Disclaimer: Hi. I don't own One Piece. Bye.
Chapter Two: Potential and Disaster
Euro cocked his head to the side in a taunting manner, and watched in amusement as the gesture only seemed to make Jackie even more enraged. He shook his head with a slight chuckle and hefted Same no Ha up in the common defensive stance.
Her fury dwindling away quickly, Jackie raised Kazekaki and shot him an inferior glare. "Don't underestimate me, idiot." she jutted out her chin defiantly. "I'm stronger than I look."
Euro smiled just a bit. "Then in that case, don't underestimate me, either."
"I wouldn't dream of it." Jackie shot back, and with that closing statement, lunged for Euro, unable to keep still for a second longer.
Raising her left fist, Kazekaki glinting menacingly under the sunlight, Jackie swiftly closed the distance between her and her opponent's face.
Startled at her speed, Euro just managed to bring Same no Ha up to defend himself, and the two weapons clashed furiously. Instead of hearing the metal of her weapon slice across the bandages, Jackie looked down in surprise when she heard the sound of metal on metal. They were only just retreating, but the tiny, silver spikes that poked out from underneath the white bandages, before disappearing once again, had definitely been there.
Before Jackie could investigate her newfound discovery any further, Euro had recovered from his initial shock at the raven-haired girl's speed, and calmly used his upper arm muscles to side-sweep Same no Ha with the intent to catch the younger girl in a single, clean blow.
But Jackie wouldn't have it. She raised her right arm quickly, Kazekaki blocking the strike an inch away from her grinning head. Holding Same no Ha back with strength that once again surprise Euro, she said, "Looks like we both have some tricks up our sleeves, huh?"
Euro smirked in approval and mild admiration, but said nothing. This girl, this seventeen year old girl, was holding back Same no Ha with only a Wind and Fire Wheel. But his impressed state didn't last. The ends of Kazekaki, resembling spitting fire, were slowly digging their razor-sharp edges into his precious weapon, which was not okay with Euro, not at all.
He pulled back first, mostly out of concern for Same no Ha, and took a step back as Jackie swung Kazekaki into thin air, where Euro had been just a moment ago.
Then they stood across from each other, both assessing the other, planning their attacks and strategies (well, Jackie was admiring Same no Ha again, watching the spikes retreat in fascination), and waiting to see who would attack first.
Euro soon lost his patience, and proceeded to attack Jackie without warning.
He leaped forward and closed the distance in an instant, jolting Jackie from her reverie. Her left foot stepped back as she turned her body counter-clockwise slightly, but wasn't fast enough. A spike had just grazed her right shoulder when she bent sideways to the left, turning some more so that her back was to the deadly weapon, and following with a quick handstand, ignoring the slight twinge in her shoulder and using her left foot to kick the tip of Same no Ha, propelling her forward into another cartwheel and pushing Euro back a bit. Unfortunately, it also gave a spike the opportunity to punch its way through her thin boots, wounding the heel of her left foot.
Blood trickled slowly down her bare shoulder, but Jackie grinned happily as if it weren't there. "This is fun," she said aloud, bending her left leg with ease so that she could inspect her injury under her boot. After a quick glance and a small shrug, she put her foot back down and -
Ziiiing!
The second throwing knife that Jackie had taken from her boot, under the pretense of checking her wound, came speeding towards Euro, who only had time to widen his eyes and shift slightly before the tip grazed his right cheek. Blood welled up at the affected area and trickled down slowly. The knife embedded itself in the tree behind him, just above the first one.
He raised his hand up to wipe away the access blood, smirking ruefully. Damn. He hadn't been fast enough. But… He raised his huge, bandaged weapon, tilting his right hand and elbow so that Same no Ha blocked his face and chest at an angle.
Simultaneously, they both ran for the other.
"Same no..." Euro started, wielding his weapon like an expert, eyes trained on his opponent, "... Ago!"
Kazekaki clashed powerfully with Same no Ha, actually letting out a ripple of pure, visible energy. Jackie was holding Euro at bay, both trying to fight for dominance over the other. With both hands occupied for both parties, Jackie kicked backwards, around her back and over her head with almost inhuman flexibility, successfully managing to hit a hard blow at Euro's head. With a low grunt on Euro's part, both fighters slid away from the other at the collision, raising up a thick cloud of dust.
