Operation: Elbaf

Operation: Elbaf
A pleasant breeze riffled through the long, tusked mane of the enormous Kaldor, who, seated as he were, still stuck out plainly in comparison to the other marines aboard the ship due to his massive size. With his back resting against one of the ship's masts, he let out a small sigh, brown eyes focused on the skies above.

There was much joy to be had in the works of a marine, that was without question. But as of late, the Vice-Admiral couldn't help but feel as though something were lacking. He felt incomplete, simply put, but no matter the amount of thought he projected, he simply couldn't bring himself to understand what it was that he was missing oh-so badly. And that was when it hit him on the head. Literally.

Scratching the top of his head, Kaldor looked up at the fleeing who had dropped a newspaper on his head. A look of frustration overtook his face. What was he supposed to do with this? It was far too small for his hands to trifle with; and even more so, he wasn't the most educated of lads about: reading just wasn't one of his strong suits, and that he blamed more times than not on.

But what he saw coming next, as he carefully plucked the paper between two fingers, was a whole swarm of News Coo, perhaps ten, twenty, nay, definitely thirty or more, all carrying a single package. A package in the form of an envelope; one that was so large, that it brought over a large shadow over a good portion of the ship.

The other marines looked about in terror as the News Coo dropped the envelope down on their ship, many even began to shout and curse them as they tiredly flew away, visually exhausted after having carried the envelope all this way, yet it was Kaldor and Kaldor only who had any idea as to what the envelope entailed. There was little doubting its contents: it was a giant envelope meant for a giant man.

With a smile upon his rugged face, he caught the large card and almost immediately cut it open, tossing the smock of paper into the waters of the New World. What he held in his hands moments later was a ridiculously large card, one that was very intricately decorated, and one that bore the name of Kaldor's family. Inscribed within was a language decipherable by even the most slowest of lads; any well educated human would have thought it no better than the essay of a young schoolboy with the amount of grammar mistakes it contained, yet for Kaldor it was the most beautiful poem in the world.

Hardly able to contain his excitement, he yelled out into the open, "Hoy!!" He flailed his arms about and twirled his hips, causing the ship itself to wobble under his sheer weight.

"Hoy!!" he said again, this time louder and with tears rolling down his cheeks. "It's about damn time, ya mug! It's about damn time!" Wiping his face with his arm, he blew his nose into the card and looked around for a single man. A man who he respected the most after his own father in this world. "Terell-kun, Terell-kun, I've somethin' to ask you!"

Admiral Fuyuki stood upon the forecastle deck, his gaze directed at the far horizon. He'd been at sea for many weeks at this point, yet there was a certain serenity to the ocean that calmed him and temporarily relieved him of the many worries that plagued him due to his status as an Admiral.

The death of Admiral Kairo still weighed heavily on his mind, but his many responsibilities as an Admiral had prevented him from going after Veno just yet. Since they'd set out, they'd captured and taken many pirates into custody, Terell considered it his duty to get to them before some of his colleagues did, many of which believed in the concept of Absolute Justice; and would defile the idea of Justice in ways that Terell and his subordinates would not.

Whatever their deeds, whatever their actions, pirates were still people; men and women who'd made mistakes or choices at the expense of others, true, but people all the same. Justice was a unified ideal, it wasn't something reserved solely for those who bowed to the World Government. The Admiral's tranquility was broken by the eager voice of Vice-Admiral Kaldor, a giant who he was proud to consider one of the most stalvart defenders of True Justice he'd had the pleasure of meeting.

He sighed inwardly at the mention of "Terell-kun", like with most of his subordinates he'd attempted to correct his lack of honorfics before but it always went ignored. He turned around and looked at the giant, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Yes, Vice Admiral Kaldor?".

"Terell-kun!" Kaldor shouted again, before rummaging forth a squirm of squeals in his attempt to gather his thoughts. Taking a moment to breathe, he finally found himself able enough to speak. "My cousin is getting married!" Tears the size of boulders crashed down unto the ship's deck. "That damn lard! He'd refused so many suitors up until now... he had so many of us worried!

"But nay! Elbaf will be in good hands, I'm sure of it! You can leave it to Barbarossa-san to find himself a proper wife! Dordordordor!" More tears ensued. With the way the giant was explaining things, the world itself hoped that Admiral Fuyuki would have been able to recall Kaldor's stress over the last few years; his cousin, the Emperor of Elbaf, had refused to marry countless times. Now according to the card, which was an invitation to the royal wedding, he had found his love at long last.

"You'll come with me, won't you, Terell-kun? Oh please! My cousin writes that he'd be more than willing to accommodate me and my closest associates; Elbaf's royal castle is a sight to behold, I swear of it. It's so very large that a man like you will easily be lost within it, dordordor!" Kaldor sniffed hard. Lost in thought, his eyes trailed to the skies. "Yes, I'd hope Dario-san would be willing to join us too! And the rest of you lot as well!" He looked to the other marines and scooped them up in his arms, hugging them tightly out of sheer happiness alone. "Yes, yes, yes! You all must come! You all must come to my cousin's wedding!"

The Giants were among the strongest people in the world, and though this was a joyous occasion for those involved it was also a good opportunity to approach the rulers of Elbaf for cooperation with the Marines. Terell had suspicions that he wasn't the only one who thought along these lines, and he expected to run into the Yonko while there, whether the pirates themselves or their envoys. Terell looked up at Vice-Admiral Kaldor, the giant towered far above him and to some it would've been a strange sight to see a man that large as the subordinate of Admiral Fuyuki, who barely reached his ancles.

"I gratefully accept the invitation, Kaldor. We'll set sail for Elbaf immediately." He respond with a smile before he turned towards the rest of the marines on his ship. "I hope you've got good manners for it seems like we'll be attending a wedding. However, while this is a great chance to improve relations with the giants and pay our respects to the future rulers of Elbaf, be aware of this.Hostile forces will almost certainly be present, and I would be surprised to find members of the Yonko absent. An Alliance with the giants could upset the balance of power, and it is imperative that we do our best to represent the best the marines have to offer."

Admiral Fuyuki put his arms behind his back as he continued to speak to his subordinates, informing them of their destination and laying a few ground rules for their visit to Elbaf. "We are not savages, brave men and women of the marines, and as such we will not engage combat with any pirates while in Elbaf. We do this because our greatest duty is to represent the best aspects of Justice, respect, understanding and compassion. It would reflect exceedingly poorly on the Marines as a force if we disrupted the wedding with cannonfire and battles, so do not engage whatever enemies might be present for the duration of our stay in Elbaf except in self-defense."

The Yonko? A look of distaste overtook Kaldor's face. The thought of having such infamous pirates parading on his home island while his cousin was to be wed was not a good one. But it wasn't exactly something he could control. Famed as the "Pirate Smasher" for the brute manner in which he utilized his behemoth limbs to smash pirate skulls into the ground, it wasn't exactly a secret that Kaldor despised them. Even so, at the request of not only the Admiral, but the greater good, he too would have to suppress his call for duty in the likelihood he came upon a pirate whilst on Elbaf.

"Hoy, of course, Terell-kun. I won't lay a single finger on any stinkin' pirate while we're there. You have my word!" Kaldor smiled wide. They were really going; they were really going back home to Elbaf! Oh how long it'd been since he'd last seen them. Mother, father, all of his brothers and sisters, and of course, the groom himself! He was really going to be able to see them again after all these years. The thought itself was invigorating.

"Elbaf, everyone, I'm comin' home!!"

---

The night prevailed over the town of Tashoya, indicting an omen of utter chaos. For the pirates of Nassau, there was no better time and place to party. Chants and moans filled the skies. The smell of liquor, tobacco, and semen lingered all about. Between a crowd of pirates, one such man raised a bottle of Brandy high above his head and hollered out to them, "to a free world!" as he popped the cork and allowed its contents to ooze down the length of his arm.

The popping of the bottle was followed by a series of gun shots aimed harmlessly toward the moon. Chants broke out yet again and the pirate who had popped the bottle was lifted up by the crowd and carried about like a hero. Dressed and tailored into a long, red coat with a pointed dark cap resting above the top of his head, he rode the crowd around the town, his lips fastened around the bottle's opening.

In attendance, Benjamin raised his bottle of liquor in agreement. "To a free world, haha!" He cheered, pulling the woman glued to his arm into a full embrace. "The drinks boys, everything is on me!!" He drunkenly spoke, gulping down another bit of his liquor. Benjamin had been fortunate enough to purchase just a little bit of the from a merchant on the square; a wooden spoon of treasure tree adam's wood. Most pirates would have never spent their fortune on such a dumb item, which is why the merchant had provided a slight discount to its purchase. Though, Benjamin was no average pirate. His devil fruit, the Mosa Mosa No Mi, would allow him to churn a fortune from it. He would learn about it, use it to grow some more, and sell that off. In no time, he would be the richest merchant on the island, and perhaps he would garner the attention of Public Enemy Veno himself.

Benjamin volunteering to pay for all their liquor was either the stupidest decision of his life --under the regard that he had no idea just how much these pirates were truly capable of drinking-- or a cheeky way of declaring his wealth. Either way, the pirate from earlier found himself taking a liking to the other lad. Dismounting himself up and off the crowd, he chugged more Brandy down his throat on his way toward Benjamin.

"Ahoy," he chimed, emitting a drunken burp, "what be yer name, rich boy?"

"B-Benjamin," he responded, turning to face the man who approached him, "Benjamin Tabbart it be. But excuse me a moment." He gulped down the remnants of his drink and handed it to the woman next to him. "Um...get me another drink. Something strong," he asked, sending her own his way. He turned back to Barney.

"Anway, who are," a hiccupped interrupted his sentence, "y-you?"

With widened eyes, the pirate introduced himself. "Barney Kettle, pleased to make yer aqua-tinshhhh." There was a noticeable wobble to his walk; how he managed to keep himself from falling was a wonder. "And what might it be that yer drinkin' to tonight, my dear Benjamin?"

Widened eyes carefully studied Benjamin's figure, watching most especially along his hips, looking for any indication of coins bouncing around in those trouser pockets.

“I just finished some of this…er, um,” he looked around for the bottle, forgetting that he had handed it off to his company, “dammit, it was some er, um rum! Rum! That’s what it was, yeah.” His legs shook, and his body swayed side to side. His eyes were droopy, his vision blurred, his senses dull. Though, Benjamin was no idiot. He didn’t carry his treasure with him. Well, the gold in his pocket that he would use to pay for the drinks were present, but not his spoon. He made sure to keep that away,

“What, um…what the you sippin on?”

They were then interrupted by a bit of commotion going on near by with a man talking to a by stander. "Looks man i told ya already i don't know where the nearest bar if im just as lost as you are." The bystander said getting angry over the mans persistence.

The man stood there in silence for a moment. "UGH! your no help to me." the man complained and smashed the bystanders head at the nearest wall, busting a hole through it. "Damn it for a 'Pirates Paradise' you'd think a nice bar wouldn't be so hard to find." He said stomping around with his hands in his pockets. Behind him were two people, a much taller, and muscular man and a young Beautiful Women, who many of the men became infatuated with whenever she walks by.

"We don't have time for drinking anyways Jones, we're on a scheduled." The taller man said.

"Shut the hell up Cazzar! We did what the old man asked, we burnt that down that whatchamacalled marine island down to the ground already. Its time for some r-n-r." Jones said resting his arms behind his head.

The women walked quietly, almost seemed annoyed by the two boys bickering.

Looking away from Benjamin for a moment, Kettle couldn't help but be mesmerized by the beauty of the young woman. Kettle's eyes saw only her, completely ignoring the other two that accompanied her. And as she walked ahead of the two, visually upset, it was Kettle who greeted her next.

Removing his hat and planting a single knee to the ground, Kettle bowed with a gleeful smile playing along his lips. "Yer guilty of being a hot wench," he chimed to the woman, "I sentence ye to walking me plank!"

The women looked down at the kneeling Kettle with a grin on her face. "My, what a gentlemen." She said softly, amused by his actions.

"I-I don't know, Kettle." Benjamin stepped forward towards the woman, obviously analyzing her physique. "She's like, er, maybe a two or something. I've seen hotter in those brothels over there you know."

Aroused by what seemed to him a compliment, Kettle rose up to his feet and offered his arm to the woman. "Yoho! Then how's about it? Wanna come back to my home port and see my dock?"

A loud smack was heard from Benjamin and Catrina was seen glaring at him with her fist steaming for her hit. "Well isnt that nice!" She said happily. "You see boys this is how a lady should be treated." She called out to her comrades.

"Oh please why would a girl need to be treated like that?" Cazzar mumbled loud enough for everyone to hear. A loud smack was heard from Cazzar as well as he was then seen squating down carrying for a large bruis on his head with an acking face from the pain. The women had an wicked face with more stream coming from her fist again.

Benjamin felt the sting of Catrina's slap, pulling him from his drunken calm to into a sea of drunken rage. "What the fuck," he started, sending his backhand soaring towards Catrina's face while she was distracted by her own teammate. "Bitches need to remember their fucking place!"

"This dude has a death wish." Jones says with sweat drops leaking down his face.

Catrina was smacked in the face unexpectedly causing her to tremble with anger and turned towards Benjamin with a vicious glare. She is then seen walking away angrily with Benjamin's upper body smashed into the ground with only his legs being shown. "Men are animal!" She shouted frustrated.

"Eh?" Kettle's normally widened eyes narrowed peculiarly. What had he just witnessed? Another woman with an attitude? His blood began to boil. She had reminded him of his wife... back when she was still alive. Back before he had "accidentally" taken her life. Through his anger of seeing the strange predicament that had unfolded before him, Kettle curled his hand into a fist.

He wasn't so much angry at the fact that Benjamin had been ridiculed as much as he was at the thought that a woman had shown herself to be superior to a member of the male species. Like what in the actual fuck? Just what did this bitch think she was playing at? As Catrina continued to walk away, she would find that her movements had become slower than usual; it was as if the world itself had begun to cave in around her being!

Alas, befitting the gravitational powers bestowed upon him by his Devil Fruit, Kettle orchestrated a large sum of pressure down toward Catrina from where he currently stood, with nothing more than the motions of his single hand. She would feel her body be crushed beneath the magnitude of such vigorous might that it would have made what she had just done to Benjamin look like nothing special in comparison.

"Ye good for nothin' whore! How dare ye speak against another man!"

Having been crushed by the sudden intense pressure pushing down on her, she collapsed to the ground immediately and she fell she instantly spat out blood from her mouth. "AGHHHHH!" She tried to pull herself from the intense force but found herself struggling to even move herself up an inch. "Gr-Gravitational power?" She thought to herself.

This sudden transaction got the attention of her two comrades, causing Cazzar to quickly stand up and face Kettle and prepare himself to face him, while Jones just looks towards the fallen Catrina and doesn't move from his current spot.

"It seems everyone's being rather... troublesome here..." A voice suddenly spoke, seemingly coming from above. Should anyone look up, they would both see a man clad in white and black, as he seemingly lied down on air itself. A white parachute was visibly connected to his person and above both, there was a large dirigible flying off in the air.

At the sound of a most intriguing voice, Kettle looked up and what he saw surprised him. What exactly it was and how it managed to do what it was doing was beyond him, but he had grown accustomed to seeing all sorts of bizarre things ever since he had stepped foot into the Grand Line. Still, there was an especially potent aura radiating around this guy; just who in the hell was he?

"Eh? Why don't ye come on down from there and join the fun, pisspot?" Kettle spat, his eyes and grin widening further. It was then that one of his underlings came running from behind him, alerting him of the dangers of the levitating man.

"Nay, captain! That's Qasarhog Yanbaal up there, a member of the Shichibukai! His former bounty is even higher than your current bounty of 200,000,000!" he cried, warning his captain against challenging the man above to a battle. Kettle looked back upon his subordinate in disbelief.

"Ehhh?" Kettle glanced toward the flying Shichibukai once more, as if he hadn't seen him clearly the first time. "Shichibukai?!"

Both Jones and Cazzar look up as well, following after kettle. "A warlord hu? Should make things interesting." Jones said with sinister grin.

"So thats him hu?" Cazzar said hardly surprised to see him but more interested that he got to see him at all.

Catrina who was fighting the intense gravity could also hear what was going on as her eyes widened in surprise. "Q-Qasarhog Yanbaal? W-What in the world is he, ugh, doing here?"She thought to herself trying to fight through the pain of the gravity.

"Forget it." The gravitational pressure above Catrina returned to normal. "Ya couldn't pay me enough to mess around with one of them." Kettle turned around and gestured toward the rest of his crewmates to follow in his lead. Yanbaal had a truly infamous reputation of collecting pirates and turning them over to the World Government as apart of his duty. Kettle wasn't interested in potentially being the next guy to make that list.

With his men behind him, Kettle retreated into a nearby bar, exactly what the Fire Rocker Pirates had been searching for upon their arrival into Tashoya.

With his force of gravity lifted Catrina managed to get up to her knees, coughing from this experience. "Grr one day i'll kill that bastard, but for now..." She stopped herself looking up at the levitating warlord.

"Hmmmmmmmm?" Yan looks as the little group of pirates sets off to a nearby residence. Still with a poker face, he scratches the side of his head lightly, as if to wonder what had just happened. Yan sighs and shrugs, landing on the ground soon as the parachute seemingly disappeared into thin air, he looked at those who were still there.

"Could this be the infamous "Pirate Island"...known as Nassau?" He smiled, showing off his pretty white teeth, all the while crossing his arms and walking towards them. Yan stopped abruptly "I do hope I came to the right place!"

With his men in tow, Kettle stormed into the tavern, making a large ruckus per usual. He marched up to the bar counter and eyed the barkeep with an aloof expression, the wooden floorboards creaking under his filthy boot. "Gimmie a bottle of yer good stuff!"

With all the commotion happening around the bar, a sheet layed on top of one of the table booths in the bar begins to suddenly move as a child then took the blanket off and lifted himself up to look at what was going on. The child had black, messy hair with ragged clothes. Many would think he's a homeless child who's living in the streets for years. He looks over at kettle with his eyes half open as if he's barely able to keep himself away. "uh. hu? Whats all the noise out there?" He said in a dull, mumbling tone as he rubbed his eyes to try to see straight and looked back at kettle but that appeared to have done nothing at all.

Meanwhile outside the bar Cazzar stood there glaring at Yanbaal with a ready position, preparing himself for anything he might do. "What are you doing here." He said with a harsh tone. Jones didn't say or do anything just yet and just stood there with a sinister grin on his face.

Yan looks down at the similarly large man "Ooh, I recognize your face...Cazzar, the Titan, right? Hmhmhmhm" He then looks around the place, seeing the many buildings and pirates around "As for why I'm here...it's none of your business. Though, do me a favor and don't assume things from the get-go, okay?" He looks fiercely at the man, yet, while having a smile on his face.

Inside the tavern, Kettle kissed the cork of a brand new liquor bottle. It was clear to everyone there by now that he planned to drink himself into a coma. Resting with his back against the bar counter, he rose the bottle above his head, continuing his chants from earlier before. "To a free world! Bahahahaha!"

With all the commotion going on the child manages to get off the table booth, hoping to find a quieter place to sleep while carrying his blanket with him and wears it like a robe with a hood over his head and walks over to the middle of the bar. He looks over at Kettle with his eyes still blurry from his sleep and tries to focus on him due to the blurry spot he see manages to catch his interest for some reason. "uhh hu? Who is that? He sorta looks.......familiar." He thinks in his head as he walked closer to him with his tired looking face remaining. His vision starts to get clear enough that he can make out what he's looking at "Uh." Recognizing what he sees his eyes widened with a surprising shock to his face. "HU? AHHHHHHH ITS KETTLE!" He shouted loudly as he tried to back away but then stumbled over his feet and collapsed onto a bar table his crew mates were sitting at and managed to knock it over, causing their mugs to fall to the ground spilling their booze.

At the mention of his name, Kettle turns --bottle to his mouth-- to acknowledge his admirer. Yet what he saw transpire before him was the quite opposite of that; by the look of things, a scrawny little boy had toppled over the table of some pirates. "Bahahaha! What in tarnation?"

Walking on over to the distressed boy, ignoring the other pirates that were seated around him, Kettle stomped his boot to a resting position atop the fallen table. "What is it little squiddle? Do I know ye from somewhere?"

Colby looks up from the towering kettle standing over his collapsed body. He looked on in fear, unable to utter a single word. "Uh uhhh uh." He began shivering a bit and his eyes began shaking reflecting on the fearsome Kettle standing before him.

Kettle studied the boy's expression. That look of fear in his eyes, Kettle had seen it far too many times in the past to keep count. But moreover, he knew that he had seen those exact eyes some place before, but where?

...Of course! It was seven years ago. Seven years ago on an island somewhere in the West Blue whose name he really couldn't give two shits about remembering now. Back then those eyes were filled with tears, and only tears for as long as he had kept them.

Seven years ago...

''"Pirates! It's the Black Hand Pirates!" A voice exclaimed as canon fire broke out from the horizon. Balls of mass destruction crashed against homes, tearing them to shreds. A single ship responsible for all the chaos docked along the banks of the island, and all in one motion, a swarm of pirates stormed into the town.''

''"Find anythin' of use and bring 'er back to me," Kettle barked, "I'll split a bottle of rum with the one who brings back the best plunder!" His men roaring behind him, "Black Hand" Kettle paraded into the town.''

''En route his march into town, he utilized the powers of his Devil Fruit to crush several buildings under the sheer pressure of gravity. Even upon raiding the town for an hour, still did he not find anything he deemed remotely satisfactory. "What the fawk is with this place, eh? Ain't there anythin' worth takin' from this dump?!"''

''In the rubble of all the collapsed homes, he found a man with his leg caught beneath a boulder attempting to free himself in order to escape together with his family. His wife and son simply refused to leave him behind, no matter how much he told them to run. This caught Kettle's attention, and in due time he found himself approaching them.''

''"What be the meanin' of this, eh?" He cupped the face of the woman and stared her in the eye. "Why ain't ye listenin' to him? Didn't he tell ye to run away from me?!" Kettle's blood began to boil. And in another fit of anger, he lost his cool. ''

''"Ye good for nothin' wench! I'll teach ye to disobey a man!" Before her husband and child, Kettle began to kick the woman several times in her face. "There's nothin' that ticks me off more than a woman with a fawkin' attitude like yers! Do ye think yer better than him?! Ehh?!"''

''The boy attempted to protect his mother by lashing his arms around Kettle's leg. Kettle merely flicked him off and continued with his kicking until the woman's face was a red as a cherry. "Piece of shit..." He spat a wallop of saliva on the ground. With her husband caught with his leg under the boulder, he had no choice but to watch and scream in terror.''

''"This is a free world we live in," Kettle continued, "free for us, that is. Men'll keep doin' what they wanna do. Ye women should just learn to stay put and deal with it." He walked up to the small boy, whose eyes were filled with fear. Kettle cupped his face and smiled a crooked smile.''

"'Ello little fella. How's about I take ye to a new 'ome? Ehh?" He moved his hand from his cheeks to the top of his head. Black energy began to spew from Kettle's palm and the gravity all around the boy began to condense and quickly cave in. "Black Hand!"

''Before he realized what had happened, the boy was sucked up into Kettle's hand, stored away like a coin meant for a pouch. "That'll do. The market is beaming for the youngin's nowadays anyway. Let's dip, men!"''

Kettle smiled the same crooked smile he had smiled seven years ago, looking into Colby's eyes right this moment. "Oi remember youuuu. Oi made a good dollar outta ye!" He chugged Brandy down his throat. "How're things, little squirt? Yer the first kid Oi've ever sold that's returning to me like this. Color me amused, bahahaha!"

Afraid to do anything all Colby could do was crawl backwards. "No stay away from me!" He shouted.

"Hoy, pipe down lil' fella. Oi ain't got no more need for ye, truth be told. But if Oi do remember correctly, Oi was able to buy me a brand new cannon with the money Oi got for sellin' ye." Kettle chugged some more liquor down his throat before tossing it over to Colby. "'Ere! Why don't ye have the rest? Consider us even. Oi got ye a drink and ye got me a cannon."

Letting out a proud burp, as if he had just done humanity a favor by offering an underaged boy a drink, Kettle retreated back to the bar counter to dine and feast with his crew.

From the seat beside Kettle, amethyst eyes watch curiously as he goes off to the bar to mingle. Sitting there as though he'd been here for some time now given the half-finished drink in hand is a young man with a shock of silver-white hair, lavender eyes (look away, look away, look away) and fine white priestly robes. What may disturb the boy Colby was the fact that he, and Kettle nor any other denizen seemed to have noticed this man's presence. Until now.

Staring at the boy, the strange youth starts to speak but no words come out. If Colby is keen enough in his ability to read lips, whatever words that may have poured from the newcomers mouth resembled nothing that he was familiar with. Recognizing his conundrum the youth sighs with a smile. Bringing his hand up he strums his thumb against the strings of his. . . what looks like a cross between some kind of wand, harp and scabbard.

What comes next is a melody, a string of high and low beats that seem to uplift the spirit, the kind of song that accompanies a hero overcoming a great struggle, shattering their fear and pushing onward. The tones penetrate deep into the bone, and Colby can feel his blood pumping to the rhythm of the short song. Then it stops, and though the music has ceased, the feeling of triumph remains in Colby's heart.

The sounds from this mans music drew in Colbys attention as the meldoy managed to calm him down causing his facial expression revert back to his normal dull expression. He then managed to get himself and looked at the two men infront of him with a dull look in his eyes. "Who are you?" He asked to the man playing the music.

Another series of notes are struck in response. A sharp upward staccato that lowers until it is drawn out, long and deep. The sounds that continue to bleed outward paint a vivid image in his mind, almost as if the world before his eyes just melts away. What replaces it is a massive forest, tree's as thick as houses towering above him. And he's running through the overgrowth, leaping high onto branches, the wind whipping across his skin and the feeling of such freedom is so intoxicating he just wants to shout out to the world! And when he does, its not a whoop of joy that he was expecting, but something else... a word, something definitive, persuasive and absolute. Before he even realizes it the words are spilling out of his mouth as he is brought out of the dream.

"Orpheus Telos." Colby shouts.

Being within the vicinity of the orchestra, Kettle too found himself under its direct influence. And boy was he enjoying himself! It was a feeling he couldn't quite describe through mere words alone; a combination of euphoria intertwined with what he could only assume was Nirvana. He was foaming at the mouth, liquor spewing like a fountain. And through it all, the crazy child within him began to dance. Oh yes, Kettle stood up to his toes and broke it down before the entirety of the tavern!

