Festival Free-for-All! The Riot Gang's Debut!

[Jade]

Sayuri set her full attention on undoing the ropes that held the Whiskey Runner to the pier, ignoring Lea's rambling - right up until the little lady cut herself off and a thud resounded from the deck. Instinctively, the one-eyed swordswoman popped up, looking down into the boat to check on the girl, before her mind could remind her that Lea was almost assuredly fine. "Ne'er mahn, Ah hate 'et!"

She stifled a chuckle and then set back down to untying the first of the two ropes - with one final flourish it came loose, and Sayuri tossed it into the boat before moving over to the second. "Well, it's probably for the best that you don't get too attached," she started to explain as she worked at the knot, "since we won't get very far in the Grand Line in such a rinky-dink..." She trailed off as the second rope turned out to be tied in a trickier manner, but it too came loose in short order.

The rope hit the deck a moment before her boots, and then the woman turned back the way she had come and slammed her sheathed blade against the pier, pushing the small vessel away from the wooden structure. "... Well, anyway, we just need to wait for Harley and... 'Guy', right? Think we can get the boat out a bit more and hold a steady position?"

---

With the boat creaking overhead, Harley took slow, labored steps toward the edge of the river, paying no mind to any of Guy's reactions as the vessel was not-so-carefully moved to the water. Before long, there was the flowing water ahead of her - the massive mountain of a woman shifted her weight, rearing back, and then all but launched the ship up into the air, putting a little spin on it so that it flipped over into the water, right-side up.

The clattering and smashing and slamming of the home's contents went unnoticed by Harley as she spun back around to Guy with a grin and a thumbs up. "There we go! Ya any good at sailing, man?" Before really waiting for an answer, she jumped from the edge of the river into the boat, and then turned around again to look at the cat-man from the short railing. "Come on - let's go!"

[The Prettiest Squish]

One of the struggles of being a sponge was the degree of how much more absorbent the tot had become. As she struggled to pull her face off of the wooden floorboards, Lea heard the sound of footsteps arriving on board, a sign that Sayuri completed untying the ropes from the pier. Growing ever impatient with this predicament, the girl gave one last thrust before finally freeing her face from the clutches of the evil floor. She released a great sigh from her open mouth and moaned, "Ahhh! Oh man I couldn't even breathe. Imagine if I died like that! Bahahaha!!" With a wipe of her face, she sat back with her thighs spread on the bare floor and tried to relax. Unfortunately for her, Sayuri had other plans. 

"Awww sugar biscuits! Do we gotta? What's wrong with bein' right here? It's not like we're sitting ducks......ah shoot you're right." Lea stood back up reluctantly and with a groan, heading to the side of the ship where an oar awaited her. She turned her head to Sayuri and called out, "I'mma try to paddle us a bit off shore. If I remember right, Guy's house is on the east I think. We can meet them over there." With the final steps of the plan wrapping up, the dutiful dame stuck the oar into the water and began to swipe from front to back. 

---

Guy's face melted into a sorrowful pout as he heard the audible noise of broken pots and pans. "Awww....My kitchenware..." By this point he had grown accustomed to Harley's immense strength and barely flinched when the woman pizza tossed his entire residence into the air. All he hoped for by the end of this journey would be to find at least half of his furniture in decent condition. While the gent stood around still stuck in his home shopping daydream, the woman in black stood and commanded, "Come on - let's go!"

At the behest of his commander, Guy sprang up back to life and stammered, "Huh? Oh yeah..." The man took a step back, calculating the distance from the edge of the river to the middle of the boat. Despite how tall he was and how easy it would be to cross the gap, his instincts screamed at him to avoid the water at all costs. Water bad...Water evil...Wait why am I talking like this? He shook his head then refocused on the spot next to Harley. With one final huff of his nose, the lad charged three steps ahead then leapt into the air with one hand outstretched toward the boat. 

He landed squarely in the center with both feet parallel to each other, a fact that pleased him in the midst of all this madness. With a relieved exhale, Guy turned to the rioter and pointed in the direction of the current. "The river flows to the ocean, if we follow it, we'll find the others. Now all we need to do is sit back and relax while the current takes us~"

[Jade]

"Sit back and relax..." Harley repeated, tapping her chin. She looked about the deck, and then to Guy, and then to the open ocean. Sure enough, the boat was following the current out to sea, but... "Mmmmmmmm, but if we go faster we can get to the after-party food faster! Do you have, like, a sail or something we could put up to speed things up?"

