One Piece 1. Prologue

**Advert of Time:** Greetings, readers. I've been out of the fanfiction sector for quite some time but decided to return. I changed my penname from _'Hershel D. Drake'_ to my current one as a start of my change. I decided to edit the chapters of _'New Adventure, New Nakama, New Piece'_, '_New 3_' for short, because I wanted to continue with my characters and characters that were donated.

Now that that's out of the way, I need a beta reader. So if anyone is up for it, please PM me. Thanks. That's everything I believe, so I guess it's time for the edited first chapter of _'New Adventure, New Nakama, New Piece'_

**Edited: 19/08/2013**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any character, Devil Fruit, technique, quote, etc. from Canon One Piece.

Anything else is either owned by me, or by those who were so kind to give me ideas/characters/etc.

-x-x-x-

**Prologue – The end of one adventure simply marks the start of another.**

'_Logue Town'_, the town of the beginning and of the end, was known for many different reasons, not only in the _'East Blue'_, one of the four _'Blues'_ that compromise this world, the others being the _'South Blue'_, the _'West Blue'_ and the _'North Blue'_. It was known for being the last stop to restock goods on the ships of pirates, marines, and anyone brave enough to enter the _'Grand Line'_ from the _'East Blue'_, the weakest of the five seas. It was also known for being the most dangerous town in the _'East Blue'_ for pirates to pass through due to the heavy Marine force that is stationed. But one thing the town is most known for is being the birthplace as well as the execution place of Gol D. Roger, '_Shodai Kaizoku-Ō'_ (1), the captain of the first crew, pirate and marine alike, to have traveled the _'Grand Line'_ until the end. It was also the place where Gol D. Roger claimed to leave his whole treasure, _'One Piece'_, for the first person to reach it, raising the curtain of _'The Great Age of Pirates'_ 33 years ago. Now 30 years later another great event will happen that will shake the world once again.

It all started on a normal day in _'Logue Town'_. The birds where chirping as they rested their wings on the branches of the trees. The children were playing harmless games of hide-and-seek. The merchants were trying to sell their products to customers strolling through the streets. Yes, nothing could show that there was anything today nor that anything could go wrong … except for one thing. The execution of Monkey D. Luffy, '_Nidai Kaizoku-Ō'_ (2), better known as '_Mugiwara no Luffy'_, scheduled for the afternoon. Monkey D. Luffy was the name of the pirate that had done the impossible, not only had he and his crew travelled over the _'Grand Line'_, they concurred Roger's treasure and they were able of getting away with all of their actions without getting caught once for seven years. For seven long years the marines were embarrassed by the crew. But finally after all this time they were finally able to catch one member of the crew, Monkey D. Luffy himself. Well, that is a bit of a lie that the _World Government_ told the people to increase their popularity and their credibility to catch any pirate no matter their rank. The truth was that Monkey D. Luffy, captain of the _'Mugiwara no Ichimi'_, walked up to _'Marine Headquarters'_ all by himself and let himself be cuffed and locked up for execution in the place where his predecessor, Gol D. Roger, was executed.

Even an hour before it was time for the execution, people were already gathering around, trying to get a spot of the show to unfold. Many noticed that the wind started to pick up and the clouds started to gather, become bigger and be less pleasant. By the time Monkey D. Luffy started walking towards the scaffold where he would be executed, the weather had become dark, as if a storm would break out any moment. Many who caught a glance of the man would simply stare at him, any prejudice for pirates gone, man made a striking figure with the cuffs on his wrists and ankles, his eyes obscured by his namesake, an old worn strawhat with a red ribbon, and the cloth in his mouth preventing him from saying anything.

The crowd was filled by not only citizens of _'Logue Town'_ , there were even giant _Den Den Mushis_ that will show the execution over the whole world. Some of the more daring outlaws decided to follow the event personally. The most noticeable pirates were ex-_Shichibukai_ Sir Crocodile, and his partner Das Bonez; '_Shi no Gekai'_ (3) Trafalgar Law and Eustass _'Captain'_ Kid. On a building left of the scaffold were four figures, one dressed as a clown, another wearing a blue shirt with red pants and a black cape, the third being the largest and having the most disfigured face anyone would ever see and the last wearing nothing but a dark cloak. _'Senryō Dōke no'_ (4) Buggy, _'Akagami no' _(5) Shanks, Emporio Ivankov and _'Kakumeika'_ (6) Monkey D. Dragon respectively were watching the execution proceed with blank looks on their faces. On the other side of the scaffold one could see two figures, a white haired man with sunglasses on his face who keeps changes cigars and a scowl on his face, the other a bespectacled, blue haired girl with a frown on her face. _'Hakuryō no'_ (7) Smoker was furious for the move the _Government_ pulled and proclaiming they captured his, HIS, prey without a shred of shame.

_(Play __**Sea Guide by Kouhei Tanaka**__)_

On a building standing opposite of the scaffold itself, one would be able to spot eight figures. A tall man with short, green hair and a closed left eye with a scar over it, carrying three swords on his belt. A long, orange haired woman with a figure to kill for, wearing nothing but jeans and a bra. A normal sized man with curled, black hair out and a large nose carrying a pair of goggles and a little goatee. A slim, long-legged man with blond hair brushed over the right side of his face, his left eyebrow looking like a spiral. A toddler-sized human/reindeer hybrid which its left antler braced at the base by a metal, wearing a pink hat with a sideways medical cross. A tall, slender woman with shoulder-length black hair with a slightly darker skin tone than the other figures. A human/cyborg hybrid with a buzz cut having two stitch-mark scars on his torso running down from the back of his. The last figure is an extremely tall skeleton dressed in formal attire complete with top hat and cane and an afro. These eight figures were the other members of the _'Mugiwara no Ichimi'_. Funny how a crew of only nine pirates were able to conquer the greatest sea in the world, while whole armadas were unable to do such a deed.

The reindeer was crying quite clearly, not even trying to stop the tears flowing, if such a thing was even possible for the reindeer. It seemed to be blaming itself for the current situation. "Why, Luffy?! Why couldn't you wait until I found a cure?" It choked out, while trying to reign in the snot that would leave its nose.

"Chopper, it isn't your fault." The long nosed male told the reindeer. Having kneeled down as to hug the reindeer, he tried to calm him down, not able to keep his own tears from flowing. "Luffy detested sitting still and doing nothing. He would have never wanted to be dependent of a medicine, which would restrict his freedom even if it was for the smallest of margins."

Lighting his cigarette, the blond haired man seems to take a small drag before letting it out. Turning towards the women, he started talking to them with concern in his voice. "Robin-chan, Nami-chan, maybe you shouldn't be …"

"It's alright, Sanji-kun." The orange haired girl, Nami, interrupted while shaking her head, tears coming out her eyes, "The least I can do is watch his last moments." The other woman, Robin, simply nodded, agreeing with Nami. A small smile adorned her face with tears starting to form in her eyes, but she refuses to let them out. She knows that she still needs to fulfill her captain's last request before everything would end.

The green haired man said nothing, refusing to show any weakness as the First Mate, while tightening the grip on the sword that was sheathed in a white scabbard. Behind him the cyborg cries rivers of tears, all the while trying to deny it as real men don't cry. Next to the cyborg, the skeleton tilts its head so that it gazes at the dark sky that now consists of black clouds without a singly ray of sun. Laughing softly the skeleton seems to whisper something to itself, but is clearly heard by the whole crew. "Yohoho, it seems that mother heaven is also grieving."

Their thoughts were interrupted when they noticed that the whole crowd, which was buzzing with excitement quieted down. Looking down they saw their captain, sitting cross-legged, his eyes still obscured by the strawhat and his mouth still obscured by the cloth. Standing at either side of their captain they could see two armed men, each carrying a long bladed sword. Suddenly a person stepped forward, carrying with him a scroll of some sorts. Opening the scroll, the person grabs the _Den Den Mushi_ next to him before speaking into it, his voice carrying through the whole plaza.

"_Nidai Kaizoku-Ō_ Monkey D. _Mugiwara no_ Luffy, son of _'Kakumeika'_ Monkey D. Dragon, and grandson of _Kaigun no Eiyū_ (8) Monkey D. Garp. Bounty, 666.000.000 Beli's, you are hereby sentenced for following crimes." This got anyone who was making any noise silent, whether they be there personally or viewing the broadcast.

"Destroying _Shihō no Shima_ (9), Enies Lobby."

"Personally punching a _Tenryuubito_ (10) and dishonoring two others."

"Breaking out of _'Kaitei Dai Kangoku'_ (11) Impel Down."

"Wreaking havoc at _Marine Headquarters_."

"Killing '_Bōkun'_ (12) Barthomelow Kuma."

"Killing Dracule '_Taka no Me'_ (13) Mihawk."

"Killing Fleet-Admiral Sakazuki _'Akainu'_ (14)."

"You have been found guilty for all of these charges and your punishment has been decided upon. Public execution!" As the word 'execution' is spoken, the two guards position their swords as to make a cross in front of Monkey D. Luffy. "Any last words!?" The person asked, knowing that with the cloth in his mouth, the Second Pirate King won't be able to say a word and thus they will be able to prevent him from performing the same act as three decades ago. It seemed that one person in the crowd hadn't seen the cloth, or choose to ignore it, as a yell coursed through the crowd that was the harbinger to all of the trouble they are now in with all these pirates walking around.

"Oi, Pirate King! Where did you hide your treasure?!" As the yell went through the plaza, the guards had already positioned their swords to strike. Imagine their shock as they were engulfed by hands that sprouted on their limbs, stopping them from delivering the finishing blow. The only thing they could do was watch with horror in their eyes as a hand sprouted on Monkey D. Luffy's face and took the cloth out of his mouth. Then out of nowhere Luffy started laughing loudly, his laugh filled with mirth and warmth, not the kind of emotion one would have when their dead was standing next to them. "My treasure? My treasure will do me no good anymore seeing that I'll do, no?" He asked the question rhetorically, the person who listed the crimes, as well as the guards could only watch in horror as the scene from 33 years ago would unfold itself once again.

"My treasure is for you to grab, it is for you to take. Do with it what you want! I left everything in the same place, all in One Piece!" At the end of the second to last sentence a gust of wind blew over his face, blowing his strawhat away and showing his eyes for the world to see, shocking many who did not know him. Those eyes did not carry a single ounce of fear, all they held were excitement, excitement for the next adventure that their carrier would go through. When the word 'piece' left his mouth, the arms disappeared in a twirl of petals, letting go of guards and allowing them to pierce their prisoner. At the same time a raindrop fell on top of Luffy's hair, followed by another and another, before the whole plaza was subjected to the rain. No cared about the rain, no one cared about wetness it carried with it, no all the people cared about was to celebrate, knowing that the world's greatest treasure still existed, and was possible even bigger with the second Pirate King's own share.

Those who look at Monkey D. Luffy would see that his eyes were closed and a face splitting smile on his face, almost as if he spitting the Marines in the face as they couldn't even make him cow before his own dead. The hat that had been carried by the wind was soon carried over to the _'Mugiwara no Ichimi'_, to be more specified, right on top of the orange haired woman's head. Gently grabbing the sides of the hat, she tries to pull the hat down over her eyes as tears stream out like never before. Deciding to speak for the first time they arrived, the green haired man turns towards his fellow crewmembers. "So, how about we jump down there and grab our captain's body." He said with a grin forming on his face and a voice filled with bloodlust. Nodding their heads at his suggestion the others grabbed their weapons, those who have them, or readied themselves to go berserk on anyone that would dare to step in between them and their captain. As one they jumped down from the building, each determined to grab Luffy and bury him right he belonged, next to his brother in all but blood.

As all of this was going on, a boy was born on an island in the South Blue. This baby boy was brought in the world at the exact time when Monkey D. Luffy's heartbeat stopped. The boy's name would one day be called by the whole world, either in awe or in fear. His name, Leopard D. Drake.

-x-x-x-

(1) First Pirate King

(2) Second Pirate King

(3) Seven Warlords of the Sea

(4) Surgeon of Death

(5) Star Clown

(6) Red Haired

(7) The Revolutionary

(8) White Hunter

(9) Hero of the Marines

(10) The Judicial Island

(11) The Great Underwater Prison

(12) Tyrant

(13) Hawk-Eyes

(14) Red Dog

**Advert of Time:** I hope the edit was satisfactory and looks less like a rushed thing. I have no idea when the next edited chapter will come out, with my summer job and studying for my redo exam but I hope to publish it tomorrow or the day after at least. Also, anyone willing to compare with the first version is my guest, 'because I won't delete the story, I want to keep the reviews in case I feel like using any of the given characters that I at first wasn't planning to use. See ya.


	2. South Blue Arc: Chapter One

**Advert of Time:** Without further ado, the first real chapter of _New 3_ is available. Also still searching for a beta reader.

**Edited: 21/08/2013**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any character, Devil Fruit, technique, quote, etc. from Canon One Piece.

Anything else is either owned by me, or by those who were so kind to give me ideas/characters/etc.

I do not own Harry Potter.

"Glory" ~ Talking

"_To the"_ ~ Thinking

"**Kingdom"** ~ Technique

-x-x-x-

**South Blue Arc: Chapter One – Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus**

-x-x-x-

It has been 17 years since the execution of the _Nidai Kaizoku-Ō_ Monkey D. Luffy which was the catalyst of the _'The Platinum Pirate Age'_ where we situate ourselves in. The plan of the _World Government_ to stop piracy by executing one of them on the highest place on the chain failed; again, you would think they learned from their faults. The plan not only failed, it backfired and gave pirates the inspiration, the drive, and the will to risk their lives if it would mean getting their hands on the world's greatest treasure. The _Marines_ retaliated by increasing the strength of their forces, not only in quantity but also in quality, in order to stop any and all roaming pirates that were not affiliated to their own organization. Their forces have increased in such strength that the _'East Blue'_, while still the 'weakest', is no longer alone in its lack of quality pirates. Due to the fear that one of its children has put in the normal people, the _'South Blue'_ has received the most placements of _'Marines'_. While the amount of pirates is quite low in this sea, ironically those who do take the chance to enter the _'Grand Line'_ are more often than not the most troublesome. It is from this sea that a newcomer will enter the fray for the great treasure and unlike his predecessor with the yellow strawhat, this newcomer isn't afraid to go over corpses.

On one of the islands within the _'South Blue'_, '_Rash Island'_, a seventeen year old boy was strolling over the streets or _'Rash Town'_. The boy was quite tall, for a normal human teen that is, standing at a height of 6 feet and 3 inches (190, 50 cm). On top of his head the boy had white/grayish hair, that was mostly an untamable mess, though that had only to do with the fact the boy barely tried. His hair was long enough to touch the boy's shoulders with its tips, while two bangs framed his face. The boy's eyes were an ocean blue that seemed to possess no emotion except for boredom and annoyance. His face was set in an emotionless form, which could be mistaken as tired. The young male's clothing was nothing special, it consisted of loose, black pants that would allow him to kick over his own head without any restriction, and a dark blue, short sleeved muscle shirt that seemed to hug his body and slightly show off his six-pack as well as his biceps. Lastly the teen was wearing your run of the mill, ordinary black shoes with a sword hanging on his back.

The boy's name was Leopard D. Drake, self-proclaimed orphan, yes self-proclaimed, simply due to the fact that he never saw either of his parents after the age of five. The only thing he had that was closely similar to a family was the town's waitress/barkeeper who had taken him in at the age of six, and the village's elder, who was somewhat of a grandfather. As he walked Drake had to force himself from not lashing out to anyone that looked at him in fear, or those who shot a look of pity in his direction. Luckily Drake's destination was nearby and gave him the opportunity to ignore any of these fools that were walking on the streets. As he entered the bar, the white haired teen notices that the bar is completely empty with the exception of a waitress that was cleaning some glasses behind the counter. Walking calmly towards the counter, Drake takes the seat in front of the woman, before placing his bored looking face in his palm.

Putting her glass away, the woman bends down so that she could be on eye level with the teen, her face marring a small, gentle smile. "This is unlike you, Drake. What's bothering you?" She gently asks him. Redirecting his gaze from the bottles of liquor to the woman, he briefly takes in her appearance. Chestnut brown hair pulled back in a knot with two bangs surrounding her face, each tip touching her cheeks. Dark green eyes filled with mirth. She was wearing a forest green dress with a skirt over it. The most distracting part of her, well to any man but Drake as he saw her as his mother figure, were her D-cupped breast. This woman was both this bar's owner as well as its only waitress, Oerbelle Akin. Refocusing his sight on her eyes he simply sighs at the curiosity in them. "The only thing that is bothering me is those crappy villagers that keep staring at me as if I'm a fucking time bomb, about to go off at any moment. Add to the fact that the old man elder decided to ban me from the forest, the only place where I don't feel like an animal stared at, you get a pretty irritated me." He told her with an annoyed hint in his voice.

Giggling at his problems, Akin tried to at the very least lift his spirits up.