The movements of a deranged lunatic, the dance was almost as hideous as his own face. Still yet, he clapped his hands in rhythm and cheered in gratitude. "Hoy, hoy! Never in me life has I ever heard such a thing!" Kettle's wide eyes fell upon Telos. "A fine musician as Oi've ever heard!"

Colby listened to the music and watched the dancing lunatic with unenthusiasm. He then heard some commotion outside that got his attention and looked outside the window and spotted his comrades. He then starts walking towards the door with his ragged blanket as hood to try and keep out the sunlight. "see ya around then." He said and opened the door. He then lifted his blanket up and used it to block out the sun rays much like an umbrella.

Back outside the tavern Cazzar continues his notsofriendly conversation with Yanbaal. "So you expect me to believe a man with your reputation would just stroll to this island for a vacation? Cut the crap." He called out.

"Kakakakakakaka!" Yan closed his eyes to laugh out "Assuming things once again...don't make me repeat myself" He pointed at the man with his right index finger "You don't have to believe anything, I am here for Business with the Man of the Island~" Yan said in a singing tone, looking at the tavern which had many laughter and screams inside "I could ask for informtation there, mhmhmmhmh"

Cazzar stopped talking for a moment assuming that he isn't really here to cause trouble which made him backdown slightly so that he wouldn't have a reason to pick a pointless fight with him. At least until Jones walked inbetween Yanbaal and his view of the bar with his same sinister grin. "Hehe thirsty?" Jones asked sarcastically with his grin growing into a large smile while still keeping its sinister feeling.

Catrina grew worried of what might happen next that sweat began leaking down her face. "I always knew this jackass would get himself in trouble." She thought in her head.

"Kakakaka, and why would you assume I'm thirsty?" His smile opens widely at the man before him, Yan then frowns "Ah...silver hair and the mark on the forehead..."Serial Killer" Jones, right? We have quite some pirates here~" He almost sings, looking at Catrina as well "Even the "Knight" is here huh...I won't be bothering you with any questions as to why you pirates are even here!" He crosses through Jones, prepared to walk away to the bar.

After Yanbaal past him and kept walking, a blob of pink goo slid past him from both sides and combined together to form Jones back in front of him. Jones pointed two fingers with his thumb up towards him like he's making a gun with his hands. "Maybe not but having you here interests me. I've grown bored with burning down the bases of those who hold your leash and its not every day their guard dog shows their face to us. What a pleasure hahahaha" One he started to say final sentence his changed from sinister smile to a sadistic look.

Shocked by Jones actions Cazzar grew worried. "Jones what are you... Ah what the hell there's no changing his mind once he makes one." He mumbled accepting whatever happens next.

"Fine just don't come crying to us when He kills you for screwing with his plans." Catrina said grabbing her sword on her back.

"A Logia huh..." Yan stops abruptly before Jones forms himself again "So the rumors are indeed true...that you're versatile when killing" The Shichibukai smiles and puts both of his hands on the pockets of his jacket "However, I'm not here on the Government's behalf...so I'll give you another chance. I'm repeating myself! I'm just here for business, listen to your crewmates, they seem to give much more thought into the situation~" Yan pointed back at both with a serious gaze, intensifying the atmosphere around them.

Orpheus leaned against the tavern wall watching with some measure of interest at what appeared to be a battle in the making. His presence hidden beneath the subtle lullably he hummed which served its purpose in masking him.

Jones paused for a minute, most likely thinking about his actions. Just then his face grew more anxious to battle, a sign that clearly shows that theres no reconsidering. He then made another gun shape with his other hand and aimed both towards Yanbaal. "Goop Goop MACHINE GUN! AAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" His finger tips were rappidily shot out towards Yanbaal's direction at bullet like speed shooting at anything that is in front of Jones not just Yanbaal.

Catrina quickly drew her sword and used it to deflect the bullets while she ran out of the range of fire, while Cazzar stood there with one hand out block the incoming bullets with his infused hand.

Yan sighs as the man shapeshifts. A white and thin substance smooth and quickly covers both his hands, instantly becoming black as Yan proceeded to catch the imposing bullets with each of his finger tips. He instantly threw some of them back, making them collide with upcoming bullets.

As soon as he let the bullets he caught go loose, Yan vanished and reappeared behind the Serial Killer, ready to strike his head against the pavement with a fierce right punch.

It wasn't until Jones noticed that Yanbaal was behind him until he was punched in the head about to collide with the ground. Just when his head touched the pavement of the concert Jones head splat into pink goop. "Ugh! Damn it all." Jones voice was heard from the goop of what was his head. The goop then began to quickly retract to the body and crawl over Yanbaal's hand practically cover his arm in pink goop. His body then burst apart and tried to ensnare Yanbaal in his body. "Hahahahaha let's see how well you fight trapped inside my body! Hahahaha!"

While Jones was about to capture Yanbaal and trap him, Catrina came rushing towards the two with her sword out ready to slash through them.

Yan looked as the slime moved to surround his arm. But then, before they had contact, Yan's arm folded itself, first horizontally then vertically, as it retracted from the imprisonment "You know, Logias shouldn't expand themselves too much..." His right leg quickly rose to deliver a barrage of haki kicks to the upcoming expanded goop's structure.

All the while, his left arm had extended towards the upcoming attack from the Blonde Knight. Being encased in Busou, it was fully prepared to catch it, and then, toss the woman aside.

Benjamin pushed himself from the dirt, his face flowered with debris from his encountered, gasping for air. “I-I almost,” he started, seemingly pulled from his drunken rage by the threat of death. Yet, before him, stood men engaging in a battle. He needed to leave, and he needed to leave now. Picking himself up, he scurried into the tavern to pay the bartender and then to take his leave.

Jones took the barrage of kicks thus ceasing his goop from full trapping him entire body. "Ughh ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh!" He gritted with every kick until he opened a hole in the spot he was kicking causing his foot to pass through for another kick. Once his foot was through he closed the hole to at least trap his foot in and carry on to encasing his entire body.

Catrina attacked the incoming attack with her sword but was unable to do anything as it pushed her towards a building, however she caught herself with her legs and tried to over extended attack but couldn't push it away even with all her might, she then realized that if her brute strength wouldn't help she would rely on her haki. She then infused her legs, arm and sword in Haki causing them all to darken black and was able to push his arm back.

As it had extended due to Catrina's struggle, Yan's arm suddenly flopped open in various pieces of...paper? It tried to wrap around both of Catrina's arms. His leg which had been entraped, also flopped open, forcefully extending Jones and extending around to capture the Pirate. Yan's right arm went back to normal, as did his leg and other arm as he got them off from the paper mass enveloping around both pirates.

"I won't kill you! But don't pressure me so I turn you over to the Government" He said in a serious tone, fixing his clothes a bit as they both got seemingly enveloped by the paper.

"UGh! My arms!" Catrina shouted. She tried to yank it off but couldn't. "What is this? Is this paper?" She questioned.

Before the paper could entrap him, Jones solid body rose out from his goop that was once his body and leaped to safety. "HAAAAhahahahaha now this is entertainment!" He said in a sadistic smile.

At the sound of all the ruckus outside, Kettle exited the bar, only to witness the men who had troubled him before engaging a Shichibukai, of all things, in battle. "Hoy, is ye an idiot?"

Part of him felt the need to join in on all of the fun, but at the same time, he didn't exactly want to risk being toppled over. After a brief second to think things over, Kettle smiled wide. "Oll-right, move on over ye fuckers, 'cause there be a new sheriff in this town!"

''"What's all this ruckus, Nassau normally doesnt have this many visitor's at one time." ''The pink haired boy thought to himself before making his way to the commotion. He quickly navigated through the town quickly identifying the source of his headache, a Shichibukai and what appeared to be a bubblegum man where engaged him some sort of scuffle outside of his favorite tavern on the island.

A small clearing of his throat would be un-audible giving all the commotion going on in the square at the moment, before.

"OI, YOU CHEEKY BASTARDS, WHAT'S ALL THIS THEN!" Indra screamed at the top of his lungs trying to do his best impression of his Captain.

Kettle's attention was averted away from all the chaos and toward the hollering Indra. His eyes and lips widened, and, taking aim with his palm in Indra's general direction, Kettle released a wave of gravitational energy that shot out and seized the boy's movements.

What he saw in Indra was a helpless little boy whom he could sell on the market; he had no idea as to what sort of affiliation the boy possessed nor who he exactly was, but if there was anything Kettle was good for, it was selling people no different than Indra himself. "Come to Daddy! Bahahaha!"

Without warning, Indra was pulled from where he had been standing and he found his body soaring toward Kettle's palm against his own command. No matter how much the boy struggled in that momentary lapse of shock, he was unable to pry himself free of Kettle's extended grasp; and where he ultimately ended up was beneath Kettle's palm, with Kettle's fingers wrapped around his skull.

Slamming Indra's face against the pavement, Kettle laughed aloud. "'Ere's to another cannon! Bahahaha!" Black matter poured from Kettle's hand, connecting directly with Indra's face, and before the young lad could have even processed what had gone on, he was sucked in and sealed away into the premises of Kettle's palm.

Gone. Without leaving so much as a single trace, Indra was wiped off the face of the island as if he had never existed in the first place. All there was to lament his banishment was the crater that had been formed beside Kettle as a result of him being smashed against the ground.

"This is-" Yan turns to look at the voice, disappointed to see just a young boy, he then looks at Captain Kettle, letting the mass of paper he summoned chase Jones around "Kakaka! I thought it was me who was accused of capturing pirates, hmmmm?" He smiles as Kettle absorbs the red-head somehow "Much more than simple gravity huh..."

"Fufufufu," chimed a most feminine voice suddenly, "that is a most interesting ability you have there, Captain Kettle." A voice that pierced the heavens, so it seemed, it brought all the ruckus about Tashoya to an immediate end. Pirates of all kinds looked around in utter confusion, trying their very best to determine where the voice was coming from, and after a moment of searching, they found its owner standing above the roof of the bar.

Many of their eyes turned to hearts at the sight of a gloriously shaped woman, whose curvaceous anatomy fell under the spotlight of the moon. Bearing long blonde hair that fell down her backside, she leapt from the roof of the bar down to the pavement below, standing between all the chaos and addressing each of its participants.

"Forgive me, I didn't mean to intrude on all your fun," she continued, blue eyes scanning the horizon, "but with an ability such as yours, I think you're just the man I've been looking for."

Eyes and lips as wide as ever, Kettle looked the woman over several times. "Ya certainly put the shiver in me timber!" he muttered aloud, unable to concentrate on anything but the woman's body.

The woman exchanged an awkward glance. "Er no; I'm not looking for anyone for that reason...

"What I meant was, I have a job for you. For all of you, for that matter."

Kettle's brow furrowed. "Eh?" So all of a sudden there was this random woman trying to speak down on him. Under ordinary circumstances, he would have most certainly lost his temper. But there was a different feeling to all of this...

"What kinda job is ye talkin' about, Miss?"

Seeing as though she had everyone's attention, the woman proceeded with her explanation. "You see, I can't expect any of you to be aware of all of this, but in a number of days from now, there is to be a wedding ceremony among Elbaf's royalty.

"It is a fairly large scale wedding, as to be expected of the giants. And well, how should I put this into perspective? Being one of the more fancier weddings in the history of the Grand Line, it would go without question that everything pertaining to it be of equivalent standing.

"To be more precise, what I mean to say is, several nations are going all out as we speak to ensure the giants are satisfied with the ceremony. The dresses have been tailored months in advance and made of the finest quality, the decorations have been designed by the world's greatest of architects, the food has been prepared by some of the world's greatest chefs...

"There is only but one issue befalling all of these wedding preparations. The giants are without a proper drink; being as they are of such profound lineage, they are among the world's mightiest of drinkers, as to be expected!

"Not just any old liquor will do for them. The giants desire rum of the finest caliber: Nerb Rum."

"Nerb Rum?!" Kettle spat. "Are ye fuckin' serious? Does ye know how much a single bottle of that stuff is worth? Ye can't even find a decent price on 'em 'ere in Nassau! And we's talkin' bout giants 'ere! The size of their portions are fuckin' enormous! There ain't no way any lad could ever find enough rum to supply them-"

"What if I were to tell you that I have?" the woman rebutted. A long silence ensued. By the look on his face, Kettle was far from convinced.

"Nerb Rum? Ye got enough Nerb Rum ta feed giants?"

"Yessir."

"Ye got enough Nerb Rum to get 'em piss drunk?"

"Yes, sir."

"Ye mean ta tell me ye got enough Nerb Rum on ye ta allow the giants ta bathe and shower in liquor for the kind of after party that would follow a wedding like that?"

"Yes, I do!"

"Fuck off!" Kettle turned his shoulder to the woman, no longer interested in what her curvaceous body had to offer. "Oi may be a pirate, but Oi ain't an idiot!"

"Please, Captain Kettle, hold on for just a second!" she called out, "if you're not convinced, then I am more than prepared to show you to my stash."

Kettle turned back around. His eyes and lips widened in excitement. "Carry on."

"Huuuuh?" Yan takes a few steps and stops when he is side-to-side with Captain Kettle, resting his elbow against the man's arm "And how could this interest us? Kakaka, I've only come here to negotiate with the "Public Enemy", are you an acquintance of his?!" He frowns, tilting his head to the right slightly.

"You ask a most plausible question, Yanbaal-san," the woman continued, "I am most indeed an acquaintance of the Public Enemy. As a matter of fact, it is he and he alone who has made arrangements for our success. Allow me elaborate.

"You see, utilizing a ship built specifically by he who is by every facet of the sense the World's Greatest Shipwright, I plan to smuggle several tons worth of Nerb Rum into Elbaf. Captain Kettle's ability to store things within his body makes it that much easier.

"However, this isn't exactly a task any one person could accomplish on his own. Do realize that the sheer amount of rum I plan to smuggle into Elbaf requires proper distribution around the whole island once we reach there. That is where the rest of you come in."

The blonde haired woman looked around at each of those that had gathered around to hear her speak. "There is much profit to be gained from all of this. I have arranged for several negotiations to be had; the giants all over Elbaf are willing to pay a hefty coin for a single bottle of this rum.

"Operation: Elbaf, as I have come to refer to it as... yes, if everything is to transpire as I have imagined, there is plenty of fortune for us all to benefit from! If everything goes according to plan, I swear to you, none of you would ever have to worry about money ever again. You'll be richer than even the richest."

"Oll-right, oll-right," Kettle spat, "that's enough of yer yappin'. Are ye goin' ta show us yer stash or not?"

"Why yes, of course. It's already been boarded onto a ship. All that's left to be done is transporting it there to Elbaf. If you'd all be so kind as to follow me this way." The woman began to lead the way through town.

"Kakakaka, intriguing!...However, I don't want any of this money you're offering...having direct business with the man himself would be proper for a reward!" Yan spats with a smile, being the first to not follow the woman instantly "Also, if the Giants are paying you...why would you ask for other people to do such a job when you could keep the money?" He taps at his forehead, lightly, as if to indicate a mental line of thought.

Suddenly a pink blob rose from the ground behind the blonde girl. "Now hold on just a sec." A voice was heard from behind her. The women then felt two fingers pressed against her back. Jones held his hand against her back in the shape of a gun and looked at her with a sinister smile. "Why would i sink so low as to take orders from a rookie brat like Veno? You got some nerve trying to negotiate me to doing his dirty work." He said drilling his two fingers into her back. "You'r lucky I dont just kill you right here and now."

The woman sighed. "Leave it to a bunch of well known pirates such as yourselves to ask a bunch of questions..." She put her hands to her hips.

"To address your point first, Yan-san, under any ordinary circumstance, you're right. It'd be in my best interest to hog all that money for myself. But as previously mentioned, this isn't exactly a job I can do on my own, most certainly not in giant territory. The sheer scale of land I need to cover in the amount of time I've been given, it's just not possible for a single person. The more people we can get to make deliveries, the better. It'll also increase our chances at making a profit in the case that one of us ends up getting caught."

She showed little to no remorse over the gun that was pressed against her. "I'm merely presenting you with a door to some easy money, Mr. Jones. Whether or not you take me up on the offer is a decision for you to make alone. There is absolutely no need for such hostility when all I've done is say a few words."

Her words invoked a chuckle from Kettle. "Hoy, hoy, Miss Moneybags, has ye a name to go by?"

She nodded. "My apologies for not introducing myself earlier; I normally don't waste my time getting to know those that I won't be working with. Under the assumption that you're all interested..." She looked around at them all. "You may address me as 'Ashley' from here on."

"Well oll-right Miss Ashley, is ye goin' to show us to yer stash or not?"

"Why yes, of course. Just as soon as Mr. Jones is done being tough."

Kettle's eyes widened. "What do ye think yer doin, ye fuckhead? Git yer stinkin' hands off of this woman at once!" Engineered by the powers of his Devil Fruit, Kettle's hands surged with energy. When discussing potential business, Kettle wasn't the type of man to play games.

"Now, now, Captain Kettle, that type of hostility won't be necessary. The two of you will be working together from now on, so I'd like for you to get along as best as possible. Anyway, if you lot would be so kind as to follow me..."

Considering her request as well as her offer Jones took put his hand down and stepped out of the way for her to walk past.

Ashley led the group of pirates to the docks of Tashoya, where a large pirate ship awaited them.

"Make yourselves familiar with him," Ashley said, leaping aboard, "this is one of Veno-san's greatest works, one of ten ships he's built that falls under his 'Ten Commandments' series. What you're all looking at right now is 'Hades'."

To say the ship was huge would have been an understatement; it was a ship fit for giants, dwarfing all others that were docked nearby. "All the Nerb Rum has been packaged down into the ten lowest compartments of the ship. I'll show you to it once I've explained things better here on the surface." She guided the pirates onto the ship's front deck, turning only at the sound at the complaint.

"Nay, Oi'd like ta see yer stash now as opposed ta later. Yer not sailin' us off ta do yer dirty work 'till I know yer legitimate!" Kettle barked.

"Fair enough. For all of those lacking trust in my operations, please follow me this way." Not unsurprisingly, all of them followed.

Leading them into the lower compartments of the ship, the doors of which had been kept oddly open the entire way, Ashley showed them to innumerable crates that were responsible for holding the countless bottles of Nerb Rum. Opening one, she held out a bottle of the Nerb Rum. "Go ahead and look through the other crates if you wish. Just be sure you don't open any of the bottles; a single bottle is worth a fortune on its own."

Kettle began to rummage through the crates. His eyes lit up. He simply couldn't believe what he was witnessing. "How in the fuck did ye get yer hands on so many of 'em?!"

Ashley offered a silent response. "I have my ways."

"How exactly?"

More silence ensued. "Let's just say when you're well acquainted with the manufacturer, a supply of this much isn't exactly hard to come by. But even still, be careful with how you handle each individual bottle."

Kettle was still at a loss for words. What was stopping them from killing her now and steering the ship in the opposite direction? No, it was too soon for that. Nowhere across the seas would he have been able to find better customers than the giants than to get rid of all of this rum; yes, he, along with the rest of these pirates would have to carefully await the best opportunity at which to turn the tables. There was bound to be betrayal, just like any other pirate affair. The only question was a matter of when.

As if speaking for the rest of the pirates, Kettle nodded, smiling eagerly. "Oll-right, Miss Ashley, Oi'm on board with yer idea."

She smiled. "Splendid. Then let us set sail without further interruption."

Without warning, Ashley stormed into the ship's control room, which required her to navigate her way through the massive ship's various other rooms, and after several minutes of waiting, the ship began to move, emanating a powerful screech upon its upstart.

With a crew of some of Nassau's best, Hades took off in the direction of Elbaf.

Yan only remained silent for the whole ordeal, taking the woman's words as a signal of acceptance. He followed all of them into the ship, hoping he could meet Veno.

"Veno-sama! Veno-sama!" a lowly pirate exclaimed the next morning, storming into the Veno Works Factory, "Hades is gone and Indra-kun is also missing!"

The monstrosity that was the Public Enemy was seated on a stool with a large bulk of machinery lain out before him, his robotic hands tending to their repairs. A look of anger quickly laced his mustard eyes. "Hades is gone?"

He had left Indra to ensure Hades' safekeeping. Now both of them were... missing?!

"That's exactly what I get for leavin' a fuckin' human in charge of things!" he exclaimed, aiming his palm toward the messenger, "to hell with all of ye!!" Smoke fumed from his mouth as he blasted a hole through the pirate's chest, allowing his charred remains to disintegrate upon his factory's floor.

Moving his fingers to his left forearm, he dialed a series of buttons. "Fuckin' 'ell, I can't get a signal on the boy. But trackin' where Hades is goin' shouldn't be a problem." He stood from his seat. "Corona, get me a readin' on Hades' course and do yer best to get a connection through to Indruh as well. Oi ain't got all day to be sittin' back n' worryin' 'bout this mess."

A feminine voice played through the walls. "Of course, Veno-sama."

---

"Okay." He whispered. "I'll send word upon our arrival. Bye." A Den Den Mushi's click echoed through the darkened sea. Silence engulffed the world as if all the animals and humans of the realm had fallen asleep at once. Even he, who stood by himself at the helm of the Royal Sabre, felt the groggy spell cast by the massive full moon in the sky seize his mind. His ebony eyes felt heavier than normal. His hands dragged across a huge indentation in his chest. A scar which told a tale of a foolish warrior attempting to climb above the limitations of humanity. A man who grasped for perfection. Salazar witnessed the epitome of war and left with a bright flame roaring in his chest.

"What'd that bitch want now?" She barked with a gun's cock."I don't appreciate my man leaving my bed for some hoe this late at night." Salazar felt the cold barrel of a pistol pressed against the back of his cranium. Sweat poured from his blackened skin, he felt his heart beat increase. It became harder to breath. Most men would smile and embrace their better half but the young sword master knew better than to play with his life when it came to her. No matter how much they loved each other, Salazar knew she wouldn't hesitate to blow his brains out...and then revive him. But ain't that what love is?

"S-s-she wants us to d-do something for her." Salazar stuttered. "And I owe her that much for saving me." He turned around when the cold metal left his warm skin. Salazar faced his company, a curvacious silhouette with a gental warmth radiating from the deepness of nothing. He felt almost compelled to grab her, bringing the beauty of her dark skin against his own. Salazar felt content. As if the world had finally answered his prayers. "Wife, what are you doing out of bed?"

"Well, Husband, when I hear a Den Den Mushi go off and wake up to my husband outside whispering, what'd am  'posed ta do?" She brought her silver barrel to his crotch and laughed as he whimpered. Jacky placed her gun away and ran her fingers against Salazar's scar.

"T-trust me," Salazar managed to say inbetween nervous breaths. "I'm not taking any chances." He smirked and held her closer, his eyes closing as they melted into one another. Voices becoming careless whispers among the sleeping breeze of the calm belt. The Royal Sabre was built from a stolen marine ship, allowing them to easily cross the two strips without disturbance.

"Are you going to tell me what she wants?" Jacky asked, kissing her husband gently on the lips.

"What every other Yonko, Empress, and self-proclaimed Sea Goddess desires. She set her sights on Elbaf and wants to conquer it under her name." Salazar sighed. "But she needs reconnaissance done and we're the only division strong enough to handle the mighty warriors of Elbaf."

"Are you sure about that?" She laughed. "I've heard stories of Elbaf giants and they're worst than Giants who leave the island." Jacky leaned against a rail and scoured the black sea with emerald eyes and a loving smile.

Salazar joined her against the rail and smriked. The idea of fighting giants and establishing a name on an island as mighty as Elbaf...it lit a flame in his stomach. However his excitement was overwhelmed by a different sensation. A biggger question emerged. "How can we even get close enough to Elbaf?" Silence fell between the two as they attempted to come up with a solution.

"She told me some big shot is getting married there. The entire world is invited - hell it's the only time marines and pirates aren't allowed to fight. That'd be the perfect cover except we don't have a reason to be there." Salazar complained. "As a Shichibukai we could have snuck in buuuuuut..." He trailed off.

"Hm...I supposed only a royal wedding could impose a temporary truth between two of the three major powers." Jacky stated, ignoring her husbands immature ramblings. "Everyone there is going to try to win favors...including other islands."

"What?" Salazar asked confusingly.

"Stupid! A wedding is a ceremony of both favors and historical compromises...Sooo what if one of the royalty of a different island attended in hopes of finding a bride or husband or whatever the fuck he likes." Jacky lit her cigarette and exhaled a cloud of smoke.

"What?"

"On this ship we have a former Shichibukai, an assassin, a halfling Giant annnd an Princess" Jacky continued her smoke. But Salazar was utterly shocked by her brilliance...it made so much sense. "Seeing as this is a big event, I doubt anyone is going to start shit. Especially with the princess of the Kambaka island." She joked.

"You're a genius!" Salazar screamed, picking up his ebony princess and swinging her in a wide circle. "Tomorrow we set sail for Elbaf. I'll ask him to write a letter announcing his attendance alongside a few guest."

Jacky laughed, kissing Salazar's forehead before heading back inside. "Whatever. But let another bitch call you this late and i'll make sure you won't have to worry about these problems anymore."

Salazar fell, overwhelmed by the immense pressure of her furious glare.

Heart of Stone
After a long night, the darkness finally surrendered to the light as the sun emerged illuminating the country with bright rays of heat. The streets reeked of ale and puke with drunks still wandering around unable to make it home. The cleaning crew was finally dispatched, beginning what would be a long day of work ahead of them. It was the aftermath of a festival that occurs once in every century, maybe longer. The Unholy Festival, a week of non-stop drinking and partying in honor of the King's last few days of bachelorhood. Gorgeous women of different races and tribes from across the globe we're invited in order entice the King, some with other intentions as well. Unfortunately, after seven long days and nights, the party came to an end...

On the Kingdom's more renowned manors was a palace not to far from the city. Inside lied hundred of women, most asleep, after a long week of festivities. Two men silently exited from the complex, attempting to get some privacy.

"I was sure that blonde mermaid was going to kill you after you rejected her a chance at marriage..." Tamotsu stated, putting a massive cigar in his shortly after then lighting it. "Then again, she wouldn't be the first to want your head."

Gazing outwards in a moment of deep thought, the King himself inhaled deeply. "If it was my head she wanted, then she definitely succeeded." he responded, letting out a loud distinct laughter waking up some of the women inside. Suddenly, several servants appeared from the palace offering the two men various items. Wanting privacy he sent the servants away, not before instructing to make preparations to evacuate the women.

