Author: Here's the second chapter! I actually much preferred writing this chapter than the first, mainly because I feel we get a much, much better idea of Baldric's character. But I won't spoil anything for you - here it is!

"Keep fighting on!"

His fist collided with another man's jaw, sending him to the floor. Already he was replaced by two more, both bearing weapons. But they didn't possess his might and soon, both found themselves thrown back through the air with a swing of his other arm. He heard the clicks of rifles being loaded, but they weren't a threat, either. With but a swing of his arm again, the droplets of rain shot forth like arrows, piercing through armor and knocking back an entire row of Marines with great force.

"He's only one man!"

He let out a bestial roar, daring any to come close as he grasped onto the water with his webbed hands. Even something as small as a raindrop was a weapon for him. Marines bearing riot shields found themselves thrown back as his fist smacked the air with such force that the droplets in the air became like a shockwave, blowing them away.

"He can't possibly defeat all of us!"

A naïve thought. The Fishman bared his sharpened teeth, his muscles tensing as his hand reached down and gripped the ground. Even the very act of gripping was enough to make the ground rupture and shake, with rock dislodging and shifting as men lost their balance, collapsing to the ground. The Fishman slowly rose, breathing slowly and deeply as his shoulders slackened. He looked around at the ranks of Marines as they tried getting to their feet, but in that moment of distraction a large iron ball shot forth, slamming straight into the right side of his chest.

"I've got him!"

The Fishman stumbled, nearly collapsing as he felt the pain shoot through his chest. The iron ball had been on a chain, swung by a burly man with a face full of bruises. The Fishman growled however as he took a firm grip of the chain, pulling with all his might. To the Marine's shock he was pulled off his feet and through the air, sailing straight for the Fishman. The Fishman spared no moment in swinging with his free hand, his fist smashing into the man's face. There was a crunch as the man's nose was broken before he crashed to the ground, landing on his back.

His knuckles were covered in blood. Both his and the Marines'. There were roars and cries and shrieks all around him, but they felt like a blur of sound. It was as if they had all merged into one, a cacophony that blocked out everything else. When he looked around him, he did not see Marines, nor did he see civilians. He only saw Humans. Holding out his webbed hand, water began to collect in his palm like a bowl as he stared them all down. He didn't need to worry about things like aim – as far as the Fishman was concerned, anything and everything around him was an enemy. With conviction he drew his arm back, ready to unleash another barrage.

But before that, his world turned to darkness.

"Almost there!" the Marine Captain shouted to his men. He raced down the cobbled streets as he kept a firm grip on the sword by his side. Accompanied by twenty men including his Lieutenant, the Marine Captain spared no time in rushing to the scene. From the reports, at least thirty men had already been rushed to the infirmary by the Fishman's doing. Another twenty were currently engaging him.

"Just who the hell is this bastard? He's already taken on at least half our forces…" the Marine Captain thought to himself, frowning. They weren't a particularly big or powerful force, true, but not many could claim to take on so many men single-handedly. Surely there weren't many in all of West Blue who could do such a thing. But then, if he was a Fishman, perhaps he wasn't.

"Captain, they should be just around the corner up here," the Lieutenant spoke, keeping his hand on the pistol in his holster. Captain Tristan nodded, his brow furrowing. For the last stretch he quickened his pace, racing around the corner and skidding on the rain-soaked ground as he began to draw his sword.

"You're under arrest, Fishman!" he cried out, holding his blade at the ready. But the sight greeting him was not a furious battle between a Fishman and a group of Marines. While there were certainly plenty of injured Marines helping each other to their feet and carrying the rest, none were engaged in battle. And rather than standing on his feet, the Fishman was currently sitting on the ground, his wrists in seastone cuffs behind his back whilst his feet were tied together. His head drooped as his eyes remained shut, his breathing slow and quiet.

Standing over the Fishman was a large woman of notable girth in black clothing with a white apron and short, brown hair. She looked down upon the Fishman with a look that seemed less angry and more annoyed, like someone who had to put up with an awful racket coming from next door. The Marine Captain and his group of twenty stared, more than a little lost as they looked at the scene. It didn't take long for the woman to notice the Marine Captain or his men and at the sight of them she rolled her eyes.

