Hailing Danger on Jreum Island

[Shinku]

Today's Lucky Weather Forecast: Beware of Hailing


His hair was getting into his eyes again, but for once he didn't mind. Having his face hidden by his bangs was reassuring, even though the chance of someone recognizing him was minimal. People rarely expected to see someone who was dead walking down their street in broad daylight. And what people didn't expect to see was usually something they didn't saw... or so the theory went. It was rather little to rely on.

„Breath... relax...“ he told himself.

It took a very strong conscious effort to do so though. Up until this point he hadn't even noticed how tense he had been, but now that he tried to relax Rince could feel his stiff shoulders and the locked jaw. 
The teenager took another deep breath and tried not to fall into a panic attack.

„It's not like all Marines are going to know you, just because you have been a Marine once. You've never been at this Base before nor should anyone you worked with be here. You were a nobody anyway and everyone who knew you believes you're dead. No one is going to recognize you.“

He had changed so much since that time too. His pink hair was a few shades darker and longer than it had been back then and he had definitely lost the baby face. It was now leaner and it sported a frown that was quite nasty looking. 
It was logical, oh so logical. 
But it didn't help with his fears in the slightest. The nervous anxiety insisted on staying as an uneasy feeling in his gut and his hands were sweating so badly that he feared he would loose the grip on his bokken if he had to use it – which he fiercely hoped he wouldn't have to. 

„Focus. Try focusing on why you're here.“

Information. That's why the young man had come to Jreum Island, which hosted the North Blue Marine Base B-1. If he wanted to find out what he wanted to know, his chances were highest that he'd find it here. That or the Grand Line, which was yet a possibility the teenager didn't want to consider.

„Focus on the people, focus on the place. You need information to get the information and you need to be able to blend in.“


Jreum Island was divided into three major parts; the Residence Area, The Resort Part and the Business Block, which was the part he was currently in.
Rince had heard that it was the only place ships could land, but whether it was the only dock on the Island and there were places one could illegally dock or if the shape of the Island made other dockings impossible, was still unclear to him. 
Although the Business Dock was controlled by the Marine, there were lots of trade vessels and getting in turned out less of a problem than he initially thought. 
Sure there were some guys on duty who gave him (and the other passengers of the ship, he wasn't singled out, surely he wasn't?) some basic inspection, asking basic questions and looking into his bag- which, aside from his notebook and his little Den Den Mushi Letty was quite empty. They didn't even care to take a look inside his notebook, a thing he had dreaded the possibility off. Not like they could have read anything as he usually wrote his diary in code, but having something, even if it was a harmless diary, written in code might have rose suspicion. 
But nothing happened and they just waved him through.

They hadn't even noticed Bruce, the little white haggis who was currently riding in the hood of his grey hoody. A piece of clothing he had bought especially to hide the garish pink aloha shirt underneath it. Together with the plain blue jeans he felt rather inconspicuous.
Although Marine uniforms were very dominant in this area, there were still enough civilians to blend into.
And as long as he wasn't making any problems, no problems with the Marine should arise, right?

[Vio]

^{Danica #1 — Gizem #1}

---

“Wow,” was the only word to leave the lips of Halley Danica as she moved through the crowds of Jreum, nearly colourless irises gazing high to the skies to observe the upper reaches of towering buildings — ideal locations to view the starry night sky from. However, it was the midday sun that instead beat down upon the streets of the business block, though mild temperatures made it comfortable weather whatever you wore.

“I wonder if any stars have ever fallen here?” she asked herself as she continued to observe the architecture, the people, everything about the city island that made it so unique and fresh to the eyes. This was a wonder of mankind’s achievements, supposedly built upon an immense coral reef the size of an entire island, and it was here that Danni had come to sample the attractions of what was said to be one of the North Blue’s most diverse societies.

“Oh! I know! I should head to the Resort Block! My guide says there’s a museum there with all sorts of artefacts!” Chirpily, she spoke to herself without a care for what others thought, even if she did draw the attention of more than a few individuals who regarded her as nothing more than a tourist. They were right. That was exactly what Miss Halley was as she referred to her book full of notes.

^{“Oh…,” she looked ahead:
“It’s on the other side…”}

^{—— BUSINESS BLOCK, DOCKS ——}

Boots clicked rhythmically across the stone promenade. Another mercantile vessel had been permitted to land at Jreum, this one supposedly carrying food shipments from farmlands on nearby islands. A must on an isle that was almost entirely a citadel. But it was the turn of one Rubik Gizem, who observed the movements of the cargo from decks to docks, to head the patrols and security of the Business Block.

^{“Lieutenant,” saluted an approaching seaman:
“All passengers from Dock G have been processed!”}

^{“Okay. As you were.”}

“Uhm… Ma’am? Don’t you want to know if there was anything suspicious?” the soldier asked, turning to follow her as she continued her steady pace along. She had done little more than give him a momentary look of recognition — that was all she felt she needed. He, on the other hand, seemed rather baffled by such behaviour. Perhaps a few years of stricter officers at the helm had conditioned him such that Rubik’s lack of questioning seemed entirely out of character. She stopped, turning pale lilacs towards him and raising an eyebrow.

^{“Seaman First Class Delaney,” Gizem replied:
“You’d tell me if there was a problem, right?”}

Delaney blinked, further astounded.

^{“Y— Yes, Ma’am,” he stammered:
“Of— Of course I would!”}

^{“Then there are no issues, then.”}

Is she… really that simple-minded? And… How did she recall my name so quickly…? We’re both new on Jreum… Leaving Delaney to his thoughts and happy that everything was going accordingly, Miss Rubik continued her stroll without further interruption. This was hardly an interesting duty to be assigned, but it was a necessary one. With so many ships having come in at the same time, the North’s Marine branches wanted to double up on border control as a safety precaution. You never knew when wanted criminals, Revolutionary spies, or even traitors were going to try and sneak into a World Navy headquarters.

