A Fruitless Start
One Piece belongs to Oda.
Chapter 15- The Town Of Bounty Hunters: Whisky Peak
…..
Her name is Nerfertari Vivi, she is a princess born in the kingdom of Alabasta, heir to the throne and noble by birth. She is also tied up after attempting to murder a whale big enough that it was the size of whole islands. Her blue hair was still on her long ponytail,she was wearing a shirt with dark blue and white circles, shorts fastened with a belt, and a white coat, there were no moves to do anything more than tie her up with her hands behind her back.
Her day started as any other in the last few years ever since she infiltrated the organization called Baroque Works. She got up, ate a light breakfast and then joined with her partner Mr.9 for a strategy meeting.
They received a mission from the leader of their branch of the organization, kill the whale that stands at the exit of the Reverse Mountain and bring the meat to their island to feed the population.
She remembers thinking when she received the job that their leader, actually the leader of the royal guard of her country, was giving her an easy job to make sure she was safe or something like that… then she saw the size of the whale and couldn't help but wonder 'who thought that two people could do that mission by themselves and where can I find them so I can punch them?' Vivi was not a violent woman but even she had limits.
But they had to at least try, there is a police on their organization that failure was not tolerable but their branch was tamer and forgot that rule more often than not thanks to her guard and the fact that no one liked the idea of killing each other.
Anyway they had to try and off they went, planning, getting the appropriate weapons… they could kill the whale, that was possible and transportation was… not in reality. But they could call for reinforcements on that part after the fact.
Mr.9 was a nice guy, he is a thoughtful partner who listens to her opinions and offered his own thoughts when he disagreed, he was an orange haired man with a green suit and a crow… he liked to pretend he was royalty which was completely ironic and even funny to her in a sense.
If she had to point a defect was that the guy didn't know when to quit. Killing a giant whale? Okay, that was possible, it was killing itself already and they could attack from the inside, easy enough… then they noticed that there was a man living inside the whale.
The reason why she infiltrated the Baroque Works was to save her country and by joining a bounty hunter organization she was responsible for the deaths of some people, all of them criminals with bounties on their heads, but she always took care that innocents weren't harmed, either by her or her associates.
As far as she knew the old man, Crocus, was innocent and was just taking care of a whale that had a really sad story. When she heard about it she deeply regretted even attempting killing it, the sad whale Labom.
Fortunately she failed, both her and her partner were caught by a pirate crew. Usually that would be a bad, awful thing, but this crew was… nice was the best word she could come up with at that point. But they also were insane or at least their captain was a lunatic.
Who fights a giant whale? With their bare hands even? No! A mast mid fight doesn't count as a proper weapon! The whale was just too big for the fight to be fair but they fought anyway.
And then the captain, Luffy from what she could hear, painted the ugliest jolly roger she ever saw in her life… but Labom, the whale, liked it and looked happy for the man's action.
Now they were tied up while the pirates spoke with the whale's keeper Crocus, an old man almost bald but with some kind of flower(?) on his head, using a t-shirt, simple shorts and sandals. "You don't need to worry about Labom here. I will read the newspaper for him every week, just make sure to show up there from time to time or to make enough noise that we can hear from here."
"You can count on us old man." Luffy replied easily with a huge smile only to be hit in the ear by the girl of the group, Nami.
"NO! Nononononono! Sure we will send news and the like don't worry but the more we stay out of the news the better! We don't need the government after us already!" She was stressing and trying to convince her captain to be more subtle but it was evident that he was finding it funny.
"It is just me or that guy is mad?" Mr.9 whispered to her.
"That goes without saying! He fought a giant whale!" She whispered back while receiving a milkshake… where that came from?
"Here it is madam. Please tell me if you need anything to make yourself more comfortable." The chef of the group appeared out of nowhere with a tray with two of the beverages.
"Ero-cook! I hope you are not letting our enemies escape!" The green haired swordsman (Zoro? Was it Zoro?) Warned.
"Shut up Marimo! Don't you see that the lady was uncomfortable?" He was not wrong, being tied up is uncomfortable to most people.
"Fine! But if she tries to escape you take care of it!"
"If they try to escape I WILL take care of it!" Nami was at the end of her patience. She looks at Vivi. "Ms. Wednesday right?" After a nod Nami continued. "You try to run until we take you to another island and I will make sure you will regret it!"
"Jeez, that is too much just for some whale." Mr. 9 said, then he was grabbed by his coat by the captain that looked at him with a lot of rage.
"This is my friend! And this is your only warning! You hurt him and I will break your stuff!"
"Break my what?" Maybe it was morbid curiosity that made the older man talk because Mr. 9 was sweating a lot.
"Everything." Even she got a sudden chill after that.
"Look," time to try and stop stuff from getting worse, "we only needed food to our island okay? You can't deny that a whale of that size can't feed a lot of people!"
"True," Luffy turns to her, "but you aren't getting Labom or else! Am I clear?"
He looked at her with less anger than before, maybe because of their reasons or maybe something else but she could only nod.
"Good. Now tell us where your island is and we will drop you there."
"Kid, that is not how the Grand Line works." Crocus entered the conversation. "Look! Since you did me a big favor and helped old Labom here I can explain to you all you need to know about the Grand Line. Consider it a payment for all the troubles."
"There is no need sir. We are well informed about the Grand Line and its… eccentricities." Nami assured him.
"We are?" The one called Usopp asked.
"Yes, we are. We met plenty of people who lived here before. Sanji, could you do me a favor?"
"Of course Nami-swan, say the word and anything shall be done!" He declared while presenting the navigator with her own milkshake.
"Great! Go into the Merry and please bring here the small box closest to my desk to the right."
"I will be back in a moment!" And off the chef had gone moving faster than anyone on the Baroque Works as far as she could tell.
"I am happy that you all came here prepared." Said Crocus with a smile. "You have no idea how many unprepared crews just drop on the Grand Line, I mean, I will help you if you need but there were plenty that I never bothered that died really quickly because storms or bad luck."
"I just need you three, yes the two of you too," she points to the prisoners on the ground, "to confirm some stuff for me."
Sanji came back in a minute to the dot and gave Nami her box placing it on the ground in front of her, it was big enough that a person of modest height could fit there really thighly.
Nami opens it and everyone looks at the content with expressions of the inhabitants of the Grand Line going to various degrees of shock.
"Nami what is all this?" Asked Usopp while picking something she recognized as a Log Pose, one of few ways to navigate in the Grand Line just for Nami to take it from Usopp.
"Our compasses for the Grand Line and you are not authorized to touch them without my say so." She plays it back on the box… a box full of Log Poses and other materials with a small book on the side. "Now let's see." She picks the small book and opens a page in the middle of it and then fishes a pen from the chest. "Now… I need the three of you to confirm this: Is the climate in the Grand Line random and unstable unless you are close to one of the four kinds of islands?"
