A Fun Time: Orange Island 2.1 (ch. 5) (Patreon)

"Hold on!" I exclaimed, before I dove down -- I didn't really know what was going on down there, but it looked bad. Really bad. That cannon must have hit the buildings with the force of a cruise missile or something because it looked like it took out an entire row of houses. Completely demolished them. As I flew down, I caught sight of people running out of their homes, wisely deciding to get the fuck out of there. I nearly looked away before I saw a man wielding a cutlass sword slash a fleeing man in the back, making him go down hard.

The village was under attack.

For all I knew, they deserved it. I had no clue what the history between the attackers and the defenders was. Maybe the village had attacked first and this was just a response. Or, maybe they were being attacked completely unprovoked. I didn't know. I couldn't know. I was a stranger in a very strange land.

But, none of that really mattered.

I might not be the best guy on Earth, but I wasn't just going to let whole-sale murder happen in front of me.

"Head's up!" I shouted loudly, dive bombing down towards the man with the bloody cutlass as he laughed over the fallen man like a two-bit villain.

"Huh-" he started, only to be cut off when my feet crashed against his face. His nose was shattered, as was his entire face, really, and possibly his neck. He went flying, crashing into a building across the street as I landed lightly on the dirt road that was rapidly becoming mud.

"Hnngh… you…!" I heard the slashed man say while what looked to be his family doubled back to pick him up, the daughter looking up at me with awe.

"It's a flying man!" She exclaimed, sounding happy despite the situation. People were fleeing down the streets, but I didn't see anyone else wielding a weapon. The mother, however, looked more afraid than thankful. Bocchi and Kobeni jumped off of me, with Bocchi falling to her knees as she gaped at the damage with wide eyes.

"What's going on here?" I asked them, hearing another explosion going off. I felt a shockwave race through me, making my lips thin. I should have gone for that cannon first.

The mother helped the man stand, letting him weakly look me in the eye, "P-pirates," he spat the word like a curse. Ah. Yeah, I guess that simplified things a great deal, then.

"N-not just any pirates!" I heard, making me look over at the guy I had kicked. He was still alive? So, it wasn't just me and Ippo that were sturdier than normal? "We're the Buggy Pirates!" He said, blood dripping down his chin as he lay half collapsed in broken wood that had once been crates. The family stilled like they heard the most terrifying name imaginable. "Captain Buggy is going to make you suffer for this!"

I made a snap decision, "Bocchi, Kobeni -- you two get out of here," I told them both. Neither of them struck me as fighters, and this was turning into an absolute mess. This really wasn't what I thought we'd find if we found civilization.

"B-but what about you?!" Bocchi blurted, looking up at me.

"Don't go worrying about me," I dismissed her concern. "I'm not the one that needs it right now. Get the civilians out of here -- I'll give them something to focus on." I said, sending Bocchi an easy going smile as I pushed my sopping wet hair back. While I wouldn't use the word relieved to describe her, Kobeni at least understood and grabbed Bocchi’s wrist to drag her to her feet.

They joined the family that was was quick to make their escape. Kobeni sparing me a glance over her shoulder, her eyes unusually sharp. "Be careful, Kaine."

I just waved them off, striding towards the fallen pirate with a confident gait. "Like I said, don't go worry about me."

"Thank you, Mr. Flying Man!" The kid shouted as her family led her away, leaving me alone with the pirate. I shouldered the cutlass while Tinkerbell made faces at the pirate, standing on my shoulder as I came to a stop directly in front of him.

"You know," I started, looking at the edge of the sword, the rain washing off most of the blood. "I've always held the opinion that if you're ready to kill, you should be ready to die. I mean, it only makes sense right?" I said, turning my attention and the point of the cutlass to the pirate.

He paled considerably, but he tried his best to sneer at me. "Y-you don't have the guts, brat," He uttered. And maybe he was right about that. I've never killed anyone before. I’d never even wanted to kill anyone before. Having an opinion was one thing, but following through was a completely different beast.

Do I have the capacity to kill another human being? My mind searched for alternatives and while I did find them, they came back to the same issue -- the village was under attack. I didn't know by how many, and they had a fuck off big cannon. Even this hesitation was costing me time. People could be dying because of it. Tying him up or whatever…

"I think," I started before pushing the point of my sword into his neck and flicking it to the side, slashing his throat, "I do, actually."

