Who can we replace Kiya with, since she is apparently going to be Fleet Admiral? I kind of have a Devil's fruit that I'd like to see used for the new Admiral... ideas, anyone?

well we have Coby who is a good canident, helmpho , Jango XD , Hina , Monoga the list goes on

Hey guys I want to propose the creation of a new world super-power. Comment below whether or not you'd like to make it and be a part of it. I don't really mind if I have a character in the faction or not. Well we all know that there are the shichibukai (government lapdogs), the marines/world government and the yonko (emperors of the new world) so I wanted to introduce a new faction to rule over the the first half of the grand line. There can only be 3 princes at a time much like how there can only be 7 shichibukai and 4 yonko at a time.

Name: Pirate Princes

Synopsis: These are 3 crews that are incredibly powerful and they rule over the first half of the grand line a.k.a 'paradise.' The crews fear no one and each of them own a territory in the grand line.
Though not as powerful as the yonko they are still a big enough threat to be considered a super-power. They do much as they please, however they are closely monitored by the marines.

My post will be up soon I have decided to re introduce the black bird commanders I will be revamping them all so there will be Naraku keshou mitsukai kyojin and kamio as such I am going to do a three-fpur part mini arc of the history of karasu and karasu taking dressrosa =O if anyone has questions message me

[Enies Lobby; In front of Main Gate]

Krieg took a deep breath, filling his lungs with as much air as he could. His chest quickly inflated as he pushed himself to his feet, sending the rubble of that building that had toppled over him flying in every direction, creating a small crater as he landed back on the ground on his two feet. He released the breath he was holding at once and his entire body seemed to shrink slightly as a gust of air escaped from his mouth.

He then swung his fist out to the side, as if punching the air. The wind thrown from his punch flew out further than his actual fist, sending another shockwave through the air. Bug-Eye first looked at him in confusion before several agonized shouts echoed out as the shockwave sent several of his own crew members flying from the force of the attack.

“Shit!”

Bug-Eye shot forward quickly with soru as Krieg pulled back his fist again, preparing to throw another heavy punch. Bug-Eye made it in time to preventing Krieg from throwing the punch, grabbing on the sleeve of Krieg’s shirt to stop the momentum. But this turned out to be a big mistake; Krieg’s knee flew up without mercy, slamming right into Bug-Eye’s face with the force of a flying truck. Bug-Eye felt the strength leave his body for a moment as he went limp, his consciousness fading slightly.

Krieg took advantage of this split second of Bug-Eye’s lack of a proper response to move. His movements completely changed; he had been shifting his weight as if sliding his posture from side to side as the Muay Thai style demanded, but he completely ignored that as his movements became more fluid and sly, as if he were a snake gliding across a surface. He didn’t make a sound as he shifted his position below the airborne Bug-Eye, arms lowered as he kept his eyes on his target.

The move was minor and most people would have neglected it, but the change was enough to jar Bug-Eye out of his short state of unconsciousness, his mind alert as his entire body began to twist on reflex, trying to react to the oncoming attack.

The movement hadn’t been from Muay Thai, which meant Krieg had decided to change fighting styles. There was no telling what would happen if he was able to flexibly choose which style to use with whatever attack he liked.

As it was, Bug-Eye nearly fell into a wall of spears.

At least, that’s what it would have been like. Krieg’s arms became merely blurs as he performed shigan so rapidly, his fingers were piercing the air right below Bug-Eye hundreds of times before Bug-Eye could even reach the spot. A single body would be lacerated hundreds of times.

“Seigi no Hyaku Supiāzu!”

“KYOSEI!”

A loud ‘popping’ sound echoed through the air as Bug-Eye aimed his hands directly down at Krieg and fired a massive blast of air with all of his energy, mostly aiming to push himself out of the way of the deadly spears. Bug-Eye felt his ears pop as he was sent hurtling back through the air like a bottle rocket flying off in some errant direction with no control, his arms hurting from the amount of force he put behind the single blast. He landed on the ground unsteadily, feeling that his balance was thrown off as well as his hearing temporarily gone.

Bug-Eye didn’t have the chance to do a full body check, however. He could see Krieg hurtling toward him at full speed, charging like a train on its tracks as he closed the distance between them quickly. His entire body was tense with tekkai as he charged forward and Bug-Eye felt himself grimace as he saw that he’d failed to do any damage. This was the first time he’d ever seen someone harden all of their muscles for defense while springing forward. No amount of talent could explain it; this was something entirely inhuman.

Krieg Lector was definitely one of the monsters in the world. He was on a level completely different than the rest of CP9.

Bug-Eye pointed his fingers at Krieg and sent a barrage of compressed air bullets at him, but Krieg ignored them all, letting the weaker attacks bounce off of his body like nothing. Bug-Eye clicked his tongue as he braced feet and leaned forward, raising one arm up, ready to meet Krieg’s advance.

“Amugan!”

Bug-Eye’s fist met Krieg’s face in an attempt to use all of Krieg’s momentum against him, but this failed as Krieg completely vanished from sight, having evaded the perfectly aimed strike at the last second with soru. Krieg instantly reappeared much closer to Bug-Eye, having dodged inside the swing with his face close to Bug-Eye’s ear.

“You waste your talent on helpless pirates.”

“Amugan!”

Bug-Eye’s other fist shot up instantly with as much force as he could muster behind it, aiming to hit Krieg at point blank. Krieg raised one hand up with his fingers flat and quickly twisted his wrist as he pushed the hand against Bug-Eye’s attack, completely deflecting the attack to the side, sending the force of the blow flying off in a random direction. Krieg’s eyes remained on Bug-Eye, who stared back incredulously into those hard, merciless eyes that meant to kill.

Time seemed to slow down for Bug-Eye. He could see the small movement of Krieg placing his flat hands parallel to each other, the tips of his fingers pressed to Bug-Eye’s chest. Bug-Eye was trying to withdraw his hands so he could reposition himself and either block or dodge, but the movement was far too slow. He could already see that he wouldn’t make it.

“Rokuogan.”

The following shockwave was incredibly dense. So dense, there seemed to be a transparent wave that slowly moved through the air, as if it were more viscous than normal. None of the pirates, marines, or government members fighting nearby felt the shockwave pass over them even as it spread out far enough to envelope the whole island, only alerting the more attentive fighters. Bug-Eye’s eyes rolled to the back of his head even though he didn’t take any visible damage and a long moment of silence passed before he collapsed to the ground, not even twitching to catch himself.

Krieg sighed once more as he lowered his arms, staring down at the motionless body of Bug-Eye, as if waiting. Nearly ten seconds passed before he saw what he had been afraid of, and his eyes narrowed drastically.

“…He’s breathing?”

This boy was well trained. He could survive a technique that would easily destroy the opponent’s innards twice in such a short period of time. Even after suffering so much damage, a finishing blow was necessary to kill him off. He had potential; more potential than many of the others in CP9. It seemed like a shame to end his life so soon.

But on the other hand, it also seemed cruel to let him leave and annihilate his grew while he was unconscious. But since that fact wouldn’t change, perhaps there was a chance he’d come to his senses and join Cipher Pol once his other option was taken away?

Krieg looked at Bug-Eye one more time and sighed heavily once more, shaking his head.

“Not good. I can’t let myself become distracted from my mission. I have to purge the felons who would dare to take the holy land of Ennies Lobby. I’ll worry about the youth afterword.”

With that decision made, Krieg turned his back to Bug-Eye and focused his gaze on the surrounding pirates. Krieg would have to make the following cleanup swift.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Grandline; shore of an government owned island]

“Damn that idiot! Just what goes through his mind? I can’t keep up with all of his random whims like this!”

Trafalgar Law sighed irritably for what must have been the hundredth time as he stood at the edge of the unidentified island home to a government facility with a currently uncertain function. Trafalgar had been standing where he was for countless hours, his long nodachi propped against his shoulder as his hat shielded his eyes from the sun overhead. It wasn’t a particularly hot day, especially with the constant sea breeze blowing, but Trafalgar tended to dress for winter, so he was finally beginning to feel a little bit uncomfortable. Nevertheless, his irritation with the current situation turned to irrational pride that made him cope with it up to now, venting every now and then through the same repeated complaint.

Beside him, Gin the ‘Man-Demon’ sat on the shore with lazy posture, frowning deeply at the horizon. He kept a decent amount of distance from Trafalgar, leaving enough space between the two so that if the other tried to attack, there would be enough time to respond and counter. It was uncertain who had initially opted for this distance, but the way they both maintained it showed how little they trusted each other.

It was honestly impressive how long they’d managed to work together, even considering that they had no real bad experience with each other in the back. Whether it was for pride, rivalry, or some other reason like their personalities, warlords had trouble working together. The disaster that occurred here (despite succeeding in their task) was just another example of why these sort of alliances never worked.

Neither said a word when they spotted the approaching ship in the horizon, though they both did react. Trafalgar’s posture relaxed slightly as he unfolded his arms and rested one against his nodachi while Gin stood up from the ground, lifting his oddly shaped tonfa along with him. There was still some time before the ship actually managed to reach them, but they still chose to brace themselves earlier, preparing for any trickery.

“So what do you plan to do, Law?”

Trafalgar’s eyes shifted in Gin’s direction as the man spoke softly for the first time in hours. Gin continued to stare at the ship in the horizon and didn’t seem like the type to make small talk. Nevertheless, Trafalgar decided to humor him.

“I don’t like the way Locksley~ya acted. It left a bad taste in my mouth. I’m going to investigate a little bit and find out just what’s going on.”

“Should you just leave it alone? It doesn’t concern either of us.”

“I don’t know that. He hijacked our ride without warning even though we settled our differences already. There has to be some reason for that.”

“…Isn’t he just an idiot?”

Trafalgar didn’t have an answer to that. In truth, Cade Locksley was certainly a whimsical person who would do things simply for the sake of doing things. But his actions this time around were too weird, as if he was reacting to a bunch of stimuli that neither Trafalgar nor Gin had recognized. It made Trafalgar a little uneasy. He’d at least go as far as to check to see if there was anything he should be worried about. If it turned out to be something stupid and personal to Locksley, he’d just ignore it.

Gin observed the expression on Trafalgar’s face briefly before sighing, as if understanding the thoughts going through his head.

“…Do what you want. Just don’t drag me back into it.”

“I’ll make the decision of whether or not that’s necessary after I learn more. Don’t hold your breath, Man-Demon.”

Gin didn’t retort, likely due to his lack of interest in fighting with Trafalgar over something so stupid. The two of them remained silent as they continued to wait for their ride to pick them up.

The marine ship stopped further out in the ocean, dropping anchor before reaching the shallow slope where it couldn’t advance any further. A single boat was sent to the shore to pick up the two warlords and bring them to the ship. All things considered, it may have been smarter for Gin and Trafalgar to circle around the island to find the dock for ships. But it had been too late by time they considered that; neither wanted to make any deliberate movements when they were so suspicious of the other.

“I see the Shichibukai detest each other just like always. Gin and Trafalgar Law, I presume?”

One of the two figures on the boat began speaking as soon as they were within earshot, stepping off the front of the boat to hop onto the shore with impressive balance. They strode ride up to the two warlords without hesitation, as if unperturbed by their title or infamy.

Trafalgar immediately clicked his tongue upon seeing the person who approached them. There was no way to be sure of their exact features, as they wore a white cloak over a white suit that covered them from the neck down. Their face was hidden behind an odd red dragon mask that served much like a helmet, covering their whole head and hiding their hair from view. Several confetti shaped pieces of the mask hung from the mask, draping over their shoulders for added design—possibly an unnecessary display of eccentricity on the owner’s part.

Their companion was much the same, as far as being covered went. They were completely wrapped in white cloth in a style similar to that of Alabasta, though the culture seemed slightly different. Their head was covered by a white turban and they had a red oni mask over their face, hiding their features from view. This one appeared more relaxed than the first, pushing the boat onto the shore so that it wouldn’t float away before joining their companion.

The first one seemed to notice Trafalgar’s short, but indicative reaction to them.

“My, oh my. It seems we’re hated.”

“CP-0…What the hell are you doing here?”

“We’ve been given orders to see that you return to your desired destinations safely without any further issues. We were informed of Cade ‘Longshot’ Locksley’s errant actions and ask that you…ah, ‘forgive and forget’.”

In other words, in order to make sure the situation didn’t blow up into something irksome, the World Government sent members of the high leveled information unit to see to it that everything went smoothly. What a way to save face. This was one of those rare moments where those old men at the Gorosei seemed to be proactive, rather than reactive, to an extent.

“Sorry, but it’s not that simple.” Trafalgar shook his head as he remembered the irritation from the hours of waiting. “I won’t be satisfied until I know what Locksley is up to. He went as far as attacking me, after all.”

“I see. Well, I’m sorry to hear that. I suppose it’s only natural to hold a grudge after that.”

“I already know the answer, but I suppose you guys don’t know anything about it?”

“Tell you we don’t is the normal protocol, but you already know that we would say that even if we did know, right? Well, it doesn’t really matter if you believe us or not.”

The Cipher Pol agent held one finger up and pointed it directly at Trafalgar. More specifically, right at his chest. This agent was fairly tall, possessing a very lanky stature, so they had to point down slightly at Trafalgar.

“I will say it once more. ‘Forgive and forget’. That is not a simple saying, nor is it a request. It is an order. Knowing your personality, you’ll want to investigate Longshot’s actions and confirm that his motives aren’t anything that you should worry about. Allow me to put your mind at ease; it is none of your concern. You can go the rest of your life without knowing what went on in his mind and you will not be the least bit affected.”

Trafalgar’s eyes narrowed as he glared straight into the eye holes of the agent’s mask. Oddly enough, the mask itself seemed to have its own pressure, as if the symbolic form of a dragon actually had meaning. This agent was a professional; Trafalgar couldn’t garner anything no matter how hard he scrutinized.

“…Just what are you covering for this time, CP-0 agent~ya?”

“Who knows? Save that sharp and inquisitive nature of yours for something more constructive, Law. You have your orders.”

Indeed he did. But were they worth following?

Trafalgar’s eyes drifted from the agent in front of him to the companion behind the, who had remained throughout the whole conversation. His eyes then veered to the side toward Gin, who was observing everything without expression. There was no telling who he’d side with, but Trafalgar felt it was safe to assume that it wouldn’t be with him.

Now…how to go about this?

can I cointue on with law and gin I kinda wanted to do a small post with em and karasu of not its fine

On the topic of the fighting in Enies Lobby; from the looks of things, the Dragon Lance Pirates will probably be overwhelmed by the number of enemies present. I don't really mind how things go, but I don't mind letting some of the CP9 agents die in the fighting. So long as I get to keep Krieg and Ran, that is. While revising the profiles of the CP9 agents I have, that's basically what I've resolved myself to. Of course, if any of them (any meaning Waver, Vincent, or Spandack) do die, I intend to make sure it's done well and interestingly, for self-satisfaction.

[Follow My Captain! Bug-eye's Explosive Comeback]

As Bug-eye lay, partially unconscious, several reflections plagued him - or rather, he recalled a defining moment of his life, particularly in relation to his decision to become a pirate. The day he met the man he called 'Captain'... Rakki Tenshoku, the Captain of the Dragonlance pirates.

