Zrzeczenie się: Podziękowania dla wszystkich polskich czytelników, którzy czytają Kaijōsei w lutym bardziej niż w jakimkolwiek innym kraju! Nawet połączone, tylko równa twój widok liczyć...
Umm... I mean...
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece...?
"Two people speaking at the same time"
Chapter 3: Exceeding Expectations
Contrary to what the top brass would have the general populace believe, the Marines were anything but a united front. When the chips were down and shit hit the fan, they banded together in an instant and worked well against adversity. But once the fight was won, you could have dozens of different opinions on where to go from there.
Once you reached a certain rank in the hierarchy, a recruit was bound to have some kind of jurisdiction—often unchecked or unchallenged—so the organization as a whole supported the growth of individual ideas of morality. While this provides flexibility in the face of the tides of time, in the short term it meant that there were too many cooks in the kitchen trying to make delicious 'Justice': it's hard for them to agree what is best in any quality, and the final dish is often unpleasing to the customer.
And if you were real unlucky, things blew back up in your face while you were cooking, as one former Admiral could attest to.
Yet for all the problems that arise, it could not be denied that the Marines remained strong. The current line-up of Admirals didn't have anywhere near matching ideals of Justice, yet when it came down to it they got the job done and kept things going. And so the same would continue with all the recruits, even as they bore witness to the ongoing battles of idealism within.
At least Lieutenant Commander Hardy knew without a doubt he was the better.
Hardy caught on quickly that if he got transferred elsewhere his men would suffer. Of the already scarce number of men that might replace him, none would provide an effective protection from the monster of a man that led the division. As the Marines protected the people, Hardy believed someone had to be able to protect the Marines, and in the face of the threat of Nelson he found himself the only man capable of the job.
Not that the higher-ups agreed with him, of course; he'd already been offered plenty of promotions. But as Hardy continued to grow in strength and gained recognition, eventually they had to give him advancements that didn't come attached with a transfer; with some of the skills he'd accumulated, it'd almost be demoralizing for him to be such a low rank.
The rank of Lieutenant Commander was far more impressive when one realized how he obtained it—denying a promotion is really only easy for a Vice-Admiral after all—and what it implied in terms of his strength.
But Hardy-Shōsa was not an egotistical man, and knew where he stood. Despite attaining the rank of shōsa he refused the preferred dress suit attire fitting his station, continuing to wear the traditional uniform beneath his coat. With all those offered positions, he was never once offered the rank of Vice-Admiral. Whether it was simply because they realized he wouldn't leave his men for Marineford, or that his strength was not yet up to par didn't matter. What mattered to him was that he had further to go, if he was ever to take down Nelson Royale.
The higher rank he attained, the more clout he could wield against the teikoku in hopes of seeing him removed from command, and the more access he might have to discover how the man received the pseudo-Admiral title in the first place. Something about the greedy glutton had always smelled of corruption from up above, and Hardy had never been fool enough to think the Marines were infallible.
All that said, the Lieutenant Commander was not adverse to a quicker, less straightforward end to the Nelson's reign, so long as it didn't involve hurting his men. Fun as taunting Eric may have been, Hardy knew from the get-go that the motives of 'The Whirlwind' were suspect at best; a blunder on Nelson's hands from a rogue agent he funded could easily turn the tides in his favor, especially on the quest for immortality that the tub of lard was so fond of.
As mad as he'd get, it was more liable to get others watching over him to be quite a bit more put out at loosing the chance to live forever. With any luck, his rank might be stripped away and the plight of the 8th Division would end at last.
So, naturally, he kept a few extra Marines that he knew could take care of themselves out and about to keep an eye on Eric's activities. One in particular—with his lazy attitude and general lack of threatening appearance—shot the breeze with the hired gun when he could to get him to let his guard down around him, who not only managed to succeed at that along with his two friends, but also just reported in about a rather suspicious call on the Den Den Mushi that got him to head out to the island.
If what Smoker-Taisa (Captain) found out is true, I'll have to recommend those three for promotion, Hardy thought with a smile as he stepped out of the communications room. Even if we're not sure whom he was keeping tabs on or if they were up to something illegal, the fact of the matter is that Eric bribed Marines to spy on someone and keep the information secret. That ought to be good enough with the White Chaser pissed off at him too.
Walking out to the deck, his grin grew as he looked out to Warship Island. I don't even have to do a lot of dirty work, either. Things are finally going my way—
*BOOM*
—and I had to open my big, fat mouth... he finished mentally as a cloud of debris burst out near the base of the island's mountain formation. That was big enough for all three ships to see; one of them is bound to report to Nelson. Damn!
"Hardy-Shōsa, your orders?"
Even in getting yourself caught, you have to make everything a pain... "Gather a squad of men with rifles and move silently into the woods. If you get a clear shot on any party in that fight, take it." And with that, he turned back towards the communications room. Maybe I can make Smoker-Taisa get this thing over with tonight...
—-—-—
(Meanwhile — Warship Island)
*BOOM*
For a time, the dust simply continued to erupt until a gust of wind abruptly split the pall in two. The two stood in roughly the same places as if nothing had taken place, but around them the terrain was now flattened and brown. As the nearby river began to flow again, spreading about the rough circle of barren dirt, Koala shifted into a forward stance, her forward hand outstretched and the palm upward with her other palm directed inward to the first's elbow.
He blocked my strike in midair somehow, she pondered. And here I thought those nails meant he was going to get in close. Grinning, she cracked her neck as she amended her thoughts. This might be more fun though, considering the opening draw; I almost wish I'd brought Umizoui for this.
Eric, on the other hand, kept his body and expression as neutral as possible as he analyzed their initial clash. For a martial artist of some kind, her build had led me to underestimate her skills; even for a low-level slash, to counter it in mid-flight reveals she's not all talk. "It seems I'd best not underestimate your abilities, woman," he finished aloud before shrugging as he shook his head, "but I'm afraid that—" "You're next phrase will be..."
"I, Eric the Wirlwind, will not be so easy to defeat either... right?"
"Ah?"
The brunette simply widened her smirk at him with a thin barring of teeth as she pointed at him lazily. "And after that: 'How did you know what I was going to say?' you'll say."
"How did you know what I was going to sa—AH?!" the hired gun balked in surprise at having his words read before he said them. "Shut your damn mouth! Kama Kama no Kamaitachi!" Swinging his nailed hand forward with his index and middle fingers extended, the air itself was cut as the slicing attack flew towards her, only to suddenly disperse before it made much headway as she jabbed her finger forward slightly. "What?"
Koala just flashed more teeth and leaned a bit closer as she wiggled her extended finger tauntingly. "I know the thought processes of arrogant bounty hunters like the back of my hand. A little prediction and prodding and I got to see your little technique in isolated action. For such a subtle ability, calling out your Devil's Fruit seems like such a waste of talent, Weasel-san."
