A Piece Marine Fort Chapter 1 : The Great Pirate Era

• Addiden Zhao
• Short Story
• 2023

20 years ago...
The great Pirate King stood in the middle of the execution dock. The executioners prepared to slice his head off... In his final moments, a member of the crowd watching the execution called out to the Pirate King. "Hey, Pirate King! Where's all your treasure?" Upon hearing this, the Pirate King burst into a laugh. "You want my treasure? You can have it! I hid it on the final island, all in a piece! But first... you'll have to sail! Across the vast oceans and across the Diva into the New World. What are you waiting for? Come and get it!" And with this last breath, the executioners' swords swung...
and cut the great Pirate King's head off.
In the present on Marine Fort...
Marco, right-hand man of King Egghead, one of the Four Emperors of the Sea stood in the middle of the execution dock. The executioners prepared to swing their axes. Just as they were about to cut his head off, a giant explosion came from the other side of the island. All the marines looked towards the smoking crater. Then, blue cracks appeared in the air and another huge explosion was heard. The ground shattered beneath the marines. They screamed as they plummeted down the huge crater. The executioners were not safe either... they also fell down. Only Marco was safe from the crater. The explosion was from Egghead's Tremor Fruit. Marco could see lightning off in the distance, not normal lightning, red-and-black lightning crackling with power, sending ripples off into the air.
Arc's ship reached Marine Fort. He jumped off the ship and sped towards the execution dock. He could see red-and-black lightning in the distance and wondered whether that was Egghead's or another powerful being. He reached the dock and was met with thousands of marines. He could see Egghead, battling Geppoux, who had transformed into a Buddha. Egghead also spotted Arc as he called out to Arc. "Save Marco!" Arc nodded and fiddled with Marco's ropes. "Which way to release you?" asked Arc. "Turn it right," instructed Marco. As Arc clumsily turned the rope right, Egghead summoned a tremor and smashed it into Geppoux's face. Geppoux fell over, defeated, as Egghead advanced towards the dock. All of a sudden, two figures jumped out and blocked Egghead's path. It was Leon and Sabre. "Three Emperors on Marine Fort?!" cried out Marco, "Watch out, Egghead!" Arc undid Marco's knot and was about to help Egghead when he was stopped in his tracks. Literally. He couldn't move a single muscle. All the marines and even Marco was frozen as well. It was the lightning being emanated from three of the Emperors. It was a force to be reckoned with. It was so powerful that even Geppoux was paused briefly. While Arc was frozen, Geppoux met with Sabre and Leon. "Shall we make an alliance to defeat Egghead?" growled Sabre to Geppoux. Geppoux spat on the ground. "I guess I have no other choice," he snarled. Sabre and Leon went to fight Egghead as Geppoux advanced upon Arc and Marco. The lightning faded away and Arc got ready to fight Geppoux. Geppoux transformed into a Buddha before yelling, "Retribution Fist!" and slammed it onto Arc. However, the attack did not hit the target. Marco had transformed into a phoenix and struck Geppoux with blue flames. He yowled in pain as Marco flew up to swoop onto Geppoux. "Retribution Fist!" yelled Geppoux as Marco flew around the giant Buddha. The attack, this time, met its mark, striking Marco and knocking him backwards. Meanwhile, Sabre and Leon worked together to fight against Egghead and they were slowly gaining the upper hand against Egghead.

TO BE CONTINUED In Chapter 2 : "My Legacy"