Restructer Revolution
Ok, I'd just like to say that I'll be on a school trip to Britain during the first week of the school holidays, and so I won't be updating as regularly now. However, I will update this story, that's for sure!
On a lighter note I would normally write a oneshot and dedicate it to my fiftieth reviewer, i.e. Ryuu2. However, I'm currently swamped with time. Hence, seeing as a future chapter does have a beach scene, I'll be dedicating that chapter to Ryuu2 instead. To Ryuu, whom I hope is reading this, I hope this is enough.
With this chapter, Restructer Revolution officially reaches over 100K+ words!
Enjoy!
XVI: Phantasmal Martyrs
Previously:
"Three card spread, the past: the Fool. The beginnings of a journey through uncharted territory at the whims of fate, uncertain yet happy."
The second card was laid with slightly more force. "Wheel of Fortune, reversed. Bad luck comes into your present, negative external forces outside your control. Yet the beginnings of your fortune looked so sweet too..."
The final card was laid with a butterfly's touch. "Upright... the Star. Hope, renewal, serenity, inspiration. An appropriate card for a man with an appropriate name... wandering star."
Ryou smiled. "The powers tell me that change will come to you, to the one you pledge your loyalty to in this world, and to all of them. By this time tomorrow, the Straw Hat Pirates... will be scattered."
"What?" Zoro started. "That can't be-!"
"...Your captain, Monkey D. Luffy... no, Strawhat Luffy, will fight against all odds, to lose almost everything precious to him in the span of a week. So has my power as a bearer of an Item of a Thousand Years decreed. So is his ever, so, tragic, fate, to place his life on the line, to gamble ten years of living, to place anything and everything at risk, only to have his heart broken in the end."
Very slowly, Ryou stepped away from them. "Of course, my power has been wrong before... the fact remains that, it will prove correct unless you find that power..."
"That power?" Yusei echoed.
"A single strike to change the future," Ryou quoted. "The power to, with a single strike, change what has been decreed. Can you do that, I wonder? We shall part ways here, then."
A single step, a falling strand, and the fortune teller disappeared as if he had never been there, leaving both men to gape at the blank spot.
Bottle. Sigh. Look. Bottle. Sigh. Look.
Yusei could feel the beginnings of a tic mark somewhere around his temples. "Was there something you need to say, Zoro San?"
The green-haired swordsman looked at him, took another swig of the second bottle of the day -gotten after the swordsman had threatened the mechanic not to buy milk at the next bar; Yusei had instead settle for apple juice that had the marimo banging his skull into the bar-top- and sighed. "That guy's ominous."
"They tend to be," Yusei agreed. "What tipped you off?"
"Besides the cloak, the mysterious tone and the expression?" Zoro grumbled. "No bloody clue." He glared at the now empty bottle. "I'm going to buy another bottle. No milk, or apple juice, or anything for kids, understood? My pride can't take a third blow..."
"I told you not to buy kiddy drinks already..." Zoro moped slightly.
"I can't see how sake can be for kids," Yusei pointed out.
"It's sweet sake, it's for kids..." the swordsman groused as both of them strolled down the main street.
A commotion had Yusei turning his head forward.
"Please let go of me!" A woman's cry could be heard. "I beg you!"
"Take her to the port!"
"Yes!"
Yusei had to squint at the man giving the orders. Robes similar to a spacesuit, odd hairstyle, guards in armour, arrogant look... bubble around the head. A World Noble? In this grove... quite a risk here...
"Who's that?" Yusei could hear people whispering around the kneeling crowd. Wonder why...
"Captain Apoo! He's the Pirate Hunter from East Blue!"
"Why is he walking in the middle of the road? Doesn't he know anything?"
"Who's that with him?"
"They'll get us all in trouble!"
"Huh?" Zoro stopped, finally noticing the Tenryuubito standing in front of him. Before the World Noble's shocked expression, Zoro merely snorted. "What? You want me to give you directions or something?"
The crowd gave a collective gasp at Zoro's reaction. Yusei then noticed the golden gun in the other's hand.
Swiftly, he drew a card.
"What're they planning?"
The mechanic and another figure jumped at Zoro's dragging the green-haired swordsman in a flying tackle.
"Waah! O Nii Chan! Why'd you die? O Nii Chan!"
"Wake up, please! Wake up!" Yusei played along quickly. A lot of skills he might have, but bulletproof was assuredly not in his skill set. "Stay still!" he hissed to the swordsman.
"Waah! Waah! O Nii Chan!" the pink-haired girl who helped tackle Zoro continued the charade. "You tried to attack the Tenryuubito Sama? Then of course you'd die! Waah!"
"Someone! Someone call a doctor!" Play-acting was a lot harder as Yusei glimpsed the Tenryuubito, the World Noble, move away from the crowd seated on the back of a crawling human, complete with an entourage of slaves and guards. These people are the World Nobles? What makes them so special? How cruel...
After what seemed like an eternity, it was finally deemed safe to let Zoro up.
"Why'd you get in the way?" the unofficial first mate grumbled, wiping away red liquid Yusei briefly identified as tomato juice from his face.
