Chapter 3 - A Swordsman

The tension between these two had caused the town to become on edge. The people that watched this exchange were all scared, worried, concerned, and intrigued while the whole time wondering how this was going to go down. None of them had ever heard or seen this kid before but they witnessed him dispatch a marine unit like it was child's play but on the other hand, people knew of the reputation of the Lord of the Dead. Nobody knew who was going to win this matchup, as they'd never seen the two fight, but most would say the bounty hunter. One had a reputation, the other did not.

"I'll lead, if ya don't mind," Ryder stated jokingly before he charged Rex, one pistol aimed behind himself, the other toward Rex. He went for a swift lunge, attempting to ram Rex with the barrel of his gun.

Being surprised by the speed he leaped off to the left causing Ryder to miss his strike. Not letting up Ryder spun backward on his leading leg and attempted to strike Rex with a spinning back kick.

Rex however blocked the strike with his wooden sword. Although the impact did shake both of them decently. A strong kick, but an equally powerful block as well.

Rex used Ryders' positioning to his advantage and pushed up forcing Ryder onto the back foot in order to recover his stance. Rex dashed forward and swung his wooden blade upward right along the centerline of Ryders' chest but it missed. Luckily Ryder leaned back allowing the strike to miss but in order to not fall he had to flip backward even further away from Rex.

"That was solid." Ryder yelled out happily. He prepared himself again but this time it was Rex who charged him.

Ryder expected him to lead with two side-on slashes, which the first was, the first coming from the left which Ryder blocked however Ryder didn't expect a spinning back kick from the swordsman.

The kick landed in the center of his chest which caused him to skid backward across the ground, his shoes grinding across the ground. He only went a few feet but it was still a solid strike to an unguarded chest.

Ryder recovered quickly, a smirk formed on his face. "Good hit." He muttered to himself as he saw Rex standing there. Waiting.

"Not going to push the attack?" Ryder asked as he observed Rex. When Rex didn't get an answer Ryder continued himself. "I noticed you're left-handed during that brief exchange, don't see that too often."

"Your observation during that spout is good. The fact you even notice something so trivial in a fight is noteworthy." Was Rexs' reply. "Although, that also means you weren't entirely focused on our exchange either, and I'm not a fan of that." Rex turned his whole body toward Ryder, his sword held in his left hand, slightly in front of him.

"Sorry about that but, to be fair, I don't think either of us has gone all out, and I don't think either of us is willing to at the moment," Ryder replied before leaping into the air, guns trained on Rex. He fired off two shots but Rex swiftly dodged them both, he didn't even turn to look as the shots came at him. He was agile, speed was one of his strong points.

If Ryder had to guess he had a good grasp of haki, the color of observation.

Ryder landed on one knee as he saw Rex disappear. 'Very impressive speed.' Ryder thought to himself, once again he flipped backward as yet another sword strike struck where Ryder once stood.

"Impressive speed," Ryder commented as he landed the backflip.

"Decent reflexes." Rex countered, his tone sounding some sarcastic in nature. Although subtle Ryder picked up on it.

Ryder pushed off his back foot toward Rex, as Rex prepared a strike Ryder met the strike head-on. His sword clashing with his guns. They met at a clashing standstill, both men pushing back on one another trying to force the other back. They were face to face during this exchange and that's when Ryder noticed something unexpected.

Both gave one final effort to overpower the other but all that happened was they ended up both skidding back another few feet. An unstoppable force meets an immovable object and against one another? They both buckled.

Ryder smirked at Rex, Rex changed his stance to one that seemed to be rather unorthodox, "Now I'm really impressed, you should have told me."

Rex gave a small smirk of his own, "So you noticed did you? I was wondering if you'd notice or not."

"That's why you dodged earlier without turning your head to see the shots coming," Ryder understood, "You're blind."

Rex didn't relax his stance, "I am. That a problem?" He asked.

Ryder twirled both his guns, "Not at all." Ryder charged Rex, both guns pointed at him. He fired off four times in rapid succession.

While Rex was fast and skilled with observation, the shots came quickly and oddly spaced out. He subtly dodged the first two by moving his body and twisting it out of the way but the last two he was forced to deflect with his wooden sword.

