Damn! This is just isn't my day! Krieg grumbled to himself. This was supposed to be a monumental day for the Krieg Pirate, now that the main material for his armada's main fleet has arrived it means they're a step closer to Grand Line. Sure he's got the route to Grand Line, but Krieg has always prided himself as the man with 'a thousand plans' who believes the old sailor's adage that states 'anything that can happen will happen' so there is not a single action of his done without it being meticulously planned first but that doesn't mean it won't cause disruption and delay in his plan for One Piece as he's come to realize that every actions he planned have their own consequences. He was willing to take those consequences just as long as he comes out as the winner in the end. And now it seemed somebody in the Marine head branch has forgotten about their part of the deal, fortunately he's planned for this too. He knew miscreants like them always need a constant reminder as to who's the boss here. He decided if this contingency plan played out as he's expected then that means he'd have to pay his old friend a visit.
Krieg descended the beach which by then was already littered with bloody casualties down to where the Marines were waiting for him, thinking foolishly that they'd had him this time. "What are you filth doing in MY island? Haven't I paid you enough money to you damn parasites?" he spoke in that hoarse voice of his, paying no heed to his captured crews who were tied and huddled together by the dozen right between him and the Marine company ready for slaughter.
"You either turn yourself in peacefully right now or you and the rest of your crew die here, it's your choice" the Marine Captain said as he adjusted his square rimmed glasses. This guy must be new.
"I'm afraid you don't get to dictate your terms here Captain, you think this is all?" Krieg said as he looked behind him and waved his hand revealing what seemed to be hundreds of his goons emerging from the forest behind him. "You can't just barge into my 'property' and expect gifts Captain" the large guy looked down on the Marine company condescendingly.
"Can I just shoot the bastard right now Cap'n?" a purple haired woman with a peculiar haircut yelled behind the Captain. Other than her shaven hair and her smoking she seemed to be out of place standing there among the tanned and raggedy, all-male Marines.
"Not yet Lieutenant Commander Bellmere, not until we make sure that everyone in the village is safe just as we'd planned" the Captain said turning his head slightly, still sounding as confident as ever.
"A Marine girl with guts, I'll enjoy breaking your will" Krieg said sneering at the Captain's aide, the purple haired girl Bellmere just narrowed her eyes and pouted her lips as a response. If it wasn't for her respect for her Captain she'd have shot him dead right there and then.
"And you seem to have thought this 'raid' through, so what you got for me?"
"Your armadas and your crews and the safety of this island"
Krieg's eyes widened at that "My what?"
"We've seized 5 of your ships in Logue Town and Goa and now an additional 4 ships in here, it takes only one call to sink it to the bottom of the ocean"
"You filth are incapable of doing that, my armadas are the strongest in East Blue, don't ever think for even one second that you got a chance of even-"
"Call them yourself" the Captain interjected "you know your desire to increase your numbers have certain loopholes right, such as it's getting easier for us to slip some people in, here and there"
"So what do you say Pirate?"
Krieg smiled as he remembered about the guy he just caught earlier, good thing he'd kept that Danny guy alive "you might not want to do that Cap'n"
"What?"
"If it's promotion you're looking for, catching a small fish like me won't improve your chance, not that you got a chance capturing me anyway…"
"Impossible…"
"I captured a 200 million something Pirate for rainy day like this. You let me and my ships go and this guy is all yours"
"I want proof"
Krieg snickered, "His name's-"
"BANG! BANG!"
The beach suddenly became silent, even the confident smile on Krieg's face has gone instantly the second the two shots were heard. He looked down to check if he's been shot but sighed when it didn't hit him. He heard a groan from the Captain in front of him and dreaded what he was about to see.
There in front of him, the Captain stood clutching his chest, blood pouring out from his trembling mouth. Face contorted in a confused and bewildered manner as he went down. Before Krieg knew it shots were already fired, men falling and the Marines have already had their guns at the ready. What the heck just happened!
"YOU PIRATE BASTARD!" the purple haired woman bellowed as she took aim at the flabbergasted Pirate in front of her, but before she could fire off one shot Krieg's goons saved the day by providing covering fires from the retaliating Marines, Krieg took that as a cue for him to scram. Bellmere ducked as hundreds of bullets flew by her. Soon enough the Marines counterattacked by employing their ship's cannons and decimated the goons who were out killing their comrades at the beach. Krieg's goons quickly retreated back into the island, giving the Marines on the beach a little time to recuperate as they could hear some intermittent gunshots from within the island.
