Hard-Hats versus Loguetown! Chaos Commence!

[Die]

With most of her armor and her main weapon left at Griff's machine shop, Imuka and Robin headed back to the shopping district. The ex-Marine gunner had adopted more appropriate clothing for shopping in a crowded area, albeit with her smaller weapons on her. Hopefully by the end of it all, she would have her new weapon, one she very much needed to deal with enemies in a populated area.

As they continued into the heart of the shopping district, Robin's words crossed her mind. "Anyhow, Marines won't be that hard to take care of, I believe. Since you all were able to take down those fishmen..."

"You know...I'm not sure about Marines being that easy to take care of. I know...since I was one. Fishmen may be powerful, but they rarely ever come together as an organized force, which was why they were so easy to take care of. A lot of the grunt Marines are definitely easier to take down, but its the ranking officers that have me worried, especially that one we encountered back on Orange Town. Seeing as how we're on the same island as a Marine stronghold and our reputations are spreading, I wouldn't count on leaving without running into some really strong opposition." Imuka said ominously.

As if her mood took a complete 180, Imuka brightened up. "So, where should we go first?" she asked. It was nice to have someone on the crew nearly on the same wavelength as her. Having a friend she could relate to was a very much welcome change of pace. It seemed as though the initial suspicious looks they were given when she was decked out in full armor were gone when they returned. Perhaps the civvies really did the trick.

---

Commodore Dietrich von Koenig stood atop the highest point in Loguetown. Through the optics built into his combat mask, he zoomed in on the docks, noting one ship that had strayed from the course most ships would have normally taken and docked a bit farther away in a lesser known area. The white sails would have had any normal Marine fooled, but seeing the people on deck as it pulled in told him otherwise. The Hard-Hats were here, the very same crew he had been spying on earlier, and the same crew that would be shook up on this very island.

With barely a step on the island, they had already caused trouble, especially the ones named Darius and Taro, who had bolted after knocked out a Marine and ended up wantonly attacking a Marine vessel. The Navigator with vector abilities and the Musician. Already the Commodore had formulated plans to deal with those two as he ran his finger over the ammunition clip of kairouseki rounds, as Darius was quite possibly the most dangerous member of that crew.

Certain that those two were clearly incapable of anything other than wanton disruption, he zoomed out and in on the only female crew members, the Doctor and the Gunner. Both of them were of little concern to him. The Gunner was suited for taking down groups of enemies and ships. Although she was gifted with unusual speed and agility despite the weight of her equipment, and the fact she managed to take down a faster enemy back in Conomi, she was easy pickings for someone like him.

The left the Captain of the Hard-Hats, Torin. Though he was not as combat capable as the others, there was an odd quality in him that the Commodore found in so few other pirates. A seemingly inept and lackadaisical person being able to rally others to his side in a similar manner to Monkey D. Luffy. No, he was not a run of the mill thug pirate, he had something going for him. He and his crew still had a lot of room to grow. Dietrich wanted to help them do so, as though he were planting fruits to pick when they were ripe. This was all a test...maybe even a game to him, something he almost never took lightly. Dietrich continued to formulate numerous plans in his mind on how to deal with them as he vanished from his vantage point, listening in on Den Den Mushi calls for any more reports on them.

[Tori Tori Chopper]

'So what's your plan?'

'Destroy. Everything.'

'That's not a plan.'

'Yes it is.'

'I mean that's not a Torin plan.'

'You'll see, he can't ignore me forever.'

Eimi was left to sigh as she fell behind the confidently striding Torin, storming through the streets in all his power-walking glory like a man on a mission, at first he wasn't going to take such generic conspiracy theories to heart, after all there was no real lead towards the marines being involved with the Old man's death. But with the man's sheer determination to keep the marine forces of Lougetown under some sort of morale code must have stirred the wrong nests within the government, Torin just had to make them admit it.. More specifically, a certain Candy loving ass-face. His determination overruled his reasoning, he could easily just rally up his crew and attack the marine base until they found him, but that wasn't.. Hard-Hat enough. He had to make scene, just as his sister said, and he knew exactly how to do it. The crowds of people in the streets had increased since the day moved towards the late afternoon, Eimi finding it difficult to keep up with the guy were he not sticking out like a sore thumb and turning heads, where was he even going anyway? Eimi began to believe he was just walking in a straight line waiting for some sort of dramatic thing to happen which he could leech off.

CLANG!
'What the hell Torin..' Eimi said with little effort as the marine watching the back of the base met the back-end of Torin's shovel as he walked past, clearly seeing the man about to comment on the picture comparison he just walked past. 'This plan is too awesome for some random guy to save the day and alert everyone.' Eimi didn't really know how to respond, looking at Torin's wanted poster clutched in the marines hand she simple saw it as deserving, taking the poster and following her brother back towards the Old man's room. 'So what are we looking fo... Fo..' She had hardly gone up the stairs when Torin was already coming back down dragging what looked like a deformed cannon behind him, crashing at every stone stair he connected with. 'Hey Eimi, what's your bounty going at right now?' Eimi looked down at Torin's poster, then back to him with an evil smirk. 'Higher than yours it seems..' She remained silent as the exited the marine bases rear entrance once more, the large cannon shaped item Torin was carrying screeching against the cobblestone as Torin provided little support for it. They had gotten a fair distance away from the base, the mid-drift between the busy streets and the quiet sub-passages. 'So what's the big chunk of metal for.' Eimi began to examine it closely as Torin stopped and turned it around, slowly beginning to fiddle with it while she continued to ask. 'This is one of your weird inventions isn't it, reminds me of that thing you built with the Old.. Man..' Eimi took a few steps back, her face frozen with fear as a large Ca-chunk noise seemed to reign supreme over the noisy street. 'Lets see how big my bounty is now.' 'Torin! N-!'

Six years ago..

'Torin! If you put any more pressure on that doo-hickey it's going to pop' Complained a grizzled voice from the background as the clanks of Torin's spanner were the centre of his attention. 'It's called a pressure valve, Old man, Don't act like you know nothing about it... Turn!' The large contraption was suddenly lifted by Torin's command, as the large bearded man spun the huge metallic misshapen object onto its opposite side. 'Thaaank you~' Torin's much smaller legs wobbled around underneath the turned object, before sliding out from underneath it on a wheelie-board and scurrying around to get a better view of it. 'Sooo~ What'cha think?' The old man picked Torin up, placing him on his shoulder as they both feasted their eyes upon.. A giant metal.. Thing. 'Its.. Creative.. I never expected a cannon to look so..' 'You hate it.' 'No no no! Don't get me wrong little man, your idea is something the government should be envious of. I'm sure they will be more than happy to implement it into their construction lines once its a complete product.' Torin was left to giggle and chuckle underneath his large helmet as he was thrown around by the man as he spoke. 'Fine! Fine! you don't hate it! Lemme goo ~' The small Torin was placed down beside his creation as the Old man took a few steps back with a heart-felt chuckle to accompany Torin's as they both drifted into silence. 'I'm going to call it a Pressure cannon..' The name was quite fitting in the end, exactly what it says on the tin and all that. 'Okay, but it stays in one piece on one condition.' Torin turned to the old man, the look of enthusiasm on his face just left the man to smile as he spoke. 'It stays here, something for me to remember you by when you head off into the world. I'll keep it nice and safe in your secret room.'

'Aww~ What!? I don't even get to use it!?'
'Hahaha! Come on now, its getting late, your sister will start complaining at the noise we are making.'
'Not even one test fire?'
'No! you know how much trouble I'll get into if you do that?'
'Pleeease~?'

Present day..

