Chapter 2 - We did something…


-With Itzal and Rob in the East Blue sea-

The sea was calm and gentle. The skies above were clear, no a cloud in sight revealing a beautiful blue sky with streaks of orange from the rising sun. It had been two days since Itzal and Rob had set out from Toredo island. They took their time, resting when they needed it. Most of the trip had been idle chat or silence as Rob tried to guide them to another island. Although the trip so far had been peaceful, there was one problem.

"I wish we had gotten food before we left," said Rob in a casual manner, leaning back while still manning the rudder of the small boat.

"Agreed, this kind of sucks," Itzal too was starting to get hungry. "And, the only source of food for us to eat would be that devil fruit sitting there," Itzal nodded his head toward the sack containing the remaining devil fruit.

"I wouldn't really call that food. It'll kill you if you ate it and I would rather die than eat the damn thing in the first place so that's no help," added Rob, knowing about the effects of eating two devil fruits. "We should have traded the thing for actual supplies or something. It's useless to us." Rob threw his ungloved hand into the water as the boat glided through the East Blue, feeling the water run through his fingers.

"Exactly, but how do you know about devil fruits? I heard they were rare in the blue seas. Elder-san back on Toredo island seemed shocked to see one," said Itzal,

Rob leaned his head back to look at the sky, "Let's just say I know a bit about the damn things." His tone became somewhat harsh at the mention of the fruits. Itzal caught the tone and decided to the drop the topic of devil fruits.

Itzal blinked once before changing the topic, "You know where we're going? Because I sure as hell don't," joked Itzal, who gave a small laugh. Rob shook his head at his friends sudden attempt at humour. He basically just said, If you don't know where we're going, we're dead.

"The ship I used to get to Toredo island had passed another island on the way over but I didn't realize it was so far." Rob sighed, "That was the island I'm currently trying to guide us to. But it may be some time away unfortunately," explained Rob, he had enough navigational skill to at least make it to another island.

Itzal threw up his hood and lay down in the nook of the bow of their small boat, relaxed his body before facing Rob, "Well, we may as well pass the time," Itzal smiled, "I have to say, I want to know a bit more about my first mate."

Rob grinned, "I guess I should do the same. Alright then." Rob shifted where he sat and paused for a moment, thinking up a question. He ended up asking a rather basic one, "Where are you from in the first place?" asked Rob with a straight face glancing over to Itzal. He had to admit, Itzal stood out in a crowd with how he dressed somewhat similarly to a monk.

"I was born on Reverse Mountain, where I lived for all my life until recently," explained Itzal, Rob looked rather impressed by what Itzal said, not everyday you hear someone was born on Reverse Mountain.

"Reverse Mountain? Why would you live up there in the first place?" Rob was actually curious to know why someone would want to make their home there.

Itzal glanced over to the sea around him, "I was raised in a monastery atop Reverse Mountain. The Order of Angels ran the place." Rob listened intently to Itzal's story, "The Order trained its members in the art of 'Life Return.' An art that allows the user to control every part of their body down to an individual hair strand as well as anything connected to my body." Itzal continued to explain.

"Life Return? Sounds pretty interesting as an art so to speak. That how you can control the chains you made back at Toredo?" asked Rob, he was surprised to see Itzal's abilities. He had seen devil fruits before but he wondered about what Itzal's devil fruit was really made of.

Itzal clicked his fingers, "Yep, as long as they remain attached to my body I can control any metal construct I make." Itzal gave a small chuckle, "I have some tricks up my sleeve for the future. Trust me."

Rob smiled slightly, "I'd expect nothing less," joked Rob, "Why'd you leave?" Itzal shifted at the question.

"I wanted to leave, but the seniors of the monastery wouldn't allow it. So I tried to get myself exiled by breaking a major rule or two." Rob listened quietly to his story, "I ate a forbidden devil fruit in an attempt to be exiled, but the order just ended up completely turning on me and tried to kill me for my crimes. The Order sees devil fruits as unholy and evil so they tried to purge the evil from within me." Itzal gave a weak laugh, thinking back, that might have been bad idea. Rob didn't seem all that impressed or amused, he remained still but he titled his hat so his face was shadowed over by his hat.

"After that I escaped and hid out on an island, I trained and survived there for awhile." Itzal continued, "Now that I'm free I've decided to go become Pirate King!" Itzal began to fidget where he sat which Rob took notice of, this caused a smile to form on his face. Even if you couldn't see it.

"Well?" Itzal said expectantly, Rob glanced and blinked for a moment.

"Well what?" was his reply.

"Well, what about you? Where are you from? I heard you're from the North Blue. That true?" Itzal asked, seeing as he shared where he was from he wanted to know where Rob came from, a fair trade.

"Oh, yeah, it's true. I was born and raised in the North Blue for seventeen years before I left and became a bounty hunter," answering Itzals question, "I didn't plan on it but as I went around the North Blue, money became an issue so I took a few bounties and made a living off it over the years. I wandered the North Blue for about two years before I eventually came over to the East Blue, I'd say I've been in the East Blue for almost a year I think." Rob added at the end. He looked to be thinking for moment to confirm it in his head.

Itzal sat up and crossed his legs, "Where about in the North Blue? What island?" Itzal was finding this intriguing to hear. Travelling for three years Rob had probably done and see a lot of things before.

Rob turned back to Itzal, "Diavolos Island, in the far north of the North Blue. Place was rather big, from what I saw during my travels it certainly was a contender for biggest island in the North Blue." Rob had to admit, he was proud of his origin. He did love his home island… Or what was left of it.

