A Journey Began

**Date Started:** April 30, 2021
**Date Completed:** 1 June, 2021
**Previous Role-Play:**
**Users Involved:** User:VectorZed99
**Setting:** Sandflower Island
**Characters Involved**: Gonzo

## Gonzo Gotta Go

"STOP, YOU THIEF! I SAID STOP!"

"You gotta run faster old man if you're ever gonna catch me!" a young man with unbelievable red hair laugh as he hopped from air to air, as if by magic.

The young man had stolen some sweet bread and a fistful of candy so early in the morning, the roosters have not even had the chance to crow.

He jumps and he twirls, he ducks under clothesline, over the fence, and off onto the roof; he move from side to side, from one roof to the other — before long, the poor old man have lost both his breath and the sight of that troublesome young rogue. The old man stare helplessly into the direction where he last saw the thief who stole from him. He gasped for air, his short breath is mixed with coughs from exerting his frail body too much. At last, the elderly man takes a deep breath before screaming out with a loud bellow:

"GONZOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

The young scamp giggle mischievously as he heard his name being yelled at the distance. He continue his path towards the local slum and arrived at a torn down abandoned house. He then immediately greeted by a loud roar of welcome, children of various age and sizes come out from the shadow to give the red hair rebel a hug.

"GONZOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" they scream as they push their weight into him.

The young rascal grin from ear to ear before bursting into a jolly laughter as he gets buried under all that hug. He stands up, move the little ones aside, and then proceeds to produce his stolen goods. The children all at once fell into silence as they stare at Gonzo's latest "catch". They looked at each other, unblinking, and as soon as they realize what's going to happen next, they try to shove each others away in order to be the closest to the sweet enticing goods — you can imagine the chaos that ensue next.

"Alright break it up!" a stern voice cuts through the uproar; everyone became silent and still. They all looked up to the second floor where the voice originates. A slender figure approach them, coming down from the broken staircase towards the ruckus below. A young girl, leader of these street rats and the urchin gang, commands them with her strong charisma; she didn't even have to yell when she said those words.

"Gonzo" she says with a cold condescending tone.

"Marie" glower stares her back

The street urchin kids look at the two with batted breath and total silence. As if even the slightest pin drop could provoke the two to attack one another.

Then suddenly, unable to hold his stare any longer, Gonzo blink. Marie then finally burst into a loud laughter.

"AH! I WIN!!"

The room goes loud as well, as Gonzo rub his eyes.

"Lucky, my eyes gets dry running from that old man from the bakery shop!" said Gonzo with a smug.

"Pshh yeah right!"

Marie looks at his gang with her arm stretch outward, signaling her victory. Her eyes dart across the room until it falls on the stolen good Gonzo brought.

"I see you brought us some offerings, well done" she smirks.

"Cut it out, these aren't offerings, these are gifts"

The two youth smile at each other, they then begin to tell the other kids to form a line and to keep it orderly. One by one they share the goods so that everyone gets a share; there is possibly a dozen and a half kids in that broken down house. These are orphans and war-victim children that have no where else to live and no one else to call family. **Mariegold** or **Marie** for short is one of them, she is the oldest amongst them and have helped younger children who share the same fate as her to have a better life. Gonzo, who was adopted into the Skyfruit temple and is fortunate enough to gain a family, share her empathy toward Marie and are helping her anyway he can, even by illegal means. This, of course, didn't go well with the townsfolk or the monks in the temple. However, they are kind enough to turn a blind eye over Gonzo's action once in awhile, as long as he didn't go too far.

After finally giving the last piece of "gift" to the last children, a loud gong can be heard in the distance, its vibration can be felt resounding towards the valley. That is when Gonzo realizes that he was late for his morning training at the temple and flew off in a hurry. The children and Marie gives him a farewell as rowdy as their welcoming cheer.

## The Bonshō Bell

Gonzo race to reach Skyfruit Temple, racing against time to reach there before the last strike of the morning bell ends. Moving from one jumps to another, he close his distance quickly, arriving at the temple gate just in time for the final bell to be rung. He, however, didn't get inside the temple wall immediately because the truth is, he wasn't suppose to go out of the temple without permission. He stops short from the main gate, just enough so that his elders at the temple didn't notice his presence. The young rebel slips to the side wall, made his way pass the main courtyard, jump over inside from the outside wall, and sneak his way inside to his bedroom — the disciples dormitory. He sees that everyone else has gone to the training ground and so he exit the room, and into the hallway. He uses his geppo very quietly as to prevent his foot from touching the creaky old floor. He pass one hallway and unto the next, his destination is within sight, he quicken his pace, and when he is just about to reach the training courtyard,

"and WHERE do YOU think you're going, Gonzo!?"

A stern deep voice speaks from behind the red hair rebel. Gonzo's face is in a wrinkle, the one you make when you know that you are in deep trouble. He slowly turns his head, buying as much time as he can from seeing the owner of the voice eye to eye, to see who it was, even though he already know who the voice belongs to. There he stands, Gojo, one of the senior monk of the temple, as well as Gonzo's Bojutsu teacher. His arms are clasped together as he glare sternly at our mischievous scamp. Gonzo tries to smile, to ease the tension and to act oblivious, but it soon turn into a sigh — he knows what he has done and knows that a punishment is coming.

"I can't believe you broke this rule for the hundredth time now. What were you doing so early in the morning anyway?!" Gojo shake his head slowly. The young rouge was just to explain himself when, "Nope! Don't answer that!" Gojo sigh, "I don't want to know and honestly I don't care. Off to the Bonsho Bell with you!"

"Oh man..." mutter Gonzo, hiding his grumble under his breath.

The two of them then went to the back terrace where the giant bell called the Bonsho Bell is located. The Bell is used for many different occasion including, waking up the temple residents, ceremony purposes, celebration purposes, prayer purposes, and on this particular occasion: punishment purposes.

"Alright," says Gojo, "the usual, you're going to hit the inside of this bell, but since you specifically broke this rule for the hundredths time, you're going to hit it a hundred thousand times"

"A HUNDRED thousand times? Are you kidd-"

"A HUNDRED thousand times!" interupt Gojo, "and you are going to be cleaning the bell afterward"

"AND clean the bell too!?" shout Gonzo, you can hear the annoyance in his voice, "no way you bald sadist! I'm not doing all that AND clean the bell too."

The moment young Gonzo said "bald", he could hear something went pop, like a champagne bottle that got opened.

