An Unlikely Solution for an Unlikely Situation!

[Bobbie]

The woman in the Professor’s company was glad that no fuss was made about her rude response in slapping his hand away. As he took her effort to move the conversation forward in his stride, she didn’t dwell on it. At the mention of Beast, however, a wave of sadness hit her once more and she nodded.

“I know she does. I value hers very much as well… I hope she can find it in her heart to for-”

Captain Cottee’s voice cut her off, booming through the streets from the coast via megaphone. Danielle froze, her eye widening as she recognised the marine captain’s voice.

First she turned in the direction the sound came from, then she turned to look at Gabriel again. “The Marines again… she really holds a grudge against you for what you did, doesn’t she?” she uttered, though she didn’t really want an answer for her question. She never did find out what the Professor had done to make her so furious at him, besides escape.

Rising from her seat, the poor waffles neglected and uneaten, Danielle was ready to leave. However, it seemed that the Professor had less of an escape plan and more of a confrontation in mind. She glared at him.

“Are you serious?” She hissed at him, “Haven’t you done enough to the woman? We should just leave and…” the treasure huntress didn’t finish her sentence as she realised that the chances of making their way around a Marine platoon unnoticed was highly unlikely.

“Fine. I will get Beast a ribbon… do you have any money on you?” She held her hand out expectantly. Once a miser, always a miser, they say… Danielle was not in the habit of carrying loose change that she was ready to spend on her person; quite the contrary, her treasures were exactly that, treasure, and were not to be traded off for any items apart from a very few exceptions. A ribbon was not one of them.

At this moment, Barbossa walked into the cafeteria and went straight to their table. “Excuse me for interrupting, but…” the man paused, as if he was nervous to make a request. “That marine captain seems to be very angry at you. I presume this must be tied to that bounty of yours and Namkhai’s in some way, and… well…”

“Out with it!” Impatiently, the blonde snapped at her former mentor.

“Would you kindly extend the luxury of standing by you, Professor Moon?” The man bowed his head, hiding his flushed cheeks.

Danielle groaned, “Unbelievable…”

---

Danielle: #fffd17
Rosalina: #ffaaff
Sir Olivier: #b9a3ff
Hayden: #c3f8fa
Barbossa: #4f8235

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #16

For some strange reason Gabriel looked hurt, when Danielle mentioned the marine captain he took a hostage on Shell Island.
“But, I didn´t do anything. It was just an innocent kiss on her forehead. I mean, she was such cute puppy and I had to be mean to her to protect you guys so…”
He paused as Barbossa approached him with a request to be allowed to fight by his side, which took the Professor by surprise.
“Fight? But I am not planning to fight anyone, I want to apologize to her. This whole thing is just one huge mistake.”
Sulking, Gabriel reached into his pocked, pulling out a wallet from which he took few thousands Beli, handing them over to Danielle.
“Here, buy her something nice.”
He smiled, heading out of the cafeteria not really concerned with whatever was Danielle´s teacher following him or not. His first stop was a flower shop near the cafeteria. The saleswoman probably already heard stories of his exploits in the castle, because at the mere sight of Gabriel she screamed in fear and locked herself in her shop. But when he promised not to hurt her and supported his words by a thick role of banknotes she opened again, giving him a large bouquet of red roses.
Equipped like that, the Professor headed to the port, where two standard marine vessels accompanied by one larger carrier ship blocked the port, the two combat ships turning their guns towards the two smaller vessels belonging to M.A.R.I.
“Here you are.”
Hariyama waved when he noticed Gabriel approaching.
“We were getting worried. What´s with that…”
He pointed at the bouquet but Namkhai interrupted him.
“What about Danielle, is she alright?”
Gabriel nodded.
“Yes, she is. Sigrid, could you please call the Marines and tell them we don´t wish to fight?”
He asked, but the giantess gave him no response looking at the carrier instead with two large hearts instead of her eyes.
“He is so handsome!”
She whispered talking about a male giant visually in his late twenties, who was standing at the bow of the large carrier, leaning against gargantuan warhammer, his long blonde hair fluttering in the wind together with the sleeves of his marine uniform, marking him as a captain, just as Cottee.
Meanwhile, back at the pond where Danielle met with Rosalina Beast sat next to a large purse full of coins, gently taking one after another into her mouth, throwing it into water while silently howling from sadness and desperation.

[Bobbie]

“You kissed her!?” Danielle blurted out without the slightest bit of self-control. “How did you think that was appropriate?” She snatched the money from him with a frown, shaking her head. “You’d be lucky if an apology will be enough, and that’s only if you do it right. That means in a way that isn’t weird. That also means in a way that isn’t… you.” Her last statement was muttered in a quieter voice as she didn’t wish to offend him, but she believed she was correct in that assessment.

In any case, she had her own business to attend to and would not be following him to see how his apology would be received. Instead, she gestured for Barbossa to follow him and make sure he didn’t do anything stupid. With a nod, the older man was more than happy to oblige and hurried after Gabriel to the flower shop.

“Oh, she’ll like those… very nice.” The dojomaster nodded.

Meanwhile, Danielle walked through the streets in Toroa in search of a tailor. Sure enough, she would find one eventually, with several ribbons hanging outside and fabrics draped over rolls inside; yet, nothing seemed good enough for Beast. She only deserved the very best.

In the end, the treasure huntress got her hands on a silky ribbon, about 5 centimetres wide, that was of a yellow gradient. The centre of it was pale, while the colour grew more concentrated the further out toward the edge it went, until finally reaching a gold trimming along its edges.

Not quite sure where to find Beast, Danielle started to make her way back to the dock, hoping that whatever the Professor needed to take care of with Captain Cottee was done and she’d be able to stay out of it. However, along the way, the cries of her most beloved doggo caught her ear, and without a moment’s hesitation, she steered away from her path and ran toward Beast’s howls as fast as she could, refusing to allow her leg to slow her down this time.

“Beast!” Calling out loudly, she clutched the ribbon tightly in her hand, finally coming upon the sight of a heartbroken fluffy malamute.

