A Hornet's Sting (4)

"Let him down or we will shoot!" The remaining four marine soldiers pointed their guns at Carmen who still kept the unconscious soldier in front of her while holding a pan with her free hand. Glaring at the group, Carmen growled, "If that is indeed the ship from where the tales of my dishes shall travel the entire world then I expect you to move! Are you marines or outlaws— seizing private properties in such a roguish manner!"

"This is a PIRATE'S ship!" The marines shouted.

"You don't know that!" Carmen argued.

"Yes, we do!" They pointed at the jolly roger with a skull pattern. Carmen blinked and shouted, "You fools! How is a flag supposed to tell if someone's a pirate?!"

"YOU SHOUTED THAT YOU WANT TO JOIN BRODY'S CREW!!" The marines were pissed and thus, also without caution to their surroundings as an orange-haired woman hit the back of two marines while stepping as lightly as possible to let their noise remain suppressed by the harsh rain.

On the other hand, the blue-haired, dark-skinned woman viciously waved the large sac at the faces of the remaining trio who promptly got thrown back before their heads smacked against the structure of the ship and they fell into the lower staircase between the gap of the ship and the harbor.

"Who the hell are the two of you?" Carmen scowled.

"Relax," Nami scowled as her injuries hurt by moving in such a manner, "We're part of the Devil Back Pirates. I'm Nami and this is Nojiko."

"And you?" Carmen frowned, "Are you intentionally forgetting your weird friend?"

Nami and Nojiko frowned before they looked back to find a towering, round figure in a black suit. His wide eyes continued to stare at the trio silently until his zip-like unzipped mouth finally moved, "So, the intel was indeed correct. You two are part of Brody Hanma's crew, Chapapa."

Nami and Nojiko continued to stare at the individual and realizing from the tension and his words that the giant 'toad' wasn't their ally, Carmen hissed, "Take another step and I'll peel this man—"

The giant of a round man disappeared and appeared in front of Carmen as his index finger suddenly stabbed into the marine's chest at a great speed while the large-mouthed man muttered, "Shigan, chapa... Now what? This marine is dead."

Carmen, Nojiko, and Nami stared at the finger-sized hole with shocked expressions as the large man had strangely disappeared once again. Silently at that. Allowing Nami and Nojiko to watch as the marine bled to death with Carmen gasping with a horrified expression and letting go of the man.

"Do you understand now? I can move so silently that even Owls are unable to match my skills in stealth. And unlike you, I don't need firearms to maim a human body."

The trio looked at the round man who stood near them with his relatively tiny arms crossed.

"W-what do you want?" Nami looked at the man cautiously.

"Tell me whatever you know about Brody Hanma and Vinsmoke Reiju," He asserted.

"Vinsmoke Reiju?" Nami frowned in confusion.

{A/N: In canon, Sanji's surname was known but given that he knew about his circumstances, he doesn't introduce himself as Vinsmoke, thus, Nami's confusion. On an unrelated note, I don't remember if Sanji even introduced himself as vinsmoke but I'm going with he didn't.}

"You don't know her, Chapapa?" The toad frowned, "No matter. Tell me everything about Brody. Has he eaten the Devil Fruit he found on Kumata Island? If so, what are its abilities?"

Nojiko and Nami instantly grew surprised. The only groups who knew of this were their crew... and Buggy's Crew.

But Nojiko gulped and nodded, "H-he has. It's a very strange ability. I will explain it to you if you promise not to hurt us..."

Knowing her sister well enough, Nami gasped, "Nojiko, don't you dare!"

"I promise, chapa!" The toad grinned broadly as Nojiko nodded and looked at Nami with a guilty expression, "Sorry, Nami... I have to protect you and this is the only way I know how!"

Stepping towards the toad, Nojiko revealed, "It's a very strange ability, sir. Brody would have to get close to a person, touch them," as she spoke, the 'weak' and 'frail' woman easily touched his arm as he nodded and continued to listen with a focused expression when suddenly, he felt his strength greatly leaving his body as Nojiko pulled back while tearing away a thick tendril of a white substance that entered her body.

"Ugh," As the Toad fell back on his butt weakly, Nojiko groaned in pain as she swayed where she stood before falling down. Fortunately, Nami was quick to catch her while Carmen watched with her lips parted in surprise.

Yet, the Toad hadn't lost his consciousness and while he did fall, he was also quick to rise with a growl despite the obvious weakness revealed in his posture, "How dare you trick me, Chapapa!"

Clenching his fist, the man glared at the unconscious Nojiko and Nami who looked utterly horrified.

"Shi—"

*Bang*

*Crunch*

With an audible crunch snapping from his face, a giant iron mace struck the toad with strength so boorish that he flew past the ship and fell into the ocean to reveal an exhausted Alvida as she panted until eventually catching her breath, "Oh, cook-san," she remarked in her catchy and smooth tone, "How nice of you to join us."

"Alvida, some strange people are after us. That man could fly!" Nami hurriedly stated, "And there are marines hiding in the ship!"

"Right... well, let's free our ship!" Alvida smiled and looked at Carmen, "Would you cook something delicious for us?"

Although a little unnerved by how this woman 'slid' at a remarkable speed before smacking that man, who could puncture a man with just a finger, away, Carmen didn't lose her temper one bit as she scoffed and crossed her arms, "My first dish shall only be cooked for the captain! I'll accept nothing less than him licking his fingers!"

---

Brody looked at THE man.

