link to voyage approval-- https://strawhats.rpg-board.net/t1233-a-new-beginning-grand-voyage#7050




The sea, usually calm and beautiful place where people pay fortunes to enjoy it's beauty became a living hell for a group of pirates who were unfortunate to be attacked by a marine ship. Normally an average sized pirate crew would put up a  decent enough resistance...but the one kouse currently was, wasn't an average sized crew...not by a long shot. It was just newly formed and was still recruiting members. That's how kouse got involved with them in the first place. Mako, the leader of the crew and the person who recruited him laid bleeding out on the deck right next to him, already passed out due to blood loss.

"Yeah!!...gun down,cut down those pirate scum!...." a loud command came from the marine ship as dozens of marines boarded the ship cutting and shooting any pirate who didn't immediately surrender. "They resist?...end them!".

Kouse shook his head, attempting to get back his focus...'yeah, his friends life came first'. He immediately tore a part of his shirt and used it to press down hard on mako's chest, trying his best to stop the bleeding before he bled out completely, he knew mako would die in minutes no matter what he did.

The captain who gave the command to cut them all down finally stepped aboard the pirate ship after most of the fighting was over, a cigarette stuck to his mouth, a huge scar on his right cheek..from his jaw all the way up to his eye. He was a giant of a man... nearly seven feet tall.
"I thought I said to gun them down" he asked, obviously irritated when he saw the survivors whilst blowing out a cloud of white smoke. "Place the cowards who surrendered on a single line and bring out the bounties list".

The defeated and demoralized pirates all lined up as quickly as possible...all except kouse. 

"Hey you over there...are you deaf?...line up!".

Kouse ignored the marine as he kept applying pressure on mako's chest. He looked directly at the marine captain who was still smoking.

"He's still alive...but if I move he'll bleed out and die almost instantly." kouse turned back to look at mako, he's eyes were closed, his breathing shallow and laboured. "He's more useful to you alive than dead...I just need a little -".

A painful smack on the back of his head from a marine soldier cut of his statement. Everything became blurry and white...he knew he was loosing consciousness. Kouse gritted his teeth and fought through it, keeping the pressure on mako's chest.
 The marine who hit him looked fearfully at the general who looked straight at them whilst puffing on his cigarette and raised the butt of his gun again for another hit which would instantly knock kouse out this time.

"Wait" the general spoke up, stopping the marine from knocking Kouse out. He turned to look at the marines in charge of identifying the pirates. "Have you seen his poster?".

"No sir...his bounty isn't here".

"Well well well, what do we have here?". he began walking towards Kouse "You're new to this pirate business ain't you?".

Kouse still dizzy only nodded.

"Get him the supplies he needs" the general continued "I take it your a doctor?".

Before he knew it several medical supplies we're given to him...bandages, disinfectants and the likes. Kouse wasted no time stopping the bleeding dressing and bandaging the wound.

"Are you done?" the captain asked.

"Yeah" Kouse staggered to his feet and began walking to join the pirate line "Thank you... I'm grateful".

The captain smiled widely...Kouse swore he could see madness in his eyes but he shook it off and joined the line who were with their backs to the captain.
"We've got only one cell free...what's our max capacity?" he asked his subordinate.

"12 sir"

"And how many pirates do we have lined up?".

"12 sir...but we could make room to -".

"That's too bad".
With one quick movement he drew out his gun and shot mako who was still unconscious right in between his eyes.

A loud 'bang!' made Kouse turn wildly around, and what he saw sent a shiver right down his spine.
The captain stared directly at him with his smile still intact on his face as his gun still pointed at mako released smoke.

Shock was quickly replaced with blinding rage. He charged the captain in fury expecting the several soldiers around to stop him...but they didn't.
The moment he got to within range he threw a wild punch at the captain but he got hit in the neck before his attack could hit. 
Kouse immediately clutched his neck, chocking and coughing...the pain was excruciating. The captain didn't let up, and gave kouse a vicious kick to the chest which forced kouse into coughing out blood.

"Do you think you pirates are meant to be treated as humans?!" he gave kouse who was now crawling on the floor another kick "you'll regret the day you chose to become a pirate".

The captain stepped on the chest of the now stationary Kouse and leaned in to whisper into his ear "A pirate that's defenseless... you're a joke..and you'll die as one. You think you're in hell right now?...wait till you get to Jaya island".

The captain walked off calmly.


The last thing Kouse saw was being dragged into the marine ship, headed for Jaya island.

They continuous sway of the ship as it sailed through the sea was comforting for some and caused others to get sea sick and throw up. The Marine ship wasn't built for comfort but for war, built to carry as much weapons and soldiers as possible. Also built for speed, so all unnecessary accessories were discarded. All these were felt completely by Kouse. Locked in a cell deep below deck, which was filthy, smelt like rotten eggs and cold. The feeding was also terrible....giving the absolute minimum for survival. 
Kouse moved deeper into a corner as one of the prisoners sharing his cell started vomiting. It had been happening for a while now and Kouse knew he was suffering from cholera and very soon if still left untreated, he would begin purging,which would make their cell all but inhabitable. Kouse also knew it would be left untreated. The cruelty the marine captain displayed when he killed mako right before his eyes wasn't all just for show. He was truly an evil man, and the statement the captain made about seeing true hell made Kouse shiver down his spine... knowing that threat was also not just for show.
He had heard a lot about Jaya island, only in stories though. Most of them said it was a pretty place filled with people who lived peacefully. It was hard believing that place would be a living hell for him. A flashback of the captains smile came rushing into kouse's mind...a smile filled with madness. 'yep,no way he didn't mean it'.

The sick individual began vomiting yet again. Kouse shrunk deeper into his corner. He could very well and very easily cure the poor pirate even without medical supplies, using his devil fruit abilities...he could also easily escape the cell he was currently in. But he knew he wouldn't get far. That captain was on a class of his own, his combative abilities were the real deal but he had to keep his devil fruit ability secret. Kouse knew nothing good would come about if the fact that he possessed a devil fruit. He could instantly be killed by the captain or tortured for fun using sea water or even drowned. 
Kouse closed his eyes and stayed still as the pirate continued vomiting. This was someone he couldn't help.

The days spent in that cold cell rolled slowly by. Those days were the hardest days Kouse had ever experienced. Long periods of idleness made him recall the although primitive but peaceful lifestyle he led on his little island. He missed his brother and mother, he was sure they were doing a good job running the hospital in his absence. He had left to find ways to improve his medical abilities and just a few months ago he had actually taken the first and biggest steps towards achieving his life's ambitions. He had been incredibly fortunate to finally acquire a devil fruit and even more so, one which fitted him so perfectly. He quickly discovered that he could create a blue transparent sphere where he could manipulate whatever was inside as much as he wanted. What interested him the most was also the ability to perform seemingly impossible surgery procedures successfully whilst within this blue sphere. It was an amazing ability he got, although not easily, but he was still lucky. Everything was going smoothly and right on plan before the Marines attacked...taking them all down.

"Alright boys here are your last meals on this ship" the marine said as he passed out the plates containing a slice of stale old bread each. "we'll be arriving at Jaya island in the next hour, hell awaits you all".

An hour passed and all the pirates were led in shackles onto the deck. With a little coercion they all filed out of the ship and took their first steps on Jaya island.

"Welcome to mock island" the marine captain shouted "Hell awaits you all".

Kouse looked around, it was simply beautiful...trees, flowers. 'Surely it couldn't be so bad' Kouse thought and hoped he was right.

Mock town was a strange place indeed. At first glance from a distance it looked like a resort for the wealthy. Nice looking buildings, hotels and pubs lined the streets. It looked like a very good place to live. But once a closer look is taken, the town's secrets are revealed.

Kouse stared at the pirate he and the others were sold off to. He had a huge stomach, chubby cheeks, was short and bald. By the way he dressed and spoke it was obvious he was more of a businessman than a pirate. He even had a couple of bodyguards standing around watching intensely if one of us would step out of line. It seemed he was really popular in town, almost everyone who passed by greeted him in one way or the other. Kouse was surprised that no one seemed to care about a dozen pirates in chains, not even sparing them a second glance.

"From today till you all drop dead, you're mine and you'll work for me until the day you do" he fished out a cigarette and one of his guards brought out a lighter and lit his cigarette "Some of you might already have heard of me, but my name is Mr cantilever, and those of you who know me also know how merciless I am to lazy pirates.... especially those I own".

He nodded to one his guards and they began pushing the bound pirates into one of the buildings.

"It's late, get some rest... you'll need every ounce of strength for tomorrow" he began walking away "and don't even try to escape, rest assured you'll be captured and the penalty for that is death, have a good night".

Kouse blinked as the door was shut. He turned and surveyed the interior of the building. It was completely empty with lots of unused space, much like an empty barn. It was filled with straw and a couple of incredibly smelly buckets were at the far corner. The barn, kouse was sure was formerly used to keep animals.
Kouse picked a spot at the far corner, and sat down. 'I have to get out and get out soon' he thought. But right now he knew he was too weak to do so successfully. He had to bide his time and find more time to train further on how to make use of his newly gotten devil fruit. He knew once he showcased his abilities, there was no coming back from that one. Images of mako getting shot dead right before his eyes flashed in his mind as he lay down to sleep. That was something he wouldn't forget for a very long time.

It was early morning in mock town. The birds up in the trees sang lullabies, the sky as blue as ever, the sun just peeking out from the East. It was a truly beautiful day. It wasn't for the Kouse though, who had been woken up and had begun his daily task 3 hours ago.

"Move those damn boulders you damn pirates!" the one they call skank yelled at them as he waved his whip menacingly about "Pick up the pace!" he yelled as he swung his long whip, it met with skin followed my a loud grunt from one of the pirates.

Kouse and the others were tasked with pushing granite boulders to the spot where they would be crushed to pieces and transported. There was a little factory that produced granite around and they apparently didn't have any machinery to transport said boulders from it's source to where it would be broken down.

More time passed and the day went on.
Kouse took a moment from pushing a boulder to stretch his back. He was in intense pain. He had now been pushing the boulders to and fro non-stop for the past 4hours. He was at his limit. 

'whiish' the whip from skank hit Kouse on his bare back. With a grunt of pain Kouse forced his battered body to continue pushing said boulder. He'd never been one for physical work, but this, this was too much. Too much for his body to handle. Even as he began to feel dizzy he knew he was about to faint due to exhaustion. The boulder he was pushing and his hands became blurry...and the last thing he remembered seeing was skank screaming at him to get up and continue pushing.

"You've slept more than enough boy. Wake up" a strange voice woke Kouse up.

Kouse stared around his surroundings, a table, a bed... hospital bed. He was in a little hospital. 

"You passed out due to exhaustion...all you need is a little rest to get back to good physical shape" the doctor said as he stroked his hair "not that you'd get it though. Your owned by Mr cantilever right?, I saw the guys who brought you in".

