Sorry for the long wait loyal readers. Thank you my friend Albert who helped me with this chapter. I hope after reading it the rest of your day is beautiful.

XXX

Christopher stared as the ground nearby heaved itself in mid-air in a fiery blast. So some of his bullets really were explosive. Big deal. He shook himself, facing the rock once more. If this sniper guy didn't come out from his little hidey-hole, Christopher was going to obliterate it. He readied his tongue.

XXX

Edgar raised an eyebrow. That was the second time that the boy had predicted his actions. Maybe he should take this a little more seriously . . .

XXX

Christopher watched as the sniper backflipped out from behind the rock.

"Well, Chris, looks like you might just be worth my time." Edgar stated with a smug smile.

Christopher raised an eyebrow, body settling into a ready stance.

This was a special body stance that would help Christopher in getting ready to deflect, dodge bullets or hitting Edgar. He brought his arms up in a guard, sword hand in front of his knife-hand. He poked out his tongue.

Edgar suddenly leaped into the air, barrel of one gun pointing at the ground, the other pointing at Christopher. He pulled both triggers.
An explosion rent the ground beneath the sniper, shockwaves propelling him up as the second bullet almost hit Christopher as the boy jumped to one side. He heard the bullet whistle past dangerously close to his ear. He glared at the sniper, but quickly had to dodge as three bullets whizzed by. Christopher was thrown forward when one of those bullets exploded. He stumbled, but regained his balance in time to swing his sword at the sniper's face as the cocky gunman got close.

Edgar's eyes widened. He hadn't expected such quick reaction times! He leaped inyo the air, shooting the ground with an explosive bullet and sending a piercer towards Chris to distract him. Edgar did a forward flip to re-orientate his body, landing softly on the ground beside one of his minions. The unfortunate lackey found himself thrown into the air, and then he was bleeding from a deep cut to his chest.

Christopher jumped back after giving the blow, a little frustrated. If his blade had connected, he could have dealt the sniper a nasty wound. But the damn gunman had used one of his men as a shield. Christopher was disgusted. He tilted his head to one side, yet another bullet sailing harmlessly past.

For his part, Edgar was also getting frustrated. None of his bullets were hitting their target. Surely, he should have hit something by now!

" You are not lucky and you are not better than me, and that's why I'm through playing around!" Edgar yelled.

Good, because I'm through playing around too. Christopher thought. He wanted to try something out, and this was the perfect opportunity. He stretched out his tongue, wrapping it tightly around the hilt of his knife. Now he had a hand free, so he picked up a large rock.

This was when Edgar started to laugh. He believed it was stupid for Christopher to try to beat his guns with a measly rock. He laughed too soon. The rock smashed him in the jaw. As he stumbled backwards, Christopher leaped into the air, swinging his sword with both hands towards the sniper.

While stunned, Edgar had the presence of mind to pick up another minion as a shield. However, his arms still got cut, because the force with which the sword was swung had created a sharpened breeze. Edgar dropped the minion, making to cartwheel away when-

Christopher shot out his tongue, knife piercing Edgar's left wrist. Even as the sniper shrieked in pain, Christopher was retracting his tongue, twisting in mid-air to face the gunman.

The gunman was enraged but not courageous in the face of Christopher.

Just to see the sniper's reaction, Christopher twisted his tongue and carefully licked the blood of the knife.

Edgar turned white, complexion almost ghostly in the moonlight. A gun lay at his, his injured wrist too weak to hold it. The wounded appendage hung uselessly at his side.

"Why, you . . ." He was too angry to finish his sentence.

Christopher just smiled.

" You have the guns but I have the training to outwit an angry sniper who is hateful of intruders and is the worst sniper I've ever faced."

His smile became humourless.

"You can't win."

Edgar desperately tried to lift his gun in time, his left arm too weak to grab a nearby minion. Too slow.

Christopher finally managed to slash the irritating sniper across the chest. The gunman fell to his knees and slumped forward. Christopher whacked him with his sword hilt for good measure. Out for the count.

