Hidden Powers Unleashed! [Pluto/Scarlette]

[BlacKitten]

Before the sun even had her chance to rise from the horizon, they had sailed off into the seas. The sky was mildly dark; every structure appeared like a blurred silhouette. Not a single one of them technically owned a ship, and they did not bought nor rent a ship either. The wooden vessel that slept within was just a pirate ship that was deprived of pirates. It originally belonged to a notorious crew of murderers with an accumulative bounty of 53 million beri, but ever since Pluto and Scarlette disposed of them, they somewhat owned the privilege to do whatever they please with the leftover belongings. Besides, who else was going to use this ship if they do not? Just in case, he removed the pirate flag that wavered beyond the mast; otherwise, there it would arouse some misunderstandings. Without the flag, a pirate ship became just a regular ship.

Beneath the silent deck, Pluto isolated himself from the others, dwelling within his own room, sleeping soundly in bed. Recovering his strength and stamina from the previous fight was vital for any future danger that awaits him, but as the sleeper remained unconscious, he was wrong about one thing: he wasn’t alone. From the half-opened door, the gap was just enough for someone to slip through. Stealthily approaching towards the boy, the unknown pair of feet rolled softly from heel to toes, erasing the sound of footsteps. Even the breathing was kept subtle and inaudible. There was no possible way for the defenseless one to detect the unwelcomed presence.

Pluto sure had grown careless lately to have left his door unlocked like that, but then again, there wasn’t a locking mechanism to begin with. Still, he was known to be a lot more cautious than this, setting up traps and clever tricks to deceive others even when asleep. For example, one time, the paranoid boy would stuff pillows beneath the blanket to simulate a human figure as his real body would be hidden beneath the bed. There was also that other time where opening a door would pull a string and create an opening from above for a rock to fall on the visitor’s head.

However, this time was different. No more clever traps and no way to wake him up. Even if he does wake up, it would be too late anyways. Within a matter of seconds, the act was done. No one was around to witness it, and everything remained silent. Hours had flown by swiftly as the scene remained unchanged.

A pair of violet eyes opened meekly to gaze into the dimly lit room. He felt unusually cozy yet heavy. As he tried to roll around, something anchored him in place as his arms were pinned against his side of his body. It felt like a snake had coiled and constricted around him tautly, ready to take a venomous bite. After a blink that cleared his vision, there was someone else sleeping next to him as well as hogging most of the blanket away.

“Rebecca…,” his growled quietly, but no response came in return. After repeatedly poking her in the cheek, the little one opened the same colored eyes as the boy, lethargically rolling to the other side before closing them back again. With a palm thrusting out, the brother shoved her off the edge of the bed, and the girl thumped onto the cold wooden floor below.

“Ow!” She leaned up with teary eyes, “Why’d you do that?” That was mean of him.

“There are plenty of other rooms that you could sleep in, yet you still ended up in my room,” he sat up with his back arching forth, “do you plan to sneak into wherever I’m sleeping every single night?”

“Yup,” she answered bluntly as if it was obvious.

He sighed. What was he supposed to do about it? His face leaned against a palm with the elbow resting against the knee. Had she been an assassin, I would be dead by now.

As daylight shined through, they approached an island far out into the distance, and a single glimpse of it was enough for one to know that Amino Island paled in comparison in terms of size. Neither of them had been here before; they had only been to three islands so far in their lives.

[Vio]

Sometimes you have to wonder, just what is it that drives people on? What is the point of living if death is an inevitable end? These were questions that Scarlette Grimm-Rosa had been asking herself over and over since departing from Amino Island, but finding a viable answer was something she just could not seem to do. There was no logical answer to life, but as soon as she started to consider the illogical, that was when everything seemed so much more clear. And yet she found herself fighting against that reasoning, caring almost entirely for the death of people rather than protecting their lives. But then there was Rebecca, Pluto's younger sister, who resembled her own deceased sibling so heavily that her mind felt thoroughly muddled. The mere existence of this girl was enough to throw many of the reaper's beliefs on their head, but at least it had offered her something that she otherwise would never have had. Though she would never admit it openly, she now had a place that she felt she could call 'home'.

Stirring from an awkward slumber, the woman in the black dress looked around her, surrounded entirely by the wooden walls of the ship that she shared with the siblings. A simple bunk bed with a rather firm mattress was not the most comfortable place to sleep, but personal comfort was not something that she particularly cared about, especially when one considered the beating she had received whilst trying to take down the Dieu-le-Veut Pirates. But despite the injuries she had sustained, she was now as fit as a fiddle, easily having recovered from the extensive loss of blood in just twenty four hours. Any other human would have been out for the count for at least two or three days, but this was one of the blessings Scarlette had gained as a result of consuming a Devil Fruit all those years ago.

"Is it morning already...?" Miss Grimm-Rosa asked herself, failing to stifle a yawn as she sat upon the bed, listening to the strange orchestra about her. The timbers creaked and groaned softly as the vessel bobbed along the waves, the bed squeaking beneath her as she moved, and the distinctive thud of something in the room above hitting the floor. With rather lazy eyes she looked upwards, knocking her head off the empty bunk above hers as she did so which forced her to clutch her head in her hands for a moment or two. As good as her ability to tolerate pain was, cracking your head off of something hard was decidedly more agonising. Regardless, it served as a much needed wake up call, and the woman quickly dragged herself too her feet, taking due care not too bash her head a second time.

"Ugh... I slept so long and I still feel tired?" Rubbing her eyes with one hand as she wobbled across the room, Scarlette felt the strange weight of lethargy upon her. Now, her usual sleeping patterns were eratic and incoherent, often sleeping for just a couple of hours at a time before waking and wandering off again in search of prey. But now that she had met Pluto and Rebecca, her own resting rhythms had adjusted to something similar to their own. Normally a light sleeper, the last few days had proven that sleep was indeed beneficial, but now it seemed as if sleeping the whole night through was something of a bad idea. Well, that was how it seemed now. Maybe there was something to it, but she was hardly blessed with the scientific mind to work out the secret of circadian rhythms. Sleep was sleep, it was annoyingly important to life, and it came with some strange side effects at times.

"Hmm... 'Avoid killing when Rebecca can see you'," the pallid person recited slowly, reminding herself of the pact she had forged with the violet-eyed boy. It seemed strange of him to allow her to kill as she pleased, but she was oddly thankful of him for allowing it. In a sense, the two Espers had similar ideals, both for the sake of others. Maybe that was what had drawn them together in the first place? A strange twist of fate proposed by the gods... Regardless of reasoning, the two had formed an alliance and had set their eyes upon the Grand Line, but they had to get there first. And, most importantly, they had to protect Rebecca. That was the one thing they could definitively agree upon. To be fair, the young girl had done a lot for Scarlette, too.

Picking up her coat, the tears in which had been repaired by the surprising handiwork of the younger sibling, the dark-haired dame slipped her arms though the sleeves before making sure all was in place. She would leave the diary and the doll's head, mementos of her past, aboard the ship for now. But her knives, which she had finally been able to replace, and her scythe were important. At the behest of Rebecca, the bloodied steel sickle had been cleaned as thoroughly as was possible, the silvery fang once more gleaming as brightly as it could. Of course, wear had dulled its colour, but it still bore a surprisingly slick sheen when the light hit it. It was probably amazing to outsiders that a full grown woman was practically being bossed about by a young and innocent girl.

The bedroom door creaking as she opened it, Scarlette meandered down the passageway that cut through the ship and then proceeded up the rickety steps and onto the deck. The vessel itself was hardly a large one, its former owners numbering no more than seven, but it was big enough to sail comfortably across the waters of the North Blue without trouble. That said, they had been lucky to avoid storms so far. Out on deck, the wind whipped at the open sails, carrying them along at a decent enough pace towards their next destination. And sure enough, chocolate hues settled upon the approaching landmass. An island of substantial size, it seemed to jut from the waters quite suddenly, as if its very foundations were built beneath the waves. As far as she could see, the island itself was mostly civilised, numerous buildings towering above any she had ever seen before and a forest of countless masts clustered in one area. Two brilliant white towers emerged from the waters as well, emblazoned with some sort of symbol. Still, while the sun was now above the horizon, a fine sea mist obscured some of the finer details...

