ONE PIECE: WORTHLESS PROGRESSION

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[ Two days Later.. ]

In the vast ocean sailed a pirate ship, its silhouette cutting through the calm waters. The evening sun pierced through the surface, casting golden rays that danced on the rippling waves. Below, schools of fish swam, their scales glimmering like jewels beneath the surface.

On the deck, Toshi scrubbed the floor with a brush, his arms aching and his clothes smeared with dirt. Sweat swelled on his forehead, but he wiped it away before it could drip onto the planks.

A grin spread across his face as he finally leaned back, dropping the brush beside him. "I'm finally finished…" he sighed, exhausted but triumphant, falling onto his back with a grin that stretched ear to ear. The deck sparkled under the sun's glow, so pristine you could almost see one's reflection.

He'd cleaned to the best of his ability...why? Because Toshi was a perfectionist. That constant, gnawing need to do everything just right drove him. But he wasn't delusional; he knew some things could never be perfect. Yet, for the things he could control, he made damn sure they came close.

*WAM*

A sudden thump on the deck jolted Toshi from his thoughts. He turned sharply, only to see the man with the pencil-thin mustache walking toward him. This time, he was dressed in an all-white suit with black stripes, his ever-present pimp cane still in hand.

Toshi sighed, already bracing himself for whatever nonsense was about to happen.

'This guy… always trying to get me into trouble,' Toshi grumbled internally, annoyed. 'What did I even do to him? All I did was scam the guy…' He sighed again, louder this time, resigned to his fate.

"You missed a spot," the man said with a wide grin, his pencil mustache twitching as his lips curled. Without missing a beat, he gurgled something in his mouth before spitting directly onto the freshly cleaned deck, the glob splattering against the spotless boards.

Toshi narrowed his eyes, his tone flat and unbothered. "But you just spit there…"

His words hung in the air, but he knew it didn't matter. Talking back would only earn him more trouble. Yet, for once, he couldn't stop himself.

"Oh? Talking back now, are we?" Waltz sneered, his pencil mustache twitching with mockery. "The great Lord Waltz doesn't take kindly to disrespect, especially from a wretch like you! How dare you call me a fool!"

Without warning, Waltz swung his cane, the polished wood smacking Toshi hard across the face. The force sent him stumbling backward, his body hitting the floor with a harsh thud, face first.

"You're lucky…" Waltz hissed through gritted teeth, towering over Toshi's body. "If Apollo didn't want to sell you off as a slave, I'd have killed you the moment I laid my hands on you."

With that, Waltz turned sharply on his heel, his cane clicking against the deck as he walked away, leaving Toshi to gather himself from the floor.

"Wahahaha!" The pirates roared with laughter, downing bottles of booze as if Toshi's humiliation was the best show they'd seen all week.

Toshi groaned softly, slowly pushing himself off the floor. Blood dripped from his split lip, which he wiped away with the back of his hand before returning to his task. He bent down to clean the spit-stained deck, the sting on his cheek burning as much as his pride.

As he worked, Toshi's gaze drifted toward the ship's railing. Pretending to scrub near the edge, he glanced over and spotted something that stirred a flicker of hope...a small lifeboat bobbing against the ship's side hanging by thick ropes.

A faint smile tugged at his lips. Could he jump down onto the boat and escape? Yes. But could it actually work? Hell no.

' If I jump now, they'll shoot me down before I even hit the water, ' he thought grimly. And even if, by some miracle, he managed to avoid the bullets, the cannons would obliterate him the moment he drifted too far.

But let's say, by some other miracle, he survived the cannon fire. He wouldn't last two days alone at sea without starving to death or going mad from dehydration.

No, as ridiculous as it sounded, Toshi knew his chances of survival were better here...captured, humiliated, but alive. If he could somehow create a plan that accounted for all those dangers, he might have a shot at freedom. Which he had.

" Hehe... " he chuckled softly beneath his breath.

