User blog:Senbo to Kami/Senbō no Ikari - Chapter 1-8 END

“Mom, tell me more about dad’s adventures in the sea!!” A young boy with messy dark hair sat in his mother’s lap, excitedly bouncing up and down.

The boy’s mother smiles and strokes her son’s hair. “You really love listening about him, don’t you? Well, I’ll continue where we left off. Your father was a very proud man, and didn’t listen to anybody. But he was funny, smart, and strong. When he became the captain of his own crew, he gained followers rapidly, and made a name for himself as an Emperor of the Sea…”

Soon later, the boy had fallen asleep, and his mother tucked him into bed. She stood for a second, looking at her son with a half happy, half sorrowful expression. She turned to a drawer and took out a small frame and a box. The frame held a picture of a young woman laughing, arms around a tall man who was grinning as if he were having the time of his life. A tear dropped onto the picture, then more.

“Why? Why did you have to leave us, Uray-”

A sudden banging on the door cuts her off. “Open up!! This is the marines, and you are to be arrested for having relations with a deceased Emperor of the Sea!!”

The boy’s mother looked around frantically. “How did they find us?! I- I have to make sure -blurred sound- is safe…” She quickly wrapped her son in a blanket, and stuffed random necessities into a bag, along with the box. She opened the window, whistling. A large duck ran up, and she quickly placed her son on top, typing the bag securely around him. “Take my son away as far as you can. Make sure he is not caught or found out by the marines.” The duck nodded, then began running away, towards the docks. A second later, the door burst open, and the marines entered, holding their muskets up.

“Mother..?” The boy said, awoken by the rough bouncing and sudden noise. He looked up to hear a bang, and saw his mother falling headfirst out of the window with a hole in her forehead, and men in white and blue attire crowding the room. “Mother…” Soon, the house was out of sight. marines were still chasing them, but they had lost distance drastically. A tear rolled down the boy’s cheek. “MOTHER!!!” He struggled up, screaming at the marines, sending a huge wave of light and wind towards them. All the marines in the radius slowed down and fell, unconscious. The boy fell back on the duck, breathing heavily. He slowly fell asleep again.

The next morning, the boy woke up in a small room. The room rocked slightly, moving a bag into his view. His stomach growled, and he searched through the bag for something to eat. He came across a box, which held an odd-looking fruit that was slightly changing colors with swirling patterns on it. He took a bite, and almost spat it out. After a few seconds, he managed to swallow. “That tasted horrible… Where am I?”

“ALL RIGHT, MEN! WE’RE ABOUT TO ENTER THE GRAND LINE!! ROW!!!” A loud, slightly gruff voice yelled. The boat began to rock harder, and he grabbed onto a chest to keep himself from sliding into a wall.

“Grand line..? Isn’t that where father and mother met-” Once he remembered his mother, last night’s events flashed through his head. The boy clutched his skull, streams of warm, salty tears sliding down his face. “Mother…”

After a few more minutes of sorrowful tears, the boy pulled himself together. Biting his bottom lip, he began looking through the bag to see what he had to work with. Inside, there was a few days worth of food and water, a knife, and a rusty antique key. As the boy reached for the knife, the boat rocked again, hard. He fell, hitting his shoulder and knocking over a barrel. The barrel crashed into the other side of the room.

“What was that?” A voice said, right behind the door. The boy jumped behind a pile of boxes just as the door opened. A hairy pirate with a few piercings looked into the storage. “I guess something just fell ov-”

“Ouch. I was having a great dream about becoming the King of the Pirates, too.” Another voice said. A rabbit humanoid rose from the remains of the barrel, stretching. The pirate immediately unsheathed his sword, raising it against the rabbit.

“A mink?! How did you get on this ship?” The pirate growled, inching towards the mink.

“Oops, forgot I was hitching a ride on a pirate ship.” The mink crouched, then disappeared from sight. A streak of blue electricity flashed towards the pirate, causing his hairs to stand on end. The mink reappeared behind the pirate, and the pirate fell onto his face, body smoking and hair mostly burnt off. The mink looked around, and noticed the boy peeking out from the boxes. “Oh, hi! Who’re you?” The rabbit asked, trying to get a better look at the boy. The boy slowly stepped out of hiding.

“I-I’m Senbō. What- I mean, who are you? How did you do that just now?”

