Chapter 8

Grove #24

Shakky saw them out. "Well, take care, and keep an eye out. The marines should be aware that there are so many rookies are on the archipelago."

"Th-That's not good," Brook stuttered. "Then we won't know when they'll attack."

"I wouldn't worry," Shakky assured the skeleton. "It looks like you rookies have gotten lucky. Word is that the marines at HQ are occupied with another matter, so they should be too busy for anything else."

Maxwell stroked his beard as everyone got onto the bon-chari, "Any idea what they're doing?"

"Preparing for an execution, last I heard," Shakky shrugged. "As long as no major problems arise, the marines won't come in force. So just be careful not to make too much of a mess."

"Okay, got it! Thanks, we're heading off!" Luffy waved. "We'll go look for the coating craftsmen guy!"

"Ah—Wait! Shakky?" Maxwell quickly got of the bubble and approached the barkeeper. He held up the map he had gotten from Hachi, "You wouldn't happen to have a more detailed map of the archipelagos, would you?"

"I do," Shakky breathed out a puff of smoke. "But it would cost you 10,000 beri."

"10,000!?" Maxwell nearly gagged on his own spit. "But what about finding your husband!?"

Shakky gave the mage a smirk, "Hmph, he'll be fine. Besides, you don't really have the benefit of Hachi's presence anymore."

"Huh?"

Maxwell looked behind him and saw that Luffy and the others were gone. "Wait—WHAT!?" He ran to the top of the stairs and looked down and around. They were out of sight. "MAKER DAMN IT, LUFFY!"

"Hahahahaha!" Shakky laughed at the mage's misfortune. "Well, you better catch up with them then! See you around, Mr. Trevelyan."

The mage only groaned.

O O O

"Of all the asinine little…" Maxwell grumbled to himself while walking through the streets of Sabaodey. It had been nearly three hours since Luffy and the others had left him behind. Made worse, by the fact, that they were riding those bon-chari, so there weren't any footprints to track!

The sockets in the crystal skull began to glow, "You know you could have just—"

"Not now!" Maxwell growled. He wanted to stew in his indignation a bit longer.

To be honest he knew exactly where the boys were. He knew his friends well enough to guess that they had probably taken Hachi and Camie to the Sabaodey Amusement Park. Luffy had wanted to check out the amusement park since he first laid eyes on it. As soon as Shakky mentioned Rayleigh liked it to, Luffy probably had it in his head to go on the rides while they looked around.

However, Maxwell didn't bother join them. He might be by himself, but he could handle a few thugs while they were on the islands. Besides he could indulge himself, and his temper, for a bit without having to put up a calm facade. It was liberating in a way.

Max, instead, took this time to actually explore the islands, and try to find Rayleigh.

The mage walked through Groves 13 to 23, checking every brown coloured watering hole and shady gambling den he could find. So far, Maxwell hadn't had any luck.

Rayleigh wasn't in any of the bars. Maxwell had asked the bartenders if they've seen the old local. Some knew of him, but hadn't seen him. Others didn't. He wasn't in the underground casinos either. The receptionists wouldn't reveal any of their clients names. "For privacy," they said, but Maxwell only scoffed. They just didn't want to snitch on one of their clients and ruin their business. Then, Maxwell checked out the brothels, and he instantly regretted doing it. A lot of them were more gloomy then Maxwell had expected, and he had to bite his tongue when he saw one prostitute with a slave collar around her neck. Oh, she was free, but some clients liked to do roleplay. Suffice it to say, he got out of there as quick as he could!

People also left Maxwell alone, for the most part. Civilians would freeze up, eyes staring at him while he passed. They were avoiding him, recognizing him from his wanted poster. He did have a 124 million beri price on his head after all. The odd group of bounty hunters tried to ambush him, but Maxwell fought them off. They all ended up either burned, frozen, or twitching when he was done with them.

