Mission 106: UnPirate-like Actions [Flame/Mimic/Invite]

[Flame]

Mission #106 ★★★ 

Roguetown has fallen into the command of the savage Marine Captain, Arnold 'Brick' Mason. This man's ego is surpassed only by his corrupt methods of governing the Island and the people are just plain sick of it. Even the lower level Marines are wanting to overthrow him. The civilians of Roguetown have gathered up a large sum of beri to pay, 75,000, for anyone who can defeat the Captain. Careful though! Rumor has it that he's eaten the Brick Brick Fruit and the majority of the Marine Base will also come to his aid!

    Roguetown, the town of the beginning and the end, what a shamble its become. To think this place was the birth place of that guy it looks like a complete dump. The people are ragged, and the whole atmosphere it just feels down the girl thought to herself. She was standing along the main road one eye on a bulletin board with a bunch of old bounty posters and the other just lazily watching those common folk who walked around her. Of course she had never been here before so she didn't know if it was like this when Gol D. Roger had walked these streets but to be honest anything could have been better than this. The marines that walked along the streets were foolish enough to try and look menacing. Perhaps to the normal folks of Roguetown they were, but to her they were just foolish nobodies filled with thoughts of power which they really didn't have. 

    Her small hand slid along the bulletin board rustling through the bounty posters sliding over names, some of which she knew others whom she didn't. At a time she'd laugh and giggle recognizing the name of a former crewmate or just someone she had met. At others she'd pass over a number and realize small a dot she had become on the radars of the marines. Though that was for the best, the lower the bounty the less trouble the bounty would cause her. Except of course from those stupid bounty hunters who were in the game for easy prey who could bring in decent cash. She had dealt with a number of them on the way to this island and while not particularly difficult to defeat they were bothering her rest and relaxation. The hand which had continued to move around for a while finally stopped, grasping at a piece of paper in a fast movement the girl pulled the poster off the board and stuffed it under her cloak. The poster had read WANTED: 52,000,000 Beri SYPHALIA MINALION. The picture that went along with it was of course a picture of the girl herself. She had always regretted getting caught on that camera, but that was in the past and now she had to deal with her own missteps. But now she was here for a different reason, an old friend of hers had sent her a message that the people of Roguetown had put up a sum of money to oust some Marine Captain whose corruption destroying the city brick by brick. Normally she wouldn't have taken this kind of job, she had to travel from the Grand Line back into the Blues but she was strapped for cash at the moment and the supposed 75,000 beri would go a long way in securing her financial security. 

    Pulling out a sheet of paper with some writing on it Syphalia pulled it closer to her face and began rolling over it with her eyes. Scratching the back of her head she looked around, a puzzled look came over her face. Her long black hair twirled in the air as her head rotated back and forth as if looking for something. Finally stopping she squinted slightly looking at a small sign in the distance. Turning around she walked towards the sign, each step with more confidence than the last, as she became more sure of where she was going. Stopping in front of a small alley she took once last glance at the sign for the shop next to the alley. Making sure for one last time that this was the place, she stepped into the alley and headed into the shadows. What a shadey place this is, as one would expect for a deal where commoners of coming to wanted people for help the girl thought as she stopped in front of a door with a sliding peep hole in the front. Placing her hand on the door she knocked twice fast and quick, sounds of moving chairs followed by steps echoed through the door and within a few seconds the peep hole slid open and a pair of eyes looked through. It was followed by a voice,

"What business brings you here stranger?" 

    Syphalia sighed, it was a rather stupid code she had been told to respond to this question. Clearing her throat she stated in a firm voice, 

"I'm here to break some bricks. I've got my papers right here." 

    She pulled out the poster she had pulled down earlier and gently slid it through the peephole where it was received by the man on the other side. Sounds echoed through the door again voices now along with more steps, pattering back and forth, an eye with a candle popping up in the peephole once more as if to confirm her identity and finally the sounds stopped with a click. The door was unlocked and opened, there a small man, maybe two or three inches taller than Syphalia herself, stood beckoning for her to come in. Walking through the door and down the hallway the man quickly pulled the door shut and a lock clicking could be heard as suddenly the man waddled past her and opened another door into a small room. Inside were a few elderly gentlemen sitting at a round table. Two or three open chairs were at the table as well, and without asking Syphalia strolled up to a chair and sat herself down. 

"So who am I taking out and when do I get my payment, I'd like to finish this up quickly and get out of the Blues . . . this isn't the place for me."

The elders seemed a bit taken aback at first but soon enough one of them responded. 

"I'm sorry you'll have to be patient, we are expecting someone else to come as well. You'll get your information soon enough. I'd just prefer to only have to say this once." 

    Syphalia sighed, she had thought the job was only for her. But whatever maybe there was a reason they were bringing in multiple people. She smiled, perhaps this wasn't going to be as boring a task as she thought. Perhaps, just perhaps this would be fun.

[White Mimic]

Roguetown. Basil was quite familiar with the stories of this place, the people who came here, the people who didn’t leave. Honestly, who wouldn’t have heard of the execution of Gol D. Roger this town was so famous for. It was already some 20-odd years ago and people still seemed enthralled by the fantasy of the whole thing. Not that this was any annoyance to Basil, who had a bit of an interest in history and perhaps dabbled in sight seeing when no one was watching. He wasn’t at all enthusiastic at the thought of acting like a complete tourist but he couldn’t simply visit Rougetown and not have his thoughts frolic about on the great moment in history when the current piracy movement really got its footing. Basil didn’t cash in on the gallows every tourist visited, however. He was here mostly on business, of a sort anyway.

Basil had never considered himself a mercenary and as such had a great deal of reluctance in taking the job offer, but it was important to him to try new things at least once. Of course, even new things had to be done a certain way, and if any sort of new work was to be done, Basil preferred it be done with the intent to assist others. Perhaps that would be why he had such an easy time (relatively) walking around in public. With such a low bounty on his head, he could still manage to travel in dense public spaces like this, his apparent ‘misdeeds’ raising little worry from anyone who might recognize him. And even then, only a few marines and beginning bounty hunters, those with access to even the most obscure posters like Basil’s, ever tried to cause trouble for him. He hardly even had to wear a disguise yet; all that would suffice to keep him hidden is a turn of the head if ever he suspected someone recognized him.

Speaking of, at this moment in time he turned his head away from a group of young women walking past, one of which gave him a strange glance about which perhaps he was a bit too overly cautious. The look was probably intended for the weapons he carried on his person, without a marine uniform resting beneath them. Nevertheless, better safe than sorry in a den of corrupt marine officials. Basil had considered joining the marines in his youth but as he grew older and more learned, he found that he disagreed with some of the principles the government and martial laws were based upon, and intensely resented the abuse that they allowed for. Contrariwise, as Basil was more of a writer than anything else, he had found that the world outside of your standard rules and laws, the world of piracy, had much more poignant and romantic potential. At least, for a story. Continuing through the crowd, avoiding making any eye contact, and shying away from any clumps of marines he saw, Basil eventually came to the Bounty Board mentioned in the directions. Names and pictures and, upon a quick skim, none of them appeared to be his. Excellent. Wait. There. Over on a far side of the board, beneath one for a fishman, Basil saw his name and the 3,000,000 Beri reward with it. Lifting up the fishman’s poster, Basil saw that the name and number was all there was, the image had been ripped off it seemed. Hm. A missing image. How lucky for him.

