Lost in Time: AMEKO FIRST RECRUIT

[SHADE SMASH]

Taffy walked down the crowded streets with her arms crossed and head hung low as her short childishly tied up hair billowed in the soft wind that of course brought a lone tumbleweed accross her path as well. She was deep in thought, trying to figure out something. Something just wasn't right with this town, this city, this island!!! Just, it wasn't right!!! She has been walking around the whole city, in her "Candies are for Sweeties" blue T-Shirt and blue jean shorts. Her feet were adorn with z-line white sneakers. It wasn't anything unique, but to the town of westerners, she stood out like a sore thumb, and her suddenly outburst didn't help her get on the down low either.

"THAT'S IT!!! There aren't any CANDY STORES!!!" She yelled out angrily. Why the hell did they not have candy stores?! She didn't mind. In fact, she had a backpack filled with sweets that are awaiting to be put in her mouth which was currently occupied by a red raspberry piece of taffy. However, any town was recquired to have a candy store in her book! Even though about 90% of the islands she visited had no store for candy alone, 30% had no candy whatsoever, and 10% had no knowledge of what candy was!!! The fact that this island was a part of that was nearly heartbreaking and angering!!!

However, her childish thought process didn't allow her to get very far in her plans to find someone to beat her candy obsessions into. Instead, they made her mind switch to another thing! Her eyes widen as a store came into her views and she ran up to the window, her face becoming unrecognizable as she pressed it against the glass as if it would get her closer to what lie behind it.

It was a really wierd flint-lock pistol. She had her own pair of pistols cleverly designed to her needs around her waist, but this was funny looking! She wanted to get a closer look at it but somehow, going through the door didn't seem like an option and she simply pressed her face harder on the glass making her look close to a monster to anyone inside. Which was a store owner and a customer by what she could see.

[Kurosaki]

It was bustling on Main Street in Stetson city, the only really remaining town on the Island of Stetson. People came to Main Street to shop. A person passing by that didn't live on this Island might also note that everyone was wearing old-fashioned Western clothing.

A certain human-like figure was walking amongst these people. He had only slightly adjusted what he was wearing so that he looked Western; having added a cowboy hat and put on a darker suit than he normally wore. He had swiped them from a small farm house on the outskirts of the Island when he had landed there. He felt bad about stealing but hadn't wanted to stand out either. If he stood out, bad things would probably happen.

Cell tugged down the hat further to hide his face and adjusted the arm that he had in a sling. He had stopped on this Island to get parts to fix his arm with. After he had dislocated it in order to escape a kidnapper a few days ago he had been fortunate enough to finally get his arm back too. However, even when he had reattached it the mechanics inside hadn't worked right after. A few small bolts were missing that were vital and other parts had come lose.

But it wasn't just his arm that was a mechanical wonder. No, Cell was entirely mechanical; a robot. He only looked like an average person on the outside.

He stopped to examine a store, zooming in with his eyes to search the entirety of the inside through the window before moving on and passing the next which was a pistol store. He paused and turned, a blank expression on his human-like face at first, mouth slightly agape. A younger woman had her face pressed up to the glass panel of that store in a rather odd manner. Something was humorous about it and Cell laughed.

-----

"What's the reason that people laugh?" asked a younger Cell, though he looked the very same age that he did now, standing near Taffy. He blinked his robotic eyelids and tilted his head, examining and seeming to take in everything as data. The Professor seemed startled and then actually laughed as she tied up her long blond hair behind her.

"Wow, well, that is certainly a very difficult question to answer. "I guess you could say that the reason is because they've seen something funny, or feel good, or are enjoying the company of those around them. Laughing is good for the heart," she replied, leaning forward in her rolling chair and tapping Cell in the chest in a certain spot. "Right there." She leaned back again. "I'm sure you'll just laugh when it's the right time."

"But, I don't have a heart."

"Not a beating one. But one is there all the same."

-----

"What are you doing?" Cell questioned the girl, wondering now what the purpose of pressing herself up on the glass plane like that was other than to leave a body smear where her warm face was afterward.

