Phantom menace

[Mr. Moon]

Alistair #16

The wannabe revolutionaries were too focused on the Devil Fruit and the fact, that one of them was about to eat it right there and then to notice bunny, that was hopping above their heads. However, they couldn´t miss a wounded girl, that stumbled out of the forest.

The scholar stopped with the fruit just a few centimeters away from his open mouth, when sister Aurora in her disguise wrapped her hand around that fruit.

“What? Who are you, what are you talking about? What Marine?”

The men asked visibly confused, with his remaining friends watching the scene in front of them with mouths open and eyes full of confusion.

"What the...is storm comming?"

The augmented docker cursed and looked up to the trees, his mechanical hands hissing as a small hatch opened on the palm of his right hand, revealing a short barrel of a gun hidden there.

“S*it something is moving there, we have to move!”

He growled, shooting two rounds where he saw movement.

---

Meanwhile, in the forest father, Custer pushed a cart filled with food for the small revolutionary cell, chatting with the women that were accompanying him on his journey. They were in good mood, obviously looking forward to a meeting with the members of the expedition. Apparently, the whole group was led by some young and handsome man who was the main reason why all of them volunteered, Alistair included because without him, it would take him much longer to learn about the hidden temple and its temporary inhabitants.

“We are almost there father, just few more minutes.”

One of them, a short, and petite-looking woman in her early twenties smiled at him, as they cleared a small hill.

“But I have to say, I am glad you are going with us. It always takes at least two of us to push it up here, but you don´t even look tired!”

The agent cursed himself for his carelessness. Focusing on the road in front of him, he completely forgets, that the training necessary for Rokushiki left him much stronger than the average person. Mistakes like that were things that usually blew up someone´s cover, but these women, fortunately, weren´t suspicious of him. At least not yet.

“To be able to serve our Lord as well possible, I am training not only my spirit but body as well. If you want, you can enjoy me tomorrow.”

Another woman, tall, brunet laughed.

“And you think our men would appreciate it?”

They suddenly paused as two gunshots resonated through the forest.

"What was that!?"

The woman asked on the verge of panic, as Alistair let go of the cart and ran off, towards to sound.

"Stay here!"

He yelled at the terrified women. This wasn´t looking good.

[Kami-Gaz]

With Pod moving around in a deviating pattern to disorientate the wannabe rebels it let Leiya get nice and close. Close enough to actually wrap her own body around the devil fruit in question. If push came to shuv she would eat it, just to deny it to this cell. Her acting was spot on though, combined with her water vapour and built-in light show to alter her appearance it was convincing enough to not make these people question her.

With the gunshots the secret agent used them to mask a high pitch whistle, a signal to Pod to stick to the general area he was in to keep making that rustling to make it seem like more were there. As she peeked to confirm that he was following that command. This wasn’t something she had thought through but in the heat of the moment was when she thought best.

“S-south….” She muttered pointing that way, it was a direction away from the village that was perfect for use to get herself in the clear. As she spoke that to distract her opponents in this mind game she weaved the mist around the hand that wasn’t being paid attention. She shifted the lights around it make it look like her hand was a rock and the rest of her arm had not moved as she then punched the man who held the fruit as hard as she could.

Once the fist connected, she brought her arm back to where it was and resumed the original illusion over it. The target practically tossed Leiya with the recoil with the fruit into the bushes to the side. That was perfect! With another whistle she signalled Pod to stop what he was doing and to follow her scent as she emitted water vapour and weaved an illusion around herself to blend in with the undergrowth more before slowly edging away with the fruit in hand.

[Mr. Moon]

Alistair #17

The poor wannabe revolutionaries didn´t know what hit them. In the case of the tall student-like guy quite literally.

Missing his shot, the augmented bodyguard cursed, pulling a short lever on the upper part of his arm to reload his gun, turning it in the direction Leiya showed them. He wasn´t alone. The remaining revolutionaries did the same, pulling out their own weapons, only to turn back in shock when their companion was hit by a powerful punch, that forced him three steps backwards.

“What the…what happened?!”

Yelled the girl in confusion.

“The fruit! That b*tch took the fruit!”

Screamed the student hiding his broken nose in hands.

“F**K GET HER SHE PLAYED US!”

The bodyguard cursed shooting blindly in the forest where he expected her to be. He wasn´t alone. The two remaining men were unloading their revolvers in the forest, before running towards the trees.

---

Meanwhile, Alistair was sprinting in the direction of the gunshots, cursing his own naivety. How could he expect that sending a trained assassin to gather information could end well? Now he could only hope that the whole mission won´t end in a huge fiasco. Not really bothered with breaking his undercover, he used his full speed, leaving the terrified women behind. Suddenly angry voices appeared in front of him, followed by several people running in his direction. Three men to be more specific. Two tall well-dressed gentlemen with gunsabres in their hands and one bulky docker with metal arms.

“Who the h*ll are you?!”

Asked one of the gentlemen angrily, raising his weapon in Alistairs direction.

“Soru!”

The agent was no assassin. And deep inside he had his doubts if he would be able to kill someone in cold blood as people like Leiya were doing, but when it came to self-defence, he had no quarrels with ending someone´s life.

