Grand Voyage- Log 104

Log 104: The Wolf's Den (The Final Night Before Ver.)
“KAGOME!!!!!!!!!”

There was an eery silence after the dead had been done... broken as Kagome’s scream rent the air.

“KKKKKKHAAAAAAAAANNNN!!!!!” Knave howled, the marimo lad surging to his feet, his veins coursing with a fiery anger he had never felt before, as his entire being was surrounded by heat and kinetic energy, launching himself through the air and plowing directly into his enemy’s stomach!

“OOPH!” Khan blanched, spittle flying out of his mouth, as he was knocked back and crashed into his own nearby snow dune! Kagome’s form dropped to the ground, only to be caught as Art, Sid, Stormy, Gopher, Pura, and Mercuia rushed in, catching her as gently as possible. Knave, on the other hand, continued the attack, charging once more at Khan-!

And then the combined force of several attacks struck him head on. The marimo lad was flung back, tumbling for several inches in the ground, before coming to a stop. For now, standing in front of their leader, where the Executives of Deathwatch, forming a sort of an honor guard. Knave, however, simply forced himself back to his feet, now crying freely as he smashed his fist into the ground, his body now beginning to fail him, the damage taking root...

“YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!” he howled, smashing his own forehead into the ground, “YOU FUCKING SON OF A BITCH!!!!” His anger gave way to sobs, as he collapsed completely into the snow.

“Are you okay boss-?!” Georges began to ask, but he was pushed violently aside! Erik Khan stumbled forward, his Zoan form beginning to de-transform, spluttering in rage at Knave’s actions.

“TRASH!” he howled, “PIRATE TRASH! DO YOU THINK YOU ARE BETTER THAN ME?! YOU ARE NOTHING! ANY BLOW YOU LAND, ANY LEEWAY YOU GAIN, AMOUNTS TO NOTHING!! BOW DOWN, YOU WILL BOW DOWN!” And with this, he flung his hand up, pointing at the massive airship above!

“IN THREE DAYS, MY MAGNUM OPUS, THE MEMITIM, WILL BE COMPLETE! IT WILL RAIN JUDGEMENT DOWN FROM THE SKIES, AND ERADICATE YOUR PATHETIC EXISTENCE, THE EXISTENCE OF ALL YOU PIRATE TRASH! WAIT IN FEAR, YOU WEAK FANGS, YOU LOST SOLDIERS, YOU PATHETIC COWARDS!! WAIT! IN! FEAR!”

And with that, Khan smashed his fist into the ground with such force that it propelled himself upwards, away from the battlefield, the various Executives following after in their own way. Within seconds, the entire Deathwatch assembly had vanished...

And leaving the Marimo Pirates alone.

It didn’t take them long, to gather themselves up and hurry back to the Shooting Star, like a dog retreating with its tail between its legs. Stormy, with Pura and Sid’s help, had managed to load both Sirius and Kagome into the ship’s medical area, and the doctor promptly went to work on fixing them up and attempting to ensure their survival.

This being somewhat taken care of, the rest of the group gathered around the main deck, sitting quietly and not speaking to each other. They remained lost in their thoughts, all thinking back to their crushing defeat.

“...An Ancient Zoan type,” Mercuia said at last.

The others looked up.

“Ancient Zoan?” D’Artagnan asked.

“I recognized that form... at least, I think I did,” the former World Noble explained, “a book I found back at the library at home. It talked about a powerful wolf that would ravage its home islands, fiercely protecting its territory and killing any possible intruders. They called it the Ezo Wolf.”

“And that guy transformed into one?” Sid inquired.

“Man-Beast Form,” Mercuia answered, “Zoans themselves make for powerful hand-to-hand combatants, at least from what I’ve seen from Sirius-san, but an Ancient Zoan... it should be able to match or overpower the kind of power that normal Zoans can bring to the table.”

“So we were pretty much screwed from the start,” D’Artagnan sighed, hanging his head slightly.

“No, not at all!” Mercuia quickly protested, waving her hands into the air frantically, “I’m just saying we might have underestimated him, or should have come up with a better strategy before we actually fought him!”

