Popeye the Sailor Man x Akame ga Kill

The Legend of the Sailor Man

The Capital, home to a vast amount of imperial citizens both rich and poor. The rich hoard their wealth from others and will very often perform the cruelest and most vile of acts upon those less fortunate. The poor are helpless against this however, the guards who were supposed to protect them are on the payroll of most of the wealthy. They were hopeless. Even with the Rebellion doing their damnedest to fight back.

But then came Night Raid, a group who struck fear into the loyalist to the corrupt Emperor and the Minister. A group who bloodied their hands so the people could get the Empire they deserved. They gave hope to the downtrodden masses, though none would dare speak of such praise aloud, especially with the Minister's eyes and ears everywhere in the capital. The revolution now had a chance and with their might combined, they would surely succeed in their mission.

But recently, tales have begun to float around of a man of unimaginable strength, speed and durability. These legends sounded far fetched at first especially when some accounts claimed that the punches this man had thrown, could blow a danger beast to bits, or take on an army of bandits with his bare hands. But as the days went on, the number of these accounts grew and their origins were getting much closer to the capital. The Minster, intrigued by these tales sent a small band of guards to intercept this man. He believed it a long shot at first, and believed it to be another rumour spread by the revolution and had no real reason to believe otherwise. Until a day after he sent those guards, their now battered and beaten yet still living bodies were carted in by one of the gate keepers.

"What is the meaning of this!? What happened to these guards!?" Yelled Honest.

"Minister Honest" the guard began, his voice clearly fearful of the report he now had to give "These are the guards you sent to intercept the man from the rumours. Before the last lost consciousness, he informed me that the man was indeed real and his power even more so."

The Minister Honest was shocked to hear this, but the Young Emperor, in his naivety was curious about the man. Surely one man should not have been able to beat a squad of his guards so thoroughly.

"Tell me" The Emperor began "Did they say anything else of this man?"

The guard swiftly answered "Just a name" He Paused for just a moment, clearly thinking about something.

"What are you waiting for man? Spit it out will you?" Honests' impatience flared.

"I'm sorry Minister but the name they gave me was so strange, I hardly think it could even be considered one." He paused for just a moment this time, figuring any answer would be a good one at this point. "They said his name is...

Popeye"

"Wham!" A raspy voice called out, followed by a thump and a crash. As if something massive had been struck and then hit the ground. Because something big DID hit the ground after receiving a walloping from a newcomer to the Empire. After being hit so hard in the guts that the danger beast had little choice but fold over due to the force of the blow.

The one who delivered this blow was not intimidating in stature, being that he was smaller than most others. But looks are deceiving and he frequently proves it through all the fights he's been in and all of the ones he'll get in.
His sailor's uniform was surprisingly clean and intact despite his current predicament. With a toot from his pipe and a small chuckle the sailor spoke, mostly to himself.

"I tells ya, these lizerds get bigger every year." It is unclear if the creature actually understood the sailor's unintended insult by believing  it to be just a big lizard but it responded with a rage filled bite all the same. This action was followed by a strong right hand delivering an upper cut punch to the beasts chin, effectively shutting the beast up for good as its skull was somehow forced out of the back of its head where the scales from the rest of the head formed a plaque the skull soon mounted itself on.
"That'll teach yas fer pickin on them wot'r smaller than ya."

The sailor turned around to face the men who were being attacked by the creature before his intervention. The first two, older gentlemen, were merchants and the owners of the carriage that was close behind them. The third was odd, he was a young man, skinny in build but average in stature. Brown, scruffy hair on top of his head and emerald eyes in his sockets. What got Popeye's attention though was the sword drawn and pointed in his general direction.
'Well, he won't be butterin no bread with that there blade.' Popeye thought. Why did this youngun have a sword? He looked way too young for it. 'Musta been a gifk from his Papy.' The sailor decided.

After the long moment of silence, the younger of the three finally yelled "How the hell did you DO that!?" This outburst stumped Popeye for a moment. Didn't anyone teach this kid that cussin' won't get him anywhere?

"Hey now, didn't yer mammy never teaches ya no mannerisms? There ain't no one who gots anywheres from nasty talkin." His tone was less angry, more authoritative. Like a parent trying to teach their child a lesson without getting the belt.

One of the other two men stepped forward, who Popeye later learned was a merchant, and introduced himself and his partner. They went on to tell him how grateful they are that he showed when he did and offered him a ride to the capital. Popeye, seeing no other alternatives, accepted the offer and rode alongside the younger lad with the sword.

"So" the lad began "How DID you do that to that danger beast?" Popeye thought of his answer just a moment before replying

"I gaves it a walloping" his tone was sure and resolute. As if that one statement could clear up any confusion in the boys mind. It did not. Instead the boy dead panned at the Sailors words. 'Is this guy dense?' The boy thought. "Well... my name is Tatsumi. What's yours?"

"Popeye" was the Sailors reply.

"That's an odd name for... just about anyone. You're not from the empire are you." Though he knew the answer, he felt it was appropriate to ask. "Naw, I ain't from no empire. Me ship done run aground after some water monster went a chewed me boat to bits." Their conversation carried on like this for the duration of the trip, with Tatsumi trying anything to get a reasonable explanation about where Popeye came from and how he obtained such a strength, but only receiving unintentionally vague answers. It wasn't much longer after that they reached the capital. And that's where the trouble started.