One Piece Role-Play Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Musical Surgeon is an article written by EmperorSigma and BQD.
Musical Surgeon is an article written by DamonDraco.
Role-Play Name: Musical Surgery

Users Involved: User:EmperorSigma, User:BQD, User:DamonDraco
Setting: Wavecro
Characters Involved:

General Investigation[]

Marine Observation[]

The blue sea had been shrouded by the midnight sky. In this specific location, a lone vessel bearing the insignia of the Marines sailed across the tamed waves. It was around 11:00 PM, a time way past what most considered "lights out" for their children. Yet, for some reason it was the perfect time for this ship to complete its travels.

A big, strong, topless Marine stood at the fron of the vessel. In his hand was a Den Den Mushi, it'd seemed he had been right in the middle of a conversation. His short messy brown hair flew in the mild winds, while his golden eyes illuminated the dark area in front of him. He pulled his arm up and spoke clearly into the Den Den Mushi, his face lacking expression.

"I'll be docking at the Wavecro soon. Once docked, I'll begin investigations as soon as possible." Hanging up the Den Den Mushi, the man turned to face a platoon of naval soldiers. The man was none other than, Commodore Ferrothorn Zayden, former guard of Impel Down.

It had been the first time in two years since Zayden left the prison and even since he stationed himself there, it he'd only heard bad news. The breaking point was learning about his little brother, Braxton's, betrayal against the World Government. He couldn't sit idle any longer, if there was anyone in their family that would kill Braxton without hesitation, it was this man here.

"Harlee," he called out, his voice deep like a thumping heartbeat. "We'll be docking soon, get ready." His seven-foot figure towered over the railing of the boat.

Standing somewhere on the vessel was Lowell Harlee, her visage witnessed the seemingly endless blue ocean but more than that, she seemed to be staring off into the distance. Enjoying what appeared to be reminiscing of old times, Harlee heard the thunderclap of a voice that belonged to Zayden, which instinctively made her grasp the railing as tight as she could.

"A-alrighty Commodore Zayden." even she could be taken by surprise once in a while. She grabbed her hat, which lay in the floor next to her and put it on, covering her wolf-like ears before walking to where Zayden stood. "I'm ready now!" she exclaimed, gazing at the island in proximity.

The ship reached the dock and Zayden turned to face his platoon of soldiers. Gazing at each and every one of them individually, he began to take a head count. He cleared his throat and folded his arms, then leaned back against the railing. "Listen up," he began, the bass in his voice still there. "No one apart of this platoon, including myself will step a foot off of this Kingdom until we know SOMETHING."

Stepping from the ship onto the land, Zayden did a quick survey of his immediate surroundings. Lifting his hand up, electricity began to spark from his palm, then with a push, it all began to travel along the wind currents and spread all throughout the island.

The Marine soldiers exited the ship next in a spike-like formation. Guns and swords across their shoulders, they all stopped and held their hands in a saluting formation. Between them, a slim short-haired man with glasses walked through and approached Zayden.

"Captain Crabbe Harold at your services." He stated in a British accent, bowing to Zayden's back. "Our men will move out and begin to search each crevasse of this Kingdom." Turning his back, Harold held his arm out. "Harold, out!"

"Harlee," Zayden began, "What will you do?"

Harlee had stepped out of the ship and onto the land right after Zayden. She looked around, analyzing her surroundings. So far, Wavecro appeared to be no different from any other place she'd visited. Granted, they were on a dock and she had seen no more than that.

"I'll head into the nearest town and see what I can find," she said as she stretched her arms over her head. "I think if we spread out, there'll be a bigger chance of finding what we're looking for. However, we're still unaware of who or what could possibly here, so It'd be smart to stay in touch." the girl explained, she preferred to work alone after all, but knew that if danger were to appear, she'd need to warn her superior.

Extending his arm out, he grabbed Harlee by the shirt and lifted her into the air. "Nah, you'll stay with me." Zayden ordered, keeping the girl in his grasp as he began to walk forward. "I'll have to see if you've gotten stronger myself. Because if you didn't..." Zayden turned Harlee around so that her face met his own.

"I'll have to kill you myself, Little Harlee." his voice once against thunderous like on the ship. Walking along the pathway further, Zayden finally found what seemed to be the remains of a former standing town. Without any further thought, he entered its premise and began to look around for anything that was something.

It wouldn't be long before a group of survivors rushed out from their corners and surrounded Zayden's large mast. Some had been injured, while others seemed to have just been suffering from starvation. "Marines. Marines! Marines!!! We are saved!!!" They'd begin to shout and as they did, even more survivors came rushing out to surround Zayden and Harlee.

"Please, people of Wavecro remain calm." Zayden finally broke his silence. "We have a ship, with plenty of supplies to ensure you all's survival, but I'm going to need to ask some information from you all." Zayden released Harlee to his side.

Eye each of the individuals, Zayden spoke once again. "What happened here?" He asked, watching as these peoples faces slowly began to grow smiles. "Or more importantly, how did Wavecro get destroyed?"

A man pushed his way through the crowd of people up until he'd finally reached Zayden. His six feet figure was towered by Zayden he was just a foot tall, but it made a severe difference. "I don't remember everything, Marine sir... but I remember a few things that matter." The man claimed, sitting down to the ground while releasing a sigh.

Zayden followed suit and sat to the ground as well, crossing his legs and folding his arms as he did. "Enlighten me, civilian."

The man nodded and began. "My name is Avery, I've been living in the Wavecro Kingdom for over twenty years. Not once as there been conflict in this Kingdom until about a month ago. A group of suited men would suddenly begin to visit the Kingdom quite frequently, but as a Kingdom of great cooks, we all thought it was just another customer. Until one day, the castle lit into flames. A group of men was seen escaping from the castle and for about a week, we hadn't seen those men again."

Avery swallowed his saliva and paused. Sweat began to fall down his forehead and he spoke with nervousness. "A couple days later, two men came. One wore a mask and fur-trimmed jacket, while the other also had on a jacket but his hood rested on his head. Before we know it, the two had begun to attack the Kingdom in its entirety. They both moved fast, like lightning, and destroyed town after town right before killing the King and Queen. Luckily the Princess was away, but if I'm correct the Marines managed to grab her before she had come home. They were like thugs the way they tore up the towns and killed many of the towns folks."

Of course, she had seen Zayden's threat as playful teasing. After all, her Maurier Harlan brother had said the same thing to her several times. It was a common human joke, or so she thought. "Hehe~, sure thing, sir." she said, scratching the back of her head as the man lowered her down.

Once her feet were back on the ground, before she knew it, the duo was surrounded by civilians, whose screams of help she couldn't ignore. It happened so quickly that Harlee couldn't help but freeze up. Luckily for her, Zayden had remained calm and addressed the situation like a proper Marine. It brought a smile to Harlee's face, which quickly disappeared as the man known as Avery came forward and began to speak. She sat on the ground, much like the other two and listened intently.

Harlee's eyes and mouth widened as the man explained what had happened. Two individuals had rampaged through an entire kingdom and caused nothing but chaos. It was likely the work of pirate scum. Harlee's entire body tightened as she heard the man speak. "Rest assured..." she said, as she stood up, "We'll find 'em, we'll find 'em and bring them to justice" she proclaimed, her cupid tooth glistening under the night sky. Perhaps, she had made a promise too quickly, but the way Harlee felt about pirates made her stubborn. Although lately, she had been able to control that.

Zayden glared at Harlee, even though they sat a feet inches apart from each other, his torso nearly towered her entire body. Looking down on her, he had this dark look in his eye. "Harlee shut the hell up." He demanded, "You shouldn't be making promises your little ass can't keep." Reaching over, he grabbed Harlee's head and placed his elbow on top of it as he began to think.

He looked back to Avery and asked, "You said they had been coming here prior to the Kingdom's fall, correct? Could you take me to where they would go to meet?" Back into his thinking position, Zayden thought to himself. "I managed to pin point the location of a group of others."

Avery stood to his feet, "Yes sir!"

Following the man's suit, Zayden removed his elbow from Harlee's head and stood to his feet as well. With the palm of his hand, he gripped Harlee's entire head and brought her to her feet. Turning his attention to the rest of the civilians he pointed in the direction behind him. "Alright, people of Wavecro!" His voice pounded like a bass drummer's solo in performance. "About 200 meters from here you will find a Marine ship with my men guarding it. Let them know Commodore Zayden sent you here. They will clothe and feed you all. Sit tight until we return."

Turning to follow Avery, they trio would disappear.

Harlee had what could only be considered a poker face as Zayden grabbed her as if she was no more than a doll. "I'll never get used to this..." she muttered quietly to herself. After he was done, she turned her attention to Avery who would now lead them, Harlee walked dizzily behind the duo as they headed to the meeting point.

Pirate Salvation[]

In what could be considered "remains" of a building, a young boy lied in the rubble, seemingly resting comfortably. At least considering he was awake and moving his arms, but no such motions to get him out of his position. There were multiple pieces of paper lying around him, each had words written on them both front and back.

His appearance was masked by the darkness of the building, courtesy of the night sky. The Den Den Mushi on his side began to ring, Purupurupuru. Turning his head ever so slightly, his golden eyes left an illuminating trail behind. He answered, "What..." He simply stated a rather dry response.

"Dexter-kun!" The soft voice called out through the other end of the Den Den Mushi. "Nobody gonna' think any different of you! You're a sensation!" It was a rather feminine voice and possessed a bit of concern.

This young man was Dragon D. Dexter, a rather renown Pirate in the New World. But the way he currently looked, was a rather different take for him. He looked beaten, depressed, overall he looked like a sloppy mess. His signature mohawk hairstyle was barely a thing. His hair just rested over his face in a messy manner. Gripping the Den Den Mushi with a tight grip he spoke into it, "Sensation my ass, Zoe."

He spat to his side then continued, "I failed my damn self. Y'all don't get it do you? I waited half of my life for that moment and I fucked it all up, 'cause I ain't pay attention. I been so damn depressed, I wrote twelve heartbreak songs, my pira. If I snap back to my senses, I can come home and drop a fuckin' album. That's how much I've been writin'."

"We don't give a shit about that, Dexter!" A now male voiced shouted back at him, this was Dexter's DJ and drummer, Osiris. "What're you gonna' tell Baron, Dexter, huh?!"

"Fuck 'em." He responded, slouching ever so more into the rubble.

"YOU UNGRATEFUL IDIOT!" Osiris shouted, spit flying from the Den Den Mushi's mouth as he did. "WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?! I'LL COME STICK MY FOOT RIGHT UP YOU A-"

"I don't know, some wasted place. Wavecraw, Waveca, some shit like that." Dexter responded.

There was a sudden silence from the Den Den Mushi, "Dexter, you're on Wavecro. You've gotta' get away from there... RIGHT NOW."

"Osiris, shut up." Dexter bit his lip and turned his head. "Don't forget, I'm the fuckin' CEO. At the very least this fuckin' fruit'll let me know if somethin' in the zone is getting near. I'll talk to y'all when I'm on my way back home. Oh and Osiris, if I come and find anybody been in my fuckin' kitchen, I'll kill both you and Lucina, got that?" Dexter paused, he had a sudden flash of Lucina's image in his head. "Yeah, make sure you watch her. She might be my manager, but she eats like a fuckin' pig. Dexter, out." He stated, hanging up the Den Den Mushi.

Leaning back, Dexter threw the Den Den Mushi against the nearby wall. "Shit man!" He shouted, "One fuckin' job and I let me greed get in the way of deciphering a fake from a real."


Meanwhile, at Dexter's mansion...

"Did that give you enough time to locate him, Lucina?" Osiris asked, looking over the shoulder of a woman sitting at an open desk.

The woman had long straight blue hair with white dyed ends, tied up into a ponytail. She wore a white shirt and a pair of tightly fitted blue jeans. "Got exactly where he is. Seems he didn't lie about being on Wavecro... That's bad, Osiris. We'd better get there... and Quick."

Zoe's eyes shifted between Lucina and Osiris. He held her hands together and bowed her head. "Please Dexter," she thought to herself in a praying manner, "Just PLEASE be oka-"

She'd suddenly feel a weight on her head. As she looked up, both the hands of Lucina and Osiris rested on top. Both had fearless smiles, the complete opposite of her very own facial expression. As they did, she could feel a sudden warmth from both of their hands.

"It's gonna' be fine, Zoe. He's my best friend too. After he sees us, he'll come back to his senses." Osiris smiled further, "Don't forget that."

Lucina went on to further her smile as well, "Yeah besides, he doesn't have a Co-CEO, which means if he dies without one, Oceanic Records will go to the World Government. And we don't want that for our label, do we?"


Waves went and came, tapping against the wood of a small boat, it laid before the dark beach. The person who had used it was already far into the island, sneakers smashing the fragile peebles he walked upon, "Tis' better be true..." Blumenthal Gerhard sighed within his beaked mask, holding a large bag with his left hand and dragging it through the entrance of a... destroyed town.

Many buildings were spread across its landscape, some seemingly had lamps or whatever light source. Survivors. Good, his cheeks inflated, that meant the trail was fresh and that his informat hadn't been lying to him any bit. He was told several people were in need of help at Wavecro. Normally, Gerhard would bother to use his Haki and find people more quickly, it was something he had to improve, after all.

Yet, he only uttered out a soft, "Um, 'ello?" Not that Gerhard was sure people would even respond to a sudden visitor.

There were coughs following Gerhard's greeting. He thought they wouldn't respond, but it had been about a month since the falling of this Kingdom, so any voice other than their own gave them hope. From an ally, two individuals walked out. One was an elder woman and the other was a young male child.

