| Role-Play |
| Metrics |
| Below the Clouds is an article written by EmperorSigma. |
| Role-Play Name: Below the Clouds Date Started: October 8, 2019 |
Back to the Blue Sea[]
One week earlier...
Amaka walked through the doors Legs' marvelous estate. She said nothing to any of the Royal Guard but they knew her well enough to not stop her. They'd met Amaka plenty of times in the past and each time she was granted access by their queen. Why would today be any different? She had a stern look on her face and they didn't want to get in the way of that.
Reaching Koyuki's office, Amaka was quiet to begin with. She held her hands up and looked at them from front and back. It appeared as though she'd been looking for something, but she found nothing. She finally broke her silence with a sad face.
"I apologize, Princess Koyuki." Amaka said, eyes locked onto Koyuki though not in an intimidating manner. In a more respectful manner. "If I could have.. if I would have chosen to not be selfish and raise that lot, this would have never happened. For you know, Lucas was a great comrade of mine as well."
Koyuki looked down at Amaka from her desk.
"Amaka, as you know, there is no need for you to apologize for the sin of another. You especially know how I feel in regards to that....Lucas fought until the end. That is what he wanted."
The purple-haired pirate couldn't help but to feel bad. She was aware of Lucas' illness and had plans to go and visit him, but due to the clog of events she just couldn't. Amaka had traveled from almost the other side of the World just to see Koyuki and speak on this matter because, while Koyuki didn't say it, Amaka knew that Koyuki wanted much more than an apology.
"Every member of the Black Widow Pirates is your family, just as every member of the Royal Pirates were my sisters. Those that hurt our family are burdened with the debt of having to repay that hurt with their own blood. I stand behind that philosophy one hundred percent and refuse to have you change that philosophy for a Zombified comrade."
Without another word, Amaka reached to her hip and threw both of her blades to the ground. She reached inside her pockets and threw her seastone bullets next to her swords and held her arms out. "But, despite my son's sins, I can not allow him to be killed. As a mother, I want to protect my children with every breath in me."
Amaka extended her arms out to her side, "Please, Koyuki, as a friend. Do not spare Kobe's life for free, but in the place of my own. The sins of a child rest on the parents until that child has reached adulthood. For that I am willing to meet the Grim Reaper once more if it means I have completed my protective duties as a mother until my dying breath."
"....." Koyuki was appalled. So, this was a mother's love. Even Amaka, a warrior beyond all other had no choice but to fall prey to her maternal instincts. She had already died once fulfilling her motherly duties, and here she was ready to do it all again.
"Amaka, it seems I've misjudged the situation. For the time being, I'll put a temporary hold Kobe's execution. I won't execute you either. Not now."
From the sky, a vessel collided with the Blue Sea in the form of an explosion which caused an eruption thanks to the opposing force against the ocean. The ship rocked and on the deck of it laid a dark-skinned purple-haired teen, bleeding profusely from an open wound across his chest.
The ship's flag blew in the wind, a skull and crossbones resting in front of an array of clouds—the Jolly Roger of the Cloud Pirates. The boy lying on the deck, fighting for his life, was none other than Bryant D. Kobe the Captain of this ship. He gasped for air, struggling to life his hand up and allowing a clouded substance to spit from his hand in the form of a single giant cloud that almost covered the entire ship.
As the cloud faded, Mont Blanc Drake and Badger Charlotte both appeared. Drake had been on a single knee, his hand resting over his eye that had been temporarily dealt with by Charlotte. The duo wasted no time rushing over to their fallen Captain. "Captain!" They shouted in unison, happy to be back at his side.
"Oh no," Charlotte began, eyes looking from one end of Kobe's wound to the other. Though it wasn't as big as it could have been, it was much deeper than she had imagined and could see from her previous distance.
Drake looked to Charlotte, placing his mallet onto the deck to use as some sort of prop to hold himself up. "What is it?" Drake asked, ready to lend his hand in any way possible.
Before responding, Charlotte looked to her left and right. At the front of the ship, she saw a bag. A bag that had been prepared for her by the people of Angel Island. She wondered if they had stocked it with medical supplies, but she couldn't take such a risk at the moment. Reaching into her pocket, she drew a dial. "I need to close the wound, even if temporary!" With the dial in her hand, Charlotte pressed down on the release button while tracing his wound releasing a thick cloud from the device.
Almost instantly the blood is sucked up by the clouds, but they served as a temporarily gauze and bandaid to close Kobe's wound. "If he hadn't sucked us into that Sky Dimension, he'd be okay.." Charlotte thought to herself, panting as though she had used any bit of extra work.
"He lost a lot of blood." She said to Drake. "He's going to need a doctor, otherwise... he won't make it."
Drake bit his lip, "Damn.. I knew I should have grabbed him and ran when I had the chance." the First Mate couldn't help but to feel as though it were his fault.
"It is not your fault, Drake. I warned Kobe of the outcome and he was aware. He must've taken the best route he could." Charlotte added, eyes locked onto her Captain. "We need to get him to a doctor or a blood donor asap." Charlotte instructed.
With a simple nod, Drake lifted himself to his feet and took the helm. Another cloud appeared and from it revealed a Marine. It seemed even in his near-dead state, Kobe wanted to help his crew in every way he could. "Where's the nearest island!" Drake asked in an intimidating manner towards the Marine.
"From here," The Marine said, looking left and right. "The nearest island is about a kilometer from here. However, the waves here are very violent and sea kings are abundant. It'll be hard to get there without a proper navigator, Drake sir!"
Cursing, Drake spun the helm and manned the ship. "Our navigator is currently fighting for his life." Drake shouted, "I'll guide the Flying Nimbus!"
While Drake guided the ship, Charlotte sat at Kobe's side. Her hands pressed against his wounds with enough pressure and under the assumption, that she could halt the bleeding. "Hold on, Kobe!"
---
The Cloud Pirates' journey on the sea was an easy one. Luckily, the weather and ocean currents were on their side long enough for them to reach the nearest island in question. At the spotting of land, through his single eye, Drake wasted no time in guiding the ship in that direction.
"Land ahead, Char!" Drake shouted, physically ordering the ship to move towards it.
It didn't take long for Drake to dock the Nimbus and as such, he rushed over to Charlotte's side ready to lend his helping hand. During that entire ride, Charlotte kept Kobe from closing his eyes by engaging in conversation with him. He hadn't given her any verbal responses, but the fact she continued to ask him questions kept his mind stimulating enough so that he wouldn't pass out. She also kept the pressure on his chest and had managed to temporarily halt the bleeding but if she moved even an inch it'd all spill out.
"Drake, we need a way to move myself and Kobe as a single unit so that I can continue to apply pressure to his wound. I fear that if I remove my hand, then we will suffer misfortune." Though it was an unwanted ending, Charlotte felt it would be best to give it to Drake straight. That was the kind of woman she was.
Again, Drake gave her a nod and took no time to back talk. It wasn't about him. No, not this situation at least. This was all about Kobe and what they could do as a team--no--a crew in order to save their captain. Cuffing his hands, he lifted both Charlotte and Kobe from the deck together and placed them onto his giant-like broad shoulder.
With a single step, his foot left the Flying Nimbus and landed on the earth with his other foot following. Without another wasted second, Drake ran along the passage to the town looking to the citizens around. "Excuse me!" He shouted to a group of townfolk. "Doctor? Can you point me to a doctor!?"
He either got the silent treatment or people were outright terrified of him. Many read the newspapers in the past, they were well aware of Drake's background and felt it would be best to keep their distance. Even then, Drake continued to run around the town hoping. Just hoping that someone would set aside their fears and lend a hand not to him, but to his captain at the very least.
"Why?" He asked, peeking through the window of a doctor's office who'd flicked their lights off on sight of the Titan. If he really wanted to, Drake could have reached to his back, grabbed his mallet, and destroyed half the town since they all wanted to ignore him, but what would that solve in this current moment? Nothing.
Charlotte rubbed her hand along the back of Drake's head. "Calm down, Drake. If you get too anxious and rowdy, you'll begin to feel the only route is violence. It's best you control that anger."
The red-haired Mont Blanc heeded Charlotte's advice and continued his endless journey. In about ten minutes, Drake had approached nearly every open doctor's office he could, only to be rejected. The crew had come to a dead end and Charlotte's arms began to slowly tire out.
Drake and Charlotte sighed in unison. They had nothing more they could do, but neither wanted to give up. "You can't hope to get help on this island." The smothered voice of someone stuffing their mouth said below them.
As the Cloud Pirates would look down, they would see a little green-haired girl holding a lollipop in her mouth. "She slipped here? I didn't sense her a moment ago..." Charlotte thought to herself, keeping the pressure on Kobe's wound but to be honest, her arms could give out at any moment.
"Is this island looked over by the Marines?" Drake asked.
"Mhm!" The girl said, almost as though she were excited. "It's probably why a lot of people shut you out. The Marines are here regularly and if they see anyone even conversating with a Pirate.. they'll cut protections from it. So they rather not take the risk."
Then she disappeared. Reappearing on Drake's shoulder looking over Charlotte's own to the injured Kobe. "Oh, your friends hurt really bad. Mind if I-"
"You may not!" Drake shouted, lifting his opposing hand to reach over and flick the girl from his shoulder.
"She can." Charlotte said and with those set of words, Drake lowered his hand. Though Drake was not fully trustworthy of this "wisdow" Kobe claimed that Charlotte possessed, he remembered that had it not been for her, Kobe would have died a while ago and felt he owed her at least that.
The green-head walked around Charlotte and took a knee at Kobe's side. Reaching into her mouth, she pulled her lollipop out and extended it out towards Charlotte, non-verbally asking her to hold it. "Don't lick it!"
