Chapter Text

Hunted! Darkness Stalks the Straw Hats!

In the open sea, one would expect that it would be calm. There aren’t huge waves as opposed to the shore – especially when it’s sunny out with clear blue skies up ahead. The water is nice and clear – but not too clear of course. There wasn’t an island in sight. It was just a nice, calm, peaceful blue sea.

…Yeah, right.

A sheep-themed caravel was moving as fast and as far as it could. Panic could be heard from the ship and if one were to zoom in they would see why. Cannonballs were being fired at them at astronomical speeds, but fortunately for them, they missed. When the cannonballs made impact with the sea, water blew into the air sky high before dropping down. Creating smaller ripples as opposed to the cannonballs before it.

“GYAAAAAAH! WE’RE ALL GONNA DIEEEEE!” Screamed out a slim tan-skinned above average height man. He was five-foot-nine, with medium-length black curly hair, prominent lips, and a comically long nose. He was wearing an olive green plaid bandana, a blue and white striped armband on his left arm, along with special sniper goggles, brown overalls with a white sash and no shirt underneath; and carried with him a yellow satchel. Tears were pouring from his eyes and he ran around with his hands in the air.

Looking around at the chaos, was a six-foot slender young woman with shoulder-length black hair styled in a classic hime cut. She had eyes that had dark wide blue cerulean pupils.  She also had a long, thin, and defined nose. She had a slightly darker tan to her skin. She also was wearing a modest buttoned-up long-sleeved lavender shirt with long purple pants and a pair of purple boots. “I’ve heard that drowning is a favorable death for sailors,” She said with a calm expression on her face while everyone else was panicking. “I wonder if Davy Jones Locker is as scary as it seems.”

“You’re not helping, Robin!” Barked an angry slim young woman of average height, five-foot-seven, with orange hair and brown eyes. She had a blue tattoo on her left shoulder, representing mikan, and pinwheels. She was also wearing a blue and white striped tank top with her usual skirt and high heels. In her hand was a collapsible bo-staff, she looked around. “Zoro! Where are you?”

“He’s sleeping!” Cried what appeared to be a toddler-sized – two-foot-eleven – human/reindeer hybrid. Their left antler was braced at the base by a metal plate. They wore a large pale red/pink fuzzy top hat with a sideways medical cross and a maroon pair of shorts. They also wore a blue backpack that had the same sideways medical cross as their hat. They also had a remarkable blue nose. “WAKE UP, ZORO!”

“Wake up, Mosshead!” Raising a foot in the air, a black boot slammed into something – metal. The one who had raised their boot was none other than a tall – five-foot-ten – muscular young man with long legs and jaw-length blonde hair which he kept brushed over the left side of his face. The main attraction to this man were the spirals on his eyebrows: His right eyebrow formed a spiral at the outer end, while his left eyebrow formed a spiral at the inner end. He also wore a black, double-breasted suit with golden buttons and a tie together with a long-sleeved buttoned blue shirt. To top it off, he had black dress shoes at the bottom of his feet.

Laying somewhere on the deck of the ship was a five-foot-ten, muscular young man with lightly tanned skin and short-cut green hair. He wore a white short-sleeved henley shirt, a green haramaki, black pants, and black boots. He had three swords along with him, bundled up with a green haramaki over his right hip. He had three identical gold earrings on his left earlobe. He also had a black bandana tied around his left bicep. He had unsheathed one of his swords partially to block the fancy man’s kick. “Oi,” ‘Mosshead’ protested, “what’s going on?”

“Get up!” The blonde growled, and with a groan, the other man obliged.

“What’s going on, Eyebrows?”

The blonde gritted his teeth and went to kick at the green haired swordsman, but it was blocked again. Rising to his feet both began to attack each other, feet and blade met in a – rather immature – dance.

“LUFFY!” Both the long-nosed man and the reindeer-human cried out with tears in their eyes.

