The Devil In Dark Pants

[Docile]

The ships of Commander Rice were already sailing from Sky Reach after handing out a wad of Beli for the repairs. Thanks to the Navy a town in the upper quadrant had been covered in ash and the lower quadrant was in shambles. But that was the life of a marine. Make a mess and then hand out some money and everybody would be happy. Well that was the thinking behind it anyway. Aboard the ship Commander Rice had taken up the position of steering and watched the waves before him wash over one another as he steered left & right avoiding them making the journey beautifully smooth.

Warrant Officer Ryker was sitting on the deck touching at the plaster over the cut on the side of his face. It hurt and that was saying something for a man who couldn't be touched. It was surprising how much it hurt. Standing up and making his way towards the railings he looked over them to see the sea was harsh but somehow Commander Rice was doing an excellent job of navigating his way through them. Looking up the sun above he was blinded as it shone over himself and the rest of the deck.

As for the other Marines aboard the ship, they were all busy aiding with maintenance of the ship. Colton wanted to slip away in a simple snooze, but knew that he couldn't not considering the fact that they were awaiting a call from Rear Admiral Icarus. He'd been informed that his two comrades had been rescued but would want more information. Still annoyed that he let Vetis escape Colton couldn't do anything about it and knew that. It was just something he was going to have to accept.

Gonzola on the other hand had been apprehended and saved from the brink of death. Alexis had carried out her job well and even been awarded a promotion. She did deserve it he had to admit since she looked pretty beat up too. Thankfully before they'd left the crew had managed to recover their belongings too. Colton was less than impressed with the state of his guitar though. All of it was there, just not in the right places. It was more like a pile of rubble and it would be more worth while just getting another one. He had more than enough money anyway.

Sitting down beneath the deck tied to a chair with a still slightly swollen face and sea stone handcuffs around his wrists was Gonzola. He'd been unconscious the last 36 hours. When he woke up though it would be time to interrogate him. Colton had been told that it wouldn't be Alexis or himself doing the interrogation though. Commander Rice seemed to have faith in a college of his own. One he'd been sailing with allot these past few weeks.

Lieutenant Tullus LeVitt.

[Serious?]

Lieutenant Tullus LeVitt, a cold-hearted bastard entrusted by Commander Rice to lead a Mr. Gonzala's interrogation. Even declined a promotion on grounds of personal failure to achieve objectives. He's done a few interrogations himself in the past, although many who have seen him in action would consider it more of a torture session than an interrogation. But nonetheless, he gets the job done. By the end of one session, the prisoners spilled most of the beans at the cost of one or two limbs. He stares through them with those icy eyes of his, his rumbling voice just enough to strike fear in weak hearts, and the main man behind his tactics, Injustice. Yes, people who've witnessed or experienced Mr. LeVitt's torture sessions would know exactly how he extracts info: Through threats to blow their kneecaps right off. Sometimes, they crack when one knee's been capped, other times it's after two, rarely has it ever been none.

The stranger with big iron sat quietly in the mess reading a mission report, interrogation objectives, profiles, a jumble of papers to have him catch up with what happened recently and what his future objective is. Plenty of papers to look through, looked like at least an hour's worth of reading to blaze through. It looked extremely dull, and it would be for anyone not a voracious reader such as Tullus, and he just ate up all the info like a steak dinner. It was imperative to be prepared for this situation, lest he forget to ask some decisive questions and gain some decisive testimony. He's only failed at an interrogation once, and that was when his target bled out from his wounds. In his head, he gave himself short, paraphrased descriptions of his new subordinates.

Warrant Officer Colton Ryker; age 24, ambidextrous, elephant-like memory, Devil's Fruit user. His epithet suits him, a lazy slacker who much prefers the shortest route. Quite passive when it comes to killing. Far too laid back for this kind of work. He set Ryker's profile aside and picked up another one and reading it while comparing both of them to their latest mission debrief.
Warrant Officer Alexis Fisher; age 17, ambidextrous. A petty thief turned Marine. Speaks in an incoherent accent. Stubborn, hard-headed, quite the street brawler, her epithet also suits her to an extent. Remember to keep wallet in inside pockets of vest. Don't let Fisher handle my weapons.

Both of them seem to work well together; Fisher seems to be more resourceful with her surroundings, Ryker sounds like he's a lot more technical due to his special abilities. According to the debrief, he's also a budding strategist. Both of them sound competent on paper, but I have yet to see them in action for myself. These reports don't display the whole truth, just what's needed...
Interrogation objective: Acquire location of a Mr. Winston and what exactly is he up to. Use the image of a chess game, stay one step ahead of opponent, Gonzola. Remember not to reveal trump immediately. Change bandages after if interrogation becomes messy.

He set the papers down and started to arrange his thoughts and priorities all before he was interrupted by a small fire happening behind the serving counter. It wasn't exactly anything dangerous, but that small flame brought back one too many memories for him. Gordo Park, that fishman Marine and his horrible method of death, it all seemed to be so fresh in his mind, despite it happening quite a while back already, yet Tullus couldn't shake the thought of him doing what he had done to help him after all that was done for him; kindness and camaraderie repaid with a single bullet. He tried to shake the memory out of his head and began to pack up the papers into his bag. He needed some air and a place without the constant sight of fire in the corner of his eyes. Soon enough, it was time for the stranger to do some business with the big iron on his hip.

[Vaetric]

Alexis chilled in the crew quarters with bandages. She walked a little with a limp, though apparently the damage wasn’t too bad, since they only gave her some ointment. It was a good thing the marines suddenly appeared and levelled the island, otherwise it might’ve been a little hard to get out of there. She’d been promoted too, to Warrant Officer, now she was the same rank as Colton. They were picked up by a Commander Rice, who was up deck steering the boat or doing something Commandery she was sure.
 
Over her banfdages she just had a marine shirt, since they didn’t have anything else available, sure she could’ve looted a store, but the place was screwed up. She’d managed to capture the lizard guy, which was a shame since he’d wanted to kill her and she could only extend the sentiment to him. She sipped on her glass of water. Colton had either managed to decimate Vetis or he got away, since there was no body Colton had only the latter to contemplate.
 
