Party Crashers

Bvv-bvv-bvv-bvv--

Powerful vibrations emanated out from a small island just over the horizon. Greenshell Island; marked as showgrounds by the aptly named Loudest Pirates, and boy were they loud.

"Woah, so that's Greenshell Island, huh...?"

Willow Scoville-Schmidt stood at the helm of a ship approaching Greenshell. It was not her own. Her's was currently in the shop for repairs after some rubberman she killed inflated himself beforehand. So, she had to make do.

An unfortunate subordinate captain of the Loudest Pirates Fleet who had his travel time increased due to unforseen circumstances was also near the helm of said ship. Specifically, he was tied to it.

Willow stared him in the eyes, unblinking and smiling, waiting for a response.

"...No answer? 'Kay. Wheeeeee~!", cheered Willow as she spun the wheel, spinning the bruised and bloodied victim. He gargled on his own blood as he tried to moan, and Willow brought him to a sudden stop after his head grazed just enough splinters on the floorboards for her liking.

"Your ship being so big sure is convenient! Can't usually do this with smaller helms! Anyway, I'll try again."

Willow cleared her throat.

"'Woah, so that's Greenshell Island, huh...?'"

Again, she gave the captain an expectant look, smile unwavering.

"Go to hell. On my honor as Captain of the Boingo Pirates, and underling of Emperor Taiyo, I won't tell you a thing..."

"...Whazzat?" Willow questioned, visibly confused. "You're gargling too much blood. Try and swallow it, or something."

Captain Boingo just looked at her with restrained fury.

"Fiiiine! Be like that."

SHNNK!

With a swift motion and a coating of Armament, Willow stabbed her hand into the unfortunate captain's abdomen. He let out a pained gasp, as more blood trickled out of his mouth.

"Say 'hi' to the rest of your crew in hell for me! See ya later, alligator!"

SQUELCH!

She gripped some of his guts, and tore them out in a smooth, methodical motion. She stared him in the eyes as his horrified gaze grew dimmer and dimmer, his garbled death rattle being unintelligible.

"Now, where was I...?"

Righting the helm of the Boingo Pirates' ship, she fixed the direction to Greenshell.

"This should be the right place! I mean..."

She looked in awe at the waves emanating from the island.

"...Where else is THAT loud!?"

She focused for a moment, and her Observation Haki honed in. She felt numerous presences, but one felt stronger than the others.

She licked her lips.

A Den-Den Mushi rattled. A coarse voice shouted out.

"Four of us, huh? May as well call in a fifth so we can just Buster Call Greenshell and be done with it! There's no saving it, and maybe we'll sink that damn Emperor!"

Cloaked in traditional Marine garb, Vice Admiral Crenshaw spoke back into the snail. He was more refined than his compatriot.

"Dammit, Ares! We're supposed to be saving Greenshell and its people!"

It groaned back.

"As if there's a chance! You know the track record of these savages! Every single island after one of their so-called 'shows'... sunk!"

A third voice joined in for communication through the snail, deep and booming.

"Crenshaw! Ares! Vice Admiral Techichi REPORTING IN!"

Crenshaw scratched his head. His ears hurt a tad from the enthusiastic reporting.

"Status report?"
"North perimeter SECURED! My boys saw most of the civilian ships SAFE and SOUND! A few were RATTLED, but we helped them back on their feet and sent them on their way!"

Finally, a fourth voice joined in to the call. Gravely serious.

"I wish I could say the same for the South perimeter."

It was Ares' voice that questioned the Vice Admiral who had just joined.

"That you, Orseolo!? The hell happened on your end!?"

A pause.

"Civilian ships... people just fleeing Greenshell... absolutely massacred. Stench of blood so thick you can cut it."

The 3 other Vice Admirals were shocked!

"P-Pardon!?"
"What!?"
"HUH!?"

