Farewell, Roguetown! A New Ship and the Journey Continues!

Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece.

After who knows how much time both groups had spent looking for each other, Axe and his nakam finally found one another.

"Finally!" he ran over to his friends and pointed excitedly behind, "Guys, I found the shipyard! Let's get going!"

Kairi raised an eyebrow, "You found the shipyard?"

Axe nodded, "AND! I found this great, short, old guy who runs a bar in town and he tells the best stories about Roger! He actually had him as a customer in his bar, and he knows so much about what he did, it's as if he was there with him on his journey into the Grand Line!" Axe began to bounce up and down a little, "We soooo gotta get going there!"

BAM!

"Ow...," Axe rubbed a new lump as Ripley shouldered her warhammer, "Rip, what the hell?"

"Calm down and take a breather, Captain," Ripley said with a kind smile, "It's okay, I understand you're excited. I'm excited too, but you don't see me jumping up and down. We will get there, but there are some things we need to take care of first,"

"Like get a ship," Axe nodded, "I know that,"

"Also, to get supplies," Toby added casually.

"Getting new crewmates," Kairi threw in with a sigh, "Not to mention doing most of this without getting the attention of Marines. Speaking of which," she removed her rapier and bopped Axe's new lump with the handle, "You got a group of Marines and a mean-looking guy with cigars looking for you. This isn't going to be easy!"

"Cigar guy?" Axe thought for a moment, "Oh yeah, I ran into that guy earlier," he nodded, "Asked him where the execution platform was,"

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Toby and Kairi shouted together, "ARE YOU AN IDIOT!?"

Axe blinked, "What? He was really nice, he helped me in the right direction," he said innocently, "Told him I was a history buff and he pointed it out for me," he shrugged, "Not like I knew that was gonna get me into trouble,"

"For a guy who knows what not to do, you seem to do quite the opposite...,"

"Oi," Axe facefaulted, "Let's just find that shipyard...,"

After going through the back alleys and run-down buildings to avoid patrolling Marines, Axe and his group of nakama found the shipyard again, and when they saw what Axe saw earlier, they began to share his excitement almost immediately. Kairi stared at the numerous ships, "I don't think I've seen even half of these ship-types back home in the West Blue!"

"And I've seen less than you have," Toby added, looking up at the ships, "There's so many of them! Do they build them here?"

"I'm sure they build a lot of them, but I'm sure some of these are even owned by people and are just docked here," Ripley thought aloud, "Roguetown is a big port city, just before the Grand Line from the East Blue, I'm sure there's more than one place to put a ship before going around town," she turned to Axe, "So, Captain, you find one that you like?"

"Well, I'm not sure," Axe put his hands behind his head and looked around, "I don't know that much about ships. I mean, I grew up around ships back home, but I don't know what type would suit us, what size since we're only so small a crew to start with, or how fast it is since we'll be labeled as pirates, we'd need to get away fast from Marines and bounty hunters,"

Ripley nodded, "Makes sense. For a rookie your age, you've actually planned quite a few things out. I'm impressed, Captain,"

Axe grinned, "You ain't the only one!"

"Okay, so I have a question, people," Kairi raised a hand, walking back to them, "We find a ship, that's golden, we're good, but there's a problem. How on earth are we going to get it out of here without getting a bunch of Marines coming after us? I don't know about you, but that big guy with the cigar? I'd rather not face him,"

"Oh, that's a good question...," Toby squatted down and began to scratch behind his head with his foot, his canine instincts kicking in again, "I'm pretty sure none of us would actually want to get caught before we make it to the Grand Line,"

"Really, because that's exactly what I had in mind!" Axe feigned disappointment, "I always wanted to get nabbed by a Marine just before I can actually make it into the Grand Line!"

Toby shook his head, "Sarcasm doesn't suit you very well, Boss,"

"It's one of my things," Axe looked around, scratching his head, "Ripley, I think out of all of us, you're the most experienced one with ships, maybe you can help us?"

