Chapter 6 - The Commander and his Lieutenants


A somewhat awkward silence descended upon the ruined kitchen Itzal and this Marine stood in. Neither Itzal or the Marine moved a muscle, instead just standing there, one of them unsure of what to do next.

"Well?" spoke Itzal, waiting patiently for the Marines reply.

The Marine just remained looking at him for a moment before finally deciding to speak. "Marine Lieutenant, Rose Francis." He still hadn't holstered his pistol but it was hanging loosely by his side. From Itzals point of view he had left himself wide open for an attack, there would be nothing he could do if Itzal was to make a move. What exactly did that mean? Did he actually trust Itzal or did he just not notice it?

Itzal smiled, "Alright, nice to meet you Francis." Itzal stepped forward to properly greet him, he grabbed his empty hand and gave it a firm shake. "Do you know where we can acquire a ship? We need to get off this island." Getting straight to the point as usual.

Francis, on the other hand, was rather taken back by how forward Itzal was being. Itzal was so simple with his greeting and he sounds so care free in how he asked about their escape. He blinked twice, trying to confirm what he was seeing, before speaking again. "Hold on! That was a bit too easy wasn't it?" Francis took a step back, "I mean, I'm a marine and your…" He trailed off as he examined Itzals state of dress, he quickly deadpanned, "What exactly are you?"

Itzal paused in his greeting, he was debating telling him he was a pirate cause that might get a bad reaction out of Francis. Pirates and Marines don't exactly play well together after all. In the end, he decided he'd throw caution to the wind and see where this goes.

A trend that will no doubt continue…

"Bellow Itzal, a pirate, Captain of the Sky pirates to be exact." Itzal sounded somewhat proud of the title even if being a pirate didn't mean anything to him it was still great to hear it.

What Itzal found strange was Francis had nearly no reaction to being informed about him being a pirate. Francis actually looked like he might not believe him. There was a short, unnecessary, pause.

Francis raised an eyebrow, "You're a pirate? And a Captain nonetheless." He sounded somewhat sceptical about it. With good reason too. "You don't exactly resemble a pirate in anyway."

Itzal remained care free despite being somewhat criticised, if you could call what Francis said criticism. "Looks don't decide that. I want to be a pirate, I am a pirate. That's all it takes."

'A fair point if I ever heard one.' Francis conceded on that argument, Itzal wasn't wrong on that one. "Don't you think that was a bit easy? You trust me immediately like it's nothing."

Itzals responded with, "It's unhealthy to go around always wary of others, unable to to trust anyone. You need to have more faith in the people around regardless of how different their path through life might be." Francis couldn't really argue with him, how could you shoot down such a positive mind set?

'We got ourselves a philosopher I see…' Francis thought to himself before speaking again, "Alright, so you have a crew? If you're the Captain than your crew should be nearby right? So where are they?" This could go well or wrong for Francis, if he had a crew their chances of escape increased a considerable amount but a full crew of pirates could spell disaster for him too. Not all pirates are fond of marines, luckily Itzal seemed alright with him and him being the Captain was also rather lucky too.

"I have no idea but I think they're nearby… hopefully." His response didn't instill much confidence in Francis.

"So, you're telling me you plan to escape here, mostly on your own, because you, the Captain, have no idea where the rest of your crew is…" Itzal seemed to hum slightly before answering.

"Well, I know they're on the island somewhere. Last I saw them they were heading along the beaches of the island in search of a settlement of some kind. I'm not sure if they found any…" He was interrupted by Francis.

"No, there are no other settlements located on this island." He glanced sideways, "Well unless you count the animal settlements in the jungles." At the end Itzal heard him murmer about apes or something. Itzal would know all about that wouldn't he?

"So, if they didn't find anything then they're probably search in land somewhere." Itzal moved over to a window looking out into the fortress grounds. He stared at the open courtyard in front of the largest building of the fortress. He suspected it was the main headquarters of the island. "I think Zarina would have suggested searching along the river if they didn't find anything."

Francis moved up, cautiously, behind Itzal, "Alright, so you think they might know about the fortress?"

"I believe they do and I think I know what they'd have planned." Itzal smiled as he continued to observe everything outside the window, "They plan to commandeer one of those ships docked in the lagoon." Pointing to the ships in the lagoon, more so the ones facing the river, ready to depart.

Francis thought over the plan, finally holstering his pistol. If he was going to pull this off he was going to have to trust Itzal, even if only until he finally escapes the Marines grasp on his and finds somewhere safe to stay, somewhere the Marines wouldn't be able to come after him.

"So you want to commandeer the ship first? Wait until the rest of your crew get there before we attempt our escape?" Francis moved from the window over to another exit from the kitchen they were in, opposite the entrance Itzal had wondered, ever so casually, through. "How many people are we waiting on?" Francis threw him a simple question as he neared the exit, he certainly wasn't expecting Itzals answer.

"Two." He said simple, before turning and walking toward the same exit Francis was at. Francis slowly turned to face him at his response.

"Did you just say… two?" He decided to repeat himself, "Two crew mates?"

"Yep." Was Itzals simple and honest reply. You could almost feel the confidence in their escape be sucked out of Francis when he heard that. A crew of three pirates and himself were all they had to escape a Marine compound? That wasn't exactly reassuring to hear, after all, Francis knew this place best of the group, he knew what this could end up like if it all went sideways.

He recomposed himself, tidying himself, leaving him looking all prime and proper, as any classic soldier would. He gave a passing glance to Itzal again, 'Am I really putting my faith in the ability of three pirates?' He sighed slightly before thinking, 'What choice do I have. I just hope they're capable pirates at the very least.'

"Shall we get going?" Itzal spoke up, drawing Francis from his thoughts. "Any idea which way is best for us to go without being detected?" Itzal pushed open the door, which lead into another room. This one looked to be a larger dining area, the one they stood in was half kitchen and dining room, this was more a large mess hall. No lights on, windows near the door on the other side. A series of large metal tables and benches filled the room from wall to wall, easily able to hold a couple hundred marines. The room was spotless, as a marine hold building should be.

Both Itzal and Francis walked from one side of the room to the other, heading straight for the exit to the outside on the other side. Itzal noticed Francis walked in more a strict form, like a soldier, his marine training shining through without his knowing.

"I suggest we move around the outskirts of the complex, avoiding the open areas and sticking to the shadowed buildings. It's our best bet of sneaking around undetected." Francis explained his suggestion. He wasn't wrong, if they just dashed across the courtyard they be seen for sure.

"Sure, let's go." Itzal smiled before pushing the steel door open and dashing to the nearest bit of shadow. Francis stood still for a moment.

"This isn't going to go smoothly is it…" He murmured to himself before following Itzals lead and making a quick run toward the shadows Itzal had disappeared into.


Zarina sighed to herself, "At least you kept to your word…" She muttered, keeping herself looking somewhat stoic as she did, Rob standing beside her clearly not as concerned as she was at the situation at hand.

"I'm a man of my word, what can I say?" He grinned cheekily, they both stood there in the shadow of one of the buildings. The specific building looked to be a communication centre judging by the communication den den mushis on both the roof and front of the building.

Zarina and Rob figured a communications centre would have some kind of maps, navigation or communication equipment for them to use. Maps were the priority however, they could get equipment at a later date, all they needed was a map for them to find their way to the next island. Zarina was hoping to find an appealing island nearby for her to escape onto.

But they were plans for a later date, at the moment Zarina and Rob stood over a pile of unconscious marines, clearly it was Robs handy work. Rob completely uncaring, Zarina ,although slightly panicked by the fact Rob had just assaulted a patrol of marines that had come across them as they snuck around, was mostly showing frustration. Rob had made a rather noticeable scene, the evidence was only slightly hidden by the shadow of a building. If someone came across this the whole facility would be alerted to their presence.

