Trinket of Syzygy | One Piece fanfic

005.

Chapter 5: A Fallen Hawk

A crimson silhouette was seen drinking a glass of red wine. "Ruby huh... I have no business with those who have no bounties." A transponder snail whirred fuzzily upon the nightstand. A feminine voice of sheer dominance came through, in response. "Of course I'll pay you. However, you must keep her alive at all costs. Anything beyond that will surely result in grave consequences." The man spoke in a nonchalant, yet condescending voice. "Yeah yeah, I'll make sure she's alive, we can negotiate prices when I bring her to you." The snail hung up. The enigmatic man imbibed the last of his wine before exiting the bar he had been in for god knows how long.

Plumes of dust-laced smoke pervaded the air, which filtered the smattering of two shadowed vessels clashing against each other. Within the surroundings, adults and children alike were forced to witness the heated battle. Some were on the rooftops of relatively short buildings, while most were resting easy on an expansive clump of wool. Nevertheless, it has been made lucid that they cannot afford to exit higher ground areas, unless they're willing to embark on a tortuous rollercoaster with death itself. Bits of steam intermittently spewed out from the sandstone's fissures. They were infused with white plasma that continuously slithered through every seam it finds its way in. 

Orion unfurled his prosthetic wings and let out a grin "Aries, flying isn't your specialty, victory is as good as mine." Quince averted his attention to Orion "Woah, are those wings made out of metal? They look a bit ugly on you though.." A nerve was struck once more. Easily enraged and offended by Quince's childish insult, Orion sputtered out  "SHUT THE HELL UP, BRAT! YOU'RE TALKING AS IF YOU LOOK ANY BETTER" It didn't take long for him to reacquire his composure and don a smirk on his grubby face. "Someone as great as me would never bow down to those! I'm just purely powerful!" Orion then stretched his arms to his left and gripped onto his mace, as if charging an ultimate attack. The white plasma that once nestled in the head and finial of his mace had grown into a viciously wild blaze that seems to parallel the hellish caliber of fire and brimstone. "This time, it won't be so easy for you!" Orion recklessly charged at Quince in a much more rapid pace. With his fully upgraded weapon, Orion repeatedly battered Quince's sturdy body. "Guard Pulse!" At this moment, Quince was rendered limited to his defensive techniques, only being capable of blocking his opponent's attacks, through thick wool. Even so, the fangs of Orion's flames continuously gnawed at him, and before he even came to realize, Quince's most durable form had been completely reduced to nothing but charred wool. His horns could still block Orion's wings but that was all he could do at the given circumstance. Ruby pulls out a scythe with meticulous crystals embedded in its head. "Quince let me help!" She charges at Orion letting out a blow. Her attacks sadly couldn't inflict as much as Quince's. "Pathetic. No wonder Lady Larissa doesn't see you as worthwhile. I'm sure Esmeralda would also be disappointed in you, how someone like you is under a 15 million bounty pirate is beyond me." Ruby's face showed nothing but fury and resentment "Don't mention that name to me! You navy scum!"

Orion's grin starts to escalate "Did you two lowly pirates have a squabble?" Ruby continues to slash at him. "Power Pulse!" Whilst Orion was fully focused on Ruby, Quince landed another blow on Orion's face. "I don't care about this Esmeralda woman! I want to defeat you and enjoy an apple pie!" Quince pounds Orion's face to the ground, causing a small ranged area around him, to crumble. "You're not taking my devil fruit! It's mine!" Quince then looked around him "The place looks really bad, Ruby what should we do?" Ruby sighed "You're beyond hopeless. For now, hopefully another member of the navy will deal with Orion." Quince gives a cold glare to Orion. The portly old man could barely stay on his feet. His face battered with soot and a painful, red lump. "You snotty piece of shit, I'll show you what real power looks like!" Tottering, Orion shuffled forward as he dragged his enormous mace, scraping across the pavement tiles. Quince alerted himself quickly and took on his battle stance. "One more hit should do it." Still remaining in his power pulse form, he socks one more blow at the lieutenant who had reached his limit. Orion laid on the ground finally losing consciousness. The crowd all look with shock as a navy higher up had been left completely helpless in front of someone with no bounty. Quince reverted back to his regular form. "Man that was draining... I definitely need an apple pie..." Ruby gives the white haired boy a light smile "I'll treat you, if you want to continue your voyage, you should replenish your energy."