Kouse stared at the doctor. He had a long black hair, jet black eyes and walked with a limp. He must have had a serious injury a long time ago on his leg.

"Oops where are my manners, I'm Dr Thompson, and you are?".

Kouse didn't know what came over him or whether it was the after effects of fainting or that he saw some similarities between him and Dr Thompson.

"I'm Dr Arima... I'm known as Dr K".

Mr Thompson was taken by surprise. 'This fellow a doctor? if so how did he become involved with the likes of ..no way is that possible'. Thompson decided not to believe that kouse was a doctor and took his words as the ramblings of a person who would say anything to better  his really bleak situation.

"Really?..that's nice" Mr Thompson said as he stood up and walked towards the door "I'll let them know I'm done with you now".

Kouse knew Thompson didn't believe him and wasn't taking him seriously, and he had this weird urge to convince him.

"Fainting occurs when your brain temporarily doesn’t receive enough blood supply, causing you to lose consciousness" kouse began "once I was rushed in here you most likely checked for some of these things.... whether I had blue lips or face?, whether I had an irregular or slow heartbeat, if I had Chest pain when I woke up?, whether I had Difficulty breathing?, whether I was difficult to wake and whether I acted confused when I was awake" Kouse finished.
My Thompson instantly stopped moving, his hand remained still on the door handle. 'How the hell is this possible?, this fellow has had some medical training!, no way you'll know all that simply by guessing'.

"I believe you kouse, or should I say doctor K...but I'm afraid there is nothing I can do for you".

With that Dr Thompson opened the door and Mr cantelevers men came and roughly escorted him out, straight back to pushing the granite boulders.
Kouse had never felt so disheartened. He only just realised how much he wanted to be saved from his current predicament. With the way things were right now he knew he would never have sufficient time to properly develop his devil fruit abilities. He would never become strong enough to escape his captors.
As kouse continued pushing the granite boulder, reality began to Dawn on him.... The painful sting of a whip hitting his back made him grunt....that this would be his life for the foreseeable future, and he knew deep down due to his medical knowledge that it wasn't going to be a long future. If he continued his current lifestyle he would have a very short life indeed.

Dr Thompson watched on as the two nurses prepared the room for a surgery. It had been days since his encounter with Kouse but he still couldn't seem to forget him. He knew that right now kouse was toiling day after day, doing serious labour which was surely going to be the end of him.
Dr Thompson knew why he had refrained from helping Kouse out. Doing so would most likely place him in the situation whereby he would be enemies with the powerful and influential Mr cantelever, and for a mere old and retired pirate doctor in a place like mock town, that was more or less akin to signing his death warrant. Keep a low profile and steadily accumulate funds until it is enough to get you a life away from this place.

"Alright bring in the patient, place him on the bed"  Mr Thompson ordered the pirates who dragged a bleeding and unconscious pirate into the operating room. "What happened to him?" Thompson asked as he picked up a pair of scissors and cut open his shirt. 

"He got into a fight, got stabbed in the stomach and beaten unconscious" one of the pirates answered.

Mr Thompson immediately got to work treating the patient...he discovered that there were a couple of broken ribs too and a lot of internal bleeding. He needed an extra pair of hands.
This situation, where he needed another doctor with him to successfully perform a surgery had come before, but this was the first time he had the solution right before him.

20 minutes later. "He's dead, mark the time" Dr Thompson said.
The pirates who brought him in just shook their heads, searched the dead pirates pockets and paid Dr Thompson with what they found, which was more than sufficient for the expenses and dragged their friend off to most likely bury him.

"Clean the place up" Dr Thompson told the two nurses who worked for him. I'll be right back. With that he left the hospital hurriedly.


"Push those damn rocks!" skank yelled out as he struck a pirate with his whip "I don't want to see you take even a minutes break. Push till you drop and when you do stand back up and push some more!..we are behind schedule".

It was past 1pm and Kouse could hardly see clearly anymore. The searing heat from the sun coupled with the severe exhaustion he felt. It was all kouse could do not to faint on the spot he stood.
Over the past week several of his companions had collapsed, been dragged off and never returned. Most likely dead. Their numbers had dwindled slowly but steadily and when it looked like they'll be in a number crises a fresh batch of pirates trooped in with chains and fresh faces and the process started all over again. 

One of Mr cantelevers men came out of the main house and approached skank, whispering some information to him.

"Hey you, with the tattered black top come here!".

Kouse knew it was him that was being called but he acted like he couldn't hear skank. The only thing that made skank call someone specifically was to give a special dose of whipping and Kouse wasn't going to make it easy for him.

Skank on seeing Kouse didn't respond, walked up to him and grabbed his shoulder.
"Didn't you hear me call you!?".
Kouse still didn't reply and this further enraged skank.
Skank raised his whip high up ready to bring it down on Kouse when the pirate who came to speak with him stopped him.
"The boss said he mustn't have any new injuries".

Skank visibly flinched on hearing that "Go into the main house, the boss wants to see you" he said to Kouse.

"Yes! that is him alright" Dr Thompson said as Kouse entered the building. "So I'm interested in buying him off you" he said.

Mr cantelever stroked his beard "Well you know I'm not one to sell one of my belongings once I acquire them, so you'll have to come up with a really good offer to make this deal go through".

"And what price will that be?...a very good deal I mean." Dr Thompson asked.

"A million berri".

"For a half dead pirate?... 600 thousand...take it or leave it".

"Sold!" Mr cantelever exclaimed all smiles as he shook hands with Dr Thompson.

Money exchanged hands and Kouse walked out of the main house and Mr cantelever's property together with Dr Thompson.
Kouse couldn't believe all what happened in the last 5 minutes. It was all to surreal, so he chose not to believe it. 
'i am a free man?..I won't have to push those damn boulders again?.. I'll get to practice medicine yet again?'. these thoughts all rushed into Kouse's mind all at once and kept him occupied all through the way back to the clinic.

Mr cantelever motioned for Kouse to take a seat the moment they got into the clinic.
He signaled for one of the nurses to bring him food and the other to get a new set of clothes for Kouse. Just before Dr Thompson left to attend to a patient Kouse managed the words "Thank you".

30 minutes later, well fed and clothed. Kouse walked into the operating room to see Dr Thompson hands deep in a patient's chest backing Kouse. Without even a glance back he spoke up.

"She's suffered a sudden heart attack". Dr Thompson stopped talking for a moment "As a doctor, what are the questions you ask first".

Kouse only took a moment before he spoke up. "The first question is if she already has a history of heart attacks, what's her age?, Is she overweight?, was she found unconscious?, what were her previous treatments, if this isn't her face incident".

Dr Thompson continued operating on the patient without a moment's pause. "Good, now what do you think we're the signs the patient obviously ignored?".

"Strange Fatigue, severe pain in the chest, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, palpitation and hypertension". Kouse listed them out without taking a moment's pause himself.

Dr Thompson finally nodded obviously impressed. "Good, this patient's artery is blocked by 'plaque', what do you think I'm doing right now?".

Kouse took a moment to answer "You might be performing the 'Coronary angioplasty' procedure, your threading a baloon into the affected blood vessel and inflating it, pushing the plaque blocking the arteries to the sides of the vessel".

Dr Thompson burst into a wide smile. "Bravo!... alright your interview is over, and you passed".
Dr Thompson would look at Kouse for the first time. "Scrub in and join me Doctor K".

Kouse didn't need to be asked twice.

Jaya island. A mostly lawless place. Filled with mostly pirates. Some come here for a relatively safe place to relax and enjoy whatever fortune they acquired illegally. A relatively safe place far away from the influence of the much detested and troublesome marines. Although it was a gathering of pirates, they to the surprise of even themselves lived relatively peacefully. Everyone knew their place and didn't go looking for unnecessary trouble. It wasn't a pirates goal to go fighting other pirates for no good reason.

Both Kouse and Dr Thompson spent almost all day together. Since Thompson had bought him and set him free from the terrible Mr Cantilever, they had developed a truly close bond.
Kouse had never worked side by side with someone like Thompson. He was neither superior nor inferior in knowledge or ability to Kouse. They both shared information amongst each other equally and learnt from each other, and even sometimes competed against each other. The age difference between the two of them didn't affect them both. To both Kouse and Thompson, knowledge was all that mattered.

"...and........done!" kouse said as he finished stitching his patients chest.

"Too bad I finished a second before you" Thompson replied with a wry smile as he patted his own patient he just finished stitching.

Kouse smiled back "Alright, let's check each others work" he said as he walked over to Thompson's patient and inspected his work. It was flawless. "Nice job, I coulda' done better though".

"Well your work over here doesn't tell me so" Thompson replied "Nothing special in your stitches".

They both locked eyes for a moment, both trying their best to maintain a serious look before they both burst out laughing.
One of the nurses entered the room.

"A pirate with a head injury just got dragged in, do i tell them to bring him in right away?".

Both Kouse and Thompson's smiley faces immediately became serious. They almost always had serious problems handling head injuries. Partly why was due to the lack of the expensive and rare tools needed to conduct such operations. They lost most of their severe head injury cases.

"Bring him in right away" Mr Thompson spoke up.

Kouse immediately washed his hands and put on a pair of latex gloves.
The patient was carried in by other pirates, most likely his crew members and was dropped on the operating table per Thompson's instructions. He was passed out and bleeding from his head.

"What happened?" Kouse asked the pirates who brought him in.

"He got bashed on the head several times by a wooden club...damn fool wouldn't stop fighting until he passed out cold" one of the pirates answered.

"I recon he got wacked a few more times after he passed out" another pirate offered.

Kouse and Thompson shared a knowing look. Saving this guy would prove almost impossible.

30 minutes later, they both gave up. They neither had sufficient tools to operate nor the experience to do so, all knowledge gotten from medical books.
Kouse shook his head lightly. He knew he could save every single patient, if he made use of his devil fruit ability. But he hadn't still yet told Thompson and he didn't know if it would be safe for him to reveal his abilities without fully mastering it. He had been training secretly with every free time he had, which was mostly at night for the past two months he'd been with Thompson. The abilities of his devil fruit both amazed and shocked him. He could do so much more than operate on patient's without hurting them. He could create a light blue sphere where he could manipulate whatever he wanted within it. He could sense out the locations of anything within his light blue sphere, which he had decided to call ROOM. He could detect a flying insect as small as a fly from as far as 15 meters. He could also swap things positions. He could instantly swap the locations of a small rock with his shoe or scalpel as long as they were within his ROOM. He had tried swapping himself with other materials but he had been met with failure. Little by little, with every practice session he had, he could bring out ROOM faster and utilize his abilities much much quickly.

