Ambitious Marine

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #1

After leaving the Shell Island, Gabriel and his crew made their way to towards the Dawn Island, following the only lead he had about the current location of Python´s killer. And while he was really trying to be honest with Danielle as much as possible, he didn´t want to pull her into the world of darkness that was his everyday reality and so he just told her, that before they can go and sell her paintings, he needs to make another stop to take care about some personal matters.

As for the travel alone, both Gabriel and Namkhai took it upon themselves to show Danielle the beauty of the martial arts. Both men were taking their teaching roles very seriously although each focusing on a different aspect, with Gabriel putting more emphasis on technique, while Namkhai´s lessons were much more physical in their nature. The remaining members of their fellowship were also practicing their arts but were less active in Danielle´s training and instead were helping Sigrid to get rid of all the Marine´s markings and locators on her newly stolen ship.

As they were rather peculiar company, the Professor decided that they will avoid the main city and instead anchors in one of the many smaller coastal villages to avoid unnecessary attention of the Marines. Still, they caused some uproar as for everyone in the village Sigrid was the first giant they saw in their entire lives. They calmed down a bit when she proved to be friendly but still Gabriel decided that the only ones who will go into the village will be him, Danielle, Namkhai and Beast, leaving Sigrid, Hariyama and Niko behind to guard their ships.

Their first stop was the local restaurant, small inn mainly for the local people that served bellow the average beer (according to the Namkhai), together with local specialities in the form of various marine life served with rice, potatoes or salad.

[Shisha]

She couldn't quite believe her luck, or possible bad luck. Sukkari marveled as she pressed her face up against the cold glass of a shop window, in front of her was a bran new, fresh album of Soul King. Although it for all accounts was defiantly not new, since the cover was tattered and worn and stained to boot, she didn't much care or notice. Almost drooling as she pressed her nose up against the window. The owner of the shop popped his head out of the door, seemingly not as happy about having her face plastered against the clean glass. It was as she placed a hand on the back of her head and gave a look of Apology at him that her eyes widened. Froze and stared like an eagle at something in the background.

In a flash she hid behind the side of the building, back to the wall, that feeling of bad or good luck returning, hitting her like a brick wall. She fished out a collection of posters from her marine issued coat, flipping through them until she settled on one. Looking back around, swapping from the persons walking around oblivious to the young marine, then back to the poster. A few more times for good measure before nodding to herself.

"That's them...gotta be... right?"

As the "Persons" continued on their way, Sukkari started to follow. At times comically tiptoeing after them at what she thought was a safe distance. Doing her best to act Sneaky. Hiding in the shadows like a ninja, peeking around corners. Eventually she decided to stay up high, using her Ito no mi abilities to walk along the buildings overlooking the group. Still tiptoeing high up above them.

"Namkhai... Wanted along w...I know you from somewhere." She stopped dead on the side of a building, or as dead as she could, slowly dragging her feet, almost moonwalking but forwards as she pondered to herself. "...Thats the guy who beat up ol' Cottee. I think?  Arrrgh Suke just go find out already! Stop being so careful, You can do this!" 

"I CAN DO THIS!". She froze, arms up triumphantly either side of herself, catching herself making a stupid mistake. In a panic she dove through an open window, ducking behind the wall inside the house hoping she wasn't noticed. Despite the Loud, audible Scream she'd made. Inside the man eating his lunch just watched, shrugged and carried on.

[Bobbie]

The journey off Shell Island was far longer than Danielle was ready for - at least, it felt very long, as the days all blended into one another and she quickly lost track. If not for the paintings that were securely stored aboard, she might have even considered diving into the ocean and swimming to the nearest bank, as her time to collect riches was limited. As the time went by, Danielle had been repeatedly urged to do some sort of training, and she was resistant to the idea at first, but then figured that perhaps she should make better use of the fact that skilled martial artists were on the ship all around her, offering free lessons.