Eric simply scoffed in return. "And what would you know, since you supposedly haven't consumed a fruit?"
"I know not to give your opponent valuable information on your skills, like the name of your Devil's Fruit," she shot back, the anger returning to her voice as she continued. "I get that it's kinda common these days, but that doesn't make it smart. But I digress; the fact of the matter is that I now understand how your ability works."
"Ha! And you preach to me of my arrogance? What a foolish bluff." he retorted as he brought his straightened fingers to his face. "No one knows the inner workings of Devil's Fruit's effects on a person, yet here you claim—"
"Wrong," Koala cut him off as she straightened herself, her index finger still directed towards the object of her current ire. "You over-exaggerate the meaning of my words, Whirlwind; I mean to say that I know how you produce blades of wind."
"And if you know how, you can stop it, right? We'll see about that." Even as I say that, Eric thought, she has already stopped Kamaitachi twice—once before she supposedly understood how it works. I'd better step it up. "Kama Kama no..." Eric paused as he whispered something, shaking his fingers before his face. "...Tsumujikaze! (Sickle Sickle Whirlwind!)" Launching his hands out repeatedly, multiple of blades of wind shimmered faintly in the air as they flew towards her.
He's taking me more seriously, I suppose... the martial artist thought. But not enough! Bringing her hands towards her chest, she ran forward with a burst of speed and effortlessly slid between the blades of wind before running right up to the mercenary.
So fast! Eric barely managed to react in time to deflect a punch aimed straight for his face with the side of his arm. Trying to counter with another blade of wind down the offending appendage, his attack hit nothing but air as his opponent simply rolled with the momentum and slid to the side with her other arm ready to elbow him in the nose.
Leaning back with surprising flexibility, he caught himself with his hands and made to push off into a kick to her jaw, only for her to twist off to the side and dodge the attack, leaving him to catch himself on the side of a tree with his arm holding onto a branch for stability.
Both of those strikes should have still hit him, Koala analyzed as she got back into her stance, It seems his ability is cutting through the air pressure of my attacks by itself. It doesn't seem like he noticed; he'd be bragging it up right now, otherwise. "You see, 'stop' wasn't exactly the word I had in mind," she called up with a smirk as she prepared her taunt, "but if by stop then you mean 'never get hit by it again', then I can get behind that."
"That's enough out of you," Eric responded with surprising calm, adjusting his grip to the tree, "Until I'm torturing the information on the Ryūkotsu from you, there's no point in listening to your useless babble."
The brunette blinked. "Huh, I guess arrogance has some upsides after all."
"Kama Kama no Kamaitachi!" Eric launched another blade of wind at her, only for her to extend her index finger again and jab it forward, ending the strike. How is she doing that? Could she be bluffing about not being a De—?! At the last second, he sensed the attack coming and leapt from the tree as the martial artist stabbed her entire hand into the tree where he'd been hanging.
"Is it really okay to space out like that?" she chided as she whipped her hand back out of the tree, causing the upper half to come unhinged and fall to the ground. To his further surprise, she seemed able to effortlessly stand straight on the tree parallel to the ground. "What? Do I have some bark on my face?"
That tears it; she has to have some kind of ability, he assured himself as he drew a hand back to his face and shook it. Tricky, but it won't get you anywhere. "Shushushu... Kama Kama no Tsumujikaze!" Once again, multiple wind slashes approached her with frightening speed, some now long enough to slice up the ground with their approach to reveal a larger number than before.
Smirking, Koala jumped off the tree into a backflip high above the slashes as she raised her hands from her sides over her head. In an instant, she brought her hands down and with them she came crashing down to the ground, the cutting attack silenced a moment before she herself landed with a hard impact that obscured her figure in another cloud of dust.
She's still stopping my attacks from a distance! Eric sweated in mind and body as he tried to discern her form. What ability can halt my attacks without any indication?
"It really is getting on my nerves, your ability..." Her voice echoed from the billowing debris.
"Heh, are my attacks becoming troublesome to dodge? I haven't even gone full out yet, so why don't you save yourself the troubl—Hrk!" The mercenary keeled over as a sudden impact to his sternum left him gripping his chest, unintentionally cutting up his suit with his abnormally long nails. "Y-you wench...!"
In the same instant, a burst of debris had shot out from the billows, only for it to split away to reveal Koala with her hair shadowing her eyes and her arm outstretched, index finger pointed straight at where he'd felt the brunt of the force. "No... Even your Devil's Fruit defending you from the brunt of my attacks can be avoided like so. And despite your unintentional insult earlier, it really isn't sticking in my mind. No, it's you that's getting on my nerves, Eric the Whirlwind..."
"What?"
"Answer me this," she began, proposing a question for a question, as she brought her hand back to her side, "What do you consider your profession?"
Eric just flinched mid-stand before straightening fully. "My profession? What nonsense are you on about? My profession is whatever I say it is! If it makes me money or brings me closer to becoming undefeatable, then I do it. Theft, bankruptcy, espionage, assassination," Koala's open hand twitched at that, but the mercenary continued unnoticing, "you name the right price or the right target, and I do it!"
The brunette sighed. "And that's why you're weak."
"Weak, you sa—?" Before he could finish, Koala shot her hand out again, upside-down this time with index outstretched upwards as it's pointed target took another blow—this time the solar plexus—sending him to his knees as he struggled to catch his breath.
"Exactly, Eric!" she exclaimed with false praise before letting her anger show again, his lower position granting him the view of her eyes boring into him like the relentless tide eroding a cliff long-overdue. "You fancy yourself an assassin, but what do you really have to show for it? If you're really a good assassin, I should have been dead from the moment you saw me while I was meditating; I should have never realized you were there in the first place."
"About the only thing about you that I could even feasibly link to the word 'assassin' is your outfit—" continued Koala, gesturing to the garments in question, "—and that's not even all good! Yes, you've got the professional look, but the style looks like you've been taking the etymology waaaaay too seriously…"
Eric blankly stared back, completely lost in the conversation. "Etymology…?"
Huffing in impatience, the dark anger in her blue-black gaze shifted to irritation before returning stronger than ever. "I mean that it makes it look like you use hashish. Or maybe you're just gay... You know, saying your fruit is the 'Okama' fruit wouldn't be a bad subtlety either."
Eric rose to his feet at that, face blood red in his livid state. "Shut your damn face, bitch! Shushushushu... Kama Kama no Tsumujikaze!"
"See that's the problem," Koala went on as if nothing had happened, bending out of the way of his attacks at an unreal speed as she continued her speech, "you have no subtlety, yet you call yourself an assassin? You have no right to even speak that word in front of me."
"And what makes you an expert?!" Eric retorted, still throwing wind blades. "Just shut up and die!"