Zarina was exhausted by Robs lack of care, stupidity being another word for it, he didn't seem to care about alerting the marines to their presence. Zarina didn't entirely know how strong Rob, or Itzal for that matter, thought he was. They did manage to attack a marine prison convey and get out of it unharmed but this was a marine facility with no way of escape if this went poorly. Rob could at the very least try to take this seriously.

This was actually the second patrol they came across and that one had gone just as poorly as this one. It was immediately after they left the storage warehouse, although, surprisingly, it was partly Zarina that got them caught that time.


-Flashback-

"Great." Zarina muttered before she slowly, and far more cautiously, followed Rob.

Just as she rounded the corner there stood in front of them were two marines with their backs turned toward them. They stood, literally, four feet in front of them, unaware of their presence.

'Woah, they're very aware of their surroundings…' Rob thought, giving the marines a flat look. Rob turned to Zarina, "Give me a second, alright?" He said immediately after his thoughts in a normal, unhushed tone. This caught their attention as both the marines flinched at the unexpected voice.

Before they could turn around or Rob leapt on them to demolish them, Rob felt his hands be pulled behind his back. He glanced sideways to see Zarina standing next to him, holding his hands behind him with one of hers.

"Play along." She whispered to him, Rob remained unfazed but simple shrugged. This would be interesting to see.

Both the marines turned to face them, hands on their blade hilts. However, they paused for a moment went they saw the both of them.

"What's going on here? Who are you both?" One of them asked in a rapid manner, suspicious of the duo. Rightly so I might add.

Rob remained silent, letting Zarina lead on this one. Zarina pushed Rob forward slightly before speaking, "Lieutenant Jackdaw and I'm escorting this man to the prison cells. Is there some kind of problem?" Zarina spoke in a very professional and authoritative manner, Rob couldn't help but grin. The shade of his hat hid it from view but he was rather entertained by that. Not to mention she stole his name so she wouldn't be caught out. Clever.

Zarina had stolen marine clothes from the battleship when she got out of her prison jumpsuit, she was trying to pass herself off as a marine from the parts of the uniform she was wearing.

One of the marines stepped forward, "Prisoner? I didn't know we were getting a prison transfer." The other stepped forward as well. Rob noticed they had both relaxed slightly, he almost laughed but he didn't want to give away Zarinas plan. This was actually working. "We hardly get prisoners here." The same marine added.

Zarinas response was sharp, "Because it was a need to know bases." She pulled on Robs, fake, restraints to put attention on him. "This pirate was brought here under the cover of darkness away from a prison convey because he holds sensitive and valuable information and the commanders in charge didn't want his crew to attempt a rescue so they ordered him to be brought here." Her tone changed to more of an irritated one.

This was hilarious to Rob, he was barely keeping together. He appeared stoic on the outside but anymore of this and he might blow their cover.

Both the marines stood to attention, both of them sweating slightly clearly intimidated by her. "Apologies Lieutenant, be on your way." Saluting her as she and Rob walked by.

Zarina nodded back to them, "Back to what you were doing." She told them as they passed. Zarina careful not to let the marines see Rob with no restraints on.

Just as they were about to move on they were stopped by an shrill and almost snobbish sounding voice before behind, "Hold it," They heard from him, "What's this?"

Zarina spun herself and Rob around to face the new arrival, another male marine. Looking at him he clearly stood out from a normal marine. This man stood around five foot ten inches, he had greying wiry hair. He had a bushy grey mustache, his face was starting to wrinkle. He looked to be in his mid forties if anyone had to guess. His clothes were similar to that of a marine but the color scheme was different. Instead of the blue and white uniform his was red and gold. He had a long coat that was draped over his shoulders, hand behind his back. He clearly held a high rank than the standard grunt.

Rob took one look at his face and knew something was about to happen. His gut never lied to him but for now he'd wait and see before making a move. A move he knew was coming.

The man stepped closer to the other two marines as well as Zarina and Rob. "Well? Care to explain?" He awaited a reply.

One of the two marine grunts spoke up first, "Prisoner transfer sir. A late night operation. This pirate is said to hold valuable information and is currently being brought to the holding cells." He quickly replied with, not holding back anything.

"Oh? Is that so?" He stepped forward again right up to Rob and inspected him. Rob by this stage had calmed down enough that he wasn't giving anything away. His inspection of Rob was oddly quick, his attention turning on Zarina next.

He grunted, "I didn't know we were recruiting your kind." He said with displeasure. Rob subtly raised an eyebrow, 'What the fuck?' He reacted like that to her and not a prisoner?

Zarina remained unfazed, applying her customer service face before speaking. "Pardon Sir, what do you mean?"

"Women. I didn't know the recruiting standards had fallen." He sighed heavily, snorting right after just like a pig would. "I'll be having a word with the Commander about this."

Zarina didn't show any visual reaction but Rob could tell an inner reaction from a mile away.

"There is nothing wrong with recruiting woman. Women are just as useful as men if not more so." She began a small counter argument with this man.

The marine snorted in disgust, "Please, women belong in the home and nowhere else." He grunted in irritation, "What's the point of arguing with you, your simple mind would not comprehend anything. Women belong in the home, doing the simple tasks that men are above. It's that simple." He closed in on Zarina, "Do you understand?" He sounded like he was asking a rhetorical question.

Zarina didn't respond, she just tilted her head down. The marine grunted, "As expected." he said in a shrill voice. His voice was headache inducing

Rob was starting to get a headache from this asshat, "Someone like you calls me scum?" Rob chuckled, "You're a real wanker you know that?"

He certainly didn't like that now.

"Excuse me? Care to say that again you pirate trash?" He got up in Robs face trying to act the big man. Rob would put money on it he was only doing this because he thought he was in restraints.

Rob grinned, time for some fun, "Wanker~" He said more clearly this time.

Well, now this guy looked furious, which Rob was rather pleased with.

"Am I now?" He grinned, "How about now?!" He yelled slightly before punching Rob in the gut. There was a moment's pause before the man pulled his hand back, hissed and shook his hand trying to alleviate the pain. Rob couldn't help but smirk, he could even tell Zarina would get a kick out of that.

The guy hurt himself even though he was the one throwing the punch.

"I'm not a fan of violence." Zarina spoke up, catching everyone's attention. It actually surprised Rob a little at her sudden involvement, he thought she was just going to go with it. "But I'll make an exception this time." She said a bit more assertively before looking the prick of a marine dead in the face.

Zarina was perfectly lined up, using Rob as a support she rapidly swung her leg and caught this prick in the best place she could.

Perfect Shot~

Rob grinned wider as the two other marines paled at the sight. The third marine dropped to the ground, unconscious, pale, mouth open gapping. Low groans slipped from his mouth, you could almost see his lack of a soul leaving his body.

Zarina fully released Rob and sighed, somewhat satisfactorily, and placed her hands on her hip and rapier "That was well and truly deserved."

"Ay." Was all Rob responded with before taking his hands out from behind his back and looking toward the two other stunned marines. "Thanks for letting us pass." Before either of the two marines could react, Rob took a large step toward them, grabbed them both by the head and slammed them together, rendering them both unconscious as they fell into a pile at his feet.

Zarina composed herself, coughed into her hand to clear her throat and stepped up beside Rob, "I apologise for blowing our cover, so to speak." She folded her arms, "And hear I thought you were the one going to get us caught."

