The Gate to Kisho
Day 13: A day of depression. Zato finally emerged from his realm, ready to make plans. We all gathered, including our new friend Nick, to discuss our plan of action!
Chapter 27
Stars Speak!
Akaiso's Last Test
Everyone held a flower in their hand, shown as respect for their lost comrade.
"Mike has been taken," Zato whispered at first. He had the full attention of his crew. "And Akaiso is not through. He's just started."
Fuyu nodded and took over. "His plans are unknown to us. It would be good if we could discover more about them."
Neko, while sniffing local herbs, suddenly piped in. "Oh haha, how hilarious. It's simple! He wants full control over the Kisho Sea so he can capture all pirates, trade, people, whoever coming in. Then he'll create the Kisho Empire and become stronger than even the government. He's starting with the northern island, and he figures that if he takes over that kingdom.. yeah. Plus the govenrment's with him, he's a Shichibukai so we stand no chance!"
Every single person gathered around dropped their flowers, and their jaws dropped down, eyes bulging, filled with perplexity. "Eh?! How do you know?!" Tohru cried.
Thinking he missed chorus, Neko also dropped his flower and herbs. "How do I know? Well, I used to be Mr. 10 in Akaiso Works, one of his followers, then I betrayed and…"
A large shadow had already fallen upon Neko. Zato, Fuyu, Evian, and Nick glared down at him, causing him to cower beneath. "Er… guys…"
"Neko, why didn't you say this all before?"
Neko grinned and replied, "Because you didn't ask! Haha… Um… guys… funny.. joke.. PLEASE!!"
The island residents could hear screamings from the lodges over by the forest, including: "Block Block PUNISHMENT!" "Death Swipe!" "BAKA BAKA BAKA! EHHH!!" and "Spare me!!"
All but Olvia engaged in screaming and further violence. She reached for the herbs Neko dropped and inspected them carefully. "Hm…"
\/\/-\/\/
Dropping the humor, four hooded figures assembled at the opposite coast. The tallest rolled open a scroll and released a puff of smoke. Emerging from the haziness was a large vulture. "Is that all you can do, Mr. 6?" the first female chuckled.
Removing her cloak, she exposed a turquoise outfit with a number of blue gadgets attached. Here was Ms. Dawnflame, the Master of Mystic Fire! She was one member in Akaiso Works to be avoided at all costs – her reputation was deadly.
The tall man also removed his cloak. "That's not all I can do. This vulture is just a means of distraction of course. My mirages occupy everyone's minds, while they don't see the reality of Akaiso's army arriving!" This was Mr. 6, the Master of Mirages.
The last two uncovered themselves. Mr. 7 was the buff man dressed up as a general, for that was him! Ms. Guantlet, on the other hand, held numerous blades stashed in leather sheets. She was the best sword bearer in Akaiso Works.
"The army is set?" Mr. 6 asked Mr. 7.
"Only if the mirages will work us through!" he replied.
All but Mr. 7 flickered away as hundreds of soldiers marched down the coastline under his command.
\/\/-\/\/
Nick faced his angry leader. "Nikhil Anarion," the man whispered at first. Then, suddenly throwing his voice up many decibels, he roared, "We entrusted you with the special jetski, yet you had it destroyed on a regular mission?!"
He immediately shot back. "Blame it on Akaiso Works for that!!"
The choleric man took a deep breath and then exploded once more. "I've told you a NUMBER of times, Nick! Akaiso is a Shichibukai! He serves the World Government, as do we!! Akaiso Works is a mere hoax!!"
Nick cursed and turned around. "Damn.. how can I prove it?!"
A loud shriek stimulated everyone in the office, and they darted out at once. Nick took a step outside but was nearly nailed by Zato soaring by. The streets were flooded with strange soldiers, each carrying muskets with bayonets attached to the ends. "What's going on?!" the leader cried. Nick pushed him back to avoid being hit by a bullet zipping by.
Fuyu continuously popped up in random locations to bring down the mass of Akaiso's soldiers. "Damn, there's so many!!"
"Kreeee!!" went a sudden screech. Everyone screamed at the sight of large vultures soaring above.