Jackie, expecting Euro to check his wound before re-entering the battle, was surprised when Same no Ha flashed into her view, through the dust, a second before it painfully scraped down her side. Blood welled up quickly in place of the wound, running down her hip and soaking through her tank in a matter of seconds.
Wincing in pain, Jackie gritted her teeth, determined not to let a sound out. Before the dust could fully clear, she caught sight of Euro's silhouette and lunged.
The sound of metal clashing filled the air as both parties, one with a head injury and the other with a gash in her side, ducked, dodged, slashed, and rolled. Their movements became a flurry of activity, both succumbing to their instincts, both managing to get a few cuts in here and there.
Suddenly, Euro changed tactics, bring up the butt of Same no Ha and colliding the hilt with Jackie's jaw. They both heard the sickening crunch, and a searing pain shot through her wound, before staying there. Biting on her tongue so hard it started to bleed, Jackie swallowed her scream, instead letting out a strained grunt, and tried working her jaw slowly as she continued to exchange blows with Euro.
Kick. Slash. Dodge. Parry. Lunge.
The fight almost started to become monotonous; the moves repeated themselves again and again. Euro received some more minor cuts, and one long, deep one across his chest, as well as another heavy blow to his cranium. In turn, Jackie got swept of her feet in a low slash with Same no Ha, her back colliding painfully with the hard earth, along with some broken fingers, the result of when she had lost one Kazekaki (it had been knocked back, hopelessly far), and had to resort to using her bare hand to hold back Euro's weapon.
Ten minutes later, battered, bruised and bleeding, Jackie and Euro stood across from each other in the large, strangely empty docking area, staring the other down but neither backing out. Jackie was clutching her still bleeding side, that had been quickly bandaged with a torn piece of her tank with one hand (the broken one), and held her remaining Wind and Fire wheel in the other, trying hard not to faint from the loss of too much blood. Euro was leaning quite a bit on Same no Ha, his twitching fingers resisting the overwhelming urge to clutch his head through his severe migraine.
Breathing hard, neither moved for a moment, then, figuring she should end the fight soon, Jackie shot up into action. Euro was surprised at her speed, even though she was severely injured (he knew where he had hit her) and braced himself to parry her next attack, when she leaped over him in a high somersault and landed behind him, running for the tree just a few paces ahead.
Twisting his body, Euro hurried to face his opponent, tensing his back in anticipation...
When he felt… nothing. Turning around fully, he saw Jackie standing before him, one Kazekaki in one hand and a throwing knife in the other. Had she been… waiting for him?
Sensing his confusion, Jackie said shortly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "I never attack my opponent when their back is to me."
Then, before Euro could reply, she ran past the clearing, closing the distance between them in an instant. "Kaze... Tatzumaki!" Jackie shouted, her remaining Kazekaki twirling faster, and faster, and faster... The blade twirled around her finger, speeding up until they were just a blur, a mini tornado forming, the wind actually becoming visible to the naked eye.
Eyes widening, Euro braced himself, Same no Ha coming up to shield his chest...
Fwoosh…
The air shifted, ever so slightly, the leaves stopping their descent to the ground for just a moment. The wind blew without a care once more.
Euro.
Blood trickled slowly from his mouth, a thin, red line. The world around them blurred out, until it was just the two of them, Jackie's flyaway strands of hair floating in the breeze, Kazekaki protruding from Euro's chest, one lone, sharp flame piercing his skin right in the middle, purposely missing any vital organs.
It seemed like eternity had passed before either of them even dared to move. Euro was slipping in and out of consciousness, his lips pressed into a grim line as he struggled to stay awake.
Then, Jackie allowed herself a brief, inward grin in victory. Pulling out her red-stained weapon, she hefted Euro over her shoulder, and as a silent agreement passed between the two of them, the both of them started walking in the direction of the village…
But not before grabbing Jackie's oh-so-precious, remaining Kazekaki along the way.
"Um… Jackie?" Euro's voice was hoarse; raspy.
"Yeah?"
"You're… going the wrong way."
"...I knew that."
Jackie hummed quietly to herself. "Lala-la... la – OW!" Wincing, she attempted to withdrawal her arm, but the doctor only tugged it back with a quick glare to silence the pirate. "Jeez, old man, don't need to be so rough..." She muttered under her breath, which, of course, he heard, causing another quick tug.
Looking around, she saw only a blinding white from the interior of the clinic, and frowned. "Hey, old man, could I have some gin? The strongest you've got, please."
