"Aah, I feel fresh in a bagel!" Wora exclaimed, as she was now standing upright, stretching her limbs outward. "I feel like I could lift a hundred pounds per hour now!" she added, just before she nearly collapsed to her knees, her stomach growling. "Aah, Wora's hungry now…"
"Hey, hey, don't get too lively, Wora." Shin said, as she helped Wora get back on her feet. "You still need to take a break, you know…" Suddenly, both of them froze, as they heard a bone-chilling laughter come from outside. "Just… who the hell was that?" she asked, as she went towards the entrance of the cave, with Wora in tow.
As they got to the entrance of the cave, they could see on the field that both Zugai and Maria were now facing a transformed Morte, who was the one laughing like a madman. "Holy cowbells, that's one crazy bitch!" Wora exclaimed, before she stopped herself, scratching her chin. "Well, maybe it's not a bitch, as much as it is a pu-"
"It's a guy." Shin quickly shot in, as she looked at the cackling bounty hunter with an intrigued look. "He musta' eaten a Zoan, I'd reckon… just like that old hag."
"Look, I don't care if he's a dog or a cat; I just want to rock him like a hurricane!" Wora called, as she began rubbing her hands together, but Shin quickly grabbed her arms, preventing her from doing so. "Hey, what gives?"
"I hate to burst your bubble, Wora…" Shin said, as she looked seriously at Wora for a moment. "…but I'm right next to you, and I don't feel like going out like my brother did, thank you." she added, before she looked down at the field they stood on, as she suddenly realized just where they were standing. "Wait a minute… Wora, forget I said anything! Try getting either Zugai's or Maria's attention, and then you'll…" Then, she leaned in against Wora's ear, whispering a specific order for the Revolutionary. Nodding, Wora quickly began rubbing her hands furiously against each other, as Shin got away from Wora, just as Wora was surrounded by electrical sparks, whilst her hair began standing up on its own. "I just hope that you guys will notice this…"
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Piracy: The New Generation
Manigordo's Grand Battle part 4
An Orthopedic's True Strength
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After a long while of uneasiness from both Zugai and Maria, Morte's laughter subsided, as the bounty hunter finally composed himself, looking at the two pirates with calmness. "Now, we have a fresh fighter, a worn-out captain, and me, who has only received a few scratches and a kick. I think that the advantage lies with me." he said, as he again licked blood off his pata, before spitting it out.
Zugai glared at the bounty hunter, before looking over at Maria. "Hey, if you're going to fight him, be careful." he said briefly, as he looked down at his skeletal claws emerging from his hands. "He's armed, and so am I, but you seem to lack a weapon. It's gonna be tough without one, you know."
"W-well…" Maria began, as she glanced quickly over at Morte, who seemed more fixated on Zugai than her. "I think, if you had a Bo, or a pair of nunchucks, or something along those lines, then I'd…" Before she could say anything else, Zugai suddenly pulled out his own spine, causing the fishwoman to scream in fear.
"Maria, calm down!" Zugai called, as his upper body was now leaning forward, making it seem like he was hunching. "It's just my spine; you should be able to use it like a whip." he said, before he handed the long bone over to Maria, who could only grab hold of it after a short while, her hands still trembling at the sight of it.
"Are you two quite finished, yet?" Morte called, as he was scratching his left arm lightly. "The sooner I can get you called in, the quicker I can receive my paycheck from Steel Scythe." As he said this name, both Zugai and Maria looked at him curiously, Zugai with curiosity, and Maria with fear.
"Steel Scythe?" Zugai muttered, as he scratched his head. "I keep hearing this name… what's so special about it, anyway?" Then, he heard someone fall to the ground, as Maria was now sitting on the ground, looking at Morte with shock. "Maria? What's wrong?"
"Ste… Steel… Steel Scythe?" she stuttered, as she held her head in panic. "No… that man… he's an associate with my… Just what does HE want with us?!" she called, as Morte chuckled lightly.
