Now that Visoreds: Origins is pretty much finished, I can focus on my other works. I've gotten more inspiration bursts for this tale now, and it's going to be good. Hopefully at least weekly updates!
Keiko floated on her back, coming awake with a splitting headache. Around her floated a mixture of flotsam and bodies. Unable to focus on her haki, Keiko swam over to the largest wreckage she could find, coughing up water and panting heavily. The water beside her stirred, and heavy footsteps came across the wreckage.
"Greenbeard has made it through the Calm Belt, Captain. His target is Loguetown just as you ordered" spoke a calm, feminine voice. Light, almost hopping, footsteps darted over wood alongside heavy, plodding ones.
"What about Greybeard?" demanded Blackbeard, Keiko remaining as still as possible. "He needs to attack as soon as possible; we need more Devil Fruit users, Lafitte. At the moment, there don't seem to have been any here."
"Captain. We found Burgess!" yelled a far off voice, and the pirates moved away from her body. Greybeard, Greenbeard? She'd never heard those names before. As far as she was aware, only two pirates had 'beard' as their epithet. The now deceased Whitebeard and that scum Blackbeard
Returning footsteps interrupted her thoughts, and Keiko tried to control her breathing.
"So Burgess, you were defeated by this pipsqueak marine?" demanded Blackbeard's gruff voice, his First Mate narrowing thuggish eyes.
"She didn't fight fair! Moving around so fast, using Soru. Cheater!" exclaimed Burgess, kicking at her body. She cried out in pain, but that only sharpened her. She imagined the three of them grinning sadistically, and felt an intense anger rise up in her body.
Before his next attack could connect, Keiko used all of her strength to throw her legs over into an elegant handstand, the foot stamping down on the shipwreck instead of her face. Taking in a deep breath while they were surprised, Keiko brought down both legs, the last of her Haki infusing them with immense strength.
The deck they were on splintered, falling deeper into the water. Blackbeard cried out in shock, unable to find a footing to use his powers. Burgess lunged at her with both hands outreached just as Keiko stood up. Letting it slide past her, Keiko grabbed the arm and stuck out her leg. Stumbling over the limb, Burgess became unsteady enough for the Marine to pull his arm forwards and spin over the pirate's body, pushing him into the water. She then leapt onto his back and used his bulk as a spring to shoot her body up.
"Stop her!" cried Blackbeard, scrambling to find stable ground. Keiko jack-knifed in mid-air, executing a perfect dive into the water. Deep down she swam, trying to find refuge in a place Blackbeard would never dare to enter. Able to focus everything into her Observation Haki, she reached out to sense any Marines. A flash of anger ignited in her heart at sensing Gina's form surrounded by three unknown men.
Still diving, her body curved like a dolphin's to break the surface, arms pulling her forwards. Her muscles screamed, but Keiko ignored them. She'd have never left Gina alone; should never have trusted a mere Captain with her life. When the anger took over though, she ceased to be Keiko, and became…
A ship appeared, Blackbeard's flag on the mast and fluttering violently. She sensed him still several leagues away, standing still. She had maybe ten minutes; he wasn't the fastest opponent she had. That feminine guy, though, looked quick. Keiko got onto a piece of flotsam and climbed up the ship's side. She paused in the middle, resisting the urge to cry out in pain. She had to save Gina. It was only them alive, just like before.
"Look, guys, there's been some mistake. I didn't know I had to follow Blackbeard to be in his territory. I just took a wrong turn, you know?" emerged an unrecognisable male voice, sounding nervous. She peeked over the top and looked to see a plain, unassuming man in a jacket and shorts. Beside him was Gina, a bruised eye and bloodied lip igniting the fury again.
Akoti looked around, wondering how he got into this situation. He thought it had been a good idea; sneak into Blackbeard's territories while the Marines attacked, but he hadn't banked on how big the battle had become. Ships were exploding left and right, He should have known, really. Both sides like to make big spectacles of themselves.
"Well you have a choice now. Follow Blackbeard, or die."
Wow, what a lot of options, thought Akoti darkly, waiting for his time. Luckily for him, the handcuffs weren't seastone and could be easely picked. "Is there perhaps a third option?" he asked, trying an attempt at humour.
"At least try to be a man" muttered the female Marine beside him, shooting a glare.
Easy for her to say; she was a Vice-Admiral, and a marine. It was her job to take scum like this down. Well, technically, also to take him down, but he'd never hurt anybody. Well, not as much as Blackbeard had.
"Sorry, Miss Marine but I don't want one of the most terrifying pirates after me" he replied, shrugging and looking into the faces of their captors. "So, join or die? Hm. Give me a moment to think it over?"
"Oh for God's sake!" came a harsher, female voice, the group looking over at the dripping Marine with fire red hair and a torn Marine coat. Oh great, thought Akoti, another Marine, and this one looked psychotic on top of it. "I've heard enough. You'll all die here."
"Ha, just try it, Lady. Don't you know whose ship you're on? This is-" began the one closest to Akoti, stopped a moment later as his body was thrown through the air, blood splattering the floor. She hadn't even touched him, just punched the air.
"I know it's Blackbeard's ship, moron. I'm not scared of him, and I'm definitely not scared of some no-name pirates." As she said that, the doors to the deck opened, more cut-throats and vagabonds coming onto the deck. Akoti looked around at the escalating situation, wondering why him? This Marine was going to kill them all!
