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Episode 6: "Haunted and Died"
Over a year after the events at Alabasta. Zeke- age 18
Tull Island. Outside near a cliff overlooking the ocean in the forest. Zeke and Frank had just landed and are about to look for a place to sleep.
It was night as Zeke wrapped NEW bandages around his waist, changing them from the old ones. He grunted as he tore off the gauze from the roll, "Gr,... Damn that guy.... Jagger." Shortly after the incidents on Alabasta soil, it was reported to the marines the actions of Tatum Air (Then current bounty : 55,000) and Taeko... Along with the appearance of an unknown man having fights with both of them. This man would later be researched and identified as Roronoa Zeke and giving the starting bounty of 27,000. Jagger gave special attention to this man, for the fact that his last name was Roronoa.
It was now 2 months after his very FIRST encounter with the marine Commodore, Jagger had finally caught up to him after months of chasing. The 'fight' left Zeke severely damaged, some possible eternal injuries. Frank was leaning against a tree, being the lookout, watching for any possible marine attack. They may very well have caught up with them. He looked at Zeke with some worry, "Zeke-sama, how are you doing? Do you need help with your bandages?"
Zeke put his white shirt back on, "No, it's fine. I got it."
This seemed to relieve the partial-giant, "Good, I'm glad you're still... um... Func-tion-al."
Zeke laughed at the word, "Hehe, Functional? Interesting choice." They both laughed a little.
The night air was slightly chilly, a soft breeze came and went every so often. The full moon shone down on them in an almost ominous glow. Then, a rustle in the trees, the wind too began to stir strangely. Zeke and Frank became guarded, "What was that?" Zeke clinched one of his swords. He had recently acquired a new 4th one and had gotten better at Four Sword Style. Again a noise of running through Zeke and Frank's surrounding area.
Frank had his long sword drawn, "Is it marines!?"
Zeke began watching through the grass and trees, "No... It's something else." Then he caught a shadow running AWAY from them. "THERE!" he shouted, "After it!" He and Frank stared full speed at the 'thing'.
They ran after it for about 10 minutes till they lost sight. Zeke had his hands on his knees as he caught his breath, "Damn it. *pant* *pant* What was that thing?"
Frank had caught up with him, "I... *pant* *pant* don't know. I couldn't see what it was... *pant* *pant* exactly."
As their breathing returned normal, they heard something again. The bushes rustled nearby, rather clumsily. "Ugh, ah, uh, ha! Whoa!!"
*THUD*
Zeke couldn't believe his eyes, but SHE was laying right in front of him as she fell down the hill she just came from, "Rika!!!???... Wha- What are you....! What are you DOING here!??"
Rika stood up a brushed off the leaves and things from her body. After she had done that, she put her hands on her hips and gave him a very pissed off look. Frank backed away slowly.
"What am I doing here!? Roronoa Zeke, you DARE ask me that!!? I came for you jackass!" She then proceeded to punch and slap him mercilessly, Frank helpless to watch. "FIRST YOU LEAVE ME!"
"OW! OH! SHIT! STOP RIKA! QUIT! OW! THAT HURTS!!"
*smack* *whack* *thump* *punch* *slap* *punch* *smack*
"THEN YOU LET FRANK JOIN YOU!"
"OW! OH! OW! OW! OW! OH!"
*punch* *thwap* *smack* *punch* *slap* *slap* *slap*
"AND I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU FOR MONTHS JERRRRRK!!!!! UUUUGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!"
*SMACK!!*
".............Ow........."
Rika calmed down (I guess), however a vein could still be seen on her head. It was now time for Zeke to put on his best Baby-I-love-you face and apologize as if she was queen and he was a lowly peasant. "Rika, honey... I never meant to hurt you.... I just.... didn't ..... want you to get hurt or anything. That would KILL me. I know you're tough, but the Grand Line is STILL very dangerous."
Rika gave him an angered and doubtful look, "That's not going to convince me Zeke. I've read the news papers, you could have died at LEAST 2 since you've been out here! So don't give me this 'dangerous' crap as if I'M the one who should be worried about getting killed. Mr. "I have a 27,000 bounty on my head"."
Zeke knew he wasn't getting out of this counter, "Oh..... heheh.... So.... y~o~u~'ve... heard about that huh?" he tried hard not to show the fear on his face with a very badly fake smile.
