Wealth, Adventure, and the Open Sea: A One Piece RP.(Arc 4: Porte Carlo.)

[Mr. Omega]

"Wait, you know one of them? How the hell do you know one of them?" Anabelle slowed down to Holik's pace. She then got very close to him, growling "And why didn't you tell me about this earlier?!" Off in the distance, a couple people were up ahead. [hr]

"Yeah... someone really didn't like them..." He turned to her, walking backwards. "Tell me, m'am, you ever meet a Marine name Alyse? Because she really didn't like one of the bases..."

 

[tsatoma]

"I normally don't associate with Marines at all, let alone learning their names. Shame that a Marine wouldn't like their own base though; that would always be a problem for superiors I imagine," Alaena replied, biting the inside of her lip after hearing that name. She wasn't sure how exactly they had heard about her alias, nor was she sure how they figured it out. Evidence had been planted so that Alyse was officially declared dead, and the promising new Marine was forever buried in the files of Marines.

'Or at least that's what was supposed to happen,' she thought to herself, tightening the grip on her knife.

 

[CounterAttack]

Marielle paused momentarily: she had heard something nearby. Someone, to be precise. A couple of voices behind them. She didn't want to be out in the open in the darkness... these people could have bad intentions, whoever they were. Thieves, other pirates, whatever. Marielle didn't want to find out. "Come on... I think I heard something back there," she said quietly to Sammi, picking up her pace a little.

The pair still had a way to go before returning to the ship. Hopefully they wouldn't take too long.

 

[NeoAC]

"Well, well, well," Holik said, smirking. "Now the 'old man' has your attention, does he? Why do you think I'm so good at figuring out what a pirate is after? How they think? How they escape? Because I was one, little girl. I changed though. I mended my ways, turned over a new leaf. And because I'm such a nice guy I wanted to make sure all my former ship mates had a chance to do likewise.

However, Hartley wasn't as receptive. Made a run with one of his underlings. We found him, but couldn't find the accomplice. But if that scaredy-cat teenage girl is the one who ended up getting away, I gotta tell you, I'm a bit ashamed of the Marines who were on the case. Of course, given that no one decided to share any info with me regarding just who we were after, this doesn't surprise me they let a weakling like that get away." Holik slightly extended his trident as they approached the central markets.

[hr]

Sammi craned her ear, trying to pick up what Marielle was talking about. "You sure Blue? Cause I'm not hearing anything back there. I dunno..." She instinctively grabbed at her axes. "If there is something back there, it's going to be tasting steel, that's for sure."

 

[Mr. Omega]

This time it was Hippocrates that spoke up. "You had displayed some very impressive techniques at Lasklee, Mrs... actually, we don't know your name... Not matter. We saw that you had learned some of the 6 techniques. And you showed the same impressive techniques at the former base. I must admit, I had suspected the one who caused the incident to be somewhere in this area. However, I had been mistaken. When I saw one of your cohorts, Mr Taruki, using those moves with a surprising amount of efficiency, I must admit, I thought he was the culprit."

Yezeku then spoke up. "While he was looking through the files of the incident, I walked by and saw the list of those who were KIA during the attack. And one of them looked very familiar..." He pulled out a slip from Hippocrate's pocket, showing a picture of a younger looking Aleana. "Gotta admit, if I wasn't walking by, he wouldn't have made the connection. But then again, if you didn't attack me as I was leaving Lasklee, I wouldn't have noticed either... Life just seems to work in strange ways sometimes, don't it?"

They were now at the main door to the facility, left open when Gezora rushed past outside. Hippocrates turned to them. "I trust our information has been accurate?" He was practically taunting her now, taking a couple steps outside. [hr]

Gezora, meanwhile, was rushing through various alleyways near the base, slowly spreading further from it. "Fucking hell, they couldn't have possibly gotten that far that fast... where the hell are they?!" He was getting frustrated from the dead-ends and empty alleys.

[hr]

"So we've got an easy target then? That means there's no excuses for failure, Holik." Anabelle said, jumping ahead of him now, noticing some people ahead of them. "Get your weapon ready..." she jumped onto an awning for one of the shops, leaping to a nearby one, trying to get at a good angle in case this was their target. Please let it be one of them...

 

[Fragrance of Mtn Dew]

Going back to the ship with a heavy bed full of equipment was taking a lot slower and harder than the trip going to the outpost had been. Hal moved as fast as he could but after a few minutes or so he was pretty out of breath. He pushed the cart around a corner and out of sight to catch a quick break and wait for Alaena to catch up.

