Vagabonds: Searching for Food.

[Quincy]

A mighty roar was all Vanos needed to hear to reassure him of Berk's location. He could already see Berk's huge anchor being swung about through the now shattered windows of Ramses' and considering how Berk had been swinging for so long, this opponent must be tough. Vanos ignored the pain he felt from his slight wounds, especially with his head pounding from Rob's swing, as he rushed through the hole in the wall that was formerly known as a door. A fierce fight unfolded before the Fishman, as Berk was seemingly even matched with Dominic, the waiter that had given him some trouble last time. 

Vanos thought against yelling out something clever to Berk and the human, deciding a quick, though not necessarily clean, hit would be enough to take out Dominic. Brandishing both his punching shields, the Gyojin rushed forward in attempt to strike the prick waiter, letting "Shocking Flurry" slip from his lips as he flew forward. Vanos growled as Dominic doubled back, effectively avoiding both Berk's range and Vanos' blows. Ramses called out from atop the second floor, "Oh. I almost forgot there was another vagrant. Oh well, you were foolish enough to show your face here again, and I am a fair man. You and Berk here will share the same fate. Now, Dominic, finish them both already." The waiter turned back to view his employer, and with a quick nod, he turned back towards the Fishman. Vanos turned to Berk and, annoyance evident on his failed barrage, stated "My mate, let's kill this wanker." Berk smirked back towards the Eelman and readied his anchor for Dom. As quickly as they had readied themselves, the Fishman found the waiter upon them, sending kicks wildly at the two. Dominic decided to give Vanos more "love", and after a full force kick that Berk blocked, springed himself off of the anchor and just behind Vanos. The Eelman, taking effect of his "Slickness", found himself contorting continually just to avoid the waiter's crushing blows. Dominic eventually caught him, however, with a swift backhand throwing Vanos off guard long enough to wail upon him. Vanos, receiving blow after blow, began to catch the waiter in some of his own strikes, with deadly precision as he pierced the waiter's side. Blood now spilling from Dominic's side and Vanos' face, the waiter jumped into the air above, his left leg raised high above his head as he floated in midair long enough for Vanos to draw one of his chains to his hand. "Time for you to learn some manners" Dom spat as he fell forward and cried out "Stomp the Rat!" Dominic suddenly dropped upon Vanos quicker than the Gyojin could fully dodge, and delivered a vicious axe kick to Vanos' shoulder. Vanos was now lying on the ground, pain from his wounds stacking upon each other and screaming out with each movement of his muscles. Dominic laughed as the Gyojin coughed up some blood but winced as more of his own blood dyed his new silken vest a deep crimson. At least he had dealt with one "rat". As Dominic turned to face Berk, hand over his ribs but nonetheless ready to go and fight, he lightly heard Vanos' taunting chuckling behind him. Dominic turned promptly on his heel, meaning to deliver a well placed kick into the vagabonds chest, but felt some resistance around his heel. He looked down in shock to see that Vanos had somehow wrapped the chain he pulled out around most of his left leg, the very same that had just knocked the Gyojin down a peg, or so he thought. "Where ya lookin', I ain't done yet!" Vanos grinned a toothy wicked grin "But you are." Dominic suddenly felt pain shoot up through his ankle to the rest of his body. His heart sporadically beat, no sense of pattern evident as his muscles tensed up and his world slowly turned black, but not before Berk delivered a vicious blow to Dominic's face, sending the human flying, only for Vanos' chain to keep him from soaring too far and landing near enough to the two.

