Chapter 1
Interruptions
Maxwell walked out onto deck and yawned. He spent a lot of time staying up last night. It must have been about 3:00 in the morning before he finally tagged out.
"Morning Max!" Nami greeted him from the stern. Most of the crew was out and about doing their own thing, "Ready to take up the reins again?"
He yawned again, "You know it..." Maxwell's hands glowed blue as he energized the ship to sail by itself. Rigging adjusted to suit the winds, the rudder turned so they wouldn't be rocking as much, and then saw Usopp at the bow with a pair of binoculars, "Hey, Usopp!"
"Morning Max," Usopp looked over at the mage, "Had a good watch last night?"
"Yep. Got a lot more done than I thought. By the way, I got something for you," Maxwell drew a piece of paper from his shirt, "The design for that staff I wanted," Usopp looked over the schematics of the mage's weapon, "Should be sweet, simple, and you can use that ballista bolt we got down in storage?"
"Yeah...! I think this can work! I can even make a few improvements!" Usopp taps on the plans in his hand, "I'll let you know when it's done—Oh, and your armor's repaired as well."
Maxwell grinned at the sniper, "Great! I'll stop by to pick it up later then... Do you happen to know where Luffy is, by chance?" He knew Usopp was busy experimenting with all the dial shells. The sniper still had to figure out how to make those dial weapons, like what they saw on Skypiea. He was their jack-off-all-trades, and Nami was due for an upgrade with her clima-tact for what those shells offered. Max just needed a staff. It was better to leave the sniper to his work.
"I think I saw him with Chopper at the stern..."
"Thanks Usopp." Maxwell then walked to the back of the ship where he saw Luffy and Chopper hanging out.
"Hahahaha! Again, again!" "Dou~!"
Luffy was making impressions again, "Look! I'm Lashes!" stretching out his face to look like a camel.
"BWAHAHAHAHA!" Chopper rolled on the deck laughing. His face really did look like a camel.
"Hey Luffy!" Maxwell greeted his captain. He was surprised Usopp here to watch. The sniper usually hung out for this sort of thing.
"Hey, Max! Check this out!" Luffy made a scowl, twirled his eyebrow, and held two finger like there was something between them, "What do want, old man!"
"BWHAHAHAHA!" Chopper was laughing again. Luffy was doing his best Sanji impression.
"I'm not that old dammit..." Maxwell frowned, but shook his head out of it, "Anyways, Luffy, I wanted to talk about—"
"No! Wait-wait!" Luffy pulled on his scalp, when stink eyed, and simultaneously stretched and perused his lips, "'I saw the gold!' It's Diamond-Head Jiji!" It was an impression of Monteblanc Cricket.
"BWAHAHAHA!" "Very funny Luffy. Now—" "'I got the jitters!'" "BWAHAHAHA!" "No seriously Luffy. I wanted to talk about—"'Did you just say I'm handsome?'" "BWHAHAHA!" "Sigh... Okay, I know your having fun—" "OOKEEKIKIKI!"
"YOU ALREADY DID MASURA!" Maxwell yelled at his captain. He seriously need to talk to him after what happened in Skypiea.
"But Max~ that wasn't me," Luffy complained.
Maxwell rolled his eyes, "Oh~ then who did the..." The mage trailed off at he saw three giant monkey faces in front of him.
*OOKEEKIKIKI!*
Luffy and Chopper also paused in surprise. They were the sea monkeys from yesterday.
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...
...
"RUN FOR IT! SEA MONKEYS!"
"DID THEY FOLLOW US!?" Zoro looked back in surprise. The monkeys then dived down and another giant wave appeared again. Their faces were in the swell as well.
"MERRY!" Maxwell then ran across the ship as the Going Merry came to life. He arrived at the bow and drew Mineive's hilt, pointing it forwards, "Blizzard!"
A cold wind manifested and a blue cloud appeared over their heads. Maxwell had mastered his Winter spells last night, and just in time too. All those hours making icebergs were well worth it. Wind and snow picked up the sails and drove the Merry forwards. They were now being chased by a tsunami with their own little wizard blizzard.
"ACK! WHY'S IT SO COLD!?" "Ah~ Reminds me of home." "Dammit old man! Turn up the thermostat! You're going to get Nami and Robin sick!" "SHUT UP SANJI! IT'S EITHER THIS OR CAPSIZING! NOW GET ROWING!"
