Past Hunt | ||
Date Started: March 3rd, 2024 Date Finished: April 24rd, 2024 Next Role-Play: Timeline: March 3rd, 1620 Setting: Characters Involved: | ||
Participants | ||
User:The ancient terror • User:Citron19 |
Strange Date[]
Paradise is known for many things in the world. The first half of the Grandline, the first step for pirates around the blues to make a name for themselves, become infamous and get all the treasure the world can offer. Although the second half of the world was known as home to the biggest predators, the strongest and most dangerous seas in the world, paradise was also the graveyard for many pirate lives or dreams. Either crushed by the merciless sea, the marines who ruled more in this sea and were cut off by the influence of the emperors or slaughtered by the Shichibukai, the list of possible death scenarios was limitless.
But the sea also held all kinds of wonders and signs that the people of the Blues could only dream of. One of the places near the Red Line was an island that bore the piece of nature. The Love Island was filled with nothing but pure happiness and non-violence. Not normally known as an ordinary island, this island has been known for 2 years to carry the magic of peace and love. No matter how hard you looked, no one has been able to figure out how the island achieved this, but everyone who has settled on this island has been known to lose any form of negative feelings after a few moments on the island. Carried by a sense of love and happiness, the island's population kept getting visitors, be it men who wanted to propose to the woman they love, families on vacation, or just people who wanted to have the night of their lives, they were all drawn to the aura of Love Island.
This peculiarity of the island also ensured that even if the pirates raided the island, they were always happy, enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere and left the island without looting or killing anyone. As there were no real pirate attacks and no danger, the marines were also less present as the island didn't need protection anyway and the marines didn't send a ship to even bother.
Today, however, was a different day, as a marine ship was slowly approaching the island. With the information from Cipher Pol, there could be a rumor that a remnant of the past could be hidden there, or simply a clue to its whereabouts. That was enough for the Fleet Admiral to send out a marine unit to make sure the person was there, to capture or kill them no matter what.
The fleet of Marine ships with their unique appearance of head like a sea horse docked at the Love Island dock. One of the soldiers threw the ink into the sea while others tied a few ropes around a wooden post on the quay, allowing them to station and deploy a long bridge towards the island. The sails were dropped and soldiers were busy attaching them to the mast to ensure the mobilization of the boat until a soldier exclaimed at the arrival of someone.
“Oi! Commodore Berry is out! Let's hurry and go in a row!" he shouted to the Marines, ushering the workers back onto the deck in order as the clicking of boots echoed against the sandy wooden floor. The big boots worn by time stopped in front of the mobilization of the soldiers, seeing their autonomy, the blue-haired woman put her hands in the pockets of her Marine jacket and a mischievous smile rose to her ears as she put them peered wordlessly, seeing their work remarkably well done.
“Shehehe! You guys did a good job,” she complimented the soldiers, looking up to make sure everything was attached and moored. “I even need to tell you all what to do! It’s fun, isn’t it?" she joked while some soldiers laughed kindly at the teasing, but they remained professional. Berry wasn't the strict type, she just did the job and followed the rules as long as they didn't conflict with her own values.
“Let's stop the little jokes now, today is a special day and not like the other missions we've usually had, don't worry, no need to stress!" she reassured them, "But we have to take it very seriously, we are lucky to have obtained the rental from a former member of Yonko, known for his human traffickers, but also, it seems...", she rolled her eyes, like it was almost embarrassing and as luck would have it, it must to be on Love Island. The blue one took out a parchment from her pocket, showing Silco's Bounty poster, "... that he is a great Seducer, Silco. So be careful when searching, you are all allowed to capture him, but your priority is to notify me via Den Den Mushi, I will come there, understand? ". While she was usually relaxed, her last words were rather serious words.
The blues shouted in chorus, nodding their heads in understanding and all taking custody before separating into small groups which will be on several parts of Love Island. As they crossed the slope of the bridge joining the island, some groups headed towards the capital city, others in the countryside and some headed by all the points of a compass. On the other hand, Berry was followed by a group heading towards the city in search of a former member, a member who needed to be captured quickly before he escaped from her hands. Being on an island containing love and peace only meant one thing to her, women could be victims and find themselves in the clutches of seductive predators and her first thought was to go to places where she was regularly a woman, a place that was easy to be seduced. The group of soldiers for the city scattered among the crowds of the merchandise and restaurant street, although it was subtle, their blue and white uniform spoke volumes of their arrival. As for Berry, the Commodore walked away from the unit, scanning the faces of many people to see if there were any interesting people to ask the question.
As the Marines began to disperse, the locals showed no fear or unease, at most a slight curiosity at seeing so many soldiers. However, their expressions quickly changed to one of joy and welcome and they approached the marines. Whether they were offered food or drink or simply chatted, the marines were welcomed as if they had always been part of the island. Even though the Marines had a mission to search for the dangerous man, they slowly accepted the drinks or food without explanation, just as any restrictions of orders, while not gone, had been replaced by sheer joy and connection with the locals.
As Berry walked through the street, she noticed that everyone was waving at her with big smiles, as if she was some kind of celebrity. While all the people gave Berry a very welcoming impression, the Marine noticed that there were tulips everywhere, all the same variety in a deep purple color, giving the place a drab but inviting and beautiful atmosphere.
"Excuse me!" called a man approaching Berry, looking like he was some sort of baker holding a tray of freshly baked donuts. "You want to try some of our freshly baked donuts? Today they're filled with hazelnut cream and topped with shredded coconut."
Berry had quickly noticed the reputation of Love Island imposed on her Marines, those with a weak mind will be caught without any loving attention. But not for Berry, she found it rather unusual to receive such attention, although it was appreciated and took the trouble to give a simple smile as a hello, challenged by the baker, Berry finally stopped to seize the opportunity to chat with the pastry lover. Her eyebrows raised at the wonder of the smell and the appearance of pure delight, a single sniff travelled up to her stomach, slowly making the corner of her lip salivate.
"Of coconut? Rather exotic... hmmm", her eyes were eating the freshly made donuts, her tongue licking the drool flowing from her lip, "Oh! In fact, sir, you're in luck", she was pulling on her jacket which had the Marine symbol imposed in the corner of her chest, demonstrating her power and reason for being there.
“I have a few questions, you know, I'm looking for a rather suspicious guy, I mean, a seducer,” she took out the bounty poster with a photo of Silco on it, pointing at the photo, “Would you have seen this man? Maybe someone you suspect? Or someone who knows more?!" she asked question after question before taking a deep breath, she who was easily distracted couldn't help but ask everything at once, forgetting the donuts.
"Hmmm? Nope! Never seen him and I doubt anyone knows him. But I wouldn't be surprised if the person was here and has already left the place." Commented the baker as a few children approached and jumped up and down excitedly. The baker smiled and handed the donuts to the children, who slowly began to eat one donut after another, leaving the tray in front of Berry emptier and emptier. As they ate their donuts with stars in their eyes, they looked at Berry and their stars grew even bigger. "Wow, you're so pretty! /Are you a Marine!?/! What's that thing by your side!!?/ Do you want to play with us?!" The kids bombarded the commodore with question after question as they ate the donuts, of which there were only three left on the tray.
Berry was too distracted by the kids to worry about the donuts being drained one by one. The blue head turned with a question, then another, then again before shaking her hands and crouching down to the children's height.
“Well, well, thank you, guys! I will happily agree to play with you, buuut! ", she raised her index finger in the air, smiling mischievously, "On one condition, you play my favourite game, what do you think?" she suggested, having her little idea in mind.
"Oh?" All the children shrieked excitedly and clapped their hands as the last donut was eaten and the baker was left satisfied because his sweets were eaten and liked. "Yes! We love games!" shouted the children, far too naive to ask which game Berry was referring to.
As her eyes shone with pride, “Great! Do you know the game Find Charli? Wait, let me explain more simply, the one who finds Charli, with the super cool mask,” she pulled up the bonus poster showing Silco’s head, pointing to the mask which was quite easy to spot.
“Gotta come back here to the bakery first, in ten minutes!” she indicated using her ten fingers to the joyful children before rubbing between her fingers as a sign of money, “I pay him what he wants! Whether it’s toys or candy bigger than your eyes, shehehe,” she explained with a soft chuckle.
She pretended to look at her invisible watch as she stretched her arm dramatically, flicking her tongue, "hmhm, aaaaand it's now!" she exclaimed, encouraging them to go running.
The children cheered excitedly before they all went in search of the person, Charli. But at that moment they walked away and a woman approached Berry and gently took Berry's hand. The woman had long blonde hair and wore an outfit that resembled that of a maid.
"How do you do, Marine? Would you like to take a seat in our café and try our new drink? The first one is free for a marine, as a thank you for their service protecting us around the world."
The woman said, already pulling Berry a little way towards a building where people were sitting at tables, all with drinks, enjoying them like the children had enjoyed the donuts earlier. As Berry looked closely, she also noticed that some of her soldiers had already gotten them a few drinks while they continued to search, at least with drinks in hand.
While the blonde was hoisting the blue woman, she stopped easily along the way, between the building and the bakery, preventing the lady from pulling her since she did not have superhuman strength. Berry was smacking her face, slightly perplexed by the kindness people around her were showing. A baker was offering donuts, amazed children and now a woman was offering free coffee to Marines. She knew about the reputation, but she didn't think it would have that much of an impact on the actions of her soldiers and that made her question it, finding the whole thing suspicious. While she ignored the kindly offer, Berry busily watched where the kids were going, standing on tiptoe despite the blonde tugging on the arm.
