AN: I met a girl who sang the blues, and I asked for some happy news, and she told me I still don't own One Piece. That little bitch. Lol

Reader Beware! I'm in a pretty good groove, so most of this is coming pretty easily. So make sure you follow so you don't miss out. Enjoy!


Losing Your Shit

Halcen walked slowly back down to the docks, with the figurine in his hand, staring at it. Tears welled up in his eyes. His chest kept seizing so he could barely breathe, though he tried anyway. Each breath an exasperated cry. He arrived at the wooden floating mass and noticed the bald man was still sitting there. Halcen flared up in anger and rushed at the man. He grabbed him by the collar with his free hand and threw the man onto the ground. Halcen stood above him with his fist clenched around the figurine, ready to bash this guy's face in. His eyes flared in hatred. "What did you do to her, you sick fuck?!"

"Halcen!" Grey shouted, chasing after him. He grabbed the distraught captain and pulled him off the trembling man. "What are you doing?"

"He knows where she is!"

"Why do you think that?"

"He told me to take Valentina off the island before something happened. He knows what's going on here!"

Grey looked at the man. "You better start explaining." Halcen could feel a power like none he had ever felt coming from Grey.

And the man obeyed. "Alright. Here's what I know." He rolled back over onto his stomach and stood back up, taking his time. Finally, he sat back down on his bench. But there was something off about him. "The Bear God isn't just a superstition to some people. There are those that actually worship him. And they serve him." He was terrified. "They do a lot to please him."

"Like bringing him women?"

"Only young, attractive women."

"Why didn't you tell us this when we first got here?"

"I'm barely allowed to even stay alive. I'm hardly able to manage warning lost crews that wash up here without getting myself killed. If I was to straight out tell anyone, then I would be taken care of for sure. And now I'm going to end up dead for this."

Grey realized he was right. Just this warning was enough to put this man on their short list. "So this cult… where do they bring the women?"

"Somewhere in the forest. That's all I know. I don't go there. I try to stay as far from it as possible. And I stay down here all day everyday to try to keep people like you out of there as well. I figure if I can make you uncomfortable enough to want to leave, then at least you'll leave alive."

"What do they do to the women?"

"I'd rather not know. I can sometimes hear their screams. It keeps me up most nights." He looked down at himself shamefully. "I'm not a fighter. There's nothing I can do. I just try to keep you guys from getting hurt."

"And then what happens to the crews? The ones that they stole the women from?"

"The ones that don't leave? They all die. There's an army of these people. They'll overwhelm anyone who tries to fight. This is the part where most of them run. I suggest you do the same."

"We can't do that," Halcen jumped back in. "I promised I would protect her. I need to save her."

"Halcen," Grey began, solemnly.

"No, Grey! I'm not turning around and leaving her here. We can't do that. You Know that."

"I wasn't suggesting we do. I was going to say we need to make a plan. We can't just rush in there. I know you're upset, but now's when we need you to put your head to use. What can we do? How are we going to find her in this massive forest?"

Halcen had to think for a moment. There were so many signs to follow. Clues: people behaving aggressively, the island giving off weird vibes, the sky refusing to settle. "There's too much going on here all at once. We need information to decipher it all." Halcen continued to think for a moment. "The bartender. There has to be a bartender!"

"Bartender?" Grey asked in confusion.

"People drink and talk. Bartenders hear everything. Whether or not they're willing to help us is different, but they at least have to know something."

"Alright," Grey turned back to the man with kind eyes. "Listen… what's your name?" he asked, softening his tone.

The man was panicking; truly horrified. He didn't want to help anymore. He knew he was in danger as it was. "Lenny," he finally answered.

"Alright, Lenny, is there a bar here? Somewhere a lot of people go to let go?"

"Yeah… there's a place up the hill. It's a couple levels above the center of town. Diego's place. He's actually a good man, but he has to follow their rules the same way I do… or we all die."

Grey nodded, understanding. "Thank you, friend," he said, patting Lenny on the shoulder. "We appreciate the help." Grey turned back to Halcen. "Alright, let's get going."