BAAAANG!~

The craze was something Torin was pretty determined to keep up with now, he had a crew to lead and a example to set, a name to make of himself and to do that he had to sometime throw his minor sanity out of the figurative window, and something had to blow up, or else it wouldn't be a Hard-Hat adventure.. He hadn't make anything blow up yet by his own hand, it was completely justified. 'Are you absolutely mad!?' 'Yes.' 'I knew you'd say that..' Torin pulled the large latch from the top of the cannon, as a gigantic shell ejected from the opening, sliding down the side of the cannon and fizzling out on the charred floor around it. Adjusting his helmet and wiping the dust from his face he looked through the smoke towards the marine base, the cannon did the trick.. Half of it was missing. 'I tried to build one of these while I was out at sea, following the same schematics, it didn't work out so well considering I didn't have any of the supplies I had here with the Old man, or his know-how.' Eimi was still in shock from what had happened, the streets were suddenly deserted and screams and shouts came from all directions in the dense screen of debris and rubble which the cannon blast left behind, Torin chuckling as the cartridge he had fired was still going off into the distance, he could see the heat-trail even though the smoke.

The smoke became almost non-existent after a few minutes, the damage to the marine base being seen clearly as something which wasn't exactly as large as Torin had hoped.. Sure it knocked a giant corner out of the building and caused most of the left side to fall in on itself but.. Ah well, if that didn't get his attention he didn't know what would. Much to his surprise, not really, a line of marines emerged from the smoke remains, captains and all sorts followed the line of the fire right back to Torin and his sister, who had a very strong urge to just leave her brother and get the hell out of there around about now. 'You know the entire marine presence on the island are going to come down on us now right? I wouldn't be surprised if the whole island heard that.' Torin took a seat on his cannon, leaving his shovel to dangle over his shoulder to watch the marines slowly take their organised positions, in hindsight the whole idea wasn't very well though out, he should have really had a much more tactical approach towards plucking the sugar man from his fortress, he was quickly questioning himself as he saw the very man he was thinking of screaming at a pile of rubble which used to be his office. 'Good, Because I don't think we'll last too long with just the two of us..' with a drawn out sigh Torin stood back up straight, preparing his shovel as the rantings of an angry commander made haste the the forward marine lines, the swordsman fodder were already running towards them.

'Speak for yourself.. These people are no problem.'

'Meh meh meh, I'm Eimi, I'm awesome~'

'Dammit Torin..'

[Deleted]

“Uhm...you wanna go out there first, or shall I?”

Normally, perhaps Taro would have hung back and allowed Darius to deal with the marine threat, himself just standing back and providing support, but frankly he was sick of being a weak link. In addition, these cronies didn’t give him as much concern as they may have just a short while ago. No, he’d defeated that massive puffer-fish guy, he’d fought his way out of jail... he had swiped some liquid courage from the cargo bay. ‘What happened to not drinking Taro?’ his mind asked, ‘it’s a special occasion’ was the justification, ‘Everyday with the Hard-Hats is a special occasion,’ both voices agreed, ‘well there’s the problem then.’ A few gulps later and his hand found the door; he placed the expensive wine back on the ground, adding theft of marine imports to the list of crimes he’d been called out for.

“I’ll take the left, you take the right... alright Darius?” he gave his nakama an encouraging smile, projecting his own concern onto the swordsmen, who was comparatively without fear. ‘I’m not scared... no, just do it... one... two... one... two... one...' “Oh fruck it!”

The door flung open as the musician’s summoned courage propelled him into the open, his eyes narrowed as they took in the scene in front of him. They were outnumbered, that was to be expected, and the ranks of marines had lined up at the end of the dock, leaving the boardwalk between them. He’d gone out running, they’d open fire soon, he had to stay focused, get in close and then guns were ruled out as an option, marines had rules after all. His foot found one of the wooden beams sticking up out of the water, supporting the wooden decking. With a hard push he propelled himself into the air, swinging his guitar around just as he’d been practicing, he managed to separate the blade in two as his knees found the unlucky marines positioned at the front of the rank. True to his word he’d veered to the left, leaving the right to the competent sword arm of the Crimson Arrow. As he pushed forward, parrying and swiping almost instinctively a realisation dawned on him, these trained men, soldiers, were just as afraid of him as he was of them. After all, he was one man, well part of two at the moment really, but from their perspective, they’d shown up in number, threatened but two pirates and instead of backing down these men had come running out weapons drawn. Many of them would be new recruits, perhaps the first time in a real battle, they were cannon fodder, men in bars on the Grandline could fight better, why had he been scared?

A few moments later above the cry of commands and sounds of clashing metal two words could be heard. “Typhoon Symphony!” Twirling weapons extended the musician unleashed his signature attack; the two kicks cracked the air as they sent weak shockwaves into the remaining men that encircled him. Toppling over each other, Taro saw them exchange the look, the ‘what the hell, why are we even here?’ look, he’d used it himself on numerous occasions. “Retreat, regroup! This is a diversion, the base is under siege! Fall back!”

Taro swung his guitar back into its usual position, resting upon his back. He was grinning again, watching as the retreating marines broke rank and fled, leaving some of their comrades lying littered across the floor and it was pirates that got called scum. “Amateurs,” he muttered as his mind turned to the last order he’d heard. “Hey... Darius, are we a diversion? No... We’re the secret detective squad, busting conspiracies, kicking ass and someone’s muscling in... I bet you its Torin... that hypocrite. Let’s go!” As he started towards the disturbance his mind couldn’t help but wonder, ‘where are the big guns? Where is Brick... and those two gunslingers who’s names I never learnt’ the image of pistols flashed up suddenly as he reminded himself of Dante and Hawke. No, this wasn’t a victory, all they’d succeded in doing was hitting a stick against a beehive. “I think things are about to get rough...”

[Cirrus]

Darius watched on, slightly intrigued, as Taro took his spoils from the cargo hold. The expensive wine bottle glinted temptingly in the dim light of the fireflies. The Hard-Hat swordsman wasn't one for a wanton drink; things happened when he got drunk. Bad things. And so he'd stayed away from it, disassociative reasoning working a charm on the newly dubbed "Crimson Arrow". So why was he feeling so attracted to the notion of a swing of the stuff? Darius shrugged subconsciously, a small clue to the internal conflicts going on within his head. He was a pirate, and pirates took things...but..no, it wasn't right. It wasn't him. Besides, something else had caught his eye. A few sacks with beli signs were just laid wantonly around, as if the person that had done so had performed with the thought that no one would come down to inspect his handiwork. Darius wondered if any of the marines he had knocked out thus far were the culprit. He came to the conclusion that they probably were: among pirates marines were famed for their corruption.

Darius smiled at that. The pirates were judging the marines. For crimes. What a twisted world it was....

“I’ll take the left, you take the right... alright Darius?” Taro's words disturbed his thoughts. Darius simply smiled and nodded, before scooping up as much beli as he could in his hands. He shoved the money in his pockets, doing his best to add to the fortune stored on the Jolly Jericho. The Hard-Hat swordsman drew his blade as Taro threw open the door. To tell the truth, Darius was slightly surprised that his musically inclined companion had done so. Normally it was he, the reckless "Crimson Arrow" who led with bravado and muscles, who would dive headfirst into the belly of the beast. Still, it was an appreciated change. Perhaps the increase of bounty had affected Taro's thinking...for the braver, if anything. At any rate, the swordsman followed his nakama through the door; the gate to hell; and out into the flames.

Only to be greeted by an anticlimax.

The marines there were shitting themselves. Did Roguetown only have new recruits and grunts to protect its forces? Why was there such a low scale force to defend itself from the Hard-Hats? Their name alone was enough to strike fear into the hearts of the less awesome, for they knew deep down that they would eventually, no matter how much they ran, be struck down by awesomeness. And yet...these guys could have been scared of anything. Darius would have pondered this further if he wasn't busy enacting the plan Taro had devised. As per the plan, he veered instantly to the right, not doing much to attack, but not doing much to defend either. He weaved effortlessly under the futile attempts at harming him. His devil fruit had ensured that he closed the distance between he and the marines in a blink of an eye, and so really they never stood a chance. Growing weary of pretending to be a better guy than he was, the swordsman lashed out, a fist finding a jaw and breaking it. He wheeled around sword in his other hand, shredding the uniforms of many a marine. Using the technique the Hard-Hat wrecking ball had dubbed "Crimson Pillar", Darius thrust forward with his sword, locking it with the musket-cum-club held by an indescript marine. They all looked the same to him now; too long had he been fighting to get away. Sometimes he wished they just left them to their business. Awesomeness shouldn't have been illegal...