"You DARE!? You arrogant rude little prick, show some respect to your elders! Or I'll swear on Sanzo's beard cleaning bells is the last of your worries!"

The young trouble maker shocked expression slowly turns into a wry smile as he says, "Oh yeah! What are you going to do baldie!?"

In an instance Gojo fling his bo staff towards Gonzo and close his distance quickly. The young disciple is surprised, but manage to block the flying staff. Gojo catch his staff mid-air and launch a flurry of strikes at Gonzo. First to the head, then chest, hip next, and lastly towards both his right calf and left achilleas. Gonzo manage to block a few, but ultimately stagger and fell on his back. He manage to do a back flip at the last moment before he touch the ground, regaining his footing. He can feel his right calf is going numb from the attack.

"You've gone and done it baldie," Gonzo says spitefully, "don't get cocky just because you're a few years older than me!"

The young one move in closer and prepares his staff, he jumps to the air and make a sharp turn using his geppo to attack Gojo from above, he strikes hard downward putting his weight and arm strength into it. However, Gojo sees the attack coming and leap to the side to avoid it. He then counter Gonzo's downward strike while he still mid-action and knock the youth off balance. Gonzo once again finds himself in need to reposition himself, as he flip backward and away from Gojo; But the senior monk won't let up and close their distance in an instance, giving Gonzo no time to recover or a moment to think his next move. The young one realizes that he is dancing in Gojo's pace and needs to break away from it. He hopped backward several times to gain some distance, but again and again Gojo would not let the insolent fool catch a break; always closing in and catches up with Gonzo.

Beginning to feel frustrated, Gonzo started to become impatient, as he tries to counter Gojo's attack one by one, only to be countered by his senior and getting hit multiple times. His senior then started to taunt Gonzo.

He says "Well! ready to admit you're wrong!?", as he counter Gonzo strikes and attacks with ease.

"You would love that don't you damn BALDIE!" reply Gonzo, as he tries to maintain his breathing steady.

"Damn BRAT! The only reason you've been living it easy on this temple is because Elder Sanzo brought you in! We don't even know where you come from, who's your parents are. I'm not even surprise that your parents left you, you're a menace! For all we know you could be a bastard!"

The young disciple face took a grim change, as he feels every vein in him is beginning to boil with anger. The last straw was when the word "bastard" came out of Gojo's mouth; then everything went blur, the red hair youth is now consume with rage. Gonzo, finally hitting his limit, takes a firm stand, and clenches his feet unto the ground.

"JOYA NO KANE!!"

The young red hair rebel screams at the top of his lung, startling Gojo for a split second. Gonzo then started his set of moves, involving jumping from one geppo point to another using soru, he does this motion in a chaotic, zig-zag pattern to confuse Gojo. He then proceeds to hit him every chance he got at an irregular intervals to disrupt Gojo sense to figuring out his attack patterns. With each jump, he gets faster and faster, hitting Gojo mercilessly; Some he is able to deflect, some he could not. Gojo tries to escape from this areal prison movements, but each time he tries to get away, Gonzo always hit him back into it. Confuse and exhausted by Gonzo attack, Gojo can feel his body becoming numb and started to feel his muscle ache. At last, after Gonzo hit him 108 times during the duration of the attack, Gojo fell exhausted. In the heat of emotion, Gonzo still plan to continue his attack and launch himself towards Gojo, he take a huge side swing with the weight of his waist behind it, and aims it at Gojo's head.

A loud crack sound can be heard throughout the temple like a sudden thunder. When Gonzo comes to his senses, he sees Gojo turns into a wrinkle, as he was bracing himself for the impact. He realize that his bo staff attack did not connect and has hit something else. At the end of his staff he see a metal rod blocking his attack, preventing Gojo from taking that deadly force to the head. Gonzo gaze follows the staff upward toward the face of its user. There stand an old man, with grey beard and a grey hair that is tied in a ponytail hairstyle. Sanzo, the temple head and elder priest, stare at Gonzo with a stern look, something he rarely do. His eyes filled with anger, but soon turn into a sad gaze — Gonzo can feel the disappointment in his eyes.

Gonzo looked away, knowing what he was doing could cause serious injury to Gojo. However, he is too deviant and prideful to apologize for it and only able to hang down his head in shame as a sign of regret. Elder Sanzo point towards two of the young disciples that have come and gather around due to the loud commotion.

"Go and take senior Gojo back inside and to the infirmary," his voice is low and raspy, you could hear the age in him, "and the rest of you, go back to your training. I will have a little talk with senior Gonzo".

"Yes elder Sanzo!" all of them reply uniformly.

"As for you," Sanzo gaze turns to the trouble maker, "you will be coming with me!"

## Master and Disciple

“Walk with me” the old monk says as he walks pass Gonzo.

The two of them walk towards the pagoda of the temple, into it, and went up to the top floor. The old monk jumps from the balcony and further up into the roof, he looks down and beckons for the young rebel to follow him. At the rooftop the two talks about what happen, but it soon turns into an argument; an argument the two rarely have.

Sanzo confront Gonzo of his behavior and how his action just moments ago could have killed his temple brother: Gojo. As, usual, the young rebel wouldn’t admit his wrong doing and avoid apologizing, he says that it all wouldn’t happen if Gojo didn’t taunt him the way he did. The elder monk replies that it all wouldn’t come to that argument if the young scamp just does as he is told. Gonzo, stubbornly insist that it wouldn't have gone this far if Gojo didn't taunt him, telling the elder monk, if he just knows the truth of his origin, Gojo wouldn't be able to taunt him. If only they know who he is, that he wouldn't feel so left out. The wise monk then confront Gonzo, telling him that he isn't the only oprhan in the temple. A lot of disciple was brought in parentless and homeless. Which leads to Gonzo's next point, a point that a lot has been wondering, one that even he is wondering — if he was one of the many orphans Sanzo took under his wing, then why does elder Sanzo treats him diffrently? Treating him with much more tolerant than other disciple? It is not that Gonzo didn't appreciate it, but it has put him under a dificult position with the other disciple and senior monks. The young rebel finally went silent, but not for long.

“Old man, you say that, but who am I, really?” ask Gonzo, sadness suddenly fills his eyes, as he stares at the darkened roof tiles.

The elderly monk turns his gaze away, as if hiding his true emotion. He looks back at Gonzo with a solemn sigh and shakes his weary filled head.

