Though she had a moment of indignance at being so unceremoniously pulled along, Lotte soon grew grateful for the force of Skellen's hand dragging her along by the arm. While it wasn't as if Lotte couldn't run further than her delicate appearance suggested she could, dodging around brawling pirates and hurrying from town to the top of a mountain? It wasn't long before her lungs were burning, and she wriggled at her wrist, trying to get Skellen's attention. "Wait- just wait a seco--AH!" Tumbling forward as she stumbled over herself, she crumpled to her feet behind him in a flurry of white fabric and long blonde hair.
"Ouch ouch-" She mumbled, looking down at the hand she'd used to stop her fall- slightly scraped and turning an angry red from the impact. But more than that, she took a deep breath to refill her lungs, before looking up at Skellen with a pout, "Why are we in such a hurry?! I'm sure the others are already there, and it's not like we can make a difference if we're the first ones there!" Giving a little huff, she pushed her hair away from her eyes with her fingertips, careful not to brush against the scraped parts. Yet despite her complaints, she got to her feet a few seconds later- her breathing evened out and seemingly perfectly fine.
"Okay, now we can go." She pulled at his hand, with a face that expectantly told him to go first. ('Mush, Skellen, mush.')
Skellen sighed, impatiently tapping his foot as he waited for Lotte to catch her breath and far to aware that with every moment that they waited the red-bearded pirate frm before and God-knows-who else were hot on their heels - not to mention whatever commotion Morgan was involved with further up.
When Lotte finally got up and proceded to tug at his hand and look at him as though he had to go first he wasn't sure whether to celebrate or to toss her from the top of the mountain later on.
"Alright, let's go then" he said to lot, proceded to sprint upwards again tugging Lotte along behind him and still talking as he did so "it looks like pretty much everyone on the island has deduced Royal Peak is the place to go, it's probably going to get crazy soon - especially since Morgan is already burning things to the ground up there. Try not to fall or anything and keep your wits about you because with my luck we've got half an hour at best before everything goes absolutley nuts." Other than that, Skellen didn't feel the need to say much unless he felt the need to make a sarcastic jibe or give an instruction.
Soon enough other pirates heading up the mountain came into view, it appeared they were all second-raters - weak pirate crews or the lackeys of more fearsom captains.
"Keep your head down Lotte, we're going straight through these guys."
She listened only half-heartedly, busy looking around them at the sights flying past. Lotte was quickly coming to learn that she could mostly ignore most of what Skellen was saying- it was all so.... technical and logical and it just didn't make any sense to her. It seemed less like he was talking to her than just thinking aloud, as far as she was concerned.
As such, his warning to keep her head down fell on deaf ears as she looked up and over his shoulder in curiousity at the sight before them-- pirates, all of them heading up the mountain. "I thought you said we weren't going to run into anybody?" She asked with an almost accusing tone, though didn't seem particularly upset about it- it was more teasing in nature as she peered around, wondering if they really had overtaken John. As her ears finally caught up with her brain, she turned her head sharply back towards Skellen, long blonde hair whipping about as she blinked at him in confusion. ".... Wait, we're going through them? Are you going to fight them then??"
Skellen laughed manically
"Fight them? Not exactly, they have noticed us yet and you may not have noticed but I tend to be pretty good with some pretty nasty poisons. If all goes well we won't have to do any fighting." Grinning wickedly, Skellen withdrew a knife from within his satchel - it had been soaked thouroughly in a nasty toxin - the poison soaking into the microscopic grooves in the specialised weapon.
"Watch out, I don't want to accidentally cut you."
Still pulling Lotte along behind him, Skellen upped his speed printing straight through the mass of pirates and delivering single gashes to any that he deemed to close. He didn't bother stopping to check his handy work, he simply kept running forward slashing at anyone in his way. He ducked under arms lunging for him and leapt over kicks - still attached to Lotte by the arm his hand tight on her wrist. He wasn't going to let her fall out of his grasp and get trampled - after all he'd grown oddly fond of the idiotic girl.