Interlocking her fingers, the small girl cracked them and then held her palm out. "Healing: Aloe Vera..." She uttered as a stem of Aloe Vera sprout from her palm. Splitting it in half with her nail, she lifted Charlotte's hand up and rubbed the opened plan up along Kobe's wound.
"Healing: English Marigold" she uttered again, an orange marigold appearing in her opposing palm. Smashing both of her palms together, the girl smeared the flower. "Can you open his mouth, please?" Squeezing her hand together, a small droplet of liquid fell between the crack and into Kobe's mouth.
With a smile, she reached for her lollipop and stood back to her feet. "That's a pretty big wound, ya' know. He'll be fine though, I'm sorta' doctor. I'd suggest taking him back to the ship, he's gonna' need a lot of rest."
Drake and Charlotte both smiled, "Thank you."
Rising Cloud[]
The group had returned to their ship where Kobe had been laid down to rest. Charlotte prepared a meal for the group while Drake spent time recouping and aiding to his own eye. About two hours had passed since they met the little girl who'd claimed she helped heal Kobe, but there was no immediate sign of his awakening.
After patching up his eye, Drake moved to tweak and tinker his mallet in ways that could benefit him. He learned, though he only struck once, that his linear roundabout tactics would no longer be useful on the sea.
Crawling onto his shoulder like a rodent, the green-haired girl seemed to have chosen to stick around the group. "Hey!" She said, eyes following whatever it was Drake had been focused on. "Oh, you're fixing your weapon?" She asked, tongue sliding up and down the base of the popsicle given to her by Charlotte.
"Yeah.." He said, twirling its handle within his grasp. "Mjollnir has been through a lot, but the foreseeable future tells me it'll need more changes if I would like to use it on the upcoming enemies."
The girl smiled, "I see, that's nice. But how do you swing such a thing around? It looks like it'd be so difficult!" She pointed her free hand to herself, "A little lady like me would never be able to wield something so barbaric." Frowning slightly, "The size may be a hindering point for you, ya know!"
Suddenly, the sound of shouting could be heard as a flame-haired girl walked throughout the docks as each step she took caused the once damp wood to suddenly dry up. The young woman stopped in front of the ship belonging to the Cloud Pirates and shouted out fiercely, "I know you are up there, Flora! What the hell are you doing on this ship?"
Crawling her way up to Drake's head, the green-haired girl stood on it as though it were a canvas made for that very purpose. With her hand on her forehead, she looked to the dock and could see the red-head calling her name. Before responding, she licked her popsicle once again. "Hey, Flannery!" She screamed, waving in the process. "I had to help this pirate kid! He was in pretty bad shape!"
She then swung her hand as though she wanted her to board the ship. "Come on! There's a young lady here! She's super nice!"
The door on the ship flung open and from behind it emerged Charlotte. "Kobe is waking up!" Turning to run back into the room, Flora leaped from Drake's head while Drake positioned himself to peek into the room.
Head throbbing, Kobe lifted his left hand and gripped his forehead. "Damn, my head hurtin' like hell." He said, golden gaze falling upon Charlotte and Flora, the latter he had never met before. "Oh would you look at that, I ain't dead! And who're you, kid?" Kobe asked, eyebrow lifting at the young girl.
Charlotte smiled wide, "She is Feeld Flora. She was the one responsible for your recovering. She has a rather useful power."
"Yup, that's me! Feeld Flora! But don't ask me how old I am, I older than you think!" She exclaimed, licking the popsicle once again before giving Kobe a wink.
"I ain't gonna question anyone with the power to heal my wound. Clahahahahaha!" Kobe laughed, smirking while slowly regaining his sanity. It felt as though the world's gravity had increased, he struggled to breathe or even move for that manner, so he opted to remain in his spot on the couch.
Drake met Kobe's laugh with his own, "Mahahahahaha, it's good to see ya back up. I thought for sure we lost ya, Kobe."
"Ha, it's gone take more than that to keep me down."
Flora walked over to Kobe, licking her popsicle in the process. "Hey... Kobe? I read about you in the newspaper, ya' know. They've said some terrifying things about you. Destroyer... blah blah blah... "Gawd" blah blah blah... But you seem like a pretty good guy.. in your own way."
Kobe grinned, "There's one thing," Kobe said, pausing before stretching and letting out a sigh. "The media paints me in the way I want them to. They may think they're doin' it how they want, but everything they write about me is being controlled by me. I am a good guy, a good bad guy."
"I see..." Flora said, word dragging as she held her popsicle tight in her grip. "My friend and I, Flannery.. We've been looking for a place to call home. Everywhere we go, we are chased out just because the "World Government" has something out for her. I could just separate from her, but what kind of friend would I be?"
Giggling, Flora continued on. "I want to know, can we join your crew. Flannery is really strong, like really strong! She has a 
70,000,000 bounty, but she can't provide much beyond combative capabilities. But just as Char said, I'm a doctor. I can heal just about any wound you suffer from... just try not to get another Yonko-level one."
"Clahahahahahahahaha!" Kobe laughed, leaning back in the couch to sulk with excitement. "I never thought my doctor would be someone so little!" Slowly rising to his feet, Kobe walked over to the door and Drake moved aside for his captain to reach the deck. Charlotte and Flora both followed behind him. Turning his head slightly, Kobe looked to Drake and held his fist out hoping to give his First Mate a fist bump to which Drake returned.
Flannery had already infiltrated his deck and Kobe looked her in her eye. Holding his hand out, Kobe created a Nimbus cloud underneath his feet so that he could sit on it. "Today is a great day..." Kobe said, guiding the cloud to the upper deck of his ship so that he could see the whole group. "Yer damn right ye can join my crew, Flora and yer friend Flannery!"
Looking down he asked, "What'dya say, Flannery?"
Flannery blinked in surprise at the sudden request, having not expected Kobe to make such a bold statement. Staring at him with a fiery look, a devilish grin spread across her face. "Do I wanna join the crew of someone who is crazy enough to attack a Yonko? Of course, I fucking do!" Flannery said with enthusiasm, her grin getting wider with each passing second. This is what she had been looking for. A person who wasn't afraid to change the world and showed no fear. Like the stories of the Strawhat Pirates she had grown up on.
Getting up close up in his face, she continued with her grin. "Just know if this journey becomes boring or you turn out to be a chicken-shit, I'll leave you and take Flora with me."
"Clahahahaha!" Kobe laughed, squinting his eyes slightly in pain. "Then it's about time I reveal yer names. Drake, ye are "Ares". Charlotte, ye are "Athena". Flannery, you are "Hestia". And finally, Flora ye'll be Demeter." Looking up at the sky, he clawed his hands as though he tried gripping the air. "If yer think this'll be borin' then yer wrong. But for now, we gotta lay low. Marines gonna' be on our ass soon. I'm sure this shit'll hit the news real quick, aye?"
Flannery picked her ear in a lackadaisical manner, digging out a piece of earwax and flung it overboard without care, unknowingly hitting a passing pelican in the face as it crashed into the building. Turning her attention back towards Kobe, she clicked her teeth in exasperation before saying. "That is true. At the most, you've got a day or two since your actions would have drawn the attention of the Marines and there is no way the news could resist a scoop like this. We could bring you guys back to where we are staying until we can sail out but it might be cramped."
"Naaaah!" Kobe said, pulling his Marine coat from his Sky Dimension. "We've got tha' Flying Nimbus right here. 'Nuff rooms for tha' all of us here. There's stuff I've gotta' finish workin' on here. But since I have quite a few members to start with, I guess its time I tell you all about a project I'd like to begin before we get into the New World."
Charlotte's eyes squinted as she locked her gaze upon Kobe's still injured figure trying to figure out how he even possessed the will to move. She had no intention of cutting him off and asking, but deep down inside she wanted to suggest that her captain should get a bit more rest before he continued more work. That was just the kind of care she had for him and whether or not it had been a hint of love would have to be left up for time to tell.
"We are listening." She said.
Drake, on the other hand, remained silent and had been so since the awakening of his Captain. He wasn't a man of many words and instead prided himself on his strength, though after being unable to protect the man he called his "captain" he felt as though he hadn't much room to speak. One eye closed and the other opened, he just looked at Kobe and waited for him to continue on.
All while everyone had their individual thoughts, there was Flora, who'd grown a stalk that carried her up to Kobe where she'd find a seat on his fluffy cloud "Nimbus". She tossed and turned in the clouds as though she were an infant trying her best not to interfere with Kobe.
Project: WILD[]
"Good," Kobe started before transitioning into his signature laugh. "Tha' journeys gonna' have to come to a halt for tha' time being as our time will be spent recruiting members and allies for the Cloud Pirates and work on further developin' tha' technology I've begun." Kobe then reached into his pocket and drew the "Artificial Dial" he created on Skypiea.
"We won't stop until tha' Artificial Dial is fully functional and able ta' support tha' Flying Nimbus on its own. But, like I said... Our main priority... Project: WILD, tha' creation of artificial Paramecia Devil Fruits. CLAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"The creation of artificial what?!" Flannery shouted in surprise, eyes widening. She unknowingly clenched her fist tightly before she took a deep breath to calm herself down. She stared at Kobe with an uncharacteristically serious look on her face before she laughed. "Netsusususu! That's a great way to shake up the world! Though, you would have to find some way to manipulate the Lineage Factor of a person to replicate the Paramecia Devil Fruit's ability."
Kobe smiled a wide smile. "Aye, that factor would be necessary if I were tryin' ta' achieve somethin' on tha' scale of full-body manipulation like a Zoan. But I ain't." Holding his left hand up, clouds generated and fruit appeared in his palm. "Ye seem a bit more educated than yer look," His eyebrow lifted following that claim. "Aye, I'm smarter than I look too. Ohhh tha' irony."