"Maybe you should…" She started but was suddenly interrupted when the door of the bar flew open, allowing a handful of pirates to enter the establishment. The leader of the group was quite obvious; he was big, vertical and horizontal, standing at a man of 6 feet 9 inches (205, 74 cm). He was muscular, well his arms were, the man's body though was the standard beer stomach from someone who did nothing but drink alcohol and exercised way too little. And he smelled like a swine, can't forget that little detail. Walking up to the counter the leader ignores Drake and grabs Akin by the chin with one of his hands. A lecherous grin growing on his face, showing that the man lost some teeth and those that remained were nothing to be proud of even. Was that a piece of ham he saw in one of the teeth openings? His thoughts were interrupted when the foul man began to speak.

"Oi, Ojō-chan (1), what are you doing with the boy? Perhaps I and my friends should show you how to handle a real man." He laughed slightly as his eyes seemed to be undressing the woman before him. "I mean, how could a wimpy little kid like him stand up to someone like me?" He asked rhetorically, laughing at his own jab and quickly followed by his friends. Now, one thing anyone knows is to never judge a book by its cover, especially if the book can bite back and kick ass. Already being pissed by the villagers and with pent up energy without any relief, one can quickly make the connection with Drake's next action. Akin, who had been struggling in the man's grip, had quickly stopped before looking with wide eyes, filled with a bit of fear at the teen, hoping to all that was holy, and unholy, that he would repress his anger. While a part of her told her that the man would get what he deserved, that was but a whisper to the worry that coursed through her as she feared what the teen would do to the man.

Luckily for the man Drake was able to reel in his anger, for the moment. "Ossan (2)," Drake started, the shadow of his hair obscuring his eyes from view, something which Akin took as a sign that he was at least trying to solve this peacefully. "… we would be truly grateful if you took your filthy pawns of the lady and make sure your sorry ass is out of here within the next ten seconds." While many who lived in _'Rash Town'_ would have already left the building from the tone of the voice alone, the big man obviously didn't. In fact it seemed to simply anger him, and while he did fulfill the first requirement by pushing Akin backwards, making her stumble, he sure as hell didn't do the second one. "Now listen here kid, do you have any idea who the hell I am? I'm the first mate of the Johnny Pirates, whose captain carries a bounty of _**8.000.000 beli's**_ on his head! You really think you should… What the hell are you muttering?" As he asked the question, the tagalongs could see Drake's mouth moving slightly. Straining their ears they could hear some numbers coming from the boy, sounding suspiciously as if he was counting down.

"… three … two … one … zero …" At the word 'zero' Drake acted swiftly, twirling on his chair and delivering a stomach straight in the fat man's stomach. Before the man, his tagalongs, or Akin could even comprehend what happened, the man was already send flying backwards despite the fact he was twice as large as Drake. Crashing through the door, the man gritted his teeth at the impact. When he landed on the main street, he started coughing some blood. _"What?! How! I am wearing a foot thick metal plate under my shirt!"_ Pulling his shirt up to look what the brat had done, he did not except what he saw. His metal plate was bended, the implant of a fist created right in the middle of it. Shaking his head at the absurdness of a kid punching through metal, the man decided to run back to the ship. He may be ugly, but he wasn't stupid, well when it came to his survival that was. He needed back up, and he needed it bad. Smart move, useless, but smart nonetheless.

Inside the bar the man's friends had decided to revenge their leader for the shame this boy had put him through, poor fools. They were barely able to grab their weapons before Drake reacted. The first thing he did was dash forward between the men to reach the one on the farthest back. Widening his eyes, the man aimed his gun straight at Drake. Just as he was about to pull the trigger the boy disappeared from his view. _"Huh? I could have sworn-"_ His thoughts were interrupted when he received a bone shattering punch to his spine, sending him flying through the counter and in the brackets where the glasses were situated. Luckily he didn't have to travel through a wall with glass shards in his body, unluckily his spine was broken so badly he would never be able to move any part of his body unless treated immediately, but with the glass in his throat that wouldn't do him much now would it?

Shocked on how fast their pall was taken down the other three pirates where unprepared for what happened next. Having positioned himself right behind his next victim, Drake pulled back his leg, before lashing out with the limb and striking his victim in the side with enough force to send him skipping in his friend's sword that logged itself in the man's stomach. Without any warning the one guy that unintentionally stabbed a crewmember felt two hands grab his head. Fear crept through his body as he wondered what the boy – no monster! That was all it was, a damn monster! – would do to him. Hoping that he could get away with begging he decided to do just that. "P-p-please, let me-" Snap. "Urk …" The man wasn't even allowed to finish his sentence as Drake had already snapped the man's neck, making the man's head do one eighty degrees.

Letting go of the now dead man's neck, letting it fall on the ground like a marionette that lost its strings. Changing his gaze at the last living member Drake calmly walks over to him, his eyes having been hidden through the whole exchange. The man attempted to crawl away from him, yes crawl seeing that he lost any and all functions of his lower body after seeing three of his friends slaughtered in cold blood. _"That wasn't a fight! That was a fucking massacre! What is this guy!?"_ Bending over slightly Drake grabs the last living member by the neck before lifting him up high enough that the member was no longer able to touch the floor with his feet.

"Well then…" The boy – monster damnit! – started. "… mind showing me your ship's location …" It wasn't the sentence itself that send a shiver through the pirates back; it wasn't the casual way he said it, almost as if he didn't kill anyone. No, it was the smile on the brat's face that made him fear for his and his crewmembers fate. That smile showed that the monster enjoyed any single action it did, and it made him realize one thing. "… I do need visit your crew and thank them for their entertainment." They should have never set foot on this island, they were completely and utterly fucked as the Grim Reaper would be quite busy cleaning house with the pirate crew.

Hidden from view and forgotten by anyone was Akin, who had huddled herself in a little ball, with her eyes closed and her hands over her ears. She knew it was too good to be true, knew that the boy who was like a son to her would never forgive those who treated her like that. But, but, they didn't deserve to die! No matter what, she knew the boy would always protect her from harm, but knowing that he could harm her just as easily made her fear him even the tiniest of bits. Suddenly she felt a hand on her head, one that was surprisingly dry and clean. Opening one eye she looked straight in the grinning face of Drake.

"It's alright Akin. You won't have to fear me any longer. Today was my last day on the island. I'll just leave a farewell gift." Offering her a smile, Drake rights himself before looking at the damage he did to the bar. Ruffling in his pocket he pulls out a few bills and puts them in her hand. "Here, for the damage … Now then, time to pay a visit to this pirate crew. I believe the guy told me they were east from here." As she looked at the bills in her hand she never heard him leave the bar. Just as she was planning on going after him, she stopped immediately as she saw what he did with the last member. His neck was broken in a way that it made his head lay on his right shoulder. Seeing his dead body, Akin's face went ghostly pale. Trying to ignore the man she hurries out of the bar, intent on informing the elder of this development, all the while feeling sorry for those pirates who messed with the wrong guy.

-x-x-x-

**East outskirts**

Nothing could be seen on the bare land east from _'Rash Town'_ except for a ship big enough to fit around fifty men. The ship was an ordinary brown with two masts with white sails that are rolled up for the moment. The figure head of the ship was nothing special, the face and shoulders of a mermaid. Although it looks like any normal ship, inhabitants of _'Rash Island'_ tended to steer clear from it due to the fact that one is able to see the Jolly Roger, a smiling skull with two clubs instead of bones, on top of the masts. The captain of the ship looked just like his first mate, the only differences being that the captain was far more muscled than his brother. At the moment though said captain was rather annoyed for some reason. Looking at one of his minions the irritated man decides to find an answer for his annoyance.

"You! Any idea where First Mate Taru is?" He asked in a growl, showing that if he didn't get a positive answer the crewmember would get a negative reaction. The crewmember crossed his arms and closed his eyes, trying to remember where he saw the First Mate last. Opening his eyes, the man gazes at his captain. "I'm sure I saw him and four of our men heading to town. Something about refusing to sit around when he could drink." Putting his fingers on his temple, Captain Otagari Johnny started massaging them in the hope of calming down. _"Why did I not only get a lazy, good for nothing brother, but also a retarded, lazy, good for nothing, ugly younger brother."_ Dismissing the crewmember Johnny starts wondering how he should show his brother just why HE was the captain.

His thoughts were interrupted by a shout that sounded familiar to his brother. Aiming his gaze at the panting and sweating form of the guy, Johnny had to wonder what was wrong. His brother never did any exercise unless it accounted to drinking, having sex with hookers or swinging his club to beat people. Before Taru was able to speak, Johnny beat him to it. "Who do you think you are, ignoring my orders to stay on the ship?" Johnny asked threatening. Flinching at his older brother's tone, Taru decided to calm down with a few more intakes of air. "I'm sorry for disrespecting you, but we've got a problem. Some punk in town decided it was wise to pick a fight with me. After a fight that destroyed the bar we were situated in, I decided to retreat seeing as the punk was capable of denting my armor. The others volunteered to buy me some time to get backup." Well the story had some false truths in it: 1) Drake didn't pick the fight, they did. 2) There wasn't a fight, it was a one sided massacre, albeit Taru doesn't know that last bit. 3) The other members didn't volunteer, he left them to their fate, and Fate was having a vacation at the moment.

As he heard his brother talk about their little adventure in the town, Johnny couldn't stop a shiver that travelled up his spine. Now, Johnny was able to live for a decent time as a pirate and all of that was thanks to his gut. And his gut was telling him that this 'punk' was anything but normal, simply because he was able to dent Taru's metal plate. Contemplating on what they would do next, Johnny barely heard the sound of a yell. Pulled out of his thoughts he listens to whatever reason the yell originated from. "I asked you once, and I'll ask it again. Beat it kid before we decide to send you back to your mother-" Slash "Urk…" The yell was stopped by the sound of something sharp slicing through meat. Turning his head to the commotion, Johnny saw one of his man slumped down on the ground with a blood leaking out of his throat. Standing in front of the now dead man, Johnny saw a boy taller than 6 feet, with white hair, standing with a drawn sword in his right hand, a sword that had blood dripping of its metal.

Before he could say anything, Johnny was beaten to it by his brother. "That's the punk I was talking about! But, how the hell did he know we were here? And where the fuck are the others?" Noticing those facts as well, Johnny directed his gaze to the brat that looked back at him with his eyes closed and a smile on his face. It seemed that the teen heard Taru's comment as the white haired teen started chuckling softly. "Well, those guys are… unable to move any part of their body… forever. They were rather boring and failed as a frustration relief, so I decided; why not finish off the ass that was the reason to my current anger. 'Lo and behold he offered more entertainment for little old me." The casual way the teen was talking about fighting them made some of the more weak minded sweat slightly. Letting his head dip slightly, the teen's eyes got hidden by his white hair, the teen whispered one thing. "Don't die too quickly." And that was the one and only warning they got before all hell broke loose on the ship.

Without any warning Drake dashed forward towards the closest members. Gotten completely off guard, the eleven members were unprepared from Drake's assault. The first five lost either their right arm and left leg, or left arm and right leg, letting them bleed out to dead as blood gushed out of the two severed limbs. The next three lost their heads, while the last members were slashed in their stomach, except for the eleventh member, the slash deep enough to let their insides fall out of the wound. The eleventh member was stabbed in the heart, with Drake's face straight in front of him, which scared the crap of the member seeing as Drake was giving him a pretty bloodlust filled smile. All of this happened in the span of three seconds.

Twisting his sword while he pulled it out the man's chest, Drake was already searching for his next victim. Finding some crewmembers running away in fear of what happened to their friends. Or was it Drake's face? _"Ooh, they wanna play hunter and hunted, how cute."_ Were Drake's thoughts before he followed after them, deciding to toy with them so that he could relish more in the killing of these worthless human beings. While this was happening Johnny was frozen in his spot. How? How could a kid do this to his crew? How could a kid slaughter his crew like they were cattle while grown up men twice the brat's age couldn't?! Luckily Johnny proved just why he was the smarter of the two brothers by controlling his emotions while trying to formulate a plan to take down the brat. Sadly the same couldn't be said about his brother.

Otagari Taru was many things, he was ugly, stupid, lecherous, disrespectful to anyone – even his brother at times – and neglected when he was a child. It was why he followed his brother anywhere, not because the guy could kill him at a whim, but because his brother had given him something even their parents didn't, acknowledgement. Otagari Johnny let him know he wasn't alone, he praised Taru when praise was due, yelled at him when he did something stupid and laughed with him and the other crewmembers after they ransacked a random village and took what they wanted. Seeing the crew that his brother created with his bare hands getting slaughtered by a little brat was too much for the man.

Grabbing the club that was on his hip, the man yelled out loud as he ran at Drake's back, just as the teen cut the throat of his twenty-ninth victim. Ignoring his brother's cry for him to stop, Taru was too far gone in his anger to focus on anything but wanting to crush the brat that was slaughtering his brother's crew. Just as he reached the teen, Taru threw his club over his head before swinging it down in front of him planning to crush the white haired punk like an insect. Hearing the satisfying sound of hitting a body with his club, Taru grins knowing he brought down this white haired menace. As he lifted his club to see in what state the brat was; Taru was unprepared for what he saw. There wasn't a white haired kid; there wasn't even a kid on the spot where he hit. All that he saw was the crushed body of one of his friends, one of the oldest members of the crew safe for the two brothers themselves.

Too preoccupied by upcoming thoughts of denial that no, he didn't kill one of his own crew, Taru never noticed Drake taking his sweet time shoving his sword through the man's own mouth, that was wide open in shock and denial, and exiting through the back of his head. Giving a cold smile at the man that was the trigger to all of the bloodshed, Drake twirls his sword in the man's head so that the blade is positioned horizontally. Without any hesitation Drake pulled his sword out of the man's head by slashing from the mouth to the ear and exiting that way. Spinning on his heel, Drake ducks at the same time and easily dodges Johnny club that was aimed to take his head. Jumping backwards for a few feet, Drake gave the enraged Johnny the same closed mouth smile that he had been carrying during the whole slaughter.

"You bastard!" The man yelled, tears starting to form in the man's eyes.

"What did we ever do to deserve this? What did my brother and men do to you in the town?! Did they kill your family? Raped your girlfriend? Harm a child?! WHAT DID THEY DO!?"

The man yelled at Drake, tears streaming down his face as he saw the dead body of his brother. The man just couldn't understand why anyone would do such a thing as performing a slaughter of this magnitude. Johnny always tried to keep his crew in the hand so they wouldn't do something that was so morally wrong even a pirate would be haunted by it. Drake's smile disappeared from his face, replaced by a raised eyebrow, followed by a shrug of his shoulders. "They annoyed me."

"…" Johnny lost it then and there. This kid, this brat, this bloodthirsty monster in human skin was killing all of them just for the hell of it? Just because his brother and crew ANNOYED this brat?! Charging forward with club held up high, just like his brother, Johnny attempted to crush the teen with his club just as his brother attempted. Instead of hitting flesh though, Johnny clearly heard the sound of cracking wood. He immediately searched for the brat that escaped him, completely ignoring the small amount of blood that was starting to gather on his chest. Hearing a yell from behind him, Johnny turned his head to see that whatever that was left of his crew had been slain as well. Some missed limbs; others had holes in them, probably shot by a gun the teen stole from his members.

Looking at the teen that had brought an end to his crew, Johnny started walking at the teen like a man possessed; his movements making his body sway from side to side. The smile on the brat's face was starting to make him angrier and angrier. His thoughts only consisting of 'crush', 'smash' and 'kill'. Said thoughts were interrupted when he heard a steady beat coming from somewhere. The sound bringing some part of intelligence back to his brain, Johnny noticed that the sound came from in front of him, from the brat. Focusing his gaze at the teen's outstretched hand; the man saw something that made all thoughts return to him.

Resting in Drake's outstretched hand was a living, beating, red colored human heart. A heart whose beating started to lessen and lessen as time stretched on. Suddenly feeling dampness at his chest Johnny looked down at his shirt, seeing that a growing patch of red was growing every second. As his brain realized the fact his body was missing a very important organ, Johnny's sight became more blurry and his breathing more difficult. "Give… give it … it back…" He stuttered, barely able to speak louder than a yell. The grin on Drake's face only grew, showing off his teeth, and his eyes opened, showing pure coldness in them, as if Johnny wasn't even anyone important to his time. Lifting his arm and making a grabbing motion with his hand, Johnny tried to beg again. "Please… give… me back… my he-" He wasn't even able to finish his sentence as Drake crushed the man's heart in front of him at the same time that the man's body stopped functioning without the organ.

Walking towards the dead captain, Drake crouches and places the heart in the man's outstretched palm. "Here you go. All you had to do was be polite." The teen said in a happy tone, dismissing the fact that he heartlessly killed the man in front of him and his whole crew. Giving himself a good once over Drake was a bit annoyed to note that he would need to change clothes before he can set out. Shrugging at the minor detail, Drake turns on his heel and walks towards the exit of the ship, his hands in his pockets, sword cleaned and back in its sheath on his back, whistling a jolly tune as he walked back to town.

