A Dairy-ing Rescue!

[Vio]

^{Yanmei #1}

---

The dark clouds and torrential rains had subsided, replaced by dull sunlight that pierced the waning remnants of a once inky veil. It had been a matter of minutes, really, since the duo of Zhu Yanmei and her chosen First Mate, John Culliford, had lost track of their latest acquaintance — a woman from a place called Rime Beat to whom the whimsical Mei had taken interest. They’d sworn a rescue attempt, uncertainty banished from Yanmei’s mind as she stepped forth with conviction, confident in her comrade to remain as determined as she was.

Bang…! Somewhere in the distance, the crack of a rifle echoed, sending native birds who had once sheltered themselves within the overgrown trees and bushes soaring in panic. Jade eyes looked up to the skies for a moment, the dull warmth of sunlight caressing her face, before she once more broke into a dash. It had to be the way, right? What constituted settlement and wilderness was marred by abandonment, Portis City now more or less just a part of the wilds themselves, but surely there was someone else here.

“They won’t have gone far,” she exhaled, footwear squelching audibly as she stepped through muddy soil. “Huh… Hey! What’s that?” Miss Zhu questioned, eyes descending upon an odd sight as they broke through the cover of a particularly rough and muddy patch of terrain. Up ahead was something completely ordinary — far too ordinary to be hidden by the derelict, cracked, and rusted structures that surrounded it. A building that looked comparatively clean and ‘busy’, with nature’s gradual attempt at reclaiming all having been pruned back.

^{“Oi!” Yanmei shouted out as she approached:
“Have you seen a man in bandages…?”}

“Hmph…? Who in tarnation are ya?” replied the target of her query. A burly but somewhat short man with a wide midsection, belly slightly exposed between his blue jeans and chequered red and blue shirt. He was propped up against the wall, a cigar hanging from the corner of his mouth, with a brown hat upon his head and a rifle with a flared muzzle rested over his shoulders. “This ‘ere part’s off limits, ‘less yer contendin’,” he added, small eyes peering from over a blond bristled moustache as he stood up and placed himself between the two strangers and the old gated tunnel that ran through the strange building.

^{“I’m Yanmei! Uh,” she paused:
“I dunno what you just said!”}

“…Odd name. Ain’t on the list. Scram, kiddo,” the rifleman shook his head to one side, as if to motion her down another road, but quickly began to move his gun into position when he realised the dark-haired girl had no intent of stopping her march. But, despite the quickness of his movements and the threat of the gun’s muzzle in her face, Mei did not stop walking. “I told ya to go on an’ git! Place ain’t safe fer li’l ladies like ya,” he growled, turning his eyes to John as if to find authority and sense in the man. “I don’t know what the both of ya are doin’ ‘ere, but I’d suggest ya turn yerselves ‘round right now, capiche? Only blood bein’ shed beyond those gates!” Then he felt it. The gun tugged downwards, green eyes piercing his own as he snapped back to see the girl’s hand tight around the gun and holding it aimed at her heart rather than her head.

^{“Tch…?!”}

^{“Let us through!” Yanmei glared:
“Or I’ll break on through…!!”}

“Harumph…! Alright,” he subsided, wrenching the rifle from the young woman’s grasp, rolling his cigar to the other side of his mouth and trying — but failing — to look down his nose at her. “But lemme tell ya this,” he continued, shouldering his weapon and starting to step aside as he spoke. “If ya ain’t huntin’, yer goin’ to be the hunted when ya step through them there gates. Inside the arena anythin’ goes, last one standin’ takes the prize,” he explained, gesturing for them to enter the still slightly open passage. And enter Yanmei did, practically at full sprint, but not before casting a sideways grin to the gunman.

^{“Thanks…!”}

^{“Ya ain’t got much longer!” he called back:
“Next shot’ll be the starting signal…!”}

---

SPOILER: Click to show

{Post Synposis:}
<sub>The duo of Yanmei and John find themselves at a guarded checkpoint as they pursue the kidnappers, but the former’s insistence persuades the guard to let them through with a warning of what to expect beyond the gates!

