The Fight Continues
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece; all characters belong to their creators.
Russell swung his scythe around, aiming for Washer's legs; however Washer leapt and launched a kick at Russell's face. Reacting quickly, Russell blocked the attack with his arm, but he was still pushed back by the blow. Russell charged at the Fleet Commander again, this time he threw his scythe at him. Washer deflected the weapon with his toothpick, knocking it up in the air, but he was caught off guard by Russell's next move. Rather then, stopping after throwing his scythe, Russell continued to run forward and now began to launch a series of punches and kicks. With one last kick, Russell jumped up on top of Washer's shoulder's and, using them as a platform, jumped up again grabbing his scythe from midair and swung it down as hard as he could towards Washer when he fell within striking distance.
To his surprise, Washer had recovered from his assault and was able to block the scythe blade again with his toothpick. When Russell came back down to Earth, he rolled away from Washer, trying to put some distance between them. He started to pant heavily. This guy is good. He barely looks tired at all, and he's been blocking my attacks like crazy. When Russell got his breathing back to normal he noticed Washer was standing still smirking at him.
"I must admit, this has been a very interesting fight. I do hope you're not ready to give up yet," Washer said.
"Heh, are you kidding, I'm just getting started," Russell said as he held his scythe behind him and ran at Washer again.
"Good," Washer said still smirking. "If you surrendered, I would've been bored again," He pulled several washers out from his pocket and began to throw them Russell.
~With Pearl~
Pearl thought that the marine would surely call out to his comrades and inform them that he caught her, but to her surprise he held up a finger to his mouth and whispered. "Shh," Pearl was confused, did he just want her to stay quiet and not resist while he got the others, or was he trying to help her? She thought that the latter was crazy until he marine called out him.
"Hey, Sez. Have you found anything?"
This is it. Pearl thought. I can't believe I got myself caught. But, to her surprise the marine answered. "No, nothing yet,"
The leader of the group swore. "Well, she's got to be here somewhere! Keep looking!"
"Yes sir!" All of the marines answered.
The marine who had ahold of Pearl, Sez, let her go and began to pretend to search through some rubble while whispering to her, so that he wouldn't be overheard. "Are you alright?" he asked. Pearl was confused and didn't know how to answer. Sez noticed and turned to her. "No need to worry," he said taking off his hat. "I'm not really a marine," Without the hat obstructing his features, Pearl could get a good look at him. He was young, probably only 19 or 20. He had dark green hair and brown eyes. He also had a relaxed and happy look on his face, like he didn't have a care in the world.
"I'm alright," Pearl finally answered. It wasn't like telling him that would change anything. "I don't go down easily,"
"Well, that's good to hear," Sez said, nodding. "On the count of three then?" he asked.
"On the count of three?" Pearl asked. Wondering what he meant. However, Sez misunderstood and seemed to think that he was agreeing with him. He held up three fingers and began to slowly close them, one by one. Pearl finally realized what he was planning when he picked up his rifle, which was lying on the ground, but at that point it was too late. Sez leapt up and dashed towards one of the marines. Before the man could react, Sez slammed his rifle into his stomach.
"Sez! What the…" one of the marines started to say, but was cut off when Sez smacked him in the face with his rifle. The group leader turned around just in time to see Sez swing his rifle at him. He ducked and rolled back, before standing up and drawing his sword. He began to slash at Sez forcing him back, Sez, however, was still grinning, at least until he stumbled over a piece of debris and fell down. The marine looked down at Sez grimly before raising his sword for a killer blow, one that was prevented by Pearl stabbing him in the side, causing him to collapse.
"Are you alright?" Pearl asked as she helped Sez up.
"Yeah," he replied, no longer looking quite as happy. "I was just hoping no one would die. They weren't my crewmates, but they were good people,"
Pearl looked down at the marine she had stabbed. He was lying on his stomach and bleeding rapidly, Sez was right if they didn't give him immediate medical attention he would die. But, they didn't have any supplies; at least that was what Sez thought. Pearl walked over to the downed marine and placed her hand on the sword wound. Slowly, the wound began to close. Once it had fully closed, Pearl wiped her hands off on the marine's uniform and stood up. "That should do it. I doubt he'll bleed out now,"
Sez was surprised, but only for a moment before he began to laugh. "Jahahahah. I was wondering why you were able to get up with all of those bullet holes in you. You're a devil fruit user, aren't ya?"
"Uhh, well yeah,' Pearl admitted. "Now, if you don't mind who are you?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm Sez of the Azure Dragonfly Pirates. I'm the navigator and, when needed, spy," Sez explained.
"I'm Pearl of the…uh…well, we don't have a name yet, but we're pirates too. This is our first big heist," Pearl said proudly.
"Well, you sure picked one heck of a first job," Sez said. He paused for a second then asked. "Are you against Luffy or are you with him?"
