Mission #132 - A Sticky Situation [Pluto/Odango]

[BlacKitten]

Mission #132

On Jreum Island, the Sticky Pirates have managed to sneak past your defenses. They've invaded Command and are holding a large amount of Recruits hostage. The Captain is requesting all of your treasure and, if you don't comply, he will start killing off hostages every three minutes. The Captain of the Sticky crew is the infamous 23,000,000 Bounty, cruel and brute "Professor" Jeremy B. Black known for his well executed traps he is not to be taken lightly.

A grey blanket of stormy clouds covered the heavens, ominous and heavy-looking. Wind blew swiftly, violently, and unexpectedly in direction; manipulating the waters to crash into the shores. Not a single droplet of rain had fallen yet, but it was long anticipated that a storm would soon bestow them. Most of the marine ships were anchored by the only dock on the island of the Business block, playing it safe by not venturing into the deep seas as of now.

The depressing weather had many off the streets, taking shelter from the non-existent rain. In a small plaza where merchants and civilians dwelled, he settled upon a stool with his feet off the floor. Directly across from the small round table was an empty seat, but a steaming cup of tea settled on a little round plate on that end, much like the teacup on his end. Staring blankly out the window, a black-haired adolescent leaned his face against a palm with the elbow pressing on the tabletop. His protective black vest and minor metallic armory around the forearms and shins made him more distinctive than everyone else around him.

Soon, an energetic girl sprinted back to her stool across from him with vibrant violet eyes glaring at the side of his head. Her arms wavered at her side, “Pluto! Big news!”

“Hmm?” His own eyes darted towards his little sister with an uninterested expression, “What is it?”

“You know how this island is flooded with marines?” she started off with a question to set the mood.

“There’s a marine headquarter that practically rules this place,” he shared his knowledge to prove that he did knew the existence of marines that he had seen patrolling around since their arrival. Although, lately there hadn’t been much sight of them, but he assumed they had important duties of their self-proclaimed justice to attend to such as capturing criminals.

Rebecca nodded before continuing, “Yes, and the Sticky Pirates have taken many marines soldiers as hostage. The higher ups probably didn’t want the public to know about this, so this mostly spread around as just rumors. But they can’t really hide it; the pirates are here on this island after all.” While away, she had overheard private conversations. Many were concerned that their source of protection was being successfully threatened.

There was something rather intriguing about this news, and the fact that it was occurring right now at this island made it more psychologically impactful. It was almost as if it mattered to him. “That’s quite clever. Normally, pirates would just attack on sight of any marines that opposes them, but I’ve never actually heard about pirates taking marines as hostages. That’s quite strategic of them,” he praised the pirate crew for using their brains for once. “Still,” a question hatched into his thoughts, “what do they want in exchange for the hostages’ lives?”

“Treasure,” the younger one answered with a single word. Afterwards, she lifted her cup, gently blowing the steam away before taking a soft sip of tea.

“That’s quite traditional. I wonder how this will play out,” he treated the news as merely a form of entertainment. If an entire marine base as large as this one couldn’t handle the situation well enough, their reputation shall go down the drain.

“I didn’t fine a bounty poster, but…,” she paused to pile up the suspense, “the captain has a bounty on his head that is worth 23, 000, 000 beri.” Still, the last bounty that her brother unintentionally captured was worth 35 million, and on top of that, Scarlette –their new ally- killed the first mate whose bounty was 18 million. Their financial status remained in the green zone, and it will stay in that zone for quite some time. They were in no desperate need for money.

“Are you perhaps trying to persuade me into getting involved?” he questioned the girl’s intentions. It wasn’t like her to be interested in money. To go so far in telling him all this, there seemed to be something that bothered her.

With a saddened expression, she nodded slowly, “For every three minutes that the captain doesn’t get what he wants, a hostage will be killed.” Her fingers curled into fists, “I don’t want any more lives to be taken away. Pluto, please stop them.”

Death was something he had hidden from her eyes for a very long time. To keep her untainted by the world’s evil side and to protect that kind innocence, he dirtied his own hands in blood just for her sake. She had never made such a huge request before in the past, but for her to accept the risks of endangering her own brother into this matter, she had faith in his skills. Rebecca had watched him train and grow in strength; she was always with him. However, there were many secrets that even she did not know about him. Siblings as they may be, they only met each other two years ago. Growing up in different environments, the two of them had polar opposite personalities and views, yet they stuck together, keeping a mutual balance.

[odango]

*Where… where am I?*

Her lids slowly parted, lifting curtains of long lashes away from her hazel eyes. For a moment, everything looked fuzzy and blurred but then it started to regain form. She felt tired, her head felt heavy along with the rest of her body. The young marine had no idea where she was or as to how she had gotten there. What she could see around her at first was the stone floor of something that looked like a basement and a few other figures in marine uniforms lying around her. She could also hear voices. Two of them in the room she was in. At least, for the time being. It sounded like they were leaving.

’Oi, how many of them did we get in the end? Man, I had no idea the gas would actually work on so many. Talk about having a clever captain. If all goes well, we’ll get a ton of money with only having to kill a few marines.’ he spoke to his partner, obviously quite pleased with himself. Right, Tsubaki was starting to remember. She had been sent here to learn more about certain types of sword fighting styles. She had been sent together with a whole group of other newbies from a variety of locations to take the chance to study. She had no idea whose idea it had been in the first place, but she could remember liking the idea of learning something new.

~Twenty. We have twenty of them. And of course the gas worked. It was a piece of cake, ambushing these rookies. Now we’ll just collect the cash and we’ll be off. Not like anyone of these damn marines is going to survive to tell them how we did it. The captain said once we get the money, we take the survivors on a ship, assuring they will be free to sail back themselves, once we get to our ship. Actually we will throw them all overboard in the middle of the sea. I just hope we get to see some of them sink…! the other man told the first, while they walked out what seemed to be a basement and locked the door behind them.

Tsubaki had felt a wave of cooler air after they shut the door and she could also smell cooking oil. So perhaps they were under a restaurant of some sort? She really couldn’t tell for certain, but that’s the first guess she had. The room wasn’t small. It was actually quite spacious. Even the twenty of them couldn’t really fill out the room. It also looked like she had been the first to wake up to this nightmare. This was seriously… possibly the last day of her life. She was not just about to lie there and wait for someone to kill her.

Giving out a painful groan through her clenched teeth, the girl pushed herself up to a sitting position and once again glanced around. Right, it didn’t look like there was any chance of escape besides walking through the door. But… there just had to be! From what she saw, they had stripped all of their weapons – even her needles. You’d think they might have passed those and given her a good chance of escape. Besides, she was a bit certain the Marines wouldn’t pay a dime, usually. Because all of them were still disposable. However, they might just do it, to avoid shame, or they could also ignore the young marines and act like this never happened…

*Yeah, I don’t know what would make this day more awkward and lethal...*

[BlacKitten]

Crossing his arms over his chest, he considered the idea of capturing the bounty while portraying a look of slight disapproval. “You’re worried about the lives that are at stake, but the marines can handle this themselves. They’ll probably find a solution to all of this,” he threw all the responsibility back at the forces of justice.

