Zapdos

One Piece: The Blackfin Chronicles

Jones listened to what Siobhan had to stay with a mix of emotions. He did not have any real confidence that this brash swordsman could do what his captain said he could simply because of how he had acted so far. However, Jones did know that Siobhan’s plan was better than his. It would draw the pirates away from the church, which would allow them to save any citizens that were there.

It was what his captain said about minimizing casualties that really bothered the doctor though. As a rule, Jones had always tried to save anyone that he could treat. He did this even at the cost of his friends and family; this was why he was a pirate in the first place. Deep down, the doctor knew that Siobhan was right; there was no way that everyone he ever met could be treated. Even without the dangers associated with pirates, diseases could kill people. But if this were true, why did he even bother with this? Why not just let that pirate die and continue treating people back home without living as an outlaw? Jones did not have an answer for that right now and he did not have time to think of one, but he did know that people would need his help very soon. So he resolved to help as many of them as he could, even if it costed him his life.

Jones said none of this to the two people next to him, though. Instead, in his usual calm voice, he simply said to Siobhan “okay. What do you need me to do?”

One Piece: The Blackfin Chronicles

Jones was incredibly angry now. While Siobhan’s plan was flawed for the reason Eadgar stated, at least it was a plan. The “Silver Swordsman’s” plan basically amounted to “attack the pirates and hope nobody dies.” The doctor knew what Bluewell was like; at the very least, the pirates they attacked would kill some citizens in the crossfire, and at the worst their captain would find some way to ensure that innocent people would be killed. Ragnvald could and would order his men to go down fighting just to kill people, plus his sword/whip weapon that he had was deadly. Jones had been a part of Redwell’s crew; he knew all too well how cruel these people could be.

The doctor then whispered his objections to Eadgar with a look of unmistakable rage. “Listen. People could die if this goes wrong. Your plan is not a plan; you are hoping to attack people, cause a scene, and hope nobody notices or gets killed. The only thing that accomplishes is putting people in unnecessary danger. You are underestimating these pirates and you are putting people’s lives on the line for the sake of stupid pride. Bluewell is an evil man and I know he would kill people simply out of spite. You even said he killed one person already. If poison isn’t the best plan, fine, but I refuse to let people die if I can help it.”

After all of that, Jones took a long, deep breath and calmly asked Siobhan “maybe one of us could poison their captain while the others sneak in and free the hostages? Perhaps you could use that 360 degree fishman move you did last time to block anyone attacking them.”

One Piece: The Blackfin Chronicles

Upon further thought, Siobhan had a point. A gunshot would attract too much attention. Jones had figured he would just shoot the guy if he started calling for his allies, at which point it wouldn’t mattered, but considering the circumstances it would probably have been-

Jones then heard the man introduce himself as Eadgar Grauwulf and his thoughts ground to a halt. “Oh god damnit, he’s on her list,” the doctor thought, “I know Siobhan knows things about these people I don’t, but-“

This was the second time in a minute or two that his thoughts had changed in a moment. This time it was because Eadgar had asked about ideas. People’s lives were at stake here. Jones knew he needed to focus, so he quickly thought of a plan and revealed it.

“I have one. On the way here I was reading a book I looted from Redwell; Gangster Gastino’s Medical Encyclopedia. It’s a book all about making poisons. I figure if we stealthily poison Bluewell while he’s alone, we should be able to then take out the remaining members of his crew before they can kill any civilians. How does that sound?”

One Piece: The Blackfin Chronicles

Jones thought this had the chance to get worse. While he was relieved this guy wasn’t with Bluewell, the arrogant and assumptive way he acted made him wonder just what was going on inside his head. How was he supposed to know who was and wasn’t with Ragnvald? It wasn’t like this man was wearing a sign that gave away his allegiance. Nonetheless, any ally was good and this was not a time to argue with this guy. Maybe he could take some shots for them while they freed the hostages or something. Jones put the pistol away and took a deep breath, then addressed the apparent swordsman in a whisper.

“We know that. We defeated Redwell.” After saying this, Jones searched his duffel bag for proof, taking out the hilt of Red Blade and showing it to this guy before continuing. “We need to work together to find a way to save these people. Captain?”

The doctor then gestured to Siobhan so she could add anything she wanted to. At this point, Jones needed to think of a plan anyway, so now wasn’t the time to be talking anyway.

One Piece: The Blackfin Chronicles

My man? Jones took insult at being affiliated with them, even in passing, but he was part of their crew in the past so he supposed it was fair. Now on the outskirts of town, the two were assessing the situation and Siobhan was probably right; the citizens here were probably Bluewell’s hostages.

The doctor nodded, then thought for a second before speaking. “We should try and get some intelligence before we do anything. If we walk into a trap, it could cost people their lives. Finding a good position to scout their forces would be nice, and since there are probably pirates by their ship, the church would be the better choice.”

He looked to his captain for confirmation, then began sneaking with her towards their destination. This was a bigger town than the last one, so it took a little more time, but they were eventually able to get to the church without being detected.