^{—— BUSINESS BLOCK, MAIN STREET ——}

Meanwhile, a certain snow-haired siren was making her way downtown at a rate of knots. A little too eager to reach her destination, she had made the unfortunate mistake of trying to jog across town towards the Resort Block, and in doing so she had hence become a streak of shimmering blue dust unwittingly sprinting through the streets. Excitement had gotten the better of her, forcing folks to dodge aside as they were faced with an oncoming ball of sparkling, luminous energy…

---

Halley Danica (00CCCC)
Rubik Gizem (568203)
Seaman Delaney (eeeeee)

[Shinku]

Thinking was hard when he was nervous and today Rince had even less concentration to spare for it. So although walking was helping him think, it was also very likely that he'd lose focus on his surroundings and walk right into someone or something, which meant that sitting down was the right thing for now he decided.

A fitting spot was not hard to find at all, for this was a dock and although very busy with people running back and forth, there were enough quiet places in between. Like that stack of wooden crates over there, all unloaded and waiting for further transportation.
Rince strolled over and sat down on one of the crates. That got him a glance from two workers as well as from what looked like the person in charge of logistic, all of them probably wondering what he wanted over there with their goods.
Trying not to show how nervous that made him and hoping that they couldn't see his frown, Rince pulled out his notebook and flipped it open, ignoring them completely.
He thought he could feel their gaze, but when he glanced up a little later, they were not paying him any attention anymore. They must have decided that he was just some guy looking for a place to sit down and not a thief or a saboteur out for their merchandise. Who the hell would be so stupid as to try that in a dock filled with Marines anyway? By the way people acted, it seemed to be a rather laid back place. They probably didn't have to deal with any major attacks or criminal activities for quite a while so they were feeling secured.

„I really should have considered it beforehand.“ he thought.
His old Captain would have scolded him very badly for not considering his next step in advance. That was basically one of the first things he learned.
Get as much information beforehand and think through the variable scenarios that might arise, so you know what you want to do and can react fast to whatever might arise.
He hadn't considered his next move at all. All he had been thinking off was his goal and to get to the Island first.
Now he had to make up for his neglect.

At least he knew the basic structure of the Island.
He scribbled the names of the different sections down on a page of his notebook and immediately crossed out the Residence Area. The local people might know some stuff about the Marines, but it wasn't likely that they would know any important details. Not to mention that he would stick out in that particular section of the island.

The Business Block was likely to have a lot of people who were either Marines themselves or who made business with them and knew at least something about their inner works and schedules. Foreigners were also less likely to catch anyone's eyes as they were expected to be here. But when it came to collecting the knowledge that might be hiding around here, things could get tricky. Merchants weren't likely to talk to him about their business deals and every good Marine would become suspicious if he asked them about their day.

That left the Resort where chatty tourist were least likely to attract attention. What sort of information he might find there might be up to luck – which wasn't a thing he relied on – but it was a good place to start.
Rince wasn't in any hurry. If possible he preferred to play it save and take his time.
Having made his decision, the teenager got up, put his notebook back into his pocket and started jogging down the road, heading to the bridges that connected this part of the island with the next.
Now that he knew his next step, even if it was a small one, he was starting to feel more confident and even a little bit excited.
It had been so long since he tried something of this magnitude!
The thrill made him feel more energetic than he had been in a long time. He even almost smiled.

[Vio]

^{Danica #2 — Gizem #2}

---

Tap! Tap! Tap! Solid footfalls upon paving slabs and cobblestones were somewhat muted by the sounds of billowing gases and sparkling particulates as Danica rushed through the streets. By now her speed had far exceeded that of a running athlete, but another problem had quickly arisen. Steering had become a lot more difficult. Banking left and right as best she could, the Comet Girl did her best to dodge pedestrians and passers-by, though most of the dodging ended up coming out of them when they dove aside.

^{“Maybe I should’ve just walked,” she pondered:
“Well, at least I haven’t accidentally—!”}

Craaash! A man yelled. People screamed. Fruit went flying. But Danni was unscathed. Actually, she hadn’t even stopped, decelerating slightly despite her coma smashing a small cart of foodstuffs to pieces and continuing onward for a few steps before something else happened. Heel planting itself firmly upon a whole banana, the squashed fruit served its perilous purpose as Miss Halley’s momentum and trajectory faltered substantially. Slipping sideways, but body wanting to continue forwards, she ended up a tumbling mess before crashing into yet another something…

^{—— BUSINESS BLOCK, DOCKS ——}

^{Puru-puru—!
Puru-puru—!
… Gacha!}

“This is Seaman Apprentice Arkwright,” said one Marine, answering the Transponder Snail as its face adopted a look of wide eyes and distinctly square eyebrows.

^{“Arkwright! Is the Lieutenant with you?”}

^{“Y— Yeah! She’s here now,” Arkwright said:
“Lieutenant Gizem! It’s— Uh!”}

“What is it, Petty Officer Jackson,” Miss Rubik replied. The quick identification prompted a confused look from both Arkwright who carried the Den Den Mushi and the snail itself. It seemed nobody was yet used to the habit she had — the ability of the woman to quickly recognise faces. Apparently, even if it was a communications device portraying the speaker, the ability still worked.

“Ma’am! I’ve got people on Main Street reporting some sort of incident regarding a bright ghost running through town! Lots of people have said they’ve had to dive out of the way,” he paused, almost if trying to catch his breath — a sure sign that he was on the move. Gizem simply waited for him to continue: “I’m following the trail right now. Requesting authorisation to engage when we make contact!”

^{“Ghosts don’t exist,” the LT bluntly answered:
“I’ll guess this is an Ability User. Where are you?”}

^{“Main Street… Headed towards the Resort Block!”}

“I’m on my way,” she said, clicking off the Den Den Mushi before her subordinate could even respond. She’d already made up her mind, whether she was needed or not. As far as she was concerned, a quick response was necessary, and already was she allowing herself to tap into her own unnatural gift. Body splitting almost instantaneously, what was once a sleek woman of light brown complexion and green-blonde hair quickly became a floating swarm of black and white, many-faced blocks marked with luminous lines of green.

