When Ryoga awoke next, it was to a blindingly white light. He shut his eyes partway instinctively and it lessened, quickly revealing itself as a hanging lantern. Blinking, he frowned at the flickering flame. That wasn't something he wanted to see right after waking up…how bothersome.

He rose - and instantly pain wracked his entire body. "W-what!" Shock ran through him at the same time just as bad. A martial artist he might have been, but Ryoga had never felt this…beaten before. Both his arms were sprained, if not broken, and his legs didn't feel much better. At least two of his ribs were broken for certain, and his neck was sore all the way around. There were many other injuries, but those were the most grave.

All this was processed in a moment, after which he doubled over in agony, breathing hard. A moment later, though, a pair of firm, gentle hands grasped him by the shoulder and eased him back down onto the pillow. "Easy there, son, don't want to be moving so soon." said a familiar, friendly voice.

Ryoga went with it and laid back down, but he turned instantly toward the voice, ignoring the pang from his neck as best he could. "You."

"Oh yeah," Brandy said, nodding, "don't think I got around to introducing myself, did I?" He extended a hand, smiling almost obliviously. "Name's Brandy, Brandy Swallow. Try not to laugh, it'll probably hurt worse."

That didn't seem to be a problem. Even some of his co-workers (or the new kids trying to impress him, heh heh) were less stony than the look the kid gave him in reply. "What happened? Why am I here?" If anything, the words almost made his gaze look soft.

Brandy replied with a good-natured shrug, trying to withdraw his hand casually. "Well, you're here 'cause I brought you in. Couldn't just leave you here with how beat up you were. Especially since I uh, kinda caused it. Sorry about that. No hard feelings, right?" He grinned.

Ryoga stared. "That doesn't answer my question. Why did you bring me here when I am a pirate?" He looked around the small room, taken up largely by the bed he was in. "The crew I was with certainly aren't here. Are they in cells this nice?"

The captain had to give pause at that. It was pretty rare that anyone was able to make a coherent thought after a fight with him, never mind form an accusation like that. "Yeah, your cells are different. But that's because you are too. I wasn't gonna put a kid in-"

"You're wrong." the martial artist's words cut through the sentence like a knife. "I'm no different from any of them. There's no point showing sympathy to a criminal because of his age. Especially not for a marine of your rank."

Brandy leaned back, trying to keep his low whistle inside his head. If he had a choice, he'd take the guys who kicked and screamed about how lousy he was any day: it was a damn sight better than the ones who did it the other way round. "It's funny how word always manages to get around about how marines do things with people who aren't actually, y'know, members. I mean, the other day I heard a rumor accusing me of having chronic alcoholism…which was a pretty bad rumor, since that's probably true."

A moment passed without either side speaking (which was typical of people meeting Brandy for the first time), and then Ryoga said, a bit confusedly, "That doesn't answer my question, I'm afraid."

The marine sighed. "I swear, senses of humor are going extinct nowadays. Listen, son-"

"My name is Ryoga."

"Okay, fine, Ryoga. Good to see we got your name right." Brandy said, getting annoyed. "What I was trying to say is, even if you don't think you're different, I do, and that's why you're here." He held up one hand as the young man started to protest. "And don't argue. I'm the one who put you in that bed to start with, and I'm in charge of this whole base, so I can pretty much do what I please with you." He snorted. "If you ask me, you could stand to be a bit more grateful – West Blue's not the toughest sea out there, but it has a few hard-asses, and I don't consider myself one of them."

Ryoga stared coldly. "I do not feel grateful about a defeat."

Brandy ignored this. "Anyway, I think you've asked about enough questions now." He reached off to the side and grabbed something, and then a very familiar sight was held in front of Ryoga's eyes: his wanted poster. "What I'm curious about is how exactly a young man like you gets one of these in the first place. It's not exactly Nico Robin territory, but still a pretty big amount to have your head be worth, even if it can still be attached."

