Canon Fodder

CHAPTER 149 ACTION

I followed Shakky’s directions. But somehow I kept getting sidetracked. Crewman after crewman was somehow in my path. 

“There you are, Weston,” Nami yelled as she and Robin stepped out of a clothing shop. “Find a coater?” 

“I’m on the trail of one,” I said. “Seen the others? We need to meet at Grove 13.” 

“I saw Franky and Usopp at one of the shops down there,” she said. “Come on, Robin and I need your opinion.” I was about to deny her, but noticed that we were moving toward a lingerie store. Like a weak male I happily followed, and paid for everything they wanted. Stammering excitedly as they tried some on. It was very distracting. 

When I pulled myself away I had spent my own allowance and then some. They promised to head to Shakky’s bar with bags in hand, then I found Franky and Usopp. Then Chopper and Brooke, they said they lost Luffy at the amusement park. I then found Sanji at the grocers and promised him there would be beauties at the bar and he was happily on his way. 

By the time I had found everyone but Zoro and Luffy the auction was about to start. I figured without the mermaid there to be auctioned and piss off Luffy, I could just buy Raleigh as a slave. Then happen to move Luffy along the path of a Celestial Dragon. It wouldn’t take long for him to hit them. Canon could continue, and the world would be at peace once more. 

But of course, my intervention was not needed. Coming into the auction house it was setup like a theater. Rows of seats moved lower to a main stage that everyone faced. The seats were filled of course. There were pirates that I recognized from the manga. Trafalgar, and Kidd, and a few others I had seen around the Celestial Dragon earlier. People eyed me and knew who I was. 

The odd thing was they would look to me then in the crowd. I watched and noticed who I had been looking for straight ahead. 

“Weston!” Luffy yelled like he wasn’t at a slave auction. “Did you get lost? We were looking for you.” I noticed Zoro sitting next to him, bored as he sat in the seats. 

“What the hell are you guys doing here?” I asked. 

“I saw a sign for it,” Zoro said, drinking from a bottle of rum he had bought. “Said they were having an auction. I want to see if they have any swords.” 

“Stupid Zoro,” Luffy said. “I saw the same sign. It said Action. There is going to be fighting here.” 

“Goddamn it,” I said sitting down next to him. “Why am I not surprised?” I said more to myself than them. “It’s a slave auction, guys. They are selling people.”

“What?” Luffy asked. “That’s not a thing.” 

“It very much is, especially here, so close to the World Nobles home,” I said.

“Then what the hell are you doing here?” Zoro asked. 

“Finding us a ship coater,” I said. “I heard one was being sold.” 

“Weston! We don’t take slaves!” Luffy yelled, drawing eyes from around us. 

I hissed at him. “I know that. There’s a guy here that was captured. I buy him, set him free, he coats our ship as payment,” I said. 

“Oh, then let’s buy them all,” Luffy said. “We can set them free and watch them scatter.” 

“Luffy, they aren’t mice,” I said. “...but they would probably scatter. You got a point there. There’s no way we can buy them all though. The Celestial Dragons will probably be here.” I looked around, noticing that they weren’t there yet. I doubted the event would start without them since they were the big spenders. 

“Why?” 

“Well you know how you were excited to have 200,000 berries to play with?” I asked. 

“By the way, that’s all gone,” Luffy said.

“Oh my god, did you spend or lose it?” 

“Both,” he said unashamedly. “There was this game at the amusement park with a gun. I almost got the big prize. I plan to get some more of my money and try again.”

“Nope, you’re cut off,” I said. He groaned. “Anyways, 200,000 berries is nothing to these guys. They could spend a billion and probably not blink.” 

“A billion?!” Luffy asked excitedly. He got quiet after that. Slowly he began to laugh to himself. He leaned forward waving Zoro and I closer to his face. “Should we rob them?” 

I couldn’t help but bark a laugh. “That’s not a bad idea,” I said. “I didn’t think of that.” 

“But you said-” Zoro grumbled. 

“Pretty sure we got away with it last time,” I said. “We will see. Try not to piss them off here though. Lots of eyes.” Luffy almost giggled with excitement as the back doors were opened. 

In walked 4 Celestial Dragons and their entourages. The front Tenryuubito was an older man with a gray beard and black mustache. Beside him was the black hair one Zoro and I messed with earlier. Beside him was a redhead woman Celestial Dragon. They all had the same man bun, sideburns, and mullet. Behind them was a 4th one. She was honestly not bad looking. Where the others looked like they had a stick up their asses, she looked like she was bored. Black hair hanging low, it ended just below her chin. White creamy skin I would call her a beauty if she wasn’t trapped in a fishbowl helmet. 

All 4 had the white space suit and clear fish bowls on their heads. The suits were decorated with different metals and designs, but pretty standard. Instead of sitting down in the chairs they beckoned their slaves to bend down. Sitting on their backs the one with black hair had to borrow one from the older guy, who I assumed was his father. 

