Epilogue

Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

The day after the Slayheim Insurrection, as it would be called from that point on, a man in his forties walked around the still burning ruins of the fortress prison. He wore a brown suit with a black tie, which complimented his Marine coat. This was Vice-Admiral Jack Merrian, or known to many criminals as "Hundred Man" Merrian, leader of the Marine Special Forces Unit, the same unit that Roog had contact just days before.

The Vice-Admiral came to a stop in the middle of the prison yard and looked around at the bodies and rubble, "Looks like something big happened here," he turned to a woman with long lavender hair dressed in a Marine Captain's uniform, "Find any survivors, Uo-chan?"

Captain Uotani Uzura nodded and walked up to her superior, "A handful of Marines, sir!"

"And Vice-Admiral Roog? Have you been able to find him?"

Uotani hesitated a little, "I did find Vice-Admiral Roog, though...it's not too pretty,"

"Oh? How so?"

"Every limb except one leg has been severed from his body, and his head looks like it's been split wide open. His brains are everywhere around his head and...," she trailed off and shook her head, "He's been butchered, sir. But, that's not all we found...,"

Merrian followed his Captain into the main yard and the first thing he saw were Sergeant-Major Dalu and Sergeant Bones pulling a large tarp over the huge, dead form of his fellow Vice-Admiral.

"Don't, I want to see him," Merrian ordered, briskly walking over to them both, "Pull it away,"

Bones and Dalu exchanged looks, but shrugged and pulled away the tarp. Merrian saw the damage that had been done to the hybrid of a giant and whistled, "Someone got him good, didn't they?" he looked at the wounds, "Looks like someone took a meat cleaver or something to him,"

"Or a big-ass axe," Bones, the skeleton-like pervert added in a murmur, "This is messed up! Reminds me of what I've been hearing about another base down the Grand Line. Blood everywhere and no one was left alive. Some people were missing, but those who were left behind were dead as doorknobs. It was really weird, because some of them were torn apart, butchered like this guy, or had their bodies drained completely of blood,"

Merrian sighed and signaled for the two men to pull the tarp back over Roog's body, "Uo-chan, you said you found something else?"

Uotani nodded and pointed to a nearby wall. Dalu, Bones, and Merrian left the bloody corpse behind and walked over to where she was pointing. There, written in large letters and blood, was a message on the wall. Merrian looked surprised at the message that was inked in blood.

"Now, this is a first,"

To the fools of the Government, what happened here is a result of a foolish against my family.
No doubt this will grab your attention and no doubt the word will get out about us.
We do not care though. No matter what you want of us, we will never back down to you!
This is a warning to those stupid enough to come after us for whatever reason.
Whoever tries to tear apart our family will meet a fate no different than that of Roog.
You can try all you want, but it will be useless.
You have been warned...what happens next is up to you, World Government.

Merrian read the message over and over again for a short time before turning to his subordinates, "Uo-chan, I want you to find any information about the inmates we were supposed to transfer today,"

"Yessir," Uotani nodded and headed to the harbor to question the survivors who were resting on their ship.

He turned to Dalu and Bones, "You two, scour the fortress. If you find any document that hasn't been burnt or ruined in any other way, gather them up. We may be able to find out more about what happened here,"

As they went off to their duties, Merrian turned back to the wall and looked back and forth from it to Roog's corpse. He rubbed his chin, "A message on the wall, and a couple of dangerous pirates? Interesting...,"

-----

"We're free! PARTY DOWN EVERYONE!"

Malchior tore a piece of meat off the large meatrack that he had in his hand as numerous inmates of Slayheim Fortress whooped and danced around a large, roaring bonfire on the beach of Isla Cadaver. The night after the prisonbreak, every single criminal celebrated their newfound freedom.

"WOOT! PARTY!" Dusty screamed at the top of her lungs, "I got the entertainment! DJ-kun, let's rock!"

"Hai, Dusty-chan!" the love-struck musician shouted, waving his flute like crazy.

