Hey all! Hope everyone's been having a great holiday season!
Wow, I can't believe that 2024 is almost over. It's been one heck of a year filled with plenty of memorable moments, both good and bad. And with the new year right around the corner, there is so much to look forward to as we prepare to enter 2025.
Anyways, without further delay, it is with great pleasure that I present to you, the newest chapter of Hellfire.
Happy Holidays everyone! XD
Disclaimer: Aside from the OCs I created, I do not own One Piece or any of the characters/elements from other fictional genres that may appear in this story.
Hellfire Chapter 5: The Clash of Conquerors Part 1
"Some things are so unexpected that no one is prepared for them." - Leo Rosten
"WE MADE IT!" Roger proclaimed loudly from the decks of his ship as his crew members were preparing to disembark. A loud booming sound echoed behind them, as Roger and everyone else noticed huge thunderclouds in the distance, followed soon after by a full-blown hurricane as lightning bolts and rain bombarded the ocean with incredible force.
"Wow, that looks so cool!" A young voice cried out as a red-haired youth about ten years old, with a straw hat on his head, looked out with a look of amazement at the intense weather phenomenon that can only be found on the Grandline.
"Looks like coming here was the right decision. If we had continued our course from before, we would have gotten stuck in the middle of that mess." Said Rayleigh as he stroked his striped beard with a nonchalant expression.
"WHAT?! THAT'S CRAZY!" Yelled another young boy, around the same age as the redhead, his eyes popping out of his head looking between Rayleigh and the storm ahead. His most unusual feature was his bright red nose. "We could have seriously died! Man, this sea is scary!" the boy cried out.
"Well, I think it looks cool!" said the redhead with a grin. Then he got slapped upside the head by the red-nosed boy.
"Ow! What did you do that for Buggy?!" cried out the redhead.
"Shanks, you moron! What part of we could have died did you not understand?!" the young boy yelled before grumbling with tears in his eyes. "Of course, you would find a huge storm amusing, you've been on this sea for years now! I've only been with this crazy crew for a few months!"
Roger laughed as he patted both boys on the head.
"Now, now don't worry Buggy, you'll get used to the Grandline in time." Roger laughed.
"That doesn't sound any better." Said Buggy with a sweat drop on his head, while Shanks just giggled.
A large muscular man with long black hair tied at the bottom in a ponytail laughed at their newest crew member's reactions.
"Quite the rambunctious youths we've taken aboard our ship, eh Roger!" asked the man.
"Aye, indeed Gaban! They will make fine pirates one day." Said Roger as he laughed along with Scopper Gaban.
From the mast of the ship, a young teen who looked around 16 years old, with a muscular frame, swept-back blond hair that reached his shoulders and wearing a white shirt, navy-blue military pants and black boots watched the interactions with a disinterested look on his face.
"Anyways, I know how excited you are to get on the island Captain so give us a little time to get ready to disembark. We've already dropped anchor, so give us a few minutes to get the boats ready and we can…" Gaban said as he was preparing supplies but was cut off when Roger threw his Captain's hat and cloak at Gaban before jumping off the bow of the ship into the water below and starting swimming his way towards the island.
"You could have waited for us to dock before jumping off into the unknown, you know." Rayleigh called out to his captain in a humorous tone while the rest of the crew laughed alongside him.
"Hahaha, the Captain's so cool, huh Buggy?" asked Shanks who was laughing so much he cried.
"Pretty crazy is more like it… though I will admit, he did jump off the boat in a pretty flashy way…" said Buggy who tried to look exasperated, but part of him could not help but seem slightly impressed with his captain's actions.
"Well, we should probably go after him before he goes and does something stupid." Said Rayleigh as he chuckled while cleaning his glasses. "Bullet, can you help with getting the boats re-"
Rayleigh started to say as he turned around to the tough-looking adolescent boy from earlier, only to see him missing. He felt a tug at his coat and turned down to Buggy who jerked his thumb over his shoulder.
Looking over, he saw Bullet rowing off after Roger in one of their ship's dinghies.
"Ah geez, not again." Rayleigh sighed while rubbing his eyes.
"How many times has that crazy kid challenged the captain again?" asked Nozdon, a bald, insanely tall and muscular man who easily dwarfed the rest of his crewmates.
"Honestly, I lost count." Said Scopper. "Still though, you got to admire his tenacity. Not to mention, he must admire Roger if he's willing to fight him so many times."
"Or he's just insane." Said Taro, a young man with bright chestnut-shaped hair.
Everyone stood in silence as they watched Bullet chase after Roger who was almost at the shore.
