Chapter. 2: The Storm and the Infernal Guardian!
BA-BOOM! FLASH! Thunder rumbles and lightning cracked the sky. The waves on the sea had become rough. The wind was blowing harder and harder. Rain began to fall on the ship known as Thousand Sunny, and the crew on board, the famous Straw Hat Pirates, were battling the storm.
It had been three weeks since the crew had defeated the Yonkou Big Mom and Kaido; as well as the liberation of the Land of Wano. Several of their friends had left their group to stay at home and defend it, another had returned to be their rival for the One Piece and they had gained a new member.
"Cat Burglar" Nami shouted orders as everyone rushed around the ship.
Jimbei "First Son of the Sea" was trying to keep control of the Sunny in the midst of the storm.
"Demon Girl" Nico Robin, using her Devil Fruit powers, managed to fold the sails.
The captain, Monkey D. "Straw Hat" Luffy tied everything down to make sure they didn't fall off the ship or get blown away by the wind, with Usopp's help.
"LUFFY!" cried Usopp. "YOU TIED MY HANDS BY MISTAKE!"
"I'm sorry!" apologized Luffy.
"Cyborg" Franky went down to the deck to secure what he could.
"Black Leg" Sanji took the helm to try to keep the ship stable.
As for "Pirate Hunter" Roronoa Zoro, he was currently busy trying to get a scared "Cotton Candy Lover" Tony-Tony Chopper out of his face.
"CHOPPER!" spat Zoro. "GET AWAY FROM ME! THIS IS NO TIME TO PANIC!"
"WE'RE GOING TO DIE!" Chopper shouted at the top of his lungs.
Nami tried to remain calm, but it was hard to control her nerves with every storm that hit Grand Line. She had to admit that even she, the navigator who knew all about weather forecasting, got scared every time this happened.
Suddenly, she heard a small crack. Looking down at her Log Pose, she saw that the needle was pointing east. She gasped. There must be an island with a strong magnetic pull nearby.
"Jimbei!" Nami called to the Gyojin whale shark. "Turn the ship around at 3 o'clock, now! There's an island there where we can dock the ship!"
"I've got this, Nami!" Jimbei shouted with determination before controlling the ship.
Now, there was only one thing left to do, now...
Nami stomped across the deck.
"Franky!" she called. "Set up a Coup de Burst, at the double!"
Down in the power room, Franky had a gleam in his eye and three barrels of cola ready.
"Way ahead of you, sister!" Franky called back.
The rear barrel began to glow.
"Get ready, everyone!" Nami called.
Luffy put his hands on his hat to keep it from blowing off, laughing.
"Oh, man," he said. "This is going to be great!"
What they didn't know was that a Den Den Mushi was watching them...
Somewhere in a darkened room, lit by nothing more than a burning oil lamp... many shaded and incredibly long figures, they were looking at many screens as they watched every entry point to their island. A shadowy male figure, as large as the others, observes the situation with his arms crossed as he sits in front of a Ko Den Den Mushi.
"Are those the Demons sighted by the Den Den Mushi?" asked the figure.
" Yes, sir," replied the one on the other side of the snail in a rather deep voice. "Shall we initiate a lightning attack, just like the one we did on the White and Blue Demons?"
"Negative; I doubt these know of the tactics of the White and Blue..." the figure smiled, "However, we can use our guardian to finish them off."
"Yes, sir," the caller replied... With an impassive look on his face that appeared on the snail. "Although, do you seriously think that's the Demon that has dethroned the Tyrant of Souls and Sweets and the Blue Dragon? He doesn't seem too dangerous and his crew..."
"First rule of combat: never underestimate your opponent." the figure denied. "If you think that Demon has three billion Belis as a reward just for his goofy face, it means you have a lot to learn; our king has been investigating the important events of our world for some time now and I must say that these last few years have been very interesting... and he's been at the center in most of them."
"...I suppose, though remember; I am much older than you."
