Ushitora grit his teeth as he stared down the trio standing in the opening of the wall, along with the hostage who'd escaped him. His hand was still bleeding from the hit he'd taken from the Fishman, but as he clenched and relaxed it he found it was still useable. He didn't take his eyes off any one of them as he reached up and gripped the handle of his iron club. Slowly, he began to put on a smirk, chuckling mirthfully.
"The Knightfall Pirates, huh? How cute…" he remarked, lifting the club up before resting it upon his shoulder, still clutching the handle firmly. "I'll admit, you've caught me off guard… But only because I've never heard of you".
"It happens," the young man with dark hair remarked, smiling. "We only joined forced five minutes ago, anyway".
Ushitora let out a hearty laugh. Even his subordinates couldn't help but laugh away, whilst the hostages looked between one another with concern. The young girl, meanwhile, stared up at the dark-haired young man with a dropped jaw.
"Are you serious?!" Madoka asked, incredulous.
"Yeah, I think it was five minutes. It didn't take us long to get here, did it?" Baldric asked, turning to the Fishman. Kai merely grunted in response.
"Oh, I haven't laughed like that in a good, long while, boy…" Ushitora spoke, still chuckling as he stepped forwards. "But I'm not a nice guy… No matter how much you make me laugh, I'm still going to kill you".
From the wreckage of the desk, his First Mate pulled himself up. His head was bleeding, but Onigawara nevertheless looked ready to fight, his steely gaze resting upon the fat woman who'd struck him earlier. He clenched his gauntlet-clad fists, raising them up in front of himself as he stepped forwards once more.
The other members of Ushitora's pirate crew likewise raised their weapons, closing in around the group of three. Baldric watched them all circling around, ready to begin fighting again. Through it all, his smirk never left his face. He clutched his broadsword firmly in his two hands, taking a single step forwards as he did so.
"Don't worry," Baldric responded. "I'll be the one to kill you".
At those words the fighting began again. Ushitora pushed the club off of his shoulder, raising it again only to swing downwards, attempting to bludgeon Baldric into the ground. The dark-haired young man quickly dodged to the right, avoiding the club as it struck the earth and cracked the floor, causing stone to shift upwards around where it landed.
At the same time, Onigawara quickly dashed towards the round woman, who stepped forwards to intercept him. He swung a fist for her face, but Alyona deflected it to the side before throwing her own punch that just narrowly missed his side.
The Fishman, Kai, decided that his enemy was everyone else in the room. He watched as one Pirate rushed him with a sword in hand raised above his head, screaming as he ran towards him. Kai drew his webbed hand back, catching a drop of rainwater in his palm from outside.
"Uchimizu!" he declared, swinging his hand forwards and firing the drop of water with such force that it smashed into the Pirate's chest with the force of a Shotgun, taking him off his feet and opening up a bloody wound in his chest. The Pirate cried out as he hit the floor, spurring on the others to rush to avenge him.
The Fishman dodged as one pirate began firing at him with a rifle. In an attempt to avoid the rifle fire he swerved in and around the pirate's allies as they tried to hit him, forcing the gunner to stop firing for fear of hitting his comrades. One of the group moved to stab the Fishman through the chest but Kai deftly sidestepped the sword, clenching his fist tightly.
"Hyakumaigawara Seiken!" he roared, his fist slamming hard into the pirate's stomach. The man cried out from pain as he was suddenly thrown off of his feet, flying through the air before crashing into the rifle-wielding pirate as he was caught off guard. The two pirates hit the floor with incredible force, both knocked unconscious by the blow. The other pirates stared in shock, stepping back as they looked at the Fishman.
"The hell is he? He looks like he's been in a fight before he even came here, but he's taking us down one by one!" one of the pirates exclaimed, shaking a little as he clutched his sword. Kai stared back over his shoulder at him, causing the pirate to shrink back ever so slightly.
Meanwhile, Alyona continued to face off against the First Mate, blocking and deflecting each of his punches as he continued his relentless attack. Onigawara grinned as he forced her on the defensive, continuing to attack without pause to let her catch her breath.
"I won't forgive you for that punch, earlier," Onigawara remarked as he swung a right hook for Alyona's face, which she quickly blocked. "Embarrassing me in front of the crew like that… You'll regret it soon enough!".
Onigawara quickly pressed forwards as he threw a straight punch with his left fist, which Alyona quickly moved to block. However, in that instant he stopped his fist, pulling a feint as he swung upwards with his right fist, striking the young woman with a powerful uppercut to the jaw. Alyona's head reeled back as she stumbled back a single step, but contrary to Onigawara's expectations she stayed on her feet, her head lowering back down as blood now dripped from the corner of her mouth. She gave a confident smirk as she looked back at the tall man, who was clearly shocked.