"I knew you'd come, Akauma! Wipe them all out!" cried the Marine beside him, an ecstatic expression on her face. That was nothing compared to the pirates' reaction though, the men all whispering to each other in hushed tones.
"It's the Red Horse!"
"Who?"
"Akauma… you don't mean...
"She's Akainu's protege?" cried a pirate near the back, all of them staring with wide eyes. Akoti gaped, stunned by shock, looking around in horror. Akainu? That psycho marine who went unstopped through the entire war? Jesus, what HAD he gotten into. The situation just kept getting worse. Beyond panicking now, he closed his eyes, trying to think up a plan.
"Allow me to get a word in edgeways" he commented, and drew in a deep breath.
-K-
"Akainu's protege!" exclaimed the pirates, annoying Keiko even more. It wasn't fair, damn it. She was terrifying on her own. Akauma, the Red Horse of War, had a reputation she had literally killed for, but it would never be enough. She would always be second best, just in his shadow.
"That settles it" spoke Keiko quietly, trembling with rage. She glanced to see a terrified look from Gina, and would have apologised if she could have. "Every person here with a Y chromosome is going to die."
She raised her foot, kicking at the first pirate to run at her. He flew into a group of them, and she punched the next one. Her Haki suddenly flared, signifying a greater threat than the rest. Someone's true power had been hidden amongst the weaklings.
Backhanding a pirate into the floor, she zeroed in on the captured man, handcuffs cut in half and head brought back. Keiko barged past the group, ready to gut this fool along with the rest of them.
-A-
Great and now she was coming for him. Akoti thought it had been too lucky to have a pirate accidentally free him by dropping his sword, and now he realised the Gods had abandoned him to a far more violent fate. Her gazed locked onto his, and he withered. Still. there was one way to salvage this, and even survive.
"Sorry about this" he commented, taking up the sword and cutting Gina's cuffs. She looked at him in confusion, arm grabbing hers. Akoti gathered everything he had, while trying to avoid the Marine's murderous gaze, and opened his mouth, shouting at the ground.
-K-
Two feet away and the man shouted into the deck. Keiko felt her eardrums vibrate from the shock, the entire deck splintering from the attack's force. A Devil Fruit! That, and he was holding Gina. There was nothing she could do, however, as the entire ship cracked in half, the man and Gina disappearing beneath it. "Gina!" cried Keiko, lost in the chaos the man's attack had caused. Who was this guy?
-A-
This guy was Akoti Kikoeru, owner of the Eru Eru no Mi, with the power to generate sound waves from his mouth. He currently fell into the debris, clutching the Marine to him to protect her. If she was important to this Akauma, she might spare him. Either way, he had a moral compass that could never be ignored.
"I can tell what you're thinking. She may spare you, if she's in a good mood" commented Gina as they landed, the dampness down here telling them how close they were to the ocean. "Did you have a plan what to do next, or are you just going to panic more? Seriously, if you had just done nothing she would have just killed them all and made a ship out of their bones." Akoti stared at her, and she smirked. "Just kidding."
"Man, Grand Line Marines are so different from Blues ones."
"You're from the Blues? No wonder you almost pissed yourself when she appeared."
Screams and laughter echoed from the deck above, something wet dripping onto Akoti's shoulder. He touched it and held it to the light, paling. A body fell, and he jumped back, shrilly screaming. Gina looked bored, straightening her clothes. She turned away from him to adjust her cleavage, running a hand through dark blonde hair to straighten it.
"Alright, she should be done about now. Just let me do the talking, OK?" assured Gina, turning to look at the pirate who just lay on the floor, eyes glazed. A slender figure dropped from the hole, landing on one knee.
-K-
"Yes he did just faint" announced Keiko after she had landed, wiping a bloodied hand on the rags of the corpse from before. "As for you, Gina Kogane, I have something special just for you." Keiko stomped forwards and threw her arms around the Marine. She relaxed instantly, putting her head on Gina's shoulder. "I'm so glad you're OK."
Her friend returned the gesture, stroking Keiko's back to calm her. "What about you. The men were saying you took on Blackbeard. "
"Yeah, I did, and failed completely" scowled Keiko, pulling away and looking at the ship. Gina was the only one apart from Sengoku who she'd admit her failures to. "Let's sink this and return to Headquarters."
"What about him?"
"Couldn't care less."
Keiko punched open a hole for them to leave by. The wood behind them groaned and then the ship collapsed into a pile of debris and splinters.
-A-
"Still as troublesome as always" muttered a familiar voice as someone dragged Akoti from the wreckage. A couple of slaps, and things came into focus again.
"What-Max?" he asked, tilting his head back to look upside down at his saviour. In a cowboy hat, jeans and shirt, Max Saccharine stood before him, smiling. "What are you doing here?"
"Funny story, but it can wait. Blackbeard and his crew are still around, so we should leave."
"Hey! What happened to our ship?" yelled a boisterous voice, and they turned to look at Blackbeard, Burgess and Lafitte looking at the wreckage. Akoti and Max looked each other.
"Time to go."
They ran.
Akoti and Max are cameos from the role-play I did that Akauma originated from, and are just fun story tools to use (Akoti is not originally my creation.). He was Captain of our crew, with Max as his first mate. Just a little bit of trivia.
Next, the return to Marine HQ.
-WT.