[SHADE SMASH]

Was that a laugh? A chuckle? No matter what, Taffy definitely heard an exhalation of air in a contorted fashion which becomes a laugh! And no I also am not aware as to why I described such a fun activity in such a fashion! But for the candy obsessionist, one thing was most definitely certain with her face planted on the ever slow fogging glass, that gun just giggled!!! It had shocked the young girl to such and extent that she tore her face from the glass, her face furiously red and her impression of her face on the glass from where it did not fog from her body temperature. So far, she had calculated only two reasons as to why the gun had the power to speak! One was magic! Two on the other hand was...

"Mister!!! How did you get stuck in a gun!? CAN YOU SHOOT YOURSELF?! ISBEINGAGUNFUN!?!?!?" She spat, one after the other with such passion that she began banging on the glass before her fists opened so that her palms were the ones laying on the cool surface. It was obvious that she appeared stricken by the sudden realization that there was a gun, but no one seemed to connect that she had mistaken the man with a sling words for the small mechanical device beyond the window. She may have even continued believing and would have spout out a bunch more nonsense if he had not spoke up again to question what she was doing.

Startled by the fact someone on this island was actually taking an interest in her enough to actually talk to her, she jumped about a foot in the air and away from the window to face who spoke to her now. Was it him who had laughed? She wondered in her head before shoving the thought away. There was no way he had laughed! She was beyond positive it was that flintlock pistol and she wasn't about to give up her hopes in the pistol for any reason.

"The pistol said something!" She announced, pointing accussingly at the lone pistol as she rested her other hand on her hips for emphasis. "A person got trapped inside by a witch in the forest and has been crying out for help for as long as she could remember!!! But no one listens and won't hear it out so it has to live out its days behind that glass to protect itself from any wandering magical beings that feel like doing more damage to her than she has already experienced!!!" She cried out. In all honesty, the story popped into her head right then and there but with her childish mind, it was not a lie but actuality!!! She then crossed her arms and looked at him with an angry pout, daring him to accuse her of lieing her butt of before she saw the sling and worry instantly overcame her.

"Hey! Are you ok? You aren't hurt are you?!" She asked, frightened and saddened by the purpose of the sling if not for him being hurt! "Did someone do this to you? I can beat them up for you!!! I'm sure you would have noticed by now but I'm a pirate and I'm pretty powerful so I can teach those punks a lesson or two about messing with another persons limbs!!!"

[Kurosaki]

Having at not first realized that the girl had spoken, and to the gun in the window non-the-less, Cell was thoroughly startled when she announced, having turned toward him, that the pistol had spoken.

"Huh, what, really?" Cell questioned, taking her for her word because he didn't know enough about weapons to know that it was not possible. He proceeded to listen to the girl's fantastical story about the pistol and his eyes widened. A witch? A person trapped in a pistol? It all was almost too much to take in. That poor person. "Is... Is there anything we can do to help them?"

Before he could find out the secret behind breaking the curse on the pistol, however, the robot was asked if he was okay and if he was hurt. He blinked in surprise. Hurt? He was a little damaged but that was nothing major. A few repairs and he would be as good as knew. But for some reason she seemed extremely concerned about his "hurt" and asked if someone had done it to him. If so, she said that she could beat them up for him and told him that she was a pirate and was strong enough to teach them a lesson.

"Oh, my arm? No, it's okay, I'm actually here to get it repai-I mean, fixed," Cell caught himself, realizing that if she knew he was a robot things could become bad for him. She might work for the World Government that was after him. She seemed innocent enough and friendly and kind. Cell didn't want to lie to her either but he had already gotten mixed up with someone that had wanted to kidnap him before. "I actually did it to myself so there's no one you need to do the beating to. So, you're a pirate? Are you after the "One Piece" then?"

Cell seemed genuinely intrigued. He had heard stories about Pirates and the One Piece but had never met anyone that was a Pirate to ask about it before.

(Sorry! I didn't give you much to go off of! DX)

[SHADE SMASH]

(I don't mind at ALL!)

"Hmm?" She at first responded to his reaction to the man trapped in the pistol, her focus concentrated entirely on him limb and why it was the way it was. It was obvious she was genuinely worried for his health and didn't in the least notice how inhuman the arm may have come to look upon closer inspection which she did in a way by just being up and close with it. Remember, she is a sniper with SUPER sharp eyes! "Oh, yeah, we just have to bring the weapon back to the witch and he will change her back." She said, waving her hand as if it was no big deal.