The brunette raised an eyebrow at that as she replied with heavy sarcasm, "Aww, I thought you were going to torture me for information; I was just playing with you..."
"I've had enough of your worthless prattle! I'll obliterate you with my most powerful technique, and torture the other little girl to obtain the Ryūkotsu!"
Koala's eyes hardened at that. "Over my dead body."
"That's the gist of it! Kama Kama no..."
"You asked me..." she projected despite her low voice so that the mercenary could hear her as she took a wide stance with her arms at her sides, "what makes me an expert in the work of an assassin..."
"Shushushushushu... Kamaitachi Midareuchi! (Sickle Sickle Whirlwind Cut Chaos Attack!)" Swinging his hands out even faster than before, a whirlwind of razor-sharp wind enveloped Eric and launched forward at Koala, tearing apart trees and earth alike as it rampaged towards her still form.
"Tekkai (Iron Mass)."
—-—-—
(Meanwhile)
"What is that lunatic doing?!" Hardy shouted as he saw Eric's windstorm rise from the forest. Well, he's certainly making a strong case in helping me expedite Nelson Royale's demotion, but... "Prepare another squad to escort a medic onto the island; we don't want any civilian casualties, and the sniper squad might be injured. I'll move out and handle Eric myself."
"Yes Shōsa!" As the men hurried to carry his orders out, the Lieutenant Commander finished placing his sword and sheath on his belt and leapt off the edge for the coast.
Eric... Nelson... By this time tomorrow, you'll never have command over these men again. With that thought, Hardy pulled his legs in and declared, "Geppō (Moonwalk)!" as he extended them again, pushing himself off the air with a small burst of wind left in his wake. As he repeated the process in focused concentration, he failed to notice a green bird amidst the rigging—which hadn't taken its eyes off of him ever since it had landed there—take flight towards the island mountain.
—-—-—
"I see... Thank you," Apis said, having listened to the bird's report of the Marines' activities. Though the Hiso Hiso no Mi seemed intrinsically useful, it really only came in handy when animals were interesting in helping or had useful bits of information; in this case the wildlife wasn't exactly pleased with the ruckus Marines had a habit of being around, and Eric was only making that worse, so it hadn't been hard to convince the avian to help her stay aware of the situation.
As the bird flew away, Apis turned back beneath the wing of Ryu-ji and absorbed all she had learned. Truth be told, she wanted to go out there and try and warn Koala or help in someway, but she quickly realized that course of action was counterproductive. At the end of the day, she was the target—or at least by proxy, since the Marines didn't know there was a living Millennium Dragon—and her friend was pulling them off the trail. Making an appearance would only ruin all that she was working for.
Man, the Warship Islander thought, did she have this already planned out, or is she just really good at turning bad luck around? Looking to Ryu-ji, she smiled after a moment and nodded back. "You're right, Ryu-ji. Koala is really strong, stronger than anyone I've ever known. If you believe she can help us, then how can I not have faith in her?"
*BOOM*
The sound of cannon fire echoed throughout the cave, shaking rocks loose from the ceiling before the mountain itself shook from the real shockwave. As Ryu-ji defended her, Apis couldn't help but echo her words again in hope and prayer. Don't die out there, Koala.
—-—-—
As he finished his technique, Eric could only smirk at the destruction he had wrought about him. Not only had he mowed down stone and bark alike, but among the rubble he also spied, much to his initial surprise, the injured and occasionally mangled bodies of Marines who had been caught on the edge of his attack. Fools. They should have stayed back and let me finish her off, and they paid for their error with their worthless lives.
Still, he thought as he turned back to the cloud of debris where his target had been, if this is the damage I can expect from the fringe, then she must've been obliterated. Turning around towards the mountain, he started walking off to look for Apis. "Heh—"
"So much for the infamous Kaijōsei Koala... right?"
"—!" Eric spun back around to see that the air had somehow cleared, revealing that Koala was still standing in the same position no worse for wear; not even her clothes had taken any damage, with the exception of being rather dirty due to the detrital pall. Dusting herself off of these things like she hadn't been caught in a deadly attack only made Eric more confused. "That's impossible! There's no way yo—!"
"I told you..." she interrupted him as she stood up normally, "I'd show you why I'm an expert on assassins. You think you're an assassin, but you've never gone up against the real McCoy—" the brunette blinked at her own turn of phrase before chuckling to herself as she ruffled her own hair. "Man... All of 'em are crazy strong, with a set of skills that surpasses the limits of humanity..." Smiling as she looked back up, she finished, "They've also got better banter than you, too."
Eric grit his teeth audibly before drawing his hands back to his face. "I already told you to shut up and die, you bitch! Kama Kama no—!"
"Soru (Shave)!"
In an instant, she vanished before Eric could prepare his attack. "Wh—"
"The game ends here..." Behind him, Koala had appeared with her leg swinging horizontally towards him. "Let me show you an assassin's wind slash... Rankyaku (Tempest Leg)!"
Ramming the front of her leg across his back at an incredible speed, a visible burst of compressed air sliced into him as the kick itself sent him flying across the clearing formed by his attack. With a choked cry of pain he managed to land on his feet, only to fall to his knees and hit the ground, cracking his sunglasses with the impact as he breathed heavily in pain.
"I went light and aimed between your major organs," Koala called out as she walked over, "so you'll live if you get the cut treated fast enough. Worst-case scenario, your spine may be pretty messed up, but that'll depend on what you do instead of what I've done."
"Y-y-you...!"
The martial artist simply stared down at the mercenary. "I've only assimilated the techniques I've gone up against on the fly, and yet you see what an an uninitiated person like me can do with these skills. To a real assassin, your skills are worth less than nothing."
Eric coughed to clear his throat as he tried to over come the shock. "And you say you went up against these 'real assassins', yet here you are alive. Not very good at their jobs, are they?"
"No..." Koala responded, "I only made it out alive thanks to luck and tenacity. After my first run-in, I managed to stay off their radar for a long time, or else I definitely wouldn't be here. By the time they tracked me down again I was able to pick one of their members out of a crowd much easier and avoid fighting as much as possible, or on my own terms if it came down to it. As strong as I am, I wouldn't bet on myself against them yet; they're quite superhuman."
"And you're not?" Eric managed to mutter through the pain, "Being able to replicate the power of a Devil's Fruit is totally insane!"
"Well, what can I say?" she replied, showing she'd heard him. "Your power doesn't seem to be that strong, or is that actually your fault for not developing it better?" It's not like Rokushiki (Six Powers) come easy: getting this good at them took a lot of practice and training on top of working with Gyojin Karate. "In any case—"
Wait... Cannon fire! "—Uchimizu!"Reaching down to the bottom of her dress, she drew water from the edge where it had been sitting in the water and launched it above her into an oncoming cannonball, causing it to explode above them with a loud boom. "Tch, they're firing on the island even though they saw your technique? And there's still a bunch of injured Marines here, too..."