"Ah, now that's a funny story." Morte began, as he pulled out one of his guns, before spinning it on his right pinky finger. "You see, after that spectacular show on Shigusa Island- By the way, Orthopedic, I enjoyed your performance; a little amateurish, but not bad for your first time…" he began, as Zugai only gave him an estranged look. "Well, anyway, I was approached by this man when me and my associates were headed off the island…
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"Hey, who do you think you are, coming around and sitting on my ship like you own it." Morte said irritably, as he pulled his kris half-way out of its sheath, glaring at the stranger. "Unless you have a reason to bug me, get lost, will you? What's your name, anyway?"
The stranger merely grunted, as he looked at his own hand. "My name is Etels Tyches, and I came here to seek the finest bounty hunter this sea had to offer, in order to give him a lead on a certain pirate crew. And he's standing right in front of me… isn't he, Morte del Astuto, also known as Manigordo?"
Morte eyed Etels curiously, as his grip around the kris tightened, before he sheathed it once more. "A lead, you say? Tell me more."
Etels looked away from his hand, before his lips broke into a smirk. Then, he suddenly jumped off the mast of Mouse Trap, landing directly in front of Morte without any problems. "Good. Now, if you've read the newspapers, then you've certainly heard of this new pirate crew that has become infamous for defeating the Wicked Knight, correct?" However, before he could continue, a huge Zweihänder was pointed towards him, as Vraspos was now glaring at Etels angrily. "Oh? And who are you?"
"Morte, I don't like the looks of this guy." Vraspos said with an intimidating tone. "I don't think we ought to listen to this guy; it'll end up with him backstabbing us, I'm sure of it." Just then, however, Etels placed his hand on the blade, as he actually began bending it so that it faced Vraspos, before bending it more and more so that it went closer to the bounty hunter. "See? I called him out on it, and now he's going to kill us!"
"Vraspos, stop being such a baby." Morte sighed, as he suddenly pulled out his kris. "Sorry, but I'd hate for you to kill my partner." he muttered, as he stabbed the kris at Etels' hand, but once he hit the hand, it made a metallic-like clank, and the dagger was stopped from piercing it. "What…"
"Be ascertained, Manigordo, that I possess powers beyond even your comprehension." Then, he suddenly widened his eyes, as he let go of the Zweihänder, which immediately bounced back into its original position. "No, wait… my powers are great, yet not divided from the human mind's imagination." Noting the confused looks from the bounty hunters, Etels composed himself. "Now, anyway, as I was saying…"
"You're talking about the Cross Skull Pirates?" Morte asked, as he scratched his forehead. "If you're so strong, why bother with small fry like that? It's not like they're the Blackmouth Pirates, or anything."
"You're forgetting something, my dear Manigordo…" Etels said, as he searched for something within his cloak. "The Second Pirate King started out just like that "small fry", as you refer to them as such." Then, he pulled out a small statuette of Monkey D. Luffy from his cloak. "And look where that got him; one of the world's most famed pirates, said to be invincible…" Then, he suddenly got a maddened look on his eyes, as he crushed the statuette in his hand. "But no man is invincible. And I want you to show that to this 'Demon's Orthopedic'."
Morte looked with fascination at Etels, as he scratched his chin. "Really, now… and what's in it for us?" he said, as he noted that Etels immediately calmed himself.
"The current bounty on the crew is 83 million Beri, but I am willing to pay you all their collective bounties multiplied by four, even taking into account any possible raises to their bounties." Etels replied, as he turned away from the bounty hunters. "Well, are you in on this, or not?"
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Both Zugai and Maria stared at Morte after his explanation was finished, before Zugai suddenly shook his head (and in effect, his entire upper body). "So, what you're saying is that you went out of your way, poisoning my crewmates, and kidnapping our friends, just so some guy named after scythes could give you a quadruple-sized paycheck?" he exclaimed in exasperation, as Morte merely nodded. Seeing this, Zugai looked around him in shock, before knocking himself on the head. "But what kind of sense does that make?! You're a bounty hunter, supposedly famed as 'The best in all of East Blue', and you single out a lone crew because a bozo with a cloak promises you bigger payment?!"
