard conclusion that that was the prompting she had expected.
Emelia nodded. "Yes, in great need. Only someone of your race can-" She paused, shook slightly, and spoke again. "I will explain more later. These woods are not private."
The sharkman stopped. "I don't think there'd be any harm in telling this to my friends. Our captain in particular is a very…straight-forward person." His eyes narrowed slightly. "Unless there are other people in the woods now? Bad people?"
Again, he didn't have to look very hard to see the flinch. No matter how strange one was, children were still easy to read. Emelia nodded shakily. "Yes. Very bad people are on the island now. It would be bad to have them find us. Very bad." She fell silent, continuing forward, and then let out a squeak as Drake stepped forward, scooped her up in his arms, and sat her on his shoulders. "W-what are you-"
He smiled up at her. "If they're that scary, we should get where we need to be quickly. Just point me in the right direction; I might be better underwater but I can still run fast enough."
A moment passed, and she returned it. "Keep going on ahead," the girl said with a point of her finger, "you will see the path before long."
"Alright, hang on."
Emelia squeaked as the trees began to fly past quite quickly.
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Jack suddenly stopped. "Wait."
"Hm?"
"W-what?"
He jabbed the whaler in the neck. "Did I say you could talk, buddy? Shut your trap, I think I heard something."
With as notable as that was on this island, you'd think picking out the source of it would be easy, but this island had a funny way of messing with your ears anyway. He shut his eyes as a long few moments went by, pricking them up intently to search for whatever the noise was. His crewmate and captive helpfully went along by keeping themselves quiet (the latter a bit more than the former, it seemed like: breathing wasn't that noise). Close to a minute passed within the void of sound that was the forest.
"Are you looking for me, CaptAH!"
Jack lowered his fist instantly, staring guilty as Frank flew head over heels…and back to his feet, landing and rubbing his mask. "Uh…whoops. Sorry, Frank."
"N-not at all, Captain. You only pushed the mask into my face a bit. And besides, you have told me not to do that many times."
The skeleton pirate cleared his throat carefully, shaking his hand discreetly as he did. Whoever made those masks sure didn't do it half-assed. "I think I can excuse it this time, though. Nice to see you're okay."
"Quite." Mary added.
Frank nodded. "Only just barely, Captain; this island is far more dangerous than it appears."
"Yeah, we both saw that first-hand." Jack frowned. "Gerald's not with you, is he?"
He could sense the ninja mimicking him through the mask. "No, I didn't, unfortunately. I had hoped he might be with you."
A snapping noise carried through the clearing, and the captive whaler flew forward to land between the three of them. Mary stepped forward, placing her foot delicately on the man's back. "Well, I can think of one place where he might be. Me and Jack found this gentleman earlier: apparently he's a member of another crew on the island."
"Dammit, it's just like that idiot to get caught." Jack said with a momentary scowl. A grin replaced it one moment later. "Good thing we just got a hostage, eh Frank?" He looked up when no answer came. "Frank?"
"Another crew, you said?" the masked man asked, the demonic visage quickly turning to regard him. "On this island, now?"
Jack nodded, a little weirded out. "Uh, yeah, according to this guy. No worries though, dude, we're gonna get Gerald-"
"Yes, of course we must rescue him," Frank interrupted, his tone grave, "but there may be something of far more concern with another pirate crew on this island."
"Yeah? Why's that?"
Mary sighed. "It might seem odd to you, Jack, but not every pirate crew picks their next destination based on tourisme. If they're here, it must be for something in particular. Right, Frank?"
The skull pirate glowered. "Yeah, I know that, Mary. What I meant was what are they here for? There's a ton of stories about this place!"
"Unfortunately, I may have an idea about that, Captain."
Jack turned back to Frank, raising an eyebrow. Ever since he'd joined the crew, the shinobi had been almost like a canary in a mineshaft: when he got serious, you knew something was up. Exactly what, though… "You have an idea about it, Frank?"
"Indeed I do. And if I have even a chance of being right, we have to hurry." The shinobi turned and leaped over the three, quickly moving back where he'd come.
That was something new too. Jack stamped his foot, annoyed. "Dammit Frank, explain already before you go running off!"
Frank paused, looked back and shook his head fervently. "There is no time to waste, Captain. If someone with wicked intentions finds this island's secret…" He took a deep breath, looking between his two friends. "Then this entire sea may be in danger."
To be continued…
TheDudeOfDoom – Oh, uh, he'd be a fishman, yeah; I just prefer using merman for some reason. Dunno why, guess I just got used to it. I could switch it up if it's really confusing.
Next time, on One Piece: The Skull Pirates…
Jack: I got your guy, you've got mine. Do you really wanna see which one makes a better punching bag?
Drake: Come on, if you really want to. I won't let someone like you lay a hand on her.
?: I'm really sorry…Emelia.
Power that can shake the Waves! The Guardian Awakens!
?: I am…displeased.
Well, here's a chapter that took just four months short of a year to complete. And it…definitely doesn't show it, does it? I'm not sure what exactly happened. I do have another story that I've been working on, and that could certainly be part of it, but I think it's just that I lost interest in this one for a while. I've been trying to undo that, though, and I'll be making this next chapter a priority in my schedule from now on.
So until next time, see you. Here's hoping it will be soon.