Mission 90: Fantom of the Fountain

[Flame]

Mission #90
You've been set up! Framed for stealing from a rich noble person! Avoid the Marines and most of the rich civilians on the Island you are at that are aligned with them and get to the bottom of the mystery.

---

Like the curtains before him, another curtain rolled down the front of his face. In blanket-like fashion his eyelid's weighed down by boredom were closing. As if trying to avoid the ever present fate of falling asleep the boy tried to stretch out his legs as he sat a little scrunched up in his chair. Trying to make room the feeling of pressure on his elbows alerted him that he was encroaching on the personal space of the people next to him. Bleh ... I really should not keep doing this He pulled his arms in once again scrunching himself together, soreness in his muscles from being too still began acting up once more. "Ughhh" Kano groaned only to gain a loud shushing from the people next to her. Yep, this was why he hated going to the theater.

When he had landed on the Fountain, he had immediately found that the only show going on at the moment was a play. The majority of the people around him were noblemen and in general people who seemed to be much richer than he was. Though there were some less rich people everyone there seemed to be in a better spot than he. Most of them snubbed their nose at him, all in all it was a kind of annoying place. But Kano took it in stride, plays were supposed to be enjoyable so he gladly bought himself a ticket with what little money he had on him and found himself seated here. Between two people who seemed to think him as an insufferable nuisance. Perhaps he should try to enjoy the play.

That being said, he was not enjoying the play, it was a very uneventful piece. Lots of conversation with complicated words that he really could not piece together. Letting out a soft yawn he was thankfully not chided for that as well. The issue was as he yawned he stretched his arms out atop his body which earned him a tap on the shoulder and then a soft scolding from the couple behind him. No one seemed to particularly want him there, even if he felt uncomfortable it seemed most of them thought him to be disrespectful. And while he was, perhaps some of the resentment was a little over done. Kano sighed before standing up and trying to push his way out of the aisle. For now he figured he would go to the bathroom, bide some time there. It would give him a chance to get out of the way and stretch himself out a little. So after a few moments of annoyed viewers and nobles Kano found himself walking through the outer ring of the Fountain.

Whistling as he walked Kano found the emptiness of this area outside the main stage rather relaxing. With his long arms and legs now fully outstretched he found himself rather enjoying himself. Temptation asked of him to go take a nice enjoyable run around the ring but he thought better of it. Besides he did actually have to go to the restroom. As he finally came upon one he entered it, going to a stall he plopped himself with a great smile upon the toilet. He would take his time, here he could relax, stretch his legs, and enjoy a nice, wholesome, dump. One of the few true pleasantries he could enjoy at the Fountain given its niceties. A few moments later Kano stood up, quite refreshed, his lower body feeling that emptiness that felt so nice like a pressure had been lifted from him. After cleaning his ass and then washing his hands Kano nodded to himself and readied himself to re-enter the main theater.

Pushing open the door he was met by the sight of two ushers, they stood before the bathroom with hardened looks on their faces. "You are free to use it now." Kano said with a smile stepping forward. Their faces in his mind could only mean one thing, they had to go, really badly. As he began to step past them, the two came together blocking his way. "Sir, you are going to have to come with us." They said in unison before leading Kano away. Obediently he followed along asking questions as he did wondering where they were taking him. Before long he found himself stuck, in a room, with one door which was promptly locked on him.

Kano grabbed at the door shaking it a little, jiggling it, but it did not budge. His fist knocked on the door twice as he yelled out. "Wait, what did I do!?!" Genuinely confusion was in his voice.

"Don't play dumb, we know you stole from Madam Ash." Came the straight answer. "Oh ...." Kano said. Wait what? He had not stolen from anyone? His eyes widened, what exactly was happening here, and who the hell was Madam Ash!?!?!?

"Don't worry, the marines are coming to pick you up." The voice of the guard crossed the door once again.

[odango]

It’s not quite accurate with the book but I still quite enjoy the subtle emotion that the actors portray… yet I think the main heroine is a little tense. Perhaps that’s why the flow of the play is a little slow.

