Mission 49 "Can you defeat... the parrot!?"

[Tim Curry]

Garou had just started his journey to become strong when luck came down upon him and punched him IN THE MOTHER EFFING FACE!
Figuratively speaking of course, what actually happened was that the first island Garou came upon was Shimoshiki, an island renound for it's dojo for swordsmen.
They even say that the famous Zoro from the straw hat crew was taught swordplay there.
This would be an excellent place to train thought Garou.

Immediately after Garou moored his small ship to the island he headed towards the dojo.
After a short run he found himself at the gate of the school, it was wide open so Garou walked right in.
He saw young students practicing swordplay using bokuto, however some of them were older, around the same age as Garou.
He thought to himself that it would be interesting to go up against these students to see how his teaching fared in comparison to theirs.
Of course there was a key difference in that he was a sole student while they were being taught in a group, this obviously meant he got more time and attention spent on him than they had, thus he had a clear advantage over them in this aspect.
The students were very focused on their training, they hardly looked up at Garou,their focus had been trained well at the least.
He could tell a lot of them were quite strong, though he couldn't grasp the full extent of their strength without sparring them directly.
With all this in mind Garou advanced to the main building with excitement at the things he would soon learn.
A man wearing a pair of glasses and a dougi was meditating on a cushion.
Garou walked over to him and bowed.
The man opened his eyes.
"What have you come here for?"

"I wish to recieve training in swordplay."

"I'm afraid I cannot train someone who is not a student of mine, I can, however, offer you a method of earning money and in the process train."
Garou was very interested, he needed funds for the trip ahead as he used most of his starting money for food supplies which wouldn't last forever.
And to add to this he could train at the same time!
Garou became very excited to the point where he couldn't contain it, be he in front of a master or not.
"So, what is it!?"
He shouted it out accidentally but he didn't even care.
"Now now, calm down. There is no need to shout."
He said this with a look that showed he felt what should have been the embaressment of Garou.
"It is a challenge where a swordsman must take on and defeat a series of tests around the island involving various aspects of swordplay.
I must warn you, some of them might not be..."
He paused for a moment, considering the best way to put it.
"Quite as you would expect."
"How will I find them?"
"Here is a map, it will guide you to your destination."
He gave Garou a crudely drawn map that looked as if it had been scrawled out by a child.
Garou looked up at the master with a large sweatdrop on the back of his head.
"What? Don't look at me like that, I can't be skilled at everything you know!"
Garou decided it was time to take his leave, he bowed and walked out of the dojo.
He started to decipher the map, it seemed that the closest task was the...
"Trial of the... mackrel?"
The masters writing was as terrrible as his drawing, but Garou supposed it didn't really matter. He could just figure it out when he got there.

[BEX]

Walking through the island of Shimoshiki, a certain pirate became acutely aware that there were amongst the civilians of the area men in kimono or vagrant pants with sheaths latched to their sides as if they were swordsmen. Of course they glanced over Jack and their eyes immediately went to the tsurugi at his back before dismissing him as some misguided youth carrying around a weapon for no reason which for some reason made him burn underneath the impassive expression on his face. His gangly legs carried him through a town where it was supposedly the dojo that one of the Mugiwara pirates came from. As he moved silently through the frothing waves of people moving to and fro he could feel his scowl deepening as he stepped towards the gates only to be stopped by two men who stepped forward from their posts with serious expressions on their face. Looking at the men’s eyes Jack noticed that neither of their frowns really reached their eyes so instead of a stern look, it seemed as if the men had simply eaten something sour and were pressing it to their lower jaws,

“Yo, what’s crackin’ chumps?” he greeted in his usual derisive demeanor.

He wasn’t sure if he necessarily was attempting to provoke these men into a fight, but at the same time he had certainly grown tired of the prideful eyes that the passing swordsman had been casting in his direction every since he had set foot on this island. At his brusque introduction the men’s shoulders stiffened with indignation though they attempted to remain stoic in their demeanor while Jack clenched and unclenched his hands feeling the odd sensation of stickiness that lingered temptingly before fading to nothingness in a matter of seconds. Looking over the broad shoulders of the samurai looking guards Jack extended a narrow brown finger in the direction of the man walking towards the entrance behind them apparently leaving the dojo,

“There’s my homeboy right there…” he said causing the men to turn around with a distinct distastefulness in their expressions towards the individual that would associate themselves with Jack.