Basil tugged the scrap off the board and was simultaneously relieved and stressed. If his poster had gone so long without a picture, the marines weren’t concerned with him and no one would have recognized him. That being said, hopefully this was enough to get into where he was trying to go. Basil continued down the path set for him in the instructions, following the wall to a seedy looking alley. If you’ve been down one you’ve been down them all, more or less. As per the instructions, right next to the alley was a shop with a rickety old sign, so this had to be the place. Traversing into the darkness, Basil couldn’t help but notice there was something odd about the alley. It probably wasn’t important but, where the walls were what you’d expect, crumbling plaster or old cracked brick, maybe a puddle divot or two in the floor, there was no refuse. None. No crates, barrels, stray planks of wood, coiled rope, pallets, bins, not even a rat. It was… rather tidy looking up until the ratty looking door with a scummy password hole in the wall, the kind of rectangle that slid open so the mobster inside could ask you questions to see if you were good to go in. Basil couldn’t recall the proper name for it, if it even had one. ‘Wicket’ came to mind but that didn’t feel right.

Giving a few sturdy knocks on the door, Basil patiently waited for the ‘wicket’ (?) to slide open after a bit of small ruckus inside, revealing an unfamiliar pair of eyes and prompting a vocal cue. “What business brings you here stranger?” The instructions were very clear about which words to use, which made sense, given the type of door it turned out to be. “I’m here to break some bricks. I’ve got my papers right here.” Basil held his scrap up to the wicket and slid it inside a ways before it was taken by the man on the other side. After a very short inspection of the scrap, the man in the door gave Basil a funny look. In response Basil could really only shrug. “That’s all that was on the board.”

The eyes kept staring, squinting with a bit of suspicion now. The wicket swiftly slid shut and Basil was left in silence for a bit, though he could soon make out that people were speaking on the other side. That’s all though, none of the words were clear enough through the thick door. He imagined he had created a little dispute on the other side with his lack of picture. It wasn’t his fault that the image had been lost though, and hopefully those on the other side would realize he was familiar enough with the instructions that he was likely to be the intended recipient. Although, it would be understandable if they interpreted this happenstance in the worst possible case. He had to think of another means of proof then, as he waited for the man to return… if he returned.

[Flame]

    Where the hell is this other guy that they are expecting. He was supposed to be here . . . well I suppose there wasn't a specified time but he should know better to make a girl wait! Syphalia thought to herself while tapping her fingers against the table incessantly. Sitting at the table was boring for her, there was a lack of movement, things to do, and people to talk to. The elderly gentlemen opposite her were wearily watching her and whispering to themselves as if unsure about the decision they had made to bring in pirates. They could at least talk to her, its not like she bit or anything. Syphalia didn't even think that she looked very imposing or anything, Jack at least looked imposing, she looked like some barely even 16 year old girl, probably looking completely harmless if not for the sword at her side. She contemplated just dealing with the problem on her own and then leaving  if whoever else was coming didn't make it here in the next five or so minutes. She had been sitting there for what felt like an hour, what she assumed was something like fifteen minutes and what was actually a mere five. Time just couldn't move any faster for her. 

    As if having been called there by her wishes, during her contemplation KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK came ringing through the hallway and into the room. She relaxed a little considering how she might greet this latecomer. Perhaps she should act mad? . . . act happy? . . . act annoyed? . . . act uncaring? then again, she could tease him . . . or her. Could not take out the possibility it was another female. Yep teasing sounded like the best option, to her it was almost always the best option. Turning in her chair she threw one leg over the back so that she was facing the door. She stared intently for a while, hearing the pattering of footsteps coming closer to the doorway. Then the short man came into view and . . . no one else. There was no one behind him. He walked straight past Syphalia and to the gentlemen pulling out a bounty poster with what seemed to have no image on it. 

"There is a man at the front door calling himself Basil Longoni. He handed me this . . . but there is no picture on it to confirm that it is or isn't him. What should I do?" 

    Basil Longoni . . . so that was the name of the person I'll be working with huh. Wait where have I heard that name before. Definitely sounds familiar . . . god damn where was it. Have I met him before? Syphalia stood up from her seat. "Excuse me, I'm going to take a look at this so-called Basil Longoni" She walked out of the room. This at least would get this over with, if she just brought him in even if it wasn't the actual Basil they could get on with this job and she could collect her pay. As she approached the door the shorty waddled up next to her keeping an eye on her. Making it up to the door she opened the peephole and looked through it. In front of her was a well dressed man, skinny and tall he definitely didn't look the pirate type. If he even was a pirate, she began having second thoughts about whether she should call this guy Basil Longoni. But as she turned away she just had a feeling she'd met this guy before. 

    Images in her head of a labyrinth with some girly kid began to pop up, and then images of the exact person who stood in front of her. What was his name . .. Ka . . . no that was the girly kid. Ba . . . -sil . ..  perhaps this actually was Basil Longoni. Taking another peek through the hole she basically confirmed it in her mind that this was that man. Turning to the short man she gave him a nod as if to say 'Yes this is him' and moved for the lock. Her nimble hands flipped the lock open and then threw open the door. 

    Striking a pose with one hand at her hip she stared 'Basil' in the eyes. Well she stared up at Basil he was a full foot taller than him. Teasing didn't seem like a good option anymore it wasn't something she did to people she was acquaintances but not crewmates with, just randoms and crewmates deserved teasing. So with a strong voice she said "Took you long enough to show up. Well come on in, lets get this show on the road Basil!" Swinging her body around she swaggered her way down the hall and back into the small room and got into her chair. Now with what seemed to be a smile on her face. She looked straight at the three gentlemen and spoke up. 

"I have confirmed that is in fact Basil Longoni. Met him a while ago while clearing dungeons or something, I forget no big deal. Anyway, hes here, lets do it, tell me what you brought me here to do. And then give me my money! I came here expecting the full 75,000 and thats what I'm expecting!"  

    Syphalia smirked, happy with what she had said. To be honest she didn't expect to get the full 75,000 given that she wasn't doing the job alone, however perhaps they'd be able to gather up another 75,000 if pushed hard enough. 

    The elders paused for a few seconds, whispering once more between each other, probably discussing what she had just said and partially waiting for Basil to enter the room so that they needed only discuss the terms and what was to happen once. As Basil appeared in the room the elder in the middle began to talk. 

"I assume, if you've come here then you have seen the state this Island is in. The original Marine Captain Smoker wasn't too bad, the city was still pretty nice, he had a fair way of governing us. But now, this . . . marine captain, Arnold 'Brick' Mason. He's just hes . . . " the elder paused as if choosing the right words . . . "He is savage and corrupt, we have tried sending a message to the higher-ups at the marine HQ, but no one has come in the last month or so. So we are taking this into our own hands, and by our own hands we mean yours. We want him out, you know the amount we have offered, I'm sorry to say that is all we can give you, you'll probably both have to take 37,500 instead of 75,000 but that is all we have."

The elder paused for a moment and another one spoke up "If you have any questions we'll provide what answers we can but, we only know so much." 

    Syphalia paused, considering everything she had been told . . . there was a lot of information missing, how strong was the Captain, how many marines were on the island. Anything and everything that could change the flow of battle. She looked at Basil gesturing for him to ask the first question. Well she'd let him start and add in any questions he missed. She wanted to get a feel for how smart he was, she couldn't know if he was just smartly dressed and actually a fool. 
    

[White Mimic]

The wicket opened once again, this time hiding a girl’s face, sans the eyes of course. Basil looked away for a moment, scratching the back of his head, a pitiful attempt at seeming casual. The eyes twisted away from the wicket momentarily, and then returned, a bit more skeptical but in this case he couldn’t really get a good emotional gauge from them. They twisted away once more before the door swung open to reveal someone Basil hadn’t seen in a while. He had forgotten her name but remembered her face at least, and if memory served correctly, they’re first meeting with each other kicked off with a complete misunderstanding based on each of their suspicions, prompting both of them to hold the other at the point of a sword. Of course, they had gotten past that for the sake of their assignment as a rescue party. It seemed that once again they were both called on for the same reasons by the same people. Small world.