Rika seemed to have stared daggers into his very soul. "Hmmmmmmmmm."
"Heheheheh..... *sweat drop*" ("Oh god.... And who would have thought of it for Rika to do me in. Oh what am I saying!?? OF COURSE she would be the one.")
In order to lighten the mode, Frank tried to cease 'fire' the potential bloody argument with what he thought was 'good' news. "Well... at least we know what that black figure was now. Right Zeke-san?"
Zeke suddenly got serious. This worried Frank and even Rika. "What is it?" she asked.
Zeke's eyes were very cautious, "She wasn't that shadow... I'm sure of it. And we better find a TOWN to sleep in tonight. And fast, look where we are."
Due to Rika's antics, none of the three had realized where they were, until know.
A massive graveyard. And they seemed to be near the middle.
Rika was the first to lose it, "A-a-a-a-a GRAVEYARD!?!?!??! AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!"
"Rika please, calm down."
"ME CALM DOWN!?!? YOU CALM DOWN!! WE'RE IN A FREAKIN GRAVEYARD!!! We're all gonna di~ie!"
Zeke huffed as he hugged to comfort Rika, "We're fine, let's just get out of here and everything will be alright." He turned too Frank for reassurance, "Right Frank?"
He just stood there... not saying a word. Zeke walked toward him, "What's up man?" Then, he noticed it...
The frontal chest area of Frank's shirt was botched dark red, blood.
"Fr-Fr-Fr-Frank???!!"
Some blood started to drip down his mouth and a small exhale of breath escaped him, "..........Zeke"
He fell to his knees, then his whole body hit the ground.
"FRAAANK!!!!!"
Behind Frank's now lifeless body, was a man, his face was darkened by the night and the positioning of the moon's light. He had long blond hair that spiked at the end and went to his waist behind him and a blue bandana on his head. He wore extremely baggy blue jeans and a blood red body tight T-shirt. Then his sword, the sword that pierced Frank almost COMPLETELY through his body, that sword... it was amazingly huge, a wide tip that curved and went from the end of the sword 5ft wide to the nearest to the handle about 3ft wide.
Zeke's eyes couldn't hide the fear and anger inside him. "You.... WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?! FRANK!!!!" He pulled out his Tachi and his newest sword, GinKiba (Silver Fang) Uchigatana and swung a Scissors decapitation cut.
*CHING!*
The man barely lifted his enormous sword, and it blocked the attack with ease. He moved that sword so fast, it was obviously over 100 pounds in weight... maybe over 200. The man smiled, the darkness still shading his face. That smile made Zeke sick. A chuckled escaped the man's lips, "Hmhmhm, So... you're Roronoa's son huh? You seem to have a long way to go to reach his level."
Zeke couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was it true? Was this all because of who his father is!? The possible DEATH of his best friend for such trivial bullshit!?!?!?!?!?!
"My..... My father?... REACH, my...FATHER'S LEVEL!?!?!" He pulled back from his connection with the man's sword and then lunged again, but instead of just another decapitation strike like the man predicted Zeke would do, Zeke swung one sword up, the man dodged, and then he swung both down in a diagonal. The man dodged again, but Zeke kept coming, each swing making him angrier and angrier.
Upper swing, side swing, back and forth, double swing from the right, downward, straight double piercing jab, tornado spin swing, X strike, repetitive down swings from different angles. Nothing.
Dodge, move, *ching*, repeat. The man never swung, only pulled up his sword to block and moved to dodge.
"YOU BASTARD!!! YOU HURT MY FRIEND AND WON'T FIGHT ME NOW!?!?!"
At this the man smirked, and for the first time in their 'fight', he swung up his sword with amazing speed and knocked away Zeke's on coming swords. Then he brought his sword down on Zeke's know opened chest.
*WHOOSHH!*
*SPRAY*
It wasn't deep, but mixed with his currents wounds from Jagger, and Zeke had just felt an enormous gut wrenching pain that no one could compare to as his body was just cut superficially by the man's large sword.
"AAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Rika emitted a high pitched scream. Zeke dropped to his knees and panted heavily, ".....Ha.....Ha....Ha....Ha....Ha..."