Gacha...! Whoever was calling hung up and the Den Den Mushi fell asleep as the figure resorted on his couch and, using a huge snake tail, picks up another Den Den Den Mushi and lights it up.
"Initiate the awakening of the guardian." he said. "Don't let them escape."
On the other line...
"Roger, initiating the awakening," spoke an emotionless female voice. The shadowy figure had an unusual appearance: the upper part of her body was that of a beautiful young woman but the lower part... was that of a huge snake. The snake woman drew a bow while lighting one of her arrows and shot it with great precision into a nearby hut. It wasn't long before a shrill screech was heard throughout the place.
"Mission accomplished, retreat."
With great speed, the woman leaves ready for her next mission.
"Arrgghh, my eardrums!" cried Sanji trying to cover his ears.
All the Straw Hats had to try to cover their ears but to no avail, that horrible sound really played havoc for everyone.
"What is that, it's going to make us deaf!" shouted Zoro.
"Make it shut up, make it shut up!" Chopper rolled around on the Sunny's lawn.
"Aaah, this horrible sound will make my eardrums explode! Even though I don't have eardrums! Yohohohohohoho!" laughed "Dead Bones" Brook.
Nami manages to hit him causing him to fall unconscious.
"NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR YOUR JOKES!" shouted the navigator, angry with shark teeth.
Franky goes outside and sees the really huge one.
"Hey guys...?"
The Straw Hats already see what their carpenter was referring to and it really was something big and horrible. It was a Sea King, but it was nothing like they had ever seen on their journey: that thing was a hideous sea monster with six long necks outfitted with creepy heads, each containing three rows of sharp teeth. His body consisted of twelve tentacle-like legs and a cat's tail and four to six dog's heads around his waist.
The little kiss clung to the ship and began to look at the pirates. Even Zoro and Robin were horrified when they saw such a monster; the monster screeched and began attacking them with its tentacles.
"Get ready, that thing wants to tear us apart!"
"S-S-S-S-Scary! L-L-LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!" the Weak Trio tried to run, leaving the rest ready to fight.
"Tch, that bug is huge; and I doubt I can find any part of it as an ingredient." Sanji complained.
"Hah, I see a good training dummy." Zoro grinned wildly.
"I suggest acting cautiously, we don't know what it can do." Jimbei was on his guard.
Luffy, however...
"Hey, you... LEAVE SUNNY ALONE!"
Luffy lunges at the creature, hitting it in three of its eyes!
"MORON!" the Straw Hats shouted in disbelief.
If the monstrous sea beast hadn't been angry before, it certainly was now, but then, it looked towards the small pirate ship, much to the Straw Hats' terror.
"LUFFY-SAN, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Brook squealed.
"OH NO!" Usopp cried. "I HOPE YOU ARE HAPPY, LUFFY, BECAUSE HE'S FURIOUS NOW!"
"COME ON!" Luffy yelled as he activated Gear Second from him. "COME ON, RIGHT NOW-UGH!"
"SHUT UP FOOL!" Zoro and Sanji yelled as they kicked their foolish captain in the back of the neck. It was then that the monstrous Sea King began to move its tail and create a whirlwind.
"OH NO!" Nami screamed.
"This is not going well!" Robin tried to use his powers, but seawater splashed on her, making her quite weak.
"WOOOOOOOOAAA!" Luffy yelled as he fell from the ship.
"LUFFY!" Zoro cried.
"OH SHIT!" Luffy cursed before reaching out and grabbing the animal's head, just as he plunged into the raging waters, dragging the Sunny with him.
In the maelstrom of the storm and in the furious waters, all the Straw Hats ended up separating.
Luffy watched helplessly as he parted ways with his friends when he saw Nami near him. Desperate and at the limit of his strength, he tried to grab Nami and succeeded and then passed out.
The Straw Hats had no idea what was in store for them...
The next day, on a nearby beach...
The unconscious Luffy and Nami were lying together on the sand when a female figure saw them.
"Are they... Demons?" I speak the woman. "...! It's you...!"
To be continued...
