The Pirates Gamble (Open)

[aubrey]

The sunlight was bright as the boat Zeak had taken from Sabaody finally reached its destination he had spent much more time than he had expected. What he had expected to be a few-hour trip ended up taking a week. To add insult to injury the teenager hadn't bought a room, and so he had been forced to sleep on the deck and clean himself using the crew's facilities. It wasn't all bad however, early on Zeak had been notified that the boat was going to Aityaia island. An island where the rich went to vacation and spend big money, Zeak's parents had talked about Aityaia many times, epically around the topic of their retirement. Zeak had never expected to come to this island so early in his adventures, it was on his list of places to visit. And it wasn't like pirates followed a set of rules, it was time to gamble.

The ocean was blue and the sky reflected its color as the boat finally docked. Dressed in black shorts, a white shirt, and a black hoodie, along with his dark skin. Zeak looked like a very shady character, but he didn't care. The pier that the ship was moored on was attached to a beach made of pure white sand, a beautiful beach, full of tourists. As Zeak stepped off the boat, he tightened the straps that kept Prince from falling, and checked to make sure all his grenades we on him. He didn't want to leave anything on the ship. As he got off he had a few moments of indecision, the beach was right in front of him. But there was also the casino, and restaurants, and all other sorts of relaxsational aspects. With so many things to do Zeak's energy was at an all time high. He was about to sprint into the city when he checked his pockets. There was nothing.

”You have got to be kidding...” he muttered, as he had found a total of zero beri in his pockets. ”I must have spent all of my money on the damn boat, wha-what do I do now?” This was a first for Zeak, having no money in a land far away from home, he had little knowledge of how to beg, and most tennis tournaments, had an entry fee. But lady luck had a surprise in store for the teen, as on the ground in front of him was 1 beri. Literally diving on it Zeak knew what he had to do. It was time to make a killing in the casino. After all he was a thief.

After sprinting through the city and getting lost several times Zeak finally made it to the casino. It wasn't a large building, it did have a very flashy sign in the front. It arched over a small area in front of the building, and four glass doors give people outside a view at the lavish gaming within. Outside stood two tall man with suits and sunglasses on. They were very big and as Zeak walked up they towered above him. They didn't say anything as the boy walked past, but Zeak could tell they were watching him. It didn't matter, Lero had taught Zeak blackjack, back on Sabaody. Zeak walked up to a table, sat down, and bet his beri.

People laughed as he bet, thinking he was joking, but his straight face soon told them he was serious. At this table the bets became very high as two other gamblers got into a heated rivalry. Sense Zeak had bet his one beri, he was all in, and his hand held the king and the] jack of spades. Letting the other gamblers raise the pot to a whopping 10,000.They both showed their hands, forgetting the teen. They had a total of 20 each. Zeak dropped his cards showing the blackjack. A small smile played upon his lips as the other gamblers and the dealer stopped dead. He grabbed the money and simply said, ”I'm gonna take everything now.” The other gamblers faces turned red, and the bets climbed high again. Hmmm maybe I can make this work Zeak thought, as the money began piling up around him. He didn't notice the bodyguards moving slowly closer, or how a small crowd had formed. His day was about to get a lot more interesting.

[suigetsu]

The water was drifting into stronger waves crashing against the shoreline. Suigetsu could feel that an island was coming up and he hoped it would be the Aityaia island where he could gain all of the money he ever wanted. The swim was long from fishman island but it would be well worth it if he could gain the jackpot on the slots and could steal a large sum of money off of a weary traveler. He floated to the surface of the water and the island was in plain view but he could easily tell that he was at the right spot from the flashy casinos to the trees that covered the island. He swam at full speed with all eight limbs flailing in the water.

Once he reached the shore, he got up among the see and looked off into the ocean. His orange shirt was all unbuttoned and his cargo shorts were still soaked but his orange mohawk was still as high as ever showing his fishman pride with his blue circles all over his body. His memories of fishman island were the only that remained with him except for his swords, guns, and little beri on him. It was a long walk towards Maethen City but it would go quickly if he focused on the things he could buy with all the money he could earn. His would forever be changed if he could just get lucky once. Then he could just waste his time relaxing from then on.

Once in the streets of Maethen, he felt as if everyone was watching him. It made no sense to Suigetsu. Have they never seen a 6 armed fishman before? He got scowls and names yelled at him from "Go back to hell you seascum!!!" and "Your kind isn't welcomed here". Suigetsu just shrugged it off and ignored the name calling but he could not ignore the feeling of being watched, but he reached the door to a casino very quickly and entered with each guard giving him a rather puzzled look on if he was allowed in the casino. The looks that Suigetsu got finally got on his nerves so as walked past them. He extended his foot long stinger through his mouth as a warning sign to guards and only the people that were following him into the casino saw the blue stinger dripping with venom. He smiled back at the people "Sorry my temper got the best of me but they don't call me Blue Venom for no reason."

