The Rumbling Hunger

Mikoto paused as he looked up and out of the fortress towards the sky. A large disc had broken away the top of the castle and was now taking up half of the sky. Mikoto bit down his lip as he tried to figure out what it was. "That looks important," he muttered. He pulled his sleeves back and stepped on the gas. "Whatever that is I'm betting one of the Fox Brothers is there right now!" Mikoto jumped off and into the air.

Against Trevor Mikoto had learned the basics of his fighting prowess. Rapid-Fire, After-Image, Geppou were all born on that island the very foundation of them all. As he traveled around he had fine-tuned them into weapons that were perfect for him. Against Kraven the barest awakening of his Colors of Observation Haki took root and grew. Mikoto wasn't sure about anything any more, but he could tell he would need everything now to take down the fates that awaited him.

"Geppou!" Mikoto shouted as he leapt into the air. The tingly feeling that often resided in his legs after just one of these were no longer there. He didn't really believe he had Ridley's training to thank for this, but nonetheless even as silly as it was there was something to do with it. Mikoto took a deep breath as his legs flexed once more, "Geppou!" Mikoto took off even higher, his one-shot limit on Geppou broken.

The basics of Geppou came from a superhuman body while Mikoto wasn't quite certain if that applied to him, but he knew and trusted that his legs were. "Geppou!" Mikoto took off once more this time rocketing even higher, clearing heights of greater than one or two stories with the last three bursts. This was it! Another one and another one! Mikoto took to the sky in zig-zagging formation, he would catch up with that disc within seconds!

"Mikoto!" shouted a nearby voice. Causing the young captain to halt in his tracks. Mikoto turned around to face the voice, nearly forgetting to keep jumping and almost fell right back down, before he recalled the need. The voice wasn't familiar and yet it was. Almost like from out of a dream. Mikoto paused as he took another look at the disc. If he waited any longer it could get farther out to sea and possibly out of his Geppou's range as impressive as he believed it to be.

"Mikoto!" the voice shouted once more and snapped Mikoto's attention to it. Whatever it was, whoever it was Mikoto had decided it was worth finding out about. A stern nagging appearing in the back of his head that whoever it was was important.

It was on another floor. Mikoto had almost raced straight past it had he not heard it when he did. His Geppou and speed would've easily had separated him from it. Mikoto paused as he looked around, realizing how stupid it was to foolishly believe that a random voice he had just heard. He was in the enemy's base after all.

It was Gojasu Alys, the woman Ridley had met in prison. She was a childhood 'friend' of Mikoto, but right now she stayed in the shadows, watching Mikoto. She had called him over here mostly out of surprise, believing today would be the day. It had to be the day, she had to warn him...but she found herself once more unable to.

She had been instructed not to talk to Mikoto unless it was an emergency. Any interference on her part could prevent Mikoto from getting the growth he needed. Or at least that was the excuse she had been given. This was just another moment of his growth and that was it. She was with Mikoto from beginning to end. He had the strength to be a Shichibukai and this was just another moment to prove that he did.

She was, of course, worried about such a deadly machine rising up again, but if Mikoto was here stopping it shouldn't be too dangerous. Along with Shane and that man, Bando. Of course, Alys had no real opinion of either of them yet. No, that wasn't entirely true. Bando was a mystery, which was alright by Alys. She, too, was a mystery, so she couldn't fault him for that.

The real problem was Shane. A man who was so honestly intent on fighting with Mikoto that he stated such things face-to-face with him while he was even allied with such a teammate. A man who could see Shichibukais and feel no fear. This was the talent of Shane. Alys shivered in fear as she thought about him. He was a man wanted by the Marines for some unknown crime.

Mikoto hesitated for a few more seconds before shrugging and taking off. He didn't have time to wait around, whoever shouted at him would have to wait. His target was the flying disc. Mikoto took off once more into the sky.

Alys sighed and turned to leave. She had her own business to take care of. It would've been better had Paradise not been raised, but she supposed she was too late to just stop that. There were other things she had to finish up. Paradise had taken to the sky, so the fortress was now empty aside from the few and far people left waiting around for Alistair's return.

Mikoto was going to go do what was needed of him now and Alys would do the same. Hopefully in doing that they would be able to bring down the wretched machine that should never have had been brought back from the past.

(-With Ridley-)

Ridley smirked as he flipped his guitar up and onto his shoulder. Things were going exceedingly well for what he was expecting. Admittedly he did get slightly stirred when he saw the machine take flight, but that was one thing what he was planning was another. If the Fox Brother wanted to turn this little meet and greet of theirs into a battle of strategies Ridley would oblige.