Running pasts these three with blinding speed, he appeared just behind the gentleman, who raised his weapon against him, aiming at his backs with a single finger extended on an otherwise closed fist.

“Shigan!”

A swift piercing movement later the attacked revolutionary cried in pain, with a bullet-like wound on his back, while his two companions yelled in anger and confusion, trying to realize what just happened. The question was…where was Leiya?

[Kami-Gaz]

Leiya heard the gunshots and the footsteps getting further away as she crawled as best, she could, pod meeting up with her fairly quickly. When the rabbit arrived with her, she greeted it with a bright smile and a gentle petting on the head. “You did so well out there, I’m proud of you big man.” She spoke to help calm her best friend down as he nuzzled into her arms.

Then she heard the tell-tale signs of a fight not far away from her, which was peculiar because she thought she was the only person other than the wannabe revolutionaries out here. With a soft sigh she flicked her tongue and Pod shifted his shape and became a hybrid rabbit at and clung to her back with his little paws.

With some small stealthing she manoeuvred to witness Alistair killing the two he had come across with a liberal application of Shigan. That was not part of the plan… he had just actually ruined the plan that he didn’t know existed. Sighing through a wavering smile she disabled her lights and mist and poked her head out from the bush she was in.

“I… hadn’t killed anyone.” She spoke quietly before raising the devil fruit that was clutched to her chest up and into view. “I stole this before one of them ate it. Because you made me promise to not kill anyone I distracted, stole and sent them running away from the village on a wild goose chase.” The agent spoke, softly as she walked closer to the man, a soft smile gracing him as a calm air surrounded her. “Lets get away before the figure out my trick, ok?”

[Mr. Moon]

Alistair #18

The first enemy fell down with a small round hole in his back, either dead or incapacitated. It took the other two some time to realize what happened. The first one to come back to his senses was the augmented docker, who cursed and turned around, swinging his iron hand like a makeshift hammer, hitting nothing but empty air, as Alistair already moved away.

“Soru!”

Running circles around them with a blinding speed, he appeared again on the other gentleman´s left, sending fast and powerful kick in his direction.

“Rankyaku!”

A crescent blade of compressed air flew through the space, cutting deep inside that man´s body, before throwing him at his bulkier companion.

“Urgh!”

The two men crashed, the docker was knocked down to the ground by the flying body of his companion. Alistair definitely didn´t want to wait for him to recover and so sprinted towards him, kneeling down, while at the same time stabbing downwards with his extended finger.

“Shigan!”

The finger bullet found its target just as the man throw the body of his fallen comrade away, raising his hands to a defense, a second too late.

The agent was breathing heavily, his body still pumped with adrenaline. Not only did he ran the whole route here, but fight like this, he wasn´t used to risking his life on the front line. The only reason why he attacked these revolutionaries was the fact that with everything that happened in the past few minutes, there was a high probability that Leiya was either heavily injured, or dead, or…hidden in the bushes?!
Alistair´s jaw dropped as he realized, that sister Aurora was looking at him from behind nearby vegetation.

“You…that…”

He slowly realized how terrible a mistake he just did. Killing all the suspects? What was he thinking? There was no one left to further question their possible allies, plans, and accomplices. All to save a woman who clearly didn´t need saving at all.

Alistair growled in frustration, before turning his eyes back to Leiya.

“Wait figure out your trick? Who? There are more of them than these three?”

He asked hiding the glimpse of hope he felt.

[Kami-Gaz]

Her partner was flustered, he had just killed in cold blood for no reason in a fight or flight response in worry for her. It was quite cute but the fact it happened had still rattled him and he was under the impression that the mission was going to be a massive failure. They didn’t have the time for her to really calm him down… so it was her time to take charge.

“Let’s get back to the village, call up HQ and tell them we made contact with the enemy via unavoidable circumstances, we secured a devil fruit and need immediate extraction. There are at least 2 left.” Leiya explained as she came to stand by the man and lifted pod up high who then turned into his sunhat form to sit on her head. Her face bore that same smile a mother would when a kids done something wrong but was being taught how to avoid it in future.

“The others will wise up soon and start to give chase… So, I am going to lay some traps and follow behind you. Take the fruit and make sure all the civilians are safe. I will try and keep what I can alive.” Leiya spoke, laying out a plan and shoving the fruit into his arms, tugging on his left arm to make the man turn and face the right direction to head home.

It was going to be her time to shine now and show how she could hold back in the killing department. “Trust me, I got this. Now get going. I will catch up.”

[Mr. Moon]

Alistair #19

The agent was silent for a moment, as he was trying to process what just happened until suddenly, his training clicked in again, pushing away any hints of doubt and uncertainty.

“Yes, good thinking. Be careful.”

He nodded, agreeing to her plan, before taking the strange-looking fruit. A strange thought crossed his mind when he took it. His agency had a rule, an agent that found some fruit during his mission was free to eat it. Should he…? No, better to hand it over to his superiors. His goal was calm retirement. With his luck, this thing would be some rare and strong devil fruit that would bound him to the CP – 1 even tighter. With this thought, he nodded to Leiya and started running back.