Her brow immediately twisted, her heart tightening in her chest. “Beast…” slowly approaching her, she gently ran one hand through the massive dog’s fur. “Please forgive me,” giving her very little chance to react, Danielle wrapped her arms around Beast’s neck, her face buried in the fur on the scruff of her neck. “I’m so sorry, Beast.”

The thought of leaving the entire crew broke her, but nothing shattered her heart the way having to leave Beast did.

On the ship, Barbossa did as Danielle silently asked and followed Gabriel to see how things progressed. He didn’t interfere, but merely watched; however, his gaze drifted away for a moment and fell upon Namkhai. Staring at him, he allowed his thoughts to wander as he realised that out of all the people on board, this man, his idol, was the first to ask about Danielle's wellbeing… even before her own brother.

The very same brother, who had found his feet on the deck once more since Gabriel’s leaving, who stood with a bit of a sulk on his face. His attention was on the giant captain, standing at the bow of the large carrier. He, too, was blond… he also appeared to be in his late twenties… but he was a giant and Hayden was tiny in comparison.

His frown was impossible to hide as he glanced at Sigrid next, then he caught a glimpse of the Professor and Barbossa, turning to them as well. “Where is my sister?”

---

Danielle: #fffd17
Rosalina: #ffaaff
Sir Olivier: #b9a3ff
Hayden: #c3f8fa
Barbossa: #4f8235

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #17

The Professor raised his eyes when Hayden appeared asking about his sister´s well-being.
“She is safe, we just agreed it would be for the better if she wouldn´t get involved with the Marines.”
Gabriel explained, throwing one more glance at Sigrid, who was helplessly enamoured by the male giant. He wasn´t angry at her, not really, as he knew that she didn´t see anyone of her kind for decades, but still he hoped she could be at least a bit useful there.
“Well, guess it´s up to me then…Fame Clouds.”
Jumping towards the ocean, The Professor kicked the air under his feet to get stable footing and propel himself towards the ship where captain Cottee stood with her megaphone.
“INCOMING!”
A marine in the uniform of Petty Officer yelled when he noticed Gabriel flying towards them with neck breaking speed. Prompting the marines on the ship to rush towards the port side of their vessel, their rifles ready to shoot down the invader.
“Wait! Wait! I am coming in peace!”
Gabriel yelled, directing his next jump up just in the case someone decided to fire at him after all. Fortunately, captain Cottee gestured to her subordinates to hold fire, letting Gabriel land in the middle of their ship, where he was encircled by around fifty soldiers armed with cutlasses and rifles with fixed bayonets, led by the blonde captain herself.
“What´s the meaning of this? Did you come to surrender?”
She barked at him, holding pair of butterfly swords, a striking change compared to the pistol she had during their previous encounter.
“Ehm…”
The Professor cleared his throat.
“Not really, but it was brought to my attention by someone whose opinion I highly value, that the way I acted towards you on Shell Island was wrong, so I came to offer you my sincere apology for kissing you at gunpoint.”
Gently bowing his head, Gabriel reached forward, offering her the bouquet of roses, causing several dozens of dropped jaws among her subordinates.

---

Meanwhile near the pond Beast raised her head noticing Danielle who was approaching her with an apology. The massive malamute didn´t answer, nor did she accused her of being traitor like the last time, instead she grabbed another coin in her mouth, walking the few steps towards the pond, before throwing it inside. She moved slowly, without the usual spark and vigour that were so characteristic for her, almost as someone who already gave up of all hope.

[Bobbie]

As Gabriel made his way toward the enemy ship, Hayden remained on the deck with the other crew members, his attention divided between the Professor, the giantess, and the enemy. Seeing the man’s romantic gesture, Hayden raised both his eyebrows and blinked a few times in utter confusion.

“What… wow, looks like this bunch was the real gold mine that my sister stumbled upon. Never a dull moment…” he quietly said, with the full intention of being heard by those around him. The blond then turned to face the others.

“May I ask what on earth is going on?”

“A masterpiece…” Barbossa was the first to reply, watching on as if he hoped to learn something from Gabriel and clearly in some sort of trance of admiration.

Hayden looked at the lost man, then turned to the others once more, hoping for an answer that made more sense.

---

Danielle watched Beast with a sad eye as she dropped another coin into the fountain. Wrapping her arms around the animal’s fluffy neck, she aimed to stop her from doing whatever she was doing.

“Beast, stop… what are you doing?” she asked, scratching her neck as she pulled away to look at her. “Please, listen to me. I can’t tell you how sorry I am that things turned out this way. I know it was very hard to hear what I said in Sir Olivier’s office, and it’s going to be even harder to say goodbye, so I want to promise you that this isn’t goodbye. Not forever, okay?”

The treasure huntress had to hold back tears as she spoke, releasing her grip on Beast’s fur to fiddle with the gold ribbon for a bit. “The Professor said you’ve wanted a ribbon for a long time. I got you one, but I also want to give you something else to take care of for me… until we see each other again. Will you do that?”

Looking down at the ribbon in her hands for a moment, she reached into her shirt to take out an ornate amulet on a golden chain that had been worn for safekeeping. Unclasping it from its chain, she stared down at the Amulet of Fa’Ruk, and inserted the ribbon through its loop to replace the gold chain. “I promise you we will meet again.”

---

Danielle: #fffd17
Rosalina: #ffaaff
Sir Olivier: #b9a3ff
Hayden: #c3f8fa
Barbossa: #4f8235

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #18

When she decided to pursue her vengeance against Gabriel Moon captain Cottee prepared herself for many eventualities, but not even in her wildest dreams would the young marine imagine that criminal as dangerous as him would invade her ship offering her a bouquet of roses and an apology!
Left speechless, Cottee´s face blushed quickly getting colour very similar to these roses.
“I…that…”
She stuttered in frustration, before she finally remembered who this man is and what he done to her.
“LIKE IF THAT COULD CHANGE ANYTHING!”
The blonde marine screamed in anger cutting these poor roses just a few millimetres above the Professor´s hand.
“Arrest him!”
Looking like a kicked puppy, Gabriel watched these poor flowers fall to the deck, completely missing not only her order, but also the marine who stepped forward to execute it. That was why, when someone´s heavy hand grabbed his arm, he reacted on a pure instinct, breaking that poor guy´s arm in one smooth motion.
The soldier cried in pain, taking several steps backwards, making space for more marines who tired to swarm the Professor.

