Chapter Two: The Traitor
"Subject appears to be dead." Red-handed Scroop, the doctor for the A.B.T.C.'s East Blue Science Division hissed. "I can't tell whether the death was caused by drowning or starvation."
The boy lying on the table couldn't have been more than seven years old. He had a very baby-ish face, and an almost shaved head. One eye was covered by an eyepatch. The boy was dressed entirely in black, and seemed to be wearing metal pants.
"The subject is small, but he weighs a ton. He seems to be wearing metal pants, so I'd guess the cause of death was drowning. He also seems to be wearing pirate flag for a cloak."
He examined the fabric. The Jolly Roger didn't have as much as a crossbone; it was simply a skull without even a jaw. "Creepy."
"But, that's as much time as I have for you today." Scroop hissed. "I have a guest coming soon, and I want to give him a tour."
He closed the door behind him, and the patient choked a little, a dribble of bile pouring from his mouth and onto the floor.
"The All Blue Trading Company is eager for new scientific breakthroughs, and Jim just flaunted one right in front of them, and used it to kill a Sea King." Dr. Doppler explained to Jim's mother. "It's a miracle I've kept them from taking Jim already. This afternoon just sealed his fate."
Jim's mother sighed, and prepared some food for the Doctor. "I just don't know what to do Doctor. Ever since that affair with Long John Silver, he's got it into his head that he's going to find the One Piece."
"And you don't want to see him killed." The doctor noted.
"You know more than anybody what the A.B.T.C. is cooking up for pirates." She said. "I remember when I wanted to see the world. I was young, and I thought the only way to do that was to be a pirate. That dream was killed faster than a fish in a net."
"Jim is a smart fish." Doppler muttered, more to himself than anybody. "Listen, I didn't come here to convince Jim to be a pirate. I came to warn you that the A.B.T.C. will not wait any longer to recruit him. If he doesn't join them, then he'll have to join the marines or become a pirate. Those are his options. He can't live the rest of his life on this island as a normal person any more."
She sighed, and set his food in front of him. "I just wish the perfect answer would fall from the sky."
The door to the Benbow Inn burst open and there was no way Jim walked in. "Hey mom! I just made some new friends! They came from an island in the sky!"
Peter flew into the Inn on his pillow bed, and the Lost Boys rode in on Louis the crocodile.
"Did this solution of yours involve costumed children?" Doppler asked curiously.
"Jim!" His mother gasped. "Who are they?"
"This is Peter." Jim said. "He came from an island in the sky! Isn't that so cool?"
"An island in the sky?" Doppler asked. "How is that possible?"
"We live on clouds." Peter said with an innocent smile.
Jim smiled as well. She really does want me to see the world. He thought. Even if she doesn't like that I want to be a Pirate King.
"Mom." He said. "I've decided it's time to leave."
A silence fell over the inn. "Where are you going Jim?" She asked, as tears welled up in her eyes."
He puffed up his chest. "I'm going to find the One Piece."
Tears streamed down their cheeks. "The A.B.T.C. wants to use me for their own gain. They'll probably try to dissect Peter and his friends once they've found them."
"Probably." Doppler muttered. "But please don't drag me into this."
Jim took a deep breath and yelled. "This is what I've wanted to do since I was a kid! Please don't try and stop me!"
Jim's mother collapsed on the floor. "Go!" She cried, and nobody in the room knew whether they were tears of joy or tears of pain.
"What just happened?" Peter asked, as they walked down the street. "What's the One Piece?"
"The One Piece is a secret island." Jim explained. "It's at the end of the Grand Line, the most dangerous man in the world. Only one man managed to brave the journey to World's End; Captain Jack. D. Sparrow, King of the Pirates."
"He hid all of his treasure there. Every gold coin he ever stole as a pirate, all gathered together in one place; the One Piece."
"This is the Golden Age of Piracy. Everybody wants to be a pirate and go and find the One Piece."
Jim turned to his friend. "But I'm gonna be the one to do it. I'm gonna be the King of the Pirates."
"Why do you want to be the King of the Pirates?" Peter asked.
"For the adventure of course!" Jim yelled. "I want to sail the seas with my friends! I want to see everything!"
