Bluebeard's Hunt {Part 1} - Takeover-

[❰ Misha ❱]

AURAHAHAHAHA

The boisterous laughter sounded loudly amidst the disoriented chuckles of the other patrons seated around the bar. A few men were seated at the surrounding tables, all either gregariously laughing, talking, or listening while cute serving girls tediously navigated between them carrying bottles of various alcoholic drinks.

The bar itself was quite homely, all wooden tables and chairs made up the most of it plus a small couch on the far side where a good more men sat. At the moment, all of them were listening with rapt attention to one man sitting at the bar in the front on a rather large wooden stool with a few more men. While everyone else was indulging themselves on gallons and gallons of alcoholic drinks, the man was perfectly content with a large glass of lemonade.

He had scars and his orange shirt was ripped quite a bit. He was quite a large man at a little over 6 feet in height. His shoulders were strapped with bullet containers in various places and his Blue beard was ran down his face neatly from his cheeks. Some of the patrons even questioned why the man wasn't amongst them drinking alcohol, but still listened keenly as he continued the story he'd been telling them.

"Now as I was saying, we were left right in the middle of the forest after we'd all gotten separated during the storm. Our tents were completely soaked, so we couldn't sleep and the ground was too soaked to keep a good fire. So the 4 of us had to eat our breakfast cold." Salvion said a little humorously.

"As soon as we decided to move northeast, we were ambushed a little less than a mile afterward on an uphill slope. They shot at us from downhill though, so we had plenty of cover, but they managed to kill Greyson and Jenn before retreating." Salvion said, his face glowing happily as he remembered the moment. Odd, considering he was talking about the death of his old comrades, but he truly did enjoy recounting his tales to all the local folk.

A couple of the men on his side stared at him a little, "Who were Greyson and Jenn?" a man asked, and Salvion answered. "Greyson was a private with a penchant for carrying way too much stuff with him into the wilderness. He had a few personal weaknesses that he needed all his stuff in case something went wrong. Ironically, that stuff didn't help when something did go wrong! AURAHAHA!" Salvion laughed loudly at his own dark joke, to which a few of the less sober patrons gladly boomed along with him.

"Jenn, was our nickname for light sergeant Johan. He was an adequate soldier but a little slow in the reflexes." Salvion pushed the stool back a little to put a finger to his side, a little to the left of his ribcage, "They shot him 3 times around here and by the time we drove them off, he'd already bled to death." Salvion finished. The other patrons chuckled a little, and took another swig of their drinks.

"Hahaha! Man Sal, you'll have to show me one day where you went for all this stuff! It sounds like you had a heck of a hard time!" The heavy-set man said, taking another swig of his rum.

"I certainly did. The food was bad, the weather was always harsh, the men were usually irritable, and I had fools like you shooting at me all the time. Reason why a lot of them missed." Salvion said jokingly to another wave of booming laughter.

The men shortly went back to taking deep drouts from their mugs while Salvion smiled widely with his cup of lemonade in hand. It was his preferred drink, rather than the alcohol that most other men his age preferred. He liked to remain sober, unlike his peers who had no qualms downing pitcher after pitcher of the intoxicating liquid. Just as he was thinking this, a red-cheeked man beside him spoke. "Zyou gots to twy this ol'Sal...It's DeLiciouS!" the man said rather loudly and with an unnatural twinkle in his eyes on his noticeably wrinkled face to which Salvion had the perfect response and held up 3 fingers to the man. "If you can tell me how many fingers I have up now, I'll try it."

Salvion continued to gaze at his lemonade while the man squinted a lot at the hand Salvion was holding up, visibly exerting a lot of effort. "Ummm...12...no, 18" Salvion remained silent while the intoxicated man launched into a round of idle chatter with the rest of the drunken patrons.

While he stared, he couldn't help becoming more aware of the voices around him and the sounds they made, along with the twin doors opening and two marines entering.

[kiarus]

(Kirol)
(Barson)
(Bar - Lady)

"I'm going on break." One of the marines at the residential base called out to the rest of the marines on staff as he pulled over his coat, took his katana in hand and placed it on his waist. Gripping his black marine cap he walked to the exit. He was roughly five feet ten inches tall and was lightly tanned. He was of average build and stature. Being a petty officer his duties were remedial, rather insufficient for someone of his ability.