As the men turned Jack slipped past them and hurriedly walked towards a young man probably a little older than himself who was staring quizzically at a sheet of paper. The deep grin on his face showed he was up to no good when suddenly he felt two strong hands snatch him by the shoulders followed by a set of deep baritones resonating from behind him,

“You will wait on the outside gate” said the men in unison as the struggled to pull him back.

Trying to wrench himself free of the men’s grasps Jack spat, cursed, and bit at the two muscled men creating a scene which distracted even the most devout of the students training in the nearby yard. Feeling that he was losing ground the rough looking kid from South Blue decided to place his bets on this unknown stranger,

“Hey! Help!” he cried out hoping to draw the man’s attention.

[Tim Curry]

Just as Garou readied to begin running toward the first trial a strange man started making a commotion at the gates.
It seemed that the guards were back after a break and they were refusing to let the man through, though it seemed as if he was fighting against them.
The man was pointing at him, Garou became cofused, what possible buisness could he have with him.
Suddenly he shouted "Hey! Help!"
He appeared to be calling to Garou.
His first instinct was to ignore him, but his kindness made him wish to intervene.
"What the hell are you doing!?"
Garou grabbed the man by the scruff of his shirt.
"Don't worry, i'll get rid of him."
He dragged the man around the side of the wall so that the guards wouldn't be able to see them.
He crashed the man up against the wall with a resounding thud.
"Why were you trying to get me involved in your half baked schemes to get in?"
He dropped the man and put his hand's palm on the top of his blade's handle.
He was ready to draw it at any moment if it was necessary.
He looked at the man closer and noticed he was about his age, give or take a year or two.
Huis expression was one of a rebellious nature, he scowled at Garou for getting him out of that situation.
He appeared to be weilding a blade too, it made Garou wonder if he could learn anything from fighting such an odd individual.
Garou lived in quite a small world before, he began to realise just why his master sent him out on this adventure, there was much he had never seen or heard of before.

[BEX]

His plan had worked and the person he had seen sauntering over from within the dojo grabbed from the clutches from of the guards, but that was where his success ended since he didn’t end up going to the dojo he had been seeking to infiltrate. Instead this strange young man his age slammed him against the wall of some dingy alley causing his anger to roil in his gut as he stared up at this person; obviously they had no idea who they had just decided to drag half across town. Taking in both sights and sounds he noticed the boy had a sword as well in fact the stranger was poised to attack as his hand rested on the pummel of the hilt (I assume that’s what you meant).

“Does that mean that this as*hole is one of those samurai pansies?” wondered as his eyelids lowered dangerously as his nostrils flared.

Beneath the baggy gi and the scraggly off white shirt that barely covered his thin frame his muscles tightened as he glared with savagery at the boy across from him, his own hand slowly reaching for the pummel of his own weapon,

“So what about it, hot shot?” he asked tauntingly his mouth creased at the corners with each seething word that came from his cracked lips; it had been many days since he had a cup of water and it hurt to speak,

“…why dontcha come join me in hell?” he continued pressing now stepping forward towards the boy with the same animal like snarl on his face as he had when he had watched a man die because of greed, back when he was naïve about the seas of the world. He would show this pissant no mercy; after all they didn’t call him “Typhoon Swell” for being the nicest guys on the seas.

[Cirrus]

To enter the dojo seemed impossible thanks to the guards who were guarding it. There were only two, but they seemed skilled enough to hold Dylan off when he didn't use his devil fruit abilites.
"Why is it guarded off if there is a competition?"
Dylan didn't know it was for ronin only, all he saw on the flier was that it was at this address, before the flier in question was snatched out of his hand by some unruly youngsters. He didn't take any action against them, as he didn't want to give the entire neighbourhood an opportunity to attack him.