Halcen's face was red with the swirling of so many different emotions. "Yeah, we gotta take care of this."

So Halcen and Grey went back to the Black Tail to lay out the plan to the crew. "We're gonna go talk to this bartender and hopefully we'll get some answers. This place is so fucked up; I don't know what to make of it." Grey was trying to maintain focus on himself, instead of forcing Halcen to take charge, knowing Halcen was in a bad place. "Do you want to stay here? I can take Bo or Kazuki with me instead?" He asked Halcen quietly.

"No, I have to do this." He turned and headed back to the rest of the crew. "The shipment of supplies should be here relatively soon. Get to work as soon as it gets here. Bailu."

"Yes, Captain?"

"I need you to bust your ass on this. We need a sailable ship immediately."

"Roger."

Then Grey and Halcen turned and headed out, back toward the town, passing Lenny on their way off the docks. They had a bartender to interrogate. They stalked up the levels of the god-cursed town. They could feel the eyes of window-peering lechers on them. Nobody dared come to confront them. The two men had a look about them. They were out for blood. These town-dwellers were not equipped to handle that.

Finally, they made it to Diego's Tavern. They could hear the normal noises of a bar that they had heard throughout their lives. This was no different than any other bar, regardless of how cursed their island was. And that was too bad for the bar-divers. The inside was a regular setup; tables and chairs all over with people sitting in them. It was still rather early in the day to be drinking, so there weren't many people, just a few random assholes. These were the drunkards that couldn't make through their day without having a drink. They had to cut out of work early to get to the bar.

Shameless scum.

Halcen and Grey burst in throwing glares at all the slobs sitting around the inside. None of them wanted to deal with whatever was about to go down. They cleared out quickly, probably finding this a good chance to skip their tabs; vermin that they were.

The two men walked to the counter where the man worked. Diego. He was quite a large man, thick tan skin, short brown hair. He seemed late forties. He had a nice face. Lenny wasn't wrong. He seemed okay. Seemed.

Halcen and Grey stood before him. "Listen here, man," Halcen started, amped up.

Grey stopped him, sitting down on the stool in front of the bar. "Listen, Diego, we've got some questions."

"I don't serve outlanders. Sorry." They believed that he actually meant it.

"We're not here for a drink," Grey told him.

"I was afraid of that, the way you scared my customers out of here."

Halcen picked up from there, "Yeah, well maybe we're just returning a favor."

"Have I done something to you?" Diego asked earnestly.

"Not you specifically, but your town sure has done a number. Our friend is missing."

"Oh," he took a moment, a sad glaze over his eyes. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"I doubt it," Halcen spat.

"Listen, I had nothing to do with your friend. I just serve alcohol to the townsfolk."

"That's why we're here," Grey said, trying to focus on the point. "We want to know what they know."

"What who knows?"

"The townsfolk. We're sure somebody has said something about where she might have gone."

"Your friend? Why would anybody know where she went?"

Halcen smashed his fist down on the bar counter, alarming Diego. "You know why." He stared deep into his eyes. "We want to know where they take the girls."

Diego's face tightened. "I don't know anything about that."

"Don't lie to us," Grey said, calmly. "There's been a lot of weird stuff going on here. You know enough about it to be scared. Tell us what you know, and we'll be on our way."

"I think you gentlemen should leave." Diego pointed at the door.

Halcen grabbed his hand and slammed it on the counter, then started squeezing it tight, almost to the point of breaking the bones.

"Ow! Let go of me. What are you doing?"

"Tell me where they took her!" Halcen shouted.

"I can't tell you anything!"

"Why not?!"

"Cause they'll kill me!"

Halcen looked deep in his eyes. Diego was afraid. So Halcen lowered his voice in a rage unlike any other, and with evil coldness said "I'll kill you right now."

"No, you won't."

Diego was wrong. Halcen grabbed the rest of Diego's arm and pulled him over the bar counter and threw him on the ground of his own bar. He clattered into a mess of table and chairs, smashing his head. Halcen reached down to pick him back up, then slammed his body onto the tabletop. "You know, it's too bad I lost my knife, cause I could have some fun with it. But I guess I just have to beat you to death."