[BlacKitten]

A blanket was thrown over his head, engulfing him entirely, and as his vision was disabled, he was tackled from the side. Tipping over from his seated position, Pluto landed on his back with his arms immobilized once again. The full weight of his little sister pressed against him as her arms clung around him, and with the blanket obscuring his sight of her, resistance was made difficult.

“Get off me!” the boy scowled, but his tone wasn’t loud enough to be considered a shout. Was knocking him off the bed part of her revenge for doing the same to her?

“I don’t wanna,” she said playfully. This was too much fun to pass up.

There hadn’t been a single memory of a morning where he woken up as a normal person. Being pounced on by her had been considered a daily habit by now. As expected, preventing the development of this habit was a failure. It was like trying to stop a kid from hugging a teddy bear. Twisting and squirming, the brother struggled in slipping out of the girl’s embracing taut hug. However, there was a way to have her retreat without harming her in the slightest. While his arms were still pinned, his hands had been close enough for his index finger to gently poke her sides. With a sudden jolt of ticklish sensation, her body naturally flinched, rolling off to the side.

Swinging an arm out, Pluto hurled the blanket off of him before leaning up. His eyes were half-opened, too lethargic and groggy to open completely. It was as if his eyelids grew immensely heavier than before. Glancing to the side, what laid there crawled back up in a giggling tone. She looked prepared for round two, but before such a chance could be given to her, Pluto stood up, straightening his spine before striding out of his room.

Rebecca’s mouth opened a little by the sudden end of their little game. Not wanting to be left alone, she tagged along from behind. The two of them made their way upstairs and eventually stepping outside on the deck where temperatures drastically dropped. Their breaths immediately became visible as an expanding puff of steam. Already within their view was Scarlette with her signature weapon, the scythe. Her blade seemed noticeably cleaner as if it had been polished recently.

Nearing close to the edge, his violet hued eyes darted towards the island within sight, searching for a dock to anchor. There were three blocks of land linked by steel cables, and amongst the isolated chunks of solid ground, one of them possessed a dock. However, almost all of the ships situated there were identical, each one of them showing off the same symbol that is renowned globally. They were mostly all marine ships, and despite nothing being a pirate, it made him cringe inside. Unlike Amino Island, this place didn’t lack security, so crime rates were presumably close to zero with a military base here.

“Come to think of it, I’ve never really met any marines before,” Pluto announced his inexperience with these people of justice. From what rumor-uttering people say about them, they were either despised wholeheartedly or supported for purifying the seas of pirates by keeping criminals at bay. His personal feelings towards them were neutral, holding no real first impressions about them.

Already, there were eyes directed at them from afar; a small group of soldiers who were cladded in white kept their eyes on them with their rifles hanging at their backs and swords sheathed at their hips. Perhaps they were suspicious of them, very wary if it was a pirate ship. Had Pluto not removed the flag, their entrance would most likely had caused an uproar.

This was the only dock on the island; they didn’t have much of a choice. Prior before stopping the vessel, Pluto leapt off the edge and landed on the wooden platform that extruded from the land.

“So… we’re finally here,” he murmured before feeling something heavy crashing into his upper back. Collapsing onto the ground and lying flat on his stomach, he felt Rebecca kneeling on his back.

“Pluto! You’re supposed to catch me!” She informed him, disapproving of the rough landing, but her brother at least cushioned her fall.

“If you can’t jump from that height, then don’t!” his tone showed that he was aching in pain. Even if that was supposed to be a trust fall, it was too extreme. He would have crashed onto the ground even if he had caught her. Just as the little girl crawled off, Pluto stood back up while massaging his own back. Just woke up and already so much pain today.

However, at the same time, Rebecca’s childish and playful behavior completely crushed any grain of suspicion within the hearts of soldiers that were watching them. With someone like her with them, they no longer appeared hostile. She was like a magic charm wherever they went. Her existence alone had extinguished the murderous aura of Scarlette during her rampage back on Amino Island. An aura of positive energy simply brimmed out of this little girl’s presence.

That one decision to keep her alive on that fateful night had changed all of their lives tremendously.

[Vio]

Marines... I've never seen them until now... Eyeing the men in their uniforms rather casually, Scarlette Grimm-Rosa had no choice but to admit her naivete when it came to matters of the World Government and its law enforcers. Jigokuchi, her homeland, was a small and isolated land free of their interference. Sure, the island had its own military force, though it was no match when compared to the numbers of other armies and the sheer mass that was the World Navy. The point was that she had only heard fleeting mentions of these men in white, and that innocence seemed to allow them to pass her by as nothing more than a feature of the environment. They were no concern of hers and, at present, she was no concern of theirs.

I guess I'd better do something about the sails, then... Inexperienced in seafaring as they all were, it was only through the tranquil state of mind she had achieved in recent days that the dark-haired damsel realised the fatal flaw in her company's actions. Yes, the docks themselves held the ship steady and the neighbouring vessels helped to act as wind breaks, but leaving the ship in such an insecure state was asking for trouble. And so she got to work, steadily pulling on the rigging until she found the correct rope to furl the sails with, securing it as tightly as she could so that they did not come loose. Following that, and not exactly caring about whether or not she had done a decent job, Scarlette walked across the deck and took up a mooring line before following suit and jumping down. Her landing was indeed substantially more graceful than her travelling companions', Pluto recovering from the impact of Rebecca's body atop him.

"I don't know much about ships, but I'm pretty sure you have to secure them," she grumbled as she crouched beside a bollard and repeated the action of tying the messiest knot anyone could be capable of. Tying knots, again, was not a skill that a homicidal maniac was well versed in. Still, she took responsibility for it, simply for the sake of their agreement. Getting to the Grand Line was not going to be an easy task if their only means of transport drifted away from them. See. Being considered insane did not necessarily mean one lacked common sense on all occasions, and the mysteriously meticulous miss was demonstrating such mannerisms that made her seem like the responsible adult. That was hardly the case, but still, she was the only one of the three currently focusing on the finer details.

"So, what do we do now? What do we n- Hmmm..." Looking down at her own garb, one thing was painfully obvious. Despite her best attempts at repairing her coat and dress, her clothing would not last forever and looked somewhat tattered. A change of clothes was likely a good idea, she considered, but food and water was also a necessity if they were going to travel to the Grand Line. Of course, due to their efforts on Amino Island, their monetary need was low. Pluto and Scarlette could afford to stock up on things, but it seemed neither was the type to want more than was absolutely necessary. On one hand, the violet-eyed boy was cautious. On the other, the chocolate-eyed woman cared very little. And of the group, despite her youth, Rebecca seemed to be very good at making do with what she had.

"I suppose we need supplies. And I need clothes..." Without another word, Miss Grimm-Rosa turned about and began to walk towards the city that lay before them, people buzzing about the place likes bees in a hive even this far out from what could be considered the town centre. That said, what surrounded them now was essentially a forest forged of ships of all shapes and sizes - some commercial, some private, but many belonging to the Marines. The best idea was probably to leave food and such to Pluto and Rebecca, while she ventured off in search of clothes, but it was unlikely that the young girl was going to let her wander off as she pleased. Rebecca had been on Scarlette's case for most of their journey. Not that she minded too much, but this was a different situation...

[BlacKitten]

With 53,000,000 beri in their possession, they wouldn’t have to worry about their financial need for quite some time. As the scythe-wielder headed towards the city for clothing, the rest of them deviated off to another section of the city in search for any stores that appealed to them.

Rebecca had something on her mind that she wanted to express verbally. However, she was unsure if it was a personal topic, so her question waited until the two of them were alone with Scarlette striding away. “Pluto! There’s something I don’t understand,” her eyes looked up towards the brother, “Those red, bubbly things have a connection to Scarlette, right? What are they? I’ve never seen them before.” There were two incidents where she witnessed them. It all started when the scythe-user attacked fought her brother and also when she was lying unconscious on the streets. Those little humanoid, translucent creatures had done mostly nothing other than standing motionlessly at close proximity to the older girl. They appeared to be neither humans nor animals, so it really stimulated her curiosity.

“Ah… those things…,” the older one acknowledged what the girl was referring to as the existence of those homunculi are undeniably real. Simply brushing the case away by accusing her of hallucinating or dreaming would most certainly not work on her. She was too observant for that. “W-what… makes you think that I would know about them?” he looked forward, avoiding eye contact. A droplet of sweat lowered itself across the side of his neck at the sensitive subject of Devil Fruit powers.

