Hello everybody!
So here's the thing. I've been telling people more and more that I won't do another story, because I am already swamped with the stories I already have. So, this is an experiment, of sorts. If this does well then I will continue as much as I can. If it doesn't then...well, that's that.
Sorry, sorry, this isn't the enthusiasm I should be bringing.
I truly love to make this story and I've come up with ideas for it and I will shower it with as much love and admiration as I do with the others. I just feel like I needed to get it out of my head and into something that can be read by all of you.
The latest story is based on [Drum Roll]...Eiichiro Oda's One Piece!
Like Fairy Tail, Pokemon and My Hero Academia, this universe is so utterly mad, weird and amazing that you can't help but enjoy it. It's a masterpiece of a manga based on the mismatched crew of idiotic, narcissistic and eccentric pirates that you can't help, but love. I had recently got into the series and I...let's just say I don't think I'll be finishing it anytime soon.
This will be set during the Alabaster Saga and it will be another OC story with a harem so please feel free to recommend anyone. My OC does have a Paramecia Devil Fruit power which I will hint at during this chapter, but I don't want to give too much away; so I won't reveal what he looks like, what his attitude is like until a few chapters win (assuming that I do more chapters).
I do hope you'll enjoy it and tell me what you think.
Thanks,
Victor Soul :)
It all began with an ending.
In this case, it was notorious Pirate King Gol D. Roger's ending.
With a bounty of over five billion Berries on his head and having plundered, fought and travelled across the vast seas of the world, Roger was put to death via public execution on orders of the World Government. Thousands of men, women and children watched as the mighty man was led through the streets of Logue Town, where he was born, brought up onto the scaffolding and knelt down before the crowds that had gathered in the square.
Despite his fate being sealed and the two guards pressing the spears towards his chest ready to plunge them into his heart, Roger showed no fear nor regret. On the contrary, he smiled broadly with his tricorn hat was tipped over his eyes.
Then suddenly, from within the crowd, a person shouted out to the Pirate King and broke the morbid silence.
"Hey King Of The Pirates!" he cried, "Where did you hide all that treasure you found!? You've hidden in somewhere haven't you!? The legendary treasure! The One Piece!"
Silence fell over the square once more as nobody, not even the guards knew how to respond.
And that was when, Gol D. Roger, despite everything, reared back his head and roared with laughter. The crowds, the guards and even the World Government officials waited in bated breath for him to be finished. Finally, Roger leaned forwards, grinned triumphantly and said something that changed the history of the world forever.
"My treasure? If you want it, you can have it! Find it! I left everything this world has to offer there!"
The spears plunged into his chest and Gol D. Roger was killed.
However, while you can kill a man; you can never kill his legend.
Roger's words sent shock waves around the world and kickstarted a new golden age of piracy. Hundreds of people took to the wide, deeps oceans in search of the fabled treasure, braving the roughest seas, the deadliest of weather and the strongest of foes. Years had passed since Gol D. Roger was executed, but still his challenge lives on through the many who dare to embrace the spirit of adventure and friendship.
It may take years, hundreds of miles of traveling and taking on the toughest of tasks.
But it is worth it for one glorious treasure waiting to be found.
Everything is worth it for...
The One Piece.
Voyage Of The Cavalier
By Victor Soul
Chapter 1: A Storm Is Brewing
I see the soft blue sky and the clouds drift lazily above me.
I feel the blades of grass that I laid upon press against me.
I can smell the scent of blooming flowers from near me.
And I can hear the sea breeze gently howl around me.
I feel something inside of me when I think about these sensations: peace? Tranquillity? Happiness? Or perhaps a mixture of all of them that can only be achieved with childhood innocence.. It has been so long since then. They are now dull, greying and rotting away to the point that I don't know if these were memories or just simply dreams that I created.
I hear a voice call out to me. A women's voice. My mother? Sister? Aunt? Maybe it wasn't a relative at all. Whoever they were they were calling out to me; their voice were muffled and I cannot make it out what they were saying, but I somehow knew they were addressing me.
The muffled voice was getting louder and louder until I realised that they were screaming at me; warning me of something.
They were warning me of danger.
That was when I hear the mighty boom of a cannon from a place I cannot see and it all disappears into darkness.
And once again…I'm all alone.
Somewhere In The Grand Line
The sea was rough today.
Dark clouds loomed dangerously overhead, the tides were growing in size and the air was hot and humid; a perfect indicator that a storm is brewing. This was not unusual as the weather of the Grand Line was temperamental and can change at a moments notice; even the most confident and experience of navigators have difficulty predicting it.
The Grand Line is a dangerous place and not for the faint of heart. It was a strip of water hundreds of nautical miles wide and even larger in length and was sandwiched in between two strips of calm seas where the Sea Kings live. No compass was useful within the Grand Line as the high magnetism of each island in the area affect it too much to be usable which means that even maps cannot be used either. The only way anybody could sail around its waters is with the use of a Log Pose; a type of navigation tool that constantly points towards a certain island. It was a treacherous place filled with vicious pirates, strong sea monsters and the World Government's Marines.