That apparently didn't discourage the pickpocket who just robbed him! It was dumb. Maxwell had his money clip in his hands, trying to bribe a bouncer to get in and ask around. However, the bouncer wouldn't let him in! Maxwell had shoved the money clip in his pocket and started walking away when this kid suddenly came up behind him and stole his money!

He didn't want to hurt the kid, so Max had started chasing the thief. The kid was quick, he'd give him that, but he was apparently stubborn too. No matter how many times Maxwell got ahead of the thief, the kid would maneuver around him like some spider monkey and head off in another direction. When he actually did catch the kid, the boy canned him, hard, in the balls. Max could only whimper, holding his privates, when the boy finally hijacked a bon-chari and rode off into the sky.

It pissed him off! …But it wasn't like he had stolen anything important. Maxwell still had all his foci. His staff. And he didn't have any identification to begin with, so he would let it go… As soon as he stopped cursing inside his head.

Maxwell crossed the bridge into Grove 24, thinking he might find Rayleigh in this grove. However, as he strolled into town, the mage paused.

"Mad Monk" Urouge was with his men. The man was huge, sporting a trimmed beard, no moustache, and a unnerving smile. He wore vestigial kung-fu robes, with a cloak over his shoulders, and he hefted a giant iron pillar. Maxwell also spied the prayer beads under his cloak, so there might have been some truth to him being a monk.

The mage then saw "Roar of the Sea" Apoo. He was an odd looking man, wearing a decorated martial artist tunic and had his hair in a long ponytail. Maxwell saw him wear a headset and glasses, but that wasn't what made him odd. Apoo's arms were entirely too long for his body, having four elbows instead of two! And his teeth and gums strangely looked like piano keys. You could see it through his underbite.

Capone Bege was nearby, surrounded by his men. He was a short and stocky little man with a sharp long nose and a shadow of stubble all around his face. Bege also wore a two piece suit, with a cravat around his neck, a fedora hat on his head, and had rather thick cigar piping out of his mouth. He definitely looked like a crime boss, and all his men stood attention in suits and sunglasses.

Jewelry Bonny was also on the island. She was in rather unladylike attire, but then again she was a pirate. Bonny wore a small tank top, with rather short denim shorts, and suspenders. Flowery stockings went up her legs and her heeled boots went up to her calves. Bonny also wore a folded army cap over her long pink hair, and a fuzzy coat over her shoulders.

Then Maxwell realized Basil Hawkins was in the crowd. Long blonde hair, tattooed eyebrows—yep, that was Hawkins! He wore along baggy coat like a robe, a single pauldron on his left shoulder. He wore pants, held up by a sash which also had a sword tied to hip. And his chest, he left bare. You could see a squared cross tattooed to on his throat.

Including himself, that was six large time pirates on one island! You could practically taste the tension in the air! However everyone kept to the buildings.

Another Celestial Dragon was coming through.

Maxwell cursed and quickly ducking into a nearby alleyway. He didn't want to attract anymore attention to himself than necessary.

"The Celestial Dragons, huh…?" He heard Urouge wonder. "They even swagger around the Lawless Zone… What troublesome people. Nothing for us to do other than sit around and wait for them to pass."

Maxwell stuck his nose out to look at the World Noble and was quickly disgusted at what he saw. It wasn't the father-daughter duo he saw earlier. No, this was an overweight man-child that sat on the back of a crawling slave! He wore the same kind of air tight robes and glass dome Maxwell had seen on the other World Nobles. His hair was also done up in a topknot, but his hair was long and greasy, unkept at the back of his neck. The man was unshaven, had the lips of a fish, sunken eyes, and a large nose was dripping with snot. He was a rather ugly individual, and this was Saint Charlos of the Celestial Dragons.

With him were two knights, flanking on either side. A man in a suit and sunglasses. And then two women dressed in belly dancer outfits followed behind him, chains clinking around their necks. They looked positively downtrodden and miserable.

Charlos moaned, "Sharlia and Father both left me behind. Where on earth did they go?" He seemed bored, holding onto the chains of all three slaves on a ring, as he rode aboard the man's back.