"Huh?" the pink-haired girl turned into a pink-haired woman in the exact same outfit, save for a voice of higher pitch. "Don't say we got into your way, you dumbass! What the hell were you trying to do? Do you want the admirals to come to this island?"
"Tomato juice?" Zoro finally noticed.
"Even pirates have their own unspoken laws, you know!" the woman continued to rage. "You just caused us a whole lot of trouble too! If your crew-mate hadn't reacted quickly then what'd we do, you idiot? You should be lucky you have someone this reliable, you idiot!"
"Trouble?" Zoro echoed, before he harrumphed. "You... huh?" he began to look around. "Wasn't there a kid here?"
"Are you even listening to me?" She raged at him. "Are you right in the head?"
"Uh, I'm not hurt or anything..."
"Idiot, I'm talking about what's inside! You're a moron! Completely brain-dead!"
While she was chewing Zoro out, Yusei had moved over to the shot man lying nearby, moving over the body to check quickly. "He's bleeding out too fast... though it doesn't seem to have hit anything vital... give me your apron..." Folding up the rough cloth, he pressed it flat against the wound. "Zoro San! We need to get this man help fast!"
"I heard that crew has done nothing but anger the Government, but I didn't think they'd be so stupid as to attack the Tenryuubito," the whisper reached his ears.
"Of course he was spared," another murmur. "I do not see the mark of death upon them."
"That bastard... for a moment, he really was ready to kill him... what a beast..."
"A second-in-command worth 120 million Beli... he doesn't seem like the type who'd follow orders... guess that's saying something about the captain, huh?"
"Please," Yusei was saying to the only female Supernova, the 'Big Eater' Jewelry Bonney. "Direct me to a hospital! This man needs help!"
"The hospital?" she echoed.
"He got shot," Zoro muttered. "Let's go."
"Hah? Just leave that stranger alone!" She scoffed as the two Straw Hats walked off. "I don't believe it. A pirate helping someone? Never heard of that before..."
A man with long blond hair, infamous as the 'Magician' Basil Hawkins, was eyeing the pair intently as they left. "Just now... Roronoa Zoro faltered directly before Jewelry Bonney stopped him... what did that man do?"
It took a while, and a lot of worry from Yusei as Zoro continually threatened to get lost again, but they made it to the hospital. The mechanic was only relieved to have reached the hospital, noting how similar it was to those of Neo Domino.
"Hey, is there a doctor around?" Zoro yelled out.
"Hey, you! This is the general hospital!" a man in a white coat ran over to them. "What's with that guy?"
"He's a patient!" Zoro bluntly replied.
"This is awful... let's see..." the presumed doctor leaned over to examine the unconscious man bleeding over the folded apron. "There's no ring on his neck..."
"Does it matter if he's got a ring on his neck or not?" Yusei questioned, the feeling of foreboding in mind.
"Yes, if he's a slave, then he probably won;t be able to work anymore, so it would be faster to get a new one..."
Zoro banged his white-sheathed sword. "He's just an injured man. Are you gonna treat him or not?"
"Okay then!" the doctor panicked. "I'll see what I can do! Please carry him in here!"
"This is one messed up island..." Zoro muttered as both of them left the hospital.
"True..." Yusei glumly answered.
"Guess we'll return to the ship," Zoro remarked. "Grove 1, wasn't it?"
"It's 41, Zoro San- Wait, Zoro San! That's the wrong direction!" Yusei began to perk up as the first mate began to get hopelessly lost. "Zoro San!"
"Two hundred years ago?" Nami and Aki listened to Robin's retelling of the Sabaody Archipelago's dark history as they shopped.
"Yes," the dark-haired woman replied. "Until just two hundred years ago, that dark history was reality... Fishmen and mermen were considered normal fish, and were discriminated by humans all over the world. Everyone looked down on them."
"Ah," Aki crossed her arms. "That feeling of isolation... I think I can sympathise..."
"Those strong Fishmen?" Nami disbelievingly gasped.
"Even the strongest creatures are powerless when outnumbered," Robin monotonously went on. "This went on until the World Government decided to lend a helping hand to Fishman Island two hundred years ago. That's just another piece of the dark history of the human race. On this archipelago, slave trading and selling of human lives are still acceptable. So I think, maybe the discrimination of Fishmen and mermen is still common here, too."
"It's the witch! The Black Rose Witch!"
"Get away from her! She's a monster!"
"Humans are still as cruel to that which they do not understand," Aki sighed. "As history has shown again and again... quite depressing..."
"Then, could that be the reason why Hachi and Caimie had to disguise themselves on this island?" Nami asked.
"I hope I'm just reading too much into things, though," Robin answered.
"Bratty girl! Robin! Aki Sensei!" All three looked up to see the shipwright posing on top of a familiar looking giant flying fish, flanked by two others.
"Franky!" Robin exclaimed.
"Hey, stop calling me bratty girl!" Nami complained.
"Hurry up and get on the flying fish!" Franky hollered back. "That mermaid was kidnapped!"
"Caimie Chan?" Robin gasped.
"Kidnapped?" Nami echoed.