Gripping the base of the fruit in his hand, he held it up for all of his crew to see. "I'm from tha' Cloudia Kingdom, come from a long line of Innovators, Scientist, and Doctors in this Kingdom. My devil fruit is like tha' sacred treasure of tha' kingdom passed down through tha' generations to he who's supposed to lead the Kingdom. Some dumbarses stole the fruit before it could be eaten... Aye, this ain't got nothing to do with Project: WILD. Aye, I'm sorry, clahahahaha."
"Like I said, my people are innovators and scientists. I was brought up on these typa' teachins'. Since a youngin', I been fascinated with that devil fruit. We have an annual "Invention Convention" where we show off our creations and the most unique or helpful is tha' winner. I created the WILD using an unorthodox formula of the Lineage Factor. It was... a success for tha' most part, aye? 'Cept tha' bitch I fed tha' fruit too was too weak and went on a rampage like. Meds said he lost his sanity or some shit and told me I could never make another WILD again.. it was too dangerous in tha' wrong hands. They destroyed all of my files them claimed they "didn't want tha' world government to get their hands on it". Bullshit, aye?"
Frowning, Kobe placed his gaze back upon his crewmates. "Sounded like bullshit if ya' ask me." he then smiled again, "But aye! I'll perfect it this time, aye!"
"Sounds like a tall fucking order and if you were anyone else, I would tell ya to stick your idea up your ass," Flannery said as if she was talking about the weather. "However, you seem to actually know what you are doing and aren't a total psycho like the last people. So, I'm willing to help ya out! What do you think, Flora?"
Rolling around on Kobe's cloud, Flora began to grip the clouds as though they were cotton candy, rubbing them against her face as she cuddled with them. "Sooooo fluffy...." She said, face red from the comfort of the Nimbus. "Potential, yes. But I do agree with the Scholars of his Kingdom, it'll be very sought out by the World Government. Whether its for the better or the rest, it'll cause problems for him soon."
"I agree." Charlotte said, hands resting on her waist. "Flora-chan is correct," Her eyes followed the fruit Kobe held in his hand. "It is possible especially after seeing what you are capable of, Kobe. But it will bring great misfortune to your journey and make it even more difficult."
She then turned to Drake, "What are your thoughts, Drake?"
The red-haired man hummed. "Hm... I'm not to sure of it. I know there exist other artificial devil fruits; SMILE and ACE. Zoan and Logia respectively... but I never really thought of a Paramecia-type." He rubbed the end of his mallet. "I am willing to follow Kobe regardless."
Flora looked to Kobe, "Okay, but how do you plan on regaining your lost formula for WILD? Gonna be hard since you said they trashed it all." She asked.
"Clahahahahaha!" Kobe continued to hold the fruit up high as though he were some sort of evil scientist because, in essence, he actually was. "Yer don't need documents." he began, eyes squinting slightly before bringing his free head to the side of his head and tapping his temple. "When everything is in tha' head."
- Meanwhile at the Cloudia Kingdom...
Buster D. Amaka stood in the Royal Palace of the Skye Family, her arms folded across her chest as she looked to the woman sitting at the desk with blood-red hair. The duo spent quite a while just staring at each other, though both had different reasons for doing so. Amaka wanted to say something, but she felt as though what she wanted to speak about would be rude to open up with and instead waited for the woman to open up first.
"When Roselia said you were alive, I couldn't believe it. Even for me, a scientist who specializes in biology, I could not fathom that fact. But then she said she met you once you had become a Shichibukai and the joy in her voice couldn't have put me at more of an ease."
Amaka's expression remained blank, "Yes, meeting with Roselia once again lit a kindle to my heart. However, Skye Roserade, I am here seeking information on another matter."
Roserade sighed and then placed her hands on her desk. "Yeah, I figured once you came here with that expression on your face... You want information on, Bryant D. Kobe, right?" Pushing her chair back, Roserade stood to her feet and walked from behind the desk. She then reached into her pocket and pressed a button and upon its pressing, the wall behind the duo collapsed revealing a hidden room.
"Come along with me, Amaka. I will tell you everything." Walking forward, Roserade entered the room and the first noticeable thing the dup would meet were the many images of Roserade and Kobe hung all over the walls.
With a quick glance, Amaka took it upon herself to approach the small desk in the room. There was a framed image of Amaka and Kobe. They were not in the same image, but more so a split picture that someone had pieced together themselves.
"I've read every bit of news that has Kobe's name on it." Roserade began, sliding her hand across the table against the far wall that contained many test tubes and other tools used by scientists. "As a young boy, Kobe had a mind that surprised even the most revered scholars of this Kingdom. His mind would never stop going, he invented things like potato guns, mechanical gadgets would perform basic functions in the lab for him and even make all types of chemicals. He took up meteorology as a specialty very young, learning the wind currents and other weather-related information in a short amount of time, earning him an internship among the scholars. Even though he had a grand mind, he always came off as a dunce at times."
"I pushed it off as him being a bit too smart for his own good and thought it had something to do with his dyslexia." Roserade lifted the "potato gun" Kobe created and handed it to Amaka for her to grasp. "He used to always say 'I'm gonna' be the best! I'm gonna be even better than you, momma!' every time he'd run to me with one of his new inventions. No matter what it was, he always felt he was the best at doing it."
Roserade giggle while she and Amaka continued to look around the room filled with inventions of Kobe. "The better his inventions became, the higher his ego did. Though it didn't become prominent until he turned nine, Kobe had always possessed a bit of a God complex, looking down on those who he deemed not better than him." Her giggle quickly became a sigh, "At that point, he became hard to raise, but with that, he was still deemed next in line for a fruit the Cloudia Kingdom passes down through the generations to the "best" scientist: Kumo Kumo no Mi.
Flannery blinked in surprise at the revelation of Kobe's knowledge regarding Project: Wild. It was impressive to know he was capable of remembering the formula used within the experiment to create Artifical Paramecia Devil Fruits and certainly made the goal more realistic in her eyes. Though, there were several issues she had with it. "So, where the hell are we gonna get the money in order to fund this project and Project: WILD? No offense but that's a rather boring name for something so big." Flannery said, scratching her head in thought.
"Captain, I'll have to agree with Flannery on that regard." Finally, Drake had spoken in his own regard without needing to be addressed and it was to agree with Flannery's statement. "You should rename it, WILD is rather unpleasing."
"It ain't like ye to be vocal, Drake. Is it really that damn bad?" Kobe tapped his finger against his temple as Flora continued to cuddle around on his cloud. "A'right, a'right!" Kobe said, twirling the fruit on the tip of his finger as though it were a ball. "What about callin' 'em JOKERs? Some shit to do with tha' originator of artificial devil fruits, Donquixote?" Smiling, Kobe looked for approval from the rest of his crew.
Eyes rolling, Charlotte poked her hips out and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "JOKER seems to have more of a meaning, I approve it, Kobe. If you plan on selling these products, the name alone would also bring more customers. You may have just come up with a ten times better name."
"I agree," Drake said.
Flannery grinned as she punched her fist in her palm, resulting in an explosion of heat and fire. "I like it. So, we've got the damn name fixed." She paused for a moment before speaking up once more. "So, where exactly are we gonna run this whole operation? The World Government is already looking for ya and if I overheard correctly, ya pissed off one of the Yonko."
"Ha, pssshhh.." Kobe released a breeze of air from his mouth, turning his head away from Flannery while waving his wrist. "Yer can always tie up loose ends, tha' Yonko can be repleased!" The ebony then lowered his hand. "What'dya mean where? This all started in my damn room at the Cloudia Kingdom, I can do this shit anywhere! Yer got my shit, can rent a plot..." Kobe paused as a lightbulb switched on in his head.
"Yer know... I might just have a new place for us." The cloud he sat about branched off into a stream onto the deck before the rest of his crew.
Seeing this, Flora lifted herself up to crawl along it's soft make until she had reached the deck herself and walked over to Charlotte. Gripping onto Charlotte's leg, she pulled on the Skylander's pants leg.
At the end of the cloud's stream, a Marine appear hand resting at his forehead as he had been ready to abide by Kobe's orders. He had been one of the many Kobe held captive to do a few things and guide him in ways and things he had been unfamiliar with. "Lieutenant Cruise here, sir!" The marine said, ready to take his orders.
"Aye, give me the information on Mount Olympus," Kobe brought his hand up to his chest and rubbed his bandaged wound slightly. "My damned chest is startin' to hurt!"
Reaching for his tie, the Marine fixed it so it sat in the middle of his chest. "Mount Olympus is a mountain-like island that reaches past 7,000 meters in the air. It is uncharted territory, guarded by the Giants and tons of other mysterious creatures. It is located on the opposing side of the red line from the Holy Land. The hazards and obstacles that occur when attempting to reach the mountain are too severe and not worth the risk." He had finally ended.
"Aye, yer see? It has hazards and obstacles that only a Navi can get yer through." Kobe looked left and right with a big smile, "And who's the Navigator? Me! I control tha' weather! Only yers truly can get us there!"
Base on the Peak[]
Two weeks had pasted since Kobe and the Cloud Pirates had decided they'd set out on their journey to conquer Mount Olympus. As he mentioned, Kobe reached out to an old friend of his Benjamin Tabart who'd said he'd meet with Kobe at Ninden Island an island that had been a few kilometers away from the mountain. He'd also met with Himeji Silas, a member of his crew who hadn't seen in a few days catching him up to speed with his "master plan" and what they'd been destined to do.
While they waited for Tabart, Kobe tasked his crewmates with gathering things such as food, clothing, and medical items that would help aid them in caring for his wound that even to this day continued to cause him great pain. At random times it found ways to leak blood and to be honest, it began to piss the ebony teen off.
Resting on the couch in the main gathering area of the Flying Nimbus, Charlotte stood over Kobe applying new bandages to his chest. "Thank you, Char!" Kobe exclaimed, rubbing her hand before removing it from his chest to sit up.