“Wait, that was an accident!"

Mirrored Moon!

Gabriel tried to speak through the war cry, only to notice the nearest marine lunging against him with his cutlass in hands.
Turning his body all limp and flexible, the Professor dodged to the side letting the momentum to carry the weapon into the abdomen of another Marine, that was trying to get him from behind.
“…this was also an…whoa whoa!”
Being forced several steps backward as captain Cottee demonstrated incredibly swift bladework, Gabriel bumped into another marine, who grabbed him in bear hug.
“Got youuuuuuuuuuu!”
His victorious cry changed into a cry of pain, as the back of Professor´s head slammed into his nose, creating an opening long enough for him to jump high into the air.
“Listen all of this…”
Gabriel´s face turned pale as he noticed a gargantuan hammer moving towards him with a surprising speed.
Flame Clouds!
Kicking the air under his feet, Moon tried to avoid the hit, but while he managed to get away from the actual weapon the blast of compressed air that was accompanying it kicked him like an angry horse, sending Gabriel flying back to the port where he slammed into a small warehouse, breaking it´s wooden wall with his back.
“Ouc…”
He growled.
“How was your date?”
Niko peeked inside, with a wide smile on his face.
Getting himself up into a sitting position, Gabriel raised his hand that was still holding what was left from the bouquet.
“That bad huh…”
The tribal warrior grinned.

---

As she was returning for yet another, coin Beast froze on place when Danielle embraced her, silently whining to express the pain she was feeling.
“Sooomeone….sooomeone told me that wheeen you throoow coin in fouuuntain your wiiiish comes true.”
She cried looking at Danielle with a pleading eyes.
“If…if I become hoooman like Rosalina you wouuuuldn´t haaave to leaaave me riiiiight? Weeee would staaaay toooogether!”
The doggo was clearly desperate and on the verge of panic, when the treasure huntress offered her, her gift.
“Nuuuuu”
She howled.
“I dooon´t want you gooone! I don´t want youuuu too leave!”
She pushed her way from Danielle´s embrace, grabbing another coin for the pod.
“I will tuuuurn iiiinto hooooman! Youuu´ll see! You´ll see!”

[Bobbie]

Barbossa was not far behind as he hurried to the warehouse and also popped his head in to see if Gabriel was okay. Seeing the remains of the bouquet in the man’s hand, Barbossa held out his hand to give The Professor a thumb’s up.

“If at first you don’t succeed…” he uttered, wisely, giving an encouraging nod to Gabriel.

Hayden, on the other hand, remained on the deck, choosing not to follow the others. In all honesty, the poor lad felt quite lost. He had no idea what he should be doing to help, or perhaps he should slip away unnoticed, but there were a few things holding him back.

There was really very little excitement working at the pharmacy. Initially, it was his passion and his area of expertise as he’d spend hours upon hours reading about apothecary supplies and medicinal herbs, all self-taught, but much like with other subjects, his interest died down and he lost a lot of his enthusiasm for it. Staying here was far more exciting than going back home.

His other option was to go and search for his sister… but he had no idea where to start.

As the blond stood there, he tapped his chin, clearly in thought - perhaps a bit too much of it as his attention shifted in a visible cycle. Sigrid, enemy giant, the warehouse, the path inland… Sigrid, enemy giant, the warehouse, the path inland.

---

“No, Beast, this isn’t about you being a dog.” Danielle sighed, heartbroken that the beautiful creature could even think such a thing. “You are perfect,” she said, now raising her gaze from the gift she prepared for Beast to look at her again instead.

“I don’t want to go either, but I don’t have a choice.” As much as Danielle loved this massive and fluffy bundle of joy, she wished that Beast didn’t make things as hard as this. Her whining and arguing made it thrice as painful, and she hated Olivier for this more and more. Gently placing her hand on Beast’s snout, she stopped her from taking the coin to the pond.

“You don’t need to wish for something like that…” she whispered, every second endured of this only driving a knife deeper into the treasure huntress’ heart.

“Think of Olivier a bit like the Professor, but a little less kind…” beginning to explain, she sat down on the concrete rim of the pond. “Just like the Professor loves you very much, Olivier loves his daughter a lot, so he would try anything to keep her safe, just as Gabriel would do for you. Now, because of…” Danielle paused. If she repeated the excuse of bounties, she’d feel like she were blaming this on them, which she didn’t wish to do. “Because of how strong everybody is, he is afraid that his daughter could get hurt and he took things to an extreme, lashing out.”

With a sigh, Danielle steadied her breath and put the amulet on its new ribbon down beside her. “This is only until Rosalina and I get married. After that, I can take her away from him and she will see how wonderful you all are and we can all be together.”

Her gaze drifted toward the bag of coins as she reached out to take one, turning it in her hands in silence for a moment. “Let’s both make a wish…”

---

Danielle: #fffd17
Rosalina: #ffaaff
Sir Olivier: #b9a3ff
Hayden: #c3f8fa
Barbossa: #4f8235

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #19

Bruised, the Professor climbed up at his feet dusting off his precious suit to clear it from splinters and debris that got on it during his fly through the wall.
“Yeah…maybe she doesn´t like flowers. I should have bought choco…”
He froze on a spot as he noticed the other giant taking few steps back only to sprint towards the edge of his carrier, jumping directly at Sigrid with his hammer held high.
“Black Blade!”
The giantess smiled, transforming her upper arm into long obsidian blade to parry his attack, but in her lack of experiences and hot headedness she put everyone else in danger.
“F*ck TAKE COVER!”
Realising what´s going to happen Namkhai yelled, throwing himself behind a nearby crates, but Gabriel didn´t move. All he could see was a lost endangered puppy standing on the deck right next to Sigrid, unaware of the deadly danger he found himself in.
BUMP
Almost as if the time itself slowed down, the Professor watched the giant captain flying towards Sigrid in slow motion painfully aware that Flying Clouds weren´t fast enough for him to get there in time.
BUMP BUMP
But he had to try even if it was foolish. Even if it meant running through a storm of sharp glass as he knew that after all that happened today, he would never forgive himself if Danielle returned only to find her brother dead.
BUMP BUMP BUMP
His heart pumping like a crazy from the released storm of emotion and adrenaline, Gabriel dug his foot into the ground, springing himself forward.
“New Moon: Flame Clouds!”
BUMP BUMP BUMP BUMP
Flying through the air with a blinding speed, the Professor hit Hayden with his shoulder, throwing both of them to the ocean just as the huge war hammer clashed with a sword made of glass, transforming it and everything that was Sigrid from head to waist into explosion of razor-sharp shrapnel.