That was probably why he didn’t have a promotion, unlike him she could actually capture someone. Then again it was only because he coincidently allergic to a bloody fruit that she’d managed to pick up. Oh well, was all fun and she didn’t manage to die. Plus, if Gonzola got captured it was probably a death warrant for him anyway, either some comrade of him’ll come to stop him from talking or he gets sent to Impel Down or somewhere.
 
There was some new guy coming to interrogate him, he was a lieutenant if her memory served correctly. She couldn’t remember his actual name, Tully-something. Oh well, guess she had to wait. She stood up, wincing as she put pressure on her still sore foot, deciding to go up deck. Getting up there, she went toward the left railing, Colton was being deep or some shit on the right.

[Docile]

Joining Colton was Alexis now the same rank as himself, just without the devil fruit or his dreadlocks and amazing musical skill. Looking out over the waves which splashed around crashing into one another Colton felt sad as his memory drifted back to Akira their previous Captain who'd gone missing in action. Looking over to Alexis who'd joined him at the railings Colton.

"Do you ever think about Akira?" he asked Alexis. Colton missed their after mission tea parties and pissing off Alexis. But now that he was climbing ranks and she was too he felt he couldn't do it as much anymore as he was meant to be an example for inferior ranked recruits.

Swirling his hand in front of him Colton formed a small mud bunny and manipulated it to hop on over towards Alexis where it would hoped towards her head in an attempt to bounce on her head leaving a muddy trail of sludge behind.




As Tullus made his way out for some air a fellow Marine lieutenant approached him with a a square jaw & protruding bottom teeth. Looking towards Tullus hunched over the lieutenant muttered towards Tullus.

"Commander Rice wants you in interrogation in the next 10 minutes. Take the two newbs with you. He thinks they might be able to help. Maybe even inform you of what they know."

Walking on and continuing down the corridor the lieutenant made his way into the kitchen. Seems he was a little too hungry to wait for some lunch.

Whilst Commander Rice steered the ship onwards throughout the blue he raised his telescope to see into the distance where something dark rode on the horizon sailing their way. Unable to quite make it out he placed it back down and continued to steer them on course to the next island.

However what he didn't know was that Rear Admiral Icarus was pulling strings and expanding his team to mold them into the right team for the wrong job.

As they would be known Battalion 82 was growing and becoming a known name throughout the Navy for their dashing feats and the destruction they left behind. And soon with any luck Tullus LeVitt would be one of them and bring his revolver and Tanzai weaponry with him.

[Serious?]

Interrogation in ten minutes, bring the newbies along. Of course, they might even be of use in the interrogation, but Tullus didn't count on that. Neither of them had the combination of motivation, drive and intellect to dig deep into the mind and pull all that info out of criminals. Nevertheless, help was something he could turn down, but not when it came from someone higher ranking than him. Looking back at the lieutenant, Tullus turned away and straightened out his vest before heading up onto deck, on a brief search for Warrant Ryker and Warrant Fisher. The bullets and shells in the pouches of his vest were jingling and jangling with every step he took.

This Rear Admiral Icarus that was the big boss of this crew, he seemed to be very elusive. Quite prestigious a man he is, although the stranger with big iron hasn't actually seen the Rear Admiral in person before. LeVitt briefly wondered why he wasn't here seeing as he was the leader, but then remembered all the paperwork he had to do even as a lieutenant. What Icarus was probably doing was most likely ten times more work in his position than in Tullus' position. Still, what he's doing must be pretty important if he's essentially leaving his second in command in charge indefinitely. Soon enough, his thoughts brought him to the stairs that lead to deck, and the door opened from his touch.

Surely these two warrants must be up here, I recall seeing Ryker up here briefly...

Tullus peered around the doorway and made his way onto deck, where he would continue his search. Time was short, so there was an absolute sense of urgency needed to be invoked right now. A few head pops around a few corners and sure enough, LeVitt found his subordinates for the interrogation. The stranger with big iron casually stepped his way out of the corner and towards the two warrants.

"Warrant Ryker and Warrant Fisher, I am Lieutenant LeVitt, I will be your new superior indefinitely. Now, please hurry along with me; we have an interrogation to carry out. Posthaste," he commanded. He saw the strange, mud-like bunny-thing hopping towards Fisher. "Oh, and leave the mud-bunny behind."

Tullus had the strangest urge to shoot it up, as his right hand has dangerously glossing over the trigger of his revolver, but held off cause he'd probably get into shit for it.

[Vaetric]

Alexis looked out toward the sea, a little bored. She had bent down so that when her elbow was on the railing she could keep her head up with her palm. “Uh.. I’m guessing he used his fruity powers to save himself or something. Either that or he drowned, I like to think of the first one. Ships are nothing but floating vegetables anyway.” Alexis said, assuming that trees counted as vegetables. Vegetables are plants, trees are plants, trees are vegetables.
 
Then there’d be one of Colton’s famous piss-off-messy ash bunny as it sat on her head. She looked upwards. Goddamn it. She would go and give him a smack, but then again she liked standing all the way over here, plus hobbling toward him would be a nuisance. “Oi.” she’d say, attempting to scoop the mud bunny and place it on the railing. Maybe she could throw it at him when he isn’t paying attention.
 
Then some mummy guy spoke up. “Oh that’s good, we’ve got this thing under WRAPS.” she’d say sarcastically. He sounded uptight, like an arsehole. Yay, she’d be dealing with two in her group, lucky her. “Yeah, yeah.” she’d say, scooping up Colton’s mud bunny and flinging it toward him (Colton). Then she’d follow Tullus to the prisoner place or whatevers.

[Docile]

Hearing Alexis speak about ships being big vegetables and Akira saving himself he nodded. He hoped the same. Akira didn't deserve to die. Did he? The sounds of the waves were calming and soothing to Colton they made him realize that not having his guitar wasn't the end of the world. But it sure was pretty annoying. He would've been playing a song or tuning it if it wasn't smashed on Sky Reach.