Replacing the scrap of paper, he waved a hand at his dumbfounded captive. "From what it says, you're responsible for quite a lot around these waters: attacking ports, brutalizing civilian guards as well as marines, raiding supply ships – made a lot of people annoyed they didn't get their caviar – littering…that's probably just a typo, and a whole lot of other stuff. But my question is why. You're never with a pirate crew for very long, and you every time you seem to leave just before they get busted."

Ryoga said nothing.

"Clamming up, eh? Fine, I'm not done talking anyway." He waved a hand at the room's sole window, where the sea could be seen sparkling in the distance. "The guys I meet out there typically aren't nice guys – but they all want something, even if it's just stuff like a pile of cash, or a proper bed to sleep in." Brandy looked down at him. "But you? I didn't get that vibe from you, and that was just from your bounty poster. Now that I've met you in person, I'm almost certain. What is it you wanted from hanging out with those guys? Anything at all?"

A quiet, uncomfortable moment passed, and Ryoga looked away. "I don't know."

Well, there was an answer for you. "Okay, then…" the marine began. "How about we start at the beginning; would that be better?" The way he said it, the question might have been for him too. He rubbed his chin. "If Ryoga is your real name – and I hope so, I hate fibbers – then how about we start where you grew up? What was your hometown?"

He half-expected another pause, but Ryoga looked right at him and murmured, "I never had one."

…this was going to take a while.

One Piece: The Skull Pirates

Chapter Twenty-Two: Power that can Shake the Waves! The Guardian Awakens!

Being tied upside-down and carried like a hunk of meat typically didn't lead one to heavy thinking (or at least not heavy productive thinking), but Gerald was giving it a very good try at the moment. And besides, it wasn't like he typically had that happen to him, either, so why adhere to rules?

What he was thinking on was this: if he struggled loose from the ropes right here and now, exactly what were the odds of him making it to the trees without being skewered? He didn't make as big a target as the average animal on this island seemed to, but with the eagerness Ahab used that hook, it might very well not matter. Of course, there was also his crew to consider, and they had probably been hired more for their skill at tying limbs together than knots. Yes, a whole plethora of reasons not to try it now.

But if for instance, a certain boisterous skeleton with questionable dress sense happened to come charging in, the confusion might well be enough to slip away, eh? Even if the odds of that were…pretty good, actually. Hopefully it would be sooner rather than later, though: the ropes were getting a bit too loose all on their own, and Ahab probably – certainly wouldn't take that very well, even if he wasn't actually the cause. Then again, his mood seemed to have improved quite a bit.

Now, why did he think for a moment that this was a good thing?

0

If Jack had grown up in a different sea, he would have scoffed at the idea of anythingbeing powerful enough to pose a threat to an entire stretch of water. Even East Blue was tougher than that, probably. But, and not to exaggerate, he had seen some shit in the Grand Line; if you measured his suspension of disbelief when it came to crazy stuff it would probably be up near the moon. And considering this came from another resident of 'Paradise', there was no reason for him to doubt it at all.

A shame a certain gardener didn't share his worldly experience. "You're really sure about this, Frank?" Mary asked, giving the shinobi a doubtful look. Even how competent he could be at times didn't quite stretch over a statement like that for her, evidently. "You haven't even told us just what this affreux thing is, let alone how it can do anything like that. I don't mean to be a skeptic, but it sounds fishy to me."

Frank shrugged, not speaking for a moment. One hand was near his katana, the two couldn't help but notice. "If I merely told you, Mary-san, I am sure you would not believe me. It is best you see for yourself."

Mary frowned slightly, folding her arms. "The way you talk, it's something I'm not smart enough to understand."

Ordinarily that would have sent Frank into a sputtering apology, but all that happened was the ninja turning to look at her closely. The girl blinked, feeling a pang of unease go through her.

"No, Mary-san," he said after a moment, "quite the opposite, in fact."

He fell silent after that, and so did Mary, not wanting to be the target of that stare again. Jack was lost in thought himself, and so it took her a minute or two to realize she had no idea what that meant.

0

When the sound of crashing came through the trees behind them, Drake moved quick as a snapping eel. Bunching his leg muscles, he jumped up to the first branch of a nearby tree, setting Emelia down with a squeak from the girl. He came back down in a combat stance, ready for anything. Whoever wanted this girl, they would have to go through him.