“Gao...” Gopher sighed, the Shroomian chef tracing his tiny hand over the railing of the Starry.

At just that moment, the door to the infirmary inched open, and Stormy stepped out, wiping her hands on a medium-sized white cloth she carried out with her. The other members of the crew glanced at her as one, all of them waiting for the same thing. In response to this, the doctor of the crew sighed sadly.

“Sirius is going to live, even recover fully,” she answered, “guy’s about as tough as Knave, so his complete recovery is almost certain right now. As for Kagome...” Done wiping her hands, she reached up and pinched the bridge of her nose, “..she’ll live, but the damage to her spine was brutal. The thing was practically in pieces. I’ve put it together as best as I can, but... I don’t know if she’ll be able to walk again.”

The crew remained completely silent, Stormy’s words sinking in deeply. They remained where they were, almost frozen in place, the weight of the sadness beginning to crush them down... and then Knave reacted.

The marimo lad leaped to his feet, ignoring the bandages wrapped around his torso from his own battle with Khan, and leaped over the side of the Starry, landing once more on the ground of the winter island. He looked up once more, taking a deep breath, his hair hanging over his eyes and expressing almost no emotion. He finally lashed out, his hand smashing into the ground! The impact of the blow knocked tons of debris and dust into the air, the marimo lad screaming as he delivered blow after blow, pure rage in his voice. Finally, he ended the action by standing up once more, allowing the deep breath to leave his lungs as the debris collapsed back down to Earth.

As the rest of the crew watched, Knave turned around and faced them. Unlike before, his face was now determined, filled with a primal sort of anger.

“We take them down,” he said simply.

The effects of his words slowly took effect on the crew, and one by one they slowly smiled, their own determinations rising up and preparing for battle.

“We’ll need to take out those guys who were working with him,” Art remarked, “they seemed like they were there to protect the guy.”

“I’m going straight for that wolf bastard,” Knave added as he leaped onto the deck as well, dropping to the floor and crossing his legs as he sat down, his hands crossing across his chest as well.

“Then the rest of us will have to deal with them,” Sid added, “and that ship the guy mentioned... Memitim.”

“He means to eradicate all the pirates in the world,” Pura said seriously, “we can’t let him do that, right?”

“Of course,” Knave nodded, standing up once more, “so, we’ll just attack head-on, and take them all down. I’ll make sure to get rid of the ship and their bastard leader. Count on it.”

“So we’re just charging in recklessly, huh?” Stormy sweatdropped.

“Gao,” Gopher nodded seriously.

“Well,” Mercuia said brightly, “that’s what you guys have practically been doing from the beginning, right?”

The crew paused again, thinking it over.

“Damn right,” Art finally nodded.

“What he said,” Sid chuckled.

The rest of the crew nodded as one, their purpose cementing itself in their minds.

“Then we’ll just do it like we always do,” Knave nodded in a serious, yet smiling manner, the rest of the crew nodding with him.

“Oi, wait,” said a familiar voice. The crew turned around, to see that Sirius had forced himself out of the door, one arm circled around the bandages and wounds on his chest.

“Sirius...” Pura said.

“I’m helping you guys,” Sirius growled, his eyes having their own steely determination, “that bastard betrayed me, but he also taught me not to let something like that pass, no matter who did it. I’m gonna shove his teachings right up his own ass.”

“Heh,” Knave thought, grinning, “then come along.”

The marimo lad turned around, throwing his arms up into the air and yelling out for everyone to hear!

“We’re going to pay it all back!”

At the very top of the control tower, there was Erik Khan’s office, though now he had turned the lights on, exposing its variety of expensive furniture and exquisitely painted and constructed walls. The former Shichibukai was sitting in his usual plush chair, though rather in front of the mahogany desk, he had now arranged it so it faced the window that overlooked the airship. As the leader of Deathwatch balanced a glass of fine wine in one hand, he could’ve sworn that he heard a cry from far away... and he smirked.

“Come then, naive pups,” he said to himself, now balancing the wine between both of his hands, “come and face your own, personal annihilation.”

~End of Log~

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