As Commander Rice steered the ship pulling a hard left he was thrown a little until he heard the footsteps of LeVitt. Their new superior as he introduced himself.

Just great!

As the man in bandages introduced himself and spoke of an interrogation Colton sighed. He knew it was something they had to do, but it was just effort. Drifting into the sky he lazily like a ghost hunched over and started floating after Tullus.

"Nice to meet you LeVitt."

As Alexis tossed the mud bunny at Colton he felt his own powers coming his way. Part of the perk of element generation. Absorbing it into his body Alexis's attack had been futile.

"Do you want to know what we know about this Winston guy or have you already been briefed?" Colton asked Tullus. He wasn't quite up for explaining what they knew, but maybe Alexis would be.

Following Tullus down the stairs Colton sighed thinking about his guitar once more. Waiting outside the room standing either side of the door were two marine soldiers armed with rifles and swords. Upon approaching both nodded towards Tullus, Colton & Alexis.

They were simply a precaution. One of the two reached for the door and pushed it open for Tullus.

The room Gonzola was locked in was large enough for all of them to sit comfortably. Sitting at the back of the room behind a table with his hands cuffed to a pole in the middle of the table Gonzola wasn't going anywhere. Especially not with sea stone cuffs on him.

[Serious?]

Tullus was a little annoyed at the obvious joke towards his appearance, and miraculously stayed his hand from drawing and pistol whipping her. Lucky for him, he had a joke of his own up those rolled-up sleeves of his. He took quite the deep breath and exhaled before speaking.

"I suggest you keep that smart mouth of yours under WRAPS, Fisher, lest you end up with extra duties for the entire week." LeVitt uttered while bearing the most of grins under his bandages. "Now, let's move on from this."

Ignoring the sight of Ryker absorbing the mud bunny thing, the stranger with big iron turned around and made his way down to the designated interrogation room. In his head, he was having some rude thoughts of Alexis pass through; obviously, she didn't make a really good first impression on him. He heard Colton ask him if he wanted a briefing on Winston from their perspectives, but as much as he would like to, he didn't really want to.

"Sure, why not." Well, that was a change of heart.

Soon enough, the trio were at the interrogation room. They gestured at the three and opened the door for them. And in that room was were the magic was to happen. Gonzola was sitting behind the table, cuffed to a pole in front of him, strangely enough. The design of the table was pretty wonky considering the size and common use for it. Why did it have a pole in the middle? Never mind that, it was time to get talking.

"Mr. Gonzola," Tullus said as he walked over to the prisoner's left and sitting on the table, "You will tell us everything you know about Winston. Should I find out you're hiding information or being uncooperative, then...Well, you'll find out what will happen to those who do not cooperate soon enough."

LeVitt chuckled a bit at the end, but immediately put on his straight face once again.

"Now, where is Winston?" Tullus questioned as he slid off the table and positioned himself to be directly in front of Gonzola.

[Vaetric]

“Oi.. You repeated my joke.” Alexis pointed out to him, he could’ve done better. She knew he could’ve done better. Then again, he’s a lieutenant, so he’s a stuck up arse. Plus, extra duties sound annoying. Then again, annoying him may be fun. Then again, she’s one promotion away from getting a cloak and she shouldn’t endanger that. Then again, she might lose her way. Then again, the cloak.
 
Oh yeah, the cloak.
 
“Riiiight.” she’d say, hobbling a little to follow him. She broke off for the briefest of moment to grab a snack from the kitchen before returning to make the duo once again a trio.Sheh eard Colton wanted to brief him or something. “He’s a dickhead, killed some guys, bleh. Oh yeah, forgot the incriminating evidence of that tone dial or something. Might’ve survived the bombing of that place, but meh.” she’d say, picking off the skin of her snack.
 
Once they reached the interrogation room, she threw the skins to her left and right before taking a bite of it. “’Ey, fatty.” she’d say in terms of greeting. She’d sit on the chair and pull up her foot, nomming on that orange she had in her hand.

[Docile]

As Alexis gave a quick short briefing to Tullus, Colton rolled his eyes and gave a more in depth description of what they knew.

"He saw us coming a mile off so by the time we bursted into his manor home he was already making his escape. The Crescent Drop Protection agency however don't like Marines and they arrested us. Winston knew this would happen and got away freely. From that point on we have no idea where he's gotten to. But after we were arrested the Crescent Drop Protection agency seems they're a little bit corrupt and were bought off easily to let us two slide all the way to Sky Reach where this fat prick & some mercenary named Vetis were hired to murder us." Colton still thought about Vetis even now specially with the fact that his body was never found. "Vetis got away somehow and Alexis captured Gonzola."

As they entered the room and Tullus spoke to Gonzola, Colton allowed Alexis to enter before him and leaned against the wall beside the door looking over Gonzola. He figured he might know where Vetis was, but who knew. Maybe he didn't. Either way they'd both failed in their job to murder Alexis & himself.

Looking at the man wrapped in bandages who'd spoken to him, Gonzola dipped his head looking at the floor.

"I don't know." he said in response to Tullus's question. "I'm just a hired gun." he continued.

Looking at Gonzola as he sat suffering thanks to the sea stone handcuffs, Colton looked at Alexis then at Gonzola. He'd given her one hell of a beating. Looking at Tullus to see his next move Colton felt the ship swing to the left and had to steady himself as a wave clearly smacked into the ship sending it aside.

Gonzola on the other hand who couldn't hold on was sent over on to his right side. Crushing his arm between floor & chair he howled in pain.

"Get used to it Gonzola, there's more to come if you don't talk."




Struggling to steer the ship among the wild waves which begun to grow harder to navigate and much more dangerous Commander Rice lifted his telescope to look through to get a better view of where he was as he'd been recently informed an island was near by.

Unable to spot an island he did however catch sight of something in the distance. A large ship sailing their way. Looking to his navigator for instructions Rice was given directions to the nearest island being that of the pirate drop off point.

Creek's Cove.

