LW: And now to deal with something seen in the previous chapter: Morgan being a Warlord, and the man he replaced, Weevil!
Drop in the Ocean - The Gateway to Obscurity, Cry of the Unknown
Grinning Naga - New World
"So, we're actually doing this huh Boss?" Ren hums as their captain checks the maps on the desk
"Yeah, Buckingham Weevil is currently located on Weiner Island, and we're going to make sure there's no contest in who's the stronger pirate" Morgan smirks, his left hand on his sword hilt
"How the Hell did you just manage to find the guy, we've been looking for 6 months already since you got those damn letters?" Kjelle asks, pinching the bridge of her nose
Noire laughs "How do you think? Miss Grima keeps tabs on everyone, it's part of their line of work in case opportunity arises. All I want to know is what it cost to get such good intel if it even is" she hums, pressing her large chest against her captain's spine "Hope it wasn't anything you'll miss"
"It wasn't" Morgan admits "It was information, to be relayed to her later. Just like you said Auntie likes to keep tabs on all major and potential players on the World Stage, so when someone drops off the radar, she gets curious. If all goes well and I become a Warlord, Grima wants everything we can find on Dr. Tenenbaum"
Forest gasps "She's one of the greatest doctors in the entire world, how did Miss Grima lose her?"
"No idea, but given the woman is considered the Dr. Vegapunk of Medicine, outranking even Kureha, Hogback, and Kurotsuchi, and matching Madaraki… it's, kind of a big deal that the woman is just…. Gone"
"And your aunt thinks the World government knows something?" Severa asks
"She thinks they recruited her, but that's still an answer even if it's an annoying one. Either way, still worth telling her if we find out" Morgan responds with a shrug
"Question, will they even let you become a Warlord after all this, especially if they do a proper background check on our crew," Forest asks nervously, fiddling with the laces of their corset
Morgan sighs, running his fingers across the birthmark in the centre of his chest "If they checked our collective family history, they'd find a Yonko, a Demon Eye, A Revolutionary Founder, and an exiled Branch family World Noble. But they already sent out the offer, meaning if we prove ourselves they have to honor that agreement" he states confidently "Or there's also the Marine Vice Admiral and Commodore on my side of the family helping tip the scales" he chuckles "Now, Severa. Set Sail for Weiner Island!"
"Yes Captian, we'll be there in about 4 hours" the redhead announces with a mock salute and a wink
Weiner Island
"So, you're Buckingham Weevil, glad to see the intel was accurate" Morgan hums as the duo come into view
"I'm Edward Weevil, Whitebeard's my Daddy!" the large man bellows, swinging his bisento at the younger pirate who dodge rolls away, glad he left his coat on the ship as this would probably have ended badly already if it had gotten caught
"Ok, not the best of a hello, right to the fighting then. Eldin Firestorm!" The tome on his belt glows before he exhales a torrent of flame, enveloping the older pirate… only for Weevil to extinguish it with a spin of his weapon "Oh fuck you"
"I'm the strongest there is, then Daddy will love me, because I'm just like him, not those pretenders, or that fake son. I'm gonna kill him, then show the world what a fake he is. Isn't that right Mommy?" Weevil shouts
"That's exactly what we're going to do sugar, make sure the Marines can't parade any more fakes and pretenders around claiming to be Whitebeard's blood or lover. That snake whore was always getting in my way, ruining my nights with my beloved, and his child will not ruin my son's future the same way!" the blond midget rants and raves
"From where I'm standing the only fakers are you two" Noire mutters, her haki alerting her to dive to avoid the gunshot from Ms Bakin, who clearly would prefer her fantasies to be believed, instead of reality.
