The Scarlet Rose Versus the Little Black Duck!
Rosa's mind was floating, she wasn't sure of what just happened. She wasn't even sure if it was real…her body had seemed so disconnected from it. Her body had just been yanked off of its feet and then immediately pummeled down into the ground. Her vision had nearly disappeared and her eyelids felt strangely heavy. What was that? She managed to strain her vision just enough to see Kohaku still standing above her, giving the duck on his head a high-five. She grimaced as she realized that she had just lost to that man. How many times did she get hit? Twenty times…no, not that…just…just twice…she had only been hit two times by that man with a mountain of muscles.
"Kohaku," stated the other guard there as he flipped through his magazine, checking the recent issue, "it looks like there is still one left you forgot to completely dispose of." Rosa's head was swimming…one more? Who…who was that? He had done taken out Hiro-Shu and now she was laying on the floor. Was someone else really with them? Rosa remembered now…somebody else was with them…but who was it? Her head was still pounding and though her blurred vision could make out a person's outline she couldn't see anything about them. It looked like a little girl…she was shivering. Her head darted between Rosa and Hiro-Shu's collapsed bodies, scared.
"Si-," mouthed Lily as she collapsed to the ground, scuttling over to the wall as Kohaku walked up to her. Kohaku wrapped his hand up around his neck and had a goofily happy look on his face. "Sister…" mouthed Lily once more until she finally found her voice. "SAVE ME, SISTER!" Lily's voice burst forth in great sobs. The prison floor was designed to send sound echoing all over the floor, so her voice carried all throughout the floor. However, nobody paid it any heed. Everybody had their own problems in trying to escape from this prison. It was possible the only person whose her voice actually affected was the girl closest to her. Rosa's eyes shot open as she remembered the third person with them was her sister…her little sister…who Kohaku was about to attack her!
"ARRGH!" shouted Rosa shooting up to her own two feet, almost unsteadily on them, but she rushed forward regardless. Her hand shot down to the ground and picked up her sword pipe and she continued her charge letting out a primal scream, covering the ground quickly to Kohaku's back. Kohaku was just barely turning around to see her coming at him when she started to thrust the pipe forward. Kohaku smirked and let a wild punch shoot out from his side and aimed at her head. Of course, there was one trait completely unique to Rosa that Kohaku couldn't have possibly known. It was something that Rosa herself wasn't even aware of. Whenever Rosa became completely absorbed into one thing, be it reading, laughing, or anything else her body innately read and dodged all of her opponent's movements. And right now, Rosa was entirely absorbed in one thought. Ramming her pipe all the way through Kohaku, no other thought was present in her mind. Her head ducked beneath Kohaku's brick-breaking punch as she shot in even close. She compressed her legs down deeper into the ground only for a split second before she shot forward, a flash of light beaming off of her pipe as she rammed it upwards, its target clear. She was going it ram upwards, entering the bottom of Kohaku's chin and sending the blade upwards piercing everything in its way until it came out the top of his skull.
"Snake's Strike!" cried out Kohaku as he brought his leg up in a weird, nearly serpentine pattern until it came right into Rosa's side, causing her attack to stop a few centimeters short of Kohaku's chin. Even if Rosa's entire body had tried to avoid such a strike, even if she knew exactly how it was going to come in and strike, Kohaku deserved more praise and worry than that. Kohaku wasn't slow. The bottom-line was that Rosa couldn't have dodged that strike…nor could she dodge the next one. Her body was still reeling from that last strike and all the built-up damage from all of Kohaku's previous strike so she couldn't recover fast enough to see Kohaku's winding elbow come crashing in from the side and into Rosa's head, making it shudder and the entire world through Rosa's eyes vibrate fiercely. "Ducks don't give up so easily either. That's another thing I like about them."
"Kohaku," said the prison guard finally lifting his head from his book and looking over at the man who was actually fighting with his life on the line. The guard was noticeably shaken up, his entire body including his index finger that he was using to motion towards Kohaku's leg, were shaking. "You're…you're bleeding."
