A Heroic Search on the Seas [RK & Squashie]

[Deleted]

Max

It was early in the afternoon that a bone chilling gust blew the wooden ship's sails, propelling this moderately sized vessel toward the commander's intended destination. Its rigid body churned through the salty tides, the subsequent mist rising above the surface of the freezing water and roaming above a few feet in the air ready to drop any living thing to its knees into a frosty stupor. Had it not been for the makeshift fire that Max "Redwood" Albion prepared just before their departure from Sedna, the two heroes of this ship would have been frozen over several times over. Regardless, this frigid weather was all that it took to push even the battle hardened woodman to weakness even with the warmth of a few flames ailing his bitter condition. 


"B-by this rate, we should be head-heading off t-t-t-to another island pretty quick. It's-s-s-s a good thing yo-yo-you told me to mash our b-boats together." All the movement he could muster up was the rapid shuffling of his red gloved hands glowing ever brighter in the heat of the bonfire. In addition to warming up his hands, Max desperately kept himself wrapped up in the tightness of his own body to contain whatever little body heat was contained. If it wasn't obvious to his partner in front of him, this was not a familiar degree of climate that the masked man had faced before as the coldest his home island reached was laughable by most. Why is it so cold? Brrr. The better question is why did Casper leave me up here? I would've done better in the desert!...Wait, did I just "brrr?" It frightened him that the sound of shaking from the cold had entered his mind; this would not be an enjoyable journey for the two of them. Max stared into the fire to try forgetting about the chilly air and thought back to the events prior to their miserable situation.

Before all this uneventful sailing transpired, Max "Redwood" and Shotaro "Captain Mask", whose true identity he found out toward the end of that journey, were both responsible for the defeat and capture of 'Last Light' Alexius. The two of them had a rather difficult time, he thought to himself, but the issue was resolved well enough. A slight annoyance that still rang in his head was the aggressive attitude that the Marines who came to pick up Alexius had toward the two heroes. To him, Max believed what they did was a good deed and even some of Sedna's introverted citizens begrudgingly agreed. Apparently from the view of the Marines, if they weren't fighting against these criminals as bounty hunters, they were nothing more than vigilantes interfering in official World Government business. The way those soldiers saw it, Redwood and Captain Mask were nothing more than fortunate brats who managed to bag a high class criminal of the North Blue, nothing more and nothing less. Really grinds my gears, dang it.

Ironically, these so called vigilantes were the ones who ended up fixing the problems subsequently caused by Alexius (and allegedly Lady V) instead of the troops of Justice. With his Logia powers, Max had managed to supply the townsfolk with more than enough wood to rebuild their mighty ships and broken houses. It was all he could do to compensate for the damages that the madman (and the heroine) had caused. And though a hero is never meant to expect gratitude from each soul he saves, it was that much more satisfying for the two heroes when the bitterly cold residents of Sedna had given them a heart warming farewell, albeit the departing message was still laced with a hint of xenophobic frost. Max grinned beneath his tightly woven shoulders from the image of those half-happy, half-relieved faces as he and Shotaro both left the island. He would surely miss all the people of that land and would keep those memories in his heart forever.

---

Jades

Raw and agonizing, that's all she could feel on this breezing, freezing ocean. Her pale skin grew paler, the light peach complexion now painted in a tint of ghastly white. For any other person in the world they would appear as dead but for this one woman it seemed appropriate she be shrouded in the veil of a phantom. Even the typically golden locks that adorned the top of her head were looking bleached in this frosty environment with the milky mist dressing all that resided inside with a vague tone of white. She looked the part, played the part and would soon become immersed into the role if her ailing condition persisted. Her barely visible irises gleamed out toward the horizon, however far it was, and closed again. "I'm finished..." Jades whispered.

According to her mental clock, a day or two perhaps even three had passed since the depressed damsel retreated from the trouble events that went down at Amino Island. The whole ordeal of encountering so many mysteries of her past and confronting the painful memories they were connected with had broken her mind to the point of self destruction. For the past few days she was left without food nor water but rather the scraps of paper she collected from the casino bar that were intended to be a private journal of her innermost thoughts: a diary if one wished to call it that. Whatever the case was with her nutritional plan, it simply didn't matter if she was left with a crumb or a feast as Jades' mind danced around the idea of living any longer.