-x-x-x-

**Rash Town, 45 minutes later**

Having taken a shower while he was at it, Drake walked through the town's center, a satisfied emotion on his face and not caring for any of the looks he got from the people on the streets. Walking to the exit of the town, which also acted as an entrance and harbor, Drake was contemplating on whether or not to tell the elder or Akin about his departure. He shook his head at the thought. _"Heh, with what I just did I doubt they'd let me go just like that. I left a note at home anyway."_ Chuckling to himself at the thought Drake noticed that he was all alone in the harbor. Smiling at the fact no one would be able to annoy him any longer, the teen walked towards a small boat that was had enough space for two grown men and their provisions for two weeks, but could be steered by one person.

Throwing the bag he had on his person inside the cabin that he claimed at his, Drake fixes his head on the sea in front of him. Letting the wind carry the open sail, Drake stood at the helm of the ship with a chart in his hand and a compass hanging around his neck. As he left the harbor and entered the real, open and vast sea did Drake laugh heartily with childish joy in his voice. "Well then… World! Prepare yourself! Your greatest headache and royal pain in the ass has just entered the fray, hahahaha!"

Around the world many noticeable figures suddenly felt something tingle in the back of their head. But the sensation was so small, so unimportant that they all dismissed it as an itch. They will soon know that this itch would soon become even harder to get rid of than the greatest, hardheaded diseases someone could think of.

-x-x-x-

(1) Young Lady

(2) Old man

**Advert of Time:** Maybe dark, oh well I always liked some bloodshed. Note that Drake is only this merciless when dealing with cannon fodder, after all: _"Weaklings can't pick their way of death." ~ Trafalgar Law_. Those who are able to make him put real effort in his fighting gain his respect and he lessens his bloodlust. Well onto more important matters: Drake's appearance and the change of not eating a Devil Fruit (only those who read the original story would know this, so if you didn't, just skip the second part).

First his appearance: for something more visual I would propose to compare him a bit with Allen Walker from D. Gray-Man, well only the face though.

Secondly his not eating any Devil Fruit: I decided to make him eat it earlier in his life seeing that I would probably get someone to bitch about Drake being too experienced or too overpowered or too blablabla, as a newbie Devil Fruit User.

For those wondering, yes the chapter's title is the motto of Hogwarts. Also Chapter 3 will be updated next week or so, as there is a four day festival going on where I'm going that is starting tomorrow.

**The … Pirates**

**TOTAL BOUNTY: 0,00 Beri**

**MEMBERS**

**Captain – **Drake _(0,00 Beri)_

**First Mate – …**

**Navigator – …**

**Sniper – …**

**Shipwright – …**

**Cook – …**

**Doctor – …**

**Musician – …**

**Swordsman – …**

**Archeologist – …**


	3. South Blue Arc: Chapter Two

_**Advert of Time:**_ Chapter three, nothing much to say about it except for two things. Still searching for a beta reader. Secondly, answering the reviews.

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**MelonDroplet:** Well I'm still experimenting with the timing on when to put the text in the paragraph and when not. I believe it to be quite redundant making a new paragraph for one sentence. But I'll try to use i this chapter.

**Kusoshitsuri:** I let Luffy keep his hat for two simple reasons. Firstly, I can't seem to imagine him without the hat. Secondly, I believe that when Luffy and Shanks meet, Shanks will let Luffy keep the hat for reasons such as fulfilling his promise, or having earned it.

Regarding your second question I send you a PM to prevent spoiling for the others who didn't/don't figure it out or just to figure it out themselves. Unless more people ask for it it'll stay our little secret ;)

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**Edited: 27/08/2013 ~ Un-beta-ed**

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**Disclaimer:** I do not own any character, Devil Fruit, technique, quote, etc. from Canon One Piece.

Anything else is either owned by me, or by those who were so kind to give me ideas/characters/etc.

I do not own Freddy Krueger.

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"Glory" ~ Talking

"_To the"_ ~ Thinking

"**Kingdom"** ~ Technique

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**South Blue Arc: Chapter Two – The cat's out of the bag**

-x-x-x-

The day started just like any other day. The moon and the stars were driven away by the rising of that huge ball of light called the sun, also known as an abomination that they will bring down one day by not-morning people. The dark sky lightened up, showing the blue sky and plenty of white clouds. The wind picked up, as if jolted awake by the sun, albeit it was just a bit more than a breeze. The sea gained its light blue color back, the waves gently carrying any boat that passed by. Speaking about boats, one could see a decent sized boat floating in the sea, not moving from its spot and showing that the anchor has been tossed overboard. The ship was big enough to board two grown up men with enough and their provision for a couple of weeks. It was also small enough to be manned by the one person that is boarding the ship. Said person had just woken up due to the sunlight filling his room.

Grunting in annoyance, the person throws the sheets of off him and stands up. As he was stretching to kink out any stiff muscle we can notice that the person is definitely a young male, due to the very distinct lack of breasts. Untamable white hair rested on top of his head with two bags framing his face. His blue eyes had a tint of annoyance at being awakened at such an early time of the day. His sleeping attire consisted of his boxers, showing of his muscled body consisting of a six pack and biceps. His muscles weren't the same kind of a body builder's though; they were lithe and compact, comparable with the one of a gymnastic. Finishing his stretches, the teen crouches; puts his hands behind his head, making a triangle; his toes on the floor and straightens his body and imitating a plank. After a couple of seconds Leopard D. Drake starts with his first morning exercise: push-ups.

-x-x-x-

One hour of doing push-ups, sit-ups and other exercises and cleaning himself up later, the teen decided to have some breakfast. The teen, clad in a white, buttoned shirt with the three upper buttons open; dark green shorts that hanging loosely on his legs and on his back a sword with a black handle in a sheath of the same color, walked towards the room with all of the food. Looking in his provisions the teen decides to grab some bread, ham, cheese and water. While it wasn't much, it was all he could afford to grab with him in a boat that didn't have fridge, something he should change as soon as possible. Having finished his meal in matter of minutes and cleaning his used utilities, the teen walked on the deck. Looking around the teen could see that there were no other ships around, the sky was clear with some cloud passing by now and then, the sea was calm and there was a gentle wind.

It was the perfect weather to sailing. Nodding to himself, the teen turns on his heels in order to consult the map that lay in his room. Before he could get far, Drake noticed in the corner of his eye that the sea on his left side seemed to be parting for something that is surfacing. Turning his head in its direction, Drake already positions his body in case of an attack.

Surfacing out of the water, Drake saw what he could identify as an eel. A big eel, in fact the eel's head alone was bigger than a soccer ball. The eel seemed to have noticed him as well as its eyes snapped towards him. Without any indication of moving its body, the eel swims right at Drake, its teeth showing. Raising an eyebrow at the animal's action, Drake shook his head slightly. Grabbing a hold of his sword's handle, the white haired teen walks towards the edge of the ship where the eel will more than likely hit. The eel jumps out of the water a few feet before colliding with the ship, and as gravity grabs a hold of the eel, it opens its mouth planning on eating Drake. It was in for a surprise.

A foot at most away from eating the teen, Drake takes a step to the left while pulling his sword up, whose blade pointed upwards, and effectively cuts the head of the eel as it passes by him. He then kicks the body away from him and the ship so that it wouldn't be covered in the eel's blood. Right where the eel landed in the water a pool of red started appearing in it, which Drake ignored as he already started walking back to his room.

Opening the door of his room, Drake doesn't have any problem with finding the map he needs due to the fact his room is quite spartan in its design: a bed, a desk, a bookcase and a holder for his sword. Opening the map and grabbing the compass that lay on the desk, Drake tried to find out his current position after leaving his hometown yesterday. It took him some time as navigation was not really his best subject. After finding his location, Drake searches for the closest island. He notices that the closest island is situated south, at most an hour sailing, from his position. _"'Tree Island?' Can't say I've heard of it."_ Shrugging his shoulders, Drake walks out of the room, compass hanging at his neck, towards mast. Climbing to the top of the mast, Drake unfastens the sails and instead of just letting them go, he grabs the end and jumps down with it. Tying the sails he then walks towards the right front size of the boat and grabs the chain of the anchor. Pulling the anchor up, he stores it in a little space beneath the deck for the anchor. He then runs to the wheel, takes one look at his compass, and positions himself to sail towards his destination, _'Tree Island'_.

-x-x-x-

**Tree Island**

Nearing the harbor of the island in front of him, Drake notices that a lot of boats are tied up to the pier, well compared to the pier that is. Among those boats a large ship is placed as well. The ship has dark red wood and black sails that are rolled up to the two masts. On top of each of these masts one can see dark flags with a default Jolly Roger. Drake could only sigh at the ship's flag, immediately knowing that these pirates were wannabes who couldn't find any other work. Disgraces to all the pirates in the world. Deciding to let them be and not willing to start another massacre, Drake ignores the ship in favor of making sure his own boat is tied to the pier.

Pulling at the rope for good measures one more time, Drake jumps of his ship onto the wooden pier. Looking around he tries to find a way to get to the town that is ought to be nearby. Spotting an elderly man sitting on a crate, Drake decides to ask him for some directions. Minding his tone to be polite and not to receive the ire of an old man, something quite fearful after dealing with his own town's elder, Drake crouches down to be at an eye level of the elderly.

"Excuse me, sir?" Drake addresses the man.

The man, who seemed to be dozing off, upon being addressed, blearily looks around before spotting the pair of ocean blue eyes staring at him. Guessing that this youngster won't be as annoying and disrespectful as those pirates that passed by earlier, the elder politely answers Drake. "Yes, youngster?"

Giving the elder a small grin, Drake gets straight to the point. "Could you point me in the direction of the nearest town?"

Nodding his head, the elder points his finger to Drake's back. "You turn around and just follow the path. That'll lead you straight to the harbor town."

Shaking his head once up and down slightly to show he understood, Drake stands up and follows the man's direction. As he walked, Drake lifted his hand up and waved to the elderly behind him without turning his head. "Thanks old man."

After a few minutes of walking, Drake could see the entrance of the town. Above the entrance one can see a placket showing the name of its town: _'Root Town'_. Barely looking at the sign Drake focuses his attention at the people walking around the street. While they looked as casual as can be Drake could see the slight worry in their eyes as they neared a certain bar, as well as see relief when they passed the bar without anything happen. Drake really didn't want to get into another fight after those last pirates he slaughtered. Sadly he needed information about any possible fridges that may be sold here. What better place than the bar? When he was about 5 feet from the entrance he was suddenly stopped by a voice that sounded behind him.

Turning his head slightly to the left, Drake saw a little girl that couldn't be older than seven years. The girl had leaf green hair that was put in two pigtails, wearing a yellow dress with a flower pattern and flip flops at her feet. The girl stood at a small height of 4 feet 2 inches and her black eyes were looking at him with a bit of fear. Grouching down so that won't be too intimidating to the small girl, Drake tilts his head slightly to the side in wonder.

"Yes? Is something wrong?" Drake asked her, a blank look on his face.

"U-uhm," The girl started nervously, blushing slightly at her stuttering. "are you here to hurt us as well?" The girl asked him, her face turned slightly to the right and her eyes refusing to meet his.

Raising his left eyebrow Drake decided to answer with another question. "And why would I do that?" His eyebrow staying up.

Pushing her fingers together in shame, the girl stammers her answer. "B-b-because the other p-people with w-weapons hurt my f-friend." Tears started to form in the corners of her eyes as he watches her look at the sword on his back.

Sighing mentally, Drake shakes his head. "No, I'm not going to hurt anyone. Unless they deserve it of course."

Believing his answer to be good enough, Drake stands up and turns on his heel in order to enter the bar. Just before he could touch the doorknob, the door broke and a body crashed into him. Unprepared for the sudden crash of bodies Drake wasn't able to keep a hold of his ground and was send flying together with the body. _"Okay … who's the dead bastard that did that?!"_ Pushing the person of off him, Drake stands up and dusts himself off. Looking at the space where the entrance door was, Drake saw a very ugly man, obviously the captain if the cape and hat was any indication.

The man was fat, not just having a beer belly but possessing layer upon layer of fat on his body. Nothing of the man's body was hidden by any clothes as the only upper clothing the man carries would be the dark brown, unbuttoned cape. His pants are a beige color with two pistols sitting in their holsters, a sword at his hip in a dark yellow sheath. The man's face was pudgy, having a double chin, his nose was a big wart and his mouth was missing several teeth. The moment he heard the man's laughter, Drake immediately decided to destroy the man's vocal cords.

"Kuhahaha, some man you are. Can't even take one punch. I guess I'll have to show that girl what a real man is. Kuhahaha." The man laughed, soon followed by his crew that seemed to fill the whole bar if the amount of laughter was any indication. Turning around the man walks back in, completely ignoring the teen and Drake. Cracking his knuckles, Drake prepares to enter the bar before he heard a grunt next to him. Looking down to the ground he could see that the person that crashed into him seemed to be a male around his age. As the teen stands up while breathing deeply in and out, Drake could see who the person was that crashed into him.

The teen stood at a height of 6 feet 2 inches and had long, sky blue hair that reached his back and almost touched his behind; two bangs framed his face with a third seemingly standing up slightly in the middle of his forehead (1). The teen had forest green eyes that held utter annoyance in them, probably at being dismissed like some common punk. The teen was wearing a crimson short that reached just over his knees and possessed extra pockets at the legs. His upper body was covered by a black wife beater, showing of his muscled arm that while compact, looked about the size of a lightweight boxer. As the teen stopped with his breathing exercise, the blue haired teen growled at the destroyed entrance of the bar before walking up to it. Wondering what the teen would do in the bar, Drake decides to question him.

"Hey, what are you planning to do? He just kicked you out and you plan to get back in?" The white haired teen asked.

Turning his head to look in Drake's eyes, the teen is rewarded by a scowl. "That ass kicked me out when I was sleeping. I'm about to kick his ass for doing that and suggesting he might harm my friend." The teen was quite surprised when he received a grin from the white haired one. Both his eyebrows rose when he heard Drake's request.

"Can I join you in the fun?" He asked rhetorically, the smile on his face showing that he won't take no for an answer.

Getting over his shock, the blue haired teen smirk right back, and bows mockingly. "Be my guest." Chuckling at the reaction Drake walks next to the teen that commences walking to the entrance. As they entered the bar, all noise went down, the men wanting to know who dared to disturb their drinking. Looking at the doorway they could see the same brat their captain just kicked out the bar and a white haired brat next to him. Drake whispered quietly to himself, though for some reason the whisper travelled through the room. The whisper brought a smile to the green eyed teen and sends chills up the pirate their backs.

"One, two, we're coming for you." Drake grins slightly sadistically.

"Three, four, better lock your door." The blue haired teen cracked his knuckles.

"Five, six, grab your crucifix." The pirates grabbed their weapons in their hands.

"Seven, eight, it's far too late." As if a signal was shot, both teens shot forward at the word late, running through the tables and acting swiftly before the pirates could retaliate. When Drake punched so hard their arms broke, the other teen kicked hard enough to cripple their feet. When Drake jumped upwards to deliver a roundhouse kick, the green eyed teen crouches down and delivers a punch to the side of the knee, bending it so hard it breaks. The two who had never met one another before were working as if they did so their whole lives. The crew had no chance to counterattack as the two teens made quick work of the crew. Soon the only person left was the fat captain who had started sweating buckets, afraid of what these two would do to him.

Standing in front of the man, Drake started clapping his hands to dust them off from all the filth that gathered on them. The blue haired teen was standing next to Drake, his hands put on his hips as if contemplating on what to do. Finished with cleaning his hand slightly, Drake ignores the captain in front of him and looks at the teen.

"So, are you going to deliver the last blow or should I?" He asked, not really caring in the slightest which one would do it. His own frustration had already left his body after beating the hell out of the crew, and he did have enough honor in him to grant a person their prize. His answer was a nod from the teen.

"I'll do it myself." He answered. Shrugging, Drake crosses his arms and awaits the show to unfold. Turning to the captain the long haired teen scowls at the sweating mess of fat that stands in front of them.

"Stand up and fight me like a man." He motioned the captain to come at him.

In an act of foolishness, or despair, the captain grabbed the sword at his side and attempted to cut the teen in two. Seeing the attack from a mile away, the teen leans backwards and avoids the attack. Seeing that the man cut with his left arm from his own right to left side he let his body open for any counterattacks, which the blue haired teen took advantage of. Taking one step forward and positioning his left fist to attack, the teen shoots his body forward, followed by his fist which connects with the captain's face. He was sent flying with the amount of force the punch had, albeit the blue haired teen looked as if nothing happened, that he amount of power used was nothing to him.

Walking back to the exit, the teen suddenly stops and looks at Drake. Raising an eyebrow Drake awaits the teen's talk.

"Thanks, for you know… helping and all." The teen thanked Drake, receiving a shrug and an amused smile from Drake, which seemed to ease him a little bit.

