[Other FULL] One Piece: The Golden Age (IC) Rated T

[Legend]

Kasumi Kobushi- The Kobushi Tower Comes Crashing Down

Things were not going at all as she expected. Kasumi did not think the Unit would fail in such spectacular fashion. It was a disappointment, but hardly a poor investment. They did their part in the grander scheme of things and at this moment provided an acceptable means of escape. Everyone would be distracted fighting and she could easily sneak out. It was always feasible that her Dinas operation would be come crashing down eventually, but she expected it would be an inside job. Some lower level member of her corporation would sell her out in some capacity and she would have to either go into damage control or abandon the bulk of her operation. But not this. Never something like this.

Kasumi had already abandoned her office, carrying a small bag of her most valued supplies. It was mostly files and some trinkets of personal value. She tended to keep backups upon backups at other offices, so she could travel light from location to location. It did not help that Kasumi was guilty of paranoia, so it was almost as if she was always prepared to make a quick escape. Completely aware that many of the Skull Pirates who had opposed her where either near death or fighting Billionth, Kasumi swiftly made her way down the stairs, firmly believing that the elevator would corner her too easily.

Deciding to make a small detour and check one of her backup files in the storage room, Kasumi bolted out of the staircase and swiftly through one of the many doors on the level. She had practically memorized the entire organization system, having designed it herself. Combine that with a photographic memory and it would be impossible for her to find something within a few quiet moments. She nabbed the necessary files and fled the room, locking the door as she left.

"Going somewhere?" A voice said from behind her as she locked the door. She then heard a click as if a gun was being primed to fire.

Kasumi could only smirk. "Commodore Zakiru Kiba. I was wondering when you would return," she said. With a quick pivot, Kasumi returned the favor and aimed her own gun at Kiba. Her pistol was far smaller than Kiba's Handcannon, but held it's the same perk of being loaded with Seastone bullets. However, that distinction did little in this case we both lacking any Devil Fruit powers. Instead, it was her finesse opposing Kiba's raw power.

Kiba tensed his arm, readying to pop a bullet into Kasumi at a moment's notice. Kasumi, however, remained calm. At ease, even. As if the entire situation was expected. Kiba tried to twist his grimace into a smile, to put on a pretense of confidence: "I did not take you for a coward, Kasumi. Is this you admitting that your Unit has failed?"

"It is a calculated retreat, yes. But the war is far from lost," Kasumi replied. "Though, I must ask, why do you raise your weapon against a Shichibukai? Don't you have some prey to hunt…'Predator'?"

"Once a pirate, always a pirate," Kiba said flatly.

"Must I remind that we Shichibukai have no bounties and have pledged loyalty to the World Government?" Kasumi said with a confident smile.

Kiba grimaced at Kasumi's near infallible logic, but then smiled ever so slightly. "I beg to differ when it comes to you," Kiba said.

"Whatever do you mean?" Kasumi said with a tilt of her head. "Unless my intellect has failed me, which it does not, I have contributed more to the World Government cause than any other Shichibukai."

Kiba's body grew tense. "Which is why I suspected something in the first place." Kasumi raised an eyebrow slightly as Kiba spoke. "Your joining of the Shichibukai appeared abrupt to me. After all, very few ever join as willingly as you did when the Marines cracked down on all your backdoor operations: arms dealing, illegal smuggling, intelligence leaks, merchant raiding; monopolization of virtually everything. The Kobushi Corporation had grown exponentially ever since you and your father had taken over. But for you to suddenly to explicitly become a pirate and then insist on being Shichibukai never sat well with me."

"So I did some searching in the records at HQ. I will admit that I had to connect a number of dots, but things began to make sense. When you became a Warlord, many shared my sentiment and questioned your loyalty. But you knew that didn't you? Your quick alliance with Akasame assured that, as you sold out pirate crew after pirate crew. Your intelligence network guaranteed you had a ear to the ground about nearly every passing crew here in Dinas, a key stop for anyone daring the sail the Grand Line. In response, the Marines turned a blind eye to your dealings in the city and across the seas. Any time, Akasame or someone grew suspicious, you would toss them a bone and we wouldn't be the wiser. Am I correct or no?"

Kasumi did not respond, but kept her gun fixated on Kiba. He could only smile, feeling he was close to the truth.

"I'll continue then. For some time, you were quiet. There wasn't a lot of action coming from your end, especially with Morris D. Rallo gone. But then suddenly Duke Island happened. Ginokami told me that Akasame called it your brainchild; a product of months of planning. Really now? I'm guessing it took about thirty minutes to put together. Tell a bunch of pirates treasure exists on the island and only the winner gets it? Please, Kasumi."

"To be fair, your admiral did modify it a bit. Mine was a bit more complicated," Kasumi said with a giggle.

"Regardless of what came to transpire, I was curious. I came to Dinas seeking confirmation of my suspicions. The timing of the Duke Island event coinciding with this Golden Age of Piracy was too…convenient. When I docked here, I didn't know what I expected. Then I bumped into Wright D. Morgan, who seemed to share the same sentiments I did. Sure, he was hardly as eloquent as I am, but the man, despite his questionable taste in friends, has his ethics. Imagine my surprise when I lurked in the dungeons. They are pirates sure. Legitimate criminals as well. But political prisoners. Naysayers of the great Kasumi Kobushi. Individuals who claimed that were imprisoned for suspected information leaks. Those who swore they have direct proving your…intent to commit treason. Put together with your Unit members who bend to your every whim and are willing to kill anyone you point them at. Sounds like a recipe for a cover up operation to me!" Kiba tightened his finger on the trigger of his Handcannon.

"What exactly are you accusing me of, Marine?" Kasumi said.

"It did not occur to me until I saw everything and took a step back. It honestly pains me that I did not realize it as clearly as I do now from the beginning. You have been planning this from the start. You became a Shichibukai to use both sides to your advantage: keep the marines off your back but retain your affluence. Play the marines from time to time to keep your influence in the pirating world, but sell out a crew or two to maintain your status. Dinas was to be your home base of operations so you had a constant stream of information, while also getting the supplies you needed to pull off your grand scheme. You used us to protect yourself while removing the competition. Duke Island was the culmination of all that. Wasn't it?!"

"Hehehehehehehe," Kasumi laughed. "You really think that is all there is to it?"

"What?" Kiba asked.

"I do commend you for conceiving that notion from a bit of research and intuition, but stating that Duke Island was the culmination of my years of planning is an insult to every Kobushi in my family's history. No, Duke Island was an example of my talent. An audition for Akasame to put me in his inner circle, if you will. And trust me when I say I passed with flying colors, Commodore. And the best part is he doesn't suspect a thing, unlike you. You see, your theory behind what drives each and each carefully orchestrated move is entirely true. I have been playing you Marines like a fiddle. All I had to do was say a few vows and throw you a bone or two. When you finished it, I threw another and not one of you were none the wiser to anything I was doing behind your backs. I would equip a couple pirate crews with guns and you disposed of them for me. 'Removing the competition' you said? I couldn't put it better myself. But you see, that was all for show. I was inching closer to the heart of what drives the World Government these days: eliminating the pirate threat. You see, the real culmination, my conspiracy theory ridden friend, is everything around you." Kasumi gestured with her free hand with Kiba simply glaring at her, shaking in anger.

"You seem confused. As expected as much, as your brain could probably only process so much. Allow me to explain in simple words what I'm intending to do. By putting himself in the inner circle of the World Government, I will have access to every little bit of intelligence you have. Which of course, allows me to plan years ahead. But the real prize are your ears. All I need to do is whisper in them and bend the World Government to my will. And that's the real power because once all my competition is dead and I am the last pirate standing, all I have to do is," Kasumi suddenly stopped speaking and snapped her fingers. " And I am Queen."

"I won't let you get away with it!" Kiba roared. "Now you have confessed I-"

"Hehehehehehehe!" Kasumi laughed, louder than before. "Oh please, Commodore. Your word means less than nothing to the Admirals, considering you let your crowning prisoner escape your grasp a handful of times. Your witnesses fear me more than death itself. And so you find some miracle to put me in a court…well, let's just say no court would dare convict me. You are powerless to stop me."

Kiba was shaking in anger. "I'll just ki-" Suddenly the entire tower rumbled and small cracks in the walls emerged. Distracted, Kiba felt his focus slip but immediately tried to redirect it at Kasumi. She was making her way towards a nearby window, shattering it with the butt of her gun. Kiba fired a quick shot with his Handcannon, hitting her in the leg. Kasumi winced in pain, but turned around and fired her own shot in the Marine's dominant hand. The recoil of the bullet forced Kiba back with a groan in pain, old injuries from Narro reawakened.

"Till we meet again," Kasumi said with a wince. She leapt out of the window, descending into the city below. A small parachute shot out as she disappeared out of eyesight.

Kiba punched a wall in frustration. "Damn it," he said. It was the only words that came to mind. With a grunt, Kiba noticed the cracks growing. "I better get-" Kiba said, before being interrupted again by his Den-Den Mushi ringing once again. Rolling his eyes, he picked it up, figuring one of his subordinates was trying to reach him.

"Hello?" A voice asked, one he did not recognize.

"Who is this?" Kiba fired back.

"Oh, it worked. It's uh, Kurisu. From before."

"How…how did you reach me?"

"Right, that. I picked up your frequency when we broke that one group of prisoners. Anyway, long story but the tower is coming down any minute now."

"I've noticed."

"Damn, must be going faster than I thought. Well, that makes this next part really important. There is a group of people fighting up on the upper levels. They are going to be buried under all this rubble unless you get to them. Can you manage it?"

"I can," Kiba asked. "Who are they?"

"Um, look at the time, gotta go!" Kurisu abruptly said with a loud click.

"Well, then. Time to listen for the sounds of battle," Kiba said, placing his snail back in his pocket.

 

[Fort PokePower]

Anahita Z. Firenze - Just a Bit Behind

​

Firenze sat up with a groan, a hand to her aching head as she tried to recall just what had happened.

She'd followed Joshua up the stairs of the tower until they'd run into the marines, and then... she'd gotten smacked in the head. Twice. Hard. First by Joshua's flailing hand - an accident, she was sure - then again by the butt of a marine's rifle. A rather sad way to be taken down... But now she was awake! ...And Josh was nowhere in sight. He must have gone ahead.

How long had she even been out for? That questioned didn't seem to matter as much when there was a sudden rumble and cracks began to form in the walls and floor. Firenze sat frozen until everything went still again, her eyes wide. Hmm, didn't seem it would be wise to hang around any longer. She should probably get the others in case they hadn't notice... unless... Had they already gone and left her behind?!

Panicking at that thought, Firenze sprung to her feet and maneuvered around the unconscious marines around her to get to the stairs. As she ran down them, it didn't even cross her mind that maybe they hadn't really forgotten her and were now fighting for their lives further up the tower.

It wasn't until she was back on the first floor, huffing and panting after her mad dash down the stairs, that it occurred to her that the others might still be inside the tower. And if that was the case, then she'd pretty much just abandoned them, something that made her feel absolutely and completely disgusted with herself. She hesitated, unsure of what to do. Go all the back up the stairs and catch up with Joshua? Go outside in case they really had already left and look for them? Or go downstairs and look for Kuzo and Lotte? Firenze cast a glance at the stares she'd just come down. There was no way she was going to be able to get all the way up the tower and back before it collapsed, and she wasn't sure how many floors up Josh was. But if there was even the slightest chance that one of her new crew mates might still be in the tower, she couldn't just leave. So that left the third option: going down to the basement.

So it was down the stairs again, though at least going down took considerably less energy than climbing up. What Firenze found in the lower levels, however, wasn't Kuzo or Lotte or anything that really even looked remotely human. Rather, it had large wings for arms, fur, huge ears, and, well... it basically looked like a big bat. A really, really big bat. Still, though it looked familiar... Ah, that's right! He was one of those guys from those wanted posters Lotte had showed them, the cool looking one! And if that was the case, that meant he was one of her new crew mates.

Crouching down in front of the bat-thing - she couldn't remember his name - she waved her hand in his face to get his attention. "Hello! I'm Firenze, new buddy. Don't suppose you've seen Kuzo and the others around anywhere, eh? Just thought they might wanna know the tower looks like it could come crumbling down any moment..." Then she paused, suddenly curious. "Wait, can you even talk?"

 

[Greiger]

Bass and Firenze: New... um.... friends?​

Bass groaned in return. He heard something and struggled to speak, but all he could do was whimper softly. His head swam as he could feel more blood seeping out of his wounds. He... he needed...

"Stand down!" A voice called out. One guard was standing there, doing his best not to look at the carnage around him as he gripped his rifle tighter, "Unless you want to-" He never got to finish as a wave of fur and flesh flew at him from the ground. The red eyed beast had wrapped his wings tightly as he dug his fangs into his neck and groaned out in appreciation.

BLOOD!

The red gleam clouded his eyes more and more as he bit in deeper to drink his fill. His wings obscured the finer details as he slurped frantically. His conscious thoughts drifted away as, for the first time, he gave in voluntarily to the animal side. He finally pulled away, gasping loudly as the drained guard dropped from his grip. The bat's ears twitched as he heard movement to the side. One wounded guard was crawling along the floor, but Bass' mercy no longer existed at that moment.

In one fell swoop he was upon the survivor, feeding frantically as the throbbing pain his head began to slowly melt away. It... it was... it was GOOD!

Firenze was now sitting with her back to the wall, one hand settled uncertainly on her pouch as she watched Bass with wide eyes. Well... that was... um... unexpected... Should she try to talk to him and calm him down? ...Another glance at the bat told her that probably wouldn't be such a good idea. Back home, she'd dealt with some wild animals during "adventures" about the desert island, and right now her new... crew mate? seemed to be acting quite a bit like one.

Now she just had to figure out how to get out of this mess she'd gotten into alive... or hope he'd decide she was a friend and not try to suck her dry. She wasn't depending a lot on that luck, though, so she slowly and carefully reached into her bag and pulled out a piece of chalk. Firenze had never really seen bats where she'd lived, but from the books she'd read, she'd learned they reacted to sounds. Hopefully those books were right.

Waiting a moment until Bass was facing away from her, she flung the chalk down the hall, listening as it clattered away.

As the chalk hit the ground Bass' head snapped up as his ears twitched. A black blur flew down the hallway as Bass pounced upon the ground, letting out squeaks and hisses as his ears twitched wildly. He didn't even bother to touch the chalk as he scampered about, trying to find the 'person' that surely had been moving around here.

Firenze was just about ready to just run back up the stairs and leave the bat too cool down... but there was no guarantee the tower wouldn't come down on them before that. And there was no way she was just going to leave him there to get buried in the rubble. What else could she do, though? Knock him out? That didn't really sit too well with her, but it might be her only choice.

Casting an anxious look upward, Firenze backed away from the bat until she was able to turn a corner, putting her back up against it and staying out of sight. She'd give it just a few minutes, see if he calmed down quickly. If he didn't, then... Firenze guessed she'd have to do something.

"Oh c**p what's tha-AH!" The sound of screams echoed along the hallway along with bullet fire until finally the noises stopped. A loud screech echoed shortly after as Bass finished up on his latest meal and walked toward the middle of the hallway before finally falling down onto the ground, loud snores escaping blood soaked muzzle as he curled up.

There were screams, a thump, then silence; the silence didn't last long, though, before Firenze heard what sounded like... snoring? Peering around the corner, Firenze spotted the bat curled up on the floor, quite clearly sound asleep. Well, that hadn't taken as long as she thought it might. Stepping out into the open she approached the bat, slowly at first then at a more normal pace when she figured out that he wasn't going to wake up and attack her.

Crouching down next to the bat, she prodded him experimentally with a finger. When nothing happened, Firenze shrugged and hoisted him up into her arms, holding somewhat awkwardly to avoid the thumb claws on his wings, then started towards the stairs. With all of the injured marines about, besides Bass seeming to have been freed, she figured Kuzo and Lotte must have already come through here, so it was time to get out of here.

 

[SV]

Joshua, Kuzo, Lotte, Skellen, and Selena - The Final Showdown with the Poison Demon!

Kuzo's eyes focused in the line parting the two elevator doors. He silently scanned the parting, knowing once the elevator stopped on the floor Joshua and Selena punched in, their enemy would be waiting. He only hoped that Vance was still hanging in there. Kuzo still couldn't believe that his navigator had volunteered to stay behind and hold the leader of the Units off by himself. This wasn't to say that he thought Vance was a coward or wimp, but rather that he didn't expect it to be in his style. It just went to show how much more Kuzo had to learn about his crewmates.

He took in a deep breath as the elevators came to a halt, and the doors swung open. Kuzo walked outside of the elevator doors and his eyes opened wide in shock at the sight before him. The ceiling above had partially collapsed, with pieces of the rubble littered across the room. There were blobs of purple liquid spread out across the room, but it was more concentrated in the center. There, a lone man with purple hair and a red suit stood somberly, with his hands in his pockets and his head hung toward the ground, as if he were looking at something.

When Kuzo stepped forward a few more steps, he saw what that something was. Or more specifically someone. The man in the red suit rested one of his feet on top of another large purple glob, a person covered practically from head to toe in the horrid purple fluid. It was Hayden Vance.

"Vance!" Kuzo yelled loudly, his voice carrying over to the other side of the room and toward Billionth. Billionth rose his head at the sudden bellow, having apparently dozed off while savoring his victory.

"Hmm? Ah, and here comes the cavalry! Heff, heff, heff," Billionth chuckled as he stepped across Vance's body and strutted a few paces toward the four pirates. Each of his steps echoed across the chamber before Billionth came to a halt. "More from the... what was it, Skull Pirates?" Billionth stared at the four of them with a disturbingly pleasant smile, with his hands still in his pockets.

"Vance...?" Lotte breathed, looking wide eyed at what Kuzo had preempted her in identifying as their navigator and her bodyguard. She was rooted to the spot, torn between her desire to rush forwards-- and her equally strong desire to hide behind Kuzo in the face of the man who had been responsible for Vance's current state. She looked to the side as Skellen spoke, gripping the hem of her dress to steady herself as she tried to draw confidence from his nonchalance.

"You forgot to mention that he looked about as pleasant as his poison" Skellen said, looking at Selena and Joshua - acting casual but taking note of Vance's predicament too. It was still too early to tell if Vance was alive since he was obscured by the toxic goo, but Skellen found it hard to believe that anyone in Kuzo's crew would have gone down so easily.
Our first priority should be to separate him from Vance... I can give him the suppressant then which should keep him alive.

"We need to split him up from Vance, he's covered in that poison stuff which will make it a bit difficult for us to land hits effectively but I want to inject Vance as soon as possible since we can't be sure how much of it has gotten into his body." Skellen drew one of his pilfered knives from the also stolen belt, emphasizing his readiness to join the battle.

"Got any plans for that?" Selena asked, glancing over in Skellen's direction. "Touching the guy is bad news and I don't think we have anyone here that can actually attack without getting close and personal, right?"

"Well I might have something we can try" Skellen thought for a moment, Selena had already fought Billionth so she would know his moves better than anyone. If anyone would get a chance it would be her. "Lets go for him, I'll break it out once we have a real opening."

Without waiting for the others to agree or disagree, Skellen ran for Billionth at top speed, gripping his knife tightly. As he reached the poison coated man however he dropped suddenly to one knee, throwing the weapon upward at Aldridge's head. In the same moment, he pressed his fingers to Vance to check for a pulse and then finished his combination by shifting his weight to a hand on the ground and kicking at Billionth's stomach. Vance was definitely alive, now he just had to work on creating that opening.

Billionth hardly moved at Skellen's incoming attacks, though he did move his head to the left to dodge his initial attack with his weapon. When the kick came at him, he took it directly to the stomach, and grunted. He took a few steps back and bent over, but then came the slow, building laughter. "Heff, heff, heff..." He began. Skellen at this point would notice his entire leg was covered in the same purple liquid as Vance's body. He also noticed his hand had the same poison from where he touched Vance to check his pulse.

Billionth rose himself to reveal the spot where Skellen hit. It was covered in the terrifying purple liquid, and that liquid was spreading across his body at a rapid rate. "Heff, heff, heff! It's all the same no matter how you look at it! This fight was over the moment you decided on me as your opponent!" Billionth exclaimed. He continued to laugh even harder now than before. "HEFF, HEFF, HEFF! HEFF, HEFF, HEFF!"

Kuzo examined him each time he laughed and noticed that something was coming out of his mouth every single time. It almost looked like a mist of some sort, or some gas. With every laugh he made, and ever exhale, the gas was pouring out of him and forming across the room. Deciding to take action before anymore had spread, the captain clenched his fists and ran forward. "Tank Mode!" He shouted, causing his body to mass up into his larger form. He smashed the ground for a moment as he ran, causing rocks to flying up at his tremendous strength. Billionth stopped his laughter for a moment to eye the man in the blue bandanna curiously. Kuzo moved his arms back as he prepared for an attack, and Billionth couldn't help but admire his bravery, but also marvel at his stupidity.

"Do you really believe that will work?" Billionth questioned the pirate.

Kuzo brought his arms forward and thrust at the Unit leader. "Dual Cannon Arms!" He cried. Billionth began to build up his poison across his body tremendously. The purple wings began to appear on his back again, as well as the horns along his head. However, just before Kuzo's attack reached him, Billionth suddenly noticed that both of his arms were covered in something... "Rocks?" He questions, and the impact of his attacks hit him squarely in the chest. Billionth was suddenly forced back and collided with the wall at the far end of the room. He stayed attached to the wall for a few moments, surprised by the encounter from the captain.

"This battle..." Kuzo began, as he allowed the pieces of rocks he attached while he smashed the ground to burn off of his hands. Even if he managed to avoid most of the poison reaching his arms, bits of it got through, and they burned as if it were lava. Nonetheless, Kuzo glared determinedly at Billionth, prepared to go again. "... is far from over!"

Billionth rose himself from the wall and stepped forward again. Poison dripped from his body like rain falling off the edges of a plant. Every step he took caused more to drop, but much more was being generated at the same time. The purple wings fully formed along his back, as were the horns on his head. A new addition was a rather long tail between his legs, one that stretched out to extend even longer than his body, and which continuously dripped poison across the room. From all the poison that had been gathering around the floor and that he had been generating, Billionth suddenly rose his arms to control it all. The purple liquid reacted to his movements, and rose from the air in tiny balls of poison. "Poison Rain... Deluxe!" Billionth shouted, as the hundred of tiny specks of poison shot at the Skull Pirates like bullets.

Recoiling as he noticed the toxic chemical spreading over his leg, Skellen managed to catch the knife as it fell back down. Weapon in hand he rolled out of the way of Kuzo's attack towards the hallway's wall.
"How the hell is this stuff spreading like that!" he yelled, ignoring the fumes since he'd tied the cloth over his mouth and nose. Thinking quickly the Taipan used the knife to scrape the goo from his leg, dropping the corroding blade quickly after and moving away from the congealing poison.

Even as he stood up however, Billionth launched his counter-attack. Minuscule globs of the toxic chemical were flying towards the group - however Billionth was now separate from Vance. Skellen ran forward, keeping himself low to avoid as many of the "bullets" as he could, several still managing to corrode his hair or clipping his back. Despite the stinging pain Skellen sped across to his fallen comrade reaching into his satchel and withdrawing one of his syringes of suppressant. Still being pelted by poison he stabbed it into the navigators neck, one of the few bits of partially exposed skin he could see.

Skellen couldn't move Vance without being covered in the goo again, so instead he merely hoped that he'd awaken soon and fell back towards Joshua and Selena, pressing himself to the wall and covering his face with his bag to prevent the liquid from getting into his eyes. Skellen was among the most agile of fighters, but he didn't fancy trying to dodge a barrage of corrosive and poisonous projectiles.

As soon as Skellen had managed to inject the suppressant, Lotte took her cue. The effects of the poison filled room had been lost on her, and she had spent the better half confused as to why everyone was suffering so when all she could discern was a rather unpleasant sickly sweet smell filling the room. But her father had been right, after all. She darted forward, ducking under and behind Skellen as she unhesitatingly picked Vance up off the ground, pulling him off to the side. "Ow-!" Startled by the stinging sensation in her hands, she no sooner looked at her hands than the sensation had dissipated- leaving only the stickiness of the purple goo on her hands, arms and dress.

Still in range, but far enough that she and Vance would not be a direct target in comparison to Kuzo, Selena, and Skellen, Lotte watched the battle unfold with apprehension, distractedly sludging poison off of Vance with the hem of her dress.

Selena winced as she managed to try and dodge some of the poison that had been sprayed in her direction from Billionth's counterattack. The green-haired cook noticed that the rocks that Kuzo had used in his initial attack against the Unit leader seemed to have some effect. Whether or not the rocks had actually managed to have an effect against Billionth or not, Selena was not sure. However, the girl had a feeling that at the very least they may be able to use them to help get better shots against the poison-spewing Unit member.

Selena glanced over at the pirate captain and grinned. "Kuzo, think you can launch some more of those rocks at this guy? I think they're gonna help us get a better drop on this guy..."

Kuzo tried to dodge out of the way as well. But the amount of poison bullets launched gave little room to maneuver. Nevertheless, Kuzo reverted to his 'Lightning Mode' and sped across the room, ducking up and down to avoid most of the poison. A few droplets managed to strike at his arm, which not only stung the moment they impacted him, but seemed to cause him damage as well. They were launched at such a high speed and precision that they almost were like actual bullets. Combine that with the fact that Kuzo's lighter form caused his bone to become more hollow meant that the impact crippled his hand. He gritted his teeth, but quickly ripped off the sleeve of his coat with his free hand to stop the poison from spread. He then nodded to Selena.

"Right, I'll see what I can do! Tank Mode!" Kuzo exclaimed as he once more bulked up to his larger form. He grabbed the ground below him and exerted as much of his energy and strength as he could. He ripped up the ground and carried in his large hands a few fairly decent sized chunks of rock. "Cannon Toss!" Kuzo yelled as he threw the boulders at high speed toward the Unit leader.

"Heff... Toxin Angel!" Billionth shouted back, wrapping the large purple wings around his body as a shield. The rocks impacted Billionth's wings and forced his body backward, but they seemed to have been stopped by them. As they began to dissolve from the intensity of the poison, Billionth quickly pushed them off his wings in a swift motion and fired them back in Kuzo's direction at an alarming speed. With Kuzo being in his Tank Mode still, he didn't have enough speed to dodge the poison-covered rocks. He lifted his arms to shield himself and took the rock hits directly across his arms. He reacted with a small yelp from the pain of the poison contacting his skin on his ripped sleeve, but quickly ripped off his other shirt's sleeve to avoid the poison spread along the other arm. Kuzo hoped that while Billionth was attacking and defending against him, the others would have gotten a chance to get into position and strike at the Poison Demon.

Selena did not let Kuzo's efforts go to waste. The green-haired woman charged at Billionth, her eyes narrowing as she took aim at the toxic-dripping Unit member. With Billionth in close enough distance, Selena jumped at the man and aimed feet first, preparing to repeatedly kick him in the back of his head.

"Remember me, big guy? I was hoping I'd get another chance to tussle with you," Selena taunted. A rather excited smirk graced her lips despite the situation they were currently in. "I hope you're hungry, 'cause I plan on serving up one fresh helping of kick-ass!"

Skellen, the toxic rain no longer pounding him, let his satchel fall back into place as he ran full speed towards Billionth, drawing one of the stolen swords as he did so. As he got closer to the dangerous unit member, he ran for the side wall and leaped to the middle of it using the force of the jump against the wall to springboard off. Skellen flew towards Billionth, who he hoped was distracted by Selena, and swung the sword at his exposed neck aiming to decapitate him.

Surveying the situation for the few seconds it felt safe Joshua found himself stuck on what to do. With Selena and the dour looking doctor already attacking Billionth the way they were, they might all just crash into each other if he jumped in as well. He was brought back to the nameless technique he'd improvised earlier against Faora, then he wouldn't get in anyone's way. He tensed all the muscles in his right arm until every one of its veins stood at attention and thrust his fist out towards Billionth's left leg like a piston, hoping the strange ranged attack would work once again.

"Heff, heff, heff! Back for more, then?" Billionth smiled as he noticed the green-haired fighter approach him from behind. As she began striking along his back, Billionth expanded his poison wings in order to strike at her and to push her away. Regardless of whether they struck her, the numerous blows she initially tried to cause on him made her feet collect poison either way. Her kicks, however thanks for his winged defense, didn't reach his body. Because he never had to turn around to directly address Selena, he prepared for Skellen's incoming attack. However, instead of attacking him with any of his body parts, he intercepted the doctor with his long, purple tail, attempting to strike the doctor in the air with the venomous poison and knock him away covered in poison. "Toxic Tail Whip!"

This allowed Billionth to focus on Joshua in front of him, erecting a large amount of poison in front of him to act as an initial shield to the attack of his thrust, before launching a huge glob of the poison straight at the red-haired man. "Poison Bomb!" The Unit leader announced. Kuzo noticed the size launched seemed similar to how much was on Vance, and he wondered if that was the attack he got hit with.