"In my clinic? Not likely." The old man retaliated sharply, "And stop talking for a moment; your jaw will start smarting again. Not to mention the numerous slashes across your body. What in the world were you thinking, challenging Euro like that? He's immensely strong, you know."
Frowning, Jackie tugged on her ponytail with her free hand in agitation and pouted childishly. "Yeah, well, I won, didn't I?" She leaned forward eagerly. "Hey, old man, how is he doing, anyways?"
"He'll live," the doctor responded shortly.
Jackie leaned back in satisfaction, thinking about the fight earlier that day and rubbing her smarting (damn) jaw ruefully. Wow, he was strong. If it wasn't for her fast reflexes, she would have been skewered in an instant. And that sword-like weapon of his… Same no Ha… It sent shivers up her spine just thinking about it. It sure was cool!
While he was good, Jackie smiled slightly at herself for being better. That was a good thing, because if she was going to take Euro as her crew mate, it wouldn't be right for the captain to be weaker. And she was determined to recruit the blue-haired man into her crew.
Takayoshi Euro, First Mate. Yep, sounded pretty good to her!
Jackie's eye ticked as the needle pricked her skin, and waited impatiently for the doctor to stitch her side, where Same no Ha had left a good, deep cut. The old man tugged on the thread with his teeth, and nodded in satisfaction at his work.
And kept on staring, and staring…
"HEY! Old man, pervert!" Jackie said furiously as her common sense finally caught up with her. She swung her right leg sideways, catching the man in his gut and sending him flying rather comically. She harrumphed. "...Ought to teach you... Pervert ossan..."
"Um, hey, everything alright in here?" A familiar voice called out. Without even turning to look, Jackie knew he had an eyebrow raised. Again.
"Yep!" She said cheerfully, waving at Euro, who indeed had the expression she thought he would on his face. "Everything is just peachy! How's your wound?" she asked in genuine concern. Then, she smiled cheekily. "Can't have my first mate injured before we set sail, ya know!"
Euro's eye ticked. "I'm not your first mate," he muttered. "but I'm fine; took a nap -" here, Jackie muttered, 'You passed out', but he ignored her and went on, "and I feel better already. Oh, and..." He started in a resigned voice. "You are a pretty good... mrggph..." He mumbled the last part, so that it was incoherent.
"What was that?" Jackie asked with an impish grin. "I didn't quite catch it."
"I said, you are a pretty good nngh."
"Come again?" She asked innocently.
"YOU'RE A GOOD FIGHTER!" Euro shouted, losing his composure. "There! I said it."
Jackie laughed. "Thanks, you too. You're a worthy adversary, Euro." A thought suddenly entered her mind and her face turned gravely serious, catching Euro's utmost attention. "I almost forgot... D'you have any gin?" She laughed when Euro nearly fell to the floor at her 'serious' request, sweat dropping.
Euro shook his head in disbelief. This girl had the most bizarre mood swings. "Yeah," he replied, rubbing his bandaged head, courtesy of Jackie, slowly. "I'll introduce you to the old man." Without waiting to see if she was following, Euro turned around and walked out the door, Jackie bounding happily (but carefully, minding her injured heel) behind him before moving up to his side.
"So who's this 'old man'?" She asked curiously, cocking her head to the side to see Euro's profile better.
"He's my grandfather, Takayoshi Gin." Jackie let slip a giggle at the name. Euro eyed her with an eyebrow raised. "What?" he asked simply, turning left. Jackie followed him, still giggling.
"Takayoshi... Gin. And I want to drink some gin. Which means I want to drink your grandfather. Get it?" Jackie asked between bouts of laughter. "I mean, that isn't even possible, but it's funny!" Euro rolled his eyes to the heavens. This girl...
"Euro-kun! Euro-kun!" A voice shouted a ways away. Jackie and Euro turned to see a lone woman, wringing her hands nervously.
"Is there something wrong, Tennouji-san?" Euro asked politely.
"It's... It's Gin, Euro. He - " Tennouji started, but before she could finish, Euro was running in the direction of the tavern as fast as he could.
Jackie blinked in confusion, then thanked the lady and ran after the blue-haired man.
Euro stared at the scene before him, appalled, as Jackie caught up to him. "What – what happened here?"
The doors were unhinged and tossed carelessly to the side. Random parts of the bar were scorched black, and there were numerous, ragged holes in the walls. Through the holes and the door, Jackie and Euro spotted about ten men, clanking tankards of ale together and laughing uproariously. At the center of the room, smug eyes overlooking the place as he took a sip of liquor, was a man that oozed authority.