“But ma'am, it's nice of you to offer, but let me tell you, you're distracting my soldiers from their work, huh” she said directly, beginning to find the attention received unpleasant. “I'm trying to find a criminal who is here, so let go of my soldiers, like that, we can protect you, damnit" she exclaimed, words that were neither cold nor hot, putting us in phase, from her too honest side.
Either the woman didn't realize that she was starting to walk in one place, unable to pull Berry along, or she didn't care, because her smile didn't fade a bit, even if her eyes showed slight confusion.
"What are you talking about?" The woman sounded honestly confused as the children simply broke off before they all disappeared in different directions out of Berry's sight. "I'm just thanking them for their hard work because they accepted the offer, not that I forced them to drink it. My coworkers and I wouldn't do such a terrible thing."
With a smile, the woman let go of Berry's hand as she walked away, only to return with a cup of the drink and offer it to Berry.
"I, too, apologize for my behavior. I should bring you the drink, after all, you do everything you can to make the world safe, a star of hope and justice," the woman praised, "but you've come to the wrong place. We would never have a criminal here, especially not a dangerous one. They either let themselves be influenced by the magic of our island or they left after a while. That's why since last year, the Year of the Great Blossom, the pirates who used to raid and plunder us in the past, only come here to enjoy the love, stay for a short time before they leave and even leave us some of their treasure as a thank you."
While Berry had no choice but to take the cup in hand, she raised her eyebrow in puzzlement, clearly seeing the principle of this island, but after some reflection, she was right. Either he was gone or he was here enjoying the love and peace.
“Although he enjoys love, once he leaves, he will no longer have this attention, ma’am. He may not be a danger here, but he is elsewhere, so you leave me out, thank you,” she thanked with a little shake of her cup and with a quick smile, she took off. quickly, moving a little away from the street crowded with people.
As she looked at the suspicious cup, "Hmm, people are soo weird, I'm really not used to, it...is the coffee drugged?" ", her blue hair shook, refusing this rather ridiculous theory, "Berry, stop! It’s impossible, she was just a lady… nice, I suppose? A little sip wouldn't hurt, I'll keep walking." she thought
Continuing her walk, she found the courage to get rid of her suspicion and take a sip, discovering a very sweet and creamy flavour at the same time. It made her cheeks feel like they were turning crooked, “baaah, damn, that’s so…. uurgh sweet?” she said reluctantly, but real, her gaze passed from one place to another, crossing the city, one hand in her pocket and the other with the hot beverage.
As Berry walked through the town, she noticed how cheerful the people were, spotting even more of her soldiers as they tried to search and ask people, but more and more relaxed or even sat down and enjoyed the atmosphere. As Berry walked on, she saw purple tulips everywhere, as the entire island population loved the color purple or the flower itself.
A few meters ahead of her, she saw the places fountain, its water clear as crystal, with purple tulips all around. To the side, an elderly man in a straw hat and blue overalls worked tirelessly on the flowers, either repairing damaged ones or replacing them with fresh ones. As he worked, Berry felt a strange sensation, a desire to help him, which began to somewhat supersede her desire to search for the criminal.
Especially when the old man turned and smiled at Berry with the smile that only a kind grandfather can give his grandchildren, and waved at her, offering her to help him with the gardening.
As the strange desire slowly took over her original purpose, inwardly she was perplexed by this desire, all her feelings in opposition. Berry threw the coffee in the trash before joining the old man on the knees. The Commodore's hands casually dug into the earth to remove a flower that had rotted, although she wanted to help the man, she couldn't help but feel forced. Caring for tulip flowers reminded her of the tradition of poppies on her native island of GoldFish, every time November came, all the towns prepared to bloom such red flowers, a deep, flamboyant red with a hint of black, bringing peace and memory of the deceased. While the blue one was silent and lost in her thoughts, a dry laugh escaped her mouth and her nostalgic gaze rested on the old man.
“Sha..Haha! this flowers... it reminds me that I took a lot of care of my poppies,” she said, looking at her hands soiled with healthy soil, a thought constantly swirling in her mind.
“it was part of one of the most important traditions in GoldFish… but he never changed the minds of the citizens, only their habit was ingrained,” she thought, her gaze scrutinizing the flowers in slow suspicion. Her heart increased her rhythm more and more, but she remained calm so as not to generalize in front of everyone, just smiling at the gardener.
“That would explain why people here are… crazy, the life can’t be perfect!"
The old man just smiled when he heard Berry's words, who was happy to work with him.
"Thank you, young lady, for helping an old fossil like me. It's also interesting that a young lady like you is interested in gardening. Most young lads these days aspire to fancy and adventurous hobbies and would find something like a florist's job boring. It's nice to hear that there are people out there who appreciate simple and peaceful hobbies."
With a final detachment, all the flowers were fixed before the old man placed the basket of dead tulips on the floor.
"But you're not from around here, young lady. Do you want to know why these flowers are everywhere?"
Berry nodded, taking advantage of the opportunity to know more, she shook her hands and even took a rag to wipe the dirt from her fingers before throwing it into the garden tool case.
“Yeah, tell me everything, I’m curious,” she said while her relaxed posture demonstrated it towards the man.
"These tulips are something very special. Our island suffered from various attacks from pirates or criminals years ago. Since we were near the last stop of Paradise, most of the pirates decided to use our place as their personal supply service, causing our place to suffer more and more, and people moved away in constant fear of starvation, attacks, and death."
The man said, and Berry saw the old man's expression turn a little sour for a brief moment before it was instantly replaced by a broad smile.
"And although you marines did your best to get this situation under control, the island eventually became a pure battlefield, at least once a week. But at some point the island, our home, decided enough was enough and started to work its magic."
With that, the gardener gently reached for one of the tulips as he looked at the flower, almost as if he was thanking it with his eyes.
"A year ago, our island gave us these tulips, which we called Heart Tulips. These flowers were the signal for the Great Blossom. The day when the island released the magic to remove all negativity and make our lives better and better. The pirates no longer wanted to attack us, grief, hatred, fear or other negativity had simply disappeared so that we could all live in harmony. I have never seen the people here so happy and safe, it was the greatest thing that ever happened. And we believe that these flowers are the catalysts that spread the magic of the island everywhere, so I and others are working to make sure they are everywhere and healthy."
When the old man finished his story, he looked around and saw children playing and laughing, couples kissing and people just helping everyone. It looked like a piece of world peace, because on closer inspection, other races were walking around alongside the humans and were just as welcome as anyone else.
As she listened to his story, she now better understood the impact and history surrounding Love Island. She couldn't disagree, they had every right in the world to experience the happiness they had always dreamed of. Such happiness was deserved for everything they had suffered and it had made her reflect that they were not crazy, they simply wanted to live in peace without fearing that pirates would come and threaten them every week. While her gaze had a tone of sadness for these once-martyred people:
"I see, that explains this strange feeling that I have... I wish I could help everyone, but", she observed the passengers walking and living their own happiness, “I must continue my research, do you understand Grandpaa? I mean, how can I stop feeling the hormones of happiness just long enough to do my job?" she asked, having heart in her mission now that the story of the tulip flowers was revealed.
"Hormones? That's just the magic of the island. Our head gardener has been watching the flowers, and in his opinion, they're just normal flowers," the old man explained before he let out a sigh and gave Berry a broad smile. "But young lady. You really are wasting your time here. Every criminal who comes to us leaves sooner or later, no matter what. So how about-"
"Bloody infection!"
A scream interrupted the old man as he looked in that direction, as did many other people, a strange sight to Berry, an almost daily sight to the rest of the locals.
Running down the street was a strange middle-aged man wearing normal clothes, except for a full face mask, mostly part of a hazard suit, that covered his entire face. With gloves on his hands, he carried a pot of heart tulips while shouting various words around him, all of which sounded hateful and angry. With a final movement, he opened a manhole cover and jumped in, his voice getting quieter and quieter until it disappeared into the sewer.
It was silent for a few moments before people went on with their lives as if nothing had happened.
"Grumpy Dave again, huh? Guess we'll have to replace the tulips again."
The old man said, actually sounding amused instead of annoyed.
"What?" she said with incomprehension eyes
Berry was perplexed by people's reactions, content to continue with their routine, even the gentleman was not bothered by having to replace the flowers. But what bothered her most of all was that probably a lot of people knew him as Grumpy Dave, he was basically wearing a mask and his behavior was suspicious. Without delay, the old man had barely said the nickname of the unhappy man when she found herself right in front of the sewer, the blue girl lifted her with ease and the hideout rolled before falling next to it. Her hands slipped on the ladder and now found herself under the sewer grounds, the nauseating odour had startled her, making a funny face.
“Buah, how disgusting! He had a good reason to wear the mask, buaah! " she escaped, continuing her run with the sleeve of her jacket under her nose finally trying to catch up with the man who had said the hateful remarks.
Hateful Reveal[]
As the Marine ran through the sewers, the disgusting odor of whatever was in there was ever present. Rats screeched in fear and panic as the woman ran around, escaping into small holes or into water that no one wanted to fall into unless they wanted to shower for a week to get rid of the smell.
But every ordeal came to an end when Berry suddenly spotted light, only to see something completley out of place. Part of the sewer turned into a proper living quarters with a bed, kitchen and even a bathroom area.