Notes: fearjunkie pepsi</sub>

---

Zhu Yanmei | #301934
John Culliford | #4b6f44
Galatea Parthenos | #fdfff5
Teo [NPC] | #6d5f95
Furred Man [NPC] | #96aeae
Guard [NPC] | #888888

[fearjunkie]

John #1

---

John dutifully followed behind his captain as they pursued the mysterious abductors, only to come to a stop when they found the source of the gunshot. John looked to his captain as her attention was taken up by the strange building. "Are you sure this is a good place to look?" John asked. "For all we know, she's not-"

His protests were cut short when Yanmei strolled up to the rotund man in the hat and started asking questions. John was content to let Yanmei question the man- until he leveled the gun at Yanmei's face. When the gate guard's gaze turned towards John, he would find John already brandishing his sword and holding it out, the tip mere inches away from the gunman's nose. "I'd recommend you not point that thing at people you don't want trouble with." John warned gravely. 

When the guard relented, John didn't let his guard down. Though Yanmei gave him the courtesy of a 'thanks', all the gate guard got from John was an icy cold stare as he followed behind the captain through the gate.

[pepsi]

-- CHAPTER 2 // A DAIRY-ING RESCUE!

Galatea woke up behind bars, a pair of handcuffs around her wrists. She felt incredibly tired, so weak she could barely lift her own arms against the handcuffs' weight.
Looking at the stone bricks that made up her cell, she came to the conclusion that she was in one of the side buildings of the arena. It was also one of the very few buildings on the island that nature didn't reclaim for herself.
On some flayers one could clearly see the entrance and a top view of the Deathmatch arena; she looked outside, and from the position of the sun she figured she must've ended up in a wing on the eastern side.

Galatea looked beyond the bars, finding darkness and a stack of barrels. And on top of those barrels, stood an unfamiliar figure. "Oi! Can you get me out of here?"
"Teo asked for you to stay well behind these bars until the Deathmatch starts. Then you'll be thrown in the ring to fight with all the others." The figure's voice was unfamiliar too, but Galatea quickly understood the man's allegiance.
"That makes no sense! Why would he kidnap me if he was going to throw me to the dogs?" she answered, pressing her face against the gap between the bars. From the darkness, a pair of red eyes peered in her direction. "It doesn't have to make sense. Teo believes you will make the perfect sacrifice if you're fresh from a battle."

The man descended from his perching spot, and revealed himself. It was a pale man of average height, bright red pupils and dark hair. He donned baggy grey pants and a black gilet vest. "To be truthful with you, I don't like what he does either."
"What do you mean?..."
"Teo believes his sister is terminally ill. He thinks she got a tremendous fever from a tremendous cold."

"So naturally, he's looking for some cold-resistant blood to infuse in her." Galatea's expression hardened as he mentioned blood infusion. So that was the deal about her hailing from Rime Beat? Teo must've thought himself extremely lucky to have found someone from there. "Let me talk to him" Galatea said, "maybe we can figure this out another way!"
The pale man retorted: "Teo's already in the arena. The Match is about to begin." "At least let me talk to his sister!" The man audibly sighed, and shook his head. There was a hint of disappointment in his voice when he replied: "That's impossible. Nobody can talk to Teo's sister."

---

Teo stood at one corner of the Arena, waiting for the announcement of who his adversary was going to be. The structure of the Deathmatch was simple: first, there was a one-on-one fight between all the participating teams. Second, there would be a free-for-all team deathmatch.
The entrance order in the team deathmatch would be determined by how many wins a team scored in the one-on-ones, with more successful teams entering the battle royale last. He planned on winning every match, enter the final fight dead last, and easily score a win. Then, the transfusion would begin. "Just you wait, my little sister..."

Through the loudspeakers it was announced that "Bounty Hunter Ometeotl 'Teo' Janus" - that was his name - would be the first to fight. His adversary was "Bounty Hunter Hammerich Liege", leader of the "Snake Eyes" bounty hunting company. He was a very tall and muscular man, nearly matching the size of Teo himself; on his back he carried a gigantic double-edged axe.
Teo, still donning his long dark coat, stepped towards the center of the arena waiting for his adversary to do the same.
"Like hell I'm fighting him!" Hammerich screamed back at the loudspeakers, as if he could be heard. "He's a monster! He's terrifying! All of his friends look like they come out of a horror movie!"

