Picking up the discarded ring of keys, Drake walked over the Rhythm's cell, his feet dragging behind him in a lazy gesture. She looked up upon seeing him, waiting expectantly as he unlocked her cell.
He grinned at her, whispering just loud enough for her to hear him, "You know, I could've just left you here. Be thankful you're my captain, or else I wouldn't have exerted this much effort over something that doesn't involve dessert. Then again, even with dessert, I still might not've used up my energy like that."
Rhythm remained scowling at him for taking so long to unlock her cell, but didn't otherwise say anything as she stood up and walked out, hands still behind her back and confined in dark grey handcuffs, apparently not finding his comment worth a response.
As he walked, Drake shoved his left hand into the pocket of his pants, using his right to attempt to fix his black and blonde hair, which had become quite tousled during his arrest just hours previous.
"It suits him better when in disarray," drawled Rhythm, her expression bored and sleepy.
Drake eyes widened slightly, and after partially regaining his composure he then lowered his eyes to the ground and scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, a very slight blush upon his face, "Hah, well thanks, I guess, yeah." When he raised his eyes to properly address her, he was surprised to find that the ring of keys he had been holding and Rhythm had both disappeared. He groaned, mostly to himself, before muttering, "Gee, captain, creepy much?"
Hearing a clinking noise, he turned around, and his eyes widened once again, though this time they must of stretched out their sockets. He couldn't believe that he was currently watching his captain unlock the cells of the other inmates being contained nearby.
"Yo, Captain! Care to explain why you're letting out the other prisoners?" Drake exclaimed, before clamping a hand over his mouth, just remembering that he was supposed to be quiet so that no one heard him.
"Use the brain contained within his skull; that is, if he even has one, hmm," she commented absentmindedly.
"Yes I have a brain, and yes I know where it is!" he snapped, "But I don't see any strategy in this."
Pausing a moment, she sighed in mock exasperation and rolled her eyes. Turning around to face him, she replied, "Well, if he's actually telling the truth about knowin' where his brain is, then the next step is learning how ta put it to use, hmm. But for his sake, Rhythm s'poses she will explain," she paused, ignoring his offended expression, before taking a deep labor-some breath and continuing, "Imagine the confusion that'd be caused if the jail's worst criminals were all ta be on the loose, eh? The distraction would be so grand that we could escape without bein' noticed."
Drake chuckled upon the realization, "Oh, hah, true! Good idea!"
"Well duh, of course it's a good idea; that's why she is tryin' ta do it. Her superior intellect never allows her ta conjure up bad ideas," Rhythm sneered back in her usual untactful manner, continuing to unlock the cages. Upon exiting, the prisoners begin making a ruckus and heading straight for the guards on duty to take them down, in order to make it to the main door and try escape from their prison.
"...Right," her first mate muttered awkwardly, before turning to gaze upon the criminal his captain had just set free, the woman immediately taking off down the corridor and to the entrance of the jail sector.
Rhythm instantly regretted unlocking the last prisoner in the hallway, due to how the convict chose to show her gratitude by passionately shouting directly into her ear, "I'M A WOMAN!" With an irritated scowl, Rhythm drawled slowly after the loud and fleeting escapee, "Hmm, and here Rhythm thought she were a goat. Have some self worth."
"Captain," Drake winced, seeing the glare that Rhythm received from the loud female prisoner when she heard his captain's comment, "You really shouldn't be so blunt and sarcastic sometimes..."
"Why not?"
"'Cause it makes people not like you."
"And people not likin' Rhythm is a problem?"
Drake sighed in exasperation, "Well, isn't it?"
"No."
"Sheesh, just trying to help."
"Help what?"
"Ya know what... never-mind, Captain," Drake sighed, his lips curling up into a slight smile as he shook his head in exasperation.
"Hmm, 'kay."
Rhythm began a brisk walk beside her first mate towards the prison door separating the jail sector from the rest of the base, her green eyes alert for any signs of marines. She removed an apple seemingly out of nowhere, and began chomping down on it. At the end of the corridor, she put an arm in front of Drake to stop him from advancing forwards, before peeking around the corner of the wall to analyze the situation.
Rhythm stopped walking for a moment, seeing no need to rush due to how the marines that had been steadily approaching them were now occupied with all the escapees Rhythm had let out, and were solely concerned about getting them contained once again.
She turned to face Drake, speaking in a low, drowsy voice, "Guess we should go up to the rafters now and travel across them to the main door... that is, unless your ability can help us."
Drake's eyes widened in shock, his multicoloured eyebrows raising to the top of his forehead, "Wha... what? How do you even know about that? You couldn't have possibly seen me from your cell!"
"Rhythm used her brain to figure it out, unlike her first mate who has trouble doing so."
Drake grimaced, "Yo, what's with all of the degrading comments, Captain?"
Rhythm scowled grimly at him, but didn't otherwise comment on that topic, instead choosing to focus on the task at hand. "So, about his ability?"
Drake rolled his eyes while chuckling, "Yeah, my ability will definitely help us to escape better than your jumping along the rafters idea. Mind if I grab your waist?"