As he walked inside of the casino his eyes locked eyes with the slots took a spot near the end of an aisle of slot machines. He felt under the machine and found a couple of coins to use. He quickly used them doubling his original investment in the machine, but he kept going and lost all of his earnings soon afterwards. "I could have sworn that I was close to the jackpot, but oh well no big deal"

A man bumped his back into Suigetsu as he stared at the slot machine. A crowd formed around a near by card table. The game was too confusing to understand except for the fact that the young man seemed to be winning by taking all of the colored circles away from the others. He noticed the young man had a strange grin on his face as if he new a secret about one of the players. Soon the body guards starting moving through the crowd and one pushed Suigetsu hard against the slot machine on his way through the crowd. Suigetsu started to get upset about the attitudes of the guards and about had enough. He was a customer after all. He deserved respect and was going to get it one way or another. He reached two hands back one grabbing a sword and one a gun to be ready if the guards tried something again on Suigetsu.

[aubrey]

The money was piling up around Zeak, and he was having the time of his life. He was on top of his game, the game of counting cards that is. Zeak wasn't the smartest person, but he was smart enough to know the bare odds, enough to make a guess that was usually correct. It was working so far, until he saw a large orange Mohawk move across the casino. It wasn't anything special, but the person is was on, was extremely different. Hmm, I never thought I’d see a fish-man here, of all places. He had seen fish-men before on Sabaody, although not many. This one was special, firstly he was tall and had blue circles along his body, not to mention the large Mohawk And he had about six arms, Zeak spent a few moments focusing on the fish-man, and that's what ruined him.

He lost the count of the cards, and couldn't get it back. As he was watching the fish-man he had folded, but had missed the cards that we're thrown down. The was a brief flash of worry on his face, he wanted to win more, but he had at least a million beri in front of him. It would be easy to just take it and leave.

”Sir are you going to play?” The dealer's question shot the boy back into reality. And he noticed every face around him was egging him to keep playing. To beat the odds forever, to put on an eternal show. But he had bigger plans. ”Sorry but I have to go now, it was fun.” As he stood up, a guard showed up behind him, gently pushing him back down. ”I think you should finish sir, the game has just begun.” It took Zeak a few moments to realize that the owners of the casino would never let him leave with the amount of money he had won. But if he sat back down he would lose, and the guards would know that something was up.

Zeak sat back down, he noticed that everything around him was deathly silent, and that more and more guards were appearing at the edges of the crowd, one bumped into the fish-man Being a thief Zeak wanted the money, he wanted it more than anything else in the world. So he came up with a plan, it was the stupidest plan possible, but it was time to make a ripple. Zeak reached into his grenade pouch and brought out a flash-bang, keeping it hidden between himself and the chair. ”Alright then, let's play another round.” he muttered, while putting Prince's case on the table.

Zeak looked at the fish-man and closed his eyes shut a few times, hoping he would get the message. Zeak pressed the timer and threw it into the air above the table. He had three seconds before it exploded. He shoved the guard that was behind him and threw as many chips as he could into the bag, He then threw his hood over his head and pushed his face into the table as the grenade exploded.

The bright flash stunned everyone around him, and Zeak grabbed Prince's case and sprinted towards the fish-man If things got dangerous, he would need the fish-man’s help. But behind the fish-man was a set of stairs going upwards, in his rush he didn't notice the VIP/Offices sign above the stairwell. But Zeak blazed past the fish-man, almost running him over, before sprinting up the stairs, with disgruntled guards following close behind.

"Catch me if you can!"

[suigetsu]

As the hand was dealt to the card game players, Suigetsu noticed something was different. The guards started to surround the man with the most chips. Their influence seemed to affect the game as the man seemed to be uncomfortable which was a complete change from his previous mood of knowing a secret. Suigetsu was once blind but now he could see once he saw the guard push the young man back into his chair for the card game. He noticed a strange weapon case that he has never seen on fishman island come on top of the table.

Suigetsu looked right at the man as he blinked his eyes heavily showing a sign of distress. A guard approached Suigetsu from behind and put his hand on his back. The guards hand gripped around his shoulder. Suigetsu got tense with his anger towards the attitude of the guards and people judging him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw something fly into the sky. He quickly shifted around the slot machine with two hands grabbing the guard by the arm and twisting it out of the socket and injecting his stinger in the arm of the guard. He then covered his ears and eyes for the scare of his lifetime.

If anything he learned in fishman island is expect the worst to happen. If anything this "weapon" could destroy the whole casino. A sudden flash happened he was slightly disoriented but the guard that was once struggling was finally losing his fight against his venom. The guard slowed his breathing and lost consciousness due to the pain and side effect of the stinger. "Next time don't get too close to my Venom"

He say the young man fly up the stairs that Suigetsu was now staring at with the VIP sign. He then noticed that maybe his recent action could get him into a lot of trouble and decided to run as well. If he could outrun the guards or catch up to the young man maybe they had better odds of getting off this so called paradise island. Once again, Suigetsu was on the run but this time it was different, he was not on fishman island and could easily get into a lot of trouble.

He tried to catch the young man in front and sprinted as fast as he could. "Slow down! We can help each other. I am Suigetsu but you can call me Venom. If we work together we can escape easier." Sugetsu stared at the young man noticing how innocent he really looked. He hoped that this would not be another time of pure judgement on his physical appearance.

