"A flat, wrench. Used for tweaking", Jabra said, whilst lifting a boulder over his head. He was using it at a workout tool.
"Correct! Your catching on quickly. Now can YOU show me how to do that", Raymond asked as he pointed at the boulder. Whilst perfecting his battle equipment, he took note of how easily Jabra was able to lift heavy objects.
"Heh! Hahaha! Come on, Raymond, it takes years of training to have strength like this", he said. "More time than I'd have, to teach you at least", he then thought to himself.
"Well you gotta teach me SOMETHING at least. I mean, finger pistols, cloud jumping and hardening the body? That all sounds too cool to be true!"
"But you've seen it already, don't tell me you still don't believe it. I told you, it would take way longer than you realize. Besides, don't you have fireworks or whatever to use? Sounds like it pales in comparison to most stuff I've seen, in all honesty. How does that stuff protect you?"
"I told you, in the right hands, any technique can be dangerous. Like so!" Raymond pulled a rocket from his bag. It had a string attached to it, which he grabbed and pulled.
The rocket ignited itself and flew towards Jabra. "Woah!" The rocket impacted the boulder, and knocked it out of his hands. "One rocket did that!? What the hell is it made out of?" The boulder had a big black mark of the spot the rocket impacted it.
"My special powders! Made with my scientific prowess", Raymond said as he stood up.
"Well that caught me by surprise, but still not as good as me of course", Jabra replied. "Not until they can do this!" Jabra slammed his fist down onto the boulder behind him, shattering it with ease. "What do you think of that?"
Raymond wasn't very impressed actually. It was evident by his plain face. "What? You think I cant destroy stuff with my weapons?" He grabbed something else that was stashed away in the bag. At first Jabra thought it was a stick, but it was actually a roman candle. Yet another one of his fireworks, and it also had a string at the end of it.
"I've seen one of those before. They're dangerous, sure, but not THAT dangerous", Jabra said, as he laughed.
"Say's you. SUN SHOT!" He pulled the string again, but this time, a huge ball of light shot out of the roman candle, and impacted another nearby boulder. This time, it shattered to pieces. "See!"
"What the hell!? How can fireworks do that?"
"I told you, already. Its my star powders. Advanced fireworks and all that good stuff", Raymond said as he twirled the candle in his hand.
"Really? You don't mind if I 'test' it, do you", Jabra asked with a smile. That competitive look spoke for itself. Truth be told, it has been a while since he had to do any fighting, and he had an urge to stir up some trouble. Not maliciously of course. Maybe that "lust for battle", that Lucci spoke of. Of course, this wouldn't be a "real" battle. Just something to satisfy his curiosity.
"Would that entertain you? I can't lie, I'm a little curious about how an assassin fights. Lets make it even more interesting. Winner buys lunch?"
"Sure. Hope you're ready to pony up, because I could eat a LOT right now", Jabra said as he took his stance.
"Prepare to meet my jacket of surprises, Jabra", Raymond said as he too got ready. The spar started instantly, with Jabra vanishing using his shave technique. "Hey! Where did you go?"
"Right here", Jabra said as he tapped Raymond on the shoulder.
"Gah!" Raymond jumped a few feet away. "I know you said your quick, but THAT was just astounding."
"Shall I slow down for you", Jabra asked. It was sort of condescending, but in a somewhat friendly way surprisingly.
"That depends. How well can you dodge", he asked. He opened one side of his jacket, and another rocket flew out towards Jabra. Jabra narrowly avoided it by sidestepping.
"Alright then! Moonwalk!" Jabra hopped around in the air. It was too fast for Raymond to process so suddenly, which earned Raymond a swift kick to the chest, knocking him onto his backside. "Um...", Jabra uttered. He quickly realized that he might have overdid it, after seeing Raymond flat on his back. Jabra hopped over to the downed guy. "H-hey, are you ok?" Instead of getting a vocal reply, he got an explosive one. A bang snap impacting him right in the face, knocking HIM to his backside.