"Hmm, well, I've never met the guy, but I've heard great things about him," Pearl said thinking. "I'd say I'd support him and I think the others would agree,"
"Well, that's a relief," Sez said as he leaned against the stairs. . "I'd hate to have to save someone and then kill them,"
"What do you mean?" Pearl asked, surprised. Sez didn't strike her as someone who would kill a person just because they don't like the pirate king.
"What do you mean, what do I mean?" Sez asked. "I told you, I'm a member of the Azure Dragonfly pirates. One of the most loyal pirates to Luff, right up there with the Marionette Pirates and the Capricorn Pirates," Sez explained. "And there are no neutrals in the war, everyone either wants to kill Luffy or have him stay in charge,"
"So, wait there's a war between the pirates?" Pearl asked. "I knew there was a disagreement between some of them, but…" Pearl began.
"A dis-a disagreement!" Sez yelled. "Try, well, a full blown war! Most of the pirates thought Luffy was too soft, so they rebelled and tried to kill him. He had to retreat and now we're preparing to fight back. Say we could use the help, will your crew join us?"
"I don't know," Pearl said. "There aren't that many of us and we don't even have…a…ship. Oh no! I completely forgot I've still got a job to do!" Pearl said as she rushed to the exit of the ruined building.
"Would you like it if I gave you a hand?" Sez asked, following her outside. "It's the least I could do, since I stalled you and all,"
Pearl shook her head no. "Thanks, but no thanks. The others are all doing their parts by themselves. It wouldn't be right if I had help,"
"Hmm, well then I'll see you around," Sez said. "Good luck!"
"Right, I've got a lot of catching up to do," Pearl said as she took off running.
~With Russell~
Russell deflected the projectiles and continued his charge forward. Washer suddenly stopped throwing his namesake and dashed forward to meet Russell. They both clashed Washer's toothpick and Russell's scythe, both pushing against the other, trying to knock their opponent off balance. Finally, Washer's strength was able to overcome Russell's and he was shoved to the ground. Washer jumped up and prepared to punch Russell, however Russell recovered from his fall quickly and rolled away. Russell began to pant again, he was exhausted. Man, this guy just doesn't seem to get tired at all! I feel like I'm about to drop and he's barely sweating!
"This has been quite the diversion," Washer said. "I'm enjoying this little fight, but I wonder how much longer I can drag it out? You appear to be quite tired; I doubt you'll last much longer,"
Russell just grinned back at Washer, but on the inside he was starting to get upset. Not at his words, but at the fact that he was letting his crew down. I can't lose! Everyone's depending on me. I still need to fulfill my dream and my nakama's dreams. "I won't lose," Russell said, causing Washer to raise an eyebrow. "And do you want to know why? Because, I've still got too much to do before I'll rollover and die," with that Russell charged at Washer again, he swung his scythe around his back swung with all his might. But, Washer once again blocked it with his toothpick. Undeterred, Russell lashed out with his leg and kicked Washer in the stomach, forcing him back.
With Washer off guard, Russell was able strike again with his scythe and make a cut across his chest. Washer stumbled back and looked at his new injury. "Heh, not bad, but I hope you can do better," he said as cracked his knuckles.
"Don't worry, I'm far from done," Russell said as he held his scythe in front of his self.
~With Zen~
"Dang it," Zen muttered. "Where the hell, is Pearl? She should've been here ten minutes ago," Zen was pacing in the small guard tower that controlled half of the main gate. He had been surprised to find out that he beat Pearl to his destination. He had even felt like gloating to her afterwards, but now he was starting to worry. "What if something happened to her? But, she can heal so she'll be fine right? But, what if it's so bad that it'll take hours to heal, or maybe she won't be able to recover. I mean, I don't know what kinda limits her devil fruit has. If those did do something like then I'll…" Zen's threat was cut short when he heard someone calling out to him.
"Zen! What are you doing? We're supposed to open the gate," Zen spun around; there was Pearl waiting for him to get ready to turn the switch, as if nothing was wrong.
"Pearl! What the- where have you been! I've been waiting for you!" Zen yelled out to her.
"Sorry, I ran into some trouble. I'll tell you more about it later. Right now, let's get the gate open," Pearl said moving her hand to hit the switch.
"Wait," Zen said looking around. "I still see cannons on your side,"
"Yeah I know," Pearl called back. "Russell's supposed to get those,"
"That's my point," Zen said. "You're already late, so what's keeping Russell?"
"Your right," Pearl said looking further up into the cavern. "And I don't see the Sarah and the ship, either,"
Zen growled. "This is not good," He looked up and down both sides of the river as far as he could see hoping to spot Russell or the ship, but he couldn't see either one.
"What should we do?" Pearl asked.
Zen sighed. On one hand they could go and try to help Russell, but if Sarah came by in the ship while they were helping him, then she'd be a sitting duck for the canons while they ran back to the gate. On the other hand, if they just waited either Russell, or Sarah, or both could be in major trouble. "We'll wait here a little while longer. If we don't see Russell or Sarah in fifteen minutes we'll go and check up on them,"
"But, what if they need our help now?" Pearl asked.
