7

"I cried for the first time since my wife died"

I used to run a small business.

Brewing alcohol was something I learned from a grandmaster, he was the best of the best. I met him in my younger years. He was a formidable man. As well as a formidable cook and bartender. He lived the rest of his long and great life with me, giving me all the knowledge he had. I opened up a liquor store in the grand line after he died. A tavern followed quickly after. Business was going fine. I made enough to cover my living expenses. I could've bought something extra if I wanted to. But I quite liked the idea to have some money to spare.

As if I felt coming that I would really need it one day.

Things began to go in the wrong direction when the store I ran with my wife – Sarah – became more popular all around the blues. Tourist came to our island, just to visit us. And gaining fame we attracted all sort of customers.

And that wasn't a good thing.

The pirates weren't that bad actually. Yes, they were rude and loud. And most of the time they didn't pay enough – or at all. But they brought this feeling of happiness and freedom with them. They infected everybody with their endless cheerfulness.

But pirates bring trouble. Marines and bounty hunters alike rummaged the town in an attempt to find a pirate or crook worth the effort. Our first rustic town changed into one full of outlaws and navy before anyone could notice. All because of the alcohol I made and sold. Closing the store down wasn't an option anymore. It wouldn't chase the criminals away. Not that I wanted to, I liked the town as it was at that moment. Customers would come to me with stories of treasure and adventure. Stories of things that would never happen to me.

My wife died soon after the town changed. She fell asleep and never woke up again. She was old and sick, there wasn't much we could do. She lived a happy and full life. All I have left of her are beautiful memories.

She used to sing this old pirate song – I believe she called it "binks sake" – while she cleaned the tavern. She told me she learned it when she met some pirates that, "made people happy with their wonderful music", as she would say it.

I got over it quickly. I treated the tavern like I would treat my wife.

I cared about the tavern like I cared about my wife.

And then a crazy woman arrived to turn around everything.

She came in while I was reading the morning paper. Don't get me wrong, it was actually evening. I always got up too late to read it, and the afternoon was a busy time for me. Especially with all the tourist who arrived at noon the leave as soon as the sun went down. Nobody seems to have time for anything nowadays. There isn't even spare time for me to enjoy my paper with a cup of coffee. So I exchange my coffee with a beer and read the paper in evenings instead of mornings. I had an aspiring chef called Daria help me entertain, serve and cook when evening arrived.

"We're not closing up yet?" I ask Daria while I sign her to refill my beer, "Aren't ya tired?"

She sighed. "I wouldn't be if you helped me. Or at least hired another help. Can't you see how awfully busy it is?"

The tavern was very busy for a Tuesday evening. All the tourist had left already and the only costumes were pirates who stayed the night and the people hunting them.

"Just sent them out."

"Who exactly? The customers? I know you really don't care about reputation at all, but I do care. You can't just shove them out, they are drunk pirates for god's sake. Do you want to be killed?"

"that does sound very tempting."

"Oh dear god, Malcolm. I will send you to your grave if you don't get off that lazy ass of yours and start doing something." She snapped and walked away.

I smirked and waved while she left, "I'd love to see you try, you miserable old hag."

Irritating Daria was one of the things left in life I could enjoy, I have to admit; I am a miserable old man myself. That being the main reason I hired her and wouldn't hire anybody else. She was the sister of a friend of my wife. We never liked her, she nagged all day. But she was a pretty decent cook.

The bell rang.

I turned around to welcome the customer, all signs of irritation disappearing off my face. "Welcome to Grand café Sarah, can I help you?"

The customer was a pretty lady. I would've liked someone like her if my wife wasn't there already. She looked fairly irritated.

"A strong drink?" I ask while she takes places at the bar.

She nods and stares at the wanted posters in the back. The newly arrived ones. The belonged to an impressive rookie crew called: 'the straw-hat pirates'.

"After the bounty on the young man's head? I doubt he really did all those things, he looks so harmless on this picture."

She only glared when I handed over the drink, I gave the everyone who looked like they really needed one. She drank in silence. I was never really good in talking with people like her. I looked at Daria in a scream for help. She answered with a sinister smile. God, did I hate Daria.

"Can I have that poster?" It took me a while to realize that the woman was speaking to me. Her voice was very unfitting for her appearance. While her outside looked young –everybody under forty is young when you get to my age- ,cute and pretty. Her voice was deep and a bit demanding. Like that of a very powerful person.