"If it helps the operation, Rhythm doesn't mind anythin' that's done ta her."
Drake pulled her towards him, smirking a little as he thought about a more perverted way her statement could be understood, before warning, "Okay, get ready!"
Rhythm nodded, and was amused to find Drake's body shape shift into the form of some species of lizard. This time, though, it was about as big as any human, and still held human-like characteristics. Rhythm assumed this to be one of his hybrid forms. With his scaly sandpaper-textured arm still snaked around her waist, Drake launched into the air towards the top half of a wall.
Upon connecting with it, he immediately began scurrying at a very high speed towards the door of the jail sector, since his lizard hands and feet were sticky and allowed them to do so. He was able to fully blend in with his surroundings, but Rhythm remained visible, and if any of the very busy marines were to have cast their gaze upwards, they would have seen a green haired woman seemingly floating through the air.
By now, alarms and sirens were going off all over the entire marine base, due to the rampaging of all the freed criminals. The marines continued pouring into the sector, oblivious to anything going on above them due to their attention being solely focused upon those on the ground.
The duo quickly made it through the large metal door and outside of the jail sector, now successfully within the main base. Drake took to the roof, now being completely upside-down. He scurried into a dark area to rest for a moment, even though he was not actually tired.
"Why did he stop?" came the annoyed query.
Drake scowled, "Hey now, don't you even think about complaining. Be glad I went this far without stopping! I literally temporarily forsook my laziness for you, and that is a huge deal. A huge deal!"
Rhythm rolled her eyes, before covering her mouth with her hand in order to suffocate her yawn. Her first mate then laughed sheepishly, "Oh, yeah, and I also stopped because I just might not know exactly where the weaponry room is... ha ha."
"Rhythm can show him. She knows where it is, hmm."
Drake groaned after hearing his one very good excuse invalidated by his captain. He'd hoped that he would have been able to get away with resting a bit more while pretending to be thinking about the weaponry room's location. He grumbled to himself, wondering why he had to get stuck with a captain who thought things out so well. He was about to begin whining out loud to her when he saw a group of marines coming their way. Scowling, Drake tightened his grip on Rhythm before setting off once more, "Be my guide, then."
"Eh, sure. Hmm."
With Rhythm's guidance, Drake was able to successfully make it to their destination without being detected. They were able to get into the weaponry room by sneaking through unfinished roofing above the door, even though the main door that led into it from the hallway had been tightly secured. After checking to make sure no one was within the room, he jumped down to the ground, releasing his captain once he had touched the ground. She began to aimlessly wander around with no obvious goal in mind. Drake immediately shifted back to human form and began scouring the room for his most prized possession—his double sided axe. Ever since he lost his memory, it had been the only thing dear to him.
"Found it!" Rhythm heard Drake call out. She nodded once, even though no one could see her, and then turned around to begin walking back to her newest crew member. "One hundred and sixty-three degrees," she droned, noting the exact angle of the said turn she made.
Upon coming back to him, Rhythm found that her first mate was slouched against one of the wall with his eyes closed and his body completely relaxed. She kicked him lightly, causing his eyes to open and his hands to grasp the spot in pain, shouting, "But Captain! I thought it was be really beneficial to us to rest for a bit!"
"Oh, yeah, so that they could literally wait 'til the marines checked out this room and found them. Good plan, couldn't have thought of anything better, hmm.
Drake sighed, giving up on attempting a rest. With his weapon tightly secured upon his back, Drake picked up Rhythm once more and began to exit the base in the same manner as they had been traveling so far. While guiding him, Rhythm deeply pondered whether the scaly feeling she was feeling through her black and white striped shirt felt good or not—or neutral, perhaps.
A few moments later and the pair were now almost out of the base—in fact, the main door was in sight. Though there was a side door leading out of the base, Drake had insisted upon going the main route so as to not have to travel so far, claiming to have a phobia of exercise, and Rhythm had relented even though her original plan was to go through the side exit undetected. Unfortunately for him, there were quite a few marines traveling along the hallways, and they'd had to take a few detours in order to remain undetected that overall ended up being a much longer route than if they had simply went through a side door.
At least, they'd thought no one had seen them.
They were wrong.
Seemingly out of nowhere, a pair of dark-coloured handcuffs came flying towards them. Rhythm just barely saw the attack coming, though she couldn't tell what the object approaching was. She detached herself, and launched off of Drake's back in order to evade. Drake didn't see the attack in time, and was caught off guard when a cuff latched onto one of his hands.
His initial reaction was one of disinterest, thinking that whoever had thrown the attack had missed his other wrist. After another second, though, an immense pain began violently coursing through his body in powerful waves, starting at his wrist and shooting downwards, vibrating throughout his body. It was pain unlike he had ever experienced before—a mixture of a stinging and electrocuting sensation combined.
His hybrid form disappeared, and he reverted back to his human appearance. Due to the shock from the sudden pain, Drake was unable to stop himself from falling a good sixteen feet towards the ground. Rhythm rushed towards him, and would have had enough time to catch him had not a dark figure suddenly appeared in front of her and punched her square in the face.
