Ack! I'm so sorry it took me so long to update minna! I've been very busy with life as of late... D: Sorry, but I do have one.
Anywho! Thanks to everyone who reviewed (you rock) and who followed and favorite'd me! You all rock~!
I'm in a kind of a rush so I'll have to give the acknowledgements later when I have more time to edit. XP
Well, I've teased you long enough. LET THE READING COMMENCE!
(Evan's P.O.V.)
"Well that was a bit of a nuisance...But it's nothing…!" Krieg said, arms crossed with his grim grin on his face. "We were originally planning on abandoning this ship anyways, so who cares if it's been destroyed."
I narrowed my eyes as as the wind carried Krieg's words to us. I grit my teeth and shoved my hands into the pockets of my hoodie, my mind running a mile a minute trying to dissect the fight that will happen before it happens.
I could prematurely grab buckets from inside to stop the fire, and hit Pearl with one? No, it wouldn't do much to that thick skull of his. Ugh..I could….Um...Darn it why am I so limited?!
Why don't you just take out Pearl?
...My god you're a genius. Puuya, what would happen if I were to touch the water? You never told me anything other than I wouldn't be able to swim.
Oh! Well the electricity constantly coursing through you would electrocute everything within oh, I'd say about a hundred and fifty feet radius.
….
That's good.
Oh! Okay then.
My attention returned to Krieg as he pretended to know everything in the world.
"DO YOU REALLY THINK A NORMAL HUMAN COULD TAKE DOWN THAT GALLEON?!" He roared, his temper starting to flare at his subordinates.
"W-What do you mean by that Don?!" A pirate (who I just named John,) stuttered.
"Isn't it obvious he's got some strange power from a devil fruit?!" Krieg continued, veins bulging in his forehead. "Devil fruit users, who we've only heard of from legends and hearsays, the Grand Line is full of them!" He exclaimed, causing me to scoff and frown at him.
Ignorant bull-headed pig. He knows not of what he speaks.
I groaned softly as he continued to spout nonsense. "When will it end..?" I mumbled to myself, earning a confused look from Luffy who was hanging off of the Baratie railing and listening with everyone else.
"...And that method's written down in his travel log for sure!" I heard him declare, returning my attention reluctantly to the conversation. I never really was one to partake in long-winded conversations. I've always tried to be short and to the point. "There might even be information on One Piece as well!"
I sighed and started stretching my neck in my boredom as the Krieg pirates got pumped up from his little speech. I cupped my hands around my mouth and shouted at them.
"GET ON WI' IT ALREADY!"
I ignored the glares shot at me as they roared with a battle cry, donning their weapons. Luffy gaped at them from his position on the outside of the railing.
"Whoa! They're all fired up to fight too!" He turned around and grinned up at Zeff. "Hey ossan! It's a promise right?!"
Zeff grunted, his arms crossed indifferently. "You don't have to ask me twice. My restaurant would become a wreck if I let you work here for a whole year anyways."
"Oi, where's Patty and Carne?" Sanji asked a chef behind him, still smoking.
"Those guys are busy with the battle preparations! Those guys sure are reliable in times like these!" He said, grinning.
Oh great, I'm surrounded by fanboys.
Sanji resisted the urge to snort and instead released a stream of smoke from his lips. "Only in times like these. You better go to the control rooms and open up the 'fins'."
"Wha-! You sure? It'll only give our enemies a foothold!"
"It doesn't matter," Sanji shot back casually, standing near Luffy, Zeff, and I. "The geezer won't shut up if we fight inside the restaurant." Zeff overheard him apparently.
"You say something brat?" Zeff hid his grin well, underneath his massive mustache.
"Yeah," Sanji said, pulling the corner of his lips with a finger as he spoke to Zeff. "I said you won't shut up."
I chuckled before getting cut off by a loud shout from the pirates. "HAND THAT SHIP OVER TO US YOU PATHETIC COOKS!"
I sighed, turning to Luffy. I unzipped my hoodie before I tossed it behind me onto the deck.. "Oi Luffy," He looked over at me. "Mind knocking them into the water for me?" We grinned at each other as he nodded.
"Yosh! Let's get things started! Gomu Gomu no…" He said, flipping onto the deck and stretching his arms back as they gripped onto the railing. "ROCKET!"
