To Walk the Path of Freedom
"Lucy check this out!" Yelled an excited Naruto as he ran out of the stolen ship's cargo hold and onto the deck where Lucy was steering the ship and Kiji was relaxing against the mast. She looked down from her position behind the wheel. "What is it?" She asked, not seeing the item which Naruto was holding. The red-head grinned before bringing the item out from behind his back and into view, In his hand was none other than a weird looking fruit that was red in colour and shaped more as a cube, covered in swirls and possessed an odd looking stem. "A Devil-Fruit?" Lucy spoke out with a bit of a gasp, not expecting Cipher Pol to have one aboard their ship
He smiled and nodded. "Yeah! I was looking through a room and spied a vault and since I didn't know how to open one I just busted it open, and in there was this and some money! I was thinking we could sell it on the next island we come by for a little bit of money! Unless you want to take a bite Kiji?" Questioned the teen and the fish-man just turned away and dismissed his question. "Hn! Unlike you humans, fish-men don't need the added strength that comes with a Devil-Fruit! Each one of our race is perfect from birth just the way they are!" He shot back and Lucy sighed in response
"That's a funny way of saying 'no thank you', Kiji." She said which earned a snicker, courtesy of Naruto. Though Lucy's comment was one that went unappreciated by the newest member of the crew. "But with all honesty, we could use the extra money. The Grandline is the toughest sea to sail upon let alone the second half. We'll need money for repairs and potentially a new ship if this one is damaged too severely." She continued to explain to which the two others nodded
Naruto then spoke up. "We'll also need more people! So far we got me, the Captain; Lucy our navigator, and whatever Kiji wants to be. But under no circumstance can we go to the Grandline without a cook!" He sternly told his crew and Lucy piped back up. "Naruto, you know I can cook." She explained to which Naruto threw up his hands. "There we go problem solved!" He happily stated back to her. "Well, I can cook but I'm not the greatest at it so we should still look for a chef." She continued to explain which caused Naruto to deflate
"Do you honestly think we will find all these people before we reach the entrance to the Grandline? If I am correct we only have Loguetown before us before we get to Reverse Mountain." Asked the fish-man, who remained against the mast of the ship. "It's unlikely considering we can't just interview people as they walk along or advertise our need for crewmen. Unless we want a battalion of Marines breathing down our neck." Lucy responded to his question and Naruto just waved the whole issue off. "Lucy trust me, something or someone will come along! Look at the both of you! I found you both by chance and well you both came with me, so I'm not worried in the slightest!" He proclaimed with a smile
The navigator deadpanned. "Yeah well forgive me if not all of us share your optimism." She voiced from her position behind the wheel. The eyes of Lucy then went out to sea where she spotted an island on the horizon along with a few ships sailing along the sea near them. "Hey you two! Eyes up! We got land incoming!" She alerted the crew and Naruto hopped up to see what was going on and Kiji just remained seated on the deck
The Captain of the vessel walked to the front of the ship and looked onto the sight with a smile. "This is it guys! The last island before the Grandline!" He exclaimed prior to his ship taking a hard turn out of the way of another which came too close. "Hey watch where you're going!" Yelled Lucy to the ship that passed them and Naruto locked eyes with a very familiar looking face. The man in Naruto was looking at wore an orange captain's hat that had blue hair poking out from the sides of it. With that he had an orange captain's coat on that had flashy green shoulder guards, As for the man's face, it was covered in makeup that made a pair of crossbones that intersected at his forehead with blue lines running down from his eyebrows to just above his mouth. Moreover, the most stand out feature on the man was his big red nose which many would assume to be fake but it is in fact real.
"Buggy. . ." Began Naruto, as he scanned the man closer. He then grinned and yelled out to the ship. "Oi! Buggy!" His voice echoed over the sea and the ladder's ship came to an immediate stop. Naruto smiled ear to ear at the sight of his old friend, but instead of getting a greeting back, Buggy spoke something else. "Who the hell is calling my name!" Yelled the clown as Lucy brought the ship to a stop
Naruto continued his upholding his smile before he blinked onto Buggy's ship. He stood on the main deck a second later as the Clown's crew all fell back in shock or rushed to get weapons to defend their ship. Buggy himself panicked at the sight of an intruder on the ship but soon looked over the man standing on the deck and came to the conclusion that, standing there, was one Portgas D. Naruto. "Great it's the brat!" He cursed silently to himself. Buggy then walked out to confront Naruto as a means of looking tough in front of his crew. "What are you doing on my ship Portgas D. Naruto!?" His voice boomed over the surrounding area and one by one each of Buggy's crewmen began to panic as Naruto had quite the reputation as being a cold blooded killer.
