Mission#53 The worst week Ever: Day 2

[reddaddy]

The redhead watched as 4 men with handkerchiefs or bandannas over their mouths were about to rush the octo-woman when she suddenly hit the first one to approach with 3 left arms at once in the face and layed him out.   The display of strength was totally unexpected as she appeared to be a damsel in distress up until that moment.  Now it was 3 men against one, intent on moving in unison to take down the fishwoman; 6 arms vs. 6 arms.  

Intent on  adjusting the odds towards the fishwoman's favor Berry ran behind one of the benches on the front row at an angle where he stood in a straight line with the guards and where the damsel was out of his path.  "Hazu Hazu no Cannon!"  Berry gave a straight kick to the long and heavy bench with all his strength, and accompanied by his devil fruit powers the bench flew in a straight line and slammed into the guards, sending them flying as it caught them center mass.  The bench then proceeded to hit the front edge of the stage and bounce off of it, as the merchant intended, and then fly straight towards the tall bald swordsman.  

The big and well dressed guard spun around quickly, his sword lowered to where the blade was almost touching the ground.  With an upward slash that left a blur of white behind it he cut the bench in 2, and as it split both pieces of the bench flew past him.  However he wasn't done with just doing that.  While the sword was being held up high by the man he suddenly widened his stance by broadening his shoulders and spreading his legs.  He then swung the blade down hard, an audible grunt coming from him, in Berry's direction.  A blast of air was expelled by the sheer force of his swing which propelled towards the merchant.

The redhead didn't see it coming.  The attack slammed into his chest at full force and completely unguarded.  The air attack that hit him formed the shape of a crescent that cut into his chest, from his left shoulder in a straight line down to his right hip.  The force of the impact sent the merchant flying and crashing through 2 rows of benches, and his body only stopped when he slammed into the third row.  Berry slumped to the ground and wasn't moving.  Blood started to saturate his suit as he lay there from his cutting wound.  The force of the attack blew the hat off of his head and revealed more blood pouring from him; this time from the back of his head as it must of struck the benches when he was blasted away.  The mighty warrior who put Berry in that state changed his face from a sour grimace to a wide grinned smile as he looked upon his handiwork.  He then spoke,

"Well that takes care of that."

The longarm swordsman standing across from him suddenly lunged at the tall guard and swung both swords from his shoulders and brought them down towards the guard's body, an expression of anger on his face as his eyes turned white and veins were popping out of his forehead.  The guard brought up his blade in the nick of time and parried both blades as they locked in place, one man pushing against the other.  The nature of the longarm man's attack; the insane reach he possessed, threw the big man off for a moment, but it wasn't enough to get the attack to hit its target.  As the 2 began a contest of strength to see if one could overwhelm the other as they push their blades against each other, the other twin started to sit up.  Climbing slowly on all fours he looked around the room, his limbs shaking a bit in attempt to bear his own weight.  His twin brother peered over his shoulder and saw him getting up.  

"When he stands up, you're all DEAD."

Suddenly a noise could be heard from the benches.  The longarm warrior and the skilled swordsman quickly glanced over and saw Berry standing.  His patchwork suit soaked in blood and his legs shaking, Berry shouted,

"I'll return THAT favor...with interest!"

[The Shimmering Banana]

PIRATE WARS
BATTLE IN THE AUCTION HOUSE

The room was silent as the two men rose to their feet. On one end you had the twin brother of the swordsman recovering from a mild poisoning delivered by the crafty girl. His breathing halting for a matter of moments leading to the point we are at now. Dust and debris covered the room from the destruction caused by the battling bunch. On the other end rising from the very rubble of a row of benches rose a blood drenched man. A stranger come to do nothing else but cause trouble for a gang of mischievous pirates. And help a few slaves escape their captors. Who is this guy? thought Shimmer as she gazed upon the man droplets of blood dripping from the tip of his nose. Who ever he is I'm glad he's on our side her thoughts continue almost completely forgetting about the men that were still pursuing her.

At this point the remaining three guards had surrounded the girl one with a net the others wielding small daggers. The cowards poking at the empty space between them attempting to trap Shimmer. Step by step she walks back seemingly walking into their trap until she walks to the edge of the room bumping into a shut door. “Got ya now little fishy” calls out one of the thugs as she placed her lower set of hands behind her rubbing the solid wall behind her. It should be right her she thinks as her hand stumbles across the door knob.

