Onigashima's docks were a scene of barely-organised chaos.

Ships were coming in, making their way along the tall, rocky tunnel that served as the stone skull's throat. Those at the docks were being unloaded, mighty derricks lugging heavy crates from the ship's decks. Countless pirates were working too, swarming on and off the ships like so many ants, lugging boxes, barrels, and sacks. Off the ships, across the docks, and down the dark tunnels to the countless storage chambers, to be sorted and stored in their proper places. Then back again for more.

From his vantage point, in a vaulted gallery carved into the cave wall, Spytand Malice watched it all.

He had seen such scenes many times, back when he was in the Marines. But never on such a scale, or in a place like this. There was no pirate fleet like the Beast Pirates, not in the whole world. He had seen pirates and ships of all shapes and sizes, and fleets that terrorized the Grand Line from one end to the next. But he had never seen pirate ships so large or so powerful, or so well-kept, or so many. Nor had he seen pirates so many, and so well-ordered, under a single Jolly Roger.

One might have thought it impossible, unless one had actually seen their master. For a creature like Kaido, nothing seemed impossible.

How unlike his former superiors; for all their great strength and ability. How unlike the Marine admirals, who for all their greatness, did the bidding of the Celestial Dragons.

His teeth gritted, as the old hate resurfaced, unbidden. He clenched his hands so hard they hurt. His skin itched, as it remembered the uniform he had once worn.

Those disgusting creatures, who lived in indolence on Mariejois, never noticing the slaves to toiled beneath their feet, except perhaps to spit on them. Decadent, spoiled, indolent; incapable of the least endeavour, the smallest deed, or the slightest compassion.

All but one. One, who had paid a terrible price for it.

Yet the Marines did their bidding. The admirals did their bidding, leaping to their sides at the mere snap of gloved fingers. They who were so mighty, yipped like lapdogs for the amusement of the worthless, and demanded that all below them do the same.

And he so very nearly been one of them. He had worked so hard, given every deed and day his all and everything. He had served, and suffered, endured everything that instructors, superiors, pirates, and even his own comrades had thrown at him. All so that he could prove himself, all so that he could rise; all the way to Vice Admiral.

And then he had seen. And then he had understood.

He looked down at his hands, the hands that had ached and bled in their service. They were covered now, by heavy black gloves and spiked bracers. The white uniform was gone, replaced with baggy red trousers tucked into tall black boots, and covered by a heavy black trenchcoat.

He shook his head, forcing down his rage. There was no need for it, not now. He had found a better berth, a better outlet for his abilities. Sure they were pirates, but at least their villainy was honest. Kaido did not justify his power by some supposed innate superiority, nor clothe his fury in the garb of absolute justice. When he wanted something, he took it. When something displeased him, he destroyed it.

That, at least, was honest. Not false law, but lawlessness. Not false justice, but true freedom. That was where he had chosen to be, and where he had found a place.

He looked down at the docks again, at the barely-managed madness. The annual Fire Festival was coming up, and the Beast Pirates were going all-out. Tributes were being gathered in from all across Wano, and every combat-ready ship and crew were out on the high seas, bringing in plunder and captives. The former would fill the vaults of Onigashima, to provide for the festival in truly magnificent style. The latter would be processed, their fates decided by their strength, their skills, or simply their appearance.

His eyes fell on a coffle being led off one of the ships; one of Ulti's from the look of it. They were a miserable sight even from that distance; roped together at neck and waist and hands, driven on with kicks and blows, and cruel laughter.

Perhaps one or two of them might catch someone's eye, and be selected for better duties. Or maybe, if they had heart, and strength, and more than a little luck, they might impress someone sufficiently to be allowed into the ranks of the pirates.

For the rest, it was off to Wano, and the foundries. They would spend the rest of their short lives toiling in the darkness, lugging coal and iron ore for the furnaces.. They would toil, and die, so that the Beast Pirates could have warships and weapons. Swords and muskets, cannons and cannonballs, and the thousand-odd metal widgets and gadgets that kept a ship from falling apart on the ocean wave.

And that was that. The strong took what they wanted, and the weak survived as best they could. At least this way there was no hypocrisy. At least this way, the truly strong ruled.

Then he saw something else, something that should not have been down there.

He leant over the parapet, focussing on the figure striding across the docks; the pirates scattering before it.

Her.

He watched, tight-lipped, as Yamato strode along a line of pirates, eyes fixed on the foodstuffs they were carrying. As she moved, the ones behind her scurried away, glad to be out of her sight.

To Spytand Malice, Yamato had always been a mystery. Kaido's only daughter and sole heir, yet she despised him and all he stood for. Her only hero was Kozuki Oden, the former ruler of Wano, whom Kaido had boiled alive in a pot of oil. Rather than enjoy the glorious freedom her father offered, and the inheritance that awaited her, she would rather imitate that dead fool of a samurai. She spent all her days training her body, challenging her father, and healing herself after she invariably lost.

So then…what was she doing down there?

Malice watched, mystified, as she stopped suddenly, and ordered one of the pirates to hand over his burden; a very large, fresh tuna. Yamato took it from him, turned on his heel, and strode out the way she had come.

Tuna. She had come down there, among the pirates she despised, to bully one of them into handing over a tuna.

A tuna?