"You should be fine for quite a white. Flora-chan will bring you more plants to help treat it. For now, you should rest up for the journey. You're going to need to be actively watching the sea the entire time and rest is a big part of that." Charlotte suggested, but she had already known what Kobe what do.
"Yer right!" Kobe said, lifting himself to his feet before dropping his hand to Charlotte's head. "But I gotta start on tha' map. I've got it all already remember, but yer need to chart a map for safekeepin'."
In the midst of their conversation, the doors of the ship flung up. "We're back, Captain Kobe!" Flora shouted as she moved closer to Kobe while resting on top of one of his Nimbus cloud. It was inevitable that Flora would end up with her own personal nimbus cloud, the only downside was that while Kobe had been resting, she did not have it and also had opted to sleep and only to be awake while Kobe was.
Drake stuck his head into the door so that he could see what had all been going on while pushing bags of items through the frame as well. He looked to his bandaged captain and gave a simple nod before speaking.
"It seems we are on territory that is owned by a pirate by the name of "Purplebeard". The people were more than compliant without force, but they told us to be careful." Removing himself from the door frame, he pushed the Marine guide given to the by Kobe into the room.
With a slow closing of his eyes, Kobe didn't say anything out of his own mouth he simply waited for the Marine to speak, as it was clear he had valuable information.
""Purplebeard--Captain of the Purplebeard Pirates," Lifting his hand, he held up a bounty poster that gave a clear image of the man as well as his bounty. "Worth at least 500,000,000. He holds the power of a Paramecia-type devil fruit and is originally from the South Blue. He's been making a name for himself in the New Wor-."
"Ye don't care." Kobe said, cutting him off. "As long as yer got what I requested, then we ain't got any problems, aye?" Kobe said.
"Don’t worry, Kobe! We got your shit with no issue." Flannery said, giving her trademark grin as she walked through the doorframe with several bags within her hands. She placed them on the floor and peaked over to Drake’s shoulder to see this Purplebeard. "Wow, this guy looks like an older bootleg version of you, Kobe."
“If this Purplebeard decides to cause any problems, I’d gladly eat ‘em, he seems like he would make a great specimen!” Silas exclaimed, now appearing in the door way alongside Flannery. “Let’s hope he tastes better than he looks bakukukuk!” Silas laughed, peering past Drake’s large body, now staring at the poster along with the rest of the crew.
"Huh, it seems you have as weird of a crew as I have," an unfamiliar voice spoke. The shadow of the man speaking came into view as he begun to come around the corner into the door frame, and among the group, there was only one person who would even come close to recognizing who it was: Kobe.
Finally, his purple hair came into view.
Tabart smiled gently as he entered the residence. Although the last time Kobe and he met, Tabart was decorated in silk turbans, decorated by precious gems and jewelry, his attire had become far more humble. He adorned a black cloak, with a purple inner lining that matched the color of his hair, a white v-neck sweater over a turquoise, button-up, collared shirt. He wore jean-pants, bearing the insignia of something along the lines of True Religion, and finally, turquoise colored dress shoes formed from alligator skin.
This was the usual attire, or form of dress that Tabart adorned, because most of it was forged alongside companies that he had eventually bought out and adopted under his own, Jack's Bean Corporation, which had risen in the last two years to become one of the top companies in the world. Although his outfit was far more humble in terms of appearance, there was no doubt to anyone in the fashion world that this stuff was quality, and expensive.
"Nice to see you again, Kobe." Tabart walked forward, stepping further into the room, towards Kobe.
"Ignore the guy behind me if you can," he continued, gesturing to Peterson Mort, a renown assassin throughout the Underworld who had become an employee of Tabart not too long after the founding of his company. "He's a weirdo too."
Before Tabart could even reach Kobe, the ebony teen approached his purple-haired adversary with haste. Without a moment's breath, Kobe flung his arm around Tabart's shoulder. "Aye!" He said, squeezing the Shichibukai how he did when the two were a bit younger. Though they had a five-year gap in age, Kobe appeared to be the older if the prediction had been based on height.
"Brobart! Been forever since I've seen yer, aye?" Kobe smiled before releasing Tabart and looking to Mort. "Didn't think yer Celestial Dragon folk would employ such ugly things. Then again, ye've become a Fallen Dragon over the past few years, Horseman Horseman, ye that's you."
Kobe reached to his pocket and pulled out a map and held it up for Tabart to see. It was supposed to be what contained the routes to Mount Olympus, but because the land had yet to be discovered, it was blank. "We're gonna conqueror it together, Brobart. Are ye ready to fight and slay giants? Ye've gotten stronger, aye? This'll be good, good, good, good."
The Marine behind the group look in awe as Tabart entered the ship's domain. As a worker of the Marines, he knew exactly who the opposing purple-haired man was and couldn't believe he'd been so casual with Kobe. If he had been affiliated with the World Government, shouldn't he be trying to capture Kobe? "Tabart's here to save us! He'll save us! All hail the Shichibukai!" The Marine burst out.
Tabart blinked blankly. The marine dumbfounded him. Surely he didn't expect a Shichibukai to go out of his way to arrest a pirate that he just walked into and greeted? There was no way that marine was that naive!
He looked back at Kobe and smiled. "Yeah, I am. I'm not called the Giant Slayer for no reason, Kobe. I would have never imagined that you would have managed to find me via the Underworld though. But, as soon as I really thought about that epithet, Zeus, it makes a ton of sense that it was you."
Tabart gave a pointed look to Mort. "Besides, he's far more capable than you would think just looking at him. I don't hire just anyone. We got all the firepower between you and me, but this guy is going to be our shield. There ain't no punch that can take him out."
"Woah, I don’t care if you are one of the Shichibukai! Ya just don’t ignore me! I’ve got some serious firepower too!" Flannery exclaimed before pointing over to Flora. "Plus we’ve got a healer right here and uhhh, I don’t know what sharp-tooth can but I’m sure it must be good!"
“He may be able to take a punch, but there’s nothing my teeth can’t chew and nothing I can’t swallow!” Silas exclaimed, alongside Flannery, aiming to fuel her flames, a large sharp tooth filled smile on his face. “Tuff tits for you though, Marine. Between you and me...I don’t think he’s here to save you.” Silas remarked jokingly, whispering as he finished his statement, sure to drive the marine even more mad then he may have been already.
The Marine dropped to his knees in disappointment, before looking down at the floorboards of the ship. "There goes that."
"Then," Kobe began, looking past Mort to Drake giving him the signal. "We lift the anchor and set sail to the uncharted territory!" With that command, Drake lifted himself and pulled the anchor before rushing over to the Helms and manning the ship. Holding his own hand out, clouds generated and jet through the door frame stationing themselves underneath the ship, lifting it into the air as it glide across the sea.
Kobe walked back to the coach and took a seat, he rubbed on the coach's velvet red material whilst looking to Tabart and Mort once again. Charlotte entered the area with drinks and chips of multiple varieties and placed it on the table for anyone to grab. From the tray, Charlotte lifted a raspberry-flavored popsicle and handed it to Flora who'd still been resting on top of the cloud Kobe created for her. Guiding the cloud to Kobe's side, she crawled onto Kobe's lap whilst utilizing the cloud as a pillow.
"Guess we should talk 'bout what'll happen while we're there, aye?" With a gesture, Kobe was handed a glass of water. "He can take a punch? Some kinda of nullification power? I know its got its own limitations, but I ain't too fond of what they are. If yer vouched for him, I'll trust it, Brobart."
Charlotte sat next to Flora and Kobe, "Excuse his manners you two, feel free to take a seat." He hand extended out to the couch on the opposing side that she'd been on.
Lips poking out, Kobe mumbled a few things under his breath before speaking out loud. Pointing to Charlotte, Kobe gave her an introduction. "This 'ere is, Badger Charlotte. She got some wisdom on her and she'd been guiding me through tha' right and wrongs. She's been holdin' off her plan with me until yer got 'ere, so I'm sure she ready to speak."
Throating clearing, Charlotte straightened her back and looked to Tabart. "Originally, I thought it would be ill for Kobe to go onto this land in attempts to conquer it alone and had devised a plan where we could split the forces in an equal effort. Divide and conquer if you will. Though, once he shared he'd be enlisting the aid of you, I did full research of your abilities and combined it with the Marine knowledge to propose an efficient plan that does not sacrifice the might of everyone, yet uses everyone in strong suits fitted for them. With the addition of someone who could nullify and/or absorb shock, it just broadens my possibilities of placements on the board."
First, she lifted her finger and pointed to Tabart and Flora. "These two will serve as transport to the top of the peak. Through the combination of your Mosa Mosa no Mi and Kusa Kusa no Mi, I do not see why you two would not be capable of creating a sustain trunk that could take the assault group to the top. It would be much easier for Kobe to create Nimbuses, though thanks to his wound. It'll be hard for him to sustain them all the way up the peak if it is as high as the Marines claim while trying to breathe as well as guiding the ship and manipulating the weather actively during the voyage. He struggles the breathe as it already is."
Then she pointed to Mort and to the doorframe at Drake. "Drake and Mort? Will serve as the two who will battle the Giants who safeguard the peak. I am unclear about how many there are, but I can guess an entire civilization. Drake possesses great might, but" Kobe reached to the side of the couch and pulled forth a devil fruit and placed it on top of the table. "It'll be amplified by the power of Kogo Kogo no Mi-a fruit that grants the user the ability to crush whatever it is they come into contact with. I've informed Drake of what it is he can achieve with this power and he's prepared to give his ability to swim in exchange."
Pausing, she pointed to Silas and Flannery. "Silas and Flannery will remain among the ship to guard myself and Flora. The Marine has told me that there are unidentified sea monsters within at last a 15-mile radius of the mountain. These two will use their powers to actively keep the sea monsters away from attacking the Flying Nimbus Silas can chew whatever may be capable of leaping on the ship, while Flannery can superheat the ocean."
