Chapter 1: Sherlock D. Holmes
'....' Thoughts
"...." Speech
*....* Sounds
:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:
East Blue, Grate Island / Year 1522
Grate Island, is one of the largest and most dangerous islands in East Blue. Rarely patrolled by marines, piracy and criminality were almost everywhere.
On that very island, a hot pursuit took hold through the dark, dirty streets of the island's slums.
*BANG!*
*BANG!*
"Don't let her get away!"
"Don't lose sight of her! If she runs away we are the ones who will die!"
*BANG!*
The night, once silent on normal days, was now filled with the sounds of gunshots being fired and the sound of running steps of dozens of pirates, making the locals cower in fear.
In an alley in the slums, two homeless children hid behind a small box after hearing the pirates' shots. A girl and a boy.
*BANG!*
*BANG!*
The sounds of shooting and screams seemed to get closer, making the two hug each other tighter.
"Onee-chan...I'm scared...!", said the little boy in a shaky voice, his eyes filling with tears.
The boy's sister patted him lightly as she hugged him. "Shhhh...It's okay, Onee-chan will protect you," she said trying to force a confident voice. As much as she wanted to bring her little brother safety, she was also scared. It wasn't uncommon for gunfights to take place in the slums, but she'd never seen anything on this scale.
'Who is the person they are after?', she thought with curiosity. 'So many pirates after a single person, the person they are after couldn't be normal.'
"Oh-ho? Look what we have here! Two little rats!", while lost in thought, a voice came out of the darkness of the night, startling them.
The little girl and the little boy quickly turned toward the direction of the voice and shuddered. A few meters away from the two, two dirty and ragged pirates stared at them, one with a sickening smile, the other with emotionless eyes.
'Damn it! I was careless!', the girl immediately drew a knife from her back and positioned her little brother behind her. She hadn't expected the pirates to arrive so quickly to where they were, as the sounds of gunfire weren't that close yet.
"Ohohoho~? Look at this, Dean. The little girl has a knife! I'm so scared!", one of the two pirates, who had a tribal face tattoo, cackled as he licked his scimitar blade.
"Cobalt, we don't have time for this, we've got to get that woman. Just kill or capture them to sell them later as slaves.", the other pirate, who had a stoic face and emotionless eyes said without patience.
Hearing his companion, the pirate named Cobalt clucked his tongue in irritation. "Tche! Always a party pooper! But it's no fun to capture them, then I'll guess I will have my fun time killing these two~!"
The tattooed pirate's eyes gleamed dangerously, and the little girl shivered. The two pirates argued about killing them like they were just flies. It pissed her off, but deep down she knew that homeless orphans like them are insects to others in this world.
'Are we going to die like this...?', the girl faced the pirates with a brave expression, but the hand that held the knife was shaking violently, denouncing the fear she was feeling. She had never taken a life before and doesn't even know if she could.
As fear clouded her thoughts, she felt a small hand grip her robes tightly and heard her little brother's voice, "Onee-chan...What do we do?"
Her little brother's voice brought her back from the fear that was drowning her mind. 'That's right... It doesn't matter what we are to others... I just have to protect my little brother!'
The girl's hand stopped shaking, she pointed the knife at the two pirates and fearlessly declared, "Don't come any closer, or I'll kill you!"
The tattooed pirate froze for a second with a stunned expression, and then he burst out laughing, "Kahkahkahkah! You've got guts, little girl! It will only make me feel more turned on after I kill you!"
The pirate's laugh was deviously ugly, and his excited expression was disturbing - yet the little girl didn't back down.
The other pirate sighed at his companion's behavior. "Just kill them at once, we have to go back to the chasing."
"Did you hear that, little girl? Our time together is over! Here I come~!", without giving the children any more time, the pirate advanced with his scimitar outstretched toward them while laughing maniacally.
The little boy closed his eyes in terror, but the girl stood her ground, gripping the handle of the knife so tightly her fingers turned white.
'We are not going to die here!', she thought with conviction.