"Want to help carry these guys to the _Marine Base_ situated in the center of the island?" Seeing nothing wrong with that Drake started helping the teen with tying up all pirates. As he was tying five guys together with a found rope, Drake was interrupted from his work by the other teen's sudden voice. "The name's Raven, Julius Raven." Being polite Drake decided to give his own name. "Leopard D. Drake, nice to meet you."

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**Marine Base**

Having brought in the captain and five other pirates was all Drake and Raven needed to make the Marines set out to _'Root Town'_ in order to apprehend the other crewmembers. They were thanked by a Petty Officer for dealing with the pirate crew. Drake mainly tuned the man out, not really caring about any praise from a Marine, knowing that this guy will probably hate him just like any other bigot once he gets his crew together. He was brought out of his thoughts by Raven who poked his shoulder. Looking at the blue haired teen, Drake raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"They wanted to know if we had any wish to join the _Marines_. We would get a higher rank than a normal soldier though." Raven explained, and even with a Petty Officer in front of them the teen didn't really try to hide the lack of interest.

Drake shakes his head in denial. "Nope. For the moment I'm busy with searching for something and I have no intention of joining the _Marines_ in the future."

While the officer understood the reason, the man couldn't hide the annoyance at an offer to join their organization not once but twice without any thought of the teens. Turning on his heels the officer leads both teens out of the base after handing them the reward for bringing those pirates. As both teens stood in front of the closed doors of the _Marine Base_ Drake watched the bundle of money in his hands in disbelief.

"That guy was worth _**2,000,000.00 Beli's**_? The standards must have dropped." Drake snorted before putting his half of the bounty in his pocket for now. Looking at the teen next to him Drake saw a bit of annoyance in the teen's eyes as he looked at the base. Now that he wasn't preoccupied by anything, Drake could go in his head what he knew of the teen next to him. He was fast and worked swiftly. His strength wasn't anything to sneeze at either, for a Blue resident that is. His muscles while small were simply compact, his legs looking quite slender and strong, easy for kicking and handy for speed. The teen also didn't become disturbed by his cheekiness to fight.

"Hey, Raven." Gaining the teen's attention, Drake decides to ask the question that will finalize his opinion of the teen. "What do you think of pirates?"

Raising an eyebrow at the question, Raven looks at the sky while pondering. "Hmm, I guess they aren't that bad. Apart from those pirates from the bar, all others that passed through were decent enough people. If it meant leaving this little island I wouldn't mind becoming one though."

And just like that fate sealed the deal on how Raven's life would turn up from today forward. There was no way Drake would let a person go that isn't only strong, fast, not arrogant but also doesn't seem to have anything against pirates. A grin started forming on his face, a grin that disturbed the green eyed teen.

"Why?" The teen asked, his tone almost having a tint of fear. He really didn't like that smile.

"Well then, I guess I can make that happen. All you have to do is to swear your alliance to me and join my crew." The grin had formed into a smile that showed Drake's teeth.

Taken aback by the confidence in the teen's voice, Raven only raises an eyebrow. "And give my one good reason why I should do that?"

"You want to leave this island, even going as far as becoming a pirate. I need a First Mate and you seem like the perfect fit. Everybody is happy." Drake shrugs nonchalantly. Deciding that the other teen needs some more motivation, Drake cracks his knuckles. "How about we fight for it? I win you join my crew." The smile right back on his face at the possibility of fighting with a decent opponent after such a long time.

"What if I win?" Raven asks, already starting to like the idea of fighting with a worthy one.

"I don't know, I'll give you a free ride to the next island or something." Drake shrugs. Giving a small grin, Drake beckons for the fight to start. "Now, shall we begin?"

Without warning Drake dashes forward in an attempt to catch Raven off guard. After delivering a punch in the teen's stomach, Drake doesn't give the teen any chance to recuperate and prepares another punch, this time aimed at the guy's head. He didn't expect to miss the hit though, his eyes opened slightly in shock. _"Fast!"_ Was all he could think before he received a hit in the stomach from Raven.

Raven, who had ducked below Drake's second punch, delivered a kick to the white haired teen's side after punching him in the stomach. Enough force was put in it to send Drake skidding for a few feet. He held back a wince at using his stomach muscles for spinning his body enough to deliver that kick. _"That guy's punches are nothing to scoff at!"_ If he would lift his wife beater up Raven would be able to see the faint imprint of Drake's fist.

Drake, who was able to stop himself from skidding too far ahead, was smirking internally. _"Not only fast but strong too."_ His thoughts were broken by the incoming foot of Raven that was coming at his face. Bending backwards to dodge the kick, Drake doesn't stop with just dodging. Bending backwards deep enough, Drake puts his hands on the ground, before using them as a pivot to deliver a double kick to Raven's stomach again and sending him in the air. Spinning on the ground, the white haired teen awaits Raven descend, already having jumped back slightly to avoid being hit by a falling Raven.

As Raven was hanging freely in the air, the teen was thinking on his next action. _"What the hell is he? He seems to shrug my attacks of as if they were nothing. Attacks that broke the bones of older humans. I guess I'll need to go all out if I want a chance to win."_

Nodding mentally at this plan, Raven already prepares himself mentally for the rest of the fight. Raven's landing created a large cloud of dust that obscured his body from view. Drake, who stood just out of the cloud of dust, wondered what else this blue haired teen has in store. After a few minutes Drake drops out of his stance, believing that the fall was too much for the teen. Shaking his head in disappointment Drake turns around.

"It seems I overestimated you." Drake stated, though he believed Raven couldn't hear it. "You showed so much promise, but if you don't have the durance to keep fighting any longer I guess you'll be useless on the long road." His movements were halted by a chuckle that came out the cloud of dust. Looking behind him Drake was unprepared for the incoming claw that grabbed a hold of him. Wait… claw?! The claw tightened its hold on his face, pulling him out his thoughts, before Drake was lifted off the ground.

"Overestimated you say?" Raven asked in his chuckle. "Well then, let me show you how much you 'overestimated' me!"

His vision obscured by the claw, Drake couldn't see the incoming punch that was aimed at his stomach until he felt it. Nor could he do anything when Raven let go off Drake's head, before receiving another kick in the side, this one having enough force to send him flying for several feet. The only reason why Drake stopped after such a short distance was due to the fact that his flight was halted by the trees that he crashed in. After the third tree Drake finally stopped and lay on the ground.

After a couple of seconds Drake picks himself up, shoving all the wood that lay on top of him away. Standing up completely Drake cracks his neck once to kink the stiffness out of it. Pushing the broken pieces of tree out of his way Drake makes his way back to the field they were fighting. While he already had an idea of what happened, Drake couldn't help but be slightly surprised by what he saw standing in front of him.

In front of him, at the place where Raven's normal human body should be, stood a human/tiger hybrid on its hind legs. The creature stood at an impressive height of 9 feet 8 inches (2), towering over Drake easily. He was also twice, if not thrice as wide as a normal human being. With its increase of height, Raven's hair now comes to the teen shoulder blades, just a bit over it. His feet and hands were replaced by strong looking claws. His human skin covered by orange fur with black stripes coursing through its body. His mouth transformed in a snout and his forest green eyes gaining a slit in them. At the back Drake can spot an orange with black striped tail that seemed to have grown from its tailbone. But the thing that really got his curiosity, albeit the most unimportant thing, was the fact that none of his clothes were ripped, in fact they seemed to hug his new form nicely.

Raven, after having transformed, gained a much better sight and was thus able to see Drake when the teen had just cracked his neck. It was something that amazed Raven in a strange sense. The blue haired teen couldn't help but wonder how this guy could receive all of those hits, even in his new form, and keep going as if it was nothing. The tiger hybrid could have almost sworn that he felt something pierce him when he punched Drake in the stomach, and with the blood coming out of his fist, he couldn't help but wonder if that wound was there before or after his assault.

As Drake walked closer to him, Raven couldn't help but hide his anxiousness by acting brave and showcasing his new form. "How do you like me now, huh? I've eaten the '_Neko Neko no Mi: Model Tora'_ (3). I've never lost a fight after using its power!" The smile that started growing on his face disappeared when he saw the smile on Drake's.

"What are you smiling for?" Raven asks a little bit annoyed, and not liking the feeling in his gut.

"I just find it amusing to meet a _Nōryoku-sha_ (4) only one day in my journey. A Zoan no less, now you just convinced me to take you aboard." Drake answered, the smile staying on his face.

Raven was so disturbed by the smile that he missed Drake's foot aimed at his stomach. Putting a lot of strength in that foot, Drake kicks the hybrid with a kick with enough force in to bend Raven over in two with his eyes slightly bulging out. Without warning, Drake put an extra amount of force in the kick that send the blue haired teen flying and crashing through five trees before he could stop himself from continuing any further. As he stopped at the last tree, Raven couldn't help but lose some of his spit as he kept heaving in his spot. Finally able to stop with losing spit, Raven looks at the direction he came from with one eye closed and sweat dripping from his face.

"_What the hell was THAT?! That kick could have killed me if I was a lesser man!"_ Raven screamed to himself.

Looking around him to get away from his current spot, where he was easy picking for Drake if the white haired teen decided to come after him, Raven missed the blur that was above him. Fortunately Ray's senses increase when he is in his hybrid form and was thus able to hear the sound of leaves above him rustling. Not even bothering to look up, Raven rolls out of the way of a kick that met contact with the ground heel first. The heel didn't stop there though and traveled into the ground, creating a small web of cracks in the floor. Ending on his four feet from the roll, Raven pushes himself forward and stabs his claws nail first in Drake's body, where his lungs are situated.

What he didn't expect was for his attack to be dodged by ducking Drake. Although he didn't expect Drake's dodge, Raven was still able to catch the teen with his tail as he spun on his feel and using said appendage as a whip that hit Drake in the face. Not wanting to know what the teen's reaction would be Raven jumps backwards, his breathing becoming deeper. It was a good thing that he jumped backwards, as Drake attempted to retaliate with an upwards kick that hit nothing but air. Taking advantage on the fact that Drake's defense is wide open, Raven pushed forward once again and attempts to deliver a tackle with his right shoulder sticking out. Drake was unprepared for the assault and was sent crashing in the nearest tree. The tree fell atop of him due to no longer being held up by its lower part.

Raven, now standing at Drake's previous spot, deeply breathed in and out, in an effort to fill his lungs with precious air. The forest green eyed teen was impressed with his opponent, not many were able to keep standing up after his first attack, even in his human form. No one had ever kept coming at him when he went in his hybrid form, and here was a teen around his age that just kept taking his hits and act as if they hardly did any damage. Luckily it was over, there would be no way that the white haired one is still able to fight after taking his full body mass in a tackle. Sighing deeply, Raven scratches the back of his neck. As he relaxes he lets go of his transformation and returns to his human form.

"Well that was a bitch to fight against. Hope he's still alive, he did offer me to carry me to the next island." Just as he mused this out loud Raven was stopped dead in his tracks by hearing laughter, laughter that came from every direction. His eyes grew in size, sweat gathered on his face, and he shook his face in denial. Transforming back in his hybrid form, Raven yells out in frustration at the bastard that just wouldn't stay down.

"Why?! How?! How are you able to keep on standing after taking my hits?!" Raven growled out dangerously, his teeth bare and gritting against one another. His answer was silence. Raven didn't dare to take a step further to the cloud of dust from the fallen tree; he didn't really fancy walking backwards as Drake could be laying in hiding. The silence was broken by Drake's voice.

"**Hone Hone no Shottogan"** _(Bone Bone Shotgun)_

Before Raven could comprehend what Drake said, he felt four things enter his body. Yes things as he had no idea what they were. He knew they didn't feel like a bullet as they were too sharp for that, nor did were they knifes as they were too small. Looking down at the places he was shot, Raven saw four small holes the size of a finger in his body. Three of them hit unimportant places, but the fourth was lodged straight in his left lung. Without warning the tiger hybrid coughed up some blood. It was a simple reaction of the punch in his left lung that pushed the sharp thing in even deeper his lung.

Before he knew it Drake was already at his back and he could do nothing to stop the white haired teen from attacking due to noticing too late. Having kicking his right leg back Drake aims his attack to the best spot needed in order to finish this fight, not wanting to damage his future crewmate any further. Lashing forward Drake kicks Raven's neck with enough force to knock a ten feet body builder of a man. Raven could feel his body changing back to his human form and his conscious fading. Before darkness could claim him completely, Raven uttered just one single sentence.

"Just what are you?"

Drake ignores the question and picks the body up before throwing him on his left shoulder, making the blue haired teen act like a sack of potatoes. As he walks back to _'Root Town'_ a smirk grows on the victor's face.

"I'm your captain." He answered the unconscious teen's question.

-x-x-x-

Two hours after the two teens beat the shit out of each other and destroyed a part of the forest they fought in, Raven slowly regained his consciousness. As he opened his eyes, Raven started looking around wondering where he was. Spotting a bed with white sheets, white walls, a white roof and lo and behold, white bandages around his body, Raven knew immediately where he was.

"The hospital." The teen spoke with a tint of disgust in his voice.

Just as he was already planning his course of action to get out of this dreaded place, Raven was broken out of his thoughts with the door of his room opening. Raven was quite shocked when he saw that familiar mop of white hair that was carried by an ocean blue eyed face. Said teen looked at Raven for a couple of seconds before a grin spread on his face. The green eyed teen followed Drake's movements as the guy took a chair that was next to his bed and sat in it. After a couple of minutes without anyone speaking, Drake decided to break the silence.

"When did you wake up?"

Shrugging slightly, Raven decides nothing bad can come out of asking such a question. "A couple of seconds ago to be honest. Why are we in the hospital anyway?"

Raising an eyebrow at the stupid question, Drake answers with a dry tone in his voice. "Because we beat the hell out of each other and needed someone to look after us. Don't want my First Mate to be half broken and useless when we set sail, now do I?"

Nodding at the reason behind their current location, Raven stopped his nodding when the last sentence fully ingrained in his brain. "Wait … what?!"

Drake simply rolled his eyes at the other teen's reaction. "You lost the fight, and are thus my newest member."

At that statement Raven groaned, recalling the bet they made. He really didn't want to be under someone else. The reason why he hadn't set sail yet was because he wasn't able to gather good enough men and didn't feel like risking his life by sailing on his own.

"_Oh well."_ He thought to himself. _"In some way I still win, seeing that I'll still leave this island. Though something's been bothering me now that I've got the time to think…"_

"Fine." Raven conceded, refusing to go back on his word. "But before we depart, could you explain me one thing?"

Seeing no harm in doing such a thing, Drake simply looked at Raven before beckoning the man to ask. "Sure, no problem."

"I was wondering how you could keep standing up after all those hits. I mean, I've been able to bring down men twice our height, wide and age with only using my human form. The least I could have done was break a bone or two and that barely stopped you from coming at me." To be honest, Raven was quite frustrated with this fact, not willing to believe that he was so far away strength wise from someone who seemed to be his age.

Drake gave the teen a cheeky grin before he started explaining. "That's quite simple. I've also eaten an _Akuma no mi_ (5). Unlike your Zoan type, mine is a Paramacia. My fruit is called the _'Hone Hone no Mi'_ (6) and grants me the ability to control any and all 206 bones that the human body possesses. Of course, I've barely scratched the surface of the fruit though."

While the grin on Drake's face increased in size, so did Raven's eyes due to shock. A fruit that grants a person the possibility to control his own bones? Depending on the person that could be a very, very lethal ability. Remembering the four projectiles that entered his body, Raven didn't want to, but simply had to, confirm them. He really hoped he was wrong.

"So those things that entered my body were- "

"They were the upper parts of my fingers, the part just below the nails." Drake nodded, and thus confirming Raven's guess. The teen looked at Drake's hand, just to see that the white haired teen's fingers were completely intact. Following the other teen's gaze, Drake simply laughs at the sight.

"I can also regrow any lost bone. The reason why your attacks didn't keep me down was because I healed my bones or simply made them far harder. That's another reason I wanted you in my crew when you started going full out. You were able to keep standing up from my bone enhanced attacks. I think can count on one hand the people who were able to do the same thing." Drake answered any and all questions Raven may or may not have asked.

Seeing that Raven's curiosity was sated, Drake went to another subject. "So, you need some time before we can set sail? I've already stocked on provision and was able to buy a fridge to prevent the food from wasting."

Raven's answer was a shrug. "Eeeh, give me thirty minutes. I just need to grab some personal stuff and some clothes and I should be good to go."

Nodding his head at the claim, Drake stood up from his chair and puts his left hand in his left pocket. Pulling out a folded piece of paper, the blue eyed teen hands the other teen the paper.

"That will point you to where my boat is located." Drake explained.

With his back already turned to Raven, Drake never saw the teen nod at him. After closing the door behind him and waiting for five minutes did Raven stand up himself. Grabbing his clothes that lay next to him, he started pondering on how his life would turn up like.

