Title: "Can I get Some..."
Word Count: 2023
*Summary (so far): The Third Pirate King sparks the latest Pirate Era. Now, it's been 28 since his execution. In the South Blue, there is one little girl that sets on becoming the next "King".
Rating: T
Genre: Action, Adventure & Humor
Warnings (in this chapter): Language and violence.
Disclaimer: How can I own One Piece? That's an impossibility and only EIICHIRO ODA OWNS ONE PIECE. :)
A/N: Just to let you know, again, that there will be chapters that stayed the same from To Be the Pirate Queen. Why did I make a new story if I'm reusing it? Well, [1] it gives me more freedom when setting it some decades after the original One Piece plotline, [2] more organization because I actually know the setting of the story (and you know now without using context clues), and [3] I can redo some chapters without you (the reader) becoming too confused. So, you probably should delete any memory of the To be the Pirate Queen from your mind, lest you want to be confused. Then again, feel free to remember it and just skip some of these chapters if you read them—as long as you remember this is set (sort of) in a different setting. BUT, I would trying reading again at the Tatsuyoshi ark, because that's where changes are going to be (so, you're probably going to skip 2-3 chapters, which isn't much XD). ONE MORE NOTE, this chapter has a few, minor changes form the previous version.
Several things a person needs before entering a tavern full of drunken pirates: you need the ability to fight, you must to have some sense, and you definitely need to avoid attracting attention, for pretty faces and all idiots (ranging from braggarts to short-tempered fools) will not survive—if lucky, barely survive. Even so, Aislynn (our heroine of the story so far) does not care about such, supposedly, trivial things.
The tavern was boisterous with pirates everywhere: at tables, at the counter, even on the floor! The malodorous odor of alcohol shrouded the room and lingered in the air outside of the tavern. Each person had a mug in their hand, if not several, and downed all the booze without puking. Some were sitting at the tables, rocking back and forth on the chair and laughing hysterically. Others sang vague melodies, for they were all off-tune and they slurred their words, while some people were clumsily moving their feet and swung their arms around; they were most likely dancing.
Aislynn entered the scene and passed through the lively crowd unnoticed; all were too drunk to care about her existence. As she walked towards the counter, she bumped into a few men and apologized quietly. However, all ignored her and went about their business.
When she arrived at the counter, only one spot was left—but it was covered with abandoned casks and a spilled mess of alcohol. She took it upon herself to clean up the mess, taking a nearby rag on a table and wiping up the spill. All the while, her free hand picked up the casks and placed them neatly on the opposite end of the counter. Lovely, she thought happily to herself as she sat on the stool. Out of boredom, she kicked her feet, but made sure to not accidently hit the counter. At the corner of her eye, she glanced at the person next to her: he was a large, bulky man who could easily crush her with his bare hands. He laughed crazily; apparently he had too much rum.
Then, she spied the bartender: a stout man with white hair, that was obviously balding, and visible wrinkles that showed the exhaustion of working the tavern for many years. The man was cleaning a mug on the other end of the counter and he sighed. After he set the mug on the drying area behind him, he walked over to Aislynn. "How may I help you today?" he asked perfunctorily.
She lifted her mask a bit to reveal her lips. "I'm just trying to get some information around here; have you seen these people?" She took two wanted posters out of her satchel and slid them over to the man so he may look at it. She added, "I would also like to have some food, that's unless if you have any; I am willing to pay you any price for your service."
The bartender raised an eyebrow and gazed up at her with an odd expression. "You do realize that you're getting yourself into trouble if you want to find these two people, right?"
She grinned and answered, "I know, but I'm recruiting at the moment, and these two interest me."
What an odd boy, he thought. "Boy, you obviously know information ain't cheap, hm?"
"Yes sir, so like I said, I'll pay you any price." In her head she thought, I guess I really look like a little boy. Well, whatever.
He nodded and handed the papers back to her. "Okay, but sadly, I have no more food; these people ate it all and downed most of my beverages."
"That's fine; I'm not hungry."
Before he was about to tell her anything, a shriek sounded. Aislynn and the man jerked their heads at the source of the sound, and noticed a young woman being harassed by red-faced pirates.
"C'mere, let me show you what a real man is like." One man, who was obviously the captain, slurred. He reached for her waist, but she slapped his hands away.
She glared at him and yelled, "Don't you dare touch me with your filthy hands!" She tried to push through the men that surrounded her, but they blocked her and pushed her back.
"Lookit this feisty lil lady, acting all tough!" the man laughed as his men echoed his mirth.
The bartender shook his head and mumbled, "Lost another employee again…"
Aislynn glanced at the captain and searched through her bag. "Ahah!" she exclaimed quietly. In her hand was a wanted poster with the drunken man's face. Let's see…he's the "Many Faces" Marcus: 17,000,000 berries. I'm sure this guy has lots of cash with him—he seems to have tricked many people. She smirked as she thought of how much money she can take from this man. She glance at the bartender and stated, "Hold on for a few moments, while I go get your money and return your employee."
The man only stared curiously at her and watched her get up from her spot and head towards Marcus. She passed through the men, making her way to the clamor. "Oi little kid, what do you think you' re do—" one crewmember said before being straggled. More men fell, and soon she was behind two men that towered her small figure. She peeked through a small space and saw that the Marcus was up, swaying a bit, on the tables with a pistol in hand. "Let's trash this dump and teach this woman who we are!" he announced.
