Wrath of the Demon King

Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece.

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Everyone gathered the bruised bodies of their new friends and shipmate, and immediately, Kirsty began to patch them up. Azu had a few cracked ribs, Arisa had a broken arm, the Saruyama Alliance was banged up even worse than before, and the group of four kids from before were completely out of comission. Devon spent his time pacing around the wrecked house until one of them came to.

Cricket was the first one, followed by Arisa and then Azu.

Devon stomped up to the three of them, "Where the hell is my brother, what the hell happened here?!"

The old man propped himself against the wall of his house, holding his side. He looked up at the night sky, taking careful breaths.

"WELL?!"

"I didn't think they'd come back here," Cricket muttered, "Not after what happened last time. This time, though, they took the gold and the kid back with them,"

"Who?" Devon demanded, face turning red, "Who came?!"

"It was some guys at the bar we saw while looking for you during the Death Roots shit," Azu rasped, careful of his ribs, "One guy made giant springs out of his legs and one guy had this weird, curved blade,"

Devon tensed so much, even his katana sheaths began to shake, "Sarquiss of the Bellamy Pirates," he growled, bangs covering his eyes, "Bastard...," he cracked his neck, "HERMAN!"

The merman walked up to him, "What do you need?"

"A ride back to Mock Town," Devon muttered, walking past him, "I'm going to get my brother back from those asses!"

Herman turned to Axe, who nodded silently, then followed Devon to the coast and jumped into the water.

"All aboard the Lobster Express," the merman cracked.

Devon looked down at his swords, "Someone...will die tonight. I swear it in Odin's name...someone will die tonight!" he removed his gladius swords and Water Moon, leaving only his cursed blade at his hip before hopping onto Herman's back.

"You're not going alone, baka," Niri muttered as she joined him, strapped for a gunfight, "You and Herman are good close range, but you'll need someone to watch your backs,"

"That alright with the Captain?"

"About as alright as you going off alone to get him back," Niri shoved a couple of shells into her shotgun barrels before flipping it back into it's holster, "We all care about Austin, Devon...you don't hafta do this alone,"

Devon didn't even turn to face her, "...alright, come if you want. Keep whoever off our backs and make sure Austin's safe,"

"You have my word, Devon,"

"Good," Devon tapped his nakama's shell, "Herman, let's go. Get us there as fast as possible,"

"You got it...hang on!"

The two pirates on his back nearly fell over as he shot off through the water's surface. Niri held onto Devon's shirt, a calm look on her face. Devon, however, glared utter hatred to what lay ahead. He looked down and unsheathed cursed weapon a little.

"Kitetsu," he murmured under his breath, "Tonight, you will feast on blood and souls!"

Niri couldn't be sure, but she thought she saw a violet glow and spark come out of Devon's sword.

-----

"Hey, Captain, remind me why we're here?"

"Yeah, and remind me why we had to drag him with us?"

"Shut up you perverted skeleton!"

"Make me, asshole!"

Captain Uotani stopped walking and rubbed the bridge her of nose as she listened to the Sergeant and Sergeant-Major behind her get into yet another fight.

Merrian orders me to get any information from the towns nearest to Slayheim, and I have to get stuck with these two idiots, she thought as she shook her head, Maybe I'll just ditch them to see how mother is doing...?

"Hey, Captain, what makes you and Merrian think we'll get any info on these kids here?" Dalu asked, walking up alongside her, "I've looked around, there's a lot of wanted men and women here, how are supposed to find these guys?" he asked, thrusting a stack of WANTED posters in her face.

Uotani calmly pushed the papers away, "I grew up in this town, Dalu, and if there's one thing I know is that information is abundant here. Whether it be rumors, arrogant outlaws, or the actual truth, there's always information lurking around Mock Town,"

Bones walked along her other side, "So, where are we supposed to start?"

