Rejuvenation Part III: The Mermaid and The Captain

[Cirrus]

Greetings, newcomers to the tale. Our hero, Alek Sorenson - Captain of the Chess Pirates, and his companions 'Lady in the Grate' Lyra Sao and Jack Caesar are currently travelling to the shipyard. Intent on securing a vessel to ensure safe travel away from the pirate's market, it is unbeknownst to the trio that an old enemy of Alek's is stirring; the predator stalks the prey...
_________________________________________________

"Shipyard's this way," grinned Alek. He had no doubt confused the pair as to which direction he was going to travel in, but the currently carefree bounty head was oblivious to any negative feelings. The king had just invited two more into his court, and they had graciously accepted. He would show them off to Trent and the others when he got back, and they would marvel at their individual talents. The cyborg hadn't missed Lyra's little display with the flute, and a female wasn't missed upon the crew's roster.

Alek gestured for Lyra and Jack to follow him, and once again utilised his intense speed by disappearing and reappearing on the other side of the plaza.

"Come on, slow buses!" The fractured idiom was a sign of Alek's relative status as a 'greenhorn' compared to the other inhabitants of the Blue Seas. Being a Skypiean, the 23,000,000 bounty head wasn't too used to the idea of idioms or other obscure language niches, and as such had coined his own one; paraphrasing on the original. Alek didn't understand that this was not how idioms worked, but it took a damned brave soldier to ruin his current mood right now.

When the mermaid and the devil fruit user no doubt arrived in his proximity, the cyborg would seem to disappear again, leaving a little gust of wind and a visible disturbance of the street litter as the only evidence of his being there. Speed like this was the core of Alek's power - starkly contrasting with the role of a king in chess. He mused upon this matter while he travelled, waiting for his companions to get close again before speeding off towards the shipyard. Muttering to himself, he said;

"I need to get stronger..."

[❰ Misha ❱]

"Shipyard's this way,"

"Come on, slow buses!"

Alek seemed to warp at an unnatural speed. Jack was able to observe a few of Alek's movements, but several still escaped his eyes. It was amazing, his speed was incredible. Jack marveled at it, he had his Devil Fruit to lean on so he hadn't developed that kind of speed. His coral provided him with strong melee abilities and Jack also had a lot of physical strength. Combined with his skill and intelligence were all the advantage in battle he needed to take out foes that were much stronger than he was. He didn't have the speed that Alek was happily displaying now.

So Jack dogged along, putting his moderately high stamina to good use while still keeping an eye on Lyra.

"I need to get stronger..."

Jack heard the large cyborg mutter to himself.

"So do I"
Jack muttered to himself as he continued to think of Alek's advanced speed.

----------

They continued to run for awhile, Jack praying that they didn't come across anyone else after their heads. He wasn't worn out at all, even though he'd had to fight the men back at the plaza, but he didn't want to cause more of a ruckus than was necessary.

Jack preferred disgretion, but when you're with a 23,000,000B bounty 8 feet tall Cyborg with the mindset of a king, Jack decided to settle with just getting off the island without destroying everything and having to beat up every Tom, John, and Silver that stood up to take a shot at Alek's and Lyra's head. Right now, the only person who could walk down a busy street and not have too many people raise an eyebrow an him was Jack.

Jack continued to keep up with Alek until they reached a dark back alley.
= "We shouldn't be far from the Shipyard now. We've been running for awhile now. We should be getting close to the outski..." =

Whatever he was going to say next was lost as a sword suddenly pierced through door in middle of the alleyway aimed right at Jack's head and forced him to quickly roll under it. A hail of bullets soon followed it, shooting small holes in the door where the pellets ricocheted off the wall in front of Jack.

Jack was lucky to have evaded both, having jumped to the side just as the bullets started pouring through.

[OOC: Not 100% sure, but according to Jack's class-system guide, I think Jack might be somewhere between skill and power.]

[carlton]

Lyra had an easier time keeping up with the men than before. Despite the water being dirty, it was much more suitable than a rotten sewer.

Lyra loved having all of the dirt and grime clean off of her as she swam in the direction of the two men. She shook her hair this way and that. Its bright, brilliant white shined in the sunlight above the surface.