"Finally you show up! I was beginning to wonder if this was all the Marines were capable of…" the woman remarked with a sigh. The Marine Captain frowned, looking around for a moment as he stepped closer.

"What exactly is going on here? And what do you mean 'all that we're capable of'?" Tristan spoke, raising a brow as his features took on a rather cross expression.

"M-My apologies for intruding, sir!" another voice spoke. Turning, the Marine Captain spotted one of the bruised Marines giving him the palm-inward salute. "We were in the middle of fighting the enemy when one of our attacks knocked him through a window into the restaurant. He climbed out quickly after to fight, but after a few minutes of fighting the employee here came out and smacked him across the head!".

"He was asking for it," Alyona remarked. "Knowing my boss, that'll come out of my paycheck!".

The Marine Captain didn't quite know how to react. It wasn't exactly every day this kind of thing happened. Fortunately, the sound of laughter was something he did know how to react to. As a burst of laughter filled the air, the Marine Captain found himself frowning even more as he walked past the restaurant employee, gazing in through the broken window to see a cloaked young man in the middle of laughing his ass off, barely managing not to spill the tea in his hand as he snickered. Not bothering with the door, the Marine Captain slowly stepped through the broken window, careful to avoid the sharp glass as he stepped inside.

"And what exactly is so funny?" he spoke, his fists clenched as he stared down at the young man. The young man's laughter died down, but he still possessed a smirk on his face as he set his cup down on the counter, staring back at the Marine Captain.

"What's funny? What isn't funny?" the young man began, gesturing towards the window. "There must be more than a dozen men out there, all of them trained Marines, yet barely any of them could even touch a single Fishman. In the end, your men were saved by one of the civilians you're supposed to be protecting".

The Marine Captain's fists shook in anger as he grit his teeth. This was apparently exactly what the young man was looking for, judging by how his smirk only grew.

"If that isn't hilarious, I don't know what is," Baldric remarked, giving a low chuckle. At this point the Marine Captain raised a hand, pointing a finger right in the kid's face.

"Not another word, unless you want to spend a night in jail!" the Marine Captain threatened, practically growling. The young man, as if to mock him, began to raise his hand and put his index finger and thumb together, dragging them across his mouth as if to zip it close. But the smirk on his face still got under the Captain's skin. His nostrils flared a little as he stared at the young man for a second before turning, deciding to head back outside. From the window both Alyona and the Lieutenant had been watching, with the Lieutenant giving a small sigh as he shook his head. Leaving through the window, the Captain had already begun barking orders about taking the Fishman back to the base and carrying the wounded to the infirmary.

The door of the restaurant creaked open as Alyona stepped inside, letting it shut behind her. She turned towards Baldric, her brow raised inquisitively.

"You certainly don't have much respect for authority," Alyona remarked, giving a small giggle. Baldric shook his head.

"Oh, I have respect. Plenty of it. Just not for people who don't deserve it," he responded, drinking the rest of his tea. As he emptied the cup, he placed it back down on the counter. "Besides, you called him out on it as well. I just decided to make fun of him a lot more".

Baldric got off the stool and stood upright, reaching into his pocket. Pulling out a handful of notes, he offered the handful to Alyona.

"This should cover the bill, plus tip. I'd love to stick around, but I've got some errands to run. You know how it goes," he remarked, smiling. Smiling back, Alyona nodded and accepted the notes, pocketing them.

"Well, if you're ever looking for a meal…" Alyona spoke. Smiling a little more, Baldric nodded and began to walk past, heading out the door. The door shut close behind him. For a moment Alyona stared back before turning back and walking behind the counter.

You didn't see guys like him walk in every day of the week.

A dozen rowboats drifted into the bay, with at least half a dozen men sitting in each. Although the rain fell hard upon the whole of the island, there was still a strange calmness all around. Slowly the boats began to close in on the wooden docks, unnoticed by anyone. From the first rowboat a hand reached up and grasped onto the docks. Gripping tightly a large, muscular man in tiger-striped trousers and a black captain's coat climbed up, undaunted by the weight of a large, iron club on his back. As he rose to full height – looking almost twice as tall as an ordinary man, he looked around and found nothing nearby.

"Is this it?" he spoke, a brow raised. Shortly after him others began to climb onto the docks after tying up their boats – including a shorter, yet nevertheless tall man garbed in a tiger-striped shirt and black trousers with boots.

