Mission #32: Better Off Dead

[BEX]

A pirate clacked down the streets of Rinaf, the main town of Noro Island where people of all shapes and sized coincided with each other seemingly content with how their lives were. No matter how much Jack tried he couldn’t understand why these people looked the way that they did, but of course there was a more pressing reason that he and Syphalia, his crew’s third-in-command had come to this island. There were a few elegant looking women that walked by, however even in their forlorn beauty the strangeness of the island’s natives still tainted their desirability at least for Jack Dancer they did,

“The hell’s up with these people?” he asked the small girl walking beside him, her now auburn hair glistening in the strange sunlight of the island.

Although Jack didn’t address the matter he had noticed the girl’s hair recently seem to change color and wondered what kind of hair coloring the girl had been using since she didn’t really seem the vain type, but he knew better than to bother with something so trivial when they were on a mission. In the distance a large thin plant towered near the center of the town as if it were some sort of beacon and there seemed to be a large amount of pollen spurting from its petals creating an eerie yellow mist near the top. All around his Ecolocion delivered audio messages of the people around him in case there was any suspicious movement that they needed to know about; they were both at this point wanted criminals of the World Government. Despite their supposed notorious nature in the midst of the Grand Line it would be easy for them to disappear due the many names that were bigger than their own allowing them to move still relatively unnoticed.

“Much better than the blues…at least we ain’t got Marines chasin’ us at every turn” he thought distantly to himself.

It seemed the organization of the town was extremely structured as all the houses and shops were lined up neatly one by the other on either side of the streets leaving a wide expanse for the townspeople to traverse upon. Children ran happily with their elongated heads in every direction and it dawned on Jack that they would have a hard time finishing their goals upon this island since it seemed to have many diverse cultures that had taken root. A few people walked by commenting on how different they looked from everyone more importantly on how dangerous Jack looked and they apparently were tempted to call the authorities on the spot certain that the young man had already committed crimes without even knowing him. Anger made a small vein at his temple bulge angrily as he bit down on his teeth restraining himself focusing instead on the thirty million beri that the man they were hunting was worth,

“I assume…you have some plan to find this punk a*s” he agitatedly declared as he continued walking with more of a scowl on his face than a few minutes ago; he hated this island and made a mental note to kick some a*s whenever he had the chance just to blow off steam.

A marine walked past the two staring obstinately at the pair as they walked by, but didn’t say anything to them much to the rugged looking Jack. The shone through the pale mist of the flower that towered above the island and peering into the horizon the already agitated Jack could just make out the plumes of other flowers in the distance making him wonder what kind of island they had landed upon. Like the one at the center of Rinaf town, there was a massive cloud of pollen hovering nearing the tops furthering the question of what kind of island this was. Suddenly a man bumped into Jack succeeding in taking both men down to the ground,

“The hell?!” cried the surprised pirate as he immediately recovered from his shock grasping the man’s collar while they were on the ground pressing the man into the ground until he could hear gasping noises coming from the thin headed individual, but he didn’t care, “…bad day to be bumpin’ into partner” Jack uttered with a sadistic grin on his face as he rose his fist high into the air ready to pummel the man to death. Instant gratification was always sweet.

[flame08]

Stepping more quietly than her partner (in the occupational sense) she observed the oddities which this island gave. Men and women walked around with extremely odd heads, bodies and basically generally weird ways. While she would have liked to learn more about the island, she had a book for that and what the book had told her didn't seem very . . . well pleasant. She had researched the island after Jack and herself had picked up this mission from a town they had passed by in their journeys within the DBP.

Turning to Jack as he posed his rather blunt question she walked on, speaking then to him. "Well Jack, Noro Island is rather odd on the face of it, well no its generally odd. For some odd reason people who live here have their faces mutated by some unexplained reason in the book i have. In any case its best not to stare, you'll only attract undesired attention to ourselves. We already stand out. Oh by the way, we have a week for this search, any later, and well you don't want to know."

Facing forward again she played with her hair as she walked. The gradual change in its color had been a surprise for her. She had not expected such things to happen, her originally black hair had disappeared and been replaced by this reddish hair. While it wasn't particularly bad she had wondered about why it had happened, there was no reason for it, all that she could assume was that it was because of her devil fruit powers. Noticing that she had gone off into thought about her hair again she concentrated once again on her mission.