"So you left to pursue your dream?" asked Itzal, he had already assumed the answer was going to be a yes, the nod of his head confirmed Itzal's assumption.

"What about how you fight? That's a really interesting fighting style you used back at Toredo Island. Where did you learn to fight like that?" Itzal began his bombardment of questions with a relatively basic one.

"I learned it from an old coot back on Diavolos, I use two fighting styles combining them into one, making a mix martial arts so to speak. I learned Ryusoken, a hand based combat style. I use the claws of a dragon to fight." explained Rob, demonstrating with his left hand, the three talons of the claw. "The other is a leg based combat style, Black Leg style. Which uses swift and powerful kicks as its form of attacks. If I add Haki to the mix there's nothing I can't do." Rob smirked at his own statement, having pride in his fighting abilities and how far they'd come from when he started.

"You can use haki?" asked Itzal, he was both impressed and interested in seeing more of Robs fighting style in action and what he had up his sleeve.

Rob nodded, "Ay, my old man taught me." Rob paused for a moment before looking at the sea around them. "Whenever he was around, anyway."

"That's cool, I learned haki from the order," Itzal said, answering the question as well.

"I figured, an order that hates devil fruits would know about the best way to combat the damn things," replied Rob, who saw it as rather obvious. He turned to look at the sky above.

"So you know both observation and armament haki?" asked Itzal which he got an Ay from Rob as a reply.

"Then which did you specialize in?" Itzal continued his game of twenty questions. Not that Rob minded he actually rather enjoyed the discussion they were having. It was nice to get to know each other, seeing as they were going to be sailing the seas together.

"I have an affinity for armament haki. Which also happens to be what my old man had an affinity for. Guess I'm more like him than I first thought." Rob leaned his back against the rear of the boat and closed his eyes to enjoy the simplicity and peace of the sea. "What about you?"

Itzal rested his arm on the edge of the boat, "I know both as well but my affinity is for observation haki which works great with my devil fruit and life return."

"I'd say so, you got one hell of a devil fruit. I'm interested to see what kind of damage you can do." Rob laughed, getting his blood flowing for their next fight, Itzal joined in with the laughter.

"We'll see." was all Itzal added before he glanced out to the sea. It was fun to talk like this, they'd completely forgot about their lack of food and just enjoyed the company.

A brief pause followed, "How'd you get the title of Head Hunter while travelling?" asked Itzal, causing Rob to turn to face him. Itzal noticed he looked to be debating something in his head.

"Well let's-" Rob paused and sat up a bit and tilted his hat up slightly, his eyes focused on something a distance behind Itzal, "What the hell…" Rob seemed rather surprised at what he saw. Itzal swung his head over to where Rob was facing and was amazed.

"Holy shit! Look at the size of those ships!" exclaimed Itzal, a distance away from them was a small fleet of ships. Five marine ships to be exact.

"What the fuck are they doing here?" asked Rob to nobody in particular, Itzal turned back to Rob and saw he looked rather confused for some reason.

"What's up Rob?" spoke Itzal, which drew Rob from his surprise. He blinked once before speaking.

"It's just you don't ever see marines in any of the blue seas." explained Rob, as he leaned back down, "They're so rare in the blue seas that some people say the marines are a myth that others made up to give people hope."

'So that's why he's surprised to see them, but he knows about them as well,' thought Itzal curious as to how Rob knew by just seeing it even though he said they're rare, Itzal planned to ask about this later. He turned back to the five ships and smiled, "Well let's get over there. They're the biggest ships I have ever seen and I want to check them out!" said Itzal who stood up by the bow of their small boat facing the marine ships ahead of them.

Rob looked at Itzal's back for a moment before he shrugged his shoulders and grinned to himself, "Why the fuck not." Rob muttered to himself as he adjusted their course to cut off the marine ships.

The marine ships didn't appear to be at full sail meaning they weren't travelling full speed, which Rob also noticed as they closed in the on the ships. The sea still calm making it literal smooth sailing over to the marines.

As they closed in, Rob inspected the ships, 'Three battleships and two transport marine ships in a tight formation. Just what the hell is this?' thought Rob, still confused about the marine presence in the East Blue. Something was going on, Rob was certain of that.

As they neared the ship a voiced boomed at them from the deck, "Halt! The area around these ships are restricted, meaning all non essential personnel must vacate the area! Any closer and we will be authorized to use force to cease your advances!" The voice appeared to be crackly in its tone meaning it came from a den den mushi.

Rob didn't seem to even hear the voice or he didn't care, either way he just kept the boat sailing straight toward the ships, Itzal didn't appear to concerned by the warning.

"We just want to check out your ship!" He shouted toward the voice, "Oh, and we need some food if you have any to spare! We can trade for it too!" Itzal added on to his statement, from his statement you could tell what he wanted most by the order he prioritized what he said.

"Final warning! Any closer and we will open fire!" ignoring what Itzal said. As if to reinforce his warning a multitude of canons trained themselves on their small boat, including the massive forward cannons swiveled toward them.

Itzal scoffed, he seemed more annoyed over anything else by the threats, telling them he couldn't do something, fuck that. Rob just sat there waiting to see what Itzal would choose to do but to be fair he was hoping he'd just go for it, fuck the warning, let's get us some wanted posters.

