The Madman Part 5

The Madman Part 5

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'… that… is a worrying number of soldiers in the streets.'

Apparently I'd found the source of the boom. Someone split a ship in half. That was… worrisome.

I frowned as I lay on my stomach atop one of the nearby buildings.

They were carting off some people, but I didn't recognize any of the crew amongst them, and at this distance I could… listen? I guess that's the best word for it. I was able to use my Observation Haki to observe the people down there. I'd come in at good speed but had hesitated, I didn't know what was going on and didn't want to start something over a misunderstanding.

Mind you, if I'd had an inkling that the Bonney Pirates were in trouble I'd have gone in and dealt with the consequences later. But I could 'hear' Bonney's aura now and… she wasn't in distress. Wary? Sure. But nothing worrisome, and while the other members of the Bonney Pirates weren't as distinct as Bonney to my Observation Haki, they seemed to be having fun…?

That was enough to give me pause.

The locals were out and about as well, and it honestly looked a bit like a mild street party… though the large numbers of buffalo kinda threw off that image.

But that was a lot of soldiers… I'd ballpark it at a few thousand scattered about through the city… almost certainly Shaka's given the lack of violence in his territory. And there was that split ship half a mile out to sea, and another getting people off of it. I wasn't positive, but I was pretty sure those were Baroque Works symbols on their sails. I remembered more about the people in the organization than I remembered the symbol, but I think I recognize it from the time Ace vaporized a bunch of their ships.

… and now I'm a little sad I didn't get a logia. Damnit.

Anyways, I didn't have enough information to make a judgement yet. And things looked neither immediately dangerous nor so calm as to not require further investigation. So… nothing else for it, I put a hand on top of my tricorner hat and rolled over the lip of the roof.

Quiet as a whisper, I landed at the edge of the street, pushed my hat low on my head to hide my scar in shadow, and moved through the crowd.

I made a mental note to see if I could find a way to make my vest and boots black to compliment the black hat and its gold trim. Keeping my movement casual, I walked towards the tavern. It took a few moments for anyone to even really notice the little white guy, one of the soldiers stepping in front of me and giving a pointed look at the saber at my hip. I just held up my hands in surrender, "Just here to check up on my captain and crew."

His eyes narrowed briefly before he judged me honest enough to step aside.

You'd be seriously surprised by what you could get away with by looking you knew what you were doing. The soldiers were more 'classically' strong looking than Bonney's crew were and wouldn't have looked out of place in Dragonball Z.

The door was open, so I walked in to the sounds of a much more energetic party than the one that seemed to be starting up outside. My eyes scanned the room and I felt a bit of relief at how everyone inside seemed to be fine. It wasn't as uproarious as the crew usually got, but they were interspersed with local soldiers. My eyes swept from right to left and… "Katlego? Dumisani?" And, wait, were those the bounty hunters that had swindled Casey…? … with Casey…? And– oh my you could grind meat on those things.

I blinked a few times in surprise before my head tilted back and my eyes tracked up the length of the large man's body from the abs up. He was rather handsome, nearly 'Kal Drogo' levels, though he very much had the build, just, y'know, on a ten-foot-tall black dude. And he was in just a grass skirt and a little itsy bitsy golden tiara / circlet thing. Oh, and he was looming over me… that could be bad…?

"Um… hi?" I offered.

"And who are you?" the larger man asked curiously and with just a hint of warning, he actually had to lean over a bit to fit in the tavern, but the ceiling was decently high.

"He's one of mine." Bonney said through a mouthful of some local fruit., stepping out from behind him. She hadn't been hiding, but his significant mass and size had simply covered that quarter of the room, she'd likely been talking to him? Bonney had her hat on, and had gone out today in her short shorts and boots, though she hadn't bothered with her jacket in this heat.

"Ah," the large man turned to my pink haired captain as she got within comfortable speaking distance of me, "The one they sought?"

"Yeah," she nodded at him quickly before looking to me, her eyes narrowing "The hell did they want?"

"Baroque Works?" I asked for confirmation.

"Is that what they were called?" she asked with a raised eyebrow, "They never said."

"That's all I've run into while here." I said with a small shrug.

"What'd you do?" Bonney asked, arms crossing under her breasts.

"Have a bounty?" I said, still wary of the large man beside us, my left wrist draped across the hilt of the saber at my hip, "They're supposed to be bounty hunters."

Bonney frowned before grabbing my bicep and started to pull me along, making me half stumble after her, "I need to talk to you in private."

"Yes… ma'am…?"

The big man laughed heartily as Bonney pulled me into one of the corners of the inn. Well… that at least was a good sign. The man himself simply headed off into the room with surprising grace for someone hunched over as he was.

Bonney spun me around so that we were facing one another in the corner of the tavern. I blinked a few times at the intensity of her look as she held my gaze, "Florida, you should get out of here."

I blinked a few times before asking softly, "You're… gonna have to slow that one down for me. Why?"

"He's…" to my surprise, she almost cringed at that, hesitating and looking away briefly. Her eyes snapped back to mine, "Okay, promise me you won't do anything stupid."

"… define stupid?" I prompted with a small smirk but stopping when her hands tightened on my biceps.

Her voice came in a low hiss, "Promise."

For a moment I stared at her, her hair falling over her shoulders and her purple eyes intense and her lips pressing together tightly as she breathed through her nose. Her hands grasped tightly at my shoulders just below my coat-cape as she leaned in to be heard over the dull roar of conversation in the room. Well… it's not like I had much of a choice when she asked like that.