Kouse looked up at the pained look of Thompson. To Kouse's surprise, he had realized that Thompson hated losing each and every patient he worked on. He had long lost that feeling. He needed to practice harder and get fully acquainted to his abilities. He needed to begin using it to help out Thompson.

"We did all we could" Kouse said after a long silence "We simply don't have the means to properly operate on severe head injuries. Most of them come with brain bleed and we need to quickly cut through the hard skill to get to it. An equipment we don't have. We also need to actually operate on the sensitive brain and we also don't have the proper equipments for that".

Dr Thompson looked up and nodded "Yes we couldn't do any more than we already did....but it doesn't mean I still don't feel a sense of loss". 
With that Thompson walked out of the room.
Kouse followed suit soon after. 

Hours later, after the clinic was closed. Kouse went straight home. A small, two room apartment, in a very large and noisy building where dozens of such rooms were.

The moment Kouse entered his apartment he locked the door.
He immediately activated ROOM. It covered the entire apartment. He closed his eyes and concentrated. He instantly knew where everything was located. With a slight flick with his finger, the scalpel he was holding instantly swapped places with his tooth brush in the bathroom. With another flick, his scalpel was back in his hand.
Kouse opened his eyes. He walked Into his room and opened his safe and inspected the body parts he had severed from unsuspecting pirates about a week ago. 
An eye ball and an arm. He brought them out and inspected them. 
A wide smile crossed his face as he saw the eye ball was still alive and functioning. So was the arm. He had made a hypothesis that whatever part he cut off from a living person whilst he was in his ROOM would not die, even if separated from the host for a prolonged period of time...as long as the host themselves didn't. With this discovery, he could very well cut someone into pieces without actually killing them.
Kouse still smiling returned the parts back into his safe, making a mental note to return them to their owners tomorrow.
Kouse took a sit, with his ROOM still active.....he concentrated on several objects for some moments before his mind finally zeroed in on the table in the main room.
After a few seconds, Kouse opened his eyes and to his amazement he was in the main room and his table was inside his room. For the first time he had swapped himself.
"So all I needed to do was concentrate on something of similar mass before I could swap myself".

Hours later of continuous practice with his devil fruit abilities and after cleaning the sword Thompson had given him a while ago he laid down to sleep.

"Bam Bam!" The loud banging on his door snapped him back to focus.
He walked quickly to answer it and pick a fight with whoever would knock on his door this late at night.
But once he opened it, he knew there was problem.

"Dr K..... I'm... I'm so... sorry" the nurse stammered, panting heavily.

Kouse pulled her into his apartment trying to calm her down.
"What happened?" he asked even as he feared the answer.

"It's Dr Thompson........".

On hearing his name Kouse's body stiffened involuntarily.

".......Mr Cantilever's got him."

Techniques used:

3 weeks ago

"Alright Kouse I'm done stopping the bleeding" Dr Thompson said as he washed his hands "You stitch him up and hand him over to the nurses and meet me in my office".

Kouse nodded at him and began stitching just as Thompson left the room.
One of the nurses, Cindy who was around his age walked in. For the past month she'd been trying to get his attention but Kouse had paid her no mind and focused solely on assisting Dr Thompson in the hospital, he'd been used to attracting the ladies attention since his days at his home island. Ignoring the signs they gave discouraged most but a few were more aggressive and persistent. These were the toughest to handle and get rid of, and unfortunately for Kouse, Cindy fell into this category.

"Hey Doc K" Cindy said with a shy smile "How was the surgery?".

Kouse looked up "yeah it was good, Dr Thompson said I should hand him over to you".

At that moment the older nurse walked in "I can handle him...you two can leave if that is all".

Kouse nodded at her and walked out of the room. He wondered what Thompson wanted to speak with him with. The last time he was asked to come to his office was when he'd made a slight mistake in one of the surgeries they had and nearly caused the patient his life. No matter how hard Kouse thought, he couldn't think of any reason Dr Thompson would call him, he'd made no mistakes lately.

Cindy tapped Kouse on the shoulder "So do you have plans for lunch? I've got extra food and two plates".

Kouse's thoughts were disrupted "I have to meet Dr Thompson in his office, he sounded like it was urgent".

"How about tomorrow's lunch?".

"I'll be busy then too, hope you enjoy your lunch" with a quick and forced smile at Cindy he walked off.

The moment Kouse walked into Mr Thompson's office he noticed him admiring a bright red sword. It immediately caught Kouse's attention.
Thompson looked up from it and smiled at Kouse.
He passed the sword over to Kouse the moment he took a sit "Here take a closer look, ain't it a beauty?".
Kouse did and touched it slowly from the blade to the handle. It had a flat but sharp blade, that had an unusually long handle to make wielding it with both arms pretty easy. It was a long sword with a blade that was 3 feet and a handle of about equal length to the blade. In short it was a beauty of a sword.

"It's an ancient Japanese sword, passed down my family for the past century. My father gave me that sword when he was most proud of me" Dr Thompson said.

Kouse kept looking at the sword "Yeah, it's a beauty, just look at the blade, so -".

"I want you to have it" Dr Thompson spoke up suddenly.

Kouse's eyes shot upwards to look straight at Thompson, with his eyes widened. But before he could say anything Thompson continued.

"I have no family, talk less of a son to pass this on to, nor am I young enough to think about starting one" Thompson smiled at Kouse "But that doesn't mean I decided to give you the sword just because I have no other choice. This last two months we've shared together have been one of the best times of my life. You have been every bit a son as I could ever wish for, so please take it, it's yours".

Kouse listened quietly to all what Dr Thompson said to him and he understood what Thompson felt. Their time together reminded Kouse of his time with his father before he died, he had slowly but surely begun to see Thompson as a father as they worked side by side everyday.
With a nod Kouse accepted the gift "Thank you for the gift......" Kouse spoke quietly.
Memories of all what Dr Thompson had done for him flooded his memories. The time they first met after Kouse had just passed out from the sudden and vicious labor he was subjected to, Thompson treated him. Thompson was the first person to even notice him, other than as a 'no bounty half dead pirate'. He was the one who paid money from his own pocket to save Kouse from dying off of inhumane labour. He was the one who gave Kouse clothing,shelter and food and also gave him the chance to practice and improve his medical abilities, his ultimate goal in life.
Kouse didn't know when the tears came, it blurred his vision "......Thank you for everything".

Dr Thompson smiled at Kouse "Don't mention it.....son".


       Present time

"He's got him!...for what!" Kouse demanded from Cindy. The anger and fear that engulfed him made his body pop out goosebumps.

Cindy shook her head wildly, tears already dropping down her face.
"I don't know...I just heard an uproar outside and peeked through my window only to see Dr Thompson being dragged by a couple of Mr Cantilever's men".

Kouse flinched, with a flick of his finger the scalpel he was holding onto swapped positions with his sword.
"I'll get him back" Kouse said to a very surprised Cindy.

"How did you.....".

"I'll explain later, right now saving Dr Thompson comes first".

"He was bleeding Kouse....I could see the blood as they dragged him off" Cindy couldn't control the tears anymore and cried out.

Kouse couldn't hear or see her though, he was engulfed in fury, gripping his sword tightly he rushed out of his apartment and ran as fast as he could, straight for Mr Cantilever's home.

Kouse knew he would have to use his devil fruit abilities out in the open for the first time, once he did this, there was no coming back, he would surely attract the attention of several individuals once he showed his abilities, but all he could think of was if he was strong enough to save Dr Thompson from the hands of Mr Cantilever. Dr Thompson had saved his life, he would be damned if he didn't save his too.

Equipment:

Skunk, one of Mr Cantilever's men punched Dr Thompson in the face.

Mr cantilever took a sit and lighted a cigarette, took a long drag and exhaled slowly. "Well Thompson?, are you ready to finally answer my questions?," he took another long drag and exhaled. "Or do you prefer spending more quality time with skunk here?".

Dr Thompson simply kept staring at nothing in particular, dizzy and choosing not to reply.

"Ahh okay skunk, work him up some more" Cantilever said after Thompson refused to reply him.

As skunk approached Thompson brutally cracking his knuckles in the anticipation of using them on him, Thompson finally forced himself to speak. "I didn't Know he was one of your men when he stumbled into my clinic for medical attention, nor did I know he was running from you".

Cantilever approached Thompson slowly, a smile on his face now.

"oh, you didn't know did you?." Cantilever waited until Thompson nodded. "Drag out the nurse".

Cindy's elder partner was roughly dragged out. She too had been beaten up. Clothes turn, face bruised and bleeding, her right eye swollen shut.

Cantilever walked up to her and spoke politely "Alright sweetheart, tell us what you know". 

Without so much as a glance in Thompson's direction she began telling the whole story. How Cantilever's man had stumbled into the clinic, bleeding and disoriented. How they had all in the clinic instantly identified him as being associated with Cantilever. How both she and Cindy had asked Thompson not to get involved.

"But he did, didn't he?," said Cantilever.

"Yes he did," the nurse answered "not only did he treat him but he took him in, fed him and hid him from Mr cantilever until you stopped searching for him, and also paid for his escape from this island".

Cantilever smiled at the nurse and turned to look at Thompson who still knelt down, bleeding and not moving.
"Now before we go any further, let's get one thing straight. The man who you helped wasn't one of my men, but a pirate slave I bought. Hell, why would I search the whole town for just a rogue pirate?, replacing one of my bodyguards is the easiest thing to do here in mock town where jobless and desperate pirates can be found in every corner."

Cantilever stepped close to Thompson and gripped his broken jaw painfully "You very well knew he was a runaway pirate slave of mine, yet you helped him!?, everyone in this town knows you turn a blind eye to my business and property and we all live peacefully".

Cantilever let go of Thompson's jaw. "Disgusting, I hate getting my hands dirty" said Cantilever as he wiped it clean on his handkerchief, "You know I'll have to tell skunk to kill you now, right?"

Thompson finally moved his head to look straight up at Cantilever's face. He smiled then spat a mixture of blood and saliva straight into it.

Thompson knew this was him signing his death warrant, but since he was going to get killed anyway, why not a last act of defiance towards Cantilever?.

Cantilever said nothing as he backed away, obviously in disgust, frantically wiping away at his face with his handkerchief. Without even a final command from Cantilever, skunk walked slowly towards Thompson with a metal bat.

Thompson's smile remained intact as his vision became too blurry to see, but not before he saw the massive metal bat skank dragged along as he approached him. 'so I'll be bludgeoned to death' he thought 'not how i was expecting to die'. Thompson managed a chuckle that quickly turned Into a grunt of pain as his stomach had previously been repeatedly slammed by skunks fists. His eyesight soon became to blurry for him to see, so he closed his eyes and took a deep breath just as skunks footsteps stopped right beside him. 
"Goodbye, Dr Thompson" he heard skunk mutter beside him and he could almost imagine him raising the metal bat above his head, ready to smash him with it. He held his breath and waited for the life ending blow......but instead of that, he heard the bat fall to the ground and loud gasps of surprise from Cantilever's men. Thompson didn't open his eyes though, until he heard Cantilever's shocked voice.