"Now, take into consideration, Orthopedic, your crew is worth 126 million Beri at this point, which would mean an easy 500 million Beri for me and my associates to bask in." Morte replied, as he now began juggling the gun with a single hand. "True, it may not be as lucrative as going after, say, the Blackmouths, but it's a start, which is fine enough for me."
Zugai blinked, as he looked into the ground, gritting his teeth. "You… YOU'RE NOT MAKING ANY LOGICAL SENSE!" he suddenly yelled, before he dashed at Morte, claws at the ready, as he lashed at Morte with his claws, but the feline anthromorph easily swayed underneath the strike.
"Captain…" Maria muttered, as she saw how ferociously Zugai was fighting, when she spotted something in the corner of her eye. Looking back at the mountain behind her, she could see something blue spark up in a cave. "Don't tell me…" Then, she saw the blue sparks actually form letters, as it eventually turned into a sentence, which she immediately knew what meant. "Ah, I see! And to think that I… No, now's not the time; I've got to help Zugai as best I can!" Then, she ran to the edge of the woods, searching for something there, as Morte observed her calmly whilst avoiding Zugai's onslaught.
"Hey, stop messing around!" Zugai yelled, as he kept on slashing, with Morte spending even less time focusing on avoiding the attacks. "If you're going to fight, then fight, damnit!" Zugai called, as he began lashing his claws out more ferociously this time around.
"It's not going to work, Orthopedic!" Morte said, as he raised his left arm, still avoiding the slashes. "Your predictability will be your downfall." However, just before he could strike Zugai, he felt something cut his cheek, as he suddenly noticed that Zugai was moving his spineless back like it was a leaf in the wind, thus increasing the random outcome of where the slashes would land. "He can't possibly-" Then, a multitude of claws suddenly cut his chest, as he widened his eyes in surprise, before leaping away from Zugai. "You… how did you pass through my speed?!"
Zugai shrugged as best he could, as he prepared himself for another dash. "I guess that's the benefit of lacking a spine; you're not sure what goes through your head at all." he replied bluntly, before he dashed at Morte once again, claws at the ready.
As the two clashed again, Maria was rummaging around the ground near the edge of the forest, looking desperately for something. "Come on, it has to be here somewhere…" she muttered, as she briefly looked back at Zugai's and Morte's fight, before she felt something which wasn't grass touch her hand. "Is this…" she whispered, as she looked at just what she had come in contact with; a rope hidden underneath the grass. ""Yes! Now, what happens if I pull this…?" she muttered, as she gave the rope a good tug, but nothing seemed to happen. "A… dud?"
Just then, however, she saw that the tree next to her just fell down without anything pushing it, though a log conveniently placed by her kept the tree from falling all the way down. Then, a rope tied to the tree began tightening, as the tree was hauled backwards by an unseen force. "Just… how much time did she put into this?" Maria said in shock, as the tree was soon fully back in place, when she suddenly saw a tree behind the other tree, which had a large club attached to it suddenly swing at the loose tree, sending it flying away, aimed for Morte and Zugai. "Eh- Captain, look out!"
As soon as Zugai and Morte heard this, both of them turned their heads towards the tree flying at them, but before Morte could dodge it, Zugai suddenly lashed at Morte with his left hand, a strike which was narrowly blocked. Then, Zugai suddenly fell backwards on purpose, as he narrowly dodged the tree, as it struck Morte head-on, sending him flying towards the other edge of the woods.
However, before Morte could even crash into a tree, another tree with a club attachment suddenly crashed into Morte, sending him flying towards the opposite end of the forest, where he was struck by yet another tree-club, sending him flying right at another tree-club, thus making the process repeat itself ad infinitum, even making Zugai, who still stood in the center of the field, dizzy. "What kind of traps did Shin set up here, anyway?" he groaned, as he struggled to be focused on just where Morte would end up next.