"Hey, do you want to join my crew?" Jim asked Peter.
"You're asking me to join your crew?" Peter cried.
"Sure!" Jim said. "It'll be fun!"
Suddenly, he heard something. "Wait…" He said, twisting around. The noise was coming from the A.B.T.C. outpost. He focused his 'mantra' on it.
"What is it?" Peter asked.
"Something's happening in the A.B.T.C. outpost." Jim said. "It's… Mr. Arrow!"
A rocky fist crumbled the wall, and the stony Mr. Arrow emerged through the hole.
"Well well." Scroop hissed. "I suspected you had Devil Fruit powers Mr. Arrow."
"Indeed." The giant rocky man said. "Now let me show you the power of the Rock-rock fruit traitor! Stone Arrow!"
His rocky hand detached itself from his shoulder, and launched itself at Scroop. Scroop caught it with one hand and squeezed. Not for nothing was he called Red-Handed Scroop. The stone fist crumbled in his grip.
"How disapointiiiiing." He hissed, leaping out of the way, as Mr. Arrow had jumped up, and landed at the spot where Scroop was just moments ago. His heels dug into the stonework. As he watched, more rocks formed at Arrow's arm, creating a new fist.
"And a Logia fruit user too? What excellent Sssssport."
"Stone Cannon!" Arrow roared, bringing his two fists together and launching them at the arms. Scroop jumped to the side, and the air pressure of the attack alone was enough to send him flying out of the window.
Fortunately, he grabbed a rope hanging from one of the ships.
Mr. Arrow broke through the wall and leaped at Scroop. The eyes of the men of the A.B.T.C. were suddenly drawn on them, as Mr. Arrow and Scroop fought in the roping of their main ship.
"Now you're on my turf." Scroop growled. "Hangman party." He danced through the ropes, and launched them at Mr. Arrow. They all suddenly had a hangman's noose at the end. The nooses wrapped themselves around Mr. Arrow's neck, arms, and legs.
"Red Right Hook." Scroop intoned, bringing his fist around for a punch.
"Stone Body." Mr. Arrow stood stock still on the Mizzen Mast, ready to take it.
But instead of hitting him, Scroop's fist shot through the Mizzen Mast.
Mr. Arrow fell into the water below the ship.
He gasped and sputtered. The ropes that held him managed to keep him alive and above the surface, but he was no longer a stone-man, and he was too weak to pull himself up from the water.
"Mr. Scroop!" Abigail yelled. "What is the meaning of this?"
Scroop stood up on the splintered end of the Mizzen Mast. "You have a traitor in your midst Abigail." He hissed. "Captain Hook sends his regards."
"That's amazing!" Peter yelled, as he and Jim flew towards the outpost. "You have Mantra!"
"Mantra?" Jim asked.
"It's really rare, even in Sky Island." Peter explained. "People who have the mantra can hear all things a long way away. It's really hard to learn, but people who are born with it are sometimes able to hear the sound of the future, and predict an enemie's attacks before they come."
"I can hear that sometimes." Jim said with a smile. Then he heard what Scroop said. "Captain Hook? Wait… Peter, can you make this cloud go any higher?"
Peter was a Devil Fruit use too. He had the Cloud-Cloud Paramecia fruit. He had such a fins control over clouds, that he didn't even need them to fly, he just needed a little bit of vapor in the air. But Jim preferred flying by bed.
Up in the sky, they saw a large red galleon, trimmed with gold. The Jolly Roger it flew had a skull imposed over a clock, with a sword positioned diagonally through it.
Jim could hear the sounds of the pirates getting ready for a fight. They were so noisy, he was surprised he hadn't heard them until now.
"Yeah! The mighty Captain Hook will lead us to victory again!"
"The All Blue Trading Company won't know what hit them!"
"C-c-c-captain? W-w-will we be a-attack-acking the village f-first or the out-out-outpost."
"The village." Said a refined voice. "I want the outpost to be reeking of fear by the time I arrive."
"Their going to attack the village!" Jim yelled.
"Me and the Lost Boys can handle him." Peter said arrogantly.