Aaannnnnndddd there he goes.
He was headed straight for the (now panicking) Krieg pirates. "Followed by.." He brought both arms back before whipping them out to the sides. "SCYTHE!" He clotheslined around fifteen off of the wreckage before catching himself on a mast just above the water. "Oof! Too close! Oi! Evan!"
I returned his grin, cracking my knuckles. "Nnn?"
"Your turn!" He called and my gloves were on.
The cooks were cheering at Luffy's power while Sanji sweatdropped slightly. "So the Grand Line is teeming with guys like him, huh?"
"If you say so Cap'n." I chuckled rubbing my hands together and generating a spark for half a second. "Now let's see here.." I vaulted over the railing and crouched, my hands inches from the water as a grin twitched into existence on my face. "Electro-" I started, vigorously rubbing my hands together before slamming them viciously into the water. "CUTE~!" If I had blinked, I would have missed the electricity shooting across the water and the pained yells of the Krieg pirates getting zapped before they released their weak grips on the wreckage. They fell back in the water, floating unconsciously.
I straightened, my arms tingling from the unexpected release of energy. "Geeeeeeezzz...Is it just me or is the world dancing…?" I sighed, collapsing backwards against the railing, barely holding myself up on unsteady knees.
"O-Oi! Are you okay?" I heard some steps rush over and hands pulled me behind the railing and onto the floorboards. I groaned, a wry grin on my face as I was sat up against the wall of the Baratie by two chefs. "That admittedly took more out of me than I'd hoped."
I ignored Patty and Carne as they came out in the fish-head-paddleboat-thing, my ears were buzzing and I just lost a good chunk of energy.
Ugh...What the heck did I just do..?
You expelled electric energy. At least a fourth of it.
That…was….AWESOME! HAHA!
Oh dear god help me.
How many are left?! I want more! I've never been so exhilarated in my entire life!
Oh why me…My boss has gone crazy…
I have done no such thing! Now, status report!
Okay fine, but you have to calm down. You took out twenty out of one-hundred pirates. There are now eighty left. Patty and Carne will take out ten, Sanji will take out fifteen in a few minutes, and then Pearl will show up.
I'll take care of that joker. How much did I just gain?
My head snapped up as I saw Patty and Carne in their fishboat get kicked away by Sanji and I knew I needed to hurry.
You gained 10UP, and 20 PSP's.
Right, okay time to upgrade my blade quality, it sucks.
I brought my right hand up to my face and started dividing the points as best I could.
The blade upgrade costs all ten huh? Fine.
[Level up! Hidden Blades: Lvl: 2] [Effect(s): +30 Durability, +5 Speed, +10 Strength, +15 Dexterity]
I grinned as my arms hummed momentarily, the blades glowing white before the glow disappeared and revealed the upgraded weapons. The blades were now the same light shade of red-orange as my hair and the gloves. I whistled appreciatively at the sturdier looking blades that shone with their new dark blue metal. I flicked them in and out a few times, testing their weight and I was pleasantly surprised that they were lighter as easier to wield.
"Oh this is perfect.." I mumbled, a grin slipping onto my face as I felt the floorboards under me rattle slightly when Patty and Carne roared at the chefs for their cowardice. I shakily got to my feet, swaying slightly before standing with my regular confidence.
Looks like I'm good now, guess I'll take out some of those goons for every scrap of PSP I can get.
I mused, walking to stand just behind Patty and Carne as they started ranting. I wasn't listening however, as I raked a keen eye over our opponents.
Crud! There's barely ten there, I took out too many and now there's none left for me.
I pouted slightly, stepping back to lean against the Baratie as Patty and Carne had their moment.
"There ain't another place as good as this shop!" Patty roared, hefting his ridiculously large (and pointy,) fork.
Carne swung his large knife in sync with Patty as he exclaimed, "As if we'd hand it over to you scum!" They cut down the invading pirates with a fighting fury. "This is the power of fighting cooks of the sea!"
My head snapped up when I heard splashing in the water, and then Pearl climbed onto the deck.
"What are you guys doing?" Pearl sighed, bringing up the ridiculously large shields on his hands.
Patty merely raised an eyebrow. "Hmm?"
Carne looked just as confused from behind his glasses. "Who's this guy?" He questioned.