"What for?"

She blushed and looked away. "research purposes…"

"Well fine. I hope the Marine's won't get after me for this." I actually didn't really care if they would. I just liked to pretend as if it was a bother. I am a miserable old man after all. What can I do?

"just call my name if they do." She took the poster from me, "Say Mary sue, it'll be all right."

She left after that. With the poster of the captain of the straw hats firmly clutched under her arm.

She turned out to be a different kind of woman. The marines ran away with the swift mention of her name. I wondered whether she was an important noble or a princess from some far away country. Oh how foolish I was.

Morning arrived and she came again, dressed as a rich noble in expensive robes covered with lace and shimmering jewelry in vivid colors. She walked in with the presence of a royalty and sat down at the exact place she sat down the day before.

"did they complain about me removing the poster?" she asked with a voice fitting for a leader. "it would be weird if they did. Even so, I can't be sure. Can I?"

I noticed she liked asking questions, mostly if she was aware of the answer already. As if she always needed to be sure of her case.

"they didn't. They asked me to replace the poster with another one-"

Mary sue interrupted by asking if she could have the poster, again.

"Again? I don't think that's a good idea. I guessed you had some sort of authority, but looking back at yesterday – your name made a strong and mentally perfectly fine young man piss himself – you are probably as much of a noble as any of these outlaws sitting here. And really, I don't mind that. But I don't want trouble, my life is fine just the way it is right now."

"somebody pissed himself? See, the Navy these days is nothing but talk. Nowadays everyone can become a marine. In my time you needed to be willing to put your life on the line. Can you give me the same drink you gave me yesterday?"

I frowned while pouring in her drink. How old was she exactly? She talked as if she was older than me, and believe me, I wasn't that young either.

"Is it rude to ask a lady her age?"

"It is. Can you give me that? It looks delicious. I would like something to eat as well, maybe some sea king meat. I heard the meat is from excellent quality in this area."

I gave her the drink and poured myself one as well. She kept on changing topics, something that annoyed me a bit. She reminded me of a younger (and prettier) version of Daria.

Talking about Daria, she came walking towards us. Her expression saying she wasn't that happy. But I couldn't be sure, she always looked like that. Damn woman.

"Already drinking? You should pay attention to your health old man. You aren't young anymore." She looked at Mary and frowned. Again I couldn't be sure, those eyebrows have a life of their own. "Have I seen you before? You look familiar."

Mary smiled, "I get that a lot."

For some reason I couldn't believe that. Gems like her outshone most of the women I had ever seen. Her face wasn't one you'd see a lot.

Daria didn't seem to believe it either. She stared some longer and took a small, leather-bound notebook from the pocket of her flower printed apron.

"You want to order something?"

"Surprise me."

Daria's smile showed her crooked teeth. It wasn't an unpleased smile.

Mary sue kept on returning to the shop.

She always ordered the same drink, always sat on the same stool and always asked Daria to surprise her if Daria asked Mary if she'd like something to eat. Her visits turned into a custom and in less than two weeks we greeted her as a friend instead of a stranger.

But it's hard to be friends when you know hardly anything about each other. Something that didn't bother me that much until I found out she knew a lot more about me than I knew about her. Until I found out that Mary Sue the 17th never did anything without a reason.

And that she was completely obsessed by the young pirate called Monkey d. Luffy.

It was a Thursday evening, the regular crowd had shoveled in. Daria had one of her rare days off.

"Malcolm, I found out everything I needed to know about you." The gentle tone of Mary Sue's was able to change into that of a snake in less than a second.

"Is that so? And what exactly did you find out about me?" If there was something I learned from negotiating with outlaws, was that I needed to stay calm. At all costs.

"The people you deprived of their future. The devil fruit powers you have. Things like that, I need you to come with me, Malcolm."

I laughed. I should've guessed. They all need my powers. All those people who came after me. And I killed them, I slaughtered them. I murdered them.

And the worst thing is that I don't feel any remorse about it.

She reached out to me and smiled. "I need that power of yours. And killing you won't do anything good for both of us. I would need to search the entire earth to find that stupid fruit. Not an easy task. And well, you would be dead."

"I can't leave Sarah behind. She is all I have."