“I’m Vades! Vades D. Ninjin! I’m a mink, and what I used to defeat that pirate is called electro. All minks are born with the ability to use it.” Vades began to look around again, searching through the barrels. He finally found what he was looking for with an “Aha!”

“And this is Carrot, my little sister!” Vades pulled out another mink, this time a fox, with both hands. She was smaller than Vades, with long blue hair and a white blouse and shorts. Carrot continued sleeping until Vades sent a small amount of electricity into her body, waking her. Carrot rubbed her eyes, looking up at her brother.

“Hi, Vades. Who is he?” Carrot said sleepily, noticing Senbō.

“This is Senbō. He’s… What’s your story?” Vades asked.

“... My mother… She was killed by marines. She saved me, and I woke up on this ship.” Senbō responded, eyes downcast. Vades and Carrot were silent for a moment, then Vades put a hand on Senbō’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry about that. I know how you’re feeling right now. Wanna know the best way to help with sadness?”

“What?” Senbō asked, wiping his fresh tears.

“Making friends! And doing fun things together! C’mon!!” Vades let Carrot onto the floor, and they charged out of the storeroom, screaming and flaring up their electro. Senbō stared after them, and a small smile played on his lips. He grabbed the bag, slung it over his shoulder, and ran out after Vades and Carrot, yelling along and causing havoc. The pirates immediately noticed the cause of the chaos, raising their weapons and charging against the trio.

The pirate ship’s deck had been partially destroyed. Pirates were tied up and lined on each side. Vades, Carrot, and Senbō were sitting near the steering wheel, Vades and Carrot eating carrots and Senbō munching on an apple. They were looking over a map and a compass.

“Should we try to figure out where we are on the map, or should we just follow the compass?” Vades asked.

“The map looks too complicateeed.” Carrot fell back onto the floor, limbs splayed out.

“The compass will probably be easier to follow, and it’ll be more accurate. We should just try our luck.” Senbō said. “But… How do we steer this ship??”

“That’s easy! We just move the steering wheel, right?” Vades grabs the wheel, spinning it to the right. The ship tipped, nearly falling to its side. Carrot and Senbō slid and slammed onto the right side of the ship.

“Yikes!!” Vades grabbed the wheel and spun again, this time to the left. The ship rose and righted itself.

“... Ouch.” Senbō got up, lifting Carrot as well. “Maybe we should get one of them to steer instead?” Senbō looked at the tied up pirates.

“Um, not a bad idea! I’ll watch over them.” Vades said. He jumped over and untied the captain, who shook with fear and anger.

“You’ll all pay for this one day…” The pirate captain said.

“Yeah, whatever. Just get us to the next island, will ya?” Vades shoved the pirate in front of the wheel, and he unwillingly began steering the boat.

“So… What are you going to do after we pass the Grand Line?” Senbō asked.

“Huh, good question.” Vades thought over something quietly. After a few seconds, he turned to Senbō. “Hey, wanna form a pirate crew together? We could travel through the seas and keep having fun adventures!”

“R-Really? You’ll let me join your crew??” Senbō blurted out. “... But I’m not strong like you and Carrot…”

“Don’t worry about that! With some training, you’ll make a great pirate!” Vades assured. “Say, where is Carro-”

A maniacal laugh cuts Vades off. Senbō and Vades spun to see the pirate captain holding a flintlock to an unconscious Carrot’s head.

“HAHAHA!!! You’ll pay for what you did to my shi-”

Vades had already reacted, flashing towards the pirate. Time seemed to slow down as the pirate raised his arm and pulled the trigger. A flash, a bang, a burst of red… And Vades fell face to the ground, right below the pirate’s feet and still emitting sparks.

“VADES!!!” Senbō screamed, rushing over to Vades’ motionless body. Senbō shook Vades’ body, but he didn’t move or respond. A click made Senbō look up, and the pirate captain had his flintlock pointed at Senbō.

“You’re next, kid. I let my guard down before because you were children, but since you’ve caused this much trouble, I can’t let you live. Any last words?” The captain said, pulling back the hammer. Senbō shook in fear, unable to move or speak.