Jim wasn't sure, but he decided to give Peter the benefit of the doubt. "Alright, you go and keep him busy, I'll sort out what's happening down there."
And with that, Peter took off, his cloud-cloud fruit using the vapor in the air to fly instead of forming some sort of support. The bed lowered itself to the ground, but Jim didn't wait. He unslung his surf-rider and jumped off of the flying bed. There wasn't any water for his invention to ride on, but he adjusted the surfer and it managed to glide its way down.
The outpost was in chaos. Bodies of sailors were strewn across the main courtyard, and Scroop was in a heated fight with Abigail.
Abigail was using a cat-of-nine-tails to fend of Scroop's ropes and nooses, but she was battered from unsuccessfully defending against his ferocious punches.
"Hangman Hunter." He hissed.
The Cat-of-nine-tails flashed, but she was already tightly wrapped up in the ropes.
"Scroop!" Jim landed on the other end of the courtyard.
"Hawkinssss." Scroop laughed. "I've been waiting a long time to put you in your place."
"What's your game Scroop?" Jim asked.
"Captain Hook wants what the All Blue Trading Company is cooking up." Scroop held up a hand. "This is called a BEN. It's a navigation device that uses mirrors and starlight. It is more reliable than a Log Pose on the Grand Line."
"Oooh, I want one." Jim smiled. "How does it work?"
"I haven't figured it out." Scroop hissed. "But I'm sure Captain Hook will. Meanwhile, you'll be dead. Hangman Party."
The nooses flew forward, but Jim was already ducking them. His mantra rang out, warning him of the attacks to come.
"Hangman Hunter."
Jim was out of reach by the time a noose coiled around where he'd been standing moments ago.
"Impossible." Scroop hissed. "My Hangman Hunter has never misssed."
"I love the impossible." Jim said with a smile.
"Nobody's coming to save you this time Hawkinssss."
"I don't need saving any more."
Clopin the Bandit laughed as he juggled Jim in his hands. "Don't hurt him!" Jim's mother cried.
"Well what's the point of coming here if we don't hurt somebody." Clopin laughed. "It may as well be the boy!"
"I thirst for blood!" The puppet on Clopin's hand gleefully exclaimed, as he helped juggle Jim.
"Let me go!" Jim yelled. "When I get out of here I'll beat you senseless!"
Clopin laughed. "Who wants to have a bit of fun boys?" He asked.
"I do." Somebody said in a low growl.
CLopin turned as he saw the nine pirates, who had suddenly surrounded them. His hand puppet drew a rifle out, and aimed it at the one who had spoken; an overweight man, with a metal arm, eye, and peg leg.
"Who are you?" Clopin asked.
"The name's Long John Silver." The fat man said. "And that little fish you've got flopping inn your hand is a friend of mine. I'd like you to let him go."
Clopin laughed. "And they say I'm funny, isn't that right men!" Clopin laughed, but strangely, his men didn't laugh with him.
He turned around, and he saw his entire crew of bandits unconscious. Standing in their midst was a shoeless man with wavy white hair and a staff.
"Thank you Rafiki." Long John said. "Now… you were about to let the lad go, Clopin?"
Clopin panicked. He drew a knife and held it against Jim's throat. "Ah ah ah!" His laughed was nervous now. "One wrong move, and your friend here will die."
"Weapons weren't made for threats." Long John said. "They were made for action."
And all of a sudden, Silver's finger was smoking, and the knife was shot out of Clopin's hand.
Clopin winced as he saw the shadow of Baloo behind him, hefting his bat.
Later, the Silver Pirates were leaving, and Jim raced down to the shore. "Wait!" He yelled.
Silver leaned back and watched Jim at the shore, even as the ship drew ever further away. "What is it lad?"
"Why did you help me!"
"Because I've taken a liking to ye Jimbo! Yer my friend!"
"But – why!"
"Why!" Silver laughed. "Because you're just a child, but you pointed a gun at me! He threatened Clopin even as he was juggling ye! Don't lose that gumption Jimbo! You've got the makings of greatness in you! Follow your heart, and when you've followed it as far as you can… well, I hope I'm there that day, catching the light coming off of you."
Jim couldn't help it. Tears broke through and ran down his cheeks. "Will we meet again!"
