Cavendish jumped from the deck of his ship and landed gracefully in front of Regan. He reared his arm on his sword, and gave Regan a quick up-down-look, judgement dancing in his crystal eyes.
"You know me, boy?" Said Cavendish, scowling.
Bayton rushed past Regan and pulled him aside, fear building up line a meal in his gut. "F-forgive this idiot, he doesn't know what he's doing! I apolog—"
"Move out of the way, imp." Cavendish demanded, shoving Bayton aside. "I was speaking to the boy, not you. I ask again, do you know me?"
"Of course I do!" Regan beamed, waving his arms in excitement. "You're Cavendish of the White Horse, captain of the beautiful pirates! The pirate prince! I can't believe I'm seeing you in the flesh!"
Cavendish scoffed, wrestling with a smile that sought to make an appearance on his face. "Heh, so it seems I have fans even in the north blue, eh?"
Fans? Man, he's exactly like his character! Narcissistic as hell! This is crazy!
"Speaking of the North Blue, what are you doing out here? Isn't your kingdom in the grand line?"
"What is any pirate doing when they're travelling the seas, boy? Making a name for themselves!"
Oh yeah, that's right! There was a line that he said about being an infamous and loved pirate, but then there was another thing. He made some angry comments about how Luffy's actions at marineford had drawn all the attention on him. It makes sense that he's out here.
"So, you're here to make an even bigger name for yourself?"
"I already have made a much bigger name for myself. I am the greatest rising star of my generation, brat."
"Really? Are you sure that title doesn't belong to a Monkey.D.Luffy?" Regan smirked.
Cavendish didn't find it so amusing, however. He gripped the hilt of his blade and glowered at Regan, hatred bubbling in his gut. "If you mention that name again, I may have to cut you down."
"W-wait!" Bayton squealed. Regan had forgotten about his entire existence. The man looked quite pathetic, standing inbetween both Regan and Cavendish as he pleaded for Regan's life.
Cavendish unsheathed his blade and brought it down in arc, separating Bayton's neck and arm from his torso with a single strike. The man collapsed like timber, an aghast expression contorting his face as his guts and entrails escaped the deep gash on his stomach.
Regan watched in horror as a flood of crimson escaped his lifeless body. He was spazzing like a fish, flopping and desperately trying to cling to life, but no man could bring him back from such a wound.
All around them, looks of abject terror had found the limp corpse that was sprawled out on the wood, its life's blood mingling with the brackish sea. After seeing the corpse, nobody dared to bat an eye again, folks simply went about their day as if nothing happened.
"Hey, eyes up here. Eyes up!"
Regan did as he was told, his eyes meeting the dastardly pirate that had just slaughtered a man right in front of him.
"What's your name, brat?" Said Cavendish, sheathing his sword.
Regan paused and allowed himself a moment to think, recalling the name that his new siblings kept addressing him by. He swallowed hard, cleared his throat, and spoke up. "Dantes. My name is Dantes."
"Dantes," Cavendish repeated, chewing on that response. "Every single man has a dream, Dantes. What is yours?"
"May I take that question and spin it back to you?" Regan inquired.
"Heh, bold. Very well. I want to eliminate the worst generation who stole my spotlight. Especially that damnable Monkey.D.Luffy. When I come face to face with that man I will put my sword through his throat! Then I'll be the most beautiful and unrivalled pirate on the seas!"
Sure you will, first commander.
"Mines not so as ambitious," Regan forced a grin, a bead of sweat sliding down his cheek as he tried his best to keep his eyes off of the corpse. "I want to find out what the one piece is."
"Ha!" Cavendish snickered. "Doesn't every pirate!?"
"I'm not done." Regan said, not taking his eyes off of the beautiful swordsman.
"Oh? Well, go on."
"I want to meet him."
"Him? Who is him?" Cavendish scowled.
"The one who shall not be named, of course."
"The one who will fall by my blade?" Cavendish scowled. "That is your dream? To meet a single man? How boring!"
"But I'm still not done." Regan added.
"Still!? Just say the full dream, dammit! What's with this buildup!?" Cavendish complained.
Regan cleared his throat, taking Cavendish's complaints as a warning to not drag things out any longer. "I'm going to amass the largest pirate crew that the world has ever seen. Even captains will be at my feet! Every man with a desire will see their every needs met so long as they follow under me loyally! And when I make it to the new world, with thousands of men under my flag, I will join up with Monkey.D.Luffy and destroy the world government!"