---

Surprised, Beast looked at Danielle with confusion written all over her face.
“Nooooo?”
She asked carefully, her usual trusting personality tempered by the amount of pain she went through in the past few hours.
“Buuut youuu are leaaaaaaving meeeee foooor heeer!”
She accused the treasure huntress, right before her jaw dropped as Danielle tried to explain her the situation in a way she would understand.
“Buuuuuut…”
She whined, suddenly looking nervous almost as if she was afraid that this time it will be Danielle who will be mad at her.
“Buuuuuut….daaaad threeew hiiiim ouuuuuut off windooooow”
The furball howled, her head so low it almost touched the ground beneath her.
“Youuuu thiiiink sheeee wouuuuuuuldn´t aaaangry aaat uuuus?”

[Bobbie]

As Namkhai yelled for everyone to take cover, Hayden turned to look at the Titan instead, just in time to watch him dive behind some crates. Failing to realise what was going on fast enough, his clueless expression only grew all the more clueless, helplessly looking around before a mighty shadow was cast over his body.

Raising his gaze to the two giants, the young man’s eyes widened with shock as he saw that the magnificent beings were about to clash.

Thankfully, Gabriel’s quick thinking got Hayden out of his bewildered state as a harsh thud against his body lifted him right off the deck. The Professor’s shoulder slammed into him, sending him flying through the air and off the ship, before landing in the ocean with a loud splash.

Everything happened so fast, Hayden didn’t even know what hit him.

As he found himself sinking under water, he let out a muffled cry that sent bubbles rushing to the surface, which he tried his best to follow. He wasn’t the strongest swimmer, but surely he could keep himself afloat - without the added weight of his shoes.

Kicking off his shoes, he looked down at them for a moment as he watched them move further away from him into the dark depths below, then frantically made his way toward the light.

Breaking the surface, he made a loud gasping sound, followed by a bit of coughing. The next thing he knew, blinding pain shot through his arm and his chest, limiting the movement of his right arm just enough to make keeping his head above the water difficult, but not impossible. He hoped nothing was broken, assuming his arm was struck in the collision with the Professor, but his attention was soon directed elsewhere toward Sigrid - or what was left of her.

“Whoa…” staring at the beautiful display of obsidian shards rain down on the ship, he was completely stricken with awe.

---

Danielle watched Beast, scratching behind her ear in an attempt to calm the doggo down while the poor creature grew so upset, the coin held in her other hand which she twirled in her fingers.

“It’s not exactly like that, Beast… It’s a bit more complicated. I can’t have both of you right now, but it will happen once Rosalina and I are married.” The treasure huntress explained, until she saw an unusual behaviour from Beast.

It wasn’t like Beast to get so nervous around her unless she knew something that Danielle shouldn’t, or had done something wrong herself. She continued to scratch behind her ear to try and soothe the troubled puppy, but when Beast confessed the reason, Danielle’s hand suddenly became still, her eye widening as it remained fixed on the malamute.

Beast moved her head out of Danielle’s reach as the blonde stared at her. That… idiot… did… WHAT!?

She simply couldn’t believe it - did he kill Olivier? Did he just kill her fiancée’s father? Despite the terrible implications that brought with it, however, Danielle found herself too stunned to leave the realms of her private thoughts within her mind as she was as still as a statue, pale as if she’d just seen a ghost.

He deserved it, she told herself, her less rational self immediately latching onto her anger for what he’d done. Her softer side, on the other hand, gave in to love and a stupidly naïve affection for this wicked family. He’s Rosalina’s father, you can’t say that… she will never forgive you…

He f*cking deserved it… the thought intrusively rang louder than any other in her head, and she genuinely believed it. The problem with this was that it almost guaranteed that she would never be with Rosalina if she didn’t do something about it, as it was also true that Rosalina would never forgive her for allowing such a thing - no, for actually bringing such a threat to the spoilt princess’ beloved father.

He threw him out of a window… of a castle... from a high floor.

“WHY!?” The word came out of Danielle so abruptly that it seemed even her own throat was not prepared for it, her voice breaking and varying in pitch throughout the middle of it.

“Yes, I think she will be angry! How could he have possibly thought that was a good idea!?” Horrified by this turn of events that she didn’t even realise occurred, her mind went back to how Barbossa rushed her through the castle gates and urged her not to look back. “Did he know?” Danielle growled, her anger toward her former sensei now increasing tenfold. “Did Barbossa know? It doesn’t matter. I have to go and make sure he isn’t dead!”

It was the last thing she ever wanted to do, but what were her options?

---

Danielle: #fffd17
Rosalina: #ffaaff
Sir Olivier: #b9a3ff
Hayden: #c3f8fa
Barbossa: #4f8235

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #20

Falling down right after Hayden, Gabriel accepted the cold embrace of the ocean, however unlike Danielle´s brother he was trying his best to sink as deep as possible as fast as possible, because a moment later the glass shrapnel started hitting the surface too. Fortunately as it hit the water the sharp pieces of glass quickly lost their power, becoming virtually harmless, when they finally reached his body. Still it was rather curious situation, the Professor noted for himself as right now he should be dead. There was no one who knew his own capabilities better than himself and everything he knew was telling him, there was no way he could make it in time with Flame Clouds alone, so what happened?
Unfortunately, being stuck under water Gabriel didn´t have enough time to think about these questions and so he followed Hayden, breaking through the surface right after him. The situation above was quite chaotic. Taking quick glance over the port the Professor couldn´t see Namkhai, Niko or Barbossa anywhere, which probably meant that they managed to get into safety in time. Meanwhile Hariyama couldn´t find a proper cover with his massive body and so he decided to go with his Oshi-Dachi, using his arms to cover his eyes before hardening his muscles to the level of iron, earning himself several shallow cuts but at the same time avoiding all life threatening injuries.
Meanwhile on the boat, Sigrid was regrowing her upper body, still unaware what her carelessness caused.
“You think that could hurt me? I am loguaaaaaaaa!”
She cried out as the giant captain already standing in the water in front of her used the claw on his weapon to hook her neck from behind and pull her into the ocean. He probably mastered some technique similar to Hariyama´s as he was largely unharmed by the calamity he caused and now hi moved to the side as he forced Sigrid into somersault, smashing her back first into the water.
The force of that collision created wave so strong, that it threw not only Gabriel and Hayden back to the port, but their two boats as well.

