Templar vs. Agent!
The Templar of Ice!
Beta: SeeNoEvil121
The small blond began to lick her large lollipop lovingly, a small blush of delight filling her face. "I wonder where Zugai-kun's gone…" she muttered, her crystal blue eyes twinkling.
She was so caught up in her thoughts; she didn't notice the tall figure standing in front of her. He wore snow-white robes, and had a long-sword like musket strapped to his waist. He sported cyan blue hair which ran down to his shoulders, and wore a white blindfold over his eyes with a blue crucifix imprinted on its front.
"Are you Flamehart-san…?"
The girl looked up towards the blue-haired man, confused. "Yes, I am Helen Flamehart. Do you want an autograph?"
The man smiled lightly. "No. I am sorry. May Kaazan forgive me." He bowed. "I am Marluxia Satoshi. And you… Must come with me…"
Helen took a step back, only to feel a sudden, sharp pain at the back of her neck, before she feel forwards, fading into darkness.
Marluxia knelt down and picked the girl up, holding her under his arm. "Let's get the show started."
XXX
"I've decided working for a blacksmith brings boredom to a whole new level…" muttered Toma, letting his head loll back.
Chris nodded in agreement. "We've only been transporting stuff to that stupid storage place! Who builds a castle in a hill anyway?!"
"Ragnarok."
"Who?"
"Don't ask." Toma replied. He dropped the large crate onto the ground, then lay down on the dusty earth. "It's a hot day… We surely have better things to do than this… Like seeing the King's Seat!"
Chris raised an eyebrow. "Why do you want to see that? The King's Seat is where the Pirate Kings died!"
Toma grinned. "I know… Isn't it amazing? Both kings sat in the same place, staring down at the crowd. Smiling." He sat up. "It may be weird but… I am fascinated by it all… The King's Seat."
He shrugged, then picked up the crate, and looked back at the redhead, who was also holding a crate, looking at Toma with an unclear expression.
"Let's get going…" Toma mumbled as he continued to trudge up the hill.
Unknown to them, as single figure followed, his white coat billowing behind him. He had raven hair, and was grinning from ear to ear. "Let's see if you're as good as Marluxia-sensei said you were… Toma-sempai…"
XXX
Leo let out a sigh, then removed the small spectacles from the bridge of his nose. "We're over-budget… Why'd you buy so much stuff Gonzo?"
The Fishman blushed in embarrassment. "Sorry… I'm used to using high-quality ingredients… The Great Whites drilled it into me that I should only use the best…"
"Well, the captain of the Great Whites wasn't an alcoholic templar with a bad attitude…" snapped Leo.
Jay laughed at that. "You really don't get along with Toma, do you? Why did you join then?"
Leo raised an eyebrow, and looked out of the cabin door towards the sea. "Why did I join up with Toma…?"
Leo narrowed his eyes. "You actually think you can beat ME in a fight?"
"Don't think; know," said Toma, still smiling.
---
"I thought you'd come and help! You seem like a nice guy!"
"Don't remind me…" muttered Leo, as he walked beside Toma. "I just came to help the girl out."
"Yeah… RIGHT." Said Toma, while grinning.
"What's that supposed to mean?!" mumbled Leo.
"Admit it; you want to be part of my pirate crew!"
"What?! Are you some kind of idiot?!"
"That's not a nice thing to say!"
"IT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO BE! IT WAS AN INSULT! I-N-S-U-L-T!"
Leo grinned. "I suppose he just wore down my defense with his annoying stick-to-itiveness…"
Jay laughed. "He has that weird affect, doesn't he!"
"Oh… So you do all care for your captain… That simplifies things…" Said a voice unfamiliar to the pirates.
Leo, Jay and Gonzo froze. In the doorway stood a man with blond hair, holding a bladed musket in one hand. "I am a Templar from the Order of Kaazan… And I…" the musket made a clicking sound, and he suddenly held it horizontally, finger on the trigger, pointing the gun towards Gonzo. "…Am here to eliminate you and your captain. No hard feelings."
