Give Us a Reason

"Can somebody please help me?" whined Mikoto as he hung his head near his soup bowl, pushing it down with his chin where his canine snout could reach some of it. His arms were still broken and according to Enma it could be a week or so until they were fixed. Mikoto just had to make do…the only way he knew how. His canine hybrid form at least allowed him to lick and slurp up liquids without the help of his crew, which nobody really seemed to be all too eager to do anyways. As far as they were concerned it was his own fault for stressing his body anyways…however, they had to make a slight addendum in this case. They were out in public…

Sadly, Enma's guess was off a bit and their ship still hadn't arrived to Skypiea. In other words, they were without a ship, without a home, and without a dining hall. Luckily they had managed to scrounge together a few extra belies here and there and managed to buy food and today they had decided to go out and have something that was actually decently cooked, as they also didn't own a kitchen now. However, Mikoto's inability to use his hands meant an equal inability to use his silverware and now he was forced to gulp down soup like an animal. The rest of the crew had separated from him at this point, not wanting to associate with him and instead decided to take up some wonderful conversations from their Skypiean associates.

The Skypieans seemed like perfectly capable people. By now their existence was known far and wide throughout all of the Blue Seas as well as the fact that they possessed Dials, which were immediately clamored after by the people of the Blue Sea. This initially caused some trouble for many, many reasons. Of course, Skypiea was basically raided the very first moment this news had hit the Blue Seas. They were in big trouble as not only did the Blue Sea people want the Dials, but an angel-like woman could sell for big bucks in Blue Seas Slave Trade as well. Skypiea was badly damaged as a result, many houses were burnt down, many women were kidnapped, and hundreds of men were killed. Originally this would've caused strife between Skypieans and the Blue Sea people, but luckily the World Government managed to patch things up to a certain degree. True things still weren't sunny and rosy between some groups, but for well-minded travelers like the Infinity Pirates things tended to work out pretty well. Of course, Skypiea did not officially join the World Government and they had their own form of rule in place, including their own police force so Marines didn't have to travel up in case of emergency. However, crimes committed in Skypiea were also transferred to the seas below, so kidnapping a Skypiean would still grant you a pretty heavy sentencing back home. Of course, the opposite was true as well…the bounties of all Blue Sea people were also posted up all over Skypiea.

Wanted: Dead or Alive

'The Cyborg' Maria Euthanatos

64 Million Belies

Wanted: Dead or Alive

'The White Devil' Trafalger Enma

66 Million Belies

Two well-deserved bounties that most people would run in fear of if they had heard of them. They were definitely reasonable seeing as how Maria had taken down Duncan while Enma had defeated a Marine Vice Admiral. Definitely a delicious bounty for both of them. However, they both knew that these prices on their heads were just stepping stones to something bigger. After all, Maria couldn't quite be considered the strongest person out there if her bounty is only 64 million belies. And, of course, all pirates wanted a bounty of greater than 100 million, so Enma wasn't out of the running yet.

Wanted: Dead or Alive

'The Iron Golem' Hiro-Shu

70 Million Belies

Wanted: Dead or Alive

'Shark Bite' Zesiro

83 Million Belies

The defeat of both Makada and Mashiba had come as a rather large shock to everyone around the world. Zesiro was already known as a strong arm of the Infinity Pirates his defeat of a legendary URA fighter only proved his abilities and then the added defeat of the Vice Warden of Zenith Gaol. While Hiro-Shu didn't perform as well at Zenith Gaol back at the URA his opponent was Mashiba, a big shot around the world, a powerful fighter who had recently become known for crushing skulls and taking names, so when the news of him falling from one punch had hit the world they were up in arms. Hiro-Shu's bounty had risen an appropriate amount for that…especially seeing as it was the defeat of the right hand man of Karasu Blackwell, an infamous kingpin of the Black Market, who was just as powerful in a fight as he was in business

Wanted: Dead or Alive

'Kid Coyote' Mikoto

172 Million Belies

"I don't get it!" shouted Ridley throwing a fit as he kicked back and swallowed another chicken wing, "I beat Karasu Blackwell, why didn't my bounty go up?" The crew was ignoring him for the most part, to be honest no one actually SAW Ridley beat Karasu and it was a little bit far-fetched anyways. The Marines probably thought the same way, Karasu had a high bounty on his head so there was no way in hell a pirate barely worth his weight in salt would ever be able to handle Karasu. They dismissed it as a rather stupid and pointless fact. They would just let Ridley continue on his tirade for a little while longer while they rested at the restaurant. Of course, Sage's bounty didn't go up.

Not only did Mikoto's bounty go up from beating Trevor finally, but for two other reasons he had received a massive bounty boost. First off, was the simple fact that he had attacked Zenith Gaol and accidentally joined in an 'alliance' with the Revolutionaries as a result due to the World Government's rather paranoid thinking. This alone would've given Mikoto a substantial boost to his bounty, but there was on other failure that caused his bounty to increase so much. The Marines thought they had him. The Marines got Taisho's call confirming the capture of Mikoto and as a result decided to fudge the numbers a bit. Figuring if they released news they caught a pirate with a bounty of over 150 million they would boost their credibility with both Skypiea and their own Blue Seas…but it had apparently backfired, releasing a 'tyrant' amongst the White White Seas.

