Looming

The clean-up of the pirates took up until late in the evening. The island was attacked at sunrise and by sunset, all invaders had perished. Well, all except three of the leaders. Niara, Shelly, and Panthera were cuffed in Seastone shackles and were tied up in front of Tate who sat on a bucket.

"I hope you three realize this is the end of your lives."

He spoke to them with a bright tone. Their expressions clouded and they looked devoid of life.

"Now, I won't spare your lives, but I'll give you the chance to die painless deaths if you answer my questions."

"If you're going to kill us anyway, then why should we help you?"

Shelly asked. Tate pointed at Luka who was being treated on the sidelines. He was glaring at the three pirate captains with intense hatred in his eyes.

"That's Luka Murdock. I'm sure one of you is familiar with his ferocity."

Niara's body twitched. Tate's smile slowly left his face.

"You see, Luka hates pirates and I mean, he HATES them. As for why he hates them, I'll leave that to your imagination. What I will also leave to your imagination is the things he wants to do you after you invaded our home and killed our people."

He leaned over and whispered.

"Here's a hint, you'd be lucky if your corpse is whole after he's done."

He straightened up and looked at them with a smile.

"So, do you want a swift death, or do you want to become a child's plaything?"

"....We'll talk."

"Good."

He clapped and then his eyes sharpened.

"Tell me how you arrived here again."

While Tate was interrogating the pirates, Hancock and Luffy stood with the Kuja Pirates and watched everything.

"That Mayor guy is pretty scary."

Luffy said with a grin.

"Don't you agree, Hancock?"

"Y-Yeah."

Luffy looked at her.

"What's up with you? You've been acting strange for a while now. Are you sure you weren't hurt?"

"No no no! I'm fine, seriously!"

"Hmm, alright. I'll take your word for it."

Luffy looked away from her, but a frown was evident on his face.

(Get it together, Hancock!)

Hancock shouted in her mind while clenching her fists.

(You're making Luffy worry! The last thing a wife should do is make her man uneasy!)

She took a deep breath.

(Forget about the kiss. Forget about the kiss. For..get..the..)

Her face became hot as her cheeks reddened. She held her steaming face.

(I can't forget it!)

She screamed in her head as she shook her whole body instead of her head.

(I mean that was our first kiss and I was so drunk I didn't even remember it until now! Ahh, I want to die!)

Her eyes were reduced to swirls at this point. Luffy glanced at her and then looked in Tate's direction.

"Hey, Mayor guy!"

Tate looked in his direction.

"Since everything has been handled, we're heading back to the mansion to rest!"

"Oh, that's fine by me. Thanks for your help."

"Don't sweat it!"

Luffy was all grins. He held on to Hancock's hand.

"Huh?"

Before she could react, he lifted her up and held her like a bride.

"Huhhhhh?!"

She was a mess trying to comprehend the situation. Luffy looked at the Kuja Girls.

"Do any of you guys remember the way back?"

"I do. I'll lead the way

Rindo said. Luffy nodded and looked back at Tate.

"Tell Butterfly girl thanks for saving my life!"

"I will."

"Alright, if there's a party later tonight give me a call!"

He and the girls ran off while Hancock was still trying to understand what was happening. Tate watched them with a smile on his face.

"I'm surprised that woman allowed a man to touch her."

Astrid walked up to Tate with Jessie behind him.

"That was a woman? I thought it was a beautiful guy."

Jessie said. Astrid looked at him with contempt but didn't say anything.

(Hancock's disguise is a bit undone because of the fighting, but she still should look like a pretty guy to most people. Yet, Astrid figured out who she was with a glance. I know why, but it's still funny that it was his arrogance and confidence in his own beauty that he was able to figure it out.)

Tate stood up with a smile, but that smile was short-lived. He looked at the pirate captains in front of him.

"Thank you for your cooperation. As promised, your deaths will be swift and painless."

A light flashed and the three's heads fell from their shoulders. Luka stood behind them with two butterfly swords in his hands.

"That was pretty good. I'm sure even Caria would be pleased by your sword skills."

Luka shook his head.

"She'd say I still have a long way to go."

"Really? It looked fine to me."

Jessie said.

"You can use my quick draws, Caria's sword arts, Frantz's sniper skills, and Astrid's hand-to-hand combat. I think it's acceptable considering everything."

Luka didn't say anything. His swords melted into mercury and disappeared into his body. Tate clapped and drew everyone's attention.

"Less chatting and let's start cleaning up before Caria returns and start nagging us."

At that time, Caria was watching a group of doctors attend to an unconscious Frantz. His body was covered in bandages and he was hooked up to some machines.

"His vitals are stable. However, he lost a lot of blood so it might take some time for him to wake up."

A doctor explained to Caria.

"And his arm?"

The doctor shook her head.

"We can't reattach it because the nerves were completely eradicated. We can tell from the wounds that he came extremely close to dying several times during his fight. The holes in his legs and sides will heal over time, however, he won't be in any condition to fight for a while. If he's forced to, he might die. So please keep that in mind.'

The doctor shortly left Caria alone with Frantz.

"Looks like you barely won..."

She sat at his bedside.

"I almost died against my opponent too. I was affected by over-drinking, but that's no excuse."

She clenched her fists.

"I need to become stronger."

"You're plenty strong already."

Caria turned her head. Frantz was smiling at her.

"How long have you been awake?"

"I woke up when you were confessing your love for m-"

Frantz stopped talking when a blade was pressed against his throat.

"Who draws a blade on a dying man?"

"If you can make jokes like that, you're fine."

Caria withdrew her sword.

"...About your arm."

"Don't worry about that. I can make do if I create a prosthetic with my ability. It might take some practice to get used to it, but I'll be okay."

He grinned.

"I'm the strongest bounty hunter after all."

Caria sighed.

"I don't even have the strength to retort you."

"What about your injuries? Did you get them looked at?"

"Not yet."

"What are you waiting for? Your battles must've worn your body out."

"Actually, I think I'm losing feeling in my right arm. Maybe because it was almost ripped off by Panthera."

"Hey, that's serious!"

Frantz sat up and withered in pain from his injuries forcing him to lay back down.

"We can't have two of the Supreme Five lose their arms!"

"I know, I'll get it checked out soon. I'm just thinking about something first."

"Are you wondering if more people know about the island?"

Caria nodded.

"Don't worry, not many people would enter the Calm Belt to look for a supposed island of Bounty Hunters. As long as we lay low for a bit, we'll be fine."

(That's if the World Government doesn't pay us a visit first.)

Frantz thought.

"I guess you're right. We just need to prepare in case something like this happens again."

"That's right. Don't forget you have a lot of strong allies on your side."

Caria stood up and nodded.

"Right. I also need to get stronger. In order to do that, I need to patch myself up first."

Frantz nodded.

"Oh, Connor and his team are under treatment here. They have a lot of external wounds but overall, their lives aren't at risk. You should go pay them a visit when you can."

"I will."

Frantz waved at Caria as she left. He lay his head on the pillow. His eyes narrowed and a serious expression appeared on his face.

"How the hell did this happen? And why does it feel like everything went exactly as someone wanted it to?"

His mumbles didn't escape the ears of a certain entity lurking on the island. This entity watched over everything and everybody all at once. Nothing escaped it, as it existed everywhere and yet nowhere simultaneously.