My stomach clenched as the pirate gargled on his own blood, his hands trying to stem the bleeding, but with his carotid severed, he bled out in less than ten seconds. However, as I watched him die, my heart was steady and my mind was clear.

"If you're going to kill, then you should be prepared to die," I repeated. I internalized it. I had killed so that meant I had to be ready to die. It was only fair. If I wasn't then I would be the very worst kind of hypocrite.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out, I began to float back up above the houses. The raid by the Buggy Pirates was still ongoing, but there couldn't be that many of them. The ship I saw was bigger than the Icarus, but it wasn't big enough to house hundreds upon hundreds like modern ships were. Flying above the houses, I caught a glimpse of the ship as it remained in the harbor -- large and made of wood. Whatever world this was, it wasn't in the age of ironclad ships. Good to know.

The pirate that I had killed proved to be a break off, leaving the majority of them pushing up a central street. They were ransacking buildings as they went, a good two dozen of them with only a few checking corpses. They didn't seem to be pursuing those that were fleeing. I think they used the cannon to scare people off, because despite easily seeing the lines of destruction carved out of the town, I didn't hear another shot going off.

Landing on the ground, despite the heavy downpour, the pirate I landed in front of looked up at me. He was dressed in a set of overalls with a really weird hat on and a face full of grease paint to make himself look like a clown. He smirked at me, "Feeling brave, huh?" He questioned, taking a knife out of the corpse whose pockets he was digging through.

"Something like that," I admitted before he lunged for me. His boots stomped heavily through the mud, splashing it up everywhere, as he lunged for me. Despite the heavy potbelly he was sporting, he was quick on his feet. Back home, I'd put his ten-meter dash at Olympic speeds… but he was still slow. Ippo was way faster than this guy. Sidestepping his lunge, I spun the cutlass into a reverse grip and plunged the sword through his back. He gasped before hitting the ground and sliding through the mud. He was dead before he stopped.

It was difficult to really gauge my strength, but I was feeling more confident now. Confident enough to take in a deep breath and shout, "CAPTAIN BUGGY! COME FIGHT ME!" I issued the challenge, and through the rain and the crackle of thunder overhead, my voice rang out. Tae had said that I had a huge lung capacity, but I wasn't sure I really believed her until right now.

There was no sign of the captain yet, but my challenge did attract the attention of the pirates that were in the middle of looting. They were all smiles until they saw the corpse of their friend. One led the charge with a shout of, 'Damn you' while attacking. A steady stream of about seven of them came splashing through the mud.

I was in a fight for my life, but I was eerily calm. It unnerved me, to be honest. If I had to put it into words… I had chosen this course of action. The only thing left was to see it through, whether I killed or died. Or both.

Taking in a slow breath, I felt strength surge throughout my body as I rushed to meet them head on. The first slashed at me, and was punished for it when I slammed the guard of my sword into his nose, before slashing his throat with the same motion that I used to block an overhead strike from the second. Kicking him in the balls and jerking my blade to the side, I lined the tip up with his eye and thrust the rest of the cutlass into it. The third and fourth flanked around, slashing at me at both sides they seemed thoroughly unprepared for me to jump up, avoiding their attacks, before throwing myself back down on top of one, thrusting my cutlass so deep into him at the shoulder I had to let go of it.

I couldn't tell if the fourth was crying or if it was the rain, but there was an ugly look on his face when I leaned out of the way of his slashes before kicking out with a foot at his knee. It shattered and before he could even register the pain, I grabbed him by the sides of the head and twisted it sharply.

Letting the breath out, I felt the strength recede ever so slightly, but taking another breath returned it. Tae said it was all tied into the rhythm of my breathing. My body felt warmer as the fifth, sixth, and the seventh pirate reached me. My body felt powerful and responsive, and oh so incredibly light because of the magic dust. Tinkerbell was doing her best to make sure that the rain didn't wash it all away, but after about an hour in the storm, I was worried about her running dry.