The pirate slashed down his scimitar like a merciless executioner, but something completely unexpected happened when the blade was inches from the girl's head.
Out of nowhere, a silhouette lands upright on the tattooed pirate's back, causing him to crash to the ground with a loud 'BAM', followed by a 'Crack' sound.
"Ga-ah?!", the pirate, not understanding what happened, cried in pain.
The little girl who was ready to kill and die widened her eyes in confusion.
"...Eh?"
"Phew! The landing was done smoothly, as expected! My calculations are always precise!", the silhouette said with confidence.
Hearing the female voice of the person who appeared out of nowhere, the little girl breaks out of her daze and examines her cautiously.
The person who just landed on top of the pirate saving them was a woman. The woman wore a beige overcoat with plaid patterns and a black vest underneath with a black bow tie around her neck. On her head, she wears a strange beige hat with a bow on top and plaid patterns; on the lower part of her body, she wears a skirt, shoes, and black socks, matching her tie and vest.
What caught the most attention, however, was the woman's beauty. Long and straight night-black hair, black eyes that exuded confidence, a small, thin nose, and a little pale skin. The moonlight illuminating the woman's face made her look even more beautiful.
'Wow, she's so beautiful... She looks like a living doll...', the little girl thought in a trance.
While everyone still seems stunned by her sudden appearance, the woman finally takes notice of the situation in her surroundings.
"Oh my! A pirate bullying little kids? I wish I could say I'm surprised, but that would be a lie.", the woman said with a sigh.
"U-Urgh...."
"Hm?"
Hearing a moan coming from beneath her feet, the woman looks down. "Oh...so that's why my landing was so much easier than anticipated," she put a little pressure on her foot that was on the pirate's back, and he howled in pain.
"I see. Your spine is broken, but since this is a lawless town, I won't be responsible for the damage caused, so...my condolences on being paralyzed for the rest of your life I guess?", she said with a shrug.
She climbs down from the pirate's back and at that moment, the other pirate finally seems to snap out of his stupor.
"You bitch, we finally found you!", without hesitation, the other pirate draws his sword and advances toward the woman, who just stares at him without concern in her eyes.
"L-Look out!", the little girl screamed, fearing that the woman who saved her would get hurt.
The pirate quickly got in front of the woman and slashed his sword diagonally. Seeing the sword coming towards her, the woman kept her calm, and then took a step to the side while tilting her body slightly, perfectly dodging the attack.
Seeing his attack miss, he attacked with his sword again, again, and again, but the woman dodged everything with ease as if she could see the attack even before he attacked!
"W-What is this! How can you dodge everything?!", the once calm and emotionless pirate was now in complete amazement and disbelief. He wasn't a weak pirate, on the contrary, he was fast and strong, but then how can a woman who looks like she's never trained dodge his attacks so easily? It didn't make sense!
The woman replied as she dodged his attacks, "Obviously because you are very predictable, or should I say limited? You choose."
A vein bursts in the pirate's head hearing the woman belittle him, then he roars in anger, "You wretch! I'll cut you into pieces and feed them to the slum dogs!"
"Oh dear me, I've heard that same phrase ten times in the last few months. Like I said, limited.", she said impassively. Not having time to play with the pirate, she decided to end that and run away, as the other pirates were still after her.
Seeing the pirate attack with the sword once more, she made her move. Dodging the attack to the side, she grabs a thick piece of iron that was closest to her and immediately strikes the pirate's knee, making him kneel while grunting in pain.
"You bitch!", the woman caught him off guard with that iron pipe. With his knee now fractured, he was on his knees unable to get up, and if he tried to dodge her attacks as he is on his knees, he would become an easy target. All he could do was block her attacks.
She immediately prepared to attack again, and realizing that her next attack was aiming at his head, he raises his arm with his sword ready to defend, but at the last moment, she changes the direction of her attack towards his shoulder, as if she already knew he was going to do that.
The blow hits the pirate's shoulder with a bang followed by the sound of bones breaking. Once again, he howls in pain.
"H-How?!", he exclaimed in shock.
