Red's Murder

Spectrum
The cool waters of the New World had never seemed to tense before. The conflict involving World War X was one of the many events that left the inhabitants of the New World fearful. And recently, the Marines had pulled back their forces to focus more on purging newer threats to the New World than the more dangerous Yonko. It had been an effort to weed out the weaker criminals, getting rid of any new threats so they could later focus their efforts entirely on that of the Yonko. However, some such as Schmitty, believed this would allow the Yonko to stretch their power even further, if so they chose. But like the rest, his complaints would amount to nothing.

Schmitty stood with his usual posture, hand behind his back as he gazed on with observant eyes. As still as a statue, he seemed to be almost immovable. Yet, like any Marine, he always seemed to be prepared to do battle if the need arose.

"Commodore Schmitty-san, are we sure he's to come through here?" A marine spoke, saluting with a stiff posture as he did so.

Schmitty's posture remained the same, and he hadn't bothered to make eye contact with his subordinate. A stone face continued to look out at the calm waters, which always kept an ever riled tension in it's air. "We've had reports of Red Feather coming through here multiple times in the past few weeks. He'll come this way sooner or later." Schmitty's eyes flared red for an instant, "Gambi Marlow has had his time to rid the New World of this darkness. Ginsaru-san believed destroying Red Feather was the Oni's destiny. But I refuse to allow him to remain."

Suddenly, a powerful burst of force caused not only the wind to lash out wildly, but dust from the deck of the ship was whipped up instantly from the sudden force. The marine who stood near Schmitty couldn't help but run in fear of the sudden event, but the winds instead tossed him like a rag doll before he could escape.

A second wave of rabid torrents would whip out, seemingly a delayed effect of the clash of two forces. There, now revealed on behalf of the gust, stood Schmitty, one hand extended to block the entirety of a sword, a rapier. On the other end of that sword, commanding it's power was none other than Mauricio Kerrim. A man who had rose in power seemingly overnight. And judging from his repeated travel into this area, one could only believe he was aiming to further his power.

"Your defeat shall be mine, Marlow can take it up with me later if so he pleased." Schmitty spoke, he took in the sight of Mauricio Kerrim, taking a moment to relish the view. A bright yellow light would begin to manifest around Schmitty's palm. Kerrim would recognize the gathering photons to be something akin to the Kosa Kosa no Mi."

"Light." Kerrim spoke to himself, he would push his rapier, Mistilteinn, against Schmitty. He would take advantage of the Marine's immovable posture to instead propel himself away from the threat. However, even then, a bright blast of light was fired from Schmitty's open palm. It cut through the air with an impossible ease. It's speed was nearly imperceivable, by the point Kerrim would be able to react to it, it had already done it's damage. The blast tore through the air, just barely missing Kerrim's head as it did so. The mass of light would continue to travel off into the distance until it faded from sight.

Kerrim found himself standing on the edge of the deck, looking forward at Schmitty, ignoring the distance that stood between the two. Kerrim's eyes flared a crimson red, Schmitty's doing the same almost as if it were a battle in and of itself. Suddenly, Kerrim would burst forward with speed that could qualify even with that of the Soru. His person would become visible again just moments before Kerrim would make a strike.

On glance, Schmitty's eyes would scan everything but the ground. And with reflexes as quick as his optical scan, Schmitty would swipe at Kerrim's figure horizontally in an attempt to sever his head from his torso, using Haki to ensure his hand just wouldn't phase through the Logia User's body.

Schmitty's swipe was quick, and if it hadn't been for Kerrim's own sharp reflexes, he likely would've met his match to the man. However, his body would seemingly vanish on it's own, Schmitty's hand failing to touch even a fragment of the man's body.

Without even an instant to readjust to the situation, Schmitty would feel something graze against his cheek. Blood seeped through his skin, a wound. Schmitty quickly pulled back, his instinct pulling him to look at the ground. There he would take notice of a thin ring of darkness encircling him. No wonder his electronic scope hadn't revealed it's presence, shadows forbid the presence of such a thing. Before he could react any further, a multitude of thin strings of darkness continued to rise from the shadow in rapid succession, cutting more and more of the man's skin as he attempted to gather his composure, yet failing due to the continuous damage being done to his person.