All this he conveyed in the glance he gave the marine he was currently dealing with. He had to act quickly; despite the novelty of their positions, it was simply common sense that would dictate attacking someone while they were otherwise occupied was a good idea. And so Darius pushed forward, the sheer potency of his muscles blowing away the marine grunt. Not looking to see the fruits of his labour, the Hard-Hat swordsman pivoted, expecting to see an array of muskets and swords. Instead he was greeted with the fleeing backs of men. Confused, Darius turned to his partner in crime for the answers. Although he'd never care to admit it, Taro was much more intelligent than he. But the muscian didn't seem to know either, for he said;

“Hey... Darius, are we a diversion? No... We’re the secret detective squad, busting conspiracies, kicking ass and someone’s muscling in... I bet you its Torin... that hypocrite. Let’s go!” That thought sprung a smile on Darius' face. Of course it had to be their captain that heralded the intense amount of crazy. Despite how he'd like to come across as, Torin wasn't as awesome-wary as he appeared. It was the bounty head's bet that he was the reason for the marine's running away. As he followed after Taro, he unknowingly shared in his thoughts. Of course this wasn't a victory...Hard-Hat victories ended in explosions. If hitting the beehive with a stick wasn't enough, well then...

...they'd have to hit it with a wrecking ball.

[Kurosaki]

Listening to Imuka speak, Robin found herself drawn in. Her experiences as a Marine and knowledge of how they operated... Was this really in the hands of this small pirate crew? Torin and his pirate crew, rookies as they might be, actually seemed to stand a chance. Robin smiled and nodded, a giggle escaping her lips a little bit as Imuka's demeanor suddenly changed and she asked where they should go first.

Feeling like they might as well enjoy the day to its fullest before they were met by opposition like Imuka warned of, Robin pointed to an ice cream shop and smiled.

"How about we start off with some ice cream! We can eat it while we look around," she suggested before adjusting her bag on her shoulder and then picking up the pace to get to the ice cream shop. She held up two fingers and began to order the one that she wanted, gesturing to Imuka when she was finished.

Soon enough her ice cream was handed to her on a cone; mint green topped with sprinkles.

As she began to bite into it, however, a loud noise caught her attention. Glancing up she looked around for the source and saw a slight amount of smoke rising up from one direction.

"I think we're definitely going to end up with some opposition..." Robin forewarned with a sigh, her ice cream already starting to melt slightly and roll down the side of her hand.

Licking it off, she turned to Imuka with eyes that asked whether or not they should go check it out. The answer was fairly obvious. They couldn't just leave Torin or whichever member of the crew had just caused that explosion to their own devices.

[Die]

"How about we start off with some ice cream! We can eat it while we look around," suggested Robin.

"That sounds great." Imuka nodded. The ex-Marine ordered hers as well and received her cone; cookies n' cream and cookie dough. She too began to bite into the delicious ice cream. For once things seemed to be relaxed and she was actually enjoying herself with her new nakama. As she was relishing in the deliciousness of the ice cream, a loud explosion sounded off in the distance. Both she and Robin looked in the direction of the sound, and already there was smoke visible in the distance. The bustling shopping district halted in its tracks as everyone else heard and saw the same thing, but that was short lived as they went back to their hustle and bustle.

"I think we're definitely going to end up with some opposition..." Robin sighed.

Imuka's expression soured at her words and at the scene as she begrudgingly took another bite of her ice cream. "Don't make TOO much of a mess my ass." she grumbled. As everyone else seemed to go on about their business, Imuka held Robin's free hand lightly tugged her in the direction of the nearest clothing store, one that suited the two of them. There was no way in hell things were going to be ruined this quickly. "When I find you, Torin, I'm gonna kick your ass," Imuka thought to herself. It was only a matter of time until they were dragged into helping out the rest of the crew, they might as well make the most of whatever time gained from ignoring the explosion.

[Tori Tori Chopper]

'Stooooop!~'

The line of swordsman were only feet away from Eimi and Torin when the high pitched voice shrieked through the marines roars and yells. It was awfully quiet considering a large chunk of the marine base had just been obliterated by an easily identified boom, complete with smoke. The town didn't have time to stop for a little hassle in the streets, as the light tone of chatter filled the air as the marines were brought to silence by their commander. The two moved back to a more casual stance, leaving their shovel and boomerangs to their sides as the pink armoured man in question took a light stride towards the front of his men. 'Is this the guy you were looking for, Torin?' He nodded in response to his sisters question, he seemed to just pose there like a statue rather than actually approach, as if beckoning them towards him. The two began a slow approach, Torin dragging his shovel across the ground to hide his words to the distant ear. 'The Old man tried to hold to what the marines were back when he and his friends were at the top of their leagues, guys like him didn't like the goody-two-shoes approach at all.' Eimi's expression of the man turned from a curious to a furious, she and her brother were on the same page. 'He was in charge when he died, and I knew just from looking at him that his wounds weren't by accident.' Torin stopped in his tracks, his sister following instantly.. It had been a while since they had been with one another, though it only took a little while before they were following each others footsteps, it's what they were taught to do after all.

'So this guy either killed him, or he helped.. Either way he needs to get what's coming to him.' Torin pointed his shovel directly at him, the man looking so up himself his nose may as well have been on his forehead. 'You know you could have explained all of this before and I may have helped you along the way.' Torin looked to his sister with the most stupid face he could back, only to be smacked by the end of a boomerang. 'Yea.. Sorry about that.' 'Good to have you back.'

'Hohoho!~ Don't you just love family reunions..' The armoured clap shattered the Vent Family's little moment, just as he planned. 'Aren't there so wonderful!?' The sugar man's typical two face attitude took shape only seconds into his monologue, as a strange outburst triggered some sort of sugar wave from his person which seemed to just pour through the openings in his armour. 'Mister Vent.. I do not believe we have had the pleasure to be properly acquainted, not since.. Well you know..' the odd attempts as stirring up trouble went straight through Torin, he had his little emotional moment, it all seemed like too much effort now. 'You know if you had just let those guys come and attack us we'd be at your doorstop with them laying around behind us already, you just had to be patient.' Eimi on the other hand was a sponge for it. 'How about you take a step back, let us deal with your little friends and we'll be right with you.' Torin couldn't help but smile at the whole situation, here he was trying to erase the things that held him here and Eimi was right there fighting his battles for him just like the old days. The man was left in somewhat of a confusion, as always the highest in command of anywhere isn't used to being talked down too, but Rose had a very bad way of dealing with it, as half of him was built up around his armoured feet.

As he composed himself the sugar slowly compiled back into his suit, simply motioning his hand forward the men from behind him advanced as he retreated, Torin couldn't help but force himself forward as the actions took place.. Torin wasn't after these men at all. The line paused suddenly as a large block of wood cleared the entire first row of troops, falling in all sorts of funny ways as a wisp of wind skimmed Torin's helmet as Eimi caught her boomerang on it's return. 'I told you these guys wouldn't be a problem.' Torin resisted the urge to freak out over the sheer awesomeness of that attack, all he could to was poke and smack things and now his sister had gone and become some epic fighting pirate? 'Yea! Well!' Torin aimed his shovel, launching out its grapple function and spinning it around full circle in the air, bringing it forward to smack away at the now cautious advancers as a few more fell to the ground. ' Haha! Wasn't that cool?' 'Nope.' 'Aww, come on.' This latest a while, back to their old selves the two were using this as more of a competition than a serious battle, and it wasn't long bafore the marines had surrounded them and were just falling like dominoes, leaving the commander to stand around nervously in fear he may mess up his suit of armour by fighting them. As well as the two were doing eyes began to rest upon them which would provide a little more challenge than your everyday marine soldier, and as Rose devised a plan in the background his aid was close to joining the fray.

It was just a matter of time.

[Deleted]

“I know it’s crazy!”

“The Hard-Hat is attacking the marine base, fired a cannon right into it.”