"What are you doing?!" Diego shouted.

"I told you. I'm gonna kill you!"

"Please don't!" His eyes teared up.

"THEN WHERE'S MY FRIEND?!"

"I can't tell you," Diego choked, crying.

"Then I guess I have to kill you." Halcen flung Diego's body against the near wall, crashing against some ledges where he had memorabilia items collected. They all clattered to the ground in the violent scene. Diego's face was bloodied. He was coughing and crying. Halcen reached down to pick him up and put him on his feet. "You know, if you just told me, I wouldn't have to do this. I only want the people responsible. But I'll kill anyone who gets in my way."

"I can't…"

Halcen dropped him with a hard punch to the stomach. Diego fell to his knees. Halcen grabbed his head and looked into Diego's eyes. They were tired; he didn't have much left in him. He pulled back his fist for one more strike. This one was going to do some significant damage.

"Alright! Alright!" Diego shouted, giving in. "I'll tell you. Please just… don't hurt me anymore."

Halcen let his head go and listened. "Tell me."

"They… they take them to the forest."

"Who? Where in the forest?"

"The Kumashinja."

"The Kuma Ninjas? Are you fucking kidding me?"

"No… the Kumashinja. The Believers of the Bear. They're the cult that runs this island. There's an altar, near a cave deep in the woods. They usually take small rafts around to the other side of the island. It's faster than walking. It's supposed to be near the eastern coast."

"The east coast?" That's where we came in last night.

"Yes. Please. That's all I know. I've never been there."

"You don't worship this Bear God?"

"No. But if I don't help them, they'll kill me."

"Fair enough. I believe you." Then Halcen took out his pistol and shot the man in the head, spraying his blood everywhere.

Grey sighed. "I thought you believed him?"

"I do. This is a warning. And it covers our tracks. Anybody who doesn't cooperate with us, dies. And now they won't think he told us. The less they think we know, the better. It was the smart thing to do. Plus, if he's got family, they're protected."

"Fair enough," Grey said, shaking his head.

"Let's go."

Halcen and Grey stepped outside to a scene. There were a dozen people standing around the outside of the crowd. They were drawn by the commotion inside the bar. The gunshot must have rattled them. And they were even more shocked by the man covered in blood; worse being it was clearly someone else's since Halcen didn't have a scratch on him. The men they had scared out of the bar hung in the back of the crowd, surely knowing exactly what had just happened.

Halcen took this chance to address the crowds. "Anyone who doesn't help us ends up dead. If you fear for your life, stay out of my way. But we're not leaving without our friend!" And then he turned and walked away, Grey following his lead.

The two finally made it back to the ship, finding that their supplies had been delivered. Bailu and the snipers were hard at work making the repairs to the ship. His shouting and cussing could be heard far off. He was certainly very particular about how everything had to work.

I suppose that's a good thing. Halcen went to him. "How are the repairs coming?"

Bailu looked up at the Captain. "Would be better if these assholes knew what the fuck they were doing! I thought you said they were Marines! How can Marines be this fucking stupid?"

Halcen shrugged. "How long?"

"Maybe a day and a half," then he turned back to the Kazuki and Bo, "if these two can learn to follow simple fucking instructions!"

"Just get it done," Halcen said, moving on from the conversation. He went to sit down.

Grey came up, and Bo stopped him. "Please get us out of this," he begged.

Grey chuckled a little and then shook his head. "He's an old man. Can you handle him?"

Bo's eyes widened with fear. "This is no old man. He's a monster."

Grey put his hand on Bo's shoulder. "We need you guys to handle this. There's a lot we have to take care of on own end too. Everybody has their jobs."

"Any leads?" Kazuki asked from the other side of the ship.

"Yeah, but we need to go figure out what we're gonna do about it." Then Grey headed down to the captain's quarters. It wasn't very large, but it was enough for Halcen to get away from the crew when he needed to think or sleep. "So what's the plan?"

