Chapter 20, Bea

Okay, why was I helping this guy in the first place? Just an impulse, I suppose. So here I am, fighting 'Wind Master' McKinley. And what was he decommissioned for, you are maybe wondering? Well, from what I've heard, which isn't very much despite my connections, he was getting quite brutal; even beat up a fellow Marine. His fleet was quite loyal to him, so when McKinley was forced to leave, they went with him. How did I know this? Well, my brother is in McKinley' fleet, so I get all the inside information. McKinley isn't really on my good side, or my other siblings besides my brother.

Apparently he killed mums sister, who happened to be a famous pirate, so all of us have a grudge against him. That's why brother joined his fleet, so we could wait for the perfect chance to get our revenge without getting in trouble with the Marines. I left home at an early age to learn self-defense, and I ended up getting good enough to join the Bounties. Heck lot of good they are, I didn't even know they existed until they invited me to join! But after seeing them heartlessly take out the former Marines, including my brother, I couldn't take it so I rebelled.

So once again, here I am with my best friend Coy next to me. When I first joined the Bounties, he was mad I was in a higher position then him, so he challenged me to see if I was 'worthy of the position', but I think he was just jealous. Of course I beat him up, but I have to admit he put up a pretty good fight. And our friendship/rivalry started from that day on. Now enough with the remembering, let's get back to beating this guy up.

Though my family had a big grudge against McKinley, I've never met him in person. Actually, according to the newspapers, nearly nobody has seen his face before! That's why there are so many rumors about him. Even back when he visited our island, he had covered up his face, and his voice mad him sound around his 50's or something. Only here we are, face-to-face, and turns out he's rather not that old, around his late 20' or early 30'. Course it was hard to focus while dodging his wind attacks, but one thing that was obvious to see was that he had grey hair. Well, really a mixture of white, light grey and dark grey, if you want to be more specific. And his eyes, well, they're kind of hard to describe so I won't.

He was holding up pretty well, even with Coy and I fighting him at the same time. I saw an opening and launched one of my hardest kicks into his stomach. He skidded back several feet, but his stance stayed solid. Jumping back, McKinley smirked at me, which ticked me off quite bit, and as I sensed the winds change again, I barely dodged a ball of compressed air. The ball chopped off a bit of my hair and hit the tree behind me, forcing against the trunk and splitting the tree from its base. Wow, this is definitely not good for the plant life, but who cares. Plants can be reborn, people can't.

The wind got even fiercer, and it stung my eyes. I was forced to keep dodging as branches and rocks were lifted, being thrown everywhere. I clenched my teeth as a rock hit me in the back. At this rate, we could be defeated. How was Coy even doing? Oh, there he with McKinley trying to choke him. Wait. MCKINLEY IS TRYING TO CHOKE HIM! I switched to my half/rabbit form and, using my enhanced speed, succeeding in hitting his shoulder, the force knocking him to the side and releasing his grip around Coy' throat. I waited a moment for him to catch his breath, constantly glancing at McKinley in case he recovered faster than I expected.

"Guess. I. Owe you one now," Coy panted.

"You darn right you do!" I replied, crossing my arms in triumph.

"Bea, watch out!" he cried, and I had a moment of shock as he pushed me away, being stabbed by McKinley' hidden dagger when it should have been me in his place.

"Coy!" I called, rushing to my partners' side. By the way, I do NOT, repeat do NOT have any feelings for him. Who am I even talking to? I flipped him onto his back, and a crimson stain was forming on his vest. Okay, that was the last straw. Kill the aunt I never met, I can deal with that; but hurt my best friend; you are so going to die.

"DIE!" I shouted. I didn't want to use my 'Rage' karate, but I had no choice. 'Rage' karate was one of my specially developed techniques, where you use unrestrained power on your opponents' vital points, ensuring in the loss of their life. Really I did have a choice, but this guys already on my bad side, so who cares what happens to him? First, wait for the perfect moment.

"Aren't you going to run? How about this, I'll let you leave with your boyfriend there if you abandon helping Whitebeard?" McKinley tempted.

"No way, and he is NOT MY BOYFRIEND!" I snapped and hit him in the chest with my palm. Then bending down three of my fingers on both hands, I stabbed all of his vital points. Powered by my Zoan Devil Fruit, I easily beat him that way, and he fell to the ground after I had finished my assault. "Take that McKinley!"

"I wish you would've called me Kane," he said, and with that he was dead. Now why did that name sound familiar?

"Um, I'm bleeding to death over here! Are you going to leave me here or what?" Coy complained.

"You know with all you're whining I just might leave you here," I hissed.