And that was when her kind smile changed. Her pointy teeth showed when she curled the corners of her lips into the smile of a madman. She took a bottle of alcohol from the shelve behind me and threw it against the wall. One of the customers turned around in shock.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

She ignored him while I stared at the parts of the bottle lying on the floor. It was the last bottle I had made with my wife. But I didn't feel anything, I just stared at its remains.

And Mary threw another bottle, this time hitting the head of the complaining customer. She had used enough power to kill the poor man. That's what he did, he died.

She kept on throwing and throwing until the remaining customers had escaped the bar.

I did nothing.

"Look," she said while spinning around on the wet floor, "your beloved Sarah. It's all filthy because of the drinks you made. You did this."

She took an match and laughed. "I should walk away if I were you."

And I knew where Daria had recognized her from.

This woman. This crazy woman. She was the infamous brainsick vixen. She was the murderous mama. She was bloody Mary.

"Burn it."

The crazy woman stared at me in a mixture of surprise and amusement. "Oh? You want me to burn your precious wife?"

"she isn't my wife. Sarah is a memory. And in this case, a chain that keeps me from moving forward. You can take me if you want, I don't care anymore."

The match fell down and the bar died together with the memory of Sarah.

I cried for the first time since Sarah died when I watched the tavern disappear in the sea of flames.

My devil fruit would be of help to someone who really needed it. I know that my decision was wrong and I feel for the poor boy. But honestly, who can say no to a body and face like that of Mary sue the 17th.

And so, Mary sue got a new power in her possession.

De Sutookaa Sutookaa no mi (stalker stalker fruit) would help Mary a lot later on in her journey to find Luffy, who – at this time – was busy fighting Moria in thriller bark.

And now, to end this rather confusing chapter, a bit of trivia:

Mary sue lesson 2:

"All you need to know about the Sutookaa Sutookaa no mi."

A sight for sore eyes isn't it? Having to watch Mary struggling to find were Luffy exactly is. It took her 16 years to find him in the first place!

The Sutookaa Sutookaa no mi Is shaped like a pear, the color is purple with green swirls all over it. The taste, like any other devil fruit, Is horrible.

The Sutookaa Sutookaa no mi gives you the ability to stalk one person at the time. And ability Mary sue was born with.

What is does exactly is that you have to think about a person (name, appearance, personality etc.) and all sorts of information will pop up as soon as you close your eyes.

A few special moves are:

Map drawing:

A handy skill for finding your beloved.

Step 1: take a map of the world, it doesn't have to be that detailed.

Step 2: place your hands somewhere on the map and think about the person you like to stalk.

Step 3: an image of the face of the person in question appears on the map, exactly where the person is located.

Tip: Want it to be more specific? First, do it on a world map, then the map of the country the person is in, then the city, etc.

Sleeping pictures:

Same concept of the map drawing, only, this time, pictures of your darling except seeing where he is.

Step 1: place your hands on empty paper.

Step 2: Think about him/her.

Step 3: An image of the person, doing exactly what they are doing, appears.

Enjoy your alone time with him/her!

The rest of the skills aren't known yet.

Well, this took a lot of more time than I thought it would take.

This chapter is weird, right? I know, but I like it so I won't change it.

Malcolm won't be appearing much btw, he is just a tool Mary can use to find Luffy easier.

This chapter is here to show Mary interacting with people, showing her being crazy and me being lazy and wanting to write in somebody else's perspective.

Next chapter.. Hohoho.. I've got some crazy shit going on in the next vew.

I feel bad for everyone already, Mary included.

The time skip will be in 3/4 chapters, with the introduction of boa Hancock before that. Can't wait. And some Brook after this chapter! Yass! I adore Brook, he is awesome.

COMMENTS:

Devlin Dracul:

Sorry for making you wait so long pal.

I would never chain Franky down! Franky is awesome. I am not that sadistic. Putting Frobin in my story is like making him wear pants.

Btw. The grand fleet thingie.

Yes. I have so many ideas's for this.

Bartolomeo.

Can you see it coming? The ultimate wife vs. the ultimate fanboy vs. the ultimate mother.

An all-out war.

Hope you enjoyed the weird shit I pulled in this chapter.

Thanks for reading everyone.

Please review and things like that. You would help my out alot. (: