Drode: (yawns, waking up from his month long sleep) Yo. Since the author had been working on exams and such, it was a bit harder to get stuff together. Thankfully I convinced him to work a little on this each day. We should get back to normal updates soon. And to Mr. 4, what Devil Fruits need adjusting, as Requiem's attacks will be more specific in the next arc? Oh yeah, as for the prize in the summary, go all the way down. Thank you.

Ch 14

'When the world revolves, the moon causes the tides to rise and fall. If the moon didn't exist, we would be underwater by now. Times change...'

The sky was darkened, as a red moon settled over the island of Nightwind, as vicious tidal waves struck the shoreline repeatedly, frightening the mares roaming the cobblestone roads. Wolves howled, villagers in torn rags screamed in panic and dogs barked all over the countryside.

Nightwind Island was known as a medieval land, similar to the villages in England during the 1400s, mostly with straw roofs and cobblestone walls. And was well-known as a good vacation spot as well, being a Spring Island and well preserved through generous donations by the World Government as to preserve the essence of the past 1000 years on that very spot. Kinda like a Rural Life museum only island-sized and outdoors.

To say that a place like this would be peaceful, yet like any good diorama of a ancient kingdom, there would be kings and castles. Two of them to be exact, one placed on the western and eastern points of the island. One held the Sven Army, the other was the Ovan Army, and they held annual festivals and 'mock battles' for tourists to enjoy similar to a Renaissance fair.

However...since it was a bit late in the morning before the sunrise, the hundreds of flaming arrows pouring down on the small flammable village seemed a bit much for a fake scenario. Or the dozens of screaming nutcases in chainmail armor, waving real swords around to decapitate anyone outside their homes, their eyes covered with a purple glow.

Blood was spilled, heads were cleaved open, bodies were run through by long lances and the town armory was seized in a matter of minutes. Children were taken out of their beds forcibly, beaten down and forced to watch their parents die in front of them gruelsomely by spiked maces or hangings. And yet, despite the barbaric yelling and fake war chants, the knights didn't really seem that much into the killing of the village actors or the horses, but did it anyway against their will.

In the midst of the burning town, four non-chainmail wearing figures looked towards the Sven castle, which was sending suppression knights to stop the insane knights as the drawbridge lowered.

"It seems we have company. I estimate 89 chance of victory within five minutes." A young man with flowing blond hair down to his shoulders smirked, wearing a rather bulky winter coat with a furry hood. He wore snow pants on his legs, ski-goggles over his face and rubber flame-retardant boots that seemed to burn the grass beneath. His red eyes gleamed over the fires that he himself started, enjoying the warmth and chaos.

"Let them come with their horses and swords. With no actual skill in combat, I will make them suffer for pretending to be strong, de gozaru." This came from the lean, black-haired man in a pink hakama and kimono, in which his hair was bunched up into a top knot. Lilacs were painted on the front of his kimono, and his katana was attached to his belt, ready for quick slashing.

"Ha! You guys just wait your turn! I'll kill the most and arrive at the castle way before you guys do!" A hulking brute of a man with stubble on his chin and a spiked brown haircut said, grinning in amusement. He wore no shirt, but wore baggy, stretchable latex pants and had no shoes on to cover this coarse, filthy feet that looked like they had been stepping on hot coals and thumb-tacks. A sword sheath was attached to his belt, a very long one, his chest wore several battle scars and he wore several silver rings on his arms and legs.

"Just don't take too long, the sun will be up in four hours and your strength will be at it's weakest since you did your technique prematurely. I'll take the lead and make certain the drawbridge stays down." A well-endowed female woman with what appeared to be a pointed aerodynamic biker helmet with a black face visor, dressed in a friction-proof, heat-proof leotard and spiked running shoes. A lime green line was painted on her arms and legs, as well as around her waist and three straight lines on the helmet.

The woman brought out two long, curved blades that looked like shark fins but three times as big, then snapped them together and twisted to merge them. "Let's get hopping!" With that, she shot towards the crowd like a bullet, increasing her speed until it looked like she was morphing into something, a white blur with antlers. Row by row, men found their legs severed away by the sword's swift cut, yet cauterized to prevent blood flow. A path of downed bodies was left in her wake, with large dirt footprints on their bodies.

"Show off..." The big guy muttered, lumbering over to the group as he drew two thick kodachi from each side of the scabbard. Closing his eyes, he let his killing ki flare upwards like a rocket, frightening a few knights and many horses as the air wavered around him as if heated to desert level. Then, he brought that ki back into his body and refocused it in his eyes, which gleamed rather brilliantly over the knights.

"What's this?"

"I can't move!"

"Can't get up!"

"Bit...my tongue...pain!"

With a gleeful battle cry, the man swooped in to run a kodachi right through the thin chainmail of the lead knight, then threw him over his shoulder as if he was as light as air far off in the distance. He then chopped off the head of the horse, then the legs for good measure. The other knights sweated in terror, unable to move now that the man's killing ki had immobilized them for the most part. The kodachis continued to slash through the troops, as the man enjoyed getting sprayed by blood, a natural killer.

"I don't see why he's so happy about this. It's unsporting to freeze the weak kis of normal actors pretending to be knights." The kimono-wearing man said calmly, walking past the frozen bodies in a bit of disappointment.

"Oh, let him have his fun. The less swords I have to melt, the more pleased the captain will be." The Eskimo said, grinning ear-to-ear. "Besides, the effect only lasts a few minutes anyways, that Shin no Ippô technique. Only a expert level swordsman with a equal bloodlust killing ki can break it."

"I suppose."

The brute laughed, swinging up more bodies as he hacked them apart with sheer physical power. "Come on, guys! Don't leave me hanging. We can set the bodies on fire and launch them at the castle!"

The kimono person snorted in disgust, turning snidely to face the slayer. "Not interested. I prefer not to kill a person who cannot move de gozaru." With that, he moved swiftly towards the castle with killing intent in his eyes.