Pulling out a slip of paper she looked at it again. It wasn't actually a slip of paper, it was a packet of wanted posters. She had stolen them off a billboard a few towns earlier. In there was three posters of the DBP pirates along with the one she needed at the moment. Stuffing the rest of the posters back into her satchel she looked at the wanted poster. "Frillybeard" 30,000,000 beri, it said and they had heard that he was hiding out hear on Noro Island, why, she had no idea. But their mission was to find him, capture him, and turn him into the marines.

Jack spoke again wondering if she had any plan to find this man. She spoke quickly "No idea Jack, hadn't thought about how to find him yet."

After turning a way for a little bit she came back to attention as a man crashed into Jack. Jack in usual fashion was infuriated, sighing Syph turned around to save the man. Putting her hand on his fist she gave him an evil eye and said "We're trying not to make a commotion, it'll make our life a lot easier ya know."

[BEX]

As a small hand grasped his own Jack turned to see Syph glaring angrily at him, as was normally the case when it came to seeing eye to eye with the small girl,

“We’re trying not to make a commotion, it’ll make our lives (plural) a lot easier you know” she attempted to reason with the instinctual man much to his aggravation she as always seemed to approach all situation rationally.

A small glint appeared in his eye and he snorted back at the girl instead head butting the man viciously causing a fountain of blood to spew from the unfortunate victim’s nose while his assailant calmly rose to his feet without saying anything else. Casually walking away while the other townspeople quickly ran to the aid of their fallen neighbor Jack closed his eyes and felt the lightness that usually came with a bout of vented aggression, he was a pirate after all if he didn’t do these things then what was the point? Of course he would have to deal with Syph’s attitude for the rest of the trip, but he didn’t mind since she was being prissy about it and she knew how he was when it came to people messing with him. Crossing his arms behind his head he glanced at the looks that people were now giving them as they walked by, but he mildly enjoyed the new look of fear that the two pirates had inspired amongst the people, they were after all pirates,

“Yo, Sparky (Jack’s new nickname for her), what were ya saying about us having to find this guy in one week? Why the time limit?” he asked curiously although he had no intention of staying on the island longer than he needed to, but it was the manner in which she mentioned it that brought a sense of disconcertion to his mind.

While the two were carrying on a conversation Jack “felt” as a group of men up ahead were marching in unison and it was in a familiar rhythm immediately making the pirate bear his teeth in loathing; it was a platoon of Marine officers searching the houses for someone. For the first time since they had arrived upon the island Jack was reminded of the souvenir that he had attained on an interesting excursion to the lower portions of South Blue, where he was born. The massive black sheath that was taller than him hung heavily at his back at a diagonal angle since its length was more than the young pirate could measure up to,

“Whaddya think? Should we get the hell outta here? Or act natural?” he said with a toothy smile; his meaning of natural would most likely end in mayhem.

[flame08]

Syph watched as Jack head butted the man before letting him go. The man fell to the ground as Jack continued on without even a second glance. Feigning ignorance she walked off with him, too lazy to make amends she left the man to bleed out his wound. They were already drawing attention to themselves, sighing she put her hand on her head for increased emphasis. Then again it was a trivial matter, and with Jack doing this mission with her its not like it wasn't going to happen no matter how much she tried to stop it.

Jack turned to her questioning the reasoning behind the seven day limit. She laughed slightly and commented "Well we could stay longer, but i prefer my head in its normal shape if you get what i mean." Then on a more serious note she said "This island is really crazy, I don't know about you, but I'm leaving this place before my head becomes . . . . well for lack of a better word . . . shaped."

Up ahead a group of marines marched in their direction. They seemed to be searching houses for somebody in particular. She wasn't too crazy about the marines but she wasn't about to start a fight with them either. Tightening her grip on her sword's hilt she continued to walk forward trying to ignore the marines. With an odd smile Jack turned to her asking a question, which she supposed she already knew the answer too, without him asking. “Whaddya think? Should we get the hell outta here? Or act natural?”