"It's a shame it's over. I could have done for one more night." the fat giant exclaimed before noticing a tall figure rushing towards the manor. "Is that..."

A grin emerged on Barbarossa's face as he walked ahead in order to greet the massive figure. After a few second who it was became clear as she began to chant his name, "Barba-san, Barba-san!!" The area began to tremble a little bit as she was running toward them at full speed. With her massive weapon at hand, Barbarossa knew that this was not going to be a friendly exchange. Her friendly chants would slowly transform to angry battle cries as she raised her battle hammer in order to smash the King. "How dare ya...you BASTARD." she screamed coming down with all her strength.

His face remained calm as he simply raised his hand to stop the attack. As the two made contact, a massive shockwave was released, breaking all the glass and damaging the estate. If the women weren't awake before, they were now. Unphased by the attack, he gently removed the weapon from the now weeping girls palms. "I told you Ver, I'm getting married and trying to kill me is not going to change my mind" Barbarossa explained.

After about thirty seconds of crying Veronica finally regained her composure. Her face suddenly turned more red than a tomato. "Why aren't you wearing any clothes!" she screamed before turning around and sprinting back to town.

"I guess it's time for us to head back too." Tamotsu said, also only wearing his boxers. After gazing at the sun once more, Barbarossa responded: "Indeed".

Several hours later the two men, fully dressed, would return to the Elbaf Kingdom where nearly a hundred servants would bombard them with questions regarding the marriage. "Where do you want this" "How do you want that" "Is he/she invited", were some of the few questions the two were able to make out. Already annoyed, Barbarossa yelled in a serious tone. "Silence!!" His voice echoed throughout the estate alarming all the other servant he had arrived as well.

"Probably not your smartest move." Tamotsu stated, before attempting to walk away from all the commotion.

As dozen of other servants began to appear, Barbarossa turned to his friend and demanded that he stayed at his side. Immediately after he turned back to the crowd, "Leave me the list of those formally invited, and those who we expect to show without an invitation at my workstation. Everything else can go to Carson, since she's basically set this whole thing up." Fortunately the pool of servants began to disperse, and the two giants made their way to his work station.

As Barbarossa and his humblest companions drew ever closer upon their workplace, they were met by the bellow of what sounded like a barbarian. "Hoy, what do ya mean he ain't here yet?! It's been two whole days since we arrived and yar tellin' me that bastard still hasn't returned home?"

To Barbarossa, this voice was most nostalgic; the last time he had heard it was many years ago. But there was a time in which he heard this very voice on a daily basis. He fought against it countless times, shared with it his motives and dreams of the future. And, if it meant anything, it had just as much a fire to it as he could have ever remembered.

When Barbarossa's enormous frame stepped through the doorway, what he would see first before him was his brute of a cousin, Kaldor, arguing with another giant across the desk. Kaldor, who had traded his marine attire in place of clothing more suited for a man on a vacation, immediately turned to acknowledge the red haired man as he stepped into the room. The man behind the counter could do nothing more than cover his ears in preparation for what came next.

"Barbarossa-san?!" he shrieked once in question, then again in confirmation, "Barbarossa-san!" Tears clouded his eyes and crashed down onto the floor like raindrops from a cloud. With open arms, he stormed toward his cousin, intending to capture him in a warm embrace.

"It's been so long, ya damn mug! How dare ya notify me of your wedding by card and show up to greet me at the very last second!!"

The two titans wandered the halls giggling as they discussed the previous nights. Expecting loads of paper work to be throw at him by his secretary after his week of absence, he was not anxious to return. But upon hearing a voice, one that held so much emotion and history, he almost ran to his office to see if it were true.

Entering the room with a determined look, it did not take long for him to see his cousin. As Kaldor chanted his name with a little too much emotion, a massive smile appeared on Barbarossa's face. "Kaldor! It's been too long!" he exclaimed before embracing his close cousin with a warm hug.

In the background, Tamotsu finally made his way to the room. His thick-boned body and slowly deteriorating lungs due to all the green he's been burning, made keeping up with Barbarossa somewhat of a struggle. Despite being a little late to the party, Tamotsu was aware of the situation, the two made the entire kingdom aware of it. "Kaldor, it's goo-"

Completely disregarding any statement Tamotsu made, Barbarossa completely interrupted his friend. "Wait...how long have you been here. Did you get a chance to see the Unholy Festival?!?!"

"So this is the groom, is it? My best regards, King of Giants. Me and my subordinates are grateful for the hospitality you've shown us, alongside allowing us to be here to celebrate such a momentous occassion as the unity between you and your bride to be."

Ravinger Terell, more commonly known as Admiral Fuyuki stepped into the room; which was simply enormous by his own standards. In truth, were it not for how he delivered his words and his past experience with the Vice Admiral he couldn't even be certain that his words would reach the giants ears. Despite standing in the presence of someone who could squash a man his size with his thumb, Terell carried himself proudly and self-assuredly.

For this occassion he'd gone from his everday working clothes into a pair of dress pants and an elegant vest worn over a white long-sleeved shirt, a fashionable hat completed the attire; which he promptly took off to show his respects to the King of Elbaf. Followed by a warm smile, he'd need to put his best foot forwards indeed.

"Unholy festival?" Kaldor narrowed his brow. "Bah, ya damn mug! How much longer do ya plan on bein' a child? Yar gettin' married, for crying out loud, show a bit of decency, won't ya?!"

Truth be told, a human such as Terell would have easily gone unnoticed to giants of such caliber. Yet there was a certain power emanating from the man that suffocated even them. "Terell-kun! I do hope yar enjoyin' yar stay in a castle like this one; it's easily the largest such landmark in the world! Most humans can't fathom the thought of a castle made for giants..." he looked around at the place he called home during the better part of his childhood, "it truly lives up to yar expectations, doesn't it? Dordordor!"

A thought suddenly came to mind. "As a matter of fact, Terell-kun, why don't I show ya around the place? A man like you is worthy to see the treasure of our country." Whether Kaldor was referring to the castle itself as being a "treasure" or a certain artifact was currently unknown, but to venture so openly through a castle such as this, it was much too grand an opportunity to let slip by!

Fuyuki smiled, it was an honor that they wanted to show him the treasure of their country, he could scarcely refuse. It would be in poor taste, besides, Kaldor looked so excited at the prospect. "Indeed. You have a magnificent castle indeed, King of Giants, I admit its a tad disorienting for a regular human like myself; fortunately the chambers you've afforded me are man-sized. I feel a bit like a mouse in a mousehole."

With that, he turned to his subordinate and spoke. "I'd like you to show me then, I don't often get the chance to inspect giant craftsmanship. Vice Admiral Kaldor."

If the admiral would have allowed for it, Kaldor put his hand down against the ground so as to allow Terell to step onto his palm as if it were a platform, enabling him to be carried by the giant along the rest of the way. To say the castle was huge would have been an understatement; to climb each individual step of its various staircases would have required repetitive leaping from Terell's part. Kaldor volunteering to carry Terell the rest of the way was, of course, a way to combat this.

Under the assumption that he had been allowed, Kaldor waved goodbye to his cousin and marched through the castle, passing along several rooms, halls, and stairs, when at last he came upon a particularly intricately fashioned door. Gold in color, it would have appeared that the giants made very little, if any effort at all, to draw attention away from its contents. This was, as Terell would soon find out, because the giants were very confident that no being was capable of stealing what was inside, should they have somehow been able to trespass their way through the castle's countless security divisions.

"What you're about to see here momentarily, Terell-kun, is the heart of our nation," Kaldor explained, heaving the large door open which in itself must have costed a fortune, as it was made of pure gold itself, "a heart encased in stone!"

The door clicked open through the support of Kaldor's profound weight. The room, as all others comprising the castle, was nothing short of enormous for an ordinary sized human such as Terell. Inside, a marble flooring tiled the ground with a red carpet leading up to just about the only thing worthy of nothing: a large rock holstering an even larger sword.

"Feast your eyes upon one of the twelve Saijo O Wazamono Grade Swords, the sword of the late King Arthur: Excalibur!" Sunlight from the large window behind the sword poured out, encasing the artifact under a holy spotlight. "The heart of stone, so it has come to be referred to as... it is a weapon meant only for the strongest warrior within our nation. For countless generations its rights of usage have been passed along the rulers of Elbaf; yet in over a hundred years, none have been able to draw it from this rock."

Kaldor's eyes strayed from the admiral in his hand to the sword in the rock. He thought long and hard about Barbarossa. Would he perhaps be the one to end the long drought?

"There is a ceremony that precedes the drawing of the sword. The heart of stone is transferred from here to before the public, where the king makes his greatest attempt to extract it from the stone. In times past, kings have tried various tactics, from brute strength to," he paused, chuckling, "smearing butter along the sword's blade so as to loosen it and slip it out.

"As you might probably be able to tell by it still being encased in stone, many have tried, all have failed. At this point it's believed only the "chosen one" will be able to draw the sword. Of course, not just anyone is allowed to try; only a king may try, and at that, only a king who has been rightfully wed."

Kaldor's eyes trailed away in guilt. "Which is the reason the vast majority of our rulers have even bothered marrying in the first place. I only hope this is not the same reason behind Barbarossa-san's sudden decision to marry. At first many of our kin had suspected that perhaps he feared the prospect of failing to draw the sword in front of us all, and that was why he had refused to marry up until now. But greed has provoked the kings before him and it would not be hard to imagine that he too would turn out like the rest of them... destroyed by his own power."

He shook his head. "In any case, Terell-kun, I would be lying to you if I were to tell you that our people are looking forward to the wedding more than anything. Truth be told, the bulk of us patiently await the ceremony that follows the royal wedding; the time in which Barbarossa-san must make his attempt at drawing Excalibur.

"Only time will tell now, if he manages to do just that. I only hope he isn't so stupid as to try and destroy the stone beneath; a rather foolish king attempted the very same long ago and nearly split the sword in half! Or so it is said... I myself couldn't imagine a sword possessing the king of power that Excalibur does to be so fragile. Still, the fool that heaves so much as a single scratch upon its blade will be scorned by the entirety of Elbaf. King or not, they would skin him alive."

"They would skin him alive indeed," a familiar voice rang out from the doorway, leading the other two to turn around. A voice they had known all too well, yet hadn't heard in a number of weeks. Bearing long blonde hair that fell down his backside and marine attire that he had not yet been able to change out of, Rear Admiral Dario stood with his back pressed against the golden door. With a smile on his face, Dario adjusted his glasses.

"Dario-san!" Kaldor roared, "ya finally made it!"

"My apologies, Kaldor-sama, Terell-sama. There were more pirates on my way here than I had initially anticipated. I arrived only shortly; those whom greeted me at the docks told me to come this way and granted me access into the castle." With a well executed Soru, Dario covered the distance between he and his comrades in a few short bursts. Adjusting his glasses yet again, he gazed up at the holy sword. "So that's Excalibur, is it? Truly a marvelous sight..!"

He looked toward Kaldor. "Kaldor-sama, pardon my being so direct... but is what they say true? That countless kings have failed to pluck it from this rock?"

"Aye, the heart of stone is what it's called. Many have tried, all have failed."

"Interesting. Then... would you mind if I gave it a try? For the sake of validating my suspicions, of course."

Kaldor rose a brow. He studied Dario long and hard, before breaking into a chuckle. But of course the sword's hilt itself was hundreds of times larger than the Rear Admiral. He couldn't even wrap his entire body around it if he even tried.

With a suddenly stern expression, he addressed his comrade. "Nay, Dario-san. Not even I as a giant am allowed to ever touch the sword. That right is reserved only for the king."

Understanding the situation and seeing as though Kaldor was rather disciplined on the idea of allowing anyone else to touch it, Dario adjusted his glasses and smiled. "Well I was only joking either way, Kaldor-sama!"

Dario let out a small laugh. The bright light from the sun beamed against his glasses. In its reflection was Excalibur.

Although his facial expression remained inscrutable, on the inside Fuyuki felt a twinge of childish joy at being shown such an exceptional object. It deeply honored him that the giants would trust him enough to show him such a splendid treasure. Truthfully, this was the first that Terell ever heard of this sword, not without reason, for he'd always found weapons to be distasteful and impersonal. Perhaps due to how he'd never truly had to worry about them during his youth, due to being blessed; or cursed, with the powers of a Logia. For a moment the child within him awoke and he viewed the sword in the stone as though it had issued a personal challenge, nothing would please him more than having a chance to draw the blade. But the attempt would bring great dishonor upon the Marines and himself as well; although size was not a deterrent like with the Rear Admiral, for using the powers of the Yuki Yuki no Mi, Terell had the ability to shapeshift into enormous snow giants whose size was virtually unlimited.

Upon many an occassion since he began his stay he'd been tempted to use his powers to see the world from the perspective of true giants. But something had held him back, perhaps reverence for these magnificent creatures, living fables as they were. These childish emotions were quelled and he turned around to face the newly arrived Rear Admiral Dario, he quite enjoyed his current vantage point in Kaldor's palm, it gave him an excellent view.

"Greetings, Rear Admiral. Yes, there's troubles with pirates as of late, and as I informed my subordinates prior, it is exceedingly likely that there'll be pirates at the wedding proper, wanting to broker alliances with the giants in order to upset the balance of power. While I appreciate your pursuit of justice, remember that these times require a degree of finesse; and like my other subordinates I expect you not to engage any pirates while present here on Elbaf, unless you act in self-defense or for the defense of innocents and civilians. We cannot afford to alienate our hosts, if we do we risk them turning from the just path. Unless they take arms against you, or the King of Giants permits it, I expect you to tolerate their presence here."

Ravinger spoke with a hint of regret, it would've been highly efficient to capture as many pirates as possible while here; in fact, he might even be able to defeat or capture a Yonko or a high-ranking commander. Yet, even so, the path of justice demanded sacrifices to be made, and it wasn't always an easy road to walk. "At least, until they leave the island.. when they do, we will apprehend them in the open sea."

The Admiral turned his attention back to Kaldor and gave him a warm smile. "Thanks for showing me this, it is appreciated. But I would wish to ask your counsel while we're alone, how would you go about courting your cousin towards our cause? I realize this might seem opportunistic of me, but there's ultimately more than you or I at stake here, if the King of Giants were to be misled to side with a Yonko, it would place us all in an unenviable position; most of all you -- for you might be forced to fight against your own people. I think we'd all like to avoid that outcome."

Fuyuki spoke the words with a heavy heart, he deeply regretted that he could not simply enjoy the festivities the way he was meant to. That kind of freedom was something he had renounced when he accepted the title of Admiral, he would never marry himself, never learn to call another man his; nor engage in the romantic dalliances that he'd dreamt of as an adolescent. His was a heavy burden, to be a paragon, to be a balancing force and to be the terror of pirates everywhere, that was his lot in life, and to fulfill his obligations properly he had to forsake everything. All except for the companionship that he shared with his subordinates, like Vice Admiral Kaldor. Which he'd grown to treasure as the only bastion of humanity left for him to enjoy.

"Be civil with pirates?!" That bit had caught Dario off guard, apparently. He contemplated a rebuttal. "B-but..." But quickly decided against it.

"Affirmative, Terell-sama. I would never hope to bring dishonor upon the World Government nor yourself." He readjusted his glasses.

Meanwhile, Kaldor shivered with the mere thought of having to fight his own people. "Yar exactly right, Terell-kun. It would signal the end of me if one of those stinkin' pirates were to somehow ally themselves with Elbaf. I simply wouldn't be able to live with myself if that were the case.

"But if yar goin' to remain adamant on being civil with the pirates, then we'll need to find a way other than our fists to resolve this problem. I'll have a word with Barbarossa-san. After all he is the man in charge around here, and I his cousin. Surely my word should carry some meaning to him."

---

The sun shined brightly over the empty calm ocean slowly rocking the ebony ship to and fro. Morning freshness stimulated the aquatic life swarming beneath the massive boat, even stirring a few monstrous beast.

Salazar, dressed in his usual captain attire, leaned against the rail with a solemn expression plastered on his face. Last night he received the mission of a lifetime. From hunting deadly pirates to infiltrating a royal wedding, the swordsman could only wish for a normal life...However boring as it would be.

"Sally-kun!" A voice boomed from within the cabins. A screeching bird with a barritone voice perhaps? Or maybe the cries of a dying whale? Honestly Salazar would have preferred either over the monster that shot from the wooden door, almost breaking it off the hinges. His body broke through the open shirt barely covering his top, leaving his muscular stomach glistening in the sun between his tight pants. His curly hair glistened from the bright sun. "Sally-kun!!!! I heard you need a favor from your Princess. Of course your princess would do anything if it means keeping the burning passion that is our love alive!"

"I'll fucking swim to Elbaf!" Salazar roared, leaping onto the ocean from atop his deck.

WHOOSH!

A rainbow colored with razor teeth exploded from the water, creating a massive shockwave of saphire droplets. Its teeth shot open. Salazar was engulfed in an evergrowing darkness as a single ray of light kissed his forehead.

Is this it? Salazar thought. Is this the end? He closed his eyes and smiled, embracing the darkness which consumed him slowly. ''I've lived a fulfilling life...Fought against Gods, served Empressess and married a woman whose beauty could outshine the sun. Only fitting that I return to the sea upon which I've come from. Jacky...Princess...Black...Please continue chasing your dreams...I'll see you on the other side..."''

Salazar felt a muscular grip around his ankle. He was smothered against a hardened chest, was this what angels felt like? He growled in anger. Some death...Why couldn't the almighty have sent the beautiful sirens of the sea to rescue him?

"Oh Sally-swan! As much as I love the sight of wet ebony skin, swimming too early in the morning will surely lead to sickness." Princess kicked the sea monster back into the water, using the mutual force to launch himself back upon their ship. He held onto his captain tightly, who squirmed with the force of a fish within the palms of a giant. "My poor captain, I'm sorry-I shouldn't have exposed you to my beauty so early in the morning! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! but I have to prep up and make sure I look my best for you all! Especially my sissy Jacky!"

"L-let me go you bastard!" Salazar growled, knawing on the hardened flesh of Princess. He kicked and screamed. Punched the air and even invoked the cursed name of several forgotten gods of the sea. But Princess would not budge. "I've already accepted my death dammit! I've made a deal with davy jones upon which I cannot break! My soul belongs to the sea now!"

"Good job Princess," A silkened voice warmed the still air. Princess's grip loosened, dropping Salazar onto his stomach. He looked to the source, an ebony goddess dressed in short jeans and a middriff shirt, covered in a small leather jacket. "If ya think I'ma let ya ass die so easily, I'll kill ya dramatic ass meself!" Jacky roared. She pulled out her smallest pistol and placed it against Salazar's head..

"S-sorry wife..." Salazar whimpered. Jacky put her weapon away and leaned against the railing, awaiting for Salazar to stand once again. "Princess, we have a new mission from her Legs, one that involves us barging into a royal wedding."

"W-w-wedding! WEDDING!" Princess roared, sending shockwaves across the surrounding sea. He sung in twirled, harmonizing with the sounds of the empty sea. Spinning and spinning, dancing so elegantly across the wooden deck of their ship. "I love weddings! Whose the lucky one?! Oh my god Sally-kun, make sure you catch the bouqet!"

Jacky snickered. "Yeah make sure you catch it, Husband. Or there's gonna be a problem."

"The wedding isn't for us though." Salazar interrupted with a harmless smile. "Though the idea of having a few days of relaxation and free food sounds amazing."

"Foooood!" The ship rumbled. Shaking with each gigantic step the monstrosity took. He had to hunch in order to barely squeeze from the cabin door; Salazar remembering too make a bigger entrance for his newest member. "Food? Fooood!" Black screamed joyously. His braided hair swinging wildly behind him. He kept his stone sword tied tightly around his back. "Where's food?!

"Back home buddy!" Salazar boomed "We're going to Elbaf."

"Home of Giants and giant proportions! My mouth is watering from the anticipation!" Jacky screamed in enjoyment. "Perhaps we can enjoy ourselves a few days before jumping into some dangerous shit."

"Elbaf? I haven't been there. Oh! it's perfect for my new chapter-wait perhaps I can't get some backup to usurp that psychobitchLieelotte! Think Legs would help? I doubt that nohairhavingpsychobitch has Yonko power behind her!"

"If we succeed, she'll probably lend you a few ships." Jacky hugged onto Princess. "And ya got ya sis here to help. Plus my Husband will be more than glad to lead your personal armies."

"What!!!?"

"Right husband!?"

"Do I have a choice?" Salazar whimpered.

"Nope!"

"Well I mean I have to help Black-"

Caesar Black hugged onto Jacky and Princess, squeezing both with his massive wingspan. They swung each other in a loving embrace. Salazar could only stand there in a weird cocktail of admiration, happiness, and depression at what was about to come. "Finnne."

The crew eventually made their way into the meeting room, a massive cabin which even Caesar Black could not touch the ceiling. In the center, surrounded by treasures and captured slave equipment, was a massive table where each sat in a respective seat; with the queen and king at the head of the table. There, Salazar pulled out a marker and started drawing on their map.

"We need to perform recon on Elbaf for Legs. She wants to began preperations for either a hostile takeover or some invasion. Can't really anticipate what she's planning these days. Anyway, Elbaf's military power is nothing to laugh at...honestly if we're caught we have no hope of escaping unscathed-especially considering the type of guest that'll be in attendance." Salazar met the eyes of each Black Sea Pirate and smiled. "But! I've developed-"

Slap!

"My wife has developed a brilliant plan." Salazar said, rubbing the red hand mark from his cheek. "This wedding resulted in numerous invitations being sent out across the world. No doubt they probably invited some of the highest nobility from various kingdoms. Which means," He zero'd in on Princess. "With your permission, I'd like to use your rank to gain access."

"Oh! You'd like to be my date!"

"No your guest!"

"Oh of course you can be my dates!"

"Guest!"

"Nothing else would make me happier than being your date to this magnificent event!" Princess roared. Salazar took a deep breath and was about to scream his lungs out, until Jacky's hands wrapped against his mouth.

"Shush!" Jacky pushed him back into his seat. "Stop being so dramatic. Anyway, Princess, yes we will be honored to be your date. There are different ways to go about this. You and Sally-kun," She teased. "can arrive as a date and we can be your bodyguards." Salazar leapt up, only to have his head slammed into the table. Unable to speak, he couldn't object in time...

But Black nodded his head in disagreement just in time. "Remember, our bounties are super high. We're wanted across the oceans. And Captain's a former dog of the World Government. They'll surely remember him."

"Yeah!" Salazar added, freeing himself from the grasp of his mighty wife. "As much as I'd love to be your date, the amount of Government officials invited will make it impossible for us to simply waltz in there."

"Well, we can still arrive as her guest. Just, we'll have to improvise. I'm not worried about myself buuuuuuut the men might have to do something different..."

"You don't mean!" Princess jumped out his seat. "Ya'll embrace the Okama way!? Captain! I have to choose your maiden outfit. Jacky, you can take Black."

"That can never work!" Salazar objected.

"It'll allow us to sneak in alongside Princess under the disguise of her royal guest. The World Government will surely overlook her affiliation with the Black Sea crew if they aren't there." Jacky interrupted.

"But-"

"And I'm sure Ma'll have enough space for some friends. Especially one associated with royalty." Black added.

"You're going along with this too???" All hope left Salazar's voice.

"Then it's unanimous! We'll become the Royal Okama Crew and sneak into Elbaf! This'll be one helluva wedding!"Jacky screamed.

"And I know exactly where to get some nice dresses. Hm, Sally-kun, what size are you?"

---

Under the blanket of the night, Hades continued his voyage through the seas of the New World. It had been some few days since he and his passengers had left Nassau. It was on course now for Elbaf, with an estimate to arrive in a few short hours.

"Hoy, where the fuck is she?!" Kettle barked, storming onto the main deck whilst pulling his arms into the sleeves of his captain's coat. "Don't tell me she made off last night without tellin' a single one of us?!"

A letter was pinned against one of the ship's many masts. Using the powers of his Devil Fruit, Kettle ripped it off from a distance and had it transported to him. Looking it over, he summarized its contents for the sake of the others.

"That fucker," he muttered under his breath before addressing the others, "she's told us to go on ahead and that apparently she'll be meetin' us there somehow. She's left me with some rather specific instructions on what to do with the rum and the rest of you lot as well. For the love of..."

He pocketed the letter and spoke to the others as if he were their captain. "Let's get this show on the road then, eh? Arm yer positions, men! Oi'll go and check on the rum. As per Miss Ash-lee's decree, Oi'm to store it all in me self so as to avoid detection along Elbaf's borders. As a matter of fact, when we are to get close to land, Oi'll be needin' to hide erey last one of ya in me body as well. Chances of them catching a single man ain't as likely as several tens of men."

With that, he walked toward the ship's storage.

Back in Nassau, Veno sat before a large screen positioned someplace in his factory. Corona's voice reached out to him.

"Veno-sama, I must bring to your attention another round of bad news. Around the same time Hades was hijacked, several tons worth of explosives were stolen from the bunker."

Veins bulged out from Veno's forehead. His hand curled around the handle of his metal chair, reshaping it under the might of his grip.

Beneath Cursed Tides
Deep within the Royal Palace, at the end of seemingly endless hallways and corridors sits the bedroom of the soon-to-be empress of Elbaf. Standing guard outside the of the room is none other than the mighty Wotan, Balor, one of the fiercest generals in the Elbaf army, whose savagery has been compared to the Giants of lore. On this day however his orders were much more simple, he was to ensure that Alessandra nor her seamstress would be disturbed whilst they put the finishing touches on her wedding dress, as presentation was of the utmost importance on this date given that there were to be several dozen high ranking officials of the world government, as well as highly influential pirates in attendance, thus Balor was under orders to turn away all visitors until the time was right.

The interior of the room was massive even by a giants standards, the ceiling was high enough that Frederick himself could jump without fear of putting his head through of room. A conversation between lady Alessandra and her seamstress had been ongoing for some time now as the discussed the wedding and her future. “I grow tired of waiting for this wedding, I’m ready for the proceedings to begin now.” Alessandra spoke in a calm voice, a voice that many had speculated could sooth even the mightiest of giants, before continuing “I do hope the guest’s have safe travels, the jagged rocks hidden by the ocean can make docking a ship rather troublesome.” As the woman continued to seemingly think out loud, she watched her seamstress put the finishing touches on her dress.

“Finished at last.” The seamstress took a moment to admire her work, which was easily the best work of the world renowned seamstress. The dress itself was white, almost too white as if it was colored with the purest snow the dress was long enough that it would drag on the floor behind her elegance when she walked aisle at her wedding. It was strapless meaning that it would hang off her shoulders fitting her form perfect.