In any case, I dealt with the charging three as they attacked as one. Leaping into the air, I kicked out, catching him in the ribs before my foot shot back and back out like lightning to catch him in the side of the head. Sidestepping a thrust, I elbowed him in the nose, broke his arm, and forced himself to stab himself in the gut by bending his arm in the wrong direction. The last one tried to go for a full-body tackle, only to impale himself on my high kick that I followed up by leaping above where he was knocked into the air, and axe kicking him in the back before he could fly off, bending his spine into a C shape and sending him into the ground.

"He's not bad, Mohji," a… guy on a unicycle remarked, looking absolutely ridiculous in the middle of the storm. His arms were crossed as he gazed at me with steely eyes, his black hair plastered to his face.

Mohji looked just as ridiculous, just for very different reasons. He looked like he was in his mid-forties, but that could just be the white… fur-like hair on his head that went down to a neckbeard. He also had a little pair of animal ears on top of his head. Though, as ridiculous as he looked, it was more than a little difficult to take him lightly as he sat upon the back of a massive, truck-sized, white lion. Mohji nodded, his arms crossed, also not looking worried about the loss of the men. "He's a step above the fodder, Cabaji," Mohji seemed to agree.

"Such a shame that he's only a step above," Cabaji continued, opening his mouth wide and… pulled… an entire cutlass sword from his throat. Holy shit. Wow, that was… huh. How did he breathe…? "Trash like you aren't fit to battle our captain," Cabaji informed, wielding his cutlass. Seriously, how did that thing even fit in him? I know sword swallowing was a skill, but there had to be a limit? And people didn't go swallowing the entire hilt.

"Got that backward," I responded, breathing in deeply while Mohji stepped forward on top of his lion. "Your shitty captain doesn't deserve to fight me." Wasn't great as far as comebacks went, but it did the trick. Both of their expressions twisted hatefully, telling me that they took the insult just as personally as if I had levied it against them. "And I just killed about a dozen of your guys. Are you even going to mention that?"

"They're nothing special. Just a bunch of fools that wanted to find money and fame riding Captain Buggy's coattails. We'll find twice that number the next time we sail to port," Mohji answered, his tone confident.

I frowned, "So, it's a real cut the head off the snake to make the body die situation, huh? Well, that's fine. I already decided that I was going to kill your Captain, so it doesn't really change anything." I spoke slowly and calmly, breathing in deeply. My body was growing hotter. I almost felt uncomfortable in my own skin and the cool rain offered little relief. My lungs felt full. Kinda like I took too deep of a breath and any more they would pop like an overinflated pair of balloons. "Can I just ask one thing before we start?"

"Will you receive any mercy? No, you won't," Cabaji smirked, rolling forward on his unicycle.

"Why'd you attack this place?" I questioned, striding to meet them halfway.

Mohji shrugged, "We were caught up in this storm and needed a safe harbor. The locals weren't keen on notorious pirates showing up on their doorstep and asked us to leave. So, we decided to take the town." There was a mocking glee in his voice as he spoke. "You only have your own bad luck to curse for us arriving at your hometown, boy. If it wasn't for this storm, we'd have never bothered with such slim pickings."

"Thanks," I answered, "That makes this pretty clear cut for me."

My foot dug into the soft mud, and despite the rain pounding against me, fire began to spark around my feet. It coiled around my fist, shaped by my breathing as I let out all the air my lungs had held in the form of a dream cloud. Right when my body felt like it was at my strongest, I shot forward like a speeding bullet, fire marking each step that I took, as I crossed the distance between us in a fraction of a second. Mohji's eyes went wide just before my fist impacted against his face, sending him flying like he had just been shot out of a cannon. The smell of burnt hair was strong when the flames burnt away at his face and that odd chest piece made of white fur.

'I think…' I decided, twisting in the air thanks to the magic dust, kicking the truck-sized lion on the gut and launching him in the air by a good dozen feet despite weighing at least half a ton. The lion would have gone higher, but I reached out and grabbed him by the back leg, twisting to look down at Cabaji. 'I'm gonna call this…'

"W-wait, don't!" Cabaji half begged before I slammed the lion on top of him, crushing him and that stupid unicycle.

"Flame Breathing," I decided, landing on my feet, seeing that the two were already dispatched. It had a nice ring to it. Not really sure why my body was suddenly spouting fire, but it was cool, so it wasn't like I was really going to dig into the whys. Taking in another breath, my heightened strength maintained itself as I looked to the ship docked at the port, a straight shot from me.