The surprise had not weared off yet and the two agents just gave a nod while Crocus elaborated. "Correct little missy, when you are not close to an island with a determined climate you are in the shared space in between them which can be really random and deadly. Where did you get that much info? Most people of the Blues don't know that much about the Grand Line unless they are from the marine."
"Or pírates that left the Grand Line." She answered easily.
"Nami what are you doing?" Luffy asked and his face had a scowl in it.
"Why Luffy I am making sure our adventuring is not interrupted from bad climates. My job as a navigator demands it. Don't worry, there are no spoilers here." She then wrote something in the book before asking again. "Now, is it true that we can't change our route easily, borderline impossible in fact, once we are in one of the main routes?"
The two agents had no real answer but Crocus scratched his chin for a bit before saying. "Actually you can! It is complicated and hard but not impossible."
"But it is not worth it!" Vivi felt that she had to say it. These people may be pirates but no one deserved the fate that awaits those that drift to-
"Because then there is the Calm Belt." Nami says, raising an eyebrow. After getting a nod from Vivi she writes some stuff and hums a bit while closing the book. "Thanks, now I have enough information to be able to navigate all the Grand Line."
"Wait! Just from that?" Mr. 9 asked.
"Sure! I needed the information to confirm what I already know. It is not that I didn't believe my friends but I just wanted to make sure that I had all right and nobody made a mistake." Placing the book back in the box Vivi can't help but ask.
"But why all the Log Poses? I mean, you must know that you only needed one to navigate here!"
"Yes! But I need a lot to figure out how to make money with them!" After that declaration Luffy let out a groan, Zoro facepalmed, Sanji did a piruet and Usopp mumbled something.
"'Make money'?" She couldn't believe in what she heard.
"But of course! Eternal Poses, the Poses that point to specific islands but are extremely hard to make! I will figure out how to make them and then sell them for a profit!"
"You do know they are hard to make for a reason." Crocus commented with a small smile.
"Nah! I just need to figure out how to do it the easy way, even if it is not invented yet there may be one!" Nami's eyes turn to the belly simbol. "Once I do I can make a fortune easily! That is why I fought for weeks to get many of them before our journey! Of this thirty two I will make at least one Eternal Pose and then it will be off to make a fortune."
"That… is actually a good idea!" Mr. 9 commented. "I mean, it is impossible because someone would already have done that but if it works it will be a gold mine!"
"Nami," Luffy started," you are too greedy!"
"And we are a pirate crew just about to enter the most dangerous ocean in the world by leaving a sea where we had allies, friends and a lot of other stuff!" Nami looks to her captain and lets out a huge smile. "Yes, I am greedy but we all are insane!"
"SO you accept that now?" The swordsman asked, sounding impressed.
"Well, 'if you can't beat them join them' or something like that." Nami then looks over the chest and starts to examine the Log Poses.
"Luffy, I think we created a monster!" Usopp commented and Luffy just let out a laugh.
"Great! That will make this more fun!"
"This is not the most insane crew I have ever seen." Crocus said mid laughter. "But it is up there! I hope you all have a great voyage!"
"Thanks old man!" Luffy and Crocus shake hands and the whale, Labom, lets out a sound that felt close to a laugh as well.
"So… where do you two live?" Usopp asks the pair who looked at each other and with a shrug Mr. 9 answered.
"The name of our island is Whisky Peak, If you guys show us some Poses we can show you the one pointing to the right direction."
"And why should we do that?" The swordsman said with a sneer.
"Why wouldn't we Marimo?" Sanji questioned with rage.
"Because we have four island to choose… why should we go for theirs when we can drop the two of them in another and then just move on?"
"That depends," Nami then picked four Log Poses, "If we can gain anything from it."
The two bounty hunters didn't like her tone of voice, not one bit.
"Well…" Mr. 9 began but he had no clue on what to say.
"You see…" Vivi needs to go back to Whisky Peak, both to stick close to her bodyguard Igaram and to keep investigating Mr. 0. "We could tell… we could give… WE COULD THROW YOU GUYS A PARTY!"
That caught the captain's attention. "A party? Great! We in!"
"And there goes an easy extortion plan." Nami lamented out loud.
"AND YOU JUST ADMIT IT?" Usopp, the two bounty hunters and Crocus complain.
"Any point in hiding it?" Her question silenced them in an instant. "Someone needs to keep an eye out for profits."
"And with that," Crocus starts talking, "you all better get going, either now while the light is going to last or wait for the morning tomorrow. Avoid travelling at night, even if you can see the Log Pose oceans are treacherous and they will bring many dangers."
Vivi knew from that comment that the old man must have been a sailor of some kind in the past. Yes, all you can trust is in the Log Pose but many people forget that the basics are basics for a reason.
"All right! Let's get ready to set sail!" Luffy commanded and the crew moved to start getting all ready. "Zoro, keep an eye on them!"
"Aye, aye captain!" The man untied Mr. 9 and escorted both hunters to their ship who was repaired with iron and bolts. "Just so we are clear, any of you tries anything: I will cut you both and throw you in the sea. We clear?"
"We are prisoners!" It was Mr. 9 that complained. "And we did nothing wrong to you! Show compassion man!"
"Pirate." It was all that Zoro had to say and he wasn't wrong.
They were pirates and it didn't matter how kind they were or how nice they appeared to be, the only Code they followed was their own and not all pirates care about prisoners or the like.
If the captain decided they were not worth the effort or wanted to get rid of them for any reason he could and there was nothing they could do about it, the moment they were caught their lives were forfeited unless they tried to fight their way out.
Which they can't. They can try but the captain just fought off a whale, a giant whale big enough that even a sea king would have troubles facing and that the only means they had to kill it was from inside.
That is not even commenting about the rest of the crew, she didn't know their capabilities but if even one of them is half as strong there is a fair chance they wouldn't win anyway, not without numbers.
"Calm down sir, we don't want any troubles." Between her and Mr. 9 she was the one with most chances of getting away with talking, the blonde chef will at minimum warn her if she was annoying someone… she hopes. "Take us to our home, I promise you guys will love the place! We have all kinds of parties to visitors!"
"Any visitors huh?" Zoro raises an eyebrow but Vivi was confident because she technically was not lying. "And what were your names again?"
"You can call me Mr. 9! All my friends call me Mr. 9!" He said in the friendest way he could.
"And I am Ms. Wednesday, yes my parents had no imagination." The introduction was given easily, having lived with that name for long enough to know that it was hers even if it didn't represent her.
"Interesting names you guys have there." The way that he said it was almost mooking or ironic.
"I THINK IT IS A BEAUTIFUL NAME!" Sanji shouts from the ship.
"How did you even hear then!" Usopp asks the question that was on her mind.
"I will resume the cook's shtick." Zoro decided to clarify the situation a bit. "To cut a long story short: he really cares about women, you don't need to worry about much and if I try to do something to you odds are that he is going to try and stop me."
Vivi didn't like the smile Zoro gave on that, it was filled with bloodlust and desire for violence. "Then… you want to kill your crewmate?" These people looked too nice to have someone like that but her organization also had the same problem.