-- NAME // Galatea Parthenos

-- CLASS // E

-- TECHS USED // None.

[Vio]

^{Yanmei #2}

---

Through the tunnel she ran, a good few dozen yards under the structure before the light of the other side revealed itself. Voices echoed, some loud and some soft, but one rough. She didn’t catch what was being said, but jade eyes settled upon the scene soon thereafter as — beyond a makeshift perimeter fence of sorts — a large man with an axe slung across his back stood some yards from another figure, cloaked and familiar.

“Oi! Where’s our friend?!” she yelled, leaping onto the mesh of the fence and scaling to its eight-foot-high peak. Indeed, her actions prompted an almost unanimous shout from many others scattered around the edges, but the only thing that stopped the girl’s ascent was the crack of a flintlock and the briefest glimpse of something whizzing past her face, ever-so-slightly grazing her cheek. The suddenness of it all forced reflexes into gear, sending her tumbling into the dirt before she could cross the line.

^{“Ff– Oof!” she puffed:
“Hey, what was that for?!”}

“Wait your turn,” said a voice, barely audible as it spoke in a whisper, but setting the hairs on the back of the young lady’s neck straight. “The first match has already been announced… so have some respect for the rules,” they said, Mei’s eyes finally tracing the source to a man who perched himself on the branch of a tree whose growth was practically entangled into the surrounding structure. Or was it a man? There was so much hair that he looked more like a bear, almost everything about him hidden by a matted mane and coat of dark fuzz.

“He’s right,” announced another — a swordsman on the other side, his face hidden by a hat with an absurdly broad rim. He seemed to be in the company of a few others. “Them’s the rules here. Don’t interfere in a one-on-one. ‘Sides, that’s my man Hammerich in the arena,” he clicked his tongue, “and I’d very much like to see him have a fair fight against this ‘Teo’ freak. Sit back and watch. If you’re here for a reason, I suggest the two of you sign up before it gets too late,” the swordsman said with a click of his fingers as another man with a notepad approached. “Anyone who came past those gates is already a part of the show~!”

^{“Names…?”}

---

SPOILER: Click to show

{Post Synposis:}
<sub>As Yanmei attempts to climb the fence and pursue Teo, she’s stopped by the hairy gunman from before, and addressed by a strange swordsman.

Notes: —</sub>

---

Zhu Yanmei | #301934
John Culliford | #4b6f44
Galatea Parthenos | #fdfff5
Teo [NPC] | #6d5f95
Furred Man [NPC] | #96aeae
Swordsman [NPC] | #19cde6
Guard [NPC] | #888888
Arena Staff [NPC] | #aaaaaa

[fearjunkie]

John #2

---

As Yanmei scaled the fence, John had a more direct- albeit unconventional- approach in mind as he drew his blade. He was about to cut a hole into the mesh of the gate when the gunshot sent Yanmei sprawling to the ground. "Ngh...Captain, are you alright?" 

When the strange man in the tree spoke up, John's grip on his saber tightened, his knuckles white under his gloves. "Blast your rules and your tournament." John muttered crossly. "An acquaintance of ours was kidnapped and we have reason to believe she's being held here."

However, John had a sinking feeling they'd have to compete, whether they wanted to or not. He let out a sharp, annoyed huff. "If you absolutely must know...she is Captain Zhu Yanmei, and I am First Mate John Culliford."

[pepsi]

Galatea sat cross-legged on the cold floor of the makeshift cell. She hadn't noticed it before, but the bars seemed to be made entirely out of wood. It would've been easy to set her free, but she felt extremely fatigued; the cuffs at her hands, in particular, felt like a two-tonne weight.
"What are these handcuffs made of? I almost can't move at all." She talked, looking at the stranger on the other side right in the eyes. "They're made out of Seastone, a material that's exceedingly rare. I can't take any chances, you cannot get out."
"This makes no sense. You said you don't even like what this Teo guy is doing. What's in it for you?" Galatea asked. The stranger paced a few steps towards the cell, and leaned closer. With a hushed tone of voice, all excited-like, he said: "I've got a big reward coming for me if this goes well. I've been studying Devil Fruits all my life. So when Teo offered me one very powerful such Fruit, I couldn't refuse."
Galatea leaned to the side, looking beyond the stranger. Perhaps it was inside one of those barrels?... "It's not here" the man said, almost as if he could read her mind. "Teo has it. I'll have it as part of the blood transfusion ritual."