Kuzo shook his head as he arose in frustration. They attacked together and didn't break through his defenses. He didn't understand it! They moved perfectly and should have been able to break through, but they moved in a way that Billionth was still able to counter. And he had seen Joshua and Selena initially move a bit faster in previous battles. What had changed now?

Just as he thought on this however, his vision temporarily blurred as if something were bothering him. He felt a slight clinging sensation in his eyes and also inside of his chest, as if something was lodged inside trying to escape. "Damn, what's going on?" Kuzo questioned out loud. Billionth turned to him and smiled.

"Ah, so you're feeling it first! I imagine it'll start kicking in for the rest of you here. While I fought Vance, I was able to aptly spread my Venom Cloud throughout the room. Heff, heff, heff. He initially tried to dispel it through an opening, but I can keep my poison concentrated if I so choose. What you're inhaling... is a poison that will rob you of your abilities and strength quite rapidly! Which means the longer you're fighting me, the more dull your senses will become. Until... you join your friend! Heff, heff, heff!"

Selena winced, biting her bottom lip as she felt the poison dripping off of Billionth burn on the bottoms of her feet. She really did not know why she thought that attack would work, and quickly made a mental note not to try such a direct approach again. The last thing the cook wanted was to be a burden or carried out from this battle once more.

Joshua was clearly growing more sluggish as well, even with a strip of his left sleeve tied around his mouth he could feel that the poison was setting about it's devious task. He didn't expect his air-punch thing to do much more than maybe knock Billionth off balance, but he was still surprised when he was able to react fast enough to block it even while the others attacked him. When the huge glob of poison came at him Joshua jumped away from it, but he had underestimated how quick the miasma in the room worked and he just barely avoided the attack. However, when the poison hit the spot Joshua had been only moments earlier it made a big splash and his jump hadn't carried him far enough to avoid the large drop that hit his chest and slammed him back to the ground.

Skellen switched in mid-air, managing to block the tail swipe with the flat of the blade, however being physically weaker than a lot of close-ranged moves meant that the counter didn't stop Skellen from being flung down the room. The sword clattered to the ground, corroding as Skellen hurtled across the hall.

Landing on his injured side, Skellen swore loudly as he hit the ground, pain rocketing through him. Thankfully though he still heard Billionth addressing Kuzo.
"This is why I told you to cover your mouths and noses!" he shouted at his comrades, knowing full well that the reminder would do little good now... and knowing that even though he had done as he'd advised it wouldn't do him a great deal of good for overly long, especially if he took a direct hit.

Groaning audibly Skellen climbed to his feet and tried to move his left arm. It was mobile, but every slight movement caused him pain and his movement was drastically slowed. He guessed that some significant muscle and tendon damage had been done by Narro, and now made worse.
We'll die if we don't finish him soon, this poison in the air is a serious issue and even with my face covered I'm starting to feel it gradually taking effect. Time to break out the big guns I guess...

"I think it is high time we stopped playing around and gave Billionth over here the thorough ass kicking he deserves." Skellen knew in his state he couldn't move with his normal agility, so he decided he'd leave it to the person he considered the best alternative in agility and speed. "Selena, that's your name right? How'd you like to make Billionth here regret existing?"

Selena gave the doctor a curious glance. "What kind of question is that? Of course I want to!"

Skellen reached into his bag, pulled out the syringe full of glittering, dust-like particles, and tossed it to the chef. He didn't tell her it was seastone, she'd find out soon enough. Intending to provide a distraction Skellen didn't offer anyone another word, he withdrew the next knife and ran for Billionth launching a flurry of fast kicks, and slashes.

Selena eyed the syringe that Skellen handed her curiously. The green-haired girl was not quite sure what to make of this new development, and quickly found that she did not have the time to really ask before he was charging off to attack Billionth one more time. Slowly, Selena gazed from the syringe and towards the poisonous Unit member. Her eyes widening in realization at the same time.

"I get ya now," Selena thought, a small smirk coming to form on her lips.

Not letting Skellen's efforts go to waste, Selena quickly began to make her own dash towards Billionth. She began to run in a zig-zag pattern, her eyes narrowing as she began to close in on her intended target. Tightening her grip on the syringe, Selena leapt up into the air and aimed for the back of Billionth's neck with the needle.

When he recovered from the daze Billionth's earlier attack had put him in Joshua frantically pulled off what bits of his shirt the poison hadn't already melted off so that even more of it wouldn't soak into him. He charged at Billionth to help Skellen distract him from the needle Selena had, but he only took a few steps before he stumbled in pain and looked down to see the spot where Faora had stabbed him earlier turning purple. What a fool I was to be so brazen in that confrontation...I'll be the worse for it if we succeed.

Seeing the plan concocted by Skellen, Kuzo decided to run in and strike at Billionth alongside the doctor. However, he was having trouble focusing. His vision was continuously blurring and his body throbbed, especially at the points where poison had managed to touch. Instead, he watched as Skellen unleashed his array of slashes. Billionth initially began aiming for Selena, firing what appeared to be globs of poison from his mouth at the green-haired fighter like bullets, but then his focused turned to Skellen. Aldridge started dodging each blow left and right, all the while keeping the same unsettling smile on his face, as if he had something else to hide.

As the strikes continued, the entire room shook. Initially Kuzo thought it came from Billionth, but the Unit leader seemed just as surprised as he was. The shaking continued violently. "Hmm, it appears the tower's not in the best of shape. I wonder how long it ha-"

One blow from Skellen's knife managed to reach Billionth's side. He cringed his mouth through the poison fumes, but soon enough, the smile appeared once more on his demonic purple exterior. All at once, Billionth spread his giant purple wings, and pointed the ends toward Skellen. They appeared to have increased in size even more as he built up his poison, causing the monstrous things to cover a large area at once. The wings were shaped with the intent to impale him with the tips. And the wide range of the wings made it hard to dodge.

"Lightning Mode!" Kuzo shouted, as he ignored any intense pain or discomfort in his body and took off in the direction of Skellen. The wings managed to spurt off globs of the poison towards the doctor, but Kuzo landed in his way and shoved Skellen to the side, which Kuzo was pretty sure he had fractured his arm because of his lighter, hollower form. Billionth's attack didn't stop though. The ends of his purple wings struck at Kuzo along his left shoulder and chest, and tugged him towards the poison demon.

"Heff, heff, heff!" Billionth laughed with glee. His wings held Kuzo's lighter body up in front of Billionth, with the Unit leader continuing to simply smile. He grabbed Kuzo by the neck, as he had done with Vance earlier.

"Argh!... Ack...." Kuzo yelped in pain, then felt his senses overwhelm with the multiple toxins from Billionth's poison-covered hand. He coughed and tried to removed Billionth's grip, but he was too weak to do so. His body wouldn't respond. He tried to bulk up and try to transform to Tank Mode, but he felt all of his energy leave his body.

"It's useless to resist now! Heff heff heff! Feel agony in knowing its the end! But feel comfort in knowing you'll join your friend, and your friends will soon join you! Venom,"
Then, as Billionth looked into Kuzo's eyes, he felt an incredible amount of pain all at once. The poison from the Unit leader's arms began to spread onto Kuzo's body, starting from his neck and traveling down along his arms, and even into his mouth and down his throat. "HEFF, HEFF HE-"

Billionth suddenly yelped out and retracted his arm from Kuzo, dropping him to the ground. Thankfully none of the poison had went inside his system yet, and he began to cough profusely. Kuzo looked up to see Selena at Billionth's side, with a needle inside of his neck. Billionth's eyes were wide with shock, as his arm was completely free of the poison. In fact, large parts of his body, about half of it, was now swept clean from the injection. "What... what is this?!" Billionth demanded in rage. The poison still across his body suddenly reacted, and he released all of it across his body in every direction in an attempt to force his opponents away from his side. Kuzo, still covered in a sizable amount of poison on his neck and part of his chest, backed away, but couldn't move in a significant pace to avoid the bulk of the attack.

 

[Sephear]

Joshua, Kuzo, Lotte, Skellen, and Selena - The Final Showdown with the Poison Demon! Part II

​

Selena's eyes widened from the sight of Billionth's reaction. She quickly gazed over in Skellen's direction, a curious look on the cook's face as she began to wonder just what sort of doctor the man was supposed to be. However, Selena did not have a great deal of time to ponder this new question. Needless to say, she found that the Unit member was not exactly too pleased with this new development.

Selena quickly jumped back as the poison shot forth from his body. She managed to shield her mouth and nose, attempting to block out as much of the toxin as possible so she did not end up like Kuzo was now or how she was before. Once more, she turned her attention to the battle at hand, gazing between Skellen and Billionth.

Since he hadn't gotten a chance to move much closer to Billionth earlier Joshua got lucky - if you could call it that - and only had to cover his face as best he could from the poison-man's panic attack. Not much impact reached where he was, and at this point there wasn't much reason for him to worry about even more poison, so he forced himself to start moving and get back in the fight.

Staggering to his feet once more, Skellen lurched forward and clotheslined Kuzo to the ground, falling with him. He wasn't really in a state to be able to do something more gentle, so he took advantage of Kuzo being in his lighter form. Even as the two hit the ground though they were sent careening across the room by the force of the blast... still, the attack seemed weaker that it should have been to Skellen.

Skellen once again forced himself onto his feet, dropping the last of his suppressant injections by Kuzo.
"It's my last one, and the state you're in it won't do much. Take it though because you're going to be a lot more valuable in this fight now." The Taipan then grinned fiendishly at their opponent "That Billionth, was you losing. You just got injected with seastone, and it will soon have circulated your whole body. It does seem like it wasn't enough to completely disable someone as powerful as you, but clearly it was enough to turn you into a punching bag for people as dangerous as us."

Kuzo grinned at the doctor from the ground and accepted the injection. Before he could give him any thanks, the man was off again. Kuzo quickly took the suppressant in order to be fit enough to join in, but despite not taking the full brunt of Billionth's attack, he could feel some of the poison circulating inside.

Skellen swayed on his feet slightly, his entire body aching, but there was still one thing he had to do.
"Time for a taste of your own medicine." In a sudden burst of speed Skellen launched a razor from his bag at Billionth, the weapon one of his last poisoned ones being coated in the same orange liquid that gave a painful burning sensation. Like a lot of his tactics though, this was mostly a distraction... although that chemical also getting into Billionth's blood stream couldn't be bad.

Skellen launched himself at Billionth, but dropped suddenly to slide along the floor, collecting Billionth's poison that coated the room in vials as he did so. The doctor then rose up behind Billionth and opened one of the vials over his head.

Selena dashed forward as Skellen launched his next attack against the Unit member. Even with his daring new plan, the woman was not going to let Billionth have a chance to counter the doctor. She quickly dropped to the floor right as she reached in front of the Unit member however, making an attempt to try and trip the man up in the process.

It had been slow going at first fighting through the pain racking his body, but Joshua was finally building up some speed running at Billionth from a different angle than Selena so they wouldn't clash. He couldn't articulate his muscles well enough to try another ranged attack so the charge was about all he had left, he didn't need much grace to hit hard if he could build up speed to back up his weight. He would ram his right shoulder into their enemy with everything he could muster.

As Billionth was dumped with his own poison, he reacted very little beyond turning angrily to the doctor and striking at him with a glob of Poison. It wasn't as large as his previous attacks, but it was still large enough to affect him, and it could still be lethal if he was hit by it. However, because he focused on Skellen, he wasn't able to dodge either Selena or Joshua's attacks. Aldridge was tripped up by Selena, with the Unit leader beginning to fall toward the ground. However, before he hit faced down, he was suddenly hit by Joshua's tackle, which sent Aldridge flying into the nearest wall. He collided through the wall, and kept going until he stopped at halfway through the next room.

But Aldridge wasn't down for long. He got up, and walked back inside the large room through the hole he had made. He began to chuckle to himself and dust off the suit. As he climbed through, Kuzo noticed his poison was still not fully across his body, but it was moving around freely. "You may have halted my full capabilities, but I can still partially control my poison! Heff, heff, heff!" Kuzo then noticed that when both Selena went for her trip and Joshua rammed into Billionth, the Poison Demon had altered the poisoned area around his body to the points where they struck. He noticed both Selena's leg and Joshua's shoulder had been struck with the poisonous liquid. "Heff, heff, heff!"

Skellen sighed, it seemed as though Billionth was still unaffected by his own poison, probably any considering his ability. However, it wasn't like he'd expected much really, he had wanted to provide a distraction... and collect samples. It seemed to him he'd succeeded in both areas.

Skellen looked over the situation carefully, but there was really only one thing they could to to minimise contact with the toxic substance.
"Seems simple enough, we just have to use distractions and keep catching him by surprise"

"That's easy for you to say," Selena replied, wincing in pain from the next poison splash that was burning against her leg. The green haired cook cursed under her breath, doing her best to shake the goo off of it to try and relieve some of the pain. "It seems like this guy is always ready for another round as soon as we hit him. Don't you have anymore of that stuff that I shot him up with earlier?"

After slamming into Billionth Joshua immediately stumbled and barely caught himself in a kneeling position. "Indeed, this noxious villain seems to be quite clever, as well as resilient." He grimaced and pulled his left arm away from the stab wound in his side, noting it was now swollen and purple, which assured it was close but was by no means a good omen. "And I seem to have forgotten about a memento of an earlier opponent, such a minor opening would be trouble in a regular fight, but I seem to have been ill-prepared for this one. I pray we'll finish him soon, I'd prefer not to end my story so early on." He kept his smile up through the pain, although it certainly didn't have its usual relaxed air.

Ignoring the terrible pain coursing through his body Skellen sprinted forwards, opening his last vile of the burning liquid as he ran for Billionth. As he got close to his enemy though he leaped up, sailing over the Unit Member's head and splashing the liquid into Aldridge's eyes before landing (agonisingly) behind him and delivering a sharp kick to the back of his knee in the hopes of making him stumble. Skellen didn't know if the burning and itching of the concoction would have much effect, but either way having stuff splashed into your eyes made it somewhat harder to see for a while.

As Skellen leaped over Billionth's head, the Unit leader held up one of his arms to block his incoming chemical dump. The poison formed across his arm and extended outward like a shield, absorbing the impact of the liquid. However, because of the previous injection, he was still having trouble concocting a normal defense, so the liquid burned part of his hand. Aldridge gritted his teeth. However, when he went back over to try and attack Skellen, the doctor was already going for another strike toward Billionth. Unable to maneuver fast enough to dodge, Billionth instead retracted his poison toward the spot where the doctor hit. He collapsed forward and stumbled from the blow, but also managed to splash more poison along the doctor's leg. Billionth stumbled further as the tower once more shook violently.

"I don't think that means he has one," Kuzo answered Selena about the injections. He gave her a reassuring smile despite the unbelievable pain now coming from his body. "But that doesn't mean I'm backing down now!" He added passionately. "Not for a crewmate. Tank Mode!" Kuzo once more bulked up to his larger form. He glared determinedly at Billionth, his vision blurring up occasionally. However, he did manage to spot that Skellen was in the process of attacking, which gave the three of them an opening to move in. Once more, as he charged forward, the tower around them shook even more vigorously. From his peripheral vision, he could see pieces of it crumbling. But he ignored it all. His sights were set on one single opponent.

"Cannon Barrage!" He shouted, and began to strike at the Unit leader with one large fist after another. Billionth began to move back and avoid most of the punches, and each one he didn't avoid, he tried to block with a poison shield. This proved effective for the most part, as Kuzo's arms began to be covered more and more with the poison. He didn't relent at all, and hoped as he continued to strike, the others would give everything they had against an occupied Billionth.

Selena took a deep breath before running towards Billionth once more. The girl stopped just sort of the poisonous Unit member, before falling onto her hands and starting to spin rapidly. Her legs began to kick repeatedly and rapidly as she did so, each one striking at Billionth as fast as she could. "Hot-Plate-Special!" Selena shouted as she attacked. With any luck, Selena's addition to Kuzo's attack would prove to be enough for Skellen and Joshua to pull something off. At least, that's what the green-haired cook was hoping for.

Forcing himself to stand all the way up, Joshua smirked at Billionth's continued confidence. When he tried to clench his hand into a fist while he thought, the slowness with which his fingers moved confirmed that the arm was nearly useless by then. He couldn't even try to scrape the poison off of his shoulder with nothing remaining of his shirt - what a waste of nice clothing - but his legs were still completely in tact. "I'd wager this 'poison demon' hasn't lost a fight or even really felt threatened in a long time, he probably feels nearly invincible. "It's a good thing we came along, it's time he had a turn of fortune."

Joshua charged through the hole Billion had made in the wall and scanned the room as quickly as he could. He didn't really trust himself to jump anywhere near the ceiling, and the room didn't seem to have anything as convenient for climbing as the room they had fought Faora in. He ran towards an area of the wall that was undamaged as fast as he could muster. "Epistasis!" As soon as he was close enough he leapt at it, then bounded off of it for as much height as possible. At the crest of his jump he angled his right side downward with his elbow out towards Aldridge; at the very least he may as well hit with the same spot to hopeful keep the poison in one area. "Dénouement!"

Being preoccupied by Kuzo, Billionth couldn't prevent either Selena or Joshua's attacks from striking at him. He put up more poison barriers at the points of impact, though with Selena it was harder to pinpoint because her flurry of kicks came across his body at many points, and his weakened poison state due to the injection prevented him from effectively transitioning his poison quick enough. Still, he managed to spread more across her legs as she struck.

Joshua's was easier to have spread across his same shoulder, but the power behind the hit sent Aldridge tumbling backwards, the combination of the trio's punches getting the better of him. As he rose, however, he still kept a relatively calm demeanor across his face. His abilities were harder to control, and he was feeling pain and faltering in a way he had almost never experience before, but with each punch they landed, their life expectancy was also shortening... and quickly.

Skellen stumbled backwards and leaned against the wall as his three crewmates attacked Billionth taking advantage of the opening that they'd been given. The building shook, making the doctor wobble more on his shaking legs but he managed to stay on his feet through sheer force of will.

He needed to use the time to think, the tower was shaking and crumbling at an alarming rate so he determined that their battle had a time limit that was fast approaching. On top of that, Billionth had wised up to Skellen's method of combat, so even though he still had two injections left he doubted he'd get through another toxic barrier.

A jolt of searing pain snapped Skellen from his contemplation, the goo Aldridge had gotten him with was slowly eating at the flesh of his leg having burned through the leg of his pants in parts.
"Actually" Skellen coughed "I do have more, but I don't see much point in us using it. It'd be a waste of precious seastone, I mean he's clearly on the defensive." Skellen forced himself to take a more sturdy stance, stepping away from the wall.
He's not used to being put in a position where he may lose, but since he doesn't have full control of his ability now, he's probably feeling threatened and that will be effecting his judgement. We should just keep pressuring him until his defense breaks, he makes a mistake or the tower falls down and we're all crushed to death anyway.

With those thoughts in mind Skellen drew the remaining stolen sword, holding it back like a javelin before launching it at the back of Billionth's head.

Billionth barely caught with of Skellen's attack from behind. He ducked his head to the side, but the blade caught wiff of his ear and the side of his head. He twirled around and struck Skellen with his purple large arm which he managed to form at that moment, as he attempted to swipe at the doctor to push him away. "Poison Paw!" Billionth announced.

As soon as he managed to get Skellen away from him, he eyed the group again, panting a bit from the onslaught they had unleashed. He shook his head and chuckled. "Heff... you... you all just don't know when to quit, do you?" The tower shook violently around them once more. "You're just walking corpses now... with the amount of poison inside of you, the only way you'll survive is to get treatment fast... the only problem is... because I won't be letting you out of my sight, and because you'll continue to fight here, all I have to do is wait you out and you'll die. And even if I don't.... heff, heff, heff! You'll never make it out of this tower! HEFF, HEFF, HEFF!"

"SHUT UP!" Kuzo bellowed at the Unit leader at the top of his lungs. Billionth stopped his laughing and glared at the man in the bandanna. "It's not up to you to decide when I'll die! Or any of us! I'm not dropping until my dream comes true!"

Billionth cocked an eyebrow and burst out in laughter. "Heff, heff, heff! Dreams?! Heff, heff, heff! What good will your dreams do in an actual fight? How far can it really take you!"

"As far as you want them to! Lightning Mode!" Kuzo's body morphed into his lighter form. He then sped across the battlefield, ignoring the insurmountable injuries across and inside his body. He blurred right over Billionth, jumping until he was directly above him. Then, he clenched his fists again while in the air. Billionth had a feeling where this would go next. He observed the man's abilities before and figured he had some sort of body-altering Devil Fruit. The next logical step was going to be to transform while in the air into his larger form, called 'Tank Mode'. Anticipating this would happen, Billionth began to prepared the poisonous liquid across his upper body to impact with Kuzo, thereby delivering a lethal dose of the venom onto his body. Kuzo clenched his fists as he appeared to revert to his larger 'Tank Mode' form. But then he did something Billionth wasn't expecting.

Kuzo stuck out one arm, his palm pointing toward Billionth. He gritted his teeth as the palm of his hand began to bleed. Billionth noticed an object appeared to begin popping out of his skin, tearing it apart. Aldridge realized at that moment what it was: bone. "Bone... Spear! Kuzo yelled. The bone popping out of his palm tore through his flesh and fully emerged, and flew at Billionth like an arrow. Unsuspecting that this is what would happen, Billionth didn't have enough time to dodge, and found the bone object impale him... directly on the foot. He opened his eyes wide and yelped in pain. "Argh! What the hell?!" Billionth glared back up at Kuzo, who began to fall from his spot in the air onto the ground below, with the skin on his arm torn up from the spot the bone exited. Billionth proceeded to step forward and attack Kuzo, but when he tried to move his leg, all he felt was immense pain, and no movement beyond that. He looked down at the foot where the bone was protruded. He tried to move it again, but to no avail. Aldridge was stuck!

His vision blurring, Skellen watched in amazement at Kuzo's attack. It seemed that the abilities of a bone man went a lot further than he'd originally been led to believe - although in hindsight it should have been obvious as to why Kuzo employed his abilities in such a limited scope... just looking at his wrecked arm was proof of that.

Seeing that Billionth couldn't move from his spot, Skellen took the opportunity to worsen their opponents situation. He no longer felt that he really possessed enough strength in his body to do any real damage to Billionth, but he could still make sure he left his mark.

Skellen withdrew a single razor blade from his now heavily singed satchel, and launched it with deadly precision. The blade flew silently through the air, giving no warning, before impaling Billionth's hand - continuing it's trajectory into the wall taking the injured limb with it. Aldridge would have to be a sitting duck now, not only was his leg well and truly nailed to the floor, but it'd take a fair bit of effort to remove his hand from the wall too. All that was left was for one of the others to strike the final blow. Seeing this, Skellen slumped down against the wall - conscious, but barely.

"Oh my god-" Lotte gasped, hardly capable of comprehending what was unfolding other than a daunting sense of worry for the well-being of her fellow crewmates. Kuzo had only hardly been on the mend after catching up with Skellen, and now he and Skellen himself-- their doctor!-- looked like they were both ready to clock out... Her gaze now snapped to Selena, hoping that she could trust her as much as Kuzo seemed to...

Joshua couldn't believe his eyes for a second when he saw Kuzo's attack, his abilities could be surprisingly lethal, if a bit...morbid. Billionth was vulnerable, this was their chance to finish it! He took a few more steps towards the poison man to assist as best he could, but he didn't make it far before he stumbled onto his knees. No! I've got to... His thoughts clouded when a similar haze over took his vision and all his efforts to push himself back up failed. He knew it was bound to happen soon, but he hoped he'd see their fight finished first. He fell the rest of the way forward as he barely fought to stay awake, keeping himself raised on one fist just enough to keep watching.

Selena winced as she picked herself off the ground from her last attack, a fierce glare being sent in the direction of Billionth as she did so. "I'm sick and tired of dealing with you and all this poison crap!"

Despite the severe pain the green-haired cook was feeling from the poison burning on her legs, she still managed to find the strength to take one more running charge against Billionth. Selena dashed as hard as her legs could carry her, before stopping just short of the Unit member. Without warning, Selena jumped up into the air and launched herself at Billionth. Her hands took hold of the man's shirt around his shoulders to steady her grip. At first, it looked as if Selena was performing some sort of handstand on the man's shoulders. Then without warning, the girl suddenly swung herself down, shoving her feet as hard as she could straight into Billionth's chest. Selena never released her grip on the Unit member's shoulders as she suddenly began to repeatedly kick the man in his chest, everything around her disappearing as she focused solely on finishing off the poison-man before he could harm Marta, the crew, or anyone else in Dinas ever again. She could feel the poison from the man still splashing up lightly against her feet and hands, but she remained focused on the matter at hand.

"TENDERIZER!" Selena screamed, her feet still constantly kicking against Billionth before she brought both feet one final time crashing into his chest.

Billionth had been challenged hundreds of times before. He had fought against opponent after opponent. Sometimes they were foolish enough to come at him one on one, and sometimes as an entire group. It didn't matter how, but they always fell in the end. To find himself in this situation now was beyond surprising for the Unit leader. In fact, it was mind boggling. As Billionth tried to find a way to wrap his head around how he ended up in this situation while simultaneously trying to hold off the barrage of kicks being thrown at him, he found himself beginning to lose consciousness.

The tower of Dinas paralleled Billionth's situation perfectly. For years, it towered over the people of Dinas as a symbol of oppression against anyone who dissented, anyone who stood in its way. If they didn't support Kasumi, if they didn't fall in line and do exactly what the Warlord asked, they faced the might of the Unit, and Billionth in particular. He had established this reputation as the most feared man in Dinas, and had earned it through his many public appearances where he threatened owners of other business, dissenters, and anyone else who got in the way of the Kobushi Corporation. He hurt people without a blink of the eye, he killed without hesitation. He towered over them like the Tower of Dinas. Now here, as the tower collapsed around them, so too did the influence of "Billionth" Aldridge, once the feared 'Poison Demon'. With her last attack, the ground collapsed beneath Billionth's feet, and he fell through the hole. The tower's shaky nature, combined with the force of Selena's last attack, sent Billionth flying through each level, bursting through and continuing onward, until he was out of sight.

 

[SV]

Selena, Joshua, Lotte, Kuzo, Skellen, Kiba, (Vance) and the Sky Pirates - Escape from Kobushi Tower!

Selena watched in silence as Billionth fell to what she hoped was the man's doom. She had been focused on the objective of chasing the Unit member down and making sure that he received due payback for all the pain and harm he had caused to Marta... no, that the Unit itself had caused to the people of Dinas, that the adrenaline her body had been running on finally began to run out. For the first time since entering the tower, all the pain and fatigue the green-haired cook had been building up finally caught up with her. Without even the slightest bit of warning, Selena suddenly fell back onto the floor. Her body too tired to dare try and pick itself back up. And yet, despite it all, a smile made its way across her lips.

"I... I finally... did it..." the girl gasped, trying to catch her breath. "It's finally over with..."

"You did. You finished it," Kuzo managed to breath out in between his heavy panting. He was lying on the floor of the Tower a few feet away from Selena, grinning at her excitedly. "But there's still one more thing we have to get done... we need Skellen to cure Marta, and from the looks of it Vance too," He continued. As he finished the latest sentence, the tower once more shook uncontrollably. He tried to lift his body up, but only managed to bring his head from the floor and sit up. His vision continuously blurred as he fought the urge to simply fall over and let unconsciousness claim him. "But first, we have to... get out of here!"

"Which is going extremely well so far" Skellen joined in sarcastically from where he sat slumped against the wall. The doctor tried moving, discovering that he was all but totally unable to move his left arm, his vain attempt causing his already unbearable pain to intensify. The building shook again, a loud rumbling echoing all around the fallen pirates. Large cracks were forming ever more frequently on the walls and fragments of the roof above them were crumbling down.
"I don't think we have long before this building falls to the ground with us in it. We have to get out of here and quickly" Skellen coughed, flecks of blood falling from his mouth demonstrating the damage to his left lung. Despite this though, the doctor pushed his body well past its usual limits, his every joint screaming as he managed to climb to his feet leaning against the cracked and trembling wall to keep himself from falling over.

The wall suddenly crumbled, the chunk bearing Skellen's weight breaking off causing the injured doctor to fall to his knees covered in rubble and dust. Once more Skellen forced himself up, feeling his muscles tearing from the strain.
"We definitely need to leave" he coughed again.

Selena glanced over at Skellen, a small frown replacing her smile. "And how do we plan on doing that, exactly?" the green-haired cook asked. "No offense, but you don't look like you're doing too hot at the moment. Kuzo and Joshua have been pretty roughed up too, and I don't think I could pry myself off the floor if I had to..." She paused for a moment, turning her focus onto Lotte. "In fact, I think the the little miss here is the only one that can really get going anywhere... and I don't think she can carry the four of us and your navigator down the tower."

"Yes, quite the conundrum we've landed ourselves in." Joshua grunted while he tried in vain to stand back up, stumbling each time he tried.