The big guy grumbled under his breath, irritated that he had to do all the work as more and more of the knights were slashed heavily, dropping like flies all over the area. Yet a few managed to become set free after the time limit expired for them, charging head on towards the behemoth's back.

The giant didn't even notice as the swords plunged in, possibly damaging his liver and blood arteries, and maybe his heart. In fact, he briefly yawned scratching his rump before turning his head sideways to look down at them in a amused manner. "Morons...Sweeper Plunge!" With a fast shift of his right hand to turn his arm the opposite way, he skewered the three with one kodachi through the stomach, then lifted them off the ground like a shish-ka-bob. "All you did was give me a small itch, so I'm going to send ya flying over to my partner. You ready?"

The Eskimo nodded, standing several feet away from him, arms out in front with palms extended. "Ready."

"Then here we go! Thrasher Toss!"

The three were thrown heavily, the kodachi seemed to have punctured through each stomach, causing them all to bleed into each other as they flew towards the man in winter clothing screaming out in pain. It was over for them in a second, for as soon as they collided with the palms, they were set ablaze until there was nothing left but ashes and melted scrap metal.

"Winter Breeze...hits so fast that it burns." The man grinned, as he drew a sword hilt out of his parka jacket. The big guy raised a questionable eyebrow at that weapon.

"You're using the Urumi for these trash? Seriously, that rare nodachi will suit them a-"

"The Urumi will be my weapon of choice for today. End of discussion. Unless you DON'T want me to heal your cuts after the sun rises." The man said coldly, as he unveiled a 20 foot long thin sword that he had wrapped around his waist like a corset. Slowly, he unwrapped it coil by coil until it was laid out on the floor like a long extension cord, revealing his somewhat plump belly.

"After this, I shall go on a Hunger Strike for 20 days to fast. Such is the fate for me..." The Eskimo said, as he thrusted his arm downwards to cause the long, thin blade to 'bounce upwards' in waves around the crowd. "Strike hard, Asper!" Much blood was spilled is the best summarization of the slaughter.

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The drawbridge was beginning to rise off the grass, and arrows flew from above in large droves to ward off the very fast woman who seemed to swerve around them. Some of them actually managed to see the woman right before their legs were cut off by the curved blades, for she now was covered with brown and white fur and heavily muscled, especially around her now clown shoe-sized padded feet. Two large, pointed antlers on her widened forehead. a fluffy bob tail and long, sleek pointed ears ran down each side of her special helmet, as she sped and gored one knight after another in her path, the horns sharpened to the point of cutting through a cue ball with the antlers as the stick.

"Running Pounce!" Gathering momentum in her knees, she sprung upwards and flipped forward to defer a barrage of flaming arrows with her double-edged weapon spinning along with her, before landing on the wooden drawbridge as it began to slant upwards. She winced, feeling the rough splinters drive sharping into her feet.

Sliding downwards, she quickly decapitated the man operating the chain wheel pulley that raised and dropped the drawbridge with a swift slash to the head, splitting it apart and cauterizing it to prevent blood spill. Then with a spin on one toe, she sliced the metal chain with a bit of focus, allowing the drawbridge to drop down. After all, the moat below had numerous man-eating fish and electric eels, which would be a problem for most people wanting to cross it.

After waiting a few minutes, she greeted the pink kimono swordsman with a brief wave, as he nimbly walked along the wooden platform a bit nervous of the fish below.

"I never could understand how fish can live in such a small amount of space." He muttered under his breath, passing by her calmly. "I just hope the boss gets here soon..."

The woman nodded, shifting into her human form as she walked with him down the stone corridors. Along the way, coat of arms hung along the walls, each with different symbols and animals made on them, since each year a different royal family was made up to challenge the castle, and they failed to win the annual mock battle, then they would be discharged into peasant actor roles and their coat of arms flag would be given to the winner. Rows of 'empty' knight armors with axes and swords lined themselves on each wall, with a plaque of the knight that wore the armor in a mock battle.

"This is sorta creepy de gozaru..." The swordsman wimpered, feeling eyes from a nearby painting stare at him.

"According to the blueprints that the 'former' King left us, we just have to take a few left turns and one right in order to find the main chamber. With the main army fighting those two, we should be able to find what we came for." The woman said calmly, showing that she was wearing a Log Pose. One that was pointing upwards for some reason. "I'm just glad I'm not cooped up on the ship any more. I was literally jumping on the ceiling."

"I'm sure, I'm sure. That fear of closed spaces is one of your deepest fears after all." The swordsman nodded, knowing full well that she had a tendency to go into a frenzy when cramped into small, enclosed spaces. Back then, the boss freed her from a cage that some conglomerate zookeeper kept Zoans in and allowed her to join his cause. She was really into him afterwards, but he never returned her advances for some reason.

The sound of approaching metal feet on stone floor snapped him out of his memories as the woman began to shift her body again, but slowly this time.

"Not enough time for a Powerhouse transformation, you have to guard me for bit."

The swordsman nodded, unsheathing the green tinted katana and went into a partial crouch, both knees bent, left arm drawn back and right extended forward; he grasping the hilt of his sword with his left hand and resets the tips of the fingers of his right hand on the blade near its tip. His eyes were that of a tigers, slanted and light green as the knights approached them.

"Halt! By the name of the King!"

"Ishiki Shukuchi!" He charged inwards, then vanished before their eyes, only to reappear a inch in front of the first one in first to deliver a powerful thrust to the chest. The power beyond it was so strong that his opponent was thrown several feet away, knocking over those behind him. One of them landed a lucky blow with a fist, knocking the man back a bit before he regained his balance.

"Heh...not bad..." A fast swipe, and the knight was now missing an arm, "but lacks natural rhythm."

With each thrust, he took a bit of pride as he killed one knight after another, but he also took a few slashes and hits due to the inability to block during a thrust. Yet to him the wounds were non-life threatening, and his 'assistant' had bandages, so it didn't matter what happened to him as he pierced chests and faces with swift accuracy.