There she sat in all her marine soldier glory. Dressed as usual, in her marine uniform, she was actually on her way to Toroa. It was good she got to go home. Even if she was not going to receive a warm welcome, the hazel eyed brunette still wished to see how her little sister looked after three years. Tsubaki had left for the marines when Yuki was only four years old. The nineteen year old marine figured her little step-sister would have grown a lot bigger by the time she got to see her.

The reason she was at the theater was because of the courtesy of her transport. She was on a small ship and the man operating it knew one of the actors. He wished to catch up with his old friend, since they had spotted the huge vessel and he told Tsubaki it would take till the evening. So, she decided to use her time to watch a play. It had also been some time since she had sat in a theatre. Somehow, she could relate to the people on stage. Being a pianist part of her life, the girl knew what it felt like being up there. The audience might vary now and then, but the same feeling remained. It was a rush. There was always a certain amount of stress that came with it and either the artist overcame it and used it as a boost or fell under it was never certain. It was funny, really. The idea that you suddenly can forget how to walk or speak only because you’re higher up and a lot of people happen to be watching you.

Yet, it seemed fate would not have her see the play through to the end. The busty teen was sitting at one of the front rows at the very left side. This perhaps made it easier to approach her, so it was not surprising that one of the ushers could easily walk over to her. It was not long before a young man approached her, leaned down a little right next to the five foot and nine inch tall girl and then proceeded to speak in a quiet whisper. ’Excuse me, marine-san. There has been an unusual occurrence and if you would be so kind, could you please come with me? the tall, quite lanky man didn’t even wait for an answer. He straightened up, leaving behind a scent of rather smart-priced cologne and soon turned to walk away again.

The young Taighana couldn’t help but let out a heavy sigh, which earned her a questionable look from the madam on her right. Do I have to change course? Perhaps that man is already done and we’re leaving already? It’s a shame. I wished to see how they would reenact the flower scene from the book. Ah well… I guess this uniform comes with a curse called unpredictability.

Standing up and quickly slipping out of the row, she headed after the usher. Soon, she stepped out of the theatre hall. The usher, a rather well-fed woman in about her fourties, a smaller, grey-haired man and a couple more ushers were waiting outside.

Tsubaki closed the door behind her, her over-sized shirt bouncing a little from the motion. She drew a hand through the front of her waist-long brown hair and then looked at the bunch. ”Right, what seems to be the problem?” She asked.

…

The door of the room Kano would be staying in would give a ‘click’ sound and soon the nineteen year old, hazel eyed girl would enter it. After that, the door would make a similar locking sound again. Her Ryuuran (katana) at her waist and the holster of needles attached to her other leg, she took a few steps forward before eyeing the boy.

”Good day, I’m Tsubaki Taighana. I’m sorry to inform that you’re accused of theft. It is suspected you have stolen a quite expensive family heirloom from Madamme Ash. I have to also tell you if you give it back now without difficult behavior, the imprisonment time you get could be shorter than in the usual cases.” she explained, glancing at the blonde, red eyed boy. He was taller than her, yet he looked young as well. Why had he gotten himself into this mess in the first place? Perhaps he wouldn’t want to waste his and her time and the two could get this over with quite quickly.

”Oh, right! I almost forgot! How would you like to write down your confession?”

[Flame]

Sitting in the empty room Kano sighed a little. Honestly he could not understand why all this crazy kind of stuff happened to him. In many ways he was oblivious to how these situations sprung up around him many times at least somewhat due to his own doings. At least for the moment given the comfort of spreading his legs and stretching out all his limbs Kano took that minor win. Now all he had to do was get out of here, there were a few options. Kano was fairly sure that he could simply blow his way out of the room and the temptation was really there for him to do so. He was in the end a man of impulse rarely thinking of the consequences of his actions. Or perhaps simply unconcerned with them. But this time he did not, not wanting to start something crazy on this vessel he instead sat there waiting for someone to enter the room.