Looking at Jack for a second she answered him casually "Well knowing you, acting natural is definitely not your forte, though running away doesn't seem to be much to your tune either. So I guess we can try to act natural, though our general appearance already makes us look strange."

The squad of marines walked into view, their caps and all with guns and swords galore. They seemed to be rather tough, she guessed.

[BEX]

“Heh…” Jack semi laughed at Syph’s comment about his definition of what normal was.

It seemed that she had a better handle on his personality than he had thought, but before he could make any other comments the officers marched towards them with grim looks on their faces as their eyes followed the two pirates that as Syph had aptly put it, stood out. A daring smile curled the defiant boy’s lips as he stared back at the officers with a side glance flashing his teeth with an open smile. Almost as if he was waiting for a reason to beat someone down for even the slightest reason and it seemed as if those days of causing trouble in Saint Reia weren’t too far behind him anymore. His hand tingled as the marines passed by them and Jack noted that a few of the men immediately reached for their pistols probably without noticing it making his grin widen. Something interesting was going on in Noro Island, but Jack couldn’t quite place what is was,

“Something ‘bout this place aside from their head shapes is pretty fishy” he commented without waiting for an answer walked into the nearest shop and made his way to the front of the line; he’d grown tired of Syph’s delayed tactics of finding this Frillybeard character, “Yo” he greeted the shopkeeper who immediately broke into a sweat.

The man’s hand immediately slipped underneath the table which struck Jack as odd behavior so he immediately snatched the man’s wrist before it could go any further. For a second the shop keeper struggled to free his wrist, but he quickly found out that Jack was no ordinary person as the vice like grip that clenched the shop keeper’s arm was not easily broken. Giving in to the grip the shopkeeper went limp in Jack’s hand and as the pirate leaned over the counter as the rest of the room began to fill with buzzing civilians wondering what was going on, the scraggly looking young man asked his own question to the shopkeeper,

“Where the hell is the man known as ‘Frilly Beard’?” he asked with a smile and cold, hungry eyes that looked at the shopkeeper not as someone that needed to be killed, but the same manner that a dog would look at a piece of meat just before it was devoured, “…you’d better hurry up…we ain’t gotta lotta time” he warned his teeth seeming to have sharpened adding even more to the animalistic effect of his interrogation.

Just as he was about to get some answers a few marine officers walked in the room with stone cold expressions on their faces as they immediately began walking towards Syph and Jack near the front of the room. Although he was always ready for a fight there was something suspicious that he had been wondering about since the beginning of this excursion so he grabbed Sypha around the waist and leaped over the counter of the shopkeeper’s store. Weaving his way into the backroom, the two pirates exited the back way where Jack used Sacudidas y Pasos to move them at high speeds in quick succession to escape the view of the store as well as the marines,

“I think we might have a bigger problem than finding this Frilly-mustache guy” Jack said as he continued as he sat down in their new hiding spot certain that his ability would alert them to any strangers that were sneaking up on them.

[flame08]

A lot was being put to chance here, with the marines passing them by and Jack trying to act natural, the last thing she would expect is for this to end in peace. Watching carefully through her peripheral vision she noticed a few of the marines go for their guns as they passed by Jack and herself. The few seconds of tension passed along with the marines, Syph wondered why they were so tense. True that outsiders may be rather uncommon, but this was the Grand Line there were plenty of people passing into the area, there was no reason for them to be on-guard.

Syph watched from the side as Jack went up to a storekeeper, and began interrogations. She sighed wondering if she'd have to 'save' another idiot who would most likely get on the wrong side of Jack, whether by his doings or Jacks doings. She walked up to the storekeep as well, keeping a wary eye out for the marines who had just passed and another one on Jack. As one thing led to another, she suddenly found Jack holding the man's wrist with a strong grip. Looking around she saw them quickly gaining attention, cursing Jack she wondered how long they had till the marines came back.

As Jack questioned the man about Frillybeard, she could see the marines finally heading back around, but just before any answers could be given the marines appeared at the shop. With the marines heading in their direction Syph wondered what Jack would do, the answer came in a very odd form. He picked her up and ran for it, she floated in the air as Jack carried her away in a very odd style.