I floated upwards, finding that it was a little more difficult for me as the pixie dust was washing off of me. I could probably only manage it since Tink was constantly applying it as she clung to me. Still, it was enough that I could fly upwards and-

There he was.

“You guys are really committed to the whole circus theme, huh?” I remarked, landing lightly on the pirate ship's deck, finding it lightly manned. A few men operating the massive cannon behind me were freaking out as they looked at me with wide eyes. The man I stood before was dressed like an actual clown -- bright red nose, ruby red lips, and two bone tattoos that went over his eyes. And blue eyeliner. He wore bright reds and white, an orange and green captain's coat over his shoulders, and white gloves.

In all, he was a real sight.

“HUH?!” He sneered at me so hard that it was nothing short of a miracle that he didn’t pull something. He lazily spun a knife between his fingers as he regarded me like a piece of shit he had just stepped in. “Are you that little brat that started shouting for me? I’m surprised you managed to make it here. Figured that if you’d be stupid enough to challenge me -- The notorious and feared Captain Buggy -- you’d be dumb enough to slip and drown in a puddle if Mohji or Cabaji hadn’t taken your head by then.”

Wow. “You are nowhere near badass enough to be able to refer to yourself in the third person,” I remarked lightly, cocking my head. “Like, not even close. To be honest, I’m not even sure how badass you’d have to be, I just know that you aren’t there. Remotely.” I established, blinking as I shook my head lightly, recovering from that curveball of what the fuck. Buggy looked increasingly displeased as I spoke, a deep frown on his face while his eyes narrowed into slits.

The guys behind me took in shocked breaths and, through the rain, I’m pretty sure that I could actually hear them quaking in their boots.

“As for why Mohji and Cabaji haven’t stopped me? Well, they tried,” I spoke, stressing the word to drive the meaning home, cocking my head with a smug smile at my lips.

Buggy stopped spinning his knife, any trace of emotion wiped off his face at that. “Are they still alive?”

“Does it matter?” I questioned him as Buggy slowly stood up from the throne-like chair underneath a small red and white striped tent that kept him dry. He didn’t seem bothered by the rain as he strode forward, coming to a stop in front of me.

“To me? Not at all!” Buggy declared, and I heard frightful shouts from those behind me. “To you, I imagine it’d matter a great deal. If they’re alive? Then I’ll just kill you, you fool! If they’re dead, though? Your death is going to be slow, you punk! Not minutes or hours or even days. It’s going to be weeks. Months. Years!” Buggy snarled at me, his hands going for the knives he had at his waist, clutching one between each finger as he regarded me with contempt. “I’ll make you a reminder to every two-bit bounty hunter to never dare coming after me and my crew!”

“Bounty hunter?” I questioned just as Buggy began to explode into action, stopping him cold. Though, he still maintained the pose as he regarded me. “You have a bounty?”

“Fifteen million Belis! The third highest in all of East Blue!” Buggy shouted at me. East Blue?

“Is that a lot?” I asked, idly amused how he was still maintaining the pose of attack as he looked at me ridiculously, glaring all the while.

“It’s a whole lot!” He shouted at the top of his lungs before his eyes narrowed into slits. “You don’t have three swords,” he wisely observed.

“I don’t even have one,” I agreed with a small nod.

Bubby regarded me with the utmost suspicion, “You aren’t Roronoa Zoro.”

“Literally no clue who that is,” I confirmed. There was a small beat of silence that was only filled by the quaking knees of those behind me, the howling of the wind, and the pitter-patter of the rain. “We… going to fight?” I asked him, not sure if he was up for it after finding out that I wasn’t who he thought he was.

“Of course, we’re going to fight!” Buggy shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice more shrill than the howling wind. However, the silence between us stretched on for another beat with Buggy making no move.

This was becoming awkward. “On… three?” I tried, making Buggy pause for a moment in thought before offering a small nod of agreement. "One-"

"DIE BRAT!" Buggy screamed his sneak attack, his fists lunging for my throat as soon as the first number left it. I leaned back, only to find that it wasn't enough when his wrists detached from his arms and his knife-wielding fists shot at me. The sneak attack? Totally saw that coming. But the detachable body parts? That caught me off guard.