She had never called out for help, never bothered sailing toward an island and never once considered trying to survive. All that she had done in the past few days was write deeper and darker thoughts in her diary, slicing into the thin fabric all the hurt she felt her entire life. It seemed so ritualistic that one could believe that she took writing down her thoughts as a sort of purification rite. With each word she put down, it just seemed like another sin was crossed off for the path to redemption. But this was not the case and was further from the truth than that assumption could suggest. Jades did not scribble every horrible memory as an act of confession or absolution. These sinful sentences were done mindlessly, occupying whatever little time she had. Because as much as she wished to avoid the past and facing the reality of the situation, Jades knew there was no avoiding it. She knew that hiding from the past was pointless as it would all eventually come back to haunt her in the end. There was no point, she had given up and all hope was lost. All she wished to do now was torture herself to death and leave this world as nothing but just one more soul at the bottom of this vast sea. As she said before when she first left Amino, Jades felt the same sentiment persevering even now, Take me back to a simpler place...

[RK]

Shotaro Morishi sat by the fire that was skillfully created by his partner in heroism, Redwood. He was surprised that this bonfire wasn't burning down their ship but...he couldn't really complain. It's not like he wanted to sink into the freezing depths below. Atop this fire was a metal pot, held up by wooden supports. Inside this pot, was a morsel that would assuredly warm the minds and bodies of both these two heroes. Chicken Noodle Soup. It was rather simple to prepare, and was quite tasty, so it was no trouble at all to make some food. It was the choice of either this or beef stew, but Shotaro didn't have a whole lot of beef left onboard...so he had to make due with this.

"B-by this rate, we should be head-heading off t-t-t-to another island pretty quick. It's-s-s-s a good thing yo-yo-you told me to mash our b-boats together."

Redwood sounded as though he was sitting on a block of ice. His voice stunted and panicked, like a lost child. He looked so cold. It was...so cold. Shotaro was tempted to put on his helmet, which was sitting directly beside him, but he decided against it. He wanted Redwood to be able to see his face. "You're right...there are plenty of islands in the North Blue...I just hope wherever we end up is warmer...or at least has some blankets." The Mild-Mannered Shotaro responded. While he wasn't exactly as cold as Redwood appeared to be, since his hero costume was so darn warm, the hero was still quite exhausted. This cold was sapping his energy, he wanted to lie down and sleep, but that would surely be not recommended.

Shotaro felt the deck of the boat around him. Having meshed two sailboats together made for quite the vessel, albeit a crude one. It reminded him of the wood Redwood had donated to the people of Sedna. They were grateful...but still so cold. Shotaro sighed and looked at the sea around him, such a pure shade of blue, it may as well be frozen it was so cold right now. Shotaro opened up the top of the pot and stirred the soupy meal with a ladle. It was nearing completion, it just needed one last thing. Shotaro rubbed his hands together momentarily and hummed for a moment. After taking some time to gather his thoughts, he placed his hands on the top of he pot. Shotaro wasn't really sure if reiki did much of anything to food, but he enjoyed the idea of putting a part of his spiritual energy into a dish. The armored hero grabbed one of two bowls beside him and poured some of the soup into it. The bowl was green and most likely made of some kind of porcelain. It was chilled from the cold North Blue air, but the soup would take car of that quickly. Shotaro handed the bowl to Redwood, though he may still be frigid in body, this meal will rejuvenate him, that was for sure. It was in fact, the most literal form of soul food.

As Shotaro poured himself a bowl of soup, and began to drink directly from the bowl itself, he took a moment to think back to when the marines had arrived on Sedna. They were angry that a bunch of nobodies had taken out such a strong pirate for the "good of others". Shotaro very distinctly remembered one man, an Ensign who was leading the soldiers that came to pick up Alexius. There were several soldiers that actually came to the island, whereas most of them, along with the ships Captain stayed aboard the main ship. This Ensign, a tall man, probably no older than 33, had spoken to Captain Mask prior to the marines departure, and the words he uttered that day would ring in his mind for a very long time.

