Sammi had hung back at first, not wanting to get caught in Alaena's rain of arrows or in the way of the Bouncer's flying fists of fury, when it hit her. There's got to be a better way to do this.
Not seeing where any of the others went, she went around to another side of the resort, the diversion at the front entrance meaning the security on the perimeter was more lax. It took a little time but she found an entryway into a room that was clearly used for cleaning. The smell of pungent chemicals hung in the air. Ugh it stinks in here. But at least I'm in. She pressed on, out the door, looking for any straggling mobsters who could do with a fresh chop to the neck.
As Hal cautiously made his way around the perimeter of the resort, trying not to fall into an ambush himself, he heard a big commotion from the front gate where the others were. "Eh? Did I miss a bunch of em? Maybe I oughta head back and help em out a bit. Oh? But what do we have here?" Hal muttered to himself before quickly ducking down a nearby alleyway after hearing more shouting and foot steps coming his way. A group of 5 or so thugs were headed towards the front gate. "Better keep these guys out of the mix first though." He said as began climbing to the roof of the nearest building.
He ran across the roof of the building, following the thugs until he had caught up with the back of them. "Now or never I guess... You guys picked the wrong merchant to fuck with!" Hal yelled as he dropped off the building, sword drawn, and landed on top of the thug in the back of the pack plunging his sword into him. The impact sent waves of pain throughout Hal's entire body, but he ignored it and ripped his sword out of the thug and sliced through the next closest enemy as the group turned to see just what the hell was going on. Then he used Shave to get in front of the thug at the front and kill him as well, effectively cutting off their path to the battle at the front gate. Hal turned to face the remaining two thugs and sank into his stance, but did nothing immediately. They let out a cry of terror and ran. Hal let them get a fair distance away before using Shave to catch up to them and slashing one across the back, then Shaving behind the other one and dispatching him in a similar matter.
Exhausted, Hal sheathed his sword and collapsed against the nearest wall, panting heavily. "Ok... I'll be right... There... To help you guys.... Out... In just a minute... Just gotta... Catch my breath.... Really not... Cut out for this... Shit."
Seeing that Yoje had recover quickly and back to his usual fighting self, he morph into his owl form as he quickly toward the rest of group going against Inshi.
Peter had managed to get away from most of the fighting, entering another room. "Ok, this seems to be the back-up power supply..." a couple seconds later, there was another explosion. "Alright, now to go help the others!"[hr]
Inshi tried to call for more help, but nobody seemed to respond. He noticed a couple people heading for his office, in multiple directions. "Fine. You want a fight. That's what you'll get..." He started heading down the stairs to encounter the first one he ran into.
It doesn't matter who runs into him first. Just someone post running into him
In a bizarre twist of events, Jacque had quickly encounter Inshi. Despite being inside the building, the interior had enough wide space for Jacque remain in his owl form.
He shrieks "En guard!! Twoo!"
He uses his talon to draw out his rapier, ready to clash blades with him.
Inshi took his spear, taken unaware when he saw Jacque rushing towards him. He deflected the rapier, but got a cut across his shoulder while doing so. "Urk!" He tried to get enough distance between the two of them. "You have a lot of nerve, attacking me here... who are you?"
[hr]
Peter tried to go through the other rooms to get into a good position to catch the gangsters off guard. "Ok... need to be smart about this."
Yoje had taken out enough of thugs that two of the twelve stronger Yarrakonas in the back of the mob decided to attack him. Each one of them brandished a large katana. One swiped low at Yoje's feet, the other jumped and swung at his head. Yoje leaned back and jumped in between the blades, his back parallel to the ground. He then Tempest Kicked the two swordsmen, but each managed to sidestep out the way of his attack.
Yoje landed on his hands and quickly righted himself, gaining a moment of respite. These two were clearly better than the thugs he'd fought so far.
Jacque replies "I am the terroriser to the marines, I'm the nightowl. I am famed Jacque De Hootingham!"
He engages him in fencing like motion as he timed his wing flapping to his sword thrust. As his wing move inward he thrust his rapier toward him and then away when his wing pull back.
He cheers "I heard you been causing alot of trouble so are putting a stop to you lots!"
If it weren't for my stubby little legs I could of draw out my pistol and shot him in the face already!
"Your name sounds familiar. I have heard of you. So it will be interesting to take on one such as yourself." Inshi continued swiping at him with his spear, but didn't seem to be making any progress. This one's skilled. I need to be a little more careful. He managed to deflect most of Jacques thrusts, but still did get a couple minor wounds. He started swinging his spear in larger arcs and in a more rapid motion, trying to catch Jacque off guard.
'I need to just finish this,' Alaena thought after dodging another katana swing from the remaining goon she was fighting. The first man had gone down relatively easy, still unconscious on the street after she threw him off the building. The second one was proving slightly more difficult often not straying from his spot until she tried to hit him with an arrow.
"This is foolish," she muttered under her breath, lowering her bow now that the man was trying to charge at her again. She had grown tired of his little game, feeling that she was just wasting time trying to deal with him instead of helping the others. While the man might not have been particularly skilled in swordsmanship he was smart enough to keep trying to attack from her blind spot; doing his best to try to swing at her left side. Alaena was much faster than him though, dodging his swing in a fluid movement and knocking him off the edge of the roof with a punch to the face.
