C24 : Visiting Amazon Lily

• {Year: 20.4} •

Thatch and Ryu chuckled, looking at the straw-hat man. Ace widened his eyes and shouted as he grinned. "Luf-!"

*BAM*

"STRAW HAT!" The white-haired muscular man slammed Ace's head into the floor and angrily shouted at Luffy.

Luffy confusedly looked at the man who shouted. He didn't recognize him, but Smoker didn't care.

"We meet again!" Smoker said, not realizing he had caught Fire Fist Ace. Luffy was still grabbing food into his mouth, enlarging it. "Stop eating already!"

"Bastard! Get off me!" Ace angrily shouted as he forcibly pushed on the floor, shaking his head.

"Oh! You're that guy from Loguetown!" The straw-hat man panicked as he realized that Smoker could catch him. "Ugh, gotta run!"

"Wai-!" Ace was about to stop him, but he was suddenly interrupted.

*BAM*

"I won't let you go, Straw Hat!" Smoker slammed Ace's head onto the floor again, causing Thatch and Ryu to fall and laugh. The Marine Captain ignored them and chased after Straw Hat Luffy, as he did not want to face the green-eyed man.

"..." Ace, the pitiable victim, shook the small debris of wood off his hair. He grudgingly stared at Thatch. "Why didn't you stop Luffy or even Smoker?"

"Bawahahahahaha!" Thatch could not hold his guts in anymore and laughed freely. "Y-you had your head slammed and Luffy didn't see you!"

"Ahahahahah!" The green-eyed man continued laughing as he held onto Thatch for support. "S-stop! Hahahaha!!"

Ace frowned and was about to grab Thatch but he remembered that Luffy was here and had to escape from Smoker, the Marine Captain. Begrudgingly, he put this to the back of his mind. "I'll get you for this later. I'm gonna go after Luffy!"

He said as he ran off, leaving Thatch and Ryu laughing on the floor. "Hahahahaha!!!"

...

"Wait!" The white-haired muscular man shouted as he chased the straw-hat man, who held his enlarged mouth.

Another tall and muscular man chased at two of them, too. "Wait, Luffy! It's me!"

Smoker groaned when he realized Fire Fist Ace was following. He glanced at a side and saw his Petty Officer. "Tashigi!"

Being called out, she recognized that voice and responded on reflex. "Oh, Captain Smoker! You want a towel? I know...! It's so hot here!"

"No, stop that Straw Hat!" Smoker yelled as he pointed at the running Luffy.

"Straw Hat?!" Tashigi, the Petty Officer, scrunched her brows and took her sword out. "Okay... I'll stop him!"

As the straw-hat man neared Tashigi with his bloated cheeks, she slashed her sword horizontally. However, she missed him the moment it was about to touch him. Luffy pushed his right leg and jumped like a shot rubber band towards the roof of buildings.

The people around were shocked and moved their eyes as Luffy bounced off the walls of the building until he got on top. "What the hell?!"

"Damn..." The Marine Captain, Smoker, shook his head and began to become smoke itself, with his Smoke Smoke Fruit. He then flew to chase Luffy.

Ace didn't know whether to laugh or cry. His own little brother never heard or saw him.

Smoker glanced downward at Tashigi and ordered. "Gather the men and search for his crew! Comb every corners of the town!"

"Yes, sir!" She quickly replied and yelled at a nearby person. "Gather them and split into groups!"

"..." The nearby person pushed Tashigi's glasses down to her eye-level and told her. "I'm not a Marine!"

...

"White Snake!" A snake-like projectile compressed of smoke shot forward to the straw-hat man in front of Smoker, chasing him no matter the path.

"Ugh!" Luffy gritted his teeth and ran even faster, testing his limits. He was not going to let this smoke bastard catch him! Wait, who's that other man chasing Smoker? Shaking his head, the rubberman focused on running.

Glancing at the end of his eyes, Luffy recognized the green-haired man in a disguise. Without a thought, he shouted. "Zoro!"

"Come to us after you lose them, you dummy!" The green-haired man shouted as he stood and ran.

"Ah! There's the Straw Hat crew!" One of the Marine Officers shouted, pointing at Zoro and other people hiding behind a debris.

"Move!" Smoker demanded as he put his left hand on his right shoulder, aiming his right fist at Luffy's defenseless back. "White Blow!"

A white fist covered in a glove propelled towards Luffy, nearing him. All of sudden, a burst of fire stopped its path. "Heat Haze!"

*WOOSH*

"Stop right there." A tall and muscular man stood in front of Smoker, the Marine Captain.

Scrunching his brows, Smoker asked. "What do you want?"

"To stop chasing Luffy." He stated, as he stood straight acting like a boss. "You may be smoke, but smoke doesn't stand a chance against my fire."

"...!" Luffy froze at his voice, turning around immediately, he saw him. His older brother! "Ace!"

"Who's that...?" Zoro and the rest wondered as they stood behind their captain.

"Luffy!" Ace grinned, turning his head at him. "You haven't changed a bit!"

Luffy shot back, grinning as well. "You haven't changed too! Hehe!"

