The Vulture

[Docile]

North Blue, Unulla::.
Summer Season::.
10:42 AM::.

Towering over the dark rotten deck of the Royal Nightmare, Cape Diam reached forward into the little brown bag hanging around the bare wrinkled neck of Skulk. Allowing the withered pale hand of Cape to slither into the bag and remove the white envelope with a black circle of wax and the octopus reach mark on the wax sealing it shut. Lowering his arm Skulk the vulture brought its wings in and climbed higher up towards Cape's shoulder. Sitting comfortably Skulk waited for his next order. 

Cape reached towards the marking of the envelope & run his skeletal fingers over it. The wax was smooth & cool. Sliding his fingers between the sheets he torn the envelope open allowing the contents to be revealed. Reaching in & removing them he quickly discarded the envelope allowing the wind to drag it from the ship and carry it into the sea. Cape had hold of two sheets of paper. Each with a sketch. 

Looking over the sketches he grinned. 

Cape placed both sketches into the pockets of his large olive coat. Reaching into the bag he removed the den den mushi that traveled with Skulk. Removing the snail phone Skulk noticed it and its jaw opened. Reaching for the snail phone with an open beak Skulk was going for the kill. Noticing this Cape quickly slapped Skulk away. 

Squawking loudly at Cape for the slap Skulk was less than impressed. 

Cape made a quick job of dialing the right number. The snail phone took on the appearance of a gentleman in a robe. With a robe draped over its body & hood hanging over the eyes the snail phone was linked to the man who the vulture had come from. 

"I will get it done. But may I first ask what is the involvement?"

"They know too much."

"And whose fault is that?"

"None of your business!"

"You fool!" before a reply could be given Cape hung up the phone and looked from the ship with a smile that only showcased the worst feature about him. His rancid teeth of which a few were missing. 





Watching as Taki leapt from the ship on to the docks Koto was happy to see she was eager to find them some supplies. Koto just wanted to get his hands on the right supplies for sailing a few new crew members & if he could manage a new ship. But that was a bit ambitious. Still wouldn't stop him though. Following Taki's demonstration of her eagerness Koto took a few steps towards the edge of the ship and looked out over the town. 

It seemed like today was going to be a good day. 

Feeling the pavement beneath his feet Koto started to make his way into town the weather which was beating down was rather nice. Warm sunny day with barely a single cloud in the sky & cheerful people scattered throughout the town. 

"Ok Taki, we'll meet back here later. Now remember you need to get us supplies like food, drink & other necessities. I'm going to have a look around town for anything else that takes my . . . " Koto didn't even get a chance to finish his sentence as his eyes were drawn to the firm perfect buttocks of a beautiful brown haired woman in denim shorts & a red tank top with curly hair hanging down her back. With a forearm covered in bags he was more than happy to help her carry those. 

Rushing towards her to help her Koto just wanted a piece of dat booty. 

This meant he was just going to leave Taki to do all the work. Although Koto had the best intentions he was a slave to his own libido which failed him tirelessly. It was a harsh & inevitable circle of life and one that Koto would never learn from. As for Taki the town was calling out for some new tourists. Just the one thing they hadn't been calling out for was tourists of the fishy variety. Terrified at the terror such creatures could bring forth the town's folk were not looking forward to greeting or even confronting Taki.

At the mere sight of her leaping on to the docks and feeling the ground shiver a little all eyes were on here and all eyes wide as a pair of owl's shivers slid down their spines & their hearts quickened within their chests. It was terrifying and going to be even more so worrying. Not only were the town's folk terrified but so were the Navy & the men & women who operated within the shadows of the Octopus Reach.

[Vaetric]

Taki looked around as they walked into the town. It looked nice enough, she supposed. And the people who didn’t notice her even seemed cheerful, though it was just a little sunny, that was a problem, she’d have to submerge herself a bit after a while.
 
She turned to Koto as he gave the rundown. “Food, friends, other. Right.” she repeated, he seemed to be preoccupied as he found something that caught his attention and she turned to see him running away, riiight toward a woman. Perfect, she’d gotten herself one of THOSE men as her captain. Shaking her head, she walked off somewhere else. She noticed that the people were looking at her about as much as she expected anyone to.
 
She sighed a little at the wide-eyed terror of the civilians. She’d blink as she remembered that she forgot to ask Koto for money. She guessed she’d have to shake it down from pirates, who probably already stole the money, so the first place she’d have to look would be the tavern. She’d start walking toward that, gently brushing aside people who appeared to forget they had legs.
 
Standing outside the tavern, she’d prepare to go in, but not before growing tired of the unwelcome stares, she’d turn her head. “Screw off.” she’d grunt, her back was quickly becoming more than a little achey. With all luck she’d find someone with a bounty in the place, if not, shake down pirates, if not… Well, she’d have to figure something out. She ducked down as she tried to enter the establishment.

[Docile]

"So do you need a big strong man to help you carry those bags or for a little something else?" Koto asked with a grin as he started walking alongside the woman who didn't seem to spot him at first.

Looking around before realizing she had to look down she grinned clearly trying to hold in her laughter.

"Urm, I'm ok thanks." she replied with red cheeks and continued walking. Feeling the sting of rejection Koto watched helplessly as she walked on. He bit down on his lip and looked away trying to forget about her. Ultimately failing he blurted out after her.

"Yeah well I was only hitting on you out of pity! Couldn't land a guy like me anyway!"

Drawing more attention to himself that he meant to Koto turned around and stormed off down the street. He wasn't having any of this shit not from women like her. But what he would happily have was a good long look at the notice board which he spotted just up ahead. It was bound to hold the names of a few local criminals. At least he hoped it would do.

Arriving at the notice board he spotted notes for free furniture, classes for dancing, adverts for live music nights and finally a few bounty posters. Smiling as his eyes fell upon them he reached up to see that they were too high for him.

REALLY!? he thought to himself. Jumping he started getting frustrated until he finally caught hold of two and the paper ripped allowing them to come crashing down. landing on his arse the posters landed on his face.

Lifting them up and looking at the posters he read over them.

Murphy Allbright
10,000,000

Murphy seemed the better option as from her picture she looked to be quite the dangerous pirate with a golden front tooth & long platted pony tail of soft yellow hair sitting beneath a cowboy's hat.


Monty Brigade
11,000,020

However Monty looked to be the more reckless with scars dotted all over his face one eye white clearly being blind in that eye & a from the looks of him in the picture he seemed to be the owner of a devil fruit and quite a devastating one too.

Looking at both Koto not had to make a decision. Pick to search for one of these two or go for the third one which didn't seem anywhere near as appealing.




As Taki made her way into the town and towards a tavern the citizens were terrified. Her height was astounding to begin with and her general appearance was just so peculiar like nothing any of them had ever seen before. However there were worse things on the island than people's judgement.

As Taki walked she was being watched by more than towns folk.

Two people in black trousers & white shirts with braces & black trilby's with white ribbons around them and a small black octopus insignia on the side of their trilby's stood in a corner which Taki passed by. As she passed they couldn't help but keep glaring at her. The two had holster's on in which a flint lock sat. They were made abundantly clear to everyone who encountered them.

Approaching the tavern Taki's arrival was clear and duly noted. The silence of the bar was at the sight of Taki. Even the bar tender looked on in shock and felt his spine shiver. One person however didn't get the memo that fish were weird in the blues. A woman sitting with her back to the door continued talking to the man sitting opposite her. With long grey hair in a pony tail and a red head back she had a denim vest over the top of her black t-shirt & on the back it read 'Unulla Ships'

Around her waist a loose tool belt hung and hanging from the right hand side was a hammer the top of which had a smudge of blood splattered over it. As worrying as this may have seemed to some the patrons seemed to ignore it.

When the sudden silence and eyes went from her to the door she turned to take a quick glance at Taki. Gathering the entire spectacle of her appearance in within seconds the lady turned back without the slightest ounce of surprise.

