Counter Plan
"Now what do we do?" asked Enma, surprisingly there was a hint of panic in his voice, possibly because he recognized this as the worst-case scenario. Hell, they would've preferred for other Shichibukais to be on this island rather then this! This was obviously a counter-attack to their attack and it stopped them cold. The Den-Den Mushi's they were outfitted with was ringing like crazy. Mikoto shrunk back and sat down on one of the chairs...damn. A nearly flawless strategy was brought down due to one fatal mistake on their part. They wanted to fight with the Fox Brothers, but they declared war on the Shichibukai! Could they just ignore this oversight and attack them?
"The Bloodbane Pirates just dropped out," reported Zesiro as he listened and took all calls from the Den-Den Mushi, "so did the Cobblestone Pirates, the Siesta Pirates, the Gilded Pirates...it seems like everybody is dropping out!" Zesiro couldn't blame them, this just went from a high-risk, high-reward scenario to a high-risk, low reward. However, of course, the number one question on everybody's minds were...did they knew they were being attacked? If the Fox Brother had gotten wind of this attack was it possible they got wind of their strategy? If so, how? Did they figure it out themselves? Or did somebody sell them out? Was their a traitor in the midst? Immediately a flux of rejections and cowards came in all of them wanting out. "Damn it, the Ageless Pirates just quit and they refuse to return our second flag." Hmm, a coward and a thief...these guys were top-class pirates after all.
The question everybody's lips were...do they retreat? Their fighting force had been split in half...no, more than half. It was basically just Shane, Mikoto, and a few other pirates with a personal hatred for the Fox Brothers. "This really isn't good," muttered Shane as he came onto their ship to discuss it with them. "With them dropping their Shichibukai ranking any pirates who joined up with us, who were just doing this as a way to get back at the World Government or who were planning to use us for their own personal vendetta against another Shichibukai now sees this as a moot point and are leaving. Even worse though is the question of what the Revolutionaries will do." Mikoto looked up at him. Revolutionaries? There were no Revolutionaries in their alliance.
"Oh, I can guarantee you there were. They saw this as an opportunity to strike down a chunk of the World Government's fighting force, so they probably had one or two crews join up with us to monitor our movements where they can tell the real armada where to attack," Shane sighed and shook his head, obviously distressed with how things were turning out, "well, there mission has been accomplished, but even worse the Fox Brothers are now beneficial to them. If the Revolutionaries could make the Fox Brothers join up with them, well, then...the Fox Brothers would not only increase their fighting force, but also be able to tell them a whole bunch of secrets the World Government had been hiding."
"In other words, the Fox Brothers are more beneficial to the Revolutionaries right now then we are," exclaimed Sage with a slight gasp. Shane nodded. "We got to turn back! The Revolutionaries are really moving harshly these past few years, they won't hesitate to kill us in a moment's notice if it means getting what they want! And they want the Fox Brothers!" Sage began to blubber a bit as the evil worst-scenario began to dance around in her head, "Even worse if the Fox Brothers really did make this statement of quitting the Shichibukai in order to counter-attack then chances are they may have already have had contact with the Revolutionaries! And if they did, then the Fox Brothers probably signed on as a temporary force and we're screwed."
(-With the Fox Brothers-)
"Is what they are thinking right now," stated Alistair as he paced the room, perfectly repeating Sage's exact words to his two brothers. "Or at least one of them is. The problem with big groups is that they each have their own individual train of thought that differentiates itself from the norm. While true some of those different trains of thought may go up and seem positive at least one of them will go down and consider the true worst-case scenario and what will they do after that. They will share it and soon everybody's train of thought will be on the same track, the track headed to utter oblivion. Positive thinking and negative thinking are both very contagious one fatal step into either realm can seal your fate in these seas."
Alan slowly nodded, he was beginning to accept the fact that his brother was quite possibly one of the most dangerous fore-runners in cunning strategies. Of course, he already knew that, but still this seemed like a rather large leap...after all, quitting the Shichibukais meant losing the support of the World Government and while he admitted he didn't like them as much as the next guy, losing a million people willing to risk their lives for you and their so-called 'Justice' didn't seem like a fair trade. "So, what the hell do we do now?"