“You never questioned what they were, and you never asked her about them. So, I thought it was because you already knew what they are,” she reasoned through, and her conclusion was painfully accurate. Just what sort of person wouldn’t be curious by such unusual entities?

Uh… I never educated her about Devil Fruit powers, have I? Ah, that’s right. Ironically, I had to teach Scarlette a thing or two about them. Do I really have to repeat the same lecture?

A small sigh emitted from his mouth, “… ‘You’re too young to understand’ isn’t gonna work in this case, is it?” The most common excuse when explaining matters to children popped into his mind. Unfortunately, Rebecca was someone who would pester him persistently until he spilled the truth.

“So you do know!” She was now officially convinced that her brother knew exactly what the answers to her questions were.

No! I know nothing! Leave me alone! Scarlette! Why are you doing this to me? Why do I have to explain YOUR powers to her? He was being indecisive about whether or not his sister should know the truth. It technically wouldn’t harm her. Still, of all the possible devil fruit powers to explain to a little girl, why did it have to be world’s most gruesome ability? The Tane Tane no Mi literally involved the user’s own blood. Was this really something that a little, innocent girl needed to be aware about?

“Humph,” Rebecca snatched the boy’s wrist and tugged it violently towards her, “What are you hiding from me?” They were siblings; she felt that she deserved to know what her brother knew. What was there worth hiding? The more secretive he acted, the more she wanted to pry into his head.

“Let’s just say that Scarlette is very special. Those things are called homunculi, and they are indeed connected to her. In fact, they’re so deeply connected that the next time you see her lying next to them, you shouldn’t widen the distance between them too much,” he tried to slip past the question with some trivial facts. Back on Amino Island, the paramecia-user had informed him of many of the weaknesses and downfalls of utilizing her powers. One of them involved the distance that the homunculi were allowed to be relative to their conjurer; otherwise, they would splatter into a puddle of blood after a certain distance.

“Why’s that?” the little one did not quite understand.

“Because it hurts her,” he said bluntly. His sister had once unintentionally inflicted wounds onto the paramecia-user before treating her life-threatening condition, so he thought she should know about it.

“Hmmm…,” Rebecca glared at him suspiciously, knowing that there was much more information that had yet to be said. What was an effective way to interrogate someone like him? Embarrassment seemed to work wonders in the past; all she had to do was hug him in public. 

[Vio]

Being able to spend time alone was welcomed rather warmly by the idle mind of Scarlette Grimm-Rosa, but even as she increased the distance between herself as her companions, something just did not feel right. There was no exact way for her to determine what it was that was off, but that did not stop it from influencing her thoughts. For a moment - just a brief moment - she stopped and attempted to shake the thoughts free of her head. Moving swiftly on and deeper into the town, leaving behind the forest of furled sails and towering masts, the reluctant reaper continued on her now half-hearted quest. Finding clothing was indeed one objective she had set for herself, but without the accompaniment of Rebecca, malicious opportunities presented themselves around every corner. Once a killer, always a killer, but there was definitely something different.

Ugh... Why do I still feel like I need to hold back? Usually one for merciless slaughter regardless of location, such a feeling as this was utterly alien to the scythe-wielding psychopath. Idle imaginings of bloody acts of murder were the kind of thing she would normally act upon without hesitation, but this time those glimpses of red upon the white canvas were far more subtle and subdued. The intent - no, the need! - to end lives and liberate those chained to this world by flesh and blood was almost non-existent. In its place was an unnerving sense of tranquility, the type of feeling that washed through her after a homicidal rampage that claimed dozens of defenceless lives. Somehow, without ever taking a single swing of her sickle, or spilling a single drop of blood, the devilish damsel's thirst had been quenched.

Am I... Sick or something? Plagued by this inexplicable sensation (or lack of it as the case may have been), Scarlette wandered deeper into the aptly named business block of Ohoville; the city that spanned the entirety of this island that she had found herself upon. It was only natural that, when something seemed out of the ordinary, one would associate it with disease or illness. But in this case, that was not the cause. Despite the unhealthy look her visage displayed with its pallid complexion, the woeful wandered was as healthy as she could possibly be given the circumstances. Blood loss barely fazed her, her unnatural abilities having long since replenished her veins and arteries with all the fluid she required, though she had yet to recover entirely from the injuries she had sustained. Beneath her coat and dress and all the accessories that came with them, her body was marked by scars quite fresh, testaments to the battle she had fought. But none of this would answer her question.

I'll just... Find a clothes store, I guess... The inner flames of Miss Grimm-Rosa had most definitely been extinguished, but trying to rekindle them seemed impossible at this moment in time. Probably for the best. Though she cared not for the presence and prowess of the World Navy, seeing them as little more than just other people in need of freedom, the fact that such men and women patroled the island regularly was not going to do her any favours. Eyes full of suspicion followed her every now and then, many paying particular attention to the farming tool she carried, but most simply dismissed her. In the modern age, carrying weapons for self defence was not too uncommon, many swordsmen and marksmen passing through places like these. Scarlette's weapon, which was nothing more than a scythe used for harvesting wheat and barley, was probably more normal than arms such as those.

Hm... Approaching a women's clothing outlet, the dark-haired dame paused before the window, lazily examining the kind of clothing that the dressmakers of Jreum had to offer. The choice in the window alone was varied, but nothing there seemed to fit the vicious vixen's chosen tastes. It was odd for her to be so considerate about material possessions, but the little girl inside of her had always been a fan of the gothic lolita style. Cute dresses and ribbons in black and white were her preferences, normally of the modest kind, and so she ventured inside in search of such garb. Inside the shop the air was comfortably warm, neither too dry nor too damp, and dozens of clothes rails bore hundreds of different dresses and skirts and other articles of ladies' wear. Quite the assortment, full of colour, but her chocolate hues soon lit up to a curious carmine when they settled upon one particular piece.

"I-it's... It's beautiful...!" Utterly enticed by the sight of a dress on display at the far end of the store, Scarlette found herself unwittingly gliding across the floor towards the mannequin which was so graciously displaying the clothes in question. Like her own tattered garb, said dress was black, but its design was far more intricate than her own. The skirt was divided into no less than four layers, each shorter and overlapping the one beneath it and hemmed by white frills. And yet, the skirt was short, barely passing the knee. The bodice bore white frill over the shoulders and upper back, the front decorated by a pair of white vertical strips that were bound by crossing white laces over a black middle. The collar was neatly folded with white frill, fastened at the front by a set of small buttons, and the sleeves were split into two sections. The upper sleeves were loose and black, hemmed with white frills to match the style, but from inside extended tighter sleeves of white designed to reach the midst of the forearm, hemmed with two sets of lacey frills that were turned up. The first a lengthier set of black, the second a short set of white.

"H-how much?" the Grimm-Rosa girl asked, not once taking her eyes off the garment that had her so entranced and thus failing to pay much attention to the rather effeminate example of a muscular man who owned the store. He did not seem the least bit disturbed by the scythe she carried, or the state of the clothes she was currently clad in. Rather, he was completely fascinated by the fact someone was actually showing interest in such a dress.

"You... You like that dress? It's been there for months now. Normally my dresses sell within a couple of weeks, but that one's not even had any interest until now. Heh. Thought that style had gone out of fashion, I did. But, I guess I was wrong!" Letting loose a light chuckle as he approached, the dressmaker started to remove the dress from the headless wooden doll which wore it, loosening the lace and undoing the buttons as was necessary until the garment was loose enough to slip free of the mannequin. "Though, I suppose it could be because I tried to sell it for so much... Fifty thousand is a lot for clothes nowadays, so I'm sorry if you can't aff-"

"I'll take it! Here!" Dropping her scythe to the floor and removing a wad of beri from her coat pocket, the gothic girl practically threw the bills at the man in her desperate quest to attain this dress, not even bothering to count the cash that she had offered (which totalled to about eighty thousand). Again, money was not a real concern to her, so any amount that the average woman would deem too much was probably not going to bother her...