"But you are really ok!?" She emphasized, getting back to the subject of his arm before much time had passed. "I can't believe that no one did that to you..." She may not be sadistic to wish him the misfortune of having someone do that to him. But the thought that he was emo and did it to him self, a razor accident gone wrong, didn't go good by her either. But, by the sounds of it, he wasn't in pain. He didn't look the part of a traumatized victim, neither did he smell it. And then she wasn't too intent on tasting him for information and it seemed a bit rude to suddenly go feeling him up...BUT WHAT THE HECK? She wasn't the sort to be refuse a man in distress over a little comfort issues!

"One Piece?" She questioned, momentarily distracted by the question he posed. "Oh, are you talking about that thing left on Rafael? Of course I'm not after that load of garbage! Its just a bunch of gold! If you ask me, touching a dead man's gold is not only bad luck but a damn good way to get on the bad side of a pissed off spirit! But, I guess the perks that come with it would be cool...." Her eyes automatically shone with an odd eery shine as her thoughts transported her to a world where she sat upon a throne, a cotton candy crown on her head, on top of a tower of multi colored TAFFY! A heavenly hum was in the background, emphasizing the beautiful moment!

Only, she came through way too soon than she had hoped, upon herself humming that tune in an awkward pose even for the lovely Taffy. Nervously laughing, she tugged at the hem of her shorts, moving her fingers over her clothes as if fixing them would fix the reason she had been trandported to an odd state of mind.

"ANYWAYS!" She exclaimed, suddenly with a serious exterior, pointing accussingly at her new found friend. "Let me see your arm!!!" She started making a reach for the arm bound in the sling.

[Kurosaki]

To his question about the pistol, the girl dismissfully said that they could simply just bring the pistol back to the witch. "Oh, is that all? That's simple enough," he responded. The probability of them accomplishing that objective seemed high by the way that the pirate spoke about it. Either that or she was incredibly strong and even a powerful witch wasn't enough to deter her from her objectives. Cell found himself wanting to know more about this girl.

She then asked him if he was really okay and commented on his arm more. Cell really didn't want her pressing more. If she tried to take him to a human Doctor, he would be instantly seen as a robot. Though he looked like a person from the outside, especially when standing far enough away, his skin was different to the touch and had no warmth to it. His arms and other parts of his body were perhaps a little too heavy and as soon as a Doctor would try to listen to his heart, they would find that there wasn't one beating within his metal frame. There were tons of other clues as well, however, that didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out.

Luckily his question about One Piece seemed to throw her off the track of figuring it out for now. Cell could feel a little bit more at ease while she asked if he meant the thing on Rafael. He nodded and she went on to tell him that a spirit would be surely angered by whomever took his gold and that it was a load of garbage anyway. Cell was surprised. In his database in his mind he searched through the stories he had heard about Gold Roger. Hadn't he wanted to have someone find his treasure? Perhaps not. After all, this girl did seem to know what she was talking about.

Her words were filed away into his memory into the One Piece file.

Eyes blinking back to reality, screen fading away from the frontal view of his mind, Cell was just in time to see the girl pirate pointing directly at him, demanding to see his arm. She started to reach for him.

"No, really, it's okay," Cell commented but that really didn't seem to slow her down. He pulled back but as he did so if she had already grabbed the sling, chances were that he did the worst thing possible in the situation. The probability of the sling being ripped off was incredibly high. If that happened than his arm would simply... fall right off onto the ground. In that situation, what would be her first reaction? Cell didn't really know. How would a human react to something like that? Curiousity actually replaced his surprise.

All of it happened in a split second as the girl pirate made her move.

[SHADE SMASH]

(I'm currently attempting to reply on my phone so please excuse any spelling mistakes that may occur that have direct correlation to the anime. It doesn't quite acknowledge those names as actual words. TO THE REPLY!)

Taffy wasn't deterred by his assurance. Although she didn't know if she could help him or not, some childish thought had plagued her mind making her somewhat believe that if she looked at it, maybe he would feel better! A very childish thought but one that fueled both her mind and actions. Just as she grasped his wrist, a bit too tightly maybe, he moved backwards causing whatever was inside the sling to fall out.