It was the craziest plan that Regan had ever conceived in his lifetime. But it wasn't far from reality. In the current events of the manga, Luffy had teamed up with Loki who had been revealed to be the user of a powerful dragon devil fruit. If the prophecy is true, if Luffy truly is the next joyboy, then he will be the one to bring about the dawn with the help of the giants. A dawn that will see the end of Imu and the Gorosei and all the other celestial dragon families that took up residence in mariejois.
And Regan had the bold plan to help Luffy win the final war against Imu and the world government.
"ARE YOU MAD?" Cavendish roared, his head cocked up to the sky as a deep, guttural laugh escaped his maw. There were tears coming out of his eyes, and his face went red with amusement. "My God! You are mad, Dantes. Mad! Crazy!" A small fry like you? Destroying the world government? Ah, that is rich!"
Regan knew it himself. He was a small fry. Cavendish could kill him right where he stood if he wanted to, and he could do nothing to stop it.
However, every living being in the one piece world has the potential to be strong. It need only take intense and rigorous training and continued experience for one to begin contending with the greats.
Regan recalled Garp's mentorship over Aokiji, and how they had been punching ships with their bare hands to maximise their physical strength without haki. There were also the six powers to learn, techniques that required extreme martial arts conditioning at a young age, primarily taught to CP9 agents.
And, of course, there was armament haki and observation haki to learn, too. Observation haki would be much difficult to learn without a mentor, with one having to blindfold themselves and avoid the attacks of wild animals and all. And armament haki could be achieved through being under intense stress, and refined by fighting strong opponents with haki.
There was much to learn, and Regan decided that he would spend the two year timeskip learning and grinding his skills in order to achieve his goals. Cavendish could laugh all he wanted.
He wont be laughing when I meet him in the new world
"Don't knock a man's dream." Regan said.
Cavendish shrugged. "Your dream is absurd. The world government has existed for a good 800 years, not even Gol.D Roger dared to face off against their entire force. He was busy brawling with Garp!"
"I guess we'll have to see." Regan said, stretching out his hand. "I guess I'll be seeing you past the grand line?"
"Heh, that's if you make it. And I don't shake hands with no-name rookies who don't even have a Jolly Roger. Try that again when you make a name for yourself." He said, turning away from him.
Regan couldn't help but smile, but his lips curled downwards as he remembered the dead body at his feet, and he quickly stepped over a puddle of crimson that was slowly drying under the blazing sun.
As he turned back, he found a man walking towards him with a bottle of booze in his hands. He had a red coat over his shoulders, partially hiding his muscular frame.
Wait, it's him!
Indeed, it was the same man he had seen in the premium inn, drunk out of his mind and staring blankly at nothing in particular. At least he was back then. Now, though, he wore a look of annoyance, and his eyes were narrowed in focus as if a particular goal was standing diligently in his mind.
"Hold up, you there!" He called out, his voice slurred by the drink. "Pretty boy with the blonde hair."
What? What's he want with Cavendish?
"Ha? You talking to me?" Cavendish said, turning back to face the approaching pirate.
"Yeah I'm talking to you. Names Cavendish, isn't it?"
"The one and only. What do you want you bloody drunkard. Make it quick." Cavendish said.
"You the one who killed this dude?" The man asked, stepping in the dark-red blood with his boots.
"Yeah I am. What about it? You got a problem with it?" Cavendish said, his hand gripping the hilt of his blade once more.
"Yeah I do got a problem." The pirate said matter-of-factedly. "You're breaking pirates law. Keep the fighting off the island, we're here to drink booze only."
"You know who I am, don't you? Tell me, do you think a prince shoulder follow a pirates law? You ingrait!"
Oh crap! This must be one of Cavendish's minor fights! Poor guy, he doesn't even know he's about to get cut in half!
"So you're not going to follow the law?"
"To hell with your law," Cavendish spat.
"I see." The pirate sighed. Cavendish unsheathed his blade and waited for the drunkard to make the first move. There was nothing but silence for a while, save for the low chatter of men who observed the beginnings of a major skirmish. Or minor, according to Cavendish's status in the current manga.
Regan backed out of the way, creeping back to avoid getting caught in the conflict. He ran as Cavendish dashed forward with eye-blinking speed, the look of malice etched on his face.
BANG!
Regan turned back to find the source of the noise, and to see how the battle had ended. To his shock, Cavendish was backing up against to the edge of a dock, clutching a gaping wound on his stomach.
The pirate with the red coat had pulled out a pistol, and was now aiming it at the unruly prince. Cavendish coughed and hacked as a stream of crimson left his mouth and the hole on his torso.
What…what!? What just happened!?
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Cavendish dropped his sword and collapsed into the sea. The pirate then pointed the gun at his ship, and released a bullet that served to act more as a cannon, blowing up the hull of the ship and the crew members inside of it.
No…no way. This can't be happening!