It was near the end of the day - evening was near. The pirates drew closer to the unguarded shack, though they seemed exercise a certain amount of caution, despite the fact that there was no-one in sight. Even so, the man in the dark cloak was unusually aware, more so than usual. The man he had met at the bar was a firm testament to that. He was strange - he didn't seem particularly interested in conversing, but Rakki was slightly more drunk than usual and equally as interested in talking to strangers, a custom that was rare these days, ever since the 35,000,000 bounty had been placed upon his head. He signalled to his Vice-Captain and motioned for them to approach, then he drew his cloak about, seemed to disappear for a moment, then re-appeared next to the door of the shack.

'Hurry up! I told you what he said... he's probably still drunk, so we can at least get some answers from him about what he let slip!' the cloaked man whispered urgently behind him.

'Okay, Captain... let's do it!' the Vice-Captain changed to hybrid form and the pirates followed him, as he walked right up to the door and, with his ultra-tough scales, smashed the door in. They flooded into the room, but halted swiftly, as they realised that the benefactor, of their unwelcome presence, was standing right there, looking much less than drunk.

'Shit. Captain!' the Vice shouted, looking at his men, as one of them suddenly was sent flying and the man seemed to disappear. 'This guy isn't drunk!!!'

The cloaked man appeared almost instantly, utilising his ability. 'It's okay, I'll deal with him... just keep watch for the Navy, okay?'

'What do you want? First you push your unwanted chatter on me, then you invade my house! Just what the hell are you doing here?'

The cloaked man stared back, a nonchalant look upon his face. 'I don't care to argue with you. I was drunk before, hence why I was acting the way I was... you see, you were also 'drunk' and I heard information that drew my interest... perhaps you should have declined the last drink and maybe we would have left you alone. So, is he here? Do you live with him?'

'I don't know what you're talking about. Who are you?'

'Someone that doesn't have your best interests at heart. My name is Rakki... and I think you know exactly what I'm talking about. There's two scenarios here - you are either lying to me, in order to protect him, or you drunk so much, that you don't even recall your earlier mistake. If you are playing dumb, I advise you to stop now and give me the answers I want.'

'Why should I? Even if you choose to attack me, I'm not so weak as to be unable to defend myself. It's your move... pirate...'

Rakki's face reflected the surprise, but it was only mild and it made no difference to his cause. 'The former CP9 agent... Jyabura... the tekkai expert. Is he here?'

Bug-eye's eyes narrowed - clearly he had been lying, since his face registered no shock. 'Then you leave me no choice, but to defend myself. Soru'

Now Rakki's face registered true surprise. A Rokushiki technique... so, this man truly was a relation to Jyabura... either a illegitimate son, or Jyabura's grandson. However, seconds later, he was propelled into the wall of the tiny, little shack. Rakki looked up the man. 'So, you can use the same abilities as him, too?'

'Don't act like you know about me, pirate... I may know Rokushiki and live with him, but only because he was a lonely, old man, who needed someone to keep him company - even though I detest him, I still owe it to him, as the last of my blood family... I couldn't just abandon him. What do you really want with me, pirate?'

'I'm going to take his head. You can't stop me. If I kill him, then my bounty will increase double. The Navy will know I am a significant threat and, in time, it will allow me to build up enough fame to grow stronger and challenge one of the Yonkou! Now get out of my way!!!'

The rest of that meeting seemed a blur to Bug-eye... he could barely even remember the reason he joined the Dragonlance pirates in the first place, even though it was only a year ago. However, Rakki had given him a purpose... to grow stronger... to finally do something with his life, instead of idolising Shanks and fawning over his decrepit grandfather. Follow my Captain! That's what I'll do... until he achieves his goal and he hold power and fame. I can't die here. I can't give up!

'DON'T YOU DARE TURN YOUR BACK TO ME, CP9!!!' Bug-eye snarled loudly.

Krieg turned, not believing. He was standing. He had taken a Rokuogan... and he was standing. What the hell was he made of? Krieg would have understood if it had been just a weak blast... the man standing before him wasn't a weakling... he was someone that could overshadow almost any of the current CP9, except Krieg himself... but, the Rokuogan attack? The secret ability of Rokushiki, deemed for only the strongest of Rokushiki users. This was unprecedented.

Bug-eye didn't waste any time, instead, he summoned the last of his failing energy and activated his mechanism. 'Hyakuman Pondo Tenkkugan!!!' In fact, he used Soru to make sure he didn't allow Krieg the chance to dodge, by closing in so he was only meters away. It hit Krieg and slammed into his ample mid-section, so that a massive area of damage opened and a spray of blood burst forward, but Krieg shot back like a rocket and hit the wall with a dull thud and an explosion of debris.

'You want to give up now, CP9?' Bug-eye snarled, even though he was barely standing and seemed to wavering on his feet.

Krieg didn't reply.

'Answer me!'

Krieg raised his head slightly, with great effort. 'Give up? Like hell!' He forced his body out of the wall and clambered to his feet lethargically.

'You can barely even move, you fool. Why not just give up?'

'Because... World Government gave me this position to fight pirates, not surrender to them. If you wish to continue, then kill me, if I don't kill you first. Otherwise, my very point in living will be shamed - I am the strongest CP9 agent since Lucci... in fact, I am even stronger than he was. Finish this fight, or I shall!'

'No. I have no intention of doing so. Why would I grant the wish of my enemy? You're finished. Next time, I will make sure that I personally destroy you.'

With that, Bug-eye used his Soru, picked up Johnny and landed, heading back to the ship. There was no resistance from Krieg - though he had been standing, he had fallen swiftly, with a final Shigan and a burst of almost-final strength. However, when Bug-eye appeared near the shore, where they had landed on the day island, he had collapsed into the ground, no strength to spare.

Damn, that man was strong! I need to get even stronger!!!

well I have a post coming up soon

(Gotta say, I'm not part of this, but it is extremely entertaining to read one of these rp's instead of being involved in it.)


Whiteflame: "Hmm. Haven't seen him for awhile."

BP: "Darn it! How did he find us?"

Wolfmaster: "Who the heck are you?"

BP: "He's...someone we used to rp with. He's a bit...er...odd."

Wolfmaster: "Hmm...alright. Well welcome. What's your name, kid?"

Wanta: "Me?"

Exorcist: "Oh no..."

Wanta: "I'll tell you who I am. I'll tell you alright!"

Exorcist: "This is going exactly where I think this is going, isn't it?"

Wanta: "I'm BAT-"

Exorcist: "Oh for the love of all that is holy!"

Wanta: "What?"

Exorcist: "Quit it with the Batman crud. We get it already. The joke is old. It wasn't even that funny in the first place."

Wanta: "How rude. I wasn't even going to say Batman!"

Exorcist: "Then what were you going to say?"

Wanta: "Um...I was gonna say...uh...bat.....Bat-uh..."

Exorcist: "Well? I'm waiting."

Wanta: "I'm thinking!"

Exorcist: "I knew it. You were totally going to say-"

Wanta: "Say what?"

Exorcist: "You know what. You were going to say that-"

Wanta: "I'M BATMAN!" *runs off*

Exorcist: "Dammit! Wantadog, you bastard!"

[Three-Way Stop]

“Bibibi. Bibibi. Bibibi.”

Tashigi blinked as she reached into her coat and pulled out her Den Den Mushi, surprised to see it was the one ringing.

“Gatcha.”

“Hello?”

“Good evening, darling. You can rest at ease; your soldiers are safe. For now.”

Tashigi’s free hand was instantly on her sword’s hilt, her face contorting into an expression that reflected deep anger and fury. Bradford’s body tensed as he immediately leaned closer in order to overhear the whole conversation.

“Who is this?”

“Ah, no! The cursed sound of a maiden losing composure! It’s quite the grating sound and a waste of such pretty vocal cords! Please, sing a more soothing melody, I beg you!”

“Don’t joke around! Where are my men and who are you?! Why did you kidnap them?! What is your goal?!”

“Now, now, I never said I was the one who kidnapped them. I’m just telling you the conditions for their safe return. You’re free to refuse, but their lives will be forfeit.”

Tashigi bit down on her bottom lip to suppress her rage. Bradford gave her an encouraging nod, mouthing ‘go along with it for now’ to her. Tashigi took a deep breath before speaking again.

“What are your conditions?”

“Ah, the melodious sound of a composed maiden covering up her cold anger. That’s much better on my delicate eardrums. My terms are simple; the warlord vanishes and the marines don’t investigate things any further. That’s all.”

Both conditions clearly had a motive involving circumstances Bradford and Tashigi didn’t understand. This person had kidnapped marine soldiers in order to threaten a Shichibukai? That was a more or less pointless effort. And what exactly did they not want the marines investigating? The island? The disappearance of said soldiers? That seemed a bit contradictory…

Tashigi glanced at Cade and paused for a moment. The young bounty hunter had lost his grin, now looking right at the Den Den Mushi with complete seriousness. Had he heard the conditions? Did he recognize the voice? It was too difficult to say for sure either way.

“The Shichibukai doesn’t listen to the orders of the marines. That condition of yours is too unreasonable.”

“Is it? Then I guess we’re done negotiating.”

“Wait! What do you plan on doing?!”

“If the negotiations fail, then I’ll just have to do away with the captives. That’s how these sort of things work, darling.”

“Hah!” Cade snorted at that, his grin returning to his face with mocking coloring his expression. “That’s rich! As if a Revolutionary would just kill people off ‘cause they don’t need them! You’re the ones who are fighting against that kind of tyrannical system! You’ll have to do better than that for a bluff!”

“A bluff?” Tashigi didn’t look too convinced. Her grip on her sword was still tight with anxiety. “Either way, I want my men returned. I would prefer to have them returned unharmed, but I cannot comply with your unreasonable demands.”

“So?” The voice remained relatively unabashed. “What will you do?”

“Hunt you down and force you to give them back.”

There was a brief moment of silence that followed, but it didn’t last long. In the very next second, all four pairs of eyes focused in a specific direction in the exact same moment.

As if in response to Tashigi’s provocation, a small amount of hostility had leaked out for a brief second, giving away the figure’s position. They could all barely make out a figure sitting on the roof of a distant building, able to look directly down at them without trouble.

In the same instant that they all managed to locate the perpetrator, Cade had drawn out one of his rifles and aimed directly at the distant figure with one outstretched hand.

Without any delay or hesitation, he pulled the trigger.

The figure’s head vanished, blown off from the shot that rang through the air.

“…It’s a bit late to say this now,” Dandelion’s eyes narrowed slightly. “But if you kill them, we won’t get our answers.”

“Don’t worry. I missed.”

Bradford found that hard to believe, considering he’d seen the figure’s head blown off from its shoulders. But Tashigi seemed to agree with Cade, drawing her sword fluidly out of her sheath.

The figure disappeared from sight abruptly, startling the four.

“I guess that’s that.” The voice still came through the Den Den Mushi, colored with disappointment. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you, darling.”

The transmission was cut off immediately following those words.

“Bradford, we need to find our men now.” Tashigi’s words were worded in a forceful order, but Bradford didn’t hear them. He was rocketing forward with all the strength in his legs, aiming straight for the spot they’d seen the figure disappear at full speed.

“He’s an excitable guy.” Cade chuckled as he tipped his hat up slightly, his expression already relaxed. “But he’s wasting his time. The person’s long gone.”

“You said they’re from the revolutionary army, right?” Tashigi turned toward Cade with a frown etched into her face. “Can you give me the details on that?”

“Shouldn’t you worry about finding your men first?” Cade challenged with a hint of defiance. “They’re probably in danger.”

Frustration crossed Tashigi’s face and Cade paused for a moment after seeing it, considering something.

“Well, I guess it can’t be helped. Dandelion, this is a pretty small island, so do you think you can handle things with your Kenbunshoku?”

Dandelion gazed at Cade expressionlessly, as if gleaning his thoughts with just her eyes.

“Have you gone soft?”

“Can you do it or not?”

“Of course I can. Just don’t do anything stupid while I’m distracted. If you make that vice-admiral make one scream or shed one tear when I’m not looking, I’ll murder you. Got it?”

“Wow! Zero faith!”

Well, it’s not like their relationship had much trust to begin with.

Well, I'm almost finished with this side...thing for Cade, which I'll probably use as a segue to finally introduce the TT Mercenary's Guild that I've neglected until now. We should probably talk about how we're going to have everything in Enies Lobby end and decide if we're going to transition to another arc or something afterword. That may be the first step to encouraging more frequent posting on the forum.

[Breaking]

The reason why Dandelion was chosen to keep watch over the capricious bounty hunter and warlord known as Cade Locksley was simple; no one else in the Kuja tribe would be able to track his movements across the map.

In fact, there were very few people in the entire world who would be able to track him if he really wanted to disappear. As a skilled hunter and tracker, he possessed incredible skills that allowed him to evade the eyes of any amateur with ease; all without using a supernatural power or devil fruit. Even if he was hidden nearby, he could expertly hide his presence that would take nothing short of a master martial artist or a user of Kenbunshoku to sense his presence.

Well, that was the rumor, anyways. Dandelion was skeptical about just who it was that had spread it to begin with.

In any case, it just so happened that Dandelion had extraordinary skill when it came to sensing with Kenbunshoku. A prodigy, some called her. A genius, others called her. Her control and finesse were above and beyond anything the majority of haki users possessed, a supreme rarity that would naturally have the World Government and other big shots coveting her talent. It was this talent that allowed her to join TT Mercenary’s Guild with ease.

If she focused, she could easily sense the vague direction in which of anyone she’d met before was located, though it would be impossible to grasp distance and altitude. Combined with her intuition, it would be enough to start tracking, slowly making her way in her target’s general direction. Once she felt she was close enough, she’d cut down her range severely to a limited amount of meters where she could literally ‘scan’ everything within range with amazing efficiency. It took time compared to most other tracking methods, but it was nearly 100% effective.

A small island like Furry Tail Island hardly took any time or effort to search. She’d pinpointed the location of each and every single member of G-5 and started off by leading Tashigi toward them.

Before leaving with Tashigi, however, she looked directly at Cade without expression on her face even as she made eye contact with him.

“Do not do anything stupid.”

“Yes, mother, I understand.”

If Dandelion hadn’t been more interested in helping Tashigi find her missing subordinates, she would have used violence in response to Cade’s annoying retort.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Ah, things didn’t go nearly as well as I hoped they would. Those animals won’t be able to handle those pretty faces. Even after I went through all of the trouble of thinking through this strategy and convincing them to help me~”

This complaint rang in a clear like a wind chime in a feminine voice that sounded unnaturally relaxed, contrary to the stress and concern the words reflected. Illumi sighed with exasperation as he stretched his arms over his head, showing off thin arms to match his small frame.

At first glance, Illumi’s gender would be a debatable subject. He was a small person, enough so that he could have been an underdeveloped girl. He had heavy makeup on to make his face as pale as a sheet, wore a strange outfit reminiscent of a jester with wide, poufy sleeves, a jester hat with several rings constricting the protrusions, and an extremely short skirt that created a straight circle, holding itself up above his cleanly shaven thighs that were sheathed in pattern stockings.

His appearance was clearly cleaner than that of other Newkama, who used their makeup in a far more messy way, and this resulted in him having an appearance that could actually be mistaken for a female. Illumi didn’t really find this to be a bother or an advantage; he simply did as his aesthetics dictated. It may have been because his body was more inclined to appear feminine, or maybe his ideal appearance was different from his fellows.

“Ah, but what a troublesome life I lead! Here I am, taunting and toying with a marine Vice Admiral and one of the seven warlords—the very pinnacle of insanity! One false step, and I die. But as the esteemed queen of the Kamabakka Kingdom—praise the beautiful and charismatic Queen Ivankov!—asked me for this favor personally, what choice have I but to do my best with my life on the line?”