---

Back at the pond, Beast looked like someone who would like to do nothing more than dig herself into hole and stay there forever. Almost as if she could read in the treasure huntress´s mind, the furball started shaking, to the point where she nearly tried to ran away when Danielle snapped her why.
“I…heee aaaangry…you huuuuurt, I saaaaaaad, Ooolivier baaaaad!”
She whined visibly terrified of what was going to happen next. So when Danielle turned around and tried to walk towards the castle she reached forward gently grabbing her arm with her mouth.
“Pueeeeese dooooon´t goooooo!”
Beast whined again, trying to bribe the treasure huntress with the saddest puppy eyes imaginable.
“I did baaaaaad, aaaaangry, pleaaaaaaase!”
The furball begged so lost in her feat that she completely ignored the loud noise coming from the port.

[Bobbie]

Pieces of obsidian splashed into the water around Hayden, luckily missing him, and the clash of titans continued. He couldn’t help but wonder how his sister ended up with such an interesting bunch of characters - and have a second fleet of equally unique people on their tail! Marines or not, how often does one get to brag about being hunted by a giant as well as having a giantess on their crew?

His excitement was short-lived, however, as he witnessed something truly terrifying. Not only was the enemy giant relatively unharmed by the destruction Sigrid just caused, but he suddenly flipped the massive figure over into a somersault with ease!

Immediately upon impact, Hayden felt the world shake as a horrifyingly large wave rippled through the ocean, almost the size of an actual tsunami. Taking a deep breath, he prepared himself for the overwhelming force of the sea which, just as he had predicted, had him rolling underneath the surface for a while before his head bobbed back to the surface.

Trying to swim against the wave was pointless, so he let the wave carry him with little resistance, only looking around him to try and protect himself from other floating debris - like the two boats that were also thrown back to the port.

As they all washed up on the port, the wave would have pulled Hayden back out to sea if he hadn’t caught onto the nearest, most reliable anchor he could find, which happened to be Gabriel.

Out of breath and still in shock, he sat up on the pier and stared at the Professor, his arm hanging limp as it hurt to move it. “That was insane… is she alright?” He gestured back out toward the two mighty giants, then his eyes caught a glimpse of the ship behind Gabriel, the side of the hull broken into splinters as half of it lay on dry land, while the other was slowly slipping back into the ocean. “Professor, your ship…” he uttered, before another realisation hit him. What happened to the other enemies? He was sure they came in a trio.

“Where are…?”

---

Seeing Beast in such a vulnerable state made Danielle soften, but it didn’t remove the worry and anger that she felt. Staring at her for a moment longer, she shook her head.

She had a lot to say, but there was no point in saying it to Beast. The poor doggo was heartbroken enough, she couldn’t bare to be the cause of any further damage. It seemed like the best was to simply move toward the castle without saying anything else at the risk of snapping at an undeserving creature, but she barely made it a proper step before her arm was caught in Beast’s mouth.

“You did bad?” She asked, echoing Beast’s words as she frowned and tried to understand what the fluffy malamute was trying to tell her. “What do you mean? What did you do?”

Did she…?

Horror struck the treasure huntress as she swallowed hard. She needed to make sure that Olivier was alive and that Rosalina was okay, yet… she couldn’t leave Beast.

Gently removing her arm from Beast’s jaw, Danielle wrapped her arms around Beast again, hugging her tightly. “You don’t want me to see what you did…” She whispered quietly, and it was at this moment that she heard some sort of commotion from the side of the harbour. However, without the sensitive sense of hearing that Beast had, it could have easily sounded like the rough seas crashing into the dock to Danielle.

Holding onto Beast, she decided to make herself oblivious to anything else in the world and just be with her at that moment, choosing to believe that Gabriel and Beast had enough respect for her not to kill the woman she loves, or that woman’s father. Surely, if the Professor threw Olivier out of a window, he must have known he’d survive.

If he hadn't, the entire island would probably be in chaos by now anyway.

---

Danielle: #fffd17
Rosalina: #ffaaff
Sir Olivier: #b9a3ff
Hayden: #c3f8fa
Barbossa: #4f8235

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #21

Driven by some ancient instinct, the Professor tried his best to fight against the wave, that threw him back to the shore, despite the hopelessness of such action. He would be probably pulled back to the ocean if he didn´t manage to grab the edge of the wall he broke earlier. The water returned, leaving sightly confused and completely soaked Gabriel lying on the ground right next to Hayden, who grabbed onto him.
“Ship?”
The Professor asked, after spitting out a mouthful of seawater.
“What happened to…”
Climbing to his feet, Gabriel froze on the spot as he noticed their boat smashed against the stone walls of some nearby warehouse. It wasn´t the one used by Sigrid, but the one his puppies were on.
“No, no, no, Beast! Eponine!”
He cried out in desperation, dashing towards the ship, only to stop as a stream of compressed air, resembling a giant needle pierced the ground in front of his feet.
Turning his head to the right, Gabriel followed its trajectory towards one of the marine ships, but where he expected to see his attacker was no one.
“Looking for someone?”
A female voice appearing behind his back forced the Professor to turn around, only to see a young woman in her late twenties standing behind Hayden. She was tall blonde with facial features very similar to captain Cottee accompanied by a waist-long braid. To show her stature the blonde was wearing a marine uniform marking her as a captain and was armed with a long rapier. Standing there, she rested one of her stiletto heels against Hayden´s back, almost as if she wanted to warn him not to do anything stupid.
Under normal circumstances, Gabriel would be probably surprised, or perhaps even worried by the fact, that someone managed to get behind him unnoticed on high heels. However today he didn´t lose a single thought on her or Danielle´s brother for that matter.
“Phantom Step”
Turning around, he rushed toward the ship but found himself cut off by her.
“Now that was rude, I didn´t even get a chance to introduce myself!”
She smiled playfully, pointing her sword at him.