That Alek, he is really a king, she thought to herself. She could not wait to play him a song. Thoughts ran rampant through her head. What would she play him? What was the best song she knew? She began to get nervous. What if he didn't like the song she played?

Lyra noticed at the two men stopped. She was relieved to finally catch a break, but suddenly grew worried when she realized where she was.

Lyra looked up from the water and saw a dark man standing at the docks. That was all she could think of him as. He was like a ghost, standing there so tall and powerful.

He's like one of the phantom in Mother's stories, she thought. Amazing... but kind of scary too.

Lyra rose up to the surface somewhere nearby and was surprised to see Alek and Jack attacked. She stayed somewhat hidden by the docks, hoping that they would be alright. She wished that the people attacking them might come near the water.

The only chance she had of defending her new friends was to get one or two of them in the water.

[Cirrus]

"We shouldn't be far from the Shipyard now. We've been running for awhile now. We should be getting close to the outski-" whatever Jack was going to say was interrupted by the sound of bullets slamming into the buildings and ornaments behind the devil fruit user. Alek turned sharply, hand already outstreched; he was ready for combat. The cyborg marched confidently up to the door through which the bullets had been fired. He could hear nothing; no signs that their assailant had been there. Whoever it was that had attacked them, they were long gone by now.

"Someone must have heard about us..." mused Alek. Acting upon this matter, the cyborg pulled up his hood. The black fabric covered his silvery-white hair, as well as most of his face. He'd be a little less conspicuous now. With one hand he ripped the door off of its hinges. The building behind it was deserted; the inhabitants aborting the broken home long before the cyborg got to it. Being slightly cautious, the "Checkmate King" threw the door a good few netres ahead of him; Alek was all too prepared for an ambush.

Nothing.

The door fell to the ground and splintered, sending fragments of wood everywhere. The noise echoed ominously throughout the silent and empty alleyway. One of the shards skidded over to Alek's foot. Curious, the 23,000,000 bounty head got down on his haunches and picked it up. There was a note attached to the back. It read:
Hello, Alek. You're wondering who could have known you'd be here. You're looking around right now, but you won't be able to see me. I'm way too far away from where you are. Don't even try to find me; I've been watching you for a long time now. If you think that the ambush was irritating, then you're in for the long haul...

~A friend~

Alek's expression dropped. He had done everything the note had said he would. His mouth formed a pensive frown. Just who was it that was watching him? Pre-empting any questions from Jack, Alek said;

"It's nothing, just some paper." Promptly burning the epistle of doom with the flamethrower in his hand, Alek turned back just in time to catch sight of a shadow on the wall. Taking no chances, Alek disappeared again. With his superior speed he soon found the miscreant. Reappearing in front of Jack with the person in one vice-like hand, he quickly unmasked...her?

"Lemme go, mister! I'll get dad on ya! He's a strong pirate!" It was definately a girl's voice. Embarrassed, Alek's only consolation was that she didn't know who he was. Placing the little tyke on the ground, he gave her a gentle push in the direction he had taken her from.

So he wouldn't have to answer any questions on what just happened, Alek turned again, walking so he was closer to the canal than the alleyway. If Jack could see his expression, then he would have been able to read it like a book.

This wasn't good.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Perched atop a warehouse, a man put down his binoculars. He had been observing the cyborg's behaviour for some time now, and his guesses had been correct. He was starting to become paranoid. Soon he would descend into madness, and then he could have his revenge. The man chuckled, then resumed watching...

[❰ Misha ❱]

"Lemme go, mister! I'll get dad on ya! He's a strong pirate!"

Jack heard as Alek confidently marched into the small apartment. Curious, Jack peeked around the wall to see Alek holding a small little girl. Perplexed, he turned his attention back to the door.

There were holes covering it and the glass had been broken. There was also a sword firmly embedded inside of it. That wasn't what troubled Jack though. What was troubling him was that the sword was facing through the door as if it had been thrown from the top of some nearby building, not from inside the house. Keeping note of this for later, Jack turned his attention back to Alek.

Jack traveled closely behind Alek for the duration of the trip, constantly switching his fields of vision at even the slightest suspicion or unnatural noise. So far, Jack and Alek had managed to evade almost every townsperson, save the wandering eyes of a few curious merchants, but Jack was certain they wouldn't try anything.