"He...hello there Kouse, how may I he..help you?."

The first thing Thompson saw the moment he opened his eyes was a shell shocked skunk, holding his own decapitated right arm, the arm which was just holding the metal bat. 
      
The next thing he saw was what surprised him even more. Thompson saw Kouse, holding the red sword he had given him, pointing it straight at Cantilever, with his other hand holding the decapitated head of one of Cantilever's men. 

But when said decapitated head spoke, Thompson wasn't so sure anymore,  whether he was really alive or dead.

Technique used:

Kouse rushed into Cantilever's estate. Several buildings of various sizes were located on either side of the road leading up to the main house, where he knew Cantilever held Thompson. As Kouse ran through the street, he noticed the barn where he was kept months ago by cantilever when he was still his property and knew dozens of pirates slept there, even right now, awaiting another day of intense labour. But Kouse tore his eyes off of the barn and quickened his steps further, he hadn't come for them after all, and it wouldn't do good to be sidetracked, he didn't know how much time Thompson had or if he was even still alive.

"Hey you!, stop right there!". The first of Cantilever's men on patrol to see Kouse yelled. 

Kouse hardly spared him a glance as he activated ROOM and proceeded to decapitate his head with a simple swish of his sword. He stopped for a moment to pick the decapitated head up, he looked at the shocked face of the guard and smiled, his devil fruit ability was working perfectly.

Kouse held onto the head with one hand and his sword with the other as he pushed open the door to Cantilever's home. What he saw sent a shiver down his spine. He saw about a dozen pirates in a circle and Cantilever, skunk and a bleeding Thompson in the middle. But what scared Kouse the most, was at the sight of skunk with a metal base bat raised over the head of a motionless Thompson, ready to strike him with it. Fortunately for Kouse, he was still unnoticed by everyone in the room.

Kouse immediately activated ROOM, luckily for him, his maximum range covered the entire room. With a quick slash of his sword, the arm with which skunk held the metal bat got cut clean off at the elbow. 
'That'll get their attention alright' Kouse thought.
The look of shock on skunk's face would have made Kouse laugh if the current situation wasn't so dire, the look on Cantilever's face was even more priceless. Kouse looked straight at Thompson even as everyone in the entire room looked at him like he was a ghost. Kouse saw Thompson's eyes finally open. 'He's not dead!...good, that's good'. 

"Boss boss!... he's got a weird ability, he's a monster!".

Kouse finally looked away from Thompson and at the severed head he carried, he then tossed it at Cantilever. "Catch" said Kouse.

Cantilever didn't move a muscle and let the head bounce off the table beside him and hit the floor, whilst the severed head gave several grunts of pain.
The shocked look on Cantilever's face quickly changed, his usual smile covered his face.

"Kouse my boy, who would have known you had such an.... interesting ability. You've positively surprised me. Did you have this ability even while you were under my care?. Seeing as you didn't kill us all, I'm guessing you're not one for unnecessary killing?" Cantilever spoke quickly "I'm also a man who dislikes unnecessary violence, don't you want to know what caused this unfortunate situation?".

As Cantilever kept ranting on, Kouse's eyes turned to look back at Thompson. The top half of his shirt was soaked red with blood, both eyes red and blood shut, he was bleeding through his mouth and nose, and more blood trickled down his fore head.

"I don't care" said Kouse.
Without even a warning, Kouse gave a quick sideways slash of his sword, instantly decapitating Cantilever's legs.

The dozen or so guards cantilever had in a circle all stood still, not doing anything, even as skunk yelled at them to attack. They were pirates after all, and weren't ready to fight someone who's ability they didn't understand. Not like they cared for Cantilever enough to risk their lives. Apparently, skunk was different.

He picked up the metal bat with his other arm and looked straight at Kouse, his eyes screaming anger and madness. He snarled at the still unmoving guards around him.

Kouse didn't wait for skunk to make the first move. He decided to take the fight to skunk. 
He deactivated ROOM.

Kouse approached skunk slowly, holding his sword with his right arm. Skunk held his bat with both arms and began walking towards Kouse. Once they got within 4-5 meters of each other, Skunk jumped forward, swinging his bat straight down, aiming to hit Kouse on the head, effectively ending the fight with one blow. Kouse anticipated this move and quickly sidestepped to right, sending a quick slash to skunks left knee and jumped back, giving skunk some distance.
Skunk yelled in pain and clutched his knee. He turned to face Kouse and tried rushing his target, but stumbled when his knee gave out.
Kouse smiled wickedly, this was the first time he tasted a one on one fight to the death with someone. On seeing skunk couldn't charge him any longer, Kouse helped him out, by charging him instead.
Kouse dodged the powerful but slow swing from skunk yet again and slashed skunks right knee this time.

Skunk was unable to remain standing and started falling backwards. Kouse reached out with his left arm and caught skunk by holding onto his shirt. Using the sword in his right hand, he stabbed skunk straight through the stomach, burying the sword deep into him, from tip to hilt. Not once, twice, but three times before letting him go. Skunks body hit the floor, bleeding out and lifeless.

Kouse without even sparing the body another look, turned to Thompson and did a quick medical check up. Kouse was relieved, he had sustained no life threatening injuries. 

Finally, Kouse turned his attention to the guards still quietly watching.
"If you all are not going to fight for him," Kouse pointed at Cantilever who was now trying to escape by desperately crawling "I suggest you leave".

Kouse didn't need to say it twice, the entire room became empty quickly.
"You had one loyal pirate, one out of a dozen who was willing to give his life, protecting yours," Kouse said as he walked towards Cantilever's now stationary body "More than I expected, I didn't think anyone would die to save yours...a stupid decision by skunk if you asked me, you're not worth a dogs life".

Cantilever finally found his voice "I built something here in this pathetic town. A business, and I made a name for myself, I've acquired money and power, I've lived an accomplished life. You might have gotten a cool new ability, but you're still a nobody, no one outside mock town knows you. You're still insignificant, and will remain that way, even after killing me".

"Ha ha" Kouse couldn't help but laugh. "Who said anything about killing you?. I've single handedly defeated you, your so called power is no more, even as we speak, all your properties are being looted by your own men. You can't blame them though, you're already dead to them after all, so why should I kill you?".

"Kouse, it doesn't have to end this way, I have - ". Cantilever tried pleading.

"All I need from you is the exact time you'll be receiving the next shipments of pirate slaves from the Marines".

Cantilever was taken aback by this request for a second, but replied quickly.
"I'm expecting him....Next two weeks"

Kouse quickly cut into pieces, both of Cantilever's already decapitated legs. He Turned away and began walking towards an unconscious Thompson. "Thanks for the information".

Kouse picked up Thompson with some effort and carried him out the door.
"You can crawl your way back into power Mr Cantilever, this is goodbye". 

Techniques used:

Thompson couldn't stop himself from asking even as he got piggybacked by Kouse. "So, your ability....it's from a devil fruit right?."

"Yeah" Kouse replied as he walked down the path, leading to the exit of Thompson's estate. He smiled as he noticed a couple of buildings already on fire. "Pirates will always be pirates I guess."

Thompson glanced at the burning buildings and nodded. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure their dividing up Cantilever's valuables right now, you taking away both his legs is kinda worse than killing him." He glanced at Kouse as he said this and saw the smile on his face widen.

"Wow, Kouse...don't tell me you did that on purpose?. Take away a pirates influence and power, take away his belongings, and finally...take away his ability to regain those things. Truly brutal, and he deserved it."
Kouse didn't say anything as he kept on walking, he was by now halfway through the estate.

"Alright Kouse, tell me how you acquired your devil fruit" Thompson continued "I know you didn't get it while you were working for me, and I can guess you didn't also get it while you were with Cantilever, you must have gotten it before you even got to mock town....so, start talking."

Kouse sighed, he knew Thompson wouldn't drop it unless he told him what he wanted to hear.
"Alright, I'll tell you everything, but first let's get out of here" said Kouse.

"I can work with that, then we'll --"

"Yo!, Dr Thompson, wait up!." Three of Cantilever's men ran towards them, right from a building they had just burned down. "Hey, I'm known as dovey," the one who called out said, "And these are Sammy and Saki," he said whilst pointing to the two others standing beside him.

Kouse stopped walking and looked closely at the three of them. All three had short black hair and pale blue eyes. 'were they all brothers?' Kouse thought.

Dovey looked at Kouse, "Damn, that was some crazy shit you pulled, kicked skunks ass like he was as useless as saki of here," he said as he pointed at one of his brothers whilst adjusting a huge bag he carried over his shoulders, his other two brothers also carried one each.

Saki spoke up "Shut up dovey....and the way you took down Cantilever?..damn spectacular."

"Well as you can probably guess already, the rest of Cantilever's men have all left, also not before ransacking the place and taking all of Cantilever's movable and valuable shit, even the enslaved pirates were all released, although none of them thought about taking something." Sammy added.

Dovey took up the conversation, "Yeah, I guess they were too eager to get the hell outta this hell hole as fast as possible." Dovey dropped the bag he was holding in front of both Kouse and Thompson. "But we didn't all leave before agreeing to leave a piece of the loot to you, Kouse...or should I say Doctor K?".

"It's filled with money bro, after a little argument, we decided to give you most of the cash we gathered, and judging by the substantial weight, I'm guessing it's a whole lot." Sammy said.

Saki spotted Kouse's sword. "Nice sword you have there, damn!, I wish I had one."

"What's a damn weak fool like you wanna do with a sword?" dovey laughed at saki as he picked back up the bag he dropped. "I'll carry this for you, i see you've got your hands full carrying Thompson...and don't worry, we all got our money's worth by taking valuable items."

"Damn valuable, just take a look at this dagger bro, you see the diamonds on the handle?". Sammy said as they all started walking towards the front gate.

Kouse shared a glance with Thompson. He didn't think there was any problem accepting the money they gave them both, or any problem with them escorting them both to the clinic. Thompson did need a little medical attention, maybe a lot of painkillers first of all.

"Thanks for the money." said Kouse.

Thompson spoke up, "Are you three, brothers?."

"yeah" they all said in unison. "Triplets yo," Dovey finished.

They all walked in silence until they were out of Cantilever's estate and at the clinics doorstep.

"Well, we'll be going now, thanks for getting rid of both skunk and Cantilever, those two brothers were half crazy," Dovey said as he dropped the bag of money.

Kouse raised his eyebrows in surprise, no wonder Skunk was so loyal to Cantilever when the others were happily willing to let him go down.

"I didn't kill him though," Kouse replied.