But the strangest thing was that in the center was a table with a lot of scientific research material and even a working display with electricity, where the man with the gas mask was sitting, looking like he was experimenting with the flowers and whispering to himself.
As Berry slowed her steps, moving past the doorway into the living room, she remained on guard against his unpredictable behaviour. She walked gently as a master would approach a timid dog ready to pounce and flee, her hand resting gently on her whip at her hip, ready to grab it at any moment. Halfway across the room, a few steps from the masked man, Berry said the words:
“Oi, what are you doing with the weird flowers!" she asked, like that, without warning.
"What the..." The man cried out in surprise as he turned around and spotted Berry in his private quarters. He was so surprised and distracted that he almost dropped the chemical on his feet. With a short yelp, he pushed it away and knocked it onto the side of his table, which disintegrated on contact. He breathed a sigh of relief and turned angrily to Berry.
"What are you doing here!" Grumpy Dave shouted, even the glass goggles of his mask turning into angry half-circles, only to become open again as he looked at Berry curiously. "When did you get infected?"
" Me? What I do? Infected?" she asked while her eyelashes blinked several times before understanding, the notion of the scientist was clearly not her domain, but casually, she acted as if she understood the notion.
“Ah, infected? The flowers you're talking about? I don't think so, impossible, I'm sure it's influenced by the mood of the people and not the flowers in question! After all, it’s been said that they have nothing, eh? ", as she spoke, doubt slowly crept in towards the end of her dialogue, which became uncertain and found her improvisation rather poor. She relaxed her hand from her whip, letting go of her wariness as long as she kept her eye on him and didn't escape.
“Okay, I’m definitely talking bullshit, but then tell me why I would be infected? I’ll be smiling and praising others, dammit,” she swore, rolling her eyes, a little discouraged, although she was understanding about the story she encountered previously. It was certainly not a life she would have dreamed of and besides, she did not answer his question about the reason for her presence, not wanting to scare him. The person in front of her was similar to the Silco poster, but one thing bothered her, it was the subtlety of his mask, not being the same, perhaps it could have changed. But she didn't want to take the plunge, waiting to extract a little information.
The man only let out a short sigh before picking something up from his desk. After a while, he finally found what he was looking for and held a small white pill in his hand.
"Let's hope you're not infected for long." Without a word, the man, with a very precise and quick matter, flicked the pill in the direction aimed at Berry's mouth while holding a metal bucket with the other. If the infection had progressed any further, the Marine would not sense any ill intentions from him or think it a form of attack.
The pill itself had a simple purpose when swallowed. It triggered a gag reflex instead, followed by whatever she had eaten today to leave her mouth.
While Berry was too busy talking, she was about to exclaim when he sighed, a pill had gone straight down her throat, giving her a weird coughing reflex.
“KAh, huh, kuf, kuf huuh”
Through all attempts to spit, she ended up swallowing with difficulty, the blue one expecting all but one pill to be thrown back like a basketball.
“Huurgh, no, but are you crazy?! Did you want to kill me?" she exclaimed in annoyance, not liking the idea of having swallowed a pill whose effects she did not know, effects which she would soon know. The gag reflex was getting to her head quite quickly, her heart was turning upside down, one more step and her cheeks were swollen with strange fillings.
“Hurrmmm! ", one more step and she threw her head into the bucket, vomiting everything she had eaten so far, pushing the man aside. A rather personal and less glamorous moment for the blue-haired woman, she raised her head as a little drool dripped from the corner of her lip while her eyes had darkened.
“You bastard… what did you make me swallow? It’s supposed to HELP THE FUCK – Huuurgh,” having gotten angry too easily, another burst of vomit gushed into the bucket inappropriately and spontaneously, she was a little limp and discouraged.
"It helps you get rid of the infection. And when I saw you start to hate and insult me, it wasn't too late. It was the quickest way to get it out of your system."
The man replied, without a shred of regret or concern for Berry's condition as he simply pulled out a piece of paper and another pill, this time in a deep blue color, and offered it to Berry.
"I was just keeping you from becoming like all the people on this damn island and most of your soldiers. Take the pill, it should stop the effects of the other pill.
With all the great pleasure of stopping the negative effects that the pill would previously provide, it slammed into the man's hand, having violently grabbed the blue pill to swallow it, and with all the misery in the world. Leaving behind her, the man's hand had turned red while the blue one had a tear in the corner of her eye, she looked at him with her lips sulky, perplexity was visible on her face and understanding was no longer on appointment.
“Say… why are you doing all this huh?” she asked in a softer but still sulky voice.
"Stupid girl. Why I'm helping a marine is simple. You're my last hope to get rid of that blight that came to the island years ago. While the cannon fodder you brought with you won't amount to much, you need to be uninfected to make sure you can actually fight."
Dave replied somewhat gruffly as he pulled the bucket away, only to pull out one of the flowers that held it in front of Berry.
"These things, this curse has ruined my whole business. All the pirate attacks, all the fighting. People all depending on my business. But now? After its arrival and the creation of those fuckers, everything is peaceful and shit and I've become poor!"
Without a trace of disgust or concern, he put on a glove and reached into Berry's vomit, only to pull out something completely strange, because it looked like it was alive, it looked like a white spider.
"They put these flowers in all their food, and as an afterthought, these little buggers that make you all happy idiots!"
Berry's blue eyes darkened more than they already were with fear and disgust upon seeing this strange white spider. A shiver ran down her spine, the hand twitched in front of her stunned face.
“W…WHAT!?? And to think I would have continued to be a happy idiot!"
She shook her hair before directing her gaze to the masked man, something had dictated during his explanation, "Wait, wait, ruin your business? What kind of business do you do...?" she asked, as she jumped up, feeling fresher since she had vomited.
“You know the people just want to be safe without dirty pirates coming to steal here every week! The old man told me everything earlier,” she crossed her arms in an imposing posture, finding the man suspicious of the business activity that he had just talked about. A finger tapping her lip, slightly thoughtful, "but I admit it's strange... it happened a year ago and literally a team is taking care of these flowers and I...", she stopped to speak in her gibberish, realizing that she was straying from the goal and her mission objective.
“If only the photo poster was better, I could know the real face of Silco… Arggh,” she thought in frustration, putting it in a difficult context. "I'm willing to offer you my service if you help me with something", and in a great challenge, she threw the bounty poster of the head of Silco on the desk, waiting to see what will be the man's reaction.
Looking at the bounty poster, the man tapped his finger on the desk before the marine could swear he was grinning even under the mask. He pulled out a strange device from the back of the room that looked like it was a modified flamethrower, with a large container of a strange green liquid.
"I've been studying these damn flowers and little buggers all day. I found the perfect substance to get rid of all these flowers, months ago. But every time I've tried, their head florist has stopped me. A strong outsider who has been residing with us for the last few years. Get him out of here!"
The man shouted, banging his fist on the table and then chuckling.
"I believe that this head florist and the man on the poster are one and the same person! I saw him when he arrived and he was wearing the same mask and created this stupid flowers in the first place."
Berry's eyes fluttered rapidly at his response, she was quite amazed as she could see his strange flamethrower reconstituted.
“Ya… everything really seems logical to me,” she confirmed thoughtfully.
The Commodore pointed at him, “It’s very possible… you’re the only witness to have seen him? That explains why people weren't really answering my questions,” she mumbled, her hand over her mouth, but soon enough, she came out of her thoughts and slammed into the palm of her hand.
“We must go to the heart of his flower production and destroy it once and for all! Not just burning parasites little by little.. they will continue producing and replacing them"
She moved closer to the face of his mask, waving her finger under his nose, “You know where he could be huh?"
"We? No, you're going alone. The guy knows who I am and what I'm up to. So if we come together, he'll know what you're up to. If you go alone, he won't see you as a threat, especially since he thinks you're still infected."
The man pointed somewhat disrespectfully at Berry's forehead.
"Simple as that. You will hunt him down and either kill him or lock him up. Once he's gone, I'll get rid of the flowers and return the place to what it was. If you want to find him, he's in a greenhouse in the north of the island, somewhat hidden in the forest. You could just go there, as people visit the palace here and there, and as long as he thinks you're infected, he won't accuse you of any bad intentions."
A mischievous smile tugged at the corners of her lips, her hands rubbed devilishly at the idea of getting into the greenhouse without the enemy knowing, it was perfect for her. But only one thing was wrong, she was bad about being kind since she was brutal and this will be a challenge for her. Berry tugged on her Marine jacket and simply nodded confidently.
“Fine! It’s time to go find this little secretive!"
Broken Heart[]
Having finally found the last clue she needed to find her target, the marine made her way to the north of the island. Ignoring the attempts of the infected locals to feed her something, she soon found a rocky path in the forest, which she then followed. Although most of the path consisted of forest, after a thirty-minute walk she arrived in a completely treeless area where countless flowers grew, giving the whole place a purple aura.
In the middle of the huge field was a large green house of the highest quality, even better than any other building in the city itself. At the very front of the field, a person with light blue hair shaped in front of his face, looking like a directional arrow, was working. He was wearing a large white jacket and white gloves and was working on some flowers with a small smile, not noticing at all the presence of Berry who was getting closer and closer.
