A Black Autumn

## The Early Autumn

Bustling towns seemed to become a norm for the traveling swordsman. But while he despised compacted areas filled with noisy townsmen, he actually enjoyed the sunny lively atmosphere found only on islands in the Sabaody Archipelago. Salazar even experienced a little jealousy when he crossed lovely families who enjoyed the town's togetherness.

"Sorry!" A little girl yelled, bumping into his leg and spilling her drink over his pants in the progress. She almost cried when Salazar reached into his pocket. However, her saddened face was overwhelmed with a joyous smile - for Salazar pulled out a small amount of Beli.

"Here you are, Darling." Salazar smiled. He continued walking, leaving the girl's family in awe at his kindness. Why was a member of the Ouka Shichibukai, the youngest member at that, spending his day among such graceful tranquility? His white cloak blew in the gentle breeze, pushing back his head and vanishing the ominous shadow which engulfed his face. His ebony skin shined in the sunlight, calling the attention of passerby. Whispers erupted. Gossip traversed seasoned sailors who recognized his unique black bellied snake tattoo.

"Salazar."

He heard his name spat with venom, mystery and admiration. While he could barely decipher their mumbles, he managed to make out faint questions regarding his presence and even a few panicky citizens. "Geez," Salazar sighed, scratching his undercut hair and rummaging his colorful Mohawk. "Can't a man restock without a fuss."

Strutting through the pathways of Sabaody Archipelago, Autumn of the Marines had finally found a bit of spare time for herself. Despite being a member of the Marines, she would often get questioned about her family and how she felt about them. Her mother, once a renowned and feared Pirate amongst the seas. Her father who's always held a legendary status of some sorts in the world, and even correctly being one of the four most threatening and powerful pirates in the world; a Yonko.

Then, there were time when she'd be questioned about her two siblings. Sengoku D. King, her younger brother who's joined a Revolutionary Army. At time she would shrug the questions about him off. However, it was when she;d get questioned about her youngest brother, Michael she'd get the most expressive about. *"I'll kill him on sight."* She'd say. Or, *"What a waste of a human."*

Either way, she was extremely excited to have a bit of free time on her hands. Her pearl white uniform was complimented flawlessly by the rays of the sun. She was greeted by many, and gave off a simple wave to display that she had at least acknowledged the people. *"Salazar..."* She heard it faintly, but even while it was faint, she still heard it.

"Tch, really, right now?"

Salazar walked through the crowded street, slurping on a fruit smoothie. "Such a sweet yet sour fruit. What did they call it? Phoenix Passion? God it's so delicious!" He finished the cup, larger than both his hands, in under four rapid gulps. "There is nothing better than the fruits of these islands. Maybe I should spend a month doing a fruit expedition-" He halted. The porcelain threads of the marines caught his attention from across the road. And that innocent face among them...Something about it made Salazar roll his eyes in annoyance. "To think *they* were here...oh!" He remembered suddenly. "I heard rumors about a base being set up nearby. How could I forget..."

As she continued on down her path she caught Salazar in her review out of the corner of her eye. She hadn't said anything, she'd just taken a stop there. The sweet aroma of pizza being baked in the distance was hard for the young marine to fight off. She wanted to head towards the sweet scent instantly but there was something else she just had to take care of. *"Why why why?"* She thought to herself. *"And the pizza is so close!"*

Finally pulling herself together, she grabbed strings of her hair and pulled it over her ear. Still facing along the path that the scent that pizza gave off, she spoke out. "Hm, Salazar. What're doing on Sabaody Archipelago?"

Salazar sighed. "She could've just ignored me and kept moving. Why! Why must marines be so annoying?!"  He grumbled. He finished his smoothie and tossed the empty bottle into a nearby trash, stopping quite a distance from Autumn. But that didn't stop her squad from surrounding him. "I'm doing whatever I please, Marine-chan." He teased.

"You guys follow Marine-chan? How frightening!" Salazar joked at the tense squad. He turned his attention back to the voluptuous teenager "Why're **you** here, you can't even drink yet."

Pulling her head back as though she'd been giving off a signal of sorts calling her men back to her side. You know there's a marine base here. "I was sent here by admiral Ralph. This place isn't as protected as it was in the past. Or so they say. It used to be reckless for pirates to come here back then. Nowadays, they don't care. Point being proven with you standing ten feet tall here." Autumn was moreso questioning why'd she stop to attend to this man, when the sweet taste of pizza was only a few meters away.

Even while she spoke to him, she couldn't help but fill her fantasies with the different amounts of pizza toppings she could stuff into her belly. It took everything she could, to hold back from drooling at the thought alone.