“The more soldiers they send in… the more soldiers get captured,” the younger one summed up the futility of the marines’ efforts. Sending in more people to save the captives would only result in more captives. Pluto, someone from a third party, could infiltrate the enemy’s hideout and attack from within. Saving the lives of hostages wasn’t something an army could accomplish; it had to be a skilled individual or a small elite group that operate the rescue mission stealthily without notice. Her brother had those traits about him suited for such a job. However, the boy sitting across from her had no moral interest in the lives of others, and that was why she introduced the idea of the captain’s bounty as a gain on his part. Despite all she had said, there was still no guarantee that Pluto would accept.

A deep sigh emitted from his mouth. The more someone wanted him to do something, the more he didn’t want to do it. But, if it was a request from his little sister, he gave it more thoughtful consideration. “I’m sure there are higher ranked marines who are skilled enough to handle the situation,” he reckoned before finishing his cup of tea. The ones that were captured were most likely low ranked grunts with amateurish combative skills.

“Mmm…,” Rebecca pondered on an alternate solution to this dilemma, “maybe I should ask Scarlette for help.”

Immediately, the boy squirted the tea out of his mouth at the very imagery of her suggestion, a very bloody image. After coughing to clear his throat, Pluto halted her on that thought, “NO!” Although, he couldn’t directly tell her, but if that scythe-wielding girl gets involved, there will be indiscriminate bloodshed on all sides. Not just the pirates, the marines and civilians would all be in danger. While he technically possessed the paramecia-user’s weakness to stop her, it still would bring unwanted attention. Marines would start coming after her, put a bounty on her head, and since he was in an alliance with her, he may become a scapegoat for crimes that he did not commit. It would trigger a domino effect and lead to a disaster on several levels.

An eyebrow was raised on the girl’s face; the little one was puzzled by the sudden denial, but judging by the reaction, she could use it against him, “Never mind, forget what I said, Pluto. I’ll just ask Scarlette to do it instead. You won’t be bothered by that, right?” Her words purposely enticed the boy now that she was in control of their conversation.

“Tsk…,” Pluto grinded his teeth. In that one instant, his sister had put him in checkmate. Why you…, we’re all doomed if she gets involved, and that involves you as well!

“Where is she? I’ll go find her right now,” the girl slipped off her stool, but before she could take a step away, a hand settled on her shoulder to stop her. Eyes shifted to the side at what was behind as she knew exactly how this would play out.  

“Okay, fine, I’ll do it!” Her brother admitted his defeat. If it meant preventing a potential catastrophe, the choices were limited. Things would go more smoothly under his judgement anyways.

“You will?” Rebecca’s face brightened up upon those expected words, and without warning, she pounced onto his lap, wrapping her arms around him. A taut, warm, embracing hug was given.

Pluto lurched back, struggling to break free from her suffocating grip, “Hey! Let go of me!” This was just embarrassing. The girl’s cheek nuzzled against him, burying her face into his chest and tightening her grasp even more. Any more force applied and his ribcage might be on the verge of collapsing although an exaggeration.

Why does she always get what she wants?

[odango]

”Oi, wake up!”

By this time, she was lightly nudging the person closest to her. The hazel eyed brunette still felt like she was both suffering from dehydration and head trauma for some reason – or rather, a really severe hangover. However, there was no time to lay back down and wait till she felt better. She didn’t know when they would start butchering them and she also didn’t know how regularly they checked on their hostages.

”Please, wake up.” she asked, a hint of helplessness in her tone. She didn’t want to be too loud, since it seemed like the room had a hall effect, meaning every sound would naturally amplify. Remembering her piano lessons in rooms with sensitive acoustics, it would be very well heard from the outside. Perhaps, it would be best to keep her conscious state a secret from their captors. She figured they might keep their guard down more that way.

I’m getting nowhere like this… she thought with a heavy sigh escaping her full lips and hanging her head. Perhaps she was going at it wrong. When they were kids, she couldn’t often wake up her older cousin. Really, the boy slept like he had been drugged. Then, the only way to wake him up was to squeeze shut his nose and wait for a little until his body would realize. Well, perhaps, it would work now, too.

Looking back at the lying figure of her red haired, bigger colleague, the busty young woman regained some more determination and reached over him to squeeze shut his nose with one hand. He was actually drugged, not just asleep, but it might get him up. She just hoped it wouldn’t make a lot of noise.

Oh, it’s working! The man moved a little, yet she didn’t let go. Then he started to squirm and after a few seconds he shot up with a deep inhale to a sitting position. In response to this, Tsubaki pulled back and just watched. He was probably going through the same first impressions she had, when she woke up. Really, she just hoped he wouldn’t let out a yell or something.

He turned to look at her in a little bit, after taking in his surroundings and she lifted her index finger to her lips in a silencing motion, just to be sure. But, that was also the moment when she felt as if someone had thrown a cold rock in her stomach. His grey eyes were widened in shock and just as she did, he probably realized how this could end. His stare was glassy, for a moment it felt like he couldn’t believe this was not some random nightmare.

”Will you help me wake up a few more. Not all of them, but a couple more? Perhaps, someone that you personally know? And let’s keep quiet for now.” she gave out under her breath. The girl was in all honesty scared. Her voice had a light tremor when she spoke, and her hands were shaking just barely, but enough to give off an uneasy vibe. It would be worse, if she wouldn’t have felt scared at all, to be honest.

To this, the red haired man just nodded and both of them somehow half-crawled a bit further from each other and began waking up some others. There was a bit of chaos in her thoughts, as she proceeded with her actions. She knew why she felt like she was trying to comprehend nuclear physics with a given brain capacity of a fly. It was because of the fear and stress she felt. Tsubaki also figured, longer exposure to these emotions might later mess with her ability to think of some sort of a plan. This would probably work for the rest of them, too…

She stopped on the spot and looked back, looking at the back of her new friend once again.

”Hey… I’m Tsubaki… what’s your name?” She asked in a half whisper. While not the time for pleasantries, she knew they were better off with some sort of a connection. Feeling alone in a stressful time would also be a ticking time bomb. She didn’t know if this red-haired man was more of a thinker or not, but she had a strong feeling that he needed something stable like an acquaintance in this situation, as well.

’Herby… N-…’ he started with a lower grunt and his voice broke, probably from the dry feeling in his mouth. After a little moment, he swallowed the ball in his throat and spoke again: ’Nice to meet you.’

[BlacKitten]

Not a complete loss on his part, at least his boredom would soon drift away by getting involved. Resting a hand over the girl’s cranium, Pluto had her glaring into his eyes, “Stay here. Don’t follow me. Alright?” This had been said to her so many times in the past, and the majority of those times involved her ignoring these instructions. There was almost no point in telling her; she would likely just follow him on her own accord.

“Hmm….,” a serious tone hummed out of her, disliking the thought of their separation. “Okay… but only because there are food and drinks here,” she resigned herself from her usual act of tracking him down.

She wasn’t the type to lie, so her words were reassuring. To be honest, he wasn’t entirely sure how long it would take to eradicate a pirate crew, but he reckoned this would all end by the end of the day. Three minutes per hostage didn’t provide a lot of time from the start, and if all of the hostages were to be used up, the marines would have nothing to lose and likely engage in a direct battle with the pirates.

Stepping out of the teahouse, the geared up silhouette strode down the street before making a sharp turn into an alleyway. Hiding from plain sight, he wanted to avoid revealing the bizarre powers he possessed for the past seven years of his life; not even his little sister knew about them. His entire form and shape shrank into the size of a baby bunny. Eyes turned beady and black; claws formed at his feet. Arms and hands turned into leathery, webbed wings. Ears became pointed, cupped like those of a cat’s. Aloft, the little bat splayed out his wings and ascended towards the sky.