That person who entered Kano decided would be his way out. Without any knowledge of his abilities or strength Kano was confident that he could easily overpower anyone who entered the room. Then with them on the inside he'd easily be able to make it out without much issue. With an absolute confidence in the plan Kano waited patiently. With nothing to do his arms and legs flapped about recklessly as he tried to amuse himself. The empty room really was not helping his temperament. Taking a deep breath he tried to calm himself, he was dying of boredom from the inactivity of just sitting in this room with just two chairs and a table.

After many minutes of unending boredom Kano found himself with his eyelids sagging and a sleepiness came about him. It was finally then that he heard that tell-tale click informing him that someone was entering the room. Scrambling a little he came to attention, straightening his back he sat up in the chair turning his head to face the door. From it sprung a girl, quickly sizing her up he guessed she was a bit shorter than he was. At her side was a sword and given her apparel it was obvious that she was the marine who had come for him. Immediately she began to address him talking to him about his options. Not that Kano really cared, he did pick up that her name was Tsubaki, but that was all that he did. Instead he was already guessing that she was a rather new recruit, assuming that it would not be all too difficult for him to overpower her.

For a moment Kano almost felt bad about what he was going to do. But he easily threw out such thoughts, he never did really worry about the consequences of his actions anyways. As she paused slightly before talking again Kano jumped out of his seat and began walking over to her. There would be no stopping him now, with a smile on his face and his hands behind his back he began to talk. "Confession? What confession? Oh you really should not worry about such things Tsubaki-chan." Kano added the '-chan' though the girl before him was likely the same age as himself. Behind his back his hands flexed a little as in his mind he was choosing which ability to use. A bottle rocket would probably be the most dangerous, or perhaps the sparkler. Of course there was always just making a cherry bomb. Silently he wished he could knock himself on the head, the cherry bomb could have gotten him out of this room without creating too much damage. He would have to remember that for next time.

While he continued to close in, he shut his teeth together as behind them a cherrybomb appeared in his mouth. With its ticker slowly going down he came nearly within arm's reach of the girl. If he had been more distracted perhaps his young semi-post-pubescent body would have had a reaction but at this point Kano was moving on with a single-minded plan. As he stepped within arm's reach his long arm immediately reached out grasping at the girl as he aimed to bring her close to him. His mouth opened revealing the cherrybomb in it pushing it out slightly so it was held between his teeth. Kano of course would be immune to the explosion but the girl, he doubted she would be the same. That would be his in. The threat he would make to quell the girl.

"Now then, just be quiet, I'm going to be leaving, and if you don't want to find yourself a little too crispy." The grin on Kano's face told it all, he would have no issue with letting it explode.

[odango]

”Tsubaki… chan?” she repeated after he spoke. He didn’t even look much older than her. When he got up, she noticed he really was taller, but did that give him the right to call her that? He didn’t even know her.

Stepping back a little, her heel met the wall behind her. ”Tch.” This guy was walking over to her. While she didn’t know what his intentions were, she didn’t like the idea of him trying to attack her or something. However, perhaps he was just really cocky? It was possible the boy thought he could over power her. It wasn’t impossible, nor was it the first time someone had questioned her capabilities because of her looks. After all, Tsubaki had no Devil Fruit powers like Willy had, nor did she possess great battle experience. The hazel eyed brunette had trained hard and she had also gotten the hang of a few techniques, not to mention had started to get much better at close combat. However, was that enough for her?

Tsubaki had no idea what the boy was capable of so when he got close enough to reach her, she glanced down at her Ryūran and her first idea was to draw the katana if necessary. Before she could, she felt herself get grabbed and pulled his way. Instinctively, her free hand reached for the holster of needles. While she had not yet closed the distance between her and the boy, the hazel eyed brunette had gotten out three needles and pulled her arm up a little. Tsubaki had also lost her balance a little from the tug and probably helped him in the process of pulling her his direction.