It was only when there ceased to be any pirates in front of him that Skellen allowed himself to look back and he found himself quite satisfied by the sight that graced his eyes. The majority of the pirates they had run through were twitching on the ground, howling in agony whilst those that he hadn't cut attempted to treat there fallen commrades.
Nearly bumping into him when he looked back, she gave him a quizzical look before throwing a glance over her shoulder as well-- the sight quite a surprise for her seeing as she'd not seen Skellen in a real confrontation with this many pirates before. The only one she'd seen him go toe-to-toe with was Leon, and the drastic difference in their mental capacities had always been the explanation for how equal their conflicts seemed to be.
"It's not a lethal toxin" Skellen explained to Lotte as they ran "It's based on the venom of some spiders. It isn't going to kill any human any time soon but it will leave them incapacitated, in agony, writhing on the ground and feeling quite ill. I'm an amazing doctor am I not?" Skellen laughed, realsiing as he did so that Lotte quite possibly wouldn't get the joke - a thought that only made him laugh more.
She looked back at him as he began to explain, keeping up with his pace with more ease now than she had before the break she'd imposed upon him. "Are you
sure you're a doctor?" She asked-- she was dim, but she was usually good on picking up anything that would brighten her spirits, and so she let out a laugh as well, tugging playfully at his grip on her wrist, "I don't think I've seen you do a doctor's job even once since I met you- unless you count putting Leon to sleep. Maybe I really shouldn't call you Mister Doctor after all!"
"I got the bullet out of Morgan's shoulder and patched him up too, don't forget that!" Skellen pointed out, still in a fit of laughter. He wasn't entirely sure why he was so amused, but there was something hilarious - he just couldn't pin point it. Either way, he was enjoying Lotte's company in the unfortunate situation they were in.
"Plus, if we aren't careful I'll be tending to our wounds too" his tone here was a bit more serious, but he soo found himself laughing like a mad man again.
Hopefully we get some smooth sailing for a while...
"For the last time, I don't care! I want the treasure!" Young Mina Tensen said emphatically, her loud stride crushing any fallen leaves and kicking any pebbles that scattered the ground. A small dust cloud picked up in her wake, as her two crewmates prodded along.
"Sis. You don't get it do you? There are dangerous pirates around here. Like "The Burning King" and "Akahige." You know. Real pirates." The younger of the two men, carrying a long rifle appeared to talk to down the Captain. This was a rather common occurance between Ronaldo and Mina Tensen. It wasn't going to end well.
"Don't talk to your Captain like that!" Warp Tensen cut in, standing in front of his son, waving his scimatar wildly. "Treat her with respect!"
"She's my sister, too. And your daughter. I'm looking out for her," Ronaldo protested, quietly before sighing and shaking his head, appearing to give up.
Mina turned to face the close to bickering men. "These real pirates clearly never met me. "No matter who they are, they will lose! To me! The Great Mina Tensen! Oh-hohohohoho!" She erupted in a vain attempt at manacial laughter, only to have her voice pop into something borderline cute. Warp begin to praise his daughter as she laughed, bowing down in her magnificance as Ronaldo brought his palm to his forehead, muttering vulgar murmurs to himself. "And we will begin with you!" Mina ordered as she pointed to the chuckling Skellen. However she paused and cocked her head to the side. "Who are you...?"
Skellen paused, dropping Lotte's arm at the sudden noise - apparently he hadn't heard the approach of the other group over his own laughter. Skellen turned slowly, a hand sliding into his pocket just in case and at the sight before him his jaw near nearly hit the ground. It was the three pirates that they had run into before, before the Akahige pirates had interupted. The whiny brat, the delusional old man and the gunman who actually seemed to have half a brain. Skellen raised an eyebrow at the confused looking girl.
"My name's Skellen" he said to the Tensen's, a smirk spreading across his face "you haven't forgotten me have you prissy pirate? We only met a few hours ago - you know before the akahige's - real pirates - interrupted you in your pointless atempts at appearing dangerous."
Skellen wasn't entirely sure what to do, if the Tensen's did attack he'd have to keep an eye out for Lotte as well and the pris did have a devil's fruit - in saying that though they did not seem to be a particularly dangerous group to Skellen based upon the seeming stupidity of two of them and the discension in their ranks caused by the gunman with a brain.