"_Pirate huh? I guess that's a good way to annoy the hell out of my old man."_ Raven thought to himself, chuckling as he wondered how his father would react when the man would find out that his son became a pirate.

-x-x-x-

A good thirty minutes after getting out of the hospital, Raven, clad in the same garment as before the fight with some added bandages around his body, walked on the pier of _'Tree Island's'_ one and only harbor. Following the directions of the paper in his left hand, his right hand carrying his bag of belongings, Raven was really hoping his captain had a decent sized ship, everything was better than a dingy if he has honest with himself.

Standing next some crates, the same crates where the old man sat on, Raven started looking around in order to find the boat, or even better his captain. His searching was interrupted when he heard his name in a yell. Looking to his right Raven saw Drake standing on board of a small but still decent sized ship, perfectly fit for two people. Seeing the ship Raven let out a breath he didn't know he had, thankful for the fact they didn't have to travel in a dingy. Walking up to the ship, Raven mock salutes the white haired teen with a grin on his face.

"Julius Raven, First Mate, 18 years old, ready to board ship."

Drake, who had a similar grin on his face simply waved his hand at the guy in a dismissal way. "Yeah yeah, Leopard D. Drake, Captain, 17 years old, allows boarding."

Silence hung over the two teens. After a couple of seconds both pointed at each other, their eyes slightly widened and a comical look spread on their face. "You're older/younger than me!" Both yelled at each other at the same time.

Another silence filled the clearance, which was soon broken by a joint laughter of both teens. The laughter died down after a couple of minutes and Drake beckoned his First Mate to board the ship. As the green eyed teen jumped on the ship, he looked behind him for one last time, watching at the island he grew up on. He broke himself out of his thoughts by shaking his head and looks at his captain, who simply stared at him with his arms crossed.

"So, where do I put my stuff?"

"First door to the left is your room. Second door on the left is the kitchen/dining room. First door to the right is the bathroom. Second door on the right is the provision room. Center and farthest room is the captain's quarters, in other words mine. For training you go down the stairs once and use the second floor."

After his explanation, Drake started climbing the masts in order to free the sails. Raven, having memorized the layout of the ship, walked to his room. His room was a bit more spartan than Drake's. Raven's room only had a bed and a desk. Shrugging at the bareness of his room, Raven threw his bag on the bed before heading back outside, wondering if his captain needed any help. Just as he exited he heard an order coming from the younger teen.

"Raven! Grab the darn anchor and lift it up!"

"Aye aye, mon capitan!" Raven yelled right back at Drake.

Running to the chain that was hanging over the board of the ship, Raven lifts it up with slight effort before rolling it up in the open space that seemed to be there just for putting the anchor away. At the same time Raven pulled the anchor out of the water did Drake jump down from the mast with the sails in his hands. Landing without trouble, Drake quickly made work on tying them down. He then walked towards the helm of the ship. Grabbing it in his hands, Drake awaits the sails to catch wind. Seeing Drake manning the helm, Raven was wondering what he should be doing.

"Oi, Drake. Anything I should do?" He asked.

Looking at his First Mate, Drake shrugged. "For the moment man the crow's nest. When we get more members you can take the time to train, but for the moment I'd prefer to have either someone in the nest or simply keeping a look out on the sea."

Raven raised an eyebrow at the nonchalant way Drake ordered him around. The white haired teen must have noticed the expression and decided to make himself clear.

"I'm quite lax in what my members do. For all I care they don't a thing, as long as they can pull their weight when the situation asks for that's all they have to do."

Raven found that quite interesting. He heard from rumours that many crews that disbanded due to either too strict rules, or too lax. Before he could question the way Drake would take control on the ship he was stopped by the teen himself.

"For the moment I have only two rules that the crewmembers will follow even if I have to throw them overboard and haul them back in if they decide to ignore them. One, you are able to pull your own weight and won't complain when doing work that you could have expected from a pirate ship. Two, betrayal, either to me or a fellow member, will be dealt with appropriately."

Raven could understand both rules, and kind of respected the first one as he didn't want any whiners on the ship either. He did wonder though what the punishment for betrayal was. He had an idea, but after figuring his captain's personality slightly he just had to ask.

"How will you deal with betrayers?"

"Torture to find out the reason, and if the reason is retarded, death." Drake answered without missing a beat. "I will not under any circumstances allow anyone that joins my crew to betray another. You join my crew, you leave behind everything except for your clothes and your skills. You put your thrust in your crew, and I will not let anyone trample on that thrust."

Raven only nodded at the answer. While he found it a tad disturbing that a 17 year old could talk about killing so casually, he agreed with him. And at least he was glad he wouldn't kill the person immediately. Turning around, Raven walked towards the mast. As he climbed upwards towards the crow's nest he had only one thought. _"This is going to be one hellish ride. And I wouldn't want to miss it for the world."_

-x-x-x-

(1) Imagine Edward Elric's hair style, only blue and a bit longer than his when untied.

(2) This is the height I estimate Lucci being when he is in his Human/Leopard Hybrid form. If it's too bit or too little, just imagine Lucci in his hybrid form.

(3) Cat Cat Fruit: Model Tiger

(4) Ability User

(5) Devil Fruit

(6) Bone Bone Fruit

**Advert of Time:** I tried two things in this chapter. First the fight, which I hope was satisfactory (or more satisfactory than the original run). And I tried to express a less sadistic Drake with him talking to the elder and hope he didn't come over as a completely different person.

Anyone bitching about Drake's reasons for wanting Raven, look up Zoro's recruitment. I rest my case.

Some may or may not have noticed but when they were at the Marine Base, you can see that I sometimes used the word 'Marines' either like this or in italic. 'Marines' written normally means the members of the organization. When I use _'Marines'_ in italic I'm talking about the organization itself. Hope that clarifies things.

Also, I doubt you people haven't noticed it yet, but English, neither British nor American, isn't my first language. It ain't my second nor third, but my fourth language, so I hope I didn't/don't/won't make any stupid elementary mistakes.

Lastly, I have no idea when the next chapter will come out, either this week or next week. This took around two days to finish and I'm exhausted. Sure I already had a skeleton version due to the original run but with all the added details I feel kind of drained.

-x-x-x-

**The … Pirates**

**TOTAL BOUNTY: 0,00 Beri**

**MEMBERS**

**Captain – **Drake _(0,00 Beri)_

**First Mate –** Raven _(0,00 Beri)_

**Navigator – …**

**Sniper – …**

**Shipwright – …**

**Cook – …**

**Doctor – …**

**Musician – …**

**Swordsman – …**

**Archeologist – …**

-x-x-x-


	4. South Blue Arc: Chapter Three

**Advert of Time:** Enjoy the chapter, the longest by far. It's almost as big as my previous chapters combined. Also, still searching for a beta-reader.

-x-x-x-

**Edited: 04/09/2013 ~ Un-beta-ed**

-x-x-x-

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any character, Devil Fruit, technique, quote, etc. from Canon One Piece.

Anything else is either owned by me, or by those who were so kind to give me ideas/characters/etc.

-x-x-x-

"Glory" ~ Talking

"_To the"_ ~ Thinking

"**Kingdom"** ~ Technique

-x-x-x-

**South Blue Arc: Chapter Three – **_**'Eagle Eye'**_** Who?**

-x-x-x-

It was a cloudy day in the '_South Blue'_, the second to last weakest of the four Blues that reside this world. The clouds seemed to be in a sombre mood, though not sombre enough to start raining or to prevent someone to enjoy their day off. On this day, we are focusing our attention on a certain ship that lay anchored right in the middle of the ocean with absolutely nothing else but water. Sitting in the crow's nest is one of the only two occupants of the ship. The occupant is a teen off the age of 18 standing at a height of 6 feet 2 inches. The teen was wearing long legged, baggy pants that possess a crimson colour, the ends tied at his ankles with bandages. His upper body was covered by nothing but a dark yellow vest with multiple pockets, an open zipper, showcasing his six-pack for the world to see and long sleeves that were rolled up just above his elbows. He was wearing black shoes with laces of a dark brown colour. He has two forest green eyes resting in his eye pockets but most distinguished part would be his long blue hair that almost touched his behind. This teen was the First Mate to whatever their crew's name would be in the future, Julius Raven.

While normally not a part of his attire Raven was carrying binoculars around his neck, not using them at the moment. In fact the teen seemed to neglect his duty of keeping watch and was instead of looking at the sea, he was looking around the deck of the ship. After a couple of minutes of imitating a pigeon that couldn't keep its head still for a moment, the green eyed teen scratches the side of his head, confusion marring his face. Stretching himself slightly inside the crow's nest, he grabs the edge of the nest before jumping over it and going straight towards the deck. Just as his feet made contact with the wood, Raven rolls forward in an attempt to absorb most of the damage he would have received from jumping from such a height. Straightening himself, the teen walks inside the ship, intent of finding that which he had been searching for these last minutes.

Cupping one hand next to his mouth, while using his other hand to knock on/open the doors, goes towards his first destination: the bathroom's door.

"Oi! Captain!? You in there?" Raven yells loud enough in order to be heard within the whole of the ship.

Hearing no response, Raven shrugs his shoulders before walking over to the provision room's door. "Captain! You in there, cap-"

"FOR FUCK'S SAKE! What do you want from ME!?"

Hearing his captain's yell coming from his own quarters, Raven couldn't help but feel both stupid and prideful. Stupid because he didn't check his captain's own quarters first and prideful simply due to the fact he was able to rile the bastard up. Raven was still a bit sore about their fight and had this slight feeling of satisfaction whenever he is able to piss his captain off. Although this was the first time, Raven couldn't stop the feeling. Walking towards the captain's quarters Raven grabs the doorknob and opens the door casually, as if he didn't have to fear his captain's wrath. Luckily for him said captain was too preoccupied to unleash any possible wrath he may have had on Raven. The moment Raven walked in the room he couldn't help but look in shock around.

The room was one complete and total mess. On the walls, on the ground, on the bookcase, even on the bed, maps were littering around. Raven couldn't make head nor tails from any of the maps that were lying around. Minding to avoid stepping on any of the maps littering the ground, Raven started making his way to the teen that was sitting in front of desk, that was not only littered with maps but also possessed a compass next to it that the teen kept glancing at, a notebook and a pencil next to it as well as navigation instruments to calculate distances and such. The teen seemed to be a twitching mess, almost looking like a hypersensitive bomb, ready to go off at the least touch or sound.

The teen was just one year junior to Raven, being 17 years old. Just like Raven, the teen was wearing dark green, long legged pants, but instead of being baggy these pants were hugging his legs more, but not too tight and thus providing enough room for him to move his legs in most directions. His right leg was rolled up high enough to see his bare knee. His shoes were flip flops, one hanging lazily at his foot seeing as he sat cross legged. A simple enough long sleeved, dark blue shirt was hiding his muscles from view, his left sleeve rolled up far enough to show his elbow. His hair was a white mop of untamable mess, long enough to touch his shoulders and two bangs framing his face. His eyes were an ocean blue that contained an annoyed emotion. While not noticeable when sitting down, the teen was a tad bit taller than Raven, standing at 6 feet 3. This was the ship's Captain; (temporary) Cook; (temporary) Navigator, (temporary) Doctor, the last three occupations until they actually found the qualified people, Leopard D. Drake.

Waiting for any reaction of his captain, Raven absentmindedly scratched his cheek, not quite willing to feel the ire of his captain. After what felt like an hour, but was in fact ten seconds tops, did Drake make an indication that he noticed Raven entered his room. Turning his chair so that he would face his First Mate, Drake gave the older teen a glare, while not promising death, did have a 'do not fuck with me' look in it.

"What do you want?" He asked annoyed.

Raven chuckled nervously, his hand now scratching the back of his head. "I was wondering where you were. I mean I haven't seen you on deck the whole day." The forest green eyed teen explained.

After giving Raven another good look, Drake sighs deeply before inhaling and exhaling deeply in order to calm down. Setting his elbow on his desk, and prompting his cheek on his hand, Drake lifted a simple eyebrow.

"What does it look like I'm doing? Baking Christmas cookies?" He asked sarcastically.

"Well, I see you're navigating, or trying that is. But I never pegged you as the navigating type. Sounded like too much responsibility and thinking for someone like you." Raven answered cheekily, mildly annoyed that his captain insinuated he was stupid.

A twitch appeared in his eye, giving Raven that feeling of satisfaction once again.

"Ignoring your blatant insults." Drake started, earning a chuckle from Raven. "I'm trying, listen: TRYING, to get us on course. I do not want to die out in the sea due to getting lost. While I loathe navigating and all that has to do with it, someone has to. Being the captain I believe it should be my responsibility until we find a decent navigator. Until then I'm stuck with trying to make sure we don't get lost."

Nodding his head at the logic once, Raven decided to comment on said logic. "You know, you could have asked me for help right? I won't call myself an expert but I have some basic skills. Any idea where the nearest island is?"

Blinking once at Raven's suggestion, Drake simply rubbed his temples in order to prevent him from starting rampaging. Having calmed down enough, the blue eyed teen takes a look at the map in front of him, then to his compass and back at the map.

"Well, if I'm not mistaken the closest island would be northeast from here, a good two hours sail. The island's called _'Shinra Island'_. Heard of it?"

"Yeah, I do in fact. It isn't a major island, just as big if not a town bigger than _'Tree Island'_, and has one major town that is called _'Preta Town'_. While bigger than _'Tree Island'_ this island doesn't possess a _'Marine Base'_. The town is covered by forest and is known for its blacksmiths. It is rumored that Dracule '_Hawk-Eye'_ Mihawk's main weapon was crafted there, though I have no idea if that's true or not."

Turning his head slightly, just enough to look at Raven from the corner of his eye, Drake looks at the older teen with an emotion of doubt in his eye. Seeing the emotion in his captain's eye, Raven chuckled nervously and raised his hands up in defence.

"I know, I know. I don't quite believe it myself. But a rumour must have some truth somewhere." He defended himself.

His answer was a slight glare coming from Drake who had turned around completely, resting both of his ocean blue eyes on the forest green eyed teen's face. Not in the least intimidated from his captain, Raven returned the glare right back at him. After a staring contest that lasted a few seconds, Drake closed his eyes and letting out a sigh. A moment later Drake stands up casually, seemingly letting go of his annoyance at navigating. Raven kept an eye on the younger teen, just in case the teen feels like venting his frustration in a fight. Raven really hoped he didn't, sure Raven would be able to take any possible damage that his captain would unleash upon him, but the ship wouldn't. Just as he walked through his own room, Drake turns his head and looks straight at Raven, before shouting out to the blue haired teen.

"Get your ass up the deck, Raven. We've got an island to reach darnit." Not waiting for Raven's answer, Drake put his gaze in front of him once again and walked up to the deck.

Raven simply shook his head at his captain's eagerness to touch solid ground once again. Putting his hands in his pockets Raven walks towards the deck, closing the captain quarter's door with his foot. As he walked on the deck, Raven did not expect to see none of the sails down, or the fact that the anchor is still in the sea. Walking up to Drake, Raven saw that the teen had a smirk on his face, a smirk Raven didn't want to know why it was on the teen's face. Sadly his request wasn't heard, as suddenly a creature rose from the direction Drake was looking at. The creature was definitely a Sea King, a child yes but a Sea King nonetheless. It seemed its species was completely black on its upper body with two white spots behind its eyes; its belly was covered in white skin. The Orca Sea King looked at both occupants of the boat with red eyes, filled with hunger, already licking its lips as if it already tasted them.

Raven gained a twitch in his eye as he saw the creature look at them with an emotion he did not like. Turning his head to the white haired teen, the First Mate only gives a sigh at the teen's facial expression. Pulling his hands out his pockets, Raven stretches then over his head and cocks his body from left to right, kicking out any kink he had in his body. Putting one hand on his neck, the teen twirls it around in order to make his neck looser. Finished with his stretching exercise he takes a glance at Drake, who had already drawn his sword out of its sheath and who was swinging with it a few times.

"So captain …" Raven started, earning a side glance from said person. "how are you going to do this?"

Shrugging at the question, Drake focuses his gaze back at the head of the Orca Sea King. "Easy and simple. We kill its ass, skin it and have a good meal before we set sail."

Shaking his head at his captain's simplicity, Raven already steadies himself for the fight. What he didn't expect was for the ship to start shaking uncontrollably. Keeping himself from falling, Raven noted that the Orca seemed to have waited for that particular movement of the ship if its sudden head on attack was anything to go by. Just before the Sea King was 3 feet away from making contact with the ship did Raven move.

Having found his balance quickly, Raven jumped of the ship towards the creature, far and low enough to get just below the creature's chin. Cocking his left leg backwards, Raven lashes out with a straight jabbing kick in the creature's lower mouth. Its reaction was to bulge out its eyes in pain and jerking its head upwards. Grabbing the orca's neck, Raven pulls himself forward hard enough to get situated above the Sea King's body. As gravity took its hold on his body, Raven pulled his arm back and formed a fist with his hand. Just before he made contact with the Sea King did Raven unleash his fully powered punch on the creature's body. Its body was sent slamming into the sea and creating some waves that just reached over the edge of the ship.