Kohaku raised an eyebrow and followed his finger to his right leg where Rosa had fallen. Apparently when his first attack had halted the blow Rosa's hands had fallen as well when he had knocked her down she had fell down and somehow through pure luck or pure skill managed to drive the pipe straight through his leg. "Oh, so, that's what I was feeling!" laughed Kohaku, kicking his head back with a hearty 'ha ha ha ha'. "I thought Kuro just pissed down there, but nope it was blood!" His fellow guard just had a look of disbelief on his face, however, that soon turned into a look of fear as Rosa immediately stood back up and charged at him, brandishing her bloody pipe once more. Kohaku easily skirted around her first strike, but while he was doing so Rosa twisted the pipe around and took his other leg as well. "Crap. Now both my legs feel like Kuro has peed on them…"
"You've got bigger worries than that Kohaku," explained the guard. "If you don't take some stress off of those legs immediately they may actually cease to function."
"Ah, okay, I'll remove the fifty pound weights from them then," Kohaku said he bent over and quickly took off some silver cuffs that were attached to his legs over his martial art pants. He threw them to the side carelessly and let them make a loud pound as they hit the stone floor. He took a moment and murmured something to himself before turning around to the guard. "Do you think I should remove the other hundred pound weights from them as well?"
"JUST REMOVE THEM ALL!"
Kohaku sighed and took them off of his body. "I guess if I'm going this far to take you on. I may as well go all the way." Suddenly Kohaku's entire body crunched in half as his arms slowly began to widen and take the shape of huge wings. A large beak began to sprout from his face and even his feet began to change. I feel like I should make apologies for assuming such a hideous form in front of you. It disgraces myself to even think that I'll look like this, but it truly does give me a huge boost to my strength. If only it was a duck," suddenly he unfurled his magnificent wings revealing a large wing span. He had a curved predatory beak on his face, and razor sharp talons on his feet that looked like they could gut a human, "INSTEAD OF A STUPID EAGLE!"
A little siren rang out through the prison as the Head Warden's voice came ringing out. "All prison guards I am coming down as we speak! I expect you to have cleaned up half of the riffraff before I get there. I'll take care of the other half." Was the Warden really that strong?
"Dang, it looks like I haven't made any leeway apparently…I've only taken out a couple of weaklings so far…guess I just can't hold back against these two, huh," Kohaku shook his head as he flapped his wings and took off into the air. "This sky is my domain as long as I have enough room to flap my wings, I can't be stopped! Let's go! I'll finish this in one go! Cheetah Rush!" Kohaku took off, shooting around the nearby corner as if completely forgetting about Rosa.
"Heh," laughed the other guard as he stepped aside getting close to one of the walls. "In terms of speed Kohaku is the second fastest person in this prison, however, he is the physically strongest man around. And these two facts combined with this one move is why he is the Head Jailer. He grew up learning martial arts on a mountain so even in this thin aired environment this is nothing but a simple walk for him." Kohaku was still streaming around the prison, without stopping he brought his talons screeching through a stray prisoner that had escaped during the mayhem and brought him down. He continued to do as he jetted around the entire prison, growing faster and faster with turn and straight away. "He was originally in a different prison, a shoddy one that had a horrible record, but during a surprise visit our Warden, Taisho, had seen his marvelous talents and demanded that he join his prison. And of course, they agreed. Taisho, the Vice Warden, and Kohaku. In this prison these three people hold more authority and inspire more fear than even the Admirals."