“You are Gonzo, disciple of the Skyfruit Temple as well as this old man’s,” Sanzo says calmly, “does it really matter where you came from or how you get here?”

“To me it does!” yell Gonzo, tears started to form in his eyes.

Sanzo, once more, looked away, but this time he didn't sigh. He stares at the distance with a wistfull eye, a look that can be mistaken as a painful gaze. He finally takes a deep breath and mumble something within his breath.

"I suppose your past always catches up with you," he mutter, then he took a deep long breath, the kind one makes when they have been holding a painful festering wound. "Alright Gonzo, I think it is time you learn the truth of your origin" the old monk then take a sit at the rooftop tiles, preparing himself for a long tale and beckons the youth to do the same.

## The Past

"In the year 1563," the wise old monk started, "I was a senior member of the CP9, stickler for rules and regulations. Ever the stiff conservative."

"Me and my co-workers were tasked to eliminate two individual, we didn't ask question, we didn't care who it was. We went to a designated area to assassinate them, end of story — we were professional killers. The air was bitingly cold and the weather was foul, heavy storm was on its way, but none of us sees it coming yet."

As Sanzo tell his stories, Gonzo can feel the weight of this story, since he never seen Sanzo this serious before. In the back of his mind, something tells him that he isn't going to like the ending of this story; but he keeps quite, he wanted to know how it end — how he began.

The old monk continue his story, he tells the young disciple that he arrived in a small island on North Blue; Where his supposed targets has taken refuge. He and his CP9 friend docks and suddenly the cloud start rolling in, wind begin to blow fiercely, and the storm he talk about finally started on the island. He then meticulously continue on combing every nook and cranny of the island, searching for his two target. The young CP9 agent then finally found traces of activity on the island that leads him and his team to a deep cavern system in the middle of the island. The cave entrance located in the deepest part of the forest section of this island, covered in thick trees and overgrown by vines.

The hardened CP9 agent enters the cave. The cave was dark, pitch black and damp, the storm raging outside didn't help with hearing senses either. Young Sanzo tell the others to wait outside just in case the target decided to run away under the blanket of storm and darkness. He move in cautiously, listening to any sign of movement, sensing any vibration or disturbance. The wind blowing suddenly change its course, he notice a change in the direction of the wind and suddenly able to smell something burning, or used to burn — ash. He immediately knew then and there that some one has just been pitching a campfire not too long ago; his target is near. He press forward deeper into the cave, hand holding the side of the cave in darkness. Then suddenly he sees a shadow move on the peripheral of his sight.

The shadow runs deeper into the cave, and Sanzo leap into a game of cat and mouse with his target. He chase him further in, he definitely saw a shadow of a person, but he could only identified one person and couldn't find the other target. He thought to himself that either the other target is not in the cave or they decided to split to gain better survivability. He order his mates to stay outside of the cave in case the other returns or get out from the main entrance.

He then quickly run towards the shadow, one hand in front of him and the other tracing the face of the cavern sides. He would have used his soru to detained the target quicker, but the cave is dark and damp, a single slip while using soru could have hurt the user; especially in a close space environment full with jagged surfaces. The shadow clearly knows their way around this thigh space as Sanzo is having a hard time catching up with them. The cavern system is like a maze and are more complex than he had originally predicted.

Finally, a shed of light can bee seen as the shadowy figure emerges into it. Young Sanzo could see his target silhouette upon the light. A fishman, wearing ragged clothing and clutching his chest tightly. He is trapped between him and what seems to be a steep cliff behind him — the cavern system is actually linked to an outer cliff hanging on the side of the island's mountain. The man fell to his knees as he mumble something under his breath.

"I only assume that the man is begging for mercy, for his life," the wise old monk break away from his story to tell young Gonzo this before he continue, "I didn't realize at that time that he was begging for something else — but I didn't listen anyways"

He beg and beg, but the fishman words were slurred and the storm didn't help to clear his speech. The young assassin heart were cold and unmoving, his stare unchanged by his targets wailing. At once, he pull out his finger and then points it at the fishman. The fishman eye grew wide as he realize what the CP9 agents is about to do and so he leap. Sanzo's shigan misses his mark by a close inch as the man would rather leap from such height than died in his pursuer's hand.

Shocked by what happen, the CP9 agent froze in place for a few second before regaining his senses. He leap and followed along the cliff face and down below using his geppo technique. He arrived at the bottom of that cliff, he looked up, measuring the distance between where he fall and the bottom of that cliff — there is no way any person would have survive such height. However, he can't report back unless he is absolutely sure that the target is dead and that he saw with himself the dead body. He looked around for a body of the fishmen at the bottom of the cliff. Finally he found it, there it lies, his body on the ground covered with mud and wet due to the storm. Sanzo then check for his pulse, satisfied with result of his autopsy, he turn around and walked the other direction. As he walked away from the body, something stop him dead in hiss track. A sound, a noise coming from the lifeless body, a weak cry of baby. He looked towards the body and inspects it further. He soon realize that the fishmen wasn't clutching his chest, but is hanging on to this baby.

Realization dawn on him, as he put two dots together. The other target that he suppose to kill is this fishman's child; this very babe in front of him. His eyes were cold and once again hearth unmoving, he points his finger at the babe. With a stroke of a single motion, the babe's helpless cries fade into silence.

"Wait, wait, wait!!!" yell the young Gonzo, "you kill that baby!?!?" shock clearly fill his voice.

"I did" reply the former CP9 agent, sadness fill his eyes.

"I thought this is about my past old man!? I thought that the baby was me and you saved it and brought me here!?"

"Oh? Is that what we were talking about?" the old man feign ignorance, "hyo ho ho ho ho, I'm sorry when you get to be my age, you tend to go senile and forgot things like this. I thought we were talking about why I became a monk!"

"You tricked me old man! You sick senile old fart! I bet even that story is fake and you just enjoy seeing my reaction to it!"

"HYO HO HO HO HO HO HO!!!" the old man laugh even louder.

Gonzo, angry and felt toyed with, run away from the rooftop with a huff. He yell "Just you wait old man! You'll get my revenge prank!"

The old monk laugh and laugh, until Gonzo's silhouette is well far off in the distance. Then he stopped, he closed his eyes, a clear pain reflected in his visage.

"I wish it was child, I wish it was..."