Rob just shrugged it off, "I was but you beat me to it. Besides, you were the one to come up with the ruse so it was yours to ruin if you wanted." He couldn't help but let a laugh slip, "Has to be said, I wasn't expecting such a clever ruse so quickly. I'm impressed."

"Well the situation demanded it. I'm more frustrated at the fact the ruse was ruined. I hate leaving things unfinished." She was rather disappointed in herself, "I'm so stupid for letting my emotions get the better of me."

"Hey now, you did good. Besides, if I had kicked him the screams would have been heard all across the first half of the Grandline." Defending her actions. Rob was a chill type of guy but that guy was a pig, he deserved worse than what he got.

Zarina rolled her eyes, "I think we should get out of here as soon as we hide the… evidence."

"Nah, leave them here as an example." Just than Rob began to move on, leaving the scene as it was. Zarina looked between the scene and Rob and sighed.

"I'm slowly getting absorbed into this…" She groaned, rather comically, to herself before following Rob once again.

-Flashback End-


"Well, should we see about commandeering a ship then?" said Rob, sounding as casual as ever as he turned to survey all the ships in the lagoon dock.

"I suppose it would be best to have a ship ready and rigged properly for our rapid departure once we're found out soon." Zarina couldn't really argue with him. It wasn't a bad idea to have your get away ship ready before making your move.

Zarina walked up to Rob and stopped, waiting for him to pick out which ship they should prepare. While he did that, Zarina was contemplating how they had not been discovered yet. 'Surely it can't be this easy. We're walking around a marine facility, one of us without a care in the world, and have only been spotted twice. Something's not adding up…' She couldn't help but think of all the worst outcomes to their situation.

"Oi, how about that one." said Rob, pointing toward a decently sized ship docked between two larger frigate class ships.

Zarina squinted slightly and fixed her glasses to try and make the ship out more. From their point of view they couldn't see the front end but they could tell the ship looked mostly ready for sail. All they had to do was raise anchor, unleash the sails and steer her free of the dock.

The ship looked to be a brig class vessel if Zarinas estimates were correct. It looked around the forty to fifty feet in length range, stood rather tall at thirty feet tall from the base of the ship to the top of the crows nest. The sails, although tied, were near snow white, the paint job of the ship was streaks of pale red and orange with black outlines around these streaks. The ships wooden frame looked to be in good condition. No obvious signs of rot.

"Have an eye for ships do we?" Zarina sarcastically asked Rob, "Or were you choosing one that looked manageable enough for you not to crash or beach it?" She raised an eyebrow to Rob, already knowing his answer however.

"Little bit of A, little bit of B." He said through a small laugh.

"Well you picked out a good ship for us to man. It might be difficult to man it with only three people but it should prove sturdy enough to take a beating during the escape so that is a sizeable plus." She half praised him for his choice.

"I just thought it would make for a good ship for us pirates. Something sturdy but with speed on its side." Rob explained himself, "And something I could handle until we get a proper helmsman."

"Your honesty in this situation is somewhat refreshing." Zarina admitted, she took a quick once over the courtyard to see if their were any other marines in the area. Once she was sure there were none currently present she tapped Rob on the shoulder. "Alright, so you wanted to check out the ship? It's clear for now so it's now or never."

With a nod Rob began to walk over to the ship, hands in his pockets, completely unfazed by where he was. Anyone could spot him.

"He's unbelievable…" Zarina couldn't help but say it to herself.

Zarina took off after him at a fast walking pace to catch up to him. As she closed in on him they were both only a few feet from the docks. The ship coming into view, now they could see it for all its glory. It was a fine ship the more you looked at it.

"She really is a fine looking ship, can't wait to see her on the high sea." Rob looked over the ship, seeing the canons, the sails, the wheel, it all looked perfect for what they needed.

"She?" Zarina spoke up.

"Ay, she is a real beauty. You refer to ships as a she." explained Rob, "Well, I do anyway." Rob smiled as he continued to examine the ship but that smile soon disappeared. He tilted his hat over his eyes and glanced over his shoulder to look at something behind him.

"Oi, Zarina…" said Rob in a surprisingly more serious tone, "Get on the ship."

Zarina turned to face him, somewhat confused to why he was telling her to board the ship. As she faced him something fast moving and coming straight for her caught her attention out the corner of her eye.

Before she even realised what it was, she saw it stop right in front of her. It was a short knife, a throwing knife to be exact. A delicate hand crafted blade by what she could tell from the markings on it A bead of sweat rolled down the side of her head.

There, only two inches away from her chest was a knife. That would have killed her, and then she realised it had stopped right in front of her. She saw the outstretched hand of Rob grasping the blade by the hilt of the knife with his thumb and index finger.

Rob had caught the blade before it had reached her.

Before Zaria could speak she a chackle a few feet ahead of them. She looked toward the source of the laughter to find two figures standing there.

They seemed to be a pair. One was a small, more thin looking man. One that barely reached four feet in height, pale skin, black hair, beady black eyes and a sinister grin on his face. He stood there in front of his much larger counterpart, casually juggling knives as he watch Zarina and Rob.

The other man that stood over his friend stood at least eight foot, his skin was slightly dark than his counterpart. He was much more muscular, accurate to someone of his size. He had black hair and large oval shape eyes. The larger man on the other hand looked somewhat disappointed but his disappointment was directed at his ally, not Rob or Zarina.

Both of them wore a modified version of a marine uniform signifying they're higher rank. If anyone were to hazard a guess, they'd be Lieutenants.

"Shame, I wasn't expecting you to catch that." His voice sounded so shrill and high pitched, you'd rather hear nails across a chalkboard than hear this guy give a speech.

At his rather sinister taunt Rob shattered the knife between his fingers like it was glass. The remnants of the blade clattering harmlessly across the floor.

The larger one spoke up, "Brother please, why must you disobey the Commander. We were meant to observe their actions not confront them." His disappoint rather obvious by his tone, which was surprising smooth and calm.

"Tsk, I got bored and this will make it interesting." He laughed as he caught multiple knives between his fingers.

Zarina stood completely still for a moment, trying to fully comprehend what just happened, she wasn't expecting that. If Rob wasn't there she could very well be dead by that. A knife through the chest.

She nearly died.

She drew her rapier and steeled herself, readying herself if they were to try something. She was seriously caught off guard, she was far too latent about where she was and who she was dealing with. She, damn well, knew who they were dealing with. But she also knew that she might not have been able to defend herself from that knife even if she was on guard. She wasn't at peak physical fitness, her skills were somewhat rusty and she wouldn't have been prepared for a sneak attack like that. Zarina knew all too well she is not a strong fighter.

Rob on the other hand was far more relaxed about it, although it did piss him off slightly that they targeted Zarina first with her back turned as well, he clearly was fazed by them.

"I can feel my ears starting to bleed…" He muttered to mainly to himself. He was talking about the voice of the smaller one. It was enough to want you cut off your ears.

"Do you two care to introduce yourselves?" asked Rob, he might as well start since nobody else was going to ask.

The smaller one grinned before leaping onto the shoulder of his larger friend and posed menacingly, well he thought it was menacing. It actually looked rather lame.

"I am Borja and my comrade is Jewels." The one identified at Borja began juggling the knives again, "And we're the official gate guardians and watchers of this facility. We know all that happens here. All who enter, never get the chance to leave" He ended his statement with a sinister smirk, clearly cocky right now.

'What a poser…' thought Rob as he gave them a deadpan stare. This was getting stupid.

Just as Rob was about to speak up Zarina cut in, "Guardians? I find that hard to believe." The smaller ones face dropped its smirk, "There is no way an official and professional organization such as the World Government would hire people to be gate guardians. That sounds very childish for such a faction to use." Zarina calmly secured her glasses again, "I didn't know the marines were hiring children."