“Oi! Someone grab the helm!” Answering to her Captain’s call, the ginger went into action and took the helm. Stretching his arms on the ship, he sprung himself forwards to the back. He landed on the railing and looked ahead, spotting three cannonballs heading their way. He sucked all the air he could, “Gomu Gomu No FUSEN!” Inflating his belly to astronomical proportions, the three cannonballs connected with his body. Instead of crashing through him or exploding, they remained stagnated and sunk into his belly. With a cry, he pushed the three cannonballs back at the ship that had fired at them before deflating himself with an exhale.

This revealed a young man of average height of five-foot-eight with shaggy black hair, round black eyes, and a slim muscular build. He wore a yellow straw hat with a red hatband. His outfit consisted of a red vest with three gold buttons, light blue denim shorts cuffed just above his knees, and tan sandals. On his face was a scar with two stitches underneath his left eye.

This young man was looking dead ahead at a large, menacing, armored black ship, with white white sails. Standing at the bow of the ship was a tall, six-foot-five, man head to toe in black full-plate, steel armor with a broadsword wielded in one hand and a helm with horns akin to a demon on his head. He had a black cape on his back. He saw those three cannonballs shot towards him, but he didn’t make a move to stop them as from the water, a massive wave shot upwards and swallowed the cannonballs. And sunk them back down.

This was thanks to a mermaid who made her presence known, surfacing next to the black ship. She appeared to have features of an Angler Fish as well as the normal mermaid stuff going on. A blackish tail with blue highlights that mirrored her webbed hands. She had sharp teeth in her mouth as well as the fishing rod lure on her head with blue eyes. She surfaced briefly and glanced over to her Captain, that Dark Knight, for instruction.

In response, the Dark Knight snarled and placed his black broadsword on his shoulder.

“Understood, Captain,” The Mermaid saluted and dove back down in the water.

Taking her Captain’s side is a woman standing at a height of five-foot-eight is a woman with short cut black hair and a black, almost police-styled, cap on her head. To top it off? Blood red eyes. She was wearing a leather jacket and a black combat skirt with thigh highs. At the end of her fingertips were charred black, and resting on her shoulder, similar to her Captain, was a black scythe almost twice the size of her.

“That rubber man is annoying,” Growled the woman. She narrowed her eyes as she looked at the afar straw hat man. “Butch, any view?”

Up on the Crow’s Nest, looking into a scope on a sniper rifle is a man shrouded in black clothing. He had goggles on, and looked the part of a cowboy with rows of dynamite and bullets on his person. He also had cloth around his mouth, leaving no indication for what he looked like. “I do,” He yelled, his voice muffled due to his facemask. “They’re running around like headless chickens. I have a shot on the raccoon.”

The Dark Knight snarled at this.

“Captain says we need it, the employer says they wanted it,” The woman yelled to Butch.

“Understood, I will not harm it,” Butch nodded his head.

Panic further ensued from the crew on the sheep ship, particularly from the long nosed one and the reindeer-man.

“Usopp, Chopper! Get it together!” The duo scrambled to a stop and turned to Zoro, an intense look in his eyes. “We’re going to have to fight them.”

“At sea?!” Usopp cried out, “They have a Fishman!”

A snort came from Zoro at this, “I’ve always wondered how Fishmen tastes,” he took upon a menacing look.

“It depends on the Fishman,” Robin replied with an interested look, “though, I’ve never had Angler Fish, so I wouldn’t have anything to base it off of.”

“I’ll cook Angler Fish for you, Robin-chwaaan~!” The Swirly Eyebrowed blonde spun towards her direction with hearts in his eyes.

“How kind of you, Sanji,” Robin smiled, “but I’m not sure if you can handle the depths an Angler Fish lives in. Your body would get crushed, your ribs would stab into you, and you would wind up as food for the bottom feeders.”

“Scary!” Usopp and Chopper whimpered.

Meanwhile, in the back of the ship, Luffy had his eyes trained on the black ship. He was locked in an intense staring contest with the Dark Knight. Each of them had eyes of focus and determination, though Luffy couldn’t see the eyes of the Dark Knight.

“Luffy!”

He heard his Navigator call his name and he immediately spring into action and somersaulted over next to her. He landed on the ground next to her and rose to his feet. “Yeah, Nami?”