His katana clattered as it hit the ground near Alaena's feet after she hit his owner off the roof. She made a quick check to make sure he was out cold before nocking a few arrows and going back to weeding out Inshi's men.
He was surprise that the man had deflected most of his attacks. When he start using a sweep like attack with his spear, it had force him to be on the defensive as he flap his wings away from him.
Hoo hoo! This guy isn't some lackey.
He respond "I told you my name so what's you? Just who are you anyway? Twoo"
Inshi seemed to hesitate for a second. One could practically see the veins in his forehead and his face becoming red with rage. "You don't know the Oyabun of the Yarrakona family? You attack me without even knowing just who I am?! For such an insult... you shall die!" he swung faster and in more elaborate patterns. While they were harder to dodge, now they were leaving bigger opening at certain points.
Jacque smug "That just so I am." He soon came to regret at insulting him.
As soon Inshi spear had made a cut at his skin he knew that he can't dodge it all. He switches his tactic to blocking his attack. He beloved rapier is able to withstand the hard blows but he is putting a great risk at damaging it if he block it for too long.
He shouted "Whoa whoa! I only just met you! Of course I wouldn't know you beforehand!"
He had pay close attention to his attack and he saw an opening but at a gamble of getting stab at the spear.
So what are the odds at hitting that opening? I hit him first or he hit me first? We could even stab each other at the same time or we both miss or block each other attack? So it's about 20% or 30%? Bah I'm no good at math, I will let lady luck decide my fate just like how she spared me from Akainu attack back then.
As soon he saw the opening, he blindly plunge his rapier right at the opening.
Inishi was about to land a big strike when he felt Jacque's rapier plunge into his stomach. He held still, one hand gripped around the blade, holding it there, as if trying to compute what had just happened. He growled a little, holding onto it so Jacque couldn't pull it back. He roared in fury, and tried to stab him with his spear one last time, but his aim was off to the point where Jacque didn't even have to try and dodge it.
He is relief that he was able to strike him where it would hurt until he saw he grab onto his rapier. No matter how hard he try to pull back, Inshi had stay put on the ground as he retaliate by sticking back at him.
Well shit.
Since he is so attach to his rapier, he didn't leg go of it as he felt the spear stab into his left thigh. The pain had finally made him let go of his rapier as he fall back down into the ground. By the time he hit onto the ground he had reverted back to his human form with his left thigh bleeding.
He used his left hand to put pressure into the wound and he started to feel light headed. His vision is unbalance as he look back toward Inshi who still holding onto his blade. He uses his right hand to reach out to it like a beggar man. While this may made him look desperate but he had a trick up his sleeve as his left hand is ready to pull out his pistol for a point blank shot should Inshi doesn?t give him back his belove rapier.
Inshi grunted again. "If you want it back so badly... very well." He tried his best not to grin as he noticed two of his lieutenants walking in behind Jaqcue, their weapons drawn. Inshi raised his hands up. "I surrender."
I'm sorry for leaving you guys out in the cold for so long. I really had no time until now due to schoolwork. Posting should commence regularity soon, and if that's not a word it is now. Again, I'm sorry for ditching you guys.
Grana roared as he spun around, clearing himself some space. The mindless goons really were starting to annoy him; there simply didn't seem to be an end to them. Finally some of the thugs drew back, only to reveal twelve men who seemed to know what they were doing. Grana braced himself as he bore an attack, then retaliated with the katana. His fellow swordsman danced back, out of range as once again, thugs pressed in from every side. Grana sheathed his swords and closed his eyes in order to concentrate. "Magic-Magic: Shell Game." Every time a blade would reach out, seeking Grana's lifeblood, he in turn would reach out to almost touch the blade, creating a portal that would kill a man opposite him. Because every hit was a kill, no one stopped until it was too late. Grana was soon awash in a sea of blood. As always, Grana walked out, his clothes unsullied. "C'mon!" He yelled. Three Lieutenants complied, assaulted Grana from three sides. Grana ducked low to avoid the spear aimed at his throat, and rolled to dodge the tomahawk slashes delivered by the swordsman. Grana's roll took him near the spearman, in a range too close for weaponry. As Grana was not currently holding anything at the moment, he was perfectly suited for this kind of work. The lancer wielding a seven foot spear, unfortunately, was not. Grana grabbed the spearman by the throat and spun, drawing his wakizashi. However, when he turned to look, the swordsman had already disappeared, rung toward the main building. Grana sneered as he slit the Lieutenant's throat. "Too many cooks spoil the soup, I suppose. Inshi really should have trained them on how to work together efficiently." Grana noticed he was now covered in blood. Luckily, these were just his common clothes. He shrugged and chased after the two runners, planning on using them to sneak in to the facility.