"What!? Portgas D. Naruto!?" Yelled one of the crew. "He's gonna kill us all!" Screamed another and before long the whole crew was running around and away from Naruto in a desperate attempt to not be killed by him. On the reverse end of things, Naruto stood there quite puzzled at the attitude of the crew but quickly pushed it off as he directed his attention back at Buggy. "It's good to see you again Buggy! I missed you!" Exclaimed the teen and Buggy immediately fell back with tears in his eyes. "D-don't go saying stuff like that you brat!" Buggy responded, standing back up and wiping the tears from his eyes
Looking on at this scene, most of Buggy's crew-mates began to slow themselves to see what was happening between their Captain and Naruto. "Where have you been Buggy!? Still sailing the Grandline with Shanks I hope!" Naruto asked the clown who cringed at the mention of the red-haired pirate. "As if! I'm the Captain of my own ship! That red-haired idiot ran off to go do his own thing in the New World!" Buggy told Naruto with a huff
The teen chuckled at his old friend's antics. "Ah I see! The New World isn't enough for the great Captain Buggy? And I'd watch what I say about Shanks if I were you, there's this kid who plans to sail out here soon and he's a really big fan of Shanks. So if you don't want him to clean your clock I suggest watching your mouth." Naruto relayed to the Captain of the Buggy Pirates who just scoffed it off. "Yeah like a rookie would be able to defeat me!" Buggy began to brag and Naruto, not wanting to here the man go on about how great he was, interrupted his speech
"Have you managed to find any of the others Buggy? Like I mean from the old crew?" Asked the teen and the clown immediately fell silent. "Other than Shanks and you I haven't! Besides! I'm making a crew that will be better than my last one! Right guys!" Yelled out Buggy and each member of his crew in earshot voiced their confirmation. He then turned back to face Naruto. "What about you? Do you got a crew yet? And regardless if you do or don't I've decided that, being the generous person that I am, to offer you a spot on the Buggy Pirates!" Proclaimed Buggy, throwing his hands to the air as his crew shot party streamers in the air after Buggy finished
Naruto stood there for a second and watched Buggy keep the exact same position as he waited for an answer. The clown then grew tired of waiting and yelled, "Well!? Are you gonna join or not!?" He angrily asked Naruto who smiled and nodded his head side to side. "Sorry Buggy! But I've actually made up my own crew! There's only three of us but all together and we have a-uh-I think, if my math is right, a combined bounty of 648 million beli! And I don't plan on hanging around the East Blue for much longer anyway! We're on our way to visit some friends in Sabaody and kick some ass along the way!" Naruto answered Buggy who gapped along with the rest of his crew at the mention of how large their combined bounty was
"6-6-6-648 million beli!? That's enormous!" Buggy began to voice but then collected himself again. "A-almost as enormous as my 2 billion beli bounty!" He lied but Naruto went along with it. "Wow really Buggy!? That's amazing, you must be one of the strongest Pirates on the seas!" Spoke the teen and Buggy grinned and was about to speak but was interrupted by one of his crewmen. "Uh, Captain Buggy? I-I thought you only had a bounty of 15 million beli?" He spoke which caused Buggy to turn around furiously
He screamed back at the man. "Well you must've not seen the updated bounty!" Naruto in turn chuckled at Buggy's attitude before the clown swung back in his direction and Naruto forced the laugh down. "Anyway! We have been up to a lot, hunting the One Piece and finding treasure! Not to mention fighting any Pirates or Marines that get in our way!" Bragged Buggy who was once again interrupted by the same man. "Uh Captain? The last time we saw any Pirates or Marines they wiped the floor with us." He explained to which Buggy grew angry once again and gave chase to the man
"Come back here and let me kill you!" Buggy cursed as he and his crew mate ran around the ship in a frenzy, all the while Naruto's ship pulled up next to Buggy's
Buggy and the rest of his crew snapped their heads to look on the new people that just arrived after Kiji threw the ship's anchor in the water which generated a huge splash and a loud noise. "Naruto, do you know these guys?" Asked the navigator of the teen's crew and he smiled and nodded. "Well, I only know Buggy here! We used to sail together years ago when I was a kid!" Explained Naruto to his crew as Kiji stepped aboard Buggy's ship
"H-hey! You c-can't come on this ship without permission!" Explained one of Buggy's men in a sacred voice. Kiji just looked over and made eye contact with the man before saying, "Does it look like I care? I don't need any permission to do what I want from a human like you." The fish-man uttered and multiple men on the ship moved away from him in terror
Naruto sighed at the confrontation that Kiji and Buggy's crew just had. "Don't mind him, he's just not the most friendly of people!" He spoke, raising his voice at the end as a means to criticize his crew member's attitude. In response, Kiji just huffed before crossing his arms over his chest. "What business do we have here?" He asked, once again spooking some of the surrounding crew