Illumi spun accurately on the tips of his toes like a ballerina as he spoke in a melodramatic tone, sighing constantly as he held his hands out in exaggerated gestures, his every movement echoing his dramatic sighs. Once he finished, he allowed himself to fall back onto the bench behind him, sighing once more.

“‘Keep Longshot busy with every rumor that you can to keep his attention away from Ennies Lobby.’ Really…for the queen, I’d do anything. But I know that this request came to me through the queen from that man. Dragon…just the thought of him being near the queen frustrates me!”

Illumi’s teeth ground together as he swung his feet back and forth furiously, a look of misery now plastered to his face. Several people looked his way, viewing his monologue as a one man show. Illumi paid them no mind; if they smiled at his self-expression, then so be it. It was none of his concern.

“But to think that Longshot would actually find me so quickly…I spread enough false trails to lead him to the middle of the East Blue. And yet he found his way here so easily? It must be that woman’s fault, that Kuja. She also figured out the secret behind the intelligent animals here and found out where they hid the marines…At this rate, they’ll find me soon.”

The available options were limited. Illumi was sure that if he somehow managed to run away, he’d be hunted down quickly. Longshot had sharp eyes—no doubt, he’d seen his face in the short instant where he’d taken aim and fired at his head. And even if he didn’t remember the details clearly, that Kuja woman would probably make up for what information he lacked.

Surrendering would have the highest chance of saving her life. However, that would be graceless. With all of his threats proven empty and his escape routes closed, he would just give up? A revolutionary’s pride would be hurt. Illumi could already hear the earful he’d get from the others. Something along the lines of ‘staying strong until the end’.

“Don’t be ridiculous~” Illumi sighed as he laid his body on the bench and stretched his limbs out. “I’m not even technically a revolutionary. I pride myself in my beauty before all else. Getting this face carved up would be problematic~”

“I see. So I guess that means you give up easy if I threaten to smash that face of yours to pieces, you little freak?”

Bradford glared down at Illumi, cracking his knuckles threateningly as the veins on his bare arms popped, displaying the tension in his muscles. Illumi smiled beatifically at Bradford, giving a short giggle.

“Oh my, what a big and threatening man. You marines are really quite the sculpted bunch, aren’t you?”

“I’d be more than happy to show you just how ‘sculpted’ I am by rearrange that makeup covered face of yours.”

“Now I definitely feel threatened. Do you mind helping a poor little maiden out, Shichubukai?”

Illumi continued on in a flirting tone as he looked toward Bradford’s companion. It was very obvious that this revolutionary would get no mercy from either of them.

“Boy, do I have a crap load of questions for you, crossdresser.” Cade’s grin widened as his eyes met Illumi’s. “And let me let you know; I’m the good cop. The sexy female bad cop will be here any minute and will put the hurt on both of us because she doesn’t know how to discriminate. So I suggest you spill your guts before she comes and spills them for you.”

Ah, finally finished it. So now Cade is free for wherever the story goes, depending on what we do. I'll post the details of TT Mercenary's Guild on the New Characters forum.

[An Uncertain Conclusion]

Their destination was apparently an abandoned pet food factory. It’s presence on the island was unsurprising; they had to make the food for the pets somehow. But not all of the factories they had functioning from the beginning remained necessary as their efficiency increased. Several of the pet owners of Furrytail Island took care of their pets far too well, many feeding the animals normal food as if they were humans, making most pet foods obsolete. A competitive market had pretty much crushed this factory underfoot, leaving it empty and abandoned in a part of the island where no one would venture.

The perfect place to hide a small group of marines from sight.

“Did they real get kidnapped by a bunch of animals?” Tashigi muttered under her breath as she and Dandelion headed straight through the rusted entrance to the factory. “It may not be uncommon for some species of animals in the Grand Line to be stronger than humans or possess intelligence, but G-5 is experienced. They should have been able to handle themselves.”

“But they didn’t.” Dandelion replied shortly, eyes focused on the dark space ahead. “Barbaric men like them tend to be incompetent. I don’t see how you can stand to be around them for more than five seconds. Don’t you get tired of being harassed?”

“Despite their…er…’roughness’, they are good people. They honestly believe in the justice that they fight for and fight against pirates entering the New World with all of their strength. Though they can be loud and boisterous at times, they’re also sincere. I’m proud to be able to work with such people.”

Dandelion didn’t respond, though she did glance back at Tashigi, unable to believe that this Vice-Admiral really thought that way. Dandelion had seen those men. They were beasts in human clothing; slow, dumb, and shallow-minded, believing in a justice they were raised to believe in. Honestly, since they had been kidnapped by some cats and dogs who happened to possess human intelligence, they really were at the bottom of the totem pole.

But Tashigi’s expression showed that she saw something else in those men. She must have seen them as important comrades, looking past their faults and seeing the good in them.

Such naivety was dangerous in a marine, but at the same time, it was nice to see. Dandelion felt her own cold expression soften slightly as she decided to acknowledge this vice-admiral. If only there were men who were as reasonable as this one.

“Stop.”

Dandelion threw her hand out abruptly as she came to a stop, preventing Tashigi from advancing any further. Tashigi gave a sidelong glance at Dandelion curiously.

“What is it? Do you still sense them?”

“They’re here.” Dandelion assured as her eyes narrowed slightly. “And so are the animals. They’ve surrounded us and plan to ambush us. It looks like they’re going to overwhelm us with numbers.”

Tashigi shifted slightly behind Dandelion in response to that, but Dandelion didn’t even look at the marine’s expression to feel the surprise. Dandelion was used to this; there was rarely a single person who wasn’t impressed when they first saw Dandelion display her skill with Kenbunshoku. While haki was a requirement for vice-admirals, it seemed that such a high level of mastery was something hard to come by and rarely seen among their ranks.

“Draw your weapon.” Dandelion noted that her tone sounded a lot like an order, but dismissed the guilt right away. “But don’t attack them.”

“I didn’t plan to.” Tashigi assured as she pivoted on one heel and pressed her back to Dandelion’s. It seemed she understood basic tactics. “But how are we going to handle them?”

An excellent question. There were exactly twenty large dogs surrounding them and exactly a dozen cats slinking around them, no doubt looking for an opening to attack in the darkness. If things were simple and straight forward, Dandelion could wipe them all out easily. No doubt, Tashigi could do the same, leaving nothing but corpses with heads lopped off by her blade. But these were pets that belonged to families on the island. Killing them would no doubt make a mother or young girl cry their eyes out. That made it difficult for Tashigi. She might be able to use the back of her blade, but facing attacks from all directions with that handicap would be difficult. She might even accidently kill one by mistake if she wasn’t careful, which would leave Dandelion covering her back the whole time.

What an annoying limitation.

“Forget what I said, Vice-Admiral.” Dandelion shifted her weight from one leg to the other as she clenched her hands into tight fists. “Sheathe your sword. Instead, do you have any disinfectant on you?”

Tashigi was stunned by this question; she paused for a beat before responding.

“No, I don’t. But a few of my subordinates will be carrying extra supplies on them.”

Gross. Dandelion almost rather have dealt with the animal slobber.

“…I guess that’ll do. Just stand where you are and watch my back.”

With that, Dandelion was moving, not giving Tashigi the chance to respond. Dandelion raised her arms up without taking any particular combat stance—she had never taken a day of real martial arts training in her life—and gritted her teeth as she felt canine teeth pierce her skin as the full strength of its jaws clamped down with a few thousand pounds of force, easily drawing blood. Dandelion’s eyes had yet to get use to the darkness, but she could imagine the size of the animal just by feeling its weight and force behind the bite.

She relaxed her fist in proportion to the durability she guessed this animal possessed and punched the dog’s side mercilessly at point blank.

A squeal echoed through the air as the pressure behind the dog’s bite vanished and its body fell to the ground. Dandelion sighed as she flexed her fingers a few times with a frown.

She’d thought she’d need to do that a two or three times to get it right while killing the first one or two. It looked like this was going to be easier than she thought.

Dealing with the rest of the animals was easy. No matter from what direction they came from, Dandelion’s Kenbunshoku put her a few steps ahead, evading the attacks fluidly and allowing her to catch them in mid-lunge with her bare hands before forcing them into submission with either a stranglehold or light blow to the side to cripple them. It took less time than she’d expected; though the animals supposedly had human intelligence, they weren’t smart enough to avoid making the same mistake those before them made. Granted, it was probably their capacity to feel pride, anger, and desperation that made them continue to foolishly throw themselves at an opponent they couldn’t beat.

Dandelion almost felt sorry for them.

“They aren’t drugged.” Dandelion declared as she kneeled over the last dog who had attacked her, pressed her knee to its neck to form it to lie on the ground. She observed every inch of its body and stared into its eyes, having finally gotten accustomed to the darkness. “I can confirm that these animals are definitely intelligent, though I wouldn’t put them on the level of an intelligent human.”

“Did you really do this without killing any of them?”

“Probably.”

Dandelion’s reply was short and disinterested as she knocked on the dog she had pinned beneath her and stood up. She remained still for a brief moment, scanning their surroundings to see if there were any new enemies, her shoulders relaxing when she sensed none.

“Let’s go. Your subordinates are on the other side of that door.”

Tashigi looked hesitatingly at the animals lying on the floor with obvious reluctance in her eyes, but her concern for her subordinates won out in the end. She sighed as she strode off in the direction Dandelion pointed, trying to hide her frustration. Dandelion was amused by how hard Tashigi seemed to be trying. It had really been a long time since she’d seen such an earnest person.

The door Dandelion had been referring to was apparently a large shutter that could be pulled up or down, depending on whether or not the space behind was needed. Tashigi tried to open it a few times, but it refused to budge after years of being left alone. There was a decently sized hole in one corner that had likely been made for the animals to go through, but getting through that would have required the two women to get on all fours and crawl.

Tashigi opted to cut through the shutter with her sword instead.

After widening the hole so she could walk through easily, Tashigi hurried inside, instantly met by a chorus of relieved ‘CAPTAIN-CHAN!!!’

Dandelion peeked inside and frowned at how much darker it was in this room. There was literally no source of light except from the hole they had created to come through. It didn’t look like the marines were gagged or bound in any way; they had all been sitting on the floor, moping around irritably. They had likely assumed they were trapped, unable to find the hole they’d been brought through in the darkness. No doubt, she’d find hundreds of slash marks on the shutter’s surface from their futile attempts to cut through.

And after all of that, these useless men were clutching happily to Tashigi with tears in their eyes, looking for any excuse to grab onto the vice-admirals bodies. Dandelion was quickly reminded of why she disliked men. They literally had no shame and their intentions were as transparent as thin air.

Dandelion shook her head back and forth in exasperation, getting ready to turn and leave the marines to their reunion. She stopped short as something caught her eye, drawing her attention to a certain spot on the floor. She barely noticed it out of the corner of her eye, and it must have been practically invisible in the darkness from before. Dandelion moved to pick it up and frowned as she realized what it was.

“…So that’s how it is, huh?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cade didn’t like the look on Dandelion’s face.

Tashigi, on the other hand, looked thrilled. She continued to show her gratitude to Cade, even bowing once, only to have all of G-5 panic and demand that she raise her head while throwing her dirty glares. Cade had shot them all a smug look, intentionally infuriating them, and laughed as they threw as many curse words as they could at them. They were pretty energetic for having just been recused from being kidnapped.

Bradford was pretty reserved. He was glaring at the restrained revolutionary and Newkama, Illumi, as he held the other hand of the chain that was tightly wrapped around Illumi’s body. Seastone handcuffs had been used to restrain Illumi’s wrists and Bradford had already threatened the Newkama on numerous occasions that he wouldn’t hesitate to use corporal punishment for the slightest bit of resistance. But even after all of that, Illumi remained calm and serene, winking at the marines once the two groups met up again, and giggling as he received numerous stink eyes.

Dandelion, alone, acted differently than Cade had expected. Cade was prepared to be threatened, admonished, and even physically abused for whatever reason as Dandelion took out her frustration on him. No doubt, she was annoyed with having had to save a bunch of ugly men for no pay. He’d certainly feel annoyed. It even seemed like she’d been hurt; she had a bandage wrapped tightly around one of her forearms.

But rather than acting as Cade expected, she remained quiet as she continued to watch his expression, as if analyzing his mood and reading his thoughts. It made Cade a little uncomfortable, though he hide it by teasing the marines repeatedly.

Eventually, the marines took their leave, taking the newly arrested revolutionary with them, leaving the warlord and his ‘underling’ alone together. Cade regarded Dandelion hesitantly, almost afraid to bring up the topic.

“So…Dandelion…you doing dandy?”

“Did you really miss my fist in your face that much? I don’t mind making you regret it right now.”

“Sheesh, I was just wondering how your arm was doing. I didn’t think you’d show up injured. I'm kind of shocked, is all.”

“This?” Dandelion looked at her bandaged arm as if she’d completely forgotten about it. “Those idiots were just being overly enthusiastic. I got bitten by a dog, but it was way too weak to come even close to cutting through my muscle and sinew. But I was worried about the germs, so I had them disinfect the wound. I told them I only needed the wound cleaned, but they felt they knew better and bandaged it anyways. I had to remind him of just who it was that knew better.”

“With force?”

“With force.”

How…ironic.

“So everything turned out okay, then?”

Dandelion looked sideways at Cade and he gave an awkward grin. A long moment passed as she seemed to consider something and she sighed as she raised her hand and snapped her fingers. A snake peaked out from beneath her clothes and slithered up her arm, wrapping around her forearm as it stretched its head out to place to object in its mouth at Dandelion’s open palm. Cade looked at the object curiously before his eyes bugged out of his head as he realized what it was.

Thin, slender, and made of some kind of stone…could it really be…?

“I found this where those animals were keeping the marines. I bet they’ve been protecting this thing for centuries, which explains their apprehension to strangers on the island. Since this country is pretty peaceful, it seemed they’ve become pretty weak when it comes to defending, though. In any case, I doubt anyone would have come to this island searching for it.”

“My god, you’re a goddess of fortune, Dandelion! This will bring in so much money, I’ll be able to go to an auction house and outbid a Celestial Dragon just to mock them! It’s a dream come true!”

Cade grabbed at the object in Dandelion’s hand, but she abruptly clenched her hand like a steel trap and pulled away, making Cade pull his own hand back for his own safety. He thought at first that Dandelion was messing with him as usual, but the look that she gave him made it clear that she was not planning on giving it up easily. He sighed miserably as he anticipated what was coming.

“…What do you want for it?”

“Oh? You’re willing to pay for it? I thought the only things of value to you were money and women? Why would you give up your first priority for a measly piece of crap like this?”

“Don’t tease me, Dandelion. Just tell me what you want and I’ll meet you in the middle.”

Dandelion didn’t respond. Her grip on the object tightened drastically and the veins on her fist popped, displaying the amount of strength she was going to use to crush it brutally. A look of pain crossed Cade’s face as he moaned in defeat.

“Fine! Okay! As long as it’s not money, I’ll give it to you! Just please, have some mercy!”

Dandelion’s fist relaxed, nodding as she heard what she wanted. She held the object loosely between her thumb and forefinger, swinging it casually while still far enough to keep Cade from touching it.

“Give up on the Nikyu Nikyu no Mi.”

“…That’s funny. Your jokes are really getting better. But let’s be serious, Dandy.”