Unfortunately, Maxwell couldn't keep the spell up and manipulate the Merry at the same time. Both required to much concentration to maintain, and the first-mate couldn't afford for the spell to run it's course. However, that didn't mean he still couldn't move. Maxwell rowed the oars with the rest of the guys, standing beside Chopper and Zoro. Luffy and Sanji were on the other oar.
Usopp however, was still on look out, "Emergency Report! Emergency Report! Ship spotted at 12 o'clock!"
Luffy looked up from rowing, "What? Are they enemies!?"
"Now of all times!?" Chopper looked up in surprise. Somehow Usopp was up in the crow's nest.
"No, there's..." Usopp's voice grew more confused, "There's no flag nor sail! I have no idea what kind of ship it is...!"
"What kinda ship doesn't have a flag or any sails!?" Luffy demanded, "What are they even out on the sea for then!?"
Usopp kept looking through the binoculars, "I don't know but more importantly... for some reason... there are hardly any crew members on board! And they all look super depressed! I can't even detect a faint will to live!"
"What's going on? Is that ship gonna be alright!?" Maxwell could barely see three masts and a frog like figurehead out on the sea.
"They're going to be swallowed by the waves at this rate!" The sea monkeys were still on their tail.
Luffy ran to the side of the Merry and called out to the passing vessel, "HEY! THERE'S A HUGE WAVE AND SOME SEA MONKEYS HEADED YOUR WAY, Y'KNOW! GRAB YOUR HELM!"
It took a few moments but voices did start coming off the ship. "COME ON, SCALLYWAGS! UP ON YOUR FEET! IT'S AN ENEMY SHIP! LET'S GO STEAL THEIR TREASURE!" "NO, WAIT! THERE'S A HUGE WAVE COMING! WE GOTTA AVOID IT FIRST!" "But the ship's gonna get away then!" "MAN THE CANNONS!" "Hey, who d'ya think you're ordering around!?" "WHY DON'T YOU DO IT!?" "GRAB THE HELM! THE HELM!" "HEY, DON'T JUST DO WHATEVER YOU WANT!"
"What a disorganized crew," Luffy went back to rowing, and Usopp had come down to join them.
Sanji just scowled, looking at the passing ship, "They were talking about stealing our treasure so leave them be. They're enemies."
"Where's the helm!?" "HOW SHOULD I KNOW?" "Someone give orders! NAVIGATOR!" "WE DON'T HAVE ONE!" "Then the captain!" "WE DON'T HAVE ONE EITHER!" "IT'S TOO LATE! WE'RE GONNA BE SWALLOWED!" *BOOM!* "Hey! Who's the one that fired the cannon!?" "Dammit, you're all useless!" "WELL SO ARE YOU!" "ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? WE CAN'T EVEN AVOID ONE WAVE!?" "AAAAAHHHHH!"
The tsunami crashed down into the ocean, swallowing the skeleton crew whole. Nothing came up from those waters, just the eerie sound of chimp like laughter.
O O O
Maxwell sat back against the ship, relaxing, after being on high alert for so long. He had cut the mana supply for the blizzard hours ago. The skies were clear, the wind was blowing, the seas looked calm, and the snow from Maxwell's Blizzard spell had evaporated, leaving everyone to enjoy the sun.
"Whew..." Sanji let out a puff of smoke, "Things calmed down at last..."
Nami walked down the steps to the main deck, "Thinking back, those waves were actually caused by the sea monkeys. Both the temperature and humidity have stabilized for a while now. I think we may have already entered the next climate region." Stable weather, meant there was an island nearby.
"Hey Robin, can you see anything?" Usopp called up to her. Robin had taken the next watch up in the crows nest.
"Yes, I've been seeing an island for a while now."
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"TELL US THAT EARLIER!" Both Usopp and Luffy yelled back.
Ussop crossed his arms and frowned up at the archeologist, "Listen here, you gloomy woman! When you spot an island, you yell like so:" Usopp gestured to Luffy.
"LAND HOE~ LET'S GO YOU SCALLYWAGS! YAHOO!" Luffy's excitement for a new island overtook his need to scold Robin.
Usopp just took it in stride though, and nodded, "Now you try saying it."
"There's a thick fog up ahead," Robin ignored him, much to his protest.
