Chapter 2

With friends like these...

Adrian Crowe laughed out loud as his massive friend plowed through the water at a massive speed with Adrian's Dinghy on top of his head, Adrian guessed the speed at least 50 knots.

He looked at the map, "right so...once we get to the grand line I can start looking for a better ship..."

Abelard's head poked up out of the water, a dolphin in his jaws, he swallowed it before he spoke, "am I going the right way?" Adrian looked at his friend, smiling as he nodded, "Yes! Steady on now, we're almost there!" As he said this, however, a burst of water exploded out of the ocean next to them, "a cannonball?!" Adrian looked around frantically before he saw it, on the horizon was a Massive Galleon, a marine ship, "they must be patrolling the grand line...Hey Abelard!" The monstrous Wotan looked up from where he was, still keeping his head steady as to not tip the boat off his head, "Those bastards are shooting at us!"

Abelard got a bit teary-eyed, "But why? What did we do?"

Adrian groaned at his friend's lack of indignation, "they want to keep us from getting by! More bullies!"

Abelard's nose exhaled steam, as more cannonballs missed their mark, "Oh...I see..."

Like a massive submarine, Abelard submerged, leaving Adrian's Dinghy to spin out in his massive slipstream!

However it wasn't too long before Adrian grabbed an oar and began rowing after Abelard with wild abandon, he had designs on a ship that large, it would not do for Abelard to sink it.

He saw the massive Galleon turning in the water, heading for a sandbar not too far away, Adrian surmised that this was a protocol for a sea monster attack, being that there were so many in these waters. Adrian knew, however, that it would be no use.

True to his assumption, Abelard burst out of the water, running at a slow but inexorable sprint towards the Galleon which was scrambling to reload cannons before Abelard got there.

Too little too late, as Abelard collided bodily with the hull, the metal reinforced bow rocking but not buckling, sending several men falling off the ship! " I'm so tired of bullies!" Abelard growled through more tears as he used an open hand to sweep more people off the deck, "I didn't do anything to you! I wasn't going to hurt you!" More men screamed as he swept them into the water, mostly unharmed. "I just want to go on an adventure with my friend!" He headbutts the hull, mostly in desperation to destroy something that wasn't human, he didn't like hurting people.

The captain of the ship walked out on deck as Abelard was throwing a fit, he was wearing dark green uniform along with a matching cape and captains hat, "HEY!" The man's stern authoritative voice made Abelard pause, "You can speak, so you can be reasoned with, leave my ship alone or I will be forced to resort-" Abelard bellowed at him, punching the hull again, "YOU attacked US! We just wanted to be left alone!"

Abelard's tantrum was silenced by a ship's whistle, he looked down to see Adrian sitting in his boat near Abelard's knee, "lemme up would ya, pal?"

Abelard lifted Adrian up to the deck where he jumped at the sight of the Marine captain, "GEEZUS, Captain Windshear!? Is that you?"

The captain's stern look got even more steely, "Adrian Crowe...I would have thought your designs on the grand line would have been quashed when I sunk your pitiful excuse for a ship."

Adrian growled, "well the foot is on the other shoe now! DAMNIT!" Adrian put his head in his hands, "You practice a revenge plot...and You practice for months...and You mess up a sentence.."

Abelard's eyes widened as he realized this man sank his friend's ship, he clenched his fists as Captain Winshear drew his sword, it was larger than a normal saber, grey and ridged with carvings, it seemed to be made out of stone.

"Ask your monster if he's ever tasted the full brunt of the North wind." As the captain spoke, the wind began to whirl around the sword blade, but before Captain Windshear could use it, Abelard had tilted the ship at such an angle that The Marine captain Fell over and off the other side of the massive boat! Landing in the water. Adrian laughed out loud as he clung to Abelard's massive hand, "man alive, I didn't think it would be this easy to take him down after all this time...Thank you, Abelard, I owe you a debt 2 times over, what say we commandeer his ship! Y'know, as repayment for sinking mine!"

Abelard looked a bit worried, "but...stealing is wrong." Abelard relinquished the ship and it righted itself in the water, giving Adrian enough footing to stand up, a look of exhasperation on his face, "he destroyed mine, so I take his! Fair's fair, right buddy?"

Abelard thought about it for a second, "there were a lot of people on this boat...are you sure you can sail it?" Adrian waved a dismissive hand, "you can just push it, right Abelard? You're a big strong boy!" His voice would have sounded condescending to most but to Abelard it just reminded him of when his mother would praise him for doing household chores, the thought made him giddy.

Abelard giggled childishly, "I am a big strong boy...ok! Where do I push it to?"

With a quick look at his compass and a glance at his map, he pointed towards a place on the horizon where the landmass that ringed the earth split to allow ship's through, "To the Grand line! Where my old crew awaits me!"

Abelard tilted his head as he began to push the ship out of the shallows, "Old crew?" Adrian nodded fast, "Old man White Beard and his "family" were my crew for the longest time, before I got tired of the whole song and dance, so White Beard made a bet with me, that if I came back with a big enough ship, he'd help me refurbish it and give me a full crew!"

