"Spandam! That's right! The guy you guys were looking for? The guy you all swore revenge against, right", Gurin asked.
"Yes! Where is that little weasel anyways", Jabra asked.
"Spandam...works under us now. When we rejoined, they gave him a lower position", Kaku said.
"It makes no difference! He is the one who blamed us and caused us to be run anyways", Kumadori shouted. "Now where is he?"
"Don't bother. Killing him won't solve anything...if you want to beat him up later don't worry, I'll at least allow that", Lucci said.
"He's going to get whatever they want to give him. It doesn't matter what you 'allow'", Borya replied. He clearly wasn't intimidated by Lucci. "But I do think he has a point. Spandam can wait until we've taken care of the bigger threat. Cannibal is going to realize we're not on his dinner plate and come after us again. The silencers shouldn't be a problem anymore I think, but now we're definitely in dangerous territory."
"Thats not the worst part. We're probably islands away from the SkyDancer AND all our supplies that are on it. Is Cannibal even here", Raymond asked.
"No. This is only the base of operations. They were planning to haul you back to his ship. The ship itself is nearly the size of an island", Kaku replied. "Strangely enough, trying to board it isn't the problem. FINDING it is."
Jabra shook his head. "If its so big, then how is finding it the problem? It would stick out like a sore thumb, wouldn't it."
"Be quiet and listen", Lucci snapped back. Its hidden in the Witch's Square."
"Square? Square...", Fukurou asked as he looked at Kaku. He was instantly greeted by a 'dont even say it' look.
"It may not come as a surprise, but I've heard of that place", Serenity said. It's one of those more frightening places in the new world, but not so much because of other people. More so because of the strange occurrences that plague the place. Strange things happen in the Witch's square. Ship's mysteriously vanish without a trace, log poses don't work in the area, and some say that with the exception of Cannibal and his crew, noone who enters the Witch's square has ever left. Even wildlife disappears once they enter. The place is so strange that whenever Cannibal himself has business meetings, he has to leave it and go face to face with whoever he needs to converse with. If we went there, we would have a 99 percent chance...of never being heard from again", Serenity said.
"Y-yikes! That's some high odds", Raymond replied.
"Yeah. But that means we have a 1 percent chance of triumphing", Gurin replied. "That doesn't sound as assuring as I thought it would. If we don't do it, Cannibal will come after us, right? That would save us the trouble of going to such a place, right", she then asked.
"I doubt it. The only thing he's going to keep doing is sending people after us until someone manages to do us in. Just like how Hatchet nearly had us ready to be hauled off to the Witch's Square. While we're a lot stronger together, they'll eventually send someone who can counter our abilities like they did with the silencers. As dangerous as it is, our best option would probably be to confront our problem head on", Serenity said.
Kalifa nodded and began to look around. "Are we all in agreement then? Our next, and hopefully last mission shall be to hunt down Cannibal and his colleagues." Everyone nodded! Noone had any intention of staying behind. "Then lets confiscate one of these ships and go find our SkyDancer."
"We'll have to do it carefully. If they find out we've switched sides, they'll inform Cannibal and ruin our element of surprise. There are plenty ships here, but none many of them are durable for travel. Ergo, if we get attacked, we just might sink before we make it to wherever your ship is", Kaku said. "I suggest we plan for every possible outcome, considering anything could go wrong."
Borya nodded. "As grim as it sounds, he speaks the truth. Now where can we find the most durable ship here?"
"The dock is a bit further down. Its where we were headed. Now, are we ready to get on with this mission or what", Lucci asked. He got up and held his cuffed hands out expectantly. The group all agreed to release them both. They knew they could all travel in a group now.
Right then and there, another familiar face appeared coming from around the corner. Are you two almost ready, we're falling be...", the voice said as the man who bore it stopped in his tracks. His face flushed the second he saw half of the people in the group. "Oh no", he thought to himself. He was instantly greeted by what seemed to be confused faces. But within seconds, most of them turned into murderous scowls. His first instinct was to hightail it to the nearest door but he knew them well enough to know it wouldn't do him any good. The strange thing is, he knew they would eventually find him...but he didn't realize it would be so soon. As scared as he was, he didn't feel to surprise.