"The tavern's are always a nice place to start," the violet-haired Marine said quietly as she veered off the street, heading for a tavern where a lot of yells and cheers were coming from. The three of them entered and as soon as they did, it went quiet. Every single patron stopped what they were doing and looked at them, looking as though they were on edge.

Bones sighed, "Always happens...,"

"Yep," Dalu looked around, "Every time...,"

Uotani calmly walked to the front of the bar and turned around, facing everyone in the bar. She cleared her throat, "I am Captain Uotani of the Marines Special Forces. You can relax, we are not here to arrest any of you, we just need some information," she said loud and clear.

"Yeah, right!" a woman from the back shouted, "Get outta here, Marine bitch!"

The Captain just ignored the woman and snatched the posters away from her subordinates and tacked them to a nearby wall, "The new WANTED posters should come very soon, but since we're in a hurry, I'll give you a sneak preview. Does anyone know anything about this group?" she asked, backing away from her work.

The patrons looked at the posters and nearly fell out of their seats.

"It's those guys!"

"Those can't be real!"

"We're fucked!"

Uotani held up her hand, "I assure you, these posters are quite real. Issued by Marine HQ, these are the faces of a group of individuals who have made an impression in recent days. Have any of you been reading the paper?"

"Yeah, I have," a tall man from the middle of the tavern rose to his feet, "Why?"

"These people," Uotani pointed to the posters, "...are responsible for the fall and destruction of Slayheim,"

The tavern went quiet again.

"Now, I'll ask again," Uotani walked forward, "Do you know anything about these people?" she asked, pointing to the posters again.

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE
Captain Axe of the Axe-Head Pirates
Reward: 378,000,000 Beli

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE
Devon the Demon King
Reward: 113,000,000 Beli

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE
Niri Zolaro
Reward: 38,000,000 Beli

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE
Azu "Dizzy" Baba
Reward: 42,000,000 Beli

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE
Duncan Jeffrey Macleod
Reward: 39,000,000 Beli

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE
Chizuru Ukita
Reward: 29,000,000 Beli

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE
Dustine "Dusty" Wenata aka "Fox Dust"
Reward: 50,000,000 Beli

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE
"White Dragon Kirsty"
Reward: 140,000,000 Beli

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE
"Pingu the Pimp of Penguins"
Reward: 100 Beli

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE
"Blood Fist Austin"
Reward: 1,000,000 Beli

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE
"Crimson Claw Herman"
Reward: 46,000,000 Beli

"Anyone?" Uotani scanned the bar, "If you haven't seen them, any information will suffice, but we do need something to work with here,"

The woman who called her a bitch before stood up, "I saw that kid," she pointed to Austin's poster, "A little while ago. Bellamy and his gang were hanging around him,"

Uotani looked at her, "Where is this Bellamy?"

------

Bellamy the Hyena was in his favorite tavern in another part of Mock Town, enjoying his drink and watching his crew push around the brat they had nabbed from Old Man Cricket's place when they stole his gold again. The brat's hands and arms were tied with thick rope, and a rope leash was tied around his neck. The Hyena laughed as the kid fell onto his knees in front of him. He downed his drink and leaned down, a boot on the kid's head.

"You got poor luck, kid! Having a brother who attacked a crewmate of mine, being in a place that had such wonderful gold, and even trying to fight us while the rest of your idiot friends were off somewhere," he grinned widely, "Tell ya what, kid, I'll make you a deal. I'll untie you myself if you swear allegiance to me. We could always use a cabin boy around the ship!" he cackled.

Austin shrugged his boot off his head and launched a glob of spit that landed in Bellamy's eye. The Hyena wiped the loogie off and glared at the kid, "BRAT!" he slid off his stool and kicked Austin so hard, he went flying out of the tavern's swinging doors.

"Someone go get that piece of shit and drag him back in here!" he shouted, turning back to his drink.

"Got it, Bellamy," one of the male patrons left his table and went through the doors to retrieve the captured boy.