---

The man in the white coat was pointing and shouting, making certain that everything was in order, that the prisoner was secured, and that the towns-folk were all accounted for. This man was a tall, imposing looking man, he was bald, but he had a large scruffy black beard, and upon his head he wore a marine cap. From the neck down, his attire was quite odd for a marine of his rank. He wasn't wearing a shirt, and instead, his bare chest was out in full display. Upon his torso were a myriad of scars and burns of unknown origins. His pants were extremely cut up and burned in many places, signifying this man not only wore the same pants every day, but that he was a battle hardened veteran. He wore no shoes, and his bare feet looked so snug wrapped up in the thin sheets of snow that layered the roads in Sedna. Captain Mask couldn't believe this mans resilience. Such natural endurance, even in the face of extreme cold was inhuman.

In what seemed like an instant, the man was now standing in front of Captain Mask, they were nowhere near equal height...this man was about 7 feet tall, and his shadow loomed over Captain Mask like a ward of death. This man was Nimbus Vance, Ensign of the Marines. His eyes crept down to deliver a soul piercing stare into the soul of the armored hero. His mouth slowly but surely began to part, and as he filled his lungs with air to speak, Captain Mask could see the scars and burns on his chest expand and contort. "If you ever do something like this again...I will find out, and I will not hesitate to show you the side of justice that my hero, Fleet Admiral Sakazuki, has instilled in me." Nimbus' voice was very deep, it also sounded as if he may have at one point been a smoker, though judging by the fact that he didn't smell at all like tobacco, CM assumed that he quit upon joining the marines, in order to keep his health in check.

At the time Captain Mask couldn't say anything, it would have put himself and Redwood in danger, as well as made enemies of the marines. Hell they already have a strike against them. The marines don't like it when people take down pirates for free, they see it as something only pirates do, and pirates were the enemy.

---

However if Shotaro were stronger, if he was strong enough he would have talked back. He would have made his words clear to Nimbus Vance. "...only the people know true justice..."

[Deleted]

Max

His frozen arms, crossed over each other at the chest, were torn apart in order for his hand to accept the boiling hot elixir of flavor that Captain Mask had been brewing. "Th-th-th-th-thank you!" Max shuddered with delight as his numb lips went to dive into the sloshing bowl of soup whose heat only just began to drop after being removed from the fire. Though the boy's body was very well low in temperature, the immense amount of heat that was contained in the broth burnt his heart and soul to the core. "GAHHH!!!! HOT! OH MAH GAH! MA TUN!" he screamed in pain. Fanning his smoldering tongue in futility, Max humorously leaked streaks from his eyes as he breathed harder and harder to exert the heat and bring back the sweet embrace of the cold. "Hooo, tha wah hah! Hahaha!" Right after that incident, he foolishly went back into the soup only far more cautiously and with a utensil to boot.

Now warming his frigid body to a far more sustainable temperature, he saw the opportunity to break the ice and start an actual conversation with the man who would potentially be his life long partner in fighting crime. It did seem strange to Redwood that the two had only known each other for less than a handful of days but considered each other so close. They may have shared one goal when pursuing Alexius but that ship had sailed back to Impel Down. Now they were cruising down on the harsh chilly seas of the North Blue with a roaring fire and pot of soup separating them. If he wished to grow closer with the Captain as a teammate, he had to make the first move. The light skinned stew eater placed his half empty bowl on the floorboard of the wooden ship. "So Cap'n...Uh. How long have you been in the hero business?"