So there Taffy was, the mechanical arm limp in her hand, whatever bolt and screws were a part of it scattered on the floor, and her newfound friend looking on at the situation with an empty sling. The purple haired girl lifted her arm ever so slightly as she examined the arm, then at cell's shoulder before once again glancing at the arm. The place seemed to almost go silent as Taffy pieced together the information. Arm which turned out to be a Mechanical Arm that has a lot of Cool Additions...

"THIS IS SO COOL!" She yelled out exuberantly, examining the object in her hands. People turned their heads at the two thanks to her loud exclamation but more or less went along on their way without a thought. She then began to wiggle the fingers of the hand singing 'this little piggy'. She smiled shamelessly at Cell half way through the song with a pumped expression.

"I can definitely help you out here! I can patch this up no biggy! But um we might need a few items..." she said, getting quieter towards the end as she considered where they could get duct tape. Yes she did think duct tape. As much of an inventor the young girl was, bio mechanics was not one of her specialties and one great thing to use on a weapon without defaulting much work was always duct tape! However, in a way he is lucky that she wasn't fixing him up exactly how she would a weapon. She might do more harm than good that way.

Sadly, the gun was abandoned in the window and the soul that lied inside it watched on, it's hope once again lost. How the girl had realized such radical things from just looking at her was astonishing but sadly it didn't seem that the girl had any intention of doing as she said would be needed to change her back. Guess she had to wait for the next girl who could read weapons to get her body back.

[Kurosaki]

The arm clanked to the ground and Cell stood back, the sling now empty and his secret discovered. Anyone in their right mind might scream at first or have been shocked in some manner, not that Cell really understood this. Instead Taffy took up the mechanical piece and examined it. Cell watched her do so, his expression blank as he took in the scene and saw how humans were supposed to react to something like this. She exclaimed about how cool it was.

To a person, a mechanical arm was cool? Being a robot was cool? Cell didn't know this and felt a little bit embarrassed. He rubbed the back of his head with his remaining hand and smiled a little bit. He hadn't known how normal humans would talk about him. After all, the scientist that he had talked to had always referred to him so differently when comparing him to people.

Taffy then told him that she could help him out. So she was like the Professor, able to repair mechanical parts? This was great. Cell only knew a limited amount but maybe the girl could even upgrade his arm's functions, make them more fluid?

"You can fix my arm? You really are amazing!" Cell told her before going on to explain the mechanical pieces that he needed, listing the proper sizes of bolts, screws, and wire that would be perfect to complete the job; all the while pulling the measurements and specs from his memory banks word for word from the scientists that had created him. "We just need all of that and you should be able to fix my arm easily!"

[SHADE SMASH]

Taffy nodded her head, smiling brightly at his last comment. He said she was amazing!!! As much as she would appreciate some time to go Rudolph on him, crying out how he felt about her, he began to mention something else. Her smile still wide, her eyes smiling, and her head bobbing every so often as she listened to him rant about the bolts and nails and sizes the little nuts had to be. Did she understand him? That was a negetive. When she fixed her weapons, it was merely out of good eyesight and some innate understanding of how to modify her guns after years of handling. Not to mention her desire for candy had given her some mechanical power of understanding!

It was in that moment that she knew the perfect medecine for this project! Ignoring the people that began eying their odd nature, she easily slid the arm back into place being as careful as any steady handed gal should be. Also, she made sure to go slow not wanting the man to flinch like before fearing that her grip might not be as good on the hand and it might crash into more smithereens. Once she was positive it was well in place and probably accidentally ignoring any words that had come flying out of the mans mouth, she grabbed his working one and began running into a seemingly random direction.

"I KNOW WHERE WE SHOULD GO!" She told him, being unnecesarily loud in the almost silent crowd. Ok, now when I said no candy stores, I meant it. But that didn't mean there was no candy whatsoever. There was a small store a ways away that contained some sugary packets of cotton candy like substances. It was probably a fluke of shipment but it was there nonetheless! She ran to it and jostled inside, Cell still in tow hopefully for even if she still had a firm grasp on his hand, she never truly looked back. She spotted the candy instantly! Beside it was a mass of nuts and bolts of every size shape and kind!