Taking a swig from her drink she continued with her previous conversation with a man who just couldn't take his eyes off of the creature which had just lumbered in with great difficulty. However the inside of the bar was easily big enough to house Taki, it was just the doors that made things difficult.

[Vaetric]

Taki continued to walk through the street looking for a tavern, she did notice some shady men with guns, and they appeared more malicious than frightened, she made a mental note to attack first if they ever start walking toward her. She’d finally get to the tavern, having said what she needed to say she’d make her way in.
 
The size of the door caused more than a little annoyance for Taki, after eventually being able to fit her upper half of the body through the door she’d eventually get herself in. She’d scan the tavern, before remembering she’d need a bingo book in order to find someone with a bounty. “..I need money. Who has a bounty?” she’d ask, straightforward and plain.
 
She had absolutely no doubt that they’d lie to her, it was practically a given. She mostly said it on the off chance that one would be a fool, but an honest one. If not, it was time for her to head toward the bounty board.

[Docile]

Koto's decision was to find either. Both would be a great addition to the crew if he could locate either one. Folding up the posters and placing them into his pocket he moved on down the path into the town square. It was time to make some new friends.

Arriving shortly in the town center Koto realized this town was home to or at least had been home to an old underground. This was an old train which would've traveled the extent of the island with incredible speed. Excited to see this Koto made his way towards the entrance. A small stair well which went beneath the ground.

He arrived at the stairs to see the walls were boarded up. Looking all around before running down the stairs & shoulder barging through Koto shattered the wooden covering and once he was now in he could see there was no lights.

Continuing down further Koto was curious to see what this thing was. He'd never witnessed an underground train before so there was a first time for everything. Arriving at the foot of the stairs & on the platform Koto could taste the dust. This underground clearly hadn't been used in a rather long time.

Climbing down off of the platform Koto placed his feet on to the railings. Before he knew what was happening Koto was sent zooming along the railings as if he was a train connected & the electricity had just been turned on. Shooting along at an incredible speed Koto allowed a smile to emerge and the wind to brush past him through his hair & past either side of his face sliding off of his skin so easily.



As Taki asked who had a bounty every patron in the bar gulped. No one wanted to answer her nor even do battle with her. Fish weren't common and when you did see one it was most likely looking for revenge or something.

The entire bar may as well have just got to their feet and walked out the front door. Not a single patron wanted to stay in Taki's sight and didn't.

Sighing the old woman however continued drinking whilst the bartender polished a few glasses.

"You realize you're scaring off my friends right?" the old woman questioned with quite a bit of annoyance. She hadn't wanted such a thing to happen but here she was now caught in a predicament.

Turning to face Taki the woman next asked a curious question.
"Why do you want to know who has a bounty? Do you plan on turning them in for some beli?"

This woman was less than impressed anyone who would turn another in for money was pathetic even more so if they were a pirate. People like the shichibukai were despicable and didn't deserve the title.

[Vaetric]

Taki waited, looking around. The bar was fairly silent, she was almost about to leave before someone said something. She turned irritably to the woman, her back started to ache from the effort of having to stand up for so long. Maybe she’ll just go and sell fish that she could catch. “..Yeah?” she’d say, scanning the tavern. “I suppose I’m doing that.” she’d continue.
 
The old woman was a little different than the rest, for starters she didn’t quake at her shadow, that was a kind of welcome change, like that marine on the other island. Wonder if he survived the whole shotgun men thing. The woman turned toward her, asking the obvious question. “Said I needed money, didn’t I?" she'd reply. Well, from the distain on the person’s face, she could tell that she’s probably a pirate herself, but she didn’t want to waste the effort on her. “Hrmph.e’d grunt as she exited the bar, looking left and right. She supposed she could get water from a well, and fish from the sea. Then she could explore the rest of the island or town.
 
She turned and began to walk back to the docks, maybe if she passed a bounty board she’d figure out who to get around there.

-




Bura was chilling. She had absolutely no money and she didn’t even care, she could figure something out later when she’s actually hungry. She laid on the rooftop of a building that overlooked the town square, she’d been mostly sleeping, but when she woke up she saw that a new ship had made its way to port. When she first came to the island, people stared at her because of her legs, which was more than a little embarrassing for her.

 

But now she was in a spot out of peoples’ sight range, which was good. She stretched, and supposed now was as good as any a time to do something. She grabbed her sword and jumped down from the building, probably startling a few people as she looked left, right then shrugged. Now that she was rested she could explore the island a little more, maybe find some work. Mercenaries are in demand, right?

 

She’d begin jogging through the town, ignoring the stares and whispers, and kept looking forward. She saw that there were a load of undergrounds, she wondered if there were still trains going through it so she went to have a look, suddenly a buzz of red flashed past her. She blinked, looking to where it went. It wasn’t even a train, it was like.. A guy. “Whaaaaaat.” she’d say dully to herself, before shaking her head and moving to walk back up the steps again, underground’s weird, go back to overground.


She stopped for a moment. As he just-awakenedyness wore off, she thought for a second. Small guy just flew across the rails like a train. How'd he do that?

She'd turn on her heel and start running along the tracks. "Waaaait!" thought he was probably long gone by now.

[Docile]

Koto would've liked to have asked himself what possessed him to come down here & ride the rails but where was the fun in that? He'd found a new toy which was giving him ideas. The inventor inside of him wanted a weapon which could aid him in using this but the pirate in him wanted to find these pirates to join his crew.

Murphy & Monty.

As he reached what seemed another station Koto crouched down and got ready for his dismount. Leaping into the air he flipped twice before slamming his feet into the ground with a hell of a crash.

The force was so much that tiles shattered upon landing. Looking at his feet he grinned before the sudden realization set in. Koto hadn't landed on the ground, yet. Sliding backwards his back slammed into the floor. The speed he'd been travelling at had thrown him into the wall.

Grunting as he hit it Koto sat up and got to his feet. Heading up the stairs to the city once more he found himself in a rather quiet part of the town. Unable to see a single person he decided it was time he found himself a tavern or a bar or some establishment with a large variety of people so he could inquire about Mr Brigade & Mrs Allbright.

Pushing down the street he spyed a light shinning from a door up ahead. With a grin on his face Koto quickly made his way towards it and pushed his way in through the heavy door which slammed shut behind him.

Looking around he was met by the sinister smiles of hunters. Out of the three who were purchasing weapons from this weapon's store Koto saw how these men loved their weapons quite abit.

Looking at the three hunters & the shop's owner Koto removed the bounties from his pockets and showed them to the men inside.

"Have any of you men seen either of these criminals?" Koto asked.

"Why you gonna try capture them?" one of the hunter's asked sarcastically.

"Nah I wanna ask them to join my crew." Koto replied honestly.

Laughter burst from the lips of the men to which Koto's reaction turned from curious eagerness to anger. You don't take the piss out of Koto he knocks it out of you. Rolling the bounty posters up and slotting back into his pockets Koto dipped his head. Reaching for his Mife Koto clutched it tightly in his hand.

Charging towards the first hunter Koto used his Mife: Toro Vault technique. Leaping up into the air & stabbing his mife down into the area just behind the collar bone the hunter let out a howling scream of agony and hit the floor. Propelling Koto into the air he landed on the counter for the shop keeper and turned around with mife still in hand.

Mife: Recurring Charge

Casting his mife towards the other two Koto watched as the first ducked managing to stave off the mife but the one closer to Koto took a knock the the back of the head. Falling forwards & smashing his head on to a barrel full of swords Koto watched him meet a grizzly end with blades impaling his face.

Catching his Mife in hand Koto watched as the other gentleman removed his flintlock and took aim. Grinning Koto waited for the hunter to fire. As the bullet sailed towards Koto he quickly brought it down with the mife coming from right to left knocking the bullet off of it predicted trajectory.

Tossing the mife directly towards the hunter it met his forehead and bounced straight back to Koto who caught it. The hunter however was left with a large red straight imprint down his face and unconscious. Falling back into a pile of old bayonets he would be in pain when he awoke.