"I couldn't believe it myself. But it's true. Barely any survivors on every single ship we saw. The ones we did see were in such terrible condition that they died upon our attempts to remove them. I have to say... I've never seen sights more gruesome in my life."

Crenshaw gripped the railing of his Battleship's deck so hard that his knuckles were white.

"T-These Loudest Pirates... I never heard them capable of such things...!"
"Me neither. But it had to be one of their crews doing the slaughtering. I can't think of any other explanation that makes sense."

The Den Den Mushi gasped in surprise, as Techici's voice boomed even louder than before!

"DAMN IT! ON MY HONOR AS A MARINE, I'LL BRING THESE SICK BASTARDS TO JUSTICE!"

Ares' voice next.

"You got that right!"

Then Orseolo's.

"Certainly. We can't let them go."

Finally, Crenshaw focused his sights on Greenshell Island, his ship rapidly approaching.

He commanded his forces.

"MEN! Prepare to make landing! We're gonna stop any other massacres against Greenshell from occuring, even if it means our lives!"

The Vice Admiral's forces let out their battlecries! All together, they were almost as loud as Techichi!

"FOR JUSTICE!"

Crenshaw turned back to his Den Den Mushi.

"You three almost made land?"
"Almost there! Gonna cut those bastards down!"
"Certainly. Many a pirates' blood shall stain my steel..."
"There's a few puny SHIPS in my way, but I got enough RAGE to BLOW THEM AWAY!"

"Good. Let's all unite and join forces from the same direction! For Justice!"

BVV-BVV-BBV-BVV--

"We're not gonna take it, anymore! ♪" Taiyo sang under her breath, the last song she sang for the crowd reverberating in her head. The show must go on, but every singer needed a break to wet their whistle from time to time. As such, she had just disappeared behind a curtain, after promising the crowd that she would indeed return in short notice.

She looked over her shoulder with a smile as a group of Fishmen pushed a tank carrying a Mermaid onto stage. The crowd was left in good hands! Or should it be vocal chords...?

"Helloooo, can someone get me a drink!? Anyone!? Anyone there!? ...Ugh!"

Strange. Usually, backstage was jampacked with people ready to help when she or some other singer needed something or other. She ran a well-oiled machine, after all! Someone would pay for this!

...Oh. But there was someone backstage. How'd she miss them?

"Oh my gosh! Hey! Hey! Hi! Hey!"

Taiyo's eyes widened in surprise as she spotted a pink-haired girl running towards her. Not giving her an inch of personal space, she immediately grabbed a hold of Taiyo's hand, shaking it with both of her own.

"Hiya! You're Captain Taiyo, right? The Yonko? I'm a huge fan!"
"W-Woah! Nice to meet a fan! Uh, autographs aren't till later, though... I'm not sure if you should be back here?"
"'Autographs?' Oh, I don't want one of those. I just wanted to meet you for myself, and~..."
"'And'?"

The pink-haired girl let go of Taiyo's hands and struck a pose, holding a peace sign over one of her eyes.

"Audition to join the Loudest Pirates!"

Taiyo stared for a moment, and then leaned back and laughed, her hands on her belly. She'd already completely forgotten about wanting a drink.

"Bahahaha! Well, you got spunk, I'll give you that! So, what are your talents, uh...? Did I get your name?"
"Oh, silly me! My name's Willow; nice to meet you!"

Huh. That name seemed oddly familiar, but Taiyo couldn't exactly place it.

"And I have a lot of talents! I can use lots of instruments, and sing, and cook, and perform surgery, and distill odourous chemicals, and-"

"Woah, woah! I'm mostly interested in the first two, Willow. Why don't you tell me about that?"

"Oh, yeah! I love lots of genres!"
"You seem like a 'pop' type, huh?"
"Teehee~, bzzzt! Wrong! I'm actually a big fan of 'death metal'!"
"Oh! I never would have guessed."
"Well, saying I like 'pop' isn't exactly wrong. That's my second favorite! In the wise words of Enelnem, 'I found a hella way to fuse it'!"

