Gregor's Isle Arc
"Brawl on the Beach! And the Captain's Demand!
Atori couldn't help quirking an eyebrow upon Tomas's declaration and it only took him two seconds to recall the fishman's name before he realized what was happening. "Hey, wait old timer! You've got things all wrong!" he declared quickly, desperately.
But Tomas wasn't hearing it.
The lumberjack slammed the hammer into the ground once more with a rippling force right for Ato. With a growl of content, the brunette leapt out of the way of the force and was made to move once again as yet another ripple tore through the sand at him again.
"This old guy's unnaturally strong," Ato commented, dropping back onto the sand and looking at the deep trenches carved into the sand from Tomas's might. "He may actually be trouble if I don't watch – !"
"GET OFF THIS ISLAND!" Tomas suddenly bellowed from right behind Atori before swinging the large hammer down.
Caught off guard, the only thing Ato could do is swing his right tonfa into Tomas's hammer with all the strength he could muster. The weapons clanged with a deafening thud before the sand around them exploded into a cloud of dirt.
"Ato! Are you alright!" Ralli called from across the beach, only to duck his head down at the last possible second and dodge the cannonball aimed at his head. With a snarl, he struck a hand up to grab at the chain and stop the weapon, but it was yanked back quicker than Ralli could've moved and all he grabbed at was air.
"Look alive, kid. I'm still here and we've not exactly finished our discussion," the candy cane man crooned as he whipped the cannonball back over to him and began spinning it around at his side. "Now, tell me where is Madhouse! He's got a 26 million beli bounty on his head that I aim to claim."
Ralli straightened back up, only briefly looking back at where Tomas and Atori were still fighting, the brunette desperately trying to evade being struck with the lumberjack's hammer. Then he focused on the candy cane man and smiled deviously. "I already beat him," he said casually.
All Ralli got back in reply with a smooth chuckle from the man. "Righhhht," he crooned out as he lazily spun the ball on his side. Then, like the flip of a switch, he snarled outright and threw the cannonball at Ralli with all of his might. "Quit lying, you brat!"
The ball darted right for red-eye's face, making him dodge to the side. But candy cane was already yanking the ball back, only to shoot it out for Ralli once more. Red eye moved to the side again, narrowly avoiding being struck with the dangerous projectile, but then it was whipped around in a wide arc and sent circling around for red eye. This time, Ralli leapt high up to avoid the ball, using his leaping ability to pounce high into the air.
"Gotcha!" the candy cane man laughed as he yanked the cannonball back at him and whipped it around to fly up at Ralli. "Dum-Dum Crusher!" he yelled as the projectile sped up at red eye like a rocket and seemingly struck him right in the abdomen to send him piercing higher into the sky. With a chuckle, he wired the chain around his hand to stop its progress and then yanked it back for him. "As if a brat like you could really defeat Feruk the Traitor," he said. "Not on your li – WHAT?!" He stopped midsentence to find Ralli gripping onto his incoming cannonball, holding it confidently as he sped right down with a fist aimed to strike.
"I'm not done yet, you candy cane jerk!" red eye called out as he hurdled for the man with building speed.
Ralli sped right for the man like a bullet and was primed to slam his fist into the candy cane man with the force of a freight train, but just before he could impact, the man smiled a wry one and spun around at the last possible second to send a kick right up at Ralli. The strike took Ralli by so much surprise he could hardly consider dodging and when it struck, his eyes glazed over briefly as he halted right there in the air. Meanwhile, the candy cane man chuckled confidently before wiring the chain around his hand and turning to smash a fist into red eye's stomach and send him flying out into the sand. And finally…
"Dum-Dum Anvil!" the man shouted, throwing the cannonball out far above Ralli's body before yanking it down to smash over the red-eyed wonder ball with a spray of sand rushing out from the impact. "Now, it's over," he chuckled, only to whip his head over to where Tomas was still swinging the huge hammer at Atori with all that he had. "Now, back to business." He pulled on the chain, ready to aim a sneak attack on Tomas, only to find the link taut. "What the…" he groaned and followed the link back where red eye was, only to sputter in surprise when he saw Ralli sit up with his clawed hands gripping onto the ball from where he'd caught it earlier and the patches of black fur beginning to grow up his arms.
"Devil fruit powers…" the man hissed and then turned full attention back to Ralli as he began to stand. Then, there were terrified screams coming from farther down the sand and the man looked over to find his crew entrapped in a massive over growth of thorny vines, all of the tentacles emanating from the sleeves of the girl in white. "Two people with devil fruit powers…" he said, carefully watching how they all tried to squirm in their prickly confines and how Mary casually stood watching them with a pleasant smile on her face. "How interesting…" he crooned before looking back at Ralli, whose fur and claws had retracted.