^{“That’s it…,” muttered the likes of Arkwright:
“The ability of Lieutenant Gizem’s Devil Fruit!”}

Clothing and all had become a part of such a mass, which soon thereafter conglomerated into the peculiar, blocky shape of something vaguely canine. Briefly glancing at the apprentice with narrowed, lilac eyes, Miss Rubik quickly bolted from the docks and began to advance on all fours in an attempt to meet up with the patrol…

---

SPOILER: Click to show

{Rejtélyes Ragadozó}_{Gizem transforms into the shape of a wolf or similar beast, allowing her to run faster on all fours, and make use of clawing and biting attacks.}

---

Halley Danica (00CCCC)
Rubik Gizem (568203)
Seaman First Class Delaney (eeeeee)
Petty Officer Jackson (bbbbbb)
Seaman Apprentice Arkwright (888888)

[Shinku]

Something was happening. Rince didn't know what exactly, but the screams were starting to get louder and louder, a big indication that whatever was causing the screams was nearing his position. Not wanting to get caught up in whatever it was, the teenager stopped his light jog through the crowd and positioned himself at the edge of the street. Carefully he placed a hand on the hilt of his sword, green eyes watching the street for signs of the approaching danger, muscles tense and ready to dart off if it should be necessary.
Bruce, his little fluffy companion, had a different idea though. The haggis jumped from his shoulder and placed itself in the MIDDLE of the main street. There it stood on its hind legs and raised the little white paws, ready for a fight!
„Oh no, really?! Stop it Bruce, you can't be serious!“ Rince groaned. But of course the haggis was serious. The animal was always serious about accepting a challenge, no matter what it looked like.
And then it came into view! Whatever it was, it was fast and it had quite the destructive power. The fruit cart was obliterated and yet the thing didn't stop at all. It even seem to gain more speed...
and it was heading directly at Bruce.

There was no time to reach him before the impact, even if he jumped now, so instead, Rince pulled his wooden sword and tossed it at the haggis. The animal would complain later, but being pushed out of the way by a wooden sword would not make as much damage as colliding with an approaching ghostly figure that was way too solid for its appearance.

Turned out it wouldn't have been necessary. A little before it could impact with the haggis, the figure started to wobble and its trajectory changed just so slightly. It was still going forward but it was also leaning to the side. His side.
Being caught up in the move of throwing his sword, Rince had no time to dodge.

The collision was forceful. All air was knocked out of his lungs and the lightweight teenage boy was thrown back like a puppet. Splinters of glas flew through the air as he crashed through the window of a spring workshop. The eyes of the shop assistant went wide as someone flew by, just barelly missing him and the client he had been in the middle of a sales conversation with. Neither of them had much time to get a good look at Rince, since the boy crashed into the merchendise and was catapulted out again.

Full with glass shards and elastic springs clinging to his clothes and body, the teenager was not losing any momentum at all as he smashed back and forth between the tall buildings, like a mad rubber ball on steroids.
The first thing he crashed into was the teashop sign of Madam Rudely, who had found a niche for herself by selling fresh goat milk to go with her tea. The sign flew off and destoryed the gate of the little enclosure where she was keeping her animals and the goats ran off in a panic.
Meanwhile Rince was spiraling upwards, breaking more glas in the process as he entered and exited a jeweler shop on the first floor, a china shop on the second floor on the other side and a florist shop specialising in exotic flowers on the fourth floor – he had unluckily missed the window on the third floor that contained a shop for mattresses, duvets and cushions.
As he crashed into the underside of a balcony the springs finally came off and Rince had some short moment of clarity as he watched the nice blue sky while gravity pulled him downwards again.

The landing was soft... and smelly. He had landed in a car that was transporting fish to the many restaurants in the Resort District. The ice that the fish were transported with was a heaven-sent blessing to his maltreated body.
Rince would have loved to just stay here, but after crashing through multiple windows, he knew that it was better to get the hell away. Carefully he pushed himself up.
His body was scratched all over by shards of glas and porcelain. Both little and big spines and thornes from various plants were stuck in his flesh and although the jeweles that had found their way in his pockets did not hurt him, they were already giving him a headache.
Not wanting to do anything with them, he shook them out as good as he could, while trying to think of a way to get away unnoticed. Something that proved to be quite difficult as the surrounding people were definitely staring at him.
He still tried to walk away as nonchalantly as he could, which was not easy considering how much his ribs hurt. Broken or cracked at the very least, damm!

And then it hit him again.
One of the goats on the run had run straight into him and Rince found himself on the back of a paniced goat running amok on the main street. It was a bumpy ride and his body was crying tears of pain. Just as Rince started to wonder if it wouldn't be better to let himself slip off the back of the animal, Bruce came to his rescue.
The little animal placed itself in front of the charging goat and for some reason the glaring haggis was enough to make it stop. Abruptly so.
Rince was send flying again and crashed through the open door of a smithy. Sparks went flying all around and the smithy was burning brightly before anyone could do anything against it.
His hoody on fire, the boy ran out and threw his body on the street, trying to suffocate the fire by rolling around. The screams of panic all around him had an almost physical presence to them.
Hurriedly he picked himself up, wanting to get as far away from the fire as he could, when he noticed a wagon filled with barrels. One barrel had caught fire and the owner and his pepole were abandoning the wagon, although it was only a small flame at this point. Surelly they could have patted it out in time, no? Instead the wagon was now rolling forward on its own, heading for the bridge to the Resort District.

The whole thing went BOOOOOOOOOOOOM and Rince understood why the men had not bothered with the fire. The explosion was not only big enough to wreack the cart, the whole bridge was blown into pieces. The only lucky thing in the whole business was that everyone had seen the burning building and evacuated as far away as they could.
Debris was falling all around, like a rain shower, only more painful.
Rince got hit on the head by some piece of wood and felt over. This time he didn't bother to stand up again. He was far too beaten up for that.