However, one person, whilst sailing upon his wooden one-person sailing boat, held no fear as he crossed the choppy waters. He stood upon the bow of his boat and allowed the strong winds to propel his ship forwards; he stood very still, not shuddering from the cold winds nor losing his balance as the waves hit the side of his vessel. With a spyglass up to one eye, he stared intensely at the distance; only looking a way a few times to look down at the Log Pose in his hand to make sure he was headed in the right distance. He looked through the spyglass once again and finally found what he was looking for.
Dotted on the horizon, three nautical miles away, was a small island about a kilometre long and half as much wide. It was nothing more than a grassy hill whereupon a wooden tavern was built at the summit; the only other structure was a docks on the rocky coast where a ship was anchored to it.
He lowered his spyglass, slipped his gloved into his pocket and took out a piece of paper with a drawing of a man in his late forties. He was thin and tall with broad shoulders, a long hooked nose, beady eyes and slightly tanned skin. His white hair was tied up into the three flamboyant rolls; two on either side of his head and one just above his brow and he had a white pointed beard and moustache. He wore a fancy gold and white suit, a silk ruff around his long neck and had a monocle over his left eye. This was Lord Drake captain of the Fancy Gentlemen Pirates who specialise in taking over merchant ships or smaller Marine patrol ships.
Raising his spyglass to his eye once more, he saw the symbol of the Fancy Gentleman pirates, which was a skull and crossbones with a silk ruff below the skull, painted on the main sail of the harboured ship. After confirming that he spotted his target, he slipped the drawing back into his pocket and released more of the rope that tethered the jib sail, making him sail faster towards his destination.
Tavern, Saloon Island
Laughter and cheers roared through the tavern as the forty members of the Fancy Gentlemen Pirates celebrated. The pirates, who were dressed in frilly suits, ruffs and some even had powdered wigs on, were drinking tankards of lager, dancing on tables and stuffing their faces with an obscene amount of food. Some were playing musical instruments while other drunkenly sung along. Some were throwing knives at painted targets on the walls while others had overdrunk and passed out on the floor. Despite their name, they were making quite a mess; food was splattered over the walls while the railing that made up the upstairs balcony, which overlooked the ground floor, was starting to show cracks in the wood. Other than the windows on the second floor, the only source of light were the candles perched on holders on the walls which illuminated the room with a warm, cosy glow. In the middle of it all, perched on a elaborate throne with a wide grin, was Lord Drake himself; counting the stolen bags of money at his feet while glancing up at his gentlemen having fun.
"Ho ho! Ha ha!" he chortled to himself as he finished counting, "that last raid made us 21,000 Berries. An exquisite sum for such exquisite gentlemen! He he! Ha!"
"Captain!" Drake looked up to see one of his gentlemen, a short, round man wearing a tall powdered wig, wave up at him, "We've run out of booze!"
Drake raised an eyebrow before he looked over his shoulder at the owner of the tavern, a woman in her early thirties with black hair tied up with a grey cloth and a cigarette in her mouth and a match behind her ear, stood behind the bar cleaning a tankard with a dirty rag. She looked exasperated at the pirates, glaring up at her from her cleaning whenever she heard something smash or break before she grumbled curses under her breath.
"Ha ha! Ho ho! My good lady!" Drake sang, catching the bar maid's tired attention, "My gentleman require more of your exquisite alcohol, He! He! Ho ho!"
The bar maid sighed, "I've got none in here. There's some more barrels in the shed outside. I need to go out and get them."
"He he! Do not worry, my good lady. We wouldn't be proper gentlemen to make you do all the work..."
"So you'll destroy my tavern and make me work to fix it instead," she grumbled, taking a drag of her cigarette.
"...Mulberry!" Drake called out with a small clap of his hands, gaining the attention of a giant, muscular pirate with a powdered face and small black heart on his cheek, "Fetch the proprietor of this exquisite establishment more alcohol from the shed outside, if you please! Ha ha! Ho! He!"
"Aye, aye captain!" Mulberry said as he headed towards the exit.
Stepping outside, Mulberry briefly noted the dark clouds above his head and knew that a storm was incoming. He had better make this quick and get back in. He walked around the building and found the wooden shed the bar maid was talking about standing on the crest of the hill. Since there were no trees or anything down the hillside, he could see all the way down to the coastline to where the harbour was; he gave the ship that he and his fellow pirates sailed upon a quick glance before heading directly to the shed. He opened the door, tucked two barrels under his large arms and began to head back when he noticed something.
Down by the harbour, tethered onto the single pier, was a wooden boat that he had never seen before. There were no other inhabitants on the island and nobody but his crew were supposed to be here; so who did it belong to?