[BlacKitten]

Once they made it down the main street with business running amok left and right, they had to make sure to stick together. Although, only one of them was thinking about that as the other one wandered off immediately. With a rapid pace, Rebecca jogged up to a vendor, and immediately, she was beginning to receive free samples of food. Her brother merely tried to close the gap between them at a relaxed pace, merely trying to keep an eye on her. After some careful judgement, she nudged the older sibling while pointing at which ingredients to buy, and since she had more experience in cooking, Pluto simply trusted her decisions without question. Considering the types of food that Scarlette enjoyed eating, meat seemed to be the key viand, and when considering her Devil Fruit powers, he felt that it would fit her theme. While he, personally, favored spicy food, his little sister relished the taste of sweets. With the money they had on hand, buying too much was hardly ever going to be problem.

Bags of bought items were held in his hands while he tagged along from behind with the energetic little girl who kept on dashing towards any store that interested her. She was brimming with vitality and youth to the point that her stamina might even outlast her brother’s at this rate.

“!” A temporary rush of coldness flooded into him from the neck down. His head turned towards behind, scanning across the field of people ambling by. Something felt strange, the kind of sensation that was hiding from him, not wanting him to even feel it. Nothing out of the ordinary stood out to him no matter how many times he looked. Was he being paranoid all of a sudden? It was like when a suspicious movement blitz past the corner of his eye as if something or someone was there, yet each time when his eyes tried to pinpoint that arbitrary shadowy movement, he would see nothing. However, that was the scary part of it all. He would rather see something than nothing; not knowing can be the greatest fear of all. Why would Rebecca be afraid of the dark long ago and always come to his room? It was because she did not know what was in the dark. Simply the state of ignorance frightened her.

“?” Her eyes curiously looked up to him as the younger one tried to understand what caught her brother’s attention. “What’re you looking at?” She asked although the boy wasn’t paying attention at anything specific, but he wasn’t the type to simply come to a halt for sightseeing.

“I… don’t know,” cautiously, he turned back and sauntered back to the original direction. Normally, one may just think the eyes were playing tricks, but when was the last time his eyes fooled him? It was as if someone was watching him at his blind spot, urging him to constantly turn his head. Could it be that there really was someone out there, hidden among the crowd, spying on him, following him, and scrutinizing his every little action? No matter how many times he looked back, there was not a single person who appeared to have been following him.

A very subtle yet irritating feeling, you know it’s there, or at least you think it’s there, but you can’t find it. It’s like trying to gaze at a fly. You see it at one moment, but then it’s gone the next second. Am I just being paranoid?

However, from a logical standpoint, there should no need for worrying. The military seemed to be ruling this island, so any criminal activity would be heavily monitored and dealt with. Neither a pirate nor a known criminal, he would still fall under the category of being under the protection of marines whose duty was to protect the law-abiding civilians from harm. His act of murder had been entirely out of self-defense, and not a single witness was even present in those past incidents.

Although… Scarlette, on the other hand, might be an issue. She would manslaughter indiscriminately, and technically he did give her the freedom to do just that as long as Rebecca wasn’t around to see the bloody act committed. And since they allied with that sort of person, things would get ugly if the marines were to get involved because that would affect him as well.

I hope no one died so far…

Well, that woman did say she was merely going to look for some clothes. Let’s just hope normal human activities –such as shopping- was all that she planned on doing today.

[Vio]

Leaving the dressmaker's store, Scarlette Grimm-Rosa wore a bright smile upon her face, practically skipping along the street in her new dress. Behind her trailed the red ribbon-thin scarf worn about her neck, while her scythe was carried in both hands as she bounced happily through the town. The tattered coat from before had been abandoned, the knives concealed inside it relocated to the garters upon her thighs, concealed under the layered skirt of her dress. Of course, no outfit was complete without an accompaniment of accessories, and so she had adorned the back of her head with a large white bow. Indeed, her new attire certainly embodied the gothic lolita style which she so adored, complimenting her slender figure without being so revealing and shameless as the clothes other young women liked to dress in.

That's so much better... Feeling as if a great burden had been lifted from her shoulders, as the spring in her step seemed to show, the grim thoughts of the girl from Jigokuchi were now painted with splashes of richest red. The need to do her duty had been rekindled in the absence of Pluto and Rebecca, not to mention the fact that she no longer carried any visible reminders of her struggle against Marianne. Though her flesh still bore scars of battles been and gone, such markings were out of sight and held no discomfort to remind her of difficulties faced. Any thoughts about what had happened were only for one reason, and one reason alone; to become stronger. Even Scarlette knew that strengthening oneself was not merely a matter of besting progressively tougher opponents, but of learning and correcting mistakes made during such attempts.

Battling Marianne had been difficult, especially when handicapped by injuries sustained during the previous fight against three other Dieu-le-Veut Pirates. And yet she had persevered, mostly through sheer tenacity, and overcome such unfavourable odds. Driven by a single objective, Miss Grimm-Rosa would have gladly given her life during that dance of death, but it was the need to become stronger that had allowed her to fight her way through it. Becoming stronger for her own sake, and more importantly for Rebecca's, was an absolute necessity. In fact, recent days had made the dark-haired damsel question her priorities, but she had managed to allocate them accordingly. First and foremost was the need to become stronger, the protection of Rebecca being paramount. Second came her need to serve out punishment to those who were most deserving of it. And third came the need to liberate the innocent from the prison world in which they lived.

Pluto's with Rebecca... Nobody around seems to have committed any noticeable sin... So that means... As twisted as her logic and morals were, they were still present, so one could not hope to fault the fickle femme when she decided upon her next course of action. This place was full of men and women in need of being freed from cages of flesh and bone. And the dutiful devil was ready to set herself to work. The city was comprised of numerous streets that intertwined, from sprawling squares to lengthy roads to tight alleys, the latter of which the woman in black began to meander down. Chocolate hues had located their first target, a balding middle-aged man of portly proportions, and thus she followed merrily in his wake as he waddled along.

"Oh? Well, this won't do," she muttered as she realised the narrow passage was far too cramped to use her scythe. How on Earth the fat man in the brown breeches had managed to squeeze himself through was beyond her, but such trivial things were or no concern. Rather, the inability to use such a cumbersome tool was what made Scarlette considered her options, instead opting to drop her scythe to the floor. The clattering of metal in the passageway caught the attention of her corpulent quarry, turning his head at just the right time to witness the murderous maiden lifting her skirt in order to reach one of the knives bound to her thigh. By the time she had done so, however, her prey was already on the floor for reasons unbeknownst to her.

"Huh?" Curious as to the cause of her target's collapse, the vicious vixen advanced towards the body with due haste, blade at the ready as she loomed over him and giggled girlishly. The blood about his nose was minor at best, especially when compared to the morbid power his attacker possessed. But alas, his fate was sealed as she plunged the knife deep into his chest. Usually one to aim for the neck, it was even a little strange to Scarlette that she had opted to aim for the heart. That said, it was hard for anyone to tell where this man's neck was beneath all that blubber, but a blow to the chest was a more certain way of reaching vital organs. On top of that, it reduced the risk of getting blood stains on her brand new dress, so it was the ultimate win-win situation for both parties as far as she was concerned.

"Hush now, sir. No need to make a sound! It'll all be over soon..." Stifling any attempt at screaming using her left hand, there was only one thing she hated about this method, and that was the painfully lengthy duration. As swift and as painless as possible was how she preferred to do things, but that was not always a possibility. Those who resisted often made it harder for themselves, while situations such as these were somewhat distressing for the deadly dame, sitting through the pain as their life ebbed away. It reminded her even more of her need to free the innocent folk, for pain like that was something experienced far too often by the average person. But if there was one person in the whole world who knew about pain more than anyone else, it was the Grimm-Rosa girl herself.

"Pain like this... Be glad it will go away..." Watching with a soft smile as her victim's struggle slowed to nothing, Scarlette finally pulled her hand from his mouth, fingers and palm stained with the blood that had been trickling from his nostrils. Opting to wipe it off on the sleeve of the dead man's shirt, rather than get her dress dirty, the gruesome girl pulled the knife free as she stood up. One look at it was enough to make her drop it, however, for any attempt at concealing it again was only going to make an unwanted mess of her garments. It was not exactly the hardest tool to find a replacement for, anyway, and she had another five in case they were needed.

Pain... So much pain... Taking up her scythe once more as she retreated back from whence she had come, the wicked reaper exited back onto the street and headed back for the centre of town, soon skipping merrily again after briefly considering something she thought to be important...