She had a rather confident pose as the door swung open, though it quickly became interpreted as arrogant as she made a remark at his timing. He had made a point to show up as precisely on time as possible, not early and certainly not late. By his watch he had done just that, but it wasn’t reasonable to expect everyone to run on the exact same time. However, there were early birds, and there were impatients, so it also wasn’t unreasonable that this girl was an impatient early bird. What a horribly rude thing to say out loud though. Maybe it wasn’t horrible by a global standard, but on a personal level, if Basil publicly branded anyone with a base insult to their face, no matter how straw, it should have been considered a serious matter. The only response Basil gave to the girls accusation was a brief but sharp sniff accompanied by a sideways glance and a tightening of his right upper lip.

As the girl turned around and started discussing payment to the people in the room at the other end of the hallway, prompting Basil to assume they were the employers, he looked around at the inside of the building, stepping inside only a little. The hallway was fairly barren, completely empty except for the door on the other edge and one poorly kept ceiling light in the middle. Like the alley outside, it was quite tidy, for the wretched hole it seemed to be. Following the girl and shorter man who was with her, Basil casually made his way to the other door and stepped into the furnished room, politely closing the door. As he did so, one of the older gentlemen sitting inside began to speak of their charge. That their target was a marine captain immediately captured Basil’s attention. Details of the mission were rather scarce in the letter he had received, and at the moment he was a bit ashamed that he had assumed it wouldn’t be a marine. He figured if it had been a marine, at least something would have been done outside of a desperation call for pirates, but lo and behold, the old men explained that as well.

“Hmm.”

Basil was all for helping with the common good but he preferred to keep his "illicit" activities on the down low and avoid any unwanted attention from forces that could likely overwhelm him. But perhaps he wasn’t giving himself enough credit. The dangers of traversing the Grand Line forces everyone who take up the task to either better themselves or perish. Perhaps he had the strength to rout your common Blues footman.

The conversation lulled into a silence for questions. Basil looked over at the girl and figured it would be polite to let his partner for the time being investigate. However, when she gestured that he had the floor, he figured he get right to the meat of the matter.

“Well, you say he is the new Marine Captain looking over the city, and given your account of his penchant for corruption, I would assume you have seen this man’s darker nature first hand? Or at least have some illustrative anecdotes to this factor.” Basil brought a flat hand up to his face, resting his fingertips on his lower lip and his elbow in his other hand. He had dealt with a similar situation to this but now the corrupt official was in league with the World Government, more so than his last encounter. It wasn’t a pretty affair, and the risk for such violence was lower here given the target was a Marine Captain stationed in the Blues, but Basil was ever cautious and pragmatic. “Brick is an interesting epithet. What manner of abilities does he possess to have earned him that? Or is it simply his personality…” Basil looked up briefly but realized quickly he was getting bogged down in unimportant details. He didn’t want to lose sight of the forest because of the trees. “In any case, what kind of fight from him are we expecting to see here?”

[Flame]

    Upon hearing what questions Basil put to the elders, Syphalia contemplated them for a second, at first they didn't Specifically indicative of someone who wanted to take a measure of the situation and understand why they were being used to deal with the problem. She liked the questions, they were very solid questions, and they implied very appreciable qualities about the man asking them. Then again perhaps the second to last question was rather useless, on the other hand she knew nicknames tended to be very indicative of fighting style or at least some important aspect of a person. If the epithet was Brick then he probably wad some sort of strong defense or something that could be said to be similar to a brick? . . . that seemed a little odd but it didn't bother her all too much. There was an inkling in her mind that it was in fact important but she brushed it aside for the time, most likely nothing.

    Turning her attention to the elders she watched as they conversed for a mere second before starting their explanation. Their answers were definitely worth hearing. Information was key, she believed this for a fact, while some people would blindly use brute force, yes she was thinking of a certain someone, with a little extra information and a little forethought one could do a much cleaner job with much less effort. And that was important to say the least to make this a short job. Once more the middle elder spoke, 

"Well, Mr. Longoni I suppose I'll answer your questions first seeing as Mrs. Minalion seems to have nothing to add." He paused seeing for a second if Syphalia would respond, she nodded her head slightly trying to get him to go on. The elder opened his mouth once more continuing his answer,

"There are many stories I could give for the corruption of this man. Not all of them can I prove are founded in fact as some are given by fairly distraught people. But to simply say this, rumors are generally not unfounded, they begin with the truth and morph slightly as they are passed on. As there are so many stories, I'll instead give you a list of misdeeds that have been traced in these stories to the captain. Bribery, kickbacks, kidnapping, organized crime, unfair taxation, . . . " 

"I think we get the point get on with your information." 

"Ahh yes, I'm sorry in my old age I tend to ramble. If you take a look at these, the unfair taxation is the one thing I have proof of right here." He turned to another elder who passed him two pieces of paper which were promptly slid across the table and placed in front of them. Each was dated slightly differently, with the one from the later date having a fairly higher amount of money on it. Obviously they were tax receipts, so she supposed this was probably enough though there was a possibility of external circumstances explaining this, but she put that thought aside. 

"Anyways, with that cleared up, Arnold Mason's nickname Brick is, well I don't know to be honest. The point about it being in reference to his personality does make sense. But anyways it was a nickname he had before he was stationed at Roguetown. I've heard that it referred to some power of his, but no one in Roguetown has witnessed it if in fact it does exist they are all just rumors. As for what kind of fight you are expecting, well we were kind of hoping for a quick coup de'etat. Minimal damage and what not, that is why we specifically asked for pirates from the Grand Line. We figured you would be strong enough." He stated almost as if to challenge them. 

"Strong enough, we probably are, however if you don't give us all the information, I don't think I can promise anything. I may accidentally wreck part of your town! We need information! Specifically on the defenses of the Marine Base on the Island and the number of marines housed in it. Stuff like number of marine officers, and non-coms."  Syphalia stated knowing full well the destruction that had happened to previous towns she had fought in. The capital of Illusia in particular had been rather banged up by a fight she had had with her former captain Jack Dancer. Not that they would know of it, but they did level a fair amount of the town. It was mostly Jack's fault though, he was the one with the destructive devil fruit power. 

    The elder looked worried for a second, he turned around to converse with the others. If they withheld information it could compromise the cleanness of this mission. However they probably didn't want to make their situation any worse as they were already walking a line with hiring pirates to do the job, giving away secrets of the marines would compromise the safety of the entire island. They talked for a few minutes until finally one of them nodded to the others. After a few seconds of nervous stares back at each other the other two nodded. An agreement seemed to have been made, hopefully in their best interest. 

"Uhhh . . . yes of course, I'll tell you everything you need to know . . ." and the elder started talking, he described the layout of the base at least however much that he knew. From there they estimated the amount of marines living in and around the base. Their estimates put it at approximately 20 to 25 marines including 3 Warrant Officers, 2 Ensigns and of course the Captain. In addition he left one final rumor with them, it was heard somewhere that the Captain was once positioned along the Grand Line, however with their limited resources in the blues they couldn't confirm that. " . . . and thats about all we know. You know our terms, we'll give you 10,000 beri now as an advance on the job. You can come and collect the rest when the job is over. If thats all, please leave." He stood up along and gestured toward the door. 

    Syphalia understanding that that was all the information they were getting stood up. Trying for any more information was probably useless, the elders had basically told them all they could. Or at least she got that feeling. In any case, she touched Basil's shoulder and said

"Come with me, we need to discuss our plan of attack before we execute it. I scheduled to have a room in a cheap inn in town. Of course, you won't be staying the night. You can get your own room." 

    With that she walked out of the room and into the alley heading for the inn. 

    

[White Mimic]

“…” Basil was rubbing his jaw in thought, holding his chin still while tapping the underside intermittently with his thumb. It was unfortunate that they didn’t have any more information on the Captain’s abilities. If he was indeed stationed in the Grand Line, chances of him possessing a Devil Fruit ability had just sky rocketed, and that these ‘rumors’ existed weren’t helping. Basil was hoping there wouldn’t be any complications that they couldn’t foresee, and a Devil Fruit would definitely complicate things, but he supposed they’d cross that bridge if they came to it.