As he swung to deflect the second shot Ryder appeared to his dead side, Rexs' guard wide open for a brief instant. Ryder roundhouse kicked him in the side causing Rex to be the one to skid off across the ground.

Rex turned his body to face Ryder, expecting what was going to happen next. Rexs' sword and Ryders' forearm clashed once more both men in struggle once again.

"This is fun." Ryder smirked out as he kept up his strength.

"This is challenging." Rex countered, it was more than likely meant as a compliment from Rex so Ryder was going to take it as one.

"Back at ya."

Rex used the opportunity to his advantage, sidestepping, he leaned out of the exchange and dragged his sword along the ground, once both Ryder and Rexs bodies faced each other again he swung the sword upward but not in an attempt to strike Ryder but to fling dirt into his eyes.

It worked as Ryder tired and failed to protect his eyes, sensing the opening Rex thrust his sword toward Ryders' head.

Sensing the strike coming Ryder leaned his head out of the way but he also managed to dodge the next strike. Rex used his positioning to twist his wrist to try to strike Ryder with the pommel of his sword but this also failed.

Ryder quickly countered by ducking below his sword arms, he jabbed his left pistol barrel into Rexs lower ribs. It barely got a reaction out of him but the second strike was the more powerful one as gave him a powerful gut check shot.

He struck with such force Rex was sent flying through the air. However, Rex recovered mid flight, kicking off the ground with one foot, he landed somewhat gracefully atop a random, empty market stand.

Rex smirked in the direction he knew Ryder was, "You're strength and skill set are impressive." Rex began, "I can sense your fighting spirit, it's truly remarkable." Which was true, there was something unique about Ryder, Rex knew that for sure. His spirit seemed exceptionally powerful but he couldn't fully understand why this was. Ryder held something he hadn't sensed before.

"I could use someone like you on my crew! Want to join?" Ryder yelled out, pointing one gun into the sky casually while the other faced the ground.

"Crew? So you're a pirate captain I presume?" Rex relaxed his stance, completely ignoring his question for the time being, "I should have known, you reek of a pirate."

"Haha, thanks for the compliment." Whether he meant it as one or not Ryder didn't honestly care. Ryder suddenly grew silent, thinking about something.

Rex raised an eyebrow at the odd silence when Ryder erupted to life again.

"Oh yeah, I need to go now. I have to go deal with something real quick." Ryder sighed before holstering one of his guns. "Can we finish this later? I have somewhere to be. I have deal with Syluk and his pirate pansies!"

Rex and even the townspeople all sweatdropped at such a request. Since when was this a situation where you could call a timeout to do something else? This was still a serious fight between a bounty hunter and a pirate after all.

"That's not apart of the plan here." Rex stated before he realized what Ryder said, a somewhat confused expression appeared on his face, "Wait, what do you mean Syluk and his pirates?"

"Sorry, I'll be back! We can finish this fight then!" Ryder called out before running off toward the marine base. He had to beat Syluk for the towns and Genies' sake and see if anyone imprisoned here wanted to join his crew. A prison wasn't the worst place to find possible pirates for your crew.

Rex paused for a moment whilst the rest of the townsfolk that had observed the whole ordeal were gobsmacked. What kind of man was he? Delusional? Suicidal? Desperate?

Rex sheathed his wooden sword on his hip, his face gazed off in a random direction but he could still sense where Ryder was. He also knew where he was heading, if he was going to confront Syluk he was heading for the marine base.

"You're an odd one." Rex commented to himself, "Strong physically but stronger spiritually." He hopped down off the top of the stand as the townspeople all slowly emerged from their hiding spots.

Rex himself just began to slowly walk off in the direction of the marine base. Ryder had him curious now, let's see where this one leads then.

Ryder slowed his run to a halt as he arrived at the front of the marine base, a large gate and wall protected the base inside it.

He turned from one end of the wall to the other and could tell the defenses of the fort were the same. Meaning there was no easy way in, not that Ryder was going to take that option anyway.

The redhead walked up to the main gate, placing the palm of his hand on the metal and wood material the gate was made of. He smirked, "Nothing too tough." Ryder took a step back.

He struck the gate with a fierce sidekick causing it to shatter into pieces with Ryder immediately jumping through the destroyed opening, bits of metal and wood bouncing off him as he did.