[aubrey]

Upstairs was a vast space filled with cubicles, computers and small private rooms. If Zeak was wiser, he would have realized that this was a place where the mafia came on many occasions. Where large amounts of money was exchanged on a daily basis. Zeak however, not knowing this, sprinted through until he heard a strange voice coming from behind "Slow down! We can help each other. I am Suigetsu but you can call me Venom. If we work together we can escape easier." Zeak turned around to see the fishman running behind him, and behind the fishman were all the guards. ”Shit” he muttered, what was he to do now? First he needed to get some space between him and the guards.

”Fine venom, get over here!” he pointed to a small conference/gambling room to his left. After making sure the guards and Venom knew exactly where he was pointing. Then Zeak took out his second type of grenade, the smoke bomb. He didn't need Prince to throw it at the ground near Venom ”Just run Venom!” he yelled as the bomb went off.

As the smoke filled the side of the room near the stairs Zeak waited till he could faintly see the silhouette of Venom before grabbing an arm and pulling him deeper into the offices, until he ended up in a large room on the left side. Zeak sighed ”Well that was unexpected, sorry bout it, I needed to get them off our backs for a little bit.” Zeak knew they were close behind and that the time they had was extremely little. ”So I’m Zeak, you told me to call you Venom right? Well I'm going to need your help if we want to make it outta here alive”

[suigetsu]

The man slowed down enough so that Suigetsu could make up some ground but suigetsu was never known as being a fast runner on land. He was beginning to recover from the earlier sprint but was now breathing rather heavily. His sweat dripped down his face like marbles of salt water.

Suigetsu hardly focused to what the man said except for his name being said and a point.
Then he saw another device come into the man's hand and he yelled "Just run Venom" He sprinted again at the pointed area. He notice how everything seemed so orderly in a random occurance of events. Every cubicle was the perfect position.

Smoke filled the room and he ran through the smoke with all of his effort. His legs were not used to such a long sprint. His arm was grabbed and he was thrusted into a large room that made suigetsu then examine the man's contraptions. "Well that was unexpected, sorry bout it, I needed to get them off our backs for a little bit.” Suigetsu nooded and swiped the sweat off of Suigetsus face. ”So I’m Zeak, you told me to call you Venom right? Well I'm going to need your help if we want to make it outta here alive” Suigetsu then looked over his back to examine the doorway behind him to make sure no one was near by.

"Yea I am Venom, nice to meet you. What do you need me to do? I am open for all ideas just let me know what you want to do." Suigetsu could hear that the marines were getting closer and closer to their location. If him and Zeak were going to get out then they would need to do something fast. Time was running out.

[ejikazuma]

It was such a pain, he’d heard the ruckus coming long before he’d seen them, but he didn’t really feel like dealing with the light work right now. The large room they’d ended up in was a banquet room… and it seemed they were so busy running they’d yet to take notice of where exactly they were. It was the kind of room you’d expect to find a King’s Throne in. The floors and walls were a beautiful polished white marble with beautiful crimson throw rugs and tapestries hanging from the ceiling. Natural light poured in through the ceiling, beaming down into the room and illuminating all it touched. It was fancy and elegant, and shocking that they hadn’t really taken notice yet.

To the right and left of the room were long luxurious tables filled with delicious meats, cheeses, fruits and vegetables. Everything you could possibly ever want to eat, laid out in exquisite fashion. At each of these tables, were several odd looking men and women. Each of them armed to the teeth with various weapons and whatnot, and at this point…. they had all taken notice of the two new occupants. He was at the far end of the room, munching on what was left of a turkey leg and doing his best to ignore the situation. Anyone foolish enough to stir up trouble INSIDE the Casino couldn’t have really been worth his time after all…

He waited a few moments, before he could feel the eyes of his associates shifting to him. They’d all stopped and were waiting for his call, but he almost didn’t care enough to give it. The boy sighed heavily for a moment, before angrily setting down the half-eaten Turkey leg. He wiped his mouth with a napkin, and slowly pushed himself to his feet with a huff. Short locks of dark black hair wavered slightly in front of his icy gaze. He took a few soft steps toward the man and the fish-man before announcing himself in a rather acidic tone. “Well, well… looks like we have some fresh Vagrants…” As he spoke up the armed flunkies around the room began to chuckle in a nervously stimulated manner. There were about eight of them total, the Yagyu’s best… or at least the best that would be willing to follow a monster like Gretch.

He clapped his hands together in a jovial manner. “So good of you two to join us…” He paused, sneeringly looking the both of them over. The boy didn’t seem like much, but a six armed fishman, now there was a sight. After all, it wasn’t very common to see Fishmen around these areas. “Gentleman, I’m not sure why you’ve decided to interrupt our lunch… or to cause trouble on the doorstep of the Agustus Family… but I’m sorry to say, the next room you’ll be entering will have bars for sure.” He flashed a devilish smirk to the two men, now no more than ten feet away from them. He wasn’t wearing his usual dark green trench coat; instead he had on a simple orange turtleneck shirt and a pair of black slacks. Strapped across his chest in a harness were two long daggers, and along his waist two more. Through the thin material of his shirt, it was even possible to see the contours of his cybernetics, hard ridges specifically running along his arms. "How about it boys...? Come along quietly and no one else will have to get hurt..."