It wasn't long before the hallway was cleared, littered with corpses of knight actors and blood stains on the walls. Each of their swords were pried forcefully from their hands, and then placed into a ceramic vase.

"Whew! That was a good battle! Thanks for covering for me." The lady said, beginning to turn back to human form, as her blood-stained antlers were sucked into her forehead. Since there was little room to use her speed sprint slice, she settled for kick-boxing the crud out of her opponents.

"No problem. It would violate my bushido code if I put a lady in danger." The swordsman said calmly, reshealthing the blade and continued forward.

5 seperate Ambushes and 10 vases full of swords later...

"Zero Point Stance! HEEEYA!" The 2 ton wooden doors, steel-bolted by numerous metal locks and bars, simply were run through by a steaming red katana, leaving a 2 foot wide hole in it's wake.

"My turn! Clodhopper Snapkick!" The large foot slammed hard into the door now that it was weakened, shattering it apart as if it was made of glass. With that, they two walked upon a smooth red silk carpet in a large throne room, surrounded by red banners with the king's logo on them. Large stone pillars were lined up along the walls, and there were artistic glass windows and skylights as well.

The person on the stairs was a middle-aged man with a thick, burly black mustache, draped in a purple fur cape. He wore a green leotard, gold cufflinks and wore a gold crown on his head with jewels implanted into it, as well as brown stockings and boots that looked barren and broken down with age.

"King Francis, I presume..." The swordsman said calmly, staring at the king with a stern glare that could cut right through him.

"Wha-! What are you people? I recognize you as one of King Ovan's bodyguards from last week during a mock debate, but I didn't know that you would attack us so suddenly without a warning of some kind." The king said, absolutely shocked that they broke down the heavy door so easily. He began to draw his own sword from his scabbard.

"Don't." The woman's words stopped him from getting slain quickly by her friend. "It's not you that we are after, it is-"

"Dad? What's going on? It's 4:50 in the morning." A lanky, 13 year old said in a sleepy tone, walking through a nearby corridor in blue post modern PJs. He had matted bedhead blue hair, with a small ponytail at the end and his eyes were currently getting rubbed.

"Son! Don't get too close! They are pirates!" The king said, finally drawing his sword, a elegant rapier with pearls merged into it, and the hilt was curved in a way to block off heavy sword strikes and then push them away. He launched himself at the swordsman first, as he looked a bit tired from using that attack on the door.

'This isn't good...Zero Stance Gatotsu with narrowed earth speed weakens my legs...' He thought, as they two came to blows, one blocking the other's attack with powerful slashes and thrusts, and then returning the blows with twice the strength with the other accurately evading them. Overhead slice, forward parry, rapid thrust, multiple slashes to body parts, heavy horizontal cut, leaping over to deliver a neck slash, vertical block and parry, the two blades clanged as sparks flew from the edges, pushing for dominance. Each was experienced in a different field, switching stances to adapt and protect themselves, them unleashed the full brunt of it against the other, moving like quicksilver around the throne room.

The woman sighed, rubbing her head as she began to walk over to the tall teenager, placing both fin swords back into her hip scabbards. She had to move a bit to avoid the two, as they seemed eager to best the other with swordsman's pride on the line. Holes began to explode all over the area due to the heavy thrusts, as well as the stone floor and walls shattering under powerful hits that were dodged.

'He could just cut the sword...but the boss did say that it was to be left alone. What worries me is that we have only a half hour before the sun rises. Our tank member would be at his lowest strength by that time...' The woman thought, approaching the kid wearing a nice grin on his face.

"Hello...Mello." The boy said, still smiling as the woman's blood froze in an instant, stunned by the words. His smile widened, feeling the fear that she was giving off as she instinctively began to shift into animal form. "Interesting...the Hare Hare Zoan Fruit, Model Jacklope. Said to be one of the strongest of offensive/defensive running zoans."

"And you are our contact?" Mello said, as her muscular furry arms trembled from the intense killing ki that he was releasing around him. Clearly the kid was not just a normal civilian, her whiskers twitched with anticipation.

"You can say that..."

With a single swipe of his hand, a dagger shot out of his sleeve and embedded it hard in the back of the king's skull. He dropped like a stone, unable to comprehend what just happened as his eyes rolled back and fall over dead in a puddle of his own blood. That, and he now smelled nasty as the swordsman nearly threw up at the stench.

"Was that really needed? I was enjoying myself for once against a strong opponent."

"Hmmph, get over it. Apparently this guy is the one the boss sent us to find."

"Is that right?" A echoing voice said, as part of the right wall simply melted down by red liquid, then rehardened as soon as it was only a few inches from reaching the floor. The man with the Eskimo parka stood in front of the hole, palm extended in order to touch it. "Arctic Burnout." He chuckled, as he carefully stepped over the entrance, followed by the large man who currently was covered with more scars and blood of various types. He was covered in hot lead from a soldier dumping it on him from the roof, but didn't seem to mind it at all as it slowly cooled around his body.

"Let's see...that raises me 50 extra soldiers that attacked us inside the castle, awhile you only managed to kill 31. Guess you're buying donuts, my dear friend." The eskimo said, turning halfway with a crude smirk. "I thought it was funny that I got a bath on the way over. We must ask the boss to install a shower full of that stuff for me."

"That's because you filled the hallway up and turned them to ash! Besides, no way am I making a shower that spews hot lead! I might accidentally use it and lose most of my body!" The brute growled, feeling a bit light-headed from the heat the man was giving off.

"Guys, this is our contact. And...ewww..." The woman was about to introduce the boy when he began to peel the skin right off his face. Only to reveal that there was another face behind it, with flushed cheeks, a noble nose, a split uni-brow and even lighter blue hair with a ponytail. His eyes were full of malice and craved demolition of some sort.

Without much care, the person threw the mask away as if it was a dust rag, which landed in front of the swordsman's feet. The man raised an eyebrow, noting that it was indeed made of flesh, but there was yarn thread sewn into it, making a small washcloth design around the back of the mask.