"Underestimating your opponent can get you hurt you know. I've been hit before, Jabra", Raymond said as he stood up and dusted himself off.
Jabra rubbed his face. "Were you playing dead?! Hey, trickery is MY thing. Let's see how you like this", Jabra said, as he smiled. Right then and there he turned into his wolf human form. His face extended, and his muscles bulged, and grew hair! "Feeling scared?"
"Hm...", Raymond wasn't quite sure. He had never been this close to a carnivorous Zoan devil fruit user, let alone actually fought one. Not fear necessary. Just uneasiness. You know how to use that form right?
"Gahahah! Don't worry. I obviously wont be killing you. Just proving my point."
"And that would be", Raymond asked, nonchalantly?
Before he could get an answer, Jabra disappeared using his shave technique again, and popped up behind Raymond. "You can't beat me", he said as he swiped Raymond in the back of the head.
Faceplanted right into the ground! "He rubbed the back of his head and quickly stood up, but to his surprise, Jabra was gone again. "Fuzzy sneak! Where did he go so fast."
"Right behind you again!" Another attack, earned Raymond a repeat in history, and sent him onto the ground in front of him.
"Ack! He is strong, AND fast. But predictable.", Raymond reached into his pocket, and pulled out a small Blue case, which he stuck to the end of the Roman candle. He stood up again, in preparation for another attack.
"One more for the road", Jabra shouted as he appeared behind Raymond again.
Unfortunately for him, Raymond had anticipated his attack this time, and pointed the candle over his shoulder, much to Jabra's surprise! "NEPTUNE SHOT!" He pulled the string, and this time a blue ball of light shot out, and hit Jabra right in the stomach.
Jabra dropped to his knees, feeling weak all of a sudden. It's as if the energy had suddenly been drained from him. "What's happening? What did you do?"
"My sea stone formula. I managed to grind it up into a powder and mix it with my Star powder. Very effective against devil fruits. It won't negate your ability like normal sea stone, but you'll grow weaker. I think it's safe to say I won this round?"
"Hardly! I was holding back", Jabra said as he turned back into his human form. He seemed to be pouting just a bit. "What a cheap shot!"
"Well, I wasn't exactly going all out either, but I can tell you weren't trying. You WERE predictable however. I knew you'd run behind me again, so I simply anticipated it. Don't be sore, I'll treat you anyway, I guess", Raymond said, as he offered his hand to assist Jabra up.
Jabra smiled, and grabbed Raymond's hand. "Well, if you insist. But like I said, I can eat a ton!"
"Oh, boy I already regret this!"
-
"Sundae village? I've heard of that. I had a mission there once", Jabra said as he stuffed his face with meat flanks that he ordered.
"I'll never forget it. The beaches were nice and clean, with water so blue", Raymond replied. He was eating some sort of pasta.
Why'd you come all the way here? It was a big island, with plenty of people. Nobles would have bought your invention for a fortune, right?"
Raymond stopped chewing right then and there. "Nope...i can assure you they wouldn't have."
"What makes you so s..."
"Trust me, they wouldn't have. They're too focused on their status and wealth to be concerned with anything normal. Besides, too much money can change a person", Raymond said as he began chewing again. He seemed pretty intent on changing the subject. Jabra normally wouldn't be the quickest when it came to picking up hints, but he wasn't clueless. "Well...um..."
"Have you met up with your friends lately?" Its been a while, right?
"Yeah, I talked with them recently actually. Don't worry, nothing bad to report, Jabra said with a smile. Of course, he was lying though. After the recent news that they could be hunted by a branch in the government that they knew nothing about, he had to be cautious. He didn't actually too much believe it himself. There was no possible way there was a whole hidden branch...right?
"Its hard to believe you could be dead right now huh, if it wouldn't have been for your friend's devil fruit ability."