"Rest easy Lord Charlos, we'll meet them at our final destination." The bodyguard assure. His expression was completely blank.

"You!" Charlos kicked the slave he road in the back of the head. "It's because of you we lost sight of them! You walk as slow as a turtle, and you sway too much, it's a terrible ride! You piss me off!" The slave only grit his teeth. Maxwell saw that he was covered in scuffs and bruises, so Charlos clearly didn't have a good disposition.

Movement caught Charlos' eye, and held his hand up. "Hey, you over there, wait! Why are you lowly humans moving?"

It was a group of doctors, carrying an man on a stretcher. A nurse held a bag of fluids while the victim had an IV in his arm.

The lead doctor, an elderly man with a balding cranium and ring of hair, suddenly realized who had addressed him. "M-My apologies, please overlook this! He's bleeding badly! We need to act as quickly as possible, and the hospital is right there!"

Charlos stepped off his slave and approached the medical stretcher, looking at the patient, "Hm, this is rather bad…!" He was bleeding from his forehead and was unconscious. Several of his teeth were missing and the blanket covering him was full of blood stains. "Well then, as quickly as possible… I'll put you out of your misery!"

The World Noble kicked the stretcher, knocking it out of the doctors hands. All three medical personnel were caught off guard as the patient fell out of the stretcher. "AH! Please stop!" The nurse even fell back as she avoided the ailing patient.

Maxwell drew in a quick breath, incensed at the sudden disregard for human life. He could see men and women all around them grimace and sweat, thinking they could be next. Urouge even made a comment, "Ooh. He does whatever he wants…!"

Charlos spoke to his government agent, "Which is more important: Showing proper courtesy to me, or some commoner's life?"

"The commoners owe their existence to the Celestial Dragons," the chaperonage calmly responded.

Charlos nodded but then suddenly took notice of the nurse hesitantly reaching out to the bloody patient. "Hm?" He leaned down to look at her face. She was rather pretty. Black hair, and an hourglass figure. The nurse froze when she realized Charlos had his eyes on her.

"Alright, I'll make you my wife."

"Eh…!?" The nurse looked back at him in shock.

The agent bowed in reference, "Very well, I'll make the preparations to take her to the Holy Land as your thirteenth wife."

Maxwell's eyes bulged at the number, "Thirteen…!?"

Charlos then remembers something, "Ah. Right, I'm tired of wives number 1 to 5, so send them back to being commoners."

"Please wait, I—" The nurse held up her hands as if wanting to explain. However a man quickly stood up wearing a medical apron.

He seemed scared for her, "Please hold on a second! She's my fiancé—!"

"How dare you stand in front of me!" *BANG!* Charlos had pulled out a pistol and shot the man in the stomach.

"KYAAAH!" The nurse screamed as she saw her fiancé held onto his stomach..

"Marie…!" The man muttered as he fell to the ground.

"YOU MURDER!" Marie cried out as she was held back from going to her fiancé. "HOW COULD YOU…!? SOMEONE! PLEASE HELP HIM!" she cried out to the crowd. However, no one moved!

Urouge only chuckled, "They're even more messed up than the rumours say…"

"…What?" Charlos leaned over, staring at his future wife, "Do you have a problem with me?"

Marie covered her mouth, even as tears ran down her face. She was realizing just who she was dealing with.

"Take her to the port first." "Yes, sir." "…Please, let me go! I beg you…! Someone please, HELP HIM!"

Maxwell could only watch with a burning sense of rage. Burning hotter and hotter! He was disgusted that this World Noble acted with all the perpetuance of a spoiled child. Maxwell had seen some rotten nobles in his time, but this piece of filth just took it to a whole other level!

However, just when Maxwell was going to step out, he heard the sound of footsteps.

The mage looked back and saw Zoro, of all things, walking down the street. He had a bottle of booze in his hands, katanas by his side, and seemed totally ignorant of everyone else.

People whispered. Wondering what the hell he was doing. However, this gave Maxwell an idea…!