Continuing on, Jack brooded to himself heavily within the confines of his deeply troubled mind.

- "It seems someone in this town is a little more clever than the run of the mill thugs we met. Someone wants our heads and they're crafty and cunning enough to not confront us directly." -

Jack's eyebrows furrowed and he continued on, shifting his field of vision from side to side, up and down.

------------------------------

They reached the Ship Docks a few minutes later with no further disturbances. Suspicious still though, Jack rapidly glanced in every direction, alert for anything that seemed out of place.

[carlton]

As the two entered the docks, Lyra was ready to see them. She had been there for only couple of minutes but she was not very patient. Still, she did not go anywhere. She cared about these new friends of hers too much to leave them so abruptly.

Lyra might have surprised Jack when she leapt out of the water and hugged the dock above her. She swung her tail this way and that to balance herself. She gripped between the wood planks with her fingers and stared up at the tall men. She spoke to them in her sing song voice.

"Hey guys! There's plenty of boats around here but I'm not if any of them are for sale.

"Say... are you guys alright? You look like you saw a ghost."

Lyra still did not know who the man was on top of the warehouse. Though she felt a dark presence from him, she did not tell them of him. She didn't know his importance or that he might have been the one that attacked them from before.

Lyra shook the water out of her head and smiled softly at them. She did not think of them to be in any sort of danger.

[Cirrus]

(OOC: Welcome to the size 1 font club guys! ^_^)

"Hey guys! There's plenty of boats around here but I'm not if any of them are for sale. Say... are you guys alright? You look like you saw a ghost." The ever-cheeful tones of Lyra's voice accompanied them as they entered the shipyard. The shipyard in question was a large open plaza, with individual boat-houses around in a circle.

Alek said nothing in reply to the question, which in itself was rather ironic considering they may as well have. Something was haunting the cyborg, and it seemed like it wanted to stay. For the sake of the mermaid, whom Alek now treated with the same outlook as that of a small child, the 23,000,000 bounty head said nothing of the problem.

'I'm fine Lyra. Let's just find a ship. You can ride on my back, if you like?' Turning his passive statement into a question, Alek hoisted Lyra out of the water. She was better off in water, and he knew that, however Alek figured that if she was stuck on land she would have no option but to accept his offer. Smiling mischieviously, the cyborg lifted Lyra onto his back. She was quite light, despite her flowing tail that wrapped itself languidly around Alek's midriff.

'Away to adventure! Come on Jack!' cried Alek, before running off into the nearest ship-house. As soon as he found the owner, Alek would comandeer a vessel, and then he could see his friends again!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile the man ontop of the warehouse disappeared, moving with incredible speeds towards a new destination. A slight hitch had made itself known. The cyborg was escaping. He had to get to the vessel before he did, and exact his revenge now before Alek could make it off of the island. A maniacal laugh echoed in the sudden breeze the man kicked up, crescendoing as the man reappeared in front of Alek Sorenson.

'Hello, Alek...surprised to see me?' He grinned, giving a bow. Before any of them could react Captain Richard J. Paul lashed out, delivering a hard kick to the cyborg's chest.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just before Alek could enter the ship-house, a sudden breeze appeared and a man materialised out of nowhere in front of him. He said a few words, but that was all the cyborg needed to recognise him. It was Captain Richard J. Paul. Alek's silver-blue eyes opened wide in shock, mouth agape. He was speechless, and couldn't say anthing. This condition was then imposed upon him as the Captain landed a hard kick to the Chess Pirate Captain's chest. All the breath knocked out of him, Alek landed on the other side of the plaza.

Freeing himself from Lyra's clutches, the 23,000,000 beli bounty head uttered one, familiar word to his companions.

'Run...'

[❰ Misha ❱]

"Hey guys! There's plenty of boats around here but I'm not if any of them are for sale. Say... are you guys alright? You look like you saw a ghost."