As the cacophony of snapping branches came closer, a new noise was added along with it: a high pitched whine. Drake narrowed his eyes. Perhaps a child would be intimidated by that, but they would need something more concrete to frighten him. Somehow he doubted anyone who would target a child could muster up anything like that.

Of course, holding onto that anger would lead to mistakes. He relaxed slightly and concentrated further. The first person to show their face would receive his strongest blow. No source of water was nearby, but he hardly needed the Ripple's power against someone like this. Finally, the trees before him broke open, branches scattering everywhere, as a massive bulk forced its way through, bulging chest first. A body-slam: from a sumo wrestler, then. Unique, but it wouldn't help them against him. Drawing back his arm, he prepared to unleash a-

"Wait!"

Surprised, Drake looked back toward Emelia, which left him open just enough time for the intruder to tackle him. He grunted as his back hit the dirt path, pinned underneath the massive weight.

It was then that he realized that the wailing he'd heard wasn't quite that – it was some rather sad snivelling. The merman became aware of his chest becoming wet with someone's tears.

"E-E-E-Emeliaaaaaa!" a very familiar voice cried wetly. "Whe-where are youuuuuuu!"

"Wait, you're-" Drake grunted out as he shoved, but it was no use: the weight was too much even for him.

Behind him, he heard the sound of Emelia climbing down and walking over. "Johnny, what's wrong?"

Indeed, it was the anglerfish. He looked up at her voice, and his mouth spread even wider. "Emelia! You're alright!"

Johnny rose with surprising speed, not even giving Drake a glance as he rushed over. "I'm so glad! This forest is dangerous now, and I was afraid you'd been cauhahauught!"

"C-calm down, you're making me nervous…" Emelia murmured, toying with her flowers as she patted him on the head. It was a bit of a surreal sight, even to Drake's eyes. "Tell us what's wrong."

Still sniffling, the merman raised his head and stammered out, "P-p-pirates! Here, on the island!"

Emelia blanched. "Pirates?"

"Yeah, yeah!" Johnny said, nodding desperately. "I just saw them a little while ago! Ooooh, they were a nasty looking bunch!"

Rising to his feet, Drake asked calmly, "Maybe you should explain who they were, then, so you do something more than frighten your friend."

His fellow fish looked at his expression and gulped. "Yeah, right. I was just about to, sure."

To the martial artist's embarrassment, Johnny explained himself, making broad motions with his hands as he did so. "There were a ton of 'em! Ooooh, I barely got out of there with my lure intact! But it seemed like there were a bunch of ringleaders – the big bosses, you know?"

Emelia's eyes widened, while Drake remained impassive. "I see. Who were they, then?"

Trying not to look nervous again, the angler began. "The first of 'em was this tall, creepy guy, with a face that looked like a demon! He had a sword almost as big as he was, too!"

The effect this had was two-fold, and opposite in both ways. Emelia's expression of fear deepened, while Drake's grew even more unreadable. The latter didn't matter much to Johnny, however, and he continued his little descriptions. "They had to have some devil fruit users in their crew, too! One woman was almost a monster: more plant than human! And even their regular guys looked scary!"

Drake tapped his foot, waiting for him to finish.

"But none of them were half as bad as their leader! He was…was…"

"W-was?" Emelia quavered, clutching at her dress.

"Nothing but bones." Johnny finished dramatically. "A skeleton from head to toe!"

As the girl let out a gasp of fear, Drake stepped forward, nodding his head firmly. "I see. In that case…" Quickly moving over to Emelia, he scooped the girl up and placed her back on his shoulders. "…we should get moving. Emelia knows a place that's safe, right?"

The other merman rose, scratching the back of his head. "Y-you sure you want to carry her? You make kind of a big target."

"And you make a wide one."

"Y-you didn't have to say it like that…"

0

Jack looked upward slowly. "So, this it, Frank?"

Mary gave him an odd look. "Is this it? Captain, unless there are other giant portes around, I think the answer is yes. And no, Frank, I wasn't actually asking."