“I am being serious, retard. Open your eyes a bit. I don’t care how attached you are to that devil fruit; you’re walking on a very thin line right now. The government tolerates you for two reasons; because you’re skilled and because you’re the one who holds the mercenary’s guild together. On the other hand, the mercenary’s guild benefits immensely from the amnesty the world government gives us. The government understands that; that’s why they’re helping to cover your tracks. But I get the feeling that if things go any further, they’ll give up and just revoke your title. Do I even need to explain why I can’t have that happen?”

“...Fair point. But. I have a plan for that.”

“Don’t try to bullshit your way out of this.”

“Have you ever heard of ‘plausible deniability’, Dandy?”

Dandelion’s glare showed that she wouldn’t tolerate Cade’s jokes. He sighed as he raised his hands up in defeat.

To be fair, he’d expected something like this to happen. He’d taken things into deep consideration already. He loved the mercenary’s guild and would hate to see it fall apart. That was why he’d carefully thought about how far he could go with his over the top search. He’d just hoped he would have found the devil fruit before he was forced to stop searching for it.

A few years ago, he wouldn’t have cared about anything and would have just severed ties with the government himself in the best interest of personal freedom. It was things like this that made him feel old.

“Alright, Dandy. You win. I’ll stop looking for the Nikyu Nikyu no Mi so recklessly. But in return, you can’t tell the guys back at the guild what I was looking for. If they find out, they’ll have my ass and will start looking for the fruit just to sell it and spite me.”

“If you break your promise, your ass will be the least of your worries.”

Dandelion tossed the small object into the air and Cade caught it enthusiastically, looking closely at it as he confirmed that it was the real thing. His grin widened as a small sense of victory welled up inside of him.

“Wealth and prosperity, here I come.”

“Quit drooling, you idiot!”

AAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLRRRRRRR­RRR­RRR­RRR­III­III­III­III­III­III­III­III­IIG­GGG­GGG­GGG­GGG­GGG­HHH­HHH­HHH­HHH­HHH­HHH­HHH­HTT­TTT­TTT­TTT­TTT­TT !!!!!!!! let's get this post over with !!! =) been a long couple of days sorry for the wait hope you enjoy. if you guys have any questions just message me or we could make a group on facebook or something about this.








-Military Struggle Final part-

-Fake rise of a new Ruler part 1-





-The Violence between CP-9 with the joined forces of the Marines against the dragon lance pirates had almsot escalated to all out war. It was A tuff battle for both sides. Each core member of the crew being pined against nearly unbeatable foes-


-Within the tower of justice the mighty structure stood many bodies littered the might structures floors. A large blast of Wind shot seemingly out of nowhere knocking out some unsuspecting Marines two bodies could be seen in admits the smoke and debris that littered the now tarnished hallway. the one man had long since lost conciseness. the Other stood up rather weakly barley making it to his knees. Holding a double bladed Katana. It was Jhonny of the Dragonlance priates the one beside him with no fight left was Jimmy , A man came out of the smoke he had some debris lightly dusted on his face he merely laughed at the two pirates-

"Risked five minutes of my time on that ?" -This man was Karasu of the Schibukai- "How pitiful , I Will let you both go consider this the first defeat of the Dragon lance pirates. Before you ask why I'm not taking you captive. I have nothing to gain from you anymore you've bored me Jhonny."

-Jhonny gritted his teeth at this point he knew his options were to take the loss with a heavy heart or die here in honor of his Captain and the Name of the dragon lance pirates. the burning hate turned into a blissful joy he started to laugh- "Fine, But wait for us in the new world AND I SWEAR ON THE JOLLY ROGER HELD ON OUR SHIP YOU WON'T DEFEAT ME THIS EASILY WHEN NEXT WE MEET YOU GOVERNMENT DOG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" -Jhonny Stood up with tears falling from his face As Karasu turned toward him with Scorn and disdain upon his face before Jhonny could react Karasu was behind him he smiled devilishly and spoke softly "Very well Pirate, grow so I can knock you back down a again." -The re-sheathing of a blade could be heard blood sprayed from Jhonny as he fell to the ground-

-Karasu looked back over his shoulder toward Jhonny's direction- " such mellow drama but still , Seek me in the new world young pirate. " -Karasu walked off-





--------------- Shores of Dress Rosa-----------



-A ship could be seen off in the distance just to the right of the city's main dock a man with a spear was sitting on the mast A large black flag with the symbol of a skull with two boned wings behind it's head could be seen the man had one leg hanging off as it swung back and fourth he looked bored as though he was waiting for something in his right hand was a Den-Den-Mushi he looked as though he was awaiting it's call he looked off into the Yonder of the Oceans Horizon as the late after noon breeze brushed up against his face he sighed then spoke softly- "Come on call us already you Moron, you always take you're time."



-END-

I'm not sure when I'm gonna have a post up; I've got a lot on my plate with college right now so as soon as I get a break I'll have one up.

Same here. In two weeks I will have a comp, so I'll post some stuff up then.

Exorcist: Two weeks, he says. What a facetious person he proved to be.

Bp: But amazing helpful, nonetheless. Eight days I have saved, now I begin this process we call writing again. How delightful.

Whiteflame: Yet, you haven't written anything in ages.

Bp: Works are in progress, Mr. Flame. Good things take time.

Exorcist: That's how it usually goes... yet, you're going to prove that wrong, because it will just end being utter garbage, won't it?

Bp: Utter garbage? Unforgivable. I won't allow you to talk trash about my writing. Right now, I'm the author, so I can do whatever I like... whether it is to shape change, or destroy my trash talking foes, the result will be the same. Wiped away! Ugh...

(Dart strikes Bp in back, Wantadog grinning)

Wantadog: These things sure came in handy. I bet he never predicted this outcome.

Exorcist: (roll eyes) Sure...

Wantadog: Refer to me by my name, fool!

Exorcist: This again? I told you before, I'm not buying this Batman crap... you've used it too many times and it's old.

Whiteflame: Well... I still like Batman. Just more so than Wantadog as Batman. He's only done this a couple of times, plus they were a long time ago, back when we were on the Clan War... we've advanced pretty far these days...

(Bp rises up)

Bp: And, I'm back. Wantadog, you bastard! Ima get you for that one.

I apologize for the short post. It took me a while to finish this one out, and the other things on my mind are incomplete at the moment, but I figured this would be a good thing to post just to wrap up a fight and, perhaps, set up a new one.

[The Fallen]

So eyelids were pointless after all. He might as well have been staring through a pane of glass and hoping for some protection. Simiao drowned in pain, and then floated in nothingness. Was he standing? Had he fallen? He couldn't say. There was no sensation. Even the effects of the drug seemed a distant memory, as though his brain somehow existed outside of the rest of his nervous system.

Was there fighting going on around him? He could no longer perceive it, but somehow the images came to him. There was his crew, rallying around him with arms outstretched to draw him out. Not that it mattered what they did, or even if they were really there. His body wouldn't respond. It was all so foolish in the first place. They all had their own worries, especially Rakki. Wasn't he here to save someone important to him? He was probably fighting right now.

Hadn't Simiao been fighting as well? That didn't sound like him, but he distinctly remembered it. Not that he could remember it – memories were inconsistent, turning to liquid in his hands every time he tried to grasp them. He couldn't remember being in pain. He couldn't even remember what pain was.

He wanted to close his eyes, to sleep. Why couldn't he close his eyes?

Distantly, some measure of sensation returned to him, though it was as if he were watching a movie of himself rather than experiencing it. Time seemed to crawl along at a snail's pace, his body still falling backward through the air currents behind him. It was so weightless, as though the winds pushing at its back could push it upright again.

There was a thud. And then another. A third. Had something hit him? He couldn't feel it. There was no flare of pain, no sensation as something pierced his skin. But the image on the screen turned red.

-----------------------------------------­---­---­---­---­---­---­---­---­---­---­---­---­---­---­---­---­-

Sergei was light on his feet – literally. He barely seemed to touch the ground as he moved, pouring his weight into a steel bracer to increase his pace.

He ran through streets crowded with people, flashing past them like a blur and barely even bothering to maneuver around them when someone got in his way. Several Marines shouted after him, but none could manage to follow him, and he quickly outpaced any of the ones who sought to catch him. Gunshots couldn't be aimed quickly enough, and bullets seemed such sluggish things anyway.

Hurrying off into the unknown. His time with the Revolutionaries had taught him to accept that, yet it was times like these, as he sprinted off towards dangers unknown, that he truly felt as though he'd abandoned any bit of rational sense. He believed in Dragon, but it was difficult to accept that something like this was necessary with only someone's instruction as a guide. Too much of the histories Sergei knew were replete with tyrannical leaders who believed they were always correct, and he would be a fool not to learn from them.

But he'd always been a fool, and he wasn't about to change so long as he was under Dragon. The irony of living as he had, focused on the past and spreading its many lessons and yet experiencing the confirmation bias of knowing that his leader was different, was not lost on him. But he'd long since come to believe that Dragon wasn't like other leaders. He didn't desire power, had no thirst for leadership beyond that which was necessary to accomplish his true goals. What those goals were... that was still lost on Sergei, even after all these years.

It would probably have been safer to stick with Sabo, but then, Sabo had his own navigator, and Dragon only trusted Sergei in this.

Something zipped by his head. Despite his speed and perception differences –gained from draining weight into iron, tapping lightly into steel for a boost of speed, and lightly into zinc for mental acuity – he was unprepared for the rapidly moving spines which hurtled towards him. They were simple to dodge as he moved further, their accuracy leaving something to be desired, as he appeared not to be their target.

Sergei came upon the culprit shortly, a giant beast that appeared to have nothing in common with a human. He tapped his copper, searching for similar images, and found one within the confines of his mythology, a creature known as a manticore. The clothing, stretched tightly over its skin, marked it as a Devil Fruit user, and more importantly, as a Marine. His attention seemed distracted and his aim atrocious, but he was an obvious threat. He launched himself high into the air, tapping into pewter to enhance his physical strength and retreiving as much physical weight as he could hold. He crashed down on the beast as it turned, slamming a heavy, meaty fist into its right temple. It gave a gasp of shock before collapsing to the ground in a heap, its body reverting to that of a normal sized human.

Sergei allowed his size to revert to normal and his weight to drop below, taking a brief look around. Spines had pierced through many of the buildings in the vicinity, though all were abandoned due to the fighting. There was only one victim, and unfortunate pirate that seemed quite dead. His body had been pierced multiple times, though the shots appeared to miss vital organs. He bled slowly onto the ground beneath him, as though his blood was clotting much more quickly than was normally possible, but it would be enough to drain him with time, even if he still had life in him. Sergei had neither the time nor the inclination to assist. More important things met his gaze in the distance. A man walking with a coat that looked like it was made of black feathers strode towards the harbor, which just happened to be along this path.

Damn that Dragon.

I have three posts written and couldn't decide what order to post them in..I guess I'll post with my CP9 characters in the next one.

[Deviled Approach]

Mariejois was truly a grand place. The experienced soldiers patrolling every inch of it were the most skilled of the most competent, superior even to those stationed at the Marine HQ, where the Fleet Admiral resided. Sitting atop the Red Line, it served as the only known path to take to get from Paradise to the New World, with the exception of going to Fishman Island and travelling beneath the wall called the Red Line.

The hallways through the grand buildings were polished and clean enough that you could legitimately eat off of them without fearing dirt. The air was fresh and clean and nothing seemed to be out of place. It was, after all, the place where the people known as ‘Celestial Dragon’—who would go as far as to wear suits to protect themselves from breathing common air—resided.

Namikiji didn’t like this place. Mariejois was no doubt beautiful, and she appreciated it greatly. But she also knew of the cruel underlying darkness. Slaves were kept in this Holy Land, though she dared not search for them. This was also the place where the Shichibukai occasionally met; assuming any showed up to said meetings. The beauty was simply a clever cover used to blanket the stench of hypocrisy that acted under the term ‘necessary evil’. Though, Namikiji was well aware that she belonged here. She was deeply entrenched in the evils of the side that stood for ‘justice’ and even justified their methods and goals. Despite knowing the truth, she did nothing to stop it. She even believed that what they were doing was right and just, and the only realistic option they had. Sometimes, she stopped to wonder just where she’d left her integrity behind, or if it was really beside her all along.

CLACK

The sound of Namikiji’s heels clicking against the polished floor echoed through the empty hallway as she strode forward, her chin held high in an attempt to keep her mind geared on what she came here for, rather than for her personal feelings on what she knew was around her. What really bothered her was the fact that she was here, of all places. Needless to say, at this exact moment, there was an important place for her to be that dearly needed her attention. If only she’d been more attentive from the very beginning, no matter the excuse—

“Sakuya, huh? Just what the hell are you doing here when your subordinates are fighting? Did you come to find some treats to munch on?”

Namikiji swiveled her head in the direction of the person who suddenly spoke to her and began coughing delicately as a cloud of smoke covered her face, filling her lungs as she inhaled.

Admiral Smoker had turned the corner just as she passed by and was striding alongside her, apparently impatient to get to the same destination as her. Because her stride was longer due to her superior height, she had to slow down slightly so they could walk side by side. It was only now that Namikiji really acknowledged the fact that Smoker was actually fairly short compared to his predecessors, though that wasn’t to say he was actually a short person on his own.

Judging from the annoyed expression on his face, he was not in a good mood.

“I told CP9 to be on standby and now they’re being attacked. I expect that they’ll defend Enies Lobby properly with their lives on the line, just as they would at any other time.”

“Let me guess; you requested permission to sortie but they refused to let you go.”

Namikiji didn’t respond at that. Her lips thin with her grimace as she continued to stare straight ahead. Smoker sighed irritably, letting a stream of smoke curl through the air behind them, left behind by their rapid pace.

“I figured as much. You’re here to complain. Whatever your problem is, you can give that old man a piece of your mind after me; I have a load of things I want to ask. They’re already sending Fujitora down there, so I can understand why we’re not being sent to handle those no-name pirates, but it still seems pretty half-assed.”

“Fujitora was sent? I see. I didn’t hear about that. I only just came back, so I haven’t heard any of the more recent developments.”

“Really? Then I guess you haven’t heard that some ships with unidentified flags are hanging around Enies Lobby. You’d probably know more about them than me.”

“Unidentified…flags?”

Namikiji frowned as she repeated that, her brow furrowing. Could it be…

“..Revolutionaries?”

“A few ships were spotted separate from the pirates’ ships that are attacking the island. That newbie warlord, Lucia Lawson, apparently engaged them alone. But even though they’re there, they don’t seem to be actively helping the pirates. There’s really no telling what those people are there for.”

Namikiji didn’t respond. She couldn’t understand what the revolutionaries would be doing at that island. Were they affiliated with the pirates? But then, why weren’t they assisting in the attack? Were they only watching, waiting for something to happen for their advantage? Namikiji couldn’t imagine what. No matter how long they waited, there was no way they’d be able to sneak through the Gate of Justice with Ran Fall there. They must have been after something else, but Namikiji couldn’t think of anything that would be of value to them.

Such eccentric and unpredictable action could only be due to the orders of Dragon himself. He might even be there personally. In all honesty, this situation looked ideal. With an admiral and his fleet on their way to Enies Lobby, along with the marines and government agents already present, there was a good chance that they might be able to actual a good number of important members of the Revolutionaries, perhaps even Dragon himself.