"It's clear to see there's no point ratcheting up my attacks and wearing you down, you may not be Whitebeard's son, but you certainly have the build of a young Newgate or Kaido, meaning high-level attacks are the only way to deal with this crap" Morgan frowns, hoping he won't regret using this technique as he cuts his palm on his sword and smears the blood along the edge, the metal starting to shimmer and glow "Raidant Devistantion: Fi!" he declares, the Noble Arm reacting to his blood and starting to emit holy magic as he lunges at the towering mountain of a man "I can see why they'd want you to be a Warlord, but it's clear that's just asking for trouble" he declares as his sword meets Weevil's bisento, sparks leaping off both weapons as they clash again and again, Morgan rolling around as well as under Weevil's legs looking for an opening in the man's guard
"I'm the strongest, you can't beat me, little boy! I'll be a Warlord, then I'll be a Yonko and take Daddy's spot on at the table as a good son should!" Weevil shouts, smashing the ground and knocking Morgan away, the bluenette panting slowly as he tries to return feeling to his arms, even with the runes painted on his arms and back, Weevil was still physically stronger
'Fuck it, this'll probably knock me sideways, but it's clear nothing smaller will work' Morgan thinks as he raises the sword vertically, letting the holy light collect in the reticle at the hilt of his blade then swings, unleashing a wide arc blinding white energy catching the larger pirate right in the gut "Skyward Strike" he shouts as Weevil is slammed into the mountainside "I think, we're almost there…." he's interrupted by a fist to the sternum, a steaming and mildly burned Weevil almost backhanding him before slamming his bisento down intent on impaling him, only for Morgan to just barely block it
"That's not enough, it's never enough. Why won't you just die!" Weevil bellows as he starts slamming at Morgan like his bisento was a hammer, Falchion blocking each attack, though the force still rattled the bluenette's bones and had his legs threatening to give out.
"Maybe I'm just built differently" Morgan cries as he backpedals from another strike, managing to remain on his feet even after the tremor of Weevil's impact with the ground "Speaking of, did you know Falchion was originally meant to be a one-handed weapon?" he asks as he lets go with his left hand before muttering what to Weevil was jibberish, but the glowing orb in his hand proved that to be wrong "Taste the wrath of Heaven. Shiroi Inazuma!"
There was a blinding flash followed by a thunderclap and 2 heavy thuds, Morgan biting his lip to prevent the cry from escaping as the recoil broke most of the bones in his arm, and the landing at least dislocated his shoulder. Meanwhile, Weevil lay on his back, steam escaping his mouth and eyes glazed over due to unconsciousness, which was how the Smile pirates and Ms. Bakkin found them once vision had returned to everyone
"Well damn, turns out the Captain managed to actually beat Weevil. Should we have made bets?" Severa chuckles as she helps Noire get Morgan to his feet "So, you gonna get that position?"
"I'd say most likely, as nobody else has managed to take out this beast, so the World Government would definitely want someone on our level on their side" Morgan agrees
8 months later
Lanayru - Grand Line
Crash
"Where is Fontaine?" Kaos growls as he pressed down harder on the ribs of the man he'd just thrown through the window "You don't just take over a little fishing village, there's always a bigger plan with things like this"
"Fontaine's dead, been at least a couple years" the man wheezes then groans as the next kick breaks the rib "We're under new management"
"Any chance I get a descriptor on the new guy, if he's not Frank then"
"Jack Atlas, never here in person, does all his correspondence via Den Den Mushi. North Blue accent, a little like yours but stronger"
"I think he's telling the truth" Henry says as he wheels a tank out the front door to the duo "For one, after the beatings inside, and the murders, he's either going to tell the truth or we're never getting the truth. And this guy looks like he wants to live, not that harvesting and transporting Genesis would let that happen" The blood man chuckles
Kaos looks confused while the bandit shivers "How'd you know bout that? About them?" he asks
"I know that's the translation to what the Fishmen would call these motherfuckers" Henry reached into the tank he had and pulled out a jet-black sea-slug with iridescent eye spots and jagged prongs that most likely were an approximation of teeth "Pretty hard to collect, store and process these guys, and yet you've got a whole colony of them. I'd be impressed if I wasn't also very worried about what some dumbasses like you want to do with them. That and these are deep sea life, meaning you guys didn't catch them yourselves, so there's at least one fishman on your little hunting party"
"I ain't telling you shit!" the man grunts, then wheezes as Kaos slams his heel into his sternum
"You may want to slow down on that kid, we don't need any more broken bones" Henry scolds
"5"
Henry blinks "What?"