He scoffed, snapping her out of her thoughts. "Not at all but I still have too much room to grow stronger and I need challenges. Anyway, start moving. We will leave soon."
They proceeded to the ship, a cute vessel with a sheep figure head that had to be put back in place together with the mast, she could see that most of the damage had already been fixed at the best of the crew's ability.
Once they got on the ship she could see it was plenty small and that everyone she met was the whole crew. Nami comes closer with four of the Log Poses again. "These ones are pointing in four distinct directions. Tell me which one is pointing to your island so I can set the course."
She had two in each hand and if one pays attention the differences were really visible. "Ah. Please wait a moment." Said Mr. 9 as he pulled out their Log Pose that was still magnetized in a way to help reach their island. "Here we go." Comparing it to the ones in the navigator hands soon they find the one that would take them to Whisky Peak.
"Easy enough." Nami said and placed the Log Pose on her wrist. "Now here are the rules: You two sit tigh and do nothing. You are to stay there." She points at the wall of the ship. "At all times. You move, Zoro will deal with him and I will deal with you." Pointing at Mr. 9 then Vivi.
"Sure. Don't worry we won't cause any troubles whatsoever." Vivi affirmed while dragging her partner to sit by the wall. "What do we do?" She whispered to him, her best idea was to just stay put and not pick a fight but she needed to make sure Mr. 9 was in the same wavelength.
"We stay put and wait to get home."
"Thank god, I thought you would suggest we fight them."
"Are you mad!" He whispered a little more higher but they got the feeling that no one was hearing them. Turning their faces they see Zoro sitting on the mast with his eyes closed. "I am not fighting a guy who can hurt a giant whale." The panic on his voice was obvious. "What am I supposed to do against that? Use my bats to massage his back?"
"Okay, okay, lets calm down a bit." She looked around and the whole crew was occupied, the ship was salling and in a few hours they would be home free. "We just need a plan and that is it. For now we are safe."
"Yes, you are right but our best bet is just to go back to Whisky Peak. One way or another we need reinforcements…" Then Mr. 9 stopped talking and looked at her nervously. "Do you think Mr. 8… you think he will apply the punishment?"
Vivi had the advantage of highsight and knew that event was never going to pass, unfortunately she can't just tell that to him. She has a cover to maintain." These pirates were not part of the mission, a completely unrelated event! We can argue that the mission would be completed without them."
Mr. 9 nods, they were not going to die for this, on the front it is going to be because they were frontier agents and unless orders come from above or anyone wants to be promoted by some reason their deaths are used because of their marks in reality there was low chances because their leader was her guard and he always avoid killing when he can.
The man starts to breathe more calmly and relax, they still needed to get out of a pirate ship but they still had a place to run away to. She looks around and recounts the crew to make absolutely sure that they were just five.
Could anyone be hiding? No, she found that too hard to believe. These pirates moved with a lot of confidence and there was no real point. Who would they be hiding from? A pair of bounty hunters?
"Do any of them have a bounty?" She asked.
"Not that I remember but I don't have a catalog in my head." One of the pirates passes by and they notice the dark clouds approaching. "Prepare to brace yourself, here come the storms."
"What do you think this one is going to be?" She asked amusedly almost like it was a game.
"Hope it is going to have snow, we are close to a winter island remember?"
The ship known as Going Merry faces its first official obstacle on the Grand Line, a mutable storm that starts so fast that if the crew of the ship were not prepared they would have to fight to keep their course and protect their sails.
The navigator tells all their members what to do on the ship, the only one not doing anything was the swordsman, he was still sitting in the same place, ignoring the rain completely and sleeping the storm away not even keeping an eye on their prisoners.
Vivi was fine with that, they had no intention of doing anything until they were closer to Whisky Peak and even then they were just going to retreat and regroup with the others there.
The storm passes and soon snow starts to fall with Mr. 9 getting excited and touching her with his elbow, she smiles a bit for him. "Looks like you were right."
"THIS IS INSANE!" Usopp screamed and she found amusement in his comment.
"HAHA! IT IS THE GRAND LINE!" The captain had no panic but joy on his face.
"FOCUS GUYS!" The navigator called. "Hey you two!"
Both bounty hunters point to themselves. "Us?" They asked together and Vivi just noticed that she was starting to feel cold.
"Yes! How is the climate on your island? I need to know to make sure we are close."
"Can we get some blankets?" Mr. 9 asked, usually they would, they would be moving around to keep themselves warm but on this occasion they were ordered to not move and none wanted to discover the consequences of not obeying.
"Climate on your island, then you get something!" And Nami made a point to give a scary look to Sanji to stop him from just charging and getting said blankets. While some of her crew looked a bit cold from the event she looked perfectly fine even with shorts and shirt and Vivi thought Nami must have grown in cooler climates.
"Right. Our island is an autumn island with mountains, not much snow during the year but fogs on said mountains…" Vivi tried to think if there was something else.
"When we get a bit closer," Mr.9 started to comment, "the storm will stop, there is not much rain around it this time of the year."
Nami checks the Log Pose and goes back to work, leaving the two bounty hunters on their corner with Zoro. Luffy himself brings blankets to them and goes back to work.
Vivi was freezing and tried to focus on the activities of the ship to distract herself. She saw the captain talking out some snow with the long nose teen, noticed the navigator taking care of the directions with the chef and the swordsman still with his eyes closed and ignoring everything around the world.
This continued until the snow stopped and the sun came out, the wind picked up a bit, pulling the ship in the direction of the island that she knew like the palm of her hand at this point.
They still were not close enough for them to see the island but she looked at Mr. 9 and both gave each other a nod, getting ready to escape. There was no point in staying in the pirate ship when they have their allies close and need to inform them what they know about their opponents.
There may be a fight, it wasn't inevitable but can be necessary even if it will be one sided or the capture goes smoothly with their usual plans. And there was a plan, a plan that they already had sow the seeds to avoid suspicion and to catch the pirates off guard.
These were pirates and one of them must have a bounty, even if they didn't there was a chance for reward from the government if they turn any pirates in general, sure they wouldn't get as much as they would if one of them has a proper bounty but the government wants the pirate population culled and that was an incentive. There were lots of problems with such a system but it helps bounty hunters and makes it easier for the marines by taking out the small fry.
Whisky Peak was close now, the pirate crew was admiring the cactus like mountains not realizing their true meaning. Time for them to go.
"We thank you for the trip-" She begins.
"And we will see you around!" Mr. 9 finishes as they jump ship and start to swim to the island.
Mr. 9 was the better swimmer of them both, to be fair Vivi did grow up in a country where water was worth more than gold and even if she was on the richer side of things it didn't mean she could go out to swim with frequency.
They came close to the coast, entering by the side of the village while the pirates would go to the main entrance and she was relieved that they would be attracting most of the island's attention.
Mr. 9 got out the water first and extended his hand that Vivi was glad to accept, she took out her coat for a bit to dry but they had not much time to waste. They needed to inform Igaram about their mission and the pirates.