Jack momentarily snapped out of his constant scanning to look up at Lyra.
- "Things just seem too quiet to me right now. We had less fights than I thought we'd have so I'm a little on edge. A 23,000,000B bounty pirate and mermaid shouldn't be able to get through the city so easily. Either you hid very well and Alek was lucky or I suspect someone is leading us on." -

Jack stopped when Alek spoke.
"I'm fine Lyra. Let's just find a ship. You can ride on my back, if you like?"

Jack smiled lightly as Alek lifted Lyra onto his back. It was an odd sight, to say the least. The 8 foot tall cyborg lifted up Lyra and placed her on his back while Jack gave a cheery grin and stared at the pair for a second before resuming his searching for a ship.

There were a few luxurious ones docked on the northeast side of the harbor. Although he was tempted to ask Alek to take one of the luxurious ones, Jack's thoughts interrupted his temptation,
- "If we take a boat from one of the nobles, it might come back to haunt us later on." -

Alek chose that very moment to also speak up
'Away to adventure! Come on Jack!'

Jack smiled and pointed to a moderately sized bright Red ship docked to the northwest as he ran after Alek heading to the ship-house. The ship he pointed at looked to be in good condition and moderately plain, save for the crazy colors the owner had decided to add to it. The masts were orange and the bow had an odd design on it that Jack couldn't make out from a distance.
= "I think we might want to commandeer that one, it looks like the owner was color-blind anyw..." =

Jack stopped as a large man suddenly appeared in front of Alek, blocking the path.

'Hello, Alek...surprised to see me?' the strange man said, a flow of malice tainting his words.

Alek suddenly flew backwards, across the ship plaza before landing on the other side of it. Jack turned around to see Alek skidding a bit to a halt on the other side of the plaza, Keeping himself composed for the moment, Jack heard Alek only uttered one thing,
"Run...'

--------0-------0--------

Jack ran a few steps towards Alek before turning around to face the strange man. He didn't want to risk them being followed, so Jack decided on a quick measure that might buy them some time.
o Koraru Koraru no: Gureto Reifu o

It needed to be quick, so Jack used what could be produced quickly. A slimy blue substance oozed from Jack's skin and dripped to the tiled ground. It dribbled across the ground a few inches from Jack before starting to grow. A blue coral reef-like barrier, a little taller than Alek, soon erected in the middle of the plaza, blocking the strange man from advancing on them.

Jack didn't waste any time waiting around. As soon as the barrier was complete, he broke into a sprint and ran after Alek and Lyra and fled as fast as he could from the strange man.

[carlton]

"What? Oh, OK!" Lyra exclaimed. She was taken back by Alek's sudden action but wasn't disturbed by it. She was quite happy with it.

Lyra laughed happily as the trio raced down the docks. The feeling of wind flowing through her hair was quite the rare experience. She could only compare it to a well timed jump above the surface of the ocean. It felt rough but exciting at the same time.

---

The spell of happiness ended quickly though. Lyra's eyes grew huge when she saw the strange Captain in front of them. She opened her mouth to warn Alek but it was much too late.

Lyra felt a blunt pain behind her and her vision went dark. Her head spun as she tried to get her bearings. When her sight recovered and she realized how far they had flew, she gasped.

Alek then told them to run with a seriousness Lyra rarely understood. But she did today.

Lyra's heart began to race. She wasn't sure what to do. Should she follow this man's orders and take off into the water? Or should she follow her instinct, which was to stay here and protect him? This was a king after all and could very well be the one of her dreams.

A deep, sinking feeling filled Lyra's stomach. She knew that this was the ghostly man from before. If she had only reminded them earlier, this confrontation might have never happened.

Lyra sat up and again pulled her flute out of her backpack. She looked at him and saw three different images of him, rotating and spiraling in her vision. She was still out of it.

"King," she muttered anxiously. She didn't know what to say. She glanced at Jack who was desperately running toward them. Would he make it?

[Cirrus]

(OOC: Stuff gets serious from here on out. I'll get someone to NPC the Captain, thanks for your patience!)

"King," was all Lyra could say. It was understandable; seeing someone as majestically awesome as Alek taken down as easily as you would a poster is a shock to the system. The cyborg rolled onto his side, painfully.