"Now...before I give my name to you lot, the only one I recognize is Mello Josephine, due to the 37 million bounty on her head. So if you could, identify yourselves or I'll 'ask for help'." The unknown person said, grinning a cruel smile as four shadowy figures watched from a nearby balcony, unseen and unheard.

"Hmmph, whatever help you have, it won't work against the South Point of Demolition, Gus Pantero, shipwright with a bounty of 56 million!" The brute laughed mockingly, ready to send the guy flying.

"Nor will anyone defeat the East Point of Solitude, the First Mate Uesugi Hajime, with a 43 million Bounty and a long list of defeated sword dojos in the East Blue!" The swordsman in the kmono said, ready to draw his blade again.

"Mello Josephine, at your service, the Western Point of Reliability and Navigator to the Winds. Why our boss wants you, I have no idea." The woman said, already going to powerhouse form.

"And I am Samuel Del Cord, the North Point of Endurance as well as doctor, with a 120 million bounty and several destroyed islands on record." The man in the Eskimo said, bowing politely.

"And together we are...the Tenken Pirates!" The four said, drawing their blades and pointing it towards the stranger.

The man raised an eye, looking around in a puzzled state. "Your boss? I don't see him."

"He usually takes his time, the slowpoke. Last I saw him, he was beating the crud out of the Ovan king and told use that he would catch up." Samuel frowned, folding his arms in annoyance.

"Well since you interrupted my plan to get in with a disguise and start stealing the treasury a bit at a time, I suppose I have to punish you." The man said, raising his arms calmly towards the ceiling.

"Whoa, now! We are only here to get directions, since our last contact told us where to find you. After all, you are that last remaining survivor rumored to see a fabled island in the sky-" Gus grumbled, only to feel an intense killing glare fixated upon him.

"Who...told...you...that? I suppose that I'll kill you guys slow and painful instead of fast and relentless now that you know my secret. After all, I want to know who else knows of my plunder that almost worked if it wasn't for that annoying ball guy!!!!!" The man snarled, as he waved his arms downwards to signal.

WHOOOSH! WHOOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOOSH! The four shadowy figures crashed down immediately, knocking Mello and Samuel back on their butts as the ground shook hard upon impact. A 3 foot deep crater about 15 ft in length was the result of the fall, as the four lumbered out, their chainmail armor clinking heavily yet seemed lighter than a normal human sounded wearing it.

One was armed with a rusted halberd, the other twin crossbows with numerous purple tipped arrows, the third with a drill lance and the last was utilizing a giant wrecking ball with a diamond chain. Only their heads were unarmored, but the weird part was that the faces had no ears, no hair, no teeth, no normal human face to identify with. Instead, the head looked like a inflated white sock balloon with brown marker drawn circles for eyes and a thin drawn line for a mouth. They were filled with cotton and hand-made by threads keeping them together.

"Mannequins? You've gotta be pulling my leg here! They have to be more actors in disguise." Gus growled, only to be held back by Samuel's smoking arm.

"Not yet, Gus. If my senses are right, then those are actually living dolls. The body frame inside the armor is too smooth for a normal human to possess. Besides, you have less than an hour left." Samuel said calmly and quietly, looking straight at the man.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Name is Bason Knox, a former thief with a 67 million bounty. And these guys are my Cloth Knights, thanks to my Devil Fruit ability." Bason said, revealing his name with a smirk as he knew those four were about to die rather quickly.

'So he's one of the few that obtained a rare Devil Fruit dictionary. No wonder he recognized my form so fast. Those things are hard to come by ever since Ohara, the island publisher of those books, was destroyed. Since then, Cipher Pol had been sent to 'collect' the books by any means needed, even if it meant killing the rich and powerful.' Mello thought, recombining the long blades together. 'He must hold the cloth cloth power, paramecia-type. By taking a patch off his clothing and infusing it into a cloth object like a shirt, he can bring it to life for a short time.'

"If you guys want to go to Sky Island so much, I'll send you there as corpses! ATTACK!" Bason roared, as the four shot straight at the sword masters at speeds beyond human ability.

Uesugi was the first one to be attacked, as the massive maced ball shot out like a missile towards him, which he swerved out of the way. Only for it to turn in mid-air by the dummy shifting the chain hard. 'Fast!' He attempted to quick draw and thrust, but another flick of the hand jerked the mace ball upwards over his katana and struck him hard in the face. He was sent off his feet and into the next 5 walls, each one more painful than the next.

Mello, on the other hand, was keeping up with the halberd user, in which they bounded off the walls jumping at each other and slashing hard. Her antlers protected her head from the downwards slashes, then repeatedly stabbed at the armor to cause some cotton to flow out slowly. However, she did have trouble with the constant maneuvering as the dummy could easily move 1080 degrees in all directions, like a yoga expert with no bones or spine. She took a blow to the shoulder, but that just increased her rage as she blitzed her opponent with fiercer strikes.

Samuel was getting annoyed, being the one fighting off the drill lance, as it seemed to be resistant to his devil fruit yet kept poking holes in his body. Those holes were quickly filled in by red goop which seemed to smoke. The Urumi he used was too damaged during the earlier battle since one of the knight actors managed to cleave through a fair chunk of it, so he reverted one of his hands into a blood-red saber made of burning liquid. "Tundra Lampshade..." He smirked, fighting back despite the drill lance cutting right through him and into him. However, unlike the others, he was the slowest and thus had difficulty with the living doll's instanteous movement and light-weight speed. That in turn made it harder for him to move in closer and simply melt the dummy into a pile of mush.

