The Ezekiel Pirates seemed to be fending off the Marines with tremendous difficulty, despite them both having roughly the same amount of men. However, it was evident that the pirates did not get on well with each other as they bickered whilst trying to hold off the assault. The Ezekiel Pirates were pushed back further into their own base when Lieutenant Dawn entered with another group of men.
Before the Marines could push further, an ominous, tall man wielding a massive battle-axe, stained with blood, appeared. At the sight of him, the Ezekiel Pirates instantaneously moved into a formation. His commanding prowess was impressive, and he had clearly obtained it from years of battles he'd fought in. He was adorned in scars and rallied the pirates with fearsome inspiration.
As the pirates pushed forward, the Marines struggled to maintain their tactics and slowly were breaking. Lt. Dawn spotted Vaeg across the battlefield and ordered a couple of his troops assume control of the operation as he had to settle something. A couple of Marines tried to come to his side, but he waved them off.
Jimmy sighed as he caught sight of Dawn marching towards them. He signalled to the party and Belsari confirmed that was the same person who had given out the bounty posters. The sun was slowly peeking over the horizon. Light reflected off of Lt. Dawn's longsword, which he was hanging on his shoulders, with a confident grin covering Dawn's face.
"Would you look at that!? The bastard that burned down my ship and his scummy companions." Dawn said when he was within earshot of the group.
"Hang on, who said we were his companions?" Jimmy asked.
"What are you talking about, Jamie?" Vaeg said, acting wounded by his comment.
"My name's Jim-"
"Now, now. No-one cares." Vaeg interrupted.
"Hey Mister Dawn. Uh... I was just wondering, were you actually intending on paying Belsari if she captured the people you asked for?" Tim Tim asked.
"Of course not midget."
"Hey no-one gets to insult our fucking bucket boy unless it's me!" Nargo shouted.
"Did you just say bucket bo-"
"We'll discuss your jobs later." Nargo cut him off.
"Hang on, I decided earlier that he was the bucket boy, you scummy lowlife. Only I can call him that!" Vaeg complained.
"How about it being his mutual nickname for him?" Nargo offered.
"That's enough!"
As Lt. Dawn said this, he brought his longsword down on Vaeg. Vaeg dodged with ease and started a detailed analysis of how he escaped from the prison on the ship and then set the ship alight. This infuriated Dawn immensely. He swung furiously at Vaeg again, only for Vaeg to dodge and extend his explanation with a grin of glee.
Before he could attack again, the rest of the party responded. Jimmy impaled him with his harpoon and tore it out, causing splatters of blood to rain from his wound. Dawn swung his longsword but Nargo used some of the swords on the battlefield to block the attack using his metal moving ability. Upon contact the weapons shattered but created an opening for Jimmy to jump away from Dawn.
Belsari shouted for everyone to clear away from Dawn as he kneeled momentarily to catch his breath. Suddenly a cone of napalm exploded into Dawn's face. He clawed at the substance, resulting in him burning his fingers and producing a horrible, piercing screech. As the napalm dissolved, Vaeg ordered everyone to not kill him as he had something special planned for him.
"I-I w-won't let you take me alive!" Dawn screamed, charging straight towards Tim Tim.
The final, desperate strike ended abruptly as Tim Tim whistled and Ronin, emerging from the shadows of the alleyway, pounced on him tearing a chunk of skin out of his arm. Vaeg rushed over worriedly, hoping his soon to be plaything wasn't damaged beyond compare.
"You should keep that thing on a leash. He almost killed my new uh... patient." Vaeg shouted.
"If I recall, Mister Dawn attacked me." Tim Tim replied, bewildered by Vaeg's comments.
"Yes, but I told you to lay off on him. I've got something planned specially for him."
"Alright ladies, stop fucking fighting each other." Nargo intervened.
Vaeg stared viciously at Nargo but then returned to stabilizing Lt. Dawn.