Lily put her head against Sarquiss' shoulder and ran her finger along his bare chest, "How you feeling, Sarquiss? I bet you can't wait to give that punk some payback!"

"You got that right, Lily," Sarquiss gripped his kukri knife, "That sonofabitch is gonna pay for humiliating me in front of the whole town!"

"Damn right, Sar-," Lily was cut off as a loud scream from outside came into the tavern. Everyone became quiet and looked towards the door, except for Bellamy, who was drinking another beer. The entire bar kept staring at the double swinging doors until they were flung open and something came flying into the bar. Startled shouts echoed around the Bellamy Pirates when they saw the head of the patron who had exited the bar a short time before to grab their captive.

Sarquiss smiled and climbed to his feet, gripping his kukri, "Looks like he came. Kid's fast,"

"What did you expect, we have his brother?" Bellamy downed another drink, "Let's go out and meet him, shall we?"

Bellamy, Sarquiss and the rest of their crew left the tavern and the first thing they saw was a katana piercing a headless torso, blood running along the blade. Behind the torso, Devon planted his boot onto the back and shoved the corpse off his sword, hateful eyes glaring towards Sarquiss and Bellamy.

The blonde pirate captain laughed and walked forward a bit, "So, the Demon comes back to Mock Town. Here for the gold and the brat, huh?"

"I could care less about Cricket's gold," Devon said coldly, "You took my brother, and for that, you're gonna die tonight,"

Sarquiss grinned and held out his kukri sword, "I want a rematch, punk,"

Devon glared at him, "All this for a rematch? Fine, you want a rematch, you got one," he looked at the people behind Bellamy and Sarquiss, "Don't interfere with this,"

"Or what?" a burly man grinned, "We can do whatever we want, there's more of us than you or your brat brother!"

BAM!

The man went down with a bullet in the shoulder.

"That's what'll happen," Devon smiled, "I have backup here. One of our nakama is watching us right now through the scope of her rifle, ready to pick any of you off if you interfere," he pointed to the roof of the tavern, "then there's my big friend,"

Bellamy looked up and over his shoulder to see a large lobster merman standing on the roof, arms folded and a calm look on his face. He couldn't help but laugh as he turned back to Devon, "I tell ya kid, you're something. How's about you and your friends join my crew?"

"Fuck no,"

Sarquiss scowled, "You'd rather die then? Fine," he started walking over to Devon, "You're dead!"

-----

On top of a nearby building, Niri sat perched behind a chimney, rifle still smoking from her last shot. She took a careful look around the town and before she locked back onto the group of kidnappers, she noticed something she didn't expect to see at all in Mock Town.

Marines! Three of them, and one of them dressed in the uniform of a captain.

Shit! Niri turned her rifle to them and looked through her scope, "Not gonna pick them off, but might as well see who they are...," she murmured as she looked them over.

The two male Marines were odd looking and were having a fight, but Niri's attention was soon focused on the Captain. She had long violet hair and a beautiful face, but the one thing that made her take an interest in her was the pair of white wings coming out of her back.

"No fuckin' way!" Niri rubbed her eyes, "She's just like Devon and Austin!"

-----

"Big Chop!"

Once again, Sarquiss came flying at Devon, spinning around and around as he did. However, instead of stopping him with a fleeting slash, Devon simply raised his Kitetsu and stopped the giant kukri sword cold. Sarquiss stared at him, "The hell?!"

Devon cracked his neck and pushed off with the cursed sword. With the extra power given to him by it's curse, he sent Sarquiss flying past Bellamy and the rest of his crew, right into the tavern. Bellamy couldn't help but smile at what was happening, "Not bad, kid, not bad. Hey, Sarquiss! Get your ass back out here!"

Cursing came from the large hole in the tavern as Sarquiss climbed back to his feet and walked out, a very pissed off look on his face.

"Why are you praising this kid, Bellamy?!"