[Vio]

^{Danica #3}

---

The impact was sudden, to say the least, as Halley Danica’s body slammed into something. Whatever that something was, it did a good job of nullifying her momentum. A brilliant ball of blue had diminished substantially by this point, leaving only glistering vapours slowly pouring from her body as she finally came to rest. The world was spinning as she gazed up towards a clear blue sky, buildings swaying to and fro. Fortunately, as far as she could tell, she hadn’t sustained any serious injuries.

That was more than could be said of her surroundings.

“Wh— What’s going on?” she asked idly, sitting up as she listened to strangely panicked screams, bleating goats, and a whole myriad of other sound effects indicative of the chaos being unravelled in every direction. Bits and pieces of metal, wood, glass, and more were scattered like leaves by the autumnal winds, but it was not long before the final straw broke the proverbial camel’s back. A loud roar sounded as flames met volatile liquids, blowing a hole in what had previously been an otherwise sturdy bridge and scattering yet more mess all over. Bits of timber pelted her noggin more than a few times, flooring poor Danica yet again.

“Oh no! Did something happen?!” Somewhat oblivious to the starting point of this series of unfortunate events, Miss Halley quickly scampered to her feet to check the surrounding damages. Sure enough, they were more extreme than she had initially noticed, but seemed to follow something of a trend as eyes swept across the scene. It all seemed to centre around one man, somewhat burned, battered, and seemingly unconscious on the floor.

^{“Hey… Hey!” Danni called, rushing over:
“A— Are you okay!?”}

---

Halley Danica (00CCCC)
Rubik Gizem (568203)
Seaman First Class Delaney (eeeeee)
Petty Officer Jackson (bbbbbb)
Seaman Apprentice Arkwright (888888)

[Shinku]

Lying face down on the cold street, pain pulsing through his body, Rince contemplated his life choices. Somehow it didn't seem to matter what he actually chose, it always ended up hurting a lot.
Was this normal? Did other people experience this too, or was he the only one? He certainly never saw other people being dragged through the mud as much as he was, but maybe he was just missing it? It seemed rather unlikely. The most likely explanation was still the one that he attracted bad luck like honey attracted bears.

“Hey… Hey! A— Are you okay!?”
A voice rudely interrupted his wallowing in self-pity. It was a young girlish voice and when Rince lifted his head to see who was bothering him, he was met with a face that rather fitted the voice. A small girl- woman?- with pale blue eyes was looking down on him. Was that hair of hers white or not? Somehow it seemed white but on the other hand it seemed to have some colour, though Rince wasn't sure if that wasn't just an afterimage that was spiked up by his hit on the head.
The oval face sported a cute fine nose and the girl seemed to have nothing better to do than to poke it into his business.
Also, what did she mean okay? Wasn't it obvious that he wasn't okay?! Sure it was most likely a rhetorical question, but still. It was annoying that people went and asked such stupid things.

„ ... “

Rince gave her a glare and let his head drop down again, not even bothering to answer. He didn't have any energy to spare for her. If he could just fall to sleep here and there, that would be nice. That way he wouldn't feel the pain, and maybe he would be all better when he woke up. There was still enough time to do what he came to do later- ... oh, shoot!
With a sudden insight, Rince realised that his plans, as obscure and still-in-the-making as they were, might be getting heavily messed up by the occurrence just now.
Something had exploded, hadn't it? And there was a lot of damage caused.
Surely the Marines would arrive to investigate, and he'd rather be away when they came to ask questions.

Ignoring both the girl and Bruce, who had just arrived to see how his food-provider was doing, Rince picked himself up and tried to walk a few steps.
The glass splinters in his legs and especially the ones logged into the back of his knee was making that difficult though and the boy had no other option than to stop and go through the arduous work of removing the splinters one by one.
Of course the haggis jumped in to join the removal and the animal was not at all attentive to the sensible nature of his two-legs, trying more for speed than for care as he went to work. But it did speed up the work, so Rince didn't complain, though he had to suppress cries of pain.
With the two of them it didn't take long to finish the removal of the most troublesome bits and Rince limped away, looking for a quiet alleyway where he could vanish into.

[Vio]

^{Danica #4 — Gizem #3}

---

Smoke and debris tossed into the air could now be readily seen from many streets away, and it just so happened that the pale lilac eyes of one Rubik Gizem now spied such a telltale sign of chaos unfurling. Ignorant of strange looks that her form received from civilians, the Enigma Human continued to bound along on all fours on the hunt for the perpetrators, now having a good indication of the crime scene and doing her utmost to weave through the streets.

An explosion…? Bold. If they’re prepared to make a show of it, then they’ll be expecting a fight! Paws beat the ground faster now, determination fuelling her to race forth. With no doubt that the Seamen and Petty Officers on patrol would be responding, she approached with confidence. And yet, she was unsure of what to expect. What Pirate would be so bold as to make such an attack on Jreum? Was this more the doings of the Revolutionary Army? Either way, she thought herself prepared.

^{—— CRIME SCENE, RESORT BRIDGE ——}

The man’s response was practically nonexistent. Indeed, Danni let the question hang for a moment, before realising than an actual verbal answer was unlikely to come. She frowned, brow furrowing as she watched him eventually heave himself to his feet and begin dislodging debris and other painful shards. He seemed to be accompanied by a curious little critter — a small bundle of fur whose vigorous aid seemed equal parts welcome and not so. Whatever it was, it was adorable.

^{“Hey! Don’t walk away, mate!” she chirped:
“I asked if you were okay!”}

Scurrying after him, Miss Halley gave pursuit, though this time being a bit less eager in her footing as she caught up to him. Dark pink hair of a definitively messy style, if one could even call it such, and all in all he seemed nothing particularly special at a glance as she purposefully got in his way to prevent him from running off without a word. Some might’ve called it suspicious, but to her this soul’s decision to leave without so much as a notion of gratitude for her display of compassion was downright rude!