He was going to go and ask, when a scruffily dressed man he recognised as Jack Dancer(woo call backs to earlier missions!) try to force his way past. He was dealt with. Not by the guards, but by another man, dressed in some odd attire who was also holding a sword.
"Typical Jack Dancer."
Dylan smiled a wry smile. He remebered Jack's rude and rowdy attitude from when they had taken on the Dreadnaut in Loguetown. Interested in where the other man had taken Jack, Dylan followed him round the corner; staying out of sight of course.
“So what about it, hot shot?...why dontcha come join me in hell?”

A fight was going to ensue. Jack Dancer would probably grow to be one of Dylan's rivals, so rather than stop the fight, Dylan left them be. Jumping up into the sky, he turned himself into pyroclastic ash. The momentum of the jump caused him to float upwards. He remained like this until he had cleared the dojo wall, and then he reformed, landing nimbly ontop of it.

This was Dylan, in a more passive mood.

[Tim Curry]

Garou would have preferred to avoid a pointless battle with this man but it seemed as if fate had a different plan.
"Very well, if you so wish it then I shall fight you with all I have."
Garou unsheathed his sword and held the tip at the same height as his forehead with both hands on the blade.
His legs were in a defensive stance naturally so that if he was charged at he wouldn't be pushed back very far.
He took advantage of the moment of peace by leaping above his opponent.
"SKY BREAKER!"
He came down upon his opponent With his blade and then jumped back, regardless of wether he stuck or not and ducked low.
He strained all his muscles as far as they would go without touching the ground and then sprung back up towards his opponent.
"Uwa Kiri!"
He slashed as he sprang up, aiming for his opponents chin.
After this Garou jumped back and took on a different swordplay style.
He held the blade with one hand and began using a flurry of light attacks upon his opponent, hoping that the damage of those attacks that hit would begin to add up and soon cause bleeding to slow down his opponent.
At the end of the assault Garou jumped back and removed the weights from his feet.
He looked upon his opponent to inspect what damage he had caused.
He had yet to use his df abilities but he preferred to use them on people who were strong enough to take them.
After a quick test then he would decide wether or not to use them.

[BEX]

The boy seemed to believe himself strong for confidence shone in his eyes and the anger that Jack had been filling before broiled over into a free delight that transcended any emotions that he had been feeling prior to the confrontation. A skyward attack was the first choice of the boy as he slammed down towards the ground with the tip of his blade aiming downward towards the pirate’s head, but a simple side step found the blade tip clanging into the ground as the boy again retreated for a brief moment. Nearby Jack heard the movement of something in the air, but he couldn’t tell exactly who or what it was because these days he had seen many individuals whose body weren’t substantial so he wouldn’t have been surprised to have met up with another Logia user.

“Not even close” he thought as his eyes watched the boy’s blade slice upward towards his chin, but this time he jerked backwards pressing his back against the wall as the slash just narrowly avoided taking his nose.

He smiled confidently as he watched this person suddenly change the style that they were attacking with; there was no way that this “kid” could beat him when his every movement sang a song of what attack he was going to make next. His smile deepened as he realized that the brunt of the assault of over and within the confined space of the alley he decided to charge the boy as he struck with a flurry of light attacks, the first which he simply ducked underneath. Sparks flew as the two clashed together Jack more playfully than this other guy who was apparently testing out his abilities with tentative strikes rather than coming at him with everything that he had. Finally the banging came to a halt and the boy leapt back to remove some weights that he had apparently been wearing. Usually Jack would have gone for blood and relived this cocky muthaf*cka of his head, but he stayed his sword hand choosing instead to remain calm. Several things didn’t seem to add up and he wanted to see what would happen,

“Now, that yer done fightin’ like a lil b*tch, how ‘bout ya give it another go?” he asked holding his arms out to either side indicating that he wasn’t even gonna defend himself; the ultimate insult to a person who took any pride in their swordsmanship.