"Besides - what do you care? You already have one yourself. If you tried to eat another Devil Fruit, you would die, you know that?"

---

"I'm really not going to fight this guy, I don't care what the rules say!" yelled Hammerich from the side of the main arena. Teo's gaze shifted from him to the newcomers, who had just arrived. "Huh... isn't that...?"
Under the bandages, the man smirked. That woman was coming to rescue the white-haired girl from Rime Beat, no doubt. "Well," he declared, referring to Hammerich, "do you want this to be a Handicap match? Let's fight two on one."
Teo was in something of a rush. If his opponent didn't want to fight, there was no way he'd gather the required fighting spirit to successfully conclude the Ritual. "And I want to fight..." an arm emerged from his dark coat, a bandaged arm of someone with rather tanned skin - and where the bandages didn't cover him up, one could see tattoos. After waving about for a couple seconds, he pointed a finger at Yanmei. "That woman."

John could feel the cold sting of something metallic poke him in the back. "Hush" a familiar voice said. "Don't make a sound, don't move, or I'll put a few rounds in your chest. Follow me."

"Oh, you're here" said the stranger, turning away from Galatea to greet a certain companion. "Who's your friend? Another sacrifice?" he asked, hopping back on his stack of barrels to gain a vantage point. "No, Lugosi. He tried to save our main piece yesterday. They're friends, or something." The furred man poked John in the back again, this time much more violently, as if to shove him towards the center of the room. They were alone, in a box made of stone bricks filled with rather humid air.
"While your Captain over there is busy getting her ass handed to her, you will instead die here." The furred man took aim towards John's head, and pulled back the hammer of his pistol.

"John!..."

-- NAME // Galatea Parthenos

-- CLASS // E

-- TECHS USED // None.

[Vio]

^{Yanmei #3}

---

“Are you alright?” John asked, to which he received an affirming grunt as Zhu Yanmei righted herself. Neither of them liked the situation, that much was clear, but their hands were tied. To act out here could readily have resulted in swift deaths at the hands of numerous opponents. Not that that actually crossed the Captain’s mind as she switched her gaze back to the bandaged man, whose own eyes seemed to read her.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she grinned, ignoring the slight sting of her cheek where the bullet had grazed her. The intent behind the shot hadn’t even occurred to her. “He missed!” Much of what followed seemed to fall upon deaf ears, if only because of the protests of Hammerich, whose associate seemed completely oblivious to the man’s plight. Names were given, but Miss Zhu duly noted: It was the first time Mister Culliford had actively referred to both their roles in their fledgling crew — it further kindled her determination.

“Kidnapping? Mm,” the swordsman spoke, processing John’s words. “Ain’t no business o’ mine,” he shrugged, “but I wish y’all the best of luck finding your friend.”

^{“I want to fight…,” Teo spoke:
“That woman…”}

^{“Ehhh?!” “Oh, thank f–”}

^{“You want some?!” Mei piped up:
“I’ll send you flying…!!”}

“That’s not… Well, it’s a direct request from a challenger in the ring, so– Ma’am! Please! Stop!” Much to the staff’s chagrin, the feisty fighter had already managed to scale her way up the fence again, this time without the intervention of a bullet as she crested the fence’s peak and jumped down into the arena. “There was a gate right there…” Knees bent, bracing her against the fall as she tucked into a roll, one hand slamming the dirt to stabilise her as her left drew her weapon from her side. Not a sword, but a swordbreaker; a bar mace with a plus-shaped cross-section, no longer than a katana’s blade.

“I don’t get paid enough for this cr@p– Right! In that case,” the arena staff spoke up, now into a small Snail that seemed to make his voice project from all directions. “Challenger: Teo versus Challengers: Hammerich and Yanmei… Begin!” Hammerich’s previous unwillingness to fight remained in play, if only for a short while, because the moment commencement was called, the fledgling pirate bolted straight for the bandaged man. It wasn’t her weapon that flourished, though, as she closed the gap and propelled herself into a flying punch aimed for Teo’s core…

---

SPOILER: Click to show

{Post Synposis:}
<sub>A confident Yanmei engages in battle against Teo with a direct assault!