—-—-—
(Meanwhile — Seas Surrounding Warship Island)
Faster than anyone would have expected, Warship Island became surrounded by a tremendous fleet of Marine ships bearing the mark of the 8th Division, with iron chains held out across the squadron as they formed a circle around the landmass and the other three Marine vessels. And from outside the circle sat the unusual flagship of their fleet, red roof and all, carrying on it their obtuse 'admiral'.
"Buehehehee!" Nelson chuckled as he fanned himself on the deck, currently seated in a luxurious seat that had poles for being carried out on deck. "That'll teach Eric to keep me in the dark! And with the Kakuyoku no Jin (Crane Wing Formation), whoever he was chasing will have no chance to escape!"
"Shall we fire again, Teikoku?" one of the Marines manning the cannon stood up and asked with a salute.
"No," the heavy man replied, "One shot will do as a warning. From here out, we can't risk killing the target; send squads to search the island!" Closing his fan, he seethed a little as he stared out at the island. "If we'd simply tortured the information out of her in the first place, we wouldn't be in this situation. This time we'll make sure she tells us everything she knows about the Sennenryū!"
—-—-—
(At The Same Time — Warship Island)
Koala whistled from the treetops as she purveyed the warships before her. Despite the late hour, the brunette martial artist had had enough time for her eyes to adjust to the dark in order to see the formation. Having her eyes closed in mediation had helped, but admittedly she'd relied more on her other senses—both traditional and more supernatural—in her fight against Eric.
For all the dressing down she gave him, it was honestly unnerving and impressive that he still kept track of her in the dark with his sunglasses on.
"That's the 8th Division, eh?" she muttered to herself with a dint of sarcasm. "They certainly pull out all the stops trying to get their immortality fix, don't they... Marine-san?"
From the foliage Hardy stepped up to about his waist, his hands casually behind his back but his face serious. "I'd like to say that most Marines have such devotion whether or not personal gain is at hand, but I'd expect that you've had a few too many bad experiences to feel that way."
Koala shook her head. "On the contrary. I'm quite aware that there are plenty of good Marines out there—and you're probably not too bad of one yourself, Shōsa."
It took almost all of the Lieutenant Commander's focus and will to not fall off the tree. "How do you know my rank?"
"Little birdies have been telling me lots of things lately, Hardy-san," she jibed playfully back. Even if the Marines weren't aware of Apis' power, the double meaning was too good to pass up. "Though you using Geppō coming over here certainly would have tipped me off a bit more if I weren't already aware."
"I see..."
A pregnant pause passed as Hardy simply stood there stroking his mustache.
"Soooooooooo..." Koala began, unsure what was going on, "are you going to try and capture me, or...?"
"Well," he began, "my primary goal was taking down Eric the Whirlwind—"
"Which I did for you..." she supplied with a hint of sarcastic irritation.
"—and to protect my men that I'd sent to handle him."
"I'm not after your men, or else I would be stopping your medics instead of talking to you." The influx of more men hadn't escaped her notice, and she'd picked up on their movement fairy easily. "Heck, I didn't even hurt your men before; Eric's final attack swept up all your snipers. If I had to, I would have just knocked them out."
"Then I don't have to protect them from you, and thus have no need to fight you."
What. "Okay, I know I said I knew there were good Marines out there, but... I mean, not hurting your men or not, I am a wanted bounty head of a palpable size for East Blue. And you're just going to stand there and shoot the breeze with me instead of taking me in."
Hardy had gone back to stroking his mustache. "Sounds about right."
"...I'd be suspicious of a trap, but I'm almost positive you're not lying... Is that... legal?"
"Well, to be perfectly honest, I don't actually know who you are," Koala couldn't help but rest her face in her awaiting palm at that, "and to be honest it's probably better off that way. My commanding officer was not only incredibly corrupt but also abusive to the men beneath his station."
"And if you were to bring me in, you'd totally get slated for a promotion. That'd help protect your men, wouldn't it?" Seriously, her bounty plus what they'd probably do with her once they had her alive was sure to get the guy to Captain at least.
"Not if the promotion came with a new assignment, and most of them do. Besides, you've done quite a lot to help that situation."
"Huh?" All I did was get Apis here undetected and beat up a merc; how does that benefit the Marines?
"Eric bribed Marines in Loguetown if not other towns as well in order to track you down. Even if I can't get Nelson Royale demoted after all this, that mercenary's going to be answering to the White Hunter."
"Nice to know Smoker does have some clout out in the world; I was beginning to worry all that good stopped short at his town's port..." Despite the friendly nature of their conversation, Koala was sweating a bit in her head. That little weasel! If he told the Marines who he was looking for... No, either way, I might have Loguetown's Captain on my doorstep—Raoul's doorstep. I have to get back soon and make sure nothing's happened. "Well, since you're listening so kindly, I'll fill you in on my plans for the evening—might help make a better report, eh?"
"Hmm?"
"See, I know next to nothing about all this immortality crap your superior's interested in," she began with the straightest face she could muster. At least she was telling half-truths, but she had to sell this or else this could go sour really quick, "and the little girl he's after doesn't really know anything either, but we both know he won't stop unless someone takes him down a notch. So I'm going to slide on board his ship and deck him for you."
"Yo–you'll do what?" It was one thing letting a potential pirate go, Hardy had come to terms with that; making deals with said character to beat up his lardy teikoku was something completely different.
"You heard me, though I suppose you'll want plausible deniability so feel free to 'not' hear me." The brunette gave him a shrug and turned back towards the noticeably larger ship beyond the formation. "I have to get out of this blockade eventually, and the farther all the Marines are from this island the better. What better way to get their attention than to knock out their boss?"
Though he couldn't see it, she grinned as she felt him lower his head in thought to consider. At such close range she could afford to be subtle with her skills. "Besides, you could lead them on a chase after me anyways. We could have an exhibition fight just to bank on both of us rising in bounty and rank respectively."
"And you can get on and take him out without any other Marines on board?" Super stealthy? Incredibly fast? How strong can she be to believe she can do it? And Hardy certainly didn't see any doubt in her eyes after his inquiry. "Ma'am, before you had my attention; now you have my curiosity."
"Ma'am, huh...? I like it." She turned about showing off her bright smile. "Do you want to know my name? Speak now or forever hold your peace, Shōsa-San..."
The Lieutenant Commander chuckled back, "You act like I can't look you up later in our records."
Koala gave him her cutest pout. "Meanie, you're no fun." She couldn't hold it for long, though, as pirate and Marine shared a laugh together.
Hardy let out a finishing sigh as he looked up at the moon, its nearly full form before him rising through the stars. "A woman should be an illusion..."