Christopher tucked his knife away and sheathed his sword, sticking his tongue back in his mouth. Miraculously unscathed, he wandered in the direction of a certain distant tower. He wasn't interested in another fight, so he had no reason to hurry. His captain could take care of himself, and that monk, Yokai, seemed competent enough. With this thought, Christopher turned around, intending to head back to the ship. He'd bring it closer to the tower, he decided, and cook that fish he'd left in the cool-box. Fletcher would be hungry when he was finished.

Brad didn't find his three best assassins losing all that fun. But he still had one more man left to send. Tor, his strongest. Tor was the only member he had who knew who to tear this whole building down.

And so, Tor was set to guard the entrance, waiting patiently on the third floor for the intruders to arrive. He watched the stairs with droopinng eyes, wondering idly whether or not he was going to get any sleep tonight.

The first and second floors had been left empty, because Edgar had taken away the men that usually patrolled those floors. Personally, Tor felt that Edgar was a cocky fool, so he was not surprised that the sniper had been beaten.

The Taurus flexed his arms and legs to relieve stiffness, watching and waiting for entertainment.

XXX

One of the two lucky crewmates were on their way to face Tor because Yokai was going to face his uncle. Fletcher whistled to himself, because Yokai had threatened to freeze him if he sang another verse of the idiot song. This song, incidentally, is one of Monkey D. Luffy's favourites. Fitting, considering that Fletcher aimed to be Luffy's rival.

Yokai was seriously contemplating murdering the young man. He was an assassin, he could get away with it, although hiding from Chris was probably another matter altogether.

"Quiet! Please!" He begged. His pleas went unheard as the young man whistled yet another verse of that wretched song.

And then they were there, the doors leading into the looming tower right in front of them. This time Fletcher wasn't whistling to himself. He was concentrating. Then, he waved his arm at the doors.

WHOOSH!

The doors flew open with a thud as Fletcher's gust of wind hit them.

Yokai peered carefully into the darkened space beyond. It was oddly quiet. Too quiet. He advanced cautiously behind Fletcher, who wasn't worried in the slightest. At the other side from where they were standing, light shone from upstairs.

" I get to run up these stairs!" Fletcher yelled excitedly.

Yokai just stared, wondering how such an idiot had become the captain of someone sensible like Chris. Then again, he was a likeable idiot. Eyeing his surroundings with trepidation, Yokai followed Fletcher up the stairs.

XXX

The second floor was deserted as well, making Yokai even more uneasy. He felt like he was being watched. It wasn't the plain feeling of being watched. Yokai would know who was looking at him if he wasn't so focused on finding his uncle.

They ascended the stairs to the third floor, Fletcher unhurried and Yokai more tense than a bow-string.

XXX

Tor became aware of movement on the stairs. He snapped himself out of his reverie, becoming more alert as the seconds passed.

A brown-haired head became visible. Then a careless smile. Then the rest of the boy reached the third floor, followed by a certain robed man that the boss would be . . . pleased to meet. Tor hauled his heavy body to its feet.

XXX

" I grew up never hearing about assassins. Would they believe me if I said I only been an assassin for six months?" Tor chuckled at his favourite lie to make. He was an assassin almost as long as Christopher who was an assassin since he was five.

Probably not, he decided. After all, the boss's nephew knew that Tor had been an all too accomplished assassin for a loong time. With a sigh, Tor addressed to two . . . boys staring at him, sounding incredibly bored "Well, which one of you do I get to fight? I've been waiting all night. Suppose you," he nodded at Yokai, " want to pay your uncle a visit. He's waiting upstairs. If you get past the bunch of weaklings, you'll see him."

Yokai eyed Tor speculatively. The man had always given him the creeps with his nonchalance, the way he never seemed to care what you did. The monk shivered.

Neither of the assassins noticed the gleam in Fletcher's eye.

" If Yokai gets to face his uncle then I get to face you."

Tor finally deigned to look at Fletcher.

"Oh, really? I don't think it will be much of a fight, though. More of a one-sided beatdown."

"Yeah!" Fletcher replied, "I'm gonna kick your ass!"

While this was going on, Yokai fled to the upper floors. Just like Tor said there were weak men trying to protect their leader Brad.