I’ll start by pinpointing the pirate ship. There’s only one dock on this island which is located in the Business block which is also the same block I’m at right now.

From afar, he could be mistaken as a bird at first glance, and he was counting on that mistake to keep a low profile. However, the pattern of his wings in flight differs from birds and insects, but not many knew that subtle difference. The winds threw him off course several times as he needed to constantly compromise the angle of his wings. It soon occurred to him whether or not if it was possible to be struck by a lightning bolt at this altitude. Did birds ever have to worry about that? Frankly, he didn’t want find out and kept closer towards ground level.

Through the ears of a bat, one can hear voices and sounds from miles away, and the range of frequency that could be heard expanded dramatically for him. While a human could barely hear up to 20, 000 hertz, the ears of a vampire bat specifically could hear up to 113, 000 hertz. Many new sounds opened up. People’s breaths no longer sounded the same. Many things have ultrasonic components that humans couldn’t hear; he could detect those components.

Echolocation was hardly even necessary; he could see just fine in daylight. Contrary to common misconceptions, bats weren’t blind, and soon, the view of the docks came to him. There were two obvious signs to spot a pirate ship from here. First was the overall color scheme in contrast to the marine ships, and second was the pirate flag that symbolizes their allegiance.

A massive vessel settled there, anchored in place. Before taking action, he conducted a reconnaissance. Through the level of overlapping voices, an estimate how many pirates dwelled within was calculated. From the outside view, some watched from the crow’s nest, keeping an eye out with small telescopes. Naturally, they wouldn’t expect anyone to be spying upon them from above; not everyone can fly.

Now what do I do? The bat approached closer and closer but maintained a safe distance away. So far, the news about pirates coming here may be confirmed as true, but were the rumors just as accurate? If so, how many hostages were there? Where were they kept? How much time did he have left? 

[odango]

’Are you serious?’ in a half-whisper asked one of the other recruits who had gotten woken up – a slim, yet quite muscular young man with freckles on his slightly pointy nose and very short, dark blonde hair. Herby and Tsubaki had woken up four more recruits and now they had all somehow huddled together as much as they could and tried to comprehend what was going on here and how they could get out of it with their heads still attached to their bodies. The four others were more or less the same age as Tsubaki, it seemed. The age where you didn’t know to either call them teens or young men. Also, all of them had close to no experience in these situations and they had no weapons.

Besides Tsubaki and Herby, there was Rui (a dark haired young man with his hair up in a pony-tail, green eyes and a darker complexion), Sam, the blonde kid who had just spoke, Zep (his head was shaved yet he had a goatee and it looked like, he had the most muscle mass from all of them. One could see the end of a tattoo from the collar of his shirt and he wore a frown all the time, it seemed)and then there was Keath, a quiet brunette. The later hadn’t spoken since they woke him up and he told them their name. It had really been the only word he said. He looked kind of frail, to be honest. Herby knew all of them, it seemed…

”I don’t know how often they come to check on us or how much time we have… I don’t even know where we are, but there was a strong scent of cooking oil. You know, the one you can sense near a huge kitchen. So, perhaps we are under a restaurant or something.” Well, they couldn’t even be on a ship, the room seemed to be made of half stone, half cement. There were no windows, just weak lighting from the lamps at the sides of the wall. At least, their captors had let the light on. Or perhaps, it was not a good thing, if they were planning to ambush anyone, who entered.

”What I can say for certain, is that they plan to get ransom for us, but in the end, they have no intention of letting any of us go.” As soon as Tsubaki said the last bit, it felt as if the others stopped breathing for a moment. It was deadly quiet for a few seconds.

”I was thinking…” she started again, to break the veil of silence, which had fallen over the six. ”They probably didn’t throw our weapons out… If we’re not on their ship, they probably dragged us here, since it was a close location. I don’t think there are a lot of guards at this place. I would bet, most of their crew are on their ship, not to call too much attention to this place. So, with limited man power to get us all here, they might have stacked our weapons somewhere near here.” she explained, pausing a bit for them to catch her drift and waiting to see if they would have any other guesses.

’So… assuming we might find these weapons, we would have to get out first. How can we do that without causing a ruckus?’ Rui asked with a worried look on his way.

The hazel eyed marine chew on her lower lip and glanced down. She had a few ideas, but she couldn’t be certain any of them would actually work, to be honest. God, why couldn’t I be this buff, amazingly and unfairly strong person who’d be able to break walls with a flick of my finger? Instead, I’m just a muscle-less little girl with an over-sized chest… Damn it all! she thought to herself and frowned, biting down on her lower lip for a bit.

Wait… big breasts… I might actually have a way. she straightened up a little and the frown disappeared from her brow as she looked at the other five recruits. ”I have an idea… I just hope it works.” She swallowed, feeling yet another wave of anxiety going over her body, yet clenched her lightly shaking hands into fists and leaned in a bit to explain her plan.

”Now, you guys, listen closely…”

[BlacKitten]

With one open eye glaring through a portable, extendable telescope, the pirate viewed the surroundings for any incoming threats. From time to time, he would lower the tool and see the bigger picture with his own eyes, glancing back through the scope once he spotted anything that moved. If there was a flaw in this security procedure, it would be that this man was restricted to 180 degrees around him. From above, a dark flying mammal dived down and gently landed onto the floor of the crow’s nest. The little figure grew, augmenting in size, and soon, a humanoid silhouette stood directly behind the watchful yet oblivious pirate.

The raggedly dirty clothes on the man suggested that he hadn’t shower or bathed for several days or perhaps weeks. A sheathed cutlass remained on his left him. His hair was black and unruly; his face suggested early twenties in age. Skinny arms and legs, perhaps slightly malnourished, this pirate scum didn’t show any signs of being a competent fighter, probably below average among the people settling on this ship.

“Heh, this is boring. There’s no one coming. Not a single one of those cowardly marines would dare to mess with us,” a prideful smirk grew on his lips, but suddenly eyes widened when a metallic tip was pressed against the tender indentation of his throat.

“Don’t move,” said a cold, emotionless voice from behind. “Move and I’ll kill you. Make any sound, and I’ll kill you. If you understand, simply nod your head,” the intruder continued.

Very slowly, the pirate nodded hesitantly. Those words that whispered into his ears seemed to have coiled his heart in chains. His heart pounded rapidly, feeling the life slipping away. H-how… did he get here? Impossible. Two fingers gently pressed against the side of his neck.

“Lie to me, and I’ll feel it through your pulse,” Pluto warned him strictly. “Either nod your head or shake your head when answering me. Is your captain on this ship?”

The man nodded several times repeatedly as if desperately wanting his captain to save him.

“Are the hostages beneath the deck?” The next question came up.

This time, the man’s head shook side to side. Soon, he felt the fingers and the metal tip removed from his throat, but even then, he waited, frozen stiff. Trepidation paralyzed him, still waiting for further questions or instructions. It was silent. Not a single word had been muttered after about a minute passed by. Carefully, his eyes shifted to the side before turning his head painstakingly slow. Upon looking towards his blind spot, no one was there. Not a single person and thing was behind him. His head jerked left, right, above, and below; there was nothing.