Instead of hiding like a guilty spy, Berry simply walked through the alley of the gardens to where the glowing flowers were and when she got closer to the mysterious man. Berry, silent, peered over the shoulder of the man busy drawing, remaining on her tiptoes for a long time, her curiosity continued to grow and a question finally escaped her lips.
“Saaay, what is this supposed to be like?" she asked about her drafts, slowly stepping back to reveal a welcoming smile as she sported her blue and white Marine jacket.
"Holy shit!"
With a surprised cry, the gardener dropped his gardening water cane to the ground before turning around. As he looked at the figure, the first thing he noticed was the face and he had only one thought in his head.
"Holy! She's pretty!"
He cried out inwardly as his face turned slightly red with embarrassment, feeling that he had been staring at her for far too long, especially so long that it took him an embarrassing amount of time to realize what she was wearing. He shook his head a little to clear the embarrassment and blush from his face.
"Ah, excuse me. I didn't notice your arrival or I would have greeted you properly," he smiled and stood up before raising an eyebrow in confusion when Berry told him. "Eh, miss, I don't quite understand what you mean? Did I do something wrong, Miss Marine?"
She shook her hand to drop the subject, "No, no not at all, I was just wondering what you were doing, you were rather...How should I say, hmmm, focused?" she said as the blue lady took the man's hand to help him up, but it wasn't entirely delicate, with just the touch of her hand, he could feel that she was a strong woman and quite a tomboy.
“To be honest, I was curious to see what the greenhouse I was told looked like and it’s…”, she searched for words as she puffed out her cheeks while holding out her garden tool, her cheeks deflating as she found her words while looking at the flowering garden.
" … Gooorgeous?" she said in an unconvinced tone, she picked up a blue strand behind her ear, just showing a nervous smile, because deep down, Berry knew she had screwed up after the attempted compliment on her flowers.
His eyes narrowed a little as he took her hand, sensing Berry's strength just from her grip. She was definitely no ordinary Marine and probably belonged to a higher rank, but if she had traveled all the way there, she had to have already been affected by the flowers, and if not, she couldn't know it was him. His worry was quickly dispelled, however, when he realized what he was holding.
"Oh my god! A girl is holding my hand!"
The gardener cried out inwardly, blushing again as he rubbed the back of his head with his other hand. "A-ah, what am I doing? Y-I'm just tending to my f-flowers!" He hiccupped while he couldn't look her in the eye, but tried to look anywhere but at her. "As for the greenhouse ... yes, it's not that pretty, but what is pretty is the inside. D-d-d-d-d-do you want to see the inside? I'm working with new flowers, and I think there might be one you like." He asked, though he sounded more like someone asking a girl out on a date.
Berry saw the blush in the man and she couldn't help but smile mischievously, she cocked her proud chin and just nodded.
" Yah! Show me what you’ve got!" she demanded, and before he even had time to go to the door, Berry put her hand on the wrist and exclaimed, “Oh, how rude I am, I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Blackburn Berry and... you? ", she leaned her back against the door, waiting for his response before going inside, wanting to make the introductions properly.
"E-e-e-eh?" the man stammered more and more, trying hard to suppress any form so that he wouldn't blush. After a while of thinking about what he wanted to show in his greenhouse, he finally calmed down a bit to answer her question properly.
"My name is Silvus Constantin. Berry, a fitting name for a woman like you," he praised as he grabbed Berry's hand and, to her surprise, was able to pull her into the greenhouse, showing that this gardener was no ordinary gardener either. "Let me show you!"
Excitedly, the two entered the greenhouse and to her surprise, inside the greenhouse, besides all the purple flowers, there were different kinds of plants in different sizes, shapes or colors, some even looked like they didn't even belong on this planet, they looked so strange. Constantin let go of Berry's hand and hurried to the left corner of the greenhouse to show Berry a plant in a pot.
To call the flower unique would be an understatement. After all, it was shaped like a normal sunflower, the leaves were a shade of blue identical to Berry's hair color, and the stem was a much lighter bluish color. The most intriguing part, however, was the center. Normally a place for the brown seeds, this place was completely silver and even looked slightly metallic and so pure that Berry could even see her reflection in the flower.
"Here. I thought you'd like it. The color reminds me of your hair," Constantin admitted a little sheepishly, looking away and holding the pot out for Berry to grab.
Berry raised her eyebrows in surprise, finding this little thought adorable at first, she grabbed the pot of silver and bluish sunflowers. She had no words to describe it, just fluttering her eyelashes in surprise.
“Oh, it’s...really unique,” she moved the pot away from her, leaning the flower slightly towards her, observing every corner of the flower petal. Berry ended up crouching down to place the flower on the floor
“Does it have a name? You should name it,” she suggested, her finger brushing the metal surface, the pleasant sensation of the texture left a soft appearance of pollen. A sprinkle was marked under Berry's imprint, continuing to run her finger under Berry's hair-soft petals, but what Silvus didn't know was that she was discreetly observing the surroundings while broaching topics of conversation.
"Huh?" Caught off guard by Berry's sentence, he thought about it for a moment before shaking his head, not knowing Berry's true intentions.
"It's one of my newest cultivars, so it's very new, so I haven't really thought about a name yet. I see the flower looks like you, Berry. How about giving it a name? After all, it would match your appearance and be a reminder of a nice guest in my greenhouse."
“Nice, huh? This flower is a Blackburn now, shehe” she said accompanied by a mischievous and amused laugh, she stood up to look him straight in the eyes, her hands in the pockets of her jacket.
“I have a little question, Silvus…”, she left a little moment of suspense to spread his stress, a slightly mocking smile appeared on her face, “Why do you make all the flowers bloom…hmm, that’s what is the word again? Hearts Tulips? Ya, that's it! I keep seeing them on every street corner, I have never seen so many flowers, even GoldFish and its traditional poppies are outdone by the quantity."
On this, she was all ears to know the reasons as well as the motivations which pushed him to maintain so many flowers, flowers which brought so much happiness to anyone who landed on the island of Love.
“But it’s not just that! I noticed that people are so happy and thanks to these flowers! It’s really…”, she searched for a relevant word before finding it, “…so generous? ". This time, Berry did not wince at this compliment given, it was a more than honest word.
When Berry asked the question, Constantin's eyes widened for a brief moment before narrowing into a frown. He turned and approached a table where he was looking at the plants, his back turned to Berry.
"Must there be more reasons than just wanting peace for everyone? Must there always be some high authority deciding what is right and wrong instead of your own moral code?" The gardener slapped his hand on the table, which jumped up before landing again. "This island has given these desperate people the magic of love, and these flowers are the embodiment of love, so of course I'm doing everything I can to have them everywhere so it doesn't become the hellhole it was when I arrived two years ago."
The gardener explained, though his voice had a slight edge to it, which is sometimes a sign that he's lying, or at least not telling the whole truth.
"This people deserve peace, as does the world. No child should see war, no father should have gone to war because some high authority decided so. No mother should cry when she sees her children kidnapped. These flowers are the solution."
This time, he said what he said with such determination and anger that it was obvious he meant every word of it.
" But ? There’s always a but somewhere,” Berry’s voice became a little more serious and less mischievous, dropping the mischievous and kind aspect it was showing.
“You may mean well, but someone else could use it to control citizens to the point of affecting their own will. What I mean by that, yes, you protect them from pirates, but...", a pause hovered for a long time, Berry couldn't stand pretending anymore, wanting to bring out the worst in Silvus.
“…you force them to be fake happy!" she exclaimed, disagreeing with the fact that flowers were the only solution, “and you will always have this old reputation that will stick with you for the rest of your life!” she said, revealing the depths of her thoughts, ceasing to pretend to be the happy woman contaminated by flowers. Her fists clenched outside her pockets, ready to defend herself and stop him for good, her eyes remaining sharp at his reaction.
“You’re Silco, the great seducer, aren’t you?!"
As soon as the words left Berry's mouth, the gardener froze before turning fiercely and looking at Berry, his warm, welcoming and embarrassed demeanor gone and replaced with anger and coldness. His hand twitched, the greenhouse began to tremble slightly, and the glass began to vibrate.
"I knew something was wrong, though I'm surprised you somehow escaped the infection, but it doesn't matter. Yes, I am Silco, also known as the Seducer by your superiors."
Silco admitted, sounding honestly pissed off, the shaking in the greenhouse becoming more and more violent.
"Better false happiness than living in despair. The only ones I'd be afraid of using it to control people are the supposed superiors who run the world and whom you serve like a blind dog!" He grew angrier and approached Berry, jabbing his finger at her chest and pushing her back a few steps, "At least I'm trying to make the world a better place. At least I don't label people kidnapped by criminals as criminals who hunt them down just because they exist...! At least I have morals, at least I can live with being seen as a monster for the world and doing good there and not living as a hero working for monsters, who kill and enslave people just for their sick amusment!"
The greenhouse shook even more as two worm-like creatures suddenly shot out of the ground, with large and sharp teeth that could swallow Berry whole.
"Tell me, Berry? Who is the really evil person? The criminal who tries to help the common people and the world, or the supposed hero who works for absolute monsters, who continue to bring suffering to the world?"
The corner of her lip rose in front of his closed question, a dry laugh escaped her vocal cords, her hair shook from side to side before bursting out in a brief mocking sneer.
“Sha…! Shahahahaha”
She wiped away her little tear of imagination with her finger, her blue eyes nonchalantly scrutinizing the giant worms before settling on those of Silco. Berry agreed with everything except the method he was using as a way to protect them.
