Reencountering Ridley! Wait! What did Ridley just say?
"Ridley! Wait up!" shouted Mikoto twisting around another corner. He could've sworn he just saw Ridley's Mohawk. Was he running away from him? Oh, well, only one way to find out! Catch him and ask! Mikoto continued to run towards the direction Ridley he thought he saw Ridley run. Mikoto ran towards a giant door. He stood in front of it for a few seconds. Why would Ridley come here? Why couldn't Ridley go to the place with a lot of food? All that running burnt up all the energy he got from Sage's delicious chicken sandwich. Was it chicken? Maybe it was actually a hot dog? Oh, well, too late to wonder about what he ate.
Mikoto was about to calmly open the door and walk in to see Ridley again, but then it occurred to him. Ridley came here to fight Karasu! This must be Karasu's room! It certainly was big enough. Mikoto smiled. Time for a dynamic entrance! He ran back to get momentum. He suddenly rushed forward
Mikoto jumped through the door kicking it, nearly sending both sides off of its hinges. He landed in the middle of the room. "KARASU!" He landed in the middle of the room. He looked around no one seemed to be any where near him. He then saw Ridley on the far side of the room laid against the wall.
"Ridley!" shouted Mikoto with his classic goofy smile. He was about to run towards him when he noticed Ridley had a huge gnash on his stomach. "Whoa, what happened to you?"
Ridley looked freaked out for a second and it took him awhile to answer. "YOU DID YOU MANIAC MUTT!" he shouted, "DID YOU EVER THINK HOW BURSTING THROUGH THE DOOR COULD EFFECT OTHER PEOPLE!"
"No," said Mikoto looking back at the barely intact metal doors. "So, ready to go fight Karasu?"
Ridley remained laying against the wall. He stretched his head back and stared at the lights on the wall. "The Infinity Pirates can't beat him, you know?" He sounded glum.
"Sure, we can!" shouted Mikoto, "musician and captain! We can't be stopped! Forget about Karasu and his exploding bunnies!" Mikoto still had the big goofy smile on his face. He was glad he could finally catch up to Ridley. Now only thing he had to do was help him beat up his father!
"Exploding what?" asked Ridley dumbfounded by Mikoto's weird and slightly stupid statement.
"Bunnies. Anyways, Karasu doesn't know what he's getting himself into we should go in there, knock him around a bit, steal some gold (I think we spent all we had), and then leave on our merry way and listen to him shout 'YOU MEDDLING KIDS!"
"You don't my dad, do you?" asked Ridley. He had to chuckle at Mikoto's twisted idea of what kind of old man he was.
"Nope, but nonetheless we'll go in there and beat him up for you and your mom!" said Mikoto. He was going into the fight completely blind and he was still happy about it.
Ridley twitched. For the first time this entire conversation he stood up. He walked over to Mikoto. "Thanks for opening up old wounds," he patted him on the back, he took a few more steps towards the door that Mikoto had entered from.
"Sorry, I don't always think my words out before I say them!" said Mikoto. "Its something you are going to get used to sailing around with me!"
"No, duh," said Ridley, he sighed. He wished the rest of the crew good luck with sailing with an idiot like him.
"I mean I have said some stupid things before, I mean to you, to Xaiver, and probably to Zesiro and Hiro-Shu too…I think I've been okay so far with Sage," said Mikoto. A sweat drop came down as he thought about his old teacher, Melanie. He had said several stupid things to her before.
"Yeah, be sure to take care of Sage when you guys get to the Grand Line," said Ridley. Things would only going to get tougher from here on out.
"You mean when 'we' get to the Grand Line," said Mikoto grabbing Ridley's shoulder and pulling him close. "I mean think about it! The Shichibukai! The Sea Kings!…"
"Mikoto, I don't think…" said Ridley trying to intervene and get out of Mikoto's vice-like embrace.
"The Marines! The other Pirates!" Images of huge men with swords, clubs, axes, and Devil Fruits flashed through Mikoto's mind at high speeds.
"Mikoto, I am trying to say…"
"The Yonkous! Think about the Yonkous!" His mind flashed to the dead Yonkou, Whitebeard. Sure he never saw him, but from what he heard he had the power to destroy an entire village.
"Mikoto!"
"And then think about the One…" continued Mikoto still in his high energized demeanor.
"I AM LEAVING THE CREW!" shouted Ridley.
"Piece." Mikoto looked at Ridley questioningly. Mikoto then all of sudden made a funny face by sticking out his tongue and pulling up on his eyelids. "Ya got me! I actually thought you were serious! I mean leaving the crew we practically formed! You would never do that!"
"You formed. The crew you formed," said Ridley dejectedly, he finally pushed himself out of Mikoto's embrace. He stood in front of him. "I hereby quit the Infinity Pirates!"
"No, you don't!" shouted Mikoto. "We fought! I won! The deal was if I beat you, you would join my crew!"
"That's the only reason I am this stupid crew!" Ridley shouted back, "I sure as heck didn't join to be around your dumb ass!"
"What about Sage? What about Zesiro? What about Hiro-Shu?" said Mikoto, "What am I going to tell them?" Was Ridley being serious? How could he?
"Tell them I left! Sage would probably jump for joy at that news! Zesiro probably would be happy since only thing I was to him was a distraction with my loud music! And heck, Hiro-Shu would probably enjoy the peace and quiet for a change! Me leaving is probably the best darn then that ever happened to your crew!" Ridley started to walk for the door.
"Fight me!" shouted Mikoto standing in one place. His hands straight down at his sides forming fists.
"What?" said Ridley. He twisted around to see Mikoto.