From where they were they could see the decks of the ships were littered with marines, weapons at the ready for a fight. As the boat sailed closer to the marines, Itzal's decision was made for him.

"Fire!" boomed the voice, the den den mushi crackling a bit from his loud mouth order. With that, two of the battleships unloaded their broadships, firing off nearly one hundred shots at the small sailing vessel. Talk about overkill.

Boom!

From the marines perspective the small approaching boat exploded in a enormous, glorious fireball from their volley of cannon fire, that's what they'd call it anyway. The sea became choppy from the sheer amount of explosions, shards and splinters of wood littered the seas surface. The approaching threat had been neutralized.

"Talk about rude, fuck sake…" spoke a voice, still sounding rather casual, from atop the cannons on the bow of the battleship, startling all the marines on deck, turning to the origin of the voice they all were shocked.

Atop the the main cannons stood Itzal and Rob, Itzal carrying the small bag containing the last remaining devil fruit in it, Itzal's expression was best described as pissed off to say the least. Rob's expression was hidden by the shadow cast over his face, but by the vibe he had radiating from him, he wasn't too far behind Itzal despite how casual he appeared to be.

Itzal tossed the bag to the deck and jumped from the canon to land along side it, "You bastards destroyed our ship!" roared Itzal, steam erupted from his body, the heat across the deck increased drastically.

Rob remained atop the canon observing the marines that were surrounding them, waiting for Itzals first move before he made his. Rob wanted a fight, you don't go blowing up a person's boat like that, he just wanted Itzal to make the first move.

From the other ships around them you could hear people yelling, "They've boarded one of our ships!" or "We're under attack!" It was odd how much they cared about two guys boarding one of their ships.

As the marines on deck prepared for a fight, a voice roared from behind them all, "Who are you and what are you doing aboard my ship!" Itzal and Rob shifted their attention to the owner of the voice once he said my ship, indicating he must be the highest ranking officer aboard.

The voice appeared to come from a large man who stood firmly behind the rest, although he looked ready to lead the strike against Itzal and Rob at any moment. He and the man next to him stood out among the rest of the marines that surrounded them. The first guy looked to be six foot five and muscular, with dark brown hair and red eyes, a scar running over his lips and down his chin. He wore military boots, dark blue combat trousers, a black military jacket with a black shirt, wore the marine cap atop his head and a marine cloak draped over his shoulders. He didn't appear to be armed.

'Typical rigid marine higher up,' thought Rob as they both still observed the two of the outstanding marines. But, both Itzal and Rob could tell, they wouldn't be a pushover.

To his right stood another equally large man, which Rob suspected was the next in command after the first guy. The second guy seemed to be the same height roughly, you couldn't really make out the features of the person however. The shiny fuck off suit of full knights armour made that a difficult task. The armour was decorated with shades of blue and navy cloths and engravings of the navy's symbol and his rank seemed to be engraved into his chest piece, revealing him to be a lieutenant. The line markings with slashes through them on his helmet indicating how many criminals he had killed, which was a lot if the markings were accurate. Two broadswords on his hips, one on each side.

"I think the heat stroke is getting to me…" Rob deadpanned as he saw the knight, "Who the fuck wears a suit of armour at sea?" he muttered mainly himself, Itzal still hearing it smiled slightly at the cheeky comment.

Not wanting to leave the introductions for any longer, "I'm Bellow Itzal! Captain of the Sky Pirates!" exclaimed Itzal before pausing for a moment, seeing it a chance Rob introduced himself.

"Jackdaw Rob, Vice Captain!" interrupted Rob, which got a smirk from Itzal as they stood their ground.

"Now! Why the fuck did you blow up our boat! That was a gift!" yelled Itzal, his anger still present about destroying the old man's boat.

"You sailed into a restricted area! As the captain and commander of this operation, you gave me no choice but to engage! However, now that you reveal yourselves to be pirate scum you will be killed! Surrender and we will show mercy or die right now!" returned the captain, who began to walk toward where Itzal and Rob stood, his lieutenant right behind him.

"What is your decision, scum!" roared the captain, as he now stood in front of the other marines, his lieutenant still beside with one sword drawn.

"Rob," spoke Itzal, his tone flat and low, Rob watched from his position atop the cannon. Itzal looked up to stare at the Captain, "Destroy those ships!" pointing toward the other ships around them, "The captain is mine!" Rob only grinned and replied with an Ay.

The captain wasn't too pleased by this statement, "Atticus! Engage Jackdaw! Leave this captain to me!" ordered the marine captain mocking the word captain as he did, with a simple nod from his subordinate, the man now identified as Atticus charged Rob atop the cannon. Rob's grin only grew wider as he turned where he stood, ran along the barrel of the cannon and leapt toward one of the transport ships.

Rob wanted to divide the two and leave himself and Itzal plenty of room to let loose as much as they want and not interfere with the other's battle. That, and he wanted to destroy a ship or two while Itzal fought with the captain.

Itzal glanced over his shoulder to see Rob and Lieutenant Atticus disappear over the edge to board another ship. His attention once again on the captain. "What's your name?" asked Itzal, while still emitting steam his body giving off a red tint from the immense heat.

The man growled but answered, "I'm marine captain, Hatoresu Bodhi and commander of this operation that you're disrupting!" His tone of voice giving off disgust and disdain with having to speak to a pirate. "Men, engage the pirate!" Bodhi roared to his men.

"Vulcan Prayer!"

