Reviews
DoubleM7 - Not rusty anymore at last! I channeled all my rust into Shu last chapter, lol. thank you and glad you enjoyed my friend, and I hope we see you return soon too with your amazing story! read his stories guys, they are some of the best One Piece stories I read! and as for Belle-mere, she will eventually get her shine!
O0DBL0O - Glad you enjoyed it my friend, and who are these favorite Navy Soldiers I used I'd like to know, maybe I could use them more in the future! although you will still be seeing them for the next few chapters anyways. Here's the next chapter, enjoy!
yochan123 - I wonder if Buggy is up to something, hmmm.
The One - Arlong, huh ? I will admit that I never even thought of him as an option, so you brought him to my attention, I love Arlong! but will I end up adding him to the crew ? I guess you will find out eventually... also I genuinely don't know myself lol, so we will see.
Alsheon - Ah yes, glad someone watched the video, lol. this story is my excuse to share with everyone my favorite theories.
East Blue - Open Seas - Red Hair Pirates' Ship
It was nighttime, the 4 members of Red Hair Pirates, at least until they rescue Belle-mere and Crocodile leaves, were sleeping. They lost track of the Marine Ships since Marine Ships are faster than Pirate Ships, especially basic ones like Bluejam's. But luckily, they had a good navigator like Mihawk who knew the East Blue's ins and outs enough to get them to their destination regardless.
Though the four pirates were not alone on the ship, for a fifth man regained consciousness and opened his eyes and slowly got up to his feet. He felt a lot of pain from his chest.
"Where... am I?" said the man, it was none other than Captain Mozambia who Shu left to die on the enemy ship. Mozambia looked around and quickly he realized he was on the Red Hair Pirates' Ship. 'Oh no! We have the lost the battle against these pirates. If Commodore Onigumo found out he would behead us... and where in the heavens is Stainless anyways... judging by the fact I was not tied down, they probably didn't notice I was still on their ship.' Mozambia was deep in thoughts about his current situation. What to do to avoid the death penalty, mixed with concern for his close friend.
That's when it occurred to him, his 'Get out of Jail Free' card. 'Wait, if it is nighttime and the pirates are sleeping, that means I can kill them in their sleep and bring their heads to the Commodore.' Mozambia thought to himself, he was rejoiced to know that life gave him another chance. 'But... I am a Marine, I can't use such cowardly methods... I got no choice though, I lost my freewill to do what is right the day this monster took over our base. All that I am good for now is surviving and hoping he won't kill me for his amusement.' Mozambia's inner struggle ended with him deciding to kill the crew in their sleep.
And just like that, Mozambia walked to one of the rooms to kill his first target. Indeed, the room was occupied by a person, and said person was sleeping without a fear in the world. Mozambia walked slowly to the person and uncovered his upper body, it was Crocodile. 'Desert King! Why did my first target have to be the infamous pirate?!... Commodore Onigumo would be pleased to see I brought him a head worthy of 27 million beri.' without second thought, Mozambia raised his sword in the air as high as he could, before lowering it on Crocodile, effectively beheading him.
Mozambia stared at Crocodile's head which he cut, but it was too early to celebrate, as sand spread from Crocodile's head, connecting it back to the rest of his body. 'Crap, I forgot he was a Logia, my attacks would be ineffective against him. I need to get out of here before he wakes up.' Mozambia sneakily walked out of the room and entered the room next door for his next target. The target this time was not bothered to cover himself. It was a red nosed young boy.
'It's one of the kid... sorry kid, as much as I'd hate to kill you, it was you who chose the pirate life. Now please die for me.' Mozambia was more reluctant this time, for Buggy was not a notoriously ruthless Pirate Captain as Crocodile was. Mozambia once again raised his sword and after a few seconds of shaking nervously, he brought down the sword and beheaded Buggy, finishing the deed. Buggy's head rolled on the floor, stopping when it hit Mozambia's feet.