“You know he used to work with these marines, pirates
don’t go after marines, it’s the other way around...
something’s going on here.”

“Yeah something’s going on, he’s crazy...
That thing hit Rose’s office.”

‘Yeah he’s crazy, a little... but something isn’t right here. That name again... Rose, did he figure out the fishman trading? I knew he was clever, but he didn’t really seem to be paying it too much thought. This doesn’t seem Torin’s style; this is crazy by even our standard.’

The musicians mind was racing as he barged through the bustling streets, a torrent of people, some running to get a better view of the disturbance and some retreating from the danger zone, but all chattering away, why did everyone seem to know more than he did. Only one thing was certain, at the centre would be Torin. He picked up his pace, prying between the gaps in the crowd, “excuse me...” frustration quickly building, “out of the way, come on... just...juss--” now he was pushing and shoving, these people were spectators, obstacles, “MOVE!” The crowd had started to take notice, eyes had turned onto the sprint Darius and Taro and some people started to move out the way. Taro was in full sprint now, people had turned their attention to them, there fevered nosiness evident as they continued to prattle on.

“Those two, they're Hard-Hats as well, I’ve seen the posters.”

“Yes, the short haired one is called Darius... he’s an arrow man I heard, the other one’s called Talo or somethin’, musician apparently, but look at that funny thing on his back.”

‘Yes and Tal— Damn it! Taro couldn’t care less at the minute...
But seriously? Darius they can remember? Six letters man, six! Taro’s four, how hard is that!?’

The trivial insult to the guitarist pride however, was quickly washed away as they arrived on the scene with a moderate crowd in tow. It wasn’t a sight he’d been expecting, sure enough the marine building had a chunk missing and was still smouldering lightly, check. There was also what was possibly the greatest number of marines they musician had ever seen, all in uniform, all in rank and they were surrounding their ever subtle Captain, check. In contrast, the apparent leading officer, Rose, was not what Taro had been expecting. He was in what could only be described as a pink suit of armour, which was of course ridiculous. In addition, Torin wasn’t stood alone as he continued to fight off waves of men but he was with what appeared to be another girl. “He really seems to have turned his recruiting process to the female population, not that I’m complaining, I wonder if he’s found that elusive creature, the pirate cook” Taro spoke, verbalising his thought process. For a moment the musician had forgotten that he’d been in such a rush to get here as he just took the scene in, “Wow... they're really kicking ass... is that girl using boomerangs? She may even be outdoing Torin by the look of it, kind of feel sorry for them... the idiots are getting there assess handed to them just because a slimy, pink bastard is telling them to. Still no one to blame but themselves.”

The musician swung his axe-tar from his back as he prepared to use it for the second time that day. His eyes skimmed the area, looking for the shiny head of the muscle bound Captain Brick. They didn’t find it, ‘odd, stealth isn’t his style, where could he be with all this going on?’ This was the major marine base of the East Blue, had all the competent ones suddenly gone MIA? It was just this ridiculous Rose and his small useless army. Well he’d wasted enough time looking, if anyone else would show up, they’d show up and if there was some kind of ambush going on, he’d just have to improvise.

“TARO!” the musician yelled, not quite sure why he’d chosen his own name as a battle cry, but probably in the hope that someone may actually remember it for once. One of the more plucky marines had fired off a shot, but the musician had seen it coming and moved accordingly and a brief moment later he was pushing through their formation. The chime of clashing metal confirmed a block, as strike came crashing down toward the pirates’ head, his own axe rising in response. Then there was a sudden thump as the guitarist used his off hand to deliver a punch to the strikers face sending him wincing backward. His hand sailed smoothly toward the detach button as he separated his weapon in to its dual state, his preferred fighting style. Instinct told him to turn as he delivered a firm slam with the flat of his axe to an assailant trying to flank him, then his leg punished whipped around to deliver a crushing round house to the man who’d only just recovered from his jab. The dance had begun, it was almost as if he knew where the next strike would come from, everything had a timing, everything. It didn’t take long for him to reach the centre as he fell into position facing away from his Nakama and the mystery girl as to be able to guard from those around them. “Been busy then, huh? What’s going on Tor, this doesn’t seem right... we could have perhaps just targeted the pink oaf, snuck into his office, blown it up and runaway... you know the--” Taro paused a moment as he countered a strike aimed for his skull, providing an easy physical rebuff before finishing, “usual.”

“Also... who is th--”

Bang! Bang!

Taro didn’t see the first shot, but he’d felt the second as it grazed across the top of his left shoulder. Automatically tracing the trajectory, his startled blue eyes settled on someone kind of familiar, someone competent.

[Cirrus]

"I guess we should head for the square -- that's where Torin said we're gonna meet, right? I wonder what he did -- something so awesome that barely anyone turned up to the ship! Maybe he was behind that big bang we heard? Or maybe that was Imuka with her gun? Either way, I have a feeling that the stuff on the ship was just the tip of the iceburg..." Darius rambled on as the he trailed behind Taro, muttering half to himself, and half to his partner-in-solving-crime. He wasn't feeling particularly bellicose at the moment; nothing had riled him up sufficiently that he had a burning urge to seek out the next fight, the next chance for glory. The altercation with the depleted marine force had been more like going through the motions; taking them out with as much enthusiasm as one gets when seeing the present a cat leaves out. Darius reflected on this, verbally expressing his thoughts -- appropriate or not -- on the situation.

"Why does everything converge on Roguetown?" He said, stating a question to anyone that would listen. As far as he could discern, it was true. The man with a bounty of 24,500,000 had noticed that the marines from Conomi had followed them here -- everyone in the Hard-Hats had -- as well as Torin's old pal..Noah, he'd been called. And then there was the history Imuka had with Brick, and the conspiracy trail leading them to this big hub of mischief and mystery. Roguetown was truly a major city: filled with just as much corruption and deceit as it was people. This perturbed Darius. Despite his stance as a pirate, he was probably guilty of being naïve; he had expected such a wonderous and legendary place in the East Blue to be rather more...wonderous. But now all he could focus on were the drab walls, their vapid nature only broken by dull blood and vomit stains and broken glass. The lone symphony of a stray cat pervaded the city, providing a sad, sorry music that matched the way this place felt. This place, a place that had countless stories that would never cease to fill the imaginations of little boys in Saint Reia...The Big Apple...

It was disappointing.

Taro too, it seemed, was troubled by his thoughts, for he broke off suddenly; weaving in and out of the crowd, growing ever more frustrated with their comparability to stubborn cows. Darius followed, growing increasingly aware of the whispers that pervaded Roguetown. As they passed the people just stopped and stared, frozen like statues. And yet, they became more animated, moreso when they approached, the closer the duo got to the source of the disturbance. He had a slightly smug smile on his face, for everyone seemed to have his legend and his image firmly burned into their minds. The swordsman appeared to be the face of the Hard-Hats on this island. Apart from, of course, the captian.

"Aww, come on..MOVE WILL YA?" Frustration seeped into the cracks of the swordsman's voice, which grew in intensity and volume as he tried in earnest to navigate the sea of people. Unfortunately, humans weren't as freeflowing as water, and so Darius did come across the odd obstanate fellow, who felt that it was his duty to impede his progress in the name of this city, for he shan't be having pirates and a whole manner of vagabonds running rampant! An arrow-enhanced shove had put an end to that notion. The newly dubbed "Crimson Arrow" considered taking to the skies and circumventing the problem of the swathes of people interested in the source of the commotion. However, it would have been a little harsh to just up and leave his musically inclined companion, especially when there would be stronger foes ahead. Darius bit his lip. It was a tricky one...but there had to be a more awesome way to do this...

Oh. They arrived.