"I'll regret… What?" she asked, taunting him. Onigawara grit his teeth and clenched his fists tighter. Letting out an angry roar he charged the large woman once more, swinging a powerful haymaker right for Alyona's face. But despite the power he put behind his punch, Alyona stopped it cold by catching it in her hand, her fingers curling around his fist.
Onigawara stared as Alyona suddenly began to change. Her body became larger and larger as she reached a height of seven feet, her form becoming covered in a coat of brown fur. Her nails became sharp claws on the ends of her fingers, whilst her nose elongated into a snout with a black tip. Her black clothes stretched around her larger frame as her arms became more muscular. Her ears became more rounded, moving closer to the top of her head. Onigawara tried to pull himself away, but her claw's grip refused to let him go.
"Wh-What… What are you?!" Onigawara dared to ask, staring up at the half-bear half-human being. Alyona stared down, her smirk from earlier having left her face.
"Isn't it obvious?" Alyona questioned him, raising her other claw. Onigawara stared at it, now desperately trying to pull free from her grip. Alyona simply tightened her grip. "I'm a monster".
Alyona swung her sharp claw, tearing through Onigawara's flesh like a hot knife through butter. The man let out a pained cry as blood sprayed on the ground, his chest covered in huge gashes as Alyona let go of him, allowing him to collapse and hit the ground. The man's eyes were open, but it was clear he'd lost consciousness from the pain. Staring down upon him, Alyona sighed, her form slowly changing back as she shrunk down to her original height, her body losing the excess fur and her facial features returning to their original shape.
"Well, at least that's one less problem," Alyona spoke aloud to herself before turning her head. Kai had already torn his way through the rest of the pirates, leaving them all bloody or unconscious on the floor. Turning again, Alyona looked towards the two Captains as they were locked in combat.
Alyona had never seen Baldric in combat before, but he moved like an experienced veteran. He ducked and dodged Ushitora's club with incredible ease, almost like he was dancing circles around his opponent. Ushitora growled as he swept his club around in a circle, just narrowly avoiding Baldric again as the dark-haired youth ducked below the club.
"What's wrong?" Baldric asked, bemused. "I thought you were going to kill me".
Ushitora let out a frustrated howl as he now swung vertically, smashing the club into the spot Baldric had been standing. Unfortunately for him, Baldric had quickly jumped to the left, his blade swinging in at the Pirate Captain. Ushitora narrowly avoided the tip of Baldric's broad sword before swinging his club again horizontally. Baldric pretended to yawn as he ducked again, letting the club pass harmlessly overhead.
"Stay still!" Ushitora roared, but the dark-haired youth rolled his eyes.
"Well, if you say so, Captain," he taunted, standing upright. Ushitora grinned swinging down again as he attempted to smash Baldric beneath his club. But to his astonishment, Baldric raised his arm over his head. As the club came down, Baldric's arm began to turn darker, nearing pitch black as the club struck the palm of his hand. But rather than buckle beneath the iron club, Baldric managed to stop the club with a little effort, halting it in its path. Ushitora stared, dumbstruck as Baldric grinned, his other arm still clutching the hilt of his sword tightly.
Letting out a yell, Baldric swiped upwards with his broadsword, once more astonishing Ushitora as he cleanly cleaved through the club, tearing the club from the handle and letting it fall to the floor beside him. Ushitora stumbled back in shock at the sight of his destroyed club, giving the dark-haired youth enough time to raise his sword, pointing the tip against Ushitora's throat.
The whole room fell silent at the sight of it. Ushitora stared down at the blade pressed against his throat. He looked up just to see Baldric's cool gaze – that confident smirk and those self-assured eyes. Ushitora felt himself shake with anger, but at the same time he felt powerless with this sword against his throat.
"Wow…" Madoka spoke from the sidelines, watching the battle before her. She hadn't been sure of the three pirates, but right now they were proving just how powerful they could be. The pirate crew, the First Mate, and now even Captain Ushitora himself was being made a fool of. The young girl couldn't help but wonder just who these people were. It wasn't every day she saw people capable of things like this.
"Unfortunate, isn't it?" Baldric asked, smirking still. "You went through all that hard work to capture this island and in the end, you get taken down because I just happened to come here".
Ushitora said nothing, his eyes burning with anger as he grit his teeth.
"Well? You know how it is, Captain. I won, so kneel," the scarred young man commanded. Ushitora clenched his fist, livid.
"Kneel? Before you?!" Ushitora retorted, seething. But the blade pressed harder against his throat, drawing a sliver of blood.