Gabriel was clearly more skilled in fighting than he originally revealed, being able to demonstrate and explain so many techniques, and most importantly she knew that she would be safe in his hands; Namkhai, perhaps less so, but he was a renown wrestler and as far as she knew, he even had an entire fan base - even if that only included her former swordmaster sensei, Mr Barbossa. Although she anticipated training with these two would be a tough ride, she was not ready for the the limits that her body was pushed to, particularly by Namkhai’s manoeuvres of grabs and throws that she had to fight off or endure, his own being far too much for her squirm out from under. By the end of it, the poor woman of slender frame felt her body was falling to pieces, lacking the muscle power to effectively keep up. Thankfully, the professor was skilled in acupuncture - he promised her this was the case and displayed something of it on her ankle back on Shell Island - so she accepted an offer for him to ease her pain a second time only after she couldn't take it anymore. Little did she know he would be using far more needles than the last time, which sent the treasure huntress into another fit of panic half way through the session.

After this, Danielle refused to show her face for the rest of the trip.

It wasn’t until they docked soon after that she did emerge. Originally, her plan was to stay on the ship and wait for them there along with Sigrid, Hariyama, Niko, and Beast, but when she found out that the fluffy malamute would not be staying on the ship, she changed her mind and decided to go with them instead.

A mixture of embarrassment, frustration, and annoyance at the delay in her plans to get rich, she paid most attention to Beast as she sulked and walked with her companions, a hand almost permanently on the large dog’s back, giving constant scratches and love.

While she walked, trying to keep Beast between herself and the two men with her, she looked around quite frequently. This was foreign land to her and her eyepatch limited her field of vision quite a lot, so that meant her head would have to turn around a bit more than the average person’s if she wanted to take in the same amount of information from her surroundings. Several times, her gaze would sweep over the general area where Sukkari had been, but the wall-crawler was… sneaky… and Danielle missed her by a close second each time she looked.

This was also the case when they stood outside the little inn that served some decent food and below-average beer, according to Namkhai, though Danielle doubted his word could be trusted on something as delicate as beer-tasting, and a loud scream could be heard from somewhere behind them. Danielle frowned and turned to look in the direction where Sukkari had been when she had her proud moment that led to her outburst, but again, Danielle’s gaze was too late.

Shaking her head, she dismissed what she heard as some random stranger that may have also been walking by, or perhaps in a nearby establishment. Did it even come from behind them at all? Perhaps it was somebody inside the local restaurant.

“You’re paying for our meals, right?” She asked, turning to Gabriel once more, “I didn’t bring any cash with me.” As the words rolled off her tongue, she thought about the amulet that she currently wore, concealed underneath her t-shirt and guarded by her leather jacket. It was technically not a lie, it was gold, not ‘cash’… While she had no intention on spending her own money frivolously, however, it was not her intention to take advantage of Gabriel... he was one heck of a creep, but he was also very generous to her.

---

Danielle: #fffd17

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #2

As they were about to enter the restaurant someone in the village shouted very loudly “I CAN DO THIS!” a woman judging by the voice. Gabriel paused, hand on the door knob, turning around just a second too late to see who caused such ruckus.

“What was that?”

He asked, but the only answer he got was Namkhai shrugging his shoulders, Danielle´s confused look and Beast´s playful.

“Woof!”

The Professor was looking back for another few seconds, trying to locate the source of the disturbance, only for Danielle to ask whatever he´ll pay for her food.

“Yes, I…”

He started, but Namkhai interrupted him.

“Don´t worry master, I´ll pay for her. I think I owe her for all the beating she got from me on the ship anyway.”

He grinned as they entered the inn, earning a cautious looks for the local patrons. Truth to be told, although they left the visually most threatening members of their little fellowship behind, they were everything but ordinary.

“Hey, I don´t allow dogs here…”

Elderly heavyset man with a thick mane of greyish hair raised his voice from behind the bar counter but fell silent when Gabriel gave him one of his angry looks.

“Did you say something?”

That poor man´s hands started shaking so hard, that he spilled the beer he was just pouring.

“N…no sir, nothing.”

He whispered. Gabriel was watching him angrily for few more seconds, before nodding.

“Very well, we would like to eat.”

He found them a table in a distant part of the room, with a good view on the entrance door, before sitting down, with Beast taking a seat on the floor right next to him.