“Well? You are okay, ja?” she asked again, knuckles upon her hips as she looked him in the eye (or at least tried to) with a slight pout upon her face. She opened her mouth to speak again, but the sound never came. More precisely, her words were stolen from her when the presence of men in white and blue broke onto the scene. About a dozen Marines came scrambling in from numerous directions, pairs or small groups forming one larger unit with weapons primed to respond to the havoc.

^{“Marines…? What are they…?”}

At that exact moment, Danica’s eyes caught movement. Leaping from the alleyway down which the rude young man had tried to take came something black and white and green — something no larger than a wolf which suddenly shattered to pieces and reformed into something more humanoid. No. Something definitely humanoid. A woman, just a little taller than herself, with shorter hair and dressed in a white coat. Unarmed, but pieces of her body seemed to slot into place like some sort of humanoid jigsaw puzzle.

^{“People of Jreum,” Gizem announced:
“If anyone has information regarding this incident…”}

Tension lingered.

^{“Speak now!”}

---

Halley Danica (00CCCC)
Rubik Gizem (568203)
Seaman First Class Delaney (eeeeee)
Petty Officer Jackson (bbbbbb)
Seaman Apprentice Arkwright (888888)

[Shinku]

The girl cut into his path and intercepted him, which earned her a frown of considerable depth. What did the stupid girl want from him, standing there in his way and looking as if he owned her money? Rince was pretty convinced he hadn't seen her before today and was even more sure that he wasn't owning her anything, least of all money. But she did repeat her question, so maybe she really wanted an answer.
„Must be one of those types who hate to be ignored.“ he thought.
„Sure, I'm fine.“ Rince finally answered the her. Whatever it took to get the girl off his back.

Turned out the funny-haired girl was the least of his problems. With what Rince considered to be a rather theatralic deployment, the Marines arrived on the scene. Sure, their coordinated movements showed reliability and efficiency, but on the other hand it seemed kind of funny to see them so serious, considering that there didn't seem to be any immediate threat around. Not that the Marines could know that, Rince admited, but still. Then again, whatever had hit him might still be around, only waiting to hit other people. If the Marines were there to stop it, then Rince could almost apprecicate them, though he'd rather not get involved with them at all if he could help it.

Some animal leaped out of the alleyway, way too close to him for Rince's liking and with an inward groan he watched the creature shift and turn until it turned into what turned out to be a human lady. A DF user, that spelled trouble. And a Marine at that, judging by her white coat with the seagull insignia.

There was a moment of silence after the woman spoke up and asked for information about what had occured here, but then a fruit merchant spoke up and started to complain about his car and how all his wares were destroyed by some unknown ghostly force.
It was almost as if the merchant had opened the floodgates. Now that he had spoken up, more and more people appeared to voice their observations or their complaints.
There were a number of people who spoke about the strange phenomene they had seen, describing a ball of burning blue flame, though some were sure they've seen a ghost in the middle of it.

It sounded a little like what had hit him and Rince saw no reason to add to their tale. There was not much to add in any case. „I've seen it too and I was hit by it. It hurt a lot.“ was not sounding like any sort of helpful statement, even in his ears and he prefered to stay out of the Marine's attention in any case.

But then people from the surrounding buildings came forward and mentioned a person crashing into their shops and destroying a big part of it.
That sounded a lot worse as Rince had a very good notion on who they were angry with. Not like it was his fault, but it would be difficult explaining it.
Maybe they had not seen him clearly though? He had speeded through the shops like an angry rubber ball, so maybe the people inside had not gotten any good look at him? He certainly hadn't gotten a good look at the shop, so the opposite seemed like a reasonable conclusion.

Should he stay here and wait or should he try to get away? He would love to, he really would, but even with all those angry people around, someone sneaking away might still be noticed and that definitely would raise suspicion. Not to mention that he had no clue what that strange girl in front of him would try. Would she block his path again if he tried to steal off?

No, Rince decided. It was better to wait and see how things unfolded. If anyone asked him, he could simply tell the true. He had been hit by a mysterious ghostball and apart from that he knew nothing. Well... aside from the fact that the cart with the explosives was suspicious. Now that he thought about it, wasn't it strange? The cart had been heading to the Resort District... what would they want with so much explosives over there? It couldn't be for a firework, that stuff was generally bought ready made, so why? It was fishy...

[Vio]

^{Danica #5 — Gizem #4}

---

As the people began to make their proclamations, Rubik Gizem’s ears accepted them as gospel, such was the simplicity of her thoughts. For what reason would the general populace hide fact from those of the law? Holding a candle of suspicion would herald no prompt results. Instead, the woman’s focus was upon resolving the incident as soon as was feasibly possible. So far, stories were at least consistent with one another, telling tales of a brilliant blue ball of fire or a ghost — something that Petty Officer Jackson had initially reported — and a figure that had resulted in much greater destruction.

^{“Is that so,” Gizem puzzled:
“Petty Officer Jackson!”}

^{“Yes, Ma’am!”}

“Please start taking statements from everyone,” the Lieutenant ordered, observing the scene. The whole street was anything if spared from havoc, with damages existing all over. Perhaps the most ridiculous blow had come to the bridge that connected the Business and Resort Blocks — a broad passage that had been mostly destabilised by a fierce explosion. Fortunately, nobody seemed to have been directly injured by such a catastrophe. What drew her eye, however, were two individuals that stood nearby. One looked a lot worse for wear than the other.

“You two,” she addressed, focusing in particular on the male whose messed up clothing told many a tale. Perhaps too much of a tale, given the scenario. “Can you explain what happened here? Did you witness any suspicious persons in the area?” The questions were simple, direct, as was standard. Deductive reasoning and a little analysis could’ve garnered a lot more information, but that wasn’t what Miss Rubik was here for. In a sense, she already had her mind made up, but for the sake of Justice she was not about to slack off on a hunch. This needed to be dealt with properly and professionally, if only for the sake of those harmed. “Any information you can provide would be of great service to the World Navy.”