The three brothers all froze up for a moment. "I think I didn't hear you properly, did you just say, you didn't kill Cantilever?!". Saki asked, already visibly panicking.

"I used my devil fruit ability to cut off both his legs without causing him any fatal injuries, then I destroyed both legs. Then i just left him there, I wonder how long it'll take him to crawl his way out of his estate". Kouse knocked on the door, 'Cindy should be in' Kouse thought.

"Damn, that's some wicked shit bro," Sammy said.

"Dude woulda preferred getting killed... he's got lots of enemies all round mock town." Saki added.

Dovey smiled, "Yep, he's gonna get Killed once word gets out he's now nothing....so tell me Dr K, how exactly did you acquire your amazing abilities?" Dovey asked.

The moment he asked that Cindy opened the door and rushed an uncomfortable looking Thompson, hugging him tight.

Kouse sighed, it was right about time he finally told someone about how he got his devil fruit.

"Okay then, I'll tell you all, but after Thompson gets properly taken care of, everyone come in." Kouse invited everyone into the clinic.

Several minutes later, after Thompson had been properly taken care of by Cindy and everyone was relaxed, Kouse began telling his long awaited story.

"It all started when I was nearly killed......." Kouse took a sip of hot tea. "........by mushrooms."

"Yeah, that might be a little unexpected but it's true." Kouse began his story, "It happened just a week after I became a pirate, before I got captured by the marines. Before my best friend Mako got killed. It was the first island we docked at after I joined. My first, and it was beautiful".


*Flashback*

"Island right ahead!" the crews navigator and also the second in command, Gavi , Yelled out so everyone on the ship would hear him.

Kouse stood right beside Mako on the deck, admiring the sea and it's  sheer beauty. The afternoon light warmed the ship sails, even as they worked to propel the ship forward with the help of the light but salty sea breeze. The white sea gulls gathered around the sails, flying about in a circular manner, showing evidence that they were approaching land. 

"The sea is a beautiful place." Kouse breathed out as he took a quick sip of hot tea. "I can understand why you've dedicated your life to riding the seas."

Mako turned to look at Kouse. "Yeah, once you get hooked by the sea, it's for life." He took a long drag on his cigarette and let the smoke out slowly. "Let's get off and get the materials we need."

Once the entire crew assembled on deck, everyone who needed to acquire essential items and materials that were required for survival were given the funds they required to purchase whatever they needed. The cook went first. He announced they needed to completely restock their food reserves, cause they were almost all out. Mako nodded and gave him the amount he requested.
Mako then turned to look at Kouse and waited for him to speak.

'Damn, already forgot I was the doctor on this ship now,' Kouse thought.
"Umm I'll need to restock some essential medical supplies, although were not yet completely out, it won't hurt to do so. Also I have a list of items to acquire to make some potions I have in mind." Kouse finished.

Mako handed over the funds Kouse requested. Then the shipwright had a go, then finally gavi, the navigator. Anyone who didn't have a specialty skill paired up with those who did and everyone went their separate ways after Mako announced they should all be back after 4hours. 
Mako decided to pair up with Kouse as they all entered the island.

Kouse went straight for the market, with his long list of items to acquire. He knew he wouldn't be able to get them all, it was highly unlikely a small island as this would have all he needed. 

After a few hours, Kouse had gotten as much as he could with what was available on the island and was ready to leave.

"we've still got some time to spare, let's get something to eat." Mako said to Kouse as he spotted an eatery nearby.

Kouse hesitated for just a moment but quickly agreed. He was hungry too. 

A female in grey clothing approached them once they entered and asked what they'll be having after handing them both the very limited menu.
Kouse looked over it and quickly chose. "I'll have the mushroom soup, thanks."

"And I'll have pancakes."

The waiter nodded at their orders and rushed off. 
After a few minutes of waiting, both their meals were brought by the waiter, with a cup of water.

Kouse's plate was steaming hot. He took a full spoon of mushroom soup and after blowing it a little, took a big bite and swallowed. It tasted really good, so he made short work of the food.

Minutes later, as both Kouse and Mako walked back to the ship, Kouse felt a sharp pain in his stomach. He shook it off and kept walking, but the pain came back moments later, worse than before and again. Soon the pain was unbearable.

"Wait a second Mako." Kouse said, his face contorted in pain. "I have to sit down a little, I think I'm gonna be sick." 

Mako caught and held Kouse once he started standing shakily, after a few minutes Kouse passed out. Mako immediately carried him to the only clinic on the island.

Kouse woke up hours later only to vomit right into the face of the doctor who was standing over him before passing out, again.

Hours later Kouse, now awake looked up to see Mako speaking with the doctor.

"Your friend ingested large amounts of  poisonous mushrooms, if you hadn't brought him here so soon, he would already be dead." The doctor noticed Kouse looking at them. "He's awake, he'll have to stay here for at least a day to properly detox him."

Mako nodded at the doctor and with a few words to Kouse to get better soon left for the boat. They were already several hours late and he didn't want the crew to panic.

"You won't believe how close you were from dying, that cursed eatery won't stop serving poisonous things to customers, too cheap to get quality ingredients." The doctor said, "oh where are my manners, I'm known as Sam".

"I'm Kouse." 

Sam took sit beside Kouse's bed. "So, What brings to my island, Kouse."

"Just looking for medical supplies."

Sam looked at Kouse's bag. "I've seen the list of items you made." Sam asked, "Are you a doctor?."

Kouse nodded.

"And your a pirate, tell me your story."

Kouse sighed. "It's a long one." he said, reluctant on telling a stranger his life story. But whether it was because said stranger was also a doctor or that the saved his life, Kouse agreed to tell him.

A quarter of an hour later, Kouse finished telling Sam all about his time on his home island and why he chose to become a pirate and how he became one.

"That some story." Sam said, "I'm a really old man, in case you haven't noticed, I've not got much longer to live nor do I have any relatives that are left alive, and your insatiable thirst of medical knowledge was also what I chased after while I was young." Sam stretched a little. "I didn't do so though and returned to continue running the clinic once my father died and never left to this day. I didn't have the guts to leave, but you had, I respect that." 

Sam went into a room and came back shortly with a red heart shaped looking fruit on a plate.
"Here, take a bite, it's really tasty."

Kouse hesitated for just a moment before he reached out and picked up the fruit. He had never seen a fruit like it before.

"I hope it's not also poisonous, don't want to be poisoned twice in a day." Kouse joked as he took a big bite out of the fruit, it tasted good, so he took another, until he finished it completely.
"Thanks...is there more?".

Sam laughed a little before replying. "Nope, it's just the one." Sam added, "Okay you need to rest up, until tomorrow when your friend comes to pick you up."

"Thanks again, for everything Sam, until tomorrow." Kouse said as he watched Sam leave. Once Sam was gone, Kouse closed his eyes and slept off. He couldn't have known, that that was the last time he would ever see Sam.

Kouse opened his eyes to see the face of Gavi smiling down on him. A surprised Kouse yelled at Gavi to step back.

"C'mon Gavi, give him some room." Mako warned.

Kouse sat up. "Wait, where am I?" Kouse asked.

"You're On the ship, we left the island behind hours ago. The doctor said we shouldn't wake you up so we didn't." Mako asked. "I hope you're feeling better?."

Kouse nodded at mako. He was feeling much better. He picked up his bag and unloaded all the medical supplies he had bought.
Kouse noticed a piece of paper in his bag that didn't belong to him. He picked it up and looked at it, there were writings on it, so he carefully read it.


'Hey Kouse, I believe when you'll be reading this letter, you'll already be out at Sea and away from the island. I Know you're feeling better, I've cured lots of mushroom poisoning here and I'm pretty confident of my abilities. Also, the fruit you ate was infact a devils fruit, I believe you've heard of it. I'm not going to apologise for not telling you before taking it. I hope it helps you in your future adventures. Goodbye.'


Kouse couldn't quite believe what he had just read. 'A devil fruit?...he gave me a precious devil fruit just like that?'.
Kouse didn't believe it. He decided to believe it only when he could actually use said devil fruit. He carefully folded the note and put it back in his bag and went about sorting the medical supplies he got. 
'Nobody needs to know about this.' Kouse thought.

Mako sat down beside Kouse. "I thought you were going to die for a moment there, a sure close call." He said as he tapped Kouse lightly on his back. "Not a  good start, but let's continue exploring the world. You're still in right?"

Kouse looked straight through his cabin window at the blue sky, just as a cluster of birds flew past. "Yes Mako, were just getting started."


*Present*

Kouse finished his story just as he finished his 3rd cup of hot tea.

"Damn lucky you bro, wish someone would gimme a dope devil fruit." Saki spoke up after an awkward silence.

"What an unexpected story Kouse." Cindy added.

"Yeah, I guess it is." Kouse said.

"What now Kouse?." Dovey asked suddenly, "What are your future plans?, with what you've just told us, you won't be staying here much longer."

Kouse glanced at Thompson and saw the disappointed look on his face. He too had realized Kouse wouldn't be staying here for long.

"I still have something important to do before I leave." Said Kouse as he stood up. "I still have to get revenge for Mako.........I still have to kill the marine Captain."

Devil fruit:

The marine ship sailed gracefully through the seas. It had four sails, two in front and two behind, with six cannons on either side. Although it was in tip top condition and was a beauty, it was still only what was referred to as a 'standard marine ship'. And this was one of the things that made the captain of said ship frustrated.

Drak had always wanted to one day command one of the bigger marine ships, which were known as 'battle ships'. Ever since the day Drak had sailed on one of those ships, he'd always wanted to one day take command of one of them, but unfortunately, only rear and vice admirals could do so. He was much younger then, an ensign who was still green behind his ears and didn't know how the world works. 28 years later, after giving his all, he was only still just a captain. He was 51yrs old now, his best years way behind him, he knew he was stuck. He had come to terms that this was his limit in life. That he would never achieve his lifelong ambitions. He saw himself as a failure and because of that, he took his frustration out on the pirates he hunted down. 
Captain Drak drove his crew to the ground, hunting pirates around the world mercilessly, he jumped at every opportunity to go after them. He had done this for so long that even he simply thought he was doing so just to keep the world safe.
He at least had been honest all through his career, until he got information that he could sell the weak pirates he captured, who didn't either have a bounty or a high enough one for good sums of money on Jaya island. A Drak of a couple of years back would never had sunk to such a level but he was a man who didn't have a goal in life anymore, so he had decided to live whatever life he had left in luxurious comfort. With the meager salary he received, he had to resort to some illegal activities to acquire the funds to live a luxury filled life when he finally retired, and what better way to do that than to sell the pirates off. 

Drak had now been personally delivering shipments of pirates to Jaya island for three years. His client was a pirate named Cantilever. Drak never asked what he used the pirates he gave him for, all he wanted was his money and he was back on his way. His entire crew took a part of the cut and kept quiet about it to other marines, needless to say they were also corrupt.

