21 Progress

"Where ya runnin' off to in such a hurry, eh boy?" A familiar voice rang out from my left. Causing me to groan internally.

"It's time we got our pay back."- "tch, I can't believe we need five guys for one kid." Two more voices added to my annoyance as several men stepped out from trash piles to surround me. They were all dressed in rags and smelled foul. One of them only had a single tooth remaining, his beady eyes were half hidden under a mop of filthy blonde hair.

"It mus be our lucky day huh boys? We were jus go'n out to look fer ya, n' ere you are! Comin' right to us." The first voice rang out once more, his smug tone causing me to turn and stare into his tar smeared face.

"Haven't you lot learned your lesson already?" I asked while cracking my neck and shifting my gaze to keep the two behind me in my line of sight.

Looking over the five men who tried to beat me and rob me in the past I felt no sympathy at all. Each of them are just degenerate low lives, desperate for anything that shines. People who I put in their place when they thought me an easy target.

"It would seem I have to beat it into you." Cracking my knuckles with a satisfying pop I took my stance and placed my left hand forward Keanu Reeves style to provoke them into making the first move. Giving them the universal 'come at me' sign.

It wasn't long before the veins in their foreheads threatened to burst and they all rushed in at once. Causing me to smile.

'Will these dunderheads ever learn?'

Twirling my staff above my head I drew the water from one of the gourds into a spinning torrent that mixed with the water held within the pipe. Creating a circular whip that lashed out in every direction, forming a perfect circle, I struck all five men at once. The blow knocked the wind out of each and every one of them, sending them tumbling into the dirt.

As the man behind me and the man to my left moved to get up, I shot forward and slammed the metal pipe into the left man's jaw from beneath his chin, knocking out his last tooth and putting him down instantly. Moving to the second man behind me I jumped forward, kneeing him in the face just before he reached his feet. Causing his nose to cave in as he dropped motionless to the ground.

Facing the remaining three I smiled at the looks on their faces as I waited for them to get up. Fear and anger mixed into one burning emotion as the two larger men on both sides rushed forward, one with a large wooden club in hand and the second with a rusty pipe. The third came in behind them with a chipped hatchet in hand.

Kicking off the ground I ignored the two men at my sides as I dodged their attacks. I easily grabbed the middle man's face, picking him up off the ground and slamming the back of his head into the mud.

Turning around in the next second, I struck out with my pipe to block the incoming blows from the last two. Their faces contorted further as I pushed them back with ease and struck at their knees with a low sweep, knocking them off balance and ending the fight with two water blasts to their stomachs. Folding them in half as they hunched over, coughing and writing in pain.

Taking the hatchet from the mud I looked it over before sliding it into my belt. Stepping over their unconscious forms I looked back into the sky intending to follow Morph once more.

'I hope he didn't loose sight of Luffy while I was fighting.'

My thoughts soon proved prophecy as Morph flew around aimlessly trying to locate Luffy once more. He had focused on me during the fight to see if I would need any aid instead of following the boy like I told him to. I can't really blame him. His mind is like that of a child's. When he saw me fighting he probably assumed I was in danger. But those chumps could never threaten me unless I let my guard down.

All this means is that we I have to pick up the pace and expand the search area. Jumping to the top of a nearby trash pile in a single leap, I put one hand over my eyebrows to block the sun hoping to better scan the horizon.

Due to the lack of light near the bottom of the ocean Atlanteans have incredible vision when on land, however they still see much better in the dark than they do in the day since there isn't any light on the ocean floor.

Thanks to my eyesight I was able to spot a familiar face, but it wasn't Luffy's. Instead it was one of Porchemy's lackeys. But Porchemy himself, the large, muscled figure with shaggy, teal blue hair that reaches his lower back, carrying the only real sword i've seen since arriving in this world, is nowhere to be seen.

The stories about him going around the Grey terminal are quite horrific. Apparently he scalps his victims after defeating them, keeping the remains as a trophy.

But his lackeys are just your average riff raff. Nothing special or too dangerous. One of them is even all bandaged up, no doubt thanks to Ace if my memory serves me.

After using my heightened hearing to pick up on their conversation i was able to piece together what happened. The three lackeys are wandering around asking anyone if they've seen Ace, telling anyone that'll listen about how he stole what belongs to them. And nobody steals from Bluejam's crew. And since they know he always works with Sabo they're looking for him too.

'Wait… doesn't this mean… shit! Luffy has already been captured!' Jumping down from my perch atop the trash I landed roughly in a pile of scrap metal, rolling out of it without a fuss before into kicking off into a full on sprint. Heading straight towards Porchemy's hut. Morph flew in right behind me.

'I'm glad I had kept tabs on him and didn't just leave this to chance.' I thought to myself. Otherwise I would miss the chance to make a flawless introduction.

By time I got to Porchemy's hideout the sun was already setting, bathing the sky in a brilliant orange glow. Even the piles of garbage looked better under its warm light.

I didn't have time to appreciate the imagery. Even from where I'm standing outside the hut I can hear the sounds of fists impacting flesh and Luffys soft whimpering as Porchemy beats him for information on Ace.

There are even onlookers listening in and watching from the sidelines. Too afraid to do anything to stop it. Since Porchemy works for the Bluejam Pirates, a group who pays off the Nobles in the Goa Kingdom, most people just leave them to their own devices and let them have their fun.

No matter what world you're in there will always be the strong bullying the weak. There will always be those who can't stand up for themselves and others who do nothing but watch rather than intervene. A long suppressed memory flickered through my mind as I stood there, surrounded by the filth of the Grey Terminal. I clenched my teeth hard enough that it was audible.

Rage built in my chest as any fear I felt was snuffed out like a candle in a hurricane. With a single minded focus I kicked in the wooden door. Shattering the wooden framed with ease, sending splitter so flying across the room before I leapt into the cramped space.

Not caring at all for the voices of warning from the people behind me. As I stepped into the room and the dust settled I saw something I'll never forget.

Right before my eyes, the little boy that laughed with me and shared a meal with me in the forest, is strung up by ropes, dangling from the rafters. Blood is pouring down his face mixing with his tears, dripping down his clothes and staining the floor.

Standing before that kind, sweet little boy, with a pair of blood covered spiked gloves on his hands is Porchemy himself. The big ugly bastard is even sweating, showing how much effort he was really putting in to hitting Luffy.