Schmitty would eventually be able to gather himself, yet by then his face was covered in numerous cut marks, most of which oozed blood from their gaps. Schmitty would hold his hands out from his sides, a bright light being generated from his palms yet again, the light so bright that the shadows begun to waver in it's presence. But that wasn't enough, no, Schmitty would generate a massive amount in an instant that would illuminate the entire area. The light was so bright that it essentially dispelled the entire ring of darkness that Kerrim had placed around the Marine. Even further, it would push Red Feather back in and of itself.

Kerrim would be blinded by the generation of light, not having enough time to block his eyes from the sudden burst. He would be defenseless for the next attack Schmitty would use. Unlike everyone else, Schmitty's sight relied on his electronic scope due to his modifications, and failed to be effected by his light screen. Schmitty was able to follow up quickly, locating Kerrim's location without fail. He would point a finger at the man, and on it's tip was generated non-other than a beam of light that would pierce through the man's body. Or as the location he aimed for, Kerrim's head. Yes, like the Pacifista's so long ago, Schmitty also had access to the.

His attack didn't go as planned however. Kerrim's body would take a shadowy form and curve around the beam of light, allowing the man to effectively dodge it without even putting in the effort.

"I-I don't understand, isn't the weakness of the Koi Koi no Mi light? How did you avoid that!" Schmitty demanded, his brows furrowed in anger and frustration. He left Kerrim time to recover from his blindness, almost as if showing the man mercy.

Kerrim's vision would return to him, everything being a blur for the first second or so. However, it would then begin to readjust slowly, allowing him to see Schmitty's figure as usual. "You see, light isn't inherently the weakness. It's more so how you use that light." Kerrim spoke cryptically, not to give too much of information, but effectively giving enough of a clue.

"Hmph, then don't answer. I'll figure out with a live demonstration." Schmitty would throw both of his hands forward, leaving them open as a mass of light began to generate in both. Suddenly, they would fire off, but not long behind the first two were dozens more. Schmitty had fired a barrage at the Pirate Captain. He aimed to overwhelm the man, hoping to force Kerrim to his greatest of limits.

Kerrim would try to use his shadowy form to once more dodge the attacks, it worked once or twice, but the overwhelming sources of light essentially forced his body to stay in the form of his actual self. A majority of the blast would start to ram into Kerrim's figure, pushing him further back. He gritted his teeth in pain, trying to hold it in, but failing to do so as more and more of the attacks met with his person. "AGH!" Kerrim shouted.

In the moment's of the continuous attack, the force of some of the blast caused the man's body to tilt. Kerrim would generate shadows upon the length of Mistilteinn, the length of the sword would seemingly grow to the point it reached through the barrage of light orbs. The blackness of the extended sword would take a form different that of it's source. Instead of having the body of a rapier, the mass of darkness would instead take the appearance of a sword designed to cut in place of thrusting "Stance 1 — Extending World; Morallta!". Kerrim would rotate his body even further in an attempt to behead Schmitty with the force and might, he augmented the power of his attack even further by drenching it in Busoshoku Haki, this being what allowed it to persist amongst the light show that was Schmitty's attack.

As Morallta came around, Schmitty would raise one of his hands to block the sword. His hand also being covered in Haki as to parry Kerrim's own. The collision of the two forces generated a powerful gust, yet it only existed long enough to cause Schmitty's hair to waver before it was hushed. While Kerrim failed in injuring Schmitty, he succeeded in stopping the assault of light orbs, Morallta essentially distracting Schmitty to the point he stopped using his Pacifista abilities.

Kerrim would take this opening as an opportunity. He converted the lower half of his body into darkness, allowing him to achieve the flight that most other Logia users could obtain. Kerrim blitzed towards Schmitty, holding Mistilteinn in position to thrust and impale the Marine. The speed he propelled himself with would be impossible for most people to react to, even experienced combatants would find themselves struggling to it.

Schmitty however, had faced worst. His electronic scope could detect quicker. Schmitty swiped one of his hands horizontally. A second seemed to pass by, but it was all subjective to perspective. From it leapt forward a crescent shaped wave of light. Yet, unlike the light beforehand that was yellow in hue, this blast was black, showing that it had been bathed in the power of Haki.

Kerrim took note that the attack was coated in Haki, and he had been too close to dodge. His best course of action had been to block. He took Mistilteinn in a vertical position, using it to parry the attack. The collision came, and Kerrim was spared being severed in half by it's force. However, the speed and power of the blast was such that it continued to carry him with it even as he tried to block.