"He sent you? Rarararara!" Salazar erupted in laughter. "As if you could stop a pirate from actually coming here," He scratched his head. 'Maybe I should see if those bastards'll let me take this island for myself. Turn it into a safe-haven for swordsmen. At least it'll be safer than under *your* control."

Quote annoyed at the words of the ebony man, Autumn ignored his insults. "This place isn't under *my* control, you half-witted slave." Autumn let off a slight chuckle as she drifted her eye sight to the skies above. The scent of the pizza still getting to her head a bit. Fending off such a elegant fragrance she shifted her view back upon Salazar. "You couldn't make this place a safe haven even if the marines were lacking in fleet admiral and Admiral positions. Yeah, I really wish this place was like how they said it was in the past. You wouldn't even be standing here, maybe in a cell about to getting ready to debut on a stage so that you'd be sold to the highest bidding Celestial Dragon looking for the best slave."

The previously smiling swordsman vanished. An ominous aura leaked outwardly, thickening the atmosphere and engulfing the area in a deathly silence. Leave it to the fair skinned to view slavery in such a manner. They were the biggest perpetrators responsible for single-handily exploiting the resources of his home. And while Salazar despised the idea of having stayed, he understood the evils of slavery better than anyone else. For he spent his early childhood as livestock.

"You little bitch." Salazar spat. He walked towards Autumn. "You probably think these ranks actually mean anything? As if titles could grant you enough power to actually rule a kingdom. Slaves. Celestial Dragns. False Gods. Weak little marines such as yourself. Perhaps I'll show you how unimportant you really are!" An invisible wall of force erupted, forcing back marines in his immediate vicinity.

"Oi." Autumn gave off a chuckle as she watched her men be pushed back. "It seems I've struck a nerve, Salazar." While it appeared as though Autumn was unfazed to the outside world, she had took into great consideration of Salazar's movements. *"What was that just now?"* She question, nearly hesitant on how she wanted to play this situation out. Yet, while aware of the situation in front of her, she could not keep the thought of a pepperoni mixed with beef topping pizza out of her mind.

"You should really *watch* your tongue, Slave." At this point, the term slave had been used to actually address Salazar. Giving him a *nickname* in a sense. "You're the one who accepted the invite to become a Legal Pirate in the first place." At this point, Autumn had prepared herself for anything to come afterwards.

The world calmed around the two officials of the World Governemnt. Silence engulfed them all, save for a few rogue winds pushing through the town. Spectators were in shock, frozen in fear as they looked upon the swordsman. Salazar's hand dug into his cloak and wrapped around her blue grip. With a quick pull, Colada was out of her sheathe and glistening in the sun. A beautiful blade made of impurities. "Another chain to cut." Salazar spoke solemnly. "Your words are the strongest weapon you have." He vanished. Cold steel pressed against her cheek. "Maybe I should cut your tongue out, Marine-chan?"

"Or maybe..." Instantaneously vanishing just as Salazar dude she appeared behind him with a strand on lightning pushed against his back. Her reappearance forced the winds to blow in the direction of Salazar. The bystanders remained in awe as the two made elegant movements with little to no effort. Without giving a second moments notice, she drove it into Salazar's back, trying to get it deeply as possible. She knew that even if she'd struck him, he'd be able to get out of the situation as swiftly as he'd gotten into it. While a small cut was not her goal, if she landed at all, she'd be grateful for it alone. "I don't think that's a good idea, Salazar." She hissed trying to drive into Salazar.

"Useless." Salazar spat. His eyes followed Autumn from her first step till she attempted to stab him with her lightning bolt-which dispersed against his blackened flesh. He spun with a ferocious yet graceful anger-thrusting his arm explosively at Autumn. While Colada's tip stopped inches away from her shoulder, a bullet-sized hole pierced a building behind it. "You seem nervous, Marine-chan?" Salazar teased. His left leg tightened slightly.

"Oh?" Questioning the fact that her lightning had not effect on him, she found herself in a bit of a tight situation. Following that, Salazar's movements were fast. This was taken into account earlier, when he'd closed the gap between the two earlier before. *"*
Busoshoku Haki, huh." *She wasted no time allowing the man to set up for the next move. Instead, turning her entire body into lightning she instantly lowered herself out of Salazar's thrust. She directed an extremely thin strand of lightning at Salazar's torso. Had Salazar shifting his strike downwards to cut her from above, she'd been in an intangible state - nullifying any and all damage.*

"Damn you." Salazar spat. He expected another blast of lightning...or in better words...saw another strand through his third eye. His sword blackened as he deflected her thin blast with Colada. Of course the force was quite bothersome. Salazar jumped forward, disappearing into the blowing wind. His arm lead his body, the tip of Colada searching for Autumns heart. However, his right leg loosened seconds before critical measure, that is distance of his attack, switching his body towards her flank. Meanwhile his fingers worked Colada's pomme, his arm flicked forward-sending forth a thin crescent of blackened wind, sharp enough to cleave through stone, spiraling at her left shoulder. His left leg recovered against the earth, tightening. He continued forward.