As the woman inched closer and closer to Gerhard, her appearance came whole despite the dark sky. She'd been severely wounded as indicated by the many scars across her body as well as her dangling arm. You didn't have to be a doctor to tell that it was broken. Her spirit looked broken and the sad expression she gave off as she dragged herself closer to the Notch Pirate, made it all the more evident.

Lifting her functional arm she reached out at Gerhard, "Hello! Please si-," she dropped to the ground, she'd been weak and truly couldn't keep up the tough ruse any longer. "P-please sir.. H-help my g-grandson. H-his eeeyyyeeee..." She muttered, gripping her grandson's cloak and pulling it from his body.

As his face was revealed, the left side of it had been nearly destroyed in the sense that it was wounded badly. In fact, even though his eyelid wasn't open, one could tell that he had been missing the eye from the socket. Dropping to his knees, the boy began to shake him grandmother's body. "Grandma Baboa! Grandmuuuuuum!!!!" He wailed at his unconscious grandmother who'd passed out simply due to fatigue.

Tears crawling down his face, the boy turned to Gerhard. "Please Mister! Please!! Help my grandma!"

No one had blinked and Gerhard was already by the two's side, his hand reached out for the ground, activating a dungeon as wide as an entire street. "I may be capable of fixin' 'er," Muffled words went into the boy's ears, Gerhard's hands cupped Baboa's broken arm, "But, I dunno' about ya'." The process was nothing too new, each hand issued a different command so that he could reform properly Baboa's arm bone. Regardless if she screamed or not, Gerhard maintained himself in the process.

Furthermore, his very Haki aided him in seeing the state of the old woman, after all, misuse of his power could bring forth more unnecessary suffering upon Baboa. Crack and crack, Baboa's shattered bone moved within her flesh, evident by how much her skin budged from an outside view though, that was something that Gerhard tried to shield from the boy's eyes by standing in-between.

Once he was done, Gerhard rose and looked at the boy's wound, "Did'ja wash't even once?" He asked, hands resting before the boy's head much like he asked permission to examine him. "Are ya' two alone in 'ere?" Glancing around, he did yet another call, "HELLO?"

"No." The small boy answered Gerhard's question after giving him a nod to examine him. "I'll be fine, I'll be fine!" The boy shouted, despite his physical conditions he showed no fear to waver. "We aren't alone. There's a boy! A boy," He repeated. "He's in that building!" Turning around, Corbin pointed at a building at had been halfway collapsed.

With her remaining strength, Baboa turned slightly to Corbin and Gerhard. "Thank you for your help, youngster. In that building, is a boy who's even younger than you."

Corbin shouted out once more, "Yeah! He saved me and my grandmum from being flattened by that building!" Corbin then paused and held his silence for a moment. "It was weird... one moment, the building was there." He pointed to an empty area, "Then suddenly it moved to where it is right now. I don't know how he managed to get trapped inside."

The boy shook a bit, "Sir, please! Help him!"

Inside the building the young boy had been referring to, a dark-skinned skinned teen rested in a pile of rubble with paper surrounding him. "I can't even move my body. I'm sleepy for no reason." The boy had been talking to himself, but he was well aware of that. "I paid Beli5,000,000,000 just to buy the wrong fruit." He paused and closed his eyelids for a moment, poking out his chest he shouted. "DUMMY DUMMY YEAH THAT'S MEEEEEE!" He sung. "I been in here for about two days, when this shit gonna' wear off? I'm about to sleep right into heaven, earth was cool."

Leaning back in the rubble, the boy's eyes locked up on the remains of the ceiling. "O.P.E stands for 'Obviously People Evil'. When's this shit gonna' wear off?"

Staring at Corbin for a few seconds as he spoke, Gerhard beamed, "Okayyy." He stepped away, only to briefly stop due to the duo talking once more, "Saved huh?" Step, he marched on and gave a back-handed wave to Baboa and Corbin, though, he was not even sure if they would part ways then. After all, patients needed more than healing, but company as well. Past numerous buildings, Gerhard was quickly standing before the aforementioned boy's hideout.

Before Gerhard had even thought too much, he dug his right palm into the building's basement, whose surface cracked, "Think of't as loot, as openin' a treasure." He mused inside his mind, eyebrows wiggling even when a singing chant came from inside there. Along his hand, the basement slowly rose and was torn apart in a not so loud rumble, dust came over the street, yet, the building didn't drop.

Held over Gerhard's head, the building creaked a bit more, and he could finally see who laid inside it. Though, not really, since the cloud of dust invaded there, too. "I's asked to help ya', I'mma' doctor," Trying some sort of greeting, Gerhard waited for any kind of response.

"Wooooow, I can't even open my eyes. I'm in here with two goo-" The very foundation and rubble of the building began to rise. Dust and debris filled the air around him, causing him to lift his hand over his eyes. "Is it mornin' yet?" The teen called out, waving his hand trying to push the debris away from his view.

Corbin rushed over to Gerhard's side and held on to his leg, trying to look into the debris and make sure the boy was okay. Using the tips of his toes, he attempted to look into the debris. "Hey, Mister!" Corbin shouted at the top of his lungs, "Are you alright!?!?"

A shadowy figure could be seen walking through the cloud of dust. Each step he took was slow, but because you could see his shadow, it seemed as though he had been stuffing something into his pockets. The silhouette of a sword sat on his back diagonally as his appearance came full to the opposing group.

He was dressed in all black sweat suit-like attire with running shoes to cap it all off. His hair was all over his head, rare to not see the teen without his usual mohawk look. "Hey kid," the voice said emerging from the debris entirely. "you ain't have to do that. Even though I'm sad as can be, I wrote that's gone be wave like that sea. Popstar that be me, the rappin' Dext-"

Stopping mid-sentence his eyes locked onto the masked man that managed to "free" him off the rubble building. "I remember you... ya' you crashed my show at the Brothel at Cartecielo. Then you hauled ass after the Marines showed up... fuck pira'."

Unfazed by Corbin's sudden run, Gerhard tilted his head upon finally seeing just whom was there. "Oh, it's just ya'," He mused, before quickly bending his knees so that he could be face to face with Corbin, "Kid, y'need a rest." Gesturing for Baboa in the distance, Gerhard patted the kid's head, "Will ya', please? I can look after 'im," A thumb pointed at Dexter.

Swiftly spinning around, Gerhard faced Dexter once again, "Hell yeah, I did." Memories of eruptions and drunk dinosaurs went through his thoughts, something to which he shook his head. "The hell ya' doing 'ere tho?" Upon getting a closer look, Gerhard's eyebrows went up, "Y'need... some treatment, dude." He tried remarking, steps having taken him to Dexter's side almost instantly.

Even though Gerhard had let go of the building, it was still there, standing. Should one look behind it, they would notice the many earth pillars that erupted from its surface and etched themselves at the ground.

"I don't need no help, I'm straight," Dexter stated, turning his neck side to side. "That ain't even that last time I remember you, to be honest." Dexter thought back to his battle with the Shichibukai, Bimore O. Jack. Specifically when the teen had been trailing the man and once he had been found out, he put on an accent, in attempts to mimicking Gerhard. "Yeah, it was against that damned swordsman."

Swinging his arm in a clock-like manner, his bones cracked. "I got here, 'cause..." Dexter had a vision of the past events that landed him there. Events that he wished he could turn time back and undo... "Yeah, after I ate that fruit, the Marines fuckin' kicked the door down. Guns went blazin' and dicks went flyin'. I got swallowed by a shadow and ended up on this dump."

Dexter looked at Corbin and launched a piece of fabric towards the boy's direction. "Hey kid, I meant to give this to you.. but hell, I didn't want to come out of my hole. I was, no wait, I AM disappointed in myself." It seemed Dexter still suffered from depression of allowing himself to be tricked into eating the wrong devil fruit.

Corbin grabbed it and began to look at it. It didn't take rocket science to learn that it was a handmade eyepatch. It was so that Corbin could cover his eye with it. "Thanks so much! Wait... you're Dexter! I know you! Everyone in the kingdom knows you! The princess used to let us hear your music all the time!"

"That's great kid." Dexter responded, turning his attention back to Gerhard. He changed his view to the sky, "Next thing I know, this kid and his granny damnear got smashed by that building." Dexter suddenly got a mental image of a devil fruit in his head. Red and white spherical devil fruit with a small leaf hanging out of it. "Shit, I don't know how but I think with that power, I moved the building here and buried myself."

"I ain't no genius and I ain't no fool, I remember ya' name from that Marine on that stool. Gerhard?"

Gerhard's head tilted to the right then, "Swordsman? Fruit?" Though they weren't even close to one another, the sight of a distressed Dexter only prompted Gerhard's expressions to switch constantly. Observing his surroundings while Dexter and Corbin talked, Gerhard crossed his arms, attention only going back to them once Dexter started to talk about the near incident, "So, back when we met, ya' didn't have a power..."

"Marine? Well, like," One of Gerhard's hands rose to scratch the back of his head, his eyes going half-lidded, "My blade'as stolen, so I had ta' hurry." Rolling his eyes, he quickly remembered the culprit of such an action.

Thinking back to the last time they met, "Nah, nope. If this power is what I think it is, it would've done me damn good justice when you crashed through the ceiling." Lifting his hand, he flipped it to its backside to survey it a bit more. "Now that I think about it..." Dexter had a sudden flashback to when the building collapsed. He stood stiff, feet planted with both of his hands down to his side. Two silverish miniature domes formed under his hands, then suddenly he'd swapped places with Corbin and his grandmother.

Dexter's eyes narrowed, "Wait, you mean to tell me..." he paused for a moment to glare. "Someone stole your blade?" Grabbing the hilt of the sword resting on his back, Dexter grew a tad bit angry. "I wish a pira would. Oh, shit, oh wow... That's degradin', Ger-." Dexter burst out into laughter, "OHH I needed that Gerhard, not gone hold you! So I'm guessin' you can't directly track it?"

Sighing he held out the palms of his hands. "So long as Tenrairyu ain't too far away, the electrons'll show me where he is." In the middle of Dexter's speaking, his jacket began to ruffle as though something had been within it crawling about. From his hoodie, a small lizard-like being emerged and climbed onto his shoulder. "Oh yeah, I found this guy while I was in there." He spoke in reference to the collapsed building. "Dunno', was thinking of calling him Spike."

"Oho?" This surely was a day full of surprises, Ab had been right, Dexter had not been all over a woman and even got a fruit power. Before Gerhard could further question it, both Dexter's glare and words beat him, "...That's wha' I said, yeah-" Shoulders low, Gerhard could only observe once his pirate companion began to laugh. "Um, like, my kenbunshoku's not the best yet... I been trynna' improve." He shrugged.

With a step forward, Gerhard eyed the sword that Dexter showcased, "Oooh, such a rare item." Rapid and several nods were given, it seemed that Dexter was beginning to shape himself up and become much of a professional player. Though, maybe he just wanted to remain a popstar. "Oooh," Gerhard blinked and cooed, seeing the lizard, "Ya' even got yerself a familiar," He backed away slightly. "It seems y'been doin' several discoveries 'ere."

No pause went by, "Which brings me ta' another question," Gerhard crossed his arms again, "What's th'deal with tis' island? Re'there any other survivors for me ta' help?" His gaze briefly passed by Corbin and Baboa.

Baboa managed to lift herself to an upright position, gripping her arm she could still feel a bit of pain from it being broken. But she was by no means the average elderly. "Avery and the rest of those went to the coastal area, hoping to find help. They are all fine though."

With answering Gerhard's question, she called Corbin over to her. The young boy rushed over to her with the eyepatch strapped around his missing eye. Looking at the two pirates, Corbin had the kind of look in his eye. Despite him being left with one, his vision went unblurred, both of them were glorious too him in their own way. His lone left eye glistened like a jewel as he watched Gerhard and Dexter speak to one another.

Corbin too had a sudden flashback to when Dexter saved him and his grandmother, as well as Gerhard's miraculous feat of healing Baboa's arm. Then going forward to reconstruct the building through unknown means. "Those two are so cool..." He muttered under his breath, watching them go back and forth. "I wanna' be like them!"

"Discovery my ass, you damn dick-head." Dexter reached for the familiar and placed his finger on it's head, in a petting manner. "All I discovered was my mistakes." The bearded dragon, Spike, smiled at Dexter's gentle pats. "Well, I guess I can count this guy as one too..."

Cracking his neck, Dexter continued on about haki. "Speakin' off, mine ain't that good either." Referring his own kenbunshoku haki, "It just gets the job done for me."

Wrong Discoveries[]

Not too far from where Dexter, Gerhard, Baboa, and Corbin where Zayden's search party had been prowling. With each civilian they passed, Zayden effectively guided them back to him Marine vessel for shelter and safety.

Avery finally broke his silence, "Granny Baboa and Corbin are somewhere up ahead. When he all fled for the dock, she decided to remain here and hold onto her old things. We told her once we found help, we'd come back and get the two even if we have to drag them away. She's stubborn Sir. Zayden."

"Baboa?" Zayden asked, but to be fair, the only person that could hear his question was himself. Even with a voice as deep as his. "No..." He thought to himself, shaking his head and continuing on. Zayden's eyes widen as his senses mentally warned him. The more the trio walked, the better Zayden could sense just what managed to "wake" him up.

Coming over the hill, Zayden's eyes met four individuals. Two were standing across from each other, while the other two rested against a wall.