[BlacKitten]

A stuck-up voice called out to him from behind, “Yo! Long time no see, Pluto.” A white-haired man stood there almost proudly as he carried a giant scythe hanging diagonally behind his back with chains dangling from the handle’s end. Narrow eyes with yellow pupils glanced at the boy with a ravenous sensation. His presence was alarming for the violet-eyed adolescent who felt like an elephant-sized tiger had appeared on the street that whimsically wanted to rip out his organs on a whim.

Although he tried to speak, no words came out. Utterly speechless, his throat was plugged by the overwhelming wave of fear. As he stared worryingly at the man cladded in white, the sound of suppressed growling diverted his attention to the side. Up front the alleyway, there stood a dirtier-looking man with wild, unruly brown hair between two massive aggressive-looking bloodhounds.

I see… now it makes sense. He’s one of the trackers within the organization, codename: Cerberus. He must have led this scythe-user here whose codename is Berserker.

Rebecca traded glances between the two tough-looking individuals along with the pair of doggies. None of their appearances rang any bells in her head, but their presences were brimming with an intimidating vibe. Her eyes looked up towards her brother out of curiosity, “Do you know these two?” It was strange that one of them knew the boy’s name. Somehow, she had a feeling that her older brother had a history with these two before although she didn’t know when that might have happened.

Run! That was the first instinctive solution that came to his mind, and he would have done just that had his sister not been beside him at this very moment. For once, the situation would have been better if the girl was with Scarlette for the time being, but now, he had to deal with it some other way. Still, why was he being intimidated just from the sight of them? Truthfully, he knew very little about these two. What was there to be afraid of? They were presumably here to kill him along with his sister; that was all part of their mission.

“How long has it been, a month?” The Berserker spoke up, but his tone was clear that he didn’t care at all how long it had been since their previous encounter.

“A bit over three weeks,” he corrected him on the trivial matter. About twenty-four days had passed by since the night he and his sister departed from their home island. The pivoting point of his life happened then where his home was engulfed in flames, where the truth had been covered up from public eyes, and where he was presumably dead in the mind of others.

“Why… why are you two here?” the answer was dead obvious, but a serious obstacle would intervene with their plans.

His head tilted to the side, making room for a hand to raise up to grasp upon the metallic pole section of his scythe, “Do you really need to ask?”

“This entire island is heavily guarded by marines. You don’t seriously plan on getting away with whatever you have in mind, do you?” If there was any possible reason for these two to not kill them on sight, it would be the exposure of their existence to the marines.

An eyebrow was raised before the white-haired man laughed sardonically. It was as if a joke had just been told to him. “Listen…,” he spoke as if talking to a little naïve child, “Whether there’s a hundred ants or a thousand ants, all that changes is the number of times you have to stomp the ground to kill them all.”

“There are only two of you here. That’s not enough to eradicate that many marine soldiers,” he doubted that these two could be that strong.

“Enough talk about that,” the white-haired bloke changed the subject onto the main reason he approached the boy to being with, “You have a favor to return to me!”

“A favor?” The two of them didn’t exactly uphold a conversation long ago. No promises or deals were made, so what was this guy talking about?

“Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten. On that day, I’ve let you go on purpose. I didn’t kill you back then because you weren’t worth killing. I’ve been itching in wanting to know just how much stronger you have become since then,” without much of a warning, his readied hand drew out the scythe that was as long as he was tall. The momentum of drawing out that weapon was used immediately as the first initial attack; a downward swing cleaved through the air, casually aiming to split the boy’s vertically in half.

Despite leaping back to keep out of the weapon’s range, Pluto was hurled backwards by the abrupt release of slicing wind. With his arms crossed into an X, he guarded with his armory before crashing into a stone wall of a building.

“Pluto!” Rebecca called out in astonishment. In a blink of an eye, her brother was thrown back like a ragdoll.

No cracks or markings appeared on the surface of the wall from his impact. Pushing off the ground with his hands, he stood back up, brushing the dust of his vest. Come to think of it, it was thanks to the Berserker that he knew about the existence of launching the air as a projectile like that.

[Vio]

There was certainly no denying the sheer scale of the city whose streets she currently skipped through, Scarlette Grimm-Rosa finding a strange sense of solace from looking skyward at the towering blocks of building. As if Jreum Island was not large enough already, Ohoville itself seemed to have a large number of buildings with multiple stories, much like Amino Island. Such stacked structures were certain marvels of modern architecture, but for the psychotic siren who danced between them, such things were beyond her knowledge and understanding. A building was a building, a place to provide shelter when needed, nothing more and nothing less. But with one murder having already been committed by her own two hands, the blood lust within the girl's being was beginning to grow. One man liberated was not enough - it was never enough. But something was preventing her from turning her hunger into a merciless slaughter.

Pluto doesn't want me to kill in front of Rebecca, so... If I kill out of sight, then there's no chance she'll see! Twisted logic, once again, but it was logic all the same. Indeed, acts of murder committed out of sight of the general populace could go unnoticed for some time afterwards, even by the townsfolk. So, Scarlette was onto something. Away from the innocent young girl whose one true purpose was yet to be made clear, the sinister scythe-wielder could go about her duties without much worry of being discovered. Of course, she failed to register the fact that the Marines here could soon be on her case if they found any evidence, the boundaries of real world law so severely blurred in this chocolate eyes of hers. Even as she hopped along like an excited schoolgirl through the town, catching the eyes of many as she bounded past them, she carefully sought out her next target. An exposed passer-by on the open streets would normally have been a prime target for sudden decapitation, but this was a different scenario. Hidden in the shadows, away from prying eyes; that would be the best place to strike.

And she soon found it.

Around the corner she turned, following a small side street that curved gently into a fork, the right-hand route much narrower than the left. Opting for the tighter channel on a whim, it was not long before Miss Grimm-Rosa came across a slight obstruction on her chosen path. Said obstacle took the form of two Marines, both of lower rank, who were currently on patrol. At first, both had their backs turned to the fast approaching femme, but the sound of her shoes clipping the paves soon drew in their attention. Both turned, revealing their young and inexperienced visages, neither appearing more than a couple of decades old. Clean-shaven and curious, the two men eyed the approaching girl and the weapon she carried so nonchalantly over her shoulder. And in return, the sun's rays caught her eyes, revealing the red in them as she smiled cheerily though her thin black lips.

"Excuse me, miss! I'm going to have to ask you to cover the blade of your scythe," said the first man, his short brown hair protruding ever-so-slightly from beneath his cap. With one palm raised in a gesture that Scarlette assumed meant for her to slow and stop, she did just that, coming to a somewhat bouncy halt just a yard away from the young troopers. Her smile soon faded to a curious frown, the dark-haired damsel's head tilting a little to emphasize her silent query, but she said not a word. "In the interest of safety, for both the public and yourself, any and all blades or potentially harmful equipment must be appropriately protected by a sheathe or wrapping of some sort. Farming tools - like your scythe - are included, so-"

"No," Scarlette interrupted. And with her interruption came her first attack, a wild swing of her sickle in an attempt to cut down both men in one swing. She cared not about the uniforms they wore, the length of time they had lived for or had yet to live, for her mind was set on liberating them. Inexperienced as they were, it was no surprise that the first man was struck quite cleanly by the steely fang, this particular street wide enough for her to manage such an attack without fear of the blade catching on the walls of surrounding structures. Still, the blow drew blood. And lots of it, too. Slicing a crucial artery tended to cause rapid and extensive blood loss, as the girl from Jigokuchi was at least slightly aware of, and that was what had made her aim for the collar. Unable to scream, the speaker quickly fell to his knees, face white with shock as crimson cascaded from the gash in his flesh and stained his uniform. His company, however, barely reacted at first. The look on his face, too, expressed cold shock at what had just happened.

"Jeff!? You- You... Wait. Wh- What are you doing?" The second Marine, his fear betraying his honour as a soldier of the World Navy, eased backwards as he realised the reddened hues staring right at him. Her scythe barely even stained with carmine, having cut a lot more cleanly now that she had actually tended to its needs, the vicious vixen now set her sights upon her next target. The first would soon pass out from blood loss, if he had not done so already, and death's embrace would soon free him from the prison they were all bound to. That gave her enough time to liberate the second of the two seamen, who was now on the floor and cowering with sword shaking in his hands. Resistance was futile, to be sure, and it only took another step forward for the fallen fellow to completely abandoned his weapon.