"Relax, Sarquiss, I know he can't beat you, but I can't help but like what I see,"

"Good, because I'll be the last thing you ever see...," Devon charged at them, "DIE YOU SONSOFBITCHES!"

The bystanders watched as Devon bum rushed Sarquiss, and as their swords clashed, something strange happened. A bright flash of light filled the area and once again, Sarquiss was sent flying through the air.

-----

Niri had finally turned away from the trio of Marines and went back to covering Devon in his fight, but as she watched him fight, she something was very different with her nakama. Devon had the look of a madman on his face, and a grin that sent chills down her spine. Looking closer, she saw that his eyes had changed from the usually calm eyes she had come to known, to a pair of reddish eyes filled with bloodlust.

"What the hell...?"

What made it even worse was that besides Sarquiss, Devon was now cutting down anyone that didn't get out of his way.

"Devon, what the hell is wrong with you?!"

-----

"I love this," Devon's darker half cackled as he slashed the throat of another pirate in his way, "Thank you, for letting me out to play...,"

'I didn't let you out, but since your out, make them pay for what they've done!'

"You got it," Evil Devon rammed his sword through three people, then pulled the blade out from the side, making them spurt fountains of blood from their stomachs, "COME ON WEAKLINGS, IS THIS ALL YOU HAVE FOR ME?!" he turned to Sarquiss, who actually now looked a bit afraid of him. Evil Devon licked the blood off the side of his face and turned to him, Kitetsu glowing, "C'mere, asswipe...bring your pretty guts to my sword,"

He started to advance on him, but before he got into arms length, both Devon and his darker half found themselves coming to a complete stop. They tried to move their arms and their legs, but it was useless.

"The hell is going on?!"

"Well, well...it looks like I've come at an interesting time. Bellamy, Sarquiss, just what have you been doing?"

Devon could hear people murmuring and loud footsteps all around him and he could tell that the audience was backing away. He also heard both Bellamy and Sarquiss shout something before being drowned out by the onlookers.

"What the hell is going on?!" Devon tried to move his head, but couldn't, "I can't see!"

"Run!"

"Get away from them!"

"Don't push me! It's a fight of nakama!"

-----

From the rooftop, Niri watched the events unfold and she noticed that both Herman and Austin had the same confused looks on their faces. She looked at Bellamy and Sarquiss and was surprised to see that Bellamy was now bleeding and holding his side while Sarquiss' blade was dripping blood...possibly Bellamy's.

Off to the side, she saw something that sent another chill down her spine. There, sitting on a large barrel, was a man in a pink feather coat, black pants with red stripes, and what looked like black slippers. He held out two arms: one pointing at Sarquiss and one at Devon, his fingers curling up and straightening out.

"Don Quixote Doflamingo..," her rifle began to shake, "...former bounty of 340,000,000 beli! Shit!" she rose up from her spot and started pacing on the rooftop, tugging at her hair, "Great, now we gotta deal with these asses, Marines, and NOW a Shichibukai is here?! SHIT! SHIT, SHIT, SHIT, SHIT!"

-----

Doflamingo released Devon from his hold, allowing the swordsman to witness what was going on. Now in full control of his body again, Devon watched as Doflamingo smiled, staring at Bellamy and Sarquiss from behind his purple sunglasses.

"Whether Sky Island exists or not...whether the City of Gold is a myth or not...," Doflamingo spread his arms, "None of that matters. Use opposing ideas to your advantage and subdue them, isn't that what I told you? Well, Bellamy?"

'What the hell is this asshole doing, he's taking our kill!'

Shut up... Devon hissed mentally, Just watch...I don't know why, but I'm getting a feeling from this guy.

"I don't need two-bit trash in my following, kiddies," Doflamingo raised a hand again, a cruel smile on his face.

"DAMMIT! I CAN'T CONTROL MY BODY!"

Devon looked at Sarquiss, who seemed to struggle against some invisible force as his arm was raised, kukri blade in his hand.

