The Warden Arrives

Enma was paused hunkering over one of the large contraptions near him. He could see the large chain sticking out of it and stretching upwards through the ceiling. The contraption obviously could be used to recall the chain if Enma had the proper clearance…namely the prison guard's tags. However, Enma thought as he flipped over one of the tags he had gotten from the pile of defeated prison guards behind him…it would probably take a special tag and not just any tag from any guard. Enma moaned as he realized until these contraptions were taken care of they couldn't escape and the contraption couldn't be taken care of until they defeated the bad guys holding the tags. In other words escape was only possible when every single prison guard was taken of. Enma liked raising trouble as much as the rest of the crew, but he would rather not do it in a place completely populated by people out to kill them…especially when they were on a tight time frame.

Enma looked up as he continued to think about their escape plan. Chances were that there were more of these contraptions rather than just this one and he had to find and activate all of them. Enma turned to his right and to his left. He still hasn't seen even one of his crewmates in this big prison…it was rather disheartening to say the least. He hoped they were all doing all right. The enemies in this prison definitely didn't seem like people you should take lightly. Enma would just have to hope for the best that no one would get themselves into too deep of trouble. However, Enma realized that that was just wishful thinking. He walked forward, intending to locate the necessary key cards as well as the remaining terminals to raise and reconnect the two floors, but it appeared that Enma was the one who had walked into too much trouble. A black trident shot in front of his eyes, spearing the wall in front of him. Enma jumped back and instantly reproduced his own bone spear, swirling it around and preparing for combat. He looked over and saw the approaching enemy. It was the same monstrous trident user he had seen on the first floor, except this time his eyes weren't set on a large killer bird, no, Enma was his target this time. The spear and speed it flew out made Enma certain this was not going to be an easy going battle.

"I was planning on just sleeping through this mess," said the Longarm as he rubbed the back of his head, obvious still sleepy, "however, I guess I can't very well ignore an opponent walking all around me, huh?" He returned his long trident back to his side just as quickly as he had fired it. Enma was once more stunned into silence as he saw the impressive weapon return to the Longarms side…the distance between them was nothing short of a jog. Enma estimated probably seven to eight feet enough space to lay a dead man in-between them and still have room left over. Enma could only think of how unpleasant this fight was going to be and from the looks of it the Longarm didn't seem to thrilled in participating in this fight either. The Longarm's arm and trident recoiled back to his side. Suddenly he let it loose, shooting the weapon forward, aiming for Enma's neck. The trident kept leaving and then shooting back in at rapid speeds. Enma dove forward, ducking beneath each and every shot, trying to dodge each attack, however, each attack was slowly becoming harder and harder to dodge.

Enma shot forward, quickly bringing his rib cage forward once more and creating a solid guard to absorb the trident. The Longarm let his trident shoot forward aiming to behead Enma once more. The trident hit the shield and slid into the holes from there the Longarm twisted around, ripping the makeshift shield free from Enma's arm. Of course, this created a split second opening as the trident was no longer just being recoiled and fired anymore. Enma charged in, planning to use this briefest of openings to his advantage. He knew that if he could just get in close enough he could win. Trident's had an incredible range just like all spear-based weapons, but if Enma could get close enough the Longarm wouldn't be able to use his trident due to its immense range. Enma was surprised to find out just how wrong he was. The trident bounced back ready to be fired in mere seconds. Enma brought his spear back up in front of him, blocking the trident by the skin of his teeth, but he was still pushed back, sliding back a few feet and back to where he had started.

Enma saw it. He saw the trick in only an instant, but he saw how he was recalling the weapon back to its original state so quickly. It was a simple trick, something Enma should've noticed earlier, but Enma had ignored it. After all, it was impossible for a normal human to do such a thing. However, that was the keyword: human. His opponent was a Longarm. Longarms were famed not only for their long arms…but also due to the fact that they had two elbows. The two elbows could be used separately or together. If he clasped both of his elbows together at the same time, the recovery speed of his thrusts basically doubled in comparison to a normal humans…combine that with any human's ability to throw their shoulder into it and it was possible that this man's recovery speed was the best in the world. Of course, if its recovery speed could be increased by using both elbows at once…its attack speed could also be increased by using them both. The weapon shot forward again, his intentions clear. He wanted to take Enma's head with one powerful and speedy thrust. Of course, Enma wasn't some new guy to fighting. He had his own experience and his own weapons on his side. Enma clapped his hands together and grabbed a hold of the middle prong, stopping its forward motion for only a brief instant though. It was obvious that the Longarm had no intention of backing down even with his weapon stopped.