"… so do you guys sometimes think that Bullet wishes he didn't eat a Devil Fruit so that he can do cool swim stuff like the captain just did?" Shanks asked with a clueless expression on his face.
"Who knows." Said Rayleigh. "Anyways, we should probably hurry up and join them before Roger beats him unconscious again."
"… How the hell am I the only sane person on this ship?" Buggy asks himself.
"MADE IT!" yelled Roger with a victorious cry as he raised both of his arms high overhead as he made landfall on the island. As he walked onto the beach, his eyes glowed red before he turned around and grabbed a fist aimed at his head. From the point of impact, a huge gust of wind erupted, sending sand and water flying around them from the force of the blow.
Despite how much power was behind the punch, Roger smirked as he gently pushed the fist out of the way and stared right at the familiar frown of Douglas Bullet.
"Nice punch, Bullet. I see you've been taking that strength training of yours seriously." Roger said already moving back as the young adolescent was in the process of throwing another punch.
"Shut up and fight! Douglas yelled as he unleashed his next attack. Roger dodged the blow by bending back and letting it sail over his large mustache. From there, Bullet unleashed a barrage of punches and kicks at Roger, who easily dodged, deflected, or countered Bullet's blows with a rapid barrage of punches. Suddenly, Bullet's fists took on a black sheen.
"Oh, using Haki now, are we? Alright then!" Roger smiled as he met Bullet's challenge with his Haki-coated fists. Each time their fists met, the resulting clashes created shockwaves that sent everything around them flying as black and red sparks erupted from the point of contact.
Although it was clear Bullet was struggling, he could not help but smirk with satisfaction.
"Yes, this is what I want to see from you, Roger! Come on! Show me more!" Bullet yelled as he prepared to unleash another powerful barrage of punches. Roger could not help but sigh at Bullet's aggressive personality as he casually landed a palm strike that sent Bullet flying back.
"Seriously, you're this worked up over a little fight? I mean it's not even lunchtime and you're going all out like it's a life-or-death battle." Said Roger while picking his nose nonchalantly.
"In battle, strength is everything! To go into one without giving it your all is beyond foolish." Bullet argued causing Roger to frown as he adopted yet another fighting stance with his fists raised.
"Oh Bullet, I keep telling you there is more to fighting than just raw strength." Roger tried to reason, but he never got a chance to continue as Bullet charged forth again.
"ENOUGH TALK! LET'S FIGHT!" Bullet yelled as he rained blow after blow on Roger. Despite the barrage coming his way, Roger kept his cool and as his eyes glowed red, he weaved his way through all of Bullet's strikes. Each one missing him by a hair, further adding to Bullet's frustration. This proved to be his undoing as the more he got frustrated, the more energy he put into his punches, and with each one he threw, the faster his stamina drained.
Eventually, Bullet reached his limit and his punches slowed down as he tried to catch his breath. However, this proved to be his undoing as Roger charged in and landed a single powerful punch into Bullet's gut, knocking the air right out of him, and knocking him unconscious.
As he was about to collapse onto the ground, Roger caught him and gently put him down. For a while, Roger just stared at him. Then finally, Roger started to lightly slap Bullet's cheek. Bullet groaned but did not wake up.
Roger hummed in thought as he tried to think of a way to wake up Bullet. Looking back to the water, he smiled mischievously as he quickly waded through the water and scooped up some salt water.
As he carefully made his way back to Bullet, he dropped the water he was cupping right over Bullet's face. Sure enough, the splash of salty sea water right over his nose had the intended effect and woke Bullet right up as he instinctively lashed out with a punch only to hit the air.
Blinking, Bullet looked around before his gaze landed on Roger. Bullet's surprised expression turned back into his usual scowl as he looked away from Roger.
"I must admit, you are quite the fast learner, Bullet. Every time, we fight it takes me longer and longer to beat you." Roger said as he extended his hand towards Bullet, who stared at the hand impassively before swatting it away. However, Roger did not seem bothered by this and merely gave Bullet space as he got back onto his feet.
"And with time, I will eventually surpass you. It's only a matter of time." Said Bullet with a determined gaze. "Once I do, I will become the world's strongest man!"
Roger grinned at the challenge, "I accept that challenge. I'll fight you anytime, Bullet."
Bullet seemed surprised at first, before quickly regaining his composure and turning his head away from Roger with a scowl.
Roger chuckled at Bullet's reaction before turning back to look at the island, his gaze landing on the trees in front of him. However, his smile was soon replaced with a frown, his eyes narrowing as he picked up on something unusual. Suddenly, he let out a sigh as he wiped some sweat off his brow. Bringing his arm up, he gazed at the copious amounts of sweat covering it with curiosity.
