Kuma

"You get out of it what you put into it."

As I pulled out my scythe, I looked over at Hat-kun. He was holding the severed head of a marine while it was still screaming. I turned to Bepo. "What exactly is our captain's power?" I asked in wonder while swinging my scythe at a nearby marine.

"He's an op-op man. He can cut people without actually killing them." He answered while throwing a kick at another marine. His explanation just sprang more questions in my head but I didn't have time to dwell on it because a whole group of marines were charging at me. I bent my knees, ready to strike. Train suddenly flew out of nowhere and cut them all down in the blink of an eye. He gave me a cocky smirk before dashing off in another direction. I sighed in relief but a voice in the back of my head said, ~No fair, those were our guys to kill.~ I aggressively shook my head in attempts to dispel the voice. I tightened my grip around my scythe, I've got to stay focused. I charged in after the rest of the Heart Pirates and cut down a few marines with little difficulty. No one truly powerful was here yet We started following Hat-kun who was running away from the crowd of marines with each of the pirate crews going their own directions. We seemed to have picked up an extra member but I didn't question it at the moment. Shachi began to run ahead of the rest of us.

"Captain, look at that!" he shouted from the top of a ridge. I could see smoke rising but not much else until I reached the top. When I ran up to the peak with Train and Penguin, I saw the Kidd Pirates facing off with a Warlord.

"Trafalgar Law," Kuma said without changing his facial depression as his eyes locked onto our captain. Hat-kun grabbed his sword with both hands.

"So, you know my name?" Hat-kun asked as Kuma opened his mouth and a beam began to form. It shot out and into the ridge right where Hat-kun had been standing.

"Captain!" Bepo shouted.

The new guy said something but I couldn't hear, I was looking at the oncoming crowd of soldiers. "The marines are coming from behind!" Shachi shouted to the rest of the crew. As the smoke from the blast cleared Trafalgar stood next to Kidd, both ready to take on the giant. The Kidd pirates try defeating Kuma but didn't even give him so much as a scratch. Shachi, Bepo, and Train jumped in, but fared no better. When it seemed that Bepo might be minced meat, Hat-kun activated his dome and switched out Bepo with the new arrival. He stopped Kuma's attack then attempted to push him back. Wow, he's actually pretty strong. I gave a low whistle as I watched and then proceeded to slice into another marine. When neither Kuma nor the new arrival seemed to budge, Kidd stepped in and flung a heap of metal at the pair. Our new crewmate jumped back, leaving only Kuma to endure the impact. As Kidd walked away, assured that he had won, Kuma stood up.

"It's not over yet, Eustass." Hat-kun said smugly. As Kidd prepared to attack again a beam shot from Kuma's hand. Kidd barely had time to dodge before the ground where he was standing was obliterated. Hat-kun and Kidd began arguing while avoiding Kuma's beams. Why men try to keep up their ego in a life-or-death situation is beyond me. Just when it seemed like things couldn't get any worse, the marines began closing in.

"Bepo, we're gonna attack him head on. Let's go!" The new arrival said before charging.

"Hey, Jambarl! You're the new guy! Don't order me around!" Bepo demanded before following him in his attack against Kuma. Huh, seems like both Hat-kun and Bepo don't like being ordered around. As the two distracted Kuma, one of Kidd's men got a clean hit. I noticed electric sparks flying from where he was cut. Something was off. What's on his leg that would send off electricity?

"Captain, something's wrong. He doesn't seem right!" I yelled at Hat-kun. He nodded in response, I wasn't the only one who had noticed that something was off. As everyone sent every attack up their sleeves at Kuma he remained unharmed and we began to become tired. Kid launched a powerful attack that sent Kuma flying and opened up his insides. He was all machine, an artificial human. Hat-kun seemed to come to the same conclusion as me because he defeated the machine with his next attack.

As we began to fight off the marines, a much simpler task, another Kuma appeared. He blew a beam at Hat-kun and Kid who barely had time to dodge. Everyone was still tired from the last encounter and their spirits seemed to drop. Kid and Trafalgar didn't look to have another fight in them. I charged at the machine and swiped it with my scythe, or at least I thought I had. Kuma moved and I struck empty air. I quickly spun on my heals and blocked his hand which was coming right for my head. A jolt went through my body as his fist impacted my scythe. Damn, that's a lot of strength. Kidd used me as a distraction and threw a hunk of metal at Kuma. The new and fresh Kuma easily dodged it then swiped Kid away. He turned his attention to me again, his eyes seemed to almost lock onto me.

"Grim Reaper Raven," he said my wanted poster name, but before he could even get to my bounty Hat-kun came at him with his sword. Kuma simply dodged then shot a beam at Trafalgar. He dodged but the beam sent him skidding back. I tightened my grip on my scythe, I wasn't strong enough. ~But I am!~ I heard her voice. I could feel it happening, but I chose to ignore it. The Heart and Kidd pirates were all beaten and bloody, but so was I. I charged at Kuma but I had become slow and sluggish. He slapped me away, creating a crater in the ground where I had landed. I gasped as all the air in my lungs left me at once and began to spit up blood. The two stubborn captains followed up my attempt with a couple of unsuccessful attacks of their own. Kuma had knocked both Trafalgar and Eustass into the dirt and was aiming his beam at the surgeon who seemed to barely have any strength left. 'No you can't kill him! I was just beginning to live again!' I felt tears prick my eyes and the back of my head burned.

~There's a way to save him!~ her voice sang and, for once, I didn't fight it. She giggled, ~Smart choice.~ The burning in my head turned into a fiery inferno, my stomach seized up, and everything went black.