Directly across from the gate was what seemed like the main fortress to this particular base, however, what Ryder noticed was the building off to the left. A more secure, long structure, Ryder presumed this was the holding cells or prison building Genie had mentioned earlier. And that's where his interests lay.

There on the other side was a large gathering of unprepared and stunned marines, all low ranks if he had to guess. At least, some of them had to be marines, Ryder noticed how a few of them looked far tougher looking. These are the people were Syluks crew impersonating marines if Ryder had to guess.

So Ryder decided to ask, "Where is that piece of work, Syluk, and his crew?" He shouted out across the courtyard, to be honest, Ryder was kind of taunting them with that.

"After him!" One of the marines roared out breaking everyone out of their stunned silence. This rally caused everyone to draw their swords and all face toward Ryder.

Ryder just blinked at them all before a smirk formed on his face. He drew both his pistols and crossed his arms in front of his chest in the shape of an X. "It's showtime!" Ryder called out before charging the marines.

Ryder stood in the centre of the courtyard twirling one of his pistols around his finger. Scattered across the courtyard where a large quantity of unconscious, and bleeding, marines. It hadn't taken long for Ryder to beat every single one of them into the ground. To be honest, Ryder got bored halfway through when all did was repeat the same types of attacks, so the red head started to mess about attempting to get the marines to shoot him so he could see if their aim was better than their swordsmanship.

But that proved to be just as bad.

Ryder pouted slightly, "That wasn't challenging in the slightest, how did this Syluk guy take over this island again?" Ryder asked himself, not that he had the answer to that question. Since Syluk wasn't here it seemed like he was going to have to wait around for him to return.

Wherever the fuck he was…

But the redhead also noticed Yerin wasn't here among all these unconscious bodies. He should have followed him right to Syluk instead of assuming he was in his fortress.

His attention turned toward the prison-like building off from the main structure. This at least managed to perk him up, he quickly took off in that direction, at least he'd have the chance to recruit someone to his crew in the meantime.

Off atop the fortress wall by the destroyed gate sat Rex, observing Ryder with his color of observation. A cup of locally brewed tea in his hands. He decided to just analyze Ryder instead of joining in on the battle, besides, Rex could tell he didn't even need the help. It seemed rather boring from what Rex could tell, if Ryder was bored fighting them, then so would Rex.

He just sipped the tea as he sensed Ryder heading toward a building across the courtyard. He presumed Ryder knew he was here, he doubted he didn't, it would have been harder to believe.

Rex turned his face toward the sky for a moment, 'A large group is approaching from one of the harbors.' Rex blew on his tea once before taking another sip, 'Looks like neither of us will be waiting long for what we want Ryder.'

Ryder crashed through the door to the holding cells, skidding across the floor, pieces of metal bounced along the floor. This immediately got the attention of nearly all the prisoners around.

"What the hell was that?!"

"The fuck is going on?!"

"Who is making all that fucking noise?"

The building was basically a single hallway with holding cells on either side, going two stories high. Ryder just strolled down the hallway, glancing through all the cells at all the individuals inside. Each of the convicts stood by their cell doors, for the most part, wanting to see who was causing all the damage.

"Who's this punk?"

"What is this scrawny little shit doing?"

Ryder just ignored their questions, and insults, as he looked into all the cells he could from his position. His attention first focused on the locks of the cells, and to his mild surprise, the locks were shit. They could actually be broken easily with a single bullet if Ryder had to guess but the prisoners all had cuffs on inside their cells, so they'd need to get the keys once they got out. By counting the cells Ryder hazarded a guess that there were around one hundred and fifty cells in this building so the number of prisoners would be the same, roughly.

Most of them could be described in the same way for the most part, big muscular tattooed guys with wimpy scars over their bodies.

There were a few odd-looking individuals though, like one older gentleman, long grey beard, pale blue eyes but yet still well built. This one didn't even approach the bars, he remained seated in the corner of his cell. He only became more active once he noticed Ryder, a look of shock spread across his face.

But Ryder continued along. Another one that stood out, even if he only caught a small glance at them, was a woman. She seemed rather tall, roughly six foot one and lithe, long stringy red hair. For one she didn't even bother to look up, she didn't respond to any of the commotion going on. She was dressed in only a top and long skirt though, the marines must have taken everything else off her.