A second flashback came to him, a woman, a mother, came to him in a middle of heavy storm in a small dingy boat. She pass on to him a small package, wrapped in silk with gilded strings of beautiful damask patterns. She was crying, begging the old monk to take the package. He accepts, the woman quickly row her dingy boat away into the storm, never to be seen again by him. He then inspects the package, a baby, about a years old flail around inside, a baby with unbelievable red hair.

## Red, Fire, and Smoke

Gonzo's soar though the skies with a beet red face. Both angry and embarrassed by what he thoughts was one of Sanzo's prank. He was at his vulnerable, truly wanting to know of his origin, was upset at the old monk "made-up" stories. The sky is getting dark, the horizon paint the color of beautiful blood orange that bleeds into blue turning the sky radiant purple. Once again, the young rebel leave the temple premises without proper authorization. He leap towards the pier and into one of the docks bar, where traveler meet and where Mariegold work as a waitress. He is looking to blow off some steam and so decided to visit the only other person who is willing to listen to him.

That night at that bar, it was full of unfamiliar faces; sailors that must have passes through decided to have a break in that bar. Gonzo stormed in like a puff of angry cloud, disturbing, but silent. The patrons inside doesn't realize someone walked in the front door because no footsteps were heard, but Gonzo fast entrance does carry a gust of wind with him. He sat at an open table, Marie notice him and come to approach him. She was about to tease him for looking like a ripe tomato, but fall short because she notice he was upset and hurting. She asked him what's wrong, but Gonzo only shake his head and order a tall glass of his favorite beverage — banana milkshake.

The other patrons started to notice the red hair youth, it isn't too hard since he is the only one that have an unbelievably red hair and in priest temple outfit. They began to murmur under their breaths, talking about the new guy that went in like a storm.

Gonzo notices their gossiping about him, look up and confront them in a furry. They were shocked at the time, but they soon tried to reason with Gonzo and makes him relax, letting him dropped his guard.

"Hey relax man, we were just wondering what is a monk doing in place like this?" one of the sailor ask mockingly, "aren't you suppose to be in a temple, praying somewhere?"

The others started to laugh at the other one joke.

"AH! Trying to order me to do my sutras and mantras like the rest of them bald monk in the temple are you!?" Gonzo snarl back.

"Only if you care enough to do it?" he reply with a smirk, "now, why don't you run along now little monk and go back to whatever temple you came from!"

Somehow, for some reason, the taunt that these sailor make about him being one of the monk really made him snap. Perhaps, it is due to what has just transpire beforehand with Sanzo and Gojo, but the red hair rebel feels angry when he is being compared to them in that moment.

"Don't you compare me to them stuck up monks in the temple," Gonzo snapped at the sailors, "I don't care much for them!"

"Yeah, you know what? I don't care much for them at all!" repeats Gonzo, as if he's trying to convince himself that he doesn't care.

A bad idea begin to brew in his mind as it wanders from one memory to the other. He remembers one time that he accidentally found a secret treasure in the temple and got majorly punished for it; even Sanzo was not too happy about him finding that treasure either. The treasure he found was just a weird fruit inside a small old chest. He didn't think anyone should get that sort of punishment just because he enters the forbidden section of the temple and "accidentally" found it. Then that devious plan came into a solid idea, an idea to get revenge prank back at Sanzo for playing the fool when it comes to his past. Not knowing that what Sanzo was trying to tell him have some semblance of truth to it.

Blinded by bitterness and pride, the young rebel plan to spill that secret to these sailors he barely knows. He couldn't careless what would happen afterward as long as he gets his petty revenge on the old fart. So, in the midst of his argument with the sailors, he let out a slip of that information out. Just a sliver of info, but a sliver of it is actually enough to make these sailors turn their eyes green and set it on the temple direction. As soon as Gonzo complained about the time he get majorly punish for a dank old fruit, the sailors that were having a conversation with him turns different, it's as if Gonzo has said something taboo. Their eyes begin to shift from one to the other of their fellow sailor. Gonzo, too angry and too busy in his own tale, failed to notice this. Even as the sailors backs away, paid their tab, and got out of the bar, Gonzo is too pre-occupied in his own world, too notice all of this. Complaining and ranting like a child, oblivious that the consequence of his action is about to hit him harder than any of the monks punishment.

Mariegold finally brings the banana milkshake that he order earlier. Gonzo took the beverage and continue to gulp it down like it was some sort of frosty beer. Then she asked what happened to him, telling him that he looked like a mess. Gonzo started to talk about what transpire from the beginning again. She can hear that his voice is getting louder and angrier as the story progress on. Until finally the red rebel burst into a full ranting mode and drink more of his milkshake to calm himself down. She looked at the frustrated and ranting Gonzo, found it amusing and giggle a little at him. Her laughter fall short, however, when she notice that the company of sailors present there before is no longer there.

"Hey where did they go?" she ask him

"Huh?" Gonzo, still in his drunken madness, reply with a white foam mustache on his lips.

"Where did the company of pirate that was here a minute ago went?" She reply, her hand is on her hips, "have they paid their drink yet?"

"I don't know, I'm not their mom" Gonzo sarcastically reply, and as he continue drinking his milkshake, a realizsation dawn on him.

"Wait, did you just say pirate?" he ask his friend with eyes wide open.

"Yea—" she couldn't even finish a single word before Gonzo comes running out of the bar, realizing the mistake that he has done.

"Oh shi— I gotta go Marie," he ran towards the exit, "put the milkshake on my tab, thanks...!!!"

"Hey wait!" she exclaim, but Gonzo has already bolted out of the bar, "what was that about?" she wonder.

Gonzo run through the night street, looking for a sign of those pirates. He look and look, but couldn't find them. He hope his bad feeling is just that — a feeling. Suddenly, a commotion started among the people in town, they were screaming and pointing upwards. Gonzo look up to see at what it is that they are pointing out; his eyes grew wide with horror when he sees a smoke and a bright red glow coming from the direction of the temple. He realize what he has done and leaped upward with full speed. Soru and geppo technique side by side, he jump from one air to the next, gaining speed and momentum, his hearth is racing a hundred miles an hour. He never felt such feelings before, "is this what they called fear?" he wonder.

He race once again against time as he rush towards the temple in order to secure what he is certain to be those pirates objective. The fruit is located at the top pagoda, just bellow his usual chatting spot with the old monk. He hope that by removing the treasure from the temple, the perpetrator would turn around and thought it was all just a random kid spouting nonsense and blowing hot air.