A silence descended upon them, Zarina didn't notice for a moment but once she did she looked toward Rob who was staring at her with a raised eyebrow.

"What's that look for?" She asked. He looked rather surprised.

"Was that really needed?" He asked somewhat seriously, he than tilted his head in the direction of their attackers emphasizing to Zarina to look at them. When she did she realized what she did.

A rather comical sight if this situation wasn't considered dangerous. The little man had turned red with anger over being mocked, a vein popped on his forehead, while the larger man bowed toward them in an almost apologetic manner.

"Oh…" Zarina murmured to herself and Rob, "Sorry."

"That's it!" yelled the smaller one. "I'll take my time dealing with your smartass once I kill your protector!" He pointed his blades toward Rob. The larger man stood up from his bow and nodded in agreement to his comrade.

Rob stepped in front of Zarina, "Stay out of this one alright?" He asked her without taking his eyes off the pair of marines.

Zarina took one look at Rob and realized he was taking this seriously. She doesn't like people having to protect her but she might not be able to deal with them. She knew at least Rob was capable in a fight so on this one she would relent and leave the fighting to a fighter.

A silent nod and Zarina retreated over to the ship they had planned on commandeering. At the very least Zarina would have the ship ready for an escape if they needed it while Rob fought.

Now all that remained were the trio that were iching for a fight.

Without another word Borja flung three knives toward Rob. Each one directed for a different limb, one for each leg and the other for his chest.

Rob sidestepped left only slightly for the knives aiming for his legs to miss. One passing between his legs and the other to his right. The one going for his chest he simple caught mid air.

"Impressive." The smaller one growled in frustration, "This won't be an easy kill." he now stood in the palm of his larger comrade, Jewels.

Rob didn't waste time and charged them both, closing the distance in the blink of an eye. He went for a left punch on Jewels but to Robs surprise he dodged left rather swiftly.

Following the momentum he swung a blindly fast back heel kick but was surprised when he felt he made contact but was stopped.

Jumping from his position he landed a few feet away to see what had just happened.

Rob, sort of, deadpanned at the sight in front of him. Jewels stood ready in an evasive battle stance, which was only slightly weird that the bigger was swift on his feet. Borja on the other hand was being held by Jewels by the ankles like a sword hilt. Borjas hands held knives in-between each finger, from his blades to above his wrist he had coated in armament haki.

"Now you realize how we work." Borja spoke up drawing Rob from his stupor. "We work as one, one of us the armour, the other the weapon. I am the weapon, my blades will slice through your flesh with agonising pain." Borja continued to rant, where as Jewels shook his head in disappointment.

'Why do I always get the weird ones…' thought Rob somewhat annoyed. 'Why do I get the feeling they're one of those 'we fill in for the others weaknesses' type.'

Rob once again charged the pair, he figured he'd have to deal with them one at a time but which one first?

Rob went for a spinning back kick straight to the centre mass of Jewels but was once again he dodged the strike by backpedalling.

He counter attacked by swinging Borja horizontally, arms outstretched, blades in his hands, the strike nearly caught him off guard by how fast the counter attack was but Rob backpedaled too quickly for them to actually cut him.

Both sides backed away from one another, only six feet between them. Rob wasn't hurt but he looked down to see his shirt was slice horizontally across his chest. Six clean cuts through his shirt.

Now it was their turn, Jewels dashed toward Rob. Expecting an attack Rob haki upped his right arm to block whatever strike came his way but to his surprise they dashed past him, not even attempting to strike him. As they slid to a stop behind him they launched an attack, clearly going for a back attack.

"Ace of Knives!"

Borja swung his arms in an x pattern toward Rob, a series of knives were flung from the inside of his sleeves, a total of ten knives in an x shape flew toward Rob at chest height.

Rob leaned back as the knives neared him, the blades flying over him. He backflipped once the knives had passed over him as to quick fast his attackers again.

It seemed it was Jewels turn as he had switched stances for a more powerful one.

"Special Attack: Living Weapon!"

Jewels leaned back, Borja in hand and gave a powerful over head throw and threw Borja at him. Borja flew toward Rob, rotating like a shuriken through the air. Rob once again sidestepped, barely dodging the bizarre attack.

Rob had felt the rush of air as Borja passed him, he looked to the ground by his feet and saw Borja had cut off a few strands of his red hair.

Rob ignored Borja and instead, unexpectedly, charged Jewels, who was further away. By the look on Jewels face, he hadn't been expecting that. Rob had moved far faster than anticipated and was beside Jewels in under a second.

"Gut Buster!"

Rob bent his right leg, pulled it up to his chest and launched it into Jewels guy within the blink of an eye, giving him a fierce side kick straight into his gut. You could almost feel the rush of air leaving Jewels from the impact.

Jewels was sent skidding backwards across the ground. Grinding to a halt, you could see the pained expression on Jewels face as he dropped to one knee.

Rob was about to press the attack on Jewels again but sensed an incoming strike his way. Leaning his head back a knife sailed passed his face, missing him my a mere inch.

He looked for Borja, knowing he was the one who threw it. He caught sight of Borja as he neared Jewels, getting into a defensive stance when he neared him.

"Are you okay, you idiot." Borja growled at Jewels, clearly angered his comrade took a hit. Jewels gave a nod to his friend to convey he wasn't too badly hurt.

Borja kept his eyes on Rob, glaring at him. "Bastard!" He looked iching to slice Rob to pieces.

Ignoring that, Rob now knew that he'd best deal with them when they are separated, when they couldn't protect one another.

Or while they were distracted during an attack…

Rob smirked, he'd have to see where his idea leads. Rob waited for them to make a move, he wanted to see how they'd change tac.

Jewels grabbed Borja by the legs again and held him like a sword, standing and moving into an offensive stance. Jewels charged Rob, as he neared he swung Borja horizontally again. Borja lunged for Rob with his knives but this time they all missed him as they slid passed him, going for a quick back attack Jewels swung behind himself, swinging Borja vertically up, this time Borja managed to actually cut Rob with one of the blades. Three vertical cuts up his shirt, one cut on his chest. A shallow cut but a cut nonetheless.

Completely unfazed Rob simply lunged forward punched straight forward, aiming for Jewels again. He used Borja to block the strike with his armament haki coated knives. Instead of retracting the punch, Rob grabbed hold of Borjas uniform and dragged him off to the side. Neither Borja or Jewels were prepared for this and so stumbled over to the the direction they were pulled.

"Skull Fracture!"

Rob hopped off the ground slight and spun around backwards. Slamming Jewels in the back of the head with a fierce, spinning back heel kick.

Jewels released his grip of Borja causing him to fall to the ground as Jewels was sent tumbling across the ground, skidding into a pile of crates, destroying two crates and causing the rest to fall around him.

Leaping back from Borja, Rob gave a quick glance to Jewels to see if he was going to get up or not. Once he saw he was unconscious he turned his attention back to Borja, who looked absolutely furious.

"You Bastard! I'll kill you and everyone you know!" He yelled boiling with rage, screeching at the top of his, tiny, lungs. It was surprising that nobody had heard him.

Rob rubbed his ear, he thought it was going to bleed by how high pitched that was, he rather listen to nails on a chalkboard than this guy.

He charged Rob, he was clearly annoyed that his friend was down but that was their fault, they attacked Zarina first.

Borja closed the distance by leaping at him, blades at the ready, aiming for Robs face and throat. He slashed wildly at Rob, clearly thirsty for blood.