It might've been a personal question to ask but the way he saw it, the better they knew about each other's experience the better it would be for future encounters. Though Max had confidence in himself and his ally, he did not wish to engage in conflicts that would get themselves killed for no good reason. They didn't need to fight an enemy that would provide no chance of victory and as cowardly as it seemed, he wished to think of the long term effects of heroism. As bold as it was to die for a cause, being a martyr only works properly when the people are roused up enough to act. Sadly, Captain Mask and Redwood were nothing more than two men sailing the seas in search of a quest. They were no different than adventurers or pirates when thinking of it broadly. The masses would never actually do anything if they died in action which is why Max never wished to be killed on the job. It was pointless and it would be better served to fight another day than to risk your life for nothing. Though the Captain might see things differently, Max upheld this belief and would firmly stand by it regardless of his friend's opinion. Still, he had only just asked him a single question. Maybe this could be a possible subject for the next round of inquiry? Whatever the case, Max grinned with patience and awaited Shotaro's answer.

---

Jades

The currents were heavy. Shit. What seemingly felt like a calm cascade of cold now began to develop into a raging roar of riptides clawing at the fragile umber vessel that held the dainty jester. The tiny boat tipped and turned violently at times, the peak of its bow rising above the girl's natural eye level which just so happened to be expanding in surprise at this level of natural chaos. The waves creeped in closer and closer, drenching her pants entirely to the point her bright red pant leg stained into a bloody scarlet and the black side was unrecognizable by pigment, only appearing as a dark lifeless void in the supple shape of a leg. Jades was fully aware or so she thought she was about the perils of traveling alone in such a vulnerable boat as this. That awareness certainly didn't seem to aid her though when she had gone to commandeer this watercraft instead of a larger ship. But then again she was fearless was she not? The downcast damsel who surrendered her fate to the forces at large, permitting them to play with her destiny as they saw fit until the time for demise arrived and she had to be put down like the rest. Jades surely had to be devoid of any inkling of 
dread or otherwise her previous statements and sentiments were all nothing but pretended palaver.

Unfortunately, that's just what they were. Venus 'the oh so powerful' Jades still doubted herself. She tried to embrace death as it was the only sweet swift escape that would gladly come to take her. Though it was true that her hope had run thin and all possible thoughts of being saved were nonexistent, she still had hope. As minuscule as it was, as unbelievably insignificant it appeared to be, her last glimmer of light so desperately wanted to break free from the wretched dark bonds that she had allowed to corrupt her. Jades had welcomed death and invited darkness into her mind and soul so that whatever part of her wanted to live on would rot away like the rest of her ambitions. But that one part of her lived on, the desire, the craving, the lust and the passion that the one true Jades could never live without. Chaos. Chaos and destruction.

"It burns...It's burning." she struggled to breathe as her fingers tightly gripped the side of her vessel. "Why?...Why won't you just take me?" Water was still pouring into the tiny confined space that the psycho clown now lay in, her hand reached out to the sky as a sign of distress yet her pale fingers bent themselves crooked into a menacing pose. "Away...Just take me away..." Jades' lightning blue eyes were slowly losing their light in the midst of all the turmoil. Her arm drooped down at an angle and the twisted, gnarly digits of her hand melted into a relaxed plane of flesh. The salty maroon jacket wrapped around her sank to the hard wooden floor as its wearer began to rise. "Let me...let me...Wai-!!!" Without warning, the trusty steed that had conquered these waves for her to this point was no longer with her. A sudden pull downwards, forceful and draining, swallowed her into an abyss of ice cold water. Jades' passive body immediately jumped into action at the shocking sensation of the barren ocean immersing her in its vastness. At first, the paddling of her palms pushing the force back down seemed to work, keeping her head afloat above the surface. "HELP ME!! OH MY GOD, PLEASE SOMEBODY HELP ME!! It was completely useless and nonsensical for her to yell out for assistance but in this time of desperation what else could she do? Human instinct kicked in and even the once fearless Venus Jades who would happily stare death down in the face was now sobbing with her very own ocean falling from her eyes and screaming out for whatever lost soul happened to wander by. The toll of the ocean was now working its magic upon the Devil Fruit user. "N-no! Oh god, NO!!" The paddling ceased working completely despite her shoving the water down as strong as she could. Faster and faster, every ounce of energy began to leave Jades' body until her frame slowed down to nothing but a haggard pale corpse in the cold. Her arms ceased moving, her eyes began closing and the pockets of air that left her mouth soon stopped emerging. As the last fire of insanity fizzed in the frosty maw, she looked toward the ink scribbled messages that sank along with her and recalled one last memory.

