Pirates

Inazuma Island Part 3

Pirate Gonzo vs. The Razor Fan!

"That damn trap really did a number on me…" Gonzo muttered bitterly as he walked through the trees. He had no idea where the path was, and he was fairly certain he was going in circles. His plan of tree climbing seemed to work for about ten minutes before he realized it was a no go due to the fact that there were no branches low enough for him to cling to. So he was walking aimlessly through the darkness, his frustration beginning to rise steadily.

"You're going the wrong way," a sweet, kind voice said from above. Gonzo stopped and looked up in search of the source and eventually, his dark eyes caught sight of a girl in her twenties, standing on a high branch. She held a chain in one hand and was idly spinning it. There was a thin object at the end giving it momentum. Gonzo stared at her for several moments. At last, she looked at him. The chain clanked as she caught the spinning object in her free hand and in one swift motion, flicked it open. It looked like a Chinese Fan.

The dark haired girl pointed the fan directly in front of her, which happened to be the opposite direction Gonzo had just been walking. It glinted in the moonlight, as if made of some sort of metal. "Your friend is that way, up on the mountain,"

"Collette Pierce," Gonzo identified. The girl tilted her head downward and gazed at Gonzo with her dark eyes. They seemed kind, but the intensity of the gaze was intimidating.

"So you know my name," Collette said, putting on a smile as she closed the fan. She casually stepped off the branch and fell the thirty feet down to the ground, landing like a cat on her feet. The chain was long; about twenty feet, though she held only about three between her hands. The fan again hung limply and she spun it boredly. "What else do you know?"

"You're the ships doctor," Gonzo continued, "and I hear you're a pretty good fighter. But you don't seem like a threat here,"

Collette smiled deviously and flicked the fan open again, partially covering her face with it. She gazed over the razor edge. "Looks can be deceiving, kid," she said.

Gonzo tensed uncomfortably. He wasn't sure whether to draw his weapon or not. At the moment, she didn't seem hostile… more like she was enjoying herself. He decided against the weapon for the moment. "So what exactly are your goals here?" he asked.

Collette shrugged. "I guess I'm here to see what you can do," she said sweetly. "And to see if you can pass me and make it to your friend. She's up there waiting for you, so you'd better make sure you don't lose,"

Gonzo smiled and grabbed hold of his harpoon. "Me? Lose to someone like you? Never," he said confidently. Collette's smile sweetened.

"Don't underestimate me, just because I'm a woman. I know the human body quite well and that makes me a very dangerous adversary," She said.

"Nah, I'm not underestimating you because you're a girl," Gonzo pointed out. "Chris would murder me. I just have confidence, is all," he grinned. "Something wrong with that?"

Collette lowered the fan, exposing her face. She bent her knees a bit, the fan held back behind her, above her head, her other hand holding the chain in front of her. "Hope you're ready," She said sang. "Because it's time to get started!"

The expression in her eyes changed to a sudden deathly serious one. Any light that was once present faded, her brown eyes becoming as black as Lance's. "Special Technique: Air Slicer!" She exclaimed. She spun her arm once and took a step forward, adding to the momentum, then, she swiped the fan horizontally in front of her. The energy from her movements seemed to rush forward, in a whitish-blue blur literally slicing through the air as it made its way to Gonzo.

The Fishman's eyes widened. He'd never seen anything like that before! Did she just thrust her energy through her weapon? He quickly rolled aside and the energy sliced through a tree behind him, knocking it down. Gonzo made his way to his feet and used the harpoon to catch his balance as he turned and gazed at the tree. "You've got to be kidding…" he muttered.

Collette smiled at his expression but rushed right into her next attack. She spun, using the momentum from her first strike, and then a one-handed cartwheel, landing in a crouch. She swiped the fan downward, into the earth, and the ground seemed to split in Gonzo's direction. "Special Technique: Earth Splitter!" She shouted. Gonzo ran to the side to avoid this attack. The crack continued until it hit a rock, where it finally stopped, completely shattering the hard object. Gonzo looked at Collette a bit uncertainly.

"Definitely strong…" he decided under his breath. Then louder, he added, "But I have a few attacks of my own to show you,"

As Collette rose from her crouch, Gonzo darted toward her with incredible speed. "20 Gallons: Prime Rib!" He shouted. He threw punch at Collette, who dodged with ease. Gonzo's fist instead slammed into a tree, impaling the thick trunk. He started to pull his arm back out, only to find that it was stuck…

His hand, still balled into a fist, was caught on the other end of the trunk, acting as an anchor and holding him against the tree. Gonzo snarled in annoyance and pressed his other hand against the tree in an attempt to push himself off. "Stupid tree, let go," he muttered angrily at the object.

