Chapter Three: Romance Dawn
Jim Hawkins felt his heart pounding in his chest as he surfed the waves to the other side of the island. He heard the cries of fear from the small town, and pushed his legs harder and faster so he wouldn't be so powerless against what was happening there.
He could hear the lost boys getting beaten by the pirates. He counted fifty of them, not including the Captain, and his first mate. About three quarters of them had guns, while only the other quarter used swords and knives.
Jim had a plan; fight them all, and send them packing.
Maybe it wasn't the best plan. But he could hear Peter getting up, and he could hear that smug guy talking to his mom while she screamed, and he wouldn't be the one to stand by and let something like this happen. He was going to be the King of the Pirates, it was time to act like it.
The fishman with long black hair and a fancy red coat strode into the bar. "So." Captain Hook said. "How about some Sake?"
Ms. Hawkins reached under her counter-top and drew out a hand with a shivering bottle.
Captain Hook swiped it out of her hand, and pulled the cork out of the bottle with his teeth. He took a long swig, then spat it out. "You call this sake! I ought to hang you from the mast by your thumbnails!"
"Boss, you have to stop overreacting!" His crew yelled.
"Now." Captain Hook said. "Do you know where the A.B.T.C. outpost on this island is?"
Dr. Doppler was sitting still in the corner. Maybe they won't see me if I stay perfectly still. He thought.
"I-it's just over that hill." Ms. Hawkins pointed.
"Good." Captain Hook smiled. "Than you'll take me there as a hostage."
"W-what!" She exclaimed, before Captain Hook lifted her over the counter by her hair. She screamed in pain, and squirmed in midair.
Captain Hook laughed. "Look men, it seems I've a wriggling fish on the end of a hook!"
"Ahahahaha! Very funny Captain!" They didn't look like they thought it was funny at all, they just didn't want to get killed for not being funny.
"No, wait!" Doppler stood, shaking. "I'm a scientist in that outpost. I'll be a more valuable hostage."
"Take him too!" Captain Hook laughed, tossing Ms. Hawkins to the ground. His crew picked her up, and escorted both her and Doppler outside.
"What do you want at that outpost?" Doppler asked.
"Everything." Captain Hook sneered. "There's a whole new world out there. The Grand Line is full of surprises. If I'm going to find the One Piece, then I'm going to need all of the help I can get. I'm going to have to rob all four of the science outposts on all four of the Blues, burning them all to the ground, leaving no survivors, no witnesses. Then I'll go to the Grand Line, and pillage the science outpost there, and with the inventions at my disposal I will be unstoppable!"
"Hey!" Jim Hawkins stood over the crest of the hill. "I'll stop you!"
"Jim look out!" Doppler yelled. "He's a fishman! He's too strong for you to beat!"
"A fishman huh?" Jim's eyes went wide. "That is so cool! I think I'll want a fishman on my crew when I become a pirate."
"A pirate huh?" Captain Hook grinned. "Why don't you join my crew!"
"That's nice of you, but I'm my own Captain."
"Join my crew or I'll make you walk the plank!" He roared.
"C-captain." Shmi said. "You're overreacting again."
"Besides, those two are friends of mine, and I kind of want to save them." No need to tell them that she's my mom. "Let's see… Twenty Kata."
He rushed forward, darting into the pirates. "Get him!" The cried.
In a moment, twenty of them had fallen, some of them by Jim jabbing them in pressure points, others by being shot by the guns of their own crewmates. That was the secret of Jim's kata… using his enemies weapons against themselves. Being out-numbered meant that he was at an advantage.
"Well done Jim." Doctor Doppler said, rubbing his wrists.
"You scurvy pox-ridden child!" Captain Hook roared. "I'll feed you to the sharks!"
"Not likely!" Jim grinned. "I'm going to be the Pirate King someday! You can bet that I can handle whatever you dish out!"
Captain Hook laughed. "You? The Pirate King? Don't make me laugh! You're nothing but a child… worse, a human! Only a fishman like myself can hope to traverse the waters of world's end and find the One Piece."
"I'm clever. I can do it." Jim boasted.
Captain Hook just scoffed. "What would you even do with the money?"
"I'd probably just leave it." Jim shrugged.
"What?" Captain Hook's jaw dropped. "Why would you want to be the Pirate King if you don't want to have the One Piece!"
"For the adventure." Jim smiled. "Now, Thirty Kata."
Jim was surprised by how the crew reacted. It was the same old tricks, but they fell for them, and in two seconds, Captain Hook's crew was mostly lying on the ground, all except for him and two others fallen by their own weapons.
"Have at you!" Hook roared, and drew his sword. "Fishman Longsword!"
Jim heard the attack coming with his mantra, and he brought his arms up defensively. He swung his sword down, and a gash appeared in the ground, rushing towards Jim. Luckily, Jim's armor plated jacket did its job.