Mulberry shivered slightly at the sight, dropped the barrels onto the ground and ran towards the entrance. He needed to inform the captain immediately; he would want to know about this. He ran around the building, got to he door, but stopped before he could open it as he felt a chill run down his spine.
Somebody was behind him.
He whipped his head around and gave a startled yelp when he saw a hooded figure a meter away from him. The figure just over six foot, slightly taller than him, and looked to have a lean, muscular body. He wore a long black hooded coat that reached to his ankles; the brim of the hooded was pointed at the top similar to that of a bird's beak. Underneath the coat, he wore a button-fastened jacket with a high collar; it was mainly white, but had a triangular black patch from the shoulders and pointed to his navel as well as black trousers and shoes. He also wore a pair of white gloves, but the tips of his fingers were black. However, the most prominent feature was the round, white glossy mask over his face; it had round black eyes and a wide black mouth that is pulled upwards into a jovial smile; there was something sinister about the mask; it felt unnatural like it should not be have been in the first place.
Mulberry staggered back slightly at the sight of the mysterious man and waited for him to say anything. After a few seconds of eerie silence from the masked man, Mulberry forced himself to grin and bow slightly in greeting whilst subtly pulling the hammer back of his pistol tucked into the holder behind his back.
"Well, hello there, dear sir," he greeted, "Enchanted to meet you."
The masked man remained silent, his blackened eyes staring down at him. Mulberry frowned irritably, but continued to smile as he straightened himself up.
"I see you would like to drink at this fine establishment, but, unfortunately, my fellow crew and I have drunken the last drop of any sort of alcohol. So, if you don't mind, you may have to find another tavern somewhere else."
And still the figure said nothing, but continued to calmly stare at him.
Mulberry's smile dropped into a threatening snarl, "Look, my good man, this tavern is under the protection of the Fancy Gentlemen Pirates. Heard of them? We don't take kindly to...strangers and their rude attitudes. So, get lost," he growled threateningly.
The figure remained silent which made Mulberry glower angrily, but then the masked man moved his arm and reached into the pocket of his coat. The pirate raised a confused eyebrow as he saw him pull out a piece of paper and show it to him. Mulberry frowned as he looked at the drawing, but his eyes widened when he recognised it.
"The captain?" he uttered as the masked man put away the drawing once again, "What do you want with him?"
The figure slowly raised two fingers to one side of his neck and slid them across his throat; signifying him of his intentions. Mulberry growled menacingly at that and reached for the handle of his pistol.
"Stupid bounty hunters. You think you can walk in here and kill our glorious captain? Are you a moron or something!?"
He watched the figure reach into the inside pocket of his coat and pull out a wad of Berries bills and held it out for him.
Mulberry began to shake in fury as he bared his teeth at him, "You think you can bribe me!?" using his hand slap the wad of money away from him, "Listen here, you lousy bounty hunter, there are over thirty men in our crew who would put their lives on the line for our exquisite captain! Bribery ain't going to work on us," he pulled out his pistol and aimed it at his mask, "So if you don't want that ugly mask of yours to break then I recommend turning around, walking down the hill, getting on your boat, sail away and never look back. To hell with your bounty; I'm not letting you get any further. You have five seconds. Five..."
The figure slowly placed the was of Berry bills back into his pocket.
"...four..."
The figure did nothing, but place his hand behind his back.
"...three..."
Thunder boomed from above their heads and their howling of the winds grew wilder.
"...two..."
Mulberry gritted his teeth in rage, tightening his grip on the trigger of his pistol.
"...one!"
The figure hadn't moved an inch and so, as the storm began to rage above the island, Mulberry squeezed the trigger and fired the gun.
Click!
"Huh?" Mulberry uttered in confusion. The hammer came down, but the bullet didn't shoot out, "But, I just reloaded i-"
Tavern
Drake rapped his fingers impatiently on the arm of his throne, glancing, ever so often, at the main door while his crew continued to celebrate. After a few more seconds he sighed and pointed at one member of his crew, a young man with sandy blond hair and wore a pair of hooped ear rings, catching his attention.
"Ho ho! Tasar, my fellow, go out and look for Mulberry will you and see what's taking him so long. He! Ho! Ha!" the captain ordered.
"Aye, aye captain!" Tasar cried out as he rushed to the door.
"Mulberry must have drunk it all on the way here," one of the pirates cried out, earning roars of laughter.
"Yeah, he's probably passed out outside!" another pirate yelled, making even more of the crew laugh, while the bar maid sighed in despair.
Tasar rushed up to the door and swung it open, however, he turned deathly pale at what he saw. Mulberry laid dead in a heap on the front step of the tavern, covered in his own blood with his face twisted in pain and horror while his pistol was on the found next to him. There were sharp cuts on his throat, wrists and ankles were blood seeped out and into the soft turf that he laid upon. Stood over him was the masked figure who had not moved a single step from when Mulberry was aiming a gun at his face. He tilted his hooded head to the side before he stepped over Mulberry and entered the tavern, pushing a still shocked Tasar away. After a few seconds, the pirate managed to find his voice.