Their ridiculous personaltiies make it hard to judge how hard it will be to keep Lotte safe... I think it is a safe bet that they'll target me primarily though.
"So, are you here to finish what you started? Or are you going to go back to your boat and have a tea party like a good little girl?"
Though released from Skellen's grip, she made no movements to hide away- only staring over at the little girl and what seemed like her two lackeys. How fascinating-- when she was that girl's age, she would hardly have ever even dreamed of leaving her home, let alone go searching for treausre and defeating pirates like Skellen. But as Skellen's mouth began to run with taunts, she glanced over at him with an exasperated look- she didn't bother to remind him that she didn't ever get wounds that really needed tending to- instead she glanced back to Mina Tensen, curiously waiting for the situation to play out.
Mina fumed, steam practically pouring out of her ears as her face flushed in a bright red. "Ronaldo!! Shoot him!"
"But he's an actual pi-"
"I said shoot him! Now!"
Ronaldo sighed as he took the gun from around his shoulder and quickly lined up a shot. In less than a mere second, a bullet whizzed by Skellen's face, leaving him with only a slight cut on his cheek, marking the bullet's trajectory. "That was a warning shot," Ronaldo said. Mina appeared to be more angry in the background, but Ronaldo completely ignored her inaudible yapping. "I heard about you, Skellen," Ronaldo continued as he reloaded his weapon. "And unlike my sister here, I know when to choose my battles. But if you threaten her, I will not hesistate to put a bullet right between your eyes." Ronaldo brought up the gun to his eyes and took aim for another shot. His eyes looked like a hawk's observing Skellen and Lotte's every move.
"A fan?" Skellen said, grinning maniacally "well if you know me, you probably know that you probably want to avoid being cut up by me." Skellen's eyes narrowed, quickly scanning over the area around him. To his left there was the edge of the cliff, to the right a thick grouping of trees before a sharp ascent that would be almost impossible to climb.
I guess using them for cover wouldn't last long, the trees are acked tight but that patch of forest is shallow. So I'm going to have to try something a little bit riskier...
"Hey Lotte, wanna see something awesome?"
In a single fluid motion Skellen had simultaneously thrown three dud razors (what he sometimes called the blades without posion) and ran forward, dropping into a tuck-and-roll skidding to his feet behind the Tenesen pirates. Withdrawing a knife from his satchel - this time a weapon that was most definitely poisonous - he brought it downwards, intending to drive it into Ronaldo's shoulder by his neck.
Having whipped about to see Ronaldo's bullet graze Skellen's face, she had been warily listening to the incessant stream of taunts when Skellen suddenly jumped forward- while she remained standing where she was, unconcerned that she was technically also apart of the battle. Lotte's eyes followed his nimble movements as best they could, but to no avail- by the time she'd caught up with what was happening, Skellen's knife was already sinking through the air. But rather than staring at the knife, Lotte's gaze snapped towards the young girl and the older man, brow furrowing in realization that it was technically 3 versus 1-- a very unfair arrangement as far as she was concerned...
The Tensen pirates all nimbly the dodged the razors. Ronaldo sidestepped the one, Warp ducked under his while Mina hit the dirt for hers, overreacting just a tad. As Skellen dove towards Ronaldo, intending to end the fight in mere moments. Warp intervened, shoulder bashing the preying Skellen, sending him tumbling into the dirt. "No one dares attack MY daughter and gets away with it!" Warp declared. He pulled out his scimitar, it's large blade looming over the bruised Skellen.
Ronaldo, visibly disgruntled that he didn't read Skellen's strategy, prepared his rifle for another shot. "My father has a tendency to go a little beserk when anyone threatens our...captain. If you value whatever life you have, I'd say you should take your friend there and head home." Ronaldo took aim for Skellen's head. "Last chance."
"Just kill him!" Mina barked.
"Can it," Ronaldo shouted back.