Aki did not waste time, already gathering her bags, DuelDisk out. "Let's go!"
"How did this happen again...?" Yusei sighed at the scene before him; he and Zoro were surrounded by armed men, presumably bounty hunters, again.
"I'd like to return to the ship, but where's the number 1 tree?" Zoro remarked.
"I told you, it's not that number..." Yusei muttered, already given up on directing the stubborn swordsman.
"I'll tell you," one of them joked, readying his sword.
"Really? Then I'm in your debt." Zoro just answered coolly.
Yusei opted to move to the side and wait for Zoro.
"Listen up. There's nowhere for you to go, Pirate Hunter Zoro! I'll be taking that 120 million Beli head of yours!"
Yusei almost sighed as Zoro opened his eyes o display the killing intent hidden there. All the bounty hunters backed away.
"Er, well, Grove 1 is..." the leader was now falling over himself to help.
"This is..." Yusei picked up a newspaper drifting in the wind towards them. "Extra?"
"Oi, Yusei," Zoro growled, turning to the mechanic. "What're you...?"
"The future..." Yusei could only murmur numbly. "'Fire Fist', Portgas D. Ace..."
Somehow, Yusei just numbly followed the first mate with horrible sense of direction, which explained how the two of them were currently walking in Grove 2.
"Oh, this is Grove 2?" Zoro remarked. "Then it's the next one, huh?"
Wheel of Fortune, reversed. Bad luck comes into your present, negative external forces outside your control. Yet the beginnings of your fortune looked so sweet too...
Despite his calm outward demeanour, Yusei's mind was turbulent. It's like a duel, where you're standing on the precipice... I can do nothing for now but wait... hold on...
"Grove 13?" Yusei looked up at the numbered tree. How? How? This man's sense of direction is scary...
"You guys, you gave me wrong directions, didn't you?" Zoro was growling at three people Yusei vaguely recognised as bounty hunters.
"No, definitely not! We told you exactly which way to get to Grove 1!"
"Then, why'd you run away?"
"Well, that's because... we just saw that scary face of yours, and then..."
"HUH?"
"No, it's only your fate to run into the wholly unreasonable Zoro San..." Yusei muttered. "I pray for your souls..."
"Zoro!" a far-off cry sounded.
Both men looked up to see Luffy flying towards them on the back of a flying fish.
"We've got to get to Grove 1!" the captain yelled. "Anyway get on!" A rubbery limb shot out towards Zoro as he yelled, wrapping around the swordsman.
"W- Wait a second!" Zoro began to talk quickly. "When you say 'get on', you don't mean...?" the rubbery hand dragged a screaming first mate onboard quickly.
"Ah! Yusei!" Luffy exclaimed.
"Shield Wing!" The green bird obligingly waited for Yusei to get on its back before it took to the skies.
"You... I'm gonna kill you someday..." Zoro was swearing as Yusei caught up to the flying fish.
"Sorry, Zoro," Luffy grinned in response. "Anyway, we've got to hurry up and get to Grove 1! Keimi's been kidnapped!"
'What happened?' was what Yusei was about to ask, but Luffy's words stopped it as both fish and bird flew towards the first grove.
The former pirate captain, now slave, Jean Bart, was having an interesting day.
Not only had some crazy idiot crashed a flying fish into the Human Auction House, but beside him had landed a green bird of a species he had never seen, and a much smaller man dismounted from the bird, sighing. The man, with an odd hairstyle shaped like a crab, would have looked ordinary and Jean Bart would have proceeded to ignore him if not that the man's head turned to face him to reveal piercing blue eyes.
"Why are you here?"
Nearby, the bird chirped.
"Slavery, then?" the black-haired man murmured to himself, pulling a roll of cloth from a pocket.
The next statement completely stumped the pirate. "If you want to be free, trust me."
The smaller man's hands moved around his neck before he could even register the words, there was a flash and the chink of steel on steel, and Bart waited for the dreaded ticking sound. There was a thump, and the fear receded as his neck felt more free than he could ever remember as the smaller man, no, his saviour set out to undo his wrist cuffs. The horrible steel collar lay on the grass, open and innocent-looking, not ticking at all.
He was free.
"Why...? How...?" the large former slave whispered. "I don't know you."
"I don't need to know you to free you," the smaller brunet shortly answered, folding up the cloth containing the tools. "Whatever you do from here, do whatever you want, so long as you don't hurt innocent people. I'd see if you could join us, but I don't know how recruitment goes in my crew, and I'm not the captain."
"As long as I can, I swear to repay this favour, even if it costs me this life...!" The pirate swore. "Who are you? I must know the name of the one who set me free!"
"I'm Yusei," the messiah answered as bangs began to sound inside the auction house. "Excuse me!"
The wandering star... For the first time in what seemed an eternity of despair, Jean Bart cracked a grin as he felt hope.
"Hachi!" Nami exclaimed as Yusei finally made it through the foyer into the auction hall. Yusei himself stopped as seeing their guide sprawled over the steps, bleeding while the bubble-headed World Noble he and Zoro had run into earlier was dancing over the steps.
Damn, and I put Scrubbed Raid away...