"C'mon Floyd, open up that last sail, we need to get to Jaya island to drop off this latest batch of pirates in three days time, you know that prick, Cantilever doesn't like it when we deliver them late."

"Will do boss." Floyd quickly untied the sail and moments later, winds blew into it, instantly increasing the ships speed.

Drak walked into his cabin and bolted the door. He then took out a book, where he keeps track of how many trips he had taken to Jaya, how many pirates he had delivered, how much he was paid for each delivery and how much he currently had saved.

'That prick, Cantilever's getting a little cocky with his payments' Drak thought when he realized that Cantilever had little by little and with every shipment, had been reducing the amount he paid.
Drak took out a bottle of wine, popped open the cork and took a long drink straight from the bottle.
'I'll have to drive up the amount Cantilever pays to meet up to my targets.' Drak though.
'Mr cantilever, get ready to pay big.' Drak smiled, he could almost see himself retired, with several honors for his lifelong service in the Marines and more importantly, the mansion he would live in. 
Drak took another long drink, 'This would be a good week, I'm sure of that.'




After Kouse's announcement to kill 'the marine captain.' The entire room became quiet for a moment. Everyone had been taken by surprise, killing a marine, talk less a marine captain wasn't something that could be done easily or lightly. First of, killing a captain was difficult. Secondly, a pirate who kills a marine captain could bring the wrath of the marines upon himself.

Thompson was the first to speak up. "I understand your decision Kouse, I too think he deserves to be killed, and whatever you decide to do, I'll support you the best I can."

Kouse never knew the support of someone could make him feel so good. He held back his feelings though and gave Thompson a nod.

Dovey spoke up. "Actually 'The marine captain's' name is Drak, he is regarded as 'The model pirate hunter."'

"Yeah, he is seen as a hero to the Marines. They obviously don't know what a damn evil individual he is." Saki said, "Although we worked for Mr cantilever, a man who did business regularly with him, we always hated his guts."

Sammy cleared his throat before talking. "Kouse, when he comes, how do you plan on killing him. He'll come with his standard crew, and I'm sure they'll all protect him with their lives. Moreover he's powerful, not someone you can beat without having a brutal fight and possibly a prolonged fight with."

Kouse hadn't thought of all this yet, he didn't have the experience to do so. All he could see was Mako getting shot and him killing 'The marine captain'. It dawned on Kouse that if he had kept his plan to himself, like he had wanted to and carried it out himself, he would have most likely been killed. Also Kouse realised he had no smart response to give.
After a few moments of silence, with everyone silently waiting for Kouse to speak up, Dovey did.

"Well then there is just one solution here."

Kouse turned to look at Dovey and asked. "And what might that be?."

Dovey glanced at both his brothers. "We and the other pirates who you either saved from Cantilever, or hates Drak's guts, will help you take him and his crew down."

Kouse could almost literally feel his shoulders lighten. He felt relieved. He turned to look at Cindy who'd been quiet throughout the meeting.

"What about you Cindy?." Kouse asked.

Cindy looked startled by the question, she hadn't expected Kouse to ask, but she recovered quickly. "Although I'm useless as a fighter, I'm with you all the way Kouse."

Kouse nodded at her with a smile. "Alright then, since we all in here have come to an agreement," Kouse stood up and placed both his hands ontop the table.

"Let's go hunt us a marine captain."

The little girl ran as fast as she could with her little legs to meet her father who sat down reading a newspaper. 

"Daddy, daddy," she called out as she ran up to him. "See what I found." She said as she held up a coin to him. Her smile, so innocent, showed the purity of being a child. At the tender age of 5, all Camilla needed to be happy was the presence of her dad. Her mother had died whilst giving birth to her and her father never remarried. But today, he was back home from his long travels and she didn't think of how long he would stay this time, she just enjoyed the time she had with him.
Camilla's long brown hair were made into two ponytails behind her back, complete with purple ribbons, her best colour. She looked up at her father, his smile always made her even happier, and he was smiling at her right now. He spoke to her, and his voice was filled with kindness and love. She got to where he was sitting and sat on his lap. She hardly sat on a chair when he was around, she preferred being close to him as much as possible.

Drak loved his daughter and couldn't get enough of her, he saw her smile at him and he smiled back, calling her over and inviting her to sit on his lap. Being an only parent, one who hardly was at home, had been difficult for both he and Camilla. So anytime he was home, he tried his best to spend as much time as possible with his daughter, before he had to leave home again.

"See, it's a coin!" Camilla said excitedly as she handed the coin to her father.

Drak took it and looked closely at it. "It's a little old, a nice find Camilla."

"Thanks daddy, I'll like to be an excavator one day." she took it back and continued admiring it. "What are you looking at?."

Drak showed the page he was reading to his daughter, it was a picture of a mansion with a beautiful view of the Sea. "That's where we'll move to when I retire, do you like it?."

"Yes dad!" Camilla's eyes sparkled as she looked at the picture. "But I hope you'll stay home for another week." Camilla said as her expression changed slightly, sadness began to creep in.

Drak caressed her cheek lightly. "Don't worry, it won't be long until I'm done and retired. Then we'll spend as much time together as possible." He continued "I promise, this will soon be over."

At that moment his second in command, Tyrone walked in.
"Sorry to interrupt you sir, but it's time to leave, we have an urgent task at hand."

Drak almost flinched at the way Camilla's expression changed. She looked at her coin quietly, turning it over and over, silent.

"I'm sorry cami, I have to go, I'll be back as soon as I can." Drak slowly lifted her off his lap and held her close in a tight hug as he stood up. "I love you cami".

He could feel her body shaking slightly and he knew she was in tears. "Promise me." She said, her voice muffled with her face pressed into Drak's chest.

"Promise what?." Drak whispered softly.

She finally looked up, staring straight into Drak's eyes, tear streaks were visible on her face.
"Promise you'll come back."

Drak could help but smile at her. She never asked for much but the bare minimum. 'Come back home'

"I promise." Drak said as he slowly and reluctantly dropped her. 

Drak walked away with Tyrone when he heard he turned at waved at Camilla.

"See you soon!". They both said in unison.




Kouse laughed out as Mako tried performing a magic trick and failed horribly. He'd always enjoyed magic tricks and had been practicing on it. He wasn't any good, but that didn't stop him.

"Why don't you give it a try Kouse?" Mako said, "You never know, you might have the talent for it."

Kouse finally stopped laughing. "No thanks, I'm good just seeing others do it. Besides it takes way too much effort to learn. You've spent countless hours practicing on it and your only 'this' good."

Mako shrugged his shoulders and put his hand over Kouse's shoulders. They both stood there, standing side by side, taking in the gentle warm ray of the morning sun. Kouse closed his eyes, soaking in everything around him. The ship was bustling with life,two dozen pirates all going about doing their various tasks.
Kouse felt something wet beneath his feet. He looked down to see the deck soaked in blood. Startled he called out.

"Mako you seeing this?" 
There was no reply. Kouse turned and looked at Mako, but his friend was no longer by his side. He turned around, to face the ship and saw motionless bodies all around the deck, soaked in blood. He staggered backward, severe shock clogging up his throat, making him unable to shout out. 
He then saw Mako at the other side of the ship waving at him. Kouse slightly relieved, rushed forward to meet Mako but stopped after only a few steps. He could see a hole on the middle of Mako's head even as he waved at him. A thin trickle of blood flowed down from it.
Kouse blinked and Captain Drak appeared behind Mako, holding his neck from behind, whilst laughing hysterically.

"Please Save me Kouse," Mako pleaded with both his hands stretched out to Kouse.
Kouse couldn't help but rush forward. "I'm coming Mako!".
Just before Kouse got to him, Mako vanished and Drak grabbed Kouse's throat instead, tightening his grip,choking him. Kouse tried to pull away Drak's death hold on him, but Drak's hands felt like rocks, powerful and unmovable.
"Your weak Kouse... nothing worse than a pirate that cannot protect himself....or his friends...Mako died because of your incompetence. Thompson will die too, Cindy also. Why? because you are a weakling!"


Kouse jumped out of bed, he was covered in sweat. His entire body shook with the effects of the nightmare he'd just had. The nightmares had started 5 days ago. Becoming more and more vivid with every passing day. Tonight's ordeal was by far the worst. 
Kouse knew he wouldn't be able to fall back to sleep, so instead took his sword and walked outside to continue his training.

Over the past few weeks, the three brothers, Saki,Sammy and Dovey had gone around mock town secretly spreading the news about the taking down of the much hated Drak. Kouse was pleasantly surprised at the amount of pirates who agreed to join him in his fight against Drak. All of Cantilevers former men also agreed to join him. 

Captain Drak's much anticipated arrival was tomorrow afternoon. All possible preparations had been done. All that was left was for everyone to have a good night's rest. 

Blood would flow freely soon.

It was exactly noon when Draki docked his ship at mocktown. He took a careful look around before stepping on land, with his naked eyes and then with a pair of binoculars, but he could see nothing amiss. 
Except for the lack of Cantilever and his men, rushing up to meet him at the dock to complete the transaction, as they had previously agreed to and had done several times before. This was the first time Cantilever had failed to meet up with him the moment he arrived at the dock and Draki didn't like it.

"Tyrone," Draki called his second in command. "Cantilevers absence is unexpected, and since we don't have the time to wait until he arrives, we'll be moving into town."

Tyrone nodded at his Captain's words. "I agree sir, every moment longer we spend here, the greater the risk. But I suggest we take as much protection as possible, this is a pirate infested town afterall."

"Agreed. With our total crew numbering 120, we'll take 100 of them with us into the town, with the rest staying back to protect the ship." Draki said as he took his sword from the table. "Tell them all to be armed and prepared, we're taking no chances."

Several minutes later, Draki and Tyrone, with their crew numbering 100 entered mock town. Draki had expected a cry of alarm and surprise from the pirates around, panic, chaos and even a few attacks, but nothing happened. The it thing they received were malicious stares.

'Where the hell is that bastard Cantilever!, he should have surely heard about our arrival.' Draki thought angrily.

At that moment a single, unarmed pirate walked up to them. Draki instantly recognized him as one of Cantilever's underlings. He stopped a fair distance away.

"Mr Cantilever sent me to give you his apologies. He couldn't meet you at the dock today because he is sick and bedridden and he knew you wouldn't do any deals if it wasn't to him directly. He also said he'll add a little bonus for the inconveniences."

Draki snarled at the pirate. "It better be a substantial amount, or this will be the last time we do business together. Go ahead and tell him that."

The pirate nodded and told Draki the directions to Cantilever's estate before running ahead.

"I don't like this Captain, I suggest we remain just as cautious of any attacks as we've been and proceed to the estate with all our soldiers still with us."

"I agree." Draki said "Let's go get this over with."