"Granny Baboa, Corbin! I've brought help!" The Wavecro civilian shouted, rushing to the elderly woman's side. Squatting to one of his knees, he reached for her arm since she'd been holding it. "Are the two of you okay? What happened to your eye, Corbin!?"

Grunting Baboa nodded, "Yes, I'm fine."

Corbin, on the other hand, had his attention span elsewhere. His eye was still focused on Gerhard and Dexter, the boy sat in awe and truly hadn't noticed Avery's arrival.

For a while, Dexter hadn't noticed the appearance of the trio as he continued talking to Gerhard. "I dunno', maybe you should visit Wano and stop by tha' Ryustume Dojo and ask for Yoshitsune." Dexter advertised as though it were a business, "Tell 'em Dexter sent you. Maybe one of those idiots'll tell you how to not lose your blade. Even then, I don't think I could ever lose this thing. It is cursed after all, it's lig-"

Hand claps could be heard in the distance, causing Dexter to stop saying what he had been saying. Zayden and Harlee stepped over the hill, his figure full to both Gerhard and Dexter has he continued to clap. Each louder and louder, somehow managing to make the ground itself shake.

"I ain't think the two responsible for this would be the rookie Man-Slayer Dragon D. Dexter and Doctor of Games Blumenthal Gerhard the Traitor." Zayden's eyes swapped between Dexter and Gerhard continuously. "So," Zayden asked, refolding his arms. "Was this some sort of alliance between the Notch and Titan Pirates? Old man Eldric reported the appearance of you two together on Cartecielo. Seems you two being in the same spot at the same time wasn't a coincidence after all."

Approaching the duo, but maintaining a distance between himself and them, Zayden first turned his attention to Gerhard. "Gerhard, huh? That "miraculous" doctor everyone keeps speaking off. That Beli230,000,000 bounty is an understatement if what the rumors I've heard about you are true."

Choosing to ignore the newcomer, Dexter took a step back and pulled his hood over his head. Speaking to Gerhard, but keeping his eyes on Zayden and Harlee, Dexter uttered. "Gerhard, if I ain't trippin', this guy is Thor. One of the members of Raptor's crew was a prisoner in Impel Down for nineteen years, he said something about hi-.. No wait, HOW'D I EVEN GET DRAGGED INTO THIS SHIT!?" Dexter bluttered.

"Wano?" Gerhard stretched one arm and palm out, "Samurai land aye? Tho', isn't it ruled by tha' Yonko? Mommy R. Arms?" Now, that was something that he wasn't a fan of doing, jumping straight into the Final Boss. Though, would someone like her even consider him an enemy? "Um, well, I'm not truly mucha' swordsman, but-" Head whipping, Gerhard finally saw the recently arrived survivors, and they weren't alone, "Wha' tha' fuck?"

Now that was a new character, Gerhard furrowed his eyebrows at the sight of Zayden. A marine, a marine of remarkable aura, he had to prepare. "Responsible?" Gerhard walked a bit, opening his arms and frowning, good, he stood where it could possibly happen, yet he still took slow steps. "Wha' d'ya mean, Sir Marine Sir?" It was when a calm breeze passed by that Gerhard tripped and saved himself by planting his palms on the ground. The breeze seemed to come and go, almost too fast, "WOAH!" He shouted, "Nearly hit mah' beak."

"Anyway, ya' focusin' on me for my bounty or fa' my powers?" Gerhard pointed at Dexter with his thumb, "Well, 'cause, if it's th' bounty, that hot-shot there has Beli250,000,000!"

Sliding his foot over, Dexter scooted closer to the Notch. Lifting his ninja mask over his mouth, he kept his eyes on Zayden and Harlee the entire time. "Aye yo, Gerhard..." Dexter began, but he held his sentence as Zayden began to speak once more.

"That bounty of Beli250,000,000 was achieved in just four months of piracy, Dragon D. Dexter. Should I be surprised though? At the age of eleven, you managed to acquire a bounty of Beli60,000,000 for your deeds as the Man-Slayer. Surely that alone is boastful enough, correct? For destroying the lost ancient city in Alabasta, your bounty jumped to Beli160,000,000. Then, your current bounty is where it is now, for consuming something fear even among devil fruits themselves, the Ope Ope no Mi."

Dexter bit his lip under his mask at Zayden's most recent sentence. He twitched for a moment and hesitated, the subject of the Ope Ope no Mi was too sensitive for him right now, but he saw something much brighter. "If I play this carefully, I can use my cards at the right time."

Zayden smiled for the first time since stepping on this island, "Four months is all it took for you to acquire that bounty, Impel Down and Eldric can't stop talking about you and your people. You know what some of the Marines, mostly those from G-5, are starting to call you?"

"Enlighten me," Dexter responded in a smart manner, trying to tempt Zayden and buy more time for whatever it was he had been planning.

With another smile, Zayden continued on, "The Four Horsemen of Apocalypse are known for being able to acquire a bounty of over Beli300,000,000 in just a few short years, no, in under TWO years. You, Dexter... Eldric and the others have been referring to you as one of the Six Paths of Disaster, that will throw this world into ruin."

The sound of unsheathing steel could be heard from behind Dexter. He'd slowly pulling up on the hilt of his sword, showing off just a portion of the blade's fine craft. "Okay, now, that one is a cool ass fuckin' name."

Baboa, Corbin, and Avery approached his side. "That's them!" Avery shouted, his eyes shaking at the sight of Gerhard and Dexter. The description he gave Zayden earlier patched perfectly, one a tall man with a fur-trimmed jacket and another who had his face masked by the hood he strapped over his head.

"Wait, Avery, are you.. are you sure?" Baboa asked, rubbing her shoulder. "That young gentleman with the mask helped fix my arm. I dunno' how he did it, but he did."

With a glance, Zayden shifted his view to Baboa. "Oh, it really it is Commodore Baboa."

Frowning at the sight of Zayden, she punched him softly in the arm. "Ex-Commodore Baboa. That life is in my past, please do not bring it about in front of my grandson, Zayden-boy. Besides, back to what I said, I don't think either of these youngsters are responsible for what happened here."

"What do you mean, Baboa? Ex-Marine or not, you are still the woman who trained me." Turning back to face Gerhard and Dexter, he looked a bit closer. "Even if these two are not responsible, which I believe they are, as a believer of Absolute Justice I will prosecute any man who violates the law. Old man Eldric has deemed both of the men enemies to the World Government on their own, but together they are much more of a threat. They are the Hoodlums."

All while Zayden rambled on, Dexter managed to sneak a few words to Gerhard. "Gerhard," he picked back up from earlier, "aside from that cheesy name and calling us Hoodlums, we need to figure something out and quick. I won't lie, right now, I ain't in the right state of mind to take these two down alone. If what that Titan Pirate said is true, then my swordplay won't be enough to take 'em down." Looking to his left and right, he let out a sigh because what he was about to say would hurt both his pride and his dignity.

"Imma' need yo' help. I heard you a game master or some shit, like its yo power or somethin', tha' fuck does that mean? Can you get me close to Zayden? I can drop his big ass in one blow if you can and we'll dip on his lackey."

Amazed at the sight of the two pirates, Harlee paid attention to Zayden's words and description of the two. Yes, she had heard of the dangerous Notch Pirate and the young affiliate of the Titan Pirates but it never hurt to be reminded. She then turned attention to her side and at the conversation of the ex-marine and Zayden. "So she's the woman who taught Zayden...scary..." she thought to herself, before focusing on the pirates in front of her.

"Finally..." she grinned, her sharp canine teeth showing. "What's the plan, Zayden?" she asked, electro crackling around her. This was her chance to prove her worth and she would not let it pass.

Eyes half-open, Gerhard's head whipped each time someone took over the conversation, until the man known as Avery hit him with his very words. "Woah woah, th'fuck ya' on?" Instead of taking a step, he merely gestured a hand towards the man, eyes not falling to notice the trembling exhibited by Avery's body. When the dialogue was back to being between the others, Gerhard sighed, only then, noticing that Dexter called for him.

"Hm?" Gerhard gave him a side-way glance, stepping slightly closer and lightly stretching his fingers, they seemed as if they hovered over something. "Okeh," With a single tap upon the air before themselves, a quick ripple took place behind Dexter. Through the power of Tidy Chaos, Gerhard had provoked a small amount of movement within the air itself, for even it was touchable when within a Dungeon. Although its ressonance had been minimal, it was merely a trigger. A trigger so that the air catapulted from around Dexter, cushioning his body and sending him much like he was a whisper towards Zayden and Harlee.

Off guard by Gerhard’s lackluster answer, Dexter’s body lifted from the ground and shot towards the Marine duo. Without so much as a blink or an extra movement, Dexter both drew his sword and wrapped it in a layer of lightning. That new breathe, Dexter reached Zayden’s space already swinging his blade across the Marine’s chest. "Thundering Hot Potato!" Dexter shouted, completing his slash across Zayden's torso with tremendous force and great precision, a technique he devised on the fly along with Gerhard's help.

Kicking the air, Dexter attempted a backward somersault in order to get away from Zayden, so that Harlee would not be able to get a free attack on him. "It was a last minute technique, but an off guard slash enhanced by lightning shouldn't be easy to deal with. Especially with Gerhard's launch." To his dismay, however, he'd find himself pulled back towards the direction he'd originally been traveling, with Zayden's hand wrapped around his blade.

"Let go of my sword, you fuckin' ape!" Dexter shouted tugging on his blade, but as he mentioned Zayden had "ape"-like hands.

"Well damn," Zayden finally spoke, blood crawling down the right side of his chest as he pulling Dexter's blade away to show how much damage the boy had managed to do. "The two of you just initiated your self destruct sequence. Avery, take Granny Baboa and the kid to the ship, I'll be there once I finish with these two." Slinging Dexter's blade as well as Dexter, he sent the two flying back near Gerhard's location.

Sliding across the ground with his two feet, Dexter planted his free palm into the ground to help him maintain balance during his slide. His blade no longer dancing with electricity he managed to keep his eye on Zayden but spoke to Gerhard. Aye, we gotta watch that pira. I cut his ass, yeah... but at that last moment, it was as if his body had been coated by an armor. And it wasn't no damn busoshoku haki either. It was like, lightn-."

"Lightning, yeah." Zayden completed Dexter's sentence for him as he gave Avery a head gesture to go ahead and take off with the two. "With the powers of my devil fruit, I've become he who reigns over storms; Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Susanoo. As my brother Solomon would say, I'd love to dance, but because neither of you are pushovers and I'm not near Solomon's level, I can not have this dance alone."

Reaching to his side, he grabbed Harlee's cranium and placed her on the ground in front of him. You could compare his recent action to a man playing chess, who'd been moving his knight to its next position. "Lowknee," he called, giving the girl an embarrassing nickname, "Take the sword kid. Your power should be enough to hold him off until I get done with this one. Even if he's got that devil fruit."

"As much as I don't like this, pira, I think we should go along with his plan and split 'em. Plus, I'm 5'9", he's 7'9", you're 7 some shit. You do the math... Imma' meet you back here in twenty minutes." Swinging his blade at the air, Dexter brought it vertically in front of his face. "Gerhard, appearantly we a threat to the World Government, don't die." Dashing to his left, Dexter took off towards the open feild away from Zayden and Gerhard."

Having gotten used to Zayden's...odd way of treating those underneath him, to say the least, she nodded as the Commodore gave her instructions. "Alright, sir!" she exclaimed, her brows furrowing. "I won't let you down!" she thought to herself, as she too, headed to the open field where their fight would begin.

Surgeon's Storm[]

"Don't die," The words lingered by Gerhard's head, "I damn wish I could respawn." He rolled his eyes briefly, unlike the younger duo, he and Zayden stood just where they were. Gerhard gave a quick glance to see if the inhabitants were already gone, though, his attention was still on the marine he was about to face. Whatever the latter could even know about him at all, after all, marines did have access to certain bits of information, "He mentioned 'imself a god 'f storms."

Back when Gerhard almost kissed the soil and stopped himself with both hands, he had pretty much expanded onto the limits of the Dungeon that was created to heal Baboa. It was what was there to do, because, if he was to rather call it off, he would have to touch the ground twice with the same hand. Therefore, the use of both hands allowed Gerhard to merely edit the current one, saving time and suspicions.

An almost transparent steam flowed from both his hands, while he opened his arms wide, "I'm sahprised ya' won't go after th' kid first." Scoffing, his head gestured for Dexter's direction. Meanwhile, the presence of the air around them shiftened not one bit, yet, its molecules moved a single inch for a moment. "I don' mean for th' bounty, I heard y'all Ferrothorns..." Then, his gaze was set upon Zayden's own eyes, "Don't need't, aye?" Contrary to what he showed, Gerhard had prepared his hands to issue a myriad of commands to the air around the both of them, it was much of a casual action, nothing alarming to the point that it could be easily be tracked. After all, Gerhard's attention hovered over Zayden still, his body language, his words.

The marine had spoken of his power, something which prompted Gerhard to ready the air rather than anything else. Given how things were at that moment, he was ready to instantly act whatever was to be Zayden's turn, feet light over the ground and body loose.

The dark sky grew darker. Clouds a large portion of the area above Zayden and Gerhard, even extended to the battlefront that Harlee and Dexter stood on. Light rain dropped from the clouds, nothing too hazardous, but enough to leave clothes damp. This had all been the work of Zayden's devil fruit ability, but how would have to be explained at a later time.