When he finally put her down she had only one thing to do. A small fist of hers rammed down upon his head where he sat. Looking at him she said "Don't ever do that again, I am quite capable of getting away myself. I don't need you ever doing that. Nor do i want you ever to." Then going to address his comment she said "Well, it was bound to happen with you here. Anyways we should figure out how we're going to find this guy. Any chance your ecolocacion could do the trick?"

[BEX]

(OOC: I'm trying to let the thread develop on its own instead of taking master command so you're gonna have to pick up some of the slack. sorry bro )

As he sat down for a moment’s reprieve he felt a fist crash on top of his head knocking his face into the ground before stars were suddenly produced in his head, but he recovered quickly as immediately his retaliatory instincts flared up,

“Oi! B*tch! I’ll kill yer a*s right here and turn you for a bounty!” he threatened which he probably could if it were not for the fact that Frilly beard was in fact more valuable than Syphalia; right now it was the only reason he didn’t attack her.

Standing up still grumping having been struck in the head after he had helped the little girl escape Jack dusted himself off before he considered the girl’s suggestion that he use his Doka Doka no mi’s power to locate the man they were looking for. Of course the pirate had considered that before which was the reason he had created a scene in the first place. For the first time he felt proud of himself for outsmarting Syph in this instance, but he didn’t gloat over it instead walking silently past the girl giving her a slight wave of his hand beckoning her to follow him,

“C’mn…I gotta plan” he said with a reluctant tone in his voice; he wasn’t sure why he bothered brining her along when he could have done this himself.

Rinaf was now astir with the sudden appearance of a pirate who was searching for Frilly beard who had made a name of himself on Noro Island in particular for one amazing detail though no one seemed to actually discuss what that detail was. Leaning against the wall in an alley the pirate “listened” to the rumors floating around the strange town such as the who the intruders were, what their purpose was in finding Frilly Beard, and their apparent attack on the shopkeeper branding them as pirates. Nothing of use was coming from what he could tell, but at the moment they had no choice except to wait until someone slipped in conversation revealing the information that they needed to know. In the meantime he contemplated what would happen if this pirate had a trick up his sleeve as was the case with most of these pirates making them all pansies in Jack’s opinions. The days of taking on bad a*s fighters seemed to be slowly disappearing and he hadn’t gotten his fill yet. A dark smile indicated that he had no intention of giving up just because the situation looked grim,

“Suppose this mofo ain’t in this town, we gonna hunt every single town til we find ‘em?” Jack asked while still keeping his attention to bustling town around him.

Of course he knew that his partner was smart enough to understand what his real question was: how were they going to find Frilly Beard in time to avoid having their heads deformed by the strange curse that loomed over the island.

[flame08]

Syph laughed as Jack responded to the punch. It seemed that it had done well to rile him up. With her next plan, it would be best if he was riled up. She was going to call on them to do something very unSyph-like, but very much something that Jack would enjoy doing. But just for a second she would see if the original method would do any good, she doubted it. The marines were much to concerned by Jack's use of the words Frillybeard, so was that man. She had already thought up many possibilities of what was happening here, and one particular one seemed most likely. It was an uncommon thing to happen but she had heard of instances before. That and it underlaid a simpler idea which she thought Jack might understand.

As she had thought the ecolocacion failed horribly. There was no one talking about Frillybeard in the town, giving more power to her idea. “Suppose this mofo ain’t in this town, we gonna hunt every single town til we find ‘em?” Jack said. Syph smiled at him gently, and slowly turned to a much more evil smile.

"Well Jack . . ." she started with a grin "I have a plan, that you'll probably enjoy a lot . . . We are going to destroy the marines on this island, thus lightening the guard on this island which will most likely cause Frillybeard to come out of hiding." Though hiding might be the wrong word, more like he's commanding the whole island in a way. "So the major base of the marines, which we will be targeting is here in Rinafu, Up at the northwest corner of the town. You in your oh-so-obvious fashion are going to come crashing into the front gate. Use one of your sound shockwaves to break through the front. I trust that you are able to take on everyone who comes against you. I'll follow behind you, and together we'll take out the base and most importantly the commanding figure. It's your choice if you wish to do this in broad daylight or at night." She smiled, then chuckling, then going into a laugh that would freak some people out.