Taking a hard left Commander Rice set a course for Creek's Cove hoping that they could get out of this storm quickly and look into stopping off till the storm blows over as this storm was only going to get worse.

With the winds picking up the pace and the waves rising in height things were getting bad. Commander Rice leveled off the ship as it swung around to the left. The ship that had been sighted earlier was getting closer and becoming much clearer.

[Serious?]

"I don't know."

Like fucking ass he didn't know; surely Gonzola had to have been contacted by Winston. Tullus felt like pulling out the trump right at that moment, but the sudden swaying of the ship caused him to take his hand off the gun and steady himself. As his hand brushed the holster on the back of his waist, the stranger remembered that he had another weapon he could use! Powerful and certainly frightening up close, but not yet. The involuntary shift in position should be enough for now. Gonzola wasn't talking, that was for certain. He's hiding something, and Tullus was going to bring it to light!

"Come now, Mr. Gonzola," Tullus said as he propped both him and the chair back up, "The sooner you tell us where he is, the sooner you get to rest."

Tullus sounded like he was losing his already minuscule patience he had left, and when it completely ran out, he definitely wasn't going to be as nice as he was propping people back up onto chairs and shit like that. He positioned himself in front of Gonzola once again and repeated his question, all while closing in real up close into the prisoner's face.

"I'll ask again, where is Winston?"

He swore that if he spat on him, which happened quite a lot, he would be fuckin' pissed.

[Vaetric]

“More like hired.. Uh.. Claw. Y’know, I heard you could get a think called ‘scer-vey’ if ya’ don’t eat that much fruit. Want some?” Alexis would say, chomping again on the orange and scratching the spot on her chest that was cut, then remembering the medical guy who told her not to do that. The sea was becoming a little wavy now, which Alexis didn’t like one little bit. At least (she hoped) Tullus could swim, Colton’d be a pain to fish and carry out of the water. She wondered if there were any lemons on board too, the first one did a number on him.
 
Tullus mentioned that Gonzola was going to rest as soon as he told them what they wanted to know, which didn’t sound good for Mr. Fatty. Then again, it might be to just put him back in his quarters or something, or just kill him which, really, she hoped it would be since she didn’t want a massive lizard coming after her again. That would suck. Again.
Tullus got just a bit close to Gonzola, which may have been a bit etchy if it wasn’t for the seastone handcuffs, since she knew all about how big his teeth were. “So like, I heard prisoners were sent to something about Impral Down,  wossat?” she’d asked to Colton casually, putting on her old accent at the end.

[Docile]

As the questions came back up again, Gonzola rolled his eyes. He wasn't telling anyone anything.

"Look I told you. I'm just a hired gun"

Looking at Alexs who spoke of eating fruit & chomped away at that orange, he started to get angry, but his anger only made him feel weaker & tired as he tried to resist the seastone around his wrists.

Smirking Colton was just glad to be away from it all. He would suffer just as badly.

As Alexis mentioned Impel Down to him, Colton nodded.

"Yeah. Those who don't comply and can be convicted of several crimes like murder or even being proved to be a corrupt law enforcer can be convicted there for years to come. Hell maybe even decades." attempting to send fear into Gonzola it was a pointless effort as he didn't seem to budge in the least.

He raised his head and looked towards Tullus.

"Imagine this is you." Gonzola spat towards Tullus. "That spit is you. Every other dry patch in this room is the army Winston has compared to you guys. So let me tell you now. You best back off or he will send an ungodly forced to take you down."



The other ship that had been sighted by Commander Rice was now becoming much clearer and as it closed in on the Naval ship Commander Rice gave the orders for his recruits to man the guns.

There could possibly be a serious threat. Both ships now in sight of one another started to close the distance and as the large black jolly roger hung torn in the wind the pirate ship of the Devil's Skull was shown clear as day to the Commander of the Naval ship.

"Hold your fire. We're not looking for a war."

As the Devil's Skull veered closer the steering wheel started to spin and the ship's direction was no longer a question. They were headed for a collisions course with the Navy's Sea Dogs.

"OPEN FIRE!!!"

[Serious?]

Again, with the hired gun excuse. Perhaps he was just a hired gun, but Tullus wasn't going to roll with that answer, not when there's a criminal on the verge of escaping; it was just Gonzola hiding the route that Winston is taking. Too much at stake just so a criminal two Warrants worked hard (judging by their injuries) to capture. Oh well, guess it was time to bust out the ol' revolver if he wasn't going to talk. However, as Tullus was about to pull his face away from the criminal's face, the stranger received an unfriendly spit towards his distance, right onto his bandaged face. The rage building up within him suddenly burst but nothing came out, no emotion showed on the bandaged man's face. While Gonzola was going off about how the spit is Tullus and something about dry being something else, the Marine lieutenant just took the spit with two of his fingers and put in near the holes at his nose to smell it. By the time Gonzola was finished his spiel, the stranger had something something to say.

"Just a hired gun, huh? That's your answer...Along with some...cock-flavoured spit. Hm," uttered Tullus in a eerily calm tone. His right hand went down past his revolver and towards the quad-barrel holstered on the back of his waist. "Let's see what the board says! Hired gun and cock-flavoured spit!"

With that said almost enthusiastically, like a game show host, Tullus pulled out Gluttony in a flash, pointed it towards Gonzola's right knee and swept his free hand and head towards an imaginary game show answer board thing and pulled the trigger. A deafening blast reverberated all around the room, echoing the sheer power of two barrels unloading through someone's knee. When Tullus looked back, the criminal's knee was practically obliterated; not one trace of it ever surviving that blast.

"Oh, looks like those were the wrong answers-Don't FUCK with me, Gonzola!" Tullus practically yelled with all of his voice. He immediately recomposed himself and spoke, "This interrogation has already become a torture session."

[Vaetric]

Gonzola continued to be a dickhead, she continued to eat the orange, but quickly found there was no orange left. The new lieutenant did seem a little hard arse. Then again, he wears bandages. He must have some mad scars all over or something. Well, the ship was all choppy and such. She re-adjusted her seat so she wouldn’t fall over, then Gonzola did the most dumb-arsy thing that he could’ve done. Then again, she didn’t know the emotional capabilities of Tullus.
 