"I'll take that as a no...?"
I just can't get this damn smile to fall off my face, can I? "Just get outta here before I change my mind about more than who you are."
"Aye aye, Shōsa!" the brunette saluted mockingly yet properly as she leapt off into the air before kicking the air into the sky. "Geppō!"
The Lieutenant Commander simply stared after her before pulling his Marine cap over his face with the grin never faltering. She's at least as good at Geppō, and likely better than me at the other techniques of Rokushiki. And yet for the physical prowess it implies, she has such a free spirit. She seems almost unreal; an illusion indeed.
"Shōsa!" A Marine called up from beneath the treelike, garnering Hardy's attention through an opening in the foliage. "We've gathered all the injured and made them stable enough to travel. Only a few serious injuries but no lost limbs, and with care soon they'll all be just fine."
"Excellent. See to it that they're all taken to the ship for treatment, and reassure the villagers that everything is alright: we've apprehended a dangerous man who was lurking about in the forest."
"Right away, sir!"
I'd best get to my ship, Hardy thought. It'll be great if she does as she said she would, but 'trust but verify' and all that; it doesn't hurt that I get a nice front row seat.
—-—-—
(About One Hundred Feet In The Air)
"Uuah! Such a nice view!" Koala said to herself as she ascended high into the cloudless night sky. "The stars and wind all around me make me feel so calm..."
Down below, she could hear the sounds of gears turning and machinery as the strange warship behind the iron curtain began to prepare a tremendous cannon from the front entrance of the base-structure. Not that it could hit her from her height, but she supposed they had a better chance with that one than any regular cannon.
"That, or they're planning on firing on the island... Well either way, I best make my strike before then." With that said, the brunette made a two-legged stomp and flipped herself upside down before launching off straight towards the flagship.
How nostalgic... she thought, no longer talking out loud and increasing her drag (and get things flying into her mouth), I did a skyfall that first day I met Apis, too. Didn't have to worry about not hurting Marines back then, though.
(Flashback — One Month Ago)
"Than—" Nami paused as Koala leveled a serious stare towards the thief. "Sorry, I lost sight of her when we were attacked; Apis is still—"
Sighing, the martial artist let the tension in her face drop and grinned. "Don't worry about it." And with that she turned around and ran towards the port.
"Wait, what are you—!" But by then, Koala had leapt off into the air and kicked off of the air. Launching herself just above the waterline, she sighted the eyesore of a pirate ship off the coast.
As she approached the ship, she could hear the young girl, who Nami had said was named Apis, crying out, "Please, let go of me!" as she tried to struggle free from the pirates.
"Shut up already and quit struggling!" the man with her in his hands told her, before calling to the other men, "Alright we're good, set sail already!"
"Aye Aye, Captain!"
Not if I can help it. Koala grinned at the thought as she brought her hands to her chest in a spherical shape, one hand over the other as if she was holding a ball between them. Even as she bounced lightly over the surface of the water, a feeling of stillness settled around her. Flexing her fingers wide, the effect was instant as the air in the ship's sails suddenly died, while the waves seemed to suddenly collide all around their ship, keeping it held in place.
"What the—?" The lone pirate with the girl in his hands could only stare at the woman hovering over the sea, barely noticing the unnatural phenomenon that had the rest of his shipmates in an equal state of confusion.
"Chapatsu-San (Ms Dyed Brunette)!"
The martial artist's eyebrow twitched before shouting at the pirate angrier than she'd meant to. "What do you think you're doing with that girl?!" Who's hair is dyed?!
One of the other men finally noticed the woman over the ocean and paled. "An ability user? Hey, give her all she's got!"
"We are!" The helmsman shouted back, having kept calling orders all the while, "It ain't working, though!"
"Damn!" The captain swore before looking at the girl in the mustard dress. "So you're a friend of hers? In that case... Catch!" And like that, he tossed the girl off towards the ocean.
Letting her control of the air go, she pushed off to catch, barely halting her descent into the water at the waist, only for the girl to go limp in her arms with an exhausted face. "Apis-San!" Is she a Devil's Fruit User? As the pirate ship turned to flee, Koala took one hand and waved across her form with a pulling of her fingers, drawing the water from her dress and skin before discarding it. "Apis-San, are you alright? Are you hurt?"
"N-no, I'm alright..." she got out.
"That's good." Without warning Koala whacked her on the head, bending her hat inwards.
"That hurt! What was that for?"
The brunette just leaned in with a glare as she started hopping back to land. "My hair color is 100% natural, thank you very much."
Sweating at the accidental slight, Apis nodded her head. "Sorry for unintentionally offendi—Ah!" Still looking down at her neck, she realized that something was missing from her usual attire. "My necklace...! The necklace of Ryu-ji's claw!"
"Eh?"
—-—-—
"Didn't think that would work..." the helmsman let of a sigh as they sailed away from the island.
"Man, that was close..." the captain concurred.
"Hey," one of the other pirates pointed out the necklace hanging from the second's coat, "what's that?"
"Ah," he noticed as he held it in his hand, "it was that brat's..."
"Speaking of the kid," the helmsman changed the subject, "that Devil's Fruit user was pretty harsh. Wasn't she manipulating the sea somehow?"
"Yeah," another chimed in. "It seemed more like that marital art fishmen do, though."
High above them, Koala grinned at that as she bounced off the air. She'd taken the liberty of listening in on the conversation so she could pinpoint where the necklace might be, but the interplay was rather amusing. At least someone is right on the mark.
"Eh? Those Grand Line monsters?" Letting the hand with the necklace go limp, the captain paled at the thought. "Wait a minute, a female martial artist from the Grand Line...?"
Well, the brunette grinned, Now's a good a time as any to make a dramatic entrance. And with that she let her kicking cease and careened naturally towards their ship.
"I remember now!" he spoke up, panicking so his voice carried easily enough without her needing to focus in. "That Grand Line woman is the strongest Fishman Karate master not under the World Government! She's the pirate—"
"UAAAAH!" The cry of the man in the crow's nest alerted everyone; as they looked to his frightened face and then upwards in the direction of his hand, they quickly joined him in fear as they spied the woman barreling towards them as fast as gravity could afford.
"—Kaijōsei..." the captain finished mutely as the necklace dropped from his hand. Before it even hit the ground, Koala outstretched her fist towards the deck an instant before she collided. Smashing into the deck, the ship folded like paper and crinkled inwards, sending the numerous pirates flying into the air along with the jewelry as she tore through.
Stopping herself from busting through the hull with her other arm, the martial artist pushed back up through the hole she rammed through the ship and landed on the splintering deck where she caught the necklace as it fell back down. Grinning, she gave the pirates a mock-salute before diving over the damaged bulwark into the sea.