By the time Ryder reached the other end of the hall a lot of the prisoners had begun shouting mostly the same thing.

"Hey! Open the cells!"

"Bust us outta here kid!"

"Hurry up would ya?! Get us outta here already!"

Ryder smirked - Showtime!

"Alright listen up!" Ryder shouted, silencing the screams of the prisoners. "I'm busting y'all outta here! After I got a request for yas'!"

"Bulletstorm!"

He pulled out his pistols and dashed down the hall. To most observers it appeared Ryder ran down the hall and fired off in random directions. Bullets hitting metal rang out throughout the building.

"What the fuck kid?!"

"Are you crazy?!"

A choir of complaints and arguments came from most of the prisoners but they all went silent as each of the cell doors slowly creaked open.

The prisoners all crept out, peering out to each of the other cells in this cell block. All of them speechless for the moment. Even the prisoners that made no mind up until this such as the old man and the tall woman.

Ryder holstered both his pistols, proud of his little show. All the prisoners stepped out of their cells forming one large crowd.

"Alright! I'm putting together a crew and I need members! Anyone interested?!" Ryder called out to the crowd. His question fell mostly on deaf ears.

"Let's go lads!"

"We're finally free!"

"Where the keys to these fuckin cuffs?!"

Ryder just remained stood where he was. He honestly didn't care if people ignored him, people can do whatever they want. So Ryder just waited to see if anyone would take his offer but at the moment that seemed unlikely.

A portion of the crowd pushed out the shattered doorway rather quickly, choosing to get out of this prison before anything else, while others seemed to be running around looking for either their possessions or the keys to their shackles.

Only one person approached Ryder, one of the more unique individuals in this cell block.

The old man. His hair was rather long as if he hadn't shaved or trimmed his hair in months, his clothes torn and filthy, and shackles still attached to his arms.

"Young man," He began, his tone and posture surprisingly proper for a prisoner, "What are you doing?" He asked softly.

"Trying to recruit people." Was all Ryder replied with, but the older gentleman shook his head.

"Not that, I mean Syluk. Why are you challenging him like this? To go against him like this will only cause him to go after you." The old man explained, his tone showing more concern for the young lad more than anything.

"That's exactly what I want," Ryder replied but before he could continue or the old man could retort a thunder yell rang out.

"What the fuck happened to my fortress?!"

Ryder smirked, it didn't take a genius to know who that furious voice belonged to. The redhead rushed out of the building leaving the remaining prisoners to flood out behind him.

The prisoners that had attempted to leave before the rest of them found themselves stuck in the courtyard cut off from the open gate by a large group of marines.

Of the group they all looked rather similar apart from the front three.

At the front were two larger men standing side by side. Ryder could tell from a mile away that this was Syluk and his lieutenant Reags, it was obvious.

Of the two Ryder deduced the one on the right was Syluk. He stood at six foot eight, heavily muscled too. Tanned skin, an eyepatch over his left eye. From his feral frown Ryder could see the gold teeth he had. He wore a marine captain's jacket hung on his shoulders, a marine cap, black boots, and pants. On his back hung a massive two-handed hammer.

Reags must have been the other man. He was similarly built to his captain if only smaller by an inch or so. He dressed similar to his captain too but without the hat and his marine jacket said lieutenant instead of captain though. His weapon of choice appeared to be two knuckle busters on his hands.

To most people they'd be terrifying to fight but Ryder didn't seem that impressed. You could tell those muscles were for show just as much as they were for fighting, the redhead knew he could take them with no issues.

When he examined Syluk he actually caught a glimpse of Yerin hiding in Syluks shadow, clearly cowering out of sight of all these prisoners. Or he could be hiding from Ryder specifically.

"Who is responsible for this?!" Syluk spat out furiously, stomping the ground in his anger. "Which of you bastards did this?!"

The courtyard stayed silent, none of the prisoners choosing to respond but that changed quickly.

"I did!" Ryder responded. This got nearly every single prisoner to gawk at him in shock like he was fucking insane. Which was partly true.