With a weary sigh, he muttered, "I'm finished…"

A pirate seated nearby rose from his chair, gesturing for Toshi to follow. Without a word, the man led him back to his cell. The damp, frigid air from the ocean breeze seeped through the iron bars of the small, grated window. Toshi stepped inside, his bare feet scraping against the cold stone floor, as the pirate swung the heavy door shut behind him. The sharp click of the key turning in the lock sealed Toshi's fate once more.

As the pirate moved to leave, Toshi lunged forward, clutching desperately at the man's leg. "Please, mister! Help me!" he cried, his voice raw with desperation. Hot tears streamed down his cheeks as he clung tightly to the rough fabric of the man's pants. "I don't want to die!"

"Let go of me, you little shit," the pirate growled, shoving at Toshi's arm with a rough swipe.

Toshi, however, clung tighter, his grip tighter despite the man's annoyance. The pirate's jaw tightened, his frustration bubbling over as his patience frayed. With a curse, he reached for the pistol tucked into his waistband and aimed it directly at Toshi's head.

"If you don't let go, I'll blow your head clean off," he threatened, his voice low and deadly. "I don't care if Apollo gets mad." His finger curled around the trigger.

"Oops!" Toshi squeaked, his bravado vanishing as quickly as it had appeared. He scrambled backward, pressing himself into the corner of the cell, his body trembling as soft whimpers escaped his lips.

The pirate clicked his tongue in disdain, sliding the pistol back into his waistband. Without another glance, he turned on his heel and stomped off, leaving Toshi alone with the echoes of his footsteps and the suffocating silence of the cold, dark cell.

As Toshi watched the pirate walk off, a mischievous grin spread across his face. He reached into his palm, revealing a single iron key. "Hehe, stupid pirate," he muttered under his breath.

From down the hall, Maliketh's voice came in a hushed whisper. "You got it?"

Toshi turned toward the sound, the grin on his face widening even further. He held the key up triumphantly, letting it dangle between his fingers. "Yep," he said with a cocky tone. "We're breaking out tonight."

Maliketh chuckled, though there was an undertone of nervous excitement in his voice. "You better hope that excitement of yours doesn't give us away, smartass. You sure you know what you're doing?"

Toshi shrugged, sliding the key into his pocket. "Not a clue," he admitted with a smirk, "but I figure it's better than scrubbing decks until my back breaks." He leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. "We'll move when the sun goes down. They'll be too busy drinking themselves stupid to notice anything."

Maliketh's voice dropped an octave, serious now. "You'd better be ready, man. If we mess this up…" He didn't finish the thought, but the implications hung heavy in the air.

Toshi nodded, the grin fading slightly as reality set in. "We'll make it," he said, more to convince himself than anyone else. "We have to."

In his cell Toshi had a small hamock in the corner of the room. That stooped insanely low to the ground with only a inch off the floor. He went under the hamock and used his fingers to unwedge a loss board. It was a small compartment enough to fit two weeks worth of food. If conserved right.

Out from his pants he pulled out a piece of bread which he put inside the compartment and wedged the floor board back into place. He went back over the hamock and laid back taking a breath in after a grueling day of work.

He closed his eyes just to give himself enough energy for when he breaks out tonight.

Then Mali spoke once more, " Why? " Mali voice came from down the hall. 

Toshi opened one eye and raised a brow, " Why what? " He asked Mali to clear up what he meant.

" Why do you keep trying? Against all odds, why? " Mali questioned once more. To which Toshi paused for a moment trying to gather the right words for a proper answer, " . . . To be honest I don't know myself, I just been through shit all my life and all I've been doing is constantly climb to get out. " Toshi answered honestly, however not telling everything.

Mali said nothing and the air went silent, with only the sounds of waves audible.

Toshi realizing Mali wasn't going to ask anything else, questioned Mali instead, " What made you give up? " Toshi asked a question thats been lingering on the top of his head.

Mali's voice came after a pause, quieter and laced with something that sounded like bitterness. "What made me give up?" he repeated, almost as if tasting the question before answering. "You don't really 'give up'... it's more like the world just beats you down until there's nothing left to fight with. You learn the hard way that no matter how hard you claw, there's always someone with a bigger boot to stomp you back into the dirt."