"Hehe, yeah", Jabra replied. There was an obvious hint of upset in his voice.
"I'm sorry Jabra, I know you don't really want to hear about that anymore, right?"
"Its not that...its just...what am I going to do?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well...in a little more time, there's something I have to take care of...but after that, I have nothing to do...was there ever really a reason to exist", Jabra asked.
Raymond's eyes went wide. The conversation suddenly took a weird turn...but Raymond found himself listening more intently to this for some reason. "J-Jabra what do you mean?"
"Gatherine...the lady I told you about; once told me I was worthless...my "friends" used to tell me that all the time I'm worthless. Even before I met you I didn't really know how to do much of anything outside of ...well, you know. Everyone else had something. Blueno knew how to mix drinks, Lucci and Kaku knew about ships, and Kalifa was a secretary. Kumadori's...well, Kumadori, and Fukurou even knows more than I do. Useless stuff sure but still! I mean my strength was the only thing I had, and without that, I have nothing. Sometimes when I realize that, I kind of feel…worthless. Hehe, I sound so stupid. You gonna laugh at me now?"
"Jabra….first, let me say no I'm not gonna laugh. What you're feeling is a human emotion. Its ok to feel this…but its not ok to feel worthless. There's more to life than power, and pecking orders. Growing up in Sundae village, I had to deal with a lot 'coming to terms with self-worth' and it's not easy. Sometimes its hard trying to feel like you mean something to someone…but why try to begin with? If you don't mean much to someone, then they're probably not worth the effort to mean anything for. Hold your fist out", Raymond said. Jabra was confused but he did as Raymond asked. Raymond held out his fist and connected it to Jabra's. "I can't speak for Gatherine but I'm sure your friends see you as a friend, otherwise they wouldn't have saved you, nor would they keep checking in on you. And even if they didn't…your worth more than you realize to me", Raymond said with a smile.
It was a sincere smile, that much Jabra could tell. Raymond did, call Jabra a friend...which is a word Jabra never really wanted to use in conjunction with his own status. Something in his chest began to feel heavy. He turned his head away and smiled. "W-whatever! Don't need to get all philosophical on me.
"Hey! You used the correct word! Either way, I feel I understand you better. You act cocky, and crotchety, but in reality its just to protect yourself. I mean, but noone is perfect. I've been told I'm very direct. You know...no filters when it comes to people."
"Gee You'd never be able to tell that."
"Picking up on sarcasm, now are we? Doing me proud."
"Oh shut it. What are we going to work on next?"
"A distiller. It can take normal sea water and turn it into drinking water. After we get it working of...huh", Raymond said as he noticed something strange. There was someone about three booths down. He may have been staring, because he quickly looked down at the paper once Raymond noticed him.
"Whats up, Ray?"
"That fishman over there...I could have sworn he was staring. Oh well. Fishmen are pretty uncommon around here, cause of the divide...but I I find them very interesting. Plus their aquatic beings, and that's a plus!"
"Staring? Who was staring? I don't see any fishman". They both looked over at the seat three booths down and there was noone there.
"Hm? He was just there. He was an alligator fishman. He couldn't have been that fast...unless he knew a shave technique or something", Raymond said jokingly.
It hit Jabra hard right then and there. Was it possible that maybe there was someone there? One of those supposed "silencers" that Fukurou learned about? While there was no way to know, it was better safe than sorry. "Well, come on, we're burning daylight! Better get to work on that machine, you know, for a better world and stuff like that", Jabra said as he grabbed Raymond's arm.
"H-hold on, just let me pay for this." Raymond said. After leaving some money on the table, he was hurried out of the café by Jabra. He thought it was weird that Jabra kept looking around rapidly as they walked, but he also found Jabra to be weird, so he chalked it up as normal.
In the distance, just on a tree branch on a tall tree...stood the very fishman that Raymond saw in the café. "Chief, that is Hatchet reporting in. Target Jabra has been found. I'll be engaging soon.