North-Bound to Ana Nine [AJ/Myself :X]

[Roin]

Mission #122 A ★ 

On Amino Island in the North Blue, there have been circulating rumors about some scientists that have been experimenting by digging up graves and using the bodies on sick projects. Find their hide-out and bring them to justice! Be careful, however, some of the experiments have been a little... too successful.

---

The chill of the North Blue winds...it was nice, especially for the warmer isles in the big NB. Specifically when paired with a snack he had whipped up. One thing about Legix was that he knew how to prepare only Squash-based dishes. Even still, cooking wasn't his forte...however, as he sat on a bench near the outskirts of Ana Nine. The North Blue was a big place, but coming to this island had been an occasional fall activity for his family. That was back before his brother left to become a pirate, though. Legix took another spoonful of the cooked rice from the stuffed butternut squash, making sure to get a bit of the squash's mushy interior with some of the rice. Dishes that he knew...well, they were able to last a good while, since they generally incorporated rice and his favorite squashes. Turning his gaze down the street, while seemingly taking another mouthful of his food, Legix set eyes on a duo that seemed to be heading his way.

"You hear about the grave dug up the other night? Seems they can't figure out what's happening to the missing bodies..."

As they passed, Legix only kept his eyes watching them, though with a bit of secrecy to prevent them noticing the peering gaze. The sun was getting a bit low, so such stories wouldn't be uncommon. Some people just had that sort of humor...right? Idly taking another mouthful of his food, Legix gave a pause before momentarily "jawwing" at his food. While stuck in his thoughts, he'd proceeded to stuff too much bites in. The reality of it was that he was stuck here, however...at least until he could find a ride away...so maybe looking into something like this wouldn't be too terrible.

Finally finishing his bit of chewing, Legix slowly rose from the bench to stand there, his eyes turning to a map of the park...well, a map of the park that had the city on it as well. The weight of his naginata was obvious as he made his way to the sign, keeping him balanced with his forward stride. The reason? Well...so he could keep eating his meal. Stopping before the sign, Legix's gaze analyzed it only briefly. Nothing gloomy was marked...at least, not by name and indication. It made sense for an island like this, he figured. It seemed rather..."hosty" toward tourists. However, as his mind and eyes scanned the information before him, it took a while before finally spotting an indication of where it might be.

"Ahm...churrchft."

A church. It wasn't much of a lead, but it was the only thing that...well...was sorta grim. Faith had never been a huge thing for him growing up. Mother had been quick to beat him and preach some Marine line rather than quote some religious dribble. Legix put on a frown at his thoughts, especially since he had called it dribble. The reality of it...was that he was getting distracted by his own head. Looking side-to-side along the path, Legix finally picked his direction toward the church, scooping another mouthful out with a grin. An adventure was setting up...if he could find out the stuff about the bodies, maybe he'd get pardoned from his assault charges and be able to go home...

[Jade]

The church itself was the smallest building on the block, completely dwarfed by the four-story apartment to its left and the five-story office building to the right, and looked like one of those places only the elderly visited or cared for. And, much like its likely inhabitants, the so-called "holy" place was looking a little worse for its age, with its white-painted exterior having faded to an off-yellow color that was peeling off the wood. The steeple that marked it for what the church for what it was had been snapped in half years ago, and it seemed as if no one had thought it that important to fix. Hell, even the door leading into the building was old and broken.

And the reason the swordswoman had found herself drawn to this spot was because, unlike the rest of this damn North Blue island? It was lonely. Not the awful kind, either, where one is forced to be alone and subjected to their thoughts, but the kind where one chooses to be alone. The simple fact of choice was what made solitude either unbearable or the most valuable commodity on this damned planet. Eris wasn't the religious sort, but something about how dreary and desolate this church appeared appealed to her, reminding her of her back alleys and haunts of her home island, back when she was just a thief living on the streets.

The sable-haired woman had entered the church a half an hour ago, and had been walking, uncharacteristically, gingerly through it, as if not to disturb the memories of the deceased. Oh, and the deceased? There sure seemed to have been plenty of them, once upon a time, but their bodies no longer inhabited the pews once a week - heck, it seemed like a few had even taken leave of their holes in the ground. Eris stood on the back porch, overlooking a massive graveyard, where the tombstones stuck out of the ground like the teeth of some horrid monster the old women at the orphanage had told her and the other children to keep them from misbehaving.