But of all of them, Gus was the one losing the most blood as 23 arrows were driven into his chest, 7 arrows in his right arm, 13 on his left, 9 on his right leg and 31 on his back and butt. All within a period of 5 minutes, in which he was frantically chasing the agile dummy only to get shot over and over in different areas. 'This isn't good...I can't freeze it since it has no real eyes, nor can I freeze the guy controlling it since the dummy would block my sight moving towards me. Worse, the arrows aren't like swords, so I can't nullify the pain and cut off blood flow for the time being.' 24 arrows flew in multiple directions around him, only 9 made it through the fierce swiping of his Kodachi Sphere Defense technique. He groaned, then charged again, plowing through a stone pillar to knock his opponent off the wall, only for it to hop on his head like a spring board, twist it's torso 180 degrees, reload several more arrows which were hidden inside of it's cotton body and then rapidly fired with low accuracy upon him searching for a weak spot.

'Interesting...a samurai with the skill of a Gatotsu master who can quickly change his position into other forms of offense when driven back in order to adapt. A woman with a unique double-edged fin blade with the power of the rare Jacklope's defense antlers and high speed/jumping ability. The muscle man must be using a peculiar ki dampener to lessen the blows and cut back blood flow, poison arrows may work later, but from what I read on their lips, he may have a time limit to how long the dampener takes effect so a continuous peppering of arrows will work just as good. Finally, the last one in the fur coat bothers me. No doubt he has the Magma Magma Logia fruit, but he is not using it to to the full potential, perhaps he doesn't want to hurt his nakama? Curious that these four separate people with conflicting personalities would be part of a pirate crew.' Bason thought, sitting on the throne now that he had declared his warriors to attack. No need for him to get involved, he had a dozen Mannequins in various parts of the castle inside suits of armor, unactivated as each one had a patch of his clothes knitted in, so that when the time comes, a small amount of ki would give it 'temporary life'.

'Anyways, it don't concern me. They'll be dead and I'll loot the treasury of it's 47 million berri total. It was a piece of cake to kidnap the kid from his bodyguards, kill him, made a latex mask and skin of fine silk thread by ripping his off, applied it to my face and body, had two of my 'men' act as non-speaking bodyguards escort me back, and I simply stated I had amnesia and the fool of a king fell for it hook, line and sinker.' Bason grinned, as the battles continued fiercely as man and living dolls fought hard to kill the other. "Since I can only control 4 at a time, overwhelming the vast amounts of guards would take stealth and patience but these fools cleared the numbers in less than half a day. I'd hate to see what kind of captain they take orders from but-"

"But what?" Bason's train of thought was cut off by a smooth yet shallow voice behind him, as he slowly jumped forward just as the throne was cleaved in half vertically as easily as scissors through wrapping paper.

'Fast! I was barely to sense anything emitting from him, his mastery of killing ki must have been suppressed heavily to make it so I wouldn't detect him.' Bason thought, looking at the 6'3" blond and white haired man in dark spiked armor, his eyes covered over by a partly red blindfold holding back blood. His sword was 4 foot in length, 2 foot in width, sharpened on both sides, and had strange green 'veins' protuding from the center, a red gem with a human eyeball encased inside. The sword seemed to be radiating with a heavy black aura, possibly a cursed sword.

'That's not one of the Grade Swords...what kind of sword is that that requires a human eyeball?' Bason wondered as the warrior silently finished splitting the throne as easily as candle wax, letting the two halves fall to each side. He then walked down the stairs just as Bason retrieved the king's prized sword out of his cold, dead hand. He took a offensive leap stance, bending both knees since as long as the one in armor had the high ground, a frontal attack would have no effect. He then sprung up. then spun in place over the opponent to deliver a buzz-saw slash, only for the large sword to move upwards to block it, sparks flying between them.

Landing softly, he parried a heavy left slash which nearly took out one of the stairs, then quickly avoided multiple swipes. His cheek was grazed by a lucky swing falling back a bit, then rolled out of the way of a heavy thrust which destroyed a fair section of the throne room. 'Impossible! How heavy is that thing?' Bason wondered, seeing that the blade he was using was already getting worn out, as small shards broke off it.

"Disappointing..." The man in the armor said coldly, as Bason once again dodged a fierce heavy blow which destroyed a portion of floor. "Legionnaire Spread!" Without warning, 3 dozen normal swords appeared from nowhere and went towards Bason, who quickly began to counter to it with random hits. However, one of them cut his left leg passing by, cutting his speed severely.

The swords embedded themselves in the floor and wall, as the armored man seemed irriated at best. "Is that all? For someone to have survived Skypeia, you sure don't act like it." He muttered as he tore part of the floor dragging his sword along. "Vertigo Eyemeld." Bason felt dizzy all of a sudden, but now realized that the room had swirled into a odd vortex. The armored man looked like a bad opaque painting, his body stretched out in an odd manner. He leapted at the man, only to 'pass' through him as his opponent had side-stepped him.

"Farsight Eyemeld." That seemed like mere inches now extended to a hundred miles below as Bason gasped out in shock falling downwards. It didn't matter the actual distance of how far he dropped, it felt like he was free-falling out of a cloud into the ground below, screaming out in shock as he did so. 3 seconds turned into 30 agonizing minutes for him of terror, as he finally face-planted into the stone wall. 'The 5 eyemelds have little effect on this one after all...quite odd.'

"THAT DOES IT! I DON'T CARE WHO YOU ARE, BUT THAT SCARED ME HALF TO DEATH! CLOTH BOMBWRAP!" Bason yelled, still twitching as he got up with a frenzied look on his face. The dummies that fought the others leapt towards them, wrapping their boneless arms and legs around tightly to prevent them from escaping. Even Gus can't make the mannequin get off as his arm joints were feeling weaker from blood loss. "Detonate!" Each of the cloth dummies felt the ki inside of them expand outwards, consuming the mental construct of energy, then exploded into a large fireball that sent the others flying through the walls heavily burnt and drained of killing energy for the time being.