Rob slowly backpedaled and subtly dodged each slash by leaning from side to side until Rob pushed back hard to put more distance between them. Borja seceded his advance for a quick moment.

"Blade Storm!"

Borja rapidly threw a dozen knives in circular motion, a circle of knives flew toward Rob, Borja rushed him alongside the blades, him in the centre of the attack.

Rob took a narrow stance and outstretched his left hand, aiming at Borja.

"Dragons Pulsar!"

Rob clenched his right fist and struck the air in front of him just before the knives or Borja, an air pulse blast both the knives and Borja. The knives were sent flying in random directions but Borja was shot backwards into an open area just in front of the buildings.

Borja had taken the major power behind that attack. Rob relaxed after that attack and looked at Borja. He was still on the ground, barely moving, he looked to be conscious but barely.

Borja coughed before growling at Rob, "You… bastard…" He was very fond of calling Rob that wasn't he?

His last act before passing out on the other hand was something to be concerned about. With a flick of his wrist he threw a knife toward a pole. A pole with a large bell on it. The blade hit the bell and a massive ring rung out through the facility.

At the noise Zarina reappeared at the edge of the ship, calling over to Rob, "What was that?" She had readyed the ship as best she could, the ship was basically ninety percent complete. With a few pulls of a rope this ship should be ready to sail.

The front doors of a few buildings nearby burst open and squads of marines rushed forth, armed with swords and rifles.

Rob sighed as Zarina caught sight of the marines rushing into the open courtyard, coming straight for them.


Francis leaned out from the shadows of one of the buildings, he knew it was the armory, and searched the grounds for any signs of movement. He seemed rather nervous but that was because of what Itzal just did. Itzal stood only a few feet further in the shadow standing over a squad of unconscious marines that had spotted them a few moments ago. Itzal took them down before any of them could alert anyone else.

Neither Itzal or Francis were skilled in stealth so they were going to get caught eventually. Lucky for them they'd only been spotted once. Better than Rob and Zarina anyway.

Francis leaned back and turned to Itzal, "We should meet up with the rest of your crew, we need to gather up by the docks and steal one the ships before we're found out."

Before Itzal could speak they heard the ringing of a bell echo throughout the facility. "What's that?" asked Itzal, he had an idea it meant they were found out but he was hoping it had some other meaning.

"It means there is a situation in progress, generally it means we're under attack." Francis explained, not what Itzal wanted to hear but the situation could be much worse. "We're only ever used it when the facility is under attack from the wildlife on the island but I think this times it's for us." He continued to explain, "Or your crew."

Itzal stepped out of the shadows of the building and gazed across the open grounds of the facility, across the yard he saw squads of marines pile out of the buildings and heading straight for the docks. Francis joined him in inspecting the scene. No point in hiding anymore they were found out.

"What's the plan now Itzal? We aren't sneaking our way out of here anymore." asked Francis, he was now really concerned about his odds of making it out of here. These pirates were his only way off his island, if they went down, so did he.

"Well, why not go join them by the docks?" Itzal asked his own question, Francis giving him a thoughtful look. "Nobody knows you're with us Francis, so why not sneak off on your own. Until like the rest of us, you blend in." Itzal explained his logic, Francis could freely move around the facility no questions asked.

An idea popped into Francis' head, "Alright, so what if I subtly gather what we need such as maps, tools and disrupt communications while you and your crew secure a ship. Since there's a battle going on over by the docks I'll assume that is where the ship is. We meet on the ship and sail out of here once I get there. Does that work?" The plan sounded good on paper and it was their best bet as well, they'd need to defend the ship from attack or they were definitely screwed.

Itzal paused for a moment, mulling over the idea, sure it sounded good but Itzal really didn't want to have to beat up a load of marines while they waited for Francis.

Itzal was actually being rather trusting, as always, with Francis. He wanted to wander off on his own and do as he pleased. For all Itzal knew Francis could sell them out to his Commanders and give away their plan to get them caught. I mean, it was pirates versus marines here. But Itzal was better than that, he'd trust Francis on this. He had instinctual feeling about Francis, one that told him he could trust him and he would follow his instinct.

"Alright, so we meet at the ship? Try not to take too long?" Itzal reconfirming what the plan was, not that it was much of a plan, more a guideline to what they wanted to do.

"I won't take long, all I need is a map and the stars to get us to the next island." With that they gave each other a nod before Francis took off across the courtyard while Itzal stood just in front of one of the buildings, watching the facility.

Itzal stood there for much longer than he needed to but he was waiting, waiting for someone. He had a sensed a presence nearby for awhile now and Itzal knew this presence knew he was here too.

"So you're one of the intruders I see. I'll be honest, I'm impressed by your actions thus far." A voice spoke up from the door to the building Itzal stood in front of, it sounded genuinely impressed in its tone.

Itzal turned to the voice to see a tall man standing against the wall, hands in his pockets and not looking directly at Itzal.

He stood at roughly seven feet, seven inches. He wore a white three piece suit with a light blue shirt underneath that, black leather shoes and a marine commodores hat. He looked to be an older gentleman, around sixty if anyone had to guess. Short silver hair and mustache signifying his age. He may have been older than Itzal but something told him he was no push over.

"Ah, where are my manners, my apologies." He said as he began to walk toward Itzal before stopping and giving a small tilt of his head, "I am Commander Fox, the man in charge of this facility. I'm also known as the Silver Fox by some if you'd like to know." The man now known as Commander Fox introduced himself. "May I ask who might you be?"

"Bellow Itzal, nice to meet you Fox." Itzal replied, as straightforward as ever. Itzal turned his body to face him, it looked like a standoff between the two of them.

"Care to explain why you're trespassing in a marine compound?" asked Fox, he actually sounded curious, "And may I ask what exactly your intentions are?" He continued to ask.

The fact Fox had even begun a dialogue with Itzal says that he wanted to know more before deciding anything, more a rational thinker. Maybe they didn't have to fight.

"We didn't know this place was a marine facility, I just wanted to explore an unmarked island on a map we found." Itzal began to explain, hopefully this works, "Our ship crashed and is no longer usable as a ship anymore so we're stranded on this island until we acquire another ship. As soon as we do we're out of here. We never planned to do anything, it was more an accident."

"Hmmmm, I see. You're in quite a predicament." Fox seemed to mull over his thoughts for a few moments, "Unfortunately I can't just let you walk free. You're an intruder to a marine facility that is classified to the general public. It's a shame but I have to detain you and your comrades." Fox began to close in on Itzal, "I'm really am sorry lad."

"I understand." Replied Itzal as he readied himself for an innvitiable fight.

"Vulcan Prayer!"

Itzal activated his devil fruit again steam poured from his exposed skin, the same exposed skin turned red hot like a forge.

"Good luck lad, may the best man win." With that, Fox charged Itzal. For an older man he moved extremely quickly. So fast he'd put most people to shame.

Just as he closed in on Itzal, he quickly disappeared from view surprising Itzal. Before he could relocate Fox he felt something small and solid strike the side of his head, sending him tumbling forward, a small trickle of blood ran down from just above his ear.

Itzal landed and quickly straightened himself up and looked back to where he was just stood. Fox stood there, fist outstretched to where Itzal had just stood. And he once again disappeared from view, Itzal knew an attack was coming but before he could attempt to move he felt another blow, this one to his right side.

Itzal was expecting this attack so he wasn't sent into a tumble, he was still thrown to the side from the force of the strike but he didn't stagger.

Realizing what Fox was doing Itzal quickly countered it.

"Omniscience Liberated!"