'Lyra...' uttered Alek. He had nothing more to say. What was there to say? As Jack sprinted towards the pair the cyborg got to his feet. The kick had winded him, but hadn't done any further damage. Right now Alek was grateful for the training in Battalia. It had toughened him up, and it had saved his life. Cracking his knuckles, the cyborg prepared to retaliate.

'Jack, I trust you're with me on this one?' he asked as soon as the devil fruit user came into the vicinity. Irrespective of his friend's answer, Alek raced forward. He moved at top speed, and would disappear halfway in his stride. Reappearing above the Captain, Alek launched his assault.

'King's Offensive!' he cried, naming the attack. Delivering punch after punch after punch, Alek aimed to literally knock the Captain's face in.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Hmph.' muttered Richard. The cyborg had friends, and annoying ones at that. Some odd substance that looked like coral suddenly appeared in front of him, blocking his path momentarily. With disdain, the Captain simply grabbed the coral wall and pushed. His toned muscled buldged as he did so, a sign to all that he had honed his body.

As if it were no lighter than a deck of cards the coral wall flew forward, shattering into pieces mid-flight. The sheer strength of the Captain was evident; the marks of his grip were still visible in the clusters of polyps. Cracking his knuckles, he advanced. This was going to be easy. Relishing the moments before he ended the 23,000,000 bounty head's life, Captain Richard J. Paul spoke again.

'None of your pathetic crew are here to save you now, Alek. Hell, they didn't even save you in the first place. I am the reason you are here - I SAVED YOUR LIFE!' shouting out the last pieces of his speech, Richard noted the shocked expression on the cyborg's face and laughed.

'You didn't really think you could survive all that time drifting around in the sea by yourself, did you? I called a marine ship to pick us up, keep you unconscious and drop you off in South Blue. This has all been mind games, Alek! The second you think you're rid of me, I come back to haunt you, ne?' elaborated the Captain. He wasted no more time, but Alek seemed to have acted out of rage, for the captain of the Chess Pirates appeared above him and began raining down punches.

Reacting quickly, Richard turned and blocked every single blow. They had strength behind them however; he was forced back a few metres. Laughing at the petty attempt, he struck again; a powerful back-handed slap. Alek's body was sent flying like a bird across the plaza again, to lie amongst the broken pieces of coral that marked the previous effort to stop him.

'Broken dreams, Alek...you're nothing but a broken dream...' whistled the Captain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He had failed.

The one thought resounded in his mind like the crash of a cymbol in an empty room. Alek had failed. Again. He had failed to harm the Captain - he was laughing at him for God's sake! Why was he so damned weak? Spitting out blood, the 'Checkmate King' rubbed his injuries. What kind of a king was he anyway? Being slapped around by haughty marines. All that stuff about being saved by the Captain - he knew it in his heart to be true. Still, he couldn't let them get to him, not now, not ever.

Glancing at Jack, Alek made light of the situation.

'Still want to travel with me?' he grinned. If this was his last day on Earth, then he wouldn't ruin it by getting upset. Disappearing again, Alek reappeared quite a way in front of the Captain. He would have seemed to have failed again, to have ran out of steam so early in the fight, but in actual fact this was but a ruse. Underneath Captain Richard J. Paul, a water dial activated, spewing a powerful jet of sea water into his face. While he was disorientated, Alek ran forward, scooped up the water dial and made to sweep the Captain's legs from under him.

Kings didn't give up.

[❰ Misha ❱]

'Jack, I trust you're with me on this one?'

Jack faced Alek,
= "I'll be right behind you." =

Jack turned once again toward the strange man and prepared for an assault. The barrier that he'd formed out of hard coral had been destroyed with ease. Jack gritted his teeth as his mind quickly rushed for a strategy that might defeat him.

'None of your pathetic crew are here to save you now, Alek. Hell, they didn't even save you in the first place. I am the reason you are here - I SAVED YOUR LIFE!'
The man yelled out the end of his speech but Jack was still missing something,
= "Does Alek have some history with this strange man?" =

'You didn't really think you could survive all that time drifting around in the sea by yourself, did you? I called a marine ship to pick us up, keep you unconscious and drop you off in South Blue. This has all been mind games, Alek! The second you think you're rid of me, I come back to haunt you, ne?'