Halcen was sitting on his bed. "We need to get over there, now."

"Now?"

Halcen stood up, then started getting some of his stuff together. "Yeah, we can steal one of these rafts, just you and I, and go take care of this right now. We know where they're supposed to be. Let's go." He started heading to the door where Grey was standing.

"Whoa, hold on now." Grey held his arms out to stop Halcen. "Are you sure you want to do that? I mean, it's starting to get late. I think you need some rest before we do this. We can go take care of this in the morning."

"Rest? You think I'm gonna be able to sleep, knowing she's out there? This is my fault! I need to go save her, now! She's counting on me!"

"Halcen, you need to calm down," Grey tried talking with a soothing voice. "You can't get all riled up right now. We need you to be the clear-headed one."

"I am clear-headed!"

"Then why did you kill that man?"

"Because he was protecting them. He would have talked!"

"Or… is it because you're just so angry that you can't control yourself?"

"I don't have time for this, we need to get going!"

"No! You're gonna stand here and listen to me for once!"

"Grey-"

"Be quiet!" he cut Halcen off.

"God, alright, what?"

Grey talked calmly. "You can't be running around throwing a tantrum. You're the captain of this crew. You need to keep your composure. I understand that you're upset, but we can't just vanish and take our chances on what might happen. You walked into town and murdered a man; there are going to be ramifications. Bo and Kazuki aren't going to be enough to handle it by themselves. We need to get a solid plan together so that we have the ability to deal with both situations. So what you need to do is stay in here and sleep on it. We can make a move in the morning."

Halcen fumed. He didn't do well with being told what to do. "So you want me to do what? Lay here in bed for hours wasting time while this fucking cult has her? You heard what Lenny and Diego said! They're going to kill her! Are you okay with letting that happen? If we don't get over there as soon as possible, she's going to get hurt!"

"And if you charge over to the other side of the island without any preparation, you're going to get hurt! And if you get hurt, you're not gonna be any help to Valentina. We can get still get over there as long as we take care of this side first! We can't just abandon these guys here and let them deal with whatever happens next alone. You're responsible for them too. Valentina isn't the only one you're supposed to protect. The whole crew needs you!"

"Fine, Grey. You're right. Is that what you want to hear?" Halcen walked back to his bed and sat down. "I just… feel like I can't sit still. It's my fault! I was supposed to protect her. That was the deal when I let her off the ship. I failed her. I can't just sit around doing nothing."

Grey sat on the bed beside Halcen. "You won't be doing nothing. You'll be preparing. You won't be any help to her, the wreck that you are now. We all need to be ready. We don't even have any idea what this 'Bear God' thing even is. We can't just charge in half-cocked, expecting to win. Tomorrow we'll be able to go in fully ready."

"Alright, Grey." Halcen sighed. "Thanks." He was having a hard time dealing with this.

Grey wrapped his arm around Halcen's shoulder. "Everything's going to be okay," he said, comforting his friend.

"Yeah," Halcen nodded. He knew there was no point trying to fight it. "You might be right. I just… have such a hard time not being in control. She's out there and I can't stop that by myself. So yeah.. we'll put a plan together in the morning. For now, I think I should just try to get some sleep. I think we should all turn in. I want everybody up as early as possible."

"Sounds good, Captain." Grey stood up, feeling better. He left the room and headed out to share the plan with the crew.

They all had important things to take care of before they could actually settle in for the night, so it took some time, but eventually each crew member headed down to their bunks. Slowly, they all were able to conquer their anxieties about what they were up against and faded to sleep in their own bunks. It took a while, but finally everyone was down for the night.

Halcen sat up silently. Sorry Grey. I can't just sit here and wait. He left his room silently, climbed the stairs to the outside, and snuck across the deck to the dock. He couldn't take the Black Tail, but he could steal one of these smaller boats the townspeople had floating around the dock. Nobody had been seen coming to use any of them. Probably because of us. No one wants to come down here alone with the outsiders. Halcen unroped one of the small paddle-boats from the dock and was off with a heavy push. He was trying to be as quiet as possible, so he kept the paddles out of the water until he had was sure he was out of earshot. And then he disappeared into the night, not leaving even a note. They'll be okay. They have Grey. Valentina needs me.