"No... No...! I- I'm sorry! Pl- Please! Don't kill me! H- Have mercy..." Begging for mercy was probably the last thing you would expect from what was supposed to be a disciplined and well-drilled officer of the law, but that was exactly what was coming from the trembling lips of the man as he sat there. Tears streamed down his face, the shadow of Miss Grimm-Rosa now looming over him, and he forced his eyes shut in anticipation of the worst. However, the devilish dame was currently locked in thought, questioning this young man's desire to remain imprisoned.

Hmm... Why does he insist on clinging? Thinking through every little possibility that came to mind, none of which made any sense in the real world, Scarlette eventually just gave it up as a bad job. If he was so intent on living in this miserable world, then she would allow him that much. Death, and with it liberation, would come to him soon enough. For now, there were surely others more willing to accept their fate at the hands of this ravenous reaper? Yes, that had to be the case. Without a word, simply because she had nothing important to say, she shouldered her weapon and started to skip away. Unknowingly, she was headed in the direction of Pluto, Rebecca, and their unwanted company...

[BlacKitten]

The threesome –a man and his two dogs- hadn’t made a single step away from their spot; the lax nature of their posture revealed their lack of interest in participating in this manhunt. After tracking down the target through the boy’s scent, his end of the bargain was done. Normally, the unruly haired man would go in for the kill after locating his prey, but if he tried so much as to help the Berserker, then that scythe might very well end his life instead. That loose-cannon-of-a-fighter stubbornly wanted a one-on-one duel against the child with distinct violet eyes, refusing any sort of outside assistance. Apparently, the scythe-wielder saw something special in the boy, but so far, he wasn’t even mildly impressed in how Pluto handled that first swing. The gap between their levels of experience was painfully obvious. Despite giving that child three weeks of time on an island to train against martial artists, the final conclusion of this fight was already apparent. This was all such a waste of time. Pluto should have been eliminated a long time ago, but with the Berserker getting in the way, it couldn’t be helped.

“Mmm…,” the sharp eyes of the man deviated off after his two bloodhounds grew a bit alert. A tremendous odor lingered in the air; a skirmish seemed to be occurring elsewhere. The scent of blood was strong. So strong, that the perfume clearly revealed a myriad of blood from different people, all in which mingled together. Fresh blood spilled, but the assaulter smelled like a murderer. To an extent, it even smelled like the Berserker himself.

In a hurried walking pace, the white-haired, grinning man ignored the little girl completely; his eyes lusted only for the latent strength hidden inside his chosen prey. Civilians cleared off the streets after briefly witnessing the public fight that was on the verge of breaking out. The tall, muscular-build of a man frightened many of them away with that heavy-looking weapon resting on his shoulder.

Based on his previous encounter against this violent weapon user, Pluto couldn’t already make the distinction between him and Scarlette whom he briefly fought at Amino Island. Similar weapons yet different styles, Scarlette uses her weapon in a continuous, flowing manner, conserving her momentum while occasionally using indirect means of attacking. The Berserker fights just like… well… a berserker, heavy, brute swings, instinctive reactions, overwhelmingly destructive force, choosing the more direct approach.

No need to let his opponent in making the first move; Pluto sprung forth to close in the distance with his arms positioned loosely in a guarding form. Staying low to the ground, he slipped past the scythe and into punching range; at this distance, the crescent blade wouldn’t be able to get him. Placing his entire body weight behind his next explosive burst, he jolted out a palm to strike the man at the core, “Pulse!” The penetrating force made contact, but the despite the successful hit, his eyes could only gawk incredulously. It felt like he just slammed his hand against the wall of a building; his opponent did budge, standing there, purposely taking the blow as if to prove a point.

What is his body made of? The core of his body –the abdomens- is completely shielded by a wall of muscle. Even Laurens, who wore metallic armor over his body, at least staggered a bit. I see… he must have exhaled and tensed up his core muscles at the last moment.

The wrist of his attacking hand was grasped upon by the enemy’s free hand. Suddenly, he was being reeled in as his upper body lurched forward with his foe taking a half-step back. While trying to adjust his footing to maintain his balance, a sudden blunt force struck him in the abdomen from below. In that instant, a knee struck him with enough force to heave his weight off the ground by a few inches. Improvising with his disadvantageous posture, Pluto pressed his free hand against the opponent’s knee, pushing against it to give himself a boost to flip himself midair. One leg bent as the other extended, his body wheeled forth, slamming the heel of his boot straight down for an axe kick.

A swift strike slammed down against the man’s shoulder, but not a single sign of pain and discomfort appeared on his face. The Berserker shrugged the foot off before lifting then swinging his scythe in the attempt to slice the boy who couldn’t run away while in midair.

Defending himself against the blade arcing diagonally over him, Pluto grabbed onto the pole-section of the weapon for some sense of support. With the protective armor on his forearm, he could keep the sharp edge in place, however, the scythe had him hooked, trapping him in the inner corner of the blade and the handle. Like a giant hammer, the overhead swing forcefully slammed him into the ground with the tip of the blade piercing into the cement. The boy was trapped beneath the metallic shaft that ran across his ribs. His opponent dropped down during the swing, squatting low, to keep the shaft of his weapon parallel to the ground.

He got me...

[Vio]

Wandering through the streets of Jreum's town, it was not too long before Scarlette Grimm-Rosa realised that something was unusual. At first, such strange occurrences passed her by without much care, but eventually the panic on the faces of the people darting past her was enough to make her wonder what was happening. Several ground to a halt before her, eyes wide with fright as they analysed the scythe held over her shoulder before making a swift change of direction. But no matter which way they ran, all seemed to be moving in the same general direction. Oddly enough, the reaper woman was used to this behaviour. She understood what caused it, even if she did not agree with it, but once more it was not her own presence that caused such disruption among the populace. Both of her victims of the day had fallen out of the way of the public eye, and the sight of death alone very rarely generated such panic.

Somebody else is... liberating people? Intrigued by the possibilities of an individual who shared similar ideals, the sinister siren's steady skipping seemed to accelerate into something more akin to a sprint. Never before had she ever encountered anybody who shared her goal, save for her late father, and the prospect of additional strength to her own cause was rather enticing. There was always the concept of strength in numbers, and strength was something she needed to gain if she wanted to fulfill her chosen purpose. But beneath her curiosity was another feeling. Concern. If this fellow liberator of the innocent came across Rebecca, would they be able to identify that she had a potentially greater purpose? Or would they try to liberate her, too? That very thought only served to hasten the horrific heroine's pace, scythe slipping from her shoulder and bouncing on the ground behind her as she ran.

"PLUTO!!"

Rebecca!? The familiar high scream of a young girl's voice reaching her ears, just a single shout was enough to drown Miss Grimm-Rosa's curiosity and replace it entirely with a frenzied and uncertain instinct. It was something utterly alien to her, but at the same time felt natural and familiar. There was no explaining it, save for the strange heat that seemed to boil her blood and give her one final burst of speed as she rounded the final corner. What lay before her was an unusual sight to behold, but the time she would normally have taken to analyse the situation to some degree was stripped from her as she raced forwards, the sunlight painting her eyes a bloody red. Protecting Rebecca was a high priority, and with it came a need to protect the youth whose own power outmatched hers. Of all the people to see pinned to the ground, Pluto was not the most likely candidate, but that was exactly the case.

"Grève Ciel!" Darting towards the mysterious monstrosity whose own weapon currently pressed down upon the dark-haired boy's body, Scarlette twisted her body and took a hold of her trailing scythe with both hands. Calling out the name she had so rightfully given to the attack she was about to unleash, the red-eyed reaper crouched low with one step before uncoiling her legs like springs and sending her skyward, scythe arcing up and around in front of her as she did so. But her target, the white-haired warrior, was well ahead of the game. As surprised as he seemed to be when confronted with yet another scythe-wielder, there was no denying the fact that he knew what he was doing. Effortlessly prying his own weapon free from the ground as he stepped back to avoid her own swing, it was the girl from Jigokuchi who found herself in a far more compromising position.