"I see."

Ignoring the peanut gallery, Jack marched up to the door, holding his captive out at arm's length. "Well, buddy? This what Ahab's looking for?"

"How the hell would I know, you bony-" He grunted as the insult got him a punch to the head.

"Everyone thinks they're a comedian around here." the pirate grumbled. "How the hell would I know, either? For all we know this place could be the local café or something."

Behind him Mary opened her mouth, and then paused. "Am I crazy or did that make a weird kind of sense? Or maybe it's just him infecting me…ahhhh…"

Her captain looked back at them. "So what now? No way do we have the key to this thing, and Drake and Gerald are still missing. Not like I'm worried, but shouldn't we-"

In a flash, he shoved the whaler to the ground and ducked low. Behind them the door was caught in an explosion as a cannonball hit it straight on. By the time Jack looked up, both Mary and Frank had prepared their weapons.

"Heh, heh, heh…" A high-pitched chuckle filled the clearing as Ahab grinned over his smoking gun barrel. "Sorry to interrupt, but it seems like your friends shouldn't be the ones you're worried about, Mr. Pirate." The grin widened as he motioned to the band of whalers and mermen behind him. "Oh, and speaking of which."

The frown Jack now wore grew deeper as two of the former brought a feebly struggling Gerald forward. "One of your crew, if I'm not mistaken. He was wandering the island all by his lonesome, so I took him in. A regular saint, I am."

"If there's a saint of assholes, maybe," the skull pirate said, spitting on the ground, "and what are you so smug about, huh?" He lifted the whaler up by the collar and shook him like a white flag. "I got a hostage too. Or is your vision squeaky too?"

Ahab's eye shifted slightly, and he appeared to notice the crewmate for the first time. "Oh."

Another shot rang out through the clearing, the cannonball a black blot against the sky before it fell elsewhere. After a moment the cyborg turned one twitching eye to the side. "And just what do you think you're doing, Michaels?"

Slowly, the head whaler took his hand off the gun's barrel. "Nothing much. J-just thought it might be a bad idea to piss off a Devil Fruit user when you have a hostage, that's all." Jack couldn't help but notice at least two of his fingers were in a bad way.

This was beyond Ahab's perception, however. "Huh. Well, do us all a favour and don't think again." Thumping Michael in the side with the gun, he stepped forward. "In case it wasn't obvious, I'm not as much of a bleeding heart as this lug. You can keep him; just one grunt isn't worth anything."

"You can go rot in a damn trench, Ahab!" the member spat. "No way Michaels is gonna leave me like this, right boss?"

Michael drew back as he suddenly became the center of attention. "U-uh…I-"

Ahab slowly angled the gun until it was pointing into the side of his head. "Well? Don't stutter, Michaels – I'm a bit curious as well."

From the other side of the clearing, Jack saw the man's Adam's apple bounce up and down. "Um, uh, I just-"

The whaler-hater's eye glinted. "Didn't I tell you not to stutter? Just spit it out…or is it something you think I won't—"

He paused, then reached up and patted his ear; a small trickle of blood fell onto his fingers, which shook. Turning to Jack, whose hand was just returning to the rest of him, the glint became a twitch. "You're a really big fan of getting in other people's business, aren't you?"

"Yeah, uh, pirate? Then again, I'd probably do it anyway; your face is just asking for it."

Ahab's gun shook along with his eyelid. "And you're awfully smug for someone who can't do a thing! Now surrender, before your friend's head gets replaced with a-"

"PULL!" Jack shouted, his muscles suddenly bulging as he shoved hard, sending the captive whaler flying across the clearing. By the time he had enough realization to scream, it was about one second before he bowled his lug of a boss over. The bigger boss didn't actually shoot, but probably just out of surprise, he reckoned. Anyway, it was a distraction, and now they had their guy back. So it was only fair he got the same, right? "Now, Mary!"

"Oui!" the girl cried back, flinging out her transformed arm at the crowd. Still in confusion from getting hit with their own man, the whalers couldn't quite react in time as the vine roped Gerald around the waist, tugging him out of their grasp and dragging them into the ground.