"Dear God you're all related." Skellen sighed, laughing at this sudden recognition "Seriously Ronaldo, your captain is your little sister? How did that happen?" Skellen acted as though he were merely carrying on a conversation, not lying on the ground with a gun pointed at his head - he had no intention of sitting there and getting put to death when Ronaldo caved into his sister's incessent whining.
"Old man, realistically speaking you should be the captain here since your their father but in saying that if you want to last much longer on the Grand Line Ronaldo here should be running the show since he seems to have a brain. You missy," he directed his gaze to the fuming Mina Tensen "are too much of an idiotic whiny priss to lead a ship, and if you keep giving orders to kill people then I hope you're also prepared to die. You had a lot of innocents killed on that street back in the town, you're as bad as marines."
The instant Skellen had finished speaking he rolled slightly to the side, forcing Ronaldo to correct his aim - but he was too slow to do so. Skellen pressed his hands hard to the ground and just as the muzzle of the musket found its mark once more his leg shot up into Ronaldo's hand and pointing the gun upwards. Skellen the quickly righted himself, elbowing the gunman in the gut as he got to his feet and through a handful of razors at Mina and Garp - each one of them dowsed in a neaurotoxin that would gradually shut down their bodies once in their bloodstream.
Skellen now stood close, but nowhere near as close to the Tensen's and between them and Lotte.
[i}If I can take out Ronaldo I know exactly how to deal with the other two - the problem is that I have to watch out for the others as well as his gun as I do so... In my next attack I'll faint towards them but aim for Ronaldo - that will let me put them in between me and his bullets and hopefully result in him no longer being a problem.[/i]
Ronaldo's gun fired as Skellen kicked it up and the sharp elbow caused the sniper to take a few steps to recover and find his composure. The loud shot caused the edgy Mina to duck down, the flurry of razors just missing their marks. Warp's fatherly instincts kicked in and he went to comfort his daughter, causing those razors to also concidentially miss. Luck was not on Skellen's side. Murmurs were exchanged between the two before the two stared down their sole opponent. Ronaldo appeared to be winded. "Now," Mina ordered. Warp picked up his daughter and heaved her in the direction of Skellen. Mina went feet first, appearing to want to kick Skellen straight in the face, but Warp's aim was off catapulting the small girl into a nearby tree. However, the tree snapped, it's base shattering into hundreds of pieces as if a cannonball struck it.
Mina emerged from the wreckage without as much as a scratch. "I ate the Kilo-Kilo Fruit," she proudly stated. "I can change my weight to whatever I want! Oh-hohohohohoho." She once again roared with laughter before suddenly ceasing to speak. "I am going to crush until you agree to help me claim the treasure that I want!"
Lotte had since laced her fingers together, twiddling her thumbs in apprehension as shots and hits were exchanged- head turning left and right as she watched the battle like a stage performance... But at Mina's comment she tilted her head, piping up "... I thought you were trying to
kill Skellen, not get him to help you." She pointed out, tapping her chin with the tip of her index finger in thought.
"I-I-I--" Mina puttered, unable to really muster an answer.
Ronald coughing as he caught his breath from Skellen's elbow. "Yeah, she's indecisive."
"Yes, thank you for pointing that out Lotte. It means the world to me that you're trying to get me killed, really it does." Skellen winked at Lotte, might as well enjoy himself a little, turning to look back at Mina he just shook his head
"You didn't have to tell me that, I know from our meeting earlier. You shouldn't brag about relying on Devil's Fruit anyway, it's a great way to make sure you die faster."
I think they expect me to go for her...
"I wasn't trying to get you killed, I was just making sure whether I should be worried or not." She replied candidly, running a hand through her hair. Still, Mina's devil fruit didn't seem like a very good power- being able to make herself change weight. She'd seen plenty of devil fruits on board their own ship already to make Mina's a rather unimpressive sounding one. (Who would WANT to get fat???)
Skellen withdrew a dagger from his satchel
"The best part about being me, is that if I cut you with something - even a tiny scratch - it could mean you'll die. This, little girl" Skellen continued, speaking directly to Mina so as to hide his true intent "will send you into convultions the moment the toxin it is coated with gets into your blood. It probably won't kill you, but the pain will be so incapacitating and exrutiating that you'll wish you were dead. You'll be unable to move bar the uncrontrollable writhing, so I'll get to very slowly cut out your organs to use later." Skellen moved forward, as though he was going to run for Mina, but at the last second spun on his foot lunging for Ronaldo and engaging him with a flurry of rapid slashes, kicks and punches.