What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?! Halley Danica’s mind raced faster than any shooting star. Panic beset her beating heart. Never once had she been questioned by the Marines — not in her life! It was unsettling, but to the best of her ability she managed to compose herself, still shaking in her boots somewhat as she looked the Lieutenant in the eye. She was about to speak, when her ears overheard other statements from nearby civilians.

^{“I think they had pink hair…?”}

^{“It was a person! Definitely!”}

^{“Blue fire! Must’ve made the blast!”}

^{“Um! Um! Well,” Miss Halley stammered:
“I— I didn’t really see anything as such…?”}

^“Hm…?”

“I was… I was trying to make it to the Resort Block, si? Then I,” Danni stalled, feeling the woman’s eyes upon her. Panic was now fully setting in as yet more comments seemed to add themselves together rather perfectly, drawing realisation to the Comet Human. A blue ball of fire had crashed into a wagon, then into a person, which had resulted in a series of catastrophic events that had all but demolished this stretch of town? Well, whose fault could that have been?

“Lieutenant Gizem! Everyone’s reports are in,” said another Marine as he jogged up with a notepad in hand, drawing the now named woman’s attention off of her. “Everyone seems to be saying a blue fireball crashed into something, then a person with dark pink hair went on a rampage,” the Petty Officer explained, though the look in his face spoke of an immense skepticism.

^{“Then they are in cahoots,” Miss Rubik nodded:
“That or they are in fact one… and the same…?”}

---

Halley Danica (00CCCC)
Rubik Gizem (568203)
Seaman First Class Delaney (eeeeee)
Petty Officer Jackson (bbbbbb)
Seaman Apprentice Arkwright (888888)

[Shinku]

Run run run run run run run... his instincts screamed as the woman in charge set her penetrating eyes on him and asked for his statement.
„No, don't try to flee.“ his caution warned him. „You'll look guilty if you run away and you have no reason to feel guilty, you haven't done anything.“
But reasoning like that did little to ease his bad feeling and Rince managed only barely to control the flight response that had been building up inside him.
Considering that he had been like.. kind of ... involved... in part of the damage, or rather, in a lot of the damage, his nervousness might not even be that misplaced.
It wasn't his fault, he hadn't chosen to be catapulted around like that, but whether the Marines would believe that or not was a different question.

„I didn't see much. Something approached rather quickly and I thought it would hit my friend here,“ he pointed at the haggis who was sitting on his shoulder, „but it hit me instead and send me flying. After that I don't remember much.“ he said, nervously tugging at the remains of his grey pullover.
That seemed like a save statement. It was true and it would explain his injuries without going into too much detail that linked him with the chaos.
And yet it sounded rather weak considering the destruction around them and Rince didn't really believe it would work well to make him seem any less suspicious.
There were already voices rising up who spoke of a pink haired person as the culprit of the commotion and no matter how much Rince looked around, there wasn't anyone else with pink hair to be seen. Not like he had really believed there would be. There was just no way he would be so lucky.
But the Marines had already surrounded the area, even for someone fast as himself it would not be easy to get out, now that the collected statements were clearly incriminating him.

Bruce chose that moment to jump from his shoulder and chip in with his own version of the incidence. The haggis chirped and waved its paws, moving its body back and forth in a passionate retelling of how it had tried to stop the menacing threat from destroying the town by standing in its way. At which point the haggis remembered that Rince had thrown his sword at him and decided to be angry with his food-provider.
„ICKK!!! KEECHCHHII!!“ he complained and gave Rince a painful bite in the big toe, making the teenager jump up yelping and retreat back to prevent further bites. Dark red blood dripped from the wound, a sign that the haggis was really angry and not just annoyed. Normally the animal just used painful bites but didn't bite hard enough to break trough skin.
The teenager also realised that he had lost his shoe somewhere. And that he hadn't retrieved his sword yet. Both could be serious trouble, especially if he had lost his shoe in one of the destructed shops.

If the Marines had already set their eyes on him before, his involuntary cry of pain had attracted attention from others as well.
„You! You're the thief! I know it for sure! I wouldn't have been able to work so many years as a jeweller if I didn't have good eyes for detail, I know it's you who crashed through my store and stole some of my most valuable gems! How dare you!“
The guy, dressed in a dark green suit with a white bow tie, passed the Marine Lieutenant without paying any attention to her or her subordinate and took a swing at the supposed thief.
The teenager reacted instinctively, stepped aside and grabbed the jeweler's wrist with one hand and his elbow with the other, then twisted the joint and pulled man to the ground in a swift rotary motion.
„Stop bothering me!“ he growled at the man, before realising that he was holding down a citizen in front of the local law enforcement. Hurriedly he let the man go and held up his hands in an appeasing gesture.
„He's the one who attacked me.“ he mumbled, though he didn't manage to look into the officer's eyes.

[Vio]

^{Danica #6 — Gizem #5}

---

Neither explanation was particularly useful to Rubik Gizem’s investigation, that was for sure, but the Petty Officer's analysis of statements was trusted. Besides that and the curiosity that was a little ball of fur, the LT had only one real fact to go off, and it just so happened that the only one with hair of a remotely pink shade in the vicinity was none other than the apparent owner of said ball of fur. Suspect. Perhaps to make matters worse, one of those affected by the damages barged into the fray to cause a scene of his own.

Both Gizem and Danica watched in surprise as a jeweller took an aggressive swing at the young man, only to wind up flat on the ground in a single, fluid motion. An accusation of thievery seemed strangely misplaced given the wanton destruction of their surroundings, though at least to Miss Halley it was sensible to think that more than a few small gemstones could easily have been scattered amongst the sparkling glass debris.