It took some time, but in the end a waitress, from the look of it, daughter of that rude fellow approached their table. Tall and slender, she had waist length dark hair braided into thick braid and pretty face, that welcomed them with a careful smile.

“I…apologize for my father´s behaviour, he is quite old fashioned. Would you like anything to drink?”

She asked, while putting their menu on the table.

“Water, large glass for me and bowl for Beast.”

Gabriel answered almost immediately followed by Namkhai.

“Beer, double-pint.”

[Shisha]

After thanking the man who's home she'd invaded abruptly, Sukkari dusted herself off, took a moment to calm herself before slamming her right foot down on the floor in some kind of self motivating motion, convincing herself she could do this. The man however looked horrified as his floor splintered and buckled under the stamp but after a moment, just waved it off with his hand, going back to finishing his meal. Sukkari herself emerged from the dwelling and pulled out a den den from the depths of her coat, or would have, had she not left it behind. Instead fumbling for it. Annoyed, she instead began to walk dramatically towards the front door of the little building the group had entered. Soon at the door, hand on the knob ready to turn it. She gulped once, blinked, straightened up her attire and once again, nodded to herself.


The door swung open dramatically and loudly, hitting the frame before swinging back to bounce off her foot that had punted it open. In her mind she entered with an air of intensity and all around swagger, but in reality she'd just needlessly kicked a door open, forcing everyone inside to either look at her, or try their best to ignore her. She Lifted her head, looked around the room slowly before settling her gaze on Gabriel and Namkhai. Pulling a poster out from her coat as it waved behind her in the door frame.


"Namkhai!... You are Wanted by the World Government, I'm Here to bring you into custody..."


She then pointed at Gabriel with a stern (or as much as she could muster) face.


"..And you too "Gabriel". Cottee wouldn't stop moaning about what you did! He was SO Annoying! He just went on and on without end, I swear if he kept going I would have put my b..."


All the scene needed was a tumbleweed to blow on through. Internally she was horrified at herself for how awkward that was, but outwardly she kept a stern face. Or a semi stern one, a bead of sweat rolling down her face. But again she shook it off and pulled out a pair of cuffs, throwing them onto the table they sat at.


"P...Put those on, save me the trouble of forcing you.."

[Bobbie]

Danielle shook her head lightly as they all seemed to equally dismiss whatever it was that they heard behind them. There was no obviously visible threat to them anyway, and what could go wrong inside a populated restaurant anyway?

Hearing Namkhai’s words brought a twitch to Danielle’s eye as she suddenly wished that perhaps something could happen after all, something that would get rid of this obnoxious man from her company. Crossing her arms, she glared at him while he grinned, and she walked in after them, “You don’t owe me a thing and don’t flatter yourself. It was nothing that couldn’t be… fixed…” she mumbled, silently hoping that Gabriel hadn’t told anyone about her outburst or her fear of needles in general. Her cheeks warmed slightly but she looked away with a frown to try to hide that fact.

Thankfully, Gabriel was distracted, dealing with the unwelcoming response toward Beast entering the restaurant, which the blonde, boyishly dressed woman, also didn’t take kindly to. Her frown was redirected toward the elderly man, then she glanced at Gabriel to see the look that he gave the man that made him stutter and fumble. There it was again… the professor’s scary side.

Deciding not to get involved, she moved on with her companions to sit at the table Gabriel had picked, and she sat in the seat next to his so that she could be close to Beast, who quickly stole all of her attention once more.

Her gaze then drifted to the waitress who apologised on behalf of her father. “Carbonated water, please.”

They had barely made their orders for drinks, before the door suddenly burst open and a woman with pink hair stood in the now open doorway announcing the names of the two men Danielle was seated at the table with.

Having not been called out herself, she just sat there for a moment, watching Gabriel and Namkhai for their reactions. If this woman was here on official Government business, than this could mean trouble… Danielle saw what Gabriel had done to Mr Gatling’s guards, and while she didn’t actually see what he had done to Captain Cottee, whatever he did rattled the female captain to her core and brought out quite the rage in her as they were leaving port. Now if this pink-haired marine was a friend or colleague, this could be just as bad, or even worse.