"That alone should be more than enough to get you two to the top of the mountain and plant you "base". All while this is unfolding, you will all be attached with Den Den Mushi to report any difficulties. We will devise a quick plan to act accordingly to what has happened. I would highly suggest not killing, as if you want to conquer a land, one must beat the people into submission and then brought back to their feet. Killing brings fear and builds and unstable population. Keep that in mind."
Bursting out into a laugh, Kobe sunk into the couch. "Clahahahahaha! See what I mean, Brobart? She ain't just cute!" Tapping the side of his head, he continued. "She's got a mind on her as well!"
Tabart nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it sounds like a really solid plan so far. I like the sound of it. However, what's this breathing issue that she's talking about Kobe?"
"Tch," Kobe bit his lip as he turned his head. Reaching to his chest, he pulled the badges to the ground and for the first time revealed the wound to his other crewmates aside from Drake and Charlotte. "It was a battle of the gods!" He said, his chest poking out as the wound began to breathe as though it were its own living organism inside of Kobe.
The scar stretched from Kobes right nipple all the way down to his left hip. Though nothing had been happening at the moment, the wound leaked small fuses of blood down his body, yet the ebony teen simply smiled. "That Yonko Daddy L. Legs gave me a wound that only those in my plan could--no--those beyond my plane could give me in a single strike with no effort." Kobe stopped as his pirate accent had completely dropped.
"For those curious of what happens when you fight a Yonko, when you are out of your league. This is it." He said, pointing to his wound. "All it took was one might blow of hers to give me this wound and there was no effort behind it. At night, I grime of pain as this wound throbs and beats louder than my own heart." Kobe cuffed his hands and gripped the air, "I've been told all my life that I possess a god complex. I've been obsessed with the creation and controlling people, even using my power as a Prince to control the people of the Cloudia Kingdom like they are mongrels. But this single strike here shows me that there is still more power I need to achieve before I become an untouchable being on this sea."
"I have identified that power and once it is obtained, I will seek out that Yonko and take her life as the rightful god I am and as the son of "Kronos", put dust on those who look at me otherwise."
Flannery listened to Kobe's speech, taking in every word that he stated. While her captain had a large ego, it was good to see that he could be brought back down to reality and it made her want to follow him even more. Placing a hand on his shoulder, Flannery said. "And we'll be there to help you get that power and takedown that Yonko! After all, a god doesn't stand alone!" She shifted her attention to the wound, frowning. "If ya want, I can burn your wound shut! It works for me and it's quick and painless - for me, at least."
"OH fuck I just zoned back in." Mort shrieked as he looked around at everyone. "Tab-rat who are these children and should I kill them?"
Tabart sighed. "Mort, these are our allies. We're helping them conquer Mount Olympus. You're going to fight a bunch of guys at the gate with this guy," he said, pointing to Drake. "No killing."
"Ok so do not kill this one?" He pointed a gloved finger at Drake. "What about the rest of these kids? Also I can beat up a mountain myself, they can't even move."
"Mort. You are not to kill anyone at all during this operation, at all," Tabart exhaled. "I repeat; Do not kill a single person. Everyone here is our ally. Don't beat them up. Beat up the giant people. No one else. Don't kill a giant. No one dies. Literally no one."
Kobe waved his hand at Flannery, while Charlotte had already begun rewrapping her captain in bandages. "Nah, I'll keep this until I've elevated to that plane I mentioned and obtained the absolute power. For now, I'd like to discuss some stuff with you, Tabart pertaining to this power I hope to achieve. I think only you and Flora can help me with this. For now, we rest, while Drake mans the helm."
---
Three hours had passed since the group had left Ninden Island and set out on their journey to reach the fabled peak of Olympus. While most of the time had been spent resting and Drake guided the ship, Kobe took some of that time to speak with Tabart and Drake, informing them of what power and which he hoped to obtain before joining everyone else in their rest.
The Marine burst through the door of the lounging area, waking everyone from their slumber. "Kobe! Drake has requested your assistance!" The Marine shouted, wobbling as he struggled to even stand to his feet from the ship rocking on its sides left and right.
Kobe grinned, before throwing himself off of the couch and rushing to the deck of the ship. When he reached the open world, he noticed that it had been completely different from when they set sail originally. At first, the sky was sunny with little wind to push the ship along. But now, the sky was dark, roaring with thunder and waves that screamed as they crashed up against the wooden frame of the Flying Nimbus.
Looking to his left and his right, Kobe flung Sakazuki's coat over his shoulders grasping a general idea of the area. "We've entered the area, aye?" Kobe asked, to which the Marine gave a simple nod. "Good. Drake, ye can lift the sails. Yer captains' gonna take control of this stead!" With a word back, Drake released the helm and ran over to the sails and lifted them as he had been instructed.
Kobe clapped his hands together and as he did, at that moment it seemed as though Kobe woke up the area as the wind suddenly picked up speeds tremendously, lifting his coat to the point it was nearly snatched from his neck. Eyes moving from left to right, the hair along his arms lifted. "Winds are at 60 miles an hour south, boys! We're in for an awakenin', aye? Grab yer wigs and tuck ya dicks!" Removing his hands from each other, Kobe flicked his wrist revealing a Log Pose. Its needle pointed up and to the right continuously, suggesting that the magnetic force between the two had been equally strong.
"This thang is for amateurs, completely useless to me!" Clouds generating from his body, the spread apart and stationed underneath the ship. "First yer gotta turn the ship 45 degrees, or tha' winds gonna' tilt us over. Be ready to pull tha' sails down on my command, Drake." The clouds lifted the ship slightly and turned the ship in the angle that Kobe suggested, while he fed more clouds up to the sky above.
A wild wave smashed against the ship, nearly forcing it to tilt over. Drake rushed to its leaning side and stabbed his hammer into the ship so that it would drop back down into the sea. "Wind's too rowdy, Drake! Thank ye! Boreas!" He exclaimed as the winds from his upper clouds spat out at an even higher mileage per hour, 75, in the opposing direction--north. This was all thanks to Kobe's devil fruit, which granted him not only the ability to generate and manipulate clouds but by extension control the weather to which he had nearly mastered as a former Meteorologist of the Cloudia Kingdom.
By, his calling of Boreas wasn't to simply cancel out the forces of the natural wind. He did it in a way so that he overpowered the natural wind flow and pushed his own ship along the rough seas. If there was an argument of who the top Navigators in the world were, Kobe would without a doubt be in that discussion. Another roar of thunder equal to the one from earlier flashed among the mix of the natural clouds and Kobe's own. The Flying Nimbus darted across the sea before an opposing wave smashed up against the ship kicking it into the air.
Kobe's ears twitched as they sparked with a sprinkle of electricity. Like the knock-up stream, a serpentine beast appeared from the sea and met Kobe at the Deck of his ship. Slowly spreading his hands apart, a pillow of clouds formed in the middle. "Silas and Flannery, yer up. Take care of 'em."
“Aye Aye, Kobe!” Silas exclaimed, not wasting a single moment, goofily running over to the raging beast. Silas then leaped into the air, flying clean over the beast before landing at the end of its tail. “Time to eat!” Silas remarked, grabbing the beast's tail and sticking it in his mouth. He then puffed up his chest, sucking the beast into his mouth as he chomped away at it, his mouth would stretch and stretch as it slipped into his mouth, he would then make a large chomp as he made it to the midsection of the beast, severing the creature in half. “Omnomnomnomnom!” Silas gleefully chowed down on the monster, before swallowing deeply. “All done!” Silas rejoiced, patting his stomach as he sat next to the bloody remains of the beast he just devoured.
"Did you just take away this battle for me?! I've been aching to punch something for the past week and you just eat it like a fat boy at an all-you-can-eat buffet!" Flannery exclaimed, grabbing Silas by the collar and shaking him around like a ragdoll. Her hair exploded into flames, causing intense heat to be felt by everyone on the ship. "If you pull this shit again, I will tie you to a rope and let you dangle behind us in the ocean! DO YOU YOU HEAR ME?!"
"Loud a clear, but, I can't promise it won’t happen again, Because just like you’ve been aching to punch something, I’ve been aching to eat something!" Silas remarked, shrugging his shoulders as he licked his lips. "My apatite isn’t exactly quenched either, you mind cooking up that last half?” Silas said, hunger in his eyes as he gazed at the bloody piece of meat next to him.
The flame known as Flannery's hair exploded higher into the sky as she dropped Silas like a sack of potatoes and cocked her fist back. Her arm turned a brilliant red-orange hue before she punched towards the remains of the sea creature, unleashing a blast of compressed air. However, as the projectile soared forth, a trail of explosions followed after it before enveloping in a torrent of flames. She let a sigh of relief as she watched the corpse be consumed by the flames, watching as its meat darken and small burns appeared across its body.
"There is your damn cooked meal. I'm not adding any seasoning to it, ya animal." Flannery said.
“Thanks!” Silas exclaimed, getting up from where Flannery dropped him, charging over to the cooked remains of the serpent. Once again his jaw would elasticize, allowing him to swallow the beast in one fowl swoop, slowly chewing and swallowing as his jaw and mouth slowly dropped in size and his belly grew. “URPPP!” Silas belched, plopping down onto the ground, patting his belly once again. “Not only was this a good meal, but maybe I can use its scales for something later!” Silas spoke, a large grin on his face, his hunger sated for the time being.
"Ight!" Kobe said, yelling at his two crewmates. "Shut tha fuck up. Drake, drop the sails. The base of the mountain is a burst away!" Drake pulled the string that held the sails tied up they dropped. "Burst:," he began, holding his hands in the form of a circle before his cloud slowly began to disappear. "Zephyrus!" An unbearable amount of wind burst from Kobe's palms as though he were a user of an air manipulating devil fruit, shooting the Flying Nimbus forward across the sea covering a total of five miles with that blast.