Notes: —</sub>

---

Zhu Yanmei | #301934
John Culliford | #4b6f44
Galatea Parthenos | #fdfff5
Teo [NPC] | #6d5f95
Furred Man [NPC] | #96aeae
Swordsman [NPC] | #19cde6
Hammerich [NPC] | #b5826a
Guard [NPC] | #888888
Arena Staff [NPC] | #aaaaaa

[fearjunkie]

John #3

---

Time seemed to slow as John felt the gun barrel poke against his back. Was this it- was this where Dead Man John Culliford finally met his end...?

When the furred man shoved him, John toppled to the floor- and it was at that moment when he felt something hard and angular under his coat. He realized he still had the box he'd taken from the Redmoon's cargo hold after dealing with those 'ghost pirates'. 

John had been hesitant up until that point to open the box, but now that he was moments away from death, he saw that there was no choice. John opened the box and withdrew what looked like a bone-white apple. He shoved the Devil Fruit to his mouth and took a bite, a taste that could only be described as 'graveyard dirt' filling his mouth.

As the furred man's gun fired, John Culliford seemingly disappeared into thin air.

[pepsi]

The voice of the announcer bellowed around the arena, declaring the revised matchup for that fight: a two on one, an asymmetrical show of strength.
An unfamiliar voice yelled from the backline: "Captain! Use this situation to your advantage!" Hammerich turned around, recognising the face of his right-hand man outside of the arena. "Maybe you can take him down after he's tired out!"
Hammerich's lips tightened as he considered the idea; the bounty hunter tapped the flat part of his weapon - an oversized battle axe - over his chin, absorbed in tought. "I guess you're right... He's still scary, though..." he mumbled, watching Yanmei launch herself at the opponent. "That woman, does she have no fear?"
Yanmei's hit connected with Teo's stomach, causing him to bend over - perhaps from pain, perhaps from the momentum alone. And from that close distance, as close as she'd ever been, in plain daylight, she could finally see them.

Teo's bandages emerged wriggling from inside his coat, but instead of going for the closest target they chose the other one, Hammerich.
The bandages slithered across the floor like serpents, finally looping around the man's ankles and tying his legs up from bottom to top. "Dammit! Get away from me!" Hammerich said, as he attempted to dodge the strips of cloth; but they were faster, much faster than him, and his attempted dodge turned into a trip and fall to the floor.

Upon closer inspection, Yanmei could finally understand the secret behind those strips of cloth that looked alive. In fact, entwined with those strips were nothing other than...

Roots?

Teo, now nearly reaching the same height as Yanmei, turned his head to face her. "Oh, you're here already?" he asked, with the same calm attitude that characterised him. "Sorry, it seems you did manage to hit me. I was distracted. Let me just..."
And having said that, he launched himself a few meters backwards and landed on his back. "Hmm. Hope I'm not exaggerating the impact."

"I... I can't move!" Hammerich had become a cloth and roots cocoon in a matter of seconds. From the top of the cocoon, Hammerich's battle axe stuck out like a prick; as noise and chatter from the arena filled the background, the man's muffled screams joined the cacophony.

"So now it is my turn to hit," Teo declared, still lying down on the floor; he didn't lift even a finger, but the roots moved on their own.
The battle-axe-cocoon descended onto Yanmei, its shadow covering the entirety of her figure; if she didn't move out of the way, she would've probably been split in twos.


John Culliford's disappearance took everybody by surprise. Galatea gasped, wondering what could even cause such disappearing act to happen: did the man just run away really, really fast? Was he some kind of magician, was that his trick?
"Where the hell did this guy just go?" growled the furred man, aiming with his pistol at random objects in the room. Lugosi, near Galatea's cell, sensed that this could be an elaborate trick to get her out of that cell and for this reason he approached the wooden bars, covering the entrance with spread out arms and legs.

-- NAME // Galatea Parthenos

-- CLASS // E

-- TECHS USED // None.