"Uh...yeah, sure, I can try?" Ripley shrugged and thought for a moment, "We're a small crew, so nothing too big, and we need something fast to let us escape in case there's trouble...,"

A short time later, they still didn't have a ship and Axe turned to the other two in his crew, "How about we just point at something and claim it as ours, it'd sure as hell be a lot quicker than this and-,"

GONG!

Ripley's warhammer connected with the back of Axe's head, not only stopping the young man in midsentence, but actually causing a decent lump form on his skull.

"...didn't hurt," Axe murmured before falling over onto his face.

Toby and Kairi stared at what had just happened: Axe had not only been hit by Ripley, but she actually gave him a bruise and made him collapse! They slowly turned to their navigator, who was spinning Titan's Fist around idly. She caught their stunned looks and stopped spinning her hammer, planting it over her shoulder.

"What? Hard to think with cracks like that...don't worry, he'll be fine!"

Note to self, don't say stuff around crazy lady with big ass hammer! Toby thought, glancing at his captain.

Ripley went back to her thoughts, "You know...," she pointed at a nearby ship, "This'll do us just fine for now, Boss. Not too big, not too small...,"

"Rip, you just knocked the guy flat on his face, I don't know if he cares or if he can even hear you right now,"

"Sir, we've been all around the town, we haven't found any trace of him! Is it possible that he just ditched town already?"

Smoker's eye twitched at the thought of someone escaping his jurisdiction, "I highly doubt it, soldier," he looked over his shoulder at his men, "He's here, I have a feeling in my gut!"

"Well, sir, does your gut happen to say the exact location of this kid, or does it just give you a rough area to search for a few hours and then come up with nothing?"

Smoker's eye twitched again right before the sound of a fist colliding with someone's face was heard.

"Sir! Sir, incoming message!"

The large man grunted and turned to see another Marine holding up a Den Den Mushi. He reached over and grabbed the mouthpiece, "This is Smoker, who the hell is this?" he barked, irritated enough already.

"Sir! We found him! We found the kid with the axe!"

"WHAT?! Where is he?!"

"At the shipyards sir!"

Shipyards? Smoker frowned, He's looking for a boat to escape on in this town? he shook his head, Rookies are such morons.

"What're your orders, sir?"

"Listen up, all of you on the other line, this is important!"

"Uh...Axe? Ripley?"

"Hang on, Kairi, we're still trying to think here,"

"Guys...,"

"Hang on, Kairi...,"

"GUYS!"

"WHAT?!" Axe and Ripley turned to their nakama, looking annoyed that they were being distracted from important choices. Kairi pointed off in a direction and following her finger, the two of them saw what she was trying to get across them.

Marines.

A large group of Marines were pouring into the shipyard, rifles and pistols at the ready.

Axe groaned and put his hands on his hips, "Oh c'mon, all you guys against us four? That is SO not fair!"

"Shut up, pirate!" one of the Marines shouted, aiming his rifle at him, "Just drop your weapons and surrender!"

"And if I say no?"

BAM

Axe's head snapped backward as a bullet rammed itself into his forehead. His nakama just stood there, a bit startled that the Marines actually opened fire on them, but knowing Axe's ability, they at least knew he was okay. The other Marines were astonished to see Axe not only still alive, but they watched in silent shock as he reached up and plucked the bullet that was now stuck in the middle of his forehead. Flicking the bullet to the side, Axe wore another annoyed look on his face.

"Look, you can't kill me like that, but do you have any idea how much that stings?!" he shouted, remembering how many times he got shot back home in the West Blue, "It gets old really fast!"

"Put down your arms right now!" another Marine barked, despite being shaken at what she had just seen, "I mean it!"

Axe held up a finger and turned to his nakama, "Okay, so here's the plan. Ripley, is there anyway out of this place? A shipyard's GOT to have an exit for a ship,"

"It should, and it shouldn't be that hard to find,"

"Okay, good," Axe clapped his hands, "Just find whatever ship you think is best, and we'll meet you as soon as we're done here,"

"Got it, Boss," Ripley looked past him, to the group of Marines, "Might wanna take care of them quickly, unless you want that big guy coming,"

"Yeah, no kidding," Axe muttered, turning to Kairi, "Okay, guys. We gotta buy Rip some time, so we're gonna have some fun here. Don't kill them, just get them out of fighting condition, okay?"