According to the elders, there were only so many marines stationed here at the moment. Your typical garden fare East Blue Marine wasn’t anything to worry about, not to a Grand Line hardened pirate anyway. Basil had heard that of all the Blues, the East Blue was one of the least active and dangerous. On average of course. It had certainly spawned it’s fair share of dangerous criminals and renowned heroes, but comparatively, he wasn’t too worried. Not when he himself had been born and trained in the bitter North.

As the elders finished up with their relay of skeleton information (it would have to do), Basil caught sight of the bounty posters that had been left on the table. The scrap of his name and bounty was sprawled across the bottom half of the girls face but he could still tell it was her. ‘Syphalia Minalion: 52.000.000’. So that was what her name was. It did ring a bell, though the bell wasn’t that big or loud on account that he only spent a short while with her. Almost felt like a mismatch, considering how low his bounty was. Perhaps these men had gotten wind of his fencing skill, though this felt even more farfetched. Whatever the reason, Syphalia’s poster gave him a bad idea that may be useful to the both of them.

The elders finished up and Basil felt a tap on his shoulder, a gesture from Syphalia that it was time to go. Understandable, this was a delicate operation that, played out clumsily, could land one or both of them in prison. Basil would probably be fine in prison, he wasn’t that wanted. Syphalia on the other hand would likely be shipped off to Impel Down. This was only an absolute worst case scenario however, as Basil didn’t expect that every event that needed to go wrong would go wrong at the worst possible time. But maybe this was his North Blue arrogance bleeding through into his thought process.

Basil followed Syphalia out the door, closing it gently behind him while also giving his response to her suggestion. “I was planning on it. I try to sleep by myself when I can anyways, let alone go co-ed.” He could be a bit stringent when it came to order. “As for plan of attack, I did have an idea.” As they made their way out of the alley, Basil soon grew quiet, not wishing to discuss details with ears floating about. “Where was it you were planning on staying by the way?” This could go several ways, and with such a high bounty, he figured Syphalia would opt for a less conspicuous inn, though that may have meant staying in a more shady establishment than he himself would have preferred. Of course Basil could probably stay at any place he could afford if he wanted, but for the sake of convenience it would probably be more beneficial to the mission for him to stick close to Syphalia.

[Flame]

"Oh you have a plan you say? Well then, I suppose when we get to the inn I'll have you tell it to me. Then we'll decide whether it is worth trying out." She said as she walked out of the alley. Her own ideas for how to complete the plan weren't very good at the moment. Apparently without the more bloodthirsty nakama around, she herself began tending towards fighting for the enjoyment of fighting. It was a joy and a curse, right now all she wanted to do was run into the base and fight her way through to the Captain. Sounded easy enough right? But her common sense told her otherwise, especially given the rumors that seemed to float around this captain. Most likely any kind of plan was better than the stupid plans that continued to form in her head. Sneaking a quick glance at her partner in crime she tried to measure his ability once more. 

    Honestly, as she looked him over he didn't look very impressive. His arms and legs seemed to be nearly as skinny as her own, except she knew she was something like 5'3" and he had to be at least six feet tall. At least from what she could see from the outline under his white dress shirt he didn't seem to be well-muscled at all. Probably less so than she since she used to be a sword-smith, leaving her whole body fairly well built. However all that being said, she got the distinct feeling that he was at least decently strong as a fighter. Her memory was bad but she had that itch that told her that he is a user of those Cursed Fruit. Scratching the back of her neck she decided to stop thinking about it. The battle would show whether he was a worthy fighter, even if he wasn't she was at least fairly sure that she could complete this mission on her own. After all this was the weakest of the four blues and by far nothing compared to the Grand Line. 

    She reached into her pocket once more, pulling out another piece of paper which revealed a map of Roguetown. On it were a few markings, upon further investigation one would find that one of the markings was for the alley that Syphalia and Basil had just come out of. Other marking dotted the map for key places she had been recommended for food, supplies, hideouts, and of course the inn where she would be staying tonight. The inn sat on the edge of town, however not on the edge which was near the port. Of course not, at the recommendation of her acquaintance she was recommended to stay at an inn a mere three blocks from the marine base itself. Because of course the logic was who in their right mind would have a bounty and stay so near to the marine base. She personally didn't mind all too much, Syphalia was decent enough at keeping herself unnoticed if she wanted to be. 

    Checking the map, she memorized the route to the inn and started on her way. The walk was fairly long but generally uneventful, none of the marines stopped to give her a second look. It would be rather incredulous for someone with her bounty to just be walking around a town in the East Blue so even if they thought they might have recognized her, they put aside the thought. 

    In time they made it to the inn, Syphalia walking up to the desk said "There should be a reservation, under the name Lisanna, a friend made it for me." The clerk shuffled through some papers, finding the reservation, he turned grabbing a key off the board behind him and brought it forth for Syphalia. "Of course, you are in room 12, your boarding fee has already been paid, I hope you enjoy your stay at The Old Logue." He smiled handing the key to Syphalia. 

    Picking up the key she looked back at Basil  "Come along, you can get your own matters figured out later, I want to hear this plan of yours first." She strolled off into the inn, and to room 12 unlocking the door. Walking in she left the door open for Basil and plopped her butt onto the bed. Now all that was left was for the discussion of the plan. Then most likely tomorrow they could begin and finish up the job. How quick, how easy this would be, it was perfect.

[White Mimic]

Basil was a bit taken aback by how bold this inn’s location was, at least to the ends of Syphalia and himself. It was three blocks from the marine base and nowhere near the port so if things went sour, they’d have a hell of an ordeal escaping encroaching marine forces. There was an entire sprawl of town around them to hide within if they needed to, certainly, but who in their right minds would have a bounty and stay so near a marine base. On the plus side, the inn was easily within the realms of Basil’s tolerance: nice looking neighborhood, adequate upkeep, pleasant furnishings, and the like. In no way did it appear to be a place where he would find his throat being cut in his sleep for spare change. As long as none of the marines that they had crossed paths with getting here had recognized either of the outlaws, he was certain to this extent he would be satisfied.

As soon as she got her key, Syphalia called Basil to follow her to her room, and as he passed the concierge, he turned back briefly. “I’ll be right back to get my own room.” She didn’t seem very patient, this girl, and generally he hadn’t been in a situation with someone where their impatience acted as a boon. That being said, there were those uncommon times where an impulsive decisiveness was required, an unwavering resolve, but here, he much rather would have gotten his own room sorted out before diving head-first into business. There would be time left in the day for him to sort out everything, however, so no need to rush everything himself.

Entering her room, Basil closed the door quietly behind him and quietly turning the lock, dampening whatever audible slide and click was typical of it. Syphalia had taken to the bed already. Basil made a quick pinching motion with his fingers as he walked over to where she sat. “May I see that map real quick?” He took the map from Syphalia and unraveled it, burying his face in the section containing the base. Little markings had been made all over the place, places they could go if they needed, stores they could buy supplies if they needed any, etcetera. Basil just wanted to get a good look at the surrounding area without risking being seen any more than he had today. Naturally, he wasn’t expecting a blue print of the base’s layout on a map like this, that would be too easy and it seemed like a bunch of extra work to go and find a floor plan when really all they had planned on doing was overthrowing the Captain. There was no gigantic need to go into the base to do this. Not when they had a 52,000,000 Beri piece of succulent marine bait.