She then heard some shouting from up top, something about opening fire. She cooould.. Go up and help or something, but then again, what she could also do is watch Tullus explode on GOnzola. She decided that she liked the latter, so she quickly went over and back to the kitchen, grabbed an apple and hobbled back just in time to watch the show. Or rather, just in time to hear the cock-flavoured spit remark. “If he’s a bellend, doesn’t that make it cum?” she’d ask Colton, sitting back down on the seat and tossing the apple into the air.
 
She jumped a bit at the gunshot, due to her being focused on catching the apple. She looked over and Gonzola’s knee was .. Everywhere. She shrugged, and looked around. Maybe the guys up top were having more fun than the guy was having down here. “Think he’d make good bait? Uh.. Don’t think we have a fishing rod that won’t break with him on it, though.” she’d say casually.

[Docile]

Gonzola could hear allot of talk.

Like a whinny dog Tullus LeVitt was barking like hell shame he had no bite though. As Alexis spoke and the question was seemed to be directed at Colton, Gonzola looked towards the floor. He just wanted to get out of there right now but he couldn't. He was too weak.

Feeling something pressing against his knee Gonzola's eyes widened and in seconds after recognizing the barrel he raised his head to look Tullus in the eyes in shock.

"No!"

Before Gonzola got any more out of his mouth there was a loud bang, blood splattering over the walls and agonizing pain shooting up his leg. Feeling the splatter over his own face Gonzola could feel tears streaking down his cheeks and started crying out.

"Okay! Okay!"

The question Alexis shot in Colton's direction however didn't land as he was too busy looking in the other direction a little more focused on creating a new song. However the sudden shock of gunfire caught his attention. Especially when a streak of crimson stretch over his torso. Looking down he sighed.

This guy's fuckin' mental! Colton thought to himself. As the screaming of Gonzola reverberated around the room, Colton looked away from the gloriously gory view.


Being told by Tullus not to fuck with him, Gonzola seemed to finally understand himand as if by magic he suddenly found the key to all them secrets about Winston that were locked away in the back of his mind. Funny how quickly he found his way to those answers so quickly.

"Alright! I'll fucking talk!" Gonzola shouted as he fell into a cry leaning forwards the spit from his shout had begun to dribble down his lips and splatter over the crimson floor.




Launching an onslaught of cannon fire unto the Devil's Skull pirate ship all cannon balls were on the way to tearing the ship to pieces. With a grin on his face Commander Rice watched as the cannon balls closed the distance.

The ship of the Devil's Skulls didn't make a move. The crew aboard didn't even seem worried. None seemed to be taking any form of precautions. This worried Commander Rice a little bit as he held his telescope to his eye and watched the the impact he caught sight of the cannon balls exploding.

As the explosions burst up and into life he removed the telescope to get a better view. As they subsided not only did Commander Rice himself but his crew all look on wards in dismay. Not a single scratch lay upon the ship.

With the ship in clear view the pirate ship didn't return fire but instead started to swing around along side the naval ship. Swinging around with such speed so it was now parallel with Commander Rice's ship the man at the helm let go of the wheel. Turning to face the Navy ship he gave a dirty grin followed by a horrific barrage of small spears which pierced the many Marines aboard who'd armed themselves ready for a fight.

Ripping through their torsos, arms & legs the arrows pinned the soldiers to the deck. Below deck they would only hear loud thuds. The Devil's Skull Pirates however didn't move. All standing aboard their ship looking at the Naval ship with grins on their faces they held their weaponry in hands and waited.

"'Ello there Commander!" a low grumbling voice called across to Commander Rice who dropped his telescope in shock.

[Serious?]

All it took was one kneecap, alright, not bad. Could've been better, no kneecaps, maybe two, maybe an elbow thrown in with those knees. Either way, Gonzola was no longer reluctant to talk and the "torture session" was about to come to a close. Tullus took a step back and flipped open one of the many pockets on his vest and pulled out two 12-gauge buckshots to put into the empty chambers of his fancy-looking sawed-off. As the gun clicked shut, he stowed it back into his back-holster and pointed at the door.

"Warrant Ryker, fetch the doctor immediately; wouldn't want our guest to bleed out so soon."

With that said, the lieutenant looked over the mess he made: a dismembered leg pouring out a constantly growing puddle of blood, Gonzola looked like he was crying a little bit, and there were little bits of gore splattered everywhere, including what looked like everyone else's clothing. The stranger briefly thought about the person who had to clean this mess up.

"Now, spit it out. Any withheld information and your next kneecap's getting another dose." Tullus harshly spat out as he placed a finger on the now-cripple's good knee.

[Vaetric]

Alexis wiped a bit of blood off of her clothes, though it just stuck, though it did look a little bit like a piece of kneecap. She looked to Colton, who seemed to have been jolted awake by the gunshot. Back home these weren’t so uncommon, though they rarely used guns sine in the sewers they were hard to get. Nope, they had to use the good ol’ fashioned bludgeons, shivs, whatever they could find. She met one guy who liked to do away with body parts like scallops, just shove the blade under there and pop!
 
“Should’ah broght on’ ombrllah.” she’d say, the memories somewhat reverting her to her old accent, before she remembered to not do that. She was about to take a bite of the new fruit she had taken, but then she remembered. Apparently devil fruits “reincarnate” to the fruit nearest to them, so if Gonzola doesn’t surviiiive the interrogation.. She’d place the fruit on the table, shrugging. Always nice to know.
 
She heard explosions up top, which didn’t sound all that good. Maybe the marines were just having target practice. With screams of pain. Maybe.

[Docile]

Watching as the interrogation progressed and Tullus spoke of repeating this action to Gonzola's other kneecap if he didn't spill his guts Colton watched him reload his sawn off shotgun. He felt a little petrified of Tullus despite the inability he had of doing him harm.