Reflexively, I caught his hands as I darted back, only for not even that to be enough because his fingers acted as a second stage launch. Jerking my head down as I backflipped on the lip of the ship, I narrowly avoided losing an eye.

"How'd you like my chop-chop body - oh," he muttered, his confidence vanishing real quick when I hooked the top of my foot under the bottom of the cannon and heaved upward, flipping it around. I smirked before kicking the fuse to the cannonball that was armed and ready, the tip of my foot offering a small flame, and one thing that I completely underestimated was how loud an explosion was. I had heard it all the way up in the sky, but near the point of impact?

The cannonball slammed into the throne that Buggy had been sitting on, exploding on impact. I felt a physical force hit my body as I was knocked back, flying off of the edge of the ship. That, I’m pretty sure, might have just saved my life because the fire that was kicked up didn’t touch me. I flew back a couple of dozen extra feet to land heavily on the wet beach, my body acting as a plow that carved a line into it.

Once I got my bearings, I quickly spotted Tinkerbell, who seemed to be struggling a bit. "Tink, stay here," I told her as she was laid out on the beach, just breathing heavily. While I spoke, I felt the fingerless hands in mine start to pull. Almost as if they were being called back to the main body. Meaning that Buggy probably wasn't dead. Tinkerbell gave a shallow nod as she laid on her side and I let go of the hands. They shot away, forcing me to quickly give chase in the direction of the town.

My movements felt a bit sluggish at first, but I quickly got my bearings as I chased the hands. Funnily enough, I heard Buggy before I saw him.

"THAT CRAZY RAT BASTARD, WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS, BLOWING UP MY SHIP? AND ME?!" Buggy raged to the heavens and the storm while I entered far more calmly. While he had escaped with his life, when I rounded a corner to enter the town, I saw that he hadn't escaped unscathed. He’d lost his coat, and his body seemed to be sporting some serious burns. But, perhaps most shockingly, Buggy's body was in complete pieces.

He was a floating torso at the moment, one leg hopping towards him, a hand attaching itself to an arm that then attached itself to his torso. I'd say he was missing a good thirty percent of his body, but when I saw a piece of his other leg fly over a house, I knew the rest was incoming.

"Neat ability," I remarked, turning his attention to me. His expression was more thunderous than the sky above. Honestly, kind of impressive. "I'm guessing you blasted apart your body to avoid getting blasted apart by the bomb?" I asked, which would explain the spread. Instead of the force ripping him apart, instead, he divvied himself up and used the force of the explosion to send the smaller pieces flying.

"I'mma about to blast you apart, you snot-nosed brat!" Buggy shouted, looking like he was seeing red. "You destroyed my ship! My treasure! My maps!"

"Yeah, well, you busted up the town. Fair is fair, asshole," I pointed out. The shockwave had knocked my breathing out of rhythm. Buggy wasn't the only one that was buying some time. My body was growing hot, my breathing deepening and I felt strength returning to my limbs.

"Do you even live here?!" He shouted, pissed off to hell and back.

"Nah, but the point still stands," I said, letting out a sharp breath before exploding into action. The others hadn't been able to keep up with me even remotely, but Buggy was able to, his eyes following me the entire way as I blurred towards him.

"Chop-Chop Surprise!" He shouted when I threw a high knee at his face, his head popping off. In that same moment, a hidden arm carrying a cutlass darted towards me, intent to skewer me. I flipped in midair, dodging the strike before a hold of the arm, but before I could break the arm, Buggy split it apart at the elbow.

"You name your attacks?" I muttered, landing on the ground. My body felt heavier. I'm pretty sure that Tinkerbell's magic dust was washed off by this point with only remnants left behind. "And announce your sneak attacks?"

Buggy didn't answer as I kept hold of his arm, only for the hand to pop off and take a swipe at me while his body surged forward with a head floating a good five feet above it. I blocked his slash with his arm, only to realize my mistake when he didn't hesitate to cut through it and it didn't cause him any pain. I felt a sharp pain on my chin as the tip of the blade nicked me, but I was fine.