“What do I know, Silvus? We all know that the government is not very liked by many of us, do you think I do my job blindly, that I just follow orders? You’re wrong,” she said in a rather relaxed tone. “I know that the government does things half for the citizens, I saw it with my own eyes spending all these years working with the Marine, meeting pirates, protecting many citizens for whom they conquered my heart."
Another sneer escaped her lips, “Shaha… that’s why I will always do what I want, as long as I bring good and security to the citizens. This is my work, this is my way of rebelling against injustice!" she said with more ardour this time. Not for a single moment did Berry show any reaction to the worms, only her fists were clenched, ready to defend herself.
“Let’s just say I’m feeling rather ambitious these days, I’m targeting the highest ranking. I am here to bring a tsunami of change!"
Freezing a bit, Silco looked at Berry in mild shock, as the worms were about to pounce,only for the gardener to raise his hand to make them stop,but not backing away either. It felt like an eternity, as nothing happened and even the soft zooming Sound of bees were hearable from the outside.
“I see…” Only to be broken by the cold voice of Silco, a glare directed at Berry, showing he was not even slightly impressed by Berrys words, in fact he was further pissed off.
“Good words to hide yourself. Empty promises for someone supposed to see the darkness. You may act dumb, but you are not naive, which makes it even worse, otherwise the higher you raise the more you become the tool. The fleet admiral of yours is a perfect example.”
Taking steps ahead, he was so bold to stand right in front of Berry inches away.
“If you truly cared, you know in the marines you will never succeed. You know in the end the order of your superiors is absolut or otherwise you get sorted out. If you cared you would left the marines and join the revolutionäres. But you dont care or at least not enough. I may be in your eyes a pirate, scum or delusional, but you know what you are Berry?”
Being bold he moved his head right beside hers to whisper the words that followed. Words no one with pride would take slightly, especially at how much ferocity he put into them.
“You are a bloody coward.”
Each spoken syllable passed through the ear and became a sound as sharp as a knife. An eyebrow ticked and the once unwavering smile was lost along the way, she always kept a straight posture, proud and not moving a single bit, only her gaze darkened and the woman became slightly impatient in the face of Silco's bad tactics.
“What do you know about the Marines?!" she railed, firmly grabbing the collar of his jacket, “The higher I go, the more things I will know! I will prove to anyone who spits on me that they are WRONG! I am not...", as her voice rose a notch higher, shaking the man's collar roughly, "...A FUCKING COWARD!"
Berry stupidly released the colossal man, she quickly grabbed her whip weapon, deployed it and lashed brutally near the feet of the man, leaving a damaged hollow on the earth. An expression of annoyance and disgust was written on her face, her fingers slid along her rope and stretched it fiercely in front of her, making a snap of leather sound to demonstrate her seriousness about her mission to accomplish.
“I would have liked us to discuss this more, but the mission calls me. Surrender and I won't hurt you and your insects! I have other fish to fry"
When he fell silent for a brief moment after Berry's action, he just smiled coldly at Berry, as if to mock her or just to be done with her without making any response, it was hard to tell. He snapped his fingers, unfazed by the lashing, the worms, and retreated back into the ground.
"What I know about the marines? More than you do, if you don't know, the higher up you go, the more you'll realize how much of a dog you're becoming to the disgusting wannabe gods."
His arm twitched unnaturally as something tried to push out, only to split his arm into three disgusting segments, all covered in sharp, knife-like bones.
"Surrender?" He wiped his arm back a bit and his face exploded in unholy rage, "I WOULD rather die than let those bastards decide my fate!"
With the final scream, he shot his arm forward, his whip structures hurtling towards Berry from three different angles, slicing the floor, table, or anything else in their path like butter.
“Tsk” she spat in disappointment.
With good reflexes, Berry jumped backwards to a place to dodge the first whip, slaughtering the ground. Then she crouched down to dodge the second which came immediately, cutting the table in two. The hands threw themselves to the ground to juggle the rest of the body towards the other side of the room, barely avoiding the third whip. What Silco didn't know, however, was that Berry's whip had moved from one place to another and this rope had crossed the third whip along the way, allowing the blue woman to yank him sharply on his strangely structured rope.
As a result, Silco's usually heavy body found himself challenged by Berry's superhuman strength, causing his upper body to move straight towards her. Feet in a spread stance while the clenched fist emanated energy, an energy that is rare to find in Paradise, Armament Haki covered her fist, ready to strike his face brutally.
"Tch!" Grunting in annoyance, he felt the strong tug as he felt himself being pulled towards the blue devil. Although the grip was strong, he didn't make it easy for Berry, especially when he saw the approaching fist. With one finger, he raised his into the air. After all, Berry forgot one important factor.
Crashh!
Directly below Berry, one of the worm creatures shot out of the ground with sharp teeth to crash into Berry from below with a force strong enough to possibly stop her momentum. On the other side, the tendrils moved and shrank out of the whip's grip with insane speed, forming an arm of Silco's again, which he raised in a fist.
"Parasite Boost." Silco said coldly as the arm once again moved strangely and unnaturally, only to grow in muscle and size while also taking on a familiar black color that was rare in paradise. After all, whether he liked it or not, he was a member of a Yonko crew and had survived in the New World.
With those words, his arm shot forward to punch Berry in the face with full force, as his technique Parasite Booster, is a technique that uses a parasite to increase strength, durability and speed in one of his body parts, increasing it dramatically, as it would feel like a punch from a giant would hit Berry's face.
The worm had surprised her and had to improvise along the way, as her body crashed backwards, the boot reared back to give herself a push, regaining her dominance over the mega worm. Now she had been distracted as the punch came closer and closer to her face, she had released the worm's grip and the arms instinctively moved back in front of her face. In a buildup of brilliance, the black dots shimmered brightly before a trail of smoke passed through the greenhouse, throwing her completely awry. Several panes of glass covered the back of the blue one and it ended up crashing against a tree, stopping her flight.
"Huuurgh"
Several leaves fell from the branches shaken by the impact, Berry stood up like an exclamation point, she shook her hair nonchalantly, not because she had pieces of glass on her back and hair, but because she was stunned. She slapped her cheeks to regain her senses despite the pain, using Soru's technique. She started running as if she were skating, crossing the fields of flowers to jump and with a crack of the whip, she rushed forward while her biceps contracted. Whipping the glass greenhouse structure, breaking the roof to drown Silco.
When the whip hit the glass house, it began to break in two as more and more glass shattered and the shards fell everywhere, burying more and more of Silco's work beneath them. Years of cultivated plants, all that hard work for cultivating plants, simply dissolving into dust just because a marine pretended to do the right thing. It was obvious, that Silco wasn't happy. Especially since not only did he dodge the blow, thanks to his worms slowing it down as they died on impact, but with his legs swollen by parasite booster, he shot forward in a mighty leap through the remains of the greenhouse and stood right in front of Berry again.
"You goddamn world government dog!" Silco screamed, his arm not forming into a fist this time, but literally turning into a disgusting giant jaw with sharp teeth like bone structures that were ripped open so wide they fit Berry's entire body and threatened to bite her whole body down, "Parasite Crunch!"
As the jaw closed on Berry, her black hands gripped the sharp, gelatinous teeth while her boots pushed back the bottom of his jaw. Little by little, the little blue one found herself curled up due to his spontaneity. With greater momentum, she pushed the strange jaw back as she held his strange structure firmly upwards.
The duo fell from the top of the greenhouse and was thrown onto the flower field while rolling on it. During this rolling impact, Berry took her legs out of his grip and grabbed the bottom of his jaw with her other hand so that he did not devour her hands. But that wasn't all, during this roll, Berry made a quick maneuver to throw Silco's immense arm like a Frisbee to the other side of the field before she fell to the ground, releasing a short sigh.
“Damn, I didn’t think he was that crazy! she exclaimed to herself, “Although…”
Silco was knocked over and rolled over the the flower filed onto another patch, destroying more and more flowers around him. As he got back to his feet and his jaw arm returned to normal, he looked at the destroyed greenhouse and the craters they had left in the flower field. All his hard work was slowly crumbling before his eyes, causing his anger to rise more and more.
"Are you happy? Destroying all my work in the name of a broken justice system? Tell me. What do you intend to do when I leave and surrender, all the parasites are gone and the pirates come back to rampage like they always did before I arrived?"
Silco asked as he twisted his fingers in Berry's direction before strange creatures emerged from the tips, "Parasite Bullets!" he shouted as small parasites shot out of his fingers like bullets, with open jaws trying to penetrate and bite into Berry's body, acting like living bullets.
Berry stood up while Silco said totally sensible things, the blue one spoke a little louder and directly to be able to answer his question for which she had solutions.
“You think I’m happ— wah!”
Her speech was cut off when a bullet of parasites crossed the field to bite Berry, first of all, she had dodged the first one when it passed in front of her face, escaping an expression of disgust.
“EW!”
Then she dodged to the left by bending her body, Berry tried to respond while remaining focused on the bullets to dodge. “What you are doing is illegal, you are affecting all citize— ”, the muscular arm rose quickly while a parasite bullet went straight through.
“I will hire more soldiers! I will impose a project and make sure this island, be an island of paradise where people will feel safe being surrounded by the Marin— HURGH,” a stray bullet grabbed the shoulder of the blue one, having been slightly emotional in the discussion, she had let her guard down.