“Then I’ll see you in the afterlife, runt.” The pirate pulled the trigger. Another flash of light and sound. Suddenly, everything seemed to become clear to Senbō. He could see the movement of the bullet, although he still couldn’t move, and he could see the pirate’s arm being jerked back by the force of the shot. More than that, he could feel the pirate and Carrot’s presence. He could feel a slight pulse from Vades as well, and it sent a twinge of relief though Senbō’s body. He closed his eyes as the bullet neared his forehead, accepting his fate.

“What the hell?!”

The relief turned to confusion. Senbō opened his eyes. There was no blood, no pain, and he wasn’t dead. His senses had returned to normal. The pirate held his still-smoking flintlock, the only evidence that the moment which happened before had really occurred.

“You’re- You have a logia devil fruit.” The pirate stuttered, backing up slightly. He dropped Carrot, looking too afraid to do anything.

What? Devil fruit? Logia? Senbō thought. He’d heard of devil fruits from his mother’s stories, but not what logia was. He raised a hand to his forehead, which was perfectly normal. Senbō realized that Vades was still unconscious, and quickly rolled him over to inspect the damage. The bullet had barely missed the mink’s heart, instead passing a little below. The pirate stood at the far side of the boat, contemplating what to do.

“Don’t die, Vades…” Senbō said, grabbing a bandage from his bag. He wrapped it awkwardly around Vades’ wound, slowing down the flow of blood. Senbō placed his palm on Vades’ heart. Its beating was slowing down, fast. Senbō hopelessly slumped to the ground.

“We just became friends… You can’t die now! You told me that we could be in a crew together…” Senbō begins crying, not bothering to wipe his tears. They fell onto Vades’ bandages, mixing into his blood. Suddenly, the red liquid began glowing, spreading from where Senbō’s tears had fallen. Senbō watched in confusion and awe as Vades’ body was enveloped in light. His blood began flowing backwards, into the hole the bullet had made. Soon, there wasn’t even a mark of red on the bandages. Senbō searched for Vades’ pulse again, and it had returned to normal.

“Thank god…” Senbō said, no longer caring about what had happened. Suddenly, a splash of cold water fell over Senbō. He spluttered, jumping to his feet, only to be kicked to the ground again.

“Lucky me, I did a little studying about Devil Fruits as a child. Devil Fruit users become weak in seawater! Looks like you just obtained that power, too. I’ll take your Devil Fruit for myself!” The pirate captain was tossing an apple into the air. A bucket lay at his feet.

“Y-You… You’re gonna pay!!” Senbō lurched to his feet, ripping the knife out of its pocket. He rushed towards the pirate, who raised his flintlock, grinning evilly.

“Water prevents the effects of logia as well. Die, you little shit!!” The captain pulls the trigger one last time. Click.

“Whuh?” The pirate’s expression turns into fear as the gun jams. Before he could react, Senbō slammed the knife into the pirate’s stomach. The pirate coughed up blood, eyes wide. The flintlock fell to the floor with a clatter, slightly smoking.

“You… Bastard…” The pirate fell back, letting out one final breath. Senbō stood over the corpse, eyes shadowed and knife dripping with blood. Suddenly, the pirate ship shook, knocking Senbō off of his feet again. He topples to where Vades and Carrot lay.

“What the-” Senbō stops mid-sentence as a giant shadow looms over the ship. A marine boat lowered a plank, which slammed down near the tied-up pirates. marines quickly swarmed into the ship, grabbing the pirates and shoving them into their ship. A man who seemed to be the commander stepped onto the stern, looking over the damage caused. His eyes fell on Senbō and the two unconscious minks. Senbō was still clutching the bloody knife tightly. The marine commander’s eyes then moved to the pirate captain, who had a pool of blood slowly growing around him.

“Well. This is interesting.”

They killed my mother.

As Senbō crawled up, murderous thoughts filled his head. marines are scum. Destroy the marines. They killed my mother. And they’ll kill me too-

“Hey, little boy. Are you okay?” The marine was bent over Senbō, hand held out towards him. “The pirates won’t bother you anymore. Let’s get you somewhere safe.”

Senbō stared at the marine, confused. “What? Why would you care about my safety..?”

“Why wouldn’t we? We’re the protectors of justice, after all. It’s our job to ensure the safety of the defenseless, and to exterminate all pirates.”