Lotte gathered up her skirts as Skellen went on about his knives despite having told Mina not to brag about her powers either. Tucking the fabric under her knees, she squatted and picked up a stick, drawing in the dirt as she waited for the battle to wrap up.
Mina gasped at Skellen's threat and watching almost nervously (somewhat believing Ronaldo to be the fixer of all situations) as Ronaldo was confronted by Skellen's brutal attack. Ronaldo was hardly an accomplished close range fighter and the barrage of attacks overwhelmed in. He focused on the dagger, dodging those attacks successfully thought a solid kick nailed him in the gut, almost in the same spot as he was struck before. Ronaldo, taken aback, fell to the ground, wheezing as the wind escaped from his lungs. But as Ronaldo collasped to recollect himself, Warp dove into the fray. Brandishing his large blade, he sought to cleave Skellen in half. He swung wildly, lacking any sense of discipline in his stance or style. It was as if a father was blindly protecting his family with fury, rather than composure. Mina's face glowed as her father proudly swarmed Skellen with a barrage of scimitar attacks. But also, that was the cue for a given plan.
Mina jumped high in the air, changing her weight to something lighter than air. For a moment, she was smaller than an ant in the blue sky. But, then her weight changed. She became heavier than steel and she was pulled in by gravity. As she came crashing down to the earth, she aimed directly for Skellen. This time she wasn't intent on missing.
Skellen flashed a grin at the injured Ronaldo before being forced backwards by the wild swing being delivered by the enraged Warp. It was apparent that he lacked the discipline of the truly great swordsman, but that didn't mean Skellen could afford to let his guard down - if his plan was going to work he couldn't afford to be bogged down doging wild swings.
Stepping back Skellen tripped on a looser patch of soil, falling to one knee and barely lifting the blade of his knife in time to prevent his head from being sliced in half by the larger of the two weapons. Skellen struggled against Warp, but was disadvantaged a lot by the leverage the older pirate had against him.
I really cannot afford to be stu-where's the priss? Skellen shifted his gaze up slightly, catching sight of an object falling rapidly falling from the sky - falling straight towards him.
"Oh... there she is." A mere fraction of a second before he'd have been completely crushed Skellen through himself to the side abandoning his knife in the process and being sent sprawling across the ground before he eventually rolled to a halt, climbing to his feet to see a decently sized crater where he'd been kneeling only a moment ago.
"That could have been unpleasant, now where were we?"
Skellen took a few deep breaths, getting his bearings and regaining his composure before launching his next attack. Skellen ran directly towards the regrouped Tensen pirates, taking note that Warp was inadvertantly blocking Ronaldo's shots with his positioning. Upon reaching the group Skellen swivelled past Warp's sword, using the blunter inner edge as a boost he simultaneously forced a loss of balance in the swordsman whilst leaping over his head allowing him to throw another flurry of toxic razors towars Ronaldo before he landed behind the gunman, not hesitating to see if his projectiles hit their target but immediately launching himself into hand-to-hand combat against the gunman.
You don't like fighting close up so much do you...
Ronaldo jumped out of the way of the razors only to be flanked by the clever Skellen. Skellen's skill on the field suprised Ronaldo greatly. Sure, Warp was unrefined, but he was strong. Mina was predictable but headstrong. Ronaldo had to show his strengths now. For he was adaptable. Ronaldo plowed the butt of his gun into Skellen's stomach, spun around and struck him again in the head. "I may favor long range, but I can hold my own well enough. You need to be up close to use those razors effectively," Ronaldo spaced himself, keeping Skellen away with his rifle aimed at his head, before smirking and suddenly popping a shot into Skellen's shoulder, knocking the doctor to the ground from the impact. "If Mina is intent on keeping you alive, I simply need to make you incapable of doing much of anything. Tossing around these little daggers," Ronaldo said with such lack of emotion as he knocked away any loose daggers with his foot. "These seem to be your weapon of choice. Well, with that shoulder you won't be throwing them around so easily anymore." He placed the muzzle of his rifle in Skellen's face. "Any last words?"