"Do you need some help?" Collette suddenly asked, the sweetness returning to her voice. She had stepped up beside Gonzo without him even knowing and now placed the blade of the fan against his arm. Gonzo's eyes widened and he felt himself pale; not at the thought of getting injured, but at the prospect of losing a hand. He needed his hands! He was a cook!

As Collette raised the fan into the air, Gonzo's struggling increased. "Oi, oi!" he scowled at Collette nervously. "Don't even think about it!"

Collette merely smiled and sharply sliced down with the fan. At the last moment, Gonzo managed to wretch his arm out and pull back, just barely avoiding the fan. He staggered, but quickly regained his composure and delivered a dangerous roundhouse kick at Collette. "35 Gallons…" he began. But before he could say anything, else, Collette jumped up.

"Rump Roast," Collette finished with a light smile, seeming to have teleported to her perch on a low branch. Gonzo's eyes widened again and he stepped away from Collette uncertainly. She laughed mischievously at his expression.

Gonzo scowled at her amusement and prepared for his next attack. "50 Gallons: Swiss Cheese!" he shouted. From his blowhole, dozens of balls of water shot out. Flying rapidly at the doctor. Collette said the words with him as she grabbed her fan by the chain and spun it in front of her with incredible speed, using it as a shield against the attack. When it stopped, she caught it again and jumped downward.

Collette's etes were dark once again. She held one arm, the one holding the fan, crossed over her chest, poised to strike. "Diagonale!" she shouted harshly. She swiped the fan diagonally downward at Gonzo, who barely managed to move back to avoid it. A thin cut formed on his chest, though due to his thick skin, it wasn't major at all, nor was it bleeding.

Collette landed in a crouch, the arm holding the fan extended, touching the ground. She looked up. "Verso!" she shouted. She rose upward, swiping with the fan across the very same area, though seeming to move backwards, almost in reverse. She flipped back, landing skillfully on her feet.

This time, the edge of the fan was stained with a thin layer of blood. Gonzo clutched the now open wound across his chest; it most definitely wasn't deep enough to kill him, but it would slow him down. He had to act fast. "500 Gallons!" he began.

"Popsicle Rampage," Collette finished calmly. As the icicles began to fire out of Gonzo's blowhole, Collette jumped back, disappearing into the trees. There was a small drop of blood where she once stood, but Gonzo wasn't sure if it was hers, or his own dripping from the weapon.

Regardless, he scowled. This girl was finishing his attacks. Did they really know this much about him? He heard a light, chocolaty laugh coming from the dense trees. "You hit me," Collette said. Gonzo heard the sound of a chain to his right and instantly turned. Collette was standing calmly in the ray of moonlight, spinning the fan carelessly. There was a thin cut across the side of her neck, bleeding slightly. "I'm sure you're curious, aren't you?" she asked. She stepped forward and stopped several yards away from Gonzo.

Gonzo didn't respond. Instead, he lifted the harpoon threateningly. "1,000 Gallons," Collette recited. "Meat Kabob," Gonzo's stance weakened slightly, the harpoon lowering a fraction of a centimeter. Collette laughed again. "Do you think the only reason Cedric was on your ship was to capture your crew? We had much more in mind for our little spy."

The metallic rattle of the chain was starting to get on Gonzo's last nerve. His grip tightened around the harpoon. The cut across his chest seeped blood every time he moved and it was starting to make him tired. Collette smiled calmly and stopped spinning the fan, instead catching it and flipping it open. It covered her face once again and she gazed over it. "Thanks to Cedric, I know every move you have,"

She closed the fan and placed it at her hip, wrapping the chain around. Then, she extracted four extremely thin needles similar to the ones Aya used. Collette smiled darkly. "Now, Cascade Gonzo, while it's been fun, I believe it's time to end this,"

She crossed her arm in front of her, preparing to launch the needles. She stared at Gonzo for several very brief seconds, taking aim, and then, launched them. "Rempli Gelez!" she shouted. The needles hit Gonzo, one hitting both arms, and the others hitting his legs, all right where the pressure points on a normal human body should be. Those hits would easily immobilize him.

So needless to say, when Gonzo didn't go down, Collette was more then shocked. Gonzo, however, smiled. The smile turned into a grin, and eventually, into an extremely amused laugh. Collette's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Looks like you're the curious one now, eh?" Gonzo asked through laughing. "Considering you're supposed to be a skilled fighter and doctor, you're not very smart. Even an idiot knows that the body of a Fishman is structured differently then a human's!"

