The Marine

Pearson left the courthouse with two men less than he had started with, covered head to toe in his own blood and the entrails of that insane pirate.

He had barely survived the dynamite blast that exploded eight feet from his face, and as much as he wished to pull back there still wasn’t enough reason for him to do so.

Since he couldn’t retreat, he did the next best thing he could think of and rearranged the original sequence of teams. Initially, he and his men were to lead the charge and the two teams behind them were there to act as back up or ambush depending on the situation.

But now using the fact that his team was down by two, and that they had butchered 25 enemies before the others arrived at the courthouse, Pearson’s team would be put on the back line just as he liked it.

Marching forwards down the narrow streets they heard gun shots from who knew how far away echoing off the walls.

He could see his men were mentally tired. Just like him, this was the first time any of them had killed before, and the fact it happened so suddenly made their eyes foggy.

They had fought quite well in the courthouse, but that fervor seemed to have drained them. Knowing that something needed to be done, but not knowing what to do, Pearson started talking and surprised himself with what he said: “Hey, Lin, next time you stab a man in the stomach try and make sure it isn’t the one who’s going to shit himself!

The rest of you are lucky not to have se… hahaha”

He didn’t know why, but he stopped walking and started laughing, the others didn’t know what to think either, but Pearson’s laugh seemed to be infectious and by the time he squeezed out his final words the entire team was laughing: “You all didn’t see it, but you must have smelled it! Hahaha! It went right through the guy’s pants!”

?: “Bahuhaha! I thought I smelled something! I thought it was Hank!”

Hank: “Huhuhu! You bastard! You were probably smelling that guy’s nose that you shot off!”

As those thirteen men laughed and laughed about the gruesome things that they had just done they forgot about the gun shots echoing all around them and the light began to return to their eyes.

Little did they know that similar scenes were happening to Marines all around the island, and they could not be blamed for it, humans using comedy to fight tragedy was an instinct that even transcended worlds.

After several minutes of gut busting laughter, the thirteen men dried their eyes – they had been unconsciously crying – and started back on the march with pep in their step.

Crossing through a narrow alley, they heard another laughter coming from ahead, but unlike theirs it was sadistic and slow.

Holding his hand up, Pearson used a hand mirror to look around the corner and found a recognizable Pirate Captain what he estimated to be thirty of his crew.

Most of the pirates held machetes, and around them were fifteen Marines at various stages of being butchered alive. This sight, and the knowledge that his team had spent valuable time laughing, turned Pearson’s heart to stone.

Then for the first time in his life Pearson put himself in danger by stepping out from the alley, lifting his rifle, and putting a bullet through Bigalo the Hanged Man’s head.

Seeing his action, Pearson’s team didn’t need instructions and filing out of the alley they killed one pirate after another with their rifles. When their rifles were shot, and the Hanged Man pirates were too close to reload, a deadly melee broke out.

The battle was won thanks to the rivet pistols in the end, but in a scene that could have occurred anywhere, three more Marines lay dead on the cold stone street.

Of the fifteen Marines that had come before them, Pearson found five were alive but in very bad condition.

Ordering half of his remaining team to go back with the injured to the courthouse, he took his remaining five men to act as support. 

Wishing that the day would end he looked up and saw two flares shoot high into the sky.

**********

Looking up at the two flares, Bill clenched his fists, ran down a series of stone steps, and went through two wooden saloon doors.

This process had taken him entirely too long, he had been running and searching now for over an hour, and now he was wishing that he would have come in from the top.

With his impatience building the first thing Bill noticed was the barkeep. He was a thin middle-aged man with black hair and an average face who wore a shocked expression.

Taking one step forward Bill scanned the tavern. He thought everything here just looked normal and by the time he got to the bar and started questioning the barkeep, Bascud and Borodo finally caught up and started searching around.

Like they had planned, they would split up and one would search the front while the other searched the back.

“We’re looking for the entrance to the Dead End Race.” Bill said while looking down at the black-haired man’s face.

The barkeep no longer looked shocked, but Bill could easily read his heartbeat and knew that he was nervous.

“I…I’m afraid I don’t know anything about that Officer…”

Frowning at this denial, Bill put his knuckles on the bar and said seriously: “Listen, I know you’re lying and we’r– “Bill I got something!”

Hearing Borodo call out from behind him, Bill stepped back from the bar and saw the former thief prodding at a very sturdy locked door.

Then turning back to the barkeep, Bill noticed the man hadn’t moved and so he spoke again: “Now, if what we’re looking for is behind that door you are going to prison for a very long time.

But if you tell me what exactly is behind it, I’ll forget that you just lied, and you’ll continue to be free man.”

Looking up at Bill, the barkeeps face turned ashen, and his lips moved without words coming out.

Walking back to the bar, Bill put his hands down and said deeply: “What will it be?”

“…th.they’ll kill me if I talk.”

Hearing him say this, Bill shook his head and replied quickly: “No one will know you’ve talked. Unless you’re deaf you must realize that we’re raiding the island and arresting hundreds of pirates. Moreover, my team and I have been to a dozen other bars before we got here.