I was getting a handle on his ability. He was kinda like an action figure -- every joint could be popped off at his own will, but that joint wasn't limited to his body. His belly warmer acted as a joint, as did his striped shirt. Not sure if that made his ability easier to use or not since he could break his body down even further where there weren’t joints.

My grip tightened on his arms as flames licked at my hands, making his eyes widen. "In that case, Flame Breathing: Fire Claw!" I shouted, burning the absolute shit out of his arm and Buggy's face contorted before screaming in pain at the top of his lungs. I saw why he did it -- it was kinda fun shouting your special attacks. It was so unapologetically chuuni. I kind of loved it, but, at the same time…

Cringe.

However, it was a question of who would cringe harder? Me? Or everyone around me?

The grin on my face was promptly knocked away when I heard movement behind me. The splashing of mud alerted me to someone, only for it to be something when I saw the lion was back on his feet. I had just enough time to block before a paw the size of my torso slammed into me. I was sent flying through the air, slamming through a house, but I barely felt it because I was reeling from the strike. I went through another wall and through a table before I came to a stop.

"I'm not dead?" I questioned, pushing myself up. I felt a sharp pain in my arm to see that I had some claw slashes on the back of it that bled pretty bad. But, I was alive. Somehow. "Sweet," I muttered, brushing off the broken glass. I got hit way harder than what Ippo had managed, and despite seeing through the hole of the house and a half I was knocked through, I was still mostly fine. I was going to have some bruises later, that much I was certain.

Still, that was a decent knock and a clear sign that I needed to step my game up.

Flames licked at my body as I strode through the front door, sparking and extinguishing almost at random. I deepened my breathing, reaching the point that I couldn't deepen it any further, and some of the flames lingered. It was clear I wasn't using my breathing to the best of my ability. With it as deep as I could make it go, my entire body felt like an engine roaring while stuck in park. I needed to shift myself into drive so I could go.

Clenching my hands into fists, I kicked the front door, knocking it off its hinges while the door ignited into flames around where I kicked it. It still burned despite the rain and mud covering it as it skid across the mud road. Looking to Buggy and the lion, I looked over just in time to see Buggy kick a yapping dog in the ribs, sending it flying.

I took in a slow breath, feeling my lungs reach their absolute capacity, but I forced myself to breathe deeper. The flames flared to life around me. "Flame Breathing," I intoned, meeting Buggy's gaze. My foot dug into the ground before I shot off like a bullet, a trail of fire marking my path through the air. I flipped sharply, stretching out a leg that I slammed down on top of the Lion's head, my target and the fire that gathered on the back of my heel raced down, washing over him as I delivered a devastating axe kick. "Pinwheel!"

The lion's legs gave out, slamming into the ground and sending up a wave of thick mud, his white fur burning despite being drenched by the rain, even if it wasn't for long. With the same leg that I kicked down with, I used it as leverage to twist myself, reverse bicycle kicking towards Buggy.

"Brat!" He shouted, his hands darting towards me with a knife. I accepted the blow, the knife punching through my forearm -- it hurt. It hurt like a mother fucking motherfucker. However, it wasn't enough to stop me from slamming the top of my foot into his collarbone and feeling it snap under the force while fire washed over him. His shirt was burnt away, limiting his 'joints', but he was still in the fight.

"Flame Breathing: Fire Fist," I shouted, a wide smile on my face, blood spurting from my wounded forearm as I caught Buggy in his nose. I thought the red ball would pop off or something, only to find out that it actually was his real nose when I flattened it. Fire burned at his skin as his head snapped back and his body rushed to join up with it.

Landing lightly on the ground, mud covering my shorts and hands, I threw myself towards Buggy. His arms darted towards me, blind firing since he couldn't see me, only to miss at the last second when I leaped into the air. Buggy was trying to catch his head with his handless arms, but he only managed to hold it in place for me. His eyes opened just in time to see the back of my heel racing down towards his face as I brought a Pinwheel down onto it. His nose was completely flattened, his body engulfed by fire for a short second. When I landed, Buggy dropped to his knees, his head falling out of his arms, and he collapsed into the mud.

I won.

"CHAMPION!" I declared with a laugh, throwing my arms up to the sky as I cackled, basking in my victory. My body hurt. I was losing a lot of blood, but I couldn't deny it.

That was fun!