Taiyo thought for a moment.

"Is that so...? Well, I guess I have time! If you wanna do your audition, why not now?"
"Ohh, yeah! Let's see... do you have an instrument I can borrow? I think I'm best with guitar. I'm pretty slick with my fingers!"
"Sure! Let's see..."

Taiyo walked over to a nearby stand with instruments, and selected a bright electric red guitar. Willow closely followed behind her, excitedly snatching it from her hands as soon as Taiyo turned to hand it off to her.

"Yay, alright! Ahem. Mimimimimi..."

Willow began strumming a rhythm...

"One! Nothing wrong with me! ♪ Two! Nothing wrong with me! ♪ Three! Nothing wrong with me! ♪ Four! Nothing wrong with me! ♪ One! Something's got to give! ♪ Two! Something's got to give! ♪ Three! Something's got to give! ♪ Noooooow~! ♪"

Clap-clap-clap!

"Wow, very good, Willow! I'd say you definitely have a future on the stage; you can even go on once the schedule opens up. But, that's not the only thing one of the Loudest Pirates has to be good at. You need to be loud, and you need to be rowdy!"

"Oh, thanks for the applause! And, yeah, I know all~ about being 'rowdy'," Willow giggled. "In fact, 'rowdiness' is really why I'm here! A little birdy told me about what happens to islands you guys' hold festivals on..."

Taiyo paused apprehensively. Most people weren't too happy about the side effects of a good time, and she's faced many violent complaints about said side effects. Mostly from Marines.

Was this Willow... was she a bounty hunter!? Cipher Pol!? An undercover Marine herself!?

"...I think sinking an entire island people live on... is SUPER, DUPER COOL!"
"...Eh!?"

That's not something Taiyo hears often.

"But it can be cooler! See, most people get away from you guys sinking the island. That's lame. So, here's what I came up with--"

Taiyo's never heard that before, and she was still processing what she heard as Willow forced a piece of paper in her hands.

The atmosphere seemed to have changed. Though Taiyo could still hear the Mermaid singing on the stage, she felt like the room was suddenly colder and quieter than it should be. Despite that, Willow's contagious happiness was unaffected. In fact, she seemed even happier talking aboit this new subject.

"--Mass Crucifixion! We round up all the civilians before they can leave, crucify them, and place them in funny places! I was thinking that they should be placed in areas that they have an emotional connection to... schools, parks, marketplaces! Feels like it would really rub in how much it sucks to have your home crumble around you, while you slowly die! See, that's why crucifixion is better than hanging, and that's what a lot of people get wrong. Hanging's too fast."

Taiyo looked down at the piece of paper that was forced into her hands. It was a crude, childlike drawing of what was presumably her and Willow holding hands, surrounded by figures affixed to crosses. While she and Willow had happy faces, the surrounding people had poorly-displayed anguish.

"I-Is this... is this some kind of sick joke!?"

Willow seemed genuinely puzzled by this accusation. Her perplexed expression soon transformed back into a smile.

"...Joke? Why would I joke about something like this, silly!? Nope, I'm completely serious! So, are you in or are you in?"

Taiyo crumpled up Willow's drawing and threw it aside.

"What the hell!? No way, you psycho! How did... how did you get in here!?"

Willow's eyes followed the crumpled up paper ball as it hit the ground. She seemed a tad saddened.

"Hey, I worked really hard on that..." mumbled Willow, disappointment evident in her voice.

"Answer me, dammit! How'd you get back here!? Where's security!?"

Willow smiled again, and reached into a bag at her side. She took out a reddened lump of cloth.

"Catch!" she exclaimed, as she lightly tossed it at Taiyo, who mistakenly let it land right into her hands.

The cloth fell to expose what laid within; some sort of organ.