“I-I’m a-alive?” Plummeting onto his buttocks, he panted, too terrified to even breathe when threatened. What now? Should he tell the others about what happened to him? Would they even believe him? Someone just popped into existence and then just vanished; he didn’t even see what the intruder looked like. No, wait! The two questions that were asked involved his captain and the hostages. The captain’s life may be in danger, and the marines probably sent the intruder. “The captain… I need to-,” in a flash, his words halted before finishing. Those mumbling words triggered his demise. Something struck him from behind, something sharp. It wasn’t a bullet; there was no gunshot heard. Whatever it was, it slipped through the bones and struck his heart. That fast, beating organ came to a stop, and the pirate became nothing more than a corpse, lying on the crow’s nest.

Hidden behind the sails, a humanoid figure clung onto the mast as a pair of violet eyes pried from above. A left arm was extended outwards, revealing a wrist-mounted crossbow that shot out the metallic bolt.

I can’t let you… warn the others. I would have let you lived if you haven’t revealed your intentions at the last moment.

As a breeze blew past him, Pluto morphed into a bat and flew from scene. While useless in combat, his animal form was excellent in infiltrating and escaping situations stealthily.

So… the hostages weren’t here. That captain sure is clever, hiding the marines somewhere other than the most predictable spot. If they’re not beneath the deck, where else could they be?

[odango]

And suddenly, a loud banging noise came from behind the door of the room they were keeping their marine hostages. This, of course, intrigued one of the two bulky men guarding the drugged marines and after eying each other, both of them made their way closer to the door, hesitating for a moment to listen if there were any more sounds. The two of them did not want to walk into a room with twenty conscious marine newbies. In the end, being outnumbered ten to one for a regular pirate grunt was not the ideal situation, even if the opponents were not armed. After a moment of silence, the two still made sure their guns were loaded and with one stepping a bit away from the door and getting ready to take a shot as soon as the door opened, the other unlocked the door and yanked it open quickly.

~…What the hell… they are all still unconscious?~ one of the grunts gave out while, with his firearm still ready, he entered the room and took a careful glance across the almost lifeless marine bodies. ~Then where the hell did that noise come fro-oh…?~ He cut his sentence and all of a sudden a certain curiosity rang in his voice. ~Now, now, what do we have here?~

’What is it?’ the other grunt peeped in, also now curious of what his friend was doing. Seeing that there was obviously no danger, he too entered the room. So what had all the fuss been about?

~I think she must’ve woken up for a slight moment and tried to run for the door, but then her strength disappeared again. I bet she’s out cold.~ he said, looking over the collapsed figure of a brunette. Stepping closer, he noticed her visual appearance. During the fall, her shirt had been ripped half open. ~But man, she looks good. At first I thought she was just fat, because of the over-sized clothing…~ he mostly spoke his thoughts out loud at that point, which also drew the other grunt closer. ~Come to think of it, I haven’t seen a woman like this in quite some time…~ ’Oi, oi, you sure, she’s still unconscious?’ The other one asked, snapping out of the various inappropriate thoughts shooting through his mind for a moment. Their crew had been out at sea for quite some time, and this was the first mission they got, so there had not been much time to run around the city for fun. At least, not for the guards.

~I think so, yeah.~ the first one gave out and looked down at her. A mere second passed and he pulled his leg back, only to aim a kick at her side, which made the girl close the little distance, that was left between her and the wall, and even bounce back a little. Almost no sound came from her, only the ones, her body and fabric made from the physical movement. ~See? Unconscious.~ he said with a pleased grin growing on his face. ’I guess, you’re right.’

After that, the offender of the girl pulled the strap of his gun off from over his shoulder and set it down, leaning up against the wall. Then, he squatted down and pulled the young woman more his way, turning her on her back again.

’Oi, what the hell are you-‘ ~Shut up! You know how long I haven’t seen a woman like this? This bitch is going to die anyway, so it would be a shame to waste the last hours of such a body. Just keep your yap shut and go out. Or watch, I don’t mind you taking a turn next.~ he gave a slight laugh as he looked up at the other man.

’Tsk, do what you want. We have to start tying them up in a few minutes, so be quick about it.’ he said, before leaving the room and closing the door behind him. The one who stayed, only let out a low chuckle, slowly finding his hands to the front of the woman’s trousers and tugging very hard at it, which in turn, pulled her even more closer to the bulky man. ~Be grateful to me. Tell the gods of how good I was to you before you died! Hahaha!~

…

’Well, I guess it’s time…’ The guard thought out loud, before getting up from his sitting position and once again going to the door. ’Oi, I’m coming in. he gave out before entering the room again. ’I hope you’re done alre-‘

Silence. The man didn’t make another sound. He had looked to the side where he last saw his friend and was, in turn, met with the barrel of a gun. He just stood there, first his eyes focused on the weapon and then looking at what was behind it. A red-haired man with cold, grey eyes stared back at him, murderous intent pouring from his gaze. So much that it seemed to disable the grunt’s ability to speak. The red head seemed surprisingly ready to pull the trigger in his face, as well. ’Close the door.’ came another voice from somewhere behind him and after a moment of hesitation and a sound of him swallowing heavily, he complied with the order.

After that, the man was struck to the ground and was now lying on his back in agony. Looking around after overcoming the first sensation of pain, he noticed his crew mate was lying further off. He couldn’t tell, if he was unconscious or dead, but that was beside the point. Now, a state of panic took hold of his mind and he tried to get back up, not thinking of the consequences.

”Hold him down.” Tsubaki said, sounding a little tired. She was standing a little further away, her hand covering her side. It looked like that kick had hurt quite a bit. To her, it had been more than enough painful in the state she had already been.

Four of her new friends pinned down all the limbs of the much bigger an, and the fifth took away the firearm he was carrying. As for Tsubaki, she just got on top quite quickly and put both her hands around his neck, her thumbs on his Adam’s apple. ”How many of you were guarding us?” She asked, tired, yet determined and glaring down at the man.

’You damn bitch! The hell you think you’re doing?! Gah!’ he had started yelling, but Tsubaki pressed her thumbs down hard, cutting off a way for him to intake oxygen, which resulted with the huge man trying to squirm out and gasping for air desperately, yet both were unsuccessful. ”Talk quietly. How many of you were guarding us? And where are our weapons?” She took the preassure off his neck and turned to look at Rui, who had taken his gun. ”Door, Rui.” she let out, reminding to close door, in case there were more of them, so it wouldn’t look that suspicious.

’You’re all going to die anyway-gah!’ and again, she squeezed his throat shut until he turned a little blue, even. ”Last chance to tell us, what we want to know.” And she let go again. Coughing a bit, the man lazily look up, and as if wanting to burn a hole in her head with his glare, he grit his teeth. ’It was just the two of us. And you can find your weapons in the room next to this one.’ he unwillingly let out. But then, after a few moments, as if remembering something, he gave a quite low, even ominous laugh. ’Doesn’t matter. Even if you try to get out, you’ll probably all die trying, you marine scum.’ After those words he just began to lough louder and louder. To this Tsubaki responded by standing up, taking one of the large guns Rui was holding, and after taking a big swing, banged it against the grunt’s head with all her physical force. There was blood. And he wasn’t moving. At first, even Tsubaki couldn’t say if he was still alive or not but, to be honest, she didn’t really care.

”Let’s go. I’ll help getting the weapons to this room. Who of you wants to go scouting to find an exit?” She gave out, taking a few steps, and leaning against the wall. Honestly, she had no idea one of them would actually turn out to be such scum. She was just hoping on it, as odd as that might sound. There were no words to explain how exhausted and disgusted she felt at that very moment. But, it seemed like there was no time left to catch a breath.

