Mission 43: Something Wicked This Way Comes...

[jubakilaque]

The frozen wastes of Drum Island's tundra looked bleak. It was all the same. White snow on white snow on white snow on white snow. Too long out here and one would go insane. To be stranded out here in the icy lands, far from civilisation would be the end of many. But some are more resilient. Some even take shelter here. Some make this place their home, safe from pursuit of any poor souls they plunder. This place, out here on the most mundane of landscapes is the home of a wandering pirate crew. They pillage the nearby villagers, who in truth have no way to protect themselves. It is a shame that no one protects them. Until now....

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"Well isn't this the most happy place."

A sarcastic voice echoed throughout the empty tundra. He stood out amongst the bland white landscape. He wore a brown leather jacket with a white shirt underneath. He should be freezing cold.
He's not.
Warmed by the pure evil in his heart, this man traversed the terrible icy wastes of Drum Island. From the ladies' perspective, he's God's gift to women, but from the mens' he's a monster sent from hell. In fact, his epithet is "Monster" he is renowned for his stark crimes against humanity.

Desmond Minus was looking for a cheap kill and some food. He didn't mind that he was essentially an outcast, all he wanted was a meal.


There.
It moved again.

He wasn't seeing things, he was sure of it. A small black dot was going in circles around him. Other than that the place was still. Not a mouse stirred. So why would his eyes lie to him now?

Again.
Closer this time.

It was gathering confidence. If he wasn't mistaken, he thought there were at least 8 of them now. The dot had found friends. They danced around the plain horizon like cinders on a fire.

A bark.
Wolves.

"So they come to play." said Desmond aloud. He gripped his pudao, Dark Destiny, and prepared to fight.

They came at him in a mass of claws, teeth and fur. The combined strength of the wolves was no match for Desmond however. He pushed them off and drew his weapon. Immediately the pudao started to heat up. In this weapon it was at half capacity, only reaching 400 degrees. It was still hot enough to melt the snow beneath it though, and the wolves backed off in fear.
But Desmond wanted retribution.

"Kyūsokuna tenpoasaruto!"
He jabbed at one wolf with precision and power, puncturing its lungs and piercing its heart with lightning speed. The wolf was dead before it even had time to register the movement of the weapon. Desmond moved on, slaughtering wolf after wolf. Their howls filled the silent air. It took only a minute, but to him it seemed a lifetime.
"This is so much fun!"

He now had the food he needed. He picked up the first wolf he killed, leaving the others for scraps, and set about making a fire.

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Meanwhile, a certain rambunctious man was drinking in a bar.
"One more!"
"NO! You've had enough! Pay!"

He was drinking off of someone else's tab. He would have been fine if the man who had been so kind to him hadn't demanded his money. His eyes narrowed in irritation. The other man sensed a power emanating from the guy in front of him. He backed off in fear, but it was too late. "The Oncoming Storm" had been provoked, and now it would wreak havoc on everything around it.
"I'm s-s-sorry, you don't have to pa-"
He was cut off. The man before him had drawn a dagger, and had seemed to inch it forward. He didn't even touch his victim, but the man had been blown out of the bar, propelled by an odd gust. It actually blew a hole in the wall of the bar, and the cold air from outside came in. The man who had caused the damage looked around, unperturbed. He swiveled on his chair to face his drink, and took a long sip. No one disturbed him. At least, for now.

That tranquility was shattered after a long pause. The pirates around him rushed to combat the new threat, in revenge for their friend and also to increase their own fame.

Bad choice.

The man swiveled round again and expertly parried all of the strikes from the numerous swords.
"Piss off!" he shouted.
He slashed throat after throat, a horrific slaughter that forced the bar owner into hiding. The blood would forever stain the bar. He repeated his earlier move, blasting hole after hole in the bar. The building couldn't take much more, and the ceiling started to come down. The man who had started this simply blasted any falling debris that came his way, and remained safe. There was nothing around but dead bodies and rubble. The storm had passed though, and nearby civilians were now safe.

Eric Tempest walked out of the wreckage, and sought out another pub.

[Cirrus]

(OOC: Sorry for copy/pasting the tundra description, but I thought that was how the scenario is for all of us, not just where Desmond is.)