"Now! For the piece of resistance!" Waving his arms forward, the rugs and the banners began to rise upwards and 'crawled' towards them. "Cloth Carpet Anaconda!" Due to the small patch of his clothing sewn into each of the carpets and banners, then activating it with ki, he could easily take control of them to a limited extent. However, since they were currently wrapping around each of the pirates save for the armored warrior, it would prevent them from breaking out too easily. After all, the rugs and carpet were designed to last for centuries without getting ruined or torn, and the more that were added to constrict movement, the easier it would be to simply crush their bones to dust.

"With them out of the way, I can kill ya in a heartbeat! You guys don't deserve to go to the Sky Island!" Bason chuckled as numerous rugs and carpets started to roll into each other, reforming and hardening into a tube-like form. More and more tubes were created, slowly attaching by fusing their threads together with conscious sewing of itself. "This is only a fraction of what the people at that place can do to you! To go back is suicide! Cloth Rattler Strike!!!" The head was made of banners, and shaped like a cobra with a pair of the dead king's pants acting as the teeth.

"I have no fear of those stronger than me, nor do I care." The armored man said quietly, as the cobra rushed at him sliding on it's colossal body as he destroyed more of the wall. He walked past it, losing his left arm in the process as his shoulder was now a bleeding stump. His sword's aura increased, sensing the extreme bloodlust as he plunged his sword into the hide as it went past, undisturbed in the least. "The world revolves around the weak, that is how it always has been." Withdrawing the blade, he walked patiently as the giant carpet serpent combusted, the ki heavily damaged from the cut dealt to it.

"For me, your moves were carefully calcuated. My blade, Souru Ejji or should I say "Nercofain" is a blade that can stand on par with the Grade Swords, as I had made it myself with the power of the Ebon Eye." The armored man said, dragging the long blade deeper and deeper into the floor walking forward, as if it was made of swiss cheese. "You shouldn't threaten my crew and attack them. Now I have to get serious."

He vanished, then reappeared behind Bason to deliver a kick to the butt, then blocked an overhead swipe and then a frontal barrage of slashes as Bason turned to face him. More stones were turned to rubble as they fought, the sunlight already coming in through the holes made.

"Mello! Get Gus to the darkness of the shade!" The man said, just as Mello regained consciousness. She nodded upon hearing this, shrinking back into human form and slipped out quickly within the few seconds before the carpets began to squeeze tighter to prevent escape. Morphing for full animal form, since her clothes were elastic, she jumped over to Gus's prone form and grabbed his shirt with her teeth, dragging his heavy body away from the sunlight.

"Is he one of the shadow-less people I've heard rumors about?" Bason sneered, blocking and thrusting a few times.

"That's none of your concern." The man said, as he backed up a bit as a dozen or more swords appeared as he slashed at air, and they fired towards Bason, who nimbly blocked most of them, save for one in the shoulder.

'Where are all those swords coming from?' Bason thought, trying to dislodge the sword and unaware of the speed the man now possessed.

"I am a sword." The man said, as he took advantage of Bason's confusion to quickly smack him hard in the face with a heavy blow on the flat side. Naturally, upon him falling to the floor, the carpets and rugs released their grip and slinked apart. Out of one of his sleeves, a map of some sort and a Eternal Pose popped out on the floor.

"Ah! That was a good nap de gozaru! Good job taking out the punk, Nocturne!" Uesugi said, stretching and yawning as he stumbled out of the wrappings that nearly crushed him to death.

Nocturne nodded, his aura had calmed down considerably as the swords vanished, turning into streams of smoke that were absorbed back into Necrofain. The veins pulsed each time a sword was absorbed, as well as the sword that Bason was using against it. "Almost there...soon I'll have enough strength to absorb the Grade Swords completely."

"What should we do about the kid, boss? Oh, and sorry about the river of lava. I really had a problem finding the toilet." Samuel bowed, as he melted away the last of the fireproof, thick rugs that binded him.

"No problem, it gave Necrofain a chance to test the long range abilities to create a bridge of swords for me to cross." Nocturne said calmly, as he resteathed the large blade on his back. "Is Gus okay?"

"I will tend to him in a moment. Uesugi, the Boss's arm is over by that stack of shields, retrieve it. After all, it will take me a bit to cool down before I can touch anything metal."

Useugi nodded, somewhat annoyed but unwilling to be turned into ashes with a flick of Samuel's hands. He walked over to the pile and dug through it carefully until he found the severed arm which was currently moving on it's own. To say the least, the fact that it was flexing the elbow and moving it's fingers was creepy and it wasn't bleeding either, unlike the steady flow of blood coming out of Nocturne's stump.

'The price of a Wraith is a dangerous one.' Nocturne thought, as the swordsman ran over with the arm that began to slap him a few times in order to remove his cold hands from it. Useugi felt a bit grossed-out, but carefully brought it over to Nocturne and slowly re-inserted the arm joint back into the shoulder. Not that it did anything, as it was still unattached, and now 'punched' Uesugi a few times unsuccessfully due to quick reflexes.

"Could really need your help right about now, Doctor!"

"Hang on, hang on. Sheesh. Blasted hawk." Samuel muttered, as the last bit of volcanic heat was stilled and reabsorbed back into his body. Digging into his coat with his left glove, he pulled out a silver hook sword and bounced merrily towards the captain, before slashing down hard on the disconnected yet movable arm joint. "Modoshi Giri!" Somehow within a few seconds in-between, it had looked as if the sword hadn't even touched the arm at all, 'passing through' it like a ghost with a white aura around it.

Nocturne grinned, as the arm once again was under his control, moving each individual finger curling into a fist. "Excellent. All Yami emissions have been cleansed. Good work doctor."

"Heh, whatever. Of course now my blade is wrecked just touching that nasty flesh of yours. And I have to go to the bathroom again." Samuel muttered, flipping the finger as he stomped off to find a place to do his business.

"Gus has been detained in a slitless locker, boss." Mello said calmly in her animal form, as she carried a rather large metal locker designed to hold the costumes in. Although no light could come in, it still had air inside to last for hours on end.