Yokai looked over the packed ranks of men, wondering how any sort of assassin could be so foolish. The closer they stood together, the harder it would be for them to move, and the easier it would be for Yokai to affect multiple targets with his attacks.

He watched as they all attempted to draw their weapons, stumbling around in their haste. He shook his head. What amateurs. Yokai brought his staff before him, thumping the end into the ground.

"Ancient Art of the Elementals," he intoned, voice deep. He gained the attention of several nervous minions. His voice seemed to sound gravelly as he completed the attack name "Vulcan's Roar." For a moment, nothing happened. Then Yokai blew gently on the top of his staff.

A great howling swept over the packed men as a wave of fire consumed them, originating from the fiery shard imbedded in Yokai's staff. The fire did indeed seem to roar, licking at the walls as if it had a mind of its own. Soon, the minions were incapacitated, leaving Yokai free to continue on his way. He approached the stairs to the fifth floor, closer and closer to his next fight.

XXX

Tor heard the agonizing screams of Brad's henchmen. Just hearing them was a clear way of showing they were weak.

Tor faced his own opponent. The unassuming young man was smiling as if he wasn't worried at all, which Tor found to be arrogant.

Those who knew Fletcher would notice the danger lurking in that smile. Fletcher may have been considered an idiot by most people, but he knew how to fight, even if he hadn't quite revealed that fact yet to his enemy.

XXX

Yokai stared at the pitiful excuses for assassins. He did the same thing he had before, thumping the end of his staff into the ground.

"Ancient Art of the Elementals: Vulcan's Roar." He intoned, blowing gently on the top of the staff. It had the same results that it had downstairs. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Yokai quietly began to walk up the stairs to the sixth floor. It was time to face his uncle.

XXX

Tor and Fletcher slowly circled eachother. Tor wished that the young man would hurry up and get it over with. The sooner Tor beat him, the sooner Tor could go back to sleep. He didn't yet realise that it wasn't going to be that easy.

" Captain Nearly Fatal Two Toe Pinch!"

Tor was forced to lean backwards to dodge Fletcher's foot as it whooshed past millimetres from his nose. Fletcher's smile grew a little bigger. He was going to enjoy this.

" Did you know you can't move your elbows without opening your mouth?" Tor asked Fletcher.

" Can so. I just tried it. Speaking of which . . ."

Fletcher focused on his elbows, successfully keeping his mouth shut while moving them. "Liar," he said, "I can-" He was cut of by Tor punching him in the face.

" You fool. I expected you to twist your own arm trying to prove your right but getting to punch you was fun."

Tor laughed at Fletcher because to him he was pathetic.

But not quite as pathetic as expected. "Wind Whip!" Fletcher cried out, kicking his leg at thin air.

Tor's laughing was cut short as an invisible force hit him in the stomach. He was thrown backwards, landing on his butt in a most undignified manner. For a moment, he was too surprised to move. The fact that Fletcher might be a devil fruit user had never crossed his mind. Tor glared at Fletcher, getting to his feet with a growl.

Tor needed to rely on more than just brawn's if he was going to defeat Fletcher. Tor leaped to the side as Fletcher repeated his move.

"Wind Whip"

Tor was still caught by the edge of whatever it was that hit him. It was irritating. Tor had been in place a long time, and every intruder so far had been dealt with within three blows. However, in this instance, a mere boy had struck those three blows rather than Tor. In which case, Tor felt it was expedient to finish this as soon as possible.

"Zodiac Zodiac : Taurus!"

XXX

Yokai didn't bother knocking, he just opened the door. He was faced with his uncle's back. Slowly, Brad T. Belcosa turned to face his nephew. He was smiling.

"Well, well. Welcome, greetings. It's been a while, hasn't it?"

XXX

Fletcher dodged again as an angry bullman nearly crushed him against a wall. It was a good thing Fletcher knew how to climb over Tor even when he was charging.

Racing for his life once more, Fletcher summoned a carpet of air to aid him. He caused the air to thicken at Tor's feet so that the bull-man tripped over nothing. Really, the compulsion to charge at red handkerchiefs was one of the big down-sides of being a bull. As for where Fletcher managed to acquire a red handkerchief, we may recall him rummaging through a certain monk's belongings before . . . Well, we already know what happened.

