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.
"Well, well, well," Zan said mockingly. He paced to the side and stared down the evil looking man, V-shaped in muscles with a jagged goatee and a ski cap on, who held in hand the Den Den Mushi that would fire the cannons of the warship. He was the last bounty hunter left alive on the ship after Zan's rampage and sabotage. He didn't know that, as the only bodies he had seen thus far were the ones Zan had just finished making.
"It seems that my short quest has ended" Zan taunted tiredly. "My goal is in sight, and the key is in my hand…" He raised up his arm and pointed with a bladed fist. "…now I just have to open the gate." He rotated his wrist with a snap and charged forward. With a one-legged hop he was across the deck and in striking range. The warship captain whipped out a small ball and threw it to the floor. Zan swung a second too late, and the bomb set off a huge puff of white smoke.
"Fool!" the high-voice of the gruff man shouted from outside the smoke. "How can you fight me now, I wonder? Heh-heh!" Zan didn't move. He crossed his forearms and began to sink downward. Once below deck, he stalked over and away from the smoke cloud above. Positioning himself to where he assumed his opponent to be lurking, Zan jumped up and swam through the wooden deck.
Sure enough, as Zan slowly and silently grew from the wodwork, his enemy was firing blindly into the smoke cloud with a pistol and laughing. "Heh-heh!" the hunter laughed mockingly. "Now you're full of holes!" Zan just stood behind and smiled as he watched the bullets get rapidly wasted. Then, deciding the sadness had reached its limit, he walked over while the hunter reloaded his gun and stole it. As the large man turned around, Zan casually threw the gun overboard and smirked.
"Man," Zan started as he drew his arm back and opened his palm, "you guys aren't very good at this, are ya?" Before the man could scream, Zan attacked. "Phantom Grip!" Zan's hand slid through the man's chest and right onto his heart. Zan grasped the gooey organ and the man gasped loudly in shock and pain. "Race!" He gripped and relaxed the man's heart rapidly, building speed and pumping massive amounts of blood through his body. Soon after Zan started his assisted heart attack, the man coughed a splatter of blood and fainted. Zan retreated his hand slowly and watched as the hunter fell to the floor.
"Endgame" Zan said deviously. He paced over and took the Den Den Mushi, still sleeping, from the man's hand and started away to the side of the deck. As he neared the edge, the boat violently shook and jerked, forcing the assassin into a tumble. Zan caught his fall with his hand and flipped back to his feet. He half-phased his legs into the floor and trudged over to see what was happening. The ocean currents had changed from when he boarded and the island was significantly smaller than before. "Oh…dammit" Zan cursed. The warship was drifting out to sea, into the Grand Line, with a Devil Fruit user aboard…not good.
Back in the pirate town, Bard and his Buster Pirates continued to fight viciously against the staggering odds. Although the crew itself put up a great fight on their own, Bard was dominating the battlefield. Each punch he threw sent bounty hunters flying, and each kick shattered bones and splintered wood. An elbow jab, a strong left hook, right hook, finishing off with a straight-legged kick, and a whole legion of hunters would fly away screaming. Bard would stomp his foot back down hard to the ground and flex. If they weren't unconscious after all that, the concept of another beat down would floor them.
"Oh, Come on!" Bard shouted whinely. "Try actually fighting instead of standing around like jackasses!" The hunters winced and tried to turn, but the Buster Pirates were already closing in with swords and pistols armed. The hunters decided to take their chances with the crew instead of the captain, but still got floored faster than they could keep up. When the fight was over and the smoke had cleared, a triumphant shout rang out through the alleyways from the crew.
"YEAAAAH! You don't mess with uuuuus!" Marco shouted with his arms up and flexing his muscles. The rest of the crew joined in shouting to the sky and flexing, as was their traditional salute. Bard flexed his chest angrily with crossed arms and a scowl.
"SHUT UP!" Bard shouted over his crew. Everyone stopped immediately and looked over at him. "It's not over yet…" Bard said menacingly. The crewmembers looked back and forth at each other with worry. "As long as there's even a slim chance that more of these jerks are here, we have to pursue them with blind, unyielding fury, and smash their FACES IIIIN!!" Bard reeled back his arms and arched his back upon finishing his little rant and shouted. His crew still looked at him curiously.