Zoro kept walking down the street, drinking the bottle as he strolled forward. He only stopped when he realized he was in front of someone. "Hm…?"

It was Charlos. "…What…!?" He looked absolutely gobsmacked at the brazen swordsman who stood in his presence.

"…What? Are you lost or something?"

People gasped and gawked at what Zoro asked the Celestial Dragon. Did he have a death-wish!? There, Maxwell took his chance!

Charlos pointed his gun and fired on Zoro. The bullet missed—Zoro had dodged, and closed the distance between him and Charlos. He was drawing his katana!

"Hey, what's he doing!? If he does that…!"

Maxwell clasped his hand around Marie's mouth and prayed this would work, "Stay quiet if you want to live…!" He had cast a Spirit glyph beneath the nurse before rushing in behind her. He had cast the Peaceful Aura spell, hoping to make her seem invisible to everyone as he extracted her. With everyone so focused on Zoro and the World Noble, this was the perfect moment to spirit her away. He had them both disappear into a Winter glyph, getting out of the knight's grasp, and doing the Fade Step.

Zoro didn't have the chance to cut Charlos, however. Jewelry Bonny had tackled Zoro away from the Celestial Dragon, seemingly shrinking as she did.

"WAAAAH! BIG BROTHER!" the child Bonny cried. "WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DIE, BIG BROTHER!? WAAAAH!"

"Why are you—?" "Stay still you idiot—! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO GO AGAINST THE CELESTIAL DRAGONS!? THERE NO HELPING IT! UWAAAAH!"

It was such obvious acting. However, Charlos seemed to buy it!

"I hit him…? For a second there, I thought he dodged it… Must be my imagination…"

The kid was still crying, and there was blood dripping off the swordsman's face.

"…Well, as long as he's dead…"

Charlos went back to his slaves and got onto the saddle he had for his mount. They started walking away. Three commoners were dead and he had a new wife to marry. Charlos was in no hurry, he still had some time to kill.

…

…

…

Bonny leapt off of Zoro, and Zoro asked, "Why'd you get in my way?"

"I didn't get in your way, you moron! What the hell were you thinking!?" Bonny stood over Zoro as she pointed at her head, "Did you want to bring an admiral down on these islands!? If you're a pirate, you should be able to tell other pirates at a glance, right!? Don't make trouble for us too!"

Zoro felt his temple and looked at the red liquid that was on him, "Tomato juice…? Wait—Weren't you a kid just a moment ago?"

"ARE YOU RIGHT IN THE HEAD!?" "Well, I'm not hurt." "YOU IDIOT! THAT'S NOT WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT! YOU REALLY ARE A MORON!"

One of Bege's men held back his musket, "Thanks to Jewelry Bonny, we managed to avoid the worst case scenario… That man was Pirate Hunter Zoro, from the Straw-Hat Pirates."

"Tch, I heard they were all crazy, but to attack one of the Celestial Dragons…?" Bege eyed the three sword swordsman, "That's just insane."

"Of course he was saved…" said Hawkins. "He doesn't have the look of death about him." However, his eye drifted in a different direction.

"That bastard," Apoo cursed. "For a second there, he let off a ridiculous amount of killing intent… He's a beast."

Urouge kept his grin, "He's only the second mate and his bounty's only 120 million? He doesn't look like a guy who follows orders… I guess that says a lot about his captain…" Urouge turned around to walk away, but then he paused. "Wait a second… What happened to the girl?"

He didn't see the nurse go with the entourage.

Zoro picked up the man Charlos had shot, "Hey, where's the hospital?"

"Hospital!?" Bonny asked incredulously. Zoro had him in a fireman's carry.

"I'll take this guy. He got shot."

"Wha—Just leave him! He's just some guy!" Bonny told the swordsman. However, Zoro just started carrying him off. "The helll…! A pirate saving someone!? I've never heard of something like that!"