Jack gave his first mate a once-over to make sure he was alright, and then turned to grin at Ahab's expression. His good eye had narrowed to almost a pin-point (an ugly one, that you'd never use) as he shook. "Well would you look at that? No more hostage."

Slowly, the metal pirate aimed his blunderbuss at the one made of bone. "Like it really matters," he snarled, "only three of you can actually fight, and my entire crew is here!" A few of the whalers glared at him, but he either didn't notice or didn't care. Probably both, really.

To that, his new foe cracked their knuckles. "Why don't you come try it, then, 'stead of standing there talking." Behind him, Mary tapped her foot on the ground while Frank drew his katana, and Gerald…ran behind the three of them. "If it's just three pirates, then it should be child's play for a big guy like you, huh? Unless…" he slowly grinned. "You're chicken."

He could never figure out why everyone got so mad at that. How did chickens equal total cowards now, and why did people go along with something that dumb? You'd have to be a total maroon…just like Ahab. Jack watched as he aimed the gun at his head. One cannonball from that could probably take it clean off; he was sooooo scared.

"KILL HI-"

Suddenly, from the edge of the clearing, a twig snapped noisily.

The metaphorical pin-drop wasn't enough to defuse Ahab's fury (that was a miracle beyond any mortal man at this point), but it did draw it elsewhere, almost like a reverse canary. Whirling at where it had come from, he snarled, "Who did that! Come out before I bury you underneath those damn trees!"

Jack turned to watch as, shaking the trees with his girth, Johnny came out into the open, hands held up pitifully. "O-okay, I came out, alright? Ju – just don't shoot!"

"Oh…" Ahab's face quickly twisted from anger to sheer disgust. "Another of you fish scum? This sea's practically infested!" With the look of someone about to swat away a fly, he cocked his arm cannon. "Well, I know how to deal with that perfectly."

The angler-fish shook, moving his hands to cover his face, for all the good that would do. "H-h-hey now, j-just hang on a second!"

The only thing this got him in return was an ugly grin. "Alright." He aimed upward at Johnny's head. "There: one second!" The blunderbuss let out an ominous click.

"NO!" someone unfamiliar cried out, and the bushes parted again as a young girl threw herself in front of the merman (or at least, some of him). "Don't shoot him, PLEASE! I'm the one you want, aren't I?" Tears welled up in her eyes.

Ahab's expression changed again, faster than the weather had yesterday. "Ahhhh…" He stared at Emelia like she was a chest stuffed to the brim with loot. His smile gaped like a shark, ironically enough. "Of all the places to find you, it's here. Oh, and with a bargaining chip, too: aren't I lucky?" Gripping his whistle, he blew it sharply, summoning two of his mermen to come forward.

He didn't really know what was going on, but Jack still wanted to deck this guy, and this just gave him another reason to do it. Before he could make with the bone smashing in every sense of the term, though, the trees shifted again. The cyborg glanced over the two with a look of irritation: evidently he was getting sick of this too.

Another thing it didn't take long for him to get sick of was seeing his guys hit the dirt, judging by his expression as Drake leaped from the greenery, hitting the mermen with twin kicks before he touched the ground. "Yes; absolutely infested!"

Drake ignored him. "Get back to the forest. No-one will follow you: I'll make sure of it."

Johnny nodded shakily, still looking scared. "Yeah…yeah, we'll do that. C'mon, Emelia…"

The girl's eyes didn't move from her new friend's as she was hoisted up. Drake gave her a reassuring nod, then turned back to Ahab. "I don't know what you want her for, but it won't be happening."

As his mermen got to their feet, Ahab slowly lowered his gun, and then – smiled. "And you're going to stop me then, are you? That could be a problem: you're tougher than any human, certainly, and maybe be a handful than me!" He took a step backward. "So it's quite a good thing that…"

Emelia let out a cry.

"I don't have to lift a finger."

Drake and the rest of the Skull Pirates whirled to find that Johnny had picked up Emelia, alright: with both hands around her neck. The girl kicked limply, like a fish dragged out of water.