(Flashback End)
Uuuuuuah! That felt great! Koala pulled herself from the memory as she prepared to do the same thing yet again to the 8th Division flagship. No, not the same thing, she reminded herself, you told Hardy you wouldn't hurt his men and you meant it. Besides, who wants just a repeat performance anyways?
"Target that falling woman! Move into position and shoot her out of the sky!" she heard a sleazy voice bark orders out at the Marines below.
Nope. The brunette grinned wider as she pushed off the air again. If there's one thing different for one, I'm actually accelerating myself faster; I'll run through your giant cannon before it fires! Clapping her hands together, she shot them out towards hulking weapon. I'd probably sprain a finger if I just did one, but I never was the best at Shigan (Finger Pistol) anyways. This'll have to do though! Twisting her hands and arms at incredible speeds that brought the rest of her body into motion, the air visibly began to spin in bands with her as she rammed straight into the barrel of the cannon.
To the surprise of all her Marine onlookers, even those who recognized the hallmarks of Rokushiki and suspected she might succeed, she went straight through without a single sound, letting her hands fall to her sides in fists as she walked forward from beneath it. Not only that, but the artillery had no damage at all at first inspection. They could only stare between her and her target before she spoke, releasing her fists as she did so. "Debatete: Senkouki (Knife Hands: Thousandrill Preseason)!"
And like that a piercing screech echoed out across the sea, visibly tearing at parts of the ship. The few who managed to keep looking despite the pain bore witness as the immense culverin seemingly vibrated itself to pieces before their very eyes. The loaded cannonball simply fell from the crumbling barrel into the brunette's waiting hand where she proceeded to lightly toss it up and back into her palm. For the others, the cannon simply vanishing was surprising enough.
"EEEEEEEEEEEH?!"
"She destroyed the Brobdingnagian Cannon?!"
"Wha-What the hell was that?!"
Koala smiled brightly. "Debatete: Senkouki!"
"We already know what it's called!"
"It looked like Rankyaku..." another Marine muttered thoughtfully as he gripped his sheathed sword.
"Ah, Rankyaku is part of it," she helpfully supplied, shocking him as he thought he'd gone unheard.
Many of the troops couldn't help but let a sweat drop form at that. Why is she just shooting the breeze with us about her technique?
The brunette looked up as she scratched her hair awkwardly. "Um... The name sounds cool, right?"
"That's why?"
Koala pouted cutely at their rejection as she poked the deck with her finger. "I just came up with it on the spot, and I could use feedback..."
"Ah, well, uh..." One Marine started, "It is a drill-like motion, so Senkōki (drill) seems appropriate—"
"Huh?" she questioned with a tilt of her head. "It's not 'Senkōki', its 'Senkouki'... Were you guys even listening? 'Sen' as in 'thousand'," she began as she started counting off her fingers, "then 'Ko' like 'lake' or 'arc', and 'Uki' for 'preceding' and 'rainy season'. I mean, yeah, Senkōki is referentially important, but..."
Hey hey hey hey hey hey hey... Now all the Marines let the sweat bead at the back of their heads. What kind of 'cool' is she thinking of?
She pouted again before shaking it off. "Well, what can you do... Right, Teikoku-san?"
"AAAH!" Turning about, all of the others on deck were treated to the sight of Nelson Royale out cold on his chair, his limp weight cracking the back of his seat. "TEIKOKU!"
"How did she knock him out from over there without making a sound?"
Instantly guns were turned on the young martial artist, the Marines finally having broken from her pace of questioning. "Put your hands up!"
On the one hand, I kinda did do what I came here to do, Koala thought as she weighed her options. Handcuffs won't really hold me, and Kairōseki (Seastone) won't do them any good either. On the other hand... Grinning, she crossed her arms over her chest and replied, "No."
The assorted crewmen blinked. After a long moment of silence, during which the martial artist's smile slowly grow, one of them responded. "What?"
"I said no," she repeated.
The Marines thought they'd been caught in her pace before, but that was a brief distraction compared to when she was trying to throw them a loop. "Why not?"
Koala shrugged, easily satisfied with their level of response as she thought about her exit strategy with the time they were giving to her. "I don't want to."
Most of her audience was simply dumbfounded into silence. Between the display of strength in the destruction of the cannon, her odd humor and interest in their perception, and now smiling them down as if she were turning down Valentines instead of ignoring their firearms, they were tying the extreme fragments of who she was together with their imaginations; the results of filling the gap were greater than they could comprehend very quickly.
The talkative one of the group, who was managing to be more down to earth, looked down in his hand and back at her, then a second time before he shook it slightly in her direction. "But I've got a gun."
"I don't care." This was too good, and Koala was just fine with milking it even though she knew her next course of action. How many times was she going to have the opportunity for something like this? Most people would have shot at her the moment she said no and made her do something, or at least done something less conversationally awkward.
"But..." The Marine sputtered as he looked to his allies for help and found them more stunned than he was as he futilely tried to understand her response. "That doesn't make any sense."
"Too bad." And as they all looked at each other again, she made her move with a whisper of, "Soru (Shave)!"
And when they looked back she was gone. Or rather, those that looked back found her gone. Those few further back whose surprise was greater were treated to the sight of the martial artist appearing in front of the fainted Nelson Royale and punching him straight through the tower where the Brobdingnagian once stood. Those that saw the event in motion could only stare and wait for their comrades to catch up to their stupor.
Before any of the Marines gathered their wits Koala leapt off towards the hole in the building, diving into the ocean. The sound of her splash finally woke them out of their stupor and moved to pursue, their commanding officer completely forgotten. Amidst the chaos of turning the ship around and sending commands to the rest of the fleet, the Marine that managed to keep talking to the brunette was recommended for promotion.
Eventually, the fleet wheeled itself around and chased after the rippling trail in the water, at which time Koala surfaced at the same spot that she'd dove in. "Being able to move currents is still so sweet!" she spoke out loud with a thumbs up, as if Hardy could hear her. "Mission: Accomplished!"
"Heeeeey! Koala-san!" Behind her, Apis waved from the coastline with the green birds fluttering overhead. The martial artist waved back before setting a brisk pace over to land.
"I assume your friends gave you a boring second-hand account of my 'exploits', eh?" Koala questioned jokingly as she leapt out of the ocean, enveloping the native in a surprisingly dry hug. "I'll have to regale you with the awesome tale myself."
Apis scoffed at the humor, grinning back all the while. "Sure, sure... So, did you figure out where Lost Island is?"
The brunette responded with mock offence. "Hey, I had to deal with the Marines and get them off your trail without hurting most of them. Cut me some slack, okay? I'd like to see you do both at the same time."
The two stood there in the embrace for a time as the wind blew by, neither saying anything as they both came to a similar realization. Finally, Apis broke the silence, "Koala... I—!" only to be interrupted as her hat was slid down her head from behind.