Or so he thought.

"Hey Kirol. You can't just leave like that. Your shift isn't even near half done!" Another marine called out as Kirol begun to leave. This one was slightly shorter and evidently a few years younger, twenty to be exact. He was darker tanned and had scruffy black hair that was spiked backwards which complimented his youth. He grabbed his coat and ran after Kirol with it in hand.

"F*ck that. I'm on my second shift and I hadn't taken a break from the last one. Don't be telling me what to do boy." Kirol retorted, his tone was spiked with frustration. "I'm going into town for a drink. I need a break." He finished without interruption.

The other followed, "Oh well, I guess I'll tag along." He said even though his shift had just started. The other marines at the base didn't say anything. No one had time to be babysitting, especially with them short on men.

"What are you doing following me Barson? You really can't be taking a break. You just started!" Kirol snapped as they continued to walk into town. Good thing they weren't too far from the bar. There was one unusually close to the base and a lot of the marines went there on there downtime.

The two of them entered the bar with meager chatter, "Well if you're going I figured I might as well tag a long. I don't have much to do." After those words Kirol struck Barson over the head leaving a large lump.

"Idiot?! Nothing to do? You know we are short on men and your over here goofing off. Go back to work!" Kirol ranted, though of course Barson wouldn't listen.

He never did.

"Urgh.... Calm down Kirol. I'm just one person. They will barely miss me." Kirol sucked his teeth and sighed as they approached the bar where a beautiful, young woman stood. Her hair a bright, youthful orange that was led out into a long pony tail. She was rather petite; she couldn't have been any taller than five feet four inches. Slim waist and thick, rich pink lips, this girl was most likely the prize of the bar. "Oh my god you a beautiful person..." Barson couldn't help but bellow. His grammar escaping him.

Kirol quickly pushed him to the side, rather harshly at that. The young marine hit the ground and Kirol sighed, "Please excuse my friend... He's young and dumb. Can we get two cups of something classy. Your choice." Kirol said with a soft smirk.

Barson jumped up yelling, "Hey old man. What the hell was that for?!!" He screamed taking a seat next to him while a second lump accompanied the prior one.

First one.

It wasn't long after that the two heard the sounds of laughter and realized their surroundings, more specifically Barson. Kirol had noticed from the moment he entered the bar. The placed was riddled with stories of piracy.

Filth.

He frowned as he turned and gave a mug look at the collection of trash at the tables. Sadly, he was off duty at the moment. On break and he wouldn't let them ruin his time off. His gaze shifted back to the bar as the young woman returned with two different drinks. A vividly bright red drink for the young one and a light orange one resembled that of her hair color. She threw him a secret wink as he laid the drinks before them. "Drink up boys..." She then turned her gaze over to Kirol and said, "Men." And then she turned and left.

"Dude... How the f*ck do you do that old man?!" Barson shouted.

[❰ Misha ❱]

Salvion listened carefully as the two marines conversed between themselves, unaware of how closely he as listening. To them, the bar folks were just more useless filth to ignore and ignore them they did. This worked to Salvion's advantage however as they had no qualms discussing whatever business they pleased.

And the most pleasing part to Salvion was the "short on men" tidbit that the first marine had mentioned carelessly.

"So the marines are short on manpower. Hmmm .... that could help a lot." Salvion leaned over his drink and continued to listen as the marines bantered a little over the bar maid. In truth, he couldn't blame them. She was moderately attractive though Salvion was never one for such things. His first obsession was power and power only was his life. Reason he didn't drink in the first place. One became helpless when they were drunk as the men were now providing adequate evidence for.

Enraptured for a moment, Salvion stroked his thick blue beard, something he rarely did save for rare occasions when he was in deep thought. As he listened closely, his hatred for the marines bounced to the surface and an idea began to steadly form. He hated the marines for the hypocrites that they were and nothing would ever change that.

Now ... he started to think of a very daring idea. One that might prove to be very profitable for him at the expense of the marines and the more he thought of it from this angle, the more he loved the idea.