He was about to enter a pub when it happened. A man flew out the side wall, and smacked against another building. Dead. Then, the whole building collapsed, with one man standing in the middle of the chaos.
"Hello." said Dylan. He was being civil, and made no move to combat the new threat.
"I see you didn't like the beer there. How about coming with me to a place you do like hmm?"

It was a nice enough offer, but Dylan had ulterior motives. He was planning to study the man's psyche. He had never performed psychiatry before, and he was keen to write a paper on it. He walked calmly to the man, whose blank stare looked like he was mulling the proposition over, and put a hand round his shoulder.
"I'm Dylan. What's your name?"

He was going to have fun with this.

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The frozen wastes of Drum Island's tundra looked bleak. It was all the same. White snow on white snow on white snow on white snow. Too long out here and one would go insane. To be stranded out here in the icy lands, far from civilisation would be the end of many.

A solemn tune played in the tundra of Drum Island. There were no instruments. The "Roar of the Sea" was cold.
"YO! IT'S TOO COLD!" he wailed.

Apoo wasn't normally this babyish, but he hated the cold. His clothes weren't designed for this weather, and he had no others that were suited for this climate. He played his arm as a saxophone, its wail portraying just how he felt. His crew were right behind him, and they all felt the same way. It was a procession in the snow, and there was no one to listen. Well, no human ears were listening anyway.

Something was out there on patrol, and that something wanted to dine on the blood of the odd music-man...

(OOC: Sorry for short post, will put longer next time!)

[thormundsson]

Loec didn't really know why he had come to Drum island. Yes, there was a mission to do here, some way to earn money but the place was boring, almost to an extent that he considered leaving.

Then he had heard the fighting start, he had jumped on to a roof and noticed that a bar had literally collapsed as a man had taken down the entire building, and most likely all inside. That's when he noticed the other man walking up to the building. Neither of the men seemed to know each other. He noticed one offer the other a drink.

"now this looks like it might get pretty funny, especially with a man so keen on destroying property, hehe" Loec laughed to himself. he grabbed a small piece of the stone roof he was sitting on, molding it into a ball the he kept throwing between his hands.

"hello there" he called towards the two men walking away. "you two seem to be a source of amusement, mind if a traveler like me tags along?" he said, with a smile on his face, as he dropped from the roof, landing nimbly on his legs on the ground below.

[jubakilaque]

"I'm Dylan. What's your name?"

Eric looked at the man who had called to him, interested.
"Eric. And I'd like that very much." he replied. When the man came to touch him however, he was very resistant, remembering the last time he had been manhandled. He pushed himself off of him.
"Just don't touch me." he said.

They walked off together. Then a man dropped from nowhere behind them. Instinctively Eric turned and slashed with Kaiyuri, sending an airblade at the man. It would slice him in half if it hit. Realising his mistake, Eric made no facial expression. He didn't know if he had hit the man or not, but his attacks were renowned for their lethality.

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He now had the food he needed. He picked up the first wolf he killed, leaving the others for scraps, and set about making a fire. He found suitable wood in no time, and set it alight with the tip of his pudao. He roasted the wolf meat, and devoured it heartily.
"I'm a good cook." he said to himself.

That was when the melancholy noise of a saxophone played in his ears. Desmond got up instantly.
"A saxophone? Out here?" he ran towards the source of the noise. Quickly finding it in the tall Long-arm and his troupe of followers, he addressed their leader, who was clad in clothes of Oriental origin.
"Hello. If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing out here?"

[Cirrus]

"Just don't touch me."

Hmm...repressed memory

Dylan noted mentally that Eric was remembering something in his past. Whatever it was, it was probably best left unknown. Prying into the lives of patients was dangerous, especially in psychiatry.

A man dropped down behind the pair as they walked to the bar. Dylan was a little slow to react, as Eric had already attacked. A blade of what Dylan could only assume was air flew at the stranger.
"Why did you do that?"
Dylan wasn't concerned for the man's safety, he was just curious as to why Eric chose to attack. For all they knew the man could have been a friend.

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"Hello. If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing out here?"

Apoo looked down at the man. He was slightly taller than the stranger. With intrigue, he wondered the same thing.
"Yo! I don't even know! Apapapapapapa!" he chuckled as if it was the funniest thing in the world. His crew had stopped.