All the men present had surrounded him in a semicircle with the cannon behind him, believing to have him trapped they charged Itzal swords at the ready, there must have been over one hundred marines on the main deck of this battleship alone. It still wouldn't be enough.

"Iron Wash Out!"

All the marine grunts continued to charge forward unaware of what Itzal had just done. That is until they all felt something extremely hot under foot which caused them to sweat from the intense heat. Most of them stopped and looked down, to their surprise they were standing in liquid metal. As soon as they looked back to Itzal, he smirked.

The liquid metal was flowing from his hand and covered a large area of the deck much to everyone's surprise. All of a sudden the metal they stood in solidified in an instant, cooling rapidly. All the marines running forward were stopped in their tracks, the sudden stopping making some drop their swords. They all had their feet trapped in the metal, unable to escape.

"Pocket Cannon!"

Itzals body became superheated, a pillar of steam and heat waves erupted from his body. His stance was wide and in his hands formed a massive ball of pure heat. Itzal glanced back to the marines and threw the ball of immense heat into the crowd of stuck marines.

As the ball of intense heat energy reached the centre of the crowd, it reached critical mass and exploded. The initial heat blast was indescribable. The wood of the ship was burned and charred black, the main sail had burn holes through them. The heat re-liquidated the metal enough for the marines to no longer be trapped but they too were blasted by the heat. Their uniforms had been burned off, their skin received minor second and possibly third degree burns on some of their exposed flesh. The force of the explosion rendered most of them unconscious, while others were flung over the railing of the ship into the sea.

Almost all of the marines had been dealt with in a single attack. Almost

Itzal knew he wouldn't have been taken out by that attack. Itzal looked up to see the captain standing further away undamaged, having dodged the attack. His fists clenched, anger radiating from him.

The fight had begun…

Bodhi kicked off the ground and charged Itzal with incredible speed. Itzal barely having time to weave his head to his right to avoid the first strike but the second strike went unnoticed by Itzal.

Bodhi's fist connected with Itzals stomach, the force slammed Itzal into the main frontal cannon of the battleship, leaving an indentation of Itzals form in it. He pulled himself out of the cannon and glared at his opponent.

'Fast…' he thought as he let out a lowly groan.

His eyes widened in surprise when he noticed Bodhi had disappeared from in front of him. Sensing a presence coming down fast above him, Itzal leapt forward to avoid the descending strike.

"Fist of Justice!"

Itzal glanced over his shoulder has he dived to see Bodhi hit the cannon. The cannon buckled under the haki infused strike, the steel it was made of breaking apart like it was nothing. Rolling across the ground Itzal stopped and stood up.

"Righteous Kick of Reparation!"

Relying on his observation haki, Itzal planned to sidestep to the right of the attack. Itzal watched as Bodhi shot toward him at great speed, haki infused foot first. Itzal had dodged his kick at the last moment, at the exact moment half of Bodhis body passed him, he coated his arm in haki and slammed his fist down into Bodhi earning a grunt of pain from the impact. Bodhi was launched through the deck into the berth of the ship, splintering the wood as he disappeared into the ship.

Not wanting a crafty sneak attack, Itzal leapt up onto one of the railings to avoid being on the floor Bodhi was directly under, the railing sizzled from the heat of Itzal's bare feet. Itzal wasn't stupid, he knew Bodhi would get back up. He had strong aura about him.

"Omniscience Liberated!"

Itzal closed his eyes for a brief moment, to analyze and scan for Bodhi's next move. He could sense him below deck. Itzal opened his eyes quickly, predicting what was about to happen he went to avoid it. Canceling Omniscience Liberated before he did.

"Mercury Prayer!"

Itzal forced a vast amount of heat to his feet, forming jet streams of heat along his body, using that heat, Itzal propelled himself with extreme speed into the sky above, getting as high as the mast with no effort in the jump. Just as he did,

"Righteous Force!"

A directional shockwave blasted through the railing he just on and a large section of the broadside of the battleship and exploded into sharpenal of wood and metal, leaving a gaping hole in the ship. Through the fragments and debris in the air, Itzal saw Bodhi standing below.

"You're destroying your own ship! Your own men are still aboard!" Itzal roared toward the bastard, his own men still sprawled across the main deck, unconscious.

"A worthy sacrifice in the pursuit of justice!" Bodhi roared back, clenching his fists becoming angered at being lectured by a filthy Pirate.

This statement just angered Itzal further. Was this what Marines were?! People who would sacrifice anyone and anything for Justice?! This wasn't even justice to begin with.


Rob landed on the stern of the ship, overlooking the main deck that still had marines shattered across it, they all scrambled around, unsure of what to do. Rob ran and jumped from the stern of one of the transport ships. He knew Atticus was behind him, he had heard the order from Bodhi before he jumped from the ship.

He landed amidst the scrambling marines, being unseen by the unobservant marine grunts. He stopped for a moment before sensing an incoming attack. Rob kicked off the ground and shot forward to avoid the strike.

"Cavalier Cleaver!"

As Rob landed closer to the bow of the ship, he spun on the spot and saw a massive hole through the main deck of the ship. Standing at the edge of the newly formed hole was the knight with both his swords drawn, thirsty for Rob's blood. He looked very intimidating in his armour and his large blades. Well intimidating to most…

'Yep… Still weird,' Rob sweatdropped to himself as he stared at the knight that was trying to look imposing. Still odd seeing a knight at sea. Let alone a marine knight, it just didn't add up in Rob's mind.

