BROTHER ON BOARD
Bluejay Blaze - Funny you should mention Dragon... stay tuned!
The Poarter - You noticed that bit, did you? She's not. I actually went back and added "earlier this year" to show that it can't be Bonnie Anne since she's been with Sabo for two years. That's just me setting up for a funny subplot that someone suggested last year. It's going to come into play further down the line.
PsychopathOnADiet - I probably need to read more One Piece fanfics. I haven't seen 'Blue Gentleman' used before. But thanks for the submission!
manna-chan - Makes sense. I guess that's another vote for the Blue Gentleman.
Pancakes1708 - Thanks. That's three-in-a-row for Blue Gentleman. Looks like we have an early favorite.
Hiezen - Just 'Gentleman', okay I'll add it to the list. As for Stelly, since the recent manga chapter showed what he's been up to I figured I'd show him working towards that since he's a character that's associated with Sabo.
The Patient One - Smoker's going to be introduced next chapter. I haven't read TheVictor's story. Was the name he used 'the Blue Gentleman'?
Guest 1 - Blue Gentleman is something that I seem to be seeing a lot too. Maybe I really should start looking for those fanfics...
Guest 2 - Wild Gentleman. Well that's different. Thanks!
Guest 3 - Luffy as a Warlord? I doubt he'd like that very much.
Narya Anima - I figure that Ace is a lot happier in general since Sabo's still alive. So expect me to play up his carefree narcolepsy quirk.
lostdog200 - Sounds like a recipe for disaster! I was just showing Stelly since he's a character that's associated with Sabo and was recently shown in the manga. All the other Straw Hats have supporting characters that are paying attention to their exploits. I figured Sabo's so-called family would be interested in him.
Johnny Spectre - Revenge of the East Blue baddies is close at hand! Luffy and Sabo... BEWARE!
Lunapok - How many fanfics are there that call him 'Blue Gentleman'? I'm surprised that I missed them all.
BedofRoses1989 - Top Hat, Peacemaker and Blue Gentleman. Thanks for the submissions. And thanks for name dropping a story that Blue Gentleman was used in. Nami has to get sick... or they'll never have to go off course to find Chopper. The other Straw Hats don't appear to get sick. Mortally wounded and poisoned, yes, but never sick. Even Usopp's never actually sick. So that's a One Piece event that's sort of set in stone.
Chrisfragger - Even a band of losers can get the better of a 'winner' when they don't see it coming.
rasEnshur1KEn - Gunner Master... that seems to the inverse of Sabo's name for Usopp's position of Master Gunner. But I'll put it on the list.
AnyMoreBrightIdeasGenius - You're on the list! (And so is Nami as the President of the Anti Bonnie Anne Fan Club) Thanks for the suggestions, Blue Gentleman, Gentleman Sharpshooter, and Pistolwhip.
Rswier - Dark Horse Sabo... has sort of a cowboy feel to it, doesn't it? Speaking of cowboys, I'm totally including Daddy the Father in this chapter. But also stay tuned for that familiar big eyed girl you mentioned. I said early on that I thought of a way to work her in. And she has been!
PirateDragons121 - I guess that's another vote for Blue Gentleman. I don't think Sabo will like being called 'noble' but some people's nicknames annoy them. Thanks for the ideas.
Fairy of the Friz - Thanks! Stay tuned for interactions between Sabo and another couple of familiar characters. Straw Hat and Top Hat. Yeah, hopefully the homeless bum from last chapter doesn't feel left out.
Mikila94 - Yes. Yes she will. Garp doesn't know about Bonnie. But Makino, Dadan and the mountain bandits do. I'll show their reactions in a flashback at some point. And me a LuNa shipper? What makes you think that? *Grins!*
yuzukikuran476 - Will do! Thanks again for all the reviews. If you spot mistakes point them out and I'll fix them. And no, Nojiko is not part of the pairing. She was just a fling and a way to explore Sabo and Bonnie relationship.
Fan - Wow, three suggestions, thanks. Personally I like 'Daunting Debonair' the best. 'Riflegeist' is more Bonnie's nickname.
Loguetown-
"Here we are," Nami announced as the Straw Hat Pirates stood under a wooden arch at entrance to the Loguetown. "Loguetown… they call it 'the Town of the Beginning and the End.'"
"Whoa!" Luffy gasped in unfiltered excitement, "So this is the place where the Great Pirate Era began?"