“Wow, your highness if this dress where to be sold on the market it’s price would surely be enough to purchase several merfol-” The seamstress immediately stopped in her tracks, how could she so foolish? It was by know no secret that the soon-to-be queen was a former slave of the giants. Realizing her mistook the girl immediately bowed before Alessandra. “I’m so sorry your majesty please forgive me!”

The mere mention of slavery had caused Alessandra’s blood to internally boil, however on the outside she appeared as calm and tranquil as ever. Her vision had long since been cast into the darkness, but her exceptional prowess in the art of Haki had allowed her to witness the girls aura kneel before her. “Stand up, please. It is my wedding day after all there is no need to grovel before me. It will be time to introduce ourselves soon the guest’s should be arriving shortly and i would like to introduce myself.” With that Alessandra had taken the dress to a private area of her room and begun to put it on.

Outside the room, a man had approached Balor informing him that the guests had arrived and that the brides presence would be needed. Thanking the man for notifying him, Balor brought his massive fist to the door giving it two knock before allowing his thunderous voice to boom “It’s time!” Before her began making his way towards the grand staircase that lead towards the ball room, where all the guests would likely be located.

Upon hearing Balor’s signal Alessandra emerged from her dressing room wearing her dress. It had been a perfect fit, hugging every curve, hanging off her shoulders perfectly. She exited the room as the dress dragged behind her sliding across the floor in a show of elegance as she approached the stairway. As she arrived at the stairway she used her Kenbunshoku to analyzing the room full of guests allowing her to “see” them as she made her way down the staircase.

“Thank you all for coming”

Having been among the guest waiting patiently for the future queen to emerge, Legs clapped alongside the other royals. Even now, however, she found that even on Elbaf, she stood out. To the humans that were in attendance, she was enormous, and to the giants she was tiny. Regardless, the fact that she was twenty feet tall did not escape her even as her surroundings dwarfed her. Though, such attention worked to her benefit as her face became quickly recognized in the room as the Empress of the New World, and the queen of Wano. Everyone complimented her elegant dress, her reign over her many empires; they sucked up, perhaps from a fear of her might, or out of desire to taste even a fragment of her power. She definitely ensured to take down ways to communicate with those that approached her. Any ally was one she could benefit from. Though, all paled in comparison to the Elbafian King, holder of the mightiest army in the world. That army was the reason legs personally showed up after receiving an invitation.

Thus,the instance Alessandra stepped onto the floor, legs dropped every conversation and approached the maiden to be wed. She, having remembered her manners from her affairs with the Daimyo of her youth, bowed gratuitously. "You look beautiful," Legs genuinely complimented, "I wish to personally congratulate you."

the sheer number of guests caused Alessandra to stop for a moment as she sought to view each individual aura with her Haki, ensuring that she would be able to "see" them, as well as gain a brief insight towards the goals for being here. Some she could tell were here to genuinely congratulate the newly weds, whilst others sought to gain from this, either politically or personally.

One Aura stood out to the girl amongst the rest, it was different, as it was on a different level than the average guests. It was this aura that she made her way towards as it could only belong to the Black Widow that she had personally invited to this glorious occasion. Hearing her compliments brought a genuine smile to Alessandra's face, before she returned the sentiment. "Thank you, Lady Legs, I presume? Thank you so much for arriving on such short notice."

"Oh, please child," Legs nonchlantly huffed, "you provided me plenty of time." Legs glanced backwards nodding to a group of samurai that awaited her command. Almost immediately they walked up, bringing gifts by the dozen. "I even had enough time to have my men prepare gifts, gathered from the farthest corners of the world." Legs had spared no expense for such an occasion, yet such an expense, for a yonko, was hardly an expense at all. In fact, the items Legs presented had been acquired for a fraction of their worth. "Please, accept the gifts, Princess Alessandra."

"You are far too kind" As Alessandra spoke, a guard of her own had arrived to take the gifts, that gaurd was none other than the Wotan Balor, Elbaf's fiercest general he then took the gifts to a side room and set the amongst the mountain of other wedding gifts the two had received, before he made his way back to the two.

"Legs may we speak somewhere, more private?" Alessandra's tone was still as polite and genuine as it was before, however this question was more a demand as the young woman began to weave her way through the guests as she spoke leading the Yonko to a empty room that would be sufficient for the upcoming conversation. "Balor, assure that we remain uninterrupted would you?" After hearing her orders, Balor then stood guard outside the room as the leaders spoke inside.

"Whats the issue?" Legs inquired, her tone indicating a rather unnoticeable amount of anticipation, as if she expected a private encounter to occur between them. She firmly believed that if one seeks peace, and happiness, they do not invite a yonko to their wedding.

--- With the sun creeping overhead, Hades pulled into the coast. Passing along ships that were sailed by the giants themselves, it was even larger than they by comparison. With a nervous expression held over his visage, Captain Kettle marched onto the deck of the ship so as to reveal his identity to the guards along Elbaf's main gate. Feeling as though all the eyes in the world were falling upon him, Kettle swallowed hard, looking up at the enormous beings that stood before him as if they were whole scrapers.

"What sort of business does a pirate have in this country?" A voice gleamed from behind closed doors. Even the giants were left puzzled and in a state of confusion. Where was this voice coming from?

What could have only been an ant to the giants leapt down from the large barricades that existed on either side of the gate, a single entity that even now bore the attire of an active Marine Officer. Approaching the ship steadily, the hands of Rear Admiral Dario instinctively fell unto his sheathed sword.

"Hoy..." Kettle mumbled under his breath at the sight of the Marine. He truly didn't expect to see them so soon, especially not after he had become so accustomed to life on Nassau.

"Don't make me repeat myself, pirate. What business do you have with the country of giants?"

"Dario-san, Dario-san!" another voice beamed, this time one that was loud and proud and sound enough for everyone to immediately acknowledge, "did ya not hear what Terell-kun said? We aren't to stop pirates from entering!" With his hands gripping the top of the barricaded wall --implying that he had likely climbed it to peer over at the other side-- was Kaldor, his cheeks red with embarrassment.

Dario turned at the mention of his voice. With a hard look toward his superior, he pushed his glasses up the stem of his nose with his hand and tucked them into his white coat. It took every ounce of him to resist the temptation of cutting down the pirate that stood before him. Nevertheless, he stepped down, permitting the pirate access into the nation. Walking through the doorway, his spirit in shambles, he offered no apology. "At the very least, Vice Admiral Kaldor, see that you thoroughly inspect that man's ship. Though it may escape the thought of a giant such as yourself, that ship isn't exactly ordinary in terms of size; it's definitely not an everyday sight to see a human sailing on a ship so very large like that one."

Kaldor sighed. "Ya just don't get it, do ya?! Just relax already, Dario-san! I invited all of ya over for a vacation, so take a step back and enjoy yarself already!" Nodding to the guards, Kaldor officially granted Kettle access into Elbaf. "It's all good. These are Terell-kun's orders."

Walking aimlessly and without direction through the enormous alleyways of Elbaf with his hands in his pockets, Kettle turned and checked around to ensure that the coast was clear before extending the palm of his left hand out in front of him. Gravity was once again meshed with, and, in a matter of seconds, the whole group of pirates and vigilantes that had left with him from Nassau popped out from within the storage capacities of his blackhole.

"Oll-right," Kettle barked, "we've made it unto Elbaf as planned! Now what we've to do is-"

"Deliver the crates of rum." A familiar female voice that the group had not heard in a number of days made its sudden return. Leaping down from a building into the alley, Ashley confronted the group. "So I see you all made it here in one piece. Very good!"

"We did? Wow i don't remember a single thing after we've been stuck by kettles power." Catrina said with her hand on her head trying to think back to after she was sucked in by his Blackhole

"Ha i'm honestly surprised that bastard freed us at all" Jones inquired. "Are you sure your not forgetting anyone?" He called to Kettle with a judgementle tone, thinking he couldn't be trusted.

"Enough Jones, save your rampaging for later. This place is crawling with Marines." Cazzar called out sensing the Marines from all around them.

Benjamin turned and looked back at the ship. "So, if we have a ship that big, why did ya hafta stick us in that black dimension again?"

"Heeeeh, quite an useful ability you got indeed! It felt as if no time had passed inside your...hand" Yan smiles, cleaning his clothes a bit as he looks towards Barney's hand. He was filled with amusement and interest.

Captain Kettle smiled a rotten smile, his decaying teeth on full display. His eyes running down the length of Ashley's frame, it took him a moment to understand that others had made mention of his powers. "Of course Oi released ye," he spat, "none of ye are worth any good on the slave market! Oi'd have no use keepin' ye in me hands, truth be told! Bahahahaha!"

He looked down at Indra who had been released along with the others. "Same goes for ye, kiddo. Consider yerself lucky."

Turning to face Benjamin, Kettle jammed his finger into the nostril of his rather long nose. "Ask Miss Ash-lee," he stated in regards to the man's question.

Ashley smiled. "It was a safety protocol, Tabart. We didn't know for certain whether or not our group would have even been allowed access into Elbaf; most certainly we didn't dream of being able to enter without so much as an inspection. But just in case, we needed to be prepared."

She looked at Kettle and smiled. "In the event that they did inspect our ship, finding pirates so notorious as yourselves would have been all too suspicious. Not to mention along with all the Nerb Rum that we had planned to smuggle into the country...

"Lucky for us, it seems as though we won't have to worry too much about the Navy's involvement with our operations this time around. Even so, it's best we keep a low profile during our various negotiations." Ashley looked back toward Kettle. "Speaking of, Captain Kettle, do you mind releasing a few crates from your storage? We'll cover more ground if we split up into smaller groups. There's a number of places these crates need to be delivered too."

Kettle only offered another cheeky smile. "Nay Miss Ash-lee, before that Oi needa know somethin'. If ye don't mind me askin', just why in the hell did ye dip out on us all those nights ago without informin' us prior, and more importantly, how in the hell did ye manage to get inside of this country all safe and sound?"

Feeling the eyes of the pirates fall suspiciously in her direction, Ashley offered another one of her charming smiles. "There were some preparations I had to take care of in order to make sure that you all arrived here without any danger. Do you think it was a coincidence that no other ship crossed your path on your whole way here? Of course not; that was my doing."

Kettle rose a brow. "And how exactly did ye manage that all on yer own, eh?"

"That's a secret." Ashley smiled, again. "I am more qualified than you give me credit for, Captain Kettle."

A long silence ensued. Kettle sighed, releasing a few crates from his Black Hole. Ashley began to direct the others. "Splendid! Starting now, we'll all go our separate ways. You are all to leave here with individual crates, along with the addresses of where each of them need to be delivered to. Exactly two days from now, we will all meet back right here at this very same time in order to distribute our profits accordingly.

Remember, under no circumstances are any of you to open so much as a single one of these bottles; even a single screw up will amount in a massive loss of fortune. For that I sincerely ask that you cast away your pride and simply consider others before yourself. We're a team, so don't forget that."

Ashley gave each of them a hard look, her lips weaving into her usual smile thereafter. "And please, do your best to stay clear of any trouble while you're at it, hm?"

Having been freed from Kettles palm, Indra took a moment to take in his surroundings, observing the massive architecture of Elbaf. Suddenly Indra, having assumed that Veno was not aware of the theft, or if he were, he certainly had not consented to the Hades ship being used for without he himself captaining it.

Indra then dipped away from the group as they went their separate ways, ducking around a corner before removing a den den mushi. He then dialed the number of The Public Enemy, awaiting as it wrong. "Yes, Captain Veno. It appears that we're in Elbaf, given the massive size of the architecture. It would also appear that the ship that brought us was none other than Hades, Sir."

Fear No Evil
Once in times long past, Ravinger had been a young boy; one whose only wish in life was to marry the man of his dreams, master the fundamentals of science and lead a wonderful childhood free of tragedy or pain. But none of these things would be his truth, ever since the day he ate the curious Devil Fruit his life had been changed forever, he'd accidentally killed his own parent, alienated the village he'd grown up in and become as much a tool as a man. If someone had given Ravinger a choice, perhaps he might've stopped his impulsive younger self from taking that first step down an unknown and lonely path. Yet from those moments of tragedy had been born a sense of discipline and will in the young boy, one which would see him master his Logia in ways which most others would scarcely think possible. He hadn't willingly chosen power, but all the same it was his to carry with responsibility and purpose.

At present, the man stood on a balcony overlooking the vast realm of Elbaf; one whose magnificence mirrored its inhabitants. He really hoped that the King of Giants made the right decision, he'd hate to have to go through with the Fleet Admiral's commands, orders that he would usually ignore - but in these trying times he'd have no alternative. As a precaution, Fuyuki had conjured four vessels of his Devil Fruit's immeasurable power, each of them were a replica of his own abilities, snowmen - and givne their malleable nature he'd had them assume the forms of four splendidly white pigeons. With a gesture he sent them out into Elbaf, their bodies not melting even in the heat of the summer sun. With their nondescript and eerily lifelike appearance, these would be highly unlikely to draw notice from the populace.

Just as he'd done so, he could feel a presence familiar approaching in the corridor outside his chambers.

And that familiar presence belonged to none other than Rear Admiral Dario who was evidently short of breath as he appeared through the doorway. Positioning himself upon a single knee, he pushed up his glasses and immediately began to convey his findings to his superior. "T-Terell-sama," he stated at first nervously, sweat visible on the side of his face. For whatever reason, the man was trembling; perhaps it was out of the fear that any failure at all may have invoked the Admiral's wrath.

Truth be told, Dario wasn't quite sure what to expect at this point, seeing as though what had transpired the night before was something of a "planned failure". Even so, there was a sour taste in his mouth and he simply didn't know where to begin.

Taking in a deep breath, he recalled his countless years worth of service under the reigns of the Navy in order to calm himself. "Terell-sama," he started again, "it would seem there was a breach in the security parameters responsible for overlooking the safekeeping of Excalibur late last night. Kaldor-sama has informed me that an alarm sounded off and that he arrived upon the scene to a broken door; however yet, no apparent attempt at stealing Excalibur was made, seeing as though the sword is still in place and very much intact. Almost as if nothing had happened at all."

He dared to look up at the Admiral through the space between his forehead and glasses. "Which is what is most concerning to me, Terell-sama. Why might someone exert themselves enough to break through the impeccable security forces of this great castle yet leave with absolutely nothing?" Dario's thoughts wandered to the pirate he had confronted the day before along Ebalf's main gate. Might this have been his doing in any way?

"My first thought is that this is predictable show of strength, the would be thief has made it clear that he, or she for that matter possesses the means to break into the vault. For some, a locked door guarding a great artifact is a challenge to be overcome, I would think it unlikely that someone might steal Excalibur however, at least not without the assistance of unusual Devil Fruit powers."

Yet the thought of someone stealing the artifact made Ravinger uneasy all the same, it was a highly unlikely scenario however. For the blade was absolutely humongous, far too large for most to even lift, much less wield. However he wanted to ensure that this prized artifact of giants remained safe, because with all these lowlives about, it would only be a matter of time before someone found the prospect tempting.

"Well, at any rate, this calls for preemptive measures. I will pay the vault a visit, to increase security during the ceremony." While saying this, he was already on his way; moving down the corridors like a breath of icy wind, materializing shortly afterwards in the vaults where Excalibur was. He took a moment to admire the weapon, before he breathed into the palm of his hand before emptying its contents like a small flurry of snowflakes that danced into the room.

It had been such a tiny gesture, but its effects were extraordinary, for not even halfway into the room, the lone snowflakes expanded into a furious blizzard that covered the entire room; obscuring Excalibur from view in a white whirlwind of great proportions, everything, from the floor, the celing and all the way to the entrance of the vault was within reach of the blizzard. Empowered to an obscene extent by Fuyuki's Devil Fruit, the sheer cold it radiated was unbeliable, to the extent that the room inside was drained of all color and appeared almost in a monochrome fashion; as though the very colors themselves turned to snow. Not only did it promise a quick and brutal death to whomever foolishly dared to brave the blizzard in search of the treasure within, it also drastically reduced visibility and therefore made it difficult for various Devil Fruit users to work around it.

Ravinger doubted it was a perfect defense, but it was an effective one all the same; and one which at least would work to deter any attempts at stealing the King's property until the monarch himself came to attempt to pull it up from the stone, at which point Ravinger would dispel the blizzard safely.

Standing in place of the broken doorway, Dario readjusted his glasses, pushing them up the brim of his nose. A faint smirk played upon his lips as he seemingly admired the vicious beauty of the Admiral's prowess; yet what projected itself as a reflection within the pane of his spectacles was not the white of snow, but rather the twinkle of the cross shaped pendant he now bore around his neck.

Leave it to an Admiral to make for such steady precautions.

Rum Deal
Life was full throttle late night within a tavern located at the heart of Elbaf. With the Royal Wedding to be held in a number of days, countless pirates had already made their way into the country. Reaping for all sorts of benefits, the vast majority of them were now spending their days in bars or brothels, ticking away at the time until they at last received the opportunity they were all waiting so desperately for.

Seated among pirates was a familiar mook, his jolly red beard scuffled with meat and liquor. Sitting as he were at the front counter with a plate stacked with whole cows upon it, he picked them up and tossed them into his mouth as if they were chips. "Bahahahaha! Fill me up again, ya mug! My cousin's gettin' married for cryin' out loud! I don't plan on stoppin' any time soon!"

He held out his ridiculously large tankard to the barkeep and tossed another grilled cow into his mouth, munching on it effortlessly. Pirates of all shapes and sizes lingered about, many watching in fear, yet doing their very best to maintain low profiles and ultimately mind their own businesses. A Vice Admiral on vacation such as Kaldor was like a stray dog: you couldn't entirely trust him not to bite.

Giggles sounded off in the near vicinity, followed by the swinging of doors leading up to the tavern's restroom. Emerging from within were none other than Ashley and Tabart, the each of them looking the part of deranged lunatics, for their attire was entirely distraught. Ashley herself had to readjust her clothing upon her entry onto the scene, so as to ensure that none of her more personal areas were exposed to the public.

Running a hand through her luscious blonde hair, she looked back upon Tabart and smiled. "Far from the best I've ever had," she joked, "but it was good enough to get the job done, I suppose." She brushed locks of her hair that were hanging over her shoulders down her backside, and readjusted her necklace so that its cross-shaped pendant was hidden away between her cleavage. "I need to get going now. See that you get around to delivering that to the clerk."

Her curvaceous hips swaying from side to side, Ashley walked on out of the tavern to a siren of whistles by the pirates.

Tabart exhaled deeply as she left. "I'm so parched," he complained. He glanced over at the bar, mainly because some giant was making an unnecessary amount of noise. He shook his head in annoyance. "This is why light weights shouldn't drink." Regardless, Tabart approached the bar area, not for a drink himself, but rather for information. The bartender addressed him.

"I have something small for you to if that's what you're gonna ask, lil man," The bartender joked, alluding the rather obvious height disparity between not only him and Tabart, but other various occupants in the room. This was Elbaf afterall.

"Haha, good one. Good one! That joke was rather complicated for a man of your race, so I was genuinely impressed. Bravo to you," he sarcastically started. Yet, the room fell silent as all the eyes turned onto him.

"So you think you're hot stuff huh!?" The bartender's voice boomed as he stepped towards Tabart.

Tabart leaped backwards defensively. "What?! No, no! I was just-"

"Are you trying to say that all giants are dumb, huh?!"

"What?! It was a joke bruh," Tabart retorted quickly. A sweat rolled down his brow. Other giants stood up in support of the bartender it seemed.

Things were going downhill very quickly.

Then, the bartender broke out in laughter, and then the rest of the giants in the bar followed. Tabart looked onward confused.

"Aha! I had this chump scared shitless, eh!?"

The bartender turned towards Tabart. "Funny joke mate, I presume you're here for the wedding, judging by that all that jewelry you're sporting. I can't touch a noble like yourself, haha!"

Tabart sighed in relief as he faked a chuckle.

"Here, lemme get ya a drink! On me!"

Kaldor was among the giants laughing at Tabart. What a human-bean!

abart climbed up to bar table. "Thanks, but I don't need a drink really. Just some information actually."

The bartender, still chuckling, addressed him, "Yeah sure, what is it?"

"I'm looking for a guy named Jack Stalkman," Tabart inquired.

Yet again, the bar fell quiet as the bartender stared at Tabart dazed.

"Y-You're looking for Jack Stalkman?"

"Yeah, is that a problem?" Tabart inquired annoyingly. "I really don't have time for jokes this time around."

"Eh?" Kaldor flexed his brow, snapping the bones of the cow in his mouth in a single motion. He looked toward the ant that was Tabart in disbelief. "Did I hear that right? Yar lookin' for Stalkman-sama?"

The once jolly giant hammered his tankard against the counter and his face was overtaken by a grim expression. "And what might ya want from Stalkman-sama, eh? What sort of business do ya have with a guy like that?!"

Tabart looked up at the giant, terrified inwardly, but refusing to let such cowardice surface. "U-Um, well," Tabart started, artificially deepening his voice as a defense mechanism, "I need to deliver an urgent letter to him from a foreign land while I'm here for the um...Wedding! Yes, the wedding."

Kaldor simply stared at the human-bean. He studied him long and hard, trying his very best to determine what in the living hell a guy like him could've had to do with Stalkman-sama. And here he was calling the giants dumb. He had no idea what he was getting himself into.

"Stalkman-sama is among the greatest warriors our race has ever known," Kaldor began, "so great that even presently, there may be no other giant capable of besting him in direct combat. I myself speak through experience, so I know that as a fact."

The giant's eyes fell upon the small man. "A human-bean like yarself has no merit to meet with a guy like that." He rose his tankard up into the air. "A guy like you couldn't even down this measly cup! Bahahahahaha!"

Though Tabart was not a man of many talents, he was a man who was capable of drinking himself stupid and not dying the next day. However, the last time he did so he find himself face first, ass up, in the ground and then on this island. He still needed to ask that Kettle guy exactly how he wound up here. "So, what you're saying is that if I drink that cup of whateverthehellitis," he feigned, uncertain of the type of alcohol it was, "that you'll tell me where Stalkman-sama is?"

Kaldor flexed his brow once more. "That's not at all what I was saying." He looked between the human and his tankard, which was twice his size. He was fairly convinced that this was an impossible feat for a human like him to accomplish. "But sure. Prove yar worth to me by drinking this all the way to the bottom; show me how much of a giant ya got in ya! And then if yar able to do that... then maybe, just maybe I'll have it in me to tell you what you want to know about Stalkman-sama."

Tabart smirked as he clapped his hands together excitedly. "Alright then! This will be nothing." Tabart leaped from his feet onto the tankard, scaling it with his hands and then plumping his entire body into the substance. Although he told the giant he was going to drink it all, he lied. Tabart would've died drinking a fraction of his tankard, but, he was banging on the stupidity of Giants, or the stupidity that he perceived them to have.

He slugged through the alcohol, holding his breath and squinting his eyes as the alcohol pushed against his eyelids until he reached the bottom. There, he pulled a small seed from his pocket, and placed it on the bottom of the the tankard. "Mmmosa Mmmooosa," he mumbled inaudibly as he clapped his hands together. With it, the seed sprouted along the surface of the bottom, turning into a moss that simply absorbed the alcohol into its contents. As the rum approached the bottom, Tabart, desperate for air, began decelerating the growth of the plant to reduce any evidence of it being there, turning the moss back into a seed, just as his devil fruit allowed. In the end, not a single shred of alcohol remained, and the seed was back in his pocket, hidden from the Giant's view.

"Mind," he coughed, still in dire need for oxygen. "Giving me a hand out of here?!"

Peeking into the tankard with widened eyes, Kaldor dug his fingers inside and picked Tabart out and held him in the air. "What in tarnation!?" He held up the cup with his other hand and flipped it over, as if to spill its contents to the floor. But nothing came down, not even a single drop.

"Not even a giant could have scoffed it down that fast! Apologies little one, you truly are somethin'!" Kaldor lowered Tabart down onto the counter and leaned forward in his own seat. "Alrighty then, a deal is a deal. What would ya like to know about Stalkman-sama?"

Tabart smiled in satisfaction. Part of him couldn't even believe his planned work. The giants were truly as dumb as he heard! "I want to know where he's located. Like I mentioned earlier, but you probably didn't catch on, I have a important message that I need to deliver to him from my home country." Tabart squeezed the alcohols out of his sleeves, though they were still rather damp. He didn't really think that part through. "So, if you can just point me in the right direction, I'll handle business from here."

"Ah, right. Well, come along then." Kaldor scooped Tabart into his palm and stood from his seat. "Hoy, I'll be right back; make sure no one eats my cows while I'm gone," he said, addressing the bartender before walking from the tavern into the streets.

"The reason I'm taking you out here with me is because it's hard to truly explain where he is. It's better if I just show you." Marching through the streets, he waived to the other giants who were dumbfounded by the fact that he was carrying a human-bean in his hand. He stopped suddenly, even despite there being nothing in plain view.

"He's up there, last I heard of it." He pointed up at the sky, which was filled with thick clouds. "He's a real menace, even to us. So by that I'm sure you could probably assume that he isn't exactly fond of humans either."

Kaldor took a moment to himself to ponder upon his past encounters wit Stalkman. "Really now, he's not the same guy he once was. There was once a time he and I were great friends... we fought alongside one another countless times. But at present, there's no way he and I could ever see eye-to -eye."

Tabart gulped. He almost didn't want to go, but then he remembered the reward. Not only the money, but rather Ashley herself. She had shown she appreciated his efforts earlier, but if he did this for her there was no way she could deny him. Thus, he shook his head, breaking himself from his moment of cowardice.

"Don't worry about me. I'll find a way to convince him," Tabart eased. "Thanks so far for getting me to this point, but I really must be off." Pulling the same seed as earlier from his pocket, Tabart clapped his hands together, forcing the seed to grow and grow and grow almost nonchalantly as the people around watched in amazement. Tabart smiled casually, gloating about his powers until he heard a Giant speak in the distance.

"Mommy, how is he going to climb that?"

Tabart's smile quickly turned sour. "Oh, fuck me."

"Don't ya worry 'bout a thing, little squirt!" Kaldor cuffed his fingers around Tabart, clasping his hand shut. Hanging his hand behind his head, he offered his salutations and heaved Tabart into the air through a baseball pass. "Tell Stalkman-sama I said hi!!!"