"Halt, criminal!" ordered Atticus while he raised his blade and aimed it toward Rob. This gained the attention of the marines aboard this ship, who ran to back up the lieutenant. "Surrender! You are trapped and outnumbered!" Rob rolled his eyes at that statement.

"Really? You're asking again?" said Rob who sighed, "We're pirates. Since when do we surrender…" he muttered, loud enough for Atticus to hear and, he glanced down for a moment.

"Then you shall die!" roared Atticus, insulted by his casual manner given his current situation. 'Is he not taking this seriously?!' Atticus thought to himself, only further angering himself the longer he thought about it. When he looked back up he saw Rob crouched down on his knees.

"So you're surrendering? A wise choice! Men arrest hi-" Atticus began to order his men before being lifted both his clenched fists and smirked before slamming them into the main deck of the ship.

"Dragon' Breath!"

In an instant the force of the wind swept all of the marines off their feet and shot them into the air, all of them yelling and shouting in a panic. The wind swirled around Rob as cracks appeared in the ships bow, as soon as the cracks appeared the entire front half of the ship shattered around them. The front half began to sink into the sea, the other half barely remained afloat and stable on the sea after the massive outburst of wind.

As marines fell from the sky after being flung from Rob's technique, he stood up and smirked at the destruction he caused. Marines taken care of, one ship sinking and he's only getting started. A good day in Rob' book.

"Strike of Noble Champions!"

Rob flinched for a second, sensing the attack he readied himself for the strike.

"Dragon Claws!"

At the last moment Rob slammed his claws into the approaching threat. Looking directly in front of him, Atticus stood there, swords in between them. However, the swords were now stuck there as Rob had caught a sword in each hand, now it was a power struggle as they both stood dead locked.

'He's strong… Stronger than a lieutenant should be.' thought Rob as he calmly analysed his opponent, Atticus trying to overpower Rob. The floor they stood on cracking under the forces in their deadlock. If this kept up long enough, Atticus could gain the upper hand.

Deciding to make his move Rob clenched down on Atticus' swords and swung his leg behind him. Atticus wasn't expecting this and didn't release his swords when he noticed his movements. Rob spun his whole body a full three hundred and sixty degrees and dragging him across the floor before he flung Atticus through the stern of the sinking ship, leaving a large hole and splintered shrapnel.

Rob stood up straight just in time before the ship rocked violently to the left, the sinking ship leaning further away from the other transport ship to its right. Rob looked to the other ship knowing this one wasn't staying afloat for much longer.

"Zeal of the Templars!"

Rob leapt sideways and rolled forward across the deck to the railing leading to the other ship. Rob glanced over his shoulder to Atticus had launched a ranged slash attack with his duel wield broadswords.

'Impressive. Ranged slash attacks.' After a quick mental note of his opponent's ability to fight at range Rob ran jumped onto the railing and leapt across the water below. Landing on the other transport ships deck. That was a solid thirty foot gap, made to look like nothing.

Rob turned back to face Atticus and he too leapt into the air to continue the chase. However Rob's attention was briefly taken when he noticed movement on the other ship. People looked to be climbing out from below the deck. However, as Rob looked closer he wasn't sure what to say.

"Is that a… snake?" muttered a confused Rob, who let his guard down for a single moment to examine what he was seeing. That moment was enough for Atticus.

"Cavalier Cleaver!"

Knowing he had no time to dodge because of the distraction, Rob coated his arms in armament and raised them above his head in an 'x' shape. Right before the strike landed Rob looked to where he believed Atticus to be and saw he was above him and had coated his blades in armament as well.

The strike came down hard, the force almost shattering the entire deck Rob stood on but he remained standing holding off the strike, Atticus suspended in the air. This was a test of strength. Having enough of this. Rob retaliated.

"Gut shot!"

Rob swung his leg straight up and gut shotted Atticus, breaking the armoured chest piece with his fierce kick, earning a gasp of pain. Atticus was launched into the air from the force, but he recovered quick and landed on his feet. If he hadn't had his helmet, his glare would have cut like a sword.

"Impressive, pirate. You would have made a fine marine with your strength." Atticus had to praise this man. He was a strong opponent and clever as well.

Seeing an opportunity to fuck about, Rob took it. "Flattery will get you nowhere, good sir!" making a joke of the good sir. Atticus seemed offended by this if his tightening of his swords was anything to go by.

Rob's fun was interrupted when he noticed further behind Atticus the people he saw on the other ship seemed to enter the stern of the ship. They looked to be in search of something. Rob thought he was seeing things.

"Was that a robot… and a mink?" Rob was now seriously confused. 'I was joking about the heat stroke… I think,' he thought as he blinked once to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him.

Rob shook it off and refocused on Atticus but when he did.

Kaboom!

The transport ship they had been on minutes ago suddenly exploded into a massive fireball. Rob and Atticus shielded their faces from the shockwave. It was a powerful shockwave but they got through it with little effort. They both looked toward the flaming wreck.

"What the fuck is going on…" said Rob to himself as he deadpanned slightly. This was getting weirder by the second.


Itzal was suspended in the air above Bodhi after dodging his attack, using his heat jets to help maintain his levitation. Before Itzal made his move something distracted them.

Kaboom!

The transport ship Rob had disappeared to suddenly exploded, for reasons neither of them could understand. Itzal hoped Rob was alright but he knew Rob was strong, he had nothing to worry about. Itzal glanced down to see Bodhi distracted by the explosion of one of his ships. This was the time to strike.