Again, Autumn was weary of Salazar's physical speed, and quite frankly in natural speed alone he greatly surpassed her own. She had to take it up a level. Allowing her physical form to take on, she body became covered in a thin layer of lightning. Vanishing from her previous location, she stood on the opposite side of Salazar as she watched his slash slice right through the building that'd just taken the bullet hole. "Colada, one of the 21 O Wazamono Grade. What an elegant blade it is, Salazar. How could such wretched hands grip it so gracefully."

"Someone who relies on the power of others would never understand." He picked Colada up, shining her silver blade in the sun's radiance "My previous deduction was incorrect" Salazar sighed. "Your words are the **only** weapons you have. You're pathetic," He cursed. " demeaning the value of humans due to your rank yet lacking the power to actually justify your purpose. I wouldn't be shocked if some pervy superior only promoted you cause they like the way that outfit squeezes your waist." Vicious words whispered at Autumn. He turned away and smirked

"I've no interest fighting a child who can only *barely* run away. " He closed his eyes, yet remained focus on the surrounding marines. Their auras were shaken, upset that the World Government's dog insulted their leader. "What type of men allow themselves to be ordered by a little girl?" Salazar's voice roared with a sudden explosion. "I attacked her yet she lacks the power to stop me-she relies on power given to her by the Ocean's Devil. Her head would roll without it." He spat on the emerald grass. "I'm heading to the marine base and I'm going to place a call to the big guns. This island is under my control. Unless you can stop me," He glanced back at Autumn. "Marine-chan."

She could consider this an empty threat if uttered by some random pirate. However, he was a Shichibukai, a man obscured from the law-capable of grabbing anything and everything under the sky. If he wanted this island, then it would become his. How would it look if her base was taken from under her hands. Salazar had begun walking towards her base.

"Yet, you think the words of a slave intimidate me." Autumn flicked her hair, accidentally whiffing the aroma of freshly baked pizza into her nostrils. "You'lol declare it your land? Even if I am *unfit*, they surely wouldn't pass Paradise over to you. Well again... Maybe you like this area. The nostalgic feeling of slavery sitting well?"

Autumn hissed yet again. "I run away? You really make me giggle, Sally! If I run so much, why don't you catch me? Or wis' tha' wittle big bag wolf scared of a te'wittle girl." Autumn swayed side to side, speaking in a child-like manner, pushing up against her beast, only mocking Salazar for the comment he made on her physical appearance. "I only rely on what I have, big bag Sally! It's the same as you wittle swings of your sword."

"I've no desire to indulge in your idiocy, Child. My sword shall only be drawn for warriors. You lack the heart and experience." Salazar ignored the pathetic ramblings of the little broad. She was showing her true colors to her men. One thing that Salazar possessed was respect among the lower ranked marines. He was known for saving the lives of the soldiers countlessly. "Pay attention men. She's admitted that the her mouth is the only power she possesses. You can destroy evil with a sword, but words are useless. Especially when you lack the power to defend them." He noticed her men's confused reaction. Her immature ramblings were proving something which no amount of attacks could. He walked passed the group and continued onwards to the base. He walked with the he restraint of a master swordsman. Only amateurs would fall for her bait.

As Salazar knew, those Marine men were in theory, "her men". They knew how she acted, and after a while grew accustomed to it. This was not the first time she'd shown such a childish persona. When facing off against the rookie Pirate Veno, she mocked him and even copied his style of talking as well. "I actually don't care how you feel, Salazar. Words are extremely powerful, ya' know. I mean, you just used words to declare you'd reign over Sabaody Archipelago. The Marines used words to label you as a," Holding her to fingers up she created air quotations, "Legal Pirate. Those people long ago when they labeled you a slave, and so forth."

Before she'd knew it, he'd walked off. So did she. "Whatever." She waved her hand dismissing the pirate. Besides, that sweet aroma of pizza being baked continued to make her stomach growl. Standing around talking only made this situation worse. With all the time spent exchanging words with Salazar, she was able to fully come up with what kind of pizza she had wanted.