XXX
Zugai took a long drink from his bottle of cola, then looked out to the sea. He and Haze were beside the Earthen Nerve, apparently given the position of 'guarding' while the members of Baroque Works had a meeting at the pub atop the hill.
Haze sat beside him, also drinking a glass bottle of cola. "It's a nice day…" she murmured.
Zugai smiled. "Hey… I'll bet you don't know why the sun set is red…"
Haze cast a glance at him.
"You see, light is made up of many different colours, and out of all those colours, red is the one which travels the farthest." He looked out to the ocean, the red light dancing on the flowing water.
Haze laughed. "Like I asked, know-it-all!"
Zugai's smile widened. "Know-it-all? It's been ages since I've been called that…" he closed his eyes. "I friends back home used to call me back…"
Haze cocked her head. "Where'd you come from?"
The brunette shrugged. "Names are just labels. I forget about labels. All I will say is it was my home. And I'm very glad it was." He drained the remaining contents of the bottle, then wiped his mouth with his gloved hand and got to his feet. "There's a storm coming tonight…" he muttered. "Days this good never end well…"
*CLICK-CLICK*
Haze's eyes widened. Instantly, she rolled forwards and pushed Zugai down, just as a bullet zoomed past his now vacant spot.
"Aw… I missed." Came a cold voice.
The duo looked up to see a cyan haired man standing there, holding a musket in one hand, grinning with a lazy expression. A blond girl was under one of his arms, a gag tied around her mouth, her hands and legs bound. The man's eyes were obscured by a white blindfold with a blue crucifix imprinted on it.
Haze grit her teeth. "Are you a Templar?!"
The man laughed. "Yeah, I am. Marluxia Satoshi at your service. Now please don't try anything, or I'll-"
Before Marluxia could finish, Zugai was dashing across the ground in a flash, his labrys held out beside him. "LET HER GO!"
Marluxia cocked his head, then made a hopping motion backwards, just as Zugai appeared in front of him. Marluxia proceeded to knee Zugai in the chest, then point the barrel of the musket into his chest, the long katana-like bayonet digging into the blacksmiths skin. "It's rude to interrupt." He pulled the trigger, the bullet hitting Zugai at point blank range, causing him to gag.
The brunette fell over as Marluxia stepped back, and Haze ran to him.
"Don't worry, that won't kill him."
Helen was screaming, her cries drowned out by the gag, but her distress visible with the tears in her eyes.
"I just want to chat. Now simmer down…" he pointed the musket at Helen's head. "Or shall I just kill this Ojou-sama and throw the world into chaos…"
Zugai grit his teeth, anger visible in his eyes, the usually hidden one now visible due to his now messed up hair. "What do you want?"
Marluxia grinned. "Simple… I want to kill the bandaged one…"
Haze's eyes widened 'Toma?'
"You see, me and him go way back. Rivals, you could call us. And since then, I've risen to the level of a Bishop…" he smirked. "… And guess what, some people believe the cursed-one is a bit stronger than me. You see, he has been nominated for an Archbishop."
Hazes eyes widened. "What…?"
"You may be wondering; 'what does a fallen templar and current pirate want with a useless religious seat such as that?' Well, being an Archbishop grants you access to all the secrets of the Order in the Grandline. The includes certain funding from the Pope… And you know what, I ain't letting that bastard get his bandaged paws on it."
"You've kidnapped a girl over a position in church?!" yelled Haze.
"No… My hatred goes a way back. I've wanted to kill Toma for a while. But that isn't the REAL reason I'm here… My boss decided your captain may be a bit troublesome later on… So I need to eliminate any possible chance of a threat."
He tossed Helen onto the ground, then swung the musket over his shoulder. "But I'm lazy, so I'll make you a deal; kill Toma and I let you both live. Sounds like a pretty good deal… Tell ya what, I'll even throw in this little girlie too! Three for the price of a half."
Zugai's eyes narrowed. 'Half…?'