"Mars Prayer!"

Itzal held out both of his hands, metal following from his palms. The metal quickly shaped itself into a pole before solidifying. Concentrating, Itzal forced one end of the large polearm into a blade, creating a full metal glaive. Using his heat jets Itzal descended on Bodhi with blinding speed. As he brought the blade down, Bodhi leaned out of the path of the strike as the blade struck the deck. The strike split the deck open, the fracture travelled across the deck and went up the main mast of the ship, severely damaging it.

Not being fazed by the miss, Itzal ripped the glaive from the deck and spun on his front foot, bring the blade with him and slamming the blunt side into Bodhi's side. The power behind this strike forced Bodhi to skid across the floor, barely staying upright as his feet dug through the deck.

Bodhi's faced twisted in pain for a brief moment, "Bastard…" was all he said. As he regained his intimidating facade. Itzal remained unimpressed by his aura, he simply twirled the glaive in his hand before leveling it toward Bodhi.

"Back at ya!" With that, Itzal and Bodhi charged one another. When they closed the distance they both swung a flurry of strikes, so fast they moved like a blur. Itzal weaved out of every fist or kick swung his way, while Bodhi blocked every strike of Itzals glaive. They were evenly matched.

The final strike of this outburst came as Itzals haki infused glaive struck Bodhi's haki infused fist. The backlash of the collision was enough to force Itzal and Bodhi to fly backwards from one another.

As Itzal skid to a stop he impaled the glaive into the floor and took a wide stance. This was taking longer than originally thought. He hadn't expected this captain to be a match for him.

"Pocket Cannon!"

Another massive heat ball formed in his hands, Itzal wanted to end this. He was unsure if this would work but he had to give it a shot. As the heat ball inched closer to critical mass he shot his palms forward and forced the ball toward Bodhi. Bodhi had prepared a similar attack, hoping to end the young pirates rampage.

"Righteous Force!"

The two forces collided, fighting to overpower the other but neither being able to. The next second the two forces combined into one massive unstable energy in the centre of the ship. Both Itzal and Bodhi stood motionless, surprised at what they saw. Itzal flinched when his observation haki warned him of incoming danger. Not ignoring this warning, Itzal spun and the spot and retreated further back toward the stern of the ship and hid behind the mast. He wasn't too concerned by what happened to Bodhi right now.

Then it happened…

Kacrack!

A massive explosion shredded the battleship. No flames but a massive powerful shockwave of heat. As the dust settled, Itzal peered around the mast to examine the damage.

There was a lot of damage.

The entirety of the front half of the deck was completely obliterated, even the deck below that had a hole in it that exposed the deck below that one. The railings were non existent, the frontal cannon was hanging from the front of the ship. Even with all that damage, nothing was enough to sink this battleship.

'Damn, these are some tough ships,' thought Itzal as he continued to survey the damaged ship. Even with the power behind their combined attack, he knew Bodhi escaped the blast.

As Itzal moved from behind the mast a sharp crack broke the silence of the aftermath. Itzal took a few steps back from the mast and saw it was now falling toward the front end of the ship.

'Timber…' thought Itzal as he watched the mast come down hard. As it hit the edge of the ship, it caused a violent and sudden tilt to the right, Itzal maintaining his balance.


Regaining his composure from that random as fuck explosion of the other transport ship, Rob turned his attention back to Atticus waiting for his next move. But it didn't come. Rob saw Atticus standing there near the centre of the ship, watching the burning wreck slowly sink below the waves. Wasn't difficult to understand that he'd be pissed off.

"You bastard pirates…" muttered Atticus, as he slowly turned to face Rob. His body language was giving off a vibe of fucking furious, which Rob picked up on. He didn't seem all that fazed by this. Sure the explosion was odd and he might be having heat stroke but it was not the worst day Rob had had.

"Zeal of the Templars!"

The attack was fast and unexpected. Rob infused his arms with haki and deflected the assault as it came in contact with him. The strike sliced the ship like a mad butcher. Although Rob deflected it, the speed still surprised him.

'That was rather powerful…' he thought to himself. His opponent was now enraged and was out for blood. Even though the explosion wasn't Rob's fault… At least he thought it wasn't.

Atticus remained where he stood after launching the attack. Not rushing him while Rob dealt with the strike. 'Was is he planning,' Rob observed Atticus from across the deck, this wasn't really a fight for Rob, the lieutenant seemed distracted. He was strong for a lieutenant but still no match for Rob, personally Rob would have liked a go at the captain but Itzal wanted to play as well. For shame.

Seconds had passed now as they both stood where they were. As the standoff began to reach a boiling point, they both knew someone had to make the first move. However, before either made their move a rather large distraction was heading their way. They saw the huge mast of the battleship descending upon the smaller transport ship.

"Well shit…" said Rob as he saw the mast slam into the transport ship. The ship sunk into the water slightly from the massive added weight before resurfacing. The ship cracked in two, the decks were split and cracked apart but the other hull still remained, if only barely.

Rob was smart, he knew a stupid situation when he saw one. At this rate they'd have no ship to escape on if they were all destroyed and sunk, that wouldn't work. Rob could possibly be alright, he was one hell of a swimmer. Water wasn't going to kill him anytime soon, but Itzal was a different issue.

"Well fuck this," said Rob to himself, he decided he'd commandeer one of the battleships to escape the scene, but first he had to deal with Atticus.