Ace chuckled but frowned when he saw the Marines officers increasing. "We can't talk like this, go back. I'll stop them and come to you later."

"Alright! Go!" Luffy shouted when he turned to his crew. "Let's go!"

"Huh?! Who's that?!" One of them asked as they began to run.

The straw hat man grinned and responded. "My brother!"

The tall and muscular man turned and looked at the Marines with white-haired muscular man leading. "Now now, I can't have you all chasing him..."

"Why are you doing this?" Smoker asked, not having heard of their relationship.

Ace smiled and stretched his arms in front. "He's my brother, of course I would protect him!"

Shock filling his eyes, Smoker glared at Fire Fist Ace. He was about to continue the conversation but Ace suddenly burst flames out of his fingers.

"Flame Net!" A net made out of fire grew larger and larger, effectively distracting them from him and Luffy's crew.

"Damn!" Teeth gritted, Smoker demanded. "Focus on clearing out the fire, move away any citizens!"

A marine officer reported at that moment. "Captain! Mr. 11, the captive, has been found dead on our ship! Someone shot him!"

The marine captain wished he could have a easy life... He looked up and stared at the sky. 'But I wonder why... Why was the Solitary Pirate there...?'

...

Later that day...

After Ace waved off his right fist, obliterating the several ships totalizing to over fifty men, he went back to his ship that held his and Thatch's division. The tall and muscular man smiled when he thought of Luffy's crew, they were alright and looked like a family of their own.

Finally arriving on his ship, he saw the green-eyed man and pompadour-haired man waiting for him as the others went to ready their ship to set sail. Thatch had just finished explaining what happened between him, Ace, and a certain man.

"So in the end, he still obtained that fruit..." The green-eyed man sighed, shaking his head. Thatch gritted his teeth as he traced his bullet scar on the right shoulder.

Ace saved him from Teach attacked him all of sudden, stealing the devil fruit he found. However, Teach still shot his gun and hit his shoulder, making both of them stay back and let him go as he ran.

"Yes." Ace solemnly nodded, walking near them. In his eyes were filled of rage and anger, Marshall D. Teach joined Whitebeard Pirates only for a devil fruit! He had tricked people and recruited a crew of his own during his stay, showing how patient and smart he was. People like him were always mostly dangerous if they were evil, they were unpredictable.

Ryu glanced at both of them and smiled. "Hey, at least Thatch survived. Had you not come earlier and surprised Teach, Thatch would've died."

The fireman sighed. "Yeah, but that devil fruit..."

Interrupting him, Thatch spoke. "I know what devil fruit it is. It's Dark Dark Fruit. Apparently Marshal D. Teach knew of its information and power in the past."

"Do you want me to come with you all?" The green-eyed man surprised them. Thatch and Ace widened their eyes, with him, they could easily catch Marshall D. Teach. But...

"No, it's personal matter of ours. We'll deal with it ourselves." Thatch shook his head.

Ace nodded. "Yes. We'll deal with him ourselves."

Ryu smiled and nodded as he turned away. "I'll be going then. Be careful with Teach, you'll never know with him."

"Oh right, don't worry about Whitebeard. I'll see him sometime in this year."

With that, he shot off in a sword-like beam, twirling around in the sky. Thatch, Ace, and their divisions gaped and had stars in their eyes. "So cool! I want that!"

...

Later that month in Sabaody Archipelago, Shakky's Rip-off Bar...

The green-eyed man was silent as he sat on a stool before the bar, tilting the glass cup in his hand. An elderly man with strong build sat beside him.

The elderly man, Rayleigh, drank his liquor and chuckled at the quiet Ryu. "Come on, say something. Did someone important die?"

Ryu rolled his eyes. "No. I'm just..."

He trailed off, but Rayleigh didn't ask. The green-eyed man then drank the whiskey in glass cup.

A slim and tall woman came out the back of her bar and walked toward Ryu. "So, what brought you here?"

"Eh? Didn't he come to visit me?" Rayleigh said in mock confusion, which he failed to act. Ryu chuckled.

"Riiight. As if I would." Ryu lightly pushed the now-empty glass cup, indicating for more to Rayleigh's wife, Shakuyaku. "I came here because I heard that those World Nobles have been..."

Rayleigh grimaced and nodded slowly. "Yes... They have been hunting for mermaids, ever since a group of fishmen and mermaids appeared..."

The green-eyed man shook his head. 'In the end, she still wanted them to migrate to above.'

Shaku also knew of this and was angry though she didn't show it on her face. Slamming her whiskey container on the bar, she venomously spoke. "Those 'Nobles' thought that they were 'fishing' for them. Luckily, Whitebeard Pirates had came and rescued them before any of them could be caught."

"..." Ryu silently stared at his filled cup. "Perhaps... it was good that they came up. They got a gist of what would've happened to them had they migrated..."

The elderly man sighed and drank his liquor. "Perhaps. However, what's to say about their views of the humans?"

"And there's Jinbe..." Shaku added, "Had the Five Elders not protected him due to the relationship with Fishman Island as well as his title, he would've been taken to them and god knows what would happen."