As the handcuffs were thrown onto the table, they slid across toward Danielle and she raised her brow, staring at them, and then glanced at Namkhai, and finally back at the woman. The awkwardness, the rambunctiousness, the stutter… is she a new recruit or something?

With a sigh, she looked at Gabriel, “We haven’t made any real orders yet, can we leave?” raising her hands onto the table, she pushed the handcuffs aside, out from under her nose and in front of Namkhai instead.

---

Danielle: #fffd17

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #3

From the look of it, Namkhai had a sarcastic response ready for Danielle, however before he could say a word the door leading to the inn opened, or rather someone kicked them open, earning the wrathful look from the owner, that quickly became fearful one, when the someone revealed herself as a Marine, Seaman Recruit, according to the ranking on the uniform. She immediately pulled out a wanted poster, calling Namkhai and Gabriel out.

They both turned around, while the inn shivered in fear. While he didn´t have the highest bounty in the Blue, the name Namkhai Monkhbat wasn´t unknown in these parts, mainly because of his violent reputation, especially towards the Marines.

Now the renowned Titan of Bokh looked at the one who dared to challenge him and started laughing.

“You sure you want to try this girl?”

He asked after finally calming down a bit.

“Just you? With no back-ups?”

He got up on his feet, all muscles moving in harmony like if he was a tiger getting ready for a jump.

“Namkhai…”

Gabriel´s silent, chilling voice froze him on place.

“Don´t threaten her please, don´t you see how terrified she is?”

While Sukkari´s poker face could fool anyone else, Gabriel´s almost supernaturally keen eyes noticed these droplets of sweat that were running down her face and the tensed muscles around her neck.

“Apologies Master.”

The heavily muscular wrestler bowed his head and stepped aside.

“Still, he is right.”

Gabriel said, while remaining seated.

“You wouldn´t be able to arrest Namkhai, let alone us both, so why don´t you just pretend you didn´t see us? I don´t really fancy hurting cute puppies like you so if you walk away now, I´ll let you go. Here, just take these handcuffs and…”

Gabriel turned to the table, only to notice, that the two pieces of sturdy steel were already gone.

“Where…Beast!”

He snapped at the large malamute, who snatched them from the table and now was chewing on them as if they were here squeaky toy.

“Bad dog! Go and return them!”

The oversized ball of fur looked at her master with a puppy eyes, before getting up on her feet, slowly walking towards the Marine. With her height of over 180 cm on all four, she resembled a small bear rather than a regular dog.

“Woooo.”

She whined, head down, as she dropped what remained from the handcuffs. Two small balls of chewed metal.

Gabriel sighed.

“I am sorry for her, she is still a puppy and I suspect that she is teething because she chews on  everything these days.”

Beast wooed again, before slowly returning, this time heading towards Danielle as she wasn´t angry at her.

“Look, I don´t know how it works with the marines, but if you would have a big problem from getting these destroyed, I can pay for them…or, can I invite you on a lunch as an apology?”

This sudden change of attitude earned him more than just one raised eyebrow.

[Shisha]

"Well, that could have gone better. Suke, you Dummy"

Her confident and serious pose became slumped, a feeling of regret and embarrassment flooding the poor rookie. Watching as the large dog who, she would normally be giving rubs on its belly with a happy giggling smile, chewed on the cuffs she had thrown in that display of toughness. A hand on her face dragging down over it she still smiled at the dog chewing them. But instead of crying or just plain giving up, she let out a large sigh. Rubbing the back of her neck as she dragged a stool over with her foot, moving it around before planting herself down on it.

"Was it that Obvious? I mean... I did say my rank didn't I. Truth is I know I don't stand a chance here, I mean the numbers alone. Plus that big...BIG dog there... Cute as she is."

She waved at it happily, but kept her distance, slightly laughing at the dog who'd made short work of those metal cuffs. Then relaxed just a little bit, crossing her leg over the other, hands on the stool on either side for support.