Luck was on Rob's side however…

"Lieutenant Gage! We have a situation!" yelled a marine grunt who emerged from the deck below. "What now?!" roared Atticus, his attention still firmly on Rob.

"The prisoners are freeing one another! They're going to try and escape! We need your assistance!" the grunt replied, his tone expressing his distress. This got two reactions, one of panic the other of surprise.

'Prisoners?' thought Rob, 'Fuck, we stumbled upon a prisoner transfer. That explains a lot,' Rob didn't really care for the trouble they'd be in for this but this wasn't the best of news. These ships were heading to Impel Down. If these ships didn't reach a checkpoint of some kind the marines would surely send more ships to search for them. They'd best get their asses out of there before reinforcements show up. Being trapped on a single ship there would be like sitting on a silver platter for the marines.

Atticus, on the other hand, was rather worried. He actually ignored Rob and ran to the other marine. "Let's move! We need to re secure and recapture the prisoners!" he ordered to the marine. As they both disappeared below deck.

"Rude…" said Rob, joking about being simply forgotten like that. Well, then was the time to commandeer a ship. With no big obstacle in his way, Rob dashed from where he stood and ran up the fallen mast before running along yard of the mast that lead toward one of the undamaged battleships. Leaping through the air, Rob landed on the railing of the ship. Oddly enough, the deck was almost empty. Rob glanced down to the sea below to see marines in row boats pulling other marines out of the water.

'Lucky me. I get an almost empty ship to myself,' Rob smirked, 'I always wanted a ship for a toy.' With that Rob went to work clearing the remaining marines off the deck and ripping up the ropes they used to climb down into the row boats.


Itzal watched the destruction around him. Bodhi hadn't shown up again, so Itzal took the time to analyze the situation. He knew they needed an escape plan even though he still wanted to bash the marine captain some more, it really got his blood flowing but he didn't like the idea of being stranded here. He eventually decided it was time to leave.

"Mercery Prayer!"

Itzal once again formed heat jets over his body before he sprinted across the deck toward the edge leading to another ship, glaive still in hand. He jumped and propelled himself through the air using his jets as thrusters as he made it half way in noticed aboard the deck Rob was beating up marines and tossing them overboard. Not a single marine could do anything against Robs blur of punches and kicks, this earned a smirk from Itzal. His first mate was taking care of business.

As he landed with a thud, Rob turned and faced Itzal. "Sup, Itzal." As Rob tossed the final marine overboard. Itzal remelted the metal glaive and absorbed it back into his body.

Although he didn't want to leave, Itzal understood they should, but he did have one positive from their escapade. He could check out this battleship as much as he wanted after they escape, it was unfortunate they had to steal the ship but it was a necessary evil and Itzal knew that.

"Let's get out of here!" exclaimed Itzal regaining some positivity, the sooner they escaped the sooner Itzal could explore the ship and anything else this ship had to offer.

Rob replied with a nod of the head as he ran toward the helm of the ship and spun it to the left, the quickest way to leave.

"Get back here!" yelled a voice off to their right. Rob and Itzal peered over the railing to see who was yelling at them. Turns out it wasn't them being yelled at. Stood on the ruined deck of the remaining transport ship stood both Bodhi and Atticus. Their attention on the other battleship that was also leaving the area. The other battleship having been damaged by attacks from Bodhi and Atticus.

Itzal looked on after the ship wondering what they were yelling about. He didn't know what or who they were yelling at or why the ship was leaving like they were.

Rob's attention was on the transport ship. From where he stood he could clearly see people lying on the ground. These people were wearing bright orange jumpsuits, this just confirmed what Rob had heard earlier about prisoners. But he also noticed the red marks all over the bodies of those laying down and figured immediately that they were killed for attempting to escape.

"So that's what's going on," muttered Rob, piecing it together.

"What's wrong?" asked Itzal having heard Rob mutter under his breath. He turned to Rob as he stepped back to the helm of the ship.

"They were transporting prisoners, Itzal. Some of the prisoners must have stolen the only remaining intact battleship like we did. Unfortunately, some of the prisoners didn't make it." Rob's face remained stoic. He didn't seem disturbed or upset, he seemed to accept it with no issue.

Itzal turned back to the carnage they'd left behind, that was now a great distance away. He could no longer see anything in detail, just the disaster itself. He wasn't sure what to make of the information, what could he do?

"Are all marines like that?" Itzal wanted to understand what these marines were like. If they are considered to be the justice of the world he was glad he was a pirate.

Rob sighed, "No, not all of them. Some marines really do have the best intentions, it's just that others take justice to far. With the world being so lawless for so long. The marines come down hard on crime sometimes." His explanation only helped Itzal understand a bit but he knew there was more to it than that but for now he'd hold off on the questions. It was after the battle now, it was time to recover.

Rob went over the navigational instruments that were laid out on a table next to the helm. Mainly it was just a large map with compasses and rules for charting their course but it'd still be helpful.

"Itzal! Can you take the helm while I look over these maps? I'll take the helm again once I figure out where we are," Rob stepped away from the wheel and made his way over to the stern of the ship. Itzal was quick enough to take the wheel. He smiled, this would be the first ship he manned so he was interested to see what it was like.

Glancing over to Rob, "Don't take too long! I want to check out the ship!" he yelled over to Rob who replied with a thumbs up and an 'Ay.' A positive energy was beginning to fill them both after that rather morbied scene.