"You're forgetting something!" red eye called and lugged the ball back at the man with all he could muster.
Easily enough, the candy cane man took control of the weapon, yanking it away from striking him and once again spinning it at his side lazily as he took in Ralli's appearance. With the smile of the devil, he said, "You know, even on West Blue, it's rare to find people with devil's fruit powers and here I stand amongst two of them. So enlighten me a bit, boy…" He glanced briefly back at Joyous Jenny and turned back to Ralli. "…let's say you really did defeat Feruk. And he is – by no means – an easy adversary. If you really had the power to take down a man with a 26 million beli bounty, then you must have an admirable one as well. So, tell me you little ruby-eyed brat, what's your bounty?"
Ralli sputtered at the question and scratched his head questioningly. "Umm…I don't have a bounty," he explained innocently.
The cannonball lazily spinning at the candy cane man's side suddenly dropped into the sand like an anvil. He stopped all movement upon Ralli's reply and only remained standing rigid in the presence of red eye for a moment longer before a snarl worked its way across his lips. "Don't play games with me dammit! Tell me what your bounty is!" he yelled out in anger.
"I already told you! I don't have a bounty!" Ralli fired back with just as much frustration. "If it makes you feel any better, I'll have one soon. I can promise you that much!"
"It doesn't!" the man seethed before opening his mouth wide and yelling, "DOES ANYONE HERE HAVE A BOUNTY ON THEIR HEAD?!"
Upon his decree, Mary and her captives turned to the man with questioning looks and Tomas and Atori stopped their brief struggle to catch the seen. A brief silence fell upon the beach, a silence in which everyone merely stared at the man in red striped pants. Then, slowly, they all breathed out, "No…"
Behind the shades, the man's eye obviously twitched out of anger, and then with a huff, he coiled the cannonball back around his waist in one smooth motion and began stepping over to his crew. "I'm done then," he hissed, directly missing the shock that fell on Atori and Ralli's faces.
"Hey, jerk! You can't just leave in the middle of a fight!" Ralli demanded irritably as the man walked away.
"Watch me," was all he offered in reply before walking right up to Mary. "Let them go before I force them off of you."
The naturist looked upon the man for a briefly silent moment and then offered a casually smile as she nodded. "As you wish," she crooned and quick as a flash the massive growth of vines were pulled back into her sleeves, leaving the men to fall to the sand and quickly move behind their boss.
"Dammit! Are you even listening to me?!" Ralli howled angrily. "We're not done just yet! I was just starting to have fun!" But the man paid red eye no heed, simply turning away from the boy without a second glance and beginning his stride down the long beach. "Hey, don't ignore me!" Then, without thinking, Ralli scooped up a large rock and threw right at the man's head. "At least tell me your name!" he demanded.
The rock fell down to the back of the man's skull, ready to slam right into it, but effortlessly, he dodged at the last possible second and then stopped to look at Ralli. "The name's Kanna the Crusher and I'm the commander of Candy Crusher bounty hunters."
Finally getting the response he wanted, Ralli smiled devilishly at Kanna and said, "And I'm Ralli, captain of the Battle Bar Pirates and the future Pirate King!"
That actually earned a genuine smile from the bounty hunter. "Well, let's pick this up again when you're actually worth my time, Pirate King," he replied and turned away from Ralli once more to trek up the beach with his crew at his back.
"You can count on that," Ralli replied, watching them for only the briefest of moments before his sensitive hearing perked and he caught the sound of running through the forest.
"Hey! Guys!" Taya's loud voice boomed out of the trees just before her and Ches ran out onto the beach.
They all turned to the newly arrived duo and Atori just vaguely caught a grumble of annoyance from Tomas. He turned his full attention back to the lumberjack, only to see the massive hammer being swung into the air again.
"More pirate scum!" he roared out in anger before slamming the weapon into the dirt and sending another raging spurt of power at Taya and Ches.
The duo stilled upon the attack, but quickly found their bearings and leapt out of the way as the sand erupted in a cloud of dirt.
"I don't care how many I have to face! I'll beat you allllll!" Tomas roared angrily into the sky as the Battle Bars turned their attentions on the raging lumberjack. He caught their tense glares and was already whipping the hammer into the air for another attack.