For all his grumbling, the swordsman hadn't noticed that he had upped the speed with which he walked. His face fell a little when it became apparent that the musician of the Hard-Hat crew had been right: Torin was trying to upstage them! And he had a kickass female apprentice to do it with! Darius would have gasped in mock horror if it weren't for the noise of two gunshots. Both bullets whizzed passed him, although one of them grazed the shoulder of his nakama. Still, better safe than sorry, the swordsman dived to the side, getting to his feet safely behind the man in pink armour. He rose swiftly, instinctively aware that this smarmy bastard was the one behind the conspiracy; behind the trouble at Conomi; behind the pathetic turnout for the mystery-solving duo's grand entrance. Darius snarled. He didn't like this man. If it wasn't the sickly sweet smile that seemed to be welded onto his face, then it was the imperious air with which he held himself. That, and he hated pink. A quick confirmatory glance at Torin and Taro told all that needed to be told.

This one was his.

[Kurosaki]

As Imuka grumbled, Robin actually giggled a little. It seemed like they were both thinking relatively the same thing. Was it just going to always be like this; the two girls the more rational ones while the boys went off and did irrationally contradictory things from what they had originally set out to do?

She expected that the next thing that they would do would to be to go figure out what was going on and what they should do to help out the rest of the crew. Robin began to feel around for her zai and pulled them out of her carrying bag slowly when her hand was grabbed. She dropped the zai back into her bag and looked up, green eyes slightly wide as Imuka then proceeded to tug her over to a nearby clothing shop.

Confused for a moment, Robin searched Imuka's face for answers to what she thought she was doing. Was she seriously still considering shopping when they had yet to find out for sure what the explosion had just been a result of?

Then again, the shop seemed like a perfect place for clothing for them both! There were so many interesting designs.

But wait, there wasn't time for that, was there?

What if Torin, Taro, or Darius had done something stupid again and one of them was bleeding out. She could almost picture Torin's smile despite the serious bleeding that his body was doing or the states in which Taro and Darius got themselves...

"Imuka, we can come back later for the clothes," Robin started, her doctoring instincts far too strong to just let her continue to relax and shop around like they had originally planned.

[Die]

"Imuka, we can come back later for the clothes," Robin insisted as Imuka was tugging her in the direction of the closest clothing store.

"Every time we're on an island, we're forced to escape because of Marines on our tails. Do you really think we'll ever have a time where we can just relax and do our own thing for once? I know I sure as hell don’t anymore," Imuka said as she let go of Robin's arm. "Ah f*ck it. Those poor bastards wouldn't be able to survive us. Let's go." Imuka resigned to the fate of having to once again go off and save their comrades from some nasty fate involving Marines. Already the disturbances where they were had already reached the shopping district as whispers traveled through the crowd as swift as a coursing river.

As Imuka and Robin were heading off to assist the others, a sudden murderous feeling sent shivers down her spine. In a bizarre reflex, she had shoved her only female companion on the crew aside as she dove in the opposite direction. It seemed as her premonition came at the ideal moment as a massive muscular fist came crashing down in between the only two female Hard-Hats. Dust and debris ended up being tossed everywhere as the bootseps of Marines approached closer until they were surrounded. The civilians in the area stopped their business and scrambled to safety, leaving behind the two Hard-Hats and a bunch of Marines. Imuka stood back up, eyes widening in surprise and then narrowing in anger at their primary assailant. “Well well well! I always expected you to fail as a Marine, Imuka, but to actually organize a mutiny and then turn pirate? Even you’ve exceeded my own expectations,” Brick said loudly.

“Shut the hell you bald Neanderthal!” Imuka growled as she clenched her fists. “You’re just jealous because they chose me over you to test out the Var. They chose me because I was stronger AND smarter. You couldn’t stand being beaten by a girl of all people so you decided to take it out on all the women in the Marines here, including me.”

“Heh. None of that matters anymore.” Brick grinned smugly. “Now that you’re a wanted criminal, fortune smiles on me when I take you down myself. Oh and look! You don’t have that armor you always hide behind and the Var as well. Now I’ll show you how weak you really are!” He rushed towards the ex-Marine, his right arm held back with his fist clenched.

As he drew near, he sprang his arm forward, throwing a punch aimed straight for Imuka’s face. At the same time she ran towards him as well, doing the same. Their fists met with a resounding crash. Imuka looked back at Robin and shouted at her, ”You take care of the other Marines and get to Torin and the others. I’ll handle Brick!”

---

Dietrich lied down prone on another high vantage point, observing as the Hard-Hats made their moves. Already Rose and Brick were engaged. It seemed like the two of them along with a certain Hawke were working together to try and take them down. To him, those three were small fries, and surmised that they would meet their defeats soon enough. Now was not the time to strike. For now, Dietrich continued to observe and wait.

[Tori Tori Chopper]

'You know, I'm slowly starting to think this was a very bad idea!'

For Torin and Eimi this wasn't exactly a harsh battle, but for the inexperienced combatant he found himself playing twister with numerous marines as their limbs and body parts came flopping down and around him left, right and centre. 'As great as it is to slowly start seeing my brother come back to his senses, this is really starting to become a little overused!' Eimi on the other hand was having some fun, despite her brothers sudden bipolar tendencies, twisting and turning up and down, her conflict was more like a dance sequence leaving the marines to just move up a line and fall down.. The true work of fighter, leaving Torin to just grunt and mumble under his breath as he flailed nerve breaking pointy fingers and the blunt end of his shovel. 'You know you could really be a lot more of a presence if yo-' 'The last that I need is a lecture from you while I'm trying to beat people up!' Concealing his envy towards her awesomeness the battle raged on, feeling a little one sided at first as the marines were simply taking a number then getting smacked in the face, but they slowly began doing what they do best.. Massing in stupidly large numbers and just slowly walking forward, you can only hit so many of them at a time after all.

'You know one thing I've noticed!?' Torin spun a ground of marines on the spot before brandishing his shovel to their rotating heads. 'No matter how many guns these guys have! They never seem to use them! They always want you alive!' Looking up to the sky and lowering his shovel he began to rant in mid-swing, leaving the marines to looked confused at him with their swords in various swinging positions. 'You know you could just fire off some warning shots? Even just fire from the word go, what good is the ability to rain bullets if you don't even use it?' The marines shrugged, raising their weapons and charging the suddenly coiling Torin, only to all fall sideways as a chain lifted their legs from the ground. 'You remember that time when I told you about jinxing things!?' Torin looked to his sister with a little confusion on his face. 'Yea that was the ti- Oooh..' He looked in the direction his frustrated sibling was pointing, lowering his hands and dragging out his last word as the marines had from a three man high line of muskets, getting a little tired of just running at them and being beaten up. 'You can't go and say this is my fault!' His sister took a prepared stance, ready for the gunfire, Torin doing the same.. Which was basically shielding his face with his shovel. 'This whole damn thing is your fault!'

'Oh yea..'

______________________________

Meanwhile, in the deeper streets of Loguetown, The Hard-Hat's Marksman reunites with an old marine friend, which just so happens to be the Hard-Hat-Hating Brick, who had made it his mission to prepare for their inevitable arrival from the moment Torin and Taro escaped those many months ago. Training and harnessing new skills, he didn't expect to come across this challenger, but none the less found it rather convenient to kill two birds with one stone.

'I see you still pack quite a punch for a little girl!'

Brick gritted his teeth as his fist pushed against Imuka's, and with a fiendish grin his arm seemed to tense up, giving a sharp push as he both pulled back from the small stare down and forced his strength upon the stationary challenger in the process. The woman always knew how to stop a hit, built to endure the recoil of that violent weapon, it was the after-shock she would never be used to. He cracked his knuckles, his neck from side to side, eye balling the much smaller woman as a lot of interesting things ran through his mind just by looking at that furious expression. 'So you didn't do what it takes to be a marine, and in response you chickened out and joined the losing side.. Sounds like a woman in distress to me.' The antagonising tone left a clear smirk on his face, his eyes positioned to look down on her little frame in comparison. One would think that to compare his giant structure to that of a woman would be rather unfair, though Brick never saw anything as unfair.