"Fog? That can be dangerous," Nami then looked to the mage of their crew, "Maxwell can you keep an eye out?"
"Aye aye," the first-mate got up and started walking towards the bow.
Luffy had looked up back at Robin and pouted a little, "Hey! Do you have any idea how much we were looking forward to the next island?"
"Sorry, I'll be more mindful next time."
"Really?" Luffy wasn't really one to hold grudges, "In that case, okay."
"By the way... Aren't you guys concerned about that ship earlier?" Maxwell paused at Usopp's question. He looked back to Ussop who was now frowning, "They didn't have a captain or a navigator, no flag, no sails, no motivation, nor any coordination... They had nothing to qualify them as a pirate crew!"
"They must have had a battle with some other pirates and lost," Zoro suggested, "Perhaps they lost their captain and got plundered during the fight..."
"No, that's the thing!" Usopp protested, "I took a close look at their ship! There wasn't a single sign that they'd been in a battle! And yet there weren't any of the essential items or crew needed for a pirate crew on that ship!"
Now Maxwell began to frown, thinking about the situation now. There must have been about eight individuals he heard on that crew. It was large sea vessel, perhaps the size of a cruise liner. Eight crew members would not enough to operate a ship that size. Yet they were out on the sea, with no captain, no navigator, and they seemed to fight more among each other than anything.
"Then they must not have been pirates," the cook suggested, "...Don't worry about it, Usopp."
The sniper still had his arms crossed and frowning, "...Mn... They definitely looked like pirates though... I'm getting a bad feeling about this..."
"So it's the same as always," Sanji concluded.
Usopp was the worrier of the crew, more so than Nami. Maxwell wasn't sure if it was Usopp's imagination, but it wasn't unusual to see him protest entering life threatening situations or mysteries. Nami just had the incentive to go after treasure regardless.
Sanji just started walking up the stairs, "Max, you coming?"
"...Yeah. Yeah I'm coming." Any worry they had though would have to be put on hold for now. They still had to arrive at the next island, and the whole crew wanted a front row seat.
"Is there a town on the island? It'd be great if there's a dockyard!" Luffy jumped over the rails onto the prow deck.
"Luffy, you can't just disembark carelessly as soon as we get there!" "I wonder if a good shipwright will join us...?" "I see the shore! Get ready to lower the anchor!" "Aye aye." "Ugh... Guys, listen to me..." "Chopper, looks like Ussop's 'Can'tlandonthisisland-itis' is acting up again." "Well, there's no cure for that."
The Going Merry sailed into the fog surrounding their next island. With the sun out though, it was more of a misty haze, "The island's becoming more visible!"
When they broke through the mist, their destination became clear. The new island was a large, flat, grassy plain. It had clear skies, a few rock piles, some shrubberies, and tall, skinny trees. The trees looked like evergreens, but the pines were too far off the ground.
"THERE'S NOTHING HERE!" Luffy cheered. Not the tone Maxwell would have use. The straw hatted captain then started looking around, "What is this place!? So cool! It's just plains as far as I can see...!"
Sanji just looked at the island in disappointment, "Sigh... What a dull-looking place."
"I wonder if any human live on this island..." Robin wondered.
"It seems livable," Maxwell remarked, "Kind reminds me of the Exalted Plains back in Orlais..."
"Was that another country in your homeland?" Maxwell froze at Robin's question. The crew had a talk after leaving Alabasta. Maxwell talked about being from another world and what had led him here. He knew Robin was onboard before anyone else did, and the mage wasn't sure how much she overheard before Robin joined the crew... But, he supposed the past didn't really matter now. It was just that. The past.
"Yeah... An empire, west of the Free Marches, which was my home. Orlais was... decadent, in a word. Masks, parades, education, theatric.s It had everything, from tall forests to vast deserts, and was at the heart of the Andrastian faith. Though, it's people were more... bigoted than most. The nobility was a shit-show with that 'Game' of theirs. Dwarves were a rarity, Elves were treated less than dirt, and Qunari were the mysterious savages to the north."
"Qunari?" Robin looked at him with curiosity, "Never heard of that word before. What were they like?"
"Hm... Imagine a race of really tall humans—" He couldn't really say giants after seeing Dorry and Broggi at Little Garden, "—with red eyes, grey skin, white hair, and large curved horns," Maxwell made a gesture over his head to emphasize the horns, "They all follow the words of some prophet I can't remember, and don't believe much in individuality."
