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| - Marine Captain Falstaff Cheney took another long drag of his cigar, his fingers still typing rapidly on the small typewriter before him. He didn’t even look at the window. Damage Report: Most of the base remains in ruins, with thousands of holes, ruined rooms, and the loss of many an officer’s dignity. This damage was commited mainly by two parties: Rogue marines and- The Captain paused, taking another long drag. He stared at the typewriter for a slight bit, then placed his hands on it once again. There was no going back now. -three pirates. Captain Falstaff Cheney requests a new battalion of Marines to restock the base as the current administration was revealed to be incredibly corrupt. Hopefully this new battalion will be better equipped to deal with traitors and possibly be seasoned veterans who have demonstrated extreme loyalty to the Marines and in the World Government in general. -Captain Falstaff Cheney - Transmitted Harbinger Island Base A knock sounded on his door. Looking up, Captain Cheney felt a bit of dread run through his veins at what he had to do. He shifted, feeling pain rush through him at the dozens of bandages that were wrapped around his body. “Come in,” he said. Sid Cheney, former Marine and navigator of a newly formed pirate crew, walked in, a large duffle bag swung over his shoulder. “I’ve packed all my stuff,” he said simply. Falstaff nodded, pausing for yet another drag. Once that was finished, he stared a tad awkwardly at his son, the brilliant morning sun, miraculously clear, giving a contradictory cheery mood to the room. “You know I had no other choice,” the father said gruffly. “I know,” Sid replied. “You aided pirates willingly and with full knowledge of your actions.” “I know.” “You proceeded to root for these pirates and even left them to do some of your duties for them.” “I know.” “I have no choice but to compound all these crimes of treason into one sentence: banishment from the Marines.” “I know.” Silence filled the room once more. Sid let out a small sigh, then hoisted up his bag and moved for the door. “I’ll be seeing you around, Dad.” “Soru,” his father said suddenly, appearing in front of him, wrapping his son in a hug for one last time. “Be careful, Sid,” he said quietly. “Gotcha,” Sid replied, hugging back for the shortest of moments before pulling away and walking out the door, “thanks for everything, dad.” “Sid.” Sid turned around. His father nodded, then gave him a very simple salute. Tears began forming at the edge of the newly-made pirate’s eyes, as he returned it. The moment was quick but sweet, and Sid was soon running down the hallways again. Coco lay in the base's infirmary, heavily bandaged and with a handy set of bars placed around his bed. The door creaked open, and Sid poked his head in. "Mind if we talk for a short bit?" the blue-haired ex-Marine asked. "Hmph," Coco grumbled, turning his head in the other direction as much as he could, "if you want." Sid crossed the room, drawing up a chair and sitting down next to his former friend's bedside, carefully looking in the opposite direction of the injured rogue marine. "We can't find Morris," Sid said simply, "and the likes of Vital and Noir-chan aren't saying anything. Dad's been talking about shipping them to Marineford for further questioning. Maybe Enies Lobby if he can fix it." "...Why are you telling me this?" Coco asked. Sid sighed, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a stick of dango, popping it into his mouth. "Because I'm leaving." "Leaving?!" Coco asked, turning around suddenly, "why?" "Got kicked out. Aiding and abetting pirates." "Pirates-" "I'm going with them." The albino Marine lay silent, stunned. "B-but... I don't... get it! Why pirates... they're..." Coco stammered. "They're the people who fought with me to save Dad and the base itself. The people who ended up getting us beat up by a bunch of the lovely ladies here. And the people who I helped when their ship got marooned here. Most importantly, they were the people who didn't give a crap that I was a Marine, and still wanted to fight beside me anyway." Sid turned his head to face his old friend. "I think that's a good enough reason to tag along for a bit, 'specially if I don't have anywhere else to go, right?" Coco had resumed his silence. Sid sighed once and more turned around, walking towards the door again. "Marines aren't the only good people, Coco. Maybe you should consider giving others a chance again." And with that, he left. Coco lay in his bed, shifting slightly to stare at the ceiling for a good few mintues. Finally, he sighed slightly, and a small smile appeared on his face as he turned over once more. “Alright!” Dhahaka D. Knave, pirate captain, cried happily, tossing a paintbrush overboard, “finally got it right!” “Really?” D’Artagnan, Majin and First Mate, asked, looking up from the makeshift bandaging he was performing on himself. As per the captain’s orders, no marine doctors were allowed to do more than a simple checkup and to give advice on how to heal them. This left the messy task of bandaging them up to the two pirates. “We really need to get a doctor next island,” Art muttered, dropping from his perch on the Star’s railing