"This is a really big town… I'd actually call it a city," Sabo remarked as he scanned the tall buildings that ran along the length of the tiled street. He'd once again broken out Bonnie Anne's strap and had his girlfriend on his back pointing upward. "It looks like it covers the entire island!"
"It nearly does," Nami informed him. "This patch of islands is called the Polestar Islands. This island is almost completely covered by Loguetown. It's usually the last stop most pirates make to get supplies before heading to the Grand Line."
"I wanna see the execution scaffold!" Luffy exclaimed. He darted off before anyone could stop him.
"Don't look at me," Sabo stated as he folded his arms across his chest, "I've got stuff to do. I'm not going after him." The other Straw Hats didn't seem too eager to chase after Luffy either.
"I should probably stock up on food," Sanji resolved.
"I need to buy some new equipment for the Usopp Factory," Usopp stated.
"There's something I need to buy too…" Zoro admitted as Sanji and Usopp headed off.
"Of course, the sword-hoarder needs more weapons," Sabo noted.
Zoro glared at him, "Well, I doubt you have many bullets left after fighting those fishmen and marines."
"True, shopping for ammo is one of those things that Bonnie and I have to do," Sabo agreed.
"I can loan you guys some money!" Nami offered with a wide smile that was way too friendly. Then lowered her voice and whispered under her breath. "…at three hundred percent interest of course."
KER-CHOW!
A number of civilians jumped at the loud gunshot and turned to see Sabo reach back and fondly pat the smoking barrel rifle.
"Bonnie doesn't seem to think that's a good idea," he noted. "So I'll pass. I'm not gonna accept a loan from you without a written contract detailing the money I'd owe you back."
CLICK!
Nami didn't speak rifle and had no intention of ever learning but she was pretty sure that Bonnie Anne had either just cursed at her or insulted her from on Sabo's back as the Quartermaster carried her off. Nami glared after the rifle then turned back to her other potential sucker—uh… client.
"I don't know if I should accept either," Zoro commented.
"C'mon, are you really gonna take the rifle's advice over mine?" Nami prodded him. "You hate that rifle almost as much as I do."
"I don't care about the rifle," Zoro told her, "It's the nutjob carrying it around that pisses me off. But even I can't deny that he knows what he's talking about when it comes to money and negotiating."
"Fine, because you're a friend I'll give you a special discount and only charge you two hundred percent interest," Nami proposed. "News flash, swords are expensive and you're broke. That's my final offer."
"Well that's different then," the flat broke, nearly sword-less swordsman decided, "You've got a deal."
And so the Straw Hats split up and embarked on their separate adventures in Loguetown.
Luffy got lost on his way to the execution scaffold but found a friendly bartender that told him stories about the Pirate King then gave him directions. Zoro encountered a carbon copy of his dead friend Kuina and found himself shopping for swords with her. Nami tried on a bunch of fancy outfits then broke the tailor's heart by not buying any of them. She ended up getting a bunch of casual clothes then watched Usopp compete in a duel against the famous bounty hunter Daddy 'the Father' over a fancy pair of goggles. Finally, Sanji took part in a cooking contest and won the top prize: a Blue-Finned Elephant Tuna.
Sabo made his way down the main street in Loguetown and marveled at the tall buildings.
"Wow… this place is even bigger than the Goa Kingdom," Sabo observed. "The buildings are way taller and there's a lot more of 'em. What do you think Bonnie… should we ask for directions to an ammo store or should we explore a bit?"
Click!
"Alright, the scenic route it is," Sabo resolved as he continued to wander aimlessly down the city street. "Hey look at that fancy place at the end of the road!" Sabo dashed down the road but stopped short when he realized that the fancy building was surrounded by a tall iron fence. "Huh? What's the deal?"
"That place is an exclusive hotel that's closed off to the general public."
Sabo turned to see a young woman with short light brown hair standing further along the fence. She wore a white blouse with a ruffled collar and cuffs underneath a red old-style dress with a slanted belt and a maroon sweater that had belt-like straps on both arms and two lines of gold buttons going down the front. Like Sabo's, her outfit looked like it had come out of Victorian England.
Sabo approached the girl and noticed that she was standing in front of the front gate. He also noticed the girl's most striking feature: her large round eyes similar to that of a…
"Koala!" Sabo blurted out.
The girl blinked. "How'd you know my name?"
"It just came to me," Sabo answered, "It was your eyes… they're big and round like a koala's."