[Deleted]

(Kirol)
(Barson)

Despite is light and whimsical shade of orange, the drink was neither of these things. The liquid burned as it passed from Kirol's lips and down his throat leaving a deaden sweetness in his mouth. The older marine snorted to himself. That was some damn fine liquor. "Ah poor Barson, maybe in a few years I'll tell you," Kirol smiled and pointed to the tumbler filled with red, "Just drink." Rubbing the back of his head, Marinesman Barson grimaced and shot the other a defiant look before turning to his glass. Seconds later the red bourbon was splattered across the table in a fit of coughing and sputtering. "Make that a few decades."

By the time her had recovered, the color of Barson's face matched that of his drink and he covered his mouth with his arm in case he had another fit. "God man, clean up after yourself." Kirol grumbled and threw his napkin across the table. Still silent Barson grabbed the napkin along with his own and thoroughly began to wipe the table while looking around the table to see if anyone had seen him. But he had been safe due to the already very loud and rambunctious atmosphere of the pirate infested tavern.

Kirol sighed and took another sip from his wonderful drink. He drank from his heavy glass in hopes to drown his troubles in blissful toxicity. It had been quite some time since he had such a fine liquor. It was cloud nine compared to the water downed shit they served on the base. And even that pond scum was hard to get these days. Kirol set down his glass heavily on the table so that the concussion made Barson jump and almost spill his drink. "Where the hell have our supplies been?" Kirol growled at the younger marine as if it were Barson's fault.

Confusion played on Barson's face but it was quickly restored with a stern and alarmed stare, "Hey old man," Barson said quietly but with conviction, "We're not suppose to say anything about that."

"Fine," Kirol scoffed and then turned back down to his drink.

With his older companion pacified, Barson then brought his glass cautiously to his lips and took another sip. Like burning gasoline with a hint of cinnamon and cherry, the liquid violated Barson's mouth and set his throat on fire. But this time he managed to get the sip down with only a couple dry coughs before setting the glass safely down, "I don't know how the hell you guys can drink that." Barson looked at Kirol to see the older man drain his tumbler and then meet his gaze.

He however, did not address Barson's comment, "And forget about the supplies. I'm tired of doing double shifts every god damn day. What the hell were they thinking when they took away over half of the marine force? Most of the shifts don't even get covered these days!"

Barson's face grew panicked as Kirol began to speak loudly about the base's current flaws, "Shut up Kirol! You aren't suppose to talk-"

"Shut your mouth kid, can't you see I'm talking," Kirol's voice rumbled loudly, "And even if we had the men to defend the base it's not like we have the weapons. Sure everyone is carrying a gun, but I don't know anyone with more than five bullets on their person." Kirol raised his open hand to emphasize the meager amount ammo.

Beads of sweat gathered on Barson's forehead as he looked around the drink house. Pirates filled the room, but the younger marine couldn't tell if anyone was listening. "Kirol," he whined.

"Ah stop worrying and finish your drink," Kirol looked around the tavern for the sight of bright orange hair, "Hey there gorgeous, could I get another glass of this wonderful elixir?" He then turned back to Barson, "There's something you have to know about pirates Barson my friend. Sure they look tough and all on the outside, but most of it is for show. Inside they are cowards who prey on the defenseless. They turn tail when it comes to us marines." Bolstered by the alcohol Kirol wore a confident and smug expression, "May the four Blues freeze over the day Pirates directly attack a Marine base."

Barson wanted to leave.

[❰ Misha ❱]

The bar had begun to lighten up again in the past few minutes after the two marines arrived. It didn't spoil the fun of some people to have the marines around, but some people had grumbled over their presence in the bar.

Not Salvion though. The arrival of the marines was like a grand birthday present addressed to him adorned with a golden bow and fancy wrapping paper. In the past few minutes, he'd gained invaluable knowledge that now served to fuel an idea in his head. The gears in his brain turned rapidly. Switches clicked, nuts and bolts slotted into place, and screws twisted and turned within the inner confines of his mind.

His smile began to widen as it happened. The plan slowly coming together as he started to fill in the spaces.

"And even if we had the men to defend the base it's not like we have the weapons. Sure everyone is carrying a gun, but I don't know anyone with more than five bullets on their person." the older marine blurted out in his drunken state.