’Me, Rui and Zep will go’ Herby said, while glancing at Tsubaki with a worried look on his face. ’Are you certain, you’re ok?’ he asked, taking a step closer, but hesitant to touch her, taking into account what had happened just moments ago.

”Hah! For the situation at hand, I’d say I’m feeling very well, actually. There are a lot more ways, this could’ve ended up…” she trailed off a bit, her head resting against the cold brick wall. ”Anyway, let’s get going, guys.” She gave, while pushing away from the wall and getting herself out of the room, into the hallway. It was surprisingly light outside of the windowless room. It actually took her a while for her vision to adjust. Right, there were windows. It was still light outside. Good, now they could see they were still in the city. However, the windows were only at the tops, near the ceiling. So, they were really in a basement of some kind.

Rui, Herby and Zep ran the opposite direction, taking both guns with them, as they went, and soon disappeared behind a corner. Tsubaki, in turn made her way to the next room. It took a bit of tampering, and Keath running back, to find the keys on one of the guards, but they got in.

”Would you look at that…” Tsubaki gave out, after they finally entered the other storage room. ’He was right, they really were here! Just stacked and untouched.’ Sam gave out, half not believing his own eyes. He had been certain, this was probably some kind of a trap. But there it was – a huge pile of katanas and guns, and also – Tsubaki’s set of needles in the mix.

”Good, now let’s just get them to the next room and start waking the others up. We might still have some time before they come to get us.” Tsubaki said, as Keath and Sam had already found their personal gear and were now scooping up the rest. Tsubaki had also picked up her katana and her holster of needles.

The girl smiled at the other two, as they exited into the hall once again. ”We might just all get out of this after a-“

BOOM! The sound of an explosion crossed the floor and with it came a tremor, which made all three of them scared for their lives once again. Tsubaki almost lost her balance with it. Soon, smoke could be felt in the air and the scary part was – it seemed, like the explosion had come from where Herby and the others had ran off to. This kind of an explosion would probably be felt and seen from blocks away. There was also a chance, the building might collapse, or had partially collapsed already. They were in a basement, so there was no way to tell for certain.

”Wh-… WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?!?!?! HERBY!!!” Tsubaki gave out in panic, her screams echoing throughout the hall.

[BlacKitten]

Under normal circumstances in dealing with pirates, a direct, full-on war against them seemed amusing, but he never had to deal with hostages. This extra variable screwed up the standard approach to everything. Not only did he not know the location of the captives, he couldn’t recklessly eliminate the pirates who were right below his nose.

How annoying; I might have to use that strategy. Rebecca will hate me if I simply let the hostages be sacrificed if the marines decided to play out a gambit.

Soaring across town, his miniature, flying form scanned the streets below for any particular marine soldiers or pirates. While the number of hostages was unknown to him, there were surely more soldiers wandering around, and in order to guard the captives to capture more hostages, there ought to be some pirates lingering about. Still, this could all just be a waste of his time; it was just a silly hypothesis.

Most people stayed indoors due to the unfriendly stormy clouds, but there were still some that strode down the streets and around the blocks. Since soldiers wore those distinctive white uniforms, it would be rather embarrassing if he was to actually not notice them upon sight. This entire island had all its people working to serve those marines; the chances of detecting those soldiers were high. Soon enough, statistics played out accordingly, and he spotted a group of armed men in white uniforms. Some had rifles hung behind their backs, and some wielded swords at the side of their hips.

Still, it wasn’t enough to just keep vision on this particular group; he need to more of them. Ascending even higher, Pluto broadened his sight of the island below even more, pinpointing a myriad of white clusters of soldiers down below. The more he could keep track, the higher the chance. Waiting in the sky, stalling time as he hovered above, just how long must he watch the ant-like people down below until something would happen? There was no guarantee that it would even happen.

Wait a minute….

A sudden realization struck him in the core of his mind. These soldiers weren’t here merely to patrol the area. Judging by the general direction of their pathway, they were heading towards the coast as if prepared for battle. Not just that, a higher ranked officer was heading towards the coast alone, but all the other soldiers were scatter about in groups. No… it was a façade; they appeared to be reinforcements in case something went wrong. Just what the heck did these people have in mind? What were they scheming?

Does this mean the marines are gonna make a gambit? Or… are they admitting defeat? The pirates want treasure, so will the marines do as they say?

All of a sudden, his cat-shaped ears twitched at the distinctive sound of an explosion. Smoke rose from a distance, and immediately deviating from his current plan, Pluto was enticed by the sudden outburst of chaos. He intended to either get himself captured or trail down some marines in the midst of being captured, but now something else was occurring.

Diving straight down, his wings merely glided his tiny body towards the scene. The rising smoke merely camouflaged with the grey clouds above, and down below was a damaged structure of a building. Civilians were immediately alarmed by this mess, retreating from the dangerous spot. The only one foolish enough to approach this kind of danger was a tiny bat that flew down from above. Although the dark grey air blinded his eyes, nothing stopped him from detecting the surroundings through echolocation. The ultrasound emitted from his nose simply slipped through the smoke, reverberating off of the solid surfaces and back to his ears. From there, his mind formed a mental image of the environment.

What’s going on here? Did someone trigger a bomb?

If a second explosion was to go off, not even he would leave unscathed. This was risky; everything was a gamble. His heightened sense of smell backfired on him by the scent of smoke and burned wood. The zoan-user wasn’t even sure why he came here, perhaps simply desperate in finding clues and hints to today’s predicament.

[odango]

What were they supposed to do now? What the hell had happened? Where were Herby, Zep and Rui? Were they still alive? Tsubaki was panting heavily. For some reason, she felt like there was not enough oxygen in the air around her, or, perhaps, she just needed a lot more for some reason. Her heart was pounding like crazy and she could hear the sound of her blood pumping louder than she could hear her thoughts. For a moment, every other sound seemed to vanish and she could’ve sworn time slowed down for her. She couldn’t really keep focus on much until she noticed Sam running past her and heading in the direction that their friends previously had.

No… no, we need to stay together! Sam, we need to stay together! What if the building collapses?! Sam!

Shaking her head in attempts to snap out of it, the girl opened her mouth to speak to Sam. The first sound she emitted broke, but she tried again: ”Stop! Don’t do it! We need to get the others out first! There’s a chance they are alive and outside already!” she half shouted at the boy. In all honesty, she didn’t believe her own words, but she knew that going after them might fulfill what the grunt was saying about the place. They had no idea, if this had triggered some upcoming explosions or not.

Samuel did stop. But not without cussing. ’Damnit! Herby! Damnit!’ he gave out in half yelps, digging his face in his elbow, still with his back turned against the other two. It was obvious that he was shedding tears. Right, the two of them had been comrades, after all.

Tsubaki felt her jaw clench as she got to her feet and finished strapping her needle holster to her leg and her katana to her hip. She knew that they had to do something. Perhaps, the best way was to try and get all the other marines out as soon as possible. However, now the place might have attracted more attention and since they were still on the island, she guessed this had also attracted Marine attention. Well, she really hoped it had. If so, they would just have to get out the quickest way possible. She doubted anyone would now willingly enter the building. So, someone coming to get them now was out of the question. Of course, if there wasn’t another, obvious and secure way out. While still a possibility, she didn’t think, they had time to search, and it was probably for the best not to run around in a place, where there might be more explosives.

