The Puppet Master [One Piece]

Flashback (1)

~Echo’s POV~

 )(Flashback)(

                The pain was blinding as the burning brand seared into my back. Even once the brand was drawn away, the thin metallic fibrous wire continued to burn. I refused to cry, refused to show them an ounce of weakness. How could I have let them catch me? I’d been on the run for a few years now, escaping bounty hunters, marines and the World Government alike.

                A pathetic group of marines managed to catch me off guard as I was trying to sleep for the night. Perhaps the villagers of the town I’d passed through the other day called in a tip in hopes of getting a portion of the hefty bounty they put on my head. They were all drunk with power and wanted revenge for their fallen comrades.

                The shackles they slapped on my wrists were so tight they dug the wires into my skin causing blood to bubble up and slowly ooze from beneath the cuffs. Because of the tight shackles I couldn’t use very much wire, save for what was looped around my hands. With the wire around my hands I only had a 12 inch reach, but it may be enough.

                Their wicked laughter echoed through the enclosed quarters of the brig on their ship as they sailed toward Marine HQ. I finally succumbed to the searing pain and slipped to my knees with a soft whimper. I allowed myself to fall forward to the floor and forced myself to lie as still as possible to make them think I’d fainted from the pain.

                Someone threw a bucket of cold water on top of me, “Don’t be like that, the fun’s not over yet, darling.” A cold voice laughed from my right as the highest ranking officer, knelt beside me.

                Damn it! He’s not the one with the key to these damn shackles! I thought angrily.

                His hand smoothed through my hair before roughly gripping a handful near my scalp and painfully pulling me into a kneeling position by my hair. “Don’t think you’ll get off so easy after what you did to those poor marines.”

                “They deserved it.” I hissed unable to contain my rage and keep up the act any longer.

                He gave me the back of his hand and I fell back to the floor with a clatter as stars exploded behind my eyes. “They were good men!” He snarled.

                “They were the lowest of the low! They murdered innocent people, women, children even infants!” I growled as I dragged myself to my feet to face the enraged group of marines. “You’re all scum! You mindlessly obey a tyrannical government and slaughter whoever dares to challenge or question yo-!”

                “ENOUGH!” The Captain back handed me once more and my vision went black for a moment as I smacked into the floor.

                After a few moments of complete and total disorientation, I forced myself to sit up and grimaced at the metallic taste of blood in my mouth. “Did I strike a nerve?” I smirked as a small thin rivulet of blood seeped from the corner of my mouth.

                “Shut up, demon!” The bulky captain un-holstered his pistol and aimed it directly at my chest.

                “They begged me for their lives.” I attempted to goad the captain, “Sniveling like cowards-.”

                BANG!

                The bullet hit me in the chest, getting dented by the wires and I collapsed to the ground hoping my plan would work.

                “Captain? I thought HQ wanted to question her?” One of the subordinates asked hesitantly.

                “Her mind is poisoned, no sense questioning a demon.” The captain grumbled, “Check her pulse.” He sighed.

                I struggled to contain a smile as I heard the clinking of shackle keys as one of the marines stepped forward. He knelt beside me cautiously stopping at my side near where my shackled hands were lying limp. Perfect! I thought victoriously as I spotted his key ring a mere six inches from my hands.

                My wires loosed from my hands and latched around the keys and just as the marine realized what was happening, my shackles clattered to the floor.

                “What the-?” The marine stared at me in horror as I slowly rose to my feet.

                He reached for his gun only to whimper in fear as it hovered in the air before him.

                “Call in to HQ!” The captain ordered two of his subordinates, “We need back up!”

                I lashed out at the captain with my wires as his subordinates raced off to escape my ‘witchcraft’. He stared in awe as his sword was unsheathed by my wires.

                “You really are demon spawn.” He scoffed. “That whole island was nothing but demons and devil worshippers, they should never have existed in the first place.”

                “SHUT UP!” I screamed as I lost my composure.

                “We told them to drown all the infants so Funesto couldn’t spread anymore evi-.”

                “DIE!” I shrieked as I was blinded by rage, my wires slackened around his sword dropping it to the floor before surging toward the unsuspecting captain. He winced momentarily as my wires tightened around him drawing up small amounts of blood at first but with a simple flick of my wrist and a slight tug, the wires passed completely through him severing him into multiple pieces, staining the deck with his foul blood.

                The rest of the night was a blur, I’d lost myself to my rage and when I finally regained my senses I was alone on a Marine ship drenched in the blood of those wicked men.