But, Atori was quicker. "I've had enough!" he called out heatedly, slipping around Tomas's large frame easily to smash his tonfa into the back of the lumberjack's skull and send the man plowing facefirst into the sand. A brief second passed in which Atori was primed to attack further, but when Tomas's body didn't budge in the slightest, he straightened back up and dropped his tonfa back into his boots. "Too easy," he remarked with a confident smirk.
"Good job, Ato!" Ralli yelled out with a proud smile in Atori's direction, but it waned when he looked over to see Taya grunt out of anger. "Taya, what's wro – ?"
"You idiot! He'd better just be unconscious!" the feisty blonde screamed out defiantly, making Ato quirk a brow in confusion. Before he could question what she could possibly mean, he got his answer when Makyo stomped out onto the sand.
"TOMAS!" Makyo yelled out with a ghastly expression before running out to check on his friend. "No, Tomas! No, Tomas! No! No! No! No!" he hissed just before stopping above the unconscious lumberjack, unsure of what to do with his friend's face in the dirt.
"Crap. I forgot about him," Atori hissed beneath his breath as he watched.
"I'm confused," Ralli pointed out and scratched at his head as he watched Makyo stoop down to turn Tomas over.
"Just c'mon!" Taya demanded as she tugged on Ralli's arm and dragged him over with Mary and Ches right behind them.
Meanwhile, Makyo was a mess as he knelt by Tomas's side and saw that the man was completely unresponsive. "Tomas?" he breathed out desperately and then he began hyperventilating as the man only laid there unmoving.
"Makyo…" Jepp, Nana, and Chico suddenly called out sheepishly, carefully creeping up at the fishman's side. "It'll be okay, Makyo. He's strong. We just have to – ," the girl desperately tried to say, only to jump back when Makyo propelled to his feet.
With a growl, the fishman slung Tomas's large frame over his shoulder and turned away from everyone to stomp up the beach. "I've got to get him to the doctor!" he demanded forcibly as he sank into the sand with every step he took.
"Wait, Makyo! You can't go!" Jepp said.
"Yeah! Don't you know what'll happen if you step foot in the village?!" Chico added.
"It's not safe!" Nana demanded.
"What else can I do!" Makyo snapped, his tone so biting it worked to make the children take a step back. "I can't just leave him in pain like this," he said, this time much softer as if on the verge of crying. And he then, he turned back to them all with actual tears running down his face. "I have to do something."
"He's crying…" Ches marveled silently, his surprised reaction a mirror of the rest of his crew.
All except for Ralli, who stepped right past the kids and right up to Makyo with a big, bright smile. "Let us take care of him," he said casually, much to the surprise of Makyo.
"W-what?"
"We can take care of your friend," red eye offered once more and stuck out both hands for Makyo to pass Tomas to him. "I'm not sure why you can't go to the village, but we're pirates. We go and do what we want." Then, to surprise Makyo further, Ralli struck out and snatched Tomas off of his shoulders. "And we want to see to it that your friend sees the doctor!" As if on a second thought, he chuckled and said, "We are kind of responsible for this anyway."
"You mean, Ato's responsible for this!" Taya growled and then aimed a heated glare at the brunette, who rolled his eyes and looked away, mumbling something about an ungrateful blonde.
"T-thanks?" Makyo muttered though, so low that the words were barely heard.
Ralli just laughed and grunted as he tossed Tomas over his shoulder, wobbling a bit at the much heavier weight on his shoulders. "Kids, you want to show me where this doctor is?" he asked of the trio. With shocked expressions on their faces, they nodded in kind to the request and stepped past Ralli to lead him on. "Alright, guys. Let's go!" he called out to his crew as he followed after Nana, Jepp, and Chico. "Don't worry, Makyo. We'll get Tomas all patched up in no time!"
And while the rest of the Battle Bars stepped past the fishman, Makyo could only follow the sight of Ralli trudging through the sand with Tomas on his shoulder. Before he knew it, he was grinning from ear to ear. "THANK YOU!" he cheered out as the Battle Bar pirates began disappearing in the distance.
"Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick." Sigh. "Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick."
That was virtually all the sound in the small waiting room.
"Why are we still here exactly?" Atori groaned as he slumped a bit more in the small rocking chair, his arms folded in a huff as he looked across at Ralli. "The doc said that the old guy would be fine. Just had a concussion. We can leave now."
Ralli only shook his head and then glance back out the window with a distant expression. "I told Makyo that we'd make sure to get Tomas all patched up and I refuse to leave until he's back on his feet. That way, when I see Makyo again, I'll have good news to give him."
Yet another sigh escaped Ato's mouth and he slumped a bit further in the chair. "That's stupid," he grunted, more to himself than anyone else.