Turning to face the store's owner Koto placed both posters down on the counter and asked one more time.

"Have you seen either of these two men? If not do you know where they like to hang out?"

The store owner in shock looked at Koto before replying with a quick nod.

"Good. Now indulge me." Koto replied waiting for a reply.




Watching Taki speak about how she said she'd needed the money and make her way out of the bar the old woman got to her feet and walked out after Taki. As she tried to make her way to the docks the old lady watched her walking. The creature was clearly one who wanted answers then & there. Kinda like herself.

Didn't like waiting.

As Taki passed the two men who had been wearing Octopus Reach attire the old lady watched as the two started to follow Taki. Raising an eyebrow she shook her head. She recognized the two people following Taki.

They were Octopus Reach operatives, but the more important thing was they were two of the cronies who aided in capturing people for the current operation they ran on Unulla island. Following Taki the two looked at each other before grinning.

Removing a small device from their back pockets the two quickly placed a sea shell type looking thing in front of themselves.

One of the men placed the sea shell on their upper right arm. Looking at one another the two smirked.

Their names, Magpie & Holt.

Magpie rolled his right sleeve up revealing a silver arm whilst Holt placed a pair of ear defenders on as did Magpie. Raising up one sea shell she pressed the apex of it.

A piercing sound was emitted. The old lady clutched her ears due to the sheer sound and its piercing screech. Magpie watched as Taki should succumb to the sound. With a tightly clenched fist Magpie then darted towards the right running up the wall.

Kicking off of the wall he flung himself towards the left wall and finally into the air. Once up above Taki with a tightly clenched fist made of steel he quickly shot down towards Taki attempting to deliver a steely cold powerful fist into her head knocking her unconscious.

Magpie & Holt knew one thing about Taki and it was all they needed to know.

An Orca Whale fish woman would be worth a hefty amount.




Knocking full well that the midget with red hair & a green backpack was who he was after Cape had followed him from the ship figuring he would be the best bet to kill first. The fish woman could come later. Making his way down into the underground Cape watched as he zoomed off on the railings.

This midget was quite the interesting character. Unable to figure him out within a few glances Cape climbed into the tracks only to hear the sound of footsteps like hooves.

Turning around and looking further down the tracks he couldn't quite see anything but only hear something getting closer & closer to him. Removing the rifle which sat on his back he took aim down the rails.

These underground trains were abandoned years ago so there was no chance of anything happening down here. As he took aim Cape started to catch sight of something unusual coming his way. It looked human from what he could see in the dark, however he could also hear the sounds of hooves. Was this person riding a small horse of some sort?

Looking down the sight & barrel of his long rifle Cape grinned with his vile teeth.

"C'mon birdy. Reveal yourself to uncle Cape."

Waiting for the creature to reveal itself Cape lowered the rifle. Still kneeling with his rifle in hand and many other weapons waiting for a dangerous response Cape watched the creature speed towards him.

"Friend or foe?" he muttered quietly wondering just what reaction he would get.

[Vaetric]

 
Taki walked down the street, shaking her head. Looks like she’d have to go fish hunting, even if she couldn’t sell them they’d make alright supplies. She stopped for a moment to check her bearings before continuing back the way she came. She wondered how Koto’s search for a crewmate was coming along, he’d better pick someone who could lift their own weight, unlike that woman he chased after.
 
Suddenly, she heard a loud screeching sound behind her, wincing and putting her hands to her head, she’d grunt and turn toward the offender. She saw a man holding a sea-shell like thing and a man who’d just finished running up the wall and had his back to the sun she she couldn’t quite see what he was doing other than fall toward her.
 
Something metal struck her on the head, causing her to stumble backwards, not quite knocked out straight away, but she knew she was going down. She’d attempt to stumble toward the man and attempt to fall onto him as she blacked out, trying to at least crush him beneath her.
 

 
She’d continue running down the rail, she wasn’t as fast but at least she was determined. A human train’d have to rest some time or another, get his fuel, right? She just hoped she could catch him (or her) before he could get off the tracks, though the longer she ran, the more she wished she was a little faster.
 
Her hooves clattered along the railway as she ran along it, starting to huff and puff. She wasn’t much of a long runner, she preferred quick charges and her leg muscles were starting to hurt. She was in the midst of slowly down when she heard a voice ask if she was a friend or foe.
 
She’d stop, maybe it was the rail person? She’d place her hands on her knees and look down, using her sword as a rest as she caught her breath. “Uh.. Uh.. I don’t know you?” she’d say, her voice getting higher at the end in a matter-of-fact way to him, if she didn’t know him, how oculd he know her? “Uh.. Foe or frie-” she’d then blink, “Are you the railman? That was so COOL!” she’d say, looking around to see where the voice came from as she’d bounce up and down excitedly.

[Docile]

With the information of Murphy & Monty's location Koto smiled. He now knew that they could be found in the South in a bar named the Broken Finger which was a bar for guys who just wanted to brawl or where tough guys hung out. Although he said tough guys what it was really meant was drunks and men who would do any job for a bit of money. So hired guns, mercenaries, hit men, assassins or just desperate drunks.

Making his way down south with the aid of a map he'd taken from the counter Koto started running. It was time he got himself a few more crew mates. Sprinting down the street towards the Broken Finger he thought to himself how cool it would be to have these two under his command and them calling him Captain. They were accomplished in their fields and both already notorious in this blue and that was what a notorious pirate would want.

Especially a shichibukai.



Bringing Taki to the floor Magpie was happy that his simple attack had provided the service required. Making a point of landing behind Taki far enough that she couldn't land on him he watched as she fell. Holt on the other hand removed his ear defenders and placed them on his arm as he placed the tone dial which was now finished in his pocket.

Taking a few quick placed steps backwards he avoided Taki and looked at her with a grin. Giving Magpie a thumbs up the two agreed they'd gotten what they had been after. The old lady however had seen this and charged towards Holt.

With each step only getting louder she didn't comprehend Holt's leg shooting out and clothes lining her. Hitting the floor she saw his foot slam into her chest and felt the pain of a sternum cracking.

"Go on. Give me a reason!" Holt said as he applied pressure enough so that the lady passed out due to sheer pain alone.



As Bura came out from the shadows and her question revealed how stupid Cape had been in his questions he lowered his rifle and stood up properly.

"Railman? No I'm not the railman." the question of railman made Cape think and the only person she could've been talking about was Koto. It was another name he would have for him but also another description of his capabilities from the sounds of it. "But if y rail man you mean little red man with a green back pack I'm after him as well."

Unsure if this would lead to anything Cape extended his hand to her tying to avoid looking at her legs. They were weird and like nothing he'd ever seen before.

"I'm Cape. Its pleasure to meet you."

[Vaetric]

 
Taki grunted. She was unconscious and couldn’t know if she hit the assaultee or not. In her sleep she flexed her muscles a bit at the head pain, not that she could quite notice it. Although her teeth are strong, her head isn’t quite as lucky. She was going to have a rather big headache once she woke up.
 
 

 
“Huuuum..” she’d say, bending over a little to get a closer look of “Cape”. His teeth were awful, but she couldn’t quite make out much else. She puffed one of her cheeks in annoyance at the darkness, before wiping it form her face, blinking her eyes and extended her hand out to shake it.
 
“Hi! I’m Bura.” she’d say brightly, looking around before remembering something. “Oh! The railman! Let’s hurry!” she’d say, her legs having about as much of a rest as they needed, she’d run along the railtracks once more, bouncing. “Hey, how’d he manage to do that anyway, do you know?” she’d ask behind her, she wasn’t sure how fast Cape was, but so long as she was careful he shouldn’t fall too far behind. Her hooves should be an indicator to him how far she was. She bounced along, somethings hop-skip-jumping out of excitement to see the little guy.