"Oh don't worry about those, he can keep them. But I still HAVE to try and bring you two in..."

For a few moments she just looked up at the ceiling, Eventually standing herself back up and walking up the the counter, pointing over at a bottle on the back shelf behind the poor shaking server. She noticed this and just smiled, trying her best to defuse the situation that would, certainly get much much worse, probably very soon. Taking the drink from him she turned around, leaning against the bar, an elbow on it with one hand on the drink. Smiling happily at the group.

"She hates you by the way Gabriel, Cottee I mean. A lot. Really left an impression on her. But I don't even know what YOU did to get a bounty. I'm supposed to just be waiting here for the rest of them....you know?"

Taking a long sip of her drink, she pointed at the actual target of interest, Namkhai. She knew nothing of him, what she'd done, her style of fighting, not to mention what possible devils fruit out of the seemingly Endless amount of them out there. "I remember when they were RARE..".

"Namkhai. I think I could take him, we both know nothing of one another, even playing field. At least once I finish this drink that is, never waste food that's what I say"

[Bobbie]

As Beast returned to Danielle’s side, the treasure huntress was more than happy to welcome the most precious reward from all of her adventures thus far, her fingers instantly running through the malamute’s beautiful fur. “Don’t listen to him, you’re not a bad dog.” She spoke softly to the dog, though her voice remained deceptively deep for a woman's, nose to nose with the large animal for a moment. Then she shifted her attention back to the intruder while her hands remained on Beast.

It really did seem that the problem here was between this rookie marine and the two men sitting at the table, so she couldn’t help but wonder if this could be her ticket out of here while they were left to deal with whatever was about to unfold here. However, it would be quite tricky to get to the ship, gather all the paintings, and either get Hariyama, Niko, and Sigrid to set sail with her and leave these two behind, or for her to board a different ship with a huge pack of obviously stolen goods.

The greatest pity in that plan was the fact that this seemed like a very rare opportunity and it had a lot of potential, judging by the look in Gabriel’s eyes. Yes, it seemed that he found a new puppy to focus all his attention on, perhaps slipping away wouldn’t be impossible... As he foolishly invited her to lunch, despite the heavy frown on her face, Danielle did not spit out any major objections, as this meant having a new potential victim to take her place in Gabriel's clutches and offer an opening for her to escape. The biggest problem was that this woman was a marine… as confirmed by her recent statement, there would be more coming that she was simply here to wait for.

Then she addressed Namkhai once more. As much as she would have loved to leave Namkhai behind to deal with this problem while ridding herself of the annoying man, she knew Gabriel wouldn’t accept that. In any case, this was all wasted time.

Her eye twitched in irritation, “Professor, she may as well be stalling - if more marines are on the way, and she already said they are, we need to leave.” She tried her very best to speak in a tone that was quiet and not hostile, but she has not been having much success with the latter recently. “If her marine friends get here and we’re all arrested, we could lost that potential buyer. We’re already delaying the meet-up for this… whatever this is! We need to move, take her with us if you’d like, I don’t care - but we can’t be here when a whole squad of marines show up!” Her hands left the massive fluffball that was Beast to rest on the table as her voice had become a bit of a hiss in her attempt to keep the volume down despite her frustration  seeping through her teeth.

“Have Namkhai carry her, he seems to enjoy doing that.”

---

Danielle: #fffd17

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #4

Beast licked Danielle´s face in silent thank you, before she sat down and let the woman to pet her while looking demonstratively at Gabriel, as if she was trying to show him how he is supposed to treat lady like her. The Professor smiled in response to her silly behaviour, before focusing back to the young recruit who seemingly fell into melancholic mood.

“You shouldn´t drink that on duty you know? It can get you into lots of troubles.”

His tone switched from kind to a stern one he was using to reprimand his students when they were breaking the rules.

“It´s Professor Moon…”

He sighed slightly annoyed by her behaviour. The Marine was cute no doubt about it, and she had some puppy qualities about herself as well, but her lack of manners was…disturbing.

“And I didn´t do anything to her.”

He continued with a tired voice.

“We just talked under the stars, she asked me to stay, but I had to go, so I kissed her goodbye and left.”