“Okay.” Basil was tracing through the roads on the map with his finger, thinking out possible routes to take if needed. “My idea was an approach of attrition. You have quite a high bounty, too high for marines to just ignore if they ‘somehow discovered’ that you were here.” The buildings looked close together on the map, and a quick look out the window helped solidify Basil’s belief that he could manage the distances required of him to keep up. “I imagine if the marines knew exactly where you were, they would send waves of their own forces after you, and with a bounty as high as yours I’d imagine you quite capable of dispatching low grade East Blue footmen. Correct?” He gave a quick glance at Syphalia before tracing his fingers on the parchment again. “After a certain point, I imagine they’ll realize that your standard ground forces aren’t going to cut it and the Captain will intervene. This will be our chance you see.” He ceased tracing around on the paper and left two fingers upon two marked spots. “If you can manage to dispatch the forces that converge upon you without my assistance, I should be able to stay under the radar while also staying close to your position, though I’d have to make a request you stick to the streets.” He turned to look at her once again, more directly this time. “I’m quite adept at traversing city scapes via the roofs you see, but if you take the chase above the skyline, you’d risk blowing my position.” He looked back down at the paper. “But if I remain unknown until the Captain comes out of the base for you, I should be able to restrain him, enough for you to perform a quick coup de grace. This is all based on preliminary assumptions, however.”

Basil then handed the map back off to Syphalia, pointing out the two spots on the map, a scrapyard and a drainage overpass. They were located quite a distance away from the Marine Base, but they appeared to be the most accessible. “If anything goes wrong, I think we should beat a hasty retreat and meet up at one of these locations. I can’t imagine anything going too horribly though. In the worst cases, the marines get a bit overzealous in capturing you and send everything they have at once, or perhaps the Captain or some other guy has a devil fruit ability we have no ready means of dealing with. Whatever the case, I can step in and get you out if it looks like a bad spot.” Basil then took the time to recline on the bed, allowing Syphalia to mull the idea over in her head. “If you aren’t comfortable with this, we can try something else. I just figured, that bounty of yours could be a huge asset in drawing out marines.”

[Flame]

Syphalia furrowed her brows, thinking about the plan that was being explained to her. The logic behind the plan was solid, that at least was true. There was no reason why they wouldn't come after someone with a bounty such as hers. Apart from the fact that she was wanted, her bounty was around ten times the average bounty of any pirate in the East Blue. The fact that someone with a bounty the size of hers was in the area was something that could earn any marine who captured her easily a promotion if not two. But was it really the best plan, she wanted to say it wasn't. No in fact she knew that it wasn't, even if she massively outclassed the enemies, it would be a tiresome fight if anything. Fighting wave after wave of marines would wear at her strength, and increase the chance however small it was that she got captured. But could they think of a better plan. In the back of her mind there was someone who wanted to go with the plan. It would satisfy her blood-lust for the time being. 

Scratching her head she thought about the options, in the end it was probably the best option ehh. It dealt with multiple birds with one stone. She just didn't like it, she had a bad feeling about the outcome of this job. Well whatever what happens happens right? Folding her legs on the bed she leaned backwards looking up at the ceiling. "Well I suppose that will have to do won't it. Not the bets plan, but I can work with it. The marines in the blues are just pushovers anyways aren't they." She laid down against the back of her bed continuing to stare at the ceiling. In any case her job seemed simple enough, draw out the marines until the Captain himself appeared before her. If she remembered correctly there were a other officers whom she would probably end up facing. If not all of them probably at least 2 or three. 

If not for them her job were probably be pretty easy. Even with them, well she couldn't say it would be easy it would all be dependent on how well her stamina held up and how many ended up coming at a time.  But no matter, she had decided on what they were doing, they were following Basil's plan. "Now then, get out of my room, we'll start early tomorrow morning. I'll knock on your door to wake you up and then head off. It'll probably take a little time for me to get noticed so hopefully I'll have drawn him out if not by noon then by sometime around the evening."

Waiting until he left her room, she closed the door behind her and fully relaxed. Drawing out her sword she took a few practice swings. Feeling confident about her form she pulled the sword closer to her. A faint glow came from the sword, signifying there was a nearby Devil Fruit user. But then she was pretty sure she knew that Basil was the user it was picking up on. Grabbing a piece of cloth from a small pouch she poured a transparent liquid onto it from a bottle. Applying the cloth to her blade she rubbed it back and forth. Any small amounts of rust building up on the blade were then eaten up by the transparent liquid. Nodding to herself as if satisfied with the result she sheathed her own sword and laid back on the bed.

Her eyelids met together and the sleep took her. Tomorrow was a big day and she'd need all the energy she could get. Dreams did not find her that night and she woke the next morning with only one thing on her mind. The events to come and the idea of her own sword once again meeting another in battle.

Gathering her strength she got ready for battle. Her cloak she took off for the fight, her hair she placed in a ponytail. The t-shirt she wore was plain and black the only thing adorning it was a picture of a jolly roger, her own which sat on the back declaring who its owner was. Plaid shorts and a pair of shoes rounded out the outfit fairly nicely, it was an outfit that worked well for combat. It was flexible and didn't distinctly hinder her movement in anyway.

Leaving her room she passed by Basil's room, she could tell by the growing light of her own blade since Basil hadn't actually told her his room number. Knocking twice she spoke in a loud voice It is time! Lets go. I'll be at the Execution Stand to start off with." With that done she continued on walking out of the building and headed off to the one place she knew she would be noticed. It was of course the place where the former Pirate King Gol D. Roger had been killed .Along her walk she didn't hide her face or anything. Her jolly proudly displayed on her back so that any marine that spotted her could make only one supposition. 

Finally appearing at that square she stood before the execution stand and looked up at it. Standing in the glory of the place where the Pirate King had been killed, she smiled, her eyes danced  with excitement for what was about to happen. Her sheath she held in hand with her other hand grasping the hilt of her sword. Her ears perked slightly as the sound of multiple sets of footsteps in line getting louder. It appeared the plan was starting out well. 

"Firefly Syphalia! Stand down we have you surrounded!" came a voice from behind her. A grin inched up her face as she turned around slightly to see the sight of probably six marines holding swords out in front of them. They seemed a little nervous, shaking even. Drawing her blade she smiled stating "Now that is a little disappointing, you'll never capture me with that little of forces." Spinning around she ran at with sword drawn. So it begins!

[White Mimic]

Not the best plan? Certainly, Basil didn’t like the idea of using someone as bait for an entire military force, putting their wellbeing at risk, but it was just an idea. If Syphalia had a better strategy in mind, Basil would’ve liked to hear it, but on this matter she just accepted the first draft. If she thought she could handle the plan as it was, who was he to argue. Still, he thought that it would be prudent to be proactive in helping Syphalia. At a certain point, wherever they were, reinforcements would have to approach. Given the right circumstances and a good eye, Basil could potentially thin out numbers discreetly before she would have to deal with them, keeping her energy up and his face out of the big picture. This was wildly conditional, however, so it would more redundant than helpful, with Basil moments ago already offering help if Syphalia needed it.

Basil nodded at Syphalia’s offer to wake him up, though he tended to get up early anyway. He figured, however, that if she was calling the time one when they started, he could use that time to limber up; he would definitely need the agility tomorrow. He left the room with Syphalia closing the door behind him, and made his way back to the innkeeper. “Alright, sorry about that.” The innkeeper’s skeptical look twisted into a slight grin. Basil conjectured that the man was likely to call for some manner of security if he hadn’t come out of the room as promised, though he wondered who the man would call. He reserved a room for two nights, knowing that he might not need it for that long, and was promptly given the keys to room 18. It cost him the pretty penny that he had brought with him but he had more back on the ship.

That night, Basil had trouble falling asleep. He had never done anything so far into the face of the Marines. The last time he did anything in direct opposition to any established government, it didn’t end well for a few of his friends and he had been given a small bounty. If he was discovered to be involved in this plot as well, his bounty would likely rise significantly, and life would become that much harder for him. He did find comfort in the inherent vastness of the sea though. A sprawling expanse of blue, any pirate worth his or her respective salts would easily be able to hide in the ‘middle of nowhere’ aquatic. There was no guarantee he would be safe out there, in the city for the duration of the assignment, or in the blue frontier for the aftermath, but Basil maintained a rare positivity that everything would be alright. The thought at least helped him sleep that night.

