The Madman Part 4

The Madman Part 4

\____-o(X)o-____/​

-o Wallace o-​

The cannons thundered and everything happened at once–

–with a roar I swung my sword before me–

–Bonney launched herself in front of me and Jaime with a snarl, spinning through the air and slamming her leg into the big cannonball aimed at us–

–a black blur appeared beside her, blocking another of the larger cannonballs–

–two bangs and a louder one, three cannonballs fragmented midair, one right after another–

–Jaime dove behind me–

–there was a brown blur at the edge of my vision, intercepting another cannonball–

–that meant to more were headed towards us! No! No! I won't be taken down by this-! With a roar, I swung my sword-!

My massive sword clashed with the cannonball, the fist sized lump of metal and gunpowder exploding with enough force to push me back, heat and metal washing over my skin as the dust it blew up obscured my vision–

And there was the other one–

My eyes widened, there's no way my sword would get there in time-! Was I going to die-?! A cannonball-! They'd call me weak being taken out by just one of them-! No! I refused! I wouldn't be called a coward or weak! I am Wallace! I roared wordlessly as I flexed as hard as I could, let it try and pierce my manly body!

*BOOM!*

Pain-!

Shards of metal tore through my skin and I closed my eyes against the heat and dust–

Captain Bonney's voice tore through the ringing of my ears, "Wallace-?!"

With another roar, I swung my sword, cutting through the dust so that I could see the next attack–!

… where was the next attack?

Before me was the broad back of a large man, likely ten feet tall and a mountain of muscle, his black skin peppered with small scars. He wore only a single piece of armor like a real man, a small golden breastplate that only covered his pecs, and the only other clothing he had was a grass skirt and grass circlets on his wrists and ankles. He also had a golden circlet on his head, but I could only see his back...

And the cannonball nearly the size of my head he was holding up! The one that he'd caught. How could you beat someone like that...? I mean-! I obviously could! Not to mention Bonney or Florida but anyone else?! How would they beat something like that?

"What is going on here?" The massive man boomed menacingly, glaring at the wench standing behind the cannons, making them all take a half step back.

"N-Now now, we were just trying to bring in these pirates," the middle-aged wench tried to say placatingly, earning an extended middle finger from Captain Bonney.

Jaime peeked out from behind me even as Casey started to pull himself together. My shirt and sash were in tatters, though thankfully my kilt was still intact. I was bleeding from several places... was I going to bleed out-? No, only a weakling would die like that! They'll just be scars and proof of my manliness! Ha!

"Really?" The tall native asked with some interest before the cannonball he held in his hand began to crack. He growled out, "Because it looks to me like you were firing cannons at children and old men!"

I glanced behind me, and yeah, while the warriors that Jaime and I had cut down were bleeding out behind us or otherwise taken out, further back were the fools that had tried to fight Captain Bonney, and had been reduced to toddlers or graying old men. Further back was a scattering of the old wench's other forces and... and quite a few natives carrying spears or daggers or short swords... um… that's… that was a lot of native soldiers… like… they filled the street… where… where'd they all come from…?

"S-She turned my boys into that!" The woman said quickly and I turned back, finding her pointing at Captain Bonney, "She changed them! She has an Ability!"

While Captain Bonney had leapt in front of us to protect us from the cannonfire, so had the large man and two smaller ones… wait, I recognize those two! That strip-faced guy and the fucking gazelle brat!

The man bristled and the cannonball in his hand exploded, I reflexively shielded my face with my arms even as the man roared over the explosion, "Your own children?! You would open fire on your own flesh and blood when they were in distress?!"

"They're not really my kids-!" the old wench sputtered, backing up as the smoke began to clear, revealing the large man stood completely unhurt by the explosion, "T-They're my subordinates-!"

"Even worse!" He roared, swiping his hand angrily and nearly blasting away the smoke as he loomed over the wench and her warriors even from over a dozen feet away, "You would open fire upon those whom you knowingly took upon parental responsibility for?!"

"T-To catch pirates!"

"And if these are pirates, you are scum!" his finger was pointed at her threateningly, "I will not have trash like you in my country!"

Both the wench and Captain Bonney stiffened at that, though I didn't know why. What? Did he think we couldn't handle this ourselves? Did he think we were weak and soft? We could handle this!

The stupid teen with his sixaxes stepped up, waving one of them at the small mountain of muscle, "Or what you–"

The wench, who I guess actually was his mom, grabbed him by the ear and put him into a headlock, covering his mouth, "O-Of course my lord! We will leave immediately–"

"Sooner."

I'd show them! I'd prove that we were more than able to handle ourselves– Ow!