Still kneeling beside Vance, Selena's sudden comment towards Lotte made her stiffen-- turning eyes that had been trained apprehensively on Skellen's less than stellar condition at the stranger she'd yet to meet. "I- I can.... help...?" She took a deep breath, letting out a bit of a squeal as more bits of the tower fell around them. Grabbing Vance and pulling him up off the floor by the arm with considerably more strength than expected from a slight frame like hers, she pulled his arm around her shoulders, hobbling over to her crewmates and looking anxiously at each one....

Skellen laughed manically at Selena's comment
"Oh I'm doing terrible, we pretty much all are, but that's what makes this interesting."

"Well..." Kuzo began, trying to lift himself off the ground once more. He managed to shakily make it to his legs, but with all of the poison rushing through and on his body, he didn't know how long he could remain upright. "When you can't make it yourself, you lean you lean on each other!" He exclaimed to Selena with a grin. "That's what crewmates do!"

Another rumbled shook up the tower, causing debris to fall across the room. He felt the floor momentarily crack beneath him. The tower had literally minutes remaining before it was all going to crash down. "Whatever we're gonna do, we'd better do it fast!"

A loud audible sigh somehow overwhelmed the sounds of the crumbling tower and any level of internal panic rattling in the minds of the pirates. "I did not imagine that Kurisu meant for me to help you people," the voice said with another hefty sigh, inching closer to the wounded and tired Skull Pirates. Zakiru Kiba came into sight and approached the window, peering down to the city. "Well, why're you just standing here?! You want to get out right?!"

"Well... technically speaking, I'm laying. Not standing..." Selena replied, giving Kiba a small smirk. "And as much as I'd love to make an exit from this place, I don't think I can get myself back up at the moment. So, there's that too."

The tower quaked greatly, causing Kiba to loose his footing. "Kurisu!" Kiba yelled into his Den Den Mushi. "Is it ready?!"

A few seconds later, a startled voice weakly said. "Y-yeah! Go for it! I just hope we are in the right place..."

"Me too," Kiba said, before shooting at the window with his Handcannon. Glass sprayed everywhere, raining down to the ground below. A strong gust of wind whipped through the room. "Alright, you, green hair!" Kiba yelled, before suddenly picking her up, quite easily due to Kiba's fresh stamina. "You can thank me later," he said before tossing her out the window. Tumbling down the skies, fear and the occasional flashing of her life before her eyes would be expected as the cook was flying headfirst towards the ground. However, as she was about to make impact with the ground, undoubtedly expecting to paint the pavement red with blood, a mountain of fluffy pillows broke her fall.

"W...What the hell...?" Selena questioned, her heart racing as she landed on the rather cushiony-ground. She had expected to be splattered all over the pavement. Never in the green-haired cook's wildest dreams did she expect to be saved by... pillows. "Where did these come from?"

Seeing the green-haired girl thrown out the window, Lotte let out a yelp of surprise, shuffling awkwardly behind Kuzo as fast as she could given an unconscious Vance still draped and dragging over her shoulder. "Are you crazy!? What is he doing-!?"

Kiba snapped to the next pirate, quickly noticing Lotte hiding behind Kuzo. "Saving your lives so I can arrest you later! So unless you'd rather die, you will trust me!" Kiba looked around at the pirates hoping for a response, but then tossed that thought aside. "So who's next?"

Skellen laughed like a mad man
"Good luck arresting any of us. As for who's next -" Skellen ran as best he could before leaping out the window himself shouting with apparent glee at doing something incredibly stupid
"I told you this would be fun! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Kuzo was worried for a moment when the Marine suddenly tossed Selena out the window, and was even more fearful when Skellen himself jumped out to his apparent suicide with glee. Kuzo managed to crawl over to the side of the building all the while having widened eyes and an expression of complete disbelief. However, once he managed to glance over the side of the crumbling tower, he relaxed, and then grinned. He continued to grin as he gazed at Lotte and Joshua.

"It's OK!" He reassured them, through the debris of the tower collapsing all around them. A huge chunk suddenly cracked beneath them, perhaps the final signal that the tower was about to come down. "Come on!" He exclaimed as he grabbed hold of Lotte and the unconscious Vance by the hand. "Everyone... jump out of the tower!" He then exerted the last remainder of his strength he had left, and leaped off the edge of the breaking tower. All behind him, the famous Kobushi Tower was crumbling into ruin.

Brow furrowed, she looked wildly at her captain, supremely doubtful of the situation-- but before she could get a word out of protest, she let out a shriek as they went tumbling down, "Are you-- KYAaaaaAaa---!!"

"Well, no time like the present." Joshua muttered as his captain brought Lotte and Vance out the window with him. He limped over to the window and smiled back at Kiba. "Thank you for the assistance sir, it was a pleasure meeting you. One of the most amazing people I ever met was a marine, but I'm afraid none of us can just go quietly to prison regardless, so good luck!" With that he tumbled backwards out of the window, landing on the pillows and rolling off to the nearby floor. "Congratulations Selena, I can't say I know anything of your vendetta, but I'm glad I could see justice served." His arm twitched but otherwise didn't move, it seemed he'd have to sit still for a minute longer before he could get up.

Skellen was laying on his back next to the stack of pillows, having rolled off in a manner similar to Joshua just in time to avoid Kuzo, Vance and Lotte landing on top of him, breathing hard. His body ached, especially his left side, however he had no intention of remaining on the ground... and yet it was so hard to move.

Groaning and coughing the Taipan managed to push himself into a sitting position
"I have to admit, I'm always pleased to see a tyrannical governing body reduced to rubble but I don't think this is the time to be laying down. Ignoring the fact that the tower could still fall on top of us, we all need medical treatment and wasn't I meant to be saving someone else's life too? Besides, the marine might have said that he'll let us leave in exchange for our services but I've yet to meet a marine I can actually trust."

Skellen struggled to his feet, nearly passing out in the process
There'll be plenty of time to be unconscious later, right now I have work to do

Diving down from the sky, Kiba crashed into the pillows, flinging a number of the stack and spreading them out in a rain of fluff. "You are right about one thing, Skeletor," he said, freeing himself from the stack and stepping to the side of the soft mountain. He aimed his gun at the Skull Pirates. "I might have said something about of leaving, but I do not recall making any sort of promise of that nature. You are all under arrest, for crimes that I cannot begin to recite in lieu of the current situation. Given your injuries, I do not suggest trying to resist. Come quietly and I will do what I can to provide comfortable transport to Impel Down."

Having only just gathered herself, she looked up to see the barrel of a gun directed at them. Though surprise registered on her face for a moment, her flicker of fear was quickly replaced by a crunching noise from above, groaning metal under the weight of debris bringing her attention back to the real priorities. And in any case, she'd been indignified in every way she could fathom, her new dress smeared with purple poison with a crumbling tower above them. Lotte leapt to her feet, pointing at the crumbling structure, "Can we do this later?! I hardly think this is the time and place to be arresting anyone!"

"As much as I'd like to brag about how right I was, Lotte raises a good point. Shall we all get going then?" Skellen said, practically ignoring the fact he was being arrested for the second time that day.

"Hey, hey, guys!" A voice suddenly called from behind the fluff of pillows. It was Matterine, the young girl in the glasses, and first mate of the Sky Pirates. "Glad you all got out of there! Do you like my pillows? I drew them myself!" She then turned to Kiba. "But... you can't arrest them! They helped stop the bad guys!"

"YEAH, WHAT ARE YOU THINKING, HUH?!" The loud voice of Dekuranu, captain of the Sky Pirates, was suddenly heard behind Kiba. "WE JUST HELPED YOU TAKE DOWN KASUMI, AND BRING EVIDENCE THAT SHE IS CORRUPT, AND THEY BEAT UP THOSE UNIT GUYS, AND YOU WANNA ARREST THEM?!"

"Yeah, he's right!" Matterine piped up enthusiastically, waving her arms around energetically as she spoke. "With the Unit gone and the prisoners and guards we rescued willing to testify to Kasumi's corruption, she won't be able to have power here anymore! Plus, we helped you escape the tower on my pillows too!"

"And you know, technically I haven't done anything to warrant being arrested," Selena added in, giving Kiba a small smirk. "I haven't broken any laws or raised a finger against anyone wearing a Marine uniform. So, how exactly would you care to explain to your superiors that you arrested an innocent civilian?"

"And besides." Joshua toned in, forcing himself to his knees but still failing to stand all the way up. "Don't think it would be so easy to bring us in just because we're a bit fatigued, I for one have no intention of surrendering. I can't go to prison yet, it would make for an awfully boring chapter of my book don't you think? And I haven't even had a chance to replace the only casualty on our side yet, my poor hat." His smile changed to his own smirk, still having the same relaxed air about it that his normal smile did.

Kiba grunted as he was flanked on both side by the Sky Pirates, and his mind was still processing how ignorant the rest were to being arrested. He had considered fighting all of them, and he probably could take out the Sky Pirates easily enough given their rather mediocre reputation. But his injuries sharply reminded him that if they had decided to double or triple team (given that not all of them were there) and if the rest of the Skull Pirates arrived as well, Kiba would be in less than optimal position. Him dying would be less preferable to capturing them later. Kiba holstered his gun with a smirk. "Fine," he said. "I suppose I can turn blind eye today." Kiba turned to face Dekuranu. "But if you raise your voice to me again, I will pull your tongue out and feed it to the sea," he said sternly, grabbing him by the collar. Having said his piece, Kiba walked away from the crumbling tower, paying little heed to the pirates, as if not wanting to know what they were planning or where they were going.

Kuzo watched the Marine walk away, before smirking at Skellen. "Looks like maybe not all Marines are bad, huh?" He suddenly realized the situation they were in once more as the tower began to crash down beside them. "Better get out of here now! We still have to go save Marta! To the Mermaid's Pearl!" He yelled. However, Kuzo had not moved from the fluffy pillows he had landed on. In fact, he was too tired to move his body at all. Instead, he was laying and pointing at the sky above. "Damn it, body. Why won't you move?"

Matterine noticed Kuzo having trouble standing, and it seemed the others were in similar situations. "Hey, hey guys! I'll help!" She cried gleefully. Suddenly, she took out what appeared to be a pencil or brush of some sort. She then began sketching furiously along the ground beside her. The shape was crude and uneven because of her haste, but it appeared to be a wagon of some sort. "Ok, now, activate!" She yelled again, and touched the wagon. At her command, the painting began to move and enlarge, coming alive before their very eyes. It looked just as she had drawn it, but was much larger. "There we go! Goa-Boa! Liam!" Matterine cried, and at her call, two more of the Sky Pirates, the very long Okama and the man with the mohawk came forward.

"You called, Matterine?" The Okama Goa-Boa asked.

"Yeah, whatya want?!" Liam Moru spat.

"Yeah! Goa-Boa, go put the Skull Pirates in the wagon. Liam, I need you to help Dekuranu and me push it!" Matterine called out. Goa-boa nodded and proceeded to use his long arms to grab hold of the other Skull Pirates with a cloth and place them all together into the large wagon. Liam looked at Matterine and began to protest.

"What?! Why do I gotta push the damn thing?!" He yelled.

"NO TIME TO COMPLAIN, THE TOWER'S COMING DOWN, JUST DO IT!" Captain Dekuranu ordered in his booming voice. Liam cursed under his breath and pushed the cart forward. The Sky Pirates began to push it all forward together, while the injured Skull Pirates rode inside. Behind them, the tower which stood on its last legs, finally gave way and full collapsed in a large pile of smoke and rubble.

 

[SV]

The Meeting of the Shichibukai - Mariejois

The Holy Land is the elegant capital of the World Government and functions as the primary path which individuals seeking to enter the other, far more tumultuous and dangerous side of the Grand Line, the New World, pass through. It is also the center for World Government affairs. It houses a large, luxurious palace in the center, with many guards protecting its various positions and entrances. It is here that a meeting between the Shichibukai, the Seven Warlords of the Sea, is to take place. It is a very rare sight for the Shichibukai to gather in one area together. In fact, it is quite rare to see two in one area to begin with. However, recent events across the world, particularly in the Grand Line, has caused quite a few to appear when normally they would not have.

At the docks of Mariejois, two pirate ships had already arrived. A conglomerate of Marines were present to greet the ships, in particular the two Shichibukai aboard each of the ships. The first ship was large, bright, and bubbly. Containing colors of lime, red, orange, and other manner of bright hues, the vessel appeared more like a child's toy than a pirate ship. Despite it's childish appearance, it skated on the water like a fish in the water, its graceful and extravagant push into the docks appearance as if it belonged there. The Shichibukai who owned it.. As the ship finished docking, a young woman with orange hair, bright blue eyes a black pirate hat and a yellow overcoat descended. The Marine around the docks tensed up as she strutted with a carefree expression through the streets. Even if some of them held high ranks, they knew of the Shichibukai's reputation for brutality and ruthlessness.

A female Marine announced the Shichibukai's arrival. "Arriving in Mariejois, Bonny Annette."

Spoiler:

Shichibukai Pirate

Bonny "Savage" Annette

Former Bounty: 360,000,000

The other ship was a massive titan of a vessel and of unique design. Built to be among the largest in the world, the dark ship appeared to be armored yet nimble; tough yet quick to strike. Unsinkable was a word many threw around to describe it. The captain of the herculean ship stepped down. With large strides, a tall well built man with a battle scarred face, wild spiky black hair, a single small beady black eye and a white and black cloak walked through the streets. He carried with him a single, large blade across his shoulders. Many Marines saluted him as he walked by; even more simply gawked in fear. They knew that this Shichibukai demanded respect.

A female Marine announced the Shichibukai's arrival. "Arriving in Mariejois, Dampier."

Spoiler:

Shichibukai Pirate

Dampier

Former Bounty: 273,000,000

"Annette, Dampier," A Vice Admiral with the Marines, Onda Yakahato, greeted the two warlords. He had a long face like a horses, and an equally long, pointy beard to complement the look. "If you'll follow me, I'll lead you to where the meeting will take place," He explained, gesturing for them to follow him.

"Sure thing, horsey!" Bonny pipped up cheerfully. She followed the Marine Vice Admiral through the streets as the contingency of Marine stood in formation and watched. Most of them averted their gaze away from the young woman, but one of the Marines foolishly held his gaze out of curiosity. Bonny looked over to see him watching. He quickly tried to look away and act as if he weren't watching, but the Shichibukai caught on. She casually skipped over to the Marine, who began sweating profusely and staring straight in front of him, desperate to avoid her gaze. She was right in front of him now. "Hey... you were looking at me, were you mister Marine?" She asked politely.

All of the color seemed to vanish from the Marine's face. "N-no ma'am!" He said as straight-faced as possible.

"That's funny, I could have sworn I thought you were staring at me!" She said with a soft giggle. "I don't like it when people stare at me..." The Marine's loud screams began to be heard from all across the streets of Mariejois.

The two warlords proceeded into the main meeting spot inside the palace. Already waiting inside was another Vice Admiral, Logan Hasey, who had a thick black mustache and equally thick set of eyebrows. His hair, which was covered by a fancy Marine hat with a feather, was pink and short.

"Mmm, good, you're here," Logan began in a somewhat muffled voice, most likely due to the mustache. "Well, two of you. I expect that might be all we'll be hearing from to-"

As Logan was talking, the doors to the room suddenly burst open. In came Barringer Wallace, who angrily brought his eyes to the people inside. He pointed his finger at them violently. "HEY! Whatya think yer all doin' in my house?!" He roared drunkenly. "Why I got half a mind to tear ya all up and hang ya out in the front yard to..." Wallace suddenly snapped out of his anger long enough to look around the room intently. His gaze fell across all of the tapestries and paintings, and then to the two Shichibukai and Vice Admirals. Realizing his mistake, he suddenly closed his fist, and slammed it into his open palm. "Ah! I just realized! This isn't my house! Hooorrarararara!" The drunken warlord proceeded to an open chair to the left of Vice Admiral Hasey.

"Mfmuh, and that's three," Hasey uttered beneath his mustache.

"That drunken fool shouldn't count," Dampier said with a scoff. "The man can barely stand, much less fight!" Dampier spat and glared at Wallace before shooting his glance at the Vice Admirals.

"What did ya say to me?!" Wallace yelled as he slammed his fist onto the round table in front of them. "I ain't no drunken fool!" He protested, as he began to reach for his bottle attached to his belt. "See?! It's all full! No drinks for me!" However, when he shook the bottle, no sound escaped. "Eh?!" Wallace peered inside the bottle with one eye, and confirmed that it was empty. He then angrily dropped the bottle onto the floor before he stood up and once more eyed the entire room. "Alright, I'm only gonna ask ya once, which one of ya drank from my bottle?!"

A woosh passed by all the Warlords as a large portly man stood by the window, peering into the bottle. He had long light blonde hair and an equally bright mustache. Dark sunken hairs hide behind a small pair of red sunglasses that rested on the end of his nose. In his other hand was a singular half eaten donut. With disappointment slowly leaving his face, he tossed the empty bottle out the window and took a small bite from his donut. "It really was empty. Shame really...I need something to wash down this donut," the portly man said.

"Ah, Fatticus decided to show his face," Dampier said with another scoff. "I guess we actually have four now," the clearly proud yet judgmental Shichibukai said again.

Spoiler:

Shichibukai Pirate

Fatticus Gauis III

Former Bounty: 385,000,000

Fatticus smiled at Dampier and walked to his seat. "Please, Dampier. You don't need to be so modest when you count yourself. We all know you could take us all in a fight. Well, most of us," he said, his mouth stuffed to the brim in chocolate frosting.

"I'm surprised you even made it here at all!" Bonny exclaimed with a giggle. "Tell me, fatty, did the boat you came on sink along the way? Is that why you came so late?"

Fatticus smiled again. "Actually Sunkin' Donuts had a long line, lady. And they ran out of my favorite kind of munchkins, so I had settle with chocolate frosting instead. Want some? You look like you ran out of men to eat on the way here and could use a little pick me up." Fattcus, despite his immense frame and stomach managed to heave his large boots onto the table, kicking back as he finished his donut. Sadness returned to his face with a heavy sigh and he leered between the rest of the Warlords.

Bonny giggled again. "What are you talking about? I got a man in front of me that would last for years!"

"That's enough idle chit chat!" A voice boomed from the entrance to the room. In walked a legend among the Marines, a man so feared by pirates that they say his very presence could cause men to faint. It was the Fleet Admiral himself, Bronso Kanaru. Kanaru was a pioneer for the maintenance and expansion of the World Government and the Marines. Not only was he responsible for the commencement of the War against the King Pirates, but he was also said to have fought and defeated Morris D. Rallo, the Pirate King, personally. To many across the seas, he isn't just a beacon of justice. He is justice!

Spoiler:

Marine Headquarters Fleet Admiral

High Commander of the Marine Forces

Bronso Kanaru the Absolute

Kanaru sat in the center of the table, beside Vice Admirals Yakahato and Hasey. "Four of you have shown. Knowing the others and what they're doing, I don't expect them to arrive, so I will begin without them. I have gathered you all here because of some troubling news. I'm sure you are all aware of your fellow Shichibukai Benedict and his activities in the New World, and those surrounding his project, ARK. We have just discovered that sometime in the last month, the blueprints for ARK has been stolen."

A look of shock and surprise suddenly swept the room. Both Vice Admirals held looks of dismay. Bonny suddenly had a malicious smile form across her face. Wallace seemed to sober up in that moment and looked somewhat bothered. Dampier silently agreed with Wallace, placing his elbows on the table and hands before his mouth, holding in a desire to speak. Fatticus, on the other hand, hid any real emotion behind his sunglasses, taking in the discussion before reaching any sort of conclusion.

"There was a theft from multiple facilities a while ago," Kanaru continued, "and while we haven't identified the culprit yet, the fact that these are now potentially out in the world is dire news. If it falls into the wrong han-"

"I must say I am surprised by the amount of astonishment that has befallen this room considering this is Benedict we are speaking about," A soft, yet commanding voice that almost rivaled Kanaru's suddenly broke into the room. "The man is hardly one to be trusted, unless from my ever so humble perspective." Kasumi Kobushi took careful strides into the room, walking behind the Fleet Admiral and taking a seat opposite the highest officers in the Marines. "I do apologize for interrupting fair Admiral, but I seemed to have left my gaping mouth at the door when you mentioned our comrade losing something oh so valuable," she finished, leaning back in her chair.

Bonny smiled gleefully as Kasumi entered the room. "Kasumi! Good to see that you're not crushed under a piece of your tower somewhere! Must be a shame to lose an entire island in a day! How does it feel to be the biggest screw-up in the Shichibukai anyways?"

Kasumi was unfazed and simply closed her eyes, gesturing an expression of surrender to appease Bonny ever so slightly. "I shall answer that question when you tell me how it feels to be the infinitely less successful Annette sister."

At Kasumi's words, Bonny continued to smile, but her eye continued to twitch. It became apparent that she was forcing the smile to remain on her face. "Why don't you step outside with me and I'll show you how much 'infinitely less successful' I am?"

"Threatening me with such facades of strength will not get you anywhere Miss Annette. We all know that you are simply overcompensating for a terribly traumatic past of perpetual weakness. I do wonder how boasting and flailing around here and there has made you successful. Well, stranger things have happened," Kasumi continued nonchalantly before crossing her arms and smirking at the young Warlord.

"Why you little-"

"Like you still being invited to this meeting despite your inability to control your territory?" Dampier cut in, silencing Bonny with a simple gesture. "You know the agreements we made, and you failed to keep your end of the bargain with Dinas!"

"Oh please, Dampier. Your lack of character depth bores me to tears. Just because Ginokami quelled your little crew and reigned you in doesn't make you an actual Marine," Kasumi said, brushing him aside. "Dinas was minor loss in the grander scheme of things. I and the Corporation will recover in due time. My networks are still intact and I will continue to provide our dear Admirals with the information they need. That's better than your flagrant war crimes in order to control your region through fear and big guns."

"That's enough!" Kanaru boomed. "I have no time for anyone's childish antics. I brought you here for a reason. As Kasumi said, Benedict is simply doing as he wishes, but ARK was supposed to remain in the hands of the World Government! If those blueprints fall into the hands of one strong foe, the balance of power we have established can easily shift! As the Shichibukai, I am charging each of you with keeping an eye out for these blueprints. If you see or hear of them in any shape or form along your travels, you will report it to me. If you find the one who has them, you will bring them to justice!"

Fatticus raised his hand, as if asking permission to speak. He did not wait for an invitation, heavy his clumsy self off the table. "Do tell, Kanaru," he began, speaking casually as always. "I mean, blueprints are a relatively common sighting, considering pirate crews are constantly building new designs. I would know considering my old crew and their fondness for various ships. How will we know these blueprints from others? Better yet, do you know who stole them in the first place?"

"I will have information about the general layout of the blueprints explained to you as you depart," Kanaru retorted. "We, however, will not go into the details of its design. As for who has stolen it, of this we aren't certain yet. But we believe judging from the location and manner it was stolen, it may be someone with ties in some way to the World Government or the Marines."

Suddenly, Wallace slammed his fist onto the table loudly. The eyes of the room suddenly trailed to the Warlord swordsman, who's eyes were hidden from view beneath his dirty black hair. Judging by his expression, he seemed to have something important to say. Kanaru knew of this side of Wallace on very few occasions. It came out on a handful of moments during the war, and maybe once or twice more before it. As the Warlord with the most tenure of the group, when he had something important to say, others tended to listen, if only for the fact that these moments came along very rarely.

Wallace suddenly looked up, his face reddened by his drunkenness and his eyes and mouth formed into a goofy and foolish smile. "I just realized! I was the one who drank from my bottle! Hooorarararararara! Hoorrarararara!" The Warlord laughed loudly. He continued to laugh as he got up from his seat, and laughed all the way out the door as well. His laugh continued to echo out of the hallway, as Kanaru looked on in disappointment.

"I do wonder why we keep him around," Kasumi said rhetorically, directing it at Kanaru.

"Funny, I was wondering the same thing about you," Bonny retorted with a satisfying smile on her face. "At least Wallace didn't lose his territory."

"He has territory?" Kasumi gawked sarcastically. "That's news to me, Bonny!"

"I'm not sure even he would have lost a whole tower to a bunch of small-time pirates if he had one!" Bonny responded happily. "Who are these losers again, anyways?"

Vice Admiral Yakahato, who had a stack of papers in front of him, proceeded to pass around the set of wanted posters he had in front of him. "As we understand it, there were two pirate crew present. But the main one that caused the defeat of Kasumi's Unit are the Skull Pirates."

Bonny began shuffling through the wanted posters, scanning over a woman with silver-gray hair in a hat, then over to a strange bat creature. "She looks lame... oh, that looks interesting," She commented. "Lame..." She then rummaged past Vance's poster, before stopping on Skellens. "Oh, he looks pretty! I want one!" She continued, moving over to the Burning King. "This one sounds familiar. Where do I know him?"

"He's the super rookie, Wright D. Morgan. He's been in the limelight for a while now," Vice Admiral Yakahato replied.

"Oh. Is he the captain?" Bonny asked curiously.

"No, that would be..." Vice Admiral Yakahato shuffled through the papers, trying to find the captain's wanted poster. "Hmm... " He searched again through the pile, then around the other stacks, but couldn't find the poster belonging to the Captain of the Skull Pirates. "Strange, it seems to have been misplaced."

"The other one took it," Vice Admiral Hasey commented. "The first Shichibukai to arrive. Crash. He left soon after he saw it, even though I urged him to stay for the meeting."

Fatticus got up and walked over to the window. "Let's just hope the boy doesn't do something stupid. He's more impulsive than Wallace in my opinion," Fatticus said before turning back to the Vice Admirals. "Then again, we'll hear about it one way or another."

 

[SV]

The Skull Pirates - Two Weeks Later - Mermaid's Pearl, Dinas

It had been two weeks since the defeat of the Unit and the destruction of the Kobushi Tower. Since then, the island has risen from its oppression at the hand of Kasumi and has thrived. Businesses began to open and older ones began to reopen. Those who opposed Kasumi and the Unit and were held in the tower as prisoners were released and returned to their families and homes. Dinas has never experienced such joy. Though the World Government continues to dismiss many of the reports of the Kobushi Corporation's corruption and the pirate crews that saved the island, many of the citizens of Dinas understand what the Sky and Skull pirates have done for them. Kuzo never saw it that way. He wasn't doing any of this to help an entire island. He was just doing it to help his friends.

The final confrontations with the Unit did take their toll on the Skull Pirates, many of whom needed immediate treatment. . The rest of the Skull and Sky Pirates all eventually met back up at Selena's restaurant, the Mermaid's Pearl, where Skellen began treatment since the local hospitals still had some Marine influence present. The cooks and workers were more than happy to accept their saviors as their guests while they recovered. They were however able to treat Marta and Vance successfully, who received the worst of the poison infliction by Billionth Aldridge. The rest also began their recovery at the restaurant, which was rebuilt from the damage caused by Aldridge and Narro. Though the crew was still in the process of recovering, they were improving steadily as the days past.

"Mmm, I gotta say Skellen," Kuzo exclaimed as he took another drink of the concoction Skellen had been administering the pirates who fought Billionth. "This is some pretty good super juice! How the heck did you make it?"

Skellen finished examining the captain's wounds looking up to see him once again drinking from the vial of thick golden liquid, as he had expected the majority of everyone's wounds were all but healed with only the most significant still affecting any of the Skull Pirates.
"It's not called super juice, it's called The Elixir, and I made it by mixing and matching the rapidly altering and developing proteins in Billionth's poison with some other stuff in a very complicated and scientific process I don't think anybody would understand... don't get too used to it though. I only have a really small amount until I work out how to synthesize the materials I got from the poison."

Skellen had worked for several hours straight, never stopping for sustenance and totally disregarding his own wounds once the Skull Pirates had returned to the Mermaid's Pearl. He'd recognised the potential uses for the unique chemical properties of Aldridge's poison early on in the fight and was thrilled he'd been able to snag some samples... although considering that there was no effect on Billionth as a result he wished he hadn't poured the third sample over the man's head. The Elixir had proven even more effective than Skellen had hoped, the rapid-acting and changing causing minor wounds to heal in moments, acting as an antidote and even significantly reducing the recovery time for serious injuries. Unfortunately though, the first batch he produced hadn't been perfected, as it turned out it took a period of days to properly produce the concoction - this meant that the recovery process had taken much longer than it could have.

It was at this point that Selena finally made her entrance onto the scene. The green-haired cook had more or less forced herself to stay awake upon the group's return to the Mermaid's Pearl, up until Skellen had finally been able to give Marta her first dosage of the antidote. After that the girl promptly fell asleep for what was exactly three days, before returning to the world of the living once more. She frowned as she listened to Skellen and Kuzo's conversation, shaking her head in the process.

"I gotta agree with Kuzo here. Elixir is such a stuffy name for that stuff you whipped up, Skellen," Selena commented. She flashed the doctor a bright smile, placing her hands on her hips in the process. "I think Super Juice is the perfect name for it. Plus, it did kinda have a grapey-taste to it."

"See? Selena gets it!" Kuzo exclaimed happily, taking another gulp of the liquid. "Super Juice it is!"