---

As Gabriel noticed, Sigrid was in serious danger. After falling into the sea, she found herself lying on the back with her head facing the shore, which was her only luck as the sea was shallow enough for her to keep her face above the water. Other than that, however…the ocean was sapping her all strength, to the point where she could barely move a finger and the handsome giant she fancied so much earlier was standing above her with his hammer in his hands.
“You are such a disappointment.”
He growled.
“Seriously, I am glad this is just a little detour to our mission because man if we had to drag here all the way from Grand Line for this, I would be so p*ssed.”
The giant shook his head.
“Such power wasted on complete amateur…”
He raised his hammer, ready to bring it down on Sigrid´s head. The giantess´s eyes widened in panic, but she simply couldn´t find the strength to defend hers.
Terrified, she closed her eyes, but the lethal impact never came as her opponent completely missed one, from his point of view very small detail. A person sprinting in full speed towards them.
He made it just in time. Landing on the giantess´s face, just before the hammer would get too close, Namkhai took a wide, stable stance, intercepting the attack with what could be seen as a very gentle, circular gesture of his arm.
“Mushgikh!“
Turning the energy of the incoming strike against the attacker, the technique that was supposed to throw its target pried the hammer out of fingers instead, throwing it away, towards the town, where it crashed into several houses, bringing destruction the locals probably didn´t face for generations.
“Hey a*shole! Don´t you dare to bully our newbie!”
The Titan growled furiously.

---

Watching as the two battles start, Niko poked Hariyama with his elbow, nodding towards Namkhai and his opponent.
“You´ll help him and I join Gabriel?”
He paused when he noticed his partner looking somewhere behind his back with a deep frown.
“I don´t think so…”
Hariyama muttered.
Turning around the tribal warrior cursed as he noticed the large carrier hitting the shore with dozens of armed marines disembarking from it. As it turned out, the two regular marine ships were pushed away by the wave and now were making their way toward the shore. But the large carrier somehow managed to push through and now was releasing his deadly cargo on the shore.
“S*it”

Niko cursed as the two men spread to block the incoming marines from reaching their boss.

---

Watching her best friend with pleading eyes, Beast still occasionally whined as Danielle continued to question her, but it seemed that the treasure huntress´s presence and the fact she wasn´t explicitly angry at her were helping the furball regain some of her previous courage.
“I…I…bit some hooomans…”
She whined carefully.
“I…I knoooow good doooggo doooon´t bite buuut. They haaaaad swoooords aaaand tried to pooooke meee…I proooomise I am gooood doggo! I neeeever bite youuuuuuu, pleaaaase, dooooon´t haaate me!”
She begged with the biggest, saddest puppy eyes imaginable just as a loud crash announced giant war hammer hitting the town.

[Bobbie]

Hayden had only just sat up before he felt a pressure on his back that almost instantly pushed him back down on the wet pier. As the woman spoke, he tried to turn around to get a better look at the woman whose heel was digging into him. There wasn’t much particularly remarkable about her, considering he hadn’t really seen Captain Cottee’s features well enough to notice a similarity. That is, other than her uniform.

“Ow…” he murmured, softly, before looking at Gabriel again. He was about to ask what he had done to have so many people, marines no less, so angry at him. Hayden knew that there were some bounties involved, but this seemed very personal. However, before he could even begin to do so, Gabriel was gone.

Thankfully, the woman’s heel was soon removed from his back as well, as before he could complain about being left at her mercy, she seemed to dash away as well to intercept the Professor.

Rising to his feet, Hayden had a quick glance around, then he quietly slipped past the two while they were busy in order to reach the broken ship himself. “Beast?” he called out in a whisper. “Eponine?” He wasn’t that invested in this crew, but it seemed that they meant a lot to Danielle and she to them. Besides, Eponine was kind to him and Sigrid was beautiful - he couldn’t think of any better reason to do his utmost to assist them any way that he could.

“Beast? Eponine?” the blonde was careful with his footing, stepping over wooden debris and splintered planks with caution so as not to injure himself and not to make a lot of noise. “Are you in here?”

---

Watching Beast, thoughts and worries raced through Danielle’s mind. Is she talking about Olivier? No, that doesn’t make sense if The Professor… he also isn’t very much into swordsmanship, he wouldn’t have been armed with a sword to hurt Beast… Can't be Rosalina either, she wouldn't even know how to hold a sword. As she considered the possibilities, Danielle‘s face showed horror, but not anger. Once again, she paled to the point that she thought she might be sick, faint just like Hayden did back at the pharmacy.

“Beast… I could never hate you.” She uttered, immediately falling victim to Beast’s eyes. “Who did you-”

The treasure huntress never got to finish her question, however, as a massive war hammer collided with the town’s buildings in a massive crash. Turning her head toward the sound, which came from the direction of the port, her eye widened as the weapon seemed to be powerful enough to fly right through several buildings and was hurled in their direction. Like some war-edition of a landshark, the giant chunk of ore tore through stone and wood, sending rubble and splinters flying into the air.

“Beast, we need to move!” Having only just recovered from her most recent injury, Danielle wasn’t the least bit eager to suffer another one and throw her back into the limited mobility she faced when her leg simply wouldn’t cooperate. It was somehow twice as frustrating when there was no pain to justify her body’s stubbornness.

Gesturing to Beast to follow her, she ran across the little square they were in, away from the fountain, only after she had confirmation that Beast was moving with her.