"Well whatever it is we need to make it quick! I spotted some Marines in the waters on the other side of the island and if we're spotted we're not getting out of here and into the Grandline without a fight!" Lucy explained to both Kiji and Naruto who didn't seem to react too much while Buggy and his crew began to freak out. "The Marines?! Here!?" Buggy screamed as he ran behind the wheel of his ship and ordered his men to raise the anchor
The Captain of the Void Pirates wobbled a bit as Buggy's ship began to once again move under his feet and the clown yelled down to him. "Alright men! We're leaving! And unlike you Naruto I don't want to fight the Marines right now!" Naruto just chuckled and signalled his crew over and each one of them hopped back on his ship. Kiji, Lucy and Naruto all watched as Buggy and his crew started to quickly sail away from the island and by extension the Marines. "Oi Buggy!" Naruto yelled in the direction of the frightened crew. Naruto could see the man's head turn at his words which caused the teen to smile before saying, "I hate clowns Buggy! But you're alright! I hope you have good fortune on your journey and I hope to see you on the Grandline someday!"
These words caused Buggy to tear up once again and frantically cover his face so no one thought him as weak. "Damn it you brat! Don't think that will get you any sympathy if I see you on the Grandline!" Buggy yelled back to him but all Naruto did was wave and smile. Unheard by anyone, Buggy spoke one last thing. "It was good to see you again Naruto! Captain Roger would be proud of the man you've become!" The clown spoke to himself as he and his crew sailed back, further into the East Blue
Back on Naruto's ship. . .
"Well it was good to see him again!" Naruto exclaimed as both Lucy and Kiji wen back to doing various duties on the ship before they docked at Loguetown. "He seemed like quite the interesting person to say the least. Where did you say you met him Naruto?" Asked Lucy, while she walked up the stairs on the side of the ship to get back to the wheel
Her Captain turned back to face her. "Well, I met him when I was still a baby on my Dad's ship! At the time he was an apprentice of my father with Red-Haired Shanks! And the both of them used to hangout with me while we were on the ship and they were both pretty much my best friends!" He explained to Lucy who nodded along in understanding
Kiji was quick to butt in. "That human seemed pretty weak to me. And you said he trained under your father and with the infamous Pirate Red-Haired Shanks?" Questioned the fish-man to which the teen responded with a frown. "First off, drop the whole 'human' thing! And second of all, Buggy may not be the strongest person or the smartest or even the slightest bit generous but I know that when it really comes down to the wire, he'll pull through!" Naruto told both Lucy and Kiji before he walked back away from the side of the ship and went over to the front and looked at the approaching city of Loguetown
"Just so everyone is on the same page, when we get here we need to get some supplies for the Grandline like food, water, and hardware supplies like wood, metal sheets and nails. Kiji I want you to get all the hardware supplies and Naruto, you're in charge of food and water!" Voiced Lucy and Naruto raised a brow at her words. "Wait what about you? Aren't you going to help us get some supplies?" He queued to her
Lucy huffed in response to him. "No I'm not! If you two hadn't noticed I was the one who navigated all the way here and even took the helm and steered the ship! The way I see it you two need to start pulling your weight around here!" Kiji was about to say something in response but was unable to speak as Lucy spoke first. "Don't even think about it Kiji! I've had enough of your complaining! Now both of you get over there and find what we need while I dock the ship!" Ordered Lucy as both the teen and the fish-man swam and teleported the rest of the distance to the island respectively
Upon arriving on the stone docks of Loguetown, Kiji and Naruto both exchanged a look. "Do you want to get the hardware supplies?" Asked Kiji to Naruto who scoffed. "Fat chance!" He answered much to Kiji's displeasure and the fish-man seemed to not like the fact that he was being ordered around so he voiced his discontent to Naruto once again. "She thinks she can just send us around doing chores for her! I won't except it! We should go back up there and tell her to do it herself!" Spoke Kiji, in an attempt to get Naruto on his side
The Captain of the ship just pointed to the deck. "If you want to go up there that's on you! But be warned she may not look scary but when she gets mad, let's just say you don't want to be around when that happens!" Countered Naruto and Kiji just grumbled. "And if you two get in trouble use these! Now go!" Lucy ordered as she threw two wide barreled guns towards them. The two looked them over and Kiji then spoke. "A flare gun?" He voiced in confusion
Naruto nodded up and down in response to his voiced confusion. "Yeah, she must expect us to light them off if anything comes up. 100 beli says you'll be the one to ask for help first!" Naruto teased and the fish-man just gave a huff before walking off in another direction to go get the materials necessary for their journey. The teen then sighed before copying Kiji and went off in his own direction to find the food and water that the crew needed. He started off by walking down a side street which merged into what he would describe as a merchant centre. All up and down the sides of the street there were shops followed by little tents of merchants that didn't have a building to base their business out of.