After getting a bit dry they moved to the center of the village, complementing some of their… comrades they reached the center of the town. There were some towels and from the outside they could hear a lot of noise.
That meant the pirates bit the bait and their welcome party was in full swing, working as both a distraction and to induce the pirates to lower their guard.
Night was going to fall soon and just as she was about to go looking for him, he entered dressed in a fine suite made of cheap materials with a touch of nobility in it. He was big, had long white hair with curls , three on each side that had an unique style that hid a few tricks that even the other bounty hunters had no idea about. On his collar there was a number 8.
At his side was supposed to be a nun, his partner in the organization but while he took the report from them she was going to coordinate the distraction for the pirates. Following him were some of the other bounty hunters disguised as simple civilians.
He looks at both of them with authority showing his range as an actor in such a way that nobody else can perceive that his eyes lingered on her for just a second longer. "Mamama, I hope you two are ready to explain why you drag some pirates here instead of a whale!"
She has to admit he can pull the angry voice perfectly on such occasions. "We didn't have a choice sir. Those pirates interrupt our operation and-"
"I don't want to hear excuses from you Ms. Wednesday!" Mr 9 got ready to talk but he cut the other man off. "Neither yours Mr. 9! We had no idea of the kind of pirates you were bringing to us but they have no bounties of note! With their numbers we are spending more with the 'party' than we'll ever be able to recover! Do any of you have anything to say for yourselves?"
"We would have the whale Mr. 8," Mr. 9 said, "it was huge but we could kill it but they just meddled and we couldn't do anything!"
"Mamama! Are you saying that two numbered agents couldn't deal with simple pirates?" He raised an eyebrow and looked at Vivi to give her a signal that she can use any excuse now and he will buy it.
"Their captain! The one with the straw hat… he fought off the giant whale!" She didn't even need to lie and to give credence to her affirmation Mr. 9 was nodding like a madman. The other agents in the room were confused by this and even Igaram showed his skepticism.
"Did he use cannons?" She shook her head. "Any special weapons?" Both shock her heads. "...does he have a devil fruit?" Arguably the most important question.
"None of them showed any devil fruit abilities." Mr. 9 reported and some let out sighs of relief but not Igaram. "But their captain is a monster! He fought against the whale with his bare fists and then he used his ship's mast on it! ITS MAST!"
Igaram started to scratch his chin, he was not disagreeing with the report, not even doubting. If it was because of her or because he can believe that someone like that can exist she is not sure.
"If that is the case then there is nothing that we can do." He said after a few minutes. "Soon the pirates will fall asleep and we can get rid of them. Once we deliver their heads and sell their ship we can get some money. Even better, after we kill them we can check their supplies and see if they have some to help the island even if for just a few days."
"Thank you Mr. 8! For being so understanding!" She says quickly, bowing her head, an action that Mr. 9 soon follows.
Part of her felt guilty about what they were about to do, these people were pirates, that is true but they were not evil or mean by any stretch of imagination. If anything Vivi could say that they were good individuals, not the best one or the most stable she ever met but leagues better than the common pirate.
But her kingdom needed her, she had a duty to perform and this was the only way that they could see it to the end. They infiltrated the organization, Baroque Works, to protect the kingdom of Alabasta from the threat that came from it.
After two years of lies and investigation they managed to discover the true name of the leader of the organization but that was not enough, not against that man.
"Mamama! For now you two, go get your weapons. Tonight we hunt pirates."
"Yes sir!" They saluted and moved to get ready.
Mr. 9 would get his metal bats, if all goes too badly and a fight breaks out then his target is going to be the swordsman. His job will be to either stall or break the swords to neutralise the enemy.
Going to her quarters(she refused to call it her room) she picks up her weapons of choice, the peacock slashers, a ring with peacock feathers, jewels actually, that extended in whips, another is a more complete one with 'feathers' for extra damage and the last one and the last one was was just a bigger version of the first one, no ring just a whip.
She heards the door and turns to see Igaram with his escorts. "Ms. Wednesday, I came to ask you a question: Did these pirates try anything… unsavory with your person?"
Even his guards looked angry at the comment, it is funny, they were competitors in the organization and only with the deaths of their comrades they can advance. However that is not seen in Whisky Peak, maybe because they were on the frontier, maybe because they were for the most part all bounty hunters or the people there just learned to like each other from working together.
"Actually they didn't. For a bunch of pirates they were all pretty decent." She made sure to shake her head in the middle of the sentence to show him that 'no, no one did anything to me'. Igaram was protective and it was no problem to reassure him.
"Mamama, I see. Then we shall show some courtesy to these pirates and try to just apprehend them first. Even if we end killing them I will make sure they have quick deaths." And with that they left Vivi alone to finish preparations.
She had no time to go check on Karoo, her giant duck, but that was fine, he will come when called and she can spend the day with him tomorrow.
For now she needs to concentrate on the after the pirates are dealt with. Dealing with them can't be that hard since they will be caught off guard and that makes things easy for everyone.
Night had fallen and time had come, before operations could begin properly the main executives needed to reunite to coordinate the 'assault'.
She is the second to arrive followed by Igaram who had just finished coordinating with Mr. 9 to put their men into position. They were on the street close where the house in which the party for the pirates had just ended.
Vivi could see Igaram's partner approaching from the house, she had been in charge of distracting the pírates. Dressed as a nun she was Vivi's superior in the organization, as tall as Igaram and stronger than anyone else in the village in a fair fight.
"What took you so long Ms. Monday?" Igaram asked her as she took out her nun's clothes showing pink hair in short twin tails, a magenta dress with white diamond squares that was too small for her because she was tall, muscular and the strongest direct fighter on the frontier.
"They were hard drinkers. I couldn't out drink the girl and almost passed out myself, if I hadn't been drinking water in between rounds then I would have lost completely."
That was impressive. Usually she always knocked the pirates down easily. "And the other pirates?" Igaram asked.
"Asleep like babies. They were a little tired from the journey from what I could tell." The reply got a nod from him.
"Great! Then we don't have to deal with their monstrous captain!"
"Shhhhhh. Don't speak so loud Mr. 9." She whispered to him and both Igaram and Ms. Monday also looked annoyed at him.
"I still don't believe he is that strong." Igaram commented. "But that is irrelevant. We are going to get some chains and take them to one of our ships. The usual marine post is going to do even if they have no bounty."
"THAT WON'T HAPPEN!" All turn to look at the swordsman of the crew who was sitting atop of the house with a bottle in his hand illuminated by the full moon.
"YOU ARE AWAKE?" Ms. Monday asks and Zoro just gives them a smile while jumping down.
The bounty hunters move to surround him with lots of weapons of all shapes and kinds but Zoro smiled confidently.
"I don't fall asleep that easily in a random place. Besides your two agents there screw up." He points at Vivi and Mr. 9 with his bottle before he takes a sip of the drink.