The crowd pretended to not notice them, but everyone’s focus was on the 4 Celestial Dragons. Making sure to not make eye contact, or piss them off. 

“That them?” Luffy asked. 

“Yeah, just ignore them,” I said. I decided to wait for the end of the auction before trying to get him to ‘accidentally’ piss off a Celestial Dragon. I was getting excited. 

“Thank you all for joining us,” a greasy looking man announced as he walked out of the curtained area. He had a top hat on and wore a checkered shirt. “Now we can begin the auction. I remind you this auction is brought to you by the Doflamingo Pirates.”

“What’s that mean?” Luffy asked. 

“It means if you cause a scene it will piss off a Flamingo,” I said. Luffy laughed loudly, uncaring of the stares he got. 

“We have a special auction today, plenty of new people. Without further ado let’s start simple,” the auctioneer announced. Out was dragged a tall man. It was hard to watch. He was once a pirate captain with a 16,000,000 berrie bounty. The same amount as Usopp. I knew it would be hard to watch, but even Luffy had trouble sitting still. 

We had been joking only a moment ago, but the truth of the matter was made obvious as the man wearing a captain’s outfit was brought out. A once proud man, scared out of his mind as he was shown off like cattle. 

“He can be used to ride on. A punching bag. Anything you want, he’s a slave-” The auctioneer said but stopped as the crowd gasped. He looked to the pirate captain who was bleeding from his mouth. He spit out his own tongue with a smile as blood poured out of his mouth. The aides to the auctioneer soon ran out dragging the man awat. Another coming out to mop up the blood. This wasn’t the first time this happened. 

The 3 of us sat forward. All angry as we stared at the scene in front of us. “This is sick,” Luffy said. “Did he…” 

“Kill himself rather than be a slave?” I asked. “Yes.” 

“Disgusting,” Zoro commented. 

“Yep,” I said. There was nothing else to say. The mood was set for the rest of the auction. We watched as different species were walked out. Most male, thankfully, but not all. A lot cried, a lot pretended to be indifferent, but no more tried to kill themselves. I felt something I hadn’t tried to feel for in a long time. I thought it was my compassion. But it was my Haki. 

It began to pulse around my chakra as I held back my anger. Vibrate with power. For so long I thought it was a thing that reacted to me, but I was starting to realize it also reacted to the people around me. Like a heartbeat, it began to rumble, disturbed and angry from all the emotions around me. 

“Lot 16!” The auctioneer announced excitedly. “This is what brought so many of you here today. A special treat, one of our local crews were able to capture a mermaid!” 

My heart sank as they pulled out the large fishbowl. It was a young mermaid with green hair. She wore a shirt with a star on it and had a green fishtail below her waist. My hands gripped one another as I saw her. Anger boiling. Not so much at others, but something I had done had messed up the canon. Instead of my crew knowing and caring about this merfolk, she was a faceless person to them. 

“Camie!” A voice yelled. I looked to the other side of the auditorium to see the octopus man running down toward her. “Stop this! She shouldn-” A gunshot rang out. Everyone turned to see the Celestial Dragon had fired his gun at the merfolk man. Shooting him in the back. 

“Luffy,” I whispered. 

“On it,” he said without explanation as the Celestial Dragon walked toward the octopus. Luffy got up and walked to intercept the Dragon.

“500,000,000 berries for the mermaid!” The black haired Tenryuubito said laughing. The auctioneer exclaimed excitedly as he asked for other bids. All the while the dragon laughed, raising his gun in the air happily. Supposedly mermaids were rare at the auction house. Because they didn’t leave the water they were impossible to catch, so when they were caught, they went for a lot of money. 

No one noticed as Luffy drew closer to the Tenryuubito. The auctioneer kept asking for more bids, but none were given. Zoro fingered his blades, pulling them just out of their scabbards. And I stood there. My Haki was still going haywire. My fists gripping the chair in front of me I thought I felt it. I felt the mermaid’s fear and anger. I felt the fear and pain from the other slaves. I felt the anguish from those in the crowd that had come to watch their family be sold. I felt Luffy and Zoro’s boiling rage. And I couldn’t stop it. 

In the background the auctioneer finished the bidding, claiming the Celestial Dragon won. But on the real stage Luffy drew back his arm punching the Tenryuubito with all he had. The fishbowl helmet shattered and the man’s fat body flew back hard. Knocked out instantly as Luffy didn’t take it easy on him.

The room in a stunned silence their emotions swirled from boredom to fear and it tipped the scale for me. My Haki reacted, mirroring that fear as it escaped my body in a wave. My spiritual energy touching that of everyone’s around me the tempered glass it had been, thinned out expanding to fill the rim. 

People stood there shocked for a moment, none breathing, then the majority fainted from the surge in spiritual power. As my Haki receded I took in a breath for the first time in what felt like a long time. I kept breathing in and out, my brain slowly catching up to the events around me. 