Vanos, despite his bodies protests, stood up to assess the mess he had made. Dominic was sprawled out and was partially burned around his ankle from the sudden influx of electricity. Vanos had certainly used too much power but he hardly cared if he had killed the human or not. The wanker was a pain to both the Fishmen and he had it coming. Vanos groaned, rubbing his shoulder to ease it, pain still flowing from the point where his shoulder and Dom's leg met. It would certainly take a nap to get it all right again but he could keep going, after all, Berk was still fighting strong and Ramses' was the only one left for them to deal with. "Oi, Berk, I don't know 'bout you, but i'm right worn out of waiters and the like." Vanos finally let out. But it wasn't Berk that responded to the Eelman's statements, it was instead the roaring laughter of Ramses, pain evident on his face as he clutched at his stomach. "Zwahahaha! You-you think that is it!? Zwahahaha oh that's rich!" Ramses gasped in a deep breath of air, letting it out as a long sigh. Smile still left on his face, he snapped his fingers and yelled "Order up!" Suddenly, three figures appeared before the two Fishmen, each donned in white chef coats and the trademark chef's hats. "Don't tell me you forgot about the chefs?" Ramses yelled out to the Gyojin, a grin plastered across is features.

[Djinn]

Berk saw Dominic's body freeze and convulse from the electricity, and he saw his chance to be rid of the human once and for all. The Tiger-Sharkman grabbed his anchor in one hand, gripping it by the ring found on the end of the massive haft, then with all of his massive strength, Berk flung it forwards with deft purpose, "Gravity Swing!" The anchor smashed Dominic from his right side, flinging him across the chamber and into the wall. There was a spray of blood as Dominic bounced off of the wall and onto the ground.

Berk wasted no time, as Ramses was talking about whom he held in reserve, the pirate swung his anchor around over and over again before springing into the air towards Dominic in a whirling frenzy.

To the waiter's credit, he was down but not out. He had endured many savageries in his time in prison, he wouldn't stop for some two bit punks. He was covered in wounds and burns, blood streamed down Dominic's once well-groomed face, but he pushed himself up to his hands and knees. Blood was in his eyes, so he didn't see that it was too late. "Gravity Smash!" Berk stopped his swinging, he had gained enough momentum to carry him across the room, he pulled the anchor to him and pushed it beneath him. The gyojin placed his feet in the curves of his anchor as a rider would place his feet in a pair of stirrups. Then the entire thing, anchor and wielder, crashed down upon Dominic with a booming impact! The floor gave way, and when the dust settled it was Berk who got up out of the hole in the floor. The Gyojin held one side of his head and leaned on a table, breaking it under his immense weight! "Damn, I'm kinda dizzy after that spinning!" It certainly didn't inspire much fear in the Chefs working under Ramses.

"They look like friggin goons..." "Fast Hands" Tony smugly slicked back his black haircut as he removed his chef's coat. He was immensely hairy, solidly built with thick arms and a bulging gut. Tony slipped on a pair of spike-studded knuckles, then smashed them together a couple of times to pump himself up.

"Lemme at em!" Standing in the middle of these three cooks was a Fishman! He was short, standing all of four feet two inches, with a long face ending in a puckering mouth. The tiny humanoid was bluish-grey, with fin-ridges on his jaw-line and near his ears. The minute cook wielded a large pistol, shoved into his belt, and dangling down past his knees at his waist. He was Peche, and he looked pissed.

"Lets get this over with, I want to go to sleep!" "Mad Butcher" Stilletto crossed a pair of massive butcher's knives in front of himself and eyed the two Fishmen. He was known as a real weirdo, and cooking a pair of Fishmen wouldn't have made it to the top of his list of deranged handiwork. On his back he bore a large metal box with a slot on one end and a large button on the back. Stilletto licked the edge of one of the two blades he held, "Good, still sharp."

All three of these men were hardened convicts. Ramses had picked them for their brutality as well as their cooking talents. The head chef spoke, "Good, you three are the last of our fighters. If you don't want to go back to prison, you should get rid of these Fishmen for me!"

