Judgment of the Almighty
Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece.
"Didn't find my axe, but at least I know where the people were taken,"
Axe stood in a large room filled with strange looking chairs. Each chair was facing the front where a large podium stood in the back of the room, and each chair was equipped with at least a dozen leather straps.
The treasure hunter prodded the chair, "Okay, I'm sort of getting the picture here. The people they haul in off the streets are held in the cells...taken here and strapped to a chair so they can't escape and...," he fingered a strap near the top of the chair, "They're forced to look ahead at," he glanced at the podium, "...the man behind the curtain...," he tapped the chair, "How does he do it though?"
"With patience, my son, with patience,"
"Speak of the Devil...," Axe slowly turned around to face Anderson, "Something tells me you need more than patience to brainwash these innocent people, preacher. How do you do it?"
Anderson smiled, "Gabriel and I preach our word to the needy masses and sooner or later, they come to our way of thinking,"
Axe clicked his tongue, "So...you bore them so much with talking, they get tired and say they'll join you, or what?"
The Paladin chuckled, "I suppose you can call it that,"
"You're not going to tell me, are you?"
"You don't need to know at the moment...when we are done with what must be done, you'll see first hand what we do to increase the strength of the Templars," Anderson shook his head, "Why can't you understand what I'm trying to do, my son?"
"I do understand, just don't like the methods. So, 'Done with what must be done' eh?" Axe cracked his knuckles, "Different words, but I know what you're saying!"
"Good, now come with me,"
"Eh??"
A short time later...
Okay, this is weird...first this guy tries to get his guys to kill me and Kairi, now he's leading me somewhere for something, but for what? What is this guy's deal? Axe wondered as he followed the former pirate known as the Paladin up a large stairwell that led up to the higher area of the church. The storm was outside seemed to be getting stronger, because the sound of rain splattering against the building was growin louder, and the thunderclaps were getting more and more frequent.
Anderson led Axe up to a large door at the top of the stairwell, "We're here my son,"
"Okay, seriously, stop calling me that. Where are we?"
"Our destination," Anderson replied as he opened the door and walked inside, "Here, we will have our confrontation,"
FINALLY! Axe followed Anderson inside and slammed the door behind him. He looked around and noticed that they were in the belfry, where large bells were hanging in various spots of the very large room.
"Odd place to duke it out," Axe muttered as Anderson walked ahead of him, coming to a halt in the middle of the room, "Is my axe here?"
"No, it's in another place,' Anderson shook his head, "I will be the only one dealing with weapons here,"
"That's a little unfair, isn't it?" Axe asked him, Not that it matters, since I have a kickass Devil Fruit and that Rokushiki stuff Rayo-aniki taught me!
"You're stronger than most people. I was trying to level the playing field," Anderson turned to him, hands behind his back, "If you have the strength to lift that, then you should have no problems in this fight. Even though I was a pirate myself, I must be humble and admit my skills and strength,"
So...what, he's scared I'd kick his ass? Axe blinked a few times, confused, Is that what he's saying?
"Now," Anderson cracked his neck, "Let's begin,"
Axe raised his fists while Anderson pulled his arms out from behind his back and revealed two long blades.
The young hunter tilted his head, "What the hell...?"
"Bayonets," Anderson said with a smile, "My second favorite kind of weapon from my old pirating days,"
"Uh huh...you any good with 'em?"
The smile stayed on Anderson's face and with that, he dashed towards Axe, his bayonets gleaming in the illumination of the lightning outside. Axe lifted an arm and blocked both bayonets with ease.
Anderson frowned when he saw that his attack were not only stopped, but he didn't even seem to harm his young opponent.
It was Axe's turn to grin, "Did I forget to mention? I ate the Kachi Kachi no Mi...I'm a Devil Fruit user!"
"So, that's it," Anderson leapt backward and sheathed his bayonets, "It will take more than these weapons to deal with you then,"
"Is that so?" Axe looked him over, "I dunno if you're keeping another weapon on ya, but if you are, I'd rather not know where you're hiding them...,"
"Always with the jokes, aren't you, my son? Well, see if you can think of any jokes after this," he removed his priest robes and revealed a dark body suit underneath. The suit had small plates of armor on various parts of his body and Axe could see something large on the rogue priest's back.
Anderson reached behind him and pulled out a large, sword with a wavy, almost flame-shaped blade atop of the long hilt.
"Meet my flamberge, boy," Anderson twirled the sword around, "When I was a pirate, this was my most commonly used weapon aside from my bayonets. With this, I made a name for myself as The Paladin,"
"Wow, thanks, I was really in the mood for a villain and his weapon origin story," Axe said sarcastically as he slapped the air, "You compensating for something with that thing, pal?" he asked, nodding to the sword.
"Don't you ever take anything seriously?"
"Only if I need to. So far, not so much,"
Kairi knelt down behind one of the pews, her hands clasped together in prayer. Her cheeks were stained with tears for crying so long after she stabbed Gabriel with Heaven's Savior.
Almighty God, I have committed a sin and I have come to you to repent. I don't know if it will help, but the sin I committed was committed in an act of self-defense. I was going to be killed myself, so I had to do what I did. I hope you can find it in yourself to forgive me, Lord.
The sound of ringing bells made Kairi look up to the ceiling. The church's belfry was above her, past the stone ceiling and wooden rafters. No one was supposed to be up there ringing the bells, not at this hour or even in this storm. It didn't take her long to realize what was going on up there.