The sun shone brightly today, it was time to dye it red.

[BEX]

(OOC: You know how Jack is and I figured starting off with a little discord between the two most polar opposites of the crew was more realistic. Balls in your court now mate XD)

The girl was right about her idea, it did seem to suit him much more than usual except for one small problem which the pirate immediately noted and decided it wasn’t worth his time,

“Not interested…” he muttered as he strolled out of the alley now that the people roaming the streets had been scarce.

Looking in the distance he saw the other two towns and began to walk in that direction he knew that Syph, who loved being one to strategize would have a problem with the next few words that he had to say though being Jack Dancer it didn’t really matter to him. Shaking his head to rid himself of the few strands that blocked his vision he stopped in the middle of the empty street now as the quiet life of Rinaf town had once again calmed itself since the rousing of a pirate. A few weak sun rays poked at through the cloud of pollen that hung over head and the slight uptake of wind carried the cloud more evenly across the town spreading an odd odor as well most likely the plant. Turning in his Shogun’s direction the Captain decided what was to be done about Frilly Beard,

“Takin’ down the Marines sounds like hella fun, but think about it for a second moron…if we start a brawl with these guys when we don’t even know where or who they are don’t you think pickin’ a fight with a few Marines could end up bein’ a f*ckin’ waste of time?” he explained slowly and strangely more clearly than he had ever spoken before.

It had never been his style to think, yet this time he saw that there the best way in his head would be to minimize the risk of each other getting in the other’s way until the very end; she was far too manipulative and he was far too simple. A slight movement drew his attention quickly as it stood out amidst the blatant loudness that surrounded the town,

“Hold that thought a sec, would ya?” he said with a smile on his face as he immediately broke into a run chasing after a silhouette that suddenly sprung from behind one of the Tudor houses that remained in line with the rows of other houses in the town.

Perhaps his plan hadn’t necessarily failed in the first place.

[flame08]

Jack shot down the idea, giving his own argument to why they shouldn't do it. Syph puzzled for a second thought on it, it was an idea that fit Jack much more than it fit her. For him to shoot it down was very. . . interesting. It was one of the few things she wasn't expecting of Jack, maybe he had some brains after all. She put that aside, it was something to explore later, a Jack who was actually aware of stuff .. . that was a new thought. She strolled out the alley after Jack checking around quietly for anyone whom it might not be favorable to notice Jack and Syph's return to the open world. Not one suspicious person could she notice at the time, though she would be sure to keep an open eye for one.

Jack's attention was quickly drawn to what seemed to be a shadow that had suddenly gone on the move. Jack got up into a sprint behind it. Syph looked on, as the two ran off toward, how unexpected the Northwest. She laughed, oh how the world worked out ehh. In the end they were heading Northwest anyways.

But more urgent in her casual walk northwards is that she noticed the marines from earlier coming up the line of Tudor houses. She cursed their bad luck, ducking down into the crowd she tried to avoid the sight of the marines. For Jack however it was already to late, in his sprint he had been left wide open to be seen. Two of the marines had already spotted him and were raising pistols. Another one had a Den Den Mushi which he was pulling out.

Then a shot rang out . . .

[BEX]

His focus remained on the quickly retreating figure of a man whose head seemed, like everyone else on this island, oddly shaped when suddenly a buzzing noise flipped past his face. Looking in the direction it had come from he found himself in a wide open clearing staring down a two armed Marine officers and worse yet it seemed that more would be coming as the last of the trio held his lips up to a Den Den Mushi,

“We have located the pirate in question. This is Petty Officer Quinn Balbo requesting back up in section 9 of Rinaf town. Please hurry”

Before Jack could do anything the message for help had been given and he couldn’t hear the small steps of his supposed partner behind him meaning she probably had taken off leaving him to handle the nuisances on his own,

“D*mn, that b*tch…” the seemingly cornered pirate sighed as the crowd screamed in realization of what was happening and began to run in various directions, but even in the chaos the frightening young man stood confidently as he turned to face the Marines with a cocky grin on his face, “…guess I wasn’t a way to avoid not fightin’ after all” he decided as he rose an open palm towards the fast approaching Marines.