[Docile]

The tavern of the broken finger was a simple western themed tavern with heavy drinkers strong drinks & even stronger mercenaries inside. Arriving outside the tavern and peering over at the entrance Koto grinned. This was the place. Making his way over towards it he kicked the saloon esque doors in and walked in through them. 

No attention came his way what so ever. All of the patrons were far too busy with their drinks to care about him. As Koto approached the bar wondering why no one would notice his grand entrance he climbed up on a stool. 

"Hey Bar keep you seen either of these fellas?" he asked showing him the bounty posters of Allbright & Brigade.

Pointing towards the back Koto caught sight of Brigade at a table with a girl in each arm and a grin on his face. 

Perfect! he thought to himself. Hopping off of the bar stool and making his way over Koto noticed the beautiful bouncy bossoms of the ladies and slowed his walk. If he was captain that meant he got a taste.  



After having delivered Taki & the old lady to their holding cell both Magpie & Holt stood outside the large cage with an electric current running through it. They'd clamped large thick pad locks on the cage door & over Taki's wrists & ankles as well as an extra thick chain & lock around her neck. 

Standing on the outside of the cage they felt something drip down over their heads. That was the problem with being underground. Things tended to leak. Looking at the unconscious beast the two grinned. There were various other creatures locked up the same way as Taki in other cages just within sight of Taki's cage including one with the old woman in it chained up in much the same way. 

Magpie & Holt made their exit from the prisoner holding cells and up a set of stairs. The holding cells were disgusting, they smelt of shit & piss along with a touch of body odor. 



Watching how Bura was excited to get her hands on the rail man Cape smirked. It was good to see such spunk in a young woman? As she questioned how he did the whole rail thing he shook his head. 

"I've no idea love. Your guess is as good as mine." Chasing after her as she started running down the tracks in excitement Cape asked her.

"Why do you want to find this guy so much?" he wanted to know if she wanted him alive or dead. Dead was fine but alive might be a little tricky all things considered considering his plans to behead the midget.

[Vaetric]

 
Taki groaned as she came to, shaking her head and rubbing it. Her sift started to clear up and she found she was in a cage. What happened? Was she caught? If they were bounty hunters themselves, why would they capture someone with no bounty? Then again, she didn’t know if she had one or not. She looked around, she was chained and in a cage bit enough to fit her in it. She had shackles on her wrists and ankles.
 
Oh great, she knew what this was. They were going to auction them off, weren’t they? The place smelt absolutely horrible. She looked around, it would be a simple thing just to break out of the place, she edged her foot toward a bar and poked it, gasping as an electric current made its way through her. Shaking her head as she was fully awake now, she frowned and stuggled against her bonds. She’d attempt to wretch the padlocks open through sheer strength, as well as flex her neck to try and break the one around her neck.
 

 
Bura continued to run along the tracks, once again beginning to huff and puff as she has to carry her weight around in running. Her legs were aching a little from renewed running. She heard that the guy didn’t have any idea how he was running like that. She bit her lip in thought. Was he.. A cyborg train guy? Her eyes practically became stars as her energy renewed at the thought of meeting the man.
 
“Huh? Oh… I just think he looks cool!” she’d say, hopping a little as she ran. “Wanna  see if he’s a cyborg or something or if he’s half train!” she;’d say, turning back to smile at him before continuing to run.

[Docile]

Standing at the other end of the table opposite Monty Brigade who sat with a girl at each arm Koto smiled at him. He was a rather imposing figure standing at least a good 6 ft tall with long brown luscious locks hanging down to his shoulder a smooth handsome faced man with a smile that'd make your heart melt if you were into that kinda thing.

Hopping up & on to the table as he pulled away from kissing one of the woman Koto stood in front of him armed with a grin & his mife.

Removing the bounty poster & planting it on the table between the drinks Monty's eyes widened and he quickly reached for his revolver around the woman on his right hand side. Aiming it at Koto he took on a much more serious demeanor.

"You best be on your way bounty hunter or you're gonna meet a world of hurt."

"B-bounty hunter?" Koto blurted out in question and started to laugh. "I'm no bounty hunter. Trust me I'm far from it. I'm a pirate!"

"Little short short to be a pirate ain't ya?"

Biting his tongue Koto looked away pulling a slight face and gripped his Mife tighter.

"Lets just forget you said that, I'm Koto Bazzi and I've currently got a large fish woman with muscles bigger than me aboard my crew and I'd like to offer you a spot aboard my crew too."

"And why would I wanna follow a shrimp like you. I mean ain't the captain meant to be the strongest and from what I'm seeing in you, you ain't all that. SO move along kid, maybe you can go play pirates with the other kids outside."

Feeling his anger build up Koto looked at both of the ladies. His grip on the Mife had increased and he wasn't a happy man.

Raising his head & looking Monty in the eye Koto realized that he wasn't going to convince this guy until he proved that he was stronger but that was just a waste of his time.

Mife: Bullseye

Digging the Mife directly into Monty's eye quickly he screamed like a little bitch and squeezed the trigger on his revolver by accident. Firing out a bullet through the right butt cheek of the girl under his right she screamed trying to get away and fell flat on the floor as she slid out of the booth.

The other lady quickly made her exit from the booth whilst the rest watched as Koto dug furiously into Monty's right eye with his Mife. Removing it he turned around to see a bar with every patron on one side. Monty's unconscious wreck of a body limply fell on to the table.

Leaping off and on to the floor Koto looked at all of the patrons.

"Don't call me little." Wiping off his Mife on his shorts Koto placed it back into his belt and hopped up onto another table closer to the rest of the patrons.

"I'm pirate Koto Bazzi and I'm looking for a crew. Anyone here brave enough?!" After moments of pure silence Koto got the message. No one here was brave but they might know someone who was. "Anyone know Allbright or where she may be?"

One small boy raised his hand and stepped forward. Leaping from the table and standing face to face with him.

"So you know where Allbright is?"

The little boy nodded.

"She's robbing the First National Bank."

"How the hell do you know that?"

"Cause she's my mother."

Gasps from the patrons were sent sky high even Koto was surprised. Unsure of what to do he looked to the bar keep.

"Bar keep, keep this kid safe."

"Why where're you going?"

"To bring his mother back."

With that Koto exited through the door in search of the first national bank. It was time to reunite a mother & child.




Hearing the sounds of chains rattling the old lady who sat in the cage in front of Taki opened her eyes and raised her head. She looked towards Taki.

"I'm sorry deary but you're not getting out of those padlocks yourself. You may be muscle bound but there's explosives in those padlocks. So even if you do break them you're going to blown to pieces. The trick is the tiniest of touches."

She'd been in here before and escaped before too. But seems that they had new recruits or they didn't understand the first time. The slave ring of the Octopus Reach gang needed to be removed but the question was how? Or maybe who?

All around them were various prisoners of varied species. Two other fishmen sat in another cage to Taki's right. An elephant tuna fishman with blue skin, two tusks & a trunk followed by a black goatee and beret.

He looked towards Taki nodded and dipped his own head.

"I don't know how they do it but these men are not men but beasts. I thought I'd met some beasts on the Grand Line but the things these men can do. They are not the things of men but monsters."

"Its true. They managed to hit me with scolding heat. Its how I got this brand." another voice piped up from a pink mermaid who was held in a large spherical cage of water. She pointed towards the brand on her tail which was in the shape of a hand print.

"Its the sea shells." the old lady mentioned.

"What?"

"The sea shells grant them their powers. That's all it is."

"How do you know this?"

"I've seen them before. They're called dials."

Both of the fishmen who looked at the old lady couldn't understand what she meant. It didn't make any sense to them at all.

"These dialsa re like sea shells and harness specific powers within them from heating things up to holding sounds that can be replayed and even releasing scents or preoccupied impacts. The one they used on you." she pointed towards Taki. "Was an Osmosis & Tone Dial. Deafen the target with the tone dial smash them with an osmosis dial after imbuing themselves with a hard material."