Landing on Sea King's unconscious body with his hands in his pockets, Raven looked at a job well done. Nodding his head in satisfaction, Raven walked towards the orca's head and jumped from it onto the deck of the ship. On the deck Raven was watching his captain keep swinging the sword in his hand, a look of annoyance on his face. Raising an eyebrow at the strange behaviour, Raven walked up to the younger teen, minding his distance as he didn't fancy getting cut.

"Uhm, Drake? What are you doing?"

Grunting at the question, Drake stopped swinging the sword and sheathed it back where it belonged. "I was still trying to get used to this weapon. I've had it a few months before I set out of my home town and I still haven't gotten used to it."

Frowning his eyebrows in frustration, Drake simply walked up to the anchor, ignoring the look on Raven's face. "If that rumour is true, I might just have to get a new weapon crafted."

Shrugging at his captain's muses, Raven started climbing the mast in order to unravel the sails, a thought popping in his mind. _"A weapon huh?"_

-x-x-x

**Shinra Island**

The boat that carried our two individuals safely entered the harbour with little to no problem or with raising any suspicions. Drake had no idea how anyone could get suspicious of two men on a boat built for their amount of people, but Raven seemed to not want to take any risk. Looking around for a place to rest their boat, Drake groaned as he saw that the only available open spot was next to a warship. A blue warship, one with white sails and carrying a white flag with a seagull drawn on it on top of its centre mast. _"Marines."_ He thought with a bit of annoyance in his voice, missing the slight twitch in the eye of his First Mate.

As Drake placed the ship in the spot next to the _'Marine Battleship'_, Raven threw the anchor overboard and pulled the sails up, tying them with a rope on multiple places. While Raven was pulling the last knots in the ropes, Drake had walked inside the ship towards the provision room. As he walked in the room, Drake took notes of whatever he felt they needed to stock up on. When Drake walked out of the ship, a notebook in his hand and a pencil in his ear, the teen saw that Raven had already finished tying up the sails and was lying next to the mast. Walking up to the older teen, Drake motioned him to get up and follow.

Giving his captain a look for a few seconds, the teen puts his hands behind his head and pulls his legs back. In one movement he pushes his body upwards, his legs swinging forward, making the teen land perfectly on his feet. Jumping of their boat onto the pier, both teens walked towards the road they saw that was paved in the ground. Walking up next to his captain, Raven looked briefly at the notebook in the younger teen's hand before looking straight in front of him.

"Raven, didn't you say this place doesn't have a _'Marine Base'_?"

Surprised by the sudden question, Raven recoiled slightly. After a couple of seconds the question got through Raven's mind, who simply nodded, not willing to look his captain in the eye and thus missing the younger teen's twitch in the eye. Not turning his head in the older teen's direction and keeping his gaze in front of him, his notebook now in his pocket.

"Then please explain to me why there is a freaking _'Marine Battleship'_ in port!" Drake yelled at Raven, quite enough to not be overheard by anyone, but loud enough to make Raven understand Drake was annoyed.

The teen in question simply shrugged his shoulders and answered lamely. "Though luck?"

Drake promptly pulled the blue haired teen in a headlock, his expression on the outside neutral but on the inside he was raging. Raging for the simple fact that he couldn't cut loose if anyone annoyed him unless he wanted any Marines on his ass. It wasn't the time for that yet, his crew was too small. They didn't even have a musician yet damnit! Ignoring Raven's hits on his arms in a feeble attempt to make Drake loosen his grip, instead tightening it even further and decreasing Raven's precious air intake even more, Drake was thinking on how to go around time without unleashing his short fuse on anyone.

"_Meh, I'll just wing it."_ He thought with a mental shrug.

After keeping the headlock for a few more seconds did Drake allow his First Mate to have access to the precious that is better known as air. Raven took deep breaths in and out while crawled down on his knees, his hands keeping him partly upright. Letting Raven take in his much needed air, Drake was watching the _'Marine Battleship'_, wondering how many people it could carry, how many were still on board, how many were on the island, how many were in the town they were going to but more importantly. Whose ship was it and why was it here, an island deemed unimportant enough to not even have a _'Marine Base'_?

He doubted it would be off a Vice-Admiral or higher, well more like hoped for it. Arrogant he may be, retarded enough to challenge a Vice-Admiral he was not. Unless he was very, very, VERY, extremely even and without any possible way to cure him, drunk of his ass. That still pegged the question: why was it here? He doubted anything could happen in the weakened _'South Blue'_ that would grant the attention of such a ship. He was pulled out of his thoughts by a punch in the face courtesy to Raven. The force of the punch wasn't meant to put him unconscious, but it was forceful enough to hurt him and jerk his head in the direction of the punch. Snapping his head back, Drake's eyes turn white and he gains shark like teeth.

"What the hell was that for?!" He yelled/asked.

"Well you weren't paying attention to what I was saying. So I decided to pay you back for that headlock." Raven answered while picking his nose with his pinkie seemingly uncaring for his captain's ire. Just as Drake was about to kick the man in the gut, he held himself back. The reason? He saw that two Marines were looking at them; probably haven seen Raven's punch. Turning his head away and continuing his walk to the town, Drake barely paid attention to the look on Raven's face when the older teen saw the two Marines looking at them as well. Breaking his glare of the ship, Raven followed his captain onto the road towards _'Preta Town'_.

-x-x-x-

Walking in the town, Drake and Raven were taken a little bit aback when they noticed the amount of shops that seemed to sell weapons and/or armours to be used in battle. While most towns were glad with two, perhaps three weapon/armour shops, this town's amount of shops of the same merchandise was thrice as much as any other kind of shop. Not only weapon and armour shops were around, shops that allowed people to see blacksmiths do their work were around as well, shops that sold the basic products a blacksmith needs, or shops that sell the tools.

Deciding to ignore the weird amount of shops that specialize in making weapons or are in some way, shape or form linked to it, Drake grabbed a folded up note and handed it over to Raven. Raising a blue eyebrow, the older teen grabs the note, unfolding it and reading a … grocery list? Looking strangely at Drake, Raven points towards the paper.

"Uhm, Drake? What am I supposed to do with this piece of paper?" A twitch in his eye, hoping to all that is holy his captain wouldn't make him do the freaking groceries.

Looking at his First Mate from the corner of his eye for a moment Drake gives the obvious answer. "You're going to buy all of the items listed on that list. While you do that I'll do my list. While not in dire need to stock on, I believe it to be far safer if we buy our provision as many times as possible. Just in case the next island will take a longer time than first thought."

Sighing in defeat, Raven puts the note and his hands in his pockets before walking away from his captain and taking a left road, following a large group of people, mostly female, that seem to go in one direction. Drake could hear him murmur something about not being a pack mule or something. Shrugging at the green eyed teen's antics, Drake takes a right road hoping to find a more suitable weapon in any of these many weapon shops.

-x-x-x-

Drake had purchased most of the items that were a part of his list, ropes, (non)alcoholic drinks, extra sails in case their current ones rip and some fruit. All were packed in a one shoulder strap backpack. It's one of those backpacks that have a hammer space, don't ask. The only thing that he hadn't found just yet was a brand new weapon. Sure the town was filled to the brink with blacksmiths who sold their own weapons and weapon shops who bought their weapons from the blacksmiths, but Drake hadn't quite felt any connection. When he passed by these shops he saw that all weapons were average at most, with some minor exceptions that did raise his attention only to see it wasn't a weapon he didn't want.

Just when Drake was about to give it up and search in another town he felt… something, a pull on his soul. Stopping in his tracks, Drake casually looked around, not wanting to look like an idiot imitating a screw. When his eyes fell on a small street that wasn't a part of the main street did Drake feel the pull increase. Deciding to let the pull guide him, Drake walked towards the street and seemingly disappeared from the minds of anyone that may have taken a look at him.

The street was quite dark, not having any lights to lighten it and possessing only a couple of shops. Most shops looked rundown, broke, with broken windows, holes in the wood of the walls or an unhinged door. Drake completely ignored all of these shops; he was completely focused on one particular shop.

This shop was one of the few that looked to be in decent shape but simply didn't invite any of the more normal citizens. Drake barely noticed the wooden plaque of a hammer slamming on an anvil hanging just above the door. Opening the door, subconsciously hearing a bell chime, Drake felt as if he entered a completely different world than the one on the street. Every wall, every corner, every part of the roof, every available place was occupied by one weapon or another.

Unlike the other shops who only sold swords, bows, spears and axes; this shop sold everything that he could think of. He saw brown coloured guns seemingly ready to fire at any moment. Daggers who were crafted so beautifully it would be a shame to use them. He even saw a kusarigama (1), a weapon consisting of a sickle with at the end of the handle a chain was attached and on the other end of the chain one could find a weight.

But none of these weapons were the origin of the pull that Drake was feeling. No, the source while close-by was still further down the shop. As he stood by the counter, Drake could see the source of the pull. He was captivated the moment he saw it. The weapon hung on the wall behind the counter in order to showcase its beauty to anyone that entered the shop Drake believed. The handle had a black colour, which seemed to draw in any light and suck it in the darkness that was its colour. The handle was even taller than Drake, being a 6 feet 7 inches, not including the small blade that was placed at the end of the handle, making it perfect for jabbing.

But the part that truly had Drake's attention was the weapon's blade, or should he say blades. The weapon possessed two blades, one bigger than the other albeit in the same colour scheme. The upper blade was about 3 feet long while the lower blade was 2 feet 7 inches. The space between the two blades was big enough to place the neck of an overweight man between them and still enough space left to not cut the man's neck. The colour scheme was a combination of a black jagged line and a crimson colour on top and beneath the line. The line was the biggest at the part where blades and handle met, and became smaller when it travelled to the end of the blades. The crimson colour seemed as if it was made out of human blood and was absolutely marvellous in Drake's opinion. Drake also noted that the weapon seemed to transmit an aura of death, of desire, wanting to carve itself in the flesh of anyone wielder and opponent alike.

Just as he was about to touch the crimson scythe, Drake's train of thought was interrupted by a gruff voice. "Don't touch that weapon!"

Turning his head around in order to find the source that disrupted his thoughts of the scythe, Drake absentmindedly wondered when he climbed on top of the counter. He quickly found the source of the voice, as there were only two people in the shop at the moment. The voice belonged to a man who seemed to be in his late fifties and couldn't be bigger than 5 feet. The man had a grey coloured moustache that connected with his beard that travelled over his mouth, his chin and stopped just at his ears. The man was bald, his head shining brightly and if they stood in the sun, Drake had a pretty good guess that the bald head would blind him. The man only wore dark blue pants that were soiled with dirt and ashes, and showing of his muscular frame that came from being a blacksmith.

Drake could see the man glaring at him, hoping to intimidate him, but two factors made that impossible. First, the old man wasn't all that tall to begin with, added to the height increase Drake has from still sitting on the counter and that took away some form of fear as well. Secondly, Drake is not going to be intimidated by some old man any time soon. The white haired teen simply climbed of off the counter and gave the old man a raised eyebrow.

"Why can't I touch this scythe?"

The old man grunted before answering. "That scythe is cursed. Any and all previous owners got killed. It won't accept any bum that wants it, it chooses by who it wants to be wielded with." He explained, hoping that the teen in front of him will just let the subject drop and pick another weapon.

Humming in understanding, Drake shrugged the explanation off before giving the man a smile. "Can I try it?"

Taken aback by the seemingly innocent question, the man's jaw slacked down. "You-you… Didn't you listen to what I said?!"

"Sure I did. But I'll be damned if some kind of curse will keep me from trying this beauty out. So, without further ado…"

Before the old man could have stopped the younger person, Drake had already jumped over the counter and taken a hold of the scythe's handle. The moment he did, the old man could feel the aura of death that emitted from the weapon disappearing. He had never seen such a thing before. Anyone who touched the scythe after he finished making it simply increased the aura of death. In fact, the aura was replaced by gentleness, happiness and … Was that a tint of mischievousness? The old man could only watch in shock as Drake expertly swung and twirled the scythe around, as if it was made just for him, and he was made just for it.

"I don't know about you, but this isn't really a cursed weapon or anything like that. Its previous owners were simply idiots who wanted to use it for only killing, only for saving. This is weapon that is made for neither and yet for both, it simply wants to sate its anxiety to fight… I'll take it."

Drake stated to the shocked blacksmith. As the man stared at Drake's back wondering at what he heard, the white haired teen himself had already pulled his sword of his body and was searching for a way to place the scythe in its place. He was once again brought out of his musings when he heard the old man behind him laugh loudly. Turning around, he saw that the man was laughing so hard tears travelled down his eyes.

"_I can't believe it. Here is a kid that barely saw anything of the world, and he was able to gain the acknowledgment of __**Yoru's**_ (2) _brother weapon. I would have never thought that after moving out of the _'Shinsekai' (3) _I'd find a person capable of doing it in the _'South Blue'_._

"Uhm, old man? You okay?"

"Yeah, haha, I'm just, haha, fine." The old man was able to say between laughs.

Having finally calmed down enough to talk normally, the old man fixed Drake a glare mixed with amusement.

"Now listen here boy. This scythe is one of my greatest prides and I'll be damned if I'll let you take _'Shi no Gurren Gai'_ (4) away without any profit on my part."

Drake groaned, not really wanting to know the price of such a beauty of a weapon. Watching the man disappear behind the counter, Drake assumed the man was calculating to himself on how much he should ask for the scythe. The blue eyed teen was a bit surprised when he saw a bundle appear on the counter. Reappearing from the counter with a smirk on his face was the old man.

"Use this in order to place the scythe on your back."

Drake nodded dumbly and did as instructed. He felt … complete with the scythe on his back, as if it belonged there. The weapon was place so that its blade was sticking several inches above his head, the small blade at the end of the handle pointed to the ground. Looking at the old man, Drake mentally braces himself for the price. What he didn't expect to hear was this.

"The weapon is for free. I ain't going to charge the only person to have ever calmed the weapon down. Promise me one thing though, keep it close, keep it maintained and take good care of it. That's all I ask of you." The old man told Drake with a small wistful smile on his face.

Drake's jaw dropped to the ground, not believe what he heard just now. A weapon, a brand new weapon, a fucking masterpiece of a weapon, and he got it for free. While Drake never was one of the most religious types, right now he did believe there must be some kind of God up there. That or his luck will punch him in the nuts not so far in the future. He really hoped it was the first though.

Nodding his head and a face splitting smile on his face, Drake gave the man his word. "I, Leopard D. Drake, hereby swear on my life that I will take care of this weapon to the best of my ability."

The old man only shook his head at the brat's antics and waved him out of his store. The brat, not wanting to push his luck nodded his head once again before making his way out of the shop, entering the main street once again.

"_A _D._ huh? That explains a lot. It seems that the world will be shook on its core once again. Whether it is for the better or the worse, that boy will change something in the world, either on a big or a small scale. All members with that initial do in one shape or form."_ The old man thought to himself, humming a tune as he walked back in his workspace.

-x-x-x-

While Drake was having his little chat with the old man in the weapon shop, Raven was walking with a one shoulder strapped backpack of his own, also possessing a pocket space. Just because pocket spaces are awesome. He had just finished purchasing the last item on his last and was just walking aimlessly on the street. The meeting time, and place, his captain wrote on the note was still a good thirty minutes away in the main centre of the town. While his captain didn't have any idea whether or not this place has a main centre, the teen must have thought that it was mandatory for every town to have one.

Sighing to himself, Raven was wondering about the subject his captain was talking about before they landed in port. Weapons. Raven knew that any weapon was always handy, sometimes more so than good old fists and feet. The green eyed teen could understand part of that logic; he was beaten by a long ranged weapon once and thus couldn't ignore their usefulness. That didn't mean he had to like it though. In a town that prohibited anyone aside from the Marines to possess a weapon, Raven had grown up with relying on his fists and feet and he would die that way if he had anything to say about it.

In his opinion people who used weapons were just cowards; a weapon could be used by a harmless housewife after all. No, the real dangerous people where those that used their own fists, that was what Raven believed, and he would keep this belief until he died. There were of course the exceptions for those that were well-known for utilising their weapons, but Raven would prove them and anyone else that the true danger was in the fist. The only exception to that rule was his captain Raven thought. While the teen had a sword, it seemed he never used it in their fight. At first he was a bit insulted, believing that the teen underestimated him. That idea was harshly beaten down the ground when he questioned his captain about this.