Syluk growled before he began yelling, "Yerin!" This immediately got Yerin to shake on the spot, "Is he the guy?!" Yerin must have told him about Ryder and what he'd done before.

Yerin gave him a weak nod of confirmation.

His feral gazed focused in on Ryder, "You little bastard! You're the first one to die!"

He gestured to all his men, "Kill him!"

As all the marines readied to attack Ryder a familiar voice chimed in.

"Enough!" The crowd's attention all turned to the old man that had been locked in the prison cell. Most of the people here found it odd for him to speak up like he was. A few of the marines that stood next to Syluk and his men all stood to attention.

That's when Ryder figured out who he was. Ryders' natural observational skills allowed him to figure out the old man was the old captain that had been removed when Syluk took over. It made sense, instead of killing him or sending him away, it would have been a smart play to keep him alive as both a hostage and a bargaining chip if it ever came down to it.

The older man stepped to the center of the crowd, picking up a saber off one of his marines that Ryder had beaten earlier. He held the sword with far more competence than the marines he previously had under his command.

"Men!" He began, "I know it must have been hard while you were under the command of this tyrant! But it's time for us to fight back! We can no longer wait for help to come, we must take action here and now!" He pointed the sword toward Ryder, "With this young man's help and our own strength," He twisted the saber toward Syluk, "We can defeat him! Are you with me men?!"

The first reaction he got was a hardy laugh that overpowered most of the noise of the courtyard.

"You're a funny one captain Morris!" So that was the old man's name. "Do you really think you have any men still loyal to you?!" He continued to laugh.

Despite this, Captain Morris didn't seem fazed by Syluks statement. However, Syluk was about to be proven wrong.

"Now men!" One of the marines that stood among Syluks men turned on the pirates they must have known was dressed among them and struck them with a sword.

This caused a massive chain reaction by where every single person started fighting. A large three-way brawl broke out between the escaped convicts, the real marines, and Syluks pirates with Ryder standing in the middle of it all completely nonchalant. He saw the anarchy going on all around him yet he stood there so casually.

Ryder seemed to mull something over for a second, "This wasn't what I had in mind…" The redhead admitted to nobody in particular. "At least I started a riot, so that's a plus."

"You!" A thunderous voice called over to Ryder across the chaos of this courtyard. Ryder glanced over to the source of the said thunderous voice.

Syluk stood a few feet away from, hammer drawn, ready to fight. "I'll crush you for the shit you've caused!" Syluk charged Ryder, the ground thumping under their foot as he did. All those who same him charging scrambled out of his way not wanting to be caught in the pirates' path.

Ryder still didn't seem to care so when Syluk swung at him, Ryder just leaned slightly to the right, and the strike completely missed him.

Syluk continued with another but again he missed Ryder. He tried another three times, each strike missing one after another. Which each miss more and more people began to take notice of the pair fighting.

"Bastard!" Syluk yelled as he held the hammer directly above himself. He swung down, however, he missed again. This time Ryder stepped back out of the strike, while the blow missed Ryder it struck the ground creating a large crater and a crack to form across the ground.

With the hammer implanted into the ground Ryder decided to strike back, he stepped out the hammer handle with his left leg. He flipped backwards, but he brought his right leg up with him catching Syluk in the jaw and chin.

The power behind Ryders' kick caused the pirate to flip over himself, across the ground, before landing on the ground, staggered by the power, even losing grip on his hammer for a moment.

By this time, a lot of the fighting had stopped as they watched Ryder easily dispatch this pirate. Syluk recovered quick enough, that's when he noticed Ryder just standing there, smirking at him. He wasn't taking this seriously?! And he was making a show of the pirate too!

This only further angered Syluk. He growled like a grizzly bear before grasping his hammer. "I'm going to disembowel you and string you up on the mast of my ship, you little fuck!"

Ryder just chuckled at him, "You can try!" He half taunted, half encouraged, he also gave him a thumbs up to add insult to injury.

The rest of the people present were gobsmacked, just who the hell was this guy?! How strong was he to be doing that to a guy like Syluk?!

Syluk retaliated by rushing Ryder again, he stopped in front of him and swung the hammer horizontally, his target being Ryders' chest.