It was then that he noticed a small droplet of something splatter near his foot; his Ecolocación allowed him to pick up the almost hidden noise causing his eyes to shift downward for a second examining the unexplainable fluid. Upon further review he realized that it was blood and quickly his eyes moved upward to spot any other attackers that may have been coming at him. Again shots rang out and this time one grazed his shoulder sending a wave of pain rocking him out of his subdued demeanor. Once again it seemed his anger completely overwhelmed his rationality turning his wilder on the Marines,

“GET LOST!” he shouted as he covered the distance between himself and the rushing men in four long strides before driving the back of his fist into the soft abdomen of the first marine, “Uraate” he muttered with his eyes hidden beneath the shaggy hair that coated his head.

Transferring the kinetic energy of all his motion into this fist the pirate sent the Marine sailing several feet into the air where he smashed into a chimney before landing at an unknown destination much to the shock of his partners who were also shown no mercy. In their surprise they dropped their guard and the one to Jack’s left caught a powerful roundhouse kick to the head that sent his body spiraling into the side of the monotonous houses spreading a plume of debris everywhere. The last Marine stared at him with wide eyes, but Jack didn’t have any more time to waste so he grabbed the man be the collar of his shirt drawing him in before smashing his own skull against the Marine leaving the man to slump lifelessly to the ground.

“We have confirmation that the target is Jack Dancer. Move with caution! All units converge on Rinaf town!” came a message that he heard utilizing Ecolocación and quickly thinking he tried out a long shot in hopes it would buy him sometime,

“I repeat the pirate has fled the island. Everyone start converging on the docks of…of Rinaf town!” he manipulated the message sent via Den Den Mushi using his Mano de Dios ability; hopefully that would cause enough confusion for him to move about for at least a couple of hours without Marine interference, “Now to find that d*mn girl” he muttered.

[flame08]

With the Marines 'diverted' by Jack, Syph ran off quietly toward the fleeing man. She knew that it wouldn't take Jack to long to take care of the marines there. He would probably be able to cover any marine reinforcements that came as well. She smiled, this worked out pretty well for not calculating the reappearance of the marines. She scanned the crowds as she ran, though they were now bustling and rampaging because of the gunfire the man was still visible ahead of her.

She threw away her hidden positioning and burst off into a dash after him. Her DF abilities allowing her to move faster than most normal humans could move. She seemed to skate across the ground dodging between people as she made her way to the man who was running off in the distance. The man looked back, now decidedly calmer seeing that the original man who had spotted him was busy at the moment. That was until he saw Syph running after him, he quickly dodged off into a different alley between houses again.

Launching herself upwards she landed upon the cloth on the top of a food stand, continuing from there she jumped up again landing upon the roof. Skipping over roofs she followed closely to an alley parallel to the road until she could see the man she was chasing running below her. From her spot she launched herself barreling into the alley sword unsheathed. Landing upon the man she knocked him to the ground holding her sword to his neck.

"Well my friend, I wonder, why running around so suspiciously . . ." she smiled.

[BEX]

A flicker of red hair flashed and Jack’s eyes managed to catch a glimpse of Syph as she chased after the mark that he had initially found. All the while he was aware that there seemed to be a few people in the crowd watching him intently making him wonder if the Marines were the only ones that the pirates had to be worried about. Making haste he quickly came to the where his third-in-command had captured the suspicious man holding him down with her sword tip pointed at his throat,

“Well my friend I wonder why you’re running around so suspiciously…” she asked with something akin to delight in her voice and for some reason it bothered Jack that she here playing with their lead, but he didn’t say anything.

Stepping forward made the man’s trembling head twist jarringly in the pirate captain’s direction as he walked with his right hand raised up menacingly to his face as a twisted smile made him seem more like a nightmare than an actual living person; some part of him could sense the same delight that Syph felt as she trapped the man,

“Well, she’s a bit nicer than I am…I suggest ya start talkin’ or else I might forget you’re supposed to be helpin’ us and let that hammer fly” he threatened not caring whether the man or Syph understood what he had meant by those words.