---

Sayuri watched the ability user laugh off her own possible death with a mixture of confusion and irritation - there was a charm to the girl's ability to laugh at that sort of thing, but at the same time... "Well, I think I would have noticed before you suffocated, so it would have been fine..."

Lea hurried over to an oar, talking about where the vessel belonging to that "Guy" character would be found. The swordswoman made a face, but stopped herself before actually saying what was on her mind. "Right, okay. Let's just make sure we keep an eye out for them so we don't miss each other, if we aren't sticking to the original plan..."

She disappeared within the boat's cabin for a moment, and then reappeared without her blade a few seconds later. Sayuri looked about for the other oar - once it was located, she took up a position opposite from Lea's, trying to match the bluenette's pace with her rowing. If she could have had her way, they may have rowed in silence, but knowing Lea, even for as little time as she had...

"So!" She glanced over toward the surfer, trusting herself to not mess up the action of rowing for the few seconds she was taking her attention away from the action. "What do you make of all of this? Making an enemy of the Marines, destroying a city...?"

[The Prettiest Squish]

It seemed only natural for Guy to expect nothing more from Harley at this point in their relationship. Although he had known her and Lea for the span of about 24 hours, he felt the experience was more akin to several lifetimes worth of stress. Case in point, instead of taking the time to reset and unwind after a brutal day, Harley proposed the brilliant plan of hastening the travel time. All in all, he wasn't sure why he expected anything else. He certainly knew that defying her wishes was ultimately a worthless decision and would best be ignored.

"Well..." He clapped his hands together and brought them to his mouth. "If you move your foot over a few inches, you should see a set of latches on the floor." As he explained the process, Guy stepped to the side, far away from an inconspicuously hidden pillar embedded in the deck. "Just slide them open and pull the leather strap to hoist the mast up." He looked at the length of the beam to check for any damages from Harley's wild toss. Miraculously, not a splinter was out of order. "Once the mast is up and ready, the sails should fold out and pick up the winds immediately." Guy sat down on the railing and paused, wondering just what part of the instructions she'd mess up first. 

"Is there...anything else you need to know?"

---

"Row, row, row your boat, gently down the sea~
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream~
Row, row , row your boa-"

"So!"

"HYEH!? "Lea winced at the sudden nature of Sayuri's remark. The sponge jumped in her seat, almost losing the oar in the process but barely managing to grip it before it fell into the water. The lass sighed and wiped her forehead before turning to her rowing partner with a slight frown. "Wassup?"

From the looks of things, Sayuri appeared quite concerned – though Lea really had no idea if this was just her resting face. To the bluenette's surprise the dame threw out quite a strange question, "What do you make of all of this? Making an enemy of the Marines, destroying a city...?" The eye-patched lady stared at her fellow cyclops with a solemn stare, almost expecting some profound response. Lea stared back, brow furrowed and lips curled down. She opened her mouth, "Whatchu talking about? We were at a party right? I don't know why we'd get in trouble for throwing a party - it was a festival after all!" 

Lea switched back to a smile and laughed. Sayuri took things so seriously, it bothered the carefree child but it was also part of the fair lady's charm. The lass wiped a tear from her eye and chuckled, "Enemy of the Marines, haha, good one dude. Imagine that, 'Sorry officer, I was having too much fun! Arrest me!' Bahahaha!! You're such a kidder Sayu!"

[Jade]

Sayuri's one eye widened while her lips drew thin listening to Lea as it became more and more apparent that the little surfer was more than likely either very oblivious or very committed to the bad joke. "Are... You serious, Lea?" she asked, looking back down to the water as her oar lifted up from the waves, carefully guiding it forward again before dipping it below the waves. From there, she looked back at the city - at the ruined buildings, at a section of the great mountain that stood further inland had fallen away, leaving behind a barren scar, and at the fires that people were only now moving to put out. "She really did a number on that place. And you didn't just party, you guys resisted arrest and fought the Marines."

She sighed - it didn't really concern her overly much, and it seemed unlikely she'd be able to drill the severity of their actions into the sponge's soft head. "Look - I'll... Explain it properly later, once we're all back together again, okay?"