Mozambia brought his hands together and closed his eyes, praying for the boy he killed, until he heard... snoring?! Mozambia opened his eyes to see the head of the clown was still snoring on the floor. Mozambia freaked out and almost screamed, but luckily, Buggy was a heavy sleeper so he didn't wake up. Mozambia ran out of the room this time rather than sneaking, closing the door behind him while breathing heavily, traumatized by what he saw.
'What are these guys?! They are monsters!' Mozambia thought to himself before entering the next room. Mozambia noticed with every room he enters, the occupant was looking more outlandish than the previous one. Crocodile was covering himself, Buggy was sleeping without a cover and now Shanks was sleeping on the floor. Mozambia walked over to the captain, he gripped his sword with both hands, before stabbing Shanks in the chest. But Shanks instinctively rolled out of the way.
'Crap, he was awake!' Mozambia froze in his place, but Shanks was still snoring. 'He is still asleep? Maybe it was a coincidence.' Mozambia tried to stab Shanks once again but he rolled out of the way. Mozambia got angry and tried to stab him multiple times with fast attacks, but Shanks perfectly dodged all the attacks, not taking one of them. Rayleigh trained the boy in keeping his Observation Haki active even while he is asleep just so he could survive in situations like these.
'I can't kill people in their sleep, am I that much of a failure...?' Mozambia walked out of the room in defeat. Entering the next room, hoping he would have better luck with Mihawk. But this time, the room was empty. Mozambia looked into different rooms, since the sleeping quarters on Bluejam's ship was bigger than what the crew needed, but Mihawk was nowhere to be seen in any of the rooms. Mozambia walked out of the Sleeping Quarters and entered the cabin, and there he finally found him.
Mihawk was training in the cabin, swinging around a gigantic weight seemingly impossible for a regular human to even lift, let alone swing. "Ah, you're finally awake, marine. Care to spar with me?" Mihawk offered, but the thought of fighting Mihawk again scared the marine. He didn't have a chance to respond though, as someone chopped him in the head from behind, knocking him out.
"It's not nice to kill people in their sleep, is it, marine?" Shanks smiled while walking over Mozambia's body to talk with his crewmate. "What woke you up in this hour, Mihawk?"
"It appears I have been slacking off as of lately. Losing to Desert King, then you was one thing, but losing to that other Marine Captain was outrageous. I can't be the World's Strongest Swordsman if I keep losing all my fights." Mihawk said with a determined look in his eyes.
"Don't go hard on yourself, Mihawk. You just happened to run into enemies that are simply a bad match for you. You are still a skillful Swordsman." Shanks tried to cheer up his crewmate who he quickly bonded with from their first meeting in Loguetown.
"Such excuses are no good, they'd make me but a skillful swordsman as you say. But my ambition far exceeds that level. A true swordsman always finds a way to defeat their opponent, even if they are a bad match. I can't get stronger if I don't go over the limits of my abilities and raise the ceiling for myself." Mihawk's determination was unwavering even against Shanks' words.
"But how are you planning to use a sword to beat a guy who can rust metal?"
"Don't worry, I have a plan." Mihawk smiled with confidence. "But I have to master this new technique before I can fight him, which is why I got no time to sleep. I promise you, Red Hair. I will not lose this time."
"That's the Mihawk I know." Shanks laughed, proud of his crewmate. "If I were to be the King of the Pirates, I wouldn't have any less than the Future World's Strongest Swordsman on my crew." Mihawk smiled and took out his sword from its sheath.
"And I vow on this blade that it is only a matter of time before I reach that goal." Mihawk then held the sword by its grip and gave it to Shanks. "Here, you can have your sword back. It is quite a magnificent work of art. I do not wish for it to be ruined during the altercation." Shanks stared at his sword, Gryphon, for a moment. It is indeed a very special treasure to him, he can't lose it at any cost. Shanks stared Mihawk in the eyes, a grin started to form on Shanks' face.
"Nah, you can take it."
"Whatever do you mean, do you not value this blade?!"
"Of course I value it. That's why I am giving it to you."
"That's quite contradictory."