He looked up at the man, who was still smiling. He almost laughed manically as he spoke, "I didn't 'HURT' your friend Zeke.... No, I'm afraid I KILLED him."
Zeke's heart stopped.... It... It just couldn't be true. "You're... You're LYING!" He had to hold back tears.
The man's smile was gone, but there was no look of sincerity on his face to replace it either, "I wish I was...."
Zeke wasn't sure of what to do now, a million thoughts raced through his head. Then, he looked at Rika.
If anything, he wanted to save her. And he had no idea how far this guy was going to go.
"RIKA! RUN!!!"
At first she froze, but then Rika realized Zeke's concerns and bolted as fast as she could through the cemetery. The man chuckled and followed after her.
"NO!!!" Zeke ran in front of him and swung at him. With ease the man jumped up and dodged him. Zeke couldn't believe his eyes. The jump was so free and natural, it looked... UNnatural.
The man landed and ran for Rika, "RIKA!!!" It was more of a cry than a scream. Zeke ran after him as fast as he could, trying desperately to catch him. And Rika was running to try and desperately get away. Then, Zeke's wound gave way to him, and he fell short of the man ahead of him and collapsed. The man sped up, and caught up to Rika.
With one swing of his blade, as he passed her, the man cut down Rika, and she staggered and collapsed to the ground.
"RIKA!!!!!" Zeke scrambled by her side, his swords already dropped for him to hold her, and tears already down his face. He picked her up in his arms as he was on his knees. He shook her panicly, her eyes closed, and blood covering her, "RIKA!!! *sob* RIKA!!!!*
She slowly opened her eyes and tilted her head up, she could barely do this, ".....Zeke," her voice was unbelievably weak. Zeke burst into sobs of tears and pain, "R~I~K~A! STAY WITH ME GODDAMN IT! STAY WITH ME!!"
She just smiled very weakly and, "....... I love you Zeke.", and her head dropped lifelessly.
"RRRIIIIIKKKAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" No amount of physical pain could ever compare to this, the deaths of his friend and his lover.
"YOU!!!!!!!!" Zeke run up and picked back up his two swords and tried attacking the bastard responsible for their deaths. The man just sighed a swung back,
*WHAM!*
It felt blunt and brutal this time, Zeke dropped his swords and twisted and flew in the air before horribly crashing down. He tried his best to get up, but it was almost pointless, his left arm was torn, you could see part of the bone. He was fucked up.
Panting, screaming, aching, crying, Zeke struggled away, sore and slowly at first, but as the man walked closer he increased his speed. Although the man behind him never speed up and continued his walking pace, Zeke panicked more and more, fear taking over his body and not allowing him to gain it back. Somehow, the fear also gave Zeke adrenaline, and before he knew it, he was running in feeble fright.
He had now reached about a 10 yard space between him and his merciless pursuer when he collapsed in pain again. On his hands and knees he threw up blood and whatever else his body was excreting, trying terribly to survive this near death experience. He weakly crawled behind a large tomb stone, it seemed to be the largest in the cemetery.
("What......what do I do?") Fear was the only thing in his mind, he was a scared child being hunted by the dark, and all he wanted, was his normality back.
("Frank.... Rika.... *sniff* *cry*..... Why...... Why......")
(.....................WHY ARE YOU RUNNING?)
He heard it.... A voice in his head, not his own, yet..........
(WHY ARE YOU RUNNING!?!?)
Again.
(I said WHY ARE YOU RUNNING DAMN IT!?!? YOU THINK THIS IS THE BEST SOLUTION!?!?!?)
The voice was cruel and harsh, and.... up lifting, inspiring, encouraging.
(YOU CAN'T RUN!!! HE DOESN'T DESERVE TO EVEN LIVE!!! YOU CAN DO IT!!! SO WHY ARE YOU RUNING!?!??!!?)
Zeke's eyes became serious.
**
The wind around him blew away in all different directions, and a second light was illuminating the sky now other than the moon.
The man had his arm up to shade his eyes from the bright blue light. However, there was no look of shock or surprise on his face, just an unenthusiastic glare in his eyes and the smallest smile ever made. "Hm.... It's about time. Annoying that it took me both of his friends to "kill". But, I should have guessed, he's still young. But I KNEW he had it in him........ Hmhmhm... Just like his old man I see."