The sounds of screams and what Alexis would describe a target practice sent shivers down Colton's spine. It didn't sound all too healthy. Tullus spoke to Colton asking him to get hold of a doctor to keep Gonzola from bleeding out. Reluctantly he nodded and opened the door. Making his exit Colton went in search of a doctor only to find chaos aboard the ship. Recruits were rushing around below deck and he just didn't know why.

"Officer Ryker you've gotta help us!" a recruit cried as his hands gripped Colton's shirt tightly.

Turning to find a blubbering Marine, Colton slowly released the grip of the recruit's with a single hand. He raised an eyebrow curiously wondering just what the hell he was so panicked over.

"On deck. They're massacring everyone! We need you're help! You & Alexis!"

This knowledge confused Colton, but it was nice to feel needed. But if he was honest he really didn't want to do anything right now. He was meant to be resting up. Sighing as the recruit turned to run off again Colton shouted.

"Fine. But you got a doctor and send him to that interrogation room. Don't want our little friend dying on us."

Nodding the recruit sprinted off to find a doctor who was still in good health.

Popping his head back in through the interrogation room Colton sighed once more.

"Alexis, we're needed up on deck."

As Tullus had told Gonzola that he'd lose his other knee cap if he kept quiet and he'd been shown the perfect example of what happened to people who didn't already he was pretty sure he'd believe him this time round. He didn't want a repeat.

"Winston is looking to move on to selling bigger things!" Gonzola blurted out in a voice riddled with pain. He didn't want to look down as he was terrified of the sight he'd see where a leg was and now was more like a stump oozing with blood. he could feel himself getting light headed thanks to the loss of blood.

"He was only selling off small stuff to begin with, but now he's moving on to selling bigger things. He took a few plans from the Navy when he quit. Strategies, large scale devices. You name it! Now can you hurry the fuck up and please get me this fucking doctor!?"

Sweat was forming over Gonzola's brow from trying to fight against the sweet alure that death would bring. However the bloody wound that Tullus was responsible for really wasn't helping anything. He just wanted to go home, not this. This was too much.

If he pulled through Gonzola would keep Tullus in mind though. Maybe one day he would get him. Then he could make the bastard pay.

[Serious?]

Finally, it looks like progress was being made; Selling stolen goods, even Marine property. Whatever Winston stole, it must've been very sensitive documents. And now Tullus finds out it was plans that were stolen. He could understand the value behind large-scale devices and machinery, but strategies? That was pushing it a little; Not like a lot of pirates would invest their time in studying Marine strategies and finding a way to break them. No, too much effort for a few very situational payoffs that probably might not even work in the first place.

Judging by Gonzola's look on his face, it was like he was under excruciating pain right now. Oh well, too bad that doctor wasn't showing up right now. And judging by the noise coming from above, it sounded like something real rough was going on, which might be why the doctor was not here yet. Probably patching up some injured Marines with a quick-fix or something. However, Tullus' expectation was dashed somewhat pleasantly when the ship's doctor came in with his doctoring bag along with a recruit carrying a few other tools and kits.

The stranger with big iron looked at the doctor coldly and said, "Make sure he stays alive." He gestured with his head and the doctor looked back also coldly. He inspected the stub at many angles before pulling out a syringe and injecting it into Gonzola's leg. While the doctor began to work on that, Tullus still had another question to ask.

"Break time's over, Gonzola, next question. Where is Winston?"

[Vaetric]

Alexis turned her head as the door opened and Colton’s head appeared. “What? Fine.” she’d say. She’d stand up, grunting and make her way to the door and following Colton. It seems she shouldn’t have ignored those noises earlier.
 
Or any noises ever.
 
That was a bit silly of her.
 
Then again, if she went off up by herself, whatever happened up there might happen to her as well, so hey. Guess forced ignorance saved her life here. Or her other foot. Maybe her hair too.
 
“So uh.. What’s going on, Colt?” she’d ask as she caught up with him, if they were attacked by another ship (which goes without saying) then he could just set fire to their ship or something with ash. Could ash even do that? She sure felt a little burnt when they first fought.

[Docile]

Heading up to the main deck Colton heard Alexis question him on what was up and he simply shrugged not having a clue in the slightest. Arriving on deck to find nearly all of the crew members pinned to the ground thanks to what appeared to be stone spears Colton stepped out of cover and wandered over to inspect them.

A sharp spear shot through his neck and simply dug itself into the deck. Kneeling down beside a recruit with the spear in his kneecap, Colton didn't even notice the spear shooting through his neck.

Commander Rice however smiled. Their not so secret weapon had finally come up on deck. Looking towards the door he spotted Alexis and grinned. Reaching for his own flintlock pistol which sat in his holster, Commander Rice stood up revealing himself from behind the steering wheel he'd hidden behind and pointed his flintlock at the pirate who'd taken down so many of his crew.


"Ok you sonovabitch! I'm going to give you one chance to surrender right now. We've currently got two of the strongest Marines I've seen in a long time aboard my ship & they can take you down in a matter of mere moments with a single command from me. So either you back off right now and we'll think nothing of this or you surrender."

Turning at the sound of this sudden voice that had perked up at their arrival, Colton looked towards Commander Rice then the man he was pointing his gun at.

Like a bad memory all of the information about the man on the other end came to the front of his mind.

Captain of the Devil's Skull pirates Harold Hangman a drunk with no real direction in life other than spur of the moment decisions such as this assault on a Marine ship. Fallen into piracy at the age of 28 after he was caught smuggling drugs from Cactus Island to Alabasta. He'd quickly become a dangerous individual on his 26th birthday when he'd devoured a devil fruit from Marine head quarters which was one of the packages he'd been smuggling but after being broken out had come back for it. This devil fruit gave him the powers to create & manipulate concrete. Shortly after discovering his power and using it to drown his employer in concrete he took his ship and threatened his other employees to become his pirate crew. Now as a concrete devil fruit user Harold Hangman uses these powers to destroy his enemies. Despite the drink, he is a rather smart individual as a solo fighter but when others get involved in his fights he starts becoming more troublesome for everyone his own men included.