A smirk was on his lips, and his green eyes danced as he looked at something presumably in the corner. His dirty blonde hair fell over his forehead and his heavy-set body looked solid and strong. He even laughed evilly. Beside him, a woman with fiery red hair and dark eyes exuded the same confidence as the first man.
"What the – hey! Euro!" Jackie followed Euro without a second's hesitation as he strode purposefully inside the room.
The whole inside of the bar abruptly stopped their celebrations when they heard Euro punch the side of the door in his anger, nearly shaking the whole place. Several pirates jumped, and even the two leaders looked surprised. While they were distracted, Jackie slipped behind and around Euro and towards the far corner, where an aging man who must've been Gin sat hunched over, tied up, and bleeding.
"What's going on in here?" Euro practically roared. "Where's – grandpa!" Catching sight of Jackie slashing Gin's bonds open, and taking the dirty rag out of his mouth, Euro ran to his grandfather, worry written clearly on his face.
Together, they helped Gin up to his feet, who coughed up more blood into his closed fist. "Bastards..." They heard him mumble irritably, making Euro chuckle lowly despite himself. Gin tried to wave the two off, but Euro and Jackie held on stubbornly.
"Oi! What're you two goons going?" A random pirate asked menacingly, holding up a sword before him and Euro. "That's our hostage those two've got, Kagemine-kun and Hina-san." He added to the two leaders. "What should we do?"
Kagemine crossed his arms and smirked, nodding to Hina, who cocked her head to the side and spoke two, deadly words.
"Kill them."
With a roar, the pirates around them attacked.
It was all happening too fast. Just this morning, Euro and Jackie had been sparring at the harbour. And now... some more entertainment had just arrived. Jackie grinned despite the situation.
"Hold him," Jackie said quickly, leaving the weak Gin's side so that Euro held his grandfather on his own. "I'll take care of them."
"But your wounds," Euro started, but stopped when Jackie tauntingly raised an eyebrow at him.
"Yours are worse," she replied bluntly. "so sit back and enjoy the show!" She drew Kazekaki from her side, the metal making a satisfactory sound as the sharp ends rubbed against each other. "This'll be fun," she murmured gleefully as the first five pirates came surging towards her, "this'll be fun indeed."
Jackie side-stepped ugly number one and smashed her elbow into his face, and he reached upwards to cup the wound only to crumple to the ground as she followed with a swift kick to his stomach that would have done Black Leg Sanji proud. She ducked the blade of ugly number two, shuffling closer and slashing with one-half of Kazekaki. Ugly number two fell back with a grunt as Jackie tugged her Wind and Fire Wheel free, simultaneously leaning forward and kicking back ugly number three with her left foot, who had attempted to sneak up behind her.
With a little push of her grounded leg, Jackie propelled herself sideways so that she spun to the left, counter-clockwise, and slashed ugly number four and five across the chests, before landing in a crouch with her arms extended, Kazekaki connected to the two bodies. Jackie stood, detaching her weapons, five pirates injured at her feet. Not dead, but rendered useless.
And the whole tavern watched in amazement as they saw the whole process happen in a mere seven seconds.
Jackie smirked in triumph before wincing. "Ow," she muttered, gently palming her re-opened wound on her side. Blood slowly seeped through her clothing. "Son of a…"
Then, the second round of pirates surged forward.
Readying herself, Jackie blinked in surprise when a massive body stepped in front of her. Looking back, Euro stuck out his tongue childishly. "My turn," he said with a malicious grin and a dangerous twinkle in his eye.
Same no Ha placed itself before the oncoming pirates, ready for anything. As the first pirate stepped forward, cutlass drawn, Euro swung the powerful weapon, catching the surprised man in the gut. When he drew back, droplets of blood were seeping through his tattered shirt, and with a cry of disbelief, he crumpled to the ground. Euro stepped back in satisfaction, and the tiny, silver spikes withdrew back under the white bandages, dripping red.
Jackie couldn't help but marvel at Same no Ha's true power once again. How the spikes even came to be, was still a mystery. Possibly a devil fruit?
Raising his weapon to shield his face from a horde of bullets, Euro swung Same no Ha in a clean side sweep, catching three more pirates, one after the other, and flinging them to the ground. The last pirate looked at him nervously, stashing his rifle aside and drawing his sword. He charged with a yell - only to see stars as Euro hit him in the side of his head with the butt of Same no Ha.