Bellmere, now acting as the Captain lead her men off the beach and onto the high ground, looking to clear some land for reinforcements. "BLOW THEIR SHIPS DAMMIT AND KILL ALL PRISONERS! THERE'S NO ESCAPE FOR THEM TODAY!" seconds later several huge explosions were heard from the dock as the bomb did their work and sunk Krieg's ships and the captured goons were swiftly executed by the Marines. "Inada bring your men and flank them from 2 o'clock, take that hill over there while Freddy you're now my lieutenant so you pick 50 men and go around the beach and try to secure the village from the back, the rest follow me and keep your f# n heads down!"
Five minutes later, back tight against a fallen tree trunk Bellmere cursed at herself, this was not at all like what they've planned. They hadn't thought Krieg would be this crazy. Her attempt to gain some ground and push into the woods have been futile. Krieg's men seemed to be prepared for this as they have dug out some protective fox holes and trenches and fixed them with some bazookas, cannons and Gatling guns. Some of those cannons have already struck the Marine ships and the news just came in from the head branch that they were alone. No more reinforcements, just the approximately 200 men from the other two ships now rowing their way into the island, avoiding cannons and rockets as they did so.
"Report Captain, Ensign Inada is down and with that Gatling gun holed up in there there's little chance of us taking that fortified hill!"
"Okay, you tell just 'em to hold their ground, let the cannons do their job. Any word from Freddy's?"
"No news yet, but we've sent some guys to back them up"
"Do we have some rockets with us?"
"Yes, Captain, they're coming here right now" Bellmere saw two men crawling toward her with two RPG's ready at her command. "Alright men! Keep a suppressing fire!" Bellmere commanded to the others.
"Are you ready?" both men nodded, a frightful look on their face.
"Take aim!" Bellmere yelled with the enemy's hostility intensifying as they realized the Marines' intention in spite of the Marines' suppressing fire.
"FIRE!"
Bellmere couldn't help but wince at the ensuing explosive sound of the rockets as they were being propelled out of their barrels into the hill.
With a boom, the top of the hill got decimated at last by one of the rockets causing some unintentional landslides which buried the foes holed up in the trenches and foxholes below. The Marine that was left at the foot of the hill finished off some of the leftovers and took over the vantage point and cleared the trenches below them. Bellmere and her men charged forward and occupied the holes dug out by Krieg's men. The cornered goons started to move deeper into the island, leaving their exposed posts as they failed to retake the hill.
Bellmere and her men swiftly cleared the trenches at the front and proceeded to go around the hill and into the outer part of the village. Just then she saw a big plume of black smoke from the direction of the village, she just hoped that Krieg wasn't as crazy as she thought he was or she'd get the blood of the whole innocent villagers on her hands. Just as she thought so the three Marines leading their way got blown off while the third flew off into the bush at the side, still alive but gravely injured. "Land mines!" she warned her subordinates behind her and motioned them to stop. After she ordered a medic to attend to the injured Marines Bellmere now lead the Marines company by tracking and following the tracks that Kriegs' goons had left in their haste while choosing to ignore her subordinates' protests.
As the Marines moved on from the front part of the island they realized that now the real fighting would begin. With the hill behind them preventing the Marine ships from accurately supporting them with cannon fires they have to fight alone without any advantage in this maze of a village, with narrow streets and thousands of hiding spots and snipers' nests, and the fire wasn't making it any easier either for the few surviving Marines. There was no sign of Freddy's men from the opposite side, all she could see was the big black smoke coming from the middle of the village inhibiting their sentries' visibility and it was spreading fast because of the wind. The villagers were running frantically out of their burning village, some were crying and some tried in vain to put out the fire. She ordered a few of his men to guard the villagers away while she arranged the men she got left into three groups and ordered them to infiltrate each side of the village, with her leading one of the groups.