"Oi! This fight's between me and him!" With unrelenting force, the Berserker swung his sickle towards the airborne angel of death, the target unable to react in time as the weapon crashed into her midriff. A solid metal shaft, most unusual when compared to her own gear's reinforced wooden pole, struck clean against her and sent her tumbling a good few yards through the air before landing on the hard ground with a thump. The wind knocked out of her by the force of the impact, Scarlette struggled to right herself as she lay face down upon the cold, hard paves, body attempting to force fresh air into her stilled lungs. Luck would have it that such a blow, despite the power behind it, was not intended to be fatal. Indeed, she had been stricken with the blade pointing away from her, but even then it had been enough to temporarily disable her.

"Wait your turn... Hey, Pluto! This your girlfriend? And here I thought you weren't the romantic type!" His voice cocky and mocking, displaying an almost worrying confidence to all those who heard it, it was impossible to believe that this individual was any less powerful than the boy in black. In truth, he practically radiated strength, though it was impossible to accurately discern how much of it was mere bravado. Her scythe having been knocked from her hands in the process of the attack, Scarlette found herself limited in her choice of weaponry as she finally regained her breath and forced herself to her feet. The presence of Rebecca, however, made things more difficult. Under no circumstances was Miss Grimm-Rosa going to break her promise and commit murder in front of those innocent violet eyes. Those same eyes met her own chocolate hues briefly, the little girl frozen to the spot in fear, knowing that she was powerless against such opposition.

"Huh? Tenacious, aren't you? Well, if you want to play, too..." The Berserker turning his back to her with a shrug of his broad shoulders, the might man placed two fingers between his lips and whistled a shrill whistle. In an instant, before the wicked woman could even move for her scythe, something came bounding from the shadows. Two somethings, to be exact. Larger than any wolf, easily standing more than four feet at their shoulders, a pair of dark dogs came barreling from the nearby alley and raced towards her. Barking and snarling viciously, the behemoth bloodhounds were stopped just half a yard short of their quarry, baring fangs capable ripping a man apart with horrific ease. Indeed, even Scarlette herself had frozen in fear, one born of her desire to protect that which she now held dear to her. Being ravaged by a pair of monstrous mutts was not on her list of things to do today, and it was only the sturdy chains that linked the two beasts to their mysterious master that kept that from becoming a reality.

"Don't do that..." A low growl coming from the man called 'Cerberus' as he walked from the shade of the alley and into the open, effortlessly holding back the strength of his two dogs with little more than the power of one hand the figure cast a wary glance at his supposed comrade before turning his attentions to the woman before him. A hairy example of a man, his appearance was wild and scruffy with yellowed teeth; a drastic difference to the silky, clean coats of his pets and their pure white fangs. Save for the baggy trousers he wore and the heavy leather boots, he wore no other sign of clothing upon his body, revealing disgustingly coarse body hair and exposing a bare and muscular chest. "So, girl... Who exactly are you...?"

"My name... is Scarlette Grimm-Rosa..."

SPOILER: Click to show

Alright, then! Let's get this party started!

Rebecca (00ffff)
Berserker (ff0000)
Cerberus (000055)

[BlacKitten]

Arms pushed against the shaft in the upwards direction in attempt to gain some space to slip the rest of the body out. It wasn’t simply the strength of his foe; the mere weight of the weapon made its fair contribution into pinning him down. Just like last time when up against the man, he was overpowered by the overwhelming strength and athleticism as well as being tossed around like a rag doll with each and every received blow being absorbed like a sponge. There was still a way to escape, a very easy way, but his sister was there. He couldn’t let her witness him transform into a bat. But then again… was the Berserker an opponent he could defeat without his powers?

Out from the blue, a third party member intervened by aiming her scythe at the oppressor. While the white-haired bloke stepped out of the attack’s reach, his own scythe slammed the girl with the metal shaft, hurling her away. Despite the one-sidedness, Pluto took the opportunity to somersault backwards to his feet and then leaping back for safe measures of staying a cautious range from his foe. “No. She’s just an ally and a murderer just like you,” he replied calmly at the provocative statement.

From a single whistle, the Cerberus stepped out like a dog responding to its owner. From the looks of it, Scarlette will be preoccupied by the canines whose powers have yet to be revealed. As troublesome as the threesome appeared, the Berserker remained as the biggest threat to him. Now that it was two on two, the numbers were evened. As long as the trio of wild beasts remained distracted by the older girl, Pluto can focus his attention solely on his opponent. However, there was still the matter of his little sister to attend to. The little one stood safely from either of the two conflicts, but she wasn’t running away. Her worried eyes watched as chaos slowly stirred.

A large wave of clouds blocked out the sunlight as it passed across the sky, casting a dark shadow beneath the island for the time being. Grabbing onto the chains, the white-haired warrior flailed his scythe in circles at violent speeds that would cause unimaginable damage if contact were to be made. “Now then,” that smirk of sheer joy came back onto his face as his eyes remained fixated on his escaped little prey, “Let’s have some fun!” With a forward fling of his arm, the extended weapon shot out into the air, and through the guiding tug to the side, the scythe arced midair, swinging at an angle at the raven-haired boy.

Unable to properly calculate the length of reach, Pluto ducked, lying on his stomach on the paved street as the blade blitzed past him from above. His eyes gingerly glared at the hands controlling the weapon, and through quick analysis, he predicted the trajectory of the scythe that arced up into the air before dropping straight down above him. Clambering about, the boy swiftly somersaulted away from being at the receiving end of the guillotine. The tip of the crescent blade pierced the cement with a clang. Rolling onto his feet and then standing, eyes kept lingering towards the carefree opponent who was merely toying with him.

In a single tug, the Berserker reeled his scythe back to his hands while simultaneously sprinting at the agile black silhouette as if trying to run the kid over. Wielding that colossal weapon with ease, the weapon user rapidly swung the scythe with great force, each swing causing the sliced air to whistle as the blade whooshed by. A diagonal swing, then a horizontal swing, and then a thrust, the man laughed manically as his ravenous eyes lust for blood to spill out from the elusive child that kept on dodging and slipping out of his onslaught of devastating blows. Strength, speed, and experience, this guy had it all as well as being a fighter with no apparent weakness to could be exploited in an amateur.

Weaving his body with the opposing attacks, Pluto was on the defensive with his arms raised, ready to guard from any unexpected surprises. All his legs could do was step back after each ridiculously highly accelerated swing. If any one of those swings made contact, that would be the end of him. In the meantime, there was no opening for him to rush in. It was like watching the blades of a blender spin like a propeller as anything that gets caught inside would be instantly shredded into mincemeat.

People would have rhythms in their fighting style, but this guy…, the beat, tempo, and frequency… it’s all chaotic and wild. There’s nothing for me to predict.

“Arugh!” Sent hurling across a vast distance, his arms crossed into an X, blocking the projected slice of air from splitting him in half.

“Pluto!” Rebecca stood right behind her brother with her hands open and ready to catch him. The body collided into her; both of them tumbled across the ground, rolling out of control. The displaced air dissipated in the meantime.

Crawling back up, the older one kept his eye on his foe while panting slightly for air. “Go! Run away! The further you’re away from here, the safer you’ll be.”

[Vio]

"Scarlette...? Never heard of you..." There was a distinct vocal quirk of this character who now opposed Scarlette Grimm-Rosa, and that was the peculiar growling that seemed to roll off his tongue at the end of each statement, defining the few words he spoke in comparison to his slightly more talkative comrade. But despite their differences, these two men were most definitely on the same side, even if they did not always appear to see eye to eye. The reaper's fight was now with this man, however, and at first he seemed reluctant to make any moves. It was almost as if he was assessing her, sizing up her strength in preparation for the fight ahead, all the meanwhile holding back his dogs whose incessant snarling was starting to get on the girl's nerves. The beasts seemed a lot more eager to engage in bloodshed than their master, though such a character was utterly impossible to read for a woman so incapable of understanding others. Human nature was a trivial thing that eluded her, only creeping into her thoughts every once in a while, and now was not such an occasion.

"It doesn't matter whether you know who I am or not," Scarlette called in response, taking the opportunity to speak between the low and sharp barks of the beasts before her, raising both arms into the air and clenching her fists. "What matters is this. I can't let you harm those two - they're important - and if I have to go through you to get to him...