He woke up early as always. He was a bit hungry but he imagined that food wasn’t easy to get this early in the morning and opted to prepare for the day’s activity of choice. After several preliminary stretches and a hefty series of flexibility exercises, Basil finally touched his swords, though not for practice. Simply, he wondered if he would need them since, if his goal was to remove marines from their effective roles in this plot, he should only need his Devil Fruit power. There wasn’t much time to wallow in these thoughts as Syphalia knocked on his door. He figured that the innkeeper told her where his room was since he didn’t get the chance to tell her yesterday. She had already fallen asleep by the time he got his room all sorted out, and waking someone for anything other than an emergency or preset alarm was something he considered rude. She seemed to find him alright anyway.

Basil quickly threw on his clothes and assembled what money he hadn’t given to the innkeeper. If Syphalia was planning on initiating the plan around noon, he still had some time to get something to eat. Hunger pangs made it hard to stay focused, at least such was Basil’s case. He just had to find a place to properly observe the execution platform before then.

“This’ll do.” Basil had climbed up to the top of a particularly large building just as the action was starting. “Six marines…” Basil took a bite of the schnitzel he had purchased on the way over, though he had thrown the plate away and had chosen to carry it by hand, wrapping it in a napkin to keep his hands clean. It was a little dry but for the sake of eating it was passable. He could see from all the way up here that Syphalia would be able to handle herself with these six, they were nervous. Instead, Basil looked off into the distant edges of the square, several streets filtering into the plaza. Reinforcements. A group of five. The six may have been nervous but apparently they weren’t too stupid either. They must’ve called reinforcements pre-emptively, perhaps not believing themselves capable of bringing down a 52 million head on their own. Such a high number was rare to see way out here. "Give or take a few."

He wasn’t sure if Syphalia could see him all the way up here, or if she even noticed him at all, but he held up a fully extended hand, 5 fingers, and pointed it towards the marines across the square. Retreating from the edge of the roof, Basil backed off a bit and then charged forward, building a running speed before careening off the roof and onto the next. He was planning on intercepting the crew of marines and hopefully, removing several before they reached Syphalia. How he did so, however, he had to figure out soon though. If he opted to use his Devil ability from up here, no doubt he would be noticed.

[Flame]

SPOILER: Click to show

I don't know if you want to pick off groups as they appear. In my mind multiple waves of marines are coming from all over the place because there are also marines already in the town who are hearing the call to battle and coming over.

Charging towards them she spotted something small in the distance, it looked to be a person standing on the rooftop. The person's hand was aimed straight up into the sky. It was probably Basil was the thought that passed through her mind as she closed the distance. Perhaps he was trying to signal something to her, but at this distance she couldn't figure out what he was trying to signal to her so she dropped the thought from her mind as she made it within a few feet of her opponents. 

Her sword was in hand, it did not glow at all, indicating to Syphalia that there were no unexpected surprises in the nearby area. The enemies in front of her were not of a very high caliber she could tell from their stances alone, they wavered, shivered, as if they didn't believe they could beat her. Not that they were wrong, but she knew better than to go into fights believing such things as that. Excited by the prospect of testing her blade once more, she dove into the enemy line adrenaline pumping through her body. 

The swords of the enemy swung down to meet her, "That's right, if you don't attack you won't get anywhere. However, that is far too weak!" Her sword came up meeting them with a clang. While she wasn't exactly large, Syphalia was well-muscled, her strength while not up to par to monsters like Jack was more than enough for these East Blue fools. Three items immediately flew into the air, all three were marine swords. The marines, all six of them seemed to totter back away from her, some scrambling for their swords others shaking so hard that it looked to her as if they might pee themselves. But Syphalia didn't give them anytime as she threw herself into the fray. Her quick agile body darted between the marines, her sword slashed and slashed at them. Until before long six bodies lay at her feet. They weren't dead, she made certain that she did not cut deep enough to cause a fatal wound. Just deep enough to inflict enough pain along with the mental stress to knock out the fools. Around her common folk seeing the commotion were running into buildings and shops to hide, their eyes peering out into the square to see the pirate do her work. 

Flicking her sword, blood splattered onto the ground, her dark eyes danced with the thrill of battle. Turning around she reacted to the sound of hurried steps once more coming toward the square. Another group of marines were charging in towards her, this time she could see at the front a marine that looked slightly different from the others. His uniform was more unique than the marines around him. However their was no coat on his back, so obviously not a commissioned officer of the marines. He was probably a petty officer of some sort. Well at least he would be more competent than the marines around him. 

Turning to face them she rested her sword on her shoulder. The marines at the petty officer's side charged forward as he raised at his sword at her. Perhaps to wear her down huh . . . well this was expected, but if her enemies were this weak she wouldn't tire very quickly. Fighting only a few seconds with that man was far more tiring than fighting these guys for hours. As they came within her range she went to work making fast work of her opponents. Around her the unconscious bodies of marines began to pile up. 

Then the petty officer charged in and she met him with a grin. "Your subordinates are rather lackluster Petty Officer, I hope you'll be more fun than them." The officer with a hard look on his face responded "When I bring back your body, it'll be a promotion for me."

"Well then, I'd like to see you try!" Syphalia's sword swung forward crashing into the officers. He seemed to be competent enough to at least retain a firm grasp on his sword. That was a start, but while his strength was enough to somewhat hold on his speed was lacking. Her barrage of swings continued to overwhelm his defenses and slowly but surely cuts began to appear all over his body. Finally as she ducked under sword swing by him she closed the distance to barely a few inches between their bodies and smashed the hilt of her sword into his chest. Her other hand reached up grasping at his shirt and with a twist of her body and some force from her arm she flipped the officer over her slamming him onto the ground. Reaching back up for her sword she slashed it across the dazed man's chest. 

Well he wasn't competent enough in the end. Syphalia sighed slightly, the next wave was coming but if this was the extent of their ability then this wouldn't be as fun as she had hoped. 

[White Mimic]

There! An opening between the buidings, an alley. Basil could make the jump but it was perfectly placed to handle the wave of marines who were just about to pass. Perhaps he couldn’t get them all with such a small window, but he had the opportunity to do quite a bit of damage here. Why would he squander it? The roof of the building he had made his way to was flat, and had little in the means of edging. The rim of the roof was raised slightly and these decorative protrusions, these stone orbs spaced delicately away from one another and held in place by mortar, were just about everywhere. At the speed he was going, he couldn’t expect the balls, as good hand grips as they seemed to be, to withstand his kinetic energy. They might have, but he didn’t want to risk it. The edge was good enough for his means anyway.

Reaching the edge, Basil slowed slightly, dropped the last bit of schnitzel he hadn’t finished, crouched a bit to lower his center of gravity, and kicked off the roof, sending his legs up into the air in front of him as he careened off the roof. Quickly, however, he twisted in the air, grabbing the edge with an arm as he pivoted in the air. Because of where he was in the spin, as his body stopped flying and instead began falling, rotating about his manual fulcrum, he continued to pivot. His back lurched through the air to aim at the entrance to the alley as the marines were beginning to pass. With the speed of his rotation backing his efforts, several tongues launched out of the back of his shoulders, extending out of the alley like a barnacle fishing for food. He felt contact and constricted what his targets blindly. No one else was nearby so they had to be the marines.