The Marines then began to push into the village despite their foes' persistence, evacuating the villagers in their way. The RPGs were proven to be quite handy as they helped clearing the snipers on the rooftops and some guerillas hiding among the bushes. All that was left were those hiding beneath this jungle of clay-houses. Bellmere had earlier ordered some of his men to move onto the rooftops to search for Krieg but until now no such luck. But one thing for certain she was far outnumbered. "Where the hell is my reinforcement!"
"They are all being held back by a green man in the shore Cap'n, I don't know"
"What!?" Bellmere asked again, not believing that she'd heard it right. Green men? Is this another one of Krieg's antics?
"All I know is this is all we've got for now!" yelled the ensign who was right beside her. The arena was getting so loud she couldn't discern the hundreds of gunshots that blast off in every second all around her. This has to stop before one of us got wiped out for sure…!
"Report Cap'n! There's a ship docked at the far side of the island Cap'n! It was hidden by a cliff all this time" one of her snipers reported "Shit shit shit!" Could it be Krieg's getaway?
"Order one of our ships to get over there immediately and capture it!" her subordinate nodded and stalked away. She knew the risks of sending one of her ships into the enemy's territory but if her instinct was right, Krieg and the rest of his commanders would be there and she's vowed on the memory of her late Captain that this ends today.
The Marines continued to push forward, with other companies flanking both sides and winning over strategic positions but they were still met with strong resistance coupled with the throng of panicking villagers in the line of fire and the ever present smoke, Krieg's men seemed to be capitalizing on this advantage. If this kept on going Bellmere knew she wouldn't last long. Her men too were already worn out, with the reinforcement getting held by these noxious 'green men' and her current soldier already spread out thin, she wasn't sure she could hold her ground should Krieg's got himself some back-up group for long. The best she could do now was hold on to the ground that she and her men has gained in a stalemate until whatever it was blocking her reinforcement is taken care of but looking from how the things were going it looked like she'd has to deal with the green men herself.
On the other side of the village
"What did you say!? DID I HEAR IT RIGHT?"
Krieg back in his hideout deep in the village just found out that it's been breached and that a certain North Blue man had stolen his money. Enraged he held the only men who barely survived Danny's ambush by his neck, choking him but not too tight it'd cause instant death.
"He got it! He got the money" the man still squirmed in his hold, trying to get free
"WHAT DID I TELL YOU TO DO? ONE SIMPLE JOB AND THE WHOLE LOT OF YOU CAN'T EVEN DEFEAT ONE INSIGNIFICANT MAN!"
"He was invincible..!"
"USELESS IMBECILE!" Krieg threw the man across the room in frustration then paced around the room "I've gotta find that man right now!"
The door opened and Krieg looked up, it was his lieutenant "10 minutes" he warned. Dammit! I underestimated those guys but it doesn't matter, I can rebuild my fleet but this 'incident' will surely boost my reputation! To hell with the money! With my reputation I could extort more money from other villages and rebuild again!
"Alright we set sail now! Screw that money, let's go!" Krieg hurried outside, grabbing his fur jacket on the way.
Against what she'd predicted earlier, the assault toward the center of the village turns out to be quite a light one, there were only a few resistances here and there but the only thing that hinders their movement was the smoke that began to really mess with her eyes and lungs. But that was nothing for a ragged chiseled Marine soldier like her, she believed as long as her heart is still beating she'd chase the most heinous of Pirates even if she has to sail across the six seas. This is too easy, could Krieg have escaped already? Then we need to hurry the hell up, but this could be a trap
Then she saw a big man with a black briefcase emerging from the black fume ahead, from the clothes he didn;t seem to be from around here. "STOP RIGHT THERE!" the Marines commanded, rifles at the ready. Bellmere took in the man and his amber/yellowish eyes stood out from the rest, the eyes were full of terror, she didn't know whether that was because of the fact that 'his' village was going to be entirely burnt down or that he was a Pirate and now he was surrounded by the Marines.
The man's hands shot up in surrender, dropping his briefcase "I'm a villager! Oh my God this is so horrible! The ones you should be chasing are those heartless Pirates!" the man was a terrible actor, Bellmere and the rest of the Marines noted.
"Frisk him" Bellmere ordered
"What!? What did I do wrong" he spoke hysterically as two of her men approached him.