"..." Ryu darkened his face as he thought of the consequences in the future. A war between two races... just because of mere pompous insects. Fortunately, Queen Otohime wouldn't let that happen nor would the fishmen's king.

But, what of the remaining fishmen and mermaids above?

Chilliness filled Ryu's eyes and aura. The atmosphere plummeted in the bar, coldness filling it, any liquid slowly became frozen. Rayleigh and his wife shivered. They trembled when they looked at Ryu who looked so emotionless.

The green-eyed man shook his head and cleared his thoughts. Luckily he cultivated Law of Emotions otherwise the bar would've exploded. "Sorry. I was thinking of what would happen to those fishmen and mermaids above if discovered due to the 'World Nobles'..."

He spat out the word 'World Nobles' as if it was a disgrace to the nobles. To him, nobles were those who cared about their own people, their own 'home', not their lineage. Nobles should be dignified, Ryu thought.

However, what did he expect from a world like this? The green-eyed man sighed.

"I'm going." Ryu stood and drank the whole whiskey. Lightly throwing the cup to Shaku, he began to exit. "If that woman comes here again, tell her I'll visit her island soon."

At that moment, mirth filled Rayleigh's eyes and giggled in a perverted manner, which Shaku rolled eyes at. Rayleigh knew of Rin, so... "Ooohhh! We got a playboy here!"

Turning to look at Ryu, Rayleigh was met with a fist. "Oh, shit!"

*BAM*

He was directly slammed onto the bar, knocking him unconscious. Ryu smirked at his pitiable state. Shaku sighed, already expecting that.

"See ya."

"Yes."

• {Year: 20.5} •

After several trips on his old friend, the silver dinghy, Ryu found fishmen and mermaids in hiding as well as captured ones. Naturally, he helped them and sent them to the Fishman Island.

Complicated emotions flashed by his green eyes as he looked at the island in front of him.

It was a jungle island, with a large mountain in the center of it. The large mountain was carved with giant curved snake statues, showing its guardians. There was also kanji of 'Kuja' engraved on it. Within the mountain was a deep valley which held a village of people. However, the whole island's residents were of only females, no matter the race.

It was a familiar island yet, he never visited it until now. The island was located in Calm Belt, which is why people would rarely find this island. Its name, Maiden Island.

"Well, I guess I'll let her choose." Ryu decided to be truthful with the woman who searched for him in the past years...

...

"..." The devilishly handsome man stood in front of few women of Kuja tribe that were guarding Amazon Lily. There were five of them, holding their snakes in their bow form with arrows aimed at him.

However, they never shot at him. They were cautious at this man, but they noticed his bright green shade of eyes as well as his devilishly handsome features, so they hesitated. Though they knew how the Solitary Pirate looked from the bounty papers, they still needed some proof from the man in person currently.

"Are you the Solitary Pirate, Ryu?" One of them asked, warily. The green-eyed man twitched one of his eyebrows and smirked.

"And if I'm not?"

Rolling their eyes, the Kuja women really wanted to smack him for not answering properly. It was just a yes or no question!

Ryu chuckled at their slight annoyance. "Alright, I am. So, what're you going to do?"

They didn't lower their snake bows, but frowned. The woman who asked the question asked as one of them left to report. "What are you to our Empress, Boa Hancock?"

"..." The green-eyed man stiffened as he did not know how to answer that. A crush? A savior? "What did your Empress tell you about me?"

"All she said was that we only needed to know of what you look and immediately tell her if we found you." The same woman answered. "However, whenever we asked concerning your relationship with her, our Empress was angered and nearly turned us to stone."

Ryu twitched his right eye. "Angered? What do you mean?"

"Well, she went fully red in face which made her look more alluring. But that's not the point, Empress Hancock looked like she was angry and wanted to turn us into stone." Ryu could've swore that her voice pitch went higher when she explained how she looked.

Ryu chuckled, now understanding. 'She wasn't angry, but embarrassed to the point where she wanted to dig a hole.'

At that moment, the same woman who left to report came back. "Elder Nyon had informed us that Empress Hancock will be coming back after the meeting with those um, Marines?"

The green-eyed man had his curiosity touched and wondered. 'A meeting? It's probably related to Crocodile being taken down as a Shichibukai...'

"And what are we supposed to do with him?" Another Kuja woman inquired.

"Um, Elder Nyon said to bring him to her place." The woman replied, unsure of how to think of that. This was a man they were talking about! They had never allowed a man walk into Amazon Lily. Sure they may have seen men chancing upon Maiden Island, but they dealt with them, not allowing a single man step into Amazon Lily.

Moreover, Empress Hancock was not here to decide. They could only listen to Elder Nyon as she was experienced and used to be a Empress of Kuja tribe. The five Kuja women nodded at each others and let their snakes turn back to their original forms on their body.

Ryu could only look on and silently controlled his little brother. 'Their outfits are too revealing...'

"If you'll follow us." The leading woman said as she began to take the man to Elder Nyon's place. The other four Kuja women also followed, still unsure of the devilishly handsome man.