She looked at it in surprised joy! Issuing a thank you to the candy god in the sky that constantly looked after her before finally letting go of Cell. She then took off the bag that was on her back, stowing all her Taffy candies, and pulled out about ten of them! Grape strawberry, mango pineapple, lemony orange, 4 apple tart, and 3 banana gum. All disappearing in her mouth and even one of the strange sugar substance in the store while the manager wasnt looking.

She was prepared to dive into the large column of nails and bolts before her..maybe literally... but she recalled her members before it was too late! Looking over at Cell with Hamster like cheeks, she rustled through her bag and held out about 3. Cherry lime, and 2 blackberry. "Vuant stome?" She questioned.

[Kurosaki]

At that moment Cell knew that he was going to get fixed properly. Soon his arm would be in working condition. Maybe then... Maybe then things would start to improve for him. The events on the last island would be forever recorded in his memory but he was looking forward now to better ones being made in the future. The pirate girl slid his arm back into the sling and then grabbed ahold of his working one. Cell looked down, mouth opening briefly as he went to ask something about where they were going but he only had time to yell out in surprise as he was dragged along at a run to somewhere.

"Ah, ah, okay!" Cell called back as he tried to keep up with her. He matched her speed with running until they came to a small store. She went inside and Cell was towed along with her though he wasn't protesting. He was sure that this smart pirate girl would show him exactly where he could purchase all of those parts on his list. A smile was on his face which turned into a studious one as he watched the girl attack some sort of merchandise that was colorful and small. He didn't know what they were at all but none of them seemed to be the right size or shape to do him any good.

Not to mention the method she used them with...

Putting them into her mouth? Cell didn't need that sort of energy boost.

"Ah, no, thank you," Cell declined politely as he had seen a Scientist once do to an aquantince when they had asked him for a night out on the town. Whatever that meant. He only hoped that he was using it in the appropriate manner here and didn't offend her. He looked at her bashfully, worried that it was showing through that he didn't know much about this world in which she lived. After all, he technically was less than a year old and had been in a lab that entire time.

His eyes shifted to the side and spotted some mechanical parts, however, that caused images to spring into his mind. The images matched up and flashed when he saw that the parts were the same in some cases. Others X'd out and were dismissed.

"Wow, everything that I need is right here! Amazing! You really do know how to fix my arm!" Cell said before going over to the mechanical parts, all of which turned out to be the same as what would be needed to create the equivalent of a lawn mower, ad began to gather up the appropriate ones that they would need.

[SHADE SMASH]

Taffy frowned a bit as he declined the three pieces in her hand. Seriously! You try to be nice to a guy and then they just turn you down without a thought! She considered a bit angrily before finally shifting her glaring eyes from him back to the three freshly wrapped taffy's....then again. All the more for her!! She thought with bulging cheeks and stiff jaws as they tried to chew all the taffy that was certainly beyond its capacity. The sugar ball having already melted and traveling to her stomach.

Smiling, or as much of smiling as she could accomplish without opening her mouth too disgustingly, she dropped the taffy back into her bag of goodies, zipped it up and placed it back on her back comfortably. At this point, her new companion attacked the column of bolts and were already picking out the ones that he will need for his arm.

She clasped her hands behind her head as she watched him, busying herself with the candy in her mouth, slowly making it a more mangeable mass of sugar than the bulk it was before. For any normal person, their jaws would be sore from the exertion! But after doing this for so many years, it has become a natural accomplishment.

But the young girl quickly became bored of simply watching and then began to peruse the store for what treats it may hold. Other than stupid small trinkets and bags of tastless potato chips, it seemed to have nothing of interest to the young girl. Even the walls were tasteless and uncreative with their bland appearance of gray! Really, how unfun were westerners if they didn't understand simple colors?!

Her eyes continued to stare at the store with mild disgust in her eyes, promising that when she had finally gotten her own home that it would be way more colorful. Until, that is, she can upon a small snowglobe. It was the kind that could fit in your hand but inside there was a candy cane. Although small enough to fit into the fragile thing, it was apparently big for the people inside. A couple and a smaller child from what she could see.

Small nostalgic thoughts danced in her head of a small child hanging with her parents. Eating candy and watching them see their creations off before they went to the stores where they were sold. So caught up in her thoughts that picking the small trinket up and placing it in her bag seemed all like a blur. A blur that was quickly spotted by the store manager and not at all ready to be tolerated for.