She didn't respond, instead, she attacked once more with the iron pipe, this time aiming for the back of the pirate's head. Realizing he couldn't defend himself in time, the thought of at least taking her with him crossed his mind. So without bothering to defend himself, with a crazy smile, he tries to raise his arm to counterattack with his sword, but to his surprise, the upper part of his arm did not move, making him panic.
She had broken his shoulder, not his arm, it was natural that he thought he could at least try to slice her horizontally. But when she hit the pirate's shoulder with the iron pipe, she wasn't specifically targeting the shoulder as a whole, but the glenohumeral joint of the shoulder, immobilizing the pirate's upper part of his arm.
He obviously wouldn't know that, and she wouldn't explain either.
The pirate quickly tried to use another arm, but it was too late.
The woman swings the iron pipe as hard as she can into the back of the pirate's head, breaking his neck. The pirate falls to the ground, limp and lifeless.
"Hmm. Three moves, five seconds, not ideal, but not bad either. Oops! I don't have time for this, I need to run!", turning, the woman broke into a run on the alley leaving a dead body, a paraplegic pirate, and two stupefied children behind.
Looking at the silhouette of her savior disappearing in the dark alley, the little girl murmured, "It all happened so fast..."
"Onee-chan, look! That Onee-chan who saved us dropped this!"
Looking at her brother who called her, she realized that he was no longer behind her, but crouched next to the pirate's corpse. She wanted to yell at him that it was dangerous, but she was curious about what he said. Going to her brother, the little girl sees that he has a business card in his hands.
"Onee-chan, there are things written here, what does it say?", the boy asked with curiosity. They may be orphans and homeless, but the two were once part of a merchant family before their parents died and the business bankrupt, at least the girl could read.
Also feeling curious about what was in the card her savior had dropped, the girl read aloud,
"Sherlock D. Holmes, consultant and private detective."
.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
Sherlock D. Holmes
In recent months, much of East Blue has heard this name.
A detective without equal.
A Genius.
Many compliments came from those who hired her services. What most set her apart from others in her field was undoubtedly her unscrupulous methods and her loyalty to her one rule - "Whatever it is, I will reveal the truth!"
She would always tell the truth after her investigations, no matter what. However, because of that, she has created countless enemies in the last few months she has been active, including pirates, marines, and even minor members of the World Government.
Even now, she is on the run from a pirate crew that had an illegal deal with the marines and Holmes, by disclosing the existence of such an agreement and making it public, the marines had to hunt down the pirates and were forced to make a retraction about what happened, tarnishing their reputation. The pirate crew in question were hunted almost entirely by the marines, and the rest, in a vengeful rage, began a relentless pursuit of the person who ruined everything - Sherlock D. Holmes.
Running down the dark alley, Holmes could hear the sound of pirates' footsteps approaching her current location.
'For them to be able to locate me and carry out a pursuit on this scale without the interference of any authority... It seems that some heads of the Government or the Marines have a hand in this situation. It seems that my geniality really bothered them, ha!' Holmes thought with a fearless smile.
As she ran, several scenes played out in her mind like a movie, calculating each step, each probable situation that could happen in her path, and the solution for each one.
However, something that even she couldn't imagine happened. Looking ahead, where there was nothing but a clear path, a tall, hooded man appeared out of nowhere.
'What the...?' Where did he came from?' Holmes raised an eyebrow in discomfort. She didn't like it when something didn't go as planned, and the man in front of her gave her a strangely suffocating feeling.
Ignoring the strange feeling she felt coming from the man, she continued running, already thinking about how to deal with that unknown variable.
Moving closer to the man, she couldn't see his face, but there was a slight smile on his face. Confused why the man was just standing there as she approached, she wondered if there was some trap set and quickly grew more cautious.
The man's smile grew wider, and when Holmes came within six feet of the man, an invisible dome-shaped explosion erupted from the man's body. Holmes felt a shiver run down his spine; she couldn't see what it was, but her instincts told her to quickly turn around and run away from the man in front of her, but it was too late.
The invisible force collided with Holmes, and her consciousness immediately blacked out.
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