As Kobe turned around, he saw the base of the mountain and with the command of his mental control, the clouds that rested against the ship smashed up against the mountain, breaking the ship's fall before causing it to drop on top of the sea which had been covered by a small layer of clouds. "Flannery, boil the sea. Keep anything else at bay. Flora and Tabart, yer up!" He said, lifting his head to try and find the peak of the Mountain but it was so high up that he failed in doing so.
Tabart nodded in agreement, punching his left palm with his fist enthusiastically. He stepped forward immediately, something that was rather rare for the pirate. Usually, when entering areas of storms, Tabart would coil the wood of the ship's floor around his feet so that no matter how much the ship tossed and turned, he would remain basically glued to the deck. For a Devil Fruit user like him, there was no greater weakness than the sea. That was something he always thought was ironic. However, that was simply testimony to Kobe's skills as a navigator. He could, literally, create the perfect conditions for sailing. That, coupled with his impeccable skill and craft, made him amazing. Hell, if Tabart had to guess, Kobe was probably The Greatest Navigator in the World.
He stepped forward and jumped from the ship's deck to the floor of the mountain, placing his hand against the rough terrain.
"Flora, are you ready?"
King of the Mountain[]
The green-haired girl made her appearance at the calling of her name, guiding the Nimbus next to Tabart like a young child next to their father. She, alone had no idea what to do, but since her power had been unbearably similar to Tabart's, she knew all she needed to do was follow his lead and replicate her in any way possible.
She nodded her hand and placed it against the rough terrain as well.
Though they had set foot on the mountain itself, the site itself had no changed. There was a feeling of ominous emptiness, a thick fog covered the peak in its entirety and heavy footsteps could be heard like echoes. That was the simple indication that the group had not been there alone.
Tabart smiled. "Good, now just follow my lead. I'm going to turn this entire base into a flowering beanstalk, and send it all the way up there. You're going to use your devil fruit to help support it. Of course, I could do it all by myself," Tabart admitted, smirking. "But, it wouldn't be anywhere fast enough. Together, our powers will accelerate the process."
As he spoke, the mountain floor began to shake, as if the ground itself was being converted into a basin for the beanstalk. Such was the power of an awakened devil fruit user; a seasoned expert as well who could grow plants from trace plant cells in the environment.
Within seconds, the beanstalk rose towards the sky, erupting with such force that the winds began to churn and the ocean began to shake, generating waves that, would no doubt, begin to wake the sea monsters that dwelled near the base of the mountain.
"Now, Flora!"
As Tabart commanded, Flora placed her palm along the sprouting beanstalk. Never had she seen a devil fruit act in such a way, but at the same time she hadn't reached the same level that Tabart did with his. Tabart was a master of his Mosa Mosa no Mi, those before him were nothing but seeds planted as they awaited the birth of the Noble to take up the reigns and bring his fruit past its capabilities.
Her eyes sparkled in amazement. Flora wanted to reach that level of manipulation and it would all begin with following in his lead and absorbing everything he knew. As she pressed her hand against the beanstalk, its growth rate accelerated. Though, as a result of assisting Tabart's technique, Flora felt her stamina become unintentionally drained. She nearly fell over, but the cloud she sat atop kept her up on her feet.
It wasn't that Tabart had been necessarily stealing her power, but that his power was so great that the addition of hers, just became nutrients for his own plant to grow. Slightly rocking left and right, Flora gave off a slight smile. "You're so strong, Brobart!"
Those heavy footsteps from earlier grew louder as a signal that they had actually gotten closer. The ground that still existed shook. The combination of the footsteps and Tabart's alteration to the mountain made the sea do more than just shake. They now quaked and cracked beneath the tremendous pressure.
The two figures behind the footsteps slowly came into view, their thighs all the way down to their feet where the only thing visible by the eye. The rest of their body hid behind the thick fog and masked in the clouds. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!" The combined cry from both of these beasts.
Kobe leaped from the ship and walked over to Flora and Tabart's side. "Aye, Flora yer done. Go ahead and head back." Looking up the beasts that approached the allying crew, Kobe lifted his eyebrow. "Well damn, I thought that Marine callin' 'em Titans was just some glorified Giant lore. Seems, these motherfuckers being their own race is true.
Though their upper body had been hidden by the natural shields of the mountain, a fist could be both seen and heard breaching the sound barrier in attempts to strike Kobe, Flora, and Tabart.
Quickly waving his hand in the air, Kobe let off the signal. "Drake, Mort, your cue!"
Mort's eye twitched. "You can't touch him. I'm being payed money for this!" He shrieked from the ground. "Wiggly-Arms: Jet Formation." His arms swirled outwards forming a large spiral around his body, each individual leg on his arms pointed backwards and poised for action. Then all at once, every leg channeled vibrations and struck the air, not just once but ten times in a split second. This was Soru, but on a scale beyond the norm. Mort completely vanished from sight and appeared on the fist at the same time, striking it. A wave of piercing force impacting the fist and the Titan just from his movement. The falling comet of a fist paused for a brief moment, but continued downwards. Then the sonic boom, far after Mort's movement the sound erupted outwards. It almost drowned out his next line.
"Wiggly-Arms!" Mort called, standing upon the fist as it continued to move towards the beanstalk. his arms swirling into a large spiral around his body, this one was much more spread out than his other one, it came close to almost being as large as the fist. Just how long were they? Every leg on those spiraling centipede arms began to shake violently, Mort's left eye narrowing as the legs slightly moved to lock on the point his eye caught. The spiral was not entirely circling his body but stretched out before him a good few feet. His whole body was shaking with power "New debut: Big Fist Stopper!" His mastery of hassoken showing as the massive wave of vibrational energy blasted forth from his many legs, a wave of force impacting the fist and traveling up the arm of the titan. Mort hopped atop the fist as it began to immediately slow and then stop, along with the titans whole body. The titan seemed to definitely be shaking though.
"I hope you're happy Tabart. He's going to live and happy life still. And it's my fault." Mort screamed to his boss.
"I am! Great job, Mort!" Tabart yelled back. "Keep it up!"
Although it sounded sarcastic, Tabart genuinely meant it. If there was anything he trusted Mort with, it was fighting. Mort, for the year and a half that he had been with Tabart, had managed to fight off hundreds if not thousands of his enemies. Though, the issue was that Mort didn't always have an off switch. Yeah, he could defend you, but it always ended in blood and death, which worked out for Tabart in some way since he could turn that into power, but sometimes he wanted to turn people into a resource. Just as Kurama had taught him.
He focused back on Kobe. "The beanstalk will reach the top soon, Kobe. Just give me the word when you're ready, and I'll prepare a lift to take you up it."
Leaping over the duo to take action, Drake held his hammer high over his head. Up until now, Drake had been one of the largest people Kobe had been properly acquainted with but now he'd met his match. Normally, Drake's facial expression had been rather bland but at this moment he had a deviant smile that, showing his true personality. With a single swing to the other Titan, Drake had nearly knocked the beast over, but his blow was not mighty enough. As mentioned these beings were Titans, a single blow would not be enough to knock it over even if it had been struck in a weak leg joint.
"Don't kill!" Kobe shouted out to his first mate.
His warmonger's face remained unphased by Kobe's orders. Landing to the surface with ground shattering force, Drake spun his hammer over his head before clenching it with both of his hands. "CRUSH!" He shouted, slamming his hammer into the ground causing the ground beneath himself to break into perfect shaped cubes, swallowing both of the Titans in that single mighty blow, dropping them into the sea.
Charlotte looked over the deck of the Flying Nimbus to Drake's destructive force. "At the last moment, he changed his mind on eating the devil fruit and instead incorporated something similar into his hammer." She thought to herself, before turning back to Silas and Flannery. "Flannery, stick your hands into the sea and superheat it."
"Alright, Charlotte!" Listening to Charlotte without hesitation, Flannery submerged her hands into the sea and unleash the full brunt of her heat as it spread throughout the water. Within mere seconds, the very sea began to steam and bubble like a hot spring, become an area of scald water capable of burning anything within the area.
Attention back to Tabart, Flora floated her fatigued self back to the ship leaving Kobe and Tabart alone. Bare skin with nothing but his bandages around his body. "Send us up! Remind me to send extra to that bug's way, aye?"
"Let's do it!" Tabart announced, clapping his hands together dramatically. In that moment, a leaf sprouted beneath Kobe and Tabart's feet, and instantly shot them up the beanstalk like an elevator.
The wind slammed against their bodies from the sheer centrifugal force generated by their rapid ascension towards the clouds. As they shot upwards, Tabart's eyes couldn't help but catch the massive titans that inhabited the middle of the mountain; their eyes a deep red, and their bodies covered in dense, hard exoskeletons. They were true monstrosities, which made Tabart question who the hell lived at the top of this thing? Who conquered this mountain and managed to reach the summit? Or were they like him and Kobe? Did they just somehow managed to cheat and construct a devise that could carry them into the clouds.
A cloud slammed into his body, drenching him in water as he focused on keeping the leaf on track. Though, that was a minor task for Tabart, as it would be for any awakened user. He turned towards Kobe.
"Look, I don't know what the hell is going to be at the top of this summit, but don't push yourself too hard. I may not look like it, but I'm a capable fighter. I've gotten stronger since I was first inducted into the Shichibukai: a lot stronger."
There were no more words needed from Tabart towards Kobe. It was a sign of trust, that Tabart believed in his ally, and that his ally should also believe in him.
As they reached the top, the leaf stopped, allowing them to peer at the gates of Olympus itself. Except, there was a massive giant standing in front of his, clad in bronze armor while wielding metal swords and spears. He was a massive behemoth, towering over the giants of Elbaf that Tabart once visited. All he could do was smirk at the challenge ahead.
During their journey, Kobe remained quiet. He didn't want the pity of his friend, but Tabart had been aware of the handicap that Kobe had been dealing with and only wanted to give him words that would settle with him. But he trusted in Tabart, Mort, and the entire Cloud Pirates' skill otherwise he wouldn't have brought them along.