Peche, the shortest chef, snorted; "You're always saying some shit like that Ramses, but all right I'll handle this one!" The sea-horse Fishman stepped forwards and reached for his pistol, but he was brushed aside by Tony; "Ey, you'se should hang back pip-squeek, this ain't choppin' up vegetables, capiche?" Peche looked pissed at the insult, but held his temper in check for once, moving to the top of the stairs and pulling out his pistol. Meanwhile, Tony and Stilletto moved forwards to serve up the final course in this banquet of brutality!

[Quincy]

Vanos saw the blade-wielding chef, Stilletto, coming towards him with a maniacal look in his eyes. The Eel-man held up his pair of punching shields to guard against any slashes. "Right, so I get the crazy one, eh? Fine by me!" Vanos rushed forwards and Stilletto moved to meet him, their weapons crashed against each other with a savage bang as the two struggled against one another to attain dominance. Stilletto's knives ground against the spikes on Vanos shields, the chef was fresh, but the gyojin's natural advantage kept him in the struggle. Stilletto was of an average build for a human, with red hair and a red goatee on his raggedy features, he was laughing; "This is great luck, my signature recipe is barbequed eel! You'll make a feast!" Vanos grimaced behind his shades, "You humans never cease to amaze me with the shit that comes out of your bloody mouths! Your messing with wrong bloke here wanker!" Vanos spit in the mad-man's eyes, a mix of spit and the blood he'd been tasting since Dominic's attack... "Ahh!" Stilletto was blinded for an instant, and that's when Vanos struck!

He was tired, but he had more than enough left in him to finish off this ass. "Oi, when you wake up, remember the name is Vanos!" Vanos struck out with a straight kick to Stilletto's face, sending the cook to the ground hard, but that wasn't enough. Vanos put up one of his punching shields, then pulled out the chain he had used against Dominic. The Gyojin began punching his shield down into Stilletto repeatedly as he struggled to get up, lashing him with his chain as well in a brutal beating. Stilletto stopped trying to get up and Vanos stopped hitting him. The Gyojin let out a sigh of exhaustion as he walked away, all this fighting was starting to catch up with him...

Then he heard the clatter of metal to the floor and turned to see what was happening! Stilletto had gotten back up, his chef's coat and pants covered in blood, his face covered in cuts and bruises from the chain whipping he had just received. But though he was clearly hurt, the Chef's face showed nothing but fierce defiance. He had dropped his two knives onto the ground, they stuck into the floor by their points, but it seemed the criminal cook wasn't giving up! From his back, he seized the huge metal box on his back, pointing the slot at one end towards Vanos. "It's been awhile since I've had to use my sharpest knife, but you're troublesome enough for me to show it too you..." He pressed the button on the back of the box and a huge blade sprang forth from the "handle" Stilletto was holding. The massive knife was almost three feet long, with it's handle it was probably about six feet long, looking more akin to a pole-arm than the massive knife it was!

Vanos's eyes locked on that blade behind his shades, and he let the punching shield he still wielded clatter to the floor. The Eel-man held his ground and grasped his chain in both hands in front of him. Stilletto let out a blood-curtling cry and rushed forwards with his huge switch-blade in his hands, this fight would be decided in the next few moments!

[Djinn]

In a flash, "Fast Hands" Tony was upon Berk, battering his head with a flurry of punches! "Tenderizer!" The Tiger-sharkman's vision blurred, he could taste his own blood in his mouth now, but he needed to stand otherwise this fight was as good as over! Despite the impacts of Tony's knuckles, the cuts of the spikes he wore on his hands, and the pain of all his wounds, Berk's iron-like sinews would not buckle and he found his feet again! Tony jabbed the Fishman in the chest a couple times, but then Berk brought his anchor to bear, "Gravity Swing: Point Blank!" Tony was as fast as his name suggested, and was able to block the attack with his spiked knuckle-reinforced hands. The force of the swing did cause him to slide back to Berk's right side, but the tough scrapper was unshaken. "C'mon is that all you'se got? Entrée!" Tony's fist again found it's mark under Berk's chin with a lightning-fast uppercut, causing the Gyojin to stagger back from the impact! Berk could feel one of his teeth break from the force of this humans punch, it was time to get off the defensive! "Gravity Swing!" Berk swung his anchor around him several times, Tony's speed was enough to avoid his first swings with his anchor, though the mobster had to move back to avoid the huge weapon. Berk kept up his attack, but let out some chain as he swung the anchor so that it gradually increased it's range. Tony ducked under these attacks as the anchor smashed up even more of the furniture that remained in "Ramses' Restaurant."