"Rude!" Koala exclaimed. "You're walking around in a top hat and a fancy blue collared shirt… you don't see me calling you 'Dandy Man'."
"That'd be silly," Sabo said, "My name's Sabo."
"I think I'll stick with Dandy Man."
"Geez, I hope that doesn't catch on," Sabo grumbled, "So what were you saying about this place?"
Koala folded her arms under her chest, "It's supposed to be some really fancy, exclusive hotel that caters only to royalty."
"Wow… Talk about a waste of money," Sabo remarked. At Koala's confused look he elaborated. "The only royal family in the East Blue that I know of is the one in the Goa Kingdom. So that's one batch of potential guests in this whole ocean. Maybe royals from the Grand Line or one of the other oceans could visit but that doesn't seem like it would happen very often. I don't see how this place can have a steady source of income… even if those snooty royals can afford to pay millions of berries per night."
KLANK!
The front gate was thrown open and a man with a large rectangular face with squares on his large chin that made it look like a hotel stood in front of them flanked by two guards.
"This is private property!" the hotel-faced man informed them. "You must leave the premises at once!"
"We weren't on the property… we're standing outside it," Sabo pointed out.
"Either way! You and your girlfriend will have to leave immediately!" the hotel-faced man insisted. "We pride ourselves on serving a very exclusive clientele. Might I suggest the Love Hotel down the street?"
Sabo and Koala both went beet red and blurted out, "WE'RE NOT A COUPLE!"
"WE JUST MET!" Koala exclaimed.
"I've got a girlfriend!" Sabo insisted.
KER-CHOW!
"Really?" hotel-man asked. "You're both wearing similar style clothing I could've sworn—NEVER MIND! Both of you leave immediately or I'll call the Marines and report suspicious individuals lurking around my property!"
"Come on!" Koala urged Sabo as she grabbed his arm and dragged him away.
"I hope you go bankrupt and close down!" Sabo called out as he was pulled away from the royalty hotel.
"Shut up!" Koala scolded him, "I can't afford to have you cause a scene and turn a lot of attention towards me!"
"Oh?" Sabo asked as his anger faded and he looked curiously at the girl who was still dragging him. "What're you… some kind of undercover secret agent?"
"No… I just finished training with my… uh group," Koala told him. "I'm here with my boss. We're supposed to be keeping a low profile."
"Still sounds like you're a secret agent," Sabo stated.
"I'M NOT A SECRET AGENT!" Koala snapped at him.
"At least not a very good one," Sabo commented, "What kind of secret agent loudly shouts about not being a secret agent? That just draws even more attention to you."
Koala looked around her and saw people staring at them. She quickly tossed Sabo down a nearby alley and stomped in after him.
"You're not gonna mug me are you?" Sabo asked. "'Cause I'm warning you… I don't have much money."
"I'M NOT A SECRET AGENT AND I'M NOT A MUGGER!" Koala shouted at him. "I'M A MEMBER OF THE—" She noticed Sabo's eager expression and cut herself off. "Nice try. That girlfriend of yours must have the patience of a Saint."
KER-CHOW!
"You didn't have to agree with her!" Sabo complained to Bonnie Anne.
"Wait are saying that…" Koala cut herself up again and shook her head. "You know what? I'm not even gonna ask. Something tells me it would just annoy me even more."
"Oh, by the way," Sabo said, "That mysterious boss of yours… does he have a tattoo on his face and wear a dark green cloak?"
Koala's big eyes got even bigger as she stared at him in surprise, "How'd you know that?"
"Lucky guess?" Sabo teased her. She glared at him. "He's standing right behind you."
Koala went stiff then whirled around and found her boss standing behind her. "Dra-I mean, Boss! I wasn't causing a scene! It was all his fault!"
"URK! URK!" the cloaked man gagged.
"Sounds like he's choking," Sabo supplied.
Koala's wide eyes went even wider as she started to panic, "Choking? WHAT DO I DO!?"
"I'll take care of it," Sabo said as he cracked his knuckles. He stepped passed Koala, drew back his arm and socked the choking cloaked man in the stomach.
POW!
PTOI!
The cloaked man spat out a large chicken bone with so much force that it embedded into the alley wall and stuck there like a dart.
"Hm, nice shot," Sabo remarked as he looked from the chicken bone to the cloaked man. "That's what you get for trying to eat the whole chicken at once. Learn some manners, will ya?"