[Tim Curry]

Garou smiled, "With pleasure!"
He sheathed the blade he was weilding and unsheathed his other blade.
"Daiba daiba no Raijin!"
Garou's sword suddenly had a bolt of lightning fly up it.
Garou upped the amount of power used to create a sort of visible lightning aura around the blade.
This extended it's range in all dimensions.
Garou used a lightning type with extra blowback so that even if it was blocked it would cause the enemies guard to fly open, and it would take large dodging motions to avoid it as the exact range of the blade was hard to concieve, due to the lightning aura fluctuating at all times.
"Lets see how you like this..."
Garou leapt at his opponent and started raining fierce blows upon him, each one aimed to end the fight.
Garou was no longer holding back, he was going full blast against his opponent now that he had shown how he dealt with attacks.
He switched between high, low, vertical and horizontal blows on the fly.
Despite being taught by a swordmaster he had quite a flexible style rather than the rigid motions often practised in other dojos.
At one point when Garou did a downwards verticle slash he travelled along with the blade and put his palm to the ground.
He whispered "Daiba Daiba no Dageki.
Suddenly a shockwave of electricity burst forth from his palm into the ground, causing any conductive objects or animals in it's way to be electrocuted.

[Cirrus]

Dylan watched as the battle commenced. The other man jumped into the air to attack Jack. He seemed to have named this attack "Sky Breaker". As expected, Jack effortlessly dodged, but didn't retalliate. The stranger used another named attack, in this one he tried to slice Jack near the chin area. He called it "Uwa Kiri". His efforts were fruitless. The stranger attacked again, this time he went at Jack with a flurry of light attacks. This time Jack was forced to defend himself, and Dylan watched as the "Typhoon Swell" blocked most of the strikes, the ones he missed he seemed to evade.

“Now, that yer done fightin’ like a lil b*tch, how ‘bout ya give it another go?”

Dylan smiled. The stranger seemed to be all talk so far. He hadn't landed a single hit, and it was Jack's way to call him on it. The other man seemed to adjust his clothing, some weights fell from his legs, and the "Wolf Doctor" was intrigued.
"Who fights with weights on?" he whispered.

"Hey! You! Get down from there!"
The fight was about to continue, but Dylan had problems of his own. He had been spotted by one of the guards. The guard ran over, and drew his sword.
"You have three seconds, before we turn you in for tresspassing!"

Dylan tilted his head slowly. The guard couldn't touch him from way down there, he was only equipped with a sword. It was an interesting situation for Dylan to be in.
"How about you let me in to the dojo so I may participate in the competition?"
Dylan was trying to negotiate, still being his civil self. However, the guard was not amused.
"Three," he called. Dylan didn't budge.
"Two," nothing happened on top of the wall.
"One!"

With that, the guard leaped with impressive strength all the way up to the top of the wall, landing next to Dylan, who was still sitting. It had been a wonderous thing to witness, the guard seemed to fly up there, stepping on the wall occasionally.
"Interesting. I had not been expecting that."
The guard leaned over to pick Dylan up by the scruff of his neck. This was a fatal mistake, as Dylan pointed out.
"Excuse me sir, but I would not do that if I were you."
"Why not tresspasser?"
"Because I could easily throw you over the edge like this."
Dylan had barely finished the sentence before he moved into action. Grabbing the guard's hand, he pulled the guard towards himself, then headbutted him as his head came into range. The kinetic energy of the headbutt forced the guard to go over the edge of the wall. Normally that would have been the end of it, but the guard wasn't as weak as he seemed. Instead of falling straight down as gravity dictated he would do, the guard stuck out a leg and an arm, and gripped the wall, about half way down. He clung onto the tiniest of cracks, and looked up at Dylan, clearly incensed. Then, he pulled himself up with a lot of force, and sailed over Dylan, blocking out the sun as he went.
"Time to die."
The guard sliced at Dylan, who ducked. He was in a fight of his own. Dylan drew his swords, and scrambled to get out of the way as the guard landed where he had previously been sitting.
"Okay then, I'm in a fight."

[BEX]

“With pleasure!” he boy smiled and suddenly his blade began to glow and crackle with electrical light sizzling as sparks jumped from the weapon to the air around it.