Now quickly, tell me what we should expect. No one will know.”

 Now it was the barkeeps turn to put his hands on the bar, and while he didn’t act erratic, he spoke in one long sentence.

He told Bill about the secret passage leading into the pirates’ cove and told them what the pirate cove looked like.

It only took him a couple minutes to spill out everything he knew. By the time he was done Borodo had unlocked the door and Bascud was out of the back.

“Let’s go.” Bill said, not looking back at the barkeep.

Charging down a dark stone passage, the trio quickly made their way to the other side and was met by a large knife-wielding doorman.

The large man looked fierce, but he wasn’t that intelligent and targeted Bill out of the trio.

He ran forward bravely but was met with an open-palmed slap that hit him so hard that his feet left the ground and he did a full 1080 spin before he crashed into the stone wall.

Not paying the doorman a second thought, Bill was too anxious to wait for Borodo to pick the lock and directly ripped the door off its hinges.

After he did so, the trio walked into a wide-open space and was stunned by what they saw.

The pirate cove was a multiple story tall hollow tube which had a diameter of perhaps 200 meters. Pirate banners decorated the walls interspersed with neon shop signs.

Those shops had been dug directly into the walls, making the huge space seem even larger.

Bill had seen magnificent sights in this world. Water 7, Enies Lobby, Clockwork Island, and more. But the design of this place was picturesque in a way that those places weren’t and despite the fact that he was in a rush, and despite the fact that he heard hundreds of footsteps from all around, he stood and marveled at this place.

“Bill, they’ve seen us.” Whispered Borodo, who like Bascud was ready to fight.

Bill acknowledged the whisper by nodding his head and looked around. There were at least 300 pirates in view and more seemed to be coming from the upper levels.

Looking down he saw thirty pirate ships of various sizes, ranging from skiffs to galleons. He didn’t recognize many of the jolly rogers, but one ship was unmistakable.

It was a galleon that took the form of a golden eagle and on its sails [MARINE] was crossed out with red paint, it was Gaspard’s flagship, the Salamander.

Looking over to the Bounty Hunter that brought them here, Bill spoke calmly despite the hundreds of pirates that were closing in.

“I told you I’d give you a shot to take Gaspard down.” Then pointing his finger down at the ship, he continued to say: “Borodo and I are heading up to the Brokers Office, you’ll have the time it takes us to finish to go down and get your revenge. After that, I’ll step in and do my duty.”

Bill was relatively sure that Gasparde had not yet entered the battle. Or at least he was sure that they hadn’t been close, since he would be able to smell the Devil Fruit if it had been used, and that meant there was a somewhat good chance that the traitor Marine was still on his ship.

Shaking his head Bascud didn’t give any thanks and instead jumped down to the ships below using the giant chains that went up the length of the cove as handholds.

Shrugging his shoulders, Bill told Borodo to stay close and turning around he drew his hammer.

There were dozens of pirates closing in on him from all sides wielding axes, clubs, sabers, katana, and dozens of other makeshift melee weapons.

He truly did not understand what possessed these men, but meeting their charge with his own, they flew away like bowling pins.

After his tribulations, Bill had started hitting hard, and nearly every pirate he landed a direct hit on would undoubtedly be crippled or die as a result.

Against these ordinary men he only dodged out of habit since with his iron skin and steel bones they wouldn’t have been able to hurt him.

Borodo stayed in Bill’s shadow and picked off the stray pirate that slipped through the onslaught. He wasn’t strong by the measure of superhumans, but with his new cybernetic arm he could pack quite the punch and he had numerous tricks besides.

In the case of a real emergency, Borodo’s cybernetic arm could fire out a few compressed laser beam – something Bill had been particularly proud of designing, though it was based off the pendant he had Vegapunk make for Yoko.

After the pair had made their way up several stories, hundreds pirates lay behind them and finally the newcomers didn’t look completely thrilled to fight against the two Marines that assailed them.

Seeing them falter, Bill started shouting out between hits “Drop your weapons!” and “Surrender Peacefully!”.

However, what made these men pirates, what made them unsuitable for regular society, was that they were uncontrolled and reckless.

Thrashing one man after another despite horrible losses and his calls for surrender, Bill started to recall a discussion with his father long ago.

Bill had a mature mind, but it was one that had developed in a lawful society. He knew that most pirates were poor, but he couldn’t understand why they didn’t save up the money they robbed and retire when they had enough for a farm or to learn a trade.

When he had asked Aramaki about this the man laughed and disregarded the question, claiming that if pirates were the type of men to work then they wouldn’t have become pirates in the first place.

Cracking another man across the cheek with the flat end of his hammer, Bill still hadn’t decided if he accepted his father’s answer.

Getting to the uppermost level of the pirate cove Borodo was gasping for breath and Bill looked back. One thing was for sure, something he couldn’t understand drove these people.

It had taken him 45 minutes to get to his destination. In that time, he had counted over 500 pirates and less than 150 dropped their weapons and surrendered.

Checking his pockets for the cuffs he intended for the Broker, Bill realized for the first time that his Coat of Justice had become bloody.