"Spandam...", Kalifa simply said. She adjusted her glasses. She felt a sense of calm. Its almost as if she didn't actually want to kill him. Likewise, many of the others didn't have a sense of urgency for some reason. All the talk of finding him and beating him to a bloody pulp before...what was this all about.
Borya eyed each of the x-agents. "Spandam, right? The man you guys were hunting for. This is him?" He was asking as if he were waiting for them to do something.
"I think I get it... You've kind of been pushed to the bottom of the list. We have a higher priority right now", Raymond said.
"Yeah! Its your lucky day chie... er ...Spandam." Jabra almost called him chief again by accident.
"Wait...so your not going to kill me? I thought you were hunting me down. I overheard everything from the silencers."
"I can't say we wont kill you. It's just right now, we don't even care enough to kill you. YET! Now as for that ship", Blueno said as he eyed down the dock. There was only one ship left. It looked pretty dingy. Compared to the Skydancer, it looked like a piece of crap...but until they could reunite with the Skydancer, it was going to have to be THIER piece of crap. "Look at this thing. We'll be lucky if we don't sink to the bottom of the ocean the moment we take off."
"Let's not jinx it", Gurin replied. "We've made it all the way here; we can make it to the island. We'd better recover what they took from us and set sail.
Though rickety it was, they would have to take care of it for the next few days if they wanted it to. For the purpose of honoring any vessel they would ride, they decided to name the ship "Last Hurrah!"
"Ok, this isn't so bad. A bit creaky, and just being on it makes me feel uneasy, but it's acceptable", Moira said. She held onto the wheel and steered them towards the directions Lucci and Kaku gave her.
"Face it Moira, the SkyDancer has spoiled you. Its spoiled all of us. but I guess that's natural. It's our 'first ship' so we've grown attached to it", Serenity replied. "I have good news and bad news. Staring with the bad news...our beloved SkyDancer is at least probably three days away from here. The good news however, is Full Bloom island isn't that far from where the Witch's Square is supposed to be. This means that after we find our ship, we can head straigjt there."
"The water is mysteriously calm today. There shouldn't be any sea kings around, but still it's quite ominous", Kumadori added. "Should we be concerned?"
"We're already in one of the strangest areas of the new world. Everything at this point would be cause for concern... but in response to your sea king comment... there are actually numerous sea kings in this part of the sea. Plus, they are a lot more aggressive in this area. Not to mention stronger", Lucci said.
"You're just telling us this now!? We should have been told about this earlier", Moira said.
"Whats the problem, we're strong enough to take them", Kauku replied.
"Yeah, but the ship isn't! Old rickety here won't survive if a sea king rams into it!"
"I thought we decided to name it Last Hurrah", Kaku said nonchalantly. Moira simply glared at him due to not being able to get her point across.
"We'll just have to be careful of our surroundings. The fog is depressing as it is...", Blueno said.
"Since we have time, why don't you explain to me how this came to be", Lucci said as he pointed towards the wayward group of non ex agents.
"Its a very long story, so I'll give you the abridged version. After you and Kaku sailed off into who knows where, we were pretty much stranded on the island. Our mission was to start new lives and try to leave the government behind...for the time being. Of course, getting revenge on that weasel was still part of the plan", Jabra said as he motioned dover towards Spandam. This made Spandam flinch in fear. "Anyway, the plan was to lay low until the heat was off and we built up funds for our travel...and we ended up meeting our friends. As fate would have it, they were also the ones who saved us from those silencers."
"You mean to tell me this ragtag group of civilians was strong enough to combat people that were even higher up on the pole than we were? Especially these two", Lucci said as he pointed to Raymond and Gurin. He doesn't have a devil fruit, or even the slightest killing instinct. And she looks like she's too docile to combat even a fly."
"Tough talk coming from someone who lost to a random group of pirates. Not to mention one made of rubber", Raymond replied. He seemed to be tinkering with something, but he kept a close eye on Lucci.
"Tell, me, do you fear easily like their sniper did", Lucci said as he took his leopard man form. Raymond wrapped his hand around the roman candle on his belt.
"Please, no fighting! We must move as a team or we'll be destroyed before we reach our true goal", Kumadori said. Raymon returned back to tinkering with something, while Lucci returned to his normal form.