"My weak loser subordinates are going to have to be punished for letting you escape," said the Longarm as he tightened his grip on the trident. "I have Severe Justice…even the tiniest of screw-ups should be punished…and punished severely. I'll expect them to go without dinner for awhile. You, on the other…will have to go without your head!" He brought his arm around and smashed it into his trident. The trident began to vibrate ending at Enma's hand and sending the vibrations straight through his arm, making him feel like he had just been electrified. Enma let go of the trident for just a second, but in that second timeframe the Longarm had already brought the weapon back to his side and readied it for another thrust. Enma tried to move his hands, but the vibration were still vibrating all the way through his arms. He couldn't throw up a good guard with the way his arms were feeling…he would just have to figure out another way to avoid this attack. The longarm twisted his trident around and thrust it forward again, this time the weapon was aligned vertically with the top prong aimed right for Enma's eye, the middle for his throat, and the bottom prong close to his heart. A three pronged death blow. An attack he had to avoid, but without his arms he couldn't guard…this left Enma with one choice. Enma dodged to the right, ducking beneath the strike and tumbling on the ground. His arms were still numb, but this was his only option run away until he felt better. As a doctor his opinion was very rarely 'just walk it off', but this once he had to make an exception and run like hell until he felt better. He dove to the left and right, barely avoiding each and every thrust made by his opponent and some of them…he didn't. He felt the cold metal trident pass through his flesh on his right side in two different locations, luckily it seemed like the top one had missed by an inch. However, Enma knew better than to keep betting on luck. He needed to stay alive until his arms were better and then still somehow figure out a way to make up for the reach difference.

"The name is Akihito," said the Longarm as he took his distance one again, separating them from each other as he sized up his opponent, apparently impressed that he managed to stay alive for so long. "I'm actually pretty much a new guard around here. I've only been here for one or two years, but I'm already highly revered. I already have many people working under me, it is a pain. I'd be fine if they were actually competent, but they are still all so weak. Besides the Warden I think I'm the only one who gets anything accomplished here. Me and him are the real reason this jail stays afloat." It was obvious he didn't have an awful high opinion of anyone else that worked here, including Kohaku and the Vice Warden. "Me and the Warden care about this prison more than anyone else. I don't sense that care from the Vice Warden or Kohaku…the Vice Warden would've been better off on a Marine Ship where he could fully exercise his power and Kohaku is an idiot, despite being the Head Guard. I, on the other hand, want to turn this prison into an inescapable fortress, the fact that you guys have broken in here doesn't even bother me. My goal was to make an inescapable fortress, one to protect the good people of the outside world, if pirates want to come in! I say let them!" Akihito stepped forward and suddenly let his trident flash forward for Enma's body. Enma stepped back and tried to balance himself out, but he still felt the vibrations shooting up his arm.

"Damn!" shouted Enma as he produced another bone spear and barely managed to get a grip on it, his fingers were still numb, what kind of insane strength did his opponent possess? Enma brought the spear up and in between him, intercepting the full-powered forward thrust of his opponent and knocking it to the side, however that was only one of the attacks. Next was a punch. Due to the fact that Enma had knocked one of his hands away in one direction, Akihito went with it. He stepped forward and used Enma's own knock-away to create a circle to thrust his fist forward with additional force. Enma tightened up and created a powerful skull mask from his face, trying desperately to absorb the shock, but he soon found out that even that didn't seem like enough. Akihito's power came shooting into Enma's mask and even broke through it! Enma was thrown back to the ground, gasping in pain as he felt his bone break. The bones he produced were still his own bones and as a result if they broke he would feel the same pain as a normal person would feel from a broken leg. Needless to say, it wasn't fun. Ordinarily he didn't worry about the pain as his bones were equal to even steel a normal human couldn't break them, but it seemed obvious that he had found someone who could…and he didn't like that. Enma stepped back and tried to recover, quickly mending the broken bones and recovering from the damage. However, Akihito rushed in again, ready to exchange fiercely once more. Akihito still had the range on his size, especially now that his trident was ready again. His range seemed impossibly large like he was pumping all of his strength and body into just extending it...like he was trying to state that the entire prison was within his range! Enma leapt back and created a bone shield, he needed a few more seconds to prepare. He had no chance of defeating Akihito if he rushed this. He needed to use his strongest muscle…his brain.