As Harold looked at Commander Rice and his crew waited aboard their own ship armed to the teeth Harold smirked feeling no fear from the gun aimed at his body. Raising his darkly coloured bottle in hand and taking a large swig from it he leaned back to finish the bottle the liquid could be seen vanishing from the bottle and entering through his lips. His big bushy brown beard hung as the wind blew past it. With the bottle no empty it was seen shattering into a million tiny pieces. Lowering his hand Harold allowed the pieces of bottle to slip from his loose grip and coat the deck.

However from the bottle that shattered a long thin concrete pin shot towards Commander Rice's shoulder. Sending agony into his shoulder the flintlock dropped and Commander Rice screamed. Stumbling back he could feel the pin rip in through the front and out through the back. Although it didn't leave his body but stop with some poking out of both side. Kneeling down as he reached for the wound he grunted. Blood begun to stain his white uniform and Harold smiled as he gestured for his crew mates to board the Naval ship.



When the doctor arrived and begun working away to keep Gonzola awake he felt a little prick and saw that was quickly being injected and having his wound dressed. With the tears still running down his cheek and the question of Winston's location still finding its way in through one ear and refusing to leave the other Gonzola looked Tullus in the eye.

"He's going. He's going. He's going to the Hellion's Triangle. I don't know which island!"

The Hellion's Triangle was a well known pirate pit hole. Three islands, three rulers & worst of all three totally different islands. One of these three islands was searing hot like the fires of hell, the seconds doused in constant rain and 90% of the island suffered from flooding with most of the island stuck beneath the water, lastly there was the island of war. The town was in ruins and it was survival of the fittest. Everyone a criminal and everyone in danger. The question was which one of these three islands would Winston be on?

"He wants to sell the plans to someone out there!"

Out of the Hellion's Triangle there were three men who stood out and would seem to have an interest in anything Winston was selling. One the first island the horrid desert, Mandrake's Cannyon it was ruled by Luka Cuckhold "Cheshire Smile" a man rumored to have fingers in a bit of every pie. His ultimate goal was no mystery. He want the biggest military force on the planet and wasn't going stop any time soon. Currently his military force was big enough to progress into the New World without the slightest of issues. But he wanted to take the first half of the Grand Line first and to do that, he would need some of the Naval strategies to over come their attacks.

The second island which was 90% under water was conveniently by the octopus fishman Reaver Hartman. Leader of the Hartman pirates and seeking to flood those who opposed his wishes he'd come found his home and base of operations in New Haven and renamed it Tropokia. Blood thirsty, greedy & easily angered Reaver wanted to get his hands on treasures from all around the globe no matter who held on to them. So extra weaponry, strategies & even turrets would've been a dream com true for him. Added defense and even greater assaults with minimum damage being sustained.

Thirdly on the war trodden island of Veniten the current leader of this town which struggled so to survive day in & day out thanks to a large scale civil war that left everyone difficult to trust and everyone a dick head the current leader was a psychotic, sociopathic beast of a man with the determination to survive of a rat. Kill, rape, steal, repeat. Currently his identity was unknown as no one who'd every encountered him without his mask was able to speak to anyone about his identity. But from speculation wild rumors had been spread about him. His ultimate goals seemed to be less than savory. Slightly more savage. He saw the world as a place of fuck ups & people who saw him as less than he was. He wanted to bring  a new age of danger to the seas & the rest of the world.

This was all of the information the Navy had collected from these three islands in the past years, but the question was which one was Winston really headed to?

[Serious?]

"Hellion's Triangle? And are you absolutely sure you don't know where he is? No info at all? No hints he dropped to confirm his whereabouts? Any clues at ALL?" Tullus said as he pulled out his revolver and tapped Gonzola's knee with it. However, he sheathed the gun and turned around. He felt some slight shaking and noises coming from above deck and so the bandaged man looked up in confusion "The bloody hell's going on up there?" He asked himself as he turned back around to face the prisoner of war, but suddenly going silent to recollect his thoughts and arrange his logic.

Hellion's Triangle...Three islands, three main factions, one ruling each island. All mainly pirate controlled, docking may become difficult. Winston's selling plans, but which one faction would need them more? Which one would pay more? Damn, this'll be a major problem if we can't find the exact island he's on. However, he may float towards the one willing to pay more than the others. Note: Follow up on investigation on Hellion's Triangle.

Tullus broke from his thoughts and eyeballed Gonzola once more. He seemed to be still in quite a mood of distress and fear and pain, which easily influenced him to spill hopefully everything he knew (along with much blood). He had this feeling that this criminal wasn't lying when he said he didn't know where Winston was, but at the same time, he felt like he still was withholding information. However, should he bleed out from all this shit he's going through, Tullus definitely was going to be put on probation, or maybe demoted worst-case. Some more noises broke Tullus from his thoughts again, which, at that point, garnered some curiosity from him. What were they doing up there? Were they being invaded or something? Probably would explain the shaking from earlier. No matter, he had to confirm his suspicions posthaste.

"You get a lucky break today, Gonzola; Doctor, finish patching up his leg and escort him to his cell. And if you feel like it, toss him a peg leg to go with his stub."

And with that, Tullus left the interrogation room and began to make his way up to the deck. Surely if there was an enemy boarding, there would've been more of a distinct warning...Oh wait, the cluttering sound of footsteps from earlier...That may have been a good clue that the ship was being boarded, but what could he do about it now? Nothing. Might as well see what's in store above.

The stranger with big iron made his way up the stairs normally, but then began to hear some pained noises coming from people beyond the ajar door, so he slowly and quietly drew his revolver and began to slow down his approach to the door. There was a crack open, but not enough to fully see what was going on, but there might be an ambush waiting out there, so Tullus stopped right at the door and waited for some stray voices to catch his ears.

[Vaetric]

(( Sorries for delays ))


After she asked the question, Colton shrugged. “A’right.” she’d say, shrugging as well. When they reached the main deck Alexis let Colton move on ahead first, if there was fighting about, he’d be the most likely of them to survive being shot or something. Unless they were seastone though, of course. She peeped outwards to see a spear shoot through Colton’s neck and land right next to her.