Meanwhile, a few weeks of repeated instructions had made Lotte more useful than before- and she was considerably better at helping Skellen with his work, no longer making five trips just to get bandages and tape and scissors one by one. Novel, being able to grab all of them at once! Bustling around the room, Lotte gathered the supplies she needed to fix up Vance's daily dose of elixir. "Oh- forgot a cup-" Retrieving the glass, she moved to sit next to his bedside, pouring out a dosage that Skellen had measured beforehand as a precaution against her carelessness, waiting for their Navigator to stir from his rest.

Morgan walked into the room, his mouth full of bread carrying a plate of assorted snacks and the like. The couple of weeks have done wonders on the man's body, having recovered rather well considering the breaking point his body was pushed to. His arms were bandaged more than normal, and much of his torso was tightly wrapped as well, considering the several broken ribs and bloodied arms. The pirate even walked gingerly, with Skellen having diagnosed a severe sprain on the one leg. Skellen's treatment luckily enough didn't have Morgan drinking as much of the "Super Juice" which was a godsend. Morgan hated grape flavored anything. "Ya know, Vance is a lucky guy to have ya tending to him, Lotte," Morgan said with a mouthful of food. "I'm almost jealous. Ya sure ya'll ain't dating?"

"Indeed, our navigator's quite lucky to be cared for by such a lady." Joshua added while he leisurely strolled into the room right behind Morgan, grabbing a biscuit off of the plate over his shoulder and eating it in a single bite. He was one of the first of the Skull Pirates to awaken, and had done everything he could to help the others from the moment he opened his eyes. He liked all his new crewmates well enough regardless of what kind of impressions he had made for himself.

At some point he'd acquired a new hat almost exactly like the old one, it even had a small red copy of the crew's insignia on it. "I've got a surprise for you all, I was told I'd have to wait for them all to be finished before I could pick them up." He held out his left arm to draw attention to all the clothes draped on it. "I found just the right person to repair the clothes everyone who was injured were wearing during that awful mess!" There had been nothing left of his shirt so he certainly couldn't save it, but he was wearing a new one that was similar with some ruffles added to the collar.

As if on cue from Morgan's question, Vance let out a quiet groan, raising up a bandaged hand to rub his forehead, eyes slowly blinking open. He'd been gradually getting better since his run-in with Billionth, and during the last week, he'd started being more awake.

Rubbing his eyes, he let out a small yawn and shifted in the bed, pushing himself up to sit against the headrest of the bed, looking tired and somewhat groggy, but content. "Mrrh... what? Was someone asking something...?"

"Oh nothing too important, ya know? Just talkin' to ya girlfriend over here. Ya may have hit the jackpot, ya lil' Romeo ya," Morgan said with a snicker, patting Vance on the shoulder.

Though Lotte had nearly missed pouring the elixir into the glass at Morgan's prompting, she'd graced him with raised eyebrows after recovering from the initial surprise. "Skellen probably doesn't agree," She pushed her blonde hair off of her shoulder, "But, of course it's an honor to have someone like me tending to anyone! I can even do bandages now you know~" Setting the glass on the nightstand beside Vance's bed, she wholly ignored Morgan's question on dating- seeing the answer in her opinion was an obvious no whether she replied or not.

Glancing at Joshua, she snapped her fingers, "Oh, that's right--" But whatever it was that she'd remembered, she didn't get the opportunity to say, whirling around at the sound of Vance stirring. "You're awake-!" ..... "... Nobody was asking anything!" She interrupted brightly, hopping around the bed to pull Morgan away, pushing him towards the door before sticking her tongue out at him and strutting back to Vance's bedside, "How are you feeling?"

Blinking in confusion and slight grogginess at what had just happened, Vance looked from the suddenly disappeared Morgan to Lotte, sending her a smile, thankful for her help over the past few days. "Oh, uh, I'm doing alright! Every day, I get a lot better. I think I could actually get out of bed, to be honest!" He nodded sagely to himself as he began to pull back the bedsheet, not having enjoyed being pampered and resting the last few days where he'd had the energy to speak up about it, so he seemed eager to get out of bed and back on his feet.

"Good to see you doing better Vance!" Kuzo said happily as he roamed over to the other side of Vance's bed and wrapped an arm around his shoulder, the navigator letting out a little "Ack!" as he was caught in the middle of trying to sneak out of bed. "You gave us a pretty good scare before, but now that you'll be getting better, we can stop resting and start partying! We'll have everything: Food, drinks, dancing, music... oh!" He suddenly exclaimed as he remembered something. He looked over at Lotte. "Which reminds me! One of the waiters, Ramsley is bringing by a present for you! You'll love it! And I got a great deal for it, if I do say so myself. The crew'll have to pitch in a little bit for it, but I don't think it'll be that bad."

His attention then turned to Joshua, who held out his sleeve to show off his new clothing. "Looks good, Joshua! My own coat got ruined as well so it'll be nice to get a new one."

"A present for me?" Lotte visibly perked up, plopping down on the end of Vance's bed to try to command Kuzo's already redirected attention. She couldn't imagine what it possibly could be- but her hopes were definitely high as her eyes sparkled at the prospect.

Joshua gave a slight bow and handed Kuzo his repaired coat. "Already done dear captain, glad to help my new crewmates."

"Aww, thanks!" The captain exclaimed as he grabbed the jacket from Joshua and threw it on. It was a bit different than his normal one, being blue instead of red. "I can definitely get used to this."

"Well, looks like you're quite the good Samaritan, aren't ya Red?" Avril replied, walking into the room with a somewhat tired-looking smile on her lips. The crew's unofficial shipwright was a bit of a sight to behold at the moment. The woman was soaked with the sweat of hard work, with a few smudges of grease and dirt gracing her features. A thick, red splotch of paint happened to be adorning her left cheek. Her hair was even pulled up into a rather messy looking ponytail. Avril held a nearly empty bucket of paint in one hand, while her other hand tightly gripped onto a glass of pink lemonade. She offered the gathered members of the crew a small nod, before giggling lightly. "Ya know, I was startin' to think that some of ya guys weren't ever gonna wake up. Especially Vanny. I've never seen anyone sleep for two full weeks."

Skellen leaned against the wall, nodding in acknowledgement to Lotte. Even he had to admit that she had been a huge help to him whilst his left arm was still not functioning properly. Gingerly moving the heavily bandaged and still-not-fully-operational arm as he thought, Skellen answered Avril.
"If he'd been under the effects of that poison much longer he wouldn't have been waking up at all. Which is why he should stop trying to sneak out of bed or I'll nail him to the floor" Skellen then realized he'd spoken to Avril and quickly hurried along "Did you say new clothes Joshua? I could definitely use some of those... new weapons too would be good."

Vance grumbled quietly as he settled back down in the bed, not particularly feeling like crossing Skellen. "I've gotta say, I really didn't think I'd be waking up at all. Skellen's a miracle-worker." He sent Avril a smile, raising his brows. "Oh! How's your work on the ship going? Lotte told me you were doing something with it the other day?"

"Well, yeah. Ya could say that," Avril replied, a somewhat proud smirk gracing her lips.

"Please tell me it involved removing the anything still marine-related" Skellen grumbled.

"Well, as useful as sailing around the seas could be in a Marine Ship, ya know... All undercover like, that's what I've been workin' on while you all were sleepin' and playin' doctor and all that sort," Avril responded. "Gave it a complete new paint job, some new flags, and all that stuff. 'Course, I had a bit of help. The people in this town seem a whole lot friendlier when they don't have some crime organization breathin' down their necks, ya know?"

"Please tell me ya made the ship black and red," Morgan said. "Those are my favorite colors....just sayin'." Morgan shrugged as he uttered the words. "And they are like the opposite of the Marines' colors so it makes like all anti-government and whatnot," he finished, as if justifying his earlier words.

"Seconded" Skellen added.

"No way," Kuzo retorted as he shook his head. "Black and red sounds so gloomy. We're going on an adventure, not to a funeral!" He added with a grin. "I wonder how the flag looks. That's the most important part of the ship, you know."

Avril glanced between the three, wondering if the disagreement that was probably looming ahead between the two on the ship's color of choice would lead to an argument and possibly an actual fight. Of course she had already painted the ship, so there was little Avril could do about it now. Still, she figured that now was probably not the best time for such an event to occur.

"Well, there is some black and red on there..." the woman answered. "Also some blue and yellow too, although truth be told some of those are just on the flag... I kinda just winged it since there really wasn't a whole lot of input I could get at the time. As for the flag... well, that's a secret. You'll have to see it for yourself."

"Well, some is better than none," Morgan said with another shrug. "I'll just have to paint it over when it's my ship later..." He said quietly to himself, remembering the deal he had with Kuzo.

"Your ship later?" Selena questioned, tilting her head in confusion by Morgan's last statement. "Kuzo's your captain, right? Is he supposed to pass the ship on to you if he dies or something, like in a will? Wait, he's not got some terminal disease or anything like that, does he?"

Morgan looked at Selena: "Captain is a...generous way of puttin'. Let's put it that way. And he will pass it down to me one day...in a will of sorts. But he ain't dyin' so no worries there! Just, uh, he'll probably be unconscious or somethin'. Yeah, let's put it that way," Morgan said, his face scrunched in an our awkward manner, before leaving the room abruptly.

"I'm sure whatever has been done looks excellent miss Avril, By the way, I have your spare clothes here as well, I thought you might like to change into something fresh after all your hard work." Joshua set the mass of clothing down on a table and pulled an extra bit of clothes for Avril before offering them to her.

"See Avril," Lotte drawled in her brightly innocent manner, ignoring their clear preferences for red and black-- "I told you they'd like pink and white better. It just goes better!" She held out a glass of elixir for Vance, "Here, today's medicine." She glanced quickly at Kuzo and Skellen, "Or Super Juice or whatever it's called."

Avril took the clothes from Joshua with a smile. "Thanks, Red. I appreciate it more than ya know... and I'll keep that in mind if I paint the ship again, Loli."

Kuzo grinned again at Lotte at the mention of the Super Juice, then glanced back at Avril. "I can't wait to see it! I'm pretty excited." The door to the restaurant suddenly burst open, and the Sky Pirates walked inside, along with the waiter Ramsley.

"Hey guys!" Matterine exclaimed happily as she proceeded inside.

"Hey, everyone!" Kuzo greeted them. He looked over to Ramsley. "Did you get it?"

"Ah, yes I did!" Ramsley replied with glee. "It was quite heavy, so the... um... loud one, is bringing it in now."

"I CAN DO IT MYSELF, LET GO!" Edward roared as he burst through the front doors carrying a large object over his head. It was a large piano by the looks of things, painted black and a bit worn, but still solid. He angled it so that it would come in without damaging the door, but he managed to still break off a piece of the wood of the wall without realizing. He placed the piano in the center of the room. "Here's your thing. Dunno why you wanted such a piece of sh*t for anyways."

Kuzo jumped up and proceeded towards it. He patted it on the side, and tested one of the keys. "A piano for our musician," He explained as he gave Lotte a happy grin. "Just as promised!"

"Also, myself and the rest of the staff at the Mermaid's Pearl have finished preparing a banquet for you all," Ramsley chimed. "We'll bring it out to you now!"

The waiters from the restaurant began to bring out dozens of dishes, stacking them around the restaurant for the Skull and Sky pirates to enjoy. Kuzo looked at all of the amazing-looking food in wonder. He couldn't contain the huge grin on his face. He proceeded to jump on top of the piano and looked around at everyone present.

"Hey, what are you doing!?" Edward yelled at the man with the bandanna. "I just carried that thing all across town for your stupid a*s, don't break it!"

"Food, drinks, music, and friends to share it with," Kuzo listed. He rose a fist in the air and then cried out. "Now it's a party!"

 

[Greiger]

1 1/2 weeks earlier - Confronting Sins​

It was muffled, very muffled. His ears instinctively twitched about in the air. Something had to be blocking the sound, something in his ear proper. He just had to keep twitching it until it fell out. Still, the muffling continued and slowly he managed to crack open one eye. That eye quickly shut as a bright light shined into it. Pain quickly followed as a small headache throbbed against his skull. His eyelids squeezed tighter together until the pain began to fade. This time he gently opened his eye again, blinking as he began to adjust to the light level. The blurry image began to clear up and he realized he was in some sort of room. He blinked his eyes a bit more, rubbing at his head with his wing tip as he wondered if he was dreaming.

Last thing he remembered was... oh no...

Bass glanced about wildly and quickly pushed off the linen sheets that had been covering him. His heart began to race frantically in his chest as he held his head between his wing tips. He whimpered softly and felt his knees shake. His stomach gurgled and he realized that he was rather close to vomiting. The images flashed through his mind in quick succession as the horrors overwhelmed his will.

He had to get out of here! What if he went berserk again? How long ago had been his last feeding? He knew that, from his perspective at least, it might have seemed that only a few minutes had passed since his last meal, but he had learned in the wild that when one blacked out a great amount of time could have passed. It could have been days since his last feeding! He found himself taking quick breaths in an attempt to calm himself down. His mind already began to work as he realized that he just had to find a window, or a door, and take off. He had to get somewhere where he couldn't be able to harm anyone!

He looked about and keyed in on a window to the side that had shined been the bearer of the light that had awoken him earlier. Perfect! He could go berserk in the woods somewhere, and... and everything would be good! He quickly made his way over as he began fumbling with the small hook lock on it. Dammit, why couldn't he have hands now!? As he fumbled... that was when the pain came back. He suddenly remembered that one man that had beaten him down hard and his knee buckled under his weight. He clamped his muzzle shut, trying not to cry out and potentially draw any attention his way.

"Bass?" The voice of Kuzo suddenly asked from behind the bat. The captain had bandages covering his body as he was still recovering from the effects of Billionth's poison. He smiled warmly at the bat as he sat up from his bed, though he was too weak to still get up. "Good to see you up... hey, where are you going?"

Bass paled and his ears lowered in guilt as he found himself rubbing his wing tips together uncomfortably. His voice croaked as he spoke, "I-I ha-have to g-go." He squeaked out, "I... I d-did bad. I.. I'm sorry." He forced himself to stand despite the pain as he fumbled once more with the hook, "I... I c-can't hurt y-you all."

Kuzo tilted his head. "What are you talking about? What happened? You're not gonna hurt us, Bass. I kinda have that covered myself," He explained with a smile as he pointed to his bandages.

Bass shivered at the window, before he burst into tears. "I killed them!" He sobbed out as he fell onto his knees, "I killed them! I bit into their necks!" He whimpered, "You know what's bad?" He asked softly, "I... liked it. I tasted their blood..." Tears leaked down his eyes as he looked back at Kuzo, "And... I want more... I want more. I... I felt so good... " He wiped at his eyes with a wing tip. "I loved every s-second of it..."

Kuzo silently gazed at the bat and couldn't help but feel pity. It wasn't his choice, but he had the urge to drink, and he couldn't control himself. "It's not you in control, Bass," He began to say from his bed. "I know you wouldn't hurt anyone on purpose, especially us. Skellen said he might be able to figure out a way to stock up on some blood so you won't ever have to experience the things you did again."

As Kuzo spoke Bass had turned to stare at him. He stared... and even after Kuzo stopped speaking he stared. There was a longing in his eyes as he stared at their captain and as Bass licked his lips he realized then that he had been drooling. A small puddle had formed on the ground and Bass stared down at it, then back up at Kuzo before he took a fearful step back and turned about. He pulled at the hook with more urgency as he gulped and forced himself to look away from the pirate, "C-Can't... don't bite... don't bite..." Though Bass seemed to be talking more to himself than to Kuzo.

The man in the blue bandanna noticed Bass's longing and tried to get up from his bed. He felt his body throb with pain at his attempt, but nonetheless he forced himself out of the bed and onto the floor. He then tried to proceed shakily onto his feet and over to Bass. By the time he reached him, he could no longer stand anymore, and collapsed beside him. He tried once more to lift himself, but his body wouldn't respond. He instead managed to lift an arm toward the bat and pat him on his back. "I trust you, Bass. I know you won't do anything to hurt anyone. We'll get this under control, dont' worry. And we'll do it together."

As Bass pulled at that hook he finally managed to get at the right angle to lift it up. Then... Kuzo touched him. Bass' whole body froze as that hand patted him, and then Bass slowly let out a soft hiss. The hair on the back on his neck stood up as he heard... and smelled. In a flash he twisted about and stared right at Kuzo. He sniffed a bit and let out another soft hiss as he stared at Kuzo in a far different way, almost as if he was seeing him in a new light. He wasted no time in knocking Kuzo down as he let out a softer hiss while more drool dripped out onto the ground. He looked upon the human with the eyes of a predator. The bat licked his lips, before he blinked his eyes and gripped his head with his wings, "N-No! NO BITE!" He cried out as he fell onto his rump.

Kuzo looked over at Bass from his spot on the floor, no longer having any energy to move toward the bat anymore. He did offer him a comforting smile. "You're stronger than you think, you know. Life's not gonna come at you without a bit of challenges, but nothing's impossible to overcome! It just takes work. My brother taught that to me."

Bass whimpered there, slowly rising up and pushing the window open. "I-I'll b-be back l-later." He croaked out as he clumsily pushed his way out of the window and wasted no time in flapping his wings and quickly rising into the air.

"And we'll be here!" He yelled after the bat. As he took off, Kuzo tried to follow him with his eyes through the sky, before he was out of sight. "We'll be here."

 

[Legend]

Vane T. Edward and Goberra D. Kurisu- The Mermaid Pearl, Dinas

As each plate of new food was brought before them, Edward quickly dug in and gobbled it up. There was so much to go through, and it was all very delicious. He was beginning to wonder if all of this 'helping' nonsense was ever going to pay off, and finally things seem to be going alright. He grabbed hold of a bowl of noodles and drained the contents down his throat like a drink. Once his cheeks were stuffed with twice the amount of food any normal human could hold, he began to chew loudly. He looked up from his now-empty bowl to catch sight of Kurisu.

He waved the man over and swallowed his food abruptly, but not before once more diving into another bowl. "I haven't seen you all day. Try the ramen. It might be purple, but its damn tasty."

"I'm not a ramen fan, Edward," Kurisu replied rather flatly. He took a seat next to Edward, grabbing a small plate of rice and ate it in a calm fashion, paying little heed to Edward's devouring of food like a rabid animal. Sure, the noisy gobbling of Edward was distracting, but Kurisu found it almost relaxing compared to what the Sky Pirates generally put him through.

"Neither am I, but damn these cooks know what they're doing," Edward answered back as he grabbed a large mouthful of sliced fish and sucked it into his mouth like a vacuum. "Besides, after all the stuff we were put through, this is as good of a reward as we're getting, and I can't let you just eat plain rice!" A piece of a stool suddenly flew over Edwards face as Liam and Dekuranu were apparently playing some sort of game.

"Watch where you toss that thing, bastards!" Edward yelled at the two, before he shook his head.

Sadly for Kurisu, the piece of stool knocked his bowl of rice out of his hands and it crashed to the floor, shattering into dozens of pieces. Kurisu only sighed: "That would be my luck..." He got up and carefully picked up the pieces of the bowl, before moving to the nearest trash can as if knowing that communicating anything to the others would be just about pointless. He returned to his seat, slouching without bothering to grab any more food.

"Hey, plenty more food where that came from. Why don't you grab something else?" Edward asked. "We're supposed to be relaxing and enjoying ourselves while we can. Knowing these idiots, we'll get into some sort of other mess. Go get another plate."

"You sure he should do that?" Goa-Boa inquired as he sipped from a tea cup. "He could end up breaking it."

"Like he keeps breaking my ship!" Captain Dekuranu howled toward Kurisu.

"Yeah, yeah. It's all my fault. I get it," Kurisu said. "I break everything I touch. You are right," Kurisu said in a defeated tone. Any time anything goes wrong, the rest of the crew was often quick to blame Kurisu. In the beginning, everyone was rather supportive of the others yet the past year or so, the crew became more united on a 'blame Kurisu' front, even Matterine who used to be something of a mediator. Formerly one to defend himself, the whole thing became obviously pointless, forcing Kurisu to concede defeat in lieu of another argument. It was just easier to realize fighting back was pointless.

"Well if it weren't true, we wouldn't be saying it!" Liam yelled at Kurisu.

"Maybe if your ship weren't such a piece of sh*t, it wouldn't be breaking all the time!" Edward yelled back at the others. Dekuranu looked as if he were about to explode, but Matterine held him back and they continued to drink and party. Edward shook his head and gulped down his mug. "I dunno why you even stay with them."

Kurisu had considered not even giving him an answer, for he really did not have to offer. It was a question he asked himself a dozen times. He figured it was because he believed deep down that they were not that mean. Or maybe they had some good in them. But as the days passed, he wasn't as convinced. "I...I don't know. I don't really have anywhere else to go."

"They're a bunch of morons and fools," Edward spat, as a bit of the meat he had just shoved in his mouth came out. "And they're gonna get us killed. I agree to tag along because it was a free ride to the Grand Line. If I knew things were this bad, I would have jumped on a different ship. When I find a new ride, I'm out. You should come with me."

"And break another ship? I rather not be subject to this stuff again. I'll probably stick around in Dinas if I can. I rather like it here," Kurisu admitted. "Being a pirate...it might not just be my thing. Everyone has a thing they are good at right?"

"You think those idiots are any good?" Edward asked rhetorically as he pointed a finger at them. "Look at them! They're the most dysfunctional group of morons I've ever seen. Liam broke the ship almost as much, and he got us lost. Dekuranu's a dumbass. They're not even pirates really! Point is, you shouldn't just give up because these of them. Maybe that thing you're good at just hasn't popped up yet. Somewhere on the seas. That thing to drive you, that purpose."

Kurisu glanced over to Edward with a slight grimace. "And what if I don't find this purpose? What if I waste time because there isn't anything out there for me? Seems rather pointless to spend all the time looking for something that doesn't exist in the first place. Maybe there is no meaning in this adventure or anything." Kurisu gestured to the other Sky Pirates. "Look I know I am being overly dramatic, but they made sure I lack any motivation to find that out for myself. Them and a bunch of other stuff that isn't important. Just...try to understand that I am not like you and I don't pack all this determination to be the best."

"Just another reason you should ditch 'em," Edward replied, as he leaned into Kurisu and wrapped an arm around him. He brought him slightly closer to him so that he was on the same eye level, and then pointed to Morgan at the other side of the room, who was busy flirting with Avril. Edward took a large swig of his drink. "See that guy? He's my determination," Edward explained.

"That sounds a little...you know...like something Goa-Boa would say," Kurisu said, slightly uncomfortable.

"SHUT UP, I'M TRYING TO BE SINCERE HERE, YOU BASTARD!" Edward yelled right into Kurisu's ear. He quickly composed himself again and looked back at Morgan. "I grew up on the same island as him. Before I met him, I fought a bunch of the other kids, and I never lost. I loved to fight, but I never really had any purpose behind the fighting. It was just fighting. Then I met Morgan, and when I fought him, I lost. First time in my life. I thought lowly of myself at that point, but the next day, I realized what a blessing in disguise it really was. He gave me something to strive toward. He's what made me begin to form my goal."

Edward took his arm off of Kurisu and grabbed another plate, this time handing it to Kurisu. "I look at you and I see more than the other guys. Trust me, I know how to pick 'em. I see myself before I met Morgan, someone who had the walk, but didn't have the path yet. You say it's pointless to spend the time to look for your purpose. That's a load of crap. The pointless thing would be to not look in the first place! All you need is that determination to get you going. Morgan was mine, and now I'll be yours!" He roared as he glared at Kurisu sternly, gesturing for him to grab the plate of food.

Kurisu grabbed a plate of food and quietly took a bite. "I take that as you are going to start following me around then or something?" He asked, after swallowing down his bite of food.

"You got that right," Edward replied. "'Till you fulfill your purpose, if that's what it takes. We'll push each other!"

Kurisu couldn't help but smile ever so slightly. While he had friends in the past, this was the first time in a while he felt like he had one. Sure, kind words were spoken to him before, but even if Edward was a bit...blunt and borderline awkward, he felt the man's attempt at being genuinely on his side. It was far more than he got from the other members of the Sky Pirates at least, and perhaps Edward had a point in ditching the others. But could Kurisu make that rash of decision just like that? He didn't trust Edward with that kind of advice. In fact, he did not trust himself either. Kurisu found himself looking at the other members of his so called crew. They would accept despite his faults for now, for whatever reason. So maybe he'll stick around for time. He felt a wider smile take him for some strange reason. "Well, just promise me this then: No matter how crazy my actions may be, you'll be at my side. Can you do that?"

Edward grinned at Kurisu, but quickly caught himself grinning and cringed his face. "Urgh, apologies for my rudeness," His face quickly became serious again and he shrugged. "I was gonna say the same to you. I'm not stopping 'till I'm the strongest. But if you'll put up with me, then you can count me in till the end with you."

"I'm sure I'll manage," Kurisu said, offering a handshake. "To reaching the end?"

Edward accepted Kurisu's handshake. "To reaching the end," He repeated. He then looked over to the rest of the food, and proceeded to continue and stuff his face.

 

[Stinging Bea]

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Kuzo And Selena - The Mermaid's Pearl
Celebrations And Marta's Warning​

The party was in full swing now, and Kuzo was eager to get everyone into the mood. They spent too much time recovering and not enough time having a good time, so now it was time to correct that. He wandered from on top of the piano over to Selena, one of the newest additions to the crew. Grabbing three mugs filled with some sort of surprise alcohol the chefs made, he proceeded over to the green-haired cook. He was smiling ear to ear as he greeted her by handing one of the three mugs.

"Share a drink with me!" He insisted as he laughed merrily and brought his cup up to meet hers. He only briefly noticed his other hand was holding another mug, not fully comprehending how he managed to get three when he intended only to bring one for himself and Selena.

"Now that's an idea I can really get behind!" Selena replied, grinning just as brightly, if not more so than Kuzo. The green-haired girl happily accepted the offered mug from the pirate captain, quickly downing its contents with glee before bringing her arm across her mouth to wipe it clean. "Whoo! That's some hard stuff right there! Those guys only bring out the kicking stuff when there's really something to celebrate! 'Course, I guess there is, what with us taking down an entire crime organization and saving the old lady."

"Don't forget celebrating the five new additions to our crew!" Kuzo added as he drank from his mug. "Firenze, Joshua, and you!" He said with a smile. He then proceeded to look around at all of the different food that was brought out. "Man, everything looks so tasty! Did you make any of this?"

Selena took a moment, quickly counting the number of new crew members Kuzo mentioned. Despite the fact that she counted it over two or three times, she didn't come up with the same number that the captain did. Still, the green-haired cook decided to push that little detail off for the time being and focus on the conversation at hand.

"Not really, no..." Selena admitted. "It's kinda hard to do much cooking when you're out like a light for about two weeks, you know? I mean, I'm a good cook, but I haven't quite mastered the art of cooking while sleeping at the same time."

"Oh," Kuzo began as he grabbed the nearest plate he could find and proceeded to stuff his face. The plate was a salmon special. Being close to the sea for most of his life, Kuzo enjoyed many different types of seafood, but especially fish. "Ha fefh fay foo fy fof of fors! (I can't wait to try some of yours!)" He exclaimed with a full mouth. He gulped it down then continued.

"But then again, we'll have plenty of time when we set off, so I'll definitely get my chance! We'll be at sea for a long time most likely."

"That's true, just like I promised I am your cook," Selena replied, smiling as she took the third mug Kuzo had been carrying and quickly began to drink down its contents. She paused for a moment, thinking something over. It was at that point that the green-haired girl realized something she had never asked Kuzo. "So, uh... What exactly are we sailing for? Any destination in mind, exactly?"

Kuzo raised a finger and opened his mouth to reply, but quickly put it back down as he discovered a response was a lot harder to come up with than he figured. Everyone of them had something in mind that they wanted to accomplish, though Kuzo's own goal was also ambiguous. That being said, each one of their goals would take them all over, so it was difficult to explain any set destination as a linear path. However, as he thought of this for a moment more, he came up with an answer that he liked.

"We're sailing for... our dreams!" He exclaimed excitedly as he rose his mug into the air. "Our destination is adventure! We don't have any one place to go because our dreams will take us all over the Grand Line! And all over the Grand Line is where we'll go!"

"I've heard worse answers than that!" Selena replied. She propped her chin up in her hand, smirking slightly as she spoke. "Of course, I kinda hate to go. I am the head cook around here, you know? That old bat will probably fall apart without me around to help cook up the grub."

Kuzo nodded in agreement. "Yeah, leaving all you've known is hard. I had the same feeling when I left my home. But I wanted to go because I wanted to see the world! I wanted to fulfill my dreams! I know you want to go to Sabola Island, right? We'll get you there on the Dream Chaser! Leaving her will probably be hard, but if its for your dreams, I think she'll understand. Besides, if she's the one who taught you how to cook, things should be alright, right?"

"Oh, don't worry about me. I'm fine with getting out of here and seeing the world. It's her I'm worried about," Selena explained. The faint sound of a cane clacking on the floor could be heard just barely, yet Selena seemed to be completely oblivious to this. "You know, she's not as young as she used to be. I wouldn't be surprised that even though Skellen managed to take care of that poisoning that Billionth got her with, that she keeled over almost any day now."

