Red Hair

"Whew."

The wind howled in his ears. His hair whipped wildly in the air, and his clothes flapped nonstop. The intense sensation of falling sent his heart into a frantic rhythm. The powerful wind pressure nearly kept Louis from opening his eyes, but he forced them open anyway.

The sea was drawing closer and closer. The azure ocean seemed close enough to touch. If he hit it at this speed, he'd be smashed to pieces in an instant.

"Damn it!"

He cursed under his breath. So he really had been dragged into this war after all—completely and utterly.

"Whoosh!"

A cannonball came screaming toward him. Louis gave the air a barely perceptible tap with his foot, slightly altering his trajectory as he fell. The cannonball grazed past him.

"Then bring it on!"

Louis's gaze suddenly sharpened. "Anyone who wants me dead can damn well die first!"

He grabbed the corners of his coat and flung them wide. The sturdy fabric ballooned, and after a moment of intense discomfort, his descent slowed at once.

"Tap!"

He bent his knees and landed on a ship's mast. Kicking off hard, he launched himself into the air, then used his falling momentum to slam down toward the deck like a cannonball.

"Ah!!"

A scream rang across the deck. Louis dropped from above, his sword pinning a pirate to the planks.

"Whew, I'm saved!"

The pirate sat sprawled on the deck, sword in hand, panting heavily. Cold sweat covered his forehead.

"Thank you. You're..."

The pirate swallowed and gazed at Louis with gratitude.

"Don't mention it. We're comrades now. I'm Mario of the Blood Hand Pirates. Can you stand?"

Louis pulled out his sword and held out his right hand.

"Yeah."

The man took Louis's hand and got to his feet.

"Don't go dying on me!"

Louis smiled. "You only get one life! It'd be a shame to fall here."

"...Yeah!"

The man nodded firmly.

"If you're scared,"

Louis said, "just find somewhere to hide. There's no shame in that!"

On a battlefield filled with cannon fire, finding somewhere to hide might actually be the quickest way to get yourself killed.

He dashed to the ship's rail like a leopard. With a leap and a swing of his sword, he knocked away a cannonball. The indiscriminate bombardment had begun; even the Golden Lion Grand Fleet was showing no restraint as cannonballs came screaming toward them.

Louis had thought it through. In a war like this, the best way for a small fry like him to survive was to find somewhere to hide. But could he really stay hidden?

Louis looked up. Dark clouds had gathered across the sky. The great storm that would help the Roger Pirates turn the tide was probably coming soon. The storm alone would destroy more than half of the Golden Lion Grand Fleet's ships. His best idea wouldn't work for much longer.

Louis needed a ship that could carry him clear of the storm, and a crew capable of sailing it.

"Boom!"

The ship was hit by two cannonballs in quick succession. It wasn't especially large to begin with, and now it began to shake violently, as if it might sink at any moment.

"Abandon ship!!"

Louis shouted, "Anyone who doesn't want to die, get moving!! Swim to another ship!!"

"Damn it!! Have they given up on us completely?"

"Quit whining! Watch out for cannonballs! And watch out for the Roger Pirates!"

"Damn it! My ship!!"

"This is all for Admiral Golden Lion's ambition!!"

At any rate, the pirates lowered their lifeboats and began transferring to other ships. Those who couldn't fit aboard jumped into the sea. With so many half-sunken ships nearby, pirates accustomed to life at sea had no reason to worry about drowning.

Louis plunged into the water, cutting through the surface like a mermaid.

Everything around him seemed to go quiet. He kicked hard and shot forward like a swordfish.

"Boom!"

A cannonball suddenly landed nearby. Louis had time only to roll aside and harden his body with Tekkai. The powerful blast sent him flying.

"Haah!"

He burst through the surface and leapt into the air. His hand plunged into the hull of the ship ahead. He pushed down hard, flipped himself over, and landed on the deck.

"Ow!"

The cannonball had exploded right beside him. Even though he'd dodged in time and defended himself with Tekkai, the powerful shockwave still left him in considerable pain.

"Clang!"

He had barely steadied himself on the rail when a fierce slash came roaring toward him. A dazzling flash streaked past Louis's eyes, and the ship, which had been intact a moment ago, was cleaved in two. It lurched sharply and began sinking.

"Pluton..."

Louis hopped lightly onto the mast and looked toward the source of the slash. Two men were locked in combat, and the enormous ship lay shattered around them. "Rayleigh!"

The sea, cleaved apart by the slash, only now began to slowly close again.

Towering slashes shot into the sky from every direction, repeatedly slicing the pirate ships on the sea and in the air to pieces. Some came from the enemy, others from his own side. Louis couldn't help sighing. Had every swordsman in the world gathered here?

But then again, Golden Lion, Roger, Rayleigh, Oden—weren't all of them swordsmen?

"Damn it!"

Louis cursed under his breath, bent his knees, and leapt with all his might. His training camp's final month and the voyage to the New World had both been spent entirely on controlling the muscles in his face. He hadn't trained Life Return in his leg muscles, but he'd been constantly stuffing himself with food to replenish his nutrients, so he was still plenty strong. He shot skyward like a rocket, traced a smooth arc, then plunged into the water.

"Whoosh!"

He gathered strength underwater and suddenly surged upward. A spray of water burst as he shot into the air. He lightly planted a foot on a ship's hull and continued rising, landing on the deck of another ship.

"Hm?"

He spotted someone at a glance. The man's features were unmistakable.

"Bwahahahaha!! I told you, I'm invincible!!"

The red-nosed man laughed uproariously, flinging throwing knives from his hand and skewering several pirates at a time. Yet when he was attacked, he didn't take the slightest damage. No matter how swiftly a knife or sword struck him, his body split apart at the instant of impact, leaving him unharmed.

"Damn it! What's going on with this guy?"

"He's a Devil Fruit user!!"

"Does he just ignore swords and knives? This guy!"

"Move!"

Louis landed on the deck and stomped down hard. The planks splintered beneath him as he charged forward like a leopard, his hand gripping his sword tightly.

"Bwahahaha! Another one!"

Buggy laughed and came straight at him, completely unconcerned.

"Get lost!!"

Louis roared and twisted his sword, smacking Buggy across the face with its flat.

"Ah!!"

Buggy screamed as Louis sent him flying off the deck, spinning through the air. "Damn you, Shanks! Help!!!"

He landed in the sea.

"Can't use the blade,"

Louis sighed, "so I'll just use the flat."

"..."

The pirates felt especially ashamed. The ship's officers had gone elsewhere to intercept members of the Roger Pirates, leaving only the small fry behind. Their fighting strength was pitiful.

"Buggy!!"

At the stern, a figure leapt straight into the sea.

"That guy..."

Louis spotted a straw hat.

"Honestly..."

He sprang into the air and turned away. "Now's not the time to start trouble."

"Is there a helmsman? Get us moving! Take us out of this area!"

Louis shouted. This ship was in pretty good shape.

"Y-yes!!"

Some pirate in the crowd nodded hurriedly. Cannonballs were still screaming overhead. If they didn't flee now, they might not get another chance.

The large ship began to turn slowly, heading for the edge of the bombardment zone. Louis breathed a sigh of relief. Once they got away from here, they'd be much safer. The ship was large enough, too; it might even hold up against the storm that was about to hit.

"Hey! You hurt my friend, and you think you can just leave?"

The man in the straw hat crouched on the rail, drenched from head to toe.

"Ah, man, this is..."

Louis turned to look at the kid, who was a year younger than he was.