"How did…" Koala stammered as she stared at Sabo in shock.
"My little brother does that all the time," Sabo answered. "His eyes are bigger than his—YOOOUU!" Sabo pointed his finger accusingly at the cloaked man with the tattoo on his face as a distant memory suddenly came back to him. "I remember you… ten years ago… the night of the fire…"
"What happened to you, boy?"
"Old man… the royalty and nobles are… behind the fire… This town smells worse than the Gray Terminal. It smells like rotten people! If I stay here I'll never be free! I'm… ashamed of being born a noble!"
"I know how you feel. I was born in this country, too. But I still don't have enough power to change the country."
"Old man, you really are listening to me, aren't you?"
"Yes, and I'll never forget."
"Hello, boy," the cloaked man greeted him. "I see you managed to get away from that smelly town and those rotten nobles."
"Yeah, I'm free," Sabo confirmed. "Now I'm gonna deal with the problem myself. The royalty and nobles set the Gray Terminal on fire so they could impress one of the Celestial Dragons… the same bastard that nearly killed me when I tried to escape. So now… I'm gonna take down the Celestial Dragons."
The cloaked man grinned widely. "You've got spirit. How'd you like to join my army?"
"I'll pass," Sabo answered immediately causing Koala to face-fault and the cloaked man to sweat-drop.
"I… don't you know who I am?" the cloaked man asked. "I'm Dragon the Revolutionary. I'm the leader of the Revolutionary Army and the most wanted man in the world!"
"Congratulations," Sabo said, "But I'm still not interested. I don't need an army to accomplish my goals. Just one ship and crew of close friends will be enough."
"R-really?" Dragon stammered.
"I'm no revolutionary… I'm a pirate," Sabo stated, "I've got my brother to look after, my girlfriend to free and my dream to pursue. So thanks but no thanks." Sabo slipped passed Dragon and Koala and headed out of the alley. "See you around!"
"Bye Dandy Man!" Koala called out with a wave.
"That's Sabo!" Sabo corrected her.
"I'm still sticking with Dandy Man!" Koala teased him.
"You will see me around!" Dragon insisted. "I haven't given up yet! Mark my words! One day you'll join my army!"
"Don't hold your breath!" Sabo advised as he left the alley and the two revolutionaries behind him. "What a stubborn guy. Bonnie, can you even imagine me working for a guy like that?"
KER-CHOW!
"You can?" Sabo questioned. "Well… that makes one of us."
"Oi, that's the Straw Hats' ship!" Jango called out to the other members of the villainous alliance as they arrived in the Loguetown Docks. "It looks like they beat us here."
"Mohji, set it on fire!" Buggy ordered. "They destroyed the Big Top so now we'll return the favor and flashily burn their ship to a crisp! A ship for a ship!"
"Forget that," Arlong snarled, "I'll sink that toy ship like it's nothing. I'll break it like a twig."
"No don't," Kuro spoke up. "I need that ship to enact the final step of my plan for revenge."
"What are you going to do with that?" Morgan asked.
"I have a reputation to restore," Kuro stated. "I'm going to use that ship to send a message when I sail back to Syrup Village and kill everyone there. Those so called heroes may have foiled my plan but in the end I'll show everyone that I got the last laugh!"
"You do realize that by sparing that ship you're leaving the other Straw Hats with a means to escape," Alvida pointed out.
"My plan doesn't account for any of the Straw Hats surviving," Kuro insisted.
"Except Sabo," Alvida stated.
"WHAT!?" Buggy shouted. "You're going to spare that flashy rifle-bastard!?"
"That depends on him," Alvida replied. She hefted up her mace and tapped it on her hand. "I have no problem breaking a man and bending him to my will. Now… if I know my Sabo… he's probably shopping for ammo for that... girlfriend of his. I'll find him there. You…" Alvida pointed at Mohji. "Come with me."
Mohji looked over at Buggy then shrugged. Soon after, Richie the lion with his purple mane braided like handle bars leapt off of the ship and ran down the street with Mohji and Alvida riding on his back.
"Was that part of your grand plan?" Arlong asked. "Top Hat can be a major pain in the dorsal fin."
"At the very least she should be able to keep him busy," Kuro resolved. "There are more than enough of us here to kill Straw Hat and anyone that's with him. He'll most likely be at the execution scaffold."