4 hours ago


"So this is the plan we all finally agreed on." Thompson said.

Dovey nodded. "Damn right it is. Hate that I'll be the messenger though."

"Hope it works." Cindy chimed in.

"It damn well better, I ain't dying today." Saki said.

"It's the best we could think of." Said Sammy.

Kouse put his hands on the round table the six of them were gathered around, going through the short but crucial and well thought of plan. 
Said plan comprised of them ambushing Captain Draki and his crew from three different sides. They all knew that he had the advantage in numbers, so they made sure to take effective use of their own advantage which was......surprise.

A surprise attack from multiple directions simultaneously, made winning a fight with less numbers very possible. With the tireless work of the pirate brothers, spreading the word about the upcoming assassination around mock town, they had successfully gathered exactly 55 pirates to help with the fight. That made it a total fighting force of 60 pirates when including everyone in the room, excluding cindy who didn't have any fighting skills.

It had been agreed that both brothers, Saki and Sammy would team up to form team 1. Thompson and Dovey would form team 2, then Kouse would form team 3.
Each team had varying numbers allocated to them. Team 1, the largest had 25 pirates, and including both leaders 27.
Team 2 were given 20 pirates. 22 when both leaders were included.
Last but certainly the most important, Team 3 were given 10 pirates. 11 including Kouse.

"Well it's too late to try changing it anymore, so we'll be going with it." Kouse spoke up. "Team 1 will attack first and from behind. Team 2 will give it a few seconds before joining in the attack, by the time team 2 attacks, the entire marine crew will be facing team 1, then they attack the Marines from behind again. This will divide the marine crew into two, with both sides facing opposite directions. Finally, I with my little group will attack that little pocket of space in the middle of the marine soldiers, caused by the confusion." Kouse finished.

Thompson continued. "Even with all this planning, were still going to be outnumbered, so it'll still be a close and bitter fight with lots of casualties."

"That's no problem, everyone who agreed to join this fight know their risking their lives....they all have some good reason to want Draki dead." said Dovey.

Kouse nodded at this. "Good, let's all go join our various teams, it's time to take our positions and wait for the crew to get into position, just in front of Cantilever's estate." Kouse said.

Team 1 would be hidden towards the south of the estate's entrance. Team 2 would be North of the marine crew, inside the estate, also hidden. Lastly, Team 3 would be located to the east of the estates entrance, hidden nearby.

 "Come to think of it, what happened to Cantilever?." Kouse asked.

"Got killed by a couple of pirates who had some beef with him." Saki said.

Kouse only shrugged, not caring. "Alright, i will see you all at the battlefield. Good luck and try not to die." 


present time



Kouse watched the estates entrance, hidden just 20 meters away. Both his and the other two teams had arrived and taken their spots a couple of hours ago. They were all restless and waited impatiently for dovey, who left a couple of minutes ago to give Draki the information; to come to Cantilever's estate, to return.

Couple of minutes later, he arrived. Gave the sign that it was all successful, before rushing to take his own position with Thompson, hidden inside the estate.

20 more minutes of waiting, before Draki and his marine crew arrived. 
The moment Kouse saw the large amount of soldiers wearing white tunics he quickly searched for the face of Draki, and not surprisingly, he saw him right in front of the marine crew, leading them.

Kouse could almost hear the increased beating of his heart. He instantly became restless and gripped his sword with his right hand tightly. For just a moment, all Kouse could see was Draki, he hadn't changed a bit. He looked exactly the same way as he did when he captured Kouse and killed Mako and his crew. The same short dark hair, scar right across his left cheek, a cigarette in his mouth and a sword clutched in his right hand.

It took Kouse all his mental strength to keep him from ignoring their plan and just charging straight for Draki. But Kouse knew one thing for sure. Draki wasn't leaving mock town alive, as long as he himself was.


This impending battle, comprising a total of 162 pirates and marines would be a fight to the death. No prisoners.

"It's time to go guys." Sammy whispered to his team of pirates. "Like you've already heard, we're team 1 and we'll be attacking first from behind those marines."

"Damn, they outnumber us alright." Saki whispered back. "Kouse wasn't joking when he said it was going to be a close fight."

"Nothing to do about it now, let's attack.....and try to stay alive." Sammy said, and with that, Team 1 jumped out of their hiding place right behind the marines and attacked them. 

Soon, the sounds of several swords clashing together echoed through the area. Team 1 was comprised with the very best and ferocious fighters. They had to be, cause they were integral to the plan. They had to generate enough force to enable team 2's attack a success, whilst taking down a couple of marines themselves. It didn't take long before the occasional cries of pain when an attack struck home began echoing throughout the area. Team 1 did their work extremely well, in a matter of seconds, all the marines attention were placed solely on Team 1. That was when Team 2 jumped in.

"Wow, those guys are really going at those marines fiercely." Thompson said as he prepared to join in the battle. 

"We'll have to do just the same, so their efforts won't go to waste." Dovey said. He was filled with mixed emotions. Seeing both his brothers fighting furiously and fearlessly against a marine army that outnumbered them hopelessly lit a fire within him. He hadn't felt this way in years, but he knew anytime he felt this way, he was a beast with his spear, he couldn't wait to join in the fight.

The moment the entire marine army were turned round to try to stop Team 1's attacks, Team 2 rushed in themselves. Slashing and cutting, smashing and breaking through the unaware marines. Team 2 cut down a decent amount of the Marines before they organized themselves to deal with both Teams attacking them from opposite directions. 
It didn't take long before the smell of blood wafted through the air. The occasional screams of pain became more frequent. Above the chaos and noise, Draki's voice was heard, yelling out instructions to his soldiers. 


Draki had expected something fishy going on, maybe an attack, but certainly not one on a scale like this. This was not only an attack but a carefully planned one. He had seen the pirates attack from behind them, cutting through the back of his ranks easily. Most of the Marines kept behind were the weaker fighters, and the pirates used that to their advantage. 
Draki was an experienced marine captain, he had been to several battles in his career, both on ship and land. So he acted without hesitation, commanding his best soldiers to rush towards the pirates and crush them as quickly as possible. This had been the most logical plan, 'send your best fighters to the hottest zone to ascertain victory without excess losses'. Once the attack had begun, Draki instantly realized his marines outnumbered the pirates hopelessly, and knew that this would be an easy win for him. 
That thought quickly changed when a second group of pirates attacked from behind them again. His entire army had turned to one side, distracted by the first group of pirates. This new group of pirates did even more damage than the first group did. Since most of the stronger fighters had joined the front lines against the first pirate group per Draki's instructions, this left his back line weak, yet again. 
This new surprise only made Draki hesitate for a moment before yelling out more instructions. 

"Half of you turn back!, a new group of pirate scum just appeared behind us." He yelled at the top of his voice. "Tyrone, you'll command the half that'll face the ones behind us, I'll stay here and face these ones here.". Draki turned and slashed a pirate right across the chest, killing him instantly. "And kill them all, there'll be no survivors today."

Soon, the Marines, who had although suffered the majority of the losses, adjusted and took on both groups of pirates, fighting ferociously themselves and holding them back.

This was where Kouse and his team finally joined the battle and attacked. 

Kouse had taken his eyes off Draki the moment the attack started with team 1. The way the pirates led by Saki and Sammy attacked the marines without fear and with immense ferocity mesmerized Kouse, making him forget all about Draki. They simply cut through the marine troops almost easily. The second team were just as brutal as the first, fighting fearlessly, not taking into account the difference in numbers. The pungent smell of blood that penetrated the air only served to increase the intense feeling developing within Kouse.

Kouse charged forward, the moment it was time for his team to attack. The efforts put in by his friends had fueled his fighting instincts, making him feel things he had never felt before. 
Kouse sprinted straight for the marines as fast as he could. All the while taking in the scene of the battle before him. Everyone fighting to overcome their opponent, people being cut down, even the occasional sound of gun fire penetrated the air. 

Kouse activated ROOM the moment he got within range. With a shout, he swung his sword in a diagonal line, effectively cutting off several heads off of unsuspecting marines. Kouse didn't let up, but swung his sword yet again, this time, lower, cutting the legs of a couple of marines, making them unable to defend themselves. Kouse didn't still let up as he raised his sword for another slash, this time he aimed for decapitating the marines mid-section. But he couldn't complete his attack this time, he couldn't even move his right hand which held the sword. 
Kouse turned to his right hand to find it being held in place by a marine with a rope. Kouse immediately let his right hand fall, giving up on the attack. He charged the marine who was surprised by Kouse's quick decision making.
Kouse with all his strength punched the marine straight in the guts, causing him to bend over in pain. Kouse went in for the finish with his sword, slashing straight down, aiming to cut through the head of his bent over opponent.
The marine expected the attack and jumped to the right, dodging the slash. He immediately shot out ropes from his hands even as he was airborne. The ropes went round Kouse's neck and begun strangling him.
Kouse immediately tried cutting the ropes with his sword, but his right hand was still restrained by the ropes. The rope around his neck only became tighter with every passing moment. Kouse clawed at his neck desperately, trying his best to remove or even just stop the tightening of the ropes, before he became too weak to do so. Even now, he could feel it, the pain and dizziness caused by the strangling force on his neck, he knew he had to do something or he would pass out soon and that would mean certain death.

That was when Kouse heard Draki's  voice just ahead of him. 'Kill these pirate scum!, leave none alive!.'

Kouse's head turned instantly as if by reflex to look at Draki. He wore that same devilish smile he usually wore as he cut down through pirate after pirate. His previously white tunic was now stained completely red by blood.

Just seeing him wearing the same smile he wore when he killed Mako up so close was enough to drive Kouse to a whole new level of madness.
"Arrrgh!" Kouse yelled as he gripped the ropes holding his neck and charged head first into his opponent. Driving his head into the gut of his opponent. The ropes instantly slackened as the marine laid down flat on the floor, with Kouse on top of him.
Kouse didn't stop for a moment before he raised the slightly dazed marines head and smashed it repeatedly on a nearby rock.
Kouse picked up his sword and cut through the ropes still wound round his body. Kouse slowly stood up, both his hands red with blood. He looked straight at Draki, all the hatred he felt towards this man, built to an unbearable level in the pit of his stomach. Then rushed straight to his brain, engulfing his body with pure adrenaline, firing neutrons, thereby increasing his focus on Draki to an almost inhumane level. 
Draki slowly turned to look straight at Kouse, and for a moment they both shared a look. One pair of eyes radiated surprise, while the other radiated pure hatred.

It was only for a moment they looked at each other. A moment of acknowledgement, that they would have to settle things, and only with a fight to the death. 

Techniques used:

Kouse kept his eyes locked on Draki alone as he walked towards him. His red sword was held in his right hand, his left hand was folded shut, making a fist. At this point, Kouse paid no attention to the other marines around him. The rage he felt towards Draki was enough to force him into ignoring everyone else. Also the amount of focus and killing urge he currently had, also made the less than average marine have no chance fighting against him at the moment.