He reached for the object which literally clung to his belt, a large metallic gauntlet which released its grip from a push of a button, he wanted to save this weapon for those two little brats who caused him so many problems before they left, but she will have to do as a test-subject. 'You shouldn't have told that woman to leave, Imuka.. The least you could have done is raise your odds by having another girl to face me.' He eased his arm into the weapon, the thing itself nearly consuming his arm up to his elbow, the fingers of the gauntlet stretching and retracting as he got used to the weapons heavy bearings. 'This is a lot like the Var, when you think about it..' He smacked the gauntlet into his bare fist, the impact making a noise by itself, clearly an intimidation tactic.

'They told us we couldn't control it, and we proved them wrong.. But this..' He raised his fist into the air, smacking it into the ground as the area around the two cracked and snapped from the pressure. 'This can only be controlled by me..' He began to chuckle, laugh, it wasn't long before he had one of those creepy looks on his face and off he went. His arm retracted and his other in front of him, like he was just going to topple over anything in his way, he jumped lightly from the ground, slamming his fist into the ground only feet away from Imuka, the entire plate of cobble-stone rising from Imukas feet, threatening to launch her had she not previously prepared, he didn't let him, leaving himself to charge and swing heavy strikes.. Probably a big mistake for someone who may be so numble without her armour.

'Where are your little marine friends now, Imuka! Where's your little gun to save you from me now!'

______________________________

As the battle began on one end of the town, another was left in a stand-still even now as Torin and Eimi stared off into the multiple waves of weapon rearing marines, help was on the way but they were only a trigger pull from being left in pieces, or so Torin liked to constantly worried as he lightly shivered behind his shovel as it masked his face, the Hard-Hat reinforcements were close to arrive, Torin only had to buy them some time.

'Don't shoot! Noooononononono!~'

Torin flailed his arms as the first group pinned their muskets, ready to fire. 'Look! You need us alive! right? Don't just go shoving those things around if you're not going to use them!' He was met by a sudden thud as a furry back pressed against his own. 'They're behind us too, aren't they..' 'Yup.. Try not to cry about it, its embarrassing enough that you are trying to convince them otherwise.' A nervous chuckle came from Torin in response to his sister, who was forced to take a back-to-back stance as the marines had slowly circled them, sadly enough all complete with weapons themselves. 'It's an intimidation tactic, I mean if they fire they'll just shoot themselves.. right?' Eimi grunted in concern. 'They weren't too bothered about getting in each others way a moment ago.. Where's the pink one?' Torin peered around the slowly darkening surroundings, looking up to the sky thanks to his horrible attention skills to find the clouds above had even flocked to watch the conflict, they seemed rather angry.. 'It's going to crack any second now, on that mark we move.. It's the only chance we have.' Eimi took a moment to realise what Torin was saying, his horrible tendency to speak cryptically for no reason left her to look up to see the rain-clouds herself, she had been so absorbed in the conflict.. They were going to burst any second.

The marines began to become side-tracked also, as the odd rain drop began to pat on their hats and muskets, leaving them all a little worried as to what was going to happen next. The place had been left to silence, even the townspeople had calmed as they had noticed the weather clouds and retreated to their homes and housing. Torin raised his helmet from his eyes, as right on cue a coat of rain layered the vision of the area almost instantly with a light fog, the marine in a bit of dis-array as the captains behind them barked to stand their ground in this stationary game of chicken.. Though the rain was getting loud, and the captains voices can only be so loud.

CRACK~

TARO!~

That wasn't the sound of lighting at all. 'Taro!?' Torin looked up to the Hard-Hat Criminal investigation duo at they launched from behind the scenes, the boom of the weather caused complete uproar amongst the marine formation as fire for some odd reason sounded a lot like charge and attack amongst the marine forces, as Taro and Darius entered the fray as did the wild wailing marines as a concentrated attack on two people became a frantic attempt to duck and dive one another through the blinding rain. 'As much as I love how nicely timed this was! This is ridiculous!'A few smacks and pokes later Taro had ended up beside him, his sister had pulled herself out of a dog pile and Torin was left to chuckle over the marines tripping over one another in the panic.

'Nice to see you too man!' He yelled through the rain and yells as Taro explained a much more tactical plan of approach, sure with a cleared mind he saw that as an option, though looking back to the marine base with a chunk missing out of it all he could do to respond was scratch the back of his head. 'Yea.. I'll be sure to tell you about it later. This is Eimi by the way.' He made introductions as he watched Darius bolt through the crowd towards a frantic pink armoured commander. 'I see you brought Fox! Good to know he's focused.' His swordsman vanished into the dense crowd, he didn't have to worry about him though. 'You must be the musician! Eimi! Torin's Sister!' She extended her hand, as a bullet seemed to split up the casual conversation, leaving all of them to glance up towards to source.

______________________________

A small distance from the fray, a blue coated man stood perched on the destroyed marine base of Loguetown, a revolver in hand he hissed as the rain caused him to miss his target, after all of this waiting he wasn't even given a warning that the Hard-Hat's had moved into action in their entirety, it was the perfect opportunity, the moment he had been waiting for.

'Looks like the top-hat saw me..'

He grunted as he flicked his gun to one side, spinning a bullet through his fingers before sliding it into the chamber and placing the cylinder back in place. The whole situation was a bit of an embarrassment, even for the commander.. And he had already had his fare share of embarrassments, but that wasn't really something he could go into at this time, the list was very long after all. He took a straighter stance on the arched slab of concrete he was on, watching the fight from above he could see how the rain could not have come at a more perfect time, the thickness of it allowing a fog to rest over giving the Hard-Hats a fighting chance against before impossible odds, he peered over to a building much further away than his own, slightly higher too.. The glint coming from the tower like structure had ceased but he presumed that someone was keeping tabs on the activity of the conflicts like a commentator, he had the strange feeling that the person or people in question would ruin his little moment, not to mention the man in pink.

'Well, guess I shouldn't hold myself back any longer..' He shrugged to himself as he skipped in his step, slowly beginning to hope and skid down the frictionless concrete slide, landing in a little crowd of cautious marines as their little squeaks and squeals caused a domino effect of turning heads, a small line parting between them as Hawke sunk his hands into his pockets, slowly moving through the pathway opened for him. He saw where the bullet had just skimmed him now, serves him right for trying to fire upon such a shaky target, he pulled his hands out, looking towards the three who remained a little up to their necks in the groups of marines who decided to be heroes, only to be added to the pile, clapping his hands between the momentary silence of conflict as well as causing any small noises to silence themselves. 'Don't worry guys, I got these ones.. Just focus on not getting in my way..' he motioned for the others to shoo, most of the people behind him taking a step back out of intimidation alone. 'Secure the area, and make sure Brick doesn't need a little bit of back up, bet that Oaf has gotten himself into all kinds of trouble..'

The marines began to chain off the orders, the once hectic platoon became organised and ready to fight as a unit rather than idiotic armless children. Hawke looked back to the group, moving his arms away from his sides he allowed his coat to open up, taking out two of his weapons from the vast array concealed behind his large Captains apparel he gave them both a solid spin before bringing his right shoulder forward, raising both of them to the trio and giving them a one sided smirk. He titled his head back for a moment, hearing a strange scream.. Probably Rose.. But he wasn't his problem any more, he got what he wanted.. The Hard-Hat's on a silver platter. 'Let's keep this traditional.' He bowed his head lightly as if gesturing their advance.

'After you..'

______________________________

The Sugar-Man rested in the rear-guard while the battle took place, seated on a slab of concrete with his feet up on a stool of his own creation, the clown like smile on his face showed the world he knew more about this situation than most did. He was drinking from a bright pink cup looking generally too happy with himself when the marine came and interrupted his tea-party, along with the horrible rain.

'Sir, Hawke has rallied the troops, we have Brick in contact with the ex-marine and... Uhm..'