"Hey kid! You want some West Blue tobacco?" Asked a merchant. "No thank you!" Came Naruto's response as he kept walking down the street, looking for food and water all the while marveling at the buildings and look of the town. This continued for a while before the street led into a giant square that held a giant wooden structure in the middle of it. Curious, the teen walked up to the structure and say that there was a rope surrounding it with a plaque portioned right in front of the structure. Naruto bent over slightly to look at the writing on it.
This platform was the place where the foolish Pirate King Gol D. Roger was executed and it stands here as a constant reminder to those who
take up the life of a criminal. The World Government will always bring justice to those who cause pain and suffering in the
world.
There was more written on it but Naruto just did not bother to read it. He clenched his fist at the thought of his father's name being dragged through the mud by the World Government. "Damn Government! Always altering the truth to fit their needs! Don't worry Dad! I'll carry your legacy and become free just like you were! I promise!" Naruto proclaimed and to his surprise he felt a hand clasp his shoulder
He jolted around to see who touched him but to his surprise no one was there except for some people who were just walking by a couple meters behind him. After a second of looking, Naruto formed a smile on his face as a tear rolled down and he looked to the blue sky. He then felt a breeze blow through the air which moved the hair on his head that wasn't covered by his hat. To Naruto it almost felt like someone was moving their hand through his hair. "I miss you too Dad." He said to no one with the same smile still on his face
All the while this was happening, there was a figure looking onto Naruto from a bell tower that was a few streets away from the main square. Even though the tower itself was a little ways away from where Naruto was, the figure had no problem observing him. "Huh, seems the kid is paying his respect to the dead Pirate King. Knowin' those dumb ass Marines they'd consider that a crime too. Well that beauty from the bar did tell me that this guy has a Devil-Fruit, so I suppose I'm loadin' the hollows. No wait, I gotta take this guy alive. Best load the sea stone tips then." A man with a southern accent explained to himself as he pulled a lever-action rifle from his back and then he set it against one of the pillars on the top of the bell tower.
The man then pulled back his old loose light brown sleeve from his jacket, revealing a cyborganic arm. He then watched as the components within his arm moved around before they pushed out four bullets into his hand. "There we go!" He spoke excitedly prior to grabbing his rifle again and loading the four bullets inside. After that, he positioned his cyborganic eye to look down the sightline of the gun. The man's eye displayed a HUD of everything from ammo count in his weapon to the wind speed of where he was positioned, something very useful for a marksman. The marksman then pushed back some of his long dirt blond hair from out of his sightline and took aim at Naruto.
"I would go for the head but I suppose the leg will have to do this time." Exclaimed the marksman who then shot his gun at the teen Pirate
BANG
The shot echoed out through the town and all of a sudden people began to panic. Naruto turned his torso to see what was happening but before he could do anything else he had a bullet pierce the side of his shin and go straight through and into the cobblestone street. "Dammit!" He cursed as he fell to the ground in a thud, flare gun sliding out of his pocket and across the ground. The Pirate attempted to move but his leg that was shot did not have the strength to support his weight which only caused him to fall back down.