All the more reason to talk to the Commander-in-Chief directly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This could legitimately be called a victory for the pirates. Even with a whole fleet of marine ships boarded with several high ranking members of the marines, plus an admiral and two warlords, the marines had failed to make it to the Pirate King and attempt to eliminate him. Granted, this came at the cost of several pirate crews that had been taken in by the current Pirate King’s charisma being annihilated en route, but the situation had become fairer once a massive ship bearing the flag of the Azure Pirates entered the fray. It soon became an odd battle for who could stall the best as both sides attempted to retreat. It was clear that neither side was interested in a death battle and wanted to spare as many lives in the end, but their conflicting goals made that difficult. It wasn’t until the second ship bearing a well-known flag appeared that the marines gave up and backed off, knowing that they had bitten off more than they could chew. So they’d promptly and smartly retreating, deciding to prioritize the safety of the younger marine soldiers over a vain attempt to save face.

In that sense, Martel Every had to respect the reasonable personality of the Cipher Pol Admiral who’d made the decision. Had she insisted on drawing out a fight just to maintain some self-imposed pride in the name of ‘justice’, things might have gotten ugly.

Even so, she couldn’t relax yet. As things stood, they could still get very, very ugly.

It was one of those rare moments where two Yonkou happened to meet face to face, after all.

Martel was flanked by two people who’d only come out from within the boat now that the fighting had ceased, however temporarily. Had they participated in the fighting from the beginning, the marines might have called reinforcements to handle the increased enemy manpower, which would have lowered the possibility of them retreating. Thank god for Björn’s tactical mind.

To Martel’s left was a beautiful young lady wearing a flowing-yet-still-slender dress designed with multicolored fish scales, possessing a striking face, curvaceous body, and vividly colored hair that would make one wonder if she was even mortal. A long string of pearls wrapped loosely around her forehead, shoulders, arms, waist, and legs to serve more as a piece of odd jewelry than to constrict her.

To Martel’s right was a tall, broad shouldered man wearing what appeared to be a stuffy older style of a pilot’s outfit, complete with the high boots, thick belt, thick uniform, leather hat, and goggles, standing with his arms folded tightly in an almost protective manner.

These two were the second and third division commanders of the Azure Pirates, respectively. Also, in the same order, they were a mermaid and Birkan who happened to be two of Martel’s favorite crew members.

Naturally, ‘Vice-Captain’ Reykjavik stood over all three with his incredible size, squatting slightly so that he didn’t block the sun’s light that shined down on everyone below.

Directly across from Martel and her crew members stood an average sized man who wore a button down shirt halfway buttoned down, exposing his chest, three-quarter pants that displayed his hairy legs in sandals, and a long black cloak that billowed around him in the sea breeze. Just by looking at him, one’s eyes would be drawn to one of three things; his massive saber sheathed at his hip, his striking red hair, or the scars over one of his eyes.

Behind him, several members of his crew were clearly visible, lacking the majesty normally expected of a Yonkou’s crew. It seemed more like a motley group of pals—pals who happened to possess strength and experience beyond most people.

Martel observed all of their faces briefly before her eyes returned to their captain and she sighed deeply, leaning her precious fishing rod, Ame no Tsubasa, across her shoulder casually.

Almost immediately following this, someone from either side started forward. One person moved among the stillness of both groups and neither side moved to stop them as they met at the invisible halfway split between the two opposing crews, remaining on their side as they stood to stare each other down.

Ben Beckman, the reputable most intelligent man in the East Blue, remained stoic faced as he casually shifted his jaw, rolling his lit cigarette between his teeth, holding his large flintlock rifle across his shoulder casually, looking more ready to use its butt to attack before shooting it.

Meanwhile, standing at the same height as him, the broad-shouldered Birkan wearing the pilot outfit stared straight at Ben Beckman with a miffed expression for a moment before it melted into reluctant acceptance, as if it had bothered him that Ben Beckman had moved to stand between him and his captain so naturally.

Rather than arguing, the Birkan leaned back, forcing his body into what most have been a 140 degree angle with his legs, looking toward the sky as he pocketed his hands.

“Welcome, Red Haired Pirates, to the ship of the Azure Pirate’s first division! I am Angus Bevel, commander of the Third Division! I salute you!”

That’s supposed to be a polite bow?!

The same thought shot through the entire crew in response to Angus Bevel’s odd position. Rather than bowing his head forward, he brought it back, as if in a reverse bow. It was uncertain of whether it meant something, but no one bothered to ask or even mention aloud that he was doing it wrong.

“If that’s the case, shouldn’t the First Division Commander be greeting us, at least?”

Ben Beckman tactfully shifted the topic elsewhere to avoid asking anything unnecessary, raising an eyebrow at Angus. Angus merely snorted without relaxing his posture.

“Don’t get cocky, Beckman. After suddenly appearing here and demanding to speak to us, you should be grateful that a greeting is all we have to offer!”

“I guess that’s fair. I guess I’ll represent the entire crew when I say this; ‘Thanks for not trying to blow us out of the water the moment you saw our flag’. That would have really complicated the situation.”

“Are you calling us barbaric?! Why the hell would we fire just because we saw your flag? Did you do something to make us want to? HUH?!”

“Calm down, Angus.” Lucky Roo chuckled, looking less like he wanted to pacify him and more like he just wanted to get into the conversation. “We didn’t mean anything by it—”

“Shut up, Fairy Vearth! I’m talking to Scarface Jr., here! Just what were you implying by that? Did the original Scarface—a.k.a. your captain—do something he shouldn’t have?! ‘Cause that doesn’t look like the face of apology or shame right there!”

“Stop, Roo.” Ben Beckman spoke sharply as Lucky Roo took a step forward, grinning as he ripped the meat off of the mutton held in his hand with his exposed teeth. “We didn’t come here to argue.”

“Argue?” Lucky Roo snorted as he continued forward, stepping in between Ben Beckman and Angus with his smile widening. “I just want to know more about what he called me. It sounded interesting.”

“Do I really need to explain?” Angus raised an eyebrow as he finally relaxed his position and stood properly, looking straight into Lucky Roo’s goggles with hostility rolling off of his glare. “Or was it too complicated for you? Then I’ll use another example—this boat is built to carry a giant, but I swear I felt it rock in the water as you ambled over here.”

“Hey, Ben! Angel-boy finally learned what water is! And to think, the last time we saw him, he was all wide eyed after seeing us swimming! We should celebrate! It’s been a while since I’ve eaten a bird as big as him.”

“To be exact, I was mostly surprised to see you floating like a raft, rather than swimming.”

Almost as if unconsciously, the two slammed their foreheads against each other as they closed the space between them, Angus’s face contorting into angry expressions as Lucky Roo maintained his smile while a vein popped on his temple. Ben Beckman sighed in exasperation, having given up, while the mermaid beside Martel serenely called out “Feel free to shoot him whenever you feel like it~” in encouragement.

Meanwhile, the two captains completely ignored their subordinates as they crossed the distance between them, standing a mere twelve inches from each other as they looked each other directly in the eyes.

“So, Red Hair? What’s up? Did you come running when you caught word that your favorite member of the ‘Worst Generation’ would be owing me a favor?”

A short silence persisted this comment before the red haired man standing across from Martel leaned his head back, pointing his face toward the sky, and took a deep breath.

Then he laughed.

And boy, did he laugh.

It was doubtful that anyone on either boat, or even any fish in the sea, could say that they hadn’t heard him laugh. The tension broke almost instantly as Martel smiled thinly at the man as he sighed after he stopped laughing and looked back toward her with a grin.

“If he’s willing to pay you back for pulling his ass out of the fire, then be my guest, Sea King Tamer. Just keep in mind—he’s selfish.”

“So I’ve noticed. I bet that’s a requirement to wear that straw hat that you two are so fond of. Either way, he owes me a few thousand kilos of fish already. I just needed an excuse to hound him and beat him over the head a few times until he submits.”

“You two get along surprisingly well, huh?”

“Says who?”

Red Hair Shanks simply shrugged as Martel raised an eyebrow on him. A visible murmur went through both of their crews, along with some griping and sarcastic muttering. A few of Shanks crew turned and headed back to their own ship, as if disappointed that there would be no apparent fight. Björn Reykjavik groaned tiredly as he sat down on the wide deck made specifically for his size, shaking his head a few times back and forth in exasperation. Angus and Lucky Roo continued to glare across at each other as Ben Beckman forcefully dragged his crewmate away.

“So, Red Hair,” Martel pushed on with an unusually serious expression on her face. “Since you didn’t come here to scare off those marines, you came to see me, right? Since you didn’t bring any alcohol, I’m guessing it’s not a happy topic.”

I apologise - I haven't had much time to work on a post yet... I will have one up as soon as possible.

Oh yeah, if any of you guys are interested in writing fan-fictions, you should enter Fanpop's Got Talent 2014... you guys are excellent writers and I'm sure that the stories would be amazing. If so, visit the FGT club and take a look around.

Here's a link to the fan-fiction rules: link

It's interesting, but I'm unsure if it allows for original stories. Much as I like what we've done here and on the Bleach spot, I don't think that the setups are our best work, but rather the follow-through. I think the same will eventually be true for our anime ideas, but in that case, there's something solidly original and innovative to present beyond just characters. Any idea if we can submit those?

That was the main issue I found with their guidelines (or lack of). As far as fanfiction is concerned, generally, as long as it takes place in a canon universe, it's valid. The way the rules are worded, they seem to lean pretty heavily toward the idea of using canon characters. We're free to use the characters as we like, add ocs, and make up our own, original plots. I fully intend to write with one of the more interesting characters I find to be a bit under appreciated in series that don't use them to their best potential (I haven't decided who yet, but I'm leaning toward Shiki Ryougi, Kurapika Curta, Owain, or Celty Sturluson) and write a side story that 'could be canon'. At the moment, anyways. I'm still unsure of what I'd enjoy writing best, but I know I'll be adding a lot of original elements.

Yeah, I'm not sure either. I'm tempted to return to the template I built with jstar for Fallout and improve upon the design, perhaps even include some characters from Clan Wars, but I'm still uncertain.

Yeah, the contest only added the fan-fiction section for this year, so I guess they'll just edit it next year, after learning about the whole fan-fiction thing from this year. Basically, I was gonna write a One Piece fan-fic, though I haven't started yet and haven't had any really decent ideas, other than writing for the moment when Luffy gets One Piece and then gets captured by the Navy and publicly executed (and I'm sure you would see why I wouldn't really want to write about that... so, the ideas just have to start flowing... sigh...)

[Determination of the Secret Unit]

“And…he’s out. Wow, talk about being put out of your misery. Waver looked pretty high, so I guess it’s safe to say we can’t count on him anymore.”

Vincent sighed as he sat atop a distant building, overlooking the chaotic battlefield from several vantage points. He’d placed himself in several different spots all over Enies Lobby in order to get a complete view of everything going on, most of his copies focused on watching over the fighting from as many angles as he could without getting pulled into the fighting. The Hitode Hitode no Mi was a strange fruit, in that it was a paramecia, rather than a zoan. Vincent and his clones all maintained a similar body shape to a human, albeit with a slightly different internal structure, and all shared a collective conscience that allowed him to observe and think things from several different angles. In other words, the devil fruit was a starfish in name and concept only, making it very misleading. Nevertheless, it functioned much better than any zoan fruit. Brute force was nice, but assassins needed all kinds of other things to be successful—like the ability to efficiently gather information.

Thanks to having so many pairs of eyes available, Vincent could see and understand everything before him with great clarity. He could imagine a three-dimensional view of the battlefield, able to see anything a single person wouldn’t be able to see from a single spot. He could grasp the situation and relay it to his allies with ease.

He could keep count of the number of enemies who were beaten and measure it against the number of allies that were left. He could watch as Krieg Lector fought two officers from the attackers and get up to continue fighting off the pirates without giving himself time to properly rest. He could see the two shichibukai who arrived on the scene to assist them. He had also seen Waver go into some drug induced trance and manage to take out his opponent before being downed himself.

Vincent couldn’t help but feel that if Waver had been a paramecia user like his opponent, he would have stood a better chance of winning. Utility beat brute force any day, after all.

By that same token, Vincent opted not to try and avenge Waver by attacking the man who’d literally ‘gotten the drop’ on him. The way things were going, it would likely result in their victory. But that said nothing for the presence of the archenemies of the World Government who Namikiji, the Cipher Pol Admiral, was so interested in.

So Vincent decided to sneak onto the Revolutionary’s ship.

Only the original went, though. He left behind all of his clones to continue performing surveillance and report back to Spandack. Vincent didn’t know what to expect by sneaking onto the ship, but he liked his chances after seeing a warlord charging in first, causing enough chaos to easily be called a ‘diversion’.

Maybe he’d find something of interest?

{Strip of land between Main Gate and Main Island Gate}

Krieg was irritated.

He could feel the one emotion pervading throughout his body. It had nothing to do with the trouble he’d had against two devil fruit users. He’d been stronger than, though there was something to be said about the fact that he’d managed to kill neither of them. Either way, he’d managed to drive them both off, which was all that was necessary.

This emotion had to do with something simpler, more basic. At least, that was what Krieg felt. He couldn’t discover the source of it simply by thinking about it or feeling it; he only knew how to relieve himself of it bit by bit.

Through violence.

“Hah!”

Krieg thrust his fist forward and all of his strength, combining the inherent speed of soru and the dense weight of tekkai. The consequent shockwave seemed to shake the entire island as pirates went flying through the air from the force of the attack. Krieg didn’t hesitate to draw his fist back and step forward once more, thrusting forward once more with all of his strength, sending another shockwave that sent pirates flying through the air like ragdolls.

But rather than easing his irritation and unease, Krieg felt himself only getting more frustrated by the weak opposition he received. These were not the people he wanted to fight. But he couldn’t leave his spot, protecting the Main Island Gate and thus, all of Enies Lobby, to seek out his enemy.

“You seem pretty moody, Krieg. Pent up sexual frustration? I would think wrestling with two guys in a row would be enough.”

Krieg didn’t respond immediately as he kicked out with one foot, sending another powerful thrust to scatter the pirates. With the enemy now disorganized and flustered, the marines and government agents all rushed forward, taking advantage of the situation to thoroughly push back the pirates once and for all. Krieg took a deep breath and sighed heavily, closing his eyes as if to meditate for a few moments before turning around.

Ran Fall was casually observing the battlefield right beside him, shading her eyes with one hand as she attempted to peer in the distance. She had very deliberately moved close to Krieg to stand in his shadow, using him to shield her from the bright sunlight beating down from above. With them standing so close together, it couldn’t be clearer how much Krieg dwarf Ran by.

Ran glanced up toward Krieg when she noticed that he was looking at her and smile brightly in response to his straight face.

“I thought you were going to just ignore. Nice to see you acknowledge me.”

“Did you plan to just hide beside me the whole time, Ran?”

“Of course.” Ran responded to Krieg with wide, teary eyes. “Everyone left without me, so I felt lonely. I mean, if I’m not protected, something might happen to me, right? I needed the one competent member of CP9 to protect me.”

“Weren’t you with the Director?”

“I needed someone to protect me, not yell in my ear whenever he gets a dissatisfactory report from Vincent.” Ran snorted, shrugging her shoulders. She must have gotten tired from the act quickly. “And boy, did he yell. Waver’s out, apparently, and Vincent rushed off on some solo mission again. Honestly, I expected just as much from them.”

“Waver’s out?” Krieg frowned with displeasure as he tried to imagine who would have managed to defeat a rabid dog of the government like him. Waver was, without a doubt, the most devoted to their cause and would pour the most energy and desperation into gaining success. “That just leaves me and Kaku to fight.”

“You’ll be enough. Two Warlords are on the island, though one is occupied with…well, never mind that. If you can just keep these pirates pinned down, things should resolve themselves.”