"Maybe." Shanks chuckled playfully for a moment before getting serious and looking into Mihawk's eyes. "I am betting this very special sword I treasure so much on you, Mihawk. I know you will beat this guy without breaking my sword, so I am not worried." Shanks softly pushed Mihawk's hand into Mihawk's chest. Mihawk is visibly astonished by Shanks' word, his eyes twitching.
"Betting your treasure on a guy you just met less than two months ago is an insane behavior." a smile formed on Mihawk's face. "Shanks, you are truly an intriguing individual. Thank you for your trust, I shall not betray it."
"I know you won't." Shanks said chuckling. He then walked out of the door, leaving the swordsman to resume his training.
East Blue - Open Sea - Marines' Ships
A few hours before this, on the marines' side of things, the 3 Marine Ships were merely a few hours from reaching the shore of the island. Belle-mere was handcuffed and tied to the pole of Shu's ship. Belle-mere looked angry and tried to fight out of the ropes, but to avail.
"Let me go, you bastards!" Belle-mere, despite her unfavorable position, still hasn't lose her edge.
"Shut up, you brat."
"Know your place, woman."
"I don't know what a woman is doing on a pirate ship, you belong to the kitchen." the marines started bullying the tied Belle-mere.
"Well if any of you are men enough, untie me and let me show you what this woman can do to you." Belle-mere challenged them, being angered by their remarks.
"You can lick my boots clean instead." one of the marines said holding his foot in front of Belle-mere. The marines laughed at the humiliation while Belle-mere gritted her teeth in anger.
"Halt your insolent act now or I will kill every single one of you!" a voice shouted at the marines, they looked around to see who said that, then from the crow nest jumped a man wearing a Marine Coat. It was Captain Stainless.
"Ah, Captain Stainless!" the marine who held his boot to Belle-mere's face backed away, the marines were nervous to see him. "How did you end up on our ship?!"
"It doesn't matter now, what matters is what you were doing." Stainless said angrily. "Even if she is a pirate, how dare you disrespect this young lady like that?! How can you call yourselves marines if you do such shameful acts?!"
"Why should I listen to a weak pushover like you who lost to a kid." the marine laughed, kicking Stainless in the gut but Stainless caught his leg.
"This Marine boot you love waving around so much doesn't suit you. Maybe you should replace it with a Pirate's wooden leg." Stainless said before elbowing the marine on his knee, breaking it. The man screamed in pain and the other marines were aghast. "Consider this a warning, if I catch anyone of you harassing this girl again, I will do the same to you."
"We... we are sorry, Captain Stainless!" one of the marines apologized nervously and bowed down, the rest of the marines bowed too. A smile formed on Belle-mere's face at the Marine Captain's act of chivalry.
"Thank you, Stainless-san! I will never forget your kindness!" Belle-mere said with a tear forming in her eyes.
"You needn't thank me, I am only doing what a marine is supposed to do." Stainless said giving a genuine smile to the captive.
"Now now, Stainless. Who gave you the right to attack my subordinates?" Shu walked out of the cabin.
"Shu! Where in the heavens is Mozambia?!" Stainless asked.
"Who? Oh, that eyesore? I left him on the enemy ship." Shu said nonchalantly, Stainless was starting to fume, but Shu either didn't notice or didn't care, and continued. "They were using him as hostage thinking I would return the girl to him. Besides, who cares about that scum anyways?" Shu started to laugh but he was interrupted by Stainless who ran at him and grabbed his shoulders.
"YOU DID WHAT?!" Stainless shouted in Shu's face, he was visibly very angry. "YOU LEFT OUR COMRADE TO DIE?!"
"YOUR comrade, not mine." Shu said, grabbing one of Stainless' wrists and pulling it away from his shoulder. "And if every touch me again with your filthy hands..." Shu started to slowly rust Stainless' arm, but the rusting was way slower than when he tried it on Mihawk, he was purposefully holding back to only scare Stainless, and it did work as Stainless held his breath out of fear. "I will rust every cell of your body." Stainless quickly took out his sword and sliced Shu but he jumped out of the way. Shu walked away from Stainless, laughing.