*"Logia' users who think they're invincible tend to have short lifespans.*"
Salazar smirked. When Autumn turned around and allowed her thoughts to be engulfed with pizza, he decided to act. She thought the battle was finished, but the swordsman was just beginning. He knew that her powers would inflate her ego, something he encountered when facing other Logia user. And chasing down one with the speed of lightning proved futile. He had to wait, abide his time and lunge when the opponent showed their flank. As she spoke, an invisible sword was already forming near the swordsman. A claymore comprised of his spiritual energy.

Without as much as facing her direction, relying on his sensitive third eye, the invisible missile flew at her back as if fired from the iron of a cannon. The sword, comprised of Haki, possessed enough power to shatter multiple houses and the speed to cover vast distances in the manner similar to a bullet; yet his action lacked any intent to kill. To those not accustomed to the never ending war, Salazar had caused such damage with his eyes closed. A near instantaneous attack timed when her guard would fall. Her only defense, intangibility, would be overwhelmed by his spiritual energy. His massive sword aimed for her stomach.

Yet after the tragic blow, Salazar was no longer there...

Autumn's sensory capabilities were in a level of their own. The Raikou Raikou no Mi didn't only grant her intangibility which was generally what people saw as a logia's "strongest ability". Even with Salazar's great speed, he could not escape the realm of the human world where the bioelectric fields were generated by all living beings. The Raikou Raikou no Mi gave her the ability to sense people through these special means; **Electroception**. With Salazar's use of Haki, she knew that that "strongest ability" would be futile in a situation where she would have to face him head on.

Disappearing from her own previous location, Autumn appeared a large distance from where she formerly stood. Holding her two hands outwards they both became filled with lightning. "It's gonna take me, Salazar."

How did she evade that? Salazar spat, his eyes widened in shock and annoyance. Over and over...nothing workeworked. His fastest strike shadowed by the speed of lightning. Largest lunge overwhelmed by its force. The idea that this broad could stand on his level boiled the blood in his veins. Someone with her heinous views should not be allowed to live. She, who in her arrogance, forsook her humanity and drunk the golden ichor of hubris brewed from manmade constructs such as ranking should perish by a blade more malicious than her heart. And those who followed the false goddess will bathe in her blood.

The world darkened as Salazar stepped forward, silence engulfing the busy town. A thick atmosphere capable of choking warriors of grand composure surrounded the marines. He stood, watching Autumn with intense eyes filled with hatred. He wanted her dead, needed her dead. Salazar gazed upon her with intense disgust, yet remained silent.

"Jigen Akukiryu," Salazar mumbled. "Angra Mainyu."

There. Near instantly. Autumn found herself dwelling into the illusions and falsified world created by Salazar's angered temper. Autumn entered a dark void, completely void of all of her thoughts. Then, suddenly. She could see someone lying on the ground in the dark void. Running over to the body, she flipped it over. A mirror. She saw herself laying there covered in blood. *"What is this?!" She thought to herself, only to hear the shrieks of herself echoing. "WHAT IS THIS?!"*

Salazar felt the marine's troubling breathes-his sword's edge kissed their warm necks, for a single step forward meant an immediate death. He overwhelmed each lowly soldiers with an intense primal fear, as if they were being stalked by a predator hidden in a deep jungle. Yet they only saw his dark eyes, which shined through the morning's dew. Guns clattered, voices broke and whimpers echoed through the silent air. But his attention was on her, the boastful leader who stood on a false plateau. He tightened his grip around Colada.

His sword, dripping with the blood of the men she failed to protect, emerged out of Autumn's corpse. His arm erupted from her mouth, bursting at her chest. He became the very energy which Autumn commanded, striking with the absurd intensity and force of lightning. His sword entered her heart-detonating an explosion of pain within her being. His wrist twisted as he pushed deep enough that their eyes were inches apart. Devoid of emotion. Devoid of life. Autumn's heart would remain physical, even if she were to transform, for his darkness forced it. The embodiment of Angra Mainyu, that is all the world's evil, would rip it out before her.

Salazar's arm snapped, pulling his body into a deep lunge. His foot kicked out with monstrous force, launching his body at Autumn's back, leaving but a dent in the earth from the force. Colada, her blade blackened with his spiritual energy, aimed at Autumns stomach from her rear. He pushed forward with enough force that her cold, metallic grip would press against Autumn's warm skin if she failed to avoid it.

Dogs across the island barked and howled at the approaching storm. Birds stormed into the sky in massive flocks, hoping to avoid the catastrophic darkness engulfing the island. They knew death approached and tried everything to escape, even if it meant biting their owners.