"Good, good. You will find the Eternal Pose on the ground next to the boy. Uesugi, tie him up with metal cables, since he could probably manipulate the 'cloth' strings of a normal rope. He'll be our inside guide as soon as we reach the Sky Island for the ransacking and pillaging, either by force or manipulation, I don't care."

WHOOOSH! The left outer wall crumbled and melted away, as Samuel bellowed out painfully in a voice that shook the castle, "IT BURNS!!!!!!!!!!"

The other three sweatdropped, embarrassed by their strongest member's 'gotta go' problem. After all, every time he accesses that power, he instantly needs to go immediately. Many a small island appeared because of this weird ability.

"And you're absolutely sure that the Sky Island exists, even though it's nothing but a myth, de gozaru?" Uesugi asked, raising an eyebrow in question. He knew that soon the entire island will be overflooded by magma as soon as they were at sea, then the crew would retrieve Samuel after he was finished. He knew that Nocturne had already absorbed the barrels of swords laying out, as he recognized some of those that he shot at Bason.

"A myth?" Nocturne's aura turned into a intense killing ki that could blacken the hearts of men, as Uesugi would swear that a strange figure was behind him. It was thin, bony and had long black hair covering most of it's face, with pure white skin and wearing a tattered purple cloak. But it showed a robin egg-colored eye that was so brilliant that it could oversee the passage of the world. "My friend, my existence alone is a myth."

"From what I gather from the notes and the Log, it is known as the High Summit of West End, a dangerous, suicidal area where many men have been killed recently dropping out of the sky. However, the aerial addition I added to the Greysword should be able to get up into the clouds. With my excellent navigation skills, we should be able to arrive there approximately within 4 days. It also says there's a massive Berri toll to reach the city, but luckily I already bagged up the treasures that could pay for it." Mello said, shifting slowly to powerhouse form in order to point at the large sacks.

"A small price to pay for the giant treasure awaiting us." Gus's voice said within the locker, fully awake and cocky.

"Rumored items that can store and unleash vast amounts of different powers, which in total would sell for hundreds of millions of berri on the black market." Samuel said in-between gasping and screaming doing his business outside.

"Plus superweapons that we can install on the Greysword that could easily get us higher bounties throughout the world, plus seeing the ground in a way that I can make dozens of maps just by looking down." Mello grinned ear-to-ear, a natural navigator.

"Well, then. We will discuss our plans when we get back to the Greysword. Let's go, Tenken pirates!" Nocturne said calmly, swirling his cape as he turned and walked towards the slowly collapsing exit. His crew cheered happily behind him, Uesugi carrying Bason on his back slightly more annoyed than usual. 'For soon, I will gain a sword that is rumored to be as powerful as the Supreme Grade swords...then not even the privateers can stop me!'

'And we will all win in the end!' The rest of the crew thought proudly as the sun rose upwards, illumining their auras with a comforting yellow glow as they set out to the ship, save Samuel who was currently zipping up his fly and giving chase.

"Guys! Wait up! Ow, it's hot! Hot! Hot!"

Spring Island-A area on the Grand Line where crops grow well and where rainfall happens most of the time. Most Spring Islands are sloped though, preventing flooding.

Sven Army-The protagonist 'good guy' knights who can do no wrong.

Ovan Army-Dastardly evil knights who ransack a ghost town twice a week for the benefit of tourism.

Kodachi-A short, light katana meant for defense. Can even block bullets and large heavy melee weapons. With two, there are only a few weak spots.

Shin No Ippo-A paralyzation technique that can render those with weak fighting ability to stay frozen on the spot. However, it can also be used on the user to make him temporary immune to heavy cuts with a sword. However, it only works within a certain time limit of 4 hours and when that ends, the cuts are then re-opened painfully. It also causes the skin to break out in rashes if exposed to sunlight for a while.

Sweeper Plunge-A brutal attack to skewer and annihilate troops in multiple directions. Mostly used on bounty hunters with Devil Fruits.

Thrasher Toss- A accurate throw of his the kodachi which could send his victims far off and leaving a trail of blood in their wake.

Winter Breeze: Samuel likes to name his attacks into 'cold standards' to trick others, even though it comes with a steep price a few minutes afterward. This is a hand attack that cremates those on contact, but with a dire consquence.

Urumi-A snake sword that is thin yet fast, moves so silently it can cut down rows of opponents. However, it is fragile to heavy swords.

Nodachi-A long katana made to slice people down the middle, very sharp and thick.

Asper: Samuel's Urumi, one of his treasured possessions. He can carry up to 3 weapons on his person, containing them in scabbards which are immune to magma heat.

Running Pounce-A speed technique that amplifies jumping ability, can also be used to deliver a dozen powerful kicks or slashes downward on a opponent. However, she does to tend to overleap and crash into the ceiling by accident.

Ishiki Shukuchi-First Narrowed Earth slash, a high speed move to make yourself disappear and reappear with a high burst of momentum, capable of blowing opponents away.

Zero Point Stance-The strongest of Gatotsu moves, from point A to B, it thrusts and severely damages the opponent as soon as one blinks.

Clodhopper Snapkick-Capable of breaking boulders, but not heavy doors. Can be repetitive and painful to strong melee fighters.

Hare Hare Jacklope-A rare devil fruit that gives the user the speed and defense of the Jacklope, a rabbit with antlers that can break up to 45 mph.

Arctic Burnout-A massive ball of lava spews out a thick stream to melt anything in it's way, but is controlled as to avoid burning anything precious.

Uesugi Hajime-A Gatotsu user who adapts with foresight and predicts enemy movement, his body is based on speed as to inflict heavy explosive thrusts to destroy others. His dream is to create a large dojo with him as grandmaster, in which the use of all swords but his and his comrades are forbidden world-wide, in which only shinai will be substituted for swordsmen wishing to challenge him. Also a infamous dojo killer. 23 years old.