[Vio]

^{Yanmei #4}

---

Yanmei’s punch had connected, but something wasn’t right—something even she could tell as jade eyes assessed Teo’s own gaze. It was dull, distracted, near glazed over. Not the eyes of a man enthralled in the fight, but those of someone who simply wasn’t invested enough in the moment. It was uncanny. More uncanny still was what followed as bandages lashed out like serpents in an entirely different direction, at first forcing Miss Zhu’s footing as she attempted to avoid what she’d wrongly assumed as a close quarters counteroffensive.

^{“Dammit!” Hammerich yelled:
“Get away from me…!”}

^{“Oh, you’re here already…?”}

“Ehh…?! What’s with you?!” Watching in disbelief as the bandaged man sent himself reeling from a long since passed impact, Mei was as much confused as she was annoyed. This was a serious matter to be dealt with, yet here he was playing around as if he didn’t even care about the gravity of the situation. Not to mention she was now second-guessing whether or not her first strike had had any actual effect upon the man. “Huh… What happened to– Kyaaa?!” Amidst the melee, the fledgling pirate hadn’t even spied what was happening to the third wheel, only to become the target of that very same axe in a moment of blind and panicked realisation.

Crash! Spectators watched with bated breath as the axe-wielder turned wrapped weapon slammed into the earth, displacing dust and debris from the force of his descent and letting out a pained but heavily subdued scream of pain. Yanmei’s body rolled some yards in a barely controlled tumble, initiated by her own feet and boosted by the disruptive force. A fraction of a second later and it would’ve been her arm laying severed on the ground, honed reflexes saving life and limb.

“Hnf…! You missed,” Miss Zhu taunted as she steadied herself before bursting forwards yet again. Closing the distance between herself and Teo was imperative. Perhaps it was battle sense over actual intelligence, or maybe just recklessness on her part, but proximity was a key factor in her opponent’s fighting style. As long as he had her at more than a sword’s length, he had the advantage, though whether he was actually accounting for this as well was entirely up to debate. “Let’s try… again!”

This time, Yanmei’s motions shifted into a leaping bound, leg snapping into a straight length as she rotated before being brought down in a fierce heel strike against Teo’s supine stance. Once again, a blow aimed for the man’s core, in complete defiance of the writhing bandages that surrounded his torso…

---

SPOILER: Click to show

{Post Synposis:}
<sub>Narrowly dodging a strike, Yanmei yet again throws herself at Teo with a direct assault!

Notes: —</sub>

---

Zhu Yanmei | #301934
John Culliford | #4b6f44
Galatea Parthenos | #fdfff5
Teo [NPC] | #6d5f95
Furred Man [NPC] | #96aeae
Swordsman [NPC] | #19cde6
Hammerich [NPC] | #b5826a
Guard [NPC] | #888888
Arena Staff [NPC] | #aaaaaa

[fearjunkie]

John #4

---

"Where the hell did this guy just go?" 

John couldn't help but laugh as his would-be killer looked everywhere for him. It started quietly, almost unnoticeable, but quickly grew louder and wilder.

"Fuha ha ha...fuhahahahaha...fuhahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-!"

As the furred man aimed his gun at a random barrel, the barrel seemingly lifted itself into the air before launching itself directly at the gunman. Slowly, the figure of John Culliford began to reappear before the villains' eyes- but he looked different, semitransparent and gaunt in appearance. 

"So...this is the power of a Devil Fruit." John said bemusedly. "It seems the only ones dying in this room today are you scoundrels."

John took a fencing stance as he brandished his sword. "Stand and deliver, you bastards!"

[pepsi]

Teo saw his opponent leap high up into the air, only to fall back down with a straightened foot. It was a dangerous move, one that would've surely made a dent in his body if it ever connected. But, of course, Teo did not move.
Bandages emerged from inside his open coat, tangling together, forming a dense net; a shield as tough as cast iron formed, which surprisingly caved in on itself at first only to dampen the impact by spreading the impact over a longer time.
Immediately afterwards, the net untangled and unfurled itself only to slither towards Yanmei's extended foot in an attempt to grab it; had it been successful, it would've thrown the woman into the ground a few meters away from Teo.