Abelard brightened up, a wide smile crossing his face, if it weren't for the innocent happiness in his big blue eyes, the array of teeth would have looked quite menacing, "more friends?" Adrian laughed as he now saw his monster was on board with the plan, "More friends than you can shake a stick at! Let's go!"

Abelard started making his way around the ship when he heard a shout, "TAKE AIM! FIRE!" Suddenly a cannonball collided with Abelard's hip, he screamed in pain as the giant iron sphere cracked his armor plating, rocking him to his very core!

On the sandbar, Captain Windshear and his men had brought out a cannon from a military cellar beneath said sandbar, "you idiots, you missed! Sink the ship! You're going to make things worse for us!"

The crewman who had fired looked at his captain with fear in his eyes, two other crewmen reloading the gun, "But Captain! That's OUR boat! And that monster just took it from us! Shouldn't we be trying to get it back?"

Captain Windshear growled, "I'd rather sink that ship than see it in the clutches of a Pirate bastard like Adrian crowe!"

Abelard's ears were ringing, he'd never been hit so hard by anything, he was bleeding badly from his hip, no bone damage that he could tell, but he was BADLY hurt, he heard Captain Windshear shouting about sinking the boat and he saw red!

"Um...Sir? It's coming this way!" The men all backed up as Abelard dropped down to all fours in the water and began to barrel towards the sandbar again, "Sir we need to get into the cellar! Maybe-" but the captain cut him off, "you're a fool if you think we'd all fit down there...no, he's not going to bother us for much longer."

And as before, Captain Windshear drew his stone blade sword, the wind really roaring around it now, he raised it above his head as Abelard drew closer, "come and get it you lumbering abomination!"

Adrian paused in his hauling up the sails to see the scene unfolding, he had previously had every confidence that Abelard could handle himself, but now he wasn't so sure, "Abelard! Stop!" His voice left him before he could think of anything more to say, his words fell on deaf ears however, because Abelard could hear nothing but the pounding of his own heart in his ears. He roared at the captain before the sword fell in his direction!

The air in front of the captain split in a mile long arc from the point of swing, past the boat! Adrian gasped and braced himself as the gap slammed shut with a thunderous noise, cutting a large gash in the wood of the ship, however the hull did not break!

Abelard's hide splintered once more along his shoulder, The force of the collision of air shredding off more armor plating, causing him to bleed more! Abelard once more screamed, but just as Captain Windshear laughed triumphantly, Abelard had him in his jaws! Trampling the cannon that had hit him earlier!

He chomped his teeth once, twice, thrice more before swallowing the captain's remains, sword and all!

The pain mad Wotan Behemoth then turned his eyes to the rest of the marines, who were all trying to get into the weapons cellar, screaming their heads off, crying for their loved ones, praying to their god.

Abelard immediately began his mad dash for them, when one of the smaller marines stepped towards him, holding out hands with splayed fingers, "I'm sorry! We didn't mean to hurt you!"

One of the older Marines turned and looked, shouting, "Daniels! Get away from it! It's dangerous!"

The Wotan didn't seem to be slowing, but the Marine's hands began to glow blue, Abelard suddenly lost all will to fight, coming to a plodding halt before the young Marine, dropping on to the sand with a magnificent WHOOSH of sand, his pain now too much for his adrenaline to handle, he simply began whimpering.

The other marines each drew their guns, laughing triumphantly as they began to walk towards poor Abelard, "yea! Daniels! How the hell'd you do that!?"

"Now we can kill it!"

The Marine named Daniels turned and spread her arms wide, "stop! We made this poor creature angry! We attacked it and it's friend as they were simply passing through! What kind of monsters are we?"

The marines scrutinized the smaller Marine, "hey...wait a minute...how Old are you?"

"...I'm 21." Answered Daniels, to which the Marines began to laugh, "you sound like a girl, Daniels!"

Daniels puffed out her chest, "so what if I am? There are female marines! I'm living proof!"

That was when Adrian rushed up to his friend's side, "Abelard! Come on, get up!"

Abelard was still crying, "Adrian it hurts...They hurt me...it hurts..."

Adrian was stricken with the sad scene so much so that he actually shed a few tears of his own, Abelard was exactly like a gigantic baby brother, "don't worry buddy we'll get you somewhere safe! I promise!"

The Marines all pointed guns at Adrian, "You! Pirate!"

Daniels could see that she hadn't gotten through to any of her crew, and her hands glowed blue once more, Abelard's eyes glowed blue as he suddenly felt 10 times better!

With a frantic grab, the wounded Wotan grabbed both Adrian and Daniels in his massive claws and began to rush back to the Marine ship which was anchored where Adrian had left it.

Upon reaching the boat he gently placed both Adrian and Daniels on the deck before resuming his efforts to push the ship towards the entrance to the Grand Line!

much angry gunfire bounced off his armor plating as he slowly walked deeper and deeper into the sea, their adventure had now truly begun!