"We accept the Revolutionaries' offer," Alistair said as he sat down comfortably in a large chair. "Yes, we trade one super-power for another. It is without a doubt the simplest of ways to live in this world. In all honesty I detest fighting useless battles and the best way to avoid such thing is to have somebody else capable of doing it for you. By aligning with the Revolutionaries we become an invincible deity once again." Alan scoffed at such a simplified idea, after all, what made him think that the Revolutionaries would be coming for them? It made no-
Alan drew his weapon and spun around. A new presence just made itself noticeable. Alan's chest heaved quietly as he looked on at the man, he looked shrewd and business-like. A nice high-quality suit adorned his chest and legs and a top hat was present on his head, the larger than life rim did a good job of hiding his eyes. "I represent the Revolutionaries and I am here with an offer for you." Alan could nearly balk at what just happened his brother had perfectly predicted EVERYTHING! He smiled as he reclined, collapsing back into his seat. Forget about the Revolutionaries with Alistair's brain he was fairly certain they were already classified as an invincible deity.
(-With the Infinity Pirates-)
Due to Sage's little outburst it was quite likely Alistair would be proven true. The seeds of worry and doubt had already been sown thanks to that. All of the Infinity Pirates and Dark Knight Pirates seemed to have a slight quiver to their lips, a slight pause in their gait as they paced about the ship, thinking about what was going to happen next. There was now a hive-like buzz going around as the chatter picked up. The few remaining pirates the ones who actually wanted to still fight the Fox Brothers be it for their bounty, personal vendettas, or just cause like Shane they wanted to pound their fists into some fellow's hard skull were now calling noticing their numbers diminishing and once they got wind of the slight tone of panic on the main ships, it began to spread to them as well. Soon a quite murmur was starting up, quitting may be the best thing to do after all.
Their numbers cut, their morale sliced clean in two...it was a wonder any of them had the heart to call themselves 'brave' adventurers. There was definite a clean line of panic forming in the people their strategy being shot to hell as the numbers were no longer in their favor. Forget panic, forget their still small chances, everybody was now acting like they had a 0 percent chance. More crews had decided to leave, leaving the Infinity Pirates with a startlingly small number of people willing to back them up. It had taken a little over a week to brandish such an impressive army and now...now just after a little over five minutes they had been reduced to a platoon, maybe a little over five crew remained (and that was counting the Dark Knight Pirates and Infinity Pirates.) They swallowed harshly as their bodies shook in fear. Could they handle this new, foreboding news?
"I say we go anyways," stated Mikoto stretching out and preparing the mental challenges ahead of them. "Just cause they are running away doesn't mean we have to." Shane smirked as he pounded his fists together, apparently more than happy at the sound of being able to fight once more. "We didn't really exactly plan on those guys being more than a diversion anyways. The Shichibukais are still standing around and waiting for us to come at them, so let's go! I really don't want to leave them waiting."
"Listen, captain," muttered Ridley, "I'm all for this rushing in and attacking plan of yours, but you got to think these things through. They outsmarted us. The scores now tied at them-one, us-nothing. I'll follow you if you decide to go through with this insane attack, but seriously just for once in your life think! We've lost our numbers, we lost our strategy, the odds of us losing increased! I'm a big fan of fighting and all, but I'm not going to have a Death Wish."
"So, what!" Mikoto shouted, "I'm never planned on outsmarting them, that's pretty much impossible for me anyways." There it was the words that could inspire an entire crew...to jump off the ship. They all knew it was true, outsmarting was way out of Mikoto's book, but still they had hoped he would be able to rally their souls and light their hearts on fire, but...instead his resounding remark was that. "I don't care if they outsmart me, the basic rule still remains...I just got beat the crap out of them, right? That was always my goal anyways." Indeed. The crew slowly began to get turned around. Mikoto was right. It was as he had said the other crews were just a diversion and they still had Mikoto on their side. Perhaps they actually had a chance of winning after all.
"Like I was saying," explained Ridley, "I'm fine with this crazy plan of attack, but...don't you think you should listen to my new and improved plan?" Ridley smirked and gave the crew an enticing smile, not unlike the ones snakes gave mouses before they swallowed them whole. It seems that with all the recent battles they had had when they were unprepared had made them forget...Ridley wasn't a man to sit down and call it quits...he had studied under Karasu Blackwell and knew how to wage war with the best of them. "Its a stupid course of action, I'll admit it, but...hey, as our captain just pointed out that's basically all we've got at this point. SO! Who's ready to go for it!" The crew nodded and soon were in an uproar as they charged off into their respective positions.
(-The next day-)
A stupid course of action, huh? An accurate way to describe the plan, but as the crew had pointed out...so was attacking the URA...Zenith Gaol...hell, almost everything they have done had been a stupid course of action, which with just the right amount of luck had managed to turn themselves into a force to be reckoned with. The crew gathered at the edge of their ships, looking on and at the small private islands that the Fox Brother undoubtedly could afford due to the number of pirates they handed in to the World Government. How the island came up for grabs was anybody's guess...and the guess tended to lie somewhere between the Fox Brothers destroying its original population and them enslaving it. Not two very good options.