Soon, after approximately four minutes of Morte being slammed from one side of the forest to the other, he was now being flung straight towards the tree that had begun this painful chain reaction, which would lead him to Maria. Seeing this, Maria instinctively (and in panic) flung the spine at Morte like a whip, though as it lashed around the bounty hunter, the speed at which he was going forced Maria to keep spinning Morte around her, before she accidentally flung Morte into the sky. "Eh- I-I'm sorry!"
Just as Morte begun his descent, however, Zugai quickly grabbed hold of Honehakaisha again, holding it ready for a slash at the bounty hunter. "This is for my crew, you cowardly bastard!" he yelled, as when Morte got into range, he violently slammed the flat side of his labrys into the bounty hunter, sending him crashing into the ground, creating a small crater. As the dust cleared from the impact, they could easily see the damage Morte had sustained, now being as bloodied as Zugai. "Huh… well, can't say Shin isn't efficient." Zugai muttered, as he glanced over at Maria, who only looked back at him with an exhausted smile.
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"WOO! That's my girl, way to go!" Shin yelled in happiness, as she had just seen how her diabolical trap had worked against Morte. "I call it the Woodchucking Wood-Patrol! Pretty neat, huh?" she asked Wora, who was nodding in excitement as well.
"Oh my gosh, we gotta go down there and give them an ovation, or something!" Wora exclaimed, as she walked outside the cave, walking onto a path leading down to the field. "If we hurry up, we can go on a highway to… well, something!" she added, as she began running down the path, followed by Shin, but before following her, she noticed something about Morte.
"Wait… is he…" Shin muttered, as she suddenly got a shocked expression on her face. "Oh sh- Zugai!" Then, in a hurry, she ran the path, passing by Wora, as she gritted her teeth in suspense. "Please, Zugai, for the love of God, look behind you!"
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"Well, looks like we're done." Zugai muttered, as he retracted his bone claws into his body, painful though it would be. "Maria, do you think you could get the syringe from his jacket?" he asked, as he looked over at Maria, who now looked like she had seen a ghost. "Maria? You okay?" Then, he suddenly widened his eyes, as he heard panting come from behind him, and as he spun around, he saw that Morte had, miraculously enough, gotten back on his feet, even though he was stumbling.
"This… is nothing." Morte whispered in a menacing tone, as he slowly cracked his neck, effectively vocalizing the sound his joints gave upon being cracked, making Maria look away in disgust. "Compared to other pirates I've fought… this is nothing." he repeated, as he groggily pointed his left arm at Zugai. "But this has become a drag to me…"
"Hey, would you cut that out?!" Zugai yelled, as he shook his head. "Look at yourself; you can barely stand! Just accept it; your plan failed!" However, just as he said this, Morte vanished from view, before reappearing in front of Zugai, stabbing his pata through Zugai's body, making Maria give out a shriek of fear.
"My plans… are perfect." Morte whispered, as he pulled out the pata, letting Zugai's body fall to the ground, just as Maria rushed to her captain's aid. "Leave him; he's as good as dead." he muttered, though the fishwoman ignored his remarks.
"C-captain, please, don't die…" Maria muttered, as she turned Zugai around so that his back faced upwards, before placing his spine on it, watching it sink into his body slowly. "Thank goodness, he's alive…" she sighed in relief, when she saw a blade being pointed down at his body, right next to her.
"Well, that is good." Morte said with a sneer, as he raised the blade. "Then I can make sure that he truly perishes this time!" However, just before he could stab the blade at Zugai, Maria suddenly tackled him, before pinning him down to the ground.
"What kind of monster are you?!" she yelled, as she grabbed hold of his neck, lifting her head closer to hers. "Striking someone while they are down is just evil!" However, as she spoke, Morte could only laugh, though with his injuries, it resulted in him coughing up some blood in the process, which splashed on Maria's face, making her drop Morte out of shock.
"I told you what kind of a monster I am, and yet you still don't comprehend that?!" he laughed, as Maria could only glare at him. "Listen well, fishwoman; he may be a monster, you may be a monster, and I am most certainly a monster… but this sea contains monsters far beyond our capability of thought! Of course… someone like you doesn't have much of that."