He may be considered a pirate, but Axe has a good soul... she closed her eyes, The Government will no doubt call him a pirate and go after him, but no matter what he may do in the future, I must have faith in him to make things right! To make things right now! Almighty God, watch over him...please!
"You're becoming a nuisance!"
Axe laughed as he ducked and dodged every swing and thrust of Anderson's flamberge, making the wave-blade strike the bells, sending sparks into the air as loud ringing noises echoed around the belfry (though that was quickly muffled by the thunderstorm outside).
"C'mon, preacher man! I thought you were a big bad pirate, Anderson!"
If everyone on the Grand Line is as weak as this guy, becoming the World's Greatest Treasure Hunter is gonna be a piece of cake!!
"You can't keep running forever, boy, you're going to run out of energy sooner or later!"
"You'd be surprised what I can do, preacher!" Axe ducked under an oncoming flamberge swipe and rolled under one of the many bells in the belfry.
Anderson was getting mad. He was usually seen as a calm, cool, and collected man, but with Axe's teasing and everything else he was putting him through, Anderson was getting seriously pissed at him.
This boy..he's nothing like the men and women I've fought in my pirating days! He's stronger, faster... he paused and swung his sword hard, hitting Axe in the side. The sword shook slightly, but Axe had no damage to his side, save the tear in his clothing.
Faster, stronger, and has a tougher hide! That must be his Devil Fruit ability, to withstand physical damage...no matter! God is on my side and he will soon give me the strength I need to vanquish this demon child!
Okay, enough playing around... Axe skidded to a halt and turned around, "Let's end this, preacher!"
Anderson stopped and held out his sword, a confident smile on his face, "My thoughts exactly, my son! When I am done with you, my goal of bringing the Templars to light will be realized! Let this storm wash away the evil of this island and bring about the full return of the Templars!"
"Oh, for God's sakes!" Axe ran at him and threw a punch into the priest's stomach, "SHUT UP!"
The impact from Axe's punch made Anderson not only drop his sword, but his eyes bugged out of his skull and he doubled over, holding his stomach. The priest fell to his knees and coughed up blood, "W..what the hell...are you?!" he gasped.
"I already told you," Axe squatted down to look at his face, "I'm a treasure hunter, aiming to find Roger's treasure. I'm also a guy who doesn't like it when people are forced to do something against their will. That's just not nice, preacher. You guys are supposed to help people, but you go around brainwashing them to make your own damn army,"
"I..we did...it for the good...of mankind!"
"And I suppose murder counts for being good for mankind?" Axe shook his head, "You sicken me. Normally, I'd beat you an inch of your life, but Kairi's my friend and I promised her I wouldn't kill you. Chances are if I beat you that bad, you would end up dying, so I'm gonna keep true to my promise and let you live. However, before I leave this island to continue my journey, I want you and your Angel of Death companion and get the hell off this island, and never come back,"
Anderson chuckled and looked at him, "We'll just start again...you forget what we're capable of,"
"No, I haven't," Axe shook his head, "You don't wanna tell me how you do it, and quite frankly, I don't care. All I care about is you guys leaving this place alone. You can go to another island for all I care, but chances are word will get out about you guys and you'll be on the run again. The way I see it, you're screwed either way,"
With nothing more to say, Axe rose to his feet, turned around and started to leave.
Anderson glared at him, I will not be forced out off my island by some heretic outsider... he grabbed his flamberge and climbed to his feet, "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost," he raised his sword, "D-!"
Before he could scream out "DIE!!", a bolt of lightning ripped through the ceiling of the church and struck Anderson's large sword. Anderson's screams made Axe look back to watch the priest get electrocuted, his body convulsing like crazy. After a few moments, the lightning disappeared and Anderson stood still for a few moments, before falling flat on his face, wisps of smoke rising from his now charred body.
Axe tilted his head, clicked his tongue and shrugged, "That works too...plus, I didn't break my promise, either," he looked up at the new hole in the ceiling, looking at the storm clouds swirling above him, "That's what happens when you hold a big piece of metal during a storm,"
"AXE!"
As soon as he entered the main hall, Axe found himself hitting the floor after Kairi tackled him in a big hug.
"GEEZ!" Axe looked down at his friend, "You act like you weren't gonna see me again! You okay?"
She nodded slowly, "Yeah, thanks. But Gabriel...," she looked away, "...I...he's...,"
"Oh...," Axe blinked a few times, Guess that means she took care of him. Sorry, Kairi...
"Where's Anderson?" Kairi asked, picking herself up.
Axe sat up and pointed up towards the belfry, "Up there. He got fried by a bolt of lightning, so he's down and out, too. You and the people of this island don't have to worry about them anymore,"
"Thank you,"
"Don't mention it. Now," he pointed to the piles of knocked out townspeople from earlier that night, "What are we gonna do about them?"
Kilnorc: Well, that chapter's done. This one was a bit difficult to do. I didn't want it to be all grand and stuff, I mean, the beginning fights of One Piece canon ain't that big with Alvida and Captain Axe-Hand Morgan, so I went with my gut. Don't worry, though, there will be some better fights in the future.
On the next chapter of Origin...
Axe: Looks like they're back to normal.
Kairi: They made it after all, but they've disappeared somewhere.
Priest: We granted the boy Sanctuary. Besides, you should be thanking him!
Kairi: There is a man with a boat and people who are passing through, they said they can give you a ride.
Freedom
Axe: Let's get going then...