Endless Nightmare

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.

Kilnorc: Okay, I HAD planned on getting some other stuff done before this, but I was chatting with Crazy-Fishie on messenger about ideas and what not...so here I am, all pumped for this thanks to our chat. If you don't like it, blame her. Also, I feel bad for not giving credit to where credit was due. The Ocean Dreamer's layout from the last fanfic is all the creation of Super-Nanny, so thanks to her, the Axe-Heads have an awesome ship!

Prologue

The sun was high in the air as the Ocean Dreamer, the new ship of the Axe-Head Pirates sailed smoothly through the sea, heading for their new destination, Fish-Man Island. First, they had to go through the Shabondy Archipelago, where all sea-routes of the Grand Line connected, but to get through that, they'd have to pass through the dangerous and every mysterious Florian Triangle.

However, they had some time before they entered the hazardous area, and things were going so well already after such a short time after reaching their new ship. Thanks to Dusty, Devon and Kirsty were finally (and officially) married on the deck of the ship. It was a small, but wonderful ceremony, and everyone was glad to have the two together (and they were pretty sure the two of them were very glad to be together).

So now, with the marriage taken care of, the Axe-Heads were going about their normal routines on the ship. Surprisingly, a good handful of them were in the middle mast house. DJ, Devon, Kirsty, and Dusty were busy training, Devon doing weights, Kirsty practicing her martial arts and the other two working on agility and speed.

Down below deck, Azu was busy in his workshop while Axe and the others were in the dining room, having lunch. Well, the rest of the crew were eating lunch, Axe was trying to sneak extra helpings, but Pingu and Herman made sure he didn't do that.

"This is great food, thanks Herman!" Niri waved from the table, "I don't know what you're doing, but keep it up!"

"Thank you, Niri," Herman called from behind the counter, "But I'm just doing the usual stuff. If it tastes any different, it's because of the different foodstuffs and ingredients I got from Water 7,"

"Oh," Niri looked down at her meal, "Either way, this is fantastic!"

Axe rubbed the lumps he got from both the penguin and the chef, "So, Herman, tell us, what's this Archipelago like?"

The Fish-Man sighed and shook his head, "A collection of miniature islands connected by bridges. There are all sorts of zones and buildings there, and the people there," he clicked his tongue, "Not the nicest bunch,"

"What do you mean?"

"There's this group of people called Tenryuubito, who are the descendants of the people who established the World Government-,"

Axe began to cough loudly, making Chizuru to pat him on the back hard.

"Uhm...anyway, they pretty much rule the entire area. Pirates can come and go freely as they please, as long as they don't piss off the Nobles. If they do that, people say that an Admiral and an entire fleet of warships will come down on them,"

The coughing got louder, as did the smacks on his back.

"I'll wrap this up, because I don't wanna kill the captain over there," Herman cleared his throat, "There's an Auctioning House there and a large abundance of slaver gangs. Anyone and anything can be kidnapped, made into a slave for auction and sold to the Nobles. Depending on the race being sold there, the price is determined,"

"Oh, my God!"

"That's unpleasant,"

"You have no idea, but that's not all," Herman walked over and sat down at the table, "We, I mean the Fish-People and Merfolk, face severe discrimination. Our kinds, particularly a mer-person, fetch a high price on the market. Not only that, but we face such hate and stuff, we have to conceal the traits that make us different from humans,"

"Aw," Niri got up from her seat, walked over and gave Herman a hug, "Don't worry, buddy, we'll make sure to be careful when we get there. If those bastards come anywhere near you with the intent of selling ya or anything like that...!" she whipped out her pistol and spun it around her finger, "We'll show them!"

Herman sweatdropped, I just said that she shouldn't mess with them...

"GUYS! GUYS!" the sound of rapid thumps came from outside and Dusty burst into the room, tripping over something and falling flat on her face, "...ow...,"

Chizuru leaned down, "What's up, Dusty?"

The kitsune looked up, an excited look on her face, which had a large red spot from the floor contact, "We found something cool!"

"This counts as something cool?"

The entire crew stood around a barrel that had been fished out of the ocean by the others. Water dripped from the ropes that surrounded the barrel, and they noticed a large banner on top of the barrel. It was black with red lettering, and from what they could figure out, whatever was in the barrel was an offering to the Sea God.

"Why the hell did you fish this out of the water, Dusty?" Niri rubbed her eyes, "Why?"

"I dunno, it looked like something we could use,"

"It's an offering to a Sea God, how the hell can we use it?!"

"I dunno...,"

Devon looked the barrel over, "I don't think we should mess with this, anyway," he knelt down and tapped the side of the barrel, as if checking to see if anything was inside, "If this is an offering to a God, we shouldn't use it for our own ends," he shook his head, "We'd get punished,"

"Speaking of Gods," DJ looked up at the sky, "I wonder whatever happened to those New World people who tried to take over Skypeia, you know, the Pantheon freaks?"

"I kicked their leader's ass, that's what happened," Devon snapped, "Don't compare those traitors to a God, okay?" he turned to Axe, "We need to get rid of this ASAP, boss,"

"If you say so," Axe cracked his knuckles and looked around, "Where do we throw it, or does it really matter?"

"I don't think it really-,"

"OH C'MON, LET'S JUST CRACK THIS SUCKER OPEN!"

"Dusty, don't-!"

It was too late.

Dusty had quickly removed the ropes ontop and threw open the lid of the barrel. Seconds later, a loud muffled sound was heard, followed by a bright white flash of light and she fell back onto her ass, yelping as she fell. Everyone watched as a plume of red smoke shot into the air and moments later, it seemed to explode and give off a strange, bright red light.

They all stared at it for a while, then they looked back at Dusty, who was laughing nervously and inching away.

"Looks like the kit just pissed off the Sea God...,"

"Mhm...,"

"We could die if it's real,"

"Probably,"

Dusty gulped and scooted back as the crew advanced on her, "G-Guys, c'mon! I couldn't help it, it was just too tempting to pass up, and-,"

"GET HER!!"

Kilnorc: Yeah, short beginning, but good stuff about to come, I promise!

On the next chapter of Endless Nightmare...

Dusty: I said I was sorry!

Herman: Everyone! There's something coming this way! I can see people on it!

??: HELP! YOU GOTTA HELP US!

Kirsty: That's a nasty wound...how did he get it?

The Florian Triangle

Axe: I have a baaaaaaaaaaaaad feeling about this...