"CAPTAIN!"
The Fancy Gentleman Pirates fell silent at Tasar's yells and turned to see the masked figure walk casually in and stop before Drake who looked down at him in confusion.
"CAPTAIN! HE'S KILLED MULBERRY!" Tasar cried as he ran back in with tears in his eyes, "THAT BASTARD HAS KILLED MULBERRY!"
The crew of the Fancy Gentleman Pirates turned to the door and saw that one of their own was left dead and bloodied at the door. Some pirates gasped in shock while others glared at the figure with murderous intent; Drake's eye twitched in fury behind his monocle before he glowered down at the intruder.
"He he! Who the hell do you think you are? Murdering one of our own! Do you not know I am!? I'M LORD DRAKE OF THE FANCY GENTLEMAN PIRATES! THE MOST VICIOUS AND MOST FANCY PIRATES IN THE ENTIRE GRAND LINE!" he roared furiously, earning cheers from his crew as their readied their weapons; everything from sabres to muskets were aimed at the figure, "THIS MAY SOUND UNGENTLEMANLY OF ME, BUT THE ONLY WAY YOU'RE LEAVING THIS ISLAND IS IN A COFFIN!" Drake stood up from his throne, reached to side of it and picked up a giant battle axe that was just as tall as he was. He grinned maliciously down at him, his axe gleaming dangerously in the light, "WELL, COME ON THEN! TAKE OUT YOUR WEAPON AND FIGHT LIKE A GENTLEMAN! YOU HAVE TO GET THOUGH ALL OF US IF YOU STAND ANY CHANCE! HA HA!"
The masked figure, who wasn't at all put off with the crew of pirates surrounding him on both levels, merely looked around at each and every one of them; taking note on every single person here, their weapons, their location and how much of a threat they pose. Not including the captain, there were thirty-nine of them, eleven up on the balcony and twenty eight of them on the ground floor surrounding him. Everyone fell silent as he looked back up at Drake, reached underneath his coat and unsheathed his own sword and pointed it at Drake.
The crew didn't know what to expect from the weapon the figure had used to take down one of their own, but it surely wasn't this. The intruder's weapon was a rapier with a blade no bigger than a human arm attached to a bronze basket-hilt. The blade itself was thin, about a centimetre wide and a couple millimetres thick. Once the crew caught sight of the sword, they bellowed with laughter.
"What the hell is that!?" one crew member cried.
"Are you kidding me!? There's no way you can fight with that puny little thing! It'll snap as soon as it make contact with our weapons!"
"Is this a joke! No way is this guy serious!"
Drake sneered down at him as he pointed his rapier at him, "Ho Ha He! Are you making fun of me?" he spat as he raised his battle axe over his head, "I'LL TEACH YOU SOME MANNERS, YOU LITTLE SHIT! HE HA HA" he roared at his swung the axe down at the figure's head.
A split second before the axe would connect with his head, the masked figure dodged underneath the axe. The axe slammed into the floor, breaking it and sending pieces of wood and splinters flying into the air. With his hands still firmly gripping the handle of the axe, Drake breathed heavily as he stared at the place he had been only seconds ago, his eyes widened in disbelief.
'So fast,' he thought in astonishment.
Drip! Drip! Drip!
He frowned in confusion at the dripping sound and saw a pool of blood forming at where the axe head was buried in the floor. He followed the blood onto the handle of his battle axe, and saw a trail of blood stream down it and, to his horror, found that it was coming from his hands. Suddenly, as he senses caught up with him, he felt a burning pain come from his wrists; he turned them over and gave a gurgled cry when he saw two thin cuts across his wrists; blood seeped out of the cuts in dangerous amounts as the veins in his hands were cut.
'Did he do this!' he thought in absolute shock, 'I barely saw him move!'
The rest of the crew were startled when they saw the blood. Tasar immediately ran up to him, panic evident in his eyes.
"Captain! Are you alrig-"
Schlick!
Tasar gave a startled gasp when something sharp sliced across his throat, causing blood to spurt out onto his ruff and onto the floor. He coughed his neck and fell to his knees, his eyes wide in shock as he collapsed onto the ground.
Schlick!
Schlick!
Schlick!
Three crew members in the crowd on the lower floor cried out in shock as they suddenly attacked in the same way. One fell to the ground; one was caught by a fellow pirate and another fell face first across a table and tipping it over in the process.
The Gentleman Pirates began to panic as they frantically searched for the figure, but he was too quick to keep up with.
"He's here! No here!"
"How's he so fast!"
"Where's is he!?"
Schlick!
Schlick!
Schlick!
Three more pirates cried out as they throats were sliced unexpectedly. One pirate was frantically trying to aim his rifle at the figure, but he was just a blur of black and white as sped around the room.