Of all her many talents, her photographic memory came in handy today. She hand only been awake one time through the building but had remembered exactly where the door leading back to the hall was, walking backwards no less. The young woman quickly jiggled the handle as the net is tossed into the air. The door popping open her unbalanced body tumbling through the doorway. She quickly rises to her feet slamming the door then locking it. The lock strategically placed on the inside preventing clients(pirates) from sneaking in and stealing their merchandise. “Man that was close” she says relaxing for a bit her back pressed against the door as the men banggwd on it from the other side. Allowing only enough time for her to take three deep breaths Shimmer arose continuing her journey. This was no time to rest as her new friends were in danger, she knew what she had to do. If the long armed man found his swords with such ease it meant that her stuff must also be around here. She raced down the hall heading back towards the cell she was previously trapped in. Calls from the imprisoned guard tickling her ear as she searched for the correct room. “Serves him right” she says to herself as she comes to a room with the door still wide open. This must be it thinks the intuitive girl he was in a rush he wouldn't have closed the door behind him she continues as she walks into a treasure cove.

Items from all ends of the world covering the room. Maps, dials, military grade knock off weapons; Shimmer only telling the difference from her background with explosives. And that was beside what she could only assume were bags of jewels and precious gems from their small size and soft material the bags were made from. There it was, on the last table from the left was a lile of personal belonging from the slave as part of the contract when selling the slaves. Sort of like buying a storage container you don't know what you're buying till you pop it open. Amongst all the items was her bag. The all black backpack seeming so blah! to the girl as it sat in a room full of exotic treasures. “Ugh! I gotta make this pop! a bit more when I get the time” she says as she slings it over her shoulder racing out of the room remembering her way around the back halls.

A few turns later she comes to a stair case this should be it thinks the girl thinking of the general layout of the building. In the distance the original three guards had gotten passed the locked door and freed their trapped brethren from his cell. They had either gotten through a lot faster then she thought they would have or her task took her a lot more time then she figured. Who knew how the fight was going back at the main auction housing the others most likely assuming that she had abandoned them that nkt being the case. She would never leave a friend behind infact that was the very reason she was in this position in the first place. Thoughts of her lost new friend Zel running throughout her mind as she rushes up the stairs leading to her destination.

[reddaddy]

Berry just finished talking tough, but in reality he was a wreck.  The slash across his chest would only get worse with movement and he was pretty sure he had a concussion.  The merchant's eyes were seeing little black spots in places and sometimes things appeared fuzzy.  Losing his balance after his moment of bravado he fell to one knee and caught himself with his hands.  Looking down towards the floor he noticed his own blood on it, as the dripping from his nose and left hand fingers started to saturate the place where he crouched.  After assessing his own situation he looked up to his right and saw the 3 guards that were pressuring the fishwoman before were back on their feet and trying to knock in a door that was behind the stage.  A look to the left was fuzzy for a moment, but when things appeared to clear up for him Berry saw the poisoned twin standing on his feet.  He walked slowly to the confection table and grabbed a glass of water, using it to flush his eyes.  He groaned in pain and winced, rubbing at them with his sleeve.  The redhead though this would be a great opportunity to attack him but the best he could do was stand before the big man completed his first aid.

While all of that was happening the longarm swordsman was pushed back by the blade twin when the villain finally decided to take things seriously and exert a little muscle.  He leaned in more seriously, putting his body weight into a push with his blades and then pushed his blade upward, knocking the twin blade swordsman's arms up.  Much like the kendo type attack he had executed before against Berry, he raised his sword up high, widened his stance, and brought down a fierce downward stroke with his blade.  Once again this left behind a visible streak from behind the blade and another burst of slicing air came out.  The longarm warrior jumped out of its way by diving as hard as he could, full spread to the side, as the attack was so hard to avoid the only way to do so was to make every effort in getting out of its path.  The air cut sliced through the ground as it moved and once it hit the wall of the wooden auction house it sliced right through it, leaving a straight line.  The edges of the wall that were cut seemed to shine in red for a moment; the cut was so fast it seared the edges of the wood.

After the large twin at the snack table finished flushing his eyes he reached into his coat and pulled out 2 brace knuckles.  Putting them only patiently he stared at Berry, cracked his knuckles, and walked towards him slowly.  Hearing a crashing sound the merchant looked again to his right and saw the weaker guards had finally brought the door down and started to run down the stairs behind the stage.  "This is just getting worse and worse, I don't think any of us are going to make it", the redhead thought to himself.