"HEY, CAPTAIN! BULLET!" a young voice called out catching their attention and pulling Roger from his musings.
Looking back, the two pirates saw the rest of their crew arriving on the island's shores with a bunch of rowboats, with one carrying Rayleigh leading the others. The one who had called them earlier was Shanks who was waving at the two just as they arrived on the island.
"Aww man, is the fight over already?" Shanks asked with disappointment as he and the rest of the crew disembarked and dragged the boats onto the shore.
"From what I felt, it seemed like it was a brief, yet entertaining clash." Said Rayleigh as he walked up to Roger, while his statement caused a tick mark to appear on Bullet's head.
"Oi, Rayleigh! Our fights are not for your entertainment!" Bullet roared as he looked like he was ready to throw down once more.
Rayleigh laughed at Bullet's reaction, "Easy now, I was just messing with you, Bullet. Geez, you know it wouldn't kill you to learn to take a joke now and then. Right, Roger?" Rayleigh asked.
However, when he was met with silence, Rayleigh turned to Roger who was uncharacteristically quiet. However, when he noticed Roger's serious expression, Rayleigh along with the other veteran members of the crew, knew that now was not the time for funny business.
"What's up, Roger?" Rayleigh asked as he walked up right beside his captain, a hand on his sword's handle.
"Rayleigh… we identified this as a spring island, right?" Roger asked causing Rayleigh to blink.
"Yeah, that's what we saw from a distance and now that we are here, looking at these trees and the visible environment, I can confirm that assessment still stands. Why do you ask?" Rayleigh asked.
"… It's pretty hot for a spring island wouldn't you say?" Roger asked.
Rayleigh seemed taken aback by Roger's random observation. Although now that his captain mentioned it, the temperature was abnormally warm and humid for this kind of climate. It felt like the sweltering heat wave one experienced during the summer, rather than the cool brisk air often associated with spring.
While most would dismiss such a thing, it was something unusual for an island in the Grandline, where the weather varied depending on the island but remained constant year long.
Having overheard their discussion, Gaban walked up to them and added his two cents. "Well you said there was a forest fire here recently, so maybe that could be a factor?" He asked.
However, Rayleigh shook his head. "If it had scorched more than half the island and was still going, I would agree with you. But from what we saw before, only a small part of it was caught up in the blaze. Not to mention the fire was on the other side of the island. So it's doubtful the heat from the fire could raise the temperature by this much, especially when it was already dying out."
Roger grinned again as he was handed his captain's coat by Shanks and Buggy.
"Which means that something or someone is responsible for increasing the island's temperature." Roger concluded.
Buggy looked shocked by that statement, "Are you serious?! You think someone can change the weather of a Grandline island?"
"It's possible." Said Bullet catching everyone's attention. "Cases have been observed where certain Devil Fruits can influence an island's weather or overall natural temperature. Usually, those cases involved a Devil Fruit with elemental or temperature-manipulating properties. Though to do so on this scale, it's clear that they are no amateur."
"Yeah, and I know only a handful of people who could do something like that. And if it was them, they would have made their presence known by now." Said Gaban.
A loud clap caught everyone's attention as they all turned to Roger who had slapped his hands together.
"Well whatever it is, we won't find out by just staying here and twiddling our thumbs all day." Said Roger as his trademark grin returned to his face. "We'll just have to explore the island to find out."
Roger's statement drew looks of excitement from his crew at the prospect of exploring the island and figuring out its mysteries.
"So now that our goal is clear, I think we should separate into teams." Rayleigh declared.
"My team will head over into the part of the island which was destroyed by the forest fire and see if we can identify what caused it." Said Rayleigh as he turned to Bullet. "If it's alright with you Bullet, I'd like you to accompany me and my group. Your … unique experience should prove helpful if the fire was the result of a major battle."
Bullet seemed unfazed by Rayleigh's reasoning, prompting Roger's vice-captain to try to sweeten the deal.
"Plus, if the fire was caused by someone fighting, odds are we may wind up in a fight. Possibly with someone strong." Said Rayleigh who smirked as he noticed the slightest twitch of Bullet's facial muscles.
"… Fine." Said Bullet with an impassive expression. However, his eyes told a different story. They were those of a soldier eager to fight.
"Sounds good. Gaban, you'll be in charge of exploring the area around the mountain we saw earlier at the island's center." Said Rayleigh.
Gaban nodded in understanding. "You got it, Rayleigh."
Roger suddenly jumped in. "Hey now, who is the captain here? Let me assign teams." He complained, causing Rayleigh to karate chop him in the head.
"Yeah, right. Remember the last time we left you in charge of assigning teams? It was a total mess." Said Rayleigh with a ticked-off expression.