Whatever the case might've been, Teo had the time to pick himself up after his defense. She was not going down very easily, given that she'd already dodged his attack and tried to retaliate. "You do not realise how much I need that woman's blood - better, that woman's sacrifice."
He sighed, and went: "I've already won against my assigned opponent, which is just too bad" he said, one arm extended towards Hammerich in the cocoon. "It's good that you're fighting with your heart. A warrior's heart."

"A good fight will rile me up for the blood sacrifice. So I'll stop playing." Teo ominously said, carefully removing the coat and letting it fall down on the arena's stone flooring.
Bandages coiled around his body like snakes, but they spared much of his arm, upper chest area, and legs; around his waist was a writhing mass of cloth and roots. About the same region where Yanmei managed to land a strike on him, the bandages had been tinted with magenta - not quite the colour of blood.
His skin sported all sorts of tribal tattoos, depicting vaguely geometrical humanoids with a very orderly pattern. "My sister made these bandages for me. They cover up my roots, they soak up my blood."

He brought a hand in front, extending equally spaced fingers; the fingers' skin morphed, assuming the coloration of grey-brown tree bark. "Perhaps I should clarify..."

"I have eaten the mythical Zoan Devil Fruit... Hito Hito no Mi: Model Jubokko."

The Furred Man was alerted by the sound of something moving to one side and instinctively shot, only to pierce a floating barrel. "What?..." he voiced, as he watched for a brief moment of incredulity.
Right afterwards, the barrel was sent flying right into him; it landed, exploding in a million splinters, sending the furred man on the ground and out for the count.
"Damn!" Lugosi said. "The power of a Devil Fruit..." he whispered, his fists clenching stronger and stronger. "I want it too...! This is unfair!"

In a flash, Lugosi dashed forwards; springing off of one foot, he performed a frontflip and extended one leg - letting one heel fall down on his opponent.
"Give me..." he said, now in a fit of rage, "give me that Fruit of yours!"

-- NAME // Galatea Parthenos

-- CLASS // E

-- TECHS USED // None.

[Vio]

^{Yanmei #5}

---

“Ehhh?!” These bandages were starting to become a problem. Not that they hadn’t already been, but Zhu Yanmei was starting to realise just how difficult an opponent she was up against. Her heel met something hard, yet pliable as his woven shield absorbed and dispersed the impact of the attack, and soon thereafter unravelled in a tendrilled assault that latched onto her and swung her into a slamming throw. Despite bracing for impact, the forced fall hurt.

Blood? What’s he talking about… Confused about Teo’s babblings, Mei too had managed to use the window of opportunity to recover, albeit perhaps not as gracefully as her opponent. Having acquired a scuffed shirt and a slightly grazed shin from the unflattering impact, not to mention the possibility of a bruised rib or two, she managed to get to her feet and turn in time to see the coat fall from her foe’s shoulders. A strange sight it was to behold, even stranger when his hand extended and his digits transformed.

^{“Mimic what…?”}

^{“W– What?!” a spectator quizzed:
“I’ve never heard of a power like that…”}

“Mythical Zoans: They’re the rarest o’ the lot,” the curious swordsman answered, for all those actively within earshot who cared to listen to his exposition dump. “So rare, in fact, that the name ‘Mythical’ is as much a tell o’ how few are known as o’ the powers they give… Never thought I’d lay my own two eyes upon one.” Such words fell quite short of Miss Zhu, however, whose focus remained wholly upon Teo.

“They soak up your blood…?” Yanmei recited, remaining still and awaiting an inevitable assault. But while her body was stoic and prepared, her mind was elsewhere. The very words the Jubokko had spoken had stirred up memories, now coming to the fore…

^{—— MANY MOONS AGO ——}

“Now! Place your palm against the bark of that tree right there,” said a man. Wizened and feeble in form, his hunched posture barely scraped five feet, his light yet leathery complexion free of much in the way of facial hair aside from an adorning caterpillar of a moustache that clung to his upper lip. A heavily receded hairline left the top of his head a polished and slightly spotted dome, with thin and dark grey hair clinging around the sides and back. A pink and yellow floral shirt and khaki shorts exposed thin limbs, though his hands remained clasped behind his back and sandal-bound feet together as he watched through narrow eyes.