"5. That's how many ribs are still intact" Kaos explains
"For fuck sake Special K. Ok, before the kid causes more internal bleeding, just answer me this, was it the New Fishman Pirates?" Henry pinches the bridge of his nose before asking the man, Kaos asking what the fuck he was doing with his eyes
"The men, said Hody wasn't going to be happy with what they had to do, for the ADAM" the bandit admits with a pained breath
"Good enough for me. Now to deal with the witness" Henry's fangs glistened in the light as he lunges forward and grabs the man's head, draining the blood from him in a matter of moments, then clenching his fist and the desiccated body crumbled to dust "They're not going to need this warehouse, or the goods so let's get it all to the ship proto" he orders, getting a nod from Kaos before the blood man moves the Genesis slugs toward the vessel.
"YOU BASTARD! I'M GONNA KILL YOU FOR STEALING MY DADDY FROM ME!" bellows a large man barrelling towards the two at the speed of a charging rhino before tacking Kaos, sending the lanky pirate flying through the air
"Ow, fuck. So….. that's Buckingham Weevil" Kaos groans as he stands up again, waiting for Weevil to reappear 'At least I can say that, if all I knew about him was he could almost casually send me flying across town, I'd understand why people thought he was Pop's son. Shame I know that's wrong and Whitebeard loved only 1 woman, though I didn't need to know that Miss Bakkin was rather nice back in the day, it was just her being a creepy stalker that made him avoid her like Amber Lead' he shivers as Weevil finally arrives "Hi"
"Don't Hi, me you bastard. You took everything from me, and I'm going to make you pay!" Weevil growls
"I wish I could say I don't know who you are…. But I do, and also want to point out I never claimed to be Whitebeard's son, I just am. It was Sengoku who decided to share that with the world, just like Ace and Roger, or Luffy and Dragon"
"Don't care, when I kill you, everyone will see I'm Daddy's true son because Edward Weevil is STRONGEST THERE IS!" the rotund man bellows before swinging down his bisento intent on slicing Kaos in half, Hebi quickly expanding and bubbling out into Purgation's Atrocity.
CLANG
"Ok, so we can't just talk it out, great" Kaos mutters as the greatsword blocks the attack, though it's certainly fair to say Weevil hits like a sea train, and a normal blade would have been snapped in two from the force of the attack "That why we're on the edge of town? No witnesses, or no collateral damage?"
"No one to stop me killing you, that's all" Weevil sneers, barely taking more than a couple steps when Kaos kicks him in the gut "Weak! You can't be Daddy's legacy!" swinging his blade tinged blade and cutting across Kaos' left side
"Probably should have known you'd have good armament haki, though that just means I need to dodge everything rather than try to block them" he grimaces as his reflection material envelops and covers the wound, holding it closed as he decides to see if you even can overpower this beast of a man "Anord Nathair: Anaconda"
"Hello Bakin, I'd recommend not pulling out that gun" Henry greets, the blood scythe just behind her head not being mentioned or acknowledged by either of them "Let your son finally clash against something worth his time, don't ruin this for him"
"You have no idea what you're talking about, or what my son needs" the diminutive woman shrieks, as Kaos gets thrown over them before springboarding back into the fight with his tail
"Probably not, but I do know he shouldn't have to see his mom get gutted by a serpent demon. Plus, getting offed by a rookie, even a Supernova like Kaos, would be quite anti-climatic an ending for a former Rocks pirate, don't you think Stussy?"
Bakin grits her teeth "Agreed. But when my son kills that little upstart, you let us leave, understood?"