"That guy, it appears Onigumo's 'web of fear' brainwashed him beyond salvation." Stainless sighed.
"Excuse me, Stainless-san." Belle-mere caught Stainless' attention. "About your friend. Don't worry, my friends will not kill him." Belle-mere reassured Stainless. Stainless didn't know whether to believe her or not, but he had no choice but to hope for the best for his long-time friend.
East Blue - Yotsuba Region - Shells Town - Marine 153rd Branch
It was nighttime when the marines, accompanying Belle-mere, finally arrived at the island. Belle-mere was winged by two marine soldiers from Shu's unit, with her hands cuffed. Stainless and Shu walked in front of their units and Mozambia's unit followed Stainless too.
"AH, THE MARINES ARE HERE!" one of the townspeople screamed, everyone ran back into their houses and shut the door behind them, within a minute or two, the streets were empty.
'That's weird, don't people normally behave like this when they see pirates, not marines? Don't civilians normally feel safe around marines?' Belle-mere thought to herself, but she decided to shove her thoughts away for the moment and focus on the predicament she is in. Belle-mere might have been acting tough, but she had never been so scared in her life, she felt like her days were numbered, and she was awaiting her judgement. She was not ready to die yet, there's still a lot of place she didn't see, and she didn't see what this world had to offer.
Cutting off Belle-mere's train of thoughts, the squad of marines entered the base. The base had a courtyard which was completely empty except for a wooden pole in the middle, with another piece of wood tied horizontally to it, shaping a cross. A brown haired man was tied to the pole, he looked like he hasn't eaten for days, his clothes were torn, and his body was pale and weak. He was barely alive. The marines walked towards the gate at the other side of the courtyard like it was nothing, but Belle-mere was terrified by what she saw, how can anyone treat someone like that? What did this man do to even deserve that? And will she receive the same treatment too? All these question crossed Belle-mere's mind as they walked across the courtyard.
On the other side was the actual base, there was a very tall building. The marines stopped at the door, letting only Shu, Stainless and Belle-mere enter. The two Marine Captains took Belle-mere to the fifth floor, to a room at the end of the hallway. This room's door was more expensive looking, clearly the room of the man of highest rank, but there were spider webs on the corners. The marines walk over and knock on the door, the door opened by itself, and the three of them entered the room.
The room itself was quite like the door. It was a luxurious looking office, but there was this unnerving feel to it. In the middle of the room, sitting at his desk, was a tall man with a cold face and semi-closed eyes. He had brown hair and was wearing a war helmet, a Marine coat over a grey suit with dark green shirt and silver tie, and he was smoking a cigarette.
"Commodore Onigumo, we are here to report." Shu said after taking a bow, Stainless bowed as well.
Head of the 153rd Marine Branch
Marine Commodore
'Demon Spider' Onigumo
Kumo Kumo no Mi (Spider-Spider Fruit)
"Ah, Shu, took you so long. You know I loathe waiting, did you have a death wish?" Onigumo said angrily, he extended his right hand and suddenly by an invisible force, Shu, who was a few feet away from him, was pulled into Onigumo's hand, Onigumo grabbed him by his shirt. At a second glance, said invisible force was actually a spider web.
"Apologies, sir! The woman was really hard to find, we looked for her everywhere." Shu said, his voice was shaking.
"Enough with your excuses, that's all that you weaklings do!" Onigumo said, his menacing aura even reached Stainless and Belle-mere, but Stainless was more scared, having experienced this first hand many times himself. "Tell me, is this the woman in question?"
"No, sir." Shu answered, but before he could continue the story, Onigumo pulled Stainless toward him with a spider web, he raised both men in the air by their necks, choking them.
"So the combined effort of three so-called Marine Captains were unable to carry on the mission?!" Onigumo said, choking the life out of the two Marine Captains. "You are good for nothings who always fail me, I knew I should've went myself."
