457 | Wild Ride
“What the… where did that ship go?” Dr Hogback said, his eyes comically widening at the empty spot where the ship was just a moment ago.
“Impossible!” Hogback spat, glasses reflecting the blinking monitors now displaying empty docks and fog swirling over black waters.
He looked away just a moment and now the ship was nowhere. The crew on the other hand were off with their motorbikes, running through the ranks of his his parasitic army.
As much as the doctor was mad, he was also intrigued on what had happened. Especially with the motorbikes, they looked well-engineered. It wasn’t his first time seeing such a two-wheeler land vehicle, but these were certainly a grade above the rest.
“The new Warlord’s crew aren’t just brutes after all,” Hogback said, “Also, how had they managed to make such a big ship disappear… The crew certainly has some interesting power holders among them.”
The doctor cackled manically, “kekekek… good! I will make sure to use them in my army…” he said, pulling a lever that activated the auto-cannons, gatling rails spinning up with high-caliber rounds.
However, that seemed to be a mistake as the pirates were easily able to avoid the bullets with the high-speed moving bikes.
Not a single round found its mark, the cannon rounds almost coursed away in flight at the last instant while bullets glanced off handlebars or went wide without explanation.
Dr Hogback’s eye twitched, “Are they having fun?” he asked with some amount of boiling anger as the members of the straw hat crew drove around the army with seemingly no worry.
Not only were they seamlessly avoiding getting shot, they were also destroying the automatic ammunition as they charged toward Thriller Bark.
Hogback breathed in and out, trying to calm down his nerves. He had a lot in mind, and getting irritated didn’t do well for an intellectual like him.
He shouldn’t be surprised that a warlord’s crew was able to easily get through the first layer of defense set up in Thriller Bark. Those were meant to keep away normal crews and marine vessels.
But that didn’t mean there weren’t any other ways to stop them. “Let’s see how well you bastards deal with some fireworks…”
.
The full moon cast an eerie glow over the crumbling ruins and withered trees of Thriller Bark as the Straw Hats tore through the island’s interior astride a motley assemblage of motorbikes.
“Wo-ho! Let’s go, baby!” Gin cackled aloud as he enjoyed himself riding his bike directly through a giant bear, making the poor beast fly back with a howl of agony.
The other straw hats had similar expressions, tearing through the monsters of thriller bark. Most of them were wild beasts being controlled by parasites that targeted them. By now only the monsters were able to chase them, as the pirates and marines were too slow to give chase.
“Keep moving, don’t let those freaks slow us down!” Nami called out, as she drove her bike with speed and precision. She was a natural at this, easily being able to handle the two-wheeler.
Vivi was on the back seat, shooting down any adversaries with maple-made guns. White Fury was also flying above them with her wings easily avoiding any attacks thrown her way.
The bizarre menagerie of parasite-controlled beings was tough but they were no match for the crew’s vehicles as they wove through the obstacles.
“Why do you guys get a bike, while I don’t?” Sanji complained as he easily kept up with the speed, of the bikes.
“Cause, you don’t need one?” Anchor said, getting a pout from the cook. “Huh, I’m kidding… everyone has a bike. But for special devil fruit users like you, Zoro, and Captain, we were trying to do something extra. Something that would compliment your powers. So unlike these bad boys, those aren’t fully ready yet.”
“Oi, Sanji! Heads up, ugly at nine o’clock!” Usopp shouted to Sanji as he kicked aside a pouncing wolf-like creature, not even being bothered by it.
“Wanna see something SUPER?” Franky said, pulling up his bike on his back wheel as he sped up, using a large rock to do a bike jump. “SUPPPEEERRR!”
“Huh, that seems fun…” Gin said, following his lead and doing a wheelie of his own. “We are flying! Wo-hooo!”
And that prompted others to follow suit. The monsters, and everything else were a background thing now, everyone was on the moment. Enjoying the thrill of the ride, maneuvering through the ranks of wild beasts and traps that were placed through the forest.
For all that was Thriller Bark, it was an island. And it was big, so it would take a while to get to the middle of it. And so someone proposed having a race, which obviously made Nami very happy and Vivi very scared as she held on for dear life as the maple queen sped up.
Franky, Gin, Law, and even Robin joined the race, competing with each other, but it became clear that Nami wouldn’t let anyone take the lead.
“Heads up! Enemy hiding on the sides,” Sanji reminded the crew as he was the only one who was able to use observation haki and see the enemy. Of course, Observation haki could only spot the people hiding, not the other things that were hidden.
Dozens of marines and pirates pulled up with guns, gunning down their vehicles forward, weaving between crumbling stone walls with renewed focus. A number of their crewmates had ranged ahead, trying not to be an easy target.
Almost all of the crew had enough reaction speed trained into them to avoid normal speeding bullets, but still. With a mad doctor running the whole island, the dangers of chemical or biological weapons were also a thing to worry about. Something that Luffy, Chopper, and Law had stressed the crew on about.
They trusted in everyone’s skills, but losing focus invited disaster.
A piercing shriek snapped all eyes to Chopper’s bike as he braked hard, dodging a hissing net hurtling from the woods. More weighted nets and snarling beasts encircled them, slinking from the shadows.
“Crap, it’s a trap!” Franky said, swerving his bulky bike to shield their doctor. The front of his bike swiveled open as a rocket launcher started firing incendiary rounds where the nets had originated.
“Wait why do your bike have rockets in it?” Yosaku said, from his own bike. But he was ignored.
“Nice save, Franky,” Usopp said from the front, his bike having a green shield in front thanks to Barto’s powers. “I will go ahead in case of any danger… also where’s Nami?”
“She went too far ahead,” Coby said with a sigh, riding behind Gin’s bike, “But Sanji is with her, I think… so she should be alright…”
“Okay…” Usopp said, “Then, let’s be careful…” And right as he said that a deafening blast pulled all of their attention.
The road directly before Usopp’s bike erupted, soil and stone fountaining skyward! The sniper yelped, getting lost inside the smoke.
“Shit… it’s mined!” Anchor said, realizing.
Too late! Multiple explosions rippled down the forest path as buried explosive charges detonated, triggered by the crew’s passage. Dirt geysers spat in searing gouts amidst the trees, the very road itself seeming to disintegrate under their wheels.
—–
Shameless Pa-atreon plug. I’ve got one, goes by the username (FallenCrown) on there.
Support me if you want, but don’t feel pressured, I’ll be uploading my stuff outside it regardless and not keeping it all behind a paywall or anything like that.
Read my other fics if you have the time. If you want to have a chat with me, hit me up on discord.
discord.gg/Gnxnuw56ks
Gnxnuw56ks