"Stay st…" suddenly a very bright and blinding light flashed in the sky ahead, everybody had their arm over their forehead only to witness an explosion with the shape of a giant mushroom bloomed like a bizarre flower before them. For the first few seconds the world seemed to have gone muted and static with everybody glued at where they were standing right now, their minds unable to comprehend the magnitude of the disaster that was unfolding before their eyes. In a blink of an eye the time turned to its normal pace and a surge of black cloud were already coming toward them in what seemed like an impossibly rapid velocity, decimating everything standing in their way from the speed alone. Even Danny, who more or less used to these kinds of things in Grand Line had only recovered his senses quickly enough to cover the mortified Captain standing immediately in front of him with his body and haki before the explosion caught up with them.
Meanwhile at the beach the explosion was not left unheard, despite the green abomination in front of them they knew the white flash of light and the blaring sound that followed was quite out of the ordinary, cannons don't make sounds like that, at least they knew that much.
What the hell was that? Curiosity also got the better of Leo as he ignored his 'foes' and turned around to see a gigantic mushroom cloud in the sky beside the hill from the village. Not long after that he could see the palm trees and bushes in the forest in front of him shuddering as if there were really strong winds striking them, their lean trunks began to tilt toward the beach and their leaves dancing about wildly, rustling as the wind went by. Then a few of the smaller tree started to get ripped off from the land and flew toward them.
"THIS IS AWESOME!" Leo couldn't help his excitement at the destruction before him, not knowing that he'd share the same fate soon. "WOW!" he felt the wave colliding with his body and even his liquid body could do nothing as the shockwave lifted him off his feet and sent his body flying like all those trees toward the sea.
Danny opened his eyes as he felt the rain water pouring down on his face. It was already dark when Danny regained consciousness and he then found himself stuck in a tree half-naked and drenched from head to toe from the downpour. It wasn't that bad at all, he thought as he finished stretching his body, nothing broken, not even cuts and scrapes, only one dislocated joint and his back felt like hell as a result of shielding a certain Marine soldier. Years of haki training have enabled him to retain his haki reinforcement even when he lost his consciousness so he didn't have to actually worry about waking up and finding his own body a mess every time a villain decides to destroy an entire island but unfortunately not everybody had the same training as his, thought Danny as he searched around the village-turned-wasteland for his payment…and Leo of course so that they could get the hell out of this damned island but instead only found several bits and pieces of meat of the casualties. He knew the only thing he needs to worry right now regarding Leo with his devil fruit ability was the possibility that he got swept into the ocean, other than that being a logia he should be alright. But if he's okay where the hell is he? Now with the land barren it shouldn't be that hard to notice a healthy 7' blond boy among this hell, except…
Danny walked to the shore after no luck of finding his briefcase while hoping that the shore escaped the total destruction that had struck the inland village. But his hope quickly diminished as he noticed the uprooted trees on his way to the shore.
By the time he got there he found the beach full of wreckage from the blown up ships and the Marines' only surviving vessel has already set sail into the horizon, apparently in hurry as there were still the charred bodies of their comrades here and there strewn across the white sandy beach. "So much for camaraderie…" he muttered as he searched the shore for any sign of his 'associate'. Not more than minutes later his nightmare had come true, he found the blond boy washed up on the shore lying lifelessly face down among the lapping ripples of waves on the sand.
"Shit Leo" Danny rushed and kneeled beside the out cold Leo, he turned Leo's body around and checked for pulse and was a bit relieved when he felt a weak pulse in him.
He tilted Leo's head and after several precise pumps to the chest Leo regained consciousness, coughing the water out of his lungs as he did so. Danny quickly returned Leo's bracelet just for safety and helped Leo to sit up. He still didn't say any word, Danny could understand it if he was traumatized, this must have been one heck of a summer holiday for him and to be honest he, himself had not expected this. Sure he's had several deal-gone-bad experiences in his life as a businessman but few had actually prepared a freaking gigantic bomb to seal the deal. He should have beat up that Krieg bastard when he could…
"Wh…what the hell happened?" Leo finally spoke, his voice was still a bit shaken.
"Krieg, he was a maniac, he had a bomb…soo…yeah…he blew up the entire village…what about you?"