"I know where that is!" Buggy announced, "I was there twenty two years ago when they executed the Pirate King. Come on boys, grab a cloak and follow me! We'll execute that wannabe Pirate King on the same scaffold where the real Pirate King died! OUR FLASHY REVENGE IS CLOSE AT HAND! GET READY STRAW HAT! SOON YOUR HEAD WILL ROLL! GYAHAHAHAHA!"
"I bet people could easily get lost in a city like this," Sabo mused as he continued his trek through Loguetown. "Hmm… now… who should we ask for directions to an ammo store? I can't just go up to a random civilian… they might report me to the Marines or—"
KER-CHOW!
CLICK-CLICK!
Sabo suddenly found himself staring down the barrel of two pistols being wielded by a man in a black cowboy hat with a red band going around the base.
"Ah, I bet you know where I can buy some ammo," Sabo remarked.
"Carol, is this man on the newest batch of Wanted Posters?" the gunslinger asked his blonde daughter.
"Nope," the girl answered.
"I did make the front page of yesterday's news," Sabo informed them.
"That's what the long-nosed liar-guy said," Carol pointed out.
"Long Nose… you guys saw Usopp?" Sabo asked.
"I just got back from a duel with him outside of town," the cowboy answered. At Sabo's glare he explained. "He's fine. So is the girl that was with him." He put his pistols back in their holsters.
"Ah, that was Usopp and Nami," Sabo realized, "My Master Gunner and Navigator. I'm Sabo the Quartermaster of our pirate crew."
"Oh, he's the one that was interviewed in the article," Carol realized. "Papa… I think this is the guy that you-know-who told you to keep an eye out for."
"Folks around here call me Daddy the Father," the bounty hunter stated, "This is my daughter, Carol."
"Nice to meet you," Sabo replied. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to help out a fellow gunslinger and point me in the direction of a decent ammo store?"
"I use a place that's a block away from Main Street," the bounty hunter answered. "The door's in an alley between a tavern and one of those tourist trap gift shops."
"Thanks, I'll see if I can find it," Sabo resolved.
"See if you can get that rifle fixed while you're there," Daddy advised. "You could've hurt somebody."
Sabo smirked and shook his head. "For a rifle, Bonnie's perfect the way she is. She wasn't trying to hit anybody… so she didn't. If she wanted to… she would have. You're lucky you were only dueling Usopp because if you were facing Bonnie she would've creamed you. My girlfriend always hits her target."
Sabo turned to go and Bonnie Anne fired on her own.
KER-CHOW!
The father-daughter duo looked up and watched as Bonnie's round tore the crown off of a nearby whale-shaped weather vane.
"Papa… isn't that the same weather vane that long-nose…"
"Yes, yes, it is."
"What a weird guy…"
"Now Carol, you shouldn't call people weird. It's bad manners."
"Uncle Smoker's gonna have a lot of trouble dealing with these pirates, isn't he?"
"You've got that right. I can already tell that there's something different about these pirates… and we haven't even met their Captain yet."
"Looks like this is the place," Sabo observed as he stood at the edge of an alley. On one side of him was a tavern with a bar on the ground floor and six other floors above it that contained either hotel rooms or apartments judging by the balconies that ran along the outside. The building on his other side was a shop with large front windows that sold all sorts of cheap paraphernalia. The other floors above it seemed plain and non-distinct with few windows. There was no telling what as up there.
Sabo spotted a door on the gift shop side of the alley and knocked on it.
Eventually a shutter in the door slid open to reveal a pair of steely eyes. "What do you want?"
"I'm looking for ammo," Sabo answered, "Daddy the Father told me to come here."
The door opened to reveal a man with a cone-shaped head and silver hair that went straight down to his neck and made his head look like a bullet.
"I take it this is the right place," Sabo noted.
"This way," the instructed.
"There he goes…" Alvida remarked as she and Mohji watched Sabo slip through the alley door from across the street. "You did a good job of finding him."
"You can thank Richie for that," the Beast Tamer told hera s he patted his lions head. "He's got the nose and eyes of a wild hunter."
"Now we just need to wait until he comes back out," Alivida resolved, "And then he'll be mine."
Sabo followed 'bullet-head' up a staircase and through a doorway then stopped short and stared in wide-eyed wonder at the sight that greeted him.
"Bonnie… I think we've died and gone to bullet heaven…"
The three floors above the cheap gift shop had apparently been cleared out to make a warehouse that was filled with shelves upon shelves upon shelves of different colored ammo boxes.