“There’s a storm ahead!” Looking ahead curiously, there it was, as massive storm with thunder booming and lightning flashing off in the distance.

Luffy’s jaw dropped to the floor and his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, “GAAAAH! HOW ARE WE THIS UNLUCKY?!”

“Don’t see storms like this often.” A small figure with short, bright teal hair in almost leaf-like shapes held a hand up to shield his eyes against the pelting rains for a moment. Standing just under five feet, and wearing a black romper with puffy sleeves and a tie over a white undershirt, he turned to his two companions with a hand on his hip. “Spend too much time out, and it’ll wash your powder off.”

They were all the same height, similarly clothed, and the same skin tones. But their hair, it was all different. As opposed to the short, shiny teal of the first, one had extremely long black hair that dragged on the ground behind him. The other also had short hair, but it was much curlier and a bright orange.

“Speaking of.” The first pointed at each of them, two golden arms glinting in the dim light of the storm, “Why are you two still out on patrol?”

The dark-haired one simply pointed out to the coast, where the end of the storm was well in view, a cascade of sun rays lighting up the far ocean. “Lunarians are known to show up immediately after storms. We will be ready for them.”

The orange-haired one slowly turned to look at the dark-haired one with a jitter and wide eyes, the constant stream of raindrops almost looking like droplets of sweat. “We will?”

“Yes.”

“Well don’t spend too long out in the rain, or else Rutile will get in a twist.” The first gazed out towards the horizon, “And Bort, you still haven’t said it.”

The dark-haired one frowned, “Said what?”

“Come on! It’s easy! Just say it!” The first one threw his arms up.

“Is it, Phos?” The third piped up, “What kind of a name is C–”

“Ah…” Bort opened his mouth, and they both looked at him with wide eyes.

A deeper frown, “Cah… Cair… What was it again?”

“Cairngorm.” Phos nodded enthusiastically, “I just need you to say it so you remember it.”

“Ngh,” Bort put his hands on his hips, “Cairngorm. There, happy?”

“Infinitely so.” Phos gave him a thumbs up, “Alright, I’m going to head back now, I’ll tell the others to resume patrol once the rain stops.” He turned and took a few steps down the grassy hill they were standing upon, before looking back and waving, “And let us know if you see anything!”

And with that, Phos took off, running across the damp fields of grass as the storm continued to rage on above.

The orange-haired one turned to Bort. “D-Do you see anything?”

“No.” Bort turned to face the coastline again, “But stay vigilant. There just may be an attack during a storm, or even during the night.” His gaze trailed upwards, and the orange-haired one quickly followed it. “We can never be too careful.”

“R-Right. Especially… th-these days…” The orange-haired one shielded his eyes for a moment as he blinked the water out of them, only to jump at a flash of lightning.

A deep crack of thunder echoed across the island, and Bort crossed his arms.

“S-See anything?” The orange-haired one asked again.

“No. Not yet.” Bort said evenly, his eyes slowly scanning the horizon.

“Do… D-Do we have to keep standing out in the rain?”

All the orange-haired one got was a side-eye.

The storm raged overhead, forcing the crew of the sheep ship into overdrive. Chopper had assumed an apish-human like form and he was in control of the ship now. Grabbing the helm firmly with his biceps bulging as he tried to correct the ship’s course. Usopp and Nami on the other hand were doing their damndest to right the ship's sails. Meanwhile, Luffy stood first and straight, glaring ahead with Sanji and Zoro flanking his left and right respectively. Sanji had his hands in his pockets, a damp cigarette in his mouth, soiling his already ruined mood. Zoro had a hand resting on his swords, he just looked ahead with a firm glare. Robin had Sanji’s side, an interested look on her face as she stared down those in front of them.

Sailing right next to them, parallel to them in fact, was that black ship. Standing right in front of the trio was the crew. This ship was the size of a galleon and towered over their mere caravel. What had to be hundreds of men were on the ship, but at the forefront was the Dark Knight. A woman with a scythe next to him on his right, Butch on his left, and the Fishman-Mermaid hybrid on deck with them with a bubble wrapped around her waist, keeping her afloat despite being on land. Behind them was a large man in an executioner’s outfit with a giant, double sided, black axe. There was another man with a neatly cut beard, short cut brown hair, and square rimmed glasses who dressed in fancy clothing. A white shirt underneath an open buttoned vest. He had brown eyes underneath those glasses. Meanwhile next to him was a man in a black hood, playing with two yo-yos, spinning them dangerously.