"That depends Jimbo! Does your heart tell you to go to the Grand Line!"
Jim knew the answer. He'd known it ever since his dad left. "Yes!"
"Then we will meet again!"
Jim Hawkins dodged to the left as another noose was thrown at him, and raised his hand shield his head.
"Red crusher!" Scroops yelled, lunging his hand forward to squeeze Jim's head. Instead, his fist was intercepted by Jim's arm, just as he'd planned.
Scroop squeezed, but intead of hearing the snap of a bone and Jim writhing in pain, Jim just smiled. "What the –"
"Needle Arm Defense." Jim said quite calmly.
Scroop screamed as his hand was slashed open, and he tore it away from Jim. Now his arm really was red.
"I've been waiting for this a long time too." Jim said. "My jacket is armor plated, and I've hidden razor blades inside it."
"You're a coward." Scroop said. "You know you're no match for me and my muscles, so you have to fight me with cheap tricks."
"My greatest muscle is my mind." Jim said.
"Hangman Hunter!" Scroop yelled, and this time Jim didn't dodge as the ropes bound him from head to toe.
"Needle Jacket Defence." Jim activated the rest of his jacket's hidden blades, and he shredded through the ropes. He settled into a fighting stance – and heard something strange nearby.
He looked to the left where Abigail was supposed to be lying down, bound. But a stranger was cutting her loose.
The stranger was small, and he had a baby-ish face and an eyepatch. He cloak covered him so he couldn't see what he was doing to Abigail, but when he was finished Abigail was unbound and looking at the stranger in horror. "What are you?" She whispered.
The stranger just smiled, and leaped away into the sea.
Jim shelved away his theories and focused on the fight at hand. "Come on the Scroop." He said. "Fight me."
"Hangman whirlwind!" Scroop yelled. A noose wrapped itself around Jim, but it was quickly shredded.
"Red Right Fist!" Scroop lunged. Jim gritted his teeth. Even armor plated as he was, the punch hurt. But the punch hurt Scroop too, and he doubled over in pain.
Jim smiled. "Finsihing Kata." He said, and he struck Scroop with a karate chop blow to the neck.
"Hawkins." Abigail stormed up to him. "You've been holding more out on us than I expected. That jacket of yours is ingenius."
"Thanks." Jim hit the hidden lever in the jacket that returned the razors to their hiding spots. "Where's that BEN that Scroop was talking about?"
Abigail searched through Scroop's satchel. "It's gone. Oh no…" She ran for the docks and Jim followed her, hitching up hi surf-rider.
Out in the middle of the lake, the stranger in black was walking along the surface of the water. He turned his one eye back to the shore as Jim and Abigail arrived. He smiled, and kept on walking.
"We have to get it back." Abigail snarled.
"No time." Jim said. He could already hear the fighting. "I have to get back to town. There are pirates attacking." He unfolded his surf-rider in one smooth motion, and jumped into the bay.
"Jim!"
"Jim! Help! If you can hear me, come back!"
Jim's mother cried as the door to her in burst open. Peter flew backwards into the room, a knife made of clouds in his hand, bleeding all over.
He stood, as Captain Hook entered the Benbow Inn. He was large and skinny. He was wearing a bright red Captain's Coat, and he had a long silver sword. His hair was as black as sin, and it fell across his face wickedly.
"I apologize for the intrusion Madame." He grinned, showing off his many teeth and his big nose, traits of a fishman with codfish DNA. "But while I'm here, you wouldn't happen to have any sake would you? Pillaging makes me thirsty."
A/N: My apologies for the writing style. I'm trying to write in the style of One Piece, and I'm not sure if I'm succeeding. I will be following the manga pretty close, only switching characters and circumstances around. However there is one big difference between this and One Piece; here, the Captain is the weakest of all his crewmates, but also the smartest.
I could have made Captain Hook like Crocodile, as Crocodile was based off of Captain Hook. But I'm trying to make the characters here have different powers than powers known in One Piece. If Oda can make every individual unique, than I'll try my hardest as well. Any fruit you've seen in One Piece, I will not use unless I have a very good reason. Who else thinks Captain Hook makes a great fishman?