“You… Don’t… Don’t you dare act like you marines are good people!!!” Senbō raised his knife again, slashing it towards the marine. However, right before it connected, the marine dissipated into beads of glowing yellow spheres. Senbō watched, wide eyed, as the light slowly formed back into a person.

“Woah, that’s dangerous. Little kids shouldn’t be playing around with things like that…” The marine plucked the knife out of Senbō’s hand easily, crushing it with a burst of black energy. “Why don’t you come along? We’ll bring you back home.”

“I don’t have a home.” Senbō said, rage slowly building up again.

“... Did these pirates do i-”

“No. The marines did. They killed my mother.”

“... So you were awake. My informants told me you were sleeping… Then, did you cause… Nah, a child like you can’t have used Haoshoku. I guess I’ll have to do this the hard way…” The marine suddenly disappeared in a flash of light. He was replaced by a sword of bright yellow matter, which zipped towards Senbō. Senbō leapt out of the way, yelling in alarm, but he bumped into something. He turned around to see the marine, who held a hand out towards Senbō. “Binding Light.” A rope of light wrapped around Senbō, forcing his arms and legs together.

“There we go. Sadly, the Fleet Admiral wants you to be publicly executed. Scum like you should just be killed on the spot.”

“Don’t… Don’t you feel ashamed of yourself…?”  Senbō asked quietly. “First, you kill an innocent person who was just trying to protect her son. Then, you try to pretend that you were the ‘Protectors of Justice’ to trick a child..? DON’T YOU HAVE ANY-”

“Flash arrow.” An arrow made of light pierces through Senbō’s leg. Senbō bit his tongue hard, barely holding in a scream.

“Little fucker. I really should just kill you here.” The marine raised a hand, a glowing yellow sphere growing above it. “I could always make an excuse… Then again, the Fleet Admiral is annoying to deal with. Whatever.” The light disappeared, and he grabbed Senbō by his hair, lifting him up to their face. The marine studied Senbō for a second, then tossed him away, uninterested. “I thought the son of someone considered the strongest in the world would be interesting to see, but I was wrong. You’re just another piece of trash. I really had my hopes up when I saw all those marines and pirates you defeated… Men, tie the captives up. Including the Minks.”

The marines quickly did as they were told, hauling Vades and Carrot’s bodies towards their ship. Senbō watched helplessly as a short marine headed toward him. The marine grabbed Senbō’s arm, pulling him slightly upright. Suddenly, Senbō’s binds snapped free, and the light disintegrated from where it had been broken.

“You looked like you needed some help! Don’t worry, I’ll save you and your friends.” The marine flashed a confident smile, and Senbō noticed that he was just a child around his age.

“Who are-” Senbō started, but the disguised marine had already run off, holding his musket and leaping towards the marine commander’s back.

“Hooray, we’re saved.“ Senbō said sarcastically. “Were you trying to fall on your face?” The marine-disguised boy’s assault against the captain had been ineffective, and they were all tied up and stuffed into barred rooms. Though they were still stuck in the Marine battleship, things had calmed down. Vades was no longer in critical condition, and Carrot had woken up, sitting in a corner looking confused.

The unknown ‘savior’ puffed out his chest. “Of course I was! It was all part of my plan!”

“Yeah, sure. Care to elaborate?” Senbō asked, skeptical. In response, the newcomer’s ropes snapped off.

“I hid a razor blade! Acting clumsy was all part of my plan to make the marines think I was harmless. What, did you really think I would try to fight off an Admiral?” He reached over and began sawing at Senbō’s binds. “By the way, I’m Koala. You can thank me after we get out of here.”

“... I’m Senbō. Do you have any ideas on how we’re going to escape?”

Koala thought for a moment. “Well, the ship you were on is probably being towed some ways behind this battleship. If we sever the chains and hitch a ride on it… The biggest problem is that the entire battleship is always swarming with marines. We’d probably have to face off with them at some point or another. Got any experience fighting?”

Senbō snapped the rest of his ropes off and shook his head. “No, not really. But Vades and Carrot should be helpful.”

“Yeah, I did hear about Minks being good fighters from birth.” Koala looked over the two siblings, then headed over to Carrot to cut off her binds.

Carrot perked up, looking eager to be free. “I can fight! I’ll beat up all the bad guys!”