"Mamama, agents mister Zoro?" Igaram moved forward and motioned with his hands to all to stay away. "We are just going to grab a pirate's bounty, but apparently you all had none. Still you can't deny we may get some cash out of it."
"Ha! At least you are honest on that, anyway do me a favor and let the others sleep tonight." He finishes drinking the bottle. "If you want to try something, I can make sure you all will regret it! BAROQUE WORKS!"
Now the tension skyrocketed. "I hope you know that now we can't let you leave alive." Igaram warned but Zoro didn't care.
"Not my fault that the pair we brought here was dumb enough to speak out loud. I mean, you didn't even try to change your names, Mr. 9 and Ms. Wednesday."
"But how did you know about it?" Demanded to know Mr. 9. "We are a freaking secret organization! How do you know about it?"
"Calm down Mr. 9!" Igaram kept himself calm and composed but Vivi knew he must be curious as well.
"Oh! You guys tried to invite me. I said no." That didn't sound good.
"Then how are you still alive?" Ms. Monday asked. "Usual procedure means that you should be dead."
"Well, that is easy." Zoro lets out a smile that had Vivi afraid. "It was between me and the other guy… he didn't make it."
"It doesn't matter!" Igaram declared. "Tell me, does the rest of your crew know about us?"
"No, why does it matter to you?"
"So we can just kill you and turn them in! Pirates are more worth alive than dead after all, even without real bounties." Zoro had dozens of weapons pointing at him but he still looked confident.
"Fair enough, that is if you can kill me!" He made no move to draw his swords, Vivi had the distinct feeling that he was finding the whole thing amusing for some reason.
"You think you can win?" She asked, surprising herself. "You are surrounded by one hundred bounty hunters! You really think you can win?"
"Of course!" His confidence was unshakable. "If anything, you all are just measuring sticks!"
"'Measuring sticks'?" Vivi didn't recognize the voice who asked.
"After I stopped being a bounty hunter I trained a lot of people and I used to fight them as a group! This is a chance to compare your lot with them!"
Now he was offending lots of people. "YOU THINK YOU ARE SOME KIND OF HOT SHIT?" One of the Millions, the lowest in the totem pole of their organization, shouted indignated.
"Nah, it's just none of you guys have impressed me yet." Zoro then points to a random bounty hunter. "Most of your postures suck and this one has a hold so weak on his sword that I bet he will cut his feet before he cuts me."
"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!" "I AM GONNA KILL YOU!" "DIE!" "STOP YOU IDIOTS!"
Igaram's scream was lost in the mob's attack, most of them letting out wordless shouts while charging at the swordsman who didn't lose the smile on his face. There was no strategy or coherence on the attack, they just charged and that was what the lonely man wanted.
He grabbed the arm of the first attacker and picked the sabre that he was attacked with to use it to knock the first one down with the handle, cut the second one and picking his sword to then jump back to block a trio of attacks.
"YOU GUYS ARE NOT EVEN WORTH MY SWORDS!" The shout came and he countered his attackers with fast moves knocking all the three down.
Many tried to go at him but the man kept smiling, blocking and countering his opponents attacks, never really retreating only occasionally taking a few steps in any direction to reposition himself.
The good news to the bounty hunters was that only the most hot heads in their numbers had attacked first while the rest stayed back, the bad news is that fifteen of them were on the ground before the man had even started to sweat.
"SURROUND HIM!" Igaram gave the order and under his authority as Mr. 8 they all obeyed but the disposition of the man didn't change, he even let himself be surrounded, lost any avenue of escape and yet Vivi can't help but feel that they were the ones trapped.
"So…" Zoro fixes his grip on his blades, completely relaxed. "Who is next?"
Nobody moved to attack first, none dared to try. Vivi prepares her weapons but Igaram's hand stops her from even trying to advance. Respecting his experience and the fact that the man himself was not attacking Vivi stayed back to wait for an opportunity.
"If you guys don't attack, sooner or later my friends will wake up! Then I will have to share!"
The idea of more opponents scared some men but this time it was the authority of 'Mr. 8' that kept all of them planted. Because of how the Baroque Works was structured his orders were absolute with the penalty of death if disobeyed and that enforced discipline at the moment.
"What is your name?" Igaram asks.
"Oh yes! I didn't present myself formally, did I? Roronoa Zoro!" The name had no real meaning to her or most bounty hunters but Igaram swallowed nervously.
"'Pirate Hunter' Roronoa Zoro? I heard you became a guard in a kingdom!" Wait what?
"Yeah but the life of a guard was not for me! Are we going to fight now?"
"Why aren't you attacking then? Afraid?"
Zoro looked surprised by the question until his expression shifted to amusement and he laughed. "HAHAHA! Nothing like that I just want to give you guys a fair shot!"
Once again many get upset by his way of talking but hold back under the orders given. Igaram frowned but there was little they could do, they were on a clock and nobody knew when another pirate would wake up and the situation would get worse.
"If you aren't coming then I will GO!" This time he was the one charging and she couldn't help but step back herself. She was not the only one, many were afraid and Igaram was pushing the executives back more and more while.
When Zoro made to the line of enemies many tried to raise their weapons only to have them being cut in halves and they beaten down. Those to the sides started to surround him or try to attack directly but the man just blocked, dodged and countered every strike.
"He is too used to this." Ms. Monday said while Zoro cuts another spear and punches another agent. "Our numbers are against us. We can't use firearms while he is in the middle of everyone and no one is getting close enough to get him directly."
Zoro blocks a strike that was going for his legs then spins to repel that and other two attackers that tried to get on his back only to end us down on the ground. "He is just one man! Sooner or later he will tire and then we kill him!" Igaram said.
One of the agents, a 'nun', tried to launch gas at Zoro only for him to jump back right before the gas was launched, using his elbows to knock the air out of two others before getting up and knocking them out with his arms.
"SHOT! SHOT! SHOT!"
The bounty hunters were starting to grow desperate and brought out the rifles and pistols they had to try and take Zoro out only for him to block every shot with his swords, smiling all the time.
He didn't advance anymore, letting the guns fire at him while he just defended, only when the weapons fell silent he charged again and destroyed the weapons before beating the shooters to the ground.
Vivi wouldn't be ashamed to admit that she was afraid. The man was fighting and defeating an army easily and she was confident in saying that if she was in his position there would be nothing she could do.
But what really frightened her was the smile. How come someone could smile like that while beating that many people, cutting them, harming them. She was having a hard time processing everything.
Heavy steps came from her side and she turned to see Ms. Monday with a huge log to be used as a club. "Mr. 8 on the second he makes an opening I am going in! Back me up!." She had grown tired of waiting.
"Very well." Igaram consented to the plan and pulled out a saxophone that was in reality a weapon. "Try to wait for a moment until he is turned from us. Mr. 9 you will need to go for the swords if our initial gamble fails." He didn't give Vivi instructions, focusing on the other executives to give her an excuse to not attack such a dangerous opponent. She was tempted to just sit back on that one.