Anyways! The crew was back on track, sailing around the island in their two fine ships, slowly approaching it. The Infinity Pirate's crew admittedly still lacked a certain something...oh, right! A sniper, the cannons on their ship were essentially dead-weight, but some of them took over and unleashed a haphazard onslaught on the island...and admittedly only about 80% of their cannonballs actually landed on the island. Which seemed like a good percentage for complete and total amateurs until you realized...they are firing at an island. A large landmass in the middle of the ocean and about 20% of their shots missed it.
Shane's crew was fairing better. With an official sniper they launched accurate shots upon the Fox Brother's island, rendering the nice forestation of their island to mulch. Of course, these were just welcoming shots. The crews were doing nothing more than announcing their arrival. Letting their opponents know...'hey, we are still coming for you'. The cannon balls shook the ground they landed and without a doubt caused a stir within the base soon after an outpouring of pirates came...if they could still be called that. Having sold their souls to the Marines for the title of Shichibukai they were unsure if they still deserved such a noble title.
They had gathered on the beach, waving their swords, demanding that they bring their ships around this instant so they could send a returning cannon fire upon the intruders...however, the cannon fire of said intruders had stopped. Perhaps they were turning tale as they should've rightfully done...or perhaps one of their pirates had already sneaked ashore. A delightful roar echoed across the land as Zesiro basically jettisoned out of the water like a missile, slicing at least a dozen of pirates to the ground. Zesiro planted his feet, pivoting around like a top and spelling doom to another dozen. He was moving throughout them all like a monster, powerful swings of his swords cautioned them all to stay away...and not to come any closer. Ordinarily such a plan would be half-baked after all asides from Zesiro, Ridley, and Maria none of the Infinity Pirates could really swim and even Maria confessed a certain dislike for it due to mechanical limbs getting filled with the liquid that irritated so many Devil Fruit users, but today...oh, today was special as it wasn't just the Infinity Pirates around.
Shino Mihara, the Salmon Fishman of the Infinity Pirates flipped onto the shore, crushing several of the pirates as he did so, and he did so happily. He whipped around, bringing his brass knuckles around, brandishing them and branding them into the skulls of all nearby pirates...a happy glee on his face considering how little he did on the last island. The two of them Zesiro and Shino definitely seemed like a fighting force to reckon, rapid punches assailed any pirate dumb enough to step towards them. And there was no shortage of them. The pirate basically flooded the beach, a nonstop salvo of these weaklings came one after another. They were just lucky that the Fox Brothers hadn't shown their faces yet as that would probably be the true worst-case scenario. They just needed to bide a little more time for the ships to dock and their allies to arrive.
Once again due to simply the superior size of their ship (and as a result sails and possibly an engine) the Dark Knight pirates arrived first on the shore. The Infinity Pirates had every right to feel inferior as the Reymundo leapt off of the ship in a gallant charge, swinging his sword around and instantly cleaving a mess of the opposing pirates from the field. He grinned as the rest of them poured out. Dai Mungai, the other Fishman of the Dark Knight Pirates, flowed out as well...apparently he had eaten a Devil Fruit and couldn't swim as a result. But once he was on dry land he was just as vicious as the other two, bashing heads together, swiftly kicking guts...it was a thing of raw beauty...you know if you find idiotic pirates being thrown nearly 30 feet across the air and into rock solid cliffs beautiful.
A gigantic cleaver came cutting through the air, blowing the pirates into the air and away from them. The Dark Knight Pirates were definitely a pirate group to be feared. It was actually a crying shame that the pirate crews who ran away with their tails in-between their legs couldn't see this. Maybe they could take some pointers on how real pirates acted! And if they didn't want to take lessons from the Dark Knight pirates never fear as the Infinity Pirates finally set foot on dry land...well, kind of...apparently the ship wasn't going fast enough so paying no heed to the water beneath them. Maria leapt from the ship, landing in the still about chest deep water while the rest of the crew tried to bring the ship in a bit deeper as they was no docks so the Devil Fruit users needed to be basically dropped off in the kiddy pool. But Maria wasn't the one who needed to wait, so she jumped onto the ground making sure that she would definitely get a head or two before they began the true full-frontal charge.
Ridley sat back as Aaron decided and literally said, "what the hell," following Maria's lead and jumped into the water. Ridley and Rosa remained the only two capable swimmers left on the ship, neither one of them willing to risk their necks just yet. After all, this was only phase one of the plan.
No Sense in Waiting Around
Ta-Da! I've been having trouble maintaining the 3000 words a chapter limit thing I've got set. Its seriously more difficult, I guess 2000 words is just more my style.