Krieg knew Ran was hiding something behind that pretty smile she had on her face. She was usually withholding information for various reasons; her very presence on the CP9 unit was questionable. But the information she kept quiet about rarely jeopardized the World Government, so Krieg had long since gotten used to it.

So he retook his combat stance, tensing his muscles as he faced the recovering pirates.

“I’ll put an end to this a quickly as I can.”

“What a reliable man~”

It's been a while since I've posted properly with Namikiji; I think this is the first time I've written a post that fairly gives insight on her personality, especially when under pressure. She's definitely one of my favorite character's to right with, though I'm struggling to think of what to do with her that keep her in the action.

[Noble Distraction]

{Mariejois; Commander-in-Chief's office}

“Commander-in-Chief! Garp-san! Please drop whatever you’re doing and listen to me for a few minutes!”

Sakuya Minamitsu, nicknamed Cipher Pol Admiral ‘Namikiji’, spoke up in an authoritative tone that somehow retained her polite nature as knocked on the large doors before her once before pushing them open. Admiral Smoker pushed in behind her, clearly intending to skip the knocking phase entirely even though they were approaching one of the most important men in the entire World Government. While it was true that Garp was known for his more or less lax nature, Namikiji still felt that they should at least maintain a level of respect as they simultaneous interrupted whatever he was doing without warning.

That being said, Namikiji had half-expected the man to be playing around, reading some magazine or doing something else that was entirely pointless. But the sight that greeted the admirals’ as they entered was completely unexpected.

Garp sat behind his desk, directly facing the door while wearing a somewhat wearing expression. He had no useless items around him. Instead, he was surrounded by an aura of business. Next to his desk stood a really short man—he didn’t even look to be four feet tall—who wore a jacket that was clearly took big for him and a puffy striped pants. With his greasy dark hair slicked back and solid gold chain hanging from his pocket, he looked as if he were wearing a fashionable zoot suit from some culture. Behind this short man was a young boy wearing a formal button down shirt, pants, and suspenders. Though the boy looked like the short man’s protégé, the boy stood a few inches taller, ironically.

On the other side of the desk was a beautiful armchair that looked like it belonged to royalty, it’s expensive worth practically radiating from the vibrant colors used to create such a beautiful piece of artwork. Four men stood around the chair (all wearing dark suits that easily allowed Namikiji to identify them as Cipher Pol agents) looking as if they were guarding the person sitting in the expensive chair.

The sound of Namikiji’s beating heart was very audible to her own ears as the persons sitting in the chair calmly peeked around the side, glancing in their direction. The woman’s face possess sharp features that were marred by the makeup that caked her face, particularly the kohl covering her eyelids. Any grace that might have been left would be further dashed by the eccentric shape of her hair, which stood straight up before curling into a short spiral, as if it were a piece of architecture. But even all the unnecessary eccentricity to her appearance could hide the pure dispassion that emitted from her thin smile.

Namikiji shut up. As if by instinct, her mouth clamped tightly as she forced a wide and unnecessary smile and refused to breath at all. The force of this sudden reaction made her face turn slightly purple as sweat began to pour down her face and her heart thumped heavily in her chest thousands of times in the following second.

Her brash approach had thrown her into a ferocious lion trap. She’d be lucky to get out of this unscathed.

“….E-Excuse my rude interruption. I have an urgent matter to discuss with the Commander-in-Chief.”

Namikiji spoke these words tightly with her forced smile still splitting her face. The woman’s colored eyebrow rose in amusement, the coldness in her thin smile gaining some life, as if she was enjoying Namikiji’s pain.

Garp, on the other hand, gave Namikiji a sympathetic look before smiling toward the woman.

“Haha…looks like I’m overbooked. I’m sorry about this, Saint Patricia. Should I get rid of the others so you can tell me what's on your mind?”

“No, there is no need.” The woman waved a hand at Garp indifferently as she kept her eyes on the two admirals. “This seems interesting, so I’ll allow it.”

“You’re too kind.”

Smoker snorted as he rolled his two cigars between his teeth, flexing his jaw skeptically as he sized up the woman who look directly at him.

“You’re a Celestial Dragon, aren’t you? We’re here to—”

“Ah, no. There’s no need to explain.” Saint Patricia shook her head as she cut Smoker off midsentence, maintaining her cruel smile. “Don’t waste your breath. I already made the mistake of coming here without my oxygen tank. I sent someone to fetch it for me, so try not to say a word until they return. In fact; don’t even breathe. The less polluted the air becomes in that time, the less inclined I will be to have to kill.”

Smoker’s response to those words was not at all understanding. He remained silent for a moment as he let the words sink in and a vein throbbed on his forehead as he fully understood the underlying mocking in the woman’s tone. His hands gripped tightly as his eyebrows knit together and he prepared to respond.

Namikiji grabbed a hand full of Smoker’s white hair roughly, tightly gripping it as she forced his head down, using all of his strength to make him bow deeply along with her. Smoker shot Namikiji an incredulous look, but Namikiji simply shot him back a warning in her eyes without relaxing her forced smile.

Do. Not. Anger. A. Noble.

Her meaning was clear enough. Smoker continued to look skeptical, but caught onto her desperation. It bothered Namikiji slightly that he would let it go only for her sake, rather than due to the common sense of just turning the other cheek to these world nobles. But she didn’t question it. As long as he cooperated, anything was fine.

It didn’t take long for the Cipher Pol agent to return with Saint Patricia’s oxygen tank and glass bowl. But it did take a few minutes to wait for her to finish beating the agent with her cane as punishment for accidently touching the mask once with his bare skin, all with a gleeful smile on her face that broke with laughter after every heavy thwack that followed the cane striking skin and bone.

“So then,” Saint Patricia casually sat back in her chair, ignoring the bleeding man now sobbing in agony on the floor. “Since they came last, the admirals will have to wait. Why don’t you two start?”

She smiled sweetly directly at the short man in the zoot suit and his protégé, neither of whom looked the least bit phased by the brutal sight they had just witnessed. The short man regarded Saint Patricia briefly with dull eyes (Namikiji was sure that he was expertly observing her body language to see how to respond) before he nodded in thanks and turned to Garp.

“First is my report about the job. Is it okay if they hear about it?”

“Go ahead.” Garp waved a hand indifferently as he cleaned his ear out with an extended pinky. It seemed like a meaningless movement, but one of the marines who was standby in the room immediately moved forward to drag in injured Cipher Pol agent out of the room silently. “It’s not a big deal anyways. But you should probably introduce yourself first.”

“I suppose so.” The man agreed unenthusiastically as he looked back to face Smoker and Namikiji, deliberately ignoring Saint Patricia’s piercing gaze. “I am Lapis ‘Bend’ Peabody. I don’t know whether you’ve heard of me before or not, but just think of me as a warlord’s underling. I’m the person in charge of the general affairs of Thomas Tew’s Mercenary’s Guild. I handle information and our assets, as well as direct negotiation of jobs given to use by the government and other large organizations.”

“So you’re Longshot’s secretary.” Smoker snorted. “I knew someone that useless couldn’t handle managing a big criminal organization like that alone.”

“Your sarcasm is duly noted, admiral.” A dry smile appeared on Lapis’ face for a moment. “In any case, we were asked to handle the treasure left behind by the deceased warlords, especially Dracule Mihawk and Donquixote Doflamingo. We gathered all of the gold and currency under their name and liquidated it while maintaining its value, sending it to the government’s coffers. Naturally, the guild collected ten percent for ourselves.”

“Huh? Didn’t we agree on seven percent?” Garp frowned as he struggled to remember. Lapis sighed heavily as he looked back to him.

“No, we didn’t. It was never negotiable. Ten percent is our standard flat rate.”

“Was it really? Guess I forgot. Anyways, thanks for your help. We’re kind of short on personnel at the moment, so it’s good to get help from the guild every now and then. If only Cade himself could be as helpful.”

“That’s certainly wishful thinking. The boss has always been difficult to handle.”

The heavy sigh that Lapis breathed seemed to carry the weight of a very heavy responsibility the others couldn’t fathom, but he didn’t elaborate.

“As for my own request…”

“Ah, yeah. I approve it. Just give the information to the woman over there and she’ll take care of it. She’s in charge of all the Cipher Pol units, after all.”

“I see.”

Lapis glanced back at Namikiji, who appeared stunned to be directly addressed to, blinking in confusion. Lapis’ gaze was piercing as he seemed to size up her competence, his expression remaining completely blank.

“In that case, I’ll entrust everything to her. Ruscello; the papers.”

“Yes sir.”

The young boy in suspenders moved forward immediately and politely held out a folder of papers to Namikiji, who hesitantly took it, not understanding exactly what was happening. Lapis casually strode past her toward the door and Ruscello trailed after him after politely nodding to Namikiji in good bye.

“Thanks for the business, as always.”

That one last phrase was casually called as the door shut behind the two.

“Cipher Pol Admiral, you can search through those documents later.” Saint Patricia warned casually as Namikiji just began to leaf through the stack of papers in her hand. “There’s something I may as well inform you of, since you happen to be here.”

Namikiji immediately set the folder down on a nearby table and turned her attention to the celestial dragon with rapt attention, her forced smile returning to her face. She felt Smoker grimace beside her, appearing displeased with something.

“Hey, Sakuya. Didn’t we come here with our own business? Stay focused—”

Namikiji slashed her hand through Smoker’s face several times with rapid velocity without using haki, sending his entire head into a white puff of smoke and preventing him from finishing his sentence as she gave a forced laugh.

“Ahahaha…Admiral Smoker, what on earth could you be talking about, I wonder? What business could be so important that we can’t even hear out an esteemed and all important world noble? Sometimes I wonder if that head…is in...the right…place!”

Smoker simply glowered at Namikiji as he drew his head away from her frantic gestures, sighing heavily before taking a few steps back to stand by the corner with his back to the two women, breathing a puff of smoke into the air to calm himself.

Saint Patricia’s cruel smile curled on her lips once more as she regarded Namikiji directly as she spoke.

“I can hardly just shove aside the all-important business of the admirals who guarantee our safety so we may travel the world without having to worry about the filthy rabble and unwashed miscreants even so much as glancing in our direction. Even that simple puff of air over there can be of use at the right time.”

Namikiji made a silent prayer of thanks when Smoker didn’t respond to the Celestial Dragon’s words. She didn’t know whether or not he was still listening, but as long as he took the hint and stayed quiet, anything was fine.

“I just wanted to inform you that I’ve borrowed two of your agents. Naturally, they exist to be used by us nobles, but you at least deserve the right to know, despite having no say in the matter.”

“By agents…do you mean CP0?”

“Who else? Three Shichibukai were fighting the revolutionaries, and I wouldn’t want some unnecessary information to be spilled, so I sent them to make sure nothing got out of hand. I came here simply to ask about the movements of the warlord who managed to leave the island before the two agents arrived, to ensure that it was certain that he didn’t learn anything unnecessary.”

What a horrendous lie.

Namikiji struggled to keep her disbelief from showing on her face, hiding all of her suspicions behind her mask of a fake smile. Information being spilled? As if revolutionaries would go that far. For some reason, they had remained fairly tight lipped for all these years, making it difficult to know just how much they even knew. As if there would be an information spill that would call for CP0 to be mobilized.

All that aside, sending agents to kill the warlords wouldn’t be possible without my approval. With Longshot gone, the two left are Trafalgar Law and…Mr. Gin, right? She must have had a specific goal in mind that involved keeping the two where they are. Was there something at that government facility that even I don’t know about?

Namikiji’s eyes veered toward Garp, hoping for a clue on his face, but was very disappointed to see him laying his chair turned with its back to the two women, probably to hide the fact that he was fast asleep. Namikiji’s eyes snapped back in place immediately as embarrassment for having even had a sliver of hope to begin with.

Well, she’d just have to get the correct information afterword…with whatever remained of CP9.

“Speaking of which, I’m sure you’ve already been informed about the pirates and revolutionaries currently at Enies Lobby?”

“Yes, I’ve heard.” Saint Patricia shrugged casually as she casually stood up and the suited men around her immediately moved to flank her as one moved to open the door. “I trust that you’ll mercilessly crush their forces with your CP9 agents. I look forward to hearing good news.”

“Thank you for the kind words. We’ll make absolutely sure that they don’t make it past the Gates of Justice.”

Namikiji bowed as Saint Patricia left the room, her fake smile still plastered to her face, even as dark thoughts rose in her mind. CP9 was a group of assassins, not a small army. Taking on a bunch of experienced pirates was already beyond the scope of most of the members, save, perhaps, two. The fleet of marines headed there now would naturally handle the situation, but the revolutionaries were a real wild card. Just what were they doing there and what was their goal? Namikiji just had to find out.

“Smoker, I’m going to go call whoever is left at Enies Lobby.” Namikiji spoke briskly as she headed out of the door once Saint Patricia had disappeared around a corner. “…Hopefully, I’ll reach either Vincent or Ran who I can have do some espionage…”

“Hey, Sakuya! Are you forgetting why we came here to begin with?!”

“The Commander-in-Chief is fast asleep; he can’t discuss anything in the state he’s in now. Give it up and try again later. If both of us went to follow Fujitora to Enies Lobby, who’d be left to protect Mariejois?”

Smoker clicked his tongue as he glanced at the peaceful figure of Garp, who had begun to snort, and folded his arms tightly over his chest irritably.

“Then just make sure you get into contact with Fujitora as well and tell him to make sure he does his job properly! I’ll be damned if I know shit is going down over there and do nothing to help!”

I might have a post up a bit later, FINALLY got a break from school.

I'll be continuing with Ania's story for now, still not sure how i'm gonna work out things with the others.

[Even Sea King Fear Something]

Ania stood beside the coast of the great Sabaody Archipelago. As the waves gracefully crashed against the mossy roots that made up her last checkpoint in the first half of the red line she sighed softly. This journey she had started; what was her purpose in all of this? She glanced at the note that brought her to these strange waters in the first place.

"We know who you are. We will not pursue your head for your bounty alone... No, for you see there is a secret about your past that you must want to hear. We're sure you yourself are curious about your 'mother's' fate."

The note she received, and the only link to her biological mother. She now finds herself on the road to the end of the earth to find the answers she so desperately wanted. Her small boat was now coated and ready for her to depart. She'd heard stories about fishman island. It was not the safest place for a human to wonder around in. In fact, the way to fishman island had a severely low chance of survival; and that was still better than the island itself. Then as she paid the kind man for his work on her boat he stared at her with curiosity. "Why is this girl doing this?" Surely the thought must have crossed his mind. And yet, he remained silent as Ania hopped into her boat and began her descent.

The ocean beneath the archipelago was astounding, but this did not even catch Ania's attention in the slightest. She simply shrugged it off and began to go ever deeper into the abyss. Time passed by and she began to sense the presence of other beings in the water. Sea king. The supreme overlords of the deep. In their habitat only a few crews have been known to pass without fear. One of them being the crew of Monkey D. Luffy. The Pirate king she had heard so much about during her travels. The man who tamed the mighty kraken with his bare hands. And the man who became a god among men. But Ania was special. She did not fear the sea kings, but as she passed through their very own waters; the sea king began to shudder with fear. 'That' which had not been seen in their waters for centuries. The dark shadow that would most certainly mean their doom should they try to enter its territory. A creature that has never been seen, but always heard. 'That' which even the sea king feared.