Now looking up at the boy, her chest bumping into his as she inhaled, the girl couldn’t help but be surprised. There was something he was holding in his teeth… *Is it an explosive? What?! Seriously?! Why would he be keeping explosives in his mouth? More importantly, if he had them, he could’ve gotten out before I arrived. Did he want me to come here for some reason? Her eyes widened at the sight. He wanted to leave the room? If that was all, why did he wait for her? Perhaps he thought that having a hostage would work better for walking out unharmed? That would explain the waiting, indeed.

”You’re quite cocky for a kid, aren’t you?” she gave out, her eyes now narrowing as she gazed up at the red-eyed blonde. It didn’t matter that they seemed to be about the same age. He had threatened the life of a marine operative. So, he was one of the people willing to face charges for harming a marine? Those were much harsher than just a common theft. Did this punk want to get a bounty? Because that was how one got a bounty. Wait, maybe he already had a price-tag but just wished to increase his value by pulling off something like this?

Standing so close to her, Kano would feel the tips of three long metal needles set against his lower abdomen. Right, the good thing about having a big rack was just that – it was big and a subtle lift of her hand was all he would’ve seen if he was even paying attention in the first place. ”I suggest you put that back in your mouth and swallow, preferably.” She said with a hint of anger in her tone. Who wouldn’t be angry when there was a guy dangling an explosive in her face?! Seriously! There was a chance she had thrown away the idea of prioritizing her own safety, but the situation was nothing but rude.

[Flame]

Kano's eyes glanced downwards for a second as he felt something press against his lower abdomen. Not that he could see anything as most of his view was obscured by two large goblets of flesh. "Please," Kano said, his voice less amused now that there were needles pointing at him. As if on cue the cherrybomb dropped forwards and exploded on the spot. Releasing his grip Kano quickly backpedaled a step or two. From his mouth immediately came two more cherrybombs which he spit out and had explode in the air immediately. Kicking up dust everywhere they created instant cover for Kano who gave up all pretense of not trying to destroy the room he had been locked in for the past few seconds.

His eyes gleamed, he was actually quite amused by the trick the girl had tried to do. He was not particularly concerned by it, but it was definitely rather spunky. Kano would have given her props for that if he had had the time to do so. But he didn't, instead, disappearing into the dust he prepared to bust his way through the wooden door. His left hand morphed immediately, the forearm disappeared and in its place appeared the bottle rocket which was the key to his escape. Well, key was the wrong word Kano mused happily to himself as he slid past where he had left the girl and headed for the door. For her own sake he hoped she had not returned to the door. It would not be pleasant for her to be anywhere near this explosion. The cherrybombs were in the end rather minor by comparison. Besides by Kano's calculations she was likely dazed from the triple cherrybomb attack he had just fired off.

So without a moment to wait he launched the bottle rocket into where he thought the door to the room was. And after hearing the bottle rocket explode he charged in after it. It had of course kicked up more dust so as he came to the hole he had just made he slowed down to step through it. Though slowing down was not a true slowing down for Kano as he leaped through the hole only to look to his left and notice a guard standing before the door looking a little dumbfounded at what had just happened. Politely Kano waved at the guard before taking off in the opposite direction. Oh boy was he not going to get caught up in this issue. No sirree, immediately only two things came to mind. Clear his name or flee, and while fleeing seemed a decent idea Kano figured that if someone was here to tarnish his 'good' name. He would have to deal with that person, only one thing left to do then. Find the real thief! Going into a full dash Kano made distance down the hallway.

Without slowing down immediately his mind went to work on where this mysterious thief might be. Which meant his first guess was of course where he was heading. The roof! ... Kano paused skidding to a halt as he realized the issue with his first idea. As he stood there flanked by the outer corridor of the massive floating theater he looked to his right and noted the doorway. It would lead him back into the theater, the seats, likely where all of the guests were still sitting. A light bulb sparked in Kano's head, if whatever it was, was in fact stolen then the thief must also be there. Oh, he would definitely find whoever it was, the easiest way in Kano's mind, threats. Without a second thought his left forearm morphed once again it and from it formed a large sparkler. It was already buzzing away as Kano pushed open the door and marched in a somewhat mean look upon his face.