Finally Tony backed up to the wall, his fists raised in a boxer's stance as he watched out for the Anchor. Berk pulled back his anchor and stepped forwards, the small cuts across his face adding to it's crimson hue, "Nowhere to hide now! Gravity Spear!" The Gyojin hurled his anchor like a javelin at Tony, it cascaded through the air towards the thug, but he was too quick, and managed to duck the huge projectile! The anchor hit the wall behind Tony with the force of a missile, shattering the wood and leaving a massive hole in the wall. "Fast Hands" however, wasn't wasting anytime. He rushed up towards Berk, now that the Fishman had thrown away his weapon it was his chance to strike! "Gravity Spear!" Berk jerked the chain of his anchor as hard as he could, ripping the metal mass from the wall and bringing it sailing back towards him! The point at the end of the curve in his anchor found it's home in Tony's back, impaling him with a crimson splash of blood! Like a worm riggling on a hook, Tony was having to bite his lip to endure the pain, but even still he was able to stay sitting up on his knees. "You're fast, so I had to be sneaky..." The Gyojin stood over the cook for an instant, then reached up and pulled out his teeth. The bony ridges pulled free with a quiet *pop* and Berk looked at them. Tony was trying to push himself up to his feet, but the anchor was too much weight on him and he fell back over. Berk's teeth had seen better days, they were stained with Dominic's blood as well as his own, and there were several teeth that had broken off during Tony's initial assault. The gyojin felt the new set growing in, and jammed this set on his free hand, which still had his anchor's chain wrapped around the fore-arm. Tony was still trying to stand, and he had forced his body back up on it's knees; Berk put his un-knuckled hand on Tony shoulder to steady him, the thug looked up; "Let's see how you like my spiked-knuckles... Tyrant Fist!" The punch landed in Tony's upper chest, stabbing him with the massive Fishman's teeth even as it's crushing force sent him crashing back to the ground like a rag-doll!

Berk pulled his anchor out of Tony as, from the top of the stairs, Peche aimed his pistol at the towering Shark-man. Ramses spoke, "Not with that, here!" The Head-Chef tossed the Fishman cook a rifle, with a pair of grips on it and a large round magazine on the bottom, before continuing on; "Those other fools have all but lost at this point, hold them off with that while I get out of here..." The human turned and pulled a lever on the wall, causing a bookshelf to slide to one side revealing a secret passage!

Peche holstered his pistol as he grabbed this new shooter, it was one of those new-fangled models from North Blue, he sighted down the barrel at Vanos, then Berk. He was about to pull the trigger as he heard the secret passage open, he looked over to see Ramses about to make his escape when an angry expression popped onto his face... "Wait a minute, hold it right there!" The Sea-Horseman Cook cocked his new rifle and pointed it at Ramses who froze and put his hands in the air, "What is the meaning of this, Peche?!" 

[Quincy]

"Arrgh!" Vanos watched Stilletto charge towards him, giant knife in both hands, but he didn't budge and he held his chain out in front of him. Stilletto dashed in and swung down with the huge blade, Vanos held his chain overhead and caught the strike with the metal links supported by his fishman strength. Stilletto jumped back quickly and swung his blade horizontally low, trying to slice open the eel-man's legs, Vanos was able to jump over such an obvious attack from such a large weapon. "Oi mate, you've gotta get a bit closer than that!" The tone Vanos used was mocking, and clearly drove Stilletto to anger.