Yanbaal quickly fixed his boots, having been walking around for nearly an hour he estimate "Tch, this must be the center of the country..." He looked around, seeing the many giants walking by "Elbaf is certainly interesting..." Yan grabs the handle of a door, which stood adjacent to a gigantic door, and opened it, entering inside.

Once inside what everyone deemed as a tavern, Yan looked around for anything interesting, only hearing people's screams and discussions "Despite being interesting, it's so big I don't even know where to begin searching, tch!" He mentally struggles, glad that on the minutes he's been there, no pirate paid mind to him.

Meanwhile, at the end and corner of the tavern a young man, definitely not having even touched his thirties, sat across from the conversation, his hair covered in a sheen painted a metallic brown billowing with a light breeze. The young man would gaze across at the commotion, his golden eyes observing each individual on a level they wished their lovers could. Quite some traffic this bar brings in, he thought, winking to a lady in the bar gazing at him. The people here were, quite interesting. Maybe there was purpose in coming here. However, as the man was about to return his head’s position to the front of him, the front retaliated with a smack on the cheek.

A young woman, sitting in front of him, was yelling at him, whom he seemed to pay no attention to,with her platinum blonde hair and deep red eyes staring into his own. “Why don’t you socialize for once, ehh? I think it’d be good for you, all you do is talk to the two of us.” The man simply scratched his head sheepishly and responded, “Oh Andreanna, you believe that’s all I’m up to. We’re not just here to socialize, you know? Observation is key”, he’d reply, finger flicking her forehead. The woman who had been the beneficiary of a wink would be filled with confusion as to whether she was being played or if the man was slapped by a stranger randomly.

An equally, if not even more curvaceous blue-skinned female would take up residence in the same seat as the newly named Belladonna Andreanna would take her seat, in front of the man who moved not an inch, her particular appearance simultaneously attracting whilst sowing intrigue in the minds of others as to what her species truly was. Amaya cared not, however, and whilst Andreanna sat at the bar to go get “drunk as Akihiko on Sunday nights out”, they began to converse amongst each other, plopping her noticeably plump figure in a seat not too far from a group that particularly interested her, observing the very same commotion she scolded the young man for observing with an excessive intrigue.

''“Did that guy seriously just drink all of that? No way I’m getting shown up like that!” ''Andreanna would think to herself, beginning to drink and chug at an inhuman rate, mildly intimidating the men in the tavern who began to feel if their manliness was being slightly compromised. Feeling the tension in the air from several in the area who took notice of her, Amaya simply glared at Andreanna, as if that could possibly stop the young woman. When she was getting drunk, nothing could, except the loss of consciousness, of course. While she obviously couldn't manage that feat, nothing would stop her from trying.

Tabart felt the wind slapping against his face forcefully as he went hurling into the clouds, landing on the sky in the island, hurt, but at least uninjured. He turned to see his beanstalk finish completion only moments after he landed. "Not a fan of the giants right now," he spoke to himself, brushing his damp clothes off as he forced himself to his feet. Before him stood a magnificent house, and placed in front of it was a chicken, quite literally, laying golden eggs. It was almost something right out of a fairy tale. That was until the chicken made a god awful noise as it went through the rigors of child birth. It squealed, it chirped painfully, it arched its back. Tabart turned away from it honestly. It was sort of disgusting.

Tabart moved past the rather disturbing chicken, though making a note to take a few of those eggs when he returned, towards the house. Even for a Giant's door, it was enormous, nearly twice the size of anything here that Tabart had seen. Fortunately, that meant the cracks between the door were several feet taller than Tabart, allowing him easy access into the home. So far things were going easier than he could have imagined.

"Hello!" Tabart called out, his voice so small in the confines of this home that it echoed. It was intimidating.

"I said, hello!" Tabart stomped in demand for someone to acknowledge his presence. He sighed annoyingly, forcing himself through the house. "I'll just drop it in the living room, and take a few of those golden eggs as payment and hopefully Ashley will be happy with that, because right now I'm just sooo fucking don," he ranted before a footstep interrupted him.

The force of the footstep forced a cloud of dust to move in the home, and a wave of dirt and debris enveloped Tabart like a cyclone, sending him flying backward from the living room into the floors of the kitchen. He coughed up the dust he swallowed in the event and pulled himself off the floor.

"What the fuck was that?"

"Fee, Fi, Fo, Fum!" A voice echoed in the distance, but not so far distance to where Tabart wasn't afraid. Instinctively, he slid across the kitchen floor into a corner, obscurred from sight by the tails of the mop that he hid under.

"I smell the blood," the voice fell quiet, replaced by a long sniff. "No, no. That's not blood. That's rum from Moe's Tavern." The voice suddenly grew angry. "Who the fuck is in my home!?!!"

"Awh shit, Awh shit," Tabart jolted, covering his own mouth to avoid his screams, squeals, and excessive breathing from being heard. His hands couldn't stop shaking as the footsteps grew ever closer. When they stopped, he knew the giant was in the room. He could hear its breathing. No, he could feel its breath on his neck.

Suddenly, the mop shot upwards, and before Tabart could make haste, the Giant had already reached down its hand and scooped him up. It threw him onto the kitchen table with the remaining debris, his bloodshot eyes inspecting Tabart.

"A dirty human snuck into my home?"

"No, No," Tabart quickly started, motivated by fear to clear up this misunderstanding. "This entire thing, I'm here because you, Stalkman, ordered some rum."

"Yes, Nerb Rum. Not Moe's Rum," the giant roared.

"I know! I have some of that for you!" Tabart yelled back fiercely. The giant fell quiet, waiting for the rum to emerge. Tabart slowly pulled a seed from his pocket, snapping into life as he did so as it grew into a large, green box of flora. He popped it open, revealing several crates of nerb rum to the giant.

"You human did well," it complimented, taking up the nerb rum with its hand and devouring it all. "It taste even better than I remember."

"Perfect," Tabart interrupted, "Now, can you do me a favor and pay me? My boss..."

Stalkman looked at him dazed. "Pay? I paid in advance."

"You what?" Tabart inquired confusingly. "If you paid in advance, why didn't she just tell me to leave the stuff here and get out?"

"Because, I also paid for a meal!" Stalkman went to slam its hand down upon Tabart. However, he slid across and off the table, avoiding the giant's wrath.

"Why me, why me, why me," Tabart frantically panicked as he plummeted towards the giant's floor. Pulling a seed from his pocket, he threw it towards the ground, letting it explode into a cushion of flora to catch him, and then serve as a trampoline that would send him flying out of the window of the kitchen, back onto the front lawn of the house, He sprinted towards his beanstalk, throwing another seed at the golden eggs and the chicken from earlier and watching it explode over them, absorbing them into its contents and then quickly returning to a seed for Tabart to store later. Tabart picked it up as he ran past, and leapt onto his beanstalk. Yet, emerging from the side of his house, Stalkman sprinted towards Tabart ferociously.

With haste, Tabart decelerated the growth of his beanstalk as he stood upon it, allowing him to shorten its size as it went recessing back away from the sky island. He sighed in relief momentarily, until he realized Stalkman had lept off his island towards the beanstalk. The giant jumped onto it, his force sending it off its roots and plummeting towards the city.

"Awh shit!" Tabart cried out as he held on desperately to his creation. The wind slammed against his face, nearly forcing him off of the beanstalk. Yet, when his grip has loosened, and when he had finally fallen off, it was only a few seconds he was in the air before he hit something that resembled the ground. It was a white hearth almost, fairly soft as well.

"Oh nonono," Tabart started, leaping off of the giant's stomach. He inspected Stalkman, wincing as the blood poured from his skull. It seemed he had fallen off the beanstalk far before Tabart did. Or, rather it seemed that he was never on it. He simply jumped off in desperation to catch Tabart.

He spat on his dead body and ran back towards the Tavern.

Back in his seat up front at the counter, Kaldor continued to munch away at some more cows.

Tabart pushed open the doors of the tavern. His clothes were showered in debris, his hair tangled, and his face filled with fury. "Yo!" His voice boomed throughout the tavern, or so he thought. The other giants didn't notice him enough to stop talking and laughing. His plan of being all badass and shutting up the entire bar failed pretty horribly actually, but that didn't stop him from being angry.

Tabart leaped to the tavern bar where Kaldor was.

"Yo, dude! What the fuck?!"

Tankard stapled to his mug, Kaldor looked toward the displeased Tabart and rose his eyebrows, as if in confusion over the latter's anger.

"Don't give me that look," Tabart hissed. "You didn't tell me Stalkman-sama," Tabart mimicked, "ate humans! That's something you tell someone, particularly a human, before you throw him up in the sky." He huffed and paced around angrily. "And don't even get me started on the fact you threw me in the sky."

By now, Kaldor was pissing himself with laughter. "Bahahahaha! Well I did mention that he didn't take to your kind very well, didn't I? I must have!"

Between a sea of liquor in his mouth, he tossed in a couple cows. "I'm surprised to see you managed to get back down all on your own, that too in one piece. Yar no ordinary human, are ya?"

"No, you said that he didn't like humans very much. Nowhere, and I mean nowhere, does that lay out that eats humans," Tabart continued passionately. "You could've given me a heads up, like, Hey bruh, this guy eats humans by the way, so if you go up there chances are he's going to try and eat you." Tabart snapped his fingers at the bartender, implying he wanted a drink. "That would've been something to say. Something a lot more concrete and clear."

"Bahahahaha! Well my apologies then, little squirt! Glad it all worked out for ya in the end!"

---

A few nautical miles off the coast of Elbaf a lone Caravel steadily approached the island. To point out that it had a small crew would be an understatement for onboard the small vessel was merely three people, although only two of them were present at the moment. The first one, a thirty-something man carrying two katanas stood on the forecastle deck, looking out towards the fabled island of giants. Meanwhile, another man at roughly the same age stood at the rudder.

The second man raised his voice and looked towards his mate. "So, the Boss is sleeping again, I woke him up last time and I barely escaped with my life.. I'll say its your turn now. That guy is a beast."

An awkward silence hung in the air, as the swordsman arched an eyebrow. A lone cricket stowaway from a tropical island they'd passed through promptly jumped up on a barrel and started chirping for no discernible reason. Even the seagulls stopped shrieking for food, as if they too were horrified by the terrible pun. "I'll just put my hat back on..." the chief offender spoke at last and went back to steering the vessel, while the swordsman went down into the cabins to wake this 'boss'.

Shortly afterwards the same swordsman let out a decidedly not-quite-all-that-manly shriek, high-pitched and full of primal fear. His companion was down in the cabin as quickly as his legs could carry him, Wolfgang wasn't known as The Maneater for nothing, after all. The sight that awaited him was wilder than his wildest dreams.

Despite his moniker, Wolfgang was affectionate towards his crewmates; frighteningly so. The swordsman Kaze got to experience that first hand, as Wolfgang had wrapped him up in the mother of all bear hugs and was in the process of licking his face with an insistence that bordered on murder-attempt by drowning. Samson the navigator turned around to leave his crewmate behind, there was no way around it, Kaze would understand. Now if he could just turn around and leave quietly everything woul-

"~Garchu!"

Oh crap

A muscular claw reached out and dragged the squealing navigator into the cabin. It was in that moment that Samson felt great sympathy for every plush toy that had the misfortune to be snatched up by the family dog.

---

At a near distant street the members of the Fire Rocker Pirates: Cazzar and Catrina stroll through the middle of the street walking pass nearly dozens of giants strolling through as if they were ordinary citizens. Cazzar was carrying a large bag on his back that was nearly the size of his entire body. Catrina, who was walking beside him looked around at the environment for neither she nor her companies on her crew has never set foot in the country of giants yet. "Man i feel like a speck walking among these giants." She said feeling weirded out. "Guess i know what a bug feels like." She joked while moping around. "By the way do we even know where we're going? we dont even have the slightest clue who to trade our supply to." She informed Cazzar

"Not a clue, without a map or some kind of clue of a buyer we're in the dark. Its like finding a tiny needle in the worlds largest haystack. Guess we'll have to find some way to gather directions and information" He said calmly. Out of nowhere a huge object fell from the sky and slammed on the ground on top of them with extreme force that it created a huge crater into the ground. After a few moments the extremely large object moved a bit and was lifted into the air and fell back quickly with Cazzar and Catrina safely beside the large object.

"OK!" Catrina shouted after taking multiple large breaths while leaning on her knees. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!" She shouted obviously surprised by what happened.

Cazzar, who was also taking some quick breathes took a close look on what fell on top of them. Due to them having the front row seat on whats in front of them he had a good idea on what it is. "AH! This is..." He stuttered as he gazed upon the head of a giant in front of them. "A GIANT!" He shouted, surprised by how this happened.

"WHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!" Catrina screamed. "H-how did this happen?" She wondered.

"I have no idea." He said while inspecting the giant knowing full well that who ever he was he's dead now. "It's a good thing that you saw this coming otherwise we'd be pulverized upon impact." He said and began inspecting more. "We came out from under his head so that's what fell on us, but even if it was his head it still would have killed us if you havent done anything in time." He informed as he had flash to before it fell on them.

Catrina noticed the falling object by her haki and before she could realize what it was she was able to quickly pull her sword out and launch a slash attack to reduce to amount of force before it landed on them.

The flash back ended. "I hate to say it but we were saved the actions of a women like you." He said feeling humiliated.

"Wait a min." She said. "If he came out from under his head and i slashed whatever was on top of us then does that mean..." She paused and thought back to what she had actually happened

Thought back in a flash back and remembered herself pulling out her sword and launched a slash attack up in the air that hit the giants head before it could land on top of them. The flash back re-winded itself to the slash hitting the giants head.

Catrina was stunned in horrid. "OH MY GOD I KILLED HIM!!!" She screamed loudly.

"You-gara, did what?" A voice boomed from around the Fire Rocker Pirates.

Though he had been far in the distance at the time of Catrina's exclamation, his animal instincts had enabled him to hear it all nevertheless: there was simply nothing that could escape the ears of a Fox Mink. Appearing now in person with his hand drawn upon one of the two swords sheathed on either side of his hips, Foxpack, whom the more experienced pirates of the New World would have recognized immediately as a member of the Titan Pirates, stood in place examining the corpse of the legendary giant, a look of anger evident upon his muzzle. He was dressed in a high collared black coat that was held in place around his waist by a belt and that reached down all the way to his ankles; a red scarf was tucked beneath the coat and filled the opening between the coat and his neck. As a Fox Mink he bore great fur, a creamy orange in color. A mysterious eyepatch covered his right eye.

"Are you telling me that you in fact are responsible-gara... for taking the life of this man?" The man referred to as "Nine-Tailed Foxpack" or more simply the "Nine-Tails" gripped the base of his sword with great intensity. His Haki oozed out of him like an aura, being visibly seen in person. And that was perhaps when the Fire Rocker Pirates could have first begun to sense it, the overwhelming presence that was his intent to kill them all right where they stood.

However yet, before the Pirate could have so much as moved an inch, he felt a hand creep down upon his shoulder, bustling him against the ground. Grunting in pain at being smashed against the concrete, he looked up at the enemy who was responsible with great shock, curious as to how he may have been able to hide from being detected by his observational skills.

And who other than to challenge a Pirate than Rear Admiral Dario? With his white coat fluttering behind him, the Marine hovered over Foxpack, keeping his hand pressed down against the Mink's backside. "Nine-Tails," he pronounced, "whether it was they who killed him or you, don't you see that it's all the same?"

A shockwave of Haki expelled itself from Dario's palm, yet before it could land upon the Mink beneath, he escaped in a flicker. A large crater formed in his stead. "All you Pirates are capable of is murder; what good is it if you were to take their lives in exchange for this giant's?! That philosophy won't ever lead to anywhere!"

Foxpack reappeared some feet away, using the fair amount of space he had created to examine his true opponent. A Marine, by the looks of it. He had anticipated them to maintain a low profile with the wedding nearby; perhaps it was their own antics that had forced him to act upon his so-called justice.

Dario looked at the Fire Rocker Pirates with a scowl. "Make no mistake, I am not defending you in the slightest." He stood to his feet, drawing his sword. "However, I will allow the two of you to get as far away from here as possible. That good-for-nothing animal-scum over there has a bounty of 470,000,000, so as you might probably be able to tell, things are about to get ugly here."

Foxpack's ears twitched. "'Animal-scum'?" he repeated under his breath, "Hoy! I expected a Marine to have a bit of class! How dare you call me such a thing!" Normally Foxpack would have never questioned the scorns of a Marine. But somehow this felt far more personal. Dario wasn't challenging the Pirate, but rather the Mink within him. Drawing one of his swords, Foxpack stood ready for war.

"Get going!" Dario exclaimed, eyeing the crates that the Fire Rocker Pirates carried with them. "Something tells me there's something else that you'd much rather be doing right about now!" Before the eyes of the Fire Rocker Pirates, Dario's size and width increased suddenly, his body frame taking a more roundish form. Blue fur sprouted over his flesh, entirely encasing his being in what almost appeared to be some sort of costume, as there was a skull-like mask that appeared in place of his head: even his glasses had vanished.

Dario charged forth and whipped his sword out at Foxpack who retaliated in the same instant. Their swords clashed profoundly, surging great pressure all around.

Foxpack glared at his transformed enemy. "'Blue Beast Dario', if I recall," he spoke, addressing the Blue Gorilla Zoan transformation of his famed Marine opponent.

"So you've heard of me," Dario said, using his mass to overpower the much smaller man.

"But of course-gara!"

Just then Catrina leaped into the battle with extraordinary speed, having leaped off the ground with her legs coated with Haki as her leap damaged the ground she was originally standing at. Within that leap she drawn her sword and waved her sword back to cut down the two opposing forces standing before her with a heavy based slash attack. "Bitch! Don't ever get in my waaaayyyyy!" She shouted and once she got close she swung her sword with her incredible strength and slashed at Foxpack and Dario creating a massive scare shaped crater on ground.

Cazzar stood where he originally was and watched as Catrina sprinted into action. "That damn women, what is she thinking? As if she can stand a chance against two men in battle." He said with a bit of disgusted look on his face. He let out a huge sigh "huuuh. Guess i better save her."

These Fire Rocker Pirates... he had heard they weren't exactly the brightest bunch around, but just how stupid could one person have been? Did she not understand that he was exerting himself here for the sole purpose of allowing them to get away? So that they might be able to avoid further conflict? Dario's brain nearly detonated!

"You idiot!" he yelled, as he and Foxpack both stepped backward so as to evade her blind attack, "didn't I tell you to get going? This isn't the sort of thing you should be involving yourself with now!"

"You-gara." Foxpack pointed his weapon toward the foolish woman who dared enter their battle. "You are not yet at this level. But if you wish to join, then see to it that your crewmates do not hold me accountable for your death!"

"No, stop." Dario wasn't about to let this go. "Seriously, just stop. I don't think you truly have any idea what you're about to get yourself into right now. Please oh please don't involve yourself in this, you're just going to make things worse!"

He looked toward the other Fire Rocker Pirates. "Knock some sense into your comrade! Certainly you should know better?"

"Hey gorilla brain!" Catrina called out to Dario to get him to focus on her and not Cazzar. She pointed her sword towards him and placed her other hand on her hip. "If you think i'm no match for you then go ahead and believe that, it'll just make kicking your ass all that much sweater. Don't cry to others to fight your battles for you cause if you think that bastard Cazzar can stop me then your in for a world of disappointment." She said with a grin.

Dario cringed as a result of Catrina's foolishness. What a stubborn woman! "You Fire Rocker Pirates... is your captain as much of an idiot as the rest of you?! How in the hell did you all make it into the New World?!" That last bit was an honest question; Dario had no idea how that was even possible given their poor understanding of the situation at hand.

Foxpack himself was rather... perplexed, to say the least. Was this idiotic woman about to attack her savior? Normally, he would've laughed at something like that. Only, this wasn't exactly funny. No, it was far from it; it was plain stupidity. Did this woman want to fight?

"Why in the hell are you trying to fight me?!" Dario snapped, unable to withstand the woman's stupidity any longer, "I never said anything about you not being able to stand up to me, that was him!" He plainly pointed at Foxpack.

"I'm over here trying to allow you and your buddy to get away, yet you're so hellbent on trying to fight me. What about this situation is confusing to you? Can you not see that you aren't needed here?" Dario continued, "if you plan on joining us, then allow your buddy over there to get away, at the very least. That crate he's holding seems like it's rather important, I'm sure you'd much rather be concerned about that then... whatever this is right now."

Foxpack itched himself between the ears, not quite sure what the hell was even happening right about now. All he knew was that his honor kept him from retreating; he was adamant on avenging the death of a civilian within his homeland. He wasn't going to allow this woman to escape after she had come into Elbaf and killed a giant! He despised those whom had come to Zou to abuse his fellow minks; he'd be a hypocrite now if he failed to avenge the fallen giant.

"You know what? Fine, fine. You fight him. I'm done here. He's all yours." Reverting back to his human form, Dario pointed his weapon toward the one known as Cazzar. "You, either get the hell out of here or give me that damn crate of yours. Hurry up and decide which."

"Wait just a second-gara," Foxpack barked, "if you're just going to leave, what was the point of you shoving my face into the ground like that in the first place, eh?! I have something personal to settle with you now, dammit!"

Dario palmed his face. He was surrounded by idiots. "Look, I'm sorry alright? Just go back to killing that woman. I won't stop you from going after her any further. I'll even sheath my sword to prove it to you." Dario did just that. He appeared to be more concerned with Cazzar now than anything.

"Alright then-gara." Foxpack pointed his sword at Catrina. "I suppose you are my opponent once again!"

Dario leaped into the sky and landed near Cazzar, allowing Foxpack and Catrina to have their space for their battle. He turned to Cazzar with a serious look upon his face. "Don't tell me you want to fight me now too? Just get going with that crate of yours. I don't have the sort of life in me to fight another moron."

Catrina watched as Dario made his scene, complaining about his situation and watching him leaped to Cazzar with both her hands on her hips. "Pfft and he calls himself a Marine. How humiliating." She said and looks towards Foxpack. "So where were we before we were so rudely interrupted?" She called out to him with a grin.

Cazzar stood where he was, not moving an inch. "Hmph, unlike my foolish companion i have no reason to step in just yet, however this doesn't mean i'm obligated to take orders from you." He said with a serious look as well while looking at the two opposing forces of Catrina and Foxpack. "Unless you think you can take this crate away from me." He glanced over at Dario without turning his head.

Not taking the situation as seriously as he should have was Cazzar's mistake. Just as he had earlier, Dario somehow erased his presence from the current plane and raced past Cazzar, nabbing the crate from his hands in the process. His movements were so incredibly fast that for a second time, even Foxpack had no idea what had occurred.

How does he keep doing that? the Mink thought to himself, not truly concerning himself with Catrina. And yet, here I thought myself to be fast.

Dario stood behind Cazzar, who was likely dumbfounded by what had transpired. "I'll be taking this," the marine announced, adjusting his glasses and tucking the pendant that had bounced out back under his shirt, "I've just about had it with you idiots. It was my mistake to think anything different of you lot to begin with."

He was gone with another shimmer, taking the crate along with him. Foxpack finally reverted his attention to the foolish woman. "Where were we, gara?" he repeated, itching his scalp between his ears, "allow me to remind you...

"...where we were!" Showcasing his own speed, Foxpack appeared at Catrina's flank with his sword drawn, already having unleashed an attack upon the woman.

Cazzar was shocked a little by Dario's incredible speed and didn't see it coming. Having accepted what has transpired he calmed back down and turned his attention back at Catrinas battle.

Amazed by his extraordinary speed Catrina didn't have to even move to block his attack was and struck by his sword. "UGHHHHHH" She cried out with blood splattering out.

Cazzar was shocked to see what had just happened. "Damn it!" He shouted and leaped over to go assist her.

At the thump of her body falling to the ground, Foxpack sheathed his weapon and turned around to face the two members of the Fire Rocker Pirates. "Consider this to be your lucky day-gara. I cannot keep Burling-sama waiting any longer than I already have. He... tends to get a bit antsy in my absence. See to it that you and your comrades leave this island at once; for if you are still here when I return, I swear to you that I shall not cast any mercy upon you then."

Leaving Cazzar to look after the fallen Catrina, Foxpack flickered out of comprehension.

Cazzar picked up Catrina to tend to her and watched as Foxpack made his leave. "Damn it all. He's going to be pissed if i let her die like this. I knew she was no match for any of them. She is a girl after all." He said looking over at the unconcious Catrina. "Ugh and where the hell is Jones? He would have made this entire ordeal much smoother." He said to himself.

Meanwhile somewhere at a distance location, in a large dark ally between 2 giant building gun fires could be heard from afar as two Marine officers were frantically firing their guns. "Are bullets have no affect!" One of them shouted.

"RUUUUUNNNNN!" The other one called out as he turned around and ran in the opposite direction. As he ran he heard something grab onto the other officer and heard him cry out in agony. He then heard the sounds of something coming after him straight after. "Uah! ADMIRAL FUYUKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" The officer cried out, his voice ecchoing through town as it suddenly vanished.

Deep inside the shadows of the dark ally way Killer Jones stood there with a sadistic smile on his face. "Hehehehehe! And that makes them my 5th group of victims down." He said with dozens of long tentacles extending out of his body, each one wrapped around a Marine officer by the neck. "I wonder how many there'll be for my next group of victims Hehehehehehehe HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA." He laughed as the tentacles retracted into his body, absorbing the marine officers in him as well and still maintaining his normal physical appearance.

- - -

On a stormy sea, a lone ship was fighting its way through the turbulent waters. Though calling it a proper ship was a bit of a stretch; it would be more appropriate to call it a dinghy. But despite its small size, it showed no signs that it would lose to the 30 metre waves crashing around it. In fact, it was actually making steady progress forward. Despite the rough seas they found themselves on, the three men aboard the small ship were rather nonchalant, letting the boat do the work as it was seemingly moving of it's own volition towards their fabled destination. It was a spot of pure white in the darkness that surrounded it; with the exception of a Jolly Roger that flew, the ship was completely white. But it was not a white light that inspired hope in those who saw it. Rather, it seemed to embody death and despair; an almost skeletal white that would bring malicious tidings wherever it was sent.

A World on Fire
The hotel bustled with a cocktail of songs, moans and voices. The building had filled to the highest floor with people from across the oceans to witness the wonderful upcoming ceremony. Salazar monitored the breaths of the island circulating around him, a range of colors dancing to an intricate tune unheard to those who failed to understand the connection between the world's species. He sat on his room's balcony with his back against the wall, eyes shut with a face without tension. He was in deep meditation when his door creaked open and shut.