He didn't bother to look back to where Fox had last struck him, Itzal knew his eyes weren't going to be that helpful in a fight where someone can move faster than the eye can see.

Itzal dashed forward and rolled across the ground just as he sensed an incoming attack and he was right, before he looked back he heard the noise of someone striking the ground, cracking concrete and stone.

"Pocket Burst!"

Itzal quickly formed a condensed ball of heat energy in his hands and launched it toward Fox's direction. Fox, however, quickly dodged the blast, the ball of heat moving past the area and hitting a nearby wall, completely shattering it into small pieces of brick and stone.

"Nine Tailed Fox!"

Fox landed off to Itzals left after dodging the last attack and dashed forward at Itzal once again.

Itzal was forced to backpedal to dodge the volley of strikes, Fox launched a volley of exactly nine punches, each directed at a different part of Itzals body.

Itzal dodged the first eight strikes, the ones directed at his elbows, knees, feet, waist and head, in that order. Each one was suppose to disable Itzal from the stinging pain behind it but Itzal was quick enough to dodge them.

But the last one was directed at his chest, his chest was too big a target to move out of the way in time so Itzal crossed his arms in an x-shape across his chest and took the hit.

The hit sent Itzal skidding across the ground, his bare feet digging into the concrete floor, breaking it as he went he got completely winded by the punch, causing Itzal to pause for a moment to recover.

Foxs speed was extremely impressive to say the least but Itzal watched as Fox stood by where Itzal had just been and saw that he was sweating already. It was clear that his age was getting to him but he didn't want to give up either. Fox would want to end this quickly because his stamina would be his weakest trait, all Itzal had to do was out last him.

But where is the sportsmanship in that? Just wait it out? No.

Itzal would fight fair and fight just as much as Fox. All he had to do was beat his speed, with his heightened senses from his Omniscience Liberated, Itzal could feel the slight vibrations in the earth from Foxes strong and fast steps.

If he focused enough he could track his movements from the vibrations alone and act accordingly but Omniscience Liberated was getting to be rather taxing by now with how much Itzal has been using it today. He'll need to act fast and use this advantage.

Itzal waited for Fox to move in for another attack, it didn't take long for Fox to charge him again, disappearing from view. This time Itzal focused in on the feeling the earth to find Fox.

'There!' Itzal leaned back his head and body and watched as a punch sailed straight past, missing his jaw, which is what Fox must have been aiming at.

"Pocket Burst!"

Itzal rapidly condensed heat energy into the palm of his right hand and fired it off point blank range into Fox's centre of mass. A small blast of heat at such range sent Itzal backwards but since he was expecting it he remained standing, Fox on the other hand was sent rolling across the ground into the wall of one of the buildings creating a gaping hole in it.

Even after a point blank shot like that Fox got up relatively quickly trying not to leave himself vulnerable although shakily showing he was still somewhat stunned..

"Good hit lad, that was impressive. I never thought I'd see a devil fruit user again." Fox breathlessly chuckled to himself. He was giving both himself and Itzal a chance to catch their breath, not that Itzal needed it.

"Thanks, you're a really impressive fighter Mr Fox." Itzal gave a certain respect to the old man, he was fighting regardless of being somewhat of out the game. Itzal calmed himself and ceased using his devil fruit since he began speaking with Fox now. "I really don't want to have to fight you, I just want to leave."

Fox rested his hands on his knees for a moment, he was struggling slightly but still held himself as best as he could. "I'm sorry lad but I can't. It's apart of my duty as a marine to arrest pirates."

"Why can't we just try and leave it at this? Isn't it a more peaceful solution?" Itzal countered Fox, Itzal didn't want this to go any further. "Being honest, you seem like a good person so I'd rather not fight you anymore."

Fox actually chuckled at Itzals response, "Lad, you really are a strange one aren't you?" He sighed before standing up straight again, "You really don't want us to fight anymore?" He asked, just to confirm what Itzal said. When he received a nod in response he continued.

Fox sat down and leaned against the wall, you could hear the creaking of bones as he did. Fox groaned which only confirmed it was his old bones acting up. "I'm too old for this." He muttered to himself.

He looked up to Itzal, "Get going lad, your crew is waiting for you."

Itzal gave a small smile, "You're one of those good marines after all." Before Itzal turned to go to the dock where the others would no doubt be he was stopped by Fox speaking.

"Allot of marines are good people lad. Most join to fight the scum of the world." Fox began his explanation, Itzal stood still as he listened, "Most people who join have been wronged by pirates, bandits and the like. They have good intentions at heart and they always will."

He sighed, "But there will always be the bad apples of any group. It's unfortunate that the higher you go the more corrupt it gets." Itzal slowly mulled over his words as he spoke.

"When scum rules only more scum is born." Fox smiled slightly, "The marines are by no means perfect, far from it but most people fight for justice in the world. But I know what the world is like, I've been around long enough to know."

"It is not black and white. There is good and bad on both sides. And you lad, prove there can be good on the other side of the argument." Fox gave Itzal a small salute, with that Fox stopped speaking and just watched Itzal.

"Thanks Old man, see ya!" And with that Itzal ran off in the direction of docks to where his crew would be.

Fox just watched Itzals form quickly disappear across the grounds of the facility. "Best of luck on your adventure lad, keep an open mind and heart as you go and you'll be just fine." Fox murmured to himself, he smiled softly to himself, "I look forward to hearing of your adventures."


Rob stood surrounded by marines but having an absolute blast. Every marine that came his way was taken down by a single punch or kick. They all moved in a predictable manner making this easy for him but they were grunts so what were you expecting? He was basically taking as much heat as he could to stop them targeting Zarina but a few still would go after her.

"Oi Zarina! Heads up, you got marines climbing aboard!" Rob called out to her as he continued to beat down any marine that came his way. Defending the docks and taking nearly all the marines head on. That's Rob for ya!

A few marines had diverted their attention to Zarina, Rob suspected that they went after Zarina because of what he was doing to their comrades, they didn't want to meet the same faith.

Zarina stood on the deck of the ship they were going to commandeer, rapier drawn standing waiting for the marines. She was dreading a fight, she wasn't in the best of shape to be fighting let alone fighting for any sort of extended period of time. Although, she could use this to take out some of her frustration with everything that has happened.

The first marine climbed over the side of the ship and charged her, she steeled her nerves and waited for him to close in, other marines were slowly climbing over the side as she did.

As the marine closed in he held the sword above his head, going to strike from above. Zarina , rather gracefully, side stepped the marine, twirled to the side even further and slash the marine across his thigh causing him to fall forward clutching his thigh as he screamed in pain.

She turned to face the next marine that was coming her way. What came next was three marines instead of one.

Zarina, gracefully, stepped forward to intercept them. She subtly dodged the first marines sword swing by bowing under the strike before slashing his shin causing him to fall quickly like the first.

The next marine that followed went for another overhead slash which Zarina swiftly side stepped as well, this time she struck the marines hand that was holding the sword. Slashing the back of his hand causing him to hiss in pain, drop his sword and look toward his bleeding hand.

Using this distraction Zarina struck the marine in the back of the head with the hilt of her rapier effectively rendering him unconscious.

The marine after this one didn't cease his charged and swung his sword horizontally at chest height. Zarina twisted her rapier so she was holding it backwards, held the rapier with both hands and dropped down to dodge the blade but she dropped the rapiers tip into the foot of the marine.

He yelled in pain, Zarina quickly jumped to her feet again but brought the hilt upward, uppercutting the marine with her hilt, knocking him unconscious and backwards.