"They aren't dead." Euro told 'Kagemine' and 'Hina' bluntly. "But unless you leave this tavern right now, that will soon change. Grab your men and go."
Kagemine smirked. He slowly, leisurely took another sip of his drink, causing Euro to narrow his eyes slightly. Smacking his lips, Kagemine set down the mug, and started to clap. "Well done, well done, young ones. You two are quite the fighters. Say, want to join my crew? You'll be very…" He looked them up and down slowly, before smiling in an evil way. "Useful."
"Like hell we will," Jackie snarled, stepping up to Euro's side with Gin leaning heavily against her. She set Euro's grandfather down next to the wall, where he glared and muttered profanities at Kagemine and Hina. "Besides, I'm already my own captain. And Euro's my first mate, baka." Sticking out her tongue childishly, Jackie taunted him. "Baka, baka baaaaaka. Baaa-" Euro clamped his hand over her mouth, and the muffled, 'ka?' was incoherent. Jackie tore his hand away, glaring daggers at the older man. "Hey, what's the big idea, Euro?"
"First of all, I'm not your first mate. And secondly, the big idea is that you sound like a little kid, idiot."
"Your face sounds like a little kid!" Jackie retorted, face scrunched up pertly.
Euro snorted. "That didn't even make any sense."
"Your face doesn't make any sense!"
"Why you little…"
Kagemine and Hina sweat dropped as Jackie and Euro lunged for each other, weapons clashing and raising a lot of dust in the process.
"Oh yeah?" Euro shouted as he swung Same no Ha, only to meet thin air as Jackie ducked the blow and returned the gesture with a swipe of one Kazekaki. "Well, your mom's face doesn't make any sense!" he shouted triumphantly.
Jackie stopped fighting immediately, frowning. "My mom is dead."
"Oh, I'm so sorry." Euro said gravely, stepping back and lowering Same no Ha. "So is mine."
"I feel your pain." Jackie replied sympathetically. "You see, my mom died when I was young, and..."
As Jackie and Euro stood there, across from each other, nodding their heads sagely and swapping life stories, Hina got a tick on her forehead. "HELLO, we're sitting right here," she said, waving her hands wildly. "What is with those two?" She muttered, mostly to herself.
Euro and Jackie stopped nodding and blinked in their direction, as if they just remembered they were there in the room.
"Oh," Euro said flatly. "you're still here."
"What, are you waiting for an invitation or something?" Jackie added, "Get lost, idiots."
Hina gaped. "Kagemine-kun!" she whined to her captain. "They aren't even listening to us!"
"Don't worry, Hina-san." Kagemine soothed, still smirking that infuriating smirk, before regarding Jackie and Euro calmly. "Now, I don't think you two know who I am. I am the Infallible Iichoruu Kagemine, captain to the Eternal pirates. Surely, you've heard of me." the last part was more of a statement, rather than a question.
Jackie and Euro both raised an eyebrow, turning to look at each other with similar what-is-this-guy-talking-about faces. Then, they turned back to Kagemine, and deadpanned in unison,
"No. Who are you?"
"Kagemine-kuuuun!" Hina wailed, clutching her chest, over her heart, in pure horror. She looked over to her captain, who was on his knees, drawing circles on the floor with a dark cloud hovering over him.
"If I could be re-born, I want to be a sea cucumber..." he muttered to himself, face downcast.
"Captain!" Hina called frantically, fanning her face repeatedly. She swung around to face Jackie and Euro furiously. "You two! Look at what you've done. Lying to Kagemine-kun like that..."
Kagemine perked up, "They were lying?"
"No." Jackie and Euro said flatly.
Kagemine went back to drawing circles aimlessly.
"You!" Hina said, pointing an accusing finger at the two. "Stop that! You're bothering him!"
"Your face is bothering him," they said simultaneously, grinning.
A dark cloud hovered over Hina's face. Thunder appeared to light up her features, making her resemble a ghost.
"What did you say?"
Author's Note
Same no Ago means Shark's Jaw, and Kaze Tatzumaki means Wind Tornado. At least, I'm hoping it does. Iichoruu Kagemine is pronounced; ee-cho-ryu ka-gay-meen. Oh, and a special shout out to Oxenstierna D. Yuki-Rin for being awesome and reviewing my very first chapter of Kaizoku! only a day after the first chapter!
- Posted on Saturday, December 17th, 2011