"Love, Princess and Black are fast asleep in there room - but Princess said you're more than welcomed to join in...I think she left her door unlocked." Jacky whispered.

Salazar winced at the thought of Princess's sweaty muscles laying in a silk gown. His face painted in a horrible collage of falsified beauty and lies. "No thank you, I'm pretty sure she sleeps naked." Jacky sat behind her husband and wrapped her long ebony arms around his neck. Her cinammon skin complimented his midnight body, enhancing the curvature of her own body and the dominating power of his presence.

"Why're you so tense?"

"She's here." Salazar sighed.

"Y'know, your ability to sense her is making me uncomfortable. You know where this bitch is at all times yet can't hear me calling you from across the room." Jacky joked.

"There are some presences in this world which you'll never be able to forget." Salazar looked to Jacky. "Trust me, I know." He smirked. They kissed slightly before she returned to rubbing his back.

"Still not seeing the problem though." Jacky thought. "Worst comes to worst at least we got some back up. Especially with all these damn marines running around."

"Why send us if she's going to attend?" He melted into her warm embrace. The cold air meant nothing against the passion of their loving touch. "I understand reconnaissance before the storm but to have us here while attending herself..."

"No one knows you're alive let alone in cahoots with a Yonko." Jacky added.

"It almost seems like she needs a militia but couln't sneak one in herself. If a Yonko suddenly arrives with her highest crew then they'd be on high alert - it's almost like she's creating a spider web."

"Stop thinking about it." Jacky commanded. "We'll overcome anything thrown at us, even if it's a couple a flies." She rubbed her hand against the gigantic claw shape mark on his back, The Hoof of the Soaring Dragon. Something even she lacked in this world.... The thought of what he went through made her blood boil. "I remember the first time finding out about -'

Salazar grabbed her wrist with a gentle grip before stroking the back with his thumb. "Let's get some sleep." He offered, slowly leading her to the bed.

“I’m going to have to ask you to hold out on that a bit Salazar,” Legs jested, suddenly blinking into existence before the two couple. In her emergence, an aura of magic flushed into her environment infusing a comfortable warmth into the cool air. “You’ll have to excuse me, but I just hate the cold.” Snapping her fingers, a chair materialized beneath her bosom. She lifted her elegant white dress slightly to avoid sitting on any folds as she sat down. “Anyway, Salazar,” Legs started, smiling brightly as she begun, “It’s been so incredibly long since I’ve seen you. Yet, even that time gap hasn’t seemed to ruin our relationship.” She paused and gazed at Jacky. “Not that type of relationship,” Legs slipped in.

“Back to the point…I’m glad you showed up. I never questioned your allegiance, but I did question my messenger. Happy to see that they got the news to you in a timely manner. But most of all, I’m glad to see you were in the position to arrive.”

"Of course we'd show up. I owe you a few, don't I?" Salazar joked. "And I never thought I'd see you wearing anything but a lioncloth." He stood up and bowed to both a friend and his savior against the unnatural martial artist who rivaled god. "Wife, this is my lifelong friend and fly in my ear, Legs. Legs this is my wife, Delahaye Jacquotte."

"So you're tha famous Yonko. A pleasure." Jacky smiled "Anyone who saves my dumbasses life is a friend of mine."

"But now with you here, we can resolve a few issues." Salazar had returned with two chairs and placed them across from legs. The two sat next to one another, leaning in a warm embrace. "Why'd  you call us?"

“Always to the point,” Legs exhaled. She folded her hands into her lap. “I can imagine that me calling you here, then showing up was a little confusing. For what purpose would I need you? What matter could be too difficult for someone of my power?” Legs rhetorically inquired. Her voice was filled with a hubris that only another Yonko could understand. When she thought about it, or anyone else for the matter, she had conquered thousands of countries and wielded a pirate crew larger than populations of some small islands. What was even more terrifying was that she didn’t even need that crew to decimate those islands. She could do so alone, and in the blink of an eye, and everyone in the world knew it.

“I need a militia for my plans, Salazar,” Legs finally informed. “I couldn’t sneak an army in here myself though. Elbaf would’ve been made very uncomfortable. In fact, my presence here alone makes them fairly uncomfortable. It’s why none of my division leaders have approached. They would draw too much attention.” She paused, allowing Salazar to devise the situation in his head.

“But no one knows that you and I are working together,” he stated calmly.

“Exactly, Salazar.” Legs smiled with enthusiasm. “Thus, I could call one of my strongest in, without raising any concerns.” She tapped her leg. “So, here’s the plan…”

--- Wolfgang and his two handymen were quickly approaching Elbaf, and he could feel the presence of his Captain even now. Like a dark cloud that hung over Elbaf, it lingered and the slightest use of his Haki revealed her current whereabouts, namely a simple hotel. Curious, but it didn't matter, soon he'd get to see her again, his mistress and savior Daddy L. Legs. His excitement became extremely evident, as his tail began wagging back and forth furiously, knocking over his two subordinates, who were hurled across the deck of the small ship.

Brandishing his personal spear, the fabled Ulfgarn, Wolfgang promptly jumped ship. In mid-air, he took a single reflexive step, surging off above the waves like a rocket, each movement bringing him closer and closer to Elbaf. Wolfgang wasn't sure when exactly he'd mastered Geppo, truthfully, he'd simply replicated it from a high-ranking marine officer he'd once killed and eaten. It had been surprisingly easy, but then again, when it came to martial techniques and physical skills Wolfgang had always been something of a prodigy. Much good that did him, banished from his own homeland as he was.

The male mink landed heavily in front of the hotel where his mistress was currently at, sending a shock wave reverberating through the street due to the enormous weight of his spear. Many people were knocked prone and thrown about in a daze, almost as if he was a mink-shaped meteor. A few marines ran up to him as civilians cleared the area, Wolfgang sighed in annoyance, he really hated it when people attempted to stop him from seeing someone he liked. Really, it made his blood boil.

He directed the Ulfgarn in the general direction of the admins, a mere three feet from their faces or so. He could tell that they were about to open fire on him, but alas he never gave them that chance. He exerted his strength on the spear, but he didn't swing it, there was no need, instead he simply rotated it around 360 degrees in his grip, at great speed and with great force. It was a gesture that most would consider harmless, the marines were no different, and thus they failed to notice as the immense difference in vacuum and air pressure generated around the spear ran its course. Before his eyes, he saw how their squishy bodies twisted about in a spiral, each limb distended and ripped, each bone splintered and destroyed and offering no chance to scream. Thus they died helplessly, without being able to say a single word, then with a flick of his spear, he sent the dismembered bodyparts all across the island, raining down from above all aroud the city. He hoped that would be enough to ensure that he didn't bring trouble to his mistress just yet, the notion of "laying low" was not one that Wolfgang had fully grasped.

Legs snarled suddenly. “Dammit, that dumbass mink is here?” She stood up furiously and approached the door. “I have to take care of this, Salazar. I would have loved to catch up and talk some more, but this…situation,” she huffed, “commands my attention.” With those, she left Salazar and Jacky to their thoughts, and hopefully sleep.

With a moment’s snap, she flickered into existence at the bottom of the hotel where guest of the sort were inspecting the world around them to see what could have caused that commotion. Legs stormed through all of them to the outside world where her mink lay.

“Wolfgang, what are you doing here?”

There she was, Legs-sama, his mistress, his captain. The woman that'd accepted him when even his own brother had cast him aside. Oh no, she was looking his way, he needed to make a good impression! He cleared his throat and spoke directly to her, he did his best to mask the excitement in his voice as he spoke, trying to come off as cool and collected.

"Well, I was just in the neighbourhood and thought I'd drop by, don't take this wrong way, its not like I like you or anything. I most definitely did NOT come all the way here just to see you, why would you think that. Furthermore, I am also not interested in the slightest in giving you licks, kisses and hugs... just so we're clear."

Just incase his terrible acting skills weren't a dead giveaway, his tail betrayed him once more, wagging around in obvious excitement. The wagging only intensified as she'd come closer, so quickly as to generate powerful gusts of wind that sendt debris hurtling along the ground.

Unfortunately Salazar and Jacky could no longer sleep, not after hearing the insane proposition of their boss. And especially not after the massive yet sudden destruction brought about by what seemed to be a massive beast. "Do you feel it?" Salazar asked his wife.

"Feels like a werewolf." Jacky added. "What the fuck is going on?! Should we wake up Princess and Black?"

"No. Seems like Leg's familiar with this demon." Salazar's eyes lowered as he focused on the two massive energies. They appeared content, with one appearing to resemble a pet less a crewmate. "Worst comes to worst, we'll be enough support. If something happens, Princess and Black must remain on the outside in case we're caught or surrounded."

"Don't be nervous husband," Jacky grabbed her husband's trembling hand. "We'll get through this together."

Legs chuckled as Wolfgang struggled to lie. "My heavens," she begun. She felt the force of his tail slam against the hearth around her, bringing forth gust of debris that came closer to dirtying her attire. "Just come and give me a hug already you crazy Mink," she exclaimed, opening her arms wide for her crew member to leap into.

And just as Legs opened up her arms to embrace her comrade, a large scale explosion sounded off in the lobby of the hotel. Flames gushed out from every side of the building, shards of glass and bricks of stone flying out in every direction. It was an unprecedented circumstance, what could have only been perceived as an assault upon the Black Widow Pirates who were known to be residing at that particular hotel.

Mere seconds following the explosion, the front door leading to the room of the ebony couple was sliced once, twice, then thrice, until standing in its place was the clear perpetrator of the attack, a man... nay, an animal, a fox by the look of it, who was dressed in a long black trench coat with a cross shaped pendant dangling around his furry neck. Upon his arrival upon the scene, he sheathed his only weapon and gazed toward the couple with his only visible eye, the other being obscured behind a patch.

"I could've sworn she was in here along with you mere moments ago," the Fox began, "looks like I just missed her, what a shame!" At his words, another explosion sounded off from a few floors above the one they currently occupied. "Nevertheless, diminishing her forces is to our best interest, wouldn't you say... Sally-poo?"

The fox gazed long and hard at the ebony swordsman, gazing and speaking to him as if they were old friends. But that simply wasn't possible; Salazar knew damn well that he had never seen such an atrocious criminal before in his life.

"I've gotta get going now," the fox continued, walking across the room and plunging a hole into the window with a single kick, "it was nice seeing you after all this time." The fox winked at the ebony swordsman before leaping out from the window.

Another series of explosions sounded off throughout every floor of the hotel. In his descent, the fox looked down upon the woman whom he had originally come to meet and the wolf who bore striking resemblance to his own physical likeliness. He smiled at them both before stopping himself from falling any lower through the use of a kick, and very suddenly made off in the opposite direction, wanting nothing further to do with them.

But in a world dominated by the Yonko and their various subordinates, the fleeing fox was much too easily recognizable to the Black Widow Pirates, in particular Wolfgang. And in the wake of his departure it was clear to them that this was all nothing more than a decree of war by the Titan Pirates

Wolfgang was on Legs in a second, he licked and cuddled with her like an enormous puppy. Clinging onto her side while he expressed his love by attempting to drown her face. He might only be one third her size, but he knew how to climb. After a while he let go of her and attempted to regain a sense of composure, folding his arms across his broad chest while he mumbled. "Don't think this means anything.. b-baka." His tail flailing about uncontrollably behind him.

However, his terrible attempt at acting was cut short when he saw an explosion above him, followed by the vision of what he could make out was a fox of some kind, most likely a fox mink. Wolfgang quickly recognized his own brother, and his face lit up considerably, he'd need to find Foxpack and give him a good lovely greeting, just like he'd done when he was a smaller mink. Though it was true that he'd been thrown out by Zou by his own brother, he bore little ill will for that, and felt giddy at the chance of seeing him again.

Legs gritted her teeth. "Those damn Titan Pirates," she cursed. Her eyes shot towards Salazar who stood on the precipice of his shattered room. "Salazar," she exclaimed furiously, "Go get that pirate and bring him to me! We'll show Raptor what happens when you continue to harass my crew."

Salazar had jumped in front of Jacky when the explosion rocked the hotel. Although his third eye saw the mysterious beast's ravenous aura, he was too busy assuring that the hotel's occupents were alive to truly respond to the Fox. Instead he could only stare in preparation to strike. "Shit." Salazar spat. His swords were in the room alongside Jacky's gun.

"Who was that?!" Jacky asked, jumping from behind her husband's embrace. "And why does that creep know ya?"

"He's a deadman. Love, grab him and support me." The two pirates jumped into the room and grabbed their respective weapons. Salazar strapped on his infamous cloak over Tizona and Colada while Jacky grabbed a jacket over her pajamas. Horus rested in her palms as she lept into the air from outside the hotel. She qiuckly ascended the building before making camp next to the remaining chimney on the roof. She hid in the shadow, masqurading herself in the darkness of night.

"Princess and Black are still fast asleep somehow. Good. This way Jacquotte has backup i f something happens to me." Salazar landed near Legs. "Hmph I'm not your lapdop Legs." He joked. "But that explosion almost woke up Princess and she needs her beauty sleep!"

He shimmered into thin air and began his monstrous chase after the beastial energy. They jumped through the night from building to building melting into nothing more than a slight breeze. His third eye locked onto the fox; making it impossible for the fox to shake him. He could run as fast as the wind and phase through the dimensions themsleves; but Salazar would always follow him as soon as his feet touched Elbaf soil.

"Let's see if this works.  Jigen Akukiryu: Angra Mainyu."

A dark circle emerged before the sneaky fox, a neverending hole leading to a thick darkness. Salazar emerged from the portal and impaled his prey with Tizona. His sword moved as quick as darkness covered a room without light with enough force for Tizona's cold hilt to touch the Fox's  chest. Even Titan's fall.

Jacky followed her husband across the town with the barrel of her gun. Her sharp eyesight was able to pierce the night, where she located the fox only a few meters away. When Salazar jumped atop a roof and peered down on the fox, she placed her finger on the trigger...awaiting for the signal to shoot. Her barrel slowly found its way to the fox.

Salazar stood on the roof, looking down on the fox. "It looks like the predator has become the prey." He roared jokingly. "I'm tired and cranky so it's time to end this."

At the sight of being impaled through his chest, the fox froze in place and looked yonder with a widened eye. Yet his body did not nearly tremble in the way it should have; rather than out of fear, it was almost as if the fox were evaluating Salazar based upon celebration.

"To think you'd come so far on your own..." the fox chimed with sudden grace to its voice, "my, my, I must say I'm rather impressed, Sally-poo!"

Tongue leaping out from its mouth, the fox licked its snout as it diverted its gaze toward the woman who was prepared to fire at moment's notice. "And by the looks of it, it would seem you have found yourself a certain someone."

Dispelling the illusion with sheer willpower alone, the fox filled the immediate vicinity with a presence Salazar knew all too well, yet due to the phantoms of time, simply wouldn't be able to point a finger upon. "As much as I'd like to stick around, I'm afraid I've got to get going-hmm. Don't hesitate to come pay me a visit, however; the Titan Pirates are residing in the inn known as 'The Willow'."

In a spectacle that went without definition, the fox's form bursted into flames, turning slowly into ashes that began to wither away with the breeze. "Don't keep me waiting long now-hmm!"

Salazar was shocked - few could seemingly will his horrific illusions away. Perhaps the swordsman hadn't been angry enough or maybe this fox was more than just a wild beast. Either way, Salazar could not allow him to cause more trouble through the night. Especially claiming to know his identity. To the outside world  the former Shichibukai went missing after suposedly dying by the Fleet Admiral; leaving only the scar on the master's chest, Salazar had become He Who Scarred God. Surely the world would grab arms to hunt down a man of such a title and feat. He couldn't endanger his crew like that.

Salazar looked towards Jacky and smirked. Follow me. He mouthed. Jacky nodded and ran in the same direction of Salazar who disappeared in a breeze. Together they ran towards the famous Inn where his targets were.

---

The Willow was blooming with as much life as any other pirate hideout: home to the handful of Titan Pirates comprising the crew's Fifth Division that had sailed to Elbaf. Drinks were around in high order, with Montblanc Burling, the appointed Commander of the Titan Pirates' Fifth Division, already hitting the deck in a paralytic state. The cause for concern was fairly simple: the moron had downed one too many kegs; and even now as he lay upon his backside down upon the wooden floorboards, he held one to his face, the liquid fountaining down all around him.

Foxpack, his vice-captain of several years, could only continue to shake his head at the sight of his division. What a mess they were! Did they not possess even the slightest sliver of constraint? It was far beyond him to ever relish in such antics; nay, they'd have to chain him down to get him anywhere near so much as a single cup of wine. Still, seeing as though he was the only one in the room that was still sober, it was his duty to ensure his allies maintained their sanity, his commander in particular. Unfortunately, this was a task he found himself in one too many times since he had joined the Titan Pirates.

"Oi-gara, don't you think you've had enough for one night, Burling-sama?" he barked, hand between his ears.

Burling by now --but of course-- was far beyond the premises of communication. Hell, he hardly knew his own name right about now. He merely groaned in response and burped, which in turn resulted in a roar of cheers from all his subordinates.

"The Willow." Salazar read. He could see the various colors dancing through the wall, a range of powers that spanned from children to what appeared to be pirate lords. He turned to a distant clock tower and lowered his eyes, attempting to see beyond the darkness. There he saw a light pink silhouette laying atop a clocktower, hidden deep within the darkness. Jacky had her sniper set up and pointed towards the Inn's window.

Salazar turned away and entered the Willow where he went to the bar and sat nonchalantly. In the corner of his eyes the swordsman saw the fox who attacked him earlier. Sober. He was the eye in the midst of a loud, stinky, drunk storm. Salazar ordered two drinks and headed towards his attacker.

"Oi," He shouted over the crowd. "Why not a drink before we settle our score." Salazar sipped his drink and placed both glasses on the table. Surely these were all the Fox's men, Titan Pirates, but the former Shichibukai fought fishes with more bite.

When Salazar appeared before him, Foxpack had no idea what to expect. When he spoke, Foxpack was left utterly confused; yet when he saw the ebony figure offer him a drink, he quickly grew offended.

"No way-gara!" he snapped, "I do not indulge in such terrors!" It had been a long while since anyone had ever offered him a drink, rather ironically, seeing as though everyone in his division was a heavy drinker. It most definitely made him the odd man out, yet through a trial and error basis, they had all learned better than to try and pressure him. He was simply as sober as they came.

Drifting away from Salazar's offer, Foxpack was poised to learn more about the man and what it was he was doing in their base... most of all, how he had even found it. "'Settle our score?'" Foxpack mumbled, repeating his words softly, "and just what exactly do you mean by that-gara?"

Foxpack rose a brow at a man whom he had never before seen in his life, at least never in real life. "More than that-gara... what are you doing here to begin with? How did you find this place... just who are you-gara?" Question after question escaped the mink's mind.

Burling on the other hand remained on the floor; he, along with the rest of the division were far too zombified by the liquor to make any sense out of the world now. Foxpack would have been surprised at the thought that any of them were aware of Salazar's sudden appearance.

"Nooooow you don't know me." Salazar groaned, rubbing his temple in an exaggerated annoyance. "What, did someone send a clone to divert us and frame you guys so we can become sworn enemies? Is there someone whose sole purpose is to distract two powerful factions from the true evil?" He guessed randomly. "At this point I don't care whether it was you or some other asshole who attacked us. She ordered me to bring your head and that's what I'm going to do. I have no time for games, I'm tired and would like to return to bed with my wife."

Salazar glanced to the window before drawing Colada. Her beautiful silver body glistened in the flames of the inn. He moved with the grace of two lovers dancing, sending the blade's thin edge towards the Fox's neck. He moved with such speed that the wind followed his command, yet attacked with restraint. He wasn't supposed to be alive afterall. Anyone who dared stand in defiance would feel the thick pressure of Salazar pushing against them. A powerful killing intent surrounded the ebony swordsman, becoming a physical shadow that engulfed him. His target was the fox and only the fox.

The killing intent that poured out from Salazar as he made his attack was nearly suffocating. In Foxpack's eyes, the young man had already gained respect as a worthy opponent, even through a single move alone. Salazar's swipe made full contact with his throat, yet what gushed out was likely far from what anyone would have expected.

Instead of blood, milk splattered about, disconnecting Foxpack's head from his body. It fell upon the wooden floor until erupting into a puddle, at which point the stump upon the mink's shoulders began to carefully reforge itself a new head. And, within a moment's notice, Foxpack returned to complete form, as if never being struck by anything at all in the first place.

"I'm afraid an attack like that won't work on me-gara," he boasted proudly, "I am a Logia: consumer of the Mou Mou no Mi!" Foxpack pulled one of the two swords at either side of his waist up from its scabbard. "Meito: Kyūchi!

"I've no idea what you're on about, but if you won't listen to reason-gara, then any who dare draw his weapon in the presence of my nakama is an enemy of mine!" Still claiming to know nothing about the predicament that was Salazar, Foxpack took up his fighting stance. He glared at his prey with his single eye, yet there was a certain curiosity that was running through his mind. This ebony man... he was most certainly powerful, but even beyond that, there was something in particular Foxpack found to be intriguing about him. It was this aura that radiated from within him, even now as best as he tried to suppress it. Just what might have been his true form?

"If you've so much as a blemish of honor under that ebony skin, then at the very least-gara, you'll allow for me to divert this battle away from here!" In saying this, Foxpack drew his other blade, being armed with a sword in each hand. Crossing them in front of him, he charged forth at Salazar with incredible speed, intending to cross blades with the ebony man and use his momentum to push him backward and out through the inn's doors or alternatively through the wall behind him.

Salazar kept Colada in fifth, that is a parry placed in an upwards position to press against the crossed swords. Salazar allowed the fox to push him through the wall without much resistance, only keeping the blades inches from his own face. Being trapped inside a bar with enemy pirates was not a wise idea...and besides he had a hawk keeping watch from the outside.

The ebony swordsman used the opposing force to divert his energy with a quick leap to the side, allowing the Fox to push forward. But rather than strike the new opening, Salazar took a couple steps away from Fox. "God. You Logia guys are the most annoying people in the world." He rubbed his head and sighed. "But at least you're a milkman and not some dangerous liquid."

Colada darkening from a cocktail o spiritual power, determination and willpower. The air rippled with crimson lightning. "Still, your swordsmanship is rather impressive. I haven't had a good match since I met him. Let's see how you handle this. Busoshoku: Takaku."

Darkness streamed from Salazar and leaked into the air, corrupting the very wind with his being. The pitch black liquid formed shapes, transforming into something with being. Three swords emerged, emenating an energy similar to the demon that stood before the Fox. Salazar raised his weapon and with a slight command, the three swords fired like bullets at the fox. Simultanously, Salazar charged the Fox and attempted an upward lunge from below; the three poorly aimed swords becoming a slight distraction.

"I might let you join my crew!"

His momentum carrying him forward, Foxpack stumbled around before regaining control over his footing, at which point he turned around immediately to face Salazar once more. Much to his surprise, the ebony swordsman generated the very same aura as before. Any ordinary person would have mistaken this for some sort of scheme. But Foxpack knew all too well through the basis of his own powers that this demon that constantly shrouded Salazar in fact had a degree of truth behind it. So he too channeled an inner spirit of his own, eh?

Foxpack's ears twitched at Salazar's contemplation. The nerve! To think a little punk like him would even think of recruiting him! "And just who said I had any interest in joining you-gara?!" Discharging electro from his body, Foxpack zapped away the incoming projectiles without forfeiting his stance. Yet even still, Salazar's speed still enabled him to use the guise of the bullets to his advantage; at a time like this, all Foxpack could do was defend.

Shielding himself with his two swords lain out ahead of him, Foxpack shuffled backward and grunted with discomfort. Streaming electro this time through his blades, Foxpack stepped away to the side to relieve himself of the tension, creating a fair amount of distance between he and his opponent. Simply put, Salazar's Busoshoku had to easily be some of the toughest he had ever come across.

"Well now-gara, it looks like you're not all talk after all," he barked, "certainly worthy enough to warrant a name call, at the very least.

"I am Foxpack, second in command over the Titan Pirates' Fifth Division, behind only Burling-sama himself! You, intruder!" He pointed Kyūchi toward Salazar. "State your name!"

"Salazar." Salazar spoke, regaining his normal stance with a smirk. "Captain of the Black Sea Pirates." He roared his name with pride - something he wasn't able to do before. Although he was disappointed in his opponent's lowly rank, the swordsman felt the burning sensation of battle - the fiery spirit that only meant he was enjoying this seemingly little spar. "Most don't deserve to know my name. But the fact you've chosen to defend yourself using your swords rather than your fruit," He laughed. "I love it. I really hope she doesn't kill you foxy, my crew needs a strong pet...especially one who wields a Meito so elegantly."

"Did that idiot just introduce himself!" Jacky roared. She calmed her trembling hands and resumed her aim. Her breath calmed as her barrel followed Foxpack. "Just shut the fuck up and give me a clear shot before I shoot you instead!"

Back to the action!

Salazar charged at Foxpack - disappearing into the wind with only a dust trail following him. He stabbed Colada repeatedly towards Foxpack but refrained from making actual strikes. He stopped his hand inches away from the Fox's fur, attempting to weaponize the air itself. Between the tip of his sword and Foxpack, vacuum bullets shot outwards in a barrage of Flying Slash Attacks.

That name, why oh why did it ring a bell? "Salazar?" Foxpack repeated to himself softly, "you're not that same Salazar are you? The one who supposedly survived a battle with Fleet Admiral Kurama? The one who was accepted into the Shichibukai at such a young age? The very one who was said to be dead in last week's paper?!"

But there was no mistaking it. A look yonder upon the young man's ebony skin was all the proof he needed. This was the one. This was indeed the former Shichibukai himself!

"So I see, it really is you then-gara! What sort of business do you have picking a fight with me?" Foxpack's body liquidized into a single puddle at the sight of the vacuum bullets, allowing them to pass overhead. While still in a puddle-like state, Foxpack slithered around the ground and materialized behind Salazar. "Stop with this nonsense at once-gara! I've no desire to join your crew if it's filled with hooligans such as yourself!

"And just who is this 'she' you speak so fondly of, boy?" Falling back onto his bushy tail, Foxpack began to circle around quickly, unleashing a spinning double swipe upon the ebony swordsman with both of his swords. Electricity erupted from his entire body. This maneuver was both a form of offense and defense at the same time. Right about now, Foxpack was half expecting Salazar to reveal his Devil Fruit ability, under the assumption that he had one.