“WAH! No ! NO !" she exclaimed with a slight fright, she grabbed the parasite to tear it from her shoulder, a stream of blood gushed from its mouth. Nevertheless, another monstrous bullet hit the Commodore's thigh, forcing herself to rip it out as well.
“HARGH! I..I... what I'm wondering most of all is why you were there, at that time, eh!! Why only want to help citizens now?" she questioned loudly while a grimace of pain was marked on her face. She knelt down to take out a blue scarf and took advantage of this moment of respite to stop the bleeding from the wound on her thighs while her shoulder was dripping along her sea tattoo.
Silco temporarily stopped his bombardment and looked at Berry with narrowed eyes. There was silence for a time, as it seemed Silco was frozen in time, then let out a sigh.
"Why are you so determined to believe that marines are the solution? How can you be so deluded that you think you can solve the problem, but in the end you are aware that you must serve under a tyranny far worse than that of the most vile pirate on this sea? How can you believe that anything will change just because you say so? How can you be against something illegal that makes people's lives better and safer, but turn a blind eye when your superiors do something cruel? You know, threating people like toys, tearing families apart, shooting at a woman just for looking there for a second, or burning down an island because they don't like the island? How can you wear that coat without feeling disgusted with yourself? Or do you really think just because you're a marine you can change the world once and for all?"
Silco asked, his voice sounding raspy and even a little hopeless as he put a hand to his forehead in frustration and cursed. Especially when Berry asked the last part of her question.
"Why was I there and why am I starting to help the citizens now? If not for someone like you who had the choice to be delusional and join the Tyranny's dogfighting force, my family was killed by pirates and I was kidnapped by the pirates. My skills were the only reason I wasn't sold as a slave, but became a slave to this crew. This war? I used it to run away and finally be free and become a gardener. To finally make people happy without risking being killed. I mean, I wanted to help, but is it so much to ask to be so selfish to want to live free? And you know what? I help people and do my best. No one has to suffer and lose their family like I did, and now some blue-haired bimbo shows up carrying a broken justice system and wants to end it all. You think if I surrender I'll be spared? But no! As soon as they found out, I will be killed, or worse, I will become a slave to those disgusting wannabe gods!"
He shook himself and still did not attack, for he was about to explode and break when he saw his destroyed work.
"Why only? Why? Why is it so hard for you to accept that I'm doing something good? Why is it so hard for you not to see that what you're doing isn't changing anything? If I didn't care about the people, I'd turn them into zombies or slaves myself, but I'm better than you, you Marines and everyone associated with those wannabe gods."
Berry listened attentively to each explanation Silco expressed with great emotion; her only reaction was guilty silence. She was taken aback when he announced that he had lost his family as well as having become the “slave” of pirates, in a short sentence had made her emotional. She lowered her gaze in guilt, still on her knees with her wound covered with a blue scarf while Silco continually persisted in his explanations. Berry continued to deny the facts, but she realized that all his facts were much bigger and totally surpassed the actions she could take. Her doing one small good deed won't have a big impact on the Marine's justice system; she could spend years trying to fix a system that is dedicated to enslaving the world's wealthiest. Her blue eyelashes closed slowly, keeping her trembling eyelids closed, building up a bit of too much emotion inside her. All she wanted was to fix it and make it better, everything Silco had listed were things she wanted to fix, but it was unachievable goals and that frustrated her to no end.
“Marine, Marine, Marine, that’s all you can say of! Ok, you know what Silvus!!! Damnit, you're annoying, you're fucking right,” she swore, shaking her hair in all directions, finally admitting it, sometimes forgetting that her family had forced her to enlist and without speaking of the first three years alongside Captain Jimmy. “I am not better than anyone else! How stupid is it to say that... I only want to bring good and by my own means all that so that I end up being an hurgh... coward?" she said, grimacing in disappointment, she stood up and threw her whip weapon away from her reach.
“As soon as I joined the Marine, against my will huh, I saw things, things that I shouldn’t have seen! I suffered things that all soldiers, no, people should never suffer what I experienced! And... and that's why I'm so persistent in wanting to save, no, repair, make better, what I would have liked to live better with the Marine! Damnit…” her voice stuttered softly, gripping her hair to cover her face mixed with shame and frustration. Berry felt overwhelmed with confusion and guilt at being wrong and once again, not long ago, she had said she wanted to be an admiral and now she began to doubt.
She stupidly released her blue hair to observe the disaster she had made on the greenhouse, the garden and the fields of flowers, she could have saved them from the destruction of something he loved doing the most, at least Silco was trying to make the lives of citizens better than what Berry could have accomplished until now. She let out a long, loud sigh and forgetting Silco in this story, her feet headed towards the broken greenhouse, limping slightly. She began to raise metal platforms, broken windows were falling from the tilt, lifting a wooden beam onto her shoulder, however, her thigh made her shake and stumble with the wooden beam falling loudly next to her.
“Hurgf!” she moaned with effort, the little blue one stood up on her knees while putting aside the thousand windows under her rough hands, looking for something significant. “Shit, it was around here…” she whispered, consumed by guilt
"............."
Silco, who remained silent, was slightly taken aback by Berry's words and confession. As he watched her slowly lose her fate and break, he was even more amazed as the Marnine slowly walked over to the wreckage of his greenhouse and began to slowly and painfully pick through the glass and metal. He raised his arm, ready to shoot Berry in the head with another parasite to finally end the madness and return to the old days, repair the damage and save the island.
"Constantin." Only one memory forced its way into his head as he gritted his teeth painfully and tried to fight it off, only to have the voice grow even louder: "Always remember, people are like flowers. They can be so beautiful, but they can also turn ugly and wither. As gardeners, it's our job to make sure the flowers stay healthy. No matter how hard or difficult it is, keep at it, my son. And we must treat people in the same way. We mustn't let them wither, because if they do, they'll end up withering with no one there to help them."
As the reminder ended, Silco winced and gritted his teeth...only to let out a sigh. He stepped closer to Berry and gently pushed her away a bit to keep her away from the shards of glass as strange parasite structures wrapped around Berry's wound, sealing it shut.
On his back, other structures that looked like arms began to burrow through the debris, eventually pulling out a familiar blue-colored flower that luckily survived all the attacks and falling debris and was in front of Berry's eyes to grab.
"Here. It's steely and undamaged."
Berry had wanted to push Silco away, but the pieces of windows digging into her skin made her wince in discomfort, she fell on her butt when strange parasites surrounded her wound, making her shiver in embarrassment before realizing that it was just squeeze for to stop the bleeding. The little blue girl remained silent when she saw the blue flower pot in good condition, she was sure that this flower would be broken just like her, but it turned out to be the opposite. Berry looked at Silco then at the flower several times, hesitating to take it, she felt like she didn't deserve it and using her hand, the flowerpot moved closer to the man.
“No… it was for you, silly, I… I wanted to save something” she explained, however, bitterness caught her mouth, making her lower her gaze to the ground even though she was fully aware of her actions, he would never be able to forgive her and she would understand that.
"I know it is nothing" she whispered.
When Silco heard the words, he gave Berry an expressionless look, then sighed and pressed the flower into her hand. Without a word, he sat down opposite Berry and massaged his forehead.
"For everything I should kill you, after all I was labeled a pirate, a criminal and you're a marine who tried to destroy my work to make people happy and steal my freedom." Silco muttered and looked around carefully as he surveyed the damage and saw that while the greenhouse was gone and the flower field damaged, there were still plenty of flowers there, so it wasn't a total loss in the end. "But I thank my parents, they taught me to always lend a helping hand to keep people from wilting and remain the beautiful flower they were meant to be."
Silco broke off, his gaze sharpening, looking Berry straight in the eye as if he was judging her, as if he would do something totally devastating if he didn't like what Berry was about to say.
"But I'm not blind to thorns and poison either. So answer me this, Berry. Do you really want to help people and the world, just to make everyone's lives better, or are you doing it to feel better or to prove something to someone or yourself?"
The sea-blue gaze peered into Silco's and when the question was asked. Her lips immediately moved in response, "I admit that in the past...I wanted to prove to my parents that I could bring good and not evil, but that was soo long time ago!" she exclaimed, shaking her hand in the air so that the man sitting in front of her wouldn't get angry any time soon.
"It's just that I grew up surrounded by poverty and all I could do was help them, but when it came to finances...then I was just a child, stolen was limit" whispered she brushing the rebellious strand from her face, admitting between words that she had already stolen when she was younger, but nothing serious that could cause harm to people. She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly, as if it were obvious, “Being able to see them happy, being able to feed them, have fun, spoil your child, you know, everything children dream of! Aah how I wish mom would have bought me clothes like she did for my sister, buah!" she mocked, showing a very familiar trait.
“But you know what, my dreams were different from other children”, a smile rose at the corner of her lip, a tender and mischievous smile, “I roamed the streets of Silvedust to help others, well maybe I made some bullshit, but I loved it!" she recounted her pleasure.
Silco was silent for a moment and looked at Berry, so it was hard to tell what he was thinking about her at that moment. He lifted his arm to place his hand on Berry's shoulder.
"...I partly misjudged you. Tell me, Berry. Who told you I was here when I was sure no one would find me or be swayed by my flowers?"
Silco asked, as the strange parasite limbs on his back started to dig through the greenhouse, pushing debris and destroyed stuff away, like they were on search for something.