Except she had been doing stuff like that recently. People had seen her dashing through the corridors carrying food. The cooks he had asked about it had told him – amid much whimpering and cowering – told him that she normally ate rice or meat, washed down with ale or local wine. But now she was asking for bowls of soup. Any kind would do, but always lots of it. This she would lug back to her room, and the bowls would come back licked clean.

That she ate in her room was not in itself suspicious. He had never seen her do otherwise, in the months since he had joined the Beast Pirates. It was well known that she despised the Beast Pirates, and scorned their fellowship. But what did she need all that food for?

Now that he thought about it, that wasn't the only strange thing. Normally she fought her father once a week; and from time to time crushed someone for annoying or offending her. But she hadn't, not for many days. She had left her room only to get food, or to meditate on the beach.

And since when did she meditate? Training yes, but meditation?

What was going on?

"So this is where you've been hiding."

Malice jumped, then glowered. He had let himself be snuck up upon; a mistake that in this place could be costly.

"I was just watching the ships come in," he said. Not the most impressive turn of phrase, not one worthy of one such as her. But he had never been one for poetry or oratory.

"Busy, busy, busy," mused the young woman who had joined him in the gallery. She was quite a sight, her shapely body clad in a black kimono lined in red, her blonde hair done up in the local style, her beauty in no way marred by the narrow red horns curving up from her temples.

Or the fact that she was eight metres tall. Survive for any length of time on Onigashima, and such things ceased to be particularly frightening.

She stepped up to the parapet, gazing down at the ships with supercilious eyes.

"So much treasure, so little time," she mused. "I trust your own foray was fruitful, Malice?"

She shot him a smirk that would have reduced any man to a warm puddle on the floor. Her charms did nothing for him; not because she was unattractive, but because he knew what became of men who fell into the clutches of Black Maria.

"Very fruitful," he replied, tersely. And it had been. Enough so that his place in the Flying Six, would not be questioned; at least not until after the Fire Festival.

"Very good," she purred, in a tone that would have left him hot under the collar, had he not known of the shadows whence that voice might lead him. "But…do you have time to hang around here? Kaido has high expectations of you, as he does of all of us."

That was a joke. For all her high standing, and her dreaded power, Black Maria rarely left Onigashima if she could at all avoid it. Her adoring captains, all female, had brought in her share of the spoils. It was enough to make him wonder, sometimes, just how much of her status relied on Kaido's good graces.

Except, he had seen what she was capable of. They all had.

"My ships need maintenance," he replied, curtly. "They can't go out again until morning at the earliest, and Lord Kaido will probably call a halt before then."

He had run his ships hard, as he had always done. It might not have been so bad, had he gone around that storm instead of through it, but what was done was done. Fortunately for him, Kaido hadn't seemed at all bothered.

"Ah, ever the admirable vice-admiral, working everyone hard" quipped Maria, her eyes twinkling at her own joke. "Is it because they're pirates? Or were you like that in the Marines?"

His lip curled. Yes, he had run his ships and crews hard. He had always done so, even back in the Marines. His subordinates had hated him for it, but the job got done, and that was all that mattered.

"I will fulfil Lord Kaido's expectations, as I have always done" he replied, in as dignified a tone as his temper would allow. "And I will surpass them, as I will surpass my current station."

Yes, he would. There was only rank above him; the three All-Stars, who answered to no one but Kaido himself. One day, he would challenge one of them, before Kaido, and take their place.

"Oh, so driven."

Black Maria drew on the opium pipe she was rarely without.

"But what was that you were staring at a moment ago?" she asked, her tone sultry. "You seemed quite confused."

Malice paused. He wondered if he dared confide in her. She was an equal, and maybe even a comrade; but knew, only too well, how little that could count for when the chips were down.

Then again, what was the harm? What possible gain could Maria get out of it?

"Yamato was down there," he said. "She took a tuna, and left with it."

"A tuna…" Maria rolled the word over her tongue. "Yes, she seems to be fond of her food recently. I thought she might have let herself go, but there's no sign of it."

Yes, indeed. After all the food she had taken, she should have at least put some weight on; had she eaten it all herself.

Herself…

"And she hasn't challenged Lord Kaido over these past days," he went on. "Something has changed."

"Indeed…" Maria drew on her pipe. "Perhaps she has finally learned her lesson. Or…maybe she got hurt worse than usual."

She seemed to find the whole thing quite amusing. Malice did not, though he was not quite sure why it bothered him so much. Did she have someone or something in her room? If so, who or what was it? Was she keeping a pet? Or…

A shiver of anticipation ran through him. Was it possible that she had a boy in there? He supposed it would have to happen sooner or later, but there was no telling how Kaido would react.

His lips twisted into a smirk. Whatever it was, it would serve him well to find out, and to be the one who brought the news to Kaido. It rarely hurt to suck up to the boss, no matter where one was working.

Now…how to go about it?

(X)

See. Toldja Yamato going to the kitchens was a set up. And now someone has appeared to notice too...

As you can see, many within the Beast Pirates have motifs and names based on cardgames. For this one, Juubi-K came up with the wonderful idea of double Solitaire, or 'Spite and Malice'. Hence, Spytand Malice for our rogue Vice Admiral member of the Flying Six.

Let me know your thoughts below!