"Captain! I can't get a good shot at him! He's too fast! You don't think he has Devil Fruit Powers!?" he yelled out, narrowing his eyes in concentration.
Drake gritted his teeth in anger, "Powers or not! Don't give up! Even freaks like him have an exquisite flaw!"
"Aye, aye, capta-ack!" the riflemen cried as he felt his own heart pierce and rupture in his chest.
Drake's eyes widened when, finally, he was able to see the masked figure with his rapier piercing his crewman's chest; managing to not only get a direct hit but avoided his rib cage in the process. The figure took out his sword and the rifleman fell to his knees and collapsed on the floor; the mask of the man grinning down at him malicious mockery.
"Found you, you piece of crap!" another pirate yelled as he swung his cutlas at his hooded head.
However, the figure, without looking around, ducked underneath the swing before he jumped and flipped backwards over the pirate's head. Before the pirate realised what happened, the stranger, whilst in the air, sunk his rapier into the back of neck and severed his spinal column. He left his sword in the pirates neck as he collapsed to his knees; the figure landed on his feet and was immediately met with two pirates; one with another cutlas and the other with spiked mace. Before the pirate with the mace could swing his weapon, the figure grabbed his wrist and pulled it towards him; with the sudden tug and the weight of the mace, the pirate was thrown off balance and fell forwards. The stranger, using his vulnerability, slammed his elbow with his knee, snapping it like a dry twig. The pirate yelled in pain and dropped the mace to which the stranger caught it, twirled around and slammed it into the side of his face. Whilst keeping the momentum, he then slammed the mace into the pirate with the cutlas's face before swinging it down on the pirate that he struck his rapier into; taking the rapier out in the process with a single flick of his hand.
BANG!
The man moved his head slightly as a bullet soared past him; he glanced over and saw five more pirates, the one in front had a musket while the others had pistols, aiming their guns at him.
BANG!
BANG!
They fired two more bullets which he easily dodged before he leapt over a nearby table, kicking it over as he did to shield himself.
"We've got him cornered!" the pirate with the musket yelled, "Don't stop firing!"
The four pirates raised their pistols, aimed at the wooden table and squeezed their triggers.
Click!
Click!
Click!
Click!
"Huh?" they all cried as they looked down at their guns in confusion.
"What the hell!?" one of the pirates cried out in shock.
BANG!
But before they could even think of trying to figure out what happened, a gun shot rang out through the tavern and hit him directly between the eyes; he staggered slightly before he fell onto his back dead.
"Muga!" one of the other pirates cried out as soon as he saw his friend keel over, but then another shot was suddenly heard and he too was hit on the side of the head.
The pirate with the musket's eyes widened as he looked back at the table where the figure was hiding and saw two bullet holes through the table, "No way, he has a gun," he gulped.
Without warning, the figure leapt over the table with a pistol in his left hand; he aimed and fired a bullet at the first pirate's knee. He screamed in pain and dropped the musket at the same time, allowing the figure to catch the gun in mid-air and perform a forward roll before stopping in a crouching position in front of the second pirate. The second and third pirates were too surprised by what happened and didn't have time to register; the figure lifted and pressed the musket to the gut of the second pirate and fired it; the bullet shot through his stomach, exited his lower back and hit the third pirate in the heart; killing both of them immediately. The figure then proceeded to turn the musket upside down in his hands and swung it at the first pirate, who was still holding his shot knee, and clobbered his head with the butt of the gun.
"HEY!" the figure looked up to the balcony and saw a large pirate pointing a portable gatling gun that was fastened to the railing at him, "TRY RUNNING FROM THIS!" he yelled as he fired a stream of bullets down at him.
DAKA-DAKA-DAKA-DAKA-DAKA-DAKA-DAKA-DAKA-DAKA-DAKA-DAKA-DAKA-DAKA-DAKA-DAKA-DAKA-DAKA-DAKA-DAKA-DAKA!
The figure managed to dodge out of the way of the volley of bullets; jumping, hiding and rolling out of the way as fast as he can while his surroundings exploded and burst where the bullets landed. He zigzagged out of the way of final stream of bullets before he picked up a table and hurled it at the gunner. The pirate aimed at the table and managed to tear it to splinters before it could hit him, but, before he could celebrate, he saw the figure leap up after the table towards him with his rapier in his hand; once the pirate realised that the table was only a distraction, the figure had sunk the rapier into his throat and he fell backwards with his killer standing on him.
The figure pulled the rapier out of his neck and kicked the gatling gun, which was still spraying bullets, so it turned on its holder and ducked down as it swung by. The gatling gun fired across the upper floor of the tavern; some of the pirates had ducked underneath it, but six were mowed down in the process before the gun finally ran out of bullets. The figure stood up but was suddenly tackled by the side by a giant pirate who pinned his shoulders onto the floor; the figure tried to stab him with his rapier, but another pirate jumped on his right arm and held it down.