However, that comment only earned him a hard punch to the face, which only made him laugh harder, aggravating Maria to the point of pounding her fists against the bounty hunter, all whilst he continued laughing. "See what I'm talking about?!" Morte exclaimed in-between punches. "You and your kind are nothing but animals that rely on their animalistic instincts, as well as their emotions, which is limited to rage! And now, by pummeling me, you prove what everyone says about you!"
As he said this, Maria was about to throw yet another punch at Morte, though she stopped it merely inches from his face. "So… we-we're basing this on races?" she whispered, as she looked down at Morte, as tears were now running down from her eyes. "You're saying that just because you're a human, me defending my friends with force makes me an animal? If anything, the real animal here is you!"
Again, the bounty hunter laughed, more manic than before. "Why, that's an interesting argument! Let me just say that I agree with you; I am an animal!" Suddenly, he transformed into a full-formed ocelot, as he suddenly clamped his teeth around Maria's arm, causing the fishwoman to howl in pain, giving him an opportunity to escape from her, before turning into his hybrid form again. "Now, stand aside, so I can kill your captain!"
"That…" Maria began, as she was holding her arm in pain, yet still she was glaring at Morte. "Will not happen… until my heart stops beating!" she added, as she rushed at Morte, pulling her fist behind her.
"You know… I can arrange that." Morte sneered, as he quickly stabbed the pata at Maria, who only barely avoided it by swaying her head to the left, letting it pierce her blue ponytail, which was cut open, forcing her blue hair to fall down to her shoulders. Before she got any time to recover, Morte cut her over the chest with his kris, before suddenly jumping away from her. "Do you want to see me get serious?" he said menacingly, as he pulled both his pistols forth, holding them in his hands, as his tail suddenly coiled itself around the handle of his kris, before he pointed his left arm at Maria.
"Hnn…" Maria growled lightly, as she knew that without a weapon, she was now at a major disadvantage against Morte. "And… I suppose you're quite skilled with that stance?" she asked, to which Morte merely nodded.
"Of course, you won't live long enough to critique it!" Morte said, before he lunged at Maria again, lashing his tail at her, though she rolled away from it, only letting her maid's outfit get hit by it. Then, he suddenly pulled the trigger on his right pistol, the bullet strafing her cheek, as she quickly got back up, running at him, resulting in him pulling the trigger on his left pistol, though this one merely strafed her arm.
Then, Maria suddenly kicked Morte in the ribs, sending him flying away from her, though he landed back on his feet, before aiming his pistols at Maria's feet, shooting them both simultaneously, as Maria's left leg was hit by one of the bullets. Ignoring it, she ran towards Morte again, throwing a punch, which Morte avoided with a mere turn of his head, before trying to stab his pata at her, though she grabbed the arm before it could hit her. However, in return, Morte quickly pulled the trigger on the gun he held with that arm's hand, hitting Maria's shoulder, forcing her to let go of Morte.
Then, the bounty hunter suddenly leapt at Maria, grabbing her arms so she could not break free. "Poor fool." he whispered, as the kris in his tail quickly slashed Maria across the face once. "So eager to aid your crew, yet you fail to realize that you're at your wits end." Then, the tail lashed, making the kris slash Maria's face once more. "Just like your captain… well, I can't say it's unfitting; a fool of a captain, leading a fool of a crew." Then, the tail raised itself, so that the kris it held was pointing directly at Maria's face. "A crew so foolish, it couldn't see its own end, even when it faced it head on."
However, before the tail could stab itself forward, it was grabbed by a white, bony hand, and as Morte glanced back at this hand in slight pain, he felt a different hand punch his face, forcing him to let go of Maria. "Hey, now, going after those without bounties?" Zugai's voice said in a shaky, yet adamant tone, as Maria looked at the up-and-going form of her captain. "I'm beginning to doubt you being that much of a bounty hunter."