The blindfolded man grinned. "So do we have a deal?"
Zugai smiled weakly. "Bone…"
Marluxia raised a feathery eyebrow.
"… CLEVER!!" Zugai was suddenly on his feet, spinning round, the labrys held out at arms length.
Marluxia, taken by surprise, leapt back, just as Zugai slammed the labrys into the ground, creating a minor tremor in the ground. The cyan-haired man stumbled, allowing Zugai to gain the upper-hand, slamming the butt of the labrys into the bishop's chest.
"HANA…"
As Marluxia regained his posture, tiny rain-like flower petals, coloured crimson, began to fall from the sky, littering the ground around him.
"…AME!"
At once, the petals exploded, engulfing Marluxia in a cloud of smoke.
"HA!" yelled Haze.
"Yare, yare…" Marluxia emerged from the smoke, adjusting his blindfold, as though he'd taken it off and was now putting it back in place. He was completely unscathed. Bellow his was some fragments of white stone, each piece cracked like a broken mosaic. Some of the pieces were contorted in different shapes, like a field of bubbles.
Zugai knelt lower, holding his labrys horizontally. "I don't like people who mess with my friends, so unless you want to get your ass-handed to you, then you'd better scram!"
Marluxia's grin faded. "You will regret going against me…" he turned. "I'll leave… For now… Tell Toma-chan the Ice Templar said 'hi'… I'll see him later…"
He withdrew a small capsule from a deep coat pocket, then dropped it on the ground, immersing him in a cloud of purple smoke. When the smoke cleared, the white-clad Templar was gone. And so was Helen.
XXX
Toma sighed in relief as he finally dropped the crate. "Man… How much more do we need to bring up?"
Chris dropped her load, then drew a little list out of her pocket and examined it. "We've brought up six… So we need two more trips; four to go."
Toma groaned. "It's a big hill… I DON'T WANNA!"
"Stop being such a baby!"
"TOMA!!"
From a higher level on the earthen tower, Haze could be seen, running down at a high speed, Zugai following in her wake.
The bandaged man cocked his head, then yelped when Haze leapt on him, giving him a mighty slug in the face. He fell back, then was again grabbed by the redhead, who gripped him in a furious hug. "YOU IDIOT!"
"Choking-CAN'T-BREATHE…" moaned Toma as she hugged him tighter.
Haze loosened her grip, then looked at him with tear filled eyes. "You have a psycho after you and you didn't tell me?"
"Eh?"
"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL YOUR BEST FRIEND?!"
"CHOKING ME AGAIN!"
Chris managed to pry Haze off the captain, preventing his suffocation. The older female wiped a small tear from her eye, then looked at Toma seriously. "Don't keep problems to yourself… It makes me sad… I don't want you to hide all your problems from me Toma!"
The thief raised an eyebrow. "You've lost me somewhere."
"She's talking about that gun-wielding psycho who blew a hole in my side…" muttered Zugai as he came into earshot. "Some cyan-haired blind guy appeared out of no where with a bound and gagged girl." He glared at Toma. "Because of you an innocent got captured!"
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS TALKING ABOUT?!" yelled Toma. "I don't know any cyan-haired blind-bloke, so it's not my fault is someone's been captured!"
"Oh…" a white clad man emerged from the trees bellow, grinning. "Marluxia-sensei's already made an appearance… That takes fun out of things…" He held a small pistol at arm's length.
Haze's eyes widened. "That guy…" The raven-haired newcomer smirked.
"He's dressed just like the psycho…"
Toma's eyes were wide. "A… Knight of the Above?"
"Kaazan…" he pulled the trigger. "TAIHOU!" (Kaazan Cannon) a stream of bullets suddenly erupted from the small gun, towards the group of four.
At once the pirates and the blacksmith dispersed, avoiding the furious stream of lead.
The Templar made a clicking sound with his tongue, and quickly reloaded the pistol. "The name's Rurono. Templar of Frost."