Meanwhile, Whatz D Face was exploring the mansion. When he had entered, it seemed oddly silent. Considering it was mansion, it was really underwhelming. There was litter everywhere and vomit stains on the carpets.
Wandering aimlessly for a small amount of time, Whatz D Face stumbled across what he assumed was a treasury.
Excited he slipped into the room, only to be disappointed by its emptiness. He continued his look for anything valuable and ended up in a really glamorous room decorated in gold. Although everything was covered in gold, it would've been impossible to lift anything as there were only large objects such as a bed and wardrobe.
Whatz D Face immediately searched the draws and whatnot but only found a few hundred Beli. Suddenly, rushed footsteps echoed in the hallway. Whatz D Face jumped inside a wardrobe before the person entered the room. The person was panting heavily when he entered and walked towards the window.
Leaning on the ledge, he whispered to himself, "We wouldn't be in this bloody mess if it wasn't for that bitch Morgania."
Hearing this, Whatz D Face burst out of hiding and pressed his flintlock pistol on back of the person's head.
"Who were you talking about?"
"M-Morgania, the ex-Warlord."
"Now why don't you tell me, good gentleman, why is she at fault for your problems?"
"W-Well you see. C-Captain Ezekiel had a rivalry with Gol D Roger in his childhood, and he wanted to challenge him on the Grand Line. However, when we got to the Grand Line, 100 ships strong, Morgania butchered all but 15 ships which were forced to escape through the dreaded calm belt. Of those 15 ships only two survived. When we had escaped, Captain Ezekiel decided to establish a slave trade on Swallow Island to try to gather enough money and troops to return to the Grand Line."
"What is your name, kind gentleman?"
"Thomson, just a lackey."
"What I'm about to do is teach you how to respect the dead's name, Thomson. Also snitches get stitches."
"W-Wait ple-"
He was stopped mid-sentence as a bullet flew straight through his skull, painting the window red.
"Looks like I've got to sort my Queen's mess out again." Whatz D Face shook his head.
As he went to leave, something caught his eye. There was a small chest tucked away in the corner of the room. He opened it and there sat by itself was a strange fruit. It was tomato-shaped with purple swirls covering the entire fruit. Whatz D Face was pretty hungry and ate it. An instant wave of disgust filled Whatz D Face. The revolting taste made him throw up profusely, and he felt something change internally.
Before he realized what was happening, Barbosa appeared out of nowhere and panted, slightly panicked, "You need to come with me right now, the crew are struggling."
Meanwhile, the fighting had almost come to an end between the Marines and the Ezekiel Pirates. After the party had felled Lt. Dawn, the Marines crumbled and were decimated by the remaining pirates. Although the Ezekiel Pirates had defended against the Marines, the majority of their lackeys had perished or were badly injured.
The buff man carrying the huge battle-axe spotted the party and waved at someone not visible to the group. A rumbling appeared as a man, bigger than the person that had waved him over, stepped into the open.
"Where's Barbosa?" Jimmy asked, slightly worried.
"He said he was going to find Mister Whatz D Face." Tim Tim replied.
"Wait, where's Vaeg as well?"
"Mister Vaeg said he was going to stabilize Lt. Dawn. He also said something about going on strike."
"Going on strike for what?"
"I don't even know anymore Mister Jimmy."
"So do we have a fucking plan or what?" Nargo asked.
"When have we ever had a plan?" Belsari replied.
"Fair point." Everyone replied.
"You dare challenge me, Golden Tooth Ezekiel, Captain of the Ezekiel Pirates and my first mate Cadayga, crusher of skulls." Ezekiel announced, fury etched into his face.
"Before we start, does your first mate have a bounty?" Nargo asked curiously.
"Of course he does! What a ridiculous question." Ezekiel replied howling in laughter.
"I don't suppose you wanna give us your fucking heads on a platter do ya lads?" Nargo shouted back.
"We've got a funny guy, eh? Don't worry, you won't be laughing for long..."
