From the Jaws of Death

[darthlegolas]

After the gate was opened, Edison rushed in at full speed, which was about half the speed of his crewmates. He ran straight ahead to deal with the marines in the middle of the docking complex. The first marine he saw in front of him had already unsheathed his sword and was charging at the pirates. Edison fired the dart into the marine’s face and the man fell to the ground.

Edison immediately pulled the lever that drew his string back and loaded another bolt. Two more marines, each with a sword, were running at him. He shot one in the chest, dropping the enemy to the ground. The other marine did not lose step, but kept running at the fat little pirate. Edison drew back his string and loaded another bolt in half a second. Half a second later, with the marine five steps away, Edison shot him in the neck.
As the third marine fell, four more would come around the corner of a building. All four marines had rifles. One shot was fired, and it passed a few inches away from Edison’s ear. Jumping for cover behind another small building, Edison loaded his crossbow. He couldn’t hear the marines running towards him. “They must be waiting for me to pop my head out again,” Edison murmured.

Taking off his outer green and brown robe, Edison threw it out past the wall he was hiding behind. Four bullets shot through the robe, as the marines had been waiting for the first thing to move from behind the small building.

Now their guns were no longer loaded. Edison jumped out and shot one of the marines in the stomach. Quickly, he shot a second in the chest. The remaining two marines realized that they couldn’t reload their guns fast enough and ran back behind their small office building for shelter. Edison did the same. He was sweating now.

Three marines came bursting out of the office that Edison was hiding behind. He heard them come running out the door, but couldn’t see them until they ran around the building to face him.

All three had swords, but did not appear to be true combatants. Clerks, perhaps? Pencil-pushers? In any case, Edison shot the first one in the face. The second clerk screamed at the sight of blood and started to run away. The third one ran up to Edison and awkwardly tried to swing the sword.

Edison pulled out his dagger and blocked the attack. This man was a very poor swordsman, so they were about equal in hand-to-hand combat. The clerk was frustrated that his attacks were being blocked and began swinging his sword around frantically. Edison backed away, but couldn’t get far enough away to reload his crossbow. Annoyed, Edison pulled a hammer out of his belt and threw it at the clerk. The hammer hit the clerk and he doubled over in pain. Edison was then able to shoot the man to put him out of his misery.

Three enemies remained for Edison to take care of: one cowardly clerk and two riflemen. Picking up his hammer, Edison wondered how he should proceed. Taking off one of the fallen marine’s boots, he held close to the wall. If the two remaining gunmen were at least semi-intelligent, then each side of the building would be watched by one of them.

Placing the boot next to the edge of the wall, he scooted it forward until its tip just jutted out past the building. Now, the marine watching that side would silently motion to his comrade that the pirate was there. Running to the other side of the building, Edison surprised the charging marine who thought that this side was unwatched. The silent crossbow killed him before he could scream. Edison grabbed the boot away from the corner and then fired the dead man’s rifle into the air.

The other rifleman, assuming that the pirate was dead, came running forward to investigate. He too was surprised by a bolt to the face.
That left only the cowardly clerk, who was easily dispatched with a shot to the heart. The look of terror never left his face, not even in death.

[❰ Misha ❱]

After clearing out most of the marines on his side, Auron headed back to the center of the base.

The plan was going better than Zack had probably intended, but Auron couldn't help but feel a little uneasy. He stopped walking all of a sudden when he saw marines approaching him in force. Auron dove behind some crates and crawled inside one that had been conveniently left open, perhaps while the marines were loading cargo onto one of the ships.

"Capture all of them alive! Commander Matsu wants them all brought to him alive. Don't hesitate! Matsu has allowed Kairoseki stone weapons be used on the Devil Fruit users!" Auron heard one of the men shout as they rushed by in mass.

Auron glanced out from his hiding spot when the sounds died down and quickly ran towards the pier.

= "It seems time is running out. We"ll have to make our escape soon or we might not be able t escape at all."[\color] Auron thought.

[darthlegolas]

Edison sighed in relief when Auron and Zack took out most of the marines in the shipyard. That sigh quickly turned to a gasp as dozens of marines came pouring into the shipyard. They claimed to have some kind of stone weapons that were specifically to be used on the two Devil Fruit users.

Interesting. It seemed that Devil Fruits had some sort of weakness. Edison wondered if the stones were meant to purify the demon inside the human body. He would have more time to learn about this Kairoseki stone later.

Edison saw Zack hold his ground against the marines. He was shooting globs of glue at them, sticking them to the ground and to each other. So this was what a glue man was capable of...