Halcen paddled in silence, only uttering a random curse word from time to time. His mind was on the mission: rescue the woman. So he continued through the night, stroking the paddles through the water until he was on the far side of the island. East coast. This ought to do. He found a spot with a small patch of sand leading up to the grass above and drove the boat up on that. He dragged it in the last few feet then turned to the trees and started for them.

The pirate captain waded through the forestry for what felt like hours. He began to feel more distraught as time dragged on and he found no signs. But he continued on around drops, over streams, and avoiding carnal animals' calls. He made a heading in as much of a straight line as he could, toward a general area that he hoped would be about where the cultists had taken her.

Where are you?

Then he saw light in the distance. It was close, relatively. The glow emanated across a semi-large area. As he got closer, he could hear voices, but he couldn't make out any of what they were saying. He pressed on, silently sifting through the wood until he was close enough. He could tell there were quite a few people in the area, but he couldn't figure out what they were up to. He only knew it had to be no good. As he drew near, he could actually sense the presence of the people walking about, but couldn't tell how powerful any of them might be. And then he was close enough to make out figures.

They were everywhere. Men clad in dark red cloth. Only their important parts were covered: feet, groin, chest, and head. The rest was all exposed skin. It had to be armor of some sort. These were the cultist. They all wore exactly the same thing. They sounded excited. The Kumashinja.

And beyond them, on the other side of their swarm, was her. A beautiful woman with long pink hair strung up on what seemed like a metal altar. She was in a standing position with her arms were tied up over her head to the chunk of metal. Halcen couldn't make out her facial expression, but it was her. Valentina.

Halcen felt a sharp sting in his neck, and then everything went black.


Grey was awoken by the sound of shouting. Something had scared somebody. Grey bolted up out of bed and looked about, confused. What the heck is going on?

Then he dashed out from the bunks to the deck of the ship into the morning light. He was temporarily blinded so he put his hand up this face to shade his eyes. There. He saw Kazuki at the end of the dock, so he raced to meet him. Surely there was danger. Grey clenched his fists, ready to brawl. But ahead of them, he didn't see any danger. "What's going on, Kazuki? Why are you shouting?"

Kazuki pointed up.

Above them, across the sign for docks, was strewn a dead body. It was nailed up in pieces. They looked like some kind of beast had had their fun with it, then tossed the remains aside. There were all kinds of tear marks all over them. The gnarled mess was dripping blood down on the ground in front of the two men. It had already formed a decent sized pool.

Grey gazed upon the mess in horror… and then he recognized the body. It was Lenny, the man that Grey had forced to give them information. His body was recognizable not only by the size of the chunks, but his head had been perfectly preserved, with the fear he had felt in his final moments frozen on his face. Whoever had done this wanted them to know how terrified Lenny was while he was being butchered. This was a message. This was what happens to those that defy the Bear God. This sick son of a bitch.

Grey turned to run back to the ship, rampaging through, inspecting each bunk to make sure that there was nobody else missing. But there was: Halcen. Grey couldn't find him anywhere. Halcen, where the hell are you at a time like this? Don't tell me they got you without me noticing… Grey scanned the immediate area. He noticed one of the boats was missing. You little prick.

Grey gathered the crew. "Halcen went on ahead. We have to make a plan to make sure we can get to him before something happens. He went off to rescue Valentina without us. I doubt he's gonna be able to take care of this all by himself. So we need to prep, and leave." He nodded to Bailu, "You need to get this ship ready, now!" Then he turned to Kazuki. "You're gonna stay here and protect these three." And then he came to Bo. "You're gonna come with me. We're gonna take one of these boats and get over to the other side as fast as we can." And he turned back to Bailu. "And you guys are gonna come get us when this ship is ready. Got it?"

They all mumbled in agreement.

