Due to my love for the character of Bartolomeo, I thought of posting a short story about the past of my favorite character after the recent chapter of One Piece.
2 years ago...
In a little island of East Blue called Loguetown, a man is walking through the streets. The man is a quite scary figure for most. He is slim individual with weird hair that makes him look like a punk. His hair are light green colored. His eyes have an angry expression. He has two lines as a tattoo below his right eye. His ears are pointy and he wears earrings. His appearance is completed with the earring he has at his nose, which makes him look completely like a punk. He wears a purple colored fur on his back, which is open, revealing his well built chest with the weird tattoo. He also wears baggy pants with a square pattern. Finally, his skin color is white.
"Meh... I hate this town." said the man as he walked and spat on the ground.
"Hey, hey! What do you think you are doing, stranger?" said a man while looking at the mysterious man. "Who do you think you are to spit at the streets of our town?"
"Huh?" frowned the mysterious man and turned his head towards the bystander who complained about his behavior, before he kept walking again, as if he was ignoring him.
"I told you something!" yelled the bystander at the punk-looking man.
"As if I care!" said the man who turned his head and launched a barrier towards the bystander, smashing the barrier on him and making him fall unconscious. Then, he stepped towards the lying man and placed his foot on the man's face. He smiled as he looked at the nearly unconscious man and he said with an angry voice, yet calm somehow "If you insist, I won't spit on the ground anymore. Though you have to know... Bartolomeo spits wherever he wants.". As soon as that was said, the punk spat at the man's face.
The people from around were scared. They were trembling in fear, especially because of the mysterious man's strength and abilities. Who was that man who called himself Bartolomeo? Was he a pirate, a bounty hunter or somebody else?
"Bartolomeo?" asked a man. "Bartolomeo "The cannibal"? I have heard of that name again! You are a mob boss! You are a scary person!"
"To be known by idiots like you... What a disgrace." said Bartolomeo and berped before leaving away from the spot.
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A few hours later, the man kept walking at Loguetown. As it was his first time at that place, Bartolomeo would not leave without visiting the legendary platform on which the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger was executed. However, as he walked through the square and stared at the platform, something weird happened... That weird incident was the appearance of a man. There was a man who climbed at the top of the platform, claiming that he would become the next king of the pirates. That mysterious man was a young man, around at the age of 17. He wore sandals, a red shirt, blue short pants and a straw hat on his head, covering his black hair. He also had a scar below his left eye.
"Who is that fool?" wondered Bartolomeo as he looked at the man. "The marines are going to catch him, without doubt."
But before the marines could arrive at the scene, another weird incident happened. Apparently, the young man was attacked by a bunch of pirates who seemed to be seeking revenge on the face of the young pirate. That young man had done something to them and they wanted to punish him just because of that. Especially a certain guy, who was dressed like a clown.
Before Bartolomeo could understand anything, the young man was caught by the mysterious clown and he was about to be executed. However, his reaction was very unlikely compared to the reaction that anybody else would have. Despite what anybody would think, the young man who claimed that he would become the pirate king would not ask to be freed. Instead, just about when the sword of the clown was about to behead him, all the man did was to apologize to his subordinates with a wide smile on his face.
"Huh? Who is that man?" thought a shaken Bartolomeo, shaken because of the man's weird reaction. "Who is smiling just before he is about to die?" thought the punk, before going under a new surprise. A second before the sword came in contact with the man's neck, a lightning fell from the sky, striking the clown and destroying the platform, while the man ended up unharmed from the mysterious weather phenomenon.
"WHAT?! HE SURVIVED?!" Bartolomeo's eyes popped out. Now Bartolomeo was really overwhelmed. Not only he was surprised by that man's reaction over death, but also he realized that the heavens saved that young man for a reason. He was not a regular pirate for sure. In Bartolomeo's eyes, that man was the guy who was chosen by destiny to get the position and the title of the second Pirate King, the second ruler of the seas who is the strongest person in the world and has absolute freedom. Bartolomeo could not believe that such person could exist, up until that moment. At the very same town on which Gol D. Roger was born and executed, the heavens now decided the fate of the young man and gave him a second chance to continue his quest to become the Pirate King.
As these thoughts passed through Bartolomeo's mind, the events continued to unfold quickly. The next few minutes, the marines would arrive at the place and attack everybody, while the young man would desperately try to escape from the clutches of the powerful marine captain of the island and the main reason that Bartolomeo did not like the town. "Ha! That brat was lucky enough to be saved by the heavens and escape execution, but Captain Smoker is not as good as heavens!" thought Bartolomeo, who would follow the young man from behind to see how everything was about to end.
Bartolomeo would run behind the weird man, until he reached a back alley. There, a marine would approach him...
"Damn it! I have to hide! Smoker has reached him!" thought Bartolomeo as the battle between the young man and Captain Smoker was about to start. The battle seemed to be one sided. Apparently, the young man could not even scratch Smoker. Smoker had a very powerful Devil Fruit ability that allowed him to turn into smoke. Despite the young man's desparate efforts to land a hit on Smoker, the marine would simply turn his body into smoke and make the attacks pass through his body. The young man, who was also a fruit user as his hands and his feet would stretch abnormally, had no chance against the powerful marine captain, especially because of the fact that the marine was armed while the young man was unharmed. "What shall I do? Shall I appear and save him? If I do so, I won't be able to survive against Smoker... That guy is a beast!" whispered Bartolomeo as Smoker grabbed the young man.
However, Bartolomeo's thoughts would stop immediately, along with his frozen body as a lightning fell once more from the sky and a weird man appeared behind Smoker, grabbing him and stopping him from performing a finishing hit on the young man.
"What?!" yelled Bartolomeo in his surprise, although he was not heard by anybody as the scene that was taking place between the young man, Smoker and the mysterious man who came out of nowhere was very intense.
Smoker stopped moving. The young man escaped from his grip and he would run towards his ship, while leaving. The mysterious man "who was sent by heavens to save the young man" also disappeared. Bartolomeo could not believe in his eyes... That young man who claimed that he would become the next king of the pirates was saved by the heavens twice. That guy... He would definitely become the Pirate King. He would definitely be the one to lead the next era. That was Bartolomeo's thought. But who was that man? What was the name of the future Pirate King that would lead that era? That, Bartolomeo did not know...
And as Smoker was leaving from the place, the wind blew, as much as it used to the last hours. A newspaper was dragged by the air in front of Bartolomeo who would move his slim arms, grabbing it and reading it, only to find some valuable information. There was a picture of the young man. The young man was smiling, much like he did when he was about to be executed by that weird clown. Below the picture there was his name written. Monkey D. Luffy. And next to name, there was an article. An article saying "The man with the highest active bounty in East Blue!". Yes. Now, Bartolomeo could not have any doubts. "Straw Hat" Luffy would be the next Pirate King.
"Hm... "Straw Hat" Luffy-senpai, huh?" thought Bartolomeo and his eyes turned into stars as he just became the biggest fan of the rookie pirate who would soon shake the whole world with his achievements.
Thu Sep 05, 2013 8:00 am