Quince and Ruby go to a nearby pub. Fortunately, most places outside of Volley Island remained unharmed. Quince enjoyed a wafting apple pie. He cut off a rather big piece and scoffed it "Yummy! Ruby this apple pie is good!" Ruby then looked at him "Quince, do you really plan to become Astral King?" Quince still having food in his mouth replied "Yeah, I wanna find a crew!" Ruby chuckled "You're never lacking in optimism." Quince then handed Ruby a map "Oh yeah! You said that Orion is working for pirates." "Yeah, what about it?" "Well, I need to defeat other crews to become Astral King. And I'm sure the pirates he worked with are mean!"

Elsewhere, Larissa could be seen with a transponder snail. "Yes Master Hazuki, he has some potential. He even defeated Orion without much struggle." A deep middle aged voice could be heard "Is that so? Strong opponents are hard to find, maybe him and I will exchange blows someday. For now I'll need you to return to your hometown, I don't want you making anymore of a scene." "Yes sir, I'll go there at once." The mysterious man named Hazuki hung up. Larissa found a nearby paddle boat and exited the island.

"Huh?! Who's Hazuki?!" Back at the bar, Quince was seen in shock. "He's a strong pirate, Larissa actually is one of the members in his crew." "Wait, you mean the little blond girl? But she wasn't very strong." Ruby sighs "She likely held back, plus he must have reasons for recruiting a noble." Quince then handed Ruby the map "I'm gonna fight Esmeralda! Where is she?" Ruby looked at him with disbelief "Esmeralda is way too strong for you! At least try and build a bit of a crew first!" Quince started to pout "But you should join my crew!" Ruby sighed "I thought I told you that I'm in the Chrysanthemum Pirates! Geez, do I always have to repeat this to you?" Quince gazed at her for a moment and tilted his head sidewards. Ruby's eyes locked with his', mildly flustered by his piercing stare. "What is it..? Is there something on my face?" Quince blinked once and uttered shortly, "But you only repeated it once" Embarrassed, Ruby's fury shot up like a raging volcano. Instinctually, she gripped onto the handle of a random jug and splashed its contents right into the silver haired boy's face. "I KNOW THAT!"

Orion started to regain consciousness. With what little strength he had left, he opened his eyes. A man with long red hair tied back in a ponytail, a black suit and tie, grey shirt and white waistcoat could be seen. Orion gazed at his blood red eyes. "The hell are you doing here Vespertine?" The red haired man spoke with a cold tone "Doing what you failed to do. Where the hell is Ruby? The fact that you lost to someone with no bounty." The man pulls out a pistol "I could kill you if I wanted, sleazebags like you are the ones I enjoy seeing covered in blood the most." He then grinned a little "But, you've been humiliated enough, tell me where Ruby is and I'll let you return to kissing the asses of your superiors." "She... went to a bar... you should be wary though... she's with a zodiac..." the man seemed slightly intrigued, but without saying a word he walked to the bar that Quince went to.

Quince had just finished his apple pie "That tasted so good! Can I get seconds?" Ruby looked at her wallet "You're paying." "Eh?! But they're so good!" The doors then slammed open. "Ruby, so you are here." She looked at the man and realized immediately who he is "She really would go that far..." Quince also averted his low attention to the red haired man. "Ruby, who's the red guy?" Ruby was taken aback by his question. She grabbed him by the collar, brows arched and eyes wide open. It was obvious she felt shocked by his deplorable lack of intel. "Do you seriously not know him?! He's an infamous bounty hunter! Vespertine Rogue."