"Oh- Yes!" Lotte interjected suddenly, raising her hand and the stick that had been tracing lines in the dirt at Ronaldo's prompt for last words. She got to her feet, shuffling over a bit closer at the opportunity to say something, "Yes I have some last words- or a last question really- that is, why are we fighting?" Tilting her head she folded her arms in thought, "I've been wondering for awhile now- but first you wanted to kill Skellen- why I'm not really sure- but then you wanted him to help you find the treasure... but Skellen and I aren't even looking for the treasure, we're just looking for our friends. And so we're not possibly fighting over who gets the treasure, right? And then if you point your gun at him like that, then you seem like you want to kill him again, but I don't understand why you'd do that either- since you seem like very nice pirates that don't go around killing people just for fun. So I don't get it: Why are we fighting again?"
Ronaldo blinked and gestured with his head to Lotte: "Who is she exactly? Your answer won't count for the whole last words thing."
"Lotte?" Skellen laughed at the sudden question "she's everyone's favourite tag-along. She ended up on a ship through a fortunate - well for her - turn of events and we ended up becoming somewhat fond of her."
"That makes me sound like your pet!" She pouted, "I'm-...." A moment of hesitation as she realized that what Skellen said was in all technicality the only way to describe it- and it wasn't so bad, now that she'd gone over it in her mind. "... I'm tagging along!"
Skellen then sat back, getting comfortable - appearing as though he was chosing his last words carefully. The pain in his shoulder was intense, and the bullet lodged in the wound was making it next to impossible to move his right arm properly.
He thinks I'm a close range specialist... that will prove a useful oversight once I'm done with him. They won't expect me to attack from a distance. But still, I have to deal with him first and having that gun so close to my head is making it rather difficult.
Skellen's eyes shifted down slightly to his satchel, a large syringe partially full of a transparent liquid catching his eye.
That will certainly do the trick... and I kinda like this guy so not having to kill him is quite the bonus.
Skellen looked up at Ronaldo, staring past the gun pointed at his head as though it wasn't even there and without taking his eyes off the gunman began speaking, his voice a strange combination of cold and calculated and adrenalin-fueled.
"Lotte, want to see something else awesome?"
"As long as it's cooler than what you've shown me so far?" She teased a little, stepping forward for a closer look-
Skellen shot his good arm forward, pushing the barrel of the gun aside before rolling onto it - pulling the weapon from Ronaldo's hands, shouting in pain as his shoulder hit the ground the hard metal musket underneath it doing nothing to alleviate the pain.
"Here's some words for you Ronaldo, nighty night". The Taipan swept the legs of the gunman from out below him, tripping him and reached into his satchel, lungign at the downed Tensen the syringe now in his hand. Landing over Ronaldo, Skellen jabbed the syringe containing a smaller dose of Leon's sedative into his opponents leg pushing the plunger down and injecting him with the fluid. Rolling off of Ronaldo, and wincing in pain as his shoulder hit the ground once more Skellen lay there panting for a while before slowly staggering to his feet.
"Ronaldo was late for his nap time" Skellen smirked "Two to go."
"Ronaldo!" Mina yelled as her brother collasped to the ground in a matter of seconds. The sniper seemed content as he slept on the floor, silently snoring as he escaped into dreamland. "Warp! Cannonbal!" Mina ordered as she leapt into the air. Her father caught her again and launched his daughter straight at Skellen with more speed than ever before. In midair, she altered her weight once again, going as heavy as she could. Flying through the air and aiming for Skellen's center, Mina hoped to crush every bone in Skellen's body.
The succesful dodge was luck more than anything, Skellen had been expecting Mina to run her mouth some more not launch into an immediate attack and it was merely by chance that he'd staggered to the side in a shot of pain - the captain of the Tensen pirate's flying straight past him brushing him and knocking him to the side with her velocity. Wincing as he hit the ground, dirt getting into the wound and causing a painful sting, Skellen hurriedly pushed himself to his feet again. He needed to tire the Tensens out and keep them together, which would prove difficult if Warp just kept throwing Mina around.
