A/N: This chapter is combat-heavy, so I am expecting mucho constructive criticism on how to improve myself in that area, if you think it's not action-packed or dynamic or anything of the sorts. So, let's get… um… fjordin'?

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Piracy: The New Generation

The Terror of the Megtapos Family part 3

The Honorable Assassin, Shageki

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Count Megtapos observed a billboard hanging on his wall, where a multitude of wanted posters were hanging, some long since expired, others still hanging, yet the one he was focused on pictured a shadow holding a pair of scythes, and a litter of bodies surrounded him. The name and bounty was ripped away, though the nickname of the man was still visible; "Steel Scythe".

"Hm. He is running late. A pity, too... our family name's honor will not be tarnished by follies." Then, he lit a decent-sized cigar, and looked into the roof, until a gunshot rang through the room. "Gnh… Shageki again. These visitors are frequent nowadays."

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Outside, Chris was now taking cover behind Zugai's body, looking at the intense battle before her. "A friendly duel, my ass! What kind of gunman is that guy?!"

Shageki was, as expected from an expert marksman, keeping a steady assault against Krystal; however, his shots seemed to be coming out more rapidly than expected from a sniper rifle, which put Krystal in a tight spot.

Krystal, as you may have guessed, had no time to even fire a single syringe at her adversary, since Shageki was pulling them out faster than she could, so all she was capable of was running and dodging. "Damn! What kind of agility is that?! He's not even taking a break to catch his breath!"

However, as she had said that, Shageki suddenly stopped firing, and sat down on the ground, waving his fedora in front of his face. "Dang, it's very hot today, mates! What say we take a break to catch our breaths, eh?" This resulted in both Chris and Krystal collapsing humorously to the ground in disbelief.

"AND JUST WHY ARE YOU TAKING A BREAK NOW?!?!" both of them yelled at Shageki, who seemed quite passive. "Wait, now's my chance!" Immediately, Krystal reached for a syringe, strung up her bow, and fired a single shot. "Gotcha!"

Well, that was what she WOULD have said, had Shageki not countered the incoming syringe by shooting a single shot at it with his own, rendering both needles useless. "Quite resourceful, ain't ya, lass?" he said with a chuckle, as he got back up. "Well, you'd best get runnin', because I'm not holding up any more!" Then, he proceeded to fire another hail of syringes.

Krystal, still shocked over Shageki's sudden recovery, instinctively ran away from the storm, hiding behind the corner of the fort. "Man, this guy is a true sniper! If I could only use my explosives once, then I'd have the upper hand…" she sighed, as she peeked out from the corner, to see that Shageki was cautiously walking towards the corner, gun at the ready. "Well, it's a cheap tactic, but it's my best shot." she sighed, as she pulled out a syringe, and aimed it at the corner.

The suspense was breathtakingly painful, as she had no idea when Shageki would pop out from behind the corner, but she knew that eventually, he'd show himself, and then, she'd plug him down. Eventually, she saw the barrel of the rifle point out from behind the corner, and she prepared to release the syringe…

Until the barrel actually bent around the corner, aimed straight at Krystal! "What the hell?!" she yelled, as she quickly jumped out of the way, in time for the rifle to shoot a syringe at empty air. "Since when could a gun do that?!"

"Since I made it, mate." Shageki's voice called, as the gun bent back into its original shape, before Shageki stepped from behind the corner. "This rifle's equipped with a Bender Barrel, which means that if anyone's trying a sneak attack from behind a corner, I can take 'em out without having to risk my hide."

Krystal blinked a few times, before snapping out of her listening stupor. "NOW!" Quickly, she fired the syringe she had at the string of her bow at Shageki, but he merely sidestepped it, making it only graze the skin of his arm.

Shageki looked at the newly caused wound, before sighing. "Well, now that's just great. It wasn't a direct hit, so we're still dueling, but now the poison's gonna spread slowly through my body, so I'll be paralyzed no matter the outcome. Well, only one way to even the odds." Suddenly, another shot rang through the air, but this had been so quick that Krystal couldn't even see the shot, or that Shageki actually touched the rifle in order to shoot. However, now she had a similar wound on her own arm.

"Now we're… even?" Krystal said with a annoyed smirk on her face, as she got up, bow at the ready.

Shageki nodded with a smile of his own, as he aimed his rifle at Krystal. "Now we're even, mate." And with that, both of them started firing a massive assault of syringes at each other, and the strange thing about it was that if the syringes didn't graze their skin or hit each other, the two snipers would grab them in midair and immediately fire them back at their opponent.

On the other side of the fortress, Chris was now looking at KC and Zugai, wondering how she could be of any help in their current situation. "Maybe I could… well, it's my best shot, so why the hell not?" Then, she took the dagger residing in the holster of her belt, and began trying to pick the lock of Zugai's chain. "C'mon, please work…" No result. Sighing, she continued, unaware of the battle's intensity not too far from her.

Back at the site of the battle, both of the combatants were now covered in several cuts, as a result of numerous syringes grazing their skin. Krystal, on one hand, was heaving for her breath. "So… anyone scored a direct hit yet?" she sighed, as she felt the poison beginning to take effect.