"Then so be it!" In a sharp and swift motion, the wicked woman brought down both arms like hammers upon the snarling snouts of the two dogs, clenched fists striking hard against vulnerable noses despite the daunting display of teeth. Deep and fearsome growls and barks were quickly replaced with high pitched squeals of pain and surprise as the two massive monstrosities lept back from their assailant, backing away by a few yards before resuming their snarls, this time keeping their muzzles low to the ground. However, where the canines showed cowardice, their commander showed aggravation. More than that, even, for his grizzly visage now resembled that of a raging bear. Yellow teeth bared into a snarl far more fearsome that those given off by the hounds, his face was wrinkled in wrathful desire, eyes wide with untamed force as he glared at the woman before him; the woman who had been so bold as to strike his beloved bloodhounds.

"HOW DARE YOU!!" One hairy hand loosing the two chains that bound his beasts to him, what followed in that split second was an action rather uncharacteristic of any normal man. Stepping forwards and breaking into an aggressive sprint was hardly an accurate description of Cerberus' actions, for instead of barreling forth upon hind legs he dropped to all fours, fingers braced and splayed like claws.

"Hm? All bark... And no bite?" Smirking slyly at her own comment, unaware of just how provocative such a statement was to her opponent, Scarlette did not falter in the least bit at this display of animalistic aggression. In fact, quite the opposite. Tauntingly, she stepped forwards, increasing the distance between herself and her scythe. There was a reason for this, one which she had so far kept a secret from the likes of Pluto and Rebecca. Indeed, it was unlikely the latter of the two understood the kind of power she had, but the former most definitely did. That knowledge had been disclosed as part of their unusual agreement, but recent days had called for a new way to fight. One that did not require blades nor bloody wounds, nor the creation of curious creatures called Homunculi. This was an entirely new way to fight, one that she had discovered entirely by accident.

"Oi! That's my line!" An almost mocking shout out from the Berserker, whose last attack had managed to send the violet-eyed boy crashing into his younger sister, only served to add fuel to the fire. With a mighty rumbling roar, the wild man raced forwards - his canines cowering behind him - and threw himself at the raven-haired reaper. Perfect. Drawing back her right hand, parting her legs for stability, Scarlette spread out her fingers to mimic the clawed hands of her opposition. Seeping from her skin came a coiling red mist, slithering down her arm and enveloping the entirety of her hand in a luminous crimson aura. Once more, she drew upon the power of the Tane Tane no Mi, but this time was rather different from previous uses.

"I'll say this once, and only once," she hissed, chocolate hues flashing a dull red as she quickly caught a glimpse of the white-haired warrior moving towards her companions. Clawed hands bore down upon her, her own adversary clearly bristling with murderous intent, but it was her own hand that held the necessary power. In a single, fluid motion she stretched out her fingers - the aura pulsing in response - before wrapping them into a tightly bound fist. And with the formation of the fist came something so much more unusual, even by the standards of her Devil Fruit abilities. The lose and fluid energies that wrapped about her bare limbs seemed to contract, tightening themselves against the skin of her hand and forming a translucent gelatinous membrane of shimmering bloody essence. And then she threw a punch, gritting her teeth in preparation for what was about to happen.

"Stay away from Rebecca!" Barely managing to evade Cerberus' own swipe as she twisted her body, it was perhaps a mixture of her own luck and her target's surprise that allowed for her own fist to strike true against his stomach. Into bare flesh her arm jabbed, the strange redness that surrounded it shielding her own hand from the body of her opponent, but doing something entirely incomprehensible. Rippling like water disturbed by a pebble, the aura quite literally resisted her own attempts at plunging her hand into his stomach for what felt like several seconds, the pressure growing more and more intense until something had to give. And that something was the airborne enemy. Though he felt no pain from being struck in the stomach, he was about to feel the pain of colliding with something, the essence that sheathed Scarlette's hand rupturing and casting out a forceful ripple of red through the air around her.

This is going to hurt me a lot more than it hurts you... As the energy exploded outwards, the thoughtful femme's arm was pushed away from the impact point, a surge of pain travelling through her own flesh and striking her as if she had just been punched in her own stomach with great force. Meanwhile, Cerberus too flew away from the point of impact, hurtling through the air and into an uncontrollable spin generated from his own momentum. He flew several yards through the air, eventually coming to a halt as his coarsely haired physique collided with the body of the Berserker. Both men, caught completely unawares by the sudden events, found themselves lying on the ground before hurriedly clambering to their feet again...

SPOILER: Click to show

Behold! The first use of Hypertension!

[BlacKitten]

With what little time he had before his opponent initialized the next engagement, Pluto closed his eyes shut, calming himself down before weighing his choices how tackling the situation at hand. At the current rate of pace, the chance of winning appeared slim as long as he reserved himself to hide his own powers from the eyes of his little sister. Despite trying to suppress his fears, his heart pumped faster at a higher beat.

Eyes reopened towards reality. “Thanks,” his words softly spoken out to the little one behind her who cushioned him. He knew she could have evaded it, but the youngling chose to support his back even if it meant absorbing some of the force. A gentle touch laid upon his shoulder as a whispering voice of concern flowed in his ears from behind, “You’re holding back, aren’t you? Am I… a burden to you?” Those words struck him at his core like a jolt of lightning rushing straight towards the truth. Not wanting to be harsh, but she was the reason that he was holding back.

All of a sudden, the approaching white-haired man got knocked into by Cerberus. The boy’s mouths slightly opened, dumbfounded by what just happened. Immediately shifting his glance at Scarlette, he desperately wanted to know what she had just done. There was no way that she gained some super human strength under such a short amount of time; it had to be some sort of special ability. For a brief split second, he caught sight of the fading vestige of red. Her Devil Fruit power? But it can’t be, there were no homunculi summoned yet. There did appear to be a huge backlash from whatever his ally had done which was to be expected if her opponent was hurled away with that much power.

Since when… - Had she always been able to do that?

“Scarlette…,” the violet-eyed girl muttered out her name, overhearing the last few words prior to the assault. That woman with the scythe wanted to protect her just like Pluto.

A hand clutched the shirtless, unruly man by the neck, heaving him off the ground. The Berserker had a vengeful grin on his face that stared murderously at his partner. “Oi! Don’t go on losing to a girl. I’ll kill you myself if you do,” his threatening words spilled out its temperament towards the act of failure. That being said, the Cerberus may not have been the strongest of members, but his caliber was enough to deal with any simpleton of a fighter easily. To be blasted away like that, what trickery did that girl use? From the looks of it, she got affected by the recoil of her own attack. “Tch!” He tossed his ally into the ground at a few meters away from him, ignoring his very existence as his eyes were set towards the siblings up ahead of him. Crescent blade heaved into the air before striking down like a hammer, projecting a sudden gush of wind that sliced along the path towards the pair of sitting ducks, leaving a trace of crevice on the street.

Sluggishly standing up to his feet, Pluto raised his arms in defense once more, but then his eyes widened in shock. His sister was already ahead of him, standing in front with her arms wide apart as if ready to sacrifice herself. “You idiot!” He cried out in horror. There was such little time to think; there were no choices left!

The wind sliced across at where they once stood, dispersing when it flew off too far. Just then, the Berserker completely lost sight of the two. His yellow eyes shifted left and right, seeing no trace in where those siblings vanished off to. His attack should have sliced them in halves, not completely vaporize every cell in their bodies. What just happened?

“Tsk!” Pluto clenched his teeth while standing at the edge of a rooftop. Rebecca blinked at the sudden change of scenery with her eyes glaring at the cloudy sky above. It took her awhile to realize that she was in her brother’s arms, but then, she blinked once more. Everything about him appeared the same, except one feature that was hard to miss.

“EH?” A startled tone erupted, “Plu-… y-you have wings! Huh?” They must have dashed up here at the last split second through flight. Was this a dream? None of this seemed possible.

“Ho…,” The maniac finally spotted his prey at a completely different location, “He’s… fast.” To be able to relocate one’s location while having to rescue another person under that condition, it would seem his chosen target had grown stronger indeed. By transforming only his wings specifically, his foe had demonstrated a high delicate level of control over his own Zoan-class powers.

“Damn you, Berserker,” Pluto glared at the man with a disgruntled look. Being pushed to this extent so easily, he was forced to reveal the secret in the girl’s eyes.