At first, there was no sign of anything. The echoes of the bell reverberated across the town.
But the first sign something was happening was the fire, when the church went up in flame. The flames could be seen from the Inn on the hill. Then the flames spread, the town went lit up in flame and chaos as the flames spread. Then there was smoke, as the fires spread, and the smoke rose like a darkness rising from the burning town.
The straw hats went down to the town, curiosity, mixed with some level of panic at the sudden chaos. "The preacher! He's dead!" someone shouted, the mass panic of the town increased as people tried to fight the fires and others praying to God, chaos. "Luffy.... I know what they did but-"Jinbei starts but Luffy cuts him off. "Go, help. There are kids." Luffy says. The crew immediately split off, running to help put out fires and help the civilians. Luffy turns toward the source of the flame and origin of the suffocating pressure he feels. He heads toward the cathedral. preparing to fight whoever caused this terror. He doesn't go to save the townspeople, and certainly not the preacher. Just to stop the one responsible for the death and terror.
As Luffy reaches the grand cathedral, it burns. The flames coat the grand formerly white building, the pride of their "pureness". A suffocating pressure of a immense Haki is here. Luffy kicks open the grand heavy doors to the cathedral and he freezes. Hanging from one of the now blackened weeping stone pillars is the preacher. The sight is gory with the preacher hanging from the preacher on a thick rope, riddled with bullet holes, the blood dripping to the ground. The former white purity of the church long gone, replaced instead with the blackness of soot with a suffocating pressure of immense Haki with smoke.
"You're too late. I killed him. Hell has finally come to this town" A man's voice says. Luffy looks and sees the source of this immense pressure. "I didn't come to save him." Luffy says simply. "I know what he did. It was wrong, cruel and hurt my crew." He says. The man laughs and the pressure increases, the cathedral groaning and Luffy grits his teethe slightly, "You know huh?" He says amused and laughs again, stepping closer. The man is tall, wearing a dark western hat and a gun at his waist on his belt. The pressure increases as he steps closer, "Do you know what he did to me? To my mother?" The man spits. Luffy is silent, grtting his teeth as he steps closer, "THEY KILLED HER!" He shouts and the cathedral shudders. Luffy's eyes darken and the man continues, anger filling his voice, "He called me a devil and beat me til I dropped." He says. Fists shaking, the man continues "They branded me a devil and watched him beat me. You think that kind of people deserve saving?" Luffy doesn't move as the man approaches, eyes dark. The man punches Luffy hard in the core and he smashes into the wall. He spits blood from the Haki infused strike but stands. The man comes again, the walls crack from the power of his Haki. "The kind of people that brand an innocent boy a devil and watch him get beat to death without trying to stop it?" He continues. He kicks Luffy and sends him flying across the cathedral, crashing into one of the wooden benches. "The kind that kill a woman, a mother, my mother just for being a goddamned outsider?" He shouts "HOW DARE YOU DEFEND THEM!" He shouts. Luffy eyes are dark as he takes another hit. "WHO'S THE DEVIL THEN?" He shouts. Luffy wipes the blood from his mouth. The man comes again, fists clenched tightly in rage, Luffy flinches. The man strikes again and sends Luffy crashing through several benches. Luffy gets up, again eyes still dark and looks the man in the eyes.The man's eyes are full of rage, grief, anger, injustice. "You are." Luffy says quietly. The man freezes in confusion and shock and further anger. Luffy gets up slowly as he speaks, eyes dark, "You're right. Its not fair. They treated you cruelly and horribly. It's not right that you had to go through that." He says. The man wavers, and Luffy continues, "But you don't have to be the devil that they say you are." he says and the man stops. Tears form in the corner of his eyes and his voice turns shaky. "So what do I do then?" He asks quietly. "Speak your truth, show them that you're not the devil they remember." He says. The man looks at him, surprise flickering on his face with confusion. "T-the truth?" He asks. Luffy nods, "I'm not here to save him. And I'm not here to fight you. I'm here for the truth." Luffy says firmly. The man then nods slowly, hesitant at first and follows Luffy as they walk out of the ruined cathedral in silence