It was clear Zarina was fighting with her wits, grace and accuracy, she had no where near the power Itzal or Rob had but she fought smart. She moved like she was dancing, weaving between strikes and striking at key areas, either ones that would temporarily disable her foe or cause severe pain which gave her an opening to finish them off.

However, even that small display was somewhat taxing. Zarina whipped a bead of sweat from her brow, she wasn't in the best physical shape. She hadn't need to do anything like this before and she never thought she would have to.

'Note to self, get back into a fit, healthy and good shape again when we get out of here...' Zarina thought to herself as she stepped away from the sides of the ship, waiting for the next small group that came for her.

She didn't have to wait long.

The next group climbed over the railing of the ship, swords drawn. They all charged her like the first group, climbing over their comrades to get to her.

"They don't learn do they?" Zarina sarcastically muttered to herself, commenting on the fact they mindlessly charged her despite their comrades being beaten in the same manner.

Zarina readies her rapier for another small confrontation before stepping toward her foes.

Back with Rob by the docks the marines just kept coming one after another, with no end in sight, not that Rob minded. He was having fun either way.

Dodging, blocking and weaving around every sword strike with relative ease before kick, punching and even headbutting anyone who got to close.

What did worry Rob was the fact a number of marines were slipping by to go after Zarina, he needed to think of a way to get all these marines further from their ship to give her some breathing room.

He had one idea in mind, one that gave more bonuses than just distracting the marines.

Rob grinned at the idea and turned his gaze to a large portion of the marines but before he could do anything he was interrupted.

"Pocket Burst!"

A small ball landed in the centre of the group before exploding, sending numerous marines flying and tumbling in all directions, temporarily stopping and stunning anyone who was hit by their flying comrades.

Rob looked across the destruction to see Itzal running up to him, he smiled. "What took you so long?" He cheekily asked his Captain.

"I got a bit lost, distracted and sidetracked." Itzal replied simply, "You?" He was asking about what he was up to if Rob had to guess.

"Commandeered a ship, prepared it, defended it." Rob quickly replied since the marines were no longer stunned and were slowly gathering themselves to charge both Itzal and Rob this time. "Ready to sail on your word, Zarinas already on board."

Itzal smiled before joining Rob for the fight that was coming their way, "We need to wait a bit longer, I got a plus one with me." Rob nodded, he might not know how or who this person was but if Itzal said someone was with him than who was he to question it.

"I'll be back." Rob said, in an oddly masculine manner, as if quoting a movie. This time is was Itzal who nodded before Rob ran passed him toward another docked ship, leaving Itzal to fend off the marines for a bit.

A few of the marines noticed Rob run off, "There! After him as well! We got him on the run!" One of them, so wrongly, called out before a large portion of them went after him.

This only helped divide their forces so nobody was complaining.

He jumped aboard another ship, this one the size of a frigate.

"Dragon Claw!"

Rob charged the mast of the ship and complete shatter the mast as he struck it with his claw. The mast cracked and snapped before finally falling forward along the ship further destroying the ship.

The marines that followed him climbed over the railing just in time to see the mast rock the ship as it landed. Rob turned to them to see their shocked faces before smiling and running off to the next ship along.

Rob was planning to disable as many ships as he could so nobody or very few could actually give chase.

He leapt from the railing of one ship to the next and again struck the mast with his claw causing the same thing to happen with this mast as the last one.

"Ah, the smell of fresh destruction. Nothing like it!" Rob joked to himself before continuing on his war path.

Back aboard the commandeered ship Zarina was getting very tired. She wiped the sweat from her forehead, she seemed rather breathless from her fight, clutching her stomach, hunched over slightly trying to catch her breath and down on one knee. So far she had defeated roughly sixty marines but she couldn't really do much more than that. She wasn't used to this sort of thing, while Itzal and Rob were beating down marines by the hundreds without much effort, Zarina couldn't do much more than she has.

"Those two are monsters…" Zarina breathlessly muttered to herself.

She looked up to see only two more marines rushing her. She gritted her teeth waiting to try and attempt to defend herself. The closer marine went for another over head strike, Zarina was about to try and defend it but before she could the marine was struck in the face by the hilt of a sword causing him to collapse.

Zarina looked at the figure that saved her to find an oddly different marine standing beside her, pistol in one hand, sword in the left. The other marine that was charging her stopped in his tracks as the marine that saved her held a pistol in his direction.

"Off." Was all the marine said to the other. The attacker dropped his sword, turned and dived over the edge of the ship into the water below. What a coward right?

Zarinas savoir sheathed his sword turned to Zarina and held out his hand to help her up, "You okay?" He asked, sounding concerned for her well being.

Zarina didn't take his hand and stood up on her own, "Who might you be?" She asked suspiciously and cautiously. She wasn't going to fall for any sort of trick, she kept her rapier held tightly if he was to try anything.

The marine backed up, "I'm Rose Francis, I'm escaping with you."Francis explained, "I know your captain, Itzal. He said I could go."

Zarina raised an eyebrow, before groaning slightly, "Firstly, I am not apart of his crew, I'm just ship hoping. Secondly, how do you know about Itzal?" Of course Itzal would call her a crew mate, it was a nice gesture to be welcomed so easily but she was not a pirate.

"I ran into him earlier and he said he could get me off this island. I just want out of here." Francis explained himself, turning and walking toward the helm of the ship. "I'm going to navigate us out of here and to the nearest island." He pointed his pistol to a small pile of navigational equipment laying her the helm. Francis must have boarded the ship and dropped the equipment to help Zarina once he saw her in trouble.

Zarina slowly walked over to one of the railings to lean on it slightly, "As long as you don't try anything I'm happy to get out of here." Zarina commented.

Francis shook his head, "I'm not blowing my chance to get off this island by doing something stupid like that." He sounded very sincere by his tone, "Besides, you'd have to be stupid to try anything on Itzal from what I've seen."

Zarina sweat dropped at the comment, Francis only knew Itzal for at most an a few hours and even he could see what Itzal was capable of. "That is very true." She agreed with Francis, wait until he sees Rob by his side as his first mate, that would be a real party wouldn't it?

"Traitor!" A voice yelled from the railing, Francis and Zarina turned to see a marine standing there with a rifle aimed at Francis. Francis remained still, he near any sudden movements would end up getting him shot but he also knew he couldn't just stand here either.

Zarina couldn't do much against a rifle, she was too far away and she didn't have the energy to rush him from across the deck of a brig sized ship. All she could do was hope Francis had a plan.

Luckily for them they didn't need one.

The marine swiftly punched in the face, knocking him off his feet before he was grabbed by the leg and tossed overboard into the water. A rather quick end to that situation.

Francis and Zarina sighed gratefully that Itzal had come and taken care of the marine for them.

"Thanks." They both said in unison as Itzal walked over to join them. He smiled at them both before turning his attention to the defeat marines on deck.

"You did all this Zarina? That's impressive." Itzal complemented her efforts in defending herself and the ship. She didn't seem to be the strongest fighter in the world but she was still skilled and dangerous in her own right. "Are you okay though?"

Zarina just gave a tired thumbs up, she wasn't in the best of moods right now so she was best to be left alone for the moment. As long as everyone was alright it was good.

"Prisoner Prayer!"

A long metal chain formed from Itzals hand, laying in a pile by his feet. Both Francis and Zarina were confused as to what he was doing but quickly realized once Itzal started.

He controlled the chain and wrapped it around the legs of the defeated marines before hoisting them into the air, moving them to above the water and released them, effectively clearing the deck.

"Lets go!" Itzal spoke turning to Francis who nodded as he took hold of the helm, Itzal glanced around the ship to see what he had to do to release the sail, once he found the rope he unfurled the sails causing the ship to begin moving.