Soon after the first shot, another was made though this one was what seemed to be a grappling hook. The hook soared above Naruto's head and imbedded itself into the street just behind him. The marksman then used his weapon as a means to carry himself down the zip-line and he dismounted right in front of the downed Naruto. "Ya might want to put some pressure on that feller, or you'll bleed on out." The marksman explained to Naruto who glared at the man
The teen had already beat the man to it and tore off some of his shirt to use as a makeshift bandage. "W-who are you and why t-the hell did you shoot me?!" Questioned the teen and the man then tipped his hat. "Yeah, I'm the guy who shot ya, but don't worry it ain't nothin' personal, just a job. And as for my name, it's Russ, Russ the marksman." The now named Russ told him and Naruto cringed from the pain of the gunshot
Naruto soon started to try and get up once again to fight Russ but was quickly countered with a kick to the head followed by a silver revolver being pointed at his head. "I'd be in your best interest not to try and scram. The Marines gave me a pretty nice offer to capture ya alive and I plan on cashin' out on that deal very soon." Russ explained, not moving the gun from Naruto's head, the man then bent down and slapped some sea stone cuffs on his wrists
In that moment, the Pirate felt all his strength leave his body and for the first time since he saw his brother die, he felt truly helpless. Within a few minutes after he was restrained, Naruto felt the ground shake from the oncoming squad of Marines. A group of twelve of them came and circled the two men before drawing their arms and taking aim. A Marine with pink hair then walked past the line of soldiers and presented herself to the onlooking Naruto, who in response gritted his teeth. "Hina." He spoke in a low voice to which she looked at him
"Hina thought that you'd be more excited to see Hina?" She questioned the teen who just looked the other way. "This isn't exactly the best time for a reunion you know!" Naruto yelled back at her as some of the Marines closed in to get him on his feet. They began to walk him away but Hina stopped them in their tracks. "Hold out his legs in front of Hina." The Marine Captain explained and both of the Marine soldiers that carried Naruto obeyed. She then slashed her leg throw both of his and left an iron bar holding them together.
"Bind!" She voiced while doing so.
With Kiji. . .
"I can't believe the way they look at me! It's disgusting!" The fish-man silently voiced to himself as he walked down the streets of Loguetown. Each person he came by gave him either a look of fear or of disgust as people in the 4 Blue Seas may not have been accustomed to seeing fish-men.
The fish-man continued to grunt as he passed by a shop that looked promising enough to get some proper supplies from. Kiji laid his hand on the door and then opened it and was met by the face of an old man that stood behind a counter. "U-uh hello t-there! W-welcome to-" The grocer nervously began to say as he was intimidated by Kiji's appearance before he was interrupted. "Save it. I'm here for steel sheets, wood and spare parts for a ship. Can you make it available to me?" He asked the clerk who frantically nodded as he ran off around the store and grabbed everything Kiji needed
All Kiji did was fold his arms as he waiting for the clerk to grab what he needed but something through the window looking out to the street caught the fish-man's attention. Peering outside, Kiji saw six Marines with guns drawn running past the shop. "C'mon! The Captain needs reinforcements! Portgas D. Naruto has been caught and we can't let him get away! Move it!" Shouted one of the soldiers and Kiji turned back to the vendor. "Hey! Take the money, and I'll be back for the supplies. And don't think about pulling a fast one or I'll tear you limb from limb!" Threatened Kiji and the man gulped in response
He then turned back around and exited the shop and ran after the Marines that were running in the direction of Naruto. Kiji did not have to run far as when he turned a few street corners he arrived at the main square but made sure not to reveal himself just yet in an attempt to gauge the situation. '20 Marines, what looks to be a Captain among them and . . . a hobo?' Kiji thought to himself prior to moving back out of sight
His eyes then went to the sky before he punched the side of a building lightly to not break it. "Dammit Naruto you win!" He exclaimed to himself before taking out his flare gun and aiming it high to the sky. After pulling the trigger a red flare shot to the sky which he hoped would have alerted Lucy aboard their ship. He then looked back around the street corner and was greeted by a bullet just narrowly missing him and grazing the stone corner of the building he was hidden behind.
"Captain! There looks to be someone around the street corner! Maybe an accomplice of Portgas!" Relayed a Marine and Hina nodded understandingly. "Alright, all troops engage!" Hina ordered her men who all pulled out their weapons and gave chase to Kiji. The fish-man heard what Hina said and grinned. "Well that worked. This way I can get all the Marines away from the square so Lucy has a clear shot at taking out the last two. I just need to get far enough away to take care of these idiots before doubling back." Kiji voiced to himself while he ran down back the street he came from with the Marines hot on his tail
He made a few turns but it didn't seem to lose them at all. 'These humans don't like to leave a guy alone do they!' His thoughts blazed. He then turned back to face what was in front of himself and spotted something that could help him with his problem, 'A sewer? That might just be perfect for this!' He thought before stopping beside it and slamming his fist through the metal grate blocking the way in and jumped down.