Meanwhile... On fishman island. Panic filled the streets. Every mermaid and merman dreaded their existence. Could the whispers in her ear be true. The great calamity was upon them again. Shirahoshi. Surely her great power could be failing her. Surely the sea king must be playing a joke on her. No. In the distance, its shadow could be seen. The great calamity was upon them. There was nothing left to do but pray and hope that 'HE' hears.

Shirahoshi: "Luffy-san... please, save us."

As Ania drew closer, she could feel the power overwhelming her. It was much like back then. The fear of this creature was so strong, it was starting to get a mind of its own. It was beginning to act on its own. Of course it would never hurt her for she is the one who brought it to be once more. But if this went on any longer, it would truly begin to be. She had only seen it once before. Fear brought forth into reality but it refused to become a mere memory. It began to manifest itself and latched on to a life it so wanted to have. It defied her commands and became whole.

Will the tragedy that happened all those years come true once more...

OKAY I have a Nice post regarding some things =P





--The new King under a false crown part one-


( sorry Cryogenic I'm going to just Skip over the War thing )




-The new Fleet Admiral Sat at her desk with bandages over her head and her arm in a sling there were many people in her office yelling and screaming about different things happening in the World her head felt as though it was going to explode from the pressure of being in such A high position finally she scream at the top of her lungs- "EVERYONE JUST SHUT UP ONE AT A TIME!!!!"

-The first Marine stood at a attention- "FLEET ADMIRAL KIYA We've taken heavy damage from the attack on HQ , Enis Lobby is Pretty much a ruin at this point we don't have the man power to give any more support to our troops." -Kiya grunted and placed her good arm on her forehead- "I thought there were supposed to be A Schibukai there. What happened to him ?"

-The second Marine spoke out of term slightly- "The Schibukai position there was Karasu Konju he's crews ship was last seen in the shores of Dress Rosa. We got a report before the communication went down that he left his postion at Enis Lobby."

-Kiya's eye's went wide- "HE WHAT!!!" -She slammed her hand on the desk frustration clearly breaking through her clam demeanor befrore the third marine could speak Kiya shout out- "PREPARE MY SHIT AND SEND ALL REMAING ABLE MARINES TO ENIS LOBBY. ALSO SINK ALL SHIPS IN THE AREA OF DRESSROSA AND ENIS LOBBY !!!!. I DON'T CARE HOW GET THIS MESSAGE OUT TO THE MEMBERS OF CP-9 !!! -She took a breath and looked up at the ceiling- "This is not a rescue mission this is now like what happend 10 years ago. Complete and total Annihilation."






-shores of Dress Rosa-



-A man was sitting on the sail of a ship A Large pike resting on his shoulder watch in his hand. The man looked rugged as though he had fought through many battles. A Scar going across his eye on the right side. three more scars on his left shoulder he sighed and lept off the sail and landed he pulled out a groud and slurped back the Achoolic contents as he wiped off his mouth letting out a big belch. He grunted and looked to the Horzion as there was something fast approaching a smile from on his face. As he let out a large cackle. he approched the side of the ship waving his arm and shouthed- "CAPTAIN WHAT TOOK SO LONG ARE MEN ARE RESTLESS." -A breeze shot by through his Air as Karasu appeared behind him , A smile on his face- "I'm sorry it took so long Naraku, How are the others ?"

-Naraku placed his pinky in his ear and looked off to the distance and shrugged- "Dunno they went on to the island some time ago." -Karasu's eye twitched- "I'm glad I can rely on you.........This means we must act hastily as we don't know how the other members of the family will react." Karasu walked toward the other end of the boat a stern look on his face- "Send in the rest of our Crew. The war for Dress Rosa has begun."

-Naraku smiled and let out a holar at the top of his lungs- "YOU HEARD HIM MEN TAKE WHAT YOU CAN GIVE NOTHING BACK !!!! ATTACK DRESS ROSA !!!!!!"


-End-

[Detrimental]

Trafalgar Law was torn on what to do. He still had use for the position of warlord, so he wasn’t so inclined to defy CP0, who worked for both the World Government ant the infamous Celestial Dragons. Yet two stood before him, refusing to let him proceed with any investigations on what motivated Cade Locksley to abandon the mission given to him by the World Government. He couldn’t count on Gin to back him up, which essentially left Trafalgar to fend for himself if he ended up having to fight these two masked monsters of the government.

In all seriousness, it would have been most practical to simply give up and back down. If CP0 was involved, the matter must have had something to do with the Celestial Dragons. Whatever connection Cade had to those dangerous people was none of his concern.

“Well, Surgeon of Death? We came all this way to pick you up. All you have to do is play along, and the trip back will be quicker than you can imagine.”

…Or so the government agent said, in that irritatingly pretentious tone of theirs.

“I don’t really care what happened,” Gin spoke nonchalantly in an offhand tone without meeting Trafalgar’s eyes. “Nor do I care about gossip. I’ll cooperate.”

“No there’s a smart man, if I’ve ever seen one.” The cipher pol agent nodded firmly in Gin’s direction. “And what say you, Law?”

Now that Trafalgar Law knew that Cade was directly related to a Celestial Dragon, he had to know more. There was no way he could let the situation be, but he could hardly tell that to these government agents.

“Alas, it seems that imbecile’s information was correct. ‘Tis quite the surprise.”

A casual voice spoke of from nearby and all eyes turned to find the speaker. A single Japanese clad man, dressed in a kosode and uwagi of dull colors was standing nearby, having approached to a surprisingly close distance before anyone had noticed him. He didn’t seem to have circled around the island, coming straight from the path that led down from the government facility at the top of the island, even though no one was supposed to have remained in it. He had straight dark hair pulled into a chonmage and sheathed blade hanging from either hip—one the length of a nodachi and lacking a tsuba, instead possessing a naked end wrapped in bandages as a makeshift grip, the other a more traditional katana with a cross guard shaped like a pair of double helixes crossing with a single bell hanging from the end of the tsuba. For some reason, there was a significant pressure coming from the second sword, giving those who’s eyes fell on it the feeling that that one might get when nearly falling on their face, as if they could smell their own blood rushing.

“…What the hell are you doing here?” Trafalgar spoke with a suspicious tone as he immediately recognized this samurai-like figure. The talkative CP0 agent seemed to recognize him as well, their dragon mask cocking slightly with consideration.

“You are Azai Asaemon of Thomas Tew’s Mercenary’s Guild, correct? Why on earth…?”

The samurai named Azai responded to neither of them. His eyes found Trafalgar and become filled with intense hostility as one of his left hand immediately reached for the sword hanging from his left hip—the same one that radiated such an immense pressure.

“Alas, I shall break my oath of guarding the body for the purpose of slaying an unworthy man such as yourself, Surgeon of Death!”

The attack was instantaneous. The moment Azai’s fingers rested on the tsuba of his sword, as if her were going to draw it, the attack had already split the terrain. Trafalgar was split down his line of symmetry mercilessly, cutting through from the top of his head through his crotch by a slash that ignored the distance between the two men. At the same time, the ground before Azai was split in two along with the sea behind Trafalgar, the entire landscape parting before the samurai who seemed to have barely moved a muscle.

In the next instant, the cut Trafalgar Law turned to a mere mass of water that collapsed uselessly to the ground. The true Trafalgar stood on the ocean floor between the two walls of sea water that towered over him, glaring straight up at the four who remained on the island. Already, Gin was retreating with both of the CP0 agents, moving away as Azai strode down the shore, right into the ravine he’d created to face Trafalgar, who immediately drew his nodachi and held it before him for defense.

“Hey! Asaemon~ya! What the hell are you doing?!”

“This is divine retribution, Surgeon of Death. You will pay for your transgressions with your life. Alas, I fear it may not be enough to make up for the soiled blade you’ve tortured.”

Trafalgar had absolutely no idea what the samurai was talking about. He’d never met the man before in his life. As far as he knew, Azai Asaemon was an infamous swordmaster from Wa no Kuni, famous for his skill that approached that of Dracule Mihawk. Between the two, Mihawk was stronger, but Azai was far more skilled, possessing the most precise iaido in history. His transcendental skill with the sword was further augmented by the O Wazamono grade tachi he possessed along with the special Saijo O Wazomono grade tanto—a blade so fine and quick, not even the most skilled fighters can see it been drawn or sheathed, and so the appearance of its blade remained unknown.

And fortunately enough, Azai drew the more dangerous weapon from the very beginning.

“Let me guess; Locksley put you up to this.” Trafalgar spoke in a wry tone as he carefully maintained his distance as Azai approached at what seemed like a leisurely pace. “That idiot just doesn’t know when to quit—”

“Alas, while he may be an imbecile of several forms, he did not ‘put me up to this’. Locksley simply informed me that you are in possession of a certain blade that has been used for many nefarious deeds, such as being inserted into people’s bodies for purposes other than cutting them down.”

“What’s your point?”

“YOU FOOL! Do you not understand the value of a nodachi such as the one you wield? Those of us who desire the name of ‘strongest’ must face that soiled blade of yours! Alas, if you will not see your folly…I pray you’ll learn in the afterlife.”

Azai took one last step and his hand moved toward the hilt of his tanto once more. Trafalgar wasted no time in moving, using his ability to send several slashes flying through the air, cutting through the walls of water on either side of them. However, each one was deflected by an instantaneous slash that cut through the air around Azai, protecting him from harm. Trafalgar clicked his tongue, well aware that this fight would only end badly if he didn’t find a way to deal with that light speed drawing of Azai’s, and fast.

Out of the corner of his eye, Trafalgar could see the two CP0 agents watching the two from a safe distance. After a few moments, they turned their backs to them and headed toward the boat where Gin was waiting. Clearly, they intended to leave, apparently deciding that it was too much of a hassle wait for this to end.

Interesting.

“I don’t really understand what you’re so riled up about, but fine.” Trafalgar returned his attention to Azai as he held his nodachi up in front of him. “I don’t plan to give this sword up, if that’s what you’re getting at.”

“For the sake of the virgin swordsmen who will come after me, I shall sacrifice my own innocence and wipe away the nigh permanent smirk you have created.” Azai’s expression of disgust was clear enough as he reached for the bandaged grip of the tachi hanging from his other hilt and drew it smoothly. The length was incredible—it was taller than him by a few inches and gleamed as the sunlight deflected off of the blade’s surface. “Alas, prepare to be slain, mock swordsman. Azai Asaemon—coming forth!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Boss, just what did you give the Cipher Pol Admiral?” Ruscello Mycroft, assistant to the well-known Lapis ‘Bend’ Peabody of TT Mercenary’s Guild, asked while following behind Lapis as they strode through the hall. Though he clearly looked like a child disciple with his young prepubescent face and suspenders, he still stood a few inches taller than his so called ‘boss’. It was thanks to the respectful distance he maintained that it was clear that he was subordinate to the midget in the zoot suit. “You said I’d find out when we discussed it with her, but—”

“Do you really think we could discuss anything in front of a Celestial Dragon—especially someone like that?” Lapis responded with an exacerbated tone as his eyes tightened slightly while glaring straight ahead. “I don’t understand how Cade fell in love with a sick sadist like her. I can’t stop praying that Namikiji saves looking at it until she’s a good distance away from that person.”

“But what did it say?”

“It was mostly a request to be given permission to make advances against the Revolutionaries. Those guys have always been an enemy of the government, but we’re not exactly perfect either, especially after we took the liberty of accepting a few jobs from them in the past. But now that Cade’s pissed, he decided that he wants to make an enemy of them too.”

“Because they stole the Nikyu Nikyu no Mi from him?”

“Don’t tell him I told you about that. But yeah, that’s the biggest part of it. After going on a wild goose chase, Dandelion tightened his leash to keep him from doing anything stupid, so now he’s reluctantly going through the right channels. And his timing couldn’t be better.”

“Because the Revolutionaries are up to something, right?”

Lapis nodded absently and Ruscello folded his arms over his chest as he frowned thoughtfully.

“But just what could they be after? I understand that their long term goal is anarchy that will bring down the government, but do you think this is related?”

“Hell if I know. I just hope it’s nothing to earth shaking. Getting involved in big events just gives me a headache. Right now, I’m just focused on dealing with the organization problems to come. Cade just randomly came out of nowhere and is calling the entire guild together for the first mandatory meeting since his appointment to warlord. Cade just doesn’t understand how people will react to so many non-pirate big names suddenly gathering out of nowhere. Ugh, I can just imagine the filed complaints…”

[Tracks]

Vincent ‘Manifold’ Drake had managed to infiltrate the main ship of the revolutionaries and he couldn’t be more pleased with his timing. While his decision had been independent and done without consulting his boss, he might have missed his chance if he hadn’t snuck in when he did. The majority of the leading figures in the group were preoccupied or out of commission. The oddly dressed man/woman/thing with scissor hands had been taken out with surprising speed, no doubt by the Shichibukai who had arrived before him, and he’d already seen a familiar face leave the ship and head across the island. Vincent couldn’t shake the feeling that none of this would have happened if he’d eliminated the revolutionary back when they had been fighting, but he put the thought aside. Regretting the turnout of the fight now wouldn’t benefit him in anyway.

Vincent was mostly happy that the Shichibukai was engaging the Revolutionary leader, Dragon. Vincent was positive that he wouldn’t be able to handle a monster like that, no matter how many bodies he had. For that reason, he kept a safe distance, choosing to infiltrate the cargo area of the large ship, on the exact opposite side of the vessel from where the two monsters fought.

The cargo area was huge, filled with several crates and boxes of supplies. Vincent doubted that the needed so much just to visit Ennies Lobby. Had they made a detour while sailing? Or did they have a particular destination after this? One thing was for sure—these people were hardly predictable. Nothing Vincent saw, as he snuck around on the thick wooden beams that crossed over the entire length of the cargo area, gave him a solid clue of what they were planning. It might have been easier to simply kidnap one of the people there and question them. But if he did that, there would be no way to continue to hide the fact that someone other than the Shichibukai was there.

“Everyone! Grab your guns! We’ve got trouble!”

Vincent’s body tensed up as one man rushed into the cargo hold, yelling at the top of his lungs to get the attention of everyone in the area. Had Vincent been found out? He shouldn’t have left any trace behind when he’d come in…

“Someone is heading toward the boat, straight from the ocean! They’re wearing a marine coat and they have a Pacifista with them!”

That got everyone moving. Guns were drawn from under tables and behind crates and they immediately began loading the bullets into them with gun powder. Others rushed out of the room, probably heading to intercept the dangerous machine that threatened them.

Vincent’s entire body relaxed in relief as his eyes began to search around the room once more. With another diversion, he’d probably get a better chance to search the area. Lucky him~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“…It’s stuffy. It smells of gun powder. The sea breeze is too strong. I can’t feel my legs from standing so long and the sound of cannon fire is too loud. Why did I have to be the one to show up first? I’m exhausted just from the trip over.”

A whining voice was lost in the sea breeze even as its owner put all of her energy and stress into it. Her voice was only further drowned out by the cannon fire she complained about, along with the waves of the ocean crashing against the shore, and the loud slamming noise created whenever the large hulking machine beneath her took a step as it waded through the ocean.

In a way, she and the infamous PX-1 beneath her were exact opposites. With a design based on a certain bear of a man, the Pacifista was massive, standing at almost twenty-three feet in height, and had a broad chest that still surpassed the height of most people. With dark skin and dark curly hair, it was the very personification of a predator in the shape of a human.

On the other hand, the woman standing on the Pacifista’s shoulder was like a walking skeleton with skin stretched over the bones. She stood at about seven feet and had spindly arms and legs, a tiny waist, and practically no excess meat—she lacked both fat and muscles, almost looking atrophied. With pronounced wrists, a distinct collar bone, and a thin stature, one would worry that a strong breeze could throw her off the Pacifista and kill her.