 

Aaaand then the Commander made a speech, she waited for him to get impaled mid-sentence but surprisingly it didn’t happen, she looked again outwards and saw a guy.  He didn’t look all that great, she knew drunkards when she saw them, and since he was alone she could only guess that he was a fruit eater as well. What she should do.. Is get some seastone cuffs, since she lost the knuckles at that bloody prison place that they got Gonzola, which sucked. It sucked a lot. She couldn’t even punch Colton now.

 

Commander Rice FINALLY got struck down. …Why was she waiting for that again? Anyway, it was obviously going to be a fight between Colt and Bottles over there, so she’ll have to deal with the crew. There were a load of sticks jutting out of the floor that she could use.. As soon as the first pirate would attempt to step on board, she’d attempt to run up and roundhouse kick him into the face and (hopefully) the water. She’d use the ends of concrete spears to push herself up, although it was probably dangerous, she’d use her splint on the somewhat healing foot to smash into their faces. Once that pirate was done with, she’d jump up and then use her good foot to kick herself toward the next one using the spear, and attempt to shoulderbarge the next one. (Should the first one be dealt with easily, that is)

[Docile]

With the voice of Commander Rice pipping up and making mention of Alexis & Colton aboard the ship and begin two of the finest officers he'd ever been in the company of Colton turned his attention to the crew. He'd identified the Captain and knew he'd be a problem for anyone who wasn't a logia. When the sudden sound of a cheer rose into the air from the Demon Skull Pirates he watched as the crew begun to pour aboard their ship. 

Alexis seemed to have dived straight in and was already delivering successful blows to her enemies. Colton on the other hand allowed all attacks to glide straight through him as he meandered towards the edge of the ship and his ashy body filtered off into lots of small heated ashes which burnt the attackers. 

Reaching the edge he leapt from ship to ship. Landing on the edge of the Demon Skulls he looked towards the Captain. 
Harold Hangman.

Turning to face Colton with a grin on his face and nothing in his hands Harold quickly had learned that Colton wasn't going to be harmed by a solid concrete block or slab, but he would have a little bit of trouble with something wet. From his finger tips concrete in its wettest form begun to drip forth. Smiling Harold rushed toward Colton nearly vanishing from sight. 

Sprinting towards Colton with a sloppy fist in the hopes that it would act like water and bring him to his knees Harold charged for Colton's face and delivered what he would call a sloppy second to the face of Warrant Officer Colton Ryker.




Quickly delving into the dangers of combat among the Demon Skull pirates and thrashing around among them which quickly brought them down one by one the crew continued to battle on with the thoughts that they could do no wrong. A small group had begun to form around Alexis all wanting a pop at the bitch believing they could do better. One large man with a hatchet firmly gripped in one hand grinned as he waited his turn baring a beautiful display of rotten teeth whist another of the dwarfish variety sat beside him with a pair of knuckle dusters waiting for his time too. Neither would attack until they were the last two. This girl Alexis seemed to be quite the fighter and they wanted a fair fight. One on one with her. 

The two would take it in turns. As blood & teeth spilled out on to the deck the remaining Marines who'd survived the concrete spear shower who groaned in pain were quickly being dealt with and finished off. All around Alexis the pleas of recruits were heard begging for their lives only to be ended by a gunshot, slice or even a beating of the roughest variety. 

The Marines of Commander Rice were meeting a grizzly end and next up was the Commander Rice himself. As the final recruit felt a blade dig in through his neck he coughed painfully allowing blood to rise and leak from his neck & lips trailing down his cheeks. 

Commander Rice had managed to pull himself to the back of the ship to rest himself up and removed his flintlock. With flintlock in hand and mushi in the other he begun to dial for help. 

"This is Commander Rice of Marine Battalion #27, we are under attack in the Grand Line, north east off of Sky Reach. Its the Demon Skull pirates. Send help ASAP."




Carried aside and out of Tullus's way the doctor made sure Gonzola was in safe hands. After cleaning up & stitching up his wound he was carted off out of the interrogation chamber and back to his cell. Still somehow leaving a trail of blood along the floor. Either the wound had re-opened itself or this idiot was bbleeding from elsewhere. 

Later on it would be revealed that one of the shells had also torn a small hole in Gonzola's torso and ripped through one of his lungs too and he was currently in agonizing pain from that too. As for Tullus who remained in the corridor the pirate scum who'd boarded and decided to take the rest of the ship split up into three groups. Arriving at the door to which Tullus was on the other side of the leader of this small group stopped and turned to face his comrades. This small group consisted of core elements of the Demon Skulls. 

"If we want to take this ship properly we need to do it just right. Team one are going in through this door. We're going to blind 'em then teams two & three are going to smash in through the walls on either side. That'll be the wrecking balls."

The Wrecking Ball Twinz 
The wrecking ball twinz are two large twins who're round like a ball, like to wear dirty dungarees for comfort & have little to no messy lime green hair. Both hardened criminals known for their combat which is mostly just rolling or using each other like projectiles. Their best form of offence is rolling like a crazy mother fucker which is just the thing they do best.

"Once they've smashed in the walls cut the ropes and they'll roll in until they stop crushing anyone who was in the way. Once they meet in the middle both of them will remove their flame dials & torch the survivors of that corridor. Remember one goes left the other goes right."

Both of the twins nodded happily content with their plan and certain it would work. 

"Then straight after you've confirmed their down, you're both gonna split either side and let us get in there right down the middle. I'll lead the way with my rifle then you two give me supporting fire. Second I get in the door you crouch by the door and open fire. I'll handle those you don't hit. Then we can move on to the next floor with the twins leading the way."

Quickly moving into position both twins were tied on tightly to either side of the ship with no one to stop them. 

Both twins held their positions on the edge of the ship waiting for the go ahead from the leader who stood at the door with his rifle at the ready. 

"Three, Two. ONE!"

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