---

Danielle: #fffd17
Rosalina: #ffaaff
Sir Olivier: #b9a3ff
Hayden: #c3f8fa
Barbossa: #4f8235

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #22

The captain was cute, there was no denying it. However, her image as an golden puppy, that found her favourite toy and now wanted to share her joy with everyone else was drowned in a heart crushing fear he felt for Beast and Eponine. Because the Professor knew that no force in this world could keep his beautiful fluffy ball from answering his call, unless she would be seriously hurt, or…
“No, she probably just hit her head when the ship crashed, nothing more…both of them did, there is no way, they would..NO!”
Trying to get rid of the pain and fear that were building inside of him, Gabriel lashed out without a warning. Lunging forward, he moved around her blade, using his hand as a tip of spear to run through her chest. All he hit however was an empty air, as the captain used her Soru to move several steps back, out of his reach.
“Wow, sis was right, you really know the way to woman´s heart, don´t you?”
The blonde captain teased him, countering with short slash driven by a swift snap of her wrist.
Bending his body backward, Gabriel dodged her blade, trying to press forward, only to find her sword in the way. Dodging again, the Professor found himself pressed into defensive, as the captain unleashed fast flurry of stabs and short slashes.
The Professor danced through them seemingly unable to find a proper response, earning several cuts in the process. It was frustrating. His Mirrored Moon allowed him to avoid all incoming attacks, but because of the reach difference he wasn´t able to counter on his own, and when he was defending on his own in preparation for his own offensive, she always caught him. It wasn´t because she would be that much faster or skilled, not at all. There was a simple trick to it, as the woman was using air pressure to “lengthen” her blade to mess with Gabriel´s timing. Trick that he would normally find after the first few exchanges but now he was blinded by fear for his puppies, that was slowly transforming into cold rage.
“Move…”
Gabriel growled, swiftly retreating several steps to create enough space between the two of them.
Rising her blade in a mocking of fencing greeting the captain smirked.
“Make me.”
She issued her challenge rushing towards him.
“Stalking Moon”
Relaxing his body, Gabriel let the power of the incoming lunge to direct him into rotation, before speeding it up with a short muscular pulse, that allowed him to disappear from her sight, only to reappear directly behind the captain.
Without making a sound Gabriel struck forward, his fingers extended and pressed together to form a spear hand. There was no way she could defend against it. He was too close and too fast for her to move. His strike would end the fight if not for a bullet that hit his arm in the worst possible moment.

---

Standing above Sigrid, with his favourite weapon thrown away, the giant captain frowned, taking a better look at the little man, that suddenly appeared on Sigrid´s face.
“Namkhai Monkhbat…”
He smirked.
“Looks like the real monster was lurking in the giantess shadow.”
The titan tilted his head to the side.
“You lost your weapon, so back off, I won´t chase you.”
The giant´s eyes widened for a second, before he started laughing from the top of his lungs.
“You will let me retreat? How noble, but…your line of though is flawed little one. I took that hammer just because of her. My main weapon is my body! “SEISMIC CLAP!”
Clapping his palms together with full power, the giant created shockwave powerful enough to blow the surprised titan away, throwing him through a nearby building like a human sized wrecking ball.
“Wait here, I´ll be right back.”
He patted Sigrid´s head, before stepping out of the water, on a way towards the Titan.

---

“There are only two of them! Seize them!”
A petty officer yelled at his men as several dozens of marine soldiers embarked in the port, charging towards the remaining two M.A.R.I. members.
“Seriously…these guys are underestimating us…”
Hariyama growled in frustration, taking the traditional Sumo stance, although one that was unusually deep.
“ZUDZAKI!”
Charging forward with blinding speed, the sumo wrestler played the bowling ball to their pins, throwing the surprised marines in all directions.

---

Marine soldiers were moving towards Hayden, but thanks to Hariyama´s attack, they didn´t get close enough to actually put the pharmacist into any real danger, so he could enter the wrecked ship. It was small sailing boat so the space he had to cover wasn´t big, yet there were seemingly no traces of Beast as the malamute lady used Sigrid´s carelessness to slip away before the marines even arrived. However, he found Eponine and not in a good condition. The dark haired women was lying unconscious on the floor with deep cut running across the left, probably knocked down by the walls when the ship hit the port. She wasn´t there alone however as right next to her was lying her brother Henry, with a long kitchen knife so deep in his chest that the only visible part was the handle.

---

Hearing the reassurance directly from Danielle, Beast relaxed a bit, her face brightening up with a doggo smile, that however disappeared as somewhere behind her crashed a gargantuan hammer.
“Awooo!”
Startled, the furball tried to dash forward, following Danielle with the full speed provided her by four healthy legs. When it looked like she could actually get in front of the blonde treasure huntress, Beast grabbed her shirt from behind and tossed the woman on her back with movement she practiced dozens of times since Danielle injured her leg. She didn´t manage to ran far however as suddenly the ground under her feet shook and cracked and the furball fell into small cave up until now hidden under the ground.
“Woooo…”
Beast cried out as the stones and dirt under her body made her landing everything but pleasant.
“Wheeere?”
She asked the blonde treasure huntress looking around herself. In the light that was getting in through the hole she saw small cave, that was probably created by underground river that was feeding the nearby pond and now flowed around them.
The most peculiar thing about that place however was small crooked tree that was growing right in the middle of the cave together with single piece of fruit hanging down from one of it´s branches.

[Bobbie]

As Hayden successfully made it past thanks to Hariyama and entered the remains of the wrecked ship, it wasn’t easy to get through the fallen beams of wood that splintered and cracked at the slightest touch. It was only a small sailing boat, but that didn’t make it any less dangerous.

Calling out to the large dog and Eponine both yielded similar results - absolutely nothing. Like his sister, he was quite fond of all animals and the thought of harm coming to the fluffy creature broke his heart. This was visible in his brow as well as his tone as he called out one more time, his voice trembling as he feared the worst.

“Beast?” He looked around him and took another step forward, only to become very still in an instant when the wood beneath his foot creaked, but thankfully didn’t break. “Eponine?” Holding onto a slanting pole which he presumed previously formed some kind of support for the mast, he continued to move forward. “Are you-” the pharmacist paused and went silent as he realised the reason he received no response from Eponine.

