World At War

A small boat landed on Seabody Archipelago. Normally such a tiny vessel would draw no attention from anyone, neither would it be expected to be carrying anyone who was alive. However, in this case, both of those were wrong. A tall, slender man, tilted a wide brimmed hat down over his face as he approached the nearest town; grove seven.

Normal little people bustled about their normal little lives. The dark figure striding through town was barely given a second glance. Here, they were used to pirates. This was the halfway point all pirates stopped at before continuing through to the New World. However, this place was also very dangerous for those who would refuse to follow the law. Seabody was deadly close to the headquarters of the world government, which housed some of the strongest marines in the world. Naturally, this was also a key placement for the revolutionaries, who carried out intelligence missions in the name of the greater good.

This place was a meeting of all of the world powers. The air was always tense. No one could relax while they were here. Not only did you have allies here, you had enemies as well. The only people who considered themselves safe were the Celestial Dragons. These men and women were the descendants of the first world government, and thus were regarded as treasures by the government. All it took to put the military at full arms was a single call from a Celestial Dragon.

The tall man made his way away from the part of the city controlled by citizens and marines and into a seeder area that most would over look. The shadow market of grove seven. Here there was a tavern where black market business was conducted out of eyesight of the law. This was his destination.

As he entered and made his way to the bar, the eyes of onlookers were felt on his back. Their dirty looks burned like a dozen hot coals. Although this made him uneasy, the tall pirate ignored it and order a tonic. It was more often than not, he could cause people more fear by ignoring them than by facing them down over something as silly as looking at him wrong. Quietly he sat and sipped from the glass he had been given by the bartender, a plump and gruff looking man.

“Hey you, dumbass, what the hell are you doing on our turf?”

Oh, of course it would go this way. It normally did when he tried to look inconspicuous. The pirate continued to sip his tonic, ignoring the jeers of the rough looking bunch around him. They danced around him like monkeys, clucking and making obscene gestures. Then on of them knocked off his hat.

The dark haired man glared with piercing yellow-orange eyes, his gaze fixed on the man who had knocked off his hat. Silence fell on the tavern, not even the sound of breathing broke through the heavy silence.

“M…Mihawk…”

A thin man managed to utter the name of the rather annoyed looking swordsman. The others backed up a bit save for one man with arms the size of canons. He glared at the dark haired man sipping a tonic. For a moment he stood there in silence, everyone looking on with bated breath. The large armed man brought down his arms, aiming for Mihawk’s head.

He simply sidestepped out of the way of the attack. And sat on the next bar stool over. The large armed man growled and attempted, once more, to hit Mihawk. Once again he sidestepped off the stool and out of the way. This time he faced the man, his eyes fixed firmly on the stranger.

“I try not to fight pointless battles, but it seems you leave me no choice. I shall make your death quick.”

When the strong armed fool came at him again, Mihawk pulled out his dagger and stabbed him in the side. The larger man fell to his knees and then collapsed, blood leaking from a hole in his liver. The others, thought clearly frightened, had become enraged by the death of their companion. They pulled daggers and swords before rushing Mihawk with everything they had. In an instant, the greatest swordsman in the world had drawn his blade and dispatched of his enemies in a single movement. Broken and bloody corpses littered the bar. It was a terrible mess, and he wasn’t going to stick around to look at it. He left the bar, his drink unfinished. Little did he know, the pirates he had killed had friends all over the world, in other crews, and they would seek revenge, especially against a traitor warlord working for the government. Pirates were now his enemies.

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