Collette scowled. She was being careless; in fact, she'd completely forgotten he was a Fishman (in the dark, he looked like nothing more then a large, dark man). "There's only a slight difference, but it's enough to keep me safe from those pressure point attacks," Gonzo continued, pulling out the needles. He grinned wider. "And don't think you know everything. There's some attacks I could never use on Zugai's ship,"

Gonzo re-placed the harpoon in its sheath on his back and cracked his knuckles. "Time for a warm up though," he stretched his legs briefly and charged at the still surprised Collette. The girl barely managed to avoid the dangerous punch that Gonzo through at her head. "25 Gallons: Prime Rib!" he shouted. As she was down, he brought his hands together, intertwining the fingers like a hammer, and forced it down on the girl. "75 Gallons: Tenderizing Mallet!" he roared.

His fists slammed into Collette's back, knocking the girl down. She grunted in surprise, coughing as the wind was knocked from her lungs, but managed to move aside in time to avoid a second similar blow aimed at her spine. She maneuvered to her feet in a crouched position.

"50 Gallons: Swiss Cheese!" he roared. Collette backed away uncertainly, using the fan as protection as the balls of water were forced in her direction. Some penetrated her defense, slicing cuts into her arms and legs.

"And now…" Gonzo began. "5,000 Gallons: Special Sauce Blitz!" he roared. From the blowhole, a huge torrent of water shot out. Colette's eyes widened, not expecting the strike, and the enormous blast of water hit her. It knocked her back, slamming her into a tree with a pained cry and knocking the weapon from her hand.

"500 Gallons: Popsicle Rampage!" Gonzo shouted. The torrent of water was replaced by dozens of sharp icicles. They cut holes in her clothes, pinning her to the tree without actually hurting her. She tried to pull free without tearing her clothing, but before she could even move to grab one of the icicles, Gonzo's harpoon hit the tree directly beside her head, missing by mere centimeters. Collette stopped moving at once. That most definitely wasn't a lucky miss, but a carefully calculated throw.

Gonzo, breathing heavily from the rush of adrenaline running through his veins, grabbd the harpoon from the tree with ease and held it against Collette's exposed throat. The girl held still, breathing heavily, tired.

Gonzo took a few moments to calm himself down. He had gotten to the point in this battle where he was no longer really aware of what exactly he was doing, like a bull chasing a red cape. "Your friend is at the top of the mountain, just north of here," Collette said, nodding in the direction. Gonzo lowered the harpoon and wrapped the cloth around it before placing it back on his back. Collette looked at him in confusion.

"Why don't you kill me?" she asked. "You've got the perfect chance right now. I've been beaten,"

Gonzo wiped the small trail of blood running down his chest with his shirt. He'd have to find a way to get rid of the stains. He looked up at Collette and shook his head. "Exactly, you've been beaten," he said. "I don't sense that you're a bad person, Collette Pierce. I don't kill people who don't deserve it. Besides, you told me where to go to find Aya.

"You should have known better then to battle a Fishman. The ice will melt in a few hours." Gonzo finished as he began to walk away. Collette looked down at the ground for several moments, then looked up.

"Hold on, Fishman," she said suddenly. Gonzo stopped and turned his head to look at her. He'd already wasted too long with her; about fifteen minutes fighting. That left them with six hours and twenty minutes, and it would take at least a few hours to reach the top of the mountain. "What?" he asked over his shoulder.

"There's something that you might need when you find that captain of yours," Collette continued. "On the necklace here,"

Gonzo turned to look at Collette uncertainly, but walked toward her regardless. "It's not a trick, I promise," Collette assured him, noticing his hesitant approach. "Take this necklace,"

Gonzo examined it. He honestly hadn't noticed it before. It was in the shape of a dagger, and looked considerably sharp. He took it hesitantly in his hand. "What is it?" he asked.

"It's an antidote," Collette explained. "It'll cure any poison that Tsukumo releases. You'll understand when you reach her,"

Gonzo pulled the necklace from Collette's neck and fastened it around his own. "Thanks, I guess," he said.

"Be careful, Gonzo," Collette called after the cook as he quickly ran from the scene. When she was alone, she looked at the icicles and pulled out of them with ease. She looked in the direction Gonzo went off to and smiled. "I don't kill people who don't deserve it', huh?" she quoted. "Sounds like they're Peace Main. That's good…" She stretched, loosening her tight, aching muscles. "I think they'll make it,"

That in mind, she turned and walked off in the opposite direction, back to the Apocalyptic Thunder.

A/N: There we go. Sorry for taking so long. Gonzo's fighting scenes are always so difficult because I find myself struggling to make up new moves/move names to keep it from being repetitive. That and I keep forgetting that he's a Fishman and much stronger then a human (which is why he sustained less injuries then a normal person would have with that damn fan). Next chapter: Pirate Zugai and Hunter Morte vs. The Puppet Master!

Time Remaining:

6 hrs, 20 mins.