One Piece; The Great Pirate Era

"Damn it," Blood said as he realized Flint was missing. He then stormed out of the warehouse.

He knew where Flint had gone. The question was: was it worth going to the kitchen to get him? It seemed like a complete waste of time to Blood. He knew Flint was aware of the escape plan. Which meant it was up to Blood to do everything regarding the escape plan. This of course, irritated him to no end but it was all he could do.

So Blood cautiously started to make his way towards the harbor where there may be a potential boat for them.

Joyously eating a crate of fruit and vegetables stored in the pantry, Flint wasn't sure what to savor first. In fact savor would be used so loosely, as he devoured them. Something then donned onto him, as he stared at what was presented in the mes shall and nearby him. So much that an apple in his jaw slowly slipped out and bruised onto the floor.

Elsewhere, as Hawkins traversed through the base, in search of a building of use, some form of docks, or ships, anyone could notice that guard duties were strengthened greatly. With rifles and swords set in parade mount, they walked through their assigned sections with brightly illuminating lanterns.

Passing by them would prove difficult, but not impossible, so long as one kept in the shadows, out of the moonlight, and used what cover was provided to their advantage.

Blood knew that he should have expected some guard patrol. But these many people he was not expecting. At the very least, it was night so that would hopefully cover him unlike walking through in broad daylight. Slowly, Blood made sure to avoid the lanterns as well as the moonlight.

There were crates and boxes of sorts where Blood managed to hide behind as continued to creep through. A guard was coming by. He waited, as the guard went through his routine. When he had passed by, Blood quickly but quietly continued his journey.

Able to maneuver through the large crates, the walls, fences, and obstacles which would obstruct the Marine guard and searcher's sight, Hawkins was able to bypass the lot of them. There were a few that proved to be more difficult, but luck was on his side, as he wasn't caught.

Eventually he would find himself coming across a low platform section of the base, made entirely of wood, which stretched out like a pier. There were still mountainous and jagged rocks surrounding it from all sides, but there was a low and calm body of water. And to these pirate's luck, there was one lone boat. It even had several boxes, ready to be shipped, next to it. It had medicine, food, clothing, and all items one would need through their sea travels, and only needed to be loaded on, to be of use.

However, there still didn't seem to be anyway to sail this boat out of this body of entrapped water.

Seeing the boat, Blood leaped with excitement. Now if only Flint was here...

He knew there had to be a place for the boat to leave the area and be able to go out to sea. Or, there had to be some sort of pulley system nearby to get the boat out of this body of water and into another one. With that in mind, he began looking around the area for either of the two possibilities.

As Hawkins advanced closer to the boat, so close that the details of this tiny fisherman vessel became visible in the moonlight, the echoing of footsteps resonated behind.

Stopping to an halt, a fairly distinguished Marine, in an even more distinguished uniform stood by. He brought a bottle up to his mouth, drinking it contently, before lowering it completely with a sigh. "Chore boy!" He exclaimed, "What are you doing here? Have you forgotten your task to clean the stalls?"

"Heh heh heh I got a little lost on my way over there. I'll get right on it," Blood said upon hearing the Marine officer.

Acknowledging his 'superior' and next task at hand, Hawkins was ready to leave just for that very job, until the Marine Captain laughed through his shut mouth. Turning to the 'chore-boy', who was no doubt heading to his job, he stared at him.

"Do you really think I'm that much of a fool?" He asked, before he grabbed the boat Hawkins was staring at. With great strength, he lifted it out of the water, before throwing it into the sky, where it nosedived into a wall far away. It shattered into a messy explosion of dust.

"We knew you pirates would take to our trap, you are all so predicable." He stated, as several spotlights flicked on, aiming at the pirate on the docks, followed by the pounding of many marching Marine's getting in position from the balconies.

Blood's once sheepish attitude quickly vanished upon realizing the outcome of his situation. He placed his hands slight to the side of his body as well as up a little to insinuate he was willing to cooperate.