"You ungrateful greenhorn!" a familiar, elderly voice shouted. Selena let out a loud yelp as a fist found their way onto each side of her head. Without even a bit of warning, Marta began to twist her fists, causing Selena to yelp out in pain. "You think I can't handle it without you?! I've been running this restaurant before you were even a thought!"

"K-Knock it off, you old bag!" Selena snapped.

Kuzo couldn't help but scratch his head and chuckle when Marta began punching Selena. It reminded him a lot of how Koan would beat him up whenever he insisted on becoming a pirate against her wishes. "Looks like she has a lot more keel in her than you thought, eh, Selena?" He said with a grin.

"Stay out of it!" Selena shouted, sending a rather nasty glare in Kuzo's direction. Such an action however was rewarded with a swift kick in the back by Marta, which sent Selena falling to the floor in both surprise and pain. "Damn it... I liked it better when you were sick!"

Kuzo backed away for a second from the surprising 'evil eye' from Marta. He couldn't help but let out an anxious laugh as she kicked Selena again. Feeling the need as her captain to intervene, Kuzo decided to be bold and approach Marta. "Hey, I can't let you just beat her up like that! She's my responsibility now... err... respectfully."

Marta glanced up at Kuzo, before glancing down at Selena for a moment. The old woman nodded, readjusting her grip on her cane to help support herself. "You're right, boy... She is your responsibility now..." Marta took a few steps closer to Kuzo, her eyes locking with his before she resumed speaking once more. "So you better do your part and take care of her, yes? I believe I have no need to tell you that if I hear she's been arrested by Marines or killed that I'll hunt you down to the ends of the Grand Line."

Hearing Marta speak sent a shiver down his spine. Even with her advanced age and her cane, he could tell she meant business. But he could also tell deep down in her voice that she really did care for Selena. Either way, Kuzo had no intention of doing anything but that. He grinned again at her and nodded. "You have my word. I'll protect my crew, no matter what." He stated confidently.

"You had better, boy..." Marta replied, before reaching down and helping pull Selena to her feet. "And you better not die before you find that island. I want to hear all about the things you do, girl."

"Like I have plans of kicking the bucket before you, you old bat..." Selena replied, giving Marta a small smirk.

Marta returned her smirk with one of her own, before turning and making her way into the back of the restaurant. Selena remained quiet the whole time, the girl not finding the words to say as she watched Marta walk off. Eventually, she turned to Kuzo and gave the boy a warm smile.

"So, when do we leave, captain? This place is really starting to cramp my style..." Selena inquired.

Kuzo smiled at Selena's willingness to move forward. He was much the same way: always on the move, going from place to place. It was the constant changing and excitement of something fresh that intrigued him. "Well, most of us are relatively healed up now from the fights. Vance should have the log pose ready to go too. So when we finish up the party, we'll head out!"

Selena nodded at Kuzo's response. "Well then, I think I'm gonna go finish getting ready for departure then. I got a few last minute things I need to get together, so uh... go nuts or whatever! I'll see you at the docks!"

"We will!" Kuzo replied. "But when you're done packing up what you need to, come back here with us! We've still got a lot of celebrating to do, and now you're one of us so you have to celebrate with us! Captains orders!"

"Aye, Captain!" Selena saluted, before heading off to gather what she needed. Something told her that she was in for quite the adventure with Kuzo. Sure, she was going to miss Marta, but this was a chance she would not pass up for a lifetime.
​

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[Stinging Bea]

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Wright D. Morgan and Avril Meads - A Look At The Past - Outside the Mermaid's Pearl​

Morgan's swift exit out of the crowded room where the bulk of the crew was gathering did not end in simply walking out the door. He barged through the lobby of the Mermaid's Lobby, with a few onlookers glancing at the Burning King with wide eyes as he stormed out the door into the city streets. "Phew, I needed some fresh air after that lil' skirmish," he said to himself. It's not that he minded being with the colorful mix of characters Kuzo collected, but something about the exchanges still did not feel right inside. They seemed to accept him as one of them, though he knew he had his fair of differences with Lotte, Vance and maybe a couple others. On the same token, Kuzo's little wager of him...he wanted it to happen, but how would they regard him then if suddenly took their ship? Most joined because of Kuzo, not him. Could he really nab the ship from a crew that wanted to sail the seas as much as he did? No matter how he cut it, he felt like an outsider looking in. "Maybe this is why I am better off on my own," he found himself saying with sigh.

"Well, if anythin' I'd say you'd at least have the whole, 'Crazy-talkin'-to-myself' part down real good, yeah?" Avril replied, placing her hands behind her back as she made her way closer to Morgan. She gave the man a warm smile before giving him a curious look. "Is somethin' buggin' ya, Pepper-kun? Ya look a bit frazzled up, especially the way ya left right after ya mentioned that little wager between you and Ku-kun to Mossy."

"Mossy?" Morgan asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, ya know... That cook lady that Ku-kun added to our little grab-bag of fun," Avril replied. "The green hair and all..."

"I'm sure no one has thought of that one," Morgan said, rolling his eyes. "But anyhow, I'm just, well ya know already...it's strange bein' a part of...a crew or whatever ya call this. So, it kinda feels strange mentionin' the wager in front of everyone. I'm havin' second thoughts about stickin' around, that's all."

"Don't ya think it would be a bit more strange if ya were just to take off one day, Pepper-kun?" Avril questioned. She crossed her arms over her chest, looking out into the crowded streets of the city. It was funny to her how different of a place Dinas seemed already compared to just a few weeks ago. "I mean, I know why ya worry 'bout that sorta thing. I can't really blame ya, but... A few of 'em are already pretty attached to ya, I can tell. Batsy-chan, for starters... Ku-kun, even though ya two do have that wager. And I think Skelly and Lotte like ya a bit more than they wanna let on, ya know?"

Morgan leaned on the wall of the restaurant, not making any eye contact with the woman as she spoke. She spoke what Morgan would probably never admit was the truth about, even if he personally disagreed with it. Then again, he hadn't really socialized with people for a couple years, spending more time blasting ships into pieces and insulting Kiba on a regular basis. "Well, I'll admit that it wouldn't be too strange for me to leave. I've danced a similar dance before ya know? Though that time I kinda just stole their ship..." He began, letting his voice trail as if losing the thought. "Though, I can see Kuzo chasin' me down. I see him doin' that for just about anyone to be honest."

"He doesn't seem to be one that would take no for an answer at all," Avril replied. "That's probably a good reason why he needs people like ya around, Pepper-kun. If he keeps doin' that sorta thing one day, he might end up bitin' off more than he can chew..."

"Ya know, I don't respond well to that kinda pressure," Morgan said, looking at her with his almost trademarked smirk. "Then again, someone like ya could do it too ya know? I ain't exactly the most responsible of people sometimes."

"I really don't think I'm someone suited for that sorta job, Pepper-kun," Avril said, rubbing the back of her head as she spoke. A small frown slowly took to her lips as she once again looked away from Morgan. "People and all that sort of thing have never really been my area of expertise. I'm just good with ships and technical things."

"Now, ya are beginning to sound an awful lot like me," Morgan commented, putting his hands on his hips and he faced her. He titled around and looked her in the eyes, raising an eyebrow. "Ya sure ya don't got some dark past too?"

A small smirk graced Avril's lips at Morgan's question, even earning the Burning King a small giggle. "Didn't anyone ever teach ya it's rude to pry into a lady's secrets, Pepper-kun?"

Morgan grinned and chuckled. "Well, ya know that I'm not very good with people and all that sort of things," he said with a wink.

"Well, ya already know I used to be a Marine, Pepper-kun... I don't think I have anythin' really dark to share with ya besides that," Avril responded, taking a step away from Morgan. "I mean, before that I just sorta lived on a little old island in East Blue with my old man, ya know?"

Morgan cocked an eyebrow again: "Well, ya also should know that most people come from islands nowadays and most people live with their parents. Ya aren't being wholly honest with me, are ya?" Morgan inched closer to Avril, staring her down. "Come on, spit it out. Ya know all the important parts of my past already."

"I guess ya got me there..." Avril sighed. The woman crossed her arms once more. "I guess I'll just start at the beginnin'..."

Teeter Island - East Blue - 18 Years Ago​

The sun was shining brightly as one eight-year old girl was currently running through the village streets as fast as her little legs could possibly carry her. She had a light, yet healthy tan adorning her body. Her long, white hair was pulled back into two rather large, bouncing pigtails. She was dressed in a rather baggy pair of overalls, with one of the shoulder straps currently not buttoned. A black tanktop was currently worn underneath and a pair of black and white sneakers adorned her feet.

"Okay, so the Avril Bug-Sprayer Mach II worked a lot better than I thought it would! Okay, so I messed up the power behind the pushy-plug! That's no reason to chase after me for breakin' your windows!" the small girl shouted, glancing over her shoulder as she ran.

Behind her, ran a not-quite-so-pleased looking farm woman. Avril's comments seemed to be doing little to improve her situation. In fact, the woman behind her only seemed to get even more angry looking from them.

"I told ya once before, ya little deviant! Ain't no one around here asked for the help of ya and those so called inventions!" the farm woman shouted.

Avril sighed, quickly returning her attention to the road in front of her. The people of this island just did not understand. She was working on all these little knickknacks for the better of their lives! Sure, they had a few bugs in them. Nothing new was ever perfect upon its grand unveiling! The girl had thought that that is what tests were for. Returning her attention to the matter at hand, Avril quickly smiled as the familiar building and workshop that she called home came into sight. The little girl picked up her pace, running as hard as she could. Avril flew through the door, quickly slamming it shut behind her and gaining the attention of an older man who happened to be standing behind a shop counter and reading a book.

The man had long, graying hair and pale blue eyes. A pair of glasses were worn on his face and he was rather tall, easily standing at least 6'2" with a somewhat solid build. He was dressed in a white, button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a pair of brown overalls. His name was Charles Meads, and he just so happened to be Avril's father.

"Avril...?" the man questioned, his eyes narrowing in suspiciously at his daughter. "What in the world are ya doin'?"

Avril giggled, rubbing her head sheepishly. "Well, I was just goin' for a quick jog around the village and then I got hungry, so now I'm here and I'm gonna get a snack! See ya!"

Charles opened his mouth to further question the girl, but he did not get far before Avril bolted out of the room as fast as her little legs could carry her. This was quickly followed by the door to the workshop swinging open, revealing one very winded and very angry farm woman. She took a look around the room, before stepping further inside the door.

"Where is she? Where is that little hoodlum?!" the woman demanded. "When I get a hold of her... ooooh..."

"Now, now... Calm down Hina..." Charles sighed. He was quite used to this little situation, and he most likely knew where it was heading. However, the man knew he had to ask anyways. "What seems to have gotten ya all worked up?"

The farm woman sighed, rubbing her forehead in exasperation as she took a moment to catch her breath before answering. "Avril... That little troublemaker was off messin' 'round with her little gadgets again! The girl insisted on tryin' it out over at my house and managed to blow out three of my windows!"

Charles rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Now, now... I'm sure she didn't mean to..."

"Ya can't keep on protectin' her like this, Charles! She keeps doin' this sorta thing all the time! There was the time that she stole the wheels off of Johnson's wagon for that weird hat-thing! Then there was that time she ruined the pumpkin harvest with that... enhanced-goop-water... Ya need to get her under control, already!"

"Look, look... I'll talk to her already, okay?" Charles replied. "She's just... full of energy... She's always been interested in my line of work and she's just... tryin' to experiment. I'll have a word with her and I promise, she ain't gonna be anymore of a handful... than usual, anyways..."

"Ya better, 'cause ya both are treadin' on thin ice!" the woman shouted, before storming out of the shop and slamming the door shut behind her.

Charles simply stood there in silence for a moment. The man rubbed his temples, feeling another one of his massive migraines coming on. Avril was quite a handful to deal with, to say the least. He was quite aware that the young girl really did not have a strong, female role model in her life. So in that regard, it was probably a bit natural that she looked up to and took after Charles a bit in life. She had the same hobbies as he did, tinkering and repairing tools and electronics and other such things. However, Avril had a habit of taking things to a bit of an extreme level. She was constantly trying to make new things, always insisting that the creations she could come up with would work just as well if not better than the original object. The only problem with this was... well, that usually was not the case. In fact, Avril's inventions had a habit of going completely in the opposite direction. They had even been known to cause some slight property damage or financial loss due to their... less than desirable results.

Such a delima really put Charles in a rather tough spot. The man was well aware of the fact that his fellow villagers were not very pleased with how Avril's inventions and redesigns usually went. In fact, he was confident that they were starting to wish that Avril had never touched a wrench or screwdriver in her life. What could he possibly do about it though? Charles knew that he could not very well just make Avril stop. It would not be exactly fair to the young girl.

"Then again, standin' around here ain't gonna get me anywhere," Charles sighed. "I guess I better get to talkin' to the girl."

Charles slowly made his way into the kitchen where he had seen Avril run off to just a few moments ago. The man looked around, knowing that chances were that his young daughter was probably off hiding somewhere to avoid a lecture or punishment they both knew was coming. Not much to his surprise, Charles happened to be exactly right. A small, tired smile came to the man's lips as he noticed one of Avril's rather long, white pigtails poking out from underneath the tablecloth. It always amused him how the girl was so creative and bright for her age when it came to things like repairing and tinkering, but not for things which would be common for children her age, like hiding. Reaching down, the man took hold of his daughter from underneath the table and quickly scooped her up into his arms, a surprised squeal escaping her lips.

"Wah! N-No, no! Get away from me you stupid lady! I said I was sorry!" Avril cried out, not really paying attention to just who was holding onto her at the moment. Charles' eyes went wide just in time for Avril to somehow manage to slug him right in the cheek, the man letting out a rather pained grunt. Avril's own eyes snapped open at this point, as she slowly looked up to see it was her father holding her and not the farm woman. A quick, nervous giggle slipped out of her lips at this point. "Oh, pops... Hee hee... I didn't see ya comin' to get me there... Um, are ya alright...?"

"Been a bit better, Avril, I'll admit," Charles began. "We... need to have a talk."

"A talk... Ya mean, one of those?" Avril replied.

Charles honestly did not know if he should have laughed at that because Avril knew what he was probably about to say, or if he should feel a bit saddened at that fact. Still, he knew he needed to take care of this matter for the sake of his business and maybe being able to end these constant headaches he found himself having from dealing with the girl's actions.

Sitting in one of the chairs, he placed Avril in his lap and sighed. "Yeah... One of those. Listen Avril, I know ya mean well and all that sorta thing, but... well... I kinda need ya to stop. Ya know, the whole makin' and repairin' and all that sort."

Avril huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Why though? It's not like I really hurt anyone! Besides, it's not all that weird to have a few hiccups along the way."

"There's a difference between hiccups and constant property destruction..." Charles muttered. He glanced down at Avril, quickly noticing that the girl was giving him a rather curious glance. The man shook his head and sighed. "Look, I know ya mean well Avril. I really do. And I know that it's all your hobby and such, but... Well, why don't ya play with dolls or somethin' like the other girls your age... or just with the other kids in the village in general?"

"Because all of that is just so... borin'..." Avril replied. "Who cares about dolls and jump rope and all that when ya can make things better... or come up with somethin' new all together?! It's so much more fun! Like this new thing I've been plannin'... It's gonna be..."

"No, Avril," Charles said quickly.

"What? But you don't even know, it's gonna be..." Avril tried to explain again, only for Charles to hold up his hand in response.

"I mean it this time, Avril. No more. We can't keep doing this, and we're not. You're done with this hobby of yours!" Charles snapped.

"But that's not fair!" Avril shouted.

"Life sometimes isn't fair... Ya deal with it and move on..." the man grunted.

Avril jumped out of Charles lap and glared at the man as fiercely as she could. "I bet if mom was here she wouldn't be a jerk like ya are!"

Avril kicked Charles in the leg as hard as she possibly could, causing the man to grunt in pain. Avril did not give her father a second look as she quickly ran out of the kitchen and stormed out of the workshop door. Charles slowly looked up and rubbed the back of his head.

"This kid is gonna be the death of me one day..." the man sighed. "I wish ya were around still, Mia..."

Dinas Island - Grand Line - Present Time​

"Your pops ain't exactly the most supportive of people is he?" Morgan asked. "I mean, he almost reminds me of ol' Captain Harper, but then again that ain't exactly the best of things to be reminded of."

"I guess in the long run it really wasn't his fault..." Avril replied. "I... really didn't make a lot of stuff easy for him when I was growin' up. Take into the fact that I guess he maybe even held a bit of a grudge against me 'cause of my mom."

Morgan gawked a bit, raising an eyebrow: "Why would he hold a grudge?"

"Well... she sort of died right after I was born. I don't really know a whole lot of all that medical stuff, that's more of Skelly's department, ya know?" Avril explained. "Anyways... It was somethin' to do with birthin' complications... At least, that's how Pops said it. I eventually learned that if she had decided to um... not have me, she probably would have lived. I guess she decided that I was worth it, regardless."

Morgan smiled, scratching his head before forcing Avril into a half hug, throwing his arm around her. "I'm sure if she was around now, she'd decide you were worth it," he began. "So, I wouldn't...um, what's the phrase...not dwell on it too much. I...got a lot of experience in mopin' around if that's why you keep this kinda stuff in."

A small blush had worked its way up towards Avril's cheeks during this time, as she had not been expecting that sort of reaction from Morgan... at least, not so much the hug part. Gradually, the woman broke away, rubbing the back of her head slowly as she looked up at the sky in an attempt to hide it away.

"Well... there's a bit more to it than that, I guess..." Avril said. "I kinda did somethin' later on that screwed... well... everythin' up..."

"Unless ya blew up the island, I doubt ya could of done somethin' that bad," Morgan said with a wink. "Cuz, ya know, that's a Morgan level screw up."

"Well..." Avril began, thinking back again...

Teeter Island - East Blue - 10 Years Ago​

"Hmmm... I think the springer-flingin' could use a bit more an adjustment. Somethin' about it just isn't sittin' right with me," Avril mused, glancing over her newest creation with a small frown.

Eight years had passed since Avril and her father's last big blow up. Avril did eventually come to apologize to Charles for the fallout that had occurred between them and the girl even went and swore to her father that she would put an end to her habits. What Avril did not share with Charles however, was most of that was nothing more than a lie. All the girl had done was simply relocate her hobby to a more... secretive workshop located in the woods just on the outskirts of the village. Here, Avril was free to work and invent to her heart's content and no one would be any the wiser.

Of course, it was not always easy to manage to sneak off and go to work. Her father was quite curious about just where Avril would disappear to for literally hours at a time. The last thing she wanted to picture was the man finding out about her secret little hideaway or worse, the fact that she had been more or less lying to the man for the past eight years.

Gazing up from her work, Avril gazed out the window. A small, tired smile graced her lips as she yawned and stretched. "I guess I better get goin'... Don't really need the old man gettin' wise to me or anythin' like that."

Avril quickly exited the little shack, locking the door up tightly behind her before making her way towards the village. She noticed the village was abuzz with activity as she walked down the road leading to the workshop where she and Charles lived. The villagers were running around, making sure everything was in absolute order. Hina made sure some of her finest pumpkins were on display in her produce stand. Several of the village children were busy making sure every window they could find was clean.

"Wonder what's got everyone in such a bustlin' mood?" Avril mused as she opened the door to the workshop and stepped inside. "If I didn't know any better, I could've sworn it was a holiday or somethin' of the like tomorrow."

"That's because it is, Avril," Charles sighed, glancing up from the counter as his daughter walked in. A rather annoyed look could be seen on the man's face. Clearly he was not too pleased at the moment. "We already talked about it several times this week. The annual Teeter Festival is tomorrow night, remember? Ya were supposed to help me out gettin' the shop ready today and help the mayor get the last of the decorations up after... But like usual ya were no where to be found with all those nature walks ya go on and stuff. I swear, I dunno where ya go all day..."

A rather embarrassed blush quickly worked its way up to Avril's cheeks. "O-Oh, is it? I guess I just forgot all about it. Sorry, Pops... I didn't mean to or anythin' like that."

"And this year we're even havin' a Marine ship stop in too... Ya really picked a fine time to have a memory problem," Charles sighed. "Look, the whole festival is supposed to get underway tomorrow night at around 7:00 P.M. Can I at least trust ya not to forget 'bout this one?"

"Sure, sure! No problem," Avril replied with a light giggle. She stretched, a small yawn escaping her lips in the process. "Geeze, I'm really tired tonight though... I think I'm gonna call it an early night, Pops. See ya tomorrow."

Before he could get a word in edgewise, Avril waved off the man and made her way to her bedroom. A small smirk quickly graced her lips as she walked, the teenager feeling more and more excited with each passing moment. The truth of the matter was that Avril did not actually forget about the upcoming Teeter Festival. Rather, she had been spending most of her free time, which was quite often thanks to her secret workshop, getting something special ready for the big night. There was just one last bit of work her special project needed, which was something that the teenager had plans on sneaking out and finishing later tonight once she was sure her father was asleep.

"Once I finish this one and show it off, they're all gonna be so amazed," Avril whispered as she shut the door to her room and then flopped onto her bed. "They always complained about my work, sayin' how all they did was cause problems and never worked... Well, this time they're gonna see the super awesome genius that is Avril Meads!"

More importantly, Avril could not wait to see the look on her father's face. The girl was looking so forward to finally showing Charles just how good she was following in his footsteps. Not only would this new invention of hers finally restore his faith in her, but just maybe it would finally be enough to truly earn his respect.. and that of the whole village too! The more Avril thought about it, the bigger her smile got. The longer she waited, the more impatient she got. The teenager was starting to think that her father was never going to call it a night. However before much longer, the familiar sound of her father's snoring soon reached her ears.

Glancing over at the clock near her bed, Avril took note of it being close to midnight. She quietly climbed off her bed and slipped out of her bedroom door, taking care to close the door quietly behind her. From there, it was simply a matter of sneaking out which was something that Avril always managed to do quite easily and heading to her workshop.

"Now... time to finish the Avril Works Launcher 2000!" Avril said when she reached her hidden workshop. Flicking on the lights, the teenager made her way towards a rather large, bulky, odd-shaped sheet. She quickly grabbed hold of it, yanking the sheet off to reveal a rather flashy looking cannon of sorts. It was flashily decorated, coated in a bright purple color with the name of the device painted in lime green color. It was... rather gaudy looking to say the least, but she was proud of it anyways. "Once I get the last touches of this thing fixed, we'll be able to kick off this Teeter Festival with a bang! Heh..."

And so, Avril did just that. The teenager worked late into the night, making sure that just everything on the cannon would work just right. Over the years since finding her little, secret workshop, Avril had made tons of little gadgets and trinkets. Most of them never actually worked, and a lot of them usually ended up remaining only half completed. However, this was thing that she was positive was going to work out just right. Eventually, the teenager did manage to finish her work. However, to say she was a bit tired at that point would have been an understatement. After such hard work, Avril decided that she deserved a little bit of shuteye... just for a bit so she could sneak back home before her father would have noticed her missing.

At least, that's what her initial plan was. Unfortunately, things did not work just as she had hoped. By the time Avril woke up from her small nap, the sun was already starting to set. Her eyes went wide with disbelief, the girl shocked at the fact she managed to sleep for so long. Without a moment's delay, Avril quickly made her way to the Avril Works Launcher 2000 and began to scramble her way towards the village.

"Damn it, where in the world is she?" Charles muttered.

Back in Teeter Village, the festival was getting well underway. Everyone seemed to be having a grand time. Even though a group of Marines had also stopped by the island seemed to have little impact on the environment of the celebration. In fact, many of them there seemed to be having just as much fun if not more so than the inhabitants of the island. The only person who seemed to not be undertaking the in the festivities was Charles, who was slightly concerned with the fact that Avril was no where to be seen.

"Relax, Meads! Ya look like ya done watched your cat drown in a river!" the mayor of the village shouted, patting Charles rather roughly on the back. The mayor was a little, frail looking man. He was quite bald, his head even shining still in the light of setting sun with a rather long beard that stretched down his chest. He used a long walking stick that was almost as tall as himself to stand and was currently wearing a rather loud red shirt with blue palm trees on it. "What in the world could have ya so depressed lookin', Charles?"

Charles coughed lightly, glancing down at the mayor in slight annoyance. It was clear to the man that the village leader had already had a few drinks since the celebration got under way. "Avril isn't here... It isn't like her to be missin' from somethin' like this."

"That's all? Ya mean you're just worried because she's not here?" the mayor questioned, a small laugh escaping the elderly man's lips. "We should count our lucky stars that she's not. Do ya know how many parties and celebrations and just days in general she's managed to ruin in the past? Besides, we only celebrate the founding of our village every ten years. Ya don't want a repeat of what happened the last time, do ya?"

Charles really did not need to be reminded of that. Avril had come up with a sure-fire way to aid in the decorating process for the festival that year. The girl swore up and down it would make painting the banners and signs for the celebration go off without a hitch and cut down the work to near non-existent levels. Instead, all it did was splatter paint all over the village and caused the celebration to involve cleaning the village from top to bottom. Not to mention the fact that she had somehow managed to take out all the windows of the mayor's house in the process of using the spray-painting device.

"I guess you're right, yeah," Charles replied.

The mayor grinned in response. "That's the spirit! Now drink up and celebrate."

The mayor shoved a glass of liquor into Charles' hand before slowly making his way up to a small stage that had been erected in the village square. The short, elderly man stepped up to a podium, tapping on a microphone to get the attention of just the celebrating village. A broad smile stretched across the old man's lips as he began to speak out to the crowd.

"I wanna thank everyone here in Teeter Village for making this year's festival the best one we've ever had! We really all came together this year, and it shows with how everythin' is goin' off with a rousin' smash! While they're here, we also wanna thank the Marines who stopped by this year and joined in wtih our celebration!" he announced. The crowd cheered in response wildly. "And I think it's only fair that our special guests maybe say a few words. "Captain Haimmon Crimm? Come on up here and say a few words!"

Hushed whispers were heard as a rather large and imposing Marine slowly made his way to the podium. He easily stood a solid 6'5" in height with a well-developed, muscular body that his uniform did little to hide. He had somewhat long, brown hair which reached down to just past his shoulders. A beard and mustache combo graced his face with piercing, chocolate-brown eyes. HIs most notable feature however, was the eye patch he worse over his left eye. He offered the mayor a small smile and nod, before taking the microphone.

"It's a pleasure to be here on Teeter Island for this celebration," Haimmon said, his deep voice booming from the microphone. "It's very rare for a people such as yourselves to openly welcome your arms to us Marines as if we were one of your own. It's almost a shame that we shall have to be leaving tonight. Nevertheless, I hope that you all continue to remain prosperous as you continue to grow through the years. You can rest assure, that ever should you need us, the Marines will be there for you!"

The captain was rewarded with a boisterous applause. He smiled to the village, before handing the microphone back to the mayor. "Well then, I think it's time we start drawing the celebration to a close... I ho-"

"Wait a minute!" a familiar, female voice shouted out.

The village all began to look around, a few hushed whispers and worried looks appearing as Avril had finally arrived. More importantly, they all seemed to take note of the fact of what she was pushing as she arrived. The mayor slowly made his way down from the stage, giving the girl a curious... and somewhat nervous look.

"Avril...? What in the world is that?" the elderly man asked.

A rather proud smile quickly graced Avril's lips. "I'm so glad ya asked, sir! I'd like to show ya all somethin' special that I've been workin' on for... well, a long time! Introducing the Avril Works Launcher 2000!"

Avril stood to the side, presenting her newest creation eagerly. The villagers all began to seem even more nervous than before. The hushed whispers were growing louder into full-blown murmurs. Charles was the one to finally approach Avril, a rather angry look on his face.

"Avril... Avril!" he snapped. "What the hell is this supposed to be?!"

"Weren't ya listenin', Pops? I just told ya what it was named!" Avril answered.

"No, no... I mean, what is this?!" he demanded.

"Well, what sort of celebration would it be without some fireworks to light up the night sky?!" Avril questioned. "We've had the celebrations for years, right? And I mean... sure I wasn't exactly around for most of 'em over the years bein' that I'm not 100 or anythin' like that... But from what I read there hasn't been one year where we really did any celebratin' with some amazin' fireworks! So, I set out to fix all of that!"

"And just how did you do that?!" Charles demanded once more. "Wait, don't tell me... I don't think I wanna know. The point is, no. No, you ain't doin' this!"

Avril waved her father off, not really letting his worry sway her way of thinking. "You're worryin' way too much, Pops! I promise, this thing is gonna work like a charm!"

"Have you tested it even?" Charles asked, glaring from the girl to her creation.

"Of course!" Avril lied. She knew very well that if she had admitted the truth about the fact that her device had just been finished not 24 hours ago, he'd never let her use it. "I checked all the springer-thingers and launcher-crackers and all that sort!"