Berry began to step backwards as the big man approached.  Seeing the fear behind the merchant's actions, the brace knuckled bouncer smiled,

"All that macho talk about payback.  If you're thinking about running then shouldn't that embarrass you?  Fight like a man, and maybe I'll allow you to die like one."

Berry stopped walking backwards and fell again to one knee.  Looking towards the 7 foot tall brawler as he approached, the bloodied man replied,

"I can't fight like a man.  I...I am ashamed now.  I'm such an idiot.  There's nothing left for me to do...I can't fight like a man anymore, I'm too hurt."  Berry then took off his shades and dropped them on the floor as he looked up at the face of the brass-knuckled twin now standing right in front of him.  The big man had a look of disappointment signified by a frown and a roll of his shoulders.  He brought his right arm up high and bent the elbow, as if to show he was about to deliver a smashing blow to the crouching Berry.

Berry lunged forward and grabbed onto the giant man's knees with both arms tightly before he could bring down the blow, "So I guess I'll have to fight like a pirate!"  He kicked the ground hard with his right leg and using his devil fruit powers he commanded his body to use the force from the kick to spin.  This lifted the big man off the ground.  Feeling the loss of balance the big man brought his fist down, but due to suddenly losing his footing the blow didn't land on the redhead's head as intended, and instead hit him on the left shoulder, dislocating it with a sick crunching sound.  "GAAAAAAHH!!", Berry screamed out in pain, but he kept his right arm tight around the fighter's legs and kicked the floor again, adding more speed to his spin.  This caused the tall brawler's body to flatten out, the rotational speeds surprising him, but once he laid straight he tried to pull his body back up again.  Berry kicked the floor one last time, increasing his rotational speed to that of a spinning coin.  "Hazu Hazu no...coin spin!!"  The redhead let the big man go, as his right arm gave out under the strain.  The giant man went flying head first through the wall of the auction house and crashing sounds of him hitting something could be heard from the outside.  

Mid duel, the two swordsman battling close by stopped their fight for a moment, their jaws both dropping as they stared at the hole in the wall shaped like the giant twin and then back at Berry.  Expecting to see a triumphant, well maybe exhausted and bleeding, but nonetheless triumphant pirate standing there, instead they saw the worst part of a coin spin:  the sprawling stage (whenever a coin spins and comes near its stop where it begins to flatten out a phenomenon happens where the coin actually spins faster).  The redhead lost all balance as he used all of his bounces in the attack to hurt his enemy and not to protect himself.  The merchant pulled in his good arm and tried to protect his head as the rest of him was flung about like a rag doll, causing him to smack into the ground repeatedly in numerous and various locations around his entire body.  Rows of benches were sent flying as Berry smacked into them, and finally he stopped.  Berry laid on the ground, drenched in blood, and completely unconscious.

The sword-wielding twin shouted, "BROTHER!!!"  He then turned to run to the hole in the wall.  The longarm warrior stood awe struck at first, but then ran to the unconscious merchant to see if we was still alive. 

[The Shimmering Banana]

She came to the top of the stairs another door blocking her path as the three bumbling guards quickly approached behind her. Quickly opening the door and locking it behind her, once again attempting to slow the men down, Shimmer gazed upon her destination. “Yes!” she screams out as she was correct on the layout of the building as a metal walkway laid before her. It was the cat walk above the auditorium various types of lights placed all along the metal frame. Below her to her right was the stage she was previously at the young woman walking over to the very light the shined in her eyes as she was on stage. As she looked down there was only the long arm and a severely injured Berry left in the building. Did we win? thought Shimmer as she searched the room for the two twin guards.

Then it came to her duh! I can just ask em’ thought the ditzy girl before calling out to Bronco “Hay Bronco!”. The long arm man instantly scanning the room for the young woman before she called out to him once more. “Up here where are those bald guys?” Bronco looking upward placing his long arms in front of his face to block the blinding light shining from above. “Our saviour here won the battle but we have not won the war. Those other three have to be hot on your trail!” he calls out as the young woman looms behind her as she could faintly hear the men attempting to knock down the door. “And the swordsman brother still stands he just went to check on the other one.” says Bronco as she then turns to her left looking out of a long line of windows leading out to the roof. It truly was the perfect vantage point for the sharpshooter clearly seeing a hunched over behemoth of a man his fallen brother in his large arms.