"Goddamn Fish! Skewer!" Stilletto  struck out with his giant knife, attempting to impale Vanos with the huge point of his titanic switch-blade, luckily for Vanos his back bone was flexible like the eels he shared so much with. He swayed his body to the right, narrowly avoiding getting run through, then he wrapped his chain around the blade of Stilletto's stiletto. "You done fucked up now, mate! Conductivity!" Vanos let the electricity flow from his body, through the metal of the chain and blade, then into Stilletto's body! The felonious chef's body convulsed and he had to let go of his weapon, though the instant he let go, his body gave in and fell to it's knees. Vanos felt a bit of a static shock when he picked up Stilletto's massive blade, it didn't hurt him since he just absorbed the shock as Vanos lifted his foe's own weapon over his head with both hands. Stilletto seemed to have lost consciousness even while he was still propped up on his knees. "This is what happens when you start a fight you can't win you bugger!" Vanos yelled as he plunged the massive weapon down through Stilletto's chest and into the ground! Vanos stooped to pick up his chain as well, but then he heard someone walking in through the doorway. The gyojin's heart jumped in his chest as he saw a group of Marines standing in the doorway... 'Oh shit, did they come for me all the way from West Blue?!'

There was a group of about ten marines, most of them were recruits, but the fellow in the middle of their ranks wore an officers coat; his voice boomed out, "What the hell's going on in here?!"

[Djinn]

Before the Marines burst in, Ramses had been shocked to see that Peche was pointing his gun right at him! The chef stopped in his tracks, a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face as he looked at the barrel of the gun. "Why would you betray me, Peche?!" He was a bit angry, but also knew if he didn't get out of here quick, the Fishmen downstairs would be here soon.

"Why would I betray you? Because I never wanted to work for you in the first place!" Peche's voice was coarse with anger, and he moved towards Ramses with his rifle still trained on him. "You paid to have me transferred from prison to work for you, if you would have stopped there, maybe things would be ok between us; but you didn't, did you?" Ramses gulped loudly and tried to move towards his escape route as Peche continued, "You worked us hard, cooking for you by day and doing your dirty-work at night... You've never paid us, and I lost count of how many times you threatened to send us back to prison. Still, I figured, why rock the boat? He's got so many killers working for him maybe it's better to just go with the flow... But you know what? The boats sinking, and you know what they say, the captain should go down with the ship. Akakakakakakaka!" Peche chambered a fresh round and prepared to blow Ramses away when he heard something from the front door.

"What the hell's going on in here?!" It was the Marines! Even as Vanos and Berk turned their attention to these newcomers, Ramses rushed to the edge of the balcony and shouted to them, "HELP! These Fishmen blew up my neighbor's restaurant and now they're trying to do the same to mine!" Peche smashed the butt of his rifle into the back of Ramses' head to knock him out even as the Marines trained their guns on Berk and Vanos. The Tiger-sharkman couldn't believe the bold-faced lie Ramses was spreading, but he knew the Marines were anything but perfect so he wasn't overly surprised when the Marines trained their guns on him. *Shit, I didn't think about the Marines!* Berk sheathed his bloody anchor, he was thoroughly wounded and he really wasn't trying to fight the Marines. "The real crook is up there..." Berk's somber voice was low but audible as the Marine officer held his hand up.

One of the Marine Recruits lowered his gun, "Lt. Cerge, what should we do?!" The officer, a man wearing a grey suit and a Marine coat hung over his shoulders, looked cautiously around the room as he stroked his blonde beard. "Hmmm... No one leaves, arrest these Fishmen!" He had come to Cuisine Isle after there had been reports of a bomb going off on it. He had suspected some sort of Unfinista treachery, but now it appeared to be a simple pirate raid. His subordinates moved forwards and began to surround Vanos and Berk slowly, not trying to provoke the inhuman hooligans...