"What's your weapon?" bullet-head asked.
"She's an Advanced Wheel-Lock Rifle with added scope and custom revolving action," Sabo answered.
"A custom piece, eh? What kind of ammo do you use?"
"Magnum rounds," Sabo replied.
"You'll find those in the back right corner," bullet-head informed him. "I doubt you're an amateur so I'll leave you to find the right caliber bullet yourself. Grab what you need… I'll be up front when you're done or if you need anything." With that, bullet-head turned and walked off.
"Wooow…" Sabo gasped like a kid in a candy store as he made his way through the numerous shelves. "Who would've thought that a place like this would've existed in the East Blue?"
"Technically it doesn't."
Sabo blinked in surprise as a familiar cloaked man stepped out from the aisle ahead of him.
"What're you doing here?" Sabo wondered. "Are you stalking me? Because I keep getting this weird feeling that someone nearby is creepily obsessing over me."
"This is my secret ammunition store house," Dragon answered. "What are you doing here?" Dragon grinned widely, "Did you change your mind about joining my army?"
"NO!" Sabo snapped. "And if this is your storehouse… why would Daddy the Father send me here?"
"He used to be a marine… but when he resigned he became my informant," Dragon explained. "He keeps me up to date on news in the East Blue and in exchange I give him enough bullets to keep those twenty pistols of his loaded. I told him to keep an eye out for you."
"Why?" Sabo questioned.
"I wanted you to see the resources you'd have at your disposal if you joined my army," Dragon stated. "So now do you want to join?"
"My answer's still no!" Sabo insisted. "Geez, you're almost as stubborn as my brother."
"Take what you need… I'm sure you'll change your mind eventually," Dragon said before he slipped off.
Sabo grumbled to Bonnie as he made his way to the magnum ammunition. "Now I know how Zoro and Sanji felt when Luffy kept pestering them to join us."
Sabo turned his attention to the shelf of their caliber magnum ammo and eyed the numerous boxes. "Wow… they've got way more than just standard bullets… Exploding rounds… flash rounds… rubber rounds… Oh, we could probably use some more blanks after you ended up using so many the other night with Nojiko."
Click!
"No, I'm not blaming you. I was very involved in that too. I think we both enjoyed how that turned out." Sabo pointed Bonnie Anne at the shelf. "See anything you like?" Sabo slowly tilted Bonnie upward as he pointed his rifle at each shelf and ammo type in turn and waited for his girlfriend to tell him what she wanted to use.
Click!
Sabo stopped, "Ah, you wanna try the rubber rounds? Luffy has certainly shown how effective rubber can be when you use it in a fight. But it looks like these rounds are mostly for trick shots…" Sabo shrugged. "Oh well, should be fun. I know better than to doubt you. Let's see… twelve bullets to a box… we got eight boxes back at Usopp's village and we're nearly out again. The Grand Line is supposed to be even tougher so let's get sixteen boxes this time and finish off with two blanks and rubber rounds each. That's gonna be pricey… I guess it's a good thing that Dragon's gonna let us take whatever we want."
Sabo eventually made his way to the front of the ammunition storehouse carrying a total of twenty boxes of bullets. Dragon raised an eyebrow at Sabo's large assortment of ammo.
"What? I'm heading to the Grand Line," Sabo defended himself. "If my adventures there are anything like the ones I had here then these won't even last me a week."
"Well I'm only giving you the one batch for free," Dragon stated. "You'd better make due." He motioned to the empty wooden crate that was next to him. "That also comes with the condition that you don't get caught carrying all those bullets. Stick 'em in here."
"I'd better load up first," Sabo reasoned He quickly loaded three regular bullets and three rubber rounds into his rifle.
"So…" Dragon prodded with a grin, "Have you changed your mind about joining my army?"
"Oh for the love of…" Sabo muttered, "NOT INTERESTED!"
"Fine, I won't ask anymore," Dragon conceded. "One day you'll change your mind and I'll be waiting."
"Whatever you say," Sabo agreed. "But now that I've finished my shopping I need to go find my brother. He was looking for the execution platform but there's a very strong chance that he got lost."
"Good luck on your journey to the Grand Line," Dragon said. "We'll meet again there… if you survive."
The door in the alleyway opened and Sabo carried the medium-sized nondescript crate in front of him with Bonnie strapped on his back.
"Sabo… I've been waiting for you."