This was a fairly big island and the Fox Brothers were fairly self-sufficient. Ridley assumed they probably took care of a lot of their own issues like food and water. And given how quick they were to sever their ties with the Marines. Ridley assumed these guy were smarter than the average Joe and had back-ups in place. After all being aligned with the Marines probably included some pretty sweet connections like ships, food, and weapons. So if they were so-willing to lose those connections they probably had some other ones in place.

Or, Ridley presumed, they took care of those factors here themselves. They weren't exactly the friendliest bunch so Ridley guessed connections were too far and too few. A few more pushes and pulls on these connections could possibly cause them to break. So Ridley smirked confidently as he began to examine their files.

Anything he found could be put to immediate use of sabotaging. If he found even the slightest hint at their dirty laundry he could air it and use that to deal another blow. Or at the very least find out more about that large ship that just took off.

Ridley began shuffling through the papers in search of something important, but ultimately not a whole lot of information came to fruition. There was a bunch of technical jargon that he couldn't decipher, it was possible that perhaps Maria as a shipwright could make some headway with it, but he didn't even think that was true.

A lot of its confusion came from foreign tools that Ridley already found questionable. The steam engine turning propellers to create a form of downwards thrust. Not to mention a few other techniques here and there that remained untranslated from the previous language. Ultimately as far as Ridley could tell it was the diagram for a large floating fortress like the machine he had just seen. However, other than the ultimate form of transportation it told Ridley nothing about the machine.

Ridley took a step back from the files and looked around. The information he had recovered so far wasn't enough. However, there was a few other objects within this room that caught his interest. The PDA system was notable as it would let him get in contact with the rest of his crew all at once, but aside from that it meant nothing to him.

He came to rest near the stand. He would rather learn the status of the rest of his crew rather than tell them his. He needed to get up to speed rather quickly. He still didn't remember how he got out of prison, but it didn't matter. He was out and in charge now. He just hoped that the rest of his crew were managing to handle themselves half as well.

Nonetheless Ridley kicked his feet up onto the nearby desk, chuckling to himself as he toyed around with the cord of the Den-Den Mushi hooked up to the PDA system. Perhaps it was just the teenage boy in him, but he really just wanted to make armpit farts into it.

(-With Sage-)

She was still with Rosa, Lily, and Reymundo, but Reymundo had taken a little damage so he had naturally began sitting fights out more and more often. Rosa had, of course, initially stepped up to the plate, but even then her only wasn't enough. Sage still hadn't been able to use her full-power though. The technique that had captured Shane's interest. However, right now she had to admit it had come time to use it.

"Yeee! Zo zo zo!" laughed a man as he sat down on top of Rosa. Sage had to admit it was odd, it was almost as if he knew her movements way before she even attempted to make them herself. It was as if...

"As if I had Colors of Observation Haki?" asked the man as he stood up and patted himself clean, "cause I do. I can hear my opponent' thoughts and eat them up." The guy shuffled forward towards her as he produced a small toothpick and began to pic his teeth clean. "I've already digested my first meal so I'm moving on to my next course. And I'm afraid that's you."

Sage paused for a second as she looked around. Nobody else was around, it looked like it had to be her to defeat this man. She recalled a few of their past interactions with the other men and women on this island, "what kind of predator are you?" she asked as she eyed him up and down, "I heard people talk about their level and most people here are also part animal through some twisted manner."

"Why would I do something like dilute my pure predator's blood with something of an animal?" muttered the man, "human beings are the apex predators, we always had been. Our superiority is proven everyday on the dinner plate when we devour those inferior to us. The superior eats the inferior, that is the law of the animal kingdom. And we humans are animals like all other creatures under the sun. So we eat those inferior to us."

Sage shivered at that thought. The way he said made it sound like he ate...

"Humans?" he finished her thought for her. He picked at a little more of the food stuck in his teeth. "Quite right. Human beings are a delectable course just like all other beings as long as they cooked right, a true chef should not discriminate against what food goes on their plate. As long as the food is delicious and well-handled it should not matter the source."

Sage took a half-step backwards. Just the thought of eating another human being repulsed her. Was he honestly trying to argue that eating human flesh was an okay thing to do? That crossed more lines of ethics than being a pirate would ever cross!

The man laughed once more as he approached Sage. "You see the predicament you are in right?" he asked. "If you dare to run away I'll be making Filet Mig-man out of your friend here."

Dinner

Another chapter.