Welcome to Mock Town

Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece.

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As Axe and his crew anchored the ship in the harbor, a woman with a well-toned body sat on a barstool, taking a drink of her order while looking at a bounty poster she had gotten a long time ago.

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE
Azu "Dizzy" Baba
Reward: 9,000,000 Beli

The woman stared at the poster intently, "Where are you, you sonofabitch...?"

"You a bounty hunter?"

She looked up at the bartender, "You could say that...," she turned the poster around, "Ever seen this guy?"

"Sorry, can't say that I have," the bartender shook his head, "Low bounty though, ain't he? You really want to find him, huh?"

"Oh yeah,"

"Why, he do something to you?"

The woman downed her drink and grabbed a large bag on the floor and slung it over her shoulder, "You can say that...,"

-----

"ACHOO!" Azu sniffed and wiped his nose, "Some babe must be talking about me somewhere," he grinned and flexed his muscles, 'That's the power of beer, guys!"

Shifter rolled his eyes as he shouldered the bag of supplies his new friends had given him, "I guess this is where we go our own ways. Good luck to you guys," he held out his hand, "...thanks for all your help,"

Axe nodded and shook his hand, "You take it easy, Shifter-,"

"Ian,"

"Alright, Ian," Axe smiled, "Watch yourself, alright?"

"I will," Shifter turned and started walking down one of the streets into Mock Town, waving back at them as he did.

Dusty sighed, she was going to miss him. He may have been annoying and caused trouble for them, but she still felt a connection with Shifter, "Think he's gonna be okay?"

Chizuru nodded, "From what I've heard of this place, he'll be safe for awhile. Pirates and other outlaws always come here, so it's like a safe haven for them. Don't worry about him, Dusty, he'll be safe,"

"Hope soe...," Dusty sighed again and looked around, "Hey, we're missing some people!"

Herman shook his head, "We're fine, Dusty," he jerked a thumb to the ship, "DJ's guarding the ship, I'm gonna go find some food supplies, and I think Kirsty said something about medical stuff and comic books?" he shrugged.

"Okay, but where's Devon and Austin?" Niri looked around, "They ditched us!"

Chizuru shook her head, "They went off to find anything they could about this place. They said they'd be back soon,"

"Won't they get lost?"

"Oh no, not with Austin's Mantra. They can just lock onto us and come back like that," Chizuru snapped her fingers, "No way they can get lost,"

-----

"Okay, we are so lost," Devon scratched his head as he and his brother looked around, "Jaya Island...Mock Town...already, I'm lost and confused,"

"You remind me of Zolo with that, big brother," Austin said in sign language, smiling from ear to ear.

Devon slowly ground his knuckles into his little brother's head playfully, "Watch it, kiddo,"

"Hey, asshole, move out of my way!"

Before Devon could turn to see who said that, he was knocked off his feet and hit the street hard. Rubbing his head, Devon glared up at the person who knocked him down while Austin held up his fists, ready to fight.

Two people, a man and a woman looked down at the two of them. The man was tall, had long, light blue hair, wore a white coat, a pair of strange blue shades over his face and had a tattoo of a skull on his chest. The woman had long blonde hair covered in a red bandanna and she also wore a white coat, as well as a large pair of sunglasses.

The man looked down at the two of them, "I told you to get outta my way. Next time, listen,"

The woman giggled cruelly, "Better listen to him, boys," she patted the man on his bare stomach, "This is Big Knife Sarquiss of the Bellamy Pirates. He's got a bounty of 38,000,000 Beli on his head,"

Devon scoffed and sat up, dusting his jacket off, "Is that all?" he jerked a thumb to himself, "I got 40,000,000 pal, so up yours,"

Again, the woman laughed, "You? 40,000,000 Beli, please!" she pointed to Austin, "What's the brat have? 20,000,000?"

The two brothers exchanged looks before look back at them.

"Kid's eleven years old," Devon climbed to his feet, "Doesn't need a bounty,"

"Is that right?" Sarquiss walked right up to him, looking down at Devon (who stood a few inches lower than him), "Move,"

Devon grinned as his fingers tapped his sword sheathes, "Make me...,"

Austin shook his head and dove to the side, Here we go again!

-----

Kirsty looked at the shelves in the shop she had stopped by. As a roaming doctor, she was always open to new treatments and medical ideas. She had stopped by this shop after finding a cozy little bookstore and buying a few comic books and informative books about the area, which now lay in the bag in one of her hands. As she scanned the contents of the shelves, she shook her head, "This is just a bunch of crap,"

"I know...,"

Kirsty jumped at the new voice, which had just spoken beside her. She turned to see a young woman with violet hair tied in a ponytail and a pair of glasses on top of her head. Kirsty gave her a nervous smile and the two women stood there in silence until one of them decided to speak up.

"My name's Kirsty," the blonde held out her hand, "I'm a doctor on a ship that just came into town,"

The woman with violet hair smiled, "Oh, so you're a doctor, too?" she grinned and shook her hand, "Small world, so am I! My name's Shan by the way,"

"Nice to meet you, Shan,"

"Nice to meet you too, Kirsty,"

-----

Chizuru looked around the town as she and Azu walked through the streets. One part of town looked pretty badly damaged. Large holes in nearby buildings, the wooden planks of the street, and chunks of rubble were seen everywhere.

"My my, looks like this place has seen a bit of action recently," Chizuru commented, "Wonder what happened?"

Azu shrugged, "I dunno. So, what are we gonna-?" he was suddenly cut off as a blur brushed against him and sped away, carrying Azu's clay jug as it ran.

"HEY, GET BACK HERE!" Azu took off in a dead run, eyes locked on the thief, or rather the jug in the thief's hand, "GIMME THAT BACK!"

The drunken boxer chased after the thief for a few blocks until they both came to a stop, letting Azu get a good look at the thief. She had long, light brown hair, wore brown short shorts, a tight blue shirt and combat boots, as well as a hockey mask over her face.

"Oi oi oi, asshole, you take my saki, you just got yourself into a world of hurt!"

The thief tossed the jug back to him and as Azu caught it, the thief surprised him by suddenly appearing in front of him, only to bring a large hockey stick down onto his head. Azu yelped and backed away, holding his head, "SONOFABITCH! YOU ASSHOLE, YOU'RE JUST ASKING FOR AN ASS-KICKING!" he screamed as Chizuru came running up to them, daggers at the ready.

"AZUMAMARO BABA!" the thief shouted from behind her mask, "I FINALLY FOUND YOU!"

Chizuru turned to Azu to ask who this was, but when she looked at him she was surprised to see Azu not only startled by the thief, but he seemed to be trembling at her voice.

Azu slowly backed away, eyes locked on the female thief as she removed her mask to reveal a beautiful face, "Oh...crap! Not her! Anyone and anything but her!"

The woman held her hockey stick over her shoulder, a very annoyed look on her face as she looked at the drunken boxer. Azu gulped and waved weakly at her.

"H-H-Hey, Arisa...," he smiled nervously, "W-W-What brings you away from good ol' Water 7?"

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Kilnorc: There's that chapter, folks! To those who have read Death Root, a fanfic by Dude of Doom, the next few chapters will seem familiar.

On the next chapter of Homeland...

Chizuru: So, Azu, who is this girl?

Azu: It's a long story...by the Eight Gods, why me?

Devon: He called himself a swordsman? That was pathetic!

Niri: We're being followed...

Axe: I know, I know, just pretend you don't see them.

Arisa and Abduction of Nakama

Axe: Damn mercenaries, we just got done with this crap!