"We're sorry, sir. It is impossible to find a single woman in an entire quarter of the world, even for us." Stainless muttered with all his strength, stuttering a bit.
"Fine, I will give you another chance to bring her to me." Onigumo said, loosening the grip on the two captains so they could answer his question. "And where is Mozambia?"
"That's what we came here to report, sir." Shu said. Shu reported everything that happened to Onigumo. "We ran into a suspicious pirate ship where the notorious pirate 'Desert King' Sir Crocodile and B-rank bounty hunter 'Hawkeye' Dracule Mihawk were on board, along with 3 unknown kids. It turns out it is a new pirate crew, captained by a red-haired kid with a straw hat. We found this crew to be a huge threat, so we tried to capture them, but they were too strong. So we kidnapped this girl to lure them into our base. They tried to use Mozambia as a hostage but I sacrificed the failure to carry on the plan and now they're on their way here."
"Hawkeye and Desert King in one fell swoop? That's pleasant news. I look forward to meeting the man who was able to bend both of them to his will." Onigumo got up and slammed his desk. "Tomorrow, I will make this courtyard their funeral." Onigumo laughed.
'That bastard, he never even thanks or rewards us, no matter what we do.' Shu thought to himself.
"And as for you..." Onigumo then looked at Belle-mere, he shot spider web at Belle-mere's feet and moved his hand forward. The single line of web slowly covered Belle-mere's body. With every inch of her body that webs covered, her adrenaline increased exponentially, her heart was beating at a dangerous rate. Onigumo laughed at the terrified look on Belle-mere's face.
"Wh-What are you going to do with me?" Belle-mere was uncharacteristically afraid, not even putting her usual tough act.
"This feeling... feeding on weaker humans' fears... it never gets old." Onigumo declared his strange hobby, laughing even more. He then pulled back his spider web from Belle-mere. "I need you as hostage until the fools walk into my web with their own feet." Onigumo pointed his finger at Belle-mere. "Put her in the dungeon!"
"Yes, sir!" the two Captains saluted the Commodore.
"Alert me when you see the enemy. And if you see Mozambia... kill him instantly." Onigumo commanded.
"Yes, sir!" this time, it was only Shu who said it. Stainless was horrified by Onigumo's order. It happened. He ordered his friend's death. He knew it was only a matter of time before he killed them one by one, but the time has come. Even if he defied Onigumo here, Mozambia would still be killed by Onigumo and on top of that Stainless himself would be killed for disobedience.
"Are you considering treason, Stainless?" Onigumo stared daggers into Stainless' eyes.
"No no, not at all, sir! I was thinking about something else. I will kill Mozambia, sir!" Stainless said out of fear for his life. There was no hope for Mozambia, so defying Onigumo now would be futile.
"Dismiss." Onigumo ordered. The two Captains took Belle-mere out of the room to the dungeon.
'How horrible!' Belle-mere's eyes twitched with a mix of fear and disgust. 'A few hours ago, Stainless was quarreling with Shu because he left Mozambia in a bad situation, now he is being forced to kill him with his own hands?!' Belle-mere gritted her teeth in anger. 'This man is horrible, now I know why the townspeople are terrified of the marines.'
East Blue - Yotsuba Region - Shells Town - Marine 153rd Branch - Dungeon
The Dungeon was located in the basement of the building, it was heavily guarded by marines. The dungeon was small since it was located in a small town with a small population. It consisted of one big cell that had 20-something prisoners within. Stainless opened the door of the cell and Shu pushed Belle-mere into it, before shutting the door behind her. Belle-mere noticed that Shu took the key with him rather than giving it to one of the guards, possibly a fact that would come in handy later.
'Dammit, what did I do to be thrown in the same cell as evil criminals?!' Belle-mere decided to finally turn back towards the cell to see said evil criminal, but what she saw was the opposite. The prisoners were a combination of men and women, some were young, some were old, and some were children even. They all looked weak and ill, their body was pale from the lack of food and water, their clothes were torn. They looked better than the man in the courtyard, but they were still suffering.