“That may be so,” Lieutenant Gizem replied as the battered, bruised, and now bitten boy claimed his act of self-defence, “but I am still considering you primary suspect in this incident.” She stepped forwards, a more severe look upon her face. “Multiple witnesses verify that a person with dark pink hair came out of a blue fireball and proceeded to cause numerous damages to the town — plus an apparent act of thievery? What do you have to say for yourself?”

^{“W— Wait? Blue fireball?”}

^{“Yes,” the LT answered:
“A blue fireball!”}

^{“O— Oh! So it was you I crashed into!”}

Gizem stared at the girl with snowy ponytails. Danica nervously stared back at the woman with blonde, green-tinted bangs. The latter’s heart quickly accelerated again, adrenaline pumping as she realised the implications of her outcry. Fireball wasn’t quite right, but she wasn’t about to try and explain the gift her fallen star had granted her to a woman who clearly was looking to arrest them. Even as the Comet Girl processed it, everything seemed to add up a little too perfectly.

^{“So,” Miss Rubik pointed:
“You are his accomplice!”}

“Um! Uh— Oh! I…! I can explain! I… I’ve gotta run!” Danni wasted no more time. Nerves getting the better of her, the girl decided on instinct that it was time to turn tail and run. Off she went, but not before reaching out to try and grab the hand of the proclaimed partner in crime with her own chilled fingers. For some unearthly reason it seemed the right thing to do at the time, and it was fortunate for her that the majority of Marines weren’t so quick to respond to her attempt at an escape…

---

Halley Danica (00CCCC)
Rubik Gizem (568203)
Seaman First Class Delaney (eeeeee)
Petty Officer Jackson (bbbbbb)
Seaman Apprentice Arkwright (888888)

[Shinku]

The teenager couldn't help himself and let out an annoyed groan when he heard himself be described as a suspect. And not just any suspect but the primary one. What had he done to deserve this?
The Marine woman stepped forward and although she was about an inch shorter than Rince, she seemed intimidating. The way she radiated self-confidence and authority made her seem much taller than she actually was. Him standing a little crouched and with his head down was not helping it either.

He had better come up with a good explanation, before the woman consolidated her conviction. Maybe he should empty his pockets to show that he hadn't stolen anything, but then again he wasn't a hundred per cent sure that he had gotten rid of all the jeweles that had sneaked into his pockets.
Doing that might backfire big time.
Something else, there had to be something else he could do or say to assure his innocence...
But before he could say anything, the perky girl who had so incistently wanted to know if he was all right, spoke up.

“O— Oh! So it was you I crashed into!”

Crashed into?
Rince stared at the little girl in disbelieve, though she did not notice as she was looking at the Marine officer. This stupid little girl that he had thought was unimportant was actually the reason for this whole shemozzle! If the Marines hadn't been around, he would have grabbed her by her shirt and given her some head butt here and there. Angry at how she was messing up all his plans and endangered his life, he grinded his teeth, but did nothing.
At least that would clear him out of the suspicion as twin ponytail had now confessed to the crime.

„So, you are his accomplice!“

Yeah, sure. Of course it wouldn't be that easy. Life never was.
He wanted to protest. Explain that he was clearly a victim, not an accomplice, but twintail grabbed his hand and dragged him with her.
„Huch?“
The teenage boy had no choice but to run along or lose his footing and even so he was stumbeling along more than actually running with her.
„Wait-!“
Keeping up with her became harder and harder. Shouts from the Marines were getting faint, though Rince could have sworn that he felt a bullet pass him by a hair's breadth. The world started to become blurry and a luminous field appeared around them. Now he completely lost the conntact to the ground and was flying like a flag in the wind as the twintail dragged him along.

Did it take a long time or had it just seemed that way because of the crazyness of their escape? But suddenly they came to a stop. Or to be more precise, the twintail girl let go of his hand and momentum carried him forward. The cobblestones did their best to stop him though and after a few meteres he stopped moving.

„ ... “

His fingers twitched as he laid head-down on the ground, feeling scrapped all over and miserable. It didn't take long for Self-pity to be joined by Anger though. And this time it was really serious.
What had he done to the girl? Wasn't that their first meeting?!
He jerked up- and regretted it immediately as pain flashed through his body, but he was too angry to care. Fist clenched and showing his teeth, he confronted the girl about her behaviour.

„Wh-wh-what t-t-t-the he-he-hell we're y-y-you t-t-t-thin-king! Wh-why di-did y-you dra-a-ag me a-a-long?!“

Only now did he noticed that he was freezing. His teeth were chattering and he wasn't sure why. They were in North Blue, sure, but Jreum Island's weather wasn't that bad and today had been a decently warm day too. But now he couldn't help but hug himself for warmth.

„Aand why a-am I s-s-so co-co-cold?“

---

Bruce was impressed. The haggis had a lot of experience with cowardly two-legs, but not even his food-provider could run away so fast. Not was his boy so sparkling.
Pondering the animal rubbed its snout, considering what it could do, now that his human had left him behind.
Incidentally he was starting to get hungry, but there was no food lying around. So he did what he always did and just asked the closest two-legs to provide.

„Pii pii.“ he chirped at the transforming woman, which roughly translated as „feed me“. All while looking at her with big expressive eyes.

[Vio]

^{Danica #7 — Gizem #6}

---

Danica ran. She ran as fast as she could. And her desire to get away from the scene only further manifested itself in a veil of sparkling blue vapours as she raced across town. An initial pursuit by the Marines would have been a close call, had it not been for her ability kicking in — an acceleration that no average person could hope to catch up to. All the while her thoughts raced, until eventually she slowed her footing, losing her grip upon the man’s hand as she gradually decelerated.

The luminosity vanished, dispersing, with only small wisps of gas and dust still pouring from her body like steam from a freshly boiled kettle. In just minutes, the two had cleared an entire block’s worth of distance, now closer to the Residential Block’s connecting bridge than the Resort Block’s. Her passenger on this celestial ride, however, was none too happy about it.