Rosa struggled to get into the center of the hall. Her entire body hurt like hell, but that didn't matter. She used her small pipe and dragged it through the ground making a small line in the dust. "Lily…get behind me…no matter what…I won't let him…get past this line…I won't let him…hurt you." Each and every phrase came out of Rosa with a heavy breath. Her chest would rise and fall, showcasing her own extreme fatigue. Lily didn't know who she was. Rosa believed that every cloud had its own silver lining, that no matter how bad things were there was always something good that would come out of it. Lily would go back home after this to the rest of their family. She would go there and live the rest of her life happily with them, she would hear stories of how her big sister Rosa went out on a grand adventure…she would go out to sea and look for her, of course, just like she did before…completely unaware that she had already found her…and watched her die.
Kohaku came circling around a nearby corner, nearly at double the speed he was when he first took off and he quickly came crashing forward aiming his beak right for Lily's forehead, ready to smash into it and carve her a new hole. Rosa's chest sagged, her heart felt heavy. She wanted to do so much…she wanted to write the best adventure story ever…she wanted to fall in love and get married…those were her dreams. They weren't much, but they were hers. And she was ready to throw them all away for this…she admitted it, she felt upset, cheated, lied to…but she was ready for it. She wore a frown on her face as she thought back to all the things she would never get to do…she had just found herself a crew…some great people to travel with…forget completing her dreams…her biggest regret? Her biggest regret was going to be not being able to travel with them. She stepped forward, accepting her fate and bringing the pipe around, wielding it like her favorite blade. She looked forward, her eyelids felt heavy as she looked forward, she wanted to sleep, but she would force herself to stay awake through all of this…she wanted to see her last moments. "COME ON YOU STUPID DUCK LOVER!" She cursed with all her might, practically spitting out the words. Kohaku zoomed in and readied himself for the moment of impact. He had no worries, she couldn't possibly muster up the strength to ram that pipe into any place vital. He would survive this attack, he might get a scratch, but that was it…she couldn't even touch him! He shot forward, a vicious look flashing in his eyes as he zoomed in. His curved talons had been turned a blood red from all the pirates he had pierced on his way here.
After what felt like an eternity of waiting the moment of the finishing blow took, but an instant. Rosa had indeed rammed her pipe into Kohaku's body, barely managing to force it into his shoulder blade. 'Scarlet Sword' Rosa watched as a scarlet rain of blood came down upon her. She didn't back down, she didn't freeze. She stayed there defiantly trying to hold him back and away from her sister…but…
Kohaku was right. She couldn't quite summon enough strength to keep her ground and pierce him all the way through. Her body had been through too much, it had been taxed to the extreme…the mental anguish and the physical punishment she had faced in this prison was too much. She couldn't hold him back any longer! She was going to lose! Her grip on the pipe weakened until it was gone altogether, nothing else was holding Kohaku's incredible forward rush back.
Just as that thought flashed through her mind she felt it. She felt the force on her pipe suddenly disappear as if Kohaku was being pulled away from her. Her blurred vision was slowly coming back to her and she was able to witness the moment. The moment Kohaku had been ripped away from her. His face a panicked mess as he slowly came to the realization of what was happening. "We pirates…are notorious for being hard to kill," said Hiro-Shu, a smirk crossing his face as he heaved Kohaku all the way around in a circle, arcing through the air and then right back down and into the ground, smashing the eagle-human hybrid face-first against the cold hard ground. "We are also notorious for sticking to our friends in their time of need." Hiro-Shu cracked his knuckles as he looked down upon their fallen foes.
Rosa smiled, thankful that her fight was finally over. Thankful that she didn't have to push herself any more…thankful to have an ally like Hiro-Shu on her side. She tipped over, falling to the ground, collapsing onto the stone floor herself. "And the doctor is nowhere in sight," muttered Hiro-Shu as he hefted his fallen friend onto his shoulder. He smiled as he looked at her face and felt the slow rise and fall of her chest on his shoulder. He had to admit it that last attack of Kohaku was too much for him, he needed Rosa's help to stop it. He didn't plan for it to happen like that, but when he saw Kohaku take off he knew instantly he couldn't catch him. Kohaku was too fast…he needed to be slowed down, brought down a notch just for a second for him to grab his leg and throw him. Hiro-Shu didn't think it was possible, but Rosa did it. Hiro-Shu looked at the bloodied pipe jutting out of Kohaku's shoulder and wondered if that was what did the trick or was it the look in Rosa's eyes. The look of a human being on their last leg, but still putting it all down on the line in a last-ditch final effort that they had accepted…and all for someone else. A look like that was deadlier than any rusted over pipe or even sword on these seas.
