Finally!
Melanie's heart was pounding against her chest as she and Ridley rushed up to the door. Her palms had become sweaty as she imagined ripping the door open and delving in, with her sword primed and aimed at Trevor's neck. It had almost become euphoric thought for her, she tried to stay calm and open to the thought that on the other side of the door was Mikoto sitting around and waiting, but...the thought of it being Trevor on the other side, that her revenge was drawing close was too good to let slip by, even if it was just her own hopefulness. She was ready.
Ridley's hand wrapped itself around the golden door knob. His hand was covered with a cold sweat, his thought was also whether or not Trevor was on the other side of the door. Or possibly something worse? This wasn't a place for sane people, it could be any number of cold-blooded killers or some wild animal Trevor kept as pet. If Trevor was just half as twisted as Karasu was Ridley could count on all of that and more
Finally with one final deep breath he twisted the door knob and pulled the door open. Melanie wasted no time, rushing in with her sword at the ready...ready to carve Trevor up. Her heart fell as she saw at the end of the room was just Mikoto trapped in a cage and incapable of escaping, both his hand and feet were chained and attached to one of the bars around him. He was reaching out of the bars and trying to grab a hold of a pipe laying about on the ground. He perked up as he saw Ridley enter. "Ridley, buddy! Mind helping a guy out?"
Ridley stood there speechless, not at the fact that Mikoto seemed calm despite being kidnapped by a killing psychopath or that he didn't seem too excited that his rescue party had arrived, but rather at the room. He was frozen as he looked around them, Melanie had the same look of unquestionable horror on her face. Ridley was usually quite proud of the fact that not many things shook him up, he was usually fine with the most unspeakable terrors that you'd come with face-to-face, but even he felt a little off-put by his surrounding.
If Trevor was a god, this would be his shrine. The plain gray walls of the URA were covered with various skulls of his past conquests, several of them had their names written above it on a plaque, others the names were etched into their foreheads giving them an even more grotesque look. Some of them were still fresh and had what looked like blood stains around the base from a powerful cut. Ridley stood there staring at them for a second trying to figure out what kind of maniac would do something like this. Then he remembered, Trevor.
"Hang on a second, bud," said Ridley as he slowly stepped forward. He felt like he would die as he moved through the room, wherever he looked a new skull was leaning forward and trying to attract his attention and pity. Every shadow that loomed in the room made him jump with a new thought about that the person behind it was Trevor.
Finally, Ridley got to the pipe and picked it up and stuck it into the cage with Mikoto. "Got a plan to get out of their?" he asked as he crouched down to be on the same level as Mikoto.
"Yup," said Mikoto as he pulled the pipe in and then began to stretch it out of the cage, "my plan is to use this pipe you gave me to steal those keys over there." Mikoto said putting over at the keys that were laying on the table. "Dumb Makada forgot them in here when he came in to check in on me. He wasn't really thinking, was he?"
"Well..." said Ridley as he took a step back and looked at the keys. "I'm not going to rush you, I mean we are only in the base of a madman, so I'll just sit down, right here, right next to the keys and wait for you." Ridley stayed true to his word and sat down right next to the keys.
"Thanks," said Mikoto as he resumed his efforts for trying to grab the keys with the pipe. He was really putting a lot of work into it, but he just couldn't reach it. "Almost there." He really wasn't, he was still a couple of inches short, but Ridley wasn't about to rain on the working man's parade.
"I really hope both of you are just playing around, but we don't have time to be playing around," said Melanie as she strode over to the keys. She picked them up and began to walk towards the cage, but she froze in her steps. The keys dropped to the floor, clinking when they hit. She ignored Mikoto's yelp at her for spoiling his efforts. She slowly crept across the room to one of the skulls that were hanging on the walls. Her hands quickly began to skate about the the words etched into the forehead. Ryan Stars.
Her hands reached for and pulled the skull off of the wall and held it in her hands, turning it about as she studied it. She hadn't seen her brother in ages...how long had it really been? Even if she had seen him just yesterday would she be able to identify his skull? It looked the same as any other skulls, so maybe...maybe Trevor was lying! However, she started to doubt it more and more as she held the skull in her hands. It started to feel like it was her brother's, the more and more she held it, the more real the situation seemed.