Samuel Del Cord: A somewhat retired pirate who was 'convinced' by Nocturne to join his crew of misfits. Due to his Magma Magma power, he suffers a severe case of diarrhea and desperately goes to find a toilet, only to melt it and the rest of the building. That is why he prefers to be a sword collector, but hates reattaching Nocturne's limbs as the oily, greasy skin later breaks it apart. his dream is to find a cure for his problem so he can use his power fully and not feel so much pain and suffering.

Mello Josephine-17 years. Uses a combination of kicks and fast strikes with her double-fin blade. Can't stand to be in closed spaces or being trapped. Dream: To win Nocturne's heart by any means needed. marry him and have a family together.

Gus Pantaro-One of the strongest fighters in the south with a nasty attitude, he uses his power to freeze unworthy opponents weaker than him and tear into them. However, his power only works for 4 hours, and in sunlight, the sword wounds would burn heavily unless covered over or healed quickly. 20 years old. Dream: To create environmental laws that the world will abide by for generations to come, as he is intuned with nature and once lived on a glacier that slowly melted due to global warming.

Tenken Pirates-Tenken means "Heavenly Sword". Their flag is a Jolly Roger with a purple hood, and a sword stabbing through horizon ally. They are well known for pillaging villages for swords and nothing else, as they get gold from outside sources.

Bason Knox-Small-time thief who uses his 'dolls' to do the dirty work for him, not much of a fighter but uses dirty fighting tactics when armed with a sword. 14 years old. Can even assimilate skin by sewing thread into it and inserting some energy to manipulate it. His dream is to stay alive long enough to gain a crew of his own and plunder islands all over the West Blue for ancient treasures.

Cloth Knights-Inanimate sewn dolls brought to life by sharing ki. Each has a unique weapon that can deal dangerous damage depending on the opponent. Their chainmail is light, meaning they can't feel pain or know if they are injured, as well as move quickly and jump high. However, fire or sharp objects can keep them at bay for a while. The fact that they can carry heavy weapons is because of the energy that is inside of them, providing 'muscle' and preventing instant tears in the fabric each time the weapon is utilized.

Tundra Lampshade-Or otherwise a 'lava lamp", due to the shape of the blade. Melee type, very hot and could melt flesh but not metal.

Cloth Cloth fruit-Instills lifeforce by patching a small amount of ki into a piece of cloth on a items made of cloth, but the user does not gain any other abilities.

Kodachi Sphere Defense-A all-around slashing of quick movement that takes a ball-form around him. Effective only against projectiles.

Gatotsu-The power of a heavy thrust held by a adaptable swordsman, who can shift to 4 different stances of combat.

Legionnaire Spread-Necrofain's deadly long-range attack. Can send dozens or even a hundred of normal swords at high speeds, each guided by the eyeball's command to target body parts or a specific area. However, it does leave it's user wide open for a attack for a few seconds when fired off.

Vertigo Eyemeld: Makes the opponent dizzy, as well as the user casting it.

Farsight Eyemeld-Causes the distance to widen to a large extent for both user and victim, like using binoculars on the wrong side, making a illusion of large distances.

Eyemeld Power: Besides Dark Wave which controlled the knights to slaughter the village by way of 'mental illusion', there are 5 types that work with the Ebon Eye. Farsight, nearsight (shortens range of view like a car mirror), blurry sight (like in cases when you really need contacts or glasses), vertigo sight and squiggle sight (the spots in your eyes when looking at a light, only a lot of them appear). However, this in turn also effects the user, making it only used as a distraction for a short amount of time before both can attack again.

Clothwrap Bomb-A powerful detonation that is made out of destructive energy at point blank range, very difficult to avoid when wrapped around tightly.

Cloth Carpet Anaconda-The carpets can also fly btw, but they can constrict their victims in large numbers. Even paramecia types are helpless against a large amount of carpets that would slowly consume their strength.

Cloth Rattler Strike-A powerful summon made of carpets and banners, sharing a large source of energy to combine. Because of this, the summon cannot be destroyed or defeated unless the energy is damaged internally.

Necrofain-Created by the ability of a Wraith, it has the ability to absorb normal swords and use them to increase it's physical power and overall destruction of a large area of effect. However, when it runs out of swords, it becomes weak and shatters apart, making it hard to repair unless more swords are scarified to it. If fed a certain amount of swords as the contract is done between it and the swordsman who wields it, it can permanently absorb and gain the attributes of the lesser Grade Swords, but will be unable to fire them like projectiles.

Wraith-A being that sees the beyond as a half human, half ghost. However, in Nocturne's case, he is merely a host for one as according to family tradition, as he provides a voice and hands to weild a sword, and the wraith gives the host the Ebon Eye and expert blacksmith ability. However, it comes with a price. Any body part cut off will become a separate host for the Wraith to control, leaving the true host without a wraith unable to see with the Ebon Eye, making them blind and powerless. Even if the head is cut off, the body will still operate until it dies of blood loss, sorta like a headless horseman.

Yami Emissions-The threads that a Wraith is tied to, for if the body part is cut off, it would not bleed, but the host would bleed instead. Even the thumb can move on it's own and not bleed because of this.

Modoshi Giri-Reversing cut. Unfortunately, this is the only thing that makes Samuel a doctor. But it does cause cuts and severed limbs to repair themselves within a few minutes depending on the injury.

Greysword: A carrack class ship with multiple sails, colored gray all over with a large zanbatou as the mast. It also has several gun platforms which can fire off bladed cannonballs, a kitchen, barracks, lookout point, large parachutes for thermal/wave control, iron paneling on the sides to reflect cannon fire and separate rooms to work on swordsman tactics and fighting styles.

Drode: If you got all the way down here, congrats! You have been picked as one of the lucky 3 or more to run a unique One Piece forum as a Mod! Since less than 2 usually read this fanfic, this prize is designed to find those with talent! Impose your own rules, be your own boss and role play the way you want! The forums can be found on Super Hurricane's profile, all you have to do is post and you earn unlimited power. You have never seen forums like this, ever! So come on over!

---Next Arc: The Flamin' Belly of the Beast, it's a Mad House I tell ya!---