The real question was Rosa's bounty. Despite angrily taking down two of the top-ranking officers at Zenith Gaol nobody seemed to paying much attention to her or Lily, which meant that Rosa still wasn't a pirate by Marine standards…she could disappear and return to society as a normal girl. While Enma had initially had his worries earlier, hearing about Rosa's death-defying feats cemented his beliefs that she had what it took to be a pirate and that she would follow through with it…but it was also apparent that while she had the determination and power to stay aboard the ship…her reason for leaving the ship may just be greater.

Lily hadn't recovered from the prison yet. Her hands still shook whenever somebody raised their voices, she was constantly looking over her shoulders and making sure nobody was around her. Even the slightest tap on the shoulder could send her cowering for the corner. She still didn't recognize Rosa and with everyday that passed it seemed like things would never get better. If she wanted to it would probably be best for her to leave and go home with Lily to help take care of her. None of the crew could blame her if that was truly what she decided to do. They would stand by her decision and help in any way possible, although that didn't seem like much seeing as they had their own journey to go on. However, for now they had a distraction from Lily's problems and even their own. The Skypieans seemed like a jolly bunch and wasted no time in talking to them and trying to cheer them up. Apparently they had no anxiety against the people of the Blue Sea despite how the past had gone down. They even brought out free drinks in exchange for hearing the tales of what things were like down there. Connection between the Blue Seas and White White Seas were still fairly rare especially if you didn't work for the World Government. Other than the Knock-Up Stream and other old methods of traversing between the two all other paths were controlled and regulated by them once more to prevent any harm from befalling the people of the White White Sea. It worked fairly well for the most part. The people of the White White Sea were thankful for the extra protection and the only thing they had to do was return the favor and prevent their criminals from freely going down to the land below, which meant the Infinity Pirates were in trouble for a little while longer as they couldn't take any of the popular roads back to their home sea. They had to wait for their own ship to arrive anyways, so it wasn't like they didn't have time.

"Come on out, Blue Sea Dwellers!" shouted a voice from outside. All of the crew member's heads jerked to the side, interested in what it could be. The Skypieans huddled backwards closer to the wall. Whoever would dare call out these pirates certainly had some guts…or were desperately in need of money. Their bounties were indeed hard to simply just give up on. They smelled of interest. And of course as pirates they couldn't just turn down the challenge. They had to meet them head on. "If you don't come out now with your hands I'll blow this place down!" Suddenly a gust of wind carrying a foul smell blew into the bar.

"It smells like gas," said Mikoto turning his head over, he had the finest nose on the crew so they all trusted him. However, even without his nose they would've had a fairly strong inkling. The scent was overwhelming, plus being on a sky island they knew of extent of their technology…namely the Burn Bazooka. Sending out a wave of gas first through Breath Dials and then activating a secondary Flame Dial to disintegrate anything in the way. It was actually pretty marvelous for people from the Blue Seas, they had never seen anything like it. However, even things like that could quickly lose one's interest after a few days. "Could somebody else go handle this? I'm trying to finish my soup."

"These guys sound fairly weak," shrugged Ridley, pretty much ignoring the calls, "I bet even Sage could handle them." Ridley chuckled to himself as he tried to play another couple of chords to calm himself down. He was annoyed due to the fact that his bounty had not gone up, he wanted to go down and prove to the World Government that he deserved a higher bounty now.

"I guess we shouldn't send Ridley out," mocked Sage stinging Ridley right back, but the guitarist seemed to be pretty much ignoring her for the time being. Sage shook her head and turned back to the rest of the crew, "so what are we going to do about it?" Suddenly an explosion could be heard from outside. The majority of the patrons including the Infinity Pirates all took cover, ducking down beneath the tables and shielding their heads from the blast of the Burn Bazooka. However, it never came. No, instead the only thing that came was pure and utter silence. "I wonder what happened outside," asked Sage, looking out towards the door expecting a delayed burst from the weapon.

"No sense in just wondering," said Zesiro standing up and patting himself off, more than a little upset at the fact that he had just done the same stupid thing was everybody else did, reacting to a weapon's fire that would never come. He shook his head and headed to the doors. "I'll be back in five after I see what the commotion is all about…maybe six if they decide to give me any trouble." His ego may have gotten a little more swollen after seeing his new bounty. He walked forward and swung the old-time saloon-like doors open and stepped outside leaving the rest of the crew inside. If it went past six minutes and he still wasn't back then they'd start to worry, but Zesiro was more than capable of handling himself.