and walking towards the common room. “Yep!” Knave said, lifting up a large black sail. It was a simple Jolly Roger, though its mouth was covered in a white scarf, with parts of it trailing off, and a head full of green hair. “It’s supposed to symbolize our-” “Symbolize my ass!” Art yelled, chopping Knave on the head, “that’s just an ego booster! It looks exactly like you!” “No it isn’t!” Knave gasped desperately, “I swear, it’s symbolic!” “Like hell it’s symbolic! I bet even the name of our goddamn ship was for the purpose of stroking your own inflated head-!” “What are you guys doing?” Sid Cheney, Navigator and Second Mate, asked, as he was standing on the shore, looking up at them. Art, seeing an opportunity, seized the Jolly Roger from Knave and let it fall over the side of the ship, showing the navigator. “Good god,” Sid said, “Knave, you based this off you on purpose!” “I swear I didn’t!” Knave cried, “it’s completely symbolic, I tell you!” “Uh huh...” Sid trailed off, “your head is bleeding.” “Eh?” Knave asked, wiping away some of the blood that was leaking from his bandages, “oh, thanks. Your doctor’s aren’t very good, are they?” “Idiot!” D’Artagnan snapped, punching him, “they just couldn’t help us, that’s all.” “Yeah,” Sid said, jumping onto the ship, “dad’s orders. No helping pirates. At all.” “And that’s why he threw you out?” Art asked. Sid sighed. “Yep. Though it wasn’t entirely his decision.” “It was yours, right?” Knave assumed, leaning back against the door to the kitchen, placing his hands behind his back. “Right,” Sid answered, “and besides, there’s something I need to find.” “Find?” Art asked. Sid paused, then finally began to speak again. “Ever heard of the One-” “Yes,” his two crewmates replied in unison. “I-I see,” Sid continued, sweat dropping, “anyway, I’ve always wanted to find it ever since my mom..." "And that's what I plan to do," Sid finished, "I'll follow you guys to the end of the Grand Line, and once we get the One Piece... I'm going to build it. The ultimate navigational device." There was another brief pause... “Alright then!” Knave cried happily, throwing his fist into the air, “I like it! That’s three of us now who want to find it!” “Three?” Sid inquired, raising an eyebrow, “why do you want to find it, Art?” “I want to be completely free,” D’Artagnan replied, “with the One Piece I’ll be rich enough to whatever I want, with no bonds.” “And you, Knave?” The green-haired captain shrugged, picking his nose. “Seems like fun.” Of course, his two crewmates thought, slumping to the floor, their hands waving futilely in the air, while Knave busied himself with putting up their Jolly Roger. The waters around Harbinger Island had finally calmed, the last bits of storm finally vanishing, hopefully for good. Right in front of one of the spikey outer boulders, a hand exploded from the water, grasping the spiked boulder. A figure hauled himself up, balancing precariously on it, preparing to jump to the next one. Simulated death, Former Marine Ensign Morris thought, grinning savagely as he leaped to the next one, too easy. He spared one last glance at the base, before turning around and continuing his escape. I’ll be back, he thought angrily, and then no one will stand in my way. No one. “There we go!” Knave said happily, having finished re-painting his maligned Jolly Roger on the Star’s main sail. The original black flag flew cheerily over the small lookout platform, “we’re all ready to sail! This is the birth of the....” He slumped, depression overcoming him as he realized he had no idea what to call his crew. “Oi, Knave,” came Sid’s voice, “get over here. We need to discuss our next move.” Brightening immediately, Knave got up and ran into the common room, where Sid and Art were sitting at the large desk that was in the far right corner, peering at a map. “What’s up?” their captain asked, plopping down beside them. “Well, we definatley need to get a doctor,” Art said, “especially if we get into more fights like these.” “It has to be a girl,” Sid said. “No he doesn’t,” Art said, glaring at Sid. “Yes SHE does!” Sid replied, growling at Art. “I agree with both of you!” Knave said, laughing. “Shut up!” Both of them yelled, causing their captain to return to the corner. “ANYWAY....” Art sighed, “what’s the next island?” “Well,” Sid said, “if we keep going in this direction we’ll come up on Sensui Island.” “The fountain island?” “Yep. And after that we’ll be going across.... a completely uncharged area.” “Uncharted?” Knave asked, his eyes becoming stars, “sounds fun!” “And after that?” Art asked, ignoring Knave. “We’ll come upon Nexxas, ‘The Loguetown of South Blue’,” Sid replied, standing up, “but first, we gotta concentrate on getting to Sensui Island. We’ll probably find our doctor there.” And with that, he walked outside, log pose in hand. A pause took place. Then, several seconds later... “OH COME ON! YOU PUT IT ON THE SAIL TOO?!” The young girl ran down the alleyway, sliding through several oddly shaped arches. She ducked into an alleyway, sweating profusely. The dark closed in around her, as she struggled to pick out any sound from the area around her. She heard a growl.... Previous Chapter | Next Chapter
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