Toma's eyes widened. Looking wildly around, he spotted a large branch, around two meters in length. Due to his lack of weaponry, this would have to do. He picked it up and began to spin it round, then nodded and turned to face the Templar.
"Sorry, but I've never heard of 'Frost' Templar. So I'm just going to have to beat you up. No hard feelings…" he adjusted his fedora, then dashed forwards.
Running on either side of him were Zugai and Haze, each holding their bladed weapons.
"So quick to rush to Kaazan's gate." Murmured Rurono. He placed his finger on the trigger again. "KAAZAN…"
Zugai, in the lead of Toma and Haze, raised his body, then grabbed the barrel of the gun. In surprise, the Frost Templar couldn't stop himself pulling the trigger.
The gun blew up in Zugai's hand, incinerating his glove, and burning Rurono's hand. The raven haired man cried out and drew back, while Zugai just smirked, shaking the ashes out of his ivory white hand.
In place of a regular hand, a bone hand existed, with long spindly fingers, each seemingly joined to the hand with an invisible force.
While Rurono was withdrawing, Toma took advantage of the situation, and drew the stick back. "KAAZAN… ISHU!!" He slammed the wooden rod down on the Templar's head, thrusting the poor man into the ground.
To end the assault, Haze leapt over the man, and placed a sword at his neck.
"Damn… You lot are stronger than Marluxia said you were… You ain't normal people…"
Toma wasn't listening, instead looking at Zugai's hand. "Are you a fruit user?"
Zugai cast an eye in his direction. "I ate the Hone Hone no Mi. I'm a Bone man."
"AWESOME! D'ya wanna join my crew?"
"No."
"I'll put that down as a 'maybe'!"
Chris walked up to the trio, then knelt down beside Zugai. "Be careful with Captain, he's an idiot.
"Do you guys even realise I'm still here? I HAVE FREAKING EARS YA KNOW!!" yelled Toma.
"You people are actually ignoring me… I hate it when they do that… I tried to kill you for Kaazan's sake!!" cried Rurono, a tick mark spawning on his head.
His response was a whack from Toma's stick. "Don't interrupt me when I'm raving!"
Zugai shook his head. "Are you guys always this idiotic. We've got something more important on our hands." He held the Templar by the hair, and locked eyes with him. "Where is that Marluxia guy…? And where is Helen?!"
The Templar laughed. "I've no clue. We only came to meet you here to cause a big stir between you guys and a rather unfriendly organisation." Zugai's response was to slug him in the face, knocking him out.
XXX
"I didn't expect you three to be so fast…" murmured the blonde Templar, who clung to the top of the crows nest, his Knight of the Above uniform ripped all over, a few cuts littering his face.
Jay had both guns drawn, Gonzo had his harpoon slung over his shoulder, and Leo simply had his hands balled into fists.
The Templar had used most of his ammo on shots which had missed the trio by a fair margin, leaving him with a few bullets left.
He let out a small sigh, then stood up straight, holding the gun-blade vertically, so the blade pointed towards the pirates. "Though I hate to admit it, you guys way outclass me. So I should make like a river and run." He flashed a grin in their direction, then slammed the gun downwards into the crows nest, before pulling the trigger.
He immediately vanished in a short plume of smoke.
"Coward." Muttered Jay, as he set the twin handguns in their holsters.
"I guess Toma's a different type of Templar all together…" muttered Leo. "That guy couldn't even hold his own against one of us."
Gonzo simply nodded, his eyes closed in concentration. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open. Three figures were walking towards the ship, one with chocolate brown hair tied back in a pony tail, wearing an eye patch. In one hand, covered by a fingerless glove, he was spinning a Bowie knife.
His partner was a silver haired female with a huge sniper rifle strapped to her belt.
The final man was a huge hulking figure, with dark skin, heavy sunglasses and a dual-microphone like hairstyle.
Leo narrowed his eyes, and Jay redrew his guns.
The fight was just getting started.
Next Time: Agent Versus Templar?!
The Earthen Brain