"Is something wrong, Captain Ushitora?" the second man spoke, a brow raised. The Captain continued to look around, confused.

"I was expecting at least some kind of response… Maybe not a perfect ambush, but this place looks completely empty…" he remarked. Still, only a moment later he began to smirk, satisfied with the conditions. "'Course, I suppose it just makes my job easier, doesn't it?".

The shorter man snickered, taking out a pair of gauntlets as he began to fit them onto his hands. Captain Ushitora stepped forwards, his men now following behind as he walked through the empty docks. Each one drew out their weapons, whether they were swords or pistols or knives. As they began to step towards the town, the Captain spoke.

"Raid, loot, do whatever you want men! But let's not forget the plan! Take their women, their children and their elderly! By the end of the night, this island will be ours!" he called out to the crew, smirking as he heard them howling with laughter. As the Captain looked up towards the Marine base at the top of the island, he mused to himself that it wasn't so difficult conquering an island.

You just had to have a plan.

A light slowly began to appear before him, blinding him for a moment before his vision adjusted. The Fishman gave a groan as he felt a strange pain in the back of his head. All around him were white walls, a white floor and a white ceiling. As he looked he began to realize that he was moving in spite of the fact that his arms and legs definitely weren't doing anything. As he attempted to move his arms he began to realize they were cuffed together behind his back. Likewise, attempting to move his feet alerted him to the fact that they were tied together. Looking down, he could see the back of a tall, burly Marine. As he looked up again, he could see various more of them watching as the Marine carrying him walked past.

"Looks like you're awake," someone spoke. It was coming from ahead, but with the Fishman's current position it was impossible to see who. Even as the Fishman declined to answer, the person seemed content to continue. "You've caused us far too many problems tonight, you know that?".

The Fishman's nostrils flared as he gave an animalistic snarl. For a moment there was silence, but it was soon broken as the Marines came to a stop. The Fishman could hear the sound of jangling keys and a door being opened before suddenly, whoever had been carrying him decided to throw him off of their shoulder, tossing him though the doorframe. As the Fishman hit the ground he gave a pained grunt. His eyes shut for a moment as he flinched before he opened them again, looking up towards the Marines – and seeing exactly where he was.

All around him were bars and stone. A wall behind him and to his left, whilst to the front and his right were a series of bars. Even the door that had been opened was composed of bars, with a strong locking mechanism. Wasting no time, one of the Marines shut the door. The Fishman looked up, growling as he caught the eyes of the Marine Captain staring down at him. The Captain slowly put away the keys as he looked down, unamused.

"To be honest, I don't really care what reasons you have. All I know is, you've put at least forty of our men in the infirmary. That's more than enough reason for me to lock you in here," the Marine Captain remarked. The Fishman snarled again, but the Captain was unfazed. "Not even a word? I'm beginning to wonder if the stereotypes are true. You're nothing more than a wild beast!".

"Captain Tristan," a voice spoke. Turning, the Captain looked towards his blond Lieutenant. "I suggest we make contact with another West Blue branch. With our numbers having dropped so low overnight, we're in a vulnerable position".

"Of course," the Captain remarked, frowning. "I'll deal with the Fishman later".

The Tiger Shark Fishman watched as the Marines left, leaving him alone in the cell. Shuffling along the ground, he slowly pushed himself onto his knees before moving over and sitting down with his back towards one of the walls. He pulled his knees up in front of himself as he leaned his head back, shutting his eyes for a moment as loose strands of black hair dangled before his face. Slowly turning his head, the Fishman looked out from a small, barred window. Dark clouds lingered in the sky as the rain fell heavily down. He could almost feel the weight of it all falling upon him as he sat alone in the cell. But something soon caught his attention. It was easy to miss at first, but a bright light was shooting through the air, nearly reaching as high as the clouds. It moved in a high arc, ascending as it moved forwards, but now it was curving downwards. The Fishman wasn't quite sure what he was looking at, but he did know one thing – it was coming closer.

Author: And there you have it! Our Fishman certainly doesn't seem very talkative, does he?

And even though I've been writing Marine Captain Tristan mostly as a throwaway character so far, I'm actually kind of having fun writing him. The next chapter should include a lot more action, I think, so you can look forward to that.

As always, be sure to leave a review and let me know what you think!