Ripley's Dream! Strength Behind the Hammer!
Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece
--
"Bone Crush!"
Loud screams of pain and the sounds of bone cracking echoed through the Baratie as a handful of Grudge Pirates were sent flying through the wall after Ripley swung her war hammer hard into them. Axe, Sanji and about everyone else in the restaurant stared at what she had just done. They also watched as she received a few grazings from various weapons of the pirates, but kept going.
"Wow...she's strong and tough!" Axe gawked, "Awesome...,"
"Don't just stand there, you shithead, help her out!" Sanji rushed at the nearest Grudge Pirate, "Flanchet!"
Axe winced as Sanji's foot collided with the pirate's stomach, "Ouch...oh well, I can beat that!" he ran at full speed towards a large group of the pirates, screaming at the top of his lungs like a madman. While Sanji and Ripley fought off the numbers they were facing, Axe plowed into his own group and with his strength and momentum, he managed to bulldoze them right out of the Baratie, sending some of them to the porch and the rest into the ocean.
Ivan stared at what was happening to his crew, "What the hell is this?! You're just kids, you can't be this strong!"
"Says who?" Axe grabbed him by the collar and lifted him into the air as the others were just finishing up their opponents, "Sanji! Ripley! Which one of you wants to deal with this asshole?"
"I'll have a shot at him," Ripley smiled, gripping her war hammer, "I'd love to finish my business with this asshole. You have a problem with that, honey?" she asked Sanji, giving a small wink.
Sanji smiled like an idiot, "Of course not, Ripley-chan!"
"Good. Set him down, kid,"
Axe lowered Ivan to the ground and backed away, "This should be good,"
Ivan looked around at his fallen comrades as Ripley approached, not believing what he had just seen and what was happening to him right now. He turned to see Ripley standing directly in front of him, twirling her hammer around and around again.
"W-Wait! Maybe, we can reach some kind of deal here!"
"Hmm...," Ripley hummed, as though she was really thinking of it, "Nah, I'd rather do this!" she stopped twirling the hammer around and with one fluid motion, she swung the hammer upward directly into Ivan's groin.
About every male in the restaurant winced and moaned in sympathy for him, but that wasn't the worst bit of Ripley's attack. She did connect with his groin, that was true, however, it wasn't the flat end of the hammer that made contact. The claw/hook end made contact and had not only smashed him there, but it actually broke through his precious bag of family jewels. With a little effort, Ripley pulled her hammer out and watched as Ivan fell over, holding his bleeding area tightly as her hammer dripped blood.
"See what you made me do?"
Axe gulped and turned to Sanji, "Remind me never to piss her off,"
Sanji nodded quickly in silence.
--
"Well, this is gonna be bad publicity for the Baratie," Patty grumbled as he mopped up the blood from the floor, "I can see the newpapers now: Pirate gets fixed by psycho hammer woman!" he shook his head and dipped the mop into a nearby bucket, "I knew she was going to be trouble the first time she couldn't pay!"
Carne, who was helping other cooks fix up the damages looked back at him from over his shoulder, "Hey, at least she helped,"
"Help? We could've taken those bastards ourselves, we're the fighting cooks of Baratie, dammit!"
As the others fixed up the restaurant, Ripley was enjoying a complimentary victory mug of alcohol. She downed the entire drink in one sitting and slammed the mug down hard, letting out a loud "AH!" before wiping her face free of foam.
"Man, nothing like some beer after a fight!" she belched a little bit before looking at Axe and his friends, "Again, sorry for the trouble. I thought I lost them awhile ago, but I guess it's just Fate or something,"
"You said something about stealing maps before," Axe tapped the table idly, trying to ignore the beer belch breath that invaded his nostrils, "What was that about?"
Ripley waved him off, "Oh, I stole some stuff to help my cartography. Nothing big, really,"
"Those guys didn't think so," Kairi propped her head on the table, "Haven't you heard of 'Thou Shalt Not Steal' ?"
Axe leaned over to his First Mate, "Not everyone worships the same religion, Kairi," he whispered.
"I might have heard it in passing, but hey, I don't care," Ripley shrugged, "Gotta do what you can to survive, right? With what I got planned in my life, I'm willing to do what I can to make it a reality,"
"Make what a reality?"
Again, she waved them off, "You'd think it's stupid,"
"Try us,"
"Nothing can be as or more stupid than Axe,"
Seconds later, Toby went down to the floor, whining and whimpering as he held a large, fresh bruise on the top of his head.
Ripley couldn't help but smile at them, "Well, if you must know, I have a dream. My dream is to make a complete map of the world. I get whatever maps I can find to compare them and if any of them is wrong or something new pops up, I correct and update them. Now, I already know most of the four Blue Seas by heart, so the main problem is the Grand Line. I really want to get in there and make a map of every route, every island, hell every Sea King nest!" she leaned forward, "Go ahead and laugh if you want, I don't give a damn if you think it's impossible, kiddies. This is my goal in life, and I'm gonna do it, no matter what happens and no matter what anyone thinks of me,"
The three treasure hunters could only stare at her.