"I guess I'll just have to work it out as I go..."
Skellen grinned
Time to show them I don't have any problems with long range... Reaching back into the satchel, Skellen withdrew two razors and lauched them at Warp. They appeared to be heading directly for the man, but Skellen you they were actually slightly to either side of him, so if he dodged left or right he'd get hit. If he ducked he'd just be more vulnerable.
Let's see how this goes...
Warp eyes perked wide open as the razors flew at him. Warp ducked out of instinct as he prepared his blade for a major onslaught of attacks. Mina meanwhile leapt into the air after shifting her weight back to something far lower, hoping to grab enough air time to blitz Skellen and end the fight with a not so careful surprise attack.
Skellen darted forward towards the crouching Warp intending to kick his head, temporarily forgetting to consider the speed at which Mina could come at him by changing her weight in mid air. Just as Skellen was about to connect his foot with Warp's face he remembered Mina, turning slightly to see her as she crashed into his right side and back with a loud crash and a crunching noise.
The attack had been a glancing blow, throwing Skellen to the side with the ground he had been standing on taking the majority of the impact. A large crater was no taking the place Skellen had jsut occupied, the ground in terrible shape and Skellen feeling as though he wasn't doing much better. An enormous pain was running through the Taipan's right side and he found himself gasping and coughing, a trickle of blood rolling down his chin. In agony, Skellen forced himself back to his feet, his head aching and dizziness making him sway slightly on top of the great pain in his ribs
A Snapped rib or two, punctured lung, potential concussion and a bullet wound in my left shoulder. I can't really afford to take much more, I'm not intangible like Morgan nor bulky like Kuzo or Leon - I rely on evasion, precision and agility rather than powering through hits I take and hammering on people as hard as I can.
Skellen staggered over to Lotte as Mina climbed from the hole she had made, taking a rope from his bag and handing it to the girl.
"Hold this for a while, it's the only one I've got so don't lose it." The Taipan then flashed one of his devilish grins and drawing more razors - these coated with a toxin that would gradually shut down the brain - ran towards the two Tensens ready to put his plan into action.
Though unsure as to why she was holding on to the rope, Lotte nodded and clutched it to herself securely- feeling quite sorry for how beat up Skellen was in comparison to herself who remained surprisingly untouched. In fact, if she weren't a little concerned for the doctor, she might've just left earlier on seeing as the other pirates seemed wholly unconcerned with her- but perhaps she could use that to her advantage, as she watched Skellen dive back into action.
Ah. There was something she could do though, wasn't there? She inched over towards the soundly sleeping Ronaldo, moving as inconspicuously as she could manage (not difficult seeing as she'd been mostly left to do her own thing the entirety of the battle) and tugged the man's rifle from his slackened grip. She hadn't the slightest idea how to fire a gun- but she could always render it unusable lest someone else get any bright ideas-- and so began to drag it over towards the cliffside, intending to throw it over.
"Ronaldo's gun!" Mina yelled. She knew deep down how much Ronaldo valued the rifle. In fact, other than protecting his sister, the rifle was one of the few things he valued on the whole pirating venture she forced her family to endure. Ronaldo took great pride in the rifle and she believed his skill with it was second to none. Mina did her signature leap, aiming within inches of Lotte hoping to snatch the rifle before she tossed aside.
Letting out a yelp of surprise, Lotte tumbled over her feet, splaying onto the dirt as Mina came flying by-- the force of it all being considerably more than Lotte had imagined it would be. The gun in her grasp clattered away, rolling dangerously close to the edge of the cliff but not quite making it over the side.
Meanwhile, Warp braced himself for Skellen's charge. Lacking the sharp mind of his son and fighting on fumes to protect his daughter from the ill fate Ronaldo just faced. He drew his scimitar and was ready to bring down the blade, hoping to slice the doctor into two. A head on approach just seemed to work better in this case. He knew he was stronger than Skellen and if the doctor was going to run into his arms, why not let him?