-x-x-x-Flashback-x-x-x-

"_Drake, why didn't you use your sword in our fight?" Raven asked with a tint of bitterness in his voice._

"_Simple. I've only used my sword on those vastly weaker than myself." Raven was taken aback from the answer._

"_Wha-"_

"_I have a sword, yes. But I'm not that good with it, which is why I only use it to those weaker than me. Understood?"_

_Raven nodded dumbly, a certain feeling of pride filling his chest as he heard his captain praise him for forcing the younger teen to use his fists._

-x-x-x-End Flashback-x-x-x-

He was pulled out of his flashback when he heard a female whimper coming from an alleyway. He noted that any normal civilian who took a glance inside the alleyway quickly turn their heads and tried to walk away as quickly as possible, sweat dripping down their faces. He did not like that reaction one single bit. Making his way to the alleyway Raven quickly saw why normal civilians reacted as they did. Inside the alley one could see a young teenage girl that wasn't even of legal age surrounded by four Marine soldiers. Her mouth was covered the hand of one of the four Marines, his other hand firmly putting one of her arms behind her back.

The other three Marines were standing over the girl, their backs towards Raven but the blue haired teen would bet all of his money on the fact their faces were filled with sick and lecherous expressions. When he saw one of them opening his belt in a clumsy way, showing he could barely control himself anymore, his eyes were filled with anger and fury. He decide that this would be a day where the _'Marines'_ would lose four of their members. Just when he was about to enter the alleyway and grab the first bastard, Raven was stopped in his tracks when he saw an arrow enter the three standing Marines' heads.

Looking upwards Raven saw a cloaked figure standing with on one of the roofs with a bow in his hands. Before Raven could even think of trying to get any characteristics out of the man, he heard a gunshot above him. It seemed the cloaked man heard it as well, as he turned his head to look behind him before jumping over the gap between the roofs and taking of, quickly followed by other people who wore white with blue coloured clothes. Raven absentmindedly heard the only living member of the yell something in his _Den Den Mushi_, backup Raven believed. The girl had already left the alleyway after the Marine let go of her and thus granted Raven the possibility to make true on his promise.

Waiting for the Marine to hang up, Raven charged forward not even giving the man the time to defend himself. Before the man knew it, he had a fang biting through his throat. The Marines last view in the world was the face of an angry looking, quadruple walking tiger, and the animal's teeth firmly placed in his throat. Transforming back from his complete tiger form to his human form, Raven wiped the blood of his mouth, watching the Marine's life leave his eyes. Not even giving the man a second look Raven jumped from wall to opposite wall in order to land on one of the roofs. Turning his head in the direction that the cloaked figure took, Raven jumped over the gap of the two building before dashing in the same direction.

While he was running on top of the roofs Raven looked from time to time to the ground, hoping to see or hear any scampering Marines to give him a certain idea of where the figure ran off to. When he looked down for the umpteenth time, Raven noticed something sticking out of the crowd. It was a person. A person that was avoided by the other people in the crowd. A person carrying a scythe that seemed to be bigger than himself. A person with white hair.

"_Captain? Why the hell does he carry a scythe with him?"_ Raven thought to himself, really wondering what the man was doing.

Those were worries for another time, right now he had a cloaked figure to follow and he'd better involve Drake in it as well. God knows Raven prefers to make the guy cut loose on a couple of Marines instead of his own ass. Jumping of the roof and landing with cat-like grace on the ground, Raven dashed through the crowd until he got right in front of Drake. The teen seemed to raise an eyebrow at his sudden appearance, before the green eyed teen was greeted with a grin of the blue haired one. Wanting to hurry up, Raven decided to get straight to the point.

"Come on captain, we need to go to the forest north of here. It seems the Marines are hunting down a man who just prevented a rape by the Marines themselves."

He was glad to see Drake's blue eyes narrow before beckoning him to lead the way, something Raven was just happy to oblige him with. Making his way through the crowd once again and jumping on the rooftops once again, followed by Drake, the two made their way north to the forest. It was the direction Raven last saw Marines running to and the direction where they could hear explosions going off.

-x-x-x-

The forest lying behind _'Preta Town'_ was known to the town's inhabitants for two reasons. The first was how peaceful the forest was. There was nothing but serene silence in the forest with here and there the sound of an animal. The second reason was the mountain situated in the middle of it. The mountain was the main source of materials blacksmiths need to do their job and is the reason why the town can even have so many weapon shops and blacksmiths to begin with.

Though nothing of that sereneness inhabited the forest today. No, the thirty Marines made sure of that with their guns that fired their loaded bullets towards a cloaked figure. The figure expertly dodged any and all bullets coming his way and even the occasional cannon ball that was sent his way. Sadly his luck had to run out sometime and that happened just when the figure took a turn to the right, landing right in front of a dead end with at both of his sides a wall of the mountain barring his way. This left the only way out the way he came, which was barricaded by the Marines.

Turning around the cloaked figure tried to find a way out of his current predicament. Sadly he found no way out, it seemed this would be his grave. As the Marines cocked their guns right at him, ready to fire within a few seconds, the figure was mentally screaming to himself in denial, not wanting to believe that he would die here.

"_No! This can't be! What about my promise?! I can't die, not yet!"_ These were the thoughts that travelled through the figures mind. Mind his surprise when he heard a yell coming from behind the Marines followed by either a body crashing into the ground or by a yell, sometimes both. The Marines no longer paid any attention to the figure; they were more concerned by the two figures that making quick way with them.

Both were boys, well more like young adult males but who is keeping track? Both looked to be around the same age, and had strange coloured hair colours. The teen that slammed, punched or simply threw their members into the ground had long, sky blue coloured hair. The other teen had white hair and was swinging a scythe with two blades situated beneath one another. The Marines could count themselves lucky none received any life threatening injuries, although the ones that fought the one with the scythe should get medical attention if they wanted to see another day.

The cloaked figure stood there, completely frozen in surprise at seeing the Marines getting their asses handed to them by two mere teens. Granted both were powerful, if the cracked bones he heard coming from the Marines was any indication, though the expression on the white haired ones face was a tad bit disturbing.

When the last Marine was knocked out cold did the figure seem to regain movement over its body again. The cloaked one took a stance that would allow him to attack or run around the two teens in front of him. He didn't know whether to put on his guard or to breathe a sigh of relief when the white haired one twirled his scythe in his hand before placing it on his back. The other teen had taken a lax stance, with his shoulders dropped and his hands in his pockets. While he seemed utterly relaxed the cloaked figure could see that the blue haired one was ready to move at any moment's notice.

As Drake was twirling the scythe in his hands he was analysing the built of the cloaked figure in front of him. The person seemed to be around his own height, perhaps a few inches longer but he would need to stand closer to know for sure. The person's body and face were covered by a dark brown cloak and a hoody respectively, the only thing he could note from clothes were the figure's shoes which were your normal run of the mill shoes. The figure's choice of weapon seemed to be a longbow on the person's back but Drake couldn't see any quivers or arrows on his person.

"_Probably hides them behind that cloak of his."_ He thought, absentmindedly noting Raven seeming to want to start a conversation with the cloaked figure.

Just when the figure was about to ask them about what they just did Raven beat him to it. "Why the hell did you get so many Marines after your ass? It couldn't have been you killing those three in the alleyway since it seemed they were already chasing you before that happened."

The cloaked figure was once again cut off when it saw a tree flying their way. Sure the tree would just it the mountain behind them but still, trees don't throw themselves to mountains. The three persons let their eyes, and in the case of Raven and Drake their heads as well, travel to the way the tree came from. Standing in the only exit where another bunch of Marines standing, this time there were fifty of them and standing behind them there was a very large man.

The man stood at a height of 7 feet 9 and was carrying with him a beer belly. Any other part of the man's body except for the belly was made out of pure muscle, from his arms to his neck one could see the man's veins easily, as if the man had trouble controlling his own strength. He seemed to be more like the fight type than the talk type, but in the stupid way. The man's clothing consisted out of the standard Marine clothes, consisting of white with blue coloured sleeveless shirt and baggy pants. The difference this man had over the other Marines was that he was wearing a cape, and while none of the non-Marines could see it, they knew the kanji for 'Justice' stood on the cape.

The man started to laugh for no particular reason. Well no reason Raven nor Drake could think of, the cloaked figure did have an idea why the man was laughing in triumph.

"Hahaha, I'll tell you why we chased this scurvy bastard. The man standing behind you is Lieutenant Commander Noa. Or should I say _ex_-Lieutenant Commander. For the moment he is called _'Eagle Eye'_ Noa, fugitive of the law with a bounty of _**12,000,000.00 Beli's**_."

Drake whistled at that amount while Raven turned his head to the now identified Noa with a raised eyebrow. The figure simply shrugged before taking a hold of his cloak and throwing it of off him. The thing that grabbed Raven's attention immediately was the strange sunset, orange eyes the teen possesses. The man had normal chestnut brown coloured hair that was a complete mess and travelled over the teen's face in three parts. One part went past each and the third went right between Noa's eyes, not a strand of hair lying in front of the male's eyes. Noa definitely wasn't built for powerful attack, but more for fast, quick and agile movements that didn't take that much force.

Noa was clad in quite plain clothes, probably had something to do with the fact he was being chased by Marines. A plain white shirt with three upper buttons that were closed; form fitting, black pants carried by a belt, and on the male's hands one can see black bracers, probably used to protect the man's fingers from getting hurt by the string of his bow. One can see a quiver on each hip, filled to the brink with arrows. Hidden beneath each quiver the man carries two daggers that are easy for him to grab a hold of should the need arise.

At being introduced by the large man, Noa made a flourish bow towards Drake and Raven, and by extension the Marines which wasn't really meant for them, placing his arm under his stomach. Standing straight again with a playful grin on his face despite the situation, he wasn't surprised when he got one back from both teens in front of him.

"For killing members of your own old squad in cold blood," The large man continued, ignoring what Noa was doing in front of him. "I, Captain Crow, will hereby capture _'Eagle Eye'_ Noa, dead or alive, together with his two acquaintances."

He expected three things to follow these words. An affirmative of his own men. His men charging towards the three men in front of them. And the three men to take their fighting stances in order to fight a futile, to them, fight. Well at least he got the affirmative of his men. What he didn't expect was the snort coming from the blue haired teen, a grin appearing on the white haired brat or the laugh coming from his former superior. A tick mark appeared on the man's head, he desired an explanation of these reactions.

"What's so funny?"

"They promoted you from Lieutenant to Captain in three months? You? How many dicks did you suck to get that position?" It was Noa who answered the man. The chestnut haired male couldn't just believe what he heard.

"Arrest me? Yeeaaaah, I don't think so." Raven answered next, drawling it out in obvious boredom.

"You come at me with the intent to fight, I come at you with the intent to kill. This will be your first and only warning." Three fucking guesses who said this.

Crow ignored the two crewmembers, believing them to be overconfident, and focused solely on Noa. "I earned my spot just like any other Captain class. It was all thanks to you though, if you never defected and I never chased you I would have never found the power to get this promotion."

Noa flipped him off. "Glad to be of service. But that crime, you mind have to edit it a little bit. I didn't kill anyone in cold blood; they fucking deserved it for abusing their power over the village they were supposed to protect."

Crow simply shrugged, not caring in the slightest. "I don't care; right now you're right where you belong on the social ladder. Beneath me… Now enough talk! Men! Attack!"

The Marines yelled in confirmation and with gusto, ready to bring down these evildoers; ignoring the real facts of Noa's crime.

-x-x-x-

The three males that were the object of a Marine attack were conversing leisurely with one another, not really caring for the incoming assault. In fact, Raven was busy picking his nose in search for a particular booger that has been annoying him for some time now. Ignoring the faces his First Mate was making while the older one was searching for the booger, Drake turned his head towards Noa.

"A bounty, huh? But why that particular nickname?"

The only answer he got was the male in front of him taking a quick glance to the incoming Marines, and before Drake knew it the orange eyed man had his bow in front of him and fingers held in a position as if they just fired an arrow. It seemed like the guy did, as Drake soon heard a gurgle coming from behind him, three gurgles in fact.

"I've got the eyesight of an eagle." Was Noa's dry reply to Drake's question.

Drake seemed to have taken a serious look on his face, gazing Noa from his head to his toes, and then looking at the man's quivers and bow before nodding to himself.

"I've decided." This drew Noa's attention away from the Marines that would be on their neck in a minute or two. It also made Raven focus less on the booger and turn the teen's head in his captain's direction.

"I hereby welcome you to my crew as the crew's Sniper." The statement got three reactions. The first was a big grin showing his white teeth from Drake. An unhinged jaw from Noa, not believing that he was being recruited by someone younger than him. Raven shoved his finger too deep in his nose in shock at the sudden declaration, harming himself.

"You want me to-" Noa stammered out, pointing from Drake to himself, still dumbfounded.

"Join, yes. You just shot three Marines with barely any effort and with no more than a glance. If that isn't potential I don't know what is. Not to mention you're a former Marine, meaning you know a thing or two about the organization. In return for joining us, we'll help you finish off these guys. So, what do you say?"

Drake trusted his hand out, waiting for Noa to do the same thing to shake hands. Noa looked at Raven with a look of 'is this guy serious?'. Raven was slightly miffed at not being asked for his opinion but the blue haired teen did see the logic in his captain's reasoning. Didn't mean he like being ignored though. Raven simply offered Noa a shrug and a smile, making the man know he didn't care but approved of Drake's decision. The blue haired teen then ran off to deal with the first few Marines that arrived, giving Noa a bit more time to think over his choices.

Now Noa was an intelligent man. He had to be to get to Lieutenant-Commander at the age of 18 and having only been in the Marines for a year. He also had to increase his street smarts after leaving the _'Marines'_ three months ago, not being able to cope with the arrogance of his squad any further, the fact he was going to be punishment for killing his squad, who were abusing their position in the organization, was the straw that made him drop out.

Now he was granted the possibility to join another organization, this time on the other side of the law and he while he had no idea who his future partners are, they seemed at least decent enough people. Although there was something about Drake's personality that made Noa wary of the teen. It was probably the teen's reaction when Crow declared he would capture them. The teen didn't see Crow or his men as a threat, if the white haired teen's warning was anything to go by. Deciding that he couldn't really lose anything by joining Noa took Drake's hand and shook his hand thrice.

Their last shake only lasted for a moment before they were both interrupted by a Marine each. Drake took a step to his left side, the Marine did come from his right, and just as the Marine's sword slashed down did Drake retaliate. Drake aimed his left point finger at the man's head, or more precisely his left eye, before giving the man a cold smirk.

"Bye. **Hone Hone no Dangan** _(Bone Bone Bullet)_."

Before the Marine could comprehend what the scythe wielder said, he was already dead, absentmindedly having felt something enter his left eye and burying itself in his brain before eternal darkness overcame him. While Drake took a step to side, Noa jumped backwards his hands hitting the ground before pushing himself farther again. Landing on his feet, Noa aimed his bow in his assailant's direction, loaded the weapon with a normal enough looking arrow and uttered the Marine's last words.

"**Ippatsu Hissatsu: Tōbusenkō"** _(One Shot Sure Kill: Head Piercer)_

The Marine didn't even had the chance to turn his head to look at his killer as an arrow buried itself in his temple and pierced not only his head but his brain as well, killing him instantly. Not flinching at the fact he just killed a man, Noa took a look at Drake's victim and raised an eyebrow at the hole in the man's head, his eye should be sitting there but it seemed to have been obliterated by whatever flew in the man's head. Taking a look at Drake himself he simply saw him bending his left point finger and was wondering what he did with it. Figuring he could ask when they had the time, Noa aimed his attention at another five incoming Marines.

Before they could make it too close to Noa, they were intercepted by a blue haired figure that towered over them and landed right in the middle of the group of five. The two, who were the farthest, thus facing the blur, were send flying backwards after having received a palm strike each courtesy of the figure. This was followed by a voice seemingly calling the name of whatever he just did.

"**Nikyu Shushou"** _(Paw Palm)_

The other three Marines must have heard the commotion behind them but were unable to do anything but turn around. Before they knew it all three were harmed in such a way they would never see another day. Two of them were suspended in the air, each pierced straight in the stomach by a claw from the figure; the third was hanging limply with his neck between the teeth of the creature.

When the figure threw the now dead Marines away from him, was Noa finally able to see what the creature was. It seemed to be a hybrid between a tiger and a human, possessing long sky blue hair that seemed quite familiar to him and was even bigger than Crow. His thoughts were interrupted when he saw Drake approaching him, scythe drawn and a body handing limply on it. Drake simply spun the scythe once, leading to the body being flung out of the two blades that were piercing it and hitting two Marines. Noa noted that there was no drop of blood on any of the blades, which he deemed strange as he was sure the blades must have pierced more bodies than the Marine he just sent flying.

The white haired captain grunted before pointing his scythe at the human tiger hybrid. "Raven, don't hog all the fun!"

This earned him a reaction from his two crewmembers. The senior member simply gave Drake an amused grin before grabbing the head of an attacking Marine and then using the Marine as a projectile when thrown at a couple of comrades of the justice believer. Noa on the other hand looked intrigued at Raven, surprised by the fact the teen was a User. He was pulled out of his thoughts when he noticed three Marines dashing his way.