”Wake them up…” she gave under her breath as she thought of it. ”Wake them up!” she once again turned to Keath and Sam and now spoke in a much louder tone. They had to hurry. She was certain, the halls would gradually fill with more smoke and then they might even be unable to escape, even if they wanted to. Even at that moment, it was getting a little hard to breath normally.

As Keath and Sam rushed off to the room they were kept in, there was no more silent wake ups. The two made a huge uproar. It seemed that the explosion had already half-woken some of them beforehand, which only sped up the process. The hazel eyed marine, however, did expect an amount of panic as the rest came to their senses. After all, they woke up in a burning building. Who wouldn’t panic?

Tsubaki herself desperately looked around to find an exit. Then she looked up at the windows. They were near the ceiling, yes. But, if she could get up there and help pull out the rest, it might work. Sam and Keath were taller, so they might help lift up the other recruits.

The busty brunette looked back at the previously dropped pile of firearms quickly grabbed one of the riffles. She then aimed at the closest, most stable looking window and shot at it, breaking half of the glass. With another loud shot, she cleared the rest of the glass from the window frame. By that time, some of the marines had rushed out of the room to see what was going on. Looking back to spot Sam and Keath among them – the ones, who had most likely regained more strength than the ones just woken – she once again spoke with a request. ”Can you guys lift me up there? I’ll help pull them up from above.” There were no questions asked, after that. The two men lifted their nineteen year old comrade up, so she could reach the window and pull herself up from there on. Tsubaki did cut her hand on the way, but she also cleared the remaining imbedded shards after doing so.

She got out. Even thou she turned back to lean in and reach out for the next recruit as soon as she could, she had gotten out. There was surprisingly more smoke there and she couldn’t help but start coughing quite often, but she kept going. After the first one she helped pull out, there came a second and a third, then a fourth. It seemed like the rest of them would really get out. Everyone who got out took off to find more help and medical assistance. In short, the first three, then the fourth scattered.

It’s getting quite troublesome to breathe… and it’s getting hotter. Crap, I need to keep going. We need to keep going! the girl thought, yet again feeling the need to cough and only then did she take a better look around. The flames had gotten very close. And by close, it meant that only about five meters away, the building was on fire on the outside. She didn’t know if it was the same in the basement, but they were all running out of time.

”Oi, hurry up!” she called down to them, squinting her eyes a little, since they were watering up from the smoke. She pulled out about three more marines. Would all of them really get out?

”Okay, Hold on to me tightly!” she shouted through the chaos that was their current predicament as she had once again dived into the wave of smoke covering the window and was halfway hanging into the basement floor. The heat was now close to unbearable and she could feel flames close to licking her skin. She just hoped, her other half wouldn’t catch on fire any minute now. And no, she had no idea why she wasn’t sobbing in some further off location by now, which should’ve been her first instinct. Thus far, everything had gone well. Or – as well as it could’ve gone, taking in account the situation. However, then it all went downhill. ”Oi, I think you should go a few windows further and shoot out that one. Raise someone up and get out. Fire’s catching up to this one in mere seconds!”

The young marine pulled out once again, pulling one of her comrades with her and just like the others, he went off to look for more help. Right, it was about time she got up and left also. She feared she might not be able to leave, otherwise. The girl could barely see anything anymore. Her head felt heavy and her lungs felt full. However, as she got up, holding at the wall, she realized there was no obvious way to get out. Some wreckage from the higher floors had fallen around her. How the hell had she not heard it? It looked like she was trapped in a fiery cage, the heat coming closer and closer. There was a lot of smoke as well, so she got disoriented. Right at that moment, she couldn’t be able to even find the window she had gotten out from anymore. Was this the end? Perhaps. Perhaps this was how she was destined to go… Damn it all… he thought while coughing and losing her balance once again which resulted in her falling to her knees. I’m really going to die, aren’t I…

[BlacKitten]

OOC: Permission to move OC granted. 

The sound of gunshots and shattered glass were as clear as it can get; there was also the sound of roaring flames along with voices that were instilled with fear. His ears picked up many things, some could easily be heard with just regular human ears. It didn’t take much to conclude that there were still people within the building that was engulfed in flames. Old memories of his home being burned down flashed briefly in his head, a night where he entered a burning home to save his little sister from death. And now, he may very well have to repeat that instance in his past. One at a time, a soldier would scamper out into the opening, coughing with a burning scent attached to the clothes. There were survivors, and it all happened from a ground-level window outside. Someone was there, a selfless soldier who aided her comrades out of the desperate situation, and those that escaped due to her help had fled.

In a matter of split seconds, his form shifted into a human’s figure where all the animalistic features vanished from his body. His sense had downgraded significantly when transitioning back into his true species, but flying took up too much oxygen to fuel his wings. If another explosion were to occur, soaking up the damage in his humanly state was far more survivable than a meek little bat. Moreover, it was better to blend in with society in his regular, default form.

A pair of eyes gawked along with a finger pointed at him. “Hmm?” Pluto glanced back harshly at a seaman recruit.

“Y-you just…,” the man uttered an incomplete thought, astonished that the boy just dropped down from the sky. For a brief instant, he spotted a small shape morphing into a humanoid form. Among the four blues, Devil Fruits were mostly just a legend or a myth; not everyone believed in its existence.

“Are the hostages around here?” The adolescent questioned as he might as well ask this lowly ranked figure of little authority. He was just as confused as the soldier on what was happening. That explosion earlier disoriented both of their thought processes. One moment, he was considering attacking the pirates, and the next instant, something blew up, nearly deafening his ears.

“Y-yes…, there’s still a lot of them in the basement,” the man cladded in white pointed towards the burning structure.

“Good grief,” Pluto crossed his arms over his chest while striding towards the wall of flames and rubbles that blocked one of the few known exits. From his back, a pair of leathery black wings sprouted while the rest of his body remained the same. Upon a high level mastery of a Zoan-classed power, partially transformation was made possible. Leaping into the air, wings splayed out as he parachuted down into the center of the barricaded spot where a single soldier laid there, suffocating.

Hot! The scorching flames danced around as if prepared to engulf them whole. His freedom to move became heavily restricted. How irritating. At this rate, his blood was going to boil. Believing in some variation of the survival of the fittest mentality, he didn’t care about the lives of these hostages; it was their fault for being captured and being a burden to everyone else. In contrast to his philosophy, Rebecca wanted to help the weak thrive, but her optimistic views were impossible without power. After all, why wasn’t she here trying to save these marines? She had to rely on him in the end, but it wasn’t as if her brother couldn’t relate to her beliefs. A yearn to protect someone did exist in his numbed heart; he wanted to protect her, his little sister.

Lowering himself, he carefully picked up the body with hands scooping from behind the soldier’s neck and below the knees. Heaving the brunette up and turning to face the flames head on, there wasn’t much time left. Holding his breath this entire time, his lungs was about to give out. Beads of sweat began to flow down his face; his eyes sharpened at the critical dilemma at hand.

Pounce! Wings fully extended; pulling back before flashing forth in a blurred speed. Essentially using these extra appendages like a paper fan, he unleashed a shockwave as a wall of air pushed across the rubble, wiping a chunk of the flames and smoke out, as well as clearing up a pathway. While a breeze can augment the strength of a flame, a strong enough wind can extinguish the fire.

Hovering across the a vast distance with his feet inches above the cemented ground, he and whoever was in his arms escaped to a safer distance where the air became more breathable. Gently, he settled the body down with the young woman's back leaning against a wall. 