"The loser doesn't get to make demands, Captain. Who knows? Maybe if you kneel, I'll let you live".
"Baldric!" Alyona interjected, catching the attention of her Captain. "You don't have to do this. He's already beaten-".
Baldric's attention was taken for only an instant, but it was all Ushitora needed. From the pocket of his coat the Pirate Captain pulled out a smoke bomb, covering the area in a smokescreen as he threw it to the floor. Baldric raised his hand over his mouth as he started coughing, along with the others. He felt a strong force knock him off his feet and send him to the ground before the smokescreen began to fade. By the time it was gone, so was Ushitora.
Baldric sat up, looking around desperately for any sign that Ushitora was simply hiding. He pushed himself up onto his feet as he continued to look around, but he soon realized that Ushitora was no longer in the building.
"Well, fuck," Baldric remarked, sheathing his sword back in its scabbard. He could hear Alyona and Kai both sighing behind him. Turning towards the both of them with a frown, he spoke. "Okay, new rule, no distracting the Cap-".
"It was your own fault, boy," a voice spoke up. Cut off mid-sentence, Baldric turned to see the old woman walking towards them with her cane, using a handkerchief to wipe away the blood from her face.
"Obaa-san!" Madoka cried, running to her grandmother and wrapping her arms around the old woman's waist. The old woman put her handkerchief away and patted the young girl on the head before looking back to the dark-haired youth again.
"You should be prepared for anything on these seas, boy. No one's going to care for excuses," Sakura spoke. Baldric tried to retort, but found he couldn't come up with anything. So instead, he sulked.
"Hey, all of the hostages are gone…" Alyona remarked, seeing a pile of rope in the middle of the room that had been cut.
"You can thank me for it later," Sakura remarked, her cane clacking against the ground to emphasize her point. "Right now, we've got a Pirate to chase".
Ushitora rushed like the wind, running as fast as his legs could take him. Those pirates were far too strong, and worst of all he now no longer had the girl as a hostage to keep the old woman away. As much as he hated to admit it, it was a complete and total failure.
With his head-start, he was already halfway down the slope of the island. He could see his ship in the bay, where the rest of his crew still were. Including, of course, the ship's gunner.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a Baby Den Den Mushi, deciding that he was definitely not going to just let them have their way. He refused to be embarrassed like this. Holding up the Baby Den Den Mushi, he began to speak.
"Kanabo!" he yelled into the receiver. "There's been a change of plans. We're going to blow this island sky-high. Start the bombing, and aim for the Marine Base first".
The little snail made a grinning expression as it began to speak in a deep voice.
"Aye aye, Captain Ushitora!"
The group of five jumped out of the large opening in the wall, landing on the rain-soaked path below. Taking the lead was Baldric, with Kai and Alyona following his lead. At the back, meanwhile, was Sakura, who in spite of her condition nevertheless chose to carry Madoka on her back as she raced along behind the youths.
"I can see their ship in the bay!" Madoka yelled out from the back.
"Thanks for the tip, Captain Obvious!" Baldric retorted, clearly still annoyed as he raced with slightly more fervor than the others.
"Don't test my patience, boy," Sakura spoke up, still clutching her cane in her hand. "Or Ushitora might not be the only Pirate Captain who gets slain tonight".
"Hey, can't we just calm down?" Alyona remarked. "We'll catch him, no worries!"
Kai remained silent.
The group of five rushed down the slope, taking the most direct path to the bay possible. If they were lucky, they could catch up with the pirate before he managed to even get back to his ship. Or so they thought. But the group of five were so sure of themselves that they'd forgotten about one other thing – the cannon.
Kai's eyes strayed upwards, spotting a bright light moving through the dark skies. He immediately recognized it for what it was.
"Move!" he yelled out to the rest of the group. But already, the attack had begun. From behind them came a powerful gust of wind. Debris was thrown through the street and the group had to duck and dodge the debris as it was flung at them. They all turned back, but the sight was not a pleasant one.
The building they had just left was now a burning wreck, the stone architecture collapsed and caved in. The Marine Base had fallen, completely destroyed by the power of the cannon. Just like the other half of the Marine Base had been earlier. Everyone stared, wide-eyed, but Baldric was quick to speak.
"Move, move, move!" he urged the group on as he turned and ran. Agreeing with his line of logic the Knightfall Pirates, Sakura and Madoka raced down the slope, knowing that if they didn't keep moving, they would be next.
Author: We're nearing the end of the arc! Just one more chapter should do it! So, what did you think? Did you like it? Did you not like it? Please, be sure to tell me what you think! :)
Also, for those wondering...
Uchimizu - Water Shot.
Hyakumaigawara Seiken - Hundred Tile True Fist.