"Hi..." Belle-mere said to her cellmates but no one answered. Either they were too weak to answer or they didn't have the will to converse with the new kid. "Could you tell me more on what's going on in this town?" Belle-mere thought it might be the time investigate this town's history while she waited for her crewmates, but once again, no answer. Belle-mere opened her mouth about to say something but she was interrupted by someone.
"You're not from around here, are you?" Belle-mere looked at the source of the voice, until she saw her sitting in the corner. It was a girl in her mid-twenties, she had blonde shoulder-length hair and blue eyes, her clothes weren't anything notable, just what most of the other prisoners and townspeople she saw wore.
"No I am not. I am Belle-mere." Belle-mere walked to sit next to her.
"I am Eddie, nice to meet you."
"You too! So what brought you here, Eddie?" Belle-mere inquired, to which the girl sighed and closed her eyes.
"I got nothing else to do, so I might as well tell you. My goal is to take Onigumo's head and free the town." Eddie declared with confidence which surprised Belle-mere.
"Eddie, you shouldn't be saying things like that!" said one of the prisoners, who was a man around her age.
"Shut up! I am not gonna cower back like you guys! Until I die, I will never give him the pleasure of breaking my will." shouted Eddie at the others to which they gasped.
"Can you tell me the full story?" Belle-mere was curious to know more about this woman and this town.
"Until 5 years ago, this town was like any town, people lived happily with their biggest worries being everyday problems. The marines were making this town safe from pirates after all, so we didn't have to worry about pirates raiding our town." Eddie explained to Belle-mere, then she gritted her teeth. "But that changed when Onigumo appeared. He was a Commander back then, he moved to this base under Captain Comil. This man looked scary the moment we saw him, but we didn't fear for the worst. That's until he challenged Captain Comil to a fight over the command of this base, and that's when this endless nightmare started, and we have been trapped in his 'web of fear' since then."
"What do you mean?"
"Onigumo is a sadistic tyrant. He enjoys making people around him suffer. He doesn't enforce taxes or labor or anything, he only makes us suffer for his entertainment."
"That's horrible." Belle-mere said with her hands on her mouth and eyes twitching.
"Since he took over the base, a lot of things have changed. First, no one was allowed to leave the island, no matter what. Only marines he sent on a mission were. Even visitors who stumbled into the island per chance were not let go. Everyone who tried to escape would be punished." she held one finger in the air to count, she then raised a second finger. "Second, townspeople are an eyesore to him, if he walks into the streets by chance and sees a civilian, he will either kill them, punish them or let them go to make an example of them." Belle-mere was getting more and more frustrated by every word she hears. "Third, he limited our food and water consumption, allowing only one meal a day and a cup of water, enough to barely keep us alive, but some people died from starvation or dehydration over the years. All our resources were confiscated except for what we were allowed to consume. And of course, defying this leads to punishment."
"So everything leads to punishment here?!" Belle-mere answered to which Eddie nodded. "And what is this punishment?"
"Depends on his mood. Some people are immediately executed, others are thrown in the dungeon, awaiting their execution."
"Execution?"
"I assume you saw the courtyard on your way here? That man tied to the pole is Otto. My friend and the only comrade I have left after everyone else either died or gave up hope." Eddie gritted her teeth. "You wanna know what the execution is? It is being tied to the pole and left to starve or dehydrated to death, in the burning sun." Belle-mere gasped and had a horrified look on his face. "The courtyard, or rather, the execution ground, is never seen empty. There's always someone being executed. Some die within a day or few, others are strong or stubborn enough and last for a week before dying."
"And what happens if there is no one to be punished?" Belle-mere asked to which Eddie twitched her eyes, tears almost forming in them.
"If there's no one, he picks a civilian at random to execute." Eddie started tearing, Belle-mere found it difficult to breath from this unnerving story. "Hundreds of people were executed over the years, including half of our population. Among them were my parents, and Otto's, and a lot of family members of our aforementioned comrades."
"Wait, if Onigumo is so sadistic, why are the marines letting him have his way? Surely there are some righteous marines who defy him, right?"