Suddenly, the gold that adorned the surroundings started to abandon their structures and swirl around Ezekiel. Maniacal laughs echoed in his mini gold tornado and when it dispersed, there it stood. A golem made purely from gold. However, it seemed slightly unstable as when it took a couple of steps, the golem wobbled.
The gold seemed to spread away from an area on the golem, which revealed Ezekiel's face, although he was now toothless as all his teeth were gold.
"See what you're up against little pirates. You hav-"
Before he had finished talking, Nargo had secretly used his power to send a sword flying straight at Ezekiel but Ezekiel effortlessly knocked it away.
"Did you not learn manners? Well let me teach you. Cadayga, you have my permission to use it."
"With pleasure..." Cadayga snarled, slowly transforming into a hybrid between a lion and a human. His claws were dangerously sharp, feral expressions invaded his human face. His humanity was devoured by his lion. With incredible speed, Cadayga lunged towards Tim Tim, slicing his waist, but not enough to cause any real damage.
Trying to defend Tim Tim, Ronin chased after Cadayga but was met with a gold punch to the side immobilizing Ronin momentarily. As Cadayga switched his target to Jimmy, Nargo threw a few swords near Cadayga's feet to trip him up, leading to Cadayga stumbling into a harpoon thrust by Jimmy, injuring Cadayga's shoulder.
Cadayga ripped it out, but before he could retreat, Nargo threw another sword behind him, making Cadayga fall to the floor. Jimmy quickly grabbed his harpoon but before he could finish Cadayga, Ezekiel sent a spear of gold straight into Jimmy's chest, knocking him backwards, away from Cadayga. Although missing his vital organs, Jimmy now had a spear of gold jammed into him that seemed to be spreading gold around the wound and hardening.
Belsari tried spraying a cone of napalm but as soon as it hit the gold, it barely dented the golem. She tried her normal flamethrower as well but just before she could crank up the power on it, she was knocked flying by sudden explosion of gold and was immobilized.
"Mister Nargo! You can control metal right?" Tim Tim shouted.
"Yes, why is that fucking important right now?"
"Gold is a metal!"
"Oh, good point, I'll make an opening and you attack."
Nargo managed to break control of Ezekiel's hold on the gold surrounding his face and Tim Tim quickly aimed the shot and fired. Cadayga jumped in the way of the shot but the arrow didn't penetrate his skin.
"These arrows are terrible!" Tim Tim complained.
"No fucking shit Sherlock. Don't you have another weapon?"
"I had a sword but I lost it when we were shipwrecked."
"You're a swordsman? Don't make me laugh bucket boy."
Ronin was slowly being encased in gold from Ezekiel's earlier punch and Jimmy's couldn't move one of his shoulders as it was now encased in gold as well. Just when things were starting to look dire, the reinforcements arrived, in style.
Within a blink of an eye, Barbosa and Whatz D Face appeared due to Barbosa's supersonic speed. When they appeared in visible sight, they both were doing the moonwalk and slid straight into the enemies line of sight.
"Who the fuck is that with you Barbosa?" Nargo asked confused, as he hadn't seen Whatz D Face consume the devil fruit which was the human-human fruit model: Alucard. So he had the mythical zoen that allows someone to turn into a vampire.
"I'll explain later. Just back him up." Barbosa shouted.
Barbosa gave a thumbs up and then started pummelling Cadayga. First, he summoned a pole, which extended with deadly force, knocking Cadayga up in the air. Barbosa then jumped and performed an incredible amount of blows in milliseconds before finishing with a two fisted smack down. Cadayga smashed into the ground, cracking it.
Somehow Cadayga stood back up but Nargo sent a sword from behind Cadayga and sliced the nape of his neck. Cadayga collapsed reverting to human form. Ezekiel, stood shocked at how quickly his first mate was defeated. He then sent spears of gold flying in all directions furiously. Due to how wildly they were fired, it hit no-one and Ezekiel was now exposed immensely after consuming half his golem to perform that attack.