"I don't know…last thing I remembered was this massive gust blowing my body into the sea as if I was a feather and I couldn't do anything…then the next thing I knew I already ran out of air to breathe. That was actually the first time…that I felt so helpless in my life, the feeling was…I mean...when you have an ability…you just see darkness and feel the water surrounding you, pulling you down and you just float there until you can't hold it no more, you know…it was horrible" Danny didn't say anything as it was true and it was the one weakness that any ability users can never negate no matter how strong they are or how hard they trained. It truly is the ultimate fear and fate for most of ability users.
"I'm sorry…" Leo said, deciding that omitting certain nefarious details is best for now.
"Don't be"
The two men then just sat there at the beach not knowing what to do now, for all they know everything has taken a turn for the worst and they're stuck here in this Godforsaken island. Even Krieg's money seemed worthless now. So they were just going to sit there until something comes along and watch where that'll take them.
"Leo come 'ere, I found a boat!" Leo turned his head to see Danny came up from the storming sea, carrying a small 'boat' in one hand and sighed in relief. He was beginning to worry when Danny hasn't come up for air for several minutes already, he could have been stuck down there and drowned and there was nothing he could do about it. Now it looks like his effort wasn't such a waste after all.
"Boat? It doesn't look like it can float" but at least he's found something resembling it
"Yeah but we can fix it, there are just a few cracks and holes that we need to cover and it'll float, trust me"
"Yeah but it doesn't look like the both of us can fit in that thing either, besides I'm too tired to row it all the way to Gylfen knows where!"
"Leo, it's what survival is all about! Do you think anybody will come here and rescue us? For all they know we could all be dead already!"
"Alright, alright you search for planks to cover those holes and I'll search for some fabric for the sail 'cause I'm not going to row that thing"
Leo walked into the woods to search for some woods before Danny stopped him "don't go there, it's nasty in there, I'll go look for things in there that can be useful while you stay here"
Leo just nodded while wondering just how 'nasty' could it be to make even a man like Danny to call it 'nasty'
Danny was back among the remains of the village after having no luck finding the tools to fix the boat he found in and around the shore. The fires have long been put out by the heavy rain that'd been pouring down on the island since he woke up so it left Danny with his makeshift torch as the sole light that guide him through the ruins and dead bodies on the devastated island. As he was foraging around he suddenly felt a couple of really weak haki hiding behind a destructed wall. It looks like they were waiting to jump him, "who's there?" Silence. Danny raised his torch so that it lit the ground around the edge of the wall "I know you're behind that wall, come on who's in there!" it's been a long day and Danny figured he didn't want to take any chances.
Slowly a shadow crept up from behind the wall, revealing the purple haired Captain who looks like she might fall off her feet and faint any second. She was bruising really badly on her temple and there were several ugly looking contusions on her forehead and several cuts and wounds here and there. Her face was pale and there were dark spots under her eyes. If she hadn't stood right there in front of him like that he'd have easily mistaken her for a corpse. She too seemed to remember him as he saw her eyes lighted up a little bit and then she whispered something before she, as he'd predicted earlier, fell unconscious.
To his surprise a kid holding a baby suddenly emerged and shook the Captain's body before he could do anything, the expression on their faces told Danny that this lady meant a lot to them. "Let me see" Danny placed his torch near the wall and he kneeled down to check on her condition before the kid came around and blocked him from the dying Captain. "Who are you? We saw you earlier talking with the Pirate!" the blue haired kid yelled, trying to sound brave but her face betrayed her as her eyes filled up with more fresh tears and lips trembling. "Do you see any doctor here?" but the kid stood her ground, while gently cradling the baby in her arms she yelled "NO! You're going to kill her!"
"Either way she's going to die anyway" Danny would have none of this BS and he passed the hesitating kid and reached out to check her temperature but a hand intercepted his before he could do touch her forehead. It was the Marine's, so she's been conscious all this time?
"If my children…said no…then you shouldn't…" **coughhh**" the Captain started to cough blood from her mouth. The kids suddenly spawned next to him and their crying began to annoy Danny. "See this?" Danny looked at the blue haired kid "Alright alright! Please sir, save her"
"Where the hell is he!?" It's been no less than two hours and Danny hasn't come back yet. So he has taken the liberty to also look for nails and other things needed to fix the 'boat'. Now that he's fitted a sail to the boat he began to think whether he should just leave the slacker here and enjoy these foods he gathered from the wreckage all by himself. But Leo wasn't that cruel and he knew Danny wasn't the lazy type, it must have been something important or…dangerous. He just prayed that it wasn't Krieg or his goons, he wasn't in the mood for another fighting.