"GET HIM!" the pirate pinning him down shouted at another giant pirate with a sword while the figure struggled to get up, "KILL HIM BEFORE HE GETS AWAY! HE'S STRONG!"
The muscular pirate with the sword ran up to them, raised the blade above his head and swung it down at the figure's masked face...but the sword vanished before his eyes.
"W-what?" he stammered as he looked down at his empty hands that were clasped around nothing.
Schlick!
"AH!" the pirate holding the figure down suddenly yelled as he felt something stab his stomach, causing him to cough up blood.
The other two pirates gaped in horror as they saw a sword pierced right through their fellow crewmate's torso from below; the same sword they were going to use to cut off their enemy's head. The figure gripped the hilt of the sword with his left hand, lifted his legs and pushed away the pirate making him fly across the balcony and land in a bloodied heap. The figure, who had pulled out the sword, used it to stab the pirate who was holding his right arm down's throat before leaving it in there.
The figure flipped onto his feet and turned the muscular pirate who snarled at him in fury and threw a punch at his head. The figure caught the punch and aimed to stab his rapier into his throat, but the pirate caught his wrist. The two began to push against each other as they struggled for dominance; the muscular pirate trying to overpower his smaller opponent while the figure tried to stab the pirate.
BANG!
Suddenly, a bullet zoomed by and the figure just managed to move his head in time, however it did hit the hilt of his rapier and making it fly out of his hand. The figure glanced around and saw another pirate loading his musket to take another shot at him and growled in annoyance from behind his mask. The figure, seeing no choice, suddenly pulled away from the struggle; catching the larger pirate off guard and making him lose his balance. He used the opportunity to lift his foot and stamp onto the pirate's bent knee, causing him to cry out in pain as it snapped. The figure followed it up with a roundhouse kick to the pirate's face before he sped towards the pirate with the musket.
The pirate yelped in shock, took aim at the figure and fired...
Click!
...yet again, the gun didn't shoot but, before he could do anything, the figure had grabbed him by his ruff, lifted him off his feet and slammed his fist down at his face once...then twice...and then a third time before the figure threw him out a nearby window; the pirate screamed all the way down before landing on his head on the cold, hard ground.
"RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"
The giant pirate from before gave a savage roar as he rammed into the figure and slammed him against the wooden wall. He held the figure's arms above his head with one arm before slugging his stomach with his other arm; ignoring the fact that one of his legs were broken. The figure grunted in pain with every punch and struggled to get out of his hold before he spotted one of the candles sitting on a wall holder nearby. He tore one of hands out of the pirate's grip, grabbed the candles and slammed the flame into the pirate's ear, making him give out a scream of pain and making him let go of his other hand. The figure got back onto his feet, reach underneath his coat, pulled out two pistols and aimed it directly at the larger pirate's stomach.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
The giant pirate staggered back as he was hot multiple times in the torso before he crashed through the railing and fell of the balcony, landing on a wooden table with a mighty crash. The figure gave a small sigh as he walked towards the gap made by the pirate and looked down at the lower floor. He saw ten pirates with muskets trained on him from below while Lord Drake, now with his wrists patched up with cloth, stood in the middle of them. He heard rapid footsteps on either side of him and saw two more Fancy Gentleman Pirates stop a few meters away and aim their muskets at him, blocking him off from the stairs.
Lord Drake sighed sadly as he saw his crew before he smirked dangerously, "He He Ho!" he chortled, "You are quite the card, my dear sir. Your methods are vile and ungentlemanly, but you did put up a good fight. But now...it comes to an end," he proceeded to take off his gloves before he pointed his hands horizontally at him. Ten yellow and purple darts came out of the tips of his fingers and thumbs, pointing threateningly at him, "You have the power of the Devil Fruit, huh? Well, so do I. My power is given to me by the Toxic Toxic Fruit. I can produce poisonous darts out of anyway from my body that can fire at any targets I like. The poison they contain can kill an elephant in minutes, although a human like you would probably die in mere seconds. Rather exquisite, no? Oh and don't bother running; even if you do get through the musket bullets, my darts will follow you no matter what you do," Drake's eyes darkened as he licked his lips, "It's curtesy for a gentleman like myself to allow my victim to plead for mercy...but I will not be so sympathetic to you. My crew meant a lot to me and you took that away from me. Now all I want is to see you suffer a miserable, painful death. He! He! He!"
The figure didn't say a word, nor react in anyway. After a few seconds, he finally raised his arms and crossed them across his chest; on each hand, he pressed his thumb and index together while spreading his others fingers out.
Drake growled in anger at the lack of response, "DON'T YOU MOCK ME!" he yelled before he fired his toxic darts...
...although, he would have done...if they were there.
Drake looked down at hands as he noticed his the darts coming out of fingers had vanished. He tried to activate them, but nothing was coming out of him. His powers weren't working. In fact, he didn't feel as if he had any powers to use.