Sabo stopped and stared in surprise when he saw the slim dark haired woman in the white cowboy hat at the end of the alley.
"Oh, well that explains the weird stalker feeling I was getting," Saob reasoned. "Do I know you?"
"That hurts, darling," the woman replied. "I can't believe you forgot about me. There hasn't been a day that's gone by where I didn't think of you. You were the first man to ever hit me."
"Hit you?" Sabo repeated. "I can't remember doing that."
"You really don't remember me…" the woman realized. "Maybe you'll remember this…" The woman pulled a huge iron mace out from behind her back. Sabo's eyes widened as he instantly recognized it.
"That mace… ALVIDA!" he gasped. He dropped his crate and pulled Bonnie Anne off of his back.
"So you do remember me," Alvida noted with a smile.
"I… you look a lot different," Sabo pointed out.
"Yes, I know, my freckles are gone," Alvida admitted.
"Uh... yeah I guess..." Sabo agreed, "I kind of mean the fact that you've lost a ton of weight. You're way thinner now."
Alvida gritted her teeth, "Yes… there's that too. I ate a Devil Fruit and this thin body was a side effect. Ever since we first met I've spent every waking moment trying to track you down."
"Oh? Why's that?" Sabo questioned.
"I wanted to tell you that I love you," Alvida confessed, "And I want to make you mine."
Sabo blinked in surprise. "Right… maybe I hit you in the head too hard. I seem to remember telling you last time that I'm in a committed relationship with my rifle."
"I didn't forget about the competition," Alvida sneered. "But let's be serious Sabo. Your little toy can never compare to a real woman. You may care about her… but a gun could never return that—"
KER-CHOW!
Bonnie fired on her own and shot Alvida dead-on in the middle of the chest… or she would have if the round hadn't slipped off of Alvida at the last second.
SWISH!
"Your gun can't do anything to me, lover boy!" Alvida taunted. "I ate the Smooth Smooth Fruit. All of your shots will just slide right off of this new body of mine. Your rifle is worthless against me. That toy is only a pale, pathetic imitation of a real woman. It's time for you to grow up and enter a real relationship."
KER-CHOW!
Bonnie fired again. But this time Bonnie's round was orange in color.
SWISH!
Like the other bullet, the orange round slid harmlessly off of Alvida's body and sailed passed her. But then it struck the outside wall of the tavern and bounced off.
BOING!
The rubber round rebounded and sailed across the alley before it struck the wall of the gift shop and bounced off of that.
BOING!
The ricocheting round shot at Alvida from behind and struck her back…
SWISH!
…but once again it slipped right off of her and finally clattered harmlessly to the ground.
"I see we're going to have to do this the hard way," Alvida realized. "NOW!"
WHAP
Sabo only had time to blink in surprise as a whip shot down from the balcony on the tavern's side of the alley and wrapped around his neck before it yanked him up off of the ground and into the air. Sabo abandoned his hold on Bonnie in order to grab at the whip and keep it from strangling him.
KLAK!
Bonnie Anne clattered to the ground below Sabo while Mohji sneered down at Sabo from on the third floor balcony of the tavern and dangled him a full ten feet above the ground.
"We meet again, Top Hat! You made me look like a fool last time… well now I've got the upper hand."
Alvida stepped forward and drove her boot down onto Bonnie's barrel.
"You have a choice, Sabo," Alvida announced, "You can either choose me and live… or you can choose the rifle and die. After which, I'll take great pleasure in crushing your weapon with mine then I'll feed the pieces to his lion."
Alvida hefted her iron mace up and slapped it on her hand as she stared up at the dangling Sabo with her boot pressed down onto Bonnie Anne.
Meanwhile, Luffy stood on top of the execution scaffold in the middle of Loguetown.
"Wow!" Luffy exclaimed as he stared down at the square below him. "So this is what the Pirate King saw before he died…"
"HEY YOU! GET DOWN FROM THERE IMMEDIATELY!"
Luffy looked down and saw an angry policeman with a megaphone. "Why?"
"THAT SCAFFOLD IS A LANDMARK THAT BELONGS TO THE WORLD GOVERNMENT! GET DOWN—"
CHUNK!
The policeman dropped to the ground with a knife in his back.
"Wah! What happened?" Luffy gasped.
"That was me," a cloaked figure with a bulbous red nose announced as he walked up to the scaffold.
"Huh? Who're you? Why'd you attack that guy?"