“What the hell was that?” Zoro asked. His words snapped me out of it a little. Looking around I saw that the majority of people had been knocked out. The stronger pirates like Trafalgar and Kidd sat confidently in the crowd. The Celestial Dragons still stood there shocked. Their guards moved to attack Luffy.

“Head in the game,” Zoro spat. Jumping over the limp bodies of the crowd he intercepted the armored guards of the Dragons. I nodded, shaking myself. I was slowly becoming elated that I had actually used the power. I ran to the top of the auditorium. Zoro and I pincering the guards of the Dragons. 

Pulling my Jitte out I slashed one, knocking him against the wall. They had handled their Haki being messed with, but still weren’t overly strong. Zoro and I were making quick work of them. 

“Call the marines!” The older Tenryuubito yelled. “Get a Fleet Admiral here now!” One of the butlers began yelling into a denden-mushi. I moved my water chakra to smack it out of his hand. But another butler had another one. They were able to get the words out this time. 

“Stop!” One of the dragons yelled. The guards didn’t hesitate to stop attacking us mid-swing. It was the woman Dragon with short black hair. Her voice was strong, and surprised me enough to join the others in halting. 

I looked at her confused as she studied me. “Weston?” She asked. 

“Uhh yeah?” I asked. Surprised by her words. As if she was asking for some reason. I still looked like my bounty since it was only taken a couple of months ago. 

“You don’t remember me?” She asked. My gut clenched. A dozen scenarios played through in my mind. Fear gripped my heart as Zoro and Luffy looked at me. The only thing I could think of was I was a Celestial Dragon. 

“I lost my memory,” I said. “I’m not a Tenryuubito am I?” I asked wide eyed. 

The girl smiled as if we weren’t kicking her guard’s asses. “No,” she said. 

“Oh thank god,” I said with a sigh and slashed the 2 guards in front of me. They hit the wall hard and the guards on my side were done. “Don’t know who you are, but I ain’t friends with anyone that takes slaves.” Turning to my crew I said, “We need to go. Marines will be here soon.” 

“They’re already here,” a voice said. We turned to see Trafalgar Law. He was a lanky man. In jeans and a long sleeve shirt he had a long sword at his side and wore a leopard skin hat. 

“Who the hell are you and what’s with the bear?” Luffy asking the important questions. Behind Law was his crew, one of them was a bipedal polar bear man.

Law didn’t bother answering. “The marines have surrounded this place since we got here,” he said. I began to walk down the stairs to the octopus man that had been shot. He groaned as I did. He was who I remembered. The octopus man that Zoro had fought back during Arlong. He had pink skin and suckers on his arms. 

“What have you done?” He mumbled, then looked up at me. “You!?”

“Me, Hacchan right?” I asked. 

“Why did you do that?” He asked. “Attacking a celestial dragon is….crazy.” 

“Eh, we had been looking for a reason,” I said. “This auction was pretty sick.” Luffy and Law continued conversing. I moved the octopus man to sit at a seat. 

“I know I don’t have any right to ask,” he said. “But sa-save her.” He pointed to the green mermaid girl who looked at us with wide eyes. 

“Of course,” I said, pulling out my Jitte. The auctioneer had been hiding behind his podium but jumped out as I came up to the stage. 

“Do you have any idea who you are mess-” He tried to say but I bashed his face with my Jitte. 

“Yes,” I said. I stepped up to the large fishbowl the girl was in. Striking downward, the side cut away and I controlled the water to pour out slowly. Camie, the mermaid, stared at me with wide eyes. Her hands on the collar around her neck. I moved for it. 

“Don’t,” she said, fear in her voice. 

“I just want to help.” 

“No, they said it will explode if I take it off without the key,” she said. 

“Oh, then let’s find it,” I said looking around, but was stopped as an old man stepped out of the back stage. 

“Maybe I can help.” He was a tall man, long gray hair slicked back he had a big goatee on his chin. A scar on his right eye he wore a shabby robe and clothes. Flask in hand he stepped out onto the stage in sandals. I knew him immediately, a smile splitting my face having found my target. 

He looked around, the man had a strong presence though he appeared homeless. He studied the crowd, getting the gist of what was going on. 

“Rayleigh,” Hachhan said weakly from where he was sitting. 

“Hachi!” Silvers Rayleigh said excitedly. “What are you doing in a place like this? Actually don’t bother explaining…” he began looking around to everyone again. I guessed he was reading our Haki or something. One of the strongest men in the world, he had a lot of tricks. 

When he appeared to get the idea of the situation he said, “You sure got yourself in a fair bit of trouble Hachi. Looks like you guys saved him though.” He eyed me then looked up to Luffy. “Which is lucky. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you both. Monkey D. Luffy and Watanabe D. Weston.” I felt my gut clench in excitement from the words. Silvers Raleigh knew who I was.