Dad...Mom... 

[RK]

Captain Mask chuckled as he watched his friend struggle to properly dig into the piping hot soup. Though burning your tongue was bad, it was probably nothing for the wooden man. After the beating he had taken before, a few scalding hot sips of soup was barely anything. However, a rather strange, and possibly personal question seemed to seep its way into the soupy mess that was their conversation.

"So Cap'n...Uh. How long have you been in the hero business?"

...That...is a very good question. Captain Mask however, was always prepared, and the day he became a hero was the most important day of his life after all. The armored hero chuckled and looked up from his bowl of soup. "Heh, well if we're being technical I've been a hero for 239 days...3 hours...and 3 minutes." Captain Mask spoke so slowly, it was almost as if he'd been making it up as he went. However, it was the whole truth, all of it. "In that short duration of time, I've learned so much, and grown to a tremendous degree as a person. However, that exact time frame depicts when I took on the duty of being a hero. The first time I've ever saved anyone was...yesterday." Shotaro's face became sullen as he remembered the events of Sedna. He still had trouble believing that he actually did much of anything. Though Redwood would probably say otherwise if asked. He would probably say something silly, like how their effort was equal, or he couldn't have done it without Captain Mask. Something Shotaro only partially believed to be true.

Sure...if not for Captain Mask inspiring Redwood to push past his anxiety...the town might be gone right now...but that's not how the universe works. Someone else would have helped Redwood, and he still would have beaten Alexius. Captain Mask looked out to the ocean...maybe the endless blue would hold answers.

"Drowning..."

Shotaro wasn't exactly thinking at the moment, the words just escaped from his mouth. There was someone out there...way out, drowning. Captain Mask placed his bowl of soup down onto the deck and slowly stood up. "What kind of person travels the seas without at least learning how to swim. Oh well...This looks like a job...FOR CAPTAIN MASK." Striking an intense pose as he stepped up to the edge of the boat.

He could have just dived in but, that would have been stupid, even for a hero. The waters of the North Blue were notorious for how cold they were. If Captain Mask just dove in with his clothes on, he would freeze to death much quicker. The unmasked hero removed his entire outfit, revealing his bounding muscles. He was certainly quite...fit. "If something goes wrong...uh, let people know I died happy." With those last awkward words, Captain Mask, who was looking more like Shotaro with nothing more than boxers, dove into the frozen depths.

Cold was not a word that could be used to describe such a temperature. No no, as Captain Mask swam towards the drowning person, keeping a consistent front crawl, he could only use one word, one that he had only heard once before in his life, but it stuck with him. It stuck with him to this day, and it was finally time to be used. This water was not cold, it was gelid. Thus, as Captain Mask swam, he made sure not to expend too much energy in each stroke, lest he be taken captive by the chill of the gelid northern waters. This person was closer now however, judging by the voice he could hear now, and the overall body shape, it appeared to be a woman. However, something seemed off about her. Though she struggled really hard to stay above the water...her struggles seemed to be almost in vain. As if she was totally helpless. Helpless until Captain Mask arrives however!

Surely enough, the hero had arrived to aid the civilian in need. She was struggling just below the surface, but it's a good thing that Captain Mask arrived when he did, not all there was left to do was lif- WOAH! WHY is this woman so HEAVY?! Its like she was a hammer?! Captain Mask struggled to pull this woman up to the surface, and luckily enough his strength was enough to defy her weight. Such exertion wouldn't be good for his body in the long run, as he was burning previous fuel just trying to keep her above water. Captain Mask looked around, the boat was a bit farther out than he would like, but he would have to be strong here. Strong for Redwood, strong for himself. "I'm g-gon-na...g-get y-ou-u...o-ut of-f-f...h-e-re." Captain Mask hardly even realized that his voiced had been reduced to nothing more than a frostbitten stutter. His body was about to turn as blue as the ocean itself. This however, this was nothing compared to what Redwood took, his strife that he endured was infinitely greater than this. It took about 5 minutes of treading water, nearly freezing to death, and a whole lot of heroics, but finally, Captain Mask had brought this woman to their boat. However, when he got a good look at her face, his expression suddenly changed.