Aiming his bow at the three incoming opponents, Noa quickly drew three arrows and placed them on the string of his bow. Pulling the string back with the arrows hold tightly between his fingers, Noa then let go of the string and of the arrows, letting them fly towards the Marines before hitting them either in the eye, neck or open mouth. All of this happened in the span of two seconds.

"**Hissatsu: San'ninkoroshi"** _(Sure Kill: Triple Murder)_

He turned his head to see Drake decapitating an unfortunate Marine that thought it was wise to take him up on his warning he gave before the Marines charged at them. On the other side he saw that Raven was making short work of the other Marines by kicking them into the walls surrounding them. Now that he counted at the amount of standing Marines he came to the conclusion that twenty of them had already fell in the battle against the three teens. Just when he was about to engage them again, he saw Drake run to him. At the same time he saw that Raven had landed right next to him. While non-off them had any injury, Noa could see that there was a mild annoyance creeping on both of their faces.

"They just keep coming at us. They're like a bunch of ants, harmless but a great pain in the ass to kill all at the same time." Raven complained, cleaning the blood of his claws in the meantime.

"I agree. We need to get out of here fast; if they gave Crow a complete Captain-class crew then these are just the half of his people. I am not going to spend all my arrows on a bunch of annoyances." Noa informed both men, shooting three Marines in the middle of his little speech.

He got a grunt from Raven and a snort from Drake. He saw Drake twirling the scythe in his hand lazily before the teen placed the weapon back on his back. The teen then seemed to be stretching his legs, for what reason Noa had no idea.

"Okay, I've got enough of this." Raven and Noa looked at Drake strangely. "At first it was fun to test my new weapon on these fools, but now it just got boring. I'll dash through the cannon fodder and take down that oversized guy. In the meantime you guys will take care of the other Marines. While I'm dashing forward I want you, Noa, to have my back and shoot down anyone that is about to stand in my way. Raven, you protect his ass from any Marine. The moment I'm through the flock of fodder you can go all out on their asses. Am I clear?"

The way Drake ordered them around immediately let Noa know just why the younger teen was the captain. As he spoke, he spoke with a tone that made you obey his command, not as a lapdog mind you but as a true subordinate. There was also the fact that even though he asked if he was understood, Noa realized he wouldn't tolerate any questions from them as they needed to be quick about it. Thus he gave the appropriate answer. He took a hold of his bow and loaded it with an arrow, ready to fire at a moment's notice.

"Ready when you are, captain."

"Don't worry Drake. I'll make sure anyone who gets close to our Sniper will be sent head first in the wall, or ground, or mountain."

Nodding his head, Drake locked his eyesight in front of him, the direction Crow was and without any sign or warning he was off. Drake dashes, spun, turned and used any exercise that allowed him to stay on the ground and to stream through the many Marines. Noa was impressed that he only had to fire his arrows twice, two Marines who had the unfortunate luck to be standing too close to one another. When he saw that Drake had completed the road, Noa lessened the concentration in his eyes and lazily looked at any and all Marine that were shell shocked that one of the outlaws just ran through them, literally!

Raven stood lazily at his side, having needed to bring down three Marines who thought it was smart to get closer now that there were only two outlaws instead of three. Turning his head at Noa, he gave the now smaller male a grin.

"Person who gets least amount of kills has to be up the crow's nest for three days, no other activity."

Finding no problem with the bet, as he couldn't really find that much of a punishment either, Noa quickly fired four arrows, each hitting a Marine in the chest or head before they fell down, never to stand up again.

"And that's four."

Raven gave him a disgruntled grin before he dashed forward to meet the other Marines.

"Cocky bastard!" He yelled at Noa half-hearted just before he grabbed the two closest Marines and slamming their heads against one another.

-x-x-x-

Captain Crow was many things and he knew it. He was quick to anger when one of him men just woke him up, did something stupid or embarrassed him in front of others. He loved standing above other people, believing that he was a man meant to be followed, not a man to be ordered around. It was the main reason he loved chasing Noa, he always believed the smaller and younger man was far weaker than him and should have thus been below him. Not only did that not happen, the brat even stood above him rank wise.

What completely infuriated Crow was the fact the teen was adored by many of the higher ups not only because of his skills or his looks, but by the view he had on justice and the world. Unlike Crow, who was only in the organization so that he could abuse the power, Noa never did and was like the role model for a Marine. It pissed Crow off!

When he had heard the news of Noa defecting he had been overjoyed, finally the brat would belong right where he belonged, beneath his feet in a prison. But the higher ups never sent someone after him! They believed that the brat would never go against them as long as they didn't go after them; clearly they still favoured him even though he left. Thus Crow vowed to do anything in his power to rise in the ranks, slander Noa's name, change the facts of his crime and then chase after the brat himself.

It didn't take that long, only three months and gaining a boost of strength and Crow was now a mighty Captain. He could finally chase after the brat and put him behind jail. He was succeeding. They heard rumours that the brat was hanging around _'Shinra Island'_ and today was the day they finally found him after searching for three days. Everything was going good; all would be well once again and when the brat was in jail Crow would celebrate in some local whorehouse.

But all of his plans were thrown through the window when two teens around the same age of Noa appeared and started cleaning twenty members of his crew as if they were nothing. Worse was the now group of three didn't even take him serious when he stated he would capture them. Him! A Marine Captain! When he ordered his men to charge at them he had expected them to take fighting stances, ready to fight a futile battle. They ignored him and his men! They didn't take him serious! They were conversing as if no significant threat was around them! They would pay dearly when he had his hands on them.

But instead of his men making short work of the teens, having believed that his first twenty had tired them out, the teens made short work of his men! Anyone who even got close to them were slammed or cut down, those who took their distance where shot down. Nothing worked! He had sent his long range squad ahead, believing them to be far more effective against a long ranged fighter like Noa was. It seemed that was his underdoing in this scuffle.

Even in his rage, Crow was able to notice that one of the three teens, the one with the scythe, was making his way towards him. As the teen stood in front of him, did Crow smirk. Now that the teen was close-by Crow would be able to take him down and hopefully take the spirit away from the other two. The white haired one had to be the strongest if they sent him to fight a Captain like himself.

Before he could say anything witty to the white haired brat, Crow was cut off by Drake. "Okay, let's do this. I'm not doing the witty remark thing with you simply because I don't like your face."

Crow was pissed off at being dismissed in such a casual way by the outlaw in front of him. Without warning Crow threw his left hand forward in a punch with speed a man his size shouldn't have. As it made contact with the ground, said piece was destroyed right then and there, pieces of ground being sent in different directions. Yes, he hit the ground. Why? Well, while Crow was faster than his size showed, Drake had experience fighting far faster and bigger creatures, Raven's hybrid form for example.

The Captain was surprised when he didn't feel the usual sound of bones cracking when he delivered his punch. Raising his fist up and clearing the dust, Crow saw that there was no one standing in the spot he just hit. Just when he was about to look around, Crow felt something touch his throat before he felt two feet landing on his back. Looking down he saw the smaller of the two blades at his throat. He wasn't given the chance to look back up again into Drake's eyes when he felt the smaller blade cut his throat sideways, as the blade was pulled to the side.

Drake, who had jumped from the now dead, but still standing, Captain's body was greatly disappointed at the ease he had taking care of a Captain-class Marine. He had heard stories that those who became Captain were those that had the most potential to start rising into the rank. Either the stories were false or this Captain was not one of those with potential.

Having put _'Shi no Gurren Dai'_ back on his back, Drake was casually walking towards the few Marines that were still standing after Raven and Noa decided to release all their restraints. He stopped dead in his tracks when he felt a body towering over him. Slowly turning his head with widened eyes, Drake was swept of his feet when he felt a punch hit him straight in the ribs, with enough force crack five ribs, and sent flying into one of the many trees. He absentmindedly heard the voice of someone he thought he killed.

"**Katai Hyoumenka Betto"**___(Hard Breaking Special)_

-x-x-x-

Raven was bored. Bored, bored, bored! Sure he has been fighting for a while yet, but he couldn't really call beating Marine's their heads in any solid surface fighting, now could he? After having lived in a sea that was said to be the second coming of the _'East Blue'_, Raven had believed that there were too many good Marines situated in that sea. Now he knew the truth. Sure there were too many of them, but they sure as hell weren't the good kind. This screamed quantity over quality big time, and Raven hated it.

Making the last few Marines' heads make contact with his fist or feet, Raven turned around to see how Noa was doing, only to sweatdrop at the casual way the new Sniper was standing. For all Raven knew this whole thing was like practice training to Noa, which it was. As Noa shot down another Marine from afar he had to shake his head. Crow might be a Captain now but he still was a Cabin Boy on terms of tactics. The man had always put too much stock on his own size and the size of the troops. Just because you were bigger and with more meant jack shit if you were fighting with far stronger opponents. Something these Marines learned the hard way, the way they would never be able to use the lesson later on in life.

A crash pulled both crewmembers out of their respective thoughts and made them look past the few still standing Marines to where Crow stood. The Marines followed their example, hoping beyond hope that something would happen in their favour for once. Crow stood there, his arms crossed and a smile on his face before he opened his mouth.

"Outlaws! Surrender! I have just taken down your friend with only one punch! If you kiss my feet I'll give you a quick death!" The man declared victoriously, gaining a cheer from his crew, or what remained of it.

The man's face slipped for a moment when he heard Raven yell right back at him. "How much force did you put in that 'one punch'?!"

Neither Crow, his crew or Noa understood why Raven would ask such a useless question. Deciding to humour the outlaw, Crow gained his victorious smirk.

"I sent him flying with a punch strong enough to destroy a normal man's ribs." He said loudly, proud of his own strength.

At this he expected the outlaws to start quivering at him or at the very least sweat. He gained the sweating reaction from Noa, but he didn't expect the other one his reaction. The blue haired one just shrugged and shoved his right claw down one of the seven, now six, remaining men. Noa looked just as surprised as Crow and his crew did.

"Two things. First, you'll need more than a bone breaking attack to do any real damage to my captain."

Captain? So the two were part of a crew, probably a pirate crew. But Crow had never heard a pirate crew with a white haired brat wielding scythe as weapon. He certainly never heard a thing about a Zoan Devil Fruit User in the South Blue either. Which meant these were rookies, nothing worth his time. Just when he was about to give a witty remark, Raven continued, completely ignoring the Captain.

"Two, you might need to look behind you."

As if on cue Crow heard a grunt coming from behind. His eyes widened in disbelief as he turned his head, and his body, around to see Drake standing behind him. The teen seemed to have absolutely no damage at all, except for the steaming punch mark in the teen body.

_(Play __**Luffy vs Rachet Round 1)**_

"What the hell are you?!" Crow yelled out at the white haired teen. No one had ever stood up from his punches after he ate the _'Kachi Kachi no Mi'_ (5)! No one! And here there was this snot nosed kid that not only stood up from it but looked completely fine, not even a thin trail of blood?! Crow couldn't believe it, he wouldn't believe it. Not even the previous Captain was capable of standing up to him after that punch.

Using the ability granted to him by his Devil Fruit, Crow hardened his body until it was as hard as stone before heating it up. With his Devil Fruit's ability turned on its maximum he was sure that he would bring down this brat, and then bring Noa down to his knees. So blinded by his rage at the idea that someone could stand up to his strength, so engulfed by his pride he never saw the incoming attack that would stop the fight before it ever started.

Not waiting for Crow to make his move as he saw the man's body change colour, Drake had already acted. He hadn't noticed it the first time, but when looking back at it he never did hear the sound of metal cutting flesh, more like rock. As he saw the man's body change colour, the same colour as the man's fist when it struck him, he noticed that the man's eyes did not change. Quickly thinking of the perfect way to kill someone who thought they were untouchable Drake readied his body.

Before the man's colour went from rocky brown, to heated rock red, Drake had already jumped the distance between the two and readied his arm to attack. Focusing his Devil Fruit's ability in his fingers he strengthened the bones to the maximum point he was capable of at the moment, his fingers were strangely bent in a claw like manner.

"I'm your executioner." Drake answered Crow's previous question.

"**Hone Hone no Tsume"** _(Bone Bone Claw)_

Drake's attack wasn't aimed at Crow's body; it wasn't aimed at his face. No it was aimed at the man's only unguarded part, the man's eyes. Drake shoved two of his fingers, one finger each, in the man's eye so deep that they travelled through the skull straight in the brain. The Captain, no longer able to use his brain to think, much less use his Devil Fruit Abilities, lost his strange colorations. Now being once again of normal blood and skin, Crow's head was unprotected by the harsh way Drake pulled his fingers out of the man's head. By cleaving straight through the man's skull, four deep gashes in the man's head that split it open.

As he landed on the ground once again, Drake saw that both Noa and Raven were standing right in front of him. Noa looked quite surprised at the way his new captain just handed with his former comrade. It was ruthless, it was gory and he didn't care. No, he had seen the now dead Captain do much worse things, things he was unable to stop due to lack of evidence and witnesses willing to go up against the man.

Raven, who had changed back to his human form, whistled at the way his captain made short work of a Marine Captain. He was mighty surprised. Sure he knew Drake was strong but strong enough to take down a Captain-class? That made him wonder how far the two were apart.

It was Noa who broke the silence, as the remaining Marines were all killed by Raven, Noa was too surprised seeing Drake unharmed.

"How did you survive a punch that breaks five ribs?!"

"Simple." It was Raven who answered, gaining turned head from Noa. "Our captain is a Devil Fruit User as well."

"Raven's right. I've eaten the _'Hone Hone no Mi'_. I can control the density, length or anything else of my bones. I barely leave my guard down, and was thus capable of withstanding a punch that would break normal bones."

The way Drake explained his ability made Noa flinch slightly. If what his captain said was true, then that explained the hole he saw in his captain's first kill. The reason why his captain was doing those strange movements with his finger was because he just shot a freaking bone out of his body. Even if the Devil Fruit would have made him immune to damage to his own bones, it must have hurt having his own bone piercing through his skin before it settled in the Marine's head. It did explain Drake's personality quite a bit. If you had to do that to yourself from time to time in order to see how far your Devil Fruit's ability go, anyone would either go emotionless or want to bloodthirsty on someone else his ass.

That was one Devil Fruit he sure as hell didn't fancy. As far as Noa was concerned it had more disadvantages that advantages, though that was probably because he hadn't seen the extent of it. He was pulled out of his thoughts by a nudge of Raven's elbow. Turning his head to the First Mate, Noa saw the man's grin and was wondering why the man was grinning.

"What?'

"You lost the bet." The grin increased as Noa's eyes widened. "That means you're up the crow's nest for the next three days."

"Wha-? But I was winning?!"

"Indeed, was. Until you suddenly froze up when that Marine punched the captain through the forest. It gave me the chance to kill seven of them, making me the winner of our little bet." Raven put his hands behind his head, following his captain who had already started his trek back to the ship, believing his crew would follow him when they noticed he was gone.

Noa stood there dumbly, his jaw open wide, not believing he got offed that easily. A thick mark appeared on his head as he ran after his two new friends.

"You fucking cheated!"

As Raven and Noa were discussing with one another about the bet, both missed the chuckling Drake who had a smile on his face during the walk through the forest, back to the town and back to their ship. Due to the fact their ship was only built for two, Drake would have to start making night shift between the three of them, maybe take away Raven's bed and replace it with a hammock.

-x-x-x-

(1) Chain-Sickle

(2) Night

(3) New World

(4) Death's Crimson Scythe

(5) Rock Hard

**Advert of Time:** Another member joined the crew, this time an ex-Marine that deemed the Marines were becoming more and more corrupt. Wonder where he'll end up on the end of the road.

Also a bit of insight on Drake's personality or why he acts like he does. I mean, having to let a bone exit your body had to hurt as it pierces your flesh. Having to do it multiple times must make someone go insane. Though I haven't quite confirmed it, all those 'disadvantages' are simple speculations from Noa's POV, for all he knows it makes Drake feel giddy inside wanting to eat cookies and shit rainbow.

Hope the fight/massacre was good enough to show that mere grunts will simply be sent to a slaughter house when sent to Drake and his crew. Also I was wondering if any of you have a good nickname for either Drake or Raven, or even for their crew. I've already got one for each, but if I deem your nickname superior I might just use it.

For those wondering: No, Raven won't be Drake's punching bag. I don't know what overcame me but it just happened. Lack of people to fight me thinks. Or maybe Drake is already punching it in Raven's head not to even think of betraying him. *Shrugs*

Also, me thinks I have to up the rating to M, because this kind of killing might become frequent in this story.

-x-x-x-

**The … Pirates**

**TOTAL BOUNTY: 12,000,000.00 Beri**

**MEMBERS**

**Captain – **Drake _(0.00 Beri)_

**First Mate –** Raven _(0.00 Beri)_

**Navigator – …**

**Sniper –** _'Eagle Eye'_ Noa _(12,000,000.00 Beri)_

**Shipwright – …**

**Cook – …**

**Doctor – …**

**Musician – …**

**Swordsman – …**

**Archeologist – …**

-x-x-x-


End file.