Pearl smashed them into the deck, causing blood to fly and I froze.
Wait...What? No I don't remember this happening! THEY WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO GET HURT!
"PATTY! CARNE!" I called out worriedly, my muscles tense and teeth clenched in anger as I struggled to not lunge forwards. My eyes were bulging with worry and intense fury as Pearl guffawed and gloated, blood dripping from his fist-shields.
"Hahahahahaha! Behold! My invincible iron wall!"
"Pearl!" The Krieg pirates called out in relief.
"Hahahaha! You won't be standing after my lethal punch!" He continued to crow, honestly making my ears want to bleed with just his annoying voice. "You just got a special taste of my 'Pearl Present'!"
I positively glowered at him, about to knock that disgusting grin off of his face before my attention was averted to the fallen Patty. He was gripping his knife stubbornly, not letting a Krieg pirate take it from him even though his hand had started bleeding.
"Hm?! Hey let go! Let go of your dang hand! Just frickin' die already!" The Krieg pirate spat, tugging at the knife to no avail.
Sanji kicked the pirate in the throat.
He flew into a few of his other comrades and finally into Pearl's stomach shield with a satisfying "BWONG!" Though Pearl seemed unimpressed. Darn.
"No matter how many times I see it his kicks are still amazing…" A cook muttered in awe.
Sanji smoothly caught Patty's knife in one hand, sending a chilling glare towards Pearl. "A kitchen knife is the soul of a cook. It's not something an amatuer like you should even think about touching." He said, slipping the knife's handle into Patty's weak, outstretched hand as he lay bleeding on the deck.
"S-Sanji…" Patty choked out, stunned he would do something so thoughtful for him.
"Here...Now make sure you kick the bucket for good this time. I'll take care of the rest." He said smoothly, his eyes never leaving Pearl's.
"You're just a cook! You think you can take us on?!" The few pirates left roared, brandishing their weapons and charging at Sanji.
They never stood a chance. He disappeared and reappeared in the middle of them, doing and handstand and swinging his legs in a circle and kicking those around him ferociously.
"Just a cook? I'll kill you scum." He glowered at them, positively furious.
"Hah! To beat up all of 'em using only your feet, you strike me as a rather lazy guy...Or is that your policy?" Pearl leered.
Sanji still had a foot raised as he grinned back evenly. "A cook's hands are his life. I can't risk fighting with 'em. But don't worry, my feet'll be more than enough to take you down."
I started sneaking behind Pearl, going relatively unnoticed as I smoothly wove my way around fallen pirates, my feet moving quickly and silently. My movements halted behind him, my body dwarfed in his shadow. I choked back a chuckle when Pearl "gloated".
"I've never even dropped a single drop of blood in all the fights I've been in. Not one. Single. Drop."
That's not a necessarily a good thing you moron hahahahhahahaha!
"Strawhat! You'll get hurt if you look away in a fight!" I heard Krieg say behind me and I flinched, my body moving without my conscious command. I lunged forward, jumping onto Pearl's back with my fingers firmly curling over the top of his shield and my feet landing on the protruding pearl imbedded into the armor.
"W-What? What are you doing?! Get off of me you brat!" Pearl stumbled around, trying to reach back and grab me to no avail. I felt like a ragdoll as I tried to climb the slick surface that was his back.
"Shut up and stop moving you idiot! You're so annoying!" I growled, pulling myself up so I had one arm wrapped around his thick, fleshy neck.
Ugh, ew.
He froze, thinking I had a knife to his throat. Which, even though it was sheathed, I guess I did.
I finally had him still and didn't pass up my chance. When I was watching his movements earlier I realized I wouldn't be able to cut his large support straps - they were meant to hold up huge iron shields! So I decided on the much smaller hinges that connected the shields to the straps instead.
In one motion I smoothly flicked my right wrist and the blade slid out, causing Pearl's already tense shoulders to become absolutely rigid. In the same motion I slid the blade under the small hinges and swiftly cut them, rolling to the right and severing the one connecting to his left strap before dropping to the ground.
Just as Luffy collided with the back of Pearl's head.
Smashing his face into his hand shields that were frozen from trying to reach me.
Causing blood to rush forth from his nose.
And me to laugh.
Loudly.