The fight happened so fast, that he found the women halfway between the place where he left them and the place of the skirmish. Seeing him running against them, with strange fruit in his arm, they paused for a moment, then abandoned their cart and started running as they overheard his screaming.

“Pirates! Pirates attacked the archaeologist! Quickly, we must return to the village and warn the others!”

The way back was much faster than the way there. Leaving the cart behind, the women from their village started running back, followed by Alistair, who was staying right behind them, adapting his speed to theirs. Once they arrived, he helped to spread the message through the village, to gather the children and hide them with their parents in their houses, before disappearing into their temporal home.

Using the pirates as an excuse was a good move. It forced the people to focus on their own fear and safety and not on the strange fruit he was carrying. Fruit, that Alistair hid in his luggage, before pulling out the Den Den Mushi to contact their HQ.

[Kami-Gaz]

With Alistair leaving Leiya set to work making her way back to the village along the same path at a slower pace. Setting basic snares and nonlethal traps that were designed to hinder anyone approaching the village. If after this entire fiasco was over villagers wandered up the path and got caught in one, they were not going to get hurt beyond a slight bruising… that much Leiya was sure of. But for now, it was to stop the group of Revolutionaries coming at the village in any sort of organised force.

It was not a long time before the agent returned to the outskirts of the village, she weaved a light around her in the mist she produced and snuck back into the house where she resumed the role of Sister Aurora. It had been a lot of work and some hours of exertion but now she was back and panting after a few hours. She hadn’t seen a single person in the entire time… that was good for now but could be meaning trouble later if the criminals turned their frustrations on the innocent people of the village.

“Father, I am back…” She spoke softly as she headed up into her room to change. The gear she was wearing would instantly make her suspicious to the villagers. In a quick flurry her mission hear was doffed, kicked into a bag and slid under a bed before a white sundress was slipped over her form to rest on her and look comfy.

As she came out she looked more content. “What excuse for me not being there did you give?” She asked calmly, wanting to know if she needed to feign any symptoms of illness. “I don’t think we have anything to worry about immediately by the way” She added to help put the man at ease, potentially a few days to ensure the village was safe and they should be good.

[Mr. Moon]

Alistair #20

The report he gave to his superiors was short and brief. He quickly briefed them on the way he and Leiya settled in the village, before explaining the situation they got themselves into. Of course, he didn´t go into unnecessary details, like that he killed three suspects because of his mistrust of his own partner, but he mentioned that there were revolutionaries digging up some old tomb, that there was an unknown number of hostile targets, and that he was forced to clash with three of them and kill them to protect his identity. What he didn´t mention was, that they actually acquired the Devil Fruit they were after. Why he didn´t know himself. Was he really thinking about eating that thing?

Before he could answer to this internal question, Leiya returned from her mission.

“Great job.”

He nodded and he meant it.

“Nothing much, you were feeling unwell, so you stayed in a bed today. I didn´t give them any details, simply because no one asked.”

He paused for a moment, looking out of the window, but the village was still empty.

“I send everyone home, claiming that pirates attacked these archaeologists, and everyone is in danger. As for our mission, the HQ just send the Strike team in. They should arrive in under an hour and clear the forest from everything that will resemble an enemy, so during that time, we should keep the villagers out of it.”

Alistair paused again, allowing himself a gentle smile.

“And far as we are concerned according to the HQ, we should enjoy another two days of vacation here, and then they´ll extract us and replace us with an actual priest. So, guess you still get out of here in time for your date.”

He looked at the bag, where the stolen fruit was stored, shaking his head gently. No…he should really turn it in, to his superiors. Things like Devil Fruits and epic battles with the enemies of World Government weren´t for him.

[Kami-Gaz]

So, he didn’t get too specific, that was good. She was going to be free to use whatever crap she wanted. A smile came to Leiya’s face after the news and rundown given by Alistair, he was so considerate of her and her planned date. She walked up to the man and gave him a hug as best she could with her little arms before hopping up to give the man a peck on the cheek as a thank you.

“You’re a sweetie you know, I bet your partner is very happy with you when you are around them.” The assassin spoke before letting go of the hug and stepping back a little to catch Pod as he leapt at Alistair in a defensive territorial way. The little Rabbit was chirping and squeaking aggressively for a second before the woman scratched him behind the ear. “Shh, pod he is not a target.” She spoke softly before looking down to the hastily stashed fruit in its bag.

“He’s trained to try and kill whoever I kiss on the cheek.” She spoke rocking the murderous bunny in her arms. He seemed to be calming down now as the swaying motions put him at ease. The agent let out a nice soft sigh and looked out of the window again. “You know, I don’t want that fruit but if you eat it. I won’t complain. Abyssal Carnival operates on a finder’s keepers rule set.” She explained, knocking the bagged fruit with her foot. “Better someone who can keep themselves alive and with training than some newbie that will get cocky and killed.” She spoke reminiscing of her sister in training, Mei-Lee. How that butcher survived she did not know.

Without waiting for the man to say a word back she headed to the door. “I’ll take two days playing nun before heading home. Thank you for showing me how nice missions should go.”