Kerrim needed a way to stop the blast. No. He needed a way to overpower it. He had only one option. One he hadn't used since his battle with Hikaru Aretha. Kerrim took in a deep breath, time seeming to slow for the man. If it hadn't been for his hat, one would quickly notice that his hair started to be pushed up by some strong generation of power. Kerrim's body produced a massive amount of blackness. The dark energy of the abyss started to coat the entirety of his body. No. It surrounded his body. It took the form of a orb of darkness, incubating the beast that would soon arise from it's core.

The orb of darkness began to pulsate, the crescent wave of energy being halted in it's path as the powerful beasts within begun to assert it's dominance. The pulsating purple energy throbbed against the shell of darkness, growing brighter and brighter as the seconds go by. The purple energy coursing through the shell suddenly began to grow. It appeared heavily reminiscent of cracks. And as one would expect, it truly did begin to crack open the black orb. And slowly, it would reveal the monster that had been born from it's well of boundless power. Malphas.

"RAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!" Malphas let loose it's deadly roar. It had been sealed within the darkness since Kerrim had clashed with the Sirens. And as one would expect, it was eager to do more damage since it had been benched. It's wings of darkness grew upon it's shoulders, Malphas leapt forward in a frenzy of rage and bloodlust, tearing through the air and space between itself and Schmitty with the desire to tear the Marine asunder.

Schmitty marveled at the monstrosity raging towards him, having a desire to slay it and claim the monster's head for itself. From Schmitty's right hand, light began to glow down it's length. It would eventually grow past his hand, manifesting into a sword of light that attached itself to the man's arm. "So this is the monstrosity you truly are, Mauricio Kerrim. I'll end you here and now! Fade back into the darkness, forever forgotten!" Schmitty contested.

Schmitty leapt forward in an instant to meet Malphas half way. It was Schmitty's sword of light versus the elongated claws of Malphas. The clash would be deadly. Anticipation rose from everyone in fear of what would come next.

Then, the meeting of the two forces came. It was swift, clean, and soundless. Their backs faced one another, both seeming to look on, waiting to hear who would succumb to the clash first. Moments went by, neither of the two forces budging. That was, however, until a massive cut appeared on the abdominal region of Malphas's body. The cut wasn't followed with anything besides the visible damage that was easily observable on the creature's body.

"Should've aimed higher." Malphas, no, Kerrim spoke. His voice was distorted due to the shadows and Haki that existed between himself and the outside world. The shadows and Haki that made up Malphas's body.

Directly after that, Schmitty's head would begin to slide off his torso. It would fall onto the ground with a metallic thud, like someone kicked a tin can. From the body, blood would erupt from where Schmitty's head once stood like a geyser. Schmitty's body would then fall over, losing the source of it's motor function.

Malphas bothered not to rejoice in it's victory. Instead, it leapt into the air. Using it's weight like it's own form of strength, although there wasn't much weight in the first place, Malphas came down to stomp Schmitty's head to smithereens. It's foot stopped right before it would smash upon the defeated Marine's skull. Something came upon it, causing Malphas to tilt it's head back. The darkness that made up it's body began to fade, returning to it's source; Kerrim.

Kerrim looked down at Schmitty's beheaded body, then at the skull that laid beneath his feet. He moved his foot clear of the man's head, leaning down to pick it up. "A cyborg...no wonder." Kerrim spoke, he looked back at the Marines behind him, the subordinates shaking in their boots that were too fearful to fight back. "This could be quite helpful actually. I hope you all don't mind that I borrow this? It could be, quite resourceful." Kerrim's question was rhetorical. He would have taken Schmitty's cranium with him even if one of the subordinates were ballsy enough to speak up.

"Well, I guess no time better than now to visit my favorite broker." Kerrim spoke. Wings of darkness etched themselves into existence on the man's back. They weren't needed. But the flair was much better.

The White Crow & A Red Feather
Tch

Kerrim walked through the small, uninhabited island, still spitting out some of the blood that had begun to leak due to his battle with Schmitty. He'd left the head of the Marine back on his ship, not wanting to alarm his acquaintance with it's appearance. Nevertheless, he'd switched out into one of his other outfits, appearing the exact same as his usual attire. But of course he owned more than one. All great businessmen had a back up suit just in case. And if they didn't, were they truly great businessmen?