"Fight me! If I win you stay on OUR crew! If you win you can leave and do whatever you want!"
"I am leaving!" shouted Ridley. He felt a fist fly into the left side of his face. He was tossed to the ground.
"Fight me!" said Mikoto this time in a more definite tone. Ridley looked at his face. This was probably the first time he ever saw Mikoto without a smile on his face since he joined the crew.
"Are you insane!" shouted Ridley. "I already got this gnash in my stomach and you want me to fight you? I thought you would be all about fair play and giving it my best!"
Mikoto transformed into his half-beast form. Ridley stepped back, Mikoto was being serious. Mikoto then slammed his claw into his stomach, bleeding onto the ground. "Now we are even. Are you going to fight me now?"
"Listen Mikoto, fighting you won't make any difference I am still leaving this crew one way or another!" shouted Ridley.
Mikoto growled. "No! We agreed! To the Grand Line! To the New World! Are you going back on that?"
"You can go and do it yourself," said Ridley, "heck, you are going to do it with Zesiro, Hiro-Shu, and Sage! What do you need little old me for?"
"We are a team!" shouted Mikoto, he jumped up and landed on Ridley bringing him down to the ground. Mikoto launched punch after punch into Ridley's cheeks. "We are supposed to be crewmates!"
Ridley somehow managed to break his legs free, he suddenly brought them up, curling into a ball and launching both of his feet straight into Mikoto's chest throwing him straight off of him. Mikoto tumbled onto the floor.
"This is how you treat your crewmate?" shouted Ridley, "Like I said before I am not fighting you!" He stood up patted the dirt off of him. He started to head for the door again.
"Did your father really ditch you?" asked Mikoto. Ridley stopped his in tracks. "Compared to you, I'm guessing your father is like a saint!" Ridley turned around and faced Mikoto. "Heck, with Alfred being a traitor and all…I wonder who really did kill your mom?" Ridley sped towards Mikoto. He swung his guitar straight into Mikoto chin sending him flying upwards. Mikoto then plummeted back into the ground. Ridley pointed his guitar straight at Mikoto's head.
"Get up," said Ridley, "you aren't worth killing unless you are still talking crap." Mikoto got up and stood in place. Another slam of the guitar sent him spiraling backwards and into the dirt again. "Come on, King of Pirates! Can't beat a guitar, can you?"
"At least I didn't turn my back on my mother!" said Mikoto, "He killed your mother! Shouldn't you at least try to defeat him? Or…or is the great Ridley really just a chicken?" Ridley gripped his guitar tighter. "Yeah, that must be it! There's the first song for your record! 'The Great Big Chicken'!"
"You want a fight?" said Ridley. "Fine, mano a mano! Musician versus the beast!"
"The fighter versus the entertainer!" grumbled Mikoto back.
"Your requiem will be a beautiful one," said Ridley. He flipped his guitar out and put his pick to the strings.
"Save the requiem for yourself," said Mikoto.
(-Back with Sage-)
"Wake up!" shouted Zesiro shaking Sage violently trying to shock her out of her stupor. He stopped shaking her and held her for a few seconds staring at her closed eyelids. "Wake up!" He started to shake her again.
"I hope you didn't just make it worse," said Hiro-Shu looking at the two, trying to figure out if it would wise to intervene.
"Zee…zee…Zesiro?" said Sage as she finally came to. Zesiro let her go. She quickly collapsed back into a lump due to her dizziness.
"I think you just knocked her out again," said Hiro-Shu.
"No, I didn't!" replied Zesiro, he looked back to her frantically, "Sage?"
"Yeaaaaa…yes?" she said still disorientated.
"You okay?" said Zesiro calmly.
Sage shook herself to regain her composure. She looked around her at a fast pace. "Where's Kira?" No one else was in the room. Just her, Zesiro, and Hiro-Shu. The girl who had helped her out wasn't in there.
"Who?" asked Zesiro, "no one else was here, when we got here. Whoever she was she must've left before we got here."
Sage bit her lip. Did Kira get away? The Marines could've easily have come back here and captured her while they were passed out. No, they couldn't have. If they would've taken Kira wouldn't they have taken her, too?
Sage breathed harshly. "She probably just got away." Sage looked down at her foot. It still hurt-like crazy, but compared the pain the rest of her body was feeling, it wasn't as bad as it seemed to be before.
Hiro-Shu took note of this. He picked her up, gently, and carried her over to the trolley and set her down. "Let's head on out to meet up with Mikoto again…you probably have a bone to pick with him, don't you?"
"You better believe it!"
Zesiro rubbed his chin. "I can't believe he left you alone…I thought Mikoto would've been more responsible." He was seriously starting to doubt his crew's abilities.
"I don't know what he was thinking. He ate the tuna salad sandwich I happily made for him, then ran off," said Sage, deliberately skipping the other parts of what happened since the split.
"Mikoto really does have the attention and the wisdom of a fruit fly," said Zesiro.
"Yeah, but what can we do he is our captain," said Hiro-Shu, "only other thing we can do is quit the Infinity Pirates." The entire crew fell silent for a moment to consider the option before them.
"Not happening," said Sage cheerfully.
"Same here, once an Infinity Pirate crewmate always an Infinity Pirate crewmate," said Zesrio.
Hiro-Shu simply nodded in agreement.
War! What is it Good For? Absolutely Nothing!
Notice: I forgot a disclaimer (I just can't remember to do these to save my life!) in the last chapter so I just added it. Next up, yeah, Ridley seriously is leaving the crew. (Actual reasons will be revealed soon). Oh, well, keep on reading and reviewing! (And if you want to you can keep singing the above song). I do not own the song either it is by Edwin Starr.