A flash of light had awakened her in her eyes, as if a light bulb had been switched on above her head, she moved closer to him exclaiming, her fists clenched in front of her.
“It’s true, I forgot that one! What was that again… Grum.. Grum? Grumpy? He wore a mask and shouted at the gardeners, ah! Grumpy Dave!" she struck fist in hand. “He talked about company sabotage and that you were stopping him from destroying the flowers.” Berry smacked her forehead, slightly discouraged by the turn of the story. Although she couldn't know, she should have investigated further.
She continued her explanations by pointing to her mouth, "He gave me the pill, well, "Gave" And... I vomited the parasite" she said frankly
“Ahhh. That makes things easier.” Silco said with a evil smirk, as he pulled out of the debris a bit dirtied, but familiar clothes, with a familair raven mask. Giving them to Berry he let out another sigh, before standing up back to his feet.
“You won, I am leaving, but I demand two things from you. First. Let the flowers still exist here. Even though its fake it still keep the people safe and me away from them you don't need to worry I turn evil and hurt them. Second. You let me go. The world government is not knowing, how I look, only knows my clothes, so get a scapegoat and claim that you captured the Seducer, Silco.”
Berry just fluttered her eyelashes at his two demands from Silco as she held the man's old laundry. She let out a little burst of sneer
“Shaha! The great Seducer Silco, eh? I wonder why they nicknamed you like that,” she shook her head to chase away this inappropriate subject, “No, forget it! Don’t take me for anyone, you can count on me… Silvus!"
Berry knew Silco would be stubborn about the flowers, but attention caught the blue one's eye, her head jerked upwards and her skin had turned pale in seconds as if she had just seen a disaster.
“Oh… damn! Black smoke?" she clicked her tongue, seeing the sky that was once sky blue had turned gray while dark smoke evaporated from the city. Without delay, Berry packed the old outfit into a bag and grabbed her whip that she had thrown away.
“I'm afraid you'll have to stay... for a while to fix the blunders!" she announced, her blue eyes burned with keen determination.
"Of course he thought you dealt with me..."
Silco muttered as he formed his hand into a fist before, following Berry, as he put on an angry expression.
"Excuse me, but I need to make sure that when I leave, he'll never be a problem again...".
With the last words, the duo walked through the area where there was smoke.
Blooming Justice[]
Dave just grinned evilly as he picked up a bunch of flowers and began shooting his device at the pile. The flowers burned up in a strange green fire that was a mixture of chemicals and fire, while the parasites inside died off one by one.
"That's it! Once that stupid blue bimbo is done with that pacifist, it's the flower field's turn to burn to turn the place back into a chaotic and profitable place!"
He shouted in a loud monologue as he watched in delight as the flowers that had ruined his business a year ago burned.
As the duo quietly headed towards the destination, Berry immediately recognized Dave's voice in the distance, making her run even faster than Silco. The blue-haired woman arrived at a blind spot of the burning man and she was bubbling with annoyance inside her since he had played with her earlier in the day. During her race, in a very angry voice.
“What do you think you’re doing, dirty grumpy!" she exclaimed as she had already raised her whip behind her and whipped in the direction of Dave. As the leather rope moved towards the enemy, the rope violently slammed after the weapon, circling the weapon to grasp. Berry was pulling him towards her in an attempt to remove his main weapon which brought destruction and chaos.
“You’re going to regret it, you hypocrite!!" she swore
Surprised by the sudden turn of events, he could do nothing as his device was pulled away from him. Seeing the expression of an enraged Berry, he sweated a little as if he was about to be devoured by a sea king. "What am I doing? I was just making sure I got rid of this pest. Have you dealt with that psychopath yet?"
"Psychopath?!" she exclaimed in fury as she grabbed his parasite-killing weapon, her heavy footsteps getting closer and closer to the grumpy man. Her nose turned up as the fingers slowly crushed the weapon, leaving a mark of her strength, it found herself under the nose of the scammer.
"Do you think I'm stupid? Take a good look at your toy" she suggested, showing his weapon in front of him and instead of breaking it with her knees. She grabbed the ends of his flamethrower and twisted it in two, the more the iron bent, the more the tearing of the metal was tearful and painful to experience, throwing it nonchalantly aside the weapon completely torn in two.
"You should never have played of me...", she grabbed the masked man's collar. "...and you're going to come with me!" she announced his imprisonment, a journey that was not going to be easy for him.
"What?!" It was hard not to notice that the man was frightened and angered by Berry's statement. He tried to break free from her grip, but he realized it was futile, for Berry's grip was that of a gorilla on steroids. The only thing he could do was play the victim card. "What are you doing! Aren't you supposed to be a Marine and catch this monster! Don't tell me you're let the pirate go?!"
Just him pretending, she could smell it from miles away and it made her tongue click. Pulling his sweater collar closer to Berry's dark face, her gaze glared into the one who had betrayed her with impertinent bad information. A strange clicking sound came from her pocket and a quick glimmer of light revealed a pair of heavy handcuffs under her hand.
“Stop playing the victim, I know what you're up to, clearing out flowers, bringing in pirates and doing your little business and blabla” she mimed her hand to blabla, it was going over her head now that the story was finished, handcuffing the grumpy's wrists and it was probably not gently that she martyred his wrists with handcuffs.
“What! That's not right! This is wrong! This is abuse! This is..!”
The old man shouted in anger and fear, not able to fight off Berry at all, before all of a sudden something shouted out only to pass Berry’s head, landing right into his face. It took only a few seconds, before the marine realized whatever it was looked like a centipede, before in insane speed entered the man's body via his nose. The old man screamed in disgust and horror as he could not stop this thing, before it took a few seconds for him to pass out in the grip.
“That is justice.” The voice of Silco chirped right behind Berry, revealing to be the culprit of whatever he shot at the old man, “With that dealt, I think we can put the clothes on him.”
"Heew-"
The blue-haired woman froze at the sight of the horrible centipede beast, letting out a moan of disgust after sticking out her tongue, she dodged her gaze as the man fell to the ground, completely passed out. Berry crouched down to extend her finger to the unconscious man's neck, checking his condition before quickly looking at Silco, blowing a rebellious blue strand in front of his face.
"With that dealt what? You didn't have to go hard"
“Stupid blue gorilla. He is alive and not dead. If I wanted to kill him I would have beheaded him or let him eaten alive by dozens of my parasites.” Silco explained, clearly sounding like he was talking to a stupid child. Pulling a familiar mask, which was present on his bounty poster, he put it on the old man’s face, “This parasite is special, as I call it Might Erase Centipede. And even someone with your brain capacity should get what it does. It will not only make him forget everything, but he will believe he is me.”
Silco started to explain, as he threw the coat from his bounty poster at Berry, signalizing she should put it on the old man.
Berry nonchalantly grabbed Silco's discarded coat and displayed a big expression such as protruding spike-shaped teeth and nasty eyes, she was clearly insulted by the nickname that Silco had thrown away like that.
"Bastard, since when do you give shitty nicknames like that! What an asshole you can be and you're talking to me about justice, my ass" she ended up muttering at the very end after raising her voice. Without delay, Berry was still muttering incomprehensible things, as if she was sulking at Silco as she undressed the unconscious man. Strong and comfortable, she easily lifted his upper body to put on the same coat as on the Silco bonus poster.
With the zipper going up to the neck, she correctly arranged the mask attachment and the gloves between each finger, making sure everything was in its place. The commodore got up, putting her hands in the pockets of her Marine jacket, looking at the unconscious grump for a long time, her eyes were lost and passive and soon enough, she broke the silence with her lips raised.
"Really...you didn't have to call me a Blue Gorilla" she complained, returning to the subject while looking at him out of the corner of her eye, her neck curled into her shoulders. She did not seek to deepen the subject of his terrible technique such as making one forget the memories and imitating him finally to allow such a character much more coherent.
Giving Berry an annoyed side glance, Silco crossed his arms, while using the moment to kick the downed body of the old man.
“You destroyed my greenhouse, part of my flower fields and were tricked by this bastard. I think stupid blue gorilla fits quite well. A brute, very strong, yet not the brightest light bulb in the lighthouse,” with a smirk he patted Berry’s head in some form of amusement, as his face was plastered in a smirk, “After all I can't wait for the newspaper saying: “Blue gorilla, Blackburn Berry captured the Seducer, Silco and saved Love Island.” A great reputation boost, don't you agree?”
“Hmf” she escaped a short moan, her eyes closed when he patted her on the head. "I don't give a damn about reputation, you'll know, Cadaveric Face" she spat, although he tried to soften this nickname with a few meagre compliments. This didn't help her swallow the insult better, Berry grabbed Silco's muff for which he kept smirking, fingers dug into the hollow of his cheeks and this time, she didn't let go.
"I'll make sure that mouth doesn't say stupid things to journalists, it would be a shame to lose that gorgeous square jaw, eh?" she said in a sarcastic tone before displaying a mischievous smile in turn, like a sort of little revenge.
“Ow! Only telling the truth, you brute!” Silco grunted in annoyance and slight pain as his cheeks got digged and stretched by the marine. However as he was trying to break free he noticed white coats appearing in the distance, making him glare in the direction for a moment, only to smile looking at Berry.
“Okay I won't call you a blue gorilla, but you should pull back, otherwise your marine soldiers will believe you harass a local head gardener.”
Silco explained, pointing behind Berry as in the distance the soldiers of Berry came to check.