"Look, I just really..." Charles began, but Avril shoved her way past the man and smiled brightly to the crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Villagers and Marines!" Avril called out. "I present to ya all, the Avril Works Launcher 2000! With this gift, I say congrats to the village for bein' around for 100 years! And let's keep it goin' for another 100!"

Taking a match from her pants pocket, Avril quickly lit it ago and held it against the fuse of the cannon-like device. The crowd was absolutely silent as they all watched the fuse burn, until soon it had completely burned out... without firing a single shot. A rather confused look took over Avril's features as she knelt down and examined her creation.

"That's weird... I could've sworn..." the girl muttered.

"Maybe you should just leave it as is, Avril?" Charles asked, practically pleading at this point for the girl to stop.

His begging fell to deaf ears, however. With an annoyed grunt, Avril quickly kicked the cannon-like device, causing it to suddenly rock violently before launching a blast of color up into the air. Avril smiled brightly as she watched the lights launch up... before suddenly falling down and crashing right into the roof of the mayor's house. The crowd gasped in shock and horror as the man's house suddenly began to burst into flames, Avril's eyes went wide as she quickly began to panic.

"S-Shoot, hold on! I swear, it's not supposed to do that!" the girl shouted.

Another blast from the cannon echoed out! This time the ball of light crashed down upon the stage, causing it to catch ablaze much like the mayor's house did! The mayor was practically pulling the hair out of his beard as he stormed forward and glared at Avril.

"Damn it, Meads! Turn off this contraption at once!" the elderly man ordered.

"I'm tryin'!" Avril shouted, kicking and shaking the cannon in desperation at this point.

In complete and total frustration, she gave the cannon one last kick... which did nothing, but send another blast flying off into the air, this one crashing down right into Hina's produce stand. The sparks and flames began to grow and spread, causing a wide panic throughout the village. Thankfully, the cannon's rampage was brought to an end with some quick thinking from Charles. The man suddenly ran to the cannon, swinging at it with a sledgehammer to shut the cannon down once and for all.

Captain Haimmon Crimm was thankfully on top of things as well. The Marine captain was quick to order his unit to start helping to subdue the flames that were threatening to spread across the village more than they already had. Avril felt a shiver run down her back as she looked at all the harm that her creation had done, and that feeling only got worse as she felt the hate-filled glares of the villagers quickly falling upon her. The mayor slowly made his way towards the girl, with more anger on his face than she had ever seen before. He glanced at the girl, before turning to Charles.

"Meads. You and your daughter to the town hall... now," the elderly man ordered, before storming off in the building's direction. Several of the villagers began to follow behind the mayor, who paused to glare at Avril once more. "It's time to take of this problem... once and for all."

Avril felt her stomach doing flips as she watched the mayor and the villagers head for the building. The teenager did not have the slightest clue on what to say. Slowly, the girl turned and looked to her father for help, but the man offered no words to console her. He merely brushed past the girl before making his way to the ordered building. Avril really wanted to just curl up and drop to the ground right there, but the girl knew she had no way out of this one. Reluctantly, the girl followed her father to the building.

Inside, the tension was thick. There was not one calm face in attendance of the villagers, save for Avril's father. Even then, the girl had a hard time making out just what he was thinking or feeling. Whatever it was, all she could tell was it was not good.

"Charles Meads... We have been debating about this for some time now," the mayor began, finally cutting the eerie silence with a stern and heavy voice. Avril could not honestly remember the last time she had heard the old man take such a tone. "I believe you know why we're all here. This village has put up with a lot of problems over the years... including one major one. Your daughter."

Hina spoke up next. "We were hopin' that this whole mess woulda straightened itself out by now. But your daughter just ain't willin' to change!"

"It... It was an accident!" Avril shouted in objection at this point. "I didn't know that was gonna happen! Who could?!"

"Whether it happened or not and whether you knew or not has little to do with this matter!" the mayor shouted, slamming his hands on the table before him. "You were told by this village and your own father that this sort of behavior had to end! Yet, it did not! Avril, you endangered this entire village tonight! People could've been hurt! Lives lost!"

The mayor sighed, leaning back in his chair. The age of the man was really starting to show at this point. "As mayor of this village and its council, we have to put our own feelings aside and start puttin' the safety and well-bein' of this village first. As such... I move for the banishment of Avril Meads from Teeter Village, effective immediately!"

Avril's eyes went wide. "B-Banishment?! Don't ya think that's a bit much?!"

"All those in favor...?" the mayor questioned. Much to Avril's horror, every member of the council raised their hands. "All those opposed?!"

Not one soul raised their hands at that question. Avril felt a huge, sharp pain in the pit of her chest as she looked around, her eyes falling to her father last. The teenager quickly ran to his side and began to tug on the man's sleeve.

"P-Pops, do somethin'... Please!" she begged.

Yet, Charles did not even look the girl in the eye. The man merely pulled his arm away from Avril, before gazing down at the floor. "Do what? Beg? Let you lie to my face and play me for a sap again?"

Avril shook her head in disbelief. "P-Pops, come on..."

"Get out, Avril," the man said, finally looking at his daughter with absolute disgust. "You've ruined my life for the last time. Get out and don't you ever show you're damn face to me again..."

Dinas Island - Grand Line - Present Time​

Avril grew deathly quiet as she recalled the memories of her final night in Teeter Village. It was odd, but recalling this incident to Morgan was one of the first times in years she had ever thought about that day... and immediately she was filled with regret and anger... Anger at her father for not sticking up for her in the slightest bit, and anger at herself for being such a stupid fool.

Morgan, knowing all too well what anger looked like, did not really know what to do at the moment. He could imagine what she was going through, though not perfectly. He was angry more at himself than someone else. But still, it pained him to bear witness to someone else experiencing something like that. And it pained even more to see them having the potential to make the same mistakes that he made. Mistakes no one should be even tempted to make. Silently, he placed a hand gently on her shoulder, trying his best to smile, hoping it would at least somewhat comfort the woman.

Avril slowly looked up and offered Morgan a rather weak smile in return. "So... I didn't really have a choice after all that. It was pretty shockin' at the time. But the more I thought about it the more I really wasn't surprised by how everythin' turned out. I was already pretty well known for bein' a screw up... And it's not like bein' alone was anythin' new to me either, ya know?"

"If ya don't mind me speakin' honestly, I don't really think ya are alone anymore," Morgan chirped up. Rather suddenly, he pulled the woman towards the window of the Mermaid's Pearl, gently yet firmly forcing her to look onto the party. "Pretty sure ya got friends in there. And I'm pretty sure they are waitin' for ya to have some fun," Morgan said rather confidently. "After all, I was just like ya but then someone reminded me that I got a few new friends to replace the old ones."

Avril gazed in the window of the restaurant and looked at the various members of the crew that she could see in the window. She honestly wanted to believe that. She really did, but... something in the pit of her stomach was just telling her it was nothing more than a false hope at this point. She was not really ignorant to the fact that several of the crew members seemed to more or less hold her at arm's length when it came to things such as trust and the like... Yet, at the same time, she knew that she really could not bring herself to tell Morgan such a thing either. Taking a deep breath, she gradually nodded in response to his attempt at an uplifting speech of sorts.

"You're... right, Pepper-kun... I guess I was sort of forgettin' my own words there, wasn't I?" Avril asked, offering him a somewhat brighter smile. It was a lie... but it was not exactly the first time she had ever done that. Much less in the presence of this crew. "I'm kinda glad I followed ya outside now."

"Good!' Morgan exclaimed, before dragging her towards the door, kicking it open with a great deal of force, forcing the door to fly off its hinges. "Oops. Oh well! Anyway, let's go have a lil' bit of fun alright?!" Morgan threw her into the center of the party, doing a weak salute as he did.
[/div]​

 

[Legend]

Wright D. Morgan and Vane T. Edward- Mermaid's Pearl

Morgan wandered through the party, grabbing drinks and bits of food to nibble every few steps. Never one to really devour a large amount of food in a single setting, the party atmosphere was preferable to dinner on the town. Morgan liked snacking. Rather, he got used to snacking because a lighter meal kept him lighter on his feet. That and he was forced to eat smaller meals because the early days of the Falcon Pirates was marred by a short amount of food until Captain Harper hit it big. Parties often drowned in snacks, so Morgan felt right at home.

Reminding him of home, Morgan saw Edward sitting beside the awkward Sky Pirate, Kurisu. Due to the extreme blood loss from his battle with Millionth, Morgan hardly remembered Kurisu, but recalled hearing his voice barking orders at Avril and Edward. In front of them was more than several plates of food, and even more clean ones with specks of food clinging to dear life. Sliding through the crowds, Morgan parked himself across from the two of them, raising an eyebrow as he took his seat. "Ya know, Eddy. Ya'll gonna get pretty big if ya keep eatin' like that? And not in the way ya might be intendin' if ya know what I mean."

Edward gobbled up the remaining food in his hands and shoved it all down his throat as he glared at Morgan. "Tryin' to say I'm gonna get fat, you stupid candle?" Edward questioned his friend and rival in his usually roaring manner. "I'll burn this off in one fight! It's you who should be eating more. Get more meat on ya so you can grow up and be strong like me!"

"We both know I preferred bein' the quick one rather than brawny one," Morgan said confidently. "I don't need a couple rolls of fat to slow me down," he continued raising his hands into the air. "Anyway, we both know I could still take ya in a fight. Not like changin' into a big fluffy kitty is gonna help ya much against a fireball to the face."

"Wanna bet on that?!" Edward yelled as he slammed his plate of food on the ground and stood up right in front of Morgan, glaring at him angrily. "Throw all the fire ya want. I'll take your sh*tty burns, put ya out like the candle you are and snap ya in two like a toothpick!"

Morgan waved Edward off and took a sip of whatever drink he grabbed earlier, kicking his feet up on the table as Kurisu looked on at the two, slowly sliding out of the scene in fear of a brewing fight between the two. "Yeah, yeah. 'Snap me in two.' Nice to see ya are as original and eloquent as ya were back at Sunnyside, Eddy."

Edward dropped down to a seat close beside Morgan and picked up another plate of food. "Ya know me, candle, I got a thing for the classics," He replied as he pit into a piece of leg meat. "But in the end it doesn't matter how it goes down. You can be fancy and 'eloquent' all ya want. In the end it's all about who's left standing." He said with a slightly toned down manner. It was interesting to see how the two friends could go from appearing hostile and on the border of brawling to chatting with far less physical violence but much of the same intensity.

"Well, if bein' left standin' involves having a stick up my ass, like ya always seem to have, then I have lil' interest in it," Morgan retorted. "I got my issues. I know that much, but being as serious ya seem to be...I don't think it's my thing. What happened to ya? Ya weren't this...um, how do I put it...this much of a muscle-head back home." Morgan recalled that Edward did always love picking fights and making trouble, with Morgan, at least in the beginning, casually dropping him back into his place. It was almost a game, but Edward had his pride and competitive spirit that kept him coming. Their respective promises showed different goals but an agreement that they would likely cross paths and fight again. But, as far Morgan's money was concerned, something in Edward made him...different.

Edward snorted and grabbed a mug. He began to gulp down the contents before he slammed it down on the table and let out a satisfying exhale. "The world's a lot bigger than Sunnyside," He began to explain as he looked across the room at the other pirates. "Over there, I was the strongest, but every new place I go to, I encounter someone else to test me. It usually ends with me kicking their as*, but in their place someone stronger comes out. I don't mind it, I enjoy the challenge. But if I get distracted even for an instant, I'll fall behind! And I know in my mind that if these small fries are pushing me around, how will I fare against the strongest man himself?"

Morgan did not respond. Instead a low snore could be heard coming from the man with a small bubble coming from his nose, growing and shrinking with every quiet rumble.

Edward looked over to his friend and realized he had fallen asleep on him. His expression went from serious to comically angry in a matter of seconds, his entire face seeming to enlarge and his teeth became sharp like a sharks. "Fall asleep on me, will ya?!" He roared as he grabbed a pan and a plate in each hand and slammed them together at Morgan's face. "I'll kick your ass, you stupid candle!"

"Oof!" Morgan groaned as the blow knocked him out of his seat, his body not immediately turning to flame to phase through the blow. He was barely conscious when he heard Edward's little boast. "Yeah, yeah. I'm pretty sure last time ya said that, I punched ya so hard in head ya slept for three days," Morgan said as he stood up, wiping blood from his nose. "Plus, I'm pretty sure ya can't beat me with your hair on fire." Morgan snapped his fingers and suddenly Edward's long hair looked more like campfire.

Edward yelped in surprise, then quickly shot out of his chair and ran for a punch bowl. He dropped his entire head inside of the bowl, which cause some steam to form, and the pirates around to burst into more laughter. Edward emerged from the water with punch all over his face and a scowl that could knock an angel out of the sky. He fumed back to Morgan with the bowl of punch, tossing the entire object toward his direction, before he noticed a set of mugs to his side. He grabbed both and brought them toward the fire man.

"Since you're too sh*tty to prove how much you're weak in a fight, we'll decide it the pirates way! Through drink!" Edward yelled, as he slammed the two mugs onto the table. "Unless the robot gave you too many boo boos for that too?"

"Does the pussycat think he can drink suddenly?" Morgan asked sheepishly. "Because last I checked, ya hold your liquor as well as...well as well as a cat, I guess!" Morgan raised his voice as the sentence went on. "Ya'll are on."

Edward snorted and rose his mug. "Better worry about yourself more. This might be too strong for ya and put you out, fireboy," He teased as he drank from the mug in huge gulps and down it all in one go. He slammed it ferociously on the table and gave Morgan a confident glare.

Morgan picked up his mug and followed suit, downing his own drink in a single gulp. He wiped his mouth dry and rolled his tongue in his mouth, grabbing what few drops remained. "Didn't know ya got drunk on water, Eddy."

"Who says I'm drunk yet?!" Edward shot back, as another two mugs were filled for the two pirates. Edward swiftly picked it up and drank it all in one go again. "I can do this all day, pretty boy. How long before you burn out?"

"Aw, look at that everyone. He thinks I'm pretty!" Morgan grinned like there was no tomorrow and drank his mug in a matter of seconds, before gesturing for another round.

The bartender who was pouring the drinks, a man with a rather large pointy mustache and a chef's hat, grinned at the two patrons. "How about we try something a bit more stronger this time?" He asked the two, before busting out a bottle with clear liquid. "This is Seaman's Prayer, from East Blue. Fifty percent pure alcohol. Few people can take it and keep standing!"

"Gimme that!" Edward howled at the bartender. He poured the bottle and filled up the two mugs to the brim.

"Ah, wait, that's supposed to be for shots!" The bartender warned. Edward once more lifted the mug and downed the contents. He could feel the burn of the alcohol hit the back of his throat, but he did little to display that after he slammed the mug back down on the table.

"Your move, matchstick!"

"Oh, please. Seaman's Prayer has got nothin' on Sailor's Envy from West Blue," Morgan complained. Wanting to leave Edward in the dust, he set his drink aflame and gulped the contents at a slightly slower pace than Edward, but nevertheless slammed it down with the same gusto as his drinking partner. Morgan's burn was just as intense but for a fire man, it was nothing he wasn't already used to. "Bartender, what else ya got?" Morgan said with a burp.

The barman grinned again at the two competitors. "Alright, I see we have a few pros in here!" He reached down below and pulled out a dark bottle in the shape of a flask, with a brown liquid inside. "Sailor's Envy is a real man's drink, but this... the King's Revenge, is a real pirates drink! I've never seen someone take more than one of these with something else and stay on their feet!" He poured it for the two of them.

Edward grabbed the cup violently, missing it slightly the first time as he felt his vision blur for a moment. "Pshah! King me!" He yelled, before downing the liquid. He paused halfway through as he realized how intense the drink was, but battled through its might and finished the rest off. Instead of slamming it back onto the table, he awkwardly dropped it. "Yer a goat... your go!"

Morgan laughed at Edward before he felt his head get heavy. He shook off the dizziness and snatched his mug from the table, pouring down the drink down his throat in such a manner that he couldn't pause. The alcohol caused Morgan to wince at the burning sensation and the aftertaste ticked his mouth in such that was not pleasant in the slightest. Yet he considered that something of a victory. Gleeful, Morgan slammed down the mug on table, splitting the table in half and the mug engraving itself into the floorboards. "Oops," Morgan said with a hiccup. "It was him," he said, pointing at Edward as his face was flushed in red.

"Me?!" Edward exclaimed as he grabbed the bottom of King's Revenge and attempted to pour the two of them more into their mugs, though he didn't realize the table was broken and the mugs were on the ground. The liquid poured all over the ground. Upon realizing what he was doing, he shrugged and gulped down the liquid straight from the bottle. He took a few large gulps before passing it to Morgan. "I'm the strongest drinker in the world!" He shouted as he stood up from his chair, before stumbling forward and nearly falling over. He looked around behind him at the other people angrily. "Which oneyuh pushed me?!"

Morgan grinned in his progressively drunken state, finishing the King's Revenge in a series of quick sips, before peering into the empty bottle. He was quite disappointed, but he couldn't tell if it was because the drink was gone or because Edward didn't fall over as he stood up. Morgan randomly laughed at the destroyed table, forgetting the small bit of destruction he caused and laughed again at the fact a mug was seemingly stuck in the floor. Carrying the empty bottle, he tried to give it back to Edward but mistakenly shoved the large man down to the ground. "Oops," he said again.

Edward stumbled and fell over his own chair, tumbling down to the ground and breaking it in the process. He tried to pick himself up but realized the task to do that was a lot harder than he thought. Instead, he decided to pick up a leg of the chair and toss it toward Morgan in the hopes of hitting him on the head. "Shut yer oops, you smitten... kerbuuuhlluuuh..."

Morgan, somehow, managed to down the vain attack, mostly due to the fact he wanted to pick the bottle he dropped. "There ya are," he found himself saying, speaking to the bottle like it was a small child. Edward's drunken blabber angered Morgan as he twisted his mouth trying to make sense of the statement. "You sir! Make no fr....sense!" Morgan yelled, bashing Edward on the head with the empty bottle. "Nap time for you methinks!"

Edward appeared to be falling asleep, but when the empty bottle shattered on Edward's head for some reason instead of causing him to go to sleep, the man suddenly erupted and shot up from the ground, and began to thunder across the restaurant. He found another stable chair and hopped on with much effort and a few attempts. He then proceeded to shout and dance to the tunes being played by the piano and the other instruments.

Morgan looked at the end of the broken bottle and tossed it aside, as he watched Edward run off like a wild monkey. "Yeah, I'm done drinkin' for a while..."

 

[Sephear]

Nokam F. Joshua and Tristan D. Kuzo

​

It was certainly the most boisterous and jovial party he'd ever seen, most likely because they had worked so hard for it and it was such a long time coming. For some reason Joshua couldn't really get into the spirit of it all, fading out of anyone's notice and eventually making his way to a little corner by himself to sip his drink. Seeing all the happiness around him, and especially seeing his crewmates have a good time - regardless of how little he really knew them - put a solemn smile on his face, but it didn't last very long before contorting back into a thoughtful frown.

Kuzo noticed his new crewmate in the corner enjoying a drink by himself, which caused a small frown to form on the captain's face. With all of the celebrating going around the restaurant, he hated to see any of his crewmates feel out of place just because they were only recent additions. He quickly made his way over to the well-dressed, crimson-haired brawler, and gave the man a smile.

"Hey there Joshua!" He greeted with a raising of his mug in the air in place of a hand. He gestured down to his coat and continued. "Thanks again for the new clothes! Blue totally fits me, I think!"

Joshua offered his new captain a polite smile, he hadn't once seen Kuzo down in the dumps so far, and it helped to make his presence reassuring. "Why hello there captain. I'm glad you like them, I thou - was fortunate enough to find a tailor with excellent skills of apparel appraisal, as one might call it. And I hardly had to describe anyone, those of you who had been here before Firenze and I have practically been celebrities the past few weeks."

He raised his own mug, clinking it against Kuzo's before taking a strong swig from it. "I'm glad we were able to help Selena. I never had any doubts, but after finally learning what had happened to miss Marta and about all the trouble in Dinas I'm utterly certain I made the right choice throwing my lot in with the skull pirates."

Kuzo grinned eagerly and drank at the same time that Joshua did. When he finished his drink, he let out a satisfying exhale and nodded down again at his clothes before speaking again. "It's funny that pirates are getting praise, but I guess that shows how bad the Unit guys were before us," He smirked and nodded again enthusiastically.

"I couldn't agree more! There's no place I'd rather have you be than by my side on my crew, sailing the seas as far as the Dream Chaser can take us!" He exclaimed happily, motioning around with his hands as he did so. A few times, the top of his drink spilled out of his mug, but he didn't seem to mind. He then pointed to Joshua. "In fact, I've decided to make you the crew's official tailor! You'll handle designing our clothes if we ever need it, or if we ever need disguises or anything special like that!" He stated, not even bothering to ask Joshua first.

"But I'm not the one who made those clothes! I just looked for a real tailor to fix them." Joshua tipped his hate forward a bit so that it partially covered his face. "I wouldn't know the first thing about how to stitch flowing azure tresses or gilt threads."

"What? Really?" Kuzo asked, as he first looked down at his own clothes, then over to Joshua's. "But you look so stylish. And you just... said some fancy words that I have no idea what they mean!" He added with a chuckle. "Besides, I already decided that you're the tailor, so that's what you'll be!"

"But that's - I can't just -" Joshua stopped and sighed powerfully. "I already know better than to argue, I just hope our crewmates aren't too devastated when I butcher their attires." He peeked around at the festivities and felt a bit better despite himself. He started to really smile and grabbed a leftover hors d'oeuvre off of a nearby table, it had a puffy, toasted bread crust on the outside and a cheesy filling on the inside. "Mmm, excellent! If the Pearl's cuisine foreshadows Selena's cooking prowess in even the slightest we're sure to have a delicious journey!"

"Hey, don't worry too much!" Kuzo yelled over the loud celebrations nearby, slapping Joshua hard on the back, perhaps a bit too hard. "If these ones are any indication, I'm sure the guys will be plenty happy with what you design! Besides, pirates aren't terribly picky to begin with, I'd say," He added with a laugh. He then looked at one of the snacks Joshua picked up and agreed.

"I had a bit of what she offered when we first met," He explained as he leaned back in the stool. "Trust me, we're basically snatching up the best of the best. Which is exactly what my crew needs to be on our journey! That includes our bellies too!" He laughed again. "Which reminds me, you're no doubt coming along for your own reasons too. What's your goal along the Grand Line, Joshua?"

Joshua's smile widened. "The best of the best? Well I supposed I'll have to do all I can to live up to those expectations." He couldn't help letting out a chuckle when Kuzo asked about his motivations. "That's rather simple, to explain at least. I want my story to be the greatest story it can be, I want it to include everything that makes life wonderful, the good and the bad! I want to witness, be involved in, and perhaps even help move all of these things, and when I'm finished my take on my own tale will be put to paper properly. I will live life to the fullest, and hopefully parts of it will become epics the likes of which the world has ever seen! And there's no better place to find such occurrences than our crew's unified destination: The Grand Line!"

As he spoke a determined twinkle had shown itself in his eyes, and he stood up, failing to even notice as his voice rose to a powerful declaration. When he finally stopped he quickly sat down before he could make anymore of a fool of himself. "I - ahem, well I guess all that really boils down to me not knowing what I want to do. You could say I want to do everything - experience everything, for better or worse. Happiness, misery, love, camaraderie, tragedy, pain, I want to feel it all."

Kuzo found himself getting more and more excited the more Joshua was speaking. His tone had changed quite drastically the more he talked about his own ambition. The odd thing was that Joshua reminded him of himself, especially with his concluding statements. It seemed they both appeared to be men searching for exactly what they wanted, and hoping to experience as much as they could to get there. The captain couldn't help but smile wider and wider the more he spoke, until he concluded and toned down again. Kuzo wouldn't have any of it, though.

"Now that's something I can drink to!" He yelled with pride, raising up his mug to the air. "I definitely know how to pick 'em! Joshua, I can promise you that we'll see your dreams through to the very end! We'll do it all to get it done, no matter how crazy, outlandish, or hard the path may be to there there! Ours is the adventurer's life, the pirates life! And I promise you ours will be a tale worth telling!"

Joshua stood back up and banged his mug against Kuzo's hard enough to knock some if their drinks from both. "Amen! And woe to any who'd stand in our way, our march towards our dream shall is inexorable!"

"Uh... yeah, what you said!" Kuzo agreed, despite not knowing exactly what it was Joshua said. He clashed mugs with Joshua, then drank eagerly from his mug, before slamming it down on the counter. "Now what the heck are you doing moping around by yourself? Don't you remember that we're celebrating? Come on and join the fun! Captains orders!"

"Aye aye captain!" Joshua sang out his approval and downed the rest of his mug in short order. Never had a bout of melancholy been eradicated so thoroughly.

 

[Loki]

Vance & Lotte - Mermaid's Pearl

​

Vance glanced down at the glass of elixir he was given by Lotte, a smile coming over his lips. "... Superjuice." He nodded to himself as if agreeing that this was the name for Skellen's mixture. He emptied the bottle in one go, letting out a sigh of relief, placing the glass back over on the nightstand besides his bed.

At this point, Kuzo had just announced the party, with the food having been brought in, the Sky Pirates making a racket and everything seemingly kicking off. He gave a light grin and turned to Lotte, still standing by his bed.

"Lotte, aren't you going to go play? It looks like we're about to have a party, and we can't have a party without music!"

Awe struck, Kuzo's present had quite exceeded her expectations-- for she'd been envisioning something small and humble, not anything as grand and beautiful as a piano. "It's a piano!" She'd jumped to her feet and exclaimed like a child for whom Christmas had come early, eyes lighting up at the sight of Edward and his haul. "Oooh thank you thank you!" How long it had been since she'd last touched ivory keys and done anything remotely ladylike!

Laughing at Kuzo hopping on top of the piano, she felt a grin of contentment spread across her face as food began to pile out-- glancing over at Vance when he inquired whether she was going to play or not.

"That's true!" She seemed to debate with herself for a moment before neatly plopping back down onto the end of Vance's bed, "But I think we should give everyone some time to eat before we sing and stuff. Besides, you just woke up!" She waggled her finger at him, "I still haven't given you a piece of my mind about you going off and getting yourself half killed you know!"

Vance was already halfway out of the bed as Lotte sat back down and wagged her finger at him. He blinked a few times before just sinking back into the bed, taking a deep breath of air through his nose.

"I know, I know, it was really stupid. But Selena was going to die unless I stopped Billionth from coming after her. And I promised Kuzo I'd keep her safe while we were apart."

"Hmm~" Lotte hummed, sounding unconvinced at his reasoning as she looked around at the festivities. Concern for the well being of others hadn't really quite been a feeling she'd been acquainted with- and she was having trouble formulating the unfamiliar into words. "But you could've died too?"

Nodding lightly, Vance took a deep breath through his nose. "For a long, long time now, I haven't really had anything, worth holding onto. I've always had it so that I could get whatever I wanted, but I never really had any... well, friends. Now that I do... I don't want them to get hurt. And I don't want to break my promises to them either."

He paused, looking up at the girl sitting at the foot of his bed, a few bandages still wrapped around his head. He smiled at her, shrugging his shoulders. "I don't expect you to understand it, but... I'd much rather let myself get hurt than any of you. That's what friends do for each other. They protect and help one another."

No indeed, she didn't understand-- she didn't get why some random person they had just met was more important than his own life. Were Vance and Selena really 'friends'? Just like how Morgan had chosen to put his faith in Avril instead of Skellen-- it didn't make sense. Hell, Lotte hadn't even said a word to Selena yet, and it was a bit disconcerting that everyone else was so... Well. It was certainly a reminder that commoners worked differently than she did. Perhaps they felt a stronger sense of camaraderie with each other because they were all from a lower social class?

"... That's true!" Lotte replied brightly, accepting that she would never comprehend his explanation without further complaint, "I guess people like me have a different idea of what friends are, that's all!" Kicking her feet off the edge of his bed, she glanced at the party now in full swing.

Vance smiled and shook his head. Lotte really -was- from a different upbringing than the rest of them, although he'd seen his fair share of people like her. The difference was that Lotte definitely did show signs of caring for those around her, despite how lofty she seemed. That's what he hoped, at least.

"Anyway! This isn't going to be a real party until we have some music! Come on Lotte, show us what you can play!" With a bright, encouraging smile, Vance slipped out of the bed, few bandages still wrapped around him here and there, while wearing a blue and white-dotted pyjamas of some description, before heading towards the piano, pulling Lotte along.

Lotte let out a light chuckle, letting him pull her along as she was ushered onto the new piano's seat, happily taking in the sight of it and running her fingers along the keys. It was no grand piano, but-- "I have to learn more songs now that I've got this...!" Looking up at Vance she blinked and shifted to the side, "Here, sit! You can teach me some pirate songs- I don't want Skellen to get mad if he thinks I'm the one who pulled you away from resting!"

Chuckling, Vance took a seat besides Lotte, looking thoughtful for a moment. "Hmh... I don't know all that many pirate songs, and I couldn't really focus when my mom tried to teach me to play piano... oh! Okay, follow my lead."