"Why can't we just disarm them?" Kairi asked.

"Because if we don't knock 'em all out, one of them would contact reinforcements and we can't afford spending all our time fighting Marines," Axe explained, "Toby, it looks like you'll be able to finally show us what you can do with that sword of yours,"

Toby grinned wolfishly (pardon the pun, folks) as he quickly unsheathed his sword, "I can't wait,"

Kairi sighed and shook her head as she unsheathed her rapier, "Just beat them up, no killing, right?"

Axe nodded, "Right. Now...," he turned around and faced the group of Marines, cracking his knuckles, "Take who you want, be careful not to get shot, and whoever gets the most beaten wins a special prize!"

With that, the three pirates, er treasure hunters, threw themselves at the Marines and their firearms.

"OPEN FIRE!"

Luckily for the pirates, most of the bullets either ricocheted off Axe or just whizzed by them, leaving them unharmed as they got close. Axe swung his weapon, the flat (and less lethal) side smacking into a decent portion of the Marines, knocking them into the sea. He had the biggest grin on his face, having a blast as he did with most every fight he had in his life. Didn't know why, but he just loved to fight. Seeing another Marine about to shoot Kairi in the back, Axe jumpkicked the Marine, knocking him into the sky, screaming.

Toby gripped Black Fang, "Kuro Tasshin (1)!" he whispered just before becoming a large, black blur that zig-zagged between the armed soldiers of the World Government. He came to a stop moments later and grinned as his enemies fell over onto the ground, blood spurting from fresh, but non-fatal wounds.

"Good boy!" Axe whooped as he landed a kick upside the head of a nearby Marine before being smacked upside the head with a rifle that splintered on contact. He looked over his shoulder to see a fearful Marine who held onto the remains of his weapon, "Why don't you just do yourself a favor and get outta the fight?"

The Marine just stared.

"Go ahead. Just either lay down and don't move or go jump into the water, just something so you don't get hurt, okay?"

The nameless Marine quickly nodded and just hit the deck, covering his head protectively.

Wow, that actually worked? Axe thought, surprised but pleased that that tactic actually worked, I gotta try that more often!

"Kairi, how are you holding up?!" Toby called as he found himself surrounded by another group of Marines.

The First Mate deflected an incoming sword strike and elbowed her attacker, "I'm doing just fine, but I can't keep doing this forever!"

"Same here!" Toby gripped his katana, "Crescent Moon Swipe!" (2) the lycanthrope spun around, his blade cutting into just about every Marine around him, Ripley better hurry the hell up and get us a ship!

"Report, soldier!"

"We're not doing so hot, sir! We need backup right now! A handful of us managed to escape the fight and flee the shipyards, but we're in the nearby district, waiting for you! Where are you, sir?"

Smoker bit into his cigar and used his Devil Fruit to propel himself into the air for speed, I'm on my way...no way in Hell I'm gonna let this brat out of my town after what he's done so far!

"Aw man, this is gonna come back and bite us in the ass...," Axe muttered as he hefted his weapon, watching a couple of wound Marines bolt out of the shipyard. He turned and saw the rest of his nakama board a small vessel that was preparing to set sail, About time!

He started to run to the ship, waving at Ripley, "Go, go, go, go, go!" he called hurriedly, "Before they let that smoke guy know what we're doing!"

As soon as he was on board, Kairi and Toby cut away the lines that tied the ship down while Axe himself pulled up the anchor.

"Any specific travel destinations, Captain?" Ripley called as she turned the wheel of the ship, directing it towards the exit, "Where do ya wanna go?"

"Specifics aren't important right now, Rip, just get us the hell away from this place before we get ourselves arrested!"

"You're the Boss,"

Dammit, I must be off today, it usually never takes me this long to reach a place thanks to my Devil Fruit! Smoker thought bitterly as he landed in the shipyard, WHAT THE-?!