"Seems like such a waste of talent such as that," Blood began, turning his head towards the broken boat which the Captain had completely smashed, "to be sending your dogs on a loner like me." His words were careful as he tried to stay somewhere between being impressed by this amount of strength but not clearly buttering the man up.

Suddenly after Hawkins words, did the dry and sickening sound of several rifles clicking to the ready echo in the damp spring air. Slowly the Captain brought his hand up, halting them from firing, until he gave the command. Once they were in check, he lowered his arm, and stared at Hawkins.

"The only wasteful thing here is you, pirate." He remarked bitterly, but with a wicked grin, as if the cards were clearly stacked in his favor. Taking another long and hearty drink from his bottle, he gasped, wiping his mouth, and tossed the empty glass to the side. Suddenly he leapt into the air, and aimed a decisive punch downwards, straight into Hawkins. "Marine Base 77 shall be your resting place!"

Such an attack would be devastating, especially to anybody who dared to stay in its path.

For a minute, Blood looked longingly at the glass the Captain consumed. There was no doubt alcohol was in that bottle and he needed that more than anything. His eyes followed as the Captain threw the bottle and the bottle broke and partially rolled towards the side.

But Blood knew that the Captain was about to attack him. He moved to the side, closer towards the bottle, before punching the Captain in the side of the face. Perhaps there was at least a drop of liquor left in the bottle. He'd like to think so, anyway in case he should actually win this fight.

As soon as the Marine Captain's downward punch drove into the ground, a tremendous amount force blew forth from all sides. Leaving a thunderous echo, an dusty explosion, it blew away anything in its path, and left a intimidating crater.

One of those things in its path was none other than Hawkins, who had moved just in time. However, even though he did not sustain the full punch, the shock-wave pushed him backwards, his punch never even able to make contact amongst the tumbling.

Slowly the Captain rose, plucking his fist out of the hole he had just made. He stared defiantly at Hawkins, as his Marine soldiers cheered happily, "Go get him Captain Whiskey!" One of their voices, able to be heard amongst the echoic chattering, shouted.

Slowly Captain Whiskey pulled another bottle out of his coat, engulfing it fully, while Hawkins regained his bearings and or thought over the situation. Within seconds it was empty, a lot of it trailing across his face. "That's right, my name is Captain Whiskey." He stated, "For each bottle I drink, I get that much stronger." He stated, the muscles on his arms bulging further out.

Blood's mouth hung open upon seeing another bottle of whiskey. Yes, his muscles were intimidating but...but this man had a whole stash of alcohol present. This was enough to make the fight worth it. Of course, his life was important as well but still...

"I don't suppose you'd be willing to spare one of those bottles would you?"

Being an alcoholic himself, Blood guessed that there were two ways this guy could go down. One would involve water, the other would involve waiting it out.

Captain Whiskey laughed at Hawkins expression of yearning and question. "Sure," He said, although it didn't sound genuine at all. Pulling out another bottle, he tossed it into Hawkins path. It spiraled furiously towards him, one wrong move, and it would all be over the pier.

However, before it fully reached Hawkins hands, Whiskey was already upon it, clutching it tightly. With such intense speed, he squeezed the bottle, shattering and spilling it completely. He stood in his line of path, staring and laughing wickedly at this pirate.

There was a part of Hawkins that wanted to scramble for the alcohol that was spilling in front of him. Yeah, he knew he seriously had a problem. But luckily he knew to restrain himself for the sake of his dignity.

As the Marine captain laughed at him, Blood clenched his fist and gave him an uppercut in the jaw.

With a swift and powerful punch, straight into the jaw, Captain Whiskey hardly flinched from the attack. With the assault passed, he smiled at Hawkins expense wickedly, before punching him straightly in the face.

Blood's eyes widened upon seeing that his punch did absolutely nothing to this man. He didn't have time to react as he suddenly found himself falling backwards from the blow Whiskey landed.