'What is it man? Spit it out!' his sugary cups contents spilled all over the marine, leaving him to scream out in response. 'There's a MaaaaAAaaan~.... Man coming this way.' Rose stood from his seated position, looking around the dense crowd of marines and scratched his head. It was only when the man skipped between groups he was clearly visible, the man was an idiot for not seeing him before, his bright red jacket.. And his.. Well that's all that really stood out about the man as far as he was concerned. 'So? It's just one of the riff-raff, let one of the other take him out.. He won't be able to get towards us.. Any.. Time.. Oh dear.' Rose was wrong, as his cup and its contents absorbed back into his person he watched as the Red jacketed man seemed to be making quite a scene amongst the marines, approaching rather quickly too. 'He must be attempting to assassinate the figure head.. Like any intellect would do, I mean.. I am sheer excellence am I not?' The marines simply nodded in haste as he looked to them for approval, but no matter.. If it was a fight the man wanted it is a fight he shall get.

'Sir, apparently it's one of the Hard-hats, without a doubt, he is the swordsman.' Rose waved his hand to one side in acknowledgement. His armour stirring and shaking until a his arm became a solid Candy sword, complete with classic glint effect. 'So be it! If it a sword fight he requires! It is one he shall receive! Stand back gentlemen, this shall be conducted with honour.. And foul play!' His other arm shifted as the man approached, a candy cane loose enough to be a whip formed as he struck at his opponent when he came near.

He was hardly going to play fair in the slightest.

[Deleted]

“You must be the musician! Eimi! Torin's Sister”

‘Eimi... Torin’s sister, Torin’s sister... Torin’s... sister? TORIN’S SISTER!?’

They were very almost the musician’s last ever thoughts, suddenly a bullet grated across his shoulder but thankfully only left a light scratch, no way could it end like that... he’d been pulled from his Torin’s sister stupor but that issue couldn’t be left in the air, he’d definitely be returning to that later. Taro’s eyes were now firmly fixed on Hawke. The marine approached calmly, the other men parting as he shouted commands, falling into rank, moving about... it was amazing what good one strong leader did. His eyes left Hawke for just a moment, turning to Torin, ‘and we’ve got him... eh? - I think I prefer our odds anyhow.’ Soon the Captain was upon them, they’d done this before and it hadn’t gone down too well, he wasn’t a push over and the guitarist knew if they wanted to win, they wouldn’t stick to one on one. The rain had started to fall notably too by this point, ‘I hope that’s not the work of cosmic symbolism, no it’s called the pathetic fallacy for a reason, focus’ little did he know that rather than a bad omen, the rain had actually saved his life. Reflections aside it was down to business, Hawke had arrived.

“Let’s keep this traditional... after you.”

The musician’s face twitched slightly, he had several heated taunts spring to mind simultaneously, but they wouldn’t work, ‘oh isn’t he so cool, come at me I’m so awesome, meh, meh, meeeeh~’ He kept silent though, in his own mind Taro was also the ‘cool guy’. So he decided for once not to boulder in and be made to look stupid in front of what was now a marine and further back, civilian, audience. Slowly he took his trench coat off, placing it gently upon the ground the whole thing made a light chinking sound as it came to touch with the ground and then much less carefully he took his hat and flung it on top of the coat. He readjusted his grip on both limbs of the Axetar and all the while maintained his ‘cool guy’ stare, at least until a drop of rain found its way into his unblinking eye and consequently found his whole face twitching in effort as he failed to maintain the glare. ‘Round one pistol guy... ah screw this!’

“Alright Torin, as much as I’d like to say I’ll handle this... I think we’re going to have to do this Brick style if we’re going to win. Should be easy, after all he’s outnum--” Taro’s gaze fell to the background, row after row of marine face and hat made him feel slightly dizzy, “he’s out-awesomed... I’ll go first!”

Whether intentionally or not Hawke had already taken an advantage over the approaching guitarist, whom often relied on weaving around as he got a feel for his opponents style, or rhythm. Taking the passive stance left him to make the first move, but at least perhaps this would give Torin the opportunity to gain a read on him and then strike when the moment arose. So slowly he circled in, trying not to give away the moment of his strike and then he burst forward as explosively as he could manage.

It began with a large arcing slash with the main axe component, but the opening strike found nothing but air. Dropping to the floor Hawke had anticipated the obvious opener and had already initiated his counter, as both his hands hit the floor he spun into a leg sweep. Using the momentum of his initial strike Taro was able to hop the sweep and still twisting deliver a slash with his off hand, but to no avail. Using the same method to dodge his counter, the marine pushed upwards from his kick and spun his body horizontal allowing the serrated baton to skim passed harmlessly. From there he pushed upwards and completing this one fluid movement, launched a pistol at the now open musician’s face. Retreating backwards and raising his arms hopelessly, too little too late came the realisation that the pistol was never supposed to strike him. Flying back into Hawke’s hand by use of material woven into his sleeve, the move had done its job, by pulling the guitarists gaze it had left him entirely open to the left hook that came next. Staggering back the musician tried to ignore both the pain that now radiated throughout his cheek and the fact that this whole spectacle was being observed, but the latter fact was very much underlined by the marine cheer that followed. He’d known this would happen, ‘why can I never look aweso--’

Again pulled from his internal monologues by the frustrations of reality, his eyes alerted him to the fact that his opponent wasn’t going to give him breathing room. An attempted pistol whip to the temple only just missed its target and Taro once more span into a counter, this time a roundhouse. There was a sudden thud and a coursing pressure throughout his diaphragm as his muscles tensed up, suddenly static it became apparent that Hawke had blocked with the same move, electing to spin in the opposite direction. Legs crossed like blades the two men tensed as to try and over power the other.

“Not bad... don’t know... why you’re fighting us though... you realise... that pink Rose is... the bad guy here?”

Then sensing opportunity the fighting instincts of the Hard-Hat finally won him a blow as he elected to stop tensing his leg. Being pushed by the Captain he twisted around and somewhat to his own surprise landed a strike to his enemies’ torso with the flat of his baton. This victory was short lived however, not being one to leave a blow unpunished Hawke gained a tight purchase on the instrument wielding buffoon and pulled him inwards as the other hand whipped out and delivered a blow to his forehead with the butt of his pistol.

Staggering back before falling on his ass, Taro glanced to his Captain for a moment and offered the word “Ow.” Round two, it would seem, had also gone to Hawke, leaving the musician to fear that a pattern was emerging.

[Cirrus]

Adrenaline.

That split second when Darius had been close to Rose, it was all he felt. It was all that kept him going. That moment when it became clear that they were heavily outnumbered, and it would be down to their sheer awesome whether or not they would make it out alive, it was all he wanted. That instant when he could feel the blood coursing through his veins like a livewire, it was all he needed. Adrenaline was a fuel that kept him going; kept him alive. Without it, he wouldn't be here. He would have been back in Saint Reia, any old slumdog; any old nobody. Without it, he'd never had braved the seas of South Blue. He'd never have chanced upon the Hard-Hats. He'd never have become who he was today. It didn't fuel his power, it enhanced it in ways that only those who live life on the brink of death could know; it became so familiar that one felt deprived without the constant threat of expiration, laid on so thick and heavy that it was almost like a second skin. This was the ardent thirst for adventure. This was pure aspriation.

This was Darius.

The swathes of indescriminate marines and their useless guns seemed blurred and dull as the face of his primary adversary came into focus. The Hard-Hat swordsman was quick to react as Rose wheeled on his sugary heels, distancing himself from the Conomi HQ Commander as quickly as possible. It would prove prudent to do so, too, for in the space the swordsman had just occupied, a serpentine whip of candy cane burst forth. It missed him by mere inches, coming so close that the "Crimson Arrow" could smell the devillishly sweet aroma of what would have been his end. It filled his nostrils, tendrils of deceptively warm and welcoming scent caressing his brain, encasing the swordsman in a brief euphoria. Darius' eyes opened wide. The short sensation of elation that he'd encountered simply by being near one of Rose's attacks warned him against doing so again. Despite the pink armor and fake smile, Rose was a force to be reckoned with. No wonder he could send hordes of marines to their deaths every single day with ease. Just being near him changed one's thoughts; one's minds. The commander of Conomi base was a born manipulator.