Many of his men and women were on the ground, either bleeding and conscious, or bleeding and unconscious. Those that were conscious were moaning and trying to see how their comrades were doing, to see if they were still alive. Luckily, all of them were.

Smoker frowned deeply, Sonofa-! I should've arrested that kid the moment he asked about Roger and the execution platform! I don't know who the hell that punk was, but judging from this, he's not an ordinary kid...I better send a report and tell everyone to keep an eye out for him!

"Aw man, I can't believe we were that close from getting busted...we haven't even gotten a full crew and we almost got grabbed by the Marines!" Axe sighed, plopping down on the deck, "Ripley, when things cool down, remind me to ask you what kind of ship this is...and what to name it,"

"You got it," Ripley smiled as she guided the ship away from Roguetown that was quickly disappearing behind them, "So, since we're out of harm's way, where do you wanna go, kid?"

"Uh...," Axe closed his eyes, trying to think, "There was this place that I heard about from that old guy in the bar, somewhere in the South Blue-,"

"Karate Island?"

Axe opened his eyes and looked up at her, "How'd you know?"

"Karate Island is a pretty famous place for the South Blue," Ripley explained, "Martial Arts and firearms are most well-known in that particular sea,"

"Cool...," Axe grinned and closed his eyes, "But to go to the South Blue, we'll have to go over Reverse Mountain...,"

An audible moan came from nearby.

"Sorry, Kairi,"

"Yeah, yeah...,"

A shadow fell over Axe's face and he cracked an eye open to see Toby standing over him, "Wassup?"

Toby crouched down and looked right down at his captain, "South Blue, huh?"

"Mhm,"

"Hmm," Toby scratched his ear, "Hey, Axe, can we make a stop at an island before we head there...?"

"Depends, what island?"

"It's called Armonia Island and it's in the East Blue, so all we really need is a map to get there and-,"

"Why do you wanna go there?"

Toby reached behind him and pulled out the crumpled poster Ripley swiped earlier.

Axe scanned the piece of paper, "TRIN-OTY, huh?" he scratched his cheek, "You know, with all the stuff we've been going through, especially what we just avoided, that sounds like fun. Ripley! Set a course for Armonia Island, we got a concert to go to!"

"Aye, aye, Captain!"

"Thanks, Boss," Toby hissed as he flopped down onto his back next to his captain, looking up at the sky.

"No problem," Axe waved him off as they both lay there for a short while, "I'm starting to get hungry. Where's the food?"

The entire deck became quiet.

"You guys did buy food right?"

"Uh...did we, Toby?"

"Yeah, we did...didn't we, Ripley?"

"I...I can't remember, I was too busy trying to find a ship,"

"Okay, say that you bought the food, then where is it?"

Again, the entire deck went quiet.

"If you did buy food, don't tell me that you left it behind?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Guys?"

"We may have to stock up again,"

"Sonofa-!"

Kilnorc: Okay, last Roguetown chapter is up, for now! I realize that I made some flashbacks that have different things in my older fics of this series, but if anyone's worried about that, I already have a plan for it, TRUST ME, hehehe. I wasn't exactly sure how to get them out without pulling a move like in the original fic or like the original series of OP itself, so I worked with what popped into my head.

On the next chapter of Origin...

Axe: Okay, we need a name and a symbol...if we're gonna be called pirates, we might as well get a mark like some!

Toby: Hungry...so hungry...

Ripley: Wow, sold out? This band must be pretty good for that status.

Kairi: What's with all the panda stuff...?

Armonia Island: Land of Rock

Ripley: Kairi! Toby and Axe are glued to the meat store window again, can you help me get them?

(1) Kuro Tasshin - Literally means Black Dash, Toby runs at a high speed and slashes at his opponents with Black Fang. As he runs, he becomes a black blurry object that is hard to predict.

(2) Crescent Moon Swipe - One of his basic sword techniques, Toby swings outward at his enemy in an arc. The arc's shape is similar to the Crescent Moon phase of the Moon Cycle.