As Rob went over the maps, something caught his attention, "That's odd," said Rob loud enough for Itzal to hear. "This island isn't on any other maps I've seen before," he turned to Itzal, map in hand to show him.

"So what? It's an undiscovered island?" asked Itzal, he didn't understand what was wrong about an island not being on other maps.

Rob chuckled slightly, his curiosity piqued, "Unlikely, I've seen maps of the world. Legend says that it was the previous Pirate King's navigator that drew the first map of the world. There should be no undiscovered islands," explained Rob before he grinned, "Which means all the other maps have been altered to protect this island."

"So it's an island that nobody goes too?" Itzal asked as he kept the helm straight, lucky for them the sea was still calm so it wasn't difficult for them to man the ship but they eventually need a helmsman and a navigator because Rob could only do enough for the blue sea, not the Grand Line.

"More than likely. It seems that someone wants to keep it a secret." Rob continued to examine the map. "There! We're here." Rob pointed them out on the map before smiling, "And we're not far from this secretive island."

Rob waited for Itzal's reply but he already knew what it was going to be. He just wanted to hear Itzal say it. "Then let's go! Which way?" And there it was.

"Thirty degrees port side!" Rob pointed in the direction he said to make sure Itzal understood what he meant. He had a feeling Itzal wouldn't know the difference between parts and directions of a ship.

Itzal spun the helm and swung the ship in the direction Rob had told them. He was excited to explore a secret island that few people may possible know about. An adventure surely awaited them and the excitement was contagious.

Rob moved back toward the helm but stopped about half way across, "Itzal?"

"Yeah, I sense it too." replied Itzal, not needing to be asked, simply knowing what Rob was referring too. "Someone else is aboard the ship."

Rob fixed his hat, "I sense they're coming from below deck." Itzal's silence confirmed what Rob sensed. There was someone on this ship with them and they were coming up to the deck.

They both stood where they were, waiting for a person to appear at the stern of the ship. They didn't wait long before a creak of the door broke the silence.

Emerging onto the deck stood a woman dressed in an orange prisoner jumpsuit holding onto a sword in her right hand, a rapier to be specific. The weapon looked rather elegant and well made which didn't go unnoticed as well as a collection of other goods that ranged from an upper armband to a pair of glasses in her left hand. Itzal and Rob looked her over, curious as to who this person was.

She froze as she noticed Itzal's and Robs presence.

She stood at five foot six inches roughly and didn't appear to be much older than either of them. Her skin was rather pale, very pale compared to how tan Rob was. Her dark brown hair reached just below her shoulder blades, they deduced that she was thin or lean under her jumpsuit at the suit itself was rather big on her, it appeared to be a man's jumpsuit which she looked lost in. Her hazel-green eyes watched them across the ship unsure of what to do. She appeared to be examining them as they were doing to her.

Itzal and Rob came to the same conclusion, she wasn't a threat. Not to them anyway.

"Hi there," said Itzal, breaking the awkward silence that lingered between them. "Who are you?" he asked. Rob just crossed his arms and waited for her reply to Itzal's question.

The woman blinked at them, unsure if she should answer them. In the end, she lost nothing from answering them after all these two didn't appear to be marines or they would have tried to capture her. She wasn't sure who they were but they hadn't done anything, yet.

"Arkenstone Erie Zarina," she introduced herself in a calm and composed tone before asking, "Now who are the both of you?"


Chapter 2 complete. Sorry this chapter took so long but hey! Longer Chapter, I aim for 5,000 words minimum and I exceeded that by a reasonable bit I'd say. I had trouble getting the fight scenes right as well. I ended up scrape the first draft of the fight scene as it made the timing of everything seem off. This chapter took a very different twist than the original story, the similarities are gone now and my originality can begin… Somewhat.

In my defence for how long it took for this chapter, I do have two stories going at the same time so my time is divided between the two and I might be starting another project on top of that. By the way, check out the poll on my profile to have a say in the next story.

What did you ladies and gents think of the chapter? Good, Bad or Acceptable? Leave your thoughts in a message or a review and tell me everything you like.

What are your thoughts on the characters now that you've seen a bit more of them...

This story will also be affected by the you, the readers. Got an ideas or something you'd like the crew to do or some interaction you'd like to see feel free to give any suggestions you like. To the people have OC' in the story you have control over them. You want to try ship them with another character? Tell me. Something you'd like to see them do? Tell me. Is there an aspect you'd like to change in your OC? Tell me. You ladies and gents have some power to shape the story as well. Don't be afraid to tell me.

If some of you are wondering about what just happened in this chapter, don't worry you're not alone. This chapter was meant to have a bit of What the fuck just happened about it. It also leaves a few loose ends like,

+What will Bodhi and Atticus do now?

+Who were the other prisoners?

+Was Rob really having a heat stroke?

+What about the devil fruit Itzal and Rob left behind? Will that come back to bite them in the ass?

+Where are they heading now that they have some secretive map location?

And a few other things I teased as well. Like a navigator and hemalsman maybe?

I guess we'll just have to wait and see won't we?

If anyone is also wondering, I name the chapters according to its Saga. This is the East Blue saga so the next few chapters will remain 'The Blue Sea' until we reach the Grandline. Which I am unsure of how long it will take to get there.

Special thanks to Condor K for beta reading the chapter.

Disclaimer, I obviously don't own One Piece (For Shame). All OC' go to their respective owners and such.

AlcatrazDGold - Till the next chapter… (Chapter 3 - What are the odds?)