He finally arrive at the temple's pagoda, he saw from above some of the pirates are already fighting with some of his brother monk. Some of the temple buildings are on fire, and the younger disciple are trying to put the fire out while the older ones fight the invaders. He hurried inside and located where the chest that contain the forbidden fruit was. He opens it and realize that there is nothing inside. Cold sweat starts to form on the corners of his brows and his mouth become dry as a bone. He's panicking, worried that they have gotten to them first, he pace back and forth in the room, eyes wide open, sweat trickling down his face profusely, brain running a thousand mile an hour. Then he heard some one at the front door, the locks started to clacking, someone trying to get inside the room. He jumps outside via the back window and up into the roof, waiting with bated breath on who is coming inside.

To his surprise, old man Sanzo walk through the door, followed by two of the pirates. Gonzo guts wrench as he thought that Sanzo is going to give up the fruit without a fight; he thought that, for sure, Sanzo is able to beat them two-bit pirate with out breaking a sweat. He then realize why the elder is so compliant with the pirates demands, one of the pirate that came in with Sanzo is holding one of the youngest disciple hostage. They are holding a gun towards little Suzu head, no wonder the former CP9 agent can not do anything. He immediately notice the empty open chest and smile, as if he knew what have transpire to the fruit. The monk turn around and laugh.

"Hyo ho ho ho ho, it looks like someone has "out-stole" the fruit!"

"Crazy old man, what are you talking about?!" exclaim one of the pirate, "don't you care what happen to this child here? I'll blow her brains off!!"

"Elber Sanbzo!!" Cries little Suzu, "helbh meh!" her words got drowned in a slur of words and clogged sinuses.

"Come on old man," says the other pirate, "we haven't got all day, where is the devil fruit!?"

"Take a look at it yourself," reply the wise monk calmly, "that is where we kept it, but now all that's remains is the empty chest.

The one who seems to be in charge of the rest growl in anger, "fine! you want to do this the hard way old man? LET"S DO THIS THEN! I'll kill your students one by one until whomever 'stole' the fucking devil fruit show himself, huh!?"

"Hyo ho ho ho ho, so you would rather kill the young one first huh?" taunt the old monk, "why don't you start with me first, I bet I'll be more of a satisfying piñata than the young'ins. My body would produce a satisfying crack every time you hit me, hyo ho ho ho."

The crazy old monk would go on to laugh louder the before, annoying the pirate crew. Until their leader can't take it anymore.

"Fine! suit yourself old man! It's your funeral!!" says the leader.

"Oh we don't do funeral here," laugh old Sanzo, "we only do cremation! Hyo ho ho ho" taunt the old man once more.

The pirate crew is at their limit with this crazy old fool. They then drag his body outside while still holding little Suzu hostage.

Gonzo saw all of this in horror as he couldn't do anything about the situation he help create. He still in panic, thinking where could have the fruit gone to, as it is the only thing that'll be able to stop these maniacs. He tries to think what could have happen to the fruit, could the fruit be stolen already beforehand? Could it be that Sanzo simply misplaced it? He is quite old, so it wouldn't be surprising if he did. He twist and he turns his brain to think of a solution, then suddenly a memory of a certain night flash back into him

He remembers vaguely one night, after he was reprimanded for sneaking around the forbidden section, that he was the one who stole the fruit in the first place out of spite that day. The memory shock him so much, that he remember the entire incident and remember he brought the fruit to showed it off to Marie, he also vaguely remember that he told her to sold off the fruit; hopefully that she still have the fruit. He cross his fingers as he moonwalk back into the bar where he left in a hurry. He sees Marie taking order for one of the bar patrons, he gets into her face and shake her profusely; to tell him where that fruit he showed her some many months ago is. Her eyes turn into a spiral mess as she gets dizzy being suddenly shook by Gonzo. She tells him that because it seems important, she doesn't have it in her to sell the fruit, so is instead kept it safe on the Street Urchin Gang HQ — the rundown house.

"The fruit is in a hidden flooring on the second floor, near the left wardrobe!" she whisper to him, making sure no one else hears it.

She also teasingly tells him that she knew Gonzo would regretted it later if she truly sold the fruit. He hug and he thank her, telling her that he owes Marie a great deal of favor, before he once again bolt towards the exit.

So once again the guilt-ridden youth take to the sky as he race towards the rundown house. His heart has never beat so fast in his entire life, knowing that even a minute wasted could lead to his family being hurt. He can't bear the thought if any of his family in the temple is hurt, or worse, died because of him. He shakes his head as he traverse through the air, banishing the thought. He finally reach the house, the other little street urchin gather to welcome him like usual, but this time Gonzo didn't stop, he went pass them and went straight inside, looking for the hidden compartment. The other kids is looking at Gonzo with worry in their eyes. They look at each other in puzzle, confuse by their older friend frantic reaction. One of them ask Gonzo as to what is going on.

"Sorry no time!" he explain hurriedly, "can someone tell me where sis Marie hidden compartment is?"

Then all of them uniformly, as if they practice this beforehand, point at the floor, just at the edge of the wardrobe. The red hair rebel rush towards it, he put his hands on the floor and slide it slowly, searching for the trapdoor opening. "Click" a sound can be heard. He manage to open it, in there he sees it, the forbidden fruit. He picks it up and without saying another word, rush outside and gone into the night.

"Did.. we just get robbed??" says one of the younger urchin as he innocently stare at the others. The other looks at him for a brief second before slowly dart their gaze into the direction Gonzo disappeared to, their mouths formed a comical "o" in unison — baffled at what just happen.

## The Forbidden Fruit

Gonzo traverse through the night sky as fast as he can back towards the temple. Cluthing the fruit tightly in his arms. His mind begin to wander and his thoughts shifting in his brain. As he travel using his geppo, his hearth begin to sink to his stomach the closer he is to the temple. He realize that once he come with the fruit, everybody in the temple would know that all this incident was his wrongdoing, and they would hate him for it. He is afraid, for the second time in his life, that his only home and family will finally hate him and abandoned him if they finds out he is responsible. The fear and anxiousness is so great that his stomach begin to churn and his head become light and dizzy — It feels like he could throw up any minute. He even begin to slow down his pace, unconsciously stalling the inevitable. Just as he was about to come into a complete halt, a jolt of memory came to him, he remember the stake at hand, how the lives of the people he owe his entire life to is at risk. He hit himself once in the face for even thinking of abandoning his only family. A red spot begin to emerge in his cheek as his eyes filled with determination.

