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.
Max walked a razor line down the beaten, dirt path. The sun's glare focused his gleaming eyes like shining lasers that stared blankly into the horizon. His dirty shovel reflected the light all around him like a prism, casting shimmering beams of rainbow colors on the trees and nearby buildings. Musashi and Kojiro were walking in tandem far behind him.
"That's him, eh?" Kojiro said. "He doesn't look like much anymore" he said with a taught jaw. Musashi jabbed him in the forehead swiftly.
"Don't be so easy to disrespect those you don't know" Musashi scolded. Kojiro scratched his forehead in embarrassment. "That man is more powerful than either you or I can deal with. I doubt even Captain Sasuke could stand against him for long…" As they were stalking the fearful man, he stopped instantly. Musashi shot a hand to his side, which Kojiro bumped in to.
Max tilted his head up and stared at the sky in the south. The rising sun seemed to push away the night like a silk curtain, allowing the orange and white sky to speckle in. After only a few moments of his observation, Max's eyes lost their chromatic shimmer and he slowly tipped onto his back. Musashi and Kojiro waited for nearly a minute before a loud and thunderous snoring started shaking the ground.
"…" glared Kojiro.
"He even sleeps powerfully" Musashi awed. He swung his arm forward and dashed over to the body, with Kojiro in tow. Before getting to close, Musashi's hair shook and his danger sense roared. He halted himself, digging his sandals into the loose dirt, while Kojiro kept running.
"What'd you stop for?" Kojiro said over his shoulder. "He's asle--" Max's shovel impacted with Kojiro's face, sending his arms limping forward and hurling him to the ground. The shovel disappeared back into Max's original position and Kojiro twitched slightly.
Musashi carefully troded over and pulled Kojiro to safety by the blade of his sword, trying to stay away from Max's swing radius. After dragging Kojiro a safe enough distance away, Musashi sat down with his arms folded in his robes.
"'Chromatic' Max…" he mused over. "You haven't fallen far, it seems…" The solace of the morning air was broken by a monstrous slam, as a huge figure on the distant ocean fell to its side.
Meanwhile, the ragtag pirates were returning to the docks, climbing up the ropes along side the nearby ships to safety. However, topside wasn't as safe as they initially thought. Most of the bounty hunters that weren't either dead or immediately indisposed were gathered together in one huge legion, making their way across the many ships with roaring enthusiasm. The pirates prepared for their last stand with loaded pistols and drawn sabers. Leading the pack was the cock-sure young captain, Lisa, and her Rainbow Road Pirates.
"Alright!" she shouted, hoisting herself up onto the railing with a bottle in hand. "This is our last chance to defend our home! Once we wipe these Sallies off the deck, we'll be home free!" The chorus of gruff and tumble voices cheered her on. "SO LET'S KICK SOME A--"
The wind blasted everyone to the floor and several pirates overboard. All the ships rocked and shook, most nearly capsizing. Lisa got up long enough to catch a glimpse of what had caused it, as the warship in the distance started to tip on its side.
Bard's high-power Soru had launched him across the vast expanse of the open waters and head on into the bottom of the warship's mast. He had spun from a torpedo position in mid-air to land with a stomp on his feet and both arms, delivering the full force of his body onto the ship's pivotal center. Now, it was tipping, just like he had planned.
"Booyah!" Bard exclaimed. Zan was stuck at a nearly horizontal angle in the deck, watching with fear for dear life as the water started replacing the skyline. Zan started backing up toward the opposite end and hopped up onto the railing. Rez came staggering out just in time to watch Bard get ready to leave.
"BARD!!" Rez shouted. Bard turned his head, gave a quick salute greeting, and crouched down low. Zan jumped at the last second, as the force of Bard's additional jump speeded the ship into a total capsizing roll. Rez started sliding off until he grabbed at his sword on his back. Zan crouched down at the knees and looked down on him.
"Man, you're captain's strong, huh?" Zan said mockingly. Rez pulled himself up to his collarbone with his huge blade wedged deep into the deck. He glared back at Zan as the seawater impacted fully with the main mast, sending a cascade of spray into the air. Zan jumped backwards and landed on the now flat side of the ship, with Rez following in a flailing panic with all three swords being used to make footholds.
"He's and idiot!" Rez shouted as he caught his breath on the side of the ship. Zan nodded casually, almost sarcastically, then almost tripped. The wood creaked loudly, and Rez and Zan shared a mutually terrified look. The ship, now on its side, was still tipping. Looking over the side where the keel was visible, Zan was able to remark in passive horror as he saw a shallow whirlpool forming directly under the ship.
"…damn…" Zan muttered. Rez crawled over and reiterated with a much more volatile curse that was covered by the thunderous roar of the sinking sea.