As his feet forcibly made contact with the masonry of the building, after some slight maneuvering to not break the window he had swung down in front of, Basil grabbed the edge with his free hand and kicked himself back up. At the same time, he was reeling in his catch, 3 marines, one of which had been grabbed by the leg, one by his torso, and one by his neck and arm. As he began pulling himself back up onto the roof, he realized how helpful the balls might actually turn out to be. He briefly got a good look at who he had captured before making his next move. There wouldn’t be much time for the remaining two marines to figure out they had lost their comrades, if they hadn’t seen it happen that was. In that case, Basil quite easily had no time whatsoever. Better assume the worst. He quickly released more tongues from his back, two more to entwine the necks of the other two, and he made considerable effort to tie the tongues around the base of the orbs from behind the edging, keeping low to avoid being seen by anymore marines. He did this as he hoisted the tangled marines high into the air, creating his own grisly set of gallows. He could feel the tremors of their struggles through the tongues themselves, but didn’t dare reveal himself. Their shortness of breath, their struggle to let out a cry for help that wouldn’t come, and eventually, the lifeless swaying devoid of any tremors but distant heartbeat.

However, during this short time, Basil heard the concerns of the two straggling marines who had, of course, noticed the sudden absence of the forces they had arrived with. There was nothing they could do, the tongues were too high up to cut, and Basil doubted any marine worth his salt would attempt to shoot through a rope with the heavy risk of hitting an ally. One by one, as the tremors became calm, Basil lowered the body to the ground before allowing it to fall, keeping the tongues well out of reach of the marines below. He didn’t want to kill anyone, asphyxiation was simply an effective weapon in his arsenal that could easily remove weaker opponents. As the third one was dropped to the ground, safe in the custody of the two renegades, Basil slurped all the tongues back into his body and heard one of the marines below starting to call for backup, starting with the most important count of ‘3 down’ and in what location.

Now wasn’t the time to simply allow reinforcements know it was not Syphalia who had dispatched them. Before any more information was revealed, Basil swung back over the edge, letting go this time in favor of drawing his two rapiers. He twirled through the air as he plummeted, landing skillfully between the two marines, the closest one holding a Den Den Mushi in his hands. Basil quickly gave an incapacitating slash through the man with his offensive blade before spinning around to dispatch the other, smacking the Den Den Mushi out of the first marine’s hand with the flat of his parrying blade before he fell. He turned quickly to see the second marine had dropped the body he was moving to safety and began pulling his own cutlass, but he was much too slow for the likes of Basil’s needles. He had pulled his sword out and began a slash at Basil, who in reflex, slid the parrying rapier beneath the path of the cutlass and spun around to build momentum. A light spray of sparks danced above Basil as his parrying blade twirled underneath the cutlass, and red sprayed into the air and he slashed through the marine with its much more vicious sibling. It was another incapacitating attack, though it did splatter quite a bit of blood on the walls as Basil stepped past the marine and sheathed the blades, leaving the marine to fall in a crumpled heap.

In the distance, across the plaza, Basil could see more marines funneling in to apprehend Syphalia whom he had lost track of now. He couldn’t determine how many of them there were, nor their general strength, to many civilians in the way. He also wouldn’t be able to get there in time via the rooftops, ignoring the fact that from this angle, he was sure to be seen ascending to the skyline by someone. Only option was to intercept them in the crowd. “Ugh, dang it.” So much for staying incognito, though perhaps if he worked quickly, he could manage a complete takedown without being revealed. He would have to arrive and exit quickly though, there was an entire crowd retreating from the action Syphalia was causing.

[Flame]

Waves of marines poured into the square as they tried to wear down and capture 'The Firefly'. But the marines that entered the square were mostly seamen recruits. It was easy to see they were no match for Syphalia as she danced among them, weaving back and forth dodging and parrying the blades of her enemies. Her blade unlike their blades seemed unhindered in trying to land hits on the marines. They were not agile enough to dodge the light blade especially when guided by the experienced hand of its user.

The recruits came out of course with higher ranked non-coms. A petty officer or the like, but even they were no match for Syphalia. While she could not overpower them quite as easily, they lacked the skill to do anymore than block a few swings before being overwhelmed by Syphalia. For her this was easy, her enemies lacked the skill of enemies she had fought in the past. They didn't have the strength, agility, or experience needed to hold against the pirate. And thus slowly but surely a pile of unconscious marines started to build up around her. As the piles grew she began kicking the bodies to the edge of the square to keep there for being too many that it messed with her footing or anything. At this point there were fifteen marine bodies laying there unconscious around her. She acknowledged that likely there would be more if not for the fact that Basil was off in the background picking off marines as they made their way to the square.

So far only marines with melee weapons had appeared before her but that was soon to change. A glint along the top of the buildings on the edge of the square tipped her off to the changing situation. Jumping into the air she heard the sound of small lead bullets smashing into the ground where her feet just were. The volley of bullets missed, a puff of smoke from where the glint had been seen was now visible. Thankfully scared of getting shot, the marines with melee weapons stayed away from her as they volleyed. So she stayed mobile, jumping up and down as she returned fire in the only way she knew how. By swinging her blade at speeds so fast that the air in front of them compressed and firing forward much like a bullet. With each swing that compressed air hit the tops of the buildings smashing against the brick building, cracking the barricades on the top and knocking away the marines who stood beside them. Distracted by the enemies shooting at her, she only barely noticed as a marine appeared next to her swinging his sword at her.

Twisting in the air she brought her sword up to block the weapon. Since she was still in the air as she blocked the sword with her own she was knocked back onto the ground. As she hit the ground she rolled allowing her to regain her footing once more. Taking a second look she saw a coat draped over the shoulder's of the new marine. He was a commissioned officer at least an ensign, if not a lieutenant or higher. Baring her sword she smiled, cackling with joy even, "I must congratulate you, you are the first one to take me by surprise. State your name and rank marine. I will be your enemy, for as long as you can last."

"I am Ensign Hellman, former commander and current executive officer of the Loguetown Marine Base." he said charging in towards her. Their blades met clashing back and forth. He was a decent fighter she could give him that. Back and forth they danced their swords meeting again and again. He was not as skilled as her with the blade, but he could keep up. It was impressive at least she could give him that. Slowly but surely scratches built up on his body, the power of her swings pushing him backwards. As endless of Syphalia's assault was, the ensign managed barely to block the attacks. She drove him backwards step by step, she smiled "Not bad, ensign, you've done well but at this rate you won't last much longer."

Bringing the distance down as close as possible, she put extra power behind her swing. A wave of compressed air slashed like a blade meeting the ensign's own blade part of it dissipated but the rest continued forward ramming into the ensign's body. Blood spurted out of the gash which appeared on his chest. Of course the marines of this base in the weakest blue weren't aware that this was possible. Smiling at the ensign's plight she gave him no rest. Closing the distance again she continued her battery, she needed to force out the 'king'. Make it clear that there was no chance without him.

[White Mimic]

Swimming against the grain of the crowd was a bit frustrating for Basil. With all of the people running in front of him like a river of panic, he couldn’t move as fast as he would have liked, and after a certain point there would be little he could do to catch up to the marines if they managed to pass him. Nothing past simply waiting for the crowd to pass and run after them, or perhaps using his Devil Fruit to rush over them but he didn’t want to attract that much attention. Maybe he would have to put those desires aside anyway. With the way things were going, he was already out in the open and ready to confront armed marines.

He couldn’t see the marines anymore, there were way too many people, and the trademark white uniforms blended it seamlessly with the other colors around him. This was assuming the uniforms were even remotely visible to him in the first place. Still, Basil continued to navigate the thinning torrent of people. It became easier to move, surely, but he was slowly losing his cover and the universe was making a strategic decision for him. Even then he still couldn’t find the marines. A sudden thought dawned on him: perhaps he overshot. Looking behind him, where the crowd was thinning to nothing, Basil saw the white uniforms picking up speed towards Syphalia. Impulsively, for now it was too late to do otherwise, Basil sent several tongues slithering through the air towards the marines. He managed to grab one of the several and he would’ve have grabbed more if it weren’t for the flashing blade severing his grip. An ensign by the look of his hatch markings. “Assailant! Friedman, you’re with me on this one. The rest of you, onward!”