"I'm glad he shot it!" a voice was commenting in the hall as Yusei tried to discreetly move down the steps. "I was afraid that if it came any closer, we might get infected by it!"
"He was definitely trying to cause some trouble... after al, they've only got the brains of a fish!"
On the stage, Yusei spied Keimi, shackled and trapped in a giant globular tank, banging on the glass walls.
"Father, please look!" the arrogant Noble was saying. "I caught a Fishman! I caught it myself, so it's for free! Free! Free! An octopus for free!"
Yusei began to move down at about the same time Luffy moved up the steps, both towards the Tenryuubito. Both also stopped at the same time Hachi reached out with two right arms to stop Luffy.
"W... Wait... Please..." Hachi wheezed. "Strawhat... You can't... get upset... I was just careless, that's all..."
Both men looked solemnly at Hachi as the Fishman coughed.
"You promised that... even if someone were to be shot right before your eyes... you wouldn't lay a hand on the Tenryuubito, right?" the last part was almost yelled at the conflicted captain. "After all, I used to be a pirate... I did so many awful things, so... I had this coming... Sorry... I never wanted this to happen... I just wanted... to make up for all the things I did to Nami...!"
He coughed again. "I was trying to help you, but... As always... I just screw up no matter what I do...! I really am... clumsy after all..."
"Hachi..." the quiet whisper cold be heard in the hall, so quiet it had become.
"In the end... I just caused you trouble...!" the Fishman cried. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"
"Damn fish!" the grating voice was back. "Even after I shoot you, you keep on blabbering! You're annoying!" he levelled a firearm at the prone Hachi.
Luffy glared at him, turning to protect Hachi.
"Straw!" Pappagg exclaimed.
The World Noble looked angry. "You... what's with that look of yours?"
"Stop it, Straw!" Pappagg cried as Luffy slowly ascended te steps towards the Tenryuubito. "If you do that, you'll be in huge trouble! Please stop! "
"Are you looking at me?" the gun was held threateningly.
"What's that guy doing...?"
"Hey, Straw Hat..."
"Is he serious?"
"You are annoying too!" the Noble snarled, pulling the trigger.
A defining moment in history would soon be made, as Straw Hat Luffy easily dodged the bullet to land a shocking right hook that sent the descendant of the world's creators, the powerful Tenryuubito, up the steps, and right into a crowd of empty seats with a resounding crash.
Yusei had only narrowly sidestepped the projectile as it flew to land with a crash.
What the captain jut did sent the auction hall into complete and utter silence as feeble minds tried to comprehend what no other human in memory had ever attempted, as they beheld the sight of the World Noble sprawled out, the imprint of a fist still embedded in a fleshy cheek.
"S- Saint Charloss..."
So that's the man's name, Yusei thought. "That looks nasty," he commented out loud.
Luffy merely put on his beloved straw hat and cracked his knuckles.
"C- Charloss..." that was probably the father, Yusei thought, looking at the other male wearing a bubble helmet.
"Sorry, you guys," Luffy grinned at the crew present. "If I hit these guys, they'll call an admiral from the Navy and a warship here, right?"
"Because you went and beat him up..." Zoro sheathed the sword. "...I didn't get to cut him."
"Hachi!" Nami was already beside the Fishman. "Hang in there!"
"Nyuu... You guys... did something terrible..." Hachi wheezed.
"Well," Nami grinned. "It's Luffy we're talking about, so it couldn't be helped."
"Well then..." Sanji lit his cigarette.
"Then, it's clear what we've got to do next, right?" Franky commented.
"I'm sure the key to Keimi's neck-ring is somewhere behind the stage," Chopper commented. "I have to take a look at Hachi's injuries, so I'll leave this to you!"
"You guys...!" the starfish Pappagg looked torn between anxiety and excitement.
"Charloss!"
"Ah! Charloss Nii Sama! Not even Father has ever hit him!" Yusei regarded the two people, both wearing bubble helmets as well, an older man and a young woman.
"Why, you...!" the man raged at Luffy. "How dare a lesser human like yourself lay a hand on my son?" the man then opened a rifle gun at them, completely missing the intended target.
"True, we broke a promise," Yusei told the captain, face ever dead-pan. "You should have kicked him instead."
Luffy pouted. "That's too much like Sanji. My fist's like a pistol!"
"Poker face!" Pappagg yelled at Yusei.
"H- he angered the Tenryuubito!" someone finally yelled.
"Run outside!" there was a huge panic immediately as most of the hall's occupants made for the exits. "Hurry up and get out! Don't push!"
The older Tenryuubito was still firing at Luffy. "I shall let you know what happens when you lay a hand on the descendants of this world's inhabitants!"
"Think we care about that, bastard?" Sanji leapt over to kick the rifle out of the way.
"How dare you attack Saint Roswald?" a few guards in old-fashioned iron armour ran over.
"Joue! Concasse!" Sanji yelled as he took out a squad of guards. "Go, Franky! Go free Keimi Chan!"
"Got it!" the shipwright shouted. "I'll handle it superbly!"
"Troops coming through! Capture the pirates!"
"They just keep coming!" Chopper exclaimed.