To his suprise, Grana's plan worked without a hitch. He was able to sneak unnoticed into the main compound riding on the coattails on the two Lieutenants. For the first time in his life, Grana passed a treasure room with nothing more than a quick glance. "Damn... I'll take him for everything he's got later.... Wait, what? I can't believe I just passed a rich man's treasure room and didn't take anything! What kind of thief am I?" Grana shook his head and continued, trying to banish thoughts of mountains of gold and gemstones hidden within Oyabun's vaults. As it turned out, this was quite the prudent decision. He just turned the corner to see the two escaped swordsman about to cut down Jacques from behind. Grana wouldn't allow that to happen. "Hey, gentlemen!" He yelled. "What do you think you're doing? You were fighting with me, not him. Should we not continue? It was just getting fun!" Grana then saw Inshi glaring at him and grinned. Grana decided to rub salt into the would, and took a deep bow, obscuring most of his body proper from view. When he stood back up, Grana was in his unsullied white suit, the very same as when he first met the Oyabun. What's more, Grana held the Dragon Diadem in his hands. "G'evening, Oyabun. Remember me?" Grana said with a grin. He raised the brim of his hat so the man could get a good look at the same face that had robbed him two years ago.
Inshi growled as he saw Grana hold up his family heirloom. "You... You have a lot of nerve showing your face back here, you coward. Still, how's that scar along your back doing? It suits you: a mark of running away." The two suited men still were unsure of what to do. Inshi shrugged his head and the two moved aside, knowing their element of surprise were now ruined. "Still... thank you for holding onto it for me..." he reached down towards his spear. "Now RELEASE IT!" With shocking strength, he threw the spear forward like a javelin, arcing upwards. The spearhead was crafted from seastone, so any attempts Grana made to use his powers were useless as shredded through his wrist, hearing a loud, audible, sickening CRACK as it tore through the bone and tendon, and exited, leaving a cut along the side of his stomach.
Inshi awatied their response, Jacque still close to him, now leaving himself defenseless. He yelled to his men "Kill the thief!", hoping the combination of his ally's weakened state and the fact that there were still two armed men there be enough for Jacque to give him an opening to retreat.
Jacque was rather suspicious that Inshi had gave up already despite he's in a weaker condition than he is but yet again he had heard faint footsteps behind him.
Before he decides his next plan, Grana had show up causing quite a commotion. Inshi had dropped his rapier which he retrieves it and sheath it back. He quickly pull out his old bandanna to wrap it around his wound and tie in a tight knot in time to see Grana being struck down by the powerful spear throw from Inish.
Well crap he didn't last long.
He knows it's too foolish to even trying to fight back in his current state since it's painful to stand and his vision is shaky. His only option is to retreat.
He use every bit of his strength to morph into his owl form again which brought more pain due to his wound is reshaped in his owl form.
In one fell take off, he flew past Inish and his two men at such in a incredible speed as he use his right talon to pick up the injure Grana carefully without making his wound worse. Even if Grana wanted to fight on, he wouldn't fight too well with that injure to his stomach side. The only thing that Inish would have seen is a brown blur and by the time he realise what happen, they were gone.
Jaqcue had gotten the both of them outside of the building as he gently place Grana down and he morph back to his normal form. He quickly stated to pass out most likely from overusing his power combine with his blood lost. Before his eyelid close he briefly saw that his blood had drip out a trail for Inshi to follow.
Grana screamed in agony as the Seastone spear lanced through his right arm, slashing his stomach and pinning him to the wall like some exotic white butterfly. The Dragon's Diadem fell out from his hands as the pain jackknifed through his arm. had trouble even taking in air. "How...does he have... Seastone? This is the... West Blue, not the... Grand Line!" Grana then heard Inshi's taunt and responded in kind. "The scar is doing just fine... Thank you. And considering how I got it... I'll bear it for life... As a mark of courage. By the way... that little girl... You tried to kill? She's doing quite well, too. Thanks for the... Spear, too; I'll keep it along with the Dragon Diadem. I'll take both of them... To my grave. You'll never get them back, Inshi!" Grana chuckled, putting on a brave facade even as he felt the specter of death looming over him as the two swordsmen stalked closer and closer. With trembling fingers, Grana picked up the Diadem and thrust it inside his coat, then pulled out a pistol and aimed it at Inshi. But before he could take the shot, Grana was pulled away, faster than thought, as Jacques squirreled him away from battle.
Grana cursed as Jacques passed out after carrying both of them into some deserted alleyway. He dropped the pistol and began to work the spear from his side. "Damn... I've got... No strength left." Grana slowly and carefully removed the spear from his person, throwing it a bit away from himself, and smiled as some of his strength returned. "Small mercies." Grana said, before ripping off some shredded fabric to tie tourniquets on his wounds in order to stop the bleeding. With a now steady hand, Grana picked up the pistol and hid it in his left sleeve. Preparing himself for the pain, Grana picked up the spear and laid it next to him, so that in the dark it would look as if he was still impaled by it. Grana finally took out the Diadem and dropped it into a portal, so that Inshi would never get it back if Grana did die. With all the bases covered, Grana leaned back against the wall, prepared to defend his nakama no matter what came his way. Grana's back twitched, sending him gentle reminders of a mirrored situation, two years ago. Grana sighed. "Why is it that I only seem to get hurt when I try and do something for other people?"
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