It wasn't that Eris hadn't believed those stories, either; this world was terrifying, and that was a fact. But the difference between her and the other children had been that the sable-haired girl would have stood her ground and probably gotten eaten by a monster, rather than run away. She had always been a stubborn asshole.

Her boot-clad feet trudged down the squeaky wooden stairs, leading from the back porch of this old, nameless church on an island of entertainment to the ground of the dismal, poorly-kept cemetery, and carried the swordswoman to the grave of a man who had once been known to this island as, if the tombstone was to be believed, "Frederick W. Gemhart". Eris cocked her head at the simple granite slab, and then her eyes flitted down to the ground directly below it.

"Kind of a shoddy job, if you don't even clean up after yourselves..." The pirate captain grumbled, kicking a rock into the hole. There was no casket, and no Frederick, in the ground... At least not here. Eris gripped the hilt of her sword tighter in her right hand and looked up, and found the same story around the fenced-in graveyard.

Her eyes went higher, looking up to the sky. Grey clouds hung low, stopping the golden-orange light of the setting sun from fully illuminating this place, only further adding to the air of creepiness, and a wind had picked up and given a bite to the otherwise warm day. The night would be cold, and Eris was beginning to think that leaving this place as soon as possible would be a fantastic idea. And so, turning to do that, the swordswoman found herself face-to-face with a bent-over old man.

A white beard that hid the majority of the man's wrinkly, sun-spotted face, as well as his neck; past that, his body was wrapped up in dark grey robes, reminiscent of the clouds hanging in the sky above. His eyes were cloudy, and the former thief began to wonder whether or not the man saw her at all... Only to immediately have her question answered, as the black metal staff, fashioned into the massive shape of a lowercase "T", which the man had until now been resting his full weight upon, descended upon the pirate's skull, knocking her down into the ground at the old man's (apparently bare) feet.

"Yoooooow!" Eris immediately rolled to the side before bouncing up, glaring at the old man as she unsheathed her own weapon. "What the hell was that for?!"

[Roin]

The short walk was mostly uneventful for Legix. With his meal in one hand and the spoon in the other, most of the sights and flair of the walk were missed. The focus, of course... well, it was on his delicious meal and making certain his course didn't deviate. However, arriving at the church was a different story. The building was certainly eerie the moment his eyes fell on it, but that wasn't so much the issue. In terms of situations, this one... ranked rather high with what had been on the street, waiting for him. The sight of a few men and women cowering on the street, all pointing and cursing at a tall beast of a man. Legix was quite blown away, enough so that shock showed through on his face for once as he dropped the hollowed-out meal.

Standing a good few heads taller than the shipwright, the man's width was equally twice that of Legix's own. The guy clearly had to be some form of giant, possibly of the most diluted blood to reach heights this low, but it was the fact that the man's entire right arm was that of a bear's arm. Turning his solemn sight toward the squash-lover, the beast simply groaned out some sort of challenge before starting toward him with his human arm raised and gripping at air the whole time. Immediately, Legix was backing up and scrambling his hand to the naginata's sling, Henshintan Sukasshu finally falling free and into the North Blueman's hand.

"What the hell kind of Zoan user are-" "Careful now, Zeo... we need you to come back inside now, yes?"

The shipwright's attention immediately turned, as well as the beast of a giant, to a man standing behind him. An old geezer, thin as a straw, was wearing the robes of a priest. The oddity, of course, was that he had a gas mask hiding his face and an old doctor's hat with a wide brim and a high angle to prevent any chance of spotting his hair or any marks to identify him. Whoever the hell he was, Legix turned his attention back to spot the giant slowly lumbering back toward the church's entrance. Lowering the naginata slightly, his mind began to consider that this was just a strange day.

Until the priest raised a pistol and fired Legix's way.