Finally, he arrived at the temple, he then sneak inside via his usual route and reach the courtyard where the pirates is holding his younger sibling hostage. What he sees next makes his hearth drop to his stomach. He sees old man Sanzo is beaten to a pulp, laying on his own pool of blood. The pirate leader that was with him is pacing on the courtyard, yelling at the rest of the monk who stood helplessly as the brute held their disciple hostage.

"OKAY! That is enough, this is getting too bothersome!" he yell at them, "Either show me who have the devil fruit, or what you backwater morons called forbidden fruit, OR! She dies!" pointing with his saber at little Suzu, with the tip of the blade being so close to her, it could almost scrape her left eye.

"I'm going to count to three now!" he continue his threat.

Gonzo, who is hiding behind one of the roof close by, take a deep breath, preparing to show himself, and potentially getting hated by the rest of his only family. He smile a little, laughing at the predicament he put himself in. *Gonzo, the troublemake, finally gets what's coming for him* he thought. The pirate brute started counting down.

"One..!"

"Oi! Is this what you're looking for!?!" Gonzo leap into view, fruit in hand, as he points it upward against the moonlight. Not a single shred of fear is left in his face, because he knows he is doing the right thing — doing what's right by his family. The pirate is oddly pissed at Gonzo for only letting him count to one, but he soon re-affix his gaze into the the fruit.

"Well, well, well, look who decided to show up!" the pirate mockingly walk closer as he limp his body as a sign of him not taking Gonzo seriously.

"If it isn't the prodigal son," the criminal continue, "thanks for the tip by the way, thanks to you, we now have a devil fruit in our hand. Well, as soon as you give it to us that is." The pirate smile cunningly as if he just won a lottery. There are some murmur among the monks, discussing what could this mean. Gonzo takes a big gulp, a drop of sweat trickle down his cheek.

"You want it so bad, huh? the young rebel smile back, "then catch it!" In a single motion he throws the fruit upward, take a firm stance as he twist his upper body backward, his bo staff behind him, griped thightly on his hand. As soon as the fruit comes into his sight, he release that twisted muscle the other way and take a mighty swing at the fruit. The fruit flew over the temple's wall, several meters behind the whole building and landed somewhere on the forest behind where they are.

The pirate leader along with his men, dropped their jaw to the floor, as their gaze follow closely as if it was stuck on the fruit by glue. They can't do anything except watch the fruit they yearn flew out of their sight and into oblivion. For a split second, Gonzo swear that even some of the monks does this. Then they looked each other, dumbstruck by what just happen, before their leader scream in anger and order some of his lackey to go into the forest right then and there, dead in the middle of the night.

"YOU!!! YuOOOO!!!" you can sense the anger in his voice, as his voice crack from all that tension he put into his vocal chord.

"The fuck do you think you're doing you bumpkin smhuck!? He yell angrily, "do oyu have any idea what that fruit worth?! It worth more than your life! Matter of fact, it worth more than all of your lives plus the livelihood of this entire stinking island!!!"

After ranting for a minute, the thug finally calm himself down, he order the rest of his men that remain to capture Gonzo. The young troublemaker smile in victory, knowing that he have the upper hand in a game of tag. He jumps into the sky and he showed of by doing backflip in mid air.

"Come on then!" he swing his butt in their direction, like some childish taunt.

They ran after him, chasing him up and down, as Gonzo trying to lead them further and further away from the hostage. He, once again, jump from one roof the other, twirling on the night sky like it was some sort of a dance. He leads the people who chase him into the town and bring them into empty abandon old street, where there is no light and no other human present. He taunt them, caught them by surprise, scare them, and makes them run in circle, and then he stop. Under the guide of darkness and being on his home island, he have a geographical advantage over them. By being rowdy before, he makes them paranoid of the slightest of sound, and the rustling of the night wind play with their senses. They thought Gonzo is still near their area of vicinity, while in truth, he long left them alone on the old district part of town; returning to the temple swiftly after he confuse the wits out of them.

Back at the temple, the leader of the pirate finds himself with only a few lackeys left. Gonzo once again present himself in front of him.

"Wow, where's the rest of your dudes," taunt Gonzo, knowing that he left makes him sent his men away.

"You little prick, you did that on purpose didn't you? The fruit throwing? The goofy chasing around?

"Yes siree!" Gonzo reply with a big cunning smug on his face, ", and you get to dance on the palm of my hand like an idiot!"

The pirate grow beet red with anger, he finally had enough, he suddenly took little Suzu who was being held by one of his goons and threaten to kill her on the spot.

"Enough with this game," he exclaim, 'give me one good reason not to kill her right now!!!"

"Wow, easy there," Gonzo nervously ease the criminal, "how about a trade, huh?

"A trade? Oh this shoul—"

Without letting the guy finish his sentence, Gonzo produce another forbidden fruit from his hanfu. The guys jaw dropped, confusion clearly riddled his face. It was all a trap by Gonzo, the fruit he throw earlier wasn't the true fruit, but an apple that he stole in the market on the way there. He purposely toss the fake fruit to lure some of the men from the temple. He also plan so that the other who follow him would get loss in the abandoned part of town. All is part of a clever ruse made by Gonzo to battle against an enemy who outnumbered him.

The pirate leader doesn't find the young monk's plan smart or even the slightest amusing, as he once again threaten to kill his hostage — this time, he mean it, as he prick Suzu's neck with the tip of his sword, drawing a drop of blood . Gonzo is running out of option to distract the pirate, as he can't risk an open battle due to quite a few of his family are still held hostage. He can't risk giving the fruit to them either, seeing as Sanzo and the others goes to great length to protect it. He have to act fast now, something shocking, an act so mindblowing that it would take the attention of the pirates away for minute; giving him the time to rescue Suzu. Not to mention, Sanzo need medical attention soon — so he needs to put an end to this situation soon.

His eyes dart from one spot to another looking for an opportunity, a chance, something that can be used. Then it dawn on him. A great distraction. Without a second thought he yell:

"Hey! You want it!?" he extend the fruit to the pirate, and just as he is about to grab the fruit out of Gonzo's hand, the young rebel pull it back to him yelling, "Come and get it!" before swallowing the fruit whole.