"Hm... Sounds interesting."
Maxwell shook his head, "Not if you met them. Trust me..." He remembered the news about a Qunari contingent in Kirkwall. From what he knew, the Qun was more liable to cut out his tongue and sew his lips, than convert him. There was a reason no South Thedas mage wanted to join the Qun.
"Woohoo! It's a huge grass plain!" Luffy just enjoyed himself rolling around on the island. Usopp and Chopper had joined him in the revelry.
"Hey!" Nami shouted at them. But she relented, knowing it was useless to stop them, "Jeez... How can they just go out recklessly onto an island we don't know anything about?"
Zoro dropped the anchor, "It's empty plains in every direction. What kind of dangers could there be?"
"Wolves, wyverns, gurguts..." Maxwell droned out.
Zoro eyed the mage, "That last one you made up."
"No, they're real... Just haven't seen one here." He started stroking his beard, "I wonder if I can find a halla...?"
"Whatever... Hm?" Zoro looked around, "Hey! Where the hell did they go!?"
"Huh?" Maxwell then looked at where Zoro was searching. There was no one there.
"...Maker dammit," Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper were gone. He cupped his hands around his mouth and called, "LUFFY~!"
"What!?" Nami started looking around too, "They were there just a minute ago!"
Sanji sighed, "We might as well disembark. There must be food around here somewhere."
Then Maxwell sighed. It was just like Luffy to do something like this. Only now he had Usopp and Chopper roped into his shenanigans. The mage shook his head, he'll have to leave this one alone for now too. Besides, Luffy can defend himself well enough.
So, Maxwell struck up a conversation with Zoro, "Hey Zoro, what can you tell me about swords?" He walked down the ramp with Zoro, Sanji, Nami, and Robin.
"Eh?" Zoro looked at Max strangely, "The hell are you on about?"
"Well you see, I've been practicing this new spell, and—" *BOOM! BOOM! CRASH!* "...What is it now!?"
The crew looked behind them to see two giant paws on the beach. It was no animal, but the paws were connected to chains from a giant fox-headed ship. And the Going Merry was enclosed in the space between.
"Who the hell are you!?" Zoro scowled. None of the crew were impressed by the display. It was a big ship, with black sails and a purple colour scheme.
"If you want a fight, come down here and get some!" Sanji challenged the boat. If a ship did this, then there had to be a crew aboard.
"What are they planning...?" Nami muttered to herself, "Our ship's been confined...!"
"COME DOWN THIS INSTANT!" Zoro roared at the ship, "I'LL TAKE ANY OF YOU ON!"
"[DON'T BE HASTY.]" A voiced sounded from the ship. It was as though they were on a speaker, "[WE ARE THE FOXY PIRATES. AND WHAT WE SEEK... IS A MATCH.]"
"...The hell are you on about!?" Maxwell looked up at the fox headed ship, "If you really are pirates, why the pomp and ceremony!?"
"[HAHAHA! WELL CLEARLY YOU NEVER HEARD OF A DAVY BACK FIGHT!]"
"Davy Back Fight?" Nami said confusedly.
"[YES. THE GAME BEGINS WHEN THE CAPTAINS FROM BOTH SHIPS AGREE TO IT. OUR CAPTAIN IS PROPOSING THE GAME TO YOUR CAPTAIN AS WE SPEAK.]"
"'Proposing...?' Why bother? We never turn down a fight anyways!"
"Uh... I get Max, but have you never heard before?" Sanji looks at Zoro, "This isn't just a fight. A 'Davy Back Fight' is a gambling game played between pirates."
Maxwell frowns looking over at Sanji, "What? They want to play us at a game of Wicked Grace?"
"No," Robin corrected the mage, "According to legend, the game was invented a long time ago in the 'Pirate's Paradise Island.' Many pirate groups have been using it to acquire good crews. It's the way pirate crews fight over pirates."
"Crews fighting over pirates...?" Nami parroted.
"Yes."
"[YOU DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THAT AND YOU CALL YOURSELF A PIRATE? DAVY BACK FIGHT IS THE CONTEST FOR HUMAN RESOURCES! THE FORMAT WE USE IS THE 3-COIN RULE.]"