The bullet struck Legix in the abdomen, but the sensation of the heavy weight punching into him was abruptly ended... was it the bullet passing through him? Not one to risk getting shot again, Legix let his weight and the force of the speeding bullet throw him to the ground. The priest's laughter filled the air as Legix tried his best... well, to keep quiet. The crowd dispersed quickly and in a rush, one trait making it obvious why events like this might have been missed. The time of day made it possible that drinking had started...which meant that such events, if properly hidden, wouldn't be anything more than drunk babble. Which meant that if these guys were smart... they were the ones that were digging up bodies, using force if necessary to expel intruders.

As fast as he'd pieced it together, however, the priest's voice picked up in the air once more.

"Zeo, grab him! That weapon of his was unique enough that he might prove useful!"

The man's scratchy voice made Legix want to pop right back up and tell 'em to shut the hell up. His mother had warned him that such annoyances awaited him if he were to become a pirate and hang out with a bad crowd. The shipwright, however, hadn't done anything to be a pirate yet and this had already happened. Closing his eyes, the wounded man remained still as the man grabbed his leg in the abyss, his body lurching slightly as he dragged him. Keeping a "death grip" on the naginata ensured it stayed with him... but as the group made their way inside, determined mostly by Legix's back going from smooth concrete (which sucked by the way) to hard wood, the giant's hand released him while doors were shut rather... close?

"Who the hell is she and why hasn't she been dealt with? I have us another subject to use and we don't have room to experiment on some random woman!"

Woman? Experiment? Who was this guy talking to and what the hell about? With his release, Legix could only think of one thing. Opening his eyes, the shipwright angled the back of his neck slightly to see just enough over his own chest, trying to spy the entirety of the church... before spotting the back of a robed, short figure. This was certainly going to be "one of those days" at this rate.

[Jade]

"You! How dare you intrude upon this sacred ground and dig up these poor souls?" The old man roared, slamming his cross-shaped metal staff into ground. His hood flew back in the wind, revealing an old, wrinkly, yet still fierce face, with thick white eyebrows narrowed down over slightly beady, cloudy eyes. "I am the keeper of this graveyard - Gabriel the Priest! Face me in combat, you heathen wench, and feel the holy justice that is your punishment!"

All of which would have been very impressive... If the man had actually been facing Eris. Instead, he was facing the area she had been standing, before he had walloped her and she had rolled out of the way of any further blows. "Oi oi, dumbass, I'm over here!" The swordswoman huffed as she sheathed her sword, placing both hands on her hips as the older man turned around, coughing excuses into his beard.

The man, Gabriel, planted his cross-shaped staff in front of himself once more, staring down at the... No, make that staring up. The old man was staring up at the young pirate captain, with that fierce expression still plastered on his wrinkly face. "Allow me to repeat myself! I am Gabriel the Pr-"

"I don't need that speech again, geezer!"

The old man's eyes widened, shocked, and then his brows furrowed once more. "Very well! Explain to me what your dastardly purposes are in this most sacred place, and then prepare to taste the divine steel of retribution!" Gabriel roared, lifting his staff and smashing it against the ground once more.

Eris shook her head, allowing her shaggy sable hair to fly into her face a little bit, before she took a step toward the old man. "Look, wrinkles, whatever you think I'm here doing? I'm not doing it. I just came in here, honestly, and noticed these graves were dug up. Whoever was here, grave-robbing, did a kind of shitty job, wouldn't you say...?" The swordswoman had continued to walk forward as she spoke, and had proceeded to place her right hand on the black steel staff Gabriel held. She tried to tear the weapon from his hands, but found that those sunspot-covered hands had a death grip on it - which immediately became a funny phrase, given how old this man appeared to be, and the fact that they were in a graveyard. "You can calm down, alright? Look, I'll make you a deal - I'll leave this place right now, and we'll never see each other again...

Gabriel looked down at the sable-haired girl's hand upon his staff, back up to her face, and then tore the staff away from as he took a few steps back. "Very well, you young blasphemer. You are free to leave this most sacred ground, on the grounds that you never return!"

"Glad we came to an arrangement, geezer," Eris grinned, turning around just in time to miss the expression of horror dawning on Gabriel's wrinkly face... But just in time for her own face to become one of shock.

The being shuffling toward them from the direction of the old church had clearly been human at one point, but now it was just a terrifying corpse held together by science. Stitches in some places, metal and bolts in others, holding together a body that had long ago begun to decay and fall apart.