"Please, please don't!" he pleaded. Rolling my eyes, I hoisted him over my shoulder and pondered where to go. The ship was too far away, but I did have a packet of medical supplies with me, quite conveniently. So instead I put Coy back down and pulled out the bandages, and kept an eye on #0' fight. Not surprisingly, considering Whitebeard' strength, the battle was quickly finished and my former boss was unconscious and bleeding on the sand.

"Hey, so what are you going to do with him!" I asked Whitebeard. By now I had finished bandaging Coy' wounds so I had walked up to assess the results of the fight. Up close the man looked even taller, but I wasn't fazed as I had fought off giants before.

"You're his subordinate, are you not, brat? It's up to you and your buddies to decide his fate from now," he answered.

"One, I am no longer part of the Bounties, two, they already left," I said, gesturing to the ocean. They had left as soon things weren't looking very bright for #0. Cowards, I thought instantly.

"So what do plan on doing form here on?" he questioned.

"I guess Coy and me will either become pirates or continue bounty hunting, but the latter seems unlikely when the new that we helped you gets out, so I guess we'll go with choice A. Also, I'll be taking #0 with me. And could you let us stay on your ship until the next island?" I begged, giving him my puppy dog eyes look.

"Very well, but you must leave once we reach the next island," he decided.

"I know, jeez why does everybody think I'm a troublemaker?" I huffed, "Hold on, Obis still needs to give Tory back his life force. He took about 5 year' worth of that boy's life force and you do not want to miss out on life."

"Obis?"

"That's #0' real name, and don't ask me how I know,"

All of my belongings were back at the base, and would probably be burned, I didn't care that much. I was too amazed at how quickly this fight had been finished. The Whitebeard Pirates are truly an amazing crew, but I wasn't about to admit it anytime soon. Even though I had a grudge against McKinley, I mean Kane and his fleet, after the effects of the drug had worn off several of us went and buried the corpses. I thought it'd be improper and gross if we just left them to rot away, but it happened with some 'implied' encouragement. I had also discovered the Bounties had given Regan to the Whitebeard pirates, so he said he would come with me and Coy to set off life as a pirate. And another surprise, he had met Tory before! Now how about that?

Next Day

The next island happened to be extremely close, so close that I have no idea how we didn't notice it earlier. It was named Heike and was famous for the skill and strength of the people born there. It was also known for the Dacha fruit, and I was hoping to try it as it is supposed to enhance ones senses, though that's probably a myth.

After making sure Obis was tied up securely and the sea stone cuffs were in place, we had bid goodbye and went into town. As expected, the place was bustling with people. It was easy to seethe natives of the place from their brown skin and hair and their height. No wonder Heikians are popular as bodyguards, they're basically born for that field. I hope nobody from the Whitebeard Pirates get caught alone by the natives.

Tory

After that #0 guy gave me back my energy, I felt funny for some time and took a snooze. When I woke up the next day, I went to the deck with Thom and Mono to find some strange people who I had never seen before in my life looking as to kill someone.

"Heikians," stated Mono with a yawn.

"They look around my age. Are they all like this?" I asked him.

"No, most are pretty peaceful. Sometimes there are some boys looking to make a name for themselves. The natives are known to be born quite strong and are often hired as bodyguards," answered Thom.

"So what do we do?"

"Beat them up of course," replied Thatch. I spun around to find him standing right behind me. Though I pretended to be surprised, I had actually sensed him coming a few minutes ago.

"Aye-aye, Commander!" I mocked. I got cuffed in the head in response. Several swipes of a sword later, the remaining teenagers were fleeing for their lives, dragging fallen comrades. One man with black hair instead of the common brown stopped to yell at us.

"Just you wait! The Taurus Pirate captain, Jody Red is going to defeat you all!" he shouted defiantly. Then he scampered away after his long-gone crew.

"That kid might turn out to be strong pirate with a spirit like that," I commented.

"Anything can happen," said Thom.

"Now that I think about it, where's Leon?" I questioned, noticing his missing presence. I noticed a sheet of paper nailed to the railing, so I picked it up.

"What's that?" asked Mono.

"I don't know. Let's see...It says, 'Dear Whitebeard, you will not be seeing your precious crewmate Leon Kirk ever again. He is not dead, I assure you of that, but he has left of his own accord for reasons I cannot tell you. Do not follow him, as he has asked, or else the consequences could be disastrous for both sides. From, Jody Red," I choked out the last words. How could Leon leave?

"What does this mean?" demanded Mono.

"It means Leon left with this Jody guy," said Thom, trying to calm down Mono.

"POPS!" I yelled.