On the other side of the bar from the two stooping marines, Salvion's smirk was growing immensely. Only when it occupied a large portion of his face did it cease to . He couldn't contain himself much longer. It was perfect ... No; more than perfect. It was the opportunity he'd been waiting for.

The other marine made a few attempts to silence the older man, but they were futile and the man continued to speak unabated.

"There's something you have to know about pirates Barson my friend. Sure they look tough and all on the outside, but most of it is for show. Inside they are cowards who prey on the defenseless. They turn tail when it comes to us marines."

Salvion's large grin didn't subside. His plan was in his head and he was still hanging off of every word that came from the marine's mouth. "These marines ... have just sealed their fate with this. It's too good of an opportunity to let go."
Salvion was interrupted from the confines of his psyche by a friendly voice coming from across the counter. "Sir, are you okay? You've been sitting there smiling at me for quite some time now. Would you like another lemonade?" the woman behind the bar counter spoke, breaking Salvion from his mental revelry.

Immediately, his smile subsided and he returned to his serious but polite and kind demeanor. The bar lady leaned on the wooden counter in front of him. "What were you smiling about? You think of something good?" she teased a little. Salvion paid it no mind and just responded politely. "It's nothing, I was just thinking over an old war story from long ago."

The bar lady seemed intrigued, "Oh really, you'll have to tell me about it sometime." she said. "Anyways, would you like another drink sir?"

Salvion responded politely again, "No thanks, I think I've had enough for now." he dug into his pocket for some of the money he'd brought with him. He placed a 1,000 beli bill on the table and left the bar without a word.

Salvion walked for a little while as the sun slowly began to finally recede below the horizon. He began losing track of time as he headed towards his destination. Everything became clear to him as he walked. He'd seen the structure of the marine base when he first arrived on the island. While he'd never thought that he'd have the power to lay siege to the base, the notion of it now excited him beyond words.

He arrived at the base just as the orange glow from the drifting sun began to recede from the stone and the shadows began to take over the eastern side. The entrance of the marine base was a quarter of a sphere that held the door to the complex inside. It was connected to the second part of the base where it resembled a typical building with blue roof shingles that lingered over three levels worth of windows.

Salvion stared at the base for a second and then began surveying the surrounding houses. Most were uniformly placed side by side but kept at a distance from the base itself. Salvion mentally congratulated the marines for being clever enough to foresee the possibility of an attack from above but Salvion kept searching for the best position.

By the time he'd found the perfect spot, the sun had gone down and he could see several pairs of marine patrols exit the base to begin their night shift. He slumped and crawled in the darkness around the perimeter of the patrols until he arrived at the spot. It was a small building that resided a smaller distance away from the base than the rest of the houses that surrounded it. Nothing tall enough to give him a severe advantage against the marines but it was all he needed to execute his plan. By sunrise, the marines were in for a nasty surprise.

With that thought, he walked into the small building and began his survey. He strode up and down the stairs and routed through every inch of the house. When it was done, he found not a single thing that indicated that the home had been occupied for the last few months. It was abandoned and he was alone. Whoever owned the house must've been either scared of something or arrested. Either way, Salvion couldn't think of a better place to begin his preparations. The next morning was going to be very interesting.

"And so...the hunt begins. Aurahahaha." he thought dementedly.

[Deleted]

The chalk board read "Barson: West gate-North gate" in intricate crusive. Only Tida had such beautiful hand writing on this marine base. Barton looked up at the young woman sitting behind a desk with neatly organized stacks of papers and thought that despite how beatiful her handwriting was, it dulled compared to her own beauty. Come on man, you got this! Barson slung his rifle over his shoulder and approached the desk with a air of mock heroism, "Looks like I'll have to brave 'The Ghost Halls' all by my lonesome this morning." He used the pet name the marines dubbed the north-western section of the base for its lack of residence and eerie silence.

Tida smiled as she stifled a giggle, "Oh no! I sure hope you return marine Barson!" Her beauty multiplied when she smiled.