So this girl thought he looked cool and that maybe he was a cyborg. Cape smirked as she spoke about Koto he hadn't ever had thoughts like these but it was a refreshing turn of pace. He realized how she was continuously running along the tracks and started to think that neither of them had any idea as to where Koto had gotten off of the tracks.

Stopping he called out to Bura.

"Bura, we have no idea where this man got off the tracks. Why don't we just head up these stairs back on to the main land to see if we can find him anywhere. For all we know he's not even on the tracks anymore and if he was we'd have seen him again by now. I mean he was shooting along these tracks like a bullet."

Climbing on to the platform Cape quickly started to make his way up the stairs on to the main land in search of Koto. Removing the sketches one more time Cape looked at them both.

Koto Bazzi the red haired midget & Taki the large grey orca whale fish woman.

These were his targets.

Noticing the nodachi Bura had with her Cape was curious as to why she carried it with her. "So Bura what's the nodachi for? You a mercenary or something?"

[Vaetric]

 
After a bit of struggling Taki and a  zap of electricity that made her ground her teeth, she heard a familiar voice from the other cages. “Hrmph.” she’d grunt, relaxing herself. Though it was only body-wise, because her mind was racing. Looks like she found one of the slaver hotspots after all. She looked up, if she could just escape her bond, she could punch her way above ground. She guessed there would be ground up above, since water leaked from almost every place. Though that meant probably sacrificing the humans to do it since there was probably a lake or even the sea above and breaking through’d probably drown them, and electrocute them as well.
 
She saw that there were other fishmen as well, and even a mermaid. That just fuelled more anger into the fire. She heard each of the people noting the slavers’ power and the old lady explained them. She hadn’t quite heard of dials before, though they seemed very useful, and pretty powerful. What else could they do?
 
“Well then, how do we get out of here?” she didn’t care much for exposition, but knowing about the seashells may prove useful later, breaking them’d be the best bet. Or taking one for herself, preferably not the tone dial, that one had to be smashed. It sounded like the old lady knew what she was doing, so she kept an eye on her.
 

 
Bura would gulp in air as she started to sweat more than a little. All the running was beginning to exhaust her to the max, and it was a terrible feeling. Her heart thumped, her legs felt like they were on fire, she didn’t think she could make it any further.
 
“Y..Yeah..” she’d say when Cape made the suggestion. She clampered onto the platform and fell on her buttocks. She’d rub her legs for a couple of moments before feeling strength once again, that was a problem with her body, loses a load of energy quickly, but gains it back soon enough. “Okay..” she’d mutter to herself before unsteadily getting to her hooves. She really needed a drink.
 
She’d walk up the stairs to meet up with Cape. “My sword? Uh.. Just protection, I guess.” she’d shrug, looking around. “And swords are cool! And I wanna try being a pirate!” she’d say, priming with excitement. She already stole some stuff, so did that count as her being a pirate? “See the world! Train for stuff, I guess?”

[Docile]

After the discovery about Allbright's son Koto had plans for her. She wasn't fit to be a criminal nor was she that kind of mother who should be out robbing banks. Even if it was to help pay the bills. A mother should be at home looking at the son raising her son teaching him the right from the wrong not doing the wrong. Feeling anger well up inside him Koto picked up the speed.

Arriving in front of the bank he looked at the doors. There were any marines there yet but there was a series of hostages in the bank that could be seen through the door.



As Taki asked how they get out pf their cells the other two fish folk looked towards her. The mermaid questioned her strength.

"Can't you break the locks with muscles like that? I mean you look pretty strong!"

"If I can't do it there's no chance she can. I mean come on, I'm a man and as we all know men are way stronger!" the blue elephant tuna fish man spoke as he looked over with a look of patheticness at Taki.

Looking at the two fish folk speaking about strength and manliness the old lady shook her head.

"What we need is help from an old friend of mine. I've been locked up here numerous times and you wouldn't believe how helpful this friend of mine has been. I met him down here the second time I was locked up."

Making kissing noises the two fish folk looked at the old lady with confusion.

"Just what the hell are you doing?"

"You'll see." continuing with her kissing sounds a small bump formed under her bandanna. Moving towards the bottom a small leg popped out and from the bandanna a small prey mantis crawled out. Making its way down to the old lady's hands it quickly got to work.

"Little Raptor here's been with me since my second time locked up here. We've got a mutual understanding, I usually only call him out when I need something a bit tricky like this. He's a great help in the ship yard."

"What can a prey mantis do in the shipyard?"

"Well he's pretty good at hollowing stuff out for me since he's small enough to fit in."

Seconds later the locks around her ankles & wrists clicked and slipped from her unto the floor. Standing up and rubbing her wrists & ankles the old lady held the prey mantis in her hand.

"That's how I get out. Now its time we break you guys out."



As Bura spoke about her nodachi being for protection he raised an eyebrow the sheer mention of being a pirate and swords being cool made him grin. As she continued to speak about training & seeing the world he turned at the top of the stairs to face her.

"Funny you should mention that. I'm looking for a partner and I could use someone like you." reaching into his scarecrow like coat he removed a card.

"I'm sorta like a pirate, pretty much a mercenary for a pirate organisation, but yeh, still technically a pirate. I do what I can to make a living and I'm looking for someone to join me. I mean the life's pretty good and the pay's good, but a little more could always be better right? I mean with just me I get enough money for me, but with a partner I'd make double the amount & could even make allot more if myself & my partner were well trained enough."

Making it bluntly obvious that Cape would like to have Bura as his partner he offered her his hand.

"So what do you say? Maybe we can even try pull of this job and see how things would go between us as partners? I'm sure we'd work out pretty well together."

[Vaetric]

 
Taki sighed, before shrugging. “I could I guess, but I have this one me.” she’d say, wriggling her head around to remind everyone of their explosive collars. “I don’t think I can take my head being blown off, muscles or no.” she’d say, glancing to the fishman with a sigh.
 
The other two went on a tirade, while she looked to the old lady who started making kisses noises. She tilted her head in confusion until some kind of land creature popped out. She couldn’t quite see it, rather just a small bit of green. It could run laps around her finger.
 
She explained that it was something about  raptor. It was small indeed, but he managed to remove the padlocks without making them explode. “That’s.. A good creature.” she’d remark, surprised. She didn’t expect the old woman to be able to actually be able to leave. She’d jiggle her tits chains a little before looking at the old woman. “Is there an escape route after this, or should I just rampage?” she’d ask, already warming up to the idea of going berserk.
 

 
“Huh? Someone like me?” she’d ask, barely recovering from her cramping thighs. She’d stick her nodachi into the ground for leverage. She shouldn’t have tried to catch that train-man, now she felt like she was going to be sick just from climbing a small set of stairs too soon after recovering from the running. He then introduced himself to be “kind of like” a pirate, which caused her eyes to sparkle up.
 
She’d dash toward him, zig-zagging before coming face-to-face with him. “Reeeeeee-ally?” she’d ask, before doubling over in exhaustion once again. She’d tilt her head, though. “Wait, if there’s two of us, wouldn’t that mean we’d have to split the money of whatever, then you’d have less?” she’d ask, scratching her head. “And what job’s that anyways?” she’d ask, before noticing a shop that sold what looked like cool stuff.
 
“Woooah!” she’d exclaim, bending down to see the little clockwork watches, toy soldiers and so forth, and even one that looked like.. “Is that a HAT WITH AN UMBRELLA?!” she’d practically squeal, patting her butt body before realising she didn’t have any pockets to keep any of her non-existent money.

[Docile]

Marching towards the bank's doors which were locked Koto placed his palms and face against the window and peered through. He could see Murphy Allbright ahead of him in a long brown trench coat with a cowboy hat & bandanna tied around her face. As she directed people around with her revolver Koto looked at the hostages on the ground.

There were quite a few and more surprising was that she was carrying out this robbery single handedly. This made Koto want to recruit her even more but even he had his morals. A mother should stand by her child and not before loaded guns.

