Chapter 318: Betrayer

Dialogue "sample"

Thoughts 'sample'

Author notes -sample-

Disclaimer: One Piece and all of its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda.

Chapter 318: Betrayer

Hawkins pulled his sword out and this one immediately started to transform. 

Glowing strands flowed from the sword handle and started to form a figure that hovered over him.

"What a strange ability…I wanna fight him." Zoro dropped Ussop down and walked to the front of the group.

The giant figure adopted the shape of a humanoid torso holding a weapon in its hand.

"I have no other choice then…"

The group got on guard and Zoro unsheathed his swords.

"Make it interesting at least!" The swordsman grinned.

Hawkins ignored him completely and turned around. The straw giant followed his moves.

He then lifted his weapon and brought it down upon Luffy and Drake.

"Careful, Luffy!" Usopp shouted.

But it quickly became obvious that the intended target was not their Captain.

The bladed weapon on the straw giant made a deep cut on Drake's thought hide.

This one made a shocked face before he was forced to end his transformation and put some distance between them.

"Hawkins, what the hell are you doing?!" The outraged Drake yelled at his supposed comrade.

"Huh?, what's going on?" Luffy was more than confused. He thought those two were working together now.

"I'm sorry Drake, but I am betraying Kaidou a bit earlier than planned." Hawkins did not try to hide his intentions while hinting that Drake may also hide other intentions.

"Whoa, they are betraying each other already. So much drama!" Vivi cheered.

"Vivi, can you take this more seriously?!" Usopp scolded her.

"Hawkins!, do you really expect to leave this island alive if you betray Kaidou?." Drake moved his eyes to Luffy.

"Don't tell me…you think the Strawhats can win this? That is insane!."

"That's not how my gift works…I can only calculate my own probabilities of survival. And my only chance to live is by doing this."

"So, we are not fighting then?" Zoro looked disappointed. This was the first serious opponent he encountered so far.

"Captain…" Drake's crew looked around with worry.

Hawkin's men were now ready to attack them at any time.

"What are you going to do, Drake? The odds are against you now…no, they always were." Hawkins told him.

Drake looked back at his men for a moment before glaring back at Luffy and then at Hawkins.

"Damn you…" He gripped his weapons with force.

"We are leaving!" He shouted to his men.

Luffy watched as he got on his mount and left along with his men.

"Excuse me, but…are you just going to let him leave like that?" One of the former prisoners asked Luffy who did not move from the spot.

"Why not?. If he doesn't want to fight…then I'm not in the mood either." Luffy then approached Hawkings.

"What about you, Straw guy?. Are you really betraying your friends?"

"Drake is no friend of mine, just a temporary associate. I now propose to you a temporary alliance…until the Emperor falls." Hawkins said.

The crew behind him were eyeing the Strawhats with nervous eyes. 

"You want to help me with this Kaidou guy?..." Luffy asked.

"Luffy, you can't trust this weird guy! He just betrayed someone!" Usopp pointed out the obvious thing.

"I agree with Usopp. I don't like this. It may be an elaborate trap." Zoro said.

Luffy glanced back at Robin and Vivi.

"I wouldn't turn my back on him, but I will accept your decision." Said Robin.

"I say we just kill him now. One less problem to worry about. But I know you better than that… I'll keep an eye on him." Vivi looked at Hawkins.

"I expected no less." The blond man didn't seem to mind. He already knew that he was not going to die today. 

"Fine, I won't reject someone who wants to help. But remember this… .Kaidou himself is mine! You can't take care of the others." Lucky told him.

"As long as the Emperor is defeated, I don't mind who does it." Hawkins shrugged.

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"I'm sorry but there is no way we can just enter the city like this…" Usopp looked around the group when they finally spotted the Flower Captial in the distance.

Their group was quite massive now. Hawkins came with a crew of thirty-three members. They also had almost forty former prisoners, and there were Usopp, Robin, Zoro, Luffy, and Vivi.

"Yes, we will catch a lot of attention… especially them." Robin looked at the former prisoners. They were still wearing their prisoner's robes.

"We have a little army now…" Vivi pointed out.

"Kaidous men will be looking for all of us," Vivi said.

"We will need a big place to put everyone," Luffy said.

"I may know a good location. Very discrete…is inside Ebisu town. On the outskirts of the Capital." Hawkins commented.

"So, do we just walk in?" Zoro asked.

"I would advise against that…" Hawkins said.

"We will need some new clothes for them." He pointed at the prisoners.

"My men can take care of that."

"What about the rest of our friends?. We don't know where they are yet." Usopp said.

"Most of them are already inside that city." Vivi pointed at the Flower Capital.

"And a few are on their way. I can go find them by myself and tell them where to go. It will be faster that way."

"Why do you have to be alone?. I don't like the idea of just waiting in a room." Zoro complained.

"Zoro, dear…you are as likely to discover the One Piece than find any of our friends," Vivi told him.

"No offense." She added.

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