"You fool, trying to protect a mere fish!"
"Gomu Gomu no... Muchi!"
"Got you!" a squad overwhelmed Zoro.
"Tatsumaki!"
"Strong Right! And... Fresh Fire! Move it, move it, move it!"
Yusei made a beeline straight for the stage and the tank.
"What destructive power!" the woman was exclaiming.
"Damn you...!" Saint Roswald just looked angrier by the second as around him, the guards were, wave by wave, being defeated by defiant-looking pirates.
"Thunderbolt Tempo!"
"So, you people intend to defy us to the very end?" Saint Roswald growled.
"Gomu Gomu no... Ono!" was their captain's answer. "Keimi isn't for sale!"
"Call an admiral and a warship here!" the Tenryuubito ordered.
"Eh?"
"Show them what they're up against!" Saint Roswald growled.
Yusei hauled himself up to the stage, extracting a cutter from another pocket. "Galley-La Company, speciality wear... Franky San, I don't need that many tools..."
"Duck!" Zoro yelled. "Sanjuuroku Pound Hou!"
The resulting wave of light narrowly missed Sanji and Luffy, hitting the tank as Yusei dodged out of the way quickly.
"YOU TRYING TO KILL US?"
"I warned you, didn't I?" Zoro commented.
"YOU WERE TOO SOFT!"
Yusei looked at the smooth cut through glass the wave managed, the tank's cover crashing to the ground as water cascaded down its sides.
"Keimi!"
"Hachi!" Keimi screamed.
"Are you alright?" Hachi yelled. "They didn't hurt you, did they?"
"I'm fine!" Keimi shook her head. "But what about you, Hachi?"
"Don't worry about me! Who do you think I am? I'm the takoyaki merchant, Hachi, you know! Just hold on for a bit longer! Wait right there!"
"Hold out your cuffs," Yusei extracted a pick. "I'll get them off."
"Yusei, you can't!" Chopper yelled. "Those cuffs are set to explo...! de..."
"You were saying?" The heavy neck-ring dropped over the side of the tank, the mechanic now focused on the wrist cuffs.
"This guy is miraculous!" Chopper screamed.
It was then that more flying fishes crashed through the roof.
"Another flying fish!"
"Cien Fleur: Wings!" Robin fluttered down to the seating area on wings made of arms.
"Alright, good luck!"
"I'm off!" Brook dropped from another fish.
"Clutch!"
"Queen Angel of Roses, Rose Trimmer!" Aki ordered as she dropped from the skies in a flurry of petals, behind her a grand angel in red. "Yusei!"
"Damn it!" the flashiest member on stage, the announcer, was yelling. "Guard the mermaid! She's worth five hundred million! We're gonna get five hundred million for her!"
Yusei just knocked him over the head and stole the musket.
"Hurry up and put this to an end!" the female Tenryuubito ordered imperiously.
"Pretty simple..." Yusei examined the gun.
"I didn't want to go, you know!" Usopp's scream had the mechanic temporarily looking up.
"These people... I will have the woman stuffed and mounted!" Saint Roswald was threatening. "And the men will be sentenced to slavery without food!"
That was before Usopp landed on the Tenryuubito.
"Ahh! Father!" the female Tenryuubito screamed.
"Huh? That didn't hurt that much..." Usopp looked down. "Ah! Sorry, Ossan!"
"E- Even Saint Roswald...!"
"These pirates committed yet another sin!"
"Usopp, Robin, Brook, Aki!" Luffy yelled happily.
"Now we're all here!" Nami happily smiled.
"Luffy, where's Keimi?" Usopp yelled.
"Over there!" Luffy pointed. "As soon as we've managed to remove that exploding neck-ring, we're out of here!"
"We've removed it, Luffy San!" With some difficulty, Yusei hauled the mermaid into a fireman's carry. "We can go now!"
"EEEEHHH!" Luffy yelled. "It didn't explode? Awesome, Yusei!"
"Miracle... this man is a miracle..." Pappagg warbled.
"If we don't hurry, a warship and an admiral will come!" Nami exclaimed. "Nice, Yusei!"
"The Navy are already here, Strawhat-ya," a lone figure surrounded by bored men and a bear commented. This man was wearing a white fur hat, a yellow and black shirt bearing a smiley logo, and denim jeans.
"What's up with you?" Luffy retorted. "And what's with the bear?"
"Those guys have had this hall surrounded since before the auction started," the man commented. "After all, there's a Navy outpost right on this archipelago. I have no idea who they wanted to catch... they couldn't have known someone would beat up the Tenryuubito though, right?" he chuckled. "You've shown me something rather interesting... Straw Hat crew."
"You are Trafalgar Law, right?" Robin commented. "Luffy, he's a pirate."
"Huh? The bear too?" Luffy asked.
"And the man standing over there," Robin spotted. "That's Eustass 'Captain' Kidd."
Brook started. "Eh? That's the man with a bounty higher than Luffy San's?"
Yusei was distracted from Luffy's examination of the two as he turned towards the click of a gun.
"Unforgivable!" the female Tenryuubito was aiming at him. "Now that it has come to this, I will just kill the mermaid they came to save!"