Mr. 7 seized this opportunity and commanded his soldiers to charge. Opposing him, Tohru took the lead and brought out her fully attached rod. She whirled it with elegance and somehow began blowing rapid gusts at Akaiso's army. "A combination of the Windmill Shuriken, attached at each end of my classic rod, really does make me a lot stronger than before!"
The vultures finally came down and continued spreading their terror among the townspeople. Nick reacted quickly by grabbing his rifle and aiming for the nearest. A loud roar came from the gunfire, though no affect was taken upon the vultures.
Zato came soaring back and slammed into another line of soldiers. "They're endless!" Mr. 7 dived towards him, managing to grab his foot in time.
All the while, two sneaky figures slipped past the town. Nick pulled down his sniper goggles and made out Mr. 6 and Ms. Dawnflame moving into a warehouse. Abandoning his post, he darted away from the scene and made for the two plotters, the Star Pirates continued their fight.
\/\/-\/\/
"Quickly, Ms. Dawnflame. Light the bomb and let Sharpshooter Island perish!" Mr. 6 chuckled. From his body dangled a number of open scrolls, and his dexterous fingers controlled the summonings of his mirages.
Ms. Dawnflame spread wide her coat and let it fall, revealing her gadget suit. She moved towards the large sphere at the center of the room and waved her hand slowly above the heat absorbent portion.
A blue flame was lit upon the sphere, and immediately lights began to shine from it. A timer flashed on the front side, showing the numbers 5:00. "Alright, let's get everything we need!" Mr. 6 hissed. The two split up and rummaged through the stashings in the warehouse, tossing everything of value into their large sacks.
Boom! An explosion occurred to Mr. 6's side, completely startling him and even dropping a few of the scrolls he possessed. Nick had appeared at the door, having made a successful warning shot. "Akaiso Works, you actually thought you could steal all our goods?"
Ms. Dawnflame was not interested in words, as she instantly disapparated into blue flames. The next second, Nick felt immense heat behind him and leapt forward before she could burn him. "So you move around by letting the fire dissolve into the air, huh?" Nick asked. Mr. 6 too ignored his words and charged. Before Nick could fire, the man had his hand over the gun, preventing him from aiming it properly.
Nick was thrown back into the wall and completely disarmed of his weapon while Ms. Dawnflame approached from the side. He groaned before being burned alive by the blue flames that now enveloped him. "That did it," Ms. Dawnflame grinned. "He's done for, even if he lives. He'll be dead sooner or later. Damn him, he wasted precious seconds!"
The pair continued looting valuables while Nick watched in pain. "Damn, already down. Gotta fight it. Assholes!" The two looked up from what they were doing, as if annoyed.
"I got him this time, Ms. Dawnflame," said Mr. 6. He twitched his fingers once more, sending a multitude of zombie mirages soaring towards Nick. "Shit!" the sniper cried. They whirled around him demonically, swiping, slashing, attacking him in all ways.
"Nightmare… break me free from this nightmare…" Nick moaned, only to realize the truth. 'I fired at those vultures, and it failed. This is a nightmare! None of this is real! The greatest fear is fear itself! That's where the pain is coming from!!"
Mr. 6 looked up again, now enraged. "Can't he shutup and just die?" Instead, Nick tore off the wall and charged straight towards the Mirage Man.
"Mr. 6!" Ms. Dawnflame screamed, though she was too far to do anything.
"You coward! You can't do anything!" Nick roared, throwing his fist forward. "So lemme show you that I'm more than just a sniper!"
WHAM! Mr. 6 was thrown backwards across the warehouse with a bloodied face. "Ugh.." he moaned from the true pain. "He outwitted me.."
"Don't think I'm done right there!" Nick shouted, grasping hold of his rifle. "You deserve death for robbing the innocent!"
Ms. Dawnflame watched in horror as her partner suffered, and his scrolls incinerated from each shot. After the bloodshed, his weak voice croaked out, "Ms. Dawnflame, get the bomb, outside, detonate… before it's too late!"
Nick turned to see Ms. Dawnflame rolling the sphere towards the exit of the warehouse. The timer was blinking quickly – 0:10! 0:09!...
"Shit! A bomb that they're gonna blow outside! Not gonna happen!!" Nick yelped, firing at the flame just in time.