Still, he wouldn't be able to hold them off forever. The Inferno Pirates had come here to steal a ship, not battle the marines. Jumping on a small marine ship, Edison started getting it ready to sail. He had only read in books about such things, but he was still capable of preparing the sails and other things.

"Over here, Auron!" Edison yelled, upon seeing his comrade running on the dock. "Let's get this ship ready for our escape!"

Then the impossible happened. Out of the corner of his eye, Edison saw Zack fall. Had he been hit, or simply tripped? Either way, the marines were attacking him with their Seastone weapons. The captain had fallen. Edison didn't know if he would be taken prisoner or executed, but their plan had failed. All Edison and Auron could do now was escape themselves.

"Come on, Auron. Let's get out of here while we still can!"

[❰ Misha ❱]

The sound of battle seemed to fill the entirety of the right side of the base. Auron dashed down the boardwalk and turned toward the source of the noise. In the distance, Auron could make out Zack battling the marines all by himself, launching packs of glue from his arms at all of the encroaching marines.

Suddenly, a marine managed to close in and land a clean blow on Zack. It seemed to hurt a lot as Zack doubled over and the soldiers closed in and clasped him in cuffs, which Auron could only surmise contained seastone.

They had no time to save him, so Auron drove thoughts of rescuing him from his mind. He cared, but against weapons that could harm Devil Fruit users, he had no chance.

It was odd to lose Zack, especially since he'd thought of the plan that had gotten them this far and everything had worked out perfectly up till now. Silently, Auron thanked Zack as he ran out towards a ship that seemed to have been abandoned by the marines. His plan had worked ingeniously, even if he wouldn't be able to revel in the triumph. Auron only thought for a few seconds before dismissing them from his mind.

Zack was a great pirate, but Auron had a goal to fulfill and he couldn't wait around to mope. He still would've liked to have a crew. It would've made chasing Yuki a lot easier if he had other minds working on it as well but the thought of his revenge welled up again and Auron swallowed all other thoughts for the moment.

"Over here, Auron!" Auron turned as he saw Edison on a ship that was farther down the pier. He hurried and jumped on board before breaking the boarding plank and hauled up the anchor.

"Come on, Auron. Let's get out of here while we still can!"

As soon as it was ready, Auron yelled, "Alright, Hit it!" before the ship was off.

While the ship began to move, Auron's mind turned once again to his dilemma.

Revenge must come before everything else. Yuki wouldn't give for human lives, so in order to chase her, he realized that a few sacrifices had to be made, both personally and materially.

His thoughts focused on revenge, but Auron still hung over the advantages of having a crew. People who could see things he couldn't and do things that he couldn't learn. It would help if there were people he could trust, just as Zack had been willing to give to him and people that he wouldn't sacrifice for his goal and wouldn't condemn it, no matter how depraved and twisted it might eventually make him.

= "What if there really is a "curse" as she said. Would it really drive me to madness? Would I become as twisted as she is? Am I willing to accept madness if it means obtaining revenge?"

His mind dwelled on these questions, brought on by his heritage, and he continued to think on them as the ship began to sail away.

[darthlegolas]

With Auron on board, Edison set the ship in motion. The wind filled the sails and they were headed out for sea.

He had done it! He was finally leaving this deadbeat island!

Looking out at the ocean, Edison took a deep breath of the salty air. "My lifelong dream of leaving the Holy Remunun Empire has finally come true. Sadly, the captain of my first crew is now being beaten silly and will probably be dead soon. That Zack is quite a man, taking that beating for us. I guess I owe him some thanks for that, and for putting this plan into motion."

Edison thought about it for a second. "Nope. We don't owe him a rescue. He was our captain for a fifteen minutes, tops. I would have preferred to keep him alive, but I've no intention of killing myself just to collect his corpse."

Edison looked at Auron. "Now Auron, there's no need to pull a mutiny just because our captain is 6 feet under. I understand that you're physically stronger than me. I also understand that you can't butter toast by yourself. It seems that we need each other for the present, so I hereby renounce my role as the First-mate of the Inferno Pirates. Let's just be...partners for the moment. Partners in this heist. I'm still interested in hunting down that sister of yours, especially if she's good-looking."

[❰ Misha ❱]

Auron's inner thoughts were interrupted briefly by flying cannonballs that flew just a small distance away from them. It had taken them too long to man the cannons to fire at them, so they were safe for now.

He stopped when Edison spoke.

"Nope. We don't owe him a rescue. He was our captain for a fifteen minutes, tops. I would have preferred to keep him alive, but I've no intention of killing myself just to collect his corpse."