“Give it up, Straw Hats, you’re coming with us!” The scythe wielder said with a firm glare.

“We can take you in warm, or we can take you in cold ,” Butch warned, revealing a flintlock in a holster at his hip.

“WARM, WARM, WARM! PLEASE, WARM!” Usopp cried out with tears in his eyes.

“Oi, Bucket!” Luffy cried out, referring to the Captain of the vessel who glared daggers at the Straw Hat. “You aren’t going to stop chasing us, right?” He raised his hands and started cracking his knuckles.

The Dark Knight shook his head.

“Yosh!” The Straw Hat started to stretch while Zoro unsheathed all of his swords. He put one in his mouth and gripped the other two in either hand. Sanji on the other hand spat his cigarette out and took his hands out of his pockets. Robin raised her hands in a crossed position. “Let’s fight then!”

As if on cue, multiple harpoons shot from the galleon and stabbed into the tiny – in comparison – vessel. Sanji, Zoro, and Robin went to intercept as many as they could – kicking, slashing, sprouting arms to slap ‘em away – but some still came through and pierced the ship. “MERRY!” Luffy cried out before glaring at the Dark Knight who lunged off the ship and came crashing towards the Captain. Luffy reared back his fist and prepared to meet the blade of the Knight.

The other members followed suit, and as they jumped ships, Robin sprouted as many arms as she could on the members jumping ships and clutched. Sending multiple crewmates falling off the ship and into the depths below. 

Zoro met the blade of the scythe wielder with his three, creating sparks that flew in the air only to be extinguished by the flames. Sanji, on the other hand, was locked in a duel with Butch who fired dual flintlocks at him. The Cook dodged as best as he could, but even then, a bullet managed to scrape by him. Robin had to deal with the Fishman-Mermaid hybrid who wielded bladed tonfas and grinned ear to ear, showing off her sharp fangs. She slashed wielding at the Demon Child who stepped back and used her Devil Fruit to her advantage.

Unfortunately for the four Straw Hats that chose to fight. They did not have nearly enough manpower to take out all of the hundreds of crewmembers coming in. Some slipped through their defenses to attack the other members. The hooded yo-yo wielder swung the toys at Usopp who ducked and avoided the attack, one that would have surely whacked him back. While Nami dodged multiple needles being thrown her way, and had to focus on both the rope to the sails and defending herself with her staff. The man with the glasses chucked needle after needle, he was creating them out of thin air.

“A Devil Fruit user!” Nami cried out as she blocked another needle, only for one to slip by and pierce through her shoulder. She cried out and clutched her shoulder in pain, letting the rope free – to slap Usopp in the face.

“Nami!” Sanji went to aid the Navigator, but Butch shot where his foot would have moved.

“Nuh uh uh, eyes on me, playboy,” Butch said, spinning his flintlocks in either hand. Sanji snarled and raised a knee before dashing after him. As they fought the executioner marched towards Usopp to decapitate him.

Seeing this, Chopper had no choice but to abandon the helm and jump from the railing and dive towards the executioner. “Heavy Gong!” Bringing his fist forwards, he slammed his fist into the fact of the executioner and knocked him down. Though, he didn’t stay down for long and sat up, glaring daggers at Chopper. The animal could practically feel the seething rage behind the eyes of the man.

If you could even call him that.

Meanwhile, Luffy and the Dark Knight were in intense combat. The Dark Knight swung his weapon, creating air slashes that forced Luffy on the defensive. With every air slash missed, some caught air while some caught the Merry, making Luffy growl. Growing tired of this, Luffy reared back a fist. “Gomu Gomu no Pistol!” He fired his fist just like the armament he called it, only for the Dark Knight to dodge, catch his wrist, and yank him towards him.