Once his feet hit the grimy sewer floor he kept running into the darkness of the sewer tunnel prior to stopping just around a bend in the tunnel and becoming completely unseen due to the darkness. "Hey he went down here!" Shouted a Marine back to the rest of his group. "Are you kidding!? That place is disgusting! No way I'm going down!" Exclaimed another while making a face of disgust
"Captain Hina will have our heads if we told her we didn't pursue Portgas's accomplice! Now all of ya quit acting like a bunch of dunces and get down there!" Yelled a lieutenant and one by one each Marine obeyed as they hopped down into the sewer. "Use your flashlights men! The couldn't have gotten too far!" The lieutenant spoke again to which the Marines nodded. Kiji saw from just down the tunnel behind him, beams of light shot around at every angle in hopes of spotting him. The fish-man decided that instead of running any further he would stand his ground and fight like the proud warrior he thought himself to be.
Right above him was another hatch to the sewer to which Kiji climbed up and he held his body up in the gap in the ceiling and waited for the Marines to pass on by before surprising them. He waited in the position for a few minutes as each Marine took turns passing right underneath him, unknown to any of them that Kiji was above them. Looking on, Kiji watched as the last of the squad pasted him as he let himself go and dropped back onto the stone ground of the sewer. With the sound of Kiji's landing, the last Marine in the squad slowly turned back and pointed his flashlight at the fish-man to see his grinning face with sharp teeth out for everyone to see.
Kiji immediately after being revealed, swung his webbed hand at the soldier which scratched some of his torso and shot him back into the curved wall of the sewer. "Everyone fire at will!" Yelled the lieutenant while every Marine obeyed and began to fire wildly at the fish-man. Though their bullets saw little effect as Kiji managed to shield his face from the bullets with his sea stone coated palms and every bullet that hit his skin either grazed it and went off in another direction or had loads of trouble with penetrating it. Before long the squad had run out of rounds to shoot at him and Kiji took that as his queue to attack the rest of them.
He did not bother with his special attacks and instead elected to just grab them and swing them around or punch them into the walls. Each blow the fish-man delivered on the Marine squad succeeded in breaking bones along with spirits as each one of them were pummelled by Kiji. After a few minutes he took over the unmoving Marines and cracked his knuckle. "Time to get back to the square." He expressed to himself before jumping up and out through the hatch above him
Back in the square. . .
"You know. . . if you wanted a date you. . . could've asked!" Spoke a weakened Naruto to Hina who just closed her eyes and looked away from him. She then responded to his words, "Hina told you that if you became a Pirate that Hina would be the one to catch you. Hina is just fulfilling a promise Hina made to you. Plain and simple."
"Listen it's great that you two know each other or somthin' like that but I don particularly care! I caught him Marine! Now give me what you owe!" Demanded Russ to which Hina shook her head no. "The deal was for all three, the only one Hina wanted alive was Portgas. So you still have two targets out there waiting before anything can be done." Explained Hina and Russ gritted his teeth and glared. "Well one ran off with your boys but with that flare then that might mean another might be coming to-" He was interrupted by a bird's screech from above them
The three of them looked to the sky to see a white bird circling overhead and Naruto used what strength he had left to yell out to it. "Lucy! W-watch out! He has sea stone bullets! D-don't get hit!" Naruto relayed which Russ responded to by giving him another kick to the face. "Damn loudmouth! Get em on out of here! I'm not lettin' some chicken take 'way my reward!" Ordered Russ to which Hina reluctantly agreed and began to run away with Naruto in over her shoulder
The marksman continued to watch as the bird seemed to pay less attention to him and looked to begin to dive bomb at Hina in hopes of collecting Naruto. "Nice try chicken!" Exclaimed the marksman who took aim at the bird's path and shot a special round in that direction. "Dragon's Breath!" Proclaimed Russ as a ball of fire erupted from the barrel of his lever action rifle and blocked the path from Lucy to Hina. This caused Lucy to bail on her attempt at retrieving Naruto and she inverted and flew back around to engage Russ as a means to having a clear way to getting back her Captain.