"Ca-captain…" Maria muttered, as she dropped to her knees. "My God… yo-you can't be intent on keeping it up? I mean… your body's…" she sobbed, trying her best to keep in her tears, though a hand on her shoulder made her look up to meet her captain's eyes.
"I'll be fine, Maria. But right now, you should go get the syringe, and get back to Moon with Chris and Ignacio. I'll get Shin and Wora back myself, and…" Wincing, Zugai nearly stumbled, as he used Maria to support himself so that he wouldn't collapse. "…I'll kick the hell out of this guy." he added, as he looked over at Morte, who had quickly gotten to his feet. "Now, hurry… get the syringe, and go."
Looking from Morte to her captain, Maria nodded, as she got to her feet, running towards Morte's jacket, where she assumed the syringe was. "Hey, just who told you that I'd let you do that?" Morte called, as he ran towards Maria, only to be blocked by Zugai. "Oh, I suppose it was you?"
"Damn straight, I am!" Zugai replied, as he grabbed hold of Morte before he could pass by him, before slamming him into the ground. "And you're not leaving until either you win, or I win." As he said this, Maria had begun running away from the scene, holding something in her hand.
"Then I suppose you'll lose!" Morte snapped back, as he turned back into his animal-form, before biting Zugai's arm, but unlike Maria, Zugai refused to give in to the pain, mainly due to hardening his bones. As Morte let go of the arm, Zugai quickly grabbed the bounty hunter, before throwing him away from him. "Ergh… you can't beat me like that." Morte spat, as he got back up again, now looking like a complete mess.
"Maybe not." Zugai replied, as he closed his eyes, when Morte realized that his back was convulsing violently, and that his arms went limp, his left hand even disappearing into his body. "But maybe like this, I can!" Then, all of a sudden, something shot out of Zugai's back, before his upper body again went completely limp, letting Morte see that a skeletal arm was sticking out of it. Then, another arm suddenly shot out, as both of them began pushing something out from the back, even making Morte grimace in disgust. Finally, Zugai's entire spine was pushed out of the body, along with his skull, as it even brought along Zugai's hair, leaving behind a bald head on his fleshed-out body.
"Hagasukaijo…" the skull said, as it looked at Morte menacingly, making the bounty hunter realize that the skull had some sort of red glare coming from within its eye sockets (though, as Zugai's hair blocked its left eye, you could only see the right). "Half-A-Golem." As Zugai said this, the skeletal body slowly picked up Honehakaisha, as Morte recomposed himself.
"So what?" he said, as he wiped blood from his mouth. "You pop your upper body out of your back, and you think I'd be impressed? Just die, already!" Then, he suddenly leapt at Zugai, but despite his agility, the skeletal body of the pirate actually blocked the attack with his labrys. "What?"
"You should be happy." Zugai said, as he pushed Morte away from him, beginning to spin Honehakaisha in his hands. "We can fight on equal terms now!" Then, Zugai swiped Honehakaisha impossibly fast over Morte, surprising the bounty hunter long enough for the pirate to slam the axe's flat side into him, sending him flying away once again.
"Impossible…" Morte spat, as he slowly got back up again. "How… how can you counter my speed?!" he yelled, as he rushed at Zugai again, stabbing his pata at the skeletal figure, but the only thing that lead to was him sticking it between Zugai's ribs, meaning that it was stuck. "Damnit!"
"By lightening the marrow of my bones, I effectively decrease the weight of my entire body." Zugai replied, as he lifted Honehakaisha over his head. "And when the lightened bones aren't restrained by flesh, it allows me to move them at speeds not normally possible." Then, he suddenly kicked Morte away from him, before dashing at the bounty hunter, axe at the ready.
Then, he passed by Morte, having cut the anthromorph's chest, forcing Morte to revert into his normal form. "Guh… but… don't tell me that he was…" Then, Morte collapsed to the ground, knocked out.
Looking behind him, Zugai sighed, as his skeleton reemerged back into his body, his hair returning from his skull to his head. "Well… now, it's really over." he muttered, as he suddenly collapsed as well, having overexerted himself.