With a grunt, Zayden laughed. "If I would've tried to take on the both of you at once, I probably would have died. That attack he hit me with managed to pierce through my haki. Take it, I activated it right as I was being slashed, but even that says something for that brats skill." Placing his hand on the on the right side of his chest, he gripped some of the blood and painted his hand in it. "Hardy should be able to keep him at bay until I finish you off."

That same fist became coated in black, clear use of his Busoshoku Haki. Bringing that fist over his head, then into the ground, Zayden punched straight through the earth's surface. Behind that punch lie the strength of two giants and the collision alone shattered a large portion of the ground Gerhard and Zayden stood on. Crease and cracks formed in the ground as it split apart traveling from Zayden's initial location, all the way to where Gerhard stood. As he pulled his fist from the ground, large chunks of earth flew into the air, shielding the commodore from Gerhard's view.

Dashing forward and bursting through the earth, Zayden kick the air a few times closing the distance between himself and his opponent, throwing his haki and lightning coated fist at the pirate. Amazing that a man at his size could move so swiftly while being able to maintain such tremendous strength. He'd truly have to thank Baboa for teaching him everything he knew. With his sixth sense, he'd keep an eye of his surroundings, but for now his punch landing on Gerhard--which had been aimed for his chest--was his primary focus.

Rain covered his figure for a second, Gerhard narrowed his eyes and paid attention to Zayden's words, all of which quite a piece of information. But, then...

Shooting his eyes wide open as ever when the ground beneath them started to crumble, Gerhard could only misaim with his left arm, whereas it was pointing in Zayden's direction, then it directed for the ground. Tidy Chaos had taken place once again, though, since the mass of air was much concentrated than it was back with Dexter, when it pushed itself offwards, Gerhard was thrown upward with more urgency. It was akin to the small burst of a propulsor. He recoiled his left hand a bit from the impact, rocks flailing through the environment, "Intendin' ta' attack me from somewhere else?" Though he pondered so, Gerhard smiled and had his right hand pointed in Zayden's previous direction.

Most of the rocks were pummelled through too swiftly, "Brusque Order," The air that had been gathered beforehand vibrated in response to Gerhard's right hand, it went thicker and thicker, to the point that even a normal human could possibly touch it. Like a mirror barrier of sorts, it stood in front of Gerhard's figure, expansion not halting even as Zayden's punch collided against it. Though, that hadn't been Gerhard's intention. Expression widening, the punch barely met his stomach, halted mostly by the fierceness presented by the wall, which also provided an insulation from the lightning that should have went through, since it was made of air.

Yet, it still had been a blow tainted in Buso, meaning that some of its impact still made its way through. Before he was launched, though, Gerhard, using the same hand that gathered the air, slapped it, "GRUFF CHAOS!" All that had been gathered and focused would instantly react to such an action, unlike Gerhard, the impact wouldn't make the wall be sent flying. Meanwhile, gerhard went through a building and another, grunting while still clutching some air with both his hands, he coughed whence he landed. Therefore, while the air was in close vicinity to Zayden, the wall would violently expand as if it was an explosion by itself, crashing against all that stood in its path. With the sudden interference, not only were myriads of water droplets blown away, but also the many rocks, whose ascension was stopped, shot away as if they were cannon balls.

Before he could react to his landing punch, Zayden's body was swallowed by the explosion created by Gerhard's power, then by the multiple rocks that were shot at him like cannons. The largest rock of the group managed to send Zayden flying back down the path he'd travel to get where he was. His large mast shredded through the already ripped earth before he fell up against a nearby building which would act as a cushion and stop him from traveling any further.

"Damn." He cursed, grunting and squint from the pain of all the impact he'd just taken. The explosion incited by Gerhard, up until he'd ended up colliding with the building. For him to even take damage so early on came as a shocker. Among the Ferrothorn Family, Zayden's body was the most unique in the vein of it being more durable than everyone else. It was what set him apart from his brothers and sisters, and he was rather prideful of that. It allowed him to give off a taste of intimidation on his opponents, forcing them to cower in fear of the man's appearance alone.

Planting his hands into the rubble of the building, Zayden lifted himself up and spat to his side. The are of the ground that caught his large chunk of spit, would find itself soak in his saliva-blood mix. Turning his head to the left and right, Zayden cracked his neck then proceeded to doing the same with his fingers.

"I heard that power of yours was weird from Captain Roselia's report, but that's completely off the wall, Master of Games."

Stepping over the rubble, Zayden stood back on the battlefield, looking across the distance. Even though the two were somewhat far from each other, his voice was amplified enough so that Gerhard could hear him. The light rain began to pick up in downfall and the winds suddenly began to pick up more in speed. Zayden gave off a slight grin after covering his entire arms in busoshoku haki. "After I take you out, I'll kill that kid, Dexter. Then I'll move on to the rest of those Disasters, starting with Hurra Al Sayyid.

How Zayden's words had reached over to him, Gerhard didn't ponder, rather, he simply responded, "Master, Doctor, y'all can't choose what ta' call me huh," Hands stretched out, Gerhard looked at Zayden, though, he wasn't sure if his words were as loud.

"Synthesis," Much of the air held by his two hands extended from one to the other, forming something that was akin to a rod at a fast rate due to the increase in turrents. Curving upward, the air was less transparent and much solid, also being a few times larger than Gerhard. That happened through a skilled usage of opposite commands at hand, he made the air move with a variation of Chaos and estabilished a form with Order. Finally, its mold unveiled itself to be an ornate scythe, held over his left shoulder.

"Dexter tis', Disaster tha'," Right foot going forward, Gerhard positioned himself, expression still deadpan due to Zayden's insistence, while the weapon rotated in his hands. Due to it being formed, he only needed one command from one hand, but, going out the zafe-zone was nice. The blade of the scythe flared, "If ya' think y'll be killin' Dex tho'," He tightened his right hand's grip over the hilt, while the other one went loose, his feet slided, all within a heartbeat. A large semi-circle was created in the wake of Gerhard's slash, quivering the destroyed rubble before them and making dust erupt, mixing it with the droplets of rain.

Air, dust, and rain all bent forward as a wide razor blade of pure air ruptured its way across the atmosphere. Some houses flew high alongside trees, roughly cut off their foundations, in what seemed to be in the same small timespan, since the slash rapidly covered the distance. What one could easily notice, however, was the ever-expanding size of the slash, an oddity since Gerhard was not a proficient scythe user nor did his bare swordmanship have such an application. Rather, back when he was only using a command from one hand, he took advantage and issued that of Temporal Order to the wind that would be fired off the scythe. That allowed it to shortly maintain a thin form to, only then, rapidly expand in an explosion that encompassed all of their vision.

Despite their distance and Gerhard's voice being rather lacking compared to Zayden's, the Marine still managed to hear him out. That was because of the aid of his devil fruit. As Gerhard would speak, Zayden would command the winds to carry his words across the gap and blow them past his own ears. He heard every one of Gerhard's words, but instead of responding to them immediately he waited so that he could act upon Gerhard's attack.

As mentioned before, Zayden's could command the wind and have it act according to his will. It was as if the man could talk to it in a sense. As Gerhard launched his attack, the winds spoke to him. The slight slicing sound could be heard by Zayden because of the wind. It sounded like cries. A distasteful sound to his ears, but he'd heard similar sound effects plenty of times before. As a guard of Impel Down, prisoners cried out to Zayden and the Warden plenty of times. Each cry was filled with regret and plea. Just hoping that Zayden would bend to their wails and free them for their crimes against the World Government. But he did not. No way he would let a man or woman who stood against the Marines and commit a sin walk free without suffering the consequences or without going through him.

Holding his two haki-coated arms in front of his chest in an "X" formation, he stood and waited for the oncoming attack. His plan was to block and deflect the technique with his defense and swiftly move to his counter. Would he didn't account for was the expanding size of the slash as it traveled from Gehard's side to his own. By the time he'd found out, it'd reached him clashing against his armament. What he thought was going to be a simple deflection, turned out to be struggle for his life.

The wind's speed and rain picked up, even more, what was once rather damp falls that could be protected by a hood, ended up turning into showers that would be to be protected by an umbrella... at least. The sky flashed a bright light, which was soon followed by a strong thump that would cause one's heart to begin racing. These were all signs of a thunderstorm, but, there was something missing from it.

Feet sliding against ground gathering a pile of dirt behind his heels as he did, Zayden's struggle was quite evident. One could say, from the looks of things, he was against the ropes. However, Zayden hadn't given up just yet. "Geppo", he muttered, kicking his leg out to his side, dashing his body to the left on the outside of the slash. His size made it hard for him to move fast enough, however, as just before he could move out of the slash's complete range, the side of his neck tool a minor nip.

Letting out a deep breath, Zayden blew hot air from his nostrils. "That kid will die." He uttered, barely holding onto his breath whilst whiping the dripping blood from his neck.

"Hooooh," Gerhard's eyes brightened at the sight of the upcoming storm, well, moreso, its growing radius, something that had been happening since the Marines set foot at the island. As a thunderbolt flashed by, his gaze fell over Zayden and his left hand tightened itself around the scythe, "Reigns over storms. An attack?" Bosses were full of those, suprise hit knock-outs. He ran, each step being taken over a piece of rubble, shattering it. With his right hand, Gerhard ripped off the scythe's blade and, using his left, continued to hold the pole, eyes flickering from the speaking Zayden to the clouds, "Not." He completed.

His opponent wasn't someone to be taken lightly, there was no need for any further observation. The storm, the decisions, they all had meaning, so, Gerhard's own had to have meaning as well. Lips curving upward, all of his teeth flashed, and his eyes went fierce.

"LIMIT BREAK!" White and red shone on the left and right, respectively. Along with them, his very spirit, the source of his willpower, manifested in an enveloping crimson aura, extending into his arms and flaring over them. Busoshoku, normally used to further augment an upcoming attack, was, that time, to hone the defenses of his own arms. His smiling teeth grinded, up against below, both of these lights had the same intent.

Ensuing Chaos sipped into all of the air blade, rubbing, the air started to move against itself, small shockwaves revebered from inside it, yet, they didn't travel offward and go ballistic. Such action melted its very structure much like it was solid, bubbles littered its insides and danced with its form, which dragged itself across the atmosphere like a trail. To the right, nearby buildings and other constructions bent slowly, taking in the heat produced by the power. That same trail was serpentine in nature, even producing some kind of roar sound which could be considered something that only dragons could bellow.

New Order, while certainly different from the other commands, was no slouch. Once again, while swimming through themselves, air particles danced and sought to bring forth a new shape, the shape of nature rather than another weapon. Limbs sticked out, four that acquired paws and claws, a tail extended from the backsidde, and at the front the form of a roaring feline made its way. With the sheer speed it passed by, this tiger blew away the structures to the left, leaves rustled within the many trees, stopping was last on its list.

Before he had been too close, Gerhard jumped, imploding the ground beneath his feet. Both of his biceps were tight, their veins would have been visible should he be shirtless, and his eyes went bloodshot, "HURYAAAAAAAAAAH!" The flaming serpentine shot viciously towards Zayden's direction, coloring the town around it, and opening its jaws while aiming for the Marine. A second later, with his left arm pushing upward, the tiger leaped as if it were an eruption and gave another roar. The latter sought to reach the skies themselves, before it would fully deform and explode, being Gerhard's attempt to blow some of those suspicious clouds away.

The former was more of an attack indeed, litting the entire place with yellow and orange fireworks that could probably, if not outright catch someone fast like Zayden, at least affect him by virtue of their shockwaves. Indeed, throughout the entire town and parts of the island, tremors traveled and filled the ears of whoever had been there. Even Gerhard himself was blown aback by them, shutting his eyes close and bracing himself as he went through some buildings in a roll.

Zayden had no comment for any of Gerhard's actions, instead, he began to deal with what was thrown at him as soon as possible. Commanding the winds to his will, he lifted his arm up to the clouds above. The howl of racing wind could be heard gather in the atmosphere above. Call one crazy or not, at the speeds Zayden had been commanding them to move and the natural increase, you could see a slight crease in the air showing just where he'd been guiding the winds.

"Hmph," he grunted, pushing against the opposite direction of the clouds. He was too late, however, and the tiger entity's roar rammed against the clouds begging to disperse them. However, canceling the roar was not Zayden's intention. Just as they would finish dispersing, Zayden would close his hand and the winds would "wrap around" the fragmented clouds and pull them back together. Zayden was so close and he wasn't about to let some roar from a holographic entity stop him from his goal.

All while his attention had been turned onto regathering the clouds, it left him wide open to Gerhard's fire attack. Just Zayden would notice them, he would be engulfed by them in that same instance. An explosion filled the land near Zayden, swallowing even his large figure in its wake. Spreading across the ground, the flames covered the entire ground even latching onto nearby builds, yet there was no wail or cry from Zayden. Had his death been a quick a painful. Gerhard truly was a doctor, had he managed to grant Zayden even that luxury.

The smoke from the fire lifted into the sky. Mixing into the few clouds that Zayden managed to save, it seemed as though more clouds were born from this. The wind and rainfall's speed increase drastically. The showers came down even harder and for those that could feel it would notice the sudden drop in its temperature. Another thud of thunder shook the land. The rapid downfall of rain began to put out the fire emitted by Gerhard's dragon flame.

Another thunder thud. Then another louder than the previous. This kept happening as the rainfall continued to pick up in speed. At the point, the soil was so soaked, that it had become mud. Another thunderous roar, but this time it was following by a lightning strike. The strike of lightning crashed into the ground between Gerhard and Zayden's fight. Ripping through the ground, it traveled through the muddy terrain all the way to where Zayden fell. Spreading through the ground it engulfed the immediate area of Zayden, leaving an electrical current on the ground.