Ducking, dodging, leaping and even bending himself backward so that he formed a bridge Jack evaded all of the boy’s attacks as if it were nothing more than child’s play. It impressed him that only one of his abilities would grant him insight to the main portion of his opponent’s fighting style. Of course he had suspected that this person wasn’t at the same fighting capability as him and on top of that he was using an ability that the mostly ignorant Jack couldn’t comprehend. Even with these odds stacked against him he had the upper hand on his opponent and it was apparent even to the attacking boy causing a sly smile to slip onto Jack’s face until he saw the boy’s crackling open palm flying towards the ground. Instinctively he flipped his legs up into the air out of the bridge position and pressed his geta sandal flat against the wall using it to gain purchase just as the electrical charges flowed into the ground. Time seemed to slow down and only seconds after Jack’s hands left the ground hovering only a mere inch above the pirate could feel the heat burning the skin of his palms. Now suspended parallel to the ground Jack had only seconds before he fell back towards the electrically charged earth.

“This is turnin’ into a f*ckin’ excerise” he thought as he propelled himself towards the other wall on the alley and then repeated the process jettisoning himself through the air towards the other wall until finely the agile man found himself balancing awkwardly on the rim of the roof of one of the buildings that had overlooked the alley,

“I think ya missed me jerkoff!” he waved from his perch still holding his weapon in his hand, but his smile was wiped away as he became aware of a certain doctor suddenly engaged one of the samurai guards that stood in front of the dojo; apparently that was the presence he heard earlier,

“D*mn fool keeps interferin’ in all my fights!” he swore angrily remembering a few instances where the demented doctor had needlessly stepped into Jack’s path.

It seemed that even the Logia user was having problems with the swordsman who was pressing him into a corner and the two danced across the roof, one trying to slice the other to bits while the other negotiated for terms upon entering the dojo. Blinking he realized that he had taken his eyes of the individual whom he’d been fighting, but he wasn’t too worried as his eyes shifted focus back to the alley where he still expected to find the competitor. The sun sparkled off his pale blue studs as he tried in a futile attempt to recall why the two had begun fighting in the first place, but then again it was never the reason that mattered to him. He grinned as he remembered his own personal creed,

“You never need a reason to take someone’s life.”

[Cirrus]

"Okay then, I'm in a fight."

Dylan hadn't really taken the notion seriously, as he could easily dispatch the guards with his Logia powers. What was stopping him however, was the fact that if he revealed his tricks now, everyone would be prepared for it in the competition. Thus, Dylan Wolf was forced to just fight with swords against the samurai guard, who had a few tricks of his own.

"Kurimuzonmunraito: Shadoudansu"

Dylan should have been paying attention. The guard stabbed at Dylan's forehead, then at his torso, multiple times, each time getting faster and faster. Dylan was parrying well, even managing to get in a counter strike, before he was back on the defensive. The guard backed off.
"I am Kintaro. I will be your nightmare for the day."
Kintaro smiled. He was confident that he had Dylan in his palm.
"Kurimuzonmûnraito: Bura no warutsu"

The guard seemed to disappear and reappear in bursts, like an unstable hologram, coming closer and closer, with his deadly sword swinging in figures of eight.
"Too fancy. Try again?" said Dylan.
Running forward into Kintaro's way, Dylan had his swords in an x-formation.
"Solar plexus-guarded. Oesophagus-guarded. Cranium-guarded. Break in point? None. Strategy-brute force."

Dylan put all his strength into blocking one sword, while stabbing furiously at Kintaro's armour. Most of the time his attacks just scratched the metal, the only penetrating hits just nicked against his skin. Dylan stopped blocking Kintaro's blade, and brought his heel crashing skywards towards his chin in a lightning fast motion.
"Result-discombobulation."
Kintaro saw stars, and Dylan was free to land crucial hits. Dylan got behind his armour, and jabbed vital areas. This made Kintaro seize up, the fall off the wall.
"Easy."
Dylan put his swords away, and looked down, his eyes searching for Jack Dancer. He couldn't find him, and he instantly looked up. There he was on the rooftops, seemingly cursing the "Wolf Doctor"'s presence.
"Happy to see me?" called Dylan.