"Indeed there are some who try, but none of them succeed, marines who defy Onigumo receive the same fate, he made an example out of them, that even righteous officers like Captain Comil and the others got no choice but to follow his orders. Even pirates who attacked town received the same fate, some were lucky to be killed on the spot, but none could escape from his tyranny."
"That's terrifying, how were you and your comrades planning to take down such a terrifying man?" Belle-mere asked, she had mixed feelings of empathy for the town and fear for herself that maybe she won't be able to get out of this predicament.
"To be honest, I don't know. Otto and I were caught before we could carry our plan, but our plan was to break out the folks in the dungeon and try our combined effort to fight him together."
"Not everyone is as fearless as you, Eddie." one of the prisoners said in a defeated voice.
"Fools." Eddie replied to the prisoner. "You think I am fearless? You think I am not afraid? I am but a young girl who has got her life ahead of her, of course I am afraid to die here!" Eddie shouted in frustration.
"Yet you are recklessly defying him."
"BECAUSE YOU MUST FACE YOUR FEARS." Eddie shouted with determination, to which the prisoners and Belle-mere gasped. "If I don't face my fears here and die trying, I will live in hiding for the rest of my life and this nightmare will never end." Everyone was motivated.
'Despite everything they went through for the past 5 years, seeing their hope get killed day after day. And yet, there are still people who hasn't lost hope yet. No matter how hard he tries to keep them down, there will always be people who do not bow. There will always be people to defy and fight until the bitter end.' Belle-mere started tearing tears of joy, her hope was renewed with Eddie's words. 'And yet I was about to lose hope. What was I afraid for?'
"Everyone!" Belle-mere caught everyone's attention as she got up. "The fight is far from over, it is only beginning. There are certain people on their way to their island." the images of Shanks, Buggy, Mihawk and Crocodile flashed in Belle-mere's mind. "They are my friends, they may be pirates, but they are more righteous than this marine will ever be."
"Pirates are on their way here? Tell them to turn back!" One of the prisoners cried.
"They never turn back. They never fear. Their ambitions far exceed losing to someone like Onigumo. Tomorrow is the day this town will be freed from his terror once and for all!" Belle-mere declared with confidence. "Remember their name, for the Red Hair Pirates will save their town, I know they will."
East Blue - Open Seas - Red Hair Pirates' Ship
Meanwhile aboard the ship, the following morning, the 4 men were listening to Mozambia who was explaining what Eddie told Belle-mere in the dungeon. Mozambia wouldn't normally reveal this info to pirates, but he figured he was already sentenced to death, so might as well get revenge on Onigumo by turning these pirates on him.
"Shanks... I think we should turn back while we got the chance." Buggy was shaking in his boots.
"Our captain would be disappointed in you, Buggy." Shanks chuckled. Unlike Buggy's fear, the other three were unfazed by it. "Now tell me, Mozambique."
"MOZAMBIA!" Mozambia shouted at Shanks.
"Right. What even is a Mozambique? Sounds like the name of a fictional country out of our world." Shanks thought to himself, to which everyone sweated nervously. "Oh right, I want you to tell me how many officers do we have to look out for in the base."
"Commodore Onigumo is the man in charge. Under him are five Marine Captains. Captain Stainless, Captain Cancer and I, Captain Mozambia, were classmates and have been friends and comrades since then, we used to work in this base even before Onigumo took over, under our teacher, Captain Comil, who still works here, but now under Onigumo. Captain Comil is very strong for a Captain, the only reason he didn't get promoted already is because of Onigumo who didn't give him a chance to add more accolades to his resume."
"And the rust guy?" Mihawk asked, interested to know more about his opponent.
"That's Captain Shu. He also worked in the base but we were never really close friends with the guy. He used to be more righteous than that, but Onigumo broke his spirit and turned him into a weaker version of himself, you can say Shu's spirit has already rusted."
"I see." Mihawk then walked to the helm of the ship.