"Hey, let's get going before they get back..." began Ridley as he approached Melanie, "SHIT! He knows we are here, we got to get going!" He shouted as he turned around and picked up the keys, "hopefully, Rosa's and Zesiro's fight has finished then everybody should be on the ship and ready for departure. We got to get going!"
Melanie stayed there for a few seconds, looking at Ridley fumble very quickly around with the keys trying to fit them into Mikoto's cage, trying to wonder how he knew that Trevor knew that they were there. Her head swiveled back as she decided to put the skull back where she found it. She didn't know for sure that it was her brother's and even if she did, did she really want to tote somebody's skull around like it was some child's doll? She was just about to prompt it back up on the wall when she noticed what Ridley's must've noticed. On the wall where her brother's skull had been were two words, 'hello, Melanie'.
Melanie stopped as she thought about it, so Trevor knew she was here. She couldn't have asked for anything more perfect, they saved Ridley's friend Mikoto and now they got to kill Trevor! Her hand went straight to her blade as she began to think forward to meeting with Trevor. "Come on out Trevor!" she shouted into the air. Ridley flinched as he heard her. "I want to have a word with you, so come and show yourself!"
Ridley jumped forward, pinning her to the ground. "Shut up," he hissed at her. "You may very well be fine with dying, but I still got things I want to do! I'm not famous yet!" Melanie lifted her sword up, jabbing the hilt into Ridley's gut and forcing him off. She then flipped over, getting on top of him and lowering her sword down and onto Ridley's neck.
"I do not care about saving your captain nor do I care about saving that man's son," she muttered at him while pressing the sword closer and closer to his pale neck. "I came to this island with my own goal in my mind. I figured as long it was mutually beneficial we could hang out and work together, but now our goals split! I won't stop you from rescuing your captain and you won't stop me from killing Trevor! You got that?!"
Ridley was staring straight up at her and he could see the whites of her eyes and he felt chilled for the second time today. Honestly, he would admit that he was more terrified of Melanie than he was of the skulls. However, he was still fairly certain that his fear of Trevor topped all at this point. "Fine!" Ridley shouted rolling Melanie off of him where he could stand up. "The Infinity Pirates officially cut all ties with you!"
"Um...isn't that my call as the captain?" asked Mikoto. Ridley and Melanie both glared at him, despite the fact that the two of them were on opposite sides of this argument neither of them wanted his input. Mikoto quickly sulked back further into the cage.
"Don't expect us to give you a ride out of here either!" shouted Ridley as he picked the keys, which he had dropped when he attacked Melanie, back up. "You're a Marine dog maybe one of them'll give you a lift! Just remember not to pee on their carpets!"
"That's it!" shouted Melanie, brandishing her blade and aiming it at Ridley once more. "If I remember correctly, we still have our own fight to finish so before I kill Trevor, I'll take you out and turn you in to the Marines when they arrive!" She ignored the fact that one of the Marines' orders to all active Marines and Shichibukai were to leave Mikoto's crew alone for the time being as he was given basically temporary Shichibukai status for awhile. She didn't quite care about that, she just wanted to see that smug smirk wiped off of Ridley's face.
"I'm surprised you remember, seeing how small your brain is," mocked Ridley as he swung his guitar off of his back and played a quick rift preparing for battle. "Well, you know what they say, ladies first, even if it is an ugly hag like you..."
Those words sparked the battle. Melanie charged forward, preparing to meet Ridley's blows. Melanie quickly struck out, slashing forward, bringing her sharp sword sailing forward towards Ridley's neck. Ridley swiped the guitar up and into the air, smashing it into Melanie's blade and knocking it upwards and away. Ridley lowered his guitar and rammed the tip of its neck into Melanie forcing her back.
"Do you know what the one major difference between this fight and our last fight is?" asked Ridley as he flipped his guitar back around.
"Honestly, I think you got even uglier since we last fought," offered Melanie.
"No," said Ridley with a dry and obviously fake laugh, "we are inside." He gestured to the walls around them, causing Melanie to pause for a second and looked around as if there was something more to these walls that she was missing that made Ridley more confident. "Sounds vibrate off of walls, so as they echo it allows me to pile one sound onto another. In other words since our last fight was outside, I couldn't fight you at full power, but now I can! Apollo's Allegro!" Ridley slammed onto his guitar filling the air with more and more noise.