Apparently, the Marines didn't know this as one yelled out a battle cry as he charged Kouse from behind. Kouse's heightened senses made him hear his opponents approach and even hear the swords slash as it came down straight for his head.
Without even looking back, Kouse sidestepped to the left, effectively dodging the attack. This left the marine slightly unbalanced, which caused him to stagger forward. Kouse with one fluid motion, threw the sword to his left hand and stabbed the marine in the chest by swinging his sword backwards.
Kouse pulled it out and without even a look at his opponent, kept walking forward, straight for Draki.
Another marine attacked Kouse, this time he used a fire arm. He pointed it straight at Kouse's chest and fired.

Just before he fired the gun, Kouse had spotted a decent sized boulder just behind the marine. With ROOM activated, Kouse swapped positions with the boulder just as the marine fired the gun.

The marine's expression was one of shocked confusion as he got stabbed from behind his back. One moment he was shooting down a pirate, the next, he was being stabbed to death.

After easily dispatching the marine, Kouse turned back to face Draki, they were close now. Just about 15 metres. Draki was currently furiously fighting against two other pirates, and one of those were none other than Thompson!....and both he and the other pirate were losing.

The moment Kouse realised that Thompson's life was at risk, he immediately picked up the dead marines gun, aimed and shot straight at Draki.


Draki had seen someone familiar, he just knew it. He had locked eyes with him for only just a moment. But that was enough for him to see the desire for his blood in those eyes filled with hatred. He couldn't pin the person down, nor did he have the time to think about it as two pirates charged him with such ferocity that he had to fully concentrate on them, or get his first injury so far.
One of them especially was really troublesome, no matter how many times he cut him, he kept up his persistent attacks, the other pirate had already passed out due to blood loss. He acknowledged the pirate's efforts but unfortunately for said pirate, he was getting really tired of the fight.
That was when he felt it, he looked up and saw the gun, pointed straight at him.  He raised his sword just in time to stop the bullet from hitting him straight in the head. This moment of distraction was enough to earn him his first cut of the day. The same persistent pirate took advantage of Draki's moment for distraction to cut him deep in his right thigh.
Draki flinched in pain. Frustrated and angry, he gripped the blade of the sword, making his opponent unable to move it. Then with his right hand, Draki swing straight down, stabbing his opponent straight through the head. Killing him instantly.


Kouse looked at the scene unfolding right before him. To Kouse, it all happened in slow motion. From the moment Draki raised his sword to block the bullet Kouse fired, to the damage Thompson dealt Draki. The involuntary flinch of pain by Draki and finally, the fatal strike which ended Thompson instantly.

Kouse's eyes widened in shock, mouth agape in terror. His brain struggled to process what he just saw. He found himself gasping for air, both arms shook uncontrollably. His stomach was on fire, hot and burning. He tried to get rid of the feeling welling up within him, making him lose the control of his entire body. But all his attempts failed. He could see himself falling closer and closer into despair. Sorrow,Anger,revenge,hatred.... he'd burnt right through them all. They were what drove him on all this while, but now finally, they had run out.
Kouse fell to his knees, his sword held weakly in his arm. The pain he felt literally paralyzed his entire body. He stared straight at Thompson's bleeding and disfigured body, laying right at the feet of Draki. After a moment, he was blinded. 
Blinded by the tears that rushed out. He tried to stop them but couldn't. He wasn't feeling the pain from the loss of just Thompson. But also the loss of Mako, the loss of his father, the several heart breaking trials he had experienced over the years. They all gathered within him, accumulating over the years and now finally, exploded.

A punch hit Kouse straight in the face, sending him flying across the floor. He gasped out, his head reeling from the blow. He received another one to the stomach, causing him to vomit blood.

Kouse was unaware who was attacking him. But he knew he couldn't take much more of these attacks and stay conscious.
'Move!!, move!.' Kouse pleaded with his legs,hands...body. But they didn't, he was still in shock.

A powerful kick to the stomach, caused Kouse to curl up in a ball right on the ground, trying his best to defend himself as much as he could. Another sharp blow to the head however made even that impossible for him.

Kouse lay flat down on the floor, peering straight into the sky. His entire body throbbed and hurt from several wounds he couldn't even begin to diagnose. He knew that dying like this, without fighting back was the worse kind of death a pirate could have. But still his body refused to obey him.

"aarrgh!" Kouse yelled out in pain as a sword was driven straight into his shoulder and into the ground.

"Pathetic, I expected much more from you." Draki whispered down at Kouse.

With his eyes closed in defeat, Kouse recognized the voice instantly.

"So after all this time, this is all what you could muster up?. Is this the limit to your revenge?" Draki continued. "You're a disgrace to all pirates. You're the cause of your own demise, also the cause of the death of your friends. Like I told you the first time we met, 'you are nothing and you'll die as one."'




"No, don't make the stitches that way, it's best this way." Thompson said as he showed Kouse a unique technique. "This way, it'll reduce the scar the patient will sustain considerably."

Kouse nodded, focused as he watched Thompson closely. His insatiable thirst for knowledge spurred him on to learning this new technique as fast as possible.

"Okay, I think I've gotten it." Kouse said on just his second try.

Thompson took a close look at Kouse's work and nodded in acknowledgement. "Yeah, that's it. You really do learn things quickly. Amazing."

Kouse smiled, he'd always liked it when Thompson praised him for any work he did. Over the time they'd spent together, Kouse had gotten to respect and admire him as a mentor. Recently, it even felt like something more.

"This place gets mighty lonely sometimes. I didn't realise just how bad it felt until I started working with you." Thompson said as he arranged the medical tools on the table. "I never had the chance to have a family of my own. I wouldn't like my clinic to crash the moment I die. It would honor me greatly if you would inherit it all should anything happen to me."

Kouse turned to look at Thompson, startled. "I can't possibly accept that, I --."

"You can, because it's not a gift to you, it's your inheritance." Thompson said. "I see you as a son of mine already. I only hope you see me one day as a father."

Kouse was a little confused at all this. But he was sure of one thing. That he already saw Thompson as a father.

 He never did tell Thompson this.




'Father!' That single word engulfed Kouse's brain, snapping him out of his shock.

Kouse remained quiet for a moment as Draki kept whispering provocative words to him. 

His attack was sudden and unexpected, even to the attacker himself. Driven by an animalistic revengefulness that scared even him. Kouse raised his head and bit off the ear of Draki.

Draki screamed in shock and pain and staggered backwards. Kouse reached out and dragged the sword painfully out of his shoulder.
'ROOM' Kouse activated his ability. His senses were heightened to the limits.
Kouse charged the still reeling Draki. He thrust his sword straight into his opponents chest, aiming for a quick kill. Draki held the sharp end of Kouse's sword with both of his hands, trying desperately to stop it from piercing his chest. Both his hands were deeply cut and bleeding, but he was successful in preventing Kouse from stabbing him.

Kouse would have none of that. He stopped holding his sword with both arms and instead used his left arm to punch the hilt of the sword with all his might, forcing the sword straight into Draki's chest.


Draki felt the sword go in, deep into his chest. The pain was excruciating. He let go of the sword, and fell to his knees. He could slowly feel the life draining out of him, quickly. He spat out blood as he keeled over, hitting his head on the floor.

That was when flashes of his daughter poured into his mind. Her innocent face, bright smile, her long brown hair made into two ponytails. Finally, her last words to him. 
'Promise me........promise me you'll come back.' she had asked with her little tear stained face.




"I promise!!." Draki yelled as he staggered back to his feet, even with the sword still stuck deep within his chest.

Kouse didn't give Thompson any breathing room, the moment he stood back up, Kouse reached out and gripped the sword stuck in his chest by the hilt, then pulled it out. Causing Draki to bleed even more profusely.

Draki staggered backwards, his mind foggy due to loss of blood.
Flashes of his daughters request and his promise kept going through his mind, non-stop. Keeping him standing.
He raised his arm weakly and pointed it straight at Kouse, and activated his hidden special ability.

This ability once activated, shortens his lifespan considerably. The longer he uses it, the more it reduces his longevity.  It scrambles his target mind, causing intense pain and if held up long enough, causes permanent damage. He had once promised himself never to use such ability again, cause he wanted to spend as much time as he could with his daughter. But he had to break one promise to fulfill the other. 

'Come back.' Draki heard his daughters plea yet again. He gritted his teeth, he would be damned if he didn't.

Kouse thought he had experienced all what pain, either emotional or physical, had to offer. Unfortunately, he thought wrong. 
Kouse instantly dropped the sword he held. He instead held his head with both arms as he fell forward right onto a boulder. 
His screams of pain cut through the battlefield, only just to add up to the other screams that echoed round the battlefield.
Spit dripped out of Kouse's mouth as he lay motionless on the boulder. Frequent spasms engulfed his body. His brain all but turned into mush.




"You can overcome anything this vast world has to offer Kouse, I believe in you." Mako whispered gently.

"You can leave this town, you were never meant to stay. Travel the world and achieve your dreams." said Thompson.

They both stood side by side, smiling down at Kouse. "Goodbye."




Kouse gasped out. Tears joined the other fluids that exited his body. 'Goodbye' he said as he fished out his scalpel hidden in his boot and stabbed the boulder he lay on as hard as he could, keeping the pressure on it.
'Swap teleportation.' 
Kouse instantly swapped the positions of Draki with the boulder. The scalpel pierced straight into Draki's throat. His eyes, as they slowly lost their life were filled with shock and disbelief.

Draki choked on his own blood as he tried to speak. His daughters tear filled eyes engulfed his memories. 'I'm sorry cami.... I'm so sorry I failed you, I'm --.' and with that last thought, he stopped breathing. Draki was no more.

Kouse had passed out the moment he stabbed Draki through the neck. The darkness was extremely welcome.



three days later



"Are you sure about this Kouse?" Dovey asked him. "Cutting off an arm from each of the 17 surviving marines using your ability, then letting them sail back to spread the word really does send a message."

Kouse, wrapped in bandages and stitches smiled mischievously. "I hope it does. Also the money we took from their ship was really substantial. It was a good find." Kouse finished.

Dovey nodded. "Yeah, I'd never seen so much money in one place before." He paused for a moment. "So what now?" He asked. 

Kouse looked wondrously at the waves as they drenched the sand at his feet. The sea beguiled him. It was like it sang to him, urging him to sail it, explore it...... conquer it. 

"I'll have to set Dr Thompson's things in order. Before I think of doing anything else." Kouse looked hungrily at the sea for a moment. "Come on, let's go meet up with the others." Kouse said as he turned away and began walking back into mock town. 

It was a new beginning in his life. He would take his time living it. 

Exit

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