"Hawkeye, when will we arrive already?" Crocodile asked, walking over to Hawkeye.
"What's the status, Buggy?" Mihawk asked Buggy, who climbed to the crow nest to look out. Buggy took his head off and threw it as much as he can, a throw strong enough to make Shanks proud, maybe his training really paid off. Buggy's head then returned to where it belongs.
"About 3 knots are left." Buggy told Mihawk.
"10 minutes, give or take." Mihawk declared.
"I see, that's good enough then." Crocodile said, walking to the bow of the ship.
"What do you mean?" Mihawk asked raising an eyebrow, but Crocodile didn't answer. Crocodile turned into sand and flew at a very high speed, vanishing from sight.
"That bastard." Shanks said, sighing.
"Excuse me... what are you going to do with me now?" Mozambia asked nervously.
"Good question. I guess we take you back to the base, we don't want to kill you when you were so nice and told us everything." Shanks said.
"Don't you want to hold me hostage on this ship though so I don't stab you in the back or something?" Mozambia suggested.
"Nah, you are too weak to be a threat anyways, and they don't seem to care enough about you to try to save you." Shanks said laughing, causing Mozambia to twitch one eye. That really hurt him.
"Please keep me on this ship!" Mozambia begged.
"Geez, are you a masochist or something?"
"I am not a-"
"Alright alright, I will leave you here. You have food in the kitchen if you are hungry, make yourself at home." Shanks laughed to which Mozambia was confused and rejoiced to have someone be kind to him for change, he has been only getting bad treatment from Onigumo for the past few years after all.
East Blue - Yotsuba Region - Shells Town - Marine 153rd Branch - Courtyard
The man who was getting executed, Otto, was looking weaker as time passes. On the roof of the building was Onigumo staring at him, with a grin on his face, he was enjoying watching the man suffer to death.
"You have survived for 5 days, kid, that's impressive. But why do you keep fighting, it's only a matter of time before you die." Onigumo mocked the beaten down man.
"Screw you, Onigumo." Otto used all his strength to mutter these words. "I will never die, I will always be a thorn in your back, bastard."
"That's what all your predecessors on this stand said. Your defiance makes it even more entertaining to watch." The conversation was interrupted by a sandstorm forming on the courtyard, Otto was surprised while Onigumo was unfazed. The sandstorm faded away to show a certain pirate.
"Desert King, you have finally arrived." Onigumo said to the new arrival.
"You are Onigumo, aren't you?" Crocodile asked, looking as smug as ever.
"That's Commodore Onigumo to you, pirate."
"Give the girl back and I will spare you."
"I will bury you next to her, for this place will be your graveyard." Onigumo declared, both men were smoking their cigarettes and staring daggers into each other's eyes. The fateful day has finally come the day that will determine the fate of this town. This will be either the day the town is finally freed from Onigumo's terror, or this will be the end of the Red Hair Pirates.
To Be Continued
Red Hair Pirates
'Red Hair' Shanks (15) - Captain
Buggy 'The Clown' (15) - Lookout
'Hawkeye' Dracule Mihawk (19) - Swordsman/Navigator
Belle-mere (16) - Cook
'Desert King' Sir Crocodile (22) - ? - 27,000,000 Beri
Loguetown - Cocoyashi Village - Goat Island - Shells Town -
Did you catch this 4kids reference in the Onigumo and Belle-mere scene ? so this is my first use of OCs in the story, I will denote their first mention with italic and underline like this Eddie so people can tell them apart. I will be using OCs primarily to fill voids in the story that can't b filled by canon characters, otherwise I will try to use existing characters. and let me say this now, I do not intend to add any OCs to the crew.
Anyways, that was a relatively long chapter, again I am sorry this chapter didn't have as much action, but hopefully you enjoyed this bit of Worldbuilding at least! the action starts next chapter obviously as evident by the cliffhanger. anyways, hope you guys are as excited as I am for the next chapter, and hope you enjoyed.
Again, reviews mean a lot to me, any kind of reviews are welcome! That's all for today, I bid your farewell for now!