[aubrey]

Upon hearing Venom's agreement to his plan Zeak felt a small flicker of hope, they might actually be able to escape, and with the money as well. It was like killing two birds with one stone. Then Zeak turned to look at the entire room, and that small flicker was extinguished instantly. What he had thought was an empty private gambling room was actually a rather large dining hall. All at once the smells of the room came rushing to his nose. He smelled turkey, beef, pasta, every food he could think of. It was so amazing Zeak almost came to the table to eat. But sadly it was occupied by nine people already.

They were the exact opposite of what you'd expect to be in a casino, they all looked very...odd. They had a lot of weapons on them, more than one would need when in a casino. And they all had a special look in their eyes. The look of someone who has killed, as he looked at them Zeak was shot back to the first time he met Lero. He had that same look. It was then that one of them stood up and spoke, ”Well, well… looks like we have some fresh Vagrants…” This one looked different from the others. From what Zeak could see he had two large daggers on his chest and two more on his waist. And unlike the others, he was wearing rather nice clothing. An orange sweater and some slacks, some of the others weren’t wearing shirts at all. There was also something off with the sweater-ed one's arm. It seemed to have sharp ridges on the edges, like he was wearing some sort of armour.

There was no escape now, with the guards outside and the nine men in here, Zeak knew that he was going to have to fight. Or even better, have the fishman fight for him, he had already wasted two grenades. He wasn't going to use anymore unless it was completely necessary. As the sweater man clapped and said “So good of you two to join us…” Zeak already had a plan, ”Venom, your a fishman so I’m guessing that your strong, I'm going to need you to take out those eight guys at the table. Can you handle that?” Without waiting for an answer he continued ”When I attack the sweater man you attack them.”

Zeak could hear the guards outside coming closer to their location, and that time was running extremely short. He noticed sweater man had been coming closer and closer. He heard sweater man say “Gentleman, I’m not sure why you’ve decided to interrupt our lunch… or to cause trouble on the doorstep of the Agustus Family… but I’m sorry to say, the next room you’ll be entering will have bars for sure.” To which he responded. ”I don't know anything about an Agustus Family, I just came here to make some money. Is that a problem?”

Without waiting for an answer (because frankly he didn't care), Zeak pulled out Prince from its bag and grabbed a flash grenade. Using his Forehand spinner attack he hit it into the middle of the table, aiming to stun the eight. Before running towards the sweater man. Covering his eyes he put Prince into an attacking position right under his left hip as he sprinted towards the man, hoping the man would be stunned enough by the grenade and that he could easily be slashed. By the time the grenade exploded Zeak had covered the 10 feet between him and sweater man, and had began a slash that would start from the man's right thigh and go diagonally across his chest.

Whoever this man is he is just a casino bodyguard. Zeak thought There's no way he could challenge me, I’ve been training for years under a master thief. All that Zeak could hope for, would be that Venom took care of the other eight men before they could attack.

-Forehand Spinner: In this move Zeak takes a grenade and hits it with a heavy forehand topspin shot. Which makes the grenade move in a steep arch. With the topspin, the grenade stays lower to the ground and is more accurate than a normal shot. Plus, if it hasn't exploded when it hits the ground, the spin will kick it forward at a faster bounce.

[suigetsu]

”Well, well… looks like we have some fresh Vagrants…” Suigetsu did not even notice the table behind with the nine men. "You have to be kidding me there is more of them?" Eight of the men matched in suits as if they were [art of some sort of gang. They uniformity that they shared was honestly quite intimidating.However the orange sweater man did not seem like he belonged. He did however like the leader of this gang of men. Suigets liked the fear that trickled down his spine. The feeling of an oncoming battle. It was high that he could get that made him feel as if he was watching his actions from above. It was a rush and cool sweat came down his face. He licked at the sweat that was running down his face. His mind started to switch to bloodthirsty. He wanted blood no he needed it.

”Venom, your a fishman so I’m guessing that your strong, I'm going to need you to take out those eight guys at the table. Can you handle that?" A grim smile came across his face and his pupils became dilated. His stinger grew from his mouth and he pulled out four swords and two pistols. He put his swords up to his mouth and his venom secreated all over the tips of the swords giving them a blue tint at the tips. "I hope that answers your question." His eyes locked with the eight uniformed men.

“Gentleman, I’m not sure why you’ve decided to interrupt our lunch… or to cause trouble on the doorstep of the Agustus Family… but I’m sorry to say, the next room you’ll be entering will have bars for sure.” Suigetsu locked eyes with the orange sweater man and pointed his stinger at his direction. "The only place that I will go after this is in the ocean to continue my travels.You will never get me inside of some cage." He focused back onto the eight men.

Suigetsu pointed the 4 swords and 2 pistols at the eight men's direction. "Which one of you is first?" His eyes gleamed at the men as he stepped back from the orange sweater man. The eight men all got up slowly staring at Suigetsu without a single word. Each of them cracking their knuckles, they made a semicircle around Suigetsu.