"Well, we wouldn't exactly be here if you hadn't decided to knock the man's head off, Atori. You couldn't have just disarmed him or, you know, gently knocked him down? You just had to nearly kill him right?" Taya hissed in the brunette's direction.
"Heat of the moment," Atori shrugged and sighed once more, not missing the exaggerated roll of Taya's eyes.
"You guys can leave if you'd like to," Ralli peeped up, vaguely glancing out the window once more at a mother and child as they walked up the dirt path of the small village. He turned to his crew and nodded toward the exit door. "I can wait here on my own."
"Are you sure, sencho-san?" Mary asked, taking her eyes off of Ellie to scrutinize their captain. "Mr. Red seemed pretty angry with us earlier. What if he goes on another rampage when he wakes up?"
Ralli just chuckled at the thought. "I'll be able to handle it myself," he assured them. "Besides, you guys can go ahead and be scoping out the rest of the island. Maybe there's somewhere nearby that Taya can cash in that championship belt. Mary did say that their's a big city on the other side of the island, right?" He looked to the naturist and she nodded. "Yeah, go ahead, guys. I'll wait for Tomas to wake up."
"If you're sure, Ralli," Ches stated, standing out of his seat and stretching his back a bit. "I suppose while we're there we could look around for any possible ships or at least some shipwrights to fix the whole in Jenny." He looked around as Taya, Mary, and Atori got to their feet as well. "Anything else we should do?"
Ralli merely shook his head. "I think that's it. Anything else, I'll let you guys decide. I trust you," he said before turning his head to the exit door. "Chico! Nana! Jepp!" he called out with a sly smile, that only grew when - after a hesitant second - the door squeaked open and the kids peeped inside.
"H-how did you know we were out here?" they all questioned, garnering a laugh from Ralli.
"You should talk quieter. I didn't even need my super-hearing to hear you guys," he crooned and then indicated to his crew. "Do one of you mind showing my crew to the big city on the other side of the island?"
The kids looked between one another before Chico and Nana stepped forward, both nodding their heads. "We'll do it," Nana assured.
"What's up, Ralli? Usually you're the one to break away from us, but you never just send us off like this," Atori questioned with a narrowing of his eyes on red eye, who offered a weak attempt at a confident smile. "What are you up to?"
"N-nothing, guys!" Ralli said, looking like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "C'mon! Trust me! Besides, I'm the captain and what I say goes! Right?"
"Hmph." Ato grunted, but straightened up nonetheless. "Whatever. Just don't do anything crazy while we're gone."
"Right," Ralli agreed with nod as he watched his crew, Nana, and Chico file out of the waiting room.
With his little friends gone, Jepp walked over to a chair opposite the room of Ralli. "That guy's really mean," he grunted to himself," as he hopped into the chair.
Ralli merely chuckled and replied with, "That's just Ato. He's really a good guy, though."
"If you say so," the kid said in return, only to glance at the door leading to the patient's room. He sighed. "How long do you think he'll be out for? Makyo's probably going nuts down there just thinking about Tomas being hurt."
"I don't know," Ralli said, drawing the kid's attention as he started looking back out the window. "But I'll be right here for as long as it ta -"
Whatever Ralli had been about to say died cold when the door to the patient's room suddenly slammed opened with a jarring force that more than likely damaged the doctor's wall. But the damage went unheeded when they spotted Tomas standing in the doorway, his large frame looking even large when he could hardly fit through the entryway. "I thought I heard scum's voice," the lumberjack growled out like a grumpy grizzly bear, and despite the bandage around his head and his missing weapon, he still made for quite intimidating force as he stepped into the waiting room and loomed above Ralli's seated form. "So then, boy, what the hell are you doing here?"
Ralli stood, straightening himself up as much as he could to meet the eye of the much taller man. "Because," he started, smiling devilishly at the glower in Tomas's eye. "I told Makyo that I'd make suer you were alright and now that you're on your feet, I know that you are." Tomas narrowed his eyes on Ralli out of confusion of the action, but before he could speak, red eye continued. "And also, you and Makyo seem pretty close. So, there's something that I want to ask you."
"Out with it, boy!" the lumberjack demanded.
"I want Makyo to join my crew!"
Okay, soooo...not exactly the stopping point that I was hoping for, but I'll be honest. I'm kind of winging this arc. I know what I want to happen, but just not sure how to get to it. *Shrugs* I'm still going to try to make it entertaining for my readers, though. Tell me what you think, positives or negatives. Until then, see ya!