Namkhai who was the only one from Gabriel´s students who asked him about what truly happened in front of the hotel chuckled before his smile turned into vicious grin.

“You mean my bounty kiddo? I got it for breaking limbs of nosy Marines.”

Although not entirely true, this was much closer to the truth than Gabriel´s story about him and captain Cottee, which he told without even realising what was his attempt to hide the fact he took her hostage implying to the others.

“And don´t even think about anything funny. When he fought, I almost kicked this old man´s a** until he pulled fast one on me and stabbed me through the chest.”

He moved the right side of his west to show a large scar right under his right pectoralis major. That was about the time when Danielle entered their conversation again, pointing out that the Marine could be stalling for time. The Professor frowned. His mind was so focused on the conflicting aspects of the woman in front of him, that he didn´t even realised something so obvious.

“Yes, you are probably right.”

He nodded in response to Danielle, before turning back to the marine recruit.

“Ehm…I am sorry miss, but would you mind being our hostage for few hours, day at maximum?”

Hearing that, the heavily muscular wrestler rolled his eyes.

“And what if I just broke her legs and carried Danielle?”

Obviously, someone didn´t want to stay behind in their taunting contest.

[Shisha]

In her head, she had grabbed the large man and lifted him high above herself, only to drive him into the ground like a stake. Flaming from her mouth and looming above his broken twitching body. In reality she just smiled at Namkhai innocently. They were right though, at least one of them anyway. In a sense she was stalling, not just them but herself. This was her first time running down a bounty by her lonesome, she was eager to prove what she could do, but wasn't dumb enough to fight the entire group at once. However she could fight one on one as it were. Sure that her training and amazing, if somewhat bland, powers could achieve victory.

"I'd prefer that you didn't?... I need these and i know a bunch of folks who'd be sad to see that happen...But!"

"You can do this Suke. Just kick his ass already. Big guy like that, must be slow. Right?"

She swiveled in her chair, turning to face the large looming man with a horrible attitude. Hands on her knees, leaning towards him while still on the seat.

"How about a duel, of sorts?. Me and You, one on one". A poke of her tongue at him to try and bait the encounter, banking on it taking a long, long time. Until the others arrived.

With that she stood up and placed the drink back on the counter, turning to thank the man for his service, cowering still behind the bar. As she turned back she walked up to and stopped near the apparent leader of the group, the professor as he liked to be addressed. This was her first actual time looking at him in detail, he seemed familiar somehow, reminding her of others she'd known. Reaching to the headphones hanging around her neck grasping both sides, lifting them up to her ears but not putting them on quite yet.

"Sweet way of asking that, but I have to say no. Besides there's only one exit to this place, I'll be outside when Namkhai's Ready". She smiled at both of them one last time, waved at the dog, then placed her headphones on her head properly.

Stepping outside she moved an acceptable distance from the front door, turning around to examine her environment. Nodding, taking notes of it all, mostly places for the use of her footwork. Taking a look out to sea, or what she could See of it at least before turning back around. Drawing a line in the ground below her with her foot as she turned. All the while flipping through her library of songs looking for something with a kick. Selecting just the right one she looked up at the door, in her head looking amazingly cool. Already moving her shoulders to the beat of the song.

"Take the Bait. Come on, take it"

[Bobbie]

Gabriel’s description of what happened with Captain Cottee elicited a sceptical look from Danielle, but she didn’t dare question what happened that night. She had decided the moment of their departure from the port that it would be a story better left untold, at least for now.

This marine, however, seemed adamant on starting a fight, despite the odds so blatantly being against her, as seemed to be the case at surface level. Even if she did somehow win a fight against Namkhai in a one on one situation, it would be safe to assume that Gabriel would then step in, and ultimately Danielle would likely be obliged to as well, although she could easily admit she would have a lot less to bring to the table. Ironically, it was for this reason that the treasure huntress insisted that fighting was not a good idea. The marine must have a back up plan that could catch them off guard, if the idea of stalling alone simply wasn’t it.