It would be nice if he could stop here, but there were still others in the basement. His wings abruptly retreated back into his back as he sauntered back towards the crumbling restaurant. 

[odango]

Is this a dream…?

She had felt helpless, weak, and like some huge force was slowly clasping her lungs shut. It did really feel like an unknown force had reached inside her chest and had taken a grip on her lungs, only to tighten it with each second with their goal being to squeeze the last breath out of her. The young woman tried to pull higher the ripped collar of her shirt in attempts to cover her mouth and nose, but it didn’t work as efficiently as hoped. It probably helped a little, mind you, but not enough to keep her conscious. There was just too much. Even after coughing, she felt as she took in even more of the toxic air than she had before. Falling down on her side, she tried to muster up the strength to get up right after it, but there was no use. It was too hot. She felt constricted and heavy. It seemed all of her body had somehow gained more weight or rather – she had just lost the necessary strength in this situation.

Her body starting to accept defeat, the girl rolled over on her back, just barely parting her eyes to see the ends of flames above her, dancing wildly in the wind and ominous looking clouds in the behind them. I guess, the weather is suitable for a funeral today… Sorry that I couldn’t make you proud enough to forgive me for being born, mother… Please, take care of Yuki… she gave her last goodbyes in her thoughts, starting to somehow cope with the idea of death. However, that was also the moment she noticed a figure towering over her. Perhaps she was mistaken and it was a fume induced hallucination of some sort? Was it reinforcements? No… perhaps it was death itself? She couldn’t tell, because as she was getting picked up, the girl lost her consciousness for a moment.

The next time she opened her eyelids, Tsubaki saw something that looked like wings and then a dark figure disappearing. Right… this is still just a dream… good… She felt her body relax more, despite the extremely dry and hot feeling in her lungs and throat, begging her body to cough now and then. Somehow, assuming all of this had been a nightmare seemed like a wonderful way out from reality, even if her body currently felt the aftermath of said dream.

Splat! Something hit her cheek. Then there was another drop and another one. This unpredictable drumming of drops on her body once again made the girl force her conscious mind to function. It was starting to rain. And with the rain, she also seemed to regain her senses a little. Once again, opening her hazel eyes, she tried to first focus on what was in front of her. She was no longer near the burning building. No she was further off, near some fruit stands. However, she could see the tower of smoke in the sky, even if it was raining and filled with grey clouds. Tsubaki could swear she could still hear the roaring flames and she could definitely still smell them – or perhaps that was coming from her own clothing.

She glanced down at herself. Her shirt was still ripped, her clothing generally smudged from the previous actions and she still had her weapons. The last observation was the best one thus far from all three but it also proved something that made her heart sink a little. This was not actually a nightmare, then. This was real after all. Sam, Herby, Rui, Zep, Keath and the other marine recruits were real as well. The pirates were real as well.

I have to get back… what if they are still in there? she thought while trying to get her body to move how she wanted it to, yet it didn’t obey her just yet. Instead, another wave of coughing and gasping for air came upon her and the girl almost fell over to the side. It hurt. It really hurt. Water… I need water. she decided and looked around. Usually, merchants had water nearby, so perhaps some of them had left theirs behind the stands? Looking around, the girl did indeed spot a bucket that looked like it could have water in it. This was at a stand to her left, so she half dragged herself, half crawled over to it. Thankfully, it had actually been what she was looking for and then, her hands still shaking a little, she pulled the bucket her way, picked it u and drank as much as she could, some of it spilling over the sides.

She had no idea if she might actually feel better after it, but she did. Perhaps it had been a placebo effect of some sort, but the details were not important then and there. She felt like she could get up again. That was enough for her to keep going. Certainly, her body was about to crash at some point, but she was not intending it to happen just yet. She had escaped death twice that day. That must’ve meant she was not supposed to give up on that day.

Right, I’m coming, guys... Tsubaki began making her way back to the burning restaurant as well. She wanted to see Sam and Keath. She had to know those two were fine before going to look for Herby, Zep and Rui.

[BlacKitten]

One person had been the maximum number for him to carry while still maintaining flight without crashing into the ground by the force of gravity. His wings were designed for his body weight alone, but having to carry around his little sister out of harm’s way multiple times in the past, he had grown in strength to carry an extra light-weighted person. That girl, who he had carried out of the surrounding flames, weighed noticeable more than Rebecca. Holding her in his arms was no trouble, but his wings had to exert more energy than usual to propel off the earth. With that limitation in mind, there had better be no more than one person unconscious in the structure that was on the verge of collapsing. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to save them even if he cared about their lives.

Marines are supposed to save civilians from criminals, so why were they being saved instead? How ironic.

Halting for a moment, he no longer felt the need to continue. Nearby marines intervened, and after being informed by the escaped hostages, they came to aid in any way possible. No need to get involved with marine business; he had no personal connection to the World Government nor its military. The acrid smell of smoke greatly stimulated his nostrils to the point that he temporarily forbade himself to use his Devil Fruit powers. An enhanced sense of smell would only give him a headache.

Under the event that the newly arrived soldiers wanted to interview witnesses during the event of the explosion, Pluto had absconded from the scene before any one of them could bother with him. Many were stupefied by the happenings today, taking shelter from the pirates, and now there was one more reason to go under shelter. It started to rain. The long anticipated rain from those stormy grey clouds had actually come in handy despite its depressing presence. Once enough momentum gets picked up, a heavy rainstorm could extinguish to flames once and for all.

A disgruntled look grew slightly on his face. Everyone around him appeared to be utter weaklings. He used to be just as weak as them, but at least he had enough sense to train himself to take down the average criminals that swarmed in the North Blue. Furthermore, most of the soldiers were older than him. Clearly, the only intimidating aspect of the military of the World Government was the sheer number of people, seemingly to value quantity over quality. That girl from before appeared to be youngest out of the bunch –about the same age as himself- as well being the only female as far as he could tell, yet she showed the greatest sense of leadership to help her comrades out. It seemed that the majority of humans had the incorrigible habit of being helplessly weak, such a pathetic sight that he felt no pity if any of them were to die. He felt no scruple in the deaths of others. The one blood-related person who had not been killed off yet was Rebecca, and no matter what -even if costs his own life- he shall protect her. There were people out there hunting for the two of them, seeking to assassinate them. That was why he needed to be competent enough. Becoming strong wasn’t something one can merely wish for; some level of resolve was necessary.

Somehow, the existence of his sister violated the actions of his own beliefs. She was also weak, an ordinary girl with no special combative skills. He didn’t understand it himself, but when she was in danger, a powerful yearn in his heart almost demanded him to protect him as if something programmed his mind to do so.

Violet hued eyes glanced back. That girl had woken up, but it seemed she hadn’t regained her common sense yet. After bringing brought out of the fire by outside intervention, that brunette headed back to where she had fainted. This was becoming ludicrous. At least, it would seem she wasn’t traumatized by the experience by nearly suffocating to death.

Securing the lives of these hostages had been his sister’s request, so his side of the deal was done. There was no more reason to continue on. From here on out, the marines were responsible for everything else; this island was their turf after all.

[odango]

At this point, she felt her body was moving on its own. She felt a bit sore all over, and the sore feeling in her throat was coming back. However, the air around her was soothing in a way. By now it had begun to rain harder and the hazel eyed marine felt she could drag in more and more oxygen by each attempt. The difference was laughable, but it was still there.