Barson felt his cheeks growing red, but he quickly recovered and puffed out his chest, "Oh there is no fear of that miss. For I am a great marine who has commanded a ship that has treaded all four Blues and the the Grandline itself." The marine couldn't help but mirror Tida's smile as he leaned on her desk, "My only fear is that I shall be so lonely on this oh'so dangerous guard shift."

"Oh is that so? Surely a marine of your magnificent caliber would have girls lining up to accompany you," Tida laughed.

Barson sighed,"Alas this is true. But I'm quite particular about my female company," he played a smug face.

Appearing to be crushed and heart broken the female marine frowned and looked down at her desk, "Oh then I surely have no chance in accompanioning you on your dangerous adventure."

Barson's composure shatter. Panic broke accross his face, "N-no, I I I'd love to have you cook, I mean cook. Argh! I mean come."

Tida's face lit up at Barson's reaction and she let out giggle. Not the annoying kind of giggle mind you, but the kind that made Barson feel warm inside and his knees feel like jello. "Haha, let me grab my gear." And with that she disappeared in a nearby door leading to the women's locker room.

Holy $#!? Barson grabbed a fistful of his hair in disbelief. Tida was going with him on a shift! Did that really happen? But the doubt was quickly washed away as that beautiful smile returned and approached him. "Where's your rifle?"

"Oh with your protection I don't need it," Tida replied, "You're probably a better shot anyways." Barson knew that wasn't true, he had seen Tida's rifle score. She was a much better marksman than him.

But he wasn't going to argue, "Well come on then. The sun's coming up and we have an adventure ahead of us."

And with that the two walked out into the misty morning.

OOC: okay sorry that took a weird turn. Idk what you wanted since you haven't actually attacked yet. If possible I want these two characters alive in the end. Add a little something for me to do on this. Plus if you want I was going to throw you a challenge. Maybe a super marine or two. Just to be fun. Someone to fight.

[❰ Misha ❱]

Salvion stood on the peak of the house he'd chosen for his ambush point. It was perfectly stationed to afford him a good view of the marines coming out of the base but would give him little advantage over them if he wasn't smart about it. The house wasn't as tall as the others that stood beside it, nor did it have the windows that would've given him the best vantage to shoot.

He hadn't chosen the home for its' windows however. He'd chosen it because it was the perfect position to wreck havoc upon the marines. The plans were in place. The Tar bombs that he'd planted all over the house were set, any attempt to enter by the marines would result in a big explosion of tar that would effectively block further entry. THAT was the reason he'd chosen it, the house was smaller and looked less threatening then the others. The lack of advantage would in fact be his advantage.

As the sun poked over the horizon, giving rise to the new morning, Salvion chuckled lightly to himself. "Hahahaha!" he laughed as the dawn began to break.

"It's time." he thought. Exiting the building, he saw two marines exit the building. One man and one woman. He could see their happy faces clearly in the gleaming sunlight and smiled darkly. "They won't be laughing much when I'm through with them." Salvion thought, withdrawing his two guns and aiming at the couple. His finger was clenched around the trigger before caught another sight out of the corner of his eye.

Salvion saw another man, dressed in a much more regal marine garb than the common soldier. He was surrounded by about 3 or 4 small men each carrying a standard rifle. "Hmm, probably higher ranked than those two. He's Perfect." Salvion thought excitedly and took a glance down at the two marines exiting the building, "Lucky day you two. I've got bigger fish to fry."

Targeting the higher official, Salvion turned the gun over a little bit before clenching his fingers around the triggers of the two guns he held and pulling them simultaneously. "Bang Bang!" The sounds rang out across the square. The two bullets lodged themselves inches apart from each other on the man's chest. One was placed exactly where his heart was located and another had missed slightly, hitting the man in the middle of his chest. Screaming, Panic, and Chaos ensued as the 4 marines that had been standing nearby froze in shock for a second before launching into manic frenzy at the sudden gunshots. Salvion meanwhile took a moment to curse the hand-crafted gun he held in his left hand for the shot that hit the man in the chest as he'd been aiming for the man's head. It was a poor shot by his standards compared the rifle in his right hand.