"Oh come on, it wasn't that bad." Said Roger.
"One team got chased by a tribe of violent cannibals, another almost got swallowed by giant beasts and Buggy almost got set on fire." Said Rayleigh.
Roger pouted and crossed his arms in a huff, causing Rayleigh to sigh as he rubbed his eyes. " Ok, fine, I'll leave you in charge of the remaining crew members and you can explore the remaining third of the island. That alright with you?" asked Rayleigh.
Roger thought about it for a minute before shrugging his shoulders. "Fair enough." He said. "Alright men, let's get going!" Roger proclaimed with a loud cry.
"YEAH!" His crew cried out as the assigned teams set off.
"Come on, you slowpokes! Last one there is a rotten egg!" Shanks yelled out to his comrades trailing behind him as he ran through the forest toward their destination.
"Wait up moron!" Buggy yelled close behind him breathing heavily.
"Geez what's the rush you kids? This isn't even a race yelled Gaban as he trailed behind them along with the rest of their party.
"Geez, where the heck do these kids get all this energy?" Taro asked
"One of the wonders of youth I guess, a portly man named Donquino muttered while smoking from his sailor's pipe.
"All the more reason we can't let a bunch of apprentices show us up. So come on guys, let's hustle." Gaban proclaimed as he sped up his pace, which his companions mirrored.
After running for a few minutes and navigating through the forest's terrain, they finally caught up to the boys who stood in front of the entrance of a very large cave on the side of the mountain located at the island's center.
"Took you guys long enough!" Shanks said. "Me and Buggy have been waiting for you guys for ages."
He pointed to Buggy, who was sitting on the ground panting from exhaustion as he greedily took in large gulps of air. As the others arrived Buggy waved at them half heartedly.
"A-about t-time, slowpokes!" Buggy panted while making vain attempts to look buff and arrogant, but failing in the most comedic way.
"Yeah, yeah you guys win. Let's just get back to our real objective alright?" said Gaban, to which the kids pouted, but nodded, nonetheless.
And with that, the party entered into the cave, but as Shanks walked in he could not help but notice a small red glow from something on the ground as stray rays of sunlight entered the cave. Bending down, he picked up the object, which turned out to be some kind of red scale.
"Wow, neato." Shanks said with stars in his eyes.
"Hey, Shanks!" Buggy called out catching his attention. "Hurry up or you're gonna get left behind!"
"Coming!" Shanks cried as he pocketed the item before following after his crew mates.
Rayleigh and Bullet's team made their way through the dense forest towards the burned section of the island. Unlike the vibrant and peaceful atmosphere of the rest of the island, the closer they got to the burned area, the more foreboding the atmosphere became. The air around them was even hotter than before and using his Observation Haki, Rayleigh frowned when he sensed absolutely no signs of life.
'This doesn't look good. Nothing about this feels natural.' Thought Roger's right-hand man as he and his comrades walked through the forest, its greenery growing less vibrant and plentiful the closer they got to the source of the fire. Ashes clung to their branches, forcing many to cough and cover their faces in a vain attempt to prevent themselves from inhaling it.
"So uh, what do you suppose we will find once we reach the source of the fire?" asked Mullet Pine, a short man dressed as a Viking with one of the horns of his helmet broken off.
"Doesn't matter. Once we find it, we'll fight and subdue it." Said Bullet nonchalantly with his signature scowl.
"But what if it isn't an enemy?" Nozdon asked as he carried the party's supplies, being careful to duck his head from any tall branches.
"Doesn't change the plan. If they are strong, then we fight." Bullet said causing those around him to sweat drop.
"Let's just focus on figuring out what exactly took place here and will play it by ear from there." Said Rayleigh as he led everyone to their destination. He blinked when he noticed the vegetation slowly disappearing, creating an opening out of the forest.
While he could not see out of the opening yet due to the sun's bright rays, he easily detected the smell. One he and his comrades had gotten very familiar with over the years.
The smell of burnt flesh.
"We're here. Be ready for anything guys." Said Rayleigh as the grip around his sabre tightened, while the rest of his group kept a firm grip on their weapons and Bullet clenched his fists. As they exited the forest, the sight that greeted them caused nearly everyone to gasp with shock, including Rayleigh.
"Holy hell…" Rayleigh muttered with wide eyes.
An appropriate description for the sight before them, all things considered. What was once a large and lush meadow overlooking the sea, was now a lifeless and barren wasteland with a large crater in the center. Scattered all around the area were the charred remains of human corpses.
Even for members of this experienced crew, the sight caused many of them to gag at the sight and smell.
"Spread out and notify me of anything you find." Said Rayleigh as he rallied his group and they proceeded to get to work.