"If you don't want me to say good-bye, I can do that," the martial artist began, her smile more muted and distant but present nonetheless, "But you know I have to move on eventually. I still have so many things I need to do. Besides," she paused and released the embrace to kneel down to the younger girl's eye level, "You have to be able to grow up and win your own battles someday too."
"I... I know..." she replied as she failed to keep the tears from forming beneath her eyes, forcing her to wipe them with her sleeve. "It's not that... I just... Koala, you... You're the only real friend I've got, and..."
Koala had to school her features and hide the mix of shock and happiness at that admission. With the power of the Whisper Whisper Fruit, she thought Apis wouldn't be wanting for friends. To even rank her above Ryu-ji, whom she wanted to help reunite with his family, was frankly far beyond what she'd expected from her friend. Accepting her words and tears as truth while she gathered her thoughts, she embraced Apis once more as she began to elaborate tearfully on her shoulder.
"Ryu-ji doesn't really think about it," she tired to explain as she fought against the growing sobs in her voice, "but I've always known deep down that he'd pass from my life. Why would he need me if he has his whole family? I didn't want to admit it, but being with you made thinking about it okay as long as you're here."
"But... But why would he—?"
"My ability lets me talk to them like they're people, but in the end most animals are just animals or mostly so. Natural instinct will still override the friendship of one odd human being. And even if Ryu-ji does stay my friend, he will still go flying away for another thousand years. Either way..." Apis finally just let it out and burst in to tears as she returned the brunette's embrace as tightly as she could.
Koala matched the strength of her hold. "Apis..."
The blond sniffled before speaking through the cloth. "...I've always been alone... I don't even know what my parents look like, since they've been gone so long... None of the other kids talk to me because of my power... Bokuden-jiisan takes care of me, but he doesn't really see me there all that much..."
"So what...? You thought that just because I finished helping you that our friendship was over...? You silly idiot..." she responded, breaking the hug to look Apis in the eyes. "No matter where you are, you'll always be my friend, Apis. So chin up! You have to be strong and help Ryu-ji, right?"
"Yeah..." Apis nodded, wiping tears from her face. "Thank you, Koala... Um, after this is all over, will we'll see each other again?"
"Of course! Though now that I think of it," she paused in thought as she stood up, "you could probably use your Hiso Hiso to have a bird or fish send me letters."
"Ah!" Slapping her fist in her other palm, the young girl let her jaw hang in surprise, getting a chuckle from her senior. "I hadn't thought of that! I don't even know if my power will work on fish..."
Koala tilted her head. "Why wouldn't it? It allows you hear the inner hearts of animals, so why not fish?"
"It's a Devil's Fruit, after all," Apis pondered, "I guess I just assumed creatures of the sea would be immune..."
"Huh. Well, you'll never know for sure if you don't try. Just think: if you can talk to fish, you could probably get all kinds of good information from them and have your own spy network or something," the brunette stared off into space with a silly grin as she imagined Apis as a cool secret agent before shaking the idea from her head. She might need Rokushiki training at that point... Not that I'd deny her if she asked, but... Wait... "Actually, if it's fish you're asking, they might know where Lost Island is already—sunken into the ocean or not!"
Koala didn't think Apis' face could be more surprised before, but it seemed her eyes found a way to distinguish her look. "Really?"
"In fact, I wonder if the fruit has to be used only on animals. Maybe you could hear the voice of people's hearts as well." Koala's smile widened as she ruffled her friend's hair through her hat. "You see, silly? You never really needed my help in the first place. If you thought that was what kept our friendship going, you've got another thing coming!"
"Wait, what are yo—gmmnphahaha!" And like that she was all over Apis, wiggling fingers tickling the young girl into fits of laughter until both of them were on the ground laughing up a storm. "You... *pant* always have to have the last *pant* laugh, don't you?"
"Oh, nonsense. Now come on," the martial artist chuckled as she got up and helped up her friend, "I've been dying to try out those butaman you kept talking about!"
"Ugh..." Apis grumbled as she thought about what that meant. "We'll have to sit through a good part of Bokuden-jiisan's story, most likely. Great..."
Koala just shook her head as they walked together back inland. "Oh come on, is it really that bad? Have you ever heard the whole thing from beginning to end before?"
Apis froze, as if she'd been caught stealing cookies. "No...?"
"Then you can't make a final judgment until you have!" she replied, running ahead of Apis as she stuck her tongue out at her. "For all you know, once he gets done sharing the family tree stuff, he'll finally get to the epic tale that all those many generations had been building up to. Like... The Tale of Ninja Jedi Derek Zoolander!"
"...what?"
"...never mind..."
—-—-—
(Later That Morning — Loguetown)
"Smoker-Taisa looked at the beautiful day and smiled. And no one, not even Kakumei no Dragon (Dragon the Revolutionary) would have liked the expression on his face."
Sighing, Smoker blew out his the intake from his cigars into the receiver. He knew the Den Den Mushi wouldn't blow it out the other end, but it'd get his point across easily enough. "Give it a rest, Hardy-Shōsa..."
"Ah, you say that now..." The snail responded, echoing the other officer's words across the ocean. "Maybe next time it might be different. One rank lower or not, you'll change your tune once you think about where I stand. So try not to blow smoke in my face when you have to refer to me as Hardy-Chūsa, okay?"
"My respect for your upcoming promotion and my distaste for your lines are two very different things," the Captain replied, putting his feet on his desk. "If you spent half the of the time you put into coming up with those things towards work, you might have a bigger promotion already."
"Oh that wouldn't happen and you know it..."
Hmmm... True enough, considering his situation with Nels—
"These things come to me naturally, after all..."
—and there he goes... Smoker just sighed again and chalked it up to his junior's eccentricities. Honestly, it was hard now and then listening Tashigi go on about swords. Compared to what he'd heard about other officers, Hardy was probably only one degree harder to deal with; that much was still manageable.
The Lieutenant Commander broke him from his thoughts. "You shipping that tub of lard off already?"
"Not quite," the Captain replied briefly before delving into explanation. "With all the unlawful officers that have come to light, Headquarters wants them all together to make an example of them together. If only someone managed to grab Drake and Gasparde, we'd have most of the menagerie of turncoats. Maybe they'd put them with Shiryū and make a party of it."
Pausing, he let out another plume of smoke that started to fill the room. "Besides, with the new arrivals coming in with the other Marine traitor, it'll be better to get them all out in one go."
"New arrivals?"
"We still don't have anyone that went rogue, but these corrupt fools will have to go to Enies Lobby regardless. Shipping pirates to Impel Down also uses the Tarai Current, so it's better done all at once. One of them has already been down in that hell already, so he'll surely be going right back."