"I've got to say, Gerhard..." The voice of Zayden finally spoke, emerging from the electrical field. "To think you'd help spead of the process.." Slowly standing to his feet, Zayden revealed quite the beating to his body. Burn wounds filled his entire body and blood leaked from all over it. Both the wounds Gerhard and Dexter gave him seemed to have opened up even further spewing blood from both of them. Electrical molecules danced all over his body as he cracked his neck and gripped the back of it with his large palm.

The pattern the molecules danced in was rather specific. Shrouding his entire body, it were as though they'd been weaving new clothing for him. His Marine jacket that hung over his shoulders was changed into a man's kimono. They'd even weaved more hair for him. His short neck length hair became a flowing mane. The mass of his body also increased. Muscles increased in size by at least three times and his height neared eleven feet.

"Had it not been for your flames creating those cumulonimbus clouds, I'd still be here waiting for the storm to pick up." Smiling, Zayden's wounds had "disappeared" while his overall appearance had managed to change as well. He was no longer Zayden, he'd become the god of storms himself; Susanoo.

A bolt of lightning struck the ground. And as it did, using that same second of time, Zayden lunged over to Gerhard who'd fallen to his own technique's uncontrollable power. The time at which he closed the gap between the two was astonishing and at a quick glance could have easily been mistaken for teleportation. Now hovering over Gerhard, just slightly off the ground with his hands already over his head in an axe-like manner, they became wrapped in lightning as he dropped them down onto Gerhard, attempting to crush the pirate's body right where it laid. "Mjolnir!" He shouted, in his attack.

Only a single glance was offered at the rising flames, Gerhard's eyes widening, though, they weren't exactly bloodshot at the sight. That same gaze shot down to where Zayden previously had been, where lightning struck at, Gerhard briefly shielded himself with his forearms, yet, his palms were not fully closed, still holding onto the air itself. The tiger he had fired off finally exploded in all of its glory, sending a flash of light in all directions, after all, that was what had been accumulated inside the tiger. Regardless, it was not like it could do much.

Even so, the moment at which the thunderbolt struck the land was the man that Zayden cemented how Gerhard would even react. Indeed, rather than being capable of dodging or properly reacting to something as extreme as Zayden's speed, Gerhard betted when the flash came. Around himself, the air that he had been controlling spun violently, but never offwards or away from him. Through a dual handed New Order, he could estabilish just how the wind would flow, just how much would be there around him.

No second later, "GAAAAAAH!" Gerhard's eyes nearly burst out of their sockets as a thundering force threatened to smash him against the ground, rather, it was pressing against the air sphere around him. "WHA' TH' FUCK?!" Zayden's transformed state towered over Gerhard, who increased the pressure on both his arms's muscles and flared the aura of his haki. A gigantic crater began to form beneath them, cracks going in all directions and streaks of lightning flowing everywhere, most deflected from the insulation barrier. Even the barrier itself was bending inwards, blood spilled from Gerhard's forehead.

"Wha' the fuck to do?!" His eyes scanned around rapidly, "I can't move under th' pressure. The air'll soon vanish..." Another second, Gerhard's cheeks puffed once an idea filled his mind. All of the problem lied in how his defense started, part of it was stil focused on the front side, since he had expected the flash to be a frontal attack. "GHHHHHHH!!" Veins burst across his frame.

It had been accumulated around him anyway, which meant he didn't have to dual use that command anymore, instead, what came from one his hands was Gruff Chaos. Through it, Gerhard tried to force most of the barrier to solely focus in the direction of Zayden's strike, so that it wouldn't bend. It didn't stop there, with his Haki hardened over the barrier's tip, the wind was to be pushed even further and even stronger, since it was now all focused and capable of matching against Zayden's blow. Gerhard's other hand, too, went for a change of commands, increasing even more the pressure at which the barrier crashed against the Marine, all in the hopes of either smashing or slipping through the attack, to hit Zayden head-on.

Ninja's Gunpowder[]

Sliding into the dust field, Dexter flipped Tenrairyu to his off hand and held his left hand next to his side. Snapping his fingers on his left hand, and holding his palm down towards the ground a silverish miniature disk spun, whipping up a slight gust. Placing his hand onto the ground, a slight silver-tinted dome covered a small portion of the field.

"I ain't got this down pack, but it's much more like the Ope Ope no Mi than I thought. At least in this instance." He'd thought straightening his stance and staring at Harlee, removing his mask revealing a slight smile. "I don't like fightin' women," Dexter finally spoke to the woman for the first time. "It'll fuck up my career if I was known as a woman beata'... that ain't even to mention the fact I'm black. Awww man, the media would have a fuckin' blast."

His normal stare turned into a glare, as he lowered his head and looked at the woman sinisterly. "But you, you'll be good for testing out my abilities with the Ope Ope no Mi."

"Then don't treat me as a woman, pirate. Right now, I'm your opponent, and that's the only thing you should focus on." Harlee responded, gulping down some of her salivae, a sound which she could've sworn could be heard from miles away. She had to be careful around such a dangerous devil fruit, considering she was already in the strange-dome. She took that into consideration, making a mental note of it, as she prepared to make the first move.

Harlee lowered her upper body, her hands curling into claws. She may have been only half mink, but that didn't stop her from having the same ferocity as any full-blood. Focusing Electro on all four of her limbs, specifically at the soles of her feet and hands, she exploded towards Dexter, her speed comparable to the art of Soru. Once within reach, she swooped her right leg forward, aiming at Dexter's legs. Were her attack to connect or be dodged, Harlee would follow up with a powerful electro-imbued elbow strike to Dexter's gut.

By simply lowering his sword slightly, Dexter met Harlee's own leg with an electrical sword of his own. Rather than dodge her second attack, Dexter instead stitched himself to Harlee's back by utilizing his Shadow Stitch technique--a high-speed movement technique that leaves a shadowy blur behind as the user maneuvers behind their opponent in theory "stitching to their shadow".

Swiftly thrusting his blade forward all while switching to an underhanded grip, he struck at Harlee's back with the hilt of his sword rather than its edge. While it seemed like a rather harmless attack, had he hit Harlee with it, it'd most definitely deal enough damage to at least knock the girl down. But if he were lucky, he'd be able to take her wind and knock her out.

Harlee watched as the man disappeared, leaving no more than a shadow as he counterattacked. The entire maneuver was too quick for Harlee's eyes or reflexes to follow, so instead, she relied on her instinct. Dexter's attack inched closer to her back and the attack made its mark, or so it would seem. Instead of being pushed down by the hilt of the sword, the back of the weapon went through Harlee. At the last second, Harlee's body turned into the element she controlled; gunpowder. The dark, strong-scented, particles taking place for the mink's flesh.

Before Dexter could continue with another attack, Harlee pivoted on her left leg and brought her right knee, which, along with her entire right leg, had been enhanced with both electro and busoshoku haki, towards the youth's gut. This, however, was no more than a feint, expecting Dexter to block the attack with his sword, had it met with Harlee's knee, she would extend her leg at the last second, aiming a powerful kick at his right temple. If the attack proved to be accurate, Dexter would get off with at least some sizeable damage.

Rather than complicated evading, Dexter covered his free hand in haki and gripped a tight hold of Harlee's shoulder. Had she even tried to turn into her logia's element, she'd fail terribly. Gripping her shoulder, Dexter flipped over the Marine using his acrobatic abilities and landed to her opposite side. A simple performance to help aid him in dodging her attack. Leaping back with his sheathed blade, Dexter took the opportunity to increase the gap between the two.

"A logia... Right when a pira thought shit couldn't get worse." Ruffling his nose, Dexter let out a soft sneeze. "Is that... gun powder?" He asked gripping his nose and wiggling it, blowing as though he were trying to free a disgusting booger. He knew that smell all to while, he'd been shot at multiple times during his ninja duties and he'd grown accustomed to the smell of gunpowder being able to point it out from just his smell... and the fact that it screwed with his allergies. "Imma' be sick as fuck..." he mumbled to himself.

"Damn, I gotta' clear my mind of this shit... Ain't no way I would've attack her without my fuckin' haki. Snap out of it, pira." Keeping it mental, Dexter began to beat himself up in his psyche trying to get himself to snap out of his depression. Dexter was never the type to charge an attack without his haki being active. Could this thig really be getting the better of him?

Unsheathing his sword, he placed the scabbard onto his hip where it would hang. A disk formed under Dexter's free hand but unlike the last time, the performing and summoning of it were rather strange. Lifting his hand, Dexter made a couple of circles in the air. While doing so, the very wind that managed to change its speed, thanks to Zayden's doing, wrapped around his wrist. Amidst all this, Dexter used the wind gathering as a facade and threw the flying disk across the battlefield to where he assumed Zayden and Gerhard where still fighting. It was not as large as the dome he created on the battlefield her currently stood on, but it was more than enough for what he planned.

Still swinging his arm, Dexter gather the natural wind currents and created a mini vortex around his wind. Without exact knowledge, Dexter could be confused for a logia user the way he tamed the winds and commanded it. Pulling his hand down, the tornado of wind followed as though his had some sort of mental control over it.

While he didn't look, or act it, Dexter was a very intelligent kid when it came down to the art of combat. The tornado of wind wasn't just for show, nor was it for an attack, it was for something much more special... something that would truly aid him in heading towards his victory for this battle. Dashing forward, Dexter's blade crawled in black armor as he took his charge towards Harlee straight forward.

Once again, Dexter was able to slip out of Harlee’s attacks with an agility akin to that of an acrobat. ‘’Damn it! He’s too fast, if I don’t do something, I won’t be able to win” she thought, as the distance between them increased. Although Harlee had a wide grin plastered across her face, which would make anyone think she was a maniac, she was actually preoccupied, as was made evident by the sweat dripping down her temples.

Then, gradually but quickly, the air’s speed increased, and Harlee inferred that the cause was her opponent. Staring at him for a moment with narrowed eyes, she caught a glimpse of a silver projectile, which she was almost positive was aimed at the other duo. “What’s he planning...” she said, taking a mental note of that which she had just witnessed.

Although it looked like Harlee had done nothing since her opponent widened the distance between them, she did, in fact, have a plan. Since a few moments ago, Harlee whose hands were behind her back, was making gunpowder constructs. The black powder emitted from her hand shaped itself into a ball, each one the size of her palm.

Just as she was about done with her creations, the wind got stronger, and faster, it began to spin, as well as expand fiercely until it became a furious phenomenon of nature. “So this is the Strongest Devil Fruit…not what I expected.” Harlee had heard many different tales of its powers, and the controlling wind was definitely not what she’d heard. But then again, these were no more than myths, and so, she’d turn away from her doubts, for now at least.

I don’t know what he has in mind, but that tornado means trouble. I’ve got to get rid of it” she thought, just as Dexter charged towards her, sword in hand. She waited for him to inch closer and closer as she covered her entire body in Electro except for her right arm, which was currently behind her back, keeping her gunpowder spheres between her fingers. The electricity surrounding her crackled profusely, something Dexter probably would’ve heard as the distance between them was closed. As the man charged at her, Harlee too charged towards him, however, instead of contesting his sword, much like she had done before, instead, she narrowly avoided the man’s sword, twisting her body ever so slightly. She was only able to avoid the move thanks to her previous enhancement of Electro, which had enhanced her physical capabilities significantly. Moments after dodging, Harlee allowed the Electro to cover her right arm now, she dropped the two gunpowder spheres right behind Dexter, moments before the Electro made them ignite. “Blast Grenades!!!” she proclaimed as the constructs exploded between Harlee and her opponent. The attack would not only harm Dexter if he didn’t protect himself, and even if he did, would be pushed back and probably receive some sort of damage.

The explosions were of a small radius but packed a potent punch, which was made evident by how they had propelled Harlee forward like a rocket flying directly towards the tornado. Whilst in the air, she placed her arms in front of her, in an “x” like manner, before her body took on a black color due to her haki. Additionally, she began to spin rapidly like a top, the air around her engulfing her. She was the embodiment of a storm, charging towards violent winds. Harlee clashed head-on with the tornado, and the force behind her launch was enough to pierce straight through the vortex, causing it to stop its fast, powerful rotations and become no more than mere winds once more.

Of course, clashing with the attack did come with a price. Although her takeoff was flawless, her landing wasn’t, her speed gradually dropped, due to crashing with the tornado, until the distance between her and the floor was zero. Her body dragged itself across the ground, causing her to gain several cuts and bruises. After a certain distance, her momentum finally stopped, and she picked herself up from the ground, slowly but surely. Part of her attire was ripped, and her hat was long gone. It was a difficult task for her to even keep both of her eyes open, and as she attempted to do so, as to see what had happened to her opponent, she got into a fighting stance once more. “I hope this worked.”

"First step." He mumbled. As mentioned before, the tornado of wind was an extension of Dexter's arm, as his hand was what commanded it. A single pulling of his hand ordered a portion the wind tornado to be pulled to his side. The speed at which it spun continued to increase. Once near his side, the tornado would swallow the gunpowder created grenade spinning it among the vortex causing somewhat of a chain reaction. What this did, was allowed him to avoid the damage that would've been brought upon him by the Marine's attack.

Turning to face Harlee, he pointed his hand upwards to hold the vortex. "Wind is your natural enemy, ain't it. Gunpowder gone just blow if the wind is strong enough, right?" Swiping his hand, the vortex screeched as it disappeared and somehow managed to increase the winds of the natural winds. "That fuckin' Shichibukai swordsman, Jack showed me how to bend the air to my will. Fucked up for you, that it's what would be a counter to both of ya' main fighting abilities. Lightning and Gunpowder... well damn."