"What the hell happened here?" Rayleigh asked as he walked up to a charred corpse who was clutching the burned and molten remains of a rifle. "What kind of fight did these guys get into?"
"This was no fight." Bullet said getting Rayleigh's attention who saw him kneeling over another charred corpse whose neck appeared to be broken. "This was a massacre."
Looking around, Bullet saw even more human remains with varying degrees of damage besides being burned. In addition to broken necks, he spotted other bodies with varying degrees of trauma. Some appeared to have had their skulls caved in, one had a gaping hole in their ribcage, one was cut in half from shoulder to hip, while another had a gaping hole through what remained of their stomach and spine.
"No kidding. Whoever did this, they didn't show these guys any mercy." Said Rayleigh as he inspected the remains of a burnt-out structure. It was one of many scattered around the area, and if he had to guess, they were most likely the remains of houses. He tried to touch one, but the moment he made contact, the structure broke down into ash.
"Rayleigh." A voice called catching his attention, he saw one of his crewmates run towards him carrying a slightly burned strip of black cloth the size of a tablecloth.
"What is it? Did you find something?!" asked Rayleigh to his crewmate, a red-headed man named Yui with a black cloak and a high collar, who handed him the object he was carrying.
"I noticed it while exploring the outer perimeter near the entrance of the forest. Whatever happened, this must have gotten blown away and got snagged onto some branches." Yui said.
Unfurling the cloth, Rayleigh saw that it was a Jolly Roger. On it was the symbol of a large red skull with a distorted grin that just screamed evil intent.
"It's the symbol of the Red Barons." Bullet commented with a frown.
"That name sounds familiar." Rayleigh mentioned as he stroked his beard.
"They are a group of pirates who specialize in slave trading and are notorious in this part of the Grandline. They are led by Hannibal Baron, who is infamous for his brutal and cruel methods." Bullet said with a frown. "From what little I've heard of their methods, they are quite… distasteful." Bullet growled as he spat onto the ground.
Rayleigh could not help but frown at Bullet's statement. If he of all people, held these guys in such low regard, then they really had to be bad news.
"Well, looks like we got a name to who these bastards were before they got turned into charcoal. Assuming, these guys are all part of the Red Barons, then I honestly can't say their demise is a huge loss. Hell, whoever did this should probably get a medal." Said Rayleigh as he walked to inspect another body.
"Assuming of course, that these corpses all belong to the Red Barons and not their victims." Said Bullet.
"From what I can see, these guys were all armed and from their position, looked like they were running away from the center of the village towards something coming in from the forest before being cut down." Said Rayleigh as he looked over the body before something caught his eye.
From the remains of the body's throat, Rayleigh pulled out an object. Inspecting it closely, Rayleigh was surprised to find a black feather. Holding it in his hands, Rayleigh could not help but feel intrigued as he marvelled at the feather. It did not look like it was from any species he was familiar with.
"Hey Bullet, what do you make of this?" Rayleigh asked as he showed his crewmate the feather who carefully inspected it. "Found this lodged in this guy's throat. And it's not the only one."
Rayleigh gestured around them, finding even more feathers. "They're scattered all over this area. I don't suppose you're familiar with this feather or whatever it came?"
"It is not. In any case, it is a waste of time to be concerned with this." Said Bullet, but blinked when Rayleigh chuckled.
"I wouldn't be so sure of that." Said the older blond as he gestured around him. "Take a good look around. Everything has been scorched to hell and ash, and yet somehow, these feathers are the only thing that seems completely intact ."
Bullet blinked in realization and stared once again at the feather with more focus.
"I see that got your attention. And that's not the only thing. This whole area still feels hot to the touch, which means that whatever went down here, it was very recent." Rayleigh deduced as he continued walking to the center of the field. "Not only that but as we get closer to the center, the damage seems to grow in magnitude."
Sure enough, as they all looked around, the scale of destruction around them seemed to have increased. Bodies appeared to have been crushed by something heavy as craters littered the battleground, huge trees had been knocked to their side and large gashes were made through the earth.
Suddenly, a loud yell caught his attention and he, Bullet and any nearby crewmates turned to the source and noticed Millet yelling in pain as he jumped out of a hole he fell into, shaking his hands which looked swollen and red as though they were burnt.
"You alright Millet?" Nozdon asked as he checked on his friend.
"I'm alright Nozy." Millet groaned out while the larger man handed him a wet cloth with cool water from a canteen. The man quickly wrapped the wet cloth around his hand.
"I just fell into one of the holes around here." He said looking back to the small crater.