As she flew towards the man she flipped her bird body in mid air and then transformed back into her human form and glared down the bounty hunter. "So you must be the hired muscle then?" She question the marksman who just seemed to let off a perverted smile and look her up and down. "With a body like that miss I'll be whatever you want!" Came his response which earned a disgusted look from Lucy. "You perverted pig! But if you do stand in the way of me helping my Captain whom I owe my freedom to I will not hesitate to kill you and retrieve him!" Countered Lucy as she descended into a combat position while her arms turned into wings right in front of Russ
"Ha! Like you can take me on! I wasn't allowed to kill your Captain cause that Marine lady told me otherwise! But you! I can kill you just the same as your other friend who ran off with the rest of those dumb Marines!" Taunted Russ who put away his rifle and pulled two revolvers out of his pockets. Lucy gritted her teeth at the thought of Kiji running away. 'So after only a few days at sea he finally shows his true colours! I knew we couldn't count on him for anything! Dammit!' She thought to herself as Russ gripped his guns. He then was quick to point both of them at Lucy and bring a rain of fire down upon her which she narrowly dodged by jumping up into the air and flying around. "Feather Missile!" Yelled Lucy, sending multiple hardened feathers flying at Russ who ran in another direction all the while keeping his guns pointed on Lucy and firing. The feathers stuck into the cobble stone street like a hot knife through butter all the while the bullets from Russ's guns narrowly missed Lucy do to her extreme speed.
The marksman then took cover behind one of the water fountains in the square and let off a few more shots with his revolvers which proved to be ineffective against Lucy. "Slice!" Came another attack from Lucy as a wave over energy that came from her wing made its way along the ground and cut through the water fountain where Russ originally was before disappearing. Just in time the marksman rolled out of the way and brought up one of his revolvers. "Ballistic Explosion!" Proclaimed Russ as a super fast bullet shot right past Lucy's cheek, leaving a small cut, before exploding behind her and knocking her down to the ground with a thud.
Russ then closed the distance and prepared for hand-to-hand combat with the Devil-Fruit user. He led with a punch but it was quickly blocked by Lucy, who had gotten up from the blast, and returned with her own punch that hit the cyborg in the side of the head. As Russ recovered from the blow, Lucy saw his red eye scanning her over to which she replied with another punch though Russ was able to easily avoid it this time, just by sliding out of the way. 'It's that damn eye!' Lucy concluded
"Feather Missile!" She attacked him while he had little distance to move and both of them watched as the feathers embedded themselves all up Russ's arm and a few being in his leg. Lucky for the bounty hunter he had managed to turn away just enough that only one of his sides had taken the force of the attack but Lucy did not give him long as she quickly started to punch him once again. Landing a blow on his gut and then another on his lower jaw which knocked him back and caused him to fall over on his back.
She prepared for his response but no attack came, instead Russ just slowly got back up to his feet. "Ya know you really are startin' to piss me off!" He told her as she looked on to see that his eye was flickering on and off with the surrounding skin peeling off to reveal metal underneath which gave her the conclusion that she must have damaged it. Russ then laid his hand on his damaged arm and ripped it off at the elbow and threw it to the ground and both watched as oil leaked from it with some part sparking as well. Lucy took a step back in shock, "W-what the hell are you!?" She asked him to which Russ stood silent for a moment
"An abomination that never should have existed!" Came his response before he jumped into another stance. Russ pointed his good arm at Lucy and she looked on to see the fingers and palm of the arm move revealing what looked to be a gun underneath with yellow light gathering at the end of it. "Beam of Destruction!" Yelled Russ who shot the beam of light at Lucy but was blown back a little by the recoil and allowed Lucy to get away with only her one arm, a little bit of her torso and leg being burnt and looked on as the beam destroyed the whole roof of a house
The Devil-Fruit user decided that Russ could not be allowed to use that power again and used most of her remaining energy and prepared for another attack. "Slice!" She used again which cut off his arm from his body before kicking the armless bounty hunter in the chest and knocking him back onto his back. It did not take Lucy long to fall to the ground herself from her injuries.
"I'd l-like to see you t-try and get up from t-that you bastard!" Cursed the woman as they both laid on the ground, attempting to find the strength to get back up and finish the other one off. The man chuckled weakly. "I'm not the one with a-a cooked wing b-blondie!" He countered before letting out a cough as more liquid poured out of his wounds, some of it looking like oil while some of it looked like blood. Lucy herself had some blood dripping from her cut on her cheek along with some blood flowing down her legs from the hit she took from Russ's explosive bullet.