Being honest about this whole situation, yes, Dexter had managed to somehow come to this conclusion. Though, it is not truly what he had been thinking about. He dug into the cracks and crevasses of his mind to try and find ways to employ his devil fruit in many different ways. "You already in my ZONE, Imma' make sure to have a feild day."

"Heh, I guess you're right, pirate," Harlee responded, wiping her mouth with her sleeve, which gained a red stain. "Guess I should try out what the Vice-Admiral taught me. With gunpowder in one hand, and electro and the other, Harlee slammed her hands together. Then suddenly, the air around her heated up, the sound akin to that of thunder; a loud rumble could be heard from miles away. What she had made, was her own version of Electro, Red Electro". It was a highly destructive, and more powerful branch of lightning, to the point were it could stand hand-in-hand with its natural insulator, wind. Unless, of course the wind too, went through enhancements.

Raising her right hand so that it was at shoulder height, the reddish lightning gathered in all five of her fingertips, each one releasing a small, almost unnoticeable streak of lightning that made its way towards the nearest target at rapid rates, each one curling and twisting around so that they would converge upon Dexter from different locations.

While initially, Dexter had no idea what the Marine was planning, what he could do was follow the lightning she'd constructed with his senses and her gunpowder-esque techniques with his eyes. Still holding the vortex in his free hand, he watched her mink ability take on a new color; red lightning. "Now that's some badass lightnin', Hardy." Dexter complimented. It was his first time he'd ever seen red lightning and he could go without praising it. Though before he could envy it further, an attack had already been launched his way.

Microscopic to the eye, had he only relied on those he'd surely been in for a rude awakening. But what of the key features of Tenrairyu's curse was it's the ability to grant its wielder sensory to electrons. While he may have not been able to locate them streaks of lightning with his eyes, he could with what could be considered his seventh sense. Pulling the wind vortex in front of himself, he whipped it around and spun it all over his Zone.

Holding his sword in front of himself and releasing its hilt, he used that same motion to reach into the small pouch on his leg drawing out a kunai. Leaping into the air, he shrouded Tenrairyu with the vortex. The lightning shot from Harlee would be attracted to his blade which had been acting as a rod. An explosion swallowed the blade, but because of the vortex that spun around it, debris would flee and reveal the blade once more. Falling back to the ground Dexter threw his kunai at Harlee and pulled Tenrairyu from the ground by its hilt.

His actions were too fast for him to deal with each of the lightning strikes, leaving him vulnerable to the fifth and final one which when he grabbed Tenrairyu would react and engulf him. Again, the vortex pushed the debris aside revealing a relatively injured Dexter. Wounds spread throughout his body and his clothing in tethers. Yellow electricity emitted from Tenrairyu, then latched onto his body before dispersing. This was for the purpose of cleaning any red lightning from his system.

"Well damn," Dexter stated in response to his clothing. "You just initiated yo' self-destruct sequence." Vortex still in hand, he whiped it over his head over and over until the winds increased to his liking. Releasing it, he threw the vortex towards Harlee, but he wasn't done just yet. Reaching into his pouch once again, he drew a number of kunai and shuriken and launched them into the tornado. With the super increased winds, he'd surely be able to swoop Harlee off her feet and had she chosen to turn into her element, she'd just be thrown and more vulnerable. "My clothes are in shambles, so you gonna' Scramble."

Anger getting the best of him, he still was not done with his assault. Grabbed two kunai from his pocket, he hit them against each other giving the sound of colliding mental. A single strike was all it took for him to create a small fire which, with another smacking of the two metal tools, creating a large cloud of smoke which mixed into the vortex. "Ninja Art of Concealment..." He mutter, vanishing into the debris, appearing at Harlee's slide preforming an underhanded, haki encoated, slash at the Marine that would slice across the left side of her body.

Sensing Dexter under these circumstances would be difficult. The smoke screen made it hard for her to follow him with her eyes. The thick cloud of smoke, pressurized winds, and firey smell made it hard for her to sniff him out with her feline nose. Adding on the inability to utilize kenbunshoku haki, stacked the odds against her even more. Again had she managed to miraculously try and break away from Dexter with her devil fruit, she'd still be hit due to his coating or be sucked into the Vortex where he could freely cut at her how he wanted. Even lightning would be risky, as with the various shuriken and kunai flying around, her electrical prowess would be directed to them with the wind's insulation and their metallic properties.

The vortex screeched loudly, and for a second, Harlee surely thought it was a wild animal, and she, its pray. As the tornado, enhanced by the multiple kunai approached, Harlee watched with widened eyes as Dexter disappeared, clouding himself in smoke but an instant later, he reappeared next to her. Harlee only able to see him from the corner of her eye.

The attack seemed to happen in slow-motion, at least in her head. “Is this what it feels like? To know when the battle’s over.” images flashed in her head of those that mattered to her, her brother Harcourt, her mother and Harlan. "Wait…" her eyes suddenly snapped open, "might as well try it." This was the girl’s last stand, a desperate attempt to continue fighting. Harlee covered her entirety in Busoshoku Haki but that wasn’t the end of it, she then, covered herself in the dangerous Red Electro completely.

"Fenrir's Hide!!!" she proclaimed the name of her newly born technique, as she narrowly avoided Dexter’s sword by jumping up. As she rose up into the air, she felt his sword slash against her skin, but thanks to her coating of Haki remained harmless. The enhancements of Fenrir’s Hide allowed her to reach amazing heights, higher than those of the vortex that aimed to consume her. As she fell back down to the ground, Harlee focused all of her electro and busoshoku haki in a single point; her right arm. She fell down fast, with gravity supporting her, right into the vortex’s origin, its eye. The multiple kunais made several deep cuts on her outfit and even flesh, but she didn’t bother with the pain, she continued to fall down, like a rocket, before punching the eye of the vortex with all her might.

The entire environment surrounding the couple seemed to submit to Harlee’s punch. It made the ground beneath them tremble and crack open like an egg, creating several fissures on it. Lightning dispersed itself across the remaining terrain, and if Dexter was caught he would surely, by the bare minimum be temporarily shocked. To top it all off, Harlee’s fist caused a shockwave of immense proportions. It stripped the pasture bare, covering the entire zone and almost reaching the other duo.

This was Harlee’s ultimate move, even if she wanted to continue, her body would not let her. "I’m sorry… Zayden." The girl fell into the ground with a loud "thud", once again she had emerged defeated.

"Oh damn." Dexter uttered, as his opponent managed to emerge from range of his technique and free herself. Before he could full react, she'd covered her entire body in the red lightning from a moment ago and all Dexter could do was stand in awe for a moment. It was brilliant, the fierce red danced on her body with elegance. He just had to get that technique in his arsenal one way or another.

By the time his envious heart had been blown away by her technique, she'd come spiralling down on him. "I know the power of that technique already. It's gone explode and electricute at the same time." As she came down, Dexter watched as she was shredded by his kunai and shuriken. "I could dodge this, but Imma' take you on... Nah, I'll just dodge it." Dexter decided, pivoting to his side as he watched Harlee crashing into the ground. This was no simple crash though, as upon contact she'd let of an explosive attack that cracked the very ground they stood on.

Leaping to the air after barely being able stand up straight, he turned his attention to the ground where the woman crash and now laid. Landing back to one of the solid pieces of earth that remain, Dexter extended his arm out and lifted his leg. Kunai fell from the air and landed into each of his joints where he'd then hold these tools. Throwing Tenrairyu into the air, he leaned his neck back and opened his mouth to grab Tenrairyu's hilt with his bare teeth. A preformance only a circus act could pull of so flawless.

"Good thing you took ya' self out, cause I ain't wanna' put you in a ditch. Imma' wholesome youngin' and my career is safe, 'cause I ain't have to cut a bitch... YEAH!" All while he rhymed, Dexter swayed back and forth in a groovy manner and continued on, "Popstar, yaaah that's me! Tha' rappin' DEXTER D.!!!"

Dropping all of his kunai to the ground, he took his blade out of his mouth and pointed it at the fallen Harlee. Stabing the blade into one of her open wounds, electricity traveled from the blade into her body. "This here is the curse of Tenrairyu. You'll suffer from paralyzation for a while. But unlike what I deal with, it’s gone be temporary. At least until we can take out that meat head ass pira over there." He threw his thumb towards the direction of Gerhard and Zayden.

"Good thing that ended faster than I wanted. I got the power of this fruit down a lil'. Maybe being a Zone Making Human ain't so bad after all. So long as I can keep the Ope act up." Holding his hand up, Dexter snapped his fingers together. "ZONE," he uttered before pausing. "Jump!" He exclaimed, literally teleporting from sight.

Poetic Hoodlums[]

The wind pushed against Zayden's own attack, but he didn't waver for a moment. Unlike any other time where his struggles began with a grunt, it did not this time. With his strength, he continued to push against the wind barrier until he reached an outcome he'd find himself pleased with. "It won't be that easy, chump!" Zayden declared, lifting his hand up away from the barrier, but before he could be pushed back entire he used the same moment to thrust back into it.

A bolt of lightning struck his hands, wrapping around them and enhancing his strength even further with his attack. "Raging Mjolnir!" He exclaimed, calling out the technique's new name after its enhancements. Upon contact with the barrier, the grounded caved beneath Zayden despite it being entirely muddy.

His assault hadn't stopped there. No, Zayden knew he wanted more and he would try his damned best to achieve exactly what it is he'd been going for. The sound of thunder filled the skies once more and a strike of lightning clashed with Gerhard's barrier. Then another. Then another. Each lightning bolt in rapid succession after the other in attempts to wear that barrier down on Zayden's hammer technique could rip through and smash Gerhard's frail body.

"I CAN SIT HERE AND DO THIS ALL DAY, YOU COON!" Zayden declared calling the man by another new name. Though by the definition the name's meaning, it was obvious it was in reference to his Hoodlum classification and the code name Gerhard had been referred to as a member of the two man unit.

Zayden may not have grunted, but, Gerhard did, eyes sharper than ever, while his muscles tightened. "A'right," he said suddenly in-between grunts, letting a quick breath escape his lungs, "Thanks for bendin't fa' me." With all of the strength and persistance put by Zayden's mighty figure, Gerhard saw it no other way than to use that against him. Something he had decided only when the air didn't push him back, both his arms were aching too much already, even with Busoshoku, still, he was not frail by any means, Zayden was just too strong.

That same persistance of Zayden's had allowed him to effectively bend the wall of strengthened air to the point that he was closer than ever to Gerhard. However, by doing that, it also meant that Zayden basically went inwards, which prompted the sides of the wall to stay by the sides of his own body. Even as that happened and the many thunderbolts came, Gerhard's abilities allowed the wall to resist getting torn apart and only flattened, it was mainly Order made it all be kept together. That way, the lightning produced only blunt effects, the same as Zayden's strike.

The lightning strikes caused several vibrations between the both of them, Zayden had been too focused upon bypassing the defense that he could likely fail to see it, before it properly happened. Zayden may have been the God of Storms, but, Gerhard's abilities allowed him control over what he touched. With the amount of time Gerhard had been holding it, he knew that command was ready. His hand that utilized one went for Temporal Order, while the other that pushed the air itself used Repose. The former would enable a certain configuration to remain upon the wall for some seconds, even after Gerhard stopped touching it. The latter was the ultimate version of the "Order" series, capable of stopping and putting down the most violent of disasters, yet, what it was used for then was to create a nigh stable form of air. Along with Gerhard's busoshoku, which had flared into it earlier, the air seemed like hundreds of turrents.

Both of these commands would have the sides of the barrier rejoining behind Zayden, while its top quickly took shape to maintain him from escaping in any direction. After all, even with the absurd speed he had, he had been pushing forward with tremenduous pressure, Zayden would have to recoil and then slide backwards to escape. That was why, in the moment that the marine could do that, Gerhard made sure to cage him as soon as possible, blood still pouring from his wounds due to the overwhelming attack, while his arms trembled and commanded the air through extended tendrils from the barrier.

"Yer strength- GHHH! S'not only a good asset of yers!!" Gerhard yelled, fists almost exploding as he held the cocoon around Zayden into place. With Repose, even one's mighty strength would be temporarily ineffective, yes, until Gerhard could last and keep it up, "But, t'can also be used against ya'. Good fortune or bad luck... I'd like to call ya' as Pandora's Box!!"

God of Storms he was, but master of his devil fruit he was not. "Was he setting this up for the beginning?" Zayden thought to himself. Taking a deep breath, his pores opened and a liquid ooze spat from them and surrounded his body even quicker than Gerhard's barrier could wrap around his body. "Come on Gerhard! I ain't going down that easy!" Zayden declared as his body had been completely shrouded in this liquid aura.

The liquid surrounded his body began to form into appendages like giant hands. Mentally commanded them to push outwards, the hands grabbed ahold of Gerhard's wind barrier that had intentions of wrapping around the Marine like a Commodore. This was achieved due to the nature of Zayden's newly revealed technique, a form of haki taught to him by his elder brother, Solomon: Busoshoku: Kaito. The very technique managed to grip the air as though it were a physical being and fend off against it. Zayden used all his accumulated strength to withhold his ground. But even that seemed to be a struggled in its own. While he didn't want to mention it, he knew for a fact that Gerhard was superior when it came down to who'd been more skilled with their devil fruit.