Mostly.

When the pair were at a point where they could scout the church and its surroundings, they saw a pair of eyes meet theirs from the building’s roof. Jones thought he saw a weapon on the man; was that a sword? Just to be safe, the doctor grabbed his pistol, hoping that whatever came next didn’t end with the loss of innocent lives.

One Piece: The Blackfin Chronicles

Jones smiled at Siobhan’s apparent forgetfulness. He didn’t have a photographic memory, but this was the first time he had seen her blush and the doctor thought it was kind of cute. Galen’s attention shifted with his captain’s, however, when she said that she saw land. He didn’t notice it before, but he saw it when Siobhan pointed it out. Jones promptly responded, saying “that’s great! Let’s get to shore!”

-----

Before Siobhan could yell more, Jones covered his captain’s mouth. “Sshh,” he said in a whisper, “this is strange. There should be at least a few people here right now. Maybe we shouldn’t draw so much attention to ourselves.”

The doctor then looked around, squinting at something he saw in the distance. To confirm what it was, he took out a pair of binoculars from his duffel bag and looked at it through those. It was indeed a shipwreck, but the flag that was there was what Jones found the most noteworthy. It was torn, but the doctor could still make out whose jolly roger it was; it belonged to the Whip-Fang Pirates, led by Bluewell himself.

Putting the binoculars back, Jones whispered to his captain “okay, so bad news and good news. The bad news is that the Whip-Fang Pirates are shipwrecked here and that people could be in danger right now.” An empty town plus evil pirates meant that a lot of things could be going wrong for a lot of people right now. “The good news is that you will probably get to punch Bluewell sometime soon.”

Thinking for a moment, he then added “also, we should probably hide our trawler while we find out what’s going on. If that’s their only ship, they might try to take ours.”

One Piece: The Blackfin Chronicles

Galen’s eyebrows rose when Siobhan showed him her tattoo and told him that her captain was Jinbei. He had definitely heard of the guy. A very skilled user of fishman karate who was extremely honorable as well. Although Siobhan didn’t seem to inherit Jinbei’s sense of strategy, she definitely took after him in combat and most importantly, in integrity.

Jones joined her by the rim, watching the sun go down, and smiled. “That’s lovely, it really is,” the doctor said, “it sounds like you had a good teacher. You’re very lucky.”

This made Jones wonder if he would’ve done better with a teacher, but he seemed to be doing okay so far, so he didn’t really worry about it. This also made him think about his family back home. His parents were still alive; they didn’t agree with what he did, but they understood why he did it. Maybe someday after Siobhan became the Pirate King, he could go back home and see them again.

But for now, he was just happy to be where he was.

“Who are the other names on your list, anyway?”

One Piece: The Blackfin Chronicles

Jones was indeed not aware of his reputation. He had known that pirate doctors were rare; that’s why he was able to find work on pirate ships so easily. The doctor just didn’t think that he would’ve been that noteworthy. After all, he had only been a pirate for a few years, and most of the crews he had been with didn’t last. Not that being a pirate was his first choice, of course, but he didn’t feel like boring Siobhan with his life story. Jones smiled at the woman as she explained how the people on the list were all good at what they did, nodding in agreement.

Her life story, on the other hand, sounded more interesting, and Jones wanted to know a bit about it. “Good! So you said you had a captain before this?”

One Piece: The Blackfin Chronicles

Jones listened to Siobhan’s response with interest. Unlike his captain, the doctor was using a fork and knife to cut each piece of fish before eating it. Her answer was, in its own way, unsurprising. Her confidence was something Jones had seen more than once by now, so while he wasn’t entirely sure it was the best plan, he had a feeling that it would work out well for them in the end anyway.

After finishing his last piece of fish and setting down his silverware, Jones said “okay, so a follow-up question then. How are you determining who you want to join your crew? I understand that you need people with different skills, but how do you decide who you think will be right here? For instance, I’m not a really big pirate even by West Blue standards, but here I am.”

Jones knew how big the world was. Even though he grew up in a distant East Blue island, the doctor had seen maps and heard stories about crews like the Straw Hats. In the grand scheme of things, Jones just didn’t see what the big deal was about him. Sure, he was a good doctor, but there had to be better ones out there.

One Piece: The Blackfin Chronicles

Jones collected a few of the fish bones as Siobhan did her work, knowing that they would be useful ingredients that he might need someday to make medicine someday. The doctor then started eating, but as Siobhan talked about the direction where their next crew member would be found, Jones remembered one question out of a few that he had wanted to ask his captain.

“Siobhan, I know in the end you’re going to be the Pirate King either way,” Jones said, “but what are we going to do if someone on your list doesn’t want to join you? I know we’re pirates, but we can’t just force people to join us.” That was something he was sure of; while they technically could make people join them, that would make them no better than Blackwell.

Jones continued eating his fish as the woman responded. Even though she wasn’t a cook, Siobhan sure knew how to prepare a fish.