"Hey you!!!" The man called out angrily, getting out from behind the counter so he can get in the face of the young girl and get his product back or for more money than it was for attempting robbery! Taffy glanced up at the man, playing innocence but even she can see that something terrible was about to happen with how the man started to stalk towards her with a demeaning precence. Glancing back at Cell, she saw that his nuts and bolt tirade was coming to a close. Or was already, she didn't know. All she did know was that she had to get them out of there and fast! Because, of course, she had no money...

As the man began to get too close, she ran over to Cell and grabbed his working arm again, attempting to pull him from his plight. "We need to go now!" She said urgently. What happened from that point on seemed to be out of her control.

[Kurosaki]

Having never been in a store before, Cell seemed to be as clueless as could be about how it worked. Since Taffy was his model for how to act within a store, he was doing his own job of taking bolts and nuts and anything else that he would need to fix his arm and stuffing it into the pockets of his pants. He was stuffing the last of it in his pockets and turning around to see what his pirate friend was doing when she approached him instead and told him that they needed to go. Her voice sounded pressing as though there was no time.

"Huh? Why?" Cell questioned, not understanding the reasoning behind it but moving to leave anyhow. His friend grabbed his working arm and pulled him towrad the door just as the store owner stepped out in front of them. It seemed that because he knew the aisles like the back of his hand, he had used a way to cut them off from escape.

"That's as far as you get! Now empty your pockets of whatever you took. I'm going to call the Marines on you both!" growled the man, his face purple in its rage and his big fists clenching together threateningly. "Unless you plan to pay for all of that?"

Cell blinked. Pay? Pay how? He wasn't quite sure what the man meant by that.

"We'll give it back, we're sorry! We didn't mean it. Here, if we give you back what we stole please don't call the Marines?" Cell pleaded, knowing that it would spell a lot more trouble for him than simply being thrown in jail. He shifted and moved to turn his pockets inside out so that the parts he took would fall out onto the floor. But before he could do so, his arm slipped out of the sling and fell onto the floor again.

For a moment there was a sort of stunned silence as the store owner's mind tried to process what had just happened. His face paled and he broke out into a cold sweat.

"Your... Your arm just! WHAT THE HECK!?" yelled the man causing Cell to flinch. Wow, wasn't this man overreacting just a tad? The pirate girl hadn't acted like that at all. Cell frowned a bit, confused as to the difference between their two responses. That was when the man pulled out a gun. Yes, a gun. As a store owner he probably thought that carrying one would do him a lot of good in protecting his store and had probably never had the intention of actually firing it. But now he was frantic and not thinking clearly and he had turned the safety off.

And was pointing the gun at both of them.

Realizing the danger involved in that even if he was the only one hit, Cell went to raise his other arm as a weapon but that caused the man to pull the trigger. One bullet whizzed past Cell and struck a jar causing it to shatter. Pieces flew through the air and rained onto the floor. The man hadn't expected to actually fire and dropped the gun in fright.

"Let's get out of here!" Cell cried, snatching up his arm and running forward this time bringing his friend with him if she was still holding onto his good arm.

[SHADE SMASH]

Just as Taffy had grabbed for Cell, the stupid store manager popped out in front of them. She gripped Cell's arm a bit stronger, bending her knees and putting her other arm in front of her as she glared menacingly at him. A position that was defensive for her. But he glared right back with the same forced and stood tall with confidence, believing that all he has to do is make a strong statement and they will quickly return all the things they had attempted to steal.

"That's as far as you get! Now empty your pockets of whatever you took. I'm going to call the Marines on you both! Unless you plan to pay for all of that?"

Taffy stayed her position, not at all frightened by the mention of marines in the least. It wasn't like she was wanted by them or anything. Not like they were really quite powerful. When dealing with these kind of stuff, they usually send the grunts or ignore it so either he was bluffing or had some powerful friends in the Marines. At any other moment, she would have ignored it, but this time she had someone with her, an accomplice and she couldn't have his name ruined because of her. About him...

"We'll give it back, we're sorry! We didn't mean it. Here, if we give you back what we stole please don't call the Marines?"