Whisky Peak was full of fighters but most of the time their battles were won without troubles with tricks and strategy, sure sometimes force is necessary but this was the first time they had such a monster on their base and completely unleashed.
There was never any need for poisons or lethal methods, not when the bounties are bigger when the prisoner is alive, even those killed by her and others were always to a minimum because they had numbers and always had managed to catch pirates by surprise.
"ARH!" "MONSTER!" SOMEBODY HELP ME!"
This guy was awake and he was strong, stronger than anyone else she had ever faced. Igaram has been holding back much of his tricks in the Baroque Works to stay in a position to protect her but even he going all out couldn't do half of what this demon was doing.
"NITORYU TATSUMAKI!"
The man spinned and created a small tornado to repel ten people at once. When he stopped he was looking straight at them with that same savage smile and she felt that he knew that they were the strongest there, maybe by the names or just instinct but he knew and at all times he kept a position that they were standing in front of him.
She took her eyes out of him for a moment to try and see how many were on the ground already. She regrets doing it. There were so many bodies, they were everywhere, some on the walls, others were thrown in the houses themselves but there were lots of bodies on the ground.
There were only four of the Baroque Works standing, the officers and no one else. Everyone else was defeated, arms spread, broken and knocked out for the most part. There was blood but less than she expected. When she turned to look at the man again he was still smiling but now he looked a bit tired, like a normal person that had just come out of a jog.
"Ah! That was a good warm up!" He looked truly happy with the violence that happened there, more than he was in the party. "Your turn right?"
"SCREW IT!" Mr. 9 charged, he was also afraid but he chose fight instead of flight. Zoro was happy for it and sword and bat met on the battlefield, one being used by a happy man while the other was swinging in despair.
Mr. 9 was on the offensive in the beginning trying overhead attacks with one hand while the other went for the side only to Zoro to block them both and countering to the side with a slash on the left only for Mr. 9 to dodge back.
Zoro didn't pursue, he was unable to, they had forgotten that this was not a one on one fight. Ms. Monday made sure to remind Zoro of that by attacking his side with her log and launched him down the street where he managed to stop himself but the attack continued.
"IGARAPPAPA!" Came the shout followed by the sound of harsh music and bullets. Igaram shot with his saxophone and Zoro barely had time to jump to the side and enter a house by the widow. "AFTER HIM!"
She moved without thinking and got her smaller slasher to get ready for an escape attempt, Mr. 9 was at her left and Igaram moved to the door while Ms. Monday stayed by the windom.
Kicking the door open, Igaram prepared to attack again. "IGARAPPAPA!" Bullets fly and Zoro escapes from another window closer to Ms. Monday who attacks again only for Zoro to grab the log she was using with a hand.
"WHAT?" Came the shocked and surprised voice of Ms. Monday and before the pink haired woman could do anything, discarded his borrowed blades to grab the log with his two arms.
"MY TURN!" He hits Ms. Monday and this time she was the one that ended flying down the street but was unable to stop herself and fell on her back.
"IGARAPPAPA!" Trying to take out Zoro Igaram shot as fast as he could only for every shot hit the log when Zoro used it as a shield.
"TIMBER!" Zoro then pushes the wood hitting the house and bringing down the roof.
"MR. 8!" Vivi screamed and in rage launched herself to an offensive with her slasher. The swordsman steps back once, twice, three times before Mr. 9 also jumps in with his metal bats only for their target to run back to some of the fallen agents from their organization.
Picking a pair of swords he turns just in time to block the bat of Mr. 9 but one of the blades breaks. "HAHA! GOT YOU NOW!" But using a single sword was enough to stop some of the assault, redirect one of the bats and shoulder tackle the agent back.
Vivi was on the side with the bigger slasher now, ready to rip Zoro apart but one sword was still enough to block the attack when the woman used the smaller whip on her other hand and aimed to the face of the enemy.
Zoro managed to duck and pick a spear that he used to hit her on her right arm and forced her to drop one of her slashers. "MS. WEDNESDAY!" Both turned to Mr. 9 who started to attack again.
Using the borrowed spear and sword Zoro kept blocking until the spear broke and used the surprise to punch Mr. 9 back, making the man fall on the ground with a bleeding nose.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Ms. Monday charged, grabbing Zoro and pushing him into a wall.
Zoro's back hits the front of a house and the woman gets ready to punch him but before she could finish the motion Zoro hits her on the face with his forehead, forcing her to let him go, and then using the blunt side of the sword to knock her out.
The defeat of Ms. Monday was a hard blow for them, she was the strongest one and she just lost a competition of strength against the pirate. Vivi moved to try and distract the pirate in the hopes of giving an opening. "Mister Zoro," she calls him softly, approaching with a confident smile making him raise an eyebrow, "please pay attention to me!"
She starts to move her hips to direct attention to her blouse, the patterns on it being designed to induce dizziness on the watcher. It was a technique called 'Miwaku no Memai Dance' and once the opponent is dizzy or distracted she could attack and finish the job, not something that she wants to risk against such an opponent. Instead Mr. 9, who knew about the technique would attack while the pirate was paying attention to her.
The member of the Baroque Works comes around, getting ready and then he sprints. The move was not simple or easy, during the whole fight he had to fight close quarters without space to his maneuvers, that is Mr. 9 speciality his 'Hot Blooded Bat of Guts' a combination of acrobatics for momentum and the hard steel that made his bat to make a devastating attack.
She kept dancing, notining the eyes on her but besides the raised eyebrow there was no other reaction and she found it weird but it didn't matter. He was still looking at her exactly as she wanted to their plan to work, just a few more seconds-
Zoro turns to Mr. 9 just in time to block the blow to his head. It was so sudden that the bounty hunter had no time to react when Zoro grabbed his arm and placed him on a hold almost breaking his shoulder by the sounds of Mr. 9 screaming from pain.
The sequence of events took only a few seconds, when Vivi managed to process what happened and rushed to help she was thrown from her feet by a flying Mr.9, now without his bat and still trembling from pain.
"Interesting." She got up to see the swordsman studying the steel bat, finding the button and pressing it making the upper part fly attached to a rope. Playing with it for a bit he pulls it back with an arm making it into a normal bat once again. "Guess he hadn't the time to try that."
If before she was scared now Vivi is terrified, she looks around again but she is the last one standing. This pirate had decimated the frontier base of the Baroque Works by himself and he barely had a scratch on him.
Should she run? While she is a member of the organization it was with the goal of bringing down the organization itself or at least stop it from ruining her country. That was the only reason why she joined, THAT WAS ALL!
Then why isn't she not running to dig out Igaram and bolting off this island? Everyone else was defeated and she was alone against the guy that did it and he didn't even bother to draw his own swords… Once she realized that it clicked on her mind.
This man had defeated one hundred people and he didn't even bother to use his own weapons, if anything he used their weapons and numbers against them everytime not even once using his own weapons.
He was still distracted, examining the bat, swinging it a bit and testing its weight, he was not attacking for the time being and that may be her only choice.