---

"Oooooh," Harley responded, shifting her foot over as instructed, and sure enough, there were the latches described. "Fancy!" As Guy spoke, walking her through the steps needed to get the mast up, the big woman got to work following them.

Before long, there it was - the mast had risen from the deck, with the sails opening up just as he had described. Harley stood up straight and then leaned further back, putting her hands on her hips as she watched the wind fill the sailcloth. "Just like that... Very cool." She leaned even further back until she beheld Guy in all of his upside-down glory. "Hm? Anything else? I don't... Think so, no? Seems like smooth sailing until lunch now!"

---

A short period of time later...

"Guy! Guy! There's our boat!" Harley stampeded across the deck of the carpenter's vessel, rocking it as she moved - though she was completely oblivious, even as it tipped dangerously to the side as she stopped at the railing, waving over toward the Whiskey Runner. Before even really waiting for a response, she stopped her waving to cup her hands over her mouth, and then bellowed a greeting over the waves. "HEEEEY! WE MADE IT!"

[The Prettiest Squish]

With every passing second, the two rowed the boat farther from the shore. Soon enough the figures scattered around the landscape blurred into blobs of colors the deeper they sailed out to sea. Looking back at the ruined city and its people, Lea waved at the locals cheerily, totally oblivious that their attention was preoccupied with more important things such as saving the city from destruction. "Bye Bara Ara or whatever your name is! Thanks for the fun!" She turned her head to her partner and gleamed a smile, "What a nice town! Shame about the mess though. Hopefully the clean up crew comes soon." 

The munchkin then began to whistle a whimsical tune and returned back to rowing. Her eye looked far off the eastern coast, trying to see any sign of the giant duo but found no evidence of a flipped boat house on the water. "Huh, they should've been here by now. What do ya think is taking Harley so long?" Lea looked to Sayuri hoping for a guess but instead found the woman staring back at the smoking city with unease. From a glance she could tell that the woman was in the middle of contemplating matters that the sponge cared nothing for. Before Lea could tell her to continue rowing and relax, the dark haired damsel expressed her feelings upon seeing the burning island, "She really did a number on that place. And you didn't just party, you guys resisted arrest and fought the Marines."

Lea scoffed and rolled her eyes at the overly serious line, "Whatever you say, Yuri. Whatevah you say, girl." The sponge sighed then went back to her carefree humming, growing tired of Sayuri's bleak attitude on life. Funny enough, it seemed even the coated missus grew weary of her own daunting dialogue. She join the lass by heaving her own big sigh and stammered quite poorly, "Look - I'll... Explain it properly later, once we're all back together again, okay?"

The half-pint shrugged her shoulders and mumbled a weak, "Meh" as she kept her pace on the paddle. "They gotta back here first....What the heck is taking that dummy so long?" She looked off to the shore yet again with a lazy glazed look in her eye that was immediately brushed over with eagerness at the sight of a large white sail moving through the river. Slowly but surely the familiar sight of a wooden house came into view along with its very own figurehead screaming at the top of its lungs. "HEEEEY! WE MADE IT!" sounded the titan.

Lea jumped up from her seat and frantically waved her arms into the air, grinning from cheek to cheek, "HEEEEY! YOU'RE LAAATE!" 

[Jade]

"HARDLY!" Harley shouted back, and then laughed. "YOU GUYS ARE JUST EARLY! A RIOTER ARRIVES RIGHT WHEN SHE MEANS TO!"

Over on the other boat, Sayuri sighed and shook her head - though perhaps only to distract from the slight smile creeping over her face. "Jeez, do you two want to let the whole navy know where we are or something? Come on, Lea, help me with the ropes."

As the two ships neared, ropes were tossed across and secured and small rubber barrier bags were placed along the edges of the boats to keep them from damaging each other - and then they were connected. Harley crossed over to the Whiskey Runner in one huge bound, coming down on the deck heavily. "Alright, we're here! Let's get some food going!"

"Huh?" The one-eyed swordswoman looked bewildered at Harley before her earlier words hit her. "Oh, right. Yeah, I guess we should work on that. I... Also took the liberty of restocking the ship's food stores while I was away, so we can get something going." Sayuri started to move toward the cabin before spinning around, fixing each of the other three individuals on board with a piercing stare. "Anyone who wants food helps make it, though, got it?"