"Please, stop! Don't make me do this!" the blue haired man screamed before slicing Bellamy hard with his weapon, "NO!!!"

The area became quiet as Bellamy hit the street floor, blood pooling underneath him. As he watched the strange event take place, Devon saw that Austin was coming out of hiding, watching the fight without any obstructions.

"P..Please...give me another chance...,"

"He's not dead?" Devon looked closer to see that Bellamy was clearly still alive.

"I...we will follow you!" the Hyena begged the Shichibukai in front of him, "I lost, but I swear on your symbol that I won't turn my back on your ideals!" he looked up at Doflamingo, "But this is how I do things! Even if I drive out the feeble weaklings, I will still reach your position someday!"

Doflamingo rose from the barrel, "An obedient subordinate. Bellamy, I've always liked that about you," he turned and started walking away, right in Devon's direction, "The New Era will soon be upon us, do as your please," he came to a stop and turned to them again, "However, you have no place in my following..," he raised his hand again.

"DOFLAMINGO!!!" Bellamy screamed just as Sarquiss raised his sword again behind him.

Moments later, the screams of Bellamy the Hyena died and the screams of his nakam filled the air as Doflamingo walked off. He took a glance at Devon, smirked, and walked off again, fingertips on his forehead. Devon took this moment to run to his little brother, who now had blood splashed against his clothes and a bit on his chin.

"Austin, you okay?" he asked, kneeling to his level, "They didn't hurt you too badly, did they/"

Free of the ropes, Austin shook his head and raised his hands, "The Hyena...got what he deserved, didn't he, big brother?"

Devon nodded, "Yeah, he did. C'mon, everyone's waiting,"

"Don't forget the gold,"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know...,"

After regrouping and getting both Cricket's gold and Austin back, the group of pirates walked back to the harbor. However, as they walked there, Niri saw the three Marines standing in their path. Devon glared at them and reached for his blade, but stopped when he saw the wings poking out from over the woman's shoulder.

"Impressive display, Demon King," the female captain greeted, "I can't help but wonder what else you're capable of since you helped in the downfall of Slayheim,"

"If you're hear to arrest us, then you gotta fight," Devon hissed, "We're not easy to take down,"

"Indeed, you aren't," Uotani looked them over before her eyes rested on Austin's blood stained front, "I saw what happened with them, Demon King. I see that you care very deeply for your brother,"

Devon nodded, "He's all I have left...besides my nakama. Anyone messes with my brother, they deserve every ounce of pain I give them," he looked at the three of them, "You here to arrest us, or what?"

Uotani looked at them and stepped out of their way, dragging her subordinates with her.

"Thank you," Devon nodded to her and started walking down to the harbor, his friends in tow.

Bones and Dalu stared at Uotani, "WHAT THE HELL, CAPTAIN?! We're just gonna let them go like that?!"

Uotani stared at the backs of the departing pirates. Devon's shirt was torn in the back, probably ripped from the fight, but she could see a white wing pressing against the inside of the shirt.

"Captain! What the hell?!"

"Shut up, Dalu," Uotani couldn't help but smile, "We were sent here to gather information, not make arrests. There'll be another time,"

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Kilnorc: Oh man, that was a long chapter -cracks knuckles- This turned out to be one of the ones I planned to be really action packed, but it didn't turn out that way. Oh well, I think it's still enjoyable. Before I go, I would like to thank Shidyk D. Shade for his help in the new bounties of the Axe-Head crew.

On the next chapter of Homeland...

Dusty: HOLY SHIT! We got new bounties, and look how high we are!

DJ: This is a mistake! I've got way less than Devon!

Axe: Dude, I got more than some of the Shichibukai! Awesome! I'm rising through the ranks!

Devon: C'mon, we're all set, let's go find that Knock-Up Stream!

New Bounties and the Journey to the Sky!

Herman: Wonder how many people know about these posters?