As Nozdon looked over, his eyes widened as his much larger height allowed him to see something his much shorter comrade did not. Bullet soon joined him and for some reason, even he seemed surprised. As Rayleigh approached, he too noticed exactly what was so off-putting about the hole that Millet fell in and even he could not help but feel a chill run down his spine.
"What in the blazes could have done all this?" Millet asked as he looked back to the hole.
As the other gathered around them, they all gazed at the hole. A hole that when looked at from a much higher vantage point, was revealed to be a massive claw print.
"Something big Millet… Something very big." Said Rayleigh.
"Please hold up, Captain." A young brunette with a ponytail named Spencer yelled as he and the group assigned with Roger chased after their captain who was happily making his way through the island's forest with a chuckle and an extra pep in his step.
"No can do fellas! Something unusual is going on here on this island and I want to be the one who figures it out before Rayleigh and Gaban's teams do." Said Roger.
"We get it, we really do. But not all of us have the same crazy stamina you do. At the very least can you slow down the pace for Sunbell's sake? You know he doesn't do well with hot weather." Said Spencer as he pointed to their fishman crew member who was chugging an extra large canteen of water to stay hydrated as he was sweating quite heavily.
"All right, tell you what. I'll change my pace so you can keep up." said Roger, causing his crew to sigh with relief.
"Thanks, captain, I speak for all of us when I say… WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING?!" Spencer yelled, his tone of relief is quickly replaced by one of disbelief once he notices what Roger is doing.
Rather than slow down his pace to match those of his crewmates, Roger had instead opted to turn around and start running through the forest backwards.
"I figured running backwards should be enough of a handicap to allow you all to catch up with me." Said Roger with a smug expression as he backpedalled through the forest while laughing like a madman.
However, he was so caught up in the moment, that he did not even notice when he had walked backwards right off a small cliff.
"Ah…." Roger said with a nonchalant expression as he slowly realized what was happening.
"YOU IDIOT!" his party yelled with their eyes popping out of their heads and tongues growing flailing wildly from their mouths.
"AHHHHH!" Roger comically yelled as he fell off the side of the cliff, into another forested area below him. After smashing and hitting several tree branches, Roger finally landed on the ground, groaning from the pain he just suffered from his fall.
"Well… that just happened." Roger said as he slowly got back up and massaged the parts of his body that felt sore. Fortunately for him, it would take more to kill him than a fall like that.
"Captain! You still alive?!" Spencer and the rest of his party called out.
"I'm alright, guys!" yelled Roger.
"Good, so sit your ass there and wait for us to come and join you! Don't even think about running off! Yelled his crew as they went off to find another route to rejoin their captain.
Roger pouted at his crew's comments. "Geez, did they forget I'm their captain or what?" Roger said as he rubbed the back of his head while kicking the ground in front of him.
Suddenly, Roger heard something that got his attention. Turning around, he was met with quite an unexpected sight.
"What in the world?!" he asks to himself.
Meanwhile, Gaban and the rest of his party were busy exploring the tunnel system of the cave they had been exploring. So far, they had not had much luck.
"I'm so booooored…" Shanks complained as he made his way through the tunnels while carrying a torch in his hand. "How much farther do we have to go?"
"As weird as it sounds, I agree with Shanks." Said Buggy. "What good is it for us to explore these dark and murky caves? I mean it's not like anyone lives here. I mean you'd have to be crazy or a monster to live in a place like this."
"Come on now you two, even pirates have to work before they can play." Said Gaban as he walked ahead of his group down the tunnels. All while making sure to mark their path to avoid getting lost.
"And not to mention, exploring caves like this is just one of many scenarios most pirates find themselves in. Most of the time, pirates are likely to set up secret bases in caves like this, as well as use them to try and hide their treasure." Explained Gaban.
"Treasure?" asked Buggy.
"Secret Base?" asked Shank.
Gaban laughed at their reactions. "Hhahaha, I figured that would get your attention." He said. "Besides if you two focused more on observing than complaining, you'd notice that there is more to this cave than meets the eye."
"What do you mean?" asked Shanks.
"Look around, what do you see?" asked Gaban.
Looking around them and moving their torches around, both Shanks and Buggy tried hard to find what Gaban was talking about as they stared at the red-coloured rock walls surrounding them.
"I don't see anything." Said Buggy.
"Well, it's a good thing you guys chose to become pirates instead of geologists, cause you guys would have been terrible at it." Said Gaban as he chuckled.
He walked up to a cave's wall and touched its surface. "If you look carefully at the walls of this cave, you'll notice two different kinds of patterns. One set of patterns is the result of natural formation." He said rubbing his hand over a smooth surface.
As he continued walking through the cave, they came to a fork in the road. One path showed the same smooth pattern as before with naturally formed stalactites looming overhead.