When Leo at last found him he never expected to find him playing doctor on a very sickly looking woman with what seemed to be two children sleeping soundly beside her in a makeshift tent.
"She looks like she's dying" Danny looked up then went back to cleaning the area around the large gash of wound on the woman's left arm.
"She needs blood transfusion but we have no equipment for that, all I can do is stop her bleeding and just cover it, I don't think there's even a sewing equipment around here"
"So what can I do? I've gathered some foods from the ships' wreckage at the dock, you want me to bring them here?"
The next morning
"You sure you don't want to come with us?" asked Bellmere, now all fixed up but still with the pale complexion and bruises. Unbeknownst to her last night Danny had taken the liberty to share his haki to her and the children in order to hasten their recovery process. Not enough to make her jumping around so as to not raise suspicion but it was at least enough for her and the kids to withstand the sea for a few weeks.
"Nah, we still have some things to do here right Leo?"
"Yeeeaah we'll take the next boat, don't worry about us" Leo assured her
Last night after some lengthy talks the both of them had come into a conclusion that they'd have to let go of the boat if she were to survive. There was just no chance of her getting better here without adequate foods, water, medicine and other kind of treatments. Though by sailing the sea all by herself and 2 little kids the chances are still slim at least there's still hope. Besides, she was a local Marine, so she was bound to know nearby islands and towns, so it'd be much better for them to go while she still has the energy to do so instead of waiting for a hypothetical rescue, even if there was a rescue there'd be no guarantee that she'd still be alive by then what with the limited food.
She seemed to understand that they've made their decision and the only thing she could do was to respect their decision. "Very well…" she nodded as she bid the two men goodbye and hopped onto the boat.
"Bellmere…please take this with you" Leo turned his head expecting Danny to give her some flower or something, but nothing could have prepared him for it, it was Krieg's money! So he did find it!
"Wh…what's this?"
"You're going to need it if you're going to realize that dream of building that orange grove of yours and raise those two little rascals!" Danny said jokingly, eyes on the kids who were still sleeping onboard.
"…I don't deserve this" Bellmere tried to give the briefcase back to Danny but he'd have none of it
"Look it's not mine to begin with, I found it among the ruins last night and figured that you'd need it more than I do…" Bellmere knew he was lying, she remembered him holding the briefcase yesterday, just seconds before the explosion. He is the worst liar ever
She was still left unconvinced by his explanation but his insistence made her accept the money "I want you to know that I'll forever remember this debt, if only there's anything I could do…you've all done so much to me and I…" her voice shaking, her teary eyes betrayed her tomboy look and for once she didn't even try to conceal it.
Danny just smiled and took her hands "I might stop by and when that time comes, you better have some sweet juicy oranges for me" Bellmere smiled at that. "You can count on me" she said as cheerful as she could, to show him how grateful she really was.
"Alright then, you sure you know the way back to your hometown?"
"Cocoyashi Village, remember that!"
"Just be safe alright" Danny said with Leo helping him push the boat into the sea beyond.
"You too" she said softly, a hint of sadness in her voice, both men waved their goodbyes until the little boat carrying the three girls disappeared behind the wide and clear horizon.
"Soo…what now?" Danny looked back and saw Leo already lying back down on the warm sandy beach, if it wasn't for the Pirate, explosions and carnage they left behind, this island would have made the perfect tropical retreat.
"We wait" Danny said as he joined him, lying down on the fine white sand.
"Danny…"
"Yeah?"
"Why did you give them all your money?"
"You won't understand"
"It's their haki isn't it?" Leo asked after a long pause
"Yes, their haki…I don't know if you're going to understand it but it's like…they supported each other…I've never seen anything quite like it before, without that she'd have been long gone already along with the others"
"Their bonds must be really strong…"
"Yeah, even when they supposedly just met yesterday in the worst circumstances possible…" Danny sighed. "So I figured…why can't I do the same thing and just see how it'll play out…because Leo, things like that just don't happen every day"
"A miracle"
"Yes, Leo, a miracle"
Alright folks that's the end of what I call as the 'Training arc'! We're not quite there yet but there's going to be a time skip after this one so just you wait!