Luffy reared back his head as he was pulled, “Gomu Gomu no…” as his body came close, his head quickly shot forwards. “...Bell!”

CLANG!

His head smashed into the helm of the Dark Knight, whipping his head back and forcing him to take a step back. But that didn’t stop him from reaching out his free hand and clutching Luffy by his neck. Instantly, Luffy felt his strength leave him, “S–Sea Stone?!” It was indeed Sea Stone. The Dark Knight was wielding Sea Stone gauntlets, making Luffy groan in exhaustion as he became more drained by the second.

The Dark Knight lifted Luffy overhead and slammed him onto the ground and dragged him across the deck before throwing him into the mast. Forcing Luffy to bounce off of it and hit the ground. The Knight fell into pursuit and charged.

“Stop… Hurting…” Luffy growled, “...MERRY!” with a lightning fast punch as the Dark Knight came in, he smashed his fist into his jaw. The Dark Knight’s head whipped back once again… Only for him to lean forward like nothing happened. In return for the punch, the Dark Knight punched back and socked Luffy across the jaw, sending him to the floor. With the Straw Hat on the ground, the Dark Knight planted his boot firmly onto Luffy’s chest. He raised his sword high overhead to stab into the heart of the Straw Hat, but then felt a rumble.

Suddenly, the combatants turned to the rumble and all saw the MASSIVE wave overhead. Lightning flashing to illuminate it. As massive and as big as a mountain. Usopp and the yo-yo man screamed and hugged each other, Robin’s eyes widened, and the Dark Knight just glared at the wave defiantly.

All before the wave came crashing down.

Chapter Text

Stranded? Marooned?! Explore the Island!

“I think you’ll be okay.”

“Thank you, Chopper.”

Chopper was once more in his smaller form, he had finished applying the bandages they had to Nami’s puncture wound she had from the needle. The needle was expertly taken out of her and was set aside – and cleaned – for potential future use. All of the crew were on board, but something was odd. The skies were as blue as they were before, there wasn’t a Knight in sight, and more importantly, they were washed ashore on an island. The Going Merry had washed ashore as well, and had to be pushed by Luffy, Chopper, Sanji, Zoro, and Usopp back into the water where they had dropped the anchor.

“Captain,” Zoro turned to the Straw Hat, “what should we do?”

“Meat!”

“Ugh,” Nami facepalmed, “we need to get supplies and restock on equipment. Who wants to go out and get supplies?” Sanji, Luffy, Chopper, and Robin raised their hands. “Hm… That won’t do…” She turned to Chopper, “We’re going to need you to stay here and guard the ship with Zoro and Usopp.”

“But we need medical supplies, I know the best ones,” Chopper protested.

“Chopper,” Robin started, “have faith in me, I too have some knowledge in the medical field. And besides, I’m sure I can find some of your favorite cotton candy on the way.” She smiled.

“Cotton candy?!” Chopper’s eyes practically started to shine as bright as the sun, “You stupid, idiotic, fool, you’re too kind, damn you!” He started gushing. This just made Robin smile grow a millimeter wider.

“Yosh! With that settled, let’s adventure!” Luffy jumped on the railing and put a hand on his straw hat; and gazed out to the island ahead.

From his rather meager viewpoint, a large stretch of grassland extended out ahead of them, curving around to form a crescent shaped island, with a large bay in the middle, and the other side of the crescent splitting off into several ‘spikes’ of layered shorelines.

The whole island was rather flat actually, with distant cliffs and rolling hills, but no mountainous peaks. In fact, the tallest geologic structure was visible on the far side of the island, across the bay. It was a single cliff face with layers upon layers of superpositioned rock. Even though it was so far away, it clearly glittered in the sun above.

Otherwise, there were no visible artificial structures along the entire island. At least from Luffy’s point of view.

But that wasn’t really important, not when he could see the glittering rocks in the distance. “Oooh~!” Luffy jumped off of the ship, “SHINY!” He landed on the ground and began sprinting ahead. “SHINY! SHINY! SHINY! SHINY! SHINY!”