“That’s the spirit! We’ll be out of here in no time as long as we work together. The problem is Quandale, the Admiral. We can’t even run away if we encounter him. His fruit is a Logia type, and it allows him to turn into light. We’ll have to find a way to sneak past him, somehow…”

“Wait, what is a Logia fruit?” Senbō asked. “The pirate that shot Vades said I had one. He seemed scared…”

“What?! You have a Logia fruit?” Koala exclaimed. “Logia fruits are the rarest type of devil fruit. It lets the user turn themselves into an element, and freely control it! Anybody who has one is said to be practically invincible!”

“Invincible? I guess it does seem that way. My wound from that light arrow has already healed.” Senbō said, inspecting his calf. When the arrow had disappeared, so had the hole it created.

“Really? That’s strange. Other Devil Fruits are one of the only things able to bypass a Logia’s invincibility. Anyways, can you get the other mink’s binds off? I’ll check the lock.” Koala passed the blade to Senbō, who quickly began working. Carrot stood ready as Koala jiggled the lock. A few seconds passed in silence. Vades’ binds fell apart at the same time the barred door clicked open.

“Nice! Now we just have to wait for an opportunity. Sadly, I only came onto this ship yesterday, so I don’t have their exact schedules or the ship planned out.” Koala said, opening the cell and taking a glance out.

“What were you doing on a Marine ship, anyway?” Senbō asked, shaking Vades.

“Forget that, we need to get out of here.” Koala said as Vades stirred. He rolled onto his back, opening his eyes slightly. Carrot jumped to his side.

“What happened?” Vades slowly pushed himself up, supported by Senbō and Carrot. Before Senbō could answer, a loud click sounded, and a door scraped open. Footsteps began heading down towards the cell.

“Get ready!” Koala hissed. “We’ll have to knock them out before they can call for help.” He motioned for Carrot to hide behind the corner. Carrot obliged, slightly sparking with electricity. As soon as the marine turned the corner, Carrot tackled him, releasing a flash of light and sparks. The marine fell to the ground with a low thud, unconscious.

“Awesome!” Koala grabbed the marine’s musket, tossing it to Senbō. “Just in case. Since you aren’t a fighter, try to keep yourself out of whatever the marines might throw at us. If you have to, don’t hesitate to shoot.”

Senbō caught the firearm, gingerly inspecting it. “Hopefully I won’t.”

The group headed towards the entrance of the confinement hall, peeking out to make sure there were no marines nearby. While they waited for a chance to run, Koala began laying out their plan.

“The cells are near the middle of the battleship. The best way would be to head straight towards the back while avoiding being caught. There are tons of storages we could hide in while we wait for the marines to pass, and we could also nab some stuff if necessary, since they probably cleared the pirate ship out. Try to stay near each other but not too close, so we can help each other while not being caught at once easily.” Koala paused, taking a peek outside the door. “Looks like we’re all clear. Everybody ready?”

“Of course. Lead the way.” Senbō responded. Koala made a final scan of the deck before dashing out of the confinement center and towards a cabin to the left. Carrot went next, followed by Senbō and Vades. They reached the cabin safely, and after making sure they weren’t spotted and wouldn’t be spotted, they continued on their path.

On the fourth run, a marine staggered out of a cabin. Koala skidded to a stop and threw open a storage room, shoving everyone inside before he followed, closing the door swiftly but silently with only a crack to peek out of. The marine didn’t seem to notice the flurry of movements, instead collapsing onto the floor, drool trickling down his face.

“Ugh. How can they get drunk on duty like that..?” Koala opened the door, taking half a step out before he froze. Senbō nearly walked into him, freezing as well when he saw that another marine was right outside. The officer stared at the group of convicted children before taking a deep breath and yelling,

“THE PRISONERS HAVE ESCAPED!!”

Half a second later, the marine was blasted off his feet, a burn mark on his stomach. Vades crabbed Carrot’s hand and ran, with Koala and Senbō following closely. Marines were already streaming out of the cabins and cafeteria, guns up and ready to shoot.

“STOP OR WE’LL FIRE!” A marine yelled, aiming his gun directly at Koala. In response, Koala leapt onto the ground, rolling towards him and kicking his legs out before grabbing his musket. Koala loaded and fired the gun three times in quick succession, causing an ammunition storage to explode, creating a fiery barricade behind them. A few marines stopped chasing the group to help the people who were trapped in the flames.