Berk didn't like the looks of this and was rapidly regretting putting up his anchor. "Come on, it wasn't us!" The Gyojin was trying to look as innocent as possible, but the blood and wounds across his body told another story, as did the obvious destruction his anchor had wrought. "We'll take that into account, what was your name again?" The Lieutenant was simply trying to talk the pirates down so further bloodshed could be avoided, he hardly expected the stupid shark to answer: "Yeah, I'm Berk, and It's a long story, but we're innocent!" The Gyojin could see that this wasn't going well, but he had had enough trouble for tonight. It looked for sure that Vanos and Berk would be sharing a jail-cell tonight, until someone else spoke...

"Motherfuckers! I'm not goin' back to Vitkas!!" Peche leapt up onto the bannister of the balcony and began opening fire with the Rifle from North Blue he had been holding. The weapon opened up in a barrage of gunfire unlike all the rifles Peche was used to, it seemed as though if the shooter held down the trigger, it would continue to fire. The sea-horse man laughed madly as the Marines below had to scatter to avoid being shot, Berk used this opportunity to take cover. He flipped a table on the floor up to on it's side, then kneeled behind it as the Marines returned fire. Somehow, things had gone from bad to worse yet again! Now the ruins of Ramses' Restaurant were host to an all out gun-fight! Berk hunkered down behind his cover, and wiped some of the blood from his eyes as he pulled his anchor forth... "Shit, we gotta make a break for it..."

[Quincy]

Vanos ducked down to avoid getting his head blown off in the fire-fight that was raging all around him, "Blimey, this is too much! We gotta get the hell out of here!" There was a temporary lull in the shooting for a moment, and Vanos used that opportunity to rush up the stairs since these Marines had the doorway blocked off. By the time he got to the top of the stairs, the Marines opened fire again and the gyojin was lucky to make it to the balcony above in one piece. When he reached the second story, Vanos threw himself behind one of the support beams in the restaurant, narrowly avoiding being shot! When he was covered again, the Fishman looked around to think of a way out of this mess...

He was within about three feet of the third of Ramses' cooks, a Fishman who didn't seem bothered by his presence there. Then, looking down, he saw Ramses' unconscious body laying face down on the floor. 'Bingo' Vanos thought to himself as he pulled the human closer to him and felt through his pockets. There was a key of some kind (the Eel-man smugly pocketed that), a grocery list (Vanos threw this away), a list of names (also trash), a wallet (full of money!), and a pistol tucked into his belt. The gyojin grabbed the wallet, pistol, and the key, then he picked up Ramses' limp body and placed the gun against his temple...

"Oi! All you scum-sucking Marines down there, hold your fire! Unless you want this one's brains all over the wall!" Vanos stood behind Ramses and angrily shouted his intentions to the squad below.

The Officer, Cerge, spoke; "Now, we can work this out! There's no reason anyone else has to die! Just let him go... Be reasonable." Vanos burst into a toothy grin hidden behind Chef Ramses, this guy should have watched his mouth, "Let him go? You got it!" The Marines looked on in horror as Vanos hurled Ramses off of the balcony at them! After that was done, all hell broke loose down on the first floor, and Vanos put his hand on Peche's shoulder; "We gotta get the hell out of here, mate! This way!" The seahorse-man didn't protest, and sprayed another volley of bullets at the Marines before following this new Fishman...

Before he slipped out the secret exit Ramses was about to use, Vanos yelled out; "Berk! We'll meet you at the docks!" Then the Eel-man slipped into the darkened passageway with Peche right behind him. The two of them left the sounds of battle behind as they came to the rear of the restaurant and discovered a small room with a door, a desk and chair set, and a small safe! Peche moved to the door and began seeing if the coast was clear, meanwhile Vanos couldn't resist trying out the key he had found on Ramses. He stuck the key into the lock of the and twisted it, yielding a light click as the safe-door swung open! The safe was filled with cash, and there was even a bag in there! "These wankers have made this too easy..." Vanos chuckled to himself as he stuffed the bag full of cash, then turned to follow Peche, who was waving for his newest accomplice to follow.