"Move civilian!" a voice called out from behind Koto. Turning he caught sight of a series of Marines who'd arrived. An alarm must've been trigged. Looking at the group of five who'd arrived armed with rifles & swords he smirked.

"Who said I'm a civilian." he replied with a smile reaching down towards his belt.

"Then you're under arrest!" the leading soldier shouted.

"Arrest is only applicable once you've captured them." Koto replied cockily to which the leader started walking towards Koto with a pair of hand cuffs whilst the remaining four kept in place with arms aimed all on Koto.

Bending down to grab Koto the Marine was met with a sudden agonizing pain.

Mife: Bullseye

Digging the blade into his eye and using his body as a mean of propulsion to launch himself into the air Koto shot over and towards the four soldiers armed to the teeth. opening fire the shots flew under Koto.

"Shouldn't mess with a guy like me."

Mife: Toro Vault

Koto launched himself back into the air as a soldier hit the ground. Landing behind the group he quickly launched his Mife towards the ankles of one soldiers. Shattering the bone Koto smirked as the soldier hit the ground.

Grabbing his rifle as the solider fell this left two soldiers standing who quickly turned to find Koto leaping their direction wit h the rifle held side ways. Clothes lining the two of them he landed between the group of four & single leading marine.

Looking at them all Koto smiled and picked up his Mife tucking it away into his belt.

"You should've known better. I'm not a civilian, I'm a pirate."

Gathering attention from the small incident Koto had just caused as he turned back towards the door he found himself facing a semi open door with a revolver poking out at his head & the eyes of Murphy Allbright staring right at him.

"The bank is closed."

"Good cause I didn't come here to make a withdrawl, I came here to talk to you."



Leaping from the old lady's hands and climbing on to the padlock the prey mantis quickly started picking the cage's padlock. Watching as the tiny creature worked away furiously the old lady's cage door swung open. Stepping through the open door she held out a hand to which Raptor leapt into her hand and crawled up her wrist to her shoulder.

"I'd suggest you Keep things quiet. Don't want to set any alarms off right?"

Handing Raptor over to Taki's cage Raptor quickly started unlocking each lock on Taki The ones around her wrists, ankles & finally her neck suddenly fell to the ground. Hopping into the padlock of the cage Raptor quickly kicked the door open and followed the same actions on the other two fish folk's cage & padlocks.

Arriving back on the old lady's wrist and climbing on to her shoulder.

"If you just follow me we can all find a way out of here pretty quickly without disrupting anyone."

With the four of them now free the other prisoners quickly took notice and opened their mouths begging for freedom too. They all wanted to be freed but none wanted a fight as they were just too weak for something like that.



"Yeah we'd have to split the money but it'll still be enough since this is a pretty big pay check but if you do well then we can work together and I think we can do some pretty big jobs and get allot more money."

As Bura asked what the job was Cape continued.

"Job's a hit. Two targets. One's that red haired man the other's a large fish folk. I think a whale." This is when suddenly Bura sped off looking at a shop and seeming overwhelmed with the shops and their contents. Following and arriving beside her Cape leaned against the window.

"So Bura, what do you think? Sound good? One hit each we split the money?" offering a hand to her he asked. "Eh partner?"

[Vaetric]

 
Taki watched as the mantis picked the lock of the cage. She followed the old woman’s advice and kept down as it made its way around. She flinched a little, it was small. Just like those.. Red flashed before her eyes at even the mention of the small species known as Dwarves. She felt a large urge to swat the miniscule creature away but she ground her teeth instead.
 
She flexed her muscles a little to warm them up as she stood up and stomped her way out of the cage. She looked around at the other prisoners wanting to get out. She didn’t want to leave them behind for two reasons: one, because they’d be sold as slaves, and that was something she couldn’t condone. And two, because they could make a massive outcry and bring attention to them if they were left behind. “If we don’t let them out, then that’d be a problem.” she’d say. “If they aren’t freed now, then I’ll come back and free them later.” she’d say, then she remembered the first time she came to the surface. She did something an awful lot like this, trying to find a key to the chains and explosive collars. Well, she’ll remember the location and then assault it, the next time the slavers won’t have the surprise element on her.
 

 
“Huuuuh.” she’d say, thinking for a moment. Splitting the money but there’d be more than enough between them? “Huuuum.” she’d say, frowning at the glass. “Wait, a hit?” she’d ask, blinking. He was supposed to attack the train-guy, and a.. Fish person? “There’s a fish person too?!” she’d gasp, practically having stars in her eyes. “I wanna see it!” she’d say, before pausing mid-jump.
 
“But wait, a hit?” she’d ask, blinking at the guy, before scratching her cheek. “As in, kill them? I don’t know about that..” she’d say, she hadn’t killed someone for money before. In fact, she didn’t kill before. “Uuuuuhm..” she’d mumble, the scratching intensifying. “Uuuuuh..” she’d frown. “I dunno. Sounds like something evil guys do.” she’d say, shrugging. “Buuuuut I also need the mooooney… Okaaaaaay.” she’d say, dubiously shaking his hand. It felt like she was betraying the red haired half train guy. Even though she’d never met him.

[Docile]

Realizing that Koto wished for an audience with her Murphy's eyes widened. She hadn't expected this. So this was a first. A day of uncertainty wasn't one she was fond of it only brought more problems she didn't have an answer for. 

Squeezing the trigger on her revolver she hoped to see the end of the little red haired man. As the bullet ripped from the barrel towards him through the air Koto ducked allowing the bullet to pass through his hair. Pouncing towards her with a tightly clenched fist and Mife, Koto delat out a punch towards Murphy's gut.

Falling backwards she felt a stunning pain and looked towards the door which she had been holding open. Not shutting she looked shocked. Koto squeezed through the gap and grabbed a small metal object like a knife from between the doors. Sliding it in to his belt he looked at her with a smile. 

"The Mife a handy bit of kit really."

"What the hell do you want?"

"You to start being a mother to your son."

" How did you know about-"

"I asked"

"Who are you?"

"That man whose going to take you back to your son."

"I'll go back to my son once I've robbed this bank."

"Alright then fine. What needs doing?"

"My bag of money needs filling."

"Where's the bag?"

Looking towards Koto with a confused expression Murphy wasn't sure what she thought was happening was actually happening until a few seconds of his plain faced expression had passed. 

"Are you actually?"

"Yes now where's the bag?"



Looking towards Taki who made mention of freeing the others the mermaid who was picked up by the fish man and hoisted over his shoulder spoke up. 

"Forget them. We need to get out of here quick!"

"Yeah If we stay behind we risk getting caught again or worse. Killed."

"Yeah come on. I don't want to die. Lets get out of here!"

Waiting for Taki & the old lady to join them the two fish folk stood by the stairwell. The old lady however looked up at Taki and then at the other prisoners. As she looked at the two fish folk by the stairwell she shook her head with a smile. 

"You wish to escape, you're headed the right way, I think I'll stay and help out down here. I can always escape again but these lot. I'm not so sure they stand the same chances I do."

"What?!"

"Forget about them! Just get me out of here!"

Looking at Taki then the old lady the large blue elephant tuna fish man nodded. He wasn't stupid enough to linger in an Octopus Reach prison. heading up the stairs he was on his way to an escape. 


Making kissing noises again Raptor rushed up to the end of the old lady's fingers. Walking over towards a large vault door in the corner of the basement she gestured towards it and Raptor watched. 

Nodding he hopped off and on to the vault door. This was an old vault door to allow escape from the military barracks this once was. However with the incredible damage that it had under gone it was almost impossible to open. 

"Alright Taki we need a way to cover the door then we can start ripping open these cages. Once we start ripping them open the alarm will be set off and we'll need to stop their foot soldiers from rushing in. We don't have time to carefully pick each lock so if we just break off the parts of the cages the locks are connected to they can escape with locks all around them and we can remove them at a later date"



Watching as Bura questioned her own morality with such deep intent of what she really wanted or would be willing to do Cape felt frustrated but wouldn't show it of course. As she finally landed on the decision to kill he felt he'd better ease her conscious by letting her know these people deserved it as they were the evil ones. 