Toshi leaned back against the wall, folding his arms. He stared at the iron bars of his cell, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Sounds like an excuse to me."

Mali let out a humorless laugh from the darkness. "An excuse? Maybe. Or maybe it's just the truth. You've seen how this world works already, haven't you? Strong eat the weak, and people like us... we're the scraps left behind."

Toshi tilted his head, tapping his fingers against the wall behind him. "Yeah, I've seen it. But that's exactly why I don't stop trying. Maybe I'll fail. Maybe I'll get crushed like everyone else. But if I just sit here and let it happen, then what's the point?"

There was another pause, the sound of the waves crashing against the ship filling the silence between them.

Finally, Mali spoke again, his voice softer this time. "You're either brave or stupid. Maybe both."

Toshi smirked. "Probably both," he admitted. "But at least I'm not dead yet. That's gotta count for something, right?"

Mali didn't respond, but the silence felt different this time, less heavy. Toshi leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes, clutching the key in his pocket tightly. "Whatever you're holding onto, Mali," he muttered under his breath, "it's not too late to pick it back up."

The air hung silent for a moment before Maliketh broke it. "Toshi, you asked me two weeks ago how I got here…" His voice trailed off, carrying a weight that caught Toshi's attention. His ears twitched, intrigue growing.

"Yeah," Toshi replied, his voice steady, though curiosity laced his tone.

Maliketh took a deep breath before continuing. "The truth is... I don't remember. No matter how hard I try. But there's one thing I do know...this crazy obsession I have." He paused, the silence stretching like a taut wire.

"An obsession with killing," he finally said, his voice cold. To which Toshi felt a chill creep down his spine but said nothing, letting Maliketh continue.

"Killing one man. The captain of the Anchor Pirates and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to kill him," Maliketh confessed. "That's why I'm even here in the first place. I foolishly thought I could take on one of his commanders, but…"

He cut himself off, leaving his words to hang in the air like a heavy fog.

Toshi waited, expecting Maliketh to finish his thought, but the silence dragged on. The unspoken truth...the failure, the consequences, the regrets, seemed louder than words could convey.

Yet, Toshi couldn't help but let out a small sigh. For a moment, he had been worried, half-convinced Maliketh might actually be a psychopath.

Truth was, Toshi didn't have a clue what to say to him. He couldn't relate to that kind of hatred or obsession. Sure, Toshi had hated people with every fiber of his being at times, but he was never the type to wish them dead, let alone want to kill them himself.

At his core, Toshi was nothing but a gentle soul, even if the world around him forced him to act otherwise.

Toshi had lived in a modern world...a place where killing was rare, shocking, and universally condemned. This world, however, was something else entirely. It was barbaric, with violence and death normalized to an unsettling extent. Here, lives were lost over mere insults, and survival often depended on being just as ruthless as the next person.

For someone like Toshi, who had grown up in a society with rules and order, adjusting to this savage reality felt like trying to breathe underwater. It was suffocating, and every moment reminded him of just how out of place he was.

However, Toshi clenched his fist, he couldn't help but feel a faint sense of relatability. He didn't know why, but there was a heat churning in his gut whenever he thought about Apollo and what he'd done to Raoul—or even Waltz, for all the torment and humiliation he'd put him through.

It wasn't just anger; it was something deeper, something primal. For the first time, Toshi understood that while he might not have shared Maliketh's thirst for revenge, he wasn't immune to the desire to strike back. That burning frustration inside him, that desperate yearning to make them pay...it was growing harder to ignore.

' I'll kill him… I'll kill him, ' Toshi thought, his teeth grinding together as the heat in his gut flared into a roaring fire.

His hands trembled, not with fear, but with a raw, uncontrollable anger. He could feel the weight of every moment of humiliation, every blow, every mocking laugh. They were burned into his mind like scars that refused to fade.

He clenched his fists tighter, his nails digging into his palms. ' Apollo… Waltz… ' Their faces flashed in his mind, and with them, the memories of Raoul and all the things he'd lost.

' They'll pay for what they've done. '

TO BE CONTINUED.

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