At once the whole temple compound went loud with the shrieking voice of men screaming at the top of their throat, not only the pirates, but the monks who watch the idiocy of one of their disciple is screaming inside too. For Gonzo, it sounds like his cue to strike.

While the leader is too distracted screaming, Gonzo leap with his soru and close his distance to him, he grab little Suzu with him and takes her away from the reach of the blade. Noticing what is happening, one of the pirate left there tries to grab another of the younger disciple. However, his action is not only noticed by the pirates, the monks who is bound before started to leap into action as well; preventing the pirates from reaching from any other hostage. Chaos soon ensue, as the pirate and monks once again came into open battle. Gonzo then approach his younger disciple sibling who is caught in the middle of the chaos, trying to lead them to safety.

Some of the pirates stand in their way, Gonzo looks at his surrounding and notice that the monks can't fully fight their adversary due to some still being bounded. He tells his siblings to stay as far away as possible from the fighting as he readied himself into his fighting stance.

The three pirate charge at Gonzo at once, trying to outnumber him 3 to 1, but they highly underestimate the young martial artist. While they are charging toward him, Gonzo begin to twirl his bo staff in a circular motion. Winds from around him starts to pick up, as his movement begin to increase in speed. The pirates who is charging at him begin to notice that some of their clothing started to get cut the closer they are to Gonzo, one of them even begin to run in the opposite direction, but he was already too late. Gonzo's "Gyaku-hakai-kane" technique already started and the moment all three start to run the opposite direction, they are instead gets sucked in by some sort of wind vortex that originate from Gonzo. Unable to fight the force that pulled them any longer, the three pirates get caught in it and gets thousand of cuts, rendering them unconscious from the shock and blood loss.

The younger disciple who were watching closely nearby begin to cheer for their older brother victory. Gonzo grin smugly and rub the back of his head with pride, but soon realize they aren't not out of danger yet. So he once again begin to round his sibling up and tells them to follow him. They went toward the front of the temple entrance, hoping to get to the city and blend in with the townsfolk. Just when they was about to teach the exit, a few of them who previously went to search the fruit came back and there is a moment of awkward silent when they come face to face. One of them realize what is going on and draw his sword. Gonzo didn't think they would meet an enemy so close to the temple gate, and going back in is not an option. The enemy charge in with their weapons and Gonzo is readying himself for a fight. Just when they about to clash, projectiles of unknown item hits the pirates and send them tumbling down. They curse under their breath as they tries to gets back up and very loudly ask who attack them by surprise. When Gonzo and the others look up, they see a group of children with slingshot aims at the pirate, ready to launch their next attack.

"FIRE!!" a familiar voice yell.

A barrage of stones and pebbles rain down on the pirates, causing scrapes and blunt damage to wards off the pirates. Gonzo, recognizing that voice smile with content, as he search for the origin of the sound. Up on the top of the gate, stand a shadow of a girl with bandana; Mariegold and her group of street urchin have come to help the temple and Gonzo out of this predicament.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" Marie yell with a big ssmile, "beat their asses already!"

Gonzo smile back, and while the pirates are distracted, he launch himself towards them and quickly hit at each of them with his bojustsu: Joya-no-Kane. With his soru and geppo combined together, he jump from one spot to another like crazy, bewildering the pirates and caught them off guard where they least expect it. They tried to retaliate by blindly hiting the air, but the young rebel is too unpredictable to be properly hit. Gonzo begin his attack combo, one he hit in the head, the other three in their belly, badly injuring them, the rest he sweeps them off of their feet, resulting in a loud thud as one by one fall to the ground. Then he repeats the process until all of them are too discombobulated to even stand straight. He let the rest of the street urchin to fire their rocks and knocks them unconscious.

A cheer by the younger disciple can be heard once again, and Gonzo thanked Marie for the support and help she's giving them. He also ask for another favor, and that is to lead the children of the temple away from the temple and to get them to safety. Gonzo explain to her that his master Sanzo is lying bleeding and unmoving on the ground; and although he believes that Sanzo is the strongest of the monks, he can't help but worried about his surrogate father that has been late in the years. He worried that if something were to happen to him, it would all be his fault. A single tear trickle down his cheeks as he thinks of this thoughts. Marie, without saying another word, nod and tell Gonzo to hurried along to help his master.

He smiles and thanks Marie, he turn around and return to the scene of the fight, back to the courtyard where he last see his master. As he pass a few monks fighting with the pirates, he realize how stupid the action that he did, all this fighting and some of the temple got burn and turn to ashes. He feels a painful guilt in his chest as he made his ways to the courtyard. When he reach the courtyard, he immediately approach Sanzo's body. His skin has turn pale and he can't no longer hear his breathing. Gonzo, is panicking and tries to move him to the nearest clinic, but it is in the town center and he's not sure if he can use soru or geppo while carrying someone. A tear begin to form in his eye, he's afraid that his nightmare would come true. He cries for help, yet no one reply his call. Everyone is either too far or fighting.

Then from Gonzo's behind, came a familiar face. It was Gojo, he has just awaken from passing out fighting Gonzo earlier. He approach Sanzo's body and lift him up.

"Come on, I can't carry master one my own, not with the broken arm you gave me," he said, "match your soru and geppo with mine, we will get master Sanzo to the medical clinic!"

Without further response Gonzo lift the other half of Sanzo and begin to his synchronize step with Gojo. He is counting in his heart to match his breathing with Gojo. Slowly but surely, they flew off into the night sky while carrying Sanzo, they hurried themselves to reach the clinic. Sanzo, being respected even by the townsfolks, immediately gets treatment, there is nothing to do but wait. Gonzo, turn around one last time to the temple to confront the pirate's leader.

He found him limping, on the courtyard sidewall, one of the monk seems to have gotten him. In Gonzo mind, he can't believe that the temple could fallen to such chaos because of this pathetic man. He walks towards the pirate. The Pirate leader immidietly recognize him.

"You, you are the reason all of this happen!!!" he says, and while he is talking about his plan which have gone array, to Gonzo, it seems like he is laughing at his stupidity for spilling the temple secrets and ultimately cause so much pain towards his own family.

Filled with guilt and rage he swing his staff upward and then downward delivering a powerful blow. The pirate screams in agony before passing out from the pain. It is done, the leader of the pirates is beaten, the rest of his men will follow and be captured or run away. His only hope is that Sanzo would survive this and would hear his apology directly from him.