Assuming she shows up.... Might have to just go back alone. I'll wait here for a few minutes, but I can't hang around if they're looking for me. So if you're on your way, better hurry up Alaena. Hal though, peering around the corner back towards the outpost as he caught his breath. He kept a hand on his sword though, just in case someone was pursuing him.

 

[tsatoma]

Alaena stayed silent as the two men went back and forth explaining how they came to the correct conclusion. The picture Yezeku held up brought back memories of her stay at the Marine facility, and of the night everything she had been working on went into play. 'Now what to do...I can continue playing dumb, get them to keep bragging about how great they are for figuring out something that would have been a closed case if not for coincidence. Maybe I'll take the snarky route, or just try to escape.'

The silence stayed for another few seconds before Alaena gave a slow clap to break it, stating, "Bravo. At the rate you two are going when it comes to my past deeds you might finally catch up to where I am now sometime within the next century. Of course, there will be more things you'll have to figure out by then, but I'm sure it'll come easier with time."

She slowly moved her free hand to rest on her hip close to her gun, keeping it in a non-threatening position while the ceasefire was still going on. "So this begs the question: what happens next?"

 

[Mr. Omega]

Hippocrates started to walk away. "I leave you with Yezeku. He said he wanted to pay you back for before. While finding out one small mystery was fun, I'd like to wrap up a couple loose ends from Jingo." He stopped for a moment, addressing Yezeku. "I want her alive. She will be made an example."

"I make no promises." Yezeku reached for his weapon, spinning it around. As Hippocrates walked to the distance, he paced around Aleana. "Now I could have just stuck you in the gut earlier... but I know you'd react fast enough to dodge." He took a step back, just out of range for his weapon. "Now then... I have to admit... I've been looking forward to this. I wasn't really paying much attention to most of the briefing. I don't even remember most of the crew they're dealing with..." He shrugged, then took a stance, bending his knees and pointing one of the two edges at her. "But I'm curious what kind of guy would get someone like you following their orders..." After he had said that, he eased up a little "Y'know... all this time passed and I don't even know your name..."[hr]

Gezora had finally stopped, taking a moment to catch his breath. "God-fucking-dammit..." he growled. "I don't even know where to look! I can't tell where he would have went..." suddenly an idea popped into his head. He reached into his pockets, rummaging around until he pulled out the same snail he had been using before. "Come on, girly... don't you dare be asleep..." as soon as it had stopped ringing, he shouted into it "HEY! USELESS! YOU THERE?!"

 

[SkyeNeko]

"Thank you for helping me, young lady~"
Cecelia tried her best to hurry up, but this woman asked her to bring several pounds of groceries from the market to her house on the other side of the island. Not only did it take 5 trips, it took all afternoon. The sun was setting when she was done. Oh... it's about time for me to head back to-

"Waaaaaah!" A child's cry interrupted her. She had a small soft spot for kids, and decided that she could sacrifice a few minutes, even if it meant having to make a mad dash back to the Marine base afterwards in order to meet back with the others. "H-hey... what's wrong girly?"
"I l-lost Pearly... my puppy..."
"O-oh... have you tried-"
"You're a marine! Please help me find him! I miss him sooo muuuch..."
It didn't take too much for her to give in. Okay, it's already night, there can't be too many places for a dog to hide... She hoped that "Pearly" would have made some noise, barked, whimpered, anything to give away it's position, but she had no such luck. I need to get back... what if they're waiting for me? What if I'm late? "U-uh... look sweetie... I need to go..."
"No! We haven't found him yet! Please don't go miss! Pleeeease!"
Again, Cecilia gave in. A couple more minutes though, that was all, she swore. That was an hour ago. Even the little girl had gone home, just asking her to 'keep looking'. I can't just go back empty-handed... she'll think I'm unhelpful and lazy... I need to find her dog... what if it was me? I'd want someone to help me if I lost something... She tried to defend her choice. The one thing she was never good at was saying no. Not helping. Staying out of things. She took it on herself to solve everyone's problems all the time.

At least she could try and find some evidence of the pirates while she walked about. Hopefully if she found them the others wouldn't be so mad... She was right back near the bell tower when she heard a ring that left her confused for a second. Oh! That might be one of the Marines... ah... what do I do... She barely had time to ask who was calling her when an angry voice came through. "HEY! USELESS! YOU THERE?!" Cecilia had a small heart attack, jumping a few inches. "S-s-s-sorry s-sir... I-I was h-h-helping a l-little g-g-girl..." she managed to stammer, pulling at her shirt.