Much of the crew raised their weapons and drinks in the air. Before they were able to begin their path of destruction, Aislynn step forward. "Excuse me, but you guys are making too much of a mess; please step outside kindly." She demanded in a kind voice.
Marcus raised a brow at her and hopped onto the floor. "Little boy, do you know who you are talking to?"
She nodded, but he ignored it.
He turned around and faced everyone else, arms in the air and booze in hand. "I'm 'Grizzly' Bearnard! I can destroy anything in my path!"
While he wasn't looking, Aislynn sat down on a chair, tipping it back. She knocked out a few men again. "Excuse me Bearnard-san, like I said earlier, step outside kindly; not unless you want to end up like your men." She pointed, with her thumb, to the several men knocked on the floor.
Marcus only stared in terror at the idle bodies on the floor and looked back at her. "Little boy, what did you do to my men!" he yelled angrily, but fear shown in his eyes.
She shrugged and answered, "Nothing much, except straggle them. You know, your men aren't so tough—how about you?" A smirk shown on her face, and Marcus trembled a bit, stepping a few paces back before putting up a false act of bravery.
"Nothing can scare me!" he lied. He raised his pistol, aiming at Aislynn. It was obvious how frightened he was, to the point he could hardly fool anyone. As Aislynn was about to get up, he fired and hit her in the head. Her head exploded, blood going in every direction; there was no sign of her head though. She fell to the ground, with blood endlessly pouring out, much to Marcus's delight.
The room went silent, but became animated after a few moments. The barmaid fell to her knees in horror, whimpering with tears filling up at her eyes. Marcus laughed hysterically and announced, "Men, let's tear this place down!" His men cheered and broke a few chairs and tables, until one of them noticed the headless body stand back.
"Captain—it—that—i-it—" he stuttered as he fell back.
"Oi, speak up!" Marcus called.
"It's alive!"
He jerked his head towards Aislynn, and widened his eyes. "How…how can you survive?" he questioned confusedly.
As they all gaped and stared in horror and surprise, the once lifeless body got on its hands and stood back up; the blood that splattered everywhere converged to the point above her neck and formed her head. Of course, her mask was still on. Aislynn commented, "That wasn't very nice to shoot someone in the head. But y' know, that surprised me." She scratched the side of her head while talking.
In unison, the room exclaimed, "It surprised you; you surprised us!"
She grinned under her mask, but it looked as if she were just standing still.
Finally, Marcus gained some sort of composure and pointed at her, and stating at the same time, "She's a Devil Fruit user; kill her now!" His men shouted their battle cries and charged at her with their weapons in hand. It was quite obvious how uncoordinated they were, slashing and shooting everywhere without much thought or aim.
The first group of men that rushed at her slash their scimitars wildly, from the left, right, and then down upon her head. As they slashed wildly, she ducked and swept their feet, letting them hit the floor and was quick to take a sword so she may cut their hands before they hand time to retrieve it. Their screams were drowned in the chaos.
Guns were fired, bullets speedily flying at her, but she duck to a nearby table and flipped it so it may serve as a shield. She knew quite well the attacks will not work on her, but she was a cautious child and preferred to stay on the safe side, although she occasionally became distracted (like earlier). Then, she kicked the table, flying to the gun-wielding men, hitting them and having the fall over.
This fight continued in the same manner, unchangeable patterns boring Aislynn to the point where she decided to end it quickly. However, someone stopped her from doing so.
The muscular, bulky man (who sat by her earlier at the counter) was up and knocked much of the men down unconscious. He came upon Marcus, who looked up at the man and questioned, "What do you think you are doing? Go and get that boy!" The man did not listen and punched him into the wall, shattering it. As he did so, Aislynn looked over at the scene curiously and became entertained.
After the bar was quiet with all pirates knocked out, except for Aislynn and the large man, the man approached her and grinned. He laughed heartily, which she mistaken for hysteria. Oh, so he wasn't drunk, was what she thought.
"Little boy, you are quite the entertaining child—I've never seen a person use their Devil Fruit power for such a joke!" he remarked.
But it wasn't a joke… she thought, but dared not to say it aloud.
He got on his knees and picked up the lying bodies. "Well, I 'ought to get this place up—Bearnard hates having his territory messy."
At this, she plunged her hand into the satchel and shuffled through the contents until she came upon bundles of papers. She took out the stack and searched through it until she found what she was looking for: the bounty of the man that was in front of her. The bounty revealed his name as Canon-firing Wallus, a member of the Kurokuma pirates: XXX,000,000 berries, dead or alive.
Once he finished cleaning up, he went to the old man at the counter and stated, "I'm done here sir; if they give more trouble, don't hesitate to contact us Kurokuma pirates: we don't like messy territories and phonies like this one." Wallus pointed at Marcus, whose eyes were glazed over. He carried all the men on his shoulders and before leaving, he glanced back at Aislynn. "And kid, you remind me of someone. Well, good luck finding those guys."
She was shocked to know he was listening to the bartender's and her conversation. Hm, I guess there is more to this man than I thought. She returned to the counter and placed the pouches of berries that she took from Marcus before he was taken away. "Here sir, like I promised. Now, for that information…"
A/N: Hopefully, I'll be up-to-date with the story from where I left off from the other one. As always, reviews are always welcomed! :)