Skellen slid to a halt just out of reach of the older pirate's scimitar, smirking at Warp and gesturing at him to come right for him
"That the best you can do old man?" Warp flying into an onslaught of hacks and slashes, Skellen quickly but subtly moved back further and further, always jsut out of reach of the Tensen's weapon. Skellen moved further and further back, until he was battling Warp practically on top of Mina and Lotte.
"You're nearly done for" Skellen laughed at Warp, who was still clueless as to what was going on.
"Ouch ouch--" Lotte whined as she pushed herself up off the ground-- but she quickly whirled around, hearing the sound of Skellen's voice just beside her and Warp's sword flying left and right. But where was Mina? .... As she looked around, her eyes fell first on the rope that Skellen had asked her to hold onto, and she dived for it instead of the gun, scrambling to her feet despite her torn up knee, "Skellen!"
Mina dove for the gun when she saw the opening, the dust in the air causing her to almost slip off the cliff. She exhaled loudly, a major sigh of relief really as she saved the prized gun. Mina stumbled to her feet and attempted to aim the gun at Skellen as her father almost the pinned the deadly doctor to a very figurative wall. Trying to steady her aim, Mina fired a renegade shot, missing terribly and knocking herself back down the ground. This distracted the elderly pirate as he yelped for a moment, halting his attack for a mere moment letting his guard down.
Seizing the moment, Skellen yelled for Lotte
"Chuck me an end of the rope and run round to this side!"
"What?!" She replied, flustered and surprised that he wasn't just taking the whole rope off of her-- actually getting her involved!! But though she questioned his instructions, she followed them without hesitation, tossing him the other end of the rope and running around towards where he directed without really processing what he was trying to accomplish.
Skellen once again flashed a maniacal grin as he ran forward, catching the the rope and running to where only moments ago Lotte had been standing.
"Pull tight now, we don't want them getting loose. Don't loosen how hard your pulling and do another couple of laps around them before stopping next to me again. Don't worry, they won't get loose so long as we keep pulling tight."
"Can't you just run by yourself??" Lotte whined, catching on to his plan and instantly processing the alternative in which she wouldn't actually have to actively participate.
"Just do it, you're weaker so can't hold them still as well." Skellen groaned, pulling tighter on the rope "Seriously, now!"
Sticking out her tongue, she did as she was told, keeping the rope tight in her hands, feeling quite foolish as she ran and ducked around the two.
Once Skellen had recieved the rope from Lotte, he proceeded to tie a tight knot in it, having to move clsoer to the Tensens as he did so - grinning his manic grin at them and making it apparent it was over for them. Skellen looked at Mina, narrowing his eyes accentuating his sharp gaze and snake-like look Skellen said to her in a low, deadly voice
"Do you know what happens now?"
"What happens now?" Lotte asked curiously, tilting her head despite the fact that the question had not been addressed towards her.
"...what happens now?" Mina asked, gulping as her father was attempt to power himself through the tight knotted rope.
Skellen's smile grew
"This" and with that, the Taipan dropped pushing up on the ground with one hand and using it as an extra push to his kick - sending the bound pirates off the edge of the cliff.
"Now... just give me a minute and I'll be ready to keep going" Skellen said, giving Lotte a thumbs-up.
As she felt the rope in her hand begin to struggle against the weight of the Tensens falling, Lotte let go without hesitation, holding her hands up as her bit of rope whipped past her and down the cliffside. Welp, that was that. She brushed her hands off before looking down at her own knees at Skellen's prompting to give him a second-- no doubt for a breather. He'd taken quite a beating himself, really. She, on the other hand, checked her scraped knee-- pleased to find that the cuts themselves had already disappeared. All she wanted now was a wet cloth to wipe off the smeared blood and dirt....
But of course, such things were nowhere to be found as they made their way up the mountain- thankfully unhindered this time. She was more careful this time- but still attempting to catch up with the others, swift. Had there been one stroke of good luck that day, it was that the blazing fires made it rather easy to find which direction they were supposed to be headed towards-- and making good time, Lotte and Skellen would soon reach the top of the peak.....