So skilled that he managed to even give Zayden a run against his haki. But an opening was all he needed. It was all was required... and he'd managed to find it. Ready to utilize his great speed to bail him out of yet another situation, contrary to his thoughts his body would not act according to his will. "What the hell?!" Zayden exclaimed as he dropped to his knee though thanks to his Kaito, he managed to keep Gerhard's barrier at bay. Sweat poured down his face as he tried to grasp the situation.

"My body, it won't move!" Struggling to turn his head to face Gerhard, "WHAT'D YOU DO!?" He roared, as a lightning bolt struck the barrier's portion that protected Gerhard. Though, just before it could connect with Gerhard's barrier, a flicker of wind around the two stirred. The lightning would find itself thrown in the complete opposite direction of Gerhard and instead to the nearby open field.

Between the two stood Dexter, perched in his hand, was kunai that danced in electricity. "Sorry to intrude, on yo' fight Gerhard, but you looked a little cripple. In my eyes, you in a pickle." Sliding his eyes back to Zayden and stated. "Well would you look at that, Meat Head, look like we too' strong for you."

"You... you beat Hardkey?" Zayden questioned, struggled to move his body more. Though it seemed the more he attempted to move, the more restricted his movement became. "What the hell happened. I really can't move." He'd thought, but even then, he wouldn't have let that stop his fighting spirit. "I didn't think it'd be over that quick. If you won or not, isn't my concern. That just means I get more medals for killing the both of you!" His declaration summoned forth another bolt of lightning, though rather than aiming it at Gerhard, he did so at Dexter.

Again though, the bolt found itself redirected a distance away. "We can do this all day. And if ya' want to, I can catch you up to speed on what's happenin' to yo body then." Dexter smiled, waving his hand for Gerhard to stand to his feet. "Th reason you can't stand is 'cause you suffering from the curse of Tenrairyu. When I cut somebody with her blade, she inflicts a curse that can paralyze the opponent... Or I think that's how Yoshitsune mentioned it. You been so caught up in trying to kill Gerhard, you ain't even notice the stuff surrounding you." Dexter claimed, pointing his kunai to the various shuriken and kunai spinning in the air around him.

"I could've been here. But it took me a lil' minute to set 'em all up. I ain't got complete control over my devil fruit power yet." Dexter added, lowering his stance and holding his kunai up to his face.

"YOU FUCKIN' BRATS! I'LL KILL YOU BOTH." Zayden roared once more, though this time there was no lightning bolt summoned.

"You ain't gone get the chance to, Meat Head. You just too slow." Dashing at Zayden, Dexter utilized Shadow Stitch to get to the man's blind side whilst also infiltrate Gerhard's ensuing wind cacoon. With a strike of the kunai at Zayden's haki the man grunt. Dexter disappeared and so did his presence, the only thing he left behind was the kunai used to attack Zayden. He reappeared at that same location, though this time, Dexter held a shuriken in his hand and the kunai had disappeared much as Dexter had done. Again, Dexter disappeared this time leaving the shuriken behind. The next moment he'd reappear and the shuriken would disappear, Tenrairyu would be in his hand using it to strike at Zayden's back.

What Dexter had been doing was quite obvious; he'd been achieving what is known as teleportation. But, it was a special kind of teleporting. For Gerhard, who could see his surroundings and had his eyes been trained enough, he'd be able to notice that Dexter had been actually swapping places with his various kunai and shuriken in the air. This increased the overall speed of his movement and allowed Dexter to attack Zayden multiple times at light speeds. The teen continued this rotation of kunai, shuriken, Tenrairyu attacks until finally, Zayden could hold out no longer.

Kaito retracting into his body, the overwhelming strength behind Gerhard's technique finally managed to get over on the man. "Is this what you meant, Vice-Admiral Eldric?" Zayden thought to himself. "Did I jump in too early without the full grasp of my devil fruit? Or are these two really the treat you're making them out to be." His thought clouded him from keeping the mental state he needed to withhold his haki, giving Gerhard's technique the moment it needed to overwhelm him completely and encase the man.

His vision was blurred. The result of his haki's overuse and the paralysis Tenrairyu inflicted. Not to mention Gerhard's attacks slowly taking a toll on him. While his wounds from earlier seemed to have disappeared, they did not and were only clouded by his transformation. He'd truly stepped out before gaining the full grasp of a mythical zoan's power. He looked to Gerhard and Dexter, the dynamic duo that managed to take him and Harlee down. A dark haze surrounded their figures, "We will meet again... Surgical Physician", he started referring to the doctor that was Gerhard, "and his assistant Death the Kid."

Air slipping from his palms, Gerhard skidded backwards, almost falling on his back while at it. He didn't know if he even had the strength to react to Dexter's movements, although he could see them, "I swear ta' fuckin' Shiguma," He grunted loudly towards Dexter, bending inwards as if to stall some pain, "He was cool, but fuck, he trynna' smash me." Shockwaves travelled through everywhere, even if not in a large scale, since the air broke off from his commands and unwrapped from around Zayden.

During their fight, Zayden hadn't held himself, it made Gerhard think he shouldn't either, he was ready to squash the man, if he could. Doubts rose within his mind once Zayden used some form of Busoshoku, but, it was not like the time was enough for him to even react to it.

"Gah!" Gerhard fell on his rear, looking out at Dexter, "So, y'defeated the other gal." He breathed out, Haki vanishing from his hands and arms in a moment, even so, they were both still red from his blood. All the impact and pressure from Zayden's attacks, however, did damage to his forehead, extending the scar he had regained from Welhaven Sebastian. "We need to tie the fuck outta' them," Gerhard breathed again.

A sigh left Dexter's body, as well as a breeze of wind. He looked to the fallen Zayden that managed to hold his consciousness despite that damage done to his body. Eyes locked onto the Marine, Dexter cracked his neck and patted his clothes off. The teen was still rather disappointed that Harlee damaged them. "Damn, you can still see. You really a Meat Headed ass pira."

Spitting to the ground, one could see the clear mix of blood inside of his saliva. Turning his head at Gerhard, he waved at him "Yeah, she was light work. I don't even think I broke a sweat." While he seemed to have been over bragging, he was actually correct. He managed to deal with her rather quickly. Much quicker than he had anticipated. With his thumb, he pointed at Zayden. "Pira, I can't believe yo scrawny ass held out against him. I was sure he was gonna' kill ya'."

"You got some weird ass powers though, pira. I gotta' watch you." Dexter's ears wiggled. Turning his head, he found exactly what he'd sensed.

The appearance of Marine Captain Crabbe Harold came full and over his shoulder laid the injured body of Harlee. The Captain eyed both Gerhard and Dexter, standing still as to not alarm the two pirates. "They even took out Commodore Zayden!" He'd thought, quickly shifting his eyes to his fallen leader. He gulped, "I'd better not get into any confrontation. If they took down Zayden and Harlee, then they aren't to be fiddled with."

Dexter drew his blade at Harold and pointed it, but the Marine soldier simply lifted his hand and from his back, an appendage in the form of a crab's claw grew out. "I mean no harm to either of you!" Harold shouted, reaching with his claw and lifting Zayden's body up and holding it. "I am simply here to retrieve the Commodore and the Captain!"

"Aww damn," Dexter commented, sheathing his blade back. "And here I thought I was gone be able to kidnap one of 'em and hold 'em for ransom. Once ya get 'em, get the fuck off this island or..." Dexter looked out the top of his eyes to give a dark glare at the captain. He held his hand out and a silver disk appeared under it, "I'll cut tha whole crew up."

Without a word, Harold's claw gripped Zayden's body tightly and the man scurried from the duo's sight with his destination set on their ship.

"Can't stop us, issa' dynamic duo. The next time I see him, Imma' cut him two cause I like mucho!" Dexter swayed left and right as though he were performing on stage, but this was just the initiate for his signature phrase. He threw his hands up like he'd been throwing a signal of some sort and then shouted, "Popstar that be me, tha' rappin' Dexter D.!" A second after the shout, Dexter collided with the ground.

"Damn, a pira really over did it." That was correct, Dexter had overdone it and fully overused his devil fruit. So much so, that it caused him to collapse of no stamina. Reminiscing on Gerhard's words before the appearance. "Wait, did you say you swear to Shiguma?"

Beat, Gerhard rolled his eyes, "If ya' thought I'd not make't, would woud'ja even fight somewhere else?" Even then, he gave no sigh at the thought, after all, he hadn't gone all worried about Dexter and intervened in his fight. If anything, Gerhard didn't recall thinking much about Dexter admist the fight, helping him was reserved for after. Seeing how they both came out on top made him sigh finally. "Hm?"

Without his attention catching it right away, Gerhard could only see the other Marine picking the two defeated and scurrying away after a threat from Dexter. "Damn indeed..." In a slight push, Gerhard stood with both legs, "We shouldn't let 'em- Oh," Swiftly interrupting himself, he took in Dexter's words, only then, they were turned into rap. "Tis' shit again," Gerhard stared at him, his eyes widened at the subsequent question, "What, no." He tilted his head.

Turning to his side so that he could face Gerhard, Dexter panted heavily. "Look, if they see us as a duo. You gonna' have to respect me as an artist too." Laying out flat, he gripped the hilt of Tenrairyu and sighed. "You know, we gonna' be looked for by every fuckin' Marine that'll be on the seas, right?" With his last bit of strength, he laughed.

"I remember you said yo' kenbunshoku wasn't that good." Dexter commented, remembering back to before their battles. "Look, it's gone be hot on the sea. I claimed this shit as min- well.. by extension Baron's but they ain't gone come here no time soon. Ya weak at kenbunshoku, to be honest, I don't even know how you made it this far. And I'm fuckin' terrible with my devil fruit. As you can see I'm on the brink of death. You teach me how at least use my power and I'll teach you kenbunshoku haki... better. After we uh, fix Wavecro I guess..."

A nod was offered at the first question, while Gerhard simply rolled his eyes at the complaint, "I'm not badmouthin't. Just not mucha' fan," Not that he listened a lot to it, but he supposed no one cared. Ass on the ground once again, Gerhard breathed and sat, "Not too weak, just not's good as Buso." He waved a hand around, though, it was odd even, after all, the first Haki he had been taught was Kenbunshoku.

"Like a deal," Gerhard reasoned suddenly, snapping his fingers at Dexter, "Gotcha', that could do, since y're really shitty with it." Dust fell from his rear, as he rose and walked towards Dexter, extending his hand, "So, fix and teach each other, aye?"

A Boy's Dream Realized[]

Back near the Marine vessel, Avery struggled to keep a tight hold of Corbin. The young boy pushed and kicked off of the man as much as he could, but his strength was not enough to free himself.

"Let me go, idiot!" Corbin shouted, swinging a punch but missing. "Dex and that guy haven't done anything. I know it wasn't them! I'm going to talk to that meat-headed Marine! Just because they are pirates doesn't mean they are bad people!" He shouted, squiggling as much as he could.

Avery continued to struggle, "THEY ARE PIRATES CORBIN, WHAT COULD YOU POSSIBLY KNOW?! YOU'RE A KID YOU NEED TO LEARN YOUR PLACE!"

"SHUUUUUUUUUUUUT UP!" Corbin shouted, as his body suddenly split apart and slid down out of Avery's grip as though he'd been cut up. Each of his body pieces bounced on the ground then regrouped a distance away and jointed. "Adults are all simple-minded! I know they aren't bad people! Dexter saved me and grandma. The other guy fixed grandma's arm! There's no way those guys are evil! I know all pirates aren't evil!" Taking off down the path back towards the battlefront, Corbin let out a final shout. "I'll prove all of you wrong."

"Baboa! What was that he just did? Was that the power of a dev-"

"Devil fruit? Yes, it was. About three months ago he ate the Bara Bara no Mi. I won't stand in the way of his goal, that's never been me. You shouldn't either Avery... you are the boy's father after all..."

A Three Month Break[]

New Wavecro[]

It had been just under three months since Dexter and Gerhard decided they'd remain on Wavecro to complete some training. Both Pirates helped each other significantly. If one had been lacking in a single department the other would aid in fixing said lack and vice versa. During the first time months, they trained day in and day out. Along with their training, they grew closer as friends, building bonds that would be least expectant of opposing pirate crews. Dexter was like Gerhard's younger brother, annoying, but a younger brother nonetheless.

Even then, ominous feelings shrouded Osiris, Hatchcock Zoe, and Lucina. They knew Gerhard to be a traitor and at any moment he could turn his back on Dexter. Yet, for some reason, they couldn't make themselves believe that would be the fate bestowed upon these two. Or was it? While Gerhard and Dexter trained, they spent their time listening to Dexter's orders of rebuilding the Kingdom. Osiris' Suna Suna no Mi combined with Zoe's Kaji Kaji no Mi played a big part in its rehabilitation.

After their training, Gerhard and Dexter aided as well, using their devil fruit as assistance as well. Homelessness and poverty were no more on this Kingdom. Dexter moved hundreds of citizens who'd been strung out and without money to this Kingdom to live a prosperous life and to start over, giving them new beginnings. The same fate was for those original Wavecro citizens too.

Three months wasn't enough to entirely rebuild the Kingdom, but it was enough to get it off of its feet and with Gerhard's and Dexter's powers, they rebuilt homes with relative ease. "ZONE!" Dexter shouted, holding his hand as a silver disk formed under his hand. Throwing it to a nearby empty building, a dome form around it. "Copy," With his two fingers he wiped across the air in front of the zone and a white line essentially scanned it. Under his free hand, another disk appeared though this one was white in color. Launching it to the opposing area next to where the former semi-transparent silver dome was, a transparent white one now stood. "Paste!" He shouted, snapping his fingers as the building was copied inside the new dome, creating an exact replica.