Axe watched from a short distance away as everyone ate and drank from the feast Herman had made from scratch, thanks to Monster and his hunting. This was a special time for him and his crew. Not only was he sure that they would lay their lives on the line to save anyone of their family, but he had discovered the elusive power that dwelled within him.

"Yo, Axe!"

Taking a drink of his grog, Axe turned to see Malchior and Niri walking up to him, the latter having a quiet look on her face. He nodded to the two of them, "Hey, guys, what's going on? Go on and eat to your hearts content!"

Malchior smiled and held out his hand, "I just wanted to thank ya for helping us out, man. You took down Roog, and that is something, man,"

Axe shook his head, "Hey, I just came to bust my family out, Malchior," he nodded to Niri, "She's the one that made you guys free. She helped you organize and she gave you the chance to escape. If you want to thank anyone, it's her,"

"Well, if that's the case," Malchior snapped his fingers, "I'm getting this lovely lady a drink,"

The two Axe-Heads watched him leave and Niri walked up to her captain, clearing her throat.

"Listen, Axe-,"

"Save it, Niri," Axe interrupted her, "I already said I would do the same thing you did if I was in your shoes," he wrapped an arm around her and brought her into a hug, "What'll you do now?"

"I guess the only thing I know I can do now," Niri replied, a little surprised by the sudden hug, "I'm a pirate for sure now, Axe. Can I still travel with you guys?"

Axe smiled and patted her head, "Of course, Niri. It wouldn't be the same without you around. I'm also sure Pingu would miss you real bad. Speaking of which...you may need to go find him before Monster tries to eat him,"

"ACK! PINGU, HOLD ON! I'M COMING!" Niri suddenly broke free from Axe's hug and sped off, screaming Pingu's name.

Axe shook his head, "Glad she's staying...," he cracked his neck and turned to leave, but nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw both Monster and Megumi standing a few feet away, "Dammit, don't do that!"

Megumi rubbed the back of her head, "Sorry. Look, we wanted to come and say thanks,"

"For what?"

"Forrr frrreeing me from R-R-Roog's hold," Monster explained, stalking up to him, "If it werrren't forrr you, I would prrrobably be locked up orrr dead soon, mrrow,"

"And I want to thank you and your crew for saving me and my girls," Megumi chirped, "I'm glad you guys don't hate me or Monster for all this,"

Axe shook his head, "No thanks needed, really. Megumi, you did your job for your girls, and Monster, you did your job for your life. I don't think any of my crew would hold anything against you, I sure as hell wouldn't,"

"Thanks," Megumi bowed her head, "If you'll excuse me, I gotta go find my girls,"

As Megumi walked off in search of her two girls, Axe took another sip of his drink and leaned against a nearby tree, "So, Monster, what are you going to do, now that you're free?"

Monster shrugged, "I do not know. I would like to go out into the worrrld and find myself a family that I can call my own, but this is my home," he looked at the dark jungle, "Whateverrr I do, I'm doing it on my own frrree will frrrom now on,"

Axe laughed and patted Monster hard on the back, making the wild man stumble forward a bit, "Right on, man! Right on!"

-----

-Somewhere in the Grand Line...-

A large ship sailed smoothly across the black seas of the Grand Line as the moon and stars illuminated the dark sky above. A few figures moved around the ship, but the most important person on the ship sat in her large quarters, thinking about recent events.

Kairi Lumina thought back to the raid on the Marine base they had made a while back, "The book was supposed to be there, but it wasn't Apparently, it was moved prior to our arrival, but it's new location was not left laying around, otherwise, we would've found it," she grinned, "We may not have found that accursed book yet, but we gained three new crewmates, two of which have decent bounties,"

"Yeah...lose one thing, gain three things," Toby Dicey chuckled, walking out of a dark corner, "We're lucky that base had a few prisoners left in the jail area. I think they'll help us out quite well,"

Smiling, Kairi took out two posters from her pocket and unfolded them, her eyes looking down at the names and bounties, ignoring the pictures of her newest nakama.