Ok I can still do this thinks Shimmer as she pushes the window attempting to open it. Her first attempt failing from years of the overhead window never being opened. With a bit more umph! she opens the large window, calling back to Bronco “If this doesn't work you'll have to get that guy outs here”. She hops through the opening as the three ofes finally break down the door rushing towards her stumbling over one another. She carefully walks out to the slanted roof making her view of her targets much clearer. As she finds her spot the men burst through the opening, the first of the now four men after freeing their friend instantly slipped skidding down the side of the roof. In his frantic fall her grabbed his fellow guards leg dragging him along for the fall. As the two men fell the other two leapt back towards the window fearing that the other man would also take them with him. With their numbers depleted the other two men slowly continued their pursuit of Shimmer.

The noise caused by the men falling off the roof rushed the young womans plan as the unsuspecting swordsman noticed her. Drat! she thinks as their eyes lock the young woman tossing her plain sack over to her front retrieve her slingshot. The man slowly placing his injured twin on the ground as she pulls out her ultimate weapon. “Sorry to hit you when you're down….” she says as she loads her slingshot pulling its rubber straps back as far as she could. With no time to loose as the two guards quickly approached and the swordsman rose to his feet preparing to send another air slash.

NIGHT NIGHT

Shimmer releases the fust sized custome made explosive towards her target the swordsman finally realizing her true intentions halting his attack and jumping directly in the lath of her bomb. The desperate girl had targeted his fallen brother knowing that his kind kin would come to his aid. With his massive body still barely protecting his equally as large brother the bomb exploded that devastating blast scorching anything within a 6 foot radius. With the dust and d'bree barely even settled she turns two the other two quickly sending rapid shots of marbles. A literal hail storm of stone pellets pegging the men knocking the off balance and off the side of the roof with their fallen brethren. With a slight sigh of relief Shimmer places her slingshot back in her bag and heads back towards the open window. “Sorry about that boy's I don't like fighting dirty but there are no rules in a pirate battle.” she says as she crouches over entering the opening from the window. She trots over to the edge of the catwalk proclaiming her victory to her long arm friend and whatever other slaves were still around.

“WERE FREE!” she calls outs her voice bouncing off every wall in the nearly empty auditorium. With the threat level diminished she calmly makes her way back down to the main auction area regrouping with her fellow warriors. “Thank you” she says to Bronco who was still tending to Berry. “But I have to go my friend is still missing maybe he's still locked up somewhere” the girl says softly walking away from the pair of fighters. “In case I never see him again thank 'Our Saviour’ for me”. Shimmer then rushes off into the back halls searching for Zel. Making sure to stop in the loot room to reap the benefits of winning a pirate battle. Making sure to stuff a few grenades and two of the small sacks of gems in her pack. As she continued to roam the halls there was no sign of her blue haired companion.

“Could he have been sold and transported already?” she asked herself remembering the words of Dj Mike as she was being sold. “No he said they take a few days for delivery”. There had to be another explanation, one she wasn't going to find out sticking around here. Besides who knew how long a guy like that swordsman would stay on conscious for. “I've got to reunite with Gorrum. He'll know what to do after all we're all in this together.” says the drifting young woman as she exited the building heading back towards Loguetown. She looks back once more with the auction house disappearing in the distance remembering her two new friends hoping for their safe passage away from the evil place.

[reddaddy]

Sharp pain seared throughout the merchant's body.  It was like he was on fire and it was a struggle to breath.  In and out on consciousness for only moments at a time Berry knew he was being carried by something.  His fading consciousness returned once again, and this time he knew he was in a wagon or cart of some kind due to the vibrations he could feel through his back.  Oh the pain it caused.  The sun was gone the next time he awoke.  Was he in an alleyway now?  A new voice he hadn't heard yet.  It was gruff, tired, nervous, and old.  It was certainly a man.  Some time must have passed again.  There's no more voices to be heard, but someone was touching the redhead for sure.  The pain comes and goes, but when it comes it's the worst he's felt in a long time.  Opening his eyes for another brief episode Berry can see 3 IV bottles hanging above him on a stand, and a blood pack.  The blood pack had 3 empty packs next to it.  Feeling tired, the injured pirate fell back asleep.

Berry awoke again, this time being able to finally maintain his consciousness.  His eyes opening to a piercing white followed by fuzzy images, his eyes taking time to adjust.  The redhead could now see he was in a bed.  White sheets tucked around his body to give him warmth.  The merchant wiggled his fingers and toes, and he felt them all, though doing so caused him pain.  The bed was next to a window, and the window was attached to a room.  It was dark, the window was narrow and near the ceiling...a basement perhaps?  A chair was next to his bed.  A man was sitting in it sleeping.  It was the longarm for sure.  Berry's raspy voice broke the silence in the room,

"Hey. Wake up sir.  I'm awake."