"Wh-What the fuck is this!?" exclaimed Taiyo.
"That's a liver," Willow added. She smirked. "Courtesy of one of the guys who tried to stop me from waltzing in here!"

"Hiiyaah!" exclaimed Taiyo, her hand covered in a bubble of water and coming dangerously close to Willow's head.

CLANK!!

Coating the guitar previously handed to her in Armament Haki, Willow blocked Taiyo's strike.

CRACK!!

The floorboards surrounding the two combatants shattered.

Both Willow and Taiyo hopped backwards, and the former sighed.

"Ahhh... Oh, well. Guess our friendship wasn't meant to be, huh? Whatevs! In that case, I'll just have plenty of fun with you~!"
"Shut up, you creep!"

Suddenly, a new, panicked voice rang out from behind!

"Captain Taiyo! CAPTAIN TAIYO- eh? AIEEEEEE! I-I JUST STEPPED IN SOME BLOOD! CAPTAIN TAIYO, I STEPPED IN SOME BLOOD, ...AND THE MARINES ARE HERE!"

Willow turned to see the commotion, and Taiyo launched an orca-shaped blast of water at her.

SPLAAASH!

Without looking, Willow split the blast in half with her improvised weapon. Even more floorboards suffered destruction as the cleaved wave went off in two seperate directions.

"For the record, only the blood puddles are my fault. Marines weren't me."
"Shut up!"

A human punk rocker girl, blood staining her boots, entered the scene.

"A-AIEEEEEEE! C-CAPTAIN TAIYO'S UNDER ATTACK!?"

Suddenly, more pirates stormed in from behind her.

Willow was surrounded.

"Tch! I just wanted to have a nice one-on-one with your captain... you guys are jerks!"

"Shut the hell up!" Taiyo barked at her.
"Yeah, shut the hell up!" spoke out another burly punk rocker-type.
"Yeah, what Cap'n said!" spoke one more.

Willow paused.

"Hmm... alright, I think I'll take my leave. I don't really want to take on a Yonko and her crew and then the Marines... right now. Might make leaving difficult. Think I'll pay the Marines a visit, and see what they're doing. You guys coming with?"

"You ain't getting away, punk!" yellled a brutish Loudest Pirate as he charged at her.

CRACK!

He slammed his drum-esque hammer right where Willow was... and missed.

In the blink of an eye, Willow was standing atop the rafters on the ceiling of the stage.

"Guess not~! Sayonara, guys! I'll be back to have some more fun if I'm not too tuckered out!"

Though Taiyo glared down at her would-be attempted 'playmate', she steeled her temper, apt to let her leave. No matter how much she wanted to avenge her security, it was indeed a better move to let her go fight the Marines herself. Somehow, Taiyo could tell that she wasn't just bluffing.

"You won't get away with this, nutcase!"

Willow stuck her tongue out.

"Whatevs! By the way? I'm taking the guitar, too."

With a flash of Soru, she was gone.

"Four Vice Admirals against one Emperor... you like our chances?"
"No. We're not here to bring her in, not on such short notice. Even if we could beat her, and somehow her crew... we'd need to compete against every other pirate here. We just need to save Greenshell, or at least anyone we can. If need be, we retreat."

Ares and Crenshaw touched down on the soil of Greenshell, and several shots rang from the trees in front of them.

"Melon Wall!" shouted the refined Vice Admiral, and a bastion of rind appeared before him!

"Rankyaku: 'Megaron Wave'!" shouted his compatriot, as a blade of wind slashed through the rind and soared into the jungle.

"G-GAAAAAAHHH!!" rang out from several different voices, pirates dispatched by the wave.

CRUSH!!

"You PIECES of COWDUNG! How do you like THAT!?" similarly boomed a giant Marine as his mace crushed a watchtower into sawdust.

A gaunt man riding on said Giant's shoulder pointed a spear to a massive stage in the distance.

"...Well then? Shall we be on our way?"