A Pirate's Soul (Book 2 in A Pirate's Heart Trilogy)

2:: Massacre of Marine Base I-9

Hey guys, sorry for the delay. I’ve been pretty busy with . . . stuff. You know, volunteering,  cleaning up the whole damn house, party planning and partying, earthquakes and such.

I’m a-okay! (besides my allergies acting up)!

VOTE NOW! I HAVE A POLL UP FOR THIS STORY! I NEED HELP DECIDING KATSU’S INTRODUCTION AND I WANT YOU TO TELL ME! Go to fanfiction.net and to my profile, CanadianGothStalker, to vote on my poll.

Pretty please? I’m seriously having a hard time choosing.

Anyway I’ll stop rambling so you can get to the story (for those who actually READ this)

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%Narrator%

“Huh, I remember this,” Nami shook out an old newspaper, over a year old by the date.

“What is it Navigator-san?” Robin crouched down next to her, smoothing the bottom of her skirt down.

Newspapers were spread out on the bright Thousand Sunny deck, some old and worn other were new enough to had come that day. They all dated back to when she first started sailing with the Straw Hats, and through the two years they were apart. She had kept everyone, no matter the unimportance of it. A tall cold glass of strawberry lemonade with a strawberry on the rim of sugar coated rim sat next to her, ice reduced to small clear specks floating to the surface. Her sandals sat next to her, bare feet tucked under her skinny jean clad bottom.

“’Massacre of Marine Base I-9’,” Nami read out the title.

“Mmh~ yes that was all over the papers for weeks when that happened. I wonder if they ever caught the suspect,” Robin said.

“Whacha up to, Nami?” Luffy swung by, nearly kicking her head with his rubbery feet.

“Luffy!” She shouted, throwing her sandals at the back of his head, making him fall into the sea.

“Captain Usopp to the rescue! Duh-duh-duh-duuh!”  Usopp dived into the water after Luffy. An explosion rang out from the bowels of the ship (AN: am I the only person who uses that word, bowels?) followed by shouts and the sound of hard-heeled shoes colliding with steel blades and the screech of Chopper running out from the inside of the ship, his fur on fire.

“I don’t think right now’s the right time to read it again,” Nami gathered up the newspapers and stacked them neatly back into the boxes, the newspaper in question sitting atop the others.

It showed the title in bold black lettering and the subtitles read “Unknown enemy threatens the World Government”. There was a black and white picture under that of a burning Marine base, Marines scrambling around to put out the fires. Piles of bodies surrounded the burning base, the poor quality blurring most of the details.

~~

“I heard of that,” Sanji said at lunch.

“The Marine Massacre? What happened?” Franky cocked his head to the side.

“Sometime after the War of the Best there was a bloodbath at a Marine Base. Rumors say it was some of Whitebeards’ remaining men taking their revenge by scaring the public. Others say it was the work of the Revolutionary Army,” Brook explained.

“Whitebeards’ men wouldn’t do that. Their like us, won’t kill to scare people or anything. Their hearts are in the right places,” Luffy said around a large bite of his meat.

“Aw shucks thanks Luffy,” Usopp waved his hand in embarrassment.

“So what does it say?” Chopper asked.