## To the West

All of the pirates have been rounded and capture, though a few manages to run away. The marines who were patrolling the nearby coast saw the smoke and fire from their route and came to investigate the island. They were then informed about the situation and takes the pirates into their custody. The Marines salute and thanks the temple for their bravery and commend them on repelling the attacks. Gonzo, however, is nowhere in sight. He is in the clinic where Sanzo got treated, he waited there all night along with Gojo.

The local doctor finally came out from the treatment room. Gonzo awaits the final confirmation from the doctor. A grim look dawn on his face, as the doctor shakes his head slowly. The elder and leader of the Skyfruit Temple has pass on to the next life. Gonzo couldn't hold in his sadness and regret break down and cry on the spot. He is angry, upset, and hate himself for causing this tragedy, all kind of emotion mixed in together that creates a gut-wrenching bitterness that could drown a person. He runs outside to the streets and headed towards the forest just outside of town. There he unleashes that pent up emotion in a barrage of tantrum. He swat his staff left and right hitting any trees in his path, he jump from branches to another and hitting everything. His emotion is out of control and something change within him, not only mentaly, but also physically. Without him noticing, the more he cries and the more of his emotion he let out, the more he transforms into a beastial look. First he grows a tail, his fingernails become longer and sharper. His red hair slowly encroaching his entire body, covering him on thick layer of hairs. His nose slowly turning into a a flat, yet bigger nostril look, resembling an ape nose. Before he realize it, his size his also double in size, and it keeps getting bigger and bigger. He becomes a full giant ape physically without him noticing and wrecking havoc across the entire island forest. His roar could be heard from the entire island and so another myth surrounding the island is born.

The next day, the cremation ceremony, as is the tradition there, is being held at the temple front courtyard. Many townsfolk come to attend and mourn the lost of the island most respected character. Almost of the monks, as well as the students there attend and help with the preparation — almost. Gonzo is nowhere to be seen, he is watching the procession far away from the crown. On an empty cliff near the temple, he mourn there alone while others mourn together in the courtyard. His guilt forbids him from attending, his consciousness is telling him that he doesn't deserve to be there among the mourners. The smoke can be seen from far and wide from the the island, and the island fell into a gloom depression that day. When the sun has set and the last of the attendees have all went home, the ashes from of Sanzo is gathered by the oldest of the monks and they put him in a decorative ceramic jar.

Gonzo finally have the courage to go home. The first thing he do was to approach the teachers there and kneel. He beg for forgiveness for his absent and for what he has done. It shocked them to see the most rebellious of their disciple lowering his head to ask for forgiveness and apologize. One of them told Gonzo that Sanzo sacrifice his life to save the life of the temple and that should be honored, not mourned. Another tell Gonzo to his surprise that, Sanzo knew that he stole the fruit beforehand and tell the other monks to let Gonzo be. Some say that all of this could have been avoided if Sanzo has just confronted Gonzo and told him to return the fruit to the temple. However, it was the decision of the late elder and is now far too late to regret over it. Then the oldest and most likely to succeed Sanzo walk to the front of the crowd and tell the others to not weight this mistake on Gonzo or Sanzo alone. All of this is part of Sanzo's decision and they should honor it. He also tells Gonzo to not blame himself over it. For even though some of it is his fault, ultimately, it is the mandate of heaven that wills it. He then continue to pronounce that Sanzo loves him more than any other orphans in the temple, and the late leader of th etemple would not want for Gonzo to drown in this despair.

He turns to the other monks and say "Elder Sanzo is a wise man, but more than anything, he is a compassionate man." he then turn to reach out his hand towards Gojo, who is silently listening in the corner.

"Before Sanzo pass away, Gojo here heard Sanzo last wish and would like to deliver this message to all of us.

Gojo walks slowly to the front of the crown and continue to tell them Sanzo's last word. He says that elder Sanzo would like to apologize first and foremost, if it wasn't for his secrecy towards the temple and Gonzo, they would not be in this state. He also says the Sanzo beg for the others to not blame or keep grudge against Gonzo. Sanzo last message also says that he would like for his ashes to be delivered and then scattered in his hometown that he missed so much, Kano Country. Lastly, and the most shocking perhaps, is that he would formally banish Gonzo from the temple for all the trouble he cause; but it doesn't end there. As additional punishment, the red hair rebel would take pilgrimage while carrying his ashes back to Kano country, which is located in the West Blue.

Silence fall on the temple as they process this last wishes from the late elder. Then the silence is broken when Gonzo break down crying and kneel once more in a more formal posture - with his head hitting the floor. What is more shocking, however, is what he says next.

"This foolish disciple, hereby, humbly accept this punishment"

And so, the dawn comes and another day begin in Sandflower Island.

The next day, all of the monks and disciple gather around the harbor to bid goodbye to the town most reckless and rebellious teen. Mariegold and her street urchin also gather to greet him one last time before saying teary goodbye. Before he aboard the ship, he beg one last favor from his only and former family, and that is to take care of Marie and her gangs of street urchin because they have no else that can help them. He explain to them what he was doing when he is seen missing from the temple ground and how the street urchin needed his help to survive. Only that day do the monks and some of the disciple understand, why elder Sanzo favor Gonzo and has been lenient towards the troublemaker; and that is because: even though he broke a lot of rules he has a big heart and has been helping the street urchin all this time. While the other monks and disciple has been teaching and being teach compassion, Gonzo has been doing the act of it outside of their knowledge. Gonzo once again kneel and beg them to help the street urchin.

Moved by his compassion the elders and the monks can't do anything but accept his plea. And so with an ugly cry on both sides, Gonzo and the rest that attend bid their farewell towards each other. Marie, being the hard head that she is, turn around and sob, refusing to show this side to Gonzo; but when Gonzo come aboard the ship that would help him reach West Blue and sail in it, she could not hold it in any longer and runs along the harbor and scream from the top of her lung:

"YOU"LL COME BACK RIGHT!? YOU COME BACK HERE, YOU HEAR ME!!! I DON'T CARE HOW LONG IT WILL TAKE BUT YOU MUST COME BACK OKAY!?!?!"

Gonzo smile at her from the distance and shout back,

"I WILL!!! JUST WAIT FOR ME ALRIGHT!? I'LL WIN OUR STARE DOWN CONTEST FOR SURE!!!"

With that, Mariegold and Gonzo could finally have a big smile in each other face while bidding their life long best friend a bitter-sweet goodbye.