Before she could make sense of the situation any further, Namkhai’s words cut through the air like a knife hurled in her direction. “If you want to break her legs, be my guest, but there is no way I’m letting you carry me around again. I swear if you try it, an iron skillet will be the least of your worries!” she snapped at him, before taking a deep breath to try and compose herself again, just as Sukkari walked over to them.

Danielle was expecting an outburst, but thankfully that never came. In fact, the woman made herself seem quite collected, despite her spectacular entrance. Following her response, she watched the pink-haired threat walk away, then she turned to look at Gabriel.

The stranger was right about one thing - there was only one exit, the one she herself just passed through and they would need to pass through in order to leave.

Danielle wasn’t quite sure about what the best course of action would be, but she definitely knew that she did not want to be pulled into a brawl against marines. If she got into trouble with them, there was no telling how this could end, and this was when her mind drifted to her sweet Rosalina. Snatching precious items illegally with very little chance of getting caught - or being blamed for it - was one thing, but an all out duel against a marine and possibly an entire platoon was another. She fought hard enough to reach the position she was currently at and earn herself at least a chance to be with the woman, if her father found out about this, there would be no hope.

Then her gaze shifted onto Namkhai, a man who seemed to be itching for a fight if not for the command to stand down given by his superior. It could get ugly if he were allowed to, Gabriel seemed to know that very well, and Danielle could assume it based on the bounty this man had, his physique, and all the stories she had heard from none other than his number one fan… possibly his only fan, her former sensei. She considered that possibility and figured it wouldn’t be the worst thing, as she would either finally get rid of him, or he would catch up with them later, and she was ready to bet on the latter considering how many arrests he must have already successfully evaded - but they were currently in a room full of patrons who have seen her own face to tie to this man’s doings.

“Okay.” The blonde suddenly rose to her feet. “This is ridiculous. I’m going to go out there and talk to her before either one of you makes the situation worse than it already is.” With that, Danielle began to make her way to the door.

---

Danielle: #fffd17

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #5

Namkhai´s face was reflecting a dangerous mix of amusement and excitement, when the pink haired marine challenged him on a duel as man with his reputation rarely find anyone who had the guts to do that, at least in the weakest Blue anyway, however everyone around him seemingly had a different plan as right after the marine left the place Danielle offered that she would go and settle the things with her.

“No, you won´t…Beast!”

As he remembered that the blonde woman didn´t like other peoples to touch her, the Gabriel resisted the urge to grab her shoulder and send his malamute after her instead. Eager to prove herself, the fluffy ball of love rushed forward, running around Danielle before she rolled over to expose her belly for a belly rub, adding pleading puppy eyes for a good measure.

Seeing this maneuve, Namkhai chuckled as he was getting on his feet.

“That´s low blow Beast, but I allow it, I…”

He didn´t finished the sentence as Gabriel interrupted him.

“You won´t go there either. We need to keep low profile and you don´t know how to hold back.”

The musclebound fighter sighed in disappointment, but didn´t protest against his master´s order and so Gabriel headed outside.

“It shouldn´t take long, but just in case order takeaway, we´ll eat on the move.”

With that he walked out on the street to face the young woman. Truth to be told, the real reason why he chose to face her himself was that he was curious. Her rank was low, implying that she didn´t enter the marines long ago and her movements looked sloppy at best so where does this confidence to fight Namkhai was coming from? Was she simply that overconfident or did she have some mysterious power? Part of him was curious and wanted to fight her, the other part however was realising that he shouldn´t be wasting time, not here, not now, so as the door closed behind him, the Professor reached for his wallet.

“The closest marine base is in the capital city. Even if you reported us right after we arrived, the reinforcements won´t be her any time soon. Thirty minutes is very optimistic, but I would say something between one and two hours is more realistic, so, let´s make a deal. I´ll give you million Beli and you will report that you mistook us for someone else. Everyone walks away from this safely and no one will get hurt. What do you think?”