The two of them snuck through the back alleys, avoiding crowds and another Marine patrol on their way to the docks. When they arrived there, they saw the whole area had was swarming with Marines, apparently since the boat that had brought their patrols to respond to the bombing at "Rob's" had docked here. Peche held his hand over his lips, and pointed to a small jetty that was built into the docks to help with unloading boats. Vanos nodded, getting the cook's meaning, and the two of them slipped into the calm waters off of Cuisine Isle. They waited there, under the docks, for the third of their brethren to show up even as the Marines above them looked for the trio of fugitive Fishmen.

[Djinn]

Berk braced himself against the table as he waited for the Marines to rush him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Vanos climbing the stairs, he kept his head low as bullets crashed against the table all around him, one of them even grazed his arm as it tore through the table. The Gyojin was hurt, and honestly, he had kind of run out of ideas about what to do. Then he heard Vanos from upstairs;

"Oi! All you scum-sucking Marines down there, hold your fire! Unless you want this one's brains all over the wall!" Vanos stood behind Ramses and angrily shouted his intentions to the squad below. Berk could see where this was going, and he knew the moment to act was close at hand. The Tigershark-man wrapped his huge hand around one of the legs of the table, what he was planning would either save his ass or get him killed. As Vanos hurled Ramses from the top floor, all the Marines made their move and so did Berk! Using his free hand the Gyojin held the table in front of him and braced it against his body for added force, then charged ahead to meet the Marines like a battering ram! As he bashed one of the humans away, Berk heard Vanos yell out; "Berk! We'll meet you at the docks!" The pirate remembered the way he had come, and swung the table he held in a wide arc in front of him, smashing away two more of the Marine Recruits like gnats. He steadied his grip on his anchor and rushed for the door, but it would not be so easy to escape...

Lt. Cerge drew his sword and lunged forwards with his sabre held in both hands, plunging it cleanly through the table much to Berk's surprise as the blade emerged right below one of his arms! "Viper's Thrust!" Cerge grunted sternly, then reversed his grip on his blade, "Whirling Strike!" Rolling against Berk's mass, Cerge managed to feint off to the left side of Berk and spun around dealing a vicious sword-strike against the Gyojin's leg! Berk turned quickly and put the table between the two combatants like a tower shield, but Cerge was undeterred. "Strong Stamp!" He delivered a flawless roundhouse kick to Berk's table, sending the Fishman sprawling back on his wounded, weakened leg even as it shattered the damaged slab of wood! Berk was now prone out front of Ramses' Restaurant, and there was a mid-sized group of civilian residents of Cuisine Island on hand to see the excitement. The Marine Lieutenant leapt into the air with his sabre held in both hands over his head! He brought the blade down in a vertical slash meant to cleave Berk in two! "Eagle's Slash!"

The Gyojin knew that this was a fight-or-die situation, and he wasn't ready to die yet, so he spun his anchor in front of him to ward off the deadly blow! "Gravity Shield!" The anchor struck against Cerge's sword, rebuffing the Marine's assault. Berk used the moment this bought him to push himself up to his feet with his free hand, then charged into the crowd of civilians that were standing between him and freedom. He swung his massive weapon over head, scattering the folk of Cuisine island like a mass of bowling pins before he hurriedly limped towards the docks he'd arrived here at earlier in the day. Cerge collected himself quickly, trying to move through the crowd to chase the fugitive. One of his recruits called out after him, "Sir, what should we do?!"