He placed his hands on the keys, sending Lotte a smile before turning back to the piano, tryingly pressing a few keys. After a moment or two, he nodded and took a deep breath, starting to play for real. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6c0mSjHEs8 )

"Really?" Lotte asked, seemingly either forgetting or oblivious to the fact that Vance, unlike the others, was not a born and bred criminal teeming with pirate songs, "I wonder if Morgan knows any..." Musing to herself, she hardly noticed when he began to play, jumping at the first note and looking around-- returning his smile and watching his fingers intently, nodding here and there. She didn't have much of a brain for common sense and intelligent thought, but when it came to things that ladies like her were accomplished in-- it was a cinch to pick up what he was plucking out on the piano, adding embellishments and stylistic accents to the melody in her mind as she hummed along. "Are there lyrics to this?" She inquired, putting her fingers on the keys as well, still watching him intently as she began to ad lib a harmony to go along with his melody.

"Yeah, there is. But... uh, I don't actually know them, heh." He gave a sheepish little grin as he picked up the pace, bobbing his head with a smile as he kept going and Lotte followed. "I only learned this because I heard someone else humming and singing it and asked my mother to teach it to me. My dad didn't want me to learn it, but my mom's always been really happy to let me do what I want."

His fingers continued dancing along the keys, occasionally glancing over at Lottes until he slowly removed his hands, to let her take over. "There you go! Wow, you're really good at picking up this stuff."

"Oooh that's the opposite of me." Lotte replied absentmindedly, eyes hopping around the keyboard as she picked up the tune from him, "My father's not usually severe on me, but my mother was. That's why I'm good at this-" She gave Vance a small grin of pride as she took over the melody from him, sitting up straighter as she continued to play, imitating an older woman's voice, "It's only befitting of a lady!"

Vance snickered, shaking his head a little, planting his bandaged hands at his hips. "Sounds like a pretty strict upbringing. Can't say mine was all that easier." He paused, looking down at the pajamas he was still wearing. "Keep going Lotte, I think everyone's enjoying the tune. I'll go put on something different on."

"Don't overdo it!" She called after him, not missing a beat as she leaned back to keep an eye on him. He was still recovering, after all!

With that, Vance turned and headed back over towards his bed, where Joshua had left an exact replica of the clothes that had gotten damaged during the fight, much to his enjoyment. He tugged his jacket loosely over the pajamas, deciding that that was enough modesty for him, leaving his pajamas intact underneath. He turned and watched everyone singing, eating, laughing and shouting, a warm smile lighting up his expression. This was his new family.

 

[gimmepie]

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Skellen and Lotte - Education​

[FONT="Calibri]Skellen looked in the mirror in front of him, thoroughly pleased with Joshua's choice of attire. Skellen was now dressed in simple black trousers and a hazy-grey coloured T-shirt. Over this he now sported a black, cloak-like coat with a hood dangling at his back and several pockets around his waist. Also pleasing to Skellen, was the brown leather belt around his waist from which hung two large knives (one on each hip) and a canister resembling a thermace with a flip-back magnetic lid. Within this were several razors marinating in poison. Skellen's satchel had also been repaired.

Significantly happy with his appearance Skellen stepped out of the room he'd borrowed. The crew were going to be staying a little while longer it seemed and there was some things he wanted to do. Whatever plans the Taipan had though would have to wait because as Skellen stepped back into the main room he was greeted by the presence of Lotte.

Cut short in her intention to walk past the door Skellen had just stepped out of, the tray in Lotte's hands supporting nothing more than an empty glass clattered as she stumbled back quickly to avoid crashing into him. "Oh- Hi there Mr. Doctor!" She smiled, noting his new clothes, "Looks like somebody finally cleaned himself up~"

"My name is not Mr. Doctor, nor will it ever be. Is there any particular reason why nobody in this crew ever calls me by my actual name?" Skellen grumbled before forcing himself to relax, it probably wouldn't go down to well if he strangled a fellow crewmate "I figured I couldn't go around looking like a building after Morgan has been through it forever."

Skellen was about to go peruse things on his own when he remembered Lotte's help throughout the last two weeks
"Hey Lotte, thanks for the help you've been giving me. If you have time I can give you some more lessons every now and again if you'd like?"

"But Mr. Doctor is so much better!" She protested cheerfully, putting a finger against her chin in thought as though weighing the pros and cons vs her nickname and Skellen's real name. "Oh- sure! I can't do anything else all that useful anyway." She glanced over her shoulder at the rest of the crew, injured yet on the road to recovery. ..... "... That sounds like a great idea!" Bubbling at his suggestion, Lotte leaned forward, eyes bright as she clapped her hands together, "Is it okay though? Aren't you busy??"

Skellen concealed a look of longing for the party-going antics occurring, there'd be plenty of time for drunken merry-making later. He owed Lotte for her help, and if he could make her more useful in the process that was always good. Then, in an emergency, she could look out for people if he was injured or worse... after all it had been made plainly obvious to him that only one person on board with the capacity to give even minor first-aid was clearly a hindrance
"No I'm not doing much at all really, why don't we talk about burns and impalement? I think those are both rather likely to happen considering some of the lunatics on our crew. Hell, enough people wanted me dead before I joined this crazy-ass crew." Skellen laughed "but if I'm going to teach you more, I will require one of those big glasses"

"Oh- I've seen that before!" Lotte's enthusiasm belied the rather grave nature of burns and impalement in general-- "I always thought those things would go away by themselves if you just gave it time." Flouncing a bit closer to the party to wait for Skellen, she tilted her head, "Oh yeah- why did people want you dead? I mean," She laughed, "I can see why, but did you do something?"

Skellen pulled back slightly at Lotte, she was like an overeager child at storytime... and about as clever.
"Generally speaking small cuts and things will go away by themselves, but more serious injuries are more likely to kill you before that happens. A papercut probably won't require medical attention but a big sword sticking out of you is generally a good indicator that help is required."

"Hmm..." She nodded earnestly, as though taking mental notes on what was probably a joke...

Skellen strolled along behind Lotte trying to look as un-flouncy as possible as he laughed maniacally
"At this point in time it would probably make more sense to ask what I haven't done. The government doesn't like me very much. Evidently though, they like Morgan and Kuzo even less."

As the pair moved through the crowd of people, each step making Skellen wonder if maybe the lesson could wait..., Skellen grabbed a glass of something unidentified but definitely alcoholic - a requirement for teaching Lotte - before saying
"So, ready for the real lesson to start?" Skellen sat down in a corner and took a big sip of the drink.

"Honestly, how do you guys find the time to do all that stuff?" Lotte mused aloud, thinking of how long they must have dedicated to just... breaking a bunch of laws to make themselves so disliked-- to be on the radar of an organization that she'd always seen as a load of duffers that existed more for her protection than anything else. "Hm- well, Morgan said he'll tell me later, so- yes!" She followed after Skellen without taking anything from the mounds of food and drink, plopping down across from him empty handed with a bright smile, "I'm ready!"

Skellen took another swig of his drink and stretched up
"Right, considering certain members of our crew, let's start with burns. For minor burns the treatment is pretty simple just keep the burned area in cold water for about twenty minutes. When it comes to more severe burns though it can become necessary to cut away dead flesh, disinfect the wound and to then wrap the wound tightly in a clean bandage to prevent infection as well."

She blinked, bright expression growing knit between confusion and a desire to comprehend what he was saying. All this mumbo jumbo about burns and flesh and wounds but Lotte was stuck on the very first part-- ".... But where am I supposed to get water in the middle of a fight?"

Skellen blinked a few times surprised by the question, and found he actually had to think about an answer for a while.
"Uh... that's actually a good question. Any nearby water source could work, a pond or a water bottle. If there's nothing like that available it's best just to do what you can to avoid an infection - and to keep it cool if possible - and to give proper treatment later. Which hopefully I'll be around to handle anyway."

"Oh okay," Accepting the answer as something within her power to do, she backtracked on what he'd said earlier, "So I guess I should carry around some bandages or something... Kuzo had a lot of bullet wounds at the tower and I couldn't do much for that--"

"Haven't we been over the 'tear clothes to make bandages' thing before?" Skellen asked incredulously.

She gave him a pout, "But that's such a waste of good clothes!" Gesturing to the white dress she was wear, her eyes spoke volumes about her willingness to tear it up, "I already got poison all over the last dress I bought, I don't need to be dealing with blood all over it too!"

Skellen looked at Lotte, then at his drink then back at Lotte. He took a very large gulp of the beverage
"Generally speaking a person's life is worth more than a fancy dress. Although there's a few people you have my permission not to waste your lovely attire on."

"I'll bring bandages," She insisted, making a mental note, "That'll be a good excuse to get a bag too, so it's getting two for one!" Lotte blinked and laughed, throwing a glance over her shoulder at the party, "Really? Like who-?" She tried to conceptualize the ones in the crew that Skellen might consider wasted, taking a random jab, "Like ... Morgan? Or are you still butting heads with Avril too?"

"I actually didn't mean anyone in our crew, I don't actually dislike Morgan he's just fun to make fun of... and as for Avril... well we all have jobs to do that need doing and it'd be a pain to replace someone. So the crew always get medical attention whether I like them or not." Skellen grinned at Lotte "That's the thing about being a doctor, you've got to make some tough decisions sometimes."

One of the things Skellen liked about Lotte was her curiosity, so he found that he was quite enjoying their little chat.
"Let's try something fun, you can ask me any question at all you can think of - about anything - and I'll do my best to answer." He also didn't much feel like talking about Avril and figured he'd try to use that curiosity to his advantage.

"Ohhh..." She glanced to the side, a bit intrigued by this... "I always thought that it was a waste of time to help people who- mmm, deserved it, I suppose. Isn't it tiresome to help people you don't even like?" She peered towards the party again, blinking innocently before sitting up at his proposal, "Oh, okay! Umm... lets see-" It was apparent by the look on her face that she had long moved past the medical aspect their conversation was supposed to be having, "Do you think we're friends, Skellen? Like, not just you and me but everybody- you know? Vance says we are, but it doesn't make any sense to me- do commoners usually make friends so easily?"

"I wouldn't base an answer to that question on the entire group, since I have already demonstrated that there are those of us who don't get along. However I'd say we are all friends with the majority of the other people in the crew - so I guess in general you could say yes we're a group of friends without being wrong" Skellen finished his comment with a non-committal shrug "For the record, I consider you among my friends before you ask that"

"Hmmm~" Lotte hummed in thought, processing his answer, "So it's okay to be friends, but not necessarily get along with them?" It didn't make sense, but-- perhaps she'd have to keep asking around for clarification. She brightened at his last point though, sitting up straighter and flashing a child-like grin, "Me too! I mean, I think you're one of my friends too- I just don't really know about... You know, the people I don't know." She shrugged letting her gaze fix on the tip of her boots for a moment...

"But anyway," She barreled through the conversation, "So, bandages if someone is bleeding and stuff-- what should I do if someone's knocked out though?? Like how Vance was, when he got all poisoned and stuff!"

Skellen was surprised by Lotte's comment
"Selena, Firenze and Josh seem alright - Selena certainly seems like she'll be fun - but I don't know them well enough to be close to them yet. They're a part of our crew though, part of the family, so unless they turn against us I'll look out for them."

..... Lotte nodded, feeling as though this was something she needed to come to learn-- if both Skellen and Vance said so, then.... then it must've been true. She had to come to terms with the fact that this was just the way commoners did it!

At Lotte's next question, Skellen felt relief, he was much better at medicine then the subject of friendships.
"Lay them on their side is the general rule, and make sure that they can breathe otherwise CPR might be necessary. If it is at all possible though it is better to find me for more severe things... doing that should keep people alive until I get there though."

"..." Blinking Lotte tilted her head, "Seepiar? What's that?"

Skellen got up and looked around
"You should go back and keep playing music before Vance starts complaining. Although, if you talk to him before me tell him to take it easy or I'll put him back in a coma."

"... Oh-" She jumped, looking around, "Yeah I should- I'll call you if someone needs seepiar, how's that?" Grinning she waved both hands playfully as she flounced back to the piano, "Thanks Skellen-- And I'll let him know!"

Skellen just watched her walk off repeatedly saying
"Seepiar... what?"

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[Legend]

Wright D. Morgan and Lotte- Story Time in Dinas

The copious amount of alcohol he drank was not sitting well within Morgan's body. He waddled through the restaurant, grabbing the occasional snack as he walked by. More often than not, he tossed it away because the sight of food disgusted him, but he nibbled here and there. After nearly collapsing with a strong desire to spew everything out, he swallowed down the pain and stumbled about some more. But then beacon of hope emerged in his eyes. "She would help me....maybe...." Morgan tripped over himself and faceplanted in front of the young blonde girl. "Heeeey, Nurse Lotteeeee. Do ye got anythin' for too much a drinkin' or somethin' like that?" Morgan's voice was muffled from his face fusing with the floorboards and alcohol seething through his system, but somehow tangible words came out.

Having finished her lesson with Skellen, Lotte had taken roost at a nearby table, pausing in the merry tune to have a bite of the party food at last. Musing over her newfound knowledge, she was taken off guard by Morgan's appearance. Jumping at his sudden union with the floor, she tentatively put her plate aside, "Drinking too much?" She glanced around-- seeing Skellen in a similar state and no more help than any other. "Ummm.... maybe you should just lie down for a bit?" She suggested unhelpfully, reaching up for her own glass filled with water, "Here." Giggling at his inebriated state she teased, "I would've thought a guy like you could handle a bit of alcohol~"

Morgan could only groan at the comment as he slowly pulled himself off the floor and spread himself across the table she was eating at, unconsciously and clumsily reaching for her glass. He drank in down, though most of it splattered on his face. "Yeah, well," Morgan said with hiccup. "I drank a wee bit more than I normally do," his words were slow and meticulously chosen, as if he concentrated on them delicately. "But, um, thanks. Ya wonderful person."

"A wee bit." She repeated with a laugh, putting her chin in her hands as she raised an eyebrow at his struggling face, "Well, good to see you're still the same- or well, I suppose that's a given." Tossing her hair over her shoulder she settled herself again on the heels of her palms, grinning as she ventured, "Soooo.... are you feeling up for that story you promised me, or a little too... drunk?"

Morgan slowly lifted himself to a sitting position. "I got plenty of stories," he said, watching the room spin. He caught his head and refocused himself. "What kind of story did ya want? I could probably manage sharing at least one."

"Hmmm~" She mused, jabbing her fork at the bits left on her plate in thought, "How about the most unbelievable one? One that nobody would believe if they heard it!"

"Alrighty. Have you ever heard the legend of the Kraken?" Morgan asked, as he rubbed his head and hair as a means of nursing his drunken head.

"I have-" Lotte sat up straighter, proud to be able to recount the creature, "It's a sea beast isn't it? What were they called-- sea kings??"

"Very good," Morgan said. "However, did ya ever hear the myth about the man who tamed one?" Morgan raised an eyebrow to her, doubtful she heard of this tall tale. "It's not too old of a story, but...well, let's just say I got a hard time thinkin' it's real myself."

Her brow furrowed and she leaned forward, head tilted as she asked, "Tamed it?" Confusion was etched across her face-- but it denoted a good natured interest as she continued, "Aren't Sea Kings and things like that impossible to tame?"

"Oh, they are. But this man managed to do it somehow," Morgan assured her. "So wanna hear the story?"

"Yes!" She practically bubbled, eyes sparkling, "How did he do it??? What would you do with it?!"

Morgan chuckled before coughing a bit, as if clearing his throat. Truthfully, Morgan was trying to find the right words to start the tale. Well, at least that is what he was telling himself as the alcohol was slowly making its way through his system. "Well, first, it ought to be said that the Kraken is no ordinary Sea King. This is the Kraken we are talkin' about; the one that tales of have been passed down from Captain to Captain, parent to child. Ya get the idea. This sea beast is the size of an island, with tentacles that can bring down the largest of Marine ship to the bottom of the sea in one single stroke! The myths of this beast are so great, that simply mentioning the Kraken strikes fear into the hearts of men. It's no wonder that Marcus Kenway, one of the Yonko, named his crew after the beast. It probably warded off a couple of fights here and there," he added with a chuckle.

Picking up her glass to take a sip of her drink as Morgan drunkenly began his tale, she was just humoring him for the first part really until -- The Yonko! Lotte knew of them-- and she'd heard of Kenway, though didn't know much of him. Least of all that his crew was named after the Kraken! What a silly name- but she put it aside and tuned back in to listen.

Morgan nodded, pleased with his little introduction before hunching over prepping himself for what he considered to be the meat of the story. "It's best to begin the story from the very beginning. The Kraken was first 'discovered' way back, before I was born at least, as part of another story…which I guess I gotta tell that one too. Hey, ya'll get two stories for the price of one, look at that!" Morgan laughed, gearing up to tell another unintentionally.

She giggled at this- he was definitely still drunk. But it was certainly making the tale more interesting.

"Before Morris D. Rallo's treasure was the thing to chase, there was the unoriginally named treasure island called the Golden Mount. This island was believed to hidden deep within the New World in uncharted worlds that few men dared to venture into. The Golden Mount was said to be an island literally made purely of gold and jewels with this tall golden mountain at the dead center of the island. Now to really paint this picture, various things were said to be made of these others. For example, blueberries were sapphires. Cherries…rubies, and so on and so on. Ya get the picture. So, pirate crew after pirate crew sailed into the New World desperately searching for this island, but never one returned. Many just went up and assumed that basically the island never existed and some storm or somethin' washed away all the ships that tried their damn hardest to get there. But then, one man came back."

"Oh!" He'd gotten Lotte's attention now, and she put her drink aside, putting her chin in her hands to give him her undivided attention.

"So the story goes that the man settled in at an inn or tavern at some city like Dinas here and told his side of the story. As his crew sailed into the seas, a massive storm did, in fact, come to strike his ship. The waves battered against the hull and the winds tore at the sails, but the vessel endured bravely with the crew holding to dear life as their ship was whipped back and forth. A whirlpool, then, came from nowhere and started vicious currents ripped at the wood. Their ship was caught and started spinning in a circle causin' the men to desire death rather than suffer the sickness that pressed on their fatigued and weak bodies. The Captain ordered his men to hold on tighter, confident the storm and everythin' would pass. But as he spoke these strong motivational words, a massive tentacle rose from the center of whirlpool and the beast with its large beamin' red eyes came to face them. The tentacle struck the vessel down, crackin' it in half with a single swing. The man's sight went black and he firmly believed that death had taken him into the next world. But instead as lady luck was perhaps on his side awoke to find himself stranded out in the sea holdin' on to a piece of the mast until some fellow pirates came and found him."

"With the tales of the Kraken suddenly true due to this man's story spreadin' through the New World, Grand Line and the Blues, the goal of all was not to find the Golden Mount, but to kill the Kraken. Men and women of all walks of life journeyed in the seas with fleets of warships, weapons abounds to hunt down the most legendary of the Sea Kings. Heck, even the Marines wanted a piece of this creature. But despite all their might and resources, none succeeded and very few survived. Those that did were pretty much heroes all things considered, spreadin' tall tales of their heroism as they were honored to survive a battle with the Kraken itself. Now many saw through these stories, but they let the crippled men that came back enjoy livin' at least a little bit all things considered. But the most famed of these survivors was Morris D. Rallo, the Pirate King. With a mythic fleet, the Pirate King sailed out to face the Kraken, only to return with a few shambled ships and damaged pride. It was that moment, nearly every single person that considered himself or herself a sailor had given up on fightin' this thing. If the Pirate King couldn't do it, who the hell could? That was when he dared to challenge fate."

"Someone stronger than the Pirate King?" Lotte breathed, encouraging him to keep telling the story as her brows knit together, unable to fathom anyone who could top Rallo.... Her interest in him and his crew had been what had even put her on this adventure in the first place!

"The Man, as he is known, was going to kill the Kraken. At least that is what he told his crew. He went 'Men! Today is the day I will do what no man will dare do. I will fight the Kraken and I will succeed!' He called to his men," Morgan said, in a voice unlike his own, as he attempted to characterize the hero. After all, in his mind, the narrator needed to separate himself from the actual characters. "The Man's faithful crew faced their Captain with nervous faces. After all, their fearless captain was essentially sacrificin' himself for what? A fancy title? There is little glory in death. 'But sir! That is suicide!' A young man in his crew protested. 'The Kraken will eat you up like it has done to everyone else that crossed its path. You cannot escape us to join in this. We love and admire you, but you cannot risk it," Morgan's voice again shifted to a higher pitch and his body raised a hand as if acting like the Man (or Captain) of the crew pleading his young follower to stop talking. "The Man grew silent, liftin' his hand like so to command the attention of those around. 'None of you will come with me,' he said. 'I shall do this alone. And I shall come back a man worthy to be your captain.' With this powerful promise, he set off in a small sailboat with a modest sail, a pair of oars and his sword. Nothing more."

"So, the Man sailed deep into the waters of the New World, seemingly aimlessly with no direction in mind but his one goal to return a legend. As he sailed, the sky grew heavy with dark clouds. The sea before turned black with death with pools of blood spotted about the surface and waves roared more frequently. Flotsam and remains of ships scattered about and occasionally bumped against his small boat. A feeling of dread overcame him, but he did not waver. If anythin', he found resolve deep within him. 'KRAKEN' he yelled. 'COME AND FACE ME.' But there was no answer. The Man continued his call, summoning the Sea King with every ounce of energy he had."

Morgan pounded his foot on the ground. "The boat shook. The sky above him rumbled. The Man looked around, trying to get his bearings. Through the black water, he could of sworn he saw the Kraken swim beneath him, but he wasn't sure. The sky rumbled again with a lightning bolt crashing down to the water before. Where it struck, a portal to the bottom of the sea tore open, as a whirlpool caught his boat and would not let go. The currents spun and spun, ripping his sailboat ever so slowly. He swore he saw the mast crack, but now wasn't the time to worry. The storm above him grew violent with winds ripping him apart and rain battering his face. The Man was at the mercy of the elements, as he saw the Kraken emerge from the center of the whirlpool. First, it's gaping hole full of teeth the size of small ships, but then it shifted forward. A huge head the size of a small island with the famed red eyes of legend starin' him down. Eight massive tentacles danced around as if commanding the sky to rain down terror upon the sole Man and his ship. The Man stood up, bravin' everythin' this beast was throwin' at him. He matched the demonic gaze with one of his own. Between them was not a battle of brawn or wits, but of wills. The Man blocked everythin' out and looked deep into the very soul of the Kraken. The Legendary Sea King did the same and neither budged an inch. The whirlpool then stopped, the winds became gentle, the clouds opened up and the sun for the first time in years graced the blackened sea. The roaring sea grew calm. The Kraken and the Man never looked away from the other. But then, somethin' changed."

"The Kraken moved to the Man's ruined boat, stoppin' within arm's reach. The Man stretched forward and placed his hand on the Kraken. 'You are mine now,' he said, looking down at the legendary sea creature. 'But together, we shall rule the seas.'"

Lotte blinked-- eyelashes fluttering as she tried to digest the rather unexpected end of the story. ".... So they just had a staring contest and the Man won?" Bursting into a fit of giggles she grinned, "The Kraken's just like a dog! So then what? Did they rule the seas--? Is that why whats-his-face named his crew after the Kraken, cause he rules the seas?"

"Um no, what's his face as you call him doesn't rule the seas, he just liked the story lots so he ripped the name of it right off, since he thought the Kraken was mean enough to make him seem real nasty. Whether it worked or not, who knows? But he's an older pirate than me so he probably has a better ending to this than I do 'cause I don't know what happened actually," Morgan admitted. "There is a dozen and a half different endings to the story. "Some have the Man come back to his crew and they simply rule the territory the Kraken once controlled because he claimed after all, though a couple put some twists and say the Kraken forced him since he actually won the battle of wills. Other takes have the Man kill the Kraken instead because its too unbelievable someone could tame one by simply lookin' at it. But most, frankly like myself, don't believe any of it happened and it's nothin' more than, well, a story. An old myth of the seas."

"Oooh..." Lotte hummed as she digested the story, "So you don't think it actually happened?? I guess the Kraken wouldn't be all that scary if you could tame it with just one look but..." It could've been very much like how commoners didn't dare to cross her father or his relatives-- maybe the Kraken just knew it's place. Hm! Thinking of it that way made it much more believable. "I think it could make sense!" She declared as though it were final, "Can I ask you a question though Morgan??" Without waiting for his approval she let the words tumble from her mouth, "How long have you been a pirate? And I guess, why did you become one? Isn't it hard? I mean it's fun, but I feel like it's a lot of work!"

Morgan was caught a bit off guard by the question, not expecting it even if it was a fair one to ask. Morgan supposed, in a cloudy state of thought, that perhaps this proved that Avril was right and Morgan was actually welcome amongst the crew.

"A while now, I guess. Mhmmm, I wanna say about 10 years I started sailin' the seas. Somethin' like that. Maybe 8? I lost track if ya want to know the truth," Morgan said with a weak grin. " But I remember why I did like it was yesterday. I did it cuz I wanted to be free. Not held back by some lame rules and things like that. I want to be able to do what I want when I want to, and if I'm gonna be honest with ya, I want that for everyone in this room. No one, and I mean no one, should be able to tell ya what you can and can't do." Morgan was rather proud of what he was saying despite the alcohol perhaps slurring his speech. It was, however, making him prone to honesty which had it's merits. "But it's hard. Ya are gonna meet people who don't agree with ya. Maybe want to stop ya for whatever reason. And occasionally, bad things are gonna happen cuz of that. It's not all fun and games like right now. People fight, and from time to time people die. It's all part of the game. I hope it never happens to ya though, Lotte. I'd hate to see someone rob us of that gentle smile of yours."

Though Morgan was drunk and certainly not all there, Lotte was focused on his words as they took a turn that she'd not expected, reminding her of why she'd taken to rebelling in the first place. Her bubbly face seemed to lose a touch of it's usual silliness as he went off in full bravado over freedom, over not being told what to do and wanting it for everyone on their crew....

"....." Her smile had long slid off of her face in favor of a thoughtful expression, eyes cast to the side as if she were looking right through the merry-making and fun, looking at something beyond it all. People who wouldn't agree-- people who would stop her...... But Morgan's last words brought the smile back to her face in no time, as she let out a light laugh, voice as sincere as it had ever been since the day she'd tagged along on this journey: "Thanks Morgan....I hope it doesn't happen to you either-- you wouldn't be Morgan if you were letting anybody tell you what to do!" Giggling at that, she held out her pinky finger with a grin, "Promise we'll always be free no matter what anybody says!"

Morgan met her pinky finger with his own and his own smirk to match her smile: "I promise."

 

[Stinging Bea]

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Tristan D. Kuzo and Avril Meads - Mermaid's Pear - Liar​

The party was in full swing, and Kuzo was having a blast. He enjoyed making his way between the various faces, enjoying drinks, sharing stories, and dancing the day away. The odd thing was, despite still recovering from the afflictions of Billionth, he couldn't have been more energetic. Maybe it was all of the delicious food. Or the alcohol. Or the mood. Most likely it was a combination of all of those factors, and the thought that they truly deserved to finally just kick back and have a good time. This was one of the main reasons Kuzo signed up to be a pirate, after all: having some fun with his crew!

Amid the chaos of dancing with a few of the Sky Pirates, including a very drunken Edward who seemed a lot more cheerful than earlier, Kuzo spotted Avril and approached her casually. "There's my shipwright!" He yelled through the rowdy restaurant. "I can't wait to see what you did to the Dream Chaser!"

Avril glanced up as Kuzo began speaking to her. After her conversation with Morgan and recalling a bit of her past to him, the woman was not feeling in too much of a partying mood. She had debated about leaving, but the group inside the restaurant was starting to get more rowdy as the party went on, which more or less made slipping out near impossible... at least at the moment. So in the meantime, Avril had settled on having a bit of drink while waiting for things to calm a bit.

Still, she offered Kuzo a small smile as he enthusiastically yelled a greeting and his excitement about seeing the ship that she had been working on while most of the crew were down and out. "With any luck, it'll meet your expectations, Ku-kun. I have to admit, it was the first time I ever really did a complete overhaul on somethin' like that."

"First, but not last, right?" Kuzo asked with a grin. "I'm think you'll come up with a lot more weapon designs and ship additions before we're through on our journey! But you gotta start somewhere!"

Avril's face darkened a bit at Kuzo's plans. The woman leaned against the counter she had been standing in front of her, hands wrapping tightly around the glass of booze she had been nursing before taking another swig of the liquor. Glancing over her shoulder at Kuzo, a question that had been buzzing about in her mind since... more or less meeting the captain surfaced once more. Avril figured that this was probably the best chance she would have to ask, so she did just that.

"Ku-kun... Why exactly did ya ask me to join your crew in the first place?" Avril asked. She looked over at the captain, as if anticipating that part of the answer would have to do with Morgan's talking to her when they had first met. "And before ya start, I want more than 'cause Pepper-kun started talkin' to me first."