He looked up as he heard his crew gasp in horror; his eyes widened at what he saw. Out of the figure's hands were the same poison darts that the Devil Fruit had gifted him; poking out through his gloves. There were twelve of them, one on each finger and thumb and one on the back of each of his hand. The Fancy Gentleman Pirates moved away from the figure in fear.
"No way! He's got the captain's power!"
"That's impossible!"
"Oh shit! He's going to use it on us! Captain do something!"
The darts fired out of the figure's hands and flew at the pirates' as they begged for their lives. The darts sunk into their necks, causing them to yelp in alarm. Drake couldn't do anything, but watch as his crew fell to the floor and began to spasm as the poison took effect. They faces turned red, their arms and legs flailed helplessly and blood began to spurt out of their mouths. Drake tore his eyes away and looked up in horror at the cruel, hollow mask of the figure; it grinned down at him tauntingly as the groans and sputters of his gentlemen stopped as they succumb to death.
The figure leapt down from the balcony and landed on the ground floor on both feet. Drake staggered backwards as he tried to get away from him, but ended up falling onto his thrown and cowering as the figure towered over him.
"Please..." he uttered, "What did we do to you?"
The figure didn't respond but merely pointed at his bounty of money he had previously been counting. Drake's eyes widened in realisation and fear.
"You work for them. One of their assassins, " he muttered as he looked up at the figure, "But it was only one merchant ship. We didn't kill anybody on board or anything. I'll pay you back, I promise," he begged, seeing his rapier suddenly appear in his hand from nowhere, "The Secret Empire is vast, mighty...exquisite even...surely they don't care about one ship. Just one measly little ship."
The assassin stopped and looked down at the captain; the hollow eyes of mask's eyes and mouth seemed to feel him with daunting dread. He slowly lowered his head to Drake's ear, making him quiver in fear. Then in a dark, cold voice that no human should ever be capable to make, he whispered.
"I am not the judge. I am the executioner."
Schlick!
And with one last strike from his rapier, his throat was slit open and Lord Drake, captain of the Fancy Gentleman Pirates and one of the fiercest pirates in the area, was left dead upon his golden thrown and covered in his own blood.
The figure leaned back up, flicked the blood off his rapier and holstered it back into his scabbard. He took a moment to admire his work; forty men who had been only a few minutes ago celebrating joyfully, were scattered across the tavern with either their throats cut open, their heads caved in or the chest imbedded with bullets. It was complete an utter massacre.
A clatter of glass bottles and a startled gasp caught his attention and he snapped his head towards the bar. He slowly approached it, looked over it and saw the bar maid crouched down with her hands over her mouth; her smoking cigarette laid on the floor completely forgotten. Her eyes widened in fear as she saw him looking down at her and she began to tremble. He stared at her for a few seconds before he jumped over the bar and loomed over her; she fell backwards and scrambled back as far as she can before she hit a wall; she held her hands out in front of her and closed her eyes.
"P-please I-I-I won't tell," she stammered, "I j-j-just run the b-bar, I-"
She yelped as she felt him grab her wrist; thinking the worse was going to come, but then she felt something being placed in her palm. Feeling brave, she slowly opened her eyes and saw, to her astonishment, that he had put a wad of Berries in her hand. Not only that, but there was a small note on top of it which read:
'For The Damages To Your Property.'
She frowned in confusion at the money, when she saw him reach his down to her face, causing her to flinch slightly. But then he simply plucked the match she kept behind her ear and put it into his pocket. With that, he turned and walked out of the bar, picked up the bags of money by Drake's throne before walking out of the door, leaving her as the only survivor.
Harbour
The figure threw the bags of money onto the deck of the Fancy Gentleman Pirate's ship before he headed down to where the gunpower kegs were kept. He picked up one barrel of gunpowder and left a trail of explosive powder from the store room to the upper deck and stopping right beside the piles of money. He lowered all the sails, raised the anchor and allowing the wind to lead the ship into open water. As the ship began to leave the harbour, he calmly stood on the edge of the port side, took out the matchstick from his pocket, struck it against the wooden side before he tossed it over his shoulder at the piles of money, immediately setting alight; once he saw the fire began to grow, he jumped down and landed at the end of the pier and allowed the ship to sail away. He watched the ship as it sailed into the incoming storm and saw the fire grow bigger and bigger upon the deck. Not a few seconds later, the gunpowder trail was set alight and, after a few seconds...
BOOOOOOM!
The ship of the Fancy Gentlemen Pirates exploded; burning wood, cloth and other items flew across the sea and landed in the water. The main ship, whilst ablaze, slowly sunk into the cold depths until nothing was left of it.