Once they reached the top, they met with a run down temple with a man clad in golden armor standing before it as though he were some sort of guard. He was a bit larger than the average giant, yer much smaller than the Titans below.
Kobe looked to Tabart out the corner of his eye, "Don't try to be soft and sentimental with me, Tabart. I told ye, I read tha' newspaper. I know you're more than capable of doing this alone, but what's better than being brothers-in-arms."
"For more than two hundred years my people have guarded this sacred mountain with the aid of the Sea Gods." The Giant said, looking down on both Kobe and Tabart like the small humans that they were. "We have managed to keep everyone and everything away from this place and you two are the only two to ever reach this high in that time span. I have smelt no blood from the moment you stepped foot on this peak, meaning you do not have ill-intent for the people."
The giant spartan lowered his spear and stood with his back straight up. "For that, the throne is fit just for you."
The ebony teen turned his head to Tabart before looking up to lock eyes with the giant. "Clahahahahahaha! Sounds like some bullshit, Brobart!" Kobe reached to his chest and rubbed it, "Go 'head cap 'em."
"Ya, um...this...hold on Kobe," Tabart managed, taking a step towards the giant. "Y-You sure brother? You sure you just want to give up the throne like that? I mean, are you that shitty of a king? Like, you don't even know us. Like, what's even my name?"
"I am no King." The man said, gripping the base of the spear firmly before lifting his head up to look straight over the clouds. "Nor am I he who sits to govern this peak. As mentioned, my people simply guard it until he who is worthy to reach it. I am incapable of producing children and/or a worthy vessel to take my place."
The giant coughed, "I am 95 years old and have guarded this peak for 60 of those years. I do not know either of your names, young men and while I may not be able to fully believe in your judgment, I am indeed a firm believer of our prophecy. A man will come who will protect this land as though it were the very blood in his veins. One of you, I am unsure which, is that man. I am certain of it."
Tabart blinked.
"Okay. We'll take your word for it. Let's go Kobe," he replied, pushing Kobe ahead. "Let's go take your crown."
The giant stepped aside, revealing an empty throne that had been covered by dust and rubble. Kobe looked to Tabart after he pushed him forward and that simple touch was enough to send Kobe walked forward to the seat. Before resting on it, he looked at it good, though it wasn't what he had been expecting--the condition--he knew that only he could make do and fix this peak up into the utopia he wanted it to be.
It seemed to be a fallen temple or castle, meaning that even though this place had been vacant for two hundred plus years, there was some form of nobility going on here. But it was kept hidden from the world, why? His nose twitched as he quickly concluded this was the work of no one else aside from the World Government.
Reaching into his pocket, he took out a Den Den Mushi that looked strikingly similar to Charlotte, bearing wings on its shell. He held it tight in his grasp before picking it up to speak and then turned around to face the giant and Tabart. Even though Tabart had given him the go-ahead, he still found himself a bit shaky about the whole situation, but maybe that was just his own consciousness eating him up. Could he really conquer such a place without spilling blood and adding lives to his body count? Or was this all a fluke?
Had it been a fluke, Kobe could deal with the issues so, for now, he took the "crown" that Tabart insisted he take. He pulled the snail to his mouth and spoke through it, "We're good up here, come up." Sitting down, Kobe looked to the giant and Tabart. "I'll change this place with my pimps of Mount Olympus and me..." his eyes batted before his signature grin crawled onto his face. "And me the kingpin."
Tabart smirked. "Yeah, Kobe. Let it sink in..."
After several minutes of climbing, Flannery had managed to make her way up the mountain. In her hurry to reach the top, she scooped up Flora underneath her arm like a stuffed toy and carried Charlotte over her shoulder like a sack of cement. She left the others to fend for themselves because she knew Drake and Mort could take care of themselves and there was no way in hell she was gonna touch Silias after seeing him devour a live sea serpent as if it was a breadstick. Fuck that and fuck him.
Nevertheless, while it had been a steep mountain to climb, Flannery's physical attributes allowed her to trek up the mountain with relative ease. She had ignored the old giant upon arriving, only focusing on Tabart and Kobe.
"What the hell? There is a throne up here?" Flannery said in awe, taking in the sight of worn-out throne.
Not too far behind her, was Mort and Drake who'd finished off the attacking Titans much faster than they had thought. Drake's one eye looked among the destroyed room. Much like Kobe, he had no idea what to expect, but this was certainly not it. Not a room at all and if it were one, not something so empty.
"Well, I didn't expect this, Captain." Drake said.
Sighing, Kobe leaned back in the dusty seat before bringing his hand up to his chest and rubbing it gently. "Ye, gonna' take a lot of work to fix this place up. We've got a year, that's more than
Charlotte released herself from Flannery's grasp and approached the seat that Kobe sat in. She rubbed the armrest of the seat then slide her hand across the dusty object onto the wall. She walked around the room for a brief moment, evaluating it in its entirety before having sudden flashes of combat in her head. Then a giant black cube. Turning around and reapproaching Kobe, she placed her hand on her hip.
"There seems to have been a war that occurred here long ago. All of the races that are here currently, fought in a blood heavy war." She said, her attention now turned to the elder giant. "Nonetheless, it will be suitable for your base."
Kobe looked to Tabart, "Then, what's next, Brobart?"
Tabart pulled out a stick filled with cannabis, placed it in his mouth and lit the other end with a flick of his fingers. He inhaled the elixir and then exhaled, releasing a cloud of smoke.
"Well, first thing first, we gotta fix this place up. I don't know about you guys, but I ain't really into all that heavy lifting stuff," Tabart replied, pointing towards the giant, "and he looks too old to do it. Bottom line is, we going to need labor."
"Boss, I kill...knocked them all out." Came a shout from outside, as Mort came rushing in. He ran up to Tabart and gave him a thumbs up. "Wow, this place looks like shit."
"We should get other giants to fix up this place!" Flannery said, scratching the back of her head while still holding Flora under her arm. "I mean, if this place was guarded by that old geezer giant, it would make sense to get help from them right?" While her logic was not all there, Flanner did raise an interesting point.
"So long as I tell any being on this peak that you are the ruler, they will assist you in any means necessary." The old man said, firm and confident as could be. "That means the strength of the titans is also in your grasp to command. I agree that this place does not look fit for a King of the Gods as it is now, but with a bit of work and guidance it could look even better than anything you've seen."
Lifting his finger, Kobe pointed towards Silas. "HE ATE ONE OF THOSE SEA MONSTERS RAW!" Looking left and right Kobe waited for everyone's response for a moment, before sulking back into his chair.
"Then it's settled!" Kobe said, "We'll rebuild Olympus better than what it was!" Digging around in his pocket, Kobe drew another den den mushi and held it up to his face. "I'll contact Artemis and Apollo and let 'em know that this whole thing is good to go. A lil' less than a year is all I need. Imma complete Project: JOKER and flood the Underworld!"
He looked to Tabart and Flora respectively. "And it all begins with you two!"
Mort pointed to himself. "What about me? I don't mind doing nothing as long as I'm being paid. But I feel like I could do more with my time."
Success in the Lab[]
Nine months had passed since the Cloud Pirates landed on Mount Olympus and claimed it as their own base of operations. In that short time, the peak had evolved so much. Civilization seemed to have actually become a thing and the destroyed ruins had been fixed to a livable point.
First and most important thing had been the palace that Kobe resided. It was a large building that moreso took the appearance of a castle fit for a king, the role Kobe had taken. The floors of the palace were marble while the pillars were white smooth concrete. The emphasizing points of the castle were the many gold jewels and accessories that dangled and hung all over the place. This was what Kobe and the elder referred to as "Athens Palace". It bore fourteen separate rooms, seven bathrooms, and an over-sized meeting room for Kobe and the rest of his crew.
Just underneath the palace were the temples of the rest of Kobe's crew: Demeter's Temple, Athena's Temple, Apollo/Artemis's Temple, Ares' Temple, and lastly Hestia's Temple. These temples were miniature castles on the second highest level of Olympus which housed the Cloud Pirates' commanders.
Kobe had even gone the extra mile to take a large sum of the berri and treasure he'd collected, to buy enough beginning food and resources to support the majority of the small population of Olympus that lived on the lowest level. Suffices to say, Mount Olympus had been at its most flourishing in the past two hundred years and that was all thanks to this young pirate.
But, tidying up his land wasn't the only thing that Kobe had pressed on his agenda. In the depths of Athens Palace, the Cloud captain had a secret laboratory built where Kobe had been conducting the research and began the production of his artificial devil fruits. Crop plots with plants growing from them spread across a large area of the room, small fruits of various kings hung from the tree. Project: JOKER had found itself in the works during his nine months of rebuilding his utopia and he found himself inside the room because there had been an appearant breakthrough in the research and development of his artificial devil fruits.
Kobe lifted two test tubes up into the air, each side by side over a single one that had been being held up by another laboratory device. Both tubes had labels on them, each with different names. The one in his left hand read "IQ" while the one in his right read "SIQ". Getting his hands on both of these substances had been rather easy and let's just say the Underworld treated the man known as "Zeus" quite well. After acquiring a sample of SIQ and his knowledge as a former Cloudia Scholar, he was able to mass-produce the product to the point he had enough to attempt it on test subjects. IQ began abundant through the powers of Tabart and Flora.
Both the drug and the plant had been broken down into their liquid forms. The room shook as the many animals that had been locked into air-tight containers rampages around, smashing their hands and heads up against the thick glass hoping to break out and lay their rampage on the rest of the world. Any other time Kobe would be quick to tell these beasts to quiet and remember who their "gawd" was, but now, his research had reached levels he had long-awaited.