Vivi whistles a high pitch sound to call for her mount, Karoo, already going on her mind on what she is going to do: Mount Karoo, get to the house and get Igaram out. It was a risk but if the pirate decides to attack she has absolute faith that they can dodge and run.
The pirate looks at her and asks. "Calling reinforcements?"
"Kinda." She takes a step back, ready to defend herself but soon her face shows relief as Karoo, a duck as tall as a normal man, comes with a saddle and a cap with goggles on it. "Here Karoo!"
The duck moved closer to her dodging all the bodies on the ground. He also had a disguise in a sense, pretending to be a more untamed animal instead of the loyal partner he really was but seeing the bodies and with the princess call there was no time for shenanigans.
"This pirate is dangerous. We need to be careful." She whispered while mounting and they had Zoro's attention.
"Is that a giant duck?" He couldn't help but point to Karoo in confusion.
"Do you have a problem with that?" Vivi felt really offended for his way of speaking about Karoo.
"Nothing like that it is just… you are a weird woman."... What?
"What do you mean with that?" She was getting angry and Karoo looked confused.
"I mean… Why did you start to dance in the middle of a fight?"
"I WAS DISTRACTING YOU!"
"By dancing?"
"THE PATTERNS ON MY SHIRT ARE SUPPOSED TO MAKE YOU DIZZY!"
"Well… I didn't look at it." He can't be serious… unless.
"Do you… do you like man?"
"WHAT? NO!"
"THEN WHY YOU DIDN'T CARE?" Now she felt really offended.
"Because he has a girlfriend!" Came a woman's voice from the shadows.
"BECAUSE I HAVE A- WIIIIITCH!" Zoro turns his head to the right to the woman of the crew, Nami, appearing almost as if from nowhere down the street and far from the house the pirate crew was using.
"Almost had you admitting that there… almost." She steps up closer to the center of the fight, going around the bodies of the fallen. "But that doesn't matter right now." Once she was close to the other pirate she looked at Vivi and asked. "Still want to fight? Numbers are not in your favor anymore!"
"You are wrong! It is still two on two!" Karoo got in position to run, either for attack or defense and she prepared her Peacock Slashers, one in each hand.
"It is not just two." Nami said and pointed to the house where the other pirates were and Vivi started to panic when the door opened.
"You guys make too much noise." The captain, Luffy, said while he, the chef and the long nose teen. Now it was five against two. "So… why did they try to attack us? I thought this place was cool."
"Unfortunately this place is a trap," the chef said, lighting a cigarette, "and that is depressing! I was loving spending time with Miltia and Medone!" He then starts to cry.
"ZORO! YOU KNEW THIS WAS A TRAP FROM THE BEGINNING?" The sniper, Usopp, she recalls, complained. "WHY DIDN'T YOU WARN US?"
"I JUST HAD WHAT I HEARD THEN TALK ABOUT! I WANTED TO MAKE SURE!"
"Weren't their names some kind of clue?" Nami asked but the smile on her face told everyone that she was just faking confusion.
"IF THEIR NAMES WERE REALLY THAT RIDICULOUS I DIDN'T WANT TO BE THE GUY TO START A FIGHT FOR NOTHING!"
"YOU NOT WANTING TO START A FIGHT?" Sanji was the one that questioned that and Zoro looked to the side, avoiding to meet anyone's eyes.
"I wanted to test them okay?" Even Vivi said nothing to give the man a chance to explain himself. "I wanted to know how strong the fighters of the Grand Line are compared to my disciples… call it pride or anything but at least the people back home can make me draw one of my blades."
"THAT IS THE REASON WHY YOU KILLED EVERYONE HERE?" Vivi avoided even thinking about it but to her the reasons of this man were too absurd to stay quiet.
"What are you talking about?" It was Luffy who asked before anyone else could say anything. "Everyone is alive, Zoro just ruffed them up a bit."
Vivi gets ready to protest when she hears a groan of pain and some of the Baroque Works trying and failing to move. Now that she pays attention there was surprisingly little blood on the ground or lost limbs around meaning that no one was really hurt.
"You guys suck." Zoro was direct in his criticism. "No organization, no posture, no teamwork in general. For real, I solved all that on the first day of lessons and you guys have been here for how many years?"
"I-I WHAT?" Even the duck was confused by the turn of events.
"Hey! I was a bounty hunter and I know a thing or two about working with people weaker than you. The four of you have more… posture than the others," he points at Mr.9 and Ms. Monday before looking directly at Vivi. "but the rest were cannon folders. Not even worth the effort."
"Anyway… why are you guys fighting again?" Luffy asks. Zoro decided to explain a bit of the story.
"They are bounty hunters, the whole place is a trap and they tried to attack us but I had something to say about that."
"And what is 'Baroque Works'?" Nami asked and Zoro just shrugged.
"From what I understood they are an organization that has over thousands of bounty hunters and the strongest members are the numbered guys and the girls with names of days… that was kind of it. Then I fought the guy and killed him because he refused to stand down."
"Fought him for what?" Sanji asked.
"He was trying to invite me to it. I refused to join any organization that I was not the boss."
"HA! Times really changed didn't they Zoro?" Luffy asked and the swordsman let out a smile.
"Better than traveling alone and I got stronger too. I would say I adapted." Vivi felt she was missing some of the context of the conversation but that was not important at the moment.
No one was dead yet, that was a relief but didn't change the fact that they couldn't win. These pirates were acting too casually, only Usopp who was trembling a bit and was still nervous was disconsidered, then there are still other three people that are confident that there was no threat.
She should run. The only reason she was even there was to save her country, to protect her people from this organization that threatened them. Even if they hadn't garthered the evidence to take Mr.0 out, if she reached her country and explained to her father what was happening he would listen to her.
Vivi had two options: Stay and fight or run, the first one would put her against a man that defeated an army and his crew. Even with Karoo's help the odds were completely against her.
The smart thing to do was run and go to the closest ship and run back to Alabasta to convince her father of the danger that was already there. If she stays there would be no one to warn about the Baroque Works.
Why is she hesitating? If she tries to get Igaram then the pirates will take her out, everyone else on the island was an enemy by all intents and purposes, members of the organization that are ruining her country.
All that she has to do is pull the reins, turn around and not look back. Karoo was nervous, she could tell, the only reason he had not bolted off by now was because he was waiting for her command and the pirates were not being aggressive.
All she had to do was throw away her weapons and run to where she helped Igaram prepare a small ship in case of emergencies and she will be home free. She has to do this, she has a duty, for the kingdom of Alabasta she wouldn't hesitate… then why the memories kept coming at her.
Not everyday was about espionage or fighting, they lived on this island together, she saw them every day. Even if the policy of the organization was to kill to be promoted and use their comrades as steps in a staircase to rise to the top and get more jobs and more power by any means necessary.
