Pieces Of One

#05: The Revolutionary Army

4 years ago,

Baterrila

Port

The explosion alarmed Alon and his group. They rushed towards the port and saw Baiju and Lehar lying on the floor. They received wounds and were left unconscious. "Lehar, Baiju. Hey, what happened here?", Alon run towards them. "Gale, tend to their wounds", Bloom commanded. She looked ahead and saw a group wearing cloaks. "Wait. Where is Kairi?", Morwen asked.

Alon clenched his fist. "The three of you, please take care of Lehar and Baiju", Alon removed his gloves. "Are you going to dive in the enemy's pool alone?", Morwen tried to follow him. "I'll be fine. I don't plan on taking them all. If Lehar and Baiju didn't stand a chance, I'm good as a dead meat as well", Alon assured that he will not face them head on.

Alon sneaked into the circle of crowd using the fish boxes to hide from.

"Let go of me!", Kairi struggled. Alon peeked and saw a tall man grabbing on Kairi's collar lifting her from the ground. "Someone as young as you is an officer of the Marine", the stern and low voice sounded displeased. "That's not how to handle a lady, Dragon-san", a cheerful toned person walked towards the one holding Kairi. "Let me ask you once more. Do you want to join the revolutionary army?", the man called Dragon, the founder of the Revolutionary Army asked Kairi who is struggling.

"Why would I?!", Kairi kicked Dragon but it's not working. "You have a good look in your eyes. It's pair of eyes that knows what is right and wrong", Dragon answered. "Wow~ That's an outstanding comment from Dragon-san", a woman's voice was heard as well. "I don't need a comment from a rebel", Kairi was about to do something but Alon held into Dragon's hand. The leader of the Revolutionary Army furrowed his brow as he felt his arms softening. He lets go of Kairi.

"See, Dragon-chan. She also have some reinforcement. Let's just leave. We already did what we need to do in this place, right?", someone convinced. Dragon looked at the two and scoffed. "Let's meet again somewhere", Dragon walked pass through them. The rest of the group also left.

Bloom watched the scenario from afar.

Purru~ purru~

She answered the transporter snail. "This is Bloom", she answered. "Lieutenant Bloom, we are informed of the success of your mission. The culprit for the corruption in Baterrila are successfully delivered in the ship".

"What? We didn't even do some-", her explanation was cut.

"Good job", she heard a different voice.

"Admiral Akainu", she straightened herself.

"Whatever the reason is, you perfected the mission. Seven young lieutenants was able to win against the evil of the country. This way, the world will see how reliable we are", Akainu said with a stern voice. Bloom bit her lower lips knowing that Alon and Kairi will not agree with such praise. "You all will be raised in the rank of lieutenant commander", Akainu informed.

Alley

Alon carried Kairi in his arms and joined the rest of the group. He gently dropped Kairi near the other two wounded.

Warm. Gale's warm is really soothing.

Kairi opened her eyes and saw Gale's glowing hands just few inches away from her. "Sorry. I wasn't able to catch-", Kairi started to sob. Bloom, Gale, and Morwen hugged her. "Idiot. That's not important", they all cried. "You're squeezing me", Kairi complained.

Lehar and Baiju also sat down. "We're sorry we weren't able to protect her", Lehar and Baiju said in unison. "No.I was the one who started the fight", Kairi flushed. "What happened?", Alon sat down on the pile of box prepared to listen.

"We nearly caught the culprits but we ran over the revolutionary army. They fought them instead with us just watching from afar. Amazed and yet baffled, Kairi challenged them. She said she couldn't stand reporting that the revolutionary got the criminals with the fact that she's standing in the same battleground. Without any weapon, Baiju and I butted in and tried to take the challenge. We ended up loosing. It was a fair battle", Lehar narrated.

Alon covered his face.

"I know, I'm stupid. I even dragged Lehar and Baiju. I will take all the punishment on myself ", Kairi flushed. They heard giggle escaping Alon's mouth. Soon, he laughed hard.

"Kuh! It's not a laughing matter!", Kairi threw her shoe on Alon who caught it. He stopped and looked at her. "You're really a fearless one. You're an idiot", Alon stood up raised his arms closing his fist. "We were raised into rank because of a made up story. Why not ride the wave? We'll show them that we're deserving of that title. Let's do our best to protect Kairi's pride", Alon smiled widely.

They all raised their arms as well and closing their fists except Kairi. Bloom sighed and raised Kairi's arms. "We're all in this together. From now on, don't try to split the team", Bloom said without looking at the flustered lady.

"Yes", she said in a low voice

_______________________________________________________________________________

Colosseum

Kairi watches as Sabo wins the battle one-sidedly. "If I don't do something, he'll get the Mera fruit", Kairi looked at the treasure box being hunted by the participants. "Run, the place is going to be destroyed", the crowd is panicking. The gladiator is running wild in taking the Mera fruit. It was a fruit that formerly belonged to a certain pirate.

"Woman, get out of this place. Its going to get more ugly later".

"Ah, there's nothing I can do here", Kairi looked at Sabo's wide smile as he eats the fruit. The flames went out from his hand.

Town's Circle

Kairi found the Admiral walking around. "Admiral, the fruit was already consumed by the second in command of the Revolutionary army. I apologise for not being able to stop it", Kairi bowed very low. "It's not your fault. Also, it doesn't sound like you are truly sorry", Fujitora continued to walk.

"I will make up for what I failed to accomplish", Kairi clenched her fist. "Then think of what you should do", Fujitora said then walked away.

A marine came running towards Kairi. "Vice Admiral, we have confirmed pirate captains inside the Colosseum. Since the dome is already destroyed, we can now interfere and catch them", the marine soldier gave his salute. "We're also dealing with the Revolutionary Army. Don't rush and wait for your reinforcement. Also, can you give me one transporter snail. Mine got stolen", Kairi opened her palm as she stood properly. The solider nodded and handed her a small one.

"Prepare for battle, Vice Admiral Kairi". She turned and saw the masked Vice Admiral. "Vice Admiral Bastille", Kairi saw him carrying her spear and uniform. He threw it at her. "Evacuate all the nearby citizens", Bastille ordered. "Yes", she nodded. She saw an alley where she could change her clothes.

She went out from the alley and bumped into a little girl. The small framed lady fell on the ground. "Uwahh! Mom!", she cried. Kairi saw people running towards the center of the city. The Vice Admiral picked the little girl in her arm and joined the crowd.

"What is happening?", Kairi asked.

"Strings enveloped the whole area and it's squeezing us inside".

Kairi looked up and squinted to get a better view. They appeared to be in a cage. She received a call from Fujitora. "Doflamingo turned against the people. We're going to capture him", Fujitora ordered. A huge rubble was headed towards them. Kairi raised her spear and slashed it in smaller pieces.

"Big sister, you're strong", the girl commented. Kairi looked down on her and gave a weak smile. After leaving them in a safer place, she ran towards the direction of the palace but met someone half-way.

"Second man in the Revolutionary Army", Kairi called on him. "Yes? New Vice Admiral?", Sabo tilted his head. "Do you know what the owner of that fruit said?", Kairi asked.

"You wouldn't know, right? You weren't there", Kairi triggered him. Sabo clenched his fists. "He wouldn't wish for a thousand years. If he could just live for one more day, that'll be enough for him", Kairi quoted someone else's words.

Chapter end.