However, they didn't even need to worry about that. Zesiro was back in less than five seconds, but his entrance probably wasn't as grand as he had hoped. He was flying through the air, tumbling head over heels and right into the bar, soaking his body with alcohol and several empty beer bottles clattered onto the top of his head. Zesiro growled, drawing his swords and standing up in a flash, eager to exit the building and land a good blow on whoever just sent him flying. And of course the rest of the Infinity Pirates seemed to be growing interested as well, standing up and preparing for their opponents.

The two people Zesiro had fought entered the bar, they were dragging the body of the man and his burn bazooka who had originally threatened him. "Lookie here," shouted the first one, clapping his hands together as he peered in on the crew, "all of the Infinity Weaklings are here after all! I thought they were pulling our legs!" Enma raised an eyebrow at that, who was pulling their legs? Nobody besides the World Government knew about the attack on Zenith Gaol, Enma was fairly certain the newspaper didn't even mention it yet as the World Government wanted something to show for the fall of it. However, once more this was pure speculation. The newspaper from the Blue Seas didn't reach Skypiea so as a result their knowledge of any criminal activity down there was next to nothing, including the two separate instances the Revolutionaries were involved with and what connected Mikoto to them. His bounty had only appeared here because all bounties were shared between the seas. So, if that was the case why did these two think they were here?

"Give these guys a break, Shino," said the other one as he stepped in, staggering a good few feet taller than the other. "Their bounties are higher than yours." The two of them were Fishmen. One of them had a pinkish skin tone and was rather small, smaller than Fishmen and even smaller than most humans, most of his height came from the fin sitting on top of his head amidst his brown hair. The other one was more than six and a half feet tall giving him a good two foot advantage over his partner. He had dark brown skins and massive arms, which made it where nobody could question his physical prowess. However, despite his obvious power he seemed rather level-headed compared to his partner. "We are here on request from our captain. And despite my partner's, and my partner's only, action we mean you no harm."

Zesiro grunted and stood up, the feeling was mutual anymore. He wanted to fight with them and skewer them both, he very rarely met a Fishman he didn't like, but that all changed today. He didn't like these two one bit, he stepped forward, but was immediately stopped as the tall one seemed to glance over at him. An aura seemed to radiate from him, not like Trevor's or Abel's or even the Vice Warden's. This wasn't the aura of a wild animal out for blood; it was the same aura a hunter gave off to a deer. It was the aura that if Zesiro took the wrong step the real fight would ensure. Ordinarily that wouldn't detract from Zesiro's plan and he would rush in anyways, but seeing as how these two claimed not to want trouble anyways…why should he start something?

"Our captain is very interested in you and he wants a fight," brought up the bigger one again, continuing on his own behalf. "He's been wanting to fight you for awhile and if it honestly wasn't through pure luck, he probably would've had to wait awhile. He would've faced you eventually later on these seas as the strongest of warriors will always clash in a bid for the title of strongest." Mikoto perked up, did this man want to be King of the Pirates as well? "Rivals will always clash on the high seas." Mikoto chuckled, unaware if the man meant to make the pun or not. But the White White Seas were about the HIGHEST seas in the world. The Fishmen didn't look all too thrilled at Mikoto's laugh, but he continued with his statement. "I hope you will live up to our captain's expectations…but I highly doubt it." These words seemed to light a fire under Mikoto as he leapt up at that statement and turned to the door and the two warriors, who were beginning to make their way out already.

"Who is your captain, anyways?" asked Mikoto, his arms were still out of sorts and he couldn't control them well, but he didn't need his arms to get his point across, the defiant look in his eyes were more than enough to make the two Fishman smile at the thought that their proposition had been bought, hook, line, and sinker.

"You were at the URA together, he was a man of incredible power and reputation even there before you destroyed, but he doesn't hold a grudge," stated the smaller Fishman this time, tightening his fist and waving it in the air as if to try and intimidate the crew. "No, he was only using the URA as a way to find worthy competitors and in the end it worked. He found you…his name is 'Dark Knight' Shane!" The entire crew caught wind of that name at least once in their life. He was famed this world over as a man who had made continuous attacks on different places for no reason. He brought several Marine Bases to their knees and the only reason the Marine Bases were ever given was 'I heard there was someone strong here'. He took nothing from the Marine Bases, not even money…it seemed he was really just searching out for someone to fight him.

"And what if we say no?" asked Enma standing up and looking over at Zesiro, "you attack our crewmate, insult us, and in the end your captain doesn't even have the decency to come here himself to ask us. What reason has he given us to accept this insane challenge?" The rest crew agreed, even Mikoto had to agree for once that there was nothing really in it for them. The two Fishmen smiled, as if they saw this question coming from miles away and had already prepared the perfect answer.

"Oh, you have a reason…"

Wanted

Crap...I almost forgot to upload this today (which explains the crappy title for next chapter). Crap...I lack a lot of motivation for the time being...so here's a chapter, have fun...maybe do something important?

The new Fishmen are the creations of Shadow40000 who submitted an entire rival crew! So, yeah, that's a lot...

Also, some of the Infinity Pirate's bounties have a joke/hidden easter egg in them. Nothing really interesting, but heck it made writing them slightly funner.