On the frontier island of Whisky Peak there were surprisingly few deaths, not only for pirates but the agents acted more like a giant family that sent pirates packing to the marines. This place had nothing to do with the more illegal parts of the organization, being completely dedicated to the gathering of funds by the means of bounty hunting.
All that passed by Vivi's mind in the seconds that took her to make a decision, the pirates barely paying attention to her only noticing when she dropped her weapons and abandoned Karoo''s saddle, much to the shock of the bird.
She was afraid, but so far no one had died and that information gave her some confidence to raise her arms and say. "I CALL THE RIGHT OF PARLEY!" Shouting with all the strength her lungs could muster.
All pirates turned to her then turned to look at the one with the straw hat and if there was any doubt that he was the captain the way they waited for him to make the decision confirmed it. "Sure." He said easily in less than a minute. "Standard rules?"
"Yes!" He was accepting the deal but with everyone else out it was up to her to harsh it out. "No harming us anymore, we won't attack you either! You can pick whatever you want and then leave the island with your victory!"
Total surrender. That was the only deal that made sense, the standard rules were to avoid fights and unnecessary death with one crew being obliged to help the other. The Baroque Works may not be pirates in the traditional sense but the ones before her were pirates and they respected the Code and were willing to be generous.
'Anyone can ask for parley' so said the Code and they followed it.
The truth was that Vivi couldn't abandon the people of Whisky Peak, even if they were part of the enemy they were all good people and she wouldn't abandon them.
The pirates were being reasonable, and after some negotiation and the confiscation of all weapons in case anyone tried anything there would be talks for what they will take from the island and after that they will just go, the Log Pose probably will be adjusted by the morning anyway so all Vivi has to do was play the part of Ms. Wednesday of the Baroque Works and try to keep everyone from dying.
After all this is done they could go back to the old routine with her and Igaram trying to find evidence that Mr.0, Sir Crocodile, was trying to destroy her country or at least was going to cause irreversible damage, they had time, after all their cover hadn't been blow just yet.
…..
Approaching the island were a pair, a man and a woman. He is a tall, dark-skinned man with black hair in short spiky dreadlocks. He wears a brown trench coat with a pink cravat and a pair of sunglasses with a "5" on his coat.
At his side was his partner, she is a tall young woman with short blond hair and dark eyes wearing a yellow and orange hat, as well as a yellow dress with a lemon-like pattern, lemon earrings, and white high-heeled shoes. On her right hand was a bright green parasol with blue strips.
They were assassins, officer agents, the highest level of the organization bar only two others and they were sent by their boss with a single mission: eliminate the person who infiltrated his organization and discovered his identity, Nefertari Vivi. Not that they knew why they would kill her, orders were orders and that was final for them
The duo arrived on the island a short while ago and were moving to its center noticing the emptiness of the place but to them it didn't matter where the other agents were, only their mission.
What they didn't know is that there was another who didn't belong to this island, she was already there for a few hours and watched events unfold with a smile of amusement. Dressed in a purple corset and skirt with a white cowboy hat on her head with shoulder length black hair, the woman had blue eyes with wide pupils not that any would notice for she had them closed at the moment or at least on her face.
Not truly closed for she was using her ability to see the events that were happening on the place and with a tilt of her head her body shook for a few instants to hold back a laugh from what occurred. "This is like a fun play." Her slender body tilted to the side when her other eye caught sigh of the newcomers. "And now the villains approach. What shall the princess do: Can she pretend to be a pauper still? Or will she discart her disguise and call for the help of our heroes?"
The smile on her face grows bigger in the middle of her little narration, she just couldn't help herself, she loves a good story. Not tragedies even but the struggle, the fights and maybe a little more of the macabre than she should.
"And as the villains approach our heroes the question remains: What will his royal highness do now?" One way or another it was going to be fun to watch, she just wished she had something to eat when the show starts.
…..
What is this? A chapter that stops in a good place? What a miracle. To be honest I was planning to hold this hostage until I got 200 favorites here, it is so close at the moment of posting this(197) but I didn't start this for favorites and the chapter was done so here we are.
Okay, let's go to the thing people are going to ask: Why skip Labom? Got too similar to the manga, the changes were minimal at best because Luffy has strong legs and is insane enough to stop a ship with them. Why was Zoro's fight different? Because he had disciples and if you think for a moment that he wouldn't have then fight him one vs how many were there then you are wrong and he was more used to fighting in these conditions, in the manga he used more strategy while here it is brute force all the way.. How did Zoro ignore the dance? He is loyal and if you need more explanation read the story again. Anything else I forgot please leave a comment.
To make sure the chapter was different I used Vivi's point of view and yes there is stuff that is different from the original because I wanted to explore more the angle of the 'princess turned spy'. I also explore the relationship of those on Whisky Peak and I may go more deeply on the next chapter but the idea was that since bounties are bigger for living criminals, killing was limited there, it still happens of course but not always and that is important for a lot of reasons if you think hard about it.
Now onto the comments, there were plenty from the last chapter and I thank you all for them. Yes I read them all. On the one from PratorXyn… dude Sun Wukong eats dragons for breakfast… There is op and there is Sun Wukong, the guy is broken to the point that took Buda, a being above the gods themselves, to stop his rampage. A dragon devil fruit is powerful, sure but believe me when I say this, if there was a Sun Wukong devil fruit he wouldn't be equal to the Yonkou, he would bitch slap them. The original Monkey King literally entered a dragon's palace to get a weapon and left with one of their pillars because no other weapon was good enough. A really heavy pillar(google it).
Then, every time a dragon that knows about Sun Wukong meets him after that incident they shit in fear and do everything he says… And all that was before he made a mess of heaven.
Now Kaido is strong but it is Kaido, wanna see a weak dragon? Momonosuke! The power of a devil fruit is more than the fruit itself… But a Monkey King devil fruit means that at the very least he would be so strong physically that he would be Saitama from One Punch Man… and that is not even counting the magical powers… Let that sink in for a bit.
Also still on his comment, as you all can tell I am jumping everything is too similar to cannon and on some events I give another point of view like the one here. Of course there are other factors but I agree that we had a little bit too much of the entrance of the Grand Line on fanfics.
I won't lie and say that I ain't excited to get to the different stuff but I need to make content for a good story and to be fair One Piece is not an easy thing to write in cannon because too much stuff takes to another and the story is extremely linear.
For the record that is not a bad thing but it is hard to deviate, the only reason I am able is because I accepted the need of give up moments that the original had between other stuff and even then it is basically impossible to insert filler, it is the why many of the 'official fillers' are weak, because the reality is that the story of One Piece doesn't have space for them.
Want to understand what I am saying? Check how much down time the main crew has on the manga and count how many flashbacks Oda uses to show some semblance of normality on the islands the Straw Hats visit. Again, not a bad thing for the media of manga but in writing it makes this extremely hard because any change needs to be planned a lot ahead.
Question? Thoughts? Feel free to leave a comment even if just to motivate me or to criticize.
Also Zoro vs Mihawk? Patience, it will happen but not so soon.
Next Chapter: A Princess Quest.