Apoo deactivated his devil fruit powers. He didn't need them just yet. His arm turned back to normal.
"I'm the "Roar of the Sea" Scracthmen Apoo!" he announced. "And right now, I'm COOOOLD YO!!"

He did a little dance to warm himself up, hopping from side to side. He didn't care that he looked the fool, as long as he got warm he would be ok. Suddenly, as if controlled by an unseen force, Apoo stopped.
"Yo! Come out!"

It would appear as if he called out to nothing, when really Apoo had perceived what no one else had. Wolves were about. The pack ran at him, hostile.
Apoo jumped out of the way.
"Yo! Not cool!"
As he was in the air, he somersaulted.
"Takatu Music!"
He landed, already playing his body like instruments. He rarely displayed his devil fruit powers so early, but he had an audience to keep entertained.
"DON!"
The soundwave flew at the wolves and exploded, killing them in one hit.
"Apapapapapapapapa! Not even a comeback!"

Rubbing the back of his head he walked towards the stranger.
"Yo! D'you like the show?" Apoo reverted his body parts back to normal. "So...what's your name?

[thormundsson]

"that's not nice, but it is a funny ability" Loec thought to himself as one of the men threw a blade of air at him. With a slightly mad smile on his face, he tossed the ball of rock at the blade, the blade disappearing as it impacted the ball, breaking it into pieces.

"now now, no reason to do that, I'm no threat to you" Loec said to the two men, a slight grin on his face. The one in the black garments, the one who hadn't just tried to kill him, seemed uninterested in whether or not he was safe and was staring intently at the other one. "I'm just a passing traveler, trying to earn some money" Loec said as he walked slowly closer to the two men. "hope you don't mind if I tag along on your trip to the nearest bar, but you look like the kind of fun I rarely get to see these days" He said smiling.

"Next rounds on me, how does that sound?"

"You could always count on the world to toss you something funny when everything seemed boring and dreary" Loec thought to himself as he approached the two men.

[jubakilaque]

"now now, no reason to do that, I'm no threat to you" Loec said to the two men, a slight grin on his face. The one in the black garments, the one who hadn't just tried to kill him, seemed uninterested in whether or not he was safe and was staring intently at the other one. "I'm just a passing traveler, trying to earn some money" Loec said as he walked slowly closer to the two men. "hope you don't mind if I tag along on your trip to the nearest bar, but you look like the kind of fun I rarely get to see these days" He said smiling.

"Next rounds on me, how does that sound?"

Eric reluctantly listened to the man before him. Granted, he was in the wrong, but that didn't mean he had to sit there hear him rabble on about how he was no threat. The only moment his ears pricked up was when the man said something about buying them drinks. He knew how the last time that had happened turned out, and he wanted to see if the stranger was any good in a fight.
"Yeah sure." said Eric with an odd tone to his voice. It was his take on being coy, and he had failed miserably.

Turning around, he strolled to the bar. Before he went in, he looked behind him to see if Dylan and the stranger were still following.
"Oi! Buyer! Was' your name?" he called.
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"Yo! Not cool!"
As he was in the air, he somersaulted.
"Takatu Music!"
He landed, already playing his body like instruments. He rarely displayed his devil fruit powers so early, but he had an audience to keep entertained.
"DON!"
The soundwave flew at the wolves and exploded, killing them in one hit.
"Apapapapapapapapa! Not even a comeback!"

Desmond watched the whole show with intrigue. He had heard of devil fruits before, but to see one in action was a whole different concept. He stood there, fascinated like a baby with a new toy. It seemed Apoo's devil fruit had something to do with music.

Rubbing the back of his head he walked towards the stranger.
"Yo! D'you like the show?" Apoo reverted his body parts back to normal. "So...what's your name?

"It was...interesting." Desmond answered the first question. He was considering killing the man before him, but from the display in which Apoo exerted almost no effort, he could tell that this pirate was way out of his league.
"I'm Desmond, Apoo." He was being very tight-lipped about everything.
"So," he began "Do you want to go explore?"

To adventure with a pirate of his class would be a great experience. A picture flashed in Desmond's memory as he remembered who he was talking to.

'198,000,000b WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE'
'ROAR OF THE SEA SCRATCHMEN APOO'

Realisation hit him like a ton of bricks. He bit his tongue as to keep himself from gasping.
"Let's go."