What the hell will I do when I get there? I just… I just want to know they got out. I just need to know they got out. Damnit, we were all supposed to attend some classes, learn something, beat up each other and go back to our original posts. How the hell did this even happen?!

Right, to be honest, she didn’t know what allegiance the grunts they beat had. She had no idea which crew they belonged to or who they served under. She kind of regretted not asking more questions to the grunt. The first one Herby finished off with Sam and Zep quite quickly. Tsubaki figured, it had been quite hard for them to pretend to be unconscious while she acted as live bait for the bigger men. The nineteen year old couldn’t complain much about their actions. To the other one, they had only gotten a couple of answers out of. Damnit…

’…baki… Tsubaki!’ Came a voice from the left as she had gotten closer to the chaos which was the burning restaurant. At first she didn’t hear it, but then looked in the general direction to see Sam running her way. At first she froze. The girl had gone through such an emotional roller-coaster that it seemed every emotion took a little while to kick in. There was just so much she could take without hesitation, it seemed.

”Thank… Thank god, Sam!” she could feel her voice trembling as she spoke out. After that, her lower lip started to shiver along with a huge ball in her throat forming, and the sinking sensation which she had felt in her stomach for ever since she woke up as a hostage turned into an overwhelming, uplifting feeling. Beads of tears started rolling down her cheeks so rapidly that she couldn’t even blink them away for long enough to get a clearer view of Sam.

After the dark blonde ran over, she just threw her arms around him, in an attempt to prove he was really there. This wasn’t allowed to be a dream. It just wasn’t. Even thou she had known him for a brief moment, she was glad he was alive. Now, if only the others were just as safe and sound, she would need nothing more to make her happy.

’Hey now, I’m happy to see you safe as well. We were quite worried, yanno?’ he gave with a light, cheerful laugh and somehow Tsubaki wanted to laugh or punch him, not really sure if it was ok to be cheerful at a situation like that.

But then, a sudden realization struck her. Pulling back from him and letting go, she looked up and wiped her tears off right after that. ”What about the others?! Did they all get out? You pulled all of them out, right?” For a moment, she could feel the familiar heaviness reappearing in her gut.

’The rest are fine. Don’t worry. Reinforcements just showed up and we dragged out all of them, just like you said.’ he reassured her. ’However, I found out something troublesome… Herby, Zep and Rui got taken by the pirates. From what I gathered from the other marines, they were taken right before the explosion and dragged off while the huge ruckus started. We don’t know where they took them. And it seems the pirates are starting to take the civilians hostage, just in bigger numbers to make up for us that got free. Apparently, the initial idea was to get treasure from this town or the pirate crew identified as the Sticky Pirates kill one of us every three minutes, but now they are rounding up civilians still left on the streets and fighting their way back to the ship, using them as shields if need be… At this point, their future demands are hard to tell…’ Sam told Tsubaki what he had found out from some of the marines that came to help.

The young marine had no idea what to answer to that. Her mind was racing. She was happy that Herby and the others were alive. However, how long was that going to last? And the captain of this pirate crew had guts, she had to give him that. What was he planning? Did he really think he could get out of this situation without a scratch? Honestly… there was a chance he could. But then, none of the hostages would probably survive. When it came to civilians, the marines would probably care a little more than for their new recruits. Hadn’t the building blown up, they would’ve hesitated too long to save any of them.

Reaching up a hand to drive through her now dripping, waist-long brown hair in an attempt to get them out of her face, she gave a loud sigh. How many times could they gamble against death in one day? Especially newbies like them? Sure, they were more in numbers and had more freedom, since almost no one knew who they were, but still… ”We need to find their captain. Since the hostages are only heading to the ship, if even led there, he wouldn’t be there, also. The marines could just sink the ship and cut the head off the snake, right? So, he must be somewhere in the town. Can we get his wanted poster to see a picture? If we find him quickly, we might end this before a lot of people have ended up dead. I’m figuring the marines are currently ordered to eliminate the pirates on sight, hopefully not killing any civilians, but we have all heard how those situations and what the usual percentage of casualties is…”

[BlacKitten]

His eyes widened in shock after returning back to the teahouse. Shards of glass piled up just outside the broken windows, and upon glancing through the opening, no one was inside. The door laid flatly on the floor inside, brutally knocked down with dents and cracks on the surface. For a moment, it felt like his heart had stopped. The rain had fallen even harder, causing his hair and clothes to be partially soaked in water. He walked inside aimlessly with no sense of direction, repeatedly glancing back at where he had sat this early morning.

Silence, no one was around beside himself. His mind went blank; his heart went blank. Unsure what to think and unsure what to feel, he stood in the middle of the room motionlessly.

“REBECCA?” He suddenly growled, anticipating no response. Somehow, his breath felt heavy; something dense grew in his chest.

A trembling obscure mumble came out as the owner of the business slowly peeked out of the counter, and immediately the frightened man recognized him as a customer from a while ago. Some sense of relief washed over him, but nothing seemed safe anymore. Before any words could be muttered out of him, Pluto glared murderously towards him, directing a growing surge of bloodlust, “Tell me what happened here!”

“Y-y-yes…,” the grey-haired man stood up fully while hesitantly nodding his head. He wasn’t even sure why he was afraid of such a young lad, but those violet eyes were filled with hatred. Something in those eyes simply pierced right through his soul. “Pirates! They stormed in here and took all of them away,” his voice was mixed with a sobbing. A guilty expression remained plastered on his face, “a little girl with eyes just like yours. She… fought back, but there were too many of them.”

“Tell me… did the pirates harm that little girl?” the black-haired figure spoke in a calmer tone while dark emotions expanded within him.

“Y-yes… she was the only one who resisted. One of them knocked her out, slamming a rifle against her the back of her head,” the recent imagery flooded back into the witness’ mind.

After a long pause, Pluto lowered his head, glaring at the floor that was filled with spilled drinks and shattered cups and plates. Puddles of drinks were scattered near the tables that seats fallen lopsided. “So you’re telling me… that out of all the people that were once here… the only one brave enough to fight back was a little girl?” He then looked up towards the ceiling, unsure what to make out of her actions.

“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!” He laughed as a hand went to cover his face. “I see… I see. I see this as a declaration for war. No… I don’t think those pirates quite understand. Don’t they understand that I have nothing to lose now? There’s nothing left to stop me from killing them all.” Turning on his heel, he staggered back towards the exit.

“Wait!” The man reached out a hand to gesture the boy to halt, “Don’t be reckless. They still have hostages. That girl isn’t dead; she’s still alive!”

“SHUT UP!” Pluto roared back while still facing towards the doorframe. “I know that… I know. Given a certain time interval, they will kill off a hostage. She might as well be dead at this point. I don’t care anymore. You see… here’s how I look at it. They either return her back to me, or I’ll simply rip out their organs.”

“You’re crazy! You can’t take on an entire pirate crew. Even the marines are having trouble dealing with the situation,” the adult tried to talk some sense into him.

For a moment, Pluto looked back at the elder with an unimpressed expression, but then he continued striding towards the missing door, “We’ll see about that.” Upon stepping outside, a hand reached, slamming into the wall of the already wrecked building. His knuckles left deep indentations onto a stone brick as blood trickled down his hand. He needed to feel some pain, something to divert his frustration out. Bringing the hand up to his mouth, a tongue licked the crimson fluid, tasting the iron.

Calm down. Calm down. I need to suppress my emotions. Rebecca... this is what happens when I'm not around. Had it been those people, you would have definitely been killed on the spot.