“LUFFY!” Nami cried out before groaning and jumping ship as well. She was followed by Sanji who quickly caught as she fell, while Robin created steps out of hands on her way down. With the gang all on the bottom, they went to follow their Captain who blindly charged ahead with childish glee.

As they ran, Zoro watched them with his arms crossed. He turned back to Usopp and Chopper, “I’m gonna catch up on some shut eye,” he yawned and walked over to the shade the Crow’s Nest supplied and sat down.

“But Zoro, we need to make– And he’s sleeping,” Usopp’s shoulders sagged as the swordsman leaned against the mast and started snoring. He turned to Chopper who assumed back his more bulkier form. “Let’s get the equipment from storage…” Usopp dragged his feet to the door that led to the inner-workings of the ship. Chopper let out a sigh, taking one last glance at Zoro, before following.

And yet, unbeknownst to them, and unbeknownst to them , a few more glittering rocks had just crested a nearby hill.

“W-What is that?” The orange-haired one asked, very nearly biting his knuckles as he stared at the beached ship. “Is it L-Lunarians?”

“I…” Bort frowned, “Don’t know.” He reached back and unsheathed a shiny black sword hanging behind him. “It doesn’t look Lunarian, but it could be another trick.” He slowly turned to face the orange-haired one, but kept his eyes on the ship, “Go get Sensei.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. We don’t know what it could do. I’ll watch it, you get the others.”

“B-Be careful!” The orange-haired one was already turning away.

“I won’t get too close. I don’t want a repeat of last time.” Bort growled, “Now go.”

With a nod, the orange-haired one dashed down the other side of the hill, racing across grassy slopes and in a slightly different direction than the rest of the Straw Hats. Meanwhile Bort held his sword at the ready, and began a slow approach towards the ship.

On the far side of the island, directly opposite of the Straw Hats, was a large galleon, tipped over slightly as it pressed against one of the cliffs. There were multiple crew members sprawled out across the sands, wounded and beaten. They were near the shore, of course, and there were several more prominent crew members here and there. 

The Fishman-Mermaid hybrid was on the ground, groaning in pain. Her skin was cracking due to the heat above. Butch was on the ground with his hat not too far away. The executioner was flat against the ground, on his chest with his axe not too far away from him. The yo-yo man was tied up in his own strings. The Needle Man was currently crawling desperately away from the water and onto shore where the scythe wielder was standing. “Captain!” She cried out, her voice echoing briefly off of the cliffs. “Captain, where are you?!”

A shiny piece of metal was sticking out of the ground slightly. Only to then erupt as a hand emerged from within before hitting the ground with a palm. Pushing himself out of the earth and rising like the dead was the Dark Knight. He popped his joints and neck and readjusted himself with a groan.

“Captain,” The woman walked over to him, “we’ve washed ashore on a foreign island, what should we do?”

The Dark Knight groaned.

The woman nodded, “Understood, Captain,” she turned to face everyone. “Alright, get up you lousy slackers! Captain has some orders!”

“Ugh, give us a moment, Bell,” Butch started to push himself to his feet. He took his sandy hat from the ground and started to shake said sand off of him and his hat. “Some of us wake like the dead,” He put his hat on and secured it tight.

“It’s Bellatrix to you,” She huffed, “as Vice Captain, you should treat me with some respect!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Butch waved a hand, dismissing her as the executioner arose alongside the Needle Man.

“C–Captain…” A quiet voice whimpered. Almost immediately, the Dark Knight made his march over to the voice. Soon, at his feet, was the Fishman-Mermaid hybrid. Without a word, he picked her up bridal style and marched for the sea. Some protested as he took steps in the water, but when he was at a comfortable level – at least mid-thigh – he set the aquatic woman down.

She settled in the water for a little bit and swam away from shore to gain some more room to be free. The Dark Knight watched as she did and waited for her to resurface. It took a few moments, but she did and rose from the water. “Captain!” She exclaimed and rushed back over to the Dark Knight to embrace him tightly, “You saved me! Again!”

The Dark Knight stood stoically, not budging an inch. He groaned and gave her a headpat, making the aquatic not-so-humanoid girl grin ear to ear.