[Cirrus]

As the altercations were resolved, Dylan decided to move on. Eric and the stranger had already gone ahead, and the doctor waited by the door of the pub.

"Oi! Buyer! Was' your name?" called Eric.

Dylan wasn't the least bit interested in small things like that. He wanted to know why there was an air of fear and hostility throughout the town. He had sensed it the moment he set foot there, and it was bugging him. He didn't like not knowing something. Perhaps that was why he became a doctor, so he could know everything there was to know. It was so long ago...but he hadn't come very far. His home was just a few islands away. Would his parents be glad to see him if he returned? These were just a few questions he didn't want to answer yet. As they say, he would cross that bridge when he came to it.

He went in, and the hustle and bustle of bar activity was instantly silenced. All eyes were on him, and it escaped him for a reason why. It was only until he saw a picture of himself on a ragged piece of paper stuck on the far wall of the pub did he realise why he had all the attention.

"WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE: "BLACK CLOUD" DYLAN WOLF. B25,000,000"

His bounty poster.

Dylan could literally feel the eyes rapidly shifting from him to the poster and then back to him again. The silence evaporated the moment one pirate said
"That's him! That's the man on the poster! GET HIM!"

The bar erupted in a burst of chaos as everyone rushed to draw their weapons and harm Dylan. He sighed. Sometimes people were too eager to rush into their deaths. The people closest too him were dead before they could draw their guns. Twelve bullets passed straight through him, and out into the street, alerting others around. Dylan quickly took care of that, however, with a "Hai Hai no Choke". The fist travelled through the bar, asphyxiating all it touched while burning it. The snow around Dylan's feet melted. Within seconds, the bar was silenced again.

That wasn't to say the fight was over, as the bars from the other side of the street were also eager to kill the bountyhead.

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"It was...interesting." Desmond answered the first question. He was considering killing the man before him, but from the display in which Apoo exerted almost no effort, he could tell that this pirate was way out of his league. Apoo could tell from the man's aura that he had murderous intent, but he said nothing.

"I'm Desmond, Apoo." He was being very tight-lipped about everything.
"So," he began "Do you want to go explore?"

"Hell yeah!" he cried. Cooly, Apoo walked with his hands behind his head. He was in no rush to get to anywhere, unless anywhere was inside.
"Cheh, it's too cold yo." he muttered to himself. He was on his guard now, watching for any move the man behind him might make. Preemptitively, he turned his teeth into piano keys. A melodious and random tune played as he walked, echoing in the empty waste.

[thormundsson]

"the name is Loec" he said as he walked up to the guy who had just tried to kill him. It was at that moment that he noticed the dark clad one had downed an entire bar with nothing short of a logia devils fruit. He didn't need to look inside to see that almost everyone in the tavern that the dark clad man had just annihilated would need serious medical attention before they'd be skipping in the meadows. Not that he cared anyway.

"you guys are great, hahahaha" Loec laughed as the patrons of nearby taverns began to pour out of on to the street, weapons in hand. "Looks like your bounty is getting you some fun attention, hahaha" he laughed as the dark clad one walked out of the bar. "I knew you two would give me some laughs, hahaha" Loec laughed as he walked over to a large, metal pole next to him.

The pole was actually holding up the large overhanging roof that extended out in to the street. he stood there, barely containing the massive fit of laughter that was overtaking him as the hostile mob approached the dark clad man, seemingly intent on taking his head.

[jubakilaque]

"the name is Loec"

Eric nodded in acknowledgement. He didn't much care for the stranger, but it was nice to not have to refer to him as "you". Dylan seemed to have beaten him to the door of the bar, and by the time Eric looked inside all were dead. Dylan's bounty poster lay ominously untouched on the far wall, as if it was the cause of the mass death that had just occurred. That wasn't to say there was no fighting to be had, as across the street hundreds of pirates swarmed to take the bounty head.
"This my friends," said Eric as he hoisted his legendary 7ft sword from its scabbard on his back. "is Kaiyuri."

He slashed at the pirates closest to him, while saying the words "Sword Hungry for Blood". The slash extended to maximum capacity, killing 3 more in its direct linear path and carving into a wall.

"WHO WANTS SOME?" He shouted, challenging all near him to come to their premature deaths.