Whatz D Face, who had snuck up behind him, placed his pistol against Ezekiel's head.
"Ko sends its regards."
Ezekiel's eyes widened and the fury that filled them, emptied and became lifeless. The gold seemed to dissipate from Ronin, Belsari and Jimmy to which they gained their mobility back. The sun had now risen, the beautiful, red sky slowly morphing to bright blue.
Whatz D Face transformed back into his human form without Nargo noticing.
"Where the fuck have you been Whatz D Face?" Nargo said, "And why do you look as pale as a ghost?"
"I was just exploring, kind gentleman. Also, I don't know why I'm pale. I haven't really felt myself since I ate that weird fruit."
"What weird fruit?" Jimmy walked over, clutching his wound.
"It was purple with swirls and tasted off."
Nargo placed his head in his palms, "Whatz D Face, you ate a fucking devil fruit."
"You mean the one we were supposed to give back to those kind fellows in the forest?"
"Yes, the exact one." Jimmy replied, upset about not being able to keep his promise.
"Ah, I apologize for this inconvenience. But I mean look at the bright side, we won."
Belsari chipped in, "I don't think we have to worry about them anyway, you'll see what I mean when we head back."
Vaeg signalled the party over.
"Has anyone got some rope so this sly little bastard can't run away?"
"Umm... yeah I do Mister Vaeg. Here you go." Tim Tim offered.
Vaeg snatched it out of Tim Tim's hand and said, "Say Mister instead of Doctor one more time and so help me!"
"I'm sorry Miste-"
At this point Vaeg tried throttling Tim Tim but the party intervened and put them both in time out.
"You can't put a Doctor in time out." Vaeg complained.
"I mean, you are and that's final." Jimmy said.
After a few minutes, everyone was ordered to explore and find some valuables whilst Tim Tim was forced to do the gritty job of decapitating the captain and the first mate for their bounties.
After everyone had finished up what they were doing, they all trekked back up the hill, Lt. Dawn on a leash behind them as a special, totally not compulsory, patient of Vaeg's.
The entire forest area where the tribe's village were was burned down. Black smoke was still billowing from remote sections of other parts of the forest. Everyone sighed at the sight and turned to Belsari.
"Now I know what you're going to say bu-"
"No buts. If we are in or on flammable material, you must ask permission before firing." Jimmy demanded.
"Ok..."
When they arrived back at their beach, Belsari and Nargo continued building their ship that was nearing completion. After a few hours their new ship was constructed and everyone gathered their things. A meeting was held.
"First order of business: who will be the captain of our pirate crew?" Jimmy started.
Nargo had the votes of two people, Whatz D Face and Vaeg (After being promised something) but so did Jimmy, with votes from Belsari and Tim Tim. Barbosa decided to stay impartial on the matter. In the end, after much deliberation, it was decided that Jimmy and Nargo would be co-captains.
"Second order of business: What will we do about Leroy and Jenkins?"
To no-one's surprise they unanimously decided to allow Leroy and Jenkins to join their crew on the terms that they could only leave once they had earned the trust of the crew, which wasn't hard as most of the crew got along with Leroy and Jenkins. Only Vaeg was cautious, but he did that with everyone.
"Third order of business: What will our crew be called?" Jimmy asked.
Every single name that was mentioned was beyond terrible. In the end, it was decided that their crew would be called the Vaeg pirates as Nargo had promised Vaeg.
"Final thing: What will our ship be called?" Jimmy asked.
Literally no-one had a name for their ship so it was decided to hold off on naming the ship to see if it could ward off the dangers of the sea on their first journey. If it survived, it would get a name.
Now that all the preparations were done and Barbosa had collected his treasure map, the Vaeg Pirates sailed into the horizon, the sun setting, resulting in an explosion of colours before the transition to pitch black.
All was quiet for a while, until a huge tendril grabbed onto and wrapped round the front of the ship.