“Uh!” Danni froze on the spot, awkwardly with palms raised as if to shield herself. The look on her face screamed of shock — eyes wide and mouth agape. “I— I— I just panicked! I’m so, so sorry, ja? I didn’t know what to do, si? We were in trouble, oui? And that lady was scary, yo!” Linguistic pick-ups decided to randomly insert themselves wherever they could, already telling tales of the various places this girl had visited before Jreum. However, no amount of travel had prepared her for this…

^{—— SCENE OF THE CRIME ——}

“So she’s an Ability User,” Gizem noted, watching the glistering trail of blue left in the criminal duo’s wake. Her men had tried, yet failed to do anything to stop the escapees. That wasn’t their fault, however. In a sense, she was glad that none of them had tried to stand in their way. Another problem had now presented itself, however. They needed to act fast.

^{“Petty Officer Jackson!” Miss Rubik announced:
“You’re with me on this one.”}

^{“Yes, Lieutenant!”}

“The rest of you,” she turned to address the remaining seamen, “are to stay here and assist with clean up and area security. No civilians are to attempt to cross the bridge. Call in a structural support team. And—?” Something chirped. Gizem’s eyes looked about for a moment, and then down to the ground. A small animal, mostly fluff, sat on the ground and looked up to her with shining eyes. An eyebrow was raised.

“Hey, that’s a Haggis,” Jackson said.

^{“A Haggis…?”}

^{“Yeah,” the Petty Officer replied, knowingly:
“Delaney talked about them. He was from Pikt.”}

“What’s a Pikt Archipelago animal doing on Jreum? Unless,” the Enigma Woman’s eyes widened slightly. Perhaps this individual beast was evidence in living form? Perhaps, she considered, it was an associate of either the young man or young woman they now needed to pursue? Whether or not her hunch was right, there was a certain pull to this small, adorable entity that she could not really resist.

Luminous lines appeared across the LT’s body as she shattered into numerous pieces, revealing a floating, black dodecahedron where her heart would’ve been. Lowering itself down, the swarming blocks began to reform themselves around the core, against shaping herself into something distinctly blocky, yet canine. A black and white beast marked with numerous green lines that lowered its head to the Haggis.

^{“Get on,” she ordered, somehow:
“Both of you! Quickly!”}

^{—— ACROSS TOWN ——}

“I— I’m really sorry! Um…,” Miss Halley stammered, gathering her thoughts. “My name’s Danica,” she introduced herself, bowing slightly. She was calmer now, if only a tad, but that was enough for her to make a little more sense of the situation at hand. Her company’s last question, however, was one she was a little confused about.

^{“Oh! It was a gift from a fallen star,” Danni chirped:
“So now when I run, I’m like a shooting star!”}

---

Halley Danica (00CCCC)
Rubik Gizem (568203)
Seaman First Class Delaney (eeeeee)
Petty Officer Jackson (bbbbbb)
Seaman Apprentice Arkwright (888888)

[Shinku]

Watery blue eyes looking at him with shock, and fear? A mild stutter accenting her nervousness and hands raised in a defensive manner, it was simply too much for Rince.
Rage could only sustain itself for so long when face with some scared small girl that was simply too stupid to have thought things through.
If his anger had caused him to straighten up and adopt a looming posture, without it his energy was rapidly fading and the boy slumped down, hanging his head, shoulders sacking, body relaxing almost to the point of making him fall over and a big sigh escaping from his mouth, probably the biggest betrayer of his exhaustion.
He shot her a glance and had to wince a little. While he liked to keep people away with his scowl and gruff demeanour, it wasn't as if he enjoyed frightening them.
He new all too well how it felt to be scared, so it wasn't really something he wished on anyone else. And could he really be angry at her for fleeing the scene, when he himself had considered doing so himself?

„It's fine.“ he told her and then went ahead and even added a peace offering by actually introducing himself.
„I'm Kyou.“
It wasn't his real name of course. He never used that one and there was only about a handful of people who knew it. But then again he was really used to the name Kyou and now that he thought about it, it might have been a mistake to give it to the girl. Rince kind of liked the name, it had become a second identity, but with the mess he's gotten involved in, maybe he would have to change his alias again.

His pullover was in real tatters, so Rince pulled it off and started to look around for a place to trash it. The gray garment had not helped in keeping him less noticeable, but at least it had preserved the nicely bright pink hawaiian shirt underneath it. As he looked around he also took in the young woman's words, though it took him a moment to understand what she talked about.

„A... shooting star?“

What she used was clearly a Devil Fruit's power, so how had the girl come to that conclusion?
Then again, Rince mused, the fruits were far less common and known in the Blues. While most people in the Grand Line were aware of it, they were more often like myths in the Blues.
And if her powers were like that of a shooting star, then it would make sense for her to believe this.

„I don't expect you can grant wishes?“ he asked her, thinking about making wishes on a shooting star, though her powers had clearly shown to be of a different direction.

„Is that the bridge to the Residential Block over there?“ he squinted his eyes.
The Business Dock had the most shops of course, but there would be shops in the Residential Area as well, as people there would not always travel over to the Business Dock to do their shopping.
It wasn't where he had wanted to go, but now that the bridge to the Resort was smoking, it was probably his best choice.
„You should probably get a new set of clothes too.“ He advised the girl. Her clothes weren't in as bad shape as his, but the Marines had seen her, so maybe it was better for her to change as well.
Not like he especially cared about her, but the Marines seemed to think that they were accomplices. If it took them longer to catch the iridiecenced haired woman, then that might be better for him.

---

Bruce was fascinated! The female in front of him had not conjured up any food, but instead she had transformed from a two-leg into a four-leg. That was not a behaviour that two-legs were usually in a habit to do, so it was an interesting experience to see the reverse of what he had witnessed when the female had first arrived.
When she lowered her head and asked him to jump on, Bruce happily did so. Were they going to get some food or had they other plans? He didn't know, but he was perfectly fine with that. Whatever they were going to do, it seems to be fun!
Besides, his own food-provider had left with his own female, so he would have fun with someone else too!