Yusei merely levelled his own gun at her.
"You dare aim at me?" she raged. "You aim at Saint Shalulia, for a single fish?"
"At this distance, I probably wouldn't miss," Yusei commented, voice calm and expression carved of rock. "The bullet will pierce the air, before striking the area around your eyes, entering the skull, tearing through the brain, and then exiting through behind."
His expression hardened slightly as the Tenryuubito paled. "If you're lucky, the bullet will rattle in your head for eternity and you might survive. Before that, the bubble that stops you from breathing the air of us -what was it, lesser humans?- will pop, and you will taste the air at sea level like every other normal human being before you taste the inevitable. All that remains is, can you shoot me before that happens? If you do, despite the shot, I take you down with me. If you do not, I might just turn away. Either way, do you care to die, Saint Shalulia?"
"Yusei?" Nami blinked.
"They're at a stand-off," Aki murmured. "If we approach them, one of them might fire, and the results could be catastrophic! Yusei!"
"Such a dangerous situation... what's that idiot thinking?" Sanji groused.
"Saint Shalulia!"
A wave of some unidentifiable force moved through the hall, right before the stage wall collapsed open in a shower of debris and shrapnel, the Tenryuubito keeling over, unconscious.
"Glad that's over." Yusei dropped the musket as every pirate and soldier in the hall stared at the giant that had torn open the wall and the elderly old man with him that casually strolled out to the stage.
"Look, Giant Kun," the white-haired bespectacled old man commented. "The hall is a complete mess. Seems like the auction is over. Seeing how I've stolen some money, I guess I'll be returning to the gambling hall."
"What a foul old man you are..." the giant commented slowly. "You came here just to steal some money?"
"I wanted to steal from whoever bought me as well..." the old man sighed as he pulled out a canteen. "Well, that's impossible now... ah, right, it's empty. First, I've gotta get some sake. Although, come to think of it... I'm pretty old, so who would want a slave like me?" he began to laugh out loud.
"Let's go," Yusei descended the steps to ground. "I got Keimi."
"What?" the old man finally noticed the audience. "Seems like I drew some unwanted attention... young man, didn't your elders never tell you to pay your respects before you leave?"
"Ah, sorry," Yusei easily replied, already halfway down the steps leading down from the stage. "I wasn't aware that you were talking to me, and you had an audience."
"What's up with the old man and the giant?"
"Aren't they auction items? How did they get out of their cages?" the speaker got a closer look. "A- AAAHHH! Their neck-rings are gone! How did they get them off?"
"Young man, how did you get the cuffs off the mermaid?" the old man chuckled.
"Picked them," Yusei off-handedly commented. "If we survive, assuming that there's time, I might show you that old trick.
"What should we do?"
"What...? We weren't hired to catch escaped prisoners! There's no way we can restrain a giant!"
"R-Rayleigh!" Hachi stuttered.
"Rayleigh?" Chopper realised. "You mean, the ship-coater?"
"Why, if it isn't Hachi!" the old man loudly exclaimed. "It's you, right? It's been a while! What are you doing here?"
The old man's eyes narrowed as he frowned. "Where did you get that wound? Oh, you don't have to tell me," he added as Hachi began to wince. There were a few tense moments of silence as Rayleigh observed the scene and drew his own conclusions, stroking his beard.
"So this means... I get it..." the old man slowly concluded. "I've figured out what has happened. You've gotten yourself into quite a mess, huh, Hachi? Were you the ones who saved him?"
No one answered him; the answer was obvious.
"Well, then..." Rayleigh frowned. There was another invisible wave of something, and all the guards fainted.
"No way..."
"This guy!"
"Huh? What?" Usopp looked around. "What did he just do?"
"What's with this old man?" Sanji muttered.
"He's different from normal humans..." Aki observed. "The soul of a Duellist..."
"That straw hat of yours..." Rayleigh commented. "It really fits a fearless man like yourself. I've wanted to meet you... Monkey D. Luffy!"
Defensively, Luffy reached up to touch his straw hat, his eyes never leaving Rayleigh.
"What the hell? Scaring me shitless..." Franky commented as he waltzed up to them, the keys swinging from one finger. "She doesn't have a collar or chains any more?"
"Somehow, your crew-mate has done the near-impossible and picked the lock of the collar and cuffs," Rayleigh airily replied.
"K- Keimi!" Pappagg jumped down the stairs, falling ass-over-tea-kettle to jump to hug the mermaid. "Keimi!" he cried. "Thank goodness!"
"Che!" Franky held up the keys. "What the hell? Look! I finally found them and all..."
"Oh, you found them?" Rayleigh commented. "Quite impressive. But it's fine. Please carry this young girl out of here, your crew-mate looks a bit too slender to be lifting heavy objects."
"You'll be surprised..." Franky muttered as he received Keimi from a Yusei who seemingly had the beginnings of a tic mark around his temple.
"Uh, erm..." Keimi stuttered. "Thank you. Yusei-chin, Rayleigh San!"
"What the hell? What's up with this situation?" Franky continued to complain. "Who are you?"