He shot a few more times at the scrambling marines, hitting a some more in fatal positions and only slightly wounding a few others before he heard the shout. "Look! Up there!" One of them shouted. Salvion saw the man pointing at him and quickly turned his aim on him. The man saw the move and dodge rolled to the right just as Salvion pulled the trigger, causing the shots to miss him, but hit the man who'd been standing beside him right in the forehead.

A moment or two more was all they needed to get organized. They began taking cover behind the fountain or behind the benchs, forcing Salvion to work for his kills. He shot 2 more in the sides and ducked below a volley of return fire before retaliating by shooting a man in the knee. He prepared to fire more shots as he heard the call he'd been waiting for. "Come on! He's up on the rooftop! Slip around the back alleys and get him! We'll keep him busy here!" one of the men who'd seemingly taken control of the situation shouted and Salvion saw the men filing up into a group and sneak into the alleyway beside the house.

"Perfect." he thought. Several more stayed back and fired shots to keep him crouching behind the layer of stone he was using for cover. Paying no more attention to the group, he gladly turned back to the group who'd stayed to hold him off. "Come on you pitiful marines! Is this the best you can do!? AURAHAHAHA" Salvion taunted as he laughed at the scattered marines.

~~~~~~~
In the alleyway behind the house

They crouched around the corners, slipping hastily into the alley where the back entrance was situated in the shadows. Quietly, the lead marine slid open the door and stepped inside. He looked around the kitchen, scanning for anything that might look out of place. The rest of the squad of 7 men followed, tiptoeing over the carpet, wary of any traps the man on the roof might have laid. As soon as the coast was clear, they moved back into rank and continued up the stairs. Each of them was sweating nervously. They were low ammo and the man had the advantage over them. Each was expecting some kind of trap.

They came to a door at the top. Carefully, the man in front pushed the door open and gasped. In the middle of the small room sat a large spherical mass of black liquid. It was supported by a trunk-like structure that oozed more of the black liquid. Each of the men froze for a second, caught off guard by the sight of the large structure for long enough to be unable to escape. Suddenly, the large sphere began to expand. The marines tried to turn back, but it was already too late. The sphere burst, covering the marines completely in tar. They struggled, acting in a frenzy as the sticky tar completely restricted their movements.

~~~~~~~

Salvion continued to rain down bullets on the marines. Men were dropping dead after running out of bullets, while Salvion still had plenty of his ammo left. The man who'd taken charge of the attack now found himself at a loss as he talked to a man who'd volunteered to help him direct. "What the heck is going on! Where are the two squads that we sent in!? They should've taken care of him by now!" the man said, exasperated. "Sir, we've heard no word from them at all. It's like they just vanished!" the other man responded.

~~~~~~~
In the building beside Salvion

In the building beside Salvion, the men had infiltrated in order to get a higher vantage point on the position of the man. Unfortunately, they too were now laid out on the ground unable to move as the tar cut off all attempts to free themselves.

~~~~~~~

The man cussed out loud as the blue bearded man continued to taunt the marines from atop his perch on top of the building while raining fire down on the now almost completely defenseless marines. Most of the men were now completely out of ammo and just resorted to hiding behind cover. It worked for awhile, but Salvion was now finding ways to coax them into leaving cover before finishing them off.

"Come on, what's wrong marines? Can't even take out one man off his perch! Perhaps you ought to just retreat back to your little base and call it quits!" Salvion mocked, "Than again ... I'm not letting you retreat." Salvion's voice grew deeper and suddenly, much to the astonishment of every marine present, a thick black substance started to spew from the man's body.

It started over his right arm, but than spread to cover more of him. Salvion laughed darkly as the thick liquid appeared. "Oh? Are you surprised? You didn't think I was a fool and attacked you just to cause a little chaos? The men you sent around me are probably figuring that out about now." Salvion boasted. The marine lieutenant, who'd just a few moments ago had appeared certain that this would be his big chance to be promoted, face-faulted and fell back in sudden fear as he realized what the man was.

"Yes puny marines, I'm a Devil fruit eater! I acquired the abilities of the Taru Taru no Mi, making me a Tar human! There is no escape from here, I'm taking over your base, in the name of me, the pirate Bluebeard!" Salvion shouted loudly over all the marines watching before laughing.

Salvion gaping maw shot open and he laughed maniacally, "AURAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"