Kuzo titled his head at the question, realizing that she appeared to be quite serious. He ponder for only mere moments before his mouth formed into a smile. "Well... because I liked you," He replied plainly. "You looked like someone who would be fun to share an adventure with, and I asked you to join us! It was really when you were talking to Morgan that I decided though... not because you guys seemed to get along, but because what I thought I saw in you."

He pointed to his eyes and grinned wider. "Someone who had purpose behind their eyes. Those are the people I like to be around. And boy, I know how to pick 'em. We've only been on twelve islands so far together, but so far, they've been a blast!"

"Ya liked me, huh?" Avril questioned. It was a very simple answer. Then again, looking at the source she really was not all that surprised. "Most pirates would've probably thought somethin' was up with me bein' a former Marine and all... Probably not even give me the time of day. You're pretty weird compared to most, ya know?"

Kuzo let out a hearty laugh and a shrug of his shoulders. "I guess I am," He replied as he jumped forward and grabbed a plate with food on it. "But my older sister always told me to judge someone by who they are, not what they are, so that's what I'm going to do!" He added, and bit into a piece of chicken. With a full mouth, he continued to talk to Avril. "Mmf fis fis gfood! Fry fumf!" He uttered unintelligibly, as he held up the rest of the chicken piece and tried to stuff it into Avril's mouth.

Avril glared at Kuzo, quickly bringing a fist down into the back of his head. "What are ya doin'? I'm not some sort of pet or anythin' like that!" She wiped the her mouth with the back of her glove, both surprised and embarrassed that Kuzo would do something like that in the first place. "Didn't ya ever get brought up with any manners at all, Ku-kun?"

"Oww!" Kuzo yelled as he fell to the floor and held the spot where Avril had punched. A rather large and exaggerated lump was already beginning to form there through his bandanna. "What, what did I do? I was just offering you some chicken!" He explained as he tried to understand why he was hit. At the mention of manners, Kuzo tilted his head.

"Huh? Manners? I think Miss Sunflower mentioned something about that at the orphanage, but I wasn't really paying attention. She was kind of boring sometimes," He said with a chuckle. However, as he saw the size of the piece of chicken, Kuzo suddenly realized what he believed might have been the problem. "Oh, it's too big! I'm sorry!" He apologized, as he got a smaller (it was actually larger) piece of chicken from the plate, and once again tried to feed Avril. "Try this one instead!"

Avril rolled her eyes at the fact that Kuzo had clearly completely missed what she actually meant. Shaking her head, the woman took his hand and moved down and away from her face. It had finally dawned on her that in a sense, this crew's captain was... more or less just a kid, it seemed.

"That's not what I meant, Ku-kun," Avril sighed, slowly lowering Kuzo's hand away from her face. "You're supposed to ask first, not just insist someone wants to do somethin' and then force them to do it."

Kuzo nodded his head as he sat on the ground with his legs crossed. "Oooh, right!" Kuzo finally said as she concluded her explanation. "That makes sense, you wouldn't want someone to do something they don't want to do, right?"

"That's how it usually goes," Avril replied. She did not add the part about it was sort of similar to when he more or less forced him to join the crew. Then again, she always figured that it was sort of similar of how she forced people to watch her destroy parts of Teeter Village that night. "I guess when I think about it, maybe I wasn't brought up with too many manners either."

"Maybe pirates usually aren't," Kuzo said with a shrug, as he himself was unsure. "But then again you were a Marine first, right? Do they teach manners in the Marines?"

"Nah, not really..." Avril replied. She paused for a moment, finishing off the rest of her drink followed by a somewhat satisfied sigh. "That sorta teachin' was hammered in by my old man... for the most part anyways. The Marines taught ya other things, like respect for the law, uniformity and obedience... It really wasn't my sorta style."

"I could tell!" Kuzo agreed with a nod. "I'd say you're a much better pirate that you were a Marine... but then again I never saw you as a Marine to begin with. Still, I'd say the pirate's life is what suits you more. But I guess having manners isn't about being with the Marines or the pirates. It's just something people should have... so let's try this again."

Kuzo grabbed a piece of meat off the table, and held it up to Avril. "Avril, want some meat?" He asked politely with a smile. However, instead of waiting for her reply, he again moved in to stuff the food into her mouth.

Avril quickly grabbed hold of the captain's wrists, and gave him a rather tired smile in return. "I'll pass, Ku-kun. I'm not really in the mood for too much eatin' right now," Avril explained, before slowly releasing her grip on his wrists and returning her attention to the glass in front of her.

Kuzo dropped the piece of steak onto the floor and cocked an eyebrow. He felt as if something was bothering Avril, but couldn't put his mind on exactly what that was. He walked over and sat beside her. "Hey, what's the matter? We're supposed to be having fun, right? We did just beat the Unit and got three new crewmates, after all."

"Hmm...? I guess I've just had my mind on some other things lately, that's all," Avril mused. The woman paused for a moment, eyeing the rest of the booze that was sitting in her glass before downing it all in one last, big gulp. She placed the glass back on the counter motioning for the barkeep to hit her up with another drink before speaking again. "I was talkin' with Pepper-kun a bit ago. It sorta got me thinkin' about the past."

"The past?" Kuzo repeated as he titled his head. "As in, your past? Why, did something happen recently that made you start thinking about it again?"

Avril nodded, seeming hesitant to answer. She had more or less already shared some of it with Morgan, but... For some reason, the woman just was not sure about doing the same with Kuzo. There was a slight... well, large difference in maturity between the two of them. Also, the woman felt as if she had opened up enough of a wound today and was not sure that opening some more at this moment was a good idea.

"Besides, it's not like its really anyone's business... Especially since eventually..." Avril thought. Realizing that she had been silent for probably too long a period of time for the captain, she returned her focus to Kuzo and offered him a tiny smile. "Just a bit of talkin' with Pepper-kun earlier. I'm sure it's nothin' you'd be too interested in Ku-kun."

"Oooh, so it's a secret story then," Kuzo reasoned after Avril hadn't talked for a long time. "We all have some of those, I guess. You'd be surprised what I'd be interested in, though! I bet I can guess what it's about anyways. It's about the ship, isn't it? The design and the flag you made?" He asked her with a smile. "You totally told Morgan about the design, didn't you? Maaaan, I should have never told you not to tell me until I see it myself..."

Avril could not help, but giggle at that. The more she thought of it, the more she realized that Kuzo was more or less just a big kid, and despite her rather bad mood at the moment, she could not bring herself to berate him or let him know otherwise. "Yes, that's it. I told him about the ship, Ku-kun."

"I knew it!" Kuzo yelled as he raised a fist in the air in a short show of victory. He reached for his mug at the end of the table and drank steadily from it, before slamming it on the counter. "I prefer to see it without hearing about it. Makes it much more exciting when I finally do see it! I don't wanna hear, it. Promise me you won't tell me before I see it, OK?"

"Sure, no problem Ku-kun," Avril replied with a quick nod. "Just make sure ya make Pepper-kun keeps it a promise too, yeah?"

"Hmm? Sure, I'll do that!" Kuzo agreed with a nod. "He won't say a word on it until, I can guarantee!" He held his drink up to Avril, hoping she would share a drink with him.

Avril gave Kuzo a warm smile, before raising her glass to share a drink as he wanted. She felt another small tug on the inside, likely another guilty feeling from sharing yet another lie with these people. But at this point Avril determined that the best thing she could do was try to ignore such feelings at this point.
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[Sephear]

Nokam F. Joshua and Wright D. Morgan

​

After their rousing discussion Kuzo and Joshua started to party as hard as almost anyone else around, raising toasts, cheering, maybe joining in on a shanty or two. They were having so much fun, however, that they actually got separated rather quickly, by the time Joshua realized it had happened he couldn't even recall when he stopped seeing Kuzo. Now that he was in full swing though he was determined to keep having fun, and he did until he saw a slightly-unsteady looking Morgan near a broken bottle.

"Ah, Morgan my good man, how go the festivities for you? Everybody's in fine form at this party, I'm so glad to be here!" Morgan was probably the crewmate he'd spoken with the least over the past two weeks - even if it was only because Skellen was the one treating them all which had led to a fair share interaction - he figured it was time to rectify that.

"Eh?" Morgan asked, looking at the well dressed man. Far too well dressed to a pirate, that's for sure. Maybe he was wealthy. That meant he had money. Morgan could take that money and buy something nice with that wealth. But what if he knew the guy? That would be embarassing "Remind who ya are again? Ya don't look at that familiar..."

Joshua's smile didn't shrink in the slightest, he decided Morgan must have had a bit more to drink than he should have. "Dear Morgan it's me, Joshua, one of the newest members of the crew. I thought I should say hi as long as we were at a party, how has it been for you?"

"Joshua....Joshua....oh right! Ya'll are that... that guy with the clothes," Morgan recalled, snapping his fingers as he nailed it. Shame, he really wanted that money. "Um, it's alright...I think? Ya talk real fancy. Too fancy for a pirate. Ya'll should go into business or somethin'. Or politics! Yeah, ya would do real speakin' with your big words and whatnot."

"Too fancy?" Joshua chuckled and took a seat next to Morgan. "I can't really say I know how such labels can fit a pirate. We simply need to be dogs of the sea who do as we please right?"

"Yeah, but it comes with certain...expectations," Morgan qualified his statement. "Like, take me for example. I look like a pirate. And I act like a pirate. And when I start yappin' around, I sound like a pirate." Morgan got closer to Joshua, shuffling his seat closer to the classy young gentleman. "Ya don't really seem pirate-y to me," Morgan said, before leaping back a bit. "But we change that if ya want! And I could show ya a thing or two if ya want!"

"Well I'm all for learning new things, but don't expect me to change all my mannerisms at the drop of a hat. But I would certainly love to hear what you've got to say." Joshua's constant relaxed smile had returned and he flashed it at Morgan while he spoke.

"Alrighty, first off, two things. One I ain't gonna make ya change your mannerisms. It's not unheard of to be a gentleman and be a pirate. Two, these, uh, lessons ain't free. First ya got prove ya can be a scallywag as my ol' Captain used to say," Morgan said, before looking around the room. "Now, let's see...mhmmmmm. Ah, they we are!" Morgan yelped in amusement before rubbing his hands together. "See that chick over there!" Morgan pointed at one of the random waitresses with rosy cheeks and matching hair. "Show me ya can flirt with ladies without gettin' slapped across the face. Somethin' like that, so I can see your style. Oh, and nab me a drink while ya are at it."

Joshua grew utterly dumbfounded at Morgan's suggestion and furrowed his brow as if he didn't comprehend. "Flirt? But I don't..." He couldn't even remember the last time he'd intentionally done such a thing. But he supposed it was harmless, it's not like he was being asked to do anything wrong. He stood up properly and made his way to the waitress Morgan had indicated, she was just in the middle of serving someone a drink. He waited patiently for her to finish up so as not to interrupt her work, and stepped towards her when she turned around. "Excuse me miss, my friend could use another drink, and there don't seem to be any more lying around nearby right now."

Whether it was just force-of-habit from her job or being pleasantly surprised at the polite greeting the waitress smiled warmly at Joshua, revealing a dimple on her left cheek. "Happy to help sir, but I just served the last one I had." She answered, gesturing slightly with the empty tray in her right hand. "I'll have to go get more fresh from the tap."

"Well why don't I accompany you? You and your co-workers are all working so hard tonight while the rest of us relax and make merry. This way I could just take the drink back to my friend and save you some trouble." His ever-present smile won the day and the woman couldn't resist smiling herself as she shrugged.

"Well it's not exactly a lot of trouble for me to grab a drink and walk back over here, but a bit of company never hurts and it is busy, so why not? Come along then." The waitress began to lead the way over to the bar, and along the way Joshua's appearance finally clicked in her head. "Oh, you're one of those Skull Pirates right?" She looked back for just a second to reassure herself, still perfectly avoiding patrons and fellow servers alike along the way.

"That I am, Nokam F. Joshua: new member of the Skull Pirates at your service." When they stopped at the bar Joshua made an exaggerated bow while he introduced himself. "And it's rare to see such a beautiful woman holding what seems to be such a sharp wit in her gaze working as a waitress at a restaurant, even one so nice as the Mermaid's Pearl. I must know, what is your name, if I may ask?"

"Haven't you noticed yet? It's Ivy, it kinda says on the nametag, everyone always looks for one reason or another." She pulled the frothy mug from the spigot and set it down on the bar in front of Joshua and raised an eyebrow at him.

Joshua answered in stride, both her implications and slight sarcasm sliding right off of him. "Because I prefer proper introductions, especially when speaking to such a lovely lady it's only right. Besides, nametags hang a little to low under a woman's neckline for me to try seeing clearly while moving through such a crowded place it would be very rude indeed to look too long. Ivy has always been a name I admired, it's very nice to meet you."

Ivy couldn't suppress yet another small laugh. But she had work to do and no time to stand around, so she pushed the mug closer to Joshua on the bar with a smirk. "You have got to be one of the most earnest men I've ever spoken to. It's too bad you pirates will be leaving soon, it'd be nice to have another consistent customer with manners like yours."

The meaning was clear, but even if Joshua had intended to stay after her hint that he should leave he never got the chance to even consider that mistake. As soon as Ivy said her piece she moved off towards some more tables with a fresh tray of drinks and snacks...but she seemed to sashay her hips a bit more than before during her exit. He watched her leave and pondered the change in her gait before he got back up and returned to Morgan. "Here's your drink, 'fresh from the tap' so to speak. The servers here are very nice, I can't think of a better place for a party."

"Thank ya," Morgan said, taking the drink from Joshua and taking a few sips before looking back at the man. "Well, I can see your approach. Ya go for the nice guy thing eh? Well, let's say I can approve, but it's not quite...pirate-y enough for me," Morgan said with a nod, taking another gulp.

"Well I suppose I just try to be myself in those situations because as much of a cliche as it is, I wouldn't be interested in a woman who wouldn't like me." Joshua answered with a shrug. "Besides, in my experience they respond just fine to my manners and diction."

"And that could be a problem, ya know? Part of bein' a pirate is bein' able to strike fear in the people!" Morgan exclaimed. "Not their best friends or somethin'," Morgan crossed his arms and pouted.

Joshua's smile became a smirk at Morgan's exclamation. "Oh I wouldn't worry about that, I've never cared for having common people be afraid of me, but when I find someone who should be I'm always glad to educate them." He cracked his knuckles for emphasis. He'd prefer not to boast too much but the mention of intimidation reminded him of how ever since he'd come into his own few people could stand fast under the gaze of his ire.

"Educate 'em? Ya'll want to be a teacher now too?" Morgan found himself throwing up his arms, before burying his face in his hands. He dragged his hands down his face, stretching it to inhuman lengths before it snapped back into place. "My god, we've got ourselves a Jack of All Trades now don't we?" Morgan sighed. "This crew keeps just gettin' stranger and stranger."

"Well, we could be a rag-tag collection of scoundrels and hooligans who like mostly the same thing and happily cause mayhem through the seas until we all meet our timely ends at the hands of our betters." Joshua's smirk grew bigger, looking completely alien on his face in place of his usual demeanor. "Or...We could be who we are: the Skull Pirates. The crew that will follow our dreams to the end, blazing a beautiful path towards glory and the One Piece." His usual countenance returned and he snatched a mug from in front of another patron while he wasn't paying attention and raised it towards Morgan. "How does that sound to you my friend?"

"Sounds like you've been hangin' with Kuzo for a bit long," Morgan said sarcastically. "But I can get behind it...if the One Piece is real ya know." Morgan stood up and stretched a bit, cracking his neck. "As long as ya don't mind me bein' a bit of a scoundrel, I guess I could be a member of this group of Skull Pirates."

"What's a pirate crew without a scoundrel or two? We'll find our way, and whatever happens it'll make a wondrous tale one day." Joshua took a swig from his drink and stood up. "That's enough sitting around for me, what do you fancy?"

Morgan looked at Joshua as he tried to make sense of the elaborate and grandiose talk that Joshua was filling into Morgan's ears. "Well, if ya mean what I like or what goals I got for this whole adventure that Kuzo is draggin' us on, I am mostly doin' this cuz I want to. Like, I don't always got a reason for what I do. If that makes any sense," Morgan said with a shrug.

Joshua chuckled while he stretched and decided he'd better elaborate. "My apologies, I should have been more specific. I was curious what you want to do right now, I can't sit here any longer. But for what it's worth I think your philosophy works just fine, it's pretty hard to go wrong just doing what you want as long as you don't hurt innocent people."

"Ah. I thought ya wanted to me to go deep or whatnot," Morgan clarified. "Um, I'm good here to be honest. I had," Morgan paused to knock back the drink Joshua got him before burping loudly. "Enough to drink so Imma...as my old comrade used to say...chill for a bit until my headache goes away," Morgan continued before burping again.

"Well I hope you enjoy the rest of the party when you are up and about again. It was nice to finally sit down and share a conversation with you Morgan." Joshua gave a quick wave and flashed another smile before wandering back into the celebration.

 

[Legend]

Tristan D. Kuzo and Wright D. Morgan- The Captain and First Mate, Dinas

"Morgan!" Kuzo greeted the Burning King from across the restaurant. He wandered over to him with a smile he seemed to never bury during the entire party. "Good to see you moving around more now! You were pretty beat up after your fight with that metal guy!"

"Well, considerin' he was Seastone, yeah...that happens," Morgan said, as Kuzo approached. Kuzo, himself, was not in great shape but probably than Morgan was. Though, to be fair, Kuzo's main concern was the venom that consumed his body while Morgan broke nearly every other bone in his body. Regardless, Kuzo's wishes were welcomed even if Morgan was trying to forget what pain felt like. His head, however, was constantly reminding him of that due to the pounding headache that crept on him rather suddenly. Stealing a random patron's water and drinking it, Morgan looked Kuzo with his eyes half open, the light bothering him: "Well, ya seem a bit better yourself, though part of me wishes we traded fights. I could have just burned the venom of my system."

"Yeah, maybe," Kuzo said as he cracked his neck and grinned again at Morgan. "And I would have liked to see just how thick his metal plating would have been in the first place. I wonder if I could have broken it with my Tank Mode?" He asked thoughtfully as he place his hand on his chin. Shrugging the thought off, he suddenly recalled something else.

"Speaking of fights, I think I owe you one!" He mentioned cheerfully. "You remember what we agreed to in Loguetown? A fight to decide our ship's captain?" He asked Morgan. As he did this, he cracked his knuckles, and then his neck rather sharply. Kuzo was able to crack his bones much more easier than others, so even through the loud partying they could be heard.

Man, my head is really hurtin', Morgan thought to himself, holding his head as he nabbed a seat, half listening to Kuzo ramble and half wishing he could take a nap at the moment. Watching Kuzo warm up, it dawned on Morgan that Kuzo had intended to finally honor their deal at the very moment. His eyes widened, before forcing them closed as a wave of pain washed over his head. "Do I really look I can fight a good fight at the moment?" Morgan asked, covering his eyes with his hand.

Kuzo looked over Morgan, examining his physical injuries and current condition, before speaking. "Too much celebrating?" He asked with a small chuckle. "Have another round, maybe that'll cheer ya up!"

"See that dancing moron over there?" Morgan asked, pointing over in the general direction of Edward, who was performing he probably thought was dancing moves. "He and I wiped a good part of the bar empty already...I dun think I need anymore for a good while," Morgan said before his head screamed again. He sat straight up and looked at his 'captain' again: "But this terrible feelin' is part of pirating. So, I guess I just gotta deal with it! Which reminds me...well actually a lil conversation I just had reminds me. I think you mentioned once why ya decided to be a pirate...somethin' about that Ultimate Treasure or whatever that the Pirate King went and buried. What do ya think it is?"

Kuzo's grin grew wider in response, and he shrugged. "I have no idea," He replied simply. "But isn't that exactly what makes it so exciting? Sailing along the seas, facing storms, going to islands and encountering other pirates, monsters, Marines, and other strange foes. Fighting, partying, dancing! Facing whatever we can along the way to get to it, going through all kinds of struggles to reach it, and only then when we finally find it, will we have any idea what it is. That sounds like quite an adventure to me, don't ya think?" He asked his First Mate.

"I don't know if this is even what I'm looking for... the Pirate King's Treasure and my Ultimate Treasure. Maybe it is, but the fact that we'll find out, and do it the hard way, is what's going to make this all worthwhile, I say!"

Morgan internally smiled, throughly enjoying Kuzo's answer. It was an answer he hadn't heard in a long time. Ironically enough, it was an answer he would share with everyone, but actually hearing it...well it took him back. Suddenly, he was back where he was when he first pirating, hearing all the stories and adventures from his first captain; the man who taught him everything he knew. It was at this moment, he had considered not challenging Kuzo at all. He had the "stuff" that every young aspiring Captain needed: the love of adventure, the understanding of what made a pirate and the bright optimism that people could get behind and want to support. He just needed the molding to make it all come together. Perhaps Avril had a point in that Morgan could be that one that could help Kuzo get there. Maybe all the glory wouldn't come to him and Kuzo would get the credit, but he felt that for whatever reason, Kuzo would admit that Morgan was at least partially the reason it happened.

Now, of course, Morgan couldn't admit outright admit that. He had his reasons for keeping his cocky exterior. So he immediately tossed the thought to back of his mind: "Ya gotta at least be a bit curious at what is it or have a hope though? Like I hope it's lots of gold so I can buy a nice place and be lazy the rest of my life...or a nice boat, haven't decided but ya get the picture."

Kuzo chuckled and placed his hands on his hips and nodded. "Well, I've already got the Dream Chaser, so I don't need another boat. But if it's a stack of treasure so high that no one could carry... let four hundred pieces of gold! Now THAT would be something to see," Kuzo contemplated the magnitude of the size in his mind and how big it could possibly be.

"Four hundred ain't a lot my friend," Morgan said. "We really need to work on your math skills."

"Hmm? What?" Kuzo asked, as he apparently was still thinking on the treasure in his mind to hear what Morgan had just said. Suddenly, he noticed another plate of food close by, which had an assortment of rather large pieces of lettuce. It appeared that the chefs realized that this was a rather large ordeal as a party and sought to accomodate them. It gave Kuzo an idea. He ran toward the enormous plate of leaves and snagged four of them. He then attached two behind his ears and another two larger ones across his hands.

"Hey, Morgan, look!" He exclaimed, extending his arms outward to give the appearance of wings, while also keeping the two pieces on his bandanna sides to look like ears. He then morphed the structure of his face a bit to appear smaller and more animal-like. "I'm Bass!" He exclaimed before bursting into a loud laughter.

Morgan only blinked, unable to create any sort of response. I'm about to ignore those kind thoughts I just had about this guy, Morgan thought to himself.

"Oh come on, cheer up!" Kuzo said as he grabbed Morgan by the hand and gestured him to follow. "We're supposed to be celebrating and having fun! That includes being a little silly sometimes!" He exclaimed, as he pushed Morgan into two other Sky Pirates who were embracing and dancing, Dekuranu and Goa-Boa. Goa-Boa quickly grabbed Morgan as he was pushed into them and made them also embrace and dance in unison. Kuzo joined in on the end, and kicked his legs up apart of the dance as they merrily and messily danced together to the tune of the music.

There was a moment in which Morgan did not want to dance at all. A major part of that was due to his pounding headache, in which the music was not helping as "the dance floor" was placed entirely too close to the source of the music for Morgan's taste. With the music pulsing through his head, Morgan desperately wanted to bolt through the ground and dip his head into the punch like Edward did, imagining the cool sensation would at least distract himself from the pain rattling through his body. But then he envisioned, and perhaps would have rightly predicted, that Kuzo would likely not allow Morgan to escape. The man's hearty demeanor and utter foolhardy yet generous nature would drag Morgan back as he wanted the Burning King to enjoy himself like everyone else seemed to.

So Morgan resolved one way to not only prove he was capable of fun but also possibly escape: Showing everyone up. Now Morgan was never considered the greatest dancer of the Falcon Pirates, but they were a handful of men and woman on the crew who were. Imitation was the best form of flattery and Morgan hoped that their kind souls would bless him with some talent in this very moment. Morgan broke free of Goa-Boa and leapt onto a table. He pointed in the general direction of the music and gestured to them, in a rather aggressive spark of flame, to pick up the intensity. Pounding his foot to the quickened beat, Morgan felt the flow of the music flow through him, dancing and moving on the table with a good amount of fervor; far more than he expected in fact. Then Morgan began to breakdance on top of of a number of tables, rolling and spinning from one to another in dynamic fashion. However, as Morgan proceeded to shift from table to table, he found himself setting a couple on fire, causing a brief panic in the restaurant.

As Kuzo watched Morgan's dancing, he began to clap his hands and dance along with him, cheering his crewmate on. However, as he began his breakdancing moves, he couldn't help but let out a yell of surprise. As chefs and some of the Sky Pirates went on to put out the fire, Kuzo went back up to the Burning King. He looked intensely at him, then at the damage he created. "That... " He began, before he paused and tried to find the best words to reflect the situation. His face suddenly twisted from an intense glare to a smile. "... was awesome!"

"I have my moments," Morgan said, brushing off some fire from his shoulder. "Shame ya'll rest of your party doesn't really agree."

Kuzo chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, but if they were worried about damage they would have kicked us out a long time ago!"

"I'd rather avoid that if I can," Morgan said. "Bein' kicked out fine places like this is somethin' that was all too common when I first started. It ain't fun." Morgan crept closer to Kuzo and whispered. "Like this one time I got kicked out of a place because I was angry they undercooked my meat so I ended up blowin' it up when I argued with the chef. It was terribly embarassin'."

"Do most of your disagreements with places end with you blowing something up?" Kuzo asked Morgan with a look mixed with disbelief and enjoyment. "Because from my experience with you so far these past four years, that seems to have been the case every time!"

"No!" Morgan initially exclaimed, before reflecting on Kuzo was saying. Recalling his destruction of the jail, parts of the mountain and several parts of the tower, it was not a mistake on Kuzo's part. "Well, yes. But it's not my fault that people make things that explode so easily."

Kuzo chuckled loudly again. "Looks to me as if with you, everything can explode easily!" He yelled back at Morgan through the loud partying in the restaurant. "What's the biggest mess you've ever made besides any in our crew?" He asked curiously. "I bet you have a lot of those types of stories to share!"

Morgan placed on a hand on his chin and cocked his head back, trying to recall one of the bigger disasters he caused. While he could tell the story of how he became the Burning King, he didn't want to put a damper on the entire occasion with such a sad tale. It came down thinking of a rather innocent tale that anyone would actually enjoy rather than a tale of malcontent. "So ever hear of a game where ya hit like a ball or somethin' with a stick and run around in like a circle to score points? Ya might of played somethin' along those lines back at your place. Well, I never did but once when I was just startin' out I was foolin' around in a town and some kids wanted to join them for some...innocent fun I guess. Now I get up 'to bat' as they said and the kid throws the ball at me. I smack that small thing with all my strength, puttin' everythin' I got into that swing. The ball goes flyin' into the air towards some water-tower or whatever. It pierces through the material, must of been delicate stuff, and suddenly the water-tower explodes, dumpin' water all over the outskirts of the village. I was solo around this time, so I bust my ass to get out of town and I never returned. I didn't know what to do so I bolted!"

Kuzo leaned in and listened to Morgan's story with interest. He had never heard of the game with a stick and a ball by name, but the style sounded similar to something that was played back on his home island. The story ended, unsurprisingly, with Morgan causing more wreckage, which caused Kuzo to laugh out loud. "You know what, I get the feel most of your bounty is from damage you've caused rather than Marines you beat up!"

Morgan raised an eyebrow and nodded: "Ya know, I wouldn't be surprised if ya happen to be right." Morgan couldn't really debate Kuzo's resounding wisdom and pose a different explanation for his relatively high bounty. He had cost so much in property damage one way or another that it was a likely theory as any. As a result, Morgan threw his arms in the air before slamming down to his side. "Yeah, I got nothin'," he said with a chuckle and a smirk.

Kuzo grinned as well, before he suddenly recalled something else said to him earlier. "Oh yeah, Avril told me about you two sharing that little secret!" He exclaimed as he continued to grin. "She told me to tell you not to tell anyone else. I still can't believe she told you and not me. Well, I didn't want to know about it until I saw it myself, but still!"

"Saw what?" Morgan asked, blinking quickly. "I got no idea what ya are talkin' about." Morgan was genuinely confused, recalling the conversation he had with Avril. He was fairly sure that Avril wouldn't want her story shared with anyone unless she was ready to tell it herself. After all, he shared such sentiments with her. However, that was a story and while Morgan could visualize everything, he didn't explicitly see anything.

Kuzo pointed to Morgan and nodded. "Oh I see what you're doing there. Good, good. Just make sure not to tell anyone what you and she talked about. Let's keep it a surprise for the rest of us!"

"Um, sure?" Morgan asked, smiling as if he knew what he was talking about. "Ya got it, sir~!" Morgan finished with a thumbs up and a high pitched voice.

"Good!" Kuzo replied with a nod. "And it looks like you're feeling a bit better too, so get back to the partying!" He began forcing Morgan forward to the rest of the rowdy bunch in the restaurant.