And yet, despite their opposing body types, something about seeing the two together seemed oddly natural.

“Vice Admiral Snow,” The Pacifista spoke in a quiet and stoic voice as it continued to walk straight toward the unidentified ships that dropped anchor so close to Ennies Lobby. “Targets identified. Preparing to take offensive action. Requesting permission to engage.”

“Those beams are too loud.” The vice admiral sighed irritably as she glared at the sky with posture devoid of any motivation. “And you can’t attack the ship in front of us. A warlord is fighting there. Can’t you even see her?”

“Lucia Lawson. Former bounty of 200,000,000. Shichibukai. Ally.”

“Exactly. Let her handle the leader. Focus on destroying the other ships.”

“Understood. Changing targets.”

Vice Admiral Snow winced as PX-1 shifted its weight and began to turn. Every one of its heavy step shook the vice admiral to the core and she felt uncomfortable, as if all of her organs shifted. She was just about to complain when the sound of cannon fire filled the air and her exasperated expression froze into a cold glare as she look back toward the main ship that they had just decided to disregard. A cannon ball was flying straight toward PX-1’s head and, consequently, the vice admiral, who was perched on the human weapon’s shoulder. She swung her thin, spindly arm out and brought her long, oversized marine coat up, swinging it through the air in a seemingly harmless fashion. The cannon ball flew right into the coat and suddenly sailed off in another direction, as if deflected by the coat. It landed in the sea and exploded nearby, leaving both the vice admiral and pacifista unharmed.

“Are you people crazy?” The vice admiral muttered irritably as she glared at the people manning the cannons on the ship with her sharp eyes. Her cold expression had quickly melted into the same whining face she’d had a moment before, now that the moment of immediate danger had passed. “I’m confident that a couple of seagulls possess a more sturdy body than me! What would you do if I died?!”

The revolutionaries had no response to that odd question. Instead, they simply fired their cannons again.

“Destroy those other ships.” Snow gave a firm order as she regarded the approaching cannon balls with distaste. “I guess I’ll support the warlord.”

“Understood.”

With that positive response, Snow leapt off of the pacifista’s shoulder, aiming to cross the distance between her and ship with her weak body. Going by the amount of force she managed to put in the jump, anyone would have expected her to simply land into the water, far from her goal. But instead, she seemed to sail through the air like a ghost, her coat billowing around her in the wind as if she was truly weightless. The cannonballs fired in her direction were easily deflected as she brandished her coat, sending them all into the water in a gentle manner that sent explosions ringing through the bay, splashing water all around her. The revolutionaries could only stare in shock as she continued to ‘fly’ right toward them, easily slipping right into one of the openings in the ship that one of the cannons stuck out of, knocking away the surprised man who was manning it.

“A d-devil fruit eater?” The man stuttered as he stared at the frail woman who was practically swallowed by her large marine coat. Snow didn’t both responding as she stood up, glancing around with a distasteful frown.

“…They’re all wearing mouse ears…”

“Don’t hesitate! She’s just one person! Surround her!”

Everyone nearby in the ship turned their attention to Snow, abandoning their posts by the cannons to aim their guns at her. Snow didn’t pay much mind to the actual guns, but she did take note of their formation. They were smart enough to place themselves so that they could avoid friendly fire, using the surrounding walls and wooden beams to corner her. The formations used in the marines were a bit different, but they had a similar formation for when they invaded a pirate ship and needed to surround their target without putting themselves in danger.

Despite knowing how efficient her enemies were, Snow remained calm as she regarded them all. The sea breeze that blew in through the opening behind her send her coat billowing around her slim body, making the symbol of ‘justice’ emblazoned on its back all the more pronounced.

“The marines are justice. This is a fact. Only we may say this word with a straight face and attribute our actions to it. We protect peace and those who desire it. The stability of the world is thanks to us. The pirates, on the other hand, are free. Only they may claim to have freedom without lying. Despite how we feel about how they exercise that ‘freedom’, the fact remains that they have it.”

Snow’s gaze stopped on one particular man who she assumed was the highest ranking of them all. Once more, her expression froze, changing from that of a harmless person whining and complaining to that of someone without any mercy or pity to give.

“But where does that leave you, the revolutionaries? You threaten to destroy peace and break down the stability of the world. You intend to ruin everything that the world government has worked for up until now. You may not realize this yourself, but if the government represents tyranny like you say, then you are all ‘evil’.”

“This coming from a person who doesn’t know anything about our goals.” The man snorted indifferently. “Tyranny is evil. The anarchy we fight for is different. Are you blind to the damage the government does to the world, just like the others?”

“This is a rare chance.” Snow went on, completely ignoring the man as she continued to gaze around at the people around her. She shifted her weight slightly and let her breath out slowly before continuing. “I’m only the vanguard until Fujitora and the rest of the fleet get here, but I can hardly leave this den full of ‘evil’ be. Allow me to deliver ‘justice’.”

“Fire!”

Guns went off as the men all pressed their triggers at the same time. Snow took a deep breath as she remained still and the bullets seemed to pass right through her. The revolutionaries’ eyes widened as her coat whipped around, as if moving out of the way of the bullets as they approached.

Was this woman’s body so thin, they all missed their shots?

Snow gripped her coat with one hand as swung it out with all of her strength, hiding herself from the people around her by covering herself with a flurry of white.

“Pray you aren’t killed in the first attack.”

[Trickling Nutshell]

{31 years ago}

“Ah. It’s so hot! It’s sweltering in here! Can’t you open a hole in the wall to let the heat escape, or something?”

“You know damn well that I can’t do that, Snow. Quit complaining about every little thing; you’re a soldier, aren’t you?”

“Telling a frail, bony girl to ‘tough it out’ is beyond child abuse, Vice AdmiralSakazuki. It isn’t right! It isn’t just!”

The tall, strapping marine didn’t respond to Katherine Snow’s pestering as he continued to shuffle through the papers in his hands, looking preoccupied. Snow looked around the room casually, looking for anything to distract her from the sweltering state the room was in. She’d willing come in here with Sakazuki, but she hadn’t expected there to be no other exits—the only one was now sealed by a wall of magma meant to keep people out. A dozen or so people were on the other side, no doubt shouting profane words directed to Sakazuki. Sakazuki wasn’t the type of person to let other people’s opinions get to him, but it seemed that even he wanted peace and quiet every now and then.

At least, that was what the case was normally. This time, for some reason, Snow noticed that he was acting differently compared to usual, though marginally so. His jaw was set a little harder than normal and his grimace was deeper. He’d seemed unhappy ever since he had that argument with Vice Admiral Kuzan about Sakazuki’s actions during that event.

In truth, Sakazuki had performed his duties admirably. There was no contesting that. He was ordered to lead a Buster Call along with four other vice admirals and raze the island of Ohara to the ground. He’d made a critical decision and eliminated the possibility of any targets sneaking off the island by destroying the ship prepared for the civilians. Whether or not there had been any targets actually on that boat was debatable, as was the morality of the decision. He was regarded as an ideal marine in the papers, but there was no convincing the people who were acquainted with the now dead residents of Ohara. No matter what, they’d resent him for killing off innocent civilians. They wouldn’t accept the logic that letting even one target escape would essentially put the many deaths that occurred to waste. Angry people were blinded by their emotions and lost sight of what was ‘just’ or ‘right’ very easily.

So Sakazuki had given up and decided to ignore them.

“What you did there wasn’t wrong.” Snow sighed heavily after getting tired of staring at Sakazuki’s back. “It was right. People may disagree, but the sacrifice of a hundred prevented the falling of dominos that would eventually topple the lives of millions. Righteous evil is better than good evil. Vice Admiral Kuzan simply doesn’t understand the resolve it takes to protect the future, rather than the only present.”

“Is that what you believe, Snow? Or are you just telling me what you think I should hear again?”

“I’m jealous of your full-hearted resolve, Vice Admiral.” Snow admitted readily with the same stoic look on her face as she continued to stare at Sakazuki’s motionless back. “I won’t say that you’re a saint, or that your actions were the best in that situation. But you knew what had to be done and did it, regardless. There are many marines who claim to fight under the banner of justice, but shy away when justice demands too much of them. That is why I respect you and am jealous of you. That’s why I, of all people, will always support you.”

Sakazuki didn’t respond immediately. His shoulders dropped slightly as he sighed heavily, clicking his tongues as he raised his hand and waved the papers to indicate that Snow should take them. Snow did so, glancing down at the page on the top of the pile.

“Nico…Robin?”

“Instead of demanding so much of me, use that energy to do something about yourself. It’s not me who you should be respecting, but justice itself. Hundreds of people were sacrificed on Ohara to hide something. This girl threatens to put all of that to waste—hundreds of people would have died for no reason. Hear me now, Commander Snow; killing a little girl isn’t justice. Preventing the death of human beings from becoming worthless is true justice.”

So that’s what he had been so bothered about? No doubt, Kuzan was inclined to leave this Nico Robin alone so long as she didn’t cause any more trouble. This girl could potentially destroy the world, though she didn’t necessarily have to. It seemed Kuzan was willing to bet on the latter, while Sakazuki was worried about the former. It wasn’t an issue of which was just, but whether it was better to be proactive or reactive. And it was sure as hell difficult to be proactive with so much resistance from the other party.

For the sake of absolute justice, Sakazuki would eliminate all evil. For the sake of making sure a ‘righteous purge’ didn’t become remembered as an ‘oppressive cleansing’, he’d pit the whole world against a single girl. He’d become evil for the sake of justice.

He really was an ideal marine soldier.

“…You always did want to stand up for your heroes…”

“Quit muttering and loitering around, Snow! We have work to do! We need to put at this wanted poster and hunt down this brat! There’s no telling what those Revolutionaries will ever do, but we can’t risk them meeting the survivor of Ohara! Get out there and beat those scum to the target!”

“Understood, vice admiral.”

“WAS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE YOUR ANSWER?!”

“Yessir, Vice Admiral Sakazuki!”

Snow pressed her hand to her forehead as she saluted firmly, taking a solid stance, all the while fighting back her smile.

If it was for this man who burned so brightly with his sense of justice, perhaps pushing her frail body through some agonizing work wouldn’t be so bad after all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

{Present Day}

“Half-hearted efforts will be whole-heartedly crushed, after all.”

Vice Admiral Snow sighed heavily as she glanced around at the small fry lying on the floor around her. With a single blow from her large coat, they’d been knocked away with ease. Revolutionary soldiers were certainly skilled at subterfuge and the like, but it seemed that they weren’t perfect soldiers.

“Maybe it would be easier to just have PX-1 sink the ship rather than arrest them all.” Snow muttered to herself thoughtfully as she frowned. “We don’t really have an easy way to identify revolutionaries, who’ve effectively vanished from our records.”

“Vat’s pretty mean of vyou. Vose boys are far from ‘half-hearted’. Vey threw everything vey had at vyou, after all.”

Snow turned to face the person who spoke up and froze at the sight before her. Blocking Snow’s way toward the large cargo hold of the ship was a person’s face. Granted, roughly fifty percent of this head was a fluffy purple afro, but it didn’t change the fact that in front of her was an abnormally sized face with a chiseled chin, thickly painted eyelashes, and makeup caked onto the cheeks and lips.

“…Emporio Ivankov.”

“Hoh? So at least vyou know my name. It’s a pleasure to meet vyou. I’ve heard quite a bit about the infamous ‘White Mantle’ of the marines. I didn’t expect vyou to be so…thin.”

“Emaciated.” Snow corrected casually. “Or withered. Thin people have more muscle tissue than I do. Though I’m surprised you could figure that much out with my coat covering my body.”

While she did wear a vest with no sleeves to bare her slender arms. They were covered by her coat when she was in combat mode. Unless she made a movement that showed her body beneath her cloak for a brief moment, it would be different, but she’d made no such movements.

“Do not vunderestimate the Newkama Queen! I, voo have broken the barrier betveen genders, can see vyour body type just by seeing vyour face and height!”

“You really are a freak of nature. I guess I can feel a little better about myself knowing I'm not the only one who catches the eye.”

Snow took a single step forward to prepare to charge and Ivankov’s response was instantaneous.

“Hell Wink!”

A blast of air pressure shook the walls of the ship and created a larger hole where the cannons stuck out of, sending the artillery spiraling into the sea. Snow stood a few steps from where she had been originally, having expertly evaded the attack at the last second like a paper folding out of the way of the wind.

“Hell…WINK! WINK! WINK!!!”

Several more invisible attacks shook the air, but they only managed to send Snow’s cloak fluttering wildly through the air as she shifted quickly from side to side, evading each attack as if she had no body to be struck. She closed the distance between herself and Ivankov’s face with each step until she was ready to jump straight at the large head.

“Hell Wink!”

Ivankov sent one last blast through the air, which he used to send his head flying back a few feet as Snow evaded the attack and sailed weightlessly through the air. As if ignoring gravity, Snow literally glided toward the top of Ivankov’s head as if to attack. Ivankov immediately jabbed one of his hands into his neck and his massive face shrunk instantly, allowing him to avoid Snow’s attack unconventionally.

Though this left him suspended in the air with no way to protect himself.

“I-I’m falling!” Ivankov’s eyes bugged out in shock as his hands waved wildly in panic. “I’ve falling to my voom!”

“Gravity’s definitely a pain.” Snow responded with a firm nod even as she sailed down toward Ivankov to capitalize on his moment of weakness. “It’s too strong and gives me back pains.”

“Vyoy talk like an old voman! Vyou should enjoy vyour youthful body a bit more van vat!”

One of Snow’s eyebrows twitched irritably as she slowly rotated in the air so she fell head first while facing Ivankov’s direction. Ivankov abruptly stopped pretending to be vulnerable and aimed a smaller, but still potent Death Wink opposite him, sending him further back through the air. At the same time, Snow abruptly somersaulted in the air, whipping her coat out with a loud crack that probably held enough power to snap bones.

Snow’s eyes homed in on Ivankov as he landed gracelessly on a nearby crate. Snow continued to somersault in the air, this time far more quickly to make up for the lost momentum that she had taken advantage of when falling. Without a crack, she went flying toward Ivankov with her coat billowing around her like a white reaper’s cloak.

“Newkama Kenpo: 44 no Aesthe Ougi- Atarashī Hijiri An!”

Ivankov rocketed off of the crate he stood on as he sent another blast of air at Snow, this time riding on it while kicking one leg out fiercely to meet Snow’s approach. The force of the attack was no doubt great, but it ended up completely missing as Snow fluidly evaded in midair, blinding Ivankov with a flurry of white as she easily circled around the crossdresser to hang in the air behind him.

“Not even your freakish martial arts can keep up with my ‘Shūkyoku’, self-proclaimed queen.”

“Beeeeeaaaauuuuutiful!!!!”

( I was wondering since i said Kiya was going to get on the scene can I have her face Dragon with Lucia ? )

Heya guys, is the RP still going? Sorry I didn't post in like forever, but I had like the worst job ever and didn't have the time to post or even sleep much for that matter. If one of you, mainly BP, can get back to me about what's going down it would be great.

I'd still like to keep this going, but it seems as though there's limited interest at the moment. It's been a process kick-starting the other RPs, and this one's probably taking a back seat for the time being.

If we still have enough people, we can probably kick-start this again in a while. I'm not going to be posting on here, for a while. I have other RP plans that will be coming into play soon enough.