His face wore a greedy mask whose teeth seemed to stretch his smile inhumanly and as the man seemed to bite down on his lips tightly in defiance of the two bounty heads Jack pressed his palm flat against the clammy head of the man. Suddenly a whirring sound was heard as the speaker in the rough looking boy readied itself for another sharp blast that would do considerable amount of damage to the man’s skull at close range at least if there was anything left of the man’s head,

“Alright, Alright! I know where Frilly Beard is!” the man finally broke as tears filled his eyes and streamed down his cheeks soaking the ground upon which he laid, “…F-Frilly Beard is a dangerous man who is normally seen hanging around in Fuklian Town” the man spilled much to Jack’s chargrin noted by the distinct distaste that made his nose wrinkle before admonishing the man for ratting out the leader; of course he would have killed him had the man not complied.

“Alright I guess yer leadin’ us to the town, then” Jack sighed with an ironic smile on his face as the man scrambled to his feet with an awed expression, “You want me to what?!” the little man asked sharply before Jack came closer with a slanted eyes that shined dangerously as he placed his hand on the man’s shoulder causing the man to stutter.

[flame08]

((OOC: actually i left out you're for effect Jack . .. but wtv))

A sudden and brief change in wind pressure told her that her friend has returned. Walking up to her and her hostage he quickly figured out the situation, well at least she thought he had figured out the situation. He might just be walking up to torture this guy, its quite possible that that is the main reason for his being here.

She watched quietly, always keeping a tight hold on her hostage as Jack bent down to do some 'negotiating' and 'convincing'. The brief "talk" was over quickly as the man gave in after a small blast from . .. well Jack. “Alright, Alright! I know where Frilly Beard is!" he broke out into a tearful talk. “…F-Frilly Beard is a dangerous man who is normally seen hanging around in Fuklian Town." Syph smiled, letting go of the man allowing him to rise quietly from the ground. She was about to let him go when Jack interjected.

“Alright I guess yer leadin’ us to the town, then." He smiled at the man who was just about to walk away.

A quick answer came in the form of “You want me to what?!”, the man was clearly surprised at the 'order'. Syph sighed and said "Its not a question of what we want you to do. Its an order of what you are going to be doing." Her sword rose to his throat again and as he trembled she could make out the words "f-f-f-fine . .. "

Keeping a close eye upon him she led the man out to the street where they started heading in the direction of Fuklian Town. She made sure to check the small guide book she kept to make sure they were going in the right direction.

[BEX]

(OOC: Well, geez…if ya ever actually took control of the NPC so I could get the hint....it’d be a lot easier to know how to maneuver. Baka!)

“It’s not a question of what we want you to do. It’s an order of what you’re going to be doing” the chibi looking girl said coolly while pressing her katana against the man’s throat even more threateningly resulting in the man’s instant submittal,

“Che…I would’ve much rather had the b*stard have some back bone so we could have some fun” Jack muttered as he leaned against the wall; so far he had encountered nothing, but weaklings on this island although he shouldn’t have expected much going after a guy with a bounty lower than his.

As things were money wasn’t necessarily an issue, but in the future it dawned on him as the group walked in some general direction that with Devil Fruit powers in their crew were for the most part extremely destructive in nature making him look down at his own palm. Of course he had been to the Grand Line before, but it was one thing to come this portion of the world as an individual however forming a crew and breaking into the Grand Line is asking to be taken down by either pirates or the Navy. The prospects of going against either made him excitedly as that villainous smile he normally copped made its appearance, yet again. Sighing in delight he looked up at the image of the strange plant of the other town slowly increasing in size ensuring that it was in fact a town they were heading to. Like the one in Rinaf town there was a plume of gas that floated conspicuously near the town shrouding the actual petals in a sickly green mist and every so often the wind would blow spreading a small portion over the general area,

“Damn, I forgot we do have to get the hell off this island before we have our heads all f*cked up” he thought to himself as he silently followed Syph and her hostage to the next town.

(OOC: From now on just say whether you want control of the NPC. I’m giving this one to you so you have to rp him, got it?)