One of them stood in front of Suigetsu. His hair was slicked back with a cigar in his mouth. He drew his sword and slashed down on Suigetsu with his right hand. Suigetsu blocked with his upper left arm holding his opponent in place. Cigar man then kicked his left leg from the sideways to suigetsu's side near his abs. His middle right arm kept the mans leg in place. "My turn." Suigetsu kicked his left leg sweeping the cigar man off balance on the ground and finishing him off with a pistol shot to the head. " I would suggest that you don't come after me one on one, it just is not fair or fun for anyone." The blood splatered on suigetsu's arm. He knew it was time to go all out.

Suigetsu pleasantly enjoyed watching the now seven men wonder how to deal with him. Clearly none of them have dealt with a fishman and probably few have even seen one. Also his breed of fishman was rather rare also. Suigetsu kicked the man on the ground away from the battle area. Suigetsu then noticed that Zeak was about to use another one those devices. He quickly sheathed his swords and covered his ears and eyes. The body guards laughed until the sudden flash that occured blinding them for a couple of seconds. Suigetsu then felt the damage of the kick that the cigar man left. Definately going to bruise at the least but that was not going to stop him from fighting. "So tell me something why are you working for the Agustus family in the first place?"
Suigetsu quickly got back out his swords and noticed that the men that he was once fighting were starting to regain their sight from the adjustment to the light. Looks like this one would be a grinding battle. Suigetsu was ready for the next oncoming attack by the suited men.

[ejikazuma]

[OOC Blah: Just so we're on the same page. Here is a quick run down of the opponents. You have two Rank E Fighters in Gretch and Keith. After that you have three below average fighters, one medic and three rookies... one of which has been killed. Just FYI...]

---

Gretch was expecting such a response, after all a cornered animal is a dangerous animal. Still, he wasn’t expecting the boy to whip out flash bangs. Before he knew it his world was a bright, blinding white and the receptors in his ears were ringing in an obnoxious manner. It took his eyes a moment or so to switch in infrared mode and as they did it was all he could do to throw the steel plated edge of his left arm in the way of Zeak’s odd weapon. In infrared, everything was pretty much just blurbs of red among the white of his blinded optics. It wasn’t the best for detail, but it at least let him know that something was about to hit him. Deflecting the attack with his arm, he followed the motion of the slash and allowed Zeak to almost move past him as if he had cut straight through. The slash left a huge gash in the orange shirt he was wearing, making the silvery steel beneath a bit more visible. He wanted to lure this fish in a bit before planting the hook.

Gretch pivoted sideways, slowly turning in toward Zeak so they were face to face. The seconds slowed to a crawl as he waited for the precise moment, then he finally he released the pressure valve in his left foot. A heavy blast of CO2 erupted from beneath his foot in a frosty explosion of force. He immediately vaulted skyward, and along the way attempted to plant that mechanical left knee directly in the boy’s gut. The force that jolted him upwards was ridiculous, cracking the marble floor partially from the sudden impact. It left behind a long stream of freezing cold vapor which slowly dissipated into the room after a few moments. That same smirk of arrogance formed on his face as he came crashing back down to the ground in a three point stance across the room. His vision was slowly returning to normal, and he could see the look of shock on their faces forming already.

The kid had no idea what he’d gotten himself into, personally he felt like the Fishman would have been a better fight… but there was still time for the kid to surprise him; that is if that knee hadn’t knocked him unconscious from the force. After all… the kid was scrawny, he was probably even skinnier then Gretch and Gretch LOOKED like a toothpick. Despite looks however, the steel and cybernetics holding him together added a lot of force and weight to the boy, his hits were powerful especially when combined with the force of his pressure valves. He slowly removed the black leather gloves from his hands, the right one was flesh toned but the ridges of the steel were evident even from far away. As he flexed the fingers of his right hand, cool jets of CO2 slowly escaped and a shiver ran down his spine. Despite the island’s heat Gretch looked like he was freezing to death. With an almost sadistic grin, his freezing stare locked on Zeak as he spoke. “Ha, Ha… I think I just might enjoy this…”[/color]

---

Meanwhile, the other various Bounty Hunters simply sneered as the inexperienced rookie hunter charged in toward the Fishman. This particular Fishman looked pretty strong, he was HUGE and six arms each with a deadly weapon in them… they would have to be on their game if they were going to take this beast down. They all sort of watched as Haku charged in, and within a moment or so the fishman had dispatched him in a rather ruthless manner. “Tch…” An irritated grunt was the only answer Suigetsu would get to his question. It came from the back of the pack before a large man slowly pushed his way forward. He wasn’t nearly as big as the Fishman, but he wasn’t a young’un like the boy who’d just been splattered all over the ground either.

This man was Keith Howard, perhaps one of the better known bounty hunters in these waters. He was a tall man, standing a bit over six feet with messily kept dark hair and eyes. He dressed a bit more for the weather then Gretch; he wore a simple black wife-beater which he kept tucked somewhat neatly into a pair of dark blue jean shorts. He was well shaped as well, with a muscular athletic build and lightly tanned skin. In one hand he was still munching on half of what looked like a cherry pie, making a sloppy mess of his face and smearing red fruit bits all throughout his stubble. In the other hand was a long, hard wooden shaft attached at the end to a reasonably sized twenty pound sledge hammer.