Jim took the scene in. "Interesting. With your Fishmen strength, you swung your sword hard enough that you managed to propel air as if it were from a gun. A sword shaped gun."
Shmi gasped. "I thought it was just a mystery technique!"
"You're an idiot." Jim noted.
"Yes, I am so excellent with a blade, that I can cut the very air!" Captain Hook said. "What hope do you have against me?"
"Like Devil Fruit users, and other people who really on one powerful attakc, your attack has one very obvious weakness." Jim said. He ran forward, rolling under Captain Hook's next swipe, and grabbed onto the Captain red coat. "If I'm here, you can't swing hard enough to hit me with that ranged attack."
He was counting on Captain Hook being too stupid or lazy to think of ways to conquer Jim's fresh new defense, like spearing himself to get to him, ignoring him and attacking his mom and the doctor, or even ramming himself back-first into a wall.
Thankfully, Captain Hook met Jim's expectations of his intelligence. "Aaaah! He's on my back! He's on my back! I'll burn you into brisket for this! Shmi get him off! Get him off!"
"I've got him Captain!" Shmi hefted his gun – which was roughly the size of a cannon – in his direction.
"Wait!" Captain Hook saw what he was trying to do. "Don't shoot him Shmi! Don't shoot –!"
Jim's mantra guided him, letting him jump off at exactly the right moment before Captain Hook's back exploded.
"Aaargh! Mr. Furlong! Music please!"
A spaniard in a skingtight pink shirt with golden earings picked up an accordion. "I call this number… 'Ode to Spring'!"
The noises that came out of the accordion were the exact opposite of what spring was supposed to sound like. Somehow (secret levers and switches he presumed, quite an ingenious little instrument) the Accordian began shooting at him as it played.
Jim began to get peppered with bullets. He was a decent enough fighter to dodge some of them, but the accordion was drowning out his heartbeat, wreaking havoc with his mantra. He found himself on the ground, letting the armor plates on the back of his jacket take care of the barrage.
Suddenly, the music stopped. Jim looked up from where he was lying down, and saw the man lying on the ground with a broken accordion. Peter was sitting on him, twirling a knife made out of steel cloud in his hands. "I'm sorry I was so late to the fight." He said. Despite being covered in his own blood, he was smiling. "They caught me by surprise."
"That's alright." Jim said. "Hey, want to finish this together?"
"Sure."
"I'll lop both of you up and feed you to crocodiles!" Captain Hook yelled.
"Hey, where's your crocodile?" Peter asked.
"Oh, he'll catch up." Jim said. He tore off his jacket, revealing the plates and razors underneath. "Oh man, this thing's ruined. Armor's still good though."
With a flick of the wrist, he brought out his gun. His special black gun. This gun was one of two, the other was owned by his father. When he found the man who had this gun, he and his dad would recognize each other. And then Jim would beat the **** out of him.
"This fight is over." He said, loading a round, and shooting the bottle of sake in Captain Hook's hand.
"Is that supposed to impress me?" Captain Hook turned around where Shmi's blunderbuss had singed his jacket. "My coat is even more armored than yours! Shmi!"
Shmi had reloaded the Blundrebuss and fired a shot at Jim. He didn't even flinch or look away from Hook, as Peter interrupted by cutting the cannon ball in half, the two halves flying by both of them. He threw a cloud at Shmi, knocking him out.
"The gun isn't important." Jim said, loading another round. "What's important is that sake is flammable."
He shot the street lamp over Hook's head. Lit oil poured out, covering Captain Hook in flames.
As the Captain screamed, Jim explained to Peter. "I figure, Fishmen must be so strong because they live under the sea where there's much more pressure. So likewise, their skin must be adjusted to withstand to cold down there, and he'd be vulnerable to heat. And having gills, he'd probably be more exposed to the smoke from a fire as well."
"Put me out!" He screamed. "Put! Me! OUT!"
Peter shrugged. "Alright. Cloud-cloud tempest!" Clouds shot out of his hands, pouring down and around the codfish-man. The clouds spun around him, twirling him in a tornado, before finally shooting him out into the sky. The clouds, being water, had put out the flame, but he still left a smoky trail as he flew through the sky.
"We make a good team." Jim said with a smile.
"I think we make an awesome team!" Peter cheered. "That was so cool! I want a fishman in my crew!"
"Your crew?" Jim asked. "You mean your not joining my crew?"
Peter shook his head. "No. Life down here is far too exciting. I want to be Captain of my own crew, and go on my own adventure. I hope you don't mind the competition."
"Not at all. In fact, let's make this a competition. Last one to the One Piece has to fly the other's flag on their ship."
"Deal!" Peter spat into his hand, and held it out. Jim mimicked the shake.