Jack hadn't actually seen his new crewmate get really angry, even when talking about his past. But he got a quick glimpse of what that was like as Drake stepped forward, growling. "I knew there was something suspicious about you."

Fortunately, this time Johnny didn't flinch. Gulping was still well and present, though. "F-for all the good it did, right? Shou, shouldn't have let me get my hands on her in the first place t-then!" He adjusted his grip, making Emelia squeak. "Move a step closer, and I'll…I'll…do something, alright!"

Behind them all, Ahab let out a chuckle, tapping his hook hand against his forehead. "Not a bad piece of acting, wasn't it? Johnny here works for me you see. Ordinarily, of course, I wouldn't let a coward like him within ten inches of my crew." The anglerfish looked down at the dirt. "But he does have his uses. Worming his way into people's lives, for instance." He grinned nastily. "But it's not all that hard when they're a little brat living in the middle of nowhere. Even I might have been able to do it."

The girl opened her mouth, but the current situation put a bit of a damper on any objections she had. Jack, on the other hand, was free to think of quite a few. It was nice of the whaler to give him some more stuff to work with. "So, let's see here…" he began with fake cheer, punching one hand into the other. "You've murdered, let's see, probably roughly a ton of endangered species for money, recruited a bunch of guys screwed up in the head to do your dirty work, and now you took a little kid hostage!"

"So, only question: is all that three really big punches, or should I split it up somehow?" He began walking toward Ahab, smiling the way people do when they know they're about to do the right thing. "What do you guys – ah, I'll figure it out."

Johnny took a step back, almost holding his hostage up like a shield. "D-didn't you listen, pal? If you move I'll-"

Jack gave him an 'are you an idiot' look; a rarity actually coming from him. "Sure you are. I don't know what you want that kid for, but no way you came all this way just to use the one person on this island as a bargaining chip. You need her for something, so I think you're both bluffing."

This fish guy definitely wasn't as good at the poker face as his fish guy. Johnny's knees quaked slightly even as he kept his mouth shut. Ahab gave the display a sneer of contempt. "Honestly – at least my men are presentable for the race." He waved the angler over. "Just get over here, you idiot. He can act like a smart aleck all he wants, but let's see him attack you without hitting the brat, eh?"

The Skull Pirate stopped midway, frowning momentarily, but the bony grin resurrected in a flash. "Hey, you actually might be right about something, good job!" He pointed off to the side, shrugging. "Maybe I can't, but I wasn't really planning on it in the first place. In case you didn't notice, you didn't just piss me off."

With deathly quiet, Drake finished popping his shoulders. He'd been doing this slowly since Jack first opened, his gaze fixed on Johnny. "So, which side of your face would you like me to start with? Assuming you don't let her go now, that is."

Squirming further, the angler merman held up his friend-turned-hostage further, almost using her as a shield at this point. Emelia herself looked up weakly and shook her head at Drake, but his attention wasn't on her now. "I…I can't! So back off, okay!"

The martial artist took a step forward. Scowling, Ahab lined up a shot at his back. Jack growled, charging forward, with Frank and Mary preparing to join him. Ahab's 'crew' prepared themselves as well, some readier than others.

All of this was about to happen, when a voice came through the clearing.

I…am displeased.

Before anyone could even look around at where the quaking voice resonated from, a blinding light formed in the air, quickly filling the clearing. Within mere moments, everyone had vanished.

To be continued…

Next time, on One Piece: The Skull Pirates

Ahab: Even easier to put one over on than a human, eh?

Johnny: I'm…I'm really sorry…

Jack: I don't think it's possible for today to get weirder, just saying.

Window to the Past! Face to Face with the Ocean Master!

The Dude of Doom – Compared to all the other screw-ups 4kids had in their version, that's not too bad, really. And I've done a few flip-flops in this story myself, too. I keep meaning to go back and edit older chapters, but…well anyway, hope you're not upset I pulled the rug on that expectation.

I meant to get this chapter out way earlier than today, but things just happened, sadly. Hope no-one minds that it's a little shorter than usual, but next time will make up for that, believe me.