Akihito's trident slide straight into the shield, piercing it like it was made of paper. Akihito quickly slammed his foot into the ground and rotated around, pulling Enma's shield out of his arm as he brought his other fist around. The shield flew out of Enma's reach and to the side, forcing Enma's guard open. It was obvious that Akihito was using his brain also. Each attack was perfectly woven in to the next, he was rushing in to force Enma to react just as fast. On top of that it was obvious that he had practiced fights, this was from a tremendous amount of training, he wasn't insulting his comrades the truth was…this man was just strong. Enma ducked beneath the fist and tried to close-in, draw the fight into a close-ranged match, but Akihito's trident was already at the ready. The trident flew in like Akihito intended to skewer a fish with it…and by fish Enma meant whale! The power behind it was obscenely high. Enma rolled onto the ground just to avoid taking another head-on collision with it.

Enma's hands went into his pockets. He could finally feel his fingers again, he made them frantically search through his pockets. He had one last chance now. All of his other options had been destroyed. Akihito was capable of crushing his bones with his fist, the range was too much for Enma to make-up for, and Akihito obviously had put more time into his training than Enma had. However, if Enma couldn't rely on his experience and training as a pirate to pull him through. He just had to rely on his experience as a doctor. The small fabled red ball from the URA was in his hands and he had no time to waste. He took his medicine and made a quiet vow to force some of 'medicine' down Akihito's throat as well. Of course, that was only if Enma could stay standing…the drug had a time-limit between Enma swallowing it and it getting absorbed into his blood-stream. He would just have to hope he could stay conscious that long.

(-With Taisho-)

The pod landed finally. The large man stepped out of it and brushed his shoulders off. This was the first-time except for drills when they had resorted to using the emergency tactic. Taisho was still a little bit worried about whether or not it would work. Traveling between the first and second floor was dangerous when the chains were extended, the thick sea clouds all around could drown a normal human and since Taisho was a Devil Fruit user, it was even more dangerous for him. He wouldn't be risking his life on a return-trip. No, he didn't even believe there would be a need for that. The pirates on this floor would soon be taken care of. "Plant." Once more hundred of tendrils exploded from Taisho's body, he would find and take out the small fries with this technique. Speaking of which…it appeared one of them was actually close to him. It was always nice when you got an instant return on your hard work.

It was a group of three pirates. They were obviously a group of vicious pirates they came charging in, happy to be free, however, Taisho would wipe that smug happiness off of their faces in an instant. "Only the innocent deserve happiness," Taisho said, closing his eyes and commanding his roots. "Everyone else deserves hell." The roots exploded from the ground instantly wrapping around the pirate's legs and bringing them down to the ground and smashing their heads into the stone floor. The root continued to wrap around them as if trying to squeeze the life out of them. "A successful prison stops a prison riot in only three steps. Capture, bind…and kill." The pirates let out painful howls as the roots tightened around their body. Of course, that was only one part of this punishment. They would feel the air become squeezed out of their lungs and soon they would their would feel their life force come out of them…after all even plants needed nourishment. The roots tightened on their latest victim and soon started to pump the energy out of them. Plants used their roots to embed themselves in the ground and then slowly steal the water and nourishment out of the ground, Taisho was no different. As a root man he too could take in nourishment from his roots…except he usually found nourishment in prisoners rather than the ground. An extremely tight schedule that barely allowed for a moment of rest, relaxation or even eating. People wondered how Taisho kept such a strict schedule, the truth was he got his rest and food from outside sources. The entire prison was made almost like a smorgasbord for him. On the last floor you had people almost willing to sacrifice themselves to him, the fourth floor had people with tough meat and delicate work patterns, the third floor was where Taisho could absorb the sleep he needed from the unfortunate people that were attacked by the Sleeping Nightlocke, the second floor and first floor were for other needs. Nonetheless, the fact was that Taisho didn't need the same amount of rest or food as a normal person. In a situation as dire as this…he would be unstoppable.

The Drugged Power

The Most Destructive Man in the Prison

Akihito was the work of...Shadow40000...I believe. Its so hard cause I apparently lost it...I have no idea where it went...I think the trident user, Akihito was his work...oh, well...if it is he'll forgive me.

I was so ready to give you guys the whole' I'm disappointed in you for not reviewing my work' boo-hoo for you...and then I got a new reviewer who reviewed the very first chapter...so, I decided to count it as you guys were just one short (and its kind of my fault for the whole cursed two days in a row update which seems to have cut back on the number of reviewers (Oh, plus, Shadow40000 has studies right now, so this will distract him from doing those).