The figure watched until the last remains disappeared before he returned to his own boat. Stepping onto it and headed to the aft of the boat, he opened a hatch in front of the helm and pulled out two strange creatures attached together. They both looked like giant snails; one having a black shell with black feathers on it and a white body and the other, that was attached to the first via a cable, had a white shell and white body. The first snail looked to have a telephone receiver on the top of its shell and a rotary dial on the side. On the back of the shell there was another cable that was attached to a handheld printer. These were Den Den Mushi or Transponder Snails and they have the ability to send messages telepathically to other snails and are used by people as a means of communication; the larger black and white one was the main communicator while the smaller white one had the ability to encrypt messages in case anybody tried to intercept the communication.
The figure picked up the receiver and dialled in a number, after a few seconds of waiting, he heard a gravelly male voice speak through the mouth of the snail.
"Hello there, Magpie," said the voice, "Give your report."
"Target: eliminated. Other casualties: forty. Witnesses: One. Stolen items have been destroyed along with the target's ship and any traces of involvement are minimal or none. Expunction Crew may be necessary for removing bodies," the now named Magpie calmly replied, "Mission: accomplished."
"Accomplished indeed," the voice said, "I'll send Starling to wipe the witness memory. Now your next mission is to track down a pirate that has been causing trouble in the East Blue. I am sending an image of him to you right now," Magpie heard the printer that was attached to the snail began to make a noise before a slip of paper began to print out of it. Once it was done, he took it out and inspected the image of the man that was his next mission, "According to reports from the World Government, he and his crew is heading towards the Grand Line. Your mission is to capture him and bring him back alive to the metropolis. The leader has taken an interest in him."
Magpie cocked his head at the snail, "Alive, Mr Nest?"
"Will that be a problem, Magpie?" the now named Mr Nest coldly questioned, "I can always send Crow or even Raven to carry out the orders."
Magpie gripped to receiver tightly at the mention of his colleagues, a silent anger boiling inside of him, "That will not be necessary. I shall complete the mission. What of the rest of his crew?"
"Eliminate them if you must, but don't stir up any unwanted attention. This may be a different sort of mission from what you are used to, but we can not afford to be noticed. Do you understand?"
"I understand," he agreed before the call sharply ended.
Magpie put down the receiver, put away the snails before reaching into compartment once again and brought out at an Eternal Pose, a type of Log Pose that records the magnetic waves of a certain island no matter where you are in the Grand Line, and saw that it was pointing westwards. This Eternal Pose was labelled Whiskey Peak, if they were entering the Grand Line then Whisky Peak would be the first island they would come to. Seeing what direction he was setting off in, he unfurled the sails, untethered the mooring rope and sailed off into the open ocean.
The paper that Mr Nest had sent to him was pinned up on the mast, allowing Magpie to study his features for the mission. It was a wanted poster depicting a young man who looked to be in his late teens, with short black hair, slightly tanned skin, round eyes and a scar on his left cheek. He wore a sleeveless red vest and round brimmed straw hat on his head. He was giving a wide-toothed grin with his eyes closed and seemed to be waving at the camera with his left hand. Magpie had no idea why the leader had taken an interest in him; to him, he looked like a complete an utter idiot. However, orders were orders and he was obliged to follow them no matter what. Below the image, he read the name and what his bounty is over and over again until it was burned in to his memory before heading below deck as the storm began to unleash its fury on the sea.
He is enrobed by darkness.
It traps him, strangles him, keeps him from fleeing. He wanted to scream, but he has no voice. Nor do he have anything to see, hear, taste or touch. Time doesn't exist here, but he could tell that it must have been years since he's been trapped, for he can't remember anything about himself. He has forgotten who he is, where he's from and even his own name. All he has is the greyish dream of lying on a grassy meadow on a summer's day and the flashes of words that his prison records.
His prison; that damned mask that he was forced to wear. It takes control of his body, forces him to kill and injure against his will while it pushes the real him to the darkest depths of his mind; enslaves him within his own body. Takes orders like a soldier and makes him do atrocious things; he know what it does. He sometimes senses it ever so often.
'This isn't me! THIS ISN'T ME! I'M NOT DOING ANY OF THIS!' he shouts in his head.
He feel words flash in my head painfully; the image digging into my brain is if it was glass.
'What's this now?' he says to himself, 'A new mission I reckon.'
He see the words before me:
'Monkey D. Luffy
30,000,000 Berries'
'Monkey D. Luffy,' he murmured in his mind, 'Please do me a favour and just run. I don't want to do this anymore. I don't want to kill you. Please, somebody, set me free...all I want to do is to go home.'
That's it for now, thank you for reading.
I would like to introduce to you my latest OC Magpie, an assassin who works for a secret group known as The Black Feathers. There are five other assassins in the group which I will introduce later on. I won't give too much away, but he'll eventually break away from the group and join the Straw Hats.
So you might be wondering what his powers are. His Devil Fruit is called the Snatch Snatch Fruit which gives him the ability to steal anything like items and powers (although temporarily and only Paramecia type) from any living creature as long as he can see them. It's not an entirely original idea, but it'll certainly be fun to write.
Thanks again for reading the first chapter, please let me know what you think :)