"Bura, these people I've been hired to kill are the evil ones. They've been a thorn in allot of people's sides. See it as being a bounty hunter except without the bounty bit as they've no bounty."

Shaking hands with Bura Cape led the way into the street. Hearing a scream and cry for help he looked at Bura. 

"Shall we?" he asked before leading the way. Hopping into action he started to sprint down an alleyway towards the scream. It was time to bring the "justice" 

Octopus Reach Justice.

[Vaetric]

 
Taki felt a little guilty over what was probably going to happen to them but she turned her attention to the other prisoners. She listened to the old lady, before watching her little creature get to work. She looked around for anything that could be used to stop the guards, except herself. “Watch out for the electric bars, though.” she’d say. She’d walk over to the vaunt door, knocking on it gently for a moment before thinking. She supposed she could hold off the guards, so long as they didn’t have those seashells with them.
 
She’d then turn toward the part where the two seafolk left, she supposed they needed time to escape, or a distraction. She’d then start to try and open the vault door. It probably decayed over the years, and she’d more than likely have to put the full effort into it. Also it’d probably make one hell of a noise, but hopefully it’d lead to a safer destination than here. “Figurign out where they’ll go is probably a better idea first, then I can hold them off with the others escape.” she’d say, her muscles beginning to bulge as she tried to open the vault door.
 
Should she be successful in at least opening it a little, enabling people to escape, she’d prepare for a fight, and to break open the cages if need be.
 

 
“Huh, they are?” Bura would ask, the ccogs in her head turning as she thought about it. “Then.. That’d make us good! And we get money for doing good things!” she’d say, nodding. “Okay!” she’d say, she was a bounty hunter without the bounty? Though, she did feel bad about having to kill people, but if they were bad and she did bad things to them then that made the bad good. Right? But then wouldn’t make that the devil good because if the devil punished bad people then..
 
She shook off her philosophical moment and turned to Cape. She heard a helpless cry and blinked. She nodded at Cape as he started to sprint down the alleyway she instead bent her knees and jumped high into the air onto a rooftop before running along it toward the scream. She prepared her nodachi by placing it into a two-handed grip with the blade running along her side to behind her to the right.


[/url]

[Docile]

Handing Koto the bag he quickly snatched it up.

"Keep check on them I'll be back in a moment."

Heading down to the vault Koto looked at the large vault door. Grinning he dropped the bag. It was time to get his hands a little dirtier. Looking over at the vault from every angle Koto quickly started calculating how to enter the vault. Grabbing his Mife he slowly approaching the door and looked at the hinges.

Taking a few steps back Koto removed a few tools from his back pack and looked at the door with a grin.

Minutes later from Murphy's side she would hear a loud earth shaking clatter. On Koto's side there was no longer a vault door but allot of scrap metal scattered around him. Stepping into the vault he quickly started loading the bag as fast as his little hands & feet would work. With a full bag & still a butt load of money left behind Koto figured share & share alike. Slipping the rest into his own bag he quickly made his way back out to Murphy and dropped her bag at her feet.

"Now are we done?"

Cheeking her bag and nodding she slipped it over her shoulder and nodded.

"Ok and did you have a plan for escaping cause there's a ton of Naval soldiers outside that door."

Removing a stick of dynamite from her coat she smiled at Koto.

"This bad boy."



The old lady watched as Taki took guard of the door. She warned her about the electric coursing through the cages and nodded.

"Don't you worry deary, I sure will."

Making a move towards the first cage she looked over it and started questioning how she'd free them. She could pick locks herself but smashing this shit up was just way more fun. Removing a screw driver from her overalls she quickly started unscrewing the cage and pulling it apart. Great thing about rubber handles on screw drivers.

Working away on the first cage she watched as it came to pieces in a matter of moments. Grinning the prisoner who was a human looked at her in shock.

"Where did that screw driver come from? Didn't they frisk you?"

"They did but no one ever wants to go down there on an old lady." shuddering thinking of her lady bits the old lady gave him a scowl and quick slap across the face.

"Not there! I meant my feet. Nobody likes old lady feet!" A sign of relief crossed his face as she mentioned this. Rolling her eyes she hurried on to the next cage. Banging on the large door to the basement was heard.

As the lock to the door was opened Holt stood opposite Taki with a tone dial in his hand.

Pressing the button the same horrible sound from before was emitted all throughout the entire basement. With everyone clutching their ears it echoed throughout.



Arriving at the scene of the scream Cape paused when he caught sight of a series of Marines. Gulping he put out his arm to stop Bura.

"Looks like a bank robbery. We don't want to get in the way of the Marines. " Taking a quick look around the areas surrounding the bank Cape took an educated guess on the situation. With Marines outside and the robbers inside chances were they were going to try and head out the back. Any way other than the front.

If they were smart they'd try the sewers.

"Lets try avoid the Marines as they don't like bounty hunters. People doing their job for more money. Come with me. We'll head round the back and try to make our own way in." Sprinting past the buildings out of the sight of Marines Cape led Bura towards the back of the bank.

Looking at the large thick brick wall Cape looked at Bura then up the scale of the building.

"I'd blow the wall if I had any explosives but I don't. We could try and climb in through a window but I don't see any. other option is we try and break the wall down from here. I doubt I could do much damage though."

[Vaetric]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/hNM7Hob.jpg[/img]


 
It took a lot of effort, a massive amount of effort to move the thing, it was used in vaults for a reason, she guessed. However,she eventually managed to wretch it open, much to the chagrin of her back, which was now thumping in protest from both having to stand up and use it to push the vault door forward enough for people to make it out. By the time she turned back, she was one step away from frothing.
 
She’d stomp her way forward, the ground probably quaking a little beneath her feet. These people dared to make others slaves? They dared to try and make her a slave? They DARED to give her a backache? There was some talk between the old women and the ‘prisoners’, but she didn’t listen. The door to the basement opened and she saw the one who held.. The sound dial? He pressed the button and the sound came again, but Taki didn’t’ care. She didn’t’ care if her ears burst, she was a bit too far gone to care about that.
 
She began to stomp harder a few more steps before kneeling and propelling herself forward, widening her arms outwards so she’d start to spin. “E-0.. Landspout!” she’d growl, spinning and spinning until she was nearly a blur, spinning at sixty miles per hour as she made her way towards Holt, her flinging arms probably smashing a couple of padlocks on the way. She didn’t care about the electricity, it only fuelled her anger as she practically tore her way to her aggressor.
 


[img]https://i.imgur.com/vXBaKjM.jpg[/img]





Bura would skid to a stop as she noticed Cape did, before jumping down. “What’s wrong?” she’d ask, before noticing the bank robbery thing. Yeah, she wanted to avoid the marines if at all possible. She didn’t have a bounty herself or anything, wanting to be a pirate had a small amount of chance of the marines detaining you before you could say “butterscotch”.
 
“Okay.” she’d say, following him as they sprinted around the buildings and went to the back of the bank. “Uuuuh..” she’d say, looking up at the big building. She wondered what they could do. But breaking into a bank was like.. Collateral damage or something. “What if we made it onto the roof then went downwards? Let’s do that! Ready? Ready!” she’d say, before attempting to grab Cape, squeezing her cheek against the top of his head just to make sure he didn’t flail from her grip should she be so successful. Then she’d start hopping up the building, using small lcracks to propel herself upward as she tried to climb/jump them up to the roof of the building.

[Docile]

Following the lady into the basement of the bank after kicking open a few doors the hostages had already got to their feet and were desperately trying to get out the front door. However the lady Murphy Allbright with her bag slung over her shoulder had locked the door to the basement and piled a filing cabinet up against it. Placing a stick of dynamite on the ground and lighting it with a lighter she dove for cover.

Following suite Koto leapt behind a desk. As the explosion was left ringing in their ears a hole had been blasted in the ground. Rushing for it Murphy happily dove down into it and Koto once again copied.