"W-wait...I k-know this-s w-woman...but...I-I d-on't rem-member fr-rom wh-where." The still shivering Shotaro muttered as he looked over the woman's face. She looked like a clown woman...something that he was sure he had seen before. As Shotaro warmed up by the fire and began to put his armor back on, he suddenly had a realization.

"Redwood, I remember now!" Shotaro said, his voice had returned to normal as he crawled into his cabin. Inside there wasn't much, aside from his clothes and some junk he was tinkering with, along with some books, and his food stocks. "Yes! Here they are" The armored hero said with a hint of satisfaction in his voice and just as quickly as he crawled in, he crawled out holding a stack of papers, wanted posters. Some of them had the bounties crossed out, others just had the whole bottom part ripped off. "I collect these in order to know an enemy when I see one, I study them quite a bit..." Shotaro explained as he flipped through the stacks of posters. Flipping through such colorful characters such as "Tyrant Fist", "Bulletproof", "Young Lion", "Maelstrom". "Ah here it is, "Celestial" Venus Jades. Now then...what in the world are you doing all the way out here...says here your last big appearance was quite some time ago on uh...Amino Island." Shotaro could only imagine what happened to her. He wondered of the possibility that she took so much to gambling that in the end, she put her life on the line? Or maybe she ran into the wrong crowd while in town...maybe even got taken far away and dropped here like a basket of kittens. "You poor thing..." Shotaro spoke softly as he wiped the hair from Venus Jades' eyes, and in a flash, slammed his fist down on her chest.

"BREATHE, DAMN YOU!"

[Deleted]

"WAIT WHAT?!"

Out of nowhere, Shotaro sucker-punched the air out of this poor unconscious damsel! The spontaneous nature of it all was, well, spontaneous! Why, Max had just witnessed the whole heroic ordeal minutes prior, the amazing rescue effort his partner went through just to save the life of a soul gone aboard while his cursed hammer body stayed planted on the wooden ship. That entire scene played out so dramatically and heroically in his mind that he continued to stand jaw-dropped even as Captain Mask read aloud the woman's identity, a pirate, a criminal. Mask had just saved a criminal but even then, as a man of Memory Peak, Max held no prejudice against her as he knew naught of her past actions. At least with Alexius, he knew the man was a beast who had to be stopped. This supple, pale beauty couldn't possibly have done anything wrong, right? That's what the woodman was thinking calmly through his head when the ice breaking moment came along.

"Why the heck did you punch her, Cap'n!!!??" The amount of shock Max exhibited was evident not only in the flustered tone with which he spoke but also by the wide eyed stare of disbelief that deservedly judged his partner. "I'm all for acting on a whim but what the fu-!...What on earth are you doing!?" The slightest hint of anger leaked from his voice but he tried not to show it. In their current situation, getting angry was the last thing they wanted. After all, they had a woman on board who was recognized as a wanted criminal but unconscious from drowning. She was defenseless and it felt wrong to the Logia lad to assault her while she could not protect herself. The best plan for their scenario would be to stir the girl up from her slumber and gently shake any answers out of her.

Stepping in between the Captain and this Venus Jay-deez, as this was obviously the correct pronunciation, Max rested his knees on the buoyant platform and slightly shoved his friend aside so he could deal with this issue himself. Quite frankly, that little episode of violence dramatically changed how he saw his bold ally. Max had always seen Shotaro as a man of honor and virtue, elements of heroism that he respected dutifully. Yet for him to display such a crude and rather nonsensical method to handle the situation was highly discouraging and not an endeavor that rose the woodman's morale. "Just...Just let me take this, alright? I've uh- I've done this before...Once."
He whispered the last word with a quick turn of the face away from Mask so as to conceal the red tinted cheeks that now populated the majority of his face.