"The more pressing questions is…" the cloaked man with the round red nose said, "What am I going to do to you… STRAW HAT LUFFY!"
WHISH!
The cloaked man threw off his cloak to reveal a fully assembled Buggy the Clown.
"Oh… it's just you Buggy," Luffy said.
"DON'T WRITE ME OFF LIKE I'M NOTHING!" Buggy yelled up at him.
"Who're your friends, Buggy?" Luffy asked as he saw four cloaked figures that came up behind Buggy.
WHISH-WHISH-WHISH!
The three smaller figure threw off their cloaks to reveal Kuro, Jango and Morgan.
"GAH! AX-GUY! WEIRDO HYPNOTIST! BUTT-GUY!" Luffy yelped in surprise.
"Shahahaha!" the final and largest cloaked figure laughed, "Looks like you humans need to work on leaving a lasting impression."
WHISH!
"ARLONG!?" Luffy shouted. "WHAT'RE YOU GUYS ALL DOING TOGETHER!?"
"We all united for one common objective Straw Hat," Kuro informed him. "YOUR DEATH!"
"Oh, that's it?" Luffy asked. He shrugged and cracked his knuckles. "Okay. I beat you guys apart. I'll beat you all together. I'm not gonna die here!"
WHING!
Suitably distracted by the sight of his five united enemies, Luffy never noticed the sixth man as he flipped up the back of the scaffold and hit Luffy with a large wooden block.
WHOMP!
Luffy suddenly found himself lying on his stomach with his head and arms hanging off the scaffold as they poked out of the heavy wooden chopping block.
"Hello Straw Hat," Cabaji the Acrobat greeted Luffy as he casually sat on the wooden block. "How is Roronoa Zoro? Since the day we me your crew I've been striving to improve my swordsmanship."
"WHO'RE YOU?" Luffy called up to him causing the acrobat to sweat-drop.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, BOYS AND GIRLS, CHILDREN OF AAALL AGES!" Buggy loudly proclaimed. "I, BUGGY THE CLOWN, IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE BLACK CAT PIRATES AND SAW TOOTH ARLONG… PROUDLY PRESENT TO YOU A FLASHY SPECTACLE UNLIKE ANYTHING YOU'VE EVER SEEN BEFORE! PRESENTING: THE PUBLIC EXECUTION OF STRAW HAT LUFFY!"
The crowd of civilians immediately panicked and started screaming.
"I've gotta admit…" Morgan confessed, "The clown has a natural gift for flair."
"Oh, there's going to be an execution?" Luffy asked.
"YEAH! YOURS DUMBASS!" Buggy yelled up at him.
"WHAT? THAT'S NOT FUNNY! QUIT JOKING AROUND!"
"I'M NOT!" Buggy hollered back. "PREPARE TO DIE, STRAW HAT! THIS TIME THE JOKE'S ON YOU! GYAHAHAHAHAHA!"
So yeah, this was a relatively short mostly Sabo-centric chapter. But Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp and Sanji's solo adventures don't change much from canon/the anime filler so I didn't feel like wasting time by just retyping all of them. I plan on finishing off the East Blue Saga with one big final chapter next week.
Anyway, I asked and you guys delivered. I received a record-breaking (for me) 24 reviews last chapter and most of them contained a suggestion for Sabo's epithet. Thanks to everybody that submitted one.
So far the most popular choice seems to be 'Blue Gentleman' which was used for Sabo's epithet in some other One Piece fanfics that I haven't read. I've been trying to stay away from cliché's with this story but if you guys like that name I'll use it.
Other submissions were: 'Gentleman' Sabo, 'Wild Gentleman' Sabo, 'Top Hat' Sabo, 'Peacemaker' Sabo, 'Gunner Master' Sabo, 'Gentleman Sharpshooter' Sabo, 'Pistol-Whip' Sabo ("She's a rifle damn it!"), 'Dark Horse' Sabo, 'Noble Pirate' Sabo ("I ain't a noble!"), 'Riflegeist' Sabo and 'Daunting Debonair' Sabo
And finally, because the scene with Sabo and Koala practically wrote itself, my submission is Koala's nickname of 'Dandy Man' Sabo catching on. Google search 'Dandy Man' the images that come up are fancy dressed guys with top hats and Tubalcain Alhambra from Hellsing. It seemed to fit.
The poll is open on my profile page. Pick one of the fifteen choices. The power is yours!
Silver signing off
Edited 6-13-16