“Alright, everyone, here’s the plan that the Captain's listed out for us!” Bellatrix spun her scythe and put it on her shoulder. “Butch,” The Cowboy perked up, “Judge,” the Needle Man raised a brow, “and Jury!” the yo-yo man finally unwound himself. “You three are going to scout this land and report back anything that you saw. Don’t get spotted.”

“You got it,” Butch nodded his head.

“Understood,” Judge conjured a needle and started to spin one in his hand.

“Ya betcha,” Jury fidgeted with his own weapon and spun his yo-yos in each hand.

“Nerida, you look for any survivors at sea and scout the island perimeter; find the Straw Hats!”

“Aye-aye, Captain!” Nerida saluted the Dark Knight who nodded in her direction.

“I,” Bellatrix gestured to herself, “Executioner,” the man with the large axe perked up, “and the rest will guard the ship and try and get it off shore. While the Captain… Well…” Bellatrix turned to face a large cave. “He braves that.”

“Alone?!” Exclaimed Nerida as she swam a little closer to shore, “You can’t do that alone! Get someone with you! Like Dan!”

A random pirate with a bandana, a cutlass, and a pistol perked up. “Me?!”

The Dark Knight looked at Nerida and shook his head, groaning.

“But–” Nerida protested.

He groaned again.

“Fine…” She pouted, “you better promise to return safe, Captain.”

Another groan.

With that promise, the Dark Knight turned to face the cave. He glanced at his broadsword that was sticking out of the ground a few feet in front of the cave. He made his way towards and and picked up the blade, he took a brief swipe to clean it before putting the blade back in his sheathe. He stood in front of the large, daunting cave, and turned around to face his crew members. Butch, Judge, and Jury were already moving further inland. Bellatrix and Executioner were moving the injured to safety. And Nerida? She was watching the Dark Knight with concern and worry in her eyes.

The Dark Knight merely gave her a nod of reassurance. She nodded back and dove back down into the water before scurrying off.

With no more reason to stay behind, the Dark Knight moved on to his task.

Braving the cold and darkness of the cave that lies ahead of him.

“It’s… wood.” Bort mused, touching a gloved hand to the hull of the ship. “The Lunarians don’t use wood.” He trailed along the side, eyes open and alert as they inspected the perimeter. “Nothing on the outside, all that’s left is the top and inside.” He looked up, frowning. “Not going inside until Sensei gets here.”

And with a single jump, he crested the side of the ship and vaulted over the railing, landing on the deck with a dull thump. There was damage to the wood all over, especially among the planks on top. Scuffs and chips and splinters were all over, and in the center of it all was what appeared to be a pile of moldy moss. Said pile of moss was sleeping, snoring loudly while holding three swords close to him. He was leaning on the mast of this ship and there was a snot bubble growing and shrinking with his breaths.

“A Lunarian? No, a Gem?” Bort then noticed the squishiness and sliminess of the creature and grimaced, his face wrinkling up as he bared his teeth. “ Ugh, disgusting . Another one of those slugs?” He glanced down to the three swords at his hip, before he held up his own, a modicum of a smirk growing at the corners of his mouth, “I never got the chance to cut down the first one. I bet it feels great to cut through something so soft.”

He held his sword up high, his long locks of black hair fanning out behind him as their deep red underside shined in the light. Then, with a single and decisive strike, he swung down hard on the snoozing swordsman.

CLANG!

Unsheathing one of his swords, said sleeping swordsman blocked Bort’s strike with his eyes closed. He was still snoring despite the action, apparently still asleep. Bort just glared at him for a moment, before pulling their blade back and holding it at the ready. The snot bubble popped, waking the swordsman. The Mosshead let out a loud yawn and stretched a little. “Oi, can’t a guy get some sleep?” He asked nobody in particular.

After rising to his feet and sheathing his sword, the swordsman let out another yawn. He waved a hand in front of his mouth. He popped his jaw and cracked his neck. He turned to the Gem and raised a brow, “What are you doing here? Can’t you see the ship’s occupied?”