Ryder jumped on the balls of his feet over the height the hammer was swung, in mid-air he spun and kicked Syluk directly onto his face. The impact caused Syluk to lose grip of his hammer once again but this time since he was mid-swing the hammer went soaring through the sky into the wall of the main building, crashing through it.

Syluk himself fell backward from the kick. Everyone waited for him to get back up, angrier than ever, but it never came.

The crowd all watched as Ryder just stood there, Syluk laying on the ground in front of him. Everyone refused to move, all of them stunned to see Syluk on the ground.

"He was… beaten…" One marine said.

"It's over…"

"How… did the captain lose…"

Nobody could believe a punk like this could beat a pirate like Syluk, but he did. One convict decided to shout out above the silence, seizing the opportunity.

"Everybody run!"

All criminal prisoners took the opportunity to make their escape, all of them dashing through the gateway. Most of them actually making it away. Ryder was surprised to see them all actually getting away, but from the looks on the faces of the real marines, they were too amazed by Ryder to care at the moment. So Ryder just watched as all the prisoners ran off. He noticed something though, a large bird appeared from beyond the fortress walls, from the positioning the bird had taken off from it meant it took off from within the crowd of escapees.

Odd.

Next, all of Syluks crew immediately dropped their weapons, putting their hands up to surrender. If their captain was beaten so easily then they had no chance themselves, they were all betting it on him.

All but one.

"How dare you do that to my captain!" Ryder turned off to his left to see the lieutenant, Reags, standing there, furious at Ryder for what he had done to his captain. Reags gazed across all his captains' men, "You're all cowards!"

Reags took after his captain and charged Ryder as well, clearly not learning the lesson Ryder had just given Reags captain.

The lieutenant went to punch Ryder but to his surprise, his strike struck something else entirely. He only had a split second to notice what it was.

A wooden sword had intercepted his strike, and block him with ease.

A moment later Reags roared in pain before he collapsed to his knees before finally falling onto his face.

There, stood between Ryder and Reags, was Rex, his wooden sword in hand. "That was disappointing." He said which got Ryder to smirk at the bounty hunters' sudden appearance.

"I was wondering if you were going to join in." Said the redhead.

"I wasn't, however, someone like this," Gesturing the end of his wooden sword to the unconscious pirate, "Someone as foolishly blind as he is doomed to fail. I just simply sped up the process." He finished by sheathing his sword onto his hip.

As the two just stood there, both grinning to mostly themselves a figure approached Ryder.

"Young man," The figure began, gaining both Ryders and Rexs' attention. The figure turned out to be Morris, followed by a few of his marines. All of them armed as if they were escorting the captain. They'd also given him a marine captain's jacket that hung on his shoulders. "You have no idea how much you've helped this island today."

"No worries, I was doing it for a friend anyway." Ryder countered quickly, he frowned slightly, "I'd rather not be hailed as a hero, that'd suck." Standing beside him Rex just shook his head, what kind of reaction was that? To be a hero wasn't a bad thing.

Morris chuckled slightly, "May I ask for your name?"

"Captain Rangetsu D Ryder." Ryder introduced himself, you could hear the pride in his voice at calling himself Captain. He gave a small nod and a title of his hat toward Morris as apart of his introduction.

"Well Ryder," Morris began, "We are truly grateful for your help this day, without you we wouldn't have been freed from Syluk and we might never have been freed otherwise." Morris turned slightly away from Ryder, "However," He added, "That doesn't excuse the fact that you're a pirate, not only that one that attacked several of my men, injuring them all."

All of the marines shifted at the mention of Ryder being a pirate, almost as if they were actually going to fight Ryder.

However, Ryder and Rex didn't seem all that concerned. For one they hadn't even mentioned Rex yet, he'd done nothing wrong so he was more than likely in the clear but Ryder? Nope.

Yet Ryder still stood there casual as ever.

"However," Morris turned to his men, "Men! Prepare a bounty for one Rangetsu D Ryder!" He gestured the saber he held toward the fortress HQ, "Get onto the den-den mushi, inform other nearby marines of this prison break, and to keep an eye out for a young new pirate." Morris turned to face Ryder with a smirk on his face, "Tell them this pirate got a single days' head start on us."

Ryder smiled at the captain before he and his men turned to leave, heading over to any of their comrades that still might need assistance.