Keith leaned his weight slightly on his weapon in a rather lazy manner, his dark brown eyes sharply sneering at the Fishman. “Wha-bachsu-saba…” He started to speak before clearing his throat, a slight stress mark appearing on his forehead for a moment before he tossed the mess of cherry crumbles back to the table behind him. He quickly gulped down the rest of what he’d been eating and with his free hand wiped away the mess from his face before quickly rubbing it into the material of his shorts. Yeah, he definitely didn’t have Gretch’s manners, but he was just as opposing to say the least. “Ugh… Why don’t you try picking on someone your own size…? Fish-Freak…!” Yeah, he said it… so what? Wanna fight about it? As he spoke he quickly grasped the handle raising the sledge with both hands as if urging the monster on. “Bring it…”

[aubrey]

(OOC: Sorry this took so long, I've been studying for exams and graduation is just around the corner. So my posts may take a tad bit longer now.)


As the man kneed Zeak in the stomach, he felt a pain beyond what he had felt before. He had expected some sort of counter to his attack. He hadn't expected the man to block his slash with his arm, which seemed to be made of some sort of medal. Before he could get a idea, the man's metal knee had slammed him in the stomach with a unexpected force. Due to that Zeak got a nice view of the room's oriental ceiling. Before slamming back into the ground. The pain had almost knocked the teen out and the blackness started to overcome his senses, his sight, his hearing. But the vomit that burned his throat brought him back to reality. And he rolled over on the ground, pulling himself up on his knees before puking it out.

It took Zeak another few moments to get his thoughts in order. During the attack he had dropped his racquet, and he slowly picked it up while standing to face the cyborg man. Well that was the stupidest idea I’ve had, in maybe my entire life. He had broken the main rule of a thief. Never fight someone head on. Epically someone unknown. Zeak had wanted to show off to Venom, to show his strength. But as he looked towards Venom he saw that the fishman was already doing well. He wouldn't need any help. Opposite to him. ”Ugh, alright Cyborg, I'm going to blow those limbs right off you.”

At this point Zeak could have just ran, it crossed his mind to just blow a hole out of the wall nearest to him and just run. It was a much better plan than before, he still had the money, and he wouldn't have to fight with Cyborg man. But he couldn't just leave Venom to fight alone, it wasn't his style. Taking out an explosive grenade Zeak strafed the Cyborg running opposite to where Venom was. When he reached the point where the Cyborg was between him and Venom, Zeak let lose a second forehand spinner, this time aiming for the ground in front of the Cyborg, hoping that the bounce would catch him off balance. After the attack Zeak quickly put Prince back in it's case on his back and prepared himself for a counter.

He spared another quick look at Venom and noticed that another strong looking guy had came up to him. Holding a sledgehammer. With around three other guys around. But Zeak believed that Venom would make it. And besides, if he was to counter the Cyborg's next attack he would need all of his focus. He didn't want to think about what would happen if he got hit again.

[suigetsu]

Suigetsu noticed quickly that these men weren't here for an informative talk, but that was just against Suigetsu style. Nothing suited him more than conversation while fighting. Suigetsu started to get a little disgruntled with the weakling that was taken out so easily. However Suigetsu could deal with making up for the silence that was in the air with his loud mouth that just thrived when he was in battle. "So I hope that at least one of you can give me a better battle. That boy was not ready for battle and his foolishness caused his death not me or gun but his foolishness."

His eyes scanned the area to find his next opponent none of them really stuck out of the blue except for a man that was scarfing down some food in a black wife beater. He carried a large hammer for a human but it was pretty average for most fishmen, but still Suigetsu was impressed that this man could handle that kind of weapon. The man leaned against the hammer and muttered some form of gibberish as he gulfed down the food. Suigetsu knew really wanted to save the best for last and he hoped that this man would not be the best of the group. He wondered the power that this man could acquire. Maybe a devil fruit user! Suigetsu's mouth was watering. “Ugh… Why don’t you try picking on someone your own size…? Fish-Freak…!” Suigetsu was rather sick of being called names. Why did he deserve such a name? He did nothing wrong except the guard that he knocked out. It was mainly in self defense nothing more nothing less. He rubbed his swords together to get ready for his upcoming fight. The man raised his hammer. Suigetsu still could not believe that the man could fight with such a weapon. “Bring it…” Suigetsu could not help but smile. Oh how he loved this man's fighting spirit.

Suigetsu took a look at Zeak seemed to be facing the stronger opponent then him. That got Suigetsu a little upset, but it would not stop him from defeating his opponents. In the end though, he somewhat believed Zeak may be the better all around fighter due to his magic shooter and magic balls that exploded. At the end of the day, he would want at least on of Zeak's magic balls.

Now was the time to focus. Don't be too cocky Suigetsu, he might just as easily kick your ass like you just did to that child. Suigetsu put his game face back on and stared in the hammerman's eyes. "So if it is a fight that you want, then you shall get it. Just out of politeness I am Suigetsu of the Fishman islands. Prepare yourself my friend." Suigetsu pointed his head down and flicked his head up towards the enemy while using ink splurge covering the floor with ink and ink flying towards the hammerman.