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE
Sweeney Todd the Barber
Reward: 123,000,000 Beli

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE
Nellie Lovett the Butcher
Reward: 122,000,000

"I just hope they don't do anything stupid like get to close to you-know-who,"

Kairi giggled, "That'd be so funny...,"

At that moment, Theo Gaine, the fatass cannibal chef stomped down below deck of their ship, carrying a large, bloody sack over his shoulder.

"OI! DINNER TIME, ANUBIS!" he shouted, reaching into the bag, "Open up!"

Sitting in a large pot directly in front of Gaine, was a monstrous plant that resembled a Venus Fly Trap, except that it was far too big to be a normal Fly Trap, and it had actually had sharp teeth as well as a spiked tongue between the inner folds of it's bulb.

Gaine tossed every chunk of raw, freshly cut man flesh he had in the sack and watched as Anubis, as Kairi called it, snatched the meat out of mid air, swallowing it completely. The chef laughed and wiped his drooling chin, "You're not bad, for a plant, Anubis. You got a hearty appetite and have the same taste in food I do. I can see why the Cap'n loves you," he cracked his fat neck, "That's all for now, greeny, I gotta go and see if this new cooking bitch that joined the crew is any good. If she's not, I'll send her down for a little 'midnight snack'...,".

-----

A short time after the celebration on Isla Cadaver and repairs to their ship, the Axe-Heads were off again. They had acquired an Eternal Pose to Jaya from one of the other criminals during the party and they were now back on course to Jaya...with one extra person on board.

"WHAT THE HELL, MAN?!"

Axe picked his ear as he swayed back and forth in his hammock. He had decided to take Shifter to Jaya with them, and from there, the thespian would be on his way to do whatever he wanted with his life.

"It's just for this one trip, guys," he explained, glancing at Devon and DJ, "It's bad enough he's being hunted, but he has no ride. I figure this is a good act on our part. Besides, with his plans for the future, he said he needed to get out there,"

"Plans for the future?" Devon scrunched his face in confusion, "What plans? He gonna keep going around stealing Fruit powers?"

Axe shrugged, "I dunno, but he said he was gonna do something he's been putting off for awhile now,"

On the other end of the Tomahawk, Shifter...no, Ian Karloff the actor stood against the railing, looking out at the sea as it trailed behind the boat. He looked down at his hand, and the scars that covered parts of his body.

It's been five years since I've been on the run because of this damn fruit of mine... Ian grunted as he clenched a fist, My best friend and manager was killed because of this and I got my own damn bounty from the cursed thing. I thought because of this, I would never be able to achieve my dream, because it would be impossible to do, what with the Government coming after me. But...after listening to these kids' stories and dreams, and after they fought for life, family and their own dreams...I know now that it's not as impossible as I once thought!

Ian pulled off the mask he wore on his face again and looked up at the stars above, "Mikhail, watch over me from up there, man, because this guy's gonna need all the luck he can get if he's gonna be the World's Greatest Actor!"

The End

------------------------------------------------------------------

Kilnorc: -sighs- This is the final chapter of Dead or Alive! Few things to say before I go...

The newest members of Kairi's crew are ideas given to me by Blue-Hat-Jack and the giant Little Shop of Horrors plant is from my own mind, and after sharing it with her, Wolfen-Ways was ecstatic about it.

I had this big ol' party planned out for the final chapter, but it didn't seem to work out for me in the end, so what ya got is what ya see. I hope it's still enjoyable though!

The Marines you saw here (Special Forces) belong to both Shidyk D. Shade/Rayo Verrani and Crazyfishie.

Finally, some things between Kirsty's reason for being hunted and new bounties will be shown in the upcoming sequel! That's right folks, it's finally Skypeia time! It'll be great, because it's original, yet area we know very well. Also, thanks to Rayo Verrani, it will be action packed and dramatic because of the OC's he created and is allowing me to use them for the arc.