In a loud voice Kano hollered out into the crowd who was turning to face him. "I'M HERE TO CATCH YOU THIEFF!!!"

Immediately someone stood up with fear on their face. It was the thief! Was the first thought in Kano's head, though it was quickly replaced as many of the guests stood up and began screaming running away from where Kano was standing. Yep, instead of finding the thief Kano was inciting mass chaos. Kano almost laughed if not for the fact his plan had failed horribly.

[odango]

Her hazel eyes widened at the sight. He was really going to do it. Was he not afraid what might happen to him as well? Or was there a reason he was not afraid. Where did he get the explosive anyway? She hadn’t seen him ingest it before. And if he did just cough it up, how could it still be going off? Don’t tell me…

He let go of the small explosive and by instinct, Tsubaki squeezed her eyes shut and tried to pull back, her head turning to the side. The thing exploded, and soon came two more. Feeling heat and smoke fill the room, the confused girl stumbled to the side, feeling a strong urge to try and cough out everything she had just inhaled. Her throat itched and she was quite disoriented for a while. Soon, she heard another loud noise coming from an explosive of some sort. Together with that, the young soldier also heard the breaking of wood. Damnit, he’s going to escape!

While she wanted to stop him, there was still a lot of smoke clouding her vision. Also, the burning sensation in her throat still hadn’t stopped. The girl felt another barrage of coughs come from her body and this time and a few tears sprouted from her shut eyes as a result. Who the hell was this guy, anyway?

It took her a moment, but she soon regained her composure and got herself out of the door. Tsubaki did actually open what was left of the door, instead of going through the hole. It was more of habit and she just didn’t want to make too much effort at that moment. The remaining pieces of wood gave and fell out of the frame at her attempt to push them open as a part of the previously existing obstacle. With smoke slowly clearing the room and drifting into the hallway, she also entered the hall. A bit worn down, the girl proceeded to dust herself off and then looked at the guard next to her.

”There’s a minor problem now.” she said politely with a smile climbing her lips. To this, the guard dropped his jaw. How had something like this become a “minor” problem?! And what was with her attitude?! ”I’m sorry, would you be so kind to tell me which way he went?” the nineteen year old asked and the taller man simply pointed to the hallway to their left. At first, Tsubaki wished to ask why this man had not gone after him, but she figured his exit might have been quite overwhelming.

”Thank you!” Tsubaki gave a slight bow of her head and took off down the hall, unsheathing her katana while at it. Would she even be able to apprehend this guy? There were still other things she would have to do that day. In no way did she want to miss her chance to go home, nor get held up at this place. This guy was the reason she couldn’t watch the play to the end, anyway. Indeed, the young Taighana could feel herself get irritated by the thought of him. The abilities he had shown her still concerned her a lot. She did not see him hiding anything too big on his body, so how had he gotten through the door? If he was dealing with explosives, was he also planning to harm the civilians on the ship? Perhaps he needed a marine to witness his bad-doings in hopes of really getting a high bounty? Attempts as these were quite common. Even if I do call for backup, it will take long for anyone to respond. This vessel doesn’t have any marines stationed on it, as far as I know.

Giving a ‘tch’ sound from her full lips, the young soldier continued forward, only to hear the screams of civilians as she came closer to Kano. Afraid that clinically ill youth had begun to blow up people for fun, or whatever it was insane people did, she picked up her pace. Coming even closer, she noticed one of the doors to the theatre hall were open and that was from where the sounds of panic had come. Narrowing her eyes, the girl glared at that blonde pyromaniac and quickly pulled a few long needles from her holster. Tossing up her katana, she then divided the needles equally in both hands. ” Hiru no Sōshaku!” From both of her hands needles went flying at Kano. By the looks of it, there were two from each hand, heading straight for his head and general upper body. What would be very difficult to notice, was that two more were aiming at his leg joints and were traveling in the shadows of the first four.

After, the girl looked up just in time to catch the katana again. Even if she was technically attacking Kano’s back, the girl didn’t want anyone running around and hurting people for no reason.