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"Hell yeah!" he cried. Cooly, Apoo walked with his hands behind his head.

Desmond spat out blood from biting his tongue, and followed the supernova. It was of no concern to him where they were going, as journeying with this man was sure to be an experience he would never forget. Besides, travelling with a man that had such a large bounty would probably cause Desmond to gain one of his own. A soft tune played from up ahead. Desmond guessed that Apoo was bored, playing with his devil fruit to pass the time. There was nothing out here for miles around, so it would soon become tedious.

It had been two minutes when Desmond embarrassed himself. He was just walking behind Apoo, like a normal person would, when he seemed to trip over nothing. He looked down, annoyed and rather frustrated that he managed to appear a fool in front of the quirkiest pirate in the seas. To his surprise, a chest was now revealed. He opened the lid (the lock was rusted off) and a fruit was inside.
"What's this?" he said to himself. "A Devil Fruit?"

The fruit was a white orange. It had blue swirls all over, the famous mark of the devil fruits. The skin seemed to be peeling off, but was attached to the flesh as if there was no weakness in structure.
"Intriguing." commented Desmond.

He peeled off one of the many unsavory flaps of skin, and took a bite into the orange's vivid red flesh.

Oops.

In a momentary lapse of concentration, Desmond had forgotten that Devil Fruits were renowned for their revolting taste; some even said that it tasted like poison. This one was incredibly bitter, and by incredibly, I mean the literal sense of the word. The fruit was so bitter that it was improbable anyone would believe Desmond if he described the taste. It felt like his mouth was teeming with the horrible feeling that the human tongue gets when it experiences a disgusting flavor that won't go away. Desmond gagged, and the ordeal was over. He gripped the rest of the fruit, and it crumbled instantly in his hand. Desmond touched the chest, and it too crumbled into innumerable tiny pieces. He smiled devilishly; this would come in handy.

Desmond got up, and continued on like nothing had happened. What gave him away was the fact that as he stepped the ground crumbled too.



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"Sir! Wolf packs Theta and Heta have gone inactive. There's something out there, and its coming straight for us!"

"Send men this time. If possible lead them back here. I would like to have a word with these...annoyances."

The man who had responded stroked his chin. If there was someone that was aiming to stop his lucrative operation out here in the tundra, they were gravely mistaken.

[Cirrus]

"This my friends," said Eric as he hoisted his legendary 7ft sword from its scabbard on his back. "is Kaiyuri."

He slashed at the pirates closest to him, while saying the words "Sword Hungry for Blood". The slash extended to maximum capacity, killing 3 more in its direct linear path and carving into a wall.

"WHO WANTS SOME?" He shouted, challenging all near him to come to their premature deaths.


Dylan watched, slightly amused. It was fun to watch rambunctious and rowdy people fighting. Still, he had quite wanted a drink. He held his palms out flat, and turned them into a stream of ash over the battlefield and into the bar the pirates had come out of. His whole body followed, and within seconds Dylan was sitting down in the pub. Making sure to burn any of his posters that were inside, Dylan watched the fight. Taking a backseat role on things wasn't usually his style, but as a doctor it was also good to observe.

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Apoo kept walking, but at a much slower pace. He had heard something behind him. Desmond had fallen, and was taking a while to get up. Apoo was slightly suspicious of this, but decided to let it slide. As he turned around Desmond got up.
"Yo, you cool dude?"

[thormundsson]

Loec watched Eric carve a bloody path through the mob that was attacking him. He noticed that most of them were heading for Eric though some had split from the main group and were heading from him and others for Dylan, who was now sitting in the opposite bar, courtesy of his devils fruit. "hahaha, this is fun, let's make it even better, haahah" Loec said as he reached for the pole next to him, using both hands he grasped the pole. "Shape Shape no Destroyer" he said as he ripped the pole in half. The overhanging roof crashed down onto the five men advancing in his direction, knocking them unconscious and pinning them under it.

Then he mad 3 small blades from the pole he had just destroyed and threw them at the mob. "Shape Shape no Weapon Master" he said as he attacked. two of the mob fell down, one clutching the knife in his thigh, the other chocking as the knife pierced his neck. "hahaha, little pests should not disturb adults, hahaaah" Loec laughed as he drew his knife, getting ready to kill the rest if they didn't leave....