Jack twisted his mouth and looked at the strange man oddly
= "So we're dealing with a marine here. No wonder my coral barrier didn't last long. I'll have to come up with something different" =

Suddenly, Alek rushed forward toward the captain and disappeared, only to reappear in the air.

'King's Offensive!'
Alek rained down punches on the strange man.

Jack reacted fast and sprinted quickly toward the mysterious marine. While the man was distracted blocking Alek's attack, Jack unleashed one of his own attacks:

o Azure Assault o
The man had blocked every single one of Alek's punches and Alek had been thrown back, but Jack didn't wait around. He took a long jump and threw a multitude of his strongest kicks and punches at the strange man. After a few seconds, Jack twirled his body around and reached out an open palm.

Before he could attempt to paralyze the grown man, Alek swept in with some kind of shell that spurted water in the man's face. While he was disoriented for a second, Alek went for a leg sweep. Jack quickly reached out his hand at the distracted marine to follow up on Alek's maneuver and grasp the man's throat and paralyze him with the stinging cells on his hands.

[carlton]

Lyra held her breath in anxiousness.

She listened carefully to what the Marine captain was saying. He was very disturbing to say the least. If what he was saying was true, he was able to move this great man across an ocean without his knowledge. She couldn’t even imagine what he could do to someone pitiful like her. But, fortunately, he seemed to be only really focused on Alek, and for that she was somewhat thankful.

Lyra squeaked when Alek was launched into her area yet again. She looked at him with wide, frozen eyes. The captain’s laugh was a faint drum beat to the melody of fear playing in her mind.

But Alek rose. He seemed to resurrect in his place. She knew that he still was not entirely confident but that was what made him even stronger in her eyes. He understood fear but still acted.
Alek and Jack, in turn, inspired her.

As Jack moved, so did Lyra. She crept like a serpent along the docks, eyeing the situation with her muddy brown eyes. She grabbed onto a pole of the dock and twisted up it like a tightened rope. She towered over the captain like a flag on a mast, blowing in the wind. She pulled her golden flute back.

Just as Jack was to paralyze the man in the throat, Lyra swung her flute like a baseball bat. If it were effective, it would hit the captain in the back of the head. By itself, it would not be very effective, but combined with Jack’s abilities it could have been devastating. Lyra was aiming for a homerun.

But as Lyra swung, she felt a strange feeling of regret. Should she really be doing this? She wondered. This was no place for weaklings like her.

[Cirrus]

(OOC: Change of plans, since you guys decided to be all awesome at fighting...You've kinda gotta wonder why I'm so good at making my characters SUFFER...>.>)

Whilst the cyborg pocketed the water dial, his companions seemed eager to join in the fight. With Jack moving to paralyse the Captain and Lyra aiming to smash his skull in, Alek noted that his crew just might have had to welcome two new additions. Fighting force was essential for a king; to have a strong army was synonymous with having power. Smiling has he initiated the leg sweep, Alek readied himself for the prospect of victory.

How naive.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh how the tables had turned. A single water dial had screwed him over, that of course coupled with the attacks of Alek and his friends. Captain Richard J. Paul had simply gauped at the shell as the high powered burst of water slammed into his face, obscuring his vision and stinging his eyes.

Moreover, Alek had swept his legs from under him, turning Richard into a falling tower. A tower that was under attack. To make matters worse, the coral-kid had come up behind him and jumped on his neck, getting him good with his odd devil fruit ability. Bursts of pain ripped through his body, causing him to verge on passing out. It was sheer will power alone that kept him conscious, a will power that stood firm as the flute-cum-club slammed into the back of his head.

'Gargh!' groaned the Captain in rage. Picking himself up, he decided to take out the cyborg's friends before dealing with Alek himself. Going by the reasoning that seeing his companions decimated would dishearten the 23,000,000 bounty head enough for the marine to take him down, Richard put his plan into action.

With speed that should have been impossible for a man of his stature, Captain Richard J. Paul moved towards the now dubbed 'Coral-Kid'; intent on putting him down for good. He would try to grab the accomplice by the arm, in preparation for his eponymous move - The Haymaker. If all went to plan, the Captain would land a solid rock shattering punch on the oddly irised boy's face.

