One Piece (Love Story) [Part Two]

Chapter Two Hundred and Eighty Five [Rewritten]

-Chapter Two Hundred and Eighty-Five-

"What?! You're kidding—another one?!" I gaped.

"W-wait, so he's..." Usopp trembled as looked back at the man situated on top of a pile of nearby debris. "One of..." he could barely get the words out as his trembling worsened.

"The Seven Warlords of the Sea?!" we shouted in shock.

"There's...there's no way!" Usopp cried.

"What's going on? They weren't working together, so why would there need to be two of them here?" Chopper frowned.

"Of course, all of this happens right when we finally choose a successor for Crocodile—losing another Warlord in such a short time sets a bad example" the man on the other end of the Transponder Snail sighed. "Can you tell if he's still breathing, even in the slightest?" he asked.

"No" the Warlord before us calmly answered.

"If he is still alive, we will wait for his recovery and wait to retain his position as one of the Seven Warlords—we will follow up after such time comes" the man on the other end said. "The dignity of the Warlords will be tarnished if we were to keep losing them so easily—it is critical that this news not reach anyone else" he argued. "These damn Straw Hats are such a nuisance..." he grumbled in annoyance.

"It's him! The man who stands just as tall as Moria—the pirate known throughout the world as the "Tyrant," Bartholomew Kuma!" the woman with pink hair gasped.

"Ahh! No way!" one of the men screamed. "That's Tyrant Kuma?!"

"Hold on, you mean like the one that's famous for his brutality?!" another cried.

"I feel I made my orders quite clear on this matter, we cannot afford to let anyone else know of Moria's defeat" the man on the other end of the line sighed. "This is a direct order from the World Government, obliterate the Straw Hat crew and everyone else on Thriller Bark—leave no one alive" he ordered.

"Simple enough, but what shall I do about her?" Kuma asked, causing me to tense up.

"Her? Oh...I almost forgot she was spotted with them..." the man mumbled as he realized what the Warlord was asking. "Varen has already informed me that there's a possibility that she'll put up a fight of resistance due to this rebellious stage of hers. If you can, avoid killing her and just knock her unconscious—you have both mine and Varen's permission to be as rough as you need to" he instructed. "Simply bring her back to Headquarters when you're done where her father will come and pick her up."

"Understood" Kuma nodded as I started to tremble.

"Skylar..." Robin breathed, resting a gentle hand on my shoulder the minute she saw my breathing starting to pick up.

"I don't want to go back..." I quietly whimpered as she nodded in understanding, gently rubbing my back as she began to coo gentle words in my ear that did very little to bring me comfort. It was hard to focus on anything other than the growing dread sickeningly building up within the pit of my stomach.

"Wait! Did he just say what I think he just said?!" one of the men flinched.

"H-he's going to obliterate us!" another stuttered as Kuma pushed himself to stand. "They want to...to kill all of us?!" he cried.

"I don't understand, what for?!"

"Man, this cannot be happening!"

"We just managed to get all our shadows back from Moria and now this happens?!"

"Oh, come on! How many of these Warlords do we have to fight?!" Usopp cried. "And just who the hell is this lucky woman that supposedly gets to live?!" he shouted.