[Shisha]

Not Exactly what she had planned, with the more academic looking member of their group exiting first, defiantly not what she planned when the dapper looking man actually had the nerve to bribe her of all things. Although a lesser person would have snapped up such a huge amount and, despite her imagining all the songs she could buy with that much, the live concerts she could attend, she knew she couldn't take it. After the tough front she'd put up before. But that being said, he was still technically wrong. With her "back up" already well on the way long before she'd crossed paths with the group. All she needed to do was stall.

Then again...

"That's a...very generous offer. But you know I can't just let you guys go. Last Chance, give up and come willingly, or I'll have to force you"

She turned her music up just a little bit, starting to visibly move and vibe out as one could call it. Nothing too strange or exciting, just the movement of her shoulders, the tapping of her feet and the seemingly not looking at Gabriel as she issued the ultimatum. However the music had already gotten to her, her movements slowly getting more and more obvious are care-free as she smiled along to the music.

It must have looked rather bizarre from the outside. A young marine soldier, clad in that classic cape and simple attire, without the sleeves of course, Dancing around in front of the very people or person she was arresting. It must of seemed even more surprising when, while moving like that, Sukkari reared up one leg. Bending the knee as though she was coiling back a spring. Then just as suddenly or even more so as the music's beat reached a strong point, shot forward like a bullet through the air towards the Dapper chap Gabriel. Thrusting her leg outwards in a single, powerful kick, aimed directly at the middle of his face. She meant to aim for his chest, but as with all things as she fought with her headphones on, she ended up going with the flow.

"STRONG STEP!" was the only thing she'd said during the projectile like vertical kick, never really liking to say the attacks name, but it seemed like an un-written rule everyone stuck to.

[Bobbie]

Danielle was fully intent on marching out there and having a chat with the marine, but Gabriel’s plan to stop her worked flawlessly. As Beast ran out in front of her to block her path and dropped onto her back with her fluffy underside exposed, the treasure huntress had no way to resist as the gesture, complete with puppy eyes, was far too overpowering.

Without a second thought, Danielle went straight to Beast and lowered herself to her knees to begin rubbing her belly with a soft little laugh, “I know you want my attention, beautiful Beast, and I’d be happy to give it to you, but I have to go talk to the lady with the pink hair.” While her words displayed slight urgency, her behaviour certainly didn’t, as Danielle almost had her entire arm buried into the malamutes soft and fluffy belly. Then her other arm was raised to dig through the forest of fur and she was practically draped over Beasty's belly as the woman was completely taken in by the gorgeous animal, whose favourite she strived to be.

“Come on Beast, move out of the way for me, I have business to do before the Professor or the big mean wrestler messes this up! You don’t want them to mess this up for me, do you? Of course you don’t.”

To some, it might have been a sad sight to see as the woman’s words and her manner gave two very contradictory signals - while she told Beast that she needed to move or there will be consequences, her actions on the other hand were akin to praising the massive dog with belly rubs and affection and she was clearly reluctant to let go.

She was so engrossed in Gabriel’s wonderful pet that she almost missed what he said to Namkhai. Almost… thankfully, she managed to pry her attention away from Beast enough to watch and hear Namkhai also get shot down, followed by the professor's request for them to order takeaway.

It wasn’t until Gabriel walked past her and the door closed behind him that she realised what just happened. Instantly withdrawing her hands, the happy look on her face disappeared and she promptly rose to her feet. “You tricked me!” She snapped at the closed door, irritated that he used Beast to stop her, perhaps her greatest weakness second to Rosalina, but also irritated that she had been left in the restaurant with Namkhai. Of course, she was angry at Gabriel, but he wasn’t around, and although she was slightly annoyed at Beast, there was no way she could be angry at her... so her glare was directed at the man who remained behind as well.

Danielle wanted to walk out after Gabriel, but assumed that Beast would not allow her to, and the smug chuckle that came from Namkhai earlier suggested that he wouldn’t either.

“This is pretty stupid, he should have let me go out there. Nothing would have happened, it would have just been a talk,” she grumbled with a sigh. “Let’s just order and get this over and done with so we can leave… he said it shouldn’t take long. It better not take long.”

Moving back to the table, she grabbed a chair, pulling it a little bit away from the other chairs, and sat down again with a sulk.

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Danielle: #fffd17