Shageki shook his head in response, as he tilted his head behind him. Then, he suddenly broke into a run, back around the corner, leaving Krystal by herself. "Huh… wonder why he left so suddenly…" However, her train of thought was swiftly interrupted by a scream coming from around the corner. "Oh sh- CHRIS!" Quickly, she ran around the corner as well, expecting the worst.

When she made the turn around the corner, she saw that Chris was on her back, looking up at Shageki, who was holding his machete in his hand, looking down at Chris. "Hey, don't you lay a finger on him!" she yelled, as she aimed her bow at Shageki, who seemed to be oblivious of her presence.

Shageki then walked closer to Chris, who tried to scoot away, but her back his the pole Zugai was hanging on, so she couldn't get too far from Shageki, who was now crouching to see her eye to eye. "Um… hi?" she tried, as she eyed the machete.

Suddenly, with a swift movement, the machete was now in the air, and Chris moved her eyes to the left to see where he had slashed; he had only cut off the bandage Krystal had tied around it, leaving no bodily damage behind. "That wound seems a little serious, mate; low-rate bandaging ain't gonna cut it. I'll take care of that." he said in a calm tone, as he dropped the machete to the ground, and pulled out a first-aid kit, before proceeding to stitch up the shoulder.

Krystal was bewildered, but not to the point where she lowered her aim. "Why… why would he help him…?" she mused, as she still held the bow at the ready, but her aim was faltering, probably due to the poison. Soon, Shageki was done, and stood up again, looking down at Chris.

"Y'know, for a moment, I seriously thought you'd shoot me whilst my back was turned." he said, as he turned around to face Krystal. "Guess not all pirates are unfair in a battle. That's reassuring." he added with a smile, as he reached for his rifle again. "But, at this point, none of us are gonna pull through as the victor, so here's a plan." Quickly, he pulled out a small gun, and fired a shot at Krystal's legs.

However, instead of creating a bullet wound, Krystal's feet were covered in a gooey substance that prevented her from moving. "Hey, what's the big-" Krystal began, but she was shocked to see Shageki repeat the process on his own feet, locking himself in place.

"As much as I love a good game of cat 'n' mouse, we're only gonna end up a pair of stiffs if we keep on running, so here's the plan; one shot, winner takes all. Deal?" And with that, he aimed his rifle at Krystal, who was still holding her bow at the ready.

"Yeah, deal." she replied with a smile. Then, as Krystal released her grip on the syringe, sending it flying at Shageki, he fired his final shot at her. The result was that Shageki's syringe struck Krystal's shoulder, only moments after her syringe hit his neck.

Shageki, feeling the syringe in his neck, suddenly laughed. "Well, what do ya know… you're not half bad, lass. I give." he said in a cheerful tone, as he fished out a set of keys from his pocket, which he threw behind him so that Chris could grab it. "Now don't go cheating in something else, okay? And by the way, the paralysis lasts for an hour." With that, he collapsed onto the ground, as the substance around his and Krystal's feet melted into the ground.

Krystal smiled, as she fell to her knees, pulling out the syringe in her shoulder, before looking at Chris. "Well, you just get the guys out of their chains, and then we'll get back to Nampu." she said, as she lay down on the ground, the battle having taken its toll on her.

Chris looked from Shageki to Krystal, and then back again. "Man, of all the fool-hardy crews I've met…" she sighed, before she looked at the number of the locks, and found their corresponding keys, which led to her releasing both Zugai and KC from their chains. Once that was done with, both of them seemed to somehow regain their strength.

"Okay, that sniper's gonna get it! Jin, KC, you flank him, and I'll-" Zugai began, but stopped once he saw the current location. Then, he looked around and saw Chris staring at him in confusion, and both Shageki and Krystal on the ground. "Hey, Krystal! What happened?!"

"Relax, okay?" Chris said, as she held her hand up in defense. "She's just paralyzed; she'll be up and running within an hour. My name's Chris, and you are…?" she asked, as she noted Zugai's monstrous labrys and KC's falcatas.

"I'm Zugai. Zugai Hibiware." Zugai replied, as he looked over at the fortress. "His name is KC Boom." he added, as he began walking away.

"H-hey, where are you going?" Chris asked, as she realized where Zugai was headed; he was going inside the fortress! "That's not right! You're supposed to go back to the ship, weren't you?!"

KC looked with a worried look at Krystal, before turning his gaze at Chris. "We can't go back yet. Jin was taken inside of the fortress, and Zugai's dead set on making him his navigator. So, as much as I hate to leave Krystal out here, we gotta go inside!" Then, he ran after Zugai, leaving Chris by herself.

"Jin this and Jin that…" she muttered, as she fished out something from underneath her hat, which turned out to be a dagger that curved around her fist when she held it. "If they're not prepared for surprises, they're not gonna make it out of there alive. Damn idiots." With that, after picking up the dagger she tried to pick the locks with earlier, she ran after Zugai and KC, entering the very same building she had escaped from earlier.

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A/N: Alrighties, we've got down two Elite Four members, and we got two more! So, to help the tension a little, let's play a game! Based on Chris' assumptions in Chapter 6, I want you to try to guess the powers of the final two members (but not names, I want that to be a surprise). So, anything else? Well, if you want, try submitting some villains as well; making all-original (and some not too original) villains can tear on a man.

YolkaEd