The ocean's new hole was due mainly in part to the combined efforts of Kaede and Araly. From below the tide and tow of the currents, through their combined strength and willpower, the girls had fully opened the Kappa's mouth. The device's full effect was to manipulate the surface tension of the nearby ocean water, stirring the currents underwater to make the waves as flat and calm as paper, and making anything else sink straight down into the torrential storm at ocean bottom. What was left of a ship would slowly float back up to the surface once the machine was deactivated.
Kaede and Araly were still keeping the mouth open, and the machine was still churning the sea. The strain was finally starting to get to Araly, whose air capsulate was starting to wear out. Kaede looked over to see her mate to be red in the face. Without hesitation, she darted over and laid a hand on her shoulder. Araly looked over with a huge, strained look complete with protruding vains. Kaede pointed up to the surface. Araly looked up, nodded, and let the rope go.
Once at the water surface, Araly and Kaede both gasped for breath as they swam over to the outcropping rock. Kaede watched in awe, as the scene was open for her to see: the battle was won. The warship was disabled and everyone was safe. With the exception of the still absent Ninpo Pirate Swordsmen, everything was looking as bright as the morning sun.
"What happened?" Araly said, still spitting out sea water. Kaede smiled and leaned back against the rocky wall behind her.
"We won…" she replied. Araly joined her in looking on at the still capsizing ship in the distance.
Back at the Tall Mast Tavern, the pirate flag was waving strong. The Buster Pirates had reconnoitered and dropped off the kingpin of the whole operation, gaining the respect and rapport of every crew under the roof. Everyone shouted their praises at once, offering free drinks and piles of food.
"Hold it!" Marco shouted. "We can't accept anything 'til our Captain gets back!"
"Where is he?" one random fan shouted. The Buster crew all exchanged looks of silent caution, and a moment later, Marco faced forward with a positive face and O.K. sign up.
"We don't know!"
"Why is that a good thing!?" one man yelled across the room. The awkward noise was broken by a rushing clatter of running feet from the main ladder room. An pirate came running out to the middle of the room with a telescope in hand and no breath left.
"What is it?" one man asked. The exhausted one shot up and hand and bent over, panting hard for about a minute. Everyone started getting impatient, or overly casual, and ignored him.
"The warship…" he finally started. By this time, of course, everyone had gone back to either praising the Buster Pirates or getting drunk. "OI!" he shouted. The attention was refocused back on him. Still taking heavy breaths, the man started. "The warship out at sea, was just capsized! If there were any more bounty hunters on their way, they're gone now!"
After a brief pause, everyone intensified their stares silently, leaning in close to him. "How?" whispered the group. The lookout darted his eyes back and forth a few times, feeling mighty uncomfortable in the room. Before he could stutter out his answer, the wall of the Tavern came crashing in. Dust and debris spread out everywhere, and the surprise shook everyone to their knees and butts.
'Who the hell!?' 'What in heck??' 'I got a splinter in my ass!' shouted the majority of the pirates. Amidst the clearing dust, standing in the orange light of the illuminated bar was a man. Nearly seven feet tall, robed in a black, sleeveless coat that stretched down to his ankles, and a flowing head of short golden hair.
"Meh…" the figure said in a dejected way. "That could've been much cooler." The dust settled from the air, and the faces of the Buster Pirates all lit up at once. "I probably should've gone back for Rez and…Guy too. Ah well, they can swim." Bard turned his head to the startled, gracious, and few angry faces of the amalgamated pirate crews. He shot up his hand in greeting with a quick "Yo"
"Th-tha…" stuttered the lookout, "That's him! He tipped the warship, somehow. I know it!" Bard blinked at him and looked back as everyone was closing in on him with impressed faces.
"What, that big ship?" Bard mentioned casually, pointing in the general direction. "Yeah, that was me. I'd be done faster, but I had to get my aim right before I--" Before he could finish, he was already hoisted up upon the shoulders of his faithful crew of a day or so.
"Three cheers for Captain Bard! Twice again savior of Paradiso Isola!!" With each 'Huzzah!' that the pirates sounded out, Bard's smile got wider and his modesty diminished. Upon the last huzzah, Bard cheered along with them. It was a happy morning after the endless night.
Sasuke arrived on scene with Hebimaru hiding in the shadows of a nearby alley. He walked up to the now nearly broken Tavern entrance, hands in pockets and bags under each eye. All that mess and all that fighting, but still he found the courage and strength to edge out a smile.
"This kid…" he started as he watched the parade start anew, "…I like him." Sasuke went on, still in his ninja gear, to join the celebration.
Rez and Zan sat stranded on the keel beam on the underside of the overturned ship. The waves were finally calm, but the tide kept pulling them out to sea. Very slowly, the shoreline was shrinking and they would be gone into the inescapable Grand Line within a few hours.
"Now what…" grumped Rez. Zan looked up from his etching into the wooden hull wit his knife and turned to him.
"We could sing" Zan offered. Rez looked at him, huffed and turned his back to him angrily. Zan looked on after him for a few moments, then kicked back and rested his head in his arms. With a whistle for pitch, Zan started singing "Yo-hohoho..."