She took a quick glance behind her, seeing her soldiers arriving on the field, she winked at the old Silco now, reminding him that he steals the show.
“You better get out of there, Silvus,” she suggested, putting her foot on the fake Silco's stomach, reminding him again that he could have been in his place, “That's funny, you're supposed to be just here, right there" she grimaced to annoy Silvus even more, implying that she would certainly have won the battle. She discreetly deployed her whip weapon and held out her arm in front of the gardener
"Go away, citizen! Avoid getting hurt and leave immediately sir, I can understand your dissatisfaction with him but you must leave immediately" she said in an authoritative and self-confident voice.
His eyes twitched in annoyance, as he heard these words, but seeing the situation he swallowed the hard pill, before forcing a fake, scared smile.
“Yes! Thank you marine!” he screamed out, only to leave the scene, probably in the direction back to the ruins of his greenhouse. However he quickly added something only Berry was able to understand., “Like hell! You would be dead if I did not spare you.”
Berry let out a little stifled laugh when he reminded her that she would not have been spared, she had found him impertinent, but at the same time daring and that amused her. As her gaze moved to the handcuffed fake Silco, she watched her soldiers stop in front of her and gasp a little.
Some of the soldiers were busy putting out the fire that the curmudgeon had caused with his already broken weapon, helping the gardeners and citizens to spray them with boilers of water. The commodore recognized her soldiers well, who were capable of taking their own initiative to help people. Now explanations were necessary for the soldiers although they were excited about the arrest, one of them saw the man under the foot of the blue-haired woman.
“Oi! Dude, isn’t that Silco?! Commodore Berry stopped Silco!!! A former member of Legion Pirate! WOH!" he exclaimed, while a smile appeared on his face, the information passed through the crowd of soldiers just by listening. Many exclaimed joyfully at the news even though they had desperately searched the entire island according to Berry's plans. The men danced, hugged each other and even threw their caps in the air, quickly celebrating their victory by surrounding Berry. With a simple clap of her hand, she couldn't help but smile while the victory was very... simple knowing that the soldiers didn't know the bottom of the story, but they didn't need to know that the knowledge.
“Oh come on, come on guys, it’s too early to celebrate the victory! Focus on putting out the fires caused by Silco! We must rescue the civilians caught in the fire, let's not let them go! Come on… "
The Marines felt dazed by the order, reminded of the reality they were in and without doubting their order, Berry repeated again, “COME ON, IT’S AN ORDER!” she ordered, stepping back from Silco, pointing at him to tell them to take him to the ship's prison.
“It’s not over guys, we have to ride again, we’ll celebrate the victory once this is all over, eh!" she sneered, amused by the soldiers' reaction. Berry just holstered her weapon at her hip, watching as the two soldiers picked up the former Pirate Legion criminal and she saw his feet dragged behind him. Although it is sad for the fake Silco, he was above all a criminal who ran a business for the coming pirates and this was the number 1 cause that ravaged the island every week. Watching the grey-black smoke billow into the sky as the fire died down, it was now time for Commodore Berry to write a long and painful report.
With the capture of “Silco” all calmed down again on the island, as the news spread fast around the place. Even though it was met with quite the shock it quickly died down thanks to the effects of the Heart Tulips. While the blue haired woman was occupied writing her report, Constantin wanted to go to the greenhouse to gain any of his stuff, which survived the fight, only to be holded up by a reporter. After hearing he was present as the head gardener in the big fight, he wanted all the information from him, which delayed his trip even further.
But after a while he was finally able to reach the debris of his greenhouse, previously informing the others to rebuild it, he started to dig through all of the stuff pulling any of his personal stuff, which survived out of it, He just wanted to leave fast, only to spot a familiar pot with a blue plant in it. Letting out a sigh, he just lowered himself to grab it and looked at it.
“Damn. Your color fits exactly the color of the brute.”
When he thought about commenting, a slight shadow fell over Constantin as two laced leather boots appeared under the man's field of vision. Which made him look towards what he obviously thought was: Berry, and again!
Still in a relaxed posture, this time, she had a bubble gum rolling in her mouth. A pink bubble formed at the tips of her lips before it burst and deflated, swallowing back into her mouth to manipulate it again.
"Yo, have you improved a lot in terms of nicknames, the brute? Not bad" she teased, reaching out to help him get up with the flower she had nicknamed Blackburn.
"it seems to me that a shy man named Constantin gave me this flower", she claimed
Letting out an annoyed sigh at the sight of the marine again, Silco accepted the help as she helped him up back to his feet, his belonging in a bag, thrown over his shoulder while on the other hand he held the plant.
“You are the only person turning an absolut shy person into someone becoming very irritated and annoyed by your sheer presence.” Silco complained only to just give another sigh, before gently giving Berry the flower pot in her hand, “Also I would like for you to not leave your gifts behind. If I bothered to let your name it atleast take responsibility and keep it.”
Silco explained only for something to click in his mind, making him confused again.
“Wait? Why are you here in the first place?”
With a slap on his shoulder, she grabbed the flower pot under her arm while grabbing his free arm. She hug his arm in a very friendly hug, in addition to her more than amused smile, "Damn, how grumpy you are, I came to pick up this Blackburn, I was sure you would have already left by now, whatever... .I'm not disappointed to annoy you again!” she teased again, playing with the flame to annoy him.
"Shehehe! No kidding...I had builders brought in to repair..." then she whispered, "...My mistake" Then she spoke in a normal voice, "At my expense heh, it will be like new and useful for gardeners I hope you will be able to forgive me one day, maybe not today...Finally, you see what I mean, eh? Constantin?" she asked, finally calling his name as the duo naturally walked in the direction. Letting the workers slowly arrive on the ground.
His eyes widened a bit at what Berry told him. Seeing these workers slowly appearing and hearing the honest apology, he couldn't keep his scowl, before letting out a tired sigh, which turned into a small smile, especially as he did not fight off her hug and moved his other hand, before rubbing the top of her head.
“I assume you are not that bad, blueberry. Thank you.” Silco thanked Berry, which sounded completley honest and appreciated from the ex-pirate as he really appreaciated, what Berry did. Even though while saying that he had a very slight red in his cheeks by the hug from Berry.
She closed one eye when he stroked the top of her hair, but an idea crossed her mind with a big mischievous smile. She was finally happy to recognize the man's real smile, the real smile she had encountered at the very beginning.
"Shehehe, don't thank me for that! You know what we should do Consta!" she began as her finger pointed towards him, not having let go of the man's arm, "I can't let you go, man, I don't deserve to celebrate the victory without you by your side. It's a victory together!" she exclaimed, having extended the invitation to finally end on a good note.
A hand came up to hide her mouth and whispered in front of the silver-haired man's face, "And then! No one noticed, everyone bought into the game! SHEHE", she backed away, the smile as big as previously.
Freezing for a moment the smile of Constantin twitched, as his eyes slowly narrowed down, his head rubbing turing into a noogie, which became more and more painful and harder.
“Blueberry….you realize while I admitted you are not bad, what made you think I want to party as an accused criminal with a bunch of people, who all carry these flags and want my head on the silver platter, if they find out who I am?”
Silco whispered back harshly, while trying this time to pull his arm away from the hug.
"A gardener!" she replied, annoying him once again. Although she tolerated the pain of his noogie, her hair found itself combing in all directions due to the friction. She ended up withdrawing from under his fist, releasing the grip on his arm, "What a chicken-hearted you can be! How are you going to get out of there? Come on, tell me, I'm very keen on your plan" she mocked, sticking out her tongue, implying that Constantin had no plan to leave the island.
“Of course I have no plan on how to leave the island yet! I mean you don't expect a woman acting like a wild dog on rabies wanting to capture you, knowing about you true existence and wanting to ruin your life project, forcing you to leave the island for the sake of the people.”
Silco replied sarcastically only to let out a sigh.
“How do you justify my presence in the first place? Like I am no marine or pirate nor need to be saved from this place? So how are we even planning to justify my reason to be here?”
Berry lowered her sulky gaze when he spoke sarcastically, such a statement made her bitter for a moment. Her eyebrows furrowed in annoyance, holding back the seriousness of her words, Berry vomited her words.
"Where do you think you are? Literally on the boat? Ah, that's a good one, the party is going to take place on the quay, all the people in town are going to come and celebrate!" she explained, recalling that the citizens of this island were very happy people and only brought sweetness for which Silco would have wanted to live like this. She swayed backwards, away from the man.
“All I ask is to come. This victory is thanks to your justice, my perception will no longer be the same as yesterday,” she let out a sigh as she forced a smile, “ If we part ways here, then I hope to see you again heh!", Berry's fist bounced on Silco's shoulder, marking a friendly and at the same time bitter gesture.
“Don’t fuck up again this time.”
His eyelid twitching in annoyance he was about to refuse only to think of all that happened and the words of Berry. No matter how hard he tried to deny it he spotted no lie in her words. With one final sigh he let his body slack in defeat before giving Berry a side glance.
“Okay. I join but only if you take great care for this flower and I can drink and eat as much as I want.”
The little blue devil's lips perked up to her ears, her gaze glinting with amusement as she leaned her pot against her chest. She brandished her fist in front of her enthusiastically, "I promise you will be delighted! Shehehehe"
In a few steps, Berry found herself alongside the man, the duo walked to join a new festivity at the quay, bringing their bond of friendship closer than it would have been.
A blunder that he will quickly regret.