Rhythm allowed her back to smack into the nearest wall behind her, her body slumping down into a sitting position. With her head bowed, she slowly brought a hand up and wiped the blood from her nose.
The figure slowly walked up to her, his youth-like features revealing themselves, "The name is Lieutenant Chargic, and I'm here to capture you repulsive pirates and stop you from escaping."
Rhythm groaned, slapping a hand to her face as she thought about how annoying this new complication in their plan was. If only she had insisted upon taking the side exit, then they wouldn't be in this mess.
She scowled, lifting her head up to address the lieutenant as she replied in a drowsy voice, "Why? It ain't like neither Drake nor Rhythm have bounties, hmm. What, is he fighting solely from ambitionnnnn?" She tilted her head to the side slightly in an inquisitive manner as she waited for his response.
Lieutenant Chargic sneered, "Not like it matters to you two, since I'm about to bring you both in, but yes, I do fight due to ambition."
"Sounds laaame," she yawned, bringing a hand up to cover her mouth, her eyes slightly glazed over as a sign of disinterest.
"Shut it, pirate!" he growled angrily, "Such insolence! I'm going to beat you both up within an inch our your life!"
Rhythm let out a loud and drawn-out sigh, before drawling, "She is gonna just love crushing all of his ambition, and destroying his spirit, hmm. He will perish by her hand, you mercenary."
"..." Lieutenant Chargic seemed frozen for a few moments before he finally recollected himself, frowning, "Um... I'm a marine."
"But," Rhythm managed feebly with a confused frown, "The name 'Chargic' sounds like it should be a mercenary name."
"Just because a name sounds like it should be something doesn't really mean it actually is..." Lieutenant Chargic trailed off awkwardly, confused by the gloomy woman's assumptions.
"Why not?"
"It just doesn't work that way."
"Is he sure?"
"Yes."
"Oh," Rhythm frowned from her position against the wall she had been thrown against earlier, looking up at him through sleepy half-lidded eyes, "Okay."
"Just okay?"
"Mhm. Now can we fight?" she asked suddenly with a small scowl clouding her features, "This is gettin' awfully boring."
Her statement made Lieutenant Chargic to suddenly remember what he had come after her for. His angry though heavily determined expression returned in full force, and a fire came back into his eyes as he stuck out his arm and pointed at her while yelling, "Time to die, pirate scum!"
He charged forth, but soon realized the woman was no longer in the position she had been just moments previous. Chargic stopped charging, looking around himself in a confused manner as she tried to pinpoint her location.
He hardly saw the attack coming, and the only thing the prevented him from receiving the blunt of the woman's attack was sheer instincts. He flung himself to the left, causing the attack to only graze him, a long but shallow cut appearing on his cheek. Chargic immediately regained composure and jumped back from her in an attempt to create distance, frowning as he did so. He hadn't noticed the woman with wild green hair carrying any sharp object, yet she must have been if she was able to cut his face like that.
Rhythm wasted no time in preforming a rebound attack. She landed upon the ground in a crouching position before launching herself back towards her opponent. The force of her push was enough to catapult her form through mid-air at such a high speed that her appearance became that of a green and black blur.
This time, though, Lieutenant Chargic was ready. He pulled out his sword and braced himself for the oncoming attack. He chose to attempt to block the attack instead of dodging or launching his own attack, since he didn't have enough time to rush forwards and take the offensive, nor could he go on the defensive by dodging, since he viewed doing so in a circumstance such as this to be a cowardly act. Rhythm swung her right leg upwards with impossible speed, before bringing it down towards him.
Chargic braced himself, digging his feet firmly into the ground. He bent his knees slightly and positioned his sword in front of him in a way that would shield him best. In an instant, her leg slammed down upon his sword, resulting in a deadly resounding clang. He was able to hold his ground for a full second, his grip unwavering, before the pressure was just too much, and his arms abruptly gave way. The sword was flung out of his hand, and Rhythm's leg continued on its deadly path downwards, smashing into his stomach and effectively knocking the wind out of the man as it drove him into the ground. Chargic gasped in pain at the power of the attack as he struggled to regain his breath.
Rhythm backed up, allowing the man time to recollect himself as she ran towards Drake, who was wreathing in pain from the handcuffs' cold electric pulses that seemed to rattle his entire body. Before she could get very far, though, a large man appeared in front of Drake, blocking her pathway to him. She tilted her head to the side, observing him through her droopy half-lidded eyes. She noticed his short dark red beard and the matching handlebar moustache he sported.
"Woah," she murmured, using all of her willpower to not reach out and feel the man's moustache for herself, "Now that's hella cool."
A/N: Episode ten is up! I really like Kai's character haha. He's pree chill. Hope you guys all like Drake! You'll get to see a lot more of him in the coming chapters. I actually have this story written out to like chapter 22 I think, but I have bad wifi and it takes forever to put these up haha. But I'll try get better from now on.