[The Prettiest Squish]

Once the ships were close enough to cross, Guy followed behind the coated captain by extending his leg over the gap until his foot touched solid wood. "Whew," he sighed with relief. After all the trouble they had been through, it felt quite satisfying to realize their plan ended in success. Now he could finally relax and not have to worry about the next big problem...Or so he thought.

To the dismay of his ears, Guy heard the woman standing next to him shout a most distressing order, "Alright, we're here! Let's get some food going!" His heart sank at the sudden announcement – even though she had already made it clear that they would have an after party feast several minutes prior. What worsened his stress levels was what came out of the hyperactive gremlin standing in front of him. "Yeah, food! I barfed up all the stuff we ate back there! I'm frickin' starving! Bahaha!" Lea threw her head back and guffawed as loudly as she could. 

The sorely bruised carpenter stood in the center of these two chicks and shuddered at the idea of cooking for these two beasts. He began to wonder if it wasn't too late to tuck tail and sail the other way with his ship when fortunately, a thought occurred to him, Wait, we don't even have any ingredients to cook with! Oh thank goodness, for a second there I thought - From below, the woman known as Sayuri spoke up to crush his hopes and dreams, "I... Also took the liberty of restocking the ship's food stores while I was away, so we can get something going." His eyes went wide and bloodshot. You too, Sayu? With no more willpower to suppress his injuries, the man slowly leaned forward until he landed headfirst into the floor with a twitch in his eyes and a zany grin. 

Lea looked down at the unconscious goofy looking lad and slapped herself on the knee, "Bahahaha, I guess he's a little tired from the party, huh Harto? Well, if Guy's not gonna cook us anything, I can probably whip something up. Who wants sushi?~" The surfer sponge eagerly opened her mouth in a smile and darted her head between the two other gals. Without waiting for a response, she clapped her hands and hopped up on her tippy toes, "Sushi it is! Sayu, quick! I require some rice and some vinegar! And Harley? Get me a fish! I bet Cat Boy here has a bunch of fish in his fridge! Well what are you waiting for, ya butts? CHOP CHOP!! Bahaha!!"

[Jade]

At Sayuri's sudden order to help with the cooking, Harley rolled her coat's sleeves up and grinned. "Sushi, huh? That's a start! Gimme a grill and I can get some stuff going too!"

"You make rocks, right?"

"Yep!"

The swordswoman looked over the suddenly quite cramped deck, and then over toward Guy's boat. "Okay, sure. We can probably make a makeshift grill then... Just make sure you follow my directions carefully so you don't burn the boat down, alright?"

As the afternoon drew on, a cacophony of sounds came from the two boats as they left the partially wrecked island of Arabara behind, paying no mind to the island as it became little more than a speck on the horizon. The sounds of cutting and dicing, of meats and veggies sizzling away on a massive rock slab placed over the top of the makeshift fire pit Sayuri helped Harley to build, and laughter filled the two boats as the Riot Gang prepared for their post-party feast...

---

Back on Arabara...

Normad walked slowly through the ruined streets until the road ahead of him suddenly stopped, leading to nothing but open air. He peeked over the ledge, looking down the several foot drop - it wasn't the most impressive cliff that had been formed in the quakes, but it was certainly a far cry from the level street that had existed just that morning. The young man carefully shimmied his way down the cliff, down to where the street continued below, and got back on his way toward where he had last seen his faithful bodyguard.

What should have been a quick, maybe ten minute stroll was extended to three times that. He'd gone this way after Captain Dofran and the Marines had arrived, but... That last quake had shaken things up yet again, and the ruined neighborhood was yet again unrecognizable. People were beginning to slowly peek out from the places they had hid, some crying out for friends and family they couldn't find - Normad balled up his fists, frustrated with his inability to help them in the moment, but he carried on.

When he came to the spot of the fighting, the nobleman's jaw dropped in shock - there was Dofran, holding his bleeding head in his hands, his prized steel gauntlets broken and discarded. Marines who hadn't made it for the fighting were moving stretchers around, digging through the rubble to rescue their battered and unconscious friends. He caught a glimpse of the rather meek young woman, Ensign Volley, being loaded onto one of those stretchers, her clothes torn up and bloodied. Toward the center of the destruction, a large, mustachioed man was being hoisted up off of the ground and shackled - in fact, a few other folks were being put in cuffs, including an all-too familiar man with slicked back hair and oddly triangular forearms.