"However, the second set of patterns tells a different story." Said Gaban as he waved his torch to the other path. Unlike the first which looked natural and smooth, this one seemed to have a much rougher and uneven appearance and they noticed cracks all over the walls, along with tons of rubble lining the floor of the cave.
"See the difference? The state of this tunnel tells us that it was the result of someone or something breaking down and carving paths through the cave walls." Said Gaban.
"Oh wow, that's cool I guess." Said Shanks.
"What are you saying?" yelled Buggy as he turned to Shanks while they all made their way down the rough-looking path. "If something is in here that could carve out rock walls like butter, then what do you think is gonna happen when we run into it?!"
"I dunno, I guess it might be mad. I mean, if I saw strangers running through my home uninvited I would be pretty mad." Shanks reasoned before smiling. "But that's only as long as we're strangers. If they take the time to get to know us, I'm sure we can work something out."
Buggy sighed as he slammed his palm into his face. "Oh man, you're a hopeless idiot, Shanks." Said Buggy with his voice slightly muffled.
When Buggy looked back ahead of him, he bumped right into Gaban who frowned as he stared up at a huge wall blocking their path.
"Huh, a dead end." Gaban said rubbing the back of his head before turning back to the others.
"Alright everyone, we're heading back the way we came. Maybe we will get lucky with that other path." Said Gaban as he and the others started walking back.
"Well, that was a waste of time, huh Shanks?" asked Buggy as he looked at his friend. Only to blink when he saw that his friend was nowhere to be seen.
"Shanks, where did you…?" Buggy asked aloud before he felt something creeping up behind him.
"BOO!" Shanks yelled with a scary look on his face as he jump scared Buggy causing the young pirate apprentice to jump back with a loud yell of fright which caught the attention of the rest of the party.
As he breathed in rapidly to ease his racing pulse, the red-nosed boy could not help but glare at his friend who was laughing at his latest practical joke.
"Hahaha!" Shanks laughed as he pointed a finger at his friend. "I got you, Buggy! Hahah. Man, you were so scared I thought your nose was going to hump right off your face." Said Shanks as he continued to laugh which also earned some chuckles from the rest of their crewmates.
Unfortunately, that one comment only further infuriated Buggy.
"WHO THE HELL HAS A BIG NOSE YOU ASSHOLE!" yelled Buggy as he picked up a rock and threw it at Shank's head. The redhead easily dodged the projectile as it sailed harmlessly overhead and collided with the wall behind him with an audible crack.
Suddenly, the wall behind Shanks snapped open, causing all laughter to cease instantly as Gaban, Buggy and the rest of the party stared with horror at a large red eye with a black sclera that was staring at the ceiling with a drowsy expression.
As the eye's red iris cast a glow on the others, Shanks, whose back was turned to it remained oblivious.
"Hmm, what's up with you guys?" he asked.
No one dared to move or speak, but Buggy still tried to warn Shanks by pointing his shaking hand at the eye behind him.
" 'Wheeze'…. Aga… bababa…eye-gah… eye… beheheh!" Buggy weezed as he tried to warn his friend only for it to come out as gibberish.
Shanks blinked at Buggy's poor attempt at a warning.
"What? You're not making sense Buggy." Said Shanks with a confused expression. Suddenly, Shanks heard a low growl echo behind him. Slowly, Shanks turned around and finally came face to face with the giant eye as a nictitating membrane slowly closed horizontally across its eye, followed by a regular vertical blink.
Shanks, whose mind was still trying to process what he was seeing, could only respond by touching the eye with his hand, resulting in a wet squelching sound and also causing the eye to blink rapidly.
'YOU MORON!' his crewmates yelled in horror at what Shanks did.
After gazing at the slimy substance covering his hand for a few seconds, Shanks looked back up at the eye which had stopped blinking and was slowly looking more and more alert.
Suddenly, the eye, which previously had been staring at a fixed point above them, had now shifted to stare directly at Shanks and the rest of the crew. As his crewmates froze with fear, Shanks' face slowly shifted from its neutral expression into a horrified look that matched his comrades as the eye narrowed at them. A loud growling soon echoed around them followed by a loud rumbling that shook the cave around them, which was also growing hotter by the second.
"AHHHHHHHHHH!" the pirates yelled as all hell broke loose.
Back with Rayleigh and his team, they were just about finishing up their survey of the area and learning more about what happened to the Red Barons when something unexpected happened.
"ROOOOOOAAAARRRRR!"
Rayleigh, Bullet and all the other members of their party covered their ears to shield them from the insanely loud and powerful roar that echoed throughout the island.