*Ink splurge - large ink shot sent at an enemy. That is slippery on the ground and blinds enemies temporarily

[ejikazuma]

He wore that sadistic smirk with pride as he watched Zeak try to gather his wits. A lesser man might not have gotten back up after a direct hit from the force pounce. Either the boy was tough, or a complete moron… maybe a little of both. He didn’t really care either way; a chance to kill was a chance to kill. If someone was dumb enough or just plain unlucky enough to run across Gretch death was a price they would have to pay, after all that’s why they called him the black cat. “So glad to see you aren’t throwing in the towel just yet…” His eyes were wide in amazement, not so much because Zeak was pulling himself back together, but more so because he could see that Zeak wasn’t used to taking hits like that. The pain he could feel from Zeak’s movements and reactions was almost like a drug to Gretch, fueling his eagerness to inflict more pain.

Zeak’s response only earned a slight chuckle from Gretch, he was going to blow off his limbs off… alright sure. Gretch assumed this meant he was going to try another unorthodox attack like his last one. The flash bang was a nice touch… and it really might have worked if he hadn’t been mostly metal. At least Zeak was getting the hint; he’d have to turn things up a notch if he really wanted to land a hit. He slowly rose from his three point stance, watching Zeak’s movements with those hawk-like frozen blue eyes. Flash bangs weren’t a new concept to Gretch, but Zeak’s blade sure was… he’d never seen something like it before to be honest, but after seeing it in action he wasn’t really impressed. It seemed flimsy, cumbersome, and unfit for a blade. Still, he wasn’t about to complain if someone tried to fight him foolishly, he’d just kill them…

As Zeak rushed him once again, he waited for the right moment… looking for the best opening to plan another hard strike and finish the boy off. His expectations were right on the money as he watched Zeak ready another explosive. Expecting the flash bang, he quickly brought his right hand up to cover his eyes and left his left arm forward with the steel plates held outward to block. He’d let the flash bang burst and this time take Zeak out without having to fall back on thermal vision. The grenade hit the floor right in front of him, and despite expecting a flash of light and a ringing in his ears Gretch was met by a sudden force and thrown backward as the little devil exploded right at his feet. He was sent crashing backward through part of one of the tables, bits of various foods flying everywhere and plastering themselves against the wall.

It took him a minute or so, slowly pushing his way up to a kneel as he tried to recover from the blast. It wasn’t really expected, so he didn’t have time to brace. Bits of his clothing were shredded from the force, completely torn away from his steel leg but it otherwise looked undamaged. He flexed the limb a few times to test it before pushing his way to stand once more. It was such a reckless action, using actual explosives inside a building like this. Parts of the marble floor had been shattered and crumbled by the explosion, and now glass from the skylight was shattered and strewn all across the floor. Gretch was covered in cuts from his fall, smears of red blood covering a few spots on his left arm and cheeks. He was furious to put it mildly, those wicked blue eyes staring back at Zeak who seemed to be reveling in the success of his attack. A few of the others seemed to have been startled by the attack, the other two rookies were both unconscious as well… this was getting out of hand fast and Gretch didn’t like it at all.

He slowly brought his fleshy left hand to his face, brushing away the cold red blood from his cheek. It only took an instant; he quickly bolted forward from his place among the rubble and mess of the dining table. He was pissed to say the least, and he was about to take it out on the person who was quickly ruining a lovely day. The pressure valve in his left foot was released once more, this time exerting a large cloud of frosty vapor and launching him toward Zeak. His metal right arm extended outward to catch Zeak around the throat, tackling him to the ground in one motion. Grasping at Zeak’s right arm with his own left, he sunk all his weight onto the boy pinning him down to the floor on top of the shattered shards of glass from the ceiling. His right hand quickly came to hover over Zeak’s face and the wicked grin took Gretch’s face once more. Zeak was in trouble to say the least… perhaps he should have just run after all…

---

Meanwhile, Keith was preparing for the fight with Suigetsu. His dark stare was flat and almost uninterested as the Fishman introduced himself. Sure it was polite, and proper… Suigetsu probably shouldn’t have been on the other side of Keith’s hammer, but he didn’t really care. It was one of those moments, where he really just felt like smacking something; he got them pretty often especially when he was around Gretch. After all, the kid acted like such a pompous ass half the time… so full of himself. Still, he got the job done and that was why Keith trusted him. “I don’t give a shit where you’re from, or who you are…” He paused for a moment interrupting Suigetsu in his introduction with a very flat and uninterested tone.

“All I want is your head… and I take what I want.” He had a very stern look to him, but there was something off about it. Almost as if he was looking past Suigetsu like he wasn’t even there to begin with. With that said, Keith rushed toward the Fishman raising his large hammer with both hands. His right hand gripped the top of the shaft and his left held the bottom loosely to guide the hammer’s path. As he charged in, he watched the fishman ready his own attack and before he knew it most of his face and the front of his body were covered in the ink. He could feel the searing pain as it seeped into his eyes; regardless of having closed them as the ink was coming it was still enough to blur his vision severely. He couldn’t really see Suigetsu, but Kieth was an ace with his hammer. He threw his shoulder forward, lancing straight into Suigetsu’s chest with the head of the heavy hammer. Typically, this attack would have been a strike to the jaw, but given the fishman’s height and his lack of proper targeting he’d have to suffice with just hitting for now.