"Dont feel bad, he doesn't have a very high opinion on most people", Blueno said over to the group.
Borya shook his head. "Anyways, they honestly did put up quite a fight. They almost did us in too, so it's not like it was a flawless victory."
"You don't have to explain anything Borya, we're all grateful."
"It might not seem like it, but he is as well", Kaku said as he pointed towards Lucci. Lucci looked back over and scowled at him. Suddenly, that's when the boat rocked hard, as if something crashed into it. "Thats...not good. Its either the world government attacking us again, or some sea kings who think the ship is lunch." They all ran outside to the deck to see what could have possibly been the problem...but after careful observation, there seemed to be no threat. "Rough waves maybe?"
"No... look closer", Raymond said. He was focusing on the sea in front of him. He must have been using his Haki to sense something. Everyone else focused onto the water as well. They could all sense something big moving under them. It was definitely a sea king, but there was something off about it. It gave a very unsettling aura. Almost as if it had some kind of vindictive intent. Do you all see that?"
"Yeah...wait, I think it's coming up! Everyone get ready!" Everyone hopped backwards, as a pillar of water erupted right alongside their ship. "Ugh! It's definitely strong", Gurin yelled. The sea king almost looked like some kind of shark...but it had wings! It was red with razor sharp teeth. It was definitely bigger than the ship they were on. One might say it was bigger than The Last Hurrah, and Skydancer out together! There was water leaking out of its maw and it was hardly distinguishable from what may have been saliva. It looked at everyone on the vessel, almost like it was glaring at each and every one of them.
"It's one of those stronger sea kings! Everyone, get ready", Kaku said.
"Keep it away from the ship! We can't afford to sink all the way out here", Fukurou yelled. The creature dove for the inhabitants of the ship, but was forced back by multiple simultaneous punches. Take THAT you overgrown fish!"
The best was not please. This time it swam backwards to get away from the ship. "Retreating already? Well that wasn't so bad", Serenity said. The creature was not retreating however. It opened its maw, and gave off an unsettling blue light. "Thats...not good."
"Gurin, lets cancel it out", Raymond shouted as he inserted a red cap into his weapon. This time it glowed a darker red than last time he used it.
"Right! Let's try THAT attack", she said as she transformed.
"THAT attack", Kaku asked, sounding confused.
Just then a powerful force of water shot from the sea King's mouth! It looked like it would be enough pressure to leave a hole in even the strongest fort! "Venus shot!" A red ball of fire shot out of the candle!
"Sun Vortex!" A flame erupted from Gurin's mouth, and trailed right behind the ball of fire. Like a knife going through butter, the fire managed to fizzle away at the water...but it didn't stop there. The fire combo kept going until it disintegrated the fish itself! "Woot! We got em!"
"Hey...not bad. What do you two call that", Kaku asked.
"Venus, Vortex of course", Rayond replied...but his sudden smile turned into a frown. I think that battle caused a bit more of a stir than we thought it would. They have us surrounded now!"
"They!? Pirates? Marines? Where are they", Jabra asked as he frantically looked around.
"Neither. There wasn't just ONE sea king. It was an entire school of them", Moira said. Giant waves began rocking the ship to and fro! It was almost like someone was pushing the ship repeatedly. "This isn't good. This is not good in the slightest!"
"What are they doing? They are not surfacing. Could they be stalling for an attack", Kumadori asked. As if to answer the questions, the ship itself slowly began to move...but it was not moving forward or backwards. It was slowly moving in a circle. At first it started out pretty gentle...but then it began to spin faster and faster.
"Um...why are we spinning? We shouldn't be spinning, right", Borya asked. They ship's rotating speed increased yet again. "Wait...would there be any natural occurrences that would cause this",
"Perhaps a whirlpool, but...they aren't as common as...", Blueno said as he tried to keep his balance. "Wait. The Sea Kings are doing this! They're causing a whirlpool. They'll sink us!"
"A whirlpool!? Quick! Everyone grab hold", Gurin shouted. She was going to fly everyone off of the ship...but before everyone was able to grab onto her...the sudden rush of water washed over the entire crew. The Sea kings managed to pull the boat down into the sea! The ship continued to spin, as it was pulled deeper into the water...
To be Continued...