Max's eyes, one green and one blue, were both looking at the pale visage of this ghoulish girl. Her eyes were shut tight and her once blonde hair was presently a bleached salty bundle of pale gold strands. Almost every feature that could be perceived upon her crestfallen countenance just screamed of maddening sadness. She appeared dead or dying, every bit of her essence withering away color by color until she would grew to an empty blank husk. It's not right, he thought, For someone like you to waste away like this...not here...not now. He scanned all around her blank identity until the last fragments of spirit could be seen glaring in front of him; they were the true targets of what he intended to do from the beginning. They were small in comparison to the rest of her face and their thinness did not help to better this fact. But in the cold icy winds of the North Blue, all Max could stare lustfully at were those supple scarlet lips, their sultry curves only driving the boy to mumbling idiocy "Uhhh. Whhhaa? Oh right...I was just about to- uhm...Y-yeah." He pinched the edge of her nose, tilted the woman's head back and dove his mouth close to hers and breathed in a mighty breath. "...Mmm?"

"Oh! Good, you're awake alread-" An iron streak shot through the air.

---

"OW!!!!" Without warning, a metal mallet plummeted on a fleshy posterior and rang a dull but heavy pain that could make any man cringe in agony. The burning of a million cells striving to repair the wound left a bitter taste in the strange man's mouth. He shot back up, his knees no longer placed so close to her. In a span of a few seconds, Jades had gone from dark to light to lips to screams. "W-what? What the....guh. Hell?!" She strained herself just by talking but at the same time felt a sense of balance returning to the inner state of her body. Transparent droplets still decorated her complexion but other than the obvious moisture acting as a nuisance, she was perfectly fine. Jades looked up as her vision came back to her along with most of her sense. "Wh-where am I? What's happening?!" 

"GUH!" The groan came from a few steps away.

"Eh?! Wh-what's wrong with you?!" Jades began to back up with hammer in hand. If these men were a threat, she wasn't afraid to dish out a plate of pain upon these sorry fools. Just by the looks of it, the shaking sinner realized that at least the stranger she struck was trying to stay in disguise. The other....she had no comment. Her eyes darted from one to the other trying to process all the bizarre information her consciousness woke up to. From the perspective of another person, Jades would have appeared insane...so just her usual self. "YOU HIT ME!" She aimed all her vision at the source of the voice. "WHY WOULD YOU HIT ME?!" The trembling troublemaker only watched his mouth move in a gurgling rhythm as all her senses had still not recovered. But if there was one thing she knew well, it was to fight when aggravated. "Y-you're shouting at me?! You wanna go!? LET'S GO, DIPSHIT!" A mediocre ascent of the dripping wet wrist brought the equally drenched mallet up above her head. Jades was ready for a beating.

---

What is this girl thinking?! I just saved her life! She's...SHE'S TRYING TO HIT ME AGAIN!?...Heh, no matter. The most arrogant smile a humble hero such as Max could give was now shining at the 'Celestial' assailant. After all, Redwood possessed the power of a Logia, the invincible power of the seas that could only be countered by poor timing or Haki. This North Blue pirate was no match for him now that he stood prepared for the attack. All he simply had to do was perceive his body as shifty as sawdust and he would transition to a safe, secure state of- 

WHACK!

...

...

...

.....WHAAAAAAAAT!???

[RK]

...Yeah okay Redwood, very funny.

Captain Mask sat down at the edge of their super sailboat. Apparently the wooden man wasn't too keen on the armored hero's display. Did he wan't her to die? Apparently not considering he was moving in to swap spit with her. The Bewildered Captain Mask, otherwise known currently as Shotaro, watched as his partner awkwardly moved in to try and administer the kiss of life. If Shotaro were a judging man, then he would see this as pretty damn shallow. Don't go in for smooches on the unconscious girl. That's pretty gross, dude. However, if he was so confident in his ability to resuscitate this girl with anything more than a simple squeeze of the lungs, then Shotaro wasn't gonna get in his way.

Well, he wouldn't have, anyway. Like a bolt of iron lightning, a large metal object ascended into the air, causing Shotaro to jump a bit, rising from his sitting position and placing his mask back onto his head, in case this got ugly. Redwood seemed to be unaware of this rising, object, as he was too focused on the fact that the woman in question, Venus Jades had awoken. "Redwood I think you should mo-" However Captain Mask was cut short as the object, which was now clearly visible as a mallet of some kind, landed upon his friend. It sure looked like it hurt, but Redwood would shake it off.