Bailu wasn't happy though. "So I have to work faster and probably hurt myself because our dumbass captain ran off to get himself killed?"

Grey got close to Bailu and stared into his eyes. "I've given you your space so far because I thought all your bitching was harmless, but now I'm done. You do what you're told to do because you're paid to do it. I don't care what your problems are with Halcen, or me, or anybody else for that matter. You do this because it needs to be done. Do you understand me?"

Bailu nodded. "Yes, sir."

And then they began getting ready to leave. Grey got some supplies packed for the trip, and Bo got his weapons ready.

Grey went back to the bloody mess and looked up at Lenny. I'm sorry. Grey was truly sorry to have gotten Lenny hurt, but he had no time to give the man a proper burial. I hope I can come back soon to make amends.

"Wait…" Bo whispered.

"What?" Grey looked to Bo, standing there next to him, looking around like he was trying to place something.

"Do you hear that?"

Grey silenced himself and closed his eyes. He could feel it before he could hear it. His hearing wasn't as great as it once had been like the young man next to him, but his sensory Haki wasn't half bad. He could feel it. "There's a horde of people heading toward us." And they all felt very aggressive. They were hyped up on something, but Grey couldn't figure out what would set off that many people all at once.

"What?" Bo asked.

"We're under attack."

"Oh, really? Yay," he said sarcastically. "Just one thing after another with you people, isn't it?"

"It seems that way," Grey admitted, unhappily. Grey stormed back toward the Black Tail. "Change of plans!" he announced. "A horde is headed our way. We need to put up a defense! Kazuki, Bo, and I will fight them off. Loyola, Jory, I know you're hurt, but I need you to try to help Bailu as much as possible in fixing this ship."

"No," Jory said, standing up. "I'm gonna help you."

"Jory, you're hurt."

"Then there won't be any problem in me getting hurt more, will there?"

"Now's not the time to play hero."

"Hero? How many people are heading our way?"

"Not sure. It felt like the majority of the town though, so maybe fifty."

"And you think you three can handle that yourselves? Cause I don't. At least let me be of some use. Then we can go back to your plan when the fight is over."

"Are you sure?"

Jory nodded. He had a brave heart. Grey admired that.

Grey sighed. "Alright, but don't get anymore hurt. If it's too much for you, let me know."

"Yes, sir." Jory went to grab his sword, then he came out to step on the dock with the others.

Bo and Kazuki were already armed, so they went to find the best spots to make themselves most efficient. They took advantage of the fact that most of the town was abandoned and most of their buildings were empty. The roofs of these abandoned buildings on the lower level street provided perfect sniper positions. Bo took one on the right of the docks and Kazuki took one of the left. Grey was as ready as possible. They all just had to get mentally ready.

And then they could see the mass of humans hurtling down the levels of the village down towards the docks. Bo and Kazuki could see the actual people. They could see no children, just men and women seemingly spanning from their twenties to their later years. Grey and Jory could not see the individuals yet, just the cloud of dirt billowing from their stampede.

This is going to be intense.

And then the bullets began flying. The snipers took their jobs seriously. While the mob was still heading down the levels towards them, Bo and Kazuki were able to start picking them off, one by one. But with how far away they were and how fast they were moving, not all of their shots were headshots. And with how many there were total, they didn't have the ability to take their numbers down enough. But at least they were doing some damage. They counted eleven down by the time the horde got to the lowest level.

And now it's our turn. Grey saw them coming finally, and he was even more confused. They all seemed to be carrying weapons of the like that they could find. Since the island was void of weapons as the woman at the store had told them, these people had found things like rakes, shovels, kitchen knives, and similar items that they could find around the house. But the most confusing thing was that they all seemed to be in unintelligible rages. They were acting like ravenous beasts, rampaging because it was the only thing they understood. These quiet townspeople had been induced into mindless violence. Nothing was going to stop their spree, unless they themselves were put down.

Grey charged at the mass. He couldn't let them get to the docks, the Black Tail, or the rest of the crew. They needed to be kept safe, so Grey was going to put his life on the line. He ran in, fists flying first. And then he went at it.