Nevertheless, the pain still tore at Kerrim's body. He gritted his teeth, momentarily stopping in his movements. He put his hands on a tree, using it to support his own weight. Kerrim panted, holding his chest briefly. "He did more damage than I thought." Kerrim spoke, a soft vibration coming from his body.

"Of course I noticed his aura fading."

Another pulse.

"We'll worry about it later."

Kerrim managed to pick his body up, despite the aches, and started to move towards his destination. There, Red Feather would reach a massive opening. He stood steadily, feeling around for the individual he'd been meeting in this secluded area.

Seemingly out of thin air, a hand waved at Kerrim, it was a dark armored, though, a white sleeve could already be seen around its wrist. "KAKAKAKAKA!" That laughter was certainly unique throughout the New World. From the arm, a shoulder appeared, then a white-haired head, and the rest of the person's body, claid in dark armor and a white jacket.

"To think you'd invite me to this secluded island, kaka!" Qasarhog Yanbaal, a towering man who was part of the Shichibukai and held a bounty of 400,000,000. "Since it is youuu, there is no reason for me to even bother with formalities! What is it that'd you want, Red Feather?" Yanbaal floated, crossing one leg over the other and his arms as well.

Indeed, they would probably be using their Underworld names, but, they were already meeting in quite a secluded place, so that seemed enough.

Kerrim gave a soft sigh, mostly out of relief for seeing that Yanbaal had truly come to meet him. The Shichibukai were an odd bunch, and not really trusted on neither side. Their words came and went like the wind, so anything dealing with them were huge gambits. But thankfully, Kerrim's paid off. "Firstly, I'd like to thank you for coming, Yanbaal."

Kerrim looked behind himself, noticing a rock. He moved back to sit on it, holding his chest ever so slightly as not to alert Yanbaal to his condition all too much. He gritted slightly, yet held most of the pain in as he sat. "I've called you out here to address something you mentioned back during out attack upon the Xros's Numerals. I wanted to talk with you about it then and there, but my-" Kerrim cleared his throat, another sting in his chest. "-my poor friend Kenshiro wanted to run his mouth more than listen. An annoying fault of his. Nevertheless, you offered information on the Numerals, saying you'd only say whatever I found."

Kerrim removed his hat, his jet black hair caught breezes blowing through as he fanned himself slightly, placing his prized accessory upon his head once more as he continued. "I act not that you give me more than you're comfortable with, only that you allow me to gain some information on at least one of those monsters. And perhaps I'll be able to return the favor in the long run. Is it a deal?"

"KAKAKAKA!" Yanbaal shrugged while allowing the biggest of smiles to print over his face, flashing his teeth, whiter than his cloak or his paper, to Kerrim. "You speak very formally, Red Feather, but that's not any surprise, don't print that." He floated even higher in the air, this time, laying down on it much like it was solid.

Head resting against his palm, Yanbaal continued to speak. "I can surely give YOOOOU the information about one of those monsters, why not," Suddenly, Yanbaal rotated while standing in that specific position. "BUT," A breath, he stopped, "I get to choose. How is that?! KAKAKAKAKA!!"

"Formal...I guess it's a habit." Kerrim spoke quietly to himself. Yanbaal gave his demands, to be able to choose which of the Numerals he'd give information on. It was a gambit, any information on those individuals was worth noting, but Kerrim wanted something on two people specifically.

His hat etched a shadow across his face, and as Kerrim peeled back, he held a smile much like Yanbaal's own. His eyes seemed to close as his smile pushed his face upwards, but Kerrim wasn't to let his guard down. "I can work with that, yea." Kerrim's smile settled, his gaze on Yanbaal, awaiting a response.

Yanbaal rose his left eyebrow for a second, that very eye not leaving Kerrim's form for the time. "KAKAKAKAKA!" He only laughed. "Good, good," Several nods were given with each word, he extended his arms and palms. "Pay attention, I'll be printing you information on..."

Yet again, Yanbaal seemed to take a pause, though, the way he just stood there was like he was frozen in time itself. "KAKAKAKA!!" The environment almost exploded with his suddenness. "Hikaru Arethaaaaa!" He clapped, left hand high in the air and right one clapping downwards. "The one you've fought, of course, what best option?!" Yanbaal looked at Kerrim. "What exactly did you think you'd like to know?"