He looked to Tabart for a brief moment, the only other man in the room with him at the moment. "By combinin' tha' formula and substances of IQ and SIQ, we've managed to get past DIQ.. Clahahaha, yer still an asshole for namin' it that, Tabart." Kobe then poured both of the substances into the single tube. "With wild, I just took the human lineage and tried to freestyle it! By with our brains and that damned Char's wisdom, we might've just did somethin'. It took me a while, but I completed DIQ just last month. It breaks down the components of the animal physiology and transmutes it into human physiology."
Placing the two tubes onto the table, Kobe lifted the one in the middle and twirled it around so that the two mixed together. Reaching underneath the table, he pulled a big jar out with the label "DIQ" written on it. The substance in the tube he held in his hand was blue and the jar's substance was red. "DIQ is tha' combination of various human elements; blood, chromosomes, or DNA.. all tha' things that makes us dicks. By adding the DIQ and SIQ together," he poured the blue substance into the DIQ jar and then held it up. He slowly twirled that bottle as well and its colors began to mix before turning into a purple liquid.
A rolling cart could be heard in the distance and before long a man dressed in a lab coat entered their presence, rolling a caged monkey into their zone. "We get LEAN!" The man then lifted one of the crops and placed it onto the table in front of Kobe. "This is the moment we've been waitin' for, Tabart!" Kobe leaned over to the cage at the monkey, who'd surprisingly been sitting quietly. "If it works on this guy, then we've done it right, aye? They say my people come from these folks anyway, but science says we all did." Kobe pinched his wrist, though he didn't say it, he had been hinting at something much deeper.
Pouring nearly the whole bottle of LEAN onto the crop plot, the purple liquid soaked into the soil and in nearly an instant a small branch grew and at the end... a fruit. Kobe's eyes widened after he'd gotten to this point, he'd been here before but he'd failed at a point to where the next step always ended the same: the animals going on a complete rampage meaning the product was a fail. But as mentioned, he had taken different approached with the DIQ formula he created and as such, he had been certain it'd work this time.
Lifting his hand up, Kobe snatched the banana-shaped fruit from its branch and held it up to the cage to which the monkey grabbed without hesitation. It was a monkey's favorite snack after all, how could he resist. Kobe's eyes locked onto the cage and he gave in for not even a second. Unpeeling the banana, the monkey stuffed the entire thing into its mouth and for a moment there was silence. Kobe's eyes shifted to the their corners at Tabart for just a second before looking back to the cage. The monkey passed out, but it was not dead. Heavy snores could be heard signifying it had been sleeping.
"Tha' fuck? Just puts these little fuckers to sleep?! I'll fuckin' tell ya, if thi-" Though Kobe talked his talk, his eyes remained on the monkey and that's when suddenly the monkey's bone split apart as though it had been diced into many pieces. Even while in this state, the monkey continued to snore--it was still alive.
Kobe smiled and wide grin, "Body breakin' apart, aye?" His mind wandered for a moment before he discovered what he'd been looking for. "Looks like tha' sound of cuttin' Bara Bara no Mi! I'll be got damn, we've done it!"
Tabart stood their quietly, clenching his fist as he stared at the monkey, splitting its body apart. He took in everything, every aspect of the specimen, before pulling his back, erupting in a cheer.
"Fuck yeah! Fuck, fuck, fuck yeah!!"
For the last nine months, Tabart had devoted his all to ensuring that this chemical worked; it's what was going to finally establish him in the Underworld, no longer as a mere broker, but as an Emperor. Finally, he was going to cement his place in this world, and be of use to everyone. It was how he was going to protect them, his family.
However, something hit him....They hadn't actually tested it on humans yet. You see, SIQ, that chemical was already profound on animals, but it had little to no effects on humans. No matter how closely related, until it worked, they couldn't be sure.
Tabart gulped.
"Kobe, we have to try it...for ourselves, to make sure it really works."
"Aye?" Kobe said, brow lifting at Tabart's gesture. "Clahahahaha! Yer smoke yer own shit too, don't you? Lucky for you, I'm legal now..." Reaching underneath the table, Kobe pulled out two cup-like jars. Lifting the remainder of LEAN up, he poured a good amount into both of the cups. He handed one of the cups to Tababrt and placed the other in the middle of his palm.
"If we die, I'll kill ya in the afterlife, Tabart. Just sayin'." Without another word, Kobe leaned his head back and began to chug the substance as though it were nothing but water. Slamming the glass onto the table Kobe squeezed his eyes tight. "It's so sweet!"
His body emitted a gold light to which Kobe reached for the scar on his chest and rubbing it. "I don't know, Tabart. I don't feel too different. I-tssssss liiiikeeeeeeee," His words began to drag and slur, a side effect of LEAN before he'd finally fallen face flat onto the table with a series of snores following behind.
The cup sat at the edge of Tabart's lip as he watched Kobe fade away into...well, slumber. Was he alive? Was he dead? Was he fucked up? It was the same thing as the Monkey. A major side effect of LEAN was that it made you sleep, but they were injecting the serum right into their bodies. There was no fruit to filter it. How long would he sleep for?
Tabart couldn't help but sit trapped in own thoughts, pondering on the nature of LEAN. Eventually, he broke the silence.
"Yeah fuck that."
Mort watched as Tabrat held the cup to his lips, almost drinking it but stopping. "Come on boss you can't let him beat you in the drink off. You're strong you can drink twice that. Let me help!" Mort cheered as he grabbed the glass and poured it down Tabart's throat, leaving no room for protest.
"See I knew you could do it boss."
"Y-You fucking idiot!" Tabart cursed, stepping forward towards Mort. "Y-You, that wasn-"
Like Dexter, Tabart fell over, his limp body hitting the floor as he fell into slumber.
---
Fourteen hours had passed since the duo had fallen asleep and to give you a better perspective of how well their sleep had gone, Tabart and Kobe both had saliva dripping down the right side of their mouths while their lips remained apart and wide open for the world to venture.
Kobe woke first and then Tabart right after him, Mort had left the laboratory, probably to find himself some more constructive to do around the peak while his boss had been resting for his nap. Hell, not even any of the other Cloud Pirates ventured down to the lab, they had been occupied with tidying up their own temples to their own liking.
Extending his hand out to reach for Tabart's shoulder, Kobe gripped it with a grasp of aggression. He had no intent behind it, moreso that he had been drowsy from just waking up and quite frankly wanted to go back to sleep if he could. However, thanks to Tabart's den den mushi constantly going off, Kobe had to wake up from his fantastic nap a few days early.
"ANSWER IT, TABART! ANSWER IT!"
Tabart groggily woke up after being shaken away and screamed at by Kobe. He was still sluggish, very sluggish, but the annoying Bero Bero Bero bero bero bero BERO BERO BERO BERO bero of his den den mushi, he forced himself to move. He rolled over, picking up the transponder.
"Yeah, yeah, is this Frida? Look babes, I'll give you that work later, I promise...Daddy still sleepy though..."
"CLAHAHAHAHAHAHA," Kobe laughed, slapping his hand against the top of the table. His constant strikes colliding against the frame of the table made them sound like constant smack sounds and those that a woman would know all to well. Opposing skin colliding against one another as both moved in waves as if one had been bent over and the other took up the role of stroking.
Hair grabbing, hurtful but harmless smacking, Kobe knew that feeling all to well he and Charlotte were gods of intimacy after all. It was only natural that a man needed a woman just as much as a woman needed a man. But that tale was for another time. In fact, if Frida had been on the other end of that den den mushi, Kobe made those distinct sounds just to mess with Tabart in the hopes of getting him in trouble.
"Tabart, you didn't tell me you were gay!" Kobe screamed in a gentle but many manner. "YES! YES! THERE, GET MORE LUBE!"
Tabart turned around, shaking his head side to side in disagreement. "Nu uh, babe! I swear, he's lying!"
Then he paused.
"Oh.....Apologies about that, Ayushi-sama. I didn't mean anything by that, I promise! Yeah...Yeah, who is it? Um...an old friend of mine Ayushi! Please, don't worry about it."
Tabart paused again.
"Yes, that's no problem. I'll be there and deal with it accordingly. I promise. I'll grab Jack as well.....Yeah, it's no problem. Thanks for everything!"
Tabart exhaled, hanging up the Den Den Mushi before turning around to face Kobe.
"Hope you still not sleepy."
"Whaaaa?" Kobe asked, turning to face Tabart with an opened mouth. "I ain't going to sleep any time soon again. Between this and that..." Kobe blabbered on, before realizing that there clearly had been something Tabart needed.
His sudden mentioning of the name "Jack" rang a bell once he really thought about it, Bimore O. Jack, one of the Shichibukai and the strongest to wield a sword. Whatever it was that Ayushi told Tabart must've been serious and as such, he had to act accordingly... for the situation that is.
"What we doin'?"
"I'm going to go and grab another Shichibukai, and then we're going to go together and defend Impel Down. From my sources, a large fleet of pirates are headed that. It's assumed that a breakout is being staged," Tabart responded. "You're a wanted pirate. I can't defend you there; but, if I recall, you have a friend in Impel Down yeah? You're going to use the chaos to get whatever you need from there, and we'll chalk it up to the breakout."
"Aye, Kobe responded." Sliding his hand up to his chin, "But I ain't expect to get to Impel Down so soon. I was needing preparation before then... but..." He turned his head to the plants behind him. "Hades is there alongside some people he's gathered..."
"But... ye ain't gotta protect me. Outside of our realm, we are unaware of each other and if force to for tha' public image. We will squabble briefly, aye? On tha flip side of the coin, I can stall those part of the fleet. But, if it gets bad, I won't stick around for long."
"Heh, that's fine for me." Tabart grabbed his cloak, and flipped it onto his shoulders. "Anyway, I'll see you there, Kobe. Try not to get captured on the way."
With that, Tabart exited the lab, and headed, alongside Mort, out of Mount Olympus.