He flailed around a bit wildly blinding by the ink, it made the floor incredibly slippery and in turn seemed to be messing with the force of his hammer blows, keeping the normally powerful shots from being nearly as forceful as they should be. It was about that time that it happened, the explosion of the Grenade. It sent Keith stumbling to the side slightly, as Suigetsu and himself were across the room from Gretch and Zeak, but the force was still dizzying. As he stumbled about, his right arm quickly reached out to grasp at whatever he could to stabilize himself… and it just happened to catch one of the Fishman’s gun arms. Without second though, he quickly pulled the arm backward, slipping himself up behind the fishman and leveraging the arm into a hammerlock. He wasn’t really sure the anatomy of a fishman, but he knew a good hammerlock could break an arm or at least make someone cry uncle. “Ha… got yer slimy ass now…” He was still mostly blinded, and really had no idea where he’d go from here… but such little things didn’t matter for Keith, so long as he had fun he didn’t care.

[aubrey]

When his grenade hit the man, and send him across the room Zeak cringed. The floor was destroyed and the skylights in the ceiling were broken and falling down around the room. Like rain, beautiful clear, sharp rain. Zeak flinched a bit as a few of the shards cut his arms, nothing serious, but it was unexpected. He hadn’t expected this level of damage from his grenade. Not that it was a bad thing, Zeak was hoping that he had knocked out, or broken the cyborg so that he could escape. But no such luck. However an idea had formed in his head. One that would work.

As Zeak was about to relax his counter stance he heard a loud whoosh noise. Looking towards the aftermath of his attack he saw the Cyborg literally flying at him. With little time to react Zeak took a second explosive grenade and threw it over the Cyborg. Aiming at where the last grenade exploded, Then Zeak tried to dodge the attack of the Cyborg but couldn't as throwing the grenade took up most of the time before the attack. He was able to duck enough so that the Cyborg's attack slammed into his head rather his neck. The result was another jarring hit to the teen, and the next thing Zeak knew, he was pinned down under the Cyborg.

That's when the second grenade exploded, sense the floor was already weakened by the first grenade, the explosion weakened the supports under the marble to collapse, dropping half of the room down onto the first floor. Luckily, or unluckily, Zeak and the Cyborg remained on the second floor. Zeak couldn't tell what happened to Venom but hopefully he was fine. Zeak had hoped the explosion would cause the rest of the guards that were looking for the two to find the room, and that would provide enough of a distraction to escape. But now, he would have to waste yet another grenade.

Using his unpinned hand, Zeak pulled out a smoke grenade. It was a arduous struggle, but he was hoping the explosion would have distracted the Cyborg long enough for him to pull it out. He primed it and threw it close range in-between their faces, before covering his own. When the second bomb exploded, Zeak would quickly roll to the right and jump down to the first floor, where he could use the gambling games as cover against this Cyborg.

[suigetsu]

OOC: Sorry guys I have had graduation stuff don't be mad.



Suigetsu was perplexed with the situation at hand. He has never met anyone that he fought to be rude enough not to introduce themselves. It kinda bothered Suigetsu, but he would not let that phase him with so many enemies at hand. Suigetsu knew that this man had some confidence in his abilities almost too much confidence. The kind of confidence that could cloud someones better judgment.

As the ink splurged out of his mouth, the hammer man came charging forward. He seemed ready to attack head on. Suigetsu respected that, but it would not stop Suigetsu from being merciless. After all Suigetsu wanted some more fun in this fight. The man came forward and anchored himself on his front leg. Suigetsu knew that if he had the timing down correctly he could easily kick the man in order for him to slip up and lose his balance, however this was not the case. Suigetsu only had the time to brace himself for the impact of the hammer. He had all six swords lay flat and used it as an armor to distribute the damage through the swords rather than all on his chest. Luckily the man with the hammer obviously has never faced a swordsman that uses Rokutoryu because he would not have been so confident in his brute strength. The six swords each weighing around 300Kg would be more than enough to handle a hammer. The impact was slim but still would leave a decent size mark on his chest. It caught Suigetsu by surprise, but he would be more careful of his moves now. The ink was all around suigetsu luckily his feet with suction cups could get more traction than regular shoes or feet.

His opponent was struggling on the ink. He must not have expected the slippery surface that the ink would leave behind. Things could have been very different if the man with the hammer just would have said his name once.

Suigetsu was focused on defense however the man did not seem like in an offense. However the man seemed to stumble and grab a strong grip on one of suigetsu's middle left arm. The man flipped towards suigetsu's back and started to pull on the arm itself. It was a jolt of pain however suigetsu arched his back and used the 5 other arms to stab their swords behind his back to puncture his opponent if he kept his grip. "Do not think the battle can be won so easily my friend."Luckily for Suigetsu, the ink left the man with little eyesight and he could hardly stand in one spot without slipping. The battle was slowly coming in his favor.