" Yes I am." Salazar answered his opponents previous question. Salazar flipped backwards and clashed against the electric wave using his own Haki. His right hand smoked from the energy released from the confused mink. He stood among a bewildered crowd of Titan pirates too afraid to step besides the Fox. Salazar hated large crews; an army of weak pawns were useless when against a few monsters. He heard the lowly Titan Pirates whisper in a mixture of awe and fear. Some even more amazed that Foxpack stood up against him. "Dead. Alive. After you've crossed the threshold against true power, you lose the ability to discern the difference. I might as well be dead if such a power exist...But i was given a chance to surpass it...and I plan on it."

Salazar closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and readjusting his energy. "Whether or not it was you, my crew and a dear friend was attacked by a Fox mink who gave me your location. We just want to talk with you...but I can't risk bringing you to my dear crew consciously and able to cause anymore trouble. Contrary to belief, my crew is more than meets the eye."

I hate Logia users - he'll just keep liquidizing his body when I get close and I can't go all out or else more people will know I'm alive and well. Salazar thought. ''I'll just have to catch him by surprise. Please wife don't mess this up.''

The swordsman dashed at Foxpack once more, his sword dark with his spiritual power. He lept upwards in a spinning motion before falling in a manner similar to a drill. His sword aimed at the Fox's head. However, while his body leaked killing intent, the movement was rather slow for someone of his calibur. He wanted to kill the fox...or he wanted the Fox's primal instinct to think so. He wanted him to focux on Salazar's appearant hatred, his demond predator nature.

Jacky followed her husband's movement. Now was the time! She kept her gun's barrel on Foxpack and awaited for Salazar's attack to finish. "Don't worry idiot, I got this." She whispered. For when Foxpack would react, she would pull the trigger - firing her sniper rifle from atop a watchtower. The bullet aimed for the Fox's stomach, Jacky timed it so that she would fire after the Fox's reaction to her husband. When he would let his guard down the most and switch to offense.

And there, Salazar knew he would not have to worry about a counter attack...or so he thought.

Whether or not it was you, my crew and a dear friend was attacked by a Fox mink who gave me your location. The words rang loud through Foxpack's ears. What the hell was this ebony twerp talking about? Both circumstances were certainly degrading! Even if certain members of his crew may have indulged in sneak attacks, for him it was much too dishonorable. And to think that he'd have given up the location of his allies at risked putting their lives in danger… never would he have ever done so in a million years!

"What are you talking about-gara?!" he spat back, preparing himself to defend against Salazar's incoming attack, "I'm telling you that wasn't me! There is no reason for us to-"

Mid-sentence, Foxpack was cut off. His eyes widened; blood spewed from his mouth. His hand clutched his stomach where a bullet had penetrated his fur. He had been so absorbed by Salazar's killing intent that he had grown blind to the outside world. He hadn't anticipated a second enemy: how dishonorable!

Evading Salazar's attack had nevertheless amounted Foxpack with an injury. It was most disgraceful as a Logia-user to be struck by an empty bullet. Anger filled his heart at the thought that this ebony twerp was taking him lightly; that this ebony twerp thought himself to be something special because he had been allowed into the Shichibukai at such a young age.

"How… dishonorable…" Foxpack coughed, standing upright so as to feel the full brute force of the bullet in his lower abdomen. "Forgive me for ever thinking highly of an arrogant twerp like you-gara!" Milk churned internally within his stomach and spat out the bullet, letting it fall lifelessly to the ground.

Analyzing the situation for what it as, it was quite clear to him by now that all this ebony twerp wanted was him. Whomever this "she" was, she had apparently ordered Salazar to return with Foxpack in hand; and for whatever reason, Salazar appeared poised and better yet, determined to carry out that task. Meaning that for him, failure was simply not possible.

With the fact that Salazar's battle was directly with him and not the Titan Pirates as a whole, Foxpack began to race through the town. At first he made off in the direction that the bullet had come from, to make it seem as though he were bent on exuding his revenge, hopefully worrying Salazar enough to come to her defense. Yet, just as the ebony twerp would have appeared at her defense, Foxpack pivoted into the opposite direction, gaining a head start toward a nearby forest. There he would be able to fight without holding back; there he would make this ebony twerp pay for taking him so lightly.

Gliding in air amongst the towering evergreens, Foxpack patiently awaited Salazar to return, hopefully without that gunslinger-of-a-woman. The demon beneath his eyepatch ached in anticipation, longing for a chance to confront the destructive spirit that was Angra Mainyu.

Salazar looked to the watchtower and sighed, it made sense that hunting a fox would be so troublesome. But either way, he could not allow the little creature to run amok; especially after disgracing his crew. However, Salazar felt something different from the Fox in the second before his supposed death. A certain fluctuation of energy that resulted from utter confusion and fear. Something was different...and he hoped he wasn't being played for a fool.

Surprisingly, the fox darted off in a different direction - towards his wife. On instinct the swordsman darted after. The idea of allowing some cretin to lay his dirty paws on his treasure brought out the inner demon. Yet he noticed that the Fox suddenly changed directions towards a large forest. Perhaps this was another trap? Nevertheless, Salazar followed his path through the empty streets, disappearing into a slight breeze. "He's too dangerous for her." He thought. So he nodded towards Jacky and mouthed a simple command. "Return."

"I'm telling you that wasn't me! There is no reason for us to-"

Salazar disappeared into the night with a silent gust of wind. Those words, that scene repeated itself in the swordsman's inner mind. His third eye hadn't caught any minute fluctuations and he doubt such a talented swordsman would taint his craft with lies. Perhaps his original thought was correct, maybe someone was playing their hand and they were nothing more than cards. Either way, Salazar couldn't make such a call by himself. Maybe they could come to a compromise?

He appeared in front of the silent Fox, his own energy mirroring his newly found rival. Together they appeared as statues - the ultimate sign of a patient swordsman. After a second of silence, Salazar cleared his throat. His fingers moved elegantly as he pushed in the buttons of his coat, revealing his blackened chest riddled with scars...including a gigantic hole. "I'm not one for sneak attacks...but I cannot stand swordsman who wield the elemental devil fruits. When you misjudge an opponent or miscaculate an action or make the wrong call, you must pay for it. Only in pain and suffering will you learn the secrets of the martial arts. Earlier, you made a few miscalls which would have resulted in your life...but by using your fruit to cheat death, you dishonored your own swordsmanship.

"Don't worry, my wife has returned to my crew." Salazar pointed Colada at the Fox, her blade shining brightly in the moonlight. "It's just us. If you wish for a fair battle between swordsmen, I would request you refrain from utilizing your fruit." He took stance, one foot before the other and his feet in a perpendicular formation. His wrist held up in the center of a quadrant.

"Whether or not you attacked my crew, I need to bring you back alive. If you surrender, no other harm will come to you."

But I cannot stand swordsman who wield the elemental Devil Fruits. How odd. To think there was so much as a single person out in the depths of the New World who had any issue with Devil Fruits; after all, the strongest entities in all of the whole sea wielded them in battle: the Yonko… the Admirals… the Shichibukai. That was what made them such formidable enemies. Yet here was this young ebony man who scorned their very existence, deeming them an unfair advantage!

"Very well. Seeing as though you have abandoned that woman to fight me by your lonesome, I shall commend your noble sacrifice by fighting on your terms." His body solidified entirely; in the back of his mind, Foxpack knew full well that it'd take more than just effort alone to keep from using his Logia powers. After all, he had trained it to become second nature. "You have my word-gara. I shall refrain from using my Devil Fruit from this moment on entirely."

And here Foxpack was convinced that Salazar's own strength stemmed from a Devil Fruit of his own. Boy, he couldn't have been more wrong. All this talk of Devil Fruits took Foxpack back one too many decades. Back to the moment he had devoured the Mou Mou no Mi; back then it had been done with a single purpose in mind. Nay, not for the sake of battle, but rather, for the sake of his troublesome younger brother. To be able to cook for him an endless line of pastries so as to keep him from falling into the darkness.

But that had amounted in failure. This time had to be different. "How can you speak so fondly of honor then in the same breath bring yourself to convince me of surrender?!" Standing on a branch of a tree that was parallel to the one Salazar himself was currently standing on, Foxpack unsheathed both of his swords from his waist and held them with their blades crossed against one another.

His Haki took upon a physical form, oozing out from his body in the shape of an aura. Extending his Meito out in front of the other sword and slowly tilting it to the side, Foxpack brought the blade of his other sword backward, touching its tip to the eyepatch that concealed his right eye. As Salazar was about to find out, until now he had only been fooling around; until now he had only been holding back.

Cutting the eyepatch loose, Foxpack allowed it to flutter away with the ensuing breeze. In its place was a gleaming red eye, one housing the demon that Foxpack had sold his soul to long, long ago, around the very same time he had acquired his Meito, Kyūchi. The glare of his red eye aligned itself with Kyūchi, and what transpired next was a bizarre phenomenon; for the Fox Mink that until now had only bore a single tail began to sprout eight more, all created from the black aura cloud that traced his being.

If he hadn't caught on already, clearly this was Foxpack's way of refusing Salazar's "compromise". He was much too prideful of a man to back down from an enemy without so much as putting up a capable fight.

Standing on the opposing side of the ebony swordsman was the pirate who was revered as the "Nine Tails", a pirate deemed enough of a threat to the World Government to have earned a bounty worth 470,000,000.

"Kyū-Ryū…" The Nine-Tailed Fox sheathed its blades back into their respective holsters, allowing a moment of silence. Then came the storm, as he exploded forth at incomprehensible speeds, decimating the entirety of the giant tree branch in his wake en route to unsheathing the two of them again as he neared or passed Salazar. "Unari no Kitsune!!"

What appeared on the physical plane as two attacks --one from each sword-- was in actuality several more. Accounting for each newly sprouted tail, there was a total of eleven ridiculous attacks launched simultaneously.

The Past Inquired
The royal palace of the giants was a place Kettle could have only dreamed of ever visiting. Yet here he was now, squeezing his way through the openings in the large doors so as to continue his quest of delivering large sums of Nerb Rum that were to entertain the guests of the royal wedding. And for this reason --as Ashley had put it-- this delivery was the most important of them all. The bulk of the rum was to be deposited here.

Still, even if it were an arranged order, the kind of deal Kettle was to be making was illegal. After all, he had every reason to believe it was stolen to begin with, and moreover, most nations had banned it wholeheartedly for its severe intoxicating properties. Giants perhaps, in proving themselves as potent drinkers, could combat its effects to a certain degree, but coming across a marine figurehead now would be all too risky. Kettle had only one idea. Well, two. First and foremost he wanted to get this deal over and done with; second, there was a little something he wanted to see with his own eyes, for the sake of the little boy that still existed within his heart.

With the aid of his Devil Fruit powers, Kettle floated around the halls, so as not to leave behind the sound of his own footsteps. He knew full well that even the smallest indication he would give about his being there could end up biting him in the butt.

What he arrived upon eventually was a large cellar in the basement of the kitchen. As directed by Ashley, he was to leave behind the crates here for someone to discover later on; it was much too risky to be seen in person making the exchange. Emptying the crates of Nerb Rum from his reserves, he fled the scene with haste, once more taking to the halls of the palace.

Next on the list was the whole purpose behind his agreement to come to Elbaf. To most it was a myth, but Kettle simply needed to see it for himself. What he wanted more than anything was the prized Excalibur, the signature weapon of the late Arthur. Though he had no intention of trying to pull the large blade from the stone, he did believe himself more than capable of storing it away into his hand to be sold on Nassau at a later time. Just imagine the sort of riches he would attain!

But where would such a thing be kept? Surely it had to have been guarded carefully. By his best estimate, it was likely someplace secure, such as a far off room where hardly anyone would have been allowed access to. Gliding through the air, he began to examine room after room, sliding between the space in the door, until eventually he came upon something slightly unexpected: a person of his own size, a regular human.

Alessandra had been in solitude in the massive art gallery that was located in the palace, she needed a moment to herself after preparing the ceremonies. This had caused her to seek peace in her favorite area. Alessandra however could not see the priceless artwork that filled the room, thus she felt the painting's with her hands, trying to imagine what they might look like. Her solitude came to an end at when she felt a presence enter the room, a presence she could not recognize, which slightly bothered her so she decided to inquire as to who this stranger was.

"Hello there, have you become lost in this massive palace?" Her tone was warm, yet stoic as she awaited the person's response.

Kettle allowed himself access into the art gallery and stepped down onto the floor. His eyes ran over the woman's frame and very swiftly did his eyes light up. He remembered that body; there was no way he'd ever forget it. His lips weaved into a cheeky smile. It was her!

He took another series of steps forward. His body began to shiver with lust at the remembrance of the sweet love he had flustered into her forcefully over a decade ago. Ever since he had sold her away, Kettle had started to regret it; no, he should have kept her for himself as his own personal sex slave! Life had done him good by returning her to him now.

"Hoy there," he chimed gleefully, "it's been awhile, hasn't it?" Kettle's rose up at his sides. From what he remembered, she was blind. Unfortunately for her, she had never been able to see how good looking he was. Shucks!

He didn't expect a blind person to be able to remember him, especially not a blind woman. He knew he'd have to rejog her memory. "Captain Kettle is what they all call me. I believe yar quite familiar with that name, aren't ya, Miss?"

"''Captain Kettle is what they all call me. Captain Kettle. KETTLE!!!!" ''

The ashen haired woman kept her back to the man as he introduced himself, she didnt want to give him the satisfaction of knowing his mere voice made her blood boil. Subtly her fingers curled into fists as she sought to regain her composure, difficult as it was as his very name jolted memories lose that she had buried deep in her subconscious. She then slowly turned to face the man that had enslaved her years ago.

"what are you doing here!?"

"Oi've business 'ere, of course. Oi'm a pretty popular guy, after all. The reason question is, what is ye doin' 'ere?" He looked her over. She wasn't exactly dressed like the slave he once sold. Did the royal palace treat all of their workers this well?

"Me? i'm prepairing for the wedding. It is my wedding after all."

- - -

A young Alessadra wandered the streets of  Ilusia, searching for a place to buy food, as her parants had been too drunk with their freinds to feed her, again. She felt her way down the street until she smelt what she had been searching for, sea food! She then hurried in the direction of the smell paying no mind to anything else at the moment.

Following the fresh aroma of fish led Alessandra into the market square, where dozens of average-class citizens made their living through selling a vast variation of things, sea food being just one of them. Sitting in the far off corner upon a rubble of trash behind two stalls was a man with long flowing black hair and a peculiarly pointed long nose. He was dressed in tattered clothing: a long sleeved white dress shirt with opened buttons and a pair of dark trousers to go along with it. A bottle of Brandy was held in his hands; he took a few sips moments at a time, surveying the large crowd that gathered around before him.

His reasoning for being there was quite simple: he had gotten into another fight with his wife, something which had become far more consistent than he had the patience for. More than anything else, he just needed some time alone to himself, some space of his own to maintain his sanity.

"Here you are, Kettle," the fish vendor said aloud, carrying a grilled salmon over to the man with the pointed nose, "that'll be 100."

Kettle looked plainly at the man. As if he had that sort of money lying around. He offered the bottle in exchange for the salmon instead. After a moment of contemplation, the vendor agreed, and Kettle now found himself with something to eat.

Holding the salmon up to his nose, he savored the smell for a moment longer, until a ashen haired woman came out of nowhere to stand before him. Kettle gave her a hard look. "Can I help ye, Miss?"

While she couldn't see it, Alessandra could smell the fish almost as if it was directly infront of her. It was at that very moment that she heard the voice of the man who would change her life forever. "N-no sir. I'm just looking for some food." Her voice was nervous, as she was always nervous when speaking to those she had never met before. Finishing her sentence, Alessandra attempted to move around the man trying desperately not to accidentally bump into him as she did.

Unfortunately for her, she did just that. It was in particular her rump that came into connect with his nose as she tried to pass him by, and at first, Kettle grew irritated at the sight, yelling out in displeasure, "Hoy! Watch where yer goin, ye?" Lifting the grilled salmon up with one hand to keep it from falling he moved his other to direct her away from his body, keeping his hand along her hips as she passed him by.

But then he felt a certain sensation overtake him. The comfort of her touch, the soft pattle of her flesh against his own. He swallowed hard, trying desperately to regain his composure. But his heart and mind simply wouldn't allow for this to happen; his eyes fell upon the girl's physique, and in the next moment his hand gently pulled her back and felt around her round frame.

"Hold on just a second there, Miss... did I hear ye say yer was lookin' for some food?" He held up the grilled salmon and looked her in the eyes. "It's all yers, Miss. Why don't ye come and sit down for a moment? Ye look like ye could use the rest."

Kettle would find that the girl had not returned his eye-contact, or rather she couldn't. Alessandra after all was blind and thus unable to even know that eye contact had been made. However at the generous offer of food Alessandra followed the mans suggestion, as she made her way to a nearby barrel before hopping on it and sitting down. Her short stature was such that her feet did not reach the ground. The offer of food caused a light smile to from upon the young girls face as she sat.

"Thank you for your generosity sir."

It didn't take long for Kettle to realize that this young girl had not returned his eye contact. In fact, since coming here there wasn't a single instance where she had so much as turned her head in his direction. And in the way that she had bumped into him earlier... it was all too blatantly obvious: this girl couldn't see him.

"But of course," he chimed, prancing over to Alessandra as she were seated upon the barrel, "what sort of man would I be otherwise?" He folded the paper around the salmon and sat it down on her lap. He allowed her some time to try and eat it on her own to make sure that she was indeed blind. Following her apparent failure, he found yet another opportunity to strike.

"Would ye like some help there, Miss?" He stood before her with a wide grin upon his face. He reached down to her lap reaching for the salmon but his fingers instead found her thigh. "Oh, my apologies there, Miss..."

He broke off a piece of the fish with his hands and touched it to her lips. "Careful now Miss, it's a bit hot..!"

Alessandra had let out a startled jump when the man touched her thigh however she attempted to calm herself hopefully before the man noticed. Upon regaining her composure she quickly ate the piece of fish that he had touched to her lip, downing it in a single bite as it had been at-least a day since she last ate, taking no time to savor the flavor of the fish.

"That was delicious!"

"Oh my, ye look to be rather hungry," he chuckled, tearing off pieces of the fish at time to keep himself in the game, "at this rate, a measly fish like this won't be enough to fill ye. Not by a long shot.

"Why don't ye come back with me to my place? My wife's a much better cook than this. Ye'll have so many different kinds of food to choose from, hehe!"

The girl was taken aback by the mans kindness alas she was afraid she would have to refuse the generous offer. It was getting late and her parents would likely be looking for her, as she was often required to cook for them in their drunken stupors before they went to bed. thus she decided it was time for her to head home to save herself from a verbal, and perhaps a physical beating from her parents.

"While i appreciate the offer, sir, i'm afraid i'll have to be heading home soon. I've been gone all day and my parents will likely be looking for me anytime now. Thank you for the offer though!"

With that Alessandra hoped off the barrel and began to feel her way towards what she could only assume was the direction of her house.

"Well alright..." Kettle's voice trailed off into silence. Seeing her struggle, he raced over to her side, taking her hand in his. "Allow me to help ye get home, then. It'll be of no trouble to me at all."

He ran his thumb gently across her hand. "What might be yer address, Miss...?" He awaited her to fill in her name for him.

"Alessandra" was the response she offered him and upon heeding her address, Kettle began his journey. Needless to say he didn't exactly need to know her address to find his way to his own house.

And that was exactly where he took her. With her hand in his, he creaked open the front door to his home and was instantly met by scrutiny by his wife. "Who the hell is she?!" she shrieked aloud, rocking a crying infant in her arms, "and where the hell have you been all this time?"

"Oi'm not in the mood to be answerin' any more of yer questions Linda," Kettle spat, his grasp over Alessandra's hand growing tighter, "just leave me the fuck alone." He stormed through the small hall and into another room, sitting Alessandra down gently upon a mattress that sat in a heap on the floor.

But Linda wasn't about to let Kettle have his way again. He had an obligation to fulfill to her and their child, to their goddamn family. She wanted answers from her husband, and she wanted them now.

"Kettle, for crying out loud," she set the baby down on the couch she had been sitting on and angrily walked down the hall. Standing in the doorway, she yelled out to him a second time. "For fuck's sake, Kettle! The baby hasn't eaten anything in days! When will you get off your lazy ass and find some goddamn work?!"

"Linda, I don't got time for this!" he spat back. "I told ye, leave me the fuck alone!"

"No!" she snapped back, as persistent as ever. "He's going to die Kettle! Don't you fucking understand that? He's going to die!"

"Then let him die!" Kettle flailed his arm toward his wife, striking her across the head. She fell back and hit her head on the door. Blood spilled onto the floor.

"You goddamn wench! Can't ye let a goddamn man have a break every once in a while?!" He began to kick her relentlessly, losing himself to his anger. "Why the fuck's all my money got to go to you in the first place, eh?! Am I not allowed to eat because I fuckin' married ye?!"

Kick after kick after kick after kick. Linda had long since left the world.

"Fuckin' shit," he sighed, catching his breath. He looked down upon the corpse of his beloved. "What have ye done, Linda? Ye gone ahead and pissed me off again..!" He kneeled down to the ground, cupping the face of his deceased lover. "No no, Linda, wake up baby, I didn't mean what I said."

He rubbed her face against his own, her blood tainting his cheeks. "Linda, wake the fuck up! Come on Linda, who's gonna look after the kid?!"

Alessandra followed the man as he drug her by her hand, rather forcefully in that regard, eventually ending up at a house which for a moment she thought was her own until she heard the woman and the ensuing argument, quickly recognizing that that was not her mother. She once again found herself drug around, this time she was sat one what she could only assume was a mattress of some sort. She had thought about asking where they where but she was quickly been interrupted by yet another argument, this one she assumed had turned violent due to that mans pleas for the other woman to wake up.

"Sir, where are we? Wha-what happened?!"

Kettle angrily eyed Alessandra and stood up, leaving Linda's body on the floor. He needed a way to cope with this. And with no Brandy left in the house, there was only one thing that came to mind. Without saying another word, he approached the nimble girl upon his mattress and pinned her hands down onto the mattress.

Despite her pleas, he kept her from escaping with his superior strength. His hands tended to his belt, pulling his trousers down to his knees. They fell around Alessandra's glorious physique thereafter, and the rest was history.

- - -

"I beg yer pardon?" Kettle grinned. "Did I just hear ye say that this is in fact yer weddin'?" He began to laugh aloud.

"Well call me a chump! To think a blind little girl like ye would find 'er way into royalty!" He pulled the brim of his trousers forward and looked down at his genitals from above. "Did ye hear that, cock? Ye fucked an empress!"

Kettle laughed himself into a near coma. It took his best efforts to keep from laughing. "Sellin' ye off was the worst mistake I ever made." He began to approach her in the same pattern as when he had forced himself upon her over ten years ago. His footsteps pattled in that same exact fashion. There could have been only only thing to come out of that.

"Well, maybe not the worst. Ye were my very first deal, 'ol bubby went after ye. With the money I made from sellin' ye I started me on crew and damn well conquered all of West Blue if I may say so myself!" An obvious exaggeration on part of a idiotic excuse of a man. "Can I have a little somethin' to celebrate all that?"

He crept closer toward her still. She may have felt the gravitational energy all around her begin to intensify, forcing her to the floor.

"I assure you Kettle, i'm no longer the scared little girl i once was"

The venom in her words word have been enough to cause a normal man to flinch or at least pause in his movements however she had assumed that Kettle would not be stopped through sheer words, thus she stood her ground. She was now able to "See" the man who had tormented her all those years ago, and she saw a monster. She however would not back down as the gravity in the room seemed to get heavier, as her will served as some sort of shield from the mysterious effects.

"I could have you jailed with a mere snap of my fingers, executed as quickly as tomorrow but i won't because then you would miss what is only possible because of you. My ascension, and after that your life will come to an end at my hand!"

As she finished speaking she then began to walk towards Kettle, before looking him dead in his eyes, and then without saying a single word she began to walk past the man, not looking back nor stopping as she exited the gallery.

"Don't be foolish enough to steal anything, the guards here are very fond of their art."

Foolish he indeed was, however yet, even despite Alessandra's forewarning. For after confronting her, Kettle --in his pursuit of Excalibur-- instead appeared within the kitchen of the palace, where the enormous base of the wedding cake sat, soon to be intertwined with the rest of the layers. Much to his surprise, there was someone there awaiting him, his fingers lacing the frosting of the cake.

"This cake is projected to be the size of a mountain," Dario spoke, adjusting his glasses with his other hand. His long hair flowed behind him as a breeze squeezed into the kitchen through an open window. The cross shaped pendant around his neck looked more and more glamorous everstill. "What a sight that will be to see."

Why was the Marine being so friendly? Caught in his tracks, all Kettle could do at this point was play along. "Uhh, y-ye," he coughed, "what a sight it'll be!"

Dario's face turned grim. "I'm quite sure you have somewhere else to be at this moment in time, so I'll let you off the hook just this once more; consider yourself lucky for not being captured after having encountered me twice already.

"Leave now and I'll allow you to do so with your life still intact."

Kettle didn't need to be told twice. After all, Dario had guessed right; he and the others were to regroup with Ashley right about now. Smiling a cheeky smile, Kettle accepted defeat --for now-- and calmly retreated.

Thank You
The Rum Dealers were to reunite now, days after they had first arrived upon Elbaf. By now, each member should have delivered his or her share of rum and distributed it across the entirety of the island, which according to Ashley's plan, should have left no place uncovered, even on an island as big as this one. Rum had been stored within each and every corner of the island, stowed away into underground cellars, and even upon the clouds that loomed above, thanks to the recently proclaimed Giant Slayer.

The meeting place was a small square-shaped building that was seemingly floating on water. How this was even possible was beyond Kettle --the first of the guests to arrive-- and how anyone was meant to gain access to the front door was even further beyond him. Thankfully, he had his Devil Fruit powers to assist him, which enabled him to basically fly up to the foot of the door and click open the door. Much to his surprise, he was the only one currently present; not even Ashley had bothered to show up yet.

The room was entirely bare with absolutely no contents. It was seemingly the perfect spot for a one-and-done exchange; the members of the group would be receiving their dues in return for helping Ashley. And the sooner they could get their spoils, the sooner they could leave. To think that even despite having chased after Excalibur, Kettle was still the first to arrive upon the scene. Did the other pirates simply not care for riches?

Tabart leapt through the front door, shrieking as a wave of water drove what seemed to be a banana boat into the building behind him. He landed square on his face as he slid across the floor.