Landing in the sewers the two looked at each other exchanging glances.

"This is your plan?"

"Pipe leads to my part of town." Murphy replied as she led the way down the pipe. Koto rolled his eyes.



Worried in terror as the large whale like creature that was Taki spun towards Holt his face dropped & heart sank. Throwing the dial towards Taki he ducked down clutching his head out of fear. However there was always someone there it save him from danger no matter what.

Leaping in front armed with a reject dial was Magpie. Taking the full brunt he was sent off of his feet over Holt and slammed into the wall behind back first. Still clutching the reject dial he slowly raised his head and grinned at Taki. He now had her impact.

Charging towards Taki with the aforementioned Reject dial Magpie leapt through the vault door and directly towards Taki's face. Slipping a finger on to the apex Taki's impact times 10 was launched back her way. The excessive force was more than enough to send Magpie flying and severely injure his arm as well.

As for the old lady she worked furiously on the cages and freeing prisoners. With each prisoner freed and each cage down the old lady started to feel a sweat building up. She wanted to trust them to help free other prisoners but couldn't risk it with the explosive collars around their necks. Only Raptor was good at removing them and he was working on the vault door.



The plan sounded good to him and when her grip around him tightened Cape gulped. He hadn't been expecting her to grab him in such a way. Being carried up the building as they reached the top Cape hit the roof almost hyperventilating.

The fear of falling along with the thrill of scaling the wall had hit him kinda hard. Picking himself up and looking at Bura he nodded to her.

"Thanks."

There was a door on the roof which Cape approached. Trying to open it he found it locked. Removing his small blade a quick slash sent the door swinging open. Grinning he stepped through.

"C'mon." He called to Bura. It was time they faced off with Koto & Murphy. Pushing on into the stairwell and speeding down the stairwell the entire building suddenly shook. Losing his footing slightly Cape slid down a few steps to the bottom and grabbed on to the railing.

"What the hell was that!?" he asked looking at Bura.

[Vaetric]

Taki couldn’t quite see where she was going due to the spinning, however what she did know was that all she had to do was go in a straight line. She burst forward and continued to charge until she found herself stopped, by.. Something? As an after effect to the great amount of spinning that’#d suddenly stop, Taki’d be dizzy as she tried to get up, only to fall on her rump, grunting.
 
What happened? Nothing stopped had stopped any of her spotus before. When her eyes finally focused, she saw a man grinning at her and charging. She’d just about have managed to stand up, changing the aim from hitting her head to her chest. From the small seashell, she felt an absolutely devastating force that propelled her backwards, causing her to cough blood as she crashed backward, whether that be the door they were trying to escape from or a wall, probably making a large dent in wherever she hit.
 
Something was broken, she was sure of it. Her vision quavered and blackened as she tried to regain her breath, coughing up another bout of blood. She’d unsteadily attempt to get up, grunting in agony as she felt broken ribs rub against her chest.







“No probs!” she’d reply, she wasn’t really looking at his reaction as she jumped up, she was too busy scanning for the next bit to jump from. Cape walked to a door and she followed, he opened it through a blade as she looked around, her hooves slightly tapping to a beat as she waited.



 



They made their way into the place where the evil people were. It was great, she’d get poaid.. For fighting! Perfect, and get paid for doing hero stuff.



 



She carefully walked down the stairs, one foot after the other before shaking her head and deciding to jump down them instead. It was more fun, and it got down quicker. Suddenly the place looked like it shook mid-air, so she wasn’t quite as affected by it. “You alright? Might’ve been an explosion.” she’d say, shrugging before surging on ahead. “C’mon, slowpoke!” she’d call before jogging along the place, hoping to find the main room because frankly, she had no idea where she was going.

[Docile]

In the sewer pipe it stunk and worse than anyone could've imagined. Pushing through the slurry was pretty hard but bearing the stench was even more difficult. Burning his nostril hairs was bad enough but this was horrendous. Looking at Murphy she seemed to be faring rather well but it was probably something to do with the mask around her nose & mouth that helped a touch.

"It shouldn't be too far if you hurry up."

"Yeah alright, I'm coming woman!"

"Its alright I can wait, must be your little legs."

Feeling the rage inside Koto's eyes flared and before he knew what he was doing or could think to stop himself his tightly clenched fist was meeting with Murphy's cheek. As she hit the slurry like a sack of potatoes and the sludge washed up much like well slurry Koto landed ankle deep in it once more then looked at the rotten and filthy sludge covered Murphy.

Leaping back up covered in sludge with an angered expression and vein popping out of her forehead she removed a revolver and looked at Koto.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?]!"

"I'm not little!" Koto shouted back. Receiving the butt of a revolver to the back of his head Koto grunted and started rubbing the soon to be forming bump. Moving on ahead Murphy continued.

"Fine I don't call you little you don't attack me. Can we make it to the end of this pipe without any more aggression?"

"Yes" Koto muttered in response begrudgingly. He wasn't small, just pocket sized.

"Why did you even come after me? Are you just some bounty hunter looking for a score or something."

"Nah, if I was a bounty hunter I'd have more integrity, but I'm too crooked for that. I was gonna ask you to join my crew."

Hearing those words her face begun to drop.

"Me?"

"Yeah you're like one of the best known marksmen in the North Blue. So y'know just made sense. But I can't take you I you've got a kid. That's just heartless."

"No one's ever wanted me along side them before. The only people who ever wanted me where the Navy, and even that was just to lock me up."

"What about your son?"

This is when the water works begun to arrive, her eyes grew teary and uncontrollable weeps begun to utter from her lips.




Holt & Magpie pushed forward into the large basement with two other men known as Riley & Crispin. As the four entered Magpie & Crispin stood before Taki whilst Holt removed another dial from his pocket and Riley pulled out a bean bag gun.

Climbing up a vantage point Riley stood on a large metal generator which aided in generating the electric he started taking shots at the prisoners trying to injure them to the point of no longer wishing to move. As Holt raised the dial he pressed the apex directing it at Taki & the old lady.

This was a vision dial. Filming their attempts to break out this could be sent on wards to warn other Octopus Reach members if Cape didn't accomplish his task. To which the slave ring didn't know about.

Magpie fastened both reject dials to his hands with the elastic bond screwed in and slammed his hands together whilst Crispin removed a whip from his belt and cracked it against the floor.

Grinning the two looked at one another.

"I'll beat the bitch to a pulp, you restrain her!" were the orders Magpie gave as he took a few first steps inwards to break a few more bones of Taki's. She already seemed in pretty bad shape but a little worse so she couldn't and wouldn't dare trying again would be just fine.

As for the old lady she watched as the last cage fell apart and the prisoner came out screaming and running towards the escape hatch. Trying desperately to rip it open he was in luck. Raptor had finished the lock and just leapt out in time as the hatch peeled open.

Hopping into the escape hatch and making a run for it the last prisoner was already free. The rest were struggling to avoid being pelted by bean bags with ball bearings.

Feeling one slam into her chest the old lady hit the ground. Raptor rushed over to greet her whilst she lay in agony on the floor looking at Riley.



Arriving at the bottom of the stairs after a minor stumble and bruising of Cape's arse bones & tail bone the two headed towards the vault. Arriving just in time he could see that it was empty and lying in pieces.

"Whoever this was they did a mighty fine job."

Heading back out and towards the front the sound of Marines could be heard. They had blown the front doors and rushed in rescuing the hostages. Looking at Bura Cape started thinking.

"You look around for how they could've escaped and I'm going to check out the Marine situation and handle a few of them if need be. Once you've figured out how they escaped come find me. But try not to tip of any soldiers."

Creeping towards the front Cape peered around the corner. It sounded like a war was going on. People crying, screaming & soldiers shouting orders and begging people to be patient with them. Looking at the groups of people rushing out to find safety Cape removed his small blade ready to slice the throats of any marines who came his way.

It was a simple life, but it was his life and he wouldn't trade it for anything else in the world.

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