Blam. Right in the kisser!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Jack!' was all Alek could say before the Captain, reanimated like a zomibe, moved with nigh on imperceptible speeds towards his companion. Chivalry returning with a vengeance, Alek moved even faster to protect his friend. Like some kind of phantom, the 'Checkmate King' would flit in and out of view as he ran towards the devil fruit user. Getting there mere milliseconds before the Captain did, Alek put out his right hand and fired a bazooka shell.

Nothing happened.

'Wha?' he half thought, half uttered before the full force of Captain Richard J. Paul's punch smashed straight through Alek's weak defense, sending him crashing through many a building. His hand had diverted the punch slightly, making it target his throat. The cyborg gasped for air, but none filled his lungs. The marine had crushed his larynx.

He was choking.

[❰ Misha ❱]

Jack jumped on the man and instantly activated the stinging cells in his fingers, sending pain searing through the man's body before swiftly moving away from the man as soon as the toxins began to do their work. The man was too strong to risk a larger dose, so Jack settled only for enough to cause him a large amount of pain.

His attention flitted back where his peripheral vision caught Lyra aiming for the man with a...flute. Jack's eyebrows rose a little at Lyra's choice of weapon but he had no time to think on it more.

'Gargh!'
The man picked himself up with a cry of pain, but was able to stand nonetheless. The shock of someone overcoming the toxins that now slightly paralyzed him left Jack staring incredulously at the large man.

The disbelief at the man's willpower and physical ability left Jack distracted long enough for the man to make his move. He lanked at Jack and then moved at a speed that Jack was still to shocked to catch and was soon unable to react before it was too late. The man reached out to grab him by the arm and succeeded. A vice-like grip settled tightly around his upper bicep.

'Jack!'
Was all he heard before Jack shut his eyes, waiting for the inevitable pain to strike him and either kill him outright or send him flying into the bay where he would drown.

He anticipated it, waited for it, but it never came. A second later, Jack opened his eyes to see Alek standing frozen in front of him, as the man's punch seemed to be embedded in Alek's throat.

Jack's eyes widened and he stared for a second at Alek, too lost for words to say anything. The sound of choking started and for a second, the world seemed to fade to black and white.

It only lasted for a second, before Jack regained his grasp on reality. The anger flared and his muscles pulsed. Uncontrolled, Jack cried out loud and went to seize the man's outstretched arm from Alek's throat and inject it with even more toxins right on the wrist. Angrier than even the time he'd been thrown out of his hometown, Jack tried to rip his arm from the man's grasp and immediately placed both of them on the ground
"o Koraru Koraru no Kyosei o"

The coral vains burst out of the ground in the small area around Jack as it flowed from the second skin in his hands as a blue liquid before growing out of the liquid.
Controlling it, Jack aimed to wrap the coral around the strange man as Lyra's attack neared

[carlton]

"No!" Lyra shouted as Alek was attacked horribly. It was just an hour since she had met him but this fate of his was terrible. She couldn't see him after how many buildings he flew through. But how was she going to be able to reach him?

Lyra held her grip onto the pole as Jack's eyes flared in a strange light. She actually leaned back, intimidated by the man. He had new ambition. She felt it. And she rolled with it.

Lyra pushed off of the pole and flung herself at the Marine captain with her club-like flute. Unfortunately, it was only then that she realized what Jack's plan actually was.

Lyra felt the coral's effect as she dove in her attack. It was a strange feeling that she knew she had felt before.

When she was a child, her mother often told her to never go into a forest near their home in the sea. After a fight, Lyra took off to the forest and was caught in a toxic, coral reef. She remembered how long it took before she could move again.

Her eyes widened as she felt the paralyzing effects over take her arm then creep up to her shoulder and side of her face. She was caught by the coral on her left side. Her right side, the side she was attacking with, was still able to move for now.

Lyra again tried to hit the Captain with her flute. But she hit him in the side of his chest, due to the effects of the coral, not his head like she had intended. If she was lucky enough to him in the diaphragm, they might have a chance.

But as Lyra fell next to Jack amongst the coral, she felt that their luck was running out.

"Jack, the King's hurt..." she said somewhat awkwardly through her numb mouth. She held her breath, hoping that Alek would rise, just as he did before.