Fletcher paused, nearly getting caught by Tor as an idea struck him. Like, literally struck him, on the head.

XXX

Yokai cursed as the stone floor began to tremble. Brad grinned, naming his attack, "Ancient Art of the Elementals: Dragon Quake!" The floor collapsed beneath them.

XXX

Fletcher picked up the sharp stone shard, wondering what all the rumbling was about as he set off running once more. Running helped Fletcher when he was in a fight. Not because he was a coward, but because his opponent was much more likely to tire out than he was. It would be easier to defeat a tired bull than a fresh, angrier-by-the-minute one.

Tor suddenly stopped dead, shaking his head vigorously. He would not chase the red handkerchief. Having cleared his head, Tor began to think. How to defeat the boy?

' We are about even in terms of speed. If we are even that means I'll never catch him if I try to grab him from behind. Think, you Taurus.'

" Aha!" Tor's eyes narrowed in cunning. Like all good assassins, he had several concealed knives on his person. Now, how to use them most effectively . . .

Fletcher stopped running, eyes narrowing. What was the bull-man up to? He hefted the rock in his hand, wondering if what he had in mind would work.

XXX

Yokai panted heavily, his robes shredded. Brad just kept grinning, though he wasn't in much better shape. "Ancient Art of the Elementals:"

"Hurricane's Fury!"

"Glacier's Cold!"

The wind and ice of their respective attacks met in a battle of elements in the centre of the room. The force was so great, the floor fell once again.

XXX

Another rock hit Fletcher in the head. He barely reacted, picking it up without taking his eyes off of Tor. The more rocks, the better his plan would work, right?

He wouldn't know until enough rocks fell down. Unfortunately for the combatants, two very well-matched people were still fighting on the floor above them. And those two people weren't really worrying about collateral at the moment. The very split-second that Fletcher and Tor made their moves, the ceiling collapsed.

" Wind Repelling Cyclone!" Fletcher yelled powering up his arms and wind fruit for an awesome wind attack.

Fletcher was protected by a rushing orb of air that surrounded him and deflected the falling masonry. It also kept him hovering in mid-air as the floor fell from beneath his feet.

Tor was not so lucky. He fell with the floor, and was quickly buried by the rubble.

With him buried in the rubble Fletcher could control the wind to knock the rubble off and continue with their fight; if Fletcher wanted to he could not do anything except try to find his crewmate Christopher and possibly new crewmate Yokai.

There was a very real chance that Tor was dead, however, and Fletcher couldn't be bothered with a dead man. Dead people can't fight (though Gecko Moriah would beg to differ).

XXX

Christopher could see the remains of the tower getting nearer and nearer as he sailed the shio back towards shore. What in the Blues had they done to the place?!

XXX

Yokai tapped tentatively at the walls of the icy shell surrounding him. He had survived the fall, but now he couldn't get out. However, he knew a way to fix that. Touching the end of the staff to whatever surface he was standing on, he intoned "Ancient Art of the Elementals: Dragon Breath." He blew gently on the top of the staff, and flames slowly and gently eroded the walls of his icy prison, filling the small space with warm humid air.

Brad had done exactly the same thing as Yokai. But his icy orb was melting faster, having been thinner to begin with.

" Do you know what I always hated about you, Yokai?" Brad asked trying to get Yokai's attention. " You didn't have to find your shards. Your father, the leader of the elementalist, broke our rules and gave you three to begin with. You were spoiled."

Yokai stood silent, still frantically melting away his self-made prison. Brad walked towards him, continuing his tirade.

"Not only did he give you those shards, he actually considered showing outsiders the Treasure, theone thing we are meant to guard with our life. He went against all our order stood for, against the very will of Anetha herself! He was selfish."

Yokai stepped out of the ice, face oddly blank as Brad kept speaking.

"Your father deserved to die . . . And so do you."

Yokai trembled with rage. How dare that man speak of his father that way!

Brad brought his staff in front of him, preparig to thump its end on the ground.

"Ancient Art of the Elementals . . ."

Yokai stood firm.

"Heaven's Judgement."