Captain Mask suddenly realized that this situation was not only getting ugly quick, but would ramp up even more if Jades saw that they had her wanted poster with them. In a bit of a nervous shuffle, the Anxious Captain Mask grabbed all of the wanted posters that he had had out at the moment, and balled them up. It would be silly to just toss them into the sea, as acquiring each pirates bounty poster wasn't exactly as easy as it may sound. The man of many faces moved towards the door to his cabin and creaked it open, and with an extreme amount of guile and stealth, tossed them inside. Excellent.

Placing his attention back on the other two people on this very sailboat, the seemed to be causing quite a ruckus. From what the masked man could gather...Redwood was being dumb. This woman was scared, but also acting irrationally. This could prove to be complicated but...manageable...hopefully.

Redwood seemed to have taken another whack from this metal mallet. He was on the floor, quite dazed currently. Captain Mask wanted to avoid any further violence, and slowly began walking up to the clown woman. "Ms. Jades...I know we may have gotten off on the wrong foot here but...I assure you that we are not going to harm you." Captain Mask's booming voiced approached the woman closer and closer, ducking under two swings of her mallet and some deadly gazes. "I'm Captain Mask, a hero, you may not have been fully conscious, but I swam out to that mass of wood that used to be a vessel just to save you." The Caring Captain Mask pointed to the wreckage that he pulled Jades from. It appeared to have stayed in the same place as it was before, but was starting to spread out a bit. The distance was still quite intense. "I saved you because your life is important to me, all lives are. Trust me when I say that the last thing that I want to do is cause you any harm." Captain Mask placed his hands up to remove his mask, but immediately reconsidered. Redwood was the exception. He had to constantly remind himself of that. Instead, the Negotiable Captain Mask turned around and grabbed a spare bowl sitting next to the still burning flames below the pot of soup. The hero opened the top of the pot and filled it with a generous helping of of chicken soup, and then placed a spoon inside of it. "First off, while you're on this boat, we don't fight, that wastes precious energy. Second, your body is most likely running off of nothing but adrenaline right now, if you don't eat this, you'll start dying. Finally, I have no problem with pirates, my ire rests with those who cling to the coattails of evil. You look like someone who has done bad, but your heart tells a different story." The armored hero grasped one of Jades' hands and placed the bowl inside of it, making sure her grip was tight on the warm bowl. He then turned to Redwood, still lying on the ground. Captain Mask faced his partner, with a face of sternness behind his mask. "I want you two to go inside your cabin and talk things out." Captain Mask spoke quickly and made his point heard, sounding a bit too much like a dad. "B-but Cap'n! She attacked me!" Redwood rose from the deck of the ship, his face flushed with anger. Clearly such a situation did not suit his liking, however he trusted in the intuition of his ally. "We're heroes, it's important to remember that we're here to help people. Jades was frightened and defended herself, it's our job to see it from her perspective and understand why she did it, and to forgive her." Captain Mask placed a hand on his comrades shoulder, he could feel the broad mantle of his friend trying to bust out of his costume. "Do this for us."

Captain Mask turned around to face the pirate, Venus Jades, who had been pretty quiet up till now, however a girl as bombastic as she may not keep her lips sealed for very much longer. "We'd be glad to give you food and shelter until we reach our next destination, from which then you can start over, get a new boat and try again on these seas. I like you as well, you've got a nice air about you...before we say farewell to each other, remind me to give you a token of appreciation, something to remember us by." Captain Mask walked towards Jades and looked deep into her eyes. His vision was tinted orange but he could still see the sincerity locked away within. She had good inside of her. He could feel it.

"Now though, you two go make friends, I'll keep the ship on course. At this rate we'll reach our destination in the next few days." The Exuberant Captain Mask raced forward to the bow of the sailboat and pointed forward. If not for the mask covering his face, one could see the biggest smile this man has ever smiled.

"We're headed for the Pikt Archipelago!"

英雄終了