Shoulder-length red hair, thick brows, a rather well-defined set of jaws, and one mean stare. A black shirt and training trousers covered the man's body as his perfectly sculpted physique still managed to leave an impression through his clothes. His exposed arms by itself was a picture of muscular perfection.

In reality, Brody was 2.5 meters high and possessed quite the physique for someone his size while PHYSICALLY... the man in front of him was shorter.

Yet, Brody felt like he was being stared down by an absolute beast of a giant who held all the patience in the world as this figure did not interrupt him from observing silently.

This figured ALLOWED Brody to observe him.

He stood silently, eyes narrowed and hands in his pocket until Brody eventually blinked and whispered, "Woah..." and then, regaining his composure, he nodded while feeling a certain weight slowly and gradually fall over him after the first word he whispered.

"I was looking for you... ever since you threw me down," Brody remarked.

"Why?" The man narrowed his eyes.

"I just felt— uh," Brody bit his lips as his shoulders sunk slightly while his thighs tensed up, "I just felt I had to meet you."

"I remember leaving you with injuries even on your face. There are no scars."

"They healed," Brody replied as his knees began to bend ever so slightly while the pressure on his body grew worse.

"And now? What is it that you want by searching me?"

The only logical thing Brody wanted to do after finally catching up to this figure was— "To defeat you, Yujiro Hanma."

As if he'd heard something hilarious, the skin of Yujiro's face bundled in a way that made him look more like a monster than a human as he guffawed loudly yet, the next second, the pressure on Brody's body grew a 100 times worse and his face instantly dug into the ground while nerves popped over his arms as he tried to pull himself up.

But aside from the physical pressure, Brody began to feel mentally drained as if something was sapping his strength... his motivation... his will!

"O-Oi..." Luffy struggled to look straight, "What do you think you're doing?" But Yujiro Hanma was too engrossed in laughing itself. The sound of his laugh overpowered the wind billowing everywhere but in the center of the plaza where it even failed to rain unlike the rest of the town!

"D-damn," Brody, still feeling that much pressure pulled himself up from the ground with blood leaking from his face as his own red eyes grew excited unconsciously as he stared at the laughing figure.

Anger? He felt none!

A man was laughing.

This was a joyous occasion.

Why would he feel angered at someone laughing at his goals?

All he needs to do is... simply accomplished those ludicrous dreams of his. Work towards them. Climb one step higher every time. And eventually...

"Hoh? You really can move," Yujiro stopped laughing as he looked at the hunched Brody stepping towards him evenly. Strangely, a fond smile tugged on Yujiro's lips as his hand stretched out and he caressed Brody's cheek gently no matter how rough and calloused his palm was.

"Tell me, Boy, can you see this?" Yujiro's question prompted Brody to look towards his fist and reveal a confused expression. He could see the man's fist, yes.

"Sigh... not yet, huh..." Yujiro's palm let go of Brody's cheek as he continued, "What is it that you said to me? What would you do after meeting with me?"

Gasping for air at this point, Brody still managed to grin and look up with sweat drenching his body and creaking in rebellion against his efforts.

"I... huff, I'll beat you!"

"For what happened one year ago?" Yujiro inquired calmly.

"Heh... No! I must beat you... for my dream..."

With his smile broadening ever so slightly, Yujiro questioned, "And that would be?"

"I..."

Yujiro's eyes brightened, and his smile grew excitable after he heard what he wanted. His body visibly bulged and strained against the fabric of his shirt as the 'calmness' that covered this region suddenly disappeared. The wind blew in full rage while the downpour slammed into the plaza as Yujiro's hair whipped and his shirt ripped apart by itself.

Yet, Brody had long fallen to the ground for some reason. Even Luffy was knocked out. No one in this plaza could view the devil that bred within the man except one as lightning crackled once again and a figure wrapped in a green cloak appeared behind Yujiro out of nowhere.

"Do you think he can do it?" Yujiro questioned as he looked down over Brody silently with his red eyes growing calm once again.

"A man's dreams and his ambitions... are formed to be achieved. The only one who can limit him is the limits of his spirit itself," the figure in the green cloak smirked as lightning crackled, making his eyes flash under the cloak for a second, "Wouldn't you agree, the Strongest Creature to have walked this world— Yujiro Hanma."

Losing all his previous 'kindness' Yujiro looked back with a despicable grin as he offered, "Limits? I know nothing of such words. If you want to talk about limits then go meet the World Government or the Four Emperors! Haki... HAKI has NO limits, Revolutionary's Dragon!"

Dragon narrowed his eyes and continued, "It is about time, that I see my son off."

Looking away, Yujiro 'commanded', "Make mine's landing... the roughest."

*Crackle*

Another bolt of lightning directly struck Brody as Yujiro disappeared from view as a bout of cataclysmic wind suddenly tore into the streets of Loguetown, destroying quite a bit of structure while marines, Luffy, Brody, and the pink-haired woman flew away at once!

---

"Huff, huff!" Sanji ran towards Harbor after dealing with nuisances with every ounce of his strength. He could see a ship where Alvida currently knocked yet another marine out and his expression brightened but then, feeling something strange, he looked back.

*Swish*

A terrible force struck him and changed his course directly towards his own ship yet, as he flew, Sanji's eyes widened when he looked at the unconscious Brody puncturing into the ship while the pink-haired woman fell on the deck directly as their boat was forced to move, too!

'She...' Sanji's looked shocked when his head hit a flying iron brick and he lost his consciousness, too.