He then went over the the assembled slaves huddled behind. "Hey, slaves! All your buyers ran away. You should make a run for it now while you still have the chance! Here!" he threw the keys over to a group of tearful slaves.
"Nice job on defeating all the guards," Yusei commented, before his eyes went wide.
"If the old man was the one who beat all the soldiers, then he must have used some sort of magic or sorcery, right?" Usopp babbled. "He's got to have some sort of Devil Fruit powers! He said something about your straw hat, too... how do you know that guy, Luffy?"
"I really don't know him!" Luffy protested.
"That was probably his Haki..." Hachi wheezed. "Though I don't really understand it myself..."
"Sorry, you guys," Rayleigh commented to the other two groups of pirates. "You were just here to watch, right? Judging from how you handled the situation earlier, you aren't exactly pushovers, right?"
"Who'd have thought that we'd run into such a big shot here?" the red-haired captain of the Kidd Pirates growled. "That's the Dark King, Silvers Rayleigh, no doubt about it. What's that legendary man doing here?"
"I prefer to be called the old coater, Ray San, around here," Rayleigh corrected as he ascended the steps to Hachi, Yusei trailing behind with Franky and Keimi. "Please don't call me by that name. I'm an old man now. I'd like to live peacefully."
Rayleigh squatted down to his friend. "You're not gonna die, right, Hachi? I always told you that you shouldn't walk around on this island..."
"Nyuu, sorry..."
"Thanks a lot, you all," Rayleigh turned to the Straw Hats. "You helped my friend out."
"So, pops, why'd you want to meet me?" Luffy asked.
Rayleigh smiled. "Let's save that for afterwards. First, we've got to get out of here."
"Criminals inside, please release the Roswald family!" the voice from a speaker echoed from outside. "An admiral will be here shortly! I'd imagine that it would be safer for you to just surrender. You don;t know what will happen otherwise, rookies!"
"So they're not just dragging us into this, but they're totally treating us as if we're his accomplices too..." Law coolly stated.
"I see that Strawhat Luffy is every bit as crazy as the rumours said," Kidd commented. "Not to complain, but I'm not going to stick around to clash with an admiral."
"Yeah, I can't use that power from before any more, so I'm counting on you," Rayleigh answered. "It would be really troublesome if the Navy found out who I am."
"I have no intention of being saved by an old man," Kidd scoffed. "But the longer we stay, the more soldiers will be coming. I'll be going on ahead." He walked off. "As an extra favour, I'll save you guys. I'll take care of the cleaning outside, so just relax!"
From the look on the captain's face, Yusei already knew what to expect from Luffy.
"Like I said, I won't let you guys hog all the fun!" Yes... this was typical Luffy...and Law? Watching all three captains bicker like kids would have been amusing if not for the severity of the situation.
"Shut up..."
"I said I'll do it myself!"
"Stop bickering already..."
"Really?"
"Shut up! Just shut up, you two!"
"You're so noisy..."
"What did you say?"
"Like I said, leave this to me!"
"No! I'll do it!"
"Don't order me around."
"You don't get it, do you?"
"You're the one who doesn't get it!"
"Yosh!" Luffy cracked his knuckles. "You guys, stand back!"
"Oi, are you listening to me? I said that you two should stay away!"
"Try to give me one more order, and I'll take you out first, Eustass-ya!"
"Popcorn?" Yusei offered a small pack to Aki.
"What the hell do you carry around with you?" the rest of the Straw Hats, even Rayleigh, yelled.
"Man, those guys are so simple-minded!" Nami groused.
"Oi! They're going to cause a huge uproar!" Usopp exclaimed. "Let's run while we still can! We can't just wait around here!"
"Let's follow them!" Zoro decided. "We'll break right through."
For an old man, Rayleigh easily carried Hachi on his back. "Well, if we get separated, meet me at Grove 13."
"13, huh? Right, I got it," Zoro drawled.
"You definitely didn't get it!" Usopp accused him.
"Giant Kun!" Rayleigh called out to the giant. "What about you?"
"I'll escape together with the other slaves." The slaves cheered at the answer.
"I see. Be careful so you don't stand out!" Rayleigh called.
"Old man! Straw Hat crew! If we meet again someday, I'll definitely return the favour! Thank you!"
"Thank you so much!" they cheered
"Sure, don't mention it!" Usopp waved back.
"You're saying that?" Chopper exclaimed.
"Gomu Gomu no... Fuusen!"
"Repel!"
"Room! Shambles!"
"Be careful! These three have Devil Fruit powers!"
"Concentrate the troops in this area! Same with the cannons!"
"Leave it to me!" Luffy ran forward, much to the shock of the other two pirates.
"Fire!"
"Gomu Gomu no... Ami!"
"Strawhat, you really are crazy!" Kidd yelled at the Straw Hat captain.
"Sorry!" Luffy grinned.
"Start with Strawhat Luffy! Charge!"
Luffy let go of all the cannonballs caught in his rubber 'net' at the Marines, still grinning.
"Shoot! Shoot him!"
"Now! Don't just stand there! Get him!"
"Gomu Gomu no... Muchi!"
"Don't hesitate! Fire!"