 

[tsatoma]

"Nor will you learn my name unless you're able to pry it out of me," Alaena declared, her hand firmly on the grip of her revolver now as the two men separated. "As for taking orders, just because I'm traveling with someone does not mean I follow their commands. I take my orders from one man only, and it is not the captain of the ship I'm on," she explained, watching as the distance between herself and Hippocrates widened. It was a tough decision to make; dare she fire a shot at him, and risk both wasting a bullet and opening herself up for an attack by Yezeku?

As Hippocrates moved even further from the outpost she grabbed a hold of the revolver and fired one of her few precious shots at the man. As quickly as she could she put the revolver back into its holster and focused back on Yezeku. 'If I can just get further away I can finally use my bow. Would be more advantageous than trying to fight his blade with my knife.'

 

[GoWithDAFro]

Yoje was calmly making his way to his next destination, when it occurred to him that the most direct route led him right past the Marine Outpost. Maybe I should take the long way around, to avoid any attention. Then again, if Hal and Alaena have been able to spend a lot of the day safely robbing this place, I should be fine just walking by. No one here is looking for me anyway. He shrugged and continued walking.

 

[Mr. Omega]

Gezora sighed, his fingers pinching his temples as the flat end of his hook rubbed against his head. "For god's sake, stop stammering. I need you back at the belltower. I need a birds eye view." Gezora wasn't aware that in the alleyways with such high-rising buildings so close to the base, Cecilia would be all but useless. But he wanted anything that could help. Or better, someone to blame if they got away. "So get going!"

He continued heading around the alleyways. "Come on, you coward... show yourself so I can gut you..."[hr]

The bullet whizzed past Yezeku's head, and tore through Hippocrates' shoulder. The instant it exited, Hippocrates' head jerked back, and he clutched the wound, his teeth clenched and his eyes wide open as he howled in pain. Afterwards, he calmed down, panting a little, examining the wound. "...Seastone. It has to be. She isn't talented enough for Haki..."

"Yo, uh, Hippocrates. You ok over there?" Yezeku didn't take his eyes off Aleana, stepping around so he could see them both.

"It's fine. I got overconfident. Didn't think a shot like that was worth avoiding. I'm a little to used to just taking glancing blows..." His coat was starting to get stained red with his blood.

"And what about the hole?" Yezeku asked.

"Just give it a second..." After he had said that, the stains stopped spreading, and he was standing normally. "This one has peculiar weapons, Yezeku. There's more to her arsenal than meets the eye."

"You sure you're ok?" He took a stance again, waiting for the first attack.

"This isn't the first time I've been shot at, ensign. Just been a while since I've encountered someone this... prepared..." He slowed down a little, his head perking up and he took a quick whiff of the air. "Hm. Well I'll be..." He started heading south to where Holik and Anabelle had run.

Yezeku quickly jumped between the two again. "So, now that we're alone..." he started spinning his blade around. "You want to try that again?"

 

[Fragrance of Mtn Dew]

The longer Hal waited, the more impatient and nervous it made him. He was a sitting duck in this alley and it was becoming increasingly likely that Alaena had been captured back at the outpost. Alright, so I ran off and left her to die. Not cool. I gotta get this stuff to the ship and grab the others so we can go back for her. Ain't no way I'm busting in there alone again after all. Maybe I oughta just leave the stuff here so I can go back faster and come back for it later. But what if some bum finds it and sells it or some shit...? Argh... This sucks.

As Hal continued to fret and try to come up with a solution to this mess, he spotted someone running through the alleys nearby. It looked like a Marine, which meant Hal definitely couldn't leave the stuff he had just stolen from them in the area. Rather than wait around to see who it was or try to fight, Hal grabbed the bed and started pushing again. He made a hard right the first chance he got and then started zigzagging through the alleyways to make it difficult to follow him. It meant he might get lost himself, but that was better than getting caught or leading the Marines right back to their ship.

 

[NeoAC]

There were a couple of figures ahead, it was hard to tell any distinguishing appearances but they were moving at a decent pace. Holik brought his trident out to its full length and gripped it with both hands. I don't know why I'm gonna do this but.. "Hey!" he called out. "You up there! Halt what you're doing!"

[hr]

Sammi froze for a brief moment at the sound of the imposing figure behind them. Who is that? He sounds familiar....too familiar. She started walking again, alongside Marielle. Leaning in close, she whispered, "OK Blue...just act natural....don't do anything RUN!" Right after saying that, Sammi took off in a dead sprint, hoping that Marielle would follow suit.