Melanie and Mikoto both grimaced at the sound. Mikoto tried his best to cover up his ears and hide from the pain that his teammate was causing him, but Melanie had different ideas. She rushed forward towards Ridley, once more preparing for a finishing slice. She charged across the ground and neared Ridley, unleashing a quick slash at Ridley's gut. Ridley brought his guitar down, blocking the slash with its side, but he was still forced back from the sheer force. Melanie lifted her blade up and prepared for a second downwards slash. Ridley quickly brought his leg out, kicking Melanie and causing her to lose her footing and screw up her slash. With that moment Ridley quickly jumped back taking his distance once more.
"Oh ho ho! Looks like someone decided to start the fun without us," said a voice. Melanie and Ridley's heads immediately twisted to the door as Trevor walked in.
Shichibukai versus Shichibukai!
...With Ridley Caught in the Middle...
How long has it been since we last heard from Mikoto? I'd say at least six, maybe seven chapters. But what do I know! It was actually my birthday last week (yeah, me, I'm nineteen!) and I got a new laptop, I figure with a higher quality laptop I can produce higher quality stories, right?
Also, I am going to slow down the updates to probably twice a week like I said I'm beginning to slow down the writing of them (due to school) and my safety net of extra chapters has remarkably shrunk. So, expect the next chapter in two weeks! (I may update before then due to random bursts of creativity, but don't count on that).
Now to apologize for me slowing down my updates, one of the strongest members of the Infinity Pirates is here. Here he is, Zesiro!
Full Name: My name is Atrum Zesiro
Aliases (or nicknames): Just Shark Bite Zesiro...cause you know I'm a shark? Its just plain discrimination to Fishman. I am talented with two swords, but the Marines give me a name based on the fact I am a shark.
Devil Fruit/Weapon: I had two katanas, which were presents from my deceased parents, but one of them broke so I'm using a shabby replacement until I get it fixed. My fighting tends to be very smooth, moving from one attack to the next, but each attack is heavy and strong enough to make my opponent's bleed a lot.
Physical Appearance: I am 6' 2" and lean, but muscular. I have dark blue skin with a much lighter blue underbelly, like your standard sharks. I have dark gray patches of skin on my shoulders though. My gills start in the middle of his neck and end on his shoulder. Normally I'll just wear a pair of black or gray pants that reach down to my ankles. If its really cold out, I may throw on a shirt, but if not I won't.
Personality: I am fairly smart, but I don't like to flaunt it. I'm fairly laid back and I won't react to insults unless they are directed to someone I care about then I get annoyed. When I fight, I like to play around a bit and practice a bit of my sword skills, unless my friends are in danger then I'll finish them off as quickly as possible. If I get a hint of blood, I'll sometimes react like a normal shark would...its in my DNA. My biggest fear is that someone I'll care about will turn on me and leave me high and dry when I need them most.
Goals (Or Dreams if you prefer): Right now, it just to become both a swordsman and a man I can be proud. I would also want to stay with my good friends of the Infinity Pirates as long as possible...
Opinions on the crew:
Mikoto: I met this guy when he was trying to eat one of my friends...my opinion on him has changed a lot since then. I still think he is a reckless and sometimes stupid kid, but he's got a good heart and has helped me out a lot since back then.
Ridley: This guy is...this guy is not right in the head. Some of it may because of his childhood, but the rest of it is just his plain warped personality. He's a freak. He's proud of it and I'll give him that. Sometimes I wonder if there's any other weird things about his past that he's hiding from us.
Sage: Sometimes she can be the only other intellectual life on the boat. Hiro-Shu doesn't talk much and Enma's kind of creepy at times, so I often end up chatting with her. I've learned more about botany then I ever thought there was to know.
Hiro-Shu: From what I can tell he's a stand-up fellow! He has never said anything bad about anyone and I respect him for it. He's been on the crew for such a long time and he's never mentioned anything about his past, though.
Enma: He's saved my hide and patched my wounds more times then I can count. He's smart, but when I chat with him the guy can go off on some freaky weird adjacent about Lucifer or medicine.
Maria: Physically speaking she may be stronger than me. I've been itching to spar with her ever since she's joined, but due to Daimyo I've been out of action and unable to for the longest time. Who knows we may meet up at the end of the tournament.