The Foxy crew then began speaking in turns, "[THAT MEANS THREE ROUNDS PER GAME! THE VICTOR OF EACH GAME MAY PICK ONE CREW MEMBER FROM THE LOSER'S TEAM.]" "[THE CHOSE CREW MEMBER MUST THEN SWEAR LOYALTY TO THE WINNING CAPTAIN!]" "[HE WILL DO SO IN THE NAME OF THE GREAT DAVY JONES!]"
"...If you loose the game, you lose your friends!?" It dawned on Nami just what they were planning.
"[THAT'S RIGHT!]" "[LASTLY, IF THERE IS NO DESIRABLE CREW LEFT IN THE LOSING TEAM, THE WINNER MAY CHOOSE TO TAKE THE LOSER'S FLAG.]"
Sanji remained calm during this whole explanation, "In this game, you ante up your friends and pride. If you win, you grow stronger. If you lose you can fall and never get back up again... It's a very dangerous game!"
Nami became increasingly concerned, "So that other ship... The one we saw on our way here... It had no sail... Nor was there a captain..."
"[OH! YOU MUST MEAN THE BIG FANG FROG PIRATES. THEY WERE THE LOSER OF THE PREVIOUS GAMES! LOOK, THESE ARE THE NEW CREWMATES WE GOT.]" Some men came to the prow and showed themselves off. While all of them dressed differently, they all had one thing in common: A black domino mask with a pair of fox ears.
"WUOOOH~! LONG LIVE THE FOXY PIRATES!" "I won't deny it. I was the captain of the Frogs." "I was the doctor." "I was the navigator." "I was the ship mechanic."
"[THEY PLAYED '3-COINS' AND LOST FIVE TIMES, SO WE TOOK FOUR PIRATES AND THEIR FLAG. WE LITTERALLY STRIPPED THEM OF EVERYTHING THEY HAD!]" "YEAH! HAHAHAHAHA!"
Nami was unimpressed by the Foxy's antics, "...That's so foolish and meaningless. We will never play such a lame game!"
"I'm with Nami on this," Maxwell agreed with the navigator, "...Tell me, what's to stop us from burning your ship and throwing you into the ocean?" The mage produced a fireball in his hand and Salem, Mordred, and Mineive rose to circle around Maxwell.
The speaker suddenly became very nervous, "[HEY...! HEY, HEY! IT DOESN'T MATTER IF YOU REJECT IT. THE GAME WILL PROCEED AS LONG AS THE CAPTAINS FROM BOTH SIDES AGREE TO IT!]"
"I don't hear a reason~" "[H-H-HOLD ON! YOU CAN CRY, SCREAM, BUT... AS SOON AS YOUR CAPTAIN MONKEY D. LUFFY, NODS HIS HEAD, YOU WILL ALL BECOME THE ANTE OF THE GAMBLE.]" "And what if there's no crew to gamble...!?" "[EEP!]"
"Quit making them piss their pants, old man..." Sanji took another drag of his cigarette, "This is the 'law' of the sea... No matter how foolish it sounds... If you run away or play tricks you will become the laughingstock of everyone in the world."
"I didn't hear a, 'Don't burn them.'" Maxwell still kept the fireball in his hand.
"Yeah!" Though, Nami wasn't comfortable with arson, "So what? Let them laugh. Who cares!?"
Zoro crosses his arms, "I do. I would rather die."
"What!?" Maxwell looks over at the swordsman.
"Me too." Sanji also crossed his arms.
"WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU!" Nami scolded them.
"Give it a rest..." Robin tried to sooth her, "Men are always like that..."
"I resent that remark." "FINE! THEN WE HAVE TO STOP LUFFY NOW!"
"[YOU'RE TOO LATE. WHEN THE CAPTAINS FIRE THEIR GUNS ONE AFTER ANOTHER, THE GAME STARTS. IT SHOULD COME ANY MOMENT NOW...]"
*...BANG BANG!...*
"THAT MEANS...!?" "He accepted it..." "Perfect..." "Interesting..."
Maxwell facepalmed, "Maker damn it, Luffy...!"
"[CHALLENGE... ACCEPTED~!]" The Foxy Pirates cheered as they were now entering another Davy Back Fight.
Maxwell dragged his hand over his face as he took a deep breath to calm himself. Luffy had better have a good reason to accept this. Or else this mage was going to turn him into a popsicle and through his in the sea.
"Sigh... I'll get my armor."