"What? Was it something I said?"
Axe quickly shook his head, "Uhm, change of subject. What's with your hammer?"
"What, this?" Ripley patted the weapon nearby, "This is Titan's Fist. I always carry it with me,"
"You must be pretty strong to wield it so well,"
Ripley grinned, "Stronger than most chicks, kid. Thank my desire for the power,"
--
The next day, Axe and his two friends were standing on their small boat, looking at the Baratie. With their ship stocked and a map at their disposal, they were ready to head for Roguetown. Kairi sighed and sat down on the railing, "Without Sanji, I guess we're going out now, huh?"
"Yeah, looks like it," Axe rubbed the back of his neck, "Damn shame, too. We could use his power and cooking skills on the team. Oh well, can't force him,"
"Can't or don't want to?" Toby asked, grinning, "You're still scared of his kicks?"
"I never said I was scared of his kicks!" Axe snapped defensively, "When did I say that?!"
Toby held up his hands, "I'm just saying. Sanji and Zeff are the only ones I saw that actually gave you a bruising, Axe. I'd be scared of them, too,"
"Oh please, you'd be scared if someone came at you with a silver fork,"
Kairi slapped herself in the face, "I'm with a couple of idiots...,"
"Just what are you three up to?"
The treasure hunters turned to see Ripley standing on the porch, looking at them, Titan's Fist across her shoulders and a backpack on her back.
"Hey, Ripley," Axe walked over to her, "We're about to set out,"
"Set out?"
Axe nodded, "We're going to Roguetown,"
"Roguetown, hm?" Ripley rubbed her chin and sat down on the porch, her feet dangling just above the water, barely touching the surface, "Mind if I ask you a question?"
"You just did,"
"Haha, very funny, but seirously," Ripley cleared her throat, "What is it you kids want to do with your lives?"
"Be the World's Greatest Treasure Hunter!"
"To end needless killing in the world,"
"To find a cure for a curse,"
Ripley was surprised they were so quick to reply to her. She looked at each one of them for a long while, then clicked her tongue, "What are you kids, anyway?"
"Treasure hunters," Axe answered immediately, "We're on our way to the Grand Line to find One Piece, but before we do, we have to get a crew and a decent ship," he tapped the deck with his foot, "People are gonna think we're pirates because we're after One Piece and all, but that's what we're doing,"
Ripley raised an eyebrow, "Hmm...I see. What happens if you run into Marines?"
"Fight or fly,"
"Alright...what about pirate crews that wanna kill you?"
"Fight to get them off our backs,"
"I see, I see," Ripley nodded slowly, "Alright, I've made up my mind. You three look like a good bunch of kids, and you're gonna need an eighteen year old to watch out for ya," she rose to her feet and threw her bag and hammer onto the boat, barely missing the others.
Axe raised an eyebrow, "Huh?"
"Oh, c'mon kid, you can't be that dense," Ripley put her hands behind her head, a grin on her face, "I'm coming with you!"
All three pairs of eyes went wide.
"Listen, if you're going into the Grand Line, you're going to need someone to help you through with navigation, or else you'll die. I need to go there to do my own dream and since you're heading there, it works out for the both of us!" Ripley explained as she climbed on board, "Reporting for duty!" she gave a mock salute, but stopped and looked at the younger ones, "Who's in charge here?"
"HOLY CRAP!" Axe shouted at the top of his lungs and glomped Ripley, tackling her to the deck, "I DON'T BELIEVE IT! THIS IS FANTASTIC!!"
Toby and Kairi pointed at Axe, "He is,"
"WE HAVE A NAVIGATOR!!"
"Uh...can someone get him off me?"
--
Yeah, that's our new navigator. Ripley was hot as hell, but she was really nice and can put up one helluva fight. Strange, we went to the Baratie to pick up a chef for our crew, but we ended up getting a navigator. Oh well, we at least got someone we really needed before the Grand Line. Least when she joined, we knew where we were going to go instead of drifting around aimlessly.
--
Kilnorc: Okay, that may NOT have been to the standards of normal One Piece recruiting standards, but I'm happy with it nonetheless. Hope ya'll liked!
On the next chapter of Origin...
Axe: So this is Roguetown...dude, I am SO heading to the place where Roger was executed!
Ripley: Piece of advice, kids, try not to get lost.
Priest: Yes, this place has seen some bad times, but some say there's something special in the future.
Toby: So...many...meat shops...
Roguetown: Nexus of Ends and Beginnings
Kairi: So many strange people here...