The Officer ground his teeth for a moment before shouting back to his subordinate over his shoulder, "Three men stay here and sort out the wounded, keep this place locked down, no one leaves or gets in. The rest of you, follow me to the docks!" Four Marine Recruits made it through the crowd before Berk rounded the corner and opened fire at him! It was all the Fishman could do to make it around the corner before he was shot! He holstered his anchor and hustled down the street as fast as he could, which despite the leg wounds was faster than one would expect from the hulking brute. As he rushed down the cobbled streets, Berk could constantly hear the sound of boots crunching on stone as his harrowers pursued him. This all mattered little to Berk, in fact, it really just solidified in his mind that Marines weren't there to help people, they always backed those who made life miserable for those around them... Ramses, Berk's old slavemaster Mr. Chiric, how come the Marines never moved against guys like them? It was clear to Berk that when Marines saw Fishmen, they didn't see the humanity inherent to Gyojin, but they saw threats! Berk slowed down beneath the moonlight in a paved plaza with a large fountain in the middle of it. The Gyojin's body ached when he heard the water cascading down the sides of the fountain, and he moved to the edge of the water, reached into the clear water, shimmering in the moonlight, and drew forth a handful of water to quench his thirst.

Behind him, he heard the cocking of several guns and turned slowly before drinking the handful of water he held. Cerge stepped forwards, "There is no where for you to run, Fishman! It's time to give in to the authority of the World Government, you've done enough damage, so just surrender! I won't ask nicely again!"

Berk was silent for a moment in the twilight, "The World Government?" Berk's head dropped down as if his last hopes for freedom were being stolen away from him, he began to raise his hands as if to surrender. Then he hurled the handful of water from his hand like a bomb,"Mizu Testu: Hou!" The attack hit in the middle of the group, sending the Marines sprawling out in the road save for Lt. Cerge. "The World Government is a plague on the world, I piss on your fucking 'justice!'" Berk then turned and ran off towards the Docks despite the pain pulsing through his legs and across his body.

"Stop, in the name of the law!" The Lieutenant was relentless in his pursuit, but Berk was so close he wasn't about to stop in the name of anything! Finally he returned to the docks, and seeing a group of Marines forming a barracade to bar his exit, Berk pulled out his anchor. The Gyojin didn't do anything fancy, He held the Anchor out in front of him with both hands and charged directly into the group of soldiers like a bulldozer smashing through a grove of saplings! Berk was standing on the edge of the docks, next to a small rowboat and about six incapacitated Marines who had tried to block his path. "Berk, you've run out of places to run!" The Gyojin heard Cerge's voice behind him and turned to confront the blonde officer face to bearded face.

Berk grinned his ferocious grin, "That's where you're wrong. I've all but escaped!"

Cerge looked at the row-boat, "Surely you don't think you can make a get away on that little thing?! One word over the Den Den Mushi and the base'll blow it out of the water before you can get out of sight. Give up, face justice." The Marine held his sword before him with both hands, prepared to continue their fight.

Berk shrugged, "Do you know who you're talking to? An' people call me dumb... Gravity Smash!" Berk leapt into the air and stood on the curves of his anchor as he descended! The anchor and it's wielder smashed down through the bottom of the Marine row-boat, sinking the dingy as the shark-man disappeared in the darkened waters. Cerge looked down into the water, but only saw the moon shimmering across the surface of the water, he sheathed his sword and shook his head in disgust at his own inability to catch any of those perps he'd pursued tonight. "Fishmen..." He cursed before turning to tend to his beaten recruits.

Meanwhile, when Berk setted on the floor of the bay, he felt his wounds soothed by the embrace of the sea. The Gyojin put up his anchor as his gills switched to breathing underwater, then looked around. It wasn't hard to spot two more shapes down under the waves, Berk swam towards them to reveal Vanos and the last of Ramses' thugs. Berk stuck his hand out to shake this new Gyojin's hand, "You saved us back there, thanks. We can get introduced and talk about this later, right now we should get out of here while it's still dark... C'mon." With that, Berk began to swim out to sea yet again. He had gotten a hot meal while he was here, and he might have even found some comrades worth travelling with too.

(END)