"…Marie…!" Zoro heard the man sob on his shoulder. He also wondered what the hell all of that was about? First some guy tries to shoot him. A kid suddenly tackles him and transforms into a woman. And then all these people are looking at him weird.

"Hurry! This way!" The old timer followed him, trying to point Zoro where to go. However, the swordsman spots a fiery skull flying above an alleyway. He recognized that skull, along with the purple fire. So he jogs over to the alley where he was sure to find Max.

O O O

"Alright, he spotted me," Mordred told Maxwell through their telepathic link. Maxwell hid behind a crate with the young nurse, Marie, while they waited out the results of Zoro's encounter.

Maxwell sighed in relief, guiding the skull back to hang around his belt. "Alright, your fiancé is being brought over here. Just wait a moment…" Somehow, he wanted to both bless and curse Zoro's sense of callousness.

Zoro had been the perfect distraction. His strength, skill, and total disregard for situational awareness had baffled the entire crowd! So much so, that not a single person blinked when Maxwell grabbed Marie and disappeared!

However, HE ALSO NEARLY BROUGHT AN ADMIRAL DOWN ON THEIR DAMNED HEADS! WHAT THE WHAT IN ALL THE BLIGHTED FADE WAS HE EVEN DOING OFF THE SHIP!? THIS WAS WHY THEY LEFT HIM IN THE FIRST PLACE! THEY WANTED TO AVOID THIS KIND OF BULLSHIT!

…But then again, had he not risked the exact same consequences? He wasn't sure when that fat slob was going to notice that his new trophy was gone. But when he did, Maxwell was sure there was going to be hell to pay.

"Oi, Max! You back here?" Zoro walked past the crate and spotted Maxwell. He hadn't realized Maxwell was with a woman though.

"Hey, Zoro," Maxwell greeted him. "Set him down for me."

"JUDY!" the nurse practically lunged for her finance, while Zoro placed him on the ground.

"What are you—MARIE!?" The old doctor and his assistant had come running when they realized Zoro wasn't following them. They looked at Marie in shock. He hadn't thought he would ever see Marie again!

She hovered over Jude, "Come on Judy! Stay with me…!" caressing his hands and face as if trying to coax him out of unconsciousness.

"Marie…?" Hearing her voice seemed snap Jude out of whatever downward spiral he had despairing in. His apron was stained with blood, and his belly was racked with pain.

"I'm here, Jude! Everything's going to be alright…!" Marie couldn't help but smile, even as tears ran down her cheek.

"Marie…! You shouldn't be here! What if the Celestial Dragons catch you!?" Marie quickly lost her smile. The doctor's words seemed to swell the weight pushing down on her shoulders. Her situation was precarious. She had just become the object of desire to a Celestial Dragon, and escaped. Nothing would stop Saint Charlos from having her. Now she was hiding in a back ally with who, she was just realizing, were two rather infamous pirates.

"Let me see him…!" Maxwell gently pushed the woman away, letting Zoro guide her back.

"What is he doing…!?" Zoro held the nurse back. Maxwell charged some mana into his hand and let it spread throughout Jude's body. Maxwell counted only one bullet in his stomach, but it was playing havoc with Jude's small intestines. Not to mention, his accelerated heart rate was quickening his blood loss.

Maxwell untied his belt and started folded it up. "I can heal the wound. But I need to extract the bullet first…! Bite down." Maxwell held the stack of leather to Jude's lips, and the man hesitantly opened his mouth. He wasn't sure the man was entirely lucid.

The mage looked back up at the other medical professionals, "You two. Are you going to help or not? If so, hold him down!" The two doctors looked at each other, and then they hesitantly moved to hold down Jude's waist and shoulders.

Maxwell placed his hand on Jude's diaphragm and then another over his stomach. Then, he apologized, "This is going to hurt," and energized Jude's stomach, then started to pull. Jude moaned with pain, the doctors holding him down! His chest cavity was lit up like an X-ray. Intestines, liver, lungs, all of them shone and shaded in a putrid yellow. You could see the bullet, shining a bright blue, as it moved around the intestines.