Auron nodded his head, "True, he got us this far, but I can't jeopardize my goal to save him. We probably won't even be able to get his corpse. He'll most likely be brought for immediate execution if he can't use that mad brain of his to escape."

"Now Auron, there's no need to pull a mutiny just because our captain is 6 feet under. I understand that you're physically stronger than me. I also understand that you can't butter toast by yourself. It seems that we need each other for the present, so I hereby renounce my role as the First-mate of the Inferno Pirates. Let's just be...partners for the moment. Partners in this heist. I'm still interested in hunting down that sister of yours, especially if she's good-looking."

Auron's usually serious disposition melted in the face of Edison's comment, "I can butter toast .... barely. I prefer hand fighting over using such hand movements since they don't help me much. I don't need quick hands to shoot a rock at a marine's head or break a few bones." Auron retorted calmly, but with irritation at Edison's joke.

"I don't think my sister is your type. She's insane and crazy and probably not into anything more than killing people. I'm called the "Heartdrinker" by some people because of something she did and framed me for. Besides that, she's more dangerous than any pirate on the seas. My duty is to catch and kill her, no matter what the cost. If that means embracing murder, I've resolved to pay any price."

Auron than looked out towards the harbor, his bright green hair flowing in the peaceful wind for now.
- "Edison .... I accept your partnership for now. Meeting you and Zack however has strengthened my resolve to form a crew of my own however. Having more people will only make it easier to obtain my vengeance. If anything, I'm sure my sister has thought of the same ideas and hidden behind both a new facade and bodyguards .... so its making more and more sense for me to form a crew in order to hunt her down." Auron said with strength and determination.

[darthlegolas]

Heartdrinker? Edison did have to admit that would be a less than attractive feature in a woman. Besides, he liked his own chest just where it was. "Pity that she isn't more kind-hearted. I've never been that popular with the ladies myself, though I can't imagine why." His grimy, dirt covered face would show genuine confusion about this problem.

Edison enjoyed the wind blowing on his face as Auron talked about forming a new pirate crew. With a captain who had a Devil Fruit power, the crew would grow to fame and fortune in no time...unless the marines pulled out their super sticks that could beat up Devil Fruit users again. Edison wondered why there was such a large collection of those Seastone weapons in the Holy Remunun Empire. Perhaps they were left-overs from the many great wars that had ravaged the island. Had there even been Devil Fruits back then? Edison didn't know, but he intended to find out.

It wasn't just for the fame and fortune that Edison wanted to stay with Auron. His power made him the prime target of Edison's study of Devil Fruits.

"So you want me to join your new crew as the First-mate? I accept. It looks like we have a bright future ahead of us, Captain Auron. Hmm, that means that we'll need a new name for the crew. We can't be the Inferno Pirates anymore. It just wouldn't seem right. The Smoldering Ash pirates, perhaps?"

[❰ Misha ❱]

"So you want me to join your new crew as the First-mate? I accept. It looks like we have a bright future ahead of us, Captain Auron. Hmm, that means that we'll need a new name for the crew. We can't be the Inferno Pirates anymore. It just wouldn't seem right. The Smoldering Ash pirates, perhaps?"

Auron smiled as the Holy Remunun Empire vanished beneath the still sunny horizon and no ships emerged in pursuit yet. With his brief period as a member of the Inferno Pirates now over, Auron turned to Edison, the wind blowing ever harder as he spoke.

- "I agree, we will be needing a new name. The Smoldering Ash Pirates .... No." Auron replied calmly but bluntly, "I appreciate the last tribute to Zack, but I don't believe that Smoldering Ash describes us at all. Zack had great ideas as a Pirate, but I plan to go a different way. We may not have Zack's great tactical brain, but we each have our own ideas that will eventually exceed Zack's own limitations. Plus, with me as captain and you as shipwright, we are not simply leftovers from something much greater. No .... We will not smolder and wither as Ash, We will go further than the Inferno and surpass the greatness that it could never achieve."

Auron spoke in a high triumphant and boastful voice, but unbeknownst to him, the madness that now drove Yuki, began a slight leak into his own eyes.
- "From this day onward .... The Inferno Pirates shall be reincarnated as The Green Hair Pirates. We shall sail the seas to our hearts content, taking whatever we please and going wherever our ambitions leads us. We will surpass the Inferno pirates and become more powerful than even Zack dared to dream. It will be a journey unlike any other. "

Auron finished and looked out at the now clear sky and smiled while the wind blew roughly around his evergreen hair. He spoke once more to Edison.
- "It will be a great journey indeed."