“Yessir!” A petty officer joined the ensign as the rest of the marines continued on to confront Syphalia. They were armed with guns, and looked to be joining the firing squad on top of Syphalia. The two advanced on Basil slowly, brandishing their own swords. Basil returned the gesture, drawing his own weapons, though he had intended something different. Allowing the others to advance on the higher bounty head was a mistake as it gave Basil a much better angle. Taking a fencing stance, he angled his back to the marines charging away, launching more tongues and plucking each one from the ground. Of course the Ensign and his Petty Officer saw this and were now charging Basil, who had little time. Luckily it was enough to hurl them back the way they came from, the tongues cracking in the air as they released their payloads. As they snaked back into Basil’s back, he had already engaged the Ensign and Petty Officer.

Regardless of their disparity in rank, he could tell they were used to fighting together. Perhaps, they were the same rank at one point and one got lucky, it didn’t matter. He had to use both of his swords to deflect their attacks, and each time he tried to use a tongue on either of his opponents, the other would slice it off before he could do anything. They had him engaged on both sides, a sandwich of blades, and they were both formidable opponents. Basil had never been the strongest swordsmen, leaning more to the realms of technique and finesse than raw power, and he had a penchant for guiding the power of others to other places. These two though, they were wise to his archetype. The most Basil could do was guide blows away from himself or simply block and parry, nothing along the lines of making their attacks hit their ally.

“You should know better than to start a fight you can’t continue.” Basil was more the type finish a fight quickly than allowing it to draw out, and at the moment he was more preoccupied with finding the most graceful way of carrying that wish out than he was with responding to prattling. “You are obstructing justice, and we are obligated by Marine Code to bring you in for that offense.” Both weapons came down at the same time with great force. Basil managed to block both with a cross block, but the force of the attack brought him to a knee. He was reluctant but this provided an excellent opening. “Whoever you are, you are under-” He preferred more subtle approaches to combat but this would do. Several tongues came out of his back while he had the two marines’ swords on lock down. They saw what he was doing and tried to jump away, swinging out at the slithering fleshy ropes, but Basil got too much of a jump on them.

The Ensign was incapacitated fairly quickly, as Basil placed more effort on removing him. His sword arm was tangled first and the rest followed suit. The Petty Officer put up a better fight, slashing off a few feet from several of the tongues, but like his superior, he soon was entwined with the tendrils. He had to be tripped by a constricted leg before Basil could reach his sword arm and, therefore, the rest of him. With both of them in his expanded grip, Basil looked over to Syphalia who was handling herself well and then back at his opponents. “I’m sorry about this. It was a fun fight though. Haven’t had one like that in a while.” He raised them up off the ground slightly before slamming them both back to earth, knocking them out. He tossed their bodies aside and allowed the tongues to slurp back into his back. In the distance of the plaza where he had thrown the other marines, he saw one was still awake, talking into his hand. A Den Den Mushi, no doubt. At this point, the numbers were thinning and there weren’t that many marines left by Basil’s count. So, Basil allowed the call to go out. Really, all that was left in this jurisdiction were a few stray marines if any, and ‘Brick’.

[Flame]

The spectacle continued for another minute or so. In a show of bloodthirstiness that was much akin to that held by some of her former crew-mates, Syphalia continued to batter the worn down ensign. Her sword opening all sorts of small cuts upon his body as his strength failed. "Well then ensign, what will you do now? Surely you do not plan to win against me. As you have seen already you are no match. Do not worry if I can, I would prefer not to kill you. But first I need to draw out your king." Coming up close she swung upon him, her blade was swift and the ensign tired so it easily made contact with the skin. The ensign screamed out in pain as Syphalia's blade cut across his abdomen.

Seeing that he could take little more of her blade cutting across his body she sheathed the blade. Given his state she doubted that she even needed the blade anymore. While she was not adept at hand-to-hand fighting, the weary and broken ensign was not one she could see giving her any trouble. Weakly the ensign tried to strike back at the now unarmed Syphalia. Sidestepping the blade with ease she planted a punch into his stomach knocking him back. Running forward after him she jumped turning in the air to plant a kick straight into his chest. Doubtful that these attacks would be as dangerous or as effective as her attacks with the sword, she watched as the ensign collapsed upon the ground. Walking over to the ensign she grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. Lifting him up she looked for a marine on the sidelines or one of the general populace. Spotting one at the far side of the square she huffed a little.

Gathering her strength she turned her body to add some momentum to her swing. Pulling his body along she tossed his whole body at the marine recruit who was standing at the edge of the square. The marine who had been visibly shaking struggled to position himself to catch the body and was even knocked back when the body hit him. Sighing she put her hand to her head depressed at the fact she was all too aware of. The marines in the Blues were weak, not capable of challenging those whom she had fought on the Grand Line. Calling out to the marine she said "You had better take that man to a doctor. He will be bleeding both on the outside and probably at least a little internally. If you get him to a doctor soon enough he is most likely to survive, I doubt I damaged any major organs, or at least I tried to avoid doing so." Watching as the marine shuffled off with Ensign Hellman's body upon his back she smiled to herself. Having caught herself before she did something to the marine that she would regret, she laughed off the thought that some of Jack's bloodthirstiness had rubbed off upon her.

Drawing her blade once more she examined it closely. A little dripping blood still remained upon the blade so she reached for a cloth at her side and began to remove the blood from the blade such that it shone once more. A swordsman's life was his blade and it was the same for her, though she had not made this blade, she would treasure it all the same. As she cleaned the blade she noticed something, the vein that contained that special metal began to radiate a reddish color. A devil fruit user, she turned her head up and looked to the roofs. She saw Basil in the distance working over some marines on his own. But he was too far away to cause the shining red light that was now emanating form her sword. Which meant, she turned looking around the square until her eyes landed upon a marine who was walking towards her. The coat that said 'Justice' upon it hung upon his shoulders, his large body was unlike that of any of the other marines she had met here. It was more alike to those she had met upon the Grand Line, that unnaturally large body which was so common for officers in the marines. This marine held himself differently, she could tell just from looking at him that he was the man they were looking for.

Who else, would be an officer of the marines here and give off the waves that only devil fruit users did. It was, all probability pointed to it, none other than the Marine Captain Arnold 'Brick' Mason. Sheathing her sword she turned to face the man, "Ahhhh . . . you took so long to get out here that I nearly turned your executive officer to shreds. One would think, the captain himself would've come immediately to deal with the threat of 'Firefly' Syphalia." She sneered at him, her words overly dramatic. Scratching the back of her head with one hand the other lay on the hilt of her sword pushing it and the sheath back and forth.

'Brick' looked down at her, the difference in height was quite apparent as he stood a good one maybe even two heads above her. A deep-throated laugh rang through the square as 'Brick' brought his fists up to face Syphalia. Raising an eyebrow she wondered exactly what his devil fruit ability was. "Well then 'Firefly' I have come. And you'll be coming with me. You've already lost your chance to get away. I'll show you why I have my nickname of 'Brick'."

Syphalia watched as around Brick's fists began to appear red bricks. Forming an armor around his hand, Brick charged towards her. Closing the distance rather quickly he swung with his first punch, he was fast for such a large man and Syphalia managed to only barely sidestep the first punch watching as the bricks flew by her face. The second punch from the other fist she couldn't dodge. Bringing her sword forward between her and the fist she caught the punch with it. The force behind the punch was rather great as it knocked her back across the square. The smile upon her face widened, lights danced in her eyes, drawing her sword fully she spit out some saliva that was building up in her mouth. Finally a challenge, she charged forward at him. The battle was on!