[hr]

Knew that was gonna happen. They never just stay put. "Damnit! Girl, you better be cutting them off!" Holik cursed as he started to pursue the two ahead of them.

 

[tsatoma]

Satisfied that she hit her target (though not in a vital area like she had wanted), Alaena gave a quick twirl of her gun as she put it away. With her two secondary weapons safely away she brought out her bow and nocked an arrow, holding up her bow and aiming it straight at Yezeku. "I don't want to try that again. What has been said is said, and you won't get anything more out of me," she replied, letting loose her arrow before using Geppo to get to up to the high ground of the outpost roof.

 

[SkyeNeko]

"Yes s-sir! Sorry, sir. I'll get there right away." She started a brisk jog towards the tower. Thankfully, she had been up there a lot of times before. The need never arose to actually shoot from it until now, but she had spent hours just sitting there with her lenses, observing everything. It was like a hobby.

The short jog was a good warm up for the flights of stairs it took to get up there. She pushed up the trapdoor, emerging into the cool night again. The bell itself loomed above her. "Sir! I'm at the bell tower now sir! If I see anyone, I'll tell you!" She sat the shell beside her, and laid down on the floor. There were four pillars that held the roof up, and rails around the sides to stop anyone from falling off. The "room" itself was small and low, offering a decent amount of protection. She set up her gun, extending the barrel so it just barely peeked out between the rails. She switched in her most powerful lens, a curved disc and looked around, trying to spot any of the excitement going on.

 

[CounterAttack]

"What the - ?" was all Marielle could say before Sammi bolted ahead of her. Had she recognised the voice that had called out to them? Or did she simply have no intention to be caught by any Marines on the night watches? Either way, Marielle cared little. It could be explained later. For now, all the newest member of the crew could do was keep Sammi in sight as she ran after her, her recent purchase held tight so she wouldn't lose it.

Sammi was faster than her... problematic, since Marielle wasn't sure if the older pirate knew where she was going. It was getting darker fast... did she hope to outrun the voice and hide? That was possible. But again, Marielle was just trying to keep up with her.

 

[Mr. Omega]

Anabelle was practically right beside them know, jumping from awnings to small flags to signposts to rooftops, trying to get in front of them. "You little ladies should listen to the man back there. Didn't your mothers ever teach you to respect authority?" She got a little further, trying to jump directly in front of them. [hr]

Gezora heard Cecelia's message. "Good! Now try and find them! They should have a bunch of medical supplies or something like that! Just hurry!" He started rushing further from the outpost, focusing on the southwest. [hr]

Yezeku stepped out of the way of the arrows, watching Aleana get to the roof. "Well that's just not fair..." he sighed, taking a defensive stance. He glanced at the areas around him, stepping further into the street. He looked up and saw the belltower, and trying to get a good idea of where Aleana might be going. "She might run... but she doesn't seem the type..."

 

[GoWithDAFro]

Not too far ahead of him, Yoje saw a man in a white coat running past. "Hippocrates!" Yoje realized. "Where is he going?" Yoje looked around for a second, then Shaved to the nearest rooftop. He put the Log Pose in his bag and left it on the roof. With the higher vantage point, he followed Hippocrates by rooftop. I don't see anyone else from the crew yet. Hopefully he's not after one of us.

 

[Fragrance of Mtn Dew]

Hal continued to push the bed full of supplies through the alleys of Porte Carlo, occasionally turning back to see if anyone was in pursuit. He was in the clear so far, but it was hard to tell how long things would stay that way. Since he was taking a really roundabout way back to the ship to make him hard to follow, it had taken him awhile to find his way back. Finally, he stopped at the entrance to the alleys that he and Alaena had started from a ways away from the docks. This was where it was going to get tricky though since he would have to take open streets rather than stay in the cover of the alleys. He stopped to catch his breath again for a moment while he though out his next move.

Alright.... So is it less suspicious for me to run through the streets with this or to walk casually with a bed full of medical supplies? He thought, not sure what to do next. If he ran he would get noticed for sure. But if he just kept cool and walked then he would only get caught if there were Marines around that knew exactly what had been stolen. If they did though, he would be even more of a sitting duck than if he had just made a break for it.

"Alright.... Just keep calm and act like you're supposed to be pushing a bed full of stuff down the street...." Hal muttered to himself before taking a deep breath and pushing the bed out onto the open street, walking at a moderate pace towards the docks.