Taffy's eyes widened, jumping up, her rebellious inner nature wishing for him not to but she quickly reasoned with herself that it was better than nothing. But it seemed even that thought was eradicated when his arm fell off in the midst of returning everything. She stood their stunned, more out of the noise it made and the sudden moment that it had fell out. She of course quickly recovered, but it seemed the store owner had not.

"Your... Your arm just! WHAT THE HECK!?"

"Really?!" Taffy screamed, wanting nothing more than to fight back with him, her glare more powerful and angrier than ever. But it seemed he had something else up his sleeve and pulled out a gun. "You have got to be kidding me! Just be-" She started her rampage at him, taking a step forward which must have frightened the man for he pulled the trigger and Taffy instantly jerked backwards and down, covering her face with her remaining arm. But lucky her and Cell, he had a despicable aim. Instead having hit a jar and dropping his gun soon thereafter. She stood up, taking a step forward towards the man until she heard...

"Let's get out of here!"

The sudden tug from her arm still attatched to the mans brought her back to reality as they ran around the man and outside of the store. After that, she was positive he chose a random direction and they ran and ran until Taffy at last tugged on Cell enough to jerk his attention to reality.

"Are you ok?" She asked worriedly, half out of breath as she panted. She might be used to running, but that didn't stop her from breathing heavily. At least she could bare standing without having to put her hands on her knees the wimp way. If only she was a bit more observant, she would have quickly realized her friend was not panting at all, not even seeming exhausted. She just kept looking at him with a worried face.

[Kurosaki]

Whatever path Cell took it didn't seem to matter anymore. He just wanted to get the both of them as far away from danger as was possible. His legs pumped up and down and the screen that showed him his view of the world flashed with possible routes. He dismissed that and just took the nearest one at high speed, the screens disappearing as the full view of his surroundings came back. Cell glanced behind him to make sure that his friend was still following okay despite the fact that his hand was holding hers. He didn't want to go so fast that she couldn't keep pace with it.

His body relayed the tug on his arm from her and he stopped. They both stood for a moment while Taffy got her breath. Cell, having no need to take deep breaths even after so much exertions, merely watched and checked his energy levels. It seemed like he was okay to keep going without anymore rest, thankfully. If the store owner came back he could even carry Taffy if needed.

The pirate girl first asked Cell if he was okay. He nodded and smiled a little bit before answering, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just sort of startled me. I don't think he's chasing us but maybe we should get out of here just in case. If he called the Marines..."

Cell trailed off after that, a worried expression on his face that mimicked Taffy's in a way. The good thing was that he was pretty much 100% certain that they were not being pursued at the moment because of his good hearing skills. No footsteps fell anywhere nearby that were at a high speed of pace.

[SHADE SMASH]

Taffy's face of worry quickly melted into one of relief as she smiled at her companion, her exhaustion finally lessening to a more bearable point. "That's good." She replied in response before her eyes suddenly blazed like fire and she brought her fist around and punched him as hard as she could despite the move he most likely made to veer his head out of its course. Despite the pulsing pain of her fist, the knuckles beginning to bruise after having come in contact with his jaw, it was apparent that she was still burning angry for some reason or another.

"But next time, let me worry about the marines! We should have stayed and taught that man some..um..that word that starts with m!!!" She responded, faltering a bit as she shuffled her feet before coming back with resolution! It was at this time that her mind truly comprehended the immense pain and ache that pulsed in her fist and suddenly bent over holding her fist. "OW OW OW!!! That hurt!!!" She cried out, shaking her hand a bit before looking back to Cell with teary eyes. "It's not funny!" She said randomly with teary eyes before she glanced down and recalled that there was a hand in need of fixing.

"Oh yeah! You still have the bolts right?" She asked with a smile, looking around before her eyes widened in realization, they had made it to the docks! "Hey..." She started, her mind gears turning for once in her life as a plan came together in her mind. "...why don't you leave with me on a ship and I can fix up your hand on that! It will save time! and stuff! Hey, you can even be a part of my crew!" She said, going on a roll as her eyes brightened more and more as she continued.

(I know I GMed saying that she hit Cell's face but I thought it would make more of an impact emotionally wise than if she was to attempt multiple times. If you want me to change it I would be happy to oblige.)