The longarm man stopped snoring and tipped his chin up from his chest.  He stared at Berry and smiled, then yelled, "Doctor, he's awake!!"  A returning yell from somewhere could be heard, "I'll be there in a minute!"  The swordsman then turned his attention back at Berry,

"How are you feeling man?  Are you ok?"

Berry thought about the question for a moment, then answered, "Yup.  Would you mind telling me what happened?"

The warrior had an expression on his face like he didn't know what to say.  After hesitating he spoke,

"We all managed to escape the slave auction and everyone was freed.  You were...you are in bad shape.  The doctor and I thought you were dead.  Wait, that's right, I haven't told you about that part yet.  Anyways you did some crazy kamikaze attack and knocked out that big guard you were fighting.  After that the rest were beaten.  I made sure to free the slaves, and then we loaded up you and some of the cargo from the auction in a cart someone left behind, took some horses, and found our way to this street doc.  One of the slaves is a long time Loguetown local, so he knew to take you to this place.  You've been sleeping for a week."

A man dressed in a hawaiian shirt, shorts, and sandles walked into the room from a door Berry didn't notice before.  Wearing thick glasses and looking quite aged with long grey hair in a ponytail, he said, "Bronco, I'll take it from here."

"Sir, your injuries were extreme.  In fact I've never seen anyone have so many injuries and live through it.  Your toughness is something crazy.  Your arms and legs are broken.  Your left shoulder was dislocated and I popped it back in place, but the arm is still broken...in fact I'll skip the summary of what bones are broken and just tell you almost every bones in your body is broken, and you had a huge laceration across your chest that required sutures to close."

Berry looked down across his body, then said, "Take off the blankets please, I need to see."  Bronco removed the blankets and the pirate could see he was in a full body cast.  This didn't really bother him, but the answer to the question he was about to ask might.  "Who knows i'm here?"

Bronco answered that question, "Just me and the escaped slaves and the doctor here.  I booked passage for the escapees on a ferry off the island as soon as I dropped you off here, so no one should blow your cover."  Answering the question appeared to have helped Bronco feel like he fulfilled some sense of purpose.  However, the injured Berry wasn't done asking questions.

"Mr. Bronco, I have to ask, have you been coming and going from this hideout a lot?"  Bronco answered, "well a few times, and only when wearing a disguise, why d'ya wanna know?  I was careful if that's what your asking."

"Did you go to the marines and let them know what happened?"

"I made an anonymous call, I prefer not to get involved with the authorities directly."

A cringe came across the redhead's face.  "Dammit."

"Why, what's wrong?"

"Doctor, I need you to leave the room, for your own safety."  the doctor nodded and then walked out, closing the door behind him.  "When I was in the auction, trying to buy everyone's freedom, I remembered where I saw the jolly roger on the outside of the building from."

"The jolly roger?  Some pirate owns the building?"

"No, not a pirate...the Daibukai Don Flamingo."

Bronco's expression immediately turned to both shock and worry.  "D-Don Flamingo?!"

"Yes.  He's a world government sanctioned slaver.  It explains why only nobles and wealthy folk were present at the auction.  When you put in the call to the marines you expedited an investigation of all of us destroying a sanctioned business of a warlord that catered to the rich and powerful of the area."

Bronco turned as white as a sheet.  "W...what are we gonna do?!"

Berry answered calmly and with patience, "We are going to continue to lay low.  If the surviving slavers know your name and mine we don't have a choice.  I know I gave my last name to the guards at the auction.  They only need to crosscheck that name with the records at the port authority to figure out who I am...and since it's been a week the marines are probably looking for us and the escapees.  We'll wait until I am healed enough to move, then we leave this island."

"But...but that can't be right?!  The slavers acted like everything had to be done with us in secret!  Our kidnapping and everything else!"

"That's probably just to protect the image of the business.  No noble wants to buy "slaves"; just hire employees right?  And just because the marines sanction this doesn't mean the locals like it or even know about it.  Discretion for that kind of thing is needed."

"I...I see your point.  Okay, we'll wait."

After another 3 weeks Berry and Bronco left the island, smuggled from a fishing boat.  It was really stinky.  

-THE END-