Chapter 456| Small Rides
456 | Small Rides
From Hogback's perspective high on Thriller Bark's crumbling battlements, he observed the chaos with malicious glee. He laughed manically as he sat lazily on his chair observing the chaos that he was creating. He had enough soldiers to topple a country's army. The pirates won't even stand a chance, and even if they did, they wouldn't be able able to find him.
The fools had wandered blindly into his trap, unaware of his trap. Now they would either die or find themselves under his command.
His augmented sight showed him the extraordinary powers some of the crew wielded - powers he aimed to enslave for his own ends.
Hogback gazed out across the legions firing relentlessly upon the enemy ship. Row after row of blank-eyed soldiers lived only to serve his will now. If these pirates somehow survived the assault, he had reinforcements to call upon.
Hogback drummed his fingers, things were going well. It would have been better if his forces managed to subdue them here in the sea, but it seemed that might not be possible. But no matter… he had other things planned for them. Unlike Moria, he didn't hold any emotional sentiment for this place.
In fact, Dr Hogback hated Thriller Bark, the walls and island was his prison so to speak. For almost two decades he wasn't allowed to leave for long periods of time. Either being monitored by that bastard Absalom, or someone else.
The doctor shook his head, fixing his glasses, now wasn't the time for this. He brought his focus back to the screens, where he could see the pirates struggling to keep up with his parasite-infected army.
Some of the pirates had many interesting powers. That also narrowed down the key targets he wanted to in fact. Getting them on his side, might even lend him some good points with his future allies.
He had already got his revenge on Moria, and now the next one in line was against the world government. And using not one, but two of their warlord against them did seem tempting.
"Kekekeke… Just you wait, Sengoku. I will get my revenge on you… Kekekeke" the mad doctor cackled in his alone room, savoring his dreams of getting revenge.
.
Sanji, Coby, and Gin fought desperately against the giant crab colony of sea kings stopping them from attacking the Thousand Sunny.
Gin landed a powerful punch that pummeled one of the sea king's shell, while Coby sliced off another ones legs. Sanji launched a fiery kick straight into another sea king's mouth, driving the monster back with a gurgling squeal.
Perona's form reappeared, distraction evident on her face. "This is bad… this is bad!" she said, "We have to get out of water, or all of you will get sunk."
"You know I don't want to be the one saying this," Usopp said, shooting his canon towards a group of artillery wielding marine groups, "But you have a blazing talent for stating the obvious."
Perona's brow twitched as he huffed, "Fine. I was a fool to even worry about you guys…"
"Yohohoh~ This kind of thrill is making me have goosebumps." Brook said, "Not that I have any skin? Or do I? Skull-joke! Yohohoh!"
"You know what… I didn't want to use them with out testing… but it seems, we have no choice," Anchor said, gaining the attention of both Usopp and Franky.
"Really?" Franky said, stars in his eyes, "That's super!"
"You can say that again, brother!" Usopp cheered, fist-pumping the air.
"Are we missing something?" Vivi asked looking towards Nami, who shrugged.
"Oh, you sure are!" Anchor said with a smirk, "Just one moment!" And with that he went away leaving a dust cloud. Appearing back a second later with a small box, "Ta-da!"
"…"
"Yes, very exciting… indeed," Law said with a sweat-drop.
"Oh, it's not the box, that super… it's what inside it," Franky said, while he cleared up some space for Anchor to set the box up.
After laying the box on the floor, Anchor looked at Usopp, "You do the honors…"
Usopp gave him a thumbs up, before snapping his fingers towards the box. Prompting it to return back to its original size. The box expanded almost filling a good chunk of the Thousand Sunny's deck, making the crew back off with a few yelps.
"What the… what's even even there?" Bartolomeo said, while he looked back and forth, trying to keep his concentration on the shield and what was happening on the ship.
The box turned out to be a massive square cargo, stretching wide as the Thousand Sunny's deck. Which wasn't small when you consider the fact that the ship was many times the size of the Going Merry. Around twice the size of the original Thousand Sunny.
"So… what's inside?" Vivi asked.
Anchor, Usopp and Franky all wore similar-looking glasses and had their arms crossed. A proud smirk on their face as the walls of the cargo dropped. Giving the crew the sight of their newest invention. Or inventions…
"Wait… aren't those?" Barto asked, "They look similar to the bike Smoker uses… but with two wheels. Um… not to brust your bubble… but they kind of don't work on water."
"How do you know that?" Yosaku asked.
"Eh… stole his bike once, tried to get away by riding on water. Let's just tell you, it didn't go that well." Bartomeleo said, with a laugh. Making the other have some sympathy for Smoker.
"Well, we won't need to worry about water, when on an island," Franky said, mumbling to the fact that the anti-gravity function wasn't fully ready yet.
"They won't be able to ride on water, for now," Anchor said, "But in future, they might be able to do that…"
"The bikes are made for land and speed," Usopp said. And he meant speed, he was speaking in terms of supersonic speed built for this world, "And in some ways, this will be a easy way to get around the island. You know conserve our stamina and such… Thriller Bark is a really big island."
"Huh… I have to say. They look like they could take a beating," Law said, admiring one of the bikes, that had his small heart pirates logo on it, "Is this one mine?"
"Yup," Usopp said, "We didn't do that many customizations… but the bikes can be modified to your liking. But as we are in a pinch… we have to use them immediately."
"I ain't complaining," Gin said with a grin, as he looked over a green bike that had skulls and spikes on it. "She looks sexy…"
"Wait? Weren't you helping Sanji and Coby with the sea king problem?" Franky asked.
"Eh… they can manage a while without me," Gin waved him off.
"Most of you can ride a waver right?" Usopp asked, getting nods from almost all of the crew members. "Well, they work similarly… also these are meant for two people. So don't worry for those who can't ride their own bikes."
"Boring stuff aside… let's make this a game," Franky said, hopping on his own bike. Wearing his helmet. "The who beats most of the mad freaks wins a free customization from me…"
"You know… this might be the first time, I'm enjoying this crew's antics," Law said, already on his bike. With glasses on, along with a helmet. Bepo sat behind him, wearing his own helmet and holding a baseball bat.
The others also quickly took their own bikes, while the rest of them were shrunken down to keep for safety.
"This is childish…" Chopper said, "Why do I have to seat behind you?"
"Well, mister doctor… you are our medic, so we don't want you to get hurt," Robin said taking the biker's seat, while Chopper was strapped behind, holding a baseball bat on his own.
Both Chopper and Bepo's eyes met, making both of the minks nodd in some sort of challenging agreement. The others also took their seats on their own bikes. Pairing up to cover each other's back.
Usopp and Bartolomeo paired up, similarly to others. And when he gave the signal, the shield on one side was dropped, as the bikes roared into life, jumping out of the Thousand Sunny onto the land of Thriller Bark.
Right as the last of the bikes left the Thousand Sunny, the whole ship shrank down, in a size that was easy to carry for Usopp, and Barto, who was the last to leave for the grim island.
— — —
A/N: So now, everyone has bikes. Lol.
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