“This way!!” Koala yelled, tossing away the firearm and leading Senbō and the others towards the smallest group of marines. The marines raised their weapons, but failed to prevent Vades and Carrot from flashing through them with streaks of blue and white, paralyzing the entire squad. Koala barged ahead, leading the group to the right, revealing the rear of the battleship as well as the mast of the pirate ship. “Just a little bit farther!!”

Suddenly, a marine ran around the corner, firing his musket. The bullet barely missed Senbō, grazing the skin under his right eye. Senbō yelled out, accidentally squeezing his musket’s trigger and blasting the weapon out of the officer’s hands. Carrot immediately jumped in and blasted the marine with electro, stunning him and allowing the group to keep running without looking back. Soon, the entire pirate ship could be seen… Along with the hundreds of marines racing towards them, weapons raised.

“Keep running straight!!” Koala yelled, pulling out a small white canister. He bit a pin and ripped it off, tossing the canister towards the ship. It landed some ways in front of the group, and immediately burst into large plumes of murky brown smoke. “A little concoction I made myself. It’s not harmful, so just run through it!”

The marines began firing their weapons. Miraculously, none of the bullets hit, and soon the entire group had leapt on board the pirate ship.

“Great! We’re… Ah, crap.” Koala said, staring at the giant chains dragging along the ship.

“Get them!!” A marine yelled, beginning to climb down. Dozens of soldiers followed, all armed to the teeth. Meanwhile, everyone desperately scrambled for a way to free the ship.

“It’s… Too heavy!!” Vades yelled, pulling with all his might. Senbō reached over to help, but a bullet pierced his forearm. Blood streamed down his arm, dripping onto the chains.

“Agh…” Senbō groaned. He suddenly remembered the scene that had happened just two days ago- His mother falling out of the window, a hole in her forehead- and his anger boiled over. Senbō pulled back his fist, slamming it into the metal chains. The chains weren’t affected, until Senbō’s blood began glowing white, melting through the metal chains and causing it to fall. The marines climbing down the chains held on for dear life, but most already fell into the sea below. The rest climbed back up and joined the others firing at the pirate ship, but it had already floated too far to aim accurately.

The group stared at the battleship, trying to process what had happened. After the battleship had nearly gone out of view, everybody began cheering. They had successfully escaped!

“Awesome!” Koala exclaimed, turning to Senbō. “Was that your devil fruit?”

“I think so… I haven’t gotten control over it yet, though. Anyway, we have to turn the sails- The battleship will probably come for us soo-”

“That is the least of your worries.” A lazy voice interrupted. The group spun around. Sitting on the railing, legs crossed, was Quandale, a menacing wall of light arrows behind him.

“Miss me?”

“Seems you’re not all incompetent.” He glanced over at Koala. “If you had taken the right path as a Marine, you could have achieved so much more… Well, all that’s meaningless now. Anybody who opposes the Marines will be obliterated.” He leapt down onto the deck, arrows trailing along. Senbō and the others backed away, tense.

“There’s no use in resisting. Even with a Devil Fruit power, you cannot match up to me.” Quandale pointed towards Senbō, sending a dozen arrows flashing towards him. Senbō leapt out of the way, but the arrows turned and continued to fly towards him. He raised his arms, bracing himself for the pain. Suddenly, Koala flew towards Quandale, slashing his arm with a grey knife. The arrows evaporated right before they hit Senbō.

Quandale backhanded Koala, sending him crashing against the wall. He raised an arm to fire off an attack, but nothing happened. “You… That was a seastone kni-”

“NOW, VADES, CARROT!!” Koala yelled, staggering to his feet. The mink siblings flashed to either side of Quandale, palms crackling with electricity. Before their attacks could connect, Quandale emitted a large wave of air, knocking Vades and Carrot back. A shining black coating enveloped Quandale’s arms. The small amount of electricity that reached him crackled harmlessly against it.

“Did you think that my Devil Fruit was all that made me an Admiral? If so, you’re sadly mistaken.” Quandale said. Carrot attempted to attack again, but Quandale easily dodged, knocking Carrot out with a single blow to the back. Vades leapt in next, trying to get behind Quandale, who kicked behind himself. Vades crashed into Koala, knocking both of them out. Senbō stood in place, his emotions of rage and helplessness mixing together.