Bort angled his blade so it was pointing directly towards Zoro, “What are you? Are you a Lunarian? Are you with them? What are you doing here?”

Zoro rubbed his eyelids as he readjusted to the sun up above, “Don’t know what a Lunarian is, but I’m Human .” He looked Bort up and down, “And you clearly are not .” He huffed slightly, “We’re on this island to get supplies and that’s it. Once we’re done, we’re heading out. I think,” He muttered that last part to himself. “I wasn’t really paying attention. All I heard was guard the ship.”

“There are more?” Bort briefly glanced over the side of the ship, before his eyes zeroed back in on Zoro, “But I can’t trust what you say. You blocked my strike: You’re a threat.” That smirk was growing a bit larger, “And I can’t cross blades with anyone here.” In an instant he stepped forward hard enough to crack the wooden plank he was standing on and rushed to swing at Zoro.

Noticing the damage as well as his speed, Zoro unsheathed Wado Ichimonji at lightning speed and parried the strike with one arm. “Oi, oi,” He narrowed his eyes at Bort, “if you want to duel, let’s take this off the ship. I wouldn’t be ‘guarding the ship’ if it was damaged,” he said, holding the katana in a firm grip.

With an even firmer grip, Bort flexed his fingers along the handle of his sword. Without even saying a word, he pulled his sword back, angled it up, and gave an upward slash so powerful that it knocked Zoro into the air despite him blocking it.

“He’s strong!” Zoro gritted his teeth and took out Sandai Kitetsu. With him being in the air, he reared his swords back as he had the perfect position for this next attack. “Taka Nami!” Swinging his dual swords, he created a gust of wind that knocked Bort back against the planks of the ship. Zoro landed on the ground and shot forwards, preparing to unleash a strike that would knock the Lustrous off the ship.

Bort widened his stance, holding his blade steady as he watched Zoro approach. In a flash of sparks, and a few glittering chips of obsidian, their swords met as they burst through the far railing of the Merry Go. Bort flipped around in the air, keeping his sword locked with Zoro’s as he kicked up at his stomach, making Zoro grunt. The two hit the floor, both on their backs, quickly, both rose to their feet and brandished their weapons at each other.

Zoro gave a brief glance at the Merry and winced. “Damn it,” As he said that, the door to the Merry opened and out came Usopp and Chopper.

“Oi, Zoro! I heard something crash, are you alright?” Walking over to the edge, Usopp looked over and saw Bort and Zoro locked in a duel. He shrieked, “GYAAAH! A VAMPIRE!”

Chopper looked over the edge and he looked at Usopp and tilted his head in confusion, “Don’t vampires burn in sunlight?”

Usopp blinked at this before clearing his throat, “Ahem, well, he must be a Super Vampire! Super Vampires are immune to the sun!”

Surprise appeared on Chopper’s face and he turned back to face the battle. “Oh no! Zoro! Be careful, that thing’s a Super Vampire!”

“I heard ,” Zoro replied, circling Bort, dual swords pointed to him. “I’m sorry about the ship. Someone was just a bit too impatient.” He glared at the Lustrous.

“Won’t have to be sorry if you’re in pieces .” Bort huffed, 

Usopp and Chopper both shrilled at the threat, “Zoro! What should we do?” the Liar panicked.

“Get the others, I’ll keep him busy,” Zoro promised.

“Right,” Chopper transformed, taking upon a much more reindeer-esque form as compared to a normal one. He looked like a regular reindeer – just with a hat and pants… And a blue nose. “Usopp, get on!”

“Got it!” Usopp got on Chopper, “We’ll be quick!”

“You better,” Zoro replied, slowly circling around Bort to the point where he would be in front of him where Usopp and Chopper would make their exit. The duo jumped from the ship, Chopper’s legs giving him ample agility, strength, and capability to land just fine on the ground despite Usopp’s added weight.

“Good luck, Zoro!” The duo cried out and made a mad dash to catch up with the rest of their crew. This left both Zoro and Bort all alone.

“Now that the distractions are out of the way,” Zoro narrowed his eyes and gripped his swords, “let’s get to the hunt.”

“I’ll grind you into dust!” Bort growled,