"Wait, you mean..." Hardy paused for a moment on the other end of the line. "Ah, those guys. Well, with my division still under investigation after Nelson Royale, Loguetown is the closest outpost to the Grand Line in East Blue after all. You sure you can handle them?"
He couldn't help but let his temper slip for a moment. "Who the hell do you think I am...? Being born in the Grand Line isn't going to scare me off, and their talents don't impress me either." Looking out from his office window, where he had a clear view of the execution stand where the Pirate King met his end, Smoker chuckled at the thought that had come to his mind.
"What...?"
"Well, I don't usually let pirates get through this town to that cursed ocean...It seems I'll have to make an exception for Sawtooth Arlong."
Omake: What's Mine Was Yours
"...is this him?"
"His nose is broken, but there's no mistaking it."
Pausing, the two Marines lifted up the block of stone that held down the unconscious captain of the Fishman Pirates.
"Better put Seastone cuffs on him before he wakes up," the taller of the two noted.
"What'll that do?" the more portly Marine questioned, "He's a Fishman, not a Fruit User."
"Idiot, Seastone is as hard as diamond!" He let out a sigh as he explained."Even if it doesn't drain him, it'll be solid enough to keep his strength in check."
"Ah, right..." Flipping the unconscious person over, he latched a set of handcuffs onto his wrists behind the back.
"Either way, that's the last one," The taller Marine noted, "Are we done here?"
"Not quite," his compatriot began. "The captain is taking care of some of the rubble and weaponry."
"So what, is he using his ability to destroy stuff?"
The shorter man shuddered thinking about their superior's Devil Fruit power before amending his fellow's statement. "Not all of it—We can reuse a lot of basic stuff. But anything special in particular will probably get broken down. That is, unless someone else takes a liking to it."
The taller of the two blinked. "Wait, what? You mean if I find some crazy cool sword or something I can say 'I wanna learn how to use this,' and bam—it's mine?"
"It's not quite that simple, but that's the bare basics."
"There's gotta be some catch. Like..." Looking around, he spied a handle beneath some rubble and pushed it aside. "Aha! This thing!" Picking it up, the shorter member balked at the long pole that had points on it like a shark's teeth. "Crazy dangerous, right? And you're saying I can just walk up and ask if I can use this? Come on, you have to have some kind of rank or something."
"Not much of one, apparently," the robust Marine shrugged, "There's an Ensign in Loguetown that wants to collect all the Meito in the world, and she's gotten a few from pirates she's beaten. Even guys in the Infantry and Sailor Division have their own weapon preferences, so it's not out of the question I think."
"Even still, if you're not trained well in using a weapon, isn't it kind of dangerous?"
The short Marine blinked. "What do you mean?"
"I mean what happens if the guy who originally used it gets free?" his thinner counterpart explained, "If you haven't got a good grasp of using it yet, he could take it right back no problem."
He snorted back as he went to pick up the unconscious captive. "And what makes you think someone is going to get out?"
"I'm just saying," his comrade said placatingly with a gesture of his hands, "if it can happen at Impel Down—the prison of the Marines—it can happen here."
"Wait, what are you talking about? No one broke out of Impel Down..."
"Of course they don't spread it around, the civies would flip. But yeah, 20 years ago there was a breakout—The Flying Pirate himself."
Throwing the fishman over his shoulder, the large Marine's reply was simply a blank stare. "...who?"
Sighing, the taller man put his hand on the other's free shoulder. "Man, you really don't keep up on history. Kinjishi no Shiki (Shiki the Golden Lion)? One of Gold Roger and Whitebeard's generation of pirates?" The blank stare continued. "Anyways, he has some kind of flight Devil's Fruit that made him famous, so when they threw him into Impel Down he cut his own legs off—that's why they often do hands too, now—and literally flew the coup."
"Damn..."
"Before he did, though, he went and hunted down his two swords from inside the prison."
"Wait why would they keep his..." Realization hit as the stout Marine's eyes widened. "Oh..."
"Yeah. See what I mean?"
"Oh hey, you found one too?"
"Huh?" Turning about, another Marine with a mustache-beard combo carrying a pristine version of the weapon they'd unearthed had shown up behind them. "Where'd you find yours?"
"There was some weapons room in the lower floors that didn't totally cave in," the newcomer explained, "This one in particular was in a solid chest to protect it. I already use a zanbatō (horse-killing sword), and the craftsmanship on this looks pretty good. It's a bit bigger than my own, but that shouldn't be too hard to train up to."
"Huh... I see..."
"It shouldn't be too much to fix yours up, either. I'm good friends with the—"
"Hey, you know what?" Walking up, he dragged the broken blade over to the other Marine, "You can have it. I was just checking it out after all."
"Really? That means I'll have a spare to go with it in case it breaks! Thanks!"
As he walked away with his pair of giant swords, the two Marines stared at him for a moment before looking to each other. "Are his cuffs still secure?"
He checked. "Yep, and he's still out cold too."
"I have a bad feeling about this..."
"Hey you two!" From ahead of them, a Marine sporting an untraditional cap with a bulbous round top and a sheet over his face called out to them. "Quit dawdling and get over here. We've finished cleaning house already, we're heading to Loguetown with the prisoners."
"H-hai!" "Right away, Taisa!"
Techniques
Debatete: Senkouki (Knife Hands: Thousandrill Preseason; 出刃手手: 千湖右季). Debatete is a combination of applying Rankyaku to one's hands and arms and stabbing with the whole hand at Shigan-stabbing speed. The name is also a pun, as "tete-手手" is another way of saying "father-父", as hands are to fingers and, in fighting, knives are to guns.
Senkouki uses both hands together in a twisting motion. The speed at which the hands are thrust and the sharpness of the user's Rankyaku aid in piercing the target, while the twist creates a spiraling blade of compressed air that shreds the target from the inside out. Like other Rokushiki techniques, its power increases when performed with the aid of gravity and Geppō.
Aaaaaand that wraps up the originally-planned Chapter 2. Similarly the Chapter 3 I expected will be in 2 chapters, if the work I've got on Chapter 4 is any indication—the rate of which will exist at the top of my profile and will be updated regularly as I make forward motion. I'm also still dropping hints to things around—some not so subtle but a few subtle ones like last time—so feel free to speculate again if you like.
Thanks again to all you readers checking out this story! With this school year done very shortly, I hope to have the update speed fairly decent; even better if my beta finds time to work on these chapters, too. I will still have commitments over the summer, but hopefully they won't be as obstructive (though school was surprisingly not as much as I expected, since I still churned out 2 chapters, but still).
Let me know if these un-beta'd chapters are decent enough that I should continue posting them and first and update them afterwards. Once again, Questions, Comments, Snide Remarks, Constructive Criticism, and so on are all appreciated.
Hope the ride continues to prove enjoyable; until next time!