"TOUCHDOWN!" I laughed, straightening and clapping Luffy on the back. "Nice shot! You nailed him right in the back of the head!" I grinned, walking past him towards a mildly surprised Sanji.
"He's all yours, I just evened the odds a bit." I winked at him, motioning over my shoulder with a thumb at Pearl.
"I could've taken him as he was." Sanji grumbled, releasing a breath of smoke.
I shrugged, a grin firmly on my face as I walked next to Zeff. My hands were in my pockets as I gave him a cocky smirk, to which he replied with a tired shake of his head.
"Are you always this reckless brat?"
I shrugged uncaringly, a pleased expression etched into my features as we stood there. "Monkey see, monkey do." I chuckled.
"Oh!" I smacked a fist into my palm, just remembering a slightly vital piece of information.
"The Baratie's gonna get set on fire if he freaks out too badly." I commented casually, causing Zeff to rub his face with a hand.
I could practically hear him saying "unbelievable".
The Krieg pirates were freaking out, trying to calm Pearl down to no avail.
"Pearl it's fine! It's just a little nose bleed, everyone gets those! You haven't really been hurt at all!" They shrieked, sweating bullets as Pearl started twitching in shock.
"My...Iron wall was broken through! These guys're dangerous!" Pearl stuttered, sweating profusely.
"The heck's up with him?" Sanji asked, sweat-dropping slightly.
"It's just a little nosebleed…" Luffy agreed, sticking a finger up his nose carelessly.
"Pearl! Stop it! There's no need to go wild over a stupid nosebleed! This ain't the jungle!" Krieg roared, watching Pearl starting to slam his hand shields together rapidly.
The chefs started to shift with worry while the Krieg Pirates were flipping out.
"Danger! I'm in Danger! DANGER!" Pearl screeched, flames erupting across his body in a burst of fire.
"Oh. Sheep." I said, my eyebrows raised in mild surprise. "It's hotter than I thought it'd be..Hmmph."
"Crap! he's doing that thing he learned to do while growing up in the jungle!" A krieg pirate screeched, pulling at his hair in panic. "Back in the jungle full of wild beasts, everytime Pearl felt that he was in danger, he has a habit of lighting a fire!"
"What?!" The chefs shouted. "It's his defense tactic against beasts?!"
"Wait a second…" I narrowed my eyes as I brought a hand up to my chin in thought. "Aren't his shields just on fire? Didn't he just light his stomach on fire since I cut down the shield?"
"DOn'T yoU dARe GeT cLoSe tO mE! FiRE pEaRl's-" Pearl suddenly stopped mid-sentence, his arms stretched skyward in mid-attack.
…
…
"IT BUrnS! AAAaaaAAAAAaaaAAAHHHhHHHhhHHhhhhHhhHHhHhhh!" He screamed, running around in circles on the deck before Sanji finally stuck out a leg and Pearl tripped into the ocean.
…
"Well, I didn't see that coming." I chuckled at everyone's shocked expressions, clapping Zeff on the shoulder. "I think that just saved oh, about forty percent of the deck-" Pain erupted in the back of my head and I hit the boards, my chin slamming painfully into the wood. I felt something warm and sticky starting to bleed through the back of my bandana and I groaned as my head throbbed with dizziness. I tried to push myself up on shaky arms but something stomped on me and pinned me down.
"Oi! Gin! What's the big idea!" Luffy shouted in anger at someone to my left. My vision was blurry and my head was swimming. I just wanted to take a nap and have everyone shut up.
"Sanji please stop fighting, I don't want to end up killing you." He said, inching the double-barrelled pistol towards the back of Zeff's head. I felt something cold and sharp tickle the side of my neck and I suppressed a shiver of fear.
"Gin you..!" Sanji was angry beyond words.
But if he's over there...Then who-
"I wouldn't move if I were you, Rabbit-chan~"
DUN DUN DUN~! Soooooo~ Was that a cliffie or what?~ I'm probably going to torture my readers and Eve/Evan a LOT throughout this story~ Hahahahah!~
On a completely unrelated note, Wow! I just saved myself...5 chapters of boring dialogue that Sanji would've had to suffer through when fighting a weakling like Pearl! Rock on! :D Haha, well, until next time then!
Ciaossu~!
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(OwO)