"... What the hell is that?!"

[Roin]

As the hulk of a zombie loomed closer, the man leading him looked to the old man and woman with a frown. Talking aloud had left him distracted, it seemed. "Hmmm? Zeo, why have we not dealt with these two?" The large zombie looked down to the duo, his lifeless eyes taking a moment before he spoke, a rumbling boom filling the church. "I will crush them, if you wish." Hearing that only made the man lower the gun, the glint of iron shining from the tips of his fingers while he turned his gaze. "That's right... you're my zombie, aren't you? I forgot from how hot it was here... I could really use a towel before I start working on that new corpse!"

The duo's odd exchange left the zombie unaware... and the still-wounded man being dragged along to grumble. How had he allowed this to happen? Cormad and Izlanda would have just punched this big o-... did that man say zombie? Like living dead? Wasn't that just myth and fake tales? Idly looking to where the large guy had a grip on his ankle, the sting of his wound was only doing more to bolster the idea of getting away from this... thing. That is, until the man snapped with a ding-like quality, the zombie releasing him. The moment his leg hit the floor, Legix sat up and made a face while one hand moved to cover the wound. Visible between the two... was another pair. An old man and some woman. Wincing from his movement agitating the wound, the shipwright at last began to rise as the gun-toting man pointed at the duo with narrowed eyes.

"You won't interrupt my research any further, old bones! I already have more than enough zombies to take this church from you completely! Even with that girl behind you, there's no way you can beat my army and my mighty Zeo!"

Throwing his arms wide, still unaware of the man now standing behind him and the giant, the lunatic began laughing wildly and without any real reason... most likely. That is, until the doors leading to the confessional areas and backrooms of the church burst open... and roughly twenty or so walking corpses came out. None of them were as large as the one escorting the man, but rather all the same size of normal people. The bad part? They were all holding weapons and dimly gazing toward the priest and Eris. In a cramped space like this, their numbers could no doubt be the start of a grave situation. As the man deposited the pistol into his belt, he pointed to the two and let out a yell that filled the church easily.

"Someone get them for our boss!" "Master-" "Oh right! Get them for me, my minions!"

As the duo turned, Zeo and the doctor both turned outwards... and seemingly moved past the shipwright as they started for the entrance of the church. How they had missed him, Legix had no clue... and it showed in a confused and dumbstruck gaze that turned to watch them. Surely they weren't serious... right? Even the big hulking one hadn't noticed he'd released him! For now, however, a wince to his face brought the man back to his knees. The wound was small, so why the hell was it paining him like-

"We'll see how our newest project works on him... mwuahahahaha... mwuahahahahahaaaaaa!"

Legix felt a pinch-like sensation before turning his gaze to the wound... to spot the bullet of the gun... wasn't a bullet. A bug was latched firmly to the side of the wound, its shape similar to a bullet... yet now it had blown up to a small apple-shape... before pushing a nose-like appendage into his body. As the zombies began rushing forward, the man from the North Blue couldn't help but notice a horrible thing in this. The bug's needle-like appendage was extending and felt as if it was spreading something... until Legix's mind went hazy. Rising once more, with the bug now disgustingly patching the wound with its arms, the man quietly raising his own gaze toward the duo, the clang of the giant tossing the weapon to the ground beside him drawing his gaze... just in time for the man to cry out to the duo from his new position at the entrance, the doors closed tightly to prevent anyone coming inside.

"Behold my new project! A living zombie who obeys my orders! I spent a long time perfecting that bug and this gun to make a living subject blindly obedient! With this, I can use those who get hit as a King uses soldiers, rather than the animal-like brutes these zombies are! As long as that bug can be synced with its host, I have full control over them!"

The laugh filled the church for a final time... just as the zombies started forward and the previously injured man quietly grabbed the weapon... and spun it idly before angling it downward and rising to one foot... his now distant eyes staring toward the old priest and woman. That must mean he was going to follow the order of all the others... and unlike them, his body wasn't decaying flesh and the difference in skill was clear as day between the forced armament of the zombies.

"Oi... oi... oi... I'm going... to kill you... for the Master... and perhaps... he'll reward me... with squash afterward."