Disclaimer: One Piece is the property of Eiichiro Oda. Many of the characters in this story are property of me. Do not use this story or its characters without my permission. Thank you.
Sasuke and Bard parted ways just before they entered the town's outskirts. Abandoned or ravaged pirate tents were everywhere, bullet holes and explosive scorch marks were visible in the trees and scraps of cloth; the sight made Bard sick. If he didn't hurry and do something, anything, hundreds more people could die.
Sasuke took the high road and was already deep in town, watching for signs of moving forces. From their reconnaissance work, he knew that the bounty hunters numbered in the high hundreds, leaving the pirates woefully outnumbered. Their sources also gave way to a terrifying detail: the bounty hunters controlled the town's armory.
Sasuke stopped short of his leaping when he heard the resounding blast of a cannon near the square. He was positive that the majority of the pirates were in that area, fighting off the advancing bounty hunter army. Sasuke continued across the building tops toward the dock; he still had one valuable trump card that may just come in handy.
Rez spun his massive weapon around above his head with only one hand. Every dirty bounty hunter it hit was thrown back and against the walls or into the palisade. Despite the bounty hunters' best efforts to go past him and fight the weaker pirates behind him, the range of his gunblades gave him a horrible advantage.
Zan was having a much easier time. The few bounty hunters that were able to break through the main line were already bleeding from stabs and gunshot wounds given by the rest of the fighting pirates. Zan just casually pushed the wounded morons down and ended up carrying off the wounded pirates into the bar for protection. His phasing abilities also gave a firm illusion of great marksmanship to the pirates shooting near him.
Suddenly, the air lost its weight. Zan's heightened senses picked up the delicate resonance of metal cutting through air above him. He dodged just in time to encounter his would-be combatant, a sleek woman dressed in tight black with a short blade drawn at him. They stared each other down, no one else noticing her arrival but Zan. The silence between them was broken by a charging, unharmed bounty hunter.
In a single swift motion, Kaede kicked the man in the stomach while Zan swept into the scene and kicked him in the jaw, sending him flying upwards. With a mutual glance, the two assassins got ready for more and positioned each other back-to-back.
"Who are you?" Zan inquired, staring down an angry, rushing fighter.
"Not important" the woman responded, delivering a strong blow to a rushing opponent.
"It kind of is, you tried to kill me" Zan replied, glaring behind him. She smirked lightly and continued fighting.
"I do apologize for that; I thought you might be someone different."
"So you try and slice me anyway?" Zan asked feigning anger. "You need to work on your manners, lady." The woman behind him gave light chuckle as they both worked their way into the main fray.
Rezland's weapon was slowly becoming uncovered, partly from the bashings he was giving and the sharp corners that were ripping at the cover. With each stroke and swipe, a little more metal was uncovered, gleaming in the vanishing light. Dark clouds were once again rolling across the sky, beckoning for the coming rain.
With a flash, Rezland's weapon was uncovered. The monstrous looking implement made the charging bounty hunters quake in fear at the fact that a man his size was swinging a weapon like that with only one hand. It was a sword unlike any other in the world, with a sleek blade that extended from a large gun barrel connected to a rifle butt. This was his name sake, a technological demon's weapon from the South Blue.
"Heh. Nice isn't it?" Rezland sneered at the still shocked bounty hunters. He posed his weapon over his head with only one hand holding it and flexed his muscles for good effect.
"Hell Tiger, that's its name" He swung it downward and grabbed the handle with both hands firmly, with one finger on a trigger. He slowly aimed at a huddled group of unfortunates and gave a final devilish sneer before pulling his finger back on the trigger.
"BLAM!!" The explosive force of a cannon propelled the great sword in an arc over his head and into the wooden ground behind him. The group he fired at was thrown back with such force that they succeeded in knocking out a rushing group down the street.
The remaining bounty hunters near the open street picked up the wounded bodies of their comrades and started running away. Rezland drew his sword and held it in front of him with both hands, glaring venomously at the retreating scoundrels.
"What," he growled with the blade unmoving and muscles pulsating, "we done already?"