As Morris left he gave Ryder one last goodbye and a piece of advice, "Good luck Ryder, you better get moving." With that, Morris left leaving Ryder and Rex alone.

"Well, that was an interesting turn of events was it not?" Rex asked Ryder, but he got curious when Ryder didn't answer.

Rex couldn't tell but the redhead next to him had that sparkle in his eye again and a stupid grin on his face. "I'm getting a bounty."

The amount of pride in that statement shouldn't actually be a thing... Rex just shook his head in amusement. Ryder was an odd one.

After that brief moment of weirdness from Ryder, both men walked out of the marine base, as they put some distance between them and the scene of the crime they started up another conversation.

Both the men noticed the town was kind of in a scramble, must have been all the commotion Ryder had caused. Between the riot, the marines, and pirates, today was a hectic day, a lot of the townsfolk wouldn't have ever dealt with anything like this before.

"So what are you going to do now?" Ryder began, Rex didn't know it but Ryder was heading back to Zen. He'd hoped his ship was repaired by now. A lot of time had passed so Ryder hoped he wouldn't be waiting long.

"I wanted to talk to you about that myself," Rex answered, "I'd like to go with you for the time being."

Before he could continue Ryder spoke up, "So, you've decided to join my crew have ya?"

He was shut down rather quickly however, "No, I'm not joining you." Which got Ryder a bit curious but Rex continued to explain. "I want to travel with you for a bit. You've got me curious Ryder, you stand out from most people. So for the time being I want to journey with you, if you manage to earn my respect then I'll consider joining you officially. Do you accept my offer?"

Ryder gave him a heft smack on the back, not that Rex was at all affected by it. "Of course you can sail with me, it would be fun having ya along for the ride!"

Both men smirked at their exchange, "I'm glad to hear it, so when are we setting off?" Rex questioned his new comrade.

"As soon as we can, my boat was damaged on my arrival so I left it to be repaired." The redhead explained, "That's where we're heading now."

"Let's get a move on then," Rex responded.

That's exactly what they did, Ryder leading the pair back the way he'd come earlier. He was hoping he'd run into Genie again but she was nowhere to be found. She must be off dealing with the chaos in the town. Not getting his chance to say goodbye to her Ryder lead Rex off down the beach, explaining to Rex who the guy was that he left his boat for him to fix.

Rex stood next to Ryder in front of Zens shack. Rex couldn't tell but Ryder was in shock for some unknown reason. He could sense his surroundings, and nothing seemed out of place, so why was Ryder reacting this way?

Zen stood in front of the pair, Ryders fixed boat behind him. Well, to be honest, you couldn't call it a boat anymore.

Behind Zen, just a little offshore, was what was Ryders' boat. Somehow Zen had managed to turn Ryders' little boat into a fully-fledged ship in the time he'd been gone.

The ship was rather big, it had to be at least the size of a typical brig. Full mast and rigging, cabin, beautiful ship helm, he even made the rigging automated so that the helms could use a lever to alter the amount of sail was out, letting the helmsman adjust their speed on the fly. Zen even handcrafted a figurehead of a woman wearing a crown at the bow.

"What's wrong, kid?" Zen began, a knowing, and satisfied, smirk on his face. "Not like the repairs?"

"How the fuck did you manage to make that?!" The young captain eventually yelled out, both in confusion and amazement. That made zero sense how something like this was even possible!

"Years of practice kid," Zen responded, the old man was hiding something Ryder could tell but if he didn't want to share his secret, that was up to him. Ryder was far too concerned about the ship anyway.

Rex was the most confused, "Ryder? Is there something wrong? Was this not your ship before?" Rex questioned his new comrade. Not quite in the loop about the situation.

"Not even close! My old boat was like a small dingy with a sail on it." Ryder explained, "In the space of about two to three hours he turned that half sunk dingy into a brig sized ship."

Now he understood and now that he did Rex couldn't help but be impressed as well. "That's unheard of, you sure this guy isn't pulling our leg? Maybe he used magic instead of actual skill." Rexs' tone turned to a more sarcastic one, a devilish smile on his face.

The interaction between these two got a rather audible laugh out of Zen, "That reaction alone almost makes it worth it." He feigned hurt emotion after that statement, "I'm just an old man living peacefully on the beach, do ya not trust me?"