Hopping on one foot, I shot a glare at my assailant, finding that Captain Bonney had at some point come over beside me and was holding my gaze. I looked at my sword, singed from the blasts of the cannonballs and back to her and she gave a small shake of her head. With an unhappy grunt, I lowered my sword.

"W-What-?" the wench sputtered in surprise after a moment's pause, "H-How-?"

"Dumisani! Katlego!" He gestured with a hand, "Get them off my island."

"Yes Lord Shaka!" The stupid fucking shit with the spear crowed before rushing forward even as the nicer one, Katlego started to– holy shit he's transforming-!

Katlego expanded and grew, strips of white appearing along his skin as his face elongated... was he a black and white tiger...? No, those were hooves... a horse? What kind of horse has stripes?

"Tactical retreat boys!" The wench shouted, turning even as she dragged the stupid teen by his collar.

"Glorious Manly Spear!" The oversized teen flashed forward and slammed into the line of our foes like a cannonball, massive spear was so broad that it simply cut the men in half instead of impaling them, and the speed of the charge knocked many of the men around him flying. His fellow devil fruit eater, though silent, transformed fully into a horse with black and white stripes (It was a horse, I knew it all along) and charged forward, a one man-horse cavalry charge that sent a dozen of our foes flying into the air.

But those two didn't have to worry about being flanked, they had their own flanking force, an army nearly a thousand strong. Behind us, the line of local warriors slammed into the ranks of our foe and surged straight through them, rushing past us. The three of us being completely ignored in the ensuing melee.

And they fled. The mass of our foes that had filled the streets and we had barely- I mean, bravely fought against rushed towards the docks and their visible ships. Pressed by this 'Lord Shaka's' forces and every second, another of the wench's men was knocked flying into the air.

How could I compare...? I had to! I had to compare otherwise they'd see me as weak and cowardly!

I raised my sword–

*Thwack!*

"Ow!" I hopped on one foot again and Captain Bonney glared at me. She'd kicked me in the shin again!

I frowned even as she gave another shake of her head and I looked away, grumbling under my breath.

Our foes fled in a disorganized mob, the local forces slowing to a stop around us and in front of the tavern, but Dumisani and Katlego continued to tear through them, pushing the wench's forces back. Within minutes they were scrambling back onto the two ships from which they'd come, warriors of every color and outfit and creed... we'd been planning to fight that? How the hell would we have beaten all of them...? I mean, of course we could have, we had me on our side and they didn't!

I'm really glad this guy appeared and really hope we don't have to fight these guys instead.

There was a soft coolness against my chest and I glanced down, finding Captain Bonney's hand over one of the spots on my bare chest that had been bleeding from the shrapnel. There was the familiar sensation of her powers before she drew her hand away, stained with red, but the wounds on my torso gone, merely more scars for the mass of them on my torso. I shot my smaller captain a grateful look as she wiped the blood off on her shorts. I knew she didn't think me weak, she just didn't want me to bleed out.

Lord Shaka followed after the retreating forces at a slow, menacing walk, stopping at the edge of the water as the two ships began to pull away from the docks. I couldn't help but shake my head at their panic, even though they had reason to be afraid, they'd left some of their men on the pier in their haste to hoist anchor and get away.

'… wait, what is he doing?'

Confused, I watched as Lord Shaka got on his hands and knees at the edge of the water. There's no way he was going to apologize right?

"Scum like you are not welcome on my island! Never return!" So, no, I guess he wasn't apologizing-? "Bull's Chest!"

Even from a half mile away I saw the muscles of the local leader's back tense before he brought his head down in a bow–

*BOOM!*

"What the fuck?!" Captain Bonney exclaimed as she recoiled reflexively.

My jaw nearly hit the ground as my sword slid out of my grasp, the ground and buildings around us shaking.

He'd headbutted the ground, cratering it and sending bits of dirt and stone flying into the air even as the shockwave blasted out in a concentrated arc, sending a gout of water high into the air as it chased the fleeing ships, the blast had to be nearly twenty feet wide and four times that high as it flashed across the distance towards the lagging ship and cracking it in half. The ship split like it had been slammed into a rock by the currents, buckling and beginning to sink before our eyes.

"Mi dios…" Jaime whispered and the half-reformed puddle of blue jello that was Casey melted back into a quivering mass. I squeaked in agreement.

We'd seen Florida do those same sorts of blasts of force, that Rankakyou effect, but… but the best he could manage with a sword and two hands had been only somewhat larger than himself!

Lord Shaka stood, wiping the dust off of his small golden crown with a finger as he turned and walked towards us, Dumisani and Katlego watching the two ships warily as one ship stopped to try and rescue the survivors of the destroyed ship.

I trembled as the ten-foot-tall muscular man approached us. Trembled in eagerness! Not fear! Of course not fear!