Francis turned the ship so they were heading for the exit to the lagoon.

Zarina raise an eyebrow, turning to Itzal, "What about Rob?" She asked wondering where he disappeared to. As far as she knew he wasn't aboard.

Itzal smiled, "He's coming." Was all Itzal replied with. That was oddly confident.

As the ship was about to pull away from the dock they heard gun fire, causing Francis and Zarina to duck for cover but the gun fire wasn't directed at them.

They all turned to the source of the comotion to see the marines firing at Rob, who stood atop the mast of a ship. A mast that was now falling toward their ship, luckily it was in no danger of hitting their ship.

Rob ran along the falling mast before leaping off the end as it hit the water before landing with a thud aboard their ship.

Rob got up and grinned, "Told you I'd be back." Itzal just smiled at his comrade showing up were as Zarina and Francis just looked at him wondering why he needed to make such a grand entrance.

The ship soon was at the open to the river, they were officially leaving this island!

All that could be heard from the lagoon behind them was gunfire directed to their ship but it was mostly small arms fire, the screaming of marines ordering them to prepare ships for chase while others yelled about destroyed ships.

It sounded like Chaos. Beautiful.

The ship was now in the river, the river itself was moving slightly faster making it so the ship was moving faster as well, a great combination of wind and sea power. A helpful boost.

"Alright Itzal," Francis called over, "Where do I steer the ship to? The nearest island or something a little further out?" Honestly, Francis didn't really care where he went, he was free so once he got to the next island he was out of here, off to make a home for himself somewhere in the East Blue.

Itzal thought it over for a second, "Do you have a map for me to see? I'd rather see what islands lay ahead of us." A fair point, Itzal wanted to head in the direction of the Grandline so any island that was in that direction was a good choice.

Francis nodded over to the pile of navigational equipment beside him, "There's a map in there for you to use." Itzal swiftly made his way over to the pile to find the map while Rob walked over to Zarina.

"You alright? You look winded to say the least." He knew she'd be alright, she was tougher than she thought she was, but he might as well be polite and ask.

"I'm fine," She sighed, "I will be fine once I get some rest. Thank you." She politely replied, odd how the people who ask about her well being are pirates. Most people wouldn't normally give a damn but pirates actually cared? Odd to say the least.

Itzal rummaged through the pile in search of a map but he couldn't find it, "Uh Francis, I don't see it here." Itzal scratched his cheek.

"Hang on, take the helm for a second." Itzal moved over and took the helm from Francis while Francis rummaged through the pile. As the seconds went by he became for frantic in his search. After a few seconds he stopped, "I could have sworn I got one!" He yelled to mostly himself, he wasn't trying to defend himself but trying to reassure himself he got it.

Rob and Zarina watched as Itzal and Francis looked around the helm for this mystery map.

"Any bets we lost the map." Zarina asked Rob, she had a feeling with their combined luck they were obviously going to lose the map.

"I think your righ-" Rob quickly stopped speaking, he had this weird feeling for some reason. He looked around the deck of the ship for a moment but he couldn't find the source of this weird feeling. He looked up and paused for a moment before smirking.

Found it.

"Actually," Zarina turned to Rob to see him looking up for some reason, "I think we have a map thief." Robs smirk was odd given the statement, it could prove to be bad if they didn't have a map. Zarina looked at Rob and than looked to where he was looking.

She deadpanned, "Oh…"

Itzal and Francis stood by the helm, Francis scratching his head, "I could have sworn I grabbed a map." Just in that moment something landed on the railing in front of them.

Both men looked rather surprised by what they saw.

Sitting on the railing was a small monkey with white fur with dark rough skin, yellow eyes and a long thin tail.

"Chi Chi!" The little monkey chirped at them before hopping up and down.

Than is when Francis noticed what he was holding. "Seriously?" He asked himself, he tapped Itzal on the shoulder and pointed to the monkeys hands.

In its hands was a rolled up piece of paper which Francis knew for a fact was the map he knew he brought.

The monkey suddenly jumped from the railing over the Itzals legs before scrambling up his body, coming to rest on his shoulder. Itzal grinned and rubbed the monkey with his finger, he didn't seem bothered by the little critter, he actually thought it was rather funny.

The rest of the group watched as the little monkey shuck with delight before extending his hand with the map and giving it to Itzal. "Chi Chi!" It repeated.

Itzal took the map and immediately gave it to Francis, "Looks like you did bring the map after all." He joked as Francis took it off him. "Looks like we'll need to think of a name for this little fella." Itzal tagged on at the end.

We got ourselves a pet it would seem.

Even Francis smiled at the idea of the monkey playing with the map, he opened it and showed it to Itzal. "We're here." He pointed to a spot on the ocean, "This is where the island would be located on the map, so our best bet would be to go to Tear island... " He stopped as he examined the map further, "Yes, it's a good distance from here but also close enough that we can reach it in a day.

The ship had been on the move for a minute or so now and now they were nearing the exit of the river leading to the open ocean thanks to the boost from the fast moving river.

Itzal inspected the map, he saw that the island was leading them to the Grandline, according to the map anyway, so that's where he wanted to go. "Alright, set course for Tear Island!" Itzal called out energetically. To which francis nodded, Rob smiled and Zarina grinned.

They'd made it out there in one piece. A good day all round.

Next stop, Tear island.


By the edge of the pier stood Fox gazing out to the open of the river. He stood solemnly, calming, almost peaceful in the silence of the night.

"Commander Fox!" A voice called out from behind, Fox didn't reply, instead just waiting for him to continue. "We are unable to give chase at this time but we do have photos of the individuals involved in the incident, including the traitor. Shall we get their wanted posters out as soon as possible?"

Fox paused for a moment and continued to gazed out to the river and jungle that surrounded it.

"Uh Sir?" The marine muttered, confused as to why he wasn't being given the go ahead to post bounties.

Fox sighed and then replied, "Negative, only post the wanted posters of the two pirate men involved. Do not post bounties of the lady and the young lad Francis."

The marine was stunned, "But sir, why not?" Why would he not want the enemies of the Marines to be found and captured.

"This would be their only mistake. Those two might not ever do anything wrong after this, they could become outstanding citizens if they had not that got caught up in this mess. In fact, they might just go into hiding and if they do they don't deserve a bounty constantly haunting them for the rest of their lives. Give them a chance." Fox explained, "But the other two lads, Itzal and his red haired friend on the other hand I suspect won't be disappearing from the public eye any time soon so put a bounty on those two. But only those two." Fox certainly made it clear about who he wanted bounties on.

With that, Fox said no more. The marine waited for a moment, considering his Commanders words before saluting and running off to complete his orders.

Fox remained still, watching, breathing, thinking. "I'm as fair as I can be lad. I gave everyone a fair chance here but I can do no more." He smiled fondly, "Best of luck to ya, young Captain."


Firstly, I'd like to apologise for the fake update the other day. All I did was remove the beginning 'info' chapter and fix another chapter and it classified it as an update. Sorry about that one!

Secondly, this was one hell of a task to write something like this in the time I had. I only recently finished my exams and then wrote this monster? That took some effort to get this out as quickly as I did.

Thirdly, I'm currently in New York for two weeks so I won't be able to write during that time. (Well at least I might not be able to, I'll still try of course.) So the next update might be some time away. Not much I can do about that, sorry!

I also felt like adding a few movie quotes in there just for fun. Can you find any?

It was also my birthday recently so I got distracted. R.I.P

(Thanks again to everyone who has beta-read so far and to everyone who is willing to as well! I'm continually grateful for the support.)

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

AlcatrazDGold - Till the next chapter…