BOOM! The fighting in the town immediately came to a close. Everyone turned to see waves of debris flying towards them. "A bomb?!" Tohru screamed as she was lifted into the air. Olvia caught her in time with a cloud and brought her into a small cloud fortress she had formed. "Kumo Kumo Wall!"
Zato, Fuyu, Neko, and Evian held their ground beside a building, avoiding the strong winds and demolition rushing through. The vultures in the sky slowly began to fade away.
"What happened?" asked Zato.
"They weren't real," Evian chuckled. "Must've been mirages. I figured it out when our sniper friend shot right through one."
They all looked around, unsure of where Nick had gotten to.
\/\/-\/\/
Ms. Gauntlet looked around. The soldiers of Akaiso's army had landed in mounds of ashes. Many were dead, some moaned with pain, a few managed to get up. "Damn," she cried. "Mr. 6 was supposed to wait.. the whole five minutes. Why did the bomb go early?!"
Mr. 7 lay to her side near death from the impact. Suddenly, she saw the soldiers start to surround her. "Ms. Gauntlet," one said. "Bomb? It seems as though you had set a bomb, but not informed us of it."
Another piped in quickly. "Of course she would've escaped. But something must've gone wrong. You were going to leave us here to die from the bomb."
They began to close in, frightening Ms. Gauntlet very much. One came right above the suffering Mr. 7 and dug his bayonet straight through Mr. 7's head. "We won't look up to you very much if your plans are to sacrifice us meaninglessly."
Ms. Gauntlet immediately armed herself and hacked through the crowd of soldiers from all sides. Blood spurt into the air, and Fuyu sensed it from a distance.
The five of the Star Pirates and Neko raced to the new scene, only to find Ms. Gauntlet standing above a stack of corpses. Her massive swords were stained with blood. "I don't know what you did, but our plans have been completely massacred. As you just saw, I'm no easy win for you. I have defeated Mr. 2 in a duel with my accuracy and precision."
Fuyu stepped forth, interested in her challenge. "Then let us fight right here, right now." She flickered away and appeared at his side a second later, her sword quickly breezing in. Fuyu ducked backwards in a cartwheel and kicked her left handed weapon into the air. Ms. Gauntlet responded by bringing her right sword right into Fuyu's back.
"Aarrgh!!" he roared in pain, collapsing to the ground. She had made a perfect strike and taken down Fuyu.
Whoosh! A bullet whizzed past Zato's ear and went straight through Ms. Gauntlet's sword. "What?!"
Nick had shot from the distant tower and hit his mark. He continued firing, and Ms. Gauntlet scrambled to dodge. When the impact occurred at her heel, she screamed and fell to the ground beside Fuyu.
Flames began to sprout beside her, and Ms. Dawnflame apparated in. The Star Pirates gasped, and Neko squirmed. "Mr. 10 the traitor. But the Star Pirates have meddled enough. Come to the northern kingdom, I dare you," Ms. Dawnflame hissed. She turned to Nick. "As for you, Mr. 6 died from the bomb. Me, I escaped. You may see us again, and we will destroy you then. Come, Ms. Gauntlet!" The two disappeared in flames before Nick could kill them with a bomb projectile.
Zato turned to Neko, finally realizing things. "Akaiso is our next stop. Neko, I've decided we'll defeat him. You betrayed Akaiso, right?"
"Mhm," said Neko. "I discovered the horrifying part of his plan. He was using everyone in his organization, then he'd leave them all to die. He wants to eventually overthrow the government, but along the way he'd ditch us. He's done horrible things. And he plans to do more. I want to stop him and his organization before he takes over the northern kingdom!"
Zato grinned. "It's set, let's set sail for Hoku no Fuyu Island!!"
"Hold it right there pirates!" the leader yelled. They turned and saw the townspeople gathered behind. "We have discovered the truth of Akaiso and shall let it out to everyone. Please take my son, Nikhil Anarion, with you. He too wishes to partake in this battle!"
Nick faced the leader. "Thanks, Dad. Thank you for understanding."
They boarded Shooting Star, and fired out into the sea. "Akaiso, here we come!" Zato roared.
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Rushed that chapter. Trying to get to the Hoku no Fuyu "arc".
Read, enjoy, and review!