After a few minutes of lying there, both Russ and Lucy heard multiple footsteps getting closer to them and both tried to turn their heads to look to see who it was. "Sir both of them seem to be heavily injured from their fight!" Relayed a voice as a man dressed in white walked around to look at the two. "I can see that soldier! Now Captain Hina has ordered us to take the both of them to the holding cells! Get some sea stone cuffs on the girl and as for the bounty hunter, tie what's left of his arms behind his back and tie him off at the legs as well! Don't forget to disarm and search them both and grab that bastards arms from off the street and bring the with us!" Ordered a Marine to which the rest of the unit nodded and began doing the tasks they were assigned
"Damn!" Lucy cursed as she felt her strength leave her as the sea stone cuffs were placed around her wrists. The marksman was also quick to frown to himself when the Marines tied off his limbs. Soon after, both rouges were picked up off of the ground by the Marines and thrown onto a wooden cart that they had brought with them. Lucy glared at Russ while she tried to get out of her restraints without any luck. "M-must be worth the reward." She voiced sarcastically to the marksman as they both began to get wheeled away by the Marines
Some of the Marines stayed behind to make sure the area was secured and free of danger. "Sir! Intel reads that there should be another member with them!" Came the words of one of the Marines." The leader of the squad pondered this for a second prior to answering. "Yes, he ran off while being chased by a squad. I imagine that once he is done with them he should be returning here to rescue his Captain along with the other captives we took. Get some men up on these roofs and be prepared to shoot him on sight when he appears!" Ordered the leader of the unit assigned with the retrieval of Lucy and Russ
"Yes sir!" Chorused the squad and they all began to split off and get into their positions
With Naruto. . .
The Captain of the Void Pirates had not been taken back to the Marine base on the island and instead taken to a base on the far shore just outside of the town. "Get comfy Pirate bastard! Cause the next time you leave this cell it'll when the Government kills you!" Antagonized one of the Marine soldiers that were tasked with looking over Naruto in his cell. The Pirate just chose to smile back at him. "Oh I don't know about that! Something says I haven't quite finished my journey yet!" Came his response to which the guard just dismissed him
Soon after the wooden door that lead into the room with Naruto's cell opened up to reveal the beaten forms of Lucy and Russ. A gasp came from Naruto as he tried to lunge at the Marines that held them both. "What the hell did you do to my friend! I swear I'll kick the person's ass who did this!" Ranted Naruto as the cell door opened and both prisoners were tossed in along with him.
The bound Naruto tried to look over and do his best to heal Lucy's wounds but he couldn't move due to his chains being attached to the wall. "Lucy can you hear me!? Are you okay!?" He frantically asked her but no response came until Russ spoke up from his prone position on the straw covered floor. "She's beaten up but she'll live." He assured Naruto who's eyes immediately darted to the man who shot him
"Don't go yellin' at me kid! Cause I don't wanna hear it! Feathers and I fought and both of us knocked the wind outta each other. Then these damn Marines picked us up and brought us here." Explained Russ but Naruto just kept his eyes focused on his injured navigator. "You better hope you're up for a round two because I'll ring your neck for hurting my friend!" Threatened the Captain of the Void Pirates but Russ just shook his head no
He the began to speak once again. "I was betrayed by the Marines, I got no reason to fight any of ya's anymore. We're square in my books." He told Naruto who fumed and turned to look at the bounty hunter. "You shot me in the leg and fought and hurt my navigator! How does that make us squa- oh my god where are your arms!?" He freaked out, seeing as though both his arms were cut off
"Your friend there took care of em. But I got a way of gettin' em back. By the way don't ya got another friend runnin' around Loguetown?" The marksman asked Naruto who's eyes widened at the realization. "Yeah I do! Kiji is still out there and he can get here and get us out!" Naruto loudly expressed which caused the Marine sitting outside of the room to open the door. "Hey! All of you shut up in there! Before I come in and break whatever is left!" Threatened the Marine to which Russ responded. "Trust me, I you come in here the only thing gettin' broken is that weird lookin' nose of yours!"
After a second the Marine then shut the door and left the three of them alone once more. "Looks like he's scared!" Russ chuckled, before turning over to lay on his back while Naruto just looked at the barred window of the cell. 'Looks like it might just be up to Kiji now.' He thought to himself
Alright! I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! And seeing as though it is Valentine's Day I would just like to wish everyone a good day! As for the next update you all can see one in early March or even late February depending on how fast I get done my mountains of assignments! I would also like to say I really enjoy all of your reviews and hope to see you all leave more! Don't forget to leave your suggestions for the story and I can't wait to see you all again!
Qwert out!