"Why'd ya do it Zen? Why'd you do something like this for me? I didn't really do much." Ryder asked, he honestly felt like he did very much for the old man. All he did was deliver his supplies to Genie for him, which definitely didn't warrant a full ship being built.

"I like your spirit kid, you've got that aura about ya." Zen shrugged, "Besides, I like to help out young pirates." He peeked one eye at Ryder as if to say he knew all along. "Now be off with ya with young captain, ya took up enough of me time today."

Ryder just smirked at him, "Thanks, old man! I appreciate the help!" Ryder paused in his gratitude for a moment, "Hey Zen, why do people in town call you Looney? I met a friend of yours named Genie, she said that's what the townspeople call you."

Zen laughed once more, "It's simple lad, I'm just a bit crazy!"

His response didn't fully answer Ryder but regardless he smirked at the old man. "Don't let anyone else take that from you old man!" Both Rex and Zen smiled at Ryders' response.

Ryder and Rex both made their way to the shore, ready to board the ship just as Zen gave Ryder one last piece of advice.

"Ryder, I left a locked chest inside the captains' cabin. Don't open it yourself. Only allow the crewmate ye decide to have as your shipwright open it. They'll know what to do with the contents. Ya hear?" Zen waved them off with a satisfied smile.

"A fair trade Zen, good luck!" Rex gave a nod in Zens direction as his own goodbye to the old-timer. Both men climbed the outside of the ship to get onto the deck.

Reaching the deck Ryder was even more impressed, he just whistled at the work and craftsmanship of his new vessel. Rex was blind but even he could feel and appreciate the work put into this ship.

"Are we just going to stand here gawking at this new ship or are we going to put it to work?" Rex suddenly spoke up as he made his way to stand next to the helm, tapping away at the railings and woodwork as he did, Ryder not far behind him.

Ryder passed Rex and took the helm, he slowly examined each of the components to the helm and the lever next to him.

"You sure you know what you're doing?" Rex questioned him.

Ryder didn't respond for a second, "I believe so… I've never manned a ship with an automated sail before."

"You've manned the helm of a ship before?" Rex had to admit, he didn't pin Ryder as a helmsman.

"Yeah, I was thought by someone on my home island." The redhead responded vaguely, it wasn't the most detailed answer, to be honest, but it was the answer Rex had to accept. "I can sail her no problem."

"Her?"

"Yeah her, the Empress."

Rex leaned against the railing slightly, "So that's her name? The Empress?" Rex sensed Ryders' motions, he nodded his head in confirmation.

"Any reason for picking such an odd name?"

"None." Ryder responded, he threw his hand onto the lever, "It's showtime!" The redhead pushed the lever into the right slot causing the sails to unravel and tighten. The ship jutted forward before, Rex and Ryder having to grip the railing and helm respectively, the ride became smooth as the ship eased into the wind.

They were away, onto their next misadventure. Whatever that might be.

Back on the shore stood Zen just peacefully watching as his latest work sailed out to sea.

"That was kind of you." A voice brought him out of his gaze, turning to the source of the easily recognizable voice he smiled as his friend.

"What can I say, I got a soft spot for young pirates," Zen admitted to Genie as she stopped beside him, her body facing him. Her gaze swiveled toward the ship putting distance on them.

"Shame I missed the chance to say goodbye." She had hoped to wish the young lads good luck on their journey, but she narrowly missed them. Unfortunate. She was too preoccupied with helping the wounded, and the more so frightened in town.

"I'm sure the lad wanted to see ya before he left too." Zen attempted to comfort her, she didn't really need it but it was a kind gesture nevertheless.

"He reminds me of your youngster." Genie told Zen, "Are you sure that wasn't one of the reasons why you helped him?" She interrogated him, her side-eye glance saying all that needed to be said.

But Zen just shrugged it off.

"Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't." He plopped himself onto the ground, groaning a bit as he did. A fond smile on his face, "Between him and me own young one, I'd say the world might be getting a tad bit more interesting in the years to come."

Genie didn't respond, she didn't need to Zen knew he was right. Instead, they both just admired the view and watched as the ship sailed off to its latest destination.

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

AlcatrazDGold - Till the next chapter…