... Lord Shaka was completely unharmed by the cannonball he'd crushed, and his one headbutt had left a crater at the edge of the dock nearly twenty feet across and a foot deep, with cracks spreading out to the nearby buildings.

'… okay, maybe a little fear.'

Captain Bonney took two steps and planted her feet shoulder width apart as she stood between Casey, Jaime and I and the approaching Lord Shaka, her hands planted on her hips as she held his gaze, her purple eyes locked with his own brown ones.

There was near silence in the street, only the occasional grunt and curse and pained groan from the injured and captured members of the organization that had been after Florida. I could actually hear the padding of Lord Shaka's feet as he came to a stop in front of Captain Bonney, his arms that were nearly the size of small trees crossed across his chest, "Who are you?"

"Jewelry Bonney, Captain of the Bonney Pirates."

A relative silence reigned as the soldiers gathered up our fallen foes, though they seemed confused about what to do about the ones that had been turned into old men or little kids by Captain Bonney's ability. Neither my Captain nor Lord Shaka moved, holding each others gaze without flinching. Hesitantly, I picked my sword back up and moved to sheath it before remembering that my shirt was in tatters… wasn't really anything to sheath it into.

Brown eyes narrowed at Captain Bonney as he loomed over her, "And what did you do that they felt it was a good idea to use cannons in my town?"

"Not a fucking thing." I half gaped at my Captain as she said that without a trace of fear, "They wanted to steal one of my crew, I said no, and they started a brawl."

"Where are my people?"

"Don't know." She said simply before jerking her thumb at the tavern she'd been eating in, "The only ones I know for sure are the ones that were in there, and they should be safe."

Lord Shaka looked at one of his men and gave a jerk of his head, getting a nod in return before the soldier jogged into the tavern.

"Why should I let pirates stay on my island?"

My breath was gone. It was like a weight on my chest, the chittering of thousands of legs, and mandibles so massive that they could've eaten entire islands. And I was just a man… a mere man… before the swarm of death, of the famine and the fury of the crushing and biting and natural disaster.

Bonney's hands clenched into fists beside my head, trembling… wait… beside my head…?

I… I was on my hands and knees… gasping for air…

"My lord?"

And the feeling eased, and I could breathe, the swarm no longer bearing down on me.

Shaka turned to Katlego, the slightly smaller man bowing his head. "What is it Katlego?"

"I recognize one of them." The man had shifted almost entirely back to human, denying his power of the devil… but his gaze remained that same brilliant blue, nearly bubbling intensity, "Wallace, was it?"

"I–" Swallowing, I stood as quickly as I could, planting my fists on my hips and jutting my chest outwards, "Yes. That's… that's me!"

The kid with the oversized spear snarled as he approached, "This shit–!"

*Thwap!*

"Ow! What was that for?!"

His hands flew to his head as Katlego brought his hand back to his side without even glancing over at him, "I can speak with certainty that this man and his companions are men of honor."

The small mountain of a man took a half step to turn and look more fully at his subordinate, "Elaborate."

He bowed, "This is the warrior that Dumisani defeated in place of Nyeupe Mfalme, and his companion is the man that I spoke of that could have defeated me."

Captain Bonney blinked before looking at me, "Florida?"

Jaime and I nodded, "Florida."

"You spoke highly of them." Shaka noted to Katlego.

The man nodded, "Yes my lord. They both acted with honor. Though he has the same temper as Dumisani."

"I'm nothing like that skirt wearing bastard!" / "I'm nothing like that gazelle bastard!"

Shaka blinked, "… huh, they really are the same."

"No we're not!"

Shaka ignored us, "Katlego, do you believe they should be allowed to stay here?"

"To my knowledge, my lord, they only seek the McPuffin nest."

That got his attention, "You're the crazy ones that want to try that?"

Bonney snorted, "Yeah, what's it to ya?"

Despite the glare the massive man brought to bear, Captain Bonney didn't flinch, her hands simply tightening on her hips as she glared up at him.

I looked to Jaime questioningly even as Casey slowly reformed, colors other than blue returning to his jiggling form. The toothpick wielder just shrugged, not having a solution to my problem, so I just planted the tip of the blade in the ground and let my hand rest on the hilt. Casey got some curious looks as he reformed, but little more from the local soldiers.

Then the soldier that had gone into the tavern returned, and both Captain Bonney and Lord Shaka looked at him as he came up to kneel before the large man, "Your people are unharmed and protected my king."

With a nod, Shaka's blank face was turned back towards my Captain, who met his look without backing down.

And then Shaka laughed, beaming as he threw his arms out wide, "That's good enough for me! Welcome to my island!"

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The Madman Part 4 End