"Isn't Admiral Kizaru here yet?" the commander screamed.
Standing behind the pillar, Yusei could only sigh internally at his chosen captain's idiocy.
"You guys have some weird powers!" Luffy was telling the other two.
"Yours is the strangest of all," Kidd retorted.
"...Really?"
Between a living magnet, someone who can detach and attach items in different places spatially, and a rubber man, at least the rubber man doesn't try to take the tools, Yusei fixed down the flaps in his pockets. These pants, do they belong to Doraemon or something?
"Room!"
"Gear Third! Hone Fuusen!"
"Don't hesitate! Ready your weapons! Shoot! Shoot all of them!"
"But, Commodore! Our weapons... they're flying away!"
"Giganto Pistol!"
"Eat this!"
"Oi, oi," Zoro muttered as the rest of the pirates ran out. "It's already like this?"
"Amazing!" Brook interjected. "My eyes must be deceiving me!"
Rayleigh laughed as he strolled out, Hachi on his back. "Why, this looks quite fun."
"Oh man," one of the figures surrounding Law sighed as he strolled out with the polar bear. "You're overdoing it, Captain..."
"They sure are impatient..." a man in a football mask, Killer, commented coolly.
"Luffy San, the longer you take to fight your way through, the longer it takes to give Hachi San medical treatment!" Yusei called. "Not that you need the encouragement..."
"Well, it looks like we've pretty much broken their formation," Kidd commented.
"What happened to you, Strawhat-ya?" Law sighed. "You're ruining the mood."
"Really?" the chibi Luffy asked.
"Aim the mortar cannons at the people who don't have abilities! Firing squad, get ready! All forces, prepare to attack!" the Marines got ready their weapons. "Take out these pirates!"
"Luffy San, they have run out of formations," Yusei considered. "Out of the two injured and one incapable of fighting, I would dare say that we're at a disadvantage."
"Ooh! I'm back to normal!" Luffy grew back. "Heeheehee!"
"Well, see ya later, Strawhat," Kidd commented. "It was a pleasure meeting you in person, but I won't show you any mercy the next time we meet!"
Luffy looked at him for a few moments before grinning. "But, I'll be the one to find One Piece!"
Whatever the two captains' reactions were, Yusei did not see, too occupied he was in ensuring that he was not hit.
"Oi, Luffy!" Usopp yelled as the rest of the crew caught up.
"Oh, you guys are here too?" Luffy cracked his knuckles. "Alright, we'd better get going as well! Let's go! Alright, come at me!"
Sanji kicked a wave of Marines out of the way.
"Oh, Sanji!"
"Luffy, look over there." the cook pointed.
"Oi! Young masters!"
"The Flying Fish Riders!"
"Eh? Did you just say I'm handsome?"
"...no, I didn't, I didn't..."
"More importantly, we're all set to go! Right, men?"
"Yes! Life is rosy!"
"I'm not too happy about relying on those guys again," Sanji commented. "But I guess we've got to hurry."
"Yosh! Let's go!" Luffy ran off.
"Can't help it," Sanji followed.
"Straw Hat is running away!"
"Lullaby Song: Flanc!"
"Don't fall asleep!" Sanji whacked Luffy on the head.
"Nuove Fleur! Twist!"
"Denpatsu Kaen Boshi Kaen Boshi!"
"Roseo Colonedo!"
"Jii San, Franky, go on ahead!" Zoro yelled around his sword. "Yusei, follow them!"
"Sure, thanks!" Rayleigh cheerfully yelled back.
"Don't let them get away!"
"How many of them are there anyway?" Usopp was panting as they left.
Rayleigh laughed. "My blood is boiling!"
"You're an energetic old man, huh?" Franky commented.
"Don't let the Straw Hat crew get away! They're responsible for all this! Shoot them! Shoot them!"
"Aki, you move first!" Yusei called as he pulled another card to face the barrage of guns. "Mirror Force!" The bullets rebounded on the shooters.
"Thunderbolt Tempo!"
Finally the crew managed to run away into the deep expanse of the archipelago.
"Want to come with me, pirate captain, Jean Bart?" Law was asking the large slave at the entrance.
In answer, with a single swing of his arm, Jean Bart took out a wave of marines.
"It's been a long time since anyone has called me that! I'm not an ideal subordinate, I'll warn," Bart grinned. "You offer me a place, and in return I'll join you gratefully. However... know always that you were not the one who released me from my shackles! Should I meet that man again, and should he request of me... that will be my first and last loyalty! To repay a shooting star that fell from the skies!"
"You should give half that gratitude to the Straw Hats," Law smirked. "Well, about that favour, we'll see when that time comes. A fallen star, huh...?"
Watching from the branches of the Yarukiman Mangroves, Ryou chuckled slightly. "How endearing. Quite a specimen, isn't he?" the white-haired man commented to the figure behind him.
"Very fun," the one behind growled. "As a thief, I approve wholeheartedly. Even I gotta agree, the Pharaoh's got taste here."
"Well, you'll get your chance to meet him soon," Ryou commented light-heartedly to the man that was a dark twisted version of him. "Bakura."
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