"Before the next generation, one of us will be the Pirate King!" They announced happily.
"There are no words to describe my regret Captain." Mr. Arrow said gravely. "I am ashamed of my loss."
"Save the claptrap Arrow." Abigail said. "We have pirates to fight."
But when they arrived in town, all of the pirates were either unconscious, or awake and crying for help. They were all tied up and guarded by the villagers.
"What happened here?" Captain Abigail asked.
"Mr. Hawkins fought off the pirates." Doctor Doppler said, not mentioning Peter. The three of them agreed it would be best if she didn't know about him. "Then he left. He said something about going off to find B.E.N. Was it stolen?"
"Regretably." The Captain sniffed with disdain. "Is this all of them?"
"All of them but the Captain. He ran escaped, and Jim went to finish him off."
Louis crawled along the beach with a hand sticking out of his mouth. "Louis, spit that out you don't know where it's been." Jim admonished.
"You ready?" Peter and the Lost Boys were on their flying bed.
"Ready." Jim put on his new jacket and unfolded his surf glider.
Louis took out his tiny trumpet and blew.
The two of them shot out, Louis quickly following Jim along the East Blue. I'll have to get a ship. Jim thought, watching Peter fly the other way in his bed. I can't let Louis or the rest of my crew get eaten by a Neptunian. I wonder where I could find a fishman to join my crew?
"Hey!" Peter called. "I'll see you on the Grand Line!"
"You will!" Jim yelled back. "Because you'll be behind me the whole way!"
Laughing, they disappeared past each other's horizons. Jim looked back, and saw his mother waving him off. He felt guilty. She'd be worried about him for a long time, and he didn't see him coming back from the Grand Line any time soon. Not until he was the Pirate King.
He felt tears stream down his cheeks, and looked down at Louis. "Next stop, Duckville and the Mirror Islands." Jim said, hoping he'd find his way there.
This was the first big step on a great adventure. Jim felt the wind race through his hair, and stopped thinking about the future, just glad to be alive.
Seven little men ran along the bridge. It was known by the locals simply as THE bridge. It had connected the Mirror Islands since the old days where Jack D. Sparrow was just a rookie. The Seven little men ran at full speed towards the portside city of Duckville on the other side. "Hi-ho!" They cried. "Hi-ho! We've got him now Hi-ho! Nowehre to run, nowhere to hide, Hi-ho! Hi-ho!"
The Bridge's traffic was empty for once, and Duckville's sheriff had a barricade set up on the other side of the bridge. A lone man stood in the center of the bridge. He wore a cape that covered everything but his head, and that was covered by a wide-rimmed hat.
"Hi-ho!" The little men pointed their weapons at him as the innocents scattered. "We've got you now! We'll teach you a lesson about messing with our princess!"
The man drew a hand out of his cape, and pointed at the ground in front of the little men's feet. Their eyes went wide with shock as they realized they were standing on top of a red chalk X on the ground. "I've got you right where I want you."
The bridge exploded with a light that could be seen for miles. Wood and stone flew in every direction. Any of the innocent civilians who didn't get clear in time, soon found themselves nursing burns or bruises.
All except one.
One little girl had snuck past the barricades, and now she had a death grip on the bridge's main support pillar. Her pigtails flew back with the force of the explosion, and she almost lost her grip and fell into the river between the two islands.
Once the explosion subsided, she peeked back around the corner. The bridge was almost completely destroyed, with only the beginning and end of it still standing. The seven little men were smoking and covered in ashes. "Why…" The one with glasses gasped. "Why… why would you do this? Why would you destroy the bridge?"
The caped figure stood tall on top of one of the bridge's support pillars, cape floating in the wind. "I do what I wish… because… I am the terror that stalks in the night!"
The little girl's eyes widened. "Dad?"
"I am the straw that broke your bridge's back!"
"That doesn't even make any sense." The leader of the little men choked.
The man looked out grimly from behind his domino mask. "I am the man they call… Darkwing!"
A/N: My apologies again for the writing style. I'm still trying to find the groove between anime and the written word, where the story will feel like One Piece, without having to have pictures.
I meant for the next villain and heroes to be from Snow White - you know, the first Disney movie, to be the first island Jim goes to on his travels. However, it didn't fit in with the story. None of the Dawrves seemed like crewmate material, and the Devil Fruit Power I gave the Wicked Queen would qualify her as a sikubachi. So I'm mixing in a little Darkwing Duck to Jim's second adventure.
I bet I got you thinking that Peter would be First Mate didn't I? No, Peter's a lot like Luffy, and he was almost the main character for that reason. But I decided Hawkins would be the hero of this story, so since Peter won't follow anybody's lead but his own, he's going to be Jim's rival. Kind of like Cody.
Reviews are welcome.