The bounty hunters just whimpered at him and started running faster. Rezland sheathed the massive sword on his back and drew out his still loaded revolvers. Without aiming at anything in particular, he started firing down the street. The explosions caged the retreating forces in a wall of fear and forced them into the back alleys.
Once he was sure his guns were empty, Rez twirled and sheathed them yet again, and turned to meet the cheering faces of the pirate legion behind him. In a brief sweep through the crowd, he noticed that not many pirates were lost, but many bodies of bounty hunters were strewn about, the majority of which he had made. He also noticed, inadvertently, that Zan had vanished.
"Alright, we won this time!" Rezland announced, regaining the attention of the pirates. "However, we don't know how long of a break we have until they regroup and launch another attack! We should take this time to treat our wounded and prepare another solid defense!" He started walking with heavy foot steps toward the tavern, watching the scurrying panic from within as the medics and caterers prepared all that would be needed for the victorious celebration.
"We can't rest on our laurels until we're 120 percent positive that we've won this war! Who's gonna keep fighting with me!?" An affirmative shout met his request, much to his happiness. "In the mean time," he said much more calmly as he walked into the tavern, "let's get some grub." An even louder and more excited cheer met him this time. The rush of pirates that entered the tavern nearly knocked Rezland off his feet.
"Ninpo Pirates, eh?" Zan mused. After hearing the kunoichi's testimonial and the reference to one of Bard's crew mates running around the roofs, Zan had a lot to consider. "What's your plan, then?"
"I'm already confident that our captain has managed to take care of the advancing forces inside the labyrinth, and if not then our two helmsmen can easily handle them." She looked longingly towards the mist-shrouded mountains. The possibility of her captain failing to divert and trap the incoming army was looming hazardously over her head.
"What if they decided to circle the island and attack the port?" Zan inquired. Her head turned back as she gathered her thoughts.
"We are prepared for such an event, as unlikely as it is." She heard a feint explosion in the distance, out towards the sea. The unlikely-ness had seemingly lifted at that point as she felt her heart sink slightly. Zan smirked to himself at the irony, then collected himself to a more befitting mood.
"What can I do to help?" he asked the kunoichi still drowning in thought.
"If they have indeed rounded the island, we'll need someone to infiltrate their ship and make sure they can't deliver a full attack. Since all of the Ninpo Pirates will be preoccupied, it can be your job to…" Zan cut her off with a waving hand.
"Hold up, chick. I can't swim." The look on her face made it clear that she had never thought of that possibility before. She collected herself and smiled again, reforming another plan.
"Tell me then," she started as elegantly as she could, "what power do you have?" Zan smirked rather grimly at her and responded by phasing through the roof under him and into the building below. Kaede smirked back and solidified the plan to herself.
It was raining again, but very softly. This was the kind of rain that one would encounter before the actual storm hit, a preverbal calm before the storm. That still didn't mean that the ground was any safer to dash across at blinding speed, however, as Bard had previously learned. As Bard got closer to the port he heard less and less noise from the rest of the town. It seemed that the fighting had died down from earlier.
Bard's heavy footsteps as he ran attracted the attention of several patrolling bounty hunters who were still carrying themselves back to their meeting place. They decided to follow him from a distance to avoid another gruesome fight and to ensure that he wasn't going where they intended to go.
Bard rounded a corner and the bounty hunters broke their cover to pursue him. As the two rounded the corner, their faces met with Bard's rock-crushing fists and they tumbled back into the buildings across the street. Bard rushed over and grabbed them both by the collar, hoisting them over his head and glaring with grinding teeth.
"Why are you guys following me?" The two terrified bounty hunters started shaking and whimpering softly at the behemoth staring them down. Suddenly, one spoke up.
"W-we were just makn' sure you was goin' the right way to the docks. If you was taking a wrong turn we wanted to stop you's…" Bard stared daggers at the bounty hunters for a few more seconds, then applied a happy grin to his face and set the down. With a sigh of relief the hunters started on their way with a sprint.
Bard shrugged the event off as just weird and continued down to the docks, watching the bobbing and waving sails of the forest of ships as his guidance.
Those guys were just being helpful. I should find them later and apologize. He thought as he raced with a happy grin, unknowingly about to spring a terrible trap.