Darius frowned as he drew his sword -- Aphrodite -- from its scabbard. Something felt off about this whole affair. Although the conspiracy was out in the open, its bare ugly face shown to all that dared spy on it, there was still the disturbing look of confidence on Harley Rose's face. What did he know that no one else did? Why was it that, even though there was nothing stopping them from slandering the name of the marines worldwide, he did very little towards covering the ears of the civillians around him? Even now, Rose simply gazed at him with contempt. Maybe he was planning something... The Hard-Hat swordsman needed time to think. Maybe high above these streets entrenched in corruption he could extricate the confusion from his mind. And so he charged, his legs eating up the distance between he and the commander with ease, coming to the the threshold wherein Rose's smell would intoxicate the swordsman, before using his devil fruit ability to veer up. Red arrows became steps for his feet, propelling him skybound. His angle of flight would plateau off as Darius righted himself, seeming to walk on air itself. The air up here was a lot more clear; more pure. It was calming.

A look of horror claimed the wanted head's features as the familiar scent of candy found its way into his nostrils. His eyes searched frantically for the source, opened wide with disbelief. In the time he'd had with the Hard-Hats, Darius had never encountered someone who could achieve the same elevation as he could. He saw a pink cloud. Candy floss. Dread filled his heart as it came closer. This had been a mistake. With the air clearer, it was a lot easier to detect the Conomi HQ commander. It was a lot easier for Rose to affect his thoughts.

"Oh..shit..." He said. There was no one to help him up here. But hadn't he wanted this? Didn't he want to hit the beehive with the wrecking ball? Darius raised his odachi in preparation. He'd hit it head on. Rose wouldn't expect it, with any luck. And so he aimed at the undulating pink smog, and launched himself at it. Diving in sword first, the wanted head reached incredible velocity as he came ever closer to the beast. Childishly, he tried to hold his breath to keep out the sugar sweet smell. The wind rushed past his face, but did little to detract from the accuracy of his movement. As the pink cloud grew ever closer, Darius could almost make out the rigid blonde quiff of his adversary. He tried to focus on it, as if it were an anchor to reality; an anchor to the cold dark reality, one that was filled with deceit and conspiracy and defined uncomprimising limits; one that was a radical contrast to the candy-filled sugar wonderland version of life that giving in to the persistent tug of Rose's poisonous aroma offered. Beautiful and easy, thought the swordsman, but ultimately vapid. It was empty. It was fake. It was worthless. Darius repeated it to himself like a mantra, and so by the time we'd all been waiting for arrived -- the time when the "Crimson Arrow" had to take down the commander of Conomi HQ with one definitve blow -- he was shouting it so hard that it could be heard from way down below; a call of righteousness and awesome that pervaded the tangled web of lies that called themselves the streets of Roguetown.

- - -

Rose, on the other hand, was perturbingly calm. Maybe it was the effects of his own devil fruit, maybe it was just his nature, but life was looking pretty sweet. The pink torrent of candy floss was a little burst of innovation, one that he was pretty proud of. Genius wasn't always a tangible gift, but in this case it was positively divine! The pink armor clad marine rose into the heavens, a spire of candy that represented all that was right, and proper, and the might of the marines! Yes, thought the commander, that's what the papers would read tomorrow; 'Victory Is A Dish Best Served Sweet!' As the face of the allegedly dangerous Hard-Hat came into focus, Harley allowed himself a smile. A smile that had madness creeping in from the corners. A smile that would disappear as the candy floss cloud that kept him going veered suddenly to the left, avoiding the swordsman's charge all together. It was then that the magnitude of candy floss required to propel a man would become apparent, for Darius was faced with a sea of pink. The "Sugarboy" knew this, which was why there was a particularly nasty smile on his face when he stopped flying and rested on the sluggishly falling candy floss -- an illusion; another act of fakery that seemed to make up his very being -- that made it seem as if he were floating. With a hand clad in pink armor gesturing, the candy floss started to contract and convulse around the swordsman, who was helpless to evade. The sheer size of the candy floss was more than enough to reach up, like a sickly sweet monstrous hand, and grab him.

- - -

There was no time to cry out or protest. It was as sudden as a lightning flash, the instant sea of pink candy enveloping him and dragging him down, down, down.

- - -

From the safety of their homes people started to take note of what seemed to be the conclusion to the trouble. Dim through the misty panes of their windows, as under a pink sea, they saw the "Crimson Arrow":

Drowning.

[Kurosaki]

At first Robin was taken about by Imuka's reaction about wanting to relax and do what they wanted to do. It seemed strange for someone that had chosen the type of life that she had to say such a thing. However, what she said next caused Robin to laugh and smile. Turning serious though, she wondered what sort of trouble exactly was it that Torin and the others had gotten mixed up in. After all, the chances of it actually having nothing to do with the Hard Hats were slim-to-none. You didn't need to be a genius or a prophet to know that.

They started to run. Running toward the disturbance against the crowd. Other's were fleeing as fast as their legs could take them; heading for cover and the sanctuary of their homes. Not that walls would necessarily keep them safe.

A flash of memory of her parents reaffirmed that walls and mortar were not enough to keep someone protected.

Suddenly Robin felt a strong hand push her shoulder and she was forced toward one side. Her balance lost, she stumbled and then landed awkwardly on the ground with a few scrapes and bruises. Of course, in the long run this was a much better result than what would have happened had Imuka not shoved her out of the way.

Looking up, Robin's eyes met with a very massive man. Muscles were tensed in the hand that had just tried to pound them both into something resembling a pancake on the streets of Roguetown. Coughing, Robin waved a hand to clear the debris away from her nose and then slowly stood back up, using her leg as a type of leverage.

Everywhere around them their resulted in chaos. People that were already running away from the other disturbance turned tail and ran in a completely different direction. Other's that hadn't yet noticed that anything was wrong before now were in a panic and started to run for cover.

The muscular man seemed to know Imuka, for he spoke directly toward her; taunting her about her position. She shouted back that he was simply jealous because she was chosen over him for some Marine project involving the Var. Wasn't that the name of her weapon?

Robin realized that she most have technically stolen it from the Marines with her resigning. The two began to clash and both of their fists hit each other's fists directly on.

Just... What the heck were both of them? Robin hadn't heard any cracking of bones yet. They were both incredibly lucky that the impact hadn't done anything much to damage either of them. But if they kept clashing like that the smaller bones in their hands would be the first to go...

Imuka shouted behind her to take care of the other Marines and get to Torin and the others. At first Robin hesitated, not sure if she should do what she was told but then reflected on it and got moving.

"Right," Robin said shortly before turning and drawing our her zai. Already Marines were rushing in front each which way to join the party.

At first they didn't seem to see Robin standing there. An innocent looking woman with long red hair. She didn't seem to be someone connected to this big event. No one even knew her face because of the fact that she was the only Hard Hat Pirate without a poster. She grinned as one Marine ran straight past her, not seeing that she was armed. She managed to kick him from behind and then knee him in the stomach. He went down and she struck one of the zai into his forehead; knocking him unconscious.

That was a tip for the other's that she was actually part of this whole ordeal. Several called to each other and then rushed at her in a group. Robin saw them coming a million miles away and twirled around, her zai cutting the air and causing a strange noise to issue before blood splashed upward. The three marines collapsed trying to stop the bleeding from the long cuts across their bodies from her weapons. One was stabbed in the leg as well.

"Don't worry, it's not a fatal wound. It missed your major artery. You'll be able to walk it off in no time," Robin said casually to the man with a glint in her eye before she started to run toward the noise that had been caused earlier taking out more Marines that tempted to stand in her way.

Once she had breached the distance between the shopping district and the outright battle happening in the streets of Roguetown, Robin realized instantly that this was the Hard Hat's doing after all. She could make out Torin and Taro fighting off some Marines together along with another girl. A new recruit? She couldn't be sure.

Marines were now chasing her from behind. She turned, hearing them issuing orders to each other as to how to catch her. She ducked behind a box and tripped up one as he ran by before swinging out and cutting the other one down as well. She left them collapsed in a heap on the floor and went to go see where she was needed the most in this fight.

(Figured it was unrealistic to instantly see Darius struggling as soon as she arrives. If you're drowning still one more post from this she'll rescue you.)