"I promise, though Grima will probably hunt you down and roast both of you with Hellfire… but that's a problem for another time" the blood man cackles
Kaos decided he'd made a mistake when Weevil turned out to be a fair bit faster than he'd expected, using Anaconda was meant to even the playing field in terms of strength, only for the big guy to out speed him, landing several punches to the double fruit user's liver and stomach due to their blades locking, though at least Kaos was able to get in a few hits of his own, mainly slashes from his taloned nails across the man's arms and thigh, with one lone gash just below his breastbone
"Anord Nathair: Mamba" he growls as he shifts again to a slimmer, faster form, weaving around another bisento swing and managing to stab Weevil in the shoulder
"Not good enough" Weevil shouts, spinning his bisento and managing to clip the edge of Kaos' jaw with the blunt end, to the surprise of both of them, though the snake zoan did let go once he felt the venom be released from his nails
"Soru" Kaos hisses as he leaps into and bounces around in the air, trying to find some way to deal with this brawler
"Hey, come down here and fight me like a man!" Weevil bellows, swinging his bisento and sending out pressure waves at the Dual fruit user, who was actually unsure if the older pirate knew he was using a kind of Rankyaku / Rising Pheonix technique, just that he needed to keep dodging if he wanted to not get split in two
"You know what, there's really only one way that will make sure you don't come after me and my family in the future, so…. I'm not sorry for what I'm about to do" Kaos hums before starting to spin Hebi, the blade shifting into a glaive just as he stops the rotations and starts Soruing around Weevil himself. Finally, as the whitebeard impersonator loses track of him, he drops down from directly above him with a spinning glaive strike "Dragon Slaying Drill" he shouts, Henry's eyes widen as he (and he's pretty sure even Stussy could) feels the dark magic billowing off Kaos and Hebi, as the black/purple, haki-coated tip clashes with Weevil's when he raises it in his defense, only for the bisento to snap, and Hebi to impale him through the throat
"No! My Baby! My meal-ticket! You bastard!" Bakin wails as the Royal Bolt scepter is buried to the hilt, but also now holding Weevil up like a manikin as Kaos balances himself as best he could on the man's shoulder due to the tether between himself and Hebi, then pulls and leaps back, Hebi melting and reforming into her default and in the process causing Weevil to fall to the ground with a thud that nearly knocked them over.
"That, was a mess" Kaos mumbles, then freezes as Bakkin draws….
"I won't let you take everything from me! You and that whore stole my Newgate and my title. I was Whitebeard's One True Lover, not that bitch Medusa!" Bakin screams and unloads, only for Kaos to swing his arm and deal with them, in just a second "What?"
"Fun thing about my Devil Fruit, I can redirect things, send them flying back at their owners, or even just, send them elsewhere" Kaos smirks, before opening his other hand and releasing the bullets like a shotgun, blowing a grapefruit-sized hole in Weevil's chest "Now, I get you're in a bad place, your son just died after all, but that doesn't mean, I take attempts on my life casually" the Straw Hat 1st mate hisses lowly, as he stalks his prey, meanwhile Henry pinches the bridge of his nose, having seen this coming, but praying it wouldn't
"That kid's just getting stronger by the day, taking out something like Weevil. I don't suppose either of you thought to burn the body while you were at it?" Grima asks over Den Den
"Nah, not worth it, without the resources of MADS or Vegapunk there's nothing Stussy can do about him, they've basically been wiped from the board" Henry argues with a shrug
"Stella complains constantly about the lack of resources, but I get what you mean. So, you mentioned finding Genesis slugs, should I put feelers out or do you already have potential clients/buyers in mind?" Grima asks curiously
"Besides Vegapunk, no. Especially given we can't find Tenenbaum, they're the only person we know who would make good use of these little glowy-eyed abominations. Why do they have 4 eyes and razor-sharp teeth if they eat bioluminescent algae?"
"Because they also eat people you dumbass, nothing built like the murals imply could be strictly vegan, clearly animal protein is needed for their special goo" Grima muses with an eye roll
"Eh, whatever happens, it's probably going to be Vegapunk of the kid, he already offered some iq for a tank of these ugly fuckers, which seems fair given both seem to mess with their hosts/subjects, just one is an animal and the other a plant" Henry adds "So we've no got some of that mysterious iq plant for if we ever require it"
"You know as well as I do that Shaka put in the request for any and all information retaining to that plant" Grima deadpans "So don't play coy with me"
"Fine fine, ruin my fun already. At least it gets us more points with them, maybe even some information on their secret projects, as unlikely as it seems" Henry chuckles
"Maybe we should keep a few for ourselves, or at least find us a few mages to fiddle with them too" Grima wonders aloud, getting an unseen nod from the Blood man
"We'll crunch the numbers when we get back. Good day" Henry says before letting the Den Den sleep and returning to the ship
TBC
LW: And with that, I believe we're finished with Drop in the Ocean, at least for now.
Unless something else comes up, we start Book 2 of the Rubber King Mirror Master series, next month. See you then.