Zeke gripped his two swords he still had by his side in their sheaths and pulled them out. Although he mainly used Faasuto and Rasuto in his mouth, he had no time or use for them there, but in his hands. The blood seemed to stop running from any part of his body, the light blue aura around him acted like bandages all over his body. The arm with the bone showing looked almost healed from a glance. This..... was TRULY amazing.
The power emitting form Zeke only grew stronger as he stared at the man before him, giving him nothing but a serious, blood desiring death stare. The man only smiled more, almost as if he was humble, "Aw... You gonna kill me now? That it? Would that be 'right' of you? Walking down the dark road? "Being no better than myself"? Doing "Exactly what I want"? Joining the 'Dark Side'? Hahahahaha!"
Zeke said nothing.
This caused the man to be more serious, "So.... nothing but intent to kill now huh? No regret or remorse? Doing what's necessary even if not right?........." He smiled again, "....Good."
Zeke ran at him, the blue still spewing from him, he emitted an outrageous roar, "!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
*CCCCCLLLLLAAANNNKKKKKKK!!!!!!*
The man caught the swords with his enormous one, "Ha, still not enough-"
As he said this, his sword began to crack, "......Heh," still smiling, "Guess that's it."
*KRKKKKKKKKKKKK* *CRACK!!!* *SSSHHHHHHHHHIIIIINNNNGGGGGGGG!* *SLICE*
His body fell to the ground, his sword crumbled....... and his head flew into the air and hit the dirt.
Zeke stood there for a moment, his body finally stopped it's amazing glow. Then, he fell backwards and laid there. "Rika.........Frank........ I love you guys so much.... You.... *sniff*....You guys were the closest family I had besides mom.... *sob*......... I'm sorry...."
He use a tomb stone to lift him up, he looked to where he thought Rika's body was.... but he couldn't see it. He would have gotten up to find her, but he could no longer move at all, and finaly fell into a deep sleep.
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"Zeke-sama?"
A male voice.
"Zeke!"
A female voice.
"I don't think that is necessary Rika-san."
Rika!???
"Shut up Frank! He's just lazy!"
Frank!???
"WAKE UP! YOU JERK!!"
"WHA!!!!!" Zeke sprang up, his heart racing and mind dizzying about. He looked up and gained focus of his surroundings. There, right in front of him, was Rika and Frank, unharmed, and not in any way dead.
"Rika!??? Frank!???"
Rika blinked at him, she looked at him as if he was crazy.
Zeke's heart sprung to life. "FRANK! RIKA!!!" He jumped up and hugged Frank, astonishing him and Rika as he picked him up in this hug.
"Zeke, what the hell is with-" Rika couldn't finish, Zeke devoured her mouth into a kiss, it wasn't deep, it was just long, Zeke didn't want to stop, or let go.
He finally broke the kiss, still excited and happy beyond believe. Rika, however at this point was a little dazed and fluttered.
Zeke now calmed down and began questioning, "You're alive! But how!?"
Frank and Rika looked at him blankly, "What are you talking about?"
Zeke looked confused, as did they all, "You two don't remember last night?"
They looked at each other, Frank was the first to answer, "All I remember was when we met Rika, we realized we were in this cemetery and then.... I just... blacked out."
Rika nodded, "Yeah, I remember we both freaked when Frank fell.... but then... Nothing, I blacked out too."
Zeke was now really confused, was last night really just all a bad dream.
Rika noticed him thinking hard, "What happened to you Zeke?"
He thought on it some more, "I..... I don't know for sure..... But, I'm so happy everything is ok! I'll tell you guys later! FIRST! Let's eat! Come on!" He picked up Rika bridal style, smiling and playing with her. She playfully hit at him, "Quit it! HAHAAHHAHA!"
As Zeke ran merrily with Rika in his arms off towards where ever (they don't care where right now), Frank noticed Zeke left his swords.
They were all stacked neatly together, leaning against the largest tomb stone in the cemetery. "Hmmmm strange. Zeke-san acted so weirdly, and he was far away from where we were originally last night..... Interesting indeed." He left the cemetery and went after Zeke and Rika.
Behind him lay the cemetery and all its tomb stones and graves. The largest having the embedment of "Here Lies Jason Devega.......... Former apprentice of Roronoa Zoro."
To Be Continued.......