"Fuck me, that damn seed was a little too explosive," he spoke to himself, before noticing Kettle standing on the other side of the room. Then, and only then, did he feel a little more secure that this wasn't some type of trap that Ashley set for him, unlike his entire rum deal. All he wanted was to get paid at this point. Days from running and hiding from Giants trying to kill him was tiring.

Soon after, Yan came to be into both men's views, flying above the water using a variety of paper constructs. Namely, wings and a parachute, it seemed like. Once he was close, Yan lept down, landing just before the opened door and entering quietly. He noticed the other men in the room, giving them a nod "Sooo, I see I wasn't the first one..." He smiled at them, only to think "I honestly thought I would have remained lost in that island..."

He looked at Tabart in the ground, neverthless thinking of something else "Well at least I found that...Rum, yeah and had time to deliver it. Can't fathom that woman complaining the rest of the day..."

Behind them, they heard the creaking of the door as it opened even further with arm of what appeared to be a giant pushing it open. Once it opened just enough for everyone inside to see what was coming through the arm let go of the door and shrunk down to normal human size. revealing Cazzar and Catrina walking in after them. "So you're all here too. Seems we found the right place after all." Cazzar said calmly.

"Seems like we're still waiting for others." Catrina followed

"Yes, Jones appears to be missing," a soft feminine voice rang out as Ashley's curvaceous figure appeared in the doorway, "whether by design or not, it appears you as his comrades have come to collect his share."

Ashley marched into the room, issuing the each of them a warm smile. "Outside of the Fire Rocker Pirates, who entirely failed in delivering any rum at all, you lot have done a marvellous job. And for that, I honestly cannot thank you enough." She gently poked the cross-shaped pendant around her neck.

"Please, consider what you are about to receive shortly as a form of my gratitude. As promised, I shall reward you all greatly in exchange for all your help. Allow me just a moment then, hmm? I'll go and fetch your reward." The woman turned around, her shapely thighs swaying to each side as she walked out of the room, closing the only door to the building behind her.

Catrina's face grew furious from her comment about them and tried to walk forward. "Uggrrrrr why you little bitch!" She shouted and grabbed her sword before Cazzar grabbed her shoulder signalling her to stop. He looked up at the doorway where she came out from and squinted his eyes, he couldn't help but feel something suspicious going on.

"Amazing! You said that with an immense amount of honesty...which I can assume you'll really come back with our reward" Yan smiled at Ashley before she went out "Though, truth be told...I only wanted a meeting, but this should do"

Tabart scanned his surroundings intensely. After almost being killed by some crazed giant, to which he found it very difficult that Ashley was unaware about, he had seemed skeptical of the woman. In fact, she hurried out so quickly he didn't have time to ask her about that. Because of her stupid delivery, he had been hunted to the end of Elbaf, with no apparent way off the island.

"Why the hell is there only one door to this place?" Tabart inquired annoyingly to the other pirates. "It's almost like it's some fucking trap. She knew damn well we were all going to be here, so why didn't she bring the reward into the room with her?"

They were all right for having their suspicions. For ever since she had handpicked them during their very first meeting upon Nassau, Ashley had never intended to reward them to begin with.

Moments after the door clicked shut, the entire building around the Rum Dealers began to morph into an entirely different spectacle. The walls began to churn as if made of some concrete butter; the ceiling spiralled around as if some sort of cookie batter waiting to be thrown into the oven, and the floor most of all flushed around and around like a toilet bowl.

Before any of them could have even hoped to act, the building metaphorized into a submarine of the same petite size, one whose operative dials had been accordingly disfigured, leaving no hope of functioning properly.

There was a loud thud followed by an even louder splash. If there were windows, the only thing the Rum Dealers would have been able to see was the bottom of the ocean, for that was exactly where they were headed. With every passing second, the submarine drowned further and further, and with the dials out of order, there was no hope of steering it in any other direction.

"What in tarnation?!" Kettle screamed aloud, unable to grasp what had just occurred. The building they had been inside of somehow turned into a submarine… and now, based on the sounds of flowing water on the other sides of the walls, they were underwater!

"It sounds like we just got dropped into the water and sinking fast," Cazzar noted. "If we keep sinking like this, this sub will be crushed by the water pressure."

"No way. That little bitch tricked us. I should've killed her when I had the chance." She grabbed out her sword to attempt to make bust a hole through the submarine until Cazzar grabbed her wrist to prevent her from doing that.

"Are you nuts? You'll drown us we're all Devil Fruit Users. You'll kill us all." he explained to her.

Catrina put down her sword and looked at him. "Well, I'm not a Devil Fruit user." She smirked at him suspecting that plans to do it anyways. Cazzar gave her an intense glare. "Alright alright fine." She complained and sheathed her sword.

"Aaaaaaaah, turns out the honesty wasn't there" Yan sighed, trying to sustain himself as the newly formed submarine turned sideways, falling further and further "I assume someone gave her orders and this is no joke?" He looked around, towards the others on the submarine.

"And it's a trap!!!" Tabart flinched as the building somehow turned into a submarine that somehow went underwater. "How in the hell did none of us even notice that this thing was a submarine?" He turned to Yan. "Aren't you a Shichibukai? How did you let some broad fool you, man? Me? I'm just a horny pirate and all. Of course, I let boobs fool me. But like, you're a notorious pirate!"

"I feel like you tried to quo- Whatever" Yan laughed "Indeed, I'm a notorious Pirate! But then, let's not look down at each other because of this" He looked around to properly see his acquaintances "If you do look down, we'll just end up not cooperating...and sink! There is many users here, hmmmmmm? Including myself that is" He shrugs at everyone.

"What the fuck..." Kettle was in complete disbelief. Had he, like Tabart, fallen prey to a pair of tits? Had he, like the rest of them, been walked over by, of all things... a woman?!

Without question he had exerted himself for Ashley. He had been her biggest pawn throughout all of it; it was through his efforts that the rest of them had been able to make it into Elbaf and through his powers that the rum was smuggled onto the island. She had made a mockery out of him and everything that he was worth!

Kettle buried his face into his hands. "I'm no better a pirate than the rest of ye! Fuck, fuck, fuck!!!"

Tabart looked at Kettle in frustration. "Dude, get yourself together. I understand being upset, but you're about to cry or some shit man." It had seemed he chosen to listen to Yan's advice. Even if he had been fooled, he was a Shichibukai, which didn't mean he was any smarter than the rest of them, just that he was better at getting out of dumb situations. Or, maybe he wasn't. Tabart would find out soon enough.

"So, let's get the fuck out of here already."

"That's it!" Yan yells as he approaches Tabart "You have a Devil Fruit, correct? Maybe we could use the crybaby's, my own and yours in conjunction to get us out of here!" He smiles, not touching Tabart despite wanting to pat his shoulder.

Far above the murky waters was a single man, his fingers lacing the cross shaped pendant that was worn around his neck. He pushed back his glasses with his other hand, taking in the fresh aroma that the sea brought along with it. He turned his back to the sinking submarine, walking away in the opposite direction.

In The Grand Scheme of Things
It had been over 11 hours since Salazar and Foxpack had shifted from the streets of Elbaf into the towering forests. And ever since then they had been engaged in fierce combat, trading advantages while neither was able to hold the lead for long.

His countless tails surging all around him, Foxpack's eyes widened to see his opponent swooping in from his flank at incomprehensible speed. Speed that he simply could not match at this point in time due to no reason beyond exhaustion; instinctively did his body transform into milk, slipping away from the attack.

It wasn't until Foxpack reformed that he remembered the promise he had made 11 hours ago. At Salazar's behest, he had agreed to refrain from using his Logia powers. He had sworn it upon his honor yet the countless hours of fighting had led him to forget that one simple fact!

Appearing on the ground, Foxpack dipped both his blades into the dirt, holding up his arms above his head. He would never forfeit from a battle, but he was most certainly the type of man to take responsibility for his actions. And in this case, he was at fault; he had used his Devil Fruit powers by mistake, and in compensation, he was willing to allow Salazar one free blow.

"My apologies-gara." His breath was heavy, fatigue quite noticeable. "I did not intend to call forth my Logia. Please, allow yourself a free blow anywhere upon my person in compensation for my mistake!"

The smile that Salazar wore suddenly dissipated, and the stern expression he wore upon his face was foreboding of the threat that he could potentially be. He slowly approached Foxpack, and sheathed his blade, using his fingers to pluck the mink directly in his forehead instead.

"It's because you lack discipline like a true swordsmen. You're far too reliant on your physical prowess, and your devil fruit, rather than the techniques of the blade," the former Shichibukai continued to scold.

"Another principle is to never strike a defenseless opponent, another area of discipline that you seem to be lacking, yet again. So stand up, pick your blades out of the dirt, and let's go at this again."

"Y-You!" Foxpack was more surprised by Salazar's honor than he was by anything else. Sure, the ebony brat went off on a tangent about the principles of swordsmanship and all, but given the chance to rip off one of his limbs, he didn't even bother drawing his blade!

Standing up to his feet, Foxpack plucked his blades from the ground and readied to give it another round --as if 11 hours wasn't already enough. But he knew all too well that neither of them was willing to throw in the towel. At this rate, they were going to be at it for days.

Or so he thought. Out of nowhere an enormous man --a giant without question-- fell backward, tens of trees cushioning his descent. His body fumed with sparks of electricity, fresh wounds leaking and spewing from his abdomen as he tossed around in a near death state. Blood fountained from his mouth and even more horrifying was the look in his eyes. Unable to so much as bring himself to sit up, the red haired giant was forced to lay upon the ground in defeat, tears streaming down his face.

"Dario-kun!" he hollered aloud, "Dario-kun! What is the meaning of all this?!" He raised up his trembling hands, refusing to believe the reality that appeared before him.

From the clearing of fallen trees emerged his partner in law, hands tending to his glasses and cross shaped pendant all at once. The tip of his rapier rotted with the blood of his Vice-Admiral superior. "Oh come on now you sheepish brute," the man sang, "how many times must I tell you before that idiotic giant brain of yours is able to comprehend it-hmm?"

He pointed the blade toward the giant. "I'm not the Dario you once knew."

More tears rolled down Kaldor's cheeks. He was staring death right in the face.

Foxpack had thankfully moved in time to avoid being squashed under Kaldor's enormous figure. Now he was caught between all of this and his battle with the ebony brat. He squinted his eyes at the sight of Rear-Admiral Dario. The two of them had met earlier before, crossing blades with one another. He could tell then and there that the Marine was no pushover; as a Zoan user, he was even more fearsome. "It's you again-gara!" Foxpack exclaimed, "what are you doing here?"

Dario looked over to Salazar. "Oh, Sally-poo!" He frowned sarcastically. "How shameful! You mean to tell me you still haven't gotten rid of him?"

Foxpack's glare intensified. Was the ebony brat taking orders from the Marines? To Foxpack's memory, Salazar had been omitted from the Marines. So why then, was he still following their orders? And why did they want him in particular dead so badly?

"Is it true-gara?" Foxpack looked over to Salazar. "Is that man the reason you have been after me all this time?"

Salazar's glare intensified as he examined the man, yet just as quickly as is squint strengthened, his eyes relaxed, almost as if he had come to an answer. "I have no idea who this man is," he started calmly. "But, I don't appreciate anyone calling any act of mine, shameful." Salazar took a step towards the marine. "What's more alarming is that this guy knows I'm alive apparently, and that I've been sent to retrieve you. Which means, I Have no choice but to kill him. Draw your sword!"

"Oh my. You certainly haven't changed one bit." Dario offered a cheeky smile.

Kaldor's eyes rolled to the top of his head. From his current position on the ground, he tried his very best to look at the two pirates who were in the area. He recognized them both, yet identifying Salazar --who was reported to have died many weeks ago-- only added to his confusion. His body was still paralyzed; Dario was in possession of a very formidable weapon. As far as he was concerned, there was no one that could possibly stand up to him outside of Terell-kun. Fighting him was suicide!

Foxpack didn't know what exactly he was supposed to do in this sort of situation. Who was the enemy? Was it Salazar or was it this Marine Officer?

"Seeing as though the two of you have become witnesses to all of this, I suppose I can't let you escape either, can I-hmm?" The supposed Rear-Admiral tightened his hold over his weapon. "It pains me to have to do this, Sally-poo, it really does!"

His marine attire fluttering along with him, the man referred to as Dario shimmered out of comprehension and appeared directly before Salazar, taunting him with another one of his cheeky smiles. Before the ebony man could react, he issued a powerful kick to his gut, sending him flying into a nearby wreckage of logs.

Up until now, Foxpack had only seen Salazar's greatness. Every one of the attacks he had thrown at him, the ebony brat had either evaded or deflected. So then how did this Marine make damaging him seem to be such an easy thing? His pondering was interrupted swiftly as the Marine appeared before him next, sending Foxpack flying away into the opposite direction.

Crashing into the stem of a giant tree, Foxpack coughed up blood. He was already exhausted from having battled Salazar for 11 hours; being far from his best condition at a time like this was going to have its faults. In his confusion there was only one thing clear to Foxpack: this Marine was now his enemy, and like any other enemy, he had to be brought down.

"You disgusting mutt." Dario fixed his glasses. "It pained my heart when I was forced to spare your life in our earlier meeting. You won't be so fortunate this time-hmm."

"Y-You won't fucking touch him without my permission," Salazar voiced from a distance as he strained to pull himself out of the ruble that he was slammed into. Scratches, bruises and dirt littered his body and clothes, and exhaustion plagued his mind. Even with his Haki, he failed to deduce where the attack was going, and in his conscious, the only explanation he could offer was fatigue. Yet, that touch was somehow familiar.

"Y-You're interrupting my battle, a great dishonor to the reputation of a swordsmen," Salazar declared, pulling his sword from his sheathe. Slamming his foot into the earth as a pivot, he swung his mighty sword, pushing the very air that in front of him with such force that it screeched in response to his will, manifesting itself as a green laser of energy that tore across the terrain towards the marine.

There came the racist comments from the Marine once again. In their earlier meeting, Foxpack couldn't help but feel as though this man bore some sort of hatred for Minks; now it was fact beyond speculation.

With Salazar's attack, Foxpack saw his chance to coordinate his own. From his position against the stem of the tree, he swallowed the pain and launched his own flying cutting attack, in the form of a red colored crescent toward Dario, who found himself in the middle of two impressive attacks approaching him swiftly from both sides. However, what he did next greatly surprised all that were present.

The Marine stabbed his rapier into the ground, freeing up his hands. He lifted them at his sides, palms facing each incoming beam. "Neither of you, I'm afraid, are yet at this level-hmm." With nothing more than his bare fingers, he shattered the two beams without forgoing his prior stance. Kaldor's pupil's contracted with fear.

"I-Impossible!" Foxpack mumbled, moving himself away from the stem of the tree he was pressed against. Even if he was fatigued, there was no explanation for what had just occurred before his very eyes. Was this man a monster?

Either way, there was no time for banter. Clearly it was time for Salazar and Foxpack to set aside their differences and work as one. That is, if they wanted any hope of surviving this rugged encounter. "Hoy, you ebony brat!" the Mink hollered, "why do not the two of us work together? Surely we should be a match for him then-gara!"

Under the assumption that Salazar would agree to joining forces with him, Foxpack readied his blades. It was time to get truly serious!

Dario didn't seem the least bit worried about the Mink's idea. "Go on, come at me with all you've got. As a matter of fact, come at me at the very same time as you please, but it won't change anything." He plucked his sword up from the ground.

Albeit surprised, Salazar's face showed no such emotion. However, even he had realized the strength this man wielded, and while he hated to admit it, he was tired and wounded from his trials with the Mink. Without him, he was destined to lose.

"Yeah, fine! Just make sure you don't fuck up this time," Salazar announced, disappearing from his spot and reappearing next to the marine. He jabbed with his epee as a feint, then, having believed Dario to have been tricked by it, he charged with a slash, aimed for his mid body.

It wasn't possible. It just wasn't possible. Salazar had sold his fake perfectly, and yet the Marine didn't fall for it. His response was fluid, as if he was awaiting the fake before the actual attack; as if he had seen the move countless times in the past. Salazar's slash was easily parried, yet his actions had left room for Foxpack to unleash his own attack.

"Don't forget who taught you that technique-hmm!" Dario sang out, evading Foxpack's attack while still looking at Salazar. Twirling his blades back around, Foxpack unleashed attack after attack upon the Marine, Salazar joining him seconds after. The two of them attacked Dario simultaneously, leaving no gaps in between.

And yet he kept up with the two of them; nay, he still remained miles ahead. It was he who was passing them, controlling the tempo of the battle by skillfully matching their blades at the same time, without so much as breaking a sweat.

Amounting every effort that was left within him, Kaldor brought himself to sit against a nearby tree. He studied the match that took place before him, never having seen such swordplay in his life. He was taking two of the most well known and feared swordsmen in the New World and making them look like rookies!

It wasn't long before Dario began his counterattack. Ducking beneath the blades of his opponents, he allowed Salazar to cross swords with Foxpack, using the opening that it created to cut open Foxpack's stomach. The Mink screamed in discomfort, yet before he could blink he found himself flying toward countless trees yet again, leaving Salazar by his lonesome to fend off the monster.

With his hand coated in Haki, Dario caught a hold of Salazar's blade; he was impressed to see that the ebony swordsman had managed to inflict a small wound upon his palm that leaked out and dripped toward the ground. "As much as I'd love to keep playing with you, Sally-poo, I'm afraid there are more important things I must tend to-hmm."

He disarmed the former Shichibukai and tossed his battered body away with great force, watching as it rolled around on the ground until crashing into the stem of an enormous tree. Sensing Foxpack's presence behind him, he turned slowly to admire the beauty of the Mink who was struggling to stay alive.

"J-Just what are you after-ga-gara..?" Foxpack collapsed onto his knees, unable to continue fighting. If only he hadn't exhausted his stamina against Salazar; this most certainly would have turned out differently!

Dario's brow narrowed at the very sight of the Mink. He approached him slowly, raising his rapier high above his head. "What I'm after," he began, "is the demise of all things subhuman, such as yourself." He swiped his blade down upon the Mink with great forth, silencing him once and for all.

"DARIO-KUN!!!" Kaldor hollered, short of breath. "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS BLOODSHED?!!"

"Oh shut up, you good-for-nothing brute. And stop calling me by that name, already. Just sit quiet and wait around for your turn: I'll get around to you eventually-hmm." Discarding Foxpack, the monster approached Salazar next.

Standing before him, he looked down upon the fallen man and smiled wide. "What's the matter, Sally-poo? Don't tell me you don't recognize your own uncle?" Reaching down, he grabbed Salazar by the collar and lifted him up to be eye level. He stared the man down to his soul, offering him time to think. When no connection was drawn, he grew tired and admitted defeat, allowing his Devil Fruit powers to map out an answer for Salazar.

Without having to do much of anything, the supposed Marine altered his facial appearance. Like a churning pit of glue, Dario's face vanished; in its place was the man's true identity, which not even the World Government had ever managed to capture. A noble face bearing a pink mane; a noble face bearing an unrivaled charm.

"U-Uncle McGhinnis...?!" Salazar managed to say, his tone one of fear and shock all the same.

"Bingo! Took you long enough-hmm!" McGhinnis forfeited his grip over Salazar's collar, allowing the ebony man to fall back down to the ground. Clearly the two of them shared some sort of history. "Surely you recall my power? I can change the form of whomever I please with whatever I please, so long as I've touched it at some point in the past. Such is the power of the Hen Hen no Mi!

"When the Fox paid you a visit the other night, that was me. I thought I could count on you to stir up some trouble for me and at the very least, eliminate him for me, but you couldn't even accomplish that." He shook his head, before repeating an earlier bit of dialogue, "how shameful, Sally-poo!"

"D-Did you say... McGhinnis...?" Kaldor couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Are you the McGhinnis? McGhinnis the Shapeshifter? McGhinnis the Chameleon?!"

"I prefer the 'Crown Prince', truth be told," McGhinnis sarcastically probed, "but yes, the recipient of all those names is none other than me."

In his anger, Kaldor attempted to stand, but fell right back down. "YOU!!! WHEN DID YOU SLIP UNDER OUR NOSE LIKE SO?!"

"It's been quite some years now. I lost track after 10-hmm!" Reverting to Dario's physical appearance, McGhinnis began to laugh psychotically.

"Don't you dare wear the face of that man! How dare you! What have you done with the real Dario-kun?!"

"Didn't you hear me?" McGhinnis fixed his glasses in the exact same manner Dario used to. "It's been 10 years since I infiltrated Admiral Terell's ship. That means Dario's been dead for that period of time-hmm."

Kaldor's heart sank. His best friend... dead! And he hadn't even noticed in over a decade!

"I can't wrong you for not picking up on it. Even the Admiral himself still hasn't." McGhinnis shrugged. "I know I'm a very convincing guy but sheesh, wasn't he like your best friend?

"Look at this! Next to mimicking his behaviors and mannerisms, I was even able to copy the appearance of his Devil Fruit! He was a Zoan after all, wasn't he?" From Dario, McGhinnis shapeshifted into a blue gorilla. "Dario the Blue Beast! This was the token of his title, wasn't it?! Hmhmhmhmhmhmhm!"

Tears flooded Kaldor's eyes. That cunning bastard had duped them all. He had captured every minor detail without failure... it was as if he truly were Dario himself!

Reverting back into Dario's regular humanoid form, McGhinnis laughed until his stomach began to ache.

"Y-You... it still doesn't make any sense! Why would one of Blacklist's racist war priests infiltrate the ship of a Navy Admiral?" Kaldor wondered aloud. "What sort of business might you even have?!"

"Well now, I suppose I may as well explain it to you." McGhinnis sighed. "My goal all along has been to bring Elbaf to its knees; to eradicate every single last giant upon this island. For years I have devised a plan and decorated it so very precisely that I was able to bring it to fruition right under Admiral Terell's nose without him so much as questioning it!"

McGhinnis shapeshifted again, this time taking the appearance of a curvaceous woman with blonde hair. Ashley, as she was known to the Rum Dealers. "In this form I banded together a group of pirates from Nassau, convincing them to come with me into Elbaf, under the impression that they would be aiding me in smuggling Nerb Rum. This was the reason for my absence the day you and Admiral Terell traveled to Elbaf; this was the reason for my delayed arrival upon this island.

"Those clowns who claimed to be pirates never once questioned the tons of Nerb Rum I had within my possession. A single bottle was worth a fortune, so how might a single person have so many bottles?" He smiled. "Of course I didn't have that many bottles.

"I take it you're aware of the pirate by the name of 'Public Enemy' Veno? In truth, I stole tons of explosives from his factory and transformed them through the use of the Han Han no Mi to look like bottles of Nerb Rum. Since smuggling them into Elbaf, I've had help in scattering them across the entirety of the island."

"Veno..." Kaldor muttered under his breath. Even if it were without his consent, somehow that bastard had come to play a factor into all of this.

"That man is a truly gifted one; a single one of his so-called 'Veno Bombs' has the potential to destroy an entire city. Just imagine what several tons of them is able to accomplish, hmhmhmhmhm! It's checkmate, Kaldor. It's only a matter of time before those timed bombs detonate and consume this island, taking every last giant along with them."

"No, you're wrong! Admiral Terell will realize your plan sooner than later and put an end to it" Kaldor exclaimed, placing his faith within his superior.

"Hmhmhmhmhm! Yes, I reckon so. And that is exactly why I have already taken counter measures for his involvement, you dumb brute." He fixed his glasses. "How do you think our beloved Admiral will stop bombs from erupting over the whole of Elbaf?"

McGhinnis allowed Kaldor with some time to think.

"Yes, I'm sure you've guessed it by now: he'll cover the lands with his snow and try to freeze them solid. That's the only way to prevent bombs like this from erupting. But do you know what'll end up happening instead? Let me tell you!

"The whole of Elbaf will become a winter wasteland, drenched with snow! Snowstorms will run rampant across the island, taking the lives of all of those whom are unable to resist such subzero temperatures! Hmhmhmhmhm! You're all screwed regardless of what the Admiral does, you dumb brute! In the latter scenario, the Navy can even take all the blame for me!"

McGhinnis laughed and laughed and laughed. He turned around slowly, sheathing his blade at his waist. "I'll leave you alive so you can experience the hell those bombs will indubitably bring about-hmm. See with your own eyes as the home you know and love is destroyed while you can't do much of anything."

McGhinnis slowly began to walk away. He stopped suddenly when he remembered Salazar. Turning his head in the direction of the fallen ebony swordsman, he offered a sincere smile. "This is farewell, Sally-poo. I have a wedding to attend."

With a final showing of his speed, McGhinnis was gone.

"To think such a man was right under our nose this entire time... and we didn't even so much as notice!" Kaldor began to vent aloud. Tears filled his eyes at the thought that McGhinnis had duped them so very hard. "That man is a global criminal! The World Government has been after him for years; but because of his powers, no one has ever managed to see his true face in person! Even his bounty poster shows an image of one of the many faces he's copied!"

Kaldor looked over to Salazar. "Y-You, former Shichibukai! How do you know that man, I wonder? Certainly your apparent death wasn't his doing, was it? I wouldn't be surprised one bit if that chameleon were able to fake your death after the sort of fraudulence he's owned up to in last few moments."

After hearing that Salazar had no further connection with McGhinnis, Kaldor broke out into tears. He simply couldn't control his emotions anymore. "It pains me to say that we are all doomed! This isn't the first time he's gotten away with something like this; his renown as the 'Crown Prince' comes from the many nations he's toppled over! By taking the faces of countless princes in the past, he's brought whole kingdoms into war with one another! And after every instance, the World Government has been unable to do anything but watch...!

"He is a wretched entity, so vile that the supremacist organization known as 'Blacklist' has accepted him as one of their war-priests. There are five of them in total, each possessing a bounty of over one billion berries! McGhinnis himself totaled out to 1,280,000,000 when I last checked! He is as fearsome as they come!" His hands began to tremble. "Blacklist's one ambition is to rid our world of any other race aside from humans; as such, they are a group composed entirely of humans. Elbaf accounts for a significant portion of the world's giants; if he succeeds in destroying Elbaf, what will become of our race?!"

Tears cascaded to the ground like a waterfall from Kaldor's eyes. "To think the time would come where the 'Pirate Smasher' of all people would be upon his final hour begging a pirate for assistance..!" Kaldor swallowed his pride as a Marine. "Salazar, if you have a history with that man, then perhaps it is best that you be the one to confront him again. Please Salazar," more tears rained down from his cheeks, "promise me you'll stop him at any costs!"