"What the hell was that?!" Nezudon asked with a shocked expression.
"Look over there!" Millet cried out pointing in the distance as large clouds of dust erupted in the distance from the mountain. As more and more erupted, it soon became clear that whatever was causing them was heading their way.
"Everyone, follow me and get ready for battle!" said Rayleigh as he took off in the direction of whatever was causing that destruction. Bullet followed close behind him with a battle-manic grin on his face.
'Finally, a chance to enjoy a real fight!' Bullet thought with mad glee as he followed after Rayleigh while their comrades followed close behind. Despite their best efforts, they were unable to keep up with the two powerhouses.
As for Rayleigh and Bullet, they quickly sped through the forest in front of them and in just a few minutes, they finally arrived at the center of the island which had an open area devoid of trees.
As they came to a stop, the both of them gazed at the large clouds of destruction coming closer and closer to them. While Rayleigh looked on with a calm and composed expression as he drew his sword, Bullet looked on with insane glee. Both clenching their fists tightly as they prepared to move out at a moment's notice.
Suddenly, another loud explosion occurred, closer than before, and this time, they saw something flying out of the forest towards them. As it got closer, Rayleigh could make out a human form and a familiar voice as whoever it belonged to was descending towards them at a rapid speed.
A few seconds later, they crash-landed not too far from them, carving a trench through the earth before coming to a stop in front of them.
When the smoke cleared Rayleigh was shocked when he saw who it was.
"Gaban?!" he asked with disbelief as he stared at his comrade. Compared to when he last saw him a few hours ago, Gaban looked like a complete wreck. His shirt was burnt off and his upper body was covered in both burns and claw marks. On either hand were a pair of axes, their edges either chipped or melted.
Gaban groaned as he slowly opened his eyes which quickly widened when he saw who it was.
"Rayleigh… Bullet… you guys sure have pretty good timing." Said Gaban in a vain attempt at humour while fighting through the pain he was in.
Rayleigh leaned down while Bullet watched on with mild interest. "Gaban… what the hell did this to you?" asked Rayleigh with a frown. Gaban was easily one of their crew's best fighters. So to see him in this state, it certainly made it clear that whatever they ran into, was no minor foe.
As he thought this, a roar echoed through the air once more, forcing them all to snap back to attention as they saw large trees topple one after another as something large was making its way toward them.
"Well… you're both about to find out." Said Gaban as the entity drew closer to their location.
Suddenly, everything went quiet… too quiet. Without a warning, the silence was broken by screams as a large crowd of people ran out from among the trees. Rayleigh quickly recognized his fellow crew members as they all ran towards him and Bullet. They were moving fast and looked terrified like the devil himself was on their heels.
"RAYLEIGH!"
"BULLET!"
Both powerhouses recognized the voices of Shanks and Buggy respectively, as Taro held them both under his arms. They looked just as equally terrified as they called out to them.
"HELLLLLPPPP!" They cried just as the trees behind them lit up with a bright flash before an explosion of fire and powerful winds sent his crew, along with burning trees and debris, flying everywhere. Before the pirates could figure out what happened, they all froze as a loud growl reverberated through the cloud as two red eyes glowed menacingly from within.
Suddenly, Rayleigh, Bullet and everyone else in proximity watched with both fear and awe as something slowly emerged from the cloud, the earth trembling with every step it took. As the creature fully emerged, its massive shadow enveloped them as it stood at its full height.
"…Holy shit!" Rayleigh said with astonishment as he gazed up at the form of a giant red dragon.
As the creature glared at the gathering of pirates, its red eyes quickly honed in on Rayleigh and Bullet. With its targets in sight, the colossal beast unleashed yet another powerful roar before charging at the two pirates, its jaws filled with intense flames, making it appear all the more terrifying.
And yet, despite the intense heat and monstrous aura threatening to overwhelm them. The Dark King and future Demon Heir could not help but smile as they braced themselves for the intense battle that lay before them.
And that's a wrap!
So yeah, while not much action was seen here, this chapter does feature some fun moments. Not to mention that its ending sets up a major clash between Belindo and some of the biggest names in Pirate history!
Truth be told, I was hoping to include this fight and its aftermath in this chapter. However, as I was writing this chapter, I started coming up with new scenarios that deviated from my original plans.
Plus, I want to take my time writing the upcoming fight to ensure that it is as good as possible.
Also as you may have noticed, I decided to include Douglas Bullet in this story. I like his character, backstory and power and thought that he could make a real impact in this story. As for whether or not any other movie characters could potentially appear, you'll just have to wait and see.
Anyway, hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Don't forget to fav, follow, and leave a review.
Happy Holidays and have an amazing New Year! See you all in 2025!