"Then we'll just have to hope they can hold out for fifteen minutes," Zen said, then he sighed. "Take care Russ,"
~With Sarah~
Sarah was utterly bored. This must be how Washer felt. She thought. She had already knocked out all of the guards and had 'suggested' that the remaining workers leave. Now, she had to wait for Russell to get done with his fight with Washer and take out all of the remaining cannons so she could leave. But, the fight was taking longer than she thought it would. "Man, is Russell that bad? Such an amazing person as myself shouldn't be kept waiting," she said. "Hmm, then again what if Washer is that good? Well, I can't do anything yet, not until the cannons are clear," Suddenly, several loud shots rang and the water around the ship was tossed up violently. Several gunners had realized that the pirates were after the ship and were willing to sink it to keep them from getting it. "Grr," Sarah growled as she made preparations to move the ship. "This is not my day. I'm going to need to start early or else I'm a sitting duck!"
~With Russell~
The fight was dragging on, Russell was trying to think of a way to end the fight quickly, but nothing came to mind. I need to get closer Russell thought as he back flipped overanother barrage of washers. He charged at Washer again, ready to end the fight. He swung his scythe with all of his might, bringing it crashing down towards Washer's head. This time, instead of using his toothpick to block the strike, Washer held up his hands and caught the scythe's blade, holding it in place with little effort. But, Russell wasn't done yet he brought his knee up, ramming it into Washer's stomach. Washer stumbled back and looked up just in time to see Russell throw a punch at his head. The blow connected, but before Russell could bring his scythe around to finish the fight, Washer threw another washer at him, and at that range he couldn't miss.
Russell felt like all of the wind had been knocked out of him. He clutched his stomach were the washer had hit. How…can anyone…throw a washer…that hard! Russell thought, as he tried to stand up straight.
"Too bad it's over. I quite enjoyed our little match," Washer said, sounding bored again. "Oh well, I guess all good things must come to an end," He started to walk away and when he and put enough distance to make sure that Russell couldn't try anything he pulled out a handful of washers. He smirked as he threw them straight at Russell's head.
Time seemed to slow down for Russell; he could see the washers coming closer and closer. Is this it? Is it really over? Russell thought. No! I won't let it end this way! I've got too much to do, I still need to become a famous pirate and help my crew with their dreams, and I still need to have a 'chat' with Zen. "I won't die here!" Russell yelled defiantly. He stood up and prepared to throw himself out of the way of the washers, but as fate would have it he didn't need to.
A shield came flying somewhere to the left and it blocked all of the washers. Russell noticed that it was attached to a chain moments before it was pulled back to its owner. Russell looked to see who had saved him and was shocked to see "Reinhart! What are you doing here!"
"Well, I thought I would take you up on that offer… if it's still open," Reinhart said.
Russell grinned. "You bet it's still open! Now, come on let's take this guy down!"
"Sorry captain, but I'm afraid that you are too injured to be of much use in this fight. Don't take it the wrong way; few can go this long with sustaining as few injuries as you have. But, if you continue to fight, you could be killed and as part of your crew I could not allow that. Besides the others are waiting for you to clear the rest of the cannons, if you hurry this mission can still be salvaged,"
"Hey, I can't just leave you hear by yourself! This guy's good Reinhart," Russell said as he got ready to fight again.
Reinhart smiled at his new captain. "Believe me captain; I am well aware of his capabilities. We have worked together in the past, which is why I'll be able to beat him, I know how he fights. Besides you've already worn him down, it shouldn't be that hard to finish this for you,"
"Are you sure you can handle him?" Russell asked skeptically.
"Do not worry about me," Reinhart said holding up his left hand. On it was a gauntlet with the shield, chain, and a small winch designed to pull the chain and shield back, after they've been thrown. "I've got quite a bit of experience with this. Now go, before it's too late,"
Russell nodded and ran off to clear the other shore of cannons so that Sarah could go. "Give him a good hit for me, will ya!" Russell hollered back to Reinhart as he ran off.
"I will captain," Reinhart said smirking slightly.
Washer, who observed the whole scene with only mild interest, turned to look Reinhart in the eyes. "So, you're a pirate now, huh?"
"I'm afraid so," Reinhart said. "I hope this doesn't mean you're going to hold back," He held his shield down to his side, ready to throw it at moment's notice.
"I won't, if you answer my question," Washer said. "Why did you lie to your new captain?"
"Well, we have worked together before and I do know you're fighting style, which is how I beat my opponents," Reinhart said.
"And you know that I don't have a fighting style, so your method isn't going to work," Washer said.
"True, but I still believe I can beat you. If I can't beat you, then I won't be able to fulfill my dream of removing the DeMarks from power. So I will do whatever I can to defeat you," Reinhart said. "And in the worst case scenario I'll be able to buy the others enough time to get the job done,"
"Very well then, "Washer sighed. "Let's see if your theory is correct or not,"
AN: Well, I've been gone longer than I planned, but I've had college stuff going on so please don't hate me too much, I'll try to update sooner. Please tell me what you think of the chapter.