"Well," Marco started as he stumbled out of place, "the rest are probably on their way via warship, or something…" Bard turned around and stomped hard into the wooden ground. Then, with a tenaciously evil grin, he prepared to run.
"SORU!" Then he was gone. A large blast of wind followed going in the direction of the docks, knocking over some of the lesser-prepared pirates and knocking open a few doors. Marco stared off in wonder at the water droplets that were split from the ground in waves from where Bard had dashed off.
"huh, You guys!" a girl shouted from above. The crew looked up to a roof, expecting another enemy, but saw a dainty little girl bent over and breathing heavily. In between her loud breaths, she tried to speak out to the pirates below. "We…need to get…away from here…They're going to…to start firing soon…b-Back to the Tavern!"
"…" was the crew's response.
"It's me!" the girl shouted. Still no response, so she cleared up all the confusion. "Araly!"
'Ah!' 'It's that girl!' 'It's Bard's wife!' was the mixed response. Araly slumped and made a sad face over the crew not even vaguely remembering her.
"What's up, Mrs. Samekawa?" That was the line for Araly, as she attached a roof tile to one of her custom made ropes and gave it a good wing right into the inquiring pirates forehead. Everyone turned to her with mixed reactions of horror and innocence.
"I heard from another pirate here that the bounty hunters are planning to launch a attack at sea." Araly explained. "They have a huge warship filled with other hunters and armed down to the last nail with enough firepower to level the island!" The Buster Pirates started staring past her with building horror. "We need to get to the other pirates and evacuate the city while we still have time! Now come on!" She looked down to see all the angry pirates pointing guns pointed at her. "W…wha-what the heck, guys?"
"Don't move, Araly!" Marco shouted. Araly was about to cry from grief and started to back away until she bumped into something leathery. The leather turned into a silken feel in an instant.
"Move away from the girl, freak!" Another pirate shouted. Araly turned around slowly and looked straight up and the tower of a man clad in pitch black. At least twice her height, wrapped tightly all over his skinny body with black, and an elaborately designed metal mask on his face. He gave out a long, hissing, hollow sigh and bent over at the legs to confront Araly eye-to-eye. She stared straight up, he looked straight down.
"Misstresss Kaede hasss given me a missssion, Missss Araly" the figure said in a familiar voice. "Might you be interested in aiding me?" Araly shook her fear away just long enough to nod shyly and squeak affirmatively.
Sasuke and Kaede raced down the final stretch of the slope and back into town. Sasuke hopped down onto the wooden ground and looked around warily. The rain was gone again, no bounty hunters were in sight, many ships had broken masts, many huge holes in the ground down a street…What the hell happened down here? He thought with very curious eyes.
"Captain!" Kaede shouted. "Look!" Sasuke followed Kaede's pointing finger across the length of the dock to a mysterious, cloaked figure leaning against a building. Sasuke squinted and attempted to make out the figure, but got nothing pasts it's multiple layers and heavy hood. Sasuke reached around his back and drew out his short blade in defense.
"Let's go, Kaede" Sasuke ordered. Kaede crossed her fore-arms and spread her fingers. Throwing knives appeared from her skin-tight suit and she grasped them between her fingers. Both set off in identical blurs down the harbor, towards the mysterious figure that was shambling towards them with one outstretched arm and a glowing, evil smile.
"Oi, Musashi!" Kojiro sounded out. Musashi turned in his place, guarding the entrance to the natural dock they were inspecting, and went dashing off towards Kojiro.
"What, Kojiro?" Musashi yelled once he came close to the boat. A crash was heard, wood was sent splintering upwards from the ship's deck, and a body came flying towards the curious samurai. Once the dust cleared, Kojiro was next to his comrad and leaning on his sword with a bloody head.
"WE…got company!" Kojiro said in distress. He pointed up and Musashi's eyes followed. Stepping from the smoke and steam from onboard the tiny ship was a terrible-looking man. A man wielding a shovel and a lethal gaze…