(-With Mikoto-)
"Now where could Zesiro have dropped those swords?" asked Mikoto to no one in particular. All the prisoners had disappeared somewhere else and he still hadn't found any of his crewmates. He was too busy trying to find his crewmates swords. You'd think with how often Zesiro lost his swords he would just attach a rope to them so he could just find them following the rope. Mikoto smiled to himself, happy that he had come up with such a great idea and made a mental note to tell Zesiro the next time he saw him. Suddenly Mikoto remembered that he wasn't supposed to be thinking of great ideas on how not to lose one's swords, but finding someone's swords instead! Mikoto nodded with confidence as he headed out in search of the swords, he took a deep breath of the air around him trying to locate the swords through scent, but the entire floor was too badly bathed in blood for him to tell his way around here.
"Hey Mikoto!" shouted Ridley as he walked up to Mikoto he was being followed by Sage, which Mikoto found surprising as he didn't really think the two of them got along…he must've be wrong! They must actually like each either. "I'm sorry for not catching up to you sooner, I got stuck with Miss Terror-gon here," laughed Ridley at his own play on the words tarragon.
"He meant to say that we had to take a quick detour because his huge ego wouldn't fit through most doors."
"She meant to say that we couldn't make it here any faster because she's as fast as she is strong."
"He meant to say that we were slow because his bad taste in music…and hairstyles equates to a bad sense of directions."
"She meant to say that we didn't make here sooner because she had to do her hair."
"YOU USE MORE PRODUCT IN YOUR HAIR THAN I DO!"
Yup, it was obvious that they got along great! Only true friends can joke around with each other like that! Suddenly Mikoto noticed something strange hanging from Ridley's hips. "Hey, Ridley," Mikoto said pulling Ridley out of his current mudslinging contest with Sage. "What are those?" He said motioning to the swords and sheaths at Ridley's waist.
"Oh, these," Ridley said, clearing his throat and taking on a slightly more diplomatic approach with Mikoto than with Sage. Ridley undid the swords and showed them to Mikoto. "They are Zesiro's swords. Have you seen him anywhere?" Mikoto didn't waste any more time than that. He yanked them out of Ridley's hands and bolted down the hall leaving both Ridley and Sage alone with each other once more. They shared the same, slightly annoyed look, before quickly taking off.
"Mikoto, slow down!" shouted Ridley, "it is your turn to babysit the weakling!"
Overcoming Prejudice!
The Burden of Being Strong!
I was soooooo ho-humming about posting an update today. I hate updating two days in the row...I prefer it when a break is involved (both updating and reading)...but here it is. Hope ya'll liked it, like I said I really like Rosa's fight. Next up is Ridley versus Sage...nah, just kidding...another back-breaking fight which is probably my second favorite fight (but my favorite ending).
Also...I hate to say this...I really, really do...but I decided that Saga is going to start winding down. WAIT, WAIT WAIT! Its not ending, not yet! Honestly...I'd say another 100-200 chapters left (with my updating rate like two-five years, yeah, this story is L-O-N-G). First, I wanna say thanks to whoever has managed to stick with such a story for such a long time. I mean 200 chapters...geeze...what kind of ego-maniac would right something THAT long...oh, right, me... Second off, OCs are still accepted...but please try to limit them to high-grade ones (and guys strong enough to exist in the Grand Line at this point). Finally, if there is any scene or plot holes you want to see me write for this story or fix, please PM or leave a review and I'll see about it.
P.S. the title for the next chapter has very little to do with the next chapter...I just think it sounds cool and sort of fits.