“It’s just you now. If you don’t intend to cooperate, I will not hesitate to kill y-”

“I’m going to get executed anyway. What’s the point?” Senbō spat. His anger won over, getting rid of all rational senses. “I’m going to make sure you never get to act like you’re a protector of justice ever again.”

“Oh? And how do you intend to do th-”

Light erupted from Senbō, bright enough to make Quandale cover his eyes. When the light dimmed, Senbō’s appearance had changed to that of an adult. Quandale’s face was fearful for the first time, but it was quickly replaced by anger.

“How dare you… Disguise yourself as the former Pirate King?!” Quandale flashed towards the reformed Senbō, having recovered his ability. His fist turned completely into light, headed for Senbō’s face. Senbō raised his palm, catching and absorbing the impact of the punch. “Wha-”

A giant pillar of stone erupted from the floor of the ship, knocking Quandale high into the sky. Before he could react, Senbō had appeared above him, slamming his fist into Quandale’s stomach. Quandale choked up blood and flew into the deck of the ship, Senbō landing a second later.

“Are you sure this is a disguise? It’s been a while, Quandale.” Although it came from Senbō’s mouth, the voice was deeper, with a calm, confident tone. The man looked Quandale over, noticing his coat. “You were just a Vice Admiral before. Did you rise in rank after helping the Marines take me down?”

“... What if I have? Besides that… Haven’t you gotten weaker, “World’s Strongest”? At this level, you might not even be able to beat me alone.” Quandale rose to his feet, limbs taking on a bright sheen.

“We’ll see about that.” Senbō got into a low crouch, and the two zipped towards each other, causing a large wave of air when their fists connected. Quandale attempted to blast a light beam into Senbō’s skull, but Senbō ducked and punched Quandale in the gut. It was quickly followed by another stone fist, which Quandale had to use his fruit to evade.

“You’re definitely not as strong as your prime. Not only that, this is only temporary, isn’t it?! Brilliant Shower!” A stream of marble-sized spheres of light appeared before Quandale. The bullets fired in a continuous stream, forcing Senbō to continually dodge.

“I may be weaker in this form, but it doesn’t look like you awakened your Devil Fruit too long ago. You’re still using it as if it’s a part of you.” Senbō said, stopping and rapidly slapping the projectiles away like flies. “I hope you didn’t forget- I’m able to counter anything and everything.” He held up his hands, showing that they had become reflective.

“Don’t worry, I haven’t. Shining Rocket.” Quandale appeared before Senbō in a flash, kicking him with a leg coated with black. Senbō staggered back, but Quandale didn’t relent. He pummeled Senbō with his fists, propelling them with light.

“Did you not hear me? Anything and everything.” Senbō said. Quandale’s fist suddenly sunk into Senbō’s body, seemingly impaling him. Quandale attempted to withdraw his arm, but it was stuck.

“Here, have these back. I’ll even pay interest.” Four extra arms sprouted on either side of Senbō, and all ten began punching Quandale over and over.

“Screw you..!” Quandale said, gritting his teeth. He completely transformed into light, pulling himself out of Senbō’s hold. However, before he could get too far away, the walls of the pirate ship bent out of shape to close in around him.

“Hey, I’m not done. Stay still.” Senbō raised his fist, which had grown ten times more muscles than usual. In the blink of an eye, Senbō closed the distance between him and Quandale. The impact from the blow shook the ship, nearly causing it to tip. Quandale kneeled over, eyes bulging and blood dripping from his mouth.

“Are you already at your limit..? That won’t do. Not after what you tried to do to my son and his new friends.” Senbō grabbed Quandale by his neck, lifting him. A second later, Quandale’s injuries began to heal over. He struggled to free himself from Senbō’s grasp.

Before he could completely heal Quandale and continue his tormenting, a wave of exhaustion washed over Senbō’s body. His grip on Quandale was slackened, allowing him to jump back.

“I… I’ll make sure that the brat will die by my hands… Just you wait..!” With that, Quandale leapt into the air, transforming into a streak of light and flying away. Senbō gazed at the glimmering speck getting further and further away, then sighed.

“Well, Senbō. Your mother and I will be rooting for you. Good luck…” He collapsed, shrinking back to Senbō’s original body.

PROLOGUE END