"Henzigger!"

Normad moved forward, walking as if in a trance toward his friend. Dofran glanced up from where he was sitting, watching the slight noble with a confused look on his face - until he twisted around, getting a good look at where Normad was going. Wearily, the Marine Captain stood to his feet, doing everything in his power to keep from falling forward onto his face, and then he began walking after the young noble. "Lonk." When he didn't respond, Dofran increased his volume, lunging out to grab at the man's arm. "Lonk!"

Normad spun around, pulling his arm free from the Marine's grasp - and for the first time, the Marine saw the normally quiet young man's face enraged. "What is the meaning of this, Dofran?! Release Henzigger at once!"

"Master Lonk," the fishman's voice rung out weakly. Both men looked over to the man, with his now-visible violet eyes - and a distinctive red tattoo peeking out from his ruined suit jacket. "Please accept my apologies for this failure. I... Would have hoped I could have given a proper two weeks notice before needing to resign, in order to assist you in finding a worthy replacement, but it seems that will not be possible."

Normad shook his head, making another move toward Henzigger - but this time, Dofran was in front of him, pushing the nobleman back. "I should have you arrested as well, you know. Knowingly harboring a criminal, under my nose..." The Captain stood taller, full of pride and condescension toward the clearly hurt and confused man in front of him, but he deflated a moment later. "But you didn't know. And even if you did, I'd have my hands full with angry folks if I put you behind bars, wouldn't I?" Dofran brought his hands up to his face, hiding his expression as he sighed.

"Henzigger, what is..." Normad Lonk looked between his bodyguard and Dofran. "What does he mean?"

The fishman averted his gaze, looking down to the ground - but as Dofran began to speak up, he looked back up. "No, Captain. Please-" his voice broke, but he pushed through it, "he deserves to hear it from me. Master Lonk, I... My name is not Henzigger. I was... Am a criminal known as Zeal 'the Bouncer'. I... I thought to leave that behind, and you showed me nothing but kindness..."

"He has a bounty of 30 million beri on his head," Dofran continued as the fishman trailed off, no longer able to meet Normad's gaze. "We had our suspicions, but there wasn't anything that could be proven. Until today, that is."

Normad stood there, looking between the man he had only ever known as Henzigger and the Marine. "He... What does that change? You've known Henzigger for years, Captain! Does Justice hound folks even after they've done nothing but good? What kind of justice is that?!" He walked up to the taller man and pushed him in the chest - Dofran stumbled back, and then leaned forward to put a hand on Normad's shoulder. "He tried to protect this city, this island, with you!"

Dofran locked eyes with the man in his face, and then leaned in a little closer, voice dropping to a whisper. "What do you expect from me? The Arabara Marines are a joke, Lonk," he hissed under his breath. "If I let him go now, now that every Marine on this island knows who he is, I run the risk of losing all credibility." He brought his hand up, catching Normad's before the noble could shove him away. "All I can do for you two now is give you a little bit of time to say goodbye, okay?"

The young noble stepped back, giving the Captain a confused look - but Dofran didn't meet his gaze, stepping away from the man. "Men! Put Normad Lonk in cuffs as well - it seems he wants to share a cell with the criminal!" The officer turned his back fully on Lonk, staring off into the distance as a few confused Marines exchanged glances. Before Normad could even react to this development, his arms were pulled behind his back and shackled together, and whatever he had been about to shout at the Captain caught in his throat.

"Captain?" Dofran started, turning in the direction of the voice - a dusty, dirty Ensign stood in front of him, dutifully carrying a broken rifle against his shoulder. "Ensign Bellacruse, reporting... What are we supposed to do now, sir?"

As the man stood at attention in front of him, all Dofran could do was stare at him, mulling over everything that had happened that afternoon. "... A single woman did all of this," he stated flatly, gesturing vaguely around himself. "Here. We're supposed to be here to stop things like this. But sloth kept us from reacting appropriately..." Bellacruse glanced to the side, looking for anyone he could share the surreal moment with, as the Captain turned his back on him. "What are we supposed to do now? I'll tell you. Now we begin working to fix the damage done to this city, these people, and our credibility."