^{“Huh? Like this…?”}

^{“Exactly!” he hummed:
“Tell me, what do you feel?”}

“A tree,” Yanmei replied, palm pressed against the coarse, dark bark of a large oak whose deep green leaves hung out over the water of a nearby lake. As she turned around, two fingers struck her forehead. “Owch! Why?!” The old man shook his head and sighed, patient as he raised his head to look at the clouds.

“Keep your palm there,” he stated, hobbling over to sit himself down upon a gaudy deck chair and admire the lakeside view. “And when the next breeze comes, focus on what your palm feels. Then, answer the question. Don’t be so hasty! Learn to observe the world for more than just the obvious sensations—see it for what it really is. Though, given it’s taken this long for you to learn the basics, I’m not holding out much hope…”

^{“Hey!” Yanmei yelled:
“That’s mean…!”}

---

SPOILER: Click to show

{Post Synposis:}
<sub>Yanmei is caught and thrown by Teo, who reveals his true form as the former reminisces for a moment!

Notes: —</sub>

---

Zhu Yanmei | #301934
John Culliford | #4b6f44
Galatea Parthenos | #fdfff5
Teo [NPC] | #6d5f95
Furred Man [NPC] | #96aeae
Swordsman [NPC] | #19cde6
Hammerich [NPC] | #b5826a
Guard [NPC] | #888888
Arena Staff [NPC] | #aaaaaa
Old Man [NPC] |#ea8aee

[fearjunkie]

John #5

---

John merely smiled as Lugosi made his move. For a moment, it looked as if the furred man would hit John with the full brunt of the attack-

-only for his foot to simply pass through John's body as if he were nothing more than a cloud of smoke. John's laughter returned, even louder at the fighter's failed attack. "It seems you can't touch me. Now, if you gentlemen will excuse me..."

With a casualness that was extremely unfitting for the life-or-death situation he was in, John walked past- or rather, through- Lugosi and straight through the wooden bars of Galatea's cell. "Let's get these off of you..." John said, gesturing towards the cuffs on Galatea's wrists.

[pepsi]

Lugosi's attack did not connect - literally, it simply phased through the opponent as if he wasn't there. "Wh-" Lugosi had just enough time to yelp before landing on the opposite side; he fortunately did not lose his balance, and simply rolled onto the floor as he touched the ground. "This guy..." he growled, watching as the man shrugged both of those threats off and walked right into the cell. A deep chilling breeze ran down his spine just as the ghostly appearance of John passed through his body; his body recoiled from the thermal shock, and he found himself on his knees without even realizing.
He turned around to watch John and Galatea inside the same cell. And then...

"Hehehe..."

Lugosi cackled. "What are you going to do? Your Devil Fruit powers won't work on those handcuffs. You can stay there for all I care; I'll just wait until Teo pummels your friend into the ground and comes to pick the sacrifice up." And as he said that, he picked himself up and kicked one of the barrels; with an agile jump, he hopped on it.
The bars of the cell were made of wood, but upon closer inspection they weren't simple bars. In fact, they looked as though they were shot into the doorframe from below; on top of that, they didn't even look like wood sticks: they looked like root upshoots, but nevertheless they were as solid as iron.

"I have eaten the mythical Zoan Devil Fruit... Hito Hito no Mi: Model Jubokko."

Far on the sidelines, half-hidden by the shadow of the entrance to the battlefield, two unnamed figures stand. A woman with a wide brimmed hat - a witch, no doubt - and a herculean man at least three meters tall whispered to each other: "My my, Mesh. Have you heard?". The man grunted in response. "That is one rare Devil Fruit. Mesh, dear, won't you be a darling and go get an apple for me...?"

"You know we can't let ourselves be caught flat-footed, just in case something fortuitous happens!" the witch said, and licked her lips in anticipation.

Teo pushed his extended palm down, to touch the ground; for a brief moment, the earth itself seemed to shake. "[Root of Duality...]" Teo muttered, as the large stones that composed the pavement started to crack and disassemble. "[... Tetokoyan!]"
Several roots poured out of the crack, piercing from below like tremendous spears; below Yanmei herself, one large crack was just forming. Soon, a root would shoot out of it and skewer her from bottom to top.

-- NAME // Galatea Parthenos

-- CLASS // E

-- TECHS USED // None.