Stretching his arms into the air, Dexter turned to Gerhard. "Gerhard, this time, try to make somethin' like a store-like build or some shit. I dunno'. I'm tryna make this the shoppin' district. With my face on a big ass platter."

The aforementioned pirate stood more to Dexter's side, clothes new and frame seemingly bigger. A sigh was muffled by the refreshed Gerhard's mask, while his body leaned forward and both his hands met the soil, rumbling went through the entire region. Rocks and dust shifted, moving against themselves, they erupted as a rectangular cloud of smoke in an area close to the two, then, that same cloud expanded offwards.

Meanwhile, Gerhard's eyes had flashed a blood red, though he quickly close them. His mind read into the environment, swiftly taking in all of the corners, areas, while his powers acted. It was no news to him, that even inanimate things possessed will behind them, especially when they were something such as the soil, a part of the land itself.

Wind was blown away as the sound of compressing stone reached their ears, pushing the smoke away and allowing them both to see it in its complete form. Yes, before them was just what Dexter asked for, a quite large building with myriads of rooms inside it, it stood taller than the house.

With a simple hand swipe sand lifting from the ground and planted itself into the gaps of the building created by Gerhard. This was the doing of Osiris, the ability he'd been displayed the entire time he'd landed aboard the island. Soon after a wave of fire blew past the sand squares and instantly a glass pane appeared in its place, the result of Zoe's own devil fruit power as well.

The sound of snapping fingers filled the area, "ZONE." Dexter shouted a whisper of wind blew past the four individuals in the area as Dexter's technique covered the entire area. Holding out his left hand, another one of the disks appeared in the same white transparency as earlier. "Copy", he commanded scanning the building Gerhard formed once again. "Paste", a replica of the building appeared right next to it. Then another one, then another one, then another, until there were a total of five copies of the original.

Sliding his hand to his side, Dexter rubbed across the hilt of his sword before gripping. "Cut!" He shouted, unsheathing and swiping the blade across the ZONE in a single motion, beheading the copied buildings in different ways to make each look different from the other. Nearly dropping to his knee, he managed to catch himself by slouching over.

"Damn pira!" Dexter complained, looking at Gerhard. "I'm supposed to be flawless with my power, like you. Why in the hell did that take so much energy out of me?" Straightening up, Dexter leaned back and let out a sigh. Better to be able to sigh as opposed to passing out due to low fatigue. "Shit ain't nothin', imma' prevail. Slice a pira up and send 'im to hell... yeaaah." He rhymed.

Whipping his head in Dexter's direction, Gerhard buffed, "Ever think yer' power's just different?" He waved another hand around, almost wanting to slap Dexter. "But ye, sure, ya' prevailing," Still for a moment, Gerhard actually looked into Dexter's own eyes, "I got no doubt."

A look around was enough to have Gerhard talk once again, "Dont'cha think we already got all these buildings y'wanted?" In fact, he had created numerous amounts of buildings before Dexter even said it was going to be a Shopping District, all of which were then copy-pasted by the latter's powers.

Before Dexter could respond, the callings of a woman's voice stopped him. "Dexter! Deeeeeeeexter!" The voice shouted, a woman of deep dark blue hair ran towards the squad. Each step caused her bust to jump in correspondence to the foot she'd landed on. She waved what appeared to be paper in the air and as she'd gotten closer, Dexter instantly noticed it were a newspaper.

"What, Lucina?" Dexter asked, trying to catch a glimpse of the paper before it had reached his hands. Without saying anything, he grabbed it from her hands and inched closer to Gerhard holding it out so the both of them could read it. He knew for a fact that it pertained to both himself and Gerhard, so it was only right that the two of them read it.

Lucina stretched, "Hey! Don't snatch, rude little shit. You're gonna' get caught one day and you'll need me." Waving her hand at Dexter she called out, "Osiris and Zoe, when you finish come back to District A. I have something for you two."

Dexter quickly began to read the paper before pausing before he could get too far ahead. "The alliance has officially happened between two members, Dragon D. Dexter, a loud rapper, and Blumenthal Gerhard, a masked freak." He quoted, directly from the newspaper. "Okay Masked Freak, yes. But, loud rapper? No. But this is great publicity. My album will sell even more than I expect." A grin formed, as he continued to read it. "Well damn, pira. Death the Kid and Surgical Physician. Not gonna' lie, yours seems kinda' redundant. But it works thou- OH WOW. Beli330,000,000 BERRI BOUNTIES?!?!"

Looking up at the sky, he dropped the bounty posters and newspapers and clenched his fists. "YOSHITUSNE IS GONNA' FUCKIN' KILL ME!!!"

Quickly eyeing the girl, Gerhard gave a long blink at the scene, not even bothering to approach Dexter, who held it, for the guy moved closer instead. The girl, what the hell was her name even, seemed to give some final words, leaving them to fully focus on the matter at hand, "What d'ya mean no?" Gerhard gave a side-way glance at Dexter, "Y'loud as hell." Why would he even go and decline it?

"Redudancy follows me anywhere-" Gerhard coughed, "Soz, what?!" Eyelids shutting and opening quickly, he grabbed the floating paper and stared into it, "Oh... both our bounties." He commented, although Dexter's yelling covered his own words, "Sooooz, Notch friends." Gerhard pouted with a cheek puff, looking at nowhere as the people of the Notch flashed by his mind. "Tis' shit will only continue to increase, yo," Gaze over Dexter, he said once again, "So don't bother cryin' now."

"That's right..." Dexter stated, turning his view onto Gerhard. His annoying expression was no more and instead found itself replaced by a much more serious one. "I've gotta' discuss something important with you." Lifting his head, to direct Osiris and Zoe away from Dexter and Gerhard, the rapping teen snapped his fingers and the two walked away.

"Much serious than any other time, Gerhard, but I need ya' help with something. Imma' cut straight to it, so there ain't no need to beat around the bush." Holding the palm of his hand up, Dexter revealed two dots drawn by pen markings. Point to the dot on the left side of his hand, Dexter began. "This here is Shiguma and the main crew of the Xros Pirates." Pointing to the other dot he started, "And this here is Vince and the main affiliate crews of the Xros Pirates. Please try to keep up, I ain't boutta' go over this again. You know Shiguma, right? Of course you do, you betrayed him. Anyway, check it check it."

Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a pen and began to draw little dots under the dot he designated as "Vince". "Vince... see Vince and his "crew" are the underdogs of the Xros' business because they are just uh, affiliates. Got any questions before I go balls deep my guy"

"Important, 'e says," Gerhard did another roll of his eyes, this time rolling even his whole head from left to right, which made his neck creak audibly. Xros, attention instantly over the dots, Gerhard quieted down and took in what Dexter proceeded to say, "Are ya' really askin' me, a guy who's been there, if I got questions?" Maybe he had been drinking without telling anyone, but, Gerhard wouldn't invade his privacy.

"Y'seem to know an awful lot though," Cheeks large, Gerhard only stood where he was, although his gaze still bore through Dexter's dots and figure. "Go on~" He waved his hand, waiting calmly.

"A'ight, so, I want you to find something to do about the Xros Pirates. I don't care what it is, it can even be something as simple as healing one of them if you have to." Dexter stated, still holding his finger at the palm of his hand. This was quite a strange feat of Dexter. Not once had Dexter worked with someone outside of his record label in the ways he'd been doing so with Gerhard these past couples of months and it was almost frightening.

Devising plans on his own without the consent of Baron, being better with conversation to others, hell even rebuilding an entire kingdom with his hands, were all things Dexter would have never done before he'd met Gerhard. Maybe this man had a greater influence on the boy than shown.

Dragging his finger down his palm he continued, "While you're doing that, Imma' go to Aurora and take down their affiliates crews. I don't expect this to be easy, tho' Gerhard. If my information is correct, Shiguma and this Gambi guy fought for captaincy over the Xros Pirates waaaaay back in the day. Gambi became the captain of the affiliate crews, while Shiguma became the captain of the main Xros crew. My job won't be able to be achieved alone. Imma' send out letters to some specific pirates I got in mind to help; Lancaster Hecate, Bimore O. Jack-, gah fuck it all the Shichibukai, that rookie Veno. I'll get more as I go, it's hard to decide right now. Uhhhh, okay. Is that making sense to you?"

"Hmmmm, okay," Gerhard said in response to the first statements, rather suddenly even, "Let's say I do just tha', but, I won't be tellin' ya' which." His eyes had both settled on Dexter's figure, not blinking any second whilst the words went out of his muffled mouth. Should Gerhard ever get back to Dexter in some sort of message, it certainly wouldn't be a common one, least people find out they have certain plans.

Nodding to the subsequent question, Gerhard couldn't help but chuckle slightly at Dexter, eyes closed for but a few seconds. "Ya' really dumb sometimes, of course t'makes sense yo," He waved a hand around, eyes open, Gerhard clapped his hands, "But not dumb fa' th' explanation. I mean dumb like... bruh, ya' explaining all this stuff ta' a former member." He shrugged, indeed, as a member of the Xros, he had known quite a lot. "I can confirm all this info ya' got about it, it went about just like tha'," Gerhard crossed his arms, cheeks large as he smiled at Dexter, "Even the... Public Enemy huh..."

"Oh," Dexter began, straightening himself and locking onto Gerhard's slender figure. "I forgot about that. Then that makes this shit a hundred times easier." Closing his palm, Dexter placed that same hand onto his head to stract his hair. All he could do, was think about exactly why he had been trying to do this. What transpired him into wanting to actually take down the Xros Pirates? Working for Baron was pretty mcuh numb at this point, since he had not managed to gain the Ope Ope no Mi.

Then again, Dexter wasn't the type to think to hard. He never wanted to feel what was known as depression and wanted to avoid it by any means. "Today Imma' start everything. I'll let Lucina and everyone remain here on Wavecro. The Marines shouldn't come here since it's technically my protected land, under Captain' Baron's name." Sighing, "That means you gotta' get ready to take off too. Once both missions are complete, we gone meet here. If you can, hit me with some sort of message once you finish. We'll call this, stage one of the Xros Coup D'etat."

Clenching his fist, he looked down at it. "Imma' stay here a while to send out the invites to other pirates. But for now, I got some training I wanna test out in my ZONE. What I wanna' do ain't perfect, it's only been three months, but I know I can get strong if I stop everything..."

"Ight, Gerhard. Let's do this shit."

"Dumbass," Gerhard chuckled, closing his eyes and turning around, a silent agreement between the both of them, "Let's go." Complete.

Stage Complete.

New Mystique Girl[]

At Marine Headquarters, three women stood in a room together. Robin Victoria stood in front of the two women with her arms folded and eyes locked onto the two girls. There was a weird silence, one that would make even the toughest of men question the situation in hand, but because they were women, they'd remain in their place.

Victora tapped her arm as she continued to stare at the two girls. She'd clearly been in deep thought but had to figure out a correct approach. "So," she began, turning her eyes to the dark-skinned girl in the room but then she shifted them to the girl with the cat-like ears standing next to her. "So, Harlee, tell me what happened. I'm not caught up to speed with your situation."

"Well...heheh.." she said, scratching the back of her head. The tension in the room was so that it could've been physically grabbed, and was the reason why Harlee was unintentionally awkwardly laughing she had to relieve it, at least a little. "Commodore Zayden and I went to the destroyed Wavecro for an investigation and what or well who we encountered there sure was a surprise." once again, she stopped, clearing her throat before continuing. "It was no other than "Man-Slayer" Dragon D. Dexter and "Doctor of Games" Blumenthal Gerhard, it was suspected that these two were the ones to ravage Wavecro, and of course we confronted them, we couldn't let an alliance between the Notch Pirates and the Titan Pirates happen right in front of us, and so we fought." Harlee's hands balled into fists, which she clenched as hard as she could. "Unfortunately, my abilities weren't enough to handle Dragon D. Dexter and his strange use of the Ope Ope no Mi." A tear fell into the floor and then another. "After that...I passed out, and from what I was told, the two pirates teamed up against the Commodore, so it ended in our loss."

Victoria held her chin for a moment. "I see. So ya' gonna' learn and move with Mystique now?" Victoria shook her head at Harlee before tuning her eyes at the dark-skinned girl. "I already know your story, Lamaria." While Lamaria had been listening, the information pertaining to Wavecro struck her.

She was stiff for a moment. Her mind wandered once Harlee revealed the culprits behind her Kingdom's destruction. "Yeah!" Lamaria exclaimed in response to Victoria. "I'm here to find who destroyed the Wavecro Kingdom and handle them accordingly. I'll avenge my mom and dad no matter the cost!" Her mind wandered into her thoughts, "Dragon D. Dexter and Gerhard?" On the outside, she'd been stern to Victoria, but she'd truly been concerned about the information.

"It's no way those two did it. I know who really did it." She'd thought, truthful as ever. I mean, she was the princess of the Kingdom after all. She felt she was the one entitled to bring the true criminals to justice.

"I admire your drives. However, while you are entitled to your own goals. Mystique, has a single purpose in of its own." She held up her index finger. "The safe retrieval of Autumn."

Harlee looked at Lamaria with a bedazzled look on her face, "She really wants to get back at 'em...", shaking her head to force herself into paying attention. Raising one of her brows in curiosity, she raised up her hand to speak. "Excuse me for asking but, where's Autumn?" She really had no clue, Harlee didn't focus much on other things that didn't involve her.

Advertisement