The mage was telekinetically moving the bullet. Gently trying to weave it towards the entrance wound, without causing any more internal damage. He'd been practicing this technique on a gelatine cube in Chopper's office, under the reindeer's supervision. On most bullet wounds, you had too feel out the bullet before you could extract it. You couldn't just leave it in there. Iron just didn't degrade while in human flesh. It was susceptible to infection, bacteria forming on the metal surface. So, you had to pull it out, either with a set of tweezers, or your own two fingers. Neither was ideal, as you risked further agitating the wound and tearing apart internal structures.

So, when Maxwell had first proposed this magical form of bullet extraction to Choppe, the mage and the reindeer went off experimenting with the technique. They started off with gelatine cube, jelled to the point where it was the same consistency of human flesh. Usopp had been weirded out by the request, but he created a few anyways. They then observed the bullet's course as it travelled through the ballistic jell. There was a small, but noticeable, stream of air pockets lined up with the bullet's trajectory. The bullet had also deformed in the ballistic jell, showcasing the force of impact subjected to it while piercing.

Then Maxwell started practicing. It required fine control to adjust the bullet and then pull it out of the gelatine. However, just guiding it wouldn't be enough. The drag from the serrated edge of the deformed bullet caused to much damage to be considered and viable alternative. So, Maxwell had to multitask, energizing the gelatine to separate while manipulating the bullet. It was mentally tasking, but no more different form general practice.

They were seeing the results they wanted. However, they then needed a new test subject to try on…

They had to beg Sanji to lend them some pork so they could test their work. Sanji only saw it as a waste of food, but he let them do it. So long as they did some chores in the kitchen… and it was HELL! Sanji was a harsh taskmaster and their arms were no better than wet noodles when they were done!

But they got to test their technique on the pork, and it proved to be viable. Maxwell and Chopper had a new form of bullet extraction and had several pounds of raw sausage Sanji could cook up.

The bullet popped out of Jude's wound and fell out onto the grass. This prompting the doctor to let go of Jude's shoulders and smother the wound with a white towel. Maxwell shooed him away and started using magic to heal the wound.

Jude sighed in relief, feeling the energy course through him as it alleviated the pain.

"Judy…?" Marie stepped in closer, now that she was allowed too by Zoro. The swordsman had seen this part of the procedure plenty of times. Mostly on him, but point was Maxwell was proficient at this. He could afford a little crowded space.

"Marie…" Jude lifted up a hand, reaching toward his one true love. Marie caught the arm and held up his hand as Jude cusped her left cheek. He was still weak, but Jude didn't seem like he was dying any longer.

"Remarkable…!" the doctor watched as the wound sealed before his very eyes. "It seems you truly are a sorcerer!"

"I've had plenty of practice," Max responded. Marie adjusted herself so that Jude now had his head resting in her lap. She played with his shaggy long hair, giving her fiancé a sense of peace.

"Now then…" Maxwell looked up back at the swordsman, "Zoro, what in blighted Thedas are you doing all the way out here?"

"Hmph," Zoro crossed his arms, "Went out for a walk and… seems like I lost track of time."

"…You were trying to find which grove we anchored at, weren't you."

It wasn't a question. It was a fact!

Zoro choked, "I know which Grove our ship is at!" —trying to deny the accusation.

"Then why are you here on the other side of the archipelago!?" Maxwell finished healing Jude. "You did see the signs detailing a map of the archepelgo, right?" They had docked around the tourism branch of mangroves.

"Shut up! I don't need you harping on me about this!"

"It's an 85 percent probability that he won't find your ship again in reasonable time. But by all means, go on."

Maxwell shot up and Zoro spun around drawing his katana at the new voice. It was Basil Hawkins! Standing in the alleyway with a couple of cards floating in front of him. He must have come into the alley from the other end!

"'Magister' Maxwell P.D. Trevelyan…" Basil looked Maxwell straight in the eye. "I predicted we would be meeting soon enough."