"… I promise, captain."

Her lips pressed into a thin line before she sighed, looking down at the floor as her hands rested on my shoulders, "The big guy is King Shaka. Ruler of the Zolou."

I blinked.

Again.

I frowned, "The guy who caused that slaughter."

"Jacob." My captain said warningly, her purple eyes snapping up to my own green ones and her fingers digging into the sleeves of my shirt.

"I won't." I half growled, my hand clenching tightly at the hilt of my sword, "I know. I'm tempted, but I'm not going to pick a fight while we're all literally sitting in the middle of his army." I leaned in closer, pointing at her, "But you tell me that mess wasn't fucked up."

"I know it was," she said in exasperation, "But we're pirates, not freedom fighters or rebels or heroes. This isn't our fight even if it was a fight we could win. There's nothing of ours at stake, hell, he's being nice to us."

"I know, hell, the people here love the bastard, but…" I gestured uselessly for a moment, searching for words fruitlessly before my hand dropped and I settled on a simple, "Fuck…"

Bonney shook me back and forth, growling out, "Which is why I said you should fucking go, you dumbass!"

"I get that now woman!" I snapped as she shook me like a ragdoll, "But you can't blame me!"

She let out a little frustrated noise, a little growl in the back of her throat, "Can't you just trust me?!"

"I do! But I didn't know if you needed help or not here!"

Bonney opened her mouth to say something, I wasn't exactly sure what, but it was interrupted by the slurred shout of one of the soldiers, "Heeyyyy…! Look'it the lovebir's!"

Both of us looked over at the source of the voice, one of the soldiers and Jaime leaning against one another. I just had to ask, "What did you say?"

Hiccuping, the soldier waved his beer about, "Aren't you supposed to be that flower guy?"

The equally drunk Spaniard-like man elbowing his fellow drunk-mate, hissing in what was probably supposed to be a whisper, "That is Florida."

"Oh…" the drunk soldier seemed to think about that for a moment before giving an exaggerated nod, "Right…"

We both froze even as there was laughter at the soldier's intoxication. Incredulously, I looked back at the obviously embarrassed and mortified woman, her cheeks a bright red and her eyes wide as her hands clenched against my biceps. Then her eyes narrowed as she growled out through her teeth at me under her breath, "Don't. Laugh."

'… well now that you say that I want to laugh.' I opened my mouth for a moment before closing it, pressing my lips together tightly in an attempt to keep myself from smiling. I didn't do a great job.

Bonney nearly snarled, her blush spreading to her entire face as she got within a few inches of me and hissed, jabbing her finger into my chest, "I said don't laugh!"

A small snort escaped me, my cheeks tensing up as I viciously suppressed my grin, asking quietly, "You… told them we were lovers…?"

"He was hitting on me!" she hissed, her cheeks a very bright red as her hands clenched in my shirt, "And I can't exactly kick his teeth in for it!"

"She tol' us they were lovers?" The soldier asked Jaime in what was probably supposed to be a whisper.

The drunk swordsman shrugged, "I'unno, s'not exactly clear."

Bonney and I both blinked a the pair in confusion, "Wait, then why did you say...?"

A mug of beer was used as a pointer to indicate… the literal heart shape of hummingbirds floating around the two of us.

I facepalmed, "Guys."

The pinkette snarled, fist coming up, "I will smack your feathered brains back into eggs you little shits!"

"Bonney," I put my hand atop hers, "No smacking the hummingbirds."

"These are your responsibility Ironhide!"

"Yes, which is why I'm not going to let you punch them into little clouds of feathers."

"You know what I mean!"

"I have no control over them Bonney." I couldn't help the little smirk despite the heat in my cheeks, "And come on, doesn't it help keep the guys off of you?"

Her teeth ground, her cheeks a brilliant shade of red, "It's still embarrassing as hell!"

I couldn't help it, her face was hilarious and adorable, "Tcheheheh…"

"What?!" she demanded, "You think being with me is funny?"

I opened my mouth for just a moment before closing it. Then my lips pressed even tighter together. 'Don't troll her don't troll her even if it's cute don't troll her–'

Her purple eyes widened in realization before she snarled, "Oh don't you dare–!"

"Yes."

A wave of silence spread through the tavern as Bonney gaped at me and my failing attempts to maintain a more neutral expression. The brilliantly red cheek with the gold ring through it twitched, making the piercing jump as Bonney gaped at me as my control over my expression cracked, the first inklings of the shit-eating grin peeking through.

…

She exploded, "OH YOU ARE SO DEAD!"

'STEEL-!'

*BONG!*

While it stung like hell, it still made me burst out into laughter, "Tchahahahah–!"

"You asshole!" she snarled, kicking me rapidly as I raised my arms to shield my head.

"It was a perfect opportunity-!" I defended myself verbally and fruitlessly even as her boots lashed out, denting my increasingly metal body.

"Perfect opportunity my ass!"

"Your ass indeed!"

A boot slammed into my stomach, lifting my metallic body off the ground several inches, "Don't try to cheer me up!"

Shaka called out with a laugh, "Bonney, do you need assistance in disciplining your man?"

The world suddenly spun and went dark as Bonney roundhouse kicked my face six inches into the floor, "Mmmph-?! Mmphmmphmmmph?!"

"No! I'll discipline him myself! You fuck!"

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The Madman Part 5 End