Ahead of him, he saw two bodies, neither of them moving. Rushing over to them while being less careful with his footing, he went to Eponine first. Hayden dropped to the floor beside her, gently freeing her body from any debris that was weighing on her, then winced as he got a closer look at her wound. “Oh no, oh no… you’re going to be okay. Can you hear me?” He checked her pulse and confirmed she was still breathing, before getting back to assessing the damage. The lad was no doctor by far, but he had enough basic first aid skill and knowledge of medical treatments from his line of work that consisted of over-the-counter minor ailments, as well as offering counsel. That said, he had never practised many of those procedures he had recommended and given advice on over the years.

There was a very good reason for that. As already displayed in the pharmacy when he first met the Professor, he had a weak stomach and his body did not respond to trauma very well.

Fumbling in his pockets, he searched for an antiseptic vial that he often carried on his person for the sake of convenience when at work, then he pulled out a handkerchief. With his gaze lowered on his shaking hands, however, he caught a glimpse of Henry as he suddenly remembered that there was somebody else in need of medical care.

Whispering beneath his breath, he put the handkerchief and vial down on Eponine and crawled over to Henry.

“Can you hear me?” His eyes went wide as he stared at the knife plunged deep into the man’s chest. “Can you… please, please, please…” Hayden's pleas to be heard quickly became whimpers as the realisation hit the young man and he then grew silent. Gulping air, he moved one hand to Henry’s neck, only to find no pulse. He was dead.

“He’s dead… he’s actually dead.”

Hayden had never actually seen a fresh corpse up close before, it all felt surreal. Crawling backwards away from Henry, Danielle’s brother went pale and he started seeing spots as his senses began to fail him.

Suddenly turning and rising in a swift but dizzying movement, he rushed a few steps away from both of them and stuck his head through a hole in the wooden wall. He then threw up into an occupied space of the ship’s inner structure. For a moment, the pharmacist remained in that position, his body draped over the wooden frame as he tried to catch his breath and keep himself conscious.

Finally, his head emerged from the hole and he took a deep breath, which was shakily exhaled again. Quietly coaching himself through steadier breathing and counting between breaths, he made his way back to Eponine and knelt down beside her once more.

Hayden didn’t dare look at Henry again as he did his best to tend to her wounds and make sure it was safe to move her, then he proceeded to carefully lift the woman in his arms. His muscles felt like mush as he was of quite a scrawny physique with little strength in his limbs, but he pushed through and carried her out the same way he came in.

---

Barbossa was facing his own troubles in the meantime. He had been trying his best to keep up with all the action going on around him and do what he could to help, but it proved quite difficult for the man. His vision was not so clear and the further Gabriel got from him, the more unrecognisable the Professor's figure became to him.

It was a harsh reminder of a limitation that was either the effect of age or his body succumbing to other stressors throughout the years, and his failure to tackle it appropriately only made it worse.

From his current position not too far away from the dock, he could see three things.

One was a shipwreck, on his right, which blocked his path from reaching Gabriel and Hayden - presuming those were the two figures who washed up earlier - as well as a third figure who was clearly a woman, judging by the voice he heard and general womanly outline of her form. Whether that was Eponine or some other member of his crew that he hadn't met yet, he couldn't quite tell as he only caught glimpses of her through the ship's debris while she was heavily engaged with someone who moved just as quickly.

A second thing was impossible to miss, even with his impaired vision. The towering figures of two giants were clear, though the man couldn't tell Sigrid apart from the other. They were quite far out at sea.

The third thing was another large figure to his left, though nowhere near as large as the mighty giants. This must have been Hariyama, Barbossa guessed, fighting alongside one of his companions. While it wasn't possible to do any form of headcount, he could see that the pair had their hands full against something of a swarm of enemies.

Nodding to himself, he grabbed his wooden sword and began making his way over toward them to assist them in battle.

Only two steps into his journey, however, Barbossa came to a sudden halt as none other than Namkhai flew through the air and just missed him by a hair before crashing through a building and causing the entire structure to collapse. Promptly turning after him, the middle-aged man ran in the Titan's path while the giant seemed to have a similar intention, making a move in their direction from out at sea.

Reaching the demolished building wall, Barbossa stepped over the destroyed stones, one elbow up over his mouth and nose to allow him to breathe in the clouds of dust, while his other hand was extended toward Namkhai to help him back up onto his feet.

---

Danielle was taken by surprise when her furry friend suddenly lifted her and threw her onto her back. As she always did when this was necessary, she clung onto Beast’s fur to keep herself from falling off her back and got comfortable for the ride.

The ride was short lived, however, as the ground collapsed beneath them moments later. Trying to grab onto the edge of the sinkhole they had just fallen into, Danielle’s fingers slipped right off and she fell down with Beast. Thankfully, however, her attempt did prevent her from landing beneath the massive dog, the weight of which may have crushed her otherwise. The fluffy creature, instead, cushioned her fall.

As clouds of dust and debris filled the space, Danielle coughed violently, choking on the particles for a moment as she got up. Her back made an unpleasant cracking sound when she moved, but it didn’t hurt, of course. She waved her hand to dispel some of the chalky smoke, then looked at Beast once she could breathe again, her suit now definitely ruined.

“Are you okay?” Each step that she took sent loose stones rolling on the uneven ground of what appeared to be a small cave. Reaching the malamute, she instantly began to pet her to try and comfort her. “What the hell? Where are we?” Looking away from Beast, she looked around at their surroundings, lit up by whatever light was able to enter through the large hole in the ceiling which was too high to reach.

In sheer frustration of everything that led to this moment, Danielle groaned and dropped an F bomb at the top of her lungs, before sighing and allowing herself a moment to just sit next to Beast.

Tired, she rested her arms on her knees and her head dropped in defeat. Even a simple goodbye just couldn’t turn out right, it seemed, as the gold ribbon and amulet had been left by the pond, possibly lost now. This was just a terrible day in every sense of the word.

---

Danielle: #fffd17
Rosalina: #ffaaff
Sir Olivier: #b9a3ff
Hayden: #c3f8fa
Barbossa: #4f8235