Just then, Shin and Wora came down from the path, just noticing Zugai collapse. "Captain!" Shin called, as she rushed to his side, whilst Wora merely glanced at Morte, before joining Shin. "C'mon, Wora, we gotta get this boy back to the ship!" Then, she hauled Zugai up, before dragging him back to the woods. "Wora, you could pull the axe. If it's metal inside of it, it shouldn't be a problem for you."
Looking at the axe, Wora began poking it, as the axe slowly nudged towards her direction. "Ooh, it likes me!" she said happily, as she began skipping towards the woods, the axe magnetically following her.
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"Boy, you look like a mess." Shin sighed, as she was patting some cotton on Zugai's wounds, who groaned in pain when she did so. "Hey, stop acting like such a baby!" After Shin and Wora had gotten Zugai back to the Howling Moon, they had found Ignacio, Chris and Maria to already be there, and soon, Chris and Zugai were now under their care.
"Oh, look who's talking." Zugai said in a sarcastic tone, as he winced again. "Besides, it's not like I'm made of rubber; my bone defense isn't invincible, you know."
"Yeah, yeah…" Chris replied, as she was shown to be lying in a bed, as Maria was changing out her bandages. "Say, Maria, Ignacio, thanks for helping us out."
"No problemo, but it's really Maria here you ought to be thanking." Ignacio shot in, as he created more bandages out of his body, wrapping them carefully around the areas Zugai was wounded. "Besides, I think you have more pressing matters at hand." he added.
"Oh… oh, yes…" Maria said, as she looked to the ground. "We… still only have the three syringes…"
There was complete silence. Of course, the most pressing matter was who to distribute the antidote to, and as they only had three dosages, naturally, two would end up dying. Then, suddenly, Ignacio brightened up. "I have a concepto! Quick, hand me your map!"
Nodding reluctantly, Maria quickly ran out the door, before returning moments later, holding a piece of paper in her hands. Giving it to Ignacio, the thief began inspecting it. "Hmm… yes, yes, yes!" Then, he suddenly slammed the map on a table, pointing at a certain island. "There, on that island, lives a doctor! He's bound to be able to create more of the antídoto!"
As soon as Ignacio said this, Zugai, Chris, Shin and Maria quickly brightened up. "So… we can still save everyone?" Chris nearly yelled in excitement, as she tried standing up, but the pain surging through him prevented that from occurring, forcing him to sit back down.
"But hang on…" Zugai said, as he looked at the different crewmates. "How are we gonna get there? If we're gonna get to this new island, we need our…" As he said this, he realized just who they needed. "I think the doctor only will need two syringes to work on." he said, as he looked at Maria. "Hey, could you please inject Jin with one of those syringes?"
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"Morte, are you awake?" Morte slowly opened his eyes, as he saw both Akira and Vraspos standing over him, before they heaved him up to his feet. "Man, you got messed up. You make Vraspos look like a Logia!" However, soon, Morte broke out into a psychotic laughter again. "H-hey, Morte, what's wrong?"
"Yes! That's the man I've been waiting for." Morte laughed, as he coughed up a few droplets of blood, before grinning wickedly. "He will be the pinnacle of my career… if we can get to them again."
Vraspos looked at his partner, as he narrowed his eyes. "And… what do you mean by that?" he asked, as Morte looked up at him with a grin.
"Why, didn't we go over the map before we entered this sea?" Morte said sinisterly, before looking down into the ground. "Two islands from now, they'll end up at Seisabetsu Island, where HE'S taken up residence…" Then, his smirk died out, as he regained his composure. "I just hope I get to kill them before that day comes."
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A/N: This took WAY longer than it should have, and I apologize for that, but if you're expecting lightning-fast updates again, then you'll have to hold on to your pants, as we're beginning exams at school now, so if I don't update for a while, then that's what's holding me up. Just so you know! Now, you just remember to read and review, and I'll be seeing you for the beginning of the next arc!
YolkaEd