They all attacked like monsters and Grey had had plenty of experience with monsters. He made sure his left arm was always in shield position as he began to throw punches with his right. This old-timer packed quite the punch, as one strike threw one person into the crowd, knocking over multiple behind him, clearing a path. The punch wasn't enough to kill, but it was for sure enough to break their ribs and cause a movement hindrance.

Then with his left arm, he swung back across the few that were trying to cling to him, throwing them as well into the mass they came from. He took advantage of this and jumped over their numbers into the middle, dropping a few more with his legs. He began punching them with multiple throws. Grey could hear their bones cracking with each of his attacks. He was doing more damage than they could handle.

They began encircling Grey and taking swings at him with their individual weapons. Some landed, but they were with the strength of regular humans who had never trained. They did little damage, so Grey began to feel a little more confident. They were encircling him, but he was keeping up a steady pace with his punches.


Nearby, Jory was having a hard time keeping up the same pace, since he was already in pain from his fight with Anosmia's crew. They had been quite a fight, but it had been to defend his own crew. For the protection of others, Jory was willing to push himself. That's what he was doing now. He had only had two nights to rest, but he was still sore. He refused to let that be his main concern. His crew was in danger. So he fought.

These monstrous people kept coming at him, but he was able to slash most of them away. They were pretty weak, relatively speaking, but that didn't mean that they weren't still a threat. He still needed to be careful. They poked and bashed at him, but he refused to go down.

This is for my crew! He turned and slashed as hard and deeply as he could into the oncomers. Their blood flew in arches around Jory as he continued to fight them off.


Bo and Kazuki continued firing. Their rifles never locked or jammed. They were in perfect working condition.

Come on, Rebecca.

We can do this, Christine.

Bullet after bullet. Body after body. The men's efficiency never diminished. Each time one of these mangy dogs tried to get to Grey or Jory, one of them had it. And they worked in perfect unison. Never did they cross targets. They were a perfect working pair; a machine of death.

Eventually, some of the people actually seemed to think, making a heading towards the buildings they were shooting from the top of. Neither Grey nor Jory seemed to notice this. They were stuck in the masse, so they had no ability to see the outskirts.

The two snipers began to pick off the ones trying to gain entrance to their ally's building, neither of them saying a word. With as many as they were able to shoot from the top, there were still a few who escaped from the sniper fire. Realizing their positions had been compromised, they had to prepare for the oncoming assault towards themselves. They each got out a pistol and readied themselves at the roof entrances.

And then it came. The two streams of amped up ragers came breaking through the doors simultaneously. The two men opened fire, headshot after headshot. The bodies dropped and began a pile up. They took advantage of them struggling with the new obstacles and found the time to exit. Kazuki's building was seven stories and Bo's was eight. They both found fire escapes and began descending the outsides of their buildings.

Soon, they were on the ground, and the demented citizens realized they had been duped. They all began to turn and descend the stairs inside the buildings, trying to get back at their prey. The snipers were soon circled. Bo and Kazuki stood back to back. They each drew two pistols and began firing the loud cracking metal of death.


Eventually, the numbers of the townspeople dwindled. There were only half a dozen left. They were dispatched easily, but with sluggish action. The pirates were tired and had little energy left. This had been a hard battle, but they finally claimed victory. They took a moment to look over the mess of the scene around them. They recognized their own handiwork, and had to accept it. They were killers.

Blood swept across the area like a giant rug. There was no spot that wasn't covered in the thick red liquid for a hundred yards. Bodies piled on top of each other, bones broken out of their skin and chucks or limbs missing. Dead eyes stared off into the distance, but this wasn't a battle where they were going to be honored. This mess was going to be left here as a message back to the Bear God.

The sight made Jory uneasy. These were human beings, and now they were all dead. For what? Some revenge this Bear God demanded in return for their trespass? It's just not right.

But now that the massacre of war was over, they had to continue to their next plight. There was still much yet undone. "We have to save Halcen," Grey finally said, not looking away.