Elsewhere, after having his fill of food, Flint found himself atop the mess hall roof, forcefully and strugglingly pulling one of the table's alongside him. Once he reached the top, with a weary pant and sigh, he wiped his forehead.

However this table seemed off, in fact it appeared there were several other table boards, which were hammered and forked to the sides, which Flint flipped upright. Inside this crudely formed box, was a pole, meant for support, but Flint slapped a tablecloth inside, forming the sail. If it could even be called that, at this point.

Dusting his hands happily in completion, he hopped inside, before jerking it down the roof's slope. "Alright! Show me what you're made of table boat!" Such enthusiastic words were only met with slow grinding, as the 'boat' struggled to move across the sloped gritty textured roof.

Suddenly it picked up speed, although the word is used loosely, as when he reached the edge, little air was made at all. There was only one direction he could go from here, and not voluntarily, into the neighboring building's wall. However his enthusiasm didn't seem to wane in the slightest, not even as a brick wall appeared in his falling path.
-
Elsewhere, the little girl Anais, depressingly remained within her quarters. With a book in hand, opened, there seemed to be several pages of written text. However, the next page she had opened to was empty, it was just a blank sheet.

Her pen was pressed to the paper, smudging a large dotted blotch onto the top, yet her hand didn't move. She didn't seem to have the energy or will to write into this book, as she sighed.
-
Not bothering to further attack Hawkins, who was lying against the floor once again, Captain Whiskey smiled triumphantly. "It's over pirate, your judgement is upon you."

Blood struggled to get up. He wiped the corner of his lip, blood smearing onto his hand.

"Hey now, what's the rush? I'm just getting started."

Unable to write a single word within the logbook, Anais sighed, about to place it onto a nearby desk. However before she could, a peculiar rumbling began to channel through the very room. Unsure of what it was, at the time, she inspected where the source was coming from.

It did not take long for this source to reveal itself, as Flint's table crushed into the wall. With a thunderous echo and stomp, the shaking stopped abruptly. Unable to penetrate the brick wall, the table cracked the barrier, leaving a large inwards dent, before throwing Flint out of his 'boat' and through a window. Yelping from the shock, he flew inwards, tumbling uncontrollably into a pile of reports on the desk.

The papers and books flew everywhere, as Anais screamed, falling backwards. Slowly as the dust settled, pages gently floated down, where the overturned desk used to be. Instead they rested atop Flint, until he rose, to which they fell off onto the floor.

Confusingly he looked around, as a panicking Anais kept to her wall, ready to squeeze through if such an act was possible. "Ah man, I thought for sure that was going to work!" He exclaimed disappointingly, before noticing one of the logbooks.

"Hm? What's this?" He asked aloud, unaware of the girl's presence, and reached out to it. Quickly he skimmed the page where she had stopped, reading aloud. "Pirates The Dodsons," The title boldly presented in the middle. "Tried for the theft an abundant cargo of medicine, stolen from a nearby Marine vessel. Judgment was swift."

"Hey!" Anais exclaimed angrily, "That's mine!" She furiously belted, storming forward, in order to swipe the book from under Flint's hand. Once she was sure everything was in order and nothing was damaged, she stared irritatingly at him.

"So is that this judgement stuff I've been hearing all over the place?" Flint asked curiously, causing Anais to sigh. "They were bringing the medicine to their village, which was very sick."

Confused, all Flint could think to say was, "So they're good?"

"But, they took the cargo from a nearby abandoned marine vessel, which had been shipwrecked from a storm." She explained, "So they're bad?" Flint asked, slightly confused.

"They paid for all the expenses to keep the medicine." She further explained, "So they're bad?" Angrily she barked, "Will you stop that!?"

"Captain Whiskey wouldn't have any of it, he ordered me to navigate the ships into our interchangeable base. There they would be judged, but they shouldn't have been." Anais stated sadly, seemingly ready to become teary-eyed.

Standing upright, Flint dusted himself from the impact, "So why didn't you just ignore him then?"

"I can't just disobey orders!" Anais barked out, "He is...he was....there is too much at stake if I go against the orders!" She finally managed to find the right, but hollow answer. "What would a pirate like you know anyway!?"

Before Flint could speak, several Marines hidden, finally sprung their trap. Lunging from the ceiling, they pounced onto Flint, slamming a large fishbowl like tank over his head. His head was fully submerged into the glass bowl of water, as bubbles began to pop erratically at his surprise.

However, his energetic enthusiasm slowly waned, as he became sleepy-eyed and dropped to his knees weakly. "Ugh...I don't feel so good..." His voice bubbled distortedly.

"No," Captain Whiskey stated to Hawkins words, quickly approaching him. "You're finished." He added, squeezing his hand across Hawkins neck, choking him, but with no intent of killing. "But not here, on the platform. You will be judged, with your friend." He stated, smiling wickedly.

Instinctively, Blood grabbed the onto Whiskey's arms as he was being choked. Yet, despite the fact he dug into Whiskey's hands, his efforts were completely futile.

As soon as the one-sided battle died, just as quickly as it began, Hawkins would find himself with his hands tied behind his back, and his legs. On top of the platform of judgment, several spotlights were aimed directly onto him, bathing him in the light.

Nearby him, and of no use either, Flint became weak and weary, with the bowl of water still lodged around him head. Slumping wearily onto his knees, just as Hawkins had done, Captain Whiskey rose onto the platform's pedestal, staring angrily, yet contently at the two. "Do you pirates have any last words?" He asked, as several Marine snipers aimed at them from above.

"Speak them now or forever hold your peace." He stated, "For the malicious destruction of Marine property, you will be judged."

Blood remained silent as the rifles were aimed towards him. He had only wished that he weren't sober at this particular moment.

"Oh?" Captain Whiskey stated, smiling wickedly. "Don't have anything to say? So be it. You will still be judged." He stated, raising his hand, as the Marine's began to dryly click their rifles to the ready and fire. However, they wouldn't shoot until the command was given, which Whiskey took pleasure in prolonging.

Through his state of weariness, Flint frowned angrily, mustering the strength to lean inwards. "I haven't done a thing I regret!" His voice trailed through the water, "You're the crooked bastard here!"

Gasping at the last words of Flint, Anais stared at the trail about to commence fully, as Captain Whiskey frowned at the statement, and dropped his hand down swiftly. Suddenly a shot echoed from above the gates, before a bullet whizzed by, shattering the bowl around Flint.

Water and glass splashed all over the platform, as he gasped for air, and fell forward. Aiming a smoking pistol at the two below, its one bullet already fired, Anais pondered her course of action. However, it was too late to return it now, as the Marines and Captain Whiskey stared confusedly and the latter irritatedly.

"Anais, what do you think you're doing!?" Whiskey barked furiously, storming towards her direction. However before he could arrive, or the Marines capture her among the Captain's orders, she rushed to a nearby. Tightly squeezing her dagger in hand, she cut one of the platform mast's ropes, swinging away and screaming from harm's reach.

Elsewhere with his strength weakly returning, but not fully regained, Flint coughed bits of water, which he had involuntarily swallowed. "Don't just stand there!" Whiskey exclaimed, "Shoot them! Shoot all the pirate and traitor scum!"

Dropping from above and rolling between Hawkins thighs/feet, was none other then a bottle, straight from one of Captain Whiskey's personal stash. Staring at what was transpiring, Whiskey readied himself to lunge onto these two pirates, his first victim would be the worthless drunk from before.

Seeing the bottle of whiskey as well as what was currently transpiring, Blood broke free of his